XD Merry X-Mas! Happy Holidays!

Here's wishing all you awesome X-fans out there Happy Holidays & a very Merry X-Mas from the Merry Mutants & me in advance! :P

In celebration, Rogue decided to fly off & allow me to dress my blog in a more festive mood...Hope you guys dig it...You can download the wallpaper of the jolly ol' Emma Frost here:

The art that I used to create the background & the blog banner is below. The blog banner contains a pic from Alter Ego #43 with art by George Tuska. The Emma Frost pic is from X-Men #165! First time I saw that image I just knew it had to be part of the Christmas background for the blog! But I just needed to edit the image a bit...you know, so that the blog isn't mistaken for a NSFW site! LOL

Do hope you guys like how I spruced up the blog with the frosty n festive Emma Frost! Or are you guys missing Rogue & want her to fly back here? Lemme know if ya like the new look!

Xstatic! I'm back!

Well it took me long enough to get back, didn't it?! I know I said in my last post that it would only take 2 weeks & it ultimately took me a month to get a new hard disk for my computer! (Don't ask lol!)

 Forgive me for that but fear no more- cos new posts are coming your way:
*Loads of cosplay pics to feast your eyes on: From Dragon*Con 2011, NYCC 2011 & FanExpo Canada 2011
*NYCC 2011 updates (it's quite late for it yes, but I did promise you I'd provide you with 'em before this whole fiasco!)
*The Wolverine movie updates that happened in the whole last month (if you don't know, trust me- there's gonna be a good amount of fodder to chew in this one...)
*X-Men First Class sequel updates
And a lot more...

^Shadowcat seems genuinely pleased to know that All Things X is gonna be on a roll soon!

 So stay tuned, do follow the blog via the "Join this Site" button on the right & get ready for a whole lotta updates from the world of the X-Men!

Xasperate! I'll be back in 2 weeks...

If you guys have been wondering why the heck there haven't been any new posts lately, let me explain...Tuesday evening (i.e. Oct 11) my computer's hard disk crashed...Luckily I haven't lost any data thanks to my trusty computer guy & a friend BUT I'll have to wait another 15 days cos that's how long it takes for the HD replacement to arrive when in warranty. So it'll be a while before I get my computer back & continue blogging out here again... :'( I had awesomely LARGE Dragon*Con cosplay post lined up (that I was almost done with) AND alongside this I was also getting another cosplay post ready (this one was of the Fan Expo Canada). Sadly these will only see the light of day after 2 friggin weeks!Before you ask- I'm doing this post from my cellphone, but I find editing Blogger posts on the mobile rather iffy...If I do manage, then great! Otherwise I'd request you guys to check out my other posts (or geek over the Avengers trailer?) to kill the wait... :)Bottomline is don't worry, the blog IS still very much on- just after a fortnight...

Xhibit: Avengers Poster made by me! :D

Ah! I'm FINALLY done with giving the finishing touches to this first Avengers poster (out of the two which I've been working on) today! And for those of you wondering- Hey! This is supposed to be 'All Things X' & not 'All Things Marvel' or something like that, then FYI, few X-Men characters have been a part of the Avengers at some point of time (Beast & two of Magneto's kids- Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch). Ohh...who am I kidding?! I just wanted to get some views on how you'll like the poster I made! And furthermore, don't mind me posting any of my non-X-Men artwork creations, as I'd really like to know what I'm doing right & what I could do better...So I WILL be posting the other Avengers poster too! :P

So after starting somewhere in mid-June (delayed due to a REALLY hectic schedule) it's complete at last! Check it out below...Would love your rants & raves, things you liked about it & things I could improve on...

Funny thing is the other Avengers poster I was working on was to be the first! But then while I was explaining my friend Sheetal (yes this same one- I told you she was well aware for my fanaticism for all things X-Men & CBM lol!) about the Avengers & the foes they've fought (I mainly was rambling on about the Skrulls & Thanos cos they are two villains rumored to appear in the movie), I happened to chance upon this cool Infinity Gauntlet comic book cover (I hadn't seen this EPIC cover before then) that features all the characters & Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet! Immediately I got inspired & decided I was going to start work on a poster that would emulate this rad cover (well, at least in a way a "movie" poster would).

^The comic book cover that started it all!

CREDITS:
The awesome Infinity Gauntlet is an image clicked at the SDCC 2010 by a photographer named M. V. Partsch.

I got the epic Thanos image from Rodrigue Pralier's blog! An amazing 3D model of Thanos done by Rodrigue (who works as Principal Artist at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect 3)!

Can you guys guess which movie's poster I used to create Hawkeye's costume? And what about for the Maria Hill? Lastly from which movie did I steal a still pic for the background to the Agent Coulson image?

XD I Got "Monitored" AND "Mugged" by X-Men Movies India! :p

Okay, so from this post all you X-readers of mine (I'm starting to veer towards the term X-rays lol- how you'll like that?! haha) found out that I won not one but two contests that were held by the X-Men Movies India FB group...And I did promise all of you, pics of the merchandise once I picked it up right? Well this is that post & below are the pics! Just picked 'em up this afternoon! :D

This was the mug that I was talking about...Looks plain at first sight, but then check out the third & fourth pics below! :D

The mug's all worth it just for this awesome red logo that all we Marvel fans know & love! :)

Turn the mug on the right & you get the Fox studios logo!

Alright now imo Fox India has committed a grave sin by palming off X3 VCDs as one of the prizes LOL! What about the X1 & X2 VCDs? haha Anyways it's all good. Love the cover itself! lol

Now the mother of all prizes that I may have EVER won in any competition in my life! A 15" AOC LCD monitor!

Ahh! I can stare at this pretty pic for hours! LOL A hell lotta thanks goes out to the guys running the X-Men Movies India FB group! You guys ROCK!


And congrats to the two winners who won mugs & VCDs for the poster competition I wrote about here !

XD I Got "Mugged" on my Birthday! :p

Okay, okay...So I know a post has been long time coming from me but I have a REAL valid reason X-fans: Monday (27th June) was my birthday. And having a party on Monday for pals ensured my weekend would be busy & hectic! But it was great, so thanks for asking! lol

Now how did I get "mugged" on my birthday. Well one of my best friends, Sheetal, gifted me this awesome surprise! She knows what a HUGE X-fanatic I really am- she's aware about the blog & how much I loved X-Men First Class & all that...So her gift was only fitting: a totally RAD X-Men First Class mug! It's so cool! Check out the pics below!

Do notice the nice touch of my cybername "njferns" in the bottom corners of the mug's picture!

Now you wouldn't know this but I won 2 out of 3 competitions held by the X-Men Movies India FB group. In fact I had got the call on Monday itself to go & collect the prizes! But being my birthday & all I obviously haven't done it yet.

The first contest was for the best profile pic that was posted on their Wall, having the custom-made XFC badge they had created for us X-fans in the group. You can see the profile pic I had created out here. For this I'm getting an X-Men First Class mug (yup another one for me! lol) & a X-Men VCD. The funny thing was that when I was unwrapping Sheetal's gift I was just telling her about getting an XFC mug for this contest & when I completely opened the gift & was getting her mug out I was stunned (I dunno for how long I had my mouth open! lol) & then we both had a hearty laugh!

For the second contest I won a 15" LCD monitor(!) for my answer to the question they posted:
Do you think humans need supernatural or mutant abilities to help bring crime to justice or can it be achieved without it?
My Answer: "As we have already seen, whether you have superpowers or not a mutant is very much capable for using them for good & evil. Just like we are capable of using our intelligence & talents for good & bad purposes...So it doesn't matter if you have superpowers, justice can still be achieved.
"Superpowers can make a Professor X but they can also make a Magneto. So powers never matter, its the heart, conscience & personality of a person that matters & their will to do & see good things happen in this world.Superpowers can never be the answer to fighting crime in a real world. For all you know it may cause more problems & complications."
What say X-fans? Agree with my answer? Or do you have another point of view? Would love to hear 'em!

Once I do collect these prizes, I'll definitely be updating this post posting about it! And don't worry guys, more regular posts from now on once again! :D

UPDATE (30/6/11): Check out all the pics of the prizes I won out here! yup, finally collected them this afternoon! :D

Xhibit: My X-Men: First Class Poster Creation...

In the Xhibit segment I'll be posting works of my own :P related to the X-Men...I'd really appreciate your feedback on all of these.

Quite a while ago the X-Men Movies India page on Facebook had started a competition wherein we X-fans send our entries of our own poster creations for the movie. Still awaiting the results for the contest, so dunno yet if I've won.

I've already won for my FB profile pic I made (which is the same profile pic here too...) Hadn't created that dp for the contest itself but after posting it on that same group with the XFC badge they created, I won that contest! A larger version of that dp is below:



Anyways do check out the poster below & sound off in the comments section! What did you like about it & what can I do to make more awesome posters in the future...?

Wanna watch XFC in HD anytime you want at home?? Pre-order your Blu-ray &/or DVD today!

XD I Just Saw X-Men First Class! (Movie Review)

OK so you guys have read all the glowing reviews, all the 4 starred (some 5 starred) ratings & are wondering if it's all too good to be true? Well fear not! It is true. The movie is extremely well executed in more ways than one! Finally a movie that us X-fans have truly deserved!

Let's get the basics out of the way first. The year is 1962, the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Great instability & distrust leads to fears that the World is on the brink of her Third War. But not many know that these chain of events were spurred on by a maniacal mutant called Sebastian Shaw (who can convert energy to radically increase his own strength), the leader of the secret Hellfire Club. He is aided by his right hand woman, Emma Frost (a telepath having additional powers of turning her body to diamond).



The crux of the story is all about the friendship of Charles Xavier & Erik Lensherr, how they meet & how things turn sour between them. To go against Shaw's small but powerful army of Frost, Riptide (who can create all types of winds) & Azazel (a demon-like teleporter), Xavier creates his band of merry mutants consisting of Mystique (our beloved shapeshifter from the original trilogy), Beast (the blue furry mutant with a high IQ), Banshee (with his supersonic scream), Darwin (reactive evolution) & Angel Salvadore (a winged mutant who can projectile a nasty acid vomit!). I won't get into any more details for fear of getting spoilery, so let's get to what makes the movie so great...

Firstly, Matthew Vaughn with his trusty writing partner Jane Goldman have penned a great story. True it isn't at all what the X-Men First Class comic series was, but keeping in mind that they are trying to be true to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as much as to the comics, it's a great adaptaion of the characters.

Unlike X3, this movie has heart, loads of it! Right from the dilemmas of Mystique & Beast, to the entire backstory of Magneto, everything is handled really well! In fact, Magneto is portrayed so well out here by Michael Fassbender that I think he's become my fave character in the movie! Jennifer Lawrence excelled as Mystique- be it her comic timing or emotional scenes. Looking forward to seeing more of her true-blue self in the sequel (which seems inevitable now). James Mcavoy has really given us a fresh new take on the Professor & I was really digging it! Though many accuse her of being wooden, January Jones' Emma is spot on actually cos in the comics she is a cold character, known for switching her loyalties as she pleases. So her "wooden performance" was just what the role called for! The entire cast has done a swell job!



The direction is brilliant! Some really cool shots. I loved the manner in which the XFC emblem is displayed as the movie title for one. And then there were shots that simply gave me the chills- kiddo Magneto unleashing his powers, Xavier's first use of Cerebro, Azazel's main fight scene!

I love that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, something X-Men & X2 lacked in. I delighted in the jokes & enjoyed hearing the cinema hall roar with laughter along with me! Great references to the previous movies. And the cameos?? Yes, yes, Wolverine does make an appearance- which I know many will be happpy with- the gasp emitted from the guy sitting next to me was enough to let me know that. There's another cameo too (another actor from the OG trilogy) & two other character cameos to watch out for...

One thing I relished also was the camaraderie shown between the characters. The actors didn't seem to be "acting" here, it all seemed to come so naturally. Especially when watching the scene where they choose code-names, I felt this sorta thing- the actual friendship & team bonding between the characters was something else lacking from previous X-movies.

^Yup, that's me grinning besides the XFC standee at the cinema after my first encore of the movie! :D I went for XFC thrice in total! LOL

The visual effects? WOW! I was apprehensive about Mystique's transformation when seeing the trailers, but after seeing it on the big screen I can certainly say it's executed well! Ditto for Emma's diamond power. Actually all the powers in fact have been depicted really well. And don't get me started on the sub-lift scene lol! Even scenes that make subtle use of CG look great! My only grouse with it was in one scene, but telling that might give stuff away so I'll keep that for my "tell-all review" I'll be posting maybe a month from now (by that time all of us may have watched the movie twice at least? :P ) so that I don't spoil it for anyone.

The action never seems to be just some mindless explosions & fighting for no rhyme or reason. Each action has a specific reason behind it, & doesn't just seem like a desperate way to just give all the mutants a time to shine & show off with their powers. Quite unlike what we were served with in X3 :P

OK now I may be going a bit too deep in my review here but I felt the costumes deserve a special mention. They really brought on the 60's feel. The suits, jackets, skimpy dresses, sunglasses (loved some really retro ones on some characters!) & how can we forget Emma Frost's wardrobe & the uniforms!  Frost is known for her barely-there apparel in the comics so that's simply a very faithful portrayal of the character (in case any girls thought, 'What the heck is she wearing?!?' lol). The yellow-&-blue uniforms are a fresh change from all that black leather we got used to seeing in X-movies! AND I adored Fassbender's ENTIRE wardrobe! Amazing suits & jackets! The Fass carried off everything in style! Why on earth did Magneto sack his fashion designer when he got older is a real mystery LOL! A mystery that may be answered in the next sequel perhaps? ;P

Bottomline? My rating for it would be 4.5 / 5! Where's the 0.5 go? Well that question will be answered in my tell-all review post of course!

Wanna watch XFC in HD anytime you want at home?? Pre-order your Blu-ray &/or DVD today!