Captain America Wins!!!

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Chris Evans as Captain America WINS his wager against Chris Pratt as Star-Lord after the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28 - 24. Chris Pratt will sport a Tom Brady Jersey as he visits Chris Evans city as Star-Lord and visit a patient at a local hospital!​

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These images were obtained through Instagram from @superherofeed so be sure to check them out. 

 

Posted by: Joe @thee.social.nerd

This Week at Warrenton 8 Cinema

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 This week at Warrenton 8 Cinema: 

 

For our Non-Spoiler reviews on Taken 3 and American Sniper check out the link below. 

 

New This Week on the Big Screen: Project Almanac

 

Check out Warrenton 8 Cinema's Facebook page to join this months contest of "Cutest Couple" with the winner receiving 2 free tickets!

 

For a great "Date Night" idea check out the deal Warrenton 8 Cinema & Imo's Pizza have going on right now. Show your ticket stub at the counter of Imo's and receive 10% off your meal!

 

We also wanted to take this time to thank Warrenton 8 Cinema for teaming up with LivingTheNerdLife.com Without them we wouldn't be able to bring you a lot of great movie reviews. Also, let them know you check out our reviews at LivingTheNerdLife.com the next time you go in. For more information go to the link below. 




Almost Heroes

 

Explorers Bartholomew Hunt and Leslie Edwards are setting forth against nature across the country on a journey to the Pacific Ocean against rivals Lewis and Clark. Along the way they have many mishaps and misfortunes. - IMDB

Tonight I was feeling a little nostalgic and turned on one of my favorite if not my favorite Chris Farley movie ever, Almost Heroes. Don't get me wrong Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Beverly Hills Ninja were great but there was something about this movie, his last movie that I loved the most. 

When I was younger and yes some still today the Wild West fascinates me. The intro music seems to set this fascination almost instantly and instantly drew me in the first time I watched it. I can honestly say I've seen this movie 40 plus times even though not many people have heard of it.  

The characters are all great with 2 lead characters Bartholomew Hunt played by Chris Farley and Leslie Edwards played by Matthew Perry. Hunt is an expert tracker and all around know it all when it comes to the wilderness while Edwards on the other hand uses his mind to battle the wilderness. Everyone has heard of Lewis & Clark but not has heard of the other duo that set forth to map the Wild West, Hunt & Edwards. That's how this movie starts and you follow them and their rag tag team as they push up the Missouri, interact with Native Americans and come face to face with their rivals Lewis & Clark. 

 

 

The movie is a lot of fun and with the edition of Guy their translator who is played by Eugene Levy there is no shortage of comedy. If you get a chance to watch this give it a go. I know it has been on and off of Netflix a few times so be on the lookout. 

 

What was your favorite Chris Farley movie? Have you seen Almost Heroes? 

 

Posted by: Joe @thee.social.nerd

Batman #38

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Jim Gordon is insane and Gotham is alive with laughter.  Far from being jovial, this laughter is tearing the city apart.  It is no longer fun and games for The Joker as Batman tries to stop the virus that is wreaking havoc on Gotham.

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Batman issue 38 is part four in the Endgame story arc.  It begins with Batman going to find Jim Gordon. The city is littered with the people of Gotham tearing the city, and each other, apart.  Greg Capullo demonstrates his extreme skill as an artist at this point by portraying every individual with an impressive, and unique, deranged face.  Most followers of the Batman book are familiar with Greg Capullo's artwork and once again the artwork truly stands out in this issue.  All of people in the background are just as creepy as The Joker comes across in this arc.  

The writing might be dry and a bit boring for some.  If you haven't picked up any of the other issues, you might find it hard to follow the dialogue on the virus.  The majority of this issue is devoted to Batman discussing the semantics of the virus and what it is doing to the population of Gotham.  Batman shows his detective abilities here as he's trying to reason his way to find a way to help out the people of Gotham.  

What I enjoyed most in this issue was the discussion with Dr. Dekker about the origins of the virus and Dr. Dekker's tales of ancient Earth.  The story takes on almost metaphysical level here with the mentions of the Lazarus pit and yet another Joker origin story.  I'll keep this spoiler free, but it's worth checking out if you're a fan of The Clown Prince of Crime.  Joker origin stories can usually be taken with a grain of salt.  We've read plenty of them throughout the years.

Five panels towards the end of the issue that left me puzzled, though not in a bad or frustrated way. Rather, I found myself wondering what direction this series will take from this point.  My interest is definitely piqued for the next issue and I am eager to discover what Joker has planned.  How far will Batman go to stop The Joker and will Gotham be able to survive this virus?

 


Posted by: Jeff @jeff201

Game of the Week: Random Heroes (mobile)

From the creators of the award winning platform game League of Evil comes Ravenous Games' new action platformer Random Heroes!! SUMMARYA group of unlikely heroes are set out to save the world. Monsters from another dimension are trying to take over Earth. Blast your way through these invaders in this action platformer! Collect coins and upgrade your weapons and characters to become stronger, faster and more lethal!Choose your hero and save the world! FEATURES- Over 30 Levels- 15 Characters- 10 Weapons- GameCenter Achievements- Universal and retina enabled. Source GameFaqs.com

Hey everyone! Joe here again with another mobile game review this time its Random Heroes. I was on a bit of an 8-bit frenzy where I was trying to buy some more NES titles for my collection and I thought to myself I need to find an iOS game with 8-bit characters. I then stumbled upon this game.

 

Positive

- 8-bit graphics

- Great characters both Heroes and Aliens

- Easy to use controls  

- Challenging enough for experience plays yet easy enough for noobs

 

Negative 

- Some controls are more dificult when changing directions  

- A few enemy characters seem to always hit you no way of avoiding it

- 8-bit graphics may not be everyones favorite

- Freemium: in-app purchases buy coins to upgrade guns and your character

 

Overall this game is a lot of fun. Again for those of you looking for a bit of nostalgia with this graphics and the platform gameplay this should fill your itch. Android or iOS its worth the space on your device especially with a FREE download.  

 

Posted by: Joe @thee.social.nerd

Board Game News

This has been a very exciting week with plenty of new game announcements, company mergers, and opening registration for the largest gaming convention in the country. Fantasy Flight is finally releasing a game that turned a lot of heads at conventions last year. Also a company has finally stepped up to challenge Geek Chic with a more cost effective line of gamer Furniture.

Let's dig in with the latest kickstarter announcements.

First off is the triumphant jump start of Exploding Kittens featuring the art of Matthew Inman, creator of the Oatmeal webcomic. The game works by having players take turns drawing cards until eventually someone draws a kitten , explodes, and is removed from the game. Play continues until all but one player is covered in exploded cat guts.

The gameplay seems pretty simple even by filler game standards. But what truly sets it apart from other games in the goofy light card game category is the art by a very very popular cartoonist, that and the flying space shuttle full of cash it has made in just 3 days.

If you have a game group that enjoys a quick game in between larger heavier games or enjoy edgier themed games like cards against humanity this might be a good project to check out.

I'm not expecting this to be the next cards against humanity or love letter gameplay-wise but the cheap price point of $20 along with the huge following of The Oatmeal there is absolutely no way this thing is going to fall through. We will see this game coming to a lot of tables in the future.

 

One of the biggest hits of Essen 2014, Orleans, has a kickstarter going for a deluxe English edition so all of us here in North America can enjoy some eurogaming goodness.

Orleans combines worker placement and economic engine building mechanics in a medieval French setting using farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. to gain supremacy through trade, construction and science to see who can become the leader of the city of Orleans.

For $57 you get a hold of one of the top eurogames of the year improved with some very nice components. Not a bad deal.

Monolith board games is currently crowdfunding a dungeon crawl adventure game based on the adventures of Robert E Howard's Conan.

This game looks like it has some incredible detail put into it. The plastic miniatures look stellar and have a lot of variety and the artwork on the terrain pieces really pops and draws you in. Every bit of this game seems made to draw you into the world of Hyboria and looks like it has a lot of great interactive stories to tell.

My only concern about this game is that it is up against some stiff competition against very good and very popular adventure story games like Imperial Assault, Descent, and Mice and Mystics.

The $90 dollar price tag is pretty comparable to other games in its class and the stretch goals this game is reaching look really cool. I'd say this might finally be the game Conan fans have been waiting for.

Finally I would like to mention Epic PVP. This game just got a huge endorsement from AEG and it makes perfect sense seeing how the gameplay borrows a lot from its Smash Up franchise.

In Epic PVP players choose a deck of cards based on different classes in DNDesque role-playing games and combine it with a deck based on a fantasy race and do battle against others with the special abilities your cards grant you.

AEG is offering a free print and play version of this game on its kickstarter page so you can try it before you commit a pledge.

Fantasy Flight Games will be releasing its tabletop / mobile gaming hybrid, XCOM later next week. The game is based off of the popular video game and will set a team of players against a sophisticated system of game mechanics controlled by an app on a mobile device. Players will have to cooperate in this game to keep aliens from infiltrating our society and conquering our planet by deploying military forces, analyzing the technology of alien invaders, managing resources, and influencing, public opinion to keep the world from plunging into mass hysteria.

I am very excited to see what the combination of mobile technology and tabletop gaming will bring to our hobby. Look forward to seeing a review of this game here at Living the Nerd Life very soon.

Furniture makers, boardgametables.com have released two tables for your gaming enjoyment. These tables feature felt lined reliefs, cup holders and drawers that rival that of Geek Chic but at nearly half the price. The tables lack many of the different wood types that their high dollar competitors offer but for $1300 compared to nearly four grand for a comparable Geek Chic table I can make an exception. Currently the company is offering a 68x43 rectangular model along with a smaller hexagonal model similar to a card table. If you've been wanting to upgrade to a fancy gaming table this may be a great deal.

Asmodee continues to gobble up game companies left and right! After last years major acquisitons of Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight the gaming conglomerate has turned it’s insatiable appetite on Pearl Games and Ystari. Pearl Games is known for publishing last years critical success, Deus and Ystari put out the incredibly immersive deduction game, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. Hopefully having these companies under the Asmodee umbrella will increase the distribution range and volume of these two difficult to acquire games!

Gen Con, the largest board game convention in the United States began open registration for attendance badges on Friday. The Convention which boasts “The Best Four Days In Gaming” runs from July 30th to August 2nd. Convention organizers believe the trend of increasing record breaking attendance will continue this year, which is terrific news for the board gaming hobby.

Keep your eye on more board gaming news, reviews and playthroughs, as well as information on all things nerd culture here at Living the Nerd Life!

Weekly Redbox Rental: The Maze Runner

This past week we rented The Maze Runner. Now I'm not one to read the books prior to seeing the movie, I mean that's why they make movies right? So I went into the movie without know anything about it. For those of you like me here is a brief description.

Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "The Glade" for three years, trying to find a way to escape through the Maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys. Source: IMDB

The Maze Runner drew me in pretty fast. Once Thomas made it with the other guys I was lost in the confusion with him. I wanted to know where he was, who he was, who are these other guys he's now surrounded by. Catching up on the rules of the camp you're introduced to different groups, leaders, farmers, cooks and runners. 

Obviously the most intriguing group to Thomas are the runners. Runners goal is to go out at the break of dawn to map the maze that surrounds there camp. These runners have one simple rule and thats get back before dark. What happens to the runners if they don't make it back before the maze doors close? Let's just say they don't last til morning.  

Without giving you any spoilers I'll stop there. This was a very interesting movie and another take at what seemed to be a utopia setting in a post apocolyptic world. Other than a predictable sequence at the end involving some of the cast this movie was a pleasant surprise. I would absolutely recommend this movie to any Scifi/Fantasy or Action fan. I'd give this 3 turtle shells out of 5 it's definitely worth the rental and I'm looking forward to the future Maze Runner movies.

 

Have you seen this movie? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.  

 

Posted by: Joe @thee.social.nerd

The Four Horsemen: Falcus

The Four Horsemen have created some of the best figures out there. These guys are amazing artist and sculpters. Their long awaited kick starter campaign for the Gothitropolis 6” fully-articulated birds has finally made it to collectors shelves across the globe. I did not particpate in the kickstarter campaign but I luckily was able to get a couple off their website http://www.shopfourhorsemen.com/.

 
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The image above is of Falcus, and he is amazing. You may not even know that you have been collecting figures made by these guys. They were instrumental in the much loved DC universe Classics and also Masters of the Universe Classics line of action figures. But anyway back to “Falcus”. The articulation is great, but I most admire the flawless paint and sculpt. They do have some issues with their joints. I highly suggest running them under hot water for a minute or two before trying to move them around. They might break if you don’t. It always amazes me how these things get made, to be mass produced I just dont know how they paint these things. Maybe you guys know? Someone just sittng there for hours a day and their job is just to paint the eyes? Sounds monotonous, but I say thank you! Love my little birds. Now you guys go get yours if you have not already. I wish I could afford them all. They are escalating in price on ebay so I suggest going to the four horsemen's store to purchase. Anyway thanks for reading, and have fun collecting.

Comment below and let me know if there are any figures you want me to review next!

 
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Games Update / 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM

Today is a really exciting day for us here at Living The Nerd Life. We are taking part in the 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM. Which for those of you who may not know is a week end long event where people from all around the world meet up in different areas to create games!

Not only are we excited for the JAM later tonight but we are rolling out a new tab on our website! The GAMES tab! Check it out on our main navigation. From time to time we will update this page with games that we are in the process of making or have already finished. 

Go to the GAMES tab and check out our first game that we made back in the Fall of 2014. Its called The Rise of Balthazar! In our game you play a character called Blathazar who is set out on an adventure to free all the Super Villains in the world of Utopia.

We will also be updating this page this week end as we start to work on our game for the 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM!

Marvel Announces End of Marvel Universe

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Marvel Editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort finally, after months of speculation a teaser images unveiled the plans for their big summer event Secret Wars.

The event will be the culmination of the incursion plot thread going on in the Avengers and New Avengers series for the past few years. For those unfamiliar with the two books, “Incursions” occur when the Earths of two universes intersect and always lead to the destruction of one or both universes. The Secret Wars series seems like it will mainly focus on the incursion of Marvel’s main continuity “616” universe and it’s struggling “Ultimate Universe” which has dwindled to having only one book, Ultimate Spider-man, published this year.

Editor in chief Axel Alonso managed to only get a few words in past long winded Brevoort, but the little time he had was used to described the event with this tasty analogy:

“The Ultimate Universe, the Marvel Universe — they’re going to smash together. Imagine them as two pizzas. They’re going to slap together. You’re going to have all-new toppings. Some droppings are going to drop off. You’re going to yell about some that are missing. You’re going to love the new ones that are there. And that is the Marvel Universe moving forward. It’s more than a Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe. It’s all the universes you can imagine. That’s it. This is it. This is the Marvel Universe is moving forward.”

That’s a calzone I’m excited to sink my teeth into. Seeing some of the Ultimate Universe heroes return and get folded into the main universe is very appealing. TheUltimates and Ultimate Spider-man, Fantastic Four, and X-men are some of my favorite books to come out of Marvel. Seeing how many ideas from those story lines have influenced the Marvel cinematic universe along with the Amazing Spiderman and upcoming Fantastic Four movies I think this could be a good jumping on point for the legions of fans of those franchises and help improve the state of comics.


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To tide us over the fine folks at Marvel have created an interactive map ofBattleworld, the new world that will become the shared universe that will be the setting for secret wars, giving a few hints of the new stories that will be coming out of this massive event. The map can be found at this link:http://marvel.com/comics/events/323/secret_wars_2015

Secret Wars #0 will be available at local comic shops at absolutely no charge on free comic book day, May 2nd, 2015.

 

Posted by: Levi Bushue


LUCY

It was supposed to be a simple job. All Lucy had to do was deliver a mysterious briefcase to Mr. Jang. But immediately Lucy is caught up in a nightmarish deal where she is captured and turned into a drug mule for a new and powerful synthetic drug. When the bag she is carrying inside of her stomach leaks, Lucy's body undergoes unimaginable changes that unlocks her mind's full potential 100%. With her new-found powers, Lucy turns into a merciless warrior intent on getting back at her captors. She receives invaluable help from Professor Norman, the leading authority on the human mind, and French police captain Pierre Del Rio. Source: IMDB

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From the Prestige to the Avengers and everything in between like the movie the Island Scarlett Johansson does another amazing job as LUCY. The movie starts off with some strange cut scenes which lend to later on in the movie but just starting out you find it a bit odd and out of place. However this was about the only thing I found to be like that and like I said the movie ties into this in the end.  

To be brief and to not "spoil" the movie for those of you that haven't seen it. Lucy was turned in a drug mule for a Korean drug lord but before leaving to her destination in Europe she refused to be abused and paid the price. However that same price caused a whole series of events that granted Lucy access to her mind, kind of like the movie Limitless with Bradley Cooper. However this movie does take it much further. Lucy finds the leading nuerologist, played by Morgan Freeman, she wants to supply him with her knowledge before she is gone.  

The movie initially starts off slow as she progresses through the amount of brain capacity Lucy accesses,  10%-60% you grow with her and get a sense of learning her new abilities as she learns them. 60%-100% progresses extremely fast at the end of the movie which during that time you learn the true measurement of human life. I almost told you what that was but then I would have given you the biggest spoiler of all.  

Definitely go and rent this movie or like we did get it from OnDemand with DirecTV. This movie is worth a solid 4 out of 5 Turtle Shells which means its a must see!  

What did you think of LUCY? Did you think it was as good as I thought it was? 

 

Posted by: Joe @thee.social.nerd