Welcome back loyal readers! (Really? We’re going plural here?)
In case you missed it, click here to check out Part One of the TMNT ranking throwdown between Jason and Andrew. Picking up where we left off, they had just ranked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III as their least favorites respectively. Let’s pass it to Andrew for his fourth-ranked film. Continue reading
We’re trying something new here at MediaBrewPub today. Growing up with the Ninja Turtles, Jason and Andrew decided that in honor of their new cinematic feature, it might be a fun idea to watch all four of their previous appearances on the big screen back-to-back-to-back-to-back over copious amounts of beer and pizza. Two pies, seventy-five wings, two dozen garlic knots, six growlers, and a midnight showing of the latest release later, they’re ranking all five movies.
And how are they going to do this? Well they did this via email exchange with one person choosing a fifth ranked movie, and the next person responding to both the other person’s ranking (expect arguments, potentially profanity) and then giving their own fifth ranked movie and why. It’s basically an email version of every conversation a Ninja Turtle fan might have with their friends.
Without further ado, let’s kick things off with Jason’s fifth-ranked (or worst) movie in the TMNT family (FYI, Jason’s name is in red because he’s angry like Raph and Andrew’s name is in Purple because he’s an awkward geek like Donnie): Continue reading
Alpha Overdrive
Valiant’s Alpha Overdrive is I think I would say Alpha Drive’s bigger, stockier, younger brother. Don’t let this description fool you this boy can handle himself, and when his big brother starts fights little brother will finish them.
Even with a 4 day pass, you’re guaranteed to miss something at Comic-Con, the nerd culture event of the year. There are so many panels, celebrities, comic books, events, video games and fun to get to, you’ll never have the same Comic-Con experience twice. In years past, I had done the panels, waited in line for autographs, won contests and even scored the best free swag. The one thing that I felt I had not fully experienced was cosplaying at Comic-Con. Cosplay is short for costume play which is the act of people called cosplayers dressing up to play as or represent a particular character, fictitious or not, and sometimes you make child’s day.
For a week in July, San Diego’s Gaslamp district and Convention Center are changed into a surreal place. Seeing people dressed up as pop culture figures is normal and seeing people dressed for work is a confusing sight. From Wednesday through Sunday evening the town is overrun by, well nerds. And it’s glorious, but alas at the end of a Sunday night that all comes to an end. After a week of being back in the normal world I’ve decided these were the highlights of my week:
Marvel’s Panel on Saturday
If you haven’t seen the phase 1 and phase 2 recap Marvel posted, do yourself a favor and watch it right now!
Marvel comes out like rock stars and they put on a show. It’s lively, it’s fun, and they know how to pander to their audience. They give tidbits of information in just the right way, bring out the right people to say the right things, and they make sure everyone (panelist and audience) has a good time. Marvel has the capacity to get people on their feet cheering like lunatics moreso than any other panel, and it’s quite an experience.
Shaolin Fist
Monkish Brewing Co.
Shaolin Fist
ABV: 7.0%
On a recent Beer Crawl, I had the opportunity to taste Monkish Breweries line up. I was not disappointed for the most part, and the one that stood above all the rest was Shoalin Fist. It is brewed as a Belgian Style Saison with a kick. It is brewed with Sichuan peppercorns and gives it a spice that was very nice. What I expected to be another brewery’s attempt to do another “refreshing” pepper beer turned out to be the kick in the mouth I needed to get me revamped for spicy beer.
I love me some peanut butter. One of my favorite snacks growing up: a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk. One of my favorite sandwiches: peanut butter and banana. Favorite ice cream mix-in: vanilla ice cream with peanut butter, banana, and chocolate syrup/fudge. If you don’t like peanut butter or, even worse, you’re allergic; this is going to be a pretty useless post (actually, one of the beers in question does NOT have any peanut allergens in it, so keep reading, I was just kidding).
But that sounds like a personal problem to me! Without further ado, I bring you the next installment of “I Need a Beer”, a battle between two pretty damn delicious peanut butter stouts. Because sometimes, I just need some peanut butter in my beer.
Continue reading
I still remember the fans’ reactions when Marvel Studios announced that Guardians of the Galaxy would be part of the lineup for Phase Two of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). The film that would come out on August 1, 2014 was not a standalone Hulk film, nor was it a Black Panther film that many were hoping for. Instead, it was to be a film that featured a humanoid tree and a talking raccoon. What the hell? Do these superheroes even exist? Turns out, they do – they just became the Guardians of the Galaxy team fairly recently, in 2008.
Still, that didn’t placate the belief that Guardians of the Galaxy was Marvel’s riskiest film. These were hardly characters that people recognized by name alone, and how would this film fit into the MCU? As it turns out, this kinetic film is not only the one film in Phase Two that stands well on its own, it’s also a film that can stand out from the MCU entirely. What’s more, director James Gunn has turned a film with supposedly risky material into a fun, absorbing film that makes a world come alive for moviegoers to enjoy.
Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Image
As I walked to the Hall H line on Friday night, I was still hopefully optimistic to be able to get in to the one panel I’d been dying with anticipation to see, Warner Brothers. This was mainly due to the fact that Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is less than 2 years away, and there were some heavy rumors that came out regarding the DC Cinematic universe in the prior weeks before the Con. These included a potential release slate for WB for the next 8 years with titles such as Shazam, Man of Steel 2, The Flash and Green Lantern movie, as well as actors quite heavily hinting at characters they are playing such as Jason Mamoa as Aquaman and The Rock as Shazam. With all these rumors floating around Warner Brothers and their DC lineup, announcements were surely to come in Hall H Saturday morning at the Con.
When you really think about it, your life isn’t so much a story with a plot as much as it is a work in progress. It only becomes a story after time passes, after death. When you find yourself in the moment, life is not “set.” There’s only the “now.” Ultimately, we are not in control of our own narrative. Perhaps that’s why we appreciate the storytelling technique, whether it be for books, movies, or television; as storytellers, we are in control of every aspect of our work: story, direction, characters, dialogue, setting – you name it. The same can’t be said for our lives.
When people talk about why they watch movies, the words “escape from reality” often pop up. That being said, why watch films about life, about reality, when we want to escape from it? I can’t speak for everyone, but I think it’s because those films remind us of ourselves, the human condition. That is what we all share in common, is it not? Capturing the very essence of life is a task that few films take up, a task that very few of those accomplish, and Boyhood is one of them.