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Recently, one of our intrepid leaders, the great and mighty Brian Salisbury, was invited to participate in Ain’t It Cool News‘ under-appreciated horror film series, Ain’t It Scary Reviews. The co-founder of One of Us chose to review Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps, a 1986 Tristar Pictures film starring Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, and Tom Atkins.

Brian describes the film as “an amazing amalgam of everything we love about the ’80s, as well as ’50s B-sci-fi movies rolled into one” and “so scary it made all my hair fall out!”* Check out the review and Brian’s bald head below! Also, be sure to spread it around the internet like space slugs spreading the zombie plague!

*This quote might be slightly less than real.

Are you ready for some football? And by that I of course mean, are you ready to join a bunch of sports nerds for some football?

Tonight, the guys from Inside the Locker will bring you a live commentary for the Monday Night Football showdown between The San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and we’ll begin our broadcast around 7pm central.

The guys have reached out to two of their friends to join them on the show: Tyler (an Indiana native and die-hard Colts fan) & Andrew (originally from San Diego and a man who regularly and proudly sings the Super Charger theme song). We’re gonna see what happens when we cram these two in a room to commentate from opposite sides of the fan line.

In addition we’ll be perusing the recent sports headlines, playing The Crossover, updating you on the ITL Fantasy Football situation, and updating the Pensieve. We will also discuss some of our favorite geek rivalries during the commentary.

It’s Kirk vs. Picard, Batman vs. Superman, Kramer vs. Kramer…all wrapped up in Colts vs. Chargers.

Tune in!

One of the most persistent criticisms of DC Comics’ New 52 re-launch was the abrupt removal of some of the franchise’s most notable characters from their titles. Loyal readers were outraged when icons such as Wally West and Plastic Man were nowhere to found in the revamped titles. The internet’s vitriol was especially caustic when Stephanie Brown, an incredibly popular member of the Bat-Family who started her crime-fighting career as the Spoiler and went on to serve as a Robin and a Batgirl, was replaced with a fully-healed Barbara Gordon and all but erased from the DC Universe.

In response to demands for Stephanie Brown’s return, DC Comics’ lead Bat-scribe Scott Snyder announced the franchise’s decision to right this grievous wrong at a New York Comic Con panel on Friday. Answering questions about DC’s new weekly Batman series, Batman: Eternal, a Stephanie Brown enthusiast inquired about the character’s fate. Snyder had this to say:

“Your love for Stephanie Brown has been so inspiring to us, she’s a character we really love, and we’re proud to announce she’ll be coming back in this series! Tynion found a way to bring Spoiler into the story and into the New 52, and it’s really perfect.”

Brown will make her New 52 entrance in Batman: Eternal #3, slated for release this spring.

After a seemingly endless string of PR-disasters, excessive editorial interference, bland event comics, and an overall disappointing series terrible story decisions, the return of Stephanie Brown is the best news out of DC Comics since the start of the New 52. Brown is an incredible character with a rich history and untold potential. Her return to comics is a credit to her supporters’ dedication and persistence.

In addition, this is the type of smart maneuver that can win back the support of jaded DC readers like me. I have dropped every New 52 series except for Batgirl (thanks entirely to Gail Simone’s writing) and I was not planning on coming back to DC until after a major shakeup in management. However, I will certainly give Batman: Eternal a chance because I want to see how Brown’s return is handled. I can only hope for a well-written and organically-planned re-emergence of a character who deserves a much better hand than she has been dealt. Given DC Comics’ infamously toxic working environment, I have concerns about Stephanie Brown’s future, but I choose to hope for the best.

How do you feel about Stephanie Brown’s return to Gotham City? Am I setting myself up for disappointment? Is DC going to the Lucy to my Charlie Brown, using Stephanie Brown as the football?! Let us know in the comments!

Via Comics Alliance and Superhero Hype

I haven’t watched much of the animated Clone Wars series, but I have gotten more into the show in the later seasons, especially with the (spoiler) return of Darth Maul and the darker tone it has adopted. Many were disappointed with the news of Disney’s decision to cancel the show, but the blow was softened with the announcement of a brand new animated series set between Episode III and IV, entitled Star Wars: Rebels

This week, we had some new content drop for the show. Primarily set on a planet called Lothal, the show will be set fourteen years after episode III and will feature an Empire that, at this point, especially in the inner system is generally favoured as a welcome change bringing peace and stability. This hope begins to unravel as the Empire begins to expand and tighten its grip, beginning with Lothal. A very short teaser trailer was released;

Along with this, we had the bigger reveal of the main protagonist of the show – The Inquisitor.

An “Intimidating” figure dressed in an all black, almost shadow trooper outfit. Described as someone who is hired by Darth Vader “to hunt down the remaining Jedi Knights”, The Inquisitor is a character who has been hidden up until now. You can watch his reveal in this video interview with producer Dave Filoni.

For me, the character seems like a cross between Tion Medon and Grand Admiral Thrawn. I also note that although the reveal doesn’t describe him as a Sith, or someone prevalent in the Force yet, just like Darth Maul he clearly wields a double sided lightsabre. This could be an exciting product, my only worry is the fact that it is being produced for the Disney XD channel.

Source: USA Today

Are you excited for Rebels? Do you think it can capture the success of the original trilogy or should it remain in the Sarlacc pit? Comment below.

Isn’t the simple name “Episode VII” already appetizing enough to get butts in seats? Apparently, franchise consistency says no.

According to Latino-Review.com, a trusted source when it comes to spilling geek property rumors, George Lucas’s story treatments for the next trilogy of films in the Star Wars saga sold to Disney included two tentative subtitles: Rise of the Jedi and Return of the Sith. This follows recent news of Lucas’s son, Jett, confirming that his father was working on the film’s story sometime before the Disney-Lucasfilm acquisition, and that he trusts director J.J. Abrams’s team will handle it well. Given that the film will take place after the events of Return of the Jedi, the sixth film in the series’s chronology, the titles are in line with the Expanded Universe ideas of the Jedi Order being reformed or the Sith taking shape once again. However, it has been made clear that Michael Arndt’s screenplay will be an original story and not adhere to the three-decades’s worth of material. Episode VII is scheduled to film early next year and is slated for a 2015 release.

To be frank, these titles aren’t the best or most creative in the world, but let’s see if we can nail down which one would be the most fitting in terms of staying power. Rise of the Jedi comes off as confusingly redundant seeing how the Jedi had officially “returned” in the previous film, and the fact that this and Return of the Jedi are technically neighboring films in the series makes putting them next to each other a bit of an eyesore. Conversely, Return of the Sith may recall too much of Return of the Jedi, but it has a nice ironic touch to it that adds more impact to the eternal struggle of the Jedi and the Sith. The Sith first defeated the Jedi and remained in control of the galaxy for quite some time, but then the tables turned later on and the Jedi came back to restore balance. Presuming that some more time has passed since their victory, it would be more foreboding to have the Sith not exact revenge, but to return once more. That’s my take, anyway, so feel free to call me out on finding too much justification for an admittedly unoriginal title. But hey, I’ve been a Star Wars fan since birth, so what can you do?

What do you guys think? Which of these two titles is the best in your opinion? Do you think you can come up with a better one? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

Via Latino-Review.com

The last time director/producer Michael Bay got his hands on the subject of World War Two he created Pearl Harbor, a flick that while financially successful was critically panned and continues to be mocked even to this day (Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic, gave this movie a horrible beat-down only a few months ago)! Yet despite this history, Bay is considering returning to the subject with Paramount Pictures possibly backing him.

Bay is looking at producing and/or directing a movie detailing real life events based on author Neal Bascomb’s book proposal entitled Sabotage: A Genius Scientist, His Band of Young Commandos and the Mission to Kill Hitler’s Super Bomb, or Sabotage for short.

On the surface Bay seems a natural fit for the WWII sub-genre of war films as it is one of the few remaining places where over the top American chest thumping jingoism is still considered acceptable. The problem is that when one looks back on many of the great classic films set during this bloody conflict is that they are full of engaging characters that the audience can sympathize with and these kinds of characters are pretty much beyond Bay’s ability entirely. Bay’s few recent critical successes like Bad Boys II and Pain and Gain are full of interesting yet unlikable and outlandish characters that people cannot relate to on any deep level. Give the guy horrible people and the man can spin gold. Any time however, where Bay has attempted to create a truly relatable character for the audience to invest in, the whole exercise has ended in a horrible fiery mess. Look no further than his vile mangling of my beloved Transformers franchise for proof of this. The things that man has done to the good name of Optimus Prime and the Autobots can never be forgiven.

This property is even further proved to be a bad fit for Bay as the heroes of this story are Norwegian. Bay only understands how to make the American military look good, his “America, Fuck Yeah!” attitude isn’t going to work for, y’know, not Americans.

The best thing for this project is to be separated from Bay entirely. Neither he or anybody in his production company, Platinum Dunes have the chops to tackle this sort of movie.

What say you? Does the idea of a Michael Bay WWII flick make you stand at attention or do you think Hollywood deserves a Section 8 for even contemplating letting Bay near The Greatest Generation yet again? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Via Screen Rant

From September 29th to October 9th, Screenbid.com hosted a Breaking Bad auction, where various props from the show were sold. Walter White’s delicious whitey tighties were among the items purchased, selling for an absurd amount of $9,900. That’s one hell of a laundry bill. Variety reports the the auction in total nearly made $1 million. The highest bidding item that was sold was the inscribed copy of the book Leaves of Grass, which as we all know, became a major plot device. The book sold for $65,500. Variety lists the other props and their bids as follows:

Hector “Tio” Salamanca’s bell ($26,750); the pink teddy bear that plunged from an exploding airliner ($23,250); the eyeless version of the teddy bear ($20,250); Tuco’s grill ($20,250); and Walter’s Cadillac ($19,750). Walt’s red car remote, which played a crucial role in the finale, went for $8,400.

Wow, the show ended two weeks ago, and people are still writing every little tidbit they can find about Breaking Bad. I guess everyone is still… Breaking Sad that it’s all over.

As for paying $9,900 for used, dirty, smelly, dank underwear, with the lovely sweaty presence of Bryan Cranston, the decision baffles me. It’s a lose-lose situation really. Either you wash it and have it lose its value, or you never wash it, and all you lose is your pride. I mean, I guess you could wear it around the house while wielding a pistol, and grab your junk while saying things like, “Auction this!” Other than that, if I walked in to a house, and saw a framed pair of dirty underwear and the person told me he paid $9,900 for them, I would hope that money went to a good cause, like a struggling laundromat.

What’s even crazier is that the Walter Whitey tighties sold more than Badger’s car, which was claimed for a paltry $500. I can’t even find a good moped for that much! A car for $500 dollars usually means that it is junk, but this is a fully functioning Pontiac Fiero that belonged to one of the characters on the show! The cheapest one I’ve seen by doing a quick online search, is $3,500, and that’s a used one, with 105,000+ miles on it. So $500 dollars for a semi-famous car that is functional, in my opinion, totally beats out paying $9,900 for underwear you’re probably not gonna wear or wash.

So fellow OOUies, which Breaking Bad prop would you want? How would you use that prop? Would you eat Bryan Cranston’s underwear? Whatever it is, comment below and let One of Us know!

Via Variety

There are many things I don’t understand about China; communism, animal penises being used in medicine, and now Nicolas Cage being given the Best Global Actor award. China’s Huading Awards selected several surprising recipients. Nicole Kidman won the Best Global Actress award. Best Global Singer went to Avril Lavigne. Booboo Stewart of Twilight fame was awarded Best Emerging Global Talent. Michelle Dockery and Matthew Perry received Best Global TV Actress and Best Global TV Actor. Best Global Director went to Quentin Tarantino. Well known Korean pop group Girls Generation won Best Global Idol Group, and Sharon Savoy won Best Global Female Dancer. Jeremy Irons received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Each of the stars praised Chinese films and thanked the people for being given the honors of these awards. The Huading Awards is a lesser known presentation ceremony. It was established in 2007 by Global Talents Media Group. The awards are held several times throughout the year to honor achievements in the entertainment and sports fields. The Huading Awards are odd in that some of the awards are voted for by judges and others are voted for by fans.

While each of the winners have their own talents I must say there are many other actors, actresses, singers, and dancers I think would have been more deserving. Still when it’s all said and done this shows how different the entertainment industry is over there. In America Nicolas Cage is often laughed at for his crazy antics on screen we view him more as a B-list actor then anything else. In China however he won Best Global Actor. I believe it shows that there are different things valued in the Huading Awards. I would honestly like to see how they come to pick who wins the awards not because I think the winners are undeserving, but due to the fact I want to see what makes them the best in the eye of the awards committee and the fans.

To me the least surprising winner is Girls Generation. The group is huge over in Asia and has even garnered quiet a following in the states as well. The most surprising winners to me wasn’t Nicolas Cage but instead Avril Lavigne and Booboo Stewart. Avril Lavigne has lost popularity greatly since her first album so to hear she is big enough in China to have won Best Global Singer was jaw dropping. With Booboo Stewart it was more the fact that he hasn’t been in that much and what he has been in he hasn’t really been given much to do or say. Still I feel the need to keep an eye on him now since I’m wondering if the Chinese have seen something in him that I haven’t.

What are your thoughts on the winners? Do you think they deserved to win? Why or why not? If you don’t think they deserved to win who would you give the awards to instead?

Source: JustJaredJr, HuffingtonPost

Remember a little while back when Shia LeBouf was getting all hot and bothered about the possibility of filming real sex scenes in Nymphomaniac? Well, regardless of rather or not that actually happens in the film at least now you can take a gander at what LeBouf’s o-face looks like in just 1 of 14 different character posters for the film.

Of the slew of “orgasmic” posters you will also see that ultimate peak of joy from actors/actresses like Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, Stellan Skarsgard, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Jaimie Bell and plenty more. The title kind of speaks for itself and accompanied with these posters I’d say it’s pretty obvious what you might be able to expect from Lars Von Trier’s film when it comes out. Let’s just hope we don’t have to enter the theater in a creepy brown trench-coat, pitch black sunglasses and a wig so as not to risk anyone making direct eye contact and getting recognized.

Some of the posters I suppose you could describe as sexy, others range from comedic to just plain odd. The only odd man out is LeBouf who I suppose is making a face, but really all he’s doing is smoking a cigarette- post coital no doubt, but how come he doesn’t have to look as exposed as the rest. Oh well, the posters to serve their purpose as a tease for any audience willing to sit through a Lars Von Trier movie, so mission accomplished I guess.

What do you think of these fleshy posters? Which one is your favorite? Are you excited for Nymphomaniac? Comment Below!

Via: /Film

“Skyler, Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how many people run in fear of me? Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it. My audience is so big, the world can’t even conceive it! If I leave now, this empire disappears. Then surely my fans will shed many tears! No, you clearly don’t know who you’re talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. It is danger that you are in! You think of me, a man who gets on stage just to hear others sing? No Skyler. I am the one who Sings!”

The lovely folks at The Wrap have reported that Percy Bysshe Shelley’s original poem and Breaking Bad‘s episode that share the title ‘Ozymandias’ will be adapted in to an opera via One World Symphony. If you don’t know who they are or what they do, according to their main web page, they are a symphony based in New York, and they have a very specific goal:

Deliver dynamic programming and a vibrant performances, which actively engage its audiences through innovative musical demonstrations

Sun Jin Hong, who is both the composer-conductor and artistic director, seems to have found Breaking Bad to be quite compelling (because yeah who didn’t). He mentioned in a blog post saying:

“Cancer became an allegory for evil for the protagonist in ‘Breaking Bad.’When Walt White was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, we the audience emotionally supported him and forgave some of his actions, as they may have appeared to be justified. When the cancer went into remission, an intangible cancer was growing — his hubris and lust for power.”

Hmmm… This one is indeed a head scratcher. It’s not that this is a bad thing necessarily, it’s just why do an opera based on an episode that aired near the end of the fifth season of a show? Yeah, we saw the episode, but what happens in that episode is something that was built up over the previous seasons. The reason why ‘Ozymandias’ was so intense, was because we have been so emotionally invested with these characters. We have seen them from the beginning grow and fall, and the events that unfolded in that episode was because of the weight of everything starts crashing down. Yeah sure, you can do a fun little opera and paraphrase everything that happened, but it still won’t have the same effect. However, Hong also wants to work in the original poem, which if you haven’t read it, essentially describes the mentality and character of our favorite chemistry teacher. Still, this seems like quite the task that he has on his hands. But hey, who knows, maybe this will be good and I will gladly eat my words!

So fellow OOUies, here’s a question for ya. If you were to name this Opera, what would it be? I would title it, “Singing in the Blue Rain” because that sounds bad ass. What do you think about the idea of a Breaking Bad Opera? Whatever it is, comment below and let One of Us know!

Via The Wrap

Video: One of Us’ Brian Salisbury Reviews ‘Night of the Creeps’ for AICN!

Inside the Locker: Monday Night Football Commentary!

Are you ready for some football? And by that I of course mean, are you ready to join a bunch of sports nerds for some football?

Tonight, the guys from Inside the Locker will bring you a live commentary for the Monday Night Football showdown between The San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and we’ll begin our broadcast around 7pm central.

In addition we’ll be perusing the recent sports headlines, playing The Crossover, updating you on the ITL Fantasy Football situation, and updating the Pensieve. We will also discuss some of our favorite geek rivalries during the commentary.

It’s Kirk vs. Picard, Batman vs. Superman, Kramer vs. Kramer…all wrapped up in Colts vs. Chargers.

Tune in!

Spoiler Alert! A Beloved Hero Returns to Gotham City in ‘Batman: Eternal’

‘Star Wars Rebels’ details and villain revealed

‘Star Wars Episode VII’: Attack of the Titles

Bay May Return To WWII In Upcoming Flick

Walter Whitey Tighties Sell For Thousands

Nicolas Cage, Avril Lavigne, & Booboo Stewart win surprising Huading Awards

‘Nymphomaniac’ Delivers 14 Different O-Faces In Poster Form

Singing in the Meth: A ‘Breaking Bad’ Opera? (Spoiler Free)