Where’ve I been?! Nowhere good, just fucking around. Rather than type out the things that happened at C2E2, I figured it’d be easier to tell everyone. Hopefully this sparks my podcasting bug and I can go back to recording more frequently. In the meantime, download this episode through iTunes or through the direct page. Enjoy!
Episode 7
After a long, LONG hiatus (which some would argue should have been longer), the Wolfman is back. What’s happened in the last few months? Nothing that exciting. In this episode, however, the Wolfman recounts his experiences from the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, casually known as “C2E2″. He may or may not have commented on other movies, but that’s the most important subject at hand!
Even though I saw this movie three days after it opened, I felt like it might as well have been three weeks after its release. Last summer, there were four superhero movies and I saw every one of them on their opening day, first show of the day. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t possible with The Avengers, but considering that it made over $200 million in three days, I don’t think Marvel really noticed my missing $10. Also, with all the money it made, I don’t really feel like I need to go over the WHOLE plot for you guys because it feels like everyone has already seen it. Instead, just like I did with Iron Man 2, it’s going to be much easier to just go over how well I think each character/actor did in this movie, and that’ll also be a lot more fun for me. Before I do, I suppose I can just briefly say that Loki, as made famous in Thor, also made famous by just being Thor’s brother, uses the “Tesseract”, which all comic book fans should recognize as the Cosmic Cube, to teleport an intergalactic army to destroy the world. In retaliation, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow are called together to fight the impending galactic war. Brief enough? Now I get to talk about everybody!
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Maybe it’s RDJ’s public personality that gets me kind of annoyed with him and the fact that he is kind of full of himself, but considering his financial and critical success has warranted him being a tad “bragadocious”. I was also nervous that the whole movie would focus on him, considering he’s already got two Iron Man movies under his belt and I always associate Captain America as the leading Avenger. Even though I had these reservations, I was glad to see that Tony Stark didn’t have much more screen time than anyone else, and considering he didn’t have to burden the weight of the whole film on his shoulders, he was able to be a more comical Tony Stark than we’d already seen. Lots of one-liners, jabs at other characters, and an overall tendency to downplay the seriousness of a situation. Steve Rogers even called him out on the fact that he was self-centered and narcissistic, which made me nervous that there’d be a scene where Steve Rogers would have to say some “You really are a hero!” bullshit, but we were spared. Even though Iron Man was a key part of defeating the aliens, nobody made a big deal out of it, which really fits in with the Tony Stark I know. That despite no matter how many successes he might have, he’s still kind of an egotistical prick and nobody wants to pay him ANY compliments.
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
I love Captain America. Call me old-fashioned for loving America, and I’ll call you a goddamned Communist. What I love about his character is that he ALWAYS knows what is right, and does everything in his power to stand up for it. Whether it was in the Civil War storyline where he had to allow himself to be arrested or sacrificing himself at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, he knows what to do and doesn’t hesitate. One scene in particular near the end of the film, despite not being the most powerful member of the team, he told everyone exactly what to do and exactly when to do it, and everyone fell into rank. They knew that this guy had fought evil incarnate in World War II and trust him with everything. Whether he was breaking up a fight between Thor and Iron Man or jumping across the helicarrier to literally SMACK a grenade out of the air to protect Stark, Cap really proved that he’s more than just a science experiment. I also stand by my opinion that Chris Evans is handsome enough and funny enough to put him into any superhero outfit and do a great job.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Remember how I mentioned that the Thor movie really only served as a stepping stone to build up to The Avengers? Boy howdy, was I right. Even though Thor wasn’t the best superhero movie last summer, it introduced you to a regal character who lives in a world completely removed from and much more vast than anything us humans on Earth could even wrap our heads around. He proves himself not only wise in the way he tries to handle Loki and his desire to merely take him back to Asgard, but also showed how powerful and essentially God-like when he knocks Hulk on his ass with one punch or summons lightning to vaporize and shit ton of aliens. I’d say that in films, just like in the comics, Thor works much better as a supporting cast member than as a the major player. He could basically solve everything problem with a giant hammer and some lightning.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
You might have found Loki to be a quivering, whining prick in Thor, so imagine how big of a douchebag he got after floating around the universe with nothing but the thought of vengeance in mind? They were able to play up the “God of Mischief” aspect much more in this movie as we saw how easy it was for him to manipulate humans, rather than in Thor and he was just playing tricks on his brother. We were able to see how cowardly he was and knew he wasn’t nearly as powerful as any one of the Avengers and had to call on someone else’s army to fight for him. He strategically manipulated every character to feed off of one another’s insecurities, and even though he wasn’t physically some sort of powerhouse, you could see how annoying he could be to deal with. Hiddleston was also showing some vulnerability as an adopted son who never received the love of his father, and even though you knew he was the villain, had a tiny bit of sympathy for his situation.
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner/the Hulk
This was the part of the movie I was most worried about, considering that after two movies based on Hulk, there’s yet to be a successful incarnation of him on film. The thing about this character that people want to see most is actually what’s easiest to put on the big screen, which is a big green monster destroying everything. The more interesting parts of the character are figuring out how he deals with this timebomb that’s inside of him and the effect it had on his psychological state. Luckily, through the nature of this being an ensemble film, Dr. Banner was only used in small doses, mostly to show off his level of intelligence. There were a few scenes between Dr. Banner and Tony Stark that were really fun to watch, because they both felt like they had found an intellectual peer and playmate. When Dr. Banner left and Hulk showed up, obviously it was fucking awesome. HE SMASHED EVERYTHING. I went get into everything he smashed, but the smashing scenes were fun. I also kept doing double-takes when a character said “Banner” because I thought our dog might be in the theater.
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
I made a pretty bold claim with Iron Man 2 which was that Scarlett Johansson was a good choice to play Black Widow AND that she was one of the best parts of that movie, but most people thought I was just distracted by her tits. I suppose there might be a little truth to that, but just because she was good in this role doesn’t mean I think she’s a good actress. In fact, I think she’s not a good actress and every other movie I’ve seen her in she just seems distant and emotionally apathetic to everything going on around her. Luckily, while portraying a Russian assassin and spy, having an outward appearance of not giving a shit about anything or being emotionally involved in anything going on, things work out pretty well. Granted, in this movie, she had a few moments that seemed a little too superhuman and far-fetched in regards to her abilities, but it was really only one sequence so I can forgive her. Mostly because of, well, you know, boobs.
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Having only really appeared as a silhouette in Thor and having no other film appearances, Hawkeye was obviously going to be a tough sell as an Avenger. Rather than try to give him a long backstory, we instead spend most of the film seeing Barton as a villain who is having his mind controlled by Loki. One reason I really liked them doing this was that it removed the need for a backstory because all you saw was Hawkeye being a badass with a bow and arrow and showing of a multitude of different trick arrows. Another reason I liked this was because in the Marvel Universe, Hawkeye was introduced as a villain. He might have only been a villain for three issues before joining the Avengers, but still, it’s something that’s constantly referenced in the books and I think that using him as a villain for the first half of the movie not only showed you his abilities, but also made you enjoy the heroic things he was doing that much more. Two things I didn’t like, however, was the fact that the mind control he was under was undone by Black Widow just punching him a whole bunch, and I figured Loki’s spells would be a little more powerful. I also think that Hawkeye should have been played by Alan Alda, but I guess Jeremy Renner was an acceptable substitute.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Although I thought his cameo in Iron Man was pretty cool, the other times this incarnation of Nick Fury haven’t been as faithful to the character as I had liked. Granted, that basically means I didn’t really care for his scenes in Iron Man 2, but Samuel L. Jackson is a character on his own. He has a reputation of coming across like a badass, but also being really funny, talented, and can deliver these badass lines or insults while adding a smirk to the end of them to let you know he’s just fucking with you. The Nick Fury I wanted to see wasn’t a jokester or anything other than a grizzled war veteran who has gone to Hell and back to ensure the safety of the country he so loves to defend. It’s almost like he has the heart of Captain America but with the skills of Black Widow. Well, maybe not the bazongas of Black Widow, but the covert spy stuff. Lucky for me, they toned down Fury’s interactions with the team so you knew he was the one in charge and wasn’t taking shit from anybody. There was also a scene that involved him motivating the team by showing them something taken out of a dead agent’s coat, but once the team leaves, another character pointed out that they weren’t actually in his coat, but in the agent’s locker. This showed that Fury was willing to do anything and everything to get the reaction from people that he knew had to be sparked in them, even if that meant lying to them. His role in this film definitely made up for the doubts I had going into it.
Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
Someone who was introduced a few years ago to plant the seed of what S.H.I.E.L.D was and where all these Marvel movies were going, Agent Coulson has become a loved character to many fans. Even though he is typically only in Marvel movies delivering half a dozen lines, those lines are well-timed with great delivery by Gregg, even giving Robert Downey Jr. a run for his money in a few scenes. We got that sense from Coulson again in Avengers, and adding in the obsession that a S.H.I.E.L.D agent would clearly have for Captain America, the fanboy moments between Coulson and Steve Rogers were really charming and endearing. And congratulations to Mr. Gregg for having the character take a permanent seat in the Marvel Universe in not just films, but being introduced into the comics as well!
Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill
If there’s one show I hate hearing people tell me is funny, it’s The Big Bang Theory. If there’s two shows that I hate hearing people tell me is funny, it’s The Big Bang Theory and How I Met You Mother. Knowing that Smulders was on that show, I figured the only reason she landed the role was to get audiences of that show interested. Lucky for me, I was wrong. DEAD WRONG! Well, not dead wrong, but I wanted to say that. Maria Hill is a tough character because she is essentially Nick Fury’s right-hand man, but considering she is younger and a female, the relationship could easily fall into a stereotype. This is typically avoided, and I always viewed the Nick Fury/Maria Hill relationship to be a lot like the Yoda/Luke Skywalker relationship in The Empire Strikes Back. We know that the apprentice can clearly handle their shit, but they still also have a lot to learn. We saw Maria Hill questioning Fury on his actions, even doubting his choices, but knew her rank and never opposed his views, clearly knowing that he was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a reason. She handled what she needed to handle and stepped up when necessary, letting the audience know that she’s be okay in the event that Fury was ever compromised and she would have to take the reins.
In short, EVERYONE DID A GOOD JOB IN VARYING DEGREES. Wow, I could have just said that instead of typing up all those other things. I knew this movie was going to be good. Everyone knew this movie was going to be good. In fact, I’d even say this movie was a GREAT superhero movie. As far as things I didn’t like, I’d say there were only two issues, maybe only one and a half…AND THEY’RE ONLY ISSUES! Let me clarify: I had ZERO problems with this movie. One issue was that I was disappointed that nobody ever shouted “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!”, but considering this was their very first gathering, I could understand that not showing up naturally. I guess I hoped that in the epilogue, after all of the action, Fury would have mentioned assembling in some way. I know that any lines of dialogue I could come up with right now would be cheesy, but Joss Whedon is a much better writer than I am and I guess I hoped he had found a natural way to slip that in. The other issue was that even though this was a great superhero movie, it was just that…a great SUPERHERO movie. This movie won’t win any Oscars, any acting or directing awards, or be recognized with any other outstanding achievements. This movie is by no means a bad movie, not by a long shot. It was a witty, smart, action-packed, fist-pumping, stand up in your seat and high-five your friends FUN movie. After seeing the trailer for Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises, it was hard to thing of The Avengers as being any sort of game-changer in the superhero genre. I’m also not saying that this movie needed to change the way we view superhero movies, it just felt very safe. Safe isn’t bad, safe is good! That’s why people where helmets and seatbelts! For some reason, which I can’t quite put my finger on, I kept having flashbacks to when I first saw Independence Day. Maybe it was because it was just a big, fun summer movie, or the fact that there were alien invaders, or the fact that you knew the good guys would win, I had the same excited feelings for The Avengers as I had almost twenty years ago with Will Smith. Whether you’re a comic book fan or not, you will have fun with this movie, and even though we spent close to two and a half hours watching this movie, this only felt like the beginning. I was totally willing to watch these characters interacting with another for two and a half more hours, just to see what kind of trouble they’d get into. Oh yeah, and I think I predicted a few years ago how closely this movie would mirror the events of The Ultimates comic book series, and I am glad to know I was right. What the fuck are these Chitauri aliens? JUST CALL THEM GODDAMNED SKRULLS AND BE DONE WITH IT!
Okay guys, I know the season ended weeks ago, but hopefully by now you all know what happened and I don’t have to worry about spoiling everything. Even though there were complaints that there wasn’t enough going on in this season, there were plenty of behind the scenes drama to make up for it. In July of last year, it was announced that Frank Darabont, who had helped write, direct, and produce the first season. That scared the shit out of most people, knowing he had filmed some of the second season and not knowing the impact it would have on the show. The show had its premiere in October, and it went on a scheduled hiatus, with the other half to debut in February. While it was on hiatus, news outlets started saying that a main cast member asked to be written out of the show when Darabont left, and this cast member had their wish granted. Supposedly that actor changed their mind, but it was too late and they were already written out. Considering that Laurie Holden, who plays Andrea, and Jeffrey DeMunn, who plays Dale, had worked with Darabont on a few movies, my money was on one of them leaving the show prematurely. With a main character leaving and a new director, what hope was there for season two?
Without going over every single detail, I’ll try to summarize the major events of season two. When we last saw the gang, they had just left the Center for Disease Control because it was blown up by an employee. When the group made a pit stop, the little girl known as “Sophia”, got lost in the woods. While trying to find her, poor little Carl was accidentally shot. The shooter brought Carl and the gang to a farm where people were staying, and where everyone ended up staying. Over their time at the farm, we learned that Lori was pregnant, despite not knowing whether the baby was Rick’s or Shane’s, from one of their forbidden love sessions when they thought Rick was dead. We also learned that Shane was an even bigger asshole who had killed an innocent man so he wouldn’t be slowed down while retrieving medical supplies from a nearby high school. The first half of the season focused on finding little Sophia, but that search ended when she was revealed to have become a zombie and the owner of the farm, Hershel, had been keeping zombie in a barn. The gang also met other survivors and after a violent altercation, saw Rick and Shane take one hostage. We saw the depths that both Rick and Shane were willing to go to in order to protect the group, while Dale understood how much deeper Shane’s depths were than Rick’s. The season ended with Dale getting surprise attacked and killed by a zombie, Shane killing the hostage in cold blood, and Shane trying to take Rick’s life. Rick got the upper hand (ha ha, that’s a good pun if you read the comics) and killed Shane, and unfortunately the zombies overran the farm. The last few moments of the season showed the group realizing that they were living in a Rick-tatorship, if you will, while also introducing us to a woman with a katana and two zombies on leashes and zoomed out to show a prison looming near the group.
I have to agree that I thought the events of the first half of the season were pretty dull, since it was a lot of just hanging out at the farm and meeting a lot of new characters. Some people completely lost interest with the show at that point, but when Sophia was discovered to be a zombie and no one was willing to shoot her but Rick, I was totally on board. Once the show started up again, I thought things were getting more and more exciting and that the slow pace in the first half was worth it for the events of the second half. Considering Shane was killed very early on in the comics, nobody was really surprised to see him go. In fact, I think some people were even disappointed to see a character who challenged Rick to such a degree get killed off. On the other hand, Dale’s death seemed to come out of nowhere and really solidified my theory about predicting he would be the one who wanted to leave with Darabont. When I thought about Dale getting killed off, I was pretty bummed, because he really brought in a human element to the show. I felt a little bit of comfort when I realized the whole second half of this season was him whining about Shane being a jerk, and that TV Dale wasn’t necessarily the same person as comic book Dale. I think all the comic book fans also predicted the cloaked figure or the introduction of the prison, considering that person and location all play pretty heavy roles in the comics, but I know I didn’t expect BOTH things to happen. I figured it’d be either one or the other, but those last five minutes got me even more excited for the places they’ll go with season three. Considering that the role of the “Governor” has already been cast, all the readers are both excited and terrified to watch the show unfold, and I think all the viewers will be surprised at just how fucked up Robert Kirkman is and what he’ll put his characters through. Even though there are going to be plenty of new characters to meet next season and that we might have a slow start, I’m sure that Kirkman and new showrunner Glenn Mazzara will give us plenty of reasons to make any sort of waiting worth it.
As some of you probably know, I recently attended the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Exposition. One cool thing the C2E2 website did was highlight who were Chicago residents or who had a career in Chicago, and it was highlighted that Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn on The Walking Dead, was attending. I would say one big difference between the TV Glenn and the comic book Glenn is that we’re able to see a much more emotional side of him. In the comics, the driving force of everything is Rick, and it’s not often we see extended sequences of what’s going on outside of Rick’s world. It happens, but only when it directly pertains to him. Although Rick is the driving force of the show, the nature of the medium forces us to explore more of the characters and Glenn’s is a lot more developed, I feel, than his character in the books. It was this season where we met Hershel’s daughter Maggie, played by Lauren Cohan, who we all knew would strike up a romantic relationship with Glenn. The reaction from Glenn on the show had him scared to get involved with her because he was afraid he would lose her, causing what could best be described an emotional ambivalence. He didn’t seem to care whether she liked him or hated him, and didn’t want to further any of those feelings because it might just make saying goodbye hurt more. Glenn eventually left that emotional state as everyone was leaving Hershel’s farm, but I think we all connected with Glenn in a way that was different from how we connect with him in the books, and Steven did a great job portraying that emotional state. I also couldn’t help but wonder if he took that emotional ambivalence towards his cast members as to save himself the heartache.
WolfMan: I think season two of The Walking Dead proved that anybody could die, anyone could go away at any moment. Who was the hardest, either actor or character, to say goodbye to this season? Do you know find yourself putting distance between you and other cast members, knowing they could leave at any moment?
Steven Yeun: Every death was hard. I took Jeff (DeMunn) and Jon’s (Bernthal, who played Shane) the hardest. Jon, I knew was coming, but he was someone I spent a lot of time with. And Jeff I spent a lot of time with, too. They were both pretty difficult. As far as keeping distance, no, we know the nature of the beast and I think it’s better to spend quality time and enjoy each other’s company.
WM: Clearly the show is going in a slightly different direction from the comics. Some things are similar but they are different versions of the same universe. How difficult do you find it to be to portray the television version of a character that’s already ingrained in comic books?
SY: I think our show has found a life of its own and we’re on that trajectory to become its own thing, not to insult the original material. We don’t think about the comic, we think about how things work in this life and all the writers and producers and actors are so great that we all convene and come to a consensus about how things play out.
WM: To me, the most surreal moment of the show’s success was the fact that it was referenced in The Amazing Spider-Man a few weeks ago. Not the comic book Walking Dead, but when Johnny Storm had come back from the dead and was catching up on all his TV, Spider-Man had mentioned that “they were still on the farm”. It was kind of crazy to see the success of the show bleeding into other publishers. Was there one surreal moment for you where the success of the show?
SY: Marvel does that, don’t they? That this world is part of their world, right? Every day when you walk around and someone might recognize you from the show, it’s really great. I think we were on an episode of Entourage. Ari said “Tell that guy he won’t be able to get a job as a zombie…”, and he said a lot worse than that. It’s just so cool to be apart of something that people really dig and are really interested in.
WM: One last quick question, do you happen to know what Robert Kirkman’s beard feels like?
SY: It feels like a lotioned porcupine. Ya know, like a really solidly lotioned porcupine with a little bit of ambrosia.
BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, WATCH THIS VIDEO TO THE END SO YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT TO WHAT THE FUCK I’M ABOUT TO RAMBLE ABOUT.
My immediate response to seeing this video was to post it on Twitter, or Retweet it, whatever would have made me look cooler. After listening to the song and watching the video, I realized that both are kind of lame. Despite not being all that good for a wacky song (I direct your attention towards Garfunkel and Oates for that), I wanted to post it for the message it was getting across: NERDS ARE COOL, THINGS THAT AREN’T NERDS ARE NOT COOL. It’s something I’ve been concerned with and interested by for a few years now and it’s a topic I enjoy discussing with people. I think the initial response would be “duh”, but I think the topic deserves more discussion than that.
Before I had ever heard of “The Guild”, I had heard of Felicia Day. I didn’t know why I knew her, but I saw lots of people retweeting her messages. Considering I follow a lot of people who could be described as “nerdy”, I figured I’d do some investigating. Ms. Day is the mastermind behind the webseries “The Guild”, which follows the trials and tribulations of a group of online gamers. The series was initially written, filmed, and starred the person responsible for the finances of the series, which was Ms. Day. After a few episodes, there was some fundraising, and more episodes were made. More people saw more episodes, and, well, I think they are on their fifth season. I watched the first season or two, and although I understood why people find it funny and enjoying the concept behind it, I wasn’t really interested in pursuing it further. However, I’m very impressed that for an authentic “geek”, Felicia Day has been able to build a huge following (close to two million Twitter followers) and turn her videogame addiction into something productive and financially productive.
If I didn’t really like the song and I am not a huge fan of The Guild, then why the fuck was I going to post this? I feel like this song and video, which is also marks the debut of the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel dedicated to nerd culture, marks the defining point in “nerds” being ostracized by the majority of people. It wasn’t really until junior high that I realized I was much more interested in things like Star Wars or videogames than I cared about sports, but was lucky enough to never really suffer ridicule or torment from people who considered those things to be “nerdy”. All of my friends were into the same kinds of things, and I was able to quell my true passions long enough in school that the more popular kids never really bothered me for what I liked. I don’t think it was until I was an adult that I realized how many people thought it was most appropriate by starting conversations with “Did you catch the game the other night?”, and actually expect an answer. I don’t really know shit about dick when it comes to sports. I know they exist, and lots of people enjoy watching them, but as far as what teams are good and what time of the year things happen, really no idea. Yet the further and further I get into my adult life, the more I get nervous to tell these people I have no fucking clue what they’re talking about.
Maybe I should get to the point. The point is, that there was a point where people who might describe themselves as “geeks” or “nerds” or “dorks” might be described by other people as “losers”. It wasn’t cool to like things that weren’t part of popular culture. I don’t need to go into detail about the the different ways our current society looks towards counter-culture to figure out what the next trend will be so it can be exploited. Think of how many movies based on comic books have come out in the past ten years, or the huge successes of things like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or Game of Thrones. I have complete faith in the belief that at a different time in American culture, were you to say you love reading about knights and swords and dragons, you’d be mocked. Instead, you get to talk about how big of shitheads the Lannisters are. I remember the first time I saw an Affliction t-shirt, as it was only four years ago. My first thought was that it was some sort of nu-metal band who wanted as many skulls and swords and tribal designs as possible on their merchandise, but unfortunately, things weren’t that simple. Instead, this was a clothing company who were somehow convincing people that THIS style would make you cool. Add in that Ed Hardy bullshit and you’ve got yourself a magical potion of douchebaggery. Despite the nausea this “fashion” trend created, there seemed to be a market for it. I thought I was an outsider in thinking only assholes wore this shit, but appears the tides are turning. Ed Hardy is quickly becoming synonymous with the term, dare I say, “loser”. On the other end of the spectrum, at least in regards to fashion, I remember a few years ago really wanting a Star Wars shirt and having to find one online that wasn’t for kids. Compare that to what you’ll see if you go to any Target or Kohl’s or other department store, the amount of graphic t-shirts that have been able to combine stereotypical nerdy imagery with some sort of ironic slogan. I’m pretty sure you’re all picturing Darth Vader with the slogan “Who’s Your Daddy?” underneath him. It wasn’t really until this video that I have come to the realization that the tides have turned, and given enough time, being a nerd will no longer be cool.
And now to tie it all together in one big, sappy message. I know that some purist nerds would argue how the saturation of this nerdy things in popular culture will cause more and more poseurs to pretend to be interested in things because it’s cool. Ya know what? I COMPLETELY AGREE. Tons of people will buy glasses that don’t have frames or pick up a shirt with a superhero logo on it and yes, you can hate people that rape and molest things you’re truly passionate about for cashing in on something you used to be mocked for liking. HOWEVER, what I hope this video, this message, this idea, will help teach the impressionable young kids who are all over the internet and get bullied that you really need to be yourself, do what you want, like what you want, and anyone who gives you shit for it can fuck right off. I’m sure there will be people to argue that every example of nerdy things I listed aren’t truly nerdy, and they are all pop culture, which can of course be argued. If I say Star Wars is nerdy, someone could say Star Trek is nerdier. Someone could then say Babylon 5 is nerdier. Some would then say that Battlefield Earth is nerdier, and we call those people Scientologists. Whether you agree with the examples or not, whether you like sports, whether you hate nerds, whether you’re into cosplay, if you juggle, if you go to raves, if you’re a furry, FUCK WHATEVER ANYONE ELSE THINKS, BE YOURSELF, AND MAYBE THAT THING YOU LIKE WILL ONE DAY WHAT GETS YOU A SHIT TON OF FRIENDS BECAUSE IT’S BECOME WHAT’S COOL.
One post that I did last year that was really helpful for me was a post where I listed all the movies I wanted to see that were coming out between March and September. Once I hit September I was running out of movies, which was why I arbitrarily stopped finding movies. I ended up seeing all the movies on that list, with the exception of Cowboys & Aliens because I heard it was kind of poopy. Haha, I called a movie “poopy”. Anyways, these are the movies I want to see, and I encourage you guys to share your thoughts on what I might have left out!
DISCLAIMER: I know there are plenty of movies that are going to come out in this time that I haven’t seen the trailer for yet and I did not include it on this list. I did that on purpose. I try to avoid trailers as much as possible, because it turns into an endless spiral of watching more and more bits from the movie that are edited together by someone trying to coax you into watching it. In other words, you don’t need to sell me on a movie that’s coming out then, because if it comes out and I hear good things, I might still check it out.
The Cabin in the Woods – April 13th
I know that this is a Joss Whedon movie and is supposedly a tribute film to movies that involve cabins being in the woods. I’m trying to avoid the trailer because I’ve heard this movie has a similar tone as Drag Me to Hell? I think? I don’t know, I hope it’s good. Then there’s that OTHER Joss Whedon movie…
The Avengers – May 4th
WELL OF COURSE I’M GOING TO SEE THIS! I think the most difficult part about the whole thing will be who the movie focuses on. Iron Man already has two movies under his belt, so the obvious choice would be to have his character driving the story. Then again, you have Captain America getting involved, who most would agree is THE leader of the Avengers, were you to pick only one person. Thor will most likely just show up out of nowhere and fuck things up, but that’s okay, because his movie last year didn’t impress many people. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk will probably all just poop around in the background, and then Samuel L. Jackson will say something very Samuel L. Jackson-y, and everyone in the audience will giggle. I can pretty much guarantee that this movie will be a lot of fun, but might not necessarily be all that good.
Chernobyl Diaries – May 25th
Something from some guy who apparently had something to do with Paranormal Activity? Okay, maybe not the biggest selling point (just ask that TV show The River), but shit going down at Chernobyl is something I can get behind.
Piranha 3DD – June 1st
The first one was a lot of fun, and what this movie lacks in Adam Scott I hope it makes up for with Katrina Bowden. It’s possible that this installment will get TOO wacky, considering the addition of David Hasselhoff, but I guess wackiness isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Alexandre Aja isn’t directing this time, and directing duties have been passed over to John Gulager, who I feel was kind of hit and miss with his Feast movies. I guess as long as there are boobs in 3D, this should be worth price of admission.
Prometheus – June 8th
I really, really, really, really, really don’t want to consider this the best movie of the year after only having seen a trailer, but how can I not? The confusion over whether this is or isn’t a prequel to Alien or if it just takes place in the same universe or whatever doesn’t really matter, because it’s Ridley Scott coming back to sci-fi with the help of Damon Lindelof. I am also glad that no one really has any goddamn idea what this is about, and since it’s a prequel, it’s hard to have any preconceived notion of what might happen. It just….looks so….awesome.
The Amazing Spider-Man – July 6th
I wish I could be more excited for this than I am, but I’m not. Did that make sense? Shut up. At its best, I’m pretty sure this movie will only be considered “pretty good”. At its worst, it will probably be considered “bad”. Some of the footage from the trailers looks kind of cool, but there wasn’t one sequence or bit of casting that made you sit there and think “WOW” the way the trailer for Raimi’s version did in 2002. I mentioned last summer how I did get chills when I watched the video of Andrew Garfield at SDCC going up in front of an audience to proclaim how proud he was to be Peter Parker, so I’m happy for him, but I guess we all just have to wait and see.
The Dark Knight Rises – July 20th
The way I feel about Prometheus might just be my way of taking the pressure off of this movie. Everyone knows that at its worst, this movie will still be good, and at its best, it will be fucking incredible. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is one of the best superhero movies of all time, and I don’t there is any way he can fuck this up. This is another one that I don’t want to look too much into, because the more I see now, the less stuff there will be to blow my fucking mind when I see it in theaters. I guess I just wonder if Nolan will have the balls to permanently cripple Bruce Wayne so someone needs to take over forever, or if Bane will hurt him just enough to take a nap or something. AHHHHH I SHOULD JUST STOP THINKING ABOUT IT NOW!!!!
HOLY SHIT, IS THAT IT?! Last year I had a bunch of movies and I was totally stoked. I thought this summer was going to be just as good, but clearly it won’t. I guess last year there were a lot of movies I kind of wanted to see, but between Avengers, Prometheus, and Dark Knight Rises, there are a few films that I really want to see. And next thing you know, it’ll be the summer of 2013 and we’ll all get to watch Anchorman 2! Yay!
How fucking awful was that first Ghost Rider? REALLY FUCKING AWFUL, THAT’S HOW AWFUL. I generally cite the original as one of the absolute worst of the “Hollywood” comic book movies. At least Ghost Rider looked kind of cool riding his motorcycle on fire, right? And Nicolas Cage….fuck, I hate that guy. I’m really not into the whole religion of Nicolas Cage being incredible because of how terrible he is, I just think he’s terrible. Face/Off, Con-Air, and Raising Arizona being a few exceptions. This movie was a sequel no one wanted to a movie most people didn’t like. Why go see it? Well, clearly you guys aren’t familiar with the forces of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, also known as the guys who created Crank and Crank 2: High Voltage. If you can’t get behind these guys, then you can fuck right off.
Leave it to Nicolas Cage to be able to overact THROUGH flaming skull special effects.
It’s been years since we’ve last seen Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) and he has gone into hiding, as the demon (The Ghost Rider/Spirit of Vengeance/motorcycle skull flame head) that lives within him can sense the presence of evil and causes the demon to show itself. He’s contacted by Moreau (Idris Elba) in hopes that the Rider will be able to track a boy who Satan is hoping to turn into his new host on Earth. In a bit of expositional dialogue, Satan (Ciárin Hinds) can only use his Earthly body for so long before all of his powers melt that body, which is why he needs this new boy to carry out as a Earthly body. Luckily Moreau was right and the Ghost Rider finds the boy, and in return, Moreau offers to take away the demon. Johnny Blaze is mortal again, and he realizes his faults in giving away this “gift”, and luckily the boy gives him back his demon powers? Whatever, Ghost Rider sends Satan back to Hell and it’s a great day for everyone involved. Oh yeah, and there were a lot of flames and motorcycles.
You’re trying to tell me that a guy whose head is constantly on fire might burn his bones? BRILLIANT!
The plot seemed a lot more complicated when I was watching it, but who the fuck was watching this movie for plot? I really don’t think I’ve even read a Ghost Rider story that I really enjoyed, so there wasn’t much appealing about what the plot might be. If you’re focusing on just the action and effects and all that good stuff, I really dug it. You could tell that Neveldine/Taylor were restricted by the whole PG-13 , but they still managed to do some pretty cool stuff. What really sold me was a shot where a Moreau is knocked off a cliff on his motorcycle and is flying headfirst over a cliff, only to rotate in midair while pulling out a machine gun and shooting, WHILE FALLING BACKWARDS, at the car that ran him off the road. Maybe not as exciting to read as it is to see, but the camera shooting this scene from over Moreau’s shoulder, clearly with the cameraman flying backwards, was pretty cool. A lot of the shots were done from a really low angle and a lot of it was handheld, which I think is something that most people got annoyed by, but I really enjoyed seeing a big budget action movie shot in this way. The first film also had a lot of Ghost Rider doing shit at night, most likely to really make the flames pop against a dark background, so I thought it looked pretty cool having so many scenes take place during the day. You got to see every part of the character’s design, and I really enjoy where Neveldine/Taylor took it. There was a pretty cool high-speed chase where you really got to see all the flames on his head flicking around and I was pretty impressed with the way it looked. Even small changes like making his head charred and black instead of bone white was something subtle but successful. There were also a few Saul Bass inspired sequences that explained Johnny Blaze’s origin story and had some frenetic and weird montage sequences that reminded me a lot of some Crank sequences. Was this movie “good”? No fucking way. I think Neveldine/Taylor did what they could under a lot of restrictions and were able to make this more entertaining than the original. It wasn’t quite as successful as the Punisher vs. Punisher: War Zone reboot, but it could have been a lot worse.
I’m assuming that’s the inner monologue on most people visiting the site. I think it still says something about comic books in the banner at the top of the page, I’ve placed flyers in comic book stores, and those flyers even promised there’d be discussion of comics! AND ANGER! The question is, where are the goddamn comic books? Well, I’ll tell you, just give me a fucking second! Did you know that comic books cost money? They do. And if you’re like me, you like reading a lot of different titles. The problem with reading a bunch of titles is you have to spend a whole bunch of money and get really backed up. So backed up, in fact, that I am still buying issues that are promoting Green Lantern….THE MOVIE! I jumped ahead of my pull slot in order to review a bunch of DC’s New 52, making those some of the most current books I read. Back in October I was able to trim down quite a bit on titles I was pulling, but I’m still playing catch up. Luckily I got some gift certificates over the holidays and I was able to get so far as, wait for it, X-Men Schism! If you know about that event, you know it’s well over and done with, so that was an inside joke about how I’m still behind. I still have some more gift certificate money and look forward to being completely up to speed in a few weeks, so just deal with it.
I’ll admit that the subject of this post doesn’t really make any sense. After my time at the Music Box Massacre over the weekend, and seeing how many horror nerds are also comic book nerds, it reminded me of how many people I know love horror movies and enjoy comics. Strangely, I thought about the fact that I know people who like comic books but hate horror movies, which I thought was interesting. I put the question out on Twitter to see if there were any horror movie fans who hated comics, and there wasn’t really an overwhelming response. Instead, I questioned why I gave a shit about what different “nerds” like and came to the realization that there are a shitload of nerds who like a shitload of nerdy things. Also, I’d say that the term “nerd” is quite subjective and is going to mean a lot of different things to different people. For example, I’m sure lots of people think that loving Star Wars is something to be considered quite nerdy, until you think about the fact that it is one of the most successful film franchises of all-time. Can that be nerdy? What about comic books, which is an industry that has had peaks and valleys in popularity through the past few decades, and I’m willing to bet if you took a sample of people on the street, the majority would be those who haven’t read a comic book. Then again, this year alone there were FOUR big budget summer movies about comic book characters, add to all of the other TV shows, cartoons, and videogames that are prevalent in our society that center around comic book characters. I feel like maybe the term “nerd” doesn’t necessarily apply to the content of one’s obsession, but rather the fact that the obsession exists in the first place. I’m sure that athletes aren’t necessarily considered nerds, but it’s entirely possible for someone to be obsessed with collecting a team’s merchandise and knowing every statistic about them ever, which I would say makes them a football nerd or hockey nerd. I think I’m getting a little off-topic from what my original question was: why do so many horror nerds love comics?
This is such a stupid fucking question to waste my time thinking about it. I came to my own conclusions after some deep soul-searching and came to the realization that things that are considered “nerdy” are typically things whose popularity lies in subcultures, as opposed to the majority of any population. I’m sure that if you asked someone whether or not they have heard of things like comic books, Star Wars, Star Trek, dinosaurs, robots, toys, Dr. Who, or horror movies, 99% would say yes. However, the individuals who take these subjects to an “obsessive” level aren’t your average person. These people seem to adhere to the belief that the things they like are better than things that other people like, almost in a sense of misguided pride over what they enjoy. Not only does this sense of pride lead to disliking things that are more popular, like sports or action movies, but even amongst other subcultures. Think about the rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars fans, always claiming one is better than the other. Who gives a shit? Different people like different things for different reasons, so if it isn’t hurting anyone, let everyone obsess over what makes them happy. This misguided sense of pride and accomplishment over finding something to obsess over also causes a sense of elitism towards someone who is new to the subject. The stereotype of “comic book guy” being intimidating to your average comic book store owner is a tangible example, because I’ve met that guy, and I hate that guy. Was everyone who likes something nerdy born knowing everything about that subject? No, you weren’t, because at some point you were the one new to that thing. Why can’t you just be excited that there is someone trying to learn about something you already know so much about, and share the wealth?
One last time, back to what my original question was. Why do horror nerds like comics so much, or at least tolerate them? Well, maybe it’s just because it’s one more nerdy thing to like. Not all of the pride felt over enjoying something that is mostly enjoyed by the minority is negative, because it sometimes results in wanting to share what you love with other people. I am a pretty boring person, and most of the conversations I engage in lead to either horror movies, comic books, Star Wars or sharks. I have shirts with those things on them, I talk about them online, and I have this shit all over our apartment (sorry Rampaige). I’m sure plenty of people listen to me and then try to forget what I was saying, but I also know for a fact that my talking about these things has caused people to actively seek out a comic or a movie and really enjoy these things. We are getting a lot better in our society for accepting people for their beliefs and lifestyles, and I feel it’s the same with nerds. There are movies (like Fanboys, which is awesome) and TV shows (like The Big Bang Theory, which is fucking horrible and one of the worst shows on television) about people who love and obsess over nerdy things, and these movies and shows are successful. Listen, if you love something, no matter how nerdy or how plain it might be, just support it, and support the people who support it, and support the people who don’t support it, and support the people who create it, so that there’s more of it. The more we ostracize others, no matter what their tastes, the more negative energy is being put into something that should be making you happy. Read comics. Watch horror movies. Play sports. Do whatever the fuck it is that makes you happy, and stop judging everyone else for liking things that are different from what you like, or talking shit on people who like things that you like, but they like them differently than you do.
Yes, I know they are a combination of both words AND pictures, you fucking idiot. I understand that without the art, these would just be a collection of short stories, and without words, these would just be art books. The reason I had that question mark was in hopes of engaging in some sort of discussion over what’s more important to anyone who might be reading this. I think that no matter how much you enjoy the medium, and how much admiration you have for both the writer and artist, I think somewhere deep down inside all of us, there’s something that more typically draws us in to read a book. I don’t think I’m wrong to assume that what draws you over to even pick up a book is the cover, so I’m going to completely ignore the cover. Well come on! It’s not fair! Typically, the cover is intended to catch your attention and make a promise to you that what happens on the inside is just as exciting as what’s on the cover. Let’s think for a moment about what’s on the cover…that’s right, you get to see the name of the series, typically the main characters in some exciting pose, and the names of the writers and artists. You can’t really just say the cover is the one thing that causes you to buy a book because there’s tons of shit crammed on there. Also, to try to say that the art on the cover is what draws you in isn’t really fair because the cover artist isn’t always the same person who does the interior art. For me, it’s no contest that the first thing that draws me in is the character(s) involved, but after that, the writer is what draws me in. I’ve realized that as a read comic books, I can go from panel to panel without noticing every intricacy of the artwork the way some others might, and feel as though I am missing out on something. Not at all to discredit any artist, at ALL, but the story is what really drives things for me. There have been a few instances where the writers and artists collaborate, like Ed Brubaker and Alex Maleev on Daredevil or Joss Whedon and John Cassaday on Astonishing X-Men, and I can’t imagine those stories being told in a different way or illustrated in any other way. I feel like if I like a character enough, let’s take Daredevil as an example, I don’t necessarily have to read his books to be able to find artwork featuring him that I like, whereas I can’t really just hop onto Google and type in “cool Daredevil stories” and find something as entertaining as what Brubaker did. I feel like I’ve made my point when it comes to my thoughts on the matter, but am just going to put this out there in hopes of getting some comments that might offer up a different point of view.
Whoa boy! Iron Man 3 sure does look exciting! Wait, this isn’t Iron Man 3? Could have fooled me! The biggest thing that I was worried about, and I’m sure other people were worried about, is the amount of characters and shit going on that it would be all over the place, and it kind of looks like that’s true. It makes sense that Iron Man would be the one to intentionally assemble all of these characters, but with the amount of heavy-hitters on the team, I hope he doesn’t get all of the attention. For the ill-informed, this team will include Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Thor/still Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). Those last three people? Yeah, they don’t have any superpowers, which means I highly doubt they will play major roles in the movie, since a lot of people still probably don’t quite know why they’re on the team. If they go into everyone’s backstory, that will take up a good amount of the film, and once that’s done, you still have these huge characters trying to grab time in front of the camera, and even I’m getting overwhelmed thinking about it. If you remove all of the shots of characters just kind of looking at one another, you are really only left with a shitload of cars exploding. I guess it looks fun, but considering this was really just an excuse to show off all of these pretty people in funny costumes and remind you that this movie WILL be coming out in five months, I’m not too impressed. Even if the next trailer is shitty, I’ll be seeing this opening day, because I’m a sucker for this stuff. Oh yeah, and Scarlett Johansson will probably wear lots of leather. Cool!
