Superbaby loves the ‘Cars!’

As you walked to the entrance of the convention hall for Day-2 of the 2013 Phoenix Comicon there were a dozen or more genre themed vehicles parked along the west side of the building including the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1, Jurassic Park Jeeps, a pair of Knight Rider cars and Bumble Bee from the Transformers series. It was an exciting way to rev-up for a day of pop culture cavorting.

Just because the Con is rife with science-fiction and fantasy, that doesn’t mean you can’t find some real science and/or scientists among the festivities. And so to bring things back down to Earth I decided to sit in on a presentation of the ASU and U of A efforts to find life on other planets.

Scientists Marc Neveu, Dan Berman, Paul Davies, Dr. David Williams and Steve Desch talked about astrobiology and the process of searching for alien life and exploring our Solar System and beyond.  This was a fantastic panel discussion that covered both history and future planned missions; and the presentation included amazing real images from the surface of other worlds. If you would like see some of these awesome visuals, visit uahirise.org.

After feeling somewhat smarter after sitting in on the “Exploring the Solar System” panel, I inadvertently took two steps back by attending the Michael Rooker event in the Con’s main ballroom, where the actor seemed to be nearly as crazy, rude and irreverent as his character, Merle, on The Walking Dead television series.

The veteran actor was making sexist comments to the female moderator and communicating with fans by saying things like, “Go ahead and ask your question, Boy!” While some of this was slightly humorous, it was uncomfortable and left me with an overall distaste for the man. While I admire Rooker’s resume and acting ability, I have to give his personal appearance at the Con a reluctant thumbs-down.

Mr. Freeze and Friend

As you would expect, the number of attendees on Friday increased greatly from what was seen on opening night, and the number of incredible costumes increased commensurately. The highlights included a life-like Mr. Freeze and a female version of Thor’s evil sibling, Loki. Also on hand was a pretty sweet Green Arrow & Black Canary couple. (See our Friday photo gallery at the bottom of this post.)

Speaking of Green Arrow, I was able to meet comic-book legend Neal Adams at his Con booth (#772) and got an autographed graphic novel compilation of the artist’s revolutionary work on the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic series of the early seventies. If you make it out to the Con this weekend, a stop at Mr. Adams table is highly recommended.

Later in the afternoon, TheOneRing.net held an “unauthorized” sneak-peak at The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug film (opening in theatres on Dec. 13, 2013.) Their presentation contained several still images from the upcoming film which is currently in production, but their sources claim that the dragon Smaug will not be seen by human eyes until Bilbo sees the enormous creature in the movie. The Dragon is currently the best kept secret in Hollywood.

I wrapped up the evening again with the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS) finals. (You can read how the preliminary rounds went in our Thursday Con coverage.) Four pairs of contestants competed until only one was left standing and here’s how it all went down.

Who is the wiser headmaster, Albus Dumbledore or Professor Xavier?

Peter argued that Professor X runs Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters by himself and he was able to come back from the dead; the X-men’s headmaster has a lot on his plate and he does it all from a wheelchair. John countered that Dumbledore does everything Xavier can do, but he’s 5-times older; that, and he personally trained Harry Potter.
Winner: Peter with Professor X

Who would win a chess match between Data and Mr. Spock?

Scott suggested that Data could outwit Spock logically and outlast him physically, because he is an android. He also remembered that Spock once lost a chess game to Captain Kirk. Richard answered that Data has an emotion-chip, not a brain-chip, and all Spock has to do is shut Data off if he should start to win.
Winner: Richard with Spock

Who is the better imaginary friend, Tyler Durden (Fight Club) or Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)?

Mike began with the case that Tyler Durden is inside all of us and that he makes us a better man because he makes us think like we want to think. Nico argued that Hobbes is a tiger and, “What kid doesn’t want a tiger?” Nico then confessed that he didn’t know who either character was.
Winner: Mike with Tyler Durden

Who is the creepier ghost, Patrick Swayze (Ghost) or Slimer (Ghostbusters)?

Jake offered that Swayze was creepier because at least Slimer doesn’t try to sleep with you as another person. Shawn countered that Swayze at least goes away in the end and that Slimer is everywhere you go, sliming you in the face. There was also a side argument regarding Whoopie Goldberg’s “slime” that I won’t get into…
Winner: Shawn with Slimer

Which is the more valuable book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the Necronomicon?

Peter argued that the Guide is more valuable because it has the word “galaxy” in the title and it is accessible to use by anyone. Shawn countered that the guide is just the “Wikipedia” of the galaxy and that Wikipedia is free and therefore has no value; whereas the Necronomicon is the only book of its kind and it’s made with human skin.
Winner: Shawn with Necronomicon

2013 PUGS Champ Mike DeLong

Which is the cooler hat, Dr. Who’s fez or Jayne Cobb’s knit hat?

Mike claimed Dr. Who’s fez is superior because it has a tassel and Jayne’s hat is really just a crocheted sock. Richard argued that the fez is not really a hat at all and that Jayne’s knit hat is badass and awesome for use in space.
Winner: Mike with Dr. Who’s fez

PUGS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Which is the wiser philosophy?  ’Live long and prosper.’ or ‘Be excellent to each other.’

Mike stated that, “Be excellent to each other,” from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, is the soul of Comicon. Shawn surrendered after failing to prove that the Vulcan hand gesture together with the “Live long and prosper” philosophy were like bible commandments.
Winner: Mike with “Be excellent to each other.”

And so Mike DeLong was crowned PUGS Champion for 2013 and was awarded a one-of-a-kind trophy handcrafted by Dr. Diabolic with all sorts of genre-related geekery. Congrats to Mr. DeLong!

Stay tuned for more of our Phoenix Comicon coverage and until then, “be excellent to each other!”

2013 Phoenix Comicon Photo Gallery

Spider-Man, at the Fortress of Solitude…?

Love was in the air at Phoenix Comicon 2013 during its Thursday (or Thor’s Day might be more appropriate) opening night festivities; and I don’t mean just the crowds of pop culture enthusiasts’ adoration of all things comic, sci-fi and fantasy related. To wrap up the evening, the PUGS (Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown) competition was capped with a nerd-style marriage proposal.

Doors opened at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, but anxious attendees started picking up their badges as early as noon, and within a couple of hours there were already hundreds of people in line to be the first ones into the “southwest’s signature pop culture event.”

(See photo gallery for Thursday at the bottom of this post.)

Some of the highlights encountered Thursday evening included incredibly cool photo opportunities. The Justice League of Arizona has set-up a giant-sized JLA comic cover you can pose in front of and a replica of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. (I can tell you that the JLA’s Superman was none too pleased that Spider-Man was seen inside his secret hideout.)

No Droids allowed at the Mos Eisley Bar

The 501st Legion Dune Sea Garrison has also created an amazing Star Wars photo-op area, complete with a Mos Eisley Bar and a Greedo bar stall (where there is no question about who shoots first.) The Chambers of Fear Haunted House exhibit also has a very fun photo area; so the bottom line is, if you’re headed out to the Con, do NOT forget your camera.

The exhibition floor this year appears to have been expanded to allow for more vendors and a little more space for the attendees to walk between all of the genre goodness. The crowds on Thursday evening steadily increased from the opening at 4:00 p.m. through the exhibit floor’s closing at 9:00 p.m. Take note that the exhibition hall closes at 7:00 pm. Friday & Saturday and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Another highlight of the evening was the first look at the Steampunk Village, which is showcasing a very large vintage robotic diving suit created by The Foundry. The always captivating Katherine Stewart of Desert Rose Theatre was also on hand at the village to charm the curious con-goers.

The evening was finished off with what has become one of the must-see events of the convention, the first round of the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS). This show is coordinated by host Jeff Moriarty of Ignite Phoenix, Jonathan Simon of Lightning Octopus, the Midnite Movie Mamacita and Dr. Diabolic.

The rules of PUGS are that two contestants are given a random geeky topic to debate, with no prior knowledge of what the subject matter will be. The host assigns the competitors a side to defend and they are each given an opportunity to make an opening and closing statement, with a lively debate in-between. The audience then picks a winner who will go on the PUGS finale. Here’s a rundown of Thursday’s competition:

Who is the better superhero team, the JLA or the Avengers?

Bradford argued that despite being handicapped by Aquaman, the JLA has proven its superiority by the multiple times in which they have saved the world. Nico defended the Avengers by noting that their roster includes an actual God.
Winner: Nico with The Avengers.

Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown

Which are the more useless henchmen, Storm Troopers from Star Wars, or Monarch’s #21 and #24?

Christopher defended the Storm Troopers by noting that their marksmanship is terrible and that they clearly have visibility issues. Peter countered that the Monarch’s henchmen have to wear tights, use rubber-band shooters and no one even knows who they are.
Winner: Peter with the Monarch’s henchmen.

Which is the better van-based problem-solving team, the Mystery Machine or the A-Team?

Ben claimed the Mystery Machine better represents diversity, including the inter-species variety, and that no one on the A-Team is awesome enough to wear one of Fred’s outfits. Shawn defended the A-Team by saying that Mr. T alone makes their side a more diverse team, plus they have a cooler theme song.
Winner: Shawn with the A-Team.

Which is the more badass butler, Jarvis or Alfred?

Chris defended Jarvis by claiming that he was built by Tony Stark and can perform his duties almost anywhere Tony is. He also offered that eventually Alfred will die, whereas Jarvis can potentially live forever. Scott positioned that Alfred maintains the Bat Cave and he raised Bruce Wayne, and that without his assistance the Batman would be completely psychotic.
Winner: Scott with Alfred.

Who is the sexier senior-citizen, Sean Connery or Patrick Stewart?

Miguel offered that even though The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie sucked, Connery was still sexy in it; and though there have been several actors who have portrayed James Bond, Connery is still the one who is most identified with the role. John countered that Patrick Stewart’s sexiness brought Star Trek back from the dead and that he even makes a guy in a wheelchair look sexy.
Winner: John with Patrick Stewart.

Which has the more effective prosthetic weapon, Merle from The Walking Dead, or Ash from Evil Dead?

Jake sided with Ash saying you can’t chop people up with a robotic hand that will most likely malfunction, and that when used properly a chainsaw hand can even snap a bra-strap. Ariel defended Merle by noting that the chainsaw is likely to run out of gas and that girls would be terrified by it.
Winner: Jake with Ash.

PUGS Wedding Proposal

Are spoilers good or bad?

Mara concluded that spoilers are bad because they ruin things that people would rather find out for themselves. Mike countered that life is too short and people should take their destiny into their own hands. If someone had told him about Attack of the Clones beforehand, he could have saved two-hours of his life.
Winner: Mike with spoilers are good.

Which is more fun to play, Magic the Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons?
Anthony charged that Magic is easy to play and easy to learn and can be played anywhere; he also enjoys the thrill of bringing an opponent to tears in 6 cards or less. Defending PUGS Champion, Richard Mansfield argued that with D&D one can create their own story and a character you develop yourself has potential to live forever.
Winner: Richard with D&D.

After the final round of PUGS, Richard was asked to stay behind to face-off in a bonus round against Lightning Octopus, Jonathan Simon. But this was just a ruse to set up defending champ’s girlfriend, who was suddenly asked to replace Jonathon on the stage. In front of the standing room only crowd, the geek champion then asked his girlfriend to marry him; and with a friend reenacting the famous boombox scene from Say Anything… she said, “Yes!” And it was a perfect way to end the evening.

Attention parents with children – For Friday – Sunday, the non-profit group Kids Need to Read will be sponsoring a free “Build-a-Book” event with renowned children’s author & illustrator, Steven Riley. Three times per day, at 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM, your child can help build a book from scratch with Mr. Riley. You must sign-up in advance at the Kids Need to Read booth #459 and up to 24 children can participate in each session, which lasts approximately 1-hour. It’s a great opportunity for your child to get excited about the literary arts. Also, don’t forget to check out the Kids Need to Read art auction at booth #465.

Phoenix Comicon 2013: Thursday’s Photo Gallery

It’s a bold move to use a grandiose adjective like “Epic” as the name of your movie and you are guaranteed to open yourself up to criticism if you fail to deliver on that titular statement. I will concede that the beautiful and meticulous animation in this film is on a grand scale, but the basic story is pretty much your average ‘angry-teen-saves-the-world’ cartoon.

Mary Katherine, or “M.K.” as she prefers to be called, is a young woman in her late teens who has recently lost her mother and is now forced to live with her estranged father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), in his home/laboratory that is located on the edge of a vast forest.

The wacky Professor Bomba is convinced that the woods are populated by tiny people and his crazy obsession with proving this theory has broken up his marriage and put a wedge between him and his daughter. But just as M.K. (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) is ready to run away from her new home, she has a run-in with the mystical “Queen” of the forest (Beyoncé Knowles), who is wounded by an enemy arrow; and as the Queen dies, Mary Katherine is magically shrunk down to the same size as the tiny forest citizens.

M.K. soon finds herself in the middle of fight between the Leaf Men, who are the guardians of the forest, and the Boggans, who are nasty little creatures who just want to make the forest rot and decay. The Leaf Men look like humans, but with leaf attire and battle armor. I’m not sure exactly what form of life the Boggans are supposed to be, but they resemble frogs, or some other sort of reptile, with shark-like heads and teeth.

The Boggans are led by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) and the Leaf Men army is guided by Ronin (Colin Farrell), and when Mandrake’s son, Dagda (Blake Anderson), is killed in battle, the maniacal little tyrant swears vengeance against the forest protectors.

In the midst of an all-out war between the good and bad factions, M.K. and her new Leaf Warrior friend, Nod (Josh Hutcherson), must transport a flower bud, which holds the new Queen’s essence, to a caterpillar called Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler), a Wizard of Oz like character who will allegedly know how to extract the Queen’s spirit.

M.K. and Nod are accompanied by a slug with an attitude, Mub (Aziz Ansari), and a snail, Grub (Chris O’Dowd), which means, I believe, that animated animal characters in movies have now reached the bottom of the food chain – with the Steven Tyler “Nim” character’s song & dance number being the absolute bottom.  (Where is Earthworm Jim when you need him?) For a slug, though, Ansari’s Mub character steels the show as he is infatuated with M.K. and becomes irate when anyone else looks her way – very weird, but funny.

There are parts of this film that felt like Lord of the Rings meets Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. I was very impressed by the detail that went into the battle sequences of this film and it is probably worth re-watching just to see the parts you will most certainly miss with just one viewing due to the huge amount of action on screen. The aerial fight sequences, between the Leaf Men riding various birds and Boggans on crows and bats, are also amazing.

The voice talent in Epic is well suited for the most part, with the exception of singers Beyoncé and Tyler, whose modern, street-savvy, soulful voices seemed out of place in what is an otherwise medieval styled tale of good versus evil.  It’s strange that although I like a lot of Steven Tyler’s music with the band Aerosmith (circa the 1970’s records at least), I really disliked his voice in this movie and that he was also my biggest issue with The Polar Express, where his short cameo almost ruins the movie.

With the exception of Tyler’s ill-suited blues number in the middle of the film, the rest of the Danny Elfman composed score was very enjoyable. Epic is directed by Chris Wedge of Ice Age fame (he is also the voice of Ice Age’s Scrat character) and it was written by a number of screenwriters including the book’s author, William Joyce, who also wrote and illustrated the children’s book, The Guardians of Childhood, upon which last winter’s animated Rise of the Guardians film was based.

I think the tween crowd thru adults who enjoy fantasy will have a good time at this movie, but I’m not convinced very young children, who typically don’t appreciate the art behind the animation, are going to be tolerable of the lulls in the action. Overall this is a fine family film, but not one that lives up to its lofty title. Grade: 7.5/10 

Photos © 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

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According to Minnesota newspaper, The Star Tribune, David Gonzalez was tearing out a wall in an abandoned home he had purchased for $10,100 when he discovered the treasure; but the story gets even stranger.

When Mr. Gonzalez was showing the extremely rare find to his family an over-rambunctious aunt grabbed the book from him and ripped the back cover, seriously diminishing its value. The comic ended up with a CGC Grade of 1.5/10.

Nevertheless, the book currently has bids up to $127,000 on the comic auction website ComicConnect.com and that’s already a super return on a ten-thousand dollar investment. In 2011, an Action Comics #1 in much better condition sold for $2.16 million; so the moral of this story is, ‘don’t ever let anyone touch your comics.’

Images © 2013 ComicConnect

When the Fast & Furious director, Justin Lin, and writer, Chris Morgan, realized they were limiting their audience to the underground racing and car aficionado demographic, they amped up the action and stunts to a James Bond level with the fifth franchise installment, Fast Five, thus broadening the appeal of their films to wider audience of action addicts. Fast & Furious 6 now follows that formula with some of the craziest stunt work you’re likely to see.

The synopsis of this film? Oh … you mean the ‘story’ that fills in the gaps between the elaborate action sequences that were obviously conceived independently and prior to any kind of logical narrative. Well, it’s got something to do with some sort of doomsday device that a band of maniac mechanics, led by the ominous villain, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), are trying to steal from the military. Of course, the only people who can possibly stop the bad guys are Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) legendary gang of street racers.

Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) recruits Dom’s team, which includes former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Han (Sung Kang), the Asian drift-driver, the street-savvy Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and computer genius Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), to help him and his sexy new partner, Riley (Gina Carano), to apprehend Shaw before he destroys the world.

I love the way in which the film’s creators have upped the antagonistic scale to apocalyptic proportions and though I don’t think they intended the campy charge I got out of this comic-book styled concept, it was still fun seeing these street thugs save civilization as we know it – even though they’re only doing it for selfish reasons.

Also in the mix of convoluted plotlines is the return of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), who was killed in the first Fast & Furious film (if I have my Fast & Furious facts straight) but is now back, but with amnesia and working for Shaw’s team of evildoers. Even though Dominic now has another lady, he still has a thing for Letty, and his current squeeze is cool with him going after her. Now we’re talking some serious furious fantasy. This scenario sounds like something out of The Bold & the Beautiful soap opera rather than The Fast & Furious.

Will Hobbs and Dom’s gang capture Shaw and save the planet? Will Letty regain her memory in time to help? Will there be any cause for macho posturing and ultra-corny tough-guy lines? Only 130 minutes and an untold number of innocent bystanders mowed over by maniacal car (and tank) drivers will tell.

Not only does Fast & Furious 6 raise the bar for outlandish car stunts and fight sequences, it also sets a new standard for dumb dialogue and ridiculousness. But somehow, the film still manages to make its many weak points seem endearing in a bad cult-movie kind of way. In the screening I attended the audience vocally loved the silliness of it all; a reaction that was both scary and exhilarating.

The big stars of Fast & Furious 6, Diesel and Johnson, both have huge followings, and I can understand it with ‘The Rock,’ who has some decent acting chops (though not present in this film), a big screen presence, and he had a huge fanbase prior to his movie career; but I don’t get the appeal of Diesel. He reminds me of a cross between Mr. Magoo and Rocky Balboa, but with less acting ability, and Michelle Rodriguez is like his slightly more attractive female counter-part.

If you are already a Fast & Furious fan, then nothing I say here is going to sway you from seeing this film, but if you’re not a fan, even though this is a pretty bad movie interspersed with first-rate action sequences, it’s still worth a look for some fun mindless thrills and unintentional comedy. Grade: 6/10

Photos © 2013 Universal Pictures

It’s been four years since the original Hangover events and though Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) seem to have recovered from their Vegas and Bangkok (The Hangover Part II- 2011) misadventures, the spoiled man-child, Alan (Zach Galifianakis), is still living with his parents spending a carefree life of blissful irresponsibility.

After Alan has an unfortunate accident with a giraffe on the freeway and then sits idly by, listening to Billy Joel’s “My Life” with his headphones on, as his father, Sid (Jeffrey Tambor), dies from a heart-attack; the responsible members of the “Wolfpack” decide it’s time for their furriest member to get some professional help.

While on a road-trip to take Alan to an Arizona rehab facility the friends are abducted by a mobster named Marshall (John Goodman) and his crew, including Black Doug (Mike Epps) from the original Hangover.  With a twisted viewpoint that only makes sense to the gangster, Marshall holds the Wolfpack responsible for millions of dollars in gold that was stolen from him by their evil acquaintance, Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong); and so he kidnaps Alan’s brother, Doug (Justin Bartha), and threatens to kill him unless the goofy gang can bring Chow to him.

Chow has recently escaped from a Bangkok prison and made his way back to the United States. He’s been in casual contact with Alan via text messages and when the team determines he is in Tijuana, they head south of the border to try to apprehend the crazy androgynous Asian.

Hangover hijinks ensue as the Wolfpack swings between helping Chow and trying to hunt him down for Marshall. And before you can say, “back, Jack, do it again,” they find themselves back in Vegas where they end up running into old friends, like Jade (Heather Graham) and her baby – now a young boy – from the first film; and Alan even falls in love with a pawn shop owner played by the popular and funny Melissa McCarthy in a cameo appearance.

As mentioned, the film is missing its requisite morning-after scene and in fact I only recall one short instance where the characters are even seen imbibing in this movie. This is both a disappointing and a refreshing break from tradition and although I applaud writer/director Todd Phillips for going in a somewhat new direction, it was a little like watching an Indiana Jones movie without a lost artifact.

Galifianakis in particular is still outrageously hilarious and he carries this film even more so than he did in the first two movies in the franchise. Without him this would be like watching The 3 Stooges without Curly – amusing, but nowhere near as funny.

If you’ve never seen a Hangover film before, be prepared, as there is plenty of dark crude humor in this series and Part III is no exception, with the Chow character being the most offensive one of all – and he has a much larger role in this movie. It’s funny to be sure, but might rub some sensitive moviegoers the wrong way.

Although The Hangover Part III is dumb, rude and rehashes a lot of old material, it is still insanely funny and entertaining. And make sure you stay past the first run of credits for a fun surprise that makes the whole ride worthwhile. Grade: 7/10

Photos © 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.