As a huge fan of Resident Evil, since my first introduction to the original title back in 1996, I’ve followed the whole series and played almost every version of the game, including the Gun Survivor entry. I have loved this series in every type of incarnation. Yes, I even enjoy the movies. And without going into the whole discussion about games and their often times terrible big screen counterparts, I’ll just say the diverting direction of the movie story line was something easy to go with. They kept the same basic things from the games, but added their own twists.

I have also enjoyed the direction and gradual evolution of the games. Now there are a lot of fans that be-moan the series’ more action oriented direction, but really where can they go? We are still playing the same characters. Just like any battle hardened soldier, the more you see the less you jump in fear, which leads to more of just taking care of business. Fans complain about the loss of the fixed cameras, yet we all know we would complain endlessly if they were still there. If you really think about it, many of these changes are not that surprising for a franchise that as been around for almost twenty year now. Which brings us to today, the beginning of 2012. We have no less than five Resident Evil related properties coming out this year.

• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PC/PS3/360)
• Resident Evil 6 (PC/PS3/360)
• Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS)
• Resident Evil: Retribution (live-action film)
• Resident Evil: Damnation (computer-generate film)

That’s right, five properties coming up in twenty-twelve: three games, a live-action movie, and a computer generated movie. Yes, certainly something for the Resident Evil fans to look forward to. And although such a influx of content will undoubtedly have the fans smiling from ear to ear, over-saturation is a concern. Is it just too much? Having so much come out so soon definitely has the potential to leave a sour taste in ones mouth.  Are we so quickly bored with our games now that we need the next one so soon, or are these games differentiated enough that they each have a chance of success in their own right. Let’s take a look.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and presumably Resident Evil 6, both have online elements, with rumblings of it being a very important component in Operation Raccoon City. Will these undercut each other? If your a budget gamer by necessity, how  do you go about picking which one to get? Do you go for content, story continuation, or game play? So many things to consider. If you have a Nintendo 3DS, as well as a Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 that’s three games in one year to look at, in the same series with a pretty hefty line-up of other titles for each system this year as well.

The decision to see the live-action movie is not so bad. Like me, you will probably go to your theater’s cheap day, or hit the cheaper matinee. As for the computer generated movie, judging from my previous enjoyment of Degeneration in all its 1080P glory, it will most likely be a buy for me.

I don’t know about you but my belt budget is pretty tight. Like most of you have probably had to do, I have had to cut extra holes in the belt to hold my financial pants up. One of these I will be missing out on, as my fanboyism of the series no longer is so feverish as to make me by a new system. So Resident Evil: Revelations, I will most likely miss out o, unless borrowing it from a friend is an option.

With so much of a franchise that I love coming out, and most likely not enough money to enjoy it all, how do I choose what to experience? Or if I even have the money to experience it all, is it too much in such a short a time span? How would we react to say that many Street Fighter, or Call of Duty titles coming out in one year? What do you think?

First Aang is dead! No, he wasn’t murdered or anything. He lived a long and fruitful life with Kitara actually. This new story is set some seventy years after the events of the final episode and center around the new Avatar, a southern water tribe citizen by the name of Korra. Korra has already mastered water, earth, and fire bending, so this series focuses around her learning air bending. HER? Yep, you read that right, the new Avatar is a woman. Not like that’s wrong or anything, but her character so far is looking to be completely different from Aang. Nickelodeon describes her as being, “hot-headed, rebellious, and ready to take on the world”.

Korra is going to have a lot to deal with as she begins her tenure in the spotlight. Aang and Zuko bringing peace to the world took one Firebender colony and created a melting pot for everyone called Republic City. A place for all benders and non-benders from around the world to live and get along. The main story arc seems to center around an Anti-Bender revolt that is kicking up in the city.

Other than Aang in spirit form, we won’t be seeing any of the old cast returning. Yet we will meet their children. Confirmed so far are Aang and Kitara’s children. Their youngest, Tenzin, who is a Airbender, along with Toph’s daughter, which leads the police in Republic City. So far those are all that have been revealed.

Creators DiMartino and Konietzko are back and will be writing every episode of the planned 2 seasons run of the show, for a total of 26 episodes. So you can expect the world to be different, yet still remain the same world. If that makes sense to anyone else but me. They have also stated the tone will be darker in this new era. Not that they are getting rid of the fun and humor, but that all the main characters are a little older than the original cast.

The show was originally set to begin around this time, but was pushed back to a to be announced date into 2012.

I am seriously looking forward to this series, since I was and still am a huge fan of the original show. I’m looking forward to how the world has change, and how this new Avatar will be. I just hope we don’t get one new episode a month. This current trend of a season of 15-20 episodes taking a full year to run is ridiculous, but that’s a editorial rant for another time.

Who is Henry Cavill?

Henry Cavill is a British actor who is most widely known for his role of Charles Brandon, the 1st Duke of Suffolk, on the popular Showtime series that followed the life of King Henry the VIII, Tutors. Up until Tutors, Cavill had rather minor roles in the American films Stardust and The Count of Monte Cristo.

According to Wikipedia, Cavill has had a slew of near misses that one would have to certainly deem as unlucky:

Cavill had been set to star as Superman in director Joseph McGinty Nichol’s 2004 film Superman: Flyby. However, Joseph McGinty Nichol pulled out of the project and direction was taken over by director Bryan Singer, who recast Brandon Routh as the lead. Cavill was also the cause of a write-in effort from fans to see him cast as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). The role eventually went to Robert Pattinson. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, was outspokenly in favor of Cavill playing the character of Edward Cullen in the Twilight film, calling him her “perfect Edward”. By the time production of the film began, however, Cavill was too old to play the character, and again the role went to Robert Pattinson. In 2005, Cavill was a final contender for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale. The producers and director Martin Campbell were torn between him and Daniel Craig; reportedly Campbell supported Cavill but the producers preferred an older Bond. Ultimately Craig landed the role.

More recently, Cavill garnered the lead role of Theseus in The Immortals, a big budget epic directed by Tarsem Singh, which came out earlier last month. He will also be leading in the upcoming film The Cold Night of Day, starring alongside Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver as a American tourist in Spain, who uncovers a conspiracy while attempting to rescue his family.

Despite the relative popularity of Tutors as a Showtime TV series, these movies will bring Cavill much more exposure to the general public.

The Man of Steel

When many hear that a British actor was cast for the all-American role of Zack Snyder’s “The Man of Steel”, some may be off-put, as I was when I first heard of the announcement. But the saving grace in this case is knowing that Cavill is a great actor from seeing him in Tutors, along with the the classical training that many British actors inherently receive.

Looking back, it seems the choice to have Brandon Roth play Superman in 2006 was more or less finding someone who looked as close to Christopher Reeves as possible, along with the attempt to have that movie somehow fit into the chronology of the prior films.

Having Cavill, someone who has a totally different look, sets the stage for a full reboot of the movie franchise, is a great thing. We can finally put the now 30+ year old classic movies fully behind us and start anew. It will be very interesting to see what Snyder as a director does, and if Cavill can take up the mantle and extend it for generations to come.

Typically fan films are bad, really bad. They are produced by people that are bigger fans than they are talented film makers. While there is something to be said for blind fanatical passion for a property, fan films are much better when helmed by a person or team that knows what they are doing. The Bankses clearly have a strong knowledge of many very important aspects to film-making. They also aren’t bad at acting, which is one of the biggest surprises.

One of the things Casey Jones The Movie does well is set the mood. The score and set-pieces perfectly match both the direction of the film and the classic origins of the character. If it wasn’t shot in New York, I would’ve never known. The music obviously pulls influence from the first Turtles film without being a blatant ripoff and accents the action enough to add depth to the experience, something most fan-films lack. Hilarion Banks plays the Casey character with the appropriate amount of bravado, and despite being seriously underweight to play the New York vigilante, he manages to pull it off nicely.

The costumes look great, especially Casey’s Mask and the foot ninja’s outfits. Even the (potentially movie destroying) Michelangelo costume is good enough. There’s a grit to the movie that is established very early on that I’m sure Turtles fans will appreciate. Several times during the film was genuinely impressed by the cinematography to the direction and camera work. The three acts of the film very distinct and Casey’s character develops as the movie plays out, but that’s where things get a bit hazy.

Departure from typical canon is fine. The Turtles are notorious for having a rich malleable history, and Casey Jones has taken many different character angles. Clearly the Casey that was supposed to be present here was the “CRAZY” vigilante Casey. The kill anyone that breaks the law Casey. Prior to the mask being worn I wasn’t getting “CRAZY” from that character. He was reading more as cocky with a short fuse. I don’t feel that there was a point in the story where Casey made that transformation from asshole with a hockey-stick to muderous lunatic. Also, his motivation to become a vigilante (getting beaten up in an alley, after kinda provoking the fight) seemed lackluster. The point during the second act when Casey takes a golf club to an unarmed gang member that had little to do with the crime being committed nearly detached me from the story completely. It seemed out of character for the Casey they had built.

Things also get a bit shaky in the third act. In all past origin stories for Casey Jones, the first Turtle he encounters is always Raphael. This is typically done to help develop the Raphael character and curb his temper. At first, the inclusion of Michelangelo in lieu of Raphael seemed weird, but after I noticed that Mikey’s voice was done by Robbie Rist (the same voice actor from the TMNT feature films) the change made sense. That revelation was weird for me as a huge fan. It created a odd dichotomy where they were clearly paying homage to the movies, by completely disregarding the proper origin of the Turtles/Casey relationship. But hey, if Robbie Rist agrees to voice a Turtle in your Casey Jones movie, you don’t tell him “No, that’s ok, we really need the Raph guy”, so I completely understand.

*Spoiler Alert* Also in the third act, the inclusion of Krang was odd when it would have been just as effective and probably easier to cast someone as Shredder. Having the story take place beneath some larger untold Turtles plot is classy and thought provoking and the fight sequence in the 3rd act rivals ones seen in big budget Hollywood films. The punches look like they hurt and the fight choreography is spot on. And finally, April’s wardrobe choice was ill advised at best.

With that said I was super pleased with how this turned out. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much, as I said, fan films typically aren’t good. I can say with certitude that Casey Jones does a good job telling a story, and saluting the source material while still being an impressive piece of amateur film making. Rather than being a cheese-fest, Casey Jones The Movie is cool…really cool! I can only hope that the Bankses get the appropriate attention and money for this film because clearly there is talent to be mined here.

Visit http://www.caseyjonesthemovie.com/ to watch the flick!

Verdict: Totally worth watching…more than once.

There are no words. Either that or I am just too lazy to write them. The latter is probably true. But I will say, thank you Dan Trachtenberg (@dannytrs on twitter).

Also, catch Dan, along with Alex Albrecht and Jeff Cannata on their daily web show, The Totally Rad Show! Great show for geeks!

A woman wakes up in a room with no memory of who she is or how she got there. This is a short set in the world of the Portal video games created by Valve Software.

Unlike Thor and Iron Man, Captain America has very humble origins that lead him to being the heart of the Avengers.  The biggest idea The First Avenger has is to establish is Captain America as a believably sympathetic, self-less and honorable everyman that’s put into a position to make a change.  Aside from not screwing up the origin story, that’s really the only big responsibility Joe Johnston and team had when developing the direction of the movie.  This, they get right on every level. 

Chris Evans, A.K.A. generic white actor #14, is tapped to play the Capt.  He previously played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic 4 movies, so going into production fans have reason to be nervous about Evans’ Captain.  Not that he was bad as Johnny Storm, it was quite the opposite, Evans’ performance as The Human Torch helps make those movies watchable.  Its just once an actor is established in a universe as a character, if the actor isn’t good enough and can’t adapt with the new character both the actor and the movies can be damaged. 

I am happy to report that the Chris Evans that was in Fantastic 4 is not the same Evans that is in Captain America.  He did an amazing job embodying the character and, for an actor that typically takes heavily comedic roles, does a great job disappearing into the drama of the story.  Going in as a huge skeptic, I was very surprised at the effort I saw to let Captain America be Captain America. 

Its wasn’t Chris Evans’ interpretation of the character (I.E. Seth Rogen in Green Hornet, Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern), it was Captain America using Chris Evans as his Avatar for the production of the movie.  The CG used to make Evans scrawny in the first act of the film wasn’t annoying like I originally imagined it being and enough screen time was given to the pre-Captain Steve Rodgers, for the transformation to be impactful.  

The other casting choices were golden as well: Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips, Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine and strangely enough Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan are the standouts.  Weaving as Red Skull works really well, especially prior to the dramatic reveal of the skull.  Unlike Natalie Portman in Thor, Hayley Atwell is an actress whose level of stardom matches the significance of her character, Peggy Carter.

Despite being a period piece, the movie buries no leads when tying itself to the Avengers.  The movie is bookended by scenes in present day and while I wouldn’t call the ending a cliffhanger, I would say it ties directly into the beginning of the upcoming Avenger’s movie.  Set during WWII, Captain America was to be the first of an army of Super Soldiers created by the US government to fight the Nazis.  Most specifically they were to fight HYDRA, the quickly-becoming-rogue German research group growing in power. 

This is a curious angle for the movie to take.  The world’s greatest war, and the world’s most notorious enemy, are almost a footnote in the film.  Having Captain America fight HYDRA detaches the story from history a bit.  I’m not sure when it became unacceptable to fight Nazis in PG-13 movie, but I do see it being hard to sell toys with Swastikas one them. We also don’t need a repeat of the notoriously bad Nazi scene in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. 

Like any good summer movie, there’s a fair amount of comedy included.  Tasteful one liners are spouted by nearly every character. In a smart move, Captain America typically plays the straight man, leaving the comedy to peripheral characters.  The most satisfying humor comes from Tommy Lee Jones in a way that only he can provide.  A few spots in the film didn’t carry the emotional queues they were probably supposed to.  Both the death of Bucky Barnes and the climactic finale that leaves the Captain frozen are emotionally dead, but I can’t point to anything tangible in the movie to blame.

The problem with Captain America releasing last is that the formula in Thor is visible in The First Avenger.  The Warriors Three and Sif were used in Thor as a way of throwing the comic readers a bone.  Its worked really well there, but in Captain American, when he’s choosing his soldiers to take into battle (Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, Jacques Dernier, and James Montgomery Falsworth) the scene and characters seemed forced.  All of them are minor established characters in the greater Marvel Universe but they hold zero significance to the story in the movie.  I don’t know if this fell short because of it being the second attempt to wink at the core audience or if the characters should have been disposable extras, but it will probably go unnoticed by most of the audience. 

Captain America has good pacing and it balances action and story extremely well.  The entire movie feels very carefully crafted to hit all of the necessary plot points, visual queues and humorous quips.  Obviously alot of hands were in the pot when making Captain America, and while most movies would feel watered down or seem like there are playing it too safe, The First Avenger feels genuine.  It comes off as patriotic, but not in the obnoxious way that everyone is accustomed to these days.  By the end, you want the Captain to run down that plane on foot, even though you know its not possible.  Stick around after the credits, you will not be disappointed.

Verdict: Rediculously satisfying shield-play.

Check out the Comic-con trailer below before it hits the show floor.

The initial hype surrounding the Harry Potter movies was huge; the Sorcerer’s Stone convinced Hollywood that the Potter name could be a bankable success.  I initially tried watching it way back when it was first released on VHS, (that’s right, VHS) and couldn’t get past the children with British accents.  I don’t know what bugs me about them, but the kids with accents just made the movie feel like it was for someone else.  I didn’t pick the series back up for about 4 more years.  After the release of The Goblet of Fire, I tried it again.  I watched the first 2 movies and gained a passing interest in the series.

The biggest hurdle I had to get past was the silliness of the magic and the fact that any story that involves magic is inherently broken.  With the number of spells available to the wizards, one would think that many of the things that get done by the characters would be much easier if they could just wave their wands to do them.  The same thing happens in time travel movies, so putting on a veil of naivety and just enjoying the show was familiar enough.  But even in The Deathly Hallows Part 2, I found myself self saying, “shouldn’t they have a spell for that?”

The Sorcerer’s Stone did a great job misdirecting the audience and revealing that Snape wasn’t a bad dude.  As necessary, it spent a lot of time setting up the fiction and establishing the universe.  The scene where the children are introduced to the moving stairs, stands out as a ridiculous slice of magic absurdity that is unfortunately needed to bring the scope of the universe together.  In other words, I hate that scene and many others in the early movies where characters point out magic things that hold no relevance or a greatly contrived relevance to the story.

Despite this Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets have a charm to them that is distinctly different from the later movies.  There’s a youthful innocence to the main three protagonists that leaves them seeming like they’re children playing in an adult’s world.  Sure they ARE children, but the gravity of the situation hasn’t quite set in yet.

It wasn’t until I watched the Prisoner of Azkaban that I saw what everyone else was seeing.  The story took a turn and real progress was made to bring Harry’s importance to light.  Outside of Professor Snape, Sirius Black’s character was the most compelling person to have been introduced thus far.  I was hooked and immediately watched the Goblet of Fire.  To this day, I think the Goblet of Fire is the strongest of the first 7 movies.  It’s the turning point in the series where the children have to deal with death and genuine heavy handed fear.

The Order of the Pheonix wrapped up the middle trilogy of movies nicely weaved the ministry of magic in with the overarching conflicts.  Party lines were drawn and allegiances were defined.  This was the beginning of the war and the major players were established.  These three movies (Azkaban, Goblet and Pheonix) are the series at its best.  They are balanced movies that cover a lot of story and give the world depth.  The next two movies are disappointing for two very different reasons.

The Half Blood Prince, feels like the series is treading water.  Important things happen in the story, but the movie’s odd focus on the personal relationships is a step backward for the maturity of the characters.  The relationships (Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione) that were previously developing naturally were uncomfortably manufactured in Half Blood Prince.  Also, considering the importance of the parallel story that kills Dumbledore, the love stories seem immature and tacky.

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a movie that’s in a weird place.  It’s the first half of a story that has all of the action in the second half.   This creates a somewhat boring movie.  A lot of stuff happens, and its not a bad movie, but watching it you get the feeling that Part 1 has to kinda suck so Part 2 can be amazing. Throw in the saddest death imaginable and the viewer is more than primed for the grand finale of the series.

I’m not going to review The Deathly Hallows itself, but I will say that if you have stuck with the series thus far, Part 2 will blow you away.  How I made it 4 years since the release of the book without spoilers, is beyond me.  The only bad thing I can say about the deathly Hallows Part 2 is that to fully appreciate it you have to watch over 15-16 hours of the previous Harry Potter films.

For a series to maintain such a huge success rate for such a long time is astonishing.  The lack of missteps along the way is a testament to the talent and dedication of the production staff.  The casting has been stellar, with the highlights being Alan Rickman as Snape, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood.    I’m going to miss Harry Potter, but at the same time I hope the series if left dormant.  The story was wrapped up nicely, so there’s no need to delve back into the universe.  8 movies is enough.

It recently became the most watched network comedy on television, and is sure to remain on the air for years to come, but there are some underlying issues with The Big Bang Theory that just don’t sit right with me.  I haven’t watched the series extensively, but everything I’ve seen portrays nerd culture is a negative light.  The main characters are admittedly nerds and geeks.  This is fine, they work at Caltech, so a bit of realism should be included.  My issue with the show is not the characters or the setting but the angle of the jokes.

Rather than nerd-culture being the venue for the jokes, its the punch line.  It doesn’t so much celebrate the nerd culture, as it does openly mock it.  Much like what Will and Grace did to gay culture, The Big Bang Theory points and laughs at the stereotypical characteristics of being a smart dork.  I wouldn’t say I’m a Nerd-culture specialist or even that I fall squarely into the mold of that demographic, but I understand the appeal.  I have nerd tendencies, and probably know more about Star Wars, Comic Books and Video Games, than the average Joe.

Typically its not easy to be what is essentially an outsider.  Social awkwardness and heightened intellect are two things that don’t resonate with the masses and the masses treat it as such.  These traits are also found in “nerds”. Shining a light on these traits only makes public opinion of them worse. 

It’s the equivalent of having an African American show where all the characters constantly eat fried chicken and watermelon.  Sure, that’s an extreme way to look at it, but reinforcing stereotypes that are not representative of the entire culture, and are also potentially tied to painful moments in people’s lives is irresponsible.

Other shows get away with protrarying stereotypes because of their target audience.  Family Guy, South Park, and Chappelle’s Show have all used stereotypes to fuel their humor, but the difference is that both the creators and the audience know its being done ironically.  Its not the stereotypes that are funny its the act of the characters clinging to them that drives the humor.  Peter Griffin reffering to every asain person he sees as Jackie Chan is an example of Peter Griffin being an idiot, not the creators saying its ok to think all asian’s look alike. 

Maybe I’m over thinking it.  Some of the jokes are funny, I guess, in a CBS comedy kind of way.  Admittedly I haven’t watched extensive amounts of the show, and I’m sure my opinion will be heavily derided by fans of the show.  Its not supposed to be a serious show and these characters are obviously liked, or the show wouldn’t be such a huge success.  In the end it may be harmless, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable when I see it.