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!

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...

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.

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!

Luke Cage Trailer

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



Luke Cage hits Netflix on September 30th!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

Game of Thrones Season 6 2nd Trailer

The premiere of Game of Thrones season 6 is less than two weeks away, so here's a brand new trailer!



Here are a few things to notice in the trailer.

Davos is defending Jon Snow's body. And Ghost is there! I'd love to see him rip through Ollie's body, that little shit...

Now We Are So Happy, We Do The Dance Of Joy!

I know this isn't going to get much fanfare but thirty years ago today, Perfect Strangers, one of my favorite shows of all time premiered. It's the story of a naive, but good-hearted immigrant from the fictional island of Mypos named Balki Bartokomous coming to America to live with his cousin Larry Appleton. It's the classic fish out of water premise played to comedy perfection by Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker. Plus it had in my opinion, one of the best opening theme songs... ever...

Elektra!

The latest trailer for Daredevil season 2 is all about Elektra. She talks about the return of the Yakuza, made possible by Daredevil's extremely effective elimination of all the other crime families in New York City. There's also concerned Foggy, Stick talking about the ninja group, the Hand, and an extremely angry Punisher.



Season 2 of Daredevil debuts on Netflix on March 18th.