Nikita: Lyndsy Fonseca and Maggie Q, and executive producer Craig Silverstein

Remember her from Kick-Ass?

V: Cast and producers signing at the Warner Bros. booth. Executive producer Steve Pearlman, and stars Elizabeth Mitchell, Joel Gretsch, Morris Chestnut, Logan Huffman, Laura Vandervoort, Charles Mesure, Morena Baccarin and Scott Wolf

Vampire Diaries: Michael Trevino, Matt Davis, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Steven R. McQueen

True Blood: Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin

From left to right: Creators/executive producers Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz as well as stars Joshua Gomez, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Zachary Levi (behind Mark), Ryan McPartlin, Vik Sahay, Adam Baldwin, Scott Krinsky and Sarah Lancaster.

Yvonne Strahovski

White Collar is an entertaining and fun series about a con man named Neal Caffrey (appealing and photogenic star Matt Bomer) who escapes prison, but is arrested by an FBI agent named Peter Burke played by Tim DeKay (from HBO’s excellent supernatural series Carnivale). White Collar has a lot of caper hijinks, stylish camera work, and superior acting from a talented cast. It’s the perfect summer show to pass the time. The strong supporting cast includes Willie Garson and Tiffiani Thiessan from 90210, and of course, Saved by The Bell.

The first season DVD set includes all 14 episodes on four discs. Picture and audio quality are top notch and there are a few notable extras, including commentaries with the cast, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. White Collar is a buddy show that coasts along with charm and style. The episodes are mostly stand-alone but there’s an intriguing mystery at its core as Neal attempts to find his girfrlend Kate and get her out of harm’s way. She’s is being being held by “the man with the ring”. White Collar may not be a classic, but it’s a lot of fun, and a terrific way to pass the time during the hot summer months. You can catch season 2 right now on the USA Network. It airs every Tuesday at 9pm.

Grade: B+

So far, this show is pure cheese, but I didn’t expect anything less, or more. But, combined with smooth editing, dramatic lighting, and amazing dance choreography, you have an entertaining 8-minute show.

Work of Art is a reality television series about fourteen aspiring artists competing for a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and a big cash prize. Considering that it comes from the network behind “reality shows” about yuppie, soulless housewives and tired reality chef competitions with feuding chefs, I didn’t expect much from this new series. The funny thing is that Work of Art is good TV, scratch that, great TV. A fast-paced reality-based competition that takes the viewers inside the art world and gives us a peek behind the curtain. Yes it is still reality TV, so we get the typical backstabbing and sneering villainy but Work of Art is notable for how talented the contestants are and for how little backstabbing there actually is. The show closely mirrors Project Runway, but the fact that it’s about art keeps it fresh as well. The snobby and elitist “art world” reportedly hates the show (see salon.com for the story), so that’s another reason to watch. They don’t think middle America can “get” art and that reality TV is beneath them. I think its time for the hipsters to grow up. Jealousy and vanity are two idiotic traits that plague the art world and keep people at arms length.

The bland, attractive China Chow hosts the series while renowned art auctioneer Simon de Pury plays mentor to the aspiring artists. Despite his smarmy french accent, Simon makes for an honest and interesting mentor. He never babies the artists but there isn’t a nasty bone in his body. Art critic Jerry Saltz is another asset to the series. His critiques are spot on and easy to understand, even when the so called work of arts don’t really work for me at all. The fan favorite seems to be the photogenic ADD-plagued Miles. He is clearly talented to his tics and passive aggressive ways keep me from rooting for the Abercrombie-looking kid. My favorite contestant is Abdi, a soft-spoken 22 year old from my area who does some amazing sculptures. His best piece was made from trash, he made a sculpture and used a television set as the head with his weird figure holding a gamecube controller, the controlled attached to the creature as a sort of umbilical cord. It was fascinating stuff. One of the best challenges was when the artists got to design a book cover for a classic novel, the winner of the challenge had his work published and is now on the cover of the new edition of the classic novel The Time Machine.

Work of Art airs every Wednesday night at 10pm on Bravo. It’s not to be missed. The best reality show on TV with the most interesting contestants and the best mix of drama and actual reality. The art world can go to Hell. This show is the real deal and it gets better each week.

Grade: A-

Gargoyles was never treated with respect when it came to merchandise.  They had the okay looking toys that weren’t proportional but nothing that screams to die hard collectors until now…I was really excited when I saw the pics below. It’s a Goliath statue from Eletric Tiki.  The statue stands  14″ high, 10″ deep, with a massive 15″ wingspan. It would have been better if it didn’t have the title of the show on it but it’ll do.

The Goliath statue can be pre-ordered through Sideshow and retails for $200.  If there’s a statue I’d spend that much amount of money on, it’d be this one.  No release date has been announced yet. 

Tranzor Z (Mazinger Z) was one of the original giant robot Anime’s. It featured Kouji Kabuto–Tommy Davis in the US as the pilot of the Pileder (Pilder) a hovercraft vehicle that went into the head of the giant Tranzor Z robot. From this hovercraft he would control the awesome robot and use its trademark attack which was a double rocket punch to defeat the enemy.
Fighting along side of Tommy in his battle to keep the world safe from Dr. Hell was Sayaka Yumi–Jessica Davis in the US (also Tommy’s cousin) and her giant robot Aphrodite A.
Most people will easily remember the only attack that mattered in the show that put young boys in a place they shouldn’t be at that age and that was Aphrodite A’s Oppai attack; translated to breasts attack. The chest missiles of Aphrodite A would be remembered fondly for generations.

The Anime Mazinger Z came to light in 1972 and lasted until 1974 in Japan. The series was also a Manga featured in Shonen Jump which still showcases many favorites of today including Yu-gi-oh.

There have been reboots of the series throughout the years and continuations, however there are plans for something new coming out eventually. Should be a fun new beginning.

There are so many statues and figures that have come out recently that it is fitting to make a new series.

Aphrodite A

In the US, Tranzor Z was chopped and hacked (even for the mid 80′s) into 65 episodes and featured so much cut out of it that it was hardly watchable to anyone but children. I’m sure a lot of us can catch when something is hacked as kids, but as adults it’s pretty easy and becomes distracting.

To me, Tranzor Z was a great show, if I remember correctly it was either on the same time as M.A. S. K. (different channel) or before or after it on the same channel.

The art and animation was pretty good for being from the 70′s. The dubbing was of course 3rd rate like a lot of the earlier Anime’s but once again, most kids didn’t care, they just wanted to see Aphrodite A shoot her breasts off…

I was watching ABC’s Rookie Blue; not expecting, but hoping that this would be a gritty cop show. I was wrong, I fell asleep half way through the soapish episode, but woke up to a surprisingly good docudrama, Boston Med. I always doubt “Reality” TV shows nowadays, how much of it is “real?” Boston Med is different. The first two episodes are very engaging. Although, there are scenes that made me shake my head due to over-dramatization of certain moments. Overall, Boston Med is a very engaging medical show, even informative.

The show focuses on different doctors with different personalities, some are insecure, while others are very confident. For example, one doctor is very cocky, and full of positive energy; while another questions her place in the medical field. Away from the doctors, the show also focuses on the hospital’s residence and their families. In episode 2, an elderly man gets surgery as his wife anxiously awaits in the waiting room. These are moments that we all can relate to.

The cameras aren’t glued inside the hospitals either, it follows the doctors into their personal lives. The insecure doctor needs to loosen up, so the camera follows her as she goes out with friends and family. Also, as she eats dinner with a friend, she talks about how the dating scene is very hard for her. I thought to myself, “really, a good looking doctor can’t find the right one?” But, it shows that doctors are not immune to the daily societal pressures that most of us have to deal with.

Overall, a very entertaining show. The doctors are interesting in their differing personalities, keeping the show from getting dull. Reality TV or not, I applaud this show for focusing on the different aspects of hospital life.

Boston Med airs Thurs., 10P on ABC.

Grade: A-

Trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Anime Eureka SeVen has had mixed reviews in the past, some people say it’s too long at 50 episodes and others love it. I’d say that I’m in the middle and find it great on a lot of levels such as the story in itself and negative by how annoying the main characters get on their slow road to finding themselves.

The DVD’s took about 2 years to collect. Having to wait every other month for the next disk to come out was like waiting for paint to dry. Most of the disks came out in a special edition which included a T-shirt most of the time and a Manga book. The first disk came with a fancy collectors box, a shirt, Manga and a CD of some of the sound track. In the middle of the releases a second CD of the soundtrack was included and at the end was a third version which included a compilation of songs. The second art box came with disk 7 a Manga, a shirt and CD.

Box Set 1.

The end of the collection was like getting a 1st place trophy or gold medal at the Olympics. It was nice to have all of the episodes to watch without commercials and at my leisure. Cartoon Network (when they still showed cartoons {only}) had shown the series with less censorship than they normally had with other Anime shows, however, I remember that they didn’t show the small scene at the end of the credits the first time around–they did show the scene the second time they played the show.

Box Set 2.

I recommend Eureka SeVen to anyone because it has beautiful art and clean animation, great characters and wonderful music. The series is still available, I just recommend NOT getting the movie, it’s just a run together of the series.

8 Volumes Of The Manga.

The Manga of Eureka SeVen is somewhat different from the Anime, it has a mostly different story that is of course shorter and quite violent. The Manga spans 6 regular volumes and 2 special (side story) volumes. The art is very nice and as usual in black and white. The covers are backed in white with a colorful picture featuring the characters from the story. There is a color page at the beginning and each is a good read.

The First Video Game.

The Video Games of Eureka SeVen are available for the PSP and PS2. The 2 games for the PS2 are based on the characters from volume 7 and 8 of the Manga–Sumner Sturgeon and Ruli. The games have crappy play control and can really be a pain due to the game play being in favor of the CPU (what else is new!) You play as Sumner and do OK at first, then get your ass kicked due to weak weapons and not being able to do more controller tricks than performing a fatality in Mortal Kombat! The graphics are actually pretty nice and the CG cut-scenes are well drawn and voiced.

The Second Video Game.

The game for the PSP focuses on the main story of the Anime and plays a bit better than the PS2 games. The graphics are very good and the sound is as good as what can come out of the small speakers.

Voice I-Doll Featuring Eureka and Talho.

The Figures of Eureka SeVen are very special. The talking I-Doll figures offer bases that have the voices of the Japanese cast at the touch of a button. The modeling of the figures is well-detailed and the paint application is excellent.

UFO Catcher (Claw Game) Eureka and Talho.

The UFO catcher (claw game) figures are unbelievably well made for being a prize for those who can catch them. Both the modeling and paint are well done and the package art is very cool.

Figurines: Eureka, "School Girl" Ruli, "Race Queen" Ruli and Talho.

The figurines are finely detailed for being small, they have stands and look as good as a full size figure.

Anemone Statue, With Gulliver.

The best of the batch is the Anemone statue. Everyone’s favorite mentally ill “Princess” includes her pet Gulliver, a stand and some of the best modeling and paint apps that could come on a figure! The box itself is well designed and displays the statue nicely.

Also available are a Eureka and Talho statue, one of Renton and many toys of the robots and other assorted figures, key chains and general merchandise.

All in all, Eureka SeVen has it’s ups and downs, but it’s still one of the better Anime’s left on the market. It offers action, comedy and great drama it is definitely worth a watch.

Ruli (Bad Camera Angle).

I’ll leave you with my tattoo of Ruli from episode 45 of the Anime and the cover of the second video game.

From 2002-2003 Mattel revived He-Man and The Masters of the Universe both into a new cartoon and toy line.
When the series first came to DVD there were complaints that chunks from episodes were missing and that the cut wasn’t very good.

Back Of The Box. Describes The Extras.

The Complete Series offers all 39 episodes in wide screen format, with an approximate cost of $15.00.  The set comes in a large clam-shell case with four disks popped into the center of the case. The disks are sadly packaged in CD-ROM sleeves made of paper with a clear plastic center. Cheap–yeah, however, you can always spend a few dollars and get a case that is the same size to take the box art page and standard clips on the inside with a “butterfly” that can hold the remaining disks.

Paper And Plastic, No Clips Included.

The disks themselves have nice art featuring some of the minor characters. As luck would have it, all of the episodes played, so it’s not made all that cheap.

The first season features a minor retelling of the fiction behind He-Man and Skeletor and the set finishes with multiple “Snake Men” stories which were not as good as the more classic stores featuring He-Man versus Skeletor.

The art itself is beautiful and resembles Anime. The amount of action to story is great, however, there is a lot of wire-foo and showboating from the characters which slows the story down after a while.

The best aspect is the fact that the minor characters are touched on a whole lot more than they were in the 80′s cartoon which gives them more depth than they once had.

There is not a proper ending to the series and the last episode of the show is rushed along by battles being skipped (probably because the viewer knows the outcome anyway) and is so focused on the “Snake Men” that Skeletor and his group are shown cowering in a very quick scene. To me, it’s disappointing.

The Box On The Inside, Just Press The Disks In A Stack.

For the fans of He-man, I do recommend this set if only to enjoy the episodes featuring Skeletor which most are well-written and animated. The voices are great and the deeper story into the characters is welcomed.  I do know that there are a lot of fans out there of the “Snake Men” and to your disappointment, the opening credits do not include the He-Man versus The Snake Men beginning.

Still, it’s a good show and I enjoyed it to the point where I watched it in 2 days.

GRADE: B

Not to be confused with James Cameron’s Avatar, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon from Nickelodeon that came out in 2005.  The story is about the Fire Nation waging war with the three other nations: Water, Earth and Air.  With the world in turmoil, only a 12 year old Avatar monk named Aang has a chance of defeating the Fire nation and bring back peace to the land.  The story sounds generic, even similar to Episode 1 but this is one of the best cartoon I’ve seen. The show blends drama, comedy and action smoothly with entertaining stories.  I always looked forward to the next episode.

Book 1 is titled “Water” and introduces us to Aang as he is found frozen by the Water tribe’s Katara and her goofy but brave brother, Sokka.   Throughout the 20 episodes, the characters travel all over the 4 nations as Aang tries to fulfill his destiny.  Our heroes travel on a giant flying bison named Appa and accompanied by Momo, a flying lemur looking from the air tribe.  Although the creatures don’t talk, they really add a nice touch to the story because they’re loyal and funny.  Following Aang and his crew is the Fire nation’s exiled Prince, Zuko and his wise uncle, Iroh. Prince Zuko wants to catch Aang so he can return as a proud warrior to his nation.

The heroes of the show (from left to right): Soka, Aang, Katara

What I really love about this show are the characters.  While many anime titles has the heroes brooding and depressed because they have to save the world, Aang is portrayed as a happy kid who makes typical mistakes his age.  He takes his role seriously but at the same time, he wants to sled on penguins and impress girls with his powers.  Sometimes his priorities are out of whack but that’s what makes him so likable, he’s naive.  While Aang is very powerful,  his friends Katara and Sokka add a nice balance to the show.  What they lack in power, they make up with their support and advice for the Avatar.

The Last Airbender borrows a lot from buddhist philosophies and it’s incorporated to the show perfectly.  The relationship between Prince Zuko and Aang is ying and yang.  They’re on the opposite end of the spectrum but you understand their intentions.  Prince Zuko’s backstory is pretty heartbreaking and I rooted for him every time he battled against the Fire Nation’s commanders, who are also trying to capture Aang.

Appa the flying bison

The theme of each episode is pretty diverse ranging from bravery to just appreciating life.  One episode even had a theme similar to The Dark Knight but this was released 3 years before that movie.  Maybe Christopher Nolan is a big fan of this show.  I like how the color palette of each episode matches the theme.  For one story, it dealt with pain so the show used lots of reds while in another story, it had a very dark palette because it focused on mystery.  Most viewers probably won’t notice the palettes but I really appreciated it because it showed the episodes were well thought out.

Avatar The Last Airbender is a show that everybody should watch.  The characters are great and the story is compelling.

Video:
The Last Airbender is presented in 1.85: 1 widescreen and for the majority of the episodes, quality was good.  Each disc contains 4 episodes for a total of 5 discs.  The first disc had the biggest problem with halo effect on 3 of the 4 episodes.  The picture was doubling up and I was afraid the rest of the discs were the same.  Fortunately, the other discs looked fine and didn’t have the problem.

Prince Zuko is voiced by Dante Basco who played Rufio in Steven Spielberg’s Hook

Animation for the show is clearly influenced by manga and it looks good.  The most impressive sights were the battleships and Aang’s air temples.

Grade: B

Audio:
The show has a Dolby stereo track.  The dialogue is well balanced and I was surprised with the subwoofer use.  The bass were pretty heavy on several action scenes, something you don’t expect from a cartoon.  I wish there were more directional sound but you can’t expect much from a tv show.

Grade: B

Extras:
Discs 1-5 each has a short featurette about the show ranging from the voice actors and capturing the life like animations.  I’d skip these short extras and get to the real extras which comes in 2 other discs.

The first extra disc has 4 featurettes:

“Inside The Sound Studios” – Interesting look at how the sound effects are created.

“Pilot” – This has commentary from creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.  They talk about their original ideas and how the pilot was there sales pitch to Nickelodeon.

From left to write, co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino, kung fu consultant Sifu Kisu and co-creator Bryan Konietzko

“Inside The Korean Animation Studios” – We are shown where Aang and crew come to life at the animation studio in South Korea.  DiMartino and Konietzko also travel to the studio to supervise the work and get creative ideas from the Korean artists.

“Behind The Scenes” – Short recap of the process it takes to create a show from the voice actors to the artists and kung fu masters.

The collector’s edition comes with an exclusive disk featuring a documentary of the show’s creators, called Avatar Spirits.  In this 30 minute film, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko takes us how Avatar is created from the ground up.  They go in depth with their philosophy of the show and their interaction with fans. The fans motivates them to create better stories because it’s followed religiously.

Another interesting tidbit was hiring kung fu masters to choreograph for the fight scenes.  So what you see in the cartoon are real kung fu moves.  I also like how the creators only wanted 3 seasons of Avatar to solidify the story and they stuck to it. If you’re like me and you’ve never seen the show before,  there’s spoilers for the ending of the show so make sure to fast forward that part.

The box set also comes with a mini book with a short bio of the characters and plenty of concept art from the show’s different nations.

All of the disks and mini book is packaged in a nice hard box with an embossed portrait of Aang.

Grade: A

Overall:
Just in time for next week’s  big screen release of The Last Airbender, this collector’s edition is a great way to introduce new fans to Aang’s universe.  This is also a must have for hardcore Avatar The Last Airbender fans.  The boxset comes with plenty of extras and the mini book is a nice touch.  The boxset retails for $56 but Amazon has it for a low price of $26.99.  At that price, I strongly recommend it!

Til next time “Yip, yip!”

Overall Grade: A

Games like Street Fighter and Tekken and films like Bloodsport have always made us question who’s the best warrior. But it wasn’t until a little TV show called Deadliest Warrior where experts and scientists can really put to the test who the best warrior is. Thanks to the show, we can finally put the debate to rest (or call BS) whether a ninja can kill a Spartan or whether a Shaolin monk can knock down a Maori warrior.

Spike Games and developer Pipeworks have given gamers a chance to put their hands behind these warriors and truly see who’s the best warrior in the game, Deadliest Warrior. During E3 2010, TheMFShadow and I had a chance to test out the game with Spike Games. I can safely say that the game is pretty fun.

The game has a total of 8 characters, one being from Season 2. Each warrior has their own special technique and skills that will give them an extra edge during a fight. Character movement is like your typical 3d fighting game. Warriors can move left and right, up and down across the 3d plane.

Each warrior carries one short, one mid, and one long-ranged weapon to the battle and can switch between them on the fly. Pressing the left bumper switches from short to mid, while pressing B will use their long-range attack. Each weapons have its own science behind it that calculates speed and strength. For projectile weapons, you are limited to a certain amount. Certain warriors can carry shields, but it will slow them down, and the shields can be knocked out of their hands.

There are five maps total, one of them being the training area with pigs hanging off the ceiling.

The coolest thing about this game is that you can end the match quickly with a one-hit kill. Limbs can be severed and arrows will stay on your body if you get shot at. Decapitations are also the name of the game and a match can end with a finisher, just like Mortal Kombat.

Below is our “simulation” and results.

First Battle
Ninja (John Spartan) vs Pirate (TheMFShadow)
Winner: Pirate (TheMFShadow)

Second Battle
Knight (John Spartan) vs Viking (The MFShadow)
Winner: Knight (John Spartan)

Third Battle
Apache (John Spartan) vs Apache (The MFShadow)
Winner: Apache (John Spartan)

Well, this should sum up who’s the deadliest…yours truly.

All in all, the game is definitely worth it for being just $10. You get 8 kickass warriors, single mode, practice mode, unlockable challenges, and tournament mode with global rankings. Deadliest Warrior: The Game will be available July 14, 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade and later for the Playstation Network for $10.

I remember when I was young sitting in front of the TV watching the evening block of Knight Rider and The A-Team. Two action packed shows with cool stunts, great stories and that feel good ending that you can only get from a well-written and well-acted show.

The A-Team starring Liam Neeson as John “Hannibal” Smith the leader of the rag-tag bunch of commandos who “Love’s it when a plan comes together” was reminiscent of George Peppard’s character.

Tough-guy, fool pitying and “I hate flying!” B.A. Baracus  (Scooter to his Mama)was played by Quinton Jackson. This MMA fighter actually started sounding like Mr. T when he went into his classic rants over Howling Mad Murdock’s crazy escapades. The only thing missing was the many gold chains!

Face was played by Bradley Cooper, who at first I thought was a joke and would ruin the movie, however, there were excellent scenes that reminded me of Dirk Benedict as Templeton Peck.

In the end however, Sharlto Copley as H.M. (Howling Mad) Murdock stole the show with a craziness that would make Dwight Schultz proud.

The cast as a whole interacted well together which made for the kind of movie that could reboot  the TV show with respect and modernization.

The A-Team Of The 80's.

The stunts, special effects and even the CG was well done. The action was not only fun, but it was well staged.  The ending was very cool as were the wild stunt/CG sequences throughout the film.

The supporting cast was great including Jessica Biel, as Face’s love interest/ pursuer. Patrick Wilson as an odd spin-off of the Col. Lynch character and Brian Bloom as the smarmy, baddie Pike.

The awesome and classic “building” of their plan, and other shout-outs to the fans including the machine gun shots out of the back of the van (that actually hit!) Was well appreciated.

The A-Team was comical–I laughed a lot which was quite enjoyable!  I was in awe of the action which alone makes this A-Team a summer block buster to not only remember, but to buy on DVD.  As much as I was trying to find a flaw as a huge fan of a great 80′s show, I really couldn’t, so The A-Team gets a…

GRADE: A  …for A-Team!

I interviewed Matt Mullins a while back while he was on the television series Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight and he was gracious enough to talk to me about his awesome Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short film. Matt plays Johnny Cage in the popular short and I ask him about the making of the short film and the chances that it will become a feature-length movie.

NERDSociety (NS): The Mortal Kombat short film is an internet phenomenon. Is the short film a test reel so it can be pitched to studios ? Would you appear in the movie as Johnny Cage ?

Matt Mullins (MM): It really is awesome to see the response of the short film 6.5 million views total in 1 week. Kevin (The director) really wanted to show his vision of what the film could be. If the studios bites, it would be great, but you never know in this town. Nothing is ever a guarantee until it is in the theatre. Fans are very powerful though. When they speak studios listen. Hopefully their voice will be loud enough to get this film made, and made with the cast and crew that made the short come to life.

NS: You tried to bust a triangle choke (MMA submission) on Barraka, do you train in MMA? Also who was the fight choreographer?

MM: Larnell Stovell put together the fight for the MK. He is an outstanding action designer who really puts everything he has into every fight (see Undisputed 3). I have trained in different MMA classes and workouts, but I am no where near the level of UFC fighters. I really enjoy the sport though, and consider myself a student of all martial arts. I love to continue to train as much as I can.

NS: How long did it take to shoot the short ?

MM: The whole short was shot in 2 days, we did the fight in a total of 4-6 hours.

NS: If they make a feature-length movie out of it, will it be from scratch or is Johnny Cage already dead?

MM: The script is another mystery. I have heard Johnny Cage does not die, but I can’t truly confirm that. After seeing the tone of the film, I’m betting there will be a lot of everyone’s favorite characters biting the dusk.

NS: How did you get involved in the short ?

MM: I had been friends with Kevin for about 5 years, and we never had a chance to work on a project together. One afternoon he called me out of the blue and told me about an idea he had. He sent me the script, and I just about jumped out of my seat. I was excited. It was such a different and unique take on a franchise that really never got a chance to show its full potential.

NS: We interviewed you last time while you were on Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. I was a huge fan of the show. Is that project officially dead ? Any chance for a new series ?

MM: Like I said before nothing is a guarantee in this town, but for right now there is no additional plans with Kamen Rider. Power Ranger is getting a reboot, being brought back to Saban and I read they where putting 500 million into rebranding all their shows. I think rangers will again become what is was in the 90′s, which will not leave much room for anything else.

NS: Are there any future projects that you are working on that you’d like to share with our fans ?

MM: As of recent months, I have been doing a lot (months) of Motion Capture work on a few games. I should be able to talk about soon. There are also few things in the works to reconnect with Steve Wang on a project at the end of summer.

Thanks to Matt for his time and enjoy the Mortal Kombat short below.

Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

Click here to view the embedded video.

Paladin here; at Wizard World Philly I was given the opportunity to interview Australian actor Vernon Wells live and in person!

Upon approaching his booth I felt the excitement of seeing my idol villain whom I’ve waited 25 years to meet.

This interview was supposed to be setup in advance, however to prove that Vernon Wells is not like the baddies in which he plays on film, he offered to do the interview on the spot.

Nerdsociety/Paladin (NS): Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve waited 25 years, I’m a huge fan! (Yeah, that’s what I said–I must be a fan-boy or something!)
Do you remember Fortress with Rachel Ward? ::He nods and replies.:: I’m a huge fan of that film, it’s one of my favorites, it’s just as well the “original” independent film. Can you tell me some memories you had of making it?

Dabby Duck

Vernon Wells: Fortress was based on a true story that happened to a busload of kids whom were buried alive. Things were changed for the movie of course.
The kids were great to work with and I got to break windows. (Referring to a truck window using a shotgun and yelling to one of the kids “Get outta the car boy!”)

NS: I know you get asked about Commando a lot, but, what are some memories you have of working on that movie?

VW: It was a great experience, Alyssa Milano and I became good friends. The movie was well cast including Bill Duke (Played Cooke) being such a great actor. Arnold is like a kid in a candy store, and fun to work with.
I was not the original actor to play Bennett and I don’t know who was, I was cast at the last minute for the role.

Bennett

NS: I loved the fight at the end, it was good because YOU weren’t a wimp where Bennett just got his ass kicked and that was the end. Bennett actually was tough and kicked Matrix’s ass for half the fight.

VW: The fight with Arnold in the end was great. There is a good guy and a bad guy and only one can win and the good guy won.

NS: The futuristic movie Circuitry Man was really cool, I’ve seen the first one, but I can’t get a hold of the second part, what do you remember about it?

VW: I loved making Circuitry Man, I wasn’t sure I would be cast for the role due to my popularity at the time. I liked the make up and at the end I was used as a puppet.

NS: That’s what I liked most about the movie, there was no CG it was all classic FX and make-up.

NS:  You were the major villain Wez in Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior, can you tell me about filming that movie?

Wez

VW:  It was VERY cold, I froze my butt off!  It was rough, but no one complained, we all worked hard on that movie.  It was the first major film for everyone including Mel [Gibson].  No one was above anyone else, we were an ensemble cast  We did (regardless of the climate) enjoy ourselves making it.

NS:  Power Rangers has been around for a long time and has a broad fan base.  What was it like playing the villain Ransik and what was it like being a part of this classic series?

VW:  Power Rangers was very interesting to work on.  It was great working with kids who were such great actors that I didn’t need to tone it down for.  This version of Power Rangers (Time Force) had four things that made it stand out for me.  One, it was the first time that a Ranger was killed, my character Ransik killed the Red Ranger whom I had become friends with, when we are both at conventions we get together and hang out.  (Jason Faunt).

Two, I played the only male human to be the main villain, where in the past it was females, or monsters.  Three, the scripts were written by film writers making them great stories. And the forth is as mentioned before, it was amazing to work with kids that were on the level of adult actors.

NS:  That’s awesome!  The last thing I would like to ask is, do you have any hobbies?

VW:  I like to hike and travel, I work with kids and I have a passion for wolves.

End Of Interview

Wolf Connection

Visit the link above for the Wolfconnection.org website, there are great videos and great information on Wolves.

"Me" With Vernon Wells. (I Censored Me).

I thanked Vernon Wells at the end of the interview and shook his hand, it was a great feeling to meet someone who plays such nasty and insane villains–but is a real kind gentleman.

He signed my DVD of Fortress and said that he had not gotten a copy of the the movie yet–I couldn’t part with it so I said the famous line–they have it on amazon.com…Sorry Vernon, I would give it to you, but I love it too much!

The man with him–agent?  Had made a comment on Rachael Ward in a positive way and that was cool that I brought with me something so obscure.

It was more than a pleasure to meet Vernon Wells and to have the chance to talk with him was a treat that I’ll remember forever.  It might have been a once in a lifetime experience–one that I’ll remember for a lifetime.

My sincere thanks to Vernon Wells for the interview, the time and the memories!