Photos From Dallas Comic Con 2013

For all you folks that may be in a photo of mine, please feel free to go to my Dallas Comic Con 2013 Facebook Album or click on the photo. Once you get there, if you find a picture that you’re in, feel free to tag it.

Dallas Comic Con Adds Adam Baldwin

 

It’s big, it’s expensive, but “WHOO! BOY!”  is it fun! Dallas Comic Con will run from Friday May 17th through Sunday May 19th, 2013. If you haven’t got tickets yet, you might want to move fast. Head over to Dallas Comic Con Ticket page where you can also get autograph tickets for Nathan Fillion, William Shatner, and other assorteds.

 

 

A big guest (for FIREFLY fans) has been added to the line-up and that would be Adam Baldwin, known as Jayne Cobb on FIREFLY and Casey on CHUCK! I just spotted this in my email box, so here it is to you. Enjoy. You will be able to see Adam in the new Michael Bay TV show, THE LAST SHIP, on TNT sometime in 2014.

Out of all the Dallas Comic Con guests, which ones are you most excited to see?

Movie Review: IRON MAN 3

IRON MAN 3 has the second highest gross for a weekend, only behind THE AVENGERS (2012), and for good reason! We had a little get together at the Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley with The Fellowship of the Geeks and a some new friends and loved the movie.

I know that there are some fanboys and fangirls out there that are or will be totally horrified at this movie. I’ve always said that you should go into these things with this in mind. A movie is a totally separate entity from a book, comic book, or previous movie. There are too many variables, so get over it, watch it as an individual piece of work, and enjoy it on it’s own merits. With that in mind, enjoy the ride!

There is very little action in the beginning because there is an emotional set-up that has to be made. Tony is going through some mental issues after the whole Avengers-wormhole-aliens thing and he’s rethinking his life. I liked this part of it. For two movies, it was all about the suit and very little about Tony Stark. Yeah, you got to see him as the billionaire playboy and you got to listen to his snark, but now, you get to see him as a human being. And I really enjoyed it.

One of the great things about the first half of the movie was watching Tony Stark interact with someone who wasn’t a superhero, villain, or rich and famous. He meets a kid named Harley who likes to build things, too, and the relationship between the two is fun to watch because it would seem that Tony has met himself in a younger form. Great part of the story!

Colonel James Rhodes brings more to the table this time and I’m very pleased with what he has to offer. Action Flick Chick mentioned in her ‘12 Reasons Iron Man 3 Is Awesome’ that Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle have a great “buddy cop vibe” and I can’t agree more. Plus, you get to see that he’s just as good in the suit as Tony.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts? She starts as a damsel in distress, but after this? No more. That’s all I have to say about that because you need to see it to see what I mean. And it’s awesome!

Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin should get an Oscar for his portrayal of . . . . well, not The Mandarin per se. You’ll see what I mean. There is a definite plot twist and I liked it though it goes against Iron Man back story and I’m okay with that.

Guy Pierce as Aldrich Killian is over the top. I almost didn’t recognize him in the beginning, but his character is the one you want to watch out for.

As for plot and storyline, I don’t know what everyone is getting worked up over, but then again, I am a very forgiving movie viewer. If there were any plot holes, I either didn’t pick up on them or I did and pushed them aside to enjoy the movie. That’s just the way I roll. As for the ending, I believe it is very open-ended and could be the end or the beginning of the next Marvel Phase 2. We’ll just have to see.

Action sequences are amazing and the true thrill rides that you would expect from any Marvel movie. I really don’t think anyone would be disappointed here. Though I did enjoy the first half with Tony’s emotional set-up, it could have been paced a little faster and with that I give the movie a 4.5 out of 5 or an 9 out of 10.

In closing, I’ll never tell you to go or not go see a movie. In the end, that is up to you. But, I hope you’ll appreciate what I enjoyed or did not enjoy about the film.

Have you seen it yet? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook at /galaxycalleddallas or on Twitter at @galaxy_dallas.

Texas Studio Movie Grills Donate IRON MAN 3 Proceeds to West Texas Relief

Watch IRON MAN 3 at a local Texas Studio Movie Grill on Tuesday May 7th at 7:00 PM. By doing so, SMG will donate all the proceeds to the WEST VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT RELIEF FUND. This fund has been set up to help the families who have traumatized by the explosion of April 17th.

Have you heard of any other organizations doing events like this?

Free Comic Book Day & Star Wars Day May 4, 2013

I’m not sure what planets had to align for these two events to fall on the same day, but I’m hoping the resulting apocalypse will wait long enough for me to finish reading my stash! Be sure and check out your favorite local comic book shop to see what they’ve got going on. Here’s a short list in no particular order of what I’ve found so far.

 

• Zeus Comics Events – Actor Peter Mayhew, Writer/Artist Phil Jimenez, Artist Stephen Sadowski, Web Cartoonist RK Milholland, Artist Robert Wilson, Artist Chad Thomas, Artist Benjamin Hall, Writer David Hopkins, and additional costumed characters.
• Boomerang Comics - Join us Saturday, May 4 all day as we hand out thousands of FREE COMICS, enter in the Kids Costume Contest and win prizes from our sponsors LEGO and DK Publishing, get your face painted with your favorite super hero, meet the Real Ghostbusters, and take advantage of our famous sales!!
• Lone Star Comics Plano – Special guests, in-store broadcasts, costume contest, and, you guessed it, free comics!
• Lone Star Comics Central Arlington – Star Wars LCG, Clan Murraan, Star Wars X-Wing Minis Charity Tournament, and Kids Costume Contest
• Lone Star Comics Fort Worth – School Graphic Novel Giveaway, Trivia Contest, Kids Costume Contest
• Keith’s Comics Mockingbird – Gotham City’s Characters, Costume Contest, DeLOL live stream, Free Ice Cream!
• Keith’s Comics North Dallas – Artists Pat Binder and Keith ‘KEZ’ Wilson
• Keith’s Comics Garland Fire Wheel Mall - Leia and her troops will be on hand, and first 20 through the door get a “bonus bag.”
• More Fun Comics Denton – Fundraiser for the Denton Animal Shelter Foundation, Appearances by Jake Ekiss and Paul Milligan of Space Gun Studios, and lots of local deals.
• Area 51 Gaming & Collectibles - FREE Comic Book Day is Saturday! Come in for tons of FREE stuff, a Storewide sale, Cosplayers and so much more! Special events include Dragon's Maze booster drafts, Heroclix super Tourney for a Brick of boosters and so much more. Don't miss FCBD 2013 at Area 51!

***UPDATE 5/3/2013***

• Cosmic Comics Grand Prairie – Artists Eddie Medina and Jason McLean. Its free to attend, free comics, live music, food and the kids can have their pictures taken with real life comic characters! Come out and join the fun.
• C-Bam Comics Garland – Free Comics and characters, such as Catwoman and the female Captain America, Dallas Fan Girl.
• Comic Book Craze – Free comics, ScifiFX.com podcasting, and author Todd Boddy of THE EXIT.

Stay tuned for updates and if you know of one that I’ve missed, let me know and I’ll get it posted! Also, if you are out and about and take photos, please share with us!

Texas Frightmare Weekend Jumps Out At Us This Weekend!

The show is going to be phenomenal! If you haven’t got your tickets yet to the Texas Frightmare Weekend you need to take a look at their guest list and reconsider. Aside from Danny Trejo, one of the most requested guests, there are a lot of favorites that I would have never thought of seeing.

Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright are making a mini ALIEN reunion. Walking Dead fans will find quite a few celebs, including Chandler Riggs, the Kid, in attendance.

 

One that is unexpected is Diane Franklin. Though it wasn’t a horror, unless you just don’t like John Cusack movies, she played the cute little French exchange student, Monique Junot, in BETTER OFF DEAD. She has done horror in her career, but that’s not what I remember her for.

 

 

And a very big surprise to me, but not to those that are fans of THE LORDS OF SALEM, is the presence of one Patricia Quinn! If the name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe the character Magenta does. Yes, that Patricia Quinn!  All in all a very good list of actors and actresses for everyone and I’m now off to find a babysitter!

 

 

 

 

• Texas Frightmare Weekend
• May 3, 4, 5
• Hyatt Regency DFW
• Single Day – $30    Weekend Pass – $75

Texas Frightmare Weekend Website

Movie Review: OBLIVION

My reviews are my own opinions and are merely posted as my own thoughts to the likeability of the movie. I will never tell you that you SHOULD or SHOULDN’T see a movie. You have to judge for yourself. What follows is what I liked or disliked about OBLIVION.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought to myself, “finally an original thought in Hollywood.” That didn’t take too long to end. But more on that in a minute.

The visuals were stunning, the story was intriguing, and I wanted to see what would become of it. It seems that we’ve had nothing but vampires, zombies, wizards, and super heroes for so long, that I’d forgotten what a good science fiction movie looked like. The fact that it had Tom Cruise in it did not deter me from wanting to see it. His private life, quirks and all, are just that, his private life. He’s a good actor. Give him a screen and let him play.

The length of the movie seemed to be a little long, but it only clocks in at two hours and four minutes. I think that what lends to the time perception is the long lead into the meat of the movie. It takes a while to set up, but that’s a good thing. During this set up period, there is a lot to look at and digest and there is some action to make it not boring. My movie partner, on the other hand, thought that it was slow in the beginning.

Once it gets going, it’s pretty much a fun movie. Some folks have said that there are too many sci-fi movie clichés, and yes, you can point out some, but you’re going to get that with any movie you see. It does not detract from the overall movie.

The soundtrack for this movie was amazing. Very 70’s and 80’s sci-fi. The rock band M83 put it together and should get some award nods on it. It truly reminded me of old sci-fi movies I had seen as a kid, which just reinforced my enjoyment of the movie. It really helped to set the scene and the mood when coupled with the powerful visuals.

As for this being original, it seems that the graphic novel it was based on was an unpublished one that producer, director, and co-writer Joseph Kosinski had in the works about eight years ago. Thanks to a writer’s strike and the movie rights getting snapped up, it never got finished. Read the details of OBLIVION, the graphic novel, according to Bleeding Cool.

All in all, this was a good movie. There are a few little details that leave questions, but it doesn’t ruin the movie. I’d give it a three and a half or four out of five. Check it out and enjoy.

If you’ve seen it and didn’t like it, tell me why! If you saw it and loved it, what was your favorite part or parts?