They Shall Not Grow Old

A Look Into The Life Of A Soldier

I recently witnessed the documentary They Shall Not Grow Old with a friend at my local movie theater. In all honesty, this isn’t necessarily the type of film that I like to watch on the big screen. I prefer to watch documentaries on PBS, National Geographic, or TLC where they belong. Knowing that Peter Jackson had a hand in this particular documentary, however, had me intrigued.

Using actual footage shot during the Great War and interviews recorded by the BBC and the Imperial War Museum, Peter Jackson and his production team painstakingly spliced a story together that gives the viewer an uncensored and blunt look at life in the trenches. It is humorous, horrible, and humbling to watch this documentary play out in front of me.

The documentary starts off in black and white with footage playing of normal life in England just days prior to the war. It then moves into footage of young men (some lying about their age) joining up for the cause and then going through basic training.

It is at this point that the black and white footage comes to life in color as the war starts. The rest of the documentary goes on to show the day-to-day lives of soldiers as they march to the front line and face off against an enemy that many of them didn’t understand why they were fighting in the first place. They also battle frostbite, snipers, artillery fire, mud, blood, and muck.

We also get to see life away from the front. We witness soldiers goofing off, playing soccer, boxing, prepping equipment and weaponry for the soldiers currently in the field of action, etc. They tell us about experiences in brothels and bars and how many times those places (humorously) were just as dangerous as the warzone.

We then return to the front and experience the final push through No Man’s Land and into the German trenches. We see soldiers from both sides interact with one another and listen as the interviews talk about how all of the men got along with one another for the most part. We then get a brief glimpse at their return home and learn about the ill treatment that they received for fighting in the war.

Peter Jackson and his crew outdid themselves. This documentary is simply brilliant. If you do get a chance to see this film, I highly recommend staying for the Making Of documentary that takes place after the credits. It goes into great detail about how each voice, each sound, and each visual was worked on in order to give the viewer the truest visual and audible presentation of life in the trenches. This documentary has moments of great happiness, great sadness, and outright horror.

It’s brilliant. Go see it.

Thanks for reading this review. I’ll be heading to Louisiana Comic Con in just a few weeks and I’ll also be attending CyPhaCon in April. I hope to see you all there!

Doom Patrol Episode #1

Streaming On DC Universe

Can an unlikely team of misfits save the DC Universe? Possibly. Depending on who you talk to (including tons of rumor mill websites that get most information incorrect), the young streaming service is either struggling to find an audience or winning over new viewers every day. I’m one of those new viewers that hopped onboard back in November of last year. At the time, Titans and DC Daily were the only original programs. The rest of the service was filled with a rotating menu of DC related films, television shows, animated films and series, and a nice selection of comics to read as well as news and interactive forums. In either case, I believe that Doom Patrol might seal the deal with more subscribers.

Early last year, it was reported that a spin-off series of Titans featuring the characters introduced in the episode Doom Patrol would get their own series. By July, it became official. April Bowlby (Elasti-Girl), Matt Bomer (voice of Negative Man), and Brendan Fraser (voice of Robotman) would be joined by newcomers Diane Guerrero (Crazy Jane) and Joivan Wade (Cyborg). Timothy Dalton would have a recurring role as the Chief, who was originally played by Bruno Bichir in the Titans episode. The bodies of Negative Man and Robotman would be portrayed by Dwain Murphy and Jake Michaels, respectively.

The first episode was released on February 15, 2019 with more episodes to follow every Friday just like DC Universe did with the release of Titans. This first episode is narrated by another character that is introduced to the series, Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk). Without giving too much away, it appears that Mr. Nobody will be the primary antagonist for this series’ first season.

The episode is essentially one big origin story for most of the characters. We get a glimpse at the creation of Robotman, Negative Man, and Elasti-Girl as well as a description of Crazy Jane’s powers. Noticeably absent from the episode is Cyborg, who will apparently play a larger role in later episodes. I hope that he eventually crosses over to Titans, as these shows take place within the same universe.

The show has an offbeat quirk to it that was first introduced in Titans. These misfits shouldn’t work as a team but somehow they do. You don’t need to watch the Titans episode where most of these characters are introduced to enjoy them in their own show, but it’s a nice introduction to just how oddball this crew really is.

The episode moved along quickly and held my interest. While the characters are definitely oddballs, the humor that connects the links of the story often gives way to deeper drama. If you’ve seen Titans, this series is definitely lighter (at least based on the first episode), but it’s a lot more adult as well. The language is much stronger and there’s more “exposure” during intimate scenes as well. I’m only mentioning this in case anybody is thinking about letting their children watch this series. The violence level is yet to be determined, but even if it’s only as violent as Titans, you might want to wait until showing this series to your kids.

I really enjoyed the pilot episode. It’s ending was wide open and will no doubt lead into the second episode. There’s plenty of humor in the show but there’s also plenty of danger and drama as well. The Chief loves his family, but he expects them to play by his rules. When they don’t, things can get out of hand. I believe that this dysfunctional family atmosphere might be just intriguing enough to attract new subscribers.

If you aren’t a subscriber to DC Universe, you need to check it out. Along with Titans, Doom Patrol, and DC Daily, the streaming service plans to add even more original programming including shows featuring Swamp Thing, Stargirl, and Harley Quinn (an animated series). They also have weekly contests and are continually asking their subscribers for input. As a result of this input, the service recently added thousands of comics to the DC Universe and made a few technical changes as well. It’s nice to know that they are listening to their subscribers and their fans.

One other bit of news! CyPhaCon approved my media pass, so I’ll be in attendance this year and will be writing a full review of the event once it is complete. Keep an eye out for announcements about that event and other conventions as well.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be posting again very soon!


Announcements!!!

Lake Charles, LA

In January, the Lake Charles Film Festival announced that its first guest of honor would be none other than Michael Gray, Billy Batson from the 1974-1976 CBS television series Shazam! The series celebrates its 45th anniversary this year and the character of Captain Marvel, now referred to as Shazam, will be getting his own feature film on April 5th starring Zachary Levi. This announcement alone should make festival attendees excited.

The festival wasn’t done surprising us, however, as today it was announced that John Davey, Captain Marvel from the TV series, will also be attending the film festival! Davey portrayed the character starting in the second season and remained with the series until it ended in 1976. This film festival is turning out to be a big celebration of Shazam! Both gentlemen will be on hand to talk about their careers, how to navigate through the film industry, and to sign autographs and take photos with fans. Last year’s festival was a fun event, and I can’t wait to attend this year!

As I mentioned above, DC and Warner Bros. will be releasing Shazam! on the big screen in April. I plan on checking the film out and reviewing it as soon as possible, so be on the lookout for that later this year.

In more DC news, DC Universe will be releasing the first episode of Doom Patrol on the streaming service on this Friday, February 15th. Fans that aren’t familiar with the oddball team of heroes can either check them out at local comic book stores or catch a glimpse of them in DC Universe’s Titans series episode #4, “Doom Patrol.” The series will star Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan as Robotman, April Bowlby as Elasti-Woman, Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane, Matt Bomer and Matthew Zuk as Negative Man, Joivan Wade as Cyborg, Timothy Dalton as the Chief, and Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody. Hopefully the series will keep the lighter tone of the characters set in Titans.

Don’t forget that I’ll be attending Louisiana Comic Con in March. I’m hosting a panel that I still don’t want to announce at the moment, but I hope that it ignites a certain group of collectors to become more vocal about their collections. I’m still waiting on other conventions to reply to me about either media passes or panels. As soon as I hear from them, I’ll announce when and where I’ll be at the conventions.

Well, that’s all for now. I can’t wait to see some of you at Louisiana Comic Con next month. If you’d like me to attend any conventions in your area, tell the convention about me! I’d love to meet my readers and hang out with all of you!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be posting about the Doom Patrol episode over the weekend and plan on making at least one more post this week.



Black Series Archive 2019

Star Wars’ Version Of The Disney Vault?

I was strolling through a local Walmart the other day and decided to walk down the toy aisle. I was hoping to find some new blind bags to collect but I found some old Star Wars toys instead. Specifically, I found four “new” Hasbro Black Series Star Wars figures. Unlike your standard boxed 6″ Star Wars Black Series figures, these figures came on a card like more traditional action figures. They weren’t entirely new, though, as all four figures were re-releases of four highly sought after Black Series figures.

The first figure that I saw was original Black Series Figure #1, Luke Skywalker, dressed in his X-wing pilot uniform. I was a bit confused. I hadn’t heard of the Black Series Archive line and was wondering if this figure was somehow different from the original figure in some way. I own the original figure, so I didn’t really have any interest in this one, but it is slightly different from the original. How? According to starwars.com, the paint application is more advanced than it was when this figure initially came out five years ago. They are using the same molds, but are applying new photo realistic technology that “adds depth and nuance to facial features, bringing new life to older figures.” (Steve Evans, https://www.starwars.com/news/first-look-hasbro-black-series-archive-wave-2)

The initial release includes the Luke Skywalker figure along with three bounty hunters: IG-88, Bossk, and the highly sought after Boba Fett. By putting these figures back into the market, they are allowing collectors to grab a re-issue of the original figures for around the same price as they were sold for when they were first released. Online resellers are notorious for purchasing figures and then reselling them at insanely bloated prices. Some of them go for four and fives times their original MSRP. Repackaging and selling the figures again takes the greedy resellers out of the equation.

Since the release of these four figures, I’ve noticed prices drop dramatically on their original versions, some going for less than their MSRP. Figures that haven’t been released or announced yet still draw upwards of $75 or more. There are a few figures from the original line that I missed that I really would like to have in my collection, but being a box opener (I just made a few collectors cringe), I have neither the desire nor the funds to plunk down more than twenty or so bucks on a figure. The re-releases give me the chance to grab some of those that I missed.

The primary figure that I’m after is the Boba Fett figure. When he was originally released, I saw only one in the wild. He was at a local Books-A-Million and marked up about six bucks over MSRP. I decided that I would hold off on buying the figure and regretted doing so just a few days later. The figure’s price skyrocketed to over one hundred bucks online, and that’s just for the basic figure, not the San Diego Comic Con exclusive that was released in 2013. I did manage to nab the Walgreens Exclusive Prototype Boba Fett (the all white suit never used in the film), but I wanted the real deal. He is now available thanks to Hasbro.

More figures are coming this spring. Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, and a Biker Scout are scheduled to be released in April of this year. Apparently only seven Archive figures will be released this year, so it looks like Luke, Anakin, IG-88, Yoda, Boba Fett, Bossk, and the Biker Scout are the only figures we’ll be getting for 2019. That’s cool, but I do hope that at least one or two more figures are released prior to Christmas of this year.

I have collected most of the figures from the Black Series that I wanted, but a few have managed to slip through my fingers. In order of release, these are the figures that I missed and hope to get one day:

  • R2-D2
  • Stormtrooper
  • Boba Fett
  • Clone Trooper
  • Clone Commander Cody
  • Ahsoka Tano
  • Shock Trooper
  • Scarif Stormtrooper
  • Snowtrooper
  • Captain Rex
  • Han Solo (Solo: A Star Wars Story)

Sooner or later I’ll have to post a photo of my entire collection. I open almost all of my figures. The only exceptions that I’ve made are my Obi-Wan Black Series figure and my Walgreens Exclusive Boba Fett. Everyone else has been out of the box for awhile.

Do you collect Black Series figures? Are there any figures that you missed that you hope to see return to store shelves? Let me know in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading.

Read All About It!

All The News That’s Fit To Print

This post will be a mixed bag of good news and bad news. Let’s start things off with the best news right away and then work our way through the rest.

I’ve been approved for a panel at Louisiana Comic Con in March! I won’t be revealing any details at the moment, but it is currently scheduled for Saturday, March 16th. I don’t want to post the specific time yet since the final schedule hasn’t been released, but be sure to look for me at the convention if you plan on attending. As far as I know, no one in the region has ever hosted a panel about the topic I am addressing. Maybe more people will become interested in the topic or willing to talk about it once I present my panel.

Now for some bad news. Once again I will not be able to attend one of my favorite conventions, CoastCon, this year in Biloxi, MS. Not only is it a great convention, its location, The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, is one of my favorite places to attend conventions. Although I won’t be there, they have a ton of guests lined up including Jason Carter (pictured above), authors such as Kimberly Richardson, K.D. Wood, and Meleesa Swann, and artists such as Matthew Atchley. Below are just some of the guests that will be attending. If you are going, please let me know what you are most excited for in the comments section.

  • Diana Rowland
  • Damon Bowie
  • Sandy Petersen
  • J. Michael Tatum
  • Kimberly Richardson
  • K.D. Wood

Some more sad news is that beloved actress and Universal Monsters legend, Julie Adams, passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Although best known as Gill-Man’s love interest in The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Adams appeared in fifty films and multiple television shows. She has appeared in productions that featured Andy Griffith, Elvis Presley, Angela Lansbury, Jimmy Stewart, Raymond Burr, and Richard Conte, among others. I recently rewatched The Creature From The Black Lagoon and, as always, was captivated by her performance. Hopefully Universal will acknowledge her death in the near future. She will be sorely missed. She was one of the last surviving cast members of the classic Universal Monsters films. Condolences to her family during this time.

In other news, my son and I will be attending KISS’ End of the Road Tour in September. Tickets were secured over the weekend and neither one of us can wait for the show! This will be my son’s first concert and, sadly, one of KISS’ last shows. The band has been a big part of my life, especially in the last twenty or so years. I completely understand why they are calling it quits, but a part of me hopes that they will continue on with their solo projects. This will be the third time that I’ve seen the band and I can’t wait to share the experience of a KISS concert with my son.

I’m still waiting to hear back from a couple of other conventions about presenting panels. As soon as I hear from any of them, I’ll let all of you know when and where I’ll be presenting. Also, I hope to interview a few folks in the near future. If I haven’t interviewed you before or if you know someone who might want an interview, please contact me and I’ll get everything set up. I’m interested in interviewing cosplayers, artists, authors, actors, or anyone involved with the convention scene.

I’ll also be attending Calcasieu Serialfest Chapter 6 this summer at the Brimstone Museum in Sulphur, LA. This free, family friendly event is a great place to learn about the pioneers of science fiction, western, and superhero films. I’ll probably break out my Professor Zukov cosplay this year, so come check out this wonderful event!

As always, thank you for reading my post. I really do appreciate each and every comment, like, or share. I’ll be posting again later this week!

Throwback Thursday: Universal Monsters

Before Shared Universes Were Cool

I’ve been watching a lot of classic Universal Monsters films in recent weeks. I own all of the Legacy Collections that have been released so far except for The Invisible Man set. The recently released (August, 2018) Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30 Film Collection features all of the films and special features that I already own but also comes with a collector’s book and The Phantom of the Opera from 1943 starring Claude Rains. I can live without the book, but I really do need to pick up a copy of Phantom.

The earliest Universal Monsters films have been around for nearly a century. The silent version of The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney was released in 1925. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which also starred Chaney, was released in 1923. Hunchback is generally considered the first true Universal Monsters film, although an argument could be made for 1913’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which was distributed by Universal. In any case, fans almost universally agree that the most memorable monsters didn’t start arriving until the 1930’s.

Beginning with Bela Lugosi’s performance as the title character in February 1931’s Dracula, Universal started cranking out a ton of popular monster-based films. Frankenstein (November, 1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939) are just a few of the many films released during this time that drew crowds to the theater.

The 1940’s saw an even larger number of films released, albeit with fewer quality stories. Some of the films were sequels or what we now call “soft reboots” of films from the 1930’s. One such soft reboot was 1940’s The Mummy’s Hand, which was essentially the same tale as it’s 1932 predecessor but with western and serial actor Tom Tyler as the Mummy and a lot more humor injected into the script. Some of the sequels included Son of Dracula (1943) and The Invisible Woman (1940). The Phantom of the Opera was remade as a talkie featuring Claude Rains in the lead role.

The shining star of the 1940’s was Lon Chaney, Jr.’s turn as The Wolf Man in 1941. In a sea of mostly forgettable films and ensemble movies such as House of Frankenstein (1944) and numerous Abbott and Costello Meet…. flicks that closed out the decade and opened up the 1950’s, The Wolf Man instantly became one of the most recognized and beloved films of all time. Chaney gave a commanding performance and the story still holds up well to this day. The movie has been so well received that 1935’s Werewolf of London, which was a fine film in its own right, has been forgotten by many self-proclaimed Universal Monster fans.

The 1950’s saw fewer films released and the quality continued to degrade. The only real shining moment in the decade was 1954’s The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Released in 3D in order to cash in on that new-at-the-time technology, Creature is considered by many to be the last of the classic Universal Monsters movies. The film was such a success that two forgettable sequels were released back to back in 1955 and 1956.

The 1950’s marked the end of the Universal Monsters era. Universal has tried on a few occasions to revive the properties and have done so to varying degrees of success. A string of popular The Mummy films starring Brendan Fraser began in 1999 that would eventually spawn a spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson as The Scorpion King in 2002. That film would have multiple direct-to-DVD sequels. In 2010, The Wolfman attempted to update the classic tale of Lon Chaney, Jr.’s werewolf with modern special effects and changes to the original story that expanded the role of Larry Talbot’s father. I enjoyed the film, but it was ill-received by most audiences. Van Helsing (2004) was a visual feast and a love letter to the most popular classic monsters, but it was ultimately a stinker that never found the traction that Universal was hoping for in order to revive a dead tent pole franchise.

Universal’s boldest move to cash in on the success of their classic monsters came in 2017 whenever their Dark Universe was announced with the release of The Mummy. Starring Tom Cruise and a female version of the classic monster (portrayed by Sofia Boutella), the film was met with poor reviews from critics and, more importantly, little reaction from audiences. I liked the film as an action yarn, but found it weak as a true horror film. It did do a fine job of setting the stage for future films, but it doesn’t look like the Dark Universe will continue any time soon. As of this writing, the Dark Universe is in limbo and possibly dead.

So what keeps me coming back to the classic films? I don’t really know. Sure, I own the Brendan Fraser films and the Benicio del Toro starring The Wolfman remake, but I don’t watch them nearly as much as I do the original films. I will often have mini marathons of specific classic monsters throughout the year. At the moment I am watching all of the Gillman films and The Mummy films and I plan on revisiting Dracula once I’ve completed my current classic viewings.

Despite better special effects and makeup and, to a certain degree, better stories, I still think back on Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Boris Karloff whenever someone mentions Dracula, werewolves, or Frankenstein’s Monster. The characters that these actors portrayed are imprinted in my brain in a way that not even Jason Voorhies or Freddy Krueger, characters that I grew up with, can compare. I appreciate contemporary horror icons, but I love the classics.

I do hope that Universal attempts to revive their Dark Universe. If done right, their classic monsters will live again and terrorize new audiences. While Marvel has definitely cornered the market on shared universes at the moment, I’m starting to suffer from superhero fatigue. The monsters need to make a return to the big screen in a big way, and I believe that Universal can make that happen.

Thanks for reading. I hope that you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane. Who is your favorite Universal Monster? Did you like the latest Mummy flick? Let me know in the comments.

DC Universe Unboxing!

I recently won Day Eight of the DC Universe Fortress of Sweepstakes. Each day of the ten day contest highlighted a different DC hero or villain. My prize pack was for Robin. Here’s a link to the video. It’s rough, but I hope that you enjoy it.

A Buzzing Success!

Somewhere South Of Cybertron

I really had my doubts about the Transformers franchise whenever I heard that a Bumblebee movie was in the works at Paramount. Although I enjoyed the first Transformers film way back in 2007, each and every film that followed seemed to get more sophomoric with the humor, more outlandish with the action, and ultimately just a series of really loud and boring films. I haven’t even watched all of the sequels in their entirety with the exception of Revenge of the Fallen. I have tried to watch them all, but I always turn them off or give my attention to other important things like playing a game on my phone or cleaning the house. The films just didn’t interest me.

However, after watching the trailer for the film and hearing some pretty good opinions of it, I decided to give Bumblebee a chance. I’m glad that I did. It made all of the nonsense from the prior films disappear with a snap like Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and finally gave Transformers fans a film that had heart, humor, and decent action.

Spoiler Free Review Ahead!

Hailee Steinfeld, in quite possibly her biggest starring role so far, carried most of the human load of the film as Charlie Watson, a young lady who is still coping with the loss of her father who happens to find and fall in love with a beat up Volkswagen Beetle. After being given the car as a gift for her birthday by the owner of the garage, Charlie discovers that the car is actually the Autobot named B-127. She unwittingly triggers his homing beacon that alerts two Decepticons of his presence on Earth.

Bumblebee’s memory has been wiped and his voicebox is destroyed (I won’t spoil how that happened), but as Charlie begins to repair him, a few of his memories start to slowly come back. He learns what his true mission is and must deal with the Decepticons that are after him. Along the way, he and Charlie become strong friends as they help one another cope with their respective problems.

The film has a surprisingly strong cast that is led by Steinfeld’s relatable performance. Along for the ride is Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. as Memo, Charlie’s awkward neighbor that bumbles his way through the picture. John Cena portrays Agent Jack Burns, a rather formulaic character made a little bit better by Cena’s performance. He’s still getting used to the acting gig, but he did a fine job in the film.

John Ortiz plays Dr. Powell, a member of Sector 7 with Agent Banks who agrees to assist the Decepticons as they hunt down Bumblebee. His role is somewhat small but essential to the film. Charlie’s family is portrayed by Pamela Adlon (Sally, Charlie’s mom), Stephen Schneider (Roy, Charlie’s stepdad), and Jason Drucker as Otis, Charlie’s annoying (but very funny) little brother.

Dylan O’Brien briefly voices Bumblebee in the film. Peter Cullen reprises his role as Optimus Prime. Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux portray Shatter and Dropkick, the Decepticons in pursuit of Bumblebee throughout the bulk of the film. Other Transformers appear in the film, but I won’t spoil them for anyone that hasn’t seen the film yet.

The film is heavy on nostalgia. Charlie’s home immediately reminded me of just about every home featured in an 80’s action or sci-fi yarn, especially E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and The Goonies. Music and one specific film from the 80’s were also featured in the film and were just as important to the story as the actors and the script.

The film stayed relatively clear of the potty and sophomoric humor of the prior films and added a whole lot more heart and nostalgia. There were a couple of moments in the film that almost made me cry and both for different reasons. There were some great character developing moments as well. Something that was desperately needed in the other films.

Bumblebee is a relatively safe family film. There are a few violent deaths (human and Transformer) that younger children might not be able to handle and a couple of bad words here and there, but ultimately this is the most family friendly film in the Transformers franchise.

Hopefully Paramount and Hasbro realize that films like Bumblebee are what the fans really want and not some explosion-laden nonsense. Give us a good story with a little action and a lot of heart and fans will return to the franchise.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ve got a few Universal Monsters posts in mind, so don’t be surprised if you see one in the near future. Also, I’ll be posting a link to my first-ever unboxing video in the next few days as well.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

I’m A Spidey, You’re A Spidey….

My knowledge  of the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man begins and ends with my son.  He loves the character and the whole multi-verse angle that has been part of every Spider-Man’s world for a long time.  My son has informed me on characters such as Spider-Man 2099, the Iron Spider, and a multitude of other Spider related characters.  When I was a kid, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man was the only one that mattered to me.  After seeing Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, though, I’m a lot more interested in uncovering the tales of some of the other Spiders out there.

spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-2

It’s no secret that Marvel has seriously lagged behind DC and Warner Brothers when it comes to animated films.  Spider-Verse has definitely helped them get back on track.  The funny thing is that Sony, who almost always screws up their Marvel property films, produced and distributed this film and it takes place in a world completely separated from the MCU, which means that Marvel still can’t make great animated films on their own just yet.

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Mild spoilers ahead!

The film’s plot is centered around Miles Morales and his relationship with his parents and his uncle.  He loves his parents, but he feels that his father is overbearing and too protective.  He loves his uncle just as much or more than his parents and he has a special bond with him in a sort of big brother/little brother way.

Miles and his uncle sneak into an abandoned subway station one evening to work on Miles’ graffiti skills.  While in the subway, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider that gives him spider abilities (including a few that Peter Parker’s Spider-Man lacks).  He begins to struggle with his new abilities and seeks the counsel of his uncle.  When he can’t find him, he goes back to the subway station to clear his mind and stumbles upon a battle between Peter Parker’s Spidey and villains that will remain nameless.  Spider-Man is attempting to stop a major villain from activating a particle accelerator.  He manages to temporarily stop the accelerator but dies in the battle.  He manages to give Miles a thumb drive that can permanently stop the accelerator and makes Miles promise to do all he can to stop the villain.

spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-trailer-2

What Miles doesn’t know is that the accelerator managed to open up other universes and other versions of Spider-Man came into Miles’ version of the world.  The first one that he encounters is Peter B. Parker, an older, down-and-out version of Spider-Man who has  lost pretty much everyone that matters to him.  Miles convinces him to teach him how to control his powers and Peter B. begrudgingly agrees.  The pair grow to respect one another and become friends.  Eventually they uncover the reasons why the particle accelerator was built and also run into other Spideys that agree to help them.

spiderverset1-025As the story continues, it is learned that the other Spider-Men have to return to their own timelines or they will die.  They also learn that the accelerator will destroy Miles’ world if it isn’t stopped.  More villains attack the group as they attempt to destroy the accelerator and one in particular takes a heavy interest in Miles.  You’ll have to watch the film in order to see what happens!

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Pros:

Villains – Unlike most of the MCU villains (aside from Vulture and the Winter Soldier), the primary villains were interesting and had legitimate reasons to do what they were doing.  Without giving away too much, Prowler was one of the most surprising parts of this film.

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Origin Story – This was definitely the most emotional and tragic origin story featuring a Marvel character in a long time.  No, Miles didn’t lose his parents in a tragic accident, but he witnesses two violent and cold deaths that completely rock his world.  I actually felt for Miles and other characters when bad things happened to them.  I cheered them on as they overcame obstacles.  I haven’t gotten this emotional over a superhero’s origin story in a long time.

Animation – I’ll preface this by saying that I didn’t initially like the animation.  It took my eyes a bit of time to adjust to it but once I adapted to the style, I fell in love with it.  Animated by the same guys that brought you the LEGO Movie and the LEGO Batman Movie, expect to see bright colors and potentially epileptic seizure inducing (I’m not joking) sequences of lights flashing and fast movement.  The style mimics comic book pages all the way down to speech bubbles and thwips to describe the action.  What I loved even more was how the Spider-men from the other universes were drawn just slightly different than the rest of the characters in the film.

Spider-Men – Yes, there are quite a few Spider peeps in this movie.  My favorite one was Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), who spoke with a gruff voice and stuck to the shadows.  Gwanda/Spider-Woman was voiced by Hailee Steinfeld.  She was a tough version of Spidey that had a quick wit.  Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) was depressed, ready to give up at a moments notice, but eventually became Miles’ champion  when the rest of the Spideys were ready to give up on him.  Spider-Ham was voiced by comedian John Mulaney.  Although his role was smaller than the other Spiders, he was a nice and much-needed injection of humor in the film.  Kimiko Glen voiced Peni Parker, a young girl with a telepathic connection to her radioactive spider that does battle in a special robotic suit.  Miles Morales is voiced by Shameik Moore.  He does an excellent job as the awkward but generally well-meaning Miles.

Music – I’m not talking about the soundtrack (although it’s not too bad itself).  I’m talking about the film’s score by Daniel Pemberton.  Pemberton pulls at the viewer’s emotions throughout this film and created a great theme for Prowler.

Cast – The cast was brilliant.  All of them did great jobs.  Mahershala Ali did one of the best jobs in the bunch as Uncle Aaron.  He’s quickly become one of my favorite actors over the last couple of years.  Miles’ parents are portrayed by Luna Lauren Velez and Brian Tyree Henry.  I’ll list a few (but not all) of the other voice actors, but don’t want to name their characters in order to avoid spoilers.  Liev Schreiber, Zoe Kravitz, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kathryn Hahn, and Oscar Isaac, among others, did great jobs in their respective roles.

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Cons – I wouldn’t necessarily consider this a con, but more of a warning.  This film features a couple of violent deaths.  One of them (although not shown, but heard) is brutally violent, and Miles witnesses it.  There are a lot of bad things that happen in this film that come across much more adult than anything from the MCU.

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Other than that, this film is brilliant.  I highly recommend it.  It’s already won a Golden Globe and I’m sure that more award are coming its way.  It’s the best Marvel film of 2018 in my opinion, and one of the best movies of the year as well.

As always, thanks for reading.  Be on the lookout for more posts in the near future.

It’s Convention Season!

Pretty Much All Year Long

I don’t really understand why people say that it’s “convention season” because “convention season” is pretty much a year round thing.  I mean, there have been conventions taking place in pretty much every month for quite a few years now.  But since it seems to be the cool thing to say, I’m here to let you guys know that convention season starts today in New Orleans at Wizard World.  The event has a ton of guests and I’m sure that more than one person will spend entirely too much money on autographs, photo ops, collectibles, and must-haves (Budget?  What budget?)

I won’t be attending Wizard World this year, but I do have two conventions that I am definitely going to be visiting and a possible third one that will be the farthest convention that I’ve ever attended.  Curious about the conventions that I’m going to this year?  Fear not, because here they are in all of their glory.

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First up is Louisiana Comic Con in Lafayette, LA on March 16th and 17th.  This convention always has a ton of attendees and a solid lineup of guests.  This year will be no different.  Some of the guests include Edward Furlong from Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Detroit Rock City, Kate Flannery from The Office, Walter Jones from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Kel Mitchell from All That and Good Burger.

I’m most excited to see Amy Dumas (Lita of WWE fame) and Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Walking Dead).  I’ve had opportunities to meet both of these wonderful ladies in the past, but my budget and/or time constraints prevented me from getting an autograph or photo with them.  That changes this year as I plan on budgeting time and money to meet both of them.

Louisiana Comic Con continues to add more guests to their lineup.  Here’s their current list of celebs, cosplayers, and artists that will be in attendance.

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My next convention is my local convention, CyPhaCon.  Taking place in Lake Charles, LA on April 12-14, CyPhaCon has seen steady growth since its inception.  The convention’s runners put a lot of work into creating a great event each year.  This year’s show will definitely be a fun one as guests include Todd Haberkorn (Ben 10, Star Trek Continues, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Ouran High School Host Club, and Aggretsuko), Rekha Sharma (Star Trek Discovery, Star Trek Continues, Battlestar Galactica), and Caitlin Glass (Full Metal Alchemist, Fire Emblem Echoes).

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I am looking forward to meeting Rekha Sharma, as I am a huge fan of Star Trek Continues and am just getting into Star Trek Discovery (expect a review in a few weeks).  I’m also curious about her work on Battlestar Galactica.  I’ve met Todd before, but it definitely won’t hurt to catch up with him again.  I’ve only recently watched Full Metal Alchemist, so I’m going to have to keep an eye and ear out for more of Caitlin Glass’ work.

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I’m also excited to meet Little Red Fox Cosplay.  I’ve been introduced to her work through CyPhaCon and the Southern Geek Facebook group and can’t wait to see what wonderful cosplays she’ll have in store for CyPhaCon!  Be sure to follow the link to her Facebook page and show her some love.

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This last convention is still a bit up in the air for me.  I hope that I’ll be able to attend Greater Austin Comic Con, but it’s not a definite just yet.  My birthday is in June and this convention takes place not too long after it, so it would be a great way to celebrate my most recent revolution around the sun.

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I don’t know much about this convention, but I recently talked to a friend involved with it and it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a two day event, June 15th and 16th, and so far they’ve only announced one guest.  That guest, though, is one of the coolest guys that I’ve ever met, Ray Park (Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace, Solo: A Star Wars Story, G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra).  If you are attending this event, please let me know and perhaps we can meet up at the convention!  Visit their webpage to stay current on their lineup.

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Well, there you have it.  Three conventions, two of which I’m definitely attending.  I’ll be adding more conventions in the future, so be on the lookout for more!  As always, thanks for reading.  Let me know what conventions you plan to attend this year in the comments.

All photos taken from the respective convention’s Facebook page except for the featured photo.  That one is all mine and features me with Ming Chen from Comic Book Men.