CITY BOY GEEKINESS

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Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Happy Halloween!

I love this holiday. Everything from dressing up to the scary movies to the overall feel of the day. Yesterday's Halloween celebration ends a weekend of costumes and horror movies. As a geek I should like creating costumes, like for Fan Expo, but I only do it for Halloween. I'm not sure why...

This year, I went as The Riddler from Batman. For those unfamiliar with the green Batman villain, The Riddler is the inquisitive Edward Nygma, who loves to challenge the Dark Knight with life-threatening puzzles and games marked with his iconic green question mark. I've dressed up as a few heroes and characters over the years; it's nice to try a villain once again (my last villainous Halloween costume was as the puppet from Saw).

Even though Halloween is over, there's always movies like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas to keep me entertained. You can also watch this old CollegeHumor video to enjoy a quick laugh!



Action movies are always about the heroes fighting the villains. It's the triumph of good vs. evil and the story of how good can overcome. But with the Suicide Squad comic book series, the bad guys are taking a trip down the good road to play the heroes. "The grass is always greener on the other side" hasn't looked this good...well, more like bad.

I've been eagerly waiting for the film to come. Suicide Squad was filming in my city last year and it was exciting to hear all the latest updates going away (and the first footage of Harley Quinn popping up). Until the flick comes out this August 2016, you can watch the newest to get you just as excited.


Fall isn't just the start of school or the changing season, it's also the brand new TV season. One of the most anticipated shows to premiere tonight is "Gotham" on Fox. Gotham tells the story of the future Commissioner Gordon (played by Benjamin McKenzie) and the origin stories of the many popular characters that make up the dark and gritty Gotham City in the time of Batman.

With the show set to air this month, many details have been revealed about the characters, including which comic book villains will appear as of the pilot episode. The Peguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and Poison Ivy are just four of the future villains who will have their origin stories explored in the first season. Similar to the likes of shows like "Smallville" and "Arrow", there are bound to be more characters and villains introduced throughout the season (and subsequent seasons, if successful).

Batman is my favourite superhero. What with the childhood cartoons, video games and movies, I am a fan - though I haven't read the comic books. In anticipation of the future characters, I've spent some time thinking of which potential villains could have their origin stories revealed on Gotham. NOTE: Just a helpful reminder, I didn't read the comic books so age accuracy and retcon could disprove some of my wishlist choices below. Also, I obviously left out the four villains above who will already be appearing in the show.


10. CLAYFACE
The genetically modified monstrosity. I'm not sure how Gotham's production will be run; I would assume it will be more realistic in special effects like Arrow compared to the upcoming "Flash" or Smallville. However, the original character of Clayface was supposedly an actor named Basil Karlo who was old enough to have a film be remade about him. Potentially Gotham could feature the younger actor as he films the original "Clayface" movie that would soon inspire his criminal moniker.


9. HUSH
A brilliant surgeon in Gotham City, Hush drastically changed his physical features to target two people: Bruce Wayne and Batman. Thomas Elliot (Hush) was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne  - he was jealous and competitive of his friend. Since the young Bruce Wayne will appear in the show, it would be great to see the future Hush around, showing the animosity which would inspire his future villainy. 


8. MR. FREEZE
Let me get this out of the way: I'm not the biggest Mr. Freeze fan. His appearance in the Batman film that shall not be named ruined his image for me and I sometimes find him to be a tad corny. However, a re-imagining in a show like this - similar to the Dark Knight films - could fix that. His character is a little older in the current series so having him appear as a younger doctor wouldn't be completely out of the norm. It may not show his transformation into the demented Mr. Freeze but we could see his early beginnings with his ill-fated wife, Nora.


7. SCARECROW
This is more of a curiosity idea for me. Scarecrow has always been the creepy Batman villain, the one who always pops up to incite nightmares for the citizens of Gotham City. I would be interested to see Scarecrow, the younger Jonathan Crane, as he starts his fascination into psychology and bio-chemicals in the medical field. He probably wouldn't be as demented as he is in his adult life but his origin story may explain his fear of bats/fascination of fears. Note: this may already be explained in the comic books at a later time.


6. THE MAD HATTER
Jervis Tetch is a dark and deranged character in the Batman universe. He's a hat maker who is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland; he is forever searching for his missing Alice. He took on the alias of the Mad Hatter and uses mind control technology to serve his own will. He's one of the few Batman villains to become more evil and villainous as the years progressed since his introduction and it would be interesting to see how the show portrays him in their version. He would be younger in the origin story but potentially we could see the original Alice that inspired his future criminal career.


5. RA'S AL GHUL
Similar to Clayface in the special effects regard, Ra's al Ghul may be toned down if he makes an appearance in Gotham. He's the founder of the League of Assassins and he's also the father to Talia al Ghul, one of Bruce Wayne's future lovers. However, he's also centuries old and uses magical pits to sustain his age - that would be hard to explain on the show. He could prove to be future season villain. However, Ra's is a character that could potentially appear in other DC television shows as well so the chances of him appearing in Gotham may be slim to none.


4. PROFESSOR HUGO STRANGE
Batman Arkham City may be one of my favourite video games ever and Professor Hugo Strange was at the epicentre of the story controlling the events. Professor Hugo Strange is a terrifying character who uses powerful serums to control his victims. Before his descent into villainy, he was a psychologist. Out of the characters listed above, he may be one of the easiest to incorporate into the show as he could be the therapist or criminal psychologist to any of the criminals or victims in Gotham City.


3. BLACK MASK
At the heart of the Batman universe, Gotham City is plagued with crime and several groups run by powerful mob bosses. I don't just mean the groups in clown masks, two-face masks or snow suits but the actual criminal organizations. Black Mask is one such mob boss. Sure, he wears a dark leather black mask, but so do most of the people at S&M clubs. Black Mask is a power-hungry corrupt criminal mob boss in Gotham City who controls most of the inner-workings of Gotham City. Similar to Professor Hugo Strange, the Black Mask alias could be an easy villain to incorporate into the show.


2. TWO-FACE
Harvey Dent is a former Batman ally turned villain (and sometimes neutral ally). The scars on his face resulted when a mobster burnt half his face with acid. Soon Dent turned to crime as Two-Face, a criminal who flips a coin to determine decisions based on duality. While this wouldn't be the criminal origins of Two-Face, it could be the hero story of Harvey Dent as his younger self going into law or being a young friend to Bruce Wayne. He's one of the few on this list that I'm not sure could appear on the show; it may need to be similar to Poison Ivy's character and updated to fit the show's storylines.


1. THE JOKER
Who is the Joker?! Not much has ever been revealed about the psychotic clown and I wouldn't be surprised if the writers never do. He's shrouded in mystery and anyone who crosses his path always meets a devastating fate with a clownish twist. His age is a bit of mystery so I wouldn't know if he's around Bruce Wayne's age or older, but it could be a tempting idea. Many would be excited to see him featured on the show; however, I wouldn't expect to see the Joker appear for a very long time. If he were to ever be included as a storyline, it would probably be after a few seasons, or when they needed to add a truly menacing twist to the show.

Which villains do you want to show up in Gotham? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

May is finally here and that only means one thing: pilot season is almost coming to an end. The network upfronts are set for next week and the networks will be unveiling their new line-ups and series orders. Unfortunately, many shows will be getting the axe this week to make room - similar to the recent announcement that Almost Human was cancelled by Fox after one season. Before the bad news starts coming in, let's enjoy the good news of renewals and series pick-ups.

While many naturally assumed this pilot as a lock for the 2014-2015 season, Fox has announced on May 5th that the pilot will become a series. Gotham, the comic book origin story of Commissioner Gordon (played by Benjamin McKenzie) and DC's super-villains, has been ordered to series to join previously picked pilots such as Heiroglyph and Backstrom. 

In other renewal news, WGN America has renewed Salem for a second season. The supernatural period-piece accumulated great numbers for the network, scoring the honour of being the network's most-watched show in years. Salem is slated to hopefully return in 2015 for a 13-episode second season.

Check out the extended trailer below to get a closer look at the new series.


Are you excited for Gotham? Was Salem on your renewal list? Share your thoughts in the comments below.


Send out the Bat-Signal - I'm too excited for the latest scoop. Revealed on Monday at the Television Critics Association (TCAs), Fox's Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly announced that the recently ordered to series Batman prequel Gotham will also introduce the origin stories of several important DC villains and characters from the Batman universe.

Originally intended to focus on the origins of future police Commissioner James Gordon and the criminals that torture Gotham City, Gotham will follow the journey of a young Bruce Wayne as he develops into the Dark Knight. The beginnings of several notable DC villains will be introduced before they fought head-to-head with Batman, such as The Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman and much more. 

While no production details have started except for the pilot script, Reilly did state that Bruce Wayne's story will follow him from around the age of 12 until he puts on the Batman cape in the series finale (whenever that may be).

Are you excited for the origins in Gotham? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Dark Knight returns for another installment of the hit Arkham games. I absolutely fell in love with last year's Batman: Arkham City after secretly playing my brother's copy and it was hands-down the best game of the year. Never did I think that a superhero game could achieve more than as simply as a movie tie-in. The series surpassed my expectations and suffice it to say, I was excited to check out the latest game in the series. The latest video game I will be reviewing is the Arkham prequel: Batman: Arkham Origins.

The Story: Set years prior to the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum (the first game in the series), Bruce Wayne has started his adventures as the Dark Knight and began his mission toward ending the criminal control in Gotham City. Batman: Arkham Origins takes place on Christmas Eve when criminal mastermind and mob boss Black Mask issues a cash challenge to several highly-trained and powerful assassins to rid Gotham City of Batman.

Batman: Arkham Origins delves into the early days of Batman, as well as the beginnings of several notable characters and villains like (the future) Commissioner Gordon, the Penguin, Deathstroke, Bane, Barbara Gordon (the future Batgirl/Oracle), and the clownish psychopath Joker to name a few.

Where To Play: Arkham Origins is available on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.


The Good: Batman: Arkham Origins excels with its immerse storyline and open world. The success of the previous game proved that the developers could integrate its characters, the landscape and the extras together to make a cohesive story. While there was a linear plot to follow, I enjoyed all the hidden easter eggs and side-missions that deviated from the main story.

Similar to the previous installment, the main and supporting characters were the biggest draw. I enjoyed the interactions that Batman had with the likes of Joker, Anarky, The Mad Hatter and the many characters he encountered while roaming Gotham City. I grew up loving Batman (i.e. watching the movies, the cartoon TV show, games, action figures) and it was great to meet new characters while revisting the familiar ones.

The Bad: Arkham Origins only suffered from two negatives that left me questioning certain aspects. The first were the technical glitches that kept popping up during loading screens and saving. At first I wondered if there was an issue with my console, but the problems persisted when the game froze/stopped at certain points and wouldn't transition to the loading screen. While it only happened a few times, it was still enough to notice.

The final negative was the ending. Compared to Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, Arkham Origins presented a lackluster conclusion and boss battle to finish the game. The final scene and battle, which preceded itself after a somewhat easy fight, didn't last more than two minutes. Without giving anything away in terms of the villain and battle, I expected a much more thrilling conclusion.

The Results: 8/10!
Batman: Arkham Origins had a lot to live up to in terms of expectations. Since it's a prequel compared to a sequel, a lot of what was introduced was exposition and reintroduced many aspects to people new to the Batman universe. Characters, whether main or supporting, delivered great performances and were more than just filler of having a character on screen. The technical glitches presented a slight problem with the gameplay and the lackluster conclusion didn't payoff after what was up until that point a satisfying story. If you're a fan of Batman (or like action games), this is the game for you. It's also a great filler until the next Arkham game is released that continues the story after Arkham City.

Agree or Disagree with the review? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
With only a week left to go until the thrilling conclusion of Christopher Nolan's epic Batman trilogy is released, the suspense is palpable. Many have waited to see how this trilogy will end and in a short few days, (hopefully) most of our questions will be answered. I am, of course, talking about the upcoming final part to the second Batman movie series: The Dark Knight Rises.


Only a few short years ago, Christopher Nolan created one of the best superhero movies to date: The Dark Knight. It featured a great storyline, superb acting, memorable iconic scenes and provided a much-deserved Academy Award to the late Heath Ledger. Now in a just few short days, the next installment in the series will be revealed and the burning question is how will it all end? Characters such as Bane and Catwoman are confirmed to return and from trailers being released by Warner Bros., it seems that Gotham City will enter into a state of panic.

 I can't wait for the movie to be released. Truthfully I haven't purchased my ticket yet and am most likely going for the opening weekend but until I'm still excited and am alright to avoid the Friday rush. If you're like me and can't wait, feel free to check out the newly released trailer below and start counting off the days!