The cold months have finished and the hiatus is finally over, the time has returned for the guys from Nowhere to show off their junk. As I let that opener sink in, I will give you the traditional reminder of what this column is all about and avoid hate mail or unsolicited nudity.
Show Us Your Junk is the reoccurring article from Nowhere California that can be summed up as an ongoing pop culture show and tell. The team behind Nowhere are hardcore nerds and collectors, so they have some stories to share and they hope you will be ready to jump in the mix, but more on that later.
In this installment, I stick my toes into the world of unboxing and show off my latest delivery from Loved Again Media..
Loved Again Media is a movie addict’s dream and I’m not being paid to say that. This is a company to take a bigger look at and this will not be the last time you hear about this service on Nowhere California.
The world of pop culture is still feeling the after effects of the DC Fandome and our favorite villainous squad are jumping from the page to the screen to the next generation of video game consoles.
The Nowhere California team will be diving deep into the first images from “The Suicide Squad” movie, but we have to take a look at the next game from the creative minds behind the legendary Arkham City franchise, Rocksteady Studios.
The members of Task Force X have entered the battle damage city limits of Metropolis, they have one mission and one goal. The mission is to eliminate a target and their goal is to get time erased from their prison sentences, but there is one huge problem and that is the target. Harley Quinn (voiced by Tara Strong), Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark (voiced by WWE superstar Samoa Joe) have to take down Superman. Will the goal outweigh the mission? Also, from the title of the game, we can only imagine that the team will have a lot more on their plates.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League will not hit stores until 2022, but this first look has given the world something to be excited for and is given me a reason to possibly upgrade my current video game system.
The DC Animated Universe has set the bench mark with every release and they are ready for another beginning. As “Justice League Dark: Apokolips War” finishes the timeline that began with the 2013 “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox”, Warner Bros. and DC are ready to hit the reset button. It’s time to check out the Man of Steel’s origins… again.
“Superman: Man Of Tomorrow” brings a new slant to one of the great comic book orgin of all-time, but before we dive into the trailer, I feel the need to point out the #MeToo elephant in the room. This story might look a little familiar to the trained eye, as this film is rumored to be loosely based on the comic “Superman:American Alien” and that book was written by a scumbag that I will not waste my breath to name, but through a little research and multiple source checks, that name in question is not linked to this project.
Now, with that out of the way, we return to the positive at hand and take a look at this preview of Kal-El’s younger years. In this film, as the official synopsis puts it…
Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis.
As the trailer and synopsis shows, we are heading from the farm and Metropolis with Clark Kent (voiced by Darren Criss). He is young and he is learning some new powers, but things are different this time around as Lobo makes a grand entrance into the Superman theatrical mythos.
The Cosmic Bounty Hunter (voiced by The Walking Dead’s Beta, Ryan Hurst) is ready to put Superman to the test and he is not alone, as Parasite is added into the mix. Before you wonder if Superman will be standing alone, he will not and he will get an assist from the legendary Martian Man Hunter.
“Superman: Man of Tomorrow” was written by Tim Sheridan, who co-wrote “Reign of the Supermen”, and directed by Chris Palmer. This production has gathered some big names to bring this world to life and takes the viewers on a familiar journey. This story has been told a few times, but this trailer peaks some interest on the return trip.
Superman: Man of Tomorrow Will Be Released August 2020
Now that Mister J is away, Harley is ready to play and there will be some heavy collateral damage. As theaters prepare for the Joker’s solo screen outing, the clown prince’s better half has a new trailer of her own and she has brought some new friends along for the ride.
The ladies of Gotham have united and DC continues to think outside of the box. Margot Robbie is back as Harley Quinn, she is swinging a mallet and looking to move on from the dysfunctional fractured relationship that the world witnessed in 2016 “Suicide Squad”. As you can tell from the trailer, she is ready to make friends and the comic book masses can look forward to some of Gotham’s most dangerous women, such as Huntress and Black Canary. Also, “Birds Of Prey” has brought to life the villain known as Black Mask and Ewan McGregor will step into those tailored evil shoes.
“Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn” looks to continue a new path for the DC cinematic universe and hits theaters 02.07.2020
From April 1985 to March 1986 the DC Comics world was turned upside with the legendary comic-crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. In an effort to bring the DC Multiverse into one cohesive singular universe, Marv Wolfman conceptualized a first of its kind crossover that changed the very DNA of DC Comics until 2011 with the launch of “The New 52”. Wolfman’s goal was to make the DC universe more appealing to the mass consumer and set out to cut down the complicated mutiverse theory and remove alot of unneeded characters and worlds DC had created over its 47 year run. The pinnacle of this crossover was seeing multiple versions of some the famous DC characters interacting for the first and last time.
With the DCEU dominating the ratings for CW, the creative heads have decided to bring the popularity of DC’s biggest comic book event into their TV universe. CW announced in May that they had begun work on what is to be the biggest TV event of the year, if not the decade, with all 5 of their shows taking part in this momentous event. Airing in the final weeks of 2019 into the opening weeks of 2020 , each show will be a single part of the 5 part storyline:
– Supergirl – Sunday, December 8th (8/7c)
– Batwoman – Monday, December 9th (8/7c)
– The Flash – Tuesday, December 10th (8/7c)
– Arrow – Tuesday, January 14, 2020 (8/7c)
– Legends of Tomorrow – Tuesday, January 14, 2020 (9/8c)
Casting announcements have been steadily coming in since August with some very notable actors in the DCEU coming back to either reprise their “original” role, or taking on a new role in their characters hierarchy. Notables names returning are: Brandon Routh who will be playing a duel role of Kingdom Come: Superman and his Legend’s character The Atom.
Voice over legend Kevin Conroy will be playing his first live action iteration of Bruce Wayne, along with ’66 Batman alum Burt Ward in an unknown role. Erica Durance will be reprising her role as Smallville’s Lois Lane, and other notable Smallville alum Tom Welling will be reprising his role of Clark Kent. Is this the time we could finally see Tom Welling break the Smallville rule of: “NO TIGHTS! NO FLIGHTS!”?
All other main cast members within their respective shows will also be appearing, leading to what Arrow producer Marc Guggenheim has referred to as: “The Holy Grail of DC comic book stories, in my opinion,” also adding “We cannot screw this up.”
Stay tuned to nowherecalifornia.com for any breaking news or last minute casting announcements as we cross the 8 weeks remaining threshold.
It’s the second month of the new year and we all might as well take a look back at the first month of 2019. Here is a look back at the past month of Nowhere California and a taste of another podcast that we have our hands in, there might be a little slime on those episodes.
First, here is the podcast that started it all. Nowhere California is running 8 years strong and we have no plans to stop. If you are a veteran follower of Nowhere, you know what fun that is in store for your eardrums and if you’re new, you might as well get head to your favorite podcast search engines and hit subscribe.
Now, it is time to cross the streams and take a look at our podcast the Ecto Pod. This is our monthly love letter to the Ghostbusters franchise. This universe has over 30 years to cover and new stuff is coming, so take a listen and subscribe.
In the beginning there was sound and then it was this site.
This will be the first edition of a new monthly reminder that Nowhere California started out as a podcast and, hopefully, open the door for new listeners to discover the project that started it all.
This will be the location for some of our newest episodes and flashback to Nowhere’s past. The audio quality might differ, but that same insanity will be there. As always, if you like what you hear, you can subscribe to our show through all of your favorite podcast search engines. Also, if you like what you hear, please feel free to leave a like and/or a review.
Now, without further delay or distractions, here is some recent prime cuts from Nowhere California…
Episode 125-Legends In Their Own Minds
This episode marks Nowhere California’s 7th anniversary in the world of podcasting. Nick and Josh discuss the evolution of the podcast, then talk about Nick’s brush with greatness and this time greatness comes in the form of Val Kilmer. Also, the guys from Nowhere take a long, hard look at the world of Hollywood urban legends. CLICK HERE To Listen To Episode 125 (1h 25m)
WHY NOT #25- Why Not Pump Up The Volume? Along with the normal episodes of Nowhere California, the team have diverted from their normal path and focused on an individual movie to dissect. These episodes are known as “Why Not?” and this episode is focused on the 1990 underrated movie “Pump Up The Volume” CLICK HERE To Listen To WHY NOT #25 (50m 10s) WHY NOT Variant #4-Why The Apple?! As strange as this will sound, we have actually done spin off episodes to our “Why Not?” series and every April we ask the different question “Why?!” The differences with these episodes are the quality of the movie we focus on and this edition we reach close to the bottom of the barrel with the 1980 Cannon Film “The Apple”, by the way this is a feature length commentary. CLICK HERE To Listen To WHY #4 (1h 35m 5s)
The 2018 edition of the San Diego Comic Con will be coming to a close in a matter of hours, the upcoming slate of pop culture releases and breaking franchise news will have a ripple effect for weeks to come. The multiple super hero universes are never going to be the same and, as the bad guys team up in one world, we are reminded that not all heroes wear capes. They wear pajamas and, coincidentally, so do the villains.
Those are not delusions of grandeur you are feeling, that is a legitimate feeling of splendor and you have the new trailer for GLASS to thank for that pleasure.
GLASS is the follow-up of the 2016 movie SPLIT, a movie some would say that was a surprise hit and the closing of that movie was one of the multiple reasons for that film’s success. A spoiler alert could be in play for the following sentence, but get bent and watch the damn movie. SPLIT closed with writer/director M. Night Shyamalan linking this movie to another movie from his cannon, UNBREAKABLE which I will not drag this out and just say if you haven’t seen UNBREAKABLE.. Walk away from your computer now.
Now, the trailer for GLASS has been unleashed and everybody is ready for some group therapy. David Dunn, Mr. Glass, and The Horde are behind the walls of a mental institution, but their journey to this point is quickly brought into question and we have a doctor that will begin to look for the answers. A doctor that will try to inject some reality into this unreal situation, but as their past will show, this group’s traits reach far past the pages of the comic book world.
The holidays have been drowned away by the New Year’s hangovers, so the time has come to return to our coverage of Stan Lee’s 2017 Los Angeles Comic Con. The hiatus may have been longer then we hoped, but this spotlight is focused sharply on a talented entry from the world of independent comic books.
In this installment, we continue our adventures into Artist Alley and talk with the creative minds behind “Olive and the Underworld,” Emily Felt and Laura West. This conversation delves into the books creation and development of this story of an orphaned goth girl named Olive and the rollercoaster life she lives, trying to fit in and find a home. As the speed bumps seems to grow, her world and her classmate’s world change in a tragic twist of fate.
I can continue to describe this story, but a better description will come from the creators and not from me, so
This past week has given us our first look at not one but TWO new Batman animated films that don’t feature the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy! Somewhere, Two-Face’s nipples just got hard! Drawing from all-new material and set in feudal Japan is Batman Ninja. Now I know that sounds like a shitty ploy to get you to buy your kids new toys of Batman as a ninja and Joker, as a ninja, and Harley Quinn as…wait for it…a ninja, but it isn’t. This is a very beautifully detailed anime of Batman as he faces off against the craziest Joker we may have seen since someone thought Jared Leto would be an awesome Joker. Either way it looks 100% badass. The trailer gives us a glimpse at Robin, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Clayface, and Grodd. Yup…you heard me…mother-effing Gorilla Grodd as, what appears to be, a warlord! An english dubbed version is coming with a voice cast that is yet to be revealed but, I for one, cannot wait to miss most of the movie reading subtitles just to hear Wataru Takagi do the creepiest scream as the Joker when he attacks batman with a katana in hand. After this trailer, I dare you not to say shinseina tawagoto Batoman!
I mean…COME ON!! My only question is, how the hell does Batman have a Batwing and a few other tech gadgets in feudal Japan? Ah who cares!?
As if that wasn’t enough. DC Animation finally brings us an adaptation of one of my favorite Batman Elseworlds titles in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. Set in Gotham in 1889, Bruce Wayne returns from a trip to Europe and takes up the mantle of the Batman to stop the legendary Jack the Ripper who has come to Gotham. While the translation to animation doesn’t quite convey the gritty style of the comic (originally drawn masterfully by Hellboy’s Mike Mignola), it does look like it follows the story arc beautifully. Finally there will be a viable reason for those damned steam-punk cosplayers to be at SDCC with their damned Dr. Floobert’s Amazing Gizmotron-Doohickity-Pew-Pew Ray Gun or whatever the hell they call it. Either way, check out the trailer below and, look for Gotham by Gaslight on January 23rd 2018 with Batman Ninja later in 2018.
(Joshua Gilmore-Staff Writer)
NOWHERE CALIFORNIA 