Hard NOC Life 316: ‘Rise of the Beasts’ Maximizes the ‘Transformers’ Franchise

On Hard NOC Life, Keith and Britney roll out a review of the latest Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts. Britney also celebrates the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park, while Keith previews The Flash.

Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 316: ‘Rise of the Beasts’ Maximizes the ‘Transformers’ Franchise”

‘Transformers’ Star Anthony Ramos Discusses POC Themes in ‘Rise of the Beasts’

This week, the Transformers return to the big screen in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts! And I have to say folks, this one truly is more than meets the eye. I personally dug the heck out of this movie. Part of the reason was the way director Steven J. Caple (Creed II) subtly brings up POC themes throughout the movie. And one of the others was its charismatic star Anthony Ramos!

Continue reading “‘Transformers’ Star Anthony Ramos Discusses POC Themes in ‘Rise of the Beasts’”

NOC Review: ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ is a Worthy Successor to ‘Bumblebee’

Let’s be honest, we all wrote off the Transformers franchise long ago. As soon as they stopped the entire Age of Extinction movie to try and justify why it was okay for one character to date a minor, I instantly noped out. I didn’t even bother with The Last Knight, and it seems I was right not to. But then something funny happened. Bumblebee hit theaters, and ended up being a really charming movie.

Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ is a Worthy Successor to ‘Bumblebee’”

Hard NOC Life 294: More Trailers Than Meets the Eye

Hard NOC Life was supposed to be on hiatus, but Britney and Keith had to come back to comment on all the amazing trailers for films coming out in 2023 — including Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — that dropped over the weekend.

Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 294: More Trailers Than Meets the Eye”

Details from the ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Production Kick-Off Event

At today’s Transformers Production Kick-Off Event, press gathered together virtually to watch a conversation with Director Steven Caple Jr., producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, and stars Anthony Ramos and Dominque Fishback. Moderated by Vanity Fair’s Anthony Breznican, Caple Jr. and Di Bonaventura announced the title of the 2022 Transformers film: Rise of the Beasts.

Continue reading “Details from the ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Production Kick-Off Event”

‘Bumblebee’ is ‘Transformers’ Finally Done Right

Several years ago, I wrote about the Transformers movie that broke me.  Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t just a bad movie, it soured me on Transformers altogether. I was resigned to let the iconic toys and cartoons of my youth stay there in the past, and accepted that Michael Bay’s overindulgent vision for Transformers — awash in testosterone and jingoism — would never sync with my memories of the property.

Then I saw Bumblebee.

Continue reading “‘Bumblebee’ is ‘Transformers’ Finally Done Right”

Hard NOC Life: Tracking Trailers for ‘Joker,’ ‘Bumblebee,’ ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ and More

This week on Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith are joined by We’re Not All Ninjas co-host Melissa Slaughter to run down all the trailers that just dropped this week (there are so many, we didn’t get to talk about Creed II or X-Men: Dark Phoenix)!

Continue reading “Hard NOC Life: Tracking Trailers for ‘Joker,’ ‘Bumblebee,’ ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ and More”

Hard NOC News Roundup: Starfire, Bumblebee, Ed Skrein, & Death Note

Hard NOC Life returns with a rundown of the nerd news with Desiree Rodriguez. Later Edward Hong and Josephine Chang join to help review Netflix’s Death Note adaptation

Continue reading “Hard NOC News Roundup: Starfire, Bumblebee, Ed Skrein, & Death Note”

Megatron/Soundwave Art Print Available at NYCC

by Jerry Ma | Originally posted at Epic Proportions

Okay, so this took me much much much longer than I ever expected.  I remember sitting at my desk at work and trying to think of something fun to draw.

When it hit me to have Megatron holding Soundwave as a cassette player listening to music; honestly, I was so proud of myself. I thought it was such a badass idea. [Ed. note: Having “Awesome Mix” on Laserbeak is a nice touch.]

Then I had to draw it. And holy cow, was this grueling!

Continue reading “Megatron/Soundwave Art Print Available at NYCC”

Summer Blockbuster Showdown: Transformers Age of Extinction

Originally posted at You Offend Me You Offend My Family

Select Offenders will be reviewing this summer’s crop of Hollywood tentpole films with a scientifically tested set of criteria that was vetted, nurtured, dissected, and regurgitated through the pop-culture gadflies who have nothing better to do than annoy other productive people in the YOMYOMF office. So, we channeled their nitpicks of the incessant reboots, remakes and rehashes that are part and parcel with Hollywood summer movies into this ongoing summer blog series called the Summer Blockbuster Showdown. You can read previous roundtable reviews, which are all archived here

In this edition, we tackle Michael Mr. Stage Fright Bay’s latest masturbatory opus, Transformers: Age of Extinction! BTW, this roundtable review is chock full of spoilers. You’ve been warned!

Continue reading “Summer Blockbuster Showdown: Transformers Age of Extinction

Why Did I Watch the New Transformers Movie?

I’m out of town, and there’s a movie theater a block from my hotel. As a father, I don’t get to the moviehouse often unless it’s a kid’s movie.  So over the weekend, I figured I’d treat myself to a movie. What’s the worst that can happen? The answer to that question: the theater is only showing Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Even seeing Optimus Prime in his G1 truck mode can’t make up for the three hours this movie steals from your life.

Continue reading “Why Did I Watch the New Transformers Movie?”

Keiko Agena’s Super(fluous) Webseries is Anything But

Keiko Agena is best known for her roles as Lane Kim on the WB’s Gilmore Girls and as White House Press Secretary Britta Kagen on Scandal. When she’s not on television, you can find Keiko performing in LA with the improv group Renegade Justice Patrol.

Currently, she’s working on a project that needs your help to hit its Kickstarter goal: Super(fluous) is a comedic webseries that tells the story of what happens when superhero roommates stop being polite and start getting real. Or something like that.

With only a few days left in the campaign, I sat down with Keiko to talk about how she got involved with the project and how she’s actually not really a nerd.

Continue reading “Keiko Agena’s Super(fluous) Webseries is Anything But”

When’s Someone Going to Let Me Make a Transformers Movie?

So if you haven’t heard, there’s a new Transformers flick coming out this summer. The fourth in the franchise, this will be the first without Shia LeBeouf (since he’s “no longer famous,” Mark Wahlberg’s the new male lead), but Michael Bay is still behind the camera.

Back in February, Paramount teased the flick with a big Super Bowl spot. Your Facebook feed was probably full of images of Optimus Prime riding on Grimlock. The other day, the studio unveiled its first full trailer for the movie that’ll likely rule the summer box office:

Continue reading “When’s Someone Going to Let Me Make a Transformers Movie?”

A Series of Carefully Selected Moments Over the Course of 35 Years

In all sincerity, I actually attempted to construct this in a more conventional narrative form, with the initial phase being the following series of roughly dated bullets. Upon completion, I realized the bullets actually covered my “nerdom coming-of-age” origin tale better than any formal composition.

So yeah, in all it’s abstract glory, here you go:

  • 1980s… My Saturday Morning line-up for a decade was (in no particular order): Spidey and his Amazing Friends, Captain N: The Game Master, The Get-Along Gang, Pole Position, Fraggle Rock, The Gummi Bears, Danger Mouse, Inspector Gadget, Mighty Mouse (The New Adventures), Garfield and Friends, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, ReBoot…

Continue reading “A Series of Carefully Selected Moments Over the Course of 35 Years”