Worst Movies of 2015 #3

You can't have the "Best" without the "Worst" so in typical Comic Bastards fashion we're bringing you the worst movies of 2015. Yeah we're steadily into the new year, but let's not forget what made for some painful cinema last year. Also, we could only pick the movie's we've seen. So if something isn't on our list and you're surprised... don't be. That means it was so bad we didn't even waste our time.

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DAVE: Taken 3

Luc Besson has never met a successful film that he didn’t try to turn into a money-making franchise, but each Taken sequel has been worse than the last, and each one seems to move further and further away from what made the first one such an unexpected hit. The original taken is taught, tense and enjoyable, but Taken 3 (hopefully the franchise’s last breath) has very little to do with those other films, aside from featuring Liam Neeson punching random Eastern European men with beards. Nothing is “taken” is Taken 3, instead the plot finds Neeson’s Bryan Mills framed for the murder of his ex-wife, and on the run from the LAPD. It feels like writers Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (along with director Oliver Megaton) have taken a generic thriller screenplay and run it through a “Taken” filter. It’s a bit The Fugitive, but nowhere near as good.

I can remember when, at the end of Taken 2, Neeson’s character said “I’m...just so tired”. We all are, Liam, we all are. Stopping at one film would have been perfect. Stopping after the lesser second one would have been advisable, but stopping at three really, really needs to happen. I never thought watching the man who played Oscar Schindler punch people would get boring. But it has.

CAMERON: The Loft

When I first saw the trailer for The Loft, I was quite interested. I loved Wentworth Miller in Prison Break, and of course it was just a hit cast. It also felt like it had the potential to be a modern-day “Clue” in that it would be a compelling mystery with great acting. WAS I EVER WRONG! This film was downright boring. The acting from EVERY star in it was beyond stale. Not only that, I saw the ending coming from A MILE AWAY. I mean, I give them credit for trying to pull a fast one, but I could tell from the second the film started who did it. With an atrocious screenplay and disappointing acting, The Loft takes my #3 spot.

DUSTIN: Jurassic World/Star Wars: The Force Awakens

What I’m about to say applies to both films. They’re just remakes of the first film, but done in continuity. Sure, they’re the two biggest films, but when I watched them they did the same thing. Make references to the successful first film while copying it. I didn’t enjoy either. They were just rehash. They are what’s wrong with Hollywood and yet movie audiences continue to eat it up. Why? Because they buy the hype rather than making informed decisions and looking for balanced opinions. They tie for third because they do the exact same fucking thing and if you can’t see that then you probably saw both of them twice. Also if you want a tie-breaker just pick whichever one made enough money for you at the box office.

Worst Movies of 2015 #4

You can't have the "Best" without the "Worst" so in typical Comic Bastards fashion we're bringing you the worst movies of 2015. Yeah we're steadily into the new year, but let's not forget what made for some painful cinema last year. Also, we could only pick the movie's we've seen. So if something isn't on our list and you're surprised... don't be. That means it was so bad we didn't even waste our time.

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CAMERON: Hot Pursuit

Nothing is more annoying than Sofia Vergara yelling non-stop and Reese Witherspoon’s horrible southern accent. But it gets worse. Hot Pursuit, felt like an excuse to use to use very well-known actresses, in a pointless and plotless “Drug Cartel” style film. I think Sofia Vergara is hilarious in Modern Family, but this was beyond bad. Her entire role in this film was yelling and complaining to the point where I was thinking of shutting it off during important scenes. Without a plot, and ANNOYING acting, this film flops to my number #4 spot.

DAVE: Fantastic Four

It’s beginning to look like The Fantastic Four might be cursed. Ten years after Fox’s first poorly received attempt to kick-start a film franchise, they gave it another go. Initial signs were promising with a decent enough cast including up-and-comers like Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan and a young director that had produced in interesting spin on the superhero genre with the low-budget Chronicle.

All that promise was for nought, though, as the 2015 version proved to be somehow worse than the 2005 vintage. It slogged through an origin story we’ve all heard a thousand times (and seen onscreen at least once before) takes ages to set up any kind of conflict and then sputters and coughs to an apologetic stop. Last time, Fantastic Four got an unwanted sequel, but it seems any plans for that have been scrapped. No matter what the rumours of behind-the-scenes shenanigans might suggest, there’s no real excuse for a film this bad to be made from this source material. Shall we all have another go in 10 years?

DUSTIN: Hitman: Agent 47

They need my blood to make more like me… but they’ve made a better version so… why the fuck do they need me? That’s the basic idea of this movie. There was some okay action. There were a lot of nods to the game which were nice, but the story was shit. The story was a fucking mess and so mediocre that you could watch it on mute. A girl tracks down her father that’s been off the grid and she doesn’t realize that that plays right into the hands of the people who want to find him? Wat? This movie proved that Hollywood isn’t ready for video game movies and that we’re a was off from them taking over for comic book movies.

Worst Movies of 2015 #5

You can't have the "Best" without the "Worst" so in typical Comic Bastards fashion we're bringing you the worst movies of 2015. Yeah we're steadily into the new year, but let's not forget what made for some painful cinema last year. Also, we could only pick the movie's we've seen. So if something isn't on our list and you're surprised... don't be. That means it was so bad we didn't even waste our time.

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DAVE: Ted 2

Year on year, Seth MacFarlane seems to be losing the goodwill that many years of Family Guy had given him. While Ted was surprisingly funny, A Million Ways To Die In The West was muddled and Ted 2, the ill-advised sequel, little short of a disaster. The first film about Mark Wahlberg’s mid-30s slacker and his only real friend, a magical, foul-mouthed stoner bear, was a lot funnier than it had any right to be. It wasn’t smart, sure, but it didn’t need to be,

Ted 2, at points, tries desperately to be smart, to the point where it forgets to actually make jokes. That said, maybe it’s for the best - most of the jokes it does make fail to land - when one of your funniest moments is recycled from a decades old Family Guy episode, you know you’re in trouble. Supporting players include Amanda Seyfried (in for Mila Kunis, who wisely side-stepped this second installment) and Morgan Freeman, but even they can’t save this one.

CAMERON: Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business didn’t seem to have a lot going for it other than Vince Vaughn. He is one of those actors that can either be hilarious in films like Old School and Couples Retreat, or he can be extremely boring and just not funny. Unfinished Business falls into the trap of what I call “Party-Comedy” These films are basically Montage scenes of partying with exposition filled dialogue in between. Tons of films fall into this category like Sisters, Hot Tub Time Machine 1 and 2, and MANY others! The problem with UB, is it never even felt fun. I didn’t feel there was any stakes to this film. It was honestly very boring, and that’s why it takes my #5 Spot!

DUSTIN: The Longest Ride

I only saw this movie because I was home for the holidays and my father watched it. He thought it was a cowboy movie, which it does pretend to be, but he had never seen a Nicolas Sparks story brought to the silver screen. Someone dies. Someone always dies in a Nicolas Sparks story. The story is typical. There’s a twist after a death that makes everyone’s lives better. You’ll cry if you’re into the weak attempts at pulling on our heart-strings. The only other movie that does it this obviously was Inside Out (which almost made my list). Scott Eastwood apparently learned acting from watching paint dry. His performance is dull just like the rest of the movie. Alan Alda plays “old man dying” and it’s pretty obvious that he showed up for the pay check and because his character mostly got to sit down. The fucked up part is that, “The Longest Ride” isn’t really about the longest ride which is a bull riding term, but rather the story of the old guy. Pretty shitty title bait and switch if you ask me. Also the CG bull riding looks terrible.

"Forever: The Complete Series" comes to DVD on 1/19 via Warner Archive Collection

Once again, Warner Archive Collection rewards fan loyalty with the release of a much-beloved series – Forever: The Complete Series comes to DVD on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 via WBshop.com and popular online retailers. Fresh off its single-season run on ABC in 2014-2015, Forever: The Complete Series includes all 22 episodes as well as additional never-before-seen deleted scenes from many of the episodes on a 5-disc DVD set. Creator and Executive Producer Matthew Miller (Chuck, Human Target, The 100) is thrilled the series will live on through its DVD release.

“We’re so proud of this series and the way it resonated with fans,” Miller says. “I’m excited for the fans that we’re not only able to release all 22 episodes on DVD, but include previously unseen footage. It’s another chance to breathe new life into the show for both devoted fans and new viewers.”

The series’ premise struck an instant chord with fans: What would you do if you had all the time in the world? The otherworldly drama – from Miller and fellow executive producers Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes) and Jennifer Gwartz (Veronica Mars) – follows Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), a star New York City medical examiner, on his journey to answer that looming question. Henry has a vested interest in studying the dead: He is immortal, and only his best friend and confidant, Abe (Judd Hirsch), full of life at age 75, knows Henry’s secret. Henry hasn’t aged at all since the clock stopped 200 years ago, but he’s managed to be discreet without anyone finding out his affliction. That task becomes increasingly difficult when he meets NYPD detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza), who is fascinated by Henry after learning he was the sole survivor of a horrific train crash — and his knowledge proves extremely helpful to her in solving crimes.

“This series is about a character who is immortal, and to that point the show never ends – it never dies,” Miller says. “Given the incredible fan support we’ve received, I feel like that’s true. The fans have not stopped for a minute. They host live Twitter events and have created fan fiction, online graphic novels, you name it. Social media and the release of the full-series DVD continue to make this show immortal.”

Beyond Gruffudd (Fantastic Four, San Andreas), De La Garza (Law & Order, upcoming Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) and Emmy® Award winner Hirsh (Taxi, Ordinary People, Independence Day), the main cast of Forever features Lorraine Toussaint (Rosewood, Orange Is The New Black), Joel David Moore (Bones, Avatar, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) and Donnie Keshawarz (24, The Sopranos, Damages).

The guest cast is filled with award-winning acting talent, most notably Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, Jerry Maguire), two-time Emmy® Award winner Jane Alexander (Warm Springs, All The President’s Men), and Emmy® & Golden Globe Award winner Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Wedding Crashers, Live And Let Die). Fan favorites populate the guest cast, as well, including John Noble (Fringe, The Lord of the Rings), Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead), Roger Rees (Cheers, The West Wing, M.A.N.T.I.S.), Blair Brown (Fringe, Limitless, Orange Is The New Black), David Krumholtz (Numb3rs, Serenity), James McCaffrey (Rescue Me), Lee Tergesen (Defiance, Longmire, Oz), Don McManus (Justified, Mom), William Baldwin (Backdraft, Flatliners), Mackenzie Mauzy (Into The Woods, The Bold and the Beautiful), Hilarie Burton (One Tree Hill, White Collar), Shamika Cotton (The Wire) and Burn Gorman (Torchwood, Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight Rises).

Warner Archive Collection (WAC) and Warner Archive Instant (WAI) continue to serve as hosts to some of the most treasured films, television series and animated entertainment in history, particularly in the fanboy realm. WAC/WAI runs the gamut from live-action classics like Ladyhawke and Wolfen to beloved TV faire such as Superboy, Wonder Woman (1974) and Shazam! to animated greats like Twice Upon A Time, Atom Ant: The Complete Series, Justice League Unlmited andYoung Justice. WAC offerings can be found via wbshop.com and many of your favorite online retailers, and WAI is located at http://instant.warnerarchive.com. Get a free one-month trial now!

Best Movies of 2015 #1

For the first time ever we’re bringing you the best movies of 2015! This list is a bit different from our comic section in that we’re just picking the top five movies of the year and ever writer is getting their own pick. Without further ado, here’s the #1 movies.

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DUSTIN: Chappie

Chappie is one of the best movie’s I’ve seen in a long ass time. Not only were the special effects wonderful and realistic, but the story was there to support the graphics and the world. Director Neill Blomkamp has always been able to deliver on both fronts, but it’s the emotional journey that he brings about with Chappie, his maker and his surrogate family that makes this film standout from his impressive resume. Sharlto Copley, a favorite of Blomkamp’s, delivers a performance that resonates with you and shows just how incredible of an actor he can be given the right material. Another thing that stands out about this film is the performances of all of the main characters. Hugh Jackman plays the unlikable heel, while Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser surprise with their performances. At the end of the day I picked Chappie because I want to watch Chappie again… and again. I think that says more about a film than anything else. I’ve seen plenty of ”great” films that I never wanted to watch again.

DAVE: Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller’s long awaited return to The Wasteland had been in gestation for so long that many thought it would never see the light of day. Back in the 90’s, when it was originally mooted, Mel Gibson was all set to reprise his role as Max Rockatansky and in the early years of the last decade it was suggested the movie could be animated. It eventually saw the light of day in 2015 as a live action, full-on assault on the senses, with Tom Hardy replacing the long gone Gibson in the title role. Fury Road is short on plot: it’s basically one long car chase with a grunting, monosyllabic Max helping Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) escape the clutches of maniac despot Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) with several of his other wives in tow. The film received ire online from anti-feminist keyboard warriors, but the fact that in 2015 a film that literally spells out the fact that women “are not objects” is actually controversial is a sad indictment on society. The film’s feminist undertones and overtones are much-needed, frankly, but this film is much more than that. It looks spectacular - Miller’s heady universe is gothically beautiful, the (mostly practical) effects are jaw-dropping, and a brilliant cast play it straight when it lesser hands it could have been over the top. It is genuinely a work of genius, and proof that action films don’t need to be dumb or filled with CGI to work.

CAMERON: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Now, I want to state that I am NOT fanboying over this by any means. This is a 100% NON BIASED #1, and I’ll explain why. There was not a film this year that I sat in the theater and became a 12-year-old kid again. This film is everything great about filmmaking! From story to visuals, The Force Awakens delivers on every single level. I won’t give away anything about the story, but it basically follows Rey as she discovers something interesting and meets Fin, an ex-Storm Trooper, and find themselves in the middle of something much bigger. J. J. Abrams absolutely impressed me with his directing, especially considering Fin, Po, and Rey are such young and new actors and actresses. Rey absolutely stole the film, but in a close second for me was Kylo Ren. With such a deep villain, it makes the entire story that much more interesting….and that ending…. all of you who have seen it know! This film is beyond good and that’s why it is the Best Film of 2015!

Best Movies of 2015 #2

For the first time ever we’re bringing you the best movies of 2015! This list is a bit different from our comic section in that we’re just picking the top five movies of the year and ever writer is getting their own pick. Without further ado, here’s the #2 movies.

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DAVE: The Martian

After the recent missteps of Prometheus and Exodus: Gods & Kings, Ridley Scott reminded everyone why his name is so revered with The Martian. Based upon the novel of the same name by Andy Weir, The Martian has hard science to go with its fiction, a rarity these days. The film stars Matt Damon as astronaut Mark Watney, a botanist who is stranded on Mars when a mission goes awry. Presumed dead by his mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Watney is forced to use his intelligence and ingenuity to survive on the hostile dead planet while awaiting rescue by NASA. Scott’s film is a cerebral, tense, sometimes funny and always hopeful look at humanity’s need and will to survive against the odds. It’s also a timely reminder to those who may have forgotten that, with the right material, Ridley Scott remains capable of great things.

CAMERON: The Peanuts Movie

Originally when I saw this film I thought I was going to be disappointed, but I left the theater jaw dropped at how amazing this film was. The Peanuts is the classic story of Charlie Brown and the gang, and when a new girl moves into town, Charlie Brown is head over heels for her and will stop at nothing to try to impress her. The Peanuts movie is so genuine and captures everything great about being a kid. So many times films get caught up on nostalgia or paying tribute to previous films in a series, that they forget why we loved the films in the first place. The new Peanuts film felt brand new, but felt like previous films before. This movie is AMAZING and a must see and why it takes my #2 spot.

DUSTIN: Mad Max: Fury Road

I went back and forth with myself on where to put this on my list. Is it the best and deserving of my number one spot or was it more of a second best? I’ll probably never be happy with my choice, but at the end of the day it lost out to my first pick because of replay value. I don’t know if I’ll ever really sit down and watch this film again or at least more than once. I loved it. I think it’s incredible filmmaking and shows the balance between practical and special effects. It also proved that movie audiences are interested in crazy characters that aren’t all glammed out on the screen. Really if I could cheat my own system I would put it at a tie for first, but I can’t. Gorgeous fucking movie though.

Best Movies of 2015 #3

For the first time ever we’re bringing you the best movies of 2015! This list is a bit different from our comic section in that we’re just picking the top five movies of the year and ever writer is getting their own pick. Without further ado, here’s the #3 movies.

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CAMERON: Mad Max: Fury Road

Most people would assume this would be on every and any best films of 2015 list. Mad Max was an incredible directing, cinematography, and visual effects feat! Mad Max is the 4^th film in the Mad Max franchise. To be honest, I never have seen another Mad Max, which is somewhat of a crutch to watching this film. Mad Max is a very vague movie, with a simple storyline, which is my only gripe about it. Basically, Mad Max is captured and held as a life support for a man, who is searching for these women who have escaped from there rotting utopia. The escape led by Furiosa, is an insane journey when Mad Max gets into the mix. This film’s visual effects, cinematography, and breath taking stunts are what make this my #3 spot.

DUSTIN: Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman. Claymation.

I don’t really need to say more, but I will. Anomalisa (say like you’re saying “anomaly” and the name “Lisa”), is about a man that has become bored with life. Bored with the people that he meets in life. It’s actually way more complex than that and I don’t even really want to give you my impression of the film because there’s a lot to digest while watching. At the end you’ll either get the film or you’ll walk away with some misguided “2015” type impression of it. Personally, I thought it was incredible and the Claymation was incredible and realistic, but with a touch of style to it. It also has the most realistic sex scene in movie history. Claymation.

DAVE: Inside Out

Surely the day must come soon where animated films can be considered for Best Picture nominations like their live action brethren. Certainly I doubt there would be many eyebrows raised if Pixar’s greatest achievement to date, Inside Out, was competing for the gong. Inside Out ostensibly follows the trials and tribulations of an 11-year-old girl Riley (Kaitlin Dias) as she is uprooted from her happy Midwest life and moved to San Francisco along with her parents. But Inside Out’s real story centers around the emotions that inhabit her brain: Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mandy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyliss Smith). As Riley tries - and fails - to adjust to a new city, a new house, and a new school we see the more negative emotions take control, and when an accident results in Joy and Sadness being ejected from the brain’s “control room”, the odd couple have to work together to get back in control of Riley’s emotional state to save her from the bumbling control of Anger, Fear and Disgust. Inside Out is a wonderful film that argues for the vital importance of sadness in an often happiness-obsessed culture. It’s one of the best films of the year, in fact of recent years - and it doesn’t need the “animated” caveat for that to be true.

Best Movies of 2015 #4

For the first time ever we’re bringing you the best movies of 2015! This list is a bit different from our comic section in that we’re just picking the top five movies of the year and ever writer is getting their own pick. Without further ado, here’s the #4 movies.

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DUSTIN: Turbo Kid

For a movie that was funded via crowdfunding, this film was pretty damn good. It knew what it was, it knew what it wanted to do and it worked within its own budget to accomplish those tasks. Was it the most incredible bit of filmmaking? No, but it was entertaining and had a look and style that was captivating and stayed with you.

DAVE: Ex-Machina

Ex-Machina is the directorial debut of 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, and it’s a rarity in today’s cinema landscape: grown up sci-fi that trades on questions over explosions and ideas over special effects. Not to say that what effects there are, such as the robot Ava (played with quiet perfection by Alicia Vikander) aren’t spectacular, but the film concentrates itself elsewhere. The plot concerns a genius young programmer (Domhall Gleeson) who is invited to spend a week at the mansion of his reclusive boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac), and perform tests upon the robot Ava to confirm if Nathan has indeed invented AI. Ex Machina draws strong performances from its three leads - in particular, a transformed and unrecognizable Isaac - and has a smart script with twists and turns that surprise but never feel forced. It might just restore your faith in sci-fi

CAMERON: It Follows

Horror Films (excluding any film to do with James Wan) have been truly a lacking genre, but with the premiere of It Follows, I was blown away by the unsettling suspense, which was created, ending in a spectacular film. The constant reminder that it is always following you at all times, creating such an uneasy feeling, that the entire film I could help but be on the edge of my seat wondering where and when it would appear. The acting was incredible in this film, and the cinematography truly helped push along the plot with allowing things to be seen or not see at just the right moments. It Follows revamped indie horror films, and helped tell large studios what we REALLY want from horror film, and that’s why it takes my #4 spot.

Best Movies of 2015 #5

For the first time ever we’re bringing you the best movies of 2015! This list is a bit different from our comic section in that we’re just picking the top five movies of the year and ever writer is getting their own pick. Without further ado, here’s the #5 movies.

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DAVE: Going Clear: Scientology & The Prison of Belief

Writer-director Alex Gibney’s eye-opening documentary about Scientology is gruesomely fascinating. You won’t be able to look away as Gibney tracks the history of the “church” from the wonky utopian vision of science fiction writer and compulsive liar L. Ron Hubbard through to its present day incarnation as a celebrity fronted, tax-free “shell company”. Former members raise allegations of both mental and physical abuse which are shocking, but perhaps the most terrifying scene is archive footage of Tom Cruise, cackling like a maniac while rambling paranoically about “suppressive people”. After you watch Going Clear you won’t look at this religion (if that’s what it truly is) in the same way again.

CAMERON: Insidious Chapter 3

This made my list for a lot of reasons. Being a 3^rd film in a trilogy of horror puts you at quite a disadvantage, but not only that, the director was a first time director. IC3 is written and directed by Lea Whannel who wrote the other two Insidious films. IC3 is the story of Lin Shaye’s character, Elise and her coming out of retirement (fighting spirits basically) to help a young girl who thinks she is contacting her mother. This is also where she meets Specs and Tucker. This film hit every note for me. The humor was spot on and its sense of suspense and unknowing of when something could hit you next, really was bone chilling. I don’t like scary movies that are strictly jump scares. When you build suspense and then finally scare someone, it is almost painful, and Insidious Chapter 3 did that amazingly, which is why it earns by #5 spot.

DUSTIN: Bone Tomahawk

This film was a Western on a budget. The cast was small, the locations were controlled, but at the end of the day it was incredibly successful in its execution. Kurt Russell and the other leads are fantastic. Each is their own character, with their own style of delivery. In particular, Matthew Fox’s character and delivery are memorable and one of the best performances of his career. It’s a Western with a Horror twist and yet it executes both genres in perfect tandem.

Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Visionary director George Miller has taken a long and winding road back his trademark post-apocalyptic world, Max Rockatansky's home, "The Wasteland". Following the poorly received third installment in the Mad Max trilogy, Beyond Thunderdome, Miller's directing career took a turn as he spent time behind the camera for the Babe sequel and two films about dancing CGI penguins.

It's not the case that Miller had no desire to make another Mad Max film. Possibilities for a fourth film and/or a reboot were mooted for decades - at one point in the 90s it looked as though it would be an animated film - but as the franchise's star, Mel Gibson, aged and became less and less of a bankable star, it seemed less likely that a new Mad Max would ever see the light of day.

Against the odds, in 2015 we were finally able to return to Miller's hectic fever-dream of an Aussie apocalypse. Despite rumours of a cameo, Gibson didn't appear, replaced in the title role by Tom Hardy. It's much more of a sequel than reboot, though really it could function as either. Mad Max: Fury Road doesn't bother with an origin story or exposition, it barely bothers with plot: it throws you in head first to a fully formed world and invites you along for the ride.

The film is almost nothing but a spectacular car chase, reminiscent of the final 20 minutes of 1981's second Mad Max installment The Road Warrior - only louder and even more spectacular. What plot there is concerns Max being captured early on in the desert citadel run by terrifying despotic demi-god Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Joe has five "wives" locked up to sire him a healthy heir, but when they escape in a petrol tanker piloted by an ex-wife Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Joe's army give chase - and Max gets caught up in the conflict.

When the film draws breath around 20 minutes in after continuous carnage, it may be the first time you draw breath too. It's easy to understand why most films aren't made with skeletal plots and stunt after stunt after stunt - in the wrong hands, Fury Road would be a mess of Michael Bay proportions, but in Miller's hands this recipe for disaster becomes something quite extraordinary.

Also, while plot may be minimal, there's still a message here. There seemed to be a lot of hate online (among knuckle-draggers, to be fair) about the film's supposed feminist overtones, but frankly, should it be controversial in 2015 to have a message of "women are not objects"? The fact that such a thing even still needs to be said shows that, if anything, we need more films willing to take this stand. It's true that really, Imperator Furiosa is the real protagonist, rather than Max, but there's nothing wrong with that. Max has always been an interloper in the lives of others, but Furiosa - with her metal arm and steely gaze - is just as able to hold up an action film as the title character. And Max remains vital to the film, even if he's not always its focus.

Fury Road shows, too, that there's still a place in cinema for practical effects (Fury Road makes relatively minimal use of CGI when compared with many modern blockbusters) and that the action genre isn't as dead as everyone may have thought.

There was a lot of competition for my favourite film of 2015. It was a tough choice, and when thinking about it I changed my mind maybe 3 or 4 times. In the end, I chose Mad Max: Fury Road because I came out the cinema with a grin from ear to ear - and everyone else was the same. It's exciting, it's thrilling, it's tense, it's important in a few ways but more than anything else: it's fun. Ultimately, we go to the cinema to be entertained, because we want to have fun. Mad Max: Fury Road delivers that in spades, and nothing else came close to it for that in 2015.

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Score: 5/5

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Mad Max: Fury Road Director: George Miller Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy & Nico Lathouris Studio: Kennedy Miller Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures Running time: 120 Minutes Release Date: 5/15/15

VIZ Media Announces New Digital Anime Content Update For January

VIZ Media gets 2016 underway with a brand new digital update for its free anime content streaming platform for January. Throughout this month, audiences are invited to catch newly-added dubbed and subtitled episodes for several hit anime series including SAILOR MOON and SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL, HUNTER X HUNTER, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN and INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT.

Newly added anime content for January includes:

HUNTER X HUNTER

• Catch the second-half of Season 1 of the supernatural action adventure with the addition of Episodes 14-26, available to stream with newly updated subtitles.
• In the HUNTER X HUNTER anime series, abundant riches, hidden treasures, fearsome monsters, and exotic creatures are scattered around the world... Gon departs on a journey to become a Pro Hunter who risks his life in search of the unknown. Along the way, he meets other applicants for the Hunter exam: Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua. Can Gon pass the rigorous challenges of the Hunter exam and become the best Hunter in the world!? His wild and epic journey is about to begin!!

INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT

• Dive into the action of the final climactic season of INUYASHA with Episodes 1-26 (subtitled and dubbed) available to stream now.
• Throughout their quest to restore the shattered Shikon Jewel, the half-demon Inuyasha and modern schoolgirl Kagome have never faced an enemy more deadly or more cunning than the demon mastermind Naraku. With the Shikon Jewel nearly whole, the race to collect the remaining shards intensifies and a battle of epic proportions is brewing on the horizon!

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

• Weekly simulcasts of the latest action packed NARUTO SHIPPUDEN episodes will take place every Thursday throughout January.
• Catch Episode 444 on January 14^th, followed by Episode 445 on January 21^st, Episode 446 on January 28th^th.

ONE-PUNCH MAN

• Watch the entire action-packed subtitled first season (Episodes 1-12), available now!
• Saitama is a hero who only became a hero for fun. After three years of “special” training, though, he’s become so strong that he’s practically invincible. In fact, he’s too strong – even his mightiest opponents are taken out with a single punch, and it turns out that being devastatingly powerful is actually kind of a bore. With his passion for being a hero lost along with his hair, yet still faced with new enemies every day, how much longer can he keep it going?

SAILOR MOON

• Don’t miss the newly subtitled North American premiere for SAILOR MOON SAILOR STARS (Season 5). Episode 172 opens Season 5, which is the first time the exciting final story arc of the classic SAILOR MOON series has been available legally in the U.S.
• Catch 2 new SAILOR MOON SAILOR STARS episodes every week, beginning with Episodes 172 and 173, which are available to stream now.
• Catch Episodes 174 and 175 on January 11^th, followed by Episodes 176 and 177 on January 18^th and Episodes 178 and 179 on January 25^th.
• This month, SAILOR MOON Season 2 is also added in its entirety and available to stream on-demand.

SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL

• Enjoy all new English dubbed streams of SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL throughout January with a brand new episode every week.
• SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL Season 1 action continues with Episode 8 available to stream now.
• Catch Episode 9 on January 8^th, followed by Episode 10 on January 15^th, Episode 11 on January 22^nd and Episode 12 on January 29^th.

VIZ Media’s consolidated online destination for FREE streaming anime content in the U.S. has over 4,100 subtitled and English dubbed episodes and movies from more than 36 series! VIZ Media’s streaming content also reaches an expansive on-demand U.S.-based audience on Hulu, which enables viewers to watch shows anytime, anywhere across devices including Xbox One, PlayStation^®4,Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and mobile devices. A full list of Hulu -enabled devices can be found at http://www.hulu.com/plus/devices.

Additional information on VIZ Media’s streaming anime is available at: http://www.viz.com/anime/streaming/.

Review: The Martian

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here’s #2, a redemptive sci-fi offering from director Ridley Scott.

After the recent missteps of Prometheus and Exodus: Gods & Kings, Ridley Scott reminded everyone why his name is so revered with The Martian. Based upon the novel of the same name by Andy Weir, The Martian has hard science to go with its fiction, a rarity these days.

The film stars Matt Damon as astronaut Mark Watney, a botanist who is stranded on Mars when a mission goes awry. Presumed dead by his mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), Watney is forced to use his intelligence and ingenuity to survive on the hostile dead planet while awaiting rescue by NASA.

This is the second sci-fi film in my top five of the year. Ex Machina is the other, and while it doesn't share that film's philosophical bent, The Martian similarly uses science as a foundation for its fiction thanks to the meticulously-researched novel that is its source. It takes its visual and narrative cues from recent crowd-pleasing space dramas like Gravity and Interstellar (the latter of which also features Damon as an astronaut stranded on a hostile planet) but perhaps its nearest cinematic brethren is Ducan Jones' Moon. While it isn't as quirky as Duncan Jones' effort, both of them feature a lone protagonist talking to himself for much of their runtime.

Not to say that The Martian is dull (nor is Moon, for that matter). Thankfully, Matt Damon is as charismatic a lead as they come, and he imbues Watney with enough intelligence, humour and pathos to hold our interest. He's also supported by an excellent cast that includes Jessica Chastian, Sean Bean, Chetiwel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig and a scene stealing Donald Glover.

The film also looks beautiful, even the dusty red vistas of Mars look awe-inspiring, which is more than you could say of previous Mars-set bore-fests like Mission To Mars, to give just one example of many. The success of The Martian suggests that the problems of Scott's other recent films may be down the script rather than anything else. With a brilliant screenplay from Drew Goddard (World War Z, Cabin In The Woods) and a troupe of actors at the top of their game, Scott proves that with the right tools he can craft an exciting cinematic experience.

As the joke goes, The US government is forever rescuing Matt Damon, but this may well with the best film of all of them in that odd, specific genre. A smart, at times funny, and overall hopeful journey, The Martian helps to prove that there's life in smart sci-fi, and Ridley Scott's career - and life on Mars, too.

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Score: 5/5

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The Martian Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Drew Goddard (adapted from Andy Weir's novel) Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Running Time: 144 minutes Release Date: 10/02/15

Worst of 2015: Worst Comic Book Movie or TV Show

In our opinion you can't have a "Best of" list without the "Worst of" to go with it. Welcome to our worst picks of 2015. Think of it like the Razzies for comics. Each writer will make their own pick so sit back enjoy "Worst Comic Book Movie or TV Show".

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KEVIN: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel Studios)

Give the ole CBMFP a listen this week to hear Kevin's pick!

STEVE: Supergirl/"Flarrow"

Vapid swill wrapped up in empty platitudes to impress the rubes.

DUSTIN: All Comic Book TV Shows (ALL)

I stopped watching everything on network tv because they're all shitty. Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Agent's of Shield. They all suck a big one. I can't wait for Lucifer and I hope it makes it to six episodes before getting cancelled becuase it's called "Lucifer."

ASA: Gotham (Fox/WB)

Oof, what to say that has not been said before. Portraying Gotham city without Batman might work (see Gotham Academy and Gotham Central), exploring the early days of Batman might work, focusing on Batman's villains might work, but Gotham simply does not work. Trapped in the awkward intersection between the camp of the last live-action Batman tv show and the dark atmosphere of Nolan's films, Gotham diappoints on every level. Further, while I would normally not claim that staying loyal to the source material is a must for adaptations like this, it betrays the fundamental wrong-headedness of the creators that they seem incapabale of using any of the material that makes the Bat mythos so interesting. At least we got Daredevil this year.

DAVID: Gotham (Fox/WB)

I cannot stand this show. The first season was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to return for the second entry, especially when other comic-book shows with a similar tone such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones are so superior in every way. FOX have taken the fantastic source material (Brubaker and Rucka's Gotham Central) and stripped it of anything interesting or believable. How anyone is still left to defend this mess of a show is beyond me.

Review: Inside Out

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here’s #3, a brilliant animated offering from Pixar.

There was a joke doing the rounds online after the first trailer for Pixar's Inside Out dropped. It described the film as the culmination of Pixar's ongoing quest to ask the question "what if [x] had feelings?". It began with "what if toys had feelings?" (Toy Story) through to bugs (A Bug's Life), monsters (Monsters, Inc), fish (Finding Nemo), cars (Cars), rodents (Ratatouille), and robots (WALL-E). Finally, with Inside Out, Pixar had reached the end of the line by asking - what if feelings had feelings?

Thankfully, there's much more going on in Inside Out than that glib joke would suggest. Directed by Pixar favourite Pete Docter, who was also responsible for the poignant-yet-hilarious Up (2009), it's Pixar's greatest achievement to date thanks to a smart script, brilliant performances and visuals as sumptuous as you would expect from Pixar.

Inside Out ostensibly follows the trials and tribulations of an 11-year-old girl Riley (Kaitlin Dias) as she is uprooted from her happy Midwest life and moved to San Francisco along with her parents. But Inside Out’s real story centres around the emotions that inhabit her brain: Joy ( an impossibly perky Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mandy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyliss Smith). As Riley tries - and fails - to adjust to a new city, a new house, and a new school, negative emotions begin to take hold and when an accident sees Joy and Sadness ejected from the "control room" inside Riley's brain, the odd couple must work together to get back in control before they lose Riley for good.

When I first read about Inside Out's premise I was worried that something as complex as a child's emotional development was being over simplified. The five emotions featured just didn't seem like enough. In practice, though, it works perfectly. Having too many emotions would clutter up the screen and the script, Inside Out manages the tricky feat of streamlining the emotions without dumbing everything down - and make no mistake, this is an intelligent film. It means that unlike some recent Pixar efforts, this really isn't one for small children, it genuinely feels like an adult film. If there's anyone left who doesn't take animation seriously as an art form, they should check out Inside Out and see if it makes them think again.

In the end, Inside Out is a poignant treatise on the importance of sadness, and other negative emotions, in life. Joy realises that she would not exist but for the much-maligned Sadness, and it's a realisation that's the beating heart of the film. In lesser hands this film would come across as corny, cloying and melodramatic. In Pixar's hands it's so much more - their best film yet, and deservedly in contention at the Oscars.

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Score: 4/5

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Inside Out Director: Pete Docter Writers: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve & Josh Cooley Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Running Time: 95 Minutes Release Date: 6/19/15

Best of 2015: Best Comic Book Movie or TV Show

Welcome to our end of the year list! Unlike other sites, we give all of our writers the opportunity to make their own picks. What you'll read below and on the rest of the site is a list of each individual writer's picks. As much as we like making our choices, we love hearing yours so let us know what you'd pick for the "Best Comic Book Movie or TV Show" below in the comments.

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KEVIN: Daredevil (Marvel Studios/Netflix)

Listen to Kevin talk about Daredevil on this week's episode of the CBMFP!

ASA: Daredevil (Marvel Studios/Netflix)

In my humble opinion, prior to 'Daredevil' there had never been an excellent superhero tv show. While the CW may have popularized the concept with its candy-colored soap operas, Daredevil legitimized the superhero show in one week of madcap binging. Paced like a highbrow premium cable show, Daredevil incorporated all of the grit and characterization that have made the comic a fan-favorite. Perfectly cast and containing the MCU's first truly memorable villain, Netflix's first Marvel show soared to new heights. Further, perhaps most cheeringly, the show managed to achieve this quality without compromising on any of the comic's most important qualities.

JAMES: Daredevil (Marvel Studios/Netflix)

Daredevil was beautiful, magnificent and well done on almost every single level. The fictional "New York" in this show is becoming a real place to me filled with supers and hardcore baddies. I can only hope that it continues to impress. It is rare to have a show where you can feel for both the good and the bad alike. It feels complete. Daredevil has brought a gritty realism to a comic live action show where so many others have failed.

STEVE: Jessica Jones (Marvel Studios/Netflix)

While slow and repetitive at points, this series had great writing and some of the best use of framing I've seen on TV all damn year. It actually made me want to go back and read Bendis' Alias, which, given how little I like reading that particular chatty-cathy of a writer, is saying a lot. This is the superhero show we deserve, and makes everything on the CW/CBS - especially Supergirl - look like the trash it really is.

DAVID: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel Studios/ABC)

Of course Daredevil and Jessica Jones were fantastic shows, I wouldn't argue anything otherwise. However, I feel like Marvel Studios' first foray into the world of television needs someone fighting in its corner as well. I'll be the first to admit that the first season of Agents of SHIELD was mediocre at best, but with season two the show really came into its own. The characters grew into genuinely interesting personalities, while the plot was more engaging than ever with twists and turns aplenty. Season 3 is yet to make its way to the UK, although from what I've heard the show is stronger than ever - easy to believe considering just how exciting the Season 2 finale ended up being. Those who understandably gave up on this show during its weak first season, I hope will come back and give Agents of SHIELD a second chance.

AUSTIN: One Punch Man (Viz/Madhouse)

I have been enjoying Jessica Jones. Daredevil was a huge deal for me, since he's my favorite superhero ever and a decent live-action adaptation was a long-time coming. But the One Punch Man anime adaptation is the most fun I have had watching anything in years. From the scorching opening theme, to the high production quality, to simply getting to watch Murata's punishingly superior art come to life in real-time, this show is killer.

DUSTIN: One Punch Man (Viz/Madhouse)

I was actually surprised by this one. Over the years I've made a rule for myself, that if I begin with the manga, I don't watch the anime. I couldn't help myself on this one and I'm glad I did because I love the anime. Be it for some different reasons than the manga, but I love it. Madhouse also redeemed themselves in my opinion after delivering some sloppy shit previously.

Review: Ex Machina

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here's #4, Alex Garland's smart and stylish psychological sci-fi thriller.

Quick, see how many genuinely intelligent recent sci-fi films you can name. How many did you get? 10, 11, 12? Less? Four or five? Wracking my brains, I can only get enough to count on one hand. There are plenty of films categorised as sci-fi, but there are there enough that use the genre for its intended purpose: to ask questions, to make us think, to use the fantastic to look and where we are now, and where we're going. Personally, I blame Star Wars, for turning sci-fi into shorthand for "action films in space".

The good news is that films that but the "sci" in sci-fi are making a comeback. Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2012) brought theoretical physics alongside blackhole related flights of fancy, while Ridley Scott's The Martian (another film from this year) was based on a novel that did not shy away from using - and explaining - hard science. Ex Machina, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland (who also wrote the script) also belongs in this group. It has fantastical elements but feels grounded, and will leave your head spinning with ideas.

The film is heavier on ideas than plot. Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) is a talented young computer programmer for search engine giant Blue Book. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is invited to meet his company's reclusive genius CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac) and participate in an experiment with a groundbreaking AI (Alicia Vikander).

Ex Machina is quick out of the blocks; we see Caleb get chosen via random lottery to go visit Nathan's secluded, state-of-the-art home (that resembles a bunker more than a mansion) in the first few minutes, and the entire film then takes place on those grounds. Gleeson's Caleb is nervous, eager to please, deferential and almost apologetic about his intelligence. It's a smart, subtle performance, but scenes are frequently stolen by his sparring partner Isaac, who's unrecognisable, hiding behind bulk and a hipster beard. On the surface Nathan is pally and unusually down to earth for a reclusive, genius billionaire, but Isaac's performance hints and the reservoirs of anger beneath a placid surface.

Caleb is there to do a Turning test on Nathan's revolutionary invention, a robot named Ava. Nathan believes he may have created artificial intelligence, and wants Caleb to confirm either way by engaging in daily conversations with Ava for a week. What both men find as the week goes on is that it's not so easy to define consciousness. It's worth a mention that Vikander more than holds her own opposite Gleeson and Isaac as Ava. Her robotic exo-skeleton is a gorgeous special effect but means that her performance is mostly unspoken - she does most of her talking through smiles, frowns and her eyes, which shimmer with so much life that, really, no AI test should be needed.

Every conversation that Caleb has with Ava brings new questions. Is Ava making sarcastic jokes, or just repeating lines? Ava flirts with Caleb - is she doing it because she likes him, because she's programmed to, or is she just using Caleb to serve her own ends? Ava wants to know what will happen to her once the test is over. Caleb responds that it's not up to him, and Ava shoots back: "why is it up to anyone?".

That's what Ex Machina brings to the table. It brings questions that have no easy answers. The script could have come from Isaac Asimov or Phillip K. Dick, yet it's not derivative. Just when you think you have a handle on what's going to happen, the rug is pulled from under you. It shares DNA with sci-fi greats, but stands on its own two feet as an original piece of work. It's beautifully shot, and understands that action scenes and explosions aren't needed to hold an audience's attention.

If you're at all interested in sci-fi that explores difficult questions, trusts the viewer's intelligence and does not provide easy answers, then Ex Machina is for you. It's one of the best films of the year, and would be one of the best of any year.

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Score: 4/5

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Ex Machina Director: Alex Garland Writer: Alex Garland Studio: DNA Films, Film4 Running Time: 108 Minutes Release Date: 1/21/15

Review: Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

Over the next few weeks, I'll be counting down my top 5 films of 2015. Here's number 5, Alex Gibney's extraordinary documentary on the "Church" of Scientology.

You might not realise it, but there are good odds that at least some of your favourite celebrities are scientologists. Even if you're not a fan of well known Scientology godheads Tom Cruise and John Travolta, there are rafts of famous people still drinking L. Ron's Kool Aid, ranging from Beck to Jason Lee to Isaac Hayes. These days, Cruise is by far the most famous face associated with the Church, and largely thanks to his sofa jumping antics on Oprah, Scientology seems to be viewed as a kooky quasi-cult for the rich. Weird, sure, but harmless. If you're of that opinion, sit down and watch Going Clear and then see how you feel.

Writer-director Alex Gibney's compelling documentary is shot through with interviews with the journalist Lawrence Wright (on whose book the film is based) and former members, including Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis, actor Jason Beghe, and most interestingly of all, Mark Rathbun (at one time the church's second-in-command) and Mike Rinder (formerly head of the church's "Office for Special Affairs"). The talking heads, though, are only half the story.

Like the book on which it is based, Going Clear is divided into two distinct halves. First we're introduced to the birth of Scientology via its founding father, L. Ron Hubbard. The man Scientologists refer to as "LRH" was a pulp sci-fi writer, churning out over a thousand books to make a living (at a penny a word). He is presented as a pathological liar, a man given to fantasically embellishing his less-than-stellar military career or straight up inventing "field work" studying indigenous tribes.

Hubbard veered away from the sci-fi that was his stock in trade with his 1950 book Dianetics, an attempt at hard psychology fused with his own confusing worldview; taking in outer space and past lives. Surprisingly, Dianetics took hold in certain pockets of America and gave Hubbard a second career as a pyschologist, philospher and P.T. Barnum-esque showman. When Dianetics proved to be a passing fad, Hubbard repackaged his ideas and called it Scientology, and the utopian ideals it claimed to stand for ("a civilisation without war, without instanity, and without drugs") struck a cord in 1960's America, and the Church of Scientology was born.

Of course, it was not recognised as a church and so, with the IRS hunting him for back taxes, Hubbard took to the seas and set up the church's "Sea Org.", a fleet of three ships, whose crewmates signed "billion year" contracts. During these segments of the film, those who saw The Master will shiver in recognition at the archive footage of Hubbard, the inspiration for Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character. Hubbard's mental state is somewhat danced around and it remains unclear whether he was simply scamming people for money or truly believed all the nonsense about thetans.

It's after Hubbard's death that Scientology goes from being a mentally unstable writer's wonky utopian vision to something far more sinister and scary. There was no succession plan in place following Hubbard's death in 1986, so David Miscavage took control. Miscavage looks and sounds like an 80's movie villain; the kind of guy who would bulldoze a youth centre to build a mall, or try to sack Andrew McCarthy for falling in love with a mannequin. In reality he's much worse even than that, and stories of espionage, blackmail, physical and mental abuse and the icy control he allegedly exerts over the likes of Tom Cruise, are too extensive to be listed here. Sufficed to say the testimony from the former church members interviewed (especially Rathburn and Rinder, who were close to Miscavage) is shocking and eye-opening.

Despite focusing with laser precision on dodgy church practices, Gibney avoids sensationalism. The film's tone is inquisative, Gibney is not necessarily aiming for headline grabbing revelations (though he gets some anyway), just to peek under the curtain to try and find out what really happens inside one of the world's most secretive organisation. The worrying thing is, there's almost certainly a lot more about it we don't know. There's not really much to criticise about the film, which is perfectly pitched and doesn't feel overlong despite the running time. It's a bit of shame they could not get interviews with any current church members, but as a title card at the end explains, they all either declined or ignored requests to participate.

Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief is compelling - if sometimes horrying - viewing, and easily one of the best films of 2015, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Unless you're David Miscavage.

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Score: 4/5

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Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Director: Alex Gibney

Writer: Alex Gibney

Studio: HBO

Running Time: 119 Minutes

STAR WARS R2-D2 & C-3P0 Light-Up Statues Debut From Beast Kingdom & Bluefin

Bluefin, the leading North American distributor of toys, collectibles, and hobby merchandise from Japan, Hong Kong and more, expands its line of Star Wars products with the release this month of the Egg Attack Star Wars series EA-015 R2-D2 statue and EA-016 C-3PO statue from Beast Kingdom. The statues are the latest to join Beast Kingdom’s line of officially licensed, collectible Egg Attack Star Wars figures that are available now from authorized Bluefin retailers nationwide and also from a variety of leading online outlets. The Egg Attack statues present extremely high quality, super-deformed renditions of several legendary characters from the Star Wars film franchise and can accent an ardent fan’s existing display or become the unique centerpieces of any collection.

Depicted as the legendary droids appeared in the original Star Wars Episodes IV, V and VI film trilogy, the stunning renditions of R2-D2 and C-3PO are officially licensed by Lucasfilm and are constructed with compound materials. Their screen accurate paintjobs fully realize R2-D2’s classic blue and white plating and C-3PO’s gold armor, silver right leg, and his weathered appearance from the time spent stranded on the desert planet of Tatooine.

EA-015 Star Wars R2-D2 Statue

Height: Approx. 5 inches; MSRP: $149.99

This collectible statue is constructed with compound material and painted to reflect R2-D2’s classical blue and white plating. The lighting function of the droid 100% matches the original movie setting. It also has built-in R2-D2 sound effects officially licensed by Lucasfilm. To complete the display, a classic-looking Carbon-Freezing Chamber light-up figure stand is also included.

EA-016 Star Wars C-3PO statue

Height: Approx. 6 inches; MSRP: $164.99

This collectible statue is constructed with compound material and expertly painted to depict C-3PO’s gold armor, silver right leg, and the weathering effects from time spent stranded on the desert planet of Tatooine. It has built-in classic lines officially licensed by Lucasfilm, and also comes with a classic Carbon-Freezing Chamber light-up figure stand for collectors to customize their display.

If poseable action figures are more a fans’ preference, collectors also have the opportunity to purchase Star Wars figures from Beast Kingdom’s Egg Attack Action line. Fans will not want to miss out on other Beast Kingdom Star Wars products available from Bluefin including the EAA-002 Star Wars Darth Vader figure (depicted from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) and the EAA-005 Star Wars Stormtrooper figure (depicted from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back).

For more information on Bluefin’s line of Egg Attack statues by Beast Kingdom, please visit: http://www.bluefincorp.com/catalog/beast-kingdom/egg-attack.html

Review: Elf

Written by guest contributor Dave Fox

For a few years here in the UK, Elf would be shown annually on one of the national TV stations, Channel 4. There was one day every year, in December, when the whole country could sit down together and watch Will Ferrell's modern Christmas classic.

Okay, so it probably wasn't the whole country. I very much doubt the Queen was watching, but it could feel that way when scrolling through your Facebook and Twitter feeds. These days, the rights to Elf have been taken away by the subscription service Sky, in a move worthy of the Grinch himself. "Elf Day", as some called it, no longer exists, but plenty of people still watch the 2003 comedy as a festive ritual, like others do with It's A Wonderful Life, or Die Hard.

Elf's story is a simple one. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) lives at the North Pole with Santa and the other elves, making toys for Christmas. But despite his name, Buddy isn't really an elf at all. Buddy is a human, an ophan who accidentally made his way into Santa's sack one Christmas. Kind-hearted Santa Claus (Ed Asner) keeps the child at the North Pole, where he's raised as an elf by, well, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart). As Buddy grows he becomes much taller, stronger, and clumsier than the other elves. Realising he's adopted, Buddy ventures to New York to find his real father Walter Hobbs (James Caan).

There's nothing hugely new or ground-breaking about Elf. For the most part it's your standard fish-out-of-water comedy as Buddy - constantly wearing his green and yellow elf costume complete with tights, pointy hat and shoes - raised in the magical North Pole alongside anthropomorphic animals has to adjust to real world New York. He has to deal with escalators, racoons that don't talk, and people who think it's weird when you smile at them. The jokes may be obvious, but Ferrell's wide-eyed childlike enthusiasm sells it. It's the role his overgrown manchild schtick was made for, and Buddy's arrival in the Big Apple contains many of the film's best scenes.

Ferrell is surrounded by a solid cast who are happy to allow him to take centre stage. Zooey Deschanel (pre-hipster glasses and dark hair) plays Jovie, a love interest for Buddy at the Gimbles department store where he finds accidental employment and James Caan is full of growling, barely contained menace as Buddy's biological father Walter, an overworked publishing executive who could not care less about Christmas and who is Buddy's polar opposite. There are also small but funny roles for Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Kyle Gass, Andy Richter director Jon Favreau and a pre-fame Peter Dinklage. It's hard to look past Ferrell when it comes to Elf, though, and it's almost a one-man show. Even during a slightly sagging and slow moving second act, Ferrell's career best performance is never boring.

Elf is not a perfect film, but as Christmas films go, it's up there with the very best. It deserves a viewing in your house this Christmas, whether you're watching it for the first or forty-first time.

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Score: 4/5

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Elf Director: Jon Favreau Writer: David Berenbaum Studio: New Line Cinema Running Time: 97 Minutes

Top 7 Batman Films

Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher

I'm going to be going over the Top 7 Batman films (in my opinion). Don’t forget no hate here or battles in the comments, this is meant to be a discussion on why I love the films I do and why I place them where. This list is GOING to upset many, but I will make sure to justify all of my reasons. I'm rating these based on watchability, acting, story, directing and fun. Let's get to it!

7. Batman Returns: This is by far the weakest film, I felt in all of the live action Batman movies. Although Keaton is iconic as Batman, Penguin and Catwoman felt so far-fetched I honestly think they are what tanked the film. This also is a very dark film and didn't have that dark yet light-hearted vibe to it, like the comics do. It's a great film overall of course, just not one I would put in my Blu-Ray player anytime soon!

6. Batman (1989): Let the hate begin! I know right, the original? Yes and here's why! Of course it's the original live-action Batman that portrayed the more modern and gritty Batman, but my problem with this movie is in its pacing and obviously dated feel. Even for 1989, this felt like an older movie, and for me it made it seem cheesier, but not in a fun way. Also like Batman Returns, this movie is pretty dark. Now obviously Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton are amazing in this, I just can't seem to re-watch it as often.

5. Batman and Robin: Yes, at its very core this movie is terrible, but not before being incredibly fun and witty. A lot of people hate, and I mean HATE, this movie but I think they aren't looking at it the right way. This movie feels like a light-hearted Batman comic. Over the top dialogue, crazy antics… that's what the comics felt like. Now of course, not all of the comics feel like this, but I feel like Batman at its core is a little hokey at times, but still with action. Also in this movie I love George Clooney. He isn't Oscar worthy, but I believed it. Now say I'm naïve, but I am an acting fanatic, and I think Clooney didn't do bad at all.

4. Batman Forever: This movie is by far the most re-watchable of all of the Batman movies before the Nolan Trilogy. I love Val Kilmer in this role and I thought Nicole Kidman was the only Batman woman I ever actually cared for. Jim Carey and Tommy Lee Jones KILLED their roles, and I love the introduction of Robin. This movie felt like everything great about Batman. Funny, serious, action. It all worked in this film for me!

3. The Dark Knight: WHHOOOAAAA, PUTTING THIS AFTER THE OTHER TWO NOLAN FILMS? I know, I know! I love this movie with all of my heart. Heath Ledger gives probably one of the greatest performances in the history of acting (pretty darn close) but the thing about this movie, was the horrible story between Rachel, Harvey, and Bruce. Horrible. Their chemistry on camera was so terrible. Also, beyond this film being excellently directed, well shot, and with incredible action scenes, it had the same effect Batman Returns did. It feels too depressing and not as hopefully as other Batman films. Of course Christian Bale kills Batman, but we already know that.

2. The Dark Knight Rises: This movie is incredibly suspenseful, and the ending to his film is one of the most bone chilling, goosebumps generating endings I have ever seen. Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and Anne Hathaway MADE THIS MOVIE! They were such well-written characters by Nolan, but so well brought to life, and this film to me tied together everything we love. Action, suspense, plot twists. It was all there. It did however have a few plot holes here and there that kept it from being amazing… like how the hell he got from that hole to Gotham in like two hours. But the Bane and Batman fights made up for it.

1. Batman Begins: This film holds every great film-making technique, storytelling technique, and character development in a Batman film, with being THE MOST re-watchable of all the films due to it’s comic book like nature. This movie has the tone of what Batman comics are to me. This film we got to see him slowly evolve and become Batman and learn how to be him. Kind of like the fun of watching Spider-Man, realize who he is. I love Scarecrow, and the first fight with Batman and those mobsters is so badass I get chills! I could watch this movie over and over! The training scenes, Liam Neeson, the Element of Fear, it all fell perfectly together to make an amazing Batman film that had me the entire time!

I hope you guys enjoyed! Don't forget DON'T HATE on me or anyone in the comments, and tell me what are your favorites from 7-1!