[NEWS] Paramount Pictures pushing "Transformers: Age of Extinction" for the Oscar nominations

As Hollywood is slowly getting under-way for the upcoming Academy Awards season, production studios have started pushing for their big films to be considered for nominations. In a move somewhat unexpected and surprising, Paramount Pictures are pushing Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction for a nominee in all categories, including Best Picture!

The major blockbuster series is a point of controversy, loved and hated in near-equal amounts by the film-going audience. Since their début in 2007, the consensus had been that Bay's "Transformers" offer entertaining and easily-digested summer pop-corn, but as films or art, they should not pretend they are more than that.

This is not the first time a Paramount "Transformers" film has dabbled with the prestigious Awards show; the first film was nominated in the categories of "Best Visual Effects", "Best Sound Editing" and "Best Sound Mixing" in the 80th Academy Awards show in 2008. Age of Extinction is also suggested for nomination in those categories, as well as Best Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Director and, of course, Picture.

The fourth entry in the Transformers live-action series premièred in theatres on June 2014 and gathered vastly unfavourable reviews, betraying a lot of fatigue following the series since 2007. The audience was also less enthusiastic, though the fanbase found the material overall superior to at least the previous two, critically panned entries in the series, Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Dark of the Moon (2012). Even so, the repeated offences on the production's part and the lack of an original direction did not harm the film's earnings.

Voting for the nominations starts on December 29, while the Ceremony of the 87th Academy Awards will be held on February 22, 2015 (source: Wikipedia)

Source and Paramount's suggestions to "consider" for the Awards can be viewed HERE.

The new "Metal Gear Online" world-reveal at The Game Awards 2014.

"Tactical Team Operations" is the tagline for the newest entry in Metal Gear Online, as presented a few hours ago at The Game Awards 2014. The première gameplay trailer shows two teams (one led by Big Boss) sneaking around each other, trying to eliminate or even "capture" enemy players (per the, famous now, Fulton StA Recovery System). 

The trailer seems like a mesh of features in one mode or several different game modes edited together for the presentation. At one point, players seem able of hijacking and riding the "mini-MGs" (not their actual name), the small bipedal walking tanks that Big Boss has been shown piloting in the E3 2013 MGSV trailer. At another, the once hilarious dirty magazines that distracted enemy soldiers and cleared a path have been replaced with adorable stuffed husky pups.

Previous games in the Online series featured standard game modes (such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Point Capture etc), with the occasional specialized mode suited to the series and its stealth roots.

This Metal Gear Online is the third iteration of the series' online component. The first was introduced with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence almost nine years ago, the expansion package to the 2004, award-winning Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the Playstation 2. The first "MGO" was shut down in the twilight of the PS2 and succeeded by the next instalment, which came packaged with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in 2008 and released for the Playstation 3. That version (which is usually referred to as "MGO2") was also shut down in 2012.

While the new MGO is technically the third game bearing the title, the series has featured online play in its hand-held instalments as well, both with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (and the "MPO+" expansion, designed specifically for online content) and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which actually serves as the direct narrative predecessor to MGSV. The online component of Peace Walker, while not as broad and rich as Metal Gear Online, accompanied the title's HD port on the home consoles (PS3/XBOX360) as well.

The MGS official site has been updated with the news about the upcoming online component. The new Metal Gear Online is developed by Kojima Productions' new LA Studio and the game has been confirmed to be bundled with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain at no extra cost.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is scheduled for release in 2015, on the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, XBOX360, XBOX One and MS Windows-compatible PC. 

[NEWS] The first official trailer for "Terminator: Genisys" is online.

"He is back", the tagline to the next installment in the "Terminator" film series boasts, as it features an old, withered and silver-haired Arnie unloading a shotgun on his younger CGI self.

It's not as cool as it sounds.

The film is directed by Alan Taylor and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the famous killing machine and Emilia Clarke taking over from Linda Hamilton ("The Terminator" 1,2) and Lena Headey ("The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Sarah Connor. The story, which intends to softly reboot the franchise by rewriting the mythos established by the James Cameron classics, was penned by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

"Terminator: Genisys" is slated for a July 1st, 2015 release.

[NEWS] Leaked pictures offer first look at "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger"

Not much yet is known about the upcoming 39th series of the long-running Japanese "superhero" show (Super) Sentai, but reportedly a fan leaked some pictures revealing the look of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger:

Outside the theme the series will be following, nothing else has been revealed either via the same leak or official sources. The pictures allow a fairly detailed look at the suit design (which, unsurprisingly, is somewhat reminiscent of the similarly-themed 2002 show, Ninpu Sentai Hurricanger) and the team composition: three male (Red, Blue, Yellow) and two female Heroes (Pink, White).

Ninninger will be picking up after the current entry, Ressha Sentai ToQger concludes and will be joining Kamen Rider Drive in TV Asahi's "Super Hero Time" block.


Source: HenshinJustice.com

New Who: "Robot of Sherwood"

After I posted my review last week, I found out quite a few people and especially fans disliked "Into the Dalek". I didn't bother with details, because I'm a lot more lazy than one may think, but it seems that it was on the grounds of lack of originality. As I mentioned myself in that review, the Doctor seeing a "good Dalek" only to realize he shares the intensity of pure hatred they also display, is indeed nothing ground-breaking for New Who.

But still, "Into the Dalek" was well-written, well-acted and it had something to say. "Robot of Sherwood", on the other hand, not so much.

The Doctor, once again, asks Clara what she wants to do, where she wants him to take her. Clara hesitantly suggests that she has always wanted to meet Robin Hood. The Doctor laughs it off, insisting that Robin Hood is merely a legend, but she convinces him to take her to England at the end of the 12th Century.

As they step outside the TARDIS, wouldn't you know it, Robin! Lord of Locksley and Earl of Huntington, just happens to be there and prepares to steal to magic blue box. The Doctor is naturally suspicious and after a very cheesy and surprisingly endearing sword-and-spoon fight with Locksley, he spends most of the episode trying to prove that Robin, the Merry Men and even the Sheriff of Nottingham are all fake. His work becomes easier when he realizes that the Sheriff's guards are, indeed, alien robots.

"Robot of Sherwood" serves as your standard, light-hearted "filler" episode. This isn't inherently bad, but this particular episode feels sloppy, poorly-put-together and a little too loud in all the wrong places.

Unlike "Into the Dalek", "Robot of Sherwood" is tonally in stark contrast to both the first two episodes and to what we expect Series 8 to be in general. It's a bit jarring at first; a lot of slapstick, a lot of overacting, a distinct lack of nuance in the portrayal of everyone including the Doctor and overall just too silly.

There is foundation for this type of episode, of course. It follows Doctor Who tradition of the "faux-historical" (or fantasy-historical) template and "fun" is a core component of the show. The problem is that a lot of it doesn't work. It's really not as funny or heart-warming as it may had been intended and so much of the story feels ultimately inconsequential.

I was being facetious earlier when I said that "Robot of Sherwood" has nothing to say. There is actually a point to be made, one that relies on the necessity of legends, old and new, for mankind to look up to and persevere in their lives. There is a clear effort to draw parallels between the Doctor and Robin Hood, how they are both the same kind of legend that makes people look to the future with hope and become heroes themselves.

The writers want to hammer this point across so much, that they end up simply going through the motions: The Doctor hates Robin and Robin hates the Doctor in a pissing-match-type of way. The Doctor is determined to prove that Robin's not real. The absurdity of the Doctor finding out about the alien robots and exclaiming that he finally found something real is appreciated, but ultimately falls flat.

They go so far ahead with it that in the end, they mirror Robin and the Doctor's story and before the TARDIS departs, Robin tells the Doctor "I'm as real as you are".

The episode made me frustrated, because of all these efforts to get its point across. Not only is it heavy-handed in its final delivery, but it feels forced throughout the run of the entire episode. The similarities between the Doctor and Robin Hood, both as legends and particularly as characters, are non-existent. They could, potentially, juxtapose the two and focus on the importance of their respective "legend" despite the differences, but they didn't do that (or at least, they failed to do that).

Instead, it's the Doctor being silly and Robin Hood having absolutely no on-screen presence. Let me tell you something: in 2006, BBC premiered a show based on the legend of Robin Hood. It was mostly teen-oriented, with a bit of action, decent sets for its budget, great music and the most beautiful pair of eyes I've seen on Marian. It wasn't that memorable of a show, but I liked it well-enough (still better than the Ridley Scott movie).

The thing is, when Jonas Armstrong's scrawny ass commands more respect as a hero than you, you may be tragically miscast. Or your character is terribly-written. Either way, it doesn't work.

The cringe-worthy moments were many and came to a head at the climax of the episode, when Robin, Clara and the Doctor get into a weird bow-and-arrow threesome and fire a golden arrow to the departing spaceship to give it a push so that leaves Earth's atmosphere before blowing up and devastating England. See, the ship operates on gold, and the Cyborg Sheriff is so anxious to take over the world, he launches the ship before the engine has been fully repaired using that gold.

It was very silly, required a little too much in terms of suspension of disbelief and even in regards to the show's internal logic. I'm still trying to figure out how that one golden arrow lodged in just the right place for the ship to process it and how a single golden arrow was, conveniently, adequate for the ship to hit overdrive.

No. Sorry, but no.

I'd be somewhat less annoyed if they didn't do that ridiculous bow trick, too. Do the teamwork thing sure, but don't rush it. Take your time with it, use synergy. How about this for a different solution: Robin gets to fire the arrow on his own and set it in its course. Clara helps him keep steady from behind, since his arm was hurt. Then, the Doctor uses the Sonic Screwdriver/Magic-Wand-That-Only-Doesn't-Do-Wood-But-I-Am-Sure-Does-Gold(TM) to give the arrow that final boost and force needed to reach and penetrate the ship.

It's simple, see? I promise you, nobody would think less of your interpretation of Robin Hood than they already do.

Incidentally, I think the whole "alien robots" thing was a bad idea in general. "Doctor Who" has lost the factual-historical-episode-template and we could have kind of had that with this episode. Robin Hood may be a legend, but the politics and the overall framework of events of the era could be approached differently and ultimately lead to the same conclusion regarding legends and heroes.

The alien robots distracted even further from an already flimsy concept that was rushed and underwhelming in execution. Add insult to injury, the Doctor as usual takes a hell of a risk changing history by allowing Robin to not only know that he's a legend in the future, but also lets him walk inside an alien ship and potentially leaves behind remnants of technologically advanced robots.

And how else could the episode end but with Clara turning to the Doctor before they take off and very predictably say "Admit it, you like him". Oh, the banter in this episode is truly sublime!

All series have their bad episodes and, while your mileage may very well vary, this is one episode of Series 8 that I have no intention of revisiting any time soon.

New Who: "Into The Dalek"

Remember how I said Series 8 seems to be moving toward a show with different tone and pacing than what New Who has been since the relaunch?

Scratch that. Where "Deep Breath" is slow and introspective, the second episode "Into The Dalek" opens with a chase in space and has explosions all around. It's the Crash of the Byzantium all over again.

Actually, that's unfair, because the  Crash of the Byzantium was a stand-out two-parter ("The Time of the Angels", " Flesh and Stone") that was equal amounts awesome and terrifying, while "Into the Dalek" is just the second of episode of Series 8.

If it seems I'm being harsh on the episode, it's not because it's bad. It's mainly because now the show actively jerks me, as a viewer, back and forth. It took me two viewings of "Deep Breath" to get into what it was trying to set-up and "Into the Dalek" suddenly propels me back to the Matt Smith era.

But the show must be judged on its own merits and in that regard, it's a good episode. It's fun, it has good dialogue and drama that resonates.

The Doctor materializes the TARDIS around a rebel human soldier, before her fighter ship blows up. The rebels are apparently at war with the Daleks. The Doctor takes the soldier back to the rebel ship, but the rebels attempt to execute him, to make sure the location of the ship doesn't fall into Dalek, uhm, plungers.

They spare him when he's mis-identified as "a doctor" as it appears the rebels have a very special patient: a Dalek that wants to see all other Daleks destroyed. Intrigued by the prospect of a 'good' Dalek, the Doctor decides to help.

Clara, in the meantime, flirts with her school's new math teach, a former soldier himself (let's assume Iraq for now), for whom the show makes it a point that he has both seen combat and likely taken civilian lives.

For the time being the math teach, Danny Pink, is left alone. There is quite a bit of a deal made in the episode about how the Doctor really dislikes soldiers. I've made it my point not to follow casting news, because my Internet experience has become detrimental to my enjoyment and the shock factor of shows and movies. However, I would assume that sooner or later Mr. Pink will board the TARDIS or, at the very least, meet the Doctor and talk this out.

The episode offers some nifty classic sci-fi ideas and visuals. The Doctor naturally takes Clara with him to help the Dalek and how will they help it? How else, of course, but by becoming miniatures and being rocketed inside the Dalek's body.

For better or worse there is nothing particularly impressive inside the Dalek. Most of it is machine to begin with, as such the majority of the episode the Doctor, Clara and their guest star supports spend their time in the usual metal corridors commonly found in any ship or factory ever featured on-screen.

Even the Dalek's cortex, that holds memories and becomes a big part of the resolution of the episode, is just panels. That's it.

This is a problem I found with the Series 7 second episode as well, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", concepts that sound extremely cool but are extremely underwhelming in execution.

So, visually, the set designers don't get a raise for this one, but director Ben Wheatly does. The talented director once again manages to provide shots that compensates for the script's lack of tension and the banality of the sets.

But let's go back to that story for a moment, because there is actually meat there. For one thing, the Doctor's aversion to soldiers is not one that I personally recall from past Who (Classic or New) and it seems odd to me. He never seemed to have much of a problem with UNIT, for example, no matter how much he antagonized the unforgettable Brigadier. For that matter, he didn't seem to have a huge problem with his daughter, either.

Perhaps this is a left-over from revisiting the Time War in the 50th Anniversary Special? Perhaps and maybe this ties to the Doctor's new mission of becoming a better person and correcting his mistakes, which is also touched upon in this episode. Right now it's just a tad confusing, because changing the fate of Gallifrey in "The Day of the Doctor" should serve as a means to get rid of the guilt he'd been feeling since the relaunch.

More importantly, I mentioned earlier that the drama in the episode resonates. A lot of that is credited to Wheatly for the way he sets up the Dalek invasion of the rebel ship, with shots that are both emotionally heavy, as well as legitimately tense and scary.

But what truly stands out is the twist at the end. Just when I thought "Into the Dalek" was too much like Matt Smith's run, it pulls a plot twist so simple and yet so emotionally heavy I have to admit I needed a few seconds to re-focus myself on the episode.

I'm refering, of course, to the Dalek seeing into the Doctor's mind and finding "hate". Pure, incorruptible hate.

This isn't the first time the show has suggested that the Doctor is too much like a Dalek and in that regard, it's not exactly an impressive revelation. However, between Capaldi's amazing delivery of an expression of regret and terror when "Rusty" (the Dalek patient) comes to this conclusion, as well as the episode's entire set-up regarding what makes a good person, it works.

The Doctor is not someone who generally hates people based on anything. The one and only time he has truly hated something is the Daleks. His sudden aversion to soldiers seems to be fed by the realization that he still harbors too much hate in him. He himself says that the Daleks are (perfect) soldiers. The War Doctor was a soldier in a bloody war that had (likely) lasted close to a thousand years and revisting that face of his that he had suppressed for so long may have brought him to question how good of a person he really is.

Even now that Galifrey's ultimate fate has been changed, they're still locked away. In "Deep Breath", both the Clockwork Robot and the Doctor were trying to reach their "Promised Land", but for all intends and purposes that land did not exist. The Doctor can't bring Gallifrey back as long as the Daleks still exist, because the Time War would resume and swallow everything. Finding Rusty probably made him believe that if the Daleks can be changed; "if I can turn one of them, I can turn them all, I can save the future", he admits. If the Daleks can be given to understand that they don't need to operate on pure hatred, he would be able to restore his home without any more warring and bloodshed.

Only Rusty wasn't devoid of hatred. Even after the Doctor "healed" its mind, the Dalek turned against its own. Its prime-directive had remained the same: Exterminate. All that had changed was the target.

To cap this off was Rusty's final line to the Doctor: "I am not a good Dalek. YOU are a good Dalek!"

In that regard, the Doctor no longer feels burdened by the loss of his people. He's not the last of the Timelords, nor the war survivor. He's just hopeless. Perhaps that's what the "darker" direction that was touted prior to the show's premiere will revolve around.

When all's said and done "Into the Dalek" is definitely an enjoyable episode. There are some continuity questions raised in regards to the Daleks' knowledge of the Doctor (or lack thereof), while the Doctor's outright hostility toward soldiers is fairly forced, especially considering that the rebel soldiers likely aren't soldiers by trade but by necessity (being rebels and all).

Despite the complaining I did at the start of this piece, the truth is that upon careful inspection, it is not a Matt Smith episode. Scenes like the Doctor tricking a man who's about to die with a straight face, or landing into a pool of liquified human bodies and joking about it stand out. It's not just the (implied) gore, like the organ harvesting in the previous episode, it's the way the Doctor carries himself through it.

"Into the Dalek" is flawed, but it's well-shot, well-written and superbly-acted. It's an episode that contrasts a classic, "silly" science fiction plot (becoming miniaturized and entering someone's body) with raw death, gore and a protagonist that becomes so cynical, he's hard to like sometimes. So far, Series 8 is very, very promising.

New Who: "Deep Breath"

Peter Capaldi reminds me a lot of Craig Ferguson.

That was the first thing I noticed about him and I don't even know why. Something about his face and his expressions remind me of the (also) Scottish comedian and host of the Late Late Show a lot. Or perhaps it is because Ferguson is a huge fan of Doctor Who.

So, the show returned after an excruciating hiatus that lasted well-over a year, with the exception of the two specials that run on November and December 2013. Picking up almost immediately after the events of the last Christmas Special "The Time of the Doctor", the episode opens with a Tyrannosaurus Rex appearing all of a sudden in 19th Century London, where the Silurian Vastra, her wife Jenny and the Sontaran Strax operate as detectives by night, while serving as a microcosm of diversity and uncommon family structure by day.

Shortly after its arrival, the dinosaur spits out the familiar blue police box. From within it emerge the newly-regenerated, confused Doctor and a very scared, equally confused and even slightly pissed off Clara.

From there on the plot transforms into something entirely different, shifting away from the spectacle of the awesome beast to the creepy undertones of an organ-harvesting story, courtesy of the Clockwork Robots from the magnificent episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", back during the Tennant run.

"Deep Breath" is, at first, a hard episode to follow. Even though it tries to ease in the viewer in its first half, Series 8 seems adamant about making changes to the show. For those that started following the show after the 2005 relaunch, "Doctor Who" has been consistent in a few things in terms of presentation, visuals and pacing. The Series 8 opener is almost entirely antithetical, but ultimately it works.

When Moffat took over the show in Series 5, he knew there would have to be changes, which is why he did the pseudo-reboot with Matt Smith. It was his first time as the showrunner, he had to leave his own mark and do the show the way he thought it best. Now such a reboot is not necessary; the 12th Doctor is about growing up, being comfortable with yourself and the situations that arise, about putting all you've learned through the years to good use.

As such, "Deep Breath" spends surprisingly little time with the Doctor himself. Matt Smith not only gave us a fantastic show of the Doctor redefining himself back in "The Eleventh Hour", but it was also tied with the life of Amelia Pond. Peter Capaldi doesn't get to grow up alongside Clara; he instead becomes an enstranged friend that seeks acceptance from a person he cares about, but who can't see past his appearance.

The Doctor's post-regeneration show is a Clara show. She fills two purposes:
a) as a character, who herself seeks redefinition now that her gimmick is played out
b) as a stand-in for the audience and particularly fans that have false preconceptions about what the show should be, that are and have been very vocal against any kind of change and who believe that the Doctor is just one face.

This last part seems very important to Moffat; he has gone on record saying that there is one Doctor with many faces, that accepting one Doctor over another is doing disservice to this great, long-running series. It's a good point and it probably hits close to home as it's a perfect mirror to the work writers, producers and actors do in such shows.

Clara spends most of her time being loyal to the Doctor, but at the same time being scared of him changing so drastically. She really can't see beyond the new face, the new voice and, in fact, she takes more than a few jabs at his grey hair; an echo of far too many fans taking an issue with the Doctor not being a young stud anymore.

But the most interesting thing is that Clara is perfect to get that point across, because of her plot-line in Series 7. She's the Impossible Girl, she's the woman that took a dive in the Doctor's timeline and saw him: all of them. From Hartnell to Tennant and Hurt, she knew them all; but she only travelled with Smith.

Now there's this new guy she doesn't know. She sees change and can't see past it. She's the ultimate anchor for the audience, both old and new and she has to learn to see beneath the face; the face that the Doctor wears as a mask.

 

This doesn't mean the Doctor doesn't go through his own ordeal. He still seeks redefinition, but it's one of introspection rather than exploration. All the Doctors after Hurt reflected the character's guilt over the destruction of the Time Lords. It's why they were young, why the Doctor was trying to belong, without a home to call his own and with the unbearable burden of genocide on his shoulders.

In the wake of the events of 50th Anniversary Special, that burden is gone. He no longer needs to fit in, he is allowed to grow up and face the world head-on. There is a great deal made in the episode between the Doctor trying to be too human since the relaunch and how he has to fully accept that he's not one. He's not young, he's over 2000 years old. He's not a child-- though there's still no point in being a grown up if you can't be childish sometimes. He's not Clara's boyfriend and it's his fault she may had thought him as such. He trusts not only Clara, but the audience as well to change in front of them into someone older, someone grey and someone who is different.

He finds common ground with both proposed antagonists in the episode. The dinosaur is accidentally zapped in London and it misses the trees, the green ground and the atmosphere of its time. The leader of the Clockwork Robots is also trying to get home, back in the 51st Century, by withstanding the passing of time. Likewise, the Doctor is trying to get back home, "the long way round".

 

Interestingly, he also serves as the link between the old and the new. In a surprisingly subtle and yet brilliant move, Moffat opens the episode with a dinosaur, perfectly in line with the spectacle we've come to expect from the series so far, then proceeds to burn the beast alive and lead into an organ-harvesting robot antagonist, that hints to the new series' different, darker, quieter and more self-aware direction.

The episode is slow and has a lot of dialogue. Most of it is introspective, including the final showdown between the Doctor and the leader of the Robots, who find common ground in the idea that when you change too much, perhaps you lose who you really are.

Still, "Deep Breath" comes with memorable scenes, a good deal of which need to be credited to both cast and the great direction from Ben Wheatly. The teaser is typically amusing when the confused Doctor runs through the names of the Seven Dwarves to remember the nickname he's given Strax.

 

There is some great interaction between Vastra and Jenny as a couple, while Strax easily steals the limelight in every scene he's present. The sequence of Clara trying to escape the alien ship, while holding her breath, is very well-acted and one of the most tense scenes in the show's modern incarnation.

I have to fully admit that "Deep Breath" took me a couple of viewings to get into. The change from what we've identified as New Who up until now is jarring at first. I have been slowly watching Classic Who (up to Tom Baker now) and loving it for the most part, but Matt Smith defined the Doctor for me.

I didn't dislike Capaldi, which is why I've barely mentioned him. He's not just a distinguished actor on his own right, he's already a fantastic Doctor as well. It's the tone and especially the pacing that made "Deep Breath" hard for me to fully wrap my head around at first. But once I got past that, I started seeing the patterns, the connections, the subtext of the plot. I started picking up on the many references to past Doctor Who, both classic and new. Most importantly, I saw that "Deep Breath" moved a lot like Classic Who and that Capaldi, if we can see past his grey head like Clara eventually did, has a few moments that he acts almost exactly like Smith's Doctor.

 

Change is in this show's very make-up. That's a good thing; you can have a favourite actor that portrays the Doctor and you can have a favourite era of Doctor Who, but it's not like asking who your favourite Superman is. The Doctor is one and the same and has been since 1963. Personally I'm intrigued to see where the show goes from here and I'm looking forward to whatever's in store for Series 8.

[NEWS] Ex-lover's blog post leads to allegations of corruption within the industry

Indie games developer Zoe Quinn became the subject of major controversy, when her ex-boyfriend Eron Gjoni made a blog-post on August 16 2014, revealing -among other things- that she had been romantically involved during the relationship with specific figures in the games industry.

As a result, Quinn was barraged with harassing comments on Twitter, while allegedly her personal information were also posted online; a practice known as "doxxing". The indie scene and a significant number of games journalists declared their support and denounced all harassing behaviour by the gaming community.

The controversy didn't end there, however, as the details of Quinn's indescretions caused concern in the community regarding issues of Conflict of Interest and integrity within Games Journalism. Out of five people Quinn was romantically involved with during her relationship with Gjoni, three of them have been in the position of boosting her career.

These three have been named by Gjoni as her boss Joshua Boggs, Robin Arnot, the IndieCade judge that awarded her game "Depression Quest", as well as freelance writer Nathan Grayson, who writes for Kotaku and Rock Paper Shotgun. Grayson's name received the most attention, as he had written pieces regarding Quinn herself, as well as her game.

It's of note that Quinn has yet to either confirm or deny the relationships, though Nathan Grayson has admitted to having an affair with the developer. Kotaku Editor-In-Chief  Stephen Totilo has relayed via Twitter and Kotaku that he investigated the matter and Grayson's coverage of Quinn's work preceded the relationship. The available timeline seems to confirm the statement, while the idea of sexual favours for promotion and publicity have remained unconfirmed by all parties involved.

This was only the beginning of the community's outrage. The most prominent gaming news sites refused to cover the story, dismissing it as a "non-issue", while topics discussing it in forums such as Penny Arcade or Something Awful and Reddit were deleted en masse. Allegdly, Quinn herself had requested for some of these topics to be removed.

This coincided with a false DMCA claim on a Youtube video by MundaneMatt, on the grounds that the video included a screenshot from "Depression Quest". When other popular Youtube personalities, such as TotalBiscuit and JonTron spoke against the DMCA claim, they were met with hostility by the indie developer scene. The claim has since been released.

As the story grew more information came to light, such as a false harassment story that was run on a number of game news sites on December 2013, according to which Quinn had been harassed by the imageboard WizardChan. The new information suggested that the story was ran with insufficient evidence and WizardChan had not engaged in any kind of harassment, instead having become the victims themselves, as many responded to the news with hostility toward them.

When confronted about it, only The Escapist's Greg Tito responded, admitting to the poor fact-checking, but stating that protecting against harassment takes precedence to investigative journalism. The comments were met with disappointment and anger from the community and have since been retracted.

A related reveal led to claims by The Fine Young Capitalists (TFYC) that Quinn had sabotaged their IndieGoGo campaign for admitting more women in video game development. Tweets by Quinn reveal her taking issue with their use of the term "transgendered" and later accidentally, in her own words, DDOSing their page. Allegedly, Quinn's connection to the press kept the project out of media coverage.

More hacking and doxxing attempts have been made since the news broke out. One of Quinn's biggest supporters, "Fez" lead developer Phil Fish reported his company Polytron's site had been doxxed. A little over a day later, the IndieGoGo page for TFYC was taken down as well. Personal data that were revealed by the doxxing of Polytron have been confirmed as true, while IndieGoGo republished TFYC's campaign two days later. The attacks were signed by /V/, a mocking and like an effort at diverting attention to 4chan's /v/ board. The latter denies all responsibility.

Quinn has since posted a response on her personal blog to the harassment, maintaining her position that this is a private matter exposed by a vindictive ex-boyfriend and that is being exploited because of her gender and feminist leanings. Gjoni, on his side, has updated his own blog, claiming that there is a lot of nepotism and clique-mentality between the indie developer scene and games journalism that deeply affects their viability, claiming he wanted to "warn people about Zoe" and get a few discussions started in regards to the industry.

As of the time of writing, the majority of developers and journalists remain loyal to Quinn's position, taking to Twitter or their personal blogs, whereas other game celebrities like Jim Sterling and Totalbiscuit have attempted to maintain a neutral position. Similarly, the community remains faithful to its stance regarding journalistic integrity, which is fueled by revelation, such as the financial backing of Quinn's Game_Jam project by key journalists such as Ben Kuchera and Kirk Hamilton.

The inherently unverifiable nature of the collected evidence leads to the disporportionate split between developers/journalists and the gaming community, as they can neither be confirmed nor effectively disproven. As such, the facts remain truly known only to those involved and caution regarding allegations from all sides is advised.

UPDATE: Kotaku and Polygon have updated their policies regarding their writers and donations or support to game developers, with the former outright banning it, while the latter maintains that the writers need to disclose their related actions. 

New SHAQ-FU game in the works?

This is almost fascinating. Remember Shaq-Fu, the 16-bit beat-'em-up released on the Mega Drive (or Genesis) and the Super Nintendo and generally considered to be the worst game of those systems and one of the worst games of all time?

Apparently, Big Deez Productions is making another one and they're looking to fund it over at IndieGoGo.

I've never heard of the studio before, but they fully acknowledge the original game (obviously not handled by them) was an atrocity that has received a cult-classic status. They claim they're gamers themselves not looking for a quick buck and they aim to make this new title in the (oh Christ, I can't believe I'm saying this) "series".

You know what? Best of luck to them. O' Neal (Shaquille, not April) teamed up with them (himself looking for another break, I suppose) and honestly this is something I couldn't have seen coming in a million years. Even if it were an effort for a quick-buck, it's fascinating to me that a relatively unknown studio would risk attracting people to a new project by exploiting the hilarious outrage over an old game.

Superman and E.T. are licensed, so no hope of another Superman 64 or Atari E.T., but can someone now go ahead and try to remake Zero Wing? I'd buy that shit in a split-second.

If you want to help fund the project, this is their IndieGoGo page. They have also released a teaser trailer, voiced by Shaq himself:

[BOOK REVIEW] Superman/Wonder Woman #1

You have to give it to DC: they'll do everything in their power to promote their publicity stunts. Superman has undergone many changes in the last decade and one of them is to make him more desirable to the (potential) female readership.


This includes doing away with the big, muscle-bound alpha-male of yesteryear and drawing him leaner, more defined than muscled, with a "swimmer's body" (as Marv Wolfman described him in the novelization of "Superman Returns"). The New 52 also brought him youth (he's in his early 20s now), a good measure of angst and a new relationship with the hottest and most-well-known of all female super-heroes.

Yes, Wonder Woman and Superman have been an item in the on-going books for a while now and it was a big deal: fans and writers have been unoficially pairing the two characters for a very long time and now it's the first time DC actually does it.

And it is a publicity stunt.

This romance came out of nowhere with literally zero built-up and it's had practically no visible effect in the DCU. Hell, it barely had any focus outside of being vaguely referenced (at least in Superman books; I don't read Wonder Woman).

So now, to further back that stunt and squeeze it to its last marketable and profitable drop, they put out a Superman/Wonder Woman book. World's Finest? World's Hottest.

I had every reason to dislike this. I never got used to Superman and Wonder Woman together as a couple, even in the old days when it was done in jest and I still don't seem to care that they are together in the books. It didn't help that recently the writer of the book, Charles Soule, came out with comments about them trying to approach female readers with a romantic approach and particularly the Twilight audience.

I imagine none of them has ever read Twilight, because otherwise they'd know this is the worst-promotion possible.

Fortunately, having read the introductory issue, it seems I'm correct. It really wasn't bad at all.

It starts with Superman and Wonder Woman over the ocean, taking care of a storm about to explode. The story cuts back and forth, setting up Clark and Diana in and out of their relationship and then returning to the events regarding the storm.

There isn't much to say about the story. Clark meets up with Cat Grant (with who he has joined forces and writes for a shared blog, since he quit the Daily Planet a few issues back). They talk about practically nothing.

Diana is training with... someone (again, I'm very sorry, I don't read Wonder Woman). Her dialogue has a tad more essence, as during sparring she quickly recounts the aftermath of her origin (apparently most other Amazons have been transformed and imprisoned) and discusses how she wishes Superman wouldn't be so adamant about hiding their relationship.

The couple eventually meet up and briefly talk about the matter, Clark insisting that it would be too public and that he essentially likes having this for himself and away from the public. Interesting moments include Diana offering to teach Superman how to fight and some shady figure having snapped a picture of the two kissing earlier in their careers, which they then promptly mail to Cat Grant (who is desperate for a big story). See? It's a super-hero soap.

Back over the ocean, the storm seems to be the least of the two heroes' problem, as out of nowhere something hits Superman off-balance and launches him away. Wonder Woman believes this to be a military vessel that crosses, but it turns out it's something much worse: Doomsday, the Kryptonian abomination that once killed Superman, is back (and I am happy to report that hideous design released earlier this year is nowhere to be seen).

Honestly, none of it is a bad read. The dialogue is alright, the characters are faithful and the art is great. The problem is that "not bad" is the best thing I can say about it.

The way the story is plotted for this pilot issue, it may be trying a little too hard to get that romance-loving part of the female readership. The action is sporadic, which is okay, but the quiet moments come in the form of any run-of-the-mill romantic dramedy, awkwardly setting up the characters and the framework of the relationship before putting them together.

The reason I feel this is a bad way to go about is simple: it doesn't sell the relationship. To anyone. Except maybe those 13-year-old Twilight readers (who I'm fairly positive are around 19 by now).

If DC wants a new influx of readers, young women, with interest in that sort of supernatural (or super-human at least) romance, they do absolutely nothing to frame this relationship. It already exists, it's there and despite efforts to re-establish it though the Clark & Diana scenes, it feels like something is missing. They get the tone right, the kind of sexy, clean, slow-building vibe, dark and engaging without actually anything happening, but not only is this shit story-telling (particularly in the long-term), it's also not as attention-grabbing as they may think it is.

Comic book readers are used to almost all 24-page-long issues being a teaser of sorts instead of a full story (I miss the Bronze Age), but new readers will be left lost. Being curious about more, but not necessarily wanting it enough to pick it up again in a month.

Then, there is me and everyone like me. I like a good romance, really and I learned that with none other than Superman himself back in the '90s, when DC was pulling that same shit with long-time love interest Lois Lane. But I have yet to buy Superman and Wonder Woman as one.

It's funny, but they just don't have any chemistry. None. It's Superman's fault; he's largely undefined in the New 52 still, DC trying to sell him as more troubled without actually having troubles and a bit of a hipster (he's only slightly less pretentious than Garfield's Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man"). The guy rarely even smiles anymore and when he does it's not the big, inviting smile; it's the troubled-underneath-the-surface, smoldering-sexy smile.

Even reading through this book, I got a handle on Wonder Woman, but Superman comes off as such a... model. Typical media stud, dude for a cologne commercial. It's excarcebated in this book, because in the regular series he at least interacts with BFF and fellow geek Jimmy Olsen, while he has a lot more chemistry with Cat than either Wondy or even Lois.

The best parts of this pilot issue are when the both are in costume. They just interact better then.

There is potential, I'm just very suspicious of DC's constant publicity stunts lately. Perhaps this is just not the book for me. It's a fair point, especially if the focus of this one will get an even bigger "tweenies" romance flavour in the future and who am I to demand that everything is made for me as an audience?

I'm just curious, because there is obviously no story to be told in Superman/Wonder Woman. We can only hope someone will find one in time.

"Infinite Crisis" very early thoughts

I was invited in the closed last beta for "Infinite Crisis", the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) title from WB Interactive and Turbine Inc. featuring DC Superheroes and villains. It has nothing to do with the 2006 comic book event of the same name, beyond involving the DC Multiverse in some form.

The game caught my attention upon reveal; I'm not big on MOBA, but I don't hate it either, I'm a DC fan and there's good talent working behind it, as Turbine are the developers of both "Dungeons & Dragons: Online", as well as "Lord of the Rings: Online", two of the better MMORPGs that we have.

This isn't a review, not even a conclusive opinion on the game; it's still very considerably early in development and a lot of fixes and tweaks need to be made. What follows is merely a recount of my first brush with the game, through a handful of matches that I was able to play.

For starters keep in mind that while I'm acquainted with MOBA as a sub-genre through several League of Legends and DOTA2 games, I'm not very good at it. It's the type of game that has no purpose and exists for grinding and competitive reasons, with its mastery relying on good knowledge not so much of mechanics, but instead of roster, powers, levels and power-ups, as well as the ability to keep up with everything that's going on during a game; that's a lot of things happening at the same time. Its very nature is just antithetical to the reason I play games.

First contact with the game was problematic, not unexpectedly. Login issues were constant due to server and service overload. I don't know how many people are supposed to access the beta of a MOBA game, in order to get enough players for matchmaking without delays and avoid lagging, but the login queue seemed pretty damned long. Having said that, once login was achieved, matchmaking took merely a minute at worst and despite other technical issues, I dealt with no visible lag.

Once I managed to log in for the first time and get into a game, the graphics didn't load. Effects and the interface were visible, but if it had a texture, it was black and missing. No available graphic settings made a difference. Eventually I resolved the problem by switching DirectX from version 11 back to 9. A teammate in a later game had the same problem. I tried to report it, as I was supposed to in a beta testing, but upon switching the setting, l couldn't log in again and for the following 3-4 hours.

Shazam!

 As for the game itself... it's alright. It doesn't even begin to compete with League of Legends and DOTA, at least not at this point in development. Enough fairly diverse toons are available for varied play and they are actually fairly authentic and loyal to the source material. No Superman though, but don't worry! Take fifty version of Batman to balance it out! Jesus Christ, Warner.

Fortunately Captain Marvel is a free character and my personal choice. Poor Cap is the world's mightiest mortal-- unless he runs into Vampire Batman or Doomsday. Fuck him then. The problem with Cap is that unless you cap him (yes, I am very funny), he kind of blows as he acts like a tank. Two AoE attacks that leech on energy like Activision leeches off of stupid fratboys and all he has is resilience.

I'm only bringing this up because between getting familiar with the game and dealing with far more user-friendly characters as enemies, gameplay was like SnM for me. I enjoyed it, I guess, but boy did it hurt!

The thing that stuck out the most for me, though, was that I actually needed some time to get used to the game, which is fairly odd; it's practically the same as other MOBA games, down to the interface and control scheme. One noticeable difference was item management. The shop not only seems a little poor, currently, but the strongest items are not hard to acquire and then whatever extra money you make until the game is over, you have nothing to spend on except maybe potions. Perhaps some of them make combinations for optimal performance on the battle, but I didn't have the time to verify.

Strength of Hercules, Courage of Achilles

On the bright side, the items are divided into three categories: strength, health and power. A helpful bar makes it easy to keep track of your role in the game, based on which of the three is dominant.

By the second game I had that down, but the actual gameplay still eluded me for the longest time. I'm used to the standard MOBA tower-defense play. I never play Dominion (other genres call the mode "Domination" and/or "Control") and I honestly don't know what the mode entails.

Currently the only available map for Infinite Crisis is a Dominion map, in which I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, except capture control points obviously.

Another thing that struck me as odd was the lack of minions. For the first two matches I didn't even know they existed and when I did get wind of them, they were just too few and honestly kind of useless. This however may be my inexperience with this mode of the game and not an issue with the game itself. I'm used to minions acting as a buffer zone between me and the enemy towers or player and since the Dominion means circular play instead of pushing in a straight line, minions likely have a different role.

Fighting for control

It's just not a role I could discern, as such all of my games could be characterized by PvP beatdowns until the score ran out.

Final thoughts can't be final and honestly no opinion can be formed from a handful of matches, from an inexperienced MOBA player, on a game that's still in the early stages of Closed Beta. All I can say, it's not bad. There is potential. A richer in-game store and better character/skill balance are the first step. Added bonuses such as interactive maps that force strategic decisions, like in DOTA2 will definitely help.

Some technical work remains to be done, as I experienced far too many frame-rate drops (not to mention that whole blank map thing). Plus learning how to play the damned thing can't possibly harm, but that's up to me and whatever teammates I end up with; after all the primary condition for scoring a victory in MOBA is the team dynamic and even one weak link can doom the whole game. All that aside, I will personally get a better handle of the game once more modes are revealed, closer to what I'm used to playing.

But I guess all I can say from my perspective and keeping in mind the early development stage of the game, so far so good.

Whoops. We may have fucked up.

Infinite Crisis Official Site

Apply for the Closed Beta

(Follow-up) The internalized (subtextual) mess of "Tomb Raider"

I feel genuinely kind of guilty for being so hard on Tomb Raider, because it was actually a really well-designed game. The gameplay was put together meticulously and even the plot was at least serviceable for the kind of story it was.

Empowerment...as taught by Disney's "Pocahontas".

Revisting "DC Universe Online"

 

Two years ago, when I was still feeding some unhealthy delusions about a prosperous future, I decided to ignore the voice inside my head that told me all MMOs are crap on launch and just bought "DC Universe Online" on the day of release.

REVIEW: I crossed The Line... (Spec Ops)

Yes, it took me a while. I didn't have a choice. Or maybe I did.

Dear shooter genre, I believe it's time for a cease-fire. I will tolerate all your gung-ho gun-crazy, pro-American military fetishism, just as long as you drop a game like 2K Games and Yager Development's "Spec Ops: The Line" at least once a year.

Rescuing Childhoods: "Superman II: The Deja vu Cut" Part II (Gangsta Lois Lane)

The real tragedy of this drama (coupled with Donner's decision to change the ending to "Superman: The Movie") wasn't losing the (admittedly better) versions of the same scenes as directed by Donner, but rather the fact that Superman's own character arc was undermined. It was so subtly underplayed in both final releases, that the protagonist of the story seems relatively empty. Puzo's story actually gave the character proper, fitting development that's easier to spot in Donner's cut.

I want to point out here that I have no interest in being a "fan-edit" critic and especially no desire to criticize fan-editors at what they do. I make horrible videos for reviews and I'm aware of how exhausting video editing can be (especially without the proper resources). I also recognize that no fan-editor is a film-maker and shouldn't be judged as such, but instead as contributors to a dedicated, niche community.

I need to preface the following review with this, because I may need to be critical toward the fan-edit itself, not on the grounds of the editor's work, but rather on its relation to the original film/material.

While the "Deja Vu Cut" is considered one of the best (if not THE best) "Superman II" fan-edit, it actually distances itself from most other edits' efforts of mixing the Lester and Donner cuts into one, "perfect" Superman II and instead opts for a more creative approach: cut the linear sequence of events in half and instead of replacing scenes from each cut, include almost all scenes in both versions.

It's a very interesting approach for two reasons, one negative and one positive. The negative reason is that inevitably the film feels disjointed and nonsensical, as it portrays roughly the exact same events taking place in a slightly different fashion (and in different sets) each time. It's literally like playing a film and it's almost shot-by-shot remake to spot the differences.

But therein lies the positive angle, as it makes this edit ideal for seeing what changed between the two cuts, what works and what doesn't in each film and in the larger "Superman II" story.

FanMix, the editor, generally mixes the two cuts instead of showing them separately in each of the two portions of the movie. Even so, most of the first portion focuses heavily on Donner's unfinished cut.

After the intro with Zod's banishment from Krypton, we are reminded of the first film, where Superman guides one of the two missiles Luthor had launched into space. The missile explodes and this is what in the original version frees the criminals from the Phantom Zone. The scene was shot, but sadly never went through post-processing, meaning the special effects weren't applied. The 2006 reconstruction team only had a few bucks to spend and thus resorted into CGing a low-poly, badly textured rocket on the film.

Following that, Lois has written her article recounting the events of the first movie and Clark walks into the Daily Planet. This is the first scene in Donner's version that Lois figures out his identity, by comparing Clark's posture to a similar picture of Superman in the paper. In the same scene, she jumps out of the building trying to coerce Clark to jump after her to save her. This is the scene that was replaced in Lester's version with her jumping into Niagara Falls.

The fan-edit moves to Lex's escape from prison via the hot-air-balloon with Mrs Teschmacker and their way North, to the Fortress of Solitude.


From there on a lot of the footage is actually from the released theatrical version of the film. For the scenes that are used in both cuts, FanMix chose for the most part to edit in-between them, showing half of them in the first part of the film and the other half in the second. This approach sets the context for the sequence of events in both halves of the edit and leaves room to repeat the scenes without repeating the exact same footage.

Lex's scene in the Fortress of Solitude is from Donner's cut. In the theatrical release, the information regarding Zod is relayed to Lex by nameless members of the Kryptonian council and Lara Zor-El (Kal-El's biological mother). This was done due to the fact that originally all this information was given by Jor-El himself and the Salkinds really didn't want to have to pay Marlon Brando again for re-shoots. This part of the movie, which is one of the few not repeated in the second half, actually has the original Marlon Brando footage.

The Niagara Falls scenes and the honeymooners subplot are almost identical in both versions (as most of it was shot by Donner). For the first part of the fan-edit are reserved the "clean Clark's glasses" moment, followed by that stupid-ass child falling into the Falls and Superman rescuing him. The scene is however cut short after Superman flies away, with the remainder reserved for the latter part of the edit.

What follows is one of the most interesting parts of the Donner cut: in a scene back at the honeymoon suite Clark chastises Lois for jumping off the window of the Planet and tries to convince her that he's not Superman. In the original script, there was no pink bear where he slipped and chose to give up his identity. Instead, Lois pulled a gun on him and went all "gangsta" on his ass. This scene is seen favorably from most, but to be honest I find it showcases the monumental stupidity that occasionally escapes the character's head.

For one, the man makes no attempt to wrestle the gun from her hands or at least run away (which would be perfectly in-character). He must have considered the possibility that she would shoot; this is a woman who, no more than a few days ago, threw herself off a building. Instead, he only takes a few steps back and gets shot at like an idiot.

Secondly, Lois is a little "out there", but she's not a sociopath; so she fires blanks just in case her hypothesis is wrong. She tricks Clark into admitting his double-identity. I've never bounced any bullets off of my skin, or being shot in general for that matter, but I'm pretty sure if a bullet hits you, you're going to fucking feel it. This is the same Clark Kent that caught a bullet in the first movie and went "HA! You missed". He could've easily faked his way out of this one.

Of course these are nitpicks within the context of the story. The real problem with this scene comes from the fact that it was never shot! The reconstruction team in '06 were lucky, though, as it was one of the scenes that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder auditioned for together, to test their on-screen chemistry. Footage of that still existed and it was added in the Donner version.

I find its inclusion in the actual film questionable, though. It's a great scene to watch and immensely interesting, but sadly it's also very jarring. The actors are in full, but cheap, audition-specific costumes and they look extremely different in comparison to how they look in either of the finished scenes. I'm really not sure how well it works in regards to a full, finished film.

Right after, Superman takes her to his Fortress of Solitude (which incidentally is also the opening sentence of my new book, 50 Frames of Grain) to have "the talk" and this is where the first portion of the edit starts falling apart, effectively messing up its flow and fast-forwarding to the conclusion of the first big act. Almost everything between dinner in the Fortress and the Metropolis fight is gone.

Actually, it occurs to me I haven't mentioned the villains much. This is because most of the Zod footage was already shot by Donner and ended up in the movie anyway, so there isn't much to say in detail. The Kryptonians really follow an edited-down version of the same path as the theatrical release: fucking up the Moon, fucking up Little American Town, fucking up the White House, meeting Lex Luthor and then fucking up Metropolis.


With the edit suddenly fast-forwarding, the story changes a little. In this first act, Superman never loses his powers. We don't know if he and Lois slept together, he just flies her back to her apartment and then the film moves to the Daily Planet, where the villains storm in. Superman challenges them outside, using an alternate line from the Donner cut ("General! Haven't you heard about the freedom of the press?") and then we get the Metropolis battle.

For those unfamiliar with the Donner cut, Donner's action sequence in Metropolis was different, but only barely with just one shot (where Superman punches Non to the Empire State Building) being the only truly memorable.

When the battle concludes, so does the first act of the fan-edit, using the Donner Cut ending: Superman, unable to deal with all three villains, turns time back. Yes, that scene.

See, the "flying around Earth/turning time back" scene was originally written for Superman II, not "Superman: The Movie". It'd be after the events of both films this would happen and it would conclude Superman's story-arc as well. That's why the scene is such a ridiculously disproportionate response and why its screwed up physics don't really matter. Superman's arc in the two films was a journey, in which the estranged son of another world grows more and more fond of humanity as a whole (shown first during Pa Kent's funeral) and wants to share feelings like love and acceptance with them (when he gives up his powers for Lois).

Because of that last decision in particular, the Kryptonian villains wreck the world and Superman intervenes far too late. It's because of his actions and his weakness that people die. As such, in the climax of the second film, he'd set the world back to the point before his decisions cost innocent lives. It was an arc about personal responsibility, about handling your abilities to the betterment of those around you and about growing up and becoming your own person-- having received the guideness of your parents, having made your own mistakes and becoming entirely independent.

That's where the line "The son becomes the father and the father, the son" they mentioned not-so-subtly in "Superman: Returns" hinted at.

Donner, however, decided to change the scene and shoehorn it into "Superman: The Movie" as a marketing trick, because he believed it would make a bigger impact that the risky (expensive to make, super-hero movies weren't common-place at the time) film needed.

Not that the scene makes much more sense that way, mind you. Even if the physics weren't all over the place, logic takes a hell of a hit. I believe this wasn't the case in Donner's cut, but in this fan-edit, this also makes the villains get trapped back in the Phantom Zone. How? Did he turn time back for the whole universe? What happened to the rockets? Why turn time back AFTER the events of the first movie?

And again, what happened to the rockets then, especially the one that freed the criminals in the first place?

Between all this drama, the character's development was undercut and underplayed throughout his two biggest cinematic releases to-date. It's a pity too, because it's an arc unique to Superman. Many other heroes can claim the "great power- great responsibility" shtick, but for them it's usually through an emotionally sombre lens; for Superman, it's the realization and real acceptance that some things are bigger than we are.

And so the first part of the fan-edit ends with everything going back in time, before the Kryptonians are released from the Phantom Zone, before Lois learns of Superman's secret and before innocent lives are lost because Clark was on a date.

In the next (and hopefully) final part of this installment, we'll look at the second act of FanMix's cut and perhaps see why Lester's version isn't as bad as we like making it out to be.