Chris Ullrich dot net - Page 10 of 92 -

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ Is One I’m Looking Forward To

Posted on February 3, 2014

Winter-Soldier-Comic-1

I don’t always have a lot of enthusiasm for upcoming movie releases. Some of them don’t appeal to me due to the subject matter or I know they’ve had trouble and are not going to be nearly as good as their trailers make them out to be. And some just look bad.

But that’s the nature of the movie business and my, on occasion, fickle taste in movies. Fortunately, a lack of enthusiasm isn’t something I have to worry about with the upcoming sequel to Captain America: The first Avenger called Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

It. Looks. Great.

Don’t believe me? Check out the latest trailer that dropped during the “Big Game” yesterday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SlILk2WMTI?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

D&D Turned 40 This Weekend

Posted on January 27, 2014

dungeons-dragons-art-1In case you didn’t know, the venerable-yet-shows-no-sign-of-slowing-down RPG Dungeons & Dragons turned 40 over the weekend. No, I wasn’t in line to grab it when it first came out. Although I was, in fact, alive.

I did, however, start to play the game at a very young age, right before the first set of “Advanced” D&D books arrived. The game was great fun and allowed my friends and I to have lots of adventures. Sure, we didn’t have any “Next-Gen” graphics or “Force Feedback” controllers, but that was okay. Those things hadn’t even been invented yet and we wouldn’t have needed them even if they had been around.

What we did have (in addition to pen, paper and some cool rulebooks) was one of the most important things a kid (or anyone, really) can have: Imagination. With imagination you can see, do and experience amazing things.

Without imagination we wouldn’t have all of the things we take for granted: cars, planes, iPhones, the computer I’m writing this post on right now or D&D. Imagination is the key.

For me, and a lot of people I grew up with, D&D was one of the hands turning that key. That and a bag of many-sided dice.

Happy 40th D&D. Thanks for all the adventures.

This Supergirl Fan Film Is Worth a Look

Posted on January 16, 2014

girl-of-steel-1

It’s become somewhat of a tradition around here. That is to say I like to bring interesting videos I find out there on the Interwebs to your attention. Frequently. Well, as frequently as I can now that I’m also Mr. Mom (more on that in a separate post).

I bring things to your attention, mostly, because I care. I care about you and I care about people doing interesting and cool things. So, if I can bring those elements together, I think the ten minutes or so I spend doing it is time well spent.

This time around the video in question is called Girl of Steel. It’s a Supergirl fan film with a great deal of promise. It’s good, in other words.

Watch it and enjoy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNaQLxhQTyo?rel=0]

The Original 1967 ‘Wonder Woman’ Pilot

Posted on January 9, 2014

wonder-woman-comics-1

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: making TV (or movies for that mater) is hard. Well, making them isn’t that hard, but making them good, that’s the real trick.

Sadly, this video of the 1967 pilot (more of a pilot presentation really) for a Wonder Woman TV series, featuring Ellie Wood Walker as the titular heroine, falls into the “not good” category. In fact, it’s pretty much unwatchable.

I don’t know the full history of this, but I do know it was made by the same folks who made the 60’s Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. So yes, it’s supposed to be campy.

I can take campy. Heck, I even like campy sometimes. But this, this is something else entirely.

I guess you should just judge for yourself. I can’t imagine why this didn’t get the green light to become a series.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tKZJVhn7M4?rel=0]

Happy Holidays from George R.R. Martin

Posted on December 21, 2013

As many of you know, I like to bring fun or interesting things I find on the Interwebs to your attention. This one today, made by the fine folks at Dorkly, fits the bill nicely.

Plus, it will hopefully serve to get you more into the spirit of the holidays. I know it did for me.

first-two-panels
middle-one
third-panel
last-2-panels

Happy Holidays!

A Very Effective and Touching Apple Ad for the Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2013

apple-misunderstood-commercial-1

I don’t watch a lot of commercials. This is mostly because I record to a DVR or stream from a source like Netflix or iTunes. So, I fast forward through them or they don’t appear at all. Plus, as I don’t work in that world anymore, my interest in them has wained considerably.

However, I do like a good commercial. When they’re done right, they can be quite effective and fun to watch. I also like to try to bring them to your attention when I find a good one, even if most of the time I’m disappointed by uninspired, boring and/or ineffective drivel.

This latest holiday commercial from Apple is not boring, not ineffective, not uninspired and not, by any means, drivel.

In fact, it’s very much the opposite. It’s excellent in pretty much every way that counts. Kudos to the team that put it together.

If you don’t have some sort of emotional reaction to this commercial you are likely a robot and have no soul. For the rest of us humans, enjoy that warm feeling. You’ll need it to get through the rest of the holidays.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

‘Lord of the Crumbs’

Posted on December 11, 2013

lord-of-the-crumbs-1

Let’s just say for the record that I love Sesame Street. I also love Lord of the Rings, both in book and movie form. I even have the extended version of the films on Blu-ray. Don’t judge.

I can’t wait to share them all with Max when he’s old enough. I know he’s gonna love them all too. Sesame Street, in particular, taught me so much when I was a kid and it’s still going strong today.

Naturally, when two of my favorite things get together, as they do in this parody video called Lord of the Crumbs (starting everyone’s favorite cookie-fanatic), I need to watch and bring it to your attention. This video has everything you could want in a Sesame Street parody video, including cookies. Lots of cookies.

And really, who doesn’t love cookies?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nN9lNJuqG4?rel=0]

‘The Wolf of Bedford Falls’

Posted on November 26, 2013

wonderful-life-jimmy-stewart-1

I was having a discussion recently with some pals on Facebook in which we postulated what elements a sequel to Frank Capra’s classic film It’s a Wonderful Life would contain. The possibility of a sequel was in the news recently and we wondered just how far Hollywood would go so it would cater to the lowest common denominator and be a hit with the youth market.

I have to say, it was pretty funny. At least to us. Maybe you had to be there. Anyway, today I saw this.

It’s not exactly what we were talking about, but it’s similar. It’s a recut of an It’s a Wonderful Life trailer to mimic the trailer for Martin Scorscese’s upcoming The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo Di Caprio. I think it’s pretty funny, especially if you know the original film well.

Yes, I know the footage is in color. That’s how this was done. Try to enjoy it anyway.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRf_RN7Dkww?rel=0]

All the Extra ‘Return of the Jedi’ Footage In One Place

Posted on November 25, 2013

luke-vader-RotJ-1

This has been going around the Interwebs for some time now but I thought I would just put it here also for easy findability. Yeah, I know, that’s not even a word. So?

As I always say, if you don’t like the way I say things here, you are free to go elsewhere. No hard feelings. However, I do hope you’ll stay and try to be tolerant when I make words up. It’s all in fun, after all.

Okay, now go enjoy some RotJ extra footage.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz56q4t6fek]

‘FDR: American Badass’

Posted on November 18, 2013

fdr-badass

There’s a fine tradition in Hollywood of so called “B” movies. These are the movies that don’t usually feature major stars or have big budgets and often their plots, acting, sets, special effects and pretty much most aspects of the production, to put it nicely, tend to strain credibility.

With the American Film Market in full swing in Santa Monica last week, there’s a lot of these “B” movies being offered for sale to the hundreds of buyers from around the world who come to the AFM each year to get a taste of that Hollywood glamour. And what could be more glamourous than Barry Bostwick starring in a movie called FDR: American Badass?

I don’t know, but until we find it, there’s this:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R898wegx6Y&w=560&h=315]