Surviving San Diego Comic-Con 101
It’s that time of the year. What a glorious time it is! The excitement’s practically in the air! Can you smell it yet? The spotlight is once again on one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, San Diego, CA! Like that Beastie Boys’ song, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” the same can be said for your experience at Comic-Con International, the largest annual gathering of geeks like me in the world. How sweet it is! Movie stars, comic artists, cosplay, vendors, movie studios, exclusives and so much more all vying for your attention and awaiting you for five mind blowing days! I have been going to Comic-Con ever since 2009 and each year it keeps getting bigger and better. However, that doesn’t mean it gets less chaotic at all, quite the contrary. Every year it seems more crowded and packed, and if you want to see anything in Hall H, at least Thursday through Saturday, be prepared to camp out overnight. For these reasons and more I put together some tips below culled from my personal experiences that will hopefully get fellow Con goers this year the maximum bang for their buck. Good luck! Continue reading ‘Surviving San Diego Comic-Con 101’
Before Ocean’s trilogy, 21 and the disappointing remake of The Gambler, the casino genre consisted of great films like The Cincinnati Kid and The Sting. Movies released in the past decade haven’t all been bad, but 
Where comedy and drama are more universal categories, the documentary can be somewhat polarizing depending on the subject matter. In 1980, the USA Olympic Hockey team defeated the Soviet Red Army team for a shot at the gold medal game. This was not simply a grand moment in sports. It was democracy defeating communism. It was David, in the form of a team of college kids, defeating Goliath (professional-aged players with years of chemistry together). The documentary Red Army chronicles this event, but does so from the unique and previously unheard perspective of the Russian players. However, the content is not merely limited to the Olympic upset. Read on to discover the full attributes of this very immersive film. 
With my recent review of the Blu-ray for Mad Max from Scream Factory and its relatively convenient timing, I’ve had the itch to keep going writing about the series over here on Why So Blu. No, this won’t be a review of the Blu-ray that has been out forever (Fun Fact: It was the fifth Blu-ray to be put in my collection). This will just be a piece minus all the tech specs and recommendation. We started with Mad Max and will go on through Mad Max: Fury Road and at the end rank the films (Where you can tell me how wrong, stupid, unqualified or dumb I am). Those familiar know I do this kind of thing for my Naptown Nerd blog, but I thought since this one started over here at Why So Blu that I would just see the whole thing out here. We’ve now come to the infamous THUNDERDOME portion of the retrospective. Fun fact: When a Why So Blu writer refuses a Blu-ray title, Brian White then says angrily “Who run Blu-raytown? WHO run Blu-raytown?” 
With my recent review of the Blu-ray for Mad Max from Scream Factory and its relatively convenient timing, I’ve had the itch to keep going writing about the series over here on Why So Blu. No, this won’t be a review of the Blu-ray that has been out forever (Fun Fact: It was the fifth Blu-ray to be put in my collection). This will just be a piece minus all the tech specs and recommendation. We started with Mad Max and will go on through Mad Max: Fury Road and at the end rank the films (Where you can tell me how wrong, stupid, unqualified or dumb I am). Those familiar know I do this kind of thing for my Naptown Nerd blog, but I thought since this one started over here at Why So Blu that I would just see the whole thing out here. Today, we’ll continue on with Mad Max 2 or as many will call it, The Road Warrior. 
Over half a decade ago, Irish singer Liz Madden made her Why So Blu debut, discussing her then new album Going Home. Liz has since built on her successful resume’ of releases, with 2015 being the launch pad for her latest album, Legacy. With each new release, Madden always finds ways to subtly separate the feel of each work from the last. Legacy proves no different.
This one is sort of an abnormal review. Not only is it a hybrid, a review coverage of both a Blu-ray and DVD, but also it’s a bit unorthodox the way in which I’m going about tackling this. There’s no grading system employed here. This one’s pure entertainment! And let’s face it, there’s nothing new you or I can say about Tom Holland’s Child’s Play. It’s quite simply one of the most iconic and classic horror films in the slasher genre. And what about A Christmas Treat? What about it?! For those in the know (more about that below), it’s an underground cult hit that not only fueled Tim Sullivan’s career, but also planted the seeds of his trademark humor and wit in his later flicks. So let’s do this. I’m going to spend several paragraphs going deeper into what TnT Presents is all about and then I’m going to tackle these two releases we’re gathered here to talk about today one-by-one, complete with exclusive unboxing photos of everything you’ll find inside. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some major typing to do down below. 
I had one final film to see before I felt I could compile an accurate list for the recently departed 2014. Boyhood was a popular title amongst my fellow writers here, though that wasn’t showing in my area, thus escaping my viewing grasp. Gone Girl came highly recommended though the trailer never attracted my interest enough to shell out money for the movie. The film in question, however, was The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. After thoroughly enjoying last year’s Desolation of Smaug, I must admit that Five Armies ended up being a bit of a disappointment. It was not a bad film, but it certainly did not soar either. So, to my list it did not make. With Tolkien’s tales at a cinematic close and Gone Girl gone from the cinema, I present you with my top ten films of the year as well as a couple notables.
I make it no surprise. When it comes to televisions and home media players, there’s no other brand I’ll recommend or even own in my home other than Sony. They build the best gear in my opinion (I’m not being paid to say this) and are worth the extra bucks over the competition as far as I’m concerned. Also, when it comes to Blu-ray players, again in my opinion, you’ll never hear me speak of any other player besides the Playstation 3, the king of them all. However, a funny thing happened this past January. I became a gamer when I got my grubby paws on a Playstation 4 and did the unthinkable, I paid to become a Sony PSN Plus member so I could kick some arse online in the Call of Duty franchise, and also bask in all the other benefits the membership has to offer like free games, discounts, multiplayer matches and more. We, the fans and players on the Playstation 4, come to rely on our PSN Plus memberships like crack to a junkie. 
In my belief, most salesmen, prophets, religious establishments and even motivational speakers will tell you life is full of second chances. And like the fictional character of Jordan Chase in Season 5 of Showtime’s Dexter, if you want something badly enough in life, you just have to “
One year ago today, I wrote an article focusing on 14 movies I’d like to see on Blu-ray for the year 2014. That article wound up becoming the pilot for what would sort of be a regular week-to-week series from me, whining about a movie that’s only on DVD or VHS and not here to Blu-ray yet. It also made new release announcements an extra bit of fun for me if one of my random requests wound up coming to fruition. From the original list, 6 titles (around 43%) wound up finding a Blu-ray release this year. In addition, from my weekly articles, 3 of those wound up coming to fruition to make the Wishlist have about a 20% success rate. While I’ve had a lot of fun with these pieces, due to life, work, busy-ness and whatnot, the Wishlist is going to be moving from the weekly format to a monthly one. Its not that I’m out of ideas, its just that I am not having the sort of time I used to in writing these pieces. But hey, today is a celebration of these pieces, so, let’s take a look at some of our success stories from the past year and then let’s do 15 more for 2015! 
