FILM: Mass Effect: Assignment - Interactive Fan Film (News)

One of the great things about living in this era of technology is being able to witness great properties inspire fans into creating works that everyone can see.

The video game series, MASS EFFECT, hit the apex of its well deserved popularity this year with the release of MASS EFFECT 3 and some talented fans out there not only created a fan film but an interactive one at that!

Called MASS EFFECT: ASSIGNMENT, the story of the film utilizes the game's decision aspect letting viewers choose between a paragon or renegade choice on several decisions that come up in the story that lead to four different endings.

Even being a fan film you cannot deny the quality of the production, with costumes, props and special effects that really make the atmosphere of the film being in the Mass Effect world believable.

COMIC: Top of the Stack - All-Star Western #8 (Review)

Writer: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Moritat
Cover: Jose Ladronn

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99

It might seem a little strange for people that know me to see ALL-STAR WESTERN #8 reach the top of my stack this week. I was not a regular reader of the JONAH HEX series that preceded it, and outside an issue here and there or an appearance on an animated DC property I was not entirely that familiar with the cowboy vigilante, Jonah Hex.

I am familiar however with the creative writing team of Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti. Their run on POWERGIRL a few years back was such an entertaining ride and made a supporting character capable of carrying her own solo book.

They have been attached to Jonah Hex for even longer and when the New 52 relaunch was going to remake the JONAH HEX title into ALL-STAR WESTERN, it seemed like the perfect time to jump aboard and give it a try.

This issue has Hex continue his attempted infiltration of the anti-immigrant terrorist group, August 7. He impresses with his fight against Z.C. but the flaw in the plan is revealed to be Doctor Arkham, leaving Hex in over his head.

The art by Moritat complements the story, where the terrifying can look so, the action can look fluid, and each character can look unique from the others.

When it comes to reading books where I do not have an attachment to the main characters, sometimes I find myself drawn to the supporting characters that pop up in the story. Like with ALL-STAR WESTERN, I am enjoying the fighting gal, Z.C. Branke that was introduced in the previous issue and has an entanglement with Hex in this one. I also love the backup stories that have been attached to the book starring Wild West heroes Nighthawk & Cinnamon.

Action, danger, fun. Every time an issue can deliver on each of those you know you are in for something special and the potential is there whenever I pick up ALL-STAR WESTERN. Westerns might not be your thing but I think the uniqueness of Hex, and his current involvement with aspects of Gotham City back in the Wild West is as amazing as it sounds.

Look to buy the ALL-STAR WESTERN #8 digital comic on Comixology for $2.99

FILM: The Amazing Spider-Man Poster (News)

One of the summer movies I am more excited about than the rest is THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN from director Marc Webb (500 DAYS OF SUMMER) and starring Andrew Garfield (THE SOCIAL NETWORK) and Emma Stone (THE HELP).

And now the poster for the film has been unveiled and it looks phenomenal.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN swings into theaters on July 3, 2012.

FILM: House at the End of the Street (News)

Jennifer Lawrence is quickly becoming a hit amongst the mainstream with her Oscar nomination and geek crowds with her roles as Mystique in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS last year and Katniss Everdeen in THE HUNGER GAMES this year.

Her wide range of acting roles continues this fall with the release of HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET, a PG-13 horror thriller directed by Mark Tonderai (HUSH) and starring Elisabeth Shue (CSI) as her character's mother.

Synopsis:

Seeking a fresh start, newly divorced Sarah and her daughter Elissa find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared – leaving only a brother, Ryan, as the sole survivor. Against Sarah’s wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan – and the closer they get, the deeper they’re all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined.

Get More: Jennifer Lawrence, Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET terrifies theaters on September 21, 2012.

COMIC: Top of the Stack - Supergirl #8 (Review)

Writer: Michael Green & Mike Johnson
Artist: George Perez
Cover: George Perez

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

This was a week where it was going to take an outstanding issue to make it to the top of my reading stack, and when I read SUPERGIRL #8, there was the right mix of adventure, action and relationships to win me over in the end.

From the creative writing team of Michael Green & Mike Johnson since the starts of the New 52 relaunch, SUPERGIRL has become a book about discovery and adventure as much as action with Kara adjusting to her new home. And I have been enjoying the ride immensely which is not that much of a surprise considering Green and Johnson also wrote some of my favorite issues of SUPERMAN/BATMAN.

For this issue Kara is surrounded by the military and seems destined for another misunderstanding when a silver-haired (and tongued) girl gets involved and tries to help Supergirl out. We meet Siobhan Smythe, a girl from Dublin with a remarkable skill for languages, and the two strike up a friendship as she helps Kara hide in plain sight. Of course, there is more to her story and the rug gets pulled out from under the two by the end of the issue through the aid of fatherly intervention.

In a nice surprise, legend George Perez was the guest penciller this issue and the art was solid. The girls looked just like that and when the other shoe drops at Siobhan's gig the art suitably picks up on the creepy factor. The spectrum of emotions are really covered between Kara's angry red eyes to the looks of terror on their faces near the end of the issue.

One of the best things to come from the New 52 is that all of these Superman Family books exist in the same time but they all feel differently and there is no real feeling of reading the same story even when the characters might cross paths. I have always tried to read SUPERGIRL but I definitely cannot remember a time I was enjoying the character more.

I really hope that when this current story with Siobhan finishes that this is not the last we see of the two together. Even if it was only one issue, I enjoyed the friendship that was being built there, and it definitely felt different from any other Super relationship I have yet to read. This was definitely an issue you can pick up without having read the ones before so please give it a try if you have not yet.

Look to buy the SUPERGIRL #8 digital comic on Comixology for $1.99

FILM: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer LEGO-ized (News)

One of the big films of the summer is undeniably the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's Batman story, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

So it is only cool to share this fun video recreation made of the film's trailer done in animated LEGO form.


THE DARK KNIGHT RISES into theaters on July 20, 2012.

FILM: Hotel Transylvania Teaser Trailer (News)

If you are a fan of animated properties then you are probably a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky whether you realize it or not. Whether it be Dexter's Laboratory, Star Wars: Clone War or Samurai Jack, his fingerprints are all over quality animation.

Thus the news that there is an animated film due out later this year from Tartakovsky called HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA. It stars the voice talents of Adam Sandler (JACK AND JILL), Selena Gomez (RAMONA AND BEEZUS) and Andy Samberg (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE).

Synopsis:

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters – Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more – to celebrate his daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis.