Happy Birthday Jim Henson

Thanks to Tor for the heads up.

Today would have been Muppets creator Jim Henson's 76th birthday. There's no way I can quantify how much Henson, his studio, and the Muppets' impact in just a few lines. So I'll just run this...



And not to ruin the solemnity of it, but I also have an excuse to run this too...

New Robocop is more Generic Future Armor Man

This is the new Robocop suit from the upcoming remake of that 80s classic. Lame. This has to be one of the most generic, unoriginal futuristic armors I've ever seen. Overly detailed, all black, full visor. He doesn't look like an unstoppable cyborg. He looks like a villainous footsoldier in a better sci-fi movie.

But you know, both this underwhelming design and the Bayformer-ish look of the new ED-209 has led to an interesting theory I've heard. It says that much like how the original Robocop satirized the hyper-violence and bulky technology look of the 80s, this new Robocop will be satirizing the sanitized, derivatively designed PG-13 sci-fi action movies of today. I don't how much water that holds, but it's an interesting idea. 

And the funny thing is, this armor doesn't look as bad when you color it right...

Going on an adventure (and Doctor Who jokes)

Hey! New Hobbit trailer...



Nice to see that it's different than the last one. The first Hobbit trailer gave more of "Oh crap, Lord of the Rings is back" feeling and scale of epicness, this one is more about setting up The Hobbit's actual story. This is especially good for people who only know this series through the movies and have never actually read the books. I also like how it has a more lighthearted tone than Lord of the Rings did. The Hobbit is a much more lighthearted book than LotR and it's good to see that carried over into the movies.

And this trailer gave us our first glimpse at Gandalf's fellow wizard Radagast the Brown, played by former Doctor Sylvester McCoy. More on him after the jump...

RIP Nostalgia Critic

If you've spent any time on the Internet, there's a good chance you've heard of Doug Walker and his site That Guy with the Glasses. If you haven't, it's a conglomerate site for people who do video reviews of various things. Movies, Video Games, Comics, etc. Since its inception, the flagship show of the site has been Walker's own Nostalgia Critic where he plays a cartoony Gen X-er who angrily rants about movies from the 80s and 90s. If you haven't seen it, go check it out. It is hilarious.

Well, all things must come to an end. At the end of their latest anniversary special, called To Boldly Flee, the Nostalgia Critic character and show were officially retired. I won't reveal how because of spoilers and Walker himself explains what this means for the future of That Guy with the Glasses here.

I just wanted to say thank you to Mr. Walker. The Nostalgia Critic has given me hours of enjoyment and always something to look forward to on Wednesdays. His precedent in Internet media has given a lot of people a platform to share their views and work and he's an inspiration to any online independent filmmakers.

So in honor of the character's retirement I present my favorite Nostalgia Critic episode, his review of Stephen King's It.

Obscure Comics Character Pitch: Firestorm

Wherein the Serial Wordsmith takes an obscure comic book character, puts a new twist on it, and well, pitches it

Today's Character: Firestorm, the Nuclear Man

The Character: Firestorm is a C-list DC superhero and on-again, off-again member of the Justice League. His powers include flight, radioactive blasts and the ability to transmute the molecular structure of matter. So he can turn lead into gold, water into air, and the hardest steel into liquid mush. He's basically a living Philosopher's Stone. He's also got a doozy of a secret identity. See Firestorm isn't just one guy, he's two.

Happy Birthday Freddie Mercury!

Today would have been Freddie Mercury's 66th birthday. He died in 1991 from AIDS and pneumonia and it's still a shame we lost him so tragically.

Here's a happy birthday to The Great Pretender.

Top 10 NuWho Episodes

Man, it's been too long since I did one of these.

As I've mentioned a few times recently, Doctor Who is coming back from a long, LONG absence tonight. And to commemorate this wonderful event, I present my...

Top 10 Favorite Doctor Who Episodes

And before anyone jumps on me, these are my favorites since the show came back in 2005. I haven't seen enough Classic Who to pass judgement. Now, without further ado...

Happy Birthday Hatsune Miku!

Yesterday (August 31st) was artificial Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku's 5th birthday.

Here's a happy birthday to our favorite little idoru from the Serial Wordsmith.