The Channel 4 News team is back and ready to bring their brand of kick ass news reporting into the early 80′s in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Ron and the team are offered the chance to join the new 24 hour news channel run by Global News Network and they find themselves up against all kinds of new challenges, including increasing diversity in the workplace, especially in the form of Ron’s new love interest, Meagan Good.  Kristin Wiig is also a love interest for Brick and seems as equally “special” as he is.  It looks like the team is going to hit the ground running this December and you can check out the trailer below (and apparently an alternate trailer in front of World War Z this weekend)

Name: Jack Devlin

Occupation: Former US Marshal, bodyguard for hire

Family: Casey Stern (“niece”)

Allies: Dr. Rachel Stein, Cinder James, Tim Hastings, Thomas, Bobby Stern

Enemies: Rory Gaines

Weapon(s) of Choice: Pair of Beretta 92FS pistols, Steyr AUG-SR sniper rifle

Body Count: N/A

Memorable Quote: “Pick a Card”

See Jack in Action:

One of the biggest movies of the summer, and the potential first step in the DC Cinematic Universe, is finally here with Man of Steel.  Zach and Joe saw it this past weekend and are here to break down everything about the movie for you including the amazing action, the DC Easter eggs and possible ideas for the future, the investigation skills of Lois Lane, the excellent flashbacks and the controversial ending.  If you haven’t seen Man of Steel, this Reviewcast is pretty much wall to wall spoilers, so see the movie before you take a listen.

We want to hear your comments, feedback and, most importantly, suggestions for discussion topics. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, be sure to subscribe to us in the iTunes music store (just do a search for Everything Action in the store) and follow us on twitter @evaction, Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action) and Tumblr (everythingaction.tumblr.com). We’re also now on Stitcher Radio: http://stitcher.com/s?fid=25273&src=psl

As the directors, casting and story for The Lego Movie were announced, it sounded cooler and cooler but now, with the full trailer, it looks like it is beyond anything we thought it would be.  Chris Pratt plays blue collar Lego construction worker, Emmett, who gets mistaken as the legendary Master Builder, who is called upon to protect the Lego universe against the evil, Mr. Business and his henchmen, Bad Cop.  Emmett assembles a team of heroes, including a wizard played by Morgan Freeman and a pirate played by Nick Offerman.  It looks like any property that has been Legoized is up for grabs in the movie, including classic sets, like Space, and new sets, like DC and TMNT.  The thing that was a pleasant surprise in the trailer is that the movie is going to be CG but all the characters, locations and vehicles move and act like actual Lego blocks.  It’s coming from Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, directors of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump St. and looks like it’s going to be an awesomely fun movie for both kids and adults.  It’s out next year and you can check out the trailer below.

Probably one of the biggest movies of the year, and maybe the most important movie for the future of DC, is Zack Snyder’s Man of  Steel.  With the last Superman movie and last Zack Snyder movie leaving bad tastes in people’s mouths, was the combination a super powered disaster or is the start of a brilliant DC Cinematic Universe?

From the first few trailers, I was a little afraid that Man of Steel was going to be a weird, Terrence Malicky, brooding art film but I am very happy to say that it is truly a Summer blockbuster of the highest caliber, with some of the most exciting, over the top action you will probably see this summer.

Man of Steel retells the origin story of Clark Kent aka Kal-El aka Superman as he is launched to Earth as a baby by his parents from their dying planet of Krypton.  He lands in Kansas and is raised by the loving Kents, Jonathan and Martha, but due to the unique make up of the Earth, gains super powers.  The movie follows the same basic origin we all know and love but throws a few curveballs in that makes it unique, although some purists might argue it’s a more “Ultimate Superman”, to use Marvel terminology.  The main difference (or it may be in more recent Superman comics, I haven’t kept up to date) is that Kal was sent to Earth with the Kryptonian Codex, the key to rebuilding Kryptonian society on Earth, or any planet.  The structure and plot of the movie also reminded me a little of an amped up Thor in that it takes place over a few days and one of the major battles takes place in a small town and it starts in a super crazy alien landscape, in this case, civil war and apocalypse ridden Krypton.

Henry Cavill is a pretty great Superman.  He is not really as brooding and depressed as I feared he would be, he’s more conflicted about trying to stay undercover and revealing his powers to help people and he’s extremely charismatic, especially when he puts on the suit and reveals himself as Superman.  The flashbacks to his childhood also do a great job of revealing a new bit of his personality, with him either struggling to contain his powers or learning about his actual origin.  Amy Adams is a great Lois Lane as well, she brings a great stubborn pluckiness.  Michael Shannon runs just up to the line of going from awesome to awesomely bad, completely chewing scenery in every scene.  While he’s clearly the villain, there is an underlying sense of honor and patriotism to Zod that makes you get where’s he’s coming from.  Russell Crowe, who is in the movie for much longer than you expect, as Jor-El, is awesome and has a couple of great monologues and also gets to kick quite a bit of ass in the beginning.  I liked Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Ma and Pa Kent as well, although Pa Kent was a little bit more of a downer than previous incarnations and has what many people will probably consider a ridiculous death scene.

The action in Man of Steel is the main attraction though, and it is spectacular.  The super powered battles completely level Smallville and Metropolis, as you would expect from basically gods punching each other through buildings.  It also doesn’t have the normal Zack Snyder “slow down/ramp up” effect that he brought to 300 and Watchmen.  Everything feels very immediate, fast and powerful and you can see that they went all out, with Superman fighting Zod and his crew while the army is unleashing hell with everything in their arsenal.  I have to give a shout out to the score as well, Hans Zimmer doesn’t attempt to imitate the classic John Williams score but instead creates a new theme that does a great job of building excitement.  I liked the little touches that seemed to building up the rest of the DC universe, like the Lexcorp trucks and building under construction, the Waynetech satellite and one of the secondary military characters seems to be Carol Ferris, from the Green Lantern side of things.

I was pretty blown away by Man of Steel and it may be my favorite movie of the summer so far; I would put it right above Star Trek Into Darkness.  The action is incredible and the performances overall are great.  If this is the start of the DC Cinematic Universe, I’m excited to see what’s next.

I enjoyed Man of Steel a lot. The problem is, as good as it was, I didn’t love it.

Visually, it was incredible. Seeing it in Real D 3D was absolutely stunning! Furthermore, I would say that they truly struck gold with Henry Cavill in his portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El (spoiler — they’re all the same person). Not to draw an unnecessary comparison, but I would suspect that, if done correctly, his continued portrayal of Superman will become every bit as iconic as Christopher Reeves’.

The things that work about this film work REALLY well — Michael Shannon’s Zod is chilling, Kevin Costner’s Pa Kent was sincere, tough yet tender. You really got the complexity of his situation in that he loves Clark, wants nothing but to protect him from the world, yet is horrified of what the world would do to him (and what he could do to the world) should he be discovered. He’s conflicted to say the least, and it really shines whenever he’s on screen. Also, following the Batman Begins style chopped-up narrative was a very smart move. A linear “history of Superman” origin film would have been brutal.

Starting with Zod was a very, very smart move. Like Batman Begins’ use of Ra’s Al Ghul as the catalyst for defining Batman as a hero, Zod poses the ultimate alternative to Superman’s moral code — the very code that will allow humanity to trust him. Obviously, using Zod ties the Kryptonian origins up neatly, but on another level, it allows Superman to be exposed to the entire world in one shot. So, unlike Batman Begins, Superman isn’t a myth or a shadow — he is revealed to the world swiftly and authoritatively. The threat of alien invasion and, minor detail, the destruction of the entire planet, sets the stakes pretty darn high from the start, establishing Superman as protector of mankind, not just a single city. Recall that in Batman Begins, Batman saves Gotham from imminent doom, establishing him as a protector of his city. If history is to repeat itself, the sequel will feature Lex Luthor as the main villain with a more localized threat to Metropolis and Superman himself. You can bet that WB and DC will be trying to make Superman’s Dark Knight.

But, for all the awesome stuff, there were some things that I just couldn’t deal with.

First and foremost, Superman is NOT the Punisher. He doesn’t kill. Period. Chris Nolan seems to have this fascination with changing the inherent moral fiber of beloved DC heroes just to keep us on our toes. I understand that by killing Zod it demonstrates that Superman is willing to do whatever is necessary to save the people of Earth. But you couldn’t just fly away with Zod? You had to put him down like Old Yeller? What about all of the buildings you destroyed in the process? You really think that people weren’t killed because of your battle with Zod? C’mon man. Again, I get the symbolism, but really, where does it go from here? He’s already crossed the ultimate line that Superman does not cross. But then again, Batman killed a bunch of people, directly or indirectly, in the Dark Knight Trilogy, so hey, it’s cool.

Speaking of things that don’t work, there’s the first 20 minutes of the movie. It’s rough. Really, really rough. It was very drawn out, and frankly, quite boring. We get it — Kal was sent to Earth. Did we really need all of that?

Did I mention Lois Lane, who is apparently a better detective than Batman and Sherlock Holmes put together? Another classic example of Nolan flimflammery — why try to reinvent the wheel? Does Lois really need to figure out that Clark is Superman in the first movie? Hell, does she need to figure it out in the first act!? That sort of junior detective agency thing was a little much. Frankly, I think we could’ve been introduced to her later in the film, such as when Superman first surrenders.

All of these bitchy fanboy complaints aside, I really did enjoy Man of Steel and thought it was awesome. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it again. I also love the way that it effectively teased at and even blatantly set up a greater DC Universe — everything from several LexCorp cameos to the Wayne Enterprises satellite during the epic Zod fight. If Man of Steel is the first piece of the DC Puzzle to come, then I am completely and totally on board. Just don’t make a Justice League movie for a couple of years, m’kay?

After delivering two mediocre Marvel movies with Daredevil and Ghost Rider, Mark Steven Johnson has the thriller, Killing Season, based on the novel Shrapnel.  John Travolta stars a Serbian war vet who lures an American vet into the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains in order to get revenge for something that happened in Bosnia during the war.  Travolta has a ridiculous accent that may make the movie more awesomely bad than actually awesome, but it could be a decent hunter/hunted thriller.  The movie is out in July and you can check out the trailer below.

Through most of the 90′s, wall street stock broker Jordan Belfort was one of the wealthiest men alive but was ultimately taken down by law enforcement when it was discovered most of his wealth had come from illegal business activity.  His story was already told once in the movie Boiler Room, but Martin Scorsese is stepping in to offer his take on the story in the upcoming move, The Wolf of Wall Street.  Scorsese teams with his favorite leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Belfort, while Matthew McCoughney and Jonah Hill play some of his co-conspirators.  The stupid amount of money that Belfort was making looks like it leads to all sorts of shenanigans.  The trailer has a pretty cool vibe and it seems like another awesome performance from DiCaprio.  It’s out in November and you can check out the trailer below.

World War Z is out in theaters this week and, from everything we’ve seen, it looks like it will only have a passing resemblance to the amazing book it’s based on.  It would probably be impossible to film all the characters and events from the book without having some sort of miniseries or TV show but here are 10 of the best things from the book that we probably won’t see on screen, but should (Spoilers for the book).  In no particular order:

10. The Battle of Yonkers

I’m guessing that we may actually see some form of this military disaster in the movie but probably not to the scale of the battle described in the book.  The US military decides to put on a big show of force just outside of NYC and, while they choose a strategically located battlefield, the arrogance and lack of knowledge about the zombies leads to the infantry being overrun and the beginning of the massive retreat by the US forces.  All of the high tech military technology used against the zombies is useless as most of it doesn’t result in the destruction of the brain.

9. The Disappearance of North Korea and other countries struggles

World War Z, the movie, looks like it’s going to be very focused on the US struggles against the zombie hordes.  Max Brooks makes it a point in the books to check in with almost every major country on Earth and examine how they survived the zombie outbreak.  Iran and Pakistan have a short nuclear war that decimates both countries and leads to “nuclear autumn” where so much ash from the bombs, and just all the fires raging out of control on the planet, that the temperature drops and the sky is almost permanently overcast.  One of the most bizarre global events is pretty much the complete disappearance of North Korea.  South Korea notices that the border guards at the DMZ vanish and then all communication ceases.  The theory is that the people were all forced into a massive series of underground tunnels and bunker and they all either succumbed to the infection or their leader (who would have been Kim Jong Il at the time the book was written) is keeping them down there indefinitely as the ultimate way to cut out the rest of the world.

8. The Redecker Plan

We may see some form of this possibly in the movie as well, but most likely in some watered down version.  Coming out of South Africa, a strategic analyst named Paul Redecker comes up with the highly controversial plan that leads to most of the major countries being saved but at a horrible cost.  Redecker proposes that countries send most of their citizens to a defensible position with military protection, but they also need to send a large portion of the citizens and military to a less secure position, to act as bait and draw the majority of the zombies while the majority regroups and rebuilds.  The worst part is that Redecker calls for the people who will be bait to keep being supplied as long as possible, giving them the false hope that they may eventually be rescued.

7. The K-9 Corps

Max Brooks investigates every possible aspect of the military’s operations against the zombies and one of the parts who would never think of is the use of dogs.  A special K-9 corps is formed but the dogs used are not your normal attack dogs, because zombie flesh is toxic, but dachshunds and other smaller dogs.  More typical military and guard dogs are used to guard their smaller partners against feral animals as well as zombies.  Their main use is scouting and search and rescue.

6. Captain Chen and the Chinese Nuclear Sub

Deserving of an entire movie itself, the story of Chinese submarine commander, Captain Chen, and his crew is full of danger, not just from zombies, but from the collapsing Chinese government as well.  Chen becomes fed up with the out of touch Chinese Politburo sending wave after wave of untrained soldiers against the zombie hordes and tells his crew to gather whatever family they can and they abandon the country in their nuclear sub.  They run into a completely congested ocean full of ships and boats, most overrun with zombies.  They finally end up at a South Pacific island sanctuary but are chased away by another Chinese attack sub.  They survive the encounter and flee to the Arctic ice.  Another sub approaches but it’s Captain Chen’s son, who informs him a civil war has been raging in China and they have to power to stop the insane old regime.  Chen launches one of the nukes and kills the men of the Chinese government and China becomes a democracy, which Chen does not live to see.

5. Quislings, Ferals and other dangers

Zombies turn out to be the least of the US army’s concerns in their slow take back of the country.  Insane humans called Quislings are everywhere, people who have snapped and believe themselves to be zombies, even though they are still alive.  There are also feral dogs and cats who have become bloodthirsty killing machines and rogue militias and survivors who do not want to give out the territory they’ve carved out for themselves.  A chart of the dangers comes out that lists the actual zombies as the least dangerous threat.

4. Kondo Tatsumi

Arguably the coolest characters that the fictional UN official Max Brooks interviews is Kondo Tatsumi and his blind sensei, Tomonaga Ijiro.  Tatsumi was a computer nerd who spent most of the early days hacking into the Japanese government databases, finding attack plans and evacuation routes.  His parents mysteriously disappear and Kondo only leaves when zombies start pounding on his door.  He makes his way down the side of his apartment building using bed sheets and finds a WWII sword in one of the last apartments he hides in.  He eventually reaches the ground and makes his way into the forest where Tomonaga has been hiding, a blind gardener who decides it is he and Kondo’s mission to rid their country of the zombie plague.  Eventually the two survive the war and begin teaching their non firearm combat to a new group of recruits.

3. Battle in the Paris catacombs

As if the miles of catacombs under Paris weren’t scary enough, the tunnels became infested with undead during World War Z and some of the most dangerous and horrifying fighting took place in them.  The buildup of gas from the dead and natural sources made firearms useless and the soldiers had to fight their way through in almost pitch blackness.  Many of the tunnels flooded and the divers who were sent in had a 1 in 20 survival rating.

2. The underwater corps.

Speaking of divers, the zombies ability to move unhindered at even the deepest of ocean depths made the use of a special military unit that fought the undead underwater in exo suits.  Their main function was first to defend oil rigs that were being prepared to resume the flow of oil and then were engaged in cleaning and clearing harbors, the worst being Boston.  Even after almost a decade since the end of the war, there are still hordes of zombies making their way across the ocean floor.

1. The reforming of Russia

Russia, as with most wars they fought in the past, suffered a horrendous number of losses during World War Z and almost had a rebellion among their troops until a decimation, where the soliders are placed in groups of 10 and 1 is designated to be killed by the other 9 or else they all will be killed, restored their loyalty.  In order to cut off the infection, thousands of people were gassed trying to flee the cities, the infected returning as zombies and destroyed.  The country underwent a massive resurgence in religious faith after priests in the military started mercy killing infected soldiers and the country was reformed and renamed The Holy Empire of Russia.

The music of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails has been used in a variety of different ways when talking about movies.  Their songs have been used in the trailers for movies like 300 and The Avengers, the entire soundtrack of the movie, The Fan, was all Nine Inch Nails, and Trent Reznor has recently scored The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Check it out below.

300 Trailer featuring “Just Like You Imagined”

The Avengers Trailer featuring “We’re in this Together”

The Fan Trailer (the soundtrack features all NIN songs)

“Hand covers Bruise” from The Social Network Score

“Immigrant Song” from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Justice League movie should hopefully be moving forward after the spectacular debut of Man of Steel this past weekend.  The movie had the highest ever opening for June with $113.1 million of the weekend and, adding midnight screenings and the special Wal-Mart screenings, it is at $125.1 million.  It’s the second best opening of the year behind Iron Man 3.  It’s not quite up to the level of The Dark Knight or The Dark Knight Rises, but hopefully DC realizes that people actually want to see movies of their other heroes and they would like them to possibly team up at some point.  Second place went to This is the End, counter programming to Man of Steel, made $32.8 million, since it came out on Wednesday and it’s a solid start for an R rated comedy.  Now You See Me remained in third with $10.3 million and is inching closer to crossing over $100 million.  Fast & Furious 6 and The Purge rounded out the top 5, The Purge losing over 75% of it’s business from last weekend.  Nothing else really moved to much on the top ten chart.

• Paramount introduces “Mega Ticket” with World War Z: At select theaters next week, you will be able to buy a $50 “mega ticket” for World War Z that includes admission to the 3D version of the movie 2 days early, limited edition 3D glasses, a small popcorn, an HD download of the movie when it hits home video and a poster.  If it’s successful, they will most likely expand it and apply it more of their upcoming films.
• Arnold says Terminator 5 will most likely shoot in early 2014:   Speaking of Paramount, the studio recently acquired the rights to Terminator and Arnold mentioned at an interview in Austria that he believes the fifth entry in the franchise will start shooting in early 2014 and he’ll be back starring in the title role, not just as a cameo.  James Cameron will apparently regain the Terminator rights in 2019.
• Ubisoft announces a bunch of video game movies:  Ubisoft took a page from Marvel and took over production of movie adaptions of their properties, the first out of the gate most likely being Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender.  At E3 this week, they announced that Michael Bay will be producing a Ghost Recon movie and there will be films of Far Cry, Watch Dogs and Raving Rabbids.  The Rabbids will also be getting a cartoon on Nickelodeon.
• Mad Max game announced at Sony press conference: Everyone’s favorite post-apocalyptic Road Warrior will be coming to next gen consoles, as announced at Sony’s big press conference during E3.  The game is being developed by Avalanche Studios, who made the fantastic Just Cause games.  If their previous games are any indication, the Mad Max game will most likely be an open world action/adventure game.  It’s not clear if Max will be based on Mel Gibson or the upcoming reboot starring Tom Hardy, or if this ties into the Hardy movie in any way.
• Fox buys Choose Your Own Adventure IP:  A staple of 80′s and 90′s kids were the Choose Your Own Adventure books, where you made a series of choices that affected the outcome of the story and you either won or you died horribly.  Fox has bought the IP and announced a “cross platform” revival, which could mean movies, tv shows or games, who knows?
• Man of Steel 2 and Justice League moving forward: Man of Steel just came out (to extremely mixed reviews) but DC is apparently moving forward with both a sequel and the ultimate end goal, a Justice League movie.  David Goyer has apparently been tasked with writing a script for Justice League and Man of Steel 2.

On the 100th episode of Burn Notice, the final season moves quickly to both reunite Michael with his friends and kill off one of the two main villains introduced in the premiere.

Following the events last week, Michael and his CIA superior, Strong, lead a covert team into Miami to try and catch Dexter Gamble, who was questioning Sam, Jesse, Fi and Maddie about Michael’s whereabouts.  Sam and the team are doing their own investigation and Michael learns that Strong has put all kinds of surveillance on them without their knowledge.  The CIA’s plan is to let Michael’s team do the leg work and they’ll swoop in and take out Gamble and then Michael can head back undercover in the Dominican Republic.  The main thrust of the episode is, how long will Michael allow his friends to be watched and put in danger before he finally steps in and reveals himself?  It turns out, right after Fi is snatched by Gamble and taken to an abandoned warehouse that is pretty much impossible to storm without being seen.  Michael claims to have a plan and goes in alone to try and negotiate with Gamble, but he’s really just attempting to get Fi on the phone to reveal a key phrase he knows will get her to duck and cover while the CIA unleashes a hail of bullets into the warehouse, killing Gamble.  The key phrase comes from Michael’s time in Ireland with Fi, something that has been referenced many times on the show but this is the first time it’s actually shown, although it’s a little weird that the show is trying to show how romantic it was but the flashbacks are all shot in an incredibly dark fashion that makes it seem like Ireland is in a state of perpetual darkness.

Overall, it was a solid episode of Burn Notice but a little disappointing as a 100th episode.  There weren’t any Macgyver moments or big action setpieces, except for the pretty excellent climax.  It was also a little disappointing that they killed off Gamble so quickly.  Nick Tarabay was such a wonderfully evil character on Spartacus, that I would have loved to have seen a couple more episodes of cat and mouse between him and the Burn Notice team.  The episode was mostly about how far Michael is willing to go to keep his friends safe and if he’s blown his only chance to have a life outside of the CIA.

• Who Am I?: Michael McBride makes his triumphant return in the Ireland flashbacks (and it’s also the return of Gabrielle Anwar’s normal Irish voice as well)
• Spy Tip of the Week: If you wanted to know the psychological toll of spying on your friends, this was your episode.  If you wanted to know how to turn something into a bomb, it was a little disappointing.
• Sam Axeism of the Week: “If I don’t, there’s gonna be a lot more snatching than grabbing, I can tell you that” (After Jesse tells Sam he probably won’t be able to make it happy hour while staking out Gamble’s house)

One of the most anticipated movies of the summer, at least for sci fi nerds like me, is the latest from Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9.  Elysium finds Matt Damon as a blue collar factor worker in the year 2154, where Earth is over crowded and over polluted, but only the poor still live on the planet.  The rich have moved off planet to the space station Elysium, which is a paradise of peace and health.  An accident at the factory causes Damon’s character to have five days left to live, but the technology on Elysium could save him, so he agrees to have an exo skeleton fused to him and heads off to raid the space station.  The director of Elysium, Jodie Foster, can’t have this so she activates the cyborg bounty hunter, The Kruger, played by Sharlto Copley.  It looks fantastic, with tons of action and the same gritty, dirty future feel that Blomkamp brought to District 9.  It also looks like it’s going to have a good bit of Paul Verhoeven style satire, there’s a few great scenes in this trailer where Damon has some interactions with a couple of the robotic authority figures that do not go so great.  The movie is out on August 9th and you can check out the new trailer below.

Man of Steel

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner

Directed by: Zack Synder

Plot: Sent away from his dying planet of Krypton, Kal-El grows up on Earth as Clark Kent and realizes he has super powers that he must use to defend his new home against the criminal warlord, General Zod.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 58%

Critic Consensus: “Superman’s return to the big screen is mostly successful, as Man of Steel provides enough exhilarating action and spectacle to overcome its occasional detours into generic blockbuster territory”

This is the End

Starring: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Directed by: Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen

Plot: While partying at James Franco’s house, the collected celebrities realize that the end of the world is happening and have to figure out some way to survive.

RT Freshness: 84%

Critic Consensus: “Energetic, self-deprecating performances and enough guffaw-inducing humor make up for the flaws in This Is the End loosely written script”

]]> http://www.everythingaction.com/2013/06/14/admit-one-614/feed/ 0 http://www.everythingaction.com/2013/06/13/know-your-that-guy-mark-rolston/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=know-your-that-guy-mark-rolston http://www.everythingaction.com/2013/06/13/know-your-that-guy-mark-rolston/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:06:44 +0000 Zach http://www.everythingaction.com/?p=12873

Mark Rolston

Born: December 7, 1956

Number of Roles: 139

Best Known for Playing: Gruff detectives/federal agents

First Appearance: Attendant on Master of the Game (1984)

Most Recent Appearance: Brill in Crosshairs (2013)

Can be Seen/Heard in:

• Aliens
• The Shawshank Redemption
• The Departed
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Young Justice
• NCIS
• Breakout Kings
• Lie to Me
• Hard Rain
• Saw V + VI
• CSI: Miami
• 24
• The Shield
• Rush Hour
• Star Trek: TNG
• Best of the Best 3
• Prancer
• Robocop 2

This week on the podcast, Zach and Chris discuss Choose Your Own Adventure books and their various imitators, when 300: Rise of an Empire takes places in relation to the first, Nicolas Cage vs John Cusack, E3, The Greatest Event in Television History and much more.

• News: 300: Rise of an Empire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Paranoia, Getaway, The Frozen Ground trailers, Luther Season 3 promo, E3 news, Fox buys Choose Your Own Adventure IP and the New Release Round Up.
• Show and Tell: Chris finished up Arrested Development Season 4 and saw The Hangover Part III and both of the guys saw The Greatest Event in Television History II and Zach also watched Graceland, In the Flesh, Race to the Scene, That Guy from That Thing, Unknown and Broken City.

We want to hear your comments, feedback and, most importantly, suggestions for discussion topics. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, be sure to subscribe to us in the iTunes music store (just do a search for Everything Action in the store) and follow us on twitter @evaction, Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action) and Tumblr (everythingaction.tumblr.com). We’re also now on Stitcher Radio: http://stitcher.com/s?fid=25273&src=psl

300 was a pretty major cultural phenomenon when it came out with Gerard Butler becoming an action star and Zack Snyder becoming a “visionary” director.  For the sequel, Zack Snyder is only producing and there’s no Gerard Butler but it looks like it will have most of the other elements that people loved about the original, like slo-mo and Sparta kicks.  The movie is sort of a sidequel/sequel to the original, as it details the sea battle that the Greek and Persian navies waged while Leonidas made his stand and also follows the fall of Leonidas as Greece unites for a counter attack against Xerxes.  Eva Green co-stars as Xerxes’ naval commander, Artemisia, and Sullivan Stapleton, of Cinemax’s Strike Back, stars as the Leonidas stand in, Themistocles.  Rodrigo Santoro returns as Xerxes and Lean Headey is also back as Queen Gorgo.  The movie got bumped from this Summer to March of next year and you can check out the trailer below.

In the same vein as The Crazies is the latest horror movie from Anchor Bay, The Demented.  Six friends head to a mansion in Louisiana for a weekend of partying when they  witness a terrorist attack when a missile strikes a small town nearby, unleashing a chemical weapon that causes the towns people to go insane and start attacking.  There looks to be some creepy moments, like our heroes having to navigate their way through a group of infected who have seemingly gone comatose standing up.  The movie is out on July 30th on DVD and Blu Ray and you can check out the trailer below.

• Superman Unchained #1: Just in time for Man of Steel’s opening weekend, DC launches a new Superman book with the all star team of Scott Snyder writing and Jim Lee drawing and it’s an action packed opening issue.  Satellites are falling out of the sky and Superman has his hands full trying to catch them before they cause any damage.  When he learns that one of the ones he ignored because it wasn’t going to impact anything significant was caught, he sets out to investigate.  It turns out the Army has a super powered being who they have been using for decades.  I’m not sure if it’s a classic villain being revamped for the New 52 or a new character, if anyone knows, let me know in the comments, but this is an awesome jumping on point for Superman.
• Deadpool #11: Deadpool’s latest target is a fat pervert who traded his soul to the demon Vetis for the ability to shapeshift, which leads to lots of hilarious misunderstandings as it looks like Deadpool is trying to kill first Black Widow and then a random cheerleader.  A fight with Daredevil caps things off nicely.
• Guardians of the Galaxy #3: The Guardians are captured by King J-Son of Spartax, father of Star Lord, for interfering with Earth by defending London from an alien attack last issue.  J-Son seems to have a not quite noble hidden agenda for Earth, as seen by his interactions with the council of alien leaders.  The Guardians, of course, escape and Star Lord sends a message out to the Spartax people that his father may not be acting in their best interests.  Also, Groot has the most bad ass entrance of the week when he bursts into the ship holding the other Guardians.

• Batman #21: The “Zero Year” event begins with Bruce Wayne just barely back in Gotham after years abroad training, with a very different look than we’ve come to expect (he only really has the cowl and currently has a more generic military outfit and riding a bat dirt bike).  There’s some intrigue with his uncle, Phillip Kane, who is working with Edward Nygma, and the Red Hood Gang.  It probably won’t reach the bar set by Year One, but it seems like it could be a pretty cool arc.
• Grimm #2: Any book that drops an Under Siege 2 reference is OK in my book, even though things in the comic seem to have escalated beyond anything seen in the TV show.  Rather than a typical case in Portland, Nick Burkhardt and his friends Hank and Monroe are engaging an army of Wesen (people who transform into various animal creatures) all across Europe.  It’s got some cool action, but the show has not even attempted anything at this level and it’s still not really clear where the book fits into the show’s timeline, if at all.
• Thor: God of Thunder #9: Three Thors would seem like an unstoppable combination but even their combined power is not enough to stop Gorr the God Butcher, who is finalizing his “God Bomb” that will kill every god in the universe.  This book continues to be one of the top Marvel Now books with amazing art and a great villain and a crazy, awesome story.  I can’t wait to see what last ditch action the Thors pull to stop Gorr once and for all in the next issue or two.

• Savage Wolverine #6: After Frank Cho brought us a pulpy adventure in the Savage Land, artist Joe Madureira steps in for a new story where Wolverine teams up with Elektra to stop a resurrected Bullseye from killing The Kingpin.  There’s some fun interactions between Logan and Elektra and Spider-Man (pre Doc Ock brain swap) and the art style is completely different from the last story, with Madureira going crazy with the various ninjas and magic going on and giving Logan and Kingpin his beefed up, aggressive style that you most recently saw in the Darksiders games.
• Wolverine #4: The other Wolverine book wrapped up it’s first story in a slightly disappointing way.  It had some great action, including Wolverine taking down a plane by ripping it’s wings off, but we still don’t really know what was up with the weird mind control gun or why The Watcher is so concerned with things.  Hopefully we’ll get some more details when the next story line kicks off.
• Suicide Squad #21: We’re still in a little bit of a transitional period with Suicide Squad but the game may have changed this issue as Harley Quinn took Amanda Waller hostage and made some sort of deal with her that may actually give the Squad their freedom in less than a year.  Deadshot and Unknown Soldier have another mano a mano battle and Jim Gordon Jr. proves himself to be kind of a bad ass, plus the team gets a new member with Cheetah.  The full details of Harley’s deal weren’t revealed but it will be interesting to see how much power over Amanda Waller she actually has and if she has some side plot in mind.
• Constantine #4: John Constantine takes the day off but still has to deal with a pissed off voodoo priest, a pissed off ex-girlfriend and a hired street thug sent to try and kill him.  Like the other issues, there’s some cool magic on display, most notably a charm that forces the person who takes it to be inflicted with whatever pain they put on the person originally holding the charm.  There are implications that a major magical villain is on the horizon to be faced down and it may involve other DC heroes.
• Star Wars #6: With Leia in critical condition and her X-Wing barely functional, Luke and his partner Prithi arrive just in time to help MacGyver up the Star Wars version of a nuclear warhead and take out a Star Destroyer and it’s fighters.  Until we see what Episode VII has in store, this is one of the best, old school, Star Wars stories you will get, full of a great mix of character and action.

Name: Clark “Kal-El” Kent

Occupation: Reporter/Superhero

Family: Jor-El (Father), Lara (Mother), Jonathan Kent (Adopted Father), Martha Kent (Adopted Mother), Kara Zor-El (Cousin)

Allies: Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olson, Lana Lang

Enemies: Lex Luthor, General Zod, Non, Ursa, Evil Superman, Gus Gorman, Ross Webster, Lenny Luthor, Nuclear Man

Weapon(s) of Choice: Heat vision, super strength, freeze breath

Body Count: N/A

Memorable Quote: “I’m here to fight for truth, and justice, and the American way”

See Clark in Action:

For the latest Everything Action Commentary, Zach, Chris and Joe decide to celebrate the upcoming Father’s Day holiday by watching the father/son drama of Over the Top.  Starring Sly Stallone as trucker/arm wrestler Lincoln Hawk (or Hawks depending on who you ask), he tries to rebuild his relationship with with snotty, spoiled son Michael at the behest of his dying wife (ex-wife?) while his father in law, JC Cutler, tries everything in his power to get Michael back, including sending thugs out to kidnap him.  The guys try to figure out what exactly is Lincoln’s last name, the rules of a double elimination arm wrestling championship, the healing powers of Kenny Loggins and why the hell Robert Loggia hates Stallone so much.  You can watch the movie on Netflix or Amazon Instant Video or you can get a disc or download version, sync it up and watch along with us.

Despite some gripes about 48 fps and stretching out the story just to get three movies, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was a pretty big deal last holiday season and now the second part of the trilogy has a trailer.  The Desolation of Smaug picks up where the last movie left off, with Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves in sight of Erebor, but still having a long way to go.  The journey takes the company into the Mirkwood Forest, where they meet with fan favorite Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and new elf character, Tauriel (Evangeline Lily), who join the dwarf company to fight off the relentless orcs led by the white orc Azog.  The troop also heads to the human town of Esgaroth, where they meet Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), an archer who may prove to be vital against the dragon Smaug.  We also get our first good look at Smaug, who will be voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, but he hasn’t said anything yet.  It looks like it will have the same mix of humorous and serious action sequences as the first, with a chase where Bilbo and the dwarves are all in barrels looking like one of the highlights, and the movie is out this December.  Check out the trailer below.

Christian Slater has been struggling as of late, with a couple of failed TV shows and a bunch of Direct to DVD movies.  His latest effort is the sci fi/horror movie, Stranded, coming this July.  Slater is the captain of a crew assigned to a base on the moon are bombarded by meteors and repairs have to be made to a section of the base.  Something else may have come with the meteors however when the crew starts to exhibit signs of infection.  It seems to “borrow” quite a few visuals and plot ideas from things like Event Horizon, Dead Space and Alien but it seems like it could be a solid, B horror movie.  Check out the trailer below.

Everyone’s favorite rage fueled British inspector is coming back this September for a four episode season on BBC America (and airing sooner on BBC proper).  Luther has two new crimes to solve but his murdering ally, Alice, is back to help him out.  There’s not a lot about what the actual crimes or criminal are going to be but things are definitely going to be as dark and gritty as the last few two seasons.  The one thing that is surprising is that BBC America is going to marathon the episodes, airing them over four days back to back.  Check out the trailer below.

Making it’s way around the internet late last week was the music video for Rhianna by Jon Marco, where he recreates almost every “chase scene” from classic 80′s movies like Back to the Future 2, Ferris Bueller, Terminator, The Goonies, Temple of Doom and more.  There’s also just a bunch of classic scenes that aren’t chase related from movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dirty Dancing.  The song is pretty catchy as well.  Check it out below.

Out of nowhere, The Purge took the top spot at the box office with $36.4 million.  The movie had a budget of only $3 million and one of the best openings ever for an R rated horror movie.  Horror in general is up from last year with Mama and Evil Dead making $50+ million and The Purge should end up right around there, or a little higher.  There’s apparently already a sequel to The Purge in the works.  Fast & Furious 6 dropped down to second with $19.7 million, putting just over $200 million in total.  Now You See Me stayed pretty strong, dropping down to third with $19.5 million.  The Internship had a pretty weak opening for the pairing of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn with $18.1 million, half of Wedding Crasher’s opening and just barely above the most recent solo efforts from the duo.  Epic remained in fifth with $12.1 million.  After Earth plummeted from third last week to seventh this week, making just another $11.2 million and probably will not get anywhere close to making back it’s budget.  Man of Steel is set to dominate this weekend, the only question is how big will it be and will it be enough for WB to seriously start cracking on a Justice League movie?

In the last few years, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack have been in a battle to see who is the master of, hilariously bad, Direct to DVD movies but now both of them are in what looks like it could be a legitimately good crime thriller in The Frozen Ground.  Cage plays an Alaskan detective who is trying to catch a serial killer who is killing young girls and he finally gets a break when a prostitute (played by Vanessa Hudgens) who was almost his latest victim escapes and gives the police a suspect, Robert Hansen (Cusack).  Only Cage wants to pursue the lead, as the rest of the force doesn’t believe the upstanding citizen accused is a killer.  Cusack looks like he will be pretty creepy and Nicolas Cage looks like he’s actually acting, so it definitely seems like it’s worth checking out.  It’s out in August in theaters and VOD and you can check out the trailer below.

• Rumored Expendable 3 villain is Mel Gibson?:  He’s playing the villain of a ridiculous action movie later this year in Machete Kills but Mel Gibson may be playing the villain of Expendables 3 as well.  Stallone apparently talked with him earlier about appearing in the movie and there’s a rumor that more talks are happening.  No official word from Lionsgate or Stallone.
• Keifer Sutherland is the new Snake in MGS5: With the announcement of Metal Gear Solid 5 a while ago, there was some concern when veteran voice actor, David Hayter, said he would not be returning to voice Solid Snake.  Now it was revealed that Jack Bauer himself, Keifer Sutherland, is stepping in to voice the super spy.  The game is supposed to take place in 1984, which would put it between MGS3 and the original.
• Eastbound and Down ending after the fourth season:  The misadventures of professional baseball player Kenny Powers will be coming to an end after the upcoming fourth season, according to HBO.
• Warner Bros trades stake in Interstellar for South Park and Friday the 13th licenses:  In some background wheeling and dealing, Warner Bros trade Paramount it’s stake in the upcoming Christopher Nolan directed Interstellar in exchange for the rights to both South Park and Friday the 13th for five years and there should hopefully be at least one new movie from each franchise in that time frame.
• Warner Bros making live action Archie movie, with zombies:  Apparently WB thought the normal hijinks of Archie and the gang from Riverdale were not exciting enough for a live action movie, so they are adding zombies to the mix.  The movie is supposed to be based on the upcoming Archie comic, Afterlife with Archie, which finds the gang in a zombie apocalypse that is somehow started by Jughead.  Jason Moore, of Pitch Perfect, is currently signed on to direct.
• Sony remaking French crime drama “A Prophet”: One of the most critically acclaimed foreign films from 2009 was “A Prophet”, which followed a young Muslim man as he is sent to prison in France and gets caught in between two rival gangs.  Sony is moving forward with an English remake of the film with Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz producing, but no word on a star or director.
• Legendary ET video game landfill being excavated:  One of the most famous stories in video game history is the disaster that was the release of the ET video game for the Atari 2600.  Due to it’s horrendous game play, the game was returned in droves and, unable to sell them, Atari dumped them all into a New Mexico landfill and buried them.  At least, that’s the legend, a film crew is heading out to dig up the site and try and find the cartridges for an upcoming documentary.  The legend of the ET cartridges is also the plot of the upcoming Angry Video Game Nerd movie.
• Steven Seagal’s mission to Russia:  In a rare case of action movie news colliding with current events, Steven Seagal has apparently been in Russia on a diplomatic mission to help stop terrorism and improve relations between Russia and the US.  Apparently the Russian government loves Seagal so much that they also want him to be a celebrity endorser of their arms manufacturing or “the face of Russia’s weapons industry”.
• Dan Harmon returns to Community:   After a pretty good, at best, season of Community last year, NBC has gotten the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, to return to run the show after he was unceremoniously dumped after the third season.  Harmon has said he will try to reel in his bitterness and will not retcon any of the plots that came about during the fourth season (there were some rumors that he might play the “it was all a dream” card to erase the fourth season from continuity)
• Benicio Del Toro and Karen Gillan cast as villains in Guardians of the Galaxy:  The ranks of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie continues to expand each week and this past week they added two, unknown, villains with former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan and Benicio Del Toro, who actually apparently signed a multi movie deal to play a “major villain”.   Most people immediately think he will be playing Thanos but another front runner is that he is playing the cosmic villain known as The Collector.