Nothing (and Everything) to see here.

It’s official, people: Telltale is releasing a Guardians of the Galaxy game in their standard 5 part series format. They unveiled the teaser trailer today (December 1st) at this years Game Awards.

From the official game announcement:

“The energizing blend of humor, emotion, teamwork, and full-on sci-fi action-adventure of the Guardians provides an enormously satisfying space to explore through Telltale’s unique style of interactive storytelling,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, players will take on multiple roles within the ragtag band of heroes, and take the pilot’s seat in directing their escapades around the universe. We are always honored to be working with the best creative partners and storytellers in entertainment, and working with Marvel on this series leaves us excited to share what we’ve been developing when it premieres in 2017.”

“With story at the core of everything that Marvel creates, who better to team with than master storytellers Telltale Games,” said Jay Ong, Senior Vice President, Games & Innovation, Marvel Entertainment. “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series* fully showcases Marvel and Telltale’s rich legacy of storytelling, and fans will find themselves immersed in an original, character-driven narrative. As part of our strategy to establish a new standard for Marvel games, this is certainly among the great titles to come.”

As all teasers go, there is not a lot to look at here, but it’s more than plenty to catch our interest. Telltale has had a string of hits previously with The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, and their most recent offering, Batman (which I’ve personally found to be one of the most interesting Bruce Wayne stories in recent history). With their current run of hits, as well as the subject matter of this new game, there is no doubt that this one should be a lot of fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy: the Telltale Series is due out in 2017 on PC, gaming consoles and mobile devices.

Art of Atari – Bringing the Action Home Again

Art of Atari is a fantastic retrospective of the iconic company’s colorful design history. Written by Tim Lapetino, with a forward by Ernest Cline and an afterword by Robert V. Conte, Art of Atari primarily examines the artistic illustrations behind some of the company’s most famous games and consoles.

Growing up in the early 80’s, one of my first experiences with home video games was at my cousin’s house. I remember playing Combat on the Atari 2600 for hours on end. Even though the graphics were crude, the label art on the cartridge box was astonishing, especially to a kid with an overactive imagination. No longer was I just seeing pixelated squares on the screen – to me those were the very same tanks and planes that I saw on the illustration.

“The box artwork was an essential part of the the ritual of escape you experienced each time you played an Atari game. In a player’s mind, the artwork on the label would be forever linked to the digital artifact inside.”

-From the forward by Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One.

Atari understood that a good illustration would really sell the game. The box art was your gateway into the game world. Look at the cover art of Asteroids for example – there’s a swarm of asteroids closing in on your ship. You’re desperately trying to stay alive. The art tells a story – will you survive the never ending assault? You’ll have to play the game to find out.

As I was reading the book, I realized that while I was familiar with many of Atari’s illustrations, I actually had no idea who the artists were. The author presents many of Atari’s greatest artists here, such as George Opperman, Cliff Spohn, Steve Hendricks, Susan Jaekel, Warren Chang, Terry Hoff, Evelyn Seto, and more. Each artist has a chapter devoted to them, where they talk about their history with Atari and how they came up with their designs.

I was surprised to learn that many of the artists did not actually play the games they did the art for. Often, a programmer would describe their game to the artist, and then the artist would come up with their own concept for what they understood the game to be. The artists were given a lot of freedom to express their ideas of what they thought the game world would be like. Many of them painted their friends and work associates into their designs.In some cases, several of the artists went out and even purchased Star Wars models and ‘kit-bashed’ them together to create new designs. I always wondered why the ship in the Defender art looked like a Star Destroyer. Now I know.

Art of Atari is 350 pages of pure nostalgia for anyone who grew up playing games in the early 1980’s. It is a wonderful collection of Atari’s visual history throughout the years. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in retro games. It is an essential part of the history of video gaming.

Have you played Atari today?

Is Arrow The Best Batman TV Show?

I’ve always said that how I thought Arrow got on the air was that someone went and pitched a Batman TV show but got turned down as they felt that the Batman property was too big to be on TV.  They looked at each other and said “Is there another billionaire hero we can just put in his place?  Green Arrow is rich right?”

I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing as it has worked out perfectly.  On paper there is no way this show should work.  A super hero show on the CW where we explore the relationship between Oliver Queen, Laurel (Dinah) Lance, and their peers.  Ugh.  Sounded horrible.  I passed until I kept hearing after the first season that it was actually pretty good.  I saw it on Netflix and figured why not.  After the first episode I was hooked.

Since then we’ve seen them borrow plenty from the Batverse.  Deathstroke while not defined as a Bat Villian has played a big part in the Bat mythos.  Rhas Al Ghul and the League Of Assassins were the center point of season 3.  Similar starts being portrayed as a dark vigilante.  A secret headquarters full of gadgets and weapons.  Eventually creating a superhero family around him.  Last season his tech savy girlfriend and side kick Felicity got shot and was in a wheelchair giving her an Oracle feel about her.

This week we’ve been watching a 4 part crossover between all the CW DC shows (which we can thank Arrow for all the spin off shows) called INVASION!  Slight spoilers below.

On Flash we saw that a handfull of the heroes were abducted by the Dominators.  On Arrow we find that the heroes (Oliver, Sarah, John, Ray, and Thea) were hooked up to a machine that put them in a dream state where they were living out what would be their perfect life.  This immediately made me think of . . . yep something from Batman.

Specifically Batman: The Animated Series.  In an episode titled Perchance To Dream Bruce Wayne awakens to find that his parents never died.  He’s happy and it turns out that someone else is Batman so he can just relax and enjoy life as Bruce Wayne.  But of course nothing ever stays happy.  What I didn’t know about this episode was that it was written by horror novelist Joe R. Lansdale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKf2fEwN9xs

There is always minor things like this that make me think more and more that I was right about the original pitch meeting.  I’m not sure why I’m okay with that happening on this show as any other show stealing ideas, villians, or storylines I would not be very excited about it.  But with the CW DC Universe I am perfectly fine.  Maybe it’s my distaste of Gotham that lets me enjoy this as my Batman alternative.  Regardless I’ll still be tuning in every week.  What do you think?

Beyond The Gates makes me nostalgic for Nightmare and Atmosfear

When I was in high school, my friends and I were obsessed with a VCR board game called Nightmare. We would often spend Saturday nights huddled in front of the TV, desperately trying to beat the Gatekeeper at his own game. As cheesy at it was, we loved every minute of it. I picked up Atmosfear while later, and enjoyed it just as much.

After watching the trailer for Beyond The Gates, I’m finding myself reminiscing about all those times spent yelling “Yes my Gatekeeper” and wondering who’s turn it is next.

Beyond The Gates stars Barbara Crampton, star of Reanimator and Chopping Mall. Directed by Jackson Stewart, It comes out in theaters and VOD December 9.

Non-news becomes news, Internet loses mind. 

In what could be the thinnest theory running right now, someone on the internet seemed convinced the other day that Zack Snyder had snuck Green Lantern into the official movie image for Justice League, posted about it, and suddenly the image went viral. 

What’s the fuss you ask? See that cloud discoloraton over Superman’s head there? That’s Green Lantern. Get in there close and really look at it. We’ll wait. See how it’s people shaped? Yep. There you have it. Case closed. Repost it. Hashtag it. #GLConfirmed #HalJordanJLA #OMGL!!

While we’ll give you that this is a work of art that someone put together, and maybe, MAYBE that was always their intention to hide him in there somewhere. And yes, it does look suspiciously like a floating person. But, frankly, the whole ordeal feels a bit of a stretch. Like Elongated Man and Plastic Man holding hands around the globe kind of a stretch. It’s a dark spot in the clouds. There are other dark spots as well, could they also be allusions to more characters? There is a giant monster shaped dark area over Batman, could that mean Godzilla’s making a post-credits appearance?

We know that making another post on the internet about this non-event is both ironic and hypocritical, but fan theories and rumors around these movies hits a fever pitch sometimes, and someone needs to talk us down after a while. Seriously, remember when Jena Malone was supposed to be Batgirl? Scott Eastwood was Nightwing infiltrating Task Force X?

Wait. We just figured it out. That spot over Supes isn’t Green Lantern at all. You guys, that’s Jason Todd!  #redhoodconfirmed #OMTODD

We’ll put it to you guys. What do you think it is?

the star trek universe just got a little bigger

Those of us on the edge of our seats waiting for star trek’s return to  the small screen have new reasons to be excited! Star Trek: Discovery casting announcements have started.

Set to play Captain Georgiou of the star ship Shenzhou is international star Michelle Yeoh.  No stranger to sci-fi, she has been featured domestically in movies such as “Babylon A.D.”, “Mummy: tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and “Sunshine” as well as international hits: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Police story3: Supercop” and “The Heroic Trio”. While neither a lead nor a member of the Discovery’s crew, Captain Georgiou will be a recurring character.

Broadway star Anthony Rapp, best known for his portrayal of Mark in the musical “Rent” in both original cast and film adaptation has also joined the cast as starship Discovery’s openly gay astromycologist (space fungus expert) Lt. Stamets.

Legendary actor and man who brought respectability to the art of Mime, Doug Jones will also be joining the cast. With a credit list that is as diverse as it is extensive, Jones portraying Starfleet officer Lt. Saru (who, to the surprise of no one, is an alien).

no official word yet on the involvement of Star trek alumni and horror legend Tony Todd despite his claim on the Mortis podcast that he was on a cast list.

Just over six month away, Star Trek Discovery will return us to the prime universe with stories taking place between Star Trek Enterprise and Star Trek TOS (roughly 2255). Premiering on CBS May 2017 and then streaming on CBS All Access. To get a feeling of what to expect from the new series Ffans have been told to rewatch TOS classic “Balance of Terror”

Horror Junk

Just a Drunken Zombie begat Geek Nerdery, Horror Junk begat Drunken Zombie. I think I’m using ‘begat’ properly there in that context.

10 years ago, 2 guys in their 20’s sat down, drank too many beers and discussed horror movies in front of a camera. The movie was then shared via YouTube and as a video podcast. It was popular for it’s time and a ton of fun to make.

As part of our 10-year-anniversary, here’s our very first episode.

The audio episodes were almost lost forever, but I managed to find most of them. If you’re feeling a bit nostalgic like myself and want to hear a hybrid of Horror Junk and Drunken Zombie, check out this episode.

For the others that I managed to recover, go ahead and grab them here.

Hold on tight for another Horror Junk surprise, coming soon.

Weathering WildStorm : Gen13 Vol. 1

When the powers that be at Geek Nerdery asked me to write a little something for the site, they didn’t know that I’d been diligently hard at work mapping out the chronology of the WildStorm Comics Universe. As soon as I let that slip, they said “Bring it on!” in not so many words.

Bit of background: the WildStorm Universe started as part of the Image comics in 1992. It eventually splintered off into it’s own universe and was sold to DC as an imprint. WildStorm was officially closed down in 2011. The most well known series were “WildC.A.T.s,” “Gen13” and “the Authority.” I hit back issue bins, raided my own long box, found some trade paperbacks, hit Comixology (as well as some less desirable sites) to try an arrange the WildStorm books into a single 19 year narrative. Now I’m going back and re-reading these stories again to make sure I got it right. This is something I’m oddly passionate about, and if sorting through thousands of comics and coming up with a timeline doesn’t qualify as Geek Nerdery, I’m not sure what does.

We’re picking up in the middle of the WildStorm’s first big story arc, and with my favorite series (until “the Authority” came along) “Gen13” with it’s first five issue mini-series.

At long last, John Lynch becomes the hero that he was always destined to be! I mean, we still have almost the entire page run of “Gen13” Vol. 1 before we get to that! And it’s about damn time! It might be obvious, but much of how the early part of my reading chronology is arranged is watching the heroic rise of John Lynch. Look at the section named “Part 1 : WildStorm Rising” and you’ll find “Gen13” Vol. 1 right smack in the middle of it! Maybe I’m not being clear, but “Gen13” was one of my favorite books when I was younger, with “WildC.A.T.s” being a close second and I always thought a lot about John Lynch and his history.

I fanboyed hard for this book, I even bought 2 copies of each issue so I could cut out the coupon and mail away for what ended up being “Gen13” Vol. 2 issue 0. I gave my cut up versions to my Cousin Sean, just to spread that WildStorm love! I remember getting that 1/2 issue from my friend Randy because I’d missed out on that issue of “Wizard.” I should reverse that, at the time Randy wasn’t my friend, but a good acquaintance who was also into comics and ska music who I formed a solid friendship with years later. But issues 0 and 1/2 are still a bit of time away, for now, we need to get to issue 1!

This issue opens in the late ’70s with Stephen and Rachael Callahan getting taken down! In front of their children, lil Matthew and Nicole, how horrible! Even worse, Frank Colby was the trigger-man on Stephen! Well, that might be worse for us, see, we know both of these characters, I’m not sure at that time if Colby knew Callahan or not, but he did need to be convinced to pull that trigger. After that, the team from I/O brings in the kids as instructed, fulfilling Dane’s warning in “Team 7: Dead Reckoning” that “Craven wants your children.”

I start to get really in depth, and we don’t need that cluttering the page, so obviously, a lot more after the jump!

Continue reading Weathering WildStorm : Gen13 Vol. 1

REVIEW: I Am Your Father

A little while ago, in a city within driving distance of my home, I met David Prowse –the one and true Darth Vader– for upwards of a minute after I paid either him or his handler the mandated $15 for an autographed picture. There is photographic proof of this encounter somewhere. Of course I knew who he was, but frankly at the time, I was more excited to meet Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and of course, Ray Park, whose face was on my undergarment at the time of meeting him…full if not completely unnecessary disclosure.

I digress.

My point being any Star Wars fan worth their salt knows who David Prowse is. That he spends almost every weekend (according to the documentary) at a con or fan festival does nothing but further reinforce this fact.

So why I Am Your Father feels as though it needs to redeem the man behind the most recognizable mask in the known world had me curious. And with Rogue One less than a month away, I gave it a shot.

The documentary itself has a few thesis points that it wants to make. Questions they want answered are: Who is David Prowse the man? Why wasn’t his the face we saw at the end of Jedi? Did Lucasfilm wrong him? Who or what is the…ahem…”force” responsible for David Prowse not yet receiving an invitation to any of the official Star Wars Celebrations?

Writer/Directors Toni Bestard and Marcos Cabota do their best to answer these questions along the way while trying to build up the mystery of whether or not David Prowse will be part of the unmasking Vader scene re-shoot.

I’m not sure how I feel about the overall success of their mission. Yes, they fill in the blanks to all the questions they want answered (to the best ability of anyone willing to talk to them) , and SPOILER ALERT: Mr. Prowse totally agrees to be in the re-shoot, but the whole thing feels a little scattershot in the end. As though they’re telling you the story first hand, but keep going off on tangents before getting back to their focus,  and “oh but also we forgot this part which may or may not be relevant by the end”.
The filmmakers say they wanted to give back recognition to him for his contribution to the Star Wars legacy. With the exception of the official Star Wars cons snubbing and infamously being replaced as Anakin by Sebastian Shaw, I personally don’t see where he isn’t getting it, even within the doc itself.

Yes, there seems to be a still open wound inside of him about his face and voice being switched that just doesn’t want to heal. And yes,maybe the filmmakers want to help repair that by re-shooting the final scene and showing it to a small group of people, but end of the day, if you’re holding on to a grudge for THAT many years, will re-shooting that scene with new actors only to be viewed by a handful of people ever really fix you?

It’s an interesting watch as it gives you a brief recap of his life and career (I took special joy in finding out that his wife considers Star Wars to be an intrusion on their life together…even HIS marriage isn’t immune). The film itself doesn’t give any big reveals to Star Wars buffs who might be looking for extra behind the scenes details. Also, due to rights, you never actually see all of the finished re-shoot. Still, I’ve spent an hour and a half doing much worse things. (Looking at you Episode I.)

I Am Your Father is currently streaming on Netflix.

Firefly and Barney Miller’s Ron Glass Passes at 71

Seriously, 2016 can take a damn long walk off a short peer. Ron Glass, star of Barney Miller and the immensely popular Firefly has passed away at the age of 71. No word yet on the official cause of death, but Glass’ health had been steadily declining the last few years.

Though Glass had been reluctant to get into the Sci-Fi genre because of the heavy make-up involved, his first turn in the genre was a guest role on Star Trek:Voyager.

There was something on the bridge of my nose and then I had some ears, but the makeup was so good, it made a huge difference. The experience was really, really enjoyable. I just loved it.

Glass found a new fandom when he joined the cast of the wildly popular Firefly as the resident man of the cloth, Shepherd Book.

“The Firefly and Serenity fans are just unbelievable,” Glass said. “They are so loyal and supportive and enthusiastic. They have just kept me soaring.”

In a year full of losses this one hits me hardest. I personally grew up watching Barney Miller with my father and finally got around to watching Firefly this year, not to mention he is a native of Evansville, Indiana, my current home.

Lost my love, lost my land
Lost the last place I could stand
There’s no place I can be
Since I’ve found Serenity

You will be missed, sir.

CW Drops A Full Length Super Hero Crossover Trailer

The date is finally nearing and The CW has dropped a full length trailer for the Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends Of Tomorrow crossover.  It shows us a lot more of what the threat is and what we have in store.  How Supergirl makes it onto Earth 1 is still unknown but we’ll get to see what is probably our best bet for the live action Justice League on TV now with the DC movies in full swing.  So feast your eyes below and get ready for November 28th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS01oqEYQwo

TLH Episode 64 – Black Mirror: Season 3 (Part 2)

This week we take a look at the second half of Black Mirror season 3. Does it hold up? Is it better than seasons 1 and 2? Do the three of us feel like horrible people now? Listen and find out.

We also discuss some random watches including Arrival, The Howling, The Walking Dead, Lost, Lights Out, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Last Shift, Para Elisa, and The Mutilator.

Listen to the episode here.
(Right-click and choose ‘save as’ to download.)

As always, we welcome feedback at thelasthorrorcast@gmail.com and on our Facebook page or leave us a voicemail at 601-564-TLHP. Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review in iTunes.

Don’t Breathe Blu-Ray Review

If you missed it in theaters then I’m happy to tell you that Don’t Breathe hits dvd and blu ray on November 29th and my friends at Sony were kind enough to send over a copy for me to check out.

Don't Sleeve Trio

The movie itself is great.  I saw it in the theater and loved it and it hasn’t changed on disc.  It is so full of tension and dread that it’s perfect any horror fan.  This film takes the idea of the home invasion film and flips it on its head.  Here a trio of theives break into a blind man’s house for what they think is an easy score only to find out that the blind man may be more than they bargained for.

The production design and sound design on this film are outstanding.  Sometimes it makes you scared to breathe it’s so quiet and then so tense that the sound feels like it’s about to burst your ear drums.  Steven Lang does a great job as the blind man.  He makes it believable and flat out scary that someone like this could exist.

The special features on the blu ray are a little lackluster.  I had hoped for a more but sadly retail releases are becoming less and less robust as digital content has taken over.  For us that still love physical media it makes me sad.  It has 5 featurettes that are about 5 minutes apiece.  After hearing Fede Alvarez on the Shock Waves Podcast I was looking forward to diving into and breaking down this story but we only get a quick look at different aspects of the film like the cast, set, sound, etc.  It’s better than nothing but I would have loved more.

Overall I would still recommend this as I love the movie and that alone is worth a purchase whether it’s a digital purchase or a physical one.  I do recommend turning off all the lights and putting away all distractions.  Follow the Blind Man into his world and hope that he lets you out.

 

Pacific Rim: Maelstrom – First Set Pics

Kaiju are everywhere these days. The American Godzilla was a hit with the Japanese following up with their own Shin Godzilla breaking Japanese Box Office records and Kong: Skull Island trailers making waves. However the daddy of the Kaiju resurgence is Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim.

While the movie didn’t light up the box office like many had hoped, it did well enough and has enough of a hard core following that the sequel, starring Force Awakens’ John Boyega is currently filming. Boyega tweeted out the first look at several set photos today, and I am once again excited to see the Jaegars take on a new set of giant monsters. Take a look!

John Boyega’s Twitter

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Knock Off Toys – The Worst Of Near Copyright Infringement

I love thrift stores, consignment warehouses and flea markets. I mean I REALLY love them. The thrill of the hunt and never quite knowing what you will find is a rush for my little collector heart. But among the myriad of awesome deals on old toys, games and movies, you are more than likely to run into a few toys that look oddly familiar yet wholly foreign. It is obvious that these toys where made to make a quick buck off of clueless parents looking for a quick and cheap toy for their kids. I’ve seen my fair share over the years, even bought a few that were just so outrageous that they had to be seen to be believed. Here are seven of the worst offenders that I have found will cruising the dark and weirder parts of the interwebs.

  1. Robert Cop – While his bigger brother Robo-Cop may have stolen the lime light, we have to give props to the every day ex-human cyborgs patrolling the streets.

robert-cop-photo-u1

2) E.T. Goes Pumping Iron – As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches this week, we all expect to add a few pounds. Thankfully E.T. has taken the appropriate steps to keep the calories off and go cruising for the ladies afterwards.

terrible-knock-off-p-18

3) Episode 1 Han/C-3PO – You had one job, toy manufacturer…. 1 Job.

enhanced-buzz-25094-1389311274-15

4) Super Cock – I really have no words for this one…. I just can’t right now.

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5) Mow Gwai – Don’t get it wet, don’t expose it to sunlight and don’t teach it to say curse words.

mogwai-photo-u1

 

6) Amicable Herculean – He may be a mutant turtle with a spear, but it seems like he may be a pretty decent fellow.

amicable-herculean-photo-u1

 

7) Ill Tempered Birds – Its not a sea bass, but these Ill Tempered Birds may make it in Dr. Evil’s organization.

i-hate-those-ill-tempered-birds-photo-u1

Ash vs. Evil Dead – 2×08 – Ashy Slashy

As usual, this post will contain many spoilers.

Is anyone surprised that Ash isn’t quite as insane as it looks? His strange hunting outfit certainly didn’t fool this fan, although it look like Ba’al was adequately convinced.

Our limited time at the insane asylum looks like it’s coming to an end, and I for one couldn’t be happier because it looks like next week, they’ll be back in the cabin. Where it all started. Where we belong. Not only will we see the return to the cabin, but also the return of the Delta.

I was not sad to see Ba’al go, but he was not the only one to fall this episode. The other death left me a little sad, but excited to see what the loss of a friend has on Ash moving forward.

Let’s have a drink for our fallen Pablo. May he rest in pieces.

I’ll leave you today with a deleted scene of the summoning of Ashy Slashy.

Goldberg To Appear In Royal Rumble Match

There’s a reason Goldberg was made to look so dominant during his return tonight at the Survivor Series … The Sheet has learned he recently agreed to appear in the upcoming Royal Rumble.

Sources tell us the 49-year-old made the deal this week that will see him participate in a Rumble match for the second time in his career. This year’s event is in January at the Alamodome.For those who missed his return, Goldberg DOMINATED Brock Lesnar in a match that lasted only a few minutes — surprising the entire wrestling world.

No word at this point as to whether any sort of WrestleMania match is in the works. After watching tonight’s PPV though, we can only imagine that The Beast will be thirsty for revenge.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Thoughts On Survivor Series (2016)

Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar in a two minute squash match… You can say I was disappointed in this match, I wanted to see Suplex City at least once or a couple press slams from Goldberg but I didn’t. This match was a lot better than their WrestleMania XX meet up.

The RAW vs SmackDown! Live Survivor Series match was one of the best I’ve seen. Sure the way Kevin Owens and Jericho got eliminated was odd, but I enjoyed the whole thing. The SHIELD reunion was a treat. Maybe in the future we can see a six man tag with the Wyatt Family-SHIELD later down the line. It was said the MVP from this match was Shane O Mac, but I think that title needs to go to Seth Rollins he had more match time than anyone.