Podcast - Episode 38: Batman v Superman: The Dawn of Justice

/

Man.

So we saw Batman v Superman and thankfully Dave and I didn't have to pay for it (thanks Cal!). Johnathan Munroe joins us this week and he DID have to pay for it (sorry Johnathan!).

Johnathan didn't hate the movie as much as Dave or myself, but he sure didn't like it. Dave couldn't find much to like in it, despite being optimistic going in, and I just hated it. HATED IT.

Here's the thing about Superman and Batman, guys. I mean, I didn't think we still needed to go over this after nearly 100 years of character development on these two, but here goes:

These are aspirational characters. They represent the best of humanity. Humanity. That's important to keep in mind. Because this movie has NONE. Here's what the characters should be:

Superman is all-powerful, but never scary. His goodness is what makes him a hero. He is better than us, but it was mostly learned here on Earth, his adopted home. His values come from Johnathan and Martha Kent, from his Kryptonian parents who made saving the life of their son their final act before dying, and from the wholesome naiveté of small town America. He doesn't need to help us, he doesn't even need to stay here, but he will because he believes in us.

The core of Batman's character is, and always needs to be, hope. He doesn't do what he does because he hates criminals. He does it because he wants humans to be better. And that is why it is so important that he doesn't kill. Ever. Even the most bloodthirsty criminals get a chance at reform and redemption.

Superman teaches us patience, kindness, humility, and concern for our fellow humans. Batman teaches us determination, perseverance, ingenuity, and sacrifice. Together they should be overwhelmingly inspirational, and anything but cynical.

So, anyway, this movie had none of that and was garbage.

Before we get to talking about that, we talk a bit about DC Rebirth, which you can Google, as well as Daredevil: season 2 (Dave finished it, and I am still only up to episode 4), and Jeremy Renner's announcement that he is totally down for a Hawkeye Netflix series.

Oh, and I saw The Bronze! And I really liked it! And I forgot to mention this on the podcast, but J.Bone drew some really great Lance Tucker art (that's Sebastian Stan's character in The Bronze, guys). Check it out:

Sebastian's sex scene body double liked it! That's something!

I am exhausted from thinking about Batman v Superman. I am so glad it is behind me forever. Enjoy the episode! Warning: you can hear the sound of a cat barfing in the background. It's appropriate.

Podcast - Episode 36: Civil War Mania

/

What a week, guys. What. A. Week.

There was so much Civil War/Winter Soldier/Sebastian Stan coverage in the media this week I couldn't even read all of it.

So this episode is a jumbled mess of trying to piece together our thoughts on everything. Plus, Dave is suffering from a cold. Nothing that a solid hour of listening to be ramble on about Winter Soldier can't fix!

First, let me introduce you to our special guest co-host:

Not a bad looking figure, right?

Here is the travesty that they are calling a Winter Soldier toy that I saw at Toys R Us:

Nope.

I did not enter the contest to win a helicopter ride with Henry Cavill, but I do get hilarious emails about it:

J.Bone did indeed do a really great drawing that imagines Spider-Man being Bucky's annoying friend:

So, so great. Knocking it out of the park as usual, J!

Here are some links to the many interviews and such that I mention this week:

Jeremy Renner being a douche with poor Elizabeth Olsen

Sebastian Stan doing a weird and adorable and sexy video Q&A for Moviepilot

Sebastian Stan on ET

Chris Evans and RDJ on ET

Markus & McFeely on why Bucky is a messed up sad sack

Buzzfeed Q&A with Evans, Stan, Downey, Boseman and the Russos

It's worth scrolling though the Buzzfeed posts because you get to see things like a portrait of Winter Soldier, quickly drawn by Sebastian Stan, as well as a screengrab of his Winter Soldier Spotify playlist. Plus, images like this one:

Boys. Come on. Cut it out.

There's also this really great little video of Sebastian Stan talking about seeing Civil War for the first time. I forgot to talk about it this week, but I will definitely talk about it next week:

Short version: it made him stress eat a whole thing of candy

Here is the new Civil War trailer, by the way:

And here's what you've all been waiting for: the Winter Soldier vs Black Panther Pop Secret packaging!!!

Butter only makes the Winter Soldier more powerful!

Ok, let's wrap this up, with, oh, I don't know...this picture from Friday of Chris Evans wearing the shirt that Sebastian Stan was wearing the DAY BEFORE?!

I mean. Come on. Also: god damn, Chris. Looking good. Trying to keep my eyes above the waist here.

I'm actually going to end this with this screengrab of Sebastian Stan's insane Winter Soldier body:

He's gonna get his shirt off in this movie, right? RIGHT?!

Podcast - Episode 35: Age of Beefcake

/

Watching the Oscars got me thinking about a lot of things this past week. Things like: is Henry Cavill a person, or just a robot who sometimes dresses well but usually doesn't; is Sam Smith really that dumb? and, people in Hollywood seem really cool and in-touch with reality. But most of all I was thinking about the size of actors. Like, the size of their actual bodies. Male actors are beefy as hell these days, guys! Are superhero movies to thank/blame? Almost certainly. Is it a problem? Well...

Before we get to the beeefcake, let's get through some other stuff that requires some visual aids and links.

First of all, if you happen to be reading this the day it was posted, and you live in the Halifax area, come on down to Strange Adventures for Ladies Night! I'll be there!

If you wildest dreams include riding in the Batmobile (?!) with Ben Affleck or riding in a helicopter with Henry Cavill, you can enter the Omaze contest here for five more days. Guess what one of the incentive prizes is:

Yeahhhhh! How much can I spend to be on the other side of the planet when Jesse Eisenberg and some douche with twenty thousand extra dollars sit down to dinner somewhere?

Oh, and here's a fun update: those Batman vs Superman $100 super tickets that allow you to see the dumb movie as many times as you want? They are all SOLD OUT.

SOLD OUT, YOU GUYS!!!!

We also mention the joyless Batman vs Superman sticker set that Facebook recently launched. Here it is:

Just super fun. Here are some of the ones I made very quickly:

Oh, the fun I have at the expense of this dumb movie.

And speaking of which, here is the amazing art that J.Bone did in loving tribute to this terrible film:

Ouch! I love that art so much. So much.

Ok, so real quick, here are some important Oscar things. Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman presented together and both men looked excellent:

Sebastian Stan was watching from home (or maybe a hotel room where Evans would be meeting him later) with a big pizza:

I cannot believe he didn't invite me.

Here's a screengrab of Chris Evans flirting with Henry Cavill while Cavill stuffs his beautiful mouth with Girl Guide cookies:

But perhaps even more importantly, here is a screengrab of Christian Bale stuffing his face with Girl Guide cookies:

You're welcome.

OK, so moving on to Winter Soldier, this is the panel from Avengers Standoff Alpha that made me lose my damn mind:

Seriously! What the HELL, comic?!

Here's a version with no text, and I encourage you to provide your own:

You know, something like this:

And, yes, I know that's a shitty font, but I'm tired and I still have a lot of blog post to write.

HOLD THE PHONE

I say on the podcast that I wish Bucky's apron said 'Kiss the Cook' and I am zooming in now and I THINK IT DOES!

I need to lie down.

Oh, and here is that framed photo of shirtless Sebastian Stan that was gifted to me and now sits on my desk at work, making me look completely sane:

I just tell people it's my astronaut boyfriend who is in space and so you can't meet him.

Wizard World Philadelphia has a bonkers line-up of MCU talent, including Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan. And, like, everyone. You can see the details of the VIP packages here. I see that Georges St-Pierre just got added to the Winter Soldier line-up. I've already decided that I'm not going, but when I look at the photo ops from the 2014 Wizard World I almost want to reconsider.

Holy lord. Let's get to our goddamn topic. I was really excited to post a lot of photos of shirtless hunks as evidence to support my argument but I am exhausted!

But still I persevere! 

So here is a side-by-side of Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men movie (2000) and (I think) Days of Future Past (2014) or maybe it's from Wolverine:

In the first photo he looks like a very fit, yet still very human male actor. In the second photo he looks like he is barely containing the nuclear energy that is trapped inside him threatening to destroy the world. And those veins are so gross.

And here we have a couple of actors who did not need to be in the kind of shape they got into for their Marvel roles at all. I'm not sorry about it, per se, but it does seem unnecessary. I give you Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy:

And Paul Rudd in Ant-Man:

Paul Rudd isn't, like, enormous here. But he does look insanely ripped for Paul Rudd. Now, the thing about Chris Pratt is that his new body actually has led to more big roles, like Jurassic World, and even talks of him being the new Indiana Jones. With Paul Rudd, though, I can't really see him becoming an action star at the tender age of 50 (or 19 or however old he is it's really hard to tell).

Mark Ruffalo, on the other hand, got to eat a normal breakfast and not wax a hair on his body and gets completely naked in the first Avengers movie. And we are all richer for it:

So super heroes CAN have body hair. Noted.

Well, I guess we knew that from Henry Cavill's hirsute portrayal of Superman:

There is nothing wrong with chest hair, people! In fact there is everything right with it! Just, you know, keep it in check.

We mention that John frigging Krasinksi is ripped now. That's weird. But awesome? It's a shock to my system for sure:

That beard is working for me. Come get me, Daddy Jim!

And here you have your gold standard for insane super hero bodies, Chris Hemsworth as Thor:

The thing is that both Thor and Captain America should look this crazy. That makes sense. But Ant-Man sure doesn't need to be. Nor does Winter Soldier, but, again, not complaining:

And here we have 52-year-old Frank Grillo, aka Crossbones, being more fit than anyone ever:

You really should follow him on Instagram. it's full of insane pictures related to his fitness. Also, his kids are very cute. Plus he posts a lot, unlike some Sebastian Stans I could mention.

So, yes, actors are basically athletes now, and to prove my point, here is a promo shot of Chris Evans modeling Fila, because he is the face of their brand. Which is a brand that probably an athlete would normally the face of:

Again, NOT COMPLAINING. AT ALL. 

If you are interested in looking like Chris Evans, you can follow his simple workout routine, which is detailed here. Acting! 

Or if you want to look like Henry Cavill you can follow his super easy and normal workout plan here. It comes with helpful videos and images of Cavill working out. I have watched them...a few times. 

You can also follow his boring ass on Instagram, which is worth it because sometimes he posts photos like this one:

Ok. I think that's enough. Take us home, Chris Evans!

Podcast - Episode 31: Favourite (and Least Favourite) Marvel Characters

/

Coming at you after a week off. We recorded when I was fresh off my trip to Toronto, which was better than any trip to Toronto in the dead of winter has a right to be. Highlights include, in no particular order:

  1. Seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (and sitting very close to the stage!);
  2. Watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier with J.Bone;
  3. Eating at Bahn Mi Boys more than once;
  4. Drinks and strippers with J.Bone;
  5. Not having any kids with me at all;
  6. $hopping!;
  7. Sleeping through the night in a dark, quiet room;
  8. Hanging out with (ECMA-nominated!) Sean "Wordburglar" Jordan, and recording an episode of his Weekend At Burgie's podcast;
  9. Did I mention no kids?;
  10. Meeting Owen Craig from Panel Culture finally;
  11. Just generally hanging out and talking to J.Bone, who I feel like I could talk to forever, honestly. So glad we finally got to hang out in person.

But, as The Boss says, you can't break the ties that bi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-ind, so now I am back in snowy Nova Scotia, and there is in fact a blizzard happening here as I write this. And both of my kids are home.

Also, a belated birthday shout-out to Dave, who turned, I dunno, a thousand last week? Oh shit! Don't invite me to a birthday roast! I will scorch that place!

So this week, since Dave and I were guestless for the first time in a few weeks, we decided to list our favourite (and least favourite) Marvel characters. We did the same with DC characters way back in our third episode.

Before we got to that we discussed some of the news from the past couple of weeks, first and foremost the announcement by DC of a new line of Hana-Barbara comics. And that line-up includes a batshit insane Scooby-Doo relaunch:

Where is the detective squad that will stop these monsters?!

I also talk about the Lego: Marvel's Avengers video game that was recently released, and how one of the levels is a PLAYABLE BUCKY'S DEATH SCENE! I put together some screengrabs in a Tumblr post:

Bucky!!!!!!

This week's episode sees the return of MITCHELL, who joins us to share some of his thoughts on Marvel characters. His segment has a slow start, but it pays off, I think.

We do not see the return of HILLARY this week, though. She feels bad, but she just couldn't condense her thoughts on these new X-Files episodes into a coherent segment. This is a very exciting time for her. I completely understand because, as you may recall, we needed to devote an entire podcast episode AND bring in a special guest to discuss the first Civil War TRAILER. So having a hard time gathering your thoughts about two whole episodes of your very favourite thing in the world is understandable.

What I'm saying is that the Civil War movie will probably require five episodes to cover.

I am not going to mention the new Civil War trailer in this blog post, even though it's all I'm thinking about, because we will be talking about it on next week's episode. Probably at great length.

Podcast - Episode 27: 2016!!!!!!!!!!!!

/

Welcome to 2016, or as I like to call it, the year of Captain America: Civil War!

Dave and I get excited about all sorts of things that are going to be coming out this year.

First of all, here are the crazy adorable, impossibly awesome crochet Captain America and Winter Soldier that J.Bone made for me!!!!

THEY ARE SO CUTE! I LOVE THEM!!!!!!

I know why you guys come here: hilarious Captain America: White panels. Here you go!

I actually forgot to mention this one on the show. It made me laugh out loud for real:

"Soft spot." Skull knows what's up.

Here's Steve and Bucky rolled into a tight ball. This goes on for a few panels:

CAPWHITE2.JPG

Here are the very oddly posed In Memoriam statues of Cap and Bucky:

And here's Captain America riding off into the American Flag sunset, his shield concealing the middle finger he's flipping Fury, probably:

Oh, Captain America: White. I miss you already.

Here is that VERY short Disney Channel clip about Civil War. It's a minute long and it made me lose my mind three times.

BECAUSE OF THIS:

I WASN'T PREPARED!!!!

I have been looking at a lot of Stormpilot fanart on Tumblr. There is some great stuff. Like this:

But don't worry. I still make time for great Stucky fanart. Like this:

And speaking of Stucky, here is that Vanity Fair piece about the Steve/Bucky fandom.

Alright! First episode of 2016 done! Thanks for listening. Will we ever do a Jessica Jones episode? Stay tuned!

EDIT!!!!

Good lord I forgot to post the gif that Matt made me for Christmas! Here it is:

And also, here is a link to the advent calendar he made for me in 2010. And here's a taste of what it was like:

Podcast - Episode 26: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

/

Merry Christmas! Dave already got everything he wants for Christmas, in the form of Star wars: The Force Awakens, so we're gonna talk about that.

I will warn you that this episode is crazy spoilery for The Force Awakens, so don't listen if you haven't seen it yet! At least not the second half.

Before I even get started, I received a package in the mail the day after we recorded this and it was from J.Bone and LOOK!!!!!

LOOK AT THEM!!!!

LOOK AT CAPTAIN AMERICA'S LITTLE CHIN STRAP!!!

I love them and they are my best friends. Thank you, J!!!!!!!

Speaking of gifts, here's that Chewbacca cookie plate I gave to Dave last week:

I can't take credit for the peanut butter balls.

And here's the entirety of my Christmas list for, I dunno, 2020 or whenever they actually release this thing:

hot toys ws.jpg

Oh, Winter Soldier doll. I have so many inappropriate thoughts about you.

And here's that Civil War promo art that includes Sebastian Stan's quote about Bucky "going both ways."

And here is that weird Cineplex holiday ad that features a little girl Winter Soldiering a living snowman:

So weird!

We are taking next week off so see you in 2016! Thanks so much for listening! We both really love doing this podcast.