Steelbook Indy

It is an Hasbro action figure.

Big thanks to @capricornio34232 these gifts from my Secret Santa demonstrated a tenacity of getting to the root of me. Thank you dearly, Jorge! Also, your brother’s original art is stunning!!

My secret Santa’s gift is under the tree and waiting.

I

Media Psychos Weekly Challenge #34- “…Days of Future Past ……..” Thanks @jwhitm3 for the topic and @extantsrevenge for the thread. I hope that this isn’t too late with the holiday weekend. 1. The Incredible Hulk - 2008 release 2010 setting 2. Edge of Tomorrow - 2014 release 2015-2020 setting 3. Man of Steel - 2013 release 2014 setting 4. Blade Runner - 1982 release 2019 setting 5. District 9 - 2009 release 2010 setting

Media Psychos Weekly Challenge #33- “…Intermission ……..”. …. Thanks to @ethnosax for this week’s lengthy challenge, and thanks to @extantsrevenge for the thread. My five movies are: 1. The Godfather 2 - Blufans Steelbook 2. JFK - Blufans Steelbook 3. King Kong - HDZeta Steelbook 4. Spartacus - EverythingBlu Steelbook 5. Schindler’s List - HDZeta Steelbook

Rushed post again - thanks for the thread @extantsrevenge and the topic @Scary Hair Challenge 32: I’m posting two of each. Sad, undeserved deaths: 1. John Coffey - The Green Mile 2. Ed - Shaun of the Dead Cheered a little when the Bills died: 1. Bill - Kill Bill vol. 2 2. Little Bill - Unforgiven My favorite deserving death though has to go to the worst of the worst villains who’s the foil to my favorite superhero in comic books: 1. Green Goblin/Norman Osborne - impaled by his own glider at by his own hand.

Challenge 31: DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN ? @extantsrevenge @cypheria078 Thanks for this challenge! I didn’t have time to do a great write-up, but I did find five titles based on actual events - including what I believe to be one of the best movies of all time. 1. First Man - a highly overlooked film 2. The Great Escape - one of the greatest film epics 3. Moneyball - great movie based on a great book by a great writer 4. Saving Mr. Banks - movie about Walt Disney trying to bring Mary Poppins to his studio 5. Schindler’s List - a masterpiece - through and through

Thanks @extantsrevenge for challenge 30 with the villains! My top five favorite villains are as follows: 1. Amon Goeth - this is one of the great acted roles of all time. It cast Ralph Fiennes into the lime light with his first Oscar nomination. The essence of Fiennes’ Goeth is that he’s both disgusting and charismatic at the same time. He is The Devil captured in human form. 2. Hans Gruber - to me Rickman’s Gruber is the greatest fictional movie villain of all time. It’s tragic that Rickman never received an Oscar nomination - especially for this role. Die Hard isn’t the same movie without Rickman playing Gruber. 3. The Joker - Heath Ledger was taken for too soon from us. His Joker earned him a Best Supporting Oscar and became the new standard for playing villains. He was the most worn Halloween costume of 2008. 4. Biff Tannen - Tom Wilson hasn’t played a role more remembered than Biff. Though he becomes a darker caricature of his initial role in consequent sequels, none of the performances are as fun as the first BttF. 5. Tyler Durden - I can’t talk about him. My favorite villain of all time is a television character.

Signed up for the one click and really excited!!

Challenge 29: Thanks @extantsrevenge for the thread and @InfiniteDoors for the challenge. Here are movies without an ‘E.’ These are from the start of my collection: 3:10 to Yuma - Zavvi Steelbook 30 Days of Night - Zavvi Steelbook 2012 - Zavvi Steelbook 101 Dalmatians - Zavvi Steelbook 1917 Lenticular Fanatic Steelbook The Accountant - Lenticular HDZeta Steelbook Aladdin (2019) Aladdin (1992) Almost Famous - Amazon Steelbook Animal Kingdom - Zavvi Steelbook

Thank you @hal56 for the challenge and @extantsrevenge for the thread. Let’s queue up: Challenge #28 BEST OF THE WORST: I pride myself on good movies, Oscar caliber movies and movies with great performances and writing. I do, however, have six movies which are far, far away from my typical criteria. And the six are: 1. The Lone Ranger - it’s really bad Johnny Depp. 2. Fantastic Four - I’ve never been so disappointed in a Super Hero movie. 3. Rambo: First Blood Part II - this was not as bad as it has been made out to be. 4. Fifty Shades of Grey - I’ve not seen this. I bought it for my wife. 5. Twilight - bought this for my wife too. 6. Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier - this wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be either. Bad Star Trek is still good. I pick Star Trek as the one which shouldn’t have been on the list.

Thanks for the challenge @Veum and thanks for the thread @extantsrevenge Challenge #27 CHALLENGE 27 “VIGILANTE or REVENGE” 🩸 ⚔️🔫 🔨 🤲 🪓 My five movies aren’t necessarily my favorite movies, but they represent my favorite from a genre or archetype. 1. The Dark Knight - The King of the vigilantes in his best movie. Is there any better vigilante than Batman? 2. Predestination - I hate to give this away, because most of you have not seen this, but in this time traveling paradox, the criminal vigilante is hunted by a most curious antagonist. 3. Memento - the script of this is the best of the bunch and Oscar-worthy. Leonard will find his killer, and he’ll learn that Sammy Kanjis’ lesson is not what he’d been telling others. 4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri - My favorite vigilante of the bunch doesn’t necessarily hunt her daughter’s killer, but she will break the law to force the police to act faster and better. 5. Sucker Punch - though the vigilates live in a fantasy world, I can’t help but be sympathetic to both their imagined world and their real one. My favorite vigilante of all time is John McLane.

Thanks @extantsrevenge for the thread. Thanks @Mrdugan for the challenge: Challenge #26 Women in Film I’ve decided to post favorite women lead characters - let’s get going: 1. Dorothy Gale - The Wizard of Oz - Dorothy is a big deal. The damsel in distress turns out to be the film’s inspirational heroine. She helps The Lion find his courage, The Tin Man find his heart, and The Scarecrow find his brain - all while standing up to the Wicked Witch and defeating her. This was a classic movie that was watched on WGN every Thanksgiving for years. Judy Garland took the world by storm and this 1941 movie wasn’t considered a box office success until its rerelease in 1949. It only earned $3 million during its first release while spending $2.7 million. Decades later, it became a household tradition in millions of homes every Thanksgiving. 2. Scout Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus gets all the buzz in this movie, but many forget that the story is really Scout’s first coming of age experiences. As the narrator and prime protagonist, we learn from her. 3. Mary Poppins - Mary Poppins - Mary brings the family back together and demonstrates that she’s the smartest person in the room at any given time. Julien Andrews steals the show and is perfectly paired with stop using inappropriate language Van Dyke. It’s an Oscar worthy performance. 4. Marge Gunderson - Fargo - this is the first of three lead acting Oscars for Frances McDormand. One more will earn her a spot with Katherine Hepburn. Marge is such a well fleshed out character, and Frances brings so much life to her with small details that only she can. 5. Major (Motoko) - Ghost in the Shell - so I do not own a copy of the Mamoru Oshii anime version, so this will have to do. Major Motoko is a great character, and ScarJo does a fine job with it - even if it was a white washed roll. Favorite Actress - Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is my single favorite roll by a female. Her tough tenacity makes this movie special.

Where did you get that copy of EEA@O? Is that the French or the Italian copy from Amazon?

Thanks @R1s1ngs0n. I’ve been looking forward to showing this one off. Thanks @extantsrevenge for starting this thread. Our next challenge is: Challenge #25 "THE MULTILINGUAL PSYCHO" I decided to get a bit creative regarding this. What denotes a foreign language? My first five entries will all be traditional. I included four additional which I considered fun. 1. Amelie (2001) - French: this movie hit the Academy Awards rounds as the heavy favorite to win Best Foreign Film. Nominated for five Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Foreign Film, was shockingly upset by No Man’s Land - which brings me to entry #2. My copy is the KimChiDVD Steelbook. 2. No Man’s Land (2013) - Mandarin: this movie is no relation to the 2001 Oscar Winner. It is, however, a good crime drama. My copy is the Blufans digibook. 3. Let the Right One In (2008) - Swedish: this horror/romance/drama is a chilling tale of a 100+ year old vampire trapped in the body of a teenager. It inspired an American version titled, Let Me In staring Chloë Grace Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Richard Jenkins. Both are well done, but the original, Swedish version is superior and pulls no punches. My copy is the KimChiDVD lenticular Steelbook. 4. Life is Beautiful (1997) - Italian: Roberto Benigni won the Best Actor Oscar and the film won Best Original Score, and Best Foreign Film. It was nominated for Best Picture in the days when only five movies were nominated. Benigni’s acceptance speech probably cost him future roles, but it doesn’t change how good and touching this story is. My copy is a Korean import with a Slipcase. 5. Unforgiven (2013) - Japanese: Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is my favorite Western ever. This Sang-il Lee version is a strong remake. In the way Leone styles his spaghetti Westerns off Yojimbo and Sanjuro, so does Lee use Japanese sensibility to craft his remake. Fans of the Eastwood version should watch this. My copy is a UK imported Steelbook. And now for the fun entries… 6. 7. & 8. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003) - Elvish & Dwarven: These are included, because Tolkien wrote these books solely to demonstrate he could create new languages. Tolkien was a philologist by profession. That means he studied dead languages to see how current day languages evolved. It’s fascinating to me that a linguist wrote of such a rich world to birth languages. The rest is a franchise of history. My copy of this trilogy is the Zavvi set of Steelbooks. 9. Snatch (2000) - Pikey/Gypsy: Technically, it’s just a dialect of English/Irish. However, Brad Pitt sinks so deeply into playing his Gypsy boxer, that his language is incomprehensible at times. What translates to the screen is one of my top three favorite performances by Pitt (12 Monkeys and Fight Club, anyone?). It really is special to watch. You’ll find yourself laughing out loud at scenes that he’s in. Guy Richie chose to include subtitles in early screenings of the film for most of Brad Pitt’s dialogue. My copy is the Best Buy Project Pop Art Steelbook.

It’s going to happen this year - though Everything Everywhere All at Once is quite eclectic in what it wants to be (SciFi? Romance? Action? Kung Fu?). It’s genre bending and truly everything. I adored this movie. I would also argue CODA wasn’t artistic. It was more like a really good “after school special.”

@extantsrevenge I think that I’m close to running out of time, so this will be a fast post. I’d like to say that great minds think alike @Gary K. I suggested an Oscar Challenge as well. Week 24: And the Oscar Goes to… I’d like to start this post out with citing my love for the Oscars and Oscar-caliber films. I’m a huge fan and will be watching this Sunday. I am a firm believer that if you make it to the nominations, you’re already a winner. I believe that most years one single film does not stand far and away above its fellow nominees. The following Best Picture winners are some of my favorite Premium and Steelbook copies that I own. That said, my top five favorite Oscar-caliber films were listed in a previous post, so I’m going with this angle: My six favorite editions which I own of Best Picture winners is as follows: 1. The Godfather I and Godfather II (and Godfather III (Blufans Steelbook) 2. The Sting (Blufans Steelbook) 3. Casablanca (Zavvi 80th Anniversary Steelbook) 4. Amadeus (HDZeta Steelbook) 5. Crash (Korean Digibook) 6. Forrest Gump (Blufans Steelbook) That brings me to my picks for movies which should have won Best Picture. For the most part, I believe most winners are deserving. I do think that Crash was deserving. Brokeback Mountain may have been better and more timely, but Crash wasn’t as bad as Brokeback proponents made it out to be. The same can be said of Green Book, Dances with Wolves and Ordinary People. I’m also a huge defender of Shakespeare in Love. The movie is delightful. The script is charming. The love letter it paints to stage theater is a chef’s kiss, and the acting is top notch (even if the acceptance speeches all were not). Saving Private Ryan was a masterpiece, but it did have problems. Its book ended by a poor opening and closing. That said, I’ll say it again. It’s a masterpiece. That brings me to my pics for movies which should have won Best Picture. They just so happen to be my three (best?) favorite movies of all time. 1. Inception - this was my toughest contention for criticism of the winner. I love The King’s Speech (what can I say? I have a soft spot for Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush - also in Shakespeare in Love), but Inception is a masterpiece. There are those who also believe Social Network should have won that year, so Inception didn’t have much of a chance, but I’ll tell you this: you’ll find yourself stopping to watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt running down that rotating hallway more than you will Colin Firth saying “F***, F***, F***,” or Andrew Garfield flipping out on Jesse Eisenberg. 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Chariots of Fire is a fine movie, but can anyone recite a single line of dialogue from it? Is the only thing that you remember about it is its great Musical Score (was that even better than John Williams bah bah BAHHHH)? I’m not sure if Steven Spielberg makes Raiders if he’s a little older, but had he done that - he’d have had the reputation to give that Best Picture good a run. 3. Shawshank Redemption - was Forrest Gump better than Shawshank, or did it happen to ride a great soundtrack, nostalgia, and the box office zeitgeist to Oscar gold?

@extantsrevenge I’m not done yet!

if only I had six figures to spend on a comic book. I’m very happy with my copies of NYX 3. I also have the complete set of Civil War 1-7 Michael Turner (RIP) variants graded at CGC 9.8. My Aspen variant is signed by Michael Turner and Stan Lee.

Yes - it’s the omnibus. It’s a collection of many key issues including AF 15, ASM 1-38.

What copy of Roman Holiday is that?

Here is my last catch up entry @extantsrevenge. Week 22 Challenge from @Reagh Adaptation All of mine are entries based on comic books but with a twist. They’re all origin stories with first appearances. 1. Spider-man (2002) - Spider-man omnibus with reprint of Amazing Fantasy 15 which is the first appearance of Spider-man. I consider the origin and trials of Peter Parker to be one of the great stories of of the 20th century. With great power comes great responsibility. Peter didn’t want the power, but what he did with it is Amazing. Peter Parker is my favorite Marvel character. The movie is WeeT Lenticular. 2. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022) - This is the movie where Marvel fans meet America Chavez. The match which I have for it is the first appearance of America Chavez in Vengeance #1. This particular issue is graded a CGC 9.8 Mint+ and a short printed variant. It’s valued at about $4000 and one of my pride points of my comic collection. The movie is the Best Buy Steelbook. 3. Logan (2017) - My 2nd favorite Marvel character is Laura Kinney, X-23. Logan is her first movie. It’s one of my top 5 favorite comic book movies. The source material is NYX #3. It’s the first appearance of Laura Kinney. I have two copies of this issue graded as a CGC 9.8 Mint+. These two copies are the books which I sought after the most. The movie is Manta Lab double lenticular. 4. Deadpool 2 (2018) - Deadpool 2 features the introduction of Cable, a future mutant sent back in time to save the X-men. His first appearance in comics is in The New Mutants #87. I have a copy of of this graded by CGC as a 9.8 Mint+. The blu-ray is Blufans 1-click.

And for my next trick @extantsrevenge: Challenge 12 from @bossjon: The Directors. My three favorite directors that I keep coming back to are: 1. “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” Christopher Nolan - I fell in love with Nolan’s work after Memento. My ex-wife (married at the time) and I saw it in the theater and told everyone that we knew to go see it. Nolan’s catalog is as impressive as any modern director, and his screenplays are so fantastically complex. My favorite Nolan movie (and favorite movie ever) is Inception. I don’t think that there’s a dud in Nolan’s catalog, but Insomnia doesn’t seem to be on par with the rest of his work, and The Dark Knight Rises feels very rushed. 2. “What’s in the box?” David Fincher - So Aliens 3 could have used some work. I still argue that it’s not as bad as most make it out to be, but it’s certainly not good. That said, I don’t think he has another bad movie. To this day, I feel Seven is his masterpiece, and Fight Club isn’t far behind. I give Nolan the edge because he writes original screenplays. That said, Fincher may have a better eye from behind the camera. Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Game, Panic Room are all wonderful movies with great performances. 3. “That belongs in a museum.” Steven Spielberg - He’s the master. Spielberg’s sense of whimsy and innocence takes viewers back to a time before many of us were born. Movies were different in the era before Spielberg, and he’s not going to let us forget that as long as he’s alive. Raiders of the Lost Ark was my favorite movie before Inception came along. Spielberg’s list of great films could fill a library. Whether it’s Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler’s List, any Indiana Jones movie (okay - NOT The Crystal Skull - it’s awful), or Munich, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if You Can, Minority Report or any of the projects he produced and had influence in - Back to the Future or Poltergeist?! Spielberg is a national treasure that Doctor Jones just may search the jungles for. HM: Honorable Mentions belong to Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Unforgiven) and Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed). My favorite up-and-comers are Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. If you’ve not seen Resolution and The Endless, see them. You’ve seen their work if you’re a MCU fan in Moon Knight. They’re show-running Season 2 of Loki as well.