Tuesday, July 31, 2012

COMICHEAD : WORLD WAR HULK 1 & 2

A crazy little HULK story titled "War World Hulk" gets the COMICHEAD treatment, the review is actually better than the original story.

Nuff said, enjoy!


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

COMICHEAD special edition: BATMAN vs BANE

In honor of the anticipated release of Chris Nolan's "Dark Knight Rises" this Friday, The good people at ComicHead review Batman # 497 chapter Eleven in the KnightFall series.

(disclaimer NSFW)

enjoy:


PS: I love the NES pro wrestling King Slender reference.

NYCC x GRANDAIZA

I want to extend an olive branch to New York Comic Con, why did you dump us?

when you first came onto the scene a few years ago, you embraced the blogging community by inviting us to attend with press credentials for the entire weekend, panels previews of upcoming films and games, it was beautiful.

And then like the nerdy girl who finally became accepted by the popular kids, you dumped my puny blog once you caught the eyes of the big boys sites like IGN, 1Up, gametrailers to name a few.

We get it, but little blogs like us sit and talk to attendees, cover niche interests like toys, models, small press publishers, cosplayers and indie games.

So to sum it up, New York Comic Con, let's still be friends, although I don't plan to attend with or without press passes, I wish you the best.

- Grandaiza

P.S.

Can I have my "Master Killer" DVD back you filthy slut?


The PUNISHER in "DIRTY LAUNDRY" a short film.

Thomas Jane, film actor who you may recognize from "HBO's "Hung" "The Mist" and of course "The Punisher" is confessed comic fan, So instead of sitting on his ass on his down time, he puts together a cool short movie staring himself as "Mr. Castle" called dirty laundry.

enjoy:


Monday, July 16, 2012

IRON MAN 3 : SDCC pics of the new suit. (IROM MAN MARK VIII)

(Photos courtesy of MARVEL.com)

You've probably seen these pics all over the Internet, as someone who delights in all things robotic, I like the subtle changes they made, most noticeable is the change in color scheme, gold dominates the suit now an interesting look that doesn't deviate too far from the traditional look of the suit.

The suite also seems less angular around the chest, abs, legs and gauntlets giving it a more organic look than previous armors depicted in Marvel films.

 I can vaguely make out small separations in the armor akin to the MARK IV ( silver suit case suit from IRON MAN 2 ) along the helmet and chest plate which could indicate another "Transforming" suite like the one we saw at the end of  "The Avengers" 



The pronounced shoulder pads and the colored segments along the arms, abs and back remind me of a "EVA" from Neon Genesis Evengelion it's smoother more uniform look to the arms and legs gives it look less like a segmented suit of armor which I feel is an improvement to the previous design.


The hips and the knees in my opinion look a whole lot better with a more organic symmetrical look. 

Although Faveau isn't directing the Third film, I'm psyched by what I know so far, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, The Iron Patriot Armor and RDJ returning as Tony Stark.

I'm There dudes.



Judgement pass on the new JUDGE DREDD clip....

I'm not a fan of the previous Dredd film starring Stallone and that Deuce Bigalow fellow. But if this trailer succeeds in reeling me in with it's gratuitous high speed / slo-mo kill shots.

Looks promising but I will reserve Judgement until I see this bad boy either in the theater or in BluRay.

Enjoy:


Saturday, July 14, 2012

AMC's THE WALKING DEAD Season 3 TRAILER

I normally don't get this ape shit over TV show but your going to have to give me a little leeway with the Walking Dead, hands down my favorite boob tube show ( sorry Walter White, you and your blue meth come in at a close second )

Here's the Season 3 trailer, enjoy:

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

METAL GEAR SOLID : the exorcism of a video game demon that had haunted me for over 14 years

Many moons ago (1998) when the Playstation One was in its infancy, Metal Gear Solid was released by Konami, legendary game makers of the 16 bit era (Contra, Super Contra ) and produced by Hideo Kojima who at the time was best known for the cult police investigation game Policenaunts, MGS was heralded as the first truly next gen action adventure game, everyone that I knew with a PSOne couldn't wait to get their hands on this opus of a game.

On its release date I remember picking the game at the now defunct "Pinguin Village" on Elizabeth Street in New York's Chinatown, rushing back to my apartment and being blown away by it's Hollywood style score and cinematic intro. I played the game with a joyful frenzy, savoring every successful sneak and takedown until the fateful day when I encountered the Villainous Psycho Mantis. 

For those of you who haven't played the game, Psycho Mantis was a video game boss in his own class, he would read your mind (memory card) mock your taste in video games, appear "change" your TV's video input, use telekinesis to throw shit at you, turn your friend against you and then turn invisible all in mid battle.
 


(here's a taste of old leather chaps on action)




Up until that point, I had foolishly breezed through several levels of the game saving over my previous saves, missing several key items that would be paramount for my battle with this fiend (thermal googles, ammo, rations) so when the battle came I was hopelessly outmatched and ill equipped to beat this digital devil.

Hopelessly I battle Psycho Mantis for what seemed like a eternity, hours became days, days became weeks and pride being what it was, I refused help from magazines or the or the preYouTube 56.6k Internet, until finally surrendered to Psycho Mantis.....he won and I traded in a game that up until that point I loved for something a little less threatening because of an "unbeatable" Villain.

For the longest anytime Metal Gear Solid would come up as the topic of conversation with friends I would cringe as I made excuses as to why I never finished the game.

Flash forward to a the now, someone gives me Metal Gear collection HD for the Playstation 3 and it was like shell shock, I couldn't bring myself to open the game weirdly enough due to the simple fact that I let the first game beat me....no strike that, I let Psycho Mantis beat me.

So I plunked down $9.99, downloaded that MGS on the PSN, set it to normal and off I went.

I don't know if it was maturity, patience, experience or a combination of all Three but I managed to beat this "monster" of a game this time on normal in less than 15 hours of playtime and even though they are no "Trophies" for PSOne classics, as corny as it sounds as a gamer the personal achievement meant more to me that any platinum Trophy in any other game.

And today I opened Metal Gear HD collection, on to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty.

-PSN ID: Grandaiza out.

COMICHEAD SPECIAL : OLD MAN LOGAN

This one is for my pals who haven't read main stream comics in a while, here's the COMICHEADS cliff notes on one of my favorite Marvel Stories in a long time, OLD MAN LOGAN written by Mark Millar and Illustrated by the talented Steve McNiven.

I highly recommend you pick this book up, but if you don't have time you can always get the funny ass COMICHEADS version of how it all went down.

A big thank you to Kevin Smith for hooking up Brian Faraldo with this gig, he is one funny dude.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

(enjoy)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A website by any other name....aka...my tale of woe.

So I forgot to renew the domain name of the web site (www.grandaiza.com) and some dirty little swede bought the name right from under me.

It wouldn't have bothered me as much if it was used to promote something of interest, but the douche bag is just using it for a scam spam website with links to all sorts of shady business dealings.

Thankfully google has allowed me to revert to the sites original URL of grandaiza.blogspot.com which I don't have to pay for and does what I need it to just the same.

So I will be posting with a little more frequency, even if I don't have a cute story or funny video to share and maybe I'll start a little web comic on this site one day.

-Grandaiza out.

The RZA's - "Man With The Iron Fist's"

I'm curious to see how the Wu-Tang clan's RZA uses his vast knowledge of Shaw bros. Kung-fu movies in his feature film directorial debut.

Produced by Quentin Tarentino, written and directed by the RZA ( with a screenplay co-credit to Eli Roth ) the trailer has a Mortal Kombat / Kill Bill / X-Men vibe to it.

As a fan of the Wu and an action film aficionado I'm rooting for the RZA.


Here's the trailer:


COMIC HEADS : More Avengers X-Men and Spider-Man

Here's some more crazy ass comic reviews from COMIC HEADS :

enjoy.....


Friday, May 25, 2012

Comic Head #2 - Avengers vs X-Men #2

Here's a review of AvX #2 by Comic Head....enjoy.
( viewer discretion is advised )


Friday, May 18, 2012

AVENGERS vs X-MEN 80's EDITION : Shadowcat vs Ironman


Once again just having a little fun with the Marvels big summer cross over event - I just took it back to MY favorite comic age, THE 80's ! Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde vs IRONMAN.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The gAss station

Our good friends south of the border have come up with an interesting way to keep your mind off the high price of gas at the pumps.
Presenting the Ass Station!


Gas Station Distracts Customers From High Prices - Watch more free videos

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

HEADLINE GNEWS : PRESIDENT OBAMA DECLARED LORD OF THE THUNDERCATS

President Obama named the new lord of the Thundercats, secures the "nerd" vote....Mum-Ra demands a recount.




MARVEL DISSASSEMBLED ANIMATED SHORT

Junaid Chundrigar's Animated short,"Disassembled" is a funny toon with Marvel characters running amok.

It's safe for kids and work so sit back and enjoy.



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Comic Head #1 - Avengers vs X-Men #1

I found this whist trolling through the interwebs on my day off. Director, writer and podcaster Kevin Smith put together a youtube channel to go along with his Smodco internet radio network and on it he has this ComicHead comic book review by a fellow named Brian Faraldo,  who I thought was funny as shit (reminded me of my cousin) and just I wanted to share it with my content starved audience.

Here it is for your consumption, Enjoy.

(warning: salty language , may not be suitable for work, wee kids or those of you with week constitutions)


THE AVENGERS : SPOILER FREE REVIEW


After almost A month of silence, this movie stoked a small dying ember in the fires of my belly and got me to dust off the keyboard and give you my bullet point, spoiler free opinion of THE AVENGERS.

  • Joss Whedon's dialog was what I hoped for, quick witted and snappy
  • Cobie Smolders ( CBS : How I met your mother ) felt out of place.
  • Best use of the Hulk in any medium outside of comics.
  • Downy Jr. carries most the movie ( this is a good thing )
  • Captain America they should have kept the first avengers costume, it would have helped with his whole "man out of time" thing - the redesigned suit is a step down.
  • The climatic Third act alone is well worth the price of admission.

Verdict : A MUST SEE ( not that they need our cash )



Monday, May 14, 2012

GI JOE : Snake Eyes vs Cobra in Color

Sorry for the long intervals between posts, I've been focusing on picking up a pencil and trying to finally finish some illustrations for once instead of leaving things half way.

So here we go:

I colored my inked drawing of Snake Eyes on the ipad using a Wacom stylus in the Artstudio app.
I'm really surprised as to how well it turned out being that I hate coloring due to the fact that I've ruined a lot of my better looking drawings trying to color them with markers and watercolor, that I pretty much gave up on coloring until recently. Anyhow here it is hope you like it.


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

GI joe's Snake Eyes in : CROM RULEZ THE DEAD

 I went back to basics on a some "MARVEL" Strathmore comic stock I had lying about. good old fashion pencils on inks laid down with a Mocron .005 & a Micron brush tip which I love. Just a nice little scene with our buddy Snake Eyes using a Cobra Officer for a shield. The tag "Crom Rule the Dead" is a little fan service for a friend a mine who sent me a pic of that particular tag spray painted in the NYC subway tunnels.

The ipad is cute for doodles but Paper & Inks are my bread and butter.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Max Landis deconstructs "The Death of Superman" and shines a floodlight on what's wrong with comics today.

Max Landis, son of famed 80's movie director John Landis ( Animal House, Blues Brothers) pulls at the string of the horrible 90's comic book debacle known as the "Death of Superman" and unravels everything that's wrong with mainstream comics today.

It's a very entertaining little video that runs at about 17 minutes.

also keep an eye out for cameos by Elijah Wood, Simon Pegg, Mandy Moore, Morgan Kratz, Ron Howard just to name a few.



(I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.)

- Obi Wan Kenobi

And we're back!

I took a little time off to tend to the family and figure out what the hell I'm going to write about on this little corner of the interwebs...my conclusion is that I'm not going to over think about my posts, good or bad it's all going to be more of a stream of consciousness kind of blog.


(with the occasional fan service)

Ok here we go!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

My online art gallery.

In 2012 I want to do a little more drawing and I hope to share these attempts with anyone who's interested on a personal little art blog I created called....

(insert drum roll here)


 http://johnbeatoart.blogspot.com

so if you curious to see my finished drawings, feel free to pop on in from time to time and feel free to leave any comments.

Thanks.