Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 62 – New Comics for 3/11/15! Spider-Gwen #1 and All-New Hawkeye #1 Reviewed! Hobgoblin Explained!

In this episode, Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out Wednesday, March 11, and review Spider-Gwen #1, AXIS: Hobgoblin and Carnage, All-New Hawkeye #1, Lady Killer #3, Descender #1, Neverboy #1 and more!

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Plus, Billy and Dave give their thoughts on the new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, and the recent casting announcements for Supergirl and DC’s team-based live action show.
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Oh, and if you’ve ever wondered about the convoluted history of the Hobgoblin, have we go the episode for you!
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Agents of SHIELD – S2E11 – Aftershocks – Recap

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And we’re back! Man, the hiatus since the last episode of Agents of SHIELD seemed longer than it actually was. Having Agent Carter around helped, but that show just didn’t have the same intensity that Agents of SHIELD has had since the middle of last season. In case you’ve forgotten what’s what and were we are, this episode starts with a previously, and I want it just be rocks floating around Skye. Seriously,nothing else matters. That said, I’m still sad about Trip’s death. RIP Trip. 🙁

We start in the past. There’s a boy who’s like Nightcrawler in X2. He’s in a room, just porting around the place uncontrollably. It’s 1982. The weird thing isn’t his porting. And it’s not even that he can’t port out of the room. It’s that he has no eyes. Skye’s mom walks in with an old dude. They let you know immediately that this is not Nightcrawler, for this is no mutant, “he passed through the mists,” *cough* Inhumans *cough* (besides, Nightcrawler has eyes…and is blue). Skye’s mom tries to talk some calm into Gordon, the eyeless wonder. Hmm, it’s interesting that they didn’t go with more established Inhumans like Gorgon, Blackbolt, Triton or Medusa. I wonder when we’ll see them?

Skye wakes up…with an iPhone armband strapped to her. I love running and I don’t sleep with my armband on. Coulson is there when wakes. Skye confirms Trip is dead. Man… 🙁
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Skye and Coulson are in quarantine. Everyone else is going about their own business, trying to work through the grief of losing Trip. Simmons is documenting what’s in the tunnells with a team. Everyone on the team is wearing hazmat suits.
How much os this episode is going to be Coulson and Skye talking, Diner style? Skye is depressed. Coulson is angry. Cut to a meeting of what appears to be the heads of Hydra. One of them really, really looks andn sounds like Hilary Clinton. That can’t be not on purpose, right?
Something is in the tunnels, and it attacked one of Simmons’s men. Oh, that hand looks like Raina’s, all porcupine like. Simmons meets with her team in the catacombs. When she leaves, Raina attacks the team members, killing them. Raina is all claws and craziness. Simmons shoots her. She’s still able to run away, and gets to an elevator.
Bobbie meets with Skye. She tries to keep Skye’s spirits up. When Skye says she feels like a leper, Bobbie points out everything that happened to Skye and says Skye’s a rock star.
The Fitz and Mac show is still a thing. Anyone feel that The Rock was the first choice to play Mac? Mac and Fitz are going through similar issues. Mac was controlled by that gas and Fitz’s brain isn’t’ what it used to be. Both felt trapped in their own bodies.
Simmons gets in touch with Coulson and May. They’re hunting down Raina, not realizing she’s the porcupine monster.
Coulson calls a team meeting. Everyone starts arguing, stressing Skye out. The stress causes her to involuntarily shake the place. Amazingly, no one else notices. Seriously, I’ve been in arguments, but I think I’d notice the start of an earthquake happening at the same time.
Bakshi is in Coulson’s custody. Coulson facetimes with Talbot. They arrange a trade for Bakshi. Coulson and May are ambushed while transporting Bakshi. But abushed by whom? Hydra? Talbot with the double cross? In the ensuing firefight, May counts four hostiles left. She asks Coulson if he know what that means. He doens’t. It means May is going into BEAST MODE. While she’s taking out everyone, someone shoots her, and then Coulson. There is A LOT of blood. W. T. F. Still, Coulson yells “They’ll never take us alive,” which seems fishy. The masked shooter tells Bakshi to get in the SUV. Why do I think this is an elaborate Coulson ploy? Also, that masked guy…sounds like Talbot.
Bakshi’s masked savior is revealed. WHAT?!  It’s not Talbot! it’s Hunter. For a second, I think to myself that this isn’t a Coulson ploy and Hunter has gone over to Hydra. But I’m wrong. It is a Coulson plot. May makes fun of Coulson for saying they’ll never take us alive. Man, I love this show!
Hunter gets in Bakshi’s good graces by holding a gun to Bakshi’shead, and then allowing himself to get bought off by Bakshi.
As it turns out, Simmons did realize that porcupine lady was Raina. But they don’t realize Skye is a superhuman too. How is that possible? They analyzed Raina’s DNA without Raina being in custody, but not Skye’s?
Raina attacks Kyle MacLachlan. On a side note, it really bothers me that we don’t have a character name for Kyle MacLachlan other than Skye’s Dad or The Doctor. I’m going to keep referring to him as Kyle. Raina wants to know what the hell she has become. Me too. Is that even the same actress?! She wants to be normal again, “not some gnarled freak of nature covered in thorns.” Wow, she really is gnarled. How many hours does Ruth Negga need to spend in the makeup chair each shooting day for this? It is crazy that Skye just looks like Skye. Er, I mean Daisy. Sorry, Kyle. Totally meant Daisy. Back to Raina…whoa, Raina is seriously crazy. She blames Skye for what happened to her. Kyle and Raina are like in a competition for who can be crazier. It’s a dead heat. Wow, Raina unhooded looks like 0% Raina. She’s all bald and spikey. Seriously, this could be a different actress if it wasn’t for her voice. On another side note, when Kyle talks to himself, he sounds like a Batman 66 villain.
Hunter wants to find out Bobbie and Mac’s mutual secret. It turns out they’re in a support group for people who used to be in SHIELD, but were betrayed by Hydra. Wait, this wasn’t’ an excuse? It’s real? Huh, I thought Bobbie was being evasive at first.
Fitz meets with Skye. He’s the only one who realizes she survived the destruction only because she caused it. Why would you bring that up to the that person, Fitz?? Come on, Fitz! Skye makes the room shake. Things start exploding. Fitz runs. How did he not see that one coming?
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Coulson delivers the news to Trip’s mom that Trip is dead. The audience gets to see a cool photo of the Howling Commandos hanging on the wall.
Bakshi and another guy in the head Hydra group set off an alert. The other Hydra heads are wearing watches that light up. They seem excited. What’s up? Bakshi decides to turn on Hunter. He has his men shoot the crap out of Hunter’s jeep. Unfortunately for those men, the jeep is bulletproof and has pop-out guns.  Not a standard feature, but totally worth the expense in this case.
Hilary Clinton is poisoned, and turns to ash, like so many others this season. Another Hydra dude meets the same fate. Pretty much everyone but Bakshi dies. Baskshi betrayed the group. Hunter and Bobbie take out Bakshi’s co-conspirator and take Bakshi in. This was all Coulson’s plan, to get the Hydra heads to betray each other so that his team wouldn’t have to go after them.
Skye is bleeding. May and Simmons want to know what’s up.Fitz takes the blame and seems to have doctored Skye’s DNA. He replaced it with a sample of her old DNA. Um…why? Seriously why. Fitz is afraid that Simmons will judge Skye too harshly. Fitz is the only one who knows the truth about Skye. That’s nice of you, Fitz, but how is Skye going to get the help she needs?
A SHIELD team finds Raina. They tell her she’s not there to hurt her, just take her in. Raina wants them to kill her. The blind teleporter ports in He’s all grown up and in control of his powers. He grabs Raina and ports out.
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In the final scene, a model of Lola activates something in Coulson’s desk. The team is meeting downstairs, drinking beer, reminiscing about Trip. Off to the side, Mac tells Bobbie he has visual confirmation, Fury’s blueprints are in Coulson’s office. Oh right, Mac made that little model. Oh wait, they’re not in any support group. What’s going on with these two, and who is Bobbie going to make contact with? Man, don’t be evil, Bobbie. You too, Mac…
No sign of Ward this episode. I wonder when we’ll see him again. Looking at the Art of Level 7 poster by Marcos Martin for next week’s episode, it looks like Sif will be returning to Agents of SHIELD. I can’t wait.
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I am so happy Agents of SHIELD is back!

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 61

It’s episode 61 of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast! What can you expect inside? Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out the week of Wednesday, March 4, 2015 and give you their top picks.

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We got a lot of Supergirl TV news this week and we break it down for you. Plus, Robert Downey Junior is sponsoring a very very cool contest for charity. We talk about it on the podcast, and if you’re interested in entering, you can find the contest here.
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The guys both review Spider-Man: Family Business by Mark Waid, James Robinson and Gabrielle Dell-Otto. Billy continues his Scott Snyder marathon with a review of Snyder and Jim Lee’s Superman Unchained HC, and Dave reviews Harley Quinn (New52) #0-13 and James Robinson’s run on All-New Invaders.
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Welcome to Tuesday Night!

About Time – Review

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I had the choice between About Time or Thor: The Dark World. Some of us were going to see one and some of us were going to see the other. Walking out after Thor: The Dark World, I thought I made the right choice. Thor: The Dark World exceeded my expectations and now I’d be ready for the Agents of SHIELD episode that was advertised as tying into the movie. Besides, wasn’t Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler’s Wife? That movie stunk (the book is so good!).

Well, now that I’ve finally seen About Time, I’m wondering if I made the wrong choice that weekend. Yes, I am a bit obsessed with Agents of SHIELD, which is part of the reason I needed to see Thor: The Dark World on opening weekend, but I would have understood that episode even if I hadn’t seen the movie. It didn’t tie in as much as Captain America: The Winter Soldier did. Now that was a game changer for Agents of SHIELD.

About Time

 

About Time is fantastic! It is a terrific romantic comedy about a time traveler who can only travel pack in time along his own life. Sure, that’s a limited form of time travel, but think of the possibilities if you had that power! All the things you could go back and not say, or go back and say! About Time uses the time travel power to its fullest, using it to comment on the relationships between lovers, friends, parents and children, and siblings. I defy you to watch this movie and not want to call your dad afterwards and tell him that you love him.

Bill Nighy steals this movie. He is amazingly charming as the father of main character and time traveler Tim. He wins at being a dad, but he does have the unfair advantage of countless do overs.

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The relationship between Tim (Domhall Gleeson) and Mary (Rachel McAdams) makes good use of Tim’s time travelling powers to tell the story. This movie is what I wanted the movie adaptation of  The Time Traveller’s Wife to be.

Seriously, go watch About Time. It is one of those movies that you can throw on at any time and just feel better about the day after watching it. It’s super cute without being saccharine.

Am I glad I saw Thor: The Dark World in the theater? Yes. Do I think the people who saw About Time that day saw the better movie? Also yes.

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 60 – Spider-Gwen! Multiversity: Mastermen reviewed! Jason Momoa as Aquaman! Hellboy…beer?!?

Welcome to episode 60 of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast! This week, we’re previewing new comics coming out Wednesday, 2/25/15, including Spider-Gwen #1 by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez!
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Plus, Dave and Billy continue their in-depth reviews of Grant Morrison’s Multiversity with the new The Multiversity: Mastermen. They also review Batman Volume 5 – Zero Year: Savage City by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Ei8ht #1 by Rafael Albuquerque, Joe Hill’s The Cape, and High Crimes #1-5 by Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa.
The guys share their thoughts on the recently released image of Jason Momoa as Aquaman.
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And Hellboy…beer?!?
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Interstellar – Review

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The Matthew McConoughey renaissance continues!

Interstellar is definitely a movie to see on the biggest screen available. If you can find an IMAX still showing it, by all means, see this movie on the IMAX, and in 70mm if possible. You will not regret it. But if you watching Interstellar at home, please do yourself a favor and watch it on the biggest TV you can find. If you own a 40” and your friend owns a 70”, maybe it’s time to pay that friend a visit. Treat that friend to a Redbox night and spring for a box of microwavable popcorn while you’re at it. Side note: I wonder how many times owners of bigger than big screen TVs are having to sit through yet another viewing of Interstellar thanks to yet another friend who owns a small TV.

I feel like Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck are having similar career trajectories. Both started out in the same indie movie, Dazed and Confused. Both went on to work on movies of varying quality. And now, both have recently found themselves getting pickier with their choices and putting out quality project after quality project. People point to True Detective as the start of the McConoughey renaissance. Those people clearly never saw Mud.

I expected Interstellar to be good. I’ve found that to be a good rule of thumb to apply to any Christopher Nolan movie. However, I didn’t expect it to be this good. I don’t know why I thought Nolan would only deliver a better than usual outer space movie. But he doesn’t just deliver that. Instead, he gives us a movie that transcends the genre. A sizeable part of the movie takes place on Earth before McConoughey and his team head to space, but it didn’t just feel like lengthy build-up. Instead it was a great story about the relationship between a father and a daughter, a relationship that underpins the rest of the movie.

Some spoilers follow. If you haven’t seen the film yet, come back when you have.

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The effects in the movie are, pun completely intended, out of this world. When that ocean sized tidal wave is bearing down on the away team, man, the whole theater seemed to be filled with water. It was almost vertigo-inducing, watching that wave get ready to splash down the hapless scientist.

The biggest surprise in the movie definitely has to be Matt Damon being such an asshole. Sure, Matt Damon has played less than scrupulous people before, but has he ever played the villain like he plays here? Most of the movie can be described at man-against-nature, but when Damon shows his true colors, there is a definite shift to man vs. man. He is one legitimately bad guy in this movie. And he plays the part so well. Matt Damon’s Mann is a sympathetic villain, you definitely get where he is coming from, but he’s still a ruthless asshole.

I’ve heard people complain about the ending of the movie, the most common complaint being “that’s not what happens when you go through a black hole.” But that complaint is like complaining “that’s not what happens after you die,” because while science can infer what happens when you near or enter a black hole, until we send something or someone actually through one, it’s up to the imaginations of writers and artists and decide that.

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Is Interstellar the best outer space movie of 2014? I think I would have to give that honor to Guardians of the Galaxy, but even comparing the two seems to be a folly. There needs to be a subdivision in outer space movies putting films like Gravity and Interstellar in one, and films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars in the other. What’s the dividing line? Whether or not the heroes are fighting aliens with laser guns? Maybe. But there’s no doubt that both categories of outer space movies produce gems, one of which is Interstellar.

Interstellar is a definitely-see.

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 59 – New Comic Books for 2/17/15, Star Wars & Darth Vader Reviewed! A Look Back on Spider-Man: Blue! Spider-Man is Coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Billy and Dave preview new comic books coming out Wednesday, 2/18/15, and give their recommendations for where your money is best spent this new comic book day.

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Billy reviews Kieron Gillen’s Darth Vader #1 and Jason Aaron and John Cassaday’s Star Wars #2. The guys look back on Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Spider-Man: Blue and discuss the ramifications of the huge announcement of Sony’s deal with Marvel to allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 58 – New Comics for 2/11/15! Lady Killer Reviewed! Why You Need to Read The Wicked + The Divine! DC’s Post-Convergence Titles!

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time to pick some new comics for New Comic Book Day, Wednesday 2/11/15, including Marvel’s new Darth Vader series written by Kieren Gillen.

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The guys review many comics, including Lady Killer #1 and 2 and Rat God #1 from Dark Horse, The Wicked + The Divine #1-7 from Image, Justice League 3000 #7-12 from DC and a host of Marvel comics available on Marvel Digital Unlimited platform.
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Upon seeing the reveal of the The Atom’s TV costume, Billy thought it the costume designers at Warner Bros made a very Valiant attempt. Do you agree?
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Plus, the latest comic book news, including DC’s post Convergence list of titles, the upcoming launch of A-Force, Jeff Lemire leaving DC, Brian Michael Bendis leaving Marvel, and because this is a comic book podcast that touches on everything, Kanye West at this weekend’s Grammy awards.
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Spider-Man Is Coming to Marvel Studios!

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Wow. I can’t lie. I never thought this would happen. Even after the news about the leaked emails between Marvel and Sony detailing talks that had been going on for some time. But happened it has. Marvel Studios now has the rights to Spider-Man.

This is huge news! We’re most likely going to see Spider-Man in Captain America 3. That movie is based on the Civil War storyline, which saw heroes siding with either Captain America or Iron Man over the issue of superhuman registration. Stuck in the middle between the two of them is Spider-Man. He was such a central part of Civil War that a Civil War movie without Spider-Man would seem incomplete. But that’s no longer an issue because Marvel and Sony have reached a deal that brings Spider-Man into the Cinematic Marvel Universe.

Not only that, but we get Spider-Man in the Avengers. I swear, as I typed those words, I let out a huge squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

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There is some bad news associated with this. Andrew Garfield is reportedly out as Spider-Man. I’m not a fan of this decision. I thought Andrew Garfield was perfect as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He was a perfect Spider-Man in two unfortunately very imperfect Spider-Man films. It would be great if Marvel reversed this decision and recast him as Spider-Man, but that seems unlikely.

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It’s funny, looking back 20 years ago the film rights to Spider-Man were such a tangled mess that it looked like we would never get a Spider-Man movie. So many parties claimed to have rights to the film version of Spider-Man. It was a legal Gordian Knot. Read some news articles from then about the situation and you will find it amazing that we’ve had 5 Spider-Man movies made since then.

While I am sad that Garfield won’t be returning to the title role, Spider-Man coming to Marvel Studios is awesome news! When it comes to superhero movies, Marvel Studios has a reputation for quality that is unmatched by Fox or Sony. The worst Marvel Studios movie is arguably the first Captain America movie Iron Man 3, and that’s still a pretty good movie. But look at every other Marvel Studios movie! Name your top 5 superhero movies. Chances are, most of them are Marvel Studios films. Spider-Man is coming home and is going to be put in the best possible hands. Spider-fans everywhere are rejoicing and with good reason. We don’t know yet who will be wearing the Spider-Man mask, but for the first time in a while, I’m confident that whoever it is will be wearing it in a quality movie.

Now we just need Marvel Studios to make a similar deal for Wolverine.

Gone Girl – Review

gone girl poster“Wow, that was fucked up.”

Those were the exact words that crossed my lips as Gone Girl ended. I was referring to the final scene, but it can be applied to the entire movie. Gone Girl is riveting, and very entertaining, but it is very, very fucked up.

The movie is expertly plotted with the level of detail usually found in heist movies. Rosamund Pike is legitimately creepy in a distanced, sociopathic kind of way. Think Norman from Bates Motel in the body of a gorgeous 5’ 8 ½” blonde woman. She’s plays the role almost too creepy in the beginning of the movie. You definitely get bad vibes from her from the moment that Amy and Nick meet. At first I thought that Rosamund was simply overcompensating with playing an American accent in the role, but looking back on it, no, it was straight up Amy Dunne creep factor.

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Nick Dunne is the perfect Ben Affleck role. Whatever the word is for what it is that Ben Affleck haters don’t like about Ben Affleck, he brings exactly that to this role and it works so well. That slightly douchey feeling that some people get from Ben Affleck? It’s here, and it works perfectly. Because Nick Dunne is the worst husband of a missing wife ever. He smiles during press conferences. He continues his affair with a student. Nick would be his own worst enemy if it wasn’t for Amy taking the top spot.

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Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris are both in the movie in small supporting roles, and both are great. Never enjoyed Tyler Perry in a role before? You will here. And as for Neil’s Desi? There’s a lesson to be learned here gents. Stay away from your now-married childhood crush, especially when she complains about her husband. You never know if she’s a psycho-killer that will both bash your head in and besmirch your good name.

On a metatextual level, I wonder what effect, if any, Gone Girl will have on society. Will this movie (and the book that inspired it) cause people to doubt rape victims? I can see it happening. It would be a terrible thing if a rapist ever walked free because of the seed of doubt planted in members of a jury by a movie.

That worry leads to another big question, should Gone Girl be blamed for what people take away from it? I’ve never been one to put blame for crime at the feet of art, whether its movies, music, comic books or video games. I always felt that blaming crime on the Grand Theft Auto video games was a cop out. But if a rapist ever did go free because Gone Girl stopped members of a jury from being able to believe a rape victim? That would be even more fucked up than Gone Girl itself.

Gone Girl is a definitely see.