ANCC: 2017 Preview!

Jen, The Gorehound, and Nick ring in the new year by looking at some of the 2017 movie and TV shows coming soon.  What are we looking forward to the most?  Also, what are our New Year’s Resolutions?  Plus, we stepped it up in the new year with an all new intro!

To listen to the episode, click here or on the image below!

ANCC: DuPage Mighty Con

Nick and the Gorehound go local this week!  Over the weekend of June 25th, they attended the DuPage Mighty Con in Wheaton, IL!  Now, they are going to talk about the pluses, minuses, and the overall experience!  What did they think of this local comic convention?  Give a listen and find out!  Also, BrickWorld!

To listen to the episode, click here or on the image below.

The LEGO Ghostbuster Firehouse is as Awesome as it Sounds

As alluded to in this week’s podcast, I bought the Ghostbuster Firehouse LEGO set.  When I first saw the pictures of the set late last year, I thought it was one of the coolest and complex sets that LEGO has ever made.  It was also pretty pricey and it took some convincing from my fiancée for us to get it.  While I am still stunned that I plunked down $350 on a toy (coming from our tax returns), I have to say that I don’t regret it.  This LEGO set was incredibly fun to put together, and I am glad that we have this as a collectible.

The Ghostbuster Firehouse is huge.  The box reports that it has 4634 pieces making it the third largest set LEGO has release thus far.  In addition to the firehouse, the set comes with 12 mini-figures including all 4 Ghostbusters, Dana, Louis, Janine, and 5 ghosts (including Slimer).  Despite the amount of pieces, the set ultimately isn’t that big when completed.  It is about approximately 14x14x9 inches.  While it might be bigger than many of the modular sets from the LEGO Creator line, it is still pretty compact to where it can be displayed on a shelf without taking up a lot of room.

So, where did all those pieces go?  Here is the coolest thing about the set: the inside opens up and each of the three floors are incredibly detailed – almost to the point of excess.  We get to see the garage with Janine’s desk and Peter’s office, Egon’s lab, the bathroom, the bedroom, the kitchen (with food in the fridge), and the photo lab (from Ghostbusters II).  It is absolutely great, and I have to give LEGO credit for all the detail that highlights memorable moments and elements from the two Ghostbusters movies.  Not to mention that there is an actual working fire pole that you can put the mini-figures on that have them slide down.  This set was clearly a labor of love for those creating it to put as much as they did into the fine details that other sets likely wouldn’t have bothered with.

The set opened.

To see all the details, you can take out each floor individually.  Or, even more fun, the right side of the building opens up (about a third of the set) like two giant hinged doors (see picture below).  This gives you access to see all whole inside and lets you play Ghostbusters – which, let’s face it, you are going to do; don’t deny it).  When you want to close it up, there is a little lock-like design that keeps the wall shut in place (although, you can still see the “seam” where the wall parts).

The locking feature on top of the set.

This set is just so fucking cool.  However, there are some minor downsides.  I’m not the first to make this complaint, but the firehouse set is not truly able to house the LEGO Ecto-1 that was released in 2014.  While it fits through the door, it cannot fully “park” itself in there unless you remove the receptionist desk.  And even then, you won’t be able to close/open the doors.  This is a bummer, but I get why it can’t.  For LEGO to house the car, the set would have to have been bigger, use more pieces, and go up in price. It was clearly a compromise that LEGO had to make, and I cannot fault them on that.

The other thing that I noticed about the set that is more of an irritation is that where the wall opens up, because it does slide against the smooth textured floor tiles, they will get scratched up every time you open and close the set.  It isn’t super-evident at first glance, but if you are one that will get bothered by it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to purchase some replacement tiles down the road (either from the LEGO Store or from online sellers such as Brick Owl).

Slimer!

This set is just amazingly awesome and was so much fun to put together.  Every Ghostbusters fan will want one of these.  The directions are very easy to follow in the 420 page instruction guide (this thing is massive).  I worked on the set for about an hour or two each day for over a week.  I didn’t keep track, but if I had to guess, it probably took me around 25 hours to complete.  From what I remember, there was only one or two pieces missing from my set.  However, I was able to make due by getting creative with some of the extra pieces.

With the LEGO Ecto-1.

The LEGO Ghostbuster Firehouse is great.  I completed it about a week ago, and I am still admiring it.  I would have loved this thing if it was just the exterior, but the interior just brings it to a whole new level.  Now, I just have to find a place to display it!

~N

 

I saw The Lego Movie

Children’s entertainment can pretty much go either way for adults. Generally speaking, it can be either entertaining and a solid waste of time for both children and adults, or it can be insipid, mind-numbing crap so bad that it makes you wonder how anyone could watch it, small children or otherwise. Thankfully, the last ten years or so has been filled with amusing children’s entertainment suitable for adults as well, mostly thanks to the efforts of studios like Pixar. Disney has caught on as well, releasing Wreck-It Ralph and then Frozen in simultaneous years. Even Dreamworks has gotten in on this, with last year’s The Croods being a fairly pleasant diversion. The latest in this trend is The Lego Movie, stemming from an unlikely source in Warner Bros. Animation.

Warner’s biggest hits in the field of animation include both Happy Feet films, and the second one was a pretty notable flop back in 2011. So when The Lego Movie was announced, you could be forgiven for not being all that interested. Fortunately, the film stems mainly from the minds of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the creative pair responsible for MTV’s cult hit Clone High as well as 2012’s well-liked 21 Jump Street feature film adaptation/remake. With Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt as the main character Emmet, The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks voicing the rebellious Wyldstyle, and comedy stalwart Will Ferrell bringing life to the big bad Lord Business (president of the dubious Octan Corporation as well as the city of Bricksburg), The Lego Movie boasts considerable acting talent. And while it doesn’t always hit its mark, it is an admirable and entertaining effort well worth the time.

When President Business steals the mysterious Kragle (a Macguffin I won’t spoil in this review), it is up to regular, everyday Lego minifigure/construction worker Emmet to fulfill the prophecy foretold by ancient wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and save the world with the help of Wyldstyle, Batman (voice of Will Arnett), the dread pirate Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), Uni-Kitty (Alison Brie), and 1980s spaceman Benny (Charlie Day). Together they must unite to stop President Business as well as his henchman Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) from their nefarious plot and save the day for the Lego universe (which includes, in addition to Bricksburg, a pirate land, wild west land, and “Middle Zealand” – an obvious reference to Lord of the Rings as well as the popular knight-themed Lego sets of the 1980s).

While the film is light on plot, it is fast, energetic, colorful, frenetically paced, fairly funny, and often incredibly charming. The script is filled with decent quips and jokes throughout its running time, many of which are based on the Lego characters’ limited movements (doing “jumping jacks” side to side for example) or their ability to tear down an entire city and construct the same thing again every single day as a viable job. The voice talent is considerably strong throughout, with Arnett’s performance as Batman being a notable highlight. Arnett portrays him as a spoiled, snotty jerk type of character, which is a total 180 from how you might expect Batman to act. Ferrell is also great as Lord Business – perfectly cast I would say. Chris Pratt’s energy and dumb optimism makes for a great blank slate character as well. Oh, and the music – done by Mark Mothersbaugh – is fantastic.

The Lego Movie is a trifle for sure, however. There’s not that much dept there, certainly not as much found in something like Ratatouille or Toy Story 3. The script is fast and well paced, but it can also be shallow in areas and relies on a lot of character cameos and a few dumb gags. There’s a bit of sentimentality towards the end that isn’t entirely earned, but it is fairly well done – I won’t spoil it here, but I was not expecting where it took the story. I’m not sure if I liked it, but it was different and I will at least give it credit for that. There’s still a ton of creativity to be found in this movie. I imagine it will appeal more to adults than kids, but I still had a good time throughout its thankfully average 100-minute running time (any more time spent in this film would have just been superfluous). Check it out for a fun, if not particularly deep, time at the movies.

-Z-