What has happened to The Last Stand?

If you have been a pretty frequent visitor on The Last Stand over the last 7 years then you probably have been wondering what happened to it.

Well, the site started as a little project in high school with a few friends getting together to make a site dedicated to movie, game, and comic news by geeks for geeks. We started out very strong and grew steadily over the years to surpassing 100k in viewership. The team ended up with just me taking on everything and keeping the site going. So what happened to posting last year?

The main site has taken a backseat while I'm wanting to do a makeover from top to bottom. The site is still very much alive and going on Twitter. So make sure to follow us @the_last_stand.

College and work will limit me from always being on top of the news coming out posting on the site but I will do my best. Also, there will be more top list and editorials done along with returning reviews of movies.

If anyone is interested to writing for The Last Stand or helping remodel the site then email me!

Thank you for visiting and we want to gain your follow and keep it going for years to come.

Pick & Pull: July 31, 2013 - 3 Guns, Batman, Collider + More!

It's the return of the much loved weekly editorial for best comics to check out this week! Pick & Pull is back and just in time to see some great things in the making. This week we have Neil Gaiman joining Marvel in a way, 3 Guns is better than 2, and it's getting dark in here.

3 Guns #1 (of 6) - This is a sequel to 2 Guns (catchy title really). This time around they throw in a girl for you know more jokes and battles between each other. Looks pretty promising to be fun and action packed.

Batman Annual #2 - The first annual was pretty emotional with Mr. Freeze getting sweet and touching origins. So it's only natural to pick up the 2nd issue and see where we will go. This team has never really let us down in the emotional, action, or drama side of things.

Captain Midnight #1 - This is really part of the trend by Dark Horse to bring older characters back to life, but with Joshua Williams behind it, I have to pick it up!

Guardians of the Galaxy #5 - They are bringing one of Neil Gaiman's characters into the Marvel universe in a big way and it all starts here. Check out Angela in this issue!

Sheltered: A Pre-Apocalyptic Tale #1 - The title is just the cool strange part of it!

Collider #1 - This one snuck up on me and sounded so intriguing to sic-fi reader in me. It's like a mixture of Fringe and other sci-fi goodies.

Editorial: Who Should Direct Star Wars: Episode 7?

Last week the huge news broke that Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas and that Star Wars: Episode 7 will be happening very soon. 2015 to be exact! So with no director attached to the project ,after Lucas refuses to do anything, we have an opening that needs to be filled by someone with a true vision and can accomplish a great sic-fi opera film. So who could make the cut? Who has the guts to try ? Here is the short list of known directors I believe could take over the series and try to transform it into a new classic trilogy. Some of them are established in the sic-fi ranks, while some are a bit out there in style and emotion but could have the goods somewhere. Here is the list in no real particular order.

Jon Favreau 

Jon is one of the best men for the job for numerous reasons. He is a nerd with a sense of humor and vision of action and sic-fi. He is perfect for getting the tech and cgi looking amazing, all while being able to have great characters and development. He approached Iron Man with a vision and changed Marvel films for the best. He could very well make a character like Hans Solo come alive and have attitude. Already directed Ford before, again would be a no brainer. I am rooting for him to at least try and come up with a pitch to direct it. He has the goods. 

Matthew Vaughn

Vaughn is a more natural person for doing a fun role then some because he gets action, he gets humor, he gets awesomeness, most importantly he gets fans. He brought the world the legendary Kick-Ass and made it more mainstream for people and fans adored it just the same. He took over the reigns of X-Men from Bryan Singer and made a classic and one of best in series. If he took over for the Star Wars films he would be very conscious of what we want and what will be awesome on film. Expect great action and great characters. Also, I have big hunches he will be one of the finalist for the job because he recently backed out of X-Men and I wonder if this is the reason why? hmmmm. 

Neil Blomkamp 

This man is probably one of the biggest nerds making movies right now. I mean this guy spent years perfecting the Halo movie to be made and it got scrapped but that didn't stop him from making one hell of a good sic-fi movie with District 9. He works amazing with cgi effects and could bring the creatures and landscape to life with great direction no problem. He is a huge nerd and, even better, he is a true visionary. Expect big things from this man in the next few years with some original sic-fi films. 

Duncan Jones

To me, Jones is more like retro George Lucas than anyone else on this list because of his films to date. He is one of the only people making films to use models and they look damn good. Moon is one stunning film story and visually wise and reminds me how Lucas used to be back in beginnings with THX 1138 and Star Wars. Jones isn't very mainstream..yet, but he will make his mark soon and he could very well help bring Star Wars back to its roots of story and great practical effects with cgi mixed in.

Did I miss your vote for director? I have a few more names after the jump for you if your interested…

Editorial: Top 8 Robert Downey, Jr. Films

Robert Downey, Jr. is an actor who has seen every aspect of Hollywood from being on the D-list all the way to a comeback to A-list where he belongs. Downey started his career a few decades ago as a child and grew more fame in 80's appearing as a distant "Brat Pack" member. He started to take a more serious tone in the early 90's with academy recognition. Although, his career hit a wall in mid 90's to early 00's with multiple personal problems that affected his career also. He fought to gain back that recognition he once had he overly succeeded at breaking though the wall. Here are his best works to date and notice that all appear after his comeback except one.

8.  Weird Science (1985)

This is back when Robert was still a kid doing the bully roles he is oh so good at. He was the perfect bully as Ian in Weird Science to Michael Anthony Hall and IIan Mitchell-Smith. He was funny and cool and a d-bag at same time. Even though his role was small and before his break-through he was memorable. This is the film that opened up the world to Robert Downey Jr.

7. A Scanner Darkly (2006) 

Here is another film that Downey was a supporting cast member and stole the show in the end. His character James Barris is really great at showing how he can be manipulative of others and not show it easily, while still being funny and personable. He has a scene where he buys a bike and that one scene is maybe the most memorable and funniest. If your a fan of Downey doing his whole rants and talking fast then this film is for you. 

6.  Sherlock Holmes (2009) 

Sherlock Holmes is Robert Downey Jr. plain and simple. This was not the Sherlock you have read for decades and always thought he was brilliant and without good humor or likability. This interpretation is brilliant with fantastic humor and he is lovable to all. How could Watson ever want to quit the team? The accent is dead on and Downey really does acting that isn't in his comfort zone. 

5. The Avengers (2012)

I know everyone is shocked that the 3rd highest grossing film of all-time and biggest nerd/geek movie ever is number 5 on the list. Here me out first on why this must be. Downey was a huge factor going into this film, even though he is a big part of it he isn't the biggest shining one. Bruce Banner stole the show and it was his time to shine. Tony had his moment a few years back. Stark was on his A-game the entire film and proved he was just as big a leader as Captain America. This is still the same Stark we saw in first Iron man (just a little more grown up) but still noteworthy to list in top 5 and for sure the top best of the year. 

You must see what the Top 4 Robert Downey, Jr. films are to be satisfied with the list