TV

On the Etiquette of Movie Spoilers

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

I just read a blog on Cape Town Community called Please Don’t Spoil My Movies! which I found to be something that I agreed with wholly.  When it comes to movies that I want to see, I don’t want to know what is going to happen.  If I see a trailer, that’s fine, but knowing anything beyond what the studio wants to show is a rarity for me.

It’s also for this reason that I don’t read reviews.  I think most critics are ridiculous, and I have yet to find a single one that I agree with all the time (based on looking at scores after I’ve seen a movie).  As I haven’t found a critic whose reviews match my own point of view 100% of the time, or even 50% of the time, how can I trust any critic to really get how I’ll feel about any movie.  They might hate a movie that I’ll love, or love a movie that I’ll hate.  Critics hold no sway over my perspective, for this reason, and I’ve found that I love some movies that even the critical mass has hated.  If I had listened to them, I wouldn’t have found the movie.

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Ghostbusters Comic going Monthly, More Animated Series Thoughts

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

A little more than a year ago, I wrote about how I felt that a new Ghostbusters animated series was possible with the upcoming motion picture event that is Ghostbusters 3.  I’m hoping that Bill Murray actually reads the script and says he’ll do the film.  Not only will it satisfy my want for another film in the series, but it’ll also give a lot of people work this year.

I read something else that made me excited today, though, and that is the announcement of the monthly publication of a Ghostbusters comic book.  This is something that I have been hoping for, and the reason that I bought all of the Ghostbusters comics that have been released within the last few years.  IDW has finally decided to make it a monthly series, though, and it seems that fan favorite artist Dapper Dan is going to have a hand in it, if not be the series’ artist for a few issues.  I really like his style.  It evokes thoughts of what an animated series would look like if it were based on his artistic style.  I have a feeling that it would be just different enough from The Real Ghostbusters to make it a new, and not derivative, series that is distinct and original.

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Wonder Woman’s New Look – More Changes

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Time for another geeky entry.  A few months ago, I wrote about Wonder Woman’s new look, and how I liked the modesty that it brought to the character.  I also had a feeling that it was created to help with the look of the character in future movie projects.  Well, DC just recently announced that they are going to be doing a Justice League movie for release in 2013.  They also announced a feature film version of Wonder Woman and The Flash.  It’s still too early to see how the upcoming Wonder Woman tv series (that hasn’t been picked up just yet) could have an effect on the film version.

When it comes to the costume of the character, however, there has been a lot of discussion in the last few weeks.  The image that I posted at the top of this story is cover art from an upcoming issue of the Wonder Woman comic, #609, which is releasing in June 2011.  Apparently the new costume with the pants, shirt and jacket wasn’t meant to last very long.  In fact, it seems as though it might have been in an alternate universe.  This is a shame, to me, as you can see that she’s now back to her immodest look.

This change wasn’t based on the backlash toward the costume that Adrianne Palicki was initially wearing as Wonder Woman (Diana) for the new tv series’ pilot.  It was just part of the storyline.  However, the new costume did effect the TV series in a way that I was both happy and upset with.  I was happy that it inspired the pants that Diana needs to wear, but upset with the color of them, and the lack of a jacket of any kind.

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My 10 Favorite Super Bowl Commercials for 2011

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Okay, so this year’s commercials were pretty underwhelming overall. However, there were a number of movies that I am really excited about that had commercials.


#1: Transformers: Dark of the Moon – I’ll start with the movie that I am most excited to see. I will make no apologies for being a fan of Transformers. I will probably always be excited for another Transformers movie. This commercial didn’t have any dialogue, but showed a lot of action and an entire city under siege. I saw someone comment that it looked like “more of the same story” from the first two movies. Technically not true. A battle in the city was done in the first film, but that was to get the cube. The second one had a villain trying to destroy the sun. This one seems to feature a Decepticon invasion. Of course all of them have the same purpose, because the Decepticons have only one goal: victory.

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Conan O’Brien’s Flaming C on Young Justice?

Monday, January 10th, 2011

I just saw a sketch on Conan that featured a clip from the upcoming series Young Justice featuring Conan’s superhero character The Flaming C.  Suddenly I saw a lot of traffic from search engines and people are looking for the footage.  Welcome, fellow Conan fans!

I loved seeing that clip as a fan of both Conan and Young Justice.  However, I have seen the episode that the clip was taken from, and the character that they animated The Flaming C on top of is Superman or Batman (I can’t remember which, but he has Batman’s voice).  It was great seeing Conan’s character on the show, however, and I do hope that they keep pumping out the clips.  It was definitely animated by the studio, though, and looked spectacular and authentic.  I’m hopeful that they actually do a cameo, but I’m not sure of the legal implications of that.  Because Conan owns his show, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a deal with Warner Brothers to make it happen.

Clip after the break.

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Disney’s Prep & Landing – A New Holiday Classic, Returning with Short, Sequel

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Christmas 2009 came with a new gift from Disney • Pixar: Prep & Landing.  This is a new holiday classic featuring a pair of elves that prepare each home for the arrival of Santa Claus.  They make sure that the children are asleep, and any potential problems are neutralized before he comes to deliver presents to the home.  It only took the first few minutes to make it one of my favorite Christmas specials that I have ever seen.  I must have watched it a few dozen times last year.

I learned something very exciting today.  Not only is Prep & Landing going to air again this year (hoping for a Blu-ray release some day), but they’re also working on a sequel!  Now, the sequel isn’t due until Christmas 2011, is a very long wait.

I was a bit disappointed that I would have to wait another year to have another adventure in the world that was so thoroughly established in the original, and then I saw that they are releasing a short this year as well!

I remember the first time that I watched Prep & Landing.  I was blown away.  Not only was it a very short special, but it had a lot of heart and when it ended, I wanted more.  I didn’t expect it to happen, and not this quickly.  Here’s what I know about each new adventure.  The short – Operation: Secret Santa, and the sequel – Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.

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The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien: Four Emmy Nominations

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Proof positive of the effectiveness of being creative, original and actually funny: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien has not only been nominated for one Emmy, but FOUR.  And Jay Leno’s Tonight Show received no nominations.  Not only that, but ratings since Leno returned have been worse than they’ve been since 1993.  NBC actually congratulated Conan, saying “We congratulate Conan and all our nominees on their creative accomplishments and their deserved nominations.”

Conan also tweeted about the nominations, saying “Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations. This bodes well for the future of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”

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Lost – Series Finale – Amazing Ending to an Epic Adventure

Monday, May 24th, 2010

I loved the finale to Lost.  It really closed up the series well and captured all of the characters very well.  In a lot of ways it reminded me of my favorite book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.  Here are some reactions from around the internet:

James Poniewozik, Time:

The great puzzle of the last season of Lost has been: how can both the flash-sideways universe and the Island universe mean anything? If Sideways is the universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed, who cares what happens on the Island? If the Island is where the characters’ fates are sealed, how can there be any meaning to what happens in the Sideways?

The moving, soulful finale that Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse gave us met that challenge. The Island world, we learned, absolutely mattered to the physical fate of the survivors. (And sci-fi purists ticked over the spiritual ending should at least give it up for this: what happened, did, indeed happen.) And the Sideways world mattered because it was the culmination of the spiritual, moral, human lives–the souls–of the characters.

It mattered, it moved, and it achieved.

Liz Kelly, Washington Post:

If, as some said, “Lost” was to be judged by its finale then all I can say is Damon and Carlton pulled it off. I’ve been crying and laughing and basically an emotional basket case for the last 2.5 hours. I could not possibly have asked for anything more. I am in awe.

Henry Hanks, CNN:

Answers or not, as two-and-a-half hours of television, the final “Lost” was extraordinary, and I think it accomplished what it set out to do: It was a very memorable ending, and people will be talking about it for years to come. One thing I never expected was how emotional I would feel watching this finale, and reflecting on it.

Jeff Jenson, EW:

“The End” was an emotionally draining epic that had me crying with almost every single “awakening” and has left me mulling the true significance of the Sideways world, which was revealed to be a Purgatory-like realm created by the souls of the dead castaways themselves.

Maureen Ryan, Chicago Tribune:

Finales are hard. And I must admit that my expectations for the “Lost” finale weren’t high. Perhaps later in the week, I’ll go into the reasons that caused me to lower my expectations. Suffice it to say, I just wanted Sunday’s finale to be … not bad. I was hoping for a middling ending, to be honest.

Yet “The End,” the show’s final episode, was so much more than middling. The first two hours were exciting and emotionally engaging, especially when the island castaways in the Sideways world began remembering their “real” lives. Those “flashes” were powerful and many cast members did some of their best work in those scenes. I got chills as I saw Juliet and Sawyer talk about that coffee date. Sun and Jin, Charlie, Kate and Claire — all their recollection moments were moving and powerful.

But the last half hour or so took the finale to another level.

Rex Hammock, Rexblog:

I think the creators of the show did precisely what they should have done with its finale: They gave the series a conclusion, but did not make it conclusive. In the same way any great work (and I’m not ready to place Lost in this category) of literature, mythology, philosophy or faith, there is still room for interpretation existing that offers those who want fundamental, simplistic answers to have one: “they all died;” as can those who want ambiguity that can provide the foundation for a lifetime of debate: “where was that plane flying to?”

Young Justice: Animated Series on Cartoon Network – Fall 2010

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

One of my favorite comic book series was Young Justice.  The team consisted primarily of Superboy, Robin and Impulse (who is now called Kid Flash in the comic world).  Other original members included Wonder Girl, Arrowette and Secret.  The team’s guardian was Red Tornado.  The membership of the team changed as time went on.  Characters code-names changed, members came and went, and the series came to an end in 2003 as many of the characters joined Teen Titans.

This fall on Cartoon Network, the series that I never thought would happen is coming.  This is likely thanks to there already being a Teen Titans cartoon, so they don’t cause confusion by having another one.

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