Since around this time last year, we have been clamoring to know what Spider-Man/Peter Parker would look like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Once it was revealed he would make his debut appearance in Captain America: Civil War, people had to know what kind of role he would play in the film. In the Civil War comic series, his role is pretty big. He is caught in the middle of this, no pun intended, civil war and even takes his mask off in front of the entire world. It wouldn’t have as big of an impact if he did that in Captain America: Civil War because we haven’t really gotten to know this specific Peter Parker, and he isn’t as established in the universe, so everything surrounding the details of his character in this movie have been pretty much a mystery. But now we may have some hints as to where he stands in this new set photo with Tom Holland.
The new wall-crawler and Louis D’Esposito aboard The Avenger’s Quinjet!
Marvel Studios co-President Louis D’Esposito has tweeted out a photo of him with the new web-swinger in what appears to be The Avenger’s Quinjet! I don’t know what to really make of this to be honest with you, one could say Peter Parker might be on Tony Stark’s side due to Tom Holland sitting in the Quinjet, but they’re most likely just posing for the picture. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get a picture taken of them sitting in the cock pit of The Avenger’s Quinjet? Either way, this gives us an idea of what Peter Parker will actually look like in the MCU! In my opinion, this is exactly what I think Peter should look like! It also looks like he might get involved in the action and take a blow or two to the head if that bruise on his eye is anything to go off of.
What do you think of this set photo? Let us know in the comments below! Captain America: Civil War debuts in theaters April 29th, 2016 in the United Kingdom and May 6th, 2016 in North America. The film will be directed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors, Joe and Anthony Russo and will star a plethora of stars including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, and Sebastian Stan amongst many others.
Sunday night marks the 28th annual Royal Rumble, and while the Rumble match itself is the focus, the event is also known for having a robust and entertaining undercard. Every WWE title will be contested and the chances are pretty good that they can change hands.
The New Day vs. The Usos – WWE Tag Team Championship
The New Day – WWE Tag Team Champions photo: WWE
The current reigning and defending WWE Tag Team Champions defend their titles against the Slammy Award winning tag team of the year. The New Day took the WWE by storm this past year, and some of that ascent is owed to the absence of Jey Uso, one half of The Usos, who was sideline for about 7 months due to a shoulder injury. The Usos have returned at full speed and The New Day have held the titles since Summerslam last August. The New Day have a numbers advantage but The Usos have been taking them on in singles matches and coming away with wins.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto – WWE United States Championship
Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto photo: WWE
A feud that is all of a week old but has given fans two quality matches in less than 7 days, it got kick started on the January 18th edition of RAW when Kalisto upset Del Rio for the US Title. Del Rio would regain the US title this past Thursday on SmackDown. Both matches were fantastic, and considering the pedigrees of Kalisto and Del Rio, the quality of the matches should not be surprising to any fan. This is the rubber match and could be the best undercard match on the show depending on how much time they are given.
Charlotte w/Ric Flair vs Becky Lynch – WWE Divas Championship
Charlotte vs Becky Lynch
The self-professed ‘Dirtiest Diva in the Game’ has her stiffest challenge yet since winning the Divas title against a game Becky Lynch. Formerly teammates, Charlotte’s success, along with the aide of her Hall Of Fame father Ric Flair, seem to have left Becky by the wayside, but a non title victory over Charlotte and some strategic goading have gotten Lynch a title match. Both are fantastic performers and this match could take its place among the other fantastic women’s contests that have been happening in NXT and WWE over the past few months.
Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens – Last Man Standing Match – WWE Intercontinental Championship
Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens photo: WWE
Quite possibly the show stealer of the Royal Rumble. Since his debut on the WWE roster in May 2015, Kevin Owens has seen a meteoric rise, but not without some setbacks. One of those being losing the IC Title to Dean Ambrose at TLC in December. Since then, Owens has been obsessed with reclaiming his title, and various clashes have left one or the other flat on his back and property damaged. The Lunatic Fringe will defend the IC Title against the Prize Fighter in a knock down, drag out Last Man Standing match at the Rumble. For our casual fans out there, a Last Man Standing Match is a no disqualification, no count out affair in which you must incapacitate your opponent to the point where they cannot answer a count of 10. Both of these performers excelled in these types of matches prior to their respective arrivals in the WWE. For fans who followed their earlier careers, this match will not be Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose, this will be Kevin Steen vs Jon Moxley.
30 Man Royal Rumble match – WWE World Heavyweight Championship
As noted in this column, the Royal Rumble match is a very unique event and is seen as the official kick off for WrestleMania season. This year is going to be more intriguing than most as the winner of the Royal Rumble match will become the new WWE Champion. This has only happened once before, in 1992, when the vacant WWE Title was put on the line and claimed by Ric Flair in his WWE debut. The current champion, Roman Reigns, is being put into the Rumble by Vince McMahon in an attempt to remove the title from him. Now the storyline seems to lead people to believe that Roman will retain, but considering the amount of talent in this year’s event, it might not be that predictable.
The 2016 Royal Rumble will air on Pay Per View and on the WWE Network, which is available on most streaming platforms.
Last episode, Glass Mask proved that it can deliver suspenseful, fantastic showdowns, now it’s set to prove that it can pull off the smaller conflicts, the ones with lower stakes in ‘My Beth’.
Review of Glass Mask Episode 6 ‘My Beth’
After her successful spat against Ayumi in Episode 5, Maya has moved on to other things, like actually being in a play, well, a lead in a play.
The episode primarily starts with a date between Maya and Sakurakouji, at least, he thinks it’s a date. Really, you gotta pity poor Sakurakouji, Maya’s attention was completely grasped by the play, even after the curtains closed. Totally oblivious to his attempt at dinner, Maya ends the date early. This further plays to the characteristic of Maya totally immersing herself in plays while also adding some character drama revolved around this character aspect.
The roles for Little Women has been cast, and Maya has the role of Beth. The first in conflict has begun, between Maya and Sayaka, who is really bitter about not getting the role of Beth. There really isn’t much depth to this conflict, just one girl wanting the role of another. What makes ‘My Beth’ interesting is how Maya overcome this obstacle.
For the first time in the series, Maya tries her hand at Method Acting and living as Beth for a week. What is kinda shocking is the response from her peers, all confused that Maya is living like Beth. Heck, even the acting teacher doesn’t understand the technique!
I would like to highlight a moment. Early into the episode, the acting teacher rants about a specific moment in the play, when Beth wants to ask about the piano but instead cuddles the kitten instead. Revealing the shy nature of Beth’s character. While Maya is living as Beth, and Sayaka has replaced Maya in rehearsals we get a payoff to that scene. The others and Sayaka are practicing that very same scene, when Sayaka looks outside to see Maya, as Beth, playing with a kitten. While it’s difficult to derive some large meaning from this scene, about the nature of acting or some sort, it is a clear payoff to the scene earlier. A subtle way of showing us how Maya is more like Beth now.
The kitten will never be seen again
Finally, I would like to make mention of Tsukikage and her teaching techniques. While is certainly is troubling, Tsukikage can be very harsh and even abusive, it also is exactly what is needed. Here’s an example for each.
When Maya and the gang began to rehearse Little Women, the mood was very cheerful, happy, contentful, as they set everything up and began to practice. But when Tsukikage joined to help them practice, that cheerful atmosphere was shattered, the music was dark and gloomy, and the montage was full of criticisms and scowling faces. At this moment Tsukikage is not doing her job as needed, she is too harsh.
This show can be really cheesy sometimes.
However, it would Tsukikage that had Maya live as Beth for a week, clearly no one else would have even considered it. We don’t know if Maya will pass, but it seems positive. This moment helps establish early on that despite Tsukikage’s teaching flaws, she is exactly what Maya needs to become the amazing actress we all know she is going to be.
Mad Dogs is the Amazon Original series bringing up questions of male fantasies, regret, and conformity. For four friends Gus, Joel, Lex, and Cobi new to Belize the all-expenses paid trip just feels like a bad weekend.
But then that goat corpse floats up from the bottom of Milo’s pool. Leading up to when Milo exits the story, it’s hard to tell if inviting his friends to his villa is part of a bigger ploy. Milo knows how to manipulate each and every one of his life-long friends. Milo takes a minute to take Cobi aside and asks him, “Do you regret not getting into business with me?” He also asks Lex the same question. Clearly, Milo doesn’t have any regrets or fears from his shady business dealings. He calls out each and every one of his friends on how they supposedly compromised on their ambitions. Gus from his recent divorce, he had it all and lost it. Joel on how he’s obviously still in love with Cobi’s wife. To Milo, all of his friends’ life stories seem like a bad joke. How did they stray so far from the perfect picture of manhood?
Cobi stands out among the four friends, as he seems to know a little more than he’s letting on. Cobi invites a pretty girl back to the villa, Cobi is the voice of reason, and Cobi knows exactly how to come up with a logical explanation for Milo’s fortune.
For Milo his untimely departure almost seems anticipated. He’s prepared even, as he leaves his villa to Gus, Joel, Lex, and Cobi. Milo was probably aware this would implicate his friends in any crimes he’s committed. But now Milo’s gone, and our four middle-aged, underachieving men have to fend for themselves in a foreign country. This gets real with the introducing of the shows’ first female character (that’s not a sex object). The unnamed female detective, that’s not a housekeeper, is clearly one of those people that’s smarter than she lets on. Unnamed Detective knows how to manipulate these naïve American men. Is she in league with the terrifying little man in a cat mask? Probably. This Amazon Original gives the impression that Mad Dogs is more than just a petty comedy/drama. These guys have to survive the crime lord of Belize. Good luck fellas.
Zoolander 2seems to be taking a page out the Deadpool promotional playbook with today’s promotional video. The promotional video promoting Zoolander 2 (in theaters the same week as Deadpool) focuses on Kristen Wiig’s character Alexanya Atoz promoting her beauty care product “Youth Milk.” Check it out.
The world of Zoolander is all about being beautiful. Alexanya Atoz ( who sounds a lot like Madeline Kahn ) welcomes viewers to the House of Atoz and it beauty laboratory (pronounced in her Eastern European, frozen-faced accent as “booty labia-tory”).Alexanya’s goal is to make people channel beauty using her product: Youth Milk.
“When you look old, you feel sad,” she asserts. “But when you look young, you feel happy.”“Moisturizing costs money, but sexy is free.”
Zoolander 2 is directed by Ben Stiller and stars Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Christine Taylor, Kristen Wiig, Billy Zane, Fred Armisen, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Olivia Munn, Kanye West, Ariana Grande and Mika.
After seven years of acting as the show runner for Doctor Who, Steven Moffat will be stepping down. He has not gone into detail about the reason for his departure only commenting “the fact is my timey-wimey is running out.” No word on if this is somehow related to some kind of medical or personal trouble has been given.
What does this mean for everyone’s favorite Time Lord? It appears he won’t be seeing much action this year as the production team plans to air only a Christmas special in 2016 and push the next full season back to 2017. This is probably to give new show runner, Chris Chibnail (Broadchurch) the time necessary to work on the scripts for his first season as the person in charge.
As a long time fan of the show who came in just as Moffat took over as show runner this news is disheartening. Doctor Who and his companions went on many fantastic and entertaining adventures under his tenure. Whatever the future holds for you Mr. Moffat, know you have earned the respect of many sci-fi fans around the world who wish you luck on the journey which lies ahead. Now run you clever boy and remember.
This season I did something that I normally never do. I watched every show that is available for legal streaming. Normally I just watch what I’m interested in and wait and see if there is buzz around a show I neglected. Not this time around. I sweated, I cringed and toiled and even gave a few shows a second chance just to be nice. Considering I rarely ever do this sort of thing, it’s no surprise I haven’t really thought about the topic I’m going to talk about. The different between a good and bad 1st Anime episode.
Now most people don’t really go into Anime with high expectations anymore. That’s just the way it is. The markets been to over saturated with mediocre material that we tend to be more forgiving. And the fact that everything is so accessible we end up using the “okay” shows to take up our free time. I know what I just said kinda relates to anime as a whole, but it’s still something that affects how we ultimately go into a show to begin with. So lets delve into my continuing high expectations of anime and see what makes a good, bad, and even mediocre 1st anime episode.
Mediocrity Is Bad, But For Different Reasons
So at first I was only going to talk about the distinct differences between good and bad 1st anime episodes. Then I realized that a lot of the shows I watched weren’t necessarily bad, but they didn’t grab me like I feel a good how should, neither does it push me away like an inherently bad episode. It leaves me floating in some sort of anime limbo where I don’t feel anything. Sure there was nothing really wrong about the show but it didn’t keep me engaged enough to warrant another episode. I’ll spare you my long laundry list of dropped shows on this justification alone, but believe me when I say there are many.
Honestly I wouldn’t really remember these shows if it wasn’t for MyAnimeList keeping a log of my dropped shows. I don’t really want to spend much time on this because mediocrity is almost the worst thing to talk about and has more of a grey zone than when talking about good and bad shows. Mostly I wanted to bring this up because I was feeling this a lot this season and had to acknowledge that, anyway moving on.
What A Good 1st Anime Episode Can Do
So keep in mind that “good 1st episode” doesn’t necessarily mean “good show”. Sometimes a show will pour everything it has into the 1st episode of a series and that’s all it will have. This is a topic for a whole other time. Now we’re only focusing on why and when a 1st anime episode is good.
“Amount of context” is probably the biggest factor when determining whether you want to continue watching something. A first episode needs to know that it’s the first episode. That means it needs to know that there are other episodes that will follow. And that means that it needs to know what information the viewer needs to get them through this episode and what they can save for later. All you really need for the first episode is to focus on the main hook of your series and why we should care. This comes first even before characters. Characters can grow and change through a show as they experience the events unfold. Now if your hook is something special about the characters then its a given that you would focus on that. If not leave them aside and make sure that your characters have enough footing to start moving and its stable enough to where the viewer can follow them. Of course I’m not contrasting this yet but everything will make sense when you relate it to having a bad 1st anime episode.
A Bad 1st Anime Episode Could Spell Disaster
This is where you take all the things I’ve said in the previous paragraphs and call me out on talking about a subject that is mostly subjective. Well what isn’t? So before you form too much of an opinion hear me out. I’m trying my best to keep this as far from a “I just don’t like what the show is” argument as possible.
Oddly enough the “amount of context” is the catalyst for both good and bad 1st episodes. Shouldn’t have been much of a shocker that doing something good would make a show good and doing something bad would make it bad. The reasoning why it’s so detrimental for a bad 1st episode will be similar as to why it’s so important for a good 1st episode. If you have a show that feels like it needs to throw every cool idea at you at once, you’re going to feel some overload. Shows that don’t take their time building things don’t show confidence in their work. If anything they put too much stock into one aspect and hand-fist it in because its their catch. Or conversely they hold back whats really important and special about the show too much and doesn’t make you want to get invested. It’s definitely a tight rope to walk.
Having first episodes that focus a lot on context generally means that the story is going to be too complicated to begin with, or that they couldn’t think of a creative way to weave it into the story naturally. Bad 1st anime episodes love to use the “exposition robot”, which basically is just a character (sometimes many) divulging into a back cover description of how the world works. Often unprompted and not having any significance with whats going on at hand. Its downright lazy. Some people may forgive this but I’m too “worn” to take it anymore. So for those shows, I’ll just put aside and wait to hear how the rest of the show turns out.
Is There Anything To Take Away Here?
Ultimately a first anime episode can either be a big divergence or right on the nose of what the rest of the series will be. The downside is that if you see a bad first episode and you’re inclined to drop the show, you might miss out on something special, and no one wants that. In a perfect world we wouldn’t have to worry about this and the only thing we would consider when watching something would be taste. But the anime world isn’t perfect yet. So for now try your best to judge for yourself if a show is worth giving a second chance, and I will too. Just don’t come crying to me when I call a show shitty after only seeing the first episode. You don’t eat a bite out of a shit sandwich and keep eating to see how the rest tastes. Because shit tastes bad, and so does bad 1st anime episodes.
Lions Winter Ale is named after the peaks in the distance
Established in 1984, Granville Island Brewing in Vancouver, BC became a big name in Canadian craft brewing. Sadly, Granville Island Brewing was bought in 2009 by a subsidiary of Molson Coors and so no longer qualifies as a craft beer. That being said, Granville Island Brewing still makes excellent beer. Also, though I live in Canada I haven’t yet reviewed a seasonal brew, and living in Canada I’m pretty sure I’m legally obliged to do just that, so here’s my review of Granville Island Brewing’s Lions Winter Ale, named for the lions that overlook Canada’s Pacific coast.
First Sip:
The tastes of chocolate and vanilla that flood my mouth on my first sip quickly give way to an only slightly bitter aftertaste, which is softened by the sweetness of this Winter Ale’s heavy malt flavour. Lions Winter Ale’s rich flavour fools me into thinking that it’ll have a thick, creamy mouth-feel. Instead, it doesn’t have the creaminess of a stout or a porter. It’s an ale through and through with its transparent deep amber colour and fizzy drinkability.
Last Sip:
Another excellent seasonal beer completed. I generally warn against letting beers go to room temperature but this is one that, though it should never be drunk warm or flat, could be drunk at room temperature and not automatically trigger one’s gag reflex.
Other Comments:
As advertised, Lions Winter Ale goes well with sweet and creamy foods but this beer’s rich flavour can also taste great alongside a savoury dish like a steak or some grilled vegetables.
IMDb has just confirmed that the gorgeous star of The Walking Dead, Lauren Cohan, will appear in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice as the mother of young Bruce Wayne. We already know we will see the night that created The Dark Knight in a flashbacks from previous trailers, but we don’t know if we will see any more flashbacks that include scenes with Bruce’s parents. Considering the fact that there are already so many characters and plots there probably won’t be too many scenes featuring Martha and Thomas Wayne, who is played by Watchmen’sJeffrey Dean Morgan.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice releases March 25th, 2016 and will star Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jessie Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne and will be directed by Zack Snyder. The film will lead up to the Justice League movie on November 17th, 2017.
Jessica Jones! Episode 3! ‘AKA It’s Called Whiskey’ picks up what was left the last episode, both in plot, tone, and quality.
Review of Jessica Jones Episode 3 ‘AKA It’s Called Whiskey’
After a break which took way too long (holidays, tournaments, and laziness all contributing factors), here we are! Back to reviewing Jessica Jones! These episodes will be reviewed weekly as if it were airing now, and normally. Episode three, or ‘AKA It’s Called Whiskey’ continues where the previous episode left off, with Hope freaking out, Kilgrave looming ever more, and the search for Sufentanil.
Let’s start with the very middle of this episode, the flashback Jessica has when she first sees Kilgrave again. Not only is this a great moment, but it reveals a lot. It first confirms that Jessica had killed Luke’s wife, something strongly hinted at in earlier flashbacks, but it also shows us the last time Jessica saw Kilgrave. Even with very little context, and before we have truly gotten to know Kilgrave as a character, David Tenant did a great job conveying the subtle fear coming from Kilgrave as he called once again for Jessica to come back. As she was walking away we can hear Kilgrave call again and again, “Jessica!” Perfectly reminiscent of the creepy whispers heard throughout the trailers and early episodes while also highlighting the desperation that begins to inflict his voice. Kilgrave has never lost control of someone, he both cannot believe she isn’t listening and is fearing the consequences. This is all apparent solely through this scene, no back story required.
As for how Jessica managed to free herself from Kilgrave’s control well… its still unclear at this point. In the comic there was this whole big operation, including certain telepathic mutants to get Jessica free. According to what we’ve seen so far she just… is. Jessica doesn’t do anything special or realize a key truth, she just resists. Of course, it’s harsh to judge based solely on the first flashback to explain it, but that better not be the sole explanation.
Trisha is a key component of this episode, not only pissing Kilgrave off, which she will regret soon, but also showing off her training and security, neither do much good. A key line that really caught my attention from Trish was, “No one touches me unless I want them too.” Of course, it’s a little too early to speculate, and perhaps the fight between her and police guy is the payoff (which would be rather weak), but I’m inclined to believe that at some point later Kilgrave will contradict this claim by miss Patsy.
Jeri uses Trish’s interview to kickstart her delusion defense, claiming that mind control is hard to believe. Which boggles the mind, as Trish said, this city was attacked by aliens not long ago. Not to mention the existence of Thor and Vision, and oh yeah, Loki had mind control. It’s hard to believe that it’s hard to believe that Kilgrave is real.
HOW CAN YOU NOT BELIEVE???
Trish’s fight scene with police guy is deliciously brutal, the kind that with each thud you wince. This kind of fight perfectly blends with the dark, realistic tone of the show, while delivering something Luke and Jessica’s fights lack, consequences.
Jessica was quite resourceful this episode, using her quick wit to fake Trish’s death, put a tracker on Police guy, and trick him into believing that he jumped off. Even using Malcolm to gain access to the Sufentanil, quick comment there, while I don’t want to spoil anything, I do find it fascinating that Jessica would use Malcolm like that, considering his future character arc.
Luke had a really interesting line, “Being a hero just puts a target on your back.” I really like this line because it both quickly introduces us to Luke’s philosophy, while hinting at the upcoming Luke Cage series. Why does he believe this? Has his target been shot at before? Has he tried to be a hero? A close friend/relative?
Another great line is from Trish, being “Graduating from alcoholism?” Not for any particular reason, it doesn’t reveal anything about the characters, but it’s a nice, witty line.
David Tenant’s belated introduction, as in we actually see him, was fantastic as well, continuing to show off that creepy yet suave tone used before, the moment we see his face intercut with the flashback well. And of course, the room of Jessica. I don’t think any elaboration is needed here, it’s just a great moment, and many are to come.
Before we end I’d also like to make a special mention to the music. While I discussed the theme last episode, the OST, in general, has been pretty great too. In fact, this was written while listening to the soundtrack, highly recommend.
