All posts by Chris Butera

Chris Butera enjoys going to metal concerts, reading and having a cold one with friends.
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Places to Eat: Bonnie’s Grill

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Bonnie's Grill in all its glory.
Bonnie’s Grill in all its glory.

If you’re looking for good food, cheap booze and blues, look no further than Bonnie’s Grill.

Located on 5th avenue and 1st street in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York; the humble eatery is a narrow hole-in-the-wall type of place surrounded with pictures of both blues and southern rock legends.

Bonnie’s Grill features some great wings fried to a crispy perfection, covered with four different sauces of choice – each boasting a different level of heat. If you want a nice, tangy punch then go for BBQ or the medium sauce. If you’re looking for punishment, then go for broke with hot or hotter.

While one of the more traditional selections at Bonnie’s are their ribs, Applewood pork dogs and burgers (a juicy slab of Angus sirloin chock full of flavor), they make one hell of a pulled pork sandwich – served with your choice of fries, salad, soup, chili, or some spicy coleslaw for that extra kick. The different spices, juices and textures complement each other in the supreme way that only Southern cooking can. Bonnie’s also features a soul fueled brunch menu on the weekends complete with chicken and waffles.

One of the more unique features of Bonnie’s Grill is the old-timey homage set by their display. Pictures of Roy Orbison, Robert Johnson and Elvis Presley adorn the walls of the neighborhood haunt.
Bonnie’s Grill also has an impressive beer menu ranging from craft, local and your standard domestic suds to bring it all home.

When it all comes down to the nitty-gritty, Bonnie’s Grill has you covered. With Southern style cooking, great beer and a little piece of Rock ‘n’ Roll, you simply can’t go wrong.

Binnie's pulled pork sandwich with an ample serving of their spicy coleslaw.
Bonnie’s pulled pork sandwich with an ample serving of their spicy coleslaw.
Gaming

Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 – Nightmare

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nightmare fnaf4

Game designer Scott Cawthon gave the big reveal last week when he announced “Five Nights at Freddy’s 4: The Final Chapter” with one terrifying teaser shortly followed by another.

Cawthon’s first image is of a twisted, deranged Freddy Fazbear being dubbed “Nightmare Freddy” by fans of the franchise due to the word “nightmare” seen in the reddish background when the image is brightened. Nightmare Freddy features bits of exposed endoskeleton (similar to Spring Trap in Five Nights at Freddy’s 3) followed by sharp teeth and large claws. His eyes are fixated on the “camera” in a chilling glare.

The creepiest asset Nightmare Freddy has is his three mini Freddy’s crawling out of his torso.

It gets more terrifying with Nightmare Bonnie (which can currently be seen at Cawthon’s website). The hulking animatronic has sharklike rows of razor sharp teeth that make up a chilling smile and claws to boot. Nightmare Bonnie’s endoskeleton is also exposed in some places, but not nearly as much as Nightmare Freddy. Nightmare Bonnie’s eyes have an eerie purple glow to them rather than the solid, more realistic look of Nightmare Freddy’s. The word “nightmare” in Nightmare Bonnie’s teaser is much more prevalent in the blue background. In this teaser however; Cawthon has left us a message.

“Was it me?”

With all the lore and theories pertaining to the franchise it’s very likely that this is referencing the purple man seen throughout the series (red and blue do make purple, after all).

But there is also the possibility that this is referencing the biggest mystery in the series: what caused the bite of ’87? If you’re new to Five Nights, the “Bite of ’87” is an incident where an animatronic bit someone during the day, removing part of their frontal lobe.

Cawthon has placed multiple eights and sevens in the source codes of the teasers. This is no coincidence. Also judging from the looks of these new monstrosities, it would take little to no effort for either creature to take out a chunk of your brain.

While the game is set for release this Halloween, Cawthon has already begun to flood the internet with theories and speculation due to his innate way of messing with our heads and has only begun to scratch the surface.

Will we be seeing more nightmare versions of the other animatronics? What is Cawthon referencing? What does it all mean?

Knowing Cawthon, we’ll all find out in due time.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 9: Toxicology’s Mike Maher

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Episode 9 brings us Toxicology’s Mike Maher to talk about his band, the local metal community and social issues in America.

Check out Toxicology at http://www.facebook.com/ToxicologyBand.

Graphic Novels, Movies, Podcast

Bonesaw Comiccast Episode 2: Avenging Ultron’s X-Files

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Listen in as the boys discuss Avengers: Age of Ultron in vivid detail, the return of the X-Files, and much more.

For more cool content, check out bonesawzine.wordpress.com.

Movies

Throwback Thursday: Kevin Smith – Tough Sh*t

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Director Kevin Smith was not born into money, in fact he is far from the “American Dream” prototype. However; he is the loveable mind behind such cult classics as “Clerks,” “Mallrats” and “Dogma” as well as other awesome films. Smith’s book “Tough Sh*t” is not just a biography, but an average Joe’s guide to grabbing the brass ring.

Smith describes growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, his film career and its launch to meteoric heights with a little indie film called “Clerks.” The film not only exhausted Smith’s resources but everyone that he knew as well. Fortunately, it all paid off because the feature that was shot at its director’s actual place of work was picked up by the Weinstein’s Miramax and won awards at various film festivals including Cannes and Sundance.  This set Smith up for the creation of what is new the “View Askiewniverse” which ties in most of his work.

Other highlights include the trials and tribulations of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” directing “Cop Out,” and the infamous plane ride from hell Smith met at the hands of Southwest Airlines.  It’s not all bad, as Smith recants how he found a way to hit them where it hurts – Twitter.

Smith also devotes a lot of time thanking people – especially his wife, who he consistently harasses with hilarious terms of endearment and praise for her being who she is and looking as good as she does.

“Tough Sh*t” is one of the most straightforward self-help books you can find that just so happens to double as an autobiography. Throughout the book we learn about one man’s struggle from (as he puts it) just wanting some chocolate milk to owning an entire factory in the gut-wrenchingly funny way that only he can tell it. A great side note worth mentioning is that every chapter’s sub-title contains the word “shit” (“Chapter Three: The Shit I Made”) because every aspect of the book is life, success and the “Tough Sh*t” that comes with it.

Graphic Novels, Podcast

Bonesaw Comiccast – Episode 1: Marveling at Batfleck’s Dragon Balls

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Celebrating the release of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, we at The Bonesaw are proud to present to you The Bonesaw Comiccast.

In our first episode, join hosts Chris Butera and Jonathan Schorr as they discuss Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Avengers, Dragon Ball, and a whole lot more.

Graphic Novels

Throwback Thursday: Superman – Red Son

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In 2004, Mark Millar took Superman and asked the unthinkable: what if our hero landed in Soviet Russia instead of the United States of America?

Red Son is that terrifying three part re-imagining.

While Superman is still saving people and attempting to be the most noble creature he can be; he takes orders from Joseph Stalin and mostly protects only Russian citizens.

The few times he does set foot on American soil (while saving American citizens) he is still not greeted kindly and is feared thanks to propaganda and Lex Luthor – who is in fact the smartest man in the world, married to Lois Lane and eventually becomes President of the United States.

Once Stalin dies Superman takes control of Mother Russia to create a Utopian society with the aid of Wonder Woman. This creates a dilemma with an anarchist Batman (complete with Soviet origin). Over time Superman becomes obsessed with creating a perfect world, further separating himself from the human race.

On top of that, Luthor constantly devises plans to destroy Superman solely because he challenges Luthor’s God complex by simply existing. Luthor creates Braniac, Bizarro and even the entire Green Lantern Corps attempting kill Superman in this unbelievable take on the D.C. Universe.

Red Son reads like a film, with each page representing a scene. The illustrations by Kilian Plunkett and Dave Johnson create the noir based shots and camera angles while Paul Mounts, Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong’s vibrant, yet gritty colors bring the story to life. Red Son will glue you to its pages and suck you in with its social commentary. Every page has you wondering what will happen next with equally shocking results each time.

Red Son will make you gasp, shiver and wonder why an animated feature hasn’t been made. If there’s anything to be said, the realism of the world Millar has created in this book is shocking, controversial and a highly enjoyable masterpiece.

Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast: Episode 8 – Paralysis’ Jon Plemenik

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In this episode Chris Butera chats with Paralysis’ Jon Plemenik. They discuss a vareity of topic including Paralysis, goings on in the local music scene, and more.

Check out Paralysis at www.facebook.com/paralysisnj.

Graphic Novels, Movies

Jared Leto’s Joker Revealed

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It’s amazing what a little studio magic can do to a person.

In honor of “The Clown Prince of Crime’s” 75th birthday, director David Ayer gave everyone the big reveal yesterday as to what actor Jared Leto (Fight Club) will look like as The Joker in the upcoming Suicide Squad film.

White as a ghost, covered in tattoos, and a lone, purple glove (Michael Jackson anyone?). Of course, Leto keeps the lyric true; fully dressing himself with that deranged, Joker smile we all know and love.

In the immortal words of Darth Vader, “Impressive…most impressive.”

With teasers all month using the “WhereIsJared” and “SuicideSquad” hashtags, Ayer cleverly built global suspense before giving the people what they wanted. It’s safe to say no one was expecting anything this awesome or unique.

In addition to Will Smith announcing his role as Deadshot, Suicide Squad looks to be one of the biggest blockbusters we’ve seen in a long time. With Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant Man poised to take this summer’s proverbial cake, it’s almost a given that DC will be taking a larger one next year.

Unless Deadpool has anything to say about it (he always does).

Pro Wrestling

WWE Extreme Rules Predictions

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With Wrestlemania season over, Extreme Rules is always a fun way to start WWE’s Pay Per View calendar off with a bang.

With nearly every match being given a stipulation, the odds are never always in favor of one or the other due to the added elements of chaos.

Here are our predictions for this year’s event.

WWE Tag Team Championships Match: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd w/Natalya (c) vs. The New Day – The match will be about 15 minutes of high-flying hard-hitting action, but The New Day will remain fodder for Cesaro and Kidd. Expect some sort of heel tactics from both sides third party, but nothing too serious.

Kiss Me Arse Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus –  As much as we would rather see the match without this stipulation, someone’s going to join a certain club (albeit a less prestigious one than Vince McMahon’s). While the match itself is going to be excellent, the end result will be the opposite for Ziggler. Sheamus is being booked as a monster right now and it would be completely pointless to have him lose any momentum since returning roughly a month ago.

Chicago Street Fight: Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper – The Windy City is going to get hit with a hurricane and a tornado with this one. Ambrose and Harper will wage a war that will have the Chicago crowd on their feet with insane spots people usually only see on the indy circuit. Expect several raucous “This is Awesome” chants to form throughout the brawl with Ambrose walking away victorious.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Bad News Barrett – While the match is still on as of WWE.com, it may not happen due to a recent injury Bryan suffered during the recent UK tour. Should it take place, we are expecting Bryan to retain. However; we would not be surprised if a last minute booking decision sees Barrett reclaiming his lost gold.

Last Man Standing Match: Roman Reigns vs. The Big Show – It is almost too obvious that Reigns is going to win. We expect a spear through a table or stage to hand Show the big loss.

Russian Chain Match for the United States Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Rusev – Cena is helping bring prestige back to the first WWE title he ever held. Rusev’s character would not be damaged by another loss to the Cenation Leader as he is holding his own in the ring and on the mic. Cena will retain and that’s fine for us. Just keep him away from the main event.

Divas Championship Match: Nikki Bella (c) vs. Naomi – We really enjoy Naomi’s new found intensity but we don’t think it will be enough to get the gold. It would be nice to see her dethrone Nikki Bella (and she will dominate the match), but sister Brie Bella is going to get involved in one way or another, costing Naomi her title opportunity.

Steel Cage Match (With the RKO Banned) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Randy Orton – Due to the recent omission of Rollin’s “Curb Stomp,” it feels like both of the competitors finishers are banned. Regardless, a steel cage is a steel cage; and it’s going to be a slobberknocker. With Kane as the gate keeper, expect a plethora of shenanigans from The Authority. Orton will come close, but he is not going to win as Rollins begins a (hopefully) lengthy title run.