Surprising probably no one, there have been many vocal haters, mostly men but some women too, on social media outraged at the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot film helmed by Freaks and Geeks' Paul Feig and starring Melissa Carthy of the Bridesmaids fame.
I have only really asked one such self-described lady nerd why she dislikes the Ghost-busters reboot from the trailers alone. In short, she said "they took a movie and put women in place of men. Gave them the same character traits and personality of the men and now women are supposed to jump for joy?....forces Paul Feig to come up with better schtick (sic) and and original roles for women."
To which I offered this rebuttal , "I don't think Ghostbusters is too sacred to be immune from remakes....I loved what Feig and McCarthy did in Spy, which was original and proved to me they could handle the Ghostbusters franchise."
Action, humor and original roles for women all around.
Feig and McCarthy know what they are doing. Spy has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and this glowing review on IGN.com. You could've hated the movie, but cumulative reviews would disagree with you. I can add that it was easily one of my favorite movies of 2015, in addition to Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Spotlight. Oh and two of those movies I just named are sequels or soft reboots.
I get that some men, not all men, feel invalidated by seeing a Ghostbusters sequel without male leads. They feel they are being overlooked as the core Ghostbuster audience to which any and all sequels should appeal to. What the old audience is slowly realizing is that Ghostbusters have always appealed to a much larger fan-base than just white males that grew up during the 80's.
I'm excited to see this movie. I love Ghostbusters as a young girl growing up in the 80's and 90's and am thrilled to see an all female squad. That does not and will never invalidate the original Ghostbusters films starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. The reboot is it's own thing. I do not view it, in any way, potentially tarnishing the original films. A good franchise will always survive. Look at Batman, Star Wars, and James Bond.
Tldr; This Ghostbusters movie was not made for you. Watch it or do not, but please, get over yourselves. No one appointed you gate-keeper for the franchise. Doesn't matter how many cartoons, comics or Ghosbusters toys you bought or your parents bought for you.
I don't know if you are a huge comic-book nerd like I am but I'm sure by now most people have a passing knowledge about the Marvel Universe and understand that The Avengers movie and their characters, Iron-Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk, are part of the same world as the tv show Marvel Agents of Shield and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
You have probably seen the trailer for this upcoming Marvel Superhero movie called Ant-Man, and have thought one thing.
In light of the 75th anniversary of the first
appearance of Batman today, I would like
to dedicate this post to the five things I have learned from the most formative
cartoon and superhero during my childhood, Batman the Animated Series.
Yeah, eff' Looney Tunes man, this was my jam.
1.BTAS introduced me to the Film Noir and the Art
Deco movement. The style of show resembled
a noir detective film in the early episodes and featured beautiful, time
consuming hand painted backgrounds and title cards.
2.BTAS made me aware of strong story-telling and
the concept of using no dialogue in scenes, such as the famous opening sequence
which depicted Batman chasing after two criminals on the rooftops of Gotham
City.
3.BTAS introduced strong female characters of all
races, ages, and sizes such as Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Renee Montoya, Harley Quinn,
Batgirl, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, and Talia al Ghul. Some were pulled from the comic books, others
(Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya) created for the show were later added to the
comic books.
Renee "BAMF" Montoya
4.BTAS pioneered the use of well-known film actors
to voice the villains. David Warner,
Richard Glover, Richard Mill, Roddy McDowall, Michael York, Ed Asner all
provided their voices for various villains.
5.BTAS taught me to fear the Joker. Joker was still hilarious but also
dangerously psychotic. Despite being a
children’s cartoon, the show taught new generations the true potential of the Clown
Prince of Crime and also proved that the man who played Luke Skywalker could
also create the definitive version of comic’s greatest villain of all
time. Amen, Mark Hamill.
I'm a fan of Heath Ledger's portrayal too but come on, look at him! And in a cartoon, too!
Have you guys rushed out to see the new Amazing Spider-Man
sequel? If not, no big. I didn’t even see the Amazing Spider-Man
reboot in the first place and I still consider myself a fan of the Spider-Man
franchise.
Spider-Man 2 is second only to The Dark Knight in my book. Currently
the Avengers and first Iron Man movie are tied, followed by X-Men 2, Blade 2,
and the first Hellboy.
I’m not really rushing out to see Amazing Spider-Man 2,
after reading these headlines;
I admit that I don’t read the Spiderman comics and never
have, but even I have a passing familiarity with the Spider-man supporting cast
and the wide gallery of animal themed rogues that rival DC’s Batman or the
Flash.
With the opening of the current sequel in theatres, Target
had the remaining DVD volumes available of the best adaptation of Spider-Man in
my, albeit, limited in scope, opinion, The Spectacular Spider-Man animated
series that premiered from 2008-2009. In
2008, I was 26 years old and had moved back in with parents. I fucking recorded each episode of this
amazingly well-written cartoon and enjoyed the hell out of it. FINALLY someone who could balance multiple
villains, multiple love interests, AND still focus on drama of the high school
experience that Peter went through every day as a teenager. Baby, this was master class in classic heroic
story arcs and no did better. Not even
Batman, the Animated Series. (Because the BTAS had an episodic story structure
rather than a serial, sustained season-long story arc like Spectacular).
Visually, the series animation took some getting used to...that chin GG!
So yeah, on that point, I loves me some Spider-Man.
I didn’t initially want to see the rebooted Spider-Man
because I actually did not fall in love with 500 Days of Summer. I fell in love with JGL, because I mean, who
wouldn’t? But I thought that movie was a
lil’ too twee for my liking and I did not approve of the same director helming
the Spider-Man reboot. I still don’t.
He's basically the male version of the "Manic Pixie Girl" stereotype, so slight and vulnerable.
He's the male Natalie Portman is what I'm saying.
I loved the first two Spider-Man movies. I liked the portrayal of teenage Peter Parker
and though Kristen Dunst made the best possible Mary Jane ever.
Now we have Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy which I
wasn’t super-excited about but I get it.
She’s Spider-Man’s first love and is featured prominently in the
animated series I’m so dorky about.
But now I’m done with the teenage years. I want Spidey to move on, specifically past
college and onto a young adult in his 20’s.
I know Spider-Man is best known as a teenage character but that’s been
done and done well. Now I want an adult
Spider-Man. One that goes toe to toe
with J Jonah Jameson at the newspaper, or………….at least has a full time job. A Spider-Man that can hook up with Black Cat
and not be having the teenage girlfriend drama ALL THE TIME. He doesn’t have to be Bruce Wayne, he doesn’t
have to be super wealthy or a playboy, I’m just ready to see him reach
adulthood. You know? Something different, something fresh.
Something “Spectacular” maybe?
This is Black Cat. I was too afraid to do a Google Image Search at work...that's how seksi her costume is
PS – Yes Sony Studios, I would be happy to write or direct
the next Spidey movie for you. You know
how to find me.
This...this is how you find me...with that light....you know the Spider-man light.?
Over the weekend I went day time drinking with some strangers at a dive bar, attended an art gallery showing with my sister, and lost my mind over the new Game of Thrones episode. Oh and also my taxes and the new Master Splinter.
On Saturday I decided to attend an unofficial "Meet A Yelper" event, which just consisted of about 12 to 15 people meeting at a local dive bar for a couple round of drinks. I don't know if you guys use Yelp or not, but in short it's a user generated website, in which you can submit reviews about any restaurant, auto garage, nail salon, bar, etc. Yelp hosts several "Official Events" in which you can attend to sample local food but I usually wind up going alone to someplace in Downtown Dallas. I wind up all nervous and sweaty because it's hard meeting people when everyone else is part of a couple or group. So this "Meet A Yelper" event was a chance to meet people, one on one, for a change. I was stoked. Until I got to the parking lot. Then I panicked. "What if I can't find them?" "What if no one is there?" "What if I'm overdressed?" "What if I'm overdressed". I had to take a deep breath and get out of the car. I walked in like I belonged there and lo and behold, there was a group sitting out on the patio. I said hi, they made room for me and I was small talking like a mother f*cking champ. Then someone asked me if I had ever seen the show "Heroes" and then I quickly sucked them into my nerdy gravitational force. It was awesome, and I had like four Tang-flavored margaritas.
At the gallery showing for my sister's friend I met another blogger. ANOTHER BLOGGER! Brittany Burke runs Ravishing in Plaid, a fashion and lifestyle blog. She is so fresh and young that I would have never guessed she is married and a full-time working mom of a three year old. Meeting people in public is on the opposite end of the same spectrum as writing a blog. You get instant feedback, which is a blast! Brittany and I gabbed about our frustration about not being able to take awesome DIY project pictures during the day, since you know we both work at a office and we were so envious about those light, white and bright photos you see on EVERYBODY'S blogs. We exchanged business cards and promised to send each tips or news. Go check her cute blog when you've got time.
Sunday I was going to go to the Fort Worth Main Street Art Festival but it got cancelled due to the super-strong winds. I wasn't too upset, seeing as I still needed to do my taxes and I really, really trying to save some money. Before that I thought I would pop down to Walmart to pick up some dog food. Yes, I said Walmart. I did some price sourcing for their plants and Terra cotta pots, when I stumbled across some succulents that been spray painted. Have you ever seen this before? Painted plants? Does this not kill the plant?
They were very colorful but seemed like plant cruelty. Not my thing.
So after my little shopping trip I was still in a procrastinating mood so I sat down to watch Game of Thrones, yeah the Purple Wedding episode, and a new episode of Bob's Burgers, and the new The Bletchley Circle episode. Suffice it to say, I did not watch MTV or Mad Men because I have long since stopped caring but I DID make it a point to see the newest Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlestrailerwhich showed a sneak peek at the new version of Master Splinter.
A Fu Manchu ??? He's supposed to be Japanese.
You know those Bounty Paper towel commercials? Where the mom uses Bounty and another off-brand paper towel to wash a pile of grapes or whatever, suspending them over the kitchen sink? That wet paper towel, straining under the weight, is my suspension of disbelief, like right before this trailer ever happened.
I don't remember the pool balls, I somehow remember them being grapes, probably because it makes more sense.
I can somehow believe in man-sized turtles, I can handle a white Shredder, I can believe that turtles can be taught ninjitsu. What ruins it for me? What makes my paper towel collapse in the middle in a jagged hole? Splinter wearing a FU MANCHU BEARD! There is no plausible reason why this should exist. Plus his character will be voiced by Tony Shalhoub, yep the nebbish guy from Monk. Tony Shalhoub is an amazing actor, but Splinter he is not. That rat already looks like Ben Kingsley's the Mandarin character so why not add him to the cast?
Now it's just curtains for me. I have zero desire. My anticipation has been sucked out of me faster than a crawdad at a crawfish boil. I hate this movie already.
So how was your weekend? Awkward transition, I know. Drop me a line in the comments!
Smells like Teen Spirit.....and uhh ninjas....and tur...tles???
Ever wonder why, my dear readers, I will sometimes greet you as "my ninjas"? This is because I have a deep affection for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, as most adults my age do. (Yes we're Adults now!) The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT for short, were four brothers that worked as a team. This use of "Ninja" became a term of endearment at my work, since I work so closely together with my co-workers. We have each others' back. We are a TEAM!
Now as the oldest sibling, Leonardo aka the Blue One, is the leader of the team. He's not the strongest, that's Raphael. He's not the smartest, that's Donatello. He is definitely not the funny one, that's Michelangelo but he is the boss. He's a little serious, a little bossy but he leads because he loves his family and his brothers. As a kid, I GOT Leo. As the oldest sibling myself, I understood his struggle to lead, especially whenever he doubted himself or became frustrated that he was held more accountable than anyone else. Growing up, my parents told me it was my job to protect my two younger sisters whenever my parents couldn't be there. I got in trouble if my sisters got in trouble, because I knew better and failed to keep them in line. Yep, I was Leo just without the sweet swords, ninja training, and turtle DNA.
I went to see the last TMNT animated movie at the movie theater by myself. I actively watch every episode of the current TMNT animated tv series on Nickelodeon. So yeah, I gonna judge the hell out of the new trailer for Michael Bay's live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.
My verdict? This looks a whole lot like the Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy. Like shot for shot. Let's break it down, shall we? Please be advised, none of these images are mine but that's kinda obvious.....right?
So first up in the trailer we see overhead shots of a big city, I assume it's New York but really it could be Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, anywhere. This is followed by a shot of a terrorist shooting a gun, dressed in black, then followed by a helicopter hovering over the city. Fair enough, this is the same setup for any action movie trailer or drama these days. Then we see a large radio tower get destroyed. Large scale destruction appears in most action movie trailers but consistently appears in the Nolan Bat-verse.
Gotham City Bridge....Bane prefers blasting bridges to burning them
During these shots we hear a white male's voice-over describe the decline of honor, justice and heroes. Again no real surprise here, it's been done before.
In the Dark Knight trailer it's Michael Caine.
In TMNT it's William Fichtner, apparently he plays Shredder AND he was also in the Dark Knight.
Next up in the TMNT trailer we see armed criminals being ambushed in a subway station. Literally being thrown against the walls. We do not get a glimpse of the attackers. Seem familiar? That would because the first scene in which Batman fights in Batman Begins takes place in a shipping container yard. He too, ambushes armed criminals while remaining unseen.
Okay well eventually he is seen.
I guess the Turtles get seen by April O'Neil too. On her digital camera, in the dark., while my camera can't even take a decent concert photo.
We see more city destruction in the trailer, the masses panicking, cop cars forming a blockade and then Leonardo leaps from a building donning ninja weapons and gear. Ninja weapons....hmm.......
Oh right,....
Yep, got it.
Then comes my favorite part, the turtles can be seen sliding down a snow-covered mountain, because their shells are like natural sleds, baby!
He did not clear that obstacle...at all...
THIS too appears in Batman Begins, when Bruce Wayne slides down a snow-covered mountain to save Liam Neeson's character.
Okay nerds, I know this scene occurs earlier that the mountain scene but I needed to show a lil context, so slow your roll, okay?
He (Bruce) had to literally slow his Master's roll (off a mountain)
I'm not saying the comparisons between the TMNT reboot and the Nolan Batverse is unfavorable, far from it. I realize this is just the very first trailer but I feel as though I have already seen a movie like this, Batman Begins, and I do not believe TMNT can top it at this point. This trailer just gives rise to too many questions. Where is Master Splinter? Who is the bad guy, the antagonist? The Foot Clan, the Kraang, Shredder? What does Raph or Donnie look like? What does Leonardo sound like? Is Casey Jones going to show up? What the hell happened to Mikey's face?
I mean, LOOK AT IT!!!!
I feel like the current animated series is totally hitting it out of the park, providing an updated version of the Turtles that includes all of the above elements,(Master Splinter, the Kraang, etc.) and yet wisely skip any Vanilla Ice references and "Cowabunga, dude!" What purpose would the live version hope to accomplish? A watered down version of Batman Begins? At this point, I'm not buying what Michael Bay is selling and I even buy the TMNT Lego sets, people! I guess, I'll just have to stay tuned.
What are your thoughts, my ninjas? Which turtle was/is your favorite? Are you excited for the reboot? I wanna know!
Don't know if you, my awesome readers, keep up on all the latest comic book movie news, like I do, but the full trailer for the new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxycame out this week.
I used to keep up with a lil' comic book called Nova. Which was about a superhero Richard Ryder, that became an intergalactic space cop with the Nova Corps. Kinda of like Green Lantern, except the Nova Corps got decimated at some point and Richard was the last of his kind. The very last Nova, except for the combined consciousness of the Nova Corps that resided in his helmet and acted very much like Tony Stark's Jarvis operating system.
This is Nova. He would do a bunch bad ass stuff like save the universe from collapsing and working with a dog-like alien that ran a space station at the edge of time. Totally not making this up.
Nova could also shoot energy rays from the palms of his hands. He was a lot like Green Lantern, crossed with Iron Man and with the Flash's personality. I know I'm mixing DC and Marvel characters but whatever.
Now frequently, Nova would team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, which was headed by Star Lord aka Peter Quill. Peter would don a bad-ass mask that looked part gas mask and part Nazi treasure hunter.
Star Lord with guns ablazing!
You can also see Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora and two others that may or may not have made the final cut.
Now, herein lies my rant, according to the trailer there is no Nova, party of one. There are the Nova Corps, that look to be all human. Their uniforms look like this.
Kinda like a cheap plastic version of Judge Dredd.
You see Chris Pratt as Star Lord but without the mask. Without the mask. Without the guns ablazing. Which is to say, "What is the freaking point!?!?!?"
I should also point out that Rocket Raccoon is a talking raccoon, one that sometimes the comic book writers like to bestow a British cockney accent upon. You know, like hell if he can walk, shoot guns, wear clothes, then why wouldn't he speak with a accent? My only issue? Bradley Cooper is the voice of Rocket Raccoon. So there is mostly likely not going to be an accent. I mean I don't know for sure, because you don't hear the raccoon in the trailer, and Bradley Cooper can speak French but I'm betting the accent won't be there.
So I'm still on the fence about this. I love Chris Pratt and he knocked it out of the park being in the Lego movie. I love the fact that they kept Groot in the lineup (the tree-looking man). I love that they allow Drax and Gamora to keep their green skin but I just, I don't know. I guess only time and more trailers will tell.
PS - What the hell do I gotta do to get a Black Panther movie made, Marvel? Marry Stan Lee?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments, my Guardians of this Galaxy!
I feel the need to show my nerd side today. I am a closeted Batman nerd and have been
since 1992, when Batman Returns showed in theaters. Batman is my Star Wars,
Danny Elfman is my John Williams, Tim Burton my George Lucas.
I was too young to watch any of the original trilogy of Star
Wars in the theaters. I came of age when
the second Batman film was showing and later when Batman: The Animated Series
became my Bible, my jam, my life as a 12 year old.
So I have a near-all-encompassing lexicon of the Batman
movies which has bleed into the comics, and cartoons. I have yet to tackle all the video games but
own and have played Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Origins.
I pick apart any comic book movie like a Southern Belle mama
does her beauty pageant offspring. I get
a nerd boner that lasts long and stays hard.
BUT I usually hide it.
I don’t wear Batman t-shirts but I have pretty sweet Batman
watch that my 10 year old twin sisters gave me for Christmas this year. I don’t have Batman plastered all over my
walls but I have almost every DVD box set made.
My sweet effin' watch.
So now I want to bring up the latest Batman movie, 2012’s “The
Dark Knight Rises”. Don’t tell me you
haven’t watched it, ‘cause you probably did, with your boyfriend, because it’s
actually cool and hip and all to openly love Batman, now.
Ok…ahem…HERE BE SPOILERS………………...............................................................................
