NECA teases Aliens series 5

Thar she blows! NECA has been offering glimpses of their series 5 Aliens Ripley figure for a while, and now we're getting a decent look, prior to Comic Con in July. This is the Ripley you'll want for your big Powerloader. Wave 5 also includes "Queen Attack" Bishop, due to be packed with an open egg and facehugger, plus Xenomorphs from the Dark Horse Genocide comic. 

Not bad for a human.

Landmark F.A.O. Schwarz Closing - New York Dies a Little

This news made my heart sink. I love New York and I love toys, so with word that the iconic flagship store of F.A.O. Schwarz is closing its doors, I was hit with genuine sadness.

The Toys “R” Us chain has owned F.A.O. since 2009, and while they claim the brand will continue within their stores and online, the venerable New York destination is closing years ahead of their 2017 lease expiration, “…providing the opportunity to realize meaningful rent savings,” another victim of skyrocketing New York real estate. The store is set to close its doors on July 15th.

F.A.O. Schwarz began as Schwarz Brothers Importers after the Civil War until one of the brother-partners made the store his own. Like Tiffany’s or the Plaza Hotel, F.A.O. Schwarz was a symbol of fantasy New York, but one that anyone could touch and experience. The store was on the NE corner of Fifth avenue and 58th Street, having moved from the earlier SE corner. It became a pop culture icon beyond the five boroughs after its appearance in the Tom Hanks film Big in 1988. Hanks' and Robert Loggia’s dance on the giant piano keyboard sent legions of tourists and children at heart into the store, anxious to capture a bit of that magic. Passing through the doors into the enormous space, giant clockwork figures spun and whirred, the huge tree talked, the music box sang, and endless varieties of stuffed animals beckoned to the young. The store was a haven for childhood. And while F.A.O. has always been a premium-priced retailer, parents of all means would take their kids there, knowing they could find something that they could afford, to give them that experience of transporting delight. It was truly a world of its own. 

The last time I visited the store was during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the bathrooms overflowing with drunken New Jersey teenagers. If they could deal with that, I figured they could deal with anything. 

New Yorkers will have to look elsewhere for their spaceships, Barbies, trains and Teddy bears. 

The city will endure, but a corner of Fifth Avenue – and of our imaginations – will never be quite the same.

Here are a few shots from my last visit:

"Let's Roll, Kato..." AutoArt Black Beauty is finally a reality!

For years it's been the Holy Grail of diecast 1:18 scale film and TV car collectors - The Black Beauty, the rolling arsenal of TV's The Green Hornet, as seen on the 1966/67 TV series. For me, it's always been a personal favorite.

The Black Beauty was created by famed Hollywood customizer Dean Jeffries out of a 1966 Chrysler Imperial. Fans of the show have been wanting a large-scale model of the car ever since. There was hope that we'd see one when the ill-fated Seth Rogen movie came out in 2011, and elite diecast manufacturer AutoArt supposedly had one in development, but it never materialized.

Until now. AutoArt unveiled The Black Beauty at the Shizuoka hobby show in Japan this last week. I emailed AutoArt and received written confirmation that the model will in fact be available in the 3rd quarter!

So start clearing off some display space. The Moby Dick of diecast vehicles is on its way!

Carmageddon! The Magnificent Desolation of Mad Max: Fury Road

If David Lean dropped acid then immediately watched Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now, he would probably have made a movie that looks a lot like Mad Max: Fury Road, easily the most deliriously entertaining movie of the year so far. 

The accolades for Fury Road have been pretty enthusiastic, and it’s easy to see why. At age 70, director George Miller has returned to the franchise that made him famous and made an action film the likes of which we haven’t seen in ages. Fury Road isn’t just an action movie, it’s cinema, in the purest sense of the word – a relentless, surreal, gasp-inducing juggernaut of stupefying detail and imagination that makes The Road Warrior look like Driving Miss Daisy.

 

There are a few visual effects in Fury Road, but they’re minimal and utterly seamless. The overwhelming majority of what’s onscreen is the most stupefying display of physical stuntwork I’ve ever seen, perpetrated by both humans and vehicles – often simultaneously. You’ve just never seen anything to compare with the vehicular mayhem that Miller has unleashed here. Perhaps the director’s best decision was luring legendary cinematographer John Seale (Witness, The English Patient, Cold Mountain) out of retirement to shoot the film. Fury Road is utterly stunning, visually. Seale and Miller have created a world here that’s completely unique and unforgettable. Alternating between sweeping vistas and in-your-face close-ups, if Seale isn’t nominated for Best Cinematography, it’ll be a complete disgrace. There are shots here that look impossible to achieve,  particularly when moving at high speed in the midst of one-take-only sequences of kinetic destruction. It’s the collaboration of a lifetime.

 

Tom Hardy is a great fit as Max, in nearly perpetual survival mode for the entire film. But simply get out of the way for Charlize Theron as Furiosa. She creates an iconic character that dominates the film and that you can’t look away from. Hugh Keays-Byrne who played The Toecutter in the original Mad Max (1979!) is the villain here, now called Immortan Joe, leader of the maniacs in hot pursuit of Max and his companions. 

 

Miller has created a simply astonishing vision of the apocalypse here. In the 34 years since The Road Warrior, he must have watched every bungled depiction of societal collapse from Waterworld to The Postman, steeling himself to learn from their mistakes. There’s an insane level of detail on display here, impossible to absorb in one viewing, especially with the editing gusto with which Margaret Sixel orchestrates her cuts. The score from Junkie XL is pure adrenaline and ratchets up audience involvement to near nervous breakdown levels. 

 

The production design is revolutionary. Enough can’t be said about the vehicles here. They’re like massive onion-layered welds of three-in-one jet-fueled  carmageddon. Immortan Joe’s stronghold is like something out of Dune. Everything onscreen from the massive scale of the locations to the detail of each costume is phenomenal and unique. 

 

Simply put, Fury Road is one of the classics of modern action filmmaking. Miller hasn’t just raised the bar, he’s launched it into outer space.

Without a doubt, YOU MUST see Fury Road in the theater – don’t wait for home video. It’s an epic masterpiece that wants to rip out your eyeballs, smear them in gasoline, then juggle them as they go screaming off a cliff. Highest possible rating. Run, don’t walk!

In Delirious Orbit Over The Martian

I can't remember the last time I read a book this fast. Wow. I'm not going to review The Martian, so don't worry about spoilers. But you need to read this - trust me. You probably know the premise: Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13. Your debut novel becomes a New York Times bestseller then Ridley Scott makes a movie out of it. It's tempting to hate Andy Weir if he weren't so awesome. 

The Martian tops my "if you read one book this summer" list, and it is absolutely, reader-be-warned, unputdownable. There's been a lot of Ridley Scott bashing lately, but the novel is practically camera ready, it so screams out to be a movie, and Ridley's going to have a massive hit on his hands here.

More importantly, Weir's novel is going to inspire an entire generation to get excited about the power and accesibility of science and to consider the potential of space exploration. It's a smashing testament to the resilience and imagination of human beings grappling to make sense of the world around them.

So what are you still doing here?! Go read The Martian already!

A Revealing Look at del Toro's Ghostly Crimson Peak

This is quite the trailer - del Toro set loose to envision the progeny of The Haunting, The Shining and The Legend of Hell House. Great cast, smashing look. Guillermo's definitely the man to brew up a Gothic Halloween treat.

Mad Max Masterpiece?

"Triumphant," "Masterpiece," "Classic." 

I can't remember the last time I've seen so many raves for an action movie, but Mad Max: Fury Road is reaping a whirlwind of incredibly enthusiastic A++++ five-star reviews, pretty much universally being declared an action tour de force. Currently 97% on Rotten Tomatoes (it was 100% this morning until some wank had to drop anchor), it's piling up raves like there's no tomorrow. It's been a heck of a Monday for reviews, and the floodgates have opened on what looks to be the biggest R-rated action hit in years!

First look: Ripley - Aliens Series 5

Here's the first real solid look at NECA's Series 5 Aliens Ripley figure, the one that's meant for their Powerloader. An unpainted test shot, but damn! Looks utterly fantastic. That's three Ripleys we ought to be getting by summer's end (fingers crossed). Great job, NECA!

Martin Freeman joins Captain America!

The ubiquitous Martin Freeman has signed onto Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, with no word yet on who he will be playing. Let the speculation commence! With Benedict Cumberbatch playing Doctor Strange, we now have both Holmes and Watson in the Marvel cinematic universe.

Captain America: Civil War opens exactly a year from today.

Big Reveals on May the Fourth Be with You

Vanity Fair and photographer Annie Liebivitz gave a little gift to Star Wars fans  today, with a new batch of rather revealing character photos, including one that removed any doubts - Adam Driver is villain Kylo Ren.

Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie is "chrome trooper" Captain Phasma...

Oscar Isaac is dashing X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron...

We don't know quite what she'll look like yet, but we learned that Lupita Nyong'o will be playing some kind of CGI pirate called Maz Kanata...

Maz's coterie of crazies...

...and finally, here's a terrific shot of newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, next to some old familiar faces...

We also learned that September 4th will be the release date of a flood of Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise. That galaxy far, far away is starting to feel a lot closer.

RIP Grace Lee Whitney - Star Trek's Yeoman Rand

Grace Lee Whitney, the actress who played Star Trek's Yeoman Janice Rand, has passed away at age 85. 

Whitney played Captain Kirk's Yeoman in 8 of the original series first season episodes, perhaps most memorably in Charlie X. She departed the series early in its run due to struggles with addiction that she eventually overcame. She returned to the Star Trek universe in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek Voyager and was a fan favorite on the convention circuit. 

Condolences to her family and thanks for the memories of such an indelible character.

Age of Ultron Serves up a Vision - and a Killer Robot

Look out, it's raining money! Box office, that is! Avengers: Age of Ultron seems poised for one of the biggest openings of all time, which should come as no surprise. The original was a crowd-pleasing smash, and anticipation - and advance ticket sales - for Ultron have been off the charts for months. 

Original director Joss Whedon is back, and he's structured Age of Ultron to feel like a massive James Bond movie, complete with an opening sequence action opus, showing The Avengers team staging a fortress assault in the country of Sokovia. Right out of the gate, we're globe-trotting, as this sequel takes us to numerous far flung locales, while serving up a gleefully deliberate comic book tone - staging action sequences like two-page panels exploding across the screen:

Also like the Bond series, Whedon knows they're only as good as their villains, and he's given us a real corker in Ultron (James Spader), the maniacal robot byproduct of Tony Stark's experiment to create a cybernetic global peacekeeping system. The threat of artificial intelligence is looming large in cinemas lately, with the recent Ex Machina and this summer's Terminator Genisys. Well, the cyborgs in Terminator will have to be awfully malicious to top Ultron, one of the best sci-fi villains in ages. Ultron represents our creations - and best intentions - turning against us, and Spader and Whedon let Ultron ooze superiority and disdain. He's psychotic, sarcastic and maliciously funny. He's also on a quest to evolve and improve himself - an intention that drives the plot in unexpected ways.

Whedon delivers some spectacular sequences, but none likely more giddy and rambunctious than the Hulkbuster sequence, something comic fans have been clamoring to see for ages. It's a sensational mid-film collision that blows the doors off.

We also get new characters. Elizabeth Olsen is terrific as Scarlet Witch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson less so as her brother, Quicksilver - a character we saw depicted much more successfully in last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Whedon balances right on the tipping point of having to keep too many plates spinning, with the ever-burgeoning membership of The Avengers, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, War Machine, Peggy Carter, The Falcon, Heimdall, plus the above-mentioned Maximoff twins, while setting up numerous other seeds that will germinate later in Marvel Phase 3 films - like Andy Serkis as Klaue. The film starts to feel like an overstuffed Italian Timpano, with the idea of adding yet another new character sounding like suicide. Yet that's exactly what Whedon does, with the introduction of The Vision (Paul Bettany) - and his arrival is what lifts the film up into a triumphant and unifying whole in the third act. The less you know about The Vision the better, but I think they've handled him incredibly well here. 

In addition to Olsen, massive props go to  Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner, who both provide plenty of new depth and soul to characters who've been more on the fringe in previous outings. They both really shine here and it's great that Whedon uses them to remind us of the humanity - and vulnerability - of our costumed league of heroes. 

There's plenty of heart in Age of Ultron, and the camaraderie and humor works, because with a movie like this, the bottom line is it had better feel fun - and on that score, the movie is hugely successful. Yes, Age of Ultron is ready to burst at the seams at times. Whedon is handing the directing duties for the next Phase 3 Infinity War chapters to the Russo brothers - and you have to wonder if there's a certain realization that the familiarity of this dynamic might be a fragile thing to keep fresh. Once again, we have a finale that's dependent on enormous airborne impacts and rescues. But the strengths of Age of Ultron far outweigh any sense of repetition, thanks in large part to our affection for the ensemble of these characters, and the uniqueness of Bettany's Vision. 

DO NOT MISS that end credits scene, as it's a doozy, and gets us chomping at the bit for what Infinity War may have in store. Avengers: Age of Ultron packs a punch, and having some new heroes - and a great bad guy - is what every summer movie season really needs. Highly recommended. 

Dawn of Justice: Batwing!

Check out Batman's new aircraft from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Looks pretty cool!