Custom King: Trevor Grove

Guaranteed I will always feel humble about my figure customizing efforts - because check out the work of Trevor Grove...

Trevor is a sculptor working for Sideshow Collectibles and sculpted these Walter Whites as a labor of love. Check out more of Trevor's astonishing Breaking Bad work on his Deviant Art page.

The Hero we need, the Hero we deserve - Dark Knight Rises

First things first – there’s no easy way to talk about The Dark Knight Rises. Looking at volume 3 of Christopher Nolan’s epic Bat saga purely as a movie became nigh impossible after a single twisted individual decided to annihilate the lives of an audience of innocents last week. Deciding to go to the theater to see the film feels weirdly uncomfortable. I felt very self-conscious sitting there waiting for the movie to start. There are a lot of creepy overlaps between fiction and reality in this movie – I’m going to attempt to be somewhat discreet, but I will also say that HERE THERE BE SPOILERS – at least potential ones. So if you have NOT seen the movie yet, my frank advice is to READ NO FURTHER…

I don’t think I can recall a time when the events of real life have so affected how it feels to just go to the movies. Movie-going is an outing of escapism – sitting in the theater, you can’t help but identify with the kindred souls who just wanted to see a Batman movie, never imagining what madness lay in store for them. Rather than the normal giddy anticipation, there’s a feeling of anxiety and guilt. Is it acceptable to be enjoying this when so many suffered and died doing the same thing? It’s not rational, but it’s also very hard to dismiss, particularly when the antagonist of Dark Knight Rises is a particularly brutal psychopath fond of inflicting violence on public gatherings.

The movie opens with a colossal wallop involving mid-flight airplanes that’s just astonishing. It’s like the mother of all opening sequences in a Bond movie. The kinetics and scope of this scene will have your jaw gaping off its hinges. It’s here that we meet Bane, personified by the enigmatic Tom Hardy. Bane is a monster – a brute of huge proportions, he evokes The Humungus of Road Warrior fame – an embodiment of chaos and terror. Like Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love, we quickly feel that this a nemesis who could do serious damage our hero won’t walk away from. Masks and the pain that causes us to wear them are a prominent theme in Dark Knight Rises and Bane is a palpable literalization of that theme. Any issues with Bane’s voice are minimal – I found him very easy to understand, with a Germanic accent that sounds like Auric Goldfinger’s sadistic brother. If Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane from Game of Thrones lived in modern times, he’d be a lot like Bane.

The ghost of Harvey Dent looms large over Gotham as things begin – Gary Oldman has always been fantastic as Commissioner Gordon in these films, but he’s flat-out fantastic here, mired in moral compromise and guilt - when things get dicey, Gordon is not one to hesitate when it comes to taking action. He finds a kindred spirit in Joseph Gordon Levitt’s patrolman John Blake. Levitt’s tremendous here, with a substantial role and makes the most of it. Gordon sees his younger self in Blake – so does someone else. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred – though he’s more reproachful and sanctimonious here than in the prior films.

I confess I was a little nervous over the choice of Anne Hathaway as cat burglar Selina Kyle. Sigh of relief, Hathaway is fantastic, playing it real - no camp, actually coming off with many of the film’s best lines. She’s a breath of fresh air in some pretty dark proceedings. This Selina Kyle is from the Han Solo school, putting self-interest above any involvement with a higher purpose.

Comic fans will note a lot of influence from the Knightfall and No Man’s Land arcs of the Batman history. Bane turns Gotham into a war zone, and Nolan creates a truly epic struggle in the ruins, heavily influenced by 9/11 and the Occupy movement by way of Escape from New York. As fantastical and outrageous as the proceedings become, it all still feels real, thanks to heroic work by Wally Pfister (Inception, The Dark Knight) and a stunning effects team.

But the core strength of this film is Christian Bale, who's never been better here. We get a bit more of Bruce Wayne than his alter ego in Dark Knight Rises - a recluse who's retired from both crime-fighting and involvement in life itself. When his personal life is invaded by Selina Kyle and his personal Gotham invaded by Bane, Bruce must decide if he's going to get back on the horse and face his demons - to see if he can weigh trying to save something against the risk of losing it forever. Bale makes Bruce Wayne a person of real feeling here - his shock at Alfred's admonishments, his anger over Bane and his need to inspire others to action, coil together to paint a rich image of a man striving to make one last significant difference in the world.

This is the second time Christopher Nolan has faced horrific real life tragedy in the course of making these films - it's also a riveting example of Nolan and Bale rising to the occasion and delivering a rich, potent and pain-fueled finale to what's been the most satisfying and adult superhero epic to date. There is likely to be much debate over elements of the ending - but from where I'm sitting I found it a beautiful fit to what's come before in Nolan's first two films - and true to the spirit of everything that Batman has always stood for.

While the here-and-now may be lacking a grim avenger to save us from the madmen of this world, maybe that's why we seek out the dark cathedral of the movies - because at least there, the guilty can be punished, heroes can inspire others to do the right thing and there's a chance that someone will emerge from the shadows to save us, just when we need it the most. 

Customizing Admiral Cain - action figure transplant surgery

Okay, this will be my biggest, nerdiest confession ever, but you can't hide from who you are - I have customized my first action figure.

Being a huge Battlestar Galactica fan - and let's face it - toy enthusiast, I was an avid collector of Diamond Select's terrific 7" series of figures. The show was nearing its end, yet there were still several key characters that DS had yet to get around to producing - Laura Roslin, Gaius Baltar and Admiral Helena Cain.

Cain was a must - as portrayed by Michelle Forbes, Cain instantly became one of BSG's greatest characters - an I'm-right-even-though-I'm-crazy officer from the Ronald Tracy school, Cain was a standout - hers would be the coolest of figures - until Diamond Select canceled the toy line. Not only would key characters like President Roslin and Gaius Baltar be left unmade, they were robbing us of Cain! Thus, the seeds of my toy-crafting obsession were sown.

Unproduced: Admiral Adama, Laura Roslin amd President Apollo

Unproduced Admiral Cain, Gaius Baltar and Adama

So - I began to think about what preexisting figure might resemble Cain. I looked at the prototype and I looked at Michelle Forbes in character. I'm just an amateur and not ready to start messing with Sculpy or other molding ingredients - I was looking to be a cannibal...

Then it occurred to me - Diamond Select had produced a figure of the main character from the Battlestar movie, Razor, Kendra Shaw...

Basically, the same female body type in a Pegasus officer's uniform. Hmmm....

Then I stumbled across some shots of the new Twilight figures from NECA - namely a character named Alice...

Now I'm not much of a Twilight fan, but the combination of dark-haired patrician brooding and barely suppressed madness behind those eyes got me thinking...if I could just somehow switch heads...

Which is exactly what I did. I picked up both figures for a song on eBay, then learned about the venerable "boil and pop" method of removing a figure's head or limbs - submerge the head in some very warm, not quite boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften the plastic, then carefully twist the head ball-joint from the neck - thankfully NECA and Diamond Select used nearly identical ball joints...

DO NOT do this when your wife is home...and behold: the finished product...

"Regulations give me broad authority in this matter."

"Well, I see that you got it to eat. That's progress I suppose."

"You just sat there, listening to us, pretending to be our friend, didn't you?" 

What do you guys think? I may have found my calling! Next up, we'll take a stab at customizing Baltar and Laura Roslin - then by my count, there are at least 7 characters from Firefly they never made...

Tragedy: Condolences to the families

Condolences to the families of the victims of last night's horrific shooting spree at a Dark Knight Rises midnight showing at a Colorado theater.

12 people are dead and nearly 40 hurt after a gunman with a gasmask opened fire on the audience.  The gunman, 24, is in police custody.

This is shocking, horribly sad news.

"They'll fix you...they fix everything."

Ah, OCP, how we've missed you! Fans of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 Robocop will lovingly remember Omni Consumer Products, the uber company behind ED-209, whose research into a new generation of "Enforcement Droid" gave us Murphy 2.0, aka Robocop. As a malevolent corporate villain entity, OCP was the greatest - and ED-209 was the mother of all berserk robots.

As next year's Robo-reboot gears up, we're being treated to an early viral corporate video from the Prometheus marketing playbook - it's nice to see that both OCP and ED-209 will at least be back in the mix, duking it out with The Killing's Joel Kinnaman as Murphy.


Here's the awesome Kenner ED-209 from some man-child's basement collection...

Color me super skeptical that anyone can surpass Verhoeven's mayhem - and no one will ever top Kurtwood Smith's Clarence Boddicker, the baddest villain of all time!

"Tannis, anyone?"

Prepare to get your Ghoul on this Halloween, with a real treat – our distinguished pals at The Criterion Collection have got a live one for us this October – at long last the release of Rosemary’s Baby on Blu-ray! Not only is it one of Roman Polanski’s greatest films, but it’s easily one of the best horror films of all time – darkly comic, it captures the New York of the 1960s like few films ever did – the performances are tremendous. If you haven’t met Minnie and Roman Castavet yet (and Laura-Louise!), do I envy you! It’s just one great scene after another. Criterion typically does a world class job and have prepared a new director-approved high-definition restoration. Vintage material will be included, as well as new interviews with Polanski, Mia Farrow and Robert Evans. I’m a huge Ira Levin fan, on whose novel the film is based – he gave us chilling fantasies including The Stepford Wives and The Boys from Brazil, as well as the play Deathtrap. But trust me – it doesn’t get any better than Rosemary’s Baby. The disc hits on October 30^th, the day before you-know-when!

Dirty Laundry with heavy starch

Back in 2004, Thomas Jane made a Punisher movie, which wasn't exactly well received. Now check this out - Dirty Laundry is clearly a ten-minute tribute to The Punisher's Frank Castle, with Jane showing up for work big-time, possibly as a labor of love. It's definitely an unofficial project, but it's must-see material. Jane is fantastic, as is Ron Perlman. It's ultra-violent and NSFW, but you should definitely check it out. Dirty Laundry is directed by Phil Joanou (Gridiron Gang, Three O'Clock High) and it kicks ass. You can watch it here... many thanks to Jonas at Shoot-the-Glass podcast for the recommend!

A Class Act: Ron Perlman suits up.

Zachary is six years old. He also has leukemia. Zachary was watching the Hellboy movies while undergoing treatment. Asked what he'd like the most, he replied, "I'd like to meet Hellboy and become Hellboy myself." Not exactly your typical trip to Disney World.

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Spectral Motion makeup artist Mike Elizalde, Zachary's wishes came true. Perlman's response at the prospect of a three-hour makeup session?

"No problem, what day?"

Not only did Zachary get to spend some quality time with Big Red himself, but he was able to be transformed into his favorite character.

Mr. Perlman, you are a class act, sir. You are a kind soul. Kudos to everyone at Make-A-Wish and Spectral Motion for making this happen.

Ron, you really do need to get together with Guillermo and suit up one last time - not for us, but for Zachary...

HOLY SCHNIKES! Diana Rigg joins Game of Thrones!

 

WOW! Dame Diana Rigg of The Avengers fame will be joining Game of Thrones as Tyrell Matriarch Lady Olenna - "The Queen of Thorns!" Hot Diggity!

Comic Con: NECA blows my mind!

HOLY HANNAH! Those amazing cats at NECA have sucker-punched us in the best possible way!

After giving us loads of iterations of the Predator itself, our buddies at NECA are giving us the characters! Given their work with the Terminator license, it should come as no surprise that they've NAILED Arnie as Dutch here - available in both his jungle camo and mud-man versions!

 

And speaking of Terminator, here's Kyle Reese, off to find his lady love!

Here's a better look at David from Prometheus...

...and my favorite - Hudson (Bill Paxton) from Aliens, looking like he's about to wet himself...

"With those things out there?! You can count me out!"

UPDATE: NECA Prometheus figures spotted!

!!!

Comic Con toy report: Old School Alien!

In 1979, Kenner was planning on making 3 & 3/4" Alien figures, as they'd been doing with the phenomenally popular Star Wars line. All they ever released was a 12" figure of the Alien itself and nixed the figure line. Photos of the prototypes Kenner made found their way out and fans have longed for this unproduced line ever since.

Super 7 announced at Comic Con that they've got ahold of the original prototypes and will use them to make these lost toys a reality!

They will be retro accurate with 5 points of articulation and come packed with accessories on blister card packaging. Clunky looking? Yes. But incredibly cool! Ripley, Dallas, Ash, Kane in spacesuit and the Alien itself. They're also producing retro-style Alien glassware, like the kind that used to hit Burger King back in the day.

Now if only someone would make that unproduced Jordan family tractor that was set to be part of Galoob's Micromachines line...

Updated with Middle Earth packaging!

Here are some more shots of the new Hobbit figures, 3 & 3/4" scale this time, in packaging...

FIRST LOOK: HOBBIT FIGURES!!!

From toy company Bridge Direct - 6" figures from the new Hobbit movie! Available this October, but Invisible Bilbo is exclusive to Comic Con at the Gentle Giant booth this weekend!