2015 nerdy views in Review

Nerdy views is two years old! And boy was it a rough second year for nerdy views. Just to put it into perspective, last year there were 236 posts, and this year will top out at 86 posts. That's two-thirds less posts. I didn't do any of my Game of Thrones recaps, and I didn't even have any posts in June and July. The culprit? I moved. Plus my office moved. And my responsibilities at my real job (you know, the one that gives me money?) expanded. It all happened at once and ate up what valuable spare time I had. So I had to re-prioritize things, and looking back on this year, it looks like I will be re-examining what I want to do with this site going forward.

But first! It may have been a down year for nerdy views, but it was a fun year for me personally! I bought my first place, went to the most conventions I ever have in a year, and met some truly awesome people. Here are some of the things that made my year memorable.

Cosplay

I know there's a good chunk of you out there reading this who don't understand cosplay. I was the exact same way a few years ago. I knew people dressed up for these conventions, but I had no idea of the work and accuracy that goes into these costumes until I started meeting cosplayers. And you know what? Going to a convention dressed up as one of your favorite characters is hella fun! Be it comics, TV, video games, etc, it's something you don't really understand until you actually do it and realize just how fun it is. So I'd like to give shout outs and thanks to (clockwise from top left) Eric Sellin and Matthew Bell, Ani-Mia, Yaya Han, Its Raining Neon, Destiny Nickelsen, Stella Chuu, and Drew Mollo for helping make these conventions awesome.

It's Christmas Day, and I'm after someone on my NAUGHTY list

Merry Christmas! Here's a new Deadpool trailer! And it's a Red Band trailer too, so start your holiday season on the naughty list!



Get your chimichangas on February 12th!

So You Wanna Be a Ghostbuster?

Credit: http://www.asmzine.com/geekly-rewind/2014/05/01/c2e2-2014-the-anovos-booth/

ANOVOS is a high end prop replica company that's fairly famous for producing high end screen accurate uniforms and props. Among their current licenses are Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Wars of which you can see Jango Fett & Clone Trooper armor above.

ANOVOS just acquired the license to Ghostbusters so the entry barrier to dressing up as a one has just gotten a lot easier. Right now you could spend a lot of DIY time building your own costume and proton pack, (which is time consuming but hella fun!) or spend an arm and a leg on ebay for a fan made prop. There's no pricing available yet but with the high quality nature of ANOVOS props, I expect them to not be cheap.

Credit: http://ghostbustersnews.com/2013/07/17/matty-collector-announces-neutrona-wand-prop-at-san-diego-comic-con/

MattyCollector.com put out some affordable props over the past few years. You can see the gohst trap and neutrino wand above. I have all the props and they're pretty cool, but there's still no proton pack prop available. If it's within the realm of reasonably priced, I might pick one up. But considering pre-order isn't slated until Q3 of 2016, I might have already built one for myself. =D

But still, as a Ghostbusters fan, this is exciting news. And you can check out all the information on the press release at the ANOVOS website here.

Star Wars 8-Bit Cinema

Are you tired of Star Wars yet? If not then take a look at CineFix's latest 8-Bit Cinema creation, dedicated to the Star Wars Original Trilogy. The one that started it all is told in "Legend of Zelda" style, The Empire Strikes Back is given the Mega Man treatment, and Return of the Jedi looks like a fun "Golden Axe" or "Final Fight" type game. And that music just takes me back to simpler times. Where can I play this?!?

Han Solo Blaster Project

If you're a casual Star Wars fan, you might not know that Han Solo's blaster, also known as the DL-44 is a pretty iconic movie weapon. It might not have the flash of a lightsaber, and it might not have the coolness factor of a Ghostbusters proton pack, but it's still a pretty good looking prop. So with a little help from this tutorial on instructables.com, I decided to turn this replica toy I got on Amazon into a much better looking gun.

Available on amazon.com

Ranking the Star Wars Films (And My Favorite Scenes)

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out tomorrow (and tonight in many locations) all I've had is Star Wars on my mind. So I might as well take a look back at the first six movies, rank em, and talk about my favorite scenes and moments.

6. Attack of the Clones

I'm not sure I've been able to sit all the way through Attack of the Clones since I first watched it back in 2002. Even rewatching it this past week, I found myself bored, distracted, and ultimately just waiting for the one good scene in the movie. Yoda vs. Count Dooku. We finally got to see Yoda as the bad-ass that he was and it's hilarious how it starts off with him walking around with a cane. But when he opens his robe and summons his lightsaber, watch out!

Holy Crap! Is That Doomsday?!?

Those were the exact words that came out of my mouth the first time I saw this trailer. It's been about 8 months since the last trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and since then it's been all about Captain America: Civil War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens so we were about due for some new footage. And here it is!



At three minutes long, there's a ton going on in this trailer so lets take a closer look.

The trailer starts with some kind of formal gathering, perhaps a press event? Anyway, Clark Kent, who seems to be covering the event wonders who's the popular person pulling up.

Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?

First Harrison Ford surprised people with a chance to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens and meet the cast. Now Mark Hamill is spreading the word about Star Wars: Force for Change dressed as a Stormtrooper. And it honestly shows you just how funny Mark Hamill can be.



I kind of wish he took the helmet off and surprised people, but asking a cellphone vendor for power converters, confusing Iron Man for C-3PO, and an awkward encounter with Daddy Vader make the video entertaining enough as it is.

And if you'd like to win a chance to see the premiere of Star Wars: The Force awakens and meet the cast, go to forceforchange.starwars.com and make a donation.

Batman Unmasked

A new clip from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice debuted last night during Gotham, and in it a visibly pissed off Superman confronts a captured Batman and unmasks him revealing an equally pissed off Ben Affleck. The scowl meter in this clip is off the charts.