April 2013 - test

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Hide!

Look in the middle.

How many times have I looked at this poster and NOT seen the freakiest part!?!
Beware! My post is spoilery as always and meant to be enjoyed POST viewing.

Stormy weather! Creepy old house!! Paranormal activity reading devices! Psychic girl!! This episode just starts off with ALL the cool stuff! Instantly delivering on all the creep the poster promised! Then, THAT GHOST!!!!! Not some weak whispy thing...it had a freaky face and errythang! Now, when the ominous banging at the door started, we all KNEW it was the Doctor. Loved his cheekiness when he popped his head out all of a sudden and threw out a "BOO!!".... "We're looking for a ghost.", immediately followed by Clara's "Ghostbusters!!" quip. *happy sigh*

I know we all died over the next line. Instead of the new guy responding with "Doctor who??" he said "Doctor what?" and the Doctor was all "If you like!" Hahaaaa!!!! Doctor What. Oh TimeLORDY that was too good.

In my book, the mark of an awesomely exceptional movie or TV episode is when its so loaded with great lines that you want to quote them ALL all day!! Erryday!! I can't even decide what to highlight next!! I just want to rewatch the whole episode and pause it every few seconds to quote all the brilliant things that came out of the Doctors mouth! And Claras!! We're gonna have to do a twitter rewatch together sometime with #Hide as the hashtag so we can just quote and comment away.

Another minor detail that I loved was how the Doctor brought up all the things he admired about the guy (getting especially excited when calling him a Ghost Hunter), but all to point out that this guy was great, brave, and humble. The Doctor seems to always, even in his mad 10 million words and thoughts per second, find a moment to encourage someone who's a bit forgotten or perhaps a tad deflated. It wasn't empty flattery, it was a plain old "well-done" pat on the back respect. With the Doctor, nothing is empty or fake. Even when he's lying, it's always for a reason. Usually to save our butts. (Rule 1: The Doctor Lies.) There are always many meaningful nuggets that occur so fast; the Doctor just screams along at such a genius alien pace that you barely get a chance to register them sometimes. He started to say really nice things to the girl who was an Empathic, but Clara sensed it wasn't the time or the right thing to say and stopped him. He means well! He just gets carried away with all the stuff he knows! Anywhooo... I'm getting carried away now.

I especially loved that board with all the photos of the ghost. Very cool. Very demented faces. Loved it. Having the "ghost" turn out to be the FIRST time traveler was AWESOME. I dunno why, but I particularly like that she wore a white space suit of sorts.

Know what else I loved? Clara's faces!!! Her expressions... I love it when actors don't stand there all boring like. I once watched the movie A Knight's Tale specifically to observe Wot the entire time because he was perpetually hilarious even if it wasn't his scene. I'm starting to want to watch Clara like that because she's so... not dull... and she's, dare I say, SO CUTE!!

I haven't even gotten to all the poingnat moments with the Doctor. The episode was crammed full of them. In particular, the scene when they were developing the photos was pretty loaded with meaning. The Doctor's face after this exchange caused some pretty legit feelings:

The Doctor: (asking the guy, Alec, about himself) How does that man? That war hero? End up here, in this lonely old mansion looking for ghosts?

Alec Palmer: Because I killed. And I caused to have killed. I sent young men and women to their deaths, and here I am, still alive. It..it does tend to haunt you...living. After so much of... the other thing.

There was also that other little moment after the Doctor had taken a photo of their location at every point in time ("When are we!" Clever Clara!), when Clara asked if her grave was out there somewhere. We know the Doctor has seen her gravestone. Again, his face. The knowing yet unsure look on his face at that moment. *feelings*

I bet we're all alive to him. All the time. Surely he remembers us like that rather than as dead?

Now, onto the curious case of the TARDIS always locking Clara out. Or as Clara called her, the grumpy old cow!! LOL. You know, I wonder if the TARDIS locks her out because Clara died that one time kind of as a result of just walking into the TARDIS and then being followed by that frozen governess monster chick? Maybe it's a health and safety thing? That said, she's awfully persistent about not letting Clara in. I do love that the TARDIS finally responded to Clara and that they rescued the Doctor together. Togther! Not only that, but the Empathic girl, Emma, rescued EVERYONE. Even the TARDIS!

THEN... THEN!!!! It all turned out to be a love story. And not just between Alec and Emma. It was about love lost and found again. Even if they were kind of, errm, awkward looking creatures. Love is love! It is always beautiful. It even made those creatures, however strange they may appear to our sense of beauty, beautiful to us.

Now, there is SO much more to comment about on that episode, that I am seriously serious about doing a twitter re-watch sometime. Let's do it after the season ends when all feel like dying. Perhaps it will comfort us.

Can't wait for our next Journey!!

Together in Timey Wimey,

Heather

The Incredible Dork

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Movie Review: Upstream Color

Upstream Color is undoubtedly science fiction, but not in the way we’re accustomed to seeing it in Hollywood. It takes place neither in the future nor a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. There are no lasers, spaceships, sophisticated gadgets, or remarkable inventions. The film takes place in modern-day America and the characters are ordinary people. However, they are subject to circumstances that could only be born out of science fiction.

To say that there are also no aliens or strange creatures (the other big staple of sci-fi) would be both true and false at the same time in the case of this film. Unlike the traditional creatures we find in sci-fi films, which are usually some fantastic version or combination of earthly animals, the entity in Upstream Color does not seem to have a corporeal form. Described by the film’s promotional material only as an “ageless organism,” this being is never verbally referenced by any of the characters, and is never shown in any way other than how it affects the living things it comes into contact with. However, these effects are what drive the entire film.

These deviations from the Hollywood sci-fi status quo are not accidental. Acting as director, writer, producer, actor, cinematographer, editor, composer, casting director, production designer, sound designer, and distributor, Shane Carruth worked independently from Hollywood to make a specific type of film that doesn’t subscribe to any conventions. One such convention it breaks away from is a standard, linear plot. Upstream Color doesn’t tell its story from beginning to end, but instead utilizes a sort of cyclical plot structure that repeatedly references itself.

This plot structure is not used in an attempt to disguise confusion as cleverness, but as a way to connect the audience to the characters. The organism that drives our story infuses itself into a natural cycle, moving from plants, to insects, to people, to farm animals, and back into nature for the cycle to start again. All living things that comes into contact with this presence share a connection, whether they be human, animal, or plant. This connection is never fully explained or investigated; this movie isn’t about explanations, it’s about experiences and the emotions that result from them. Our two main characters, Kris (Amy Seimetz) and Jeff (Carruth), are caught in this shared experience and become part of the cycle.

Words are repeated. They’re spoken by Jeff and and repeated by Kris. They’re spoken again by Kris and repeated again by Jeff, over and over until we can’t remember who said what first, and neither can the Kris or Jeff. Everyone, including the viewer, is lost in a haze of mixed-up thoughts, memories, and emotions that continually blur together. Actions are repeated. The same experiences are played out by different entities at the same time but in different places, or in the same place but at different times, or at different times and places altogether. Sometimes the specifics aren’t obvious but the connections between entities and the emotional significance are clear. The movie cycles around and recalls itself many times, but rather than feeling redundant these repetitions instead echo emotion. This type of storytelling is sometimes disorienting spatially and chronologically; you don’t always know where or when you are, but those details become cloudy to the characters as well as the film progresses.

Yet however confusing things seem to get, there is always a sense that this is a controlled chaos; an impression that we are seeing exactly what the filmmaker wants us to see. Whether it be seemingly random shots of nature, ambiguous lines of dialogues,or distinctive audio cues, everything in Upstream Color is purposefully included to elicit a particular reaction from the viewer and specifically placed within the film in a way that’s only possible when almost all aspects of the production are controlled by one person. A collaborative effort is often what makes large films possible, but in this case it’s a singular effort from Shane Carruth that makes this smaller film so precise.

It is this irregular but exact form of storytelling that makes Upstream Color very different from what we’re used to seeing in movies. It can a bit hard to digest at first, but upon later reflection the film gives a sweet aftertaste. Simple yet stunning images and a strong emotional connection that the film has forged linger with us much longer than the confusion from the atypical narrative structure.

Grade: B

Upstream Color

Directed by: Shane Carruth

Written by: Shane Carruth

Starring: Shane Carruth, Amy Seimetz, Andrew Sensenig

Release date: April 5, 2013 (Limited); Expanding April 19 & April 26

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JOKftw or post in the comments if you've got any questions or comments.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Space: The Final Frontier... now with jokes

My goodness gracious. You just have to think that this was planned. So you mean to tell me, that someone piloted the Rover, turned the camera and snapped this picture by accident? Who am I kidding, if I had tax payer money to send something to another planet I'd do the same thing! Oh NASA, you slay me.

Reddit: Mars Rover

Monday, April 22, 2013

New Images and Plot Details - Thor: The Dark World

Chris Hemsworth and executive producer, Kevin Feige, recently spoke with USA TODAY and revealed some interesting plot points for the movie coming to theaters in November.

Ok, well remember how in the self-titled 2011 movie Thor had leave Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) on Earth so he could return home and deal with his family and it didn't seem like he would be coming back any time soon? Remember how in last summer's The Avengers, Thor magically came back to Earth to help deal with Loki and we never see him call Jane or chat with her on Skype? Yeah. He has some explaining to do.

"Thor still has lot of explaining to do, and a lot of making up. Even demigods end up in the doghouse, mate. So none of us is safe," Hemsworth.

Jane's life will be in danger and Thor will have to bring her to Asgard. "So while Thor was a fish out of water on Earth in the first two films (Thor and The Avengers), this time Jane is very much a fish out of water in Asgard," says Feige.

As you can imagine, it won't be all sunshine and rainbow bridges when Thor brings his Earth-girlfriend home. Jane will have to meet Thor's parents. So you know that whole not being good enough for your significant other's parents? Thor's mom, Frigga (Rene Russ), is the Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Marriage and Childbirth and papa Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is the Supreme God.
And lest we forget Thor's on-again/off-again Asgard-girlfriend, the warrior goddess, Sif played by Jaime Alexander.

"It's superhero action, but it's the familiar territory of a love triangle where the parents think your girlfriend is wrong for you," says Feige. "That's how the best of these movies work."

Every good super hero film needs a villain. Thor: The Dark World gets the Dark Elf Malekit played by the 9th Doctor himself, Christopher Eccleston. Malekit threatens Earth and Asgard and Thor will have show he can do more than just hit things with a hammer.

"I really wanted to ramp up his skill set in battle," says Hemsworth. "He's not just this Viking throwing the hammer. Here he's more demigod with dynamic moves we haven't seen before."

Not only will Thor have to step up his fighting game, but he's going to need some help. He's going to have to stop by Asgard-Jail and ask his brother for some help.

"Needing Loki's help turns everything on its head," says Hemsworth. "And it allows us to explore the underlying complexities of their relationship. It really ends up being a kind of chess match."

And don't worry about Loki not being as awesome and dastardly as he has been in previous movies. Kevin Feige says, "Tom has built and shaped one of the best movie villains in years with many, many layers. It will be very difficult for Loki to lose the villain status. He has that firmly in hand."

Thor: The Dark World will hit theaters on November 8th, 2013.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Movie Review: Oblivion

Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a man who yearns for the past. You can’t really blame him. In 2077, the year in which Oblivion takes place, Harper’s Earth is a desolate wasteland that was ravaged sixty years ago by a nuclear war with an alien race called the Scavengers (or “Scavs” for short). We’re given a concise yet informative history Oblivion’s world through a voice-over from our protagonist. Throughout this narration we are treated to some stunning landscapes of this bleakly beautiful world, which happens again and again throughout the course of the film. The fact that as a sci-fi film, a relatively large portion of this movie was filmed practically rather than relying on computer generated images makes these landscapes all the more impressive.

Spending most of his time at the top of a tower a mile above the ground with his communications officer (and lover) Victoria, Harper relishes in his trips to the surface to perform maintenance on mechanical drones that patrol for remaining Scavs on Earth. He clearly feels at home in the barren landscape that that is now Earth; it is his only connection to the world before the war. A world he has no knowledge or memory of since not only was it before his time, but as part of the his position as a technician he underwent a mandatory memory wipe to keep information out of the Scavs’ hands if he were to be captured... Yet he does have memory of this world. They’re only fleeting images of a woman and a city, but they’re definitely there. Yet how does he have these memories of a world that he is too young to have ever been a part of? This is just one of many questions that Oblivion presents us with.

Throughout the course of the film we of course come face-to-face with not only the Scavs, but the mysterious woman from Jack’s memories as well. But when these events occur, they only raise more questions instead of giving us answers. Something I think is taken for granted in movies today is the fact that quality exposition results in a big payoff. Oblivion is definitely a prime example of this; more than halfway through the movie we are still being presented with new questions. Everything that Jack Harper knows about his seemingly straightforward world is turned upside down and thrown into doubt, and more layers to the mystery are constantly being exposed. If there is one thing that Oblivion gets right, it’s pacing. The film has got a great flow; all scenes, whether they be expository or action-oriented, are engaging and constantly moving the story forward.

The only real problem some people might have with Oblivion’s story is that it is somewhat predictable. Most of the mysteries that we are presented with have foreseeable outcomes in at least some way. However, Oblivion is definitely not guilty of having a cookie-cutter plot stolen from other similar films. In fact, these “borrowed” scenarios are part of what makes the movie so good. The entire film is full of familiar concepts and elements from other sci-fi films. Rather than being tossed into a blender and dumped into the script, these scenarios are deftly molded together in such a way that they way they strengthen the emotional core of the film. Even though we are not surprised by most of the revelations when they come, the fact that we have been along for the ride with Jack and endured question after question in his puzzling journey, we get the same emotional gratification as he does when it finally begins to unravel and make sense.

The concept of Oblivion borrowing elements from other sci-fi films does not stop with the story; there are visual references to other science fiction films as well. Chief among the films alluded to is the king of all sci-fi films: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which has inspired the look and feel of so many other films in the genre as well. The futuristic decor of Harper’s sky tower is reminiscent of many of the set pieces in 2001. Not only is the name of a space ship in Oblivion called the Odyssey, but the rotating, circular interior of the craft is reminiscent of the Discovery One in Kubrick’s film. Even one of our first glimpses at Cruise in the futuristic Earth features him exercising by running on a type of hamster wheel contraption, which is similar to our introduction to 2001’s Dave Bowman, who is first shown while using centrifugal force to run around the interior of his ship in a similar fashion. And later on in Oblivion there are also visual and thematic nods to the Monolith and HAL 9000 of 2001.

Oblivion is like a love letter to science fiction films, culling together many of our favorite visual and narrative devices associated with the genre and forming them into one sprawling, epic, and ultimately original story. There are some plot holes you’ll find when you start thinking about the story after the film ends but the story is so engaging that you’ll hardly notice as you’re watching the movie, and the film as a whole is so entertaining and beautiful to see and hear that you won’t even care.

Grade: A-

Oblivion

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Written by: Joseph Kosinski, William Monahan, Karl Gujdusek, Michael Arndt

Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman

Release date: April 19, 2013

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JOKftw or post in the comments if you've got any questions or comments.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Doctor Who in Cold War

Guess where the TARDIS dropped these two off?

Hint: It wasn't Las Vegas!

The "Viva Las VeeGAAH!!" moment at the beginning reminded me of a favorite exchange between the Doctor and his beloved TARDIS back in "The Doctors Wife" episode:

The Doctor: You know, since we're talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable.
Idris [TARDIS]: And you have?
The Doctor: YOU didn't always take me where I wanted to go.
Idris [TARDIS]: No, but I always took you where you needed to go.
The Doctor: You did!

She, the TARDIS, clearly steered them away from their intended destination of Las Vegas in the 80's (Clara even wore a super cute TYPICAL 80's taffeta dress) to a Russian submarine during the Cold War of the 80's. With an alien.

Not just ANY alien!!! An Ice Warrior, an alien race the Doctor has encountered before. Back in his Second generation days and beyond. I'm seriously loving all these tie ins back to the old days. The beauty of Doctor Who is that we often get to see old aliens come back for modern episodes. I think we're getting it in spades for the upcoming 50th Anniversary.

Anyway, the super cool thing this time around, is that we got to see the Ice Warrior (sort of) OUT of his armor. I felt like I was watching a slightly more kid friendly version of Alien. Ya know, when the killer alien is out of sight, but you you *know* it's there, and everyone is getting picked off while hunting it down through dark tight passageways. More than that, we got what we LOVE from this show: aliens in the flesh and not CGI. Sure there were CGI moments, but there's something extra creepy about obviously TANGIBLE reptilian hands creeping out to grab people from above or behind. That's probably my favorite part of this particular episode. The creepiness and the alien hands! AND!!!.... Spaceships!!!!! Those Ice Warriors have a FREAKIN' AWESOME spaceship in the 80's!!! If the thought of BSG, Star Trek, and Star Wars gives you feelings...then the moment the alien ships descend will give you feelings, too! I'm not sorry, there is just something BAM! cool about having spaceships on your TV screen.

This episode was what I would class as a very typical Doctor Who episode. If you combine all the episodes of the past and present together, this would be one of the results you could get. Its classic Who. Its your stand-alone ep that anyone could jump into and watch. It's a piece of time (the cold war era nukes and all), it's scary, it's humor, it's the Doctor being clever AND knowing soooo much about so many aliens and histories, and it's saving the world!

Clara: Saved the world then?
The Doctor: Yeah. That's what we do.

The Ice Warrior alien wasn't the only tie in from Classic Who. Check out this little beauty comparing scenes between Two and Eleven (referring to which incarnation of the Doctor):

See you at the next episode! Looks like we're gonna need our pillows and loved ones for it. If you get scared easily, keep the lights on because next, we Hide!!!

Sincerest Bright Wishes,
Heather
The Incredible Dork

PS- OMGAH....have you seen the new poster and title for the season finale??!!!!!! *faints*

More new posters for the next bunch of upcoming Doctor Who episodes can be seen here!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer

The trailer to one of 2013's most anticipated movie trailers doe not disappoint. We see many iconic moments from the book as well as some moments that weren't in the book. We see Katniss and Peeta's Victors' Tour of the districts including the stop at District 11, the burning of the Hob, the Katniss-Gale kiss, Gale's whipping, and the start of the revolution.

Similar to the first movie's garden moment between President Snow and Seneca Crane, we get a "behind the scenes" moment not originally in the book between Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

So while we don't get a chance to see Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, or Lynn Cohen as Mags, we do get to see the return of Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci.

Are you Team Peeta or Team Gale?
What scenes from the book are you excited to see in the movie?

Let me know in the comments below!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Beauty in The Rings of Akhaten

The tone for this post can only be reverent;

more a celebration of beauty and the truly valuable than a party.

Because why? Because what a beautiful episode!!

Hopefully, you've watched it by now and can join me in reveling in it.

I love the goofiness, the cleverness, the wild fun and adventures, and the mystery that ensue in Doctor Who, but it's often the deeper meaningful episodes like The Rings of Akhaten that end up being my favorites.

For starters, the gorgeous singing aptly set the tone. How often do shows hype up music and frenzy the pace of the action just to drum up the viewer's experience when there isn't actually much going on? I love that we didn't need cool music, or something mega modern; rather, we had simple classic singing with a naturally beautiful young voice. If you think about it, that's actually quite a bold step for today that the makers of this episode took. Bravo!!

The villain of the piece wasn't much in and of itself, but he/it gave us a great backdrop to explore the concepts of what really matters. It also gave us another opportunity to see the Doctor's greatness & inner heart displayed. How awesome was that? I got a bit emotional right along with him. THEN...lo and behold, Clara shows up with another concept that was ....I just...I can't even find the words... it was just SO BEAUTIFUL.

Hold up...REWIND... how GORGEOUS was that story behind the leaf?? HOLY HEARTS OF GALLIFREY... that was a fairytale love story. These are the kinds of things of true value that we should be inspired by for our real lives. There are so many ugly and sad things out there in real life; I think it's worthwhile to be reminded of true beauty, true love, and just of genuineness in general. I'm sad that Clara experienced her loss, but all of us have heartache arrive on our doorsteps and that makes her more real for us. We can find comfort and encouragement through the imperfect lives of characters like Clara and even the Doctor himself.

While having truly learned to live with loss and sorrow, she still held on to the beauty in her memories of her mother and her parents' love. She found the good and hung on to it to get her through the loss. THEN, when she offered up that leaf to the monster, it was not something sick or weakened from bitterness. I think that leaf was truly powerful in its infinite possibilities lost because she kept her memories from being tarnished and the true power of sadness and loss remained pure and potent.

Clara is a deep cookie. We know she's shrouded with mystery, but I think we know by now that there is a whole lot more to who she is on the inside. Who or what she is, we still don't know exactly, but every time we learn more about her, we just want to know even MORE!!!!! She is strangely reminding me of Donna somehow. They are toooootally different, but Donna was special. Clara is, too. I just can't wait to see her again!!

Now, back to the villain for a split second. I just have to say I actually loved his alarm clock monster. The creature was totally cool looking and I found his futile efforts to get out of the glass box highly amusing. Which leads us to all the other aliens...LUURRRRRVE!! LOVE that we got to visit another planet and see all the crazy different alien races and the exotic markets. What I also LOVE, is that the Doctor referenced having been there before with his granddaughter. That means he was there as the First Doctor. Way back when. I must find out if it was just a reference to that time, or if there really was an episode about it. I'm also not sure why the TARDIS wasn't translating all the alien races, but it could be a side effect of the TARDIS not liking her. That concept is highlighted in the amazing theory about who Clara is, The Bad Wolfed Clara Theory. Whatever reason, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hear the original languages and sounds. Bring it!

We didn't have our minds blown by epic action and entertainment, rather, we had our minds blown by epic heart. Oh this show!!! Only Doctor Who.

There are so many more moments I could highlight! But...that's why we love to rewatch isn't it?

See you after The Cold War!!

Heather

She Dork

PS- I will, however, leave one final parting thought!! I love how the new Doctor Who intro reminds me of the old classic intros, especially now that they've incorporated the face of the Doctor into it again....

Fourth Doctor Intro:

Fifth Doctor Intro:

NGU goes to Castle Point Anime Convention!!

Castle Point Anime Convention

Venue: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

Transportation: Car (street parking), Bus, Train station nearby.

Site: www.CastlePointAnime.com

Twitter: @CastlePointCon

If you live in the NYC area, you might be familiar with the biggest con in the area, New York Comic Con, but for the die hard anime enthusiasts the convention season begins a few months earlier in April with Castle Point Anime Convention across the Hudson in Hoboken, NJ. Founded in 2008 and run by the Stevens Institute of Technology Anime Club, CPAC has been steadily growing year after year with more panels, more guests and (our favorite) more cosplay! AgroCraig and I spiked up our hair, grabbed our over sized swords and headed over.

We got to the gorgeous Stevens campus around noon and instantly saw hordes of cosplayers everywhere on the grounds. Music was playing through dorm windows, groups were taking pictures and excitement was everywhere. We headed up to the registration office to pick up our passes and start our day. By getting there around noon (we like sleeping in on Sundays) we figured that we'd be one of the last ones picking up our passes, but we were wrong. The registration office was on the 3rd floor of a building which had two other buildings connected to it, the line for picking up passes stretched throughout all three of the buildings. Luckily for us, the press line was maybe 2 people long, so we got out passes within minutes and immediately headed to our first panel.

MIKE MCFARLAND Q&A

I'll admit it, I'm not the biggest anime fan when it comes to the obscure series coming straight from Japan, but I have my few choice favorites and the first panel we saw brought back some great memories for me. Our first panel was a Q&A with Mike McFarland. For those not familiar with the name Mike is a voice actor and adaptive script writer that has a imdb page a mile long. He seems to have a part in almost every popular anime series coming to the states. He was Master Roshi in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist to just name a couple. If you're a gamer he's got that covered too! Some of his most recent titles are Paul Phoenix in Street Fighter X Tekken and Spug from The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. He also had parts in the huge hit Borderlands 2 and Halo Wars. It was nice seeing an anime mainstay such as Mike McFarland at a local convention such as this.

PAPERTAPE FOR DRESSFORMS AND ARMOR

Our next stop took us to "Paper Tape for Dressforms and Armor". For anyone into cosplay, you know making armor and masks are some of the toughest and most involved work there is. For my Cobra Commander helmet and Terr's Cyclops visor (writeups coming!) we used bondo which was very difficult to use and was heavy and rough that required hours of sanding. For those that don’t know what Paper Tape is, it’s used on a lot of packaging, so you probably have some boxes lying around that have paper tape on them. It’s basically a strip of paper, reinforced with thread or sometimes fiberglass with adhesive on the back. Using papertape is a very simple procedure. As was explained to us, just slightly wet the adhesive back and wrap it on whatever you’re making. If making armor, it’d be easiest to wrap the papertape around the part of the body you’re making the armor for and letting it dry and cutting it off (just wrap that part in plastic wrap or a plastic bag first, because the adhesive can sometimes be irritating to skin). It’s simple, pretty quick to do, and with different layers and patterns you can create almost any piece of armor or dress you need.

COSPLAY EXHIBITION

Our cosplay adventure continued with the Cosplay exhibition. Basically this was a showcase for people in costume to act out a short skit based on their characters. It seemed promising, but when only two of the performers attended, it kind of fell flat. The only thing that saved it was an amazing performance by a Stormcloak soldier from the expansive world of Skyrim. His act so was moving and passionate it really felt like we were in Skyrim being initiated into the Stormcloaks. He even handled the hecklers without hesitation. I’ve posted a video below of part of the Stormcloaks speech. I wish I had captured the entire Stormcloaks act as that was easily the best cosplay performance I’ve seen in a while.

SCIENCE IN ANIME

Our last panel of the day mixed anime with a little bit of physics and math. If you’ve ever seen a movie or show and thought, “That’s not possible”, well these guys were here to prove whether or not it was and if it was, exactly how it could be achieved in real life. One of the animes they started with was Planetes. It revolves around space garbage collectors living in space. The topic they brought up in this anime is the effect space has on bone development and the risks of being born in space. The showed a conversation that one of the characters had with a girl who was born in space. She was taller than him and seemed like her age would be around his (20-30’s) when infact she was only 12 years old. The science behind that is that without Earth’s gravity pressing down, bones would be able to grow less dense, and therefore taller albeit weaker. This was one example of anime doing science correctly. An example they ran through of anime taking liberties with science was a scene in Outlaw Star specifically having to do with monopoles. For those that don’t know what monopoles are, it’s basically something with one pole, hence mono. A regular magnet has two poles, a north and south, and even if you break it in half, the two new pieces would still have a north and south poles. The specific scene was about using a monopole to lift two adult men into the air to escape closing enemies. This is where anime geek turned into math geek as they went through a full board of math and science equations to show how much power the monopole would need to lift the two men. I won’t bore you with the equations, and also because I didn’t fully understand all the principles behind them, but basically to have enough power to lift the two grown men into the air, the monopole piece would have to wait roughly the size of a neutron star. So yea, the show took a little bit of liberty with that one. Also monopoles don’t exist in real life, or at least no one has discovered on yet.

Overall, the con was a huge success. They had a little bit for everyone, from gaming, to anime, to cosplay, to general geekiness. There was also a great turn out (larger than I expected honestly) and the atmosphere was buzzing with excited cosplayers and fans alike. I wasn’t really expecting much going into this, but I was amazing how well this was put together. I truly expect this con to be going on for years to come and continuing to grow year after year. Below is a copy of the panel listings so you can see what was going on. NGU will certainly be back as often as we can and hope to see you there! And as always, for more information, visit Castle Point Anime Convention at their website listed above and check out some more pics from the con below.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

FOX vs. Jayne Hats

If you've been to a comic-con in the past 10 years, you've probably seen a few of these hats. (Heck, my friends and I make a game of counting Jayne Hats every year at NYCC.) Many of these hats are hand made by fans and sold to other fans via Etsy. Well those days are gone. Over the past few weeks, FOX has been issuing cease-and-desist letters or have gotten sellers banned by Etsy. Yep, Fox hates Browncoats and has taken away the show, your ability to sell Jayne Hats and is keeping GLEE on the air. I'm kidding...sort of.

FOX owns the rights to Firefly. FOX has the ability to issue/sell licenses to manufacturers so that they may officially create something and sell it. FOX has the obligation to its shareholders and licensed manufacturers to defend their licenses and products. Ripple Junction currently holds the license to manufacture and sell Jayne Hats which they do through sites like THINK GEEK.

THINK GEEK has reached out to fans and have agreed to give 100% of Jayne Hat profits to CAN'T STOP THE SERENITY:

"Browncoats, we hear your concerns about the cease and desist on Etsy Jayne Hat sellers!

We weren't involved in that process, but we have reached out to FOX and we've heard what you've had to say. As a result, we've decided to donate the profits from all Jayne Hat sales on our site to Can't Stop the Serenity, a Browncoat charity dear to ThinkGeek's heart that raises funds and awareness in support of Equality Now. We'll continue making that donation until we run out of stock.

We hope the Hero of Canton himself would approve."

So while the most cunning hat in the 'verse will no longer be available on Etsy, you can swear by your pretty floral bonnets that Jayne Hats will never float off into the black. Buy them from ThinkGeek and give a bit to charity or go the DIY route just like Jayne's mom and make it with love.

Friday, April 5, 2013

The Bells of St. John Party

May the geeking out officially commence!!

This is not a review, this is an invitation to party online with me over Doctor Who.

Totes spoilery.

First off, I must say the new intro to the show is killing me with joy. I freaking love how new yet totally Classic Who it is!! I forgot to mention that last time when I did my review of the christmas special!!

Next. HOW COOL was it when we discovered what the bells of St. John actually were!!? Along with being transported to an older time, hearing them and knowing what they were before seeing them followed by making the connection to "St. John" was a really great feeling.

Now, onto meatier matters. Every one is raging with delight over the book 'Summer Falls" by Amelia ~~Pond~~ Williams.

OMG...noooo I don't wanna cry my eyes out! Wait, yes I do!!! No... aaaahhhhh!!

It's available as an ebook in iTunes and Amazon. MUST. GET.

Back to the meaty stuff, the book synopsis seems to me like a tie-in to the 50th Anniversary Special. In a recent interview, Matt Smith gave a TINY clue about it. All he could say was "Paintings". Now, cue this excerpt from the synopsis of the book: "But when she discovers a mysterious painting entitled 'The Lord of Winter' in a charity shop...". Mysterious painting, hhmmm? Connected? Perhaps! Or I could be reaching...

Now, onto The Lord of Winter reference...as in, same as the baddy from The Snowment?! The Intelligence? Is that who the villain was in The Bells of Saint John? The intelligence DID take that boy as a child much like that woman was taken in The Bells of Saint John! The only difference this time was that her mind was entirely taken over. Which, by the way, HOW SAD WAS THAT!!!?

Next tangent.

Clara got the number to the TARDIS from a girl in a shop, "Just a girl in a shop." She said it was the best help you could get. I know I already tweeted this thought, but seriously, it has to be said again. ROSE REFERRED TO HERSELF AS JUST A GIRL IN A SHOP. Granted, that was EARLY Rose...but that would be the perfect Rose to still be working in a shop yet have the number to the TARDIS. O.O Another tie-in to the 50th special perhaps?!!!! We do know that Billie Piper will back for that episode along with David Tennant. *dies*

I know there is probably a lot more in that episode to delve into. I must watch it again!! I must HEAR FROM YOU!!! What did you catch in that episode!!? Let's theorize! Write me in the comments section! I'll write back! This time we won't have the 140 character limit that we have on Twitter! I know I have more I want to say about the episode, but I don't want to say everything there is to say and miss out on conversation. I'm sure you have input, too!!

I'm not signing out. I shall await your replies. Hit me up!!

I'll start my first random comment with this...

...how cool was that? I got the shivers when I saw that. Love it. Under My Protection.

Also, to wet our whistles as we wait for the next episode coming up very soon, here are a bunch of clips for The Rings of Akhaten.

Parallel Universes Explained!

We've seen the idea of parallel universes time and time again. We hear about it in comic books, movies, books, television, but what is the science behind it?

Alright, well without having to be some sort of physicist or having to dedicate an hour watching something on the Discovery Channel, here is an explanation you can understand:

So play around with that and try not to give yourself a brain cramp.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Coming Attractions: April 2013

Coming Attractions is a monthly piece in which I let you know what I think will be the best movies releasing in the coming month. So if you plan on going to the movies any time this month, hopefully I’ll give you an idea as to what your best bet will be each week. So without further ado, here are the coming attractions for April 2013:

Oh boy is April a good month; especially the first weekend. Every movie coming out on the 5th looks pretty awesome so be sure to check out the Honorable Mentions. But there's a lot of other good stuff coming out this month. See my picks below.

Friday, Apr. 5

Trance - LIMITED RELEASE

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Joe Ahearne, John Hodge
Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassell

When an art auctioneer (McAvoy) helps steal a priceless painting but then develops amnesia after trying to double cross the gang who assisted him in the heist, the leader of the gang (Cassell) will stop at nothing to get the information out of him. A psychological drama that looks to resemble the style of Boyle’s Trainspotting more than any of his more recent work. It looks like a great thriller with lots of twists. It’s a limited release on the 5th, but if it’s in your area you should definitely check it out.

Friday, Apr. 12
Disconnect

Directed by: Henry Alex Rubin
Written by: Andrew Stern
Starring: Jason Bateman, Alexander Skarsgård, Max Thieriot, Paula Patton

A film with multiple storylines that focus on how today’s advanced technology can put us in instant contact with each other and the information and services we want, but also keep us further apart than ever from the ones close to us, as well as cause problems that would otherwise be impossible. A biting drama that touches on cyber bullying, identity theft, and online sex chatrooms, it’s sure to be an emotionally intense ride.

Friday, Apr. 19
Oblivion

Directed by: Joseph Kisinski
Written by: Joseph Kosinski, Karl Gajdusek, Michael Arndt
Starring: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Olga Kurylenko, Melissa Leo

After the Earth is ravaged by a war with an alien race, the remains of the planet are protected by drones. When a former Marine (Cruise) who repairs those drones is captured by an insurgent group, he begins to doubt what he knows about the war and his government. Directed by the writer of the graphic novel on which the movie is based, and with screenplay input from Michael Arndt (writer of Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII), I’d be surprised if this is your standard post-apocalyptic action movie.

Friday, Apr. 26
Pain & Gain

Directed by: Michael Bay
Written by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub

When a group of not-exactly-genius bodybuilders kidnap a business mogul and have him sign over his finances, they wind up trying to elude a private investigator. With a plot that sounds like it could be played off as a mindless comedy, Pain & Gain looks to take it in a different direction. And while I’m loath to recommend a Michael Bay movie, this one looks like it could be pretty interesting.

Honorable Mentions

Upstream Color (Apr. 5)

Directed by: Shane Carruth
Written by: Shane Carruth

Starring: Shane Carruth, Amy Seimetz, Andrew Sensenig

Anyone who has seen Carruth’s debut film Primer will understand why I’m so excited to see his long-awaited follow-up. The official description of the film is pretty vague:

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Vague, but very intriguing. The trailers don’t give away much of the plot either, but they give us striking images and promises of a profound film. I’d expect nothing less from Shane Carruth.

Jurassic Park 3D (Apr. 5)
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Michael Crichton, David Koepp
Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough

A film that most of us have probably already seen before. But those of us who have seen it before know how amazing it is. And if you haven’t seen it before, there’s no better time than now. I think of 3D re-releases as nothing more than money-grabbing gimmicks, but Jurassic Park is too good of a film to pass up seeing on the big screen. Whether you’re re-visiting the magic or seeing it for the first time, this is definitely worth a trip to the theatre.

Evil Dead (Apr. 5)
Directed by: Fede Alvarez

Written by: Fede Alvarez, Diablo Cody, Rodo Sayagues, Sam Raimi (original screenplay)

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore

This remake of the 1981 horror classic takes all of the terror from the original and does away with the campy ridiculousness. The trailers alone are disgusting, disturbing, and horrifying. Being touted as “the most terrifying film you will ever experience,” this movie looks like it may actually deliver. Definitely a must-see for horror fans.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JOKftw or post in the comments if you've got any questions or comments.

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Movie Review: Upstream Color

Space: The Final Frontier... now with jokes

New Images and Plot Details - Thor: The Dark World

Movie Review: Oblivion

Doctor Who in Cold War

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer

Beauty in The Rings of Akhaten

NGU goes to Castle Point Anime Convention!!

FOX vs. Jayne Hats

The Bells of St. John Party

Parallel Universes Explained!

Coming Attractions: April 2013