James Bond

Leave a comment Posted on May 30, 2016 Piffcast

Piffcast: Memorial Day 2016 w/ The Next James Bond, Riot Fest and More

For your Memorial Day Listening, Michael and TJ give their guests a breather and cover a vast array of topics all on their own. They discuss their favorites of the NEXT James Bond candidates, some of our favorite video games, the Riot Fest Chicago lineup, Game of Thrones (per usual), and all the tangents that come with.

Listeners ALSO get in on the fun by asking ANYTHING and the guys do their best to answer them. Questions include: The #1 Sport for America, Favorite Simpsons Characters, Sports to add to the Olympics, and our favorite things to do in Chicago.

Follow for more on Facebook or Twitter. You can subscribe to The Piffcast on iTunes too.

Leave a comment Posted on October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 Movies

Movie-Inspired Halloween Costumes 2015

Coming off of New York’s Comic Con Week, and with it being the middle of October already, there’s no better time than now to begin planning your Halloween costume. Although all ideas kinda suck now after seeing the guy who built his own 9.5 foot Iron Man “Hulkbuster” suit at NYCC…

We’re not worthy.

My own personal Halloween costume history is exactly why I needed a list like this. I haven’t dressed up in 3 years. The last time I did, I was Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens from Justified on FX…and nobody got it. My attempt at Mad TV’s “Drunk Kenny Rogers” in college was a valiant effort, but I could use something relevant and awesome this year for much needed ice-breakers.

For my own benefit, and likely yours, let’s take a look at the movies this year that offer the BEST costume ideas for October 31st.

Mad Max: Fury Road

If you follow this site, then you know that we’ve talked A LOT about Fury Road this year. One of the best films of 2015, a fun way to compare pro athletes, and an EASY resource for costume ideas. We thank the beautiful twisted mind of George Miller for making these possible.

‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky

Very obvious choice and not a shabby one at that. You could go with the updated Tom Hardy uniform featuring the classic football right shoulder pad, a sweet military-esque jacket with a dirtied up thermal. Or you can go “Blood Bag Max” with his prisoner mask and chain trailing behind you.

Furiosa

Charlize Theron rocked it as Furiosa and so can you if you’re willing to buzz your hair. If you choose to, you get my full support and can blame me for it if you get any flack.

Warboys & Immortan Joe

You can either assemble your super pale crew, take your shirts off, and CHROME UP

…or be the scariest looking person at your party. I doubt you’ll regret either choice.

Bonus points if you can pull this off, flames and all.

Ex Machina

Ava

This costume would take some creativity, but I would dub you the winner of your costume party if you could pull it off. Ex Machina was an early candidate for one of the best films of the year, incredibly suspenseful, and Alicia Vikander became my newest Hollywood crush thanks to her performance as Ava and again in Man From UNCLE.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers

Dressing up as any of the Avengers (Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye) will be relevant every year, especially going forward as the heroes continue to mesh in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’ll be getting ahead of game if you can dress as Cap or Tony Stark facing off for Civil War. Highly recommended for any “group” costume.

Ultron

If the “Hulkbuster” costume is possible (from the top of the post), then so is Ultron. Bonus points if you can pull off the red lights for eyes and James Spader voice of evil.

The Vision

Wanna steal the show this Halloween? Do like Paul Bettany and be The Vision. Is it me, or was Vision the ultimate one-upper in Age of Ultron?

Ant-Man

Scott Lang / Ant-Man

Marvel surprised several doubters who didn’t think Ant-Man would work in a stand alone film. Paul Rudd, Michael Pena and some hilarious writing set the film apart from the other Marvel installments. Commemorate their achievement and throw on the Ant-Man suit, while also preparing for his appearance in the upcoming Civil War.

(Pym Particle Shrinking Capabilities Not Included)

Inside Out

Need a group costume? Boom! You can get out the body paint, wigs, and FEELINGS dressed as Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Anger (Lewis Black).

Jurassic World

I’ve been very vocal with my disappointment in Jurassic World, HOWEVER…

Imagine someone dressed as Chris Pratt’s character with a whole gang of stuffed raptors attached to them. Or you can dress as raptors with the rest of your friends. Simply…raptor squad!!!

Straight Outta Compton

90’s hip hop seems to be making a huge comeback with today’s culture, and I love it. Any group willing to rock the chains, flat billed hats, white sneakers and curls at a Halloween party would be on a different level of badassery.

The Martian

My biggest takeaway after seeing The Martian was “Damn, Astronauts are cool again!” The suit may get warm, the helmet could be a little bit of a nuisance, but your space related pick-up lines would be EPIC!

Note: All the ones I found on Google had to do with Uranus. So please Tweet me some better ones.

Spectre

I think it’s ALWAYS acceptable to SUIT UP like James Bond, but if you’re someone who needs an excuse…SPECTRE HITS THEATERS IN A FEW WEEKS! If you couldn’t tell, I’m a little excited.

The End of the Tour

David Foster Wallace

Perhaps not something that many would get if you felt compelled to throw on a bandana, a pair of glasses, avoid shaving for a few days, and go 90’s grunge with your getup. I, however, would greatly appreciate anyone who enjoyed Jason Segel’s performance as David Foster Wallace as much as I did and decided to go out as the excellent writer on Halloween.

The Peanuts Movie

If there was ever a time for you and your friends to dress up as Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and company, this Halloween would be as good as any. The Peanuts Movie will be out the next weekend and you’ll probably have The Great Pumpkin special on ABC recording on your DVR anyway.

Star Wars Episode VII:

The Force Awakens

Clearly the most anticipated film in years is around the corner, and we’re all dusting off our lightsabers from our formative years. I can’t wait to see this year’s crop of costumes representing both older characters and new!

Han Solo & Chewbacca

Amazing how Chewie hasn’t aged a day, isn’t it? If you plan on going out as this dynamic duo, please have a decent Wookie call. If you don’t, then don’t bother.

Rylo Ken

Just like you and I, Rylo Ken is a HUGE Fanboy/Fangirl for Darth Vader. Who doesn’t want to see a broadsword lightsaber fight in the middle of their Halloween party?

Captain Phasma

Get ahead of the game and get well acquainted with the next “Boba Fett” type character for the Star Wars franchise. Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie (aka Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones), only gets glimpses during in the trailers we’ve seen, but JJ Abrams can’t help but rave about the new Star Wars baddie.

Rey & Finn

Meet “The Resistance”. It’s not totally clear what their backgrounds are, but Rey and Finn will likely be getting lightsabers and possibly their own “couple” hashtag after the first screening of Episode VII. Be careful with that “couple talk” though…You never know where story arcs will go with Star Wars characters.

Poe Dameron

Oscar Isaac’s new character has a Han Solo shine to him but more importantly, YOU GET TO DRESS UP AS AN X-WING FIGHTER!

Did you get some ideas for Halloween from this post? Do you have some better ones? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook!

Leave a comment Posted on July 22, 2015July 22, 2015 Movies

007 #SPECTRE Trailer: Bond On The Run

Sony Pictures released the first official full trailer for “SPECTRE”, the latest installment of the modern n007 series.

“The say you’re finished…I think you’re just getting started.”

There’s a lot to digest from the latest footage to Sam Mendes’s follow up to “Skyfall”. Nearly a decade into the Daniel Craig era of James Bond, it appears to be as thrilling, slick, and exciting as ever. Unfortunately, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond didn’t age as well.

Let’s go frame by frame, breaking down the new trailer and start putting the pieces together before SPECTRE’s Nov. 6th release.

“Mexico City…What were you doing there?”

007 picked one hell of a day to take a “holiday” to Mexico. In what’s obviously a Dia de los Muertos (Day of a Dead) celebration, Bond is hunting this ghoul, and probably blowing him up. This could also be Bond in full Reaper garb, but that’s not really his style. Ralph Fiennes begins his run as the new M (*skypoint to Judi Dench’s tenure*) playing damage control as the British government is on a mission to disband MI6, and he doesn’t appear happy with Bond’s actions. Who was in Mexico City worth killing? All likelihood, they are tied to SPECTRE.

“So what’s going on, James…?”

Carrying over from the events of “Skyfall”, the British government is too keen on spies and MI6’s history. The vibe I get from the conspiracy mood in the teasers and trailer is that SPECTRE has some Hydra-like reach and influence with British lawmakers, which would explain the insistence to dissolve MI6. We notice contention between Bond and M early in the trailer, but going dark may be what’s best for 007 to get the job done.

“Zero to sixty in 3.2 seconds.”

Behold, the new Bond-mobile. The Aston Martin DB10 was unveiled long ago, but it still has an aura in Q Branch’s garage. Deliberately sharing the speed and the “few tricks up its sleeve” suggests Bond is going to have some eluding to do, which we see right after in a sweet car chase sequence.

Bad guys drive Jaguars anyway, right?

Introducing Mr. Hinx.

This looks to be the villain behind the wheel of the aforementioned Jaguar. Former WWE World Champion and current “Guardians of the Galaxy” badass Dave Bautista plays Mr. Hinx, the evident SPECTRE #1 henchmen. We get a glimpse of Hinx breaking necks Bane-style in the trailer. Bautista is fantastic when it comes to nonverbal intimidation. Will Drax the Destroyer go down as one of the better 007 hired killers, like Jaws, Oddjob, Baron Semedi and Red Grant before him?

“Tell me where he is?”

After Bond asks Q to help him disappear, we see him go into snow seclusion to find someone from his past. The character isn’t listed on IMDB yet, but previous teasers make it seem he and Bond were close once…In our experience, those close to 007 wind up either dead or evil…and then eventually dead. However, this old strung out soul looks to be James’s best connection to finding whoever is in charge of SPECTRE and is “protecting someone”.

“Why should I trust you?”

Being creepily watched by Mr. Hinx is Madeleine Swann played by Lea Seydoux (previously in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”). She is likely whoever our sleepless friend from above is protecting and plays an important role in taking down SPECTRE for Bond, her “best chance at staying alive.”

“Its name is SPECTRE.”

If SPECTRE sounds familiar to you, that is because the organization made an appearance in the 3rd Bond film, “Thunderball”. The name SPECTRE was also at the center of a long copyright battle between Ian Flemming and director Kevin McClory. McClory’s estate and MGM settled the issue in 2013, awarding the film rights of SPECTRE and the characters associated to MGM…Which leads us to the present.

We see the organization stand around the table. They seem to have influence over corporations and governments around the world and are led by the only man sitting down…

“It was me, James…The author of all your pain.”

Enter Franz Oberhauser, played by the charming yet terrifying Christoph Waltz. The name of Waltz’s character is a hat-tip to Fleming’s “Octopussy” short story and the background character “Hannes Oberhauser”, who was described as Bond’s temporary legal guardian when he was young.

Waltz joins a series of Bond villains that have established themselves as memorable as any. Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem were excellent predecessors in the Bond era, but the two-time Oscars winner could hurt Bonds in ways the others haven’t yet…and this hurt pretty bad.

Bond Is Not Alone.

Sweet turtleneck, Q. Remember the great scene in “Skyfall” when Bond met the new Q for the first time?

Q says he can do more damage in his pajamas, but now he seems to be out in the field with 007. He trusts Bond, which makes it easy to think he would be capable of lifting a middle finger to authority, but I think this could mean M is assisting Bond in his quest. While he may be as bureaucratic as bureaucrats get, Gareth Mallory has proven his loyalty to Bond and MI6’s cause before. If the British government is compromised by SPECTRE, Bond is his best weapon.

Who called Jim Moriarty?

This is not the face of a good guy. Famous for playing the recent “Sherlock” series villain Jim Moriarty, Andrew Scott looks cryptic and scary in London. Is he leading the government’s charge against MI6? We shall see, but my initial feeling is that those eye brows don’t bode well for Bond.