by Stone Marshall | Jul 7, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Incredibles 2 Fan Art Imagines A Dark Sequel for Pixar's Superheroes
New fan art for The Incredibles 2 has surfaced online, depicting the characters in a much grittier tone than that of the animated Pixar films. Warrick Wong, an Australian concept artist, shared renderings of the film's characters this past week via Instagram.
The Incredibles 2 released on June 15, already passing the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office in its second week. The long-awaited and much-anticipated sequel came fourteen years after its predecessor. Brad Bird’s follow-up to the 2004 hit was heavily delayed, before its release date was eventually shifted ahead of Toy Story 4, which itself was delayed to 2019. While the wait for The Incredibles 2 was agonizing for some fans, it seems the time spent in development was beneficial, given the film’s “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
RELATED: BOB PARR IS A NOT SO INCREDIBLE HUSBAND IN ‘INCREDIBLES 2′
On his Instagram account, Wong posted his concept art for a version of the Parr family much darker than audiences are used to. Wong shared a different piece of art every few days, beginning with a version of Jack-Jack that is far older than his infant counterpart from the movie. Since then, Wong also shared photos of Dash, Violet and Mr. Incredible. All the characters appear worn from battle, their red and black spandex torn and tattered. Each piece also showcases the characters’ respective superpowers. Noticeably absent from the photo set is Elasti-Girl/Mrs. Incredible, the star of the new film. Wong explains that in the alternate reality this art is set in, Mrs. Parr is “presumed dead” and Violet has become the new matriarch of the family. However, “presumed dead” could mean that Wong will surprise us with a gritty portrayal of Mrs. Incredible after all.
As an illustrator, Wong has an impressive online portfolio that boasts renderings of characters from fandoms like Marvel and Star Wars. The Incredibles are also not his first gritty reimaginings, as he's previously drawn up intimidating interpretations of normally cute Pokémon like Squirtle and Pikachu. While it’s likely that we'll never see a dark, violent version of The Incredibles hit the big screen, it’s hard to deny that Wong’s fan art – and his extremely creative backstory behind it – is fun to behold and ponder.
Pixar’s newest release is yet another huge hit for the studio. Given the first film’s release date, many who saw The Incredibles as children were likely excited to see the sequel as adults, which no doubt helped fuel its mammoth box office. The next film on the slate for Pixar is Toy Story 4, an entry in another franchise that has seen the lucrative value of nostalgia. However, only time will tell if the demand for that sequel will be as high as that of The Incredibles 2. If it is though, it'll be interesting to see if Wong draws similar gritty versions of Toy Story characters like Woody, Buzz, Rex, and Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear.
Read more about it: https://screenrant.com/incredibles-2-fan-art-pixar-dark-sequel/
by Stone Marshall | Jul 6, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Pixar is well known for hiding numerous fun easter eggs and references inside their films. It's only fitting that such a tradition be kept up when one of Pixar's biggest films becomes a video game. The new LEGO The Incredibles video game is the first time the popular game series has been based on a Pixar property and it has taken the opportunity to go all in on the Pixar universe by including lots of playable characters and buildable setpieces from other Pixar movies.
However, beyond that, the story mode of LEGO The Incredibles, which takes you through the plots of both Incredibles films, also includes several references to other Pixar movies within the story, just like a Pixar movie. Here are a few of our favorites.
Ratatouille
Ratatouille is one of Pixar's underrated gems and it also happens to be directed by Incredibles director Brad Bird. It follows the adventures of a rat who falls in love with cooking, so it makes sense that this reference can be found in a kitchen. During the playthrough of Incredibles 2 ‘s story campaign, your characters find themselves on board a ship where Violet and Dash are trying to catch up to Jack-Jack. The pair enter the ship's galley, which the baby has inadvertently set on fire. As you enter, one of the NPCs is heard to wonder aloud if she's suffering the effects of smoke inhalation, or if she actually saw a rat cooking.
Finding Nemo's Seagulls
Co-op gameplay is a hallmark of the LEGO video game franchise, which means that one of the things the game has to do in the story mode is change the story up so that there are always at least two characters in every scene. When playing through the story of the first Incredibles movie, that means both Frozone and Mr. Incredible go the island together to fight the Omnidroid the first time. This allows Frozone to make a comment to Mr. Incredible about another super who would have especially liked all the bird life on the island. She was capable of speaking to birds, which was great, except for seagulls, who it turns out, were quite selfish, always saying “mine,” just like the birds from Finding Nemo. Later, while infiltrating the island, the rest of the Parr family actually runs into a flock of the birds crying “mine” as they fly away.
The Luxo Ball
The Luxo Ball is one of Pixar's most iconic images and it appears in every movie that Pixar has ever made. It also shows up in the video game based on some of those movies. Early in the portion of the story dealing with the original Incredibles movie, Mr. Incredible ends up in a bank where he has been chasing a henchman of Bomb Voyage. If you move down to the bottom of the screen when you first arrive at the bank and get paired up with Buddy, you can see the Luxo Ball sitting on a table. The table and everything around it can be destroyed to pick up more studs, but the ball is invincible.
Dory
Finding Dory is still Pixar's highest grossing film of all time, though there's a good chance that Incredibles 2 could take that title before its over. LEGO Incredibles tips its hat to the box office powerhouse during the sequence where Dash, Violet, and Elastigirl are working to save themselves after Syndrome has blown their jet out of the sky. At one point, Violet needs to sink beneath the water to obtain a key object. Surrounded by her shield so she can breathe, Violet starts to repeat “just keep sinking, just keep sinking,” a reference to Dory's oft-repeated catchphrase, just keep swimming.
Buy N Large
Buy N Large is the massive corporation that sends all the humans to live in space in Wall-E. The company has appeared in other Pixar movies as well such as being a race sponsor in Cars 3, but it also appears in LEGO Incredibles. At the end of the final story mission, as the Parr family is battling the Omnidroid, a shop one end of the map appears to be a Buy N Large ice cream parlor. A giant milkshake or ice cream soda sits above the door complete with a B ‘N L logo on the side of it.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 6, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
The first Incredibles movie is a stone cold classic
It is hilarious, but also as exciting as any action movie, yet also incredibly sweet and touching.
And now, 14 years later, we have a sequel. The Incredibles 2 has already had amazing reviews in America, and is out in the UK later this month.
Of course, a lot has changed in 14 years – superhero movies were big in 2004, but they weren’t quite the all–conquering juggernaut that they are today.
But one of the biggest changes is obviously the improvements in technology. The Incredibles still looks amazing today – all Pixar movies still hold up to be honest, because the characters and the stories are timeless. But the advances made in computer animation over a decade are clear for all to see.
And this comparison video perfectly highlights that.
Here are two shots of Dash, the top from 2004, the bottom from 2018.
The amount of additional detail is clear to see.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Last week, HBO announced that the first (and possibly only) of the five prospective Game of Thrones prequel spin-offs to get a pilot order will go way, way, way back into Westeros’ past, to a time period before recorded history, where the truth is lost in a fog of legends and myths. Of all the eras worth exploring, it’s the one with the most question marks, which is why it makes the most sense for a new (old) story. More than any other period from George R.R. Martin’s insanely deep and complex history of the Seven Kingdoms, it offers the most freedom to tell a story even the most ardent fans of A Song of Ice and Fire don’t already know. Unfortunately that’s exactly why, along with a familiar enemy, it could end up hurting the original show.
This is the official synopsis for the series from HBO:
“Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend … it’s not the story we think we know.”
George R.R. Martin himself further revealed how much the story will revolve around the infamous invasion of the dead; he thinks the unnamed series should be called “The Long Night,” suggesting that, just like on Game of Thrones, the blue-eyed ice demons will likely be the show’s big baddies. But also like with Game of Thrones,there are still tons of other important figures and events from that era, which in many ways shaped the Westeros we know today.
The Age of Heroes is the time period after the First Men and the Children of the Forest had ended their war with one another and lived in peace. Thought to have taken place 10,000 years ago—though, as Martin points out, the maesters think it was only half as long ago (and I think the maesters are right)—it features larger-than-life figures like Bran the Builder, the founder of House Stark credited with building the Wall, Winterfell, and Storm’s End, as well as Lann the Clever, founder of House Lannister. And those are just the most well-known figures for Game of Thrones viewers, who might not be as familiar with other important historical figures (real or legend), like Garth Greenhand and Durran Godsgrief, not to mention the founding of the Night’s Watch.
While the generally accepted timeline of Westeros puts the Age of Heroes at 10,000 years ago, until the start of the Long Night roughly 2,000 years later (8,000 years before Aegon’s Conquest), the timeline is completely unreliable. Recorded history didn’t begin in Westeros until long after the first Long Night, when the Andals invaded from Essos anywhere between six and two thousand years before the events of Game of Thrones. I tend to think all of these numbers are hugely inflated, simply because it’s hard to keep one single house in continuous existence for 10,000 years when a single plague could wipe out an entire family.
A compacted, accurate time period would make for a much more exciting show, because it would create far more overlap with these hugely important historical figures and events. Maybe Bran the Builder really was just one person who did all of these things, and maybe he knew all the other great heroes, including Azor Ahai (who might also have been the original Prince That Was Promised), the “last hero” who is credited with leading the First Men to victory over the Night King.
The fact that we don’t really know is why this is a perfect time to set a prequel. I am fascinated by the Targaryen kings, and I’m especially obsessed by the famed Blackfyre Rebellion that nearly tore the family apart. But not only do I know how that story ends, I know most of the major players and events of that Civil War. I still hope HBO turns it into a spin-off series, but it would be limited in what new information it could bring in ways this Age of Heroes series wouldn’t be. There’s also the fact that magic in the world might never have been greater than it was when the White Walkers first invaded (on the backs of giant ice spiders!), as opposed to the mostly magic-free world of Westeros under the post-dragon Targaryens. Game of Thrones is better for having magic present in the story, so wouldn’t a spin-off series also want to keep that element?
But giving us answers to mysterious questions isn’t always a good thing, and when mishandled they can even hurt the original story. I love the theory that Brandon Stark from Game of Thrones is also Bran the Builder from the myths, and that all Brandon Starks in history are in fact the same person. Not because I agree with it, but because it’s fun to debate and think about. That all goes away if we find out that all Brandon Starks merely have a high midichlorian count.
A big part of what makes George R.R. Martin’s insanely detailed history so intriguing to obsessives like me are all of the spots where we don’t have answers, because it allows us to explore the gaps without being disappointed by where we end up. I genuinely trust Martin’s judgment, and if he believe this is a story worth telling it probably is, but the freedom granted by this time period also includes going down roads we will have preferred to avoid.
On top of this, the new show seems like it will have, in some form, the exact same main villain as Game of Thrones, with the White Walkers playing a major role. It’s possible the Night King might have been an important member of House Stark, or someone even more shocking, and that the beginning of the White Walkers’ story could be far more fascinating than their end, which we will presumably get one way or another with Game of Thrones. But either way, their mere presence will only invite comparisons to the original show, which could unfairly hurt it in the eyes of viewers. Any spin-off of the single most popular TV series in the world will live in a huge shadow, one that will only get bigger by repeating the villain.
None of this means this series won’t work, or that the show won’t actually enhance how we view Game of Thrones if its answers add new depth and nuance to original story. The Age of Heroes and the first Long Night offer a bounty of incredible possibilities for an amazing story full of fascinating characters, fantastic elements, and major events, because what we “know” about that time period is made of sand that can be molded into something great.
But if it’s true that sometimes what you don’t know won’t hurt you, the opposite is true too.
What do you think? Do you want to learn more from this mysterious time period, or would you rather some question remain unanswered? Tell us why in the comments below.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Normally, when put together, the words “wedding” and “Westeros” result in a whole lot of blood and despair. But this past weekend the Seven Kingdoms saw something rarer than a sober Cersei when the cast of Game of Thrones came together in Scotland to see onscreen couple Jon Snow and Ygritte get married in real life. If you can believe it, not a single person was murdered or poisoned!
On Saturday, Kit Harington and Leslie Rose, who died on the show in Jon’s arms, officially said their I-dos (rather, their I-am-hers-and-she-is-mines) at their wedding in Scotland’s Kirkton of Rayne church, surrounded by friends, family, and many of their co-stars from the Realm. According to ABC News, the HBO guest list included Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Emilia Clarke, Liam Cunningham, Ben Crompton, John Bradley, and Joe Dempsie, all of whom managed to avoid being shot by an arrow during the festivities at Rose’s ancestral family castle.
While the happy couple looked great, our favorite look went to Scotland’s own Richard Madden, who really knew how to dress for the occasion. However even if Kit Harington knows nothing about being married, we wouldn’t recommend asking Robb Stark for advice.
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
tierney bricker
✔
@tbrick2
how dare none of you inform me that richard madden rolled up to kit harington and rose leslie's wedding looking like THIS
3:01 AM – Jun 26, 2018
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No one dying at a Game of Thrones wedding was only the second happiest takeaway of the day. When it comes to relationships forged in the Seven Kingdoms, including ones involving Jon Snow, the best news is that Kit Harington and Rose Leslie aren’t blood relatives.
Seriously, no one in the Seven Kingdoms should ever marry anyone.
Which fictional couple from Westeros would you most want to attend the wedding of? Tell us your top choice in the comments section below.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 4, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
If the internet has proved anything, it’s that there a lot of people out there who are way more talented than I am. Some of those are part of a group called Elysium Fire, a YouTube channel that creates beautiful landscapes, buildings, and other architecture in Minecraft. Recently, they uploaded a video of a new project: a recreation of the city Novigrad, which is part of the world of The Witcher 3. The eight-minute video pans through the entire city and shows how they gradually built it through a time lapse.
Not only did this team take the time to actually build this huge city, but they rendered it totally accurate to the map of the game. Building took 18 builders about 1,000 hours each over a period of six months, and the filming took three teams 15 time-lapse sessions which totaled 15 hours over the course of three months. They constructed over 700 unique houses, four churches, and 10 boats. They even said they included a bunch of Easter eggs that you can go try to find as well! That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.
The best part is probably that they made the map available for anyone to download here, so you can go in, explore it for yourself, and hit up all of your favorite landmarks. What do you think? Does the Minecraft version do Novigrad justice? Where would you want to go visit in the virtual city? Let us know in the comments!
