Monday, March 14, 2011

Message from the few-tcha

So, I get to my moms this morning and she's got the DVR on. I tap the remote to see what's recording when I see this frozen on the giant, Toshiba flatscreen:

 


Of course, me being as special as I am, I thought it was a message from my long, lost Alien overlords. Or better yet, my real (superhero) parents! Alas, it was just a prank from ELLEN "smash my dreams of epicness to hell" DEGENERES. It was still pretty cool though. Imagine if I had seen this while stoned or drunk... or both!
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Friday, March 4, 2011

Ah snap!



This week TVSquad named Laura Roslin the second Most Memorable TV Character ever. Now, understand, I live and breathe Science Fiction and by 'live and breath' I mean I don't watch movies that lack spaceships, robots, time travel, superheroes or anything OTHER THAN sex, drugs and rock and roll and confused people doing ordinary stupid shit.

So, when it comes to heroines, you also have to understand that this girl (moi!) who grew up on the classics (Carol Burnett, Cagney and Lacey and Lucille Ball) understands the importance of groundbreaking female characters in an industry (and WORLD) that prides itself on male energy.

So imagine when I was in my mid-20's and Ronald D. Moore created a female hero who had no gun, no superpowers, no supersecret destiny that eluded to godlike parents or the like, who would basically save humanity. That is what happened when Mary McDonnell took on the task of portraying the great and powerful Laura Roslin.

I thought Xena kicked ass. Then Buffy. Then Dana Scully. But nothing, and I mean... NOTHING... prepared me for Laura Roslin. Here was a middle-aged, average (or so we are led to believe) woman, portrayed by, honestly one of the more beautiful actresses on TV... Mary McDonnell, who was cursed with the task of bringing humanity back from the brink of annihilation.

People who never watched BSG will never understand and that is their curse. Honestly, especially for the young women who are mad at the final decision TVsquad made to elect Laura Roslin to the 2nd tier of 100 other choices, because they fail to realize that a woman they can actually aspire to be and aspire to admire actually graced the small screen and saved the world.

She may not have been so and so's girlfriend... and maybe for them, she wasn't a SOAP OPERA-esque character guaranteed to give viewers nothing but fluff, candy-colored visuals and cheesy story lines, but for me, she saved the whole world. She saved it while she was dying. She did it selflessly and she did it with the soul of one of the best actresses of our generation.

How can you even try to argue with that?
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Radio Free Albemuth (Trailer)


Radio Free Albemuth movie trailer
Uploaded by blankytwo. - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.
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Monday, February 28, 2011

Superheroes and Secret identities made of WIN



If you've never seen BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN, you should. It's got an obvious twist at the end that is still great to watch. I've seen it more than a handful of times myself, mostly because of the Batwoman character, which I would elaborate on but I wouldn't want to spoil it.

It's an animated film and it shouldn't cause anyone to start waxing intellectual, but everytime I see it I wander just how brilliant a concept it is to have an alternate identity. Not for your average Joe or Jane per se, but for the crime fighter. 

We all know Batman is Bruce Wayne and vice versa, but do we every really consider that some of the Superheroes have a far better approach to masked identities than most. I am a huge Wonder Woman fan. Always have been. But if I were to become a Superhero tomorrow I wouldn't be a flashy showcase of patriotism. Instead I'd opt for the black out effects of the Batwoman costume. In a dark room you couldn't see me coming.

The Green Lantern is too bright. So is the Flash. But that is what endears them to us all. Captain Marvel has a huge, flashy thunderbolt cut across his chest. Superman is as obvious as Wonder Woman. Old school Wolverine's YELLOW was a giant LOOK AT ME sign. 

When it comes to costumes and comic books, the flashier the better because it draws the eye to the character. The appeal is just as much in the costume as it is in the powers. Sometimes the costume is the root of all powers. It's cool on the page, but on screen and in reality, if any one character had it aced, it'd be Batman and his ilk.

They roam in the dark, despite the fact that crime also happens in the day. The BATconglomerate blend in with the shadows. They are like ghosts almost. They are invisible until they want you to see them coming and most of the time, they don't.

While Robin is flashy in his yellow, green and red, it becomes obvious that Robin is a sidekick and young and colors play to that effect. Again... costumes as identifying the character is key here. When I imagine Superheroes I do think of a splash page drawn by George Perez or Alex Ross, where colors jump out at you--- crimson, gold, emerald green and flecks of sun yellow--- because Superheroes are meant to be seen.

When you are pinned under a car in a world inhabited by superhumans, you are looking out for the infamous colors that identify them. That is the brilliance of it all. Wonder Woman IS red, white, blue and gold. Superman IS red and blue. The flash IS red and gold.

It's no different than hearing sirens and spotting the Fire Department based on their colors. The same goes for the Police Department. The costume is the calling card.

Heroes (real or imagined) are identifiable in that familiar way by the obviousness of their identities, written across their chests. But in the real world where standing out and proclaiming your powers could be anything but awesome (because some people will always have a problem with authority), being invisible is the way to go. After all, if they can't see you... they can't see you coming.

You can watch BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN on Netflix.


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Saturday, February 26, 2011

How to live freely in a Alternate, Fringe Universe...



Last nights Fringe was a revelation of sorts. Walternate IS evil. Our Walter is not. FauxLivia is just a babymama, OurLIVIA will save the world. Yeah, I am getting way ahead of myself here, but bare with me... in time, I shall make perfect sense.

So it seems that OurLivia has been trippin' the light fantastic for some time now. How she blacked out on the whole experience remains to be seen, considering Walter Bishop had a soft spot for her. He practically saved her from an abusive stepfather. Not to mention, Peter was there at a pivotal, developmental point in her life and she didn't remember him either?

What exactly happened that made all the other Cortexifan kids remember Walter and the tests, but caused Olivia to forget? I hope they address this soon, but for now, I am completely immersed in a few revelations, like Peter's mother from this Universe drinking herself into oblivion which is the exact opposite to the Alternaverse where Walternate was just about to do the same.

The way both parents, from opposite universes, tried to cope with the loss of their children was heartbreaking but also rendered them a humanity they wouldn't have gotten otherwise since Peter's FauxMother died a while ago and Walternate is the Big Bad.

We discovered that Peter was more aware of his place in the Universe than we first thought. He tried to find his home at the bottom of a frozen lake for heaven sakes. The fact that he was manipulated, however reluctantly to believe he was suffering with delusions do to his prolonged illness shows how far Walter would go to not so much as keep Peter to himself, but more so not to affect the delicate balance between the Universes any more than he already has.

The one truly intriguing aspect for me, every episode, is the Blimp. It comes and goes every time both Universes meet and I wonder who is piloting it... what purpose does it serve? Mostly, it reminds me of a story I started writing years ago, back in high school, and so I can't help but wonder if the blimp is the all seeing eye that will reveal all to those with the power to destroy the universes, in due time.

So far we know that Walternate saw Olivia and discovered where is son went. We know that Walter wasn't exactly a Dr. Frankenstein. We now know who the Lab Assistant fated to die in a fire in Walter's lab is, and dare I venture to speculate, the probable origins of the fire (because making emotional charged children jump between worlds apparently causes large dispersions of energy).

Finally, we discover that all though FauxLivia has wrapped her twin talons around Peter's heart and will eventual tip the scales regarding his fate, it was OurLivia all along that set him on his current path. So, who will he choose?

I cannot wait to find out. If you missed it, you can watch it below. Enjoy!

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Friday, February 25, 2011

FRESH INK

Blair Butler talks comics. WORD!


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Question of the Day!

(The Dopeness is by Fiona Staples)



 Prom season is not that far away. March is around the corner and before you know it, your kids, nieces and nephews and weird people you know who never had a prom and intend to crash someone else's will be looking for something to wear.

A Prom is like a Zombie Invasion in and of itself, if you think about it. Hordes of dumb teenagers trying to get drunk and laid. So my question is:

"If a Zombie Outbreak took place during your prom, how would you handle it? Would you hide until it blew over? Would you step up and start taking down Zombies (starting with the cheerleaders and football players)? Or... would you be the preemptive nerd with all the deets to FEMA, the CDC and the NATIONAL GUARD, breaking down what's happening and trying to get help? Or, would you do something  I haven't thought about?"

Give me your best answers in the comments section.
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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Battle: My brain

So, today my mom took my little sister to see the latest Adam Sandler film. When they got back I expected her to go on about Jennifer Aniston, because somehow that is all chicks over forty like to talk about: Other chicks over forty who look good on film. Anyhow, there I was, sitting in the kitchen, surfing the world wide weird and sippin' coffee when she said, "Oh my god! Did you know there's an alien movie coming out! Battle:Earth?" And of course, I am like, "Battle: Los Angeles?" And she is like, "Yes! I saw it and I was like YOU need to go see that!" She's looking dead at me, the resident Science Fiction and UFOnut(Naut?).

If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out the trailer:



Now, the title may be familiar to those of you still giving SYFY ratings because they are doing a knock off version, with the same title. Minus the colons. Both movies harken back to an actual incident from 1942. Aliens didn't exactly attack and take over, but hey, if you've ever read Mark Millar's WANTED (the graphic novel, not the shittastic film), then you may have to accept the possibility that we may be living in an alternate timeline where Superheroes have been eradicated and relegated to myth and legend and aliens have invaded, destroyed our leaders and then put us in a dreamworld, à la Matrix where we sit in stasis, getting the life sucked out of us, like the bio-batteries that we are.

Damn. I actually came up with all that on my own!

Battle: Los Angeles hits theaters 3.11.11
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The Saturn Awards

There are plenty of SATURN AWARD pics of the statuette by its lonesome, but c'mon... 
a Saturn in the hands of Starbuck and Adama?
PRICELESS.
(For everything else, there's AMERICAN EXPRESS.)




The Walking Dead was awesome. Inception was awesome enough to make the dumbest people I know put on their thinking caps. Both are in the lead for the 37th Annual Saturn Awards. Other notable nominations include Clint Eastwood's Hereafter, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Kick-ass and the current love of my life, Fringe.

Here's the complete list of Nominees (courtesy of Blastr.com):

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"V" is for Vagina

Morena Baccarin (Anna) and Jane Badler (Diana)



When the re-imagined/reboot of "V" first aired, I was there. I enjoyed the first half of the first season, but like most dark sci-fi shows about alien invasions, if you don't inject something new into it, you lose me. I've seen any and every plausible version of every invasion story Hollywood has to offer and I expected something refreshing and new from "V".

So I let it go. I figured it wouldn't last long. It would be cancelled soon. 

It wasn't.

In fact, it has grown in story and perhaps in scope, as far as the loyal viewers are concerned. I didn't come back to the show on the expectation that the story was expanding. I came back for a smaller, yet nostalgic reason. 

The original "V" aired in 1983. I was five and even then I was aware of the magnitude of the series. Reptilian aliens perpetrating as humans. The idea was already infiltrating some circles and solidifying for some, the belief that reptilian aliens were in fact trying to take over the world.

The paranoia made the series a success. Not a success in the scale of, say, The X-Files (as far as Alien invaders are concerned), but it became a cult hit nonetheless. Fast forward more than 20 years later and  some people have made a name in Esoteric circles, discussing what they believe to be an inevitable plot by low-lying reptilian aliens to invade Earth.

Honestly, this resurgence started with Ron Moore's re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. The original Battlestar had reptilians. The success of Ron Moore's show ushered in the idea that "V" could make it with today's audience. So far, it is. Albeit slowly. 

Which brings me to why I have suddenly returned to the show. I decided to watch again simply because Jane Badler is back as Diana. No longer the "Queen V" thanks to Morena Baccarin's chilly turn as Anna, but you still have no idea what "Grandma V" has up her sleeves.

Her granddaughter Lisa (Laura Vandervoort of Smallville fame) has fallen in love with a human and is experiencing human emotions. Her mother is using her as a tool to get what she needs in order to make the V's even more superior before taking over the Earth for good. Humans be damned.

There's the FIFTH COLUMN whose focus is to take Anna down at all costs and it seems like all the odds are against her, but what makes it all the more interesting is that her own mother and her daughter are willing to take her out too.

"V" is more of a 'Drama with your Mama' show with Science Fiction thrown in for flavor. It's about an alien Matriarchy that is more powerful than any male dominated power the world has ever seen? Alexander the Great who? Attila the what? The three generations of Queen V's are far scarier than any army of men coming over some unnameable hill in some undiscovered country of yore.

This is what has drawn me back to the show. The rarity of such female power in Science Fiction has left a hunger... a thirst even, for strong female leaders in Science Fiction. I can no longer look forward to Dana Scully, Laura Roslin, Kara Thrace or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer delivering some much needed Girl Power. 

Even cooler still, the Fifth Column has lost its male leader and now Erica Evans (the lone Agent on a mission to get her son back from the manipulative clutches of Anna and save the world), is leading the rebel "V"s. More girl power. And with the super-advanced growth of Ryan's daughter, another power may soon loom over and threaten to consume Anna's pride. Could it get any more bitchier than that?

You can check out recaps and older episodes of "V" here. 
Tune in every Tuesday @ 9/8c on ABC.








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Sucker Punch Propaganda posters hit the web... ONE! TWO! PUNCH!






Sucker Punch doesn't hit theaters until March 25th (only a day after my berfday), but you can get in on the action now by uploading and admiring these posters for years to come. Yerp.

Check out the latest trailer:

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