A few days ago, we reported rumors about the possible exit of Channing Tatum from the Gambit movie over at Fox. The Hollywood Reporter explains that normal negotiations were taking place when the rumor started spreading:
“One thing that needed figuring out was the extent of Tatum’s involvement in the X-Men universe. Fox sees Tatum’s Gambit, a mutant who harnesses kinetic energy, as one of the anchor characters of the X-universe, akin to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, someone who would anchor his own movies and appear in numerous others. It’s a commitment that could theoretically last more than a decade.
Sources say that backend compensation was also a sticking point.”
In other words, they’re talking about a possible “replacement” of Wolverine (now that Jackman has officially announced his retirement from the X-Men franchise after his last solo movie) for Gambit. And of course, that means a lot of years of commitment from Tatum and a lot of money to pay from the studio.
“The Magic Mike star’s participation hardly was in any real danger because the actor already had invested quite a bit in the superhero part.”
Like we said in our first report, Tatum will also produce the X-Men spin-off, and has been working on it for years.
If your brain hurts it must mean that Derek Zoolander is around. Apparently Derek published the trailer to Zoolander 2 too early because it has been taken down, but luckily the BroBible made a copy.
Update: Paramount Pictures released the trailer Sunday afternoon.
Zoolander 2 stars Ben Stiller (Who will also direct), 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. It was written by Justin Theroux and Stiller. The film is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2016, by Paramount Pictures.
Marvel’s Ant-Man pulled in $3,625,000 on 3,332 screens Friday, good for third place. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation dominated the box office with $20,400,000 on 3,956 screens. Vacation a distant second at $4,500,000 on 3,411 screens.
Ant-Man has collected $123,154,000 at the box office in 15 days and still sits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe box office cellar.
[table caption=”Marvel Films” colwidth=”20|200|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|right|right|right”]
Rank,Film,Year,Opening Weekend,Gross
1,The Avengers,2012,$207.4M,$623.4M
2,Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015, $191.2M,$456.6M
3,Iron Man 3, 2013, $174.1M, $409M
4,Iron Man 2, 2010, $128.1M, $312.4M
5,Iron Man, 2008, $98.6M, $318.4M
6,Captain America: Winter Soldier, 2014, $95M, $259.7M
7,Guardians of the Galaxy,2014,$94.3M,$318.4M
8,Thor: Dark World, 2013,$85.7M,$206.3M
9,Thor, 2011,$65.7M,$181M
10, Captain America: First Avenger, 2011,$65M,$176.6M
11,The Incredible Hulk, 2008,$55.4M, $134.5M
12,Ant-Man, 2015,$58M,$123.1M
[/table]
In the week that we got our first glimpse of the MCU’s version of Spider-Man it seems appropriate that the first edition of our Book Club tackles the first volume of the series that introduced Peter Parker and comics to a new generation; Ultimate Spider-Man.
It’s important that you understand something about me; Ultimate Spider-Man is my favourite comic series of all-time. Note that I don’t necessarily think it is the best, indeed much of the story arcs prior to the Death of Spider-Man leave much to be desired, but it will always hold a special place in my heart for virtue of the fact that it was the series that got me into comics. Growing up in the 90s, my introduction to superheroes came primarily in the form of the multitude of high quality animated series that filled the airwaves. It wasn’t until the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie hit (which incidentally took a lot of cues from this book) that the comic books began to resurge in popularity in Ireland. This led to many titles, including the reprints of Ultimate Spider-Man, being made available in your local newsagents and provided the public with greater access to these series. Many of us knew the core characters and their backstories, but Ultimate Spider-Man stood out by providing interesting re-interpretations of those characters. That being said, this marks my first time reading the opening story arc of the series. While I have a solid run of the first incarnation of Ultimate Spider-Man I only began picking up the series during the second story arc; “Kingpin”. I didn’t decide to pick up the first volume until recently, partially worried that I had over-hyped the series to the point that it would only be a let-down. So does the series start off strong? Pour yourself a glass of wine and let’s find out.
Originally intended as a six-issue mini, Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility is an extended re-telling of the origin story featured in Amazing Fantasy #15. The purpose of the Ultimate line was to give the Marvel universe a modern makeover that would allow them to appeal to new readers without having to deal with the burden of decades of continuity. You should all know the story by now, Peter Parker is an isolated teenager who upon being bitten by a genetically altered spider gains super-powers and must grapple with the responsibility that comes with them. The twist here, which was novel until the release of the original Spider-Man movie, was that the origins of Spider-Man and the Green Goblin were intertwined. The spider which bites Peter is a product of Oscorp’s Oz programme, the very same programme that Norman Osborn hopes to use to develop a wonder drug. It is creation of Spider-Man which provides Osborn with the data necessary to develop the formula further which later transforms him into the monstrous Green Goblin. Linking the origins of both characters in this manner gives more of a reason for the two to become arch-enemies. Like Ying and Yang they represent humanity’s potential when science is involved, its capacity for both good and evil. Given his stance on the identity of the Green Goblin, I don’t think Steve Ditko would have been pleased with this turn of events, but it works within the context of the story and makes their relationship more compelling. Unlike a lot of heroes who create their own villains, this series shows us the reverse with both Osborn and Doctor Otto Octavius playing key roles in Spider-Man’s creation.
The Peter Parker we are introduced to perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the character and the MCU would do well to take note. As a teenager struggling to fit in with the world around him, he is immediately relatable to the modern. He has outbursts; moments of anger directed at adults who he doesn’t think understand him, but beneath that pain is a good kid trying to find his place. Its notable that the entire first issue remains barren of though balloons, in a classic case of showing as opposed to telling, we learn about Peter from watching how he interacts with his peers and his relatives; Ben and May Parker. We essentially get to see how the outside world views Peter and how those perceptions impact his life before subsequent issues delve into his own mind-set directly through the now famous Spider-Man internal monologues. As the volume progresses, Peter comes more and more into his own right until he is dishing out witticisms faster than the Flash with a bad case of the runs.
Peter’s relationship with Mary-Jane is extremely well done in this iteration, though it’s worth nothing that this isn’t the MJ many of you know and love. Even before the spider bite, it’s clear that the two share a connection and that there is an underlying attraction that neither of them is willing to confess to. Mark Bagley expertly illustrates the stolen glances and subtle body language of two teenagers starting to feel for one another. While MJ retains the girl-next-door status of many of her incarnations, her ability to relate to Peter on an intellectual level is critical here. MJ is quite intelligent in her own right and the pair’s attraction to each other is of both a physical and intellectual nature. It’s Mary-Jane who consoles Peter following the death of his Uncle, waiting outside his house for hours just so that someone is there waiting for him when he returns. It’s a beautiful moment and one that Bagley’s art compliments wholly. The character herself may not have appeared in Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man series, but some inspiration had to be taken from this character when they were conceptualising that universe’s version of Gwen Stacy. Much is left unsaid in this volume, but the door is left open for many possibilities regarding the progression of their relationship down the road.
Arguably the character who benefits the most from this expansion is Uncle Ben. The reader gets to know Ben Parker over four issues and truly understands the kind of relationship that he and Peter shared. As a result when the inevitable tragedy occurs it has more of an impact than it has in past iterations. Most Spider-Man stories emphasise the importance of their relationship after Ben’s death and we know very little about him, but by making their relationship central to the story in the lead up to it, it makes his death all the more tragic. There is, of course, tension between the two as Peter comes to terms with his powers and how they will change his life, but it’s the kind of tension found between a parent and child as the latter hits puberty. Bendis turns Uncle Ben into an actual character as opposed to a cardboard cut-out whose sole task is to dish out catchphrases about responsibility. This is the kind of character that I could have seen the great Martin Sheen playing and it is a pity that we didn’t get more of that in the Amazing Spider-Man film series.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Harry Osborn suffers greatly in this adaption. It is heavily implied that Harry merely uses Peter for his brains and cares little about their friendship. This terrible introduction to the character is compounded by the fact that Harry rarely features in Bendis’ run outside of rare Goblin incidents. Much of the conflict between him and Peter is born out of the great friendship they supposedly had, but we, ultimately, don’t learn much about this version of Harry. We are told that he and Peter are good friends, but there is little enough evidence to support that. As a result, the interesting dynamic that can exist between these two characters is squandered in what is an otherwise great story.
Our antagonist, Norman Osborn acquits himself well in this volume. As a corrupt businessman with delusions of grandeur, Osborn is as despicable as it gets. He outright hates his son; he at one point arranges to have Peter Parker “taken care of” so as to avoid legal liability and when he discovers the Oz drugs works he arranges to be the first human test subject because he considers himself to be the perfect human specimen. If Bendis had made his Osborn persona and his Goblin persona essentially one and the same, that might have been interesting, but that isn’t the case. This version of the Green Goblin is boring, amounting to nothing more than Diet Hulk. Physically he is a challenge for Spider-Man, but there doesn’t appear to be much going on upstairs. He can generate fireballs and throw them at people, but his design is akin to a luchador with only his face resembling anything like the Goblin we know and love. Within the context of the story, it’s questionable where the costume; which consists of purple pants, green underwear and a purple cloak even comes from. I wouldn’t be surprised if Norman stopped off at Villains R’Us before injecting himself with the serum. Honestly, the Goblin seems shoehorned into the last two issues. It’s almost as if in the modern era, where all stories are written with the trade paperback in mind, they were afraid that the emotional story that has underpinned the rest of the volume wouldn’t be enough to satisatiate readers. It would have been much better for them to have waited to reveal the Goblin in a future story, this would have allowed the appropriate tension and hype to build as well as give them a chance to develop the character more. As a result, while the Goblin gets better in later issues, he acts as little more than a boss character with no real motivations or character to him. He just isn’t interesting outside of his sleazy corporate persona.
Looking at the art, to my mind Mark Bagley is one of the definitive Spider-Man artists. His art is as linked to the character as John Romita Jr. Bagley brings a brightness and richness to the characters with images that pop out of the page. Neither too realistic nor too cartoony, Bagley’s illustrations are the perfect blend of styles. Bagley is at his best in moments of silence, when focusing on Peter’s sense of isolation. Even without words, Bagley manages to convey a loneliness and deep sadness that comes from being ostracized from your peers. That is not to say that Bagley doesn’t excel when focusing on Parker’s alter ego. Quite the contrary, his ability to draw emotion from a masked character is beyond compare, through cleverly manipulating the mask’s eyes. His re-vamped Goblin design is also quite refreshing showing a gradual evolution of the mutation coursing through Osborn’s blood.
Despite a number of teething problems, this first volume of Ultimate Spider-Man did not disappoint. It gave a much needed modern update to the character’s origin, fleshing out the backstory by creating interesting takes on well-known characters and snappy natural dialogue more likely to be seen on a Joss Whedon production than a comic page. For those of you jumping into the big bag world of comics for the first time or those of you looking to remember while you fell in love with the medium in the first place, Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility gets our seal of approval. It just goes to show that even with an all too familiar story, with great talent comes great comics.
You know what I think, but what did some of our other staff members think about this first volume;
“I’m officially the worst Book Club member, because I’m only half-way through this collection, but I love it so far. While Bagley’s art felt a little cheesy to me at first, by the end of the third issue, I was completely won over by the 90’s nostalgia vibes that radiates out of his early work—okay, so the book was published in October 2000, but it still LOOKS like the 90’s. To be fair though, this first collection of Ultimate Spider-Man is so much more than a nostalgia piece. It’s an answer to the 616 Peter Parker’s rigid and slightly cold origin story, and Bendis does a fantastic job of really capturing the essence of the powerless becoming the powerful overnight and what that would mean to a kid who’s constantly the butt of the joke. By now, we’ve seen so many variations of the Spider-Man origin story, that going into it, I worried this collection might feel rote. However, these first few issues of the lengthy Bendis/Bagley run—now considered a legacy to many modern-day comic fans—is somehow fresh and exciting in spite of all the Spider-Man based products this book arguably inspired over the last decade and a half.” – Matthew McCrary
“I was so reluctant to this series when it came out because this wasn’t my Spider-Man. That was an epic fail on my part. This series is fresh, fun and made me remember why I like Peter Parker so much. This was all because of Bendis’ writing. On the other hand I can’t stand Mark Bagley’s artwork. Everyone looks the same and compared to Todd McFarlane and Erik Larson, Bagley comes off like a cheap knock off. Love the writing, can’t stand the artist.”– Matthew Sardo
What do you think? Was this volume spectacular? Did it do everything a spider does? Sound off in the comments below and join us in two weeks for our next Book Club review where we will be looking at Y: the Last Man Volume 1.
The more anime I watch, the less impressed I am with the animated action scene. Okay, maybe not less impressed per se, but exciting, well animated action scenes are less likely to win me over on an otherwise hum drum series. Every now and then though, something comes along and transports me back to my teenage self–the one who was so attracted to anime because it was “Cool Japan” and because the art style was wholly other–forcing me to practically ignore bland characters or genre tropes that I’ve since grown more and more tired of. God Eater‘s third episode did that for me, hastily pushing my focus past a story line that badly needs some fleshing out and instead reminding me why the whole “girls with guns” trope is so rampant throughout the genre; when it’s done right, it’s undeniably cool.
This week’s episode picks up directly after last week’s action-packed goodness. To give some background, God Eater takes place in an apocalyptic future where the world has been besieged by monsters of all sizes called Aragami. Our main protagonist, Lenka, is in the beginning stages of becoming a God Eater–a warrior against the Aragami who is given special powers in order to properly combat them–making him a “New-Type”. By the third episode, Lenka–just starting on his path to greatness–teams up with his more wisened cohorts, Lindow and Sakuya, in order to save a transport plane that’s being heavily bombarded by hordes of Aragami. Enter Alisa, the girl with a gun–also the New-Type girl on the transport plane who apparently needs saving. The episode doesn’t quite go in the “damsel in distress” direction, which is where things get interesting.
Alisa may seem like an old anime stereotype–the tough girl who simply won’t follow the rules–but there’s more to her than meets the eye, and she breathes fresh air into God Eater through her energy and her ethics, pushing the show beyond simple monster madness and into a truly rich action series. The shots of Alisa dashing across the breadth of her transport plane–slashing monsters left and right before sliding to a knee to fire burst rounds into a pack of blue flying creatures–are exhilarating, even if they’re not the best animated portions of the episode. Before now, God Eater has been exciting, but more in the vein of, “hanging with a new hero who barely misses death at every turn”. Alisa, on the other hand–as a “New-Type” who handles herself like a seasoned professional–offers experience out of nowhere. It’s the kind of character that God Eater needs; one who offers hope in the face of mounting monster concerns. At face value, Alisa represents the “girls with guns” trope by subverting classical ideals of femininity–motherly love, warmth, nourishment–and bringing nothing but death and destruction to the attacking creatures. When it turns out that Alisa–denying her own rescue by the God Eater crew–is staying with the transport plane to protect all the people on board, she finally becomes both the best traits of the “girl with a gun” and the motherly figure, blowing away the bad guys while protecting the weak and the innocent. As female characters in general go, she could be more complex. As female action characters go, however, Alisa brings just enough interest to the show to keep God Eater watchable.
It’s not just the “girls with guns” trope that makes this week’s God Eater the best of the week. The animation that God Eater employs has to be divisive amongst viewers–it’s one of the more obvious CG-based styles we’ve seen in the last few years–but it’s a strong factor in what makes the series such an enjoyable watch. Anime series have strived for some time now to incorporate classic ideals of Japanese 2D animation with the technological advances of CG animation, usually to ill effect (see this season’s Chaos Dragon, for one). God Eater, however, has seemingly solved the puzzle by creating an interesting character design–almost fuzzy on the edges at times, with some seriously thin line work–that makes its characters feel like they’re related to the 2D designs we’re used to, while also making them of the world which the series’ CG monsters inhabit.
That doesn’t even get into the gorgeous landscapes that fill out the backgrounds of God Eater–possibly the most impressive aspect of the animation. The episode starts with a scene of a rolling sea, calm and placid with the night sky hanging overhead. Soon, an Aragami shoots out of the water, disrupting the idyllic setting–a foreshadowing of the chaos to come, all with the backdrop of a beautifully lit sunrise taking form in the background. It’s shots like this that really draw us into the world of God Eater, helping the audience understand the mood of the apocalyptic world these characters call home. The various backdrops also help to give the Arigami a sense of scale that makes them even more frightening. While the main Aragamai force feels like it’s straight out of a random Final Fantasy or Persona battle–the least impressive animation in the episode, these creatures are round, blue, moth-like creatures with gaping mouths, razor-sharp teeth and tacked on wings–a fleeting shot of a much more intimidating Aragami towards the end of the episode, uses the sky around it to both hide the creature–giving us that Cloverfield effect–and size it up amongst the sprawling sunset.
I worry that God Eater can’t keep up this momentum–or even this level of quality–since its general character and plot development up to this point has been fairly lacking. This week’s introduction of Alisa, however, and its borderline immaculate animation, show promise for a show that was a throw-away watch for me over the last two weeks. I’m not expecting gold here, but a guy can hope, right?
Runners-Up: Classroom Crisis – Ep. 4/Snow White with the Red Hair – Ep. 4
I really couldn’t decide between Classroom Crisis and Snow White with the Red Hair this week, as both series have a number of great moments but are also flawed in certain aspects. Classroom Crisis scored a nice outing by proving its non-partisan nature. Kaito Sera spends the majority of the episode figuring out how to keep A-TEC afloat, with a local union being his first go-to savior. Soon, however, Kaito realizes that the union is out to use him just as much as he hoped to use the union, if not more. These scenes work to make Classroom Crisis a more well-rounded series, ideologically. The series–frequently questioning the effect of the corporate power dynamic on the modern world–doesn’t hesitate to point out the political machinations of the enemy of corporate power (the unions). Instead, it feels as if A-TEC exists outside of the societal bubble, evolved past the goofball power dynamics of both corporations and unions, but still sadly effected by both. Aside from that, the episode almost feels like watching a chess game, where Kaito and Nagisa take turns trying to cut the other one off from getting what they want; Kaito, the survival of A-TEC, and Nagisa, its demise. This economic cat and mouse game feels fresh and new, and carries an episode that otherwise putters out in its conclusion. By the end, this week’s Classroom Crisis feels weighed down by bad jokes and tsundere girls getting sassy. I’m not so cold that I don’t enjoy that sort of thing in the right series, but it’s much better suited to a less thoughtful show.
Meanwhile, Snow White with the Red Hair‘s fourth episode ends up in similar territory, starting off strong and ending on a whimper. Here, the best part is working through the mystery of the greenhouse which Shirayuki is left to solve, in order to complete her court herbalist test. Much like the quasi-playful nature of Classroom Crisis‘s cat and mouse games, the mystery which Shirayuki has to solve in the first half of this episode, keeps things light and draws the audience into the world of herbal medicine through the inquisitive eyes of Shirayuki. Things that hadn’t crossed my mind as remotely interesting–like which plants belong in which soil–suddenly became intriguing due to the pacing of the show and the way that it intensifies otherwise mundane subject matter. Sadly, Snow White with the Red Hair gets a little too sentimental by the end of the episode, going down the shōjo road of each and every character caring a little too much about the smallest of feelings in each and every other character. I get the idea behind such character emotions–“aren’t we all just the best of friends?”–but it gets tedious as a viewer who’s seen such relationships in the past. I just found myself thinking, “Come on, Snow White, there’s more to you than this.” Otherwise, this is a solid episode. The artwork is gorgeous and the overall plot has moved along nicely, keeping a pretty decent pace for the series in general. Hopefully Snow White picks it back up next week, focusing more on Shirayuki’s adventures with her cohorts and less on how damn sensitive everyone might be.
Biggest Surprise: Seiyu’s Life! – Ep. 4
Both Seiyu’s Life! and Monster Musume were on my chopping block going into this week, mainly because while each had interesting moments, the episodes in general tended to drag on and were bad about simply recycling lame tropes. This time around, however, both show’s pulled off some interesting moments that made me want to see where things are going from here. Monster Musume–for all its baggage and intention of being “just another harem show… with a twist!”–manages to showcase some truly inventive moments with the various oddballs that make up Kimihito’s cadre of possible monster wives–a slime creature in particular, this go-round. While Musume makes the best of the fantastical setting it lives in, Seiyu’s Life! actively works to portray certain fringes of reality for those in the voice acting community. Futaba Ichinose–Seiyu’s Life!‘s main protagonist–is put through the ringer this week, forced to wrap up the few voice acting gigs she has left and hoping that a new job will fall in her lap.
Seiyu’s Life! is a consistently goofy and pointless show–falling off the Shirobako band wagon of giving us an “Inside Baseball” look at the industry, some episodes ago–but this episode’s ability to portray a creative person in crisis, is a true credit to the show’s more transcendent moments. Futaba sits around, waiting for her phone to ring with a new job offer on the other line, but the only phone calls she gets are much more mundane. It’s unspoken throughout the episode, but there’s a real sense that Futaba might have to let go of her dreams if things continue on this way. It’s refreshing to see Futaba struggle so much–versus the writers shoving her further into the industry without a second thought–because it captures the true feeling of attempting to break into the creative world. It’s difficult, and for every person who “makes it”, there are countless others that are struggling and considering moving on to a more lucrative career. Of course, by the end of the episode things are set back up for “cute girls doing cute stuff”, so we’ll see what Seiyu’s Life! can deliver next week. I’m not holding my breath, but at least Seiyu’s Life! provides a thoughtful outing every now and again.
Biggest Disappointment: GATE – Ep. 4
Since it piqued my interest two weeks ago, GATE has added three female leads–an elf, a sorceress and some sort of goth lolita–that have seriously dragged the series down. Having three female leads who arguably play a larger role than our milquetoast protagonist, Itami, would usually be right up my alley. GATE, however, decides to do little with them, portraying the girls as the usual elf, sorceress or goth lolita character that we’ve seen before. Not only that, but GATE‘s preoccupation with these nothing characters–setting them nude in a bath house for the entire second half of the episode–takes away from the world building that made its second episode so special. To be fair, we do get a glimpse of that here–seeing a few scenes of drama building around the country, as well as a short scene of a foreign country in our own world that wants to exploit Japan’s dimensional gate for their own greedy purposes– but it’s not enough. More so, these scenes just tease the audience–similar to the bath scene for that audience–letting us believe that maybe there’s something more to this series than there really is. GATE feels like a show with good intentions–maybe the creator or some of the writers are legitimately interested in the world building here–that was forced to include fan bait material that eventually took over. I wish I cared about the elf princess and the troubled sorceress and the sassy goth lolita, but instead the only thing I’m given to care about is if I’ll get to see them in the buff. Monster Musume may be a show that’s even more nude-friendly than this one, but at least it’s up front about it.
Predictions for Next Week
I’m done. I can’t keep holding out for Gangsta. to get any better. I’ll keep watching it, because it’s a relatively dull season and Gangsta. at least offers the familiar tropes that I like the most–save for the “dumb prostitute”, mind you–but it’s a real bummer that the series isn’t trying to do more with itself. Gangsta. has found a typical dystopic setting to languish in and, beyond that, has really only built on its characters minimally using cheap flashbacks to give them more “depth”, instead of writing scenes in the show’s here and now to flesh them out. That means that our characters feel relatively cold towards one another. Sure, they have a strong history together, but as we see them in their present, not much is going on. So yeah, Gangsta. bums me out.
Elsewhere, I’m hoping that Seiyu’s Life! and Monster Musume keep bringing it and make themselves worthwhile shows to pick up. Besides its inventiveness, Musume is also clearly being worked on by people who are having a lot of fun with it, and when that can come across the screen, it’ll make even the worst show a little more entertaining to watch. Ranpo Kitan delivered another dark episode, keeping up with the precedent set up last week, and though I can’t call Prison School the best anime of the week–or even the runner-up–it’s consistently a great watch for the style alone, if not the outlandish and ribald humor that could care less what you think of it. I’m assuming–and hoping–that those two will keep up their quality. Either way, I hope to see you back next week for my thoughts on the best–and the rest–in the week’s anime.
Survivors of the Week
Classroom Crisis Snow White with the Red Hair Monster Musume Gangsta. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace Seiyu’s Life Prison School God Eater My Love Story Ninja Slayer: from Animation
Roderick George Toombs, Wrestling legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has died at the age of 61 from cardiac arrest in his sleep at his home in Hollywood on Thursday night. He was discovered on Friday. TMZ Sports was the first to report his death.
Roddy’s rep Told TMZ, “I am devastated at this news. Rod was a good friend as well as a client and one of the most generous, sincere and authentic people I have ever known. This is a true loss to us all.”
“Our family is saddened by the sudden passing of our father and beloved husband, Roderick Toombs aka Rowdy Roddy Piper,” said a family member to TMZ.
There will be nothing like “Piper’s Pit” every again. He helped shaped the WWF into the WWE. Rest in peace Roddy.
When is the last time a robot laughed at one of your jokes? For me the answer would be never, unless miscommunication with Siri counts as a bad joke…and Siri doesn’t laugh…
This month in Japan “Pepper” the robot can now be purchased by consumers. The four-foot-tall Pepper was developed by Aldebaran Robotics and features a built in 3D camera used to perceive his surroundings.
Pepper was created for Softbank Mobile and he is used in stores to interact with customers. He can now also be purchased by residents of Japan for just under ¥200,000 or $1,600.
What really makes Pepper special is that he was designed to also be an emotional companion to any human. By responding to laughter and facial expressions Pepper will react appropriately to your mood.
Aldebaran Robotics website states:
“Pepper can translate what state you are in using his knowledge of universal emotions (joy, surprise, anger, doubt and sadness) and his ability to analyze your facial expression, body language and the words you use. He will guess your mood, and will even adapt to it. For example, he will try to cheer you up by playing your favorite song!”
Regarding Pepper in your home the Aldebaran website states:
“Our goal at Aldebaran is to create robots for the well being of humans, kind robots living with humans as a new artificial species. In order to realize this dream, it’s not enough to simply have Pepper working at SoftBank stores. The ultimate goal is for Pepper to live with humans, the stores are just the beginning…”
It certainly appears as though Pepper is a giant step forward in robots interacting with humans emotionally. If Pepper is released internationally it will be interesting to see how this “living with robots” dynamic will shape the future of society.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you think it would be like to live with an emotional robot in the comment section below.
Content Sources:
(2015) Who is Pepper? Aldebaran Robotics. https://www.aldebaran.com/en/a-robots/who-is-pepper
Your favorite craft beer may cost you a little bit more next time you walk into a local bar or brewery.
Due to severe drought on the West Coast, the entire state of Washington’s agriculture is drying up faster than an empty beer mug after last call.
Partly due to low snowpack from this past winter, Washington’s fertile Yakima Valley and the rest of the state —where nearly 73% of the nations hops are grown— is not producing enough water for hops vines which may affect beer drinkers across the nation.
Ann George, Executive Director of the Washington Hop Commission told NBC that they won’t know the damage done by the drought until harvest, which takes place from August to October.
The main people affected by this drought will be local breweries and consumers. Most of the harvest each year is locked up in forward contracts, with NBC estimating that 85% of next years crop is already locked in. This affects brewer’s who do it for enjoyment and mom and pop breweries that may buy hops on an ‘as-needed’ basis.
Michael Butler, Chairman and CEO of Cascadia Capital predicted a hops shortage beginning in 2016 when interviewed by NBC.
“Next year you won’t have more land for hops, You have a shortage of water. You’re going to have more demand from the craft breweries, and so you kind of pass the inflection point where the demand is greater for hops than the supply. The consumer will pay a higher price for beer. That is without question.”
Nearly all of the hops production takes place in the Yakima Valley and Yakima basin and 98.6% of Washington is affected by the severe drought.
Most hops can withstand a slight recession in water but three of the main varietals of hops used in West Coast-style IPA’s — Centennial, Simcoe and Amarillo — do not fair well in harsh conditions.
Attack on Titan took the world be storm a few years ago, and ever since fans have been eagerly waiting the second season of the anime ever since the first season ended.
Well the waiting it finally over, though the end product is not quite what many expected. In fact, what we get a Junior High spin-off before we get a season 2.
Not quite the style us AoT fans are used to…
This world is a little different from what Attack on Titan fans used to. Not only do our main characters go to middle school, but so do the titans. In fact, rather than eating Eren’s mother, his biggest issue now is getting his lunch stolen.
Yep, the Colossal Titan stole his lunch.
On the bright side, at least we’ll be able to see our favorite deceased characters in action once more (Petra! Oh how I’ve missed you!).
Having read the first chapter I noticed a few interesting changes, a really big one is the inclusion of multiple female titans, no longer are they the rarity we see in the original work.
Something else to consider is whether titan shifting will be a thing. With a couple of characters (Eren included) being both humans and titans.
Production I.G. has announced that it will animate the spin-off, and will be airing this fall starting October.
Thankfully, the actual continuation of the first season will be coming sometime next year, so, hopefully at the very least this will hold us off until then.
One of the pitfalls of reviewing films week after week is certain ones just tend to blend together, especially in the summer season. It’s like the saying goes, you’ve seen one… you’ve seen them all. It’s tough for a movie to stick out when your job is to see them all. I can remember last year, having that feeling when I was sitting in a theater alone watching J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller dual it out in Whiplash. I remember leaving with such a smile on my face because the captivating beauty of that film stood out amid the summer doldrums. Days later, I remember telling people about how great the movie was and all I would hear back is “huh?” … “Whip.. what?”
This week, I left with the same feeling I had after seeing Whiplash, having just seen The End of the Tour. Jason Segel and Jessie Eisenberg transform what was just merely five days in the life of David Foster Wallace into one of the most captivating movies I’ve seen in 2015.
The End of The Tour starts with the 2008 suicide of the author Wallace. It was at this moment that I began thinking that this might be taking a wrong turn, but it quickly flashed back 12 years when David Lipsky (Jessie Eisenberg) was a Rolling Stone staffer and first picked up Infinite Jest, written by Wallace. He tore through the 1,000 page manuscript and proceeded to tell his editor the next day “There hasn’t been a writer like this,” and manages to talk his way into a road-trip piece, featuring the writer for the magazine. It’s at this moment we are introduced to David Foster Wallace, played by Segel.
Director James Ponsoldt and screenwriter, the playwright Donald Marguiles, made some brilliant decisions in the structure,writing, and direction of the film. Most movies would focus more on the “events” during the course of the film; not the case here. Consider, in this film you see David and Daniel going to the Mall of America, to the movies, and buying tons of junk food, al the while these moments have little to no substantive dialogue. The most captivating moments of this movie are when it’s just David and Daniel chatting in various parts of the visit. I admired how the tight shots, especially while they were in the car, as it gives a more intimate feel to the discussion. Instead of trying to capture David Foster Wallace’s life, they are shooting for the “simple” glimpse into a period of time in not only his life but David Lipsky’s as well.
The way The End of The Tour was directed was a deft mixture of simplistic and essential design. Instead of setting up these “elaborate scenes”, several moments were either shot in a car or in a house because the focus was on what was being said during these five days. As it should have been. These moments melded perfectly with the solid screenplay by Donal Margulies. You feel this sense of David Foster Wallace’s unwillingness to buy into the fame that he was achieving, as well David Lipsky’s envy for what Wallace had. The words in this movie spoke louder than action.
The music was appropriate. This is the sort of picture where music didn’t need to overshadow what was happening. You had some 90’s hit’s like REM, but what surprised me was the score that was composed by Tim Burton regular Danny Elfman .
The real star of the movie was the acting. Jessie Eisenberg plays the role of the envious David Lipsky so well that you do feel a bit uncomfortable for David Foster Wallace, as he digs into who the author is during the course of the five-day adventure. I appreciated how you were able to pick up on the conflict that Lipsky was having between wanting to be this great journalist and wanting to be David’s peer. You get a feeling that, even years after the interview, he is still reliving those moments in his mind.
Jason Segel portrays David Foster Wallace in the best performance in his career. What we see on-screen is nothing like we have seen from Mr. Segel as he portrays a sensitive, shy, humble, and socially awkward writer who doesn’t know what to make of this hoopla surrounding his novel. You also saw what a conflicted soul he was, cherishing his solitude, but somehow never wanting to be entirely alone. It is a complex performance. I’m sure detractors might say, well he’s not portraying the David Foster Wallace I knew, but I think we have to remember that this is his interpretation of the man. Remember this is a glimpse into a moment in his life not an autobiographical film.
It’s difficult to wrap my head around the fact that a film about the discussion two men had over the course of five days is this great, but it truly is. The mark of a great picture is one that sits with you days later, percolating. Do yourself a favor and check out The End of The Tour; you will be captivated.
