Top 10 Countdown: April 25, 2015

10. Set It Off - Ancient History
Last week: NEW!

9. Fall Out Boy - Irresistible
Last week: 9.

8. Sleeping With Sirens - Go Go Go
Last week: 4.

7. Walk Off The Earth - Rule The World
Last week: 8.

6. All Time Low - Kids In The Dark
Last week: 7.

5. Hit The Lights - Life On The Bottom
Last week: 6.

4. New Found Glory - One More Round
Last week: 5.

3. Marianas Trench - Here's To The Zeros
Last week: 3.

2. A Day To Remember - City Of Ocala
Last week: 2.

1. State Champs - If I'm Lucky
Last week: 1.

Special: Top 10 Movies To See This Summer

10. Pan

Release Date: July 24, 2015

Synopsis: The story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny -- to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

9. Poltergeist

Release Date: May 22, 2015

Synopsis: Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi and director Gil Kenan reimagine and contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is invaded by angry spirits. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and take the youngest daughter, the family must come together to rescue her.

8. Minions

Release Date: July 10, 2015

Synopsis: The story of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment's Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. Continuously unsuccessful at keeping these masters-from T. rex to Napoleon-the Minions find themselves without someone to serve and fall into a deep depression. But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he-alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob-ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embarks upon a thrilling journey that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award® winner Sandra Bullock), the world's first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in mod London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind...from annihilation.

7. Aloha

Release Date: May 29. 2015

Synopsis: In Aloha, a celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs - the US Space program in Honolulu, Hawaii - and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. From Academy Award®-winner Cameron Crowe, the writer-director behind such films as Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, Aloha also stars Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin.

6. Inside Out

Release Date: June 19, 2015

Synopsis: Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

5. Jurassic World

Release Date: June 12, 2015

Synopsis: Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park (1993), Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor's interest, which backfires horribly.

4. Entourage

Release Date: June 5, 2015

Synopsis: Movie star Vincent Chase, together with his boys Eric, Turtle, and Johnny, are back - and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold.

3. Fantastic Four

Release Date: August 7, 2015

Synopsis: A contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

Release Date: May 15, 2015

Synopsis: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

1. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Release Date: May 1, 2015

Synopsis: When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for a global adventure.

Honourable mentions: Ted 2, Terminator Genisys, Ant Man, Pixels, Insidious Chapter 3, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Masterminds, Tomorrowland, Sinister 2

Top 10 Countdown: April 18, 2015

10. As It Is - Dial Tones
Last week: 5.

9. Fall Out Boy - Irresitable
Last week: 10.

8. Walk Off The Earth - Rule The World
Last week: NEW!

7. All Time Low - Kids In The Dark
Last week: 8.

6. Hit The Lights - Life On The Bottom
Last week: NEW!

5. New Found Glory - One More Round
Last week: 7.

4. Sleeping With Sirens - Go Go Go
Last week: 1.

3. Marianas Trench - Here's To The Zeros
Last week: 4.

2. A Day To Remember - City Of Ocala
Last week: 3.

1. State Champs - If I'm Lucky
Last week: 2.

Special: Daredevil Episode 1: Into The Ring Review

The Man Without Fear, previously brought to the big screen courtesy of writer-director Mark Steven Johnson who has been pretty much outed of Hollywood since he unsuccessfully failed to adapt Daredevil and also struck out directing Ghost Rider. Marvel, smartly might I add, moved Daredevil to a TV series, more importantly a Netflix original television series. Season ones thirteen episodes hit Netflix on Friday and here's my review of the very first episode that kicks off Marvel's Netflix slate of shows.

Into The Ring starts off with the classic origin piece as we see a 9 year old Matt Murdoch go blind after a car accident that involved drums of hazardous chemicals. Fast forward some 15 years or so and we have a grown Matt Murdoch in a catholic confessional delving more into his past, mostly his family's past before asking the priest for forgiveness for what he's about to do.

This is where we finally see Daredevil in action as he takes out a bunch of thugs who are trying to grab girls and, presumably, sell them off into sex slavery. The next morning Matt is awoken by his partner at their law firm, they're defence attorney's by the way, Foggy Nelson who was on his way to bribe a cop into getting him a good case, which happens when young Karen Page is found in her apartment holding a bloodied knife over the body of her dead co-worker.

Matt and Foggy decide to take the case as Matt is positive she's innocent and that proves true when the district attorney fails to press charges due to other factors in play at the crime scene. We also begin to see the shadowy underworld of Kingpin begin to unfold as we see people threatened to do their bidding otherwise they're loved ones will be harmed. We also see Karen being attacked in her cell the following morning she gets released and Foggy and Matt take her back to their office to discover why people are looking to have her killed off. It's up to Matt and Foggy to help unravel the mystery that ties Karen to the Kingpin's crew, and when more attempts are made on Karen's life it's up to Daredevil to swoop in and save the day.

Charlie Cox plays Matt Murdoch/Daredevil and he does a fine job. Cox first came to my attention in the criminally under seen Scottish film Stone Of Destiny which also starred Kate Mara (Sue Storm in this summer's Fantastic Four). He followed that up with award winning roles in Boardwalk Empire in this past year's Oscar darling The Theory Of Everything. He brings out the wit and the slyness that Murdoch is supposed to bring to the table while still looking the part of a kick-ass vigilante when he puts on the mask, which is really just a hat at this point.

Karen Page is played by Deborah Ann Woll who I guess was in True Blood, but she's a new face to me. She's not given a whole lot to do here as in the first episode she's essentially just playing the victim, but by the end of the episode you can see that her character has a lot more growing to do and she seems up to the challenge. Which brings us to Foggy Nelson, played by Elden Henson who will always by Fulton Reed, of Mighty Ducks fame, to me. He's the comedic relief here as he's equal parts sarcastic, funny and a bit of an ass but he's given the most to do in the first episode and he's clearly going to be the fan favourite going forwards.

The action sequences, all two of them, are stylishly done and the dark setting and tone of the script adds to the excitement, even if sometimes you're left wondering if Daredevil kicked a guy in the face or fireman carried him onto the sidewalk. Episode one mostly dealt with building the world of Daredevil, it gives you an idea of what Hell's Kitchen is like and why are characters have to do the things they do but it moves along at a brisk enough pace to keep you interested and the characters are fascinating enough to keep you coming back and the action will keep coming as we move along the first season.

In short, Daredevil on Netflix is certainly worth your time. You'll come for the Marvel name, but you'll want to stay for the character's journey and the story crafted by Drew Goddard (World War Z, The Cabin In The Woods).

Top 10 Countdown: April 11, 2015

10. Fall Out Boy - Irresistible
Last week: NEW!

9. Nate Ruess - Nothing Without Love
Last week: 9.

8. All Time Low - Kids In The Dark
Last week: 8.

7. New Found Glory - One More Round
Last week: 7.

6. Seaway - Alberta
Last week: 6.

5. As It Is - Dial Tones
Last week: 1.

4. Marianas Trench - Here's To The Zeros
Last week: 5.

3. A Day To Remember - City Of Ocala
Last week: 4.

2. State Champs - If I'm Lucky
Last week: 3.

1. Sleeping With Sirens - Go Go Go
Last week: 2.

Special: The Flash Volume 1: Move Forward Review

Hello kids and welcome back to your regular scheduled Sunday Special where I talk about whatever I feel like really, and this week to celebrate Easter we're going to review The Flash Volume 1: Move Forward. What this has to do with Easter I do not know but in any event it's happening... But first I'm sure you want to know how the bracket turned out.

So congratulations to Supernatural for winning this 2nd annual event, as for the rest of the entrants there is always next year... Onto The Flash!

Move Forward was The New 52 relaunch of The Flash in September 2011 and it quickly (heh) gained traction as one of The New 52 bright spots alongside titles like Batman, Swamp Thing, Batwoman and Aquaman. Move Forward starts off supposedly 5 years after Barry Allen became The Flash and all is going well as he's out on a date with his co-worker Patty when trouble happens. Quickly The Flash jumps into action and takes on this apparent military-esque unit and retrieves a portable genome re-coder and return it to it's rightful owner Dr. Elias. Though during the retrieval he sent one of the military men through a plate glass window and turns out he died.

When Barry gets to the scene of the accident there are questions as to whether or not The Flash was responsible for his death or if it was something else entirely, more shocking is the deceased is one of Barry's oldest friends, Manuel Lago. The plot thickens when later on Manuel appears at Barry's apartment and the two get chased by the same military folk as before. Barry of course checks out and The Flash enters the fray and that's when things get weird. Turns out the military folk that have captured Manuel by this point are Manuel... Every single one of them.

The Flash is subdued and The Manuel who call themselves Mob Rule grabbed Manuel and ran. With the help of Iris West, a reporter friend of Barry's, Barry is able to start piecing the puzzle together. Turns out Manuel was an army experiment and was given regeneration cell's. Unfortunately Manuel was captured and tortured repeatedly. They cut off all his limbs only to see them grow back, so they kept him there for weeks repeatedly cutting off hands and feet. After a while, the severed limbs regenerated themselves and become clones of Manuel, thus allowing Manuel to escape his torturers.

The only problem with these clones was they had a set life cycle, after a while they just expire. That's why Mob Rule wants him back they need to run tests on his genetic code to find out how to get his code into their bodies. There's also another problem The Flash has to deal with, there's a blackout throughout the Gem Cities so he's torn between helping his friend, doing his police duty and helping out during the blackout as the citizens have gone mad and finding out what's happening with the speed force since he's started using the speed force in his brain odd things have been happening.

With the help of Dr. Elias he realises that the more he uses the speed force the more likely he is to rip apart time and space as we know it and create worm holes. We also discover that this was the source of the blackout, not Mob Rule. Eventually Mob Rule enlist the help of Dr. Elias to allow them to survive and The Flash is upset to find this out but he must do what he can to help his friend.

Following the Mob Rule arc the rest of this book is filled out with three chapters that are not stand-alone and do not conclude themselves making this an odd way to break-up the story. First off we see Captain Cold trying to kill The Flash, it turns out that Cold's sister was sick in the hospital when the blackout came and she was unable to get the medical attention she needed without power and was likely going to die at any time. During his fight with Cold the boat his girlfriend Patty and his friend Iris was on split in half and Barry is getting dangerously close to hitting critical mass on the speed force which would open up a worm hole. After saving Patty and others from their side of the ship, which was falling, a wormhole opened up over the other side of the boat and Iris and others were sucked in the wormhole.

The Flash meets back up with Dr. Elias who gives him a giant treadmill he can use to expel the speed force that is at critical mass, best of all the power generated can be used to get the city back online. The Flash neglected to tell the Dr. however that his plan was to open up another wormhole and run through it in order to find Iris and the others and save them but upon making it through the wormhole he's met by Turbine, a WWII fighter pilot who has been stuck in the wormhole, which is really the inside of the speed force FYI. Turbine wants to go home and will fight The Flash every step of the way if he refuses to take him back to 1944.

Writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato craft an intriguing story that although can be predictable at times, moves in a nice steady manner throughout. Although I had complaints about the collection of the book it was more that it ended abruptly and was collected badly than the fat the story didn't read well. If I had volume 2 in hand I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem but I don't so it's problematic. For example there are nods to Gorilla Grodd's origins but only a couple pages, by looking at the collection titles looks like we won't really see Grodd until volume 3 so why bother?

By far the best thing about this book though was Manapul's art. It's perfect from the layouts to the character designs to the panelling. What this book did more than anything was get me excited to get to the Detective Comics run that Manapul and Buccellato were on. DC was so impressed with their run on The Flash they gave them their flagship title. If that doesn't say enough about this Flash run, I don't know what will.

Score: 8 Speed rings out of 10

Top 10 Countdown: April 4, 2015

10. Silverstein - A Midwestern State Of Emergency
Last week: 4.

9. Nate Ruess - Nothing Without Love
Last week: NEW!

8. All Time Low - Kids In The Dark
Last week: NEW!

7. New Found Glory - One More Round
Last week: 8.

6. Seaway - Alberta
Last week: 7.

5. Marianas Trench - Here's To The Zeros
Last week: 6.

4. A Day To Remember - City Of Ocala
Last week: 5.

3. State Champs - If I'm Lucky
Last week: 3.

2. Sleeping With Sirens - Go Go Go
Last week: 2.

1. As It Is - Dial Tones
Last week: 1.