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Well, we don’t live here anymore folks, if you wanna keep reading and help us grow head over to our website:

masksandmettle.com

See ya Space Cowboy….

Wolverine and the X-Men Airs Tonight….in Canada

Wolverine and his Amazing Friends!

Marvels newest animated television series “Wolverine and the X-Men” begins airing tonight (September 6, 2008) at 7pm on Canada’s YTV, starting off with the 3 part premiere “Hindsight“. The series began airing in Latin America on Disney’s Jetix in late August, and this marks its first english language broadcast, though it won’t be hitting US shores until Spring 2009.

Plot sypnosis from Wikipedia:

After an attack on the mansion, Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey are missing. The X-Men disband and Scott begins to suffer from depression. Emma Frost is able to locate a comatose Charles on Genosha in the care of Magneto. Professor X telepathically orders Wolverine to lead the X-Men and set out to save the world from The Sentinel Project and prevent the Brotherhood of Mutants from taking over the world before the future ends up a bad one.

Marvel released a trailer for this earlier this year, and I have to admit that its looking pretty decent.

For those of you who forgot:

Some of you will notice the voice of Steven Blum, a voice actor recognized for his distinctive voice and large presence in anime best know as the lead in shows such as Cowboy Bepop, Samurai Champloo and Big O.

Another great voice actor Tom Kane, pulls out a pretty damn good Ian Mckellen impresion for Magneto.

But just to keep pour expectations at a reasonable level, lets think back to the X-Men Evolution animated series that started around the time the first film was released, may remember that its first few seasons were pretty mediocre. Evolution floated along for a while before kicking into high gear in the least two seasons, something that “The Batman” also suffered from. So lets hope that we get some good even quality this time out, and try to wash the bitter taste of X3 out of our mouths.

“Why do I care about the canadians if I can’t see it till 2009!?”

My friends….the internet is a wonderfull place!

Effed Up Pic of the Day

Voice Over Legend Don LaFontaine Passes Away at 68

The man whose voice you’ve undoubtedly heard hundreds of thousands of times since you were old enough to go to the movies, voice acting legend Don LaFontaine, passed away on September 1st from complications with a collapsed lung. He was 68.

The first time I put a face to that god-like voice that narrated my every dream and fantasy, was in a mini-documentary I found on Youtube, which I’ll share with you now.

LaFontaine had a great talent and passion for his work, watching a trailer will never be the same. There have been, and will be many voices through out time, but Don’s is the one we’ll all hear in our heads.

Effed Up Picture of The Day

He did it for the lulz

10 Most Recognizable Movie Theme Songs

Every film has a soundtrack, whether they go the orchestral route or choose a few pop tracks depends on the type of film itself. But among the pantheon of film theme songs there are a select few that embody the films themselves.
Below I have listed my Top 10 Most Recognizable Movie Theme Songs

Ghostbusters

Terminator

Robocop

Batman

Indiana Jones

Star Wars-Imperial March

Superman

007

Jurassic Park

Jaws

Back to the Future

New Iron Man Trailer Up!

    Trailer #2 for the Iron Man is up. Word of warning, grab a spare pair of undergarments before you take a gander at this puppy, cause, Jesus Titty Fucking Christ! This trailer is packed to the brim with bad-assery, from the Downey’s performance to the CGI, it’s looking like Marvel is back on the horse after their recent string of bad films. This trailer does nothing but reaffirm the fact that Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect casting choice for this character, and will insure an even larger audience for this film when it open.

Here it is ladies and gentlemen. Hold on to your ass!

And click here, if you want to see the new trailer in HD.

New Iron Man Trailer Thursday

 Marvel is reporting that a brand spankin’ new Iron Man trailer will be debuting during the February 28th (this Thursday’s) episode of ABC’s drama “Lost”, airing at 9 EST/8 Central.

Here’s the last trailer we saw.

You can also see the recent Superbowl trailer in HD here.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine News

                                                         

I’m sure your all aware of the Wolverine solo flick hitting theaters next year. And recently a lot of casting announcements have been released, revealing the fact that no less than 5 other mutants will join Wolverine in the new film. Honestly this comes as a bit of a surprise, I was under the impression that this film was going to focus solely on Wolverine, but it seems the film is going to focus on his recent history. Set only 17 years prior to the first X-men film, it looks like it’ll deal specifically with his induction into the Weapon X program, and his interaction with other Weapon X members.

For the most part the characters confirmed to appear in the film do in fact have ties to Wolverine and the Weapon X project in their comic origins.

The the actors named in recent casting announcements and their respective roles in the film are listed below (it is unknown which of characters are appearing in in brief cameos, or co-starring roles) :

Liv Schreiber as Victor Creed a.k.a Sabertooth 

In the first X-Men film ex-wrestler Tyler Mane played the role of Brotherhood mutant Sabertooth. Physically Mane was exactly what fans hoped for in a live action portrayal of the character, but unfortunately his acting left something to be desired. In the film the character surprisingly enough served mainly as comic relief from the line “Scream for me.”, to Magneto trpping him in a cell and causing him to walk face first into iron bars, the character was poorly utilized as a comic relief villain, and then apparently killed at the end of the film.

With the prequel film they’ve decided to cast Liv Schreiber, an Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominated actor to fill the role of Sabertooth. Now with Schreiber I (and I’m assuming you) hope for a depiction of Sabertooth that exemplifies his vicious nature and status as Wolverine’s archenemy. In the comics Wolverine and Sabertooth are two halves of the same coin, they both posses very animistic mutations, have had their memories erased and altered by Weapon X, and posses a healing factor. The difference between these two men is that while Wolverine seeks redemption, the control of his primal instincts, and the truth of his past, Sabertooth chose long ago to embrace his ruthless nature.

 Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson a.k.a Deadpool

The wise-cracking, Deadpool’s status as a “super-powered” mercenary/anti-hero is loosely connected to Wolverine.

Wade Wilson was an ex-Special Forces member turned Mercenary who developed terminal cancer and enrolled in the Weapon X project in the hopes of attaining a regenerative healing factor (extracted from Wolverine’s DNA) to cure his cancer. Alas the experiment failed, causing him to be severely disfigured and driven insane. Afterward, Wade was sent to a facility a where he and other, “failed experiments” were tortured and experimented on. Within the facility there was a pool where the inmates wagered on who was most likely to die next. Wade was deemed a special experiment, and thus his probability of dying was drastically reduced, and became leader of the “dead pool”. After several run ins with the personification of Death during numerous near death experiences, Wade falls in love with her and does everything in his power to be killed. After the mercy killing of a lobotomized friend, Wilson is scheduled to be executed and it is the execution that activates his healing factor. Unfortunately the healing factor did not heal the disfigurement Wilson suffered at Weapon X, and the shock completely breaks his mind. After freeing the other inmates and escaping the complex, Wade Wilson resumes his occupation as a mercenary under the name “Deadpool”.

Despite his gloomy past Deadpool is oft referred to as “the merc’ with a mouth” he is a character recognized for his black humor and tendency to break the 4th wall within his own book. Ryan Reynolds is without a doubt one of the best choices for this role. Now admittedly, Blade: Trinity was a terrible film, especially compared to the first 2 films in the Blade movie series, but Reynolds as Hannibal King, was one of the few saving graces of the film. His ability to act as a comedic foil to the stoic main character is great, and is able to deliver his lines in a smarmy smart ass way that will always grab a laugh. Out of all the casting announcements this one is most pleasing, and this character is the most likely to successfully spawn a spin-off.

 Will.i.am as John Wraith a.k.a Wraith/Kestrel

In the comic John Wraith, a mildly paranoid recluse, was a Weapon X inductee with the the ability to teleport. Wraith was a part of “Team X”, along with Wolverine and Sabertooth, where he acted as their contingency procedure in case of a failed mission or unexpected situation, able to teleport them away from the source of danger. Years after they left Weapon X, Wraith was drafted once more into the program, but was killed by partner Sabertooth after failing a mission.

Musician, clothing designer, and Black Eyed Peas front man, Will.i.am (William James Adams, Jr.)  certainly looks the part of Kestrel, but I’m unsure of his acting abilities, or in fact if he even has any previous acting experience. Kestrel’s death at the hands of Creed in the movie would certainly serve as a source of conflict between Wolverine and Sabertooth, if it actually happens. Rumor is that Will.i.am actually enrolled in boot camp to prepare for the roll, and since Will.i.am seems like a very talented individual, I’m gonna hope for the best, instead of writing this off as another musician trying to shoe horn their way into acting.

Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau a.k.a Gambit

A Cajun mutant born in New Orleans, Remy was stolen from the hospital he was born in and raised by a guild of thieves. In his early teens his mutation developed, the ability to charge objects with kinetic energy, a process that caused the object to explode and release the transferred energy after a set amount of time.

Model and Friday Night Lights star, Taylor Kitsch, will be playing Gambit.

Gambit was a character that the fan base has been clamoring for since the first film. Even so, debuting him in this movie makes very little sense, even when accounting for the liberties taken with adaptions. I’m not sure why they would choose to make Gambit this old at that point in the storyline, but I guess only time will tell.

Dominic Monaghan as Barnell Bohusk a.k.a Beak

Barnell Bohusk began developing his mutant abilities at the onset of puberty. Developing an avian body structure thus becoming a man-bird something of a less graceful and much less aesthetically pleasing than Warren Kenneth Worthington III, also known as Angel. As of M-Day Beack is depowered.

Beak will be played by Lost star Dominic Monaghan.

Beak does not belong in this film, far more so than Gambit. Besides the fact that he wasn’t even introduced until 2001, the character has absolutely no ties to Wolverine or the Weapon X project. The only way I can see this working is by having Beak be one of the failed experiments kept in the same facility as Deadpool, and hopefully only making a brief cameo appearance.

Daniel Henney as David North a.k.a Maverick/Agent Zero

David North is a mutant with the natural ability to absorb kinetic forces (impacts, falls, energy blasts) and release it as heat disscharges or physical enhancements (limited super strength). Weapon X gives him the aditional abilities of a limted healing factor and an extremely corrosive substance sectreted from his fingertips. As of M-Day he has been depowered.
Maverick will be played by international actor Daniel Henney.

This is a character that makes sense, he was in Weapon X and was one of the mutants that was able escape in the massacre following Wolverine being bonded to adamantium and going feral, and is also in many ways similar to Deadpool, although he is a more serious character. It was also Maverick’s refusal to rejoin Weapon X that lead to Sabertooth killing John Wraith.

Danny Huston as William Stryker

Stryker was a Christian fundamentalist who believed it was his duty to carry out “god’s word” exterminate mutants, in X2 X-Men United, Brian Cox played a slightly altered version of the character. This modified Stryker was an ex-military scientist who had direct ties to Weapon X, and specifically, the procedures that altered Wolverine’s body and mind. 

Brian Cox did a fantastic job in the first film, he conveyed a determination and remorselessness in his hate of mutant kind. But was also able to be a sympathetic character. Cox wanted to reprise the role for the prequel, stating that the special effect techniques used to visually de-age  Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen in the opening of X3: The Last Stand could be applied to him as well. But it was not meant to be, and Danny Huston was cast instead. As bummed as I am not having Brian Cox back, Danny Huston is a great casting choice, he has an authoritative look to him, and he comes from a lineage of talented movie makers.

Lynn Collins as Silver Fox

Silver Fox was a Canadian Indian, and Wolverine’s lover in the early 20th century, the two lived on the Canadian frontier until one year on Logan’s birthday, Sabertooth tracked down Wolverine (as he does every year on that day) and raped and killed Silver Fox. It is discovered that this part of their history was a fabricated memory implanted by Weapon X , or at the very least her death was. Silver Fox appears some years later in the Weapon X project and is given a weak healing factor. It is revealed that Silver Fox had become a leader of a section of the terrorist organization HYDRA. After she, Wolverine, Maverick, Wraith, and Sabertooth reluctantly band together to kill the people responsible for their false memories, Sabertooth’s mind is taken over my another mutant, and he is driven to kill Silver Fox, this time the death is genuine. Wraith tells Logan that the two had in fact shared a life together long ago in a cabin, it is there Logan decides to bury her with a tombstone reading, “Silver Fox+Logan”.

I’m not at all familiar with Lyn Collins or her work. I can only hope that wasn’t a casting decision out of desperation, since she doesn’t really bear a resemblance to the character. And as it stands, she is currently the weakest of  the casting choices announced for the film.

I’ve been been very excited about this film for a while, and honestly this news had the exact opposite effect that I anticipated. With all these characters making appearances, it seem like it could bog down the story and keep this movie from hitting its true potential. Although in the films defense, the X-Men films (well the first 2 anyway) have been one of the few, if not only, comic book film to successfully balance a large number of characters without sacrificing the quality of the movie.

But still, common sense says that this needlessly large list of characters could be the kiss of death for this film.

Video Round-Up #1!

This is the first week of a little something I like to call “The Video Round-Up” where we take all the new trailers and other videos from the week and it put all in one place for you.

Batman: Gotham Knight- First Look

This is a first look at the the new Batman anime anthology, produced as a part of the new DC Animated Universe film series. It contains interviews with several of the big talents on the American side of the collaboration, it’s a good 10 minutes long so sit back and enjoy.

And for those of you just looking for the anime segments from the video luckily enough I was bored enough to put together a little video for you (Yes, I was really fucking bored).

Release Date- July 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This past week brought with it the first teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated Indiana Jones 4!

Although not technically comic related, you’ll be hard pressed to find a geek not anticipating this film, especially after viewing this fantastic trailer. The smartest thing is still to keep your expectations on check, but this teaser is definitely reassuring.

Release Date- May 22, 2008

Justice League: The New Frontier

This one is nothing new, but I’m sticking it up here since the DVD is being released next week.

Our review Justice League: The New Frontier will be up this week so make sure to check back soon!

Release Date- February 22, 2008