blast-o-rama.

So, it’s just around 10pm, on Sunday Night, January 22nd, 2012. I don’t typically go into real, personal detail on this blog, as it’s main purpose and goal is for it to be a catalog of all things nerdy that I enjoy.  That said, I started tweeting a bit earlier, and I feel like it’s something that would work in a longer form written piece, and here we are.

For those who are somehow aware of this blog, and not aware of Super Art Fight, let me explain that real quick.  Super Art Fight is an absolutely amazing live art competition, kind of a mix of pro-wrestling and Pictionary.  Started by Jamie Noguchi and Nick Borkowicz, I had the pleasure of being there for it’s inception, being asked to become the live show host, and being a key member behind the scenes ever since.  In the interest of full disclosure, I handle all of the matchmaking/storylines, amongst many other things.   On Thursday Morning, I leave for San Francisco.  This is quite a big deal, as not only is it our first show on the West Coast, but we’re performing as a part of the Macworld|iWorld expo (formerly just Macworld), which in the tech world is something of a “big deal”.  More than that, this is literally going to be my second flight ever, and the farthest I’ve ever traveled away from home.  It’s very much riding on my mind as of late (understandably), but not out of nerves or fear, but the realization of how incredibly lucky and fortunate I am to have an opportunity like this.

Thinking about this is taking me back to where it all started – not just Super Art Fight proper, but my whole mix up in this world of comic, arts and performing.  A step I never thought I’d take.  It’s been a long journey, with a lot of help from amazing people along the way.  This goes in depth, so prepare your reading glasses, gang.

View full article »

I don’t know much about Chronicle, besides it’s cool poster (above) and it’s release date (February 3rd, 2012), but I do know its trailer intrigued the hell out of me.

After being pretty bored with Paranormal Activity 2 (I’ve yet to bother with 3), I don’t think the “found footage” format works for everything – but I do feel like that it certainly can work with the ‘douchey teens get superheroes’ subgenre we’ve discovered here.

Click play on the trailer above and check it out yourself – I think you’ll be as intrigued as I am.

This past weekend in Los Angeles, my favorite poster creators in the world, Mondo hosted another series of Mondo Mystery Movies.

This time, they set sail to the West Coast, and allowed their team of poster artists to select the six films that would be featured over the course of this weekend.  Their artists pick their favorite films, Mondo gets the rights, audiences pay for the tickets, and at showtime find out the movie they’re seeing and the poster they’ll be getting at the show.  Sounds like a fun game of chance, doesn’t it?  Well, as the images below show, these audiences were TRULY lucky, getting some stunning posters for some of the greatest genre films of all time.

Here’s what showed, and the posters that went alongside them!

28 Days Later (Regular Edition)

Friday October 7th at 7pm brought a screening of 28 Days Later, with a poster from The Walking Dead‘s Charlie Adlard. The regular poster came in at 180 pieces with the variant at 80 pieces.

28 Days Later (Variant Edition)

Hellraiser (Regular Edition)

At 10pm on October 7th, Florian Bertmer released a fantastic poster for that night’s screening of Hellraiser, with 245 regular prints alongside 70 variants.

Hellraiser (Variant)

Iron Giant (Regular)

The 7:30 screening on October 8th was one of my all-time favorite films, The Iron Giant. Perhaps appropriately, this was paired with a poster from one of my favorites, Kevin Tong. 245 regular prints were available with 70 variants. No word if Tong has extra prints for his site. God knows I’ll be watching with anticipation.

Iron Giant (Variant Edition)

Assault On Precinct 13 (Variant Edition)

The late night Saturday screening was Assault On Precinct 13. The poster? By Tyler Stout. 245 prints were available, all variants. Why? As the standard version will be available for sale when the new blu-ray hits!

City of Lost Children (Regular Edition)

Sunday evening at 7:30 brought what is sure to be a beloved poster for an amazing film as the classic The City of Lost Children was screened by request of Ken Taylor.

City of Lost Children (Variant Edition)

The Mist

Finally, the weekend was brought together with a new poster from Daniel Danger, for the 10pm showing of The Mist. This print is just awe-inspiring.

An amazing weekend for those in attendance, and for those of us who couldn’t attend, it’s a whole bunch to be jealous of. Maybe one day they could bring a screening to the east coast. From my fingers to Mondo’s ears, right?

We’ve seen many a teaser, many a spoof ad, but now its time to dim the lights and get ready, a real trailer for The Muppets has hit, and it truly hits EVERY SINGLE NOTE you’d want it to.

Click play above and NOT smile. I dare you. Jason Siegel and Co. truly have brought the Muppets back for us, and I cannot wait for this flick. It’s going to be a great fall!

The Muppets hits theaters November 23rd, 2011.

I think it kinda goes without saying that today hasn’t been the best of days.

Waking up to an entire country almost being wiped from the map will do that to you.  If you’re one of my followers on Twitter, you probably noticed that while I wanted to blog, I didn’t know if it was really the “right time”.

I mean, what space does cynicism and nerd rage have when such bigger, more important things are occurring in this world? Who gives a shit what I have to say about the latest superhero reboot sequel prequel based on a book about a TV show, when thousands are dead, dying or without home in Japan?

I hate to invoke September 11th here, but after that, the first Saturday Night Live episode had a very clear, very funny bit.  Lorne Michaels was sitting with Rudy Giuliani, and they had this great exchange.

Lorne Michaels: On behalf of everyone here, I just want to thank you all for being here tonight, especially you, sir.

Mayor Rudolph Guiliani: Thank you, Lorne. Thank you very much. Having our city’s institutions up and running sends a message that New York City is open for business. “Saturday Night Live” is one of our great New York City institutions, and that’s why it’s important for you to do your show tonight.

Lorne Michaels: Can we be funny?

Mayor Rudolph Guiliani: Why start now?

And it struck just the right chord, at just the right time.

As someone who’s guidance, advice and gravitas means more to me than he probably realizes, it meant a lot for Bryan Prindiville to reach out to me today on Twitter.

As he put it…

…[people] need to look away to something light and comfortable. We exist to bring joy.

And he’s absolutely right. This blog makes people excited about things, as ostensibly, it’s about what makes ME excited. And from what I can tell by the increased traffic as of late, it gets you excited, too.

That’s what the entertainment business is all about. In darkness, it brings the light. In times of sadness, it reminds us of joy. It takes a bad day and makes it great. And I think that’s what everyone in the entertainment business, from D-list bloggers like myself, to A-List performers all strive to do. I realize what I do may not effect many people, but if I can make you excited about something in the future as opposed to worrying about what is happening right now, I feel like I’ve done an OK job.

One day, probably much sooner rather than later, the cynicism will return, and it will probably be sooner rather than later…but I think what we need right now is something to get excited about.

Which leads right into my next post…

Folks, like last year, this blog has received an amazing honor.  Blast-O-Rama has been nominated for a Mobbie, the Baltimore Sun‘s annual blogging award.

What’s really crazy is that I’ve been nominated four times overall (Best Pop Culture, Best Twitter Feed [Personal], Best Personal Blog and Best Charm City Current Blog),but I want to make for one focus here.

I want Blast-O-Rama to win Best Pop Culture Blog at the 2010 Mobbies.

You can click the above link to vote once a day, through November 12th, and to make sure you remember, this post will be stickied until then.

All day I’ve been fluxuating near the top, and now I hope that with a current all-time record readership, you will all do me a solid and put me at the top.

Remember, you can vote ONCE A DAY through November 12th. LETS MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

I’m not sure there’s anything I enjoy more than superheroes juxtaposed with an alternative art style.

And if an artist has mixed comics and mod art better than Rogan Josh, I’ve yet to see it.

As a part of his modHero series, Josh has taken dozens of heroes, from the well known to the obscure, and turned them into brilliant mod art pieces, each perfectly encapsulating the hero featured.

I’ve included a gallery of some of my favorites below, but you really could lose hours pouring over his full archive, which I’ve linked below.  Josh does sell prints on occasion (follow his tumblr or facebook for more), and you better believe – next time he does, I’ll be buying a few!

Source: modHero.

Folks, it was just over two years ago that I decided to start up Blast-O-Rama.

Honestly, it was just a silly lark…I’d always been the type to tell my friends about the latest movies, music, comics or games to pique my interest, and honestly, I thought that I’d spare them the torture a bit, and spread it across the web.

Little did I know what it would lead to.

Since it’s inception, Blast-O-Rama has been nominated for awards, shared the love of nerdy content, and even received a few cease and desist notices.

But all along, it was about sharing the enjoyment of nerdy things with people who have the same interest.

Apparently, it impressed some people out there.

What am I getting at? It’s simple…you’re about to see a lot more of me blogging. In fact, probably twice as much.

Starting next week, your ol’ pal Marty will be moving to a new pasture, as I’ll be blogging it up for the Baltimore Sun’s new offshoot, Charm City Current.

Under the title BMore Nerdy, I’ll be bringing you more of what I find, dig and nerd out about across the web.

But don’t worry, I’m not abandoning Blast-O-Rama, in fact, you’ll be seeing posts on there directing users back here, and from here telling you to check out BMore Nerdy.

We’re about to become a shinier, happier family, and I can’t wait to take it on.

Next week, join me at Charm City Current, as we learn how we all can Bmore Nerdy.