MCA – Monster Combat Alliance – New Year New Rage

Yes it is the dawn of a new year for the MCA, we have been around for less than a year but we have created more carnage than a box set of 24. Last month we crowned the first MCA World Champion, the winner being Godzilla. Well you’d think that we would let him have some relaxation, but you may remember that he does have a number 1 contender for the title already with Battra who beat Ultraman for a shot at the title. So tonight we have the first World Title defence as Godzilla takes on Battra. Also tonight we have a fight of steel as The DeathSaurer takes on Optimus Prime. Manda (KOTM Runner Up) returns to competition as he takes on Gamera. Kiryu will be fighting King Ghidorah and 2 of the 3 monsters with the most losses in the MCA, Buraki and Zudomon team up together in the first Double Trouble match as they take on Gyaos (KOTM 4^th Place) and Dragon (ROF). But first a quick announcement for next month. It appears that some monsters in the MCA are yet to win a single match, seven in total. So next month will be the first Second Month Second Chance tournament where the bottom 8 monsters in the MCA will fight it out to get some wins and get started on the road to possible greatness. So anyway onto our first match of the night. Let the Chaos commence.

Kiryu vs King Ghidorah – 5 fight match – Kiryu goes first.

Kiryu	King   Ghidorah
17	4
3	7
11	14
12	9
5	1

Kiryu Wins. What a close fight, it looked like King Ghidorah was going to get his first win in the MCA but then Kiryu brought the fight back to win.

Onto the next fight of the evening. Manda vs Gamera – 5 fight match – Manda goes first.

Manda	Gamera
9	17
9	17
15	20
19	17
17	16

Gamera Wins. Gamera pulls everything together to beat the KOTM 2012 Runner up in Manda. Congratulations.

The Next fight of the evening will be a battle of steel as two monster, well made of steel will fight it out. Optimus Prime vs The DeathSaurer – Seven Fight Match – The DeathSaurer goes first.

The   DeathSaurer	Optimus   Prime
9	12
5	15
9	17
13	18
20	7
17	14
7	15

Optimus Prime Wins. Optimus Prime gets an early victory while The DeathSaurer takes a hard beating. The DeathSaurer then gets some hits in before Optimus Prime bags the last hit for a defiant victory. Congratulations.

Up next we have the first Double Trouble match in the MCA as Zudomon and Buraki team up to face Gyaos and Dragon. But first I think there needs to be a rule explanation. A Double Trouble match will have Two Monsters fighting another Two Monsters. There will also be a number of fights agreed too. On each turn 2 D20’s will be rolled. Whichever is the higher number out of two will be the damage given to the opposing team. A D20 will be used at the beginning of the match to decide which order in the team the monsters will roll. Just like any normal match the decision of which team goes first will be decided by a D20. The fight will be decided over which team has won the most fights, simple really. So let’s get going.

Gyaos and Dragon vs Zudomon and Buraki – 5 fight match – Gyaos and Dragon go first.

G – D	Z – B
D – 18	Z – 9
G – 9	Z – 10
G – 18	Z – 6
D – 7	B – 17
D – 16	Z – 7

Gyaos and Dragon win the match. Well, the first Double Trouble match means even more heart ache for Zudomon and Buraki. While they did score a couple of hits it was not enough. For most of that match it was Zudomon doing most of the work, what was Buraki doing. Well we are bound to see those 2 next month, Congratulations to Gyaos and Dragon.

Up next is the first World Title Defence in the MCA as the first and current reigning Champion Godzilla takes on Battra in a 9 fight match. In the Black Corner with a fight record of 5 Wins and 1 Loss and the current MCA World Champion, GODZILLA. In the White corner with a fight record of 3 Wins and 2 Losses, BATTRA – Godzilla goes first.

Godzilla	Battra
4	6
9	17
9	18
13	12
7	14
16	17
7	1
18	20
15	2

The Winner and the New MCA World Champion, Battra. Well that was a match. Godzilla had previously beaten Battra for a place in the title tournament but Battra, sensing a quicker way of winning the title came out of nowhere and pounded the Champion to take the title. Godzilla must still have been recovering. Congratulations Battra.

Well another month of Monster Combat comes to an end with a New and only the second Monster to win the World Title. Well, remember to return next month as the bottom 8 monsters in the MCA fight it out against each other in the hope of climbing the ladder to possible greatness. Take Care and Watch Out.

GENEPOOL (Founder and Chairman)

I found this article Thoroughly and Very Interesting, so I thought I would share it with you.

SKREEONK!

In an excellent “introduction to a much larger article” article, the ever-awesome i09 has released some excellent tidbits from the current re-writer of Legendary’s GODZILLA. Yes, the entire film is in jeopardy right now thanks to a multi-faceted producer’s lawsuit – but hey, lets focus on the good news shall we? Frank Darabont (of Walking Dead Fame – terribly talented fellow) had the following to say about his take on the giant gray behemoth:

What I found very interesting about Godzilla is that he started off definitely as a metaphor for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And some of the atom bomb testing we were doing in the South Pacific in the subsequent years. The giant terrifying force of nature that comes and stomps the shit out of your city, that was Godzilla. Filtered through the very fanciful imaginations of the Japanese perception. And then he became Clifford the Big Red Dog…

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Top 10 Most Exciting Films in 2013

Just like I did last year with a list of my Top 10 Most Exciting Films in 2012 I have brought the list back to talk about (in brief) the films I am most looking forward to this year. Now it was hard to come up with a list seeing as when I looked through the release schedule, there appeared not to be much of interest. while there are films like Man of Steel which does have Christopher Nolan in a producing role I am not really looking forward to it. Much the same as the new Star Trek Film, to be honest I have not seen the previous one and am not really interested in Star Trek. I recently had a look at the 2012 film Cloud Atlas which gets released in the UK this year, but after watching the trailer I am not so sure. As far as I see it, the films in this list are the only films coming out this year which are worth watching, quite depressing really, but compared to what is being released in 2014, that could be for the Best. Don’t think though that all these films are going to be Pants, the following films in this list are here for a reason, because they look Good.

10. The Alan Partridge Movie – Alan Partridge in a Movie? That’s correct. This could either be really bad or the funniest film this year, who knows but we will find out very soon.

9. The Seventh Son – Based on the best-selling book; The Spooks Apprentice by Joseph Delaney this film sounds interesting. I started reading the book a few months ago, it is quite hard to continue when you are reading 4 books at the same time but from what I have read, this could be a surprise hit (and this is coming from the person who did not see The Hunger Games coming, and loved it). What’s more is that the setting of the books is based around my home county of Lancashire and my home town of Lancaster is also mentioned. This is already sounding Fantastic.

8. The Wolverine – While the previous film was not so Good, this one is looking exciting. Not only that it is connected to the X-Men films which are by far the Best of all the films Marvel have produced to date.

7. Iron Man 3 – The next film in one of only a few Marvel films that can rival the mighty X-Men films (but still not triumphant). The new film will still star Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow and will have the Mandarin as the villain. While looking awesome the trailer in some way does look a bit like The Dark Knight Rises.

6. Elysium – Don’t be fooled by the District 9 Poster, it’s just a poster has yet to be released of this incredibly exciting film. From the Director of District 9; Neill Blomkamp comes a film set aboard a man-made space station. Do you need to know anything else, it’s made by the same bloke who did District 9, lets leave the rest until the film comes out.

5. Thor: The Dark World – The sequel to one of the best films in 2011. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Idris Elba return to star. It’s just a shame that Kenneth Branagh does not return to Direct.

4. 47 Ronin – Based on a Japanese Legend this rather unknown film stars Keanu Reeves and a whole cast of Japanese Actors. While being produced by Universal Pictures this is a Japanese Period Piece so that means it has Fantastic Potential to be Truly Great.

3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – The sequel to the Fantastic Hunger Games. Based on the book of the same name the film sees Jennifer Lawrence return along with most of the cast from the original. I am currently over half way through the book of Catching Fire and if the previous film is anything to go by, the film will follow the plot line of the book to the letter, something Lord of the Pants could not do, which makes The Hunger Games an even more superior film, anyway. Catching Fire gets released this year.

2. Pacific Rim – With one year to go until a year filled with Monster Movie’s it is nice to see a Monster Movie coming out this year. From the visionary Director who made Pan’s Labyrinth comes this Monster Movie inspired by Japanese Kaiju Films (a genre which includes GODZILLA). The film is supposed to come out in July of this year, which also means that when this film comes out it will be less than a year until the Legendary Pictures Godzilla Film. The trailer looks Fantastic, and the film as a whole looks Fantastic.

1. The Host Sequel – While the idea of a sequel to The Host has been talked about for a while now, a few weeks ago I did see a possible clip from the upcoming film. So I hope this is real because the Sequel to one of the Best (NON-GODZILA) Films will be Fantastic to watch.

GENEPOOL

HMV HELP

Unless you don’t have access to a TV, Radio, Newspapers or the Internet (which brings up questions about how you are able to read this) you cannot have failed to notice that HMV is in trouble as in it is now in Administration. The shops are remaining open (at least in the UK) while Administrators try to both stabilise the business and find a buyer. Well the other day I did find the perfect buyer (in my opinion) for the brand and that is in the Japanese Company Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group who have interests in Trains, Finance, Retailing, Real Estate and Media. Anyway that is just my opinion (look at the size of the company).

Anyway the main reason for this post is to hopefully give some financial support for HMV by hopefully interesting people to look and buy films from what I think is both the most overlooked section of the store as well as the most underrated therefore increasing HMV’s cash flow and get them out of administration. If HMV Fall, the rest of high street will follow. So today (18/01/2013) in Lancaster I went into HMV and headed for the World Cinema section, an area filled with some of the Best Films in Cinema History. I then chose a selection of films that I have either seen or are well known (so that I have at least heard of them). I then jotted down their prices and I am now about to post these films up. Now while I will link them to a site about them, I will also give you a link for my review of them (if I have previously reviewed them). However I will not give you a picture of them because that will take forever, you will need to rely on the link (the links are in Bold, Black, Italic writing). I also thought, to spice it up for you and also because I thought it would be fun to try and make it look like a Sale Video, a bit like the one Charlie Brooker did for the London Riots.

Kicking off on the 10th January 2013 it is HMV 25% off sale. Head over to the World Cinema section with your cash, cheque book or card and get ready to Spend Spend Spend. Azumi was £10 now £7.50, get the sequel for £5.25 while the sale remains. Have you visited Spain, well visit it again with some mystical creatures, buy Pan’s Labyrinth, was £11, now £8.25 (review). Do you like watching nothing but the Best Films, why not check out Rashomon, was £1o now £7.50, why not add to it with the Legendary Seven Samurai was £7 now £5.25 (review), but wait there’s more, why not add Yojimbo to your collection, was £7 now 5.25, and the deal just keeps getting better, Stray Dog was £6 now £4.50, why not add another classic to it with Ikiru, was £6, but you can have it for £4.50. But wait there is even more, buy Sanjuro, was £14 now £10.50, The Hidden Fortress, was £7 now £5.25, Throne of Blood, based on Macbeth, this one is set in Japan, was £14 now £10.50 and if that is your sort of thing you may want to purchase RAN which is based on King Lear, was £10, now £7.50 (review).

But why stop there when you could buy one of the Best Films this Century in the form of 13 Assassins, was £8 reduced down to just £6, or why not watch a three-man collaboration in the form of Tokyo!, 3 top directors, one film, was £9 now £6.75. Do you like to see people get hurt, want some good old martial arts action, then check out Ip Man, was £4 now only £3 and why not buy the sequel with it for only £4.50 while the sale is on. Why not check out Ong-Bak, was £6 now £4.50. But wait there is more, why not a triple bill of Bruce Lee with Way of the Dragon, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury for £4.50 each and then why not gulp a history lesson of the man with Dragon The Bruce Lee Story, was £5 now £3.75. Why not check out House of Flying Daggers too, was £12 now £9. Battle Royale was £7 now £5.25. If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games and you are over 18 you may want to give it a go, but why not buy it with Battle Royale 2, was £10 now £7.50. Perhaps you would like to take a trip to Norway and visit some Trolls, well in that case Troll Hunter is for you, was £7 now only £5.25.

With over 277 shops world wide you know where to pick up a copy of any of these above films, but remember, sale and some stores may not last, see the news for more details, MUST END SOON, PLEASE LET IT ALL END SOON.

GENEPOOL

My Top 5 Favourite American TV Shows

Since I was very young I have TV and I still watch it to this day. Like many people I have watched many different shows and have my Favourites. Choosing my Top 5 Favourite TV shows would be quite difficult but there are some I would instantly think of; like Top Gear. Since 2000 and beyond I have got into many American TV Series. In terms of major TV series that appear on the Box, it is the American shows that concentrate on the Drama side that dominate the Market and since 2000 they have produced some of the Best TV shows around. I have always said what my Top 5 TV Series were over and over again to my friends and family. So I thought I would share this list with you too, now while this is my Top 5 favorite American TV Series, do not think that these are my TOP 5 Favourite TV Shows overall, because as the Blog Title says, it is My Top 5 Favourite American TV Series but more in the way of Drama TV Series. In a way you could think of this as a British Perspective of these shows, so let’s get a move on:

5. Numb3rs – After reading that title you can probably see where the name of my blog title comes from (well you need to be creative when all the names you want are taken). I was introduced to Numb3rs in 2007 when I was on holiday with my family in Holland. I heard about the show on a channel I was watching and I stayed up to watch what was the first 2 episodes of series 2. Numb3rs is by far the best crime show on Television. While I do like shows like New Tricks and Taggart (From Alex Norton to Present), Numb3rs stands out for me. For a short period in my life it made Maths both interesting and fun. From the point I watched those two episode in holland to its eventual end I have been a fan of the show from beginning to end (even though I have not seen much of series 4 thanks to scheduling). Thoroughly enjoyable.

4. Buffy The Vampire Slayer – When Buffy first came on in the UK, I did not really take notice. It’s content and sound made it sound nasty, gruesome, terrifying and scary. So I did not take a notice of it really, to begin with. Eventually the show found its way from prime time BBC TWO to daytime showings on SKY ONE. To begin with I still did not take much notice but overtime (thanks to-day offs from school because of illness and other stuff) I watched the odd episode every now and again. As time would pass I would get into the odd episode and would look forward to the next episode. On some occasions when it was being repeated I would watch some episodes I had already seen again just because I liked the episode. However it was not until one year ago when SYFY were showing some episodes back to back on a nightly basis that I really got into the series. I stayed up during the christmas break to watch almost the whole of Series 6 (I finally got to see the end of the storyline where Willow goes bad). During this past summer I watched Buffy in the mornings everyday, so in a way the show helped me get through a period when I was ill from Shingles. So in a period of about a year I became a huge fan of one of the Greatest TV Series in the history of Television, so much so that Yesterday I bought a box-set of all 7 series of the show. A Truly Fantastic Show.

3. Blade: The Series – Based on the Marvel Comic Character and connected with the Film Series. The show only had one series, but what a series. Every Monday the show would be on Bravo and I had it recorded (because it was late) and so every Tuesday morning I would check the video (Yes, Video) to see what happened and then would watch the episodes later on. For the entire period the show was on for, it was Amazing. Fantastic Cast, Fantastic Story, Fantastic Action, Fantastic Music, Everything Fantastic. While it still only had one series I still hope that one day it will receive the second series that it deserves, (maybe I should do it, I am learning Screenwriting at University). The Best TV Show of 2007, and that is a fact.

2. Battlestar Galactica – Not the original series, I am talking about the recent re-imagining of the classic TV Series. While it did take time to get into the series, I am glad that I pursued it. Over 4 Fantastic Series the war between Humans and the Cylons developed while also looking at the political side of a civilization drifting through space. With more characters than fingers on your hands and toes on your feet put together, it was thoroughly enjoyable. While every episode in the original series had a battle almost every week this one did not, but when one happened, it did not disappoint. However the more political side and navigation of the fleet were the main highlights in my opinion. The original series had the look of Heroism about it with the Humans winning every time, which is a surprise when they are supposed to be running away. While in this series almost every battle was costly and so tactics were required as well as keeping the other defenseless ships safe from the raw power of the Cylons but also because they’re in space, how do they keep the general population happy. All together it is a well written, well planned and thought out, incredible piece of Television.

1. 24 – What else was it going to be. I did not start watching until series 2 (the best series of 24) but have been a massive fan since then. Over the course of 8 series 24 just kept giving. It was like an action movie on telly. But it was not just action, it had great stories, great twists and turns that kept you guessing. It had characters which you could both believe in and connect to. The show’s intro, the famous digitized number 24, it showed impact and action but was short and sweet, it got straight to the point and allowed the show to start immediately. It starred Great actors like Kiefer Sutherland and Dennis Haysbert. It had great scenes of Action and Politics along with the Tensions of Personal Life and pieces of Shock and Tragedy. It is easy to forget about how Great the show was now that it is not on TV anymore (a film is planned) but when you get to watch it again you won’t want to stop. By far it is the Best American TV Series and one of the Greatest TV Shows in Television History, and if you don’t believe me, it’s obvious that you have not seen it.

GENEPOOL