On 'TMNT,' Shark Week and Dancing Trees

Free time's been a rare commodity for me this week, but since I found a few moments to lock myself in my nerd cave and babble on the blogosphere, here's what's been rattling around in my noggin:

• It's Shark Week on Discovery Channel, which used to be a big deal to me. However, the constant mixed messaging of the programming (sharks are characterized in equal measure as misunderstood creatures and bloodthirsty sea monsters), the abundance of faux-documentaries in lieu of factual content and the sheer number of shows that have to throw the word "jaws" into the title have turned me off. If you're going to throw science out the window, just give me a week of Street Sharks marathons, Discovery. 
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was better than I thought it might be, and I actually plan on seeing the already-announced sequel. There is definite room for improvement from a villain standpoint — Shredder was basically just Megatron with a knife fetish — but the characterization of the turtles themselves was surprisingly pretty good overall. Now, if we could only do something about those nostrils ... 
• SPOILERS AHOY! We're two weeks removed from the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, and people are still raving about the dancing abilities of a post-resurrection Groot grooving to the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." Hell, I almost bought a life-sized replica off Etsy. In response to the fervor over everyone's favorite wooden warrior, Disney has released the talked-about sequence online, and it's just as amazing as it was the first time I saw it. Check it out below!

The Buy Pile for Aug. 7, 2013

Happy Wednesday, Wortmaniacs! How’s your week going?

Oh, wow. That bad, huh? Well, if it makes you feel any better, there’s a slew of new comics that just hit the racks, so that should help you get through the next couple of days … unless you’re not into comics at all, in which case you’re probably here by accident and stopped reading at “Wortmaniacs.” So why am I still talking to you? This is awkward.

Anyhow, below is a list of what I’ll be reading tonight whenever I’m not completely distracted by Shark Week on Discovery. I really like the bitey parts.

• Iron Man #14
• All-New X-Men #5
• Deadpool Kills Deadpool #2
• Detective Comics #23
• Green Lantern #23