Fanboys Anonymous

It's Black Friday and that means the Christmas shopping season is in full swing where every store will be packed with riotous crowds and super long lines. That's a huge pain to deal with, so why not avoid it entirely if you can?

If you're pumped for the upcoming release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens on December 18th and you're looking to add some merchandise to your collection this holiday or pick up some gifts for friends and family, make sure to check out SuperHeroStuff.com for their limited edition Star Wars Saga Box builds of their signature HeroBox subscription line.

The team over at SuperHeroStuff was nice enough to send me a box for this month, so I wanted to show off the swag in the first ever unboxing video for Fanboys Anonymous, which you can watch below:

That's no moon...that's a mystery box!

Celebrate the original trilogy & Episode VII with this limited edition box!

The HeroBox® Star Wars Saga Gold Edition for Men is like a normal HeroBox®...EXCEPT BETTER! Oh yes, things can get better...oh, and by better, I mean more! MORE! MOOOOOORE! Ahem. Coming with at least a shirt and tons of other goodies, the HeroBox® Star Wars Saga Gold Edition 2.0 for Men is for you serious Star Wars fans. You know you want it.

Gold Edition: $69 for $100+ worth of Star Wars & Episode VII gear

Silver Edition: $49 for $70+ worth of Star Wars & Episode VII gear

As you can see, the boxes include some pretty cool stuff that Star Wars fans will be sure to love.

Act now and place your order at SuperHeroStuff.com for these boxes or themes such as the Marvel Gift Box, DC Gift Box, or specific ones based on particular superheroes like Batman, Wonder Woman, Deadpool and more.

Thanks again to SHS for sending this our way!

On episode 20 of the FA Movie Club podcast, Fanboys Anonymous members give their thoughts on the James Bond franchise by reviewing one film for each actor who has portrayed the character of 007.

The words, "Never have I ever" have been spoken as a ritual during every prepubescent sleepover and drunken gathering of our young adult lives. A staple of debauchery in its prime, it often revolved around sexual encounters and shameful admissions but almost always barely scratched the surface of what we're all willing to admit. You can't have humility to play this game.

Never Have I Ever: The Game of Poor Life Decisions

Never Have I Ever: The Game of Poor Life Decisions follows the structure of the classic party game, with an added twist. Someone draws a red card that gives you a rule to the round and then starts the sentence, "Never have I ever..." before detailing an embarrassing scenario. If you are not guilty of the Play card, you discard it; however if you are guilty, you get to keep it and the shame you are now forced to relive. Whoever is the first to have 10 cards in their pile wins—and is arguably not the person you want to bring home to your parents.

The bright orange box includes 550 cards (485 embarrassing Play cards and 65 Rule cards) and suggests exactly what it is: a game of poor life decisions. Each card forces you to own up to the awkward one-night stands, public bouts of indecent exposure and urination, and drunken messes you once became in your younger years (or are currently).

The first time I tested this game, it was with a friend and a random guy at our table we thought would be fun to have join us. It was a great way to learn a lot about someone before you even get their name, and although I can't actually remember what his name was, I could tell you heaps about his sex life. This game is less "Never have I ever" and more "Things I have done that you are now picturing."

As we went through each round, the rules of the game were given some clarity, though we did bump up the amount of points needed to win because, let's be honest, we're adults that went through college and the majority of the cards we drew are just normal experiences that passed by with not much more than a small laugh, or at least we were mature enough to think so. The concept of it is great—each card is pretty detailed and probably not what would've come to mind had we played it the original way—and the Rule cards spice it up instead of going around in a circle with a scenario you hope you're not the only one guilty of.

Never Have I Ever rule cards

Never Have I Ever is meant for 4 to 12 players and passes itself off as a "judgment-free" game, though what is the point of the game without passing judgment on your best friends? Even one of the Rule cards suggests each player vote on whether or not you're guilty of the card you're holding on your forehead. I don't know, are you guilty of "Put my kids to bed early so I could get high," or "Used the same condom twice?" There's no judgment-free way to answer half of these without silently saying, "Yes, you are a horrible person."

Most cards, of course, involved your typical sexual, alcoholic, or drug-related experience, while a handful included the most innocent scenarios that make you scratch your head and wonder why they were even included in the deck. "Binged on Netflix without leaving the house" is now the norm and I'd probably judge you if you haven't. "Added bacon to my kale salad" is easily the most mundane card, unless you are (gasp!) a vegan, while "Wanted to have sex with someone here" is guaranteed to be met with a unified "YES!" (and if it's not, there's also a card that reads, "Lied while playing Never Have I Ever" because we all know the answer to this one).

Never Have I Ever play cards

Admittedly, my second go at this game ditched the Rule cards and turned into a round of holding up each card to my friend in Los Angeles via FaceTime. Every round garnered either an intrigued chuckle or a half-amused "Of course you did," because at that point we both agreed that we each lived sordid lives. I could definitely say that this game is much more suited for a larger group of people after a couple of beers.

My only quarrel with this game are the select few cards that are borderline slut-shame, misogyny, and rape culture. "Roofied someone" or "Tried to get someone drunk so I could have sex with them" is more than likely to make the crowd uncomfortable, and no story to explain would've been needed. It's not funny and shouldn't be included in a game that makes light of our horrible decisions. As the instructions state on the bottom, "If this game offends you, go buy our other award-winning game, Dabble. Sure, if you don't like this game, give us more money for another game.

Although this game doesn't quite match up to the widely popular Cards Against Humanity, it easily markets to the same crowd and makes for a great stocking stuffer for the holidays. It's the perfect party game for those who aren't easily embarrassed.

Never Have I Ever: The Game of Poor Life Decisions is available on Amazon and at local retailers including Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Spencer Gifts, and Target, for $25. Alternatively, there's also an app available on iTunes and Google Play, though it's not as much fun.

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 127 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, Gibby and Patty McTitties!!

::SPORTS NEWS::

• The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!

::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::

•  Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!

::FRANK'S CORNER::

• Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life

::CELEB NEWS::

• Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!

Plus the occasional game of Who Said It, the crowning of The Doucebag of The Week, and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.



As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

On the latest edition of the Movie Trailer Reactions podcast for Fanboys Anonymous, the panel breaks down their initial reaction and their overall thoughts about the latest trailer for Captain America: Civil War.

Does this look like the right direction for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or is this just Avengers Lite? Which side are we rooting for?

Some topics we address:

• Bucky at the center conflict
• Black Panther in action for the first time
• No Spider-Man, Baron Zemo, Martin Freeman, or Ant-Man
• Is Tony Stark being portrayed as the bad guy and not on equal playing ground?
• "He's my friend." / "So was I."
• and more!

You can watch the podcast below. Make sure to subscribe!

Captain America: Civil War plot picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.

Our first look at Marvel's Captain America: Civil War was released today, ushering in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In case you missed it, check it out here:

We will be recording a special podcast of our reactions and thoughts on this trailer, so stay tuned for that video. Make sure to tell us what YOU think in the comments below!

Captain America: Civil War plot picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.

Episode 22 of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast reviews season 1 of Marvel's Jessica Jones television series, breaking down episodes 1-13.

You can check out the podcast below on YouTube, iTunes, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

Welcome to the latest edition of Making the Grade—a review format segment here on Fanboys Anonymous where we break down the five major components of something and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.

The next report card is for season 1 of Marvel's Netflix television series Jessica Jones.

CHARACTERS: C

There are three characters on this show that I was really into, but sadly only three: Jessica Jones, Kilgrave, and Luke Cage. They make up a triumvirate who balance each other out in a lot of interesting ways. On one side of this complex love triangle is Luke Cage, who is quiet, reserved, big, strong, and seemingly has a heart of gold—probably the best example of a moral compass as far as characters go. On the other side is Kilgrave, who is a more loud, flamboyant, wiry coward frequently referred to as The Devil (rather than his comic book namesake The Purple Man—a disappointment that nobody called him that).

In the middle of these two is Jessica, who is definitely heroic like Luke but has a dark side like Kilgrave. She's a snarky pain in the ass whom I know I'd hate to be around, yet she does the right thing time and time again. If you thought Tony Stark was stretching the limits of how much of a jerk a superhero can be, watch out for Jessica. She earns her hero cred, though, and just as much as she's an interesting foil to Luke Cage, I'm looking forward to seeing how she works with Daredevil later on down the line.

The other characters, however, are where this show falls by the wayside. At best, they're tolerable for a short amount of time, but nearly all of them are useless. In fact, I can't help but feel like the majority of them serve no purpose for the season other than to pad out episodes because the story was too thin to make 13 hours of content.

For example, what's the deal with the incest twins? Ruben was a sacrificial lamb that we didn't get to like enough to be sad to see die, as these two were presented as oddballs. His sister Robyn is a total annoyance who eats screen time just complaining. Did we need to follow that thread? Would we have lost anything to the story if neither of them existed?

Did we also need to devote so much time to Jeri Hogarth's divorce if it was all going to end up being a wash? Pam has no character other than being "Jeri's new fling" and both Jeri and her ex are just bitchy to each other. How much time was dedicated to Hogarth asking Jessica to get more dirt on Wendy all for this to end with it not mattering at all?

That's a recurring theme—that stories are dropped for an episode or two, drag on too long, and have too weak of a resolution.

Malcolm is a drug addict who gets over his addiction pretty damn fast, doesn't he? After that, he just stands around and looks worried. I can't even remember the older cop's name who is just a trope, being killed before his retirement. Then there's Will, who started off boring, became interesting, and then was tossed aside abruptly, making him amount to not much more than a distraction.

Trish Walker is a decent sidekick but doesn't match up to Foggy Nelson levels in comparison to the Daredevil franchise. My only real complaint about her is that her backstory is ridiculous and continues the trend of being superfluous. She's got spunk and I'm glad she survives, as I hope to see more of her, but not more of her bickering with her mom or any more references to the strange careers she's had, which I couldn't care less about.

And then there's Hope. This is a character who could have been much more useful, but while she kicks off the show's purpose in a lot of ways, she spends a lot of time sitting off on the sidelines doing nothing. It's a shame, as her story had untapped potential that may have smoothed the pacing a bit more with a rewrite.

ACTING: B

The two standouts here are Krysten Ritter and David Tennant.

The character of Jessica Jones is such a bitch and very abrasive, so in the hands of the wrong writers, directors, and actress, she could have easily become an unlikable protagonist, but Ritter pulls it off. Instead of hating her and rooting for the villains, I wanted to see her happy.

I'm not a fan of the Doctor Who franchise, so I didn't go into this with any particular bias for David Tennant beforehand, and I'm glad to say that he won me over from the very beginning. He's figured out a way to take a character who could be a monster and make him relatable just as Ritter did with Jessica. There are times where I pity him and wish to see him rehabilitated. The best part of the whole season, in my opinion, was the episode revolving around him learning how to be a hero instead of using his powers for evil. Kilgrave is one of the few villains from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who I feel lives up to the hype. He's twisted and extremely menacing, so I felt the tension and feared for everyone's safety. I'd put him on par with Wilson Fisk from Daredevil, if not above him.

Gender-bending Jeryn Hogarth was an interesting choice, but I get it. I like Carrie-Anne Moss in the role even if I don't think the writers made the character strong enough to properly utilize her. Hopefully, when we see her again, she'll have a better story.

I do like Mike Colter as Luke Cage, but I also have to acknowledge that I don't think he's doing anything special with the role that nobody else could have done. He embodies what I know about the character from the comics, so I'm cool with him going forward. The same goes with Rachael Taylor for Trish Walker, whom I'm admittedly not as familiar with as far as characterization, but I'm up for seeing more of her down the line as I liked her on-screen pairing with Krysten Ritter and bought into their friendship/sisterhood just as much as I believed Ritter's romance with Colter.

Everybody else? Meh.

VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): B

No complaints to me on this regard. It feels like this is in the same universe as Daredevil, so the continuity was maintained, which I'm happy about. Nothing negative stood out to me that looked fake or cheap.

MUSIC & SOUND: B

Most of the music went unnoticed to me, but I like the opening theme quite a bit. With Daredevil, I got sick and tired of hearing it over and over again, yet this one is more relaxed and enjoyable. It's also quite different from what the other themes for the MCU have been, and it suits the style of this noir detective tale perfectly.

TONE (ACTION, ROMANCE, COMEDY): B+

ACTION: I'm not sure how I should look at this, actually. On one hand, it's a superhero property, so action is one of its primary functions. However, this is not supposed to be something like The Avengers. It's a detective story, which is more about investigation than punches. I won't be too harsh, but I do have to say that it leaves much to be desired. Daredevil had that hallway fight sequence, but this doesn't have anything memorable. The fight with Luke was probably the best part, but most of the season was just watching Jessica break off a lock with her bare hands or casually jumping in or out of frame instead of flying. Those two things happened so often that I lost track while trying to keep count, and I wasn't impressed any time I saw it.

COMEDY: Is it wrong that I laughed quite a bit at what Kilgrave said and did? Am I messed up? Oh well. Considering the source material, comedy was never going to be the focal point, as the subject matter is just far too dark to make a laugh riot out of it. I did still laugh at times, though, so that's good.

ROMANCE: Rather than romance, this show is about sex, and while it's no porno, it's raunchier than I expected. It's actually rather nice to see this as a change of pace, as lust tends to be edited out of relationships in film and television. Jessica and Luke, for instance, love to fuck and get down and dirty when they're up for it, and it isn't masked in any kind of hokey "clutching the bed sheets in slow motion" fashion we're used to. Not much is off limits, as almost everything is either shown or implied, but I'm very thankful that one thing that was omitted was any rape scenes, as that would have just felt uncomfortable to watch.

FINAL GRADE: B

It may seem like I have a lot of negative to say, but in the end, I do recommend the show. Rather than genuinely disliking the things I criticized above, I more so feel a sense of disappointment, as I wanted this to be as good or better than Daredevil, but it just doesn't match up. The main story is incredibly interesting and the core trio of characters are a delight, but it's just the extra stuff that gets in the way.

Reducing Malcolm's role, abandoning Jeri's divorce angle, shortening Trish's backstory to only the elements that help establish Jessica's origin, completely eliminating the twins and not dragging out Hope's story as long would have helped trim the fat with probably half of the content. Theoretically, if those are 6.5 episodes freed up, that time could have been spent dedicated to expanding on Luke Cage, who I think might also not have 13 full episodes' worth of content.

While I can't help but feel that this dropped in quality from what came before it, I still do suggest Marvel fans check it out. It's something different and there are some great things that are worth struggling through the bad to experience.

On the latest edition of Minute Man Reviews hosted by Tony Mango, season 1 of Marvel's Jessica Jones television series on Netflix is given a full review in under 60 seconds.

Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe and leave your comments on what you thought of Jessica Jones!

On episode 25 of the Fanboys Anonymous Group Meeting podcast, the panel has a roundtable discussion debating who is the best actor to have portrayed agent 007 James Bond on the big screen.

Hosted by Tony Mango, the panel includes Alex Grimley, Caroline Oliveira, and Shaun Walker.

Some topics we address:

• Is James Bond a coldblooded assassin or does he have a softer side?
• Which 007 actor is the best at action sequences?
• Which Bond has the funniest jokes and what's the proper level of comedy?
• Who is the most charming Bond with the most sex appeal?
• Should Bond be sophisticated and cultured?
• and more!

You can watch the podcast below. Make sure to subscribe!

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 126 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, Frank Ward, Gibby and Patty McTitties!!

::SPORTS NEWS::

• The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!

::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::

•  Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!

::FRANK'S CORNER::

• Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life

::CELEB NEWS::

• Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!

Plus the occasional game of Who Said It, the crowning of The Doucebag of The Week, and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.



As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

With the release of Spectre, November of 2015 has been dubbed "007 Month" here at Fanboys Anonymous, and to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of GoldenEye, we present to you episode #14 of the FanTracks podcast, which is an audio commentary track for the entire film.

For copyright reasons, we cannot provide the movie itself, but if you sync up the video of the movie with our commentary, you can listen to our thoughts on the film as we crack some jokes, expose some plot holes, chat about why this is one of our favorite movies and so on.

After a short introduction, you will be told when to sync up your copy of the episode so you can follow along with our commentary. Follow the links below to listen to the podcast on either YouTube, iTunes, or Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

Welcome to another edition of Wed, Bed, or Dead—the Fanboys Anonymous equivalent to games such as Marry/Fuck/Kill, or "Kill, Bang, Marry" or any of those other alternative names with the same "would you rather" ranking concept.

If you're unfamiliar with these games, here are the rules: three men or women will be pitted against each other and you are forced to place each of them into a specific category of your choosing. You cannot double up on any category, replace people, or anything else. You must pick one to "Wed" (marry), one to "Bed" (have sex with), and for "Dead" (kill)—in theory, of course.

Obviously, all three women here are from the same film that has been getting a lot of focus as of late here on Fanboys Anonymous, Spectre. While there are two other female characters in the story (Moneypenny and a cameo by M) as well as some extras in the background of scenes, these are the three primary women that won't likely be showing up in any other films, making them easy targets for this edition.


For these games, I like to use a three-point criteria of Attraction, Personality and Wildcard. Attraction and Personality are pretty self-explanatory, focusing on their looks and what goes on behind the scenes. Something like their intelligence, character traits, behavioral attitude, and so forth would go under Personality, while their physical appearance and sexiness make up the bulk of Attraction. As far as Wildcard goes, those could be any other factors that take away or add to someone's appeal.

Since all three of these women are super attractive and none of them are particularly bothersome in any way, I had to approach this by judging mostly on the Wed option. Estrella is someone we know almost nothing about, so I ruled her out almost immediately. While Madeleine Swann has a bit of an attitude, it's more of a defense mechanism that goes away compared to Lucia Sciarra, who is just too damaged from her marriage. I also have a thing for smart girls, so Swann gets a boost for that, and Léa Seydoux is closer to my age than Monica Bellucci (though not as close as Stephanie Sigman), making her a better Wed choice. Then, as beautiful as Estrella is, she doesn't even help Bond out in his mission in the slightest bit. Do you give the Death option to the person who is effectively useless in the plot or the one that says she's doomed to be killed? Sorry, but as gorgeous as Sigman/Estrella is, we're talking about Monica Bellucci here. How could I pass up an opportunity with her and the Bed option?

This is a tough group, but there really are no wins or losses, so isn't that the best kind?

Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Check out episode 125 of The Dace Man Show with hosts Chris "The Dace Man" Dace, and Gibby!!

::SPORTS NEWS::

• The NHL, MLB, NFL, and our favorite: curling!

::WEIRD NEWS WITH GIBBY::

•  Gibby brings the class to the show with weird things going on in the world!

::FRANK'S CORNER::

• Frank-tastic facts for your everyday life

::CELEB NEWS::

• Dace is back, and he's packing a punch since he's on some diet pills and Red Bull. Get ready Hollywood!

Plus the occasional game of Who Said It, the crowning of The Doucebag of The Week, and much, much more, only on The Dace Man Show.



As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course,the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a comfy seat in front of your computer—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


Follow on Facebook: Mega Powers Radio | Fanboys Anonymous | The Dace Man Show | Nerd Court | Sports Talk Weekly | Addicted to Anime

On the heels of the announcement that CBS is creating a new Star Trek TV series to debut on their paid subscription service in 2017, many fans are left wondering what this new voyage could be about. After all, we've seen everything from alternate timelines to the prequel missions. For almost 50 years, the franchise has taken us where no man has gone before. We've fallen in love with the diverse cultures, the utopian societies, and all that kickass technology we wish we had. I grew up a devout Star Wars fan, feeling like there was a competition among the two worlds, but it wasn't until I got married that I really fell in love with Gene Roddenberry's creation. Next thing I knew, my kids were being named after characters and I'd watched all the episodes numerous times. With Trekkers and Trekkies alike all celebrating, let's go over a few of possible storylines I'd like to see in the new series.

1. A New "Next Generation"

The great thing about all of the different series is that they all tied in together in some way. They weren't separate entities that contradicted each other. Many of the characters crossed over to other shows, and sometimes storyline holes were explained on other series. There was this fundamental unity that had fans in love with the whole Star Trek universe, not just the show. One of the things I'd really like to see is the recasting of The Next Generation. A new Jean Luc Picard, a new Worf, and a new Captain Riker to name a few. It's true that this storyline would be limiting since there are only two options, redoing the series or creating an alternate timeline like they did with the recent movies, but it would be nice to see some beloved characters revamped and back for more action.


2. A Static Storyline

One of the greatest things about the Deep Space Nine series I liked was that the show was able to explore static storylines that the other series didn't touch on. Religion, building societies, and raising a family. Captain Sisko was the only captain with a son and an encouraged love interest. We saw the perils of single fatherhood and love while being captain. In the other series, romantic encounters were discouraged and often not explored for more than an episode of two. DS9 also explored the religious depth of the Bajoran prophets. If the new series even contained a fraction of the diversity that DS9 had, I'll be happy.


3. A Different Federation

Another option would be to explore more than just the Federation. How about a series that takes place outside the Federation? How about the rebellious Maquis? Let's see what it is like to be them for a change; what motivated them? True, most of them were destroyed, but we could see how it began. Even something on the pleasure planet of Risa would be fun to explore. Let's take away the wars and the diplomacy and see who shows up for vacation.


4. A New Ship with New Enemies

We've had Enterprise (quite a few times), Voyager, and even the Defiant. Let's have a new ship with an awesome new name and send it out into the void to explore a new quadrant of space. Don't bring back the Borg or any of the old species. The great thing about Voyager was getting to explore all the new aliens that the other series didn't have a chance to see. Something reprising that would take an interesting turn.


5. Even MORE In The Future

Many of the series were relatively close together timewise, with some of the series even overlapping. How about mixing it up a bit? Let's go even farther into the future and see what happens. After the Dominion war, perhaps even centered around a fall of the Federation? We could fall in love with a cast composed of future generations of some of the other series.


6. Let's Try Enterprise, Again

It's no secret that ST: Enterprise is a widely criticized series. I actually enjoyed it, but felt it really fell apart with the infamous time-jumping began. It distracted from the original intent of the show, to document the voyage of Earth's first deep-space vessel. I loved how they were just learning about technology, especially the teleporter, they didn't really use replicators for everything, and their medical practices were still growing. While a little more relatable, it was nice to see the society without all its sophistication and watch them explore and learn just how they got there. I would love for the new series to have a little of this rustic charm.


There you go. These are my top six suggestions for what I'd live to see on the new series. What would you like to see? Do you agree with my ideas or not? Leave a comment and let me know.

It seems the horror movie fandom has lost another legend. Gunnar Hansen, who played the original Leatherface in the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, passed away this Saturday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Maine. He was 68.

In honor of Hansen's amazing interpretation of a chainsaw-wielding lunatic, Fanboys Anonymous has compiled a list of 10 interesting facts you need to know about the original Texas Chainsaw. Read these while enjoying some deep-fried-non-human-meat.

There were real human remains on set.

The skeleton used in the house at the end of the movie was real because, according to IMDB, "a human skeleton from India is far cheaper than a fake plastic skeleton."

There was real blood.

Marilyn Burns, whose character was chased by Leatherface through the undergrowth, hurt herself badly on the branches, so a lot of the blood on her body and clothes was real.

There was also real blood in the dinner scene, where they cut Sally's (Burns) finger and try to feed the blood to Grandpa. According to Hansen, the tube that shot the fake blood kept malfunctioning, and, finally, after several takes without the tube working properly, Hansen simply sliced Marilyn Burns' finger open. "And the reason was," he explained, "at this point, we were insane."

Burns had her finger sliced, for real.

The soundtrack is truly scary.

It contains the sounds one would hear inside a slaughterhouse.

Real animal corpses were used.

The animal carcasses were reportedly borrowed from a local veterinarian. When they were no longer needed, someone burned them in order to dispose of them.

It actually stank in there.

Aside from the smell of rotting animals, actor John Dugan lived in his makeup for over 36 hours (five of which which took to put the makeup on) during a "brutal summer heat wave where the average temperature was over 100 degrees." While filming the dinner scene, the stench from the rotting food, animals, and body odor was so dreadful some crew members passed out or became sick. Edwin Neal who played the hitchhiker stated: "Filming that scene was the worst time of my life... and I had been in Vietnam, with people trying to kill me, so I guess that shows how bad it was."

Edwin Neal

The movie was slightly based on real events.

Though it wasn't based on any chainsaw killings, the movie was inspired by the events surrounding Ed Gein, a real-life killer and grave robber who fashioned himself a suit made out of human skin.

Hansen did not have fun.

When asked if the shot was a fun experience, Hansen replied:

Not a bit of it. I think it was one side or the other of 100 degrees for almost all of the shooting and it was Central Texas, which means it was quite humid. For me I think it was also bad because I wore a mask. And that mask was made out of latex. So even though I could breathe through it fine, it was tight up against my skin, so I was always soaking wet under it. And then I had a wool suit and wore wool trousers the whole time.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was not the original title.

The movie was almost called Leatherface or Headcheese.


Hansen's costume was not comfy.

Hansen had to wear the outfit 12–16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 4 weeks. There was only one costume, and it was never washed throughout the production. Hansen recalled he smelled so bad that nobody wanted to stand next to him. The boots he wore had been fitted with three-inch heels so that he could appear taller than the rest of the cast.

Director Tobe Hooper wanted the movie to get a PG rating.

He believed that, by implying the violence instead of showing it, the movie should have gotten a PG rating. However the Rating Board gave it an easy "R."


Hungry for more? Check out Hansen's book Chainsaw Confidential, which details his experiences on set and beyond.

Episode 21 of the Fanboys Anonymous Reviewpoint podcast reviews the 24th film in the James Bond film franchise: Spectre. What do we think were the hits and misses from the film? How does it stand in comparison to previous films in the Daniel Craig era and what direction will the series go after this?

You can check out the podcast below on YouTube, iTunes, and Stitcher. Make sure to subscribe!

On the premiere episode of Minute Man Reviews hosted by Tony Mango, the latest installment in the James Bond film franchise Spectre is given a full review in under 60 seconds.

Check out the video below and be sure to subscribe and leave your comments on what you thought of Spectre!

One of the many reasons why I loved the newest installment in the James Bond franchise, Spectre, so much was because of the winks and nods to previous elements of the series. Among my biggest gripes about Casino Royale (which I am actually quite fond of) and Quantum of Solace (which I think is a piece of crap in some ways) was how much of an attempt they made to shun what came before them. Instead of ordering a vodka martini—shaken, not stirred—Bond says lines like "Do I look like I give a damn?" or "What is it that I'm having?" That's about as frustrating as Uncle Ben coming close to saying "with great power comes great responsibility" but not actually delivering that exact line. I'm looking at you, Amazing Spider-Man.

Even Skyfall, which took a huge step forward in an effort to go back to the past with the inclusion of the classic mission briefing office, a male M, a new Q, and a new Moneypenny, still couldn't resist scoffing at the exploding Parker pen from GoldenEye and insisting that things were different. Nobody must have given Q the memo that the fingerprint gun was already used in License to Kill and the GPS tracker was in Goldfinger, but that's beside the point.

Spectre managed to have tons of references to the films of different eras, and as I was watching the film, each one of them that I spotted made me giddy with joy and confused my friends who aren't as into the franchise as I am. To help break down just why there were so many times that I was giggling like a schoolgirl, I figured I would compile a list to show off just why this was the film for a James Bond fan.

*NOTE: Some of these listed below are definitely planned, while others may actually just be me jumping to a conclusion and weren't actually intentional. I also may be missing some, so if you know of any others that aren't on this list, please send them our way in the comments!

Keeping the Continuity

Before we list the things that are homages, we should establish the difference between those kinds of references and the ones that are within the actual continuity of the movies. These Daniel Craig films do a much better job at keeping things together, where they are actual sequels to each other instead of more randomized followups. For example, Bond still has M's bulldog paperweight thing that she gave him in Skyfall. Characters like Vesper Lynd, Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene, and Raoul Silva are referenced, as is Felix Leiter. It's nice to see that the integrity of the series hasn't been muddied up yet.

The Obvious S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Connections

The S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization itself makes its return, as does its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Although he's not referred to as Number 1 in this movie, he's given his trademark eye scar from You Only Live Twice as well as his white cat and is first seen in the shadows sitting at a conference table, similar to how we were introduced to him in From Russia With Love and Thunderball before getting our first good look at him.

The Opening Gun Barrel

Before the Daniel Craig era, every James Bond film opened with the iconic gun barrel sequence. The music changed slightly from time to time, the actors were different (sometimes not even being the guy who played Bond himself, as the first three films used stuntman Bob Simmons instead of Sean Connery.

With Casino Royale, though, this stopped happening, which greatly annoyed me. I somewhat understood the lack of it for the first reboot, but when it wasn't the opening for Quantum of Solace or Skyfall, it got under my skin. Thankfully, this is restored to the start of the film for Spectre, which made me thrilled right off the bat.


James Bond Will Return

Just as the beginning's got its traditions, so too does the end of a 007 film. Even though it means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, as we know the franchise isn't going to die any time soon, I made sure to stay for the full credits to check out the usual "James Bond will return" text, which has followed every film in some fashion. Although they can't name the next movie like they used to, it's still reassuring to see those words and know that in a few years, Bond will be back in some form.

Something Comma Something

Have you ever noticed that the two most iconic lines of dialogue from the James Bond character both use the pattern "____, _____" in some way? It took four films, but finally, Daniel Craig's Bond was able to say both "Bond, James Bond" and "shaken, not stirred" in Spectre rather than dancing around it.

Aston Martin DB5

Easily the most iconic vehicle from the Bond series is the Aston Martin, particularly the DB5 model which became synonymous with 007 in Goldfinger. Since that film, it's been used several times to varying degrees, including Skyfall. It makes another appearance here, and after Bond points out the make and model of a Rolls-Royce earlier in the movie and waits for his baby to be restored, it gives off the vibe that the DB5 is going nowhere. It appears to have taken on a new life as Bond's preferred car, similar to how he was attached to his Beretta 418 before taking up the Walther PPK and later, P99. If Bond were to drive off into the sunset, it would definitely be in this car.

009's Bad Luck

The 00 agents are the best of the best, and since 007 is our protagonist, it's no surprise that he's at the top of that group, even. In fact, the only one who seems to be close to a match to his skill level is 008, who has yet to be killed in any of the films, probably because he's described as "a good man, more careful than Bond" in the novel Goldfinger. Some don't have that much luck, however, and the worst of them all is poor 009. One of them is killed in Octopussy while dressed as a clown, of all things. In The World is Not Enough, 009 somehow found a way to fail his task of killing Renard after putting a bullet through his head. In the novel Deadly Double, another 009 is killed, and yet another bites the dust in Serpent's Tooth.

While 009 does not get killed in Spectre, he does get his car stolen by 007 and made fun of for having bad taste in music. Poor guy.

Madeleine Swann = Tracy Bond / On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Did anybody else get the feeling that Léa Seydoux's character Madeleine Swann was very reminiscent of Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, aka Tracy Draco, aka Tracy Bond from On Her Majesty's Secret Service? Tracy is the daughter of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Union Corse crime syndicate. Madeleine is the daughter of Mr. White, who is a member of Quantum, which is a subdivision of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Both of them have an action sequence in a snowy area, both want to resist Bond's charms, and both fall deeply for him in a way that convinces him to seemingly leave the spy game. Also, for extra added measure, On Her Majesty's Secret Service ends with Tracy and Bond driving off and her being killed by Blofeld, while Spectre ends with Madeleine and Bond driving off and her having been almost killed by Blofeld had Bond not been able to save her.

Moneypenny's Love Life

The relationship between Bond and Moneypenny has always been one of flirtation leading absolutely nowhere. Usually, it's Moneypenny expressing her frustration that Bond doesn't take her out or give her flowers or something, but every so often, Bond gets jealous. In GoldenEye, for example, Bond interrogates Moneypenny on the clothes she's wearing and the date she was going on. In Spectre, Bond overhears that there's a man sleeping over at Moneypenny's place and calls her out on it. By the way, was it just me, or was that supposed to be Denbigh that she was sleeping with and that plot point was just dropped?

Pristine Order

The recurring joke for Q Branch's weapons is that they're not making it back to the lab in top shape. Just as Desmond Llewelyn and John Cleese before him, Ben Whishaw's Q dislikes Bond's destructiveness, stating that when it comes to the car, he asked for it to come back "in one piece," not for "one piece" to come back.

River Thames Boat Sequence

In both this film and The World is Not Enough, Bond emerges from MI6 headquarters in a boat and proceeds to chase a villain on the River Thames. Bonus points for how both also involve the villain trying to get away in an aerial vehicle that eventually proves itself unsuccessful as it explodes—a hot air balloon in The World is Not Enough and a helicopter in Spectre.

Live and Let Die, Repeat

Excuse the Edge of Tomorrow pun—I couldn't resist. In Live and Let Die, one of the primary villains is the voodoo priest Baron Samedi. The opening of Spectre revolves around the Day of the Dead, involving many people dressed up as masked skeletons. Although the cultures are different, I would not be surprised at all if someone on the production crew managed to sneak in an actual Baron Samedi costume among the crowd.

Train Fight

Perhaps the most beloved fight between Bond and one of his villains is the train fight with Red Grant in From Russia With Love. Clearly, Sam Mendes and company have a fondness for that, as the henchman Hinx meets his demise while battling 007 in a train in a more modern and smashy-smashy take on the scenario.

Moonraker Control Room

This may be a stretch, but there is a scene where Blofeld is showing off a room filled with tons of people working at stations with monitors with surveillance all over the world. The first thing I thought of when seeing this set design was of something similar in Moonraker. Since there are no clear photos of this scene from Spectre yet, I can't post a comparison, but if you've already seen the film or if you plan on seeing it, look out for something that looks similar to this:


Did You Expect Me to Talk?

Everybody knows the scene in Goldfinger where Bond is strapped to the table and the laser is about to cut him to shreds. In Spectre, Blofeld has Bond strapped to what looks like a dentistry chair and threatens him with several needles and drills.

Ejector Seat

Speaking of Goldfinger, Bond has an ejector seat in his car which he uses to dispatch one of the villains. In Spectre, Bond uses his ejector seat on himself so he can escape the car and the clutches of Mr. Hinx.

White Tuxedo and Red Carnation

Another from Goldfinger was Bond's suit during the train sequence, which was a white tuxedo finished off by a red carnation.

Do You Know How to Use One of These?

In GoldenEye, Bond hands a gun to Natalya and asks if she knows how to use one. She proceeds to load it properly without any instruction, much to Bond's surprise. In Spectre, Bond assumes Madeleine has never used one before and goes so far as to point out where the trigger is. To his surprise, she dismantles it, explaining that she's used one before.

Hole of Operations

In You Only Live Twice, S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s base of operations is a volcano, which erupts. In Spectre, they've made a base out of a crater that was formed from a meteorite. Take a guess as to whether or not it explodes.

The Hildebrand Rarity

A safe house in Spectre brandishes the name Hildebrand and states that it deals with rarities, which is an obvious reference to The Hildebrand Rarity—a short story which was included in the collection dubbed For Your Eyes Only. Thankfully, there's no subplot in this film about a fish.

Michael G. Wilson

Although I actually don't know for sure whether or not he's in this movie, Michael G. Wilson has made his cameo a regular Easter egg, so I have to imagine he's there somewhere. Perhaps he's in the meeting with the Nine Eyes? I'll be looking out for him on my second viewing for sure.

That's about all I could spot, but did you notice any others? Tell us in the comments below!