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https://www.thenerdelement.com/2024/08/06/stern-pinball-debuts-new-john-wick-machine-at-sdcc-2024/
The Godzilla pinball line gets a new premium edition tied to the King of the Monster’s 70th anniversary
By Désirée Guzzetta
Stern Pinball once again brought the fun to its booth at San Diego Comic-Con’s 2024 event. It also brought back its offsite Stern Pinball Pop-Up Arcade at the San Diego Marriott Marquis, where pinball aficionados could take a break from the crowded Exhibition Floor and general “Line Con” madness and relax with Jaws or other brightly lit games.
The Nerd Element met up with Stern Pinball Marketing Manager Joe Marchfield, who as you can imagine is an expert pinball player, to discuss its forthcoming John Wick game developed from Lionsgate’s popular film franchise. Also new this year to Stern’s line-up is the 70th Anniversary Premium edition of its popular Godzilla machine.
Both games feature Insider Connected, which allows players to save their progress in the game and preserve their scores for later sessions, as well as get exclusive content and other goodies.
Marchfield kindly gave us demos of both pinball machines, which you can watch in our series of videos.
We also played the games ourselves at the Stern Pinball booth on the Con floor, patiently waiting our turn in a long line of other pinball fans. The Godzilla game is chock full of ways to battle the King of the Monsters and includes a collapsing building for multi-ball action and a fearsome Mecha-Godzilla waiting for his turn to fight. The machine is predominantly black & white in homage to the original Godzilla (1954). By contrast, the John Wick table has more empty space in the field of play, which leaves more room for its bright, colorful graphics of the assassins you’ll fight. It also features the Continental Hotel and other details from the films. Both machines have enticing goals that will keep players coming back for more. Be sure to look out for the games, coming soon to an arcade near you!
For more information on both machines, you visit https://sternpinball.com/game/godzilla/ and John Wick – Stern Pinball. Both are currently listed in production, with the 70th Anniversary Premium edition of Godzilla having a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $9,699 plus tax. The John Wick machine comes in pro, premium, and limited editions, which have MSRPs of $6,999, $9,699, and $12,999, respectively, before taxes. To learn more about Insider Connected, visit insider.sternpinball.com/.
The post Stern Pinball Debuts New John Wick Machine at SDCC 2024 appeared first on The Nerd Element.
Mufasa: The Lion King is kind of a blend of a prequel and an extension of The Lion King‘s sequel, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. The star of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride is after all, Kiara, who will feature in this Mufasa-oriented movie as well. Rafiki will tell the lion cub all about her grandfather and his grand adventures. We’ll see Mufasa’s story in flashbacks, and also Scar’s. The relationship between the lion brothers is key in this film. The full trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King has us ready and excited to return to Pride Rock. You can watch it in full below:
In addition to this new trailer, the synopsis for Mufasa: The Lion King fills in more of the blanks about the upcoming prequel story. It shares:
Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
Bringing this movie to life are Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Donald Glover as Simba, John Kani as Rafiki, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, and Beyoncé in her epic return as Queen Nala. There are also plenty of other stars involved in the Mufasa movie as well and that includes Mads Mikkelsen’s fierce lion Kiros.
Mufasa: The Lion King will release in theaters on December 20.
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We here at Black Nerd Problems are thankful to once again have the opportunity to sit down with Maria Llovet. Her latest comic series, Violent Flowers, is slated to release this September and we managed to get a sneak peek at the first issue and got to ask some questions about Llovet’s latest vampiric tale.
BlackNerdProblems: You recently had another series from Image finish up earlier this year, Crave, which centered around a mysterious social media app. Was the decision to pivot into the inner workings of a long-lived Vampire clan intentional or more coincidental? Were there any particular mindsets you found that you had to break out of?
Maria Llovet: It was coincidental!
I have lots of scripts in various states of development, and I’ve been working on some of them on and off for 10 years already!
When I’m finishing a project, I usually already have in mind what I want to do next. The problem is that when it’s time to actually start, I often change my mind. Sometimes I even write the whole script and then decide on something else.
With Violent Flowers, it was a project I had been thinking about for a long time. It’s a broad project in the sense that it covers a lot of different characters, with many different stories and lives. That’s why I decided the best option was to explore these characters, their entanglements, and their world through separate standalone stories.
The hardest part was figuring out where to start telling this “saga.” I have several more stories in development and a huge amount of backstory written for all the characters.
So even if this miniseries is only 4 issues, it’s definitely not the end of it. I have lots more to tell about all of them in the future.
It won’t be immediately because right now, as I’m finishing the colors of Violent Flowers, I’m already writing my next project, which interestingly does have quite a few similarities with Crave.
It’s a story where social media and the celebrity world play a huge role. So these subjects haven’t really left my head, they are things that interest me so deeply, so I find it natural to get back to them.
After that, I hope to get back to more Violent Flowers!
BNP: How much research into the different historical eras and regions did you do for Violent Flowers? How much research did you conduct yourself versus what you had prior knowledge of and how much are little fabrications?
Maria: In this case, through flashbacks, we see a bit of the 17th century and Ancient Greece. The story is set in present-day Barcelona, with a focus on the city’s distinctive modernist architecture.
Since I was young, I’ve had a passion for art history, mythology, and ancient civilizations, so I always try to ground some of my fantasy work in these themes. In this particular case, where the story allows me to jump back and forth in time, I’m thrilled that art history and ancient civilizations have a relatively significant impact on the backstory. Let’s say that the world where this story takes place is our own if these beings really existed, and they had some impact on it.
For example, the character of the Queen is inspired by the Minoan figurines of goddesses with snakes coiled around their arms. I like the idea that, in the comic, she and her snakes are the reason those figurines exist in the first place, since she presented herself as a goddess to the inhabitants of Crete. This is a subtle detail that’s only briefly touched on in this miniseries, but it will become more relevant in future stories.
I’m planning to add a little article about all of this in the extras for the different comic issues because I find it really interesting!
BNP: Each of the different characters we meet this issue have a relatively distinct silhouette and more important fashion sense. How long does it take you to design and distinguish the characters and their attire?
Maria: It was important to me that each character had a distinct and recognizable personality because, as I mentioned, these are characters I want to get back to. Each one has their own story and background.
This is one of the parts I enjoy the most. As for how long it takes, it’s hard to say because it really depends on the project. But once I finish the script, I usually spend around a month (sometimes more) on preproduction for things like character design and other details that need to be sorted out before I start working on the pages.
BNP: One of the unique attributes of your vampires is that a lot of their powers and long lives are seemingly independent of their bloodlust, but blood does seem to provide a restorative effect. What was the inspiration thought process behind altering the mythos?
Maria: I love the mythos of vampires. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of them, both the blood-drinking part and the immortality aspect.
But years ago, when this script was just a proto-idea of what it is now, they didn’t even drink blood. I was interested in the concept of immortality and aging and rejuvenating; being able to eat, drink, and sleep, all of which would restore them to youth and health. Deprivation of those and exposure to the sun would wither them.
What interested me was how the protagonist refused to do any of that and chose to remain old on purpose.
But I didn’t want to give up such a powerful element as drinking blood, so I decided to add it as a key element: addiction. It’s not about needing it to survive, they’re addicted to it and can’t escape it.
Most don’t even try, they don’t see the need or the point, they embrace this condition as something natural.
But the protagonist, Carnelia, rebels against it.
She actually rebels against everything, she’s a belligerent character, and even against herself. It brings her a lot of trouble, but that’s because, despite how long she’s been alive, she hasn’t accepted her life or her circumstances.
This story is a turning point in her long journey, and that’s why I decided to start exploring the saga from this moment in time.
BNP: As the readers continue through the world of Violent Flowers and follow Carnelia’s journey on vengeance, what can we expect in future issues? And what do you hope readers will experience as they turn each page?
Maria: I’ve tried to put a bit of everything here! A small taste of what this world as a whole has to offer. There’s a bit of introspection a bit of sexiness and a bit of bloody action as a final brooch. But there’s also grief and personal growth, and that’s what I like about this group of characters, that I can explore almost anything I like with them.
They have lived so much, and their relationships are so complicated. There’s a lot to tell, and it can be overwhelming sometimes. I’m trying to start slow, and I hope this first miniseries will serve as a good starting point from which to delve further into their stories in the future.
BNP: And as is tradition when I interview, is there a piece of media (book, comic, TV show, etc) that currently has your attention?
Maria: Here are some movies I’ve loved recently (new and old):
Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971), Peau d’âne (Jacques Demy, 1970), Challengers (Luca Guadagnino, 2024), Women in Love (Ken Russell, 1969), Teorema (Pier Paolo Passolini, 1968), Bonjour tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958), Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023), The Servant (Joseph Losey, 1963).
I’m really looking forward to Emma Ríos’ upcoming graphic novel, Anzuelo. It looks amazing!
I also can’t wait to see the next projects from HamletMachine with Dstrly and Luanna Vecchio with Image.
But most of all, I’m excited about Jesús Orellana’s upcoming miniseries with Image. I’m doing covers for all the issues! It hasn’t been announced yet, so I can’t say much more, but it’s going to be AWESOME!
Thank you so much, Mikkel! It’s been a pleasure!
BNP: And thank you for sharing your insights.
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The post A Bit of Introspection, A Bit of Sexiness, and a Bit of Bloody Action – An Interview with ‘Violent Flowers’ Creator, Maria Llovet appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.