Julian Cannon – Alternative Mindz

Video game reviews: Super Smash Bros. For 3DS

October 22, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Finally, after 6 long years, A new Smash Bros game is here (for the Nintendo 3DS of course). Does this game live up to the hype? Well let’s see as I review Super Smash Bros. for 3DS.

With 49 characters to choose from, this game has the largest roster to date. With newcomers such as Megaman, Pac-Man, Roslina, Dark Pit, Duckhunt, Bowser JR. And more along with returning characters featuring Mario, fox, Pikachu, Samus and Link and more, this gives you a variety of characters to choose from with many fighting styles they possess.

First, I would like to talk about the graphics and presentation. Although it is highly recommended to play this on the 3DS XL, I have it for the normal 3DS and the only difference is that you can see what is going on more better when you play and everything else is slightly bigger than the normal 3DS. The graphics are actually great and it looks better in 3D. Super Smash Bros. Brawl had the realistic approach but this game’s approach is colorful and a bit cartoonish but that is not a bad thing at all as I think this game looks better than Brawl. The game also runs at 60 FPS (frames per second) and the speed of this game is much faster than Brawl but not as fast as Melee.

The gameplay on the handheld feels as if you are playing on a normal console but everyone’s perspective will be different or the same as mines depending on how they play. The commands are responsive but however, the functions for the circle control pad can take work but try to not overuse it or else it will break. A few gameplay changes from Brawl include removing the “random tripping” mechanic. Many players were turned away when that was included in Brawl so good thing that was taken out. The grabbing of ledges has been changed to prevent edge hogging. What this means is for example, If player 1 Is hanging on the edge for their life before they are knocked off, player 2 would try to hang on the edge but the player cannot because player 1 is already there and would stay there. This has been fixed so when this happens, the players would be bounced off in favor for the other player. The swimming feature from Brawl is also removed and the neutral attacks that previously ended in an indefinite number of weak hits will now always transition into a finishing move. I always had a problem with players spamming neutral attacks like that since Super Smash Bros. Melee so I was glad that was fixed.

One thing I almost forgot to mention is that larger characters such as Bowser, King Dededee, Donkey Kong and more actually look their size compared to past games.

There are 34 stages in the game in their normal form and their final destination form. A few of the stages feature a boss character that you would have to defeat or a character that can assist you. My only problem with the stages is that they brought back too much stages from both Melee and Brawl. Two stages to be brought back would have been find but 9 is way too much.

Now there are a lot of modes in this game to keep you busy for a long time. Those are, Classic Mode, a mode Smash Bros. Veterans know but it changed a bit. Now you can choose your path on which opponent you would like to face and there is a slot reel for rewards for you to choose before a match begins. Other modes include All Star Mode, Multi-Man Smash, Target Blast, Trophy Rust and the Home Run Contest. All of these modes you can win trophies, coins and custom parts in which I will get to. The most disappointing mode of the entire game is the Smash Run. You spend 5 minutes on this mode with 3 other players or CPU collecting power ups on the map by defeating enemies and when the time runs out, the final battle begins in either a match or an event to race to the finish. How would you like to collect power ups for strength and defense to then realize that the finial event (if it is an race to the finish), one player is very faster than everyone else and that is unfair. If the final battle is a match, you will not know if it is a team match or a different rule until it happens.

The customization is new to the series. You can create up to 8 characters using the Mii and their styles you can choose from are gunner, brawler and sword fighter. They all can be customized by appearance and move set and stats. All of the normal characters can be customized too by changing their stats and their special moves. This is great and you can create many possibilities with this. Unlocking the moves and stay power ups take time but it is totally worth it.

My final take on this game is that it is great for everyone to play. Although the smash run is an upset, it is still good for casual playing other than just VS. Matches. The soundtrack to this game was great too and this game fixed a lot of the issues that was in Brawl. The Wii-U version comes out later this year but this is totally worth spending your money on and at least everyone gets their own screen.

Gameplay – 4.5/5

Music- 5/5

Replay value- 5/5

Presentation and graphics- 4.5/5

Final score – 9.5/10

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Video game reviews: Destiny

September 25, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

What a disappointment. Destiny isn’t a bad game, per say, but it doesn’t come anywhere close to living up to its original promise. At its core, Destiny is what Bungie likes to call a “shared world shooter.” It has the controls and mechanics of a first person shooter, the progression system and sandbox open worlds of a role playing game, and the online connectivity of an MMO. To set Destiny apart from the competition, Bungie promised that it would feature a sprawling, dynamic, and ever-evolving galaxy with a rich story that could make the game last as long as a decade. What I got instead was a largely formulaic game that I don’t foresee playing for more than a week or two.

One of Destiny’s biggest missteps is its story missions, which I expected to be the highlight of the game considering Bungie’s track record with the Halo series. Despite its rich lore, the story itself is extremely lackluster; unfinished even. By the end of the main campaign, I found myself just as confused about vague entities like The Darkness and The Traveler as I was when I first booted up the game, and I never quite got the sensation that a chapter of a long running series had come to a close. Instead, it felt more like someone had torn off the second half of an already incomprehensible and boring book. Like a season of Lost, Destiny answers few of the questions surrounding its world’s mystery, but at least Lost presented its story in a compelling way. Rather than taking advantage of the interactive medium that is video games to draw players into the world to make them feel like they are experiencing events unfold, the game takes to exposition through Peter Dinklage’s boring narrations as the Ghost (the player’s miniature levitating artificial intelligence robot companion) to tell its story. Playing through Destiny’s main campaign was essentially like playing through a sophisticated audio book – one with little to no character or plot development.

Even more monotonous than Destiny’s story was the mission structure, which remains exactly the same for every mission from beginning to end. Missions essentially bog down to going from point A to point B, deploying the Ghost to scan or hack an alien technology, and then either going from point B to point C and deploying the Ghost again, or, usually in the final stages of a mission, fighting off a horde of enemies while the Ghost hacks into whatever system it was deployed to. That’s about it. It was fun the first few times, but this repetitive mission structure became stagnant and stale very quickly, especially throughout the course of a dozen or two hours. The only reason I stuck with the main campaign was because it was one of the best ways to level up my Guardian, but it felt like a tedious chore for the most part. Without a doubt, Destiny’s main campaign is the worst aspect of the game.

To navigate from mission to mission, players must make use of the game’s beautifully presented galactic map, which shows accessible planets in the Solar System. Planets and missions are unlocked as players complete story missions, which further incentivizes players to complete Destiny’s boring main campaign . When a planet is selected from the galactic map, it zooms in to show a map of its sandbox game world with various map markers, each of which represent a mission. It’s only after selecting one of these markers that players will be taken to their selected planet to tackle their selected mission. Most of them are story missions, but each planet features at least one Patrol mission (which allow players to free roam a planet’s sandbox world and complete small and often tedious and boring objectives) and one Strike mission (instanced dungeons tackled with a strike team), and some planets feature high level events called Raids.

While these sandbox worlds are large in volume, I would be more thrilled if they weren’t so barren. Filling Destiny’s worlds with interactive NPCs who could tell players more about the lore and the situation of a particular planet or offer players side quests would have gone a long way into making the worlds of Destiny more compelling. These worlds do spawn enemy creatures throughout the map once in a while, but unfortunately, the enemy variety in Destiny is abysmal. Each enemy race (Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Cabal) only features a handful of creature types whose color palettes change every once in a while to indicate that they are a higher level than the ones from before. While the game does space out the introduction of each enemy race evenly, there is a long stretch of time between each introduction, and during that time, I found myself facing the same handful of enemy types over and over again. Once I did encounter a new race, it wouldn’t take long before the game showed off all the creature types of that race, and the cycle would repeat.

Despite its incomprehensible and uninteresting story, formulaic mission structure, barren game worlds, and lackluster enemy variety, the game does make some great strides when it comes to core gameplay mechanics. As you would expect from a Bungie game, gunplay is fast-paced, smooth, and satisfying. The game does only run at 30 frames per second, which may disappoint competitive players, but in my experience, that did little to detract from accurate and precise shooting. The gunplay feels even more thrilling when combined with the game’s high level of challenge. The game is not a cakewalk by any means. While it is mostly a run and gun game, players who don’t take the occasional cover or choose a strategic position from which to take out their enemies will find themselves hitting the sack often, especially because of how smart, relentless, and visceral the enemy AI is. Despite the game’s repetitive mission structure, the challenge it offers does make it satisfying to overcome each mission.

Where Destiny shines even brighter is its RPG elements. Character progression in particular is very well executed and quite addictive, making the chore of playing through story missions to level up or to obtain new items and equipment almost worthwhile. The game begins with players choosing one of three classes (Titan, Warlock, or Hunter) and customizing their race, gender, and appearance. Only the player’s class will have any major impact on gameplay; the rest are simply aesthetic choices. I was expecting character customization to be more extensive than choosing from a bunch of presets, but there are enough options to allow players to create relatively unique characters.

With each level, players will earn new skills that are unique to their subclass. Each one of the game’s three classes features two subclasses: one which is readily available from the beginning and another that unlocks at level 15. Since each subclass can equip any kind of weapon, choosing a subclass is less about filling the shoes of a pre-defined role and more about finding something that matches your playstyle. The Titan’s Striker subclass is suited players who like to run-and-gun and get up close and personal, while the Defender subclass is suited for players who like to play defensively. The Warlock’s Voidwalker subclass is suited for players who like high offense and crowd control at the sacrifice of defense, while the Sunsinger subclass are like clerics in MMORPGs: geared more towards those who prefer a support-based playstyle. Finally, the Hunter’s Gunslinger subclass are for marksmen who are all about precision shooting, while the Bladedancer subclass are for those who like to use stealth and close quarters combat to outdo their enemies. But at the end of the day, players can take advantage of each subclass’s skills any way they please, use them with any combination of weapons, and develop a style of their own. The best part is that players can switch between active skills and on the fly to mix and match ones that better suit their playstyle for certain situations. The game even allows players to switch between subclasses on the fly, which is almost unheard of. Destiny truly does offer one of the most flexible character progression systems out there.

Leveling also influences what weapons and armors players can equip, since equipment in Destiny are only capped by the player’s level. Destiny does not feature any attributes which players can add points to after leveling like in other RPGs or MMORPGs. Instead, most of a Guardian’s power and stats are directly influenced by their equipment’s stats, so it’s vital that players obtain up-to-level equipment as soon as they can. Since equipment has such a large influence in Destiny’s character progression, finding new ones always feels like Christmas, especially since most of them look pretty cool, especially towards the higher levels. The satisfaction that comes from equipping Guardians with new gear and watching and feeling them grow more powerful, paired with the game’s flexible character progression, was one of the main reasons I kept coming back to Destiny despite its repetitive nature.

Destiny soft caps players to level 20, but players can go beyond that by equipping rare equipment that come with a stat called Light. The higher the amount of Light in a piece of gear, the more powerful it is, and the total amount of combined Light will define how many levels above 20 a Guardian is. Some equipment with Light can be found by playing missions in high difficulty after reaching level 20, but the most powerful weapons and armor can only be purchased through one of various vendors in The Tower (the game’s social and non-hostile hub). These vendors only accept one of the game’s various currencies.

Glimmer is what players will be using initially to purchase items, weapons, and armors, but eventually, they will begin to earn Vanguard Marks, Crucible Marks, Motes of Light, and Strange Coins. Vangaurd Marks can most effectively be earned by playing Strike missions in the Vanguard hub or by completing Vanguard bounties, Crucible Marks can only be earned by playing competitive multiplayer matches in the Crucible hub, Motes of Light can most effectively be earned by leveling up after reaching the level 20 soft cap, and Strange Coins can most effectively be earned by completing weekly heroic Strike missions. Earning these different currencies is an extremely slow process that involves repeating certain tasks over and over again. It’s tedious and it definitely feels like grinding, but those who can bear with it will be greatly rewarded. I do wish that the game would simply have one universal currency though. By the time I reached level 20, I felt as though I had wasted my time collecting and saving up Glimmer, as they cannot be used for anything substantial towards the end game. At least giving players the ability to convert Glimmer into other currencies, even if at a high cost, would have made a big difference.

It’s not all about cooperation though. Another way the game brings players together is through Crucible, Destiny’s competitive multiplayer hub. Crucible features four game modes: Control, Clash, Rumble, and Skirmish. There are other game modes that will become temporarily available in the coming days and months through special events, but I’ll be reviewing the game as it ships. Control is your typical point-control style game mode, Clash is essentially team deathmatch, Rumble is free-for-all deathmatch, and Skirmish is similar to team deathmatch, but it reduces team sizes from 6 to 3 while allowing players to revive fallen comrades, encouraging them to stick together. Destiny doesn’t do anything revolutionary with competitive multiplayer, but I still found it to be a lot of fun. The Guardians’ powers in particular separate Destiny’s competitive multiplayer from the competition, as they bring about an interesting new dynamic to what could have otherwise been a sterotypical multiplayer mode. The ability to use earned gear to annihilate other players is an added bonus.

The biggest praise I can give to Destiny is that it’s presentation is immaculate. Despite its lackluster story and narrative, the lore has been richly realized through incredible artistic direction and visuals. I was skeptical at first about Bungie’s intentions to mix the aesthetics of fantasy with sci-fi, but it paid off big time. The lore looks and feels like a fantasy story taking place in the future. Even more mesmerizing than the game’s visuals is its soundtrack. Destiny features some of the best orchestrated music I have listened to in a video game in a long time, and they kick in just at the right time during gameplay to provide the appropriate mood and atmosphere for certain situations. It’s easy to tell that everything about Destiny’s lore, aesthetics, and presentation has been crafted with love and care.

Despite Destiny’s beautiful presentation and polished core mechanics, its lackluster story, uninteresting worlds, and repetitive mission structure keep it from becoming legend. The game is by no means a disaster. The satisfying gunplay, the challenging missions, and addictive character progression will keep players hooked for a decent amount of time. But in its current state, there is no way this game can stay alive for 10 long years. I don’t think Bungie comprehends just how long that is, especially if they expect players to repeat the same mission structure over and over again while experiencing a story that is as incoherent as it is uninteresting. It’s hard to say what the future holds for Destiny, since the game will constantly evolve as new content is added throughout its lifespan, but as it stands, Destiny is a good game that could have been so much more.

My final rating for this game is a 7.5/10

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DRAGONBALLZ: BATTLE OF GODS out on Blu-ray/DVD

September 24, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Blu-ray & DVD (Extended Edition) To Be Released October 7, 2014

Includes: Uncut Version and Theatrical Versions of the Movie 

Flower Mound, TX – (September 22, 2014) – After its successful theatrical release to over 800 movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada, FUNimation is preparing you to witness Dragon Ball Z as it has never been seen before- on Blu-ray and DVD October 7^th 2014!

“…some of the most exhilarating fight sequences I’ve ever seen.” – IGN.com

Stunning animation and epic new villains highlight this first new Dragon Ball feature film in over seventeen years! For Film Trailers, Wall Papers and everything Dragon Ball Z, visit and link to: www.dragonballz.com

Following the events of the Dragon Ball Z television series, after the defeat of Majin Buu, a new power awakens and threatens humanity. Beerus, an ancient and powerful God of Destruction, searches for Goku after hearing rumors of the Saiyan warrior who defeated Frieza. Realizing the threat Beerus poses to their home planet, the Z-fighters must find a way to stop him before it’s too late. Only Goku, humanity’s last hope, can ascend to the level of a legendary Super Saiyan God and stop Beerus’s from destroying Earth, and possibly the entire universe!

“…I highly recommend it.” – Indiewire’s Animation Scoop

DETAILS

Includes: Uncut Version and Theatrical Versions of the Movie
Format: Blu-ray& DVD
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
Closed Captioning: No
Rating: TV-PG
Aspect Ratio: 16×9
Main Feature Audio: Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1,Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0,Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 5.1, English 5.1 Surround, Japanese 2.0,Japanese 5.1 Surround
Special Feature Audio: Dolby TrueHD: English 2.0,Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0,English 2.0,Japanese 2.0
Main Feature Runtime: 105
Special Feature Runtime: 33
Region: A|1
Number of Blu-ray Discs: 1
Number of DVDs: 2
Studio: FUNimation
UPC: 704400015649

About FUNimation® Entertainment

FUNimation® Entertainment is the leading anime company in North America. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands. They manage a full spectrum of rights for most of their brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution. For more information about FUNimation Entertainment and its brands, visit www.funimation.com or FUNimation Channel.

BOOM! STUDIOS RETURNS TO THE BIG APPLE FOR NEW YORK COMIC CON PRESS RELEASE

September 24, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

BOOM! STUDIOS RETURNS TO THE
BIG APPLE FOR NEW YORK COMIC CON

September 23, 2014 – Los Angeles, CA – Award-winning comic book publisher BOOM! Studios is excited to announce it will be exhibiting at the 2014 New York Comic Con, which will take place at the Javits Center in New York City, during the weekend of October 9-12.

BOOM! and its imprints KaBOOM!, Archaia, and BOOM! Box can be found at booth number 1344 and will host the following creators at varying times all weekend (please check at the booth for signing times):

Bryce Carlson (Hit)
Chris Miskiewicz (Thomas Alsop)
Collin Kelly (Hacktivist)
David Petersen (Mouse Guard)
Dan Fogler (Moon Lake)
Jackson Lanzing (Hacktivist)
Jake Lawrence (Teen Dog)
James Tynion IV (The Woods, Memetic)
Jason Starr (The Returning)
Josh Hechinger (The Grave Doug Freshley)
Kate Leth (Bravest Warriors, Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring)
Matt Gagnon (Day Men)
Marguerite Bennett (Butterfly, Sleepy Hollow)
Natasha Allegri (Bee and PuppyCat, Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake)
Noelle Stevenson (Lumberjanes, Sleepy Hollow)
Paul Jenkins (Fairy Quest, Fiction Squad)
Shane-Michael Vidaurri (Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Witches, Iron: Or, the War After)
Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes)

Additionally, throughout the weekend, fans can buy original customized sketches on BOOM!’s “Get-A-Sketch” covers from several different artists, including:

Allison Strejlau (Regular Show)
Ian McGinty (Bravest Warriors)
Kate Leth (Bravest Warriors)
Travis Hill (Adventure Time)

Other BOOM! Studios creators also appearing at New York Comic Con include Humberto Ramos (Fairy Quest), Charles Soule (Strange Attractors), Chris Eliopoulos (Cow Boy: A Boy and His Horse), Ed Brisson (Sons of Anarchy), Frank J. Barbiere (Black Market), Michael Moreci (Curse), Elena Casagrande (Suicide Risk), Josh Williamson (RoboCop), Michael Dialynas (The Woods), Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert (Translucid), Brent Schoonover (Mr. Murder Is Dead), Camilla d’Errico (Tanpopo), Chandra Free (The God Machine), Andrew E.C. Gaska (Space: 1999), Durwin Talon and Guin Thompson (Beautiful Scars), Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko (Planet of the Apes), Garry Brown (Sons of Anarchy), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Justin Jordan (Deep State), Rafael Albuquerque (Savage Brothers), Marcus To (Cyborg 009, Hacktivist), Deron Bennett (Hacktivist), Missy Pena (The Amazing World of Gumball), Vanesa R. Del Rey (Hit), Stephanie Hans (Suicide Risk), and Tessa Stone (Regular Show: Hydration).

BOOM! Studios will also host a number of panels and debut numerous exclusive convention variant covers and limited edition items during the convention. Further details will be released next week. For tickets and more information on New York Comic Con, visit their site at www.newyorkcomiccon.com.

-xxxxxx-

ABOUT BOOM! STUDIOS
Founded by Ross Richie in 2005, Diamond Gem Award-winning “Best Publisher” BOOM! Studios (boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of best-selling Eisner and Harvey Award-winning original and licensed comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent. BOOM! Studios is comprised of four distinct imprints. The original Studios imprint is home to Mike Carey’s Suicide Risk; James Tynion IV’s The Woods; Mark Waid’s Irredeemable; Sons of Anarchy; and Big Trouble in Little China. Steven Grant’s graphic novel 2 Guns was released as a feature film from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. BOOM!’s all-ages imprint KaBOOM! publishes Charles Schulz’ Peanuts; Jim Davis’ Garfield; Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Steven Universe; Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid; and Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat. BOOM!’s experimental imprint BOOM! Box publishes The Midas Flesh and Lumberjanes. In June 2013, BOOM! acquired Archaia Entertainment (archaia.com). Archaia is the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning graphic novel publisher of Mouse Guard, Cow Boy, Gunnerkrigg Court, Rust, and Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand. In October 2013, BOOM! Studios entered into a unique first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox, giving the studio access to its library of titles and giving the publisher access to Fox’s vast catalog of films. In August 2014, BOOM! Studios began a similar first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox TV to develop properties for the small screen.

Cartoon Network Brings the Laughs to New York Comic Con

September 24, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Cartoon Network Brings the Laughs to New York Comic Con

with CN ANYTHING Panel

Super-sized Panel features Producers and Talent from

Original Animated Comedy Series

Imagine a super panel where ANYONE from your favorite Cartoon Network series could show up and ANYTHING could happen! Imagine exclusive content and insider info from show creators! Imagine impromptu performances and revelations from the talented cast and crews! Imagine a kitten tickling a pig! Well, imagine no more, friends! For the first time ever, Cartoon Network presents: CN ANYTHING, a panel moderated by comedian Adam Devine (voice of Pizza Steve, Uncle Grandpa) and featuring tons of special guests and never-before-seen content from your favorite animated comedies plus a sneak peek with the cast and creator of Cartoon Network’s upcoming first-ever mini-series Over the Garden Wall!

Panelists include Adventure Time’s Kent Osborne (head of story), Jeremy Shada (voice of Finn), Jessica DiCicco (voice of Flame Princess), and Tom Kenny (voice of Ice King); Over the Garden Wall’s Patrick McHale (creator), Melanie Lynskey (voice of Beatrice) and Collin Dean (voice of Greg); Regular Show’s Sam Marin (voice of Pops) and Paula Spence (supervising art director); Uncle Grandpa’s Pete Browngardt (creator and voice of Uncle Grandpa) and Adam Devine (voice of Pizza Steve); Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar (creator), Zach Callison (voice of Steven) and Estelle (voice of Garnet); and Clarence’s Spencer Rothbell (head of story and voice of Clarence).

Cartoon Network will also be hosting a Halloween Screening Partaay and Costume Contest. Come watch special Halloween episodes of your favorite Cartoon Network shows before they air on TV! Bring your A-game and participate in the costume contest with surprise guests judges and prizes for the top winners. Tickets for the autograph signing will be available for pickup at the screening (limited number of tickets available).

See the full lineup below and please note all times, dates and locations are subject to change. For continuing information about Cartoon Network’s plans at New York Comic Con and for real-time updates during the convention, please follow us on Twitter @CartoonNetPR. While at the con, don’t forget to use the same hashtag’s as Cartoon Network #CNAnything #CartoonNework #NYCC.

Saturday, OCTOBER 11

SCREENINGS

Halloween Screening Partaay

Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Location: 1A24

AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS

Time: 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

Location: 1E05

Come meet some of the amazing Cartoon Network talent following the Halloween Screening Partaay and Costume Contest. Make sure to pick up your tickets to the signing at the screening.

Sunday, OCTOBER 12

PANELS

CN ANYTHING Panel

12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Location: The Empire Stage, Hall 1E

Talent: Adventure Time’s Kent Osborne (head of story), Jeremy Shada (voice of Finn), Jessica DiCicco (voice of Flame Princess), and Tom Kenny (voice of Ice King); Over the Garden Wall’s Patrick McHale (creator), Melanie Lynskey (voice of Beatrice) and Collin Dean (voice of Greg); Regular Show’s Sam Marin (voice of Pops) and Paula Spence (supervising art director ); Uncle Grandpa’s Pete Browngardt (creator and voice of Uncle Grandpa) and Adam Devine (voice of Pizza Steve); Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar (creator), Zach Callison (voice of Steven) and Estelle (voice of Garnet); and Clarence’s Spencer Rothbell (head of story and voice of Clarence).

Imagine a super panel where ANYONE from your favorite Cartoon Network series could show up and ANYTHING could happen! Imagine exclusive content and insider info from show creators! Imagine impromptu performances and revelations from the talented cast and crews! Imagine a kitten tickling a pig! Well, imagine no more, friends! For the first time ever, Cartoon Network presents: CN ANYTHING, a panel moderated by comedian Adam Devine (voice of Pizza Steve, Uncle Grandpa) and featuring tons of special guests and never-before-seen content from your favorite animated comedies plus a sneak peek with the cast and creator of the upcoming mini-series Over the Garden Wall!

Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com) is regularly the #1 U.S. television network in prime among boys 6-11 & 9-14. Currently seen in 97 million U.S. homes and 194 countries around the world, Cartoon Network is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service now available in HD offering the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for kids and families. In addition to Emmy®-winning original programming and industry-leading digital apps and online games, Cartoon Network embraces key social issues affecting families with solution-oriented initiatives such as Stop Bullying: Speak Up and the Move It Movement.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN: SEASON ONE Swoops Onto BD/DVD

September 15, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

“Radically different. Disruptive. A fascinating ride.”

–Frazier Moore, Associated Press

FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ROBERT RODRIGUEZ

AND THE EL REY NETWORK, the debut season of THE CHILLING sUPERNATURAL SERIES, BASED ON

THE CULT CLASSIC FILM, arrives on blu-ray & dvd

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN: SEASON ONE

D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Robert Patrick and Wilmer Valderrama and Don Johnson Star; the DVD Set Features

all 10 Season One Episodes

Street Date: September 16, 2014

Blu-ray/DVD SRP: $49.98/$39.98

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

From executive producer Robert Rodriguez comes the first season of the original El Rey Network series, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, swooping onto Blu-ray and DVD, featuring all 10 Season One episodes, including episodes directed by Rodriguez and Eduardo Sánchez(The Blair Witch Project). This supernatural series, based on Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s 1996 cult classic film of the same name (starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Salma Hayek and Tarantino), centers on bank robbers Seth and Richie Gecko, who are wanted by the authorities after a heist leaves several dead. Escaping across the Mexican border with a family of hostages, the Gecko brothers take a detour to a strip club that’s populated by bloodsucking creatures of the night.

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN returns to El Rey Network in 2015 with brand-new episodes for its eagerly awaited second season.

CAST

D.J. Cotrona (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Dear John, “Detroit 1-8-7”)
Zane Holtz (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Vampires Suck)
Eiza González (“Amores Verdaderos”)
Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, “True Blood”)
Wilmer Valderrama (“That ’70s Show”, Fast Food Nation)
Don Johnson (“Miami Vice”, “Nash Bridges”, Django Unchained)

BONUS FEATURES

Audio Commentary from Robert Rodriguez, Producers and Cast
Full Length Trailer
Best Kills Video
On Set: The Making of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Behind the Scenes “On Set: Brought to you by General Motors”
Behind the Scenes “On Set: Brought to you by Dos Equis”
Character Bio Featurettes
General Motors Commercial featuring Seth Gecko
Dos Equis Commercial featuring Carlos Madrigal
Big Kahuna Commercial
“What’s in the Briefcase” Spot
SXSW Featurette
Q&A from Premiere at Alamo Drafthouse with Robert Rodriguez

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Type: BD/DVD (3 Discs)

Catalog #: (BD) EOE-BD-7801/(DVD) EOE-DV-7753

Running Time: 450 mins. + extras

Rating: TV-14

Genre: TV

Aspect Ratio: (BD) 1080p High Definition (1.78:1)/(DVD) 16×9 (1.78:1)

Audio: (BD) DTS-HD Master Audio/(DVD) 5.1 Surround Sound

Language: English with SDH subtitles

For the latest breaking news on FROM DUSK TILL DAWN: SEASON ONE and other releases, follow Entertainment One on Twitter: http://twitter.com/eOneHomeVideo

WWE Network Review

August 14, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Six months ago, WWE took an unparalleled venture into television history; a 24-hour “over-the-top” streaming service, featuring both live and on-demand programming. Hyped for nearly 2 years, expectations were understandably high, given WWE’s access to a vast number of historical tape libraries, as well as their move to bring every live Pay Per View event to their live streaming service. Analysts and fans alike were abuzz at the possibilities of the network, and its potential in the marketplace. Needless to say, it was an exciting time to be a wrestling fan, as the Network launched 6 months ago.

Personally, I couldn’t wait to get myself subscribed to WWE’s service. I am a lifetime wrestling fan, clocking in over 20 years of blood, sweat and bodyslams. Access to the vast video-on-demand library, alone, was enough incentive for me to subscribe, and at $9.99/month, it really was a no-brainer. More than anything, though, I really wanted to be part of this historical moment in professional wrestling from the ground level. As much of wrestling fan as I am, I’m also a tech geek, so the thought of a streaming service really peaked my curiosity. What would happen on launch day when hundreds of thousands of wrestling fans tried to subscribe to the service at once? Could the servers handle the load? And what about the live stream of WrestleMania 30? Theoretically an unlimited number of people could potentially subscribe, and attempt to watch the live stream. Could the servers handle that? What original content would we have access to? What other hidden gems will be made available to us?

Of course, almost all of my questions were answered the day of the launch, February 24, 2014. And here are my experiences, thus far.

LAUNCH DAY:

I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t sleep well the night before launch day (and, I would imagine, I wasn’t the only one). I was legitimately excited, like a child anticipating Christmas morning. I woke up early and begin checking WWE’s sign-up page, which was scheduled for a 9:00am launch. At 8:10am, almost an hour early, it went live. I might have been one of the first 100 people to have signed up for the Network, as I completed their sign-up process at lightning speed. And, the very next thing I knew, I was live.

I spent the next 45 minutes browsing through the VOD library, amazed to see every ECW, WCW, and WWE PPV, including some I thought would surely be omitted (WWF Over the Edge 1999 namely, but was also surprised to see any event heavily featuring Chris Benoit). After test-driving a handful of videos, all “WWF” mentions, and logos, appeared to be intact, as well, which was a huge relief. I had avoided buying many WWE PPV re-releases as I found Attitude Era footage was unwatchable between the 10-12+ blurs on screen, and any audible WWF mention censored. Much to my relief, everything appeared intact.

It was then, though, that I ran into trouble. As more and more people attempted to sign up, the Network became unwatchable. On Demand features either wouldn’t load, or would appear with an error message stating “Media Error: The video is unavailable”, and the live stream simply wouldn’t load at all. My heart sank, as I began to feel that WWE had not adequately prepared for what was surely an incredible surge of traffic, and video consumption, on their servers. The remainder of launch day basically became a wash, as I experienced trouble for the lions-share of the day getting anything to load. Colour me disappointed, to say the least.

LAUNCH WEEK:

As the week progressed, my video vows eventually subsided. I was cautiously optimistic that WWE would have their server woes under control by WrestleMania, and if necessary, heavily invest in additional server capacity to service what was likely a stronger initial subscription rate than anticipated.

It was here that I really began to appreciate the vastness of WWE’s newborn Network. Want to watch WrestleMania 8 today? No problem. It’s there. Want to see what WCW countered with the same time of year? No problem. It’s there, too. And what about that crazy up-start, ECW? What were they doing? It’s there. I could literally sink an entire day just browsing through the Network, seeing what was available. Do you know the feeling when you’re browsing through Netflix, for what seems like an hour, because there are so many things you could be watching, but you can’t decide on just one? Well, that’s what this is like. Upon launch, there was more content available than most people will watch in their entire lifetime.

I only experienced a small few hiccups those initial few weeks, as well. Occasionally my picture would slightly pixelate, or on a rarer occasion, skip back a few seconds and replay something over again as it attempted to buffer. Those issues happened so few, and far between, that they almost don’t merit a mention in this column. And, to be clear, I was consuming content at an incredible rate. Often, the live stream was left running for hours at a time, with no noticeable impact on video quality. My internet bandwidth consumption (limited to 275 gigs per month by my internet service provider) did take a substantial hit, however. My approximation is that an hour of HD content on the WWE Network uses about 2 gigs of bandwidth from your allotment. So, my advice is, if it is reasonable to upgrade your internet package to an unlimited usage option, do so. Between Netflix, Hulu, and WWE Network, you’ll be consuming more bandwidth than you realize.

WRESTLEMANIA 30:

The big day. I was nervous. This was WWE’s chance to make, or break, the Network. If WrestleMania experienced even a momentary blip during it’s live stream on the Network, my fear was that the Network would universally be panned, and disappear as quickly as it appeared. There was a lot of curiosity from my friends, as well.

I began my live stream at the beginning of the pre-show, about 2 hours before WrestleMania was scheduled to start. The stream loaded, without issue, and began streaming in HD. As people slowly began to arrive, it played in the background as we ate pizza. About a half an hour before the show began, someone said “Hey, when are you going to switch it over to the WWE Network? You’ll want to get on early”. I explained that we had been watching the Network the entire time, and everyone was in awe. Comments on how smoothly the stream had been working, and the video quality were abound. Everyone, myself included, were impressed with what we had seen to that point.

And then the show began. AND IT WORKED! Colour me a skeptic, but I really believed that at some point during the show, something bad would happen. I had nightmares of Undertaker’s entrance beginning and then the stream crashing. Nothing of the sort happened. Other than a momentary blip as The Rock made his entrance (and we’re literally talking a one-second freeze frame that might have been an internet issue, as opposed to a WWE Network issue) the stream worked flawlessly all night long. Such an amazing experience, and as such, created a number of WWE Network subscribers in my social circle.

THE SOFTWARE:

Time to backtrack a little. We haven’t talked about the software, or how it’s installed, yet. I have an XBox 360, iPhone 5s, Roku player, and laptop in my house Each device views the Network just sightly differently, although the overall experience is basically the same.

The most trouble I encountered was with the XBox 360; not so much in the installation of the software, but rather the content that was made available on launch day. Most PPV content was missing until about a month after the Network launched, so the experience on the Xbox wasn’t nearly as good. Of course, now, everything is available, and the experiences are all roughly the same.

I still find myself with the most trouble using the XBox version of the software. Perhaps its just my inexperience with the system in general, but it doesn’t feel very user-friendly, nor am I able to search as easily.

THE ORIGINAL CONTENT:

There is a LOT of original content featured on the WWE Network; so much so that I’m sure I’m going to miss something here.

Legends House: Probably the most anticipated series upon the announcement of the WWE Network. Legends House was not made available upon launch, but was aired, weekly, starting about 3 months ago, and concluding about 2 weeks ago. All episodes are available, including a Legends House reunion episode filmed recently, on demand. Upon first viewing, I wasn’t sure that Legends House was going to stack up to my expectations. I had high expectations for the first episode of Legends House, but felt let down at the end. But as the series progressed, it very quickly became must-see TV each week, and I was sad to see it conclude. It is difficult to summarize the series in a short snippet, however you really should go out of your way to see it. Absolutely top-notch television, and with all original content is available in the on demand section of the WWE Network.

WrestleMania Rewind: Another original I was hesitant to get behind. With access to on demand content, including every WrestleMania ever, did we need another repeat of a particular WrestleMania match that we could just go out of our way and find ourselves in the library on content? The answer is yes, we did. And the reason is the historical perspectives given during the lead-up to the airing of the match. Presented as a mini-documentary, a number of WWE Superstars, Legends, and celebrities give their historical perspective on a given match (or sometimes two) from WrestleMania. The first episode featured a great historical piece on WrestleMania 1, and there have been several must-see episodes since. Another top-notch program, that is a weekly view in my household.

Countdown: As voted by the WWE.com viewers, a number of topics are counted down each week. Topics such as Greatest Trash Talker, Greatest Manager, Top RAW Moments, and more. Although difficult to take the actual rankings seriously (as rankings tend to lean heavily towards WWE superstars as opposed to wrestlers who made their names in other companies), this is still a fun weekly watch.

WWE NXT: From Full Sail University, NXT has become a hidden gem of good-to-great wrestling, and storytelling, weekly (and it’s also got a pretty bad ass opening music video, as of this writing). Considering the number of call-ups from NXT to WWE in the past 12-to-18 months, it’s not a well guarded secret that there’s a lot of talent being well-developed within the WWE system. Names such as Sami Zayn, Cory Graves, Adrian Nevelle are current NXT stars, but Bray Wyatt, Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Paige, Big E, Rusev and more have all come through the system in the past year. Each week, we get a glimpse into the future of WWE, and the future looks pretty darn good.

Original Specials: There are some great pieces included in this section, including a wonderful 4-part series on the Ultimate Warrior (which features a documentary being filmed during WrestleMania weekend), and a special following Daniel Bryan during WrestleMania weekend, as well. WWE should really be proud of the content they have created for this particular section, and I wish it would get a little bit more love than it gets. In the past, WWE has created some memorable documentary pieces and, while not always as detailed, these pieces are an excellent addition to that library.

Beyond the Ring: This section is used to air WWE documentary pieces, which have included The Attitude Era, nWo: The Revolution, Mick Foley, Triple H, The Rock, Steve Austin and most recently CM Punk. If you haven’t already watched these documentaries, they’re all excellent, and add an incredible value to the Network. Individually, these DVDs often sell for $20-$40, and are now available as part of your Network subscription. Match compilations that often accompany these DVDs are missing, nearly all matches are found on demand anyways.

WWE Classics on Demand content: If you weren’t a WWE Classics on Demand subscriber, in the past, you missed out on some really great original content there, as well (although not nearly at the rate we’re treated to on the WWE Network). Series’ such as Legends of the Roundtable and WWE Old School are shown, in their entirety. The Roundtable discussions are of my favourite WWE programming ever, and are excellent companion pieces to the topics they discuss.

Monday Night WAR: Although only having the opportunity to catch the “sneak-peak” first episode aired after last Monday’s Monday Night RAW, this series will be the golden child of the WWE Network. Again, colour my a skeptic, but I wasn’t sure I needed another rehash of the war between RAW and Nitro (and largely WWE and WCW). I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. I’ve got multiple t-shirts. WWE went and proved me wrong, yet again, however, and produced an absolutely captivating first episode, encapsulating the history between Vince McMahon and Ted Turner and their companies, the WWF and WCW. I won’t give anything further away, but this is my most anticipated future piece of WWE Network programming, as the series begins its official airing in mid-to-late August.

Overall Experiences:

As detailed, with very few exceptions, WWE Network has far surpassed my lofty expectations on every front. After the flawless WrestleMania 30 stream, my remaining WWE Pay Per View event experiences on the Network have been excellent. Occasionally I have experienced pixilation or a momentary freeze in my stream, but they have not detracted from the overall experience of the Network on the whole. Technical issues are always going to be a possibility, but with each passing day I feel WWE is getting stronger in their understanding of how to properly manage the technical demands of the Network, and when we look back at this column 6 months from now, will be a thing of the past. Technical issues truly happen so infrequently that they’re not even really a concern, but for the sake of clarity in the column, I felt like I should bring them up.

Every day I find something new to watch on the WWE Network, and have done so for the past 180 days, and will continue to do so each and every day that passes. At $9.99, the Network has become a steal in its value. The price cannot be beat for the content that is made available.

Leaving virtually no stone unturned, there is a plethora of historical content made available. Monday Night RAW episodes are being uploaded, 5 per week, every week. The entire 1993, 1994, 1995 and most of 1996 catalogs are already available, and growing weekly. “Best of RAW” and “Best of Smackdown” episodes are also uploaded weekly, almost exclusively in years where weekly content isn’t already being uploaded. Recently every WCW Clash of the Champions was uploaded, and 15 episodes of WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event made their way to the Network last week as well. ECW Hardcore TV and WCCW episodes are also available. The scary thought is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Once those libraries are available in their entirety, we still have WCW Nitro and WCW Thunder libraries to be uploaded, ECW on TNN episodes, as well as any amount of B-programming including WCW Saturday Night, WWF Sunday Night Heat, Shotgun Saturday Night, WCW Worldwide, and more. That doesn’t even include the additional tape libraries that WWE has purchased, including AWA, Stampede Wrestling, or the soon-to-be-acquired Memphis Wrestling library. Scary amounts of content to be consumed.

I love the WWE Network. It is everything I hoped it would be, and more. As this column approaches 3000 words, it’s difficult to put into even that many words how much value I feel I get for my money in subscribing. WWE has created something really, really special that they should be proud of. In two weeks, they will be announcing their second subscriber count. At launch, they said they hoped to have 1,000,000 subscribers by the end of 2014, and a break-even of 2,000,000 subscribers by the entire of 2015. I think these are very realistic numbers to hit, if not an under projection of their potential. They need to get this under the nose of every wrestling fan, past, and present. This is where marketing is key. It is great to advertise on WWE television each week, but to capture those older wrestling fans who have left the current product, marketing has a challenge. There is a TON of value for older wrestling fans, and they’re missing out by not subscribing. It is here that I feel WWE has its greatest opportunity for success.

To close, if you haven’t already subscribed to WWE Network, I hope I have given you enough reason to at least give it a try. Often WWE promotes a free week-long trial of the service, and you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you don’t give it a look even then. You will fall in love, instantly, and never look back. The WWE Network really is way over the top.

Top 5 WWE Attitude Era Mishaps

June 16, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Television ratings were at an all-time high. Interest was at an all-time high. Live attendance was at an all-time. WWE couldn’t do any wrong. Their business was booming, and WCW (and ECW) were falling behind in the wrestling war. Vince McMahon and his team had found the right formula and made a fortune during the late 1990’s. It is an era that will never (ever!) happen again and looked back on with many fond memories.

However, let’s be honest. There was plenty of garbage sprinkled in as well. Fans can reminisce now with rose-tinted glasses on, and that is understandable. For lots, it was their childhood. Of course, only the good moments will stand out. The bad? Who cared, right? WWE was on fire, and the top stars made you instantly forget about the previous 15 minutes of terrible television. Well, lucky for all of you, I do not wear rose-tinted glasses. For all the of the amazing moments, I also seem to recall plenty of not-so-amazing moments. Here are just a few…

5. Wrestling – If you think a 2014 edition of Raw features little in-ring action, go watch a 1998 or 1999 edition of Raw. Oh my! You will appreciate the action you see today A LOT more real quick. Outside of big pay-per-views, the actual ‘wrestling’ during the Attitude Era was non-existent until the year 2000 when guys were brought over from WCW and ECW such as Taz, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero , Chris Benoit, Raven and more. Nearly every match featured Hardcore rules or just broke down into an all out brawl. Very entertaining, just not any kind of mat classic some expect.

4. Risks – It is just cringe worthy to watch some of the stunts from the Attitude Era back now. The obvious culprits came from ECW, but Mick Foley brought that type of thing to WWE. He knows it. This is not some sort of knock on him. He is one of my all-time favorites. However, he just rose the bar so high. Everybody remembers his falls off the cage, but there was just so much more. Not just Foley but everyone! The unprotected chairs. The excessive blood. The ladder matches. The table bumps. The piledriver spots. Absolutely amazing to think that was ‘normal’ back then but now 90% of those Attitude Era stars regret even doing those things in the first place now looking back at it.

3. Stories – Where to begin? The ‘Higher Power’ was Vince McMahon the same man who won the Royal Rumble and WWE Championship in 1999. Yay! I think Jim Ross’ instant reaction after the reveal summed up that story line. A “Vince Russo swerve” took place every week. The WWE Title changed hands over ten times in 1999. If that happened today, the uproar would be unreal. A Hardcore title that just gets passed around? The WrestleMania XV scenario with Triple H and Chyna made zero sense. That brings us to the actual story lines. Mae Young gave birth to a hand. Road Warrior Hawk fell off the stage. Val Venis and his ‘Choppy Choppy’ moment? Big Bossman was ‘hung’ after a match?!?! Come on folks, I could go on forever here. People can smile back on Stone Cold and The Rock feuding, but don’t just forget about THAT programming either folks!

2. WrestleMania 2000 – As noted before, WWE was on FIRE during the Attitude Era. They could do NO wrong. Fans ate up anything given to them and accepted it. That is fine. Sadly, that was the complete opposite of WrestleMania 2000. There were about 800 million problems with this event. I won’t go through every single one of them, but this whole show just never clicked with me. In 2000 and even now! Outside of the triangle ladder match, this event was not Mania worthy at all. There was not even one single’s match. On top of that, the entire main event scene was a mess. The OFFICIAL WWE Title match for WrestleMania was not even announced until less than two weeks before the show. Think about that. Under 14 days, and there was no WrestleMania main event! To this day, the show ranks as one of my least favorite pay-per-views ever put on. Too bad it was smack dab in the middle of the Attitude Era…

1. Stone Cold Turns Heel – It is fitting that many remark WrestleMania X-7 as the final Attitude Era show. The WCW crew was watching from a luxury suite. ECW was about to be bought out. WWE delivered an epic event with tons of great main event matches. A jam packed stadium and tons of rabid fans? Yet, it fell into the same trap as before. A No DQ brawl as a min event with Vince McMahaon getting involved! To make matters worse, Stone Cold turned heel…in his home state…to get back the WWE title…after returning from serious neck surgery! We were supposed to boo that?!?! Sorry, the whole thing was doomed to fail from the beginning. I’m not big on ‘fantasy booking’ at all, but everyone had to know better. They just had to. Sadly, it happened. Vince McMahon shaking hands to ‘end’ the Attitude Era? Perfect on so many levels.

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SENYCC: WWE Superstar Batista Interview

June 16, 2014Julian Cannon 1 Comment

WWE Superstar “The Animal” Batista was at the Special Edition of New York Comic Con last weekend and I with a few others had the opportunity to interview him. He is also co-starring in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” as he plays as Drax the Destroyer. The film will be released on August 1, 2014

SO BATISTA, YOU HAVE RETURNED TO THE WWE AFTER AN 4 YEAR ABSCNECE, WHAT IS THE LOCKER ROOM LIKE NOW COMPARED TO 4 YEARS AGO?

“Well not much has changed really except for the new hungry kids from NXT I have seen for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Guys like Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, The Ascension and many more young guys who want to come up to the main roster, NXT is the future of this business and just like guys like me, John Cena, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar, we went through the system in OVW. But to end the question, the locker room has been great to me.”

NOW YOU HAVE HAD MANY MATCHES AT WRESTLEMANIA, IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE TWO OF THOSE MATCHES AS YOU’RE FAVORITES, WHAT WOULD THOSE MATCHES BE?

“(Laughs) well the first one would be against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23 because we stole the show on that night. When his music hits and he made his entrance, I was a bit nervous. But I was happy that we tore the house down and he trusted me. Undertaker is a good friend of mines and we have that chemistry that some others have in the ring. I would also say that my feud with him that year was one of my personal favorites as well. My second favorite is the match against Triple H at WrestleMania 21. He was the teacher and I was the student. I felt the buildup was great and the match was great. We both beat each other up in that classic match. People can say what they want about Triple H but he is the true ring general and he wants to see the younger talent go up to the level that he was.”

THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR BATISTA. NOW YOU WERE PART OF EVOLUTION FOR A FEW YEARS, FROM YOU’RE VIEW, WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT IT?

“Evolution to me was great. I can tell you that it was also an learning experience too. You have Ric Flair who is one of the greatest champions of all time and Triple H who is (at that point) becoming the greatest of all time and beginning to submit his legacy, and me and Randy Orton being groomed to becoming the next faces of the WWE. Most factions like DX or NWO Didn’t have the younger stars setting out to be ready for the main event scene with the exception of Triple H. This is what is missing with factions these days. But look at The Shield. Those 3 guys ( Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns) can work their butts off and I love working with the 3 of them. Those 3 will have a great future.”

YOU ARE STARRING IN MARVEL’S “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY” AS “Drax the Destroyer”, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PLAYING THIS COMIC CHARACTER WHEN MARVEL SIGNED YOU?

“I have been a fan of Marvel Comics and playing Drax has been a great experience. Originally it was going to be either Isaiah Mustafa, Patrick Wade or Jason Momoa but I was selected. The movie has ties to The Avengers and will connect to other Marvel movies in the future. Drax is a human resurrected as a green warrior for the sole purpose of killing Thanos (the villain in the final-scene tease of Avengers). His powers include flight, super-strength and energy blasts and when the movie premiers in the United States, everyone will see how I will pull the character off. but it was very fun and Chris Pratt was a great guy to work with as well. The makeup took very long to put on though. I believe it was about 4 hours and after we were finished shooting, and then it took nearly 90 minutes to take it all off of me.”

WHAT ARE YOU’RE THOUGHTS ON THE WWE NETWORK?

“The WWE Network is great, I have waited a long time for it to finally launch. For Fans who have never seen what the days of the WWE or WCW was like in the 1980’s or early 1990’s, you need to check the stuff out. It is not only great stuff and matches, but it also educates the fans of the superstars of yesterday who were big such as Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Paul Orndorff, The British Bulldogs, Andre’ The Giant and many more. There is a lot of variety for the fans to watch and the Network can change the way we all watch TV very soon. Even a lot of my matches are on the WWE Network right now as we speak.”

IF YOU WOULD BOOK RAW FOR ONE NIGHT, HOW WOULD YOU BOOK IT?

“That is a great question. Well I would not get into the whole details but I would have more in ring wrestling, less segments and little comedy. I think the fans would want that too so that way it can balance everything in a good flow. I left a few years ago due to me not agreeing with the direction with the company that it was going too. But now I am happy to be back.”

YOU HAVE RECIEVED MUCH HEAT FROM THE FANS SINCE THE ROYAL RUMBLE, DO YOU LET THAT BOTHER YOU WHILE YOU ARE IN MATCHES AT ALL?

“When I came back earlier this year, it was one of the best moments of my career. I went into the Rumble match and won it and I got booed out the arena. The names such as “Bluetista” or “Bootista” does not bother me. If the fans were in my shoes getting that kind of reception, they would either take it as it is or let that distract them. Whether the fans cheer or boo, I do not care at all as long as I am getting an reaction. It is better than no reaction at all because if you were in the ring with dead silence from the crowd, then that is a problem. Some fans take the sport too seriously with them attacking other fans and wrestlers on twitter and I can say that it has gotten out of hand, but the fans can say whatever they want.”

TO END THE INTERVIEW, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO GET INTO WRESTLING? “Yes I do. if this is for you, go for it. What we do in that ring, we do it for about 300 days a year. You have to have the passion to succeed and to be happy wrestling. Don’t let anybody tell you that you cannot do it because if you believe that you can do it, you will make it. When I was training in the WCW Power Plant, some of the trainers thought I would not make it. but I proved them wrong once I got trained more in WWE. There are other promotions out there but the WWE is the MLB of wrestling. Every night feels like the World Series and WrestleMania is the one major show you would want to make it too. Dreams come true if you stick to what you are planning and what you want to get out of it.”

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send me email to: Julian@alternativemindz.com

Why do I believe that the New Generation Era is the most underrated era in WWE history?

May 13, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

In my opinion WWE New Generation Era (1992-1997) is the most underrated era of all time.

I mean a lot of WWE Fans consider Ruthless Agression Era great and only second to Attitude Era. I don’t know how we can call that underrated. Yeah, Ruthless Agression Era is a very good era. We have awesome wrestlers and matches.

But, with WWE New Generation Era, a lot of WWE Fans consider it’s slow and cartoonish. Yeah, that’s true. WWE had a lot of stupid cartoonish unrealistic gimmicks during this era. But, anyway this era is pretty much underrated.

WWE New Generation is the era which made The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart Legends what we saw today. It wasn’t Attitude Era which made them what they are today, instead during Attitude Era they’re just helping newer stars such as The Rock and Steve Austin.

And also WWE Fans shouldn’t keep saying this era is bad. I mean, we have Bret Hart as our Icon. This man put on great matches after great matches every single night. Who can forget Bret vs Owen at WM 10 and Steel Cage Summerslam 1994? Also who can forget Bret vs HBK at WM 12 IronMan match? And HBK vs Razor Ramon Ladder WM 10 and Summerslam 1995? Also the great battles in Boiler Room Brawl and Buried Alive matches between The Undertaker and Mankind?

Also, Diesel has held the WWE championship for over a year.

I know WWE New Generation Era had a lot of bad things, but it’s one of the best era ever in WWE History and the era I started watching wrestling back In 1993. Those matches mentioned above are Legendary matches and it made many careers out if it. But in my conclusion, The ruthless Aggression (2002-2008) and The New Generation Eras (1992-1997) are my favorites. The faces of this era were Bret Hart, Diesel (Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), Undertaker and Shawn Michaels and Sid.

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