In a film loosely inspired by true events, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is an homage to the classic kung fu movies that Bruce Lee became known for.

This is NOT a Bruce Lee biopic. It's meant to be more of an over-dramatization of events leading up to his controversial fight with Kung Fu master Wong Jack Man. BIRTH OF THE DRAGON was produced and directed in the style of Bruce Lee's own movies.

It sounds like the movie is meant to have a very meta feel.

WWE Studios and BH Tilt is bringing BIRTH OF THE DRAGON to theaters on August 25th, 2017 with a PG-13 rating. The movie will have a runtime of 91 minutes, which will probably be as quick and powerful as Lee's one-inch punch.

What did you miss on Critical Blast this week?

Game Jab

• Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: We're Being Chased
• Mario Party 64: I'm A Dinosaur!

Reviews

(July 14, 2017) Titan Comics is pleased to announce that Robotech #1 Cover A by Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau has sold out at distributor level and is now going to a second print. This new printing of Issue #1 features a variation on the original cover by Artgerm with Lynn Minmei winking, and hits stores on Wednesday August 23 with issue #2.

On July 26, the story continues as Titan bring Carl Macek's original vision full circle. Taking into account every iteration of the series, this new Robotech #1 casts a fresh eye over classic characters like Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Lynn Minmei, Roy Fokker, Claudia Grant, and Henry Gloval.

Titan's all-new Robotech series returns to Macross Island, where it all began! Brian Wood, Marco Turini and Marco Lesko have crafted a thrilling new tale that’s perfectly accessible to new fans, as well as providing a deeper layer of twists forold-school protoculture addicts!

On July 26th, 2017 Titan Comics will release the first issue of an on-going series that will re-imagine the anime classic: ROBOTECH!

Brought to America by Carl Macek, via Harmony Gold, ROBOTECH was a story set in the future (for the 80's) that dealt with love, acceptance and the understanding of different culture's. While the series may not have aged well, the story and characters still hold a special place in many hearts.

This re-imagining of the series promises to stay true to the foundation of the original story while inserting "deep level" twists to keep older fans engaged. The trailer features interior art with heart pounding music, which played an important role in the animated series.

From Comic Book Resources:

Filming of the fourth season began just last week, and already photos have surfaced from The Flash that signal significant changes for the CW drama.

The photos, which are circulating on Twitter, reveal Wally West actor Keiynan Lonsdale wearing the red costume that Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen has sported since Season 2.

In this week's DARK DAYS: THE CASTING, the Joker lets us in on a secret in the background of the DC Universe.  We always thought that superpowered beings in the DC Universe were called metas.  Turns out that in-continuity, this was always a typo.  Turns out they are "Metal" as in they have Nth Metal going through their blood.  This is one hell of a ret-con.  Like when we found out that Weapon X actually was roman numeral ten.

Here are the panels below:

Zach and Kevin go head to head in one of Zach's least favorite N64 game of all times known as Mario Party. Kevin soon learns just how cruel and unforgiving and LOOOOONG this game really is and both the boys have to suffer through twenty rounds of trhis madness.

It feels like we have been covering the return of THE TICK forever on Critical Blast.  I had posted a review of the pilot last August.  This morning, Amazon gave us a trailer for the first season which debuts August 25. Check it out!

The chillmeister behind the insanely successful GOOSEBUMPS franchise adds another entry to the kid lit shelves next August, and while it's not superficially scary, one might be horrified if one reads it too often and tries to make it political. Which is exactly what I'm going to attempt to do, so be prepared to be "woke" as the hip kids are saying these days.

MARY MCSCARY, illustrated by Marc Brown, is all about the titular little girl who lives to scare. Well, if your name was Mary McScary, wouldn't you? She scares her parents. She scares her pets. And she has access to the most amazing things to use for scaring, including (apparently) an entire zoo of wild animals at her disposal.

Editor's Note: TIME-LIFE is releasing LAUGH IN: The Complete Series on DVD. This review is for the unreleased version of Season One only.

Say lines like “Sock it to me,” “You bet your sweet bippy,” “Here come da’ judge,” “One ringy dingy,” “Veeeery interesting,” or “And that the truth” to someone over 50, and you’re likely to garner a smile and a laugh from them as you see them look back into their minds remembering where they heard those lines.

Rowan and Martin’s LAUGH IN began in 1968 and ran for six seasons through some of the most turbulent years in our country’s history. It was both groundbreaking and, by today’s standards, rule-breaking--and that is why it is still so much fun to watch today as it was almost 50 years ago.

The 4 DVD set in review here from Time Life--Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In: The Complete First Season--captures the first season complete in all its glory.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics shipping this week

WE ARE FINALLY BACK!

The boys seems to be lost the further and further they go down this maze of hallways.

Sabine stages a fake bounty hunter attack on Princess Leia in order to allow Leia to turn over a data tape of Imperial base locations to the Rebellion.  But then IG-88 arrives to disrupt the operation.  Leia manages to convince her Stormtrooper escort that IG-88 is the real enemy here. Leia and Sabine make the trade.  Sabine promises to keep fighting the Imperials from the outside, even as Leia keeps fighting them from the inside.  Sabine is one of my favorite STAR WARS character, so I was glad to see her get the focus here.  And adding Leia was a great touch.   Definitely one of my favorite FORCES OF DESTINY episodes!

When Imperial forces try to take a little girl's "cat", Jyn jumps into action to rescue to rescue it.  It's not really clear what the timeline here is, but it felt a little out of character.  I can't see Jyn exposing herself just to rescue someone's cat. This felt a little cookie cutter, like they wrote a plot and then picked random Star Wars heroine to fill the role.  It wasn't a particularly bad episode, it just didn't quite feel like Jyn.  The other episodes seemed to be a lot better about fitting the story to the character involved. 

Whether you're a yogi, indoor cycling fanatic, crossfitter, or just like the outdoors, add some spark to summer and fall with the functional, fashionable accessories from Pieces To Peaces. Blending passion and peace into one brand, Pieces To Peaces creates stylish and functional fashion accessories. Handmade to perfection, this beautiful brand believes that what you wear should be cute and comfortable. These bands are super comfy, cute and can be worn so many different ways! Wear the bow in front or to the side for a stylish, chic look – or even show off the bow under your hair for a wide boho style.

HEART: ALIVE IN SEATTLE on DVD from Eagle Rock captures the band Heart at the culmination of their 2002 tour in their home town of Seattle, Washington.

When I was growing up, there were not many female rockers who could play with the best all-guy rock bands of the day. Sure there were some who could rock, but few who could rock-out like the Wilson sisters. In fact, how many bands played covers of Zeppelin songs while Zeppelin was still playing music themselves, and got away with not being thought of as a cover band? (It didn’t hurt that Robert Plant had a girlie high voice in those days, which Ann could match and actually carry a tune better.) Heart proved they could play others’ rock as well as their own with equal aplomb.

They were the real deal then, and they are the real deal here.