2016 nerdy views in Review

2016 was no doubt a savage year, and here at nerdy views, which is now three years old (yay!) it was definitely a year of transition. I started this site to write about movies, television, & entertainment in general, and this year I continued to move further away from that to focus more on building creative projects. And judging by the response I've gotten, it sounds like I'm doing a decent job. Anyway, I just wanted to take a look back at some of the things that made my 2016 memorable.

Celebs

Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Doctor Who, & the Power Rangers really does kind of sum me up. And add a little Fresh Price of Bel Air in there to top it off!

I met Peter Mayhew at WinterCon and he signed my Chewbacca Funko while he enjoyed his orange mocha frappuccino.

Steve Cardenas was the second Red Ranger from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I remember scheduling my college classes around that show.

I met Steven Moffat, the current Doctor Who & Sherlock showrunner just randomly at a Star Wars booth at San Diego Comic Con and I totally fanboyed it.

I met Ernie Hudson from the Ghostbusters at Hudson Valley Comic Con, and he was super nice in allowing me to take this selfie with him after he signed my Winston Zeddemore figure.

And finally, I wondered what Karyn Parsons from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was doing at WinterCon, but it didn't matter why because she was super cool, and her show definitely helped shape my sense of humor when I was younger.

I can't imagine meeting any of these people under normal circumstances, but at conventions, there's always a chance!

Overwatch Winter Wonderland

The latest seasonal event for Overwatch is Winter Wonderland! I really loved Halloween Terror and Junkenstein's Revenge, and I've been looking forward to this holiday event for quite some time. New skins, new emotes, new victory poses, and Hanamura & King's Row get all snowed up! Plus, the brawl is a Mei based snowball fight called "Snow Brawl!" Unfortunately, I don't think every character is getting a holiday skin, but just look at Pharah & Winston! I totally want those! You can read more about the update over at Blizzard.



The winter activities end on Jan 2nd so get your holiday loot boxes while you can!

The Three Amigos

Thirty years ago today, The Three Amigos premiered in theaters!



It's one of my favorite old comedies and it never fails to provide a plethora of laughs every time I watch it. Here's one of my favorite scenes.



And just one more great scene where gringos are falling from the sky!



And to this day, I still make this "infamous" joke because of this movie...


So remember, wherever there is injustice, you will find us. Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find... The Three Amigos!

Baby Groot For The Win!

Baby Groot is gonna steal every scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 just like he's doing in this second trailer!



And Drax is probably gonna steal a few scenes too... 😉

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 hits theaters in May 2017.

Proton Pack Build V2

Proton Pack V1 vs Proton Pack V2

Six years ago I made a proton pack for Halloween. You can check out the build process here. I made it mostly out of cardboard, foam, and random things from Home Depot and the Dollar Store. It was a fun foray into prop building and while I love the pack, it is pretty fragile. The base is pretty much all cardboard, and the pack has a duct tape look to it, mainly because there's a lot of duct tape on it. I wanted to build a pack that was more durable and looked a little more screen accurate. So I decided to build another one completely out of foam.

Proton Pack version 2 had to satisfy two of my needs:

1. It had to be light, hence the foam construction. Proton packs are usually made of resin, fiberglass, or aluminum and can weigh anywhere from 35 to 50 pounds or more. Carrying that on my back all day during a convention is not appealing.

2. It had to house a backpack inside so that I had storage for things I bought at conventions, so I decided that the pack would split in two to access it.

So to start, here's the bag I got to fit inside the pack. It has a flat, narrow profile and I got it on clearance at BestBuy.

Wonder Woman Trailer

A new Wonder Woman trailer is finally out!



Wonder Woman was easily the best part of the much maligned Batman v Superman which I actually enjoyed for what it's worth, so I'm super excited for this one.

The trailer starts with Wonder Woman walking through Paris.

A Stranger Things Christmas

Have you ever wondered what a Stranger Things / Peanuts crossover would look like? Well here you go!



I kind of love how Snoopy is the demogorgon, and poor Barb still can't get a break...

Minions Goggles Project

My friends and I went to a New York Comic Con party dressed as Gru and his Minions! It's a quick and silly costume and I was tasked with making the goggles so here's how I did it.

I made a template out of paper to fit my face and transferred it to 5mm craft foam. Here are the dimensions. If you get a regular piece of 9x12 foam, you can make 3 pairs of goggles from it because each eyepiece is 8x2. I don't know how long the angled side is but if you measure everything else, that won't matter. You obviously need to cut 2 of these out for both your eyes.

Logan Trailer

A day after the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 trailer dropped, we were gifted with another surprise trailer. This time it's for Logan, the third and final solo Wolverine movie and reportedly the last time Hugh Jackman will train his brains out for the role. Now the Wolverine series has not been good. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was utterly forgettable, and The Wolverine, while leaps and bounds better than the first, didn't have a high bar to get over and still ended up being a hot mess. But holy crap, this trailer looks great!



The movie takes place in 2024 and the aging Logan's healing factor isn't what it used to be. Much like my metabolism... ;)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Teaser

It wasn't enough that we got a teaser poster for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 dropped by director James Gunn himself. But Marvel also released the first teaser for the movie too!



And now let's take a quick look at this short teaser trailer!

Overwatch Halloween Terror

The latest seasonal event for Overwatch is Halloween Terror! It looks like every character is getting a new Halloween themed skin, plus new icons, sprays, & emotes! And a new co-op mode which looks like horde mode! You can read all about the updates over at Blizzard.



The Halloween fun is already active and ends on November 1.

Stranger Things Wall Cosplay

Every year before New York Comic Con, I tell myself it's the last time I'm going. Then when it's all over, I do a 180 and can't wait until next year. Such is the case right now because I simply had a blast at NYCC this year! Thanks in part to this ridiculously simple cosplay I did of the Stranger Things alphabet wall.

Photo Credit: Colette Laroya

I did not expect the overwhelming positive response I got for this cosplay. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to come up with this idea, and I'm definitely sure I'm not the last as a ton of people have told me they're using this idea for a Halloween costume. So if you want to do the same, here's the stuff I used:

Voltron Legendary Defender Season 2 Trailer

First off, let me just say I love the original Voltron. It begat my love for robots that combine into bigger robots. So when Voltron Legendary Defender was announced, I was both excited and apprehensive at the thought of a reboot. But when the show was released to Netflix back in June, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. In fact the only qualms I have are that the original theme song isn't used, and that it ends on a cliffhanger. Which makes this teaser trailer for Season 2 all the more important to resolve that cliffhanger!


The trailer ominously teases the possible demise of Black Lion pilot and team leader Shiro, and Keith assuming leadership if that happens. Kind of like how it was in the original series! I see what you did there...

Sadly there's no definitive release date as the trailer just ends with "Coming Soon." Here's hoping that's sooner rather than later.

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

An animated Indiana Jones? Yes please! Over the past 5 years, character designer and animator Patrick Schoenmaker has crafted what would potentially be the opening sequence of The Adventures of Indiana Jones animated series. I'm really digging the art style here and would totally be on board if this were to come to fruition. With a new movie coming out featuring the now 74-year old Harrison Ford, this is probably the only way we'll get to see Indy again in his prime. As it stands, this minute or so of animation is all we're gonna get, but I've watched this about a dozen times already so I clearly haven't had my fill of Indiana Jones yet.



So Disney, get on this! Make it happen!

Doctor Strange TV Spot

There's a brand new trailer for Doctor Strange! And I believe it's the first time Benedict Wong as Wong and Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius speak! Plus Doctor Strange puts on his cape in style... ;)



Doctor Strange hits theaters on November 4th!

Luke Cage Streets Trailer

The latest trailer for Luke Cage is basically more of the title character throwing bad guys around. And you know what? I can't wait!



Luke Cage finally hits Netflix this Friday September 30th.

The Real Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary

My love for Ghostbusters is well documented on this site. Just look at my avatar and the fact that there's a "Ghostbusters" section at the top. But while my interest in this fantastic foursome started with the original 1984 movie, my love for it didn't develop until The Real Ghostbusters premiered thirty years ago today. The Real Ghostbusters debuted September 13th, Saturday morning on ABC with "Ghosts R Us." Let's take a look at the episode that started off the series.

The premise of this episode was simple. A family of annoying ghosts tries to put the Ghostbusters out of business by pretending to be a rival ghost busting business. It was a nice package of a little episode to introduce a whole new group of kiddies to the franchise that may have been too young or too scared to have seen the original movie or to further cement that fandom in those of us who enjoyed it. :)

While the character designs were completely different, the feel was much more kiddie, and Slimer had taken on a mascot role, this was the perfect show for an 11-year-old kid to latch on to.

Throughout its 140+ episodes, its Saturday morning cartoon run, its run in syndication on weekdays after school, and its eventual migration to a more Slimer based show, there were some pretty memorable characters and episodes. The Boogeyman is still kinda terrifying to me:



While the series can still be bought in a DVD set released in 2009 complete with firehouse case, there's another cheaper, more streamlined set, but you don't get all the episodes. :(

But still, today I've been binging a bit on episodes and reminiscing about my childhood, and just wanted to share some of my experience. So happy 30th birthday Real Ghostbusters!

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

In a fairly genius move by Warner Bros to appeal to the nostalgia crowd, i.e. my generation, Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar return to voice their respective characters in the new animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. My only question is why didn't anybody think of this sooner?!?

The trailer is super, silly fun, and looks to capture the campy feel of the original 60's TV series. The only thing that would have made this better is if the voice talents of Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, and Frank Gorshin were included, but unfortunately they have all since passed on. Anyway, here's the official trailer.



Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders will be released digitally on October 11th, and hits Blu-Ray on November 1st.

Luke Cage Trailer

Here's the official trailer for Marvel's Luke Cage, only on Netflix!



Luke Cage hits Netflix on September 30th!

Transformers: The Movie 30th Anniversary

Thirty years ago today, Transformers: The Movie came out. And little did I know at the time, it was a ploy by Hasbro to get little kids to get their parents to buy a new line of toys. If the movie came out today, I'd probably complain that it essentially obliterated all the characters I knew and replaced them with new ones that I had no attachment to. But the 11 year old me just accepted it, moved on, and proceeded to collect the new toys.

Looking back, I can see that the movie isn't that great. There's animation errors, the plot is razor thin, old characters were tossed aside to make room for new ones, but I don't care. I still see it through a child's eyes and I love every cheesy minute of it.

While everyone remembers "The Touch" as the main song of the film, my favorite is "Dare," and it continues to be on my workout and running playlists for its inspirational message.

Game of Thrones: The Winds of Winter

I was waiting for an inevitable nut punch in this episode of Game of Thrones and it surprised me by not giving me one in the immensely satisfying season finale, The Winds of Winter. Here are some of the most memorable moments from this episode.

Cersei was Dynamite

Cersei played an incredibly explosive game, having Maester Pycelle murdered by the "little birds" and igniting the wildfire beneath the Sept which essentially disintegrated everyone who did anything bad to her, including Lancel & Kevan Lannister, pretty much the whole Tyrell family, and most importantly, the High Sparrow. Margaery played Sherlock, put two and two together and realized they should leave, but the Faith Militant's blind faith killed them all in a brilliant burst of green flame. And I must also say the score during the whole beginning of this episode was awesome.

Foam Batarang Project

Batman Begins came out 11 years ago and is one of my favorite Batman films. I decided to do a little project and make one of Batman's batarangs out of foam. Here's how I did it.

I started by finding a batarang template online. The one I used can be found on pinterest here. It even has dimensions on it so you can size it correctly when you print it.

I cut out the template, and traced two patterns onto 6mm foam.

Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards

Battle of the Bastards was hands down the best episode of Game of Thrones this year, and may be one of the best ever. Director Miguel Sapochnik managed to mix Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, 300, and Gladiator together to deliver an excellent episode. The even more astonishing thing is that everything that happens was expected to happen, yet it was still an immensely satisfying hour of TV.

Since this episode is fairly straightforward, I'm not going to recap it. I'm going to recommend you actually watch it, but I am going to run through some of the most memorable moments of Battle of the Bastards.

Attack of the Dragons

I complained about last week's episode feeling like a victim of budget cuts. Well it certainly looks like they funneled all that CGI money into this one because Dany's dragons are full sized, glorious looking, and absolutely lethal creatures that make short work of one of the Master's ships.

Game of Thrones: No One

Did anybody else get the feeling that No One, the latest episode of Game of Thrones felt like the victim of budget cuts? Because there could have been some great moments, but ultimately the way those moments were presented felt anticlimactic. Maybe those funds were funneled into next week's hopefully badass episode? Anyway...

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

When we left the Hound last week, he had taken up an axe and was on his way to obliterate the Brotherhood Without Banners members who slaughtered his friends. And obliterate he did. He came across four nitwits and quickly dispatched them. Then he came across Beric Dondarrion, the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and Thoros of Myr, the drunken Red Priest who keeps resurrecting Beric. And it turns out those idiots who slaughtered that poor commune were about to be hanged for their crimes. The Hound worked out a deal with Beric so he could kill two of them. He was also offered a chance to join the Brotherhood and travel north to fight White Walkers. The Hound would be a great asset in fighting White Walkers, but imagine he dies up there and gets turned? Now you've got a hulking White Walking Hound. And what if he's attacking alongside a White Walking Hodor?!? I'm sure there's already fan fiction of this going around.

Warning: Book Spoiler below.

Also of note in the books, Beric Dondarrion gave his life so Catelyn Stark could live again as the zombie Lady Stoneheart. Beric being alive here seems to mean this plotline will most likely not occur. My question is why is this an issue for book fans? Catelyn Stark was just about the most irritating character on the TV show up there with Skyler on Breaking Bad. Why would you want her to come back? Is Lady Stoneheart that much of a better character?

Game of Thrones: The Broken Man

Season Six of Game of Thrones has been a giant snowball that's just been gaining speed hurtling down the mountain these past seven weeks. So much has happened, yet it still feels like there's so much left! Here are my nerdy views on The Broken Man.

Arya's Poor Decisions

Arya just pissed off a league of assassins and she's just nonchalantly walking about like nothing's going to happen to her? She should have totally been on guard and mistrustful of anybody considering these assassins can also disguise themselves to look like anybody. While it was shocking to see her stabbed by the Waif, it wasn't entirely surprising considering how casually she was acting. She kinda deserved that stabbing.

Devastator Weathering Project

One day I looked at my Combiner Wars Devastator, which is BTW still available on Amazon, and said to myself, "He looks way too clean. Constructicons should be dirty!" And so started another project. This time to weather the crap out of Devastator and make him look like the filthy Transformer he's supposed to look like.

This was really just a simple weathering project using black and brown acrylic paint, watering it down a little, slathering it on Devastator, then wiping most of it off leaving the paint in the low areas where grime would naturally accumulate. This highlighted a lot of the detail on the figure that got washed out because it was all one color. Anyway, here are some before and after shots of the individual Constructicons.

Scavenger before.

Scavenger after. I also used an airbrush to paint the tire treads.

Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood

After last week's emotional episode, Game of Thrones gave us a breather with Blood of My Blood, where some characters returned to being themselves again, and other characters just flat out returned.

The Return of Drogon

Drogon's back! And he's apparently been eating all the goats in Essos. This guy is growing bigger faster than Bran! Just look at this comparison from last season to the latest episode.

Dany now has 100,000 Dothraki followers, and Daario mentions that they'd need a thousand ships to transport them, the Unsullied, and Second Sons all to Westeros. Isn't it convenient how last week Euron Greyjoy said that he'd build that exact number of boats? Or was it Yara? Does anybody really care about Pyke anyway?

The Return of Arya Stark

Arya was like 3 credits away from graduating the Faceless Men Academy, but she decided the "No one" life wasn't for her and returned to being Arya again. Apparently, Arya prefers to do her killing with a purpose instead of the arbitrary way the Faceless Men do. Now Waif has been sent to kill her. Considering Arya got her ass handed to her repeatedly by Waif, I don't see how Arya gets out of this. Now of course if she blindfolds herself, she might survive since it seems like her fighting skills have gotten shittier since her sight returned.

Destiny Hunter Knife Project

I made a thing! Officially, this is my first foamsmith prop, the Destiny Hunter Knife. I've only played Destiny a handful of times and it never really hooked me, but I wanted a small project to start with and this prop looked really cool. Can you believe this is made from a gym floor mat? It was a huge learning experience where I made a TON of mistakes and probably didn't document as well as I should have because of that. Plus I mainly followed Bill Doran's YouTube video on how to construct this prop (with a few differences), so you can check out his videos for a more in-depth look at creating foam props because he's the expert! But here was my process.

I started by getting the blueprint of the knife from punishedprops.com and it's free so anybody can go get it! I traced the pattern onto EVA foam and craft foam, glued them together with Barge, and roughly cut the shape out with a utility knife. I cut the holes with a coping saw. That was one of my first mistakes. It left a pretty jagged edge that I could never clean up that well. I should have used a forstner bit or sharpened PVC pipe as Bill suggested. Next time!

Game of Thrones: The Door

I don't need to tell you the latest episode of Game of Thrones, The Door was a roller coaster of emotion! There were some great funny moments that I literally laughed out loud at, and there were others that simply left me wanting to crawl into the fetal position.

To Find A Cure



With Jorah now having saved Dany's life twice, the knight of the friendzone seems to be back in the good graces of the khaleesi. BUT, there's that pesky greyscale problem, which seems like a good smattering of aloe vera could help a little. But Jorah is commanded to find a cure for it and when he does, he can return to Dany's side. Greyscale in most cases is fatal, but Shireen, Stannis' daughter survived it, so there's hope for Jorah, albeit slim.

Star Trek Beyond Trailer #2

Star Trek Beyond seems to be flying under the radar. I feel like I should be more excited for this film. Anyway, here's the second trailer for Star Trek Beyond!



The trailer came out Friday night and there are already more capable breakdowns of it on the Internet, so I'm just going to point out the things the look the most interesting to me.

James T. Kirk has daddy issues trying to live up to his dad, Chris Hemsworth. Trust me, any mortal would have problems living up to that guy.

Game of Thrones: Book of the Stranger

This week's episode of Game of Thrones, Book of the Stranger saw the reunion of three pairs of brothers and sisters, Tyrion drinking and dealing, and Dany cementing her title as the Unburnt.

Family Reunion

Sansa finally made it to Castle Black! Yay! While they never actually interacted much five years ago, family is family. And when your family numbers are dwindling, you better be happy with who you have left. And it takes Sansa to convince Jon not to quit the fight since there's still a nutjob living in their home with their brother held captive. Unfortunately, even with the Wildlings, they're outnumbered by more than 2 to 1.

The other "reunion" to take place at Castle Black was Brienne seeing Davos & Melisandre. With the latter being responsible for Renly's death while under Brienne's protection, and Stannis being executed by her, we've got a bunch of would-be-king killers here. And while Davos and Melisandre may have already moved onto Jon Snow, Brienne doesn't forgive or forget easily.

Oh and Tormund and Brienne; that's a thing that has to happen. I don't care if it's just Tormund eating drumsticks in front of her, it has to happen.

Assassin's Creed Trailer

The first Assassin's Creed trailer debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and here it is!



Based on the popular video game, Michael Fassbender plays Callum Lynch, a descendant of a secret society of assassins who relives the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar during the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Trailer

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a month away from debuting on Netflix and it finally has an official trailer!



I'm really digging the look of the characters in the show. It's very reminiscent of their original designs in the 80's cartoon, but updated for modern times. They also managed to keep the uniform color scheme to the right characters, and have now adjusted that to match the color of the lion they are piloting. So Keith, the former leader is now piloting the red lion, Lance the blue, and Shiro (formerly Sven) is the new leader and piloting the black lion. Hunk and Pidge remain the same.

I am also liking the new lion design. Not too far from the original, but definitely updated.

Entertainment Weekly has a great article detailing the new series.

Voltron: Legendary Defender debuts on Netflix June 10th. Can't wait!

Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker

Arya passes a test, Rickon returns, and Jon Snow quits his night job but not before taking care of business in the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Oathbreaker.

Dothraki Widows' Retirement Home



Vaes Dothrak, it's where widowed khaleesis are supposed to live out the rest of their lives. Dany is brought there, stripped and told she's going to be put on trial because she did not return there like she was supposed to after Khal Drogo died. Daario and Jorah better kick their detective skills in high gear to find her soon. But honestly I think Drogon is probably gonna be the one to save Dany.

Captain America Shield Project

With Captain America: Civil War opening in the United States today, I finished this project just in time. There are more accurate shield builds out there using a satellite dish or a metal snow sled, but I wasn't ready to tackle cutting metal. So I decided to buy a plastic Captain America shield made by Rubie's and repaint it. I got the inspiration for this from Cosplay Chris who painted a child sized shield and it looked awesome! So I applied those techniques to my full sized shield. 

You'll see the costume shield is actually already pretty good looking. But I wanted to give it a very battle weathered look, as if it had been through a war, dare I say, a Civil War? Thank you, I'll show myself out...

Anyway, the back of the shield just has these small elastic straps. Those are getting replaced.

LEGO Millennium Falcon Build

Happy Star Wars day! May the Fourth be with you! I finally picked up a LEGO Millennium Falcon and boy is it shiny! Here are some photos!

So THAT Happened on Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones season 6 is only two episodes old and boy they did not make us wait too long. But you know what? I will. Let's recap what's been going on in the realm.

Dany

Captured by a Dothraki horde, Dany avoids being raped but must live out her life in Vaes Dothrak, kind of a retirement home for widows of Khals. The good news is Daario and Jorah are still looking for her and apparently have really good tracking skills.

 

Ghostbusters News

You know I have an enormous love for the original Ghostbusters. In fact as I'm typing this post, I'm watching the movie on VH1. Anyway, this week, a whole slew of news came out regarding the original Ghostbusters movie.

The Return of Ecto Cooler

Credit: http://ghostbustersnews.com/2016/04/25/its-official-hi-c-ecto-cooler-set-to-return-this-summer/

If you're a fan of orangey, sugary drinks with loads of artificial coloring, good news! Ghostbustersnews.com is reporting that the Hi-C Ecto Cooler is coming back. While it's in conjunction with the reboot, it's really for fans of the original movie and The Real Ghostbusters cartoon because of it's popularity in the late 80's through the 90's. So sometime this summer, you'll be able to turn your pee and poo green! You can check out more information over at www.ecto.cool.

LEGO Ghostbusters in Two Minutes

YouTube user MonsieurCaron is a very talented man who shares my love of Ghostbusters and LEGO. Over a year ago, he did a LEGO stop-motion of the scene at the Sedgewick hotel. And a few months ago, he did an awesome Back to the Future stop-motion he titled "Brick to the Future." Now he's at it again, this time chronicling the entire Original Ghostbusters movie from 1984 in just about two minutes.



The project took him a month to complete and the results are seriously super awesome!

You can check out more of MonsieurCaron's awesome LEGO work at his FaceBook page.

BB-8 and R2-D2 Models

A few weeks ago, I bought this BB-8 and R2-D2 model set made by Bandai from Amazon. These models are 1/12 scale and pretty detailed for their size. The set is only about $27, and is fairly easy to put together. Each droid takes about an hour to assemble, and even if you didn't want to finish them, I still think they look pretty good.