Well this was my first comic con of any sort and I must say I really enjoyed it. I know Grand Rapids isn't the biggest CC in the world but it packed a lot of great stuff. The highlights to me was meeting three of the four TMNT from the original movie and going to their Q&A panel which was ran by Ben of Court of Nerds, meeting Kevin Eastmen who was sign FREE autographs and seeing the Red Ranger from afar. Not to mention all the vendors with toys and other goods I can't afford. I did pick up some cool NES posters for my down stairs(Zelda and BTTF).

My son had a great time but of course was overwhelmed  by some of the crowds. By noon you could barley get anywhere. It was packed! My only grip as it was just crazy busy. I did get to ask a question to the turtles in the panel and asked about what it was like going from such an intense gritty movie to TMNT 2 which is light and more aimed at kids. Leif Tilden(Don) basically said it was hard going from a movie with a goal and vision to a movie that was more "like a party". Also said TMNT 1990 was not a violet movie like a lot of parents labeled it and that a dark movie is ok. Life isn't always sun shine and flowers. A great panel.

Next year is suppose to be even bigger so I can't wait. Here is what I went home with.

Random Movie Thoughts

I went into Ghostbusters with an open mind. Its one of my fav movies ever and cartoons. Toys, video games. I love everything. I didn't freak at the all female cast or the terrible theme song by Fall Out Boy and a awful trailer. Is it the the GB reboot I wanted? No not by a long shot but its been so long I thought whatever. Its just good to see Ghostbusters on the screen again. I looked at this reboot and this movie like a "spoof" of the original GB. Its more over the top and the comedy comes first. Its is  it own thing to me. Here's my quick random thoughts.

-A lot of the jokes miss. Like no one laughed in the theater. Some what awkward moments. I will say I think these actors and writers, directors work better with rated R stuff.

-Some stuff was funny and had me laughing but there are a lot of misses.

-Thought all the four girls had funny moments and fit in and had a role on the team that was used through out the movie.
-The comedy comes first. To me the Original GB is science fiction first and comedy second. This is a pure comedy. I prefer it the other way around.

-Loved the gear more than the I thought I would. The new way to open the trap and all that was great.

-You only see them trap one ghost!!

-The new Ecto shots were pretty great. Don't care for the car as much but thought it was well showed.
-The Villain was lacking. Should have had a better actor.

-Thor was pretty funny. He had the least comedy misses.

-Really enjoyed Kate McKinnon. I love her on SNL so that isn't surprising. My wife thought she was too much of a cartoon at times which I can see.

-McCarthy is held on a lease since we know she does better when she can yell f words.

-I really liked all the proton throwing and use. Lots of ghosts get toasted by beams(but not crazy about that) . My only gripe with the Original GB is that THEY DON'T BUST ENOUGH GHOSTS! Here they do that but only trap one... so mixed bag.

-The ending is alright, nothing really funny happens in the 3rd act. The big ghost gets taken down by chance and comedy which is like "mehhhh" The original you thought ok these guys are giving their lives and crossing the streams to save NYC. Again science before comedy. With Slimmer driving Ecto into the vortex...Comedy first.

-Seeing all the busters in random roles was a bit off. I only liked Hudson's since he had the funnest line. Thought all the others were lame or misses on the comedy.

-Movie goes blue screen crazy in the end. Looks terrible at times. I'm not a fan of ton of special effects.

-This leads to my biggest issue. The special effects are awful. I hate the choice that was made to make everything look like a fruit snack. Its like they hired the special effects guy from the Casper movie to do the ghosts and special effects. The effects in the original look far better and these effects will cause the movie to age poorly. From the proton streams to the ghosts. The 1984 effects are more real. This to me goes back to the comedy first thing. Its the only thing about the movie I couldn't stand or hated.
-Ghosts are destroyed my proton streams alone?

-Looks like there will be a second movie.

Its not great or bad. Its a mix bag to me and I think a lot of kids will enjoy it which is a good thing since Ghostbusters is for kids. I never thought it was scary and think some RGB episdoes are scarier. That being said the grown up in me would like to see a more serious and scarier Ghostbusters. One that is aimed at me, and it looks like Sony is willing to really use the licence now so who knows. I know this spoof one will go on to make a second but I really hope we get a science first one.

ghostbusters, RMT, movies, movie, summer popcorn,

SD80s reader Budda from Hall of Omens contacted me with interest in my Thundercat shoes. After seeing the Hall of Omens I knew that is where those shoes belonged. The hall is so great I wanted to share it here on the blog. The great thing about the Hall of Omens is that it isn't just toys but everything and anything Thundercats. Things I totally forgot about are there like the cool plastic puzzles, pencil sharpeners and even a amazing Thundercats big wheel. So if you love Thundercats than book your tour now to the... Hall of Omens!

cool crap, 80s, thundercats, toys,

Random Wrestling Thoughts

It was a time of transition for the WWF but they turned out some decent moments in those lean years. This rumble and the 94 rumble are my favorite because Bret Hart is involved in the endings. This Rumble has some lows and highs but a fun re-watch over all. Not going to lie I watched only parts of some of the matches besides the championship match and the Rumble. I just don't have 3 hours to watch and break down Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq is a potato throwing match.

-Hunter starting to come into his own here. At this point you didn't know who was going to get that push. Him or Goldust. Both good workers but Goldust to me was just to odd to push to any main event status. His best was work and feud was with Brian Pillmen and everything is sorta "meh". Hunter was the better of the two at this point.

-Vader and Undertaker have a slow lumbering match. I've never made it any secret that I don't enjoy watching Taker matches. He's always bored me. Nothing different here. I was bored. I do think Vader never got credit for being a talented big guy. I mean the man missed a moon salt off the top rope in every match he was in. He had the skill just not much appeal. Vader got a nice push at this point and got the win after Bearer did his thing with the ref not looking.

-Michaels and Sid put on a decent match. Shawn does a good job putting on a show for the home crowd. Sid was a great nut ball at this point that he was a liked heel. He never seemed to get booed ever. Shawn breaks the 4th wall by hitting Sid with the camera which leads to sweet chin music. Shawn has a awkward moment where he hugs Vince and shakes his ass in his face as he celebrate. Too bad he loses his smile a few months later.
-Stone cold goes the distance in this thing and is the only reason from it getting boring with such a thin roster at the time

-So many masked wrestlers that never saw WWF tv again. Again, the roster was just gutted at this time.

-Owen Hart and Bulldog have a funny moment when Owen knocks out bulldog.

-Jerry the King Lawyer with a very funny moment while announcing his song plays and he states he's in the rumble only to be thrown out in a few seconds and then sits back down and starts announcing again. Great comedy.
-Flash Funk takes a hell of a bump when he thrown over the ropes by Vader. Looked painful.

-Fake Diesel/Dr.Issac/Kane makes an appearance. Looks to be in great shape. Glad Kane made him, he's a great big man worker.

-Hahaha the Sultan...

-The moment when Stone Cold clears the ring and than Bret comes out is a awesome moment with the look on Stone Colds face.
-Rock is still Rocky here and the first person he attacks once in the ring is Stone Cold. Some foreshadowing here.

-Good to see Terry Funk. He's so old he botches a pile driver and can't get Bret up.. They just fall over.
-Vader gives some stiff punches that no one seems to enjoy.

-Mankind and Funk do some good stuff.
-Great ending with Stone Cold being tossed by Bret Hart. The refs don't see it since they are getting Funk and Mankind split up. Stone Cold jumps back in and throws out a tangled Taker and Vader and then tosses Bret who just tossed fake Diesel. Bret of course goes crazy and shakes Vince at the booth. This is the start of the Heel Hart coming out. The full turn takes place at WM 13 in maybe the best match of all time imo.

Credit to Cult of Whatever

Like I said this Rumble has some lows and highs and some pretty big time moments in some of these wrestlers history. I give it 6 Sultans out of 10.

wwf,wwe,bret hart, tv, ppv

Random Movie Thoughts

I decided to pick this up for $5 of amazon and give it a re-watch. I haven't watched it some time but this has to be the most underrated Batman,DC,Super hero movie ever! My mother took me to this on my birthday, the day it came out since I loved the show so much. I was one of the few who went. WB really botched this thing. At first it was suppose to be direct to VHS but then changed direction and went to the big screen and gave the team 8 months!! to get it out and boy did they. That is where the good decisions in the marketing come to an end. They pushed out a awful trailer, no good TV ads, very little toys. They just screwed it up. The movie cost 6 million to make and only made 5 million in the theaters. After home release it made money. The talent did its job but WB didn't do theirs.

I might move it up my top 10: Batman list. It has very little issues and has everything you could want in a Batman movie. Its better than BvS... Easily. I won't get into that right now.

-Love the BTAS style. Glad that team did this movie.

-The new Phantom character is great. It has a super natural moments and you never know how the tricks are pulled off.

-This movie has three hair raising moments. The first, The Phantom has a great line. "Your Angel of Death Awaits". Creepy.
-The way they wrap a origin story, love and the plot of the Phantom murdering old mob guys is pure genius and amazing editing and writing. It flows so well and well paced. If Snyder was given this it would have been a pure mess. Ok no more BvsS hating.

-Its a really dark kids movie. I mean brutal deaths of these mob bosses. Not to mention blood, cuts, guns and aggressive fighting. Not sure if its PG by today's standards.

-The voice acting of course is some of the best you'll see. Hamill's Joker is bare none one of the best Jokers ever. Conroy blows any other animated Batman out of the water and should be in the convo as best Bats in any movie. Stacy Keach is a creepy Phantom and we get Abe freaking Vigoda.

-With a bigger budget they got use a choir in some of the music. Just beautiful stuff that makes the scenes
-Hair raising scene number two. When Batman puts on the cowl for the first time and Alfred is scared of Bruce. The music along with the moment is one that sticks with you.

-The movie does have a great mix of serious tones,action and funny stuff(Joker's rocket pack) .

- The old mob guys death... Jesus.. PG my ass.

-Batman gets pretty beat up in the final act. Suit is ripped up, Joker loses a tooth, bloody nose... Again PG..OK.
-The twist of who the Phantom is again just great writing and they tie all the lose ends up. Motivation of the characters are clear and executed. Looking at you Snyder... OK I'll stop.

-Hair raising scene number 1, when Hamill gets to unleash his best Joker laugh and maybe the best in the history of cinema. All Hell as broke loose and fire is raining down. Joker is ready to take Batman with him and die. He lets out the Joker Laugh of all time.
If WB ever gives this thing a Blu-Ray release you have my money. Its sad its so discarded(like TMNT one). Yet Batman and Robin get Bluray releases... Makes no sense. Give me a BR in 1080p and cleaned up(it will never happen). Its amazing and if you haven't seen it than shame on you. If you love Batman and haven't watched it in a long time than watch it. I think it gets better with age. Cartoon or not this is Batman. If WB ever made this into a live action movie and just went scene by scene.. Mother of God.  

batman, movies, movie, comics, joker, RMT,

These are movies I had high hopes for or just can't even make it through. The theater has let us down at one time or another and its these movies where we are screaming for our money back. Please comment any of your worst movies!

10.Dune (RT 56%)

I just finished the book and wow what mind blowing piece of literature. I can't wait to read the next book. As for the movie?? Ehhh its a mess. Its impossible to cram this book into 2 hours. It has to be 3 hours or two parts. The acting is not great and the Baron is totally weird. Like disgusting. Hes a evil asshole in the book but not gross. And whats with the rain at the end? There was a 3 hour version that just hit the net with all the parts they cut from the movie which helps a lot! But it has since be removed..... If HBO ever gave this thing a Game of Thrones treatment..MY GOD.

9.Mission to Mars(RT 25%)
As a pre teen the trailer had me pumped. I have always been into Mars and I thought it looked awesome. I knew I was in trouble when it came back with a PG rating. The terrible Alien at the end.....ehhhhhhhhh.

8.Any Spiderman Movie (RT 89%  93%  63%)
I don't get it. I never got it at the time. People went banana's for the first Spiderman and I didn't understand why. 2nd one came out and again people loved it. I hated it. People called me nuts. I like me some Sam Rami too but its garbage. Then the 3rd..... a Dance scene? What the hell is going on? It grossed WHAAAAT? It pretty much assured me that people will like anything no matter how terrible it is. I will admit that I don't really like Marvel or SpiderMan but it can be done better then the last two tries. I hear they are going for a 3rd reboot. Good luck.

7.The Happening(RT 17%)
I didn't even want to see this since I hadn't liked M night since Signs but the wife pushed me into the theater. We laughed the whole way through. The over acting and Mark Wahlberg staring at the camera asking "IT CAN'T BE THE WIND CAN IT?" RUN FROM THE WIND! Is that even possible? We wanted to leave but we were laughing so we stayed.

6.Ghost Rider (RT 26%)
It was February, we wanted to go out. We chose this for reasons unknown to me. We left a hour in and I haven't seen it since. Was their a sequel? Not worthy enough for my google search bar.

5.Mortal Kombat Annihilation(RT 3%)
I was a huge MK fan and after the first movie which at the time as "ok"(not now) I was hoping to see more of my favorite characters. Well that is what we got and what a mess. MK characters would just randomly drop out of the sky(literately) and FIGHT! The acting was terrible, special effects were laughable and the script was pure shit. I'm surprised it this saw the light of day. FINISH..H...TURN IT OFF!

4.Indiana Jones...4 (RT 78%)
Such a huge disappointment. It was fun seeing Ford back on the screen as Indie but Lucas can't get out of his own way. I enjoyed the first 30 mins ans then it just goes south with insane situations. Ok you can blow up and survied in a fridge... But when you swing with monkeys and catch back up to the car...THAT WHERE I DRAW THE LINE. Also the plot as a whole just was boring. UFO crap? Ugh.. I'll watch any of the 3 anytime but I refuse to watch this junk.

3.Star Wars Episode II (RT 67%)
Episode I was boring but the last 15 mins saved it from being on this list. This one is just a snoozer all the way. The last light Saber fight with Yoda,Skywalker and the Count had the crowd laughing(at least in my theater). There was nothing cool about this Star Wars, cheese acting and zero on screen chemistry from the Skywalker and Padme. Lucas again just botched this thing. I again will watch all of them besides this thing. Unless I am trying to fall a sleep.

2.Batman and Robin (RT 11%)
This movie turned me off from Batman anything for 8 years! I was totally done with it. I even blew off Begins until word started to fly that it was really good. This thing is just bloated bright and ugly.. With terrible casting and lines. It goes full cheese and fails. Batman 1966 has its place and its fits there. This thing was so bad the people involved have apologized for making it. I remember leaving the theater with my cousin and was both said "were done with Batman". That is hard to do to a 15 year old who loves Batman. This movie pulled it off.

1.Super Mario Bros(RT 16%)
Ok when the posters started showing up at the theater and word spread via news papers and magazines that there was going to be a SMB movie I flipped my lid. I day dreamed about seeing a real life Bowser. The castle, maybe his kids from SMB3? The possibilities seemed endless. What did we get? A human Bowser, parallel universes, Jurassic Park Yoshi, The Dinosaur song, a king who is a elastic goo.... Yes that sounds just like SMB.

Looks like a Goomba right?

I remember leaving the theater and even mom was like "what did we just watch?" I couldn't answer her. It was just awful and to this day I can't sit through it. You had the licence and you blew 40 mil. It grossed 20 mil... It sorta reminds me of what they did with He-man as in they had to some how have it based on on earth and why? Why? You had 40 million! Don't watch it!
80s movie, movies, top 10,

Wow one year! Its been fun remembering and sharing things I enjoy and love with my 93 twitter followers and the 10 people who have visited the blog. I know I don't write in a ton of depth and it isn't a clear or well done but thanks to those who enjoy it and read it. A special thanks to the Sewer Den for leaving a few comments. I want to thank the two blog sponsors 8bitfetish and modifimyshop.com for providing great posters and products for me to review. Here is to another great year!

My favorite posts from the year
Top 10:SNES Cover Art - Top 10:Childhood Movies - Kenner Real Ghostbusters Firehouse Restore
Top 10:Real Ghostbusters Episodes - Top 10:Movies my Parents shouldn't have let me watch as a kid. - RMT:Masters of the Universe