2 in 1 Showcase Episode 230: San Diego and Captain America

Another San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone, and this week Blake and Erin get together and talk about the big anouncements from this year’s show: crossovers between Star Trek and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Archie and KISS, the new Fables spin-off, the upcoming relaunch of the Defenders, and much more! They also give their review of Captain America: The First Avenger, do a Rampant Speculation on the upcoming Suicide Squad, and give a few picks. Erin has discovered Tim O’Brien‘s The Things They Carried, and Blake doubles up with Sergio Aragones Funnies #1 and Locke and Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 230: San Diego and Captain America

San Diego Comic-Con Day One: I’m still not there

So as I mentioned yesterday, the San Diego Comic-Con is raging like a wildfire out there in California right now. I’m not there, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch the news with a sharp eye and a wistful heart. This is the first day, but there are a few interesting tidbits already jumping out at me…

• IDW Publishing and DC Comics are producing a six-issue crossover miniseries, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, written by Chris Roberson with art by Philip Moy. I’m psyched, and I have a feeling my Uncle Todd will find this interesting as well.
• Speaking of crossovers, Archie Comics has announced an upcoming storyline where Archie and the gang from Riverdale will have to battle monsters from another dimension alongside legendary rock band KISS. Yes, you heard me. Archie. Meets. KISS. Mike Bellamy may finally have to buy an Archie Comic. (Or rather, four of them, it’s a four-part story beginning in Archie #627.)
• One of the books that was apparently getting wiped out during the New 52 DC Comics Relaunch is coming back. Nick Spencer’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents will return in November with a new #1, despite the fact that the writer is under an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics. Looks like he kept a loophole in there.
• IDW is also going to be doing a sequel to this year’s Infestation crossover. G.I. Joe and the TransFormers will be back for round two, but Star Trek and Ghostbusters are being replaced with Danger Girl and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• The Man of Steel, director Zach Snyder’s relaunch of the Superman movie franchise, has been pushed back from a release date of December 2012 to June 2013.

There have been other things announced, of course, but these are the things that have caught my attention so far. I’m hoping that I’ll get a chance to sit down with Erin this weekend while we’re in Maine and record a Showcase episode about the announcements.

What I’m Watching in 2011

Okay, we’re over a month into the year, it’s time for me to begin my running tally of movies I’ve watched in 2011. Those of you who see this list when it’s first posted will notice a definite trend towards 2010 films. If you’ve read this post, that makes a lot more sense. At any rate, this is where I’m keeping my annual running tally of the movies I see this year, and my quick rating of them. And if I review a movie at any of the many websites where I turn out such content, I’ll throw up a link.

1. How to Train Your Dragon (2010), B+
2. Infestation (2009), B+
3. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), A
4. True Grit (2010), A+
5. Shutter Island (2010), B-
6. Robin Hood (2010), C
7. Easy A (2010), A-
8. Splice (2009), D-
9. Dinner For Schmucks (2010), B-
10. Buried (2010), B+
11. The Social Network (2010), A
12. Repo Men (2010), C
13. Logan’s Run (1976), B
14. Exam (2008), A
15. The Town (2010), A
16. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010), B
17. Fame (2009), B-
18. Back to the Future (1985), A+
19. Superman (1978), A+
20. Cop Out (2010), D
21. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010), C
22. All-Star Superman (2011), A
23. The Crucible (1996), A
24. Unknown (2011), C+
25. Legion (2010), C-
26. The Book of Eli (2010), C+
27. Mulholland Drive (2001), B
28. A Bug’s Life (1998), B
29. Battle: Los Angeles (2011), B
30. RED (2010), B+
31. Frozen (2010), B
32. Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011), B+
33. A Beautiful Mind (2002), A
34. Machete (2010), D
35. Monsters (2010), C
36. Let Me In (2010), B
37. Limitless (2011), B+
38. Devil (2010), C+
39. 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010), C-
40. Scream (1996), A
41. Scream 2 (1997), B
42. Scream 3 (2000), B-
43. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), A+
44. Love and Other Drugs (2010), B+
45. Moon (2009), A
46. Fight Club (1999), B
47. Megamind (2010), B
48. Scream 4 (2011), B+
49. The Experiment (2010), B
50. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010), A-
51. The King’s Speech (2010), A
52. Lottery Ticket (2010), C
53. Mary Poppins (1964), A
54. Ghostbusters 2 (1989), B+
55. Wall•E (2008), A
56. The Other Guys (2010), D
57. Akira (1988), B
58. The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story (2009), A
59. The Phantom Tollbooth (1970), A
60. The Last Unicorn (1982), B+
61. Chicken Little (2005), B
62. The Fighter (2010), B
63. Saw: The Final Chapter (2010), B-
64. Memento (2000), A
65. The Untouchables (1987), A
66. Thor (2011), A
67. Firebreather (2010), B-
68. Bookwars (2000), B-
69. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), A
70. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), C
71. Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (2010), B+
72. Die Hard (1988), A
73. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), B+
74. The Princess Bride (1987), A+
75. Holes (2003), B+
76. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), B+
77. Skyline (2010), D
78. The Last Airbender (2010), C-
79. The Last Starfighter (1984), A
80. Duck Soup (1933), A+
81. The Hangover Part II (2011), B
82. Piranha (2010), C+
83. UHF (1989), B
84. Spaceballs (1987), B
85. The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920), B+
86. Labyrinth (1986), A
87. The Green Hornet (2011), D+
88. Series 7: The Contenders (2001), B+
89. 127 Hours (2010), B+
90. Saludos Amigos (1942), B
91. The Three Caballeros (1944), B+
92. X-Men: First Class (2011), A-
93. The Last Man on Earth (1964), B
94. The Vampire’s Night Orgy (1973), F
95. Chloe (2009), B
96. Nosferatu (1922), A
97. The Virginity Hit (2010), B
98. The Color of Magic (2008), B
99. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), B+
100. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010), C+
101. Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), A-
102. Rubber (2010), C+
103. Walt and El Grupo (2008), B
104. Super 8 (2011), A
105. Big Fish (2003), A+
106. Black Death (2010), B
107. Battle Royale (2001), B+
108. The Faculty (1998), B-
109. Green Lantern (2011), B-
110. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), B-
111. Synecdoche, New York (2008), C
112. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), A
113. Fright Night (1985), B
114. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), A
115. The Fugitive (1993), A
116. Cars (2006), B+
117. Cars 2 (2011), B+
118. After.Life (2009), C
119. Zapped! (1982), D
120. James and the Giant Peach (1996), B
121. Young Frankenstein (1974), A
122. The Addams Family (1991), B+
123. The Great Muppet Caper (1981), B
124. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner (2011), D
125. Dracula (1931), B
126. Death Note (2006), B
127. Tales From the Script (2009), B+
128. Unthinkable (2010), B+
129. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007), A-
130. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), B
131. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), B-
132. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), B+
133. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), B+
134. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2008), B-
135. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), B+
136. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010), A
137. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011), A
138. Frankenstein (1931), A
139. The Mummy (1932), B
140. Be Kind, Rewind (2008), B
141. 25th Hour (2002), B
142. The Incredibles (2004), A+
143. Zodiac (2007), A
144. Rec (2007), B+
145. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), A
146. Miller’s Tale (2011), B+
147. Freaks (1932), B
148. Red Riding Hood (2011), D
149. Battle Royale II (2003), C
150. Cowboys and Aliens (2011), C+
151. Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), B
152. Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), C+
153. The Beginning of the End (1957), F; MST3K Riff, B
154. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), F; MST3K Riff, B+
155. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011), A-
156. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), A
157. Cat People (1942), B
158. Curse of the Cat People (1944), C-
159. Sucker Punch (2011), D
160. The Fly (1958), A
     
161. Peeping Tom (1960), B
162. Best Worst Movie (2009), A
163. Troll 2 (1990), F
164. Psycho (1960), A
165. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), A
166. Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011), B
167. Super (2010), B+
168. The Haunting (1963), B
169. Night of the Living Dead (1968), A
170. The Last House on the Left (1972), C-
171. Suicide Girls Must Die (2011), C-
172. Wait Until Dark (1967), A
173. The Exorcist (1973), A
174. Gamera (1965), C; MST3K Riff, A
175. Gamera Vs. Barugon (1966), D; MST3K Riff, B+
176. Gamera Vs. Gaos (1967), D; MST3K Riff, B
177. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), C+
178. Jaws (1975), A
179. Carrie (1976), B+
180. Suspiria (1977), D+
181. Gamera Vs. Guiron (1969), D; MST3K Riff, B+
182. Contagion (2011), C+
183. Halloween (1978), A
184. Alien (1979), A
185. The Shining (1980), C+
186. Friday the 13th (1980), B
187. The Evil Dead (1981), B+
188. The Thing (1982), A
189. Poltergeist (1982), B+
190. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), B
191. Return of the Living Dead (1985), C-
192. Misery (1990), A
193. Ringu (1998), B+
194. The Blair Witch Project (1999), B
195. Saw (2004), A
196. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), B+
197. The Creeping Terror (1964), F; MST3K riff, B+
198. Mad Monster Party (1967), B
199. Zombiemania (2008), B
200. Tower Heist (2011), B-
201. Scream: The Inside Story (2011), B
202. Still Screaming (2011), A
203. Your Highness (2011), D
204. Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008), B-
205. The Cannonball Run (1981), B
206. Batman: Year One (2011), A-
207. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), A-
208. Up (2009), A+
209. The Muppets (2011), A
210. Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas (2011), B
211. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), F; Cinematic Titanic Riff, B
212. Christmas and A Christmas Carol (2009), D
213. Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972), F; RiffTrax, A
214. The Great Gatsby (1974), A
215. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), B+
216. Tom and Huck (1995), Bl
217. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), A
218. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999), B
219. Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) (2005), A
220. Scrooged (1988), A-
221. The Magic Christmas Tree (1964), F; RiffTrax B+
222. It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), B
223. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), B
224. Miracle on 34th Street (1947), A+
225. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A+
226. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), A
227. A Christmas Story (1983), A
228. Love, Actually (2002), A
229. Source Code, (2011), B+
230. Paul, (2011), C+
231. Tron: Legacy (2010), B+
232. Attack the Block (2011), B+l
233. The Captains (2011), A
234. Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), B
235. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011), C

Last Updated on January 1, 2012.

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 191: News From New York

The New York Comic Con was this weekend, and the Showcase boys spent an hour talking about all the big announcements! Or… at least, the announcements that had been made by the time they recorded this episode! But there’s plenty here, including the big DC and Marvel price drop announcement, future plans for X-Men, Captain America, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Iron Man and X-Men cartoons, Green Lantern and Superman movie news, the comic book returns of Richie Rich and Godzilla, IDW’s daring Infestation crossover, and more! In the picks, Kenny chooses Next Gen Wars #1 and Blake was into Brightest Day #11. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp!

Music provided by the Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 191: News From New York