This is the newest trailer for the new Dreamworks animated movie Megamind starring Derosby Brothers favorite Will Ferrell. This is the only trailer I’ve seen to date that actually shows a plot for this movie, and the first one that actually makes this movie look halfway decent.

In my opinion the Dreamworks animated movies are hit and miss.  Some I’ve liked and others I thought were absolute crap. Will Ferrell movies tend to go the same route, either being awesome or a $10 in-theater explosive bowel movement. The odds on this movie aren’t good, but I’ve got faith in Will to pull through for us.

Click on the image above for a link to the trailer (select TRAILER 3 for the newest one).

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/megamind/ 

-CWD

For anyone that hasn’t had the luxury of watching Dexter, you need to get with the times.  This is, by far, one of the most entertaining and exciting shows on television.  I keep telling my brothers to put it on their Netflix or pick it up, and hear the basic “yeah, I will get to that” response.  Well, if they knew Dexter Morgan, truly knew him like we, the viewers, do, then they would change their tune.

Each season it gets better and better.  My wife and I are currently finishing up season four, son once we have done that, I will put a more detailed review….without the general spoilers.  I will just say this about Season 4; each time we finish one of the episodes, we look at the clock before agreeing to just one more episode.  The only thing that ends up stopping us is from just watching it all at once is the fact that we get the season on Netflix, so we have to get them broken up by DVD.

The acting is very believable and one of the shining stars is the Trinity Killer.  Since this is not really a spoiler, I can tell you that John Lithgow nails this character; as in really nails it.

Watch the show.  Go to ebay and pick up the first three seasons, get them on Netflix.  Hell, find some website and watch them online.  But give this show a chance.  You will never, EVER regret it.

How amazing does this look?  Click on the image below to see the full trailer from E3 earlier this year.  I’ve got to get my hands on the original before this one comes out.

God of War III picks up where the story of Kratos left off, with our favorite anti-hero and an army of the Titans climbing Mount Olympus to storm the gates with Zeus and the other gods watching on in horror.  The opening sequence alone is worth the ride and the game really doesn’t slow down from there, taking you from the depths of Hades to the very highest tower of the City of Olympus and back again (then back another time, but if you play you’ll see what I mean).  I’m sorry that the creators are ending (or as the rumors go) the story of Kratos with this game, but what a way to go out.  Kudos to the team at Sony for one of the most spectacular games I’ve played this year.  (click on the image below to see the official God of War III trailer, and yes, the graphics in game ARE that good)

Click Here for God of War III trailer

Objective:  10  The objective of these games has always been simple enough:  kill everything that moves, and if it fights back all bets are off.   The God of War series takes the term “hack and slash” to a different level as Kratos can “finish” some of his opponents off with a series of  button and thumbstick combinations.  The best part of this game is the cast of characters Kratos walks through to get to his goal.  With everyone from Poseidon, Mercury, Helios (yes, he even kicks the sun’s ass), to his half brother Hercules, you never run out of someone famous to beat to a pulp.  The fight with Hercules is particularly brutal as there seems to be no love lost between these two boys (each seems to think the other was Zeus’s favorite).

Theme:  10  How can I not love the theme of this game?  The writers took the best parts of written mythology, threw in some Clash of the Titans (the original, the new one just seemed to be a ripoff of this game….which ironically seemed to be based heavily on the original Clash of the Titans), a little bit the anachronistic humor of Sam Raimi’s Hercules, the bloody violence and against-all-odds battles from 300, and a few Mortal Komat style finishers for good measure.  There’s nothing like beating down a centaur who’s been kicking you in the head for the last 5 minutes, then gutting him from nut to nipple while he’s still kicking. 

 Gameplay:  10  The gameplay aspect really hasn’t changed since the original, albiet with a few improvements here or there to keep things interesting.  The creators have added or changed weapons to better fit with the style and flow of the game, or added skills that Kratos could earn to mix things up a bit (like using Helios’s head to blind your opponent).  I did like the fact that they added more puzzles to this installment and kept the fighting of endless hordes to a minimum.  In my opinion it improved the gameplay drastically.  As simple as the controls and gameplay is, it is well constructed and keeps things from getting too stale as the game progresses. 

Sound:  10  The sound effects in this game are sold in the details.  There are quite a few scenes where you’re looking down on a battlefield and the distant sounds of swords clashing, people screaming, etc… really sells the effect.   The voice acting was well cast and included the return of Terrence Carson as Kratos.  The cast also featured surprise turns from Adrienne Barbeau as a bitter alcoholic Hera, Malcolm McDowell as the tragic Daedalus (Kratos had killed his son Icarus in the first game, and Dad finds that out as soon as he sees the wings on Kratos’s back), Clancy Brown as a particularly menacing Hades (but Mr. Brown goes all out on just about every voice over he does.  Gotta love the guy), Rip Torn as Hephaestus the one I felt the worst about cutting down, and Kevin Sorbo as Hercules (which I didn’t know until just now, well after I referenced the Sam Raimi Hercules as an influence).

Replay Value:  8 I do have to finish Resistance:  Fall of Man, and Assassin’s Creed II, both of which I’m currently playing, but I do plan on playing this game at least one more time.  Replay unlocks further items, however the usefulness of said items remains to be seen (hence the comment about “at least one more time” for replay).

Total Score:   9.6

I really enjoyed this game, I think moreso than its predecessors.  I attribute that to the addition of all the puzzles and the extent of scale used in this game.  The battle with the Titan Chronos exemplifies everything this series of games has been all about.  There’s something to be said for scaling your opponent to get a few shots in… and when you do take down the boss that stands hundreds of feet tall.

Thanks for tuning in.  I guess the next time you hear from the DerosbyBrothers review desk, it will be to report on either Transformers:  War for Cybertron or Assassin’s Creed II. 

 -CWD

Young Justice is one of the new series to premiere on Cartoon Network this fall and will fill the slot left vacant by the recently-cancelled “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”, which I can’t say I’m sorry to see go. You know a series is in trouble when the only entertaining character on the show is Aquaman.

This show is similar to the Teen Titans but on a more serious bent, and is based upon both the DC comic of the same name, the Teen Titans (both comic and show), and other characters who’ve appeared in the DC universe over the years. To give themselves a bit of artistic license with both the story and the characters, the writers have based the show to take place on Earth-16.

The team includes their leader Aqualad, Robin (the Dick Grayson version), Kid Flash (Wally West?  there’s that artistic license I was talking about earlier), Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis (an updated Arrowette?).  The video shows Speedy/The Red Arrow and I thought it mentioned Wonder Girl as well.  It also boasts regular appearances by the Justice League members as well, including Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.

Based upon some of the images I’ve seen, the animation looks fantastic. I hope the show does “Teen Titans” justice as it is still among the list of favorites at this house.

Here’s the Comic-Con spot.  Not much of a preview per-say, but more of an interview with the creators.  It’s pretty good all the same.  Click on the image above to play the video or on this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiOjAmXDjW4

Before I type anything else, let me just apologize profusely for subjecting you to something this horrible this early in the morning. 

This might have been Alan and Keith’s favorite go-to crap movie back when we were kids. Now everyone has another chance to marvel over just how bad this movie really was.   And this movie is up there on the list of worst movies EVER produced.  It’s definitely the worst one I’ve ever seen.  And I’ve seen both “Plan 9″, “Robot Monster”, “Dr. Parnassus”, and “Anchorman”.  I put this one at the head of the pack.

Here’s the “international trailer” for the movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KCct4RwLNM

….and if you are so inclined, here’s where you can purchase the BluRay.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5016

-CWD

For the past few years, I have been working on my first novel, Purgatory.  It was indeed a process of writing and rewriting, editing and then editing it once again.  A storyboard was created, used, scrapped, redone, then finally used to create a strong finished product.

I finally completed the product in the end of July, after having both Craig and Keith read and edit it.  I then fixed all my mistakes, which were many, and placed the final period on the story Purgatory.  It was one of my greatest accomplishments as most people talk of writing a book but few get around to it.

So I sat down and wrote, what is called, a query letter.  It was a one page letter which covered several topics.  I had to give a brief, and I mean brief, synopsis of my novel.  My 255 page book was reduced to one paragraph.  This was tougher than I thought.  I had trouble because my novel is really original and has many moving parts.  After that, I had to inform the reader of who I was, in a brief biography.  Who am I?  Well this was my first novel.  After that?  Hmmm, married, child, history, video games, Mets.  These aren’t exactly selling points; especially my love of the Mets.  Basically I spent one page selling my book.  And again, this is a tough tough process.  Everything has to be perfect.

Next came the process of finding a literary agent.  Once I finished my book, I thought, “no problem with this one.  I will just send it to the agent that interests me most and wait for the request to read my manuscript”.  Unfortunately, that was my first rejection.  I re-read the agent’s website and decided that maybe my genre just wasn’t “for him”.  So I found several more agents that specialized in both young adult lit, as well as historical fiction.  I knew, just knew, they would all say yes.  However, more rejections.

So here I am 14 rejections later.  I am a bit closer as an agent did ask to read my manuscript.  14:  No/ 1: Yes.  While that is considered a minor slump in baseball if a batter went 1 out of the last 14, it is considered a minor victory in the writing world.  Sure my hit was a bloop single.  If she shows more interest, then we can make it ground rule double.

The reason I write this is because it was an eye opening and humble experience; one which I am still stuck in.  I currently have 50 query letters out, with only one yes.  I am sure a lot of the agents haven’t got around to reading my letter, some never will.  One agent sent me a rejection letter just minutes after I sent my query.  In his rejection response, he apologized for it taking so long to get back to me and said this project may not be for him.  Hmmm, a long time in responding?  It was minutes.  It MAY NOT be for him?  It either is or isn’t.

I am not worried that eventually someone will pick up on my novel and they will be happy they did.  It is original and not the typical vampire/wizard book that young adults normally read.  I have had four people read it and heard great responses from them.

So I won’t give up and I will keep plugging away.  Maybe this agent that asked to read my book will be excited enough to want to work with me.  Maybe she won’t and I will move on.  I might be surprised and have several of those 50 agents ask for my manuscript.  They could also all turn it down and I will continue my search.  Either way, I have to be patience.  I don’t really have a choice.

PURGATORY: coming soon

I was digging around on Comingsoon.net and came across this trailer.  I’d heard of the comic (I’m flattered that someone compared my early work to it, but I wasn’t nearly that good), but didn’t realize the show was an adaptation.  You think the huge display at ComicCon would have given it away but I’m not as bright as I used to be.  Old age is hell.  I guess I should do some more homework on this program because it looks pretty amazing.  Boy and I just watched the trailer and it floored us.  If this series as half as good as it looks in this clip, it could prove to be one of the best shows on TV. 

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/106169-the-trailer-for-amcs-the-walking-dead

The show premieres on Halloween night on AMC (that’s October 31st for those of you who have even less of a clue than yours truly).  If you’d like to learn more, here’s the official website for the show.  http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/

-CWD

I’ve been busy this morning.  Between surfing the web, playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, and falling asleep on the couch to Phineas and Ferb, I’ve gotten a lot done this morning.  I found trailers to three upcoming movies that look promising. 

I’m expecting Cloverfield-type disappointment to set in about a week after seeing Monsters.  In an age of incredible possibilities through CGI, I guess I get a little suspicious nowadays when the directors refuse to show you what everybody in the movie is running or hiding from.  There’s a fine line between suspense and “we have no idea what to make this thing look like, so we’ll work around it by pretending to be artsy and creative and not show you anything”.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/monsters/

I’m planning for mainstream-horror fare from Case 39, a psychological looking Omen-meets-The Exorcist  movie starring Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper.  It looks like it has real potential, which is the problem.  I can handle a bad movie that knows it’s bad:  they’re fun to watch even when they’re meant to be serious.  It’s the ones that have all the potential in the world then fail to deliver that I can’t stand.  After watching this trailer, I relegated this one to the Red Box pile pending further review.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/case39/

Let Me In, starring Chloe Moretz (the entertaining and amazingly vulgar Hit Girl from Kick-Ass) looks to be the best of the bunch and has a real indie-horror feel to it.  Kid befriends the girl next door who turns out to be a murderous vampire.  Maybe I’ll drag the other Derosby Brothers to the theater for this one. 

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/letmein/

Thanks to Apple Movie Trailers.com, without whom (?) I’d have been extremely less productive this morning.  You can see all of these trailers and more by following the link to their site http://trailers.apple.com/.

-CWD

This one plays like a feature film, but this one’s a game trailer too.   This is hands-down one of the best trailers (movie or game) I’ve seen this year.

http://g4tv.com/videos/47678/dc-universe-online-cinematic-trailer/