It looks like DC is going for the new 48?

Well it looks like DC are cancelling 3 more comics as of January. Blue Beetle, Grifter, Legion Lost are joining Frankenstein in cancelled land. I think they are being due to lack of sales each month, as DC have a new policy when it comes to sales. If i comic doesn't sell over 20,000 with 4 months, they will cancel the title and replace it with a new title. Another Title is getting cancelled in December is G.I Combat which has sold well from issue 1, which is sad as T.J Krul who is a good writer but i guess people don't like haunted tanks. So far DC have said That Justice League of America written Geoff Johns and drawn by David Finch and Man of Steel, a new Superman title written by Scott Sndyer and art by Jim Lee will be replacing two of the cancelled titles. No word yet on the other titles yet.

Am pretty upset as i liked Grifter and Blue Beetle.

Fox hires Mark Millar look over there Marvel Films

I know its a bit of late news but on Friday, 20th Century Fox who currently have the rights to such Marvel characters like The Fantastic Four and the X-men (which includes like 80% of the mutants in the Marvel universe). Have appointed Well known Comicbook writer Mark Millar to over see all of their Marvel film, kinda like Marvel Studios have done with Joss Whedon and what Warner Bros have done with Christoper Nolan. I think Fox did this so that they can copy the success of Marvel Studios and hopefully do more crossover sort of movies. Which would be kind of hard as the X-men and the Fantastic Four hardly ever interact with each other. But who knows I could be wrong as Mark Millar has written both Fantastic Four and the X-men at one point. For those who don't know Mark Millar is mostly known for his comic Kiss-Ass and his run on Ultimate X-men and  other Icon books (Icon is Marvel's creator owned lines) which are pretty violent and rather out there. Hopefully we should see signs of this in the next X-men film which involves Time travel and maybe slight hints of ret-conning. So what do you guys think? Is this a good or a bad thing? Could he make the Fox owned Marvel films better?

DC are ending Frankenstein agent of S.H.A.D.E

Its a sad day for Frankenstein fans as DC revealed that they are cancelling the title as of issue 16. Its pretty sad i actually liked this book but i haven't bought a copy since issue 7, due to budget cut backs. Hopefully DC put him in another title and doesn't end up in character Limbo with Static, Hawk and Dove, The Black Hawks and many others. It was nice knowing you Frank

Kyle

Marvel's Ant-man get a release date. Well sort of

Marvel have given a release date for their forthcoming Ant-Man movie. Well its not really a release date. Its more like a release window. They have given the film a release window of 2015. Which is the same year that Avengers 2 is coming out and DC's Justice League movie. Now all Marvel has to do is find an actor to play Dr Hank Pym. Anyone excited by this news? Let us know.

Jurrasic Park 4 rumour: We're sure this won't happen

According to Ain't it Cool, a concept for Jurrasic Park 4 was that the dinosaurs would be merged with human and dog DNA to create dino-soldiers.....I'm not too sure how true thjyris is and whether these pics are real but i hope they aren't for the sake of the franchise (even though they look bad-ass, they won't fit with the story so far) maybe a separate dino-movie?
What you guys think?

Where we have been for the last 6 odd months

Hey Guys,

We know that it's been along time since we last wrote a real blog post. Which we are really sorry about. There are a number of reasons behind this. A lot of it is work related but now we are going to try our hardest to actually take this blog serious again with a lot more effort. As a lot of things are gonna be happening in the next few month, like the end of X-men vs Avengers, the start of Marvel NOW, the filming of Kick Ass 2, Thor 2, Iron Man 3, The New Green Arrow Tv show and many more. We are going to still report mostly on Movies, TV, comics, Video games and other pop culture related stuff. If there is anything else you guys want us to report on give us a shout and we will see what we can do. You may even see a few video reviews.

Thanks for the support and we hope to hear from you guys

All of the Above Team

First images of Jim Carrey in Kick Ass 2

Have a look at the first images of Jim Carey in Kick Ass 2!

New Iron Man 3 armour for Stark and Rhodey

Check out the new armour for Tony Stark and Rhodey!

Iron Man is sporting a gold and red suit (as oppose to Red and Gold) and War Machine is looking rather patriotic (some rumours in the past was that it was actually Iron Patriot)

Kick Ass 2 set photos!

Check out some new set photos direct from 'Kick Ass 2' including Donald Faison ( Scrubs, Clueless) as Dr Gravity, Aaron Taylor-Johnson reprising his role as Kick-Ass and his best friend Marty as Battle-Guy.

DC comics character to come out of the closet

It was revealed this past weekend at Kapow! comic-con that an established DC character would come out and reveal that they are gay.

Dan Didio revealed at a panel in London that an "iconic" male CHARACTER will change his sexual orientation in the coming months.

There has been a butt-load of controversy over this decision and a whole host of hateful words being exchanged on the Internet about the change. But I ask, does it really fucking matter???!!! I mean, who actually gives a shit? It's not like we don't read about gay characters in comics anyway (or see them on tv for that matter!), so is the problem that it's an iconic character coming out rather than the b-lister heroes and villains that already exist?

I should also add that it's an iconic CHARACTER, meaning it might not even be a hero or a villain, it could be Jimmy Olsen for all you know!!

Another reveal is that it is a character who has not been included in DC's new 52 re-launch yet...so let us all quit arguing over whether it's ok to be gay, or what it could do kids who read it and focus on the fun part....guessing who it could be, then seeing who is right!


Please tell us what you think, and keep it clean and respectful of we'll kick your arse!!

Trank developing Fantastic Four for Fox

The mind behind found-footage super-power film 'Chronicle' will be developing Marvel's 'Fantastic Four' reboot, it was revealed at Cinemacon.

Whether Trank will be directing the reboot is still unsure but we do know that he will be developing the story and maybe the script which was announced by an executive for Fox at the film convention.

More news when we get it!

The Avengers - An All Of The Above Review

Directed By: Joss Whedon

Written by : Joss Whedon, Zack Penn

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johanssen, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Jeremy Renner,



Since the beginning we comic book fans have dreamt of seeing our favourite super-heroes on the big screen, we thought that the animated shows were as good as it was going to get, we were wrong.

We've known for a long time that Marvel were planning on changing the way we watch super-hero films for a few years now, starting with 'Iron-man' and leading up to probably the most anticipated super-hero movie of all time.

Hopefully by now you would have seen every Marvel film since 'Iron-Man' seeing as every single one of those films have been setting up this cinematic event. If you haven't, shame on you, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?

'The Avengers (Assemble)' tells the story of The Earth's Mightiest heroes joining together to save the Earth from evil, in this case, evil comes in the form of the Aesir Trickster-God Loki Laufi-Son and his mysterious alien army the Tchi'tari who (as all villains aim to do), take over the world.

Without saying too much more about the story and the characters within i can safely say Whedon hits the nail on the head with every bit of it. The story is great, funny and keeps you interested and the characters work well together...or do they?

As always Downey Jr seems to steel the show (that's meant to be a pun, not a typo) whenever he is on screen but doesn't seem to be much of a problem as Tony Stark is pretty much the scene-stealer in every sense of the word.

Evan's Captain America is exactly how you would expect him to be along with Hemsworth's Thor but it was the surprising performances by Johanssen's Black Widow who really took a step up since 'Iron-Man 2' bringing more to the film in terms of character and ability (her being one of two non-superpowered heroes). Renner's Hawkeye was awesome which is well-deserved as he is the only character other than Black Widow who hasn't had their own movie...but my guess he will after this.

Tom Hiddleston returned as the conniving Loki and by George did he do it! Hiddleston is frightening, dangerous and oh so creeptastic letting everyone know why Loki deserved to be the first villain to battle the movie version of the Avengers!

Have I forgotten anyone? Oh yeh! Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner! Let me start in saying I was skeptical in how the actor-change would go down...I can confirm that it was for the best! Ruffalo's Banner is smart and genuinely creepy, he hides anger behind his smile but is totally under control, and the Hulk? Is the baddest mofo in the entire film! The green-machine didn't have as much screen-time as the rest but he didn't need it as when he did emerge he was all you wanted to see, pulling off some of the best action scenes in the film. Ruffalo is Bruce Banner, and that's awesome.

Jackson's Nick Fury was ok but not as good as I Thought he would be but it's no real big deal as we all just want to see the Avengers kick butt!

The action sequences are amazing, the direction is great and the script is clever and very funny and on top of it all Stan Lee is in it too!

There are a load of comic book refrences that I'll keep to my self and let you see for yourself but whether you are an avid Marvel fan or just there for the ride you will not be dissappointed.

All in all, Whedon's Avengers is brilliant, it's fast paced (which is great for how long the film is) it's funny and it's exactly what we expected it would be, my only problem is that we have to wait a few years for the sequel..which is guaranteed if Marvel have anything to do with it.

5/5 stars


By George Kleanthous

Lockout - Die-Hard in space? An All Of The Above Review

Directed By: James Mather, Stephen St. Legar

Written By: James Mather, Stephen St. Legar, Luc Besson

Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joseph Gilgun,Lennie James, Peter Stormare,

Guy Pearce is wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage is offered freedom if he can save the President's daughter (Grace) who is stuck on an outer-space prison over-run by blood-thirsty deranged inmates.

Now that the synopsis is out of the way I can get down to the real business, the review!

Starting with a literal punch in the face you immediately get the feeling that this film's main in the shape of Guy Pearce's Snow isn't liked by some, and you'd be correct, because Snow is a bastard in every sense of the word, but he's a bastard with a heart and that's why he's our main.

And it seems the film is full of bastards, maybe too many, maybe the film should have been titled "Bastards In Space" for that's exactly what it was. But I digress, because 'Lockout' is a low-budget Sci-fi action thriller that brings you back to the 80s action films you know and loved....because it's explosive and a tad on the cheesy side.

The script does feel a little week at points leaving loopholes for you to think about whilst the film is still playing however the dialogue does give us some great lines to think about too.

There were some great performances in this film too, coming from Joseph Gilgun (Misfits, This Is England) playing a rowdy, blood-thirsty scottish convict alongside Vincent Regan (300) the sinister convict master-mind, Guy Pearce plays a convincing bastard too.....slightly reminiscent of an 80's Bruce Willis....slightly.

The special effects were okay, some scenes looking a lot better than others (the bike chase scene looking exceptionally terrible) but as the film progressed you don't really think about it.

All in all it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. The action scenes were good but the story really did lack that oomph that would run it along side some of the better Sci-fi action films.

See it of you like action films with a slice of cheese.

3/5 stars

By George Kleanthous

A Cabin In The Woods - an All Of The Above review

Directed by: Drew Godard
Written By: Joss Whedon, Drew Godard

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins

'Cabin In The Woods' is a horror film unlike any you've seen before. A story about a group of college kids consisting of hot girls, a jock, a semi-attractive book-worm and a stoner spend a vacation at a cabin in the woods to have good old fashioned fun until bad stuff starts to happen....okay so you may have seen this before but not quite like this.

It's hard to talk about this film because it's got so much in it that I don't want to spoil for you. It's funny, has a few jumps and more twists than.....something twisted. Without giving anything away, the group unknowingly choose how they would die from a plethora of amazingly cinematic ways.

There is some really great acting and some very good direction coming from D.Godard along with great effects. The characters are a great nod to the stereotypical horror film and Whedon and Godard let us know that throughout the film.

'Cabin In The Woods' can only be described as 'The Truman Show' meets every type of horror or slasher you can think of.

I highly recommend this film and try to watch it knowing as little as possible about it.

5/5 stars

By George Kleanthous

Battleship - Is It a Floater? By George Kleanthous

Directed by: Peter Berg
Written by: Eric Hoeber/ Jon Hoeber

Starting: Alexander Skarsgard, Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna

You may be aware of a little film which has hit the cinemas this week by the name of 'Battleship', based on the Hasbro board game in which you are pitted against your enemies fleet of ships and must guess where they are on your grid and sink them.

But Hasbro had better ideas, what's big at the moment? they ask, what has made us a ship-load of money once adapted onto the big screen? ALIENS! That's right, they turned it into a Sci-fi and banked off their incredibly successful 'Transformers' movies by duplicating it in nearly every way.

Based on the very real and most logical theory of alien visitation, 'Battleship' tells the story of an alien race responding to a message sent out by us and landing at the signal's birthplace, a satellite station in Hawaii, at the same time some of the world's best navy fleets join forces to run a navy battle exercise, which is rather convenient, as the aliens land they activate a barrier around the islands and effectively cutting off the majority of the fleets leaving three destroyers to battle them, you can guess the rest.

So far it might seem that I'm ripping on this film which I guess I am but it's really not that bad. It holds plenty of laughs, the effects are great and the action sequences are explosive, I just wish it wasn't a 'Transformers' clone.

It holds the same cinematography style as that of TF, the same sound engineers and cgi studio, Hell, they even have the same music composer in the way of Steve Jablonsky. So excuse me for feeling that the Hasbro execs weren't willing to try anything new.

All in all 'Battleship' holds it's own, it's not a bad film, in fact it's pretty darn good! People laughed, jaws dropped and Rihanna didn't have me wanting to jump ship as her acting wasn't the worst thing I'd seen. There were some particularly great moments in the film like the OAP montage (You'll see what I mean) and the use of real navy crewman and wounded soldiers was a kind and respectful nod at the armed forces. A tad bit on the lengthy side but still worth a watch!

Watch this if you liked 'Transformers' and 'Battle: Los Angeles'

3/5 stars

By George Kleanthous

21 Jump Street - an All Of The Above Review

Jonah Hill + Channing Tatum = Hilarious Comedy!

Reboot/sequel of a late eighties -early nighties TV show of the same name. Agents belonging to Jump Street are sent into high schools, undercover, too infiltrate youth crime.  If you was a fan, you will be pleased to hear some of the stars of the show return to Jump street and make great appearances, in this awesome cop comedy. Written by Micheal Bacall (Project X) and Jonah Hill

Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) weren't friend at high school, in fact they were quite the opposite, but after joining the police academy they became as close as brothers, but being a cop isn't all that its cracked up to be. They are put on bicycles and put on park patrol, and after a bad first arrest they are sent to 21 Jump street, with other 'Justin Beaver (not a typo, Mr Bieber really is referred to as Justin Beaver), Miley Cyrus looking mothers' headed by the funniest angry chief of police played by Ice Cube. 

Jonah Hill is, as always, right on point with his comedic performances, and this time paired quite unusually with the hansom Channing Tatum, works so well. They have so much chemistry on screen that you really believe their friendship is real.  And this movie isn't just a comedy, it has some fantastic action scenes, but what else would you expect from the star of G.I. Joe, Haywire and Eagle (Tatum). 

Best cop comedy since Hot Fuzz. This film literally had me laughing out loud, every other minute. All I can say is watch this this movie! 5/5 stars

by Kay M.D

Project X - the greatest party of all time?

With a title like 'Project X' one would imagine a sci-fi film, maybe starring Ferris Beuller's Matthew Boderick and maybe a chimp, but this isn't the eighties, and this isn't that movie.

'Project X' co-written by Matt Drake and Michael Bacall (the writer of the up-coming '21 Jump Street) and directed by Nima Nourizadeh tells the story of three high school seniors who throw a birthday party cool enough to make a name for themselves. But as the party progresses, it quickly gets out of control and incredibly crazy.

Starring Thomas Mann as Thomas the birthday boy, Costa (Oliver Cooper) the foul-mouthed party organiser and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown) the chubby one and their camera man who is filming everything as it transpires for Thomas's birthday video play the loser kids who don't get invited to parties which means they don't get to touch a booby or two...and that pisses no-one off more than Costa (Cooper). So when Thomas's parents go out of town for a conveniently planned anniversary getaway, Costa decides to organise a party to remember. And how would he do this you ask? By posting Thomas's address all over the internet and social-networking sites...this can only be a good thing right? Guess again, this film goes from party of the year to a summer in Tottenham!

'Project X' is not so much a found-footage film like 'Chronicle' or 'Blair Witch' but more like 'we're throwing a party and we filmed it' type film. The editing is superb and the music is awesome (which is bound to be when partly produced by MTV).

This is one hell of a movie, the acting is great and you really feel emotionally attached with the characters towards the end of the film. Its funny, thrilling and perfectly captures youth culture today and the influence social-networking has on the world.

Rated 18 not because of the drugs, booze or sex but because of how achievable it is to recreate this film well deserves the rating!

5/5 stars
By
George Kleanthous

Stephen Amell cast for Green Arrow TV show

As you can tell from the tittle of this post, Stephen Amell ('Vampire Diaries' and 'Hung') has been cast by CW for their pilot of DC Comics' Green Arrow.

Green Arrow is a wealthy businessmen by day and a bow and arrow wielding vigilante by night and may be most commonly known from 'Smallville' or as I called it for a while: 'The Green Arrow show'.

I for one hope this pilot isn't a flop like the 'Wonder Woman' pilot which found its way on the net last year.

Chronicle: an All Of The Above review

When 3 friends gain powers their lives change forever, and what do they do with their powers? They film themselves throwing baseballs at each others faces.

The first thing to get out of the way is the suggestion that this is a live-action version of the manga 'Akira', it's not, bot it does have seem to be very much inspired by the manga on terms of theme. The idea of "if you got powers what would you do with them?" plays big in this film, asking the ever-so-real question of how far can you go before you go to far?

This is a "found-footage" film, think 'Cloverfield with super-powers' but don't be put off by the idea of dizzying and out-of-focus camera shots, Chronicle's director Josh Trank cleverly uses the characters powers to create some awesome camera shots, expect tracking and panning shots and many interesting camera moves.

The film's camera quality changes very cleverly, as Andrew (the mixed-up teen with the troubled private life) decides to film his awkward life, starting from a beat-down old film camera and as the story and their powers progress, he upgrades to HD!

'Chronicle' is written by Max Landis and is thought through and well written. The dialogue is great and triggers the imagination, I mean who doesn't or hasn't thought about having powers and what you would do with them? Maybe save lives or embarrass the bullies who tormented you through school or at work? This films tells you what happens if you do both.

The acting is also a real treat, starring Dane DeHaan (Andrew), Alex Russell (Matt) and Micheal B.Jordan (Steven). 'Chronicle' host realism, drama, comedy and pure thrill. You really feel that these boys love each other and really have these powers.

The CGI isn't the greatest we've seen but the film is that good that it really doesn't matter!

'Chronicle' is a great start to the years blockbusters and of you fancy a low-budget super-powered film that packs a telepathic punch this is the film to see!

By George Kleanthous

Underworld: Awakening Review

Vampires and werewolves have hit our screens, but not the overly emotional gelled haired teens we all know and hate with every fibre of our beings, no, these characters are darker and aren't afraid of ripping someone's head off their shoulders. I'm of course talking about the 4th installation of 'Underworld' and this time it's in 3D.

The story continues from the second 'Underworld' movie (the third being a prequel to the lot) where Selene (Kate Beckinsale) Awakens in a lab to a world where the Humans have purged most of the Vampire and Lycan clans, Michael, her hybrid lover no where to be seen and a little girl with an interesting past.

The story is a little predictive, except for a few minor twists that get you remembering what actually happened in the last films. The film left me feeling like there was something missing in the story, one would have thought that if the humans were exterminating both clans, the two races would have put there differences aside and joined forces...but maybe that's being set up for the next film as it has clearly been left open for one.

The direction is ok, nothing special, and the cinematography is the same as the others (dark and blue-ish). One thing the film doesn't shy from is it's intense fight scenes, from the beginning it's blood and gore every-where and when you see a certain hybrid split someone's face open from there eye sockets with there thumbs (which is pretty awesome) you know why they've given it a 18 rating.

There are also a host of new characters including a pretty impressive nemesis worthy of any boss-battle in any game you've played, and when you see this thing it'll get you thinking "WTF?".

'Underworld: Awakening's' story isn't as good as the story in the third film, but it makes up for it in awesome fight scenes and cool Vamp/Lycan killing gadgets. It's not a film you have to think with, merely watch and enjoy.

My only real beef with this film is how skinny Kate Beckinsale is in it. You know its bad when your skinnier than a twelve year old! Put some weight on and you'll look a lot sexier!!

3 1/2 - 5 Stars

By George Kleanthous

Expendables 2 to be a 12A...Because Chuck hates swearing

Chuck Norris refused to join the cast of 'Expendables 2' if they didn't clean up the swear words in the script.

Talking to Polish broadcaster Gazeta, Norris claimed that the last film's language was "vulgar" and he didn't do films like that. He then claimed that the producers were going to certify the film a PG-13 which over in the UK would be a 12A.

Now I'm not one to hate on Chuck Norris for this as he seems to be a man who sticks to his morals but did he even watch the last film? If I don't see a round-house kick which knocks a man's head off and send it flying into a group of rebels knocking them off a bridge into a a large meat compactor then I don't know what to expect!

Some may ask who is this Chuck Norris? And why does he have such an impact on this film and the universe itself? Well for those who haven't seen the FACTS here are a few:

Taken From ChuckNorrisfacts.com

• in July, Sharks watch Chuck Norris week.

• Chuck Norris doesn't shave, he uses his beard to sharpen razors.

• Beneath Chuck Norris' beard is another fist.

• Chuck Norris is allowed to draw pictures of Mohammed.

• Nostradamus saw a round-house kick from the future and died.

For more hilariously epic Chuck Facts visit the web site!

By George Kleanthous

War Horse review

Spielberg has not failed to impress with this war-time drama. Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo which then became a play, 'War Horse' is about a young boy named Albert who's beloved horse is sold to the British cavalry and sent to Europe, Albert signs up for the army and goes to war in the hopes that he will see his horse again.

Spielberg manages to take a story about a boy and his horse and turn it into an epic family film. We follow the story of Joey the horse as he is forced to travel Europe during the first world war and meet new characters on his journey, from Albert (Jeremy Irvine) the farm boy to Captain Nicholls (Tom Hoddleston) of the British Cavalry, to two German brothers, a dying French girl and her grandfather back to British soldier (Toby Kebbell).

The cast which also consists of Benedict Cumberpatch (Sherlock tv show) David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Emily Watson (Cemetery Junction) do a brilliant job.

Spielberg's choice of editing and direction in this film is amazing, the Cavalry charge scene was brilliant yet powerful in its simplicity along with the Windmill night scene which was just as simple yet oh so incredible.

There are some fantastic moments in this film which really pull at the heart-strings and with the help of legendary film composer John Williams, I challenge even the hardest men not to get a little teary-eyed at the climax at No-Man's Land.

The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski ('Shindler's list' and 'Saving Private Ryan') is just beautiful, the mixture of the cold blues and greys of the Somme, to the warm reds and oranges of the final scene really show that cinematography is just as important as its ever been, and Spielberg knows that more than anyone.

There has been a lot of talk about Spielberg losing his touch after 'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull' and a host of tv shows and films produced by him, but after 'Tin Tin' and now 'War Horse' I think we can all say he is back to doing what he does best.

This film is truly awesome, while it may not be for anyone under 10 it's something for the whole family. One tip is that you may need to take some tissues.

By George Kleanthous

@GeorgeK1988