Podcast - Episode 36: Civil War Mania

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What a week, guys. What. A. Week.

There was so much Civil War/Winter Soldier/Sebastian Stan coverage in the media this week I couldn't even read all of it.

So this episode is a jumbled mess of trying to piece together our thoughts on everything. Plus, Dave is suffering from a cold. Nothing that a solid hour of listening to be ramble on about Winter Soldier can't fix!

First, let me introduce you to our special guest co-host:

Not a bad looking figure, right?

Here is the travesty that they are calling a Winter Soldier toy that I saw at Toys R Us:

Nope.

I did not enter the contest to win a helicopter ride with Henry Cavill, but I do get hilarious emails about it:

J.Bone did indeed do a really great drawing that imagines Spider-Man being Bucky's annoying friend:

So, so great. Knocking it out of the park as usual, J!

Here are some links to the many interviews and such that I mention this week:

Jeremy Renner being a douche with poor Elizabeth Olsen

Sebastian Stan doing a weird and adorable and sexy video Q&A for Moviepilot

Sebastian Stan on ET

Chris Evans and RDJ on ET

Markus & McFeely on why Bucky is a messed up sad sack

Buzzfeed Q&A with Evans, Stan, Downey, Boseman and the Russos

It's worth scrolling though the Buzzfeed posts because you get to see things like a portrait of Winter Soldier, quickly drawn by Sebastian Stan, as well as a screengrab of his Winter Soldier Spotify playlist. Plus, images like this one:

Boys. Come on. Cut it out.

There's also this really great little video of Sebastian Stan talking about seeing Civil War for the first time. I forgot to talk about it this week, but I will definitely talk about it next week:

Short version: it made him stress eat a whole thing of candy

Here is the new Civil War trailer, by the way:

And here's what you've all been waiting for: the Winter Soldier vs Black Panther Pop Secret packaging!!!

Butter only makes the Winter Soldier more powerful!

Ok, let's wrap this up, with, oh, I don't know...this picture from Friday of Chris Evans wearing the shirt that Sebastian Stan was wearing the DAY BEFORE?!

I mean. Come on. Also: god damn, Chris. Looking good. Trying to keep my eyes above the waist here.

I'm actually going to end this with this screengrab of Sebastian Stan's insane Winter Soldier body:

He's gonna get his shirt off in this movie, right? RIGHT?!

Podcast - Episode 35: Age of Beefcake

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Watching the Oscars got me thinking about a lot of things this past week. Things like: is Henry Cavill a person, or just a robot who sometimes dresses well but usually doesn't; is Sam Smith really that dumb? and, people in Hollywood seem really cool and in-touch with reality. But most of all I was thinking about the size of actors. Like, the size of their actual bodies. Male actors are beefy as hell these days, guys! Are superhero movies to thank/blame? Almost certainly. Is it a problem? Well...

Before we get to the beeefcake, let's get through some other stuff that requires some visual aids and links.

First of all, if you happen to be reading this the day it was posted, and you live in the Halifax area, come on down to Strange Adventures for Ladies Night! I'll be there!

If you wildest dreams include riding in the Batmobile (?!) with Ben Affleck or riding in a helicopter with Henry Cavill, you can enter the Omaze contest here for five more days. Guess what one of the incentive prizes is:

Yeahhhhh! How much can I spend to be on the other side of the planet when Jesse Eisenberg and some douche with twenty thousand extra dollars sit down to dinner somewhere?

Oh, and here's a fun update: those Batman vs Superman $100 super tickets that allow you to see the dumb movie as many times as you want? They are all SOLD OUT.

SOLD OUT, YOU GUYS!!!!

We also mention the joyless Batman vs Superman sticker set that Facebook recently launched. Here it is:

Just super fun. Here are some of the ones I made very quickly:

Oh, the fun I have at the expense of this dumb movie.

And speaking of which, here is the amazing art that J.Bone did in loving tribute to this terrible film:

Ouch! I love that art so much. So much.

Ok, so real quick, here are some important Oscar things. Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman presented together and both men looked excellent:

Sebastian Stan was watching from home (or maybe a hotel room where Evans would be meeting him later) with a big pizza:

I cannot believe he didn't invite me.

Here's a screengrab of Chris Evans flirting with Henry Cavill while Cavill stuffs his beautiful mouth with Girl Guide cookies:

But perhaps even more importantly, here is a screengrab of Christian Bale stuffing his face with Girl Guide cookies:

You're welcome.

OK, so moving on to Winter Soldier, this is the panel from Avengers Standoff Alpha that made me lose my damn mind:

Seriously! What the HELL, comic?!

Here's a version with no text, and I encourage you to provide your own:

You know, something like this:

And, yes, I know that's a shitty font, but I'm tired and I still have a lot of blog post to write.

HOLD THE PHONE

I say on the podcast that I wish Bucky's apron said 'Kiss the Cook' and I am zooming in now and I THINK IT DOES!

I need to lie down.

Oh, and here is that framed photo of shirtless Sebastian Stan that was gifted to me and now sits on my desk at work, making me look completely sane:

I just tell people it's my astronaut boyfriend who is in space and so you can't meet him.

Wizard World Philadelphia has a bonkers line-up of MCU talent, including Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan. And, like, everyone. You can see the details of the VIP packages here. I see that Georges St-Pierre just got added to the Winter Soldier line-up. I've already decided that I'm not going, but when I look at the photo ops from the 2014 Wizard World I almost want to reconsider.

Holy lord. Let's get to our goddamn topic. I was really excited to post a lot of photos of shirtless hunks as evidence to support my argument but I am exhausted!

But still I persevere! 

So here is a side-by-side of Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men movie (2000) and (I think) Days of Future Past (2014) or maybe it's from Wolverine:

In the first photo he looks like a very fit, yet still very human male actor. In the second photo he looks like he is barely containing the nuclear energy that is trapped inside him threatening to destroy the world. And those veins are so gross.

And here we have a couple of actors who did not need to be in the kind of shape they got into for their Marvel roles at all. I'm not sorry about it, per se, but it does seem unnecessary. I give you Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy:

And Paul Rudd in Ant-Man:

Paul Rudd isn't, like, enormous here. But he does look insanely ripped for Paul Rudd. Now, the thing about Chris Pratt is that his new body actually has led to more big roles, like Jurassic World, and even talks of him being the new Indiana Jones. With Paul Rudd, though, I can't really see him becoming an action star at the tender age of 50 (or 19 or however old he is it's really hard to tell).

Mark Ruffalo, on the other hand, got to eat a normal breakfast and not wax a hair on his body and gets completely naked in the first Avengers movie. And we are all richer for it:

So super heroes CAN have body hair. Noted.

Well, I guess we knew that from Henry Cavill's hirsute portrayal of Superman:

There is nothing wrong with chest hair, people! In fact there is everything right with it! Just, you know, keep it in check.

We mention that John frigging Krasinksi is ripped now. That's weird. But awesome? It's a shock to my system for sure:

That beard is working for me. Come get me, Daddy Jim!

And here you have your gold standard for insane super hero bodies, Chris Hemsworth as Thor:

The thing is that both Thor and Captain America should look this crazy. That makes sense. But Ant-Man sure doesn't need to be. Nor does Winter Soldier, but, again, not complaining:

And here we have 52-year-old Frank Grillo, aka Crossbones, being more fit than anyone ever:

You really should follow him on Instagram. it's full of insane pictures related to his fitness. Also, his kids are very cute. Plus he posts a lot, unlike some Sebastian Stans I could mention.

So, yes, actors are basically athletes now, and to prove my point, here is a promo shot of Chris Evans modeling Fila, because he is the face of their brand. Which is a brand that probably an athlete would normally the face of:

Again, NOT COMPLAINING. AT ALL. 

If you are interested in looking like Chris Evans, you can follow his simple workout routine, which is detailed here. Acting! 

Or if you want to look like Henry Cavill you can follow his super easy and normal workout plan here. It comes with helpful videos and images of Cavill working out. I have watched them...a few times. 

You can also follow his boring ass on Instagram, which is worth it because sometimes he posts photos like this one:

Ok. I think that's enough. Take us home, Chris Evans!

Podcast - Episode 34: An R-rated Batman vs. Superman Movie? Really?

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Mere days after Dave and I said that the success of Deadpool would lead to a tidal wave of R-rated superhero movies, Warner Brothers Studios announced that there will be an R-rated cut of Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice for Blu-Ray and such. Seriously. Superman and Batman. R-rated.

So we have a few things to say about that.

This was the first week recording with our fancy new mics and mixing board and, yes, I need to turn Dave's mic up more next week and turn my own mic down. Will do!

We talk a bit about Hail, Caesar! this week because I finally got to see it. I specifically talk about Alden Ehrenreich and how I am now in love with him. Look at this beautiful thing:

Siiiiiiiiigh.

Anyway, great movie.

If you want to read Jennifer Garner's awesome Ben Affleck shade, the Vanity Fair article is here.

And, hey, speaking of Daredevil (?), here is the latest (as of today) trailer that we discuss on this episode:

I forgot to mention this on the podcast, but I was a guest this month on Sean Jordan's Weekend at Burgie's podcast, and it was released this past week. You can listen to that here.

Here are those Paul Renaud preview pages that show the return of young, sexy Steve Rogers. Check it out:

Daaaaaaamn. That's some sexy Steve. A whole pile of hot Captain Americas, really.

Ok, well. Enjoy the episode. Thanks for listening, as always. Follow us on Instagram!

Podcast - Episode 33: If We Ran DC Comics

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Oh DC. DC might actually stand for 'dear child' because that's how I feel about them these days. I just shake my head whenever they announce anything and think "Oh, you dear, sweet, stupid child. You have no idea what you're doing."

Well don't worry, DC, because I am here to solve all of your problems with a well-thought-out plan. Don't be scared. I know well-thought-out things and plans are not things you are used to seeing around Burbank or wherever the hell your offices are now, but if you just read it I think you'll see that I'm right. (Reading, by the way, is also something you should do to your own comics that you publish. Before releasing them to the poor, comic-loving public).

So yes, this week Dave and I talk about how things would change if we were in charge of DC!

First of all, apologies for the slightly fuzzy sound this week, particularly when I am speaking. We will be all set up with fancy mics and a mixing board next week but this week we used the room mic and I turned it up a little too loud and sat a little too close. I did my best trying to mellow it out in post, but it's still a little crunchy. Next week will sound great!

We are on Instagram now! Check us out!

I don't think there is too much to put in this week's blog post. Not too many things were discussed that require links or visual references. Except maybe BONDAGE DAREDEVIL!

It actually took me a while to locate that gif in my image folder because I have so many bondage pictures of super heroes.

Oh, turns out the cast of Civil War did NOT appear on ET this week. So I was following bad information or it was canceled or something. I'm gonna blame Jeremy Renner.

As I mention, I unlocked Winter Soldier in the Lego Marvel's Avengers video game this week, which means I can assemble exciting teams like this one:

Just a couple of Buckys, out on the town.

We talk a little bit about Sebastian Stan's upcoming film, The Bronze, which promises to have a crazy sex scene. I'll prrrrrrrrobably see it...

Hmm...ok, that's probably it for this week. I'm pretty distracted now.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram! Rate us on iTunes! Should we set up a Facebook group?

Podcast - Episode 32: Captain America (1979)

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Dave and I spent Valentine's Day watching the 1979 Captain America TV movie together. It was...not a good movie. But it WAS a good time.

We switched up how we do our recording this week and now I am in charge of mixing and editing and such and I think it sounds pretty good for my first kick at the can! Next week it will sound even better! Full disclosure: I do a fade-in at the beginning because there was something weird happening with the headphones so I am full-on yelling into the microphone for the first few seconds. Then I mellow out.

So, yes, the 1979 Captain America movie is amazing. But before we get to that, we talk about some other fun things, like the whole Rob Liefeld NY Times fiasco. If you haven't read it yet, here it is. He seems like a real sweetheart.

And if you want to read about Todd McFarlane's HARD R HORROR Spawn movie, you can check that article out here.

By the way, if you aren't familiar with what Dave and I are talking about when we mention the DC Super Hero Girls line, this is what we mean:

You can watch little cartoons on the site. I can't make a decision on this stuff. If I had a daughter, is this something I would be excited for her to watch. I honestly don't know! Tell me what to think!

Here's that awesome looking Dr. Strange Pop Vinyl toy we talk about:

And here are the new toys that I am saving up to buy, because do my kids really need shoes?

More info on those toys here.

There was a new Civil War trailer this week. It aired during the Super Bowl and was definitely the highlight of the game (well, this and Beyonce). It's about 40 seconds of awesomeness, including a lot of new Bucky footage!

I am so excited I can barely function. I mean, LOOK!!!!!:

THIS IS A REAL MOVIE!!!!!

I mention the hilarious (and heartbreaking) Winter Soldier memories mission in the Lego Marvel's Avengers video game. You can see that mission in this helpful gamer's video:

Here's a little taste of that Civil War Prelude comic, which you can only buy digitally for now. You can find it on Comixology here. Here's a little taste of Bucky in his Romanian hide-out, remembering the bad times:

Ok, so this Captain America movie. As you may recall, I bought the DVD that collects both of the 1979 movies for Dave for Christmas. Here is the trailer for the first one:

From that trailer you might think this movie is a reasonably fast paced. It is not. It is the slowest movie ever. Like, when an oil truck is dumping crude onto the road as part of a (bad) plot to kill Steve Rogers, they show ALL of the oil dumping out of the truck. They paid for that oil, and we're gonna watch every last drop of it hit the pavement.

This movie did not leave much on the cutting room floor, I'm guessing.

There's a clip reel that has highlights from both movies. Based on it, the second movie (any clip where he's wearing the more classic looking Captain America suit) looks a lot more action packed:

Here's the thing about the costume in the first movie: the shorts are WAY too tight for ol' Reb Brown:

And this is how he looks as Steve Rogers:

I forgot to mention on the show that his eyebrows were such a mess. I was obsessed with fixing them.

We get very few sexy moments. This beach scene was one, I guess:

That's Steve Rogers doing what Steve likes doing best: lounging around.

I didn't even catch that he's an ex-Marine in this movie. I have no idea when they mentioned that. Because I say on the show that they should have at least made him a soldier or a former soldier. I guess they did. But now he just wants to drive his sweet van and look at the ocean. His sweet van, by the way:

But, man, that scene where Steve is given his shield for the first time? I wish I could find a clip because I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. Here's a still:

So, yes. Amazing. And so boring. It's hard to believe this was ever made. Good job, 1970s.

That's it for this week. I hope you find this episode sounds better than usual. We are going to start using a mixing board and XLR mics next week, so that should sound even better! Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Episode 31: Favourite (and Least Favourite) Marvel Characters

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Coming at you after a week off. We recorded when I was fresh off my trip to Toronto, which was better than any trip to Toronto in the dead of winter has a right to be. Highlights include, in no particular order:

  1. Seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (and sitting very close to the stage!);
  2. Watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier with J.Bone;
  3. Eating at Bahn Mi Boys more than once;
  4. Drinks and strippers with J.Bone;
  5. Not having any kids with me at all;
  6. $hopping!;
  7. Sleeping through the night in a dark, quiet room;
  8. Hanging out with (ECMA-nominated!) Sean "Wordburglar" Jordan, and recording an episode of his Weekend At Burgie's podcast;
  9. Did I mention no kids?;
  10. Meeting Owen Craig from Panel Culture finally;
  11. Just generally hanging out and talking to J.Bone, who I feel like I could talk to forever, honestly. So glad we finally got to hang out in person.

But, as The Boss says, you can't break the ties that bi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-ind, so now I am back in snowy Nova Scotia, and there is in fact a blizzard happening here as I write this. And both of my kids are home.

Also, a belated birthday shout-out to Dave, who turned, I dunno, a thousand last week? Oh shit! Don't invite me to a birthday roast! I will scorch that place!

So this week, since Dave and I were guestless for the first time in a few weeks, we decided to list our favourite (and least favourite) Marvel characters. We did the same with DC characters way back in our third episode.

Before we got to that we discussed some of the news from the past couple of weeks, first and foremost the announcement by DC of a new line of Hana-Barbara comics. And that line-up includes a batshit insane Scooby-Doo relaunch:

Where is the detective squad that will stop these monsters?!

I also talk about the Lego: Marvel's Avengers video game that was recently released, and how one of the levels is a PLAYABLE BUCKY'S DEATH SCENE! I put together some screengrabs in a Tumblr post:

Bucky!!!!!!

This week's episode sees the return of MITCHELL, who joins us to share some of his thoughts on Marvel characters. His segment has a slow start, but it pays off, I think.

We do not see the return of HILLARY this week, though. She feels bad, but she just couldn't condense her thoughts on these new X-Files episodes into a coherent segment. This is a very exciting time for her. I completely understand because, as you may recall, we needed to devote an entire podcast episode AND bring in a special guest to discuss the first Civil War TRAILER. So having a hard time gathering your thoughts about two whole episodes of your very favourite thing in the world is understandable.

What I'm saying is that the Civil War movie will probably require five episodes to cover.

I am not going to mention the new Civil War trailer in this blog post, even though it's all I'm thinking about, because we will be talking about it on next week's episode. Probably at great length.