Monthly Archives: April 2014

Hey, have you heard? New ‘Star Wars’ movie

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star wars episode 7 script reading

So the Internets were ablaze yesterday with this announcement, confirmation of what we already knew.

And the picture above got released.

Reaction was mixed:

Cool, another “Star Wars” movie.

Thank god, another “Star Wars” movie that ISN’T a prequel.

Too many white people in that picture.

Too many male people in that picture.

Is Kenny Baker inside that R2 inside that crate?

Here’s the press release:

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

My reaction? That announcement has commas where it doesn’t need them and has no commas where it does need them.

But I’m glad they’re making another (several, actually) live action movies. “Star Wars” needs new blood, new fans. “The Clone Wars” animated series and, yes, even the prequel movies, reached new fans who weren’t even born when the first movies came out.

So we’ll see what happens in December 2015.

 

‘Fargo’ strikes right absurdist tone

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fargo billy bob thornton

One of the most pleasant surprises at the movies in 1996 was “Fargo,” the Joel and Ethan Coen movie about cops and crime in Minnesota.

But if you’d asked me if the movie would provide fodder for a TV series 18 years later, I would have scoffed. Politely, of course. We are talking about “Minnesota Nice” here.

But “Fargo” the TV series on FX is a surprise that’s similarly pleasant to the Coen Brothers movie. It’s a little weird and a little funny and really promising.

“Fargo” is part of a genre of stories about offbeat people in offbeat towns that stretches back past “Twin Peaks” – and the current Twitter revival of that 1990s show – and encompasses more police-oriented series like “Justified.” “Fargo” and “Twin Peaks” share some DNA with the “Welcome to Nighvale” podcast. All of which is fodder for a future entry.

But for now, “Fargo” has the market on small-town neighborly mayhem cornered.

The series isn’t a continuation or expansion, really, of the movie. There are some familiar settings and characters, but there’s a big difference: The central antagonist in the series appears to be Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo, a man who arrives in the town of Bemidji, Minnesota with a man locked in the trunk of his car. After an accident and the captive’s short-lived escape, Malvo settles in Bemidji. Much to Bemidji’s misfortune.

That’s because Malvo spreads chaos and discontent wherever he goes. Besides the odd haircut and facial hair, Malvo appears to be something of a devil, quietly suggesting to people that they take some action that turns out to be ill-advised. It’s not until the second episode that we get a good idea of what Malvo is all about.

In the spirit of Jerry Lundegaard, the Bemidji businessman played by William H. Macy in the movie, the series introduces us to Lester Nygaard, played by Martin Freeman of “Sherlock” and “The Hobbit” fame, a put-upon businessman who makes some crucial mistakes, including the bludgeoning death of his wife.

That murder propels other incidents, including the death of the police chief at Malvo’s hands. It’s the push that prompts the Frances McDormand surrogate in the series, Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) to begin investigating. It’s likely that Solverson will at some point collaborate with Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks), an over-cautious cop who has an early run-in with Malvo.

In the first two episodes, “Fargo” has become populated with characters who, we intuit, will pay off before the season is over. They include Adam Goldberg and Russell Harvard as another couple of menacing strangers in town and Oliver Platt as a crass local supermarket chain magnate whose dilemma, we learn, brought Malvo to town.

Keith Carradine is present for low-key wisdom as Solverson’s father and Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele) is due to show up at some point.

As unlikely as “Fargo” seemed to be for a TV series prospect, the show is entertaining and intriguing so far. I’m looking forward to what the pride of Bemidji does next.

‘Arrow,’ ‘SHIELD’ look to finish strong

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arrow ravager city of blood

I’m not one of those fans that has to declare a victor in the war between Marvel and DC. They’re both doing well – if very differently – in particular areas outside comics, including live-action movies and TV and animation.

Marvel’s big-screen universe is firing on all cylinders through a timetable that, if we’re to believe a recent interview with mastermind Kevin Feige, is loosely planned through 2028. The producers of Marvel movie outliers like the “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” series are trying to build their own universes, although that could be a challenge. I still wish we’d see the universes combined on screen someday.

As for DC, Warner Bros. is flat-out struggling to build a cohesive movie universe. The “Man of Steel” sequel featuring Batman – with Wonder Woman and Cyborg and possibly other characters in supporting roles – could be cool or it could fall as flat as “Green Lantern.” And DC has just announced that director Zach Snyder will follow the “Man of Steel” sequel with a “Justice League” movie.

DC’s plans feel a little rushed, with none of the universe-building that Marvel has engaged in with its “Avengers” lead-ins and follow-ups. But maybe it’ll turn out nifty.

On TV, there’s no question that “Arrow,” the second-season CW adaptation of Green Arrow, is the best superhero series ever.

And over on ABC, “Agents of SHIELD” – after a first half of this debut season that felt like wheel-spinning or slow burn, depending on how charitable you might be – is building to what might be a genuinely thrilling climax.

Both series have three episodes left this season. Here are some thoughts:

“Arrow”: After setting up Slade (Deathstroke) Wilson as the good-guy-turned-bad-guy this season, the series has let Slade run rampant on Oliver Queen and his city, family and team. Last week’s episode ended with Slade killing Oliver’s mother, Moira, in a cruel mirror to the “choice” Oliver was given by Ivo on the island.

What we want to see: More DC characters – including Ravager, pictured above, who appears in “City of Blood,” the next episode – more twists, more peril, more return visits from past favorites and more triumph for Team Arrow.

What we don’t want to see: An easy way out for anybody.

agents of shield nothing personal

“SHIELD”: Spinning off events in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “SHIELD” finds itself in a world where SHIELD itself is in shambles. The agents are on the run, striking back at enemy organization HYDRA and building alliances. All the while, they’re dealing with the treacherous Agent Ward, who has turned out to be a HYDRA agent and has been killing SHIELD agents right and left.

What we want to see: Well, we already know Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) returns in this week’s episode, “Nothing Personal,” and Samuel L. Jackson is supposed to return as Nick Fury in “Beginning of the End,” the season finale set for May 13. So we’re getting return visits from some favorites. We also want more revelations, including more big-picture tie-ins to the movie universe.

What we don’t want to see: The redemption of Agent Ward. We want him and Agent Garrett (the great Bill Paxton) to continue as our favorite HYDRA turncoats into the second season.

The longterm big picture for both series – if “SHIELD” returns for a second season – could be fantastic. “SHIELD” will be building toward the May 2015 premiere of “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

And although it’s unlikely, it’s possible Warners will tie “Arrow” to its big-screen franchise in some way. Warners could do a whole lot worse – and likely will – if it ignores the universe created for the small screen.

 

Beautiful: Khoa Ho’s ‘The Orphan’

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khoa ho the orphan

There’s some amazing fan art out there these days. Some of it is from professionals who also happen to be fans.

Graphic designer Khoa Ho has released a series of moody black-and-white designs highlighting the origins and/or secret identities of Batman, Superman, Iron Man and the like.

Here’s his website.

Fanboys need to grow up – soon

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fangirls coffee variety

I still remember feeling slightly amused and slightly insulted by the warning included in the printed program for an Indianapolis science fiction convention in the early 1980s.

It said, in effect, that just because a female attending the con was dressed like a character out of the Elfquest comic books – remember, this was a long time ago – that didn’t mean she was a piece of meat to be manhandled – well, fanboyhandled, really. Women at conventions might appear to be the flesh-and-blood embodiment of your fantasies, but They. Are. Not. Yours.

In effect, keep your hands – and your thoughts – to yourself, fanboy.

After my initial reaction to the warning passed, I realized that, yes, the warning was probably necessary. We were talking a few hundred young males who, in many cases, had little experience with the female of the species when she wasn’t on the movie or TV screen. As a young male who actually had met and talked with women and genuinely enjoyed them on every level – as equals, supervisors at work, romantic partners and partners in crime – I wasn’t the target audience for the warning.

Thirty years later and a cool and curious thing has occurred. Women make up a pretty good percentage of the fandom that has sprung up from movies, TV, books, comics and gaming. Some days it feels like they make up a slight majority of that fandom.

And while cosplay at conventions has moved well beyond elves in loincloths, the “hands off” warning still applies. The woman in the Power Girl outfit, complete with cleavage window, is not yours for the taking.
The controversy that’s broken out in fandom in the past couple of weeks is an outgrowth of that same stunted attitude on the part of some male fans, but frankly this attitude, this situation, feels more toxic than anything I’ve seen in decades.

Although there’s been a Neanderthal-ish attitude in online comments sections since the first sci-fi website was built, the especially poisonous vibe came after particularly apt criticism by writer Janelle Asselin of a Teen Titans comic cover. In an April 11 column on Comic Book Resources, Asselin noted several things wrong with this cover:

teen_titans_1_cover

Not the least of which is the typical-for-comics-yet-absurd-fanboy-wetdream portrayal of Wonder Girl, whose rack is improbably huge and whose head is bigger than her waist.

So noted.

But, incredibly, Asselin’s critique was followed by a heaping, steaming load of bullshit from fanboys who, on various online soap boxes, insulted and threatened Asselin and her fellow female industry figures with everything from shunning to beatings to rape.

Of course these cowards wouldn’t actually be able to say or do any of this stuff in person. I’m sure it made them feel incredibly daring and manly to say it from their hunched-over, masturbatory stance in front of the Dell computers in their mom’s basement.

The whole thing set off a lot of back-and-forth and, happily, lots of people sprang to Asselin’s defense. Among the best of them was writer Greg Rucka, who wove a tapestry of insults and profanities aimed at the idiotic fanboys in question that still has me chuckling. Rucka’s rant was inspired in great part by this image:

fangirl-coffee-

The answer to that t-shirt – or at least one of them – is at the top of this column. I wish I could figure out who to credit for the image, but I first saw it on daggerpen.tumblr.com.

Who would not want the presence of women in fandom? Women are in most cases smarter than men. They aren’t the war makers, they aren’t the dominators and those who demean everyone around them to make themselves feel better. Their very presence elevates the level of any conversation, including those in fandom.

Or it should, anyway. If they aren’t so put off by ignorant comments online that they don’t avoid the conversation entirely.

So fanboys, grow the hell up or take your attitudes elsewhere. I can guarantee that you’re not going to win that online argument with a smart, driven fangirl. You’re not going to win the hearts and minds of fandom with your disgruntlement.

And you’re sure as hell not going to get Power Girl, or even that cute elf, to bend to your will.

 

Cool ‘Batman Beyond’ short for 75th anniversary

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batman 75th anniversary logo

This will really only whet your appetite for more Dark Knight.

DC Comics is celebrating Batman’s 75th anniversary this year – like it marked Superman’s 75th anniversary last year – with some cool stuff, including some short films.

The latest is comic book artist Darwyn Cook’s tribute to Batman Beyond, the sequel series to the original Bruce Timm Batman animated series.

batman beyond short

Kevin Conroy and Will Friedle return to voice the roles of aging Bruce Wayne and young Terry McGinness, his protege.

batsuits batman short

Cool action, cool shots of the former Bat-family costumes …

batman beyond short batmen

And, at the end, a tribute to a bunch of former movie/TV Batman portrayals and actors.

Good stuff.

Neve Campbell latest fave on ‘Mad Men’

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neve campbell w don mad men

There was a lot going on in last week’s season premiere of “Mad Men,” what with the bi-coastal Sterling Cooper office antics, Roger showing why tiny cell phones wouldn’t have worked in 1969, Peggy and that damn little neighbor kid, Megan’s channeling Sharon Tate and Pete’s plaid pants and sweater, the latter worn over-the-shoulder-style.

And yes, that was Neve Campbell on the plane, snuggling with Don.

neve campbell mad men

Neve Campbell of “Scream” and “Party of Five.” Looking amazing and 1969-period-appropriate.

Campbell wouldn’t acknowledge, in talking to Entertainment Weekly, if that’s her only appearance in this, the split-in-half last season of “Mad Men.”

But c’mon, we know it can’t be.

She’s too recognizable to have just a couple of quick scenes. As, as Entertainment Weekly pointed out, the end credits even gave her character a name: Lee Cabot.

Neve has joined the ranks of past TV stars like Madchen Amick, Alexis Biedel and Linda Cardellini playing partners/playthings of the “Mad” men.

So here’s to more of Campbell this season.

madchen amick madmen hd

And – we should be so lucky – more Madchen.

Classic sci-fi: “It! The Terror from Beyond Space”

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It_the_terror_from_beyond_space 50k

If there was a heyday of black-and-white, low-budget science fiction movies, “It! The Terror From Beyond Space” might have been smack in the heart of it.

It’s startling to think now that the 1958 release date of “It!” came just 10 years before “2001: A Space Odyssey” and less than 20 years before “Star Wars.” Those movies – although decades old now – seem much more contemporary than “It!”

When you make those comparisons, though, it’s funny to note that a movie that still feels contemporary despite the passage of years, Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi thriller “Alien,” was in many ways inspired by “It!” A lot of people have called “It” the inspiration for “Alien.”

Plot-wise, they have more than a few similarities. An expedition to another planet – Mars in the earlier movie – results in a dead crew and suspicion on the survivor. When a second ship is sent to investigate, the only survivor of the earlier crew – played by Marshall Thompson – is to be brought back to Earth to be tried for killing his crew.

it the terror girl on shoulder

But there’s another addition along for the ride: A stowaway, a monster, a scaly hulk played by stuntman and actor Ray “Crash” Corrigan. The creature killed the earlier crew and, on the trip back, begins picking off the second crew, stalking them in the hidden recesses of the ship.

“It!” is most effective when it doesn’t show the monster. Shots of the creature’s big, rubbery feet and pigeon-toed walk sap some of its menace, that’s for sure. While the hulking monster is appropriately kiddie-matinee scary for its time, every shot of it reduces the mystery and menace.

it the terror lobby card

Random thoughts:

Although the movie is called by some the inspiration for “Alien,” it’s almost like a sequel instead.

The movie’s action is set in 1973, which as we all know was a big period for Martian exploration.

“It” came out during the great period of 1950s black and white science fiction with craggy alien landscapes and beautiful star-filled backdrops and graceful rockets with Buick-style fins.

There’s a lot of science-defying action here, with the crew firing guns pretty indiscriminately at the monster. Lots of gas bombs are thrown and there’s a token wearing of gas masks, but only when hatch doors are open. What about the the air-handling system? The monster and his victims spend a lot of time in the vents, so I’m pretty sure that gas would get all around the ship.

dabbs greer

Look for Dabbs Greer, familiar to “Little House on the Prairie” watchers, as one of the crew.

 

Latest in Parker series is … fine, really

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damned if you do robert b parker michael brandman

One of my favorite writers was Robert B. Parker, who wrote scores of crime novels before his death in 2010. Best among them was the series that followed the exploits of Spenser, the Boston private investigator. But Parker also wrote a nifty, if short-lived, series with a believable female protagonist, Sunny Randall, as well as a series of westerns.

Maybe Parker’s most successful “other” series was that featuring Jesse Stone, a alcoholic former cop who is hired as police chief in the New England town of Paradise. Stone is troubled – for a male Parker hero – and struggles with his addiction and his relationships.

After Parker’s death, his wife, Joan (who has since passed) and his estate authorized writers to continue both the Stone and Spenser series. Ace Atkins, a mystery writer in his own right, does a very good job with new Spenser novels. Michael Brandman, who produced a series of Jesse Stone TV movies starring Tom Selleck, was tapped to continue the Stone books.

He’s done three now, with the latest being “Damned if You Do,” and it might be the weakest of the renewed series so far.

That’s not to say there’s not a lot to like about “Damned if You Do.” Brandman has captured the spirit of Stone, the small-town cop who won’t let anything stand in the way of bringing justice to the unjust. The supporting characters are perfect recreations of Parker’s.

But the latest is kind of thin and feels like something Brandman tossed off without a lot of effort.

Parker’s later books, while wildly satisfying, felt pretty slight compared to his meatier earlier stories, so the feeling that Brandman is coasting a bit here isn’t without precedent. But I’m ready to read a book that feels like Jesse Stone – and the writer behind his modern-day adventures – is breaking a sweat.

This story finds Stone investigating the death of a young woman in a seedy Paradise motel. Her death threatens to – but never quite – spark a dust-up between warring pimps.

More satisfying, in a way, is Stone’s crusade to shut down a town nursing home where patients are being abused. But even here, the resolution seems really easy.

Parker’s stories rarely had a lot of twists and turns, as his heroes found a path toward a resolution and bulled their way through to their desired outcome. It feels like, in some of the latter-day books, that the path is just a little too straight and hurdle-free.