Fanboys Anonymous

Want to know what happened the past few days in nerd culture? WEEK IN GEEK is your quick fix to catch up with the rest of the Fanboys out there.


MOVIES

The Oscars…so that happened.

My take: Opinions on The Oscars vary wildly from "Can you believe Leo got snubbed?" to "I really don't give two $#!ts." This was yet another year where I had only seen one of the nominees for best picture. Overall, I think the event is a good "check in" with the performers from whom we all expect more, and possibly too much.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier posters, featurettes, trailers…

My take: Holy crap. Seriously. Thor: The Dark World was a subpar sequel that did over a billion dollars worldwide. Calm down, Marvel. You've got this in the can. Enough with the overpromotion.

Captain America to feature Ninja Turtles trailer.

My take: Good, I had run out of things to mention regarding Captain America: The Winter Soldier, releasing April 4th, 2014. Seriously, how cool is it knowing we'll finally be able to rally a real opinion on the Turtles movie in less than a month? Looking forward to seeing some footage, and it better not be a damn teaser!

Minecraft Movie announcement.

My take: Like many adults, I don't understand Minecraft. My nieces play it. My girlfriend's son plays it constantly. They've all explained to me, in detail, what they are actively "doing," but none could answer my follow-up question of "Okay…but what are you doing?" Anyway, since I guess this is a popular property and it looks like the producers of the amazingly fun LEGO Movie are the ones in charge, this may end up being something to keep an eye on.

Master of the Universe moving forward.

My take: I'm one of the few people who actually enjoyed the original film with Dolph Lundgren. However, it was a total disappointment no matter how I color it in my rose-colored memory glasses. Any new version would surely take place entirely in Eternia (right??) and be much closer to what we all hoped for from the original. Whoever signs on, I wish them good journey.

VIDEO GAMES

Batman: Arkham Knight.

My take: This game looks like it's going to just flat out, balls to the wall, kick some serious ass. Asylum was a new story adventure game (and the greatest to feature Batman, ever). City was a fun sequel, and Origins was a lackluster filler, but Batman: Arkham Knight looks like the Batman game to end all Batman games. Mark my words, this game will possibly outsell all previous incarnations.

South Park: The Stick of Truth released.

My take: I have not played this yet; however, from what I hear it is a seamless transfer from watching the show. At a full game time of 14 hours, it is basically like playing through an entire season of the series. Aside from Arkham Knight (above), this game tops my must-play list this year.

TELEVISION

Aaron Paul may join Better Call Saul.

My take: Though I'm actually very curious to know what happened to Jesse Pinkman post-Breaking Bad, seeing his younger self might be fun, too. The series is a prequel, so almost anything is fair game. As long as they don't meet any Gungans, I'm all for it. The opportunity for stories in lawyer-based TV shows has proved bottomless, and I'm excited to see what could be a comedic take on the genre (under the guise of a drama).

Billy Dee Williams on Dancing with the Stars.

My take: Hello, what have we here? Welcome. Oh, I'm still milking this role? This deal is getting worse all the time!

Gotham casts Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle.

My take: Of all the projects DC has on its plate, this is one I'm most hesitant about. The series was originally to surround the young adventures of Commissioner Gordon as he worked his way up the ranks. Gotham City would become more corrupt as the series progressed and end with a finale that showed Jim Gordon at the end of this rope…until a savior in a cowl appeared. The end. Now, the focus seems to be turning to young Bruce Wayne and a teenage Selina Kyle? The more reports that come out on casting, the more this show feels like it will follow the same mistakes Smallville suffered from: too many unlikely scenarios that deter too far from original concepts.

The Flash costume revealed.

My take: More on The Flash costume reveal here but as a quick point of note, this looks pretty good. Where Arrow adds new characters with new takes on their costume designs, The Flash looks like it's keeping true to style. I'm excited to see the rest of the suit, as the reveal was just the cowl.

COMIC BOOKS

Issue #1 explosion.

My take: In the last month alone, we've seen a new Punisher #1, Wolverine #1, Ms. Marvel #1, Winter Soldier #1, X-Force #1, She-Hulk #1, New Warriors #1, Fantastic Four #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #1, Magneto #1, and Moon Knight #1. For long-time readers like myself, this is frustrating as hell. I understand this helps give way to miniseries that can be collected as trades, but my fear is that the must-have mentality behind #1 issues is beginning to drive sales. I thought we had entered an era where the amazing stories were selling books. Let's hope that continues and this just happens to be "Issue #1 Season" or something this month.

Marvel delivers Original Sin eyeballs.

My take: I love the new trend of unique promotions going on in the last year or so. Marvel has sent retailers bouncy balls to mimic the missing eyeballs of The Watcher from May's Original Sin story. The only problem is that many of these promotions are kept within the comics community and rarely effect sales overall. What they need is something targeted at the masses to help the books perform even marginally as well as the movies do.

Paul Levitz joins the board at BOOM!

My take: I have several issues with several long-time comic book creators (I'm looking at you, Scott Lobdell), but Levitz is not one of them. He has been with DC for a very long time and has rarely made any controversial decisions that negatively impacted the stories. He pioneered the 52 series to be weekly back in 2006 and that was several years of DC stories I enjoyed the most. He's continuing work with both companies, and I think if I didn't say anything, nobody would have even noticed the change.

CELEBRITIES

Scandal at The Oscars?

My take: Nope. Aside from Leo not winning any awards and Jennifer Lawrence not being able to walk in heels again, the event seems to be getting friendlier. Perhaps it's Ellen hosting; nobody can be upset or disgruntled when she's around.

Samuel L. Jackson mistaken for Laurence Fishburne video.

My take: I know I'm late on this, but I just finally watched it today. This is a great example of how lazy reporters are and how they get tossed into roles they don't even understand. How frustrating to be a movie fan and watch some idiot like this make such thoughtless errors. Jackson should have spent the entire screen time tearing this guy apart and getting him fired.