Sunday, September 9, 2012
Episode 6
Thursday, June 28, 2012
New Recording with Todd and Frank
Frank can 'bro' like nobody's business.
Click here or visit the Podcasts page to listen!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
New podcast this week!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Naked Bear: The (Sort of) Origin of Evan and Todd
The Naked Bear returns with a new podcast with guests Evan McDermott and Todd Cox. Evan provides us with another comic book-lover's point of view and shows off his vast and freakish knowledge while Todd, a big fan of comic book movies, gives us his rational, logical and very metal perspective as someone who didn't grow up reading any comic books as a youngster.
I promise to speak closer to the mic next time.
DOWNLOAD
-Danny
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Prometheus
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| I give you, the space jockey prior to being super glued to his chair. |
The Merry Gentleman
We've seen Michael Keaton save way too many people as the caped crusader. Now's your chance to see Batman himself play the role of a hitman. The Merry Gentleman is a 2008 film that I picked up purely because I'm a Keaton fan.
Frank Logan (Keaton) is a depressed, suicidal contract killer who meets Kate Frazier (the charming Kelly Macdonald) after she unknowingly witnesses his latest hit. The two form an odd friendship as they get to know one another. The drama continues when a cop (Tom Bastounes) ,who also has the hots for Kate, becomes suspicious of Frank.
This film is actually Keaton's directorial debut as the original director came down with an illness prior to shooting. And while it is not the most riveting movie to watch, it is one that can be greatly appreciated for what it is. At the very least, you'll find it interesting as you see Keaton play a character unlike any other that he's played so far. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
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| Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight, son? |
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Avengers are just absolutely killing it!
Joss Whedon's Avengers film has just passed the billion dollar mark in just 19 days. BOOM!
I must say that The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises is going to have an incredibly tough act to follow.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=59656
-Danny
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Avengers
-Danny
Sunday, April 29, 2012
I'd like a Heineken. Don't shake it, don't stir it.
-Danny
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Red State
Gorey, disturbing, unnecessary violence, fun. We can say the same exact thing about a Tarantino flick.
Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0873886/
-Danny
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Possible Highlander Reboot
However, until it happens, like the immortals, when it comes to the Highlander films there can be only one (good one), which is the original movie from 1986.
As always, for your convenience, here is a link about the reboot:
http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/169985-exclusive-juan-carlos-fresnadillo-talks-highlander
-Danny
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell DVD
-Danny
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Smodcast
I've recently been on a podcast kick and started listening to Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's Smodcast. I had no idea that they have been doing the show since 2007 and I have a lot of catching up to do. Being a huge fan of their work, I was hoping that this show would be a way to get to know these guys a bit better and to have a better understanding of their everyday lives and careers. That's exactly what you get. Stuffed full of humorous profanity, Smith and Mosier are two truly funny guys and you'll find yourself laughing throughout their one hour(ish) show.
My favorite attribute of Smodcast is the honesty which can only be described as both brutal and genuine. Smith and Mosier can make fun of themselves equally as much as they make fun of others and it's the combination of both that make for a two-way street show; never taking themselves so seriously.
We at The Naked Bear highly recommends you give it a shot because Smodcast is most definitely for the Kevin Smith fan. Visit their page at WWW.SMODCAST.COM or download the episodes onto your music player via your Zune software or iTunes.
-Danny
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Thought of the Day: Cancer in Comics
In a world where one can have the most badass obituary stating that they were annihilated when the Hulk sneezed or was hit by a car that was thrown at them by Doctor Octopus, you really need to keep something like cancer out. Just a few names of characters that had or died of cancer are Captain Marvel, Quentin Beck (Mysterio), Judge Dredd, The Question (Charles Victor Szasz, Vic Sage), David Qin, Janey Slater, and for the love of God, Archie's Geraldine Grundy.
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| This is how I want to remember Eddie Brock. |
| Not like this. |
Monday, February 27, 2012
Batman: Year One Movie
Just recently I was able to watch Batman: Year One, the animated movie that was released in 2011. It is based on the story arc of the same name, written by Frank Miller in 1987, that appears in Batman #404-407.
It stars...well, it stars Batman, but the man voicing Batman is Benjamin McKenzie. It was very different from Kevin Conroy's, but I liked it. Bryan Cranston (Walter White from Breaking Bad) voiced Lieutenant James Gordon and Eliza Dushka voiced Selina Kyle.
Many aspects of the film were true to the original story. Such as Selina Kyle being some dominatrix and her little prostitute chic pal, Holly Robinson. You can also see similarities between Year One and the Batman Begins film; including the awesome device that summons all the bats around to aid in Batman's escape and the appearance of Detective Flass as Gordon's partner. In fact, they tried to follow the original story so well, that even some of the more over-the-top events were included. Such as Bruce Wayne kicking straight through the trunk of a (not-so-small) tree.
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| The panels from the '87 comic in all its absurdity. |
Now, if you remember, in Kickboxer Van Damme took weeks (might have been months) to kick through a pretty small tree as he's training to win the big fight with Tong Po. Bruce Wayne, however, does a side kick and went right through a tree that was at least 6 times the thickness than that of Van Damme's. That would mean that if it was possible for him to do that, Batman could put a foot-shaped hole clean through your chest.
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| Check out that twig. |
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| Bruce Wayne demonstrates real Van Damage. |
I think one of the best things about the story is how it shows Batman's practicality. By this, I mean it shows how he achieves his dramatics. For example, there's one fantastic scene where Batman crashes a dinner party with Gotham's most corrupt politicians in attendance. You see him outside rigging up a light that will shine directly in their eyes from behind him. You then see him cut the power outside and throw a smoke grenade through the window which lands on the dinner table. Next thing, BOOM, an explosion blows a hole in the outside wall of the dining room and in he walks. Blinded by the light shining in, those corrupt dummies now see a terrifying silhouette and hear a haunting voice telling them that they've had their fun but "From this moment on, none of you are safe."
Damn.
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| When this comes walking through a hole it just blew into your house, I'd say that's about all she wrote for you. |
Now I can go on and on about the good parts of the movie and completely 'nerd out' for the next hour, but the best thing for all of you to do is just check it out yourselves. The voice acting was great, the story stayed as true to the original as you could probably get and the animation is superb. If you have Netflix, go ahead and put that bad boy in your queue. Whether you enjoyed the original Frank Miller story or not, I'm sure you'll still find it to be a good watch.
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| Bruce Wayne Was Here. |
-Danny
Quality Time With Gotham City Impostors
This past weekend I got to sit down and take a bit more time with Gotham City Impostors. I love shooter games but I'm actually terrible at them. I thought that maybe since it was a game that was based on the world of Batman that it would give me the edge I need. I was wrong. But the game is fantastic and is available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It takes the fun of playing Call of Duty multiplayer and the elements of Batman and his enemies and creates an online shooter that could be enjoyed by both non-comic book fans and die-hard fans alike.
You don't buy a physical copy of the game. It's an online download that only costs you about $15 in Microsoft points. You play as a member of one of the two rival gangs: the Bats and the Jokerz. Just like Call of Duty, the more you play, the more points you rack up for unlockable items. These items include weapons, weapon mods, loadout and character customizations, calling cards, ability to join gangs......I'm sure I'm missing a couple of things, but you get the idea. They want you to play, but you’re still rewarded for doing so. I do hope to see downloadable map packs in the future like in COD.
The fun you get and the price you pay is a no-brainer; and the animated opening sequence is hilarious. You’ll most definitely appreciate the great ideas, great artwork and the great concept of being a vigilante in Gotham without playing by the rules. Or Batman’s code of ethics, for that matter. Gotham City Impostors is a very fun game that's picking up a lot of momentum and can only snowball into something bigger and better. The best part for me, is that since it's so new, I still have a pretty good chance to be playing against others who are at the same level of 'suck' that I'm still at.
Check it out: www.gothamcityimpostors.com
See you online
-Danny
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Comic Book Men: Episode 1
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| Gods of the View Askewniverse. |
I was finally able to make it through the first episode of Comic Book Men. Luckily, AMC had it posted on their site and I was able to check it out in its entirety. As I said in my last post, it was extremely difficult getting passed Bryan Johnson. If there is only one negative thing that I could say about the entire show, it would be that man hands down. Bryan has this personality that reminds you of every jackass in middle school and high school that gave you a hard time. His relentless onslaught of insults toward Ming completely draws your attention away from the point of the show and for a split second you think you're watching Real World.
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| Come on, man. We're comic book men ourselves. Why did you make me hate your guts? |
The show stars Walt Flanagan, who runs the store, and his guys Michael Zapcic and Ming Chen who are also employees. Bryan just floats around annoying people and reading comics for free. Kevin Smith only appeared whenever it cut to the recording a session for their podcast, Smodcast. Honestly, Kevin Smith is the best thing about the show. He's witty and actually a pretty funny guy.
The episode began with, as I mentioned in my previous post, the girlish giggling from Bryan about Dick Grayson's name being, well, Dick. After a few minutes it cuts to the guys doing their podcast and asking random questions like who's your favorite comic book lady or whether or not you'd give up everything to be a superhero with super powers. Typical nerd talk which I enjoy and questions that I ask others myself.
We then go back to the store, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, where we meet the first seller who walks in with an original Bob Kane Batman and Robin drawing. It was apparently done by Kane when the previous owner of the drawing walked up to him and asked for a quick sketch. It was done on the back of what appears to be some press release for an art show or exhibit. What I didn't really buy was the fake 'nervousness' about removing the back of the frame to find that out. The current owner never bothered to look and Walt suggested that the drawing could possibly have been done on the back of another sketch of a brand new character that Kane was working on. Because Kane would really have parted with such a thing. No, that irresponsibility can only be accomplished by Apple whenever they try to keep their new iPhone a secret. So the seller realizes that the drawing is worth quite a bit of money and walks out. Probably, giddy at the thought that he now has his children's college tuition under his arm.
Other sellers that came in that included: a guy with a 6 Million Dollar Man doll that was really just the $185 Man doll, a goth-ish(?) lady with a Chucky doll that you could probably find at Spencer Gifts now on clearance for $2. The best one by far was a complete dork that walked in with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist that contained an Australian Dawn of the Dead poster and British Dawn of the Dead lobby cards. You know, like in the movies when you have to guard a briefcase with $10,000,000 in it.
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| Only his contained more than $9,999,700 less than that. |
This power tool had the testicular fortitude to ask $1,000 for everything. Walt calls in Rob Bruce, an expert in film memorabilia and collectibles, and he successfully castrates this guy by saying everything together, in reality, is really worth under $300. Of course, Handcuff Dude didn't like that one bit and kicked rocks.
The last seller of the show came in with issue #10 of The Tomb of Dracula (first appearance of Blade) and a fantastic Jack Kirby Thor poster. Walt offered $160 for both. The guy decided to keep the comic but sold the Thor poster for 75 bucks.
Throughout this whole ordeal, the show cuts back and forth between podcast talks and Mike, Ming and Bryan's flea market sales. Walt challenges the three to sell as much of the overstock they can at the Collingsworth flea market and whoever makes the most money gets a weekend off. This little segment is what made me hate Bryan's face. It was insult upon insult toward Ming of course and at one point he started taking plates that were on Ming's flea market table and throwing them on the ground, breaking them. I have no idea what this man's goal was, but he certainly achieved Douchebag Supreme status. Especially since he did talk some pretty rude smack about the patrons of the Collingsworth flea market. What I don't understand is that Bryan is okay during the podcast, but is a Grade A asshat on the show. I'm confused. Conflicted. But anyway, at the end of the day, Ming outsold the other two.
So there it is. All the events of episode 1 in a nutshell. Was I looking forward to the show? Yes. Did I end up enjoying it? No. It's not that I don't like the idea, because everyone that knows Mike and I would tell you that a show about comic book guys is something we'd be all over. I disliked it for three reasons, really:
- One being the mistake of Bryan being in it.
- Two, the comic book store 'life' wasn't really depicted in a way that I thought it would be. Meaning, we were wanting more time spent showing how the business is run, how the comic market currently is, and other info about the actual comic book business and the store itself.
- And three, it's because everyone on the show besides Kevin Smith can't act like a camera's not in their face. Everything about it is unnatural; from the facial expressions and dialogue right down to body language. Because of this, I'm thinking that every element in the show is completely set up.
I'm still going to watch episode 2 as well as the whole season entirely; hoping to see if it grows and changes for the better. So keep in touch and we'll see how the following episodes grab us.
-Danny
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Comic Book Men: 1st Update
The Naked Bear strives to talk about topics that we are informed and educated on in some way or another. We believe that's the only way to speak out about anything. However, right now, I am here to give you a quick update on my thoughts on Comic Book Men so far after barely watching ten minutes of the season premier.
I really struggled with those 7-9 minutes; mostly because I couldn't get passed the immaturity of Bryan Johnson. You know, the guy with the wizard beard? The show completely lost me when he started giggling when Dick's (Grayson) name was mentioned when chatting about his origin and how/why he came to be the first Robin.
So quite honestly, the show hasn't really hooked me in and I would assume that would be the intent for the opening scene of the season premier. I've heard really poor reviews so far but as usual I want to form my own personal opinion. I'll update everyone again when I gather the strength to make it through the Dick-ish laughter.
-Danny
Monday, February 20, 2012
GOTHAM CITY IMPOSTORS
A downloadable shooter? Thats 15 bucks? At first glance i would pass on that like whitney. But this game had something special...a Batman logo.
So after the download of this games demo i fell in love. By no means wil GCI be a contender for the CODs and Battlefield franchises,but its nice to have as a change of pace.
This game really does capture the anarchy of a gotham without Batman.(according to Das Internet,GCI occurs while Bats is off in "Arkham City")
THE GOOD:
AMAZING WEAPONS
HUGE LEVELS WITH MASSIVE VERTICALITY
CUSTOMIZABLE COSTUMES
THE BAD:
NONDEDICATED SERVERS
NO SPLITSCREEN
With new DLC coming out in March,which by the way is free,this game seems poised to move to a Portal-esque level of popularity. From a level in crime alley outside the Monarch Theatre to a riddler paintjob for your gun, GCI is pure fanboy favorite.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thought of the day: Doctor Octopus should not have been able to defeat the Hulk
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| It started in Spider-Man #18 |
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| Seriously? |
Now, he has a run-in with the Hulk and he completely and totally beats the snot out of him. This is where I call shenanigans.
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| See what I mean? Shenanigans. |
That's why the Hulk is perfect. The angrier you make him, the stronger he becomes.
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| 'Nuff said. |
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Amazing Spider-Man
Monday, February 6, 2012
A Tribute To Guile
Then there are his special moves: the Flash Kick and the Sonic Boom.
With the Flash Kick, Guile does a backflip and kicks you squarely in the face. While normal dudes who call themselves badasses just throw punch after punch in an ungraceful fashion, Guile decides that you're so unworthy and hold so little testosterone that he just gives you a boot to the dome while looking damn good doing it.
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| And he doesn't even have to look at your sorry mug while doing it; instead checking out the gorgeous women behind him watching the fight. |
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| Fact: You've just been made Guile's bitch. |
So this is my tribute to Guile. One of the characters that represents the mighty U.S. of A in the Street Fighter universe. If you enjoy 'charge' moves in a fighting game, his specials can surely be used with unforgiving, merciless fury. And if you don't, well then...
-Danny
Friday, January 27, 2012
In Nolans world...
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Go Read This!: Shadowland
Starting directly after the "Siege" and "Heroic Age" events, this story takes a far darker turn. Dardedevil has killed the current leader of The Hand (a ninja death cult) and assumed control of the group. Then its business as usual, ya know, build a temple, rumors of missing people, killing...wait, im not going to ruin it.
This story is a compelling and disturbing look and what can happen to a "hero".
Quit reading this....go read more comics.
-Mike @Thefreshbaked
Monday, January 16, 2012
Atari making a comeback? I'd hit that.
| Back. |
Atari says they are "returning to their roots" and will "adapt to the era of mobile and social gaming". It seems that they are working on only developing games rather than their own gaming console system. If this is the case, I believe this is truly a smart move as Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have a kung-fu-grip hold on the gaming market and releasing another console would be a huge risk.
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| No room for Atari whatsoever. |
However, releasing their classic games on mobile devices is pure gold. Who wouldn't want Asteroids as their toilet-time-waster while sitting on the pot? For your convenience, here is the link to the article: Atari comeback





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