The world of entertainment has lost another creative voice, as Robert Loggia has passed away at the age of 85. Loggia had made a career out of playing tough guys and taking on roles that allowed him to have a laugh or two. In his over 6 decade career, Robert had appeared in 229 roles and acted aside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, even a few before they were the headliners they are today.
As with every entertainer, their legacy will be remember with the credits of their career and Loggia’s legacy will never be forgotten in cannon of amazing work. Also, Loggia’s influence on the lives he impacted will allow people to continue to know this great human and creative soul.
The best way to sum up this loss is the words of Loggia’s wife, Aubrey. She released this statement after the news broke, “His poor body gave up, He loved being an actor and he loved his life.”
The team behind Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice have released a new clip to the world and this scene is shocking to say the least..
There is a lot that could be read in this clip and, on the other hand, there is a lot that is not said. Is this a delusion of kryptonian grandeur or a Gotham nightmare or is this all of the above in a twisted reality?
Tell us your thoughts and don’t forget to check out Jimmy Kimmel Live this Wednesday for the world debut of the new Dawn Of Justice trailer.
I must admit, I am a bit behind in this posting. Was it due to the madness of the pending holiday? Perhaps it was the fact I have a 6 month old daughter I care for? Or maybe it was simply because I am a die-hard Star Wars nerd and I didn’t want to put down my controller to write this damn article! Yeah , that last one was probably it. As I am writing this, my inner 7 year old is screaming at me to get back to the game so I will keep this brief.
I bought the deluxe edition version of Star Wars: Battlefront for the PS4 and couldn’t wait to try Jakku from the upcoming Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Unbeknownst to me, that sneaky bastard J.J. Abrams delayed play until December 8th! Keeps the air of mystery I suppose but I digress. The deluxe edition of the game gives you the DL-44 blaster, better known as Han Solo’s blaster, the Ion Grenade, Ion Torpedo, Ion Shock emote, Victory emote, and eventually, Jakku.
The thing that grabs you right away is the extreme attention to detail that EA/DICE has put into this game, from the sparkling of the ice on Hoth, to the small bugs and marsh creatures that bring Endor to life. The sound is the next quality that I adore. All of the traditional sounds that make Star Wars so rich and immersive are present. You get the familiar “roar” of the TIE fighter, the gravely sound of Slave-1 as it accelerates into battle. My personal favorite is the “wat-wat” sound from the laser fire that erupts from an X-Wing. This game holds nothing back in it’s attempt (and success!) to bring you into the world of Star Wars.
Now, I am a big first person shooter guy and I expect a certain level of customization in my experiences and load outs. While, you cannot put a long range scope onto Boba Fett’s EE-3 blaster, you do get to pick what weapons you want to take into battle. Each weapon serves it’s purpose and many can be well suited for any map big or small. For instance, Han’s DL-44 hits like a truck but is limited in it’s effective range. There’s even a modified Jawa stun weapon that is more like a sawed-off shotgun in that it couldn’t hit the wall 15 feet away but will kill you dead 5-7 feet away. The secondary weapons come in the form of cards that you hold. Not like Magic the Gathering but you have a “hand” of three cards you can carry which are two weapons like a thermal grenade or homing missile and the third being an ability like focus fire which is…pretty self-explanatory.
Back in the day, (a term used by old people like me to vaguely reference some point in our past) I was a HUGE X-Wing player on the computer. Much like that PHENOMENAL commercial for Battlefront that featured the two brothers reuniting in the cockpit of an X-Wing, I wanted to be transported back to that feeling. I am happy to say, Battlefront, did not disappoint!! There is an entire game lobby dedicated to vehicle dog fighting and it is absolutely stunning. Saddle up in an X-Wing or an A-Wing for the Alliance or a TIE fighter or TIE interceptor for the empire and special upgrades allow you to pilot the Millennium Falcon or Slave-1.
To wrap this up, I will leave you with this: Star Wars: Battlefront may not have the customization of other first person shooters but that is the only avenue it lacks in. It runs the spectrum of map sizes and the graphics are immersive. Where it it may fall short in the scope of games like Battlefield and Call of Duty, it completely makes up for in action and nostalgia. With the upcoming Star Wars VII, I can only imagine the a galaxy far, far away is going to get a hell of a lot bigger. I will gladly give this 4.5 out of 5.
1975, the year that ruined it all. A new director named Steven Spielberg had landed the job of directing the film adaptation of the novel Jaws, the story of a killer shark terrorizing the sleepy vacation town of Amity Island. As history would write it, Jaws packed theaters and cleared out beaches worldwide as the very first summer blockbuster and the film responsible for ruining beach trips FOREVER. With an ominous two-note lead in, Jaws’ theme, brilliantly crafted by John Williams, would become the most recognizable soundtrack ever and be used by millions of older siblings to scare the shit out of their kid brothers/sisters every time they set foot in even a bathtub.
Yet, as iconic as that film is to american cinema, changes were made by Hollywood that altered the original story of Jaws. Some of these changes were subtle and some were quite significant. Granted, the screenplay was adapted and written by Peter Benchley but the execs at Universal ultimately cut a lot of the sub-plots. The finished product is something that is cinematic gold and really didn’t hurt the heart of the story in any way but, in this age of reboots, I would like to propose a remake of the fateful events of Amity Island, one that is much truer to the equally legendary novel. Since the novel is over 40 years old, I hope I don’t need to post a spoiler alert but in this day an age of everyone being upset and angry about something…SPOILER ALERT…
I firmly believe that if a remake of this film is to be made then it needs to be set in 1975. Although the novel was released in ’74, I think it would be a nice homage to the film as well as eliminating any Michael Bay-esque modern day technology bullshit. In the book, Mayor Vaughn of Amity isn’t under pressure by the economy to keep the island open but the mob who has several real estate investments on the island. Now, admittedly, this is minor and has no impact on the overall film and the guilt that overwhelms Vaughn after the attacks happen is compelling, so this could remain a cut from the final product. Martin Brody and Ellen Brody aren’t the picturesque couple they were in the original film. Ellen is a bit younger than Martin and actually comes from an aristocratic society. She also harbors resentment towards Martin for being stuck as the wife of a small town police chief. This actually plays out further into the novel when Ellen meets the dashing Hooper. Now, Richard Dreyfus, who was Hooper in the film, may be a lot of things but I don’t believe dashing would be one of them. Hooper, we learn, is also the ivy-league younger brother of a guy she once dated. Because he comes from the money and society that Ellen misses, Ellen and Hooper have a very intense affair one night that Martin ultimately finds out about. Martin, then does what any sensible husband would, he chokes the living shit out of Hooper but lets him live. Just like the film, Hooper wants to bring his shark cage along and the grizzled captain of the Orca, Quint, puts up a fight…until he is given $100 extra bucks. I believe this should stay in the film just to get this amazing scene again…
The outcome is MUCH different though as the egotistical, wife fucking Hooper is eaten alive as the shark tears into the cage. Vengeance is sweet however it comes. Another key point is that the Orca leaves port and comes back several times and Quint with it. They do not remain out at sea. I think this would do well to illustrate the frustration in trying to track the shark as well as give the shark that sense of toying with our hunters. Captain Quint’s demise is not the grizzly affair that had people in theaters shitting themselves. His demise in the novel is much more in the vein of Ahab from Moby Dick. He makes several attacks on the shark with a harpoon and the shark, much like we have learned that great whites do, leaps from the water and crashes down on the stern of the Orca, mortally wounding the mighty fishing boat. In this instant, Quint plugs the shark with another harpoon and the shark sinks back into the dark waters with Quint in tow due to the harpoon rope becoming entangled around his foot. I would kill to see this played out cinematically because Quint doesn’t go out in a spew of blood and terrified screams but he goes down fighting the demon fish. The conclusion sees the Orca sinking fast and Martin Brody clinging to a flotation device. He begins paddling to the shore only to see the shark coming for him. As he lets out an involuntary cry before his ultimate demise, the attack never comes. He turns to find himself face-to-face with the shark. He stares into it’s black, lifeless eyes as the shark rolls over, finally succumbing to the harpoon wounds and sinking into the sea with Quint still being drug behind. How bad ass is that!!? Quint ultimately wins the fight!! Now I realize that is not as iconic as “Smile you sonovabitch!” as Brody fires his M1 Garand, hits the oxygen tank and blows the shark to pieces, but it does, even to the end, leave Brody feeling helpless against this monster.
Sadly, I doubt we will see a remake anytime soon but I can hope. The only thing I insist stay in the film is Quint’s retelling of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Robert Shaw, the actor who played Quint, heard this tale from Craig Kingsbury, the real-life inspiration for Quint and the man who played Ben Gardener in the film. Shaw, being an accomplished stage actor, put his own spin on it and it was perfect. Whoever would fill his shoes would have his work cut out for him but this has to be in the film:
Disney’s D23 Expo took place in Anaheim California over this last weekend and if we learned ANYTHING from the event it is this: It is a damn good time to be a Star Wars fan! All things Star Wars took a front and center spotlight at the expo this year and yet, aside from what we’ve learned from the most recent Entertainment Weekly, there weren’t really any new details to the story of the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. What we did learn is that Disneyland, as well as Disney World in Orlando Florida, will be adding a 14 acre expansion to their parks that will be completely Star Wars themed.
Walt Disney Company CEO, Bob Iger took the stage to address the fans and revealed; “We are creating a jaw-dropping new world that represents our largest single themed land expansion ever. These new lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will transport guests to a whole new Star Wars planet.” It was also announced that the expansion will feature an attraction that allows guests to pilot Han Solo’s ship The Millennium Falcon on a “secret mission” and will also feature “an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guest in the middle of a climactic battle.” Conceptual artwork was featured as well which you can check out below.
(Nicholas Dye/Staff Writer) READER’S DISCRETION ADVISED: SWEAR WORDS AHEAD!! LIKE…LOTS OF THEM.
It started when a bad idea fucked a guy in a green suit. Okay, maybe I should clarify that. Way back in the year 2009, us nerds huddled in a dimly lit theater waiting to see the awesomeness that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Not only did we get a badass Wolverine backstory and a better Sabertooth played by Ray Donovan (or whatever his name is), but we also finally got our favorite “Merc with a mouth”, Deadpool!! Sure he was played by pretty boy Ryan Reynolds but at least we knew Reynolds had the whole foul-mouthed chatterbox thing down (see Blade Trinity)! By the end of X-Men Origins our favorite merc had been reduced to a shirtless super-mutant who had Baraka’s arms from Mortal Kombat, and, get this, HIS FUCKING MOUTH SEWN SHUT!!!! It was like seeing a Batman who could beat your ass but couldn’t tie his own shoes without the help of Morgan Freeman…Thanks Nolan. Needless to say, us fanboys (and girls, settle the fuck down), left the theater with a bitter taste in our mouths…(too easy)
(Fuck you Fox…see above)
Shortly after that train wreck of a movie, the rumor mill started spitting out ideas about a standalone Deadpool movie. With visions of that bullshit in the picture above still fresh in our heads, we only had semi nerd boners and whatever semi thing nerd girls get. In the meantime, it was announced that Reynolds would be slipping into another skin tight hero suit for DC and Warner Bros. this time and in 2011, we packed our hopeful asses back into theaters for Green Lantern aaaaand we got fucked hard and dirty (in all the bad ways) again! If you haven’t seen it, it looks like this:
(Wow…fuck you too Warner!)
Feeling quite violated, we left theaters with the kind of depression that not even a chimichanga would fix and all seemed lost and hopeless. We thought we would never get to see Deadpool on the big screen except in the OVER circumcised looking version that we got from Origins. In 2012, however, we heard all new rumors about the return of Deadpool but instead of hearing trumpets, we all were apprehensive like a hard fart in spandex, not quite sure how to handle it. The reoccurring rumor was that Reynolds, a die-hard Deadpool fan, had independently created a 1-2 minute “teaser” to take before Fox studio executives and that their reaction was like the first time you got to touch a boob under the shirt but over the bra…fucking thrilled! Our excitement (and pants) began to swell again and the horizon looked bright for us fans of Wade Wilson aka Deadpool! Sadly, buzz began to die down and we were left with movie blue balls. Just when we thought we would never get to bust our Deadpool nut, 2014 hit and the exact video that blew the minds of the Fox execs found its way to the inter web…here you go kids!!
Like most of our sex lives, it was short but damn satisfying! In those few minutes, we got a Deadpool who bantered well with the bad guys, never took anything seriously, broke the 4th wall, AND killed the shit out of everything!! It was like watching an early Jenna Jameson movie, dirty and artistic and left us reaching for a Kleenex. FINALLY we would get the right kind of Deadpool movie!! Then, as if biting into a Quarter Pounder with cheese only to find a dirty band-aid, Fox told us it would be PG-13. What the fuck!? How can you have a Deadpool movie without all the violence and implied sex and chock full of salty swear words!!? As any die hard fan looking for the silver lining to this shit sandwich, we began to be thankful that we were even getting a Deadpool movie and the phrase “They can still make it work with PG-13” became commonplace. Fast forward to April Fool’s Day 2015. We had all settled into the idea of a PG-13 Deadpool movie no matter how reluctantly and there was an announcement that Ryan Reynolds would be on Extra with pictures and news from the Deadpool set and here’s what we got:
SWEET BABY JESUS WE’RE GETTING A RATED ‘R’ DEADPOOL MOVIE!!!! Like a blowjob from a girl that’s waaaay out of your league, we couldn’t believe it was actually happening!! There would be no holds barred and no language censored! Deadpool would finally get it’s proper representation on the big screen. The only apprehension was Reynolds himself who had, as we said, whiffed pretty hard at the box office in the “superhero” genre. All doubts, however, were erased after footage of Deadpool was shown at the legendary San Diego Comic Con this year. Grainy footage leaked out and we fanboys and girls couldn’t watch it fast enough. Fox studios told us they were going to wait a while to give the general public an actual trailer but in the meantime, we learned just how hard Reynolds has worked to bring Deadpool to life. At the press event for his film “Self/less” Reynolds was asked about Deadpool to which he responded:
“For me it’s 11 years of waiting to do this guy. That doesn’t happen like this in a business where you wait so long and they’ll eventually say: ‘You can’t do this, you’re old,’” “Six years ago, we wrote a script and it was awesome. It was as if the people who created Deadpool themselves had done it.”
This last week, Fox released the same trailer that was shown at SDCC and fans worldwide have been unified in their enthusiasm. Not only are we finally getting a Deadpool movie, not only is “The Merc with a Mouth” being played by someone who has dedicated an unhealthy amount of time to get the character right AND brought to life, not only is he going to cuss like a sailor with Tourettes, NOT ONLY are we….oh I’ll just shut the fuck up and give you this red band trailer in all it’s fucking glory!!! Thanks 20th Century Fox for getting it right on the money!!! Deadpool will kick theaters right in the balls on February 12th, 2016. Take a Valentine’s date and maybe you’ll get laid!!
NOWHERE CALIFORNIA 