Every month our staff combs the cosplay community for up-and-coming cosplayers who deserve to have a broader audience for their work, taking into account not only costuming skills and photogenic presence, but also how they use that ability in service to others. Through this, we've not only met some talented cosplayers, but also some fine human beings.

It's the end of a year -- and the end of an era, as we mark out final Critical Blast Bombshell of the month for the foreseeable future. It's been a wonderful ride and we've met so many wonderful people along the journey. And we could think of no better way to go out than with this December's big hero with a big heart...

The sixth season of CW's time-travel farce DC's Legends of Tomorrow finds the storyline leaning more and more heavily into super-sitcom. The show has veered far off course from the premise of a team of expendable superheroes out to save the timeline to being a team of layabouts, some of whom have a superpower when they remember it, and John Constantine, who of all people fits into the team like a round peg into a square hole -- if the round peg were the diameter of Jupiter and the square hole was the opening to a breadbox. But hey, it gives us more Matt Ryan as the character, so there's that.

2021 has been another big year for gaming, with almost half of the world’s population getting in on the action. Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen many great titles get released, existing ones get a facelift, and big improvements to the hardware we play them on. Of all the different games we’ve collectively played in 2021, here are the most popular titles. 

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is nearing its 10th birthday and it's entirely possible that Rockstar Games won’t release a new title until after that milestone. In early 2022, an “enhanced and extended” version of GTA V will be made available for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X, making it the third generation the game has been released on. Even without this upgraded edition, GTA V has remained popular through 2021, thanks to the continual updates released by Rockstar for the multiplayer mode GTA Online. 

The majority of the movie superstars have earned millions of dollars with their acting talents, and most of that money is spent on luxurious houses, sports cars, private jets, and whatnot. But this still leaves them with an abundance of money to spend, and some of these movie stars decide to gamble and maybe even win more money. The fact that these movie stars are enjoying gambling shouldn't come as a surprise, considering how much wealth they possess. After all, they too are humans and they need to blow some steam off.

The latest Marvel TV show is one that many didn’t expect to see. After years in the MCU as the target of countless jokes, Hawkeye has finally been given his own solo series, just in time for Christmas. Yes, Clint Barton is shooting to be home for the holidays and he’s got a secret weapon in his quiver; new protege Kate Bishop. Hawkeye has often felt like a secondary character when compared to more flamboyant MCU alumni like Iron Man, Thor and the Scarlet Witch, so it came as a surprise for many fans when Disney made the announcement that the faithful SHIELD agent would be given his chance to be the main man.

Did you know that Black Friday actually got its start in the 1930s? It’s true - President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November back in 1939, lengthening the holiday shopping season and allowing retailers to begin advertising earlier. The rest is history; every year, shoppers around the world flock to retail outlets and websites on the fourth Friday of each November, desperate to find the best deals around. There’s an art to doing so, however, so if you want to be a savvy shopper this year, read on to find out our top 10 Black Friday shopping tips.

In a world where temperatures have dropped to hundreds of degrees below freezing, the last remnants of humanity remain alive aboard a passenger train that runs on a perpetual motion device, generating the heat and power needed to continue running. The train, Snowpiercer, was the brainchild of Joseph Wilford, who it was revealed in the first season did not make it aboard the train before engineer Melanie Cavill (jennifer Connelly) made the decision to close the doors and pull out of the station, leaving behind to die those who did not have a ticket or who did not otherwise get on board -- including her young daughter.

In 1988 William Lustig directed the film Maniac Cop, written by Larry Cohen, which received lackluster reviews and box office revenues at the time. But later, when released onto the home video markets, the film became a cult classic, spawning two follow up sequels which have recently made their way to a 4K release.

Two years after the first film, Lustig reassembled the cast to create Maniac Cop 2, again written by Larry Cohen and starring Robert Davi, Claudia Christian, Michael Lerner, and Bruce Campbell, with Robert Z'Dar returning as the baddie in blue.

Maniac Cop 2, which many see as an improvement on the first tale, is full of murderous mayhem, jump scares, and strippers, and continues the story of our undead detective on his mission of revenge and cleaning the streets of crime, leaving them washed red with blood.

If Ed Wood had lived in the bayous of Florida and dreamed of making films, his name would be William Grefé. Arrow Video collects Grefé’s exploitation films in this one spectacular box set which serves as a one stop shop to the mind behind the madness that is William Grefé.

First up from 1965 is Sting of Death, a Beach Blanket Bingo style horror tale that brings rock-and-roll obsessed teenagers face to face with a creature that dwells in the swamp and drowns as many as he can.

The 1966 horror film Death Curse of Tartu is the next feature, and it is a tale of an archaeology professor gone missing. His students take on the task of locating him, starting with the last place he was seen: an area infested with alligators, snakes, and a shapeshifting witch doctor.

You may "gamble" in balance. It is a disaster that no one talked about this in the ear of King Henry VIII of England. Apparently, this monarch's blood was boiling with activity - unless, it is difficult to describe how he maintained to miss the chimes of St. Paul's Cathedral with dice.

After such stories, you are fortunate that cryptocurrency casinos allow you to play dice on Satoshi - the most insignificant particles of BTC. Both the suitors are fed and the lambs are safe:  gaming is unlikely to hit your pocket.

What is Bitcoin Dice Game?

Dice is one of the oldest cryptocurrency games and continues the most successful today. Unlike traditional casinos, every bitcoin dice bet may be 100% confirmed.

It is often viewed as the purest kind of gambling, showing you the exact stages of risk and bonus and regularly having a fixed house edge, which in our case is only 1%.

In 1990, celebrated director and screenwriter Gary Marshall launched the career of then Hollywood ingenue Hollywood Julia Roberts into orbit with the release of Pretty Woman, the second highest grossing film of that year. She played Vivian Ward, a Hollywood prostitute who gets hired by filthy rich businessman Edward Lewis, played by Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere, to be his arm candy for a week of schmoozing other rich people to close a multimillion dollar business deal. At the time, popular sentiment regarded the film as a twist on the classic fairy tale story, with the common girl rescuing the dashing and rich hunk from his soul-crushing life. I remember watching the movie back then and being rather unimpressed. It was more cute than clever. I have never really understood the appeal of Richard Gere, but I did enjoy Julia Roberts' performance. The plot, however, just didn't click with me.

The 2022 Oscars will be a pretty stacked event given there are so many movies involved with four months left to go until the event is presented.

The show, which will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 27, is a highly-anticipated one that will name the Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture winners, among others.

Of course, many of the movies involved are must-watch for fans. And the list below names the best of them.

Blackmore’s Night (Candice Night and Ritchie Blackmore) along with their band of Minstrels -- Bard David of Larchmont, Earl Gray of Chimay, Troubadour of Aberdeen, Scarlet Fiddler, and Lady Lynn -- have remastered and enhanced their 2006 Holiday masterpiece, Winter Carols. This 2-CD Digipak Edition from E*A*R* Music (available also as a digital album) also contains four previously unavailable tracks: “Here We Come A-Caroling”, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Silent Night”, as well as a remastered version of their Christmas single “Christmas Eve”.

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Blackmore’s Night, considering Candice Night one of the purest, most beautiful voices ever heard, and Ritchie Blackmore one of the most accomplished guitar players ever. I have enjoyed their music since they began, and use several of their albums as my reference recordings whenever I audition audio equipment.

One of the hardest moments one has when holiday shopping for friends and family is running across something so cool that you really want it for yourself.

If you're a fan of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth novels, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, then you probably already own a copy. Heck, you've probably already upgraded your original copy to a better copy. But this -- this 4K Ultra HD version (with standard Blu-ray and Digital Code) -- has another level of uniqueness to it. Not only does it contain the theatrical and extended versions of all six movies, with all the bonus footage, and not only do you get the seven travel poster art cards and 64 page book on the production of the epic series -- but the entire thing is housed in a sort of "puzzle box" slipcase that allows for multiple display configurations to fit either your storage requirements or your artistic preference.

Red Notice, which debuts simultaneously on Netflix and in select theaters, was not a film I held out much hope for. Sure, it featured an outstanding cast of three of my favorite actors -- Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds -- but it didn't have "blockbuster" vibes.

And while it's not going to win any nods from "The Academy," Red Notice will certainly get the recognition from the only crowd that matters: the audience. From the opening scene, the viewer is taken on a full-throttle roller-coaster ride of action and adventure, humor and heists. It's a buddy movie where the two are not even friends. It's an On The Road... picture with more explosions and chase scenes. In short, it's worth the watch, and worth the re-watch.

While it’s easy to see when a real-world casino is trying its best, it can be hard to spot a great online casino at first glance. With the distance and anonymity that the Internet provides, online casinos can and have scammed people through predatory business practices or by disappearing entirely with people’s money.

To avoid that, we have listed five key components that will help you identify whether an online casino is legitimate. From there, you can then use the points to assess the quality of the site and whether it’s worth your custom. That way, your wallet is safe when you play slots online for real money.

Online casinos and betting businesses are gaining rampant popularity among the masses. However, this is where most people are going berserk. Just because online casinos are becoming more popular doesn’t mean that you can start an online casino business without any preface or research. There are popular casinos where you can get into online football odds in Naija and try your hands at passive income. However, setting up the business to such heights of success takes time and a lot of effort.

This article will highlight all that you need to know about starting a profitable online casino business.

Start with basic research

The 1978 film I Spit on Your Grave has been talked about since the film’s creation; and now, 43 years later, Jennifer gets her revenge again in ultra-gory, High Definition, in-your-face 4K!

However, it does need to be said: “Just how many versions, cuts, and different pressings of this film do you really need?”  The answer is: just this one. Ronin Films has given us the definitive edition this year with this brand new 4K, and brings all the special features from the previous editions along for the blood-soaked ride.

Although filmed in 2012, The Concubine is getting a new DVD release after its leading lady helped Parasite soar to the Oscars in 2020.

The plot is difficult to follow, and superficially might appeal to viewers who think, "Gosh, it's been a long time since they've made a film like Caligula."  There's a lot of uncomfortable sex in this, along with more eunuch-making than you can swing a jian at (as well as a glimpse as to how things look once one has transitioned to such a position).