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By: Nick Eskey

Welcome back toy enthusiasts to the last installment of exclusive Funko toys for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Well known for their POP! line of figurines, Funko strives to “cover as many beloved licenses and characters as possible to remind every Comic-Con attendee why they fell in love with these stories in the first place.”

Though there might be more Funko toys announced, these are the last of the exclusives for Comic-Con to be revealed. Remember, there will be no pre-buy option this year. If you see any merchandise that you want, then you need to buy them at the booth while supplies last.

Without further hullabaloo, here’s the last of the reveals:

What ever happened if the Man-of-Steel fought against the Dark Knight? With this Batman v Superman 2-pack, you can play-out this epic fight of fights for yourself. Maybe Batman’s batarang is made of kryptonite?

Still reeling over the series end of Breaking Bad? Well this Blue Crystal Heisenberg (funny I know) will keep your withdrawals at bay. Just don’t upset the guy. He looks a little trigger happy.

Steering away from the toy merchandise, Funko will also be selling the wearable variety. These shirts feature some of their best selling figures. Much like their POP! toys, these tees are displayed in fun colorful boxes.

Paying homage to the company’s mascot, this Freddy Funko tee has been made exclusively for San Diego Comic-Con. See Freddy in all of his splendor as he walks around the convention with collectibles, admittance badge, and light saber in hand.

All hail Disco Skeletor! This Masters of the Universe villain in his variant colors demands respect as he attempts to once and for all conquer Castle Grayskull.

For you “old-school” types, this Freddy Funko 8-Bit Pixelated tee will be the perfect fit. Whether he’s on his way to rescue a princess, or jump on top of baddys’ heads, he’s sure to be super.

Is there anything worse than burnt marshmallows? A gigantic Burnt Stay Puft marshmallow man, of course! Instead of having to clean this traveler off of every surface, best to stick to this shirt.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Skyline Group tee shows the sewer-dwelling crime fighters on top of two buildings.

And last on our exclusives list, this Black Widow Shield tee flies onto the scene. Unfortunately for her male fans, this shirt is only available in women’s sizes. Though I’m sure this will not stop some fellas.

Thanks for faithfully tuning in everybody for these Funko updates everybody. I can’t wait to see all of you at Comic-Con ’15!

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Celebrated film critic David Thomson, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, has edited the ultimate fan guide to Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad: The Official Book. The paperback covers the evolution of Breaking Bad from the pilot to the final episode and beyond. Adapted and expanded from Breaking Bad Alchemy, the interactive e-book for the iPad, it highlights the unique elements that made the series so magnetic.

Thomson shares an extensive interview with Vince Gilligan and provides an insightful introduction, arguing that Breaking Bad is not only a great show, but one of the most significant works of fiction in the new century. In addition to exploring how this epic series came to be, Thomson sets Breaking Bad in the context of both crime literature and long-form television. (Jon Brooks noted that The Atlantic called Thomson “the greatest living film critic and historian,” and the writer of “the most fun and enthralling prose about the movies since Pauline Kael.”)

The book includes insider secrets about the making of the show and the meanings behind its iconography, a complete Breaking Bad timeline, and in-depth looks at the series’ groundbreaking cinematography, music, and special effects, as well as the show’s influences, such as Brian De Palma’s Scarface.

According to Daniel Bubbeo in Newsday, the book summarizes all five seasons of the show and includes trivia like the Bad Chemistry Quiz (\"How many bodies have we seen dissolved in acid on screen?\"), and more.

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Great Hera! Variety has reported that Michelle Maclaren will direct Warner Bros’ “Wonder Woman” standalone motion picture. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the film aside from the fact that Gal Gadot will star as Princess Diana of Themyscira, and Charles Roven is a producer.

Maclaren is known for her work on AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, the Emmy award winning series “Breaking Bad”, and HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. Looks like Maclaren has over 20 years experience in Hollywood, so this feels like a really, really choice.

Here’s a video of Maclaren at work on the “Breaking Bad” set (FYI, spoiler alert):

“Wonder Woman” is set to hit theaters some time in 2017.

(H/T: Variety)

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So I'm late to the party. So it took me awhile to catch on. Still, it is impossible to avoid reporting on my awe.

"Breaking Bad," the AMC TV show that won all those Emmys, all that acclaim, all that morning gossip, has snared me.

The moral genius of it. The propulsive force of it. The entangling tangling complex complete story line. The text and subtext and collaborative creatives. Aaron Paul (MisTer WhiTe). Dean Norris (it was you). Betsy Brandt (acres of purple). RJ Mitte (give that guy a good car). Anna Gunn (New Mexico in her blood). Giancarlo Esposito (because he's a man.) Bryan Cranston (I am the danger).

And Vince Gilligan. A million Heisenberg hats off to Vince Gilligan, the guy who didn't study chemistry but who compensated for that by reading Popular Science and hiring consulting experts and believing in the color blue.

Any writer out here, wondering how story gets done: Take the time to watch "Breaking Bad." Binge it, as I have. Banish your bedtime. Chart the course and count the risks. Consider all the "rules" you've been taught and how this show leaves them in shambles. You think the hero of your story needs to be likable? Think again. You want to give your characters a really long time to swat at a fly? Go right ahead, so long as you interlude and conclude with confessions that fall just shy of getting heard. You want to assert a theme without ever explaining a theme? The path has been laid. You want to go hog wild with the color purple? Tuck it into nearly every scene.

I had no interest in writing while binging on "Breaking Bad." I stopped serving real meals so that we could sandwich up and watch the Cook. I stopped thinking I knew something about poetry.

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” I was dreaming when I wrote this. So sue me if I go to fast.” – Prince and The Revolution

Puppicasso took a long break from all that predicting, because it was getting way too unpredictable.

But today he turned six years old.

From six months to six years he has been living the adopted life, and from nine months he moved into his Breaking Bad life.  He grew up in the Burbank offices, and early on came to know a fellow named Eddie –

Puppicasso’s first prediction of 2014 was made in 2009, when he sat not so patiently next to Eddie knowing that his mom would be Nominated for one today!

Here’s to hoping that the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards Ceremony allows Puppis in to enjoy and all the meat they can eat!

Pupp extends his paw up for a paw/fist bump to the other people that gave him belly rubs and fed him while they were trying to cut — Skip Macdonald, Kelley Dixon, and Chris McCaleb!

He thanks Lynne Willingham for lending her Breaking Bad Eddie Award so he could facilitate his long term prediction– five years in the making!

 

Filed under: Puppicasso Predictions Tagged: 2014 Predictions, ACE Eddie Award, Birthday, Breaking Bad, Nominations

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Puppi and the very Icey Day

Puppi was put on a really strict diet. One can of food a day – half in the morning with pills, repeat at night.

No treats.

The combination of diet and steroids has made for one very cranky Puppi.

As I tried to figure out what I had to do to satiate Puppi’s well-being, I was off to the cast and crew screening of a short film I made, Breaking Ice.  Appropriately enough, I had crew gifts made that were mood cups that changed color when cold…

Coming back from the rink where the screening was held, I literally stumbled on the cure to his chewiness… Ice Cubes.  (I fell carrying the ice chest that contained them, and ending up using the cubes to ice my shins.)

He used them to teeth as a puppy-Pupp, and now they cooled his anger towards the diet.

Ice is usually thought of as cold and unforgiving, but using it in tiny chunks made Puppi’s life right now more warm and inviting.

Yay Ice!

 

 

Filed under: Puppicasso Predictions Tagged: 2012 Predictions, Breaking Bad, Breaking Ice, Cute, Dog, Ice

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Puppicasso spent another weekend day of work with his momma.

This is what he looked like in the morning when I told him he had to go in:

In spite of his reluctance, he knew he good make a good situation out of a boring one.  He decided to make a Puppicasso Prediction work for him, so for today, he threw on his PR hat and turned PP#28 into shameless “Puppi-Plugs”.

 This blog was brought to you by (not really, just watch this stuff):

http://www.hulu.com/book-club

http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad

http://www.cbs.com/shows/a_gifted_man

And if you gotta a pooch in Los Angeles bring them to these auditions on Sunday:

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/events_new/WLTDO_auditions.html

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I’ve been poking my head around the web to see what people thought of the Lost finale. There’s a fair amount of disappointment, but just as many people who thought it was beautiful and touching. There’s also a ton of confusion, and I might as well start by stating the obvious. The island was real. They did not die during the plane crash. They all lived and died on their own timelines and reunited in the afterlife. There is no doubt about this.

I didn’t adore the finale initially, but now that I’ve let it sink in, I’m appreciating it more and more and discovering that the “answers” so many people were looking for have been there all along. They’re all tied to the afterlife concept.

The Island was the gateway to the afterlife. The afterlife needed to be protected, because it contained the dreams and desires of every man and woman. And it was too powerful for the living (and magnetic compasses) to handle. However, it was leaking from the island. Some were trying to escape from it. Some were trying to harness its magic. It healed, but also corrupted. Time travel and ghosts and monsters and miscarriages and Star Wars references and all other sorts of nonsense were born from it. Yet only in death, and only if you put the love of others before the love of yourself, were you granted entrance to it. And that’s how the show ended.

Hokey? A bit. But the theme of the show was always about being lost. And every character, from Jack and Kate to Ben and Locke to Jacob and his Mother, was lost. Physically and spiritually. The viewer was lost as well. Sifting through the mysteries and trying to find a key to solve it all. Turns out, by leaving so many mysteries unanswered, the show is providing the template for an afterlife. And now that Lost has died, the key is to piece together that afterlife in any way the viewer wishes. Why were Walt and Aaron special? Who built the statue? Who was shot in the out-riggers? You decide. It’s the only way the narrative can live on. The only way the light can be protected. The only way the blog posts and term papers and theses can keep coming.

I, for one, am grateful for that, but I won’t be writing about Lost anymore, cause I’m not sure you all care. But in order for you to care about future posts of mine, I give you the following order. Join Netflix. Watch Breaking Bad. Thank me.

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The latest season of Lost premiered on February 2nd, aka Groundhog Day. It was a joke, a cheeky clue for the audience. Because they introduced a major plot device in the premiere. It’s come to be known as the “flash-sideways” narrative and it’s essentially a big “what-if.” What if the characters had a chance to do it all over again? What if the circumstances were different – no island, no smoke monster, no Geronimo Jackson spinning on the turntable? What would have happened to these poorly reared, trigger-happy pawns of science and faith? The answer seems to be that their pesky destinies would have eventually tracked them down anyway. In a week, the series will come to a close, and hopefully we’ll have a better idea about what exactly is at play.  But if Lost peddles anything, it peddles ambiguity. And the faithful aren’t shy about hitting the bulletin boards to shout their opinions and theories. The internet might bust a spring or two in the hours after the finale.

I can say with a certain amount of confidence that most people will not be discussing Groundhog Day. The wink-wink-nudge-nudge premier date will be just another piece of Lost trivia, no more significant than the Hurley Bird. The date was a reference to the movie, of course, and on the surface it doesn’t seem to be much more than that. We’ve all seen the movie. A cynical weatherman played by Bill Murray lives the same day over again and again, until he finally gets it right and becomes a man who can love and play the piano.

I remember when Groundhog Day came out. It was a hit, though it barely beat forgettable fare like Dave and Cool Runnings at the box office. Critics thought it was enjoyable and clever, though they hardly thought it was earth-shattering. A better than average comedy – not much more. Over 15 years later, Groundhog Day has become not just a favorite of the revisionist cineast, but a genuine classic. The Writer’s Guild considers it the 27th greatest screenplay ever written. The New York Times even put it in a list of the Ten Best American Movies. Of the 1990s? No. Of all time! Say what you will about the existential implications of the film, about searching for meaning in our post-9/11 world. It makes for a good term paper, but I don’t think that’s the reason the film has gained such a following of late. The reason is TBS.

If you turned to the cable station TBS in the late 90’s and early 00’s, it’s likely you would have seen Groundhog Day on more than a few occasions. TBS syndicated it and played the grooves off the thing. Over time, the film worked its way into the DNA of many a channel surfer. The more familiar you became with it, the more you enjoyed it, because it was offering you the experience of its main character. You were living the film over again and again. You began to anticipate plot points (Ned Ryerson punch in 3, 2…), and the exact words and inflections of the dialogue (“Too early for flapjacks?” ”

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