Superman Unbound
Blu-ray Multipack | DVD | Instant Video
Directed by James Tucker
Starring Matt Bomer, Stana Katic, Molly C. Quinn, John Noble
Release Date: May 7, 2013

First and foremost, I’m not a huge Superman fan. I prefer my heroes a bit more…mortal, you know? That said, I am sometimes forced to reassess a character based on who is writing the storyline, script, what have you. Animated superhero shows have a certain appeal to me, regardless of the main characters. Watching the Super Friends on Saturday morning is probably one of my favorite childhood memories and I find any excuse to try to relive that excitement. And the chance to watch and discuss Superman Unbound was way too cool to pass up. Now on to the review…

DC Entertainment does love to change up the voice actors quite a bit, don’t they? This incarnation of the Man of Steel is voiced by none other than White Collar star Matt Bomer. This became a very distracting issue for me, just to let you know. I kept envisioning Big Blue as an art thief in New York and not the Kryptonian hero of Metropolis. But maybe that’s just me.

Tomb Raider
Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | PC Download
Third Person/Action Adventure/Puzzle Game
Rating: M
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
Designer: Darrell Gallagher
Writer: Rhianna Pratchett
Artists: Visual Works (CGI)
Composer: Jason Graves
Release Date: March 5, 2013

Not to sound like that old guy, but I can remember playing the original Tomb Raider back in 1996, dear God I am old. I was in college and I was living with a few friends, and we were taking turns playing the game, while the other helped out by reading the walkthrough. I don’t think we ever beat it, but there were some fun times either way. I think I dabbled in the series as it continued on various systems, but never really got into enough that I finished the game. Any time a game revolves around timed jumps so perfectly timed, that is where I fail in video games.

But when I heard they were rebooting the series and giving us a sort of prequel, I was interested in checking it out. And much like most things on the internet, the initial buzz was not favorable, well that was until people actually got to see it and play it.

John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood
Paperback|Kindle Edition
By Michael D. Sellers
Universal Media
370 pages
Release Date: November 28, 2012

Pity John Carter. The poor bastard never had a chance. Released several months before the summer movie deluge, Andrew Stanton’s highly anticipated adaptation of the classic 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel A Princess of Mars had the potential to kick start a new blockbuster sci-fi adventure franchise. Unfortunately a series of idiotic marketing decisions in the run-up to the film’s debut and mounds of negative press surrounding the troubled production and its massive $250 million budget effectively sabotaged any chance John Carter had of connecting with audiences and grossing enough at the box office to ensure future sequels and additional ancillary revenue. Though it was very flawed I found the movie to be one of the most entertaining of last year – you can read my review here – yet it seems I was in the minority on that front.

John Carter‘s failure to even make back its budget and marketing costs turned out to be a major strike against the Walt Disney Company; the studio was pilloried for befouling what has been long considered one of the most important (if not THE most important) genre properties in existence by hiring a director inexperienced with live action – Stanton had previously directed several major hits for the company’s computer animation division Pixar – and allowing the costs to mount to the point where the movie’s box office prospects were saddled with unrealistic expectations, and then worsening its already ineffectual reputation even more with a confusing ad campaign that had no idea how to sell the film to the general moviegoing public.

Today marks the 24th anniversary of the passing of famed SNL alumnus Gilda Radner, who was the show’s first break out female superstar; who dazzled American audiences coast to coast with a wide array of memorable characters; who was part of the very first wave of the show and instrumental to its success; and who set a tone and standard for the many successful female SNL players who followed in the wake of her. Radner died at the age of 42, on May 20, 1989, of ovarian cancer.

All but forgotten by today’s staunch SNL audience, who witnesses a show which is now in its 39th year on the air and is a much, much different one than the one that premiered in October 1975, Radner nonetheless still remains one of the greatest personalities to come from the program.

The long-awaited season finale of Doctor Who series 7 is here, a climax that showrunner Steven Moffat and the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) have been racing towards (or running from?) for quite some time: “The Name Of The Doctor.” From the prophecy uttered, we witness the fall of the Eleventh, as the Doctor is forced to go to the place he must never go: Trenzalore – to a confrontation that will change everything forever for both the Doctor and for his companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) in which his greatest secret is finally revealed…

During TARDISblend 66, we discuss the major gamechanging spoilers that came out in force during the season finale, but also look at what it means for the upcoming 50th Anniversary Special. We touch on the role of River Song (Alex Kingston) in this episode, and the inferential implications within Moffat’s writing of the character.

We also look towards what’s next for Doctor Who, from the 50th to Christmas to Series 8, and lay out the possibilities for a wager laid down for the future of this very podcast. And finally, we review YOUR comments from our episodes this season. All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!