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Messages - Nicklab

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5821
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: 'The Hobbit' movie
« on: December 21, 2013, 11:59 AM »
I saw the movie during the week.  For me, I tried to view the movie as a standalone piece that drew from a number of Tolkkien sources.  I've never read the book.  My own familiarity with The Hobbit came from the animated film.  It seems very clear that someone wanted to stretch things out.  The big question seems to be whether it was story driven or money driven.  I think it's a bit of both, but more likely it was about money.

From a story perspective?  I've been reading in a number of articles that some of the material that's found it's way into The Hobbit film series actually comes from The Silmarillion.  And I've also read accounts that The Silmarillion is a very difficult read, and most likely IMPOSSIBLE to film.  But it IS Tolkkien source material that could potentially contribute to a film, and I think that's probably what was behind New Line's efforts to stretch the movies into a trilogy.  And New Line has shown that their interest in Peter Jackson's film interpretations of Tolkkien's written work is very much about money.  After all, New Line did try to withhold royalties from Jackson, forcing him to sue the studio.  But I get the general sense that New Line recognizes that these films are likely to be their last opportunity to cash in on the world of Middle Earth.

As for the film itself?  The prologue was cool.  At first I was scratching my head, wondering why in the hell is Thorin back in Bree?  Sure enough, he turned up at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.  And it was nice to see Peter Jackson reprise his cameo role as Carrot Eating Man, albeit sober this time.  It was puzzling though, that there were men after Thorin.  Would men actually work with the Orcs to hunt down Thorin?  And on the cameo front, I was almost expecting an Aragorn cameo.  There have been some rumblings that Viggo Mortenson might reprise the role at some point.  But perhaps that's going to come in the Battle of the Five Armies?

The pursuit of the company of Dwarves by the Orcs has almost gotten a little tiring for me across the span of two films.  The prologue at least served to break that up a little bit.  But we ended An Unexpected Journey with the pursuit / rescue by the Eagles only to go back into The Desolation of Smaug with more of the Orcs chasing the Dwarves.  At least that was broken up with their encounter with Beorn, and the trek through the Mirkwood.

The Mirkwood sequence was kind of trippy.  And the spiders were more than a little bit scary.  The Wood Elves?  They seemed remarkably different from the Rivendell and Lothlorien Elves that we saw in LOTR.  It's funny, because I almost see a Star Trek parallel with the Elves, with the Rivendell & Lothlorien Elves being more like the Vulcans, and the Wood Elves are more like the Romulans.  The Wood Elves seem far more aggressive than any other Elves we've seen before.  Thranduil especially seems like a real sonuvabitch, and I can understand more and more why the Dwarves don't trust him.  I think I might need to see the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey to flesh out my own opinion on Thranduil and why he turned his back on the Dwarves of Erebor.

As for the whole Azog / Bolg thing?  I've done some reading and learned that in the books Azog was killed by Dain Ironfoot at the Battle of Azanulbizar.  And yes, you can clearly see Bolg as we saw the action figure in that sequence.  I personally haven't seen Dwalin killing him, but that scene is really dense, visually.  Making out all of the details is a little difficult. 

I think the reason for the inclusion of Azog (or a key Orc) was to aid Thorins character for the film.  When Azog killed Thorins grandfather, King Thror, it was a humanizing moment for Thorin as a character.  It helped to develop the story of Thorin and his oaken shield.  And all of a sudden the story wasn't just about the quest to re-take Erebor and it's treasure, but to avenge his slain family members.  One thing that I remember keenly from the animated film was the Dwarves being obsessed with the treasure.  Thorin in the films seems a bit more complex of a character than that.  Still, in Desolation of Smaug, they seemed to explore the treasure obsession a little bit when the Dwarves finally got into Erebor and Thorin was able to see the treasure for himself.  And that seemed to echo the scene of Thror's obsession with the treasure that was in the first film.

I don't know that I buy the whole love triangle with Tauriel, Legolas and Kili.  A Dwarf and an Elf?  Really?  Based on Evangeline Lilly's appearance on Conan O'Brien's show it seems likely that the studio wanted some kind of love story.  That's not without precedent in Peter Jackson's movies.  The whole Aragorn & Arwen storyline was a very minimal element in the print version of LOTR, but was greatly expanded for the Peter Jackson trilogy of movies.

I thought Smaug was thoroughly menacing.  The voice definitely worked for me.  Cumberbatch did a great job, and the Smaug voice didn't seem anything like the Necromancer voice.  And his dialogue with Bilbo?  I thought it played well.  At least, as well as you could picture a conversation between a Hobbit and a dragon.  But clearly, the fight between Smaug and the Dwarves seemed more like a film creation.  But Thorin's ride in a wheelbarrow down a sluice of molten gold?  Come on.

Gandalf's journey was interesting.  His investigation of the tombs of the Nazgul was understated, but cool.  As for his quest to Dol Goldur and fight with the Necromancer / Sauron?  That I'm not so sure about.  I get what the film is trying to achieve about Sauron's return, and his desire to use Smaug as a weapon of war.  But it does come across as being almost too convenient of a tie-in leading up to the events of LOTR.  There's also the mystery of Thrain that might still be explored.

Clearly, there's plenty left to resolve for the third film.  And the cliffhanger seems to leave us in a far different spot than we saw at the end of The Two Towers.  But we seem to be on a clear course for the third film, complete with Bard making himself ready with the black arrow in an effort to kill Smaug.

5822
The Bullpen / Re: Marvel Universe
« on: December 17, 2013, 06:11 AM »
Is there any chance of me being able to get a MU Professor X anymore? Marvel stuff is only stocked at one TRU in town, and I use the word "stocked" very, very loosely. No Marvel stuff at any other places.

I've seen some Professor X figures at Target stores over the past few weeks.

5823
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: 'The Hobbit' movie
« on: December 15, 2013, 08:20 AM »
Caught an IMAX show tonight...can't say enough good things. I really hope the rumors of Benedict Cumberbatch lobbying to be in EpVII are true...he brought Smaug to life and just oozed evil.  After a little bit of a rough start Desolation brings back the Middle Earth magic...next year can't come soon enough

He said as much on Conan.  And he did his best Wookiee impression for Harrison Ford on a UK talk show.

5824
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: The Spider-Man Movie Series
« on: December 14, 2013, 11:56 AM »
Spider-Man 3, Venom, and Sinister Six Films announced!

Holy Announcements, Sony!  Sure explains the Venom and SinSix easter eggs in that preview trailer.  ;)

Pretty sure I saw a rig that looked like the Vulture's wings in there.  And when did the Rhino's suit become some kind of mecha?

5825
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: The Black Series 3.75" - 2013 Wave 2
« on: December 13, 2013, 01:18 PM »
Pretty good pricing on some TBS wave 2 over at Amazon.  I just ordered R2 and Luminara for about $12, shipped.  Amazon Prime combined with holiday sales are a nice thing!

5826
JD Sports Forum! / Re: NFL 2013-2014
« on: December 11, 2013, 04:20 PM »
The increase of ACL tears is definitely worrisome, but I think the concussion situation has far more lasting affects into later life.  The NFL finally seems to be taking the issue seriously.  Witness the huge payout the NFL made to retired players for head injuries.

Knees can be repaired structurally.  An ACL injury used to mean the end of a career, but sports medicine has made some great strides forward in repair and rehab.  And no doubt the NFL is going to start looking at lower body hits, the current rules, the turf and shoes in combination to try to deal with this uptick in knee injuries.

But I think it's the head injuries that are the bigger concern.  When you have recently retired veterans like Brett Favre coming out and saying they have concerns about the safety of kids playing the game in relation to concussions?  That's significant.  And more parents are getting concerned about letting their kids play football.  The injuries seem that much more brutal than in other sports.  And parents seem to be steering their kids to other sports with less potential for serious injury.

How horrible is it going to be if the Super Bowl is played in these conditions this year? I think it would be an embarrassment.

I couldn't disagree more.  Look back at some of the most storied games in the history of the NFL.  Case in point?  The Ice Bowl of 1967.  Lambeau Field in Green Bay was frozen, and those conditions were a major factor in the outcome of that game.  If we wind up with conditions like that for this season's Super Bowl?  That game could quickly go down as one of the legendary championship games in NFL history.  And maybe something like this will drive away some of the corporate clown who now take up so many of the seats at the game, letting actual fans become more of a factor in a Super Bowl.

5827
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Official Movie Thread
« on: December 11, 2013, 03:07 PM »
I recently watched Redemption (Jason Statham) on Netflix. Actually, a pretty good movie and definitely the best Statham flick.

Sorry, but that honor belongs to Snatch.  Statham came out of the gate very strong with those first two Guy Ritchie movies, and he was fantastic as Turkish in Snatch.  That movie was awesome, and it launched him into some good movies.  The Bank Job is also very good if you haven't seen that.


Always a big fan of Godzilla, and hoping this erases the memory of the '98 movie, which was truley abysmal.

+1

Roland Emmerich gave us a very cool movie in Independence Day, but the '98 Godzilla was just awful.  The design of Godzilla alone took me out of it.  As did Matthew Broderick, as well.

This new trailer looks pretty cool.  And the design of Godzilla is pretty cool from what you can see.  A big part of what I liked about the trailer was that as a viewer you couldn't get a sense of the full scale of Godzilla, that being due to his sheer size as well as the devastation around him.

5828
The Black Series 3.75" / Re: Amazon Droid Factory Multi-Pack
« on: December 11, 2013, 02:39 PM »
Even at the $15 price, one set of these is enough for me.  I wanted this set mostly for the BAF Droids, and not so much for the other figures.  But the crazy swings in pricing have been interesting to watch.

5829
I think she's got the potential to surprise the audience. She is Israeli, and she probably did her time in the IDF. I bet she can probably get the fighting parts right. But she's probably going to have to get into a significant training program. 

As for measuring up to someone like Linda Carter?  Film makers managed to get Angelina Jolie to measure up to Lara Crofts ample proportions. They can probably do the same for Gal Gadot.

5830
JD Sports Forum! / Re: NFL 2013-2014
« on: December 8, 2013, 04:03 PM »
I like the fact that weather conditions affect the game. Football has always been an all-weather sport, and the varying conditions make it that much more interesting to me. What about when high winds affect the passing game and kicking game?  Personally, I don't see the sense in coddling these professional athletes with a perfect climate.

5831
JD Sports Forum! / Re: NFL 2013-2014
« on: December 8, 2013, 01:25 PM »
Watching the snow fall at the Lions - Eagles and Vikings - Ravens games right now.  Damn, I love watching football in the snow!!!!!!!!!

5832
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 7, 2013, 01:06 PM »
That's a great point about the CommTech Reader. Way ahead of its time and shy of the mark of real interactivity. If they had integrated that technology into the vehicles/playsets, or beyond to any kind of gaming, then maybe. But that was 15 years ago (!!!). The more I think about it, it's the toy industry in general, rather than any particular brand, that is suffering right now.

There was a second generation of CommTech chips in the works.  The figures that were to be offered with that second wave of CommTech technology eventually became what we saw in the POTJ line.  Rumor had it that when you placed multiple second gen CommTech chips on the reader that they would interact with one another.  But from a marketing standpoint the concept fell flat.  Hasbro probably would have been better served by packing a figure with the CommTech reader, but it's all ancient history.

The action figure segment seems to be reaching for SOMETHING to bring it back.  But I think it's really suffering because the market has become oversaturated by properties that THINK they can sustain an action figure line, and a shift towards video games on either console systems, computers and handheld devices.  I suspect that what may help is if we see a game developed by both Hasbro and EA with content that's unlocked by codes with a figure.  Will that happen?  We'll see.

5833
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 6, 2013, 02:52 PM »
I know Episode VII is going to be ga ga gangbusters and will have the full spate of product we expect but I agree with you, it isn't going to be the SAME product we expect.  Video game/Interactive model is the now and it is going to happen. 

I agree.  The action figure model has been running since 1978 as we know it, and that trend appears to be on the decline.  Unless Hasbro can find some way of making those figures & toys interactive with gaming systems.

What I think we're likely to see in the next 1 to 2 years?  The Kinect concept is pretty big with X-Box, and I think we're going to see other consoles pick up that kind of technology.  I think Hasbro is very likely to offer a lightsaber that interacts with these consoles with a game.  Perhaps in a partnership with EA.  And I think Disney can bring those parties together to make something like that happen.

But the lack of media support is also at play here.  However, with the new animated series launching next year I think it's likely that we'll see an uptick in sales.  Will that translate across the board, and not be isolated to just the Rebels series?  We'll have to wait and see.

It's funny though.  I know that in it's time we decried the CommTech reader of 1999 as nothing but a gimmick.  But the concept seemed to be a little bit ahead of it's time.  The concept had some foresight regarding interactivity and media combined with figures.  I suspect that this "New Thing" might actually owe something to the concept behind the CommTech reader.

5834
The Vintage Collection / Re: The Future of Star Wars Collecting?
« on: December 6, 2013, 02:05 PM »
It does seem that play patterns are shifting towards interactivity with gaming consoles and computers.  When I go into TRU these days I'm struck by the enormity of the Skylanders feature display at the front of the store.  Some 30+ feet of shelf space is dedicated to this particular property, and it seems that popularity is due to how the toys interact with video games.

As for the current spate of sales?  We're in the home stretch of the 2013 retail season.  And we always see significant sales this time of year.  It is worth noting that retail sales stats show that spending in 2013 is DOWN from spending during the 2012 holiday season.  That macro statistic indicates a more broad softness at retail than being isolated to any one intellectual property like Star Wars.

As for Star Wars?  I believe I've said this before, but it bears repeating.  I think we're in a transitional stage.  Hasbro is trying to find the next big thing from a play pattern / marketing standpoint.  And Lucasfilm / Disney are still dealing with the new realities of the corporate takeover.  Much of the licensed future of Star Wars is going to depend on how Episode VII shapes up, along with the upcoming Rebels animated series.

So fear not, Chicken Little.  The sky is not falling.  We're just waiting to see where things are going next.

5835
The Vintage Collection / Re: Amazon Vintage TIE Interceptor
« on: December 5, 2013, 04:26 PM »
Not as good of a deal as Slave I, IMHO.  I'll wait for it to go on sale again later in the season.

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