Aug 30 2015

Sawyer Dunlap Is Groot And That Is Awesome

This story comes via James Gunn‘s Facebook page. It’s about a little boy named Sawyer Dunlap who suffers from dyspraxia, a condition that manifests in many different ways. In Sawyer’s case, he has trouble speaking. According to NBC’s Today Show, he used to be able to say only three words. Then a certain movie called ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ came out.

Until a year ago, Sawyer could only say three words, but then he watched “Guardians of the Galaxy” and his vocabulary increased by one word — Groot.

Groot

So we are Groot. Sawyer Dunlap is Groot. OK, not exactly. But the story is still cool.

Gunn posted the following on Facebook:

A lot of stuff I post on this page gets picked up by the mainstream press. Usually it’s something like, “No, Captain Marvel won’t be in Guardians Vol. 2” or “No hair for Nebula in future Guardians films.” So I’m happy that THIS is the story that’s been making the rounds for the past couple of days – one that started here with a kind and thankful post from the child’s father. Touching people’s hearts and emotions is the very greatest gift a filmmaker can receive.

I like Mr. Gunn more every time I find out more about him or read something he writes (usually via Facebook). His DVD commentary track on ‘Guardians’ is also particularly good.

For example, this little anecdote from The TODAY Show:

Her husband, Josh, felt so grateful for Groot and “Guardians of the Galaxy” that about a month ago he sent a private message on Facebook to director James Gunn. Josh thought he’d never hear anything back from Gunn. On Wednesday, Gunn did more than just send a message; he posted the family’s story for the world to see with a simple message. “I love making movies because of stories like this. Thank you.”
“It was amazing,” said Dunlap. “When we woke up, it was at 5,000 likes and all these comments … people really related [to it] and that was really cool to see.”

More importantly, a superhero movie helped a little kid in a very real way. That’s cool. Geek Gold Cards all around.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital HD)

Source: Dad says ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ character helped son overcome speech problem – TODAY.com


Jul 27 2015

Don’t Read This Until After You See Ant-Man

But DO read it AFTER you see Ant-Man because it’s a fun article.

There are also a bunch of Related Articles below that probably contain spoilers. If you care about such things, don’t read those either until after you’ve seen the movie. Which I did, and it’s fun.

Scott Lang Ant-Man Trade Paperback

 

Director Peyton Reed talks about that fight scene and the movie’s hell yes! mid-credits scene.

Source: Spoiler: Ant-Man’s Twists and Cameos Explained — Vulture


Jun 10 2015

Watch These Creepy New Justice League Cartoons

I’ve said many times that I am a huge fan of the DC Animated Universe (sometimes called the Timm-verse, in honor of Bruce Timm). My personal favorite is Justice League, both regular and Unlimited. (Most people say Batman: The Animated Series is better but they’re wrong.) Now Bruce Timm has returned to his old stomping grounds… sort of. Here’s the scoop:

DaddyTips Featured Video

Justice League: Gods and Monsters is a full-length animated movie that will be released on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download on July 28. But you don’t have to wait that long to get a taste of what it will be like. There are three shorts, two available now, one more coming on Friday. The title is Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles. Here are the first two episodes, “Twisted” and “Bomb”. Do NOT watch them with your kids. They are creepy. Seriously. I mean it. Read more »


May 08 2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron Link Roundup (Ongoing) – UPDATED

Now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is finally here, and I’ve seen it (twice), I can start reading about it until my eyeballs fall out. This page will have an an ongoing list of links to some of what I’ve read that I found interesting.

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

UPDATED 5/11/15 (new links after the break; you can tell they’re new because they say NEW LINK.)

As you know, I frickin’ LOVED The Avengers, the first one. To say that Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t quite as good as the first film is like saying I’m shorter than Shaquille O’Neal. Or, to ever-so-slightly borrow a joke from the movie, that this blog post will be shorter than a Eugene O’Neill play. Bottom line: it was a lot of fun, Joss Whedon did a nice job of balancing all of the myriad demands of a film with a ton of characters and future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to promote, and I’ve already seen the movie twice and would gladly see it again.

As expected with a summer blockbuster, especially a follow-up to a film as great as The Avengers, the Interwebs are filled with articles and blog posts and charts and click-bait about all things Ultron. I went on Rotten Tomatoes planning to read a few reviews. I got as far as one before being sucked into a rabbit hole (maybe I should say tesseract instead) of Age of Ultron related topics.

Oh, the obligatory Spoiler Alert from this point forward. I’m not going to bother watching what I say about the movie, although this isn’t a review and odds are I won’t reveal anything particularly important. But if you haven’t seen the movie yet and prefer to do so without knowing anything about what happens, stop reading now. Then come back. Don’t worry. We’ll wait. Read more »


May 04 2015

May the 4th Deals from Amazon

We’re a little late to the party, but here are some May the 4th deals on Star Wars stuff from Amazon.

Star Wars, the Book of Sith

Star Wars, the Book of Sith! Geek Gold Card time!

May the Fourth be with you. The Amazon.com Star Wars Store is a one-stop shop for all your Jedi needs.

Get it? May the Fourth be with you? It’s the Fourth day of May, and Fourth sounds like Force, sort of. I don’t know. I like Star Wars. You like Star Wars. Go buy something.

Source: Amazon.com: The Star Wars Store


May 04 2015

Age of Ultron Hard on Joss Whedon Because He Has a Family

Avengers: Age of Ultron ruled the box office this weekend. And before that, it ruled director Joss Whedon‘s life. This was, according to the director, difficult on him because he has a family. Here’s what he said in an interview:

English: Joss Whedon at the 2010 Comic Con in ...

English: Joss Whedon at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“When I watch it, I just see ‘flaw, flaw, flaw, compromise, laziness, mistake,’” said Whedon. “The reason I set out to make another film is because I wanted to make one that was better, and I wanted to up my game as a shooter and work harder on every aspect of it and sort of give myself up to it in a way that’s hard for me, because I have a family. I started as a writer in low-budget TV, and there was always this element of, ‘This is good enough.’ And with this movie, I never wanted to say, ‘This is good enough.’” (emphasis added)

And now the explanation. Read more »


Apr 17 2015

The Black Widow and Daredevil TV Show We Could Have Gotten

Ah, the 70s. Rich with history. Bell bottoms. Missed opportunities.

This is not one of them.

This photo is from Comic Book Resources (aka CBR), via The Mary Sue, both excellent websites for all things nerdy. Maybe I should say “all things formerly considered nerdy”, since when The Avengers movie makes $1.5 billion, it’s an Avengers world now, which kind of means there are a lot more nerds out there, and therefore how nerdy is it really to be into this stuff?

Answering my own question, caring at all about the fact that David Bowie’s ex-wife Angela Bowie (about whom The Rolling Stones’ song “Angie” may or may not be about, although that’s what most people think, including me until I just Googled it — trivia!) at one time “owned the TV rights to Daredevil and Black Widow”, according to CBR, is pretty nerdy.

This is a picture of the costumes. It is very 70s.

Daredevil and Black Widow That Never Happened

Considering how good the Netflix Daredevil series is, it’s probably for the best that this show never happened. Then again, there was 1988’s The Incredible Hulk Returns, which featured Hulk, Thor and Daredevil. That wasn’t particularly good (although of course I watched it), but it didn’t ruin the current incarnation. (Which really is quite good. You should check it out. Not with your kids, though, unless you have older kids. I’ll write more about it at some point.)

Perhaps it would have been interesting to see what Angela Bowie would have done with the role of Black Widow, since as a CBR commenter points out, “Bowie’s not really the problem in those DD/BW shots, though. That Daredevil costume is ridiculous.”

Indeed it is. But… the 70s. Even the entertainment that never happened was fun.

Comic Book Legends Revealed #440 – Page 3 of 3 – Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book ResourcesComics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources.

via The Mary Sue