HORROR TOY TUESDAY: Hannibal Pop! Vinyl figures

For the third time now, collectible manufacturers, Funko, has made my "Horror Toy Tuesday" cut. This week, I have to show off the line of Pop! Vinyl figures being done in honor of NBC's new and amazing show Hannibal, based off of the best selling Thomas Harris books. There's not one or two, but FIVE of these little guys being made, and all of them are instant purchases for me!

THE WOLVERINE (2013)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 126 Mins
WRITER(S)- Mark Bomback and Scott Frank
STARRING- Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, and Tao Okamoto
DIRECTOR- James Mangold



Synopsis taken from IMDb
When Wolverine is summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, he is embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons.




I figured that since I've never reviewed an X-Men film before that I should start this review off with a quick summary of my feelings towards the mutant movies. First of all, the character Wolverine is my second favorite comic book character, right after Batman. So, having grown up a fan of comics, it's always a pleasure to see Wolverine on screen. Especially when you have Hugh Jackman knocking the role out of the ballpark every time. However, I've said this to friends before, and I'll say it now: Wolverine is very much like Hannibal Lecter, but not in the way you're assuming.

They're alike because when they're mixed in with a good cast supported by a good story, they shine and are everyone's favorite. They're the character you come out of the movies talking about. However, take the mystery away from the characters by giving them their own films, and it's a different story. It's very much the case of less being more! Without any mystery, very little is left to be desired about the characters. I understand the need to give them their own backstory, because they're such iconic characters but, I'd rather see no back story than a boring and uneventful one.

Much is the case with such films as 2001's "Hannibal", 2007's "Hannibal Rising", and 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Now what do all of these films have in common? They suck! Just ask the popular consensus, not that what's popular ever meant a damn to me.

My point is, having Wolverine in a second solo film only sent off my spidey senses, and I totally skipped it in theaters. After the prior films disappointment, I wasn't holding my breath. Hell yes I was excited that the clawed savage was back on the silver screen, and hell no was I happy about it being another solo film. He by himself isn't enough to carry a movie, such was proved by the previous movie. Wolverine is at his best when he's a part of something bigger, like the X-Men.

All of that being said, this flick didn't turn out to be so bad, but it doesn't disprove anything that I've said, and I still stand by that. I'm just not overall impressed. Not to mention that towards the end it became completely predictable! Call me a Batman fanboy, but The Dark Knight Trilogy really ruined things for me. Watching this is like watching a Saturday morning cartoon. No comic book-based movies are the same to me anymore. I see the children's appeal in them, and at 26-years-old, I'm not a child. So the attention and action figures this film got is wasted on me, personally.

Unlike "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", this one actually brought something worthy to the table, and attempted to be creative and not ruin the character. I like the concept of the film, the fact that Logan is tired of living his life as an indestructible mutant, and lives like a hermit. He takes on the hobo look for a short bit, but that is all changed when an old friend of his from Japan wants to offer him the chance to rid himself of his healing ability. The same ability that Logan sees himself as cursed for having. Once he declines the offer, things go from bad to worse...

There's some non-stop action towards the end of the feature. Once Wolverine faces off against Silver Samurai is when I started to lose my interest. Although the fight scenes are pretty to the eye, they really did nothing for me. I think we've seen better fight scenes with Logan in previous films. Nothing particularly stands out to me about this flick. It's nothing memorable.

We've seen better, and we've seen worse. The thing that really killed it for me was the plot twist at the end. Completely uneventful. It just proved how these solo films are mere shells of the "X-Men" films.

I definitely don't hate this movie, and it's better than I expected. But, it's nothing more than cheap thrills to me. When going through the "X-Men" series I'm likely to skip over both Wolverine films. It's something I'd catch on the FX channel when there's nothing else on TV.

On the other hand, I cannot wait until Days of Future Past hits theaters May 23rd. If it's as good as it looks, this could be the best one yet. As it stands now, I think that First Class and X2 are the best in the series. So although "The Wolverine" wasn't very enjoyable for me, I remain positive towards the future of the series.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Hannibal: episode 10 "Buffet Froid"

***SPOILERS***

What I like about this weeks episode is that Will Graham is the main focus, the killing and story are the background picture. This episode we got to see exactly how far Will is slipping into insanity, and I found some of it to be hair-rising.

A woman is murdered by someone under her bed. After Will relives the crime scene, he sees Hannibal about losing touch with reality. Hannibal gives Will a note pad and tells him to draw a clock with the arrows pointing at 7 o'clock while stating where he is. It's a tactic used to ground someone who doesn't know if they're awake or dreaming. Will draws the clock perfectly and passes it to Hannibal and when we see what Will really drew, it's nothing close to a perfect clock. The numbers are all over the place and they aren't even going in a circle. This tells us that Will's grasp on reality is slipping away worse than we thought.

Will undergoes MRI's to check his brain for anything out of the ordinary, only for us to later find out that Hannibal and the doctor conducting the MRI's are working together against Will. I liked that Lecter and the doctor were working together, it added that touch of cruelty that was needed. It also goes to show that Hannibal knows exactly what's happening to Will, and he's allowing it to happen. Good twist.

When another murder happens, this time the victim being Will's doctor, Will is able to put it together that their killer can't see faces. 

Will draws another clock for Hannibal and it's the same. Looks perfect to Will, but in reality it's way off. Yet again, I loved this element. We knew Will was bad off, but this is something worse than we thought.

Will finds the killer, a female, and grabs her arm as she flees, only to have her skin slip off of her arm. After testing, the doctors say that the murderer has a bad skin condition. My first impression was that she was a skin crawler aka shapeshifter. But I knew this show wouldn't got that far into sci-fi.

Once Will goes home, he realizes that his dogs are barking at something under his bed as he's trying to sleep. He finds the murderer under his bed. Hiding. Scared. They take her for tests, and the episode ends with you seeing Hannibal kill Will's doctor and hand the scissors to the murderer, framing her. Due to her not being able to read faces, she can't identify him. Again, good twist and character development. I'm liking this show more and more every damn week. I really hope it gets renewed for a 2nd season!

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Hannibal: episode 9 "Trou Normand"

***SPOILERS***

We're inching closer and closer to the season finale and tension is rising. We still have 4 episodes to go, and with the way this weeks episode ended, you can bet things are going to get really serious soon.

I wasn't overly impressed with this weeks episode, last weeks was a lot better. This week lacked the action that last week brought, but it makes up for it in the storytelling. This episode had a lot of character development and we got to go deeper into the characters minds. I'm really loving the direction that Will and Lecter's relationship is going. It's going to be a shame when they become rivals.

This episode opened with a rather disturbing image of a totem pole made of bodies on the beach. It really looked like something from the action film "300", with the way there were limbs sticking out here and there. I really liked Will's interpretation of the making of the totem pole. It was a really enjoyable scene. I always find those scenes enjoyable.

Will opens up to Hannibal and tells him that he's sleepwalking and hallucinating. Hannibal gives him good advice as usual, but Will looks to be in awful shape. You've got to wonder how much more he can take.

We see that Abigail Hobbs is in group therapy,working on mental issues and coping with what her father's done. As well her own murder she committed. She talks with Freddy Lounds and agrees to tell her story. Shortly after, Jack Crawford has Rick Boyle's body flown down to headquarters so he can make Abigail face it and hopes for a confession. Although Abigail is sort of obvious by the way she can't look at the body, she sneaks under the radar and avoids being detected as guilty. The whole time this is going on I couldn't help but think that she was going to talk and Hannibal was going to be on the run.

Jack and Will trace the totem pole back to Lawrence Wells, played by Lance Henriksen. He confesses that the totem was his retirement plan. I'm a huge fan of Lance Henriksen! I always enjoy him on screen in whatever he's in. Usually. It's a shame he didn't have a bigger part if you ask me, but he is starting to show his age. I found it really twisted that Lawrence killed his biological son and had him as the freshest body on the totem.

Hannibal confesses to Will that he helped Abigail cover up the murder of Rick Boyle, after Will pieces it together himself. Hannibal is calm, cool and collected and sells his story and Will buys it, agreeing not to tell Jack. I found this to be very impactful because Will is a very straight laced guy and for him to corrupt his personal morals for Hannibal really show his bond with Lecter and exactly how close they're getting. It's showing now that Hannibal has Will in the palm of his hand, and Will is none the wiser.

The episode ends as we find Abigail confessing to Hannibal that she did indeed help her father. She would round up the victims for him. Of course, Hannibal already knew, he was just waiting for her to admit it. We get a black and white flashback of Abigail on a train with her dad, and we see her lore in a girl her father picked out.

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Hannibal: episode 8 "Fromage"

***SPOILERS***

Last night's Hannibal really turned up the heat and for the first time, we got some action! 

We see Will becoming more unstable, dreaming of being in places and waking up in others. His mental decline is steadily increasing.

We see a new foe introduced, a musician by the name of Tobias. He makes his strings not out of cat guts, but out of human guts. The scene they show of him making the strings lead me to believe he was making spaghetti at first. Tobias claims a victim and flays open their throat revealing the vocal chords, and stuffs the neck of a cello down into the throat. Making a human instrument.

Hannibal's patient, Franklin suspects that Tobias is the one behind the murder and tells Dr. Lecter in a therapy session. This arises a suspicion of curiosity with Hannibal. 

After consulting with Lecter, Will Graham decides that this killer is serenading another.

When Will starts having audible hallucinations about animals in pain and his feelings for Alana Bloom are rejected, we see his mental state deteriorate even further. 

After Franklin confesses that Tobias wanted him to cut open someone's throat and play them like a violin, Lecter feels the need to confront Tobias. Finally coming face to face with him, Lecter finds out that not only is Tobias a murderer, he also knows of Lecters "extra curricular activity", and feels that they have a bond. Hannibal was the one being serenaded. Over dinner, Tobias admits that he was going to kill Lecter and Lecter confesses that he had plans to kill Tobias as well. But before things can get too heated, Will invites himself into Hannibal's house, chasing Tobias off.

Hannibal gives Will some clues that lead him to Tobias and when he and Tobias meet, the two officers that accompanied Will are murdered. Tobias escapes and head's to Hannibal's office.

At Hannibal's office, Lecter tells Franklin that he's giving him a recommendation to another shrink due to Franklin making their relationship too personal. Tobias shows up and comes at Franklin, but Hannibal breaks Franklin's neck in hopes to end the anger in Tobias. Instead, Hannibal finds himself in the fight of his life against Tobias. After taking a beating, Lecter gets the upper hand and kills Tobias.

Once the FBI show up at Hannibal's office to discover the dead bodies of Franklin and Tobias, Lecter tells a story of how Tobias came in and killed Franklin and then tried to kill him. The funny thing is, Will and Crawford don't buy the story so easily, even though Hannibal was confident in his lie.

Later, Hannibal tells his psychiatrist Dr. Bedelia  Du Maurier, that he thinks he found a true friend in Will.

This episode was very thrilling and shows us some more of what we can expect from the future of this show and where it's heading with the story and characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scene with Hannibal. It's the first time we really got to see him in action and although you knew Hannibal would overcome and win, it was thrilling to see what would happen.

Will is becoming a more enjoyable character, it's becoming scary to see where his character's mind is going. You feel sorry for the guy, but can't help but find his situation entertaining.

I also like that they're introducing some villains that are serious threats now, even to Hannibal. This beefs up the story a lot when you have twisted bad guys who pose a real threat and I hope there's more to come!

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5 

Hannibal: episode 7 "Sorbet"

***SPOILERS***

Due to Hellraiser madness week, I'm late on posting my review of this weeks episode. But I'm here now. Better late than never, right? I'll make this one short and sweet.

This weeks episode was hot with new twists and character development. This was one of the best episodes of this show yet. Graham and Crawford and the BAU is called in to investigate a dead man found in a hotel bathroom. He's missing his kidney. Upon first opinion, they believe it to be the Chesapeake Ripper. Will has to make sure though and does his investigating, which I always love.

Will mentally puts himself in the scene and relives the murder to find that the murderer wasn't trying to kill the victim, they wanted help them. The hole in the side of the body where the kidney was taken was used to reach up and massage the heart. This leads Will to think that this isn't the works of the Chesapeake Ripper aka Dr. Lecter. This added curiosity to where the direction of this show is going. I thought this was a good route to take.

Meanwhile, Crawford is still being haunted by Miriam and getting phone calls from her number. The phone her hand was found holding rings from inside the morgue as well. These scenes are haunting just because you see how torn up Crawford is. He's loosing his marbles.

Dr. Bloom starts to believe that Crawford just wants the Ripper caught, no matter if Will gets put in harms way or not. He's not thinking clearly and risking others' lives. It's a good state of mind for Crawford to be in for the sake of the show. It adds an intensity and an unpredictable element to the story.

Lecter murders a medical examiner that was incredibly rude to him once before and takes his heart out. Once Graham and Crawford discover the body on a bus, Graham decides that this is the work of the Chesapeake Ripper, unlike the first body they discovered. I found this to be a good twist. Is Hannibal devolving already? Why's he getting so ballsy?

Lecter uses business cards of people he meets as a means to chose who's a victim. He ends up killing 4 more people to harvest their organs and throw a dinner party for a large group of people. I liked this aspect of the episode, they kept it gross but classy. They're really good at capturing what Lecter's character is like.

Once the BAU discover security footage revealing their organ harvester, they realize he's a part-time paramedic. They track the signal of the ambulance van to an old garage and discover Devon Silvestri as their organ thief. He's in the middle of stealing another organ when he gets busted. Luckily Hannibal is on scene an takes over aiding the victim while the BAU arrest Silvestri. Once Hannibal gets to work helping the organ victim, Will looks at him with a weird look in his eyes. This makes me think something popped in his head about Hannibal.

Another solid episode this week. A lot of questions still to be answered, but we've got 6 episodes left. Anything can happen.s

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Hannibal: episode 6 "Entree"

***SPOILERS***

Last night's episode was  very, very good and one of the best yet. It was very dark and violent. They actually were able to re-create the feeling from "The Silence of the Lambs" very well last night.

The episode starts off at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Inside, we see some guards and armed officers looking into a cell that strongly resembles Hannibal's cell from the movies. That's a good thing because it adds to the authenticity of this show. Inside the cell lays a heavyset patient, laying on his stomach and bleeding out his mouth. After making sure that it's not a hoax, the guards open his cell and have him rushed to the emergency room. Once there, the nurse hooks him up to all the breathing machines and all that good stuff, only to find out he's fine and that it is in fact a hoax.

Doctor Chilton calls Will and Jack down to his hospital and while walking they dispute rather or not one of Chilton's patients is the "Chesapeake Ripper". Will and Jack insist that Chilton's patient isn't the ripper only to be lead into the room where the nurse was murdered and to see that she's killed in the same exact fashion as the ripper. This puzzles Will and Jack.

It had been over 2 years since the "Chesapeake Ripper" committed a murder and that is Chilton's argument. He patient Dr. Abel Gideon has been locked up for 2 years. This leaves Jack thinking that Dr. Abel Gideon is there man, while Will isn't so convinced. Something doesn't add up to him.

I thought that when Will investigated the nurse's murder was the best part of the show thus far. This time you really got to see how Will's mind works and it was directed perfectly. You saw Will act out the murder just like it was committed. What's cool is that earlier when the nurse got killed, you didn't see the murder. So later you see what exactly happened, only Will was acting it out.

Meanwhile, Jack receives a call late at night and it's the recording of an ex protege of his by the name of Miriam Lass. She says she was wrong and sounds in danger. Earlier in the episode, it shows a flashback of Jack and Miriam when he took her on to help him investigate the ripper case. He explains that one day she never came back from doing some investigating. Jack is insistent that Miriam is dead, even though some don't think she is. He won't listen to any other FBI agents, he even threatens to get violent.

After conducting an interview with Dr. Abel Gideon, Will still isn't sold that he's the ripper. The feel isn't the same, the motive isn't the same either. Now the show has made it obvious by the end of the episode, but those of you who read the books like me, we know Hannibal is the real ripper.

They make an agreement with Freddy Lounds, the reporter none of us can stand, to write a piece on how Dr. Abel Gideon is the real "Chesapeake Ripper" in hopes to provoke the real ripper into coming out. Hannibal sees the report online and as calm as he remains, you see the anger inside him. That was done by great acting. When you can pull off letting the viewer know exactly what you're thinking through just facial expressions you did you job well. And that is worth a pat on the back.

Jack gets several more calls throughout the episode that are Miriam. Jack's being taunted. Or is she really alive? In any case, none of the calls are traceable until the last one which actually leaves a phone number. After tracing the call to an old observatory, Jack calls the number back and hears it ringing from inside the observatory. Upon entering and searching for where the ringing is coming from, Jack and Will discover the phone...in a female's hand connected to a arm severed at the elbow. 

There was also a lot of character development with Jack Crawford this episode. He makes a visit to Hannibal and talks about his wife and how he can't stop thinking about when she'll die. Hannibal comforts him and then brings up the Miriam situation and wants to know why Jack feels so responsible for her. It's because he's the reason she was investigating the case. Had it not been for him, she would be in class learning proper procedure with all the other future FBI agents.

We go to a flashback of how Miriam came to Hannibal's office to question him during her investigation. She has some solid proof that could land him in trouble, but he stays calm and offers only to help and she never suspects him. Until she see drawings in his office that are of the Rippers murders. Before she can act Hannibal grabs her and puts her to sleep by choking her. Now, I'm not sure if Hannibal did kill her or not, I'm thinking not. She didn't look dead, just passed out. 

I believe she is alive and Hannibal is using her as psychological leverage over Jack. Although after getting under his skin with Freddy Lounds, it is possible she's dead now. And she could have even been the meal Hannibal and Dr. Chilton enjoyed earlier, which was tongue.

I really enjoyed the story in this episode and where it's taking all of the lead characters. I'm wondering how long it'll be before Hannibal gets caught? Maybe the finale? If he gets caught that early than I don't see a way around changing the original story from the books. As long as they do it justice I'll be fine. And for those of you who are not liking having to wait so long for Hannibal to be the main focus, don't worry it'll happen soon.

As I've said before, I don't mind Hannibal not being in the forefront of it all. I like his character but find him and his rich, fancy tastes to be boring. I'm glad they're keeping him at a distance like the films and movies did. Except for "Hannibal" and "Hannibal Rising", those books were bad and the movies were worse.

THIS EPISODE GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Hannibal: episode 5 "Coquilles"

Now I just found out that episode 4 is online to watch, so I've already watched last nights episode so I'll just roll with the punches. Episode 4 was pulled from the lineup due to controversial content. So now you all know to watch it online, if you haven't already. I'll be watching it tonight most likely but I don't think I'll be reviewing it since we're an episode ahead now.

"Conquilles" starts off with Will Graham not waking up in the middle of the forest and not knowing how he got there, though he is conscious of where he is. The local police look at him like he's crazy.

Will goes to a therapy session and seeks Hannibal's advice. Hannibal comforts him with his knowledge and courtesy and ultimately puts it in Will's head that Jack Crawford is the reason he's losing his mind. Jack and all of his investigations he makes Will go on, knowing how it effects Will.

Downtown, we see a suspicious looking guy looking at a couple and from his perspective, their heads are balls of fire.

Later, Jack calls Will to a crime scene in a hotel where we see the couple knelt down at the end of the bed in prayer poses. But they're dead and their backs have been skinned in order to appear as if they have flesh wings. The wings are holstered up to the ceiling with fishing line. They discover that the bed is soaked in sweat and the nightstand is covered in vomit. The murderer couldn't stomach what he did.

Back at Hannibal's house, Jack Crawford and his wife Phyllis are being served dinner by Dr. Lecter. Hannibal smells Phyllis and says she has a lovely perfume on, but we know they're another reason. During dinner we get serious reason to believe that Phyllis and Jack aren't getting along lately and Hannibal observes.


Another crime is committed and Will is able to figure out that their killer is targeting criminals. This also leads him to believe that their unsub is having issues with his own faith and that something bad probably happened to him recently. 

Phyllis begins seeing Hannibal for therapy sessions and we discover that she has cancer and that's what Hannibal smelled on her earlier in the episode when she and Jack were having dinner with him. She's scared to tell Jack and face him, she's mentally beat up and physically tired.

A woman comes to Will and Jack and gives them information that leads them to believe her husband is who they're looking for.

After finding another victim, Will and Jack realize that the deceased is actually their killer. He killed himself and sacrificed himself. Will and Jack have words when Will snaps at Jack about how he's sick of the job and it's ruining him. We're really beginning to see a decrease in Will's stamina and ability.

Jack goes to Hannibal's office to confront his wife and Dr. Lecter leaves them his office while he leaves. Phyllis tells Jack about her cancer and how she isn't doing chemo sessions. She also tells him that there's nothing he can do to comfort her.

Later, Will joins Jack in his office and says they need to talk. They both sit there in silence as Will knows Jack's not thinking clearly and the episode ends.

Another solid episode from this show! I'm loving it. I'm actually really intrigued to watch the 4th episode now. I don't want to miss a second of this show!

Hannibal: episode 3 "Potage"

***SPOILERS***

BEFORE I GET TO MY REVIEW, LET ME ANNOUNCE THAT HANNIBAL'S 4 EPISODE WILL NOT BE AIRING NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING. THE EPISODE WAS TO BE ABOUT CHILDREN KILLING THEIR PARENTS AND NBC FOUND IT IN POOR TASTE TO AIR IT SO CLOSE TO THE TRAGIC INCIDENT IN BOSTON. I'M NOT CLEAR ON IF THEY'LL SKIP NEXT WEEK WITH A FILLER EPISODE OF ANOTHER SHOW OR A REPEAT. THEY MAY EVEN JUST JUMP TO EPISODE 5.

I've been away for a while so I haven't been doing reviews up until this point for Hannibal even though I've been watching. Better late than never, eh?

I'm a big Thomas Harris fan and an even bigger fan of the Lecter. I read all 4 Hannibal books in one month, non stop! One after the other after the other with no breaks. I liked The Silence of the Lambs the best and thought Red Dragon was a close second. So yeah, of course I'm watching the show and so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

This episode centers around Jack Crawford's theory of Abigail Hobbs having helped her father in the murders. Will Graham reluctantly looks into it and Abigail wakes up from her coma. Will takes Abigail to her old home in hopes of bringing back memories of who helped her father. All the while, it's obvious Hannibal was the one helping her father.

Upstairs, Abigail sees blood and goes to investigate and discovers her neighbor Marissa impaled to a wall. The brother of the impaled girl is inadvertently stabbed by Abigail in what wasn't self defense. Lecter cleans up Abigail's mess in a blackmail exchange that she doesn't give away his secret as being her father's mentor.

I'm interested to see where this is going. The thing that I really enjoy that wasn't in this episode is the therapy sessions with Will and Lecter. I really like getting inside of Will's head and seeing he and Lector's character development. However, the story in this episode was pretty big, so I understand the time restraints.