Tag: AMC

Walking Dead Weekly: Season 3, Episode 2 – Sick

by Derek Kraneveldt

Welcome to Walking Dead Weekly! As the title implies, each week (bearing a new episode of course), we’ll be taking a look at the latest episode of the AMC series. I’ll let you know how I felt about each weekly offering, and will also compare it to what Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were doing with the comic at the same time.

Last week’s premiere was an action-packed introduction to the venerable prison setting from the ongoing comic. That ~42 minutes must have had more zombie-slaying in it than the entirety of the second season, and I think I can speak for most of us when I say that it was a welcome deviation from what we had grown to expect.

Ratings fell slightly (13%) from the 10+ million viewer premiere, though the 9.5 million of you that tuned in still made The Walking Dead the most watched show all week. Sounds to me like you’re all infected with some sort of zombie-fever (let’s just hope it’s not the same one from the show!). I’d also like to welcome DISH subscribers back to the apocalypse, as this week AMC and DISH seemed to settle their dispute, and the network has already returned to the provider’s roster.

As usual, there will be plenty of spoilers below, so consider yourself warned!

Episode Thoughts – “Sick”

The closing moments of Seed were among the most intense that the show has offered thus far. Hershel receives an unexpected bite in a walker heavy area, which forces the group to push forward without the quiet calm they would typically progress with. Drastic times of course, call for drastic measures, and Rick (likely thinking only of the baby on the way) decided to remove Hershel’s leg in an attempt to save his life. The final seconds of the episode would shockingly (or not) reveal that the groups new home was not as empty as they had initially thought, as five of its previous inhabitants still resided there.

I wonder how this will turn out.

Sick thankfully opens right where last week’s cliffhanger left off. Each group looks confused at the presence of the other as Hershel bleeds-out all over the floor. Rick and friends rush to get Hershel back to the others, while the former inmates follow close behind, eager to see the other side of their newfound freedom. The scene closes with a close-up of Hershel’s now missing leg before cutting to the opening credits. Awesome.

First they wreck his farm, then they take his leg.

Rick, Darryl, and T-Dog try to reason with the inmates (who state that it’s their prison since they were there first) while the others try to tend to a quickly fading Hershel. A very cool realization in this scene is the fact that none of the inmates have any idea what is going on in the outside world. While Rick’s gang has lost all hope for any sort of rescue,  the inmates still speak of hospitals and police. The realization wasn’t as effective as it could have been however: upon Rick explaining that everything was gone, that nearly everyone was (un)dead, none of the inmates seemed particularly bothered by it. Shouldn’t they be shitting their pants at the fact that the world they once knew is gone forever?

Things eventually cool down, and an agreement is established between the groups. The inmates would give half their remaining food to the hungry survivors, and Rick & friends would help clear out another cell block for the inmates to stay in. After that point they agreed to leave each other alone.

He didn’t last long, but he was creepy as hell.

I feel like I need to talk about Tomas for a second. He quickly establishes himself as the leader of the prison inmates, and while his performance seems sometimes exaggerated, the dude is freaky as hell! He starts off simply looking intense, but when one of the other inmates is bitten, Tomas goes batshit crazy, furiously stabbing and beating his former friend, over and over until he dies. The look in his eyes here seems as though he’s thoroughly enjoying the experience too, like he’s been just waiting for an excuse to kill again.

I was very interested to see where the writers would take this character, but Tomas doesn’t end up lasting long. When Rick appears to be the source of Tomas’ aggression, Rick feels the need to kill Tomas before the same is done to him. While I was sad that we wouldn’t get to see more of the character, it really showed just how much Rick has changed during the course of the series: he definitely isn’t as soft as he used to be and is not willing to risk another Shane-like descent into madness. Rick kills another inmate before the interaction is over, showing that maybe he’s starting to lose it himself.

Hershie’s not looking so hot.

The rest of the episode largely revolves around Hershel, who appears to be ready to pass. Maggie seems to lose hope rather quickly that her father can pull through, while surprisingly Beth (who was ready to end it all just a short time ago) remains hopeful that her father could survive. A much more mature looking Carl puts it on himself to find medical supplies (in turn, likely saving the man that saved him last season), much to the dismay of fan-favorite (not) Lori, who scolds him for trying to go alone. It appears as though Hershel will pull through thanks to the mother and son, which is definitely good for the survivors (plus, they now know that if a bite can be removed quickly enough, survival is possible).

So gross, yet so satisfying.

Sick does have a scene that definitely lives up to the episode’s title. In short, Carol doesn’t think that Hershel is going to make it, and that helping Lori give birth will fall to her. She has never performed a caesarean before, and would like to practice before the real thing. What happens next was absolutely disgusting (in the best way possible), and will definitely stick with me for some time.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy Sick as much as I did the previous episode. After a strong opening and a few other great scenes, this chapter’s purpose leaned more towards setting up things to come. I still had a blast with it however, and of course we’re still so early in the season that an episode to set things up was likely very necessary. It looks like shit is definitely about to go down based on the preview of next weeks episode. Again, I’m very glad to call myself a fan of The Walking Dead again, and the new season at this point is exponentially better than the last one.

Have a look at the preview for next weeks episode, and make sure to let us know what you think!

Comic Comparison

While last week’s premiere fit in very nicely with Issue 13 of The Walking Dead, Sick seems more like a loose amalgamation of the next few. Both media begin with an introduction to the inmates, but present them in a much different manner: while the shows inmate’s are introduced during a time of extreme crisis, the comic starts them off in a much friendlier way.

Series’ prisoners come with guns drawn, while the comic begins with an offering of food.

While the end of the episode would see three inmates dead, the comic took much longer for any of them to perish. Fittingly, Rick would do the deed both on paper and on the screen (though the comic would give him a much better reason to do so).

Both by Rick, but for very different reasons.

I wondered just how close the show would be able to follow at this point: Kirkman’s work featured a much larger group when the survivors arrived at the prison, and more than one of them would find themselves dead before many more issues passed. The subject matter in the comics is also much more disturbing at the start of the prison arc: it deals with a suicide pact between two young lovers and the brutal murder of two children. As much as TV viewers may love seeing zombies get blown to bits, I’m sure AMC would be receiving a few angry letters if young kids were thrown into the fold.

Issue 14 would also see Hershel, Glenn, and family return to the book due to Rick’s belief that the Prison would be a safe haven. While the show has him physically broken due to the bite on his leg, the comic has two of his children be the murder victims, an outcome that should be much harder on a man than a missing leg. Rick is the reason that Hershel came in the first place, and feels personally responsible for the children’s deaths.

Lori and Rick also don’t hate each other in the comic, something that definitely can’t be said for the series.

Again, the episode overall strayed from what Robert Kirkman was doing with his storyline, but due to the book’s extremely graphic nature, I’m not sure that it could have been done any other way.

The book is fantastic at this point, as was the episode, and I’m happy.

Hopefully with the introduction of The Governor and Michonne’s continuing storyline, the fork that has been created will come together once more. In any case, if the rest of season 3 retains the quality of the first two episodes, it will by far be the best season yet!

See you next week!

Side note: if you’re not yet into the book, but want to be, take a look at the collector’s edition of Telltale’s adventure game version of The Walking Dead. It comes with the first 48 issues, as well as a game that is the best version of TWD yet!

 

AMC And DISH Settle, The Undead Return To Satellite!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s a happy day for DISH subscribers (finally). As many of you know, an ongoing legal battle between the television service provider and popular network AMC has left the channel off the roster for nearly six months. The lawsuit has now been settled, with a 700 million dollar payment headed AMC’s way. The channel (and its affiliates) will resume airing on DISH tonight!

AMC is an extremely popular network. It’s the home of shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. People were (understandably) pretty upset when the corporate disagreement began, as it meant they would have to resort to other means to watch their favourite shows. AMC was nice enough to stream the premieres of their biggest shows, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead online for the customers that would be missing out (though what about the rest of the season!?)

As the battle proceeded, DISH maintained that the dispute was over carriage fees, while AMC stated it was due to a broken contract.

In any case, welcome back DISH subscribers! Are you ready to get your Walking Dead on tonight?

Season 3 Of ‘The Walking Dead’ Premieres To HUGE Numbers

by Derek Kraneveldt

As most of you know, AMC’s popular adaptation of the ongoing Image series The Walking Dead premiered its third season last night.

I’m hearing pretty good things about the premiere. I gave up on the show partway through Season 2 (come on, admit how boring it was), but upon reading all the positive reviews may have to give the series another chance. Our writer Scott liked it, commenting via twitter that “The season premiere of The Walking Dead was better than the entirety of season 2”. Sounds pretty good to me.

AMC must be having some sort of celebration today, as the huge amount of viewers that tuned in to last night’s airing was just revealed. Over 10 million viewers tuned into the first showing, an over 50% increase from last season, as well as breaking the record for the most watched basic cable telecast ever.

From the press release:

Last night, AMC premiered season three of “The Walking Dead” and outdelivered cable and broadcast hits including “Hatfields & McCoys,” “Jersey Shore,” “Modern Family,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Voice.”

The 9pm ET premiere garnered 10.9 million viewers and a 7.4 HH rating making it the highest rated episode in series history, and growing more than 50% over last season’s premiere. The season 3 premiere now reigns as the biggest telecast for any drama series in basic cable history among all viewers. “The Walking Dead” encored at 10pm with 3.5 million viewers and midnight with 850,000 viewers delivering 15.2 million viewers for the night.

Looks like Zombie fever has never been stronger. Let’s hope they’ll all check out the Geekscape co-produced Doc of the Dead when it hits too!

 

Watch The First Clip From Season Three Of ‘The Walking Dead’

by Shawn Madden

The anticipation is building up until the season premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday. AMC has released the first minute long clip from the season premiere where we see Rick Grimes and the rest of survivors plan a strategy for the coming weeks.

“With the world growing increasingly more dangerous and Lori’s pregnancy advancing, Rick discovers a potentially safe haven. But first he must secure the premises, pushing his group to its limit.”

The Walking Dead returns October 14th.

Robert Kirkman Gives An Update On AMC’s ‘Thief Of Thieves’

by Shawn Madden

With the success they had with The Walking Dead it was revealed a while back that AMC would be adapting another of Robert Kirkman’s works. Thief Of Thieves focuses on Conrad Paulson, a highly-successful thief who quits the business and begins a new life stealing from other thieves. The series has become one of Image Comics best-seling titles currently. Kirkman spoke at the “We Love The Dead” panel at MorrisonCon today and offered up and update on the series. [via CBR]

Kirkman offered an update on the AMC “Thief of Thieves” TV series, which is currently in the script-writing stage. Once the pilot script is finished, then the network will read it and give notes and then they may get the chance to shoot a pilot. Kirkman said writer Charles Eglee was doing “an amazing job” on the script.

With some of the best shows in television coming from AMC I am pretty sure we can expect a very quality adaptation. So, are you guys looking forward to this one?

Watch A New TV Spot For ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 3!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Just 17 more days until season 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead will hit your television!

Seems as though most folks are excited enough as is, but here’s a new TV spot to get you a little more riled up!

Again, season 3 premieres on October 14, and it should be pretty interesting to see what this gang does when it heads to prison!

Season three also looks a lot more interesting than the second, which I honestly had a hard time getting through. How about a new episode of your version Telltale!?

Watch A New Trailer For Season 3 Of ‘The Walking Dead’!

by Shawn Madden

While it’s short it’s definitely full of action and enough to get you pumped on this next season. Fight the dead. Fear the living.

In the highly anticipated new season, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his fellow survivors continue to seek refuge in a desolate and post-apocalyptic world and soon discover that there are greater forces to fear than just the walking dead. The struggle to survive has never been so perilous.

The Walking Dead returns with season three on October 14th.

Check Out The Prison For ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 3!

by Derek Kraneveldt

AMC has just released a new video promoting season 3 of The Walking Dead.

It’s a pretty neat tour of the creepy prison that is to become a main setpiece for season 3 of the popular drama, and features Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.

This is a follow up to last week’s poster release, featuring the tagline “Fight the Dead, Fear the Living”

Season 3 of The Walking Dead premieres on October 14.

What do you think of the video? Looking forward to the upcoming season?

Could ‘The Walking Dead’ Be Getting A Movie?

by Shawn Madden

Well, for now we are going to file this one in the rumor department. But it couldn’t be entirely unlikely due to the fact that the show was originally shopped as a movie before it became a television show. One of the folks over at Bloody Disgusting posted this:

With that said, I have some friends working closely with “The Walking Dead” crew and AMC who confirm with me rumblings of a feature film. But before you get your panties in a bunch, we’re only in the third season of the popular zombie show – adapted from Robert Kirkman’s astounding comic book – and when I say rumblings, I strongly suggest the idea has been passed off in non-business conversations. The show was originally shopped as a feature film before it went network, so the idea of ending the series with an hour and a half feature would be exciting. But as I stated before, “24,” “Lost” and “The Sopranos” had been rumored for years, and they all failed to make the jump.

So, pretty much its been talked about but the thing is we wouldn’t see anything for a few years. I’m pretty sure The Walking Dead has a few seasons left in it and AMC is going to take full advantage of that.

AMC Cancels ‘The Killing’ After Two Seasons

by Scott Alminiana

AMC has decided not to renew The Killing for a third season. The show, which recently wrapped up its second season, followed the police investigation of the murder of a young girl. It was based on the Danish series of the same name. The first season was a hit but had fans crying out over the season finale. Season two sadly never regained the ratings of the first season. AMC and Fox TV Studios, producer of the show, both released statements.

The first season is available on Netflix instant streaming and I highly recommend it. I got hooked on it after fellow writer Shawn Madden suggested it to me. As much as I enjoyed the show I think it ending after two seasons was the right call. Season one was great and while I enjoyed the second season, it did seem to stretch things out as far as logic went. I did however really like the way they ended the series, the reveal of the killer was shocking and the series ended on a high note. The shows leads Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman both were fantastic in it though. It would seem that neither actor is hurting for work. Enos will next be seen in Gangster Squad and World War Z, while Kinnaman will bust his way onto screens as the new Robocop.

AMC’s press statement:

“After much deliberation, we’ve come to the difficult decision not to renew ‘The Killing’ for a third season.  AMC is incredibly proud of the show and is fortunate to have worked with such a talented team on this project, from showrunner Veena Sud and our terrific partners at Fox Television Studios to the talented, dedicated crew and exceptional cast.”

Fox TV Studios press statement:

“Fox Television Studios is extremely proud of ‘The Killing,’ the extraordinary writing staff and crew, and what we believe is one of the best casts on television. We will proceed to try to find another home for the show.”

Source: Deadline

SDCC Panel Round Up Part 2: Green Arrow, Joss Whedon, Breaking Bad, He-Man & More

by Eric Diaz

Being a veteran of twelve consecutive Comic Cons now, I know the drill when it comes to the big rooms, those being Hall H and Ballroom 20. The two panels I wanted to see the most that Friday were Joss Whedon and Breaking Bad, both which were back to back in Ballroom 20. So like a well trained Comic Con geek, I got in line for that room a good two and half hours early.Turns out, I didn’t need to. I walked in Ballroom 20 literally two hours early and sat through two panels I had no intention of sitting through, but were ultimately worth watching. The first being the CW’s presentation of the pilot for Green Arrow.

Green Arrow, Pilot Presentation 

So even though I’m a hard core DC Comics freak, I gotta admit I’ve never really followed Green Arrow much, although I know enough of him through reading years and years of Justice League comics. So while I’m no Oliver Queen expert, I’ll say that I know more than the average bear. And while I gotta admit I wasn’t blown away by anything in the Arrow pilot that I saw, I didn’t really hate it either. I guess I saw enough to warrant setting my DVR for at least the first handful of episodes come Fall, and then we’ll see if I give up entirely or not, like I did with Smallville.

The pilot is your basic origin story, where we see spoiled rich Oliver Queen end up on a mysterious island for five years after a ship wreck, during which time he learns to be a bad ass archer, not to mention also learns humility. It all seems only marginally better than other CW shows, but unlike say, the un aired Wonder Woman pilot, this feels like Green Arrow more or less done right. So while there is lots of room for improvement, It can improve. I have to say though, obvious uber hotness aside, I was less than impressed with our new Green Arrow Stephen Amell. He just kind of had than bland delivery that left me cold; it seemed to me the guy was cast for his face and his abs and that’s about it. Apparently, he was the first person to audition for the producers, and when they saw him, they just said “we have our guy” Uh, yeah, I really think they needed to audition more people. Just sayin’.

Also on the panel was Katie Cassidy, formerly of Supernatural and Melrose Place 2.0, who plays Laurel Lance. Now, comics fans like me know that in the comics, Green Arrow’s girlfriend is none other than Black Canary, AKA Dinah Laurel Lance. Was the omission of her first name supposed to make us think they cast Katie Cassidy to be anyone other than Black Canary in the future? Really guys? I actually liked her in the pilot, and think she’d make for a decent Black Canary, just not sure it would be in this particular project. The producers teased that other DC characters would be appearing (we already know that Deathstroke will, at some point) but they wouldn’t say who. Like I said, I’ll DVR this show for a bit, but it’ll have to be better than what I saw here for me to keep doing so long term.

Entertainment Weekly Presents Women Who Kick Ass

As a geek and a feminist, this is a panel I’m glad I attended, even if I only ended up there due to wanting to make sure I had a seat for the next two panels in Ballroom 20. Entertainment Weekly brought together some of geekdom’s current reigning women in genre television and movies, and it was quite an assemblage. The  panel featured Kristin Kreuk (Beauty and the Beast, Smallville), Nikki Reed (Twilight), Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Anna Torv (Fringe), Kristin Bauer van Straten (True Blood), and surprise guest, Xena herself Lucy Lawless.

True Blood’s Pam, Kristin Bauer van Straten (possibly the series’ best character, or at least the most fun)  came out in her wrecked canary yellow Wal Mart sweat suit (fans of the show will get this little in-joke) to much applause.The Walking Dead’s Sarah Wayne Callies was asked about her future on the show, considering that (SPOILERS) in the comic book version of Walking Dead, her character Lori meets a grisly fate. She answered “You don’t walk into this show thinking ’25 years and a pension!’ Someone then asked what is the most important issue concerning women today, which frankly left most of the panel like they were put on the spot, realizing no matter what they said, they’d change their minds about it later. Lucy Lawless stole the show though, as she retold the story of how she was arrested in February after she and other activists protested aboard an oil-drilling ship in New Zealand, and she then told the audience that she’s not sure what will happen to her during sentencing on Sept. 12, but admitted, “I am guilty — of trying to save the environment!”  Warrior Princess indeeed.

Fringe’s Anna Torv and True Blood’s Kristin Bauer van Straten at the Women Who Kick Ass panel.

Dark Horse Presents: Joss Whedon

Now this is the panel I was actually waiting for while sitting through the other two. I’ve been a hardcore Whedonite for well over a decade, since Buffy and Angel were fighting their weekly battles on the WB Network (RIP) And, of course, I also loved Firefly/Serenity. But add to that Joss Whedon’s run on Astonoshing X-Men, Fray, Dr.Horrible’s Sing- A- Along Blog and even to a ceratin extent Dollhouse, just based on all that alone I’d worship forever at the geek altar of one Joss Whedon. There is simply no one else out there in the pop culture landscape who knows how to combine pathos with sly wit, drama with real stakes and off the cuff humor like Whedon. Others try, and most fail.

And 2012 alone has been a banner year for Joss. Let’s be honest, he’ll probably never have another one like it, between the critical success of Cabin in the Woods and the enormous global success of Avengers. He also just finished filming a low budget version of Much Ado About Nothing, fulfilling one of his dream projects. In short, It is good to be Joss Whedon right now. As a fanboy going back now almost (gulp) fifteen years, it has made me thrilled to see him finally achieve mainstream success.

Before Joss took to the stage, Dark Horse editor Scott Allie took to the podium to promote Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9, which Joss Whedon is the executive producer and occasional writer of, and also the Angel and Faith series which falls under the Buffy Season 9 banner. To the happiness of much of the crowd in Ballroom 20, Allie announced the return of Firefly to comics, in the first official continuation for those characters since Serenity came out in 2005. Joss Whedon will be co-writing this one with his brother Zed Whedon.

Joss Whedon holds court at Ballroom 20, wearing a Much Ado About Nothing shirt.

Then the man himself came out to thunderous applause, and deadpanned “Well it’s been an interesting year” He mentioned that he had just finished post production on Much Ado, and for the first time, had also written the score for it. “It’s a very important project to me and I can’t wait to show it to you, though I’m not sure yet how that’s going to be. If no studio picks it up, check iTunes!” I’m pretty sure he was only half joking there. He then announced his next project, which was greeted with pretty thunderous applause, the long awaited Dr. Horrible 2. After the cheering died down for this one, he talked about how he’s been working on it for about two years, and already has “a bunch of songs…we know exactly where we’re going, I can’t wait to tell you more about it.“The last major announcement at the panel was about his upcoming web series Wastelanders, with comic book writer Warren Ellis “I’m also going directly from Comic-Con to London to talk to Warren Ellis about Wastelanders; I’m very excited about what we’re doing and the way we’re distributing it ourself because it means we can put it out our way… and in order” (this being a jab at Fox and how they aired both Firefly and Dollhouse out of their correct order)

During the Q&A, he answered questions in his usual off the cuff witty style, some of them actually good questions, like now with the success of Avengers behind him, what old projects would he return to? (answer: “I’m not actually a big “go-back” guy. Even if it’s unrealized, It’s happened, that relationship has run its course. I kind of tend to look forward. So I think the next thing I create will be something I haven’t created yet. I have some ideas, I have some thoughts” This got lots of applause “I got applause for being able to think. This is the best crowd ever. Watch, I can also walk!” Even more applause. Oh, fanboys.

Lots of silly questions were then asked by fans, some even about the Zombie Apocalypse and what not, but a fan finally asked “What has stood out to you the most personally that you’ve worked on? to which Joss responded “Hopefully something I haven’t written yet! But I think “The Body” is the best episode of television I ever wrote” (Writer’s aside: I concur. Buffy episode The Body is the best thing he’s ever written.) Of course, at any panel Joss does, someone asks him about his love for strong female protaganists, and if they’re still perceived differently in the entertainment industry. The answer was something of a femenist mini-rant from Whedon; “When Buffy had been on for three years, we started pitching the animated series that never went anywhere and literally got “well she has to have a male counterpart who’s just as cool as her or we won’t do it” (They never did do it) “Until recently the industry said that about movies too, but then you get The Hunger Games. The industry will never change it’s mind until the public makes them.

When asked if he ever wanted to make a Broadway musical, after the success of the Buffy musical episode and Dr.Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog, Whedon answered “Here’s the thing… of COURSE I do. But I have too many plans….The question is do I have the time to commit to one of the largest and most difficult projects I could ever encounter.The last question of the panel came from long time Geekscapist Ashton Lauren, who asked “You’ve given so many geek moments, what was YOUR biggest geek moment?” To which Whedon answered “My biggest geek moment? Um… My life is one endless geek moment!” Amen to that sir.

AMC’s Breaking Bad

I’m a bit late to the Breaking Bad party, I have to admit (like four years late) But after hearing rave review after rave review for the series, I finally gave in and watched the entire show over the course of the past month or so. And OH EM GEE, is this show amazing. So a special thank you to every single human who’s been telling me I need to be watching this show for the past several years, because you were so right. For those reading this who are as uninitiated as I was, Breaking Bad is writer/producer Vince Gilligan’s show about a suburban high school chemistry teacher from Albuquerque New Mexico who, upon finding he has terminal cancer and no money to leave for his family, hooks up with a burn out former student of his and begins cooking crystal meth. Telling you anything else would ruin what is an amazing roller coaster ride over four seasons of television. So Netflix this puppy already, then come back and read this, because SPOILERS for the series abound in this report.

Aaron Paul, Bryan Cranston and “baby Holly” make their Comic Con entrance.

This was Breaking Bad’s first appearance at Comic Con, and Ballroom 20 was packed with howling fans who probably were wondering what took them so long to get here (I mean, if Glee is at SDCC, where has Breaking Bad been?) Almost the entire main cast showed up, including Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, R. J. Mitte, Jonathan Banks and finally showing up on stage in their meth cook Hazmat suits (along with a baby doll in a Hazmat suit) Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. That alone was worth waiting for this panel. When asked about the upcoming fifth and final season, Gilligan mentioned that it was hard proceeding without the character of Gus Fring, and how hard it was for the writers to let go of a character as great as he was, but Gilligan has rebounded: “In season five, we’ve got a new king. King Heisenberg.” This, as one can imagine, got a lot of reaction from the crowd.

When someone asked about breaking the stories in the writers room, Gilligan responded that “is a very organic, living process to come up with these stories.” He then gave the example of how Jesse was supposed to die at the end of season one, but that obviously changed. (I can’t imagine the show without Jesse Pinkman) The role of Hitman Mike also expanded well beyond what Gilligan planned before casting Banks, as he was only cast because Bob Odenkirk, who plays Saul Goodman, was not available for that episode and they needed someone to fill his role of clean up guy after a crime. They loved the actor so much, Hitman Mike is now a permanent fixture on the show.

Other bullet points for season five brought up during the panel; expect to hear a lot more German than Spanish this season (remember, drug kingpin Gus Fring was bankrolled by some mysterious Germans) and that the teaser at the start of season five, episode one is their most revealing teaser yet. When asked what his season was really all about, Gilligan answered “winning, what it means to stay on top.” Gilligan then spoke of Alexander the Great, and how once Alexander conquered the known world, he wept.  Cranston asks if the series will simply end on him crying. I’ll wager “probably not.”

Toy Masters and the 25th Anniversary of Masters of the Universe

After four consecutive panels, I wasn’t sure if I was up for one more…but a documentary on thirty years of Masters of the Universe was too tempting to pass up for me. When I was a little kid, between the ages of seven and twelve, I lived and breathed He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I had every toy (and I mean every toy) and my for awhile there my sheets, pillows, and curtains were all He-Man centric. My bedroom was Eternia itself. So, even though as an adult I realize there really was nothing more to He-Man that Mattel’s efforts to sell me shit, I have a soft spot in my heart for the franchise that gave us so many beloved characters like Buzz-Off (he’s a bee, get it?) and Stinkor (he smells. Brilliant!) He-Man is forever in my DNA, as mostly stupid as it all is.

The upcoming documentary Toy Masters chronicles how this weird mish-mash of Conan the Barbarian with Star Wars became one of the biggest selling action figure lines of all time, leading into a hugely successful cartoon show, spin off series (She-Ra, Princess of Power) live action stage show (The Power Tour) and finally, at the tail end of the whole phenomena, a live action movie. A trailer for the documentary was presented at the panel, and it is clear that at the heart of this movie is the ongoing King of Kong style battle between two old guys and former Mattel employees, Mark Taylor and Roger Sweet, both who claim to have created He-Man. One calls the other’s claim at creating the franchise “unadulterated, absolute barbarian fiction” -hence, the movie’s tagline.

The panel, once again moderated by Free Enterprise’s Robert Meyer Burnett, featured people like Roger Lay, Jr. (director/producer) a He-Man kid like me growing up, Gary Goddard (director of the 1987 film) and Jack and Leslie Wadsworth (live-action He Man and She Ra from the Masters of the Universe: Power Tour), Jack and Leslie, two body buiders/stunt people who met at the Universal Studios Conan/Red Sonja show in the early 80’s and got married, were He-Man and She-Ra for the nation wide Power Tour (I never got to go this; this panel brought back memories of being an angry 11 year old)  Both happily married still, they seem happy about their time in Eternia, and even kept their prop swords, which they brought to the panel (awww) The Power Tour still apparently has the house record for the most consecutive sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall, nineteen performances. Crazy. But that’s how big He-Man was for about five years or so.

Most fascinating were the stories of making the 1987 live action He-Man movie, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversarry this year. Director Gary Goddard was on hand, and he talked about how both Cannon Films and Mattel desperatley needed this movie to be a hit; Cannon had sunk every last dime the company had on the movie, and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, in 1987 the toy sales for the line plummeted, and Mattel needed the movie to be a hit to justify continuing the line (the fact that the cartoon had ended making new episodes didn’t seem to occur to anyone for the toy line’s decline baffled me) Gary Goddard, a highly successful creator of theme park attractions going back to EPCOT and as recently as Spider-Man at Universal Florida, was brought in to direct what would be his only big screen feature film. What he ended up with was a movie with the largest Hollywood sound stage in forty years (Castle Greyskull) and then the rest shot in downtown Whittier, CA. on the cheap. According to Goddard, eveyone in Hollywood wanted to see the massive Greyskull set, including Michael Jackson, who asked if he could walk on the Grayskull throne room.

The movie ended up being a giant clusterfuck, Cannon folded and Mattel cancelled the line all together. Twenty five years later though, the Masters brand still strikes a chord in Generation X kids like me, and judging from how well the retro style Masters of the Universe Classics line is selling for Mattel to twenty and thirty somethings, I fully expect to see the line come back one day for real. In the meantime, Toy Masters is making its premiere at the Montreal Film Fest next month, and I can only hope real distribution comes soon, as this panel made me dying to see the final product even more.

Ok, come back tomorrow for my final panel report from SDCC 2012. All I can say is, next time, it’ll be shorter.

‘The Walking Dead’ Game Based On Television Series Being Released By Activison

by Shawn Madden

So, are you not quite sick of zombies yet? A fan of ‘The Walking Dead’ TV series? A first person shooter fanatic? Well then Activision may have released some news that may just please you. In 2013 they will be releasing a first-person shooter based on ‘The Walking Dead’ television series where you will take on the role of fan favorite Daryl Dixon.

Developed by Terminal Reality, The Walking Dead will revolve around Daryl Dixon and his brother Merle on a “haunting, unforgiving quest to make their way to the supposed safety of Atlanta.” Players will control Daryl as they attempt to avoid detection from zombies that hunt using sight, sound and smell and will choose between fighting them or using stealth to avoid detection. According to Activision, “No place is truly safe for Daryl as he makes his way through the Georgia countryside in this new, post-apocalyptic world.”

Supplies will be scarce and players will need to carefully manage food, ammunition and supplies as they make their way through the game. Daryl will encounter “a slew of other characters” along the way that can help or hurt him. Whether or not these characters accompany Daryl is completely up to the player and “represents just some of the major decisions that will constantly be made while fighting to survive.”

Source: IGN

National Geographic Announces ‘Comic Store Heroes’

by Shawn Madden

So, ever want to see a reality show about what happens behind the scenes at a comic store? Now you have your chance! Wait…what do you mean that has already been done?! I guess National Geographic has never seen Kevin Smith’s ‘Comic Book Men’. Now we will have another show focusing on New York’s ‘Midtown Comics’.

The press release describes the one-hour show as “a documentary-style show that will follow the lives of staffers Gerry, Thor, and Alex as they deal with all sorts of geek and enthusiast customers while simultaneously planning their booth at the New York Comic Con. Can these pop culture mavens answer the pointed and detailed questions of their comic-centric clientele and still manage to produce a major presence at their largest hometown comics-oriented event?”

The big question is: do we really need this? And what makes it different than this:

Eh. I’ll stick with AMC on this one.

Source: Comics Alliance

Merle Dixon Is Back For Season Three Of ‘The Walking Dead’ With A New “Look”

by Shawn Madden

Spoiler alert!

Spoiler alert!

Spoiler alert!

Okay… I warned you three times so if you click this and say “What the fuhhh…spoilers!” Well…its your own fault. Merle Dixon is back for season three of ‘The Walking Dead’ and with something new “in hand”. The racist brother of fan-fave Daryl has appeared as a figment of his imagination before but it looks like this time around he is back in the flesh…minus missing some. Last we saw Merle he was left handcuffed on a roof by Rick Grimes with a group of walkers on their way. Well WalkingDeadNews has posted this new image of Merle from season 3 showing off a new “look” and possibly confirming rumors that he will be a part of The Governor’s group.

 

Kind of hoping we get a cool scene involving him using that on some zombies here. Just sayin’.

First Image Of The Governor From Season 3 Of “The Walking Dead”

by Scott Alminiana

TV Guide has just released the first image of David Morrissey as The Governor from AMC’s The Walking Dead. The Governor will be introduced in Season 3 of the hit show.

The Governor, real name Philip Blake, is the vicious leader of the small town of Woodbury. He becomes one of Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) greatest enemies in the series and brings with him more death than the walker’s themselves could.  I’d tell you more but then the walkers would have to eat me…and you!

Robert Kirkman, creator/executive producer on The Walking Dead had this to say regarding Season 3 and The Governor:

“Seeing The Walking Dead come to life on AMC has been a real thrill for me, obviously, and moving into Season 3 I’m even more excited than ever because now I feel like we’re really getting to ‘the good stuff…”Having The Governor in the mix is going to fundamentally change the show in all kinds of awesome and exiting ways. And David Morrissey totally rocks!”The Governor in the show is definitely going to be The Governor in the comic, “I think that he’s definitely going to be a character that people love to hate and are absolutely entertained by, but also somewhat terrified of. He’s definitely going to be a very important character and a very nuanced character. We are not going to be watering him down.”

Season 3 of The Walking Dead Premieres on AMC this October.

 

First Image Of Michonne From Season 3 Of “The Walking Dead”!

by Scott Alminiana

The first picture of fan-favorite Michonne from “The Walking Dead” has just been released via the folks over at EW. Fans of the comic book about lost their minds when a mysterious katana wielding cloaked figure showed up at the end of the season 2 finale. Well, here’s just a little taste of what fans are in store for come season 3 of “The Walking Dead” when it premieres in October.

Relatively unknown actress Danai Gurira as Michonne

“The Walking Dead” creator/executive producer Robert Kirkman had this to say regarding the casting of Danai Gurira, best known for her role on HBO’s “Treme”,  “We looked at a lot of talented people that were really fantastic, but we were waiting for that one spark, that moment where everyone was completely in agreement and completely excited, and we felt like we had found the essence of this fictional character that just randomly appeared in another person, and that person was Danai Gurira. She kind of came in and really just blew us all away. She’s got incredible presence, and she’s got a theater background, and is very physical, and was just perfect for the role.”

 

Geekscape Games Reviews “The Walking Dead: Chapter 1 – A New Day”

by Jonathan

If you’ve been following Geekscape for a while now, what you’re about to read might astound you… I’m about to heap some serious praise on The Walking Dead. Now please keep in mind that I do like The Walking Dead. I’ve read the entire comic series, have watched every episode and this past weekend played through the first chapter of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead episodic adventure title. We’re even good friends with one of the show’s supervising producers, a recent Geekscape guest.

But like the actual dead having returned to life, the various Walking Dead iterations have each felt surprising at first, then compelling, then slowly a bit laborious and as they continue along, less and less fresh. I like The Walking Dead. I wouldn’t put myself through it if I didn’t… but it’s been a while since I consistently loved The Walking Dead comic or TV series.

Well, and I hope that I’m not predicting impending decay, I LOVE The Walking Dead video game, at least the first chapter, recently released by Telltale Games for PSN, XBL and PC. In fact, and please leave your crazy accusations in the comments, it might be my favorite version. And I’ll explain why (because those are some pretty big statements right there!).

First off, it follows the more compelling storyline of Kirkman’s original comic book series. It actually takes place just as the Atlanta of the comic book series is going to hell, being evacuated and Rick lies unconscious in a hospital bed. It doesn’t as much parallel the events of the comic book as much as give it a bit of a prequel or alternative point of view. In the first chapter, A New Day, you do run into some characters and locales from the comic book series, but this is before Rick and his group encountered them… and you actually take part in setting the stage for those characters. This is a huge plus for anyone who’s a Walking Dead fan, because you feel as though what you’re doing matters to characters that you care about. It gives you a responsibility to protect what will come later.

Which leads me to the greatest plus of this series and why it’s a much different experience than the comic book or TV series or even other zombie games like Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil. The Walking Dead game, more than the comic or the series, really strives to and succeeds at putting you squarely in the shoes of the survivors, in this case through the eyes of the controllable character Lee Everett, who is always at the center of every decision the group must make within the story.

The artwork and writing are fantastic, easily the best we’ve seen from Telltale and the game play is intensely compelling. This is very much an adventure game, but it doesn’t come without some action sequences (and you can definitely die while playing). In fact, a lot of the decision making processes, even conversations with other characters, give you the same adrenaline rush as the game’s quicktime events. The Walking Dead autosaves, so if you flub a conversation, leading others to mistrust or lose faith in you, those decisions are immediate and permanent. I found myself just as stressed out by doing what I perceived was the right choices in the conversations as I did while stuck between saving survivors, knowing that whoever I didn’t save wasn’t only dead in this episode but the rest of the series. The choices that you make in this game haunt you and I was soon playing the game with trepidation, weary that I’d make a wrong move and get someone permanently killed or lose an ally I would need later. Hell, I was also scared that I’d miss some detail in scouring the environments that would end up keep us alive down the road!

This is where the writing and the characterization really differs from my recent experiences with the comic and TV series. I find myself really caring about the characters involved, probably out of this engaged responsibility for them. Even characters that you don’t get along with strengthen the group, just by being able to help move a car or hold a weapon. The game’s characters and situations all live within a gray area, Lee having escaped from the back of a police car in the opening sequence of the game, and it keeps you there, so decision making is sometimes difficult. Not only are you immediately responsible for yourself, but when Lee discovers the young abandoned girl Clementine early on, your responsibility to make the right choices grows.

In Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil, things are very black and white. Here, nothing is very clear. Even when you think that two choices in a dialogue tree would lead to the same result, the way that you choose to word things might give you a result from another character that you didn’t anticipate. This not only makes them more realistic but gives them relatability. Everyone seems to be in a state of shock at their surroundings and it makes the story that much more compelling. You don’t see Carl lazily wandering the farm or someone making dinner. They are all driven by the need to survive.

The gameplay and situations all elaborate further on this concept of responsibility to the group. You control Lee’s movement with the right trigger while exploring the environment’s objects (or what he can see) with the right. Like other adventure games, you sometimes you have to search for items or enter areas to solve puzzles, but very early on you start doing this with other members of the group, putting them, or mainly Clementine, in harm’s way. The game forces you to work carefully in these areas, even if dying means resetting to your last save, because you don’t want them to die, or they’ll be gone from the game’s story forever.

And when a zombie (or in many cases zombies plural) DOES come at you, the game’s quicktime events are more than just button combinations or quick button tapping. You’ll usually find yourself temporarily dazed when the zombie knocks you down or surprises you and you have to move the right reticle towards your attacker just to instigate the quick time event. This really does a great job of forcing the player to “get their wits about them” so they can take back control of these intense situations. I didn’t die much while playing The Walking Dead, but in the moments in which I did, it scared the hell out of me because my shock at having these events thrown at me and not being immediately or obviously prompted to do button mashing gave me that immediate sense of “crap! What do I do!?!”


If I have to talk about the downsides of the game, and there aren’t many, it would be towards the end of the chapter, not necessarily because of the story or character work, but because the “scour environments for objects, use objects” redundancy that plagues all adventure games isn’t completely cured here. If you don’t like adventure games, you might find yourself wanting something more in these areas. But considering that adventure games are my favorite genre, I took these conventional sections of the game as an acceptable byproduct of the chosen form. Telltale do enough fresh things in The Walking Dead, and do them exceedingly well, that this never feels like a tired adventure gaming experience. In doing so, they’ve also injected new life into the Walking Dead brand, which up until now, you could only read or watch as it played out in front of you on a string. I hope that with the release of each of the next four chapters, Telltale continues to effectively expand not only the Walking Dead gameplay and story but the adventure game genre itself.

CinemaCon: Why We Can’t Allow Texting At The Movies

by Scott Alminiana

Deadline has some excellent coverage of CinemaCon, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas (April 23-26). One of today’s panels titled “An Industry Think Tank: Meeting the Expectations of Today’s Savvy Moviegoer” had a subject that particularly struck a chord in me. That subject being texting and cellphone use in a movie theater, it would appear that some theater chains have actually begun discussing and might even begin to be more lenient on people who use cellphones during a movie.

Regal Entertainment CEO Amy Miles says that her chain currently discourages cell phone use “but if we had a movie that appealed to a younger demographic, we could test some of these concepts.” For example, she says that the chain talked about being more flexible about cell phone use at some screens that showed 21 Jump Street. “You’re trying to figure out if there’s something you can offer in the theater that I would not find appealing but my 18 year old son” might. 

Someone needs to slap Amy Miles upside her head for making such a dumb-ass statement.  I don’t give a shit what demographic a movie has, allowing texting in a movie is just a stupid idea. Too many people today, kids/teens in particular, feel a sense of entitlement towards life and I think that letting some stupid tween text in a movie theater will only add to that sense of entitlement. Listen, junior, just because you entered the science project with your solar system diorama (which still has Pluto listed as a planet) doesn’t mean you should get a ribbon for it. If you’re on a baseball team and finish in last should you really get a damn trophy?! Oh hells no! Alas, I digress…

Tim League, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse knows what I’m talking about though (sorta). He had this to say regarding the subject: 

“Over my dead body will I introduce texting into the movie theater,” he says. “I love the idea of playing around with a new concept. But that is the scourge of our industry….It’s our job to understand that this is a sacred space and we have to teach manners.” He says it should be “magical” to come to the cinema. But Miles shot back that “one person’s opinion of magical isn’t the other’s.”

He’s totally right, seeing a movie in a theater is a magical thing. When I see a movie in theaters I become immersed in that movie, regardless of what the movie is, and nothing breaks that moment like some douche bag in the next row texting on his brightly lit smartphone texting away. It’s bad enough paying $11-16 and hearing people feel the need to talk during a movie but then you add texting into the mix and I “hulk out” and want to smash. For myself and throngs of others the movie-going experience is like going to a place of worship. The movie theater is my temple, the Cinerama Dome is my Sistine Chapel. Would you text in your god’s house, no, I didn’t think so. So please…please…please don’t text in my god’s house, okay?

The movies are the last place that contain that sense of wonder and magic that make many of us feel like kids again, well in my case I will forever be one of Peter Pan’s lost boys, but with the advent of new technology that magic is in danger of fading away fast. I go to the movies to escape reality and be taken to another world, one where super-heroes exist, wars are wagged in a galaxy far far away, and hope forever springs eternal. Let’s leave our phones on silent and put them away for a few hours and get lost in the wonder of the cinema together. Our tweets and Facebook posts can wait until we get out….unless of course the Apocalypse happens during the movie, in which case I’d like a refund.


Hulk no like texting during movie

 

Geekscape Is Hosting a Screening of Post Apocalyptic Dance Battle Epic THE FP!

by Joe Starr

Geekscape has been behind this crazy ass instant cult classic since the first trailer dropped and we’re beyond thrilled to be hosting a screening of our favorite indie movie of 2012: THE FP!

Join us and our friends at Flixist for an excusive screening with select Cast and Crew in attendance!

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE: http://tugg.com/events/515#.T4zBvI7pjG1

This WILL sell out so get your tickets!

PLUS! Special Q&A and Dance Contest!

April 26th at 7:30pm!

Just $9!

AMC Citywalk Stadium 19!

Stick around after the movie for not only a Q&A with the filmmakers but also an FP-style dance contest, voted on by the audience (so bring your crew or you might get 187’d)!

Winners and contestants will receive gifts and prizes so get ready to challenge for the title!

Be there for the ducks!

AMC Developing TV Series Based on Robert Kirkman’s “Thief of Thieves”!

by Jonathan

According to Deadline Hollywood, AMC is developing a new series based on Robert Kirkman’s new comic series “Thief of Thieves”. As Deadline states:

“Much like The Walking Dead brought horror to television in a unique and groundbreaking way, I feel Thief of Thieves can do the same thing for heist stories, showing the humanity of all the characters, including the criminals,” said Kirkman, on whose 2003 Walking Dead comic the hit AMC zombie series is based. Thief of Thieves, which Kirkman based on his experience in the writer’s room of The Walking Dead, centers on master thief Conrad Paulson who, while attempting to reconcile with his estranged wife and son, vows to walk the straight and narrow, only to discover he’s completely addicted to the thrill of stealing. Now he must feed his addiction by stealing only what has been stolen, as the “Thief of Thieves.” The first arc of the comic is being written by Nick Spencer; Shawn Martinbrough is the artist. Eglee will serve as showrunner of the potential TV series and will executive produce alongside Kirkman and Walking Dead executive producer David Alpert.

The first two issues are good, with Nick Spencer’s artwork being the definite star so far. The story is a little bit of a slow boil, with master thief Conrad Paulson’s past and present issues feeling a little bit too much like “what if Don Draper was a thief?” What do you guys think? Are you reading it?

Sony Pictures to Distribute MGM’s Robocop Remake!

by Steven Kunz

Sony Pictures has officially signed on to distribute MGM’s Robocop remake. This deal is only the latest in the relationship with Sony and MGM with previous partnerships involving ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘ and ‘Zookeeper.’

The film is being directed by Jose Padilha, whose previous credits are the brazillian film series, “The Elite Squad” and the documentary, “Secrets of the Tribe.” The lead role of Robocop, formerly played by Peter Weller, now stars Joel Kinnaman as the main lead, his most recently starring in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ and the AMC TV Series, ‘The Killing‘.

One more interesting note, the script of Robocop was written by Joshua Zetumer, whose most recent work was the draft script for the now defunct remake of Dune. With these sort of people working on the film, Robocop is shaping up into a decent film at least, though time will tell if the film will be as memorable as the original.

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/sony-pictures-to-distribute-mgms-robocop-remake/

The Walking Dead Finally Finds Their Governor

by Eric Diaz

The role of The Walking Dead’s most notorious villain – known as The Governor- has been rumored to be going from everyone from Tom Savini to John Hawkes from Winter’s Bone to even Danny Trejo. But it looks like once again, a Brit nabbed the part meant for an American. Actor David Morrissey, known best for State Of Play and Dr. Who, got the part over all those other names, and is set to become a series regular in the third season which debuts this October on AMC.

In Robert Kirkman’s original comic book series, The Governor is the leader of a small settlement of survivors, and becomes the main antagonist for Rick Grimes and his group, who have mostly been hanging out on a farm all this season. The addition of the Governor should certainly shake things up for the better.