1. You'll never feel more at home than you will at a convention if you're a nerd or geek.  Almost everyone who attends these things has, at one time or another, been an outcast, picked on, bullied, or laughed at for their love of things like comic books, Doctor Who, science, or anime.  At a convention, these things that you were picked on about will now make you the center of attention.  When you enter the doors of a convention, you'll automatically see things that make you feel like you have arrived at the one place that "gets" you.  You'll see other nerds dressed up like their favorite superheroes, smell old comic books, and get a glimpse at kids playing card games or posing for photos with booth babes and celebrities.  Two large displays featuring Batman and Superman welcomed visitors to the Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con.  When I saw these guys looming over the entrance, it made me feel like a kid again.
2. Depending on the size of the convention and the amount of money put into it, you'll have a decent chance at meeting some of your heroes.  I've been to conventions that had less than 200 attendees and others that had thousands of people pass through their doors.  At all of these conventions, I was given the opportunity to meet some really cool celebrities (major and minor) and got to talk to them one on one.  I've met people like Ray Park, Doug Jones, and Peter Mayhew (Darth Maul, Abe Sapien, and Chewbacca, respectively), who play some of the most recognizable faces in all of science fiction.  I've also met a few folks like Vaughan Armstrong (a brilliant character actor who appeared in all of the Star Trek series except for TOS) and Dino Andrade (a voice actor who has portrayed numerous characters) who can easily walk around on the street and never get recognized.  Many of these actors allow you to take photos with them (it usually depends on the discretion of the convention), and all of them have autographed photos and other things for purchase.
3. Costumes, costumes, costumes.  Many of the people who attend conventions go all out with their costumes.  Some of them work extremely hard to get their look just perfect.  These people will usually pose for photos if asked and almost all of them have no problem with fielding questions about their costumes and the work they put into it.  Over the years, I've gathered quite a few good friends who are costumers or cosplayers as they are usually referred to as.
4. Vendors at conventions have just about anything under the sun for sale.  If you're looking for an old comic book, odds are pretty high that you'll find it or someone who can get it for you at a convention.  If you're more into collecting toys or items, you can find those for sale too.  Plus, at many of these types of conventions, comic artists will be on hand and you can actually comission them to draw up something for you on the spot!
5. At larger conventions, film production companies and publishing companies will often have tables set up promoting upcoming films, books, comics, video games, etc.  They'll also usually have some freebies to hand out as well.  I've snagged quite a few movie posters, t-shirts, books, beanies, and other goodies for free from these companies.  Also, many of these companies offer exclusive items you can only get at the convention itself!
6. For such a large group of socially awkward individuals, attendees at comic and sci fi conventions are quick to become loyal friends.  I've made quite a few over the years, and I only get to see many of them at conventions.
7. All of the conventions offer panels and workshops that introduce, challenge, or entertain con goers to numerous things.  I've been part of panels on the subject of Doctor Who, as well as come up with almost all of the questions for a game of Sci Fi Jeopardy.  There are also costuming panels, writing panels, and panels on publishing and film production, among other things.

1. Crowd size can be a terrible experience for many con goers.  Many of the larger conventions can easily see 5000 or more crammed onto the convention floor at one time.  This can lead to flared tempers, high temperatures (which lead to smelly con goers), and long wait times in lines that can literally wrap around the building.  If you don't like large crowds, you might want to stick to smaller conventions that bring in less than 500 people or so.
2. Costumes, costumes, costumes.  Sure, I said that costumes were a good thing, but they can be a bad thing as well.  Many of these costumes cover the costumer's entire body, which can lead to sweating, which leads to stinking.  On the other end of the spectrum is the fact that many of the cosplayers wear costumes that barely cover any of their bodies, which can lead to wardrobe malfunctions (both male and female), or the risk of seeing a person dressed as Slave Leia who might not necessarily be able to pull it off.  Look, I have no problem with people wearing skimpy costumes, but the hard truth of the matter is that some of us (myself included) are a bit thicker than the average joe and if we show up in a skimpy costume, we might draw unwelcome or nasty remarks.
3. While cosplayers dressed up like Chewbacca do have a decent excuse for smelling like a wet dog, a lot of other con goers don't.  Yes, a lot of people who attend conventions are used to staying up all night playing video games and NOT taking a shower until late into the next day.  That's fine with me if you're at home, but when you attend a convention, use a little common sense when it comes to personal hygiene!  I was warned about "con funk" before attending my first convention, and laughed it off for a bit, but when I arrived at my first convention, I was bombarded by the sweaty stench of a young lad who had only been at the convention a few minutes before I got there.  He was the first of a large amount of smelly folks in the room.  It amazes me how many con goers pride themselves on being highly intelligent and many of them are top scientists, doctors, writers, etc. in whatever field they choose.  However, it completely amazes me at how little these people seem to know when it comes to something as simple as soap, water, deodorant, and toothbrushes. 
4.  Outside of the smelly people, there is also a group of fanboys and diehards who believe that their favorite superhero, TV series, film series, author, etc., is the best and you can tell them no different.  These guys are extremely snobbish about whatever it is they are into.  They are nerd bullies, and heaven forbid you happen to say that something they love just isn't that interesting and they overhear you.  I hate to say it, but the most snobbish fans in the lot are almost always Star Trek fans.  You'd swear Gene Roddenberry is Jesus Christ the way some of them talk about him.  Personally, I like to get them riled up.  I like Star Trek just as much as the next guy, but I love Star Wars and Doctor Who.  When I hear one of the snobs blabbering about the Borg and how "awesome" they are, I always like to remind them that the Borg are actually a ripoff of the old Cybermen from Doctor Who.  They get furious.  They start pontificating on how the Borg actually improved upon the idea behind the Cybermen (I'm not making this up.  It actually happened to me TWICE at one convention) and how Doctor Who uses "junk science" to resolve each episode (It is science FICTION, right?).  What really gets them going, though, is when I say that Han Solo or Luke Skywalker could whip Jim Kirk's tail or that Vader is a much more interesting villain than Khan!  For some reason, Star Wars really gets under snobbish Trekkies' skin, and I love to push their buttons.  I guess I'm a lot like them in my own way, except that I always attack them and not the poor kid who loves Jar Jar Binks.  We were all bullied and picked at when we were younger.  Can't we just all get along at the convention?

THE UGLY:
 

1.  While most of the "bad" things I listed above were put there for humor's sake, there is a dark side to conventions.  It begins with price gouging.  Everything is overpriced at conventions, from autographs to limited edition Space Ghost action figures.  Memberships to these conventions can be a bit pricey too.  Depending on which membership level you want to purchase, prices can range from $20 to $40 and shoot up well over the $250 mark.  This doesn't include hotel, food, and travel expenses, so plan ahead!
2. There's always the chance that you'll meet a beloved hero on a bad day.  While 99.9% of all of the actors, authors, and artists who attend these events are wonderful to talk to, some of them can be very grumpy as well.  Without naming names, I'll say that I witnessed quite a few people get disappointed by an actor who portrayed a beloved superhero at a recent convention.  Luckily for the convention, this one bad apple didn't spoil the whole show, as there were other celebs there who went above and beyond to make sure that fans had a good experience.
3. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who put on conventions that hate people who put on other conventions.  I've both witnessed this hatred and been on the receiving end of it as well.  The reasons for such hate between fellow nerds ranges from people trying to actually steal the rights to a convention from someone to former members of one convention breaking away from another and putting on their own show.  It's very much like a soap opera, and can be quite sad at times.  As a result of this, I've stepped away from the convention I was formerly the vice president of, as I got very tired of the high levels of immaturity I was witnessing. 
4. Smaller conventions will often host convention parties or room parties at hotels that can get very adult in nature.  I've personally witnessed relationships fall apart due to the actions of people at these parties.  I've also heard nightmares about people waking up in places and not knowing how they got there.  Just keep a level head on your shoulders and stay out of situations where you might end up regretting your actions.

If people are already going into this movie thinking it is going to be ridiculous then why not just go full tilt. Battleship is an overly computer generated action movie that follows every cliché in the genre, and the only thing that makes the movie enjoyable is just how ridiculous the movie becomes.

The movie feels a lot like Transformers and in a lot of respects it is, aliens coming down to earth with a plan to destroy it. Actually I think once the aliens landed we were the ones who fired first, but that is not the point. Where Michael Bay and Peter Berg differ is Bay took his action movies much more seriously. Berg has seen a summer blockbuster before and knows that the demand for action is much higher than the demand for story. So he makes the premise completely ridiculous and decides to not take the movie based on a 60's board game too seriously.

The movie opens on Lieutenant Alex Hopper played by Tim Riggins. With no real direction in his life his brother played by Alexander Skarsgard from True Blood, forces him to join the navy under his command. And I kid you not almost as soon as Skarsgard delivers the line "Do you think this is a game?" the title card for the movie flashes on the screen. I have to believe they did that intentionally to set the tone for just how ridiculous the movie was going to be. Because if they didn't, then really, just wow.

With a rocking soundtrack playing in the background that is just one of the many laughable moments of the movie, and I would love to give them away, but doing that would be like telling you the punch line to a joke before giving you the set-up. Just know that during some of these moments the entire audience let out a bellowing moan, they are just that bad. Thankfully no one in the movie says anything to the effect of "You sunk my battleship," but as soon as the reference to the grid board comes into play the movie becomes something so awful it just loops right back around to being awesome.

That being said it does take a while to get there. The first half of the movie drags. It may even be more than half the movie, it really is just that difficult to tell how long and how far the movie drags. There are a lot of clichés the writing team need to set up first and the Hoeber brothers take their time getting to the point. They always have a tough time getting all the information out in the first act like in their previous films Whiteout and Red. This tactic though lets the duo put all their best lines and big action sequences towards the end of the movie.  It wasn't till the action picked up that they seem to excel with pacing and finding the correct dialogue to fit the scene.

Since the movie was so hoke not much was demanded from the actors, which is important because none of the main actors have too much to offer. You may be saying to yourself, but Liam Neeson is starring in the movie.  While his name may be on all the advertising, really he is just there to collect a paycheck, he gets left out of most of the action as the commanding officer. Most of the heavy lifting is done by Taylor Kitsch who some of you may remember, or most likely remember hearing about from the recent bomb John Carter.

It makes sense that Berg would go back to cast one of his biggest actors in his critically acclaimed television show, but in Friday Night Lights he was asked to be soft spoken off the field, and intense on it. That soft spoken nature, which was captured well in the series, does not translate when you are asked to be the lead star in an action movie. Rihanna also makes her feature film debut and while I went in wanting to make fun of her, she does fine in the movie as the spunky private with attitude.

Brooklyn Decker is always a great choice as eye candy, and she even gets her own storyline to stop the alien invasion. All the actors do exactly what is expected from them and deliver all their lines with a smile on their face, everyone is in on the joke.

Unless you are a glutton for punishment, you probably shouldn't be paying the exorbitant ticket prices to see this movie. The only relief to the movie is all the action doesn't come flying at you as they chose not to put the movie in 3-D although the visuals to the movie would certainly justify it. A lot of the people walked out of the theater with a look of disgust on their face. But I had a huge smile on mine.

The movie is laughably bad, and I can't remember a major blockbuster recently released like this. I loved this movie, but could see why people would hate it if they had expected something more. I suppose they will have to wait for the theatrical release of Crossfire, because if it’s anything like the commercials, that movie would be epic. C+

While Hollywood shows no signs of stopping videogame adaptations anytime soon, game development companies are becoming more savvy with allowing their products to become movies and are requiring uality scripts, cast, and directors before they enter into any film deal. Undaunted, Hollywood turned its eyes on children’s toys for inspiration. With the successful Transformers series, Hasbro has been targeted for their very popular line of board games as source material for future movies.

First out of the box is “Battleship”, director Peter Berg’s big-budget adaptation of the timeless naval strategy game that has been enjoyed for decades by players young and old. Since this is the era of video games, the simplistic style of the board game needed to be tweaked in order to make it appealing for the summer movie masses.

Gone is the classic strategy of the game and in its place, a loud and brash cast of 20-somethings, over-the-top special effects, and a plot riddled with more holes than the classic grids in the game that spawned the film.

Taylor Kitsch follows up his role in John Carter by playing Alex Hopper, a ne’er-do-well who despite the mentoring of his successful naval officer brother (Alexander Skarsgard), never seems to run out of ways to get himself in trouble. His latest efforts to impress a girl he met in a bar, land him in hot water with the authorities and his brother lays down the law and insists that Alex join the Navy and make something of his life.

The film jumps into the future where Alex is now dating the very attractive girl from the bar, Samantha (Brooklyn Decker), and trying to get enough courage together to ask her father for permission to marry his daughter. The fact that her father is Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson), only complicates the matter.

Despite holding the rank of an officer, Alex is still extremely headstrong and prone to getting himself in trouble. What what was supposed to be a friendly soccer match during allied naval exercises escalates, and Alex finds himself facing an ignominious exit from the Navy. He’s given a temporary reprieve as the ships in his fleet are suddenly faced with the threat of extraterrestrial origins.

Approximately around the same time Alex entered the Navy, scientists developed a way to amplify radio signals and directed them toward planets they believed could possibly support life. The signals were answered in the form of a hostile force that arrives on Earth only to cut a swath of destruction across the world as well as the naval fleet it encounters. Cut off from the rest of the fleet and reinforcements by an energy field, Alex is forced into command and must confront the deadly enemy at all cost to save the world.

What follows is a series of elaborate special effects that, while visually appealing, fail to pack much punch as the plot and characters are so underwhelming.

I understand that for films this type, especially given the source material, one must give a certain amount of leeway and accept, even grudgingly, the inconsistencies and impracticalities. That being said, not only are the characters about as thin and one-dimensional as they possibly could be, they are for the most part utterly devoid of any interesting qualities nor are they given much in the way of back story that makes us care for their outcomes. R&B star Rihanna spends a good chunk of her time looking tough and menacing, but isn’t given much more to do than occasionally fire a gun.

Kitsch is so utterly bland and unsympathetic that there’s just really no redeeming value to his character. Battleship is supposed to be a story of redemption but instead it’s a story of inconsistencies. Many times throughout the film common sense much less standard military procedures seems to go out the window.

For example, standard rules of engagement tactics were not used early in the film, but yet were readily deployed during the so-called big finale to the film with success. One has to wonder how more seasoned officers with far more resources at their disposal failed to utilize such tactics or have success with the methods that they employed. Yet ironically, this young lieutenant on his first command is able to out-maneuver these aliens when he decides to take to the offensive and lull the enemy into a fairly passive mode where they don’t do much more than watch.

The aliens, while interesting, are given precious little to do other than occasionally destroy or blow something up. We have no idea why they are on earth and to be honest, why they arrived in such small force. If the idea was to conquer Earth, it was poorly planned. Yet if proper procedures were followed, their incursion could have been dealt with very early and easily with the resources at hand. But that would’ve made for a short movie.

What I found puzzling was how surprisingly light on action the movie was. Yes there were firefights but they were spread sparingly throughout the film. You do not have one grand epic battle against overwhelming odds, you do not have legions of enemy troops for the Navy to wade through. It was pretty much a here-it-is-take-it-or-leave it, ho-hum finale.

The film does have some good points with Hawaii as its main backdrop. I did like the fact that there were a lot of active and retired soldiers and sailors used in the filming of the picture. It is clear that the filmmakers wanted to honor the soldiers who have so gallantly served our nation. I just wish they could’ve given them a much better showcase, because truthfully you’ll find far more thrills and enjoyment busting out the actual Battleship game than sitting through the film.

There is a scene post-credits that does hint at possible future installments, but I kept asking myself one question, “Why?” Rumor has it that several years goes Steven Segal attempted to revive his big-screen career by pitching an Under Siege 3 to Universal. Segal supposedly pitched the idea that his character would be on a naval ship that encountered extraterrestrial menace. The studio passed on this idea and, if there’s any truth to the rumor, they should have passed on this idea when it came time to make Battleship.

2 stars out of 5