There is so much to like about 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE that I almost hate to pick on it. Dan Trachtenberg's handling of a film that, for almost its entirety, has only three players, certainly adds that feeling of isolation that is key to the plot. And John Goodman is never better than when he's playing a serious role where he's always simmering on the edge of a blowup.

For those unfamiliar with the film, here's the lowdown: Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has left her fiance and driven away. In a remote area of Louisiana, she has an accident and wakes up in an underground bunker owned by Howard (John Goodman) and also occupied by Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.). Howard tells her he saved her life and that the outside world has suffered an attack. It could be nuclear, it could be chemical -- but when he adds in that it could have been the Martians, you immediately get the sense that all is not right in Howard's head.

If you've ever wanted to attend an LA Premiere of a movie with a celebrity, EuropaCorp has partnered with Omaze to offer you a chance to do just that!

For a $10 entry fee, you will have the opportunity to win a photo shoot with the cats of NINE LIVES and meet Robbie Amell at the LA Premiere! All proceeds from the entry fee will go to the ASPCA and Best Friends Animal Society.

Animal lovers, like yourself, will pounce at the chance to spend time with Robbie Amell (The Flash, The Duff, Max) and donate to a good cause. It's also a purrr-fect opportunity to be one of the first to see the meow-vie, NINE LIVES!

For more information visit Omaze.com

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Dustin Clendenen

When the Golden Raspberry Awards (affectionately called the Razzies for short) were started in 1981 to honor the worst movies of the year, creator John J.B. Wilson probably didn’t expect them to catch on the way they did. But more than three decades later, the organization handing out annual awards for worst actor, worst screenplay, worst director, and of course, worst picture, has become a veritable institution.

A few years back, Comixology started to sell the second volume of Dave Sim's Cerebus (HIGH SOCIETY) for 99 cents an issue, with a new issue coming out each week.  But other than that, there wasn't many legal ways to get a digital version.  But Dave Sim has changed that!  On his website: http://www.cerebusdownloads.com/, you can find the entire 300 issue run of Cerebus available for digitally download.  The first two volumes (1000 PAGES!) are completely free.  

But, that's not the only cool part.  Dave Sim's full press release seemed to give readers the okay to bootleg the series if they didn't want to pay for it!
 

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

My top five favorite concerts are all act that have been around for several decades: Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, John Fogerty, Rush, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and now Paul Simon. I will let you draw whatever conclusions you will from that with regards to the staying power—or presumable lack thereof, of many contemporary pop acts. These acts are all Hall of Famers for a multitude of reasons, be it musicianship, songwriting, the ability to connect to a wide audience of diverse demographics, and more. On a hot humid Sunday evening at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Paul Simon demonstrated that fantastic music is absolutely timeless.

Hieroglyphs of Emotion is the second CD in Mae Edwards' multi-media project "Starlette & Saint: A Memoir on Dualism" containing commentaries reflecting her years-long studies into numerous spiritual traditions (Christianity, Buddhism) as well as thought provoking references to folklore, world history, psychology, U.S. travel destinations and popular film.

Soaring vocals, electric violins and sweeping lyrical imagery power the second CD and you have a chance to win it by entering the form below.

This contest has ended.

The winner is LESLIE D. of Hardy, AR.

TOM AND JERRY: BACK TO OZ is the animated sequel to TOM AND JERRY AND THE WIZARD OF OZ, which finds our classic cat and mouse frenemies joining Dorothy and Toto on her MGM journey.

In BACK TO OZ, Dorothy has just returned to find nobody believes her tale. Even when she has the ruby slippers to prove it, there's justification for why her story of Oz is just a fancy.

But Dorothy doesn't have time to worry about convincing Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, or the farmhands, Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke. She and the Gale family are still cleaning up after the twister when they find themselves on the verge of losing what's left of the family farm, when neighboring Mr. Bibb (Jason Alexander) files a lawsuit claiming that the twister released some of the Gale pigs who then plundered his prize watermelon patch. Knowing the Gales have no financial resources, he's willing to take his payment in land and livestock, giving the family 24 hours to find a way to pay him otherwise.

THE ROLLING STONES: TOTALLY STRIPPED from Eagle Rock Entertainment is available in many different configurations: as A DVD or SD BluRay, on DVD+CD, or on DVD+LP as well as a deluxe edition that contains a 60-page hard book set containing 5 Discs (4bluRay and 1 CD) or (4DVD, 1 CD for slightly less money).

The set I am reviewing here is the DVD/CD set.

TOTALLY STRIPPED may sound familiar to a lot of Stone’s fans, since the album STRIPPED was released in 1995 following the VooDoo Lounge tour. But don’t be thinking this is just a repacking of that release. Nay, nay, I say! TOTALLY STRIPPED itself is a brand new version of the documentary of the same name, which tells the stories of the studio sessions and three live shows that make up this project. (The Deluxe editions contain DVDs of each live show in its entirety!)

Back in the day (I’m talking about the 80’s here), there were several movies that came out that were over the top in gore and humor (okay, sick humor); movies such as RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND, FRANKEN HOOKER, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD -- just to name a few. Included among that select group is the title of the DVD on review here: 1989’s BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, the first sequel to the cult classic RE-ANIMATOR, and a bona fide cult classic in its own right.

In this day of serious gore movies, watching this remastered 3-disc set from Arrow Video was a breath of fresh air -- fresh, because these movies allowed creativity to be absurd as well as shocking. I mean, when the first billed special effects artist is named Screaming Mad George -- the man behind the infamous “shunting scene in SOCIETY, which, if you have never seen, gives new meaning to the term “over the top”! You can imagine right off the bat some “interesting” special makeup effects to say the least.

Something different for those of you who check our contests page regularly! We have a contest up, but we're hosting this one on Facebook. So if you want to enter for your chances (yes, chances!) to win, head on over to our Facebook Giveaway page!

Critical Blast will be launching a new series that shines the spotlight on talented and creative individuals that are dedicated to cosplay.

For years, cosplay has been a big part of conventions. From the young to the elderly, people of all ages and skill levels dress up as their favorite characters in entertainment and pop-culture. Some costumes are thrown together, others take months of planning and preparation to create something that would make Hollywood costume designers swoon.

Some films simply don't need sequels. When NOW YOU SEE ME hit theaters in 2013, it was something of a surprise hit. The premise was interesting enough: four magicians rob greedy, unscrupulous businessmen blind--live on stage! It featured a nice mix of up and coming actors (Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher) and familiar television stars (Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson) in important roles, surrounded by veteran talents such as Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. I thought it was one of the best films of the year and I would have been perfectly happy if it all ended there. Of course, they left room to turn it into a franchise, and Hollywood never passes on that kind of opportunity.

If you've been following along, you'll know that we here at Critical Blast are big fans of DC Super Hero Girls. Having an animated show specifically tailored for girls (while still able to be enjoyed by all) is something that's was long overdue. Now, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announces that you can bring the world's most powerful female super heroes, DC Super Hero Girls, home on DVD on August 23rd, 2016!

After a series of YouTube videos launched on their channel, it didn't take long before they launched a toyline that includes dress-up kits, action figures and dolls. There is also a clothing line that features many of the characters sporting themes of girl power and togetherness.

In a clip released on its Facebook page, the pilots for VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER receive new weapons; of which were not seen in the original series.

I absolutely love the idea of modding out their flight suits with weaponized tech. It adds to the science fiction of the show and offers the pilots more flexibility in what they can do, when separated from their Lions. They will need to leave their Lions behind at some point and allowing them to have the tech to support their efforts, when they do so, was a good choice by the shows producers.

Civil War II #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez

Summary: In New York, several heroes have gathered to stop a Celestial from bursting into our reality.  The heroes plan (which was developed by the Inhumans) is flawless and they are able to stop the Celestial with no problem.  Several of the heroes are curious about how the Inhumans came up with such a perfect plan.  Medusa introduces them to Ulysses, a new Inhuman who can see the future (and is immune to telepathy).  Stark is very concerned by the implications of what this could lead to, but Carol Danvers sees this as a way to stop all the bad things that can happen.

The Revisionist #1

Written by: Frank Barbiere
Art by: Garry Brown
Colored by: Lauren Affe
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe

Published by: Aftershock
Cover Price: $3.99

Green Arrow: Rebirth #1

Written by: Benjamin Percy
Art by: Otto Schmidt
Colored by: Otto Schmidt
Lettered by: Nate Perkins of Blambot

Published by: DC
Cover Price: $2.99

Dynamite's reimagining of the Gold Key heroes -- Magnus, Robot Fighter; Turok, Son of Stone; The Mighty Samson; Solar -- reaches its third chapter in GOLD KEY: ALLIANCE. And while there's not an alliance to be had as yet, as none of the characters has even met, let alone have been proven to co-exist in the same story universe, Phil Hester has still set up some interesting plots that are starting to make the separate adventure have a cohesion.

When Magnus hunts down the kidnapped Leeja, he has to battle past a giant android. During the battle, he begins to see himself as a robotic prize fighter in a ring, not an agent in a street fight. His reality returns to him just in time to find Leeja at the mercy of the Mekman -- but what was this vision about?

Every hero needs a villain, and with VOLTRON launching on Netflix this Friday, we spotlight the antagonists for the 'Legendary Defender'.

*     *     *

While 'Robeasts' are more popular and marketable, they tend to be throwaway creatures. Created to battle Voltron, they would not have a purpose if it weren't for these three ruthless baddies:

EMPEROR ZARKON – voiced by Neil Kaplan (“Power Rangers,” “Naruto”)