Old Style’s unique label is rife with history … and bunnies!
It’s Canada Day weekend! Celebrations may vary from town to town but it’s a safe bet that a few Canadians will drink a beer or two this long weekend. And, what better beer to drink on Canada’s 149th birthday than a beer that’s 90 years old itself? Though it can’t be considered a craft beer, Old Style Pilsner is a well-made brew that, as its website states, hasn’t changed much since Fritz Sick first brewed it in 1926.
One change that Old Style did go through was its purchase by Molson in 1958. According to wikipedia, Molson Coors continues to use Sick’s Breweries Ltd.’s original formula to make Old Style Pilsner. I picked up a 24 of this tasty Canadian brew in an effort to be frugal, ten dollars less expensive than a 24 of my usual beer. But Old Style isn’t just good on the pocket-book, it’s just good.
Old Style Pilsner – First Sip
Old Style Pilsner is nearly clear with a lot of carbonation (similar to the kölsch I reviewed last week). An inch-thick layer of foam forms as I pour it into my pint glass. I don’t notice a strong smell as I take a big gulp of this brew. Old Style has a noticeable taste though. Best described as an acquired taste, it has a smooth grainy taste with a tart finish. And, Old Style Pilsner’s relatively high carbonation level strengthens its watery mouthfeel.
Old Style Pilsner – Last Sip
Although some picky beer drinkers may turn their noses up at this 5% ABV macro-brew, I recommend it over lots of other similarly priced beers. Old Style plays the sweet-and-sour angle well. I like to drink Old Style from a glass but you’ll enjoy Old Style directly from the bottle or can. Pouring into a pint glass allows Old Style Pilsner’s frothy head to dissipate a bit. Enjoyed straight from the bottle, the foam can overpower Old Style’s flavour.
The Neon Demon composer will write the score for the new Wolverine movie
Film composer and musician Cliff Martinez is branching out into comic book movies. He will create the score for Twentieth Century Fox’s Wolverine sequel.
According to Collider, Martinez is confirmed to be writing the film score for the X-Men spin-off. He replaces Marco Beltrami, who scored Mangold’s 2013 flick The Wolverine. Harry Greyson-Williams did the score for 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Martinez’s body of work includes Steve Soderbergh’s Solaris, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, and The Neon Demon. He also composes music for The Knick. His current projects include Martin Campbell’s The Foreigner and Todd Phillips’ War Dogs.
As a composer, Martinez is known for his layered textures and rhythmic sounds. His scores use ambient sounds and audio manipulation. He is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee because of his drumming work on two Red Hot Chilli Peppers albums.
Can Cliff Martinez create a score appropriate for Wolverine? Snikt!
Mangold’s Wolverine sequel is now filming. It will be a loose adaptation of Old Man Logan. The plot is currently unknown, but it is said to take place in the distant future of the X-Men universe. Reports indicate the flick might be a revenge movie, because Wolverine wants to shut down the Weapon X program for good.
Hugh Jackman says this is the last time he plays Wolverine. The movie’s cast also includes Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant and Elizabeth Rodriguez. Liev Schreiber is reported to be in talks to reprise the role of Victor “Sabretooth” Creed.
The Wolverine sequel is set for release on March 3, 2017.
Less than one year to go until we see Wolverine again
This week’s episode of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure features a manga artist. As always, with any series based on a manga features an episode where a creator of the media appears it serves as means for said creator to show the eccentric behavior they can’t do in real life. In this case though, eccentric is an understatement.
Koichi and Hazamada go to a manga creator they admire named Rohan Kishibe. Wouldn’t you know it, he turns out to be a Stand user. His Stand, Heaven’s Door, peels people apart like books so he can learn a person’s darkest secrets. It’s a very unpleasant sight to see. Still, compared with some of the other Stands the antagonists have had this season such The Lock or Show Off, this one showcases its purpose, use, and effectiveness as a tool all in one episode. With any luck their might just be more to Rohan’s abilities than what he has displayed so far.
Despite his disturbing abilities, this new character and his motivation is interesting and hopefully hew I’ll be sticking around a bit more than previously introduced characters. It’s the first episode of two part storyline so Rohan will at least be back in the next episode.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Pop Dutchess Fergie Surprise Releases A Guaranteed Hit!
Were you expecting the Black Eyed Peas singer and mother to release this? Because the latest Fergie single comes as a complete surprise to me.
Now, she’s always been sexy and pushed boundaries but the visuals to accompany the song Milf Money (stylized as “M.I.L.F. $“) is one of her most provocative to date. Fergie missed Mothers Day by a few months but the summer just got a new club hit. This will be the first single off her upcoming album “Double Dutchess“.
With some of the sexiest mothers in entertainment as co-stars, this sexually empowering women’s anthem has an interesting target demographic. Not only is this for any girl to enjoy while partying it up, Fergie pushes the message of moms needing to feel sexy as well. There was even a not-so-subtle message about the controversial issue of breast feeding. Many will find the song to be too pop for their taste and that’s fine but the song’s visuals tackle many different issues.
Don’t get me wrong…there’s still a lot of sex appeal for the sake of sex appeal.
Right before the release of the single, Fergie began hinting at new material but the single and video just came out of no-where. Sonically, “M.I.L.F $” is a typical Fergie song through and through; everything is there from her spelling of words to strong vocals. Even the hip-hop influenced sound has been her thing for years. I’m intrigued for her new album and look forward to seeing what else she has to offer.
There is no official release date for “Double Dutchess“.
What did you think of Fergie’s new single Milf Money?
Guts, The Black Swordsman has finally returned. After the popularity of the Berserk: The Golden Age Arc trilogy, a new TV series picks up after the end of the last movie, and takes the series farther than any adaptation previously has. Unfortunately so far the new adventure is off to a rocky start.
How bad it it? This episode has the same plot and outline of the original TV series’ first episode, complete with Guts walking into town, being tortured by his curse mark, killing a bunch of demons, and winning the battle at the end by using the cannon in his mechanical arm. The only new addition is Puck, the genital lacking naked elf who adds a lighter tone to the show. Sadly, Puck feels like a character who will get annoying very quickly if any episode focuses on him for too long.
You’d think this new series would have the benefit of looking better with modern animation but this is another flaw in the new show. The animation leaves something to be desired. It looks like it’s trying to imitate the look of the recent movies but budget can’t be as big as a movie for every individual episode. This leaves the CGI to look awkward at times.
Still, this new series isn’t without its perks. It contains just as much, if not more over the top violence than not only the first series but many of the more adult animes which come out today. How over the top violent is it? Flies crawling across severed heads over the top. This will hopefully make future episodes of the series at least bearable.
The new Berserk is off to a rough start but with any luck it will be able to turn itself around from here. If not, then the fans who have been waiting over 15 years for a sequel will be sorely disappointed.
Here’s a show that nobody probably paid any attention to this season. Even if you are one of those “try everything” people, you likely clicked the “remove from queue” button as soon as you finished the first episode of Netoge No Yome. I did the same thing actually. Knowing clearly what this show’s intention and what it was going to entail turned me off right away. And yet, here I am, doing a review of Netoge No Yome. What has happened to me? Well I’m gonna tell you. But to preface this article with what you actually probably came here for, no I didn’t enjoy this show. Astonishing I know, but let’s get into it.
So I said before that I dropped Netoge No Yome after the first episode, and sadly after seeing gifs and screens of the shows female lead Ako in super sexy poses and situations, I was caught up in the primitive rational that I needed to watch this show just so I could see this girl do practically anything. Honestly I didn’t care. Luckily I so happened to fall into a rather interesting show. Definitely not good mind you. If this didn’t have my poor heart hooked by the female lead I would have never touched this show again, but I did.
First off lets talk about the male lead, and it should snowball into this shows problems from there. I feel that some of these light novel writers can’t write females that don’t have some kind of love feeling towards the main guy. Because clearly this story is about the main guy Hideki and Ako. Unfortunately that doesn’t really go anywhere. One of the reasons is that Hideki is adverse to girl’s that are into him. A trait definitely not rare in light novel adaptations, but still unforgivable. This time though his rational is pretty relatable. Given that Ako is a social outcast and weird I see the hesitation of him not wanting to get into a relationship with someone who can’t differentiate reality from the online game they play. And for the most part, these first few episodes where he and the rest of the girls in the Net Game club help Ako, are kinda compelling. It gives us a barrier to break that seems obtainable in the shows eyes and Hideki, while unwilling, is pretty proactive in helping Ako. They even get to the point where he acknowledges that he loves her and makes attempts to confess. But the confession is totally lost on Ako because she already considers them married as per the Net Game they play. His confession is now adequate with her feelings and I’m left to wonder, whats the problem? He loves her, she acknowledges it and she loves him back.
But wait, there’s that whole differentiating reality between the game problem she has, that must be the reason right? Well yes, in the shows eye’s it is. But at the point of confession Ako has already started to integrate back into school life and the real world. The disconnect here should be nil, but they keep it up to keep the joke going. And that’s ultimately what’s wrong with this show. Not the way it portrays its female characters, not the way it portrays people who play online games, and not the way it treats social outcasts. It’s the way this show always feels it has to have everything be a freaking punchline even when the mood in the show clearly is pointing in any other direction. It’s a sort of cock tease attitude that doesn’t even fit well with the other jokes that are actually funny. There are plenty of gags about Ako being a nerd/outcast that work in context with the scene. Actually most of the funniest moment are Ako saying something that would make you cringe to even be around her, which her fellow club members do, and is why its hilarious. These are all accompanied by a right time, right place attitude. However any romantic scene or serious moment ends up with the same wacky punchline.
So yeah, the tone screws up at times, but is that alone enough to make this a bad show? Not necessarily, since the humor is the main focus of the show anyway I can forgive its failed romance and drama, only on the fact that I’m watching this show for no other reason than to look at Ako in motion. However this show also has the added bonus of just being so boring at times. Weirdly enough the beach episode where Hideki confesses to Ako sort of felt like the climax of the show. But this happens at episode seven, and the show really doesn’t intend on progressing past this point. So we change the show to focus mainly on things happening with the video game and mostly all of it is presented in a boring and cliché manner, while at the same time halting any progression with any of the characters. They even have the gall to throw in the final conflict being tied to their clubs School Festival project. Oh my god, kill me now. Now while these episodes do have the same type of humor that is funny, the in-between bits aren’t as engaging as the first half of the show. And that first half wasn’t even that engaging, so it literally went from bearable to unbearably boring.
The show even tries its best to incorporate Ako’s themes of being an outcast back into the show, considering that is the only “sort of good” part of the show. They fail though, it’s clearly them retreading things that she has gotten over episodes ago, but if they didn’t retcon it during the show they wouldn’t have a second half, woop-tee-du. Up to the last couple seconds of this show its clear that there was never any romantic intention with this series or genuine mental illness issues being addressed, and I have come to realize that’s the conclusion that a lot of shows like this face. They play with genuine concepts but don’t incorporate them in a genuine way. If anything they use them to take advantage of the viewer, by being relatable. Of course this relateablity is relating to someone’s perception of themselves. And if you have ever known someone with a mental illness or social anxiety, you’ll know that they rarely even are able to identify the real problem. This show doesn’t identify the real problem, period. It has a cool idea, but is bogged by its self-fantasy to actually be able to progress into anything. This ultimately leaves people like me who don’t seek such escapism out in the cold. Netoge No Yome, does have something to offer just like every show, but whats its offering is rather shallow and potentially harmful to the right people. Even if I watched it for the pure pleasure of seeing Ako, I felt kind of bad knowing the reason this kind of stuff is made and who is watching it. For me Netoge No Yome was a wash, but I am glad that I watched it. As a reviewer I find that getting in a rut of preference is ultimately blinding and will lead to cynicism. So while I did get burned by this show, I now understand it and the genre better than if I hadn’t. And there is at least value in that.
Jon Snow still knows nothing, but this could change in Season 7
After last Sunday’s finale, the HBO network confirms the long-standing Game of Thrones theory about who Jon Snow’s real parents are. Of course, several fans of the show managed to figure it out years before.
Tangled Web
HBO just released a detailed infographic on its website. It depicts the surviving Game of Thrones characters and their relationships. Lyanna Stark is listed as Jon’s mother, but the question of Jon’s father is complex. Fans know Rhaegar Targaryen fell in love with Ned’s sister, but Lyanna’s naming of the father is not audible. It is known Lyanna had a fear Robert Baratheon would kill her baby, hence Ned’s choice to raise the boy as his own.
The cast of characters is getting smaller
In fact, Jon’s parentage won David Benioff and D.B. Weiss the rights to adapt the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series for television. During a meeting with George R.R. Martin, the author asked them “Who is Jon Snow’s mother?” The duo guessed with the “R + L=J” theory.
Where Do We Go From Here?
As it stands, Jon is the newly-declared King in the North. Although Bran Stark knows the truth, Jon will need proof of his heritage if he bids for the Iron Throne. The only one who could help him is Howland Reed, because he stood alongside Ned at the Tower of Joy. However, Jon’s aunt Daenerys Targaryen is now preparing to take Westeros by force. Both of them could very well be the “Ice and Fire” of Martin’s books. This will make for a great Game of Thrones endgame. And the plot thickens…
Marvel has released new information and images for their upcoming U.S.Avengers series. Following a new counter terrorism unit, the U.S.Avengers appear to be a spiritual successor to the New Avengers.
The team comprises a new Iron Patriot, Cannonball, Thunderbolt Ross, Pod, a Captain America from the future, and the unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Heading the team will be former X-Men Sunspot, who still has control of the A.I.M. organization.
Al Ewing will write the series while Paco Medina tends to the artwork. Both creators show enthusiasm on taking these characters in a new direction.
The initial story arc will focus on an enemy of the future Captain America. Being the daughter of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, this version of Captain America will find an old foe following her into the past.
The group will be based in Washington D.C. and will still have connections to the reformed A.I.M. organization, another important carry over from the New Avengers title.
The series will certainly be dealing with the wake of the ongoing Civil War II, seeing Carol Danvers undoubtedly working to stabilize ongoing problems.
The recent failures of S.H.I.E.L.D. will only add to the stress under Captain Marvel’s shoulders. Of course, the New Avengers were a foil to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the American government during the recent Avengers: Standoff event this spring.
It will be interesting to see how long this relationship will last before the U.S.Avengers and their government counterparts come to blows. Another element Ewing discusses is the tension between Sunspot and Ross. Ross, an experienced military officer, will have little patience to being bossed around by a man younger than him.
Slated for a fall release, fans will see and judge the series for themselves under the upcoming Marvel NOW! initiative.
Fans have been following Tony Stark for months now as he uncovers the secrets of his past. Who are his birth parents? Why did they give him up? The answers are finally coming to light in the pages of International Iron Man, and issue five promises the biggest reveal yet in the form of Tony’s birth mother. Read on for the description and a preview of the first few pages!
INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #5
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art & Cover by ALEX MALEEV
On-Sale – 7/27/16
As Tony Stark stands at the frontlines of one of the biggest events in Marvel’s history, behind the scenes he wages a much more personal battle. Long teased and long rumored, the truth will finally stand revealed as Tony Stark comes face-to-face with his biological mother in INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #5! Amid sins past and villains long dormant, superstar creators Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev reveal another piece in the puzzle of the Armored Avenger’s history! So, who is Tony Stark really? The time has come to uncover what his true legacy is. As half his true parentage comes to light, how did his adoption long ago by Howard and Maria Stark come to pass? The answers you’ve been searching for start here!
