montgocloud

While I agree that maybe the show shouldn't utilize the OT Lightsaber effects, please, I repeat, please, do not "correct" anything else from the original films. It's insulting. It replaces the work tediously done by others and takes away some of the charm. It's kind of like when Lucas completely reshot the Death Star battle in Episode IV using computer animation. All of the model builders' hard work was thrown away to make way for some magnificent late-90s CGI.

Not to further linger on this topic or anything, but Johnson has shown his charisma in both of the Kickass films. I think his stale performance in Godzilla mainly has to do with the script... He didn't have much to work with. That being said, I also love the Quicksilver in DOFP. Now that I've seen the AOU trailer, I'm almost positive that we will see several different phases of Ultron figures.

Next Tuesday after AOS airs to be exact.

Wow, this is a beautiful MOC. It perfectly captures the sleek look of the Ghost and has a sizable interior to boot. The large and detailed underside is another welcome addition. The official version sitting on my desk looks pretty dinky now that I've seen yours...

Another week, another Rebels episode! Episode 5, "Rise of the Old Masters," is much better than "Fighter Flight." It takes its time to develop Ezra and Kanan's relationship a bit more while still providing a fun action romp. Highlights include a pretitle scene reminiscent of Luke's training with Yoda, a bare knuckled fist fight between Kanan and a Stormtrooper, and the introduction of the Inquisitor. If the show keeps up this level of quality, I think fans are in for a treat.

So apparently AOU will have more VFX shots than any other Marvel movie. That coupled with the Comic-Con poster leads me to believe that we'll see hundreds of thousands of Ultron drones. I hope you're drooling for Ultron drone figures because I imagine we'll see a bunch of them.

Oh, the Azure Angel is so beautiful. The reasoning for releasing it 12 years after the show aired still boggles my mind, but better late than never I suppose. Also, I would love a UCS TIE. My wallet, not so much, but me? Yes please. It's such an iconic ship and would go perfectly with the UCS X-Wing.

I'm not buying for a second that DC/Warner Bros. will release all of these movies. They have a terrible track record of announcing and then cancelling films because they have no idea of where they want to take this franchise. They're walking in circles. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. That being said, if they do actually end up releasing at least some of them, I hope they steer clear of everything Man of Steel did: ditch Goyer, who is responsible for the asinine script, the brown and grey color pallet, the melodramatic tone, and the loud, obnoxious action. Man of Steel was awful. The fact that Snyder and Goyer are returning for BvS and Justice League doesn't exactly give me high hopes for the future...

Episode 4, "Fighter Flight," is now on the Watch Disney XD website and app. Here is my review: Overall, this episode was much weaker than the previous ones, but it still had some redeemable elements. But let me get this episode's weaknesses out of the way first: 1. Having a balance of action and comedy is about as hard as bringing balance to the Force For the most part, I thought that the first couple of episodes balanced these pretty well. The action was light and fun but there was still a sense of danger. Unfortunately, "Fighter Flight" throws this out the window. The comedy is played up here to an extreme degree, leading to a lack of tension. 2. A one planet galaxy I'm so confused as to why the Rebels always return to Lothal. It made sense in the last episode: they had a deal to trade the guns to Vizago (by the way, not to digress or anything, but I love that in episode 3 the Rebels knew the risk of doing business with Vizago again but did it anyways. It makes them seem much more desperate). But here, there's no reason. Just move on! Seriously, if Agent Kallus just surrounded the planet with a bunch of Star Destroyers, then he'd have the Rebels caught immediately. 3. Whatever happened to that TIE? Did I miss something? Zeb gives Ezra a knowing look at the end when they claim to Hera and Kanan that they destroyed the TIE. Why would they grin at each other if they aren't hiding something? What are they hiding? Where is the TIE? It kind of seems like the writers left off the punchline to the joke. 4. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I found myself screaming at the characters in my head a lot during the final action sequence of this episode. When Ezra frees the prisoners and they leap off, why do they immediately get up? HIDE IN THE TALL GRASS! THEY WON'T SEE YOU! And then Ezra stays on top of the Imperial Troop Transport! WHY?! JUMP OFF AND HIDE IN THE TALL GRASS! 5. Ezra and the Force Now that I've pointed out everything this episode did wrong, it's time to list its strengths. For one, Ezra's learning of the Force is handled brilliantly. It's very similar to Luke's natural development. He struggles to focus, but he is steadily continuing to grow in his discipline. The sound effects are also a welcome addition. 6. Relationships "Fighter Flight" goes in the logical direction of building on Ezra and Zeb's relationship after the events of "Droids in Distress." Much like Luke and Han, they aren't particularly fond of one another until they experience things together: they save one another a couple of times, exchange a couple witty lines, and realize that they're actually alike. They put their differences aside and become friends. If only the prequels could have done this instead of having the characters simply scream, "Hey, we're friends! Remember that one thing we did that the audience didn't see where we displayed our friendship? Man, oh man, that was a good time! I'm glad we say we're such great friends but we don't show this through our actions!" 7. Comedy... sometimes This isn't a particularly big point, but as I stated before, most of this episode is comedy. Some of it is actually chuckle worthy though. So I thought I should mention that there were moments where I laughed.

A $300 Helicarrier? Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it... This wave sounds great though. Avengers Tower and Avengers Fortress (whatever that means)? I love me some location-based playsets! Hopefully the final sets do not disappoint.

I just saw Gone Girl. Non-spoiler review ahead! Gone Girl is a thrilling mystery driven equally by style, director David Fincher's intense and bleak vision, and substance, the masterful performances of Ben Affleck and Rosemund Pike. It is founded on the core elements of the classic detective story: Affleck's Nick Dunne even remarks that he feels like he's in an episode of Law and Order. But instead of following through with the viewer's expectations, the film subverts them all effectively. This is achieved through Fincher's knowledge of visual storytelling. He sets up these expectations with his camerawork, use of contrasting ice-blue and warm-red color pallets, and score, provided by Fincher regulars Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. In essence, Fincher trains the audience with Pavlov's dog conditioning, manipulating the audience into expecting a certain tone or plot direction with the repetition of shots, colors, and music cues, and then completely turning these expectations on their head, leaving the audience dumbfounded. While many directors would merely focus on the verbal, especially when adapting a novel, Fincher takes full advantage of the unique opportunities offered in the film medium. This is not to say that the film only works because of Fincher's style. As stated before, stars Ben Affleck and Rosemund Pike truly breathe life into this world. The actors portray extremely complicated characters, and repeat viewings of the film bring to the forefront the nuances each actor gives in their performances. They do not fall into the convention of giving two different performances for the same character, rather, the misdirection comes from everything else. In other words, characters remain consistent throughout the narrative regardless of whether the audience thinks they are good or bad. The audience's opinion of the character's morality comes from the plot, not from the performances. This increases rewatchability of the film. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the brilliant advertising campaign. In a world where trailers show all and leaks are not only abundant but expected, David Fincher ensured the best movie-going experience possible by working closely with the trailer editors. It shows the tone and gives a rough idea of the plot, yet it doesn't show too much. Gone Girl truly shows how David Fincher has grown as a filmmaker. Sure, he restricts himself to the detective mystery genre, and some may view this movie as pretty safe, but it cannot be denied that he is a director who, while playing to his strengths, builds and improves upon criticism from his past films. Gone Girl is Fincher's definitive work thus far and the definitive mystery film of the year. 5/5

So Gali, Lewa, and Pohatu cost $15.99 and Tahu, Kopaka, and Onua cost $19.99? It looks like the resurrection of Bionicle is going to burn a hole through my wallet. Why must LEGO use my nostalgia against me? They say just the right things, add in just the right features... And now it looks like I'll be out $110 in a couple months.

Because this is a reboot. You have to change things up in a reboot, otherwise what's the point? Have you seen the Vince Vaughn Psycho remake? It's a shot-for-shot remake of the original. Does that make it good? NOPE! As long as they don't change the core concept of the property, changes should be encouraged.

I love Dark Forces games as well-maybe Kyle could show up in Rebels? I mean the character would definitely fit in with the rest of the cast. Hopefully that'll happen and the Moldy Crow will be a reality. I tried to MOC it once and the result was disastrous. Also, I second the Ebon Hawk. But I'd venture to say that the probability of that happening is even less than the probability of getting the Moldy Crow.

I agree with you... to a point. If the comment only says "I hate this" then you're right, it is just obnoxious, but if a member clearly explains his or her reasoning for the hate, I think it adds to the discussion. In fact, I'd argue that a detailed constructively critical comment actually adds more to a discussion than the usual "Wow, I really love this wave!"

The episodes are uploaded a week early on the Disney XD website and app. And to answer Th_ Chosen_1's question, yes! See the previous page for my thoughts.

I'm loving this wave. The top three are definitely the AT-DP, the TIE Advanced Prototype, and the Imperial Troop Transport. Thank the gods LEGO is releasing prequel and Clone Wars sets, otherwise I'd be totally broke!

Episode 3, "Droids in Distress," was also fantastic. Sure, C3PO was a little... really annoying, but the characterization for Zeb and the relationship between Hera, Ezra, and Kanan more than made up for it. The Zeb vs. Kallus fight was spectacular. Not because of "woo, shiny electric staffs!" but because of their clear motivations. I'm also extremely happy that Kanan didn't pull out his Lightsaber again this episode. I was worried that once he revealed it, he would get prequelitis and never put it away. And this episode is great from an artistic standpoint. Ezra's scene on the purple planet (whoops, the name is nowhere to be found on the Internet) really shows how much care is put into this show's animation. Ok, so the planet is violet-blue. Ezra's suit is yellow-orange, the color complement to violet-blue, AKA it makes yellow-orange stand out. The scene looked epic. I loved this episode and wait anxiously for the next!

LEGO has a tendency to gravitate more towards vehicles and less towards playsets, especially at the cheaper price points. Even more likely than a turret, I imagine we'll see a Hydra truck for carrying the twins that includes Baron Von Strucker.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion that they can successfully defend. Since you seem to have a pretty strong opinion, I'd like to know your specific points on why you think the show is so terrible. I totally agree with this point. Perhaps if Kallus started to get the upper hand and a couple Wookies died, the reveal would feel a bit more earned.

Rebels had a surprisingly strong start. I only had some minor problems with it (oh, and spoilers obviously): 1. Cold Opening? This is the first piece of the new Disney canon and for some reason they didn't open with the iconic Star Wars crawl. This seems like a missed opportunity. Hell, I think I'd be even giddier if the opening shot was of a Star Destroyer. This is one case where I'd actually like to be pandered to as a fan of the OT. I don't know, the fade in of the title set against the backdrop of Lothal just didn't work for me. 2. "Don't worry kids, he's gonna make it out A-OK!" When that Wookie got shot on Kessel, I was morbidly overjoyed. I thought to myself: wow, this show is going to take some chances and show the stakes of the mission! NOPE, Zeb picks up the Wookie, who was apparently only injured by the shot to the chest. Look, I know that this is a kids show, but it really seemed for a second like the Wookie was actually dead by the way the scene was playing out. The death of the Wookie would also strengthen the reasoning for Kanan's risky diversion. 3. Kallus, what are you doing?! The ending scene where Agent Kallus chases after Ezra still boggles my mind. What was he thinking? Even if Ezra really was Kanan's apprentice, why wouldn't he just focus on killing the master? Did he really trust his squad of Stormtroopers to finish off Kanan? If I was Kallus, I would personally see to Kanan's death with several bullets to his face. Then I'd get promoted. I dunno. If someone has an explanation for this bizarre behavior, please do tell. Aside from those points, I really enjoyed the premier of Rebels. The characters were strong, the action scenes were thrilling (especially the "Star Destroyer->Imperial Carrier->Ghost" daisy chain sequence), and the sound effects and musical cues lifted from the OT were a treat. I can't wait to see what Filoni and Kinberg have in store for this series.

My favorite TV shows are Arrested Development, Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter (seasons 1-4), Seinfeld, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. You can probably gather many of my tastes from this list: I love the dry wit of Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Seinfeld, the mystery and drama of Breaking Bad and Dexter, and the good old-fashioned storytelling of TNG.

This wave is a huge step up from 2012-2014 DC Superheroes. The builds for the Javelin and Green Lantern sets are the only ones that truly impress me and the Bat-Mech is probably the weakest. The figures are the real selling point for this wave. Finally we have a Justice League. It only took three years...

If the Stormies in the BP are a new variant, neither Rebels nor OT, I give up. Also, I hope that the potential inclusion of a Riot Stormtrooper in the AT-DP isn't an indication for a gazillion types of Stormies in Rebels. The Clone Wars had that issue in spades with regards to the clones: it seemed like there was a type of clone for any situation, no matter how esoteric or ridiculous. Kind of like Batman's gear in the 60s show, only that was played for laughs.

My first Bionicle set was either Onua or Tahu from 2001 and my last set was the 2009 Skrall. I would've been inclined to buy more sets later on if the joints on the 2009 models didn't snap so frequently.