Dark Times Ahead?

We're well into the year of 2013 and things aren't going as swimmingly as one would hope.

The podcast that I blogged about in the last post is now defunct due to a sudden lack of technological accessibility as well as one of the talents calling it a day.  The winter here in the Northern Midwest will not let go of its chilling temperatures.  My bank account is taking a severe beating while I'm simply trying to survive while working a full time job.  Even though we have a progressive president in office, we still tend to get thrown over the coals by the very institutions that are supposed to assist those of us that actually want to work and make a decent living (I'm looking at you Banking, Health Care, Oil, Technology and Wall Street industries).

Last, but in certainly, no means least, I look in the general direction of the "fine folks" at Disney.  Those of us that are Star Wars fans took trust in you when you acquired the greatest franchise in all of fandom history.  We had an open mind that the Corporate D-Bag in you would not rear its ugly head when it was announced that J.J. Abrams would helm the next Star Wars film.

But, now we're not too sure about your intentions.  Within the last month, you've been making decisions that can be paralleled to the "hit" scenes from Goodfellas....

"Ka-Pop!" - Seth Green's Star Wars: Detours was completely shelved right after it was green-lit from Lucasfilm prior to Disney's purchase.  It would have been fun to see a Star Wars parody from the fine folks from Robot Chicken.  Now it's found dead in a pink car in an alley with a bullet hole to the head.

"Crush-Smack-Gerrrck!" - The heavily revered animated Clone Wars series is cancelled mid season during a crucial story-line involving one oft he main characters like it was just found, lifeless,  in a garbage truck.

"Thunk-Shunk-Brrrrrr" - Lucas Arts is shut down completely while 150 people find themselves without jobs.  One of the greatest video gaming companies is stuck on a hook in a meat freezer.

My original fears of the Disney takeover are starting to take root once again.  Disney has put itself in a position that is not beneficial to the Star Wars fans legions these last few months.

I get that they want to put all their efforts into the sequels, but unless they are equipped to bring out the Citizen Kane of all Sci-Fi / Fantasy films within the next three years, they have put the burden upon themselves to prove to us that they are sincere in their intentions for the quality of the Star Wars franchise, and not just after the almighty dollar.

We're all hoping that we're not going to be brought into a empty room with the very people we trusted putting a bullet to the back of our heads.

Only time will tell,  I guess.  But, in the meantime, the land of the almighty Princesses and the Mouse have a lot of explaining to do.

And, NO!  I don't feel like linking every frackin' reference this time. Google it!  I'm too frackin' grumpy.

Zangz.

Halloween Comes, Cthulhu Rises and a Mouse Acquire the Galactic Empire.....

This shall be my final post of the Halloween season.  For tomorrow night ushers in the end of "the time of the dead", where the unliving, ghouls and shadows of the night crawl back to the netherworld for another year.  It's always hard to say goodbye to the best season of the entire year only to then have to hunker down and brace oneself for the craptastic holiday season.  But, I think I had a pretty good run this year.

I went to three Haunted Attractions, dank numerous Octoberfests and Pumpkin ales, went to a couple of Halloween parties and watched quite a few Halloween themed YouTube videos, some of which I shared with you all here on my blog.

I'd like to share one more big one with you.  Throughout the last decade or so I got myself aquatinted with the spooky world of the Cthulhu  Mythos that was created by the late author H.P. Lovecraft.  Lovecraft's works have greatly influenced the modern horror genre.  It would take up quite a few blog posts to explain exactly what I'm posting about.  So, as a special Halloween treat, I give you a documentary on the author and his writings.  Even if you're not aquatinted with Lovecraft's works, I think you'll find this show very interesting.  It's a bit on the long side.  So I suggest you turn off the lights, sit down with your last Octoberfest or pumpkin ale and your favorite snack and enjoy the world of Cthulhu.

That's probably the most educational thing I've posted here in the history of this blog.  I think I just gained a +20 to my Intelligence roll.  I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting as hell.


Ok.  I didn't plan to write about anything Star Wars related during the Halloween season, but how can I not mention the big ass Star Wars news elephant that is sitting in the middle of the room as of today.  If you've had your head up a Bantha's sphincter for the last several hour, it was announced that the Walt Disney Corporation will acquire all of Lucasfilms as well as all the rights to all things Star Wars.

HOLY FRACKIN' CRAP!!!!!

Talk about a mind blowing announcement!  Oh, but wait.  There's more.  Disney plans to actually make Star Wars, Episodes 7 through 9.  George Lucas has vehemently denied that these movies would ever get made.  But, since he's selling his Star Wars empire to Disney for FOUR BILLION dollars I guess The House of Mouse needs to make a few bucks back.  God I hope they don't frell these films up.

I have mixed feelings about this.  On one hand I'm always cautious of a uber-conglomerate taking control of anything I love.  Huge corporations usually have only one thing on the mind, and that's $$$$$$$.  And they usually are quite quick to compromise and distort anything beloved by millions for the ultimate, almighty dollar.  Disney is no exception.

But, on the good side, they did buy Marvel Entertainment and look how friggin' good Marvel's The Avengers turned out to be.  If they focused on the fans wants and needs for Star Wars, they could really bring some exciting stuff to the table.  We'll have to wait this all out and see what transpires.


And that is it for the Halloween Season for me.  The next thing to get excited about?

And to all of you......

Stay Vertical all you ghosties and ghoulies and long leggedy beasties!

GEEKS, NERDS AND FAN BOYS, ASSEMBLE!

I've had a nice little hiatus from posting here, but my creative juices are screaming for an outlet lately so I'm finally driven to post something.

The main subject that has scooped me up and out of my general imaginative and creative malaise recently was the viewing of the insanely anticipated, Joss Whedon helmed super-hero movie, Marvel's The Avengers.

This movie had every indication of not sucking.  A wonderfully mixed cocktail that includes Mr. Whedon, the man who created and wrote some of the greatest genre TV (Buffy, Firefly and Dollhouse, to name a few) as not only the director, but also the writer.  Then put a half of glass of one of the most famous super teams to ever grace the pages of comic books.  Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye under the comand of Nick Fury.  Then add one shot of great actors reprising their rolls from the previous Marvel, super hero films that had already made a big impact within the geek community.  Mix and stir and put a pickle in it and you have a cocktail full of geek magic.

The hype for this movie was so insane that it put the project on pedestal of such a great hight that any sort of failure would not be an option.  This had me a bit worried.

As we all anticipated the coming of The Avengers, an example that I was given at one time about another film project that had all the makings of a great picture, kept running through my mind.

Here was the original pitch on that other "can't miss" movie....

• From the mind of author Michael Crichton
• From the people that brought you, "Raiders of the Lost Arc", "Back to the Future", "Poltergeist", The Color Purple", "Cape Fear" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
• Special Effects by Stan Winston.
• A summer blockbuster, action adventure!
• Starring Man-God, BRUCE CAMPBELL!

And that film turned out to be..... CONGO

This proves the point that you may have all the wonderful pieces in place, but you still have to know how to move them.

So with a little trepidation, I took Friday afternoon off and went to see "Marvel's The Avengers".  After one initial viewing I can most certainly say that Mr. Whedon definitely knows how to move his pieces!

Back in my $30 to $90 dollar a week comic book addiction days, I was a DC Comics kind of guy  (despite the fact that their new logo kind of blows).  I've always leaned more toward the darker side of comic stories.  Batman and DC's Vertigo Comics imprint were always more compelling than, what I saw as, the Disneyesque, soap opera driven Marvel universe.  That's not to say I had any dislike for the Marvel super heros.  I've always appreciated Stan Lee and what his Marvel Comics brought to geekdom.

So every time a new Marvel super hero movie comes out, I find myself excited, but not to the point of fan boy craziness.  But, after seeing this movie, I probably should have been fan boy crazy after all.  I'm not sure if it was because I controlled my hopes and dreams before I saw it, but this movie kicked my ass eight ways to Sunday!  I loved the hell out of this flick!

There is one main reason, one person, who is responsible for this.  Joss F*#KING Whedon!

Sure, you can have your all star cast and your uber-awesome 3D effects and great action intense set pieces, but it won't mean a frackin' thing unless you have a great visionary guiding the story and characters.

This movie would have been just another big budget summer blockbuster that could have come out and had its two weeks at the top and then disappeared only to find limited success on DVD and Blu-Ray like many, many other summer blockbusters (let's see how "Battleship" does).  But Avengers has something that other blockbusters don't.  It has heart.

Let's face it.  The story-line itself is pretty basic and standard Avengers comic book fare.  Thor's God-Like evil brother, Loki, decides to seek revenge on Thor by using a intergalactic portal opening weapon and employs an alien army to try and destroy the earth.  Nick Fury and his secret service organization called S.H.E.I.L.D. bring the super heros together to help save the earth.  Not anything comic book geeks aren't used to in the Marvel universe.  Been there, done that, got the shirt several times.

But, somehow it is made fresh and new.

The first and foremost thing I love about this movie is the characterization, something Mr. Whedon has a crazy gift for, as anyone would know if they've ever watched the second greatest TV show ever, Firefly (Deadwood is the first, just sayin').  He has a love for the characters in his projects and it shows in his passion for the material.

Whedon magically takes each and every super hero and gives them their own place and story and time on screen that doesn't take away from any one of the team at all.  He brings in the feel from each of the previous super hero movies without ostracizing any of the characters.  There are a couple of characters I would have liked to have seen a little more of, but it doesn't deter from the sotry at all.  I'll get to those characters later.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) feels just like the Iron Man from the previous Iron Man films.  The same can be said for both Thor and Captain America.  They're the same characters we loved form their own films without being compromised or changed to fit the team up.

And the new Hulk / David Banner actor, Mark Ruffalo, fits in wonderfully as the soft spoken, somewhat troubled yet still caring scientist who turns into everyones favorite big, green raging machine.  Bixby would be proud.

It's the writing for each of the characters, including Banner's that makes this film stand out from the other Marvel super hero films.

It's wonderful watching how these characters interact and react to each other.  The dialog between them is something Marvel fans will absolutely love and adore.  Sure, there are the huge fights against each other that are staples of the comics that are pretty grandiose and visually impacting.  But, it's the quieter moments with each other that give the film heart.  The viewer gets to feel out the newly assembled super team as much as they feel each other out also.  That's the magic of Whedon.

There's also a fair amount of humor in the film that is nicely peppered throughout that makes our heros a little more human.  There's a scene between Hulk and Loki toward the end that is pure awesomeness.  HULK SMASH, indeed.

As for the action sequences and visual effects, of coarse they're going to bring it full throttle!  There's tons of action, explosions and crazy ass damage all over the place.  A geek's visual smorgasbord.

During my viewing of the film, I enjoyed every minute of it.  After having time to think about it, I could have had a little more emphasis on the characters of Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury.

Though Hawkeye played a pivotal roll in the film, he was somewhat still in the background.  If I were an uber-comic nerd I would have had more of an issue with his costume.  Having a black leather suit with purple highlights and no mask might seem hot and trendy for Hollywood, but THIS....

...is what Hawkeye looks like.  Why is Hollywood so afraid to put their super heros in masks?  Is Captain America the only one who gets mask time?

Black Widow certainly had a lot of cool scenes.  But, for some reason, I felt there was something missing from the character.  She needed more than to look hot in skin tight outfits.  And Nick Fury was originally looked upon as a bad-ass character who was going to whoopass and take names later.  Partially because the role was played by Samuel L. Jackson.  But, his character ends up doing a little ass kicking and more commanding and giving orders from the bridge of his secret air ship while the heros do the muscle work.

Admittedly those were the typical paltry, geek gripes that in no way, shape or form deter from the awesomeness of this movie!

In closing I'll raise a frosty Schlitz Tall Boy in the air and salute one Joss Whedon, for taking this beloved comic and its characters and giving them a wonderful send up that I hope many Whedon directed and written sequels will will come from!

ALL HAIL JOSS WEHDON, MAN-GOD OF THE AGES!

Zangz.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Widow_(Marvel_Comics)