So Many Superhero Movies

Today I picked up the Blu-ray of X-Men Days of Future Past. I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it in the theater and I knew it was going to be a much buy when it came out on blu-ray. Here's what came on the blu-ray.

• Deleted Scenes (5:36) offer optional commentary by Bryan Singer.

• Kitchen Sequence (6:28) is a grabbag of snippets including some audio of Singer explaining how he had to direct via texting for part of this sequence.

• Gag Reel (5:40)

• Double Take: Xavier & Magneto (11:51) focuses on the quartet playing these characters at different ages.

• X-Men: Reunited (9:47) looks at the genesis of this project and how Singer wanted to reunite the original cast again.

• Classification: M (11:54) profiles some of the other supporting mutants in the film.

• Sentinels: For a Secure Future (9:19) focuses on (to cop a phrase from J.J. Abrams) bad robots.

• Gallery: Trask Industries includes: Mutant Experiments, Blueprints, Sentinel Construction

• Theatrical Trailers (7:09) 

I enjoyed all the extra but I felt there could have been more. These extra added up to about an hour of additional footage but I guess I've been spoiled by Peter Jackson and his Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies as he gives us 9 hours of extras. And after I purchased this I found out that they are releasing a "directors" cut of the movie early next year so I assume they saved some of the additional extra for that release.. which I will be purchasing as well.

Today Warner Bros released a report detailing the next batch of Superhero DC movies that will be hitting theaters for the next six years. There are a ton of new movie on their way. When you add these to the Marvel lot and some of Sony's and Fox movies announced you have a butt load of new Superhero movies coming down the pipeline. Now I LOVE superhero movies but do you think this is overkill?

I remember back when I was a kid getting really excited when a superhero movie came out as we got one every five years or so. It was an event, something special to look forward to but nowadays it feels like every other movie that comes out is a superhero movie. Maybe I should just shut up and be happy that they are coming out as I know this "geek" trend will not last forever and these kinds of movies will go back to being made every once in a while. All I know is that it's going to be a pretty amazing movie season for geeks in the the next six years.

Spoilers... Good or Bad?

So I have always been one to avoid spoilers for the most part. Of course you get spoiled from time to time and some of them are HUGE and can really effect your TV or movie viewing. But recently I've been bombarded with all these Star Wars Episode VII "rumors" that are flooding the internet it's making it very difficult to not look or read what the rumor is.

Today a huge amount of supposed concept art "leaked" on the web and it took all of my will power to resist clicking on the link. I'm trying to stay as spoiler free as I can but I also want to know what's going to happen.. it's a constant struggle.

So are you for or against spoilers? Leave your answer in the comments below.

Disneyland One Last Time!!!

Since I start work on Monday I figured I'd get one more day in of Disneyland. My annual pass expires in December and this job goes until the end of November so I wanted to get one more day in before it's no more.

My buddy Brett was able to join me for this adventure. We started our visit with Disneyland. We usually start with Disney California Adventure (DCA) as the line to get in is usual shorter but today both were short and we opted to go to Disneyland first.

The park wasn't busy but there were still 30 to 45 minute waits on popular rides. We started in Tomorrowland before moving to Adventureland/Frontierland. We had lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Frontierland.

While eating I got word that my sister-in-law and niece were over at DCA and were planning to come over to Disneyland for a few rides. I figured we could join up with them. I was telling Brett how my niece would react to seeing me as she does the same thing every time I see her. She first yells my name "Uncle Kenny" and then look for anyone around and say.. "look it's Uncle Kenny" or "Uncle Kenny is here". And sure enough as we waited under the Magic Castle and she came around the corner, once she saw me she yelled "Uncle Kenny" and then said "Look mommy it's Uncle Kenny" and then proceeded to get out of her stroller, run over to me and give me a big hug... I love that little girl.

We rode a few rides with her and Lora, she favorite was Gadgets Roller Coaster. Yeah she's going be like her Uncle and love roller coasters.. They headed out for the day and Brett and I finished our time at Disneyland by riding the re-dressed Haunted Mansion (a must do during the holidays).

We then headed over to DCA and spent another four or so hours over there roaming around the park enjoying the rides and surroundings.

It was, as always, a fantastic day at Disneyland

My Thoughts on the latest RBS, Forever & Arrow

Today I caught up on some TV. I watched Red Band Society, Forever and Arrow.

First up was Red Band Society, this is S1 Ep5 "So Tell Me What You Want, What You Really Really Want" Charlie's backstory is explained and the storyline flashes back to the night that he had gotten into a car accident while his father, Nick, was driving. Nick had unbuckled Charlie's seatbeat for him so he could lie down, right before a truck had struck them. Nurse Jackson was with him the night he went into the operating room and had promised him that she would be there right when he woke up. However, Charlie had extensive injuries and never woke up from surgery, thus resulting in his comatose state. His parents have been estranged ever since. Two legal men show up to assess Charlie's situation and confer that he most likely won't ever wake up. Nurse Jackson refuses to accept this, while his parents slowly come to terms. Jordi starts the emancipation process and a love triangle heats up between him, Leo, and Emma. Kara agrees to help Dash if he gives her inside information about the organ donor list.

Another great episode, I really enjoyed getting to know the "non-coma" Charlie. I liked the way they told us his background. Jordi is kind of a jerk now in my eyes as he knows Leo isn't over Emma but is still trying to pursue her. And I'm still not a fan of Kara or Dash so their storyline (thought sweet) really didn't effect me. Now on to Nurse Jackson which you guys know I totally love her but what she did at the end of the episode felt very out of character for her. I mean I know her heart is in the right place but I think she went to far. Of course we don't know what's going to happen next so will just have to wait and see but I know this is going to come back at some point and bite her in the butt. Ugh... no new episode next week due to baseball so we have to wait two weeks for a new episode.. that's so long.

I also watched Forever, S1 Ep5 "The Pugilist Break" Henry and Jo investigate a wealthy businessman's connection to the death of a former convict, who ran a recreation center for children in New York's inner city. Meanwhile, Abe begins suggesting Henry let go of his attachments to various artifacts in the museum shop. Henry reminisces about the inner city near the rec centre where he once worked as a medic for recent immigrants in the 1800s, and how the same poverty and discrimination has lived on from that time.

Another good episode, this has been a really solid series. I'm enjoying the characters, their interaction and stories. And even though it's a police drama for the most part it still has enough heart and fanciful aspect to it to keep me coming back each week.

And the final TV show that I watched tonight was Arrow S3 Ep2 "Sara" Not knowing what else to do, Laurel brings Sara's body to the team. Laurel demands to help Oliver find Sara's killer, but he forces her to go home. Captain Lance alerts Oliver to another archer in the city killing people, unaware that Sara was killed by an archer. Oliver follows a lead, and with Felicity and Diggle's help, he is able to identify the archer as Simon Lacroix. The team learn who Lacroix's next target is, and are able to stop him before he can succeed. Laurel arrives with a gun, determined to avenge Sara's death by killing Lacroix. As Oliver attempts to talk her out of it, Lacroix reveals that he was not in Starling City the night of Sara's death and leaves Oliver and his team with no more leads as to who killed Sara. The team bury Sara, but Laurel is unable to tell Quentin that Sara is dead. Roy also reveals to Oliver that Thea left town when she learned he was working with the Arrow. In Corto Maltese, Thea is with Malcolm and has proven capable of defeating several henchmen in combat. In flashbacks, Oliver is tasked with killing Tommy Merlyn, after the latter comes to Hong Kong to find Oliver after seeing activity on Oliver's email account. To save Tommy, Oliver pretends to kidnap him and tricks him into thinking that it was a ruse to gain ransom money.

Lots of anger in this episode, the only person who really mourned the loss of Sara was Felicity. I figured Oliver was accusing the wrong person and Laurel went way over the edge. She would have killed the guy if Oliver didn't take out the bullets to the gun. She also wimped out on telling her dad (Captain Lance) about his daughters death, which really bugged me. I actually liked the flashback in this episode for a change. It was great to see Tommy again. And when the final scene was playing out I already knew who was kicking butt I just wonder how this is all going to play out.. guess will have to wait and see.

A Podcast, A Death & A Question

Today I released episode 89 of my MASH 4077 Podcast and worked on episode 90 which will be released on November 1st. I'm trying to get as many episode in the can so I don't have to worry about them while I'm doing this new gig starting next week. You can download and/or listen on itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or Listen and get a direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

Sad news today actress Elizabeth Pena died. She was only 55. I will always remember her from "batteries not included", one of my favorite fantasy/sci fi movies. But she has done a ton of work including La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, Rush Hour and her most recent movie The Incredibles. She was always a class act and will be deeply missed.

So I posed a question on Facebook, I wrote 4 things that were true about me and 1 thing that was false and asked for folks to guess which one was false.

1. I Bungee Jumped 130 feet
2. I once watched all six Star Wars Films Back to Back to Back in one sitting
3. I spent a summer working as Donny and Marie's personal assistant
4. I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class
5. I rode my bike from San Fransisco to Los Angeles in seven days

Right off the bat my buddy Will picked the correct answer and I thought I was screwed, but of the 18 people who responded only 2 got it right (Will and my friend Joyce). BTW the false fact is #2. I have watched all the Star Wars movies over a weekend but never back to back to back. Most of the people said #1 and #5. 

Galadriel, Gandalf, Flash & S.H.I.E.L.D.

They have been releasing new Hobbit posters this past week but today is by far my favorite of the bunch. The relationship of Galadriel and Gandalf really isn't defined in the books, but it's fair to say that they are close friends who have fought against the same evil for many, many years.

It was Galadriel who first summoned the White Council and she wanted Gandalf to be the leader of the council instead of Saruman to whom the task was appointed in the end. It was also Galadriel who sent one of the eagles to seek Gandalf after he had fallen with the balrog in Khazad dum, and it was she who dressed him in white after his return. They are both also Ring-bearers, bearing one of the three Elven rings each. Hers is the ring of Water (Nenya), his is the ring of Fire (Narya).

So though they don't have an intimate relationship in the books I feel their friendship goes beyond lovers and I think this poster captures that relationship perfectly.

I watched several new episode of some of my favorite TV series...starting with Flash S1 Ep2 "Fastest Man Alive" Barry escorts Iris to a university gathering honoring scientist Simon Stagg. When six gunmen storm the event, Barry changes into The Flash and tries to stop them. While he does save a man's life, he passes out before he can capture the robbers, which frustrates him. As Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Cisco scramble to find out what's wrong with Barry, Joe comes down hard on Barry for taking the law into his own hands and risking his life. Barry realizes that it wasn't six gunmen but a metahuman named Danton Black, who can make multiples of himself. Meanwhile, Iris becomes even more intrigued by the "red streak." 

Another fun episode, I really like the relationship between Barry and Joe. I think Barry crossed the line several times when talking to Joe and telling him that he wasn't his father. I like that Barry was doubting his abilities, as he's still learning how to use them properly and what effect they have on his body. Lots of mystery surrounding Dr. Wells. Still don't know who he is or what his deal is, but I'm looking forward to finding out. A good second episode for sure.

I then watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D S2 Ep4 "Face My Enemy" While on a mission to learn more about the secrets of the mysterious writing, Coulson finds himself attacked by the only person he can trust: Agent Melinda May. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is trapped in an explosive situation, and it's up to Fitz to save them - but is he up to it? 

Another fun episode, lots of laugh as Coulson and May go undercover to get a painting that has the strange alien writing on the back. Some great fighting scenes between Coulson and May and then May verses May.. how awesome was that. I like that Fitz was able to help and feel like he was part of the crew again. Not a whole lot of Simmons (only imaginary Simmons this episode). Looks like next week is gonna be a nail biter.

Once Upon A Time S4Ep3 - My Thoughts

Today I watched Once Upon a Time S4 Ep3 "Rocky Road" When an icy spell is cast on Marian, the residents of Storybrooke place the blame on Elsa, unaware the mysterious woman who runs the town's ice cream parlor has the same powers as Elsa and is trying to frame her.

I really enjoyed this episode. I love Elizabeth Mitchell and I think she portrayed the Snow Queen beautifully.  I like how they tied her into the Elsa/Anna storyline. I don't know if she's telling the truth about being their aunt (mother's sister) or if Anna really did trap Elsa in that urn but she is defiantly up to something and it's not looking good.

I liked that Regina told Henry what she wanted to do and that he is standing behind her 100% and is going to try and help her. I love that Emma is using her powers more often and getting more control over them. It's was good to see the Knives of Hearts/Will Scarlet from the now cancelled Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I'm glad someone finally confronted Snow about her attachment to her baby boy. And of course Rumple is being Rumple. You find out that he knows the Snow Queen and she is somehow connected to Emma.

Lot's of questions asked and I'm sure will get answers as this season plays out, but I'm really enjoying this "Frozen" themed storyline... can't wait for what comes next.

Nothing New

Wow.. nothing to blog about today. No geek news, no personal news.