And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! 

Yesterday in select cities nationwide, thousands of people were treated to a back-to-back marathon screening of all six Marvel Studios films. From Iron Man all the way to the midnight premiere of The Avengers, this epic, butt-busting extravaganza was sold as THE best way to celebrate the arrival of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The roster of films was impressive, but the time commitment was daunting. For true Marvel movie fans was this celebration a good thing? Is the act of subjecting yourself to hours upon hours watching these films worthwhile? Does it diminish the quality or enhance the context when you watch them all back-to-back?

These were all questions I had to ask myself before settling in on my seventeen hour quest through the Marvel Movie-verse, and they were all questions that were answered quite emphatically by about the fifth hour.

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There are times in my life when I look at myself in the mirror and ask why? Why don’t I let go of the childish things from my past? Why do I choose to allow myself to be swept away in the adventures of superheroes, dashing knights and evil wizards?

Why do I dream of miracles increasingly fantastic and take for granted the miracles all around me? I never have an answer. I’m nowhere near wise enough to truly understand the machinations of my mind.

That doesn’t stop the asking though, and I would wager that I am not the only one in the geek community who feels the same way. So, if I can’t answer the question why, perhaps I can answer a different question and start the long road to personal understanding? What do I get out of a life as a geek?

It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to. - Bilbo Baggins

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There’s a lot at PAX East, which takes place this upcoming weekend, to be excited for- the show floor will be jam packed with tons of exciting games, the concerts at night will be rockin’, and there’s endless free play areas for console, PC, tabletop, and card games.

But one other thing you should definitely make some time for is the panels- they’re a chance to catch up with some of your favorite people in the industry, learn more about making videogames a career, or ask your favorite developer or community manager a question. Here’s some of the panels I’m most excited for this weekend.

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PAX East rapidly approaches, which means you’re probably starting your packing list right about now. And whether you’re a PAX East veteran or attending for the first time, it may be tricky, downright overwhelming even, figuring out exactly what to bring with you.

Well, allow me to pack for you. Here are some things you must absolutely bring with you this weekend. This stuff, and underwear. You may need underwear.

Portable gaming device

Believe me, whether you’re waiting in line to play a game on the floor, sitting and waiting for a panel to start, or killing time in the bathroom line, you’re going to want a portable gaming system with you.

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In an unbelievable feat of suck, Adam Sandler has swept the annual Razzies awards, which showcase the worst films of the previous year.  Sandler’s Jack and Jill has accomplished something no film was able to in the Razzies 32 year history, winning all 10 categories. That includes both a worst actor and actress for win for the titular characters played by Sandler, which is also a Razzie first as it is not often those two categories would overlap.

Sandler wasn’t “honored” alone, as many of his supporting cast in the film went on to win as well. David Spade, Katie Holmes, and Al Pacino all received awards for the part they played in the travesty that is known as Jack and Jill.

The creative team behind the film weren’t free of the crap storm either, with director Dennis Dugan and the screenwriters all taking home awards in their respective categories.

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The official Doctor Who convention in Cardiff over this past weekend brought with it a lot of news and announcements about Season Seven, including who will be the next companion after Rory and Amy depart mid-season. It also featured the first promo video for the new season, and BBC has just officially released it online. Whovians, rejoice!

In the promo, The Doctor wears a hat, rides a horse, and generally causes trouble, flanked as always by Amy and Rory. As previous set photos indicated, The Doctor and his companions will visit the wild wild west, the snowy tundra, and an ancient civilization, and will content with old and new foes alike. The promo even features guest stars Mark Williams (known best as Arthur Weasley) and Ben Browder of Stargate. We also learn that Amy Pond isn’t too great at handling a gun, and what exaclty The Doctor really would like for Christmas.

Amy and Rory will depart from the series in the fifth episode of the season in an episode featuring the Weeping Angels. The new companion, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, will first appear in the Christmas Special.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC America this fall. You can watch the new promo after the jump.

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Another WonderCon has come and gone. This year was slightly different than any year previous as this was the first time that WonderCon was held in Anaheim, CA and not its typical home of San Francisco.

Many people I spoke to enjoyed the change in venue, and liked the added space that the Anaheim Convention center seemed to provide.

One of the best things coming away from a comic book convention is the chance to look at pictures of the costumes, ruffle through your free swag, and watch fun videos captured around the convention. Enjoy them all after the jump.

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You may not know her name, but I bet you have seen one of her videos.

Jessica Mill is the star and creator of Awkward Embraces, a web series about three nerdy girls working their way though the dating world of Los Angeles. The series has become popular among the “nerd” culture. Jessica herself has become a “nerd” icon on Twitter and Tumblr due to her frequent posts and nerdy sense of humor.

It was at WonderCon 2012 in Anaheim that I talked to Jessica. She reveals the details about three new web series she is working on including Damsels and Dragons. A new web series about a girl LARP (live action role playing) group that she is creating with Greg Aronowitz, designer of The Guild.

Watch my full interview with Jessica Mills below.

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The fan community is certainly one of the strongest forces in the entertainment industry since the rise of the internet. Long gone is the idea of an old-timey press room where the barrier between the readers and the writers held strong. Now fanboys like Harry Knowles hold power purely because of the geek credibility that he currently weilds.

With a rule like that, fans are the true final word as to whether a film gets a sequel, if not a multi-film franchise, so why wouldn’t they be the ones who decide what movie ideas get made?

A few years ago, a fan put together a little photoshopped poster where Sam Jackson takes on a ridiculous plot like poisonous snakes being let loose on a plane mid-flight. 32 million dollars in production and $62 million in ticket sales later, Snakes on a Plane was considered somewhat of a win by New Line.

Now, fans are at it again with a (far superior) photoshop job showcasing a possible Walt Disney biopic starring the lovable Ryan Gosling, simply titled Walt. You can thank French artist Pascal Witaszek for being the brains (and eye) behind this one.

Take a look at the image after the jump, and help share this so we can get a seemingly awesome film like this made by a talented team.

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Sometimes, there are great atrocities to the nerd culture that just can’t be undone. Things like Catwoman, The Spirit, and Star Trek: Nemesis that are engrained in our culture so deeply, that it’s hard to forget they existed due to how bad they were. That’s where YouTube movie analyst machine Belated Media takes us for a trip down memory lane that doesn’t make us hate being a geek.

He has taken the recently rejuvenated Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and broken it down to show all of its flaws. Unlike the hundreds of other YouTubers who have done the same, Belated Media has gone the extra step in explaining what would make this film good, and how they can fix these things.

Of course, it’s a bit too late to actually take back things like the death of Darth Maul or the casting of Anakin Skywalker, but it’s still nice to think of what could have been if Phantom Menace  was actually good, and didn’t suck so hard with junkyard owners who were immune to Jedi mind tricks, or Jar Jar Binks’ pure existence.

So take a look at Belated Media’s massive analysis of the film after the jump, and join us on the journey of what it would have been like had George Lucas not completely sold out and only cared about making toys that kids everywhere would one day throw out.

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I’m not sure what it is about movie marketing these days. For some reason, studios seems determined to hide elements of a film when putting together trailers and other marketing materials.

It’s almost as if they’re afraid to reveal anything for fear of alienating some segment (or all) of a film’s potential audience. In truth, that’s probably pretty close to the reality.

Such is the case with Disney’s upcoming film John Carter. It’s painfully obvious from the trailers released so far that Disney marketing has no idea how to sell this film. In fact, I’d wager the first trailers have done little to entice potential viewers into the theaters.

Personally, I’ve found them to be dull, uninspired and tending to focus on elements making this film pretty much look like every other Disney film released in the last ten years. Fortunetely, for those of us who are fans of the books and want this movie to succeede, others have stepped up to help.

Enter YouTube user John Carter Files. They’ve taken it upon themselves to make a trailer for the film and after watching it I’m sure you will agree it’s so much better than any of the “official” ones Disney should give these guys a job immedietly and leave them alone to do their work.

Check it out after the break. Look for John Carter to hit theaters on March 9.

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For most young boys growing up in the 90s, there were two very prominent things in the pop culture world. One of them was the overabundance of sexualized female superheroes in comics thanks to some beautiful art by the likes of Rob Liefeld, Jimmy Palmiotti, and others. The other thing was more and more big-breasted women popping up in the WWF, which gave the young boys losing interest in the dragging story lines something more interesting to focus on.

Little did we know that only a few decades later, we’d be seeing the two pubescent fantasies combine into one massive phenomenon, as Vivid has announced Joanie “Chyna” Laurer has been cast as the lead in Axel Braun’s upcoming superhero porn parody, She-Hulk XXX. Here’s the blurb from the press release.

Chyna plays She-Hulk aka Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, best known to most of the world at The Hulk.  When her emotional state is sufficiently high, she is the strongest woman in the world. She has been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force and S.H.I.E.L.D.  She-Hulk is also a highly skilled lawyer who has served as legal counsel to several of the superheroes when needed.

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