Jeff Kober Walking Dead Mystery

During last Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead I had a definite double-take. One of my superpowers is recognizing actors. So in the episode Claimed, when Rick finally escaped from beneath that bed and the tennis ball tossing leader of the men who'd seized the house was glimpsed out on that porch, I exclaimed, "That's Jeff Kober."

I've been a fan of Jeff Kober's since Kindred: The Embraced, back in 1996. This Montana native has been quite the journeyman actor, showing up in tons of roles from China Beach to Walker, Texas Ranger to Sons of Anarchy. Sometimes he just shows up, uncredited (as in Lost), and sometimes he makes a big impact (like on Sons), but I figure if he's showing up on The Walking Dead, it's a seed being planted - and while Rick got the heck out of Dodge shortly after glimpsing him, smart money is that Kober will resurface.

Is he connected to Terminus, the sanctuary that we've seen mentioned? There's even speculation that he could be an early incarnation of Negan, before he rises to full bat-wielding power. Kober is now listed as an uncredited "Joe" by IMDB for the episode. But where he's a recognizable cult fave - and isn't dead - I think it's a safe bet Kober is going to loom large again at some point. Five more episodes left this season.

Jeff Kober as Daedalus on Kindred: The Embraced

Kober as Jacob Hale on Sons of Anarchy

Captain Trips infects his latest

Yet another director is taking a crack at The Stand, in the seemingly endless saga to bring Stephen King's apocalyptic opus to the big screen. Directors have come and gone, from David Yates to Ben Affleck. This time, Warner's has lured in a relative newcomer in Josh Boone, director of the yet to be released The Fault in Our Stars. 

Word has it Warner Brothers wants Boone to deliver a single R-rated film, staying faithful to the book. If that's the case, look for three-plus hours, minimum. It's interesting to note that Boone's indie directing debut, Stuck in Love, featured a cameo by King, one of Boone's childhood heroes. Hey, that's a nice bit of serendipity, maybe. Yes, most of us have never heard of Boone - but how cool would it be if a relative unknown - who just loves Stephen King - was the one to step into the development blast crater and finally crack this thing? I, for one, wish Josh Boone well on this. He's definitely got his hands full.

The Oscars are this Sunday night, so check back over the next couple of days for some hare-brained predictions! The weekend's almost here, people!

Adam Driver's Dark Side of The Force

In what's sounding like pretty official news, Variety is reporting in an "exclusive," that Girls star Adam Driver has pen poised to ink a deal as the villain in Star Wars VII for director J.J. Abrams.

This is the first real casting announcement since it became official that Fisher, Ford and Hamill would be on board to continue the original saga. A tweet from Driver's Girls costar Lena Dunham only served to push this out of rumor territory: "We're VERY proud of Adam Driver re: Star Wars. He's about to rip a hole in da force." Driver supposedly beat out the likes of Hugo Weaving and Michael Fassbender for the role, "...in the vein of Darth Vader." The deal is expected to close soon as they work out Driver's scheduling issues on Girls. 

This is big news to be sure. With shooting scheduled to begin at Pinewood in April, expect a lot more casting news in the next month.

Godzilla vs. Heisenberg

Yeah, two days in a row, I'm excited about Godzilla. But just look at this trailer!!! Better yet, listen to it. I love how out of control Bryan Cranston sounds. That is some serious rage about to unhinge! These two bad boys can't get here soon enough!

Harold Ramis - Egon has left the building...

The passing of writer-director-actor Harold Ramis came suddenly and unexpectedly today, at the age of 69. Ramis emerged on the scene in SCTV in the seventies and quickly became a fixture in comedies like Stripes and Ghostbusters. He wrote Animal House and had tremendous directorial success with Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation and Groundhog Day, among many others. His dry style helped define the comedy of a generation. From Groundhog Day: "I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over, and over, and over.." Thanks for more laughs than I'll ever be able to remember, Harold. You made finding our way through youth into adulthood a lot easier. We'll never forget you.

Now that's a poster! GODZILLA!

Feast your eyes on the new one-sheet for Godzilla - that looks just spectacular!
Really rooting for Gareth Edwards to knock this one out of the park. If you're a resident of San Francisco, looks like it just might be time to consider relocating. Godzilla comes calling on May 16th!

Toy Fair coda - Bridge Direct's Unexpected Party!

Well Bless my soul, as Sam Gamgee might exclaim! Bridge Direct finally showed up for the party!

There was much concern that after the dismal showing they made with The Desolation of Smaug, many of us feared the figure line had been bungled beyond repair! But at the 11th hour, here they are with an assortment of many of the figures we've been clamoring for, presumably to coincide with the release of There and Back Again next December. Roll up your sleeves, Bagginses...

First off, Dwarves - all the missing members of Thorin's company...

Then we have Bard and Beorn...

A smaller-scale Azog and Thranduil (sorry to everyone who got conned into the 5-pack)...

...and of course, the Big Guy, Smaug himself:

There we have it! Stock up your pantry, because dwarves will be calling en masse!

This really is a relief, as this line had real promise, but it really fell asleep in the second act.

If this release is handled properly - and distributed widely, Bridge Direct stands a good chance of reclaiming some of the love they lost in a big way. Chaps, you might want to think about resculpting Bilbo while you're at it!

Toy Fair: The Dust Settles

It would be pretty hard to top yesterday's news, but wanted to give a little more time to a few of the other lines making an appearance at Toy Fair over the weekend...

First off, Funko's ReAction figure line - 3 & 3/4" figures with minimal articulation, following on the footsteps of their Alien Kenner prototype figures. The new expanded line covers a lot of franchises (everything from Escape from New York to Firefly to Pulp Fiction). But I'm not exactly overwhelmed with these sculpts:

...then Pulp Fiction:

Jules

Vincent

Jules and Vincent

Marcellus and Mia Wallace - yikes! Sloppy paint job - caveat emptor!

New figures from the Star Wars Black Series - I sure hope that Vader looks better in person...

Some characters from Star Wars Rebels...

NECA's new Robocop with jetpack...

Cherno Alpha from Pacific Rim...

Hasbro's Captain America - check out what looks like some kind of huge S.H.I.E.L.D. mecha Hulk-buster suit. Will it be in the movie...?

...and lastly, while most of the cooler Guardians of the Galaxy figures appear to be in he larger Legends series, it looks like smaller Marvel Universe scale 3 & 3/4" figures will be available in a series of two-packs...

So there you have it! This year's winners? I'd say Funko and Dark Horse have got a killer license with their Game of Thrones figures - and of course, NECA. We'll be sure to post any other late-breaking leftovers for you in the next few days, but that's a pretty good taste of what's coming.

Now go clear off some shelf space!

HUGE Alien toy news!!!

Toy fans, if this isn’t spectacular news, then I don’t know what is: after much speculation, toymaker NECA has made it official – they have attained the likeness rights to the holy grail of action figures – the first-ever figures of Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, thanks to the approval of actress Sigourney Weaver! There has been much debate about this ever coming to pass, as Ms. Weaver has been notoriously adamant about not allowing her likeness to be turned into a figure or to be packaged in any way depicting the use of firearms. Somehow, they must have come to an arrangement, because Ripley is joining the 35^th Anniversary celebration.

The first figure will depict Ripley in her Nostromo jumpsuit from the original 1979 Alien film, followed later by a version from James Cameron’s 1986 Aliens. Prototypes of both will be on display this summer at San Diego Comic-Con! That Powerloader must be bigger than it looks!  

LEGO my Ego

The Lego Movie is pretty hilarious. Yes, you might even say it's awesome! Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street) have tapped that audience pulse that studio executives stay up nights dreaming about - a movie that appeals to both kids and their parents. Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) is just a regular fella in a world where everything is awesome, thanks to the influence of President Business (Will Ferrell). If only there was something about him that made coworkers so much as remember his name. Fate lends a hand and before long, Emmet has stumbled across The Piece of Resistance, the one object that can save the world from the forces of Lord Business. If The Lego Movie is reminiscent of anything, it's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (...I just got that title). It's irreverent and satiric at nearly every turn. It also throws enough mayhem and kinetic hyper-adrenalized action at you that your kids may not sleep for a week.

If you're a fan of voice-over work, get ready for a field day. The Lego Movie is worth seeing for Liam Neeson and Will Arnett alone, as Good Cop/Bad Cop and Batman, respectively. This is probably the only movie where you'll ever get to see Batman and the Star Wars characters interacting. Arnett makes Batman a wildly narcissistic ego maniac with a girlfriend named Wyldstyle (take that, X-Men), voiced by Elizabeth Banks, who's beginning to see something in Emmet that might be missing in the Bat guy. There's a festival of cameos, including Jonah Hill and Billy Dee Williams. Morgan Freeman holds sway over everything as wise man Vitruvius.

It's easily 20 minutes too long and drags a tad, but there are so many hilarious bits and so much great dialogue that The Lego Movie is going to do ridiculous business, green light a sequel immediately, and sell a ton of plastic bricks. See you on Taco Tuesday!

Sunday Toy Fair reveal: GAME OF THRONES

We just discovered Funko's new Legacy Collection of Game of Thrones figures - they're incredibly hard to find and for the time being, a Barnes & Noble exclusive (run, don't walk). Now we're getting our first look at the second wave, made of of some real fan favorites. Jaime, Brienne, Khal Drogo, Daenerys (2nd version), Arya and Robb Stark. I love how they're working in appropriate scale - Daenerys, Arya and Tyrion are much smaller, Brienne, Drogo and The Hound, much taller. Two waves in the first year is a pretty strong introduction - we'll try and find out when the second helping is due to invade our stores. Funko is clearly expanding their brand in a major way. Can't help but wonder how many former NECA employees they lured away... The chase continues!