Nerd World Country Podcast

Top Fifteen Movies of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:32:00 -0800

by Alex Hajna

It’s that time. The time where everyone makes their top ten lists, and none of them matter, because they’re all just one person’s opinion (polls excluded). So, naturally, I’ve done one of my own. It consists of my favorite movies of 2012. Not what you think should be on the list, but what I think. Not what should be at the Oscars (although some will be), but what I think were the best of 2012. They are merely my favorite films of this past year. The movies I enjoyed the most. Now that I got that disclaimer out of the way...

The norm is to make a top ten list. Well eff that. This year was the one of the best years for movies in all of my life, so I’m doing a top fifteen. Is that cheating? Maybe. But ten is just too damn hard. There were movies I didn’t want to put into my top ten, but I just couldn’t exclude them, either. These movies damn well deserve to be on a list.

Hit the jump for the list.

Before I start, let me make it known that I haven’t seen every movie that’s been released this year. I’ve seen most of them, but there are a few that I haven’t seen, and some of those have been on top ten lists. These include: The Sessions, Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Moonrise Kingdom. So if you think they deserve to be on my list, that’s nice. I haven’t seen them. So they’re not on there.

Let us begin.

15. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Two words: Emma Watson. Literally the only reason I would have ever thought to go see this movie. I’d heard the book was good, but knowing what it was about didn’t sway my enthusiasm even a little bit. The trailer looked decent, but again, if Emma Watson wasn’t in it, I honestly don’t think I would’ve seen this movie. But thanks to her draw, I saw it. And boy, did I not regret it. I still believe that the main reason I liked it as much as I did is because Emma Watson was in it, but even if she wasn’t, this still would’ve been a decent film. And the fact that it’s written and directed by the guy who wrote the book makes it even more impressive, and heightens my appreciation for it even more. It could have very easily gone wrong; for example, he might’ve held on to things in the book that meant a lot to him, but wouldn’t work on film. But because he has a good grasp on how the film medium works, he pulled it off spectacularly. He even changed a big part about the main character’s personality, which takes balls. The man knows what he’s doing. Also, Emma Watson.

14. ARGO

Ben Affleck is three-for-three now. With Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and now this under his belt, he’s on his way to being one of the best filmmakers of our generation. The man has recieved some flak in his time, but those days are long behind him. He’s got three excellent movies in his filmography (four, if you include Good Will Hunting). When a certain Chris Nolan had that record, we were praising him for it. Most filmmakers are lucky to get one critically-acclaimed and audience-acclaimed movie in their career. It’s a shock Affleck didn’t get a Best Director nomination this year.

13. LOOPER

I will admit, I was hoping this movie would be higher on the list. It was one of my most-anticipated movies of the year, so I was slightly let down by it. But even so, it’s on my list. And out of the [approximately] 65 movies I’ve seen this year, this got number 13. So I’d say that’s pretty good. I would have liked to see Original Screenplay and Makeup nominations for this, but this movie doesn't exactly scream "Oscar!"

12. ZERO DARK THIRTY

Another shock at the Oscars this year: no nomination for director, Kathryn Bigelow, especially considering she’s fresh off her win for The Hurt Locker. But alas, the Oscars never fail to surprise. Or to snub. Sure, the last half hour was incredibly overly-embellished, and there was pretty much no suspense in the climax of the film (because we know what’s going to happen), but the movie was still very well done. It’s a hard feat, to tackle such a sensitive subject in an effective manner, especially when you have to change the script halfway through shooting, because your main antagonist was pronounced killed in real life. So I’d say Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal succeeded at what they were trying to accomplish, and then some. Plus, Jessica Chastain is an absolute delight. She’s definitely the front-runner for Best Actress this year.

11. THE IMPOSSIBLE

This movie could’ve gone wrong. Not only is it based on a true story, but it’s about an event that happened to thousands of people, and we’re following five of them. What makes their story so great? They’re not the only survivors. Turns out, their tale was definitely worth telling. It’s probably not too different from anyone else’s, but the will and determination of each family member -- even the kids -- was inspiring, to say the least. It’s a story of tragedy, with a message of hope. That’s definitely hard to pull off without being corny and cliché. This movie pulled it off. And I think that has to do with Ewan McGregor’s and Naomi Watts’s absolutely compelling performances. I’d have liked to see McGregor get nominated, but it was a long shot. And I would have thought a Visual Effects nomination was inevitable; everything looked and felt completely realistic. Oh well... At least Watts is being recognized.

10. LINCOLN

They don’t make movies like this anymore. This movie is literally 98% dialogue. Dialogue about politics. And yet somehow, it’s still one of the most compelling movies of the year. A lot of people find it boring, which I can understand. But I think the main reason they thought that was because they were going in expecting a Steven Spielberg movie about the Civil War, with battles and glamour. That couldn’t be further from the truth. This isn’t a movie about the war; it’s a movie about what was going on in the White House during the war. It’s a movie about one small part -- arguably the most important part -- of Abraham Lincoln’s life: the passing of the thirteenth amendment. It should be a boring movie. It basically sets itself up to be. But in the hands of Spielberg, accompanied by the intense performance of Daniel Day-Lewis as the title character, this movie became an instant classic. It’s the frontrunner at the Oscars, with 12 nominations. And I won’t be surprised if it takes home every single one of those statues.

9. DJANGO UNCHAINED

My main draw to this one was the fact that Leo DiCaprio was playing the villain. I love me some Leo, and he’s never played a character like Calvin Candie before. I was more than a little intrigued. But the movie entertained on all levels. There wasn’t a dull moment. Albeit, it was a bit too long; there was a point where I thought it was over, and it went on for another 25 minutes. But that’s just a small gripe. Sure, there were things that could’ve been cut out to shorten the movie, but they were still good scenes. Like I said, I was never bored. The only real crime this movie commits is Tarantino’s poor attempt at an Australian accent.

8. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

I have a soft spot for originality. However, most original films -- as in, not a sequel or prequel, not based on a book, television show, or video game, and not a remake or reboot -- don’t turn out very well. They’re usually romantic comedy pieces of garbage, or artsy farsty shit like ‘The Master’. This movie, however, struck gold with the perfect combination of originality and f*cking-awesome-ness. It deconstructs horror films (and the current formula for storytelling in film, in general), and turns it on its head. It may not be the number one movie on my list, but it’s going to be one of the first movies I recommend in the future.

7. LIFE OF PI

Who would ever think a movie by the director of ‘Hulk’ would be, not only one of the best movies of the year, but one of the frontrunners at the Oscars. Sure, he also made Brokeback Mountain, but that was more of a performance-driven film. This one, however, was the perfect storm of great direction, great acting, great art direction/visual effects, and a great story. I had a bad feeling that this movie would be boring, due to the fact that it’s about a kid on a lifeboat with an animal. But holy sh*t, was I wrong. Despite the fact that three-fifths of the movie takes place on one lifeboat, following one kid and his tiger, somehow this movie keeps moving, never leaving a dull moment behind. And the tiger...holy sh*t, does that tiger look real. If nothing else, this movie should win the Visual Effects Oscar, solely for the damn tiger.

6. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is my favorite movie series of all time. As one movie (and I think you can count it as one movie), it’s safe to say, it’s one of my favorite -- if not my absolute favorite -- movies of all time. So, needless to say, I was excited for this movie. If not for The Dark Knight Rises, this would’ve been my most anticipated movie of the year. However, I wasn’t a fan of the idea to split one average-sized book into three movies. I was understanding when they were making it two movies, because things could definitely be added to make the story a bit more interesting (the book lacked any tension of any kind), but when they announced it was going to be three movies, I was skeptical. Splitting one story into three is basically telling the beginning in one movie, the middle in the second, and the climax in the third. How could that work? Well, it turns out they pulled it off beautifully. I will say, they dragged it out a lot; they could’ve shaved a hefty twenty-five minutes off of the film, and threw it into the extended edition Blu-ray. But that’s probably my only gripe. It definitely got me excited for the next chapter, ‘The Desolation of Smaug’.

5. SKYFALL

We all knew this was going to be a special Bond film, what with Sam Mendes directing. And then you add cinematographer, Roger Deakins, and actor, Javier Bardem to the mix (along with Daniel Craig and Judi Dench returning); what could go wrong? The answer is, quite literally, nothing. This is probably the perfect Bond film for the times. The oldies are greats, but they’re a bit out-dated and hokey. But this movie kept the dark, gritty tone we’re used to, and incorporated the classic Bond feel we love. I still can’t figure out how they did it so successfully. It’s a fine line, and they balanced it out just perfectly. It’s a more story-and-character-oriented film, with the action being a secondary aspect, and while some think that’s a flaw, I find that to be the reason it was so god damn perfect. I hope Mendes keeps true to his word and signs on for the next Bond film.

4. THE AVENGERS

There are people who thought this movie was...less than sufficient (i.e., NWC’s very own Scott). I, for one, thought it was great. This is another movie that could’ve gone terribly wrong: seven huge stars in all seven leading roles; one villain going up against a team of the world’s greatest heroes, and needing to be believably malevolent; keeping us invested the entire time, and balancing out each character’s arcs; and so so many more things that could have been just disastrous. But Joss Whedon and company did it the right way. They figured out how these characters would interact, if thrown together the way they were. They’re all kings, where they come from. People see them as the single greatest hero they’ve ever known. So, naturally, they feel the need to compete to be the “leader” of the group. They clash, and actually, they’re not a team until the end of the film. This is exactly where I would have liked to see the characters taken. It’s not what is expected, and it goes against the formula of the genre. Just the way I like it.

3. SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

This is the biggest surprise this year, for me. I was intrigued, the moment I saw the trailer. But never in a million years, did I imagine it would be in my top three of the year. I don’t know what it was about this movie. It’s another original idea, but it’s just so original, that I was almost drooling as I was watching it. With ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, you have an original idea, taken from countless things that have been done before. With this, you have an original idea to the core. Throw in some plot twists, phenomenal performances from everyone (most namely, Sam Rockwell), and brilliantly-constructed dialogue, and you get one of my favorite movies of the 2010 decade.

2. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

What!? This isn’t number one!? No, it’s not. It’s a great conclusion to Nolan’s trilogy, but it’s not spectacular. It’s the weakest of the three films, and quite honestly, if I wasn’t such a massive Batman fan and Nolan fan, I probably wouldn’t have even had this in my top five of the year. I used to think Nolan could do no wrong, but this movie proved that he could. The plot was messy and convoluted, and Bane just doesn’t hold up, compared to The Joker. I understand why they used Bane, and I actually really like what they did with the character (Tom Hardy is now one of my favorite actors of our generation). It doesn’t doesn’t compare to ‘The Dark Knight’. Look at me...bashing it, to defend why it’s not in the number one spot. I’m making it sound like it’s not number two. This movie is still f*cking awesome. Watching it is still a hell of a good time. Even I’m surprised it’s not in the number one spot. But that spot goes to....

1. CLOUD ATLAS

It’s been a long time since I was thoroughly entertained in the theater the way I was during this movie. I know people have their reasons for disliking this movie, but none of them have convinced me that this movie was anything but perfect. It’s a movie’s movie. It has everything: drama, suspense, comedy, action. It is everything: a period film, sci-fi, rom-com, post-apocalyptic, a love story... It has every element you could ever want from a movie. And, while most movies with so much going on at once would be a mess, this movie pulled it off perfectly. Per-fect-ly. I loved this movie, and I don’t care how much backlash I get for making this my number one movie of the year. I will defend this movie till the end. Cloud Atlas is the best movie of 2012, and the best movie of the 2010 decade.

So that’s my list. Take from it what you will. It’s no more important than the next person’s list, but I figured I’d share it. Composing this list was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do, because there were so many good movies this year. I spent two hours adjusting the list, moving movies up and down the list, knocking things off and replacing them, and finally came up with this. I’m pretty content with it, but I feel there are still a few movies that deserve mention. So here are some honorable mentions, in no particular order:

Silver Linings Playbook (I had the hardest time choosing between this and 'Perks'. I still don't know if I made the right choice.)
Wreck-it Ralph

21 Jump Street

Jeff Who Lives at Home

Les Miserables

Bernie

The Hunger Games

Dredd

Prometheus

Onward to 2013!

Dead Tired: a weekly strip

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:46:00 -0800

by Scott Speegle

Dead Tired: a weekly strip

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:29:00 -0800

by Scott Speegle

Dead Tired: a weekly strip

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 14:36:00 -0800

by Scott Speegle

Judge, Jury, and All Around Fucking Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:32:00 -0700

by Scott Speegle

Judge Dredd. Oh boy. The anomaly that keeps getting movie adaptions despite being a character seemingly so unfit for the Hollywood movie treatment. I've really dug Judge Dredd for awhile and while I've only recently dived back into the character, I definitely have a soft spot for the deadpan lawman. Going into this new movie reboot I've had feelings of both excitement and fear. I've been really excited to see how the serious take on the serious character plays out but also I've had nagging fears that this installment will be the final indicator that American audiences overall are just plain apathetic to Dredd on the whole.

Hit the jump to read whether my fears are founded or if the movie kicks mega ass. (Spoiler alert: it kicks mega ass)

Jumping right in the 2012 (dir: Peter Travis, wri: Alex Garland) reboot of the film works on the premise that the only prerequisites for playing a good Dredd are looking cool with a gun and being a frowning expert. Karl Urban seems to have both nailed down tight.

pictured: a frown capable of enforcing laws all by itself.

The movie takes many great cues of what not to do from the first Judge Dredd film outing and a lot of good comes out of this. A lot. Dredd also makes the decision to open pretty cold. Not a lot of information or exposition is given as to Dredd's origin or even how the setting of Mega-City One came to be. This plays well in the broad sense of larger appeal. We don't dip into the story of Dredd being birthed as a clone or any of the business with his brother Rico; this version of Dredd seems not to even have a brother since the film begins in the year 2072 and the 2000 AD timeline has Dredd graduating the Academy around 2079. This serves the film well however as it shies away from heavy doses of information or origin digging and picks the story up with Dredd already being an established badass. Interesting to note is that the film makes a point of saying that the population of Mega-City One is around 800 million, this could be meant to establish this version of continuity as the pre Apocalypse War period and allude to that event which almost halves the city's population.

Dredd is hyper violent, hyper stylized, and hyper serious. The thing about this absurd formula is that it plays really well to the actual character of Judge Dredd, who always functions at some kind of hyper-freqeuncy; whether it's in the realm of morality or his immediate response to his surrounding. Judge Dredd is always turned up to eleven and this film version takes that very much to heart. The narrative has our already established Dredd being charged with supervising rookie Judge Anderson (played by Olivia Thirlby), who has previously failed her examination for acceptance onto the force. The pair go on a routine investigation that leads them into the discovery a large production facility of 'slo-mo', a new drug that slows down the users perception of time. Thirlby actually offers a lot of balance to our stoic antihero's presence and helps accentuate how experienced Dredd is. The two play well off of each other and the handling of Anderson as both a rookie Judge and a physic mutant is executed well.

The weirdest possible direction to go with a Juno sequel is exactly this.

Dredd certainly does not shy away from violence and while this serves the character very well some of the scenes are downright jarring and unnecessary. A lot of this plays out while Dredd fights through hordes of gang members who are under the employ of Ma-Ma (Lena Headey). Headey, while not very interesting, is effective as Ma-Ma, a former prostitute turned ruthless gang leader. Some of the more absurd and over the top action plays out when Mama gets involved, like the scene where her gang members slaughter residents of the Peach Trees City Block with thousands of rounds of heavy artillery fire.

Also, she looks like this.

As much as I enjoyed Dredd I was somewhat disappointed by how claustrophobic most of the film feels. So much effort is spent establishing how massive and sprawling Mega-City One is, and the City Blocks within it, only to have most of the action play out in cramped hallways and tiny apartments. I found myself wanting more of the Lawmaster cycle action that is executed so well. Not much is developed in the sense of the hierarchy of Judges either as we only briefly see interactions between Dredd and Chief Judge Hershey.

Yes, absolutely so much yes.

Much of the satire and commentary found in the source material are lost in this adaptation but it never really seems like a point of interest the film has to begin with. The movie can get a bit hammy and heavy handed but that's part of the fun of the character and there is a degree of restraint. The score however can drone at parts outside of the slo-mo sequences and doesn't do much to relieve some of the monotony that lies at the core of the plot. Now, I didn't see Dredd in 3-D since I have an aversion to things that make my brain hurt like I spent an hour hitting myself with a pipe, but I've heard that it actually serves to enhance the slo-mo scenes.

Many exciting things are possible as future Dredd installments have been suggested. Getting into Dredd's origin, expanding upon his relationship with Judge Anderson, and the possibility of introducing Judge Death and the Dark Judges are things that would be very interesting to see in this hyper gritty manner. As cramped and claustrophobic as a large part of Dredd is, it is so fucking spot on aesthetically. Everything from how beautifully abysmal Mega-City One appears to Dredd's practical and more realistic adapted appearance all come together to give a representation of the character that does it justice. I honestly couldn't think of any better ways to show anything that was presented (save for one painful appearance of a thug clearly wearing a wig) as I watched the movie. The aesthetic contrast provided by the beautiful slo-mo scenes to the muted color palette of the rest of the film is a great mechanic and the slo-mo scenes never drag on too long.

Overall I couldn't ask for a better beginning to what could be a really great series of adaptations. Coming out of this film I felt like I got just about everything I could've wanted going in and it was just refreshing to see the character treated reverently. Dredd is just as unforgiving and relentless as the title character and if nothing else packs an immense punch in super slick packaging. and I'm certainly in the camp of hoping Dredd pulls hard out of its mediocre opening and gets a bigger even more expansive sequel. If you want to know why Dredd IS the law, go see this movie.

--

Scott Speegle is a vagrant resident of Mega-City One and likes to watch perps get blasted.

NWC Figure Fraction TURTLEMANIA: TMNT 2012 Donatello

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:47:00 -0700

Hello all, Geddy Cahoon here after a brief pseudo-hiatus to once again give my verbose thoughts on various plastic playthings. One of the good things about running your own website is that you can kind of come and go as you please in a sense when things get hectic or whatever in your life. I'll admit I took advantage of that over the past few weeks, but now I'm prepared to get back into the swing of things and review a toy a week once more. Only difference is, Figure Fraction will now be updating on Thursdays due to a wrestling-related commitment I now have to honor each Tuesday.

This week, I bring you what could conceivably be the final edition of TURTLEMANIA here at NWC, a review of the TMNT 2012 Donatello. Why is this possibly the final edition of Turtlemania, you ask your monitor? Well like many things, I've grown bored with the idea of themed reviews each week. I'd rather be looking at varied things from my collection than have to punish myself by reviewing nothing but Turtles for the next two months. Plus these reviews tend to get a tad redundant.

However, I almost always finish what I started, so I'm at least reviewing the last of the 2012 Turtles before calling it quits on Turtlemania. Of course, with the new cartoon debuting in two days, my interest in TMNT could be re-piqued, and Turtlemania could very well go on.

But for now, let's just dive right into my review of the TMNT's resident geek, Donatello!

It's something of a generic choice, but I've always considered Donatello to be my favorite of the Ninja Turtles. He's often displayed as having a more stoic demeanor than his brethren, and I guess the idea of a more restrained character among the Turtles appeals to me. The 2012 version of Donny seems like he's going to appeal to me even more. He's apparently been transformed into an awkward, geeky tech-head and I've gotta say, I think his new characterization will make for some really memorable moments in this new cartoon.

At any rate, ramble aside, I've always quite enjoyed Donatello as a character. And without giving away too much, let's just say that this figure iteration has not damaged that enjoyment in the least.

Packaging: 8/10

See my Leonardo review. All of the Turtles share the same generic packaging. It's good. Nothing offensive, but certainly nothing groundbreaking either.

Paint: 9/10

As always with these figures, the paint on Donatello here is minimal, but what's there definitely works. Basically, Donatello is molded in his skin color (A pale greenish) and then whatever parts deviate from that color are painted.

The most important painted bit on any Ninja Turtle is his headband, and Donny's looks pretty good. It's just a solid purple color, and there's little to no slop on the parts of his head right around the bandana. His white eyes are also very well painted, with virtually no sloppiness or anything like that.

Don's elbow pads are painted as well. They're just a kind of darkish auburn color, and while they are a bit sloppy looking, I always say that in a mass-produced toyline such as this, you're almost always going to run into issues with things like paint and etc. I try not to fault these guys as much as I would say, a MOTU Classic for paint issues, because these figures could definitely have worse paint jobs (Look at anything by Jazwares) and the fact that the biggest issue with the paint on these things is usually just a little bit of slop is a freaking blessing.

Don's knee pads and the tape on his feet look pretty good. There's a slight issue with his knee pads not having enough paint on the top, but it's not a huge issue. Overall, the paint job on this figure is pretty great, and it features the same excusable flaws as all of the other new TMNT figures.

Accessories: 9/10

Don, like all of the other Turtles in this line, comes with a plethora of accessories. In addition to his generic weapon, he also features a weapon tree with several additional weapons.

The tree features another one of the ridiculous tri-nunchuks that came with Mikey, as well as two... Buzz saws, and a fourth thing I broke off already. Like I always say, though I don't pay much mind to most of the weapons attached to the trees, I will recognize their perceived value in terms of adding to both playability for children and display options for collectors.

The weapon I broke off of the tree was just a variation of Don's Bo staff, with a sharp blade at the end.

I think this looks pretty neat. I wouldn't pose Don with it or anything, I just have it in the holster on his back. It adds to the overall aesthetic of the figure. Of course, Don also features his classic weapon, the unbladed Bo staff.

There's not a ton to really say here. It's just Don't Bo staff. It does the job, and I assume this is what 90% of collectors will be displaying him with on the shelf, myself included.

Like most of the figures from this line, Don comes with a ton of well-done accessories, even if the majority of them don't appeal to me. These guys are just jam packed with stuff, and that definitely adds to their overall worth.

Articulation: 9/10

The articulation on all of these guys is pretty much flawless, and they all feature 17 points by my count. Those points are:

A ball jointed neck, allowing rotation...

Hinged shoulders, hinged elbows, and cut wrists, allowing rotation, bending, etc...

And finally, hinged, rotating legs coupled with hinged, rotating knees.

The posing options for this guy are pretty plentiful, though the articulation does have a tendency to feel somewhat limited at times. My feeling is that you don't need to get Don into a ton of flashy poses due to his demeanor, but it's nice to have the option. Articulation is one of the most well done aspects of these already amazing figures.

Sculpt: 10/10

I'm aware that it often comes across as cheesy or ridiculous to award something with the highest possible score, but Donatello's sculpt is frigging amazing. There is so much individuality to his appearance and he's easily the most unique of all of the new Turtles.

I really adore Don's headsculpt. Playmates chose to sculpt his mouth closed, which was probably for the best due to the fact that in the new cartoon he has a gap in his teeth which would've looked ridiculous in figure form. Really, this Donatello just looks absolutely pissed off and I love it. Each of the new Turtles has a highly unique headsculpt, but Donatello's is definitely a notch or two above the others.

Don's midsection looks pretty great too. He seems like his arms and legs may be a bit more elongated than the other Turtles', but don't quote me on that. His plastron is covered with nicks and scratches, and his belt/sash is sculpted and painted quite well.

I really like how slim the new Turtles look in profile, and Don is even lankier than his brethren.

Another thing I really love about Don's sculpt specifically is that he's covered in little bumps. It's a completely small and unnoticeable detail if you're not looking for it, but it really adds character and depth to the figure's sculpt. It also ups the figure's uniqueness factor even more, proving that even though they could've easily colored the same figure slightly differently four times, Playmates went all out when crafting these guys.

My favorite aspect of Don's sculpt by far is his height. He's the tallest of all the new Turtles, and I think it does wonders to make him a completely individual character. If he's supposed to be this awkward, overdeveloped, gangly teen, this fits right into that. Just based on the size and the details of this sculpt alone, I feel like I've intimately connected with this iteration of Don.

I just adore everything about Donatello's sculpt. From the head to the details on his body, everything on display here is a unique home-run.

Overall: 9/10

Donatello is pretty much my favorite of the new Ninja Turtles. He's unique, fun, and just a great value. These guys are only $8.50 at most stores, $7.77 at Walmart. That's a freaking steal for a figure this well done. He's a great addition to any collection, especially if you love TMNT. Can't recommend this guy enough.

That's it for this week! Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell us what you thought!

And so, NWC Figure Fraction TURTLEMANIA has reached it's (Possible) end. I think even I, in my Turtle-centric state, have had enough of the lean-green-butt-kicking machines for one lifetime, and this column can move onto less reptilian things in the coming weeks. I leave you, with this:

Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collection action figures beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

Next week, TURTLEMANIA continues with a review of... Earthworm Jim?

Figure Fraction Delay

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:46:00 -0700

Hey all, Geddy here with a quick update. The Figure Fraction has been delayed until tomorrow or possibly later in the week due to a family emergency. Thanks for understanding, sorry to anyone looking forward to it.

NWC Figure Fraction TURTLEMANIA: TMNT 2012 Michelangelo

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 4 Sep 2012 06:59:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hello all, welcome to another edition of NWC Figure Fraction Turtlemania. This week, I'll be pressing on with another review of the new 2012 TMNT line - Michelangelo.

Without any further adieu, hit the jump to hear my thoughts on the TMNT's resident runt, Mikey!

I can say with little hesitation that Michelangelo is my least favorite of the Ninja Turtles. I mean sure, the Turtles as a whole are pretty ridiculous. No one's disputing that. But I've always found Michelangelo to be obnoxious and ridiculous, even by the standards of a bunch of pizza-eating, man-sized turtles.

I think it's because he's the designated "goofball" of the group, and that's always rubbed me the wrong way. Plus his weapons are freaking lame. I don't hate him or anything like that, but I bought this figure more out of necessity to own all four Turtles than a specific desire for Mikey.

Will my opinion of Michelangelo as a character have any effect on this review? Press on to find out!

Packaging: 8/10

See my Leonardo Review. All of the Turtles share the same generic packaging. It's good. Nothing insane, but nothing offensively bad either. Mikey's bio is noteworthy however, in that it states he is the "Runt of the litter" in this iteration of TMNT. This is important because it's reflected in a later aspect of the figure.

Paint: 7.5/10

Like all of the other Turtles from this line, Michelangelo is molded in his skin color, and all of the relevant bits are painted. One of the most important painted parts of these Turtles is the bandana. Mikey's look's pretty fantastic.

Actually, I might call it flawless. There's virtually no slop, the whites of his eyes are perfect, and it just looks great all around. In other areas, however, Mikey falters just a tad.

I've been saying throughout all of these reviews that with a mass-produced toyline such as this, you expect a certain degree of issues in terms of paint. Up until Michelangelo's elbow pad here, I hadn't really run into any issues that were too glaring. This one, however, bothered me a bit. The elbow pad as a whole just looks extraordinarily sloppy. On top of that one part where the brown is missing, there's another spot inward where there's TOO much brown. However, this issue isn't really enough to account for such a reduced score...

Maybe I'm just sour because of the elbow pad issue, but there's something about the paint application on his kneepads and leg bandages that strikes me as worse than the previous Turtles I reviewed. In the case of Raph and Leo, there was a bit of green on their kneepads and bandages. Here the green feels almost overpowering. Like there isn't enough paint in certain places.

Mikey also features the same issue as the other figures - No paint on the inside of his hands. I had just forgotten to take pictures of it for both he and Don. I didn't detract points from Leo and Raph for it, so Mikey gets a pass as well.

Mikey's paint issues certainly don't hold the figure back too much - It's just somewhat striking to see one of these figures with so many issues compared to the relatively clean paint jobs on Raph and Leo.

Accessories: 8/10

Just like his Turtle brethren, Mikey comes with a plethora of accessories: His default weapons as well as a tree. However, even with the added bonus of the weapon tree, Mike feels a bit lacking in this department compared to his bros.

As you can see, I didn't bother to break off ANY of Mikey's accessories. I honestly just think they're lame. He's got four throwing stars! What the hell?! And I'm not even sure what that ridiculous looking blade-nunchuk-thing is supposed to be.

Anyway, while I do usually acknowledge the value of these things in terms of variety and playability for kids, I really don't see kids or collectors getting a ton of mileage out of these things. Kids are going to lose those throwing stars, be perplexed by that hook thingy, and what collector wants to pose Michelangelo with throwing stars or a single bladed nunchuk? I recognize the fact that it's awesome Playmates can load these guys with accessories, but Mikey's are something of a miss.

Something I neglected to mention in previous reviews: All of the weapon trees feature their respective Turtle's name on them. Even if I don't necessarily love these things, a lot of thought went into them and I applaud that.

And of course, Michelangelo features his classic accessory: His dual-nunchuks!

They're... Just okay. Nunchuks clearly don't translate very well into Playmates' mantra of "Mold everything in one color and in a static position." The molds are quite nice, but they just look sort of off since they're stuck in those slightly bent positions. I also find the color they chose to mold Mikey's weapons in odd. It's like an orange-y auburn color. Weird.

While Mikey's accessories are not without their flaws, I will still acknowledge the fact that you do get a ton of crap, which is nice. And even if they look goofy and I don't exactly love them anyways, Mikey's nunchuks still do the job in terms of completing his look.

Articulation: 9/10

Here's where Mikey stacks up perfectly with his brethren: The articulation department. The articulation on these figures is basically flawless, and features 17 points by my count. They are:

A ball jointed neck, allowing rotation...

Hinged shoulders, hinged elbows and cut hands, allowing rotation, bending, etc...

And finally, hinged, rotating legs coupled with hinged, rotating knees.

Like I always say, the articulation can feel a tad bit limited at times, but for the most part it's amazing. You can have a ton of fun playing around with these guys, though Mikey's weapons do make it somewhat difficult to get him into poses too dynamic.

Sculpt: 9.5/10

As much as I stated earlier that Mikey is not exactly my favorite of the four Turtles, there's something about his sculpt that I just really like, a lot more than I probably should considering my opinion of the character himself.

First off, Mikey's headsculpt is top notch. It looks exactly how a Mikey head should - Ready for battle, but still a little bit manic/goofy. He definitely looks way happier than any of his brothers, and that helps make the sculpt a lot more unique.

As with the other three, Mikey's plastron features some scars and nicks to up the uniqueness of the body sculpt. They look nice here. He only has two humongous marks, but those two scars to a lot to enforce his characterization on the new show. That is, he's the runt of the litter. Naturally he wouldn't be as banged up as the other guys and would also in turn get more damaged than them whenever he did go into battle.

The sculpting on the lower body is great too. I've said before that I'm a fan of the oversized hands/feet look. It works well and there isn't much else to say here.

Michelangelo also features two holsters for his nunchuks. These are well sculpted too, but nothing too too flashy. I also very much like the way all of the Turtles' shells look, Michelangelo included.

Now, my favorite part of Michelangelo's sculpt is definitely this:

He is by far the shortest of the new Turtles! I think that's absolutely awesome! They could've easily made all of them the same size, and nobody would've batted an eye. Instead, they chose to remain faithful to his bio and make him tiny. It really ups Mikey's uniqueness factor, and makes him stand out on the shelf.

Overall, I absolutely love Mikey's sculpt because it's extremely faithful to his characterization in the upcoming cartoon. Playmates could've easily made all four of these guys the same height, and nobody batted an eye. Instead, they opted to up the uniqueness of Mikey even more by making him a notch shorter than everyone else. This detail coupled with all of the other little unique aspects of the sculpt make Mikey a ton of fun to look at, but that shouldn't be a surprise for this line.

Overall: 8/10

Even with some of the flaws I noted, Michelangelo is an awesome figure. I wasn't exactly sold on him at first, but as I played around with him for this review, I really warmed up to him. He's pretty much essential to the collection of any Turtles fan, so be sure to pick him up even if you're on the fence. These figures are almost shamefully cheap - $8.99 at most places and $7.77 at Walmart. If you've got a spare 9 bucks lying around and you're a fan of TMNT, Mikey here will not disappoint.

That's it for this week! Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page to tell us what you thought! Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collecting action figures beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

Next week, TURTLEMANIA continues with a review of the TMNT 2012 Donatello!

Breaking Bad Review: Season Five, Episode Eight - Gliding Over All

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 3 Sep 2012 09:12:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hello everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with the final NWC Breaking Bad Review (Ramble?) of 2012. Last night's episode? Gliding Over All.

It was an episode that was simultaneously slow moving and very tense, ending with a cliffhanger that we all should have seen coming but was in no way less flooring due to that fact.

Hit the jump to read the final analysis of Breaking Bad for the year, my review of Gliding Over All!

This week's episode kicked off with Walt sitting in the Vamonos office. He's watching some sort of bug crawl around, and Todd enters with a report about the destruction of Mike's car. Walt says that they need to take care of the next thing, and we see that he has Mike's body in his trunk. They're about to dissolve it in acid when Jesse appears, wanting to know if Mike made it out okay.

Walt doesn't lie... But he doesn't exactly tell the truth either. He simply says Mike is "Gone." Jesse asks what they're going to do about the nine names on Lydia's list, and Walt tells him he'll handle it before closing the door in Jesse's face to go dispose of Mike's corpse.

I very much enjoyed this cold opening, as I am wont to do. Somehow, seeing Mike's body in Walter's trunk seemed even more brutal than the actual killing last week. It really shocked me more than upset me, and all I could really muster was a loud "Wow!" I also picked up on the fact that Todd is to Heisenberg as Mike was to Gustavo Fring. Todd will do whatever dirty thing Walter needs, and I really like the fact that that dynamic kind of progressed very subtly over the course of the last few episodes.

Pictured: Mike Ehrmantraut

I also find Walt's coldness to Jesse to be humorous in a way. He kind of shuts him out the very same way Skyler would shut Walt out in season two. The two obviously are incapable of hating each other; there's just a slight roadblock in their "friendship," and we'll see later in the episode that Walt absolutely harbors no malice towards Monsieur Pinkman. The one thing I didn't really "get" about this cold open was the bug thing. Obviously it was meant to show that Walt was having serious internal issues about the killing of Mike, but I felt that him looking at the bug poster was supposed to show something more. The only thing I can think of is way too simplistic and kind of ridiculous. Thus, not worth mentioning here.

It was a dark, funny, interesting cold open. It didn't try to do anything too flashy or groundbreaking. Just set up the story we'd be seeing over the next 50 minutes, and it did that quite well.

Back from commercial, we see Lydia sitting in a restaurant, and Walt shows up in full Heisenberg garb. They chat for a while, with Walt wanting the list of nine names - Which is actually ten because our good friend Dan Wachsberger needs to be offed as well. Lydia is reluctant to give Walter the list, as she is worried that he'll kill her once he has it - She doesn't want to be a loose end. Walt argues that her life is worth LESS if she doesn't give him the list.

And we all know what a life is worth to Walter White to begin with...

Lydia also wants to talk business, revealing that she was integral in Gus' meth distribution network, and offers to get Walt's Blue Sky all the way to the Czech Republic, once the ten men are out of the way. Walt agrees, not putting much thought into it. He gets the names, and it's revealed that he brought the vial of ricin with him to the meeting, assumedly to poison Lydia if she was unwilling to hand the names over.

Pictured: Walt looking at his vial in a goofy manner. Unrelated to the current topic.

This was a pretty solid scene. I've been singing the praises of Laura Fraser since I started doing these reviews. She was as solid as ever in this scene, doing her perfect blend of nervousness and confidence. The cavalier way Walter accepted Lydia's offer of distribution struck me as odd. As we see throughout the rest of the episode, Walter is really beginning to tie up loose ends and wind down a bit.

It could be because he considers Mike's killing "senseless" compared to some of the stuff he's done, and is, like Jesse, getting fed up with the bloodshed. Just a theory. The reveal of the ricin vial in his hat really caught me off guard, but showed that regardless of how much Walter may be reconsidering himself, Heisenberg is still there, ready to kill when necessary. We would see Walt's Heisenberg side resurface for perhaps the last time later on in the episode. Noteworthy is perhaps the fact that Walter removed his Heisenberg "outfit" before speaking to Lydia. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it enforces the idea that we really don't see "Heisenberg" many times in this episode.

One of the really striking things about this scene to me however, was how much more convenient things are without Mike around. I loved the guy, don't get me wrong. But now Walter can pretty much do whatever he wants, and Lydia regained her confidence almost as soon as Walt confirmed Mike's death. The aftermath of Mike's death and the ensuing freedom it allowed Walter was certainly a focal point of this episode. Or rather, the gravity of what Walter has done over the past year begins to set in for him, and I don't think it's inaccurate to say that his feelings about Mike's killing were something of a preview of the mentality he'd display and decisions he would make later in the episode.

Dead or not, he's relevant dammit!

At an unspecified location, Walter is meeting with Todd's uncle and his group of skinhead associates. Walter needs the ten men from Lydia's list to be murdered all at once in the span of two minutes. The only issue is that they're in three different prisons. The group leader tells him it can't be done how he wants it. Walt had been strangely transfixed on a painting hanging on the wall, and snaps out of it momentarily to tell Todd's uncle that it can be done "Exactly how I want it." He wants them to figure it out because that's what he's paying them for.

I honestly found this scene to be incredibly shocking, as well as unbearably tense. Well first of all, I found the detail that Todd's uncle and his associates were skinheads to be... Odd. Not that it's unwelcome or stupid or anything... They just didn't really dwell on it and it seemed like a pointlessly subtle detail. Arbitrary nazism aside, I was waiting for something insane to happen when the leader of the criminals snapped his fingers in Walter's face. The last time somebody talked down to Walter like that, he got shot.

Pictured: The aftermath of someone talking down to Walter White

However, I think Walter's non-reaction was the point. Last time somebody "talked down to him," he overreacted and somebody died. He's exercising some degree of restraint now, but that didn't make the possibility of him flipping out any less terrifying. The fact that he was so stuck on the poster was strange, but I guess just served to enforce the central idea of the episode, which is: Walter is out of it, mentally. He's rethinking everything he's done, and is essentially now just going through the motions, trying to tie up as much as he can.

In the next scene though, we see that regardless of his zoned-out state, Walt's horrific deeds are far from through. He paces around his living room skittishly, looking at his watch. One of Breaking Bad's staple scenes then kicks in: Cheery music over a montage of brutal or criminal acts. Walt stands at his window looking at his watch as we cut between the ten men on Lydia's list being shanked, choked, or burned alive. After the two minutes are up, he receives a call from one of the members of Todd's uncle's gang: "It's done."

This was absolutely brutal. There really is no other word for it. I almost want to say it's the most brutal scene this show has ever featured. Pretty much every second and gory detail of these ten guys being slaughtered was shown, and the fact that it was all at the hands of Walter adds even more weight to how disturbing it was. It was almost comedic at times, due to the music in the background, but in the back of my head the entire time, all I could think about was "These are guys with wives, kids, mothers, and etc. This is insane." The craziest part? The total number of people that have either been killed or had hits ordered by Walter White: 22.

At Hank and Marie's, Walt is visiting to play with his kids. He coddles Holly while a news report of the prison killings plays in the background. Hank arrives home in a terrible mood, obviously due to the hits orchestrated by Walter. They sit down and have a drink and Hank, in a rare moment, opens up to Walter, telling him about a carefree Summer job he once had, and how he's thinking about that job more and more, as it's better than "Chasing monsters" for a living. Walt apathetically tells him that he used to love camping.

First off, I absolutely loved the fact that Walter was playing with his infant daughter while a news report about ten killings he orchestrated played in the background. He didn't falter, he didn't stop to look at the TV, didn't think twice. Again, as much as Walter has been rethinking himself this episode, this is how far the man has come. I also loved Hank's speech. It was a much more heartfelt, melancholy type of scene than we typically see from Hank, and I found something to be oddly beautiful about it. But more prominently, I found important the fact that Walter has really broken Hank over the course of the series.

Hank was originally put up this Super Cop facade - He was respected by his family, his friends, his coworkers. Of course, we've seen over the course of the series that that's all it was - A facade (And really, the gradual reveal that Hank isn't the man everyone wants him to be, at least not in the way they think, is probably my favorite subplot of the series). However, he always managed to find some type of gratification in and dedication to his work. Now Walter has killed so many people and put so many roadblocks in Hank's path that he doesn't even know if he wants to be a cop anymore. I've got to say, as much as I love Hank, it IS somewhat gratifying to see Walter "win" in a roundabout way here. Hank didn't exactly have a ton of respect for Walter as a man, and he's feeling the effects of that.

A montage is then shown in which three months pass. Todd and Walt cook up 15 batches of Blue Sky and Lydia sends it to the Czech Republic while Saul watches wires and Declan distributes. Skyler is then shown meeting with Marie, who tells her that it may be time to take the kids back. She and Hank are worried that they may be "enabling" Skyler at this point. Skyler, realizing she has no choice but to bring the kids back now, asks Walt to go for a drive. They go to a storage locker, which contains a massive block of money. Skyler can no longer launder it, and she asks Walt when enough will be enough.

Wow. It's astounding that this show after so many years can still shock me to this degree, but seeing that freaking CUBE of money was almost too much. This, I think, is the precise moment in the episode where Walt realizes the full gravity of his situation. He has achieved exactly what he set out to a year ago, and then some. He has alienated his family, slaughtered nearly two dozen people, been complicit in even more deaths, manufactured poison for sale in the streets, trapped his wife in her own home, and completely destroyed the life of a kid who really cared a lot about him. And he did it all for a massive cube of money. The only thing he can muster is "How much is it." Skyler doesn't know. He has made more money than he even realizes.

And that causes him to realize that he doesn't need to make any more. This really was a highly emotional scene. It is the culmination of everything. Cranston pulls it off wonderfully without even really saying anything, and Skyler's plea to Walt to return her life was massively upsetting. These are two people that still love each other in some damaged way, that much is clear. ANY type of life would be better than their current situation, and even Walter White, in his prideful, murderous glory, recognizes that.

At the hospital, Walt gets his routine MRI, in a scene that mimics the MRI from the pilot episode. Walt then goes into the bathroom and sees the paper towel dispenser that he punched in season two when he found out that he was going to live. He then goes to visit the Jesse, and the two have a tense exchange, but eventually reminisce somewhat fondly about the old RV. Walt says he left something for Jesse - Two bags full of money to be exact. Jesse brings them inside and begins to cry, throwing a gun that he had picked up after Walt arrived to the floor.

These two scenes really were phenomenal. I loved Walt's MRI mirroring the diagnosis scene in the first episode, and the look on his face when he saw the dispenser he had mangled was fantastic as well. This episode is, at the core, about Walt taking it all in, realizing what he's done, etc. He's gone through so many phases and emotions and mentalities regarding his situation over the year the show took place, and now that he's truly been presented with them, he's not entirely sure how to feel.

I found his exchange with Jesse to be somewhat heartbreaking, quite honestly. Through all of the doubts and fights and violence, at the core, Walter and Jesse are partners. They always looked out for each other, and cared about each other, even with guns pointed in their faces. Conversely however, Walt has done so many awful, unspeakable things to foster that relationship, and many of them will probably never come to light. One could argue that Jesse really had no choice but to care about Walter. Who else did he have? But the noteworthy thing is that Walter felt genuine remorse for how Jesse ended up. That's why he left him the money. He realized that he harmed Jesse or treated him unfairly many many times, and repaid him without really saying it by giving him his money, effectively saying a final goodbye.

Walt arrives home, and tells Skyler he's out. He means it. Skyler can have the kids back, and the Whites and the Schraders gather out back by the pool, having a small family get together. Walter Jr. plays with Holly while the four adults chat at the table. Skyler smiles at Walt, seemingly as a way of saying that he's forgiven. Hank excuses himself to go to the bathroom, and leafs through the magazines stacked on the toilet. Unfortunately, one of the books is the copy of Leaves of Grass, dedicated from "G.B." to "W.W." Hank flashes back to a conversation from season four, realizing that Walter White is his Heisenberg.

Okay, so based on the cold opening from the premiere episode of the season, we all knew that something of this nature was going to happen in this episode. That made for basically, the most intense family dinner I've ever seen. The whole time everyone sat at the table and talked, and Jr. played with Holly, I was waiting for SOMETHING to happen. Only Breaking Bad can make a family dinner possibly the most tense thing I've seen on television all year. Of course, the fact that Walt and Skyler had seemingly reconciled only made this reveal even more heartbreaking. Things were really looking great for the White family, and Walter had tied up every conceivable loose end. Then he leaves this piece of evidence just sitting out. Jeez. The look on Hank's face when he comes to his realization is priceless. It's a perfect mixture of pure shock, but at the same time a hint of unbearable malice. Dean Norris nailed it, delivering a perfect final scene of 2012.

The worst part about this scene though? We have to wait until 2013 to see where it goes.

OVERALL: A

This was a pretty fantastic finale (Or half-finale) when you get right down to it. It featured a perfect blend of tense action and the amazing dialogue that BB is known for. And it really was a pulse-pounding episode. Every single time Walter met with someone, I really did think he was going to "tie up loose ends." I half-expected him to kill Jesse when they met at his house. But that may be the episode's greatest strength: It completely flips around the central idea of the show, which is that you shouldn't underestimate what those around you are capable of.

We all assume Walter will be doing horrible things. In this episode he does his share of horrible shit, sure, but there were times when it seemed like he was going to go "Heisenberg" and he just... Didn't. There's more to Walter White than Heisenberg. There exists a soul, a conscience, regardless of how deeply it was buried. And Walt was willing to let that conscience take effect. But unfortunately, he can't escape his sins due to the sheer volume of them.

Most intriguing though, is where we go from here. Walt and Hank have always had a subtly adversarial relationship, but now they are straight up contending against each other, on opposite sides of the law. Sadly, Walter will lose his family now, which is pretty much the one thing he was setting out to avoid. Ultimately, that's what this episode was about. Walter realizing what he's done, attempting to set it right, and failing. Gliding Over All was a fantastic, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking finale, with all of the actors on top of their game, ending on a perfect hook, and expertly setting up the final eight episodes of what is arguably the greatest TV series ever.

That's it for this year! I hope you enjoyed my Breaking Bad reviews over the past month, I really enjoyed writing them! Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell me what you thought! This season of Breaking Bad was pretty fantastic, but would you expect anything less? Tune in next...... Year, for more overly verbose analyses of Breaking Bad! Thanks for reading!

Geddy's Breaking Bad Tributes

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:26:00 -0700

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with a quick little post. In my spare time, I dabble a bit in video editing/making music videos. Obviously, I also loves me some Breaking Bad, so I've made a handful of Breaking Bad tributes. I figured I would post them here for your enjoyment.

I was having issues with posting the vids directly to Blogger, so each title is a link to the video on Youtube. Sorry about that.

Obviously both videos are very spoiler-heavy, so hit the jump with that warning in mind!

NOTE: These aren't the greatest visual quality at times. I was working with low level footage and crappy software. I like to think I made the best of a bad situation with these.

Breaking Bad Tribute: God's Gonna Cut You Down

This was just a tribute I made that highlights the dangerous path Walter has been going down over the course of the last few years. It came out awesome, and editing wise, it's one of the cleanest things I've ever done. Enjoy!

Breaking Bad: Long Time Ago, Tribute to Mike Ehrmantraut

This was a much quicker video made as a tribute to my favorite character, Mike Ehrmantraut. I was pretty devastated when he died, and figured that this would be a good way to show my love for the character.

Enjoy! Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell us what you thought!

NWC Figure Fraction TURTLEMANIA: TMNT 2012 Raphael

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 07:45:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with another edition of NWC Turtlemania. There's not much else to say here other than the fact that if you haven't been reading my stuff recently, all of my reviews for the next X weeks are going to be Ninja Turtles related.

Now that you're familiarized with the concept, let's dive right into the TMNT 2012 figure iteration of Raphael.

I've noted before that I haven't been a Ninja Turtles fan my whole life - In fact, I'm really more a fan of these figures specifically than I am the property/characters themselves. That said, since the Turtles are such a large part of pop culture, I've still always had them ranked in some sort of order, by favorite.

Raphael was generally near the end of the list, I guess. His character never gelled with me. He's just kind of a generic, loud-mouthed, fightin' kind of guy. There's not much to it. Not that the four Turtles exactly have the most fleshed out or expanded personalities, but Raphael's always struck me as particularly boring/lazy.

I don't hate him or anything, but he's just... Ya know. Raph. I'm apathetic about him. However, my enjoyment of a character really has nothing to do with how I rate the figure (Or at least, it shouldn't). So how does this Raphael stack up objectively, just as a toy? Read on.

Packaging: 8/10

See my Leonardo review, as all of the Turtles share the same generic packaging. It's good. Nothing offensive, but nothing spectacular or face meltingly awesome.

Paint: 9/10

The paint on these new Turtles figures is minimal, but what is there is very well done on Raph. The bodies and shells are molded in whatever color they're supposed to be, with paint applied in small doses where needed.

One of the painted bits is Raphael's bandana/eyes. They look pretty great. With a mass-produced line like this one, you almost expect the paint to be a bit off in parts. But on Raph it's pretty fantastic through and through. There are no unpainted or flaking bits on the bandana, and the eyes are very clean, barely slopping at all onto his bandana. There is a small bit of unpainted skin around the very top of the bandana, but it's hardly noticeable.

Raph's other painted bits are his tape and elbow pads/knee pads. The elbow pads look pretty great, only a tiny bit of brown slops onto the arm, and his wrist is taped perfectly. Oddly enough, the tape around his hands is a different color than the rest of his tape. I can't even begin to fathom why that is. It isn't ugly or anything. Just strange.

Raph's leg bands and kneepads are the same dark brown color, and they look fine. No slop or anything, at least none that was noticeable even after close inspection.

Oddly enough, Playmates decided to leave the palms of all of the Turtles unpainted. It's definitely noticeable, but it isn't really that aggravating. Just strange. There's no reason for it, but it doesn't detract from the figure's overall appearance. The paint job on my Raphael is pretty great overall, and the issues are simply the same ones that affect every figure in the line.

Accessories: 9/10

These new Ninja Turtles are absolutely stacked with accessories. Raphael features his primary weapons as well as a weapon tree full of additional things, in a throwback to the accessories of the vintage line. They're unpainted, but don't look terrible or anything. Raphael's tree probably features the best additional weapons of all four Turtles.

Raph's weapon tree features six weapons (I broke two of them off). The four seen here are two throwing stars, which I never break off due to the fact that they'd just end up getting lost, and two additional sai with only two prongs each. I neglected to pop these off because they're basically just lesser versions of the weapons he already has. I noted in the Leo review that though I'm not terribly interested in the weapon trees, I still acknowledge what they bring to the table in terms of play value for kids and variety for any adults who wouldn't want to pose the Turtles with their standard weapons.

Though I'm largely apathetic about the weapon trees, Raph's did feature two weapons that I really did dig - a pair of hookswords.

I really dig these. They look pretty badass, and a bit more intimidating than Raph's usual sai. I don't actually pose him with them or anything - They just go in the holsters on his back for aesthetic enhancement. I will acknowledge that they just look awesome, and I felt more compelled to bust them off the tree than any of the other weapons included with all four Turtles.

And of course, Raph comes with his trademark sai. They look pretty good. Nothing too flashy or special, but certainly nothing bad. It's the same weapon he's always featured. A classic and the go-to weapon I pose him with on the ol' shelf.

Though none of these are painted and (In my opinion) the figures tend to feature more accessories than a sane person would ever know what to do with, they're pretty great accessories regardless, complementing the figure well and ensuring that you feel that bang for your buck.

Articulation: 9/10

As I noted in the Leo review, all of these guys feature awesome articulation. About 17 points by my count, which is a pretty large amount for a small, mass-retail figure, especially compared to the articulation of previous figure iterations of the Turtles (Barring NECA). Raph features:

A ball jointed neck, allowing 360 degree rotation...

Hinged, rotating shoulder, hinged elbows, and a cut wrist, allowing hand rotation...

And finally, hinged, rotating legs coupled with hinged, rotating knees.

The articulation does have a tendency to feel a teeny bit limited at times, but for the most part you can get Raph into a plethora of really fun poses.

Sculpt: 9/10

I was honestly tempted to give Raph a 10 in this department. I noted earlier that as a character, Raph doesn't do much for me. I felt a bit apathetic about purchasing this figure at first, and was originally planning on buying him out of obligation. The more I looked at him in the store and online, the more I realized that this fairly generic character had been rendered absolutely amazing by a fantastic, unique sculpt, and he became a top contender for my favorite of the new Turtles.

Raphael's headsculpt is pretty phenomenal. His lips curve upward a tad, but there's no mistaking his overall facial expression for a totally angry snarl. It fits the character quite nicely. I also enjoy the fact that the tied part of his bandana looks long and is sort of flowing behind his head.

I love, love, LOVE the sculpting on Raphael's body and plastron. All of the Turtles are covered in little bumps and nicks and whatnot to make their individual sculpts more unique, but Raph really lucked out in this department. I think the crack in his plastron is freaking awesome. It befits his character, and aesthetically it just looks fantastic. The thing I love most about Raph's sculpt, however, is the large number of scars that cover pretty much every part of his skin. You can see them all over his arms and head, but they're most obvious here on the neck. It just looks badass, and they almost tell like a silent story of violent battles, both won and lost. Raphael's scars really help him stand out amongst a group of very similar looking figures.

Raph's legs are also covered in scars, and his kneepads have some large scrapes and dents in them. This figure has character from head to toe. Obviously, the hands and feet on these guys are very oversized. That may not be highly popular among some fans, but I dig it.

Raphael's shell is a greenish brown color, and the holsters for his weapons are sculpted as well. Both pieces look nice, not a ton else to say here.

From the side, Raphael looks quite slender. Not too bulky or obnoxious. He won't take up a ton of space on the shelf.

Simply put, Raphael's sculpt is amazing. There's really no other word for it. Every element contained works, and he has so many unique aspects. He's really a notch above many of the new figures (Which are great in and of themselves) in terms of sculpting and attention to detail.

Overall/Value: 9/10

At this point I'm just reiterating, but this figure is freaking amazing. His paint is near perfect, the articulation is fun, he comes with an awesome amount of accessories, and his sculpt is just top-notch. I don't exactly love Raphael the character, but this figure is one of the coolest things I currently own.

These things retail insanely cheap. $9.99 at most stores, and only $7.77 at Walmart! You'd be freaking insane not to procure this guy for 8 bucks. Even if you're not a huge fan of Raphael or the Turtles in general, you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer figure for a better value these days.

That's it for this week! Let's all keep collecting action figures beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

Next week, TURTLEMANIA continues with a review of the TMNT 2012 Michelangelo!

Breaking Bad Review - Season Five, Episode Seven: Say My Name

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:49:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Well everybody, I'm currently holding back tears over my keyboard. Vince Gilligan has done it - At this point I pretty much hate Walter White.

There isn't much else to say here. Let's dive right into my review of the most recent, heartbreaking episode of Breaking Bad - Say My Name.

NOTE: I'm going to try not to inject too much humor into this. My previous reviews have had a somewhat humorous air about them at times, but it doesn't feel right to do that with this episode.

This episode kicked off with Walter, Jesse and Mike riding through the desert. They're going to meet up with Declan and the crew of meth cookers/dealers from last week. Walt has a proposition for them. Basically, he wants to take them in under his payroll and have them as distributors, and he'll continue to cook.

The guys are apprehensive at first, but after realizing that Walter is indeed Heisenberg, the man who killed Gus Fring, they warm up to the idea of working for him and agree to distribute meth for him as well as pay Mike's retirement fee.

Despite the fact that I am now pretty much as anti-Walter as I can be while still being a fan of the show, I really loved this cold open for a number of reasons. First off, it was pretty much the epitome of Walt's transformation into "Heisenberg," the second Gus Fring. He even had Mike driving him around. The way he conducted himself during the meeting was perhaps the most confident we've ever seen him, showing shades of Walter from the series' various flashbacks.

The reaction from Declan when he realized who he was dealing with was nothing short of perfect. Walt's ego-tripping was also on full blast here. The fact that he wouldn't actually identify himself, instead forcing Declan to come to his senses was kind of frightening. And the gratification he received upon their reactions and them recognizing him was pretty creepy as well. I also liked how Walter was still pulling the strings throughout this sequence, including Jesse in the plan without actually notifying him, assuming Jesse's blind devotion to the man we called Walter was still in play.

The most noteworthy thing for me about this scene, on top of everything else, was how much I was actually rooting for Walter here. Of course, that would change by the episode's end, but here I felt taken back to the early days of the series. I was filled with memories of a time when I could confidently say that I was rooting for Walter because even though what he was doing was deplorable, he had a noble endgame. It's not much like that anymore, but here I was rooting for him in a way. Even after everything he's done, it was nice to see him totally on top of the world for once.

Obviously, I very much enjoyed this cold opening, but as the episode progressed, Heisenberg's truer colors showed and it was astounding how much my mood had shifted over the course of 50 minutes.

Back from commercial, we see the guys finishing up the deal. Declan's trucks drive off with the 40 pounds of pre-cooked meth Walt and co. had brought for them, and Mike is given his five million dollar retirement payment. He begrudgingly commends Walter for pulling the deal off, and Jesse attempts to get some answers as to why Walter included him in the deal with Declan. Walt brushes him off, wanting to talk about it later.

The guys arrive at Vamonos, and Mike and Walter say goodbye in their own way, with Walter wanting an apology for being chained to the radiator, and Mike refusing. Walt goes inside, and Jesse says goodbye to Mike. Jesse asks if he'll be seeing him around, and Mike says when he's out, he's out. Jesse insists that he's out as well, but Mike isn't so sure. Walter looks on through the window at the two shaking hands, his expression mostly unreadable, but undeniably angry.

Walt really bugged me here. It wasn't as if I expected him to immediately deal with Jesse's qualms about continuing to cook, but the way he keeps brushing him off is really getting my goat. As we see over the course of the episode, Walter needs to realize that Jesse isn't just a kid or an emotional punching bag anymore. I did love Walter and Mike's little back and forth though. The interactions between those two are one of the many things I'll miss. They hated each other, but it was fun as hell to watch them hate each other.

As soon as Mike actually got his money, I had a sneaking feeling in the back of my head that this would in fact be his final episode. Whether he left in peace or not, it was pretty obvious, but not really predictable in a bad way. The more I think about it, the more there was a ton of foreshadowing in this scene alone. "When I'm out... I'm OUT." Yeah, you certainly are Mike. And Walter's expression, though pretty much unreadable as I said, was somewhat menacing and meant a lot now that I'm analyzing the episode.

Overall, an entertaining little scene that means a lot more in hindsight after analysis, which just makes it stronger.

Next up, we see Skyler closing the car wash in anticipation of the arrival of Walt and Jesse, who are bringing in the tanker full of methylamine to stash. Skyler and Jesse have another awkward interaction, and Sky tries to ask Walter what they're doing. He won't tell her, instead telling her to go to the back office and let them handle it.

Wow. That was honestly really rough. Short as this scene was, it made me really uncomfortable. Obviously, the relationship between Walt and Skyler at this point is tumultuous at best and nonexistent at worst, but we've never seen him outwardly talk down to her like this before. For Walter, confidence imbues him with feelings of dominance though I guess, and he doesn't appreciate the questioning. I loved the way Jesse watched Skyler walk away with that bewildered expression on his face - Once again, the cracks in Walt's facade as a man who has everything under control are finally showing for Jesse.

At a bank, we see Mike's lawyer buddy from Hazard Pay greasing the wheels by bringing some food to one of the bank's employees. She lets him into the bank's safe to make a series of large deposits in some deposit boxes. We get a really strange view of this sequence, as for the most part the camera is adjusted on his sleeve and we see him deposit the money from his shaky POV. On top of all of the drops he's making for the family members of Gus' incarcerated men (Mike's legacy pay), he also drops an exorbitant amount of money in Kaylee Ehrmantraut's safe deposit box, along with an envelope "To Kaylee on Her 18th Birthday."

Dan walks to Mike's car in the parking lot, where Mike thanks him, and is reassured by Dan that the families will continue to receive their legacy payments.

This sequence was a bit odd to me for numerous reasons. Firstly, I didn't get at first if what the Lawyer was doing was illegal or not. I mean, it was I suppose, but the woman seemed so cavalier about it and the idea of her bribing her with cookies is pretty ridiculous. The weirdest thing about this sequence was that arm camera. I didn't really get the point of it and it was kind of cheesy. This was really just a standard Breaking Bad montage in which cheery music plays whilst someone does something illegal. Nothing wrong with one of the series' staples.

In the desert, Mike is listening to the surveillance tapes from Hank's office. He learns that there is now in fact a warrant to search his place. In his typical Mike way, he very calmly and tiredly throws his laptop and several guns down a well, to hide them from the cops.

Back at his place, he brews some coffee and waits for the DEA to arrive. They show up, and while Mike doesn't exactly act like he has anything to hide, there is a hint more sarcasm than normal to the way he conducts himself here. He simply sits and watches and old black and white film while his house is searched.

At the Vamonos HQ, Walt is setting up some equipment, and Jesse appears, wanting his 5 million so he may retire from the trade as well. Walt tries his best to ignore him, and basically just assumes that Jesse will be more than happy to continue cooking. Jesse isn't. He's fed up with all of the bloodshed and violence surrounding them. Walter finds the idea of Jesse wanting to "escape" laughable, insisting that they've done enough over the past year that quitting won't help. He also berates Jesse, calling him worthless and implying that he'd just go back to using anyway. Finally, he refuses to give Jesse his money. It's "blood money," so why would Jesse want it? Jesse angrily leaves, none of Walt's manipulations working. Walt is powerless, and simply screams that Jesse will get nothing if he walks out.

Wow. There were plenty of scenes this episode that almost left me completely speechless. The Walt/Jesse fight was one of them. The Mike scene was alright. It basically just served to show that Mike really is wrapping up, and to make us think he's finally gotten the cops off of his ass. But Walt and Jesse's fight... Wow.

A recurring theme throughout the last few episodes is the idea that Jesse is seeing through Walt. Here's this man that he respected greatly at a time, who he looked up to as a father figure, who he would do anything for, and he's been starting to realize that those feelings may not be totally reciprocated. Remember in Madrigal, when Jesse broke down in tears upon finding the ricin cigarette and thought that his killing of Walt in season four wouldn't have been justified? That was heartbreaking. We all had a sneaking suspicion that Walt didn't quite feel the same way about Jesse anymore, and that's been pretty much confirmed.

And the tirade Walt went on... That was tough to hear. Jesse has done nothing but serve Walt, whether he was angry with him or not, for the last year. Every single time he wants to clean up his act and move on from the trade, Walt stops him. Not this time. I really loved the fact that Jesse didn't take his money. Oh sure, he was always in it for the money, but he's inherently a good person who refuses to profit anymore from hurting people. He did shoot an innocent man in the face, but whereas killing people empowers Walter, it hurts Jesse, enough that he's been apprehensive about working with Walt since season four. It was an empowering moment for Jesse, to walk out without the money. I was pretty happy for him for that brief moment, but we all know you can never really escape Walter White.

At a DEA meeting, Hank is distracted by a series of photos from the Fring operation. He becomes entranced with them and drowns out the sounds of SAC Ramney and the other people in the room. Ramney wants a minute alone with him, and tells him that he's not a field agent anymore, and that he can't give the Fring case special treatment over others. He gives him an explicit order not to waste anymore time trailing Mike Ehrmantraut.

Gomie enters, and Hank says that though they can't tail Mike, nobody said anything about his lawyer buddy, Dan Wachsberger. Gomie is skeptical at first, but Hank is confident that this will produce results of some variety.

At a bug-bombed house, Walt is revealed to have taken on a new cooking partner... Todd.

They cook up a batch of Blue Sky, Walter teaching Todd as they go. Once the product is finished, Walter looks a bit disappointed. However, Todd is committed to trying his best, and refuses to take any money until he gets it right.

At the bank, Dan brings more food to his female worker friend, and she acts a bit strange. Once in the vault, Dan begins making the drops but is greeted by Gomez and some DEA agents.

It's dinnertime at the White residence, and Walt sits down with his microwaved TV meal, attempting to make small talk with Skyler. Skyler simply gets up and leaves the second he opens his mouth.

These short little scenes were all good in their own ways. As if Walt hadn't done enough this episode to show us how far over the line of morality he's come, working with Todd really takes the cake. It solidifies Jesse's accusation that Walt is only in it for the money, which of course we all knew. But directly working with the child killer proves that Walt really did feel nothing about the kid's death in the first place.

Gomez walking in on Dan was pretty scary; kind of the beginning of the end. And Walt and Skyler's dinner scene was freaking hilarious. As much as the tone of this episode was highly bleak and upsetting, that scene made me crack up. The good thing about BB is that the short little scenes like this have a tendency to be just as effective as the longer ones.

At the DEA office, Walt is again crying and talking about his marital problems with Hank. He gets him to leave and grabs the bugs he put in the office previously. Hank returns, and Gomie enters to tell Hank the good news: Dan Wachsberger is going to flip. They'll have Mike Ehrmantraut soon. Hank and Gomie are understandably excited, while Walt overhears this and reacts with horror.

I really loved this scene. The cut straight from Walt and Skyler's awkward dinner to Walt crying in Hank's office was perfectly timed, and another humorous scene that really worked despite the episode's overall tone. Walt's reaction to the news of Dan's flipping was perfect as well. Not much else to say here. It was a rehash of a scene from a previous episode that worked fairly well.

Mike is seen at the park with Kaylee, and he receives a call from Dan. He wants to meet with him, and gets Mike to reveal his location. Seconds later, Mike receives a call from Walter who tells him that the cops are coming for him. Sure enough, the cops show up almost immediately. Mike runs behind a tree, and is forced to choose between fleeing or saying goodbye to Kaylee. Ultimately, he chooses to leave.

Well that was a downer. This is right around where the episode begins to get unbearably depressing. Mike may have been a morally corrupt criminal, but he loved his granddaughter more than pretty much anything else. The fact that he couldn't even tell her goodbye, and her last memory will be of him leaving her at the park with no explanation, is unbelievably heartbreaking. On top of that, his funds have been seized once again, so in addition to leaving Kaylee, he's leaving her with nothing. This episode really piles on the hurt.

At Saul's office, Mike, Jesse and Saul are discussing what to do about the current situation. They receive a call from Mike, who wants Saul to drop off his bag of supplies for escaping the country. Saul is reluctant, so Jesse offers, but Mike doesn't want him to be put in that situation. Walt grows impatient with the disagreement between the three, and says he'll get the bag himself. He goes to the location that Mike specified, and finds a duffle bag full of money, a passport, and a single gun.

This scene all but confirmed what I had feared since Dan "flipped": Mike would not be making it out of this episode alive. The way the camera lingered on the gun for a moment longer than it probably should have really hammered the point home. Walt was also really annoying in this scene. Even in a situation as dire as this one, he couldn't resist throwing a few petty jabs Jesse's way ("I thought you were out?"). This scene worked well in that it served to set up the episode's heartbreaking, pulse-pounding conclusion.

Near a river in the woods somewhere, Mike waits for Walter to pull up. Walt wants the names of Mike's henchmen, the nine in prison who may flip at any moment without the legacy pay. Mike refuses to give him the names, and takes the bag. Walt grows angry, and demands at least a thank you from Mike. Instead, Mike turns and lights him up, telling him that everything going to shit is Walter's fault, and that if he had just known his place under Gus' rule, everything would be fine right now.

Obviously, this causes Walt to grow enraged, and Mike realizes he's taken the gun. Walt runs up to the window and shoots Mike, who drives off and crashes.

It is revealed that Mike crawled from the car down to an embankment by the river. He sits among the reeds, barely conscious and fading fast. Walter expresses genuine horror and remorse for what he's done, realizing that he could've easily gotten the names from Lydia. He attempts to apologize, but Mike tells him to "Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace." The two silently overlook the river as Mike fades into death.

I'm just honestly not sure how to go about describing this. Words can barely articulate how absolutely devastated I was by this scene. I knew it was coming, obviously. We all should have seen it coming. But that didn't make it any less impactful. On top of it being absolutely horrific to see a character I love so much die, there were so many other things that made this scene heartbreaking. First and foremost was the fact that it didn't need to happen. Walt has had some semblance of control over his affairs over the course of this season, but he really lost it here. You don't talk down to Walter White, but nothing justifies taking out his frustrations with a bullet.

Mike may have been a "bad" man, but he didn't deserve to die. At least, not this way. And the worst part might've been the fact that Walt was genuinely remorseful. For all of the horrible shit this guy has done, he was still actually upset that he killed Mike. That makes it hurt even more. Mike didn't need to die, and even Walter acknowledged that. I honestly wept for a pretty sizable amount of time even after this episode ended. This was a fantastic, powerful ending scene, undoubtedly the best one we've had all season, if just for the raw emotion it brought.

OVERALL: A+

After much deliberation, I decided to give this episode the highest possible ranking. And really, it deserves it. There were no errors to speak of, and it was full of amazing scenes. Walt ripping into Jesse at Vamonos was noteworthy, and all of the episode's shorter scenes were enjoyable as well. I think it's an episode that didn't contain a single misstep.

If telling a fantastic story and featuring a plethora of scenes that were pretty much flawless doesn't earn this episode an A+ rating, then it at least deserves it for the raw emotion it brought out, both in the characters and the viewer. I keep noting how upset I was watching it, and I'm still upset writing about it today. Breaking Bad always does pulse pounding penultimate episodes, and I think this was one of the better ones, among a slew of awesome episodes. One of the other great things about this episode was all of the foreshadowing that was done in hindsight. Walt saying "Everybody wins" at the end of last week's offering is sadly ironic now, and there were many hints throughout the episode that Mike would be meeting his fate.

And as heartbreaking as Mike's death was, the world doesn't stop turning. I can't wait to see where the next episode goes. Jesse is presumably out, and Walt looks to be going on a violent crusade against the nine henchmen. There's also dealing with the fallout of Mike's death, as my brother pointed out: Walter has killed and/or hurt everyone Jesse cared about. This will undoubtedly be the impetus for Jesse getting away from Walter for good. The body count keeps piling up for Walter, and there's no more transforming to be done. He's Heisenberg now, and as depressing as this episode was, I can't wait to see how that plays out. Say My Name was arguably a high point for the season, and as much as I wish Mike were still alive, I have to admit that this episode was a home run.

That's it for this week! Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page to tell us what you thought! Tune in next week for the final Breaking Bad episode and consequently, review, of the year! I'll try not to cry too much during that one.

NWC Figure Fraction TURTLEMANIA: TMNT 2012 Leonardo

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:40:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with another edition of the NWC Figure Fraction. Today will be the first in a gimmick-y spin I'm putting on NWC for the time being: TURTLEMANIA.

If you read NWC on a consistent basis of any kind (There's gotta be at least one of you), then you know I've recently jumped on the TMNT bandwagon. I wrote about TMNT a few times already (Check out the pieces here and here) due to my lack of a camera. But now, with a camera in my possession, it's time to go hardcore with TMNT-centric reviews.

Since getting into TMNT, I've purchased quite a few figures. How many? Check back each week until Turtlemania is over to find out!

Today I'm kicking Turtlemania off with a review of the TMNT 2012 Leonardo, so hit the jump to read on!

The Ninja Turtles are a fairly iconic property. They've gone through many iterations, from comic books to cartoons. Come September, Nickelodeon is trying to revive the TMNT once again with a revamped CGI cartoon. The cartoon looks... Okay. I'll wait until I see it to say too much. But the new toyline accompanying the cartoon? Awesome. If it weren't for these toys, I would have no interest in the cartoon at all.

Most people have a favorite Ninja Turtle. I don't really. I think they come as a package deal and I don't necessarily love one over the others. I guess I like Donatello the most if someone forced me to pick a favorite. I do however, think Leonardo has the coolest weapons of the bunch. Can't beat swords. As such, Leonardo was the first of the new TMNT figures I bought. And not to spoil anything, but he inspired me to become interested in the line as a whole. I guess that did kind of spoil the review. Read on anyways!

Packaging: 8/10

I don't have a ton to say about the packaging for these figures. It's attractive, but it's not memorable. Some people really love it and that's okay. I'm just not in love with it or anything. It does the job. It's got a little bio and a picture of Leo on the back which is nice. All of the figures have the same packaging aside from the bio on the back, so I won't be covering packaging in any future TMNT 2012 reviews.

Credit goes to miscale.wordpress.com; I threw my packaging out weeks ago when I purchased the figure.

Paint: 8/10

The paint on these figures is very minimal. For the most part, they're molded in whatever color they are. One of the few painted parts of Leonardo is his bandana.

As you can see, it's painted relatively well. There isn't really any slop on the head and it looks pretty great. There are a couple of spots where the paint is flecking off a bit, but that happened after I purchased it. I don't really know how, but it looked great in the packaging when I picked it up.

The strap around his torso is molded brown with gold buckles painted on. The buckles... Could look better. They're fairly sloppy looking, and one of them is barely painted at all because it's so sloppy.

Also as you can see, there's gold slop all over the band. It's bad, but doesn't really bother me that much. This is a mass-produced, children's figure. It could be way worse.

His entire arm is molded in his skin color, so his elbow pad is painted as well. Both elbow pads look pretty great. The top edge of the pad is unpainted and is clearly green, but that's barely noticeable and pretty much invisible if the figure's elbow is bent.

His hand/wrist bands are a pale beige color, and they're highly well-painted. Basically they're issue free. No slop or unpainted bits. Well, except for one thing...

Rather inexplicably, Playmates has decided not to paint the hand bandage all the way around. This isn't an issue specific to Leonardo - It affects all of the Turtles. I don't really understand why, but it doesn't bother me that much. Again, mass-produced figure and he's going to be holding a weapon anyways.

The color scheme on Leo's lower body is the same as his arms, but it looks a bit better. The knee-pads are painted perfectly, and there's only a tiny bit of slop from the bandages onto his feet.

Overall, the paint here is pretty decent. There a few spots where it falters a bit, but the issues are the kind you expect from a mass-produced figure like this one. There were figures in the store with issues more glaring than this one, but Playmates does a pretty good job keeping these guys looking neat for the most part.

Accessories: 9/10

These new TMNT figures come with a crap ton of accessories. First off, Leonardo has his patented dual-swords.

They're not the exact same size, which is nice. Even though they're not painted, they don't look cheap. They're decent looking, and they look great in Leo's hands.

However, Leo comes with more than just his twin blades. He also comes with an entire weapon tree. I didn't bother to break any of the weapons off except the extra sword; they just don't interest me in the least. I will however, acknowledge the fact that it's really great that Playmates stacks these guys up with accessories. It's great play value for little kids, and great value for collectors who want more bang for their buck.

The weapon tree, featuring two throwing stars, three kunai and a knife.

The extra sword.

The extra sword isn't simply a clone of Leo's big sword; this one has a different texture on the handle.

Leo also features two holsters on his back for the swords, but I forgot to actually take pictures of the swords in the holsters. Anyway, Leonardo comes with a plethora of nice looking, albeit unpainted, accessories. Even if I don't use most of them, it definitely does make me feel that I've gotten my money's worth.

Articulation: 9/10

This guy is a home-run in the articulation department. By my count, he features 17 points of articulation. That's a lot for a tiny little toy like Leo. Leonardo features:

A ball jointed neck, allowing rotation...

Hinged, rotating shoulders, hinged elbows, and cut wrists allowing his hands to be rotated...

And finally, hinged rotating thighs coupled with hinged, rotating knees.

The articulation is a tad bit limited, I will say that, but Leonardo still has a lot of range and you can get him into some pretty swell poses.

Sculpt: 9/10

One of the weird things about this toyline is that the figures of the Turtles don't really look like the Turtles from the upcoming show. But honestly, that's not a bad thing. The designs on the upcoming show are a bit... Well, lame, for lack of a better word. It's more like these figures take elements from the upcoming cartoon and tweak them. The end results are really phenomenal.

I really like Leo's headsculpt. He looks kind of manic, but that's okay. It's like an angry smile. I also like the length of his mask. I just think it looks cooler when the ends flow further past the back of his head. I'm also really glad that these Turtles have white eyes a la the original line, although that's more of a paint thing.

There is one weird thing about this headsculpt, however. His mouth is kind of going in two different directions. It's just... Odd.

This side looks like a smile...

And this end looks like an angry grimace.

The mouth issue really isn't a big one, and overall the head on Leonardo is fantastic.

Leonardo's body looks great too. I'm sure some people aren't a fan of the giant forearms/hands and giant feet, but I don't mind them. My favorite part about the body sculpt is the plastron and probably the torso itself.

The plastron (Yellow thing for those not up to date with your turtle terminology) is a separate, rubbery piece that's glued on to the torso. I really like it because it's covered in little nicks and scratches. Leo's neck and arms are covered in scratches too.

It's the little details like this that I love about this guy. Playmates could very easily have used the same exact body for all of these guys and just swapped heads/colors. But as you'll see in the coming weeks, these Turtles are all unique in their own ways. I only have one real issue with Leonardo's sculpt.

His sword holsters are a separately sculpted piece, and there's just a big chunk of brown nothingness in between the two of them, holding them together. It's unsightly, but it doesn't hold the sculpt as a whole down in the least - The holsters still do their job, and as it's on Leo's back, you're rarely even looking at it anyways.

This sculpt really is amazing. By only taking certain details from the cartoon and omitting some of the lamer ones, Playmates has crafted a sculpt that looks great on a collector's shelf or in a kid's toybox.

Overall/Value: 9/10

This figure is amazing. It looks great, the paint issues are minimal, he has a plethora of accessories, and the posing opportunities he possesses are pretty numerous. As I just stated, he looks great on a shelf, and he's a great toy for little kids.

And what an amazing value! Leonardo (And the rest of the Turtles) are only $8.99 at most stores. At Walmart, they're only $7.77! That's amazing for a figure this nice. If you're on the fence about these guys, or are looking to expand your collecting horizons into new properties, run down to Target, or Walmart or some such store and pick one of these guys up. You won't regret it.

Leonardo is fun to play with, and a joy to own.

Oh, hai Moss Man!

Eat dirt Mikey.

That's it for today! Check back next Tuesday for another review as Turtlemania continues! Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page to tell us what you thought! Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collecting action figures beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

Next week, NWC Figure Fraction TurtleMania continues with a review of the TMNT 2012 Raphael!

Breaking Bad Review - Season Five, Episode Six: Buyout

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:05:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here once again to prattle on for an obscene length of time about the most recent episode of AMC's drug drama Breaking Bad.

Today I'll be looking at season five, episode six - Buyout. It was what I like to call a "stepping stone" episode - It basically consisted of characters talking. There were no big scenes or fantastic set pieces. An episode like this exists pretty much to set up a new storyline. Breaking Bad often has multiple episodes similar to this per season. It's a show that paces itself.

However, this classification is by no means a bad thing. Buyout ended up being a really fantastic episode, featuring some haunting, effective, and meaningful scenes as well as furthering Vince Gilligan's quest to make the viewer loathe Walter White.

Hit the jump to hear my extended thoughts on Buyout!

This week's cold opening was almost completely silent. It featured Mike, Walter and Todd disassembling the child from Dead Freight's dirt bike and dissolving it in acid. Todd then uncovers the child's body, which had also been transported, and it is implied that the trio are then going to dissolve the corpse.

Outside, Jesse smokes a cigarette and Todd appears next to him and begins making small talk. He quips, "Shit happens, right?", causing Jesse to punch him in the face.

I hesitate to say I "liked" this cold opening. I will say that it was highly effective in that it really disturbed me. Just the idea of Walt and Mike dissolving a child's corpse... Ugh. I think the full extent of the criminality of Walter and Mike has finally been brought to light - Oh sure, we've seen Walter do some crazy stuff before, obviously. But Mike was always sort of implied to have some sort of twisted moral code. I mean it's obvious that in the past he has hurt people who could have necessarily been considered "innocent," but to actually to see him involved in covering up the death of a child... Once again, ugh. Jesse hitting Todd was beyond gratifying, but it was also upsetting because one punch doesn't fix things or make anything right - And Jesse was powerless to do anything but hit him.

As I stated, I didn't "like" this opening per se, but it was extraordinarily effective. If anybody - ANYBODY - is still "rooting" for Walter at this point, I hope they're reconsidering. I would always say that Mike is my favorite character, but I'm currently rethinking that at the moment. Killing the kid was insanely brutal, but this scene, with the implication of the corpse dissolving, may be the grisliest/most horrific thing we've ever seen on BB.

Back from commercial, Todd is attempting to defend himself to Walt, Jesse and Mike. He explains that he couldn't risk the idea of this kid telling anyone what he saw, and that he didn't want to do it. He was "thinking on his feet." Walter asks him to step out, and the trio discusses the situation. Walt basically says he agrees with what Todd did without actually saying that, and he and Mike opt to allow him to stay in the business. Mike tells Todd he's still in, and Todd returns to his car, where it is revealed that he kept the child's tarantula. The scene ends with Todd smirking at the arachnid.

I really loved this scene. Over the past week, a small part of me was worried that Todd's character was going to become "evil" or something - That he was going to have no remorse over what he did, and it was going to be really corny. Thankfully, when I worry about BB, I'm usually wrong.

By having Todd actually try to justify himself and while not necessarily be remorseful for what he did, still acknowledge that what he did was awful, they really added a layer of intrigue and even demented understanding to the character. Of course, what he did could never be considered the right thing, but by having him say that that's what he thinks, another layer has been added to the character. He's not just some bad guy who shoots kids. He's a guy that did a deplorable thing because he thought it was the right thing to do. There's someone else on this show who's been known to do that from time to time...

Oh right, him.

The implication that Walter agrees with what Todd did says so many things - Like I keep repeating, I hope most fans are finally at a point where they can stop rooting for the guy. It's scary to think that if Todd hadn't "thought on his feet," that Walt would've jumped to the same murderous conclusion.

Last week I complained when Jesse was literally in between the arguing Mike and Walter. This week it happened again, but I thought it really worked here. Because this time, Jesse was in the middle of Mike and Walter agreeing about covering up the death of a child and moving on with their lives. It was horrific and I liked how it was a little different than the whole "Jesse in between fighting Mike and Walt" we've been seeing. I enjoyed this scene a great deal, and Mike and Walter continue to give me the skeeves. I also loved, when Jesse was complaining about Todd, that he called him "Ricky Hitler." Oh, and Todd looking at the tarantula was just... Strange. Don't really know what to think of it.

Up next, we saw Gomez and an unnamed agent trailing Mike at the park with his granddaughter. Mike writes a note and leaves it under a garbage can before leaving. I leaned over the my brother and said "The note is going to say 'Fuck you,' or something." Gomez assumes the note is for a fellow criminal later on, so he runs up and grabs it once Mike is gone. Sure enough it says "Fuck you."

Couldn't find a photo of Mike's note; here's Walter saying the same to Gretchen.

Mike is then seen at his house, listening to his surveillance tapes of Hank's office. Hank basically says they'll stay on Mike until he slips up - Mike scoffs to himself at the idea.

I enjoyed this little sequence. It was a tad bit predictable - I obviously called Mike's note. But it was still pretty entertaining. The little snippets of dialogue he heard while listening to the bug in Hank's office where entertaining as well. I also liked the length of this sequence - It ran just the right amount of time. It didn't drag on, but it continued to establish that this time around, Mike might have an enemy that he just can't beat. His laugh to himself at the end was simultaneously one of sarcasm, but also defeat. Mike is against a wall.

Marie and Skyler are then seen talking at Marie's. Skyler gets very emotional and says she misses the kids, but that they aren't safe in the White residence. Marie says Skyler can talk to her, but assumes that she is upset about the affair with Ted. Marie tells her she can't keep beating herself up about the affair, and Skyler goes from upset to enraged. She can't believe that Walter told Skyler about Ted.

"Dafuq did you just say?"

I love Skyler. I noted last week that she and Walt are to a point in their fractured relationship where they kind of don't even take the situation seriously - They meet each other with little sarcastic barbs and things of that nature. Skyler's reaction to another one of Walter's emotional manipulations was pretty priceless. I mean, I'm sure it "hurt" Skyler, but she's at a point where when Walt does something ostensibly hurtful, she kind of just reacts with anger/annoyance. Walt continues to freely manipulate and bend the emotions of the members of his family to his will. Walter Jr. was conspicuously absent from this scene and the episode as a whole, oddly. This was an effective scene, but Skyler's best scene in the episode would come later.

We then cut to Walt and Jesse watching TV during a cook. They're watching TV, and a news report detailing a missing child flashes on. Upon hearing a name and the fact that his parents are looking for him, Jesse begins to break down. Walt clicks the TV off and says he'll finish the cook up and to go on home. Jesse gets a call from someone and then exits with a bewildered look on his face, as he notices Walter quite literally whistling while he works.

This scene was both heartbreaking and pretty terrifying. I've noted before the fact that Jesse loves Walter like a father in some twisted way as well as the fact that Walter may not reciprocate those feelings at this point in time. Both of those facts are astonishingly upsetting.

But now, Jesse is starting to see the cracks in Walter's shell. The fact that he can move on so quickly and casually after being complicit in such an abhorrent thing is really shocking to Jesse. I think now he's realizing what a monster Walter is. Or at least suspecting it. And Walter whistling inside the hazmat suit was quite eerie. I feel like I'm repeating myself with my opinion of Walt at this point. Everything kind of begins coming to a head in this episode, as we see a few scenes from now.

Back at the Vamonos headquarters, Mike informs Walter that both he and Jesse are out. Mike because the cops are tailing him, and Jesse because he's sick of the death and bloodshed surrounding him. Mike wants to sell the methylamine to a buyer to the tune of 15 million dollars. Walt declines, wanting to cook up the methylamine and make closer to 300 million dollars. At one point Jesse exasperatedly asks Walter, "Are we in the meth business, or the money business?" He also notes that 5 million dollars is more money than he has ever seen. But 5 million each isn't enough for Walter.

First off, Walter's greed is absolutely flooring. 5 million dollars isn't enough. But does that really surprise anyone? He's a greedy bastard. What really got to me about this scene was Mike's reason for departure from the business - It had nothing to do with the dead kid or any of the death surrounding the trio. Again it shouldn't necessarily be surprising that the contract killer is okay with a little killing, but it really speaks volumes about the true selfishness of his character.

What if the kid killed had been his granddaughter, Kaylee? He would've stopped at nothing to get revenge. But he didn't know that kid, and disposing of Todd would be "bad for business," so he does nothing. The selfishness of Mike isn't really dwelled on and played much more subtly than the in-your-face transformation of Walter, but it's something I really took away from the episode because I love(d?) Mike so much.

Mike and Jesse are seen meeting with a distributor, Declan, offering to sell him 665 gallons of methylamine for something to the tune of 10 million dollars. Declan refuses upon the realization that some of the methylamine is still in their partner's possession - He wants Blue Sky off the streets and out of competition. Because the sale can only go through if Walter agrees to thrown in his share of the methylamine, Jesse visits him at home to try to convince him. Walter tells him he can't do it because his selling of his share of Grey Mater still haunts him - He wants the amount of money, the empire he deserves.

Suddenly, Skyler enters, and Jesse excuses himself. Walter insists that the three share a dinner together. The dinner is as painful as predicted, with Jesse making small talk and attempting to ease the tension, and Skyler rebuffing him. Skyler then mentions the affair with Ted and leaves the table. Walter tells Jesse that his wife and family are gone, and that Skyler is literally waiting for him to die. The business is all he has left.

Wow. What a scene. I'm almost speechless. First off, Walt's speech to Jesse was fantastic. We still don't know the full story behind the Grey Matter fallout (I suspect it had something to do with Gretchen and Elliot's relationship), and the fact that Walter check the company's net worth each week is something of a zenith for Walt's pathetic-ness. I also loved how Walt's story mimicked Mike's tale from Half Measures - "I took a buyout, Jesse." Walt was sitting in the same way, the camera was angled in a similar way, the episode is even titled in a similar way. As Mike's speech is arguably my favorite scene from the series, I really loved the parallels between the two.

As great/pathetic as Walt's speech was, the dinner scene was insane. It was the final mixing of five years worth of storylines. Five years worth of Walter leading two double lives. Well it isn't a double life anymore, and what better way to show it than dinner? I always forget that Skyler and Jesse have met before. But to see them meet again, after everything that's happened, was special in a twisted way. This scene exuded tension and importance.

Finally, we got to see Walt play the victim once again to the caring Jesse. The business is all Walt has because he's backed himself into that situation. But Jesse still cares about him regardless of what he does, and of course respects him enough to take his version of events at face value.

At first, I thought Walt was angry about his situation and trying to hurt Skyler with this dinner out of spite. But then it became apparent that this scene was one last power play for Jesse's fragile emotional being. Walt sees Jesse as someone that can be used to further his goals, and everyone else is a means to an end as well. This was a powerful, devastating scene. As I said, both of Walt's lives finally mingled and the results were as tense and heartbreaking as you would think.

Walter then rushes to Vamonos Pest, hoping to steal the methylamine before Mike can sell it. Mike has anticipated his arrival, and is waiting with a gun in hand. He literally sits with Walter all night, but then notes that he has an appointment to make. He ties Walter to a radiator and makes his exit. Walter attempts to break open a coffee pot to cut himself loose with the glass, but instead opts to rip apart an extension cord, and then turn it back on, creating enough heat to melt the plastic while severely burning his wrist. Walter escapes, and we end scene.

Well that was fucking crazy. I mean, his wrist was literally on fire. Seriously I don't have much else to say here. It was a great scene, but it pretty much spoke for itself. Oh I also loved Mike's line "I have never seen someone work so hard NOT to make 5 million dollars." One last thing: The way Mike told Walter "Sorry" after tying him up sounded highly genuine. It didn't sound sarcastic or spiteful - It was as if Mike really did feel bad about tying Walter up, which makes no sense if you look at the relationship of the two characters. Maybe I heard it wrong or something, but it seemed a tad off to me.

Afterwards, we see Mike is at the DEA headquarters with his lawyer, and the final few minutes of this episode mark the return of Saul!

Saul!

Anyways, Saul and Mike are at the DEA office basically filing for a restraining order due to the surveillance on Mike. Since the surveillance is off the books, Saul can argue that it's technically stalking. After a pretty funny dialogue exchange, Mike and Saul leave the station, then sit in Saul's car listening on Mike's laptop to Hank and Gomez agree to lay off Mike for a while. Saul notes that his restraining order won't hold up, and that Mike has 24 hours to do whatever he needs to do.

Mike returns to Vamonos to see the methylamine gone, and immediately stick a gun in Walter's face. Jesse says that Walt has a plan of action and that if this plan works, Mike will still get his money. Mike asks Walter if this is true. Walt simply says "Everybody wins." and the episode ends.

What a hook. It was nice to see Saul back, and it'll be nice to not have to worry about the DEA trailing Mike in the next episode. There's not a ton to say about this ending because it served mostly to set up next week's episode. It was a pretty fantastic ending regardless.

OVERALL: A

This episode was fantastic. There's really not a ton else to say here. It consisted mostly of dialogue, and all of that dialogue was fantastic. It raised some frightening implications about Mike, as well as really raising awareness of what a bastard Walt is. The dinner scene with Jesse and Skyler was absolutely amazing, one of the high points of the season so far, no doubt. The cold open and first scene of the episode were effective and highly disturbing, with the cold open possibly being the most disturbing scene we've ever witnessed on BB. I also loved the similarities between the speeches of Mike and Walter. Lydia was conspicuously absent from this episode, as was Walter Jr. But I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about this week's offering.

The cinematography was great, the visual symbolism used didn't bother me in the least, every actor was on the top of their game, and it gave us several candidates for best scene of the season, with Walter whistling to himself during the cook as well as the dinner scene. Plus, that hook at the end. Like I said, everything kind of began to come to a head in this episode. The story is picking up, and with two episodes left, I'm highly eager to see what's going to go wrong for Walter and company this time. I can't wait for next week's episode, and this week was a home run through and through. It's honestly worth a second watch.

That's it for this week! Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page to let us know what you thought. Also check out my weekly action figure reviewing column, The Figure Fraction, which is upated Tuesdays. Thanks for reading, and check back next week for more overly-verbose analyses of Breaking Bad!

NWC Figure Fraction - Venture Bros. 3 & 3/4 Inch Brock Samson

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 12:41:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Yes everyone, your eyes do not deceive you - After a 9 month hiatus due to a broken camera, the NWC Figure Fraction is back! I was kindly lent a camera, and have been taking photos of tons of things over the course of the past few days - I'll be set with reviews for the next few months.

I decided to start this new pool of reviews with probably the most recently released figure I own - Bif Bang Pow's 3 & 3/4 inch scale Brock Samson.

Hit the jump to here my thoughts on Bif Bang Pow's first offering from the sporadically released Venture Bros. line!

I've really been warming up to The Venture Brothers in recent weeks - In one of the first NWC podcasts, I noted that I had given the show multiple shots and couldn't get into it. Well, I gave it another shot a few weeks back, and I'm happy to say I really dig it now. It is a show that warrants multiple viewings if you're on the fence about it.

Anyway, whenever I get into a new property, one of the first things I do is pick up some figures. Bif Bang Pow is the company that owns the rights to produce figures of Venture Bros., and they haven't been doing much with the license. Last year, they attempted to introduce a subscription-based series of Venture Bros. figures a la MOTU Classics from Mattel. It didn't work.

They didn't reach the minimum number of preorders to produce the line, so instead BBP is opting to release two figures every few months in small numbers. Brock Samson, the Venture family's murderous bodyguard, is the first of those figures. One of the only issues with this release schedule is that we won't be seeing a figure of Rusty until February 2013 - The next figures releasing after Brock are Hank and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, and those aren't dropping until November. The scheduling of these figures is somewhat maddening.

Without any further background info, let's dust off the keyboard and hop into this thing.

Packaging: 9/10

I very much like Brock's packaging. It's a tad big for such a small figure, but it just looks nice. I like the sky blue and the earthy green colors together - They mesh very well. I also really dig the fact that it looks as though Brock is standing in front of Venture Industries - If you leave him in the package, it's almost as if you've got a little diorama.

Brock also features a nice little name card in front of his feet.

The back of the package is nice as well. It features Hank and Dean doing their signature "Go team Venture!" pose in one of their bedrooms or something. I assume this back is not specific to Brock and rather will be a generic cardback that all of the figures will feature. It's nice looking at any rate.

This figure's packaging is really great. I was almost tempted to leave him encased in his plastic prison because it looks so great and complements the figure so well, but in the end I opened Brock so I could review him here.

Paint: 5/10

Yeah so that's a bit of a red flag. I wanted to put some kind of spin on this or something to make it seem less bad, but the paint on this thing is fucking atrocious. He definitely looks good from a distance, but he's riddled with little issues that bothered me more and more as I looked him over for this review.

As you can see, Brock has a large black smear on his right bicep. Again, something that isn't visible from a distance, but it could conceivably get aggravating for the price these figures go for.

Brock's two-way wrist communicator watch is atrociously painted as well. The little aqua screen part looks okay, but it's a bit off-center. Also as you can see, the brown from the strap sloppily overlaps onto the gray of the watch itself. It looks fine from a distance, but are you getting as sick of hearing that as I am of saying it? Also just to note it while the picture is up here, his hands are very sloppily molded as well.

The paint on his shoes is largely fine. Brock's legs are molded in the baby blue color of his jeans, and the blue is bleeding through his loafer a little bit. But the paint on the strap and the shoe itself is actually decent. A tad sloppy, but not as annoyingly bad as the wrist communicator. Especially since you're not really looking at his shoes.

Most of the paint issues I've listed have been bad, but not shamefully bad or anything like that. The paint on Brock's head? Up close it is shamefully bad. It's spotty, sloppy, and just.... Ugly. As you can see, there's some yellow from his pompadour slopping onto his forehead, as well as parts of his hair that don't actually have any color.

As you can see, a chunk of the back of his mullet is mussing too. His hair is covered in patches and scratches. One other thing I want to note that isn't paint-related - I really hate the fact that you can see the mold lines around Brock's hair and chin from where his head was chopped out of the mold during production. Seriously, it's like sub-bootleg quality. Bif Bang Pow couldn't bring themselves to clean up the cuts a little bit? Jeez.

As you can also see, the paint around Brock's collar is pretty terrible, and his eyebrows look a little funky as well.

So, based on the amount of issues I listed here, you must think I hate this figure. The thing is, as negative as this category sounded, I just don't hate Brock. The issues are deplorable, sure, but from far away, the paint really does look okay and the figure has a certain charm to it. I don't know. I keep glancing at him over on the shelf, and the color scheme of the figure really works, issues aside.

Accessories: 6/10

Okay, now in this category, Brock is actually pretty bare bones. He only features one accessory - His knife.

But sometimes you just have to go with quality over quantity. The knife is a nice looking little piece. The paint is okay and it's made of a material that's a bit too pliable, but it fits in Brock's hand quite well.

One of the other cool things is that Brock has a little holster that the knife can go into. It fits in really well and looks great.

Like I said, Brock doesn't come with too much crap and the accessory he does come with isn't amazing enough to boost the score too too much, but it's a nice little accessory that complements Brock well.

Articulation: 8/10

Brock's articulation is limited, but I really like it. Think Mattel's JLU, but with hinged knees.

Brock features cut shoulders and hinged elbows...

A cut neck that allows rotation...

Cut legs and hinged knees...

And finally, a cut waist that allows his torso to be rotated.

Again, the articulation is somewhat limited. You can't exactly get Brock into the most dynamic of poses. However, something about the simplicity of it just works. It's one of the saving graces of the figure.

Sculpt: 7/10

Okay, here's (to me) the most important aspect of any figure. A figure's sculpt can make or break it. The sculpt on Brock is... Good. That's it. It's not bad, or terrible. Just good. It is not however, without its share of flaws.

As you can see, Brock's headsculpt is pretty decent. It's appears to be a spot on resemblance, but there is something... Off about it. I can't quite put my finger on what. I think it's the fact that typically, Brock's facial expression on the show is neutral with a hint of anger. Here, he looks like he's upset or in pain or something. It definitely looks like Brock though, no one's disputing that. His hair is quite nice looking as well. I already complained about those nasty mold lines around the hair and chin, but other than that, the headsculpt is a fairly good one.

Brock's torso is spot on. Bif Bang Pow has perfectly captured Brock's barrel-chested glory. The giant bolts in his forearms are a tad obnoxious, but flaws with the hand molding and bolts aside, Brock's upper body is a thing of beauty.

Okay, here's where we run into several issues... Brock's lower body looks great. There's not much else to say there. But the way the figure is sculpted results in him pretty much being unable to stand unless his knees are bent in a very specific way. The thing is - There's weight to this figure. He is much heavier than a figure this size normally would be. However, almost all of that weight lies in the figure's top half. And his legs are extremely spindly on top of that. You do the math.

This happened so many fucking times throughout this review...

So yeah, he tends to fall down. A lot. I get that Brock needs to be proportioned like this in order for the figure to be accurate. But he definitely should've weighed less. This issue shouldn't effect the rest of the figures that are coming out, but it's really aggravating. Brock will stand fine if you get him into the exact right pose, but he topples quite easily. I didn't see any damage to my figure from the falling, but it's definitely possible. Be careful posing this guy.

Overall this is a nice sculpt that is unfortunately bogged down by some issues that cannot be overlooked.

Overall/Value: 7/10

This really is an average figure. The sculpt and articulation are really nice, but unfortunately he has issues in both of those categories, and terrible issues in most other categories. Brock was a real pain in the ass to review but... I still need to recommend him.

Oh his flaws are aggravating and will definitely be a turn off for some. But the thing is, he's inexpensive enough that I can overlook most of the issues. I only paid 12 bucks for him. He's $9.99 straight from the manufacturer. That isn't a bad deal. Perhaps a bit overpriced, but he could've easily cost even more. If you're a new fan of The Venture Bros. like me, or a huge fan of the series as a whole, you should pick this up. I really want to see Rusty, The Monarch, and The Phantom Limb get released next year. It'll only happen if Brock, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and Hank sell well.

If you've got a spare ten-spot laying around, Brock is worth picking up. You may be disappointed by aspects of him, but overall he's worth owning. Plus, now you have a Brock Samson figure that can fight Batman!

Of course he fucking fell over while I was trying to take this shot.

That's it for today! I'm pretty happy to be running the Figure Fraction again, and I hope you guys enjoy reading my reviews. Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell us what you thought! Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collecting action figures well beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

ALSO! Check back Tuesday for the first edition of NWC Figure Fraction: TURTLEMANIA!

This Tuesday, I kick things off with a review of Leonardo.

Figure Fraction is Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:21:00 -0700

Hey everybody, Geddy here with some great news - I've temporarily gotten my hands on a camera!

Figure Fraction is back! Expect a fresh review tomorrow, and regular reviews each Tuesday for the foreseeable future!

Breaking Bad Review - Season Five, Episode Five: Dead Freight

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:57:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Wow. That's all I have to say coming off of last night's episode of Breaking Bad, Dead Freight. Going into it, I didn't know what to think because the previews indicated that it would primarily involve the three main guys robbing a train. Any part of me that was worried was countered with a part of me that reassured myself, "If any show can do this right, it's BB."

What we ended up getting was a fairly decent episode, with it's share of great scenes, a handful of flaws, and an amazing final fifteen minutes, ending with one of the most surprising and sickening things I've ever seen on any television show, ever.

Hit the jump to hear my in-depth thoughts on this week's episode of Breaking Bad, Dead Freight.

This week's episode kicked off with a cold open that really bugged my brother, but I didn't necessarily mind. It basically involved a little kid riding his trike through the desert, and picking up a tarantula in a glass jar. A train whistle ominously blows in the distance, and the kid rides off.

Honestly, I was very "meh" about this opening, in the beginning. I always expect BB to start off in ambiguous ways, and the episodes almost always end up referencing the cold open at some point. On it's own, this wasn't great, but by the end it's absolutely chilling. I really dug the whole "train whistle blowing in the background" thing. It felt really ominous; it was barely audible to us, but it resulted in that kid running off to something horrible.

My one real issue with the opening is that at first I thought I was missing something; Breaking Bad often engages in visual symbolism (There was some later in this episode actually), and I thought the tarantula being trapped was supposed to mean... Something. Even by the end I didn't really get whatever point they were trying to make with it, and that's kind of bugging me. I'll end up moving past it, and the only possible explanation I've come up with is very simplistic but at the same time muddled. In short: Not worth mentioning here.

Also, why are kids always running around in the desert unsupervised in Breaking Bad?

The Albuquerque Desert: More fun than a playground, apparently.

Overall, this was a muddy yet intriguing cold open that would end up becoming much more effective by the episode's end. After the title card, we see ASAC Schrader putting the final touches on his new office. Walt enters and says he has to talk to Hank alone. Walt makes some small talk, thanking Hank and Marie for looking after the kids, but then breaks down crying, telling Hank that "Skyler doesn't love me anymore." He basically cries on Hank's shoulder for a moment, and Hank, clearly uncomfortable, excuses himself to grab the two some coffee. As soon as Hank leaves, Walt can "end scene" so to speak, stops crying, and plants two bugs in Hank's office.

This scene was somewhat predictable, but that didn't make it any less intriguing. Walter is a master manipulator. Originally, pride was often a roadblock for him to clear. Now, instead of being enraged by the fact that people view him as "weak" and "mild-mannered," Walt uses it to his advantage. He plays off of his children, and the damage he's done to his wife to further his goals. It's kind of like a car wreck; it's twisted and awful, but you really can't look away. He used to be so terrified all the time, as I noted in last week's review (Which you can check out here). But now, Walter just strolls right into government buildings and sticks bugs in the office of the highest ranked employee.

You've come a long way buddy.

I really enjoyed this scene. As horrible as it is, it's kind of fun to watch Walter pull the strings. No matter how many times he does something dastardly, I always find myself shaking my head in disgust. His villainy is consistent, and the seemingly seamless cloaking of meth kingpin Heisenberg in chemistry teacher Walter White's clothes makes for some extremely entertaining scenes.

In the next scene, we see what Walter needed to plant those bugs for: In the last episode, the ending implied that Lydia had attempted to turn on our main trio, and now the three are meeting with her about it. They chain her to a desk, and Mike gives her a list of things to say when he dials Hank's cell number. He continuously (And rather chillingly, as is Mike's forte) tells Lydia that if she falters, attempts to scream for help, or makes Hank suspicious in any way, shape or form, that he will pull out his pistol, and shoot her in the head.

This is how Mike solves all of his problems.

Lydia calls Hank, who doesn't give her a straight answer about the tracker on the methylamine case. With the use of Walt's bug, we hear Hank consult Gomez, who confirms that the DEA did not place trackers on any tanks of methylamine. As Lydia exasperatedly continues to insist that she didn't have anything to do with the tracker, the trio convene and Mike insists that what has to be done has to be done. Jesse is still reluctant to kill Lydia, and Mike informs him with a strange mixture of sadness and annoyance, that she put a hit out on him.

They agree that they could bust in and take a few tankers full of methylamine using Lydia's access card, and then figure out how to get more when the time comes. The group then hears Hank call up the El Paso DEA, who confirm that they did indeed put trackers on the outside of the methylamine tanks. Hank basically calls them idiots, and Lydia is apparently in the clear.

The one setback is that ALL of the methylamine tanks have been equipped with trackers. Their supply is shot. Mike reasons that even if she didn't place trackers on anything, Lydia deserves to be killed because she will turn on them like that if given the chance. She counters the 13,000th threat on her life with the claim that she can provide the trio with "an ocean" of methylamine.

The first Google Image result for "ocean of methylamine." Irrelevant, but still a fun little picture.

This was another great scene from this episode. Walt, Jesse and Mike were downright scary here. They effectively kidnapped Lydia, and she was chained to a table in a dank, empty parking garage. Mike was also at his most intimidating, and his threats against Lydia were pretty frightening. Laura Fraser continues to impress me as Lydia. She feels very natural in the role of an absolutely terrified woman attempting, at all times, to keep her composure. Her lines are all delivered with a perfect mix of confidence and fear.

The business-like way Walt conducts himself now is also very frightening as well. Most of the killings Walt has perpetrated in the past have been very spur of the moment and messy. Now he's the one ordering kills, voting on whether or not this woman dies. It's still strange, five episodes in, to see him in such a position of power. Like I keep reiterating: I'm loving Laura Fraser, any scene with Walt, Mike and Jesse is bound to be superb, and Lydia's continued ability to... Live, is laudable.

Lydia then basically tells them that Madrigal imports its methylamine, and it comes in on a train. Essentially her plan is for them to hijack a train. Lydia can work all of the details out for them, but they'd have to handle the crew. The one drawback: Mike says that the crew would have to be murdered, and all three men are inexplicably opposed to that.

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about the final sequence of the underground parking garage scene. It had some funny moments - I honestly laughed out loud when Lydia said she would be expecting a percentage of future profits. The look Mike shot her was priceless, and she certainly has cojones. I also loved this exchange between she and Walter:

WALT: You're familiar with the concept of leverage?
LYDIA: Don't patronize me-
WALT: You have none.

However... The fact that the main trio is so hesitant to kill two innocent men really baffles me. It baffles me less with Jesse, admittedly. Jesse is of course the only one of the trio that we've actually seen kill an innocent person, but that's beside the point. But the idea that Walt, the man who poisoned a child and Mike, the professional contract killer, are averse to killing two people doesn't sit right with me.

Walt has always done whatever it takes to further his goals. Whatever. It. Takes. Mike, though we've never seen him do it and despite his soft-spot for those he deems "innocent", has certainly killed an innocent man or two during Gus Fring's tenure as New Mexico's meth kingpin. I get that it needed to set up the eventual heist, and I'm not saying it would've been good to kill two innocent men, but I just felt that those two were really act out of character and irrationally in the context of the story.

Yeah, these two hate killing people...

We then cut to Hank and Marie's where... Nothing really happens. They play with the baby, and talk about Jr. who overhears them and angrily says they can keep talking about him once he's in his room. That's pretty much it. Last week's episode was very Marie-heavy. This week? Not so much. Not that that's necessarily a terrible thing, but she's a character known for slowing the pace and distracting us from whatever the main story arc is.

Though this short bit was kind of pointless, I did like how A. Marie never stopped calling Jr. "Flynn." The whole Flynn thing is so ridiculous that I can't help but chuckle whenever he's referred to as it. It fits Marie's character perfectly to have never stopped calling him that. And B. I enjoyed how much Walter Jr.'s relationship with Hank has changed. He always idolized him as his hero before. And though Hank was a bit of a jackass, he was certainly not a bad role model. Now that his father is a master criminal/murderer, Jr. is loyal mostly to him and even rebuffs Hank's offer to watch a movie together. If Walt hadn't become... What he is now, I'd almost feel a little bit happy for him - He finally got his son's respect and admiration. Now, the more I see Walt and Jr. "bond," the more I think, "Go back to Hank! For the love of god, go back to Hank!"

So this scene was a little bit pointless, but I enjoyed aspects of it and it was pretty much the perfect amount of "Hank and Marie" you should expect in a Mike/Jesse-heavy episode.

Oh hey you two. Just passing through I see.

Walt arrives home to find Jr. holed up in his room. He orders him to drive back to Hank and Marie's, and Walt and Skyler have another great back and forth.

Once again, Walt and Skyler's exchanges are fantastic. At this point, Skyler isn't a zombie anymore. She'll argue with Walt, they'll go back and forth. It's supremely entertaining. I'm loving the cavalier way they address each other at this point. It's like they know they're at something of a standstill with the kids at Hank and Marie's, so the tension between the two comes out in very casual ways. I also loved Skyler's line: "I'm not your wife, Walt. I'm your hostage." That was fantastic. This was a nice, short-little scene that effectively served to remind us of the dissention between Walt and Skyler.

At Jesse's apartment, Walt and Mike argue about what to do in lieu of actually robbing the train, and for some reason Mike, the CONTRACT KILLER, is implying that it's sick that Walt would even consider killing two innocent men. As ridiculous as that is, Jesse interrupts their fighting to propose his idea of how the train should be robbed.

This short scene actually really bothered me. First of all, Breaking Bad engaged in some of it's famous visual symbolism - As Mike and Walter argued, the two got to a point in the room where Jesse was literally sitting in between them. I do kind of like the idea of Jesse being a "child in a broken home," but the fact that he was literally in between Walt and Mike didn't do it for me. BB's visual symbolism is often very "in-your-face," but there was something about it's use here that was just too on the nose and insulting. Yeah, we know Jesse is stuck between Mike and Walt. You don't need to literally show us him being stuck between Mike and Walt.

In other news, the crew of Breaking Bad would like you to know that when it rains, you get wet.

Also, this is the second episode this season where the tactic of "Walt and Mike argue about a problem until Jesse says something cryptic and potentially problem solving so that we can cut to commercial on a hook" has been used. That's not a bad thing in theory; it shows that Jesse has really grown as a character and a criminal - He learned from three of the best. However, again, it just didn't work here. I kind of rolled my eyes and groaned when Jesse said "Hey! What if no one even knows that the train got robbed?" Wanna be a little bit less cryptic there, asshole? I get that it piques viewers' interest to stay tuned post-commercial break, but the dialogue on Breaking Bad usually doesn't feel like it's setting up a commercial or whatever. This scene did, and that unfortunately hurt it.

We then see the guys in the desert at some train tracks, measuring out something. Once they've measured out 800 feet, the crew of Vamanos Pest makes the scene, and assists them in burying two tankers in the ground. Todd, the blond guy from Hazard Pay, is helping Walt and Jesse pump some water into one of the tankers. He asks them what the plan is, and Jesse and Walt explain that they're siphoning the methylamine from the train and replacing it with water. Todd is very impressed in an almost childlike way, and Walt and Jesse somberly inform him that no one can know this went down. Todd understands (Foreshadowing alert!).

We then cut to the heist. Everyone is in place, and my favorite ancillary character from BB, Kuby, shows up to assist them!

Kuby!

He parks his truck on the train tracks, and the train comes screeching to a halt. The tanker with the methylamine stops right were the group measured it would, and Walt, Jesse and Todd begin siphoning. Unfortunately, a "good Samaritan" appears and offers to move Kuby's truck AND give him a ride into town. This unfortunately puts the whole plan in jeopardy, as the engineers start the locomotive up again. Mike radios Walt, and keeps telling him to abort. Walt insists that the tanker is almost full of methylamine, and orders Jesse and Todd to stay on the train. The tanker fills, and Jesse and Todd disconnect just as the train begins pulling away. Todd basically falls off the top, and Jesse is left underneath the train as it speeds off.

Once the train is gone, the trio begin celebrating their victory. However, the little kid from the cold open rides up on his bike, and waves at the three. I thought the episode was going to end there, but as soon as Todd waved back, I knew what was coming. Todd pulled out a gun and shot the child dead.

What?!

First off, I'll analyze the brunt of this sequence - It was pretty great. It was extremely tense, and the whole time I was on the edge of my seat waiting for something terrible to happen. I loved the involvement of Kuby, I loved the awful shirt he was wearing. I was also disgusted when Walter wouldn't let Jesse and Todd off the train. It kind of reinforces my worries from the last episode: Walter doesn't care for Jesse in the same way Jesse cares for him; to Walter he's an asset. Overall it was an awesome sequence. Going into the episode I was worried that the heist sequence would be cheesy, but BB pulled it off. I was sure they would be the one show that could. It was tense, effective, and it really was well-handled.

As for the ending... Wow. That's all I can really say. It was sickening. I think this is the first show I've ever seen where they actually showed a child being murdered. And there's probably a good reason for that. It was fucked up. On top of that, it was not at all the direction I thought the scene or Todd's character would go in. I knew someone was going to get hurt or die, but I figured it would be Todd, honestly. We had only seen one glimpse of him before, and he seemed extremely naive and innocent. Jesse Plemons played the character perfectly to avoid arousing any suspicion, and I think this turn of events really threw everybody off. The way Todd was written and played up to this crucial scene was nothing short of perfect. The abruptness of the episode's ending added to the chaos and awfulness of the final scene.

OVERALL: B+
This episode ended up being really enjoyable. As stated I was worried about how the heist would play out, but it was handled extraordinarily well. This week's offering was certainly more action-packed than 51, but most of that action didn't come through until the end. Once again we saw the absence of Saul, though his involvement in the group's continued affairs was implied by the appearance of Kuby. The short scenes between Walt and members of the family were quite nice, and didn't make up the majority of the episode like last week. Laura Fraser and Jesse Plemons both had amazing showings, and the new characters to the series have been really intriguing/entertaining thus far. The more I think about it, the more I find Todd absolutely terrifying. His simple demeanor and just the fact that he never stopped smiling seconds before he murdered a child... It's just... Ugh.

There were issues with the episode. Mostly I just didn't get why Mike and Walt were so averse to killing people. I guess ultimately Jesse's plan avoids arousing any kind of suspicion, but it just seems... Off to me, that Mike and Walt are suddenly so averse to killing. I also wasn't a big fan of the symbolism this episode engaged in. Jesse literally being between Mike and Walter seemed a bit forced to me, and I still don't get the point of the tarantula. Maybe there was no point to get. The flaws in this episode were miniscule and they didn't hurt it too much.

Originally, I wanted to score this episode a "B." But the more I think about it, the more the awesome heist sequence and devastating final scene warrant a higher score. I'm really looking forward to next week now. What will be done with Todd? If Walter doesn't kill him immediately, it shows you how far he's fallen from any sense of morality. His killing of the rival dealers in season three was brutal, but he did it for morally understandable reasons. At this point, I don't think Walter puts anyone's life before business. If not killing Todd doesn't at least have some of Walter's supporters in the fandom rethinking their love for the guy.

Dead Freight was a highly entertaining episode that created a character who, though sure to be absolutely loathed by the fandom and possibly become immortalized as one of the most horrific characters in TV history, is supremely intriguing. I'm sure fans will be talking about this episode for a long time to come, and I'm sure I'm not alone in being morbidly excited for next week's offering.

That's it for this week! Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell us what you thought. Thanks for reading, and check back next week for more overly-verbose analyses of Breaking Bad!

Figure Fraction: NECA Ninja Turtles - The Greatest Toy Line That Never Was?

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 14:44:00 -0700

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with my second Ninja Turtles related post in as many days. So I guess at this point, it's no secret that I'm going on a bit of a Ninja Turtles kick these days. And why shouldn't I be? What with the new cartoon coming out, the figures being cheaply available at all major retailers, and the sheer amount of love these guys receive from collectors and kids across the board, the TMNT one isn't a bad bandwagon to jump on.

Today however, I don't want to talk about Playmates' Ninja Turtles, or the new cartoon, or any of the new stuff. Instead, I want to talk about 2008. I want to talk about NECA, and Mirage Comics, and a fantastic toy line that died due to, effectively, corporate greed. Of course, I'm by no means an action figure authority. Me calling this the "Greatest toy line that never was" is obviously just a highly subjective opinion. And almost all serious action figure collectors have lamented about the failure of this line at one time or another. But in my current TMNT-Centric state, I felt compelled to write about it anyway.

Hit the jump to hear my extended thoughts on NECA's failed attempt at bringing collector-grade Ninja Turtles to the mass market.

Aah NECA... Over the past few months, I've become quite enamored with this lil' company (Though they're really by no means "little"). They produce some top-notch action figures of movie characters among other things. Their Evil Dead II line, a line they admittedly produced not for profit, but out of sheer love for the film, was what really made me appreciate what the company can do. You can find NECA's stuff in droves at Toys R Uses and most secondhand shops. Their Cult Classics line was responsible for bringing high-quality figures of characters like Beetle Juice and Ash in his S-Mart uniform from Army of Darkness to store shelves at affordable prices. Basically, NECA is pretty damn awesome, and you undoubtedly own a figure or two of theirs' if you're a serious collector.

When you see this logo, you know it means quality.

Anyway, NECA is an established, well-known name. When word broke that they had acquired rights to produce TMNT figures, I'm sure the reaction was quite positive (I wouldn't know; I got really into collecting shortly after this line died). Even better was the fact that these figures were to be based on the original incarnation of the Turtles: The Mirage comics. Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984 as a spoof of popular "gritty" comics of the day, TMNT was actually bloody, over the top, and highly violent. The Turtles are basically raised from birth to be Splinter's personal revenge/killing machines. It's... A tad different from the famous 80's cartoon, to say the least.

Just a tad.

The turtles are very serious, and they actually use their weapons, obviously. They were comedically "dark" and "edgy," and obviously the whole concept and design of the main characters were supposed to be ridiculous. The thing is though, the designs kind of work. They're corny, but they're fun. And I definitely think that the look of the characters in this comic are cooler than the way the turtles ended up looking in the original cartoon/toy line. So NECA decides they'll be making their usual brand of high-quality figures, with the designs of the Mirage TMNT. On top of how great that idea is in theory, the figures looked like this:

Oh sweet Jesus...

God. Damn. Even if you're not a Ninja Turtles fan, you can't deny that these things are first rate. NECA really delivered here, and honestly one could definitely make a valid argument that these are NECA's finest work. The articulation is awesome. The paint work is top-notch. They really do look like they were ripped straight from the comics. Obviously, fans of the Turtles rejoiced over these things, and I can confidently say that if these HAD made it to stores, I would've picked them up whether I was a huge TMNT fan or not.

Collectors waited with baited breath for these things to finally come out, and at NECA's standard price range of 15-17 bucks, these would've been a steal. There was also even more awesomeness on the slate: A fantastic looking figure of The Shredder, a neat looking Foot Soldier, a variant Shredder, a small brain thing that looked like a cross between Krang and the Utroms from the comics, and an April O'Neil that was even pretty great looking.

This Shredder would've undoubtedly been the line's high point.

The line looked liked it was going to be a home-run, and quite honestly, I could see this Shredder becoming one of my favorite figures ever if it had had a wider release. Unfortunately... It wasn't meant to be. None of these guys ever hit retail. The first set of figures were released - In extremely limited quantities to online retailers and at conventions. That's it. Big Bad Toy Store however, actually has the Shredder, Foot Soldier and April set still listed on their site, but it's been out of stock for years (EDIT: After doing some research, Big Bad Toy Store couldn't have possibly had these in stock EVER. The figures shown in the pictures here and at the conventions were handmade/handpainted prototypes. They were never even molded. I don't know why they're listed on the BBTS site). I don't know why they don't just remove the listing - it's not like any more are coming in.

Assholes...

While the Turtles themselves can be found on eBay and whatnot for jacked up prices (Seriously jacked up - The carded Turtles go for AT LEAST $70 each), Shredder, his Soldier, and his variant are pretty nonexistent in terms of being available for sale online. April was released as a Comic Con Exclusive and can be found relatively easily, but what's April without the Turtles? It makes me really upset, because these are amazing figures. To be deprived of them is something of a sin. The worst part? No one, except NECA, knows exactly why this line died.

There are a couple of theories as to why this didn't work out. The two most prominent, or at least the most prominent I've heard in my minor internet sleuthing, are as follows:

Number One - NECA rested the fate of the line on how well the April figure sold at Comic-Con, assuming that it would be an appropriate gauge of fan interest. When people didn't respond well to April, NECA killed the line out of fear that the line overall wouldn't sell. I'm not sure how well I buy this theory. First off, NECA aren't idiots. And only an idiot would assume anybody - ANYBODY - would want an April figure without the rest of the fucking Turtles getting their own wide release. That's like releasing a Zordon figure, in extremely limited numbers, and only releasing the rest of the Power Rangers if Zordon sells enough.

The Zordon figure, seen here inexplicably resembling Captain Picard.

NECA considers action figures "art," and they're first and foremost concerned with giving their customers the best product possible. I really don't think they'd fail to pull the trigger on an entire line just because of the lukewarm response to an ancillary character, especially since they already had everything produced and ready to go. The second theory sounds a lot more likely to me.

Number Two: The second, more believable theory (To me, at least) is that Playmates Toys, the primary owner of the TMNT license, didn't want competing Ninja Turtles toys on the shelves at big stores like TRU. They threatened NECA with some sort of legal action, and NECA decided to cut their losses - TMNT wasn't worth a nasty legal battle.

Sorry fellas, you ain't worth shit!

In my opinion... That sounds a bit more likely. Honestly, can you blame NECA for not wanting to go to court just to provide some great figures to collectors? NECA is a great company when it comes to that kind of thing, but there's a fine line between generosity and stupidity. NECA ain't stupid.

At the end of the day, this line would've been amazing. NECA delivered some of their finest work, and I think serious collectors everywhere would have bought these guys. Greatness aside, I think the saddest part about the line's failure is that it's just a testament to corporate greed. Ultimately, everything these companies do is for money. Playmates doesn't care if the Ninja Turtles are important to people who would've loved these figures. All that matters at the end of the day is profit, and they can't have anything inhibiting that. Sometimes it's good to get a reality check like that, but it's unfortunate that it had to come in the form of the killing of what could've been one of the greatest toy lines ever.

Speculation about corporate shenanigans and company stupidity aside, two things are certain: These toys are arguably the "Greatest Toy Line Never Made" - They're hyper-articulated, beautiful, and cool. And even though this line didn't make it, NECA's Turtles will continue to drain the wallets of collectors on the secondary market for years to come.

That's it for today! Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page to tell us what you thought. I think I'll be done with the Ninja Turtles related posts until I get a camera or the new cartoon debuts, so if you hate TMNT with a passion and enjoy this website, you're off the hook for now. I really enjoyed talking in length about these figures that have become something of a Holy Grail in the collecting world - They've achieved a somewhat mythical status (A guy I know who owns an action figure/collectible store simply said "Good luck" upon my announcement that I was interested in these figures), and I am determined to track them down! ... The four Turtles, at least.

Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collecting action figures well beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

NWC Figure Fraction: The New Villain Designs for TMNT - Too Retro?

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 6 Aug 2012 20:53:00 -0700

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon with my second post of the day (I've been feeling extra-efficient). I figured I would update the Figure Fraction page with some concerns I have over the toyline I'm currently obsessing over.

Basically: There's a new Ninja Turtles cartoon debuting on Nickelodeon in September. The cartoon doesn't look fantastic, but I'll definitely be giving it a shot before I renounce it or anything. The toyline on the other hand? It's freaking awesome. I've already gotten Leonardo, Raphael, and Kraang, and I'll be snagging the rest of the turtles, April, Shredder and Splinter soon enough. That should really be a testament to the greatness of these things: I'm by no means a huge turtle fan, but I feel totally compelled to own the whole line. Mini-review real quick: They're awesome and cheap. Buy them.

However, as awesome as the figures are, there are some distinct issues with all of the figures in this line who are A. Villains and B. Not Turtles. The articulation on the Kraang figure sucks, as cool as the design is, and the Shredder is lacking in both aesthetic and articulation. The trend seemingly continues with these two newly announced villains (Two newly announced because the uncolored robot thing-y is a revamp of a retro character) that are coming up in September.

Hit the jump to here my detailed thoughts on the two newest members of the TMNT family, Dog Pound and Fish Face!

NOTE: I won't be talking about Metal Head at all in this post. The final figure may look wildly different than the one shown, and the one shown isn't even that bad and fits quite nicely into the new series' aesthetic.

My first issue would of course be the articulation thing. If you look closely at these two, they seem to feature hinged/rotating shoulders, and cut legs. Dog Pound (The furry one, duh) seems to have cut... Forearms, which is weird, as well. But that's it. Look at the turtles. Look at how fucking articulated they are. It's nothing insane, but the turtles have a ton of movement, whereas most of the villains thus far have been somewhat... Limited.

Now I mean, I guess that's no problem if they're going to be sitting on a collector's shelf, but this is a line directed at children. And when you give us these awesome turtles... The lacking bad guy articulation doesn't cut it. I really hope Playmates doesn't make all of the villains this limited, or else they may garner some reluctance from potential buyers. But hey, that's no problem as long as the designs are nice right? And the designs ARE nice, right?

"Well now that you mention it..."

I'm just really fucking divided over the sculpts. On one hand, they do look really nice. I totally dig Dog Pound, and Fish Face looks really neat too. My only qualm is... Are they too retro for this line? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little retro love. However, the turtles have been updated in a very modern way. I'm just not sure these villains will gel with the any of the new character designs, quite frankly. Just look at these photos for comparison:

The designs of these guys are just not working with the turtles for me. They just feel too retro. Like they'd be right at home in the vintage line, but so many things just don't scream "2012 CG Cartoon" to me. The odd designs coupled with the limited articulation just make me worry that these guys aren't gonna look right on the shelf.

I definitely think Dog Pound is a more obvious offender in the whole "retro" category; the bones or whatever the hell they are jutting out of him look exactly like the kind of random stuff that would be all over the original figures, but Fish Face doesn't exactly vibe with the new turtles (Or the new Shredder, the new Kraang, etc.) either.

Dog Pound also looks extremely realistic. He has beady dog eyes, black lips, and his fur looks like real fur. This new Turtles cartoon is going to be extra-sleek by the looks of it. Green Lantern-esque. The toys maintain some level of detail, but they're faithful to that sleekness to a degree. Dog Pound looks chunky and, well, like I keep saying, "old." Fish Face is definitely more cartoonish, but he seems horrendously oversized to me. Not in terms of height, but because his head is apparently as big as Michelangelo's torso.

If Dog Pound and Fish Face are to be Shredder's main henchman (There doesn't seem to be any sign of ol' Bebop and Rocksteady) I think they vary too much from even each other. Bebop and Rocksteady definitely had different looks - Bebop looked like a biker and Rocksteady a military man - but those two looks were somewhat similar. Or at the very least, they didn't look too weird standing next to each other. But Dog Pound and Fish Face are SO different looking. From the waist down, Dog Pound looks like some kind of samurai. Fish Face has a sci-fi heavy look all the way. They're just going to look off next to each other.

At any rate, I think I'm really excited for these guys. They look great, and even if they don't look "2012" Dog Pound could easily become my favorite figure from this line, and Fish Face has a really fun sci-fi look about him. I'm just at the same time worried about their entire aesthetic versus the turtles' designs. It'll be a little different when I have them on hand in the store, and I'll probably buy them regardless. Also on top of all this, the little kids that this line and show are targeted at aren't going to look at it as overly logically as I did today. But that doesn't mean I don't get to voice my worries over the internet, dammit.

No relation to anything; I just like these guys and wanted to have a picture of them before the article ended.

That's it for this short little piece. Be sure to leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook Page to tell us what you thought. Thanks for reading, and let's all keep collecting action figures well beyond the age it's generally considered socially acceptable!

Breaking Bad Review: Season 5, Episode 4 - "Fifty One"

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Mon, 6 Aug 2012 12:31:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

Hey everybody, Geddy Cahoon here with the first installment of what I hope will be a weekly feature here on Nerd World Country - A review of this week's episode of Breaking Bad. It's no secret that we love Breaking Bad here at NWC. It's a fantastic series, arguably the greatest ever, and it's something pretty much everyone should be watching. We discussed it in the first podcast, and I've been tossing around the idea of reviewing episodes on a weekly basis for a while now. I've finally decided to pull the trigger on after viewing last night's episode, Fifty One. It might seem a little dumb to start reviewing halfway through the season, but whatever. Sue me.

Hit the jump to read my thoughts on the most recent episode of Breaking Bad.

*NOTE: This review is obviously spoiler-heavy, and is of course written with the assumption that the reader is familiar with BB's characters, plot threads, and etc.

This week's episode of BB kicked off with an enjoyable, if at times cheesy, cold opening. We see Walter and Walt Jr. are at a mechanic's shop, getting Walter's car back after some more repairs. This scene contained a nice throwback to season three's Half Measures, which is my personal favorite episode of the series. Walt reaches into his car and sees his infamous pork pie hat sitting on the passenger seat.

It is quite a nice hat.

He picks the hat up, and after staring at it for a second, offers to sell the mechanic his Aztek for 50 bucks. Of course the man accepts, and we then cut to Walter speeding into the Whites' driveway in a sleek, new Chrysler 300. Jr. gives Walt a disappointed look, and we see the two pull in again, this time Walter Jr. is in a brand new Dodge Challenger, the car he had wanted last season. The camera then slowly pans back and forth between the cars and the father and son joyously laughing. This was the cheesy part I mentioned, though I feel as though the corniness of it was probably intentional. It was pretty humorous regardless.

And then Walter blew the up the Challenger again.

Overall, I found it to be a pretty solid cold open. The humorous parts aside, it was effective in showing us that Walter isn't Walter anymore. Or at least, soon he really won't be. Heisenberg is taking over. The Aztek was Walter's car. Walter was a man who was unsure of himself. Who spent every day living on the edge of his seat, afraid that the boogeyman (Gus Fring) and his henchman were coming, or that some other misfortune would befall him. Now, with Gus out of the way, what does Walt have to worry about? He's on top of the world, at least in his mind, and nothing represents the genesis of Heisenberg more than getting rid of "Walter's" car. It also served to show (As we've seen frequently throughout the last few episodes) that Walter feels he is in complete control of Skyler now. She was the one who told him Walt Jr. couldn't have the Challenger. Well, Skyler doesn't tell Heisenberg what to do. The cold open was effective in a very subtle way, without shoving any of these ideas down our throats, and the comedic aspects kept it from being as over the top as last week's scenes of Walter doing "Heisenberg-y" things.

After the opening credits, we see Lydia in her office at the Houston Branch of Madrigal Electromotive. So far I'm digging Lydia as a character. Her scene with Mike at the end of Madrigal was absolutely fantastic, and I like how she's kind of in over her head by getting in league with Walter, Jesse, and Mike, but she did it anyway because she wanted to live. Couple that with the fact that she's constantly looking for a way out (As we'll see later in the episode) despite the fact that the dangerous men who are effectively her bosses would kill her in a heartbeat, and she kind of reminds me of a certain chemistry teacher...

This one, to be exact.

Anyway, Lydia (looking very strung out) gets a call from Mike telling her that the DEA will be in her office in about 30 seconds. Hank and Gomez appear with a slew of officers, and accost Lydia. She takes them to the building's warehouse, where they arrest a worker named Ron while Lydia looks on, worried. She returns to her office, closes the blinds, screams into a pillow, and calls Mike, telling him that she can no longer get them methylamine, as Ron was the one who did all of the footwork in that operation. Mike, as is his wont, calmly tells Lydia that he'll be sending another guy. I really liked this scene. Laura Fraser is doing a great job as Lydia. She exudes desperation but at the same time, a kind of twisted confidence. She's scared for sure, but she's always looking for a way out. As we'll see later, her desire to escape the clutches of Heisenberg and company knows no bounds.

We cut to the White residence after this, and indeed, the bulk of this episode takes place at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane. Walt and Jr. are engaging in some banter about racing their new cars (I find the scenes wherein Walter and Jr. seem to really be bonding extraordinarily heartbreaking. Jr. never really respected his dad before. Now their relationship is ostensibly great, but Skyler's current state and everything Walt has done to reach this point give it a scary, heartbreaking undercurrent), as Skyler silently sits, as she has been doing for most of the season. In the bathroom after dinner, Walt gives Skyler some money to launder and she tells him that maybe the kids should leave the house for a while. She's been thinking of boarding school for Junior. Walt doesn't like that very much, and while hugging her in bed, simply says he wants a chocolate cake for his birthday dinner the next night.

Every interaction between Walt and Skyler this season has been terrifying. Skyler now knows what Walter is capable of, and she's worried that he could end up hurting the children, either directly or indirectly. She's been acting like a zombified slave of some sort. She silently complies with everything Walt wants her to do, because she's afraid of whatever the alternative is. And Walt just thinks everything is okay. He's deluded himself into thinking that their home life is okay. That everything is back to how it was before Walt started killing people. The scenes are great, and Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston have perfect... Chemistry.

I'll be here all week folks!

Corny jokes aside, the interactions between Walt and Skyler are certainly the high points of this episode, and have really been high points of the season thus far. The next morning, we're treated to a painfully awkward/depressing scene. It's Walt's birthday, and Walter Jr. basically forces her to break Walter's bacon into a "51" as she did with his bacon one year ago when the series began. The scene is actually kind of chilling. You can feel Skyler's utter contempt for this man, her husband. She's disgusted with him, she doesn't want to look at him. But her son, in his naivety, thinks everything is okay, so she's forced to tensely carry on as if the Whites were a happy family.

We then cut to the DEA office, as Hank and Gomez go over their diagram of Gus and all the people who are enveloped in his web of drugs and death. They come to the consensus that Mike Ehrmantraut is their best lead, and they note that they'll be putting surveillance on him. This scene also had a pretty hilarious line courtesy of Hank: "Six feet under and half a face, he's still screwing us." I've been clamoring since his first appearance for Mike to interact with characters who were not named Walt, Jesse, Saul, or Gus. We got a ton of that in Madrigal, and I'm really intrigued to see how Mike handles this whole surveillance thing. We've never really seen the character under any type of non-Walt threat until this season, and I'm looking forward to where they go with this.

Something tells me Mike might handle it with his gun.

A few episodes ago, Hank's boss was fired in light of the outing of Gustavo Fring as a meth kingpin. In this episode, Hank is offered the job, as he was the only one who ever suspected Fring of anything. It comes with the catch that he wouldn't be able to work individual cases anymore, and would have to farm out his current caseload to other agents. He accepts because hey, promotion, but I doubt we'll be seeing him as ASAC Schrader for too long. I'm assuming he'll farm out the Fring case to Gomez, but he'll keep trying to stay involved and thus will be asked to step down blah blah blah. It's been shown that Hank can't resist the idea of getting Walt's Blue Sky meth off of the streets, and with it reappearing even after Gus's death, Hank's not going to be too comfortable in an office.

Speaking of Blue Sky, we then see Walt and Jesse (In his first appearance in the episode, oddly enough) cleaning up in one of their bug-bombed houses after a cook. Walt asks Jesse if he would mind finishing the clean up as he's sure he has a birthday party to get back to at home. Jesse wishes him a happy birthday, and Walt exits. In another somewhat depressing scene, Walt arrives home to a nigh-empty house, and finds Skyler preparing a storebought meal. Now I know Walter has done a lot of crap, and we shouldn't pity him at this point, but it's still a freaking downer to get no birthday party. His expectations, considering how uncomfortable/paranoid Skyler is in this atmosphere, kind of set him up for this, but I still found it a little bit upsetting, especially since he did sound legitimately excited when he told Jesse "I'm sure I have a birthday party to get home to."

Poor, child-poisoning Walter...

Hank and Marie are then shown driving to the Whites' house, as Marie tells Hank that Skyler had an affair with Ted Beneke, even though Walt asked her not to tell anybody. We see another cringe-worthy scene post-birthday dinner. No one is really saying anything, and Marie and Hank continue to pipe in with little conversation starters, but everyone just kind of awkwardly mutters to one another. The cast of Breaking Bad do "awkward" so phenomenally, and Betsy Brandt, as annoying as Marie can be, is particularly amazing in her role. Skyler silently excuses herself from the table and walks to the pool, and Walt begins a speech about how thankful he is for the support he received from Hank, Marie, and the whole family throughout the last tumultuous year, and I leaned over the my brother and said "Skyler's going to jump in the pool."

As Walt gives his speech (Which is highly uncomfortable as you don't really know how much of it is genuine, and how much of it Walt "hiding in plain sight" a la Gus) Skyler stares into the pool, seemingly reaching some sort of conclusion in her head. She then simply walks into the deep end, and refuses to come up. This scene was really disturbing, as this whole season I've been anticipating Skyler possibly committing suicide. I really enjoyed the way the shot was framed, as Skyler is seen in the background, silently observing the pool, as Walt gives his little speech. It built the tension in a really great way, and also effectively, visually conveyed the idea of Skyler sort of being on standby as Walt confidently manipulates everyone. A really enjoyable scene, though the episode's high point would come later.

The few seconds that Skyler is under water have a very eerie, ethereal quality to them.

Afterwards, Jesse gets his second scene of the episode - He's "the guy" that Mike sent to pick up the methylamine from Lydia. Lydia is extremely jittery, and tells Jesse that they can only take one specific barrel of methylamine, as she erased it from the inventory. Upon pulling the barrel out, Lydia spots something on the bottom - a GPS tracker. I found something fishy about this scene, and my suspicions would of course be confirmed later on.

Oh, hai Jesse! What are you doing in this episode?

After that short scene, we cut back to the White residence, and Walt, Hank and Marie sitting at the dining room table. Skyler is in her room, and Marie suggests that she and Hank take the kids for a while while Walt and Skyler sort things out. Walt agrees after Marie tells him that it was Skyler's idea. Honestly, this whole exchange between Walt, Hank and Marie really bugged me. It was just boring. I have no problem with dialogue or slowing the pace down for a bit, but it really just seemed like they took forever to arrive at the point: Skyler suggested Hank and Marie take the kids. I enjoyed the little bursts of Heisenberg that Walt showed when he became increasingly annoyed at Marie, but overall this scene really threw off an episode that, although slow, had never felt boring up to this point. Luckily what followed may be the strongest scene from this season so far.

Walter enters the bedroom and asks Skyler if she's happy she got her way. He berates her for a bit, telling her that this plan was shortsighted and that the kids will be back after a few days. Skyler finally stands up, and basically tells Walt that she'll do things like hurt herself or even accuse him of abuse until the kids are away from him and her. Walt counters that he could have her committed to a mental hospital, and that Skyler would never be able to lie to Walter Jr. about abuse, respectively. Skyler admits that she's not as evil as Walt, and in one of the most intense lines of dialogue I've ever heard, Skyler says all she can do is wait "For the cancer to come back." She's literally praying for her husband to die of cancer. That's insane.

This scene may have honestly been the high point of the season thus far. Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston are just perfect; if they don't sweep the Emmys next year I'll be pissed off. On top of that, I've always liked Skyler, and it's nice to see her snap out of her daze, at least a little bit. I know she receives a lot of hate from the fandom, but that's an article for another day. She reels us back in, and reminds us that Walter isn't some "badass" hero to be glorified; he's a monster. The guilt she exudes is palpable, but she's also determined to make sure that every wrong both she and her husband have perpetrated is righted, or at least doesn't come back to bite their children. Walt broke her down a bit when he murdered Gus, but as Walt has shown us, a person with their back against the wall will do anything. Skyler is a strong, just-flawed-enough-to-be-real character that I really enjoy watching, and with tensions between she and Walter coming to a head, it'll be interesting to see what happens next week.

Her husband is a meth cooker who murders people - Clearly she's the bad guy here.

The next morning, Walt receives a call from Jesse about the methylamine issue. They meet up with Mike, in his only onscreen scene in the episode, who basically confirms the weird vibe I got about the GPS scene, and tells Jesse that it was Lydia who put it there in an attempt to throw them and get them to leave her alone. Mike - in his eerily calm way - simply remarks that "She's dead," and attempts to leave to go murder her. Jesse, being a "sexist" (As Mike refers to him as) doesn't want Mike to kill a woman, so he suggests they take a vote. Walt doesn't want business to stop for any amount of time, and forbids Mike from killing Lydia.

Jesse then hands Walter a birthday present outside. The scenes between Jesse and Walt are also heartbreaking - it's clear that Jesse loves Walt like a father, but how much does Walt really care for Jesse? It's indisputable that he deeply cared for him at a time. But now, would Walt still risk everything for him like he did in season three, or is Jesse just another pawn in Heisenberg's game? That question runs through my head every time these two interact and I assume that that's the exact effect the writers were going for.

Back home, Walter tells Skyler that a few weeks ago, the man who gave him this new watch (Jesse's present) hated him and wanted him dead, but he came around. He says Skyler will come around too. Skyler says nothing, and we close on a shot of the watch ticking by Walt's bed.

OVERALL: B

I really enjoyed this episode. It was dialogue-heavy and slow-moving, but that's not always a bad thing. It focused mostly on Walt and the family (Saul didn't even appear) and in turn gave us arguably the strongest scene in this season so far. I'm also really enjoying Lydia, like I said. As always, the cinematography was great, everything is framed perfectly when it needs to be, the visual symbolism isn't too in your face, but it's not so subtle that you don't know what's going on. I won't be touching on the topic of cinematography too much, because I feel as though with Breaking Bad, you know it's going to look good. That's kind of a given.

My only real issues were: The dining room scene with Walt, Hank and Marie really threw me and... The scene with Walt, Mike and Jesse at the office was really interesting. That's not a bad thing. The bad thing is that I kind of enjoy Mike and Jesse's exploits more than Hank and Marie talking about infidelity so... When you limit Jesse to three scenes and Mike (My favorite character) to one, it kind of irks me. Again, not a bad episode by any stretch of the imagination. There are just a few elements that aren't so great. If anything, this episode set the groundwork for more intense episodes to come, with Lydia's attempt at betrayal, surveillance on Mike, and the whole "What will Skyler do next" thing. Breaking Bad always paces itself, so you expect episodes like this in the beginning of the season.

It was no Madrigal, but Fifty One was certainly superior to last week's Hazard Pay.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed this review. Leave a comment or like the NWC Facebook page and tell us what you thought. Check back next Monday for another unnecessarily verbose look at next week's Breaking Bad, and Welcome to Your Doom!

The Amazing Scott's Amazing Review of The... Not Terrible Spider-Man

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Thu, 2 Aug 2012 12:35:00 -0700

by Scott Speegle

I'm feeling pretty awesome these days. I'm drawing a lot, writing a lot, and the other day I revisited Chris Hardwick's book The Nerdist Way. In that book one of the sections that resonated most with me was the notion that, as human beings, our emotional responses to pretty much everything we encounter usually follow pretty predictable patterns based on our previous responses. In other words we feel the way we feel about things favorably if we feel favorable about things frequently and vice versa for negative feelings.

Since my review of The Dark Knight Rises (which you can read in full here) I've been trying to make a concerted effort to 'see the good in things' as it were. The thing is, it's been working. The reason I'm choosing to precede my review with this anecdote is because it might have some degree of affect on the review itself, either way here's a picture of Spider-Man in swishy pants.

This has nothing to do with the review, I just think it's funny.

-hit the jump to read the full review! Note: This review contains spoilers and is written on the assumption that the reader has seen the film and is familiar with the characters involved.-

It's probably safe to say that as far as comic characters go, Spider-Man (and his alter ego Peter Parker) is the most liberally licensed, especially when it comes to younger audiences. Spider-Man was the first comic character that I obsessed over and ultimately solidified my decision to enter the comic industry.

So we know that I've got a soft spot for the ole Web Head. Maybe so much to the point that I've avoided seeing the new reboot out of fear of having my little nerd heart broken. But not only did I break down and see it, I actually liked it. You read that right. I enjoyed this movie much more than I expected to because, and this should be made clear, while it's not a great film, I think it's about as great a reboot as you're going to find. The film does follow the by now tedious, and arguably unnecessary route of telling an origin story.
This is a questionable decision with a character such as Spider-Man since his origin is probably the most well known to the uninitiated or casual fan. One of the biggest strengths of the film however seems to be its uncanny ability to take stale elements such as the telling of the origin story and the training montage and make them fresh and interesting in the context of the universe. It is strange that this version of Ultimate Spider-Man was even the subject of a reboot at all, being marketed to adolescents, seeing as the current iteration of Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man actually is a very fresh take on the character. But this is a Marvel movie and questionable decisions are to be expected.

Caucasian young adults pretending to be in high school always feels so natural.

As integrated as the setting of high school is into the developmental arc of most versions of Spider-Man, most of what actually in this school feels cliched and hokey. The film's portrayal of Flash Thompson (Chris Zylka click this link to see a picture of the actor's shoulder) actually does a lot in that Flash has depth and eventually becomes something of a friend to Peter, in Ultimate fashion, it happens at a weird pace though and most of the early stuff involving Flash feels like every stereotypical high school bully ever.

"Kneel before me! I'm king of this microcosm of nothing!"

Peter has his obligatory confrontation with Flash in which he must triumph but even this manages to be charming and playful. Zylka works in making Flash much more complex in his later appearances and interesting questions are left open about the possibility of him playing the more militant version of Venom in successive films. So high school is a bump in the road but it's pretty much a necessary one and it is admittedly hard to execute. Other areas of this Spider-Man's development into a hero run much smoother. One the first scenes showcasing Peter's powers has him on the New York subway, asleep and woken up by some dickhead. Peter beats up a bunch of guys in this awkward and sincere way that makes me call the scene the word that has come to encapsulate the whole movie for me: charming. If there's one I think Spider-Man should be it's charming and from the get go the attitude and tone of the film strives for that.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"

It should be noted that the "Amazing" in the title is a bit misleading and the film's arc doesn't move very close to The Amazing Spider-Man comics. Rather the film is closer related to the older Ultimate Spider-Man comics and one of the most striking ways this is apparent is just how much Peter takes off his fucking mask. I'm very conflicted about this in that it introduces interesting character dynamics between Peter and those close to him but it also feels somewhat hollow and overused by the end of the movie. It's a hot bit now for the hero's arch nemesis to know his identity because of the more complex inherent problems it presents but it kind of falls flat here since the villain is somewhat underwhelming. Ryhs Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors who through sciency shit becomes the reptilian powerhouse The Lizard. Aesthetically The Lizard is surprisingly close to his classic look of wearing his tattered lab coat through his transformation, sans purple pants.

Oh how I miss those purple pants.

Physically The Lizard is a foe that demands the attention of Spider-Man and the fighting between the two is for the most part enjoyable. However when it comes to just about everything else, our villain kind of feels like he's just going through the motions. The films climax amounts to Spider-Man stopping The Lizard from turning all of New York into Lizard human hybrids and replacing the intended biological agent with a 'cure' that changes a couple nameless cops back into humans. There is a wealth of interesting allusion posed as to Dr. Connor's involvement with Peter's father before his death but as this film acts as a set up to more exposition to come it has to be put on the back burner.
The Amazing Spider-Man actually employs a great deal of subtly in its handling of one of Spider-Man's biggest foes Norman Osborn. In this universe Osborn is near death and we only view his machinations through Oscorp from his position behind the scenes. This is admirable since Osborn and The Green Goblin can be bait for writers and directors to get hammy and heavy handed. Heavy handedness doesn't entirely escape the film however as there are some funny bits involving The Lizard very dexterously mixing and throwing combinations of chemicals.

"I'm a scientist! Get it!?"

This again can be excused as far as I'm concerned because the film tries so hard to do so much and most of it feels very genuine. As one of the biggest parts of Spider-Man's origin, Uncle Ben, receives reverent and effective handling. Martin Sheen conveys the wisdom and experience expected of the character without being pushy at all. Uncle Ben's character arc is one of the film's strongest aspects as it runs through the action when needed and under it when we need to focus on other aspects. And while it's strange that there is such a high frequency of crimes being committed by men with shoulder length blond hair, the Uncle Ben arc avoids being cumbersome by remaining an open thread at the close of the film.

Ok, here comes the stuff that has to be said. As much I liked the movie, I couldn't bring myself to be attracted to Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey. She emotes at about the same level as an actual stone, that or her 'movie-dad' Denis Leary playing Captain Stacey. You know that talk about being heavy handed? Enter Leary. At every instance he operates on the same volume of intensity, forcing you very shortly to decide to tune him out. Interesting choices are made about his death at the hands of The Lizard and his relationship with Peter but I have to say I wasn't saddened in the least to see the Captain die.

Pictured: my favorite part of the movie.

While I'm still utterly baffled at Leary's inclusion in the film, I'm probably more baffled at Stone's. In what universe does she work as Gwen Stacey? She's every bit as clunky and boring as she is in every other outing she's been in. I know this is just my opinion but I think Emma Stone was the wrong choice for this role. Her bits with Peter serve their purpose in the film however and on the whole here character is considerably played down from what it could have been.

"My block like face and insectoid eyestalks should be most appealing to the nerds I seek to enslave."

Gripes with casting aside I keep coming back to liking the movie. I mean when you get over the fact that it's a reboot and that Spider-Man's costume looks like it was made out of discarded basketballs, it really works. The Amazing Spider-Man features the most enjoyable and well orchestrated Stan Lee cameo to date and that for me was a big enough redeemer to forgive many missteps. The film has laid the groundwork for very interesting explorations of Peter Parker's life that movie going audiences have not yet seen. Attention to details like math equations on spent skate board decks drive home the earnest attitude of approaching such a heavily licensed character in different ways. And while I would've loved to see a Spider-Man reboot starring Donald Glover, what I got was better than I expected.

All in all, the movie is much like its star Andrew Garfield, a handsome hardworking kid without much innate talent but charming as hell. The treatment of the characters is solid and the ambition of the film is refreshing. Peter Parker's development is the most refined of any Spider-Man film and there are clever bits that have him working at his best: a hero of the people. Learning to web swing on garage chains is characteristic of the way Peter grows into Spider-Man in a gradual way throughout the film, he makes mistakes that reflect his character and we feel like we're learning with him. Annoying first person POV shifts slow the film down visually a bit but thankfully are kept to somewhat of a minimum. I really came away from The Amazing Spider-Man with enjoyment. I immediately came home and dug into my comic collection to skim through issues of Amazing that I hadn't picked up in years.
The Amazing Spider-Man's gross to date of upwards of $621 million is proof that no matter how many times we see him on the big screen, audiences still see the appeal in the always lovable friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

I spared you from a spicy meatball joke. You're welcome.

--

Scott Speegle is a full time space cowboy and part time heartbreaker.

The Dark Knight Rises... then Returns.

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:30:00 -0700

by Scott Speegle

Batman. The consensus over here is that we like him. A lot. The thing is though that these days just about everybody and their mother likes Batman. The nerds don't own him anymore. We lost whatever battle it was that decided he belonged to everyone and now we have to live with the fallout. This isn't all bad however in that, just like everything else, with greater exposure to a wider variety of creative people, properties like comic characters should see changes that increase their depth and add to what makes them interesting.
This has largely been the case with Batman thus far. What the promotional image above strongly implies and communicates are a wide variety of very serious promises with far reaching implications. As arguably one of the most anticipated films ever, The Dark Knight Rises has a lot of challenges in dealing with its choice of executing these promises or side stepping them entirely.

-hit the jump to read the full review. SPOILERS ABOUND. Also as a note: this review is written on the assumption that the reader has seen the film and is familiar with the characters involved.-

With something of this scope, this magnitude, the massive gravity this film holds where do we even start? Apparently Christopher Nolan saw fit to start us right in the middle of what it is by now something of a signature cinematic sequitur into the narrative to come. In 2008's Dark Knight it was the elaborate bank heist scene which serves as a vehicle to introduce The Joker. Here in Rises (we'll be referring to it thusly to get around its clumsy and stupid title) we get essentially the same treatment. Villain is doing something vague, mystery, goons fight for vague reasons, something of a larger plan is hinted at and then the whole bit is abruptly cut away from.

"Why is it necessary for all this to happen sideways Chris?" "Just trust me."

Call it a prologue or don't. It doesn't matter because either way all it amounts to is a thing we watch until actual exposition takes place. Overlooking things like Bane's incredibly irritating voice and already annoying mannerisms, the first scene in the movie feels so shoehorned and forced that it doesn't end soon enough. Leading into the third and final installment of a 'trilogy' is a hard thing to do granted, but you don't get to just throw up pictures of dead characters and fast forward things x number of years and call that integration of continuity. Now at this point there is substantial exploration of Bruce Wayne's psyche in the aftermath of The Dark Knight but this is probably where the film's biggest problem for me pops up: it's so brazen about stealing.
I should be clear that I don't like Christopher Nolan and I think that there can be a case made about his generous borrowing of ideas, especially in the realm of Batman but Rises has to be the most egregious example.
In its most bare bones form Rises is a strange fusion between The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (unfortunately sharing the exact abbreviation) and another work: Rocksteady's Arkham City.
If you've played that game then the similarities should be apparent enough, if you haven't you should know that it's a different set up to the same premise.

pictured: a screenshot from Arkham City.

We'll get back to Arkham City though because most of the movie's inner workings set themselves to the stage of The Dark Knight Returns. It's not as annoying when someone steals something and does so much work hiding it that the whole of the work becomes something entirely unique. This isn't what Rises feels like though, it feels like someone stole a lot of stuff and was too arrogant to work at covering it up. Changing Bruce Wayne's 10 year retirement to 8 years, essentially mirroring James Gordon's situation of retirement, conveniently placing the reappeared Batman at odds with police over the supposed murder of Harvey Dent, the folklore status of a faded hero to younger cops and citizens. Piece after piece was taken and carefully rearranged into the framework of the universe these movies have tried to establish. Some 'borrowed' ideas don't even come from good sources (Anyone remember another superhero who wasted a ridiculous amount of time constructing their own logo out of flames?)
The thing is I think I could forgive all of this if Rises showed at least a little restraint. It literally steals from The Dark Knight Returns right up until the end, which isn't a good thing because the ending of that book is also terrible. I say terrible not as an objective statement of value, if you like it then you're more than welcome to do so. I say terrible more in the sense that it makes a promise to do something then takes an easy copout. Killing Batman is a serious thing to say you're going to do and saying it will probably get you attention. But if you don't actually do anything then you're kind of just that kid who got everyone to gather around you and watch you front flip down three flights of stairs only to call it off because the bell rang.

These are large problems and to be fair are ones that most casual fans have no trouble overlooking. Rises does do a lot of things well and on the whole it's very enjoyable. At this point in the game Michael Caine's Alfred and Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox offer consistent quality that helps anchor the film in a familiar framework of elements that work well (although not being utilized in much of an emotional of narrative capacity). Gary Oldman and Christian Bale add to this while Joseph Gordon -Levitt and Anne Hathaway seem to offer an almost equal proportion of 'unbalancing' to the equation. Anne Hathaway might be the most irritating in that I don't want to be mad at her about anything but she finds a way to not work despite being gorgeous and entirely visually encompassing of her character. Her Catwoman is one whose entire motivation is to not be Catwoman. Therefore her Selina Kyle is one who doesn't really enjoy anything about anything that is happening. This leads to the squandering of the relationship that could have been fostered between her and Bruce Wayne, which is only developed very hastily very late in the game.

"I'm going to kiss you once now for no reason and then again much later at a very inopportune time because that's empowering or some other shit."

True to her nature of guile and deception Catwoman at first aligns herself with whatever side will serve her own means and is where some of the films more complex and intentional bits can be found but ultimately Catwoman as a character stops developing and just does whatever Batman wants.

It shouldn't need to be stated but the action and fight scenes in Rises are for the most part superb, albeit too hyper focused in spots. I'm still not at all sold on the decision to include Bane in the Rises mythos because I think frankly he is a lazy choice to write and his arrangement in a hierarchy including Ra's Al Ghul feels labored and clumsy. And while I don't favor the overall execution of Bane in the film, he does offer at least the physical imposition and immediacy that Batman has not yet faced in this continuity. Therein lies probably the film's biggest strength: Big fights and big set pieces set within its own unique aesthetic (as much I'll point out what Christopher Nolan borrows from I'll also say that he has worked at making at least the visual aspect of his Batman unique). The brief encounters Batman has with Bane are gratifying if only for the fan service they provide (at the end of their first fight someone in the audience loudly proclaimed "That's from the comics!" No shit.) But honestly how much is that worth? You're sitting at the helm of the biggest iteration of Batman that has ever been, if you can't at least provide the most base element people want to see then you probably wouldn't have been allowed to make another movie.

The Dark Knight Rises: an elaborate set up to one glorious moment of gay chicken.

Rises does a lot. It glances into the realm of possibilities which would surround the death of a symbol, it laughably makes the analogy that that same symbol is nothing more than an angry child, it employs some degree of tact to explore ideas of terrorism, it attempts to make grand statements about what consequence actions have. It does all of this but still is wrapped up neatly in an easily digestible package that doesn't really stir anything up. It has a myriad of weird casting bits that muddy its vision (Tom Lennon? Seriously?). And while it tries to tie this installment into the established continuity with brief cameos, Liam Neeson's is painful to say the least while Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow is quite welcome despite his comical perch on thousands of desks, it still feels like a tacked on afterthought.

And as bad as all of these problems are I can't help but feel that the biggest problem is me seeing these things as problems. I literally could not shut off the part of me which broke down every miniscule aspect into pieces that just weren't fun to look at. There was a time when I was happy with whatever decision a writer or artist made just because I was able to be a part of it, enthralled by it. This version of me didn't break down each of these decisions and see if they conformed to my idea of the 'right way' they should be executed. This version of me actually wanted to be Batman and not just draw him. This version of me could actually enjoy things that other people worked on and not be jealous of them. This version of me also thought puka shells were awesome so there's that. So what Batman doesn't die in Rises, Batman is awesome and he shouldn't die. So what there are plot holes and things that don't make sense? So what? What all of this is about is people being able to have fantasies and see them be realized in a more gratifying way. The Dark Knight Rises does that and I think that's damn well enough.

--

Thanks for reading.

Scott's T-shirt design now up on We Love Fine!

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Fri, 6 Jul 2012 12:22:00 -0700

As part of We Love Fine's Marvel villain shirt design contest Scott has submitted this original Thanos design. Check it out on We Love Fine's website via the link below and if you like it, rate it! There's cash prizes at stake and that shit can always help. Rate and leave a comment here and there might be some kind of original art give away incentive. The rating period opens soon so reminders will be flying.

We know damn well that you want this bitch on your nerdy little torso.

contest page

The Spider-Man Dignity Mortgaging Promotion - Eviscerate Your Sense of Self-Worth at Carl's Jr.!

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:22:00 -0700

By Geddy Cahoon

The idea of fast food companies promoting a superhero flick isn't exactly a groundbreaking idea. In fact, you'd probably find it more out of the ordinary if joints like Burger King and McDonald's DIDN'T feature toys and commercials plugging the new Batman movie. However, as fate would have it, some ad promotions just... Don't work. Maybe the movie's target audience doesn't buy Happy Meals. Maybe the TV ad campaign just doesn't do the promotion justice. Or maybe - Just maybe - the campaign is so insulting, so ridiculous, and so.... Well, downright stupid, that there's no way it should have made it past the "idea" stage, let alone become a full blown movie tie-in.

Such is the case with the new promotion from Carl's Jr./Hardee's: Dress up like Spider-Man, get a free bacon burger. Now, it sounds innocuous enough. But I think it speaks volumes about a bunch of corporate executives opinions regarding the dignity their customers possess.

So hit the jump to read my venomous and ridiculous overreaction to a simple movie/fast food restaurant tie-in!

Alright, I think first thing's first, I need to address the elephant in the room here: What is Carl's Jr./Hardee's? I've lived in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey area my entire life, and I've never seen one. According to the always accurate Wikipedia, Carl's Jr. is the #5 fast food joint in the United States. But, it's primarily located in the Western/South Western US. Well, that explains why I've never seen one. Regardless of their ranking on the fast food tier list, Carl's Jr. seems to be squarely outside the realm of pop culture awareness that we usually associate with chains like McDonald's and Wendy's. You won't be hearing Carl's Jr. referenced on a show like Family Guy, is what I'm saying here.

Family Guy is of course loyal only to the mighty McDonald's.

Which kind of makes the fact that Carl's Jr. is, far as I can tell, the only fast food chain at this point in time to actively advertise any kind of tie in with the upcoming and much anticipated Amazing Spider-Man film. Now, I will stray from referencing my opinion on the film in this article. Not because I'm leaning any one way regarding whether I think it'll be good or bad. Mostly because... I kind of don't care. I like Spider-Man, don't get me wrong. But I'm just not crazy about him the way I love some other comics and characters. Well anyway, my opinion isn't really the one that matters here. It's the opinion of the masses who adore superhero movies that matters. And people seem excited about the film. Which, again, makes it all the more strange that Carl's Jr., of all places, has their grubby little paws on the film as of now.

Pictured: The first Google Image result for "Grubby Little Paws," and quite possibly an accurate representation of what goes on inside a Carl's Jr.

You'd think that with a character as well-known in America's pop culture landscape as this, we'd have an equally well-known company promoting the film. There's always the possibility that other companies will be distributing toys and such; I'm not really sure how the rights work for something like this. But you'd think that if one of the more well-known companies also had access to the film for advertising purposes, they'd hurry up and get a fucking commercial out there, especially since Carl's Jr. is giving away free food! And yes, that is the basis of the promotion, as the overjoyed fellow pictured at the beginning of this article so adequately illustrates: Come to the restaurant dressed as Spider-Man, get a FREE bacon burger!

Look at how fucking excited he is with his undoubtedly more-expensive-than-the-burger-itself "Amazing Spider-Man" costume...

Now, I don't know about you, but I see myriad problems with this. The first of course, is that not many people (In my area, at least) know what Carl's Jr. is. At the very most, they have some vague idea that it's a food serving establishment. But, that is not the least of the problems on display here. Let's run down a few of the issues, shall we? First of all, who has a Spider-Man costume on them? One that actually fits. Yeah, assumedly not many of you. So you'd probably have to buy a costume if you wanted to partake in this fantastic promotion. That should be a red-flag right there. How much do you think a Spider-Man costume costs? I'll give you a hint: More than the fucking bacon burger. With the money it'll take to hunt down a REAL costume, you could buy MULTIPLE bacon burgers. Is it really worth it? This hot chick seems to think so. It's "Jumping in the air and fist-pumping" worth it.

That burger could be your dick if you just come down dressed as Spider-Man.

Now, you could obviously make your own homemade costume if you want free shit that badly. But that prospect, as I see it, is the real crux of the problem here. Who is so desperate for free meat, who so longingly desires a free burger that, let's be honest, doesn't even look that appetizing, that they would come down to the fast food joint dressed in a homemade Spider-Man costume?! That insults me on so many levels, and I would never even consider considering doing something like this. A bunch of corporate higher ups and ad execs got together and decided that they could put a price on the dignity of their customers. Even if you do own a real Spider-Man costume, they're VERY specific about the "No Masks" rule. So you're really not even dressing as "Spider-Man." You're dressing as "Guy in Spider-Man Costume." All for one free hamburger. It may seem like I'm overreacting a bit here, but this really offends me. On top of just seeming like a blatant disregard for human dignity, I also feel a twinge of anger as a comic fan. I feel like they're saying "Hey pal, wanna dress up as your favorite super hero? That's great. We'll even throw a free burger your way."

This little asshole isn't getting shit until he loses the mask.

I feel like I'm being pandered to and patronized. I don't appreciate being patronized. The burger offered here costs $3.59. Is that what you're worth? Do yourself and your fellow man a favor and skip this promotion if there's a Carl's Jr. near you. But if you don't have a problem with this promotion, look at it like this: Maybe I'm just an asshole. Maybe it's just a way for people to have a little fun, get some free food, and get excited about an upcoming film that they're surely going to enjoy, and I'm just taking it wrong because I enjoy criticizing things that bring others joy.

Maybe I'm just an insufferable, unpleasable prick...

..... Nah, probably not.

I'm Nerd World Country's Geddy Cahoon, and until next time, thanks for reading!

'THE DARK KNIGHT RISES' Promotional Materials: Too Much Too Soon?

noreply@blogger.com (Nerd World Country Podcast) — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:22:00 -0700

by Alex Hajna

About five weeks ago, the world was bombarded with the "super-marketing" campaign for Marvel's 'The Avengers'. Poster after poster, image after image, TV spot after TV spot, interview after interview, clip after clip, commercial after commercial... you get the idea. Now --- nearly two months before its release --- Warner Bros. seems to be doing the same thing with 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

Hit the jump for more...

On Monday, Warner Bros. released a new poster for the final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise, 'The Dark Knight Rises'. Understandably, it wasn't very well-received:

It looks as though they took the first teaser poster, added an orange hue, then cropped an image from 2008's 'The Dark Knight' on top. In fact...

That's exactly what they did.

People were taken aback by just how cheap and uninspired this poster was. But soon, all was forgiven.

The very next day, three new character posters were released:

Followed by another three character posters:

Now this is what we were hoping for; intense, heroic, dark (can't forget the dark) posters. Our Dark Knight beast was fed for another week. But we didn't have to wait another week. Not by a long shot. The very next day, seven brand new official images were released via Batman-News.com:

And as if that wasn't enough, just a couple of hours later, two new TV Spots were shown; one during the season finale of American Idol, the other during Modern Family, each with some brand new footage:

TV Spot #1:

TV Spot #2 - "Catwoman":

And then, the following day... yup! MORE images, via Empire Magazine:

These images are a real treat because (a) we finally get a look at Marion Cotillard's character, and (b) a nice look at Anne Hathaway (the idea of her as Catwoman is actually growing on me). But we still haven't seen the last of it.

Four more character banners were released today, and these are very cool:

So the question has to be asked: why are they releasing so much in such a short amount time? If this is what we're getting a whole two months before the movie's release, what will we get in the weeks leading up to July 20th? It's one thing to have a massive marketing campaign. It's another to over-do it. I don't want to see the movie before I've seen the movie. Christopher Nolan is known as the master of secrecy in Hollywood, so why has so much been shown already?

Let's journey back...

In July of 2007, the teaser trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight'.

In July of 2011, the teaser trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

In December of 2007, the first theatrical trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight', along with an IMAX preview of the opening scene of the film.

In December of 2011, the first theatrical trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight Rises', along with an IMAX preview of the opening scene of the film.

In May of 2008, the final trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight'.

In May of 2012, the final trailer was released for 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

If this is any indication, they seem to be following the exact same marketing pattern for the previous film. Which means we can be expecting at least a dozen more TV spots, and a profusion of images, which was the problem with 'The Dark Knight'. When I saw the movie, I wasn't surprised by what I had seen. Did it diminish my overall enjoyment of the movie? Probably. I still find the movie to be one of the greatest films of the century. But I might have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't seen the entire movie in bits beforehand.

So is this what WB has in mind for 'Rises'? Let's hope not. Sure, 'The Avengers' had an enormous marketing campaign, but they still only scratched the surface of the entirety of the film. There was still a lot we hadn't seen. Let's just hope that's the case with this movie.