Some early Cool Things Coming Up at the 2011 New York Comic Con

Posted on 09/09/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

First of note is the nine course dinner at wd-50 with food writer and SVP of Creative at Marvel C.B. Cebulski and former Vertigo editor turned Marve Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. Oh and Joe Quesada will be there too. While I personally would rather spend $606 and have an even LARGER meal at wd-50 with some close friends, this event is the perfect opportunity for 10 folks who want to make their NYCC experience even more amazing. If I had $550, I’d probably go, but I don’t… so, there’s that!

Opening night for folks who can afford themselves 4 day tickets there will be a very special concert from DJ Z-Trip. Labeled as America’s favorite DJ these days and one of the original kings of mash-up, this could be an exciting addition to events. This one is free to 4 day ticket holders and while it may seem like there’s no pop-culture tie in, one would be wrong. On closer scrutiny one of the songs that first got Z-Trip noticed was his re-mix of the RUSH classic “Tom Sawyer” which got featured in the cult classic SMALL SOLDIERS starring  a teenage Kirsten Dunst, a teenage Greg Smith (famous now for the TV series Everwood and Rookie Blue and the film, Hobo With a Shotgun), some of the world’s greatest stand-ups (Dennis Leary, David Cross, Jay Mohr, Phil Hartman) and a who’s-who of classic Hollywood as the voices of the toys (including Ernest Borgnine and Frank Langella).   If you need some extra incentive to check the concert out, go to Z-Trip’s website where you can download almost all his albums for free.

Also notable is the Speed Dating event.  I really wanted to attend this at last year’s convention and scheduling of private press events, walking the floor and meeting certain folks preempted it.  This year I feel it is an experience I should have as both an attractive, eligible nerd bachelor and as a pop-culture journalist.

There are many comic book releases, debuts and toys at the show this year.  None of the panels have been announced other than the Jay & Silent Bob Get Old Live ticketed event.  As much as I enjoy them, I listen to Smodcast enough and have seen the Kevin live speaking DVDs, I don’t need to see them live, but it could be a great experience for someone else.

As time gets closer I’ll plan to try and break down the panels, IGN Theatre events, various booth happenings and possible exclusive press events I’ll be involved in.  I hope you  look forward to that.

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It’s All About Hair Transplants

Posted on 08/31/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Novel: PLUGGED

Author: Eoin Colfer

Publication Date: September 1, 2011 in the US (already out in the UK)

Best known for the crazy and wild antics of boy genius ARTEMIS FOWL, as well as what is concidered the sixth book in Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Trilogy, …AND ANOTHER THING, Eoin Colfer’s first tackle at crime noir drama is painstakingly brutal, humorous and nail biting.

Before I approach my scattered, possibly altered thoughts on the awesome PLUGGED I want to address the concept of ...AND ANOTHER THING being titled the SIXTH book. In essence this is untrue and discounts Doug’s unfinished, but still published posthumously SALMON OF DOUBT. Originally constructed to be the third book in the Dirky Gently series and indeed pretty much published as such, it is fairly known that Adams intended for it to become the “final” chapter in Hitchhiker’s. While …AND ANOTHER THING is a cleverly written book in which Eoin proves his stellar writing abilities, it really should be titled NOT REALLY, BUT KIND THE SOXTH BOOK, NOT THAT ANYONE”S COUNTING PER SE (or something akin to that).

In PLUGGED, Eoin brings us into a very bleak, troubled world, one that is cloistered, hidden, almost like a darkened stranglehold. It’s a place few would venture and even fewer would even consider. Yet it is also bitingly funny. There is an intense amount of dark humour (sic) in this book. It is mozzenfocking crazy I’m telling you. It is also pure modern noir and while reading it I could not help but envision it as a film. Although my cast isn’t completely not locked down. While it seems a perfect vehicle for say Vinnie Jones or Jason Statham, I also envision it being something Colin Farrell could bite his teeth into. Possibly Stuart Townsend, or maybe even Cillian Murphy. If it was 10-15 years ago it would easily be something Gabriel Byrne, Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson would be fighting each other for. While all those actors are very different, they all have a few things in common. They’re Irish, they can pull off being creepy badasses, and they have the acting talent to be a leading man who is serious, cynical, slightly crazy and amazingly charming all in one breath.

That is exactly what lead character in PLUGGED is. In my Unrevised and Unppublished edition I have for the use of this review his name is Dan McEvoy, but marketing on Amazon.com suggests this was changed Linc, which is short for Lincoln. I’m really hoping this is wrong, as Daniel just works way better. At least in my opinion.

On top of Daniel, the book is filled with amazing characters, all of them also larger than life, full of grit, and feeling all like they’ve stepped out of a 1930’s Dashiell Hammett novel, read a primer on the last 70 years of history and jumped right back into modern times. You got a wacky unlicensed doctor, a slimy sleazeball lawyer with mafia ties, a smalltime gangster who’s the big fish in a little pond, the crazy broad upstairs, the dyke like cop with sex appeal. Plus you have all the plot twists one would expect, conspiracy, murder, betrayal, coverups, drugs, smuggling, etc.

Is this starting to sound more like hype than a book review? That tends to happen when I really enjoyed something. I start overselling it. Maybe I want it to be mine and no one elses, but that wouldn’t be fair. People who enjoy a good detective mystery crime drama noir with messed jokes and crazy surrealism shouldn’t miss this one.

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Imaginary Friends and Letting Go

Posted on 08/31/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Got a late start to the day.  Had some food, then watch a movie and then put together a new thing for the bathroom, might paint later with the special art kit that was purchased for me as a gift to try and generate.

The movie was PAPER MAN.  The critics lambasted this one, but I enjoyed it a lot.

It stars Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow Kieran Culkin and Ryan Reynolds as Captain Excellent.

Daniels is a published but not completely successful, but admired enough author with extreme writer’s block.  His wife is a very rich and on top of her career doctor.  To break the writer’s block, Daniels is going to live in a small house in The Hamptons to clear up his mind and hopefully his life which is in shambles and break the writer’s block.  Kudrow is the wife, Emma is a girl he meets there and Reynolds is his imaginary best friend and superhero.

That’s all I’m going to tell you about the story as I think this is one you should actually seek out and might find inspiring and helpful in pushing one’s proverbial ass off the couch.  Yes, it means sitting on the couch to watch it, but sometimes one needs inspiration to be inspired.

The movie also has great music and I went and looked up all the singers and bands:
MARK McADAM
LITTLE JOY
THE INCREDIBLE CASUALS
ALL POINTZ WEST
EARLIMART
MOTHERBOARD
BEULAH

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An Assassin and an Adventurer walk into a bar

Posted on 08/31/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Since I’ve started writing about video games, I thought I’d link to a few videos and discuss two of the games I am looking forward to most as 2011 comes to a close and discuss their history in some detail as well.

The first is Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. This will the fourth game in the series and the third game that is part of a story arc. In the game you play a young man named Desmond who is placed in a machine and can live out the memories of your ancestors. In the first game you met Altair, a Master Assassin from the Byzantine era of the Middle East, you travel around Syria, Jerusalem and more assassinating key figures in the Holy Wars, only to discover it was all a ploy of your mentor seeking power for himself in an item of much power, you defeat him, but what happens next in Altair’s legend remains unknown. In the second game you met Ezio, a young man learning the ways of becoming an Assassin during the Renaissance period of Italy. You face The Borgia, defeating The Pope and his sons through the second game and then a third called Brotherhood in which you start training Assassins yourself. You also become good friends with folks such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Copernicus and Machiavelli (so the game is really based on real history). In Revelations, you return to Ezio in his old age, in which Ezio is now seeking to find out what happened to Altair, before the first game and after. At the same time, Desmond is trapped in a special black world because of stuff that happened in Brotherhood. So you play as all three trying to piece together all the answers.

The first video just will show you how amazing the story telling, acting and animation is, especially in the upcoming game along with a commentary track from the developers.

Oh and the Game developers have so much love for the game and the series they even made a Live Action film called LINEAGE which is about Ezio’s father, who was also an Assassin.

They also put together an animated film called Ascendance.

And another animated film is coming out called EMBERS.

Oh and there have also been two books and a comic book, and these were not adaptations, but stories that take place in between the game or in the same world of the game, but in a different section!

Oh I forgot to mention that Desmond also has friends and partners in the games, helping him in the machine. There’s the hot blonde, voiced by Kirsten Bell (Veronica Mars, Heroes, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), the cute brunette tech girl and the British researcher.

Another game I am super excited about is UNCHARTED 3.  Uncharted are the adventures of Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter/former thief who believes he is the ancestor of Francis Drake. Following clues from ancient legends he finds the home of amazing treasures once thought real, but forever lost. In the first game he followed clues from Francis Drake to find the fabled El Dorado. In the second game, once again following clues from a diary by Francis Drake, Nathan goes in search of Shamballah. In the third game he will follow the lead of T.E. Lawrence in search of Iram of the Pillars. In the third game incluence will also be taken from the classic film “Lawrence of Arabia”. Drake has had various partners. His main one is Sully, an older dude who is really tough played classic character actor Richard McGonagle, Elena, a journalist played the lovely Emily Rose, Chloe a tough as nails Brit played by Farscape’s Claudia Black and Harry played Magician and Comedy actor Steve Valentine. The games have also featured Rene Auberjonois and Simon Templeman, the third game has very popular British actress Rosalind Ayres as the bad guy.
Nolan North plays Nathan Drake and he’s so good, he also plays Desmond in Assassin’s Creed and the voices are similiar but quite different, not a distraction as in going “Wait, he sounds just like Nathan Drake”.

Nolan is much more suited to play Nathan though, which you can see is this live action commercial for the third game starring Nolan North, it is very funny, Nolan is fantastic, sort of like David Boreanaz, Bruce Campbell and Nathan Fillion having a love child:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/08/25/uncharted-3-drakes-deception-collectors-edition-unboxed/

The game has also had a Motion Comic prequel.

It also has a comic coming soon and a novel telling a story not in the games by Christopher Golden.

Video games when you really analyze them like this have come a long long long way. I know most of know this, but how frequently do you sit down and think about it?

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A Gaggle of Outdated but Still Relevant Links

Posted on 08/31/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

First up the band OK Go did an awesome cover version of The Muppets Theme song and then did an Official video for it with The Muppets to promote the special Green Album which is full of official cover versions of some of Jim Henson’s greatest hits.

I don’t care about this one, BUT, hey the trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is LIVE.

Here’s a Teaser Trailer for the next PIXAR flick BRAVE which is about Irish legends and hot redhead as the hero, looks a bit Dreamworks Animation than PIXAR I feel.

Trailers for books are getting really crazy. I’ve seen a few impressive ones before, but this is the biggest movie trailer like one yet, well more like a TV series trailer, but still. It’s for a fantasy action series called The Black Prism.

Book promotions have become so crazy they made a FACEBOOK game for the Eragorn series.

Here’s an article all about Alice Cooper’s new album and teaming up with Ke$ha, plus a preview.

I’m not sure how to use this movie collection software, but it’s free.

Best Music Video EVER, starring Patton Oswalt, directed by WFMU radio’s Tom Scharpling, great article and then the video.

For your interest and curiosity, New York Comic Con Show Specials and Exclusives.

Been watching this hilarious show called KIDS REACT on Youtube. They have 27 episodes so far. They have some really funny and cool kids on this, all the same kids each week, so you really get to learn about the kids as they react to popular things in the world.
The same production company also put together this fake SAVED BY THE BELL game, where you click through different videos based on a choice you make, sort of like Choose Your Own Adventure.

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Ranting on DC’s New 52, plus what comics should be (for me)

Posted on 08/09/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

I’d made a decision with DC’s New 52 to take advantage of thinking of it as a jumping off point. A perfect opportunity to start ordering less comics and focus my financial energies elsewhere.

This was not a boycott or a hatred of the re-launch. It seemed like a fine idea to me. Weird and strangely done, but I was ok with it. I was even feeling regretful when they announced books like ANIMAL MAN and the new Western title. Some of these books look great.

I really thought though that before the relaunches all the current books would have satisfying tie-ups where one could walk away from the book feeling like “It goes on, but this is a stop point.”. I expected no actual cliff-hangers.

Then I get Green Lantern #67, the conclusion to War of the Green Lanterns. Half the issue is a set up for Green Lantern #1. Maybe it’ll be tied up tightly in Aftermath of the War, but I betting that that book will instead be filler for the month Green Lantern isn’t published. This pisses me off.

I am just going to have to reconcile myself to not care.

I am slowly trying to drop some Marvel books as well.

Even if money was no object I’d be doing this. I need to taper off the books, as the stories are becoming to hit or miss.

I’d rather focus all my energies on more “independent books” that have been consistent or newer properties that have great creators behind them and not a lot of messy continuity.

Here are four books that fit that category now currently for me.

Sergio Aragonés’ Funnies: Published by BONGO as Sergio has been doing some great Simpson’s stuff for them, it is great to see Sergio let loose. He is a funny funny man and funnier than ever here.

Roger Landridge’s Snarked: Everything Landridge touches is gold, Fred the Clown, Thor, The Muppets and now he’s tackling Lewis Carroll. The #0 reprints Hunting of the Snark and Walrus and the Carpenter and I cannot wait to see how he expands the Wonderland Universe. I trust he will do even better than Tommy Kovak and Sonny Liew, even though that was an amazing book.

The Boys: Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson continue to kick ass on this book. Russ Braun as the current artist as Darrick tackles Butcher’s origin is amazing and John McCrea has done some of the best work of his life here as well.

The Unwritten: While I’m not reading DC Comics anymore, I’ll be sticking with Vertigo. Scalped ends at issue #60… so that leaves me Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. It’s truly one of the most compelling books I get monthly.

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Nerd Notes (Music, Comics and Movies!) 8-09-2011

Posted on 08/09/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Some of these I’m “late to the party” but that doesn’t make them any less insignificant or worthy of mention still.

New 303H! single/video for the song “ROBOT” from their forthcoming album.

Interview and video link for the Drew Barrymore’s directed music video “Our Deal” by The Best Coast starring Alia Shawkat, Miranda Cosgrove, Tyler Posey, Donald Glover and Chloe Moretz

The Wrong Ferrarri, a movie made by and starring songwriter Adam Green, with appearances by Macauley Culkin, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Lewis, Corey Kennedy, and many more people you might know.

A 20th Anniversary Tribute Album to Nirvana’s “Nevermind” put together by SPIN with tracks by Meat Puppets, Butch Walker, Vaselines, Amanda Palmer and more. Some really great stuff on this one.

Jim Lawson, comic artist most famous for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after Laird & Eastman, has posted the sequel to his excellent dinosaur comic PALEO (which is in my drawers somewhere) as a blog/webcomic.

Good casual point and click mystery game based on TNT’s Rizolli & Isles.

Now some Movie Trailers!

TWIXT: Francis Ford Copolla’s newest with Val Kilmer in the lead, as a horror novelist studying a murder mystery.

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY: The first feature film adaptation of the John Le Carre’s “classic” starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth,

RESURRECT DEAD-THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES: Fascinating documentary of a truly compelling subject.

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New Fall/Winter Network Primetime Shows (What I Care About and What I Don’t)

Posted on 08/04/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

No Reality Shows for this overview, and many of these new shows might not last than one episode based on how I enjoy them. Also returning shows that I like more will topple any new show. Also Cable Television has done some upfronts but haven’t really shown off what they have coming in the Fall. I know White Collar and Royal Pains will have their returns and I know TNT will have something as will ABC Family and who knows what else? Maybe Comedy Central will start something something. Here’s those Network shows debuting in the Fall and Winter that have enough stuff on the internet to get a judge of something I even want to bother checking out. I’m basing my reactions on the marketing/trailers the networks have provided, not on the actual casts, writing teams, etc. As it’s been proved, good actors are in bad things and good creators sometimes fail… so yeah… anyways, Away We GO!

Extra Note: With the ones I care I’ll just be pointing out why I want to watch and just assume I liked the trailers. With the one I don’t care about I got snarky as all let out.

CARE
Comedies
NBC
Free Agents: Hank Azaria
Up All Night: Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph

CBS
How to Be a Gentleman: Kevin Dillon!

ABC
Apartment 23: Krysten Ritter, James Van Der Beek
Suburgatory: Jeremy Sisto, Rex Lee, Cheryl Hines
Last Man Standing: The entire cast!

FOX
New Girl: Zooey Deschannel!

Drama/Action/Genre
FOX
Terra Nova: Looks like a great sci fi series.
Alcatraz: Prison Break meets LOST with some other weirdness thrown in
The Finder: Abnormal Procedural show, spin-off of BONES, Michael Clarke Duncan

CBS
Unforgettable: Unusual cop show
Person of Interest: Twist on the crime show, created by Jonathan Nolan, stars Michael Emmerson

NBC
Prime Suspect: Maria Bello
The Playboy Club: Amber Heard, David Krumholtz, something different
Grimm: With this and Once Upon A Time on the air, with FABLES now in production as well, it might be too much Fairy Tale stuff, but the trailer for this had awesome effects
Awake: This doesn’t debut for awhile, but it looks like the most compelling show in forever. This is the show B.D. Wong walked away from SVU to be involved in. I actually have not been as excited for a show this much since the never picked up Pretty/Handsome. This was created by the guy who gave us the awesome but short-lived Lonestar
Smash: Katherine McPhee, Meg Hilty, Angelica Huston, Megan Hilty and Marc Shaiman music!

ABC
Pan Am: Christina Ricci and just something different.
Once Upon a Time: See above about Grimm, but this also has Ginner Goodwinn

The CW
Hart of Dixie: Rachel Bilson and it reminds me of Doc Hollywood, but with a girl.

DON’T CARE

Comedies
CBS
2 Broke Girls: Kill Me!

ABC
Work It: Kill me now!
Good Christian Belles: Bring me back to life and then kill me again.
Man Up!: Ad nauseum!

FOX
Allen Gregory: This might be the worse cartoon made in forever. Jonah Hill as the lead voice… horrible characters. It’s a shame the animation is fantastic.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter: I almost ripped my eyes out and I love Jamie Pressly.

NBC
Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea: I’m sad that the trailer for this is so bad, as I love Laura Prepon with an intensity.
Best Friends Forever: Don’t know either of them… and ugh!
Bent: The same can be said here… absolutely love the cast, but… just fell flat.
Whitney: I actually dont like her.

Drama/Action/Genre
ABC
Charlie’s Angels: Why?!?!?
Revenge: Just didn’t grab me…
The River: Same here… documentary style horror as TV show? pass…

CBS
A Gifted Man: Not compelled by the plot here.

The CW
Ringer: I can see where this might be good, especially with Sarah Michelle Gellear in the role, but something just doesn’t call to me.
The Secret Circle: If you love The Vampire Fiaries, then you’d love this, I’m just not the target.

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Things about Captain America: The First Avenger in bullet point format for all the bullets that flew in the movie

Posted on 07/26/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

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• There’s a Winter Soldier figure in the toy line for the film… This has nothing to do with the film, but maybe it does? There are distinct references.
• None of the Howling Commandoes are mentioned by name during the film, only in the credits. That was kind of weird.
• This may be the bets origin story for Steve Rogers ever.
• There are little nods to Marvel history, but they blink or you miss it and also the kind of references that you REALLY need to know your Marvel stuff to really catch. One of them was quite the tease and I hope there’s a chance it makes an impression in later Marvel Studios Universe.
• That super serum is way more powerful than ever. It doesn’t just enhance your body, but your brain. At least that’s how it seemed with how good Cap suddenly got without training and be a dog & pony show for months.
• The dog & pony show sequence was awesome.
• The origin for Red Skull was pretty excellent.
• There was no Strucker or Zemo, although I guess that’d make things complicated
• Peggy Carter is British, I’m not sure if this actually means anything since before the invention of Sharon Carter, Peggy was basically an unnamed girl working in the French Resistance who went on a date or two with Cap.
• Dominic Cooper does a pretty good Mad Men like twist on a Robert Downey Jr. impression, which essentially is what he said he did to prepare for the role in interviews (studied the son and older version of the character from IM2)
• Tommy Lee Jones was pretty awesome for an old man.
• Pre-serum Rogers kind of looks like a bobblehead at times, but it isn’t too bad.

I LOVE the “twists”/re-thoughts on the origin:
• James Barnes and Steve Rogers being the same age and best friends back in Brooklyn
• Red Skull being the first failed super soldier and the twists that the serum can bring out the best or worst in people.
• Rogers having to prove he’s right for the program even though Erskine handpicked him.
• The whole war bond promoter section where he’s wearing a version of the regular costume and the only reason he decides it’s time to go to battle is because he thinks Bucky is a POW or dead and he wants to recover him.
• Then biggest thing is that Captain America has no secret identity. The world knows he is Steve Rogers. That has been done before in comics, in certain ways, but never from “day one”.

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Optimo Visualize

Posted on 07/22/2011 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

On June 30th, the artist WERDS/Joshua Pacheco had an excellent show in midtown right off the Highline in New York City.  Canvases, aerosol and lots of energy went into this dynamic show and many friends as well as his family showed up.  I was honored to take shots for him and his family.

The star image of the show was this amazing piece.  Werds is actually recreating/recreated this piece on the back of a truck.  Following is a progress shot of that.

As I mentioned Josh’s folks came out and what  wonderful people they are.

Look at his dad, what a mack!

 

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