As a critic, I’m supposed to offer my unbiased opinion on a piece of media that I’ve been given. I’m supposed to set aside my own personal preferences and examine art – whether it be a cheesy 1980s TV series or an Oscar-winning modern classic – without letting my feelings interfere with my final verdict.

Well, I’m afraid I just can’t do that in this case.

Because, you see, I’ve been a fan of Luke Chueh’s artwork since my then-girlfriend-now-wife turned me on to it in 2005. She had seen his paintings online and instantly fell in love with them. I had a similar experience when she showed me his website, and I saw for the first time his unique style, motifs, and message.

Chueh’s art is almost always described using the same adjectives and phrases – “cute, but dark”, “adorable, but sad”, “funny, but deep” – and even though these have become cliché at this point, that doesn’t mean they aren’t true. Much of Chueh’s work features animals that look like costumed out-of-work actors on their way to a kid’s backyard birthday party, ready to snap a photo with a group of seven year-olds because it’s the only gig they can get.
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The Avengers has been out for quite a while now, but Tim, Rob, and myself just had a chance to sit down and talk about it on the latest episode of Bubble Pipe Theater over on our podcast network. We discuss the movie and geek out about the next phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and you should have a listen.

Avengers Mini-Review

I usually forget or don’t get around to typing up my official thoughts on geek movies on here until it’s too late, but The Avengers could very well be the geek movie of the decade so I wanted to go ahead and get my thoughts down.

I didn’t get a chance to see The Avengers at midnight on May 4th but I went the next morning with my wife to a packed IMAX theater, filled to the brim with geeks of all ages. We didn’t really want to see it in 3D, but for this film I knew I wanted to see it on as big of a screen as possible, so I made an exception. My wife was just as excited as me, having loved Thor and Captain America last summer, and having watched Iron Man for the first time that week. We were ready to see them all team up on the big screen.
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After months of talking and talking about the prospect of Marvel LEGO sets, they’re finally here. The first sets officially come out on April 8th, but I was lucky enough to snag a couple on Walmart.com a week or so ago before they were quickly sold out. I got two of the cheaper sets, 6865: Captain America’s Avenging Cycle and the set I’m reviewing today, 6866: Wolverine’s Chopper Showdown.

The Lowdown

In addition to all the awesome Avengers LEGO sets coming out, LEGO is starting a X-Men line with the release of this Wolverine set, and honestly, it’s going to be a hard set to top. At $20, the value for LEGO/Marvel geeks is insane. Not only do you get a pretty awesome-looking helicopter, but you get almost perfect minifigure versions of Wolverine, Magneto, and…Deadpool. Are you kidding me? Deadpool exists in LEGO form, and was one of the first Marvel characters to be released?
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For the average movie-goer, “Hitchcock” means Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. Maybe Rear Window, too. But the portly, prolific director made dozens of films, going back to the silent era, so if you haven’t seen Spellbound or Notorious, it’s understandable. However, these two titles should probably be mentioned in the same breath as Hitch’s better known films, if for no other reason but the way they have helped define genres and shape feature films since their release in the mid-1940s.

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