Monthly Archives: February 2012

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Blu-ray

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Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law return once again as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows“. In this installment, a series of bombings across Europe has positioned the nations of the world on the brink of war. Holmes is convinced that there is a criminal mastermind behind the numerous, seemingly unrelated events and he believes it is renowned scholar James Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Watson, well-accustomed to Holmes’ eccentric and erratic behavior, is dubious of Holmes claims. Besides, Watson has his upcoming wedding to focus on, and only deigns to spend time with Holmes at the promise of a stag party at an upscale gentlemen’s club. While the bachelor party includes an entertaining Stephen Fry playing Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, Holmes has ulterior motives for taking Watson to this particular club. Early in the film, Holmes had cleverly intercepted a message from Irene Adler (Amy McAdams), that led him to a fortuneteller named Madam Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace), a woman Holmes believes has been targeted for death by Moriarty, who just happens to be working at the gentlemen’s club.

Eventually a meeting with Moriarty is arranged for Holmes. The two intellectuals spar with one another verbally in a civilized manner, with menacing undertones. Holmes isn’t able to convince Moriarty that Watson is no longer a partner in any of his endeavors and, Holmes is forced to take drastic measures to ensure the doctor and his new wife stay out of harm’s way. From Paris to Germany and other European locales, Holmes, Watson, and Simza and her gypsy friends race against time to uncover the diabolical plot that Moriarty has set for their demise in his quest to drive nations to war.

The film is an absolute delight and is a rare sequel that is even better than the previous film in the series. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law have amazing chemistry with one another and their timing is absolutely perfect. The duo deftly mix action and comedy as well as the serious subject matter of the plot line and are utterly captivating and enjoyable to watch every step of the way. Rapace continues to impress in a much softer character than her Lisbeth Salandar role in the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Swedish trilogy. and is poised to become one of Hollywood’s new leading ladies.

Having become familiar with Harris’ work on the series Mad Men, I was delighted to see him expertly portray such a complex character as Moriarty: a gentleman scholar of impeccable upbringing and education who is also a twisted and evil genius. Harris plays Moriarty perfectly and never lets you forget the dark and sinister side of him without ever becoming a campy or cartoony vaudeville villain.

Guy Ritchie returns as director and lets his stars carry the film. The action has been ramped up this time around with some spectacular action sequences but the action never overshadows the character-driven story. The film was well-paced and an absolute thrill ride from beginning to end mixing fantastic action and some great humor for a very winning combination that is not to be missed. I am already looking forward to future outings of Holmes and Watson on the big screen as this was a truly enjoyable experience that shows you how action comedies are supposed to be made.

Sparkling picture, color, sound, and tons of features makes this a must own.

4.5 stars out of 5

Oscar Impressions

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It is early morning and had some time to digest last night’s Oscars. Honestly, I was very underwhelmed by the show as it’s become rather bloated and stiff. I made the joke that there was more life in last night’s episode of The Walking Dead than a large number the nominees in the audience in attendance.

I think unfortunately I become really jaded towards the show because years ago I learned from a studio executive that the nominations are bought and paid for and it often comes down to who has the best marketing campaign who makes the biggest push during crunch time and so on.

I’m still absolutely perplexed over how “Hugo” won so many awards especially passing up films in the visual effects category that had far greater effects going for them. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with some of the winners specifically Meryl Streep for her performance in “The Iron Lady” when it had largely been assumed “Viola Davis” was going to win for her performance in “The Help”. I also have to admit little bit of shock in the wins for “The Artist” specifically in the best director and best picture category, not to say that the film isn’t worthy it’s just that foreign-language films or in this case very little language films often tends to be overlooked in terms of larger mass-market films.
Woody Allen was also a suprise winner and in keeping with his dislike of award shows was not on hand.

I’m not going to do a complete recap of the winners is that’s all over the Internet but I will say congratulations to the winners and the nominees as well as for Billy Crystal for doing his best to keep the ship on course even though it’s become painfully obvious that the Oscars are desperately need a shakeup permits tired and plodding format.

Unit 13 Preview for PS Vita

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Soon after the launch of the Vita, Zipper Interactive will release their newest title, Unit 13. Amara got a hands on preview of the game and wrote about her experience.

This third person shooter offers the feel of a good console or PC game on in handheld form with sharp attention to tactical and scoring capabilities. The game was made to reward players not only for achievement of objectives but also for quality play such as head shoots, melee kills, and tactical sneaking. If a high score isn’t enough, the game announces player’s scores and achievements to their friends via a live stream at the top of the game.

This system takes social playing with a handheld shooter to a whole new level by offering various forms of multiplayer interaction. A pickup game can be created with people located in proximity to one another or a group of friends from around the world can play together. And worries that this single or multi-player game play will get stale are resolved by the daily challenges offered by Zipper, so no two days with Unit 13 will be the same.

However, players seeking the creative story or characterization elements that define shooters like Resistance or Dead Space may be underwhelmed. This is not a game where players are likely to feel tightly bonded to the characters but it was crafted with hardcore gaming fans in mind. Unit 13 was built to reward creative and tactical playing strategy by motivating play in new and exciting ways. This attention to tactical detail is unlike anything else on the market, even when compared to popular shooter titles on consoles and PC.

While the story and characterization are not quickly engrossing, for score driven competitive players, this game is almost as good as the bonus for a headshot combo. And yes, in Unit 13 that can happen can.

Escape Plan for the PS Vita Preview

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Amara got herself some hands on time with this hot title.

The web is already buzzing about Escape Plan, one of a number of downloadable release titles for the new Sony Vita. The brainchild of Fun Bits Interactive, Escape Plan is an innovative and dark yet delightful puzzle game where players assist two lemming-brained characters, Lil and Laarg, in an effort to escape captivity. Traversing through deadly rooms, the game feels like an artistic hybrid of Portal and Limbo with even more interactive play due to the two touch screens of the Sony Vita system.

The title was built to avoid long tutorials; players experience what the system has to offer through experimental play, making this title reminiscent of those beloved retro games, which often taught mechanics through experimentation. But, in this modern day, experiments resulting in death do come with a price; each failure is emblazed on the chest of your character.

Every facet of the game was tailored to work well, not only with the new technology of the Vita system, but also the realities of game play on the go. Escape Plan can be played casually passed back and forth between friends or by a single player attempting a speed run through the eighty-five levels available at launch. While a complex puzzle game, Escape Plan also delivers on the details with a soundtrack and environments that are deceptively simple yet engrossing for even the casual gamer. But where Escape Plan really rocks is the creative use of player caused environmental manipulation on both the front and back multi-touch screens.
Irreverent and dark yet funny this game is optimal for anyone desiring to see humorous character deaths by gigantic fan blades or anyone who really see what the Sony Vita can do. And if that sounds good keep in mind that there may even be more content for Escape Plan coming in the future.

We Have Seen The Future of Handheld Gaming: Our Playstation Vita Review

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The arrival of the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) marks a new time in the evolution of handheld video games. While the new device looks very similar to its predecessor, the PSP, the PS Vita is an entirely innovative system unlike anything else on the market. Sporting two analog sticks, ideal for fighting and shooting games on the go, and large front and back touch screens, the Vita offers game play that is interactive on two levels, literally.

The PS Vita has considerable social gaming functions that allow players to join into certain games based on relative proximity to other players, as well the ability to play with your friend’s around the world. The PS Vita even keeps a rolling leader board with freshly updating statistics that will be shared automatically with the network.

As if the advanced technology was not enough to entice gamers, along with the release of the PS Vita will be twenty-five available titles. For those who want even more titles, another seventy are in development. This gives the device the potential to maintain fresh momentum beyond initial release into the foreseeable future.

The system is so gripping that it takes drill down analysis to see the possible faults of the PS Vita. The system comes with both a directional pad and the analog sticks, however both of the titles I examined did not have the option of switching between the two control systems. This means that players will be forced, at least on occasion, to use the developers chosen navigation format. Additionally, while the extensive leader board functionality is exciting, will all players want continuous updates of all super gamer friend achievements? Unlike the XBox 360 where this information can be ignored, the PS Vita seems to force this social element into constant view.

For those who are seeking additional digital connection there is no built in functionality for sending scores directly to the big established social networks (such as Twitter and Facebook). For better or worse PS Vita bragging rights may be limited to other PS Vita users.
Still these are knit-picky complaints, the PS Vita is entirely promising and having first hand experience with the system proves that the evolution from the PSP to the PS Vita is significantly better than imagined. Now if you will excuse me I have something to pre-order.

4.5/5

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

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In what can only be described as a failed attempt at a sequel, Nicholas Cage reprises his role as Johnny Blaze, and Blaze’s alter ego Ghost Rider.

In this follow-up chapter to the 2007 film that first brought Marvel’s Ghost Rider to the big screen, Cage’s character has left the States to run from the demon inside him. His attempts to control the Rider work best when he is far from people, but his plans are derailed upon the entrance of a young boy and his attractive mother. The boy is the object of desire for Mephistopheles (the demon who turned Blaze into the Rider). The film takes you on a wild ride while Ghost Rider attempts to prevent the devil from getting his claws on the boy.

Lets cut right to the chase: this is, bar-none, one of the worst films I’ve seen in at least a decade. It’s right up there with D-Wars. While the first film had decent acting (minus Cage), a well-thought-out script, and special effects that made sense, the sequel is a complete failure even when compared to its predecessor.

The complete lack of a coherent script, the terrible acting, and the nonsensical actions of the Rider (not to mention the extremely cheesy dialog) make it clear that this film is an extremely poor attempt by Hollywood to capitalize on the recent success of other Marvel/DC titles. Unfortunately, this movie was cobbled together with one liners and special effects that weren’t convincing enough to pass the test.

Being a long time Marvel/DC comic fan, I always approach these films with low expectations, so I can be surprised when they’re done well — and at the very least, enjoy it. Despite this, I still feel like the hour and twenty minutes of my life spent watching Ghost Rider is time I can’t have back.

The only moment of hope this film had was Christopher Lambert as the tattooed monk.

I encourage all of you who wish to see it, even after reading this review, to wait until it’s available for cheap home viewing.

1 out of 5 Stars

This Means War

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It’s been said that all’s fair in love and war and never was the case more evident than in the tale of FDR and Tuck, two best friends who also happen to be partners and top agents at the CIA. After a covert operation doesn’t go as planned the duo find themselves riding their desks in the Los Angeles agency office much to their chagrin.

FDR (Chris Pine) is very confident ladies’ man while Tuck (Tom Hardy) is a divorced father of a little boy looking for “the one”. The more reserved Tuck decides to take his chances with online dating while FDR is content to cruise the local video store searching for his latest conquest. Enter Lauren (Reese Witherspoon), an attractive, independent woman who appears to have everything except a love life.

When Lauren encounters her former fiancé engaged to another woman, she vents her frustration to her best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) who decides to take matters into her own hands and, unbeknownst to Lauren, produces an online dating profile for Lauren which matches her with Tuck. The first meeting between the two goes very well and they decide to take things slowly and see where this promising start leads. Unfortunately as Trish is heading home she stops in the same video store were FDR is on the prowl and the two mix like oil and water. Undeterred, FDR decides to pursue Lauren.

Eventually Tuck and FDR realize that they’re seeing the same woman and, not wanting to put their friendship in jeopardy, agree that they will continue to see her and let Lauren decide whom she prefers. The fact that neither men in this love triangle acknowledges that they know each other leads to some interesting complications, and naturally jealousies arise between the two friends.

With the full resources of the CIA at their disposal, Tuck and FDR, who’ve both become captivated with Lauren, soon take advantage of their job not only to spy on each other’s dates with Lauren but also to do their best to undermine the other and gain valuable information to help them appear more desirable to Lauren. As if this wasn’t complicated enough, an international criminal named Heinrich (Til Schweiger) is searching for the two agents to seek revenge. Constantly battling one another as well as the impending threat of Heinrich, FDR and Tuck embark on a hysterical and action-packed adventure that is one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies in recent memory.

Sure the film does take a few leaps in logic, such as the CIA turning a blind eye to their use of so many high-level resources in the world of dating but anyone seeing this type of film obviously isn’t expecting realism.
Directed by McG the film mixes action and comedy with a touch of romance and creates an entertaining formula. The three leads work exceptionally well with one another and Hardy and Pine are clearly stars on the rise. Handler does some great supporting work in the film and gets more than her share of laughs. This is definitely one you will not want to miss.

4 stars out of 5

Second Review by Amy Jo

What happens when two adrenaline seeking CIA agents don’t understand the meaning of covert operation? They are “grounded” at their director’s orders. Agents FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) end up having too much time on their hands. Tuck begins to ponder what his life has become and decides he needs to share it with someone Enter Reese Witherspoon as Lauren, a professional product tester whose love-life hasn’t exactly gone to plan.

Lauren’s friend, Trish (Chelsea Handler), creates an online dating profile for her, and she gets a message from Tuck; they arrange to meet. Concerned for his friend, FDR says he will wingman, Tuck agrees with restrictions and FDR ends up waiting in the video store around the corner from the meet. The coffee date goes well, but when Lauren goes to rent a video she runs into FDR and sparks fly. FDR and Tuck are discussing “their” respective girls the next day only to find they are one and the same: Lauren.

Hilarity ensues as the two misappropriate Federal resourcesand go to war for Lauren’s attention. In the meantime we get the benefit of Trish’s advice on dating; which doesn’t help.

Chris Pine and Tom Hardy have great comedic timing and play off each other well. Witherspoon is her usually excellent comedic self, this type of role seems like a second skin to her. Handler is funny, but like a watered down version of herself, and Bassett’s cameo as the hard-ass boss is good.

This Means War hasn’t gotten the press it really should have; trailers seem to have been lost in all of the other big name movies of the year. It is an excellent popcorn date-night movie to see.

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas Blu-Ray

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Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn)are back for a third outing, this time making the holiday season their target of misadventure. ” A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” has arrived on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.

In the film, the title characters have grown apart, as Harold is now married and becoming a success in the business world. Kumar is still unmotivated to do much more than get high, and seems ok with it.

When a package is accidentally delivered for Harold at their old address, Kumar decides to visit his old friend. This turns out to be a disaster as a prized Xmas tree which is vital for Harold to win the approval of his father in law is destroyed.

Desperate to find a replacement on Xmas eve, the two have no choice but to team up to try to save Xmas and in doing so, encounter everyrthing from deranged criminals to Neil Patrick Harris.

Fans of the series will love watching the duo back in action and the disc is loaded with bonus material including both and extended and theatrical cut of the film as well as claymation segments and tons of behind the scenes features.

The Blu-Ray set contains a standard DVD as well as an Ultraviolet version of the film for those who want to take the mischief with them when on the go.

The picture and sound quality are first rate, and you will not want to miss this modern holiday classic.

Kinect: Star Wars Screens and Hands On

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I got some hands on time with the game today and though it was limited to the Pod Race segment only, It was still tons of fun. I did not get to do any of the Jedi stuff that we saw at E3, but the pod was very responsive, and hitting the turbo was as easy as shoving your hands forward and pulling back.

The game had a solo or split screen mode for two players and even gave me a choice of three different racers in the demo.

During my race over the desert, I was assailed by Buzz droids, Wamp Rats, and other hazards which added up to a very challenging and fun experience. That is if you do not mind your pod catching on fire and slamming into a canyon wall.

Look for the full game on April 3rd.


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Safe House

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In a complicated deadly game of international espionage things are rarely what they appear to be. Take the case of Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), a young man who, for all intents and purposes, appears to divide his time between his adoring French girlfriend (Nora Arnezeder) and a South African hospital. But if one were to pull back the curtain they would learn that Matt is actually a CIA agent who spends his time watching over a safe house, an assignment of painfully tedious monotony.

In the new action thriller “Safe House”, Reynolds eschews his typical charming, cocky, wisecracking on-screen personas to portray Matt as a mature young man with ambitions both inside and outside of his job. Matt longs to be assigned to a more glamorous position and is hopeful that when his 12 month tour in South Africa is up, a more exciting post awaits him in Paris. It doesn’t hurt that a Paris post will also allow him to be closer to his girlfriend when she returns to Europe in the near future. But his boss David Barlow (Brendan Gleason) isn’t as optimistic.

As his frustrations at the lack of mobility grows, Matt soon finds his quiet world torn asunder by the arrival of Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington). Frost is a former agent who went rogue and is considered an extremely dangerous and high-profile target. Having eluded the CIA for years, he only draws even more suspicion when he surrenders himself to a US consulate in South Africa. The CIA knows they have to act fast to determine what Frost knows, and quickly whisk him away to a safe house for intense interrogation. But the CIA aren’t the only ones who want to know Tobin’s secrets.

Although Matt is highly trained for his job running the safe house, he is very green when it comes to the reality of having to defend his domain against a surprise attack which leaves Tobin and Matt as the only survivors. Forced to flee and with nowhere to turn, Frost tries to convince Matt that they have been set up because someone in the agency does not want Frost to talk. At first skeptical, Matt is forced to step outside of his comfort zones and confront a deadly array of assassins as well as the threat posed by Frost himself and the unseen elements working against them. In a frantic race, Matt must keep Frost and himself alive as they attempt to reach safety and get to the truth behind the deadly game in which they’ve been cast.

Washington and Reynolds worked very well together and had a very natural, unforced chemistry. It was very nice to see Reynolds take on a grittier and more intense role than we have seen from him previously. Washington is a true artist at playing taciturn and wiley, and no one else can portray the pain and shock of being shot as subtly or as convincingly as Washington with just a simple change of expression.

That being said, the film had a number of issues. First and foremost, plot holes that you could drive a truck through and gaps in logic that really require the audience to take some serious leaps of faith. While there was some intense action, it was difficult to appreciate when it looked like the camera was being kicked around the floor during fight scenes, giving the film a very jerky quality. The film also suffered from some pacing issues with parts of the movie dragging as it worked toward an extremely predictable conclusion, one that I figured out very early into the film. There is some fine supporting work in the movie, particularly that of Gleeson and Arnezeder, as well as Ruben Blades as an old cohort of Frost’s, but it is not enough to help the film live up to its intriguing premise.

3 out of 5 stars

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

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A follow up to the 2008, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” here is another modern take on those beloved classic stories of the 19th century. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is based on the idea that Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, are in fact the same island which really does exist.

The movie opens up with the return of Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) getting caught by the police for climbing a satellite tower. To his chagrin, Josh is released into the custody of his stepfather Hank (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), a former Navy man who wants nothing more than to be friends with his stepson. Sean’s reason for climbing the satellite tower was to get a hold of a satellite transmission code that he believes is the key to a message from his long-lost grandfather Alexander(Michael Caine).

Sean, with the help of Hank’s Navy expertise, attempts to decode the message which eventually leads them to the Mysterious Island. Along the way, the two hire a helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman), who provides the comedic relief and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) who, of course, is the eye candy and the romantic interest for Sean.

Upon arrival at the Mysterious Island, they locate Sean’s grandfather Alexander and they discover they must trek across the island, past a volcano that erupts gold leaves and run from dangerous creatures to find Captain Nemo’s ship. All before the island sinks!

You don’t have to be a “Vernian” to know what’s going on here. This movie was definitely geared toward a younger audience. The idea behind recreating Verne’s novels with a modern day twist was clever, however the execution was poor as the sequence of events didn’t flow from one scene to the next and the character relationships were not genuine at all. I must say, however the visual effects were stunning. as well as some of the action scenes which could have rivaled “Indiana Jones” or even “The Goonies” with just a bit more care and attention to detail.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 DVD

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Twilight fans can now own the first half of the final chpater of the epic series as Part 1 of Breaking Dawn has arrived on DVD and Blue-ray.

The tale of melancholy teen Bella (Kristen Stewart), preparing for her wedding to the Vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson), is the central theme of the film as well as the unexpected complications and dangers of their union.

While fans of the series know what to expect, the film does try to be more mature than the previous films in the series while it stays true to it’s core audience and gives them exactly what they have come to expect and does not stray from what has been a successful formula.

The two disc set has amazing sound and picture quality and is loaded with bonus features such as behind the scenes, making of segments, and so much more.

Phoenix Comic Con 2012 Interview

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What is new for the convention this year, where and when is it and how do the people get memberships?

Phoenix Comicon is May 24-27, 2012 and held at the Phoenix Convention Center and Hyatt Regency in Downtown Phoenix. Full event memberships are $40 from now until May 23rd and are $45 at the door. Children 12 and under get in for free with a paid accompanying adult (18+) and must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Limit two children per paid adult. You can purchase memberships at our website Phoenix Comicon or at the the door. There are many new and exciting things this year so it is hard to get them all here one example is the Bleeding Cool Fan Awards hosted by blogger Rich Johnston.

What are the biggest challenges with putting on your show and your greatest triumphs and what have you learned from past shows that has enabled you to grow each year?

There are many challenges putting on an event this large as a volunteer organization. One of the biggest is organizing, it is difficult to get so many volunteers together to get things done. Plus organizing how to move people throughout the convention center so they can participate in everything while minimizing lines and wait times. Each year we learn something new, such as needing more cashiers at the registration area to deal with our Saturday rush and we try to make changes to reflect what we learn. This year we have completely redone how our organization is organized to help create better communication, it has taken a long time but has enable us to do better internally which allows us to present a better convention to our attendees. I think our greatest triumph is the fact that in the past two years we have tripled our attendance, allowing us to get even more amazing guests like William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and George Perez out for our 2012 event.

What guests do you have planned?

2012 marks the 25th anniversary of Star Trek the Next Generation and in honor of that we are bringing out Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner. We also have William Shatner from the original Star Trek. Joining them are Jon Bernthal who plays Shane in “Walking Dead”, Gigi Edgley who played Chiana in “Farscape”, Casper Van Dien who played Johnny Rico in “Starship Troopers” and Jaime Paglia the Co-Creator of “Eureka”. From Anime we have Phil LaMarr, Chris Patton, Quinton Flynn, Vic Mignogna and Maile Flanagan. Authors include Aprilynne Pike, Frank Beddor and Michael Stackpole among many others. Our Comic list is extensive this year but includes people like George Perez, Brian Pulido, Greg Horn, Billy Tucci, and Whilce Portacio. To see a full list of all our guests go to Phoenix Comic Con

How big is your expected attendance?

Last year we had 23,001 attendees we are hoping to hit at least 30,000 attendees this year.

How does your show compare and contrast to other comic conventions as well as your previous shows? The great thing about Phoenix Comicon is that we are always striving to grow and develop. We ask our attendees for feedback on their experiences with us so that we can develop a convention with great customer service. While we can by no means please everyone we are constantly working to develop our event. With the growth of attendees we are experiencing each year we have been able to expand our exhibitor hall, guests, programing and signature events. This allows us to offer more every year and never become stagnate.

What do you think allows your convention to grow as it has in a down economy and in the wake of so many conventions in the Tri-state area?

I think it has to do with the value of our memberships. You can purchase a four day pass for only $40 and children under 12 get in free, this means its affordable for more people. We don’t charge extra for most events and we are family friendly, with so much going on there are things for everyone to enjoy. We are offering a weekend of entertainment for an affordable price and in this economy people are going to spend on the greatest value.

How have you balanced Hollywood and movies with comics as it must be tricky and how do you keep the so called Hollywood factor from being to dominant as despite the growth many have complained that the San Diego Comic Con has become to Hollywood?

It’s difficult but we want to present a well rounded convention, highlighting many genres. This means sometimes we have to make hard decisions, we start planning the next years guests when the current event ends. We discuss what we want to highlight and how we are going to balance. It takes months of discussions between ourselves and potential guests to settle on our mixture for the upcoming year. The main factor though is listening to our attendees and what they want to see from us.

How many staff does it take to put on and run the convention?

 

For the 2012 Phoenix Comicon to be fully staffed we will need 846 volunteers. This includes people working months in advance to get everything organized as well as people coming in the day off to assist with tasks.

Can you tell the readers how the guest selection process is done?

First we create a plan, its kind of our ideal for the year and we send out invitations to that preliminary list of guests. Some will say yes, some will say no and some will say talk to me in January. We then take what we get from that round and develop some other options and send out our second round of invites and get responses. This can go on for quiet some time and we will not announce a guest to the public until we have a signed contract. We also get guests who come to us and are interested in attending, so that can change what we do for the year. Lastly there are some people who have open invitations with Phoenix Comicon to come as guests to our event. It can be a long and complicated procedure and we always have to be flexible with our plans .

What charities will benefit from the 2012 show?

 

 

We have an ongoing relationship with Kids Need to Read and the American Red Cross. We will have the Geek Prom again this year along with other fundraisers for Kids Need to Read. The American Red Cross will be holding their annual blood drive at the convention as well.

What are some things you would like to include in future shows?

 

We want to continue offering great guests and more programing. We hope as we grow to bring in more attendees but also more people interested in working together and presenting events with us. We are constantly looking for new ideas like this years Bleeding Cool Awards, Side Kick Training, Steampunk ball and all the other great Signature Events. Ideas from attendees and volunteers helped create what we are today and we just hope to see more of them each year to help us continue being the signature pop culture event of the southwest

You can catch Gareth Von Kallenbach at the convention at the following times…

Upcoming Video Games and Tech: Saturday 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Movies of 2013-2015: Saturday 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Whats New in Theme Park, Travel, and Tourism: Sunday 10:30am – 11:30am
Make sure to check out his swag and charity items during and after each panel.

The Woman in Black

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“During afternoon tea, there’s a shift in the air. A bone-trembling chill that tells you she’s there. There are those who believe the whole town is cursed. But the house in the marsh is by far the worst. What she wants is unknown, but she always comes back. The specter of darkness, the Woman in Black.”

Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliff) is a young lawyer who lost his wife during the birth of his son. He is a hardworking man who will do anything to take care of his family. Duty calls when he is ordered to go to the home of a recently diseased woman who lives in a remote marsh. When the local town catches wind that Mr. Kipps will be working at the remote house they start to fear what he might uncover while he works within the walls of the creepy home. He soon starts hearing noises and seeing shadows of an old woman in black. The town seems to think that it is somehow cursed as children keep dying unexpectedly and in bizarre circumstances. Is this the result of a woman scorned or is it just a superstition? Without the help from the town Mr. Kipps races to find out what the secret of the Woman in Black is.

Daniel Radcliff picked the perfect project to stray away from the Harry Potter series and I am glad he did. Now don’t get me wrong; the Harry Potter series is pretty awesome but the fact of the matter is most child actors don’t go very far within their acting careers. Take Shirley Temple for instance, she ended up not getting any major roles after growing out of her child faze. In any case it was a perfect decision on his part to take the chance on this character and just proves that we will be seeing much more of him throughout the coming years.

If you enjoy a good ghost story from time to time, The Woman in Black is such a treat to watch. Finally a really good ghost story that is not filmed like a home movie or a documentary but encompasses what a good ghost story should. The movie also has tidbits of British humor which I am a big fan of. Really good ghost stories like this one will chill you to the bone and startle your senses. Not an award winning movie but an excellent spine tingling story without the gore and special effects we have all become anesthetized to. Don’t miss this one in theaters I promise you won’t be disappointed.

5 out of 5 stars.

Chronicle

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Walking into the theatre to see Chronicle I was pretty excited. I had not heard much about this movie, in fact I’ll be honest here… I heard a small amount of info about two months ago and then it dropped off my radar before a trailer appeared last Sunday.

The trailer was enough for me to believe that this movie was going to be different than some of the other superhero/people with powers movies out there. I must say I was not disappointed.

That being said, the movie was not quite what I expected. This film was not presented as a high-quality cinematic experience the way movies such as “X-men: First Class” were. Instead, think “Paranormal Activity” meets Heroe and you get a better understanding of the film. Most of the movie is viewed through a video camera that the main character is toting around to “chronicle” his life. The film also does a creative job of being able to portray events when it doesn’t make sense for the video camera to be around. Overall, I think they did a good job in the presentation. But now to the meat and potatoes.

Set in Seattle, Chronicle follows Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan, True Blood and In Treatment), a troubled teen who is having trouble fitting in with his fellow seniors at school. He has to deal with his abusive father and ill mother all the while traversing day to day life as the social reject. His cousin Matt (Alex Russell, Wasted on the Young) is his only real friend, and Andrew has his suspicions about that relationship as well.

At a high school party Matt and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan, Hard Ball and Friday Night Lights [TV]), the class president hopeful, come across a mysterious hole in the ground. Matt and Steve search Andrew out and convince him to go with them to record what could possibly be down in the hole.

They venture down in and find something almost indescribable. A meteor of some type had crashed in through the earth, only you don’t really know if this thing is a meteor or some type of living organism. Something goes wrong, and we are left wondering about the boys’ safety until we next see the boys a few weeks later and discover that they’ve been changed by their contact with this “meteor”. They now have telekinetic powers. Though weak at first, it is clear that the boys begin developing the power as they would a muscle and their relationship as friends begins to strengthen as well. We begin to focus on Andrew even more and see how he comes to terms with these new found abilities, and the affect it has on him as he continues to live his troubled life. As things begin to escalate, he starts to lose his grip on reality to a disastrous end.

While not a blockbuster movie in any sense of the word, this film definitely has a story to tell. It brings us back to a seemingly recurring theme over the past decade or so: don’t bully or ostracize people, or they could snap. While I did not feel that the events leading to the climatic high point in the movie were portrayed in such a fashion that you would believe Andrew would have reacted the way he did, it was still a very entertaining film.

3 stars out of 5