Welcome to Nightly.net, where a picture is worth five thousand words, well surpassing the lousy exchange rate offered by other backwater cheapskate fan sites!

While our under-25 members focus on returning to school and our over-25 members drink to forget how much of their summer they wasted, two of Nightly.net’s power couples left the comfy environs of their respective homes and ventured forth to a pair of very special events! Check out the links below to experience the sights and stories of fandom and fantasy that brought thrills and shills to lurkers and looky-loos alike!

August 12-15: Orlando hosted Star Wars Celebration V, in which George Lucas thanked the fans, revealed his company’s Blu-Ray plans sure to come to fruition within the next ten years, and allowed his favorite actors to earn some spending money from fans. Our virtually official picture thread is provided courtesy of Nightly’s own Mara Jade Skywalker and Ender, who found more than just the droids they were looking for and never once had a bad feeling about this!

August 26-29: the Wizard World Chicago mixed-media convention with comic books in it returned for its approximately 39th annual show if you pretend that it’s the same thing as the original Chicago Comic Con. William Shatner, Adam West, James Marsters, and some background lady from Twilight: Eclipse presided over a massive crowd that united as one in a chorus of revulsed boos when convicted felon Rod Blagojevich arrived to sucker attendees out of their money and submit his application for the job of Gareb Shamus’ Sith apprentice. This subjective reporter and his sainted wife weathered the fallout, defied the boycotts, and shared their photos and zeal!

| 8106Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/grab-bag/august-doldrums-cured-by-star-wars-celebration-v-wizard-world-chicago-photo-parades/August+Doldrums+Cured+by+Star+Wars+Celebration+V%2C+Wizard+World+Chicago+Photo+Parades2010-08-25+01%3A38%3A13Randy Tags: Chicago Comic Con, george lucas, Internet fanboy EXPLOSIONS, photos, Rod Blagojevich, star wars celebration V, William Shatner, Wizard World Chicago

On August 13th the culture of youth and the culture of yore face off in theaters as the vivid adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opens against the violent remake of The Expendables. It’s teens versus testosterone! Hipsters versus hitters! In-jokes versus living jokes!

In this corner: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright Jr. once again balances satire and homage within the same package, translating Brian Lee O’Malley’s tongue-in-cheek Canadian manga from printed page to silver screen. The eponymous protagonist is a slacker teen born without self-awareness, blissfully stuck in a failing band with an underage girlfriend and whose friends and family tolerate him largely because he’s there. Scott’s big chance not to suck arrives at last when the girl of his dreams appears in his reality, but with a catch: unless he can first vanquish her seven evil exes — who have a group name and organizational e-mails and everything — Ramona can never be his. What follows is an imaginative, hyperactive multi-medium fusion of comic books (captions! hand-drawn flashbacks!), video games (points! victory coins! do-overs!), kung-fu films (fight choreography! senseless screaming! wire work!), chick flicks (a love triangle! a gay best friend!), and visual sound effects that expand on the legacy of the Batman TV show with relish and vigor.

In the other corner: the stars of Cobra, Red Scorpion, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and Everybody Hates Chris make explosions.

After you’ve seen Scott Pilgrim a few times and picked up one of the six volumes now on sale at your local comic shop or bookstore, join us in our Comics forum to sing its praises and rave about Beck’s original soundtrack contributions…or you can shuffle over to our Movies forum and gush about how The Expendables stacks up against The A-Team and The Losers!

| 8088Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/will-disposable-expendables-halt-pilgrims-progress/Will+Disposable+Expendables+Halt+Pilgrim%27s+Progress%3F2010-08-13+03%3A26%3A54Randy Tags: Dolph Lundgren, Edgar Wright, elderly explosions, Expendables, Final Fantasy II, Michael Cera, Mickey Rourke, Scott Pilgrim, Sylvester Stallone

Welcome to Nightly.net, where we were first a Star Wars board!

I’m returning to the Front Page for a very special reason – Star Wars Celebration V! I’ll be attending this weekend and I’m super excited. I hope to post updates on the forums as well as the blog. I’ll also be updating on Twitter.

| 80781 Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/star-wars-celebration-v/Star+Wars+Celebration+V2010-08-10+14%3A01%3A22Nanci Tags: star wars celebration V

Welcome to Nightly.net, where we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor! Except for anyone who disagrees with us. How dare they.

July 4th in America marks another year passed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the seditious document that marked the beginning of the end of taxation without representation, overt monarchy, red-headed stepchild treatment, and shepherd’s pie love. People with standard day jobs all receive a paid vacation day to use for saluting freedom, appreciating independence, contemplating liberties, expressing gratitude for whichever remaining Founding Fathers haven’t been besmirched into total notoriety, watching conservative war films from the previous century, and drinking each other under the table while the kids trade demolition tips out in the backyard.

Come bask in our commemorative Cantina thread this weekend, where red, white, and blue are the best colors of the rainbow! Haters and self-loathers can go spend time in our great big soccer discussion and mock us through a haze of Guinness and envy.

| 8069Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/grab-bag/america-celebrates-234th-anniversary-of-historys-greatest-dear-john-letter/America+Celebrates+234th+Anniversary+of+History%27s+Greatest+%22Dear+John%22+Letter2010-07-04+01%3A16%3A29Randy Tags: Declaration of Independence, independence day, july 4th, patriotic explosions

Welcome to Nightly.net, upholders of truth, justice, and the American way! (Our non-American members, our pathological liars, and our occasional unfettered troll notwithstanding.)

This week DC Comics celebrated a publishing milestone with the release of the 600th issue of Wonder Woman, a considerable feat for the longtime girls’ merchandising staple. This momentous occasion is all the more special considering that her male peers usually hog the media spotlight, she hasn’t appeared in an authorized live-action adaptation for over three decades, and her ongoing series is a consistent sales-chart underperformer. (May 2010 figures show her being outshined by the likes of Batgirl, Zatanna, Green Hornet, and Deadpool Team-Up, among others.)

To remind the world that they have more to offer us than just Superman, Batman, and crossovers, DC has concerted their efforts with dual special events for the world’s most pro-American Amazon warrior: new series writer J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5 and writer of Ninja Assassin; and a new costume designed by DC executive Jim Lee, creator of WildC.A.T.s and artist of Frank Miller’s All-Star &%$#@!& Batman and Robin.

The Internet response has thus far been divided between several different forms of hate. Some decry her loss of resemblance to the American flag. Some dislike her throwback fashion trends from previous decades such as shoulder pads and fingerless gloves. Some insist that Princess Diana must be dressed as skimpily as a skin-deep MTV reality-show ho. Some gripe about change for the sake of change and want to see WW fighting Nazis and the Cheetah every single issue until forever. Some think she’d look right at home in an X-Men sequel. One or two lone nutbars think she’d look better with a really big gun, and for that their votes have been excluded.

What say you, viewers at home? Do you approve of WW dressing in fall colors and layers all year round? Or are you angered that DC tampered with an icon you’d forgotten about anyway? Bring your fashion tips to our Comics forum, don’t ask how the alleged movie version is coming along, and try not to think about the fact that on July 24th Lynda Carter will turn 59!

| 8059Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/comics/wonder-woman-finally-listens-to-mom-puts-on-some-clothes-angers-pervy-male-demo/Wonder+Woman+Finally+Listens+to+Mom%2C+Puts+on+Some+Clothes%2C+Angers+Pervy-Male+Demo2010-07-02+23%3A14%3A46Randy Tags: All-Star &%$#@!& Batman and Robin, Deadpool Team-Up, J. Michael Straczynski, Jim Lee, new costume, wonder woman

Welcome to Nightly.net, where our members are anxiously awaiting next year’s big-budget Green Lantern movie!

Hopefully we can content ourselves with a little cinematic bait-and-switch to kill time for the six months prior to that film’s release. The undercover super-hero known as the Green Hornet has been retrieved from the mothballs of ancient pop-culture history and retooled as an action comedy under the watchful eye of once-inventive director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) and the overbearing oversight of studio executives who hope that the hero’s 43-year hiatus from screens hasn’t dimmed his near-zero popularity to below-zero.

While hardcore Hornet fans rejoice and bicker over which of his 1930s radio dramas should be adapted to film first, geeks under 60 wonder if R-rated comedy specialist Seth Rogen has chosen the right vehicle for a potential ongoing franchise; if Academy Award Winner Christoph Waltz has succumbed to the supporting-Oscar curse in playing the bad guy in this, of all possible films; if costar Cameron Diaz might have been a more interesting choice to play the Hornet; and if Van Williams autographs are still affordable on eBay.

The first trailer is now available online in hopes of building marketing momentum to the January 2011 release date. View if you dare, then drive like a careless stuntman through every plate glass window in sight and headlong into our Movies forum to see who’s first to share a personal memory about a Green Hornet product! Bonus points if you can name a single Green Hornet villain. We’re sure he must have had one. Well, 80% sure.

| 8045Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/sony-resorts-to-filling-january-schedule-with-old-time-radio-adaptation/Sony+Resorts+to+Filling+January+Schedule+with+Old-Time+Radio+Adaptation2010-06-23+02%3A53%3A49Randy Tags: explosions, green hornet, Jay Chou, Michel Gondry, Seth Rogen

Welcome to Nightly.net, where the choice between what is right and what is easy has started all our greatest arguments!

As if the spectacles of Dr. Seuss and the Marvel super-heroes weren’t enough to attract crowds, June 18th at Universal Islands of Adventure was the grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the most extensive and expensive American dramatization of everyday life for the average British teenage mage. House points will be awarded to anyone who can name the former Universal attractions that were bulldozed to make way for a jillion-dollar celebration of a now-concluded book series and a movie series with two films left to live.

By 6 a.m. over 5,000 fans and their children were queued up outside in hopes that night wouldn’t fall before their chance came to experience such spectacles as magical dueling looping coasters, a second family-friendly magical coaster for the young and weak, a magical walking tour of magical Hogwarts Castle (transplanted from its original magical imaginary location magical brick by magical brick), authentic anti-magical British cuisine, relabeled Dr. Seuss snacks, and nearly as much Harry Potter merchandise as eBay.

Ride your mom’s broom or the nearest members-only train into our primary community forum to hear the latest man-on-the-street impressions, plan your next vacation to Orlando, or guess which section will be first to give a customer a fatal injury!

| 8029Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/grab-bag/fake-hogwarts-uses-fraudulent-wizarding-diplomas-to-lure-thousands-of-rubes/Fake+Hogwarts+Uses+Fraudulent+Wizarding+Diplomas+to+Lure+Thousands+of+Rubes2010-06-19+03%3A56%3A28Randy Tags: farewell Flying Unicorn, harry potter, Islands of Adventure, Orlando Florida, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Welcome to Nightly.net! You’ve got a friend in us!

The U.S. box office has been dying for a new savior ever since news sites spent the first half of June decreeing that the unmemorable Memorial Day weekend had set a depressingly low standard that was sure to worsen for the rest of the year. Pixar fans, now the ruling majority according to the 2010 U.S. Census, vow to save our precious entertainment industry single-handedly on June 19th by diverting billions of dollars of disposable income into multiple viewings of Toy Story 3, which opens in two different dimensional presentations (2-D and ADD) and promises to tie up numerous loose ends from the first two films, such as whether or not Barbie will do better at finding true love than those Sex and the City adult mallrats, whether Woody and Jessie were truly meant to be together, how much unpaid child support Zurg owes Buzz, and how dare they recast Slinky Dog’s voice.

Meanwhile, those who hate cartoons and all things good can treat themselves to empty screenings of Jonah Hex, a Western-themed explosion clipfest named after an unrelated comic book, opening the same day as TS3 and starring Megan Fox’s skin, explosions, horse-mounted Gatling guns, Megan Fox’s organs, The Dukes of Hazzard‘s Tom Wopat, and a handsomely paid John Malkovich in disguise.

After you’ve done your civic duty and seen Toy Story 3 before all your friends, stop by our Movies forum to see which member uses the most pluses in their A-plus review! For more spiteful laughs, take pity on our poor li’l Comics forum and share in the mockery of Jonah Hex and its single-digit grosses!

| 8017Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/toy-story-3-to-win-hearts-save-theaters-jonah-hex-should-be-on-dvd-by-tuesday/%22Toy+Story+3%22+to+Win+Hearts%2C+Save+Theaters%3B+%22Jonah+Hex%22+Should+Be+on+DVD+by+Tuesday2010-06-18+02%3A16%3A22Randy Tags: horse-mounted Gatling guns, Jonah Hex, Megan Fox, summer box office, Toy Story 3

Welcome to N² on the W³!

Now on G4: E3 live 24-3! June 15th-17th in Los Angeles will be a time of many new toys, free demos, brief glimpses, confirmed rumors, and other forms of mindblowing mindblowiness during the video game industry’s answer to the San Diego Comic Con. Attendees and G4 viewers have had the chance to sample new and upcoming products and pastimes including but not limited to Disney’s Epic Mickey; Twisted Metal; Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds; Heroes on the Move; Donkey Kong Country Returns; Kirby’s Epic Yarn; Metroid: Other M; Killzone 3; Mafia II; Medal of Honor; Homefront; Kid Icarus: Uprising; Metal Gear Solid: Rising; Dead Space 2; Star Wars: Force Unleashed II; Final Fantasy XIV; Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light; Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light; Sorcery; EyePet; Ghost Recon: Future Soldier; God of War: Ghost of Sparta; GoldenEye 007; Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood; The Sly Collection in 3D; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; Dead Rising 2; Spec Ops: the Line; Portal 2; Brink; Bulletstorm; The Sims 3; Your Shape; Crysis 2; Star Wars: The Old Republic; Gran Turismo 5; Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit; Lost in Shadow; Ninety-Nine Nights 2; Pro Evolution Soccer 2011; Civilization V; Tournament of Legends; Phantasy Star Portable 2; Child of Eden; Forza Motorsport 4; Tiger Woods 11; Mario Sports Mix; Wii Party; Just Dance 2; Golden Sun: Dark Dawn; Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies; Nintendogs + Cats; Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep; Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition; MLB 10 The Show; Mortal Kombat; NBA 2K11; Invizimals; LittleBigPlanet 2; InFamous 2; Kinectimals; Dance Central; Call of Duty: Black Ops; Halo: Reach; Fable 3; Gears of War 3; and possibly more more more! That’s not even including new hardware such as the PS Move, the Nintendo 3DS, the XBox Slim, and the Microsoft Kinect!

Now that you have your grocery list for the next twelve months , come share your screencaps, baseless rumors, premature reviews, and G4 host pictorials at our Save Point forum today!

(Special thanks to this reporter’s son for watching way too much TV today.)

| 8007Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/gaming/e%c2%b3mc%c2%b2%c2%b3-defines-relativistic-symmetries-of-games-and-gamers/E%C2%B3%3D%28MC%C2%B2%29%C2%B3%2C+Defines+Relativistic+Symmetries+of+Games+and+Gamers2010-06-16+00%3A53%3A18Randy Tags: e3, g4

Welcome to Nightly.net, where the years stand still while you fly right on by!

Theaters worldwide hosted a nostalgia showdown this weekend as 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures dueled at dawn with revamps as their weapon of choice. In Fox’s corner: The A-Team is armed with guns, explosions, and one bad mofo with a mohawk. In Columbia’s corner: The Karate Kid is armed with kung fu, chi, and one sore loser with a mohawk. One has the Internet on its side; the other has so far grossed twice as much as the one. They share two common goals: to divest you from your beer money, and to discourage current generations from creating their own cultural touchstones.

Of this weekend’s top 10 films, seven are sequels, revamps, or adaptations of properties from other media. Kid and Team will reign this weekend, then stand aside for next week’s duel between a cartoon sequel and a comic book adaptation. The summer weekends ahead promise still more clashes of titans as the studios infuse reenactments of your parents’ precious memories with added CG, extra explosions, and state-of-the-”art” potty humor.

Choose a side and support your favorite reruns in our Movies forum today! If your tastes extend beyond movies, don’t forget to check in with our Comics & Animation forum for all the latest rumors on the proposed exhumation of Thundercats. Thundercats! Thundercats HOOOOOOooo, boy.

| 7992Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/gen-x-pop-culture-overlords-extend-1980s-into-4th-consecutive-decade/Gen-X+Pop+Culture+Overlords+Extend+1980s+into+4th+Consecutive+Decade2010-06-13+04%3A10%3A26Randy Tags: A-Team, dueling mohawks, explosions, Hannibal Smith, Jaden Smith, Karate Kid, someone loves the 80s

Welcome to Nightly.net where the moon is a hot mistress!

Pro-extraterrestrial faith-based groups are celebrating odd findings reported from the Cassini-Huygens Mission, an inter-agency collaboration between NASA and European space authorities involving a distant probe harvesting info from the Saturn vicinity and its myriad moons. Transmissions from the satellite heart allege an unexplained depletion of hydrogen and acetylene from the atmosphere of Titan, the planet’s largest and prettiest moon, when comparing numbers with hydrogen and acetylene inventories taken in previous decades.

The culprit could be simple random widespread dispersal of gases into areas not being actively sampled, the happenstance introduction of a new catalyst into the 95-Kelvin hydrogenation process occurring on Titan’s surface, or a one-time data glitch that will bounce back in next month’s figures. However, some theoreticians reason that the missing miasma may have been consumed by an unseen alien species that breathes the two gases as part of a complex methane-based organic ecosystem that Saturnian Mother Nature evolved for entertainment purposes. Meanwhile, well-funded alien scientists on Titan are hard at work in their hydrogen blimp labs with their acetylene-fueled PCs concocting their own ideas of what Earth’s ozone-based lifeforms must look like.

Can the absence of incriminating evidence establish proof of life? Are you prepared to exchange e-mails with your new friends on Titan? Have you ever submitted a grant application to Richard Branson? Join us in our Science and Technology forum, keep watching the skies, and set your acetylene torches on “stun”!

| 7976Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/scitech/nasa-boys-on-the-trail-of-the-fume-filchers-of-titan/NASA+Boys+on+the+Trail+of+the+Fume+Filchers+of+Titan2010-06-09+01%3A35%3A03Randy Tags: acetylene, Cassini-Huygens Mission, hydrogen, nasa, Thanos lives, Titan moon of Saturn

Welcome to Nightly.net, where your R&R is guaranteed free of shark attack, sunburn, and stubborn mayors in plaid!

NPR reported this weekend on the efforts of a well-intentioned correspondent to track down one of the genuine sharks used in the filming of the original Jaws, even though Steven Spielberg’s entire directorial approach was based on people not seeing the shark. Alas, he could only locate a Bruce understudy who never had his chance to step fin in front of the camera. After a 15-year stint as a theme park employee, the forgotten wannabe spent two decades in retirement in a California junkyard until NPR forced the poor aging specimen into one last photo shoot before being carted off to eBay.

Meanwhile, not necessarily by coincidence, Internet rumor mill #215 reports that Universal is actively considering remaking Jaws 3-D in hopes that today’s state-of-the-art visual effects were the missing ingredient needed to make solid gold out of celluloid sludge.

Move forward to our Movies forum and name your dream director for Jaws 5 or Jaws 3-D II or Rob Zombie’s Jaws or whatever that proposed sadness will be called!

| 7970Leave a Comment » |http://www.nightly.net/movies/npr-reporter-disturbs-sacred-jaws-burial-ground-world-to-be-cursed-with-new-sequel/NPR+Reporter+Disturbs+Sacred+Jaws+Burial+Ground%3B+World+to+be+Cursed+with+New+Sequel2010-06-06+04%3A20%3A57Randy Tags: Bruce the Shark, Jaws, Jaws 3-D remake, NPR, Roy Scheider lives, Tracy Morgan