Author: Eric Francisco

Eric is a graduate of Rutgers University and is working to become a filmmaker/producer, but he really just wants to be a Power Ranger. He likes his sugar with coffee and cream.

Geekscape Recaps: ‘Into the Badlands’ — “Fist Like a Bullet”

by Eric Francisco

In its second week, Into the Badlands proves it’s the show you wanted it to be with outlandish characters, dazzling fights, with only a passing facade of deep, mature storytelling. Sure, it’s there, but it’s not what you came for.

Beginning with the introduction of Emily Beecham’s The Widow and ending with a bombastic fight in an abandoned steel mill with someone’s life quite literally hanging in the balance, Into the Badlands has made no assumptions about the show it wants to be: Thrilling, exciting, with just enough brains in its story. With M.K. having escaped Quinn’s fortress, he finds himself in no better company: Under the care of the The Widow, who herself is after a boy after extraordinary powers who, hey, happens to be M.K. It’s not explicit if The Widow knew all along — I don’t think so, but I won’t be surprised if she did.

The Widow is gearing up for war. Aligning herself with other barons and demonstrating the walking Panzer tank of destruction that is her teenaged daughter (and obvious love interest for M.K.), Widow is saddling up for a confrontation with Quinn. She doesn’t need to, however, if she knew the most important thing: He’s dying. In a harrowing moment, Quinn orders Sunny to execute the doctors who failed him — and foster parents to his beloved Jade.

Heavy-handed? Sure. But it’s exactly the kind of cheap drama you want in a genre series like Badlands.

So what’s next? M.K. finds himself back under Quinn’s eye but is quickly placed under Sunny’s wing. Behind Quinn’s back, Sunny will train M.K. and, along with Jade, will make their way out of the Badlands. Slowly, but surely. Of course they won’t exit without a fight, but based on the thrilling choreography Badlands has shown in just two episodes, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

“Fist Like a Bullet” was when I knew Into the Badlands lived up to my expectations. The pilot was great, but when you carry high expectations every misstep taken feels bigger than its supposed to be. Whenever Constantine boo-boo’d its storytelling, it ached because I wanted something flawless when what I got was only just “good” or even “okay.” A good that wasn’t quite good enough was the pilot, but “Fist Like a Bullet” was good in the exact way I wanted it to be.

I’m genuinely excited for next week. It’s good to be genuinely excited.

Geekscape Reviews: ‘Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas’

by Eric Francisco

Like most people, I can’t take holiday horror seriously. The latter parts of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol remains the gold standard, and that works because it’s not in anyway “scary” as it is woefully depressing in its implications. It’s not scary because Scrooge is basically forced to walk with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Be (who might as well be the Grim Reaper), it’s scary because the Reaper is warning him what his reality could be if he doesn’t shape up.

But most modern horror set against Christmas fail to understand this. Whether they try too hard or they’re too self-aware or the premise is so flawed it’s downright impossible to make something worthwhile, I’ve been turned off at every effort that envisions Christmas as something sinister. Even after learning the legend of Krampus years ago on Cracked, I knew that a horror tale involving him would find itself in the schlock/B-movie realm. Well, there is a Krampus movie, called Krampus, and it’s doing exactly that. And it also has a comic book, Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas, that also kind of does exactly that.

krampus_shadow_of_saint_nicholas

While Krampus is still acting as some kind of morality tale, the film is looking to put front and center typical Hollywood horror scares in front of whatever their vision of the meaning of Christmas is meant to be. The comic book, Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas, is also acting as a parable for people too pissy around the season to get more festive, but it does so in somewhat unpleasant methods. An anthology collection spearheaded by Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat) along with Krampus screenwriters Zach Shields and Todd Casey with renowned comic artists Fiona Staples (Saga), Christian Dibari (Hoax Hunters), Maan House (Witchblade), and Stuart Sayger (Bram Stoker’s Death Ship), Shadow of Saint Nicholas is a bit of a bummer read. Krampus the movie already feels like a joke taken way too far, a comic book building upon that mythology just feels needless and unnecessarily a downer. Yes, it’s a horror comic, but if we’re going into something already so absurd, then let us have some fun.KRAMPUS-20

Across three morality tales — a veteran soldier down on his luck as a store Santa is called to action against malevolent spirits, a cop with a grudge winds up caring for the man who killed her sister, and a “Scrooge” with a real hatred for the poor goes on A Christmas Carol journey after a homeless family take refuge in his house — Hallmark card themes like the spirit of Christmas, charity, and reconciliation are dealt with in brute force. The fourth tale, which brings them all together, is jarringly sweet and sentimental compared to the stand-alone chapters which involve grisly death and uncertain fates.

KRAMPUS-21

The art ranges from stunning to dirty and rough, which is perhaps the intention but it’s never been my favorite aesthetic. Fiona Staples, known for her work in Saga, shares the spotlight by taking up work in chapter two. As a Saga fan it was wonderful as always to see Staples at work, but I unfortunately couldn’t say the same for the others. I must clarify that review PDFs are often pixelated so the art I see may look better on paper and not via email, but the rough, grotesque style in the other chapters — especially juxtaposed against the more refined Staples — doesn’t inspire any kind of horror or suspense, just unpleasantness.

Christmas remains a frontier for horror exploration, but we’re still years and years away before the holiday can be morphed masterfully into something sinister. Krampus might, but based on what I’ve seen it’s looking unlikely. Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas is no different.

The Red Ranger Is Back to Action at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade 2015

by Eric Francisco

At this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Red Ranger is getting back to action.

On the 89th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, November 26, the Red Ranger will be a part of the march up and down Manhattan for the second year in a row. The special will air live on NBC from 9am until 12pm, all time zones.

The Red Ranger joins Ronald McDonald, the Good Dinosaur from The Good Dinosaur (I don’t know his name), the main Angry Bird, two elves from something I don’t know, Santa Claus, and Scrat from Ice Age for some reason. This is a pretty shitty Avengers, if you ask me.

2015 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade poster

As a kid, I had always dreamt that my beloved Power Rangers would be at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I spent my childhood near the Natural History Museum near Central Park on Thanksgiving eve to see the balloons get inflated, from Spider-Man to Cat in the Hat to Rugrats. The Power Rangers have been a staple since 2010, but since last year the Red Ranger had his own balloon.

Geekscape Recaps: ‘Into the Badlands’ — “The Fort”

by Eric Francisco

Of all the scripted shows airing on AMC, once the home of Mad Men and afternoon broadcasts of Clark Gable movies, it’s unbelievable to think it’s the zombie show that is the least stylish. The Walking Dead is certainly the most expressionistic by far, but it lacks a confident swagger commonly held by gritty comic book movies. Into the Badlands has swagger in spades, along with a political power struggle that’s a bit of a paper-thin Game of Thrones. The premiere episode, “The Fort,” has the unenviable task of needing to set up before the party can really get started. On the bright side, it has some fun along the way.

Whatever happened that caused the world of Into the Badlands to become is of no concern. It was a bad war, and now everything looks like the antebellum south again. Sprawling poppy fields, slaves, and a collared “baron” (Quinn, played by Marton Csokas) could have you mistake this kung-fu mash up for a Civil War period piece, if not for famed Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu as Sunny — a distinctly Asian man — having the tippy top spot in Quinn’s Clipper army.

Sunny is Quinn’s most ferocious dog on a leash. What he lacks in literacy (“I prefer Cat in the Hat better”) he makes up for in street smarts and how to kill dudes. But he’s begun to crack, wondering what the 400 some odd bodies he’s stacked up all in Quinn’s name. Wu’s performance grounds Sunny; I think if anyone else were to portray him Sunny would be a failure of a character, but Wu excels in cold, humorless expressions that say a lot about his internal monologues. It’s debatable to say Wu isn’t actually the central character of Into the Badlands — it’s very much treading ensemble territory — but how Sunny would fit in the whole show is the dealbreaker that thankfully isn’t broken at all.

There’s a political power struggle in Into the Badlands that adds a large scope to the show’s world, but it pales to prestige contemporaries like Game of Thrones. Like Thrones, everyone who holds sway in the Badlands are after more of it but there are lesser stakes. Why does The Widow (Emily Beecham) want to kill Quinn? Because she’d succeed him. And then… yeah. More power.

However, there’s Orla Brady’s Lydia, the jealous wife of Quinn who has taken an eye towards a younger woman, Jade (Sarah Bolger). And there’s Quinn’s son, Ryder (Oliver Stark) who is an arrogant dick and a disappointment in his father’s eyes. And Jade and Ryder are fuckin’! Like a real period drama, there’s a heavy soap opera family drama hiding in Into the Badlands obscured by the bloodshed and steampunk.

But dead center of the coming war is Aramis Knight’s M.K., a young boy from a far off city who wields unbelievable power that both Quinn and, very likely the Widow, will play tug o’ war over. His origins are linked to Sunny’s, whose search for salvation possibly lies in his past. (Could M.K. and Sunny be brothers? Makes sense.) Like the Hulk, if M.K. is sliced by a blade he loses inhibition and rages like a beast with strength, precision, and brutality that far exceeds Sunny. Think Arrow‘s Mirakuru, but worse. It’s the most “supernatural” element in Badlands but given the show’s grounded dystopia it would be far too out of place. I wouldn’t rule out some fringe science that exists outside the Badlands, which have been walled off and isolated for untold generations.

He’s escaped, but it won’t be for long.

The political landscape is altogether a weak sum of parts, but it smartens up the ass-kicking. The show’s breathtaking action will stun anyone unfamiliar with modern kung-fu, who I suspect are the majority staying tuned in from The Walking Dead. People will be enamored by the action, but there’s just enough robust characterization that keeps the violence from being as senseless as Sunny’s past kills.

 

Geekscape Giveaways: Win the Sylvester Stallone ‘The Director’s Chair’ Poster from El Rey

by Eric Francisco

With Creed on its way to theaters, Robert Rodriguez will sit down with Sylvester Stallone on a new episode of The Director’s Chair. Primed to air this Sunday, November 15 at 8pm ET/PT, the rebel filmmaker and the Italian Stallion will meet once again (Rodriguez directed Stallone in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over) to talk about his stellar career, from Rocky to Rambo and all the way to The Expendables.

In honor of the episode, El Rey and Geekscape are teaming up once again for an awesome poster giveaway! We’re giving away FIVE (5) of these incredible posters from artist Paul Shipper.

stallone_final_v3

How do you get one? It’s very simple.

Invite three of your friends to like El Rey and Geekscape on Facebook. Then, on the Geekscape Facebook post advertising this contest, comment below with your Expendables codename. Jet Li was Yin Yang. Randy Couture was Toll Road. The awesome Terry Crews? Hale Caesar. Sylvester Stallone, Barney Ross. (Hey, it works.) So tell us yours, and we’ll pick the winners by Saturday, November 14. Good luck!

NYCC 2015: Jason Jones and Samantha Bee Talk ‘The Detour’ and the Seriousness of Comedy

by Eric Francisco

A few weeks before the New York Comic-Con on the 2 train, I met Jason Jones and Samantha Bee.

It was a dreary fall Tuesday so I didn’t hound them for pictures even though I was/am a major Daily Show fan. But it was a pleasant encounter that started with Jason letting me go first out of the car.

Fast forward to NYCC, and they’re sitting next to me in the press rooms. It’s the end of the day and they’re exhausted but I still felt the energy and passion both Jones and The Detour producer Samantha Bee, former The Daily Show correspondents, had about their newest endeavor. A half-hour comedy coming to TBS, The Detour is based on true experiences (cranked to eleven) about their family vacations that go off the rails. Perhaps literally. You can expect carnage.

The shadow of The Daily Show looms over them after a combined decade of enlightening serious issues through comedy. Unsurprisingly, The Detour might live up to that legacy. Uniquely a ten-episode serial — meaning you can’t just “jump in” with episode five — Jones and Bee are confident they’re going where comedy is headed, and that’s to prestige-level storytelling.

“People are dipping their toes in on HBO a bit. Veep is a little bit like that, Silicon Valley is a little bit like that too. I think no one’s really dove in fully. I think this is one of the first shows,” Jones says to me.

As one of the first comedies to attempt this level of storytelling, I wondered if envelope-pushing comedy would be The Detour‘s M.O. But Jones quickly dismisses the notion. “I never look at that,” he says. “I think that’s shocking for the sake of shocking. I don’t really come around to writing like that. I think [The Detour will come] from an honest perspective.

Jones and Bee illustrate to the press table an example of exactly what kind of comedy The Detour will be serving up, and it’s a concoction born of dirty sex between National Lampoon and mumblecore. “The first act [of episode two] is just a frank discussion about the mechanics of sex. It’s not speaking in euphemism. It’s just two eleven year olds discussing what actually happens. It’s just a really uncomfortable conversation that I don’t want to be telling. The wife does. Then we switch half way through. Then, we argue about it. The semantics of, no, you don’t do that. Then we get into a fight about how we actually have sex and…” he begins to laugh.”I don’t want to go there.”

“It’s pretty nuanced actually,” remarks Samantha Bee. “I think it takes it in a very authentic direction actually.”

Jones adds: “I think people would look at that and think, oh, that’s shocking. For some people, that’s shocking. [But] it was never intended, like ‘Here, this is going to be shocking.’ We’re going to shock the world by having a frank sex talk. It’s just a conversation you need to have with your children.”

Bee says that the scene in episode two was inspired from a conversation between their own children when “they literally had no idea how babies were made.”

“Had no idea how one thing got into another thing,” she adds.

A lot of The Detour was inspired by experiences Jones and Bee had on their own family vacations. While none went truly haywire, they say there have been strippers, drugs, and mail order brides. Kinda. “That was like a side bar like when I went to Russia,” Jones jokes, “but, that’s a different story.”

But as long as The Detour has been “rattling around” Jones and Bee’s heads, it took even longer to convince anyone to bring it to production. “No network wanted it because it’s too racy for network sitcoms.” But as their reputation at Daily Show rose, so did The Detour‘s chances. “You gain fans along the way,” Jones illustrates. “You have cocktails with people and they’re like, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ I got tons of ideas.”

A “regime change” at TBS was the stroke of luck they needed. “When we tried the pilot, we met with the new network president and he’s like, ‘The pilot is great. It’s a fantastic episode. I’d love it to go darker.'”

“They’ve let us explore more than we ever thought a network would let us explore,” Bee says.

Jason explains that when pilots go into production there’s “like 40 people standing around from the network.”

“When we shot this series, zero. They were like, ‘Done it? Good. Here’s a box of money. We trust you.'” The level of trust the network gave The Detour is something Bee says she’s never experienced before, and that The Detour‘s creativity “hangs on us.”

The result? Something more… story driven. And “very relationship driven.”

“The one thing that we love the most , when we shot the pilot and we reflected on, was how real the family relationship was given everything that was happening to them. The context, the situations they were in, we always felt the love of the family. No matter how much they fought and they do. No matter where they were, you emerge with a great feeling about these characters. You want to learn about the characters. I think that’s how we deviate from comedies that are on the air right now.” 

“They’re funny but they’re very gag-based,” Bee adds, pointing out that most comedies have “a joke every 20 seconds. There’s a formula to the way that jokes are placed in popular television comedies right now. It’s all pacing.”

“We build to a laugh,” Jones says. “We’re all full of not subverting it with shit jokes and pop culture references and a fart joke to get to. We’ll build in something. There’s like ten references in one episode to this one thing, and you go, ‘Why do they keep bringing that up?’ At the end of episode, it all pays off.”

Jones reflects. “No one can laugh like a laugh track. We’re actually trying to laugh like human beings.”

The Detour will air on TBS in 2016.

Geekscape Interviews: Joshua Fialkov, Author of ‘Pacific Rim: Tales of the Drift’ on Love and Mechs

by Eric Francisco

Pacific Rim rocked. In a better world it would have been a cultural phenomenon, but as it stands it’s one of those things that was too cool for the rest of the world to get (although China loved the shit out of it).

No self-respecting geek should pass up Pacific Rim, and Joshua Fialkov, the multi-time Harvey Award nominee, is relishing his chance to write the new Pacific Rim comic series Tales from the Drift, out now on Legendary’s comic imprint.

Over a week ago, I had the chance to catch up with Joshua about his influences, Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham’s input, and one strange element he’s adding to the Pacific Rim mythos: Love.

What excites you about Pacific Rim personally?

Fialkov: I love it for a bunch of reasons. The main thing is I’m 36 years old, and it hit so many of the “love buttons” from my childhood. I loved Godzilla as a kid, I loved Ultraman as a kid, I loved manga and anime. I grew up with as much of that stuff as I did American comics, if not more.

I did too.

Fialkov: The one that I always remember is there was an anime and a manga series called Gunbuster. Remember that thing?

Yeah, actually.

Fialkov: It’s like a battle school and they’re training, it’s about teenage girls training to operate these fighting… essentially they’re like little versions of the Jaegers. So, I love all the stuff. What it does for beyond that is it hits all those buttons and it mashes them up into something wholly original and wholly different, while at the same time it’s also providing commentary on our world. What I like about it and what I tried to bring in for the comic book was the idea of humanity, of humanism. Because Pacific Rim is really a story, about what mankind can do as a species.

Contrary to what people will say, contrary to politics and to wisdom, it’s really a story about how we as a species can team up and make something greater than ourselves. And it’s done both literally, in terms of everyone building the Jaegers, but then even specifically when you have the two pilots drifting together. When they’re interfacing, they’re creating something bigger and better than themselves. Something that neither of them could do individually that they actually need each other to do. And that speaks to the very core of who we are as people.

Because the truth is, none of us are an island. Everyone needs the people around them. And all of us, whether we want to admit it or not, none of us want to be alone.

Even Batman needs help sometimes, right?

Fialkov: That’s true, and sure, he gets a lot of Robins killed, but you know, can you blame him?

Of course.

Fialkov: It really is right, that type of humanity is the thing that really stuck with me, and it’s also what so much of what Tales from the Drift is about because you have as sort of the central conflict, you have these two Jaeger pilots who are in love, and they have become a unit. They are in love in a way that no one in the real world can actually be. They know every single thing about each other. So I thought the idea of telling a story that starts with we see where we’re going, we see that eventually they’re going to become this well oiled machine, but when they first meet they just absolutely hate each other.

And getting to play out those two things, getting to play out how they made the moves to get to the point where they don’t just love each other, they trust each other implicitly seemed like such a fun thing to do. You’re really telling the story of a romantic comedy, you’re just dressing it up in the clothes of giant robots and giant monsters.

I would certainly watch more romantic comedies if they all had giant monsters and giant robots.

Fialkov: Right?

You’re saying something big about the story right now. What can you tell me about your comic, especially since this isn’t the first time Pacific Rim is hitting comic book shelves. You’re talking about love. What can you elaborate about that?

Fialkov: Even though there have been other comics, everything that we do is designed so you can read it entirely on it’s own. So if you haven’t seen the movie, though it’d be weird that you’re reading this, but if you haven’t seen the movie and you’re interested in just seeing what Pacific Rim is all about you can just pick up the comic.

If you have seen the movie, or if you have read the other comics or the other books, they’re all built to be part of one kind of bigger story so they enhance each other and they make each other. They tell parts, we tell parts of the story that are in the movie and in the other comics and in the other books, but we’re telling them not only in a different medium, but in a different way.

So, just as an example, so our story is very specifically about two pilots, Duke and Kaori who are pilots of Tacit Ronin which we saw for twenty seconds, ten seconds maybe, in the movie. And Tacit Ronin is by far my favorite of all of the Jaegers. It’s named after Ronin, it’s Japanese built, and it looks a bit like a samurai. It’s neutral pose is sort of like the dueling samurai position where the samurai grabs his sword.

There’s another Japanese Jaeger named Coyote Tango. Does it show up?

Joshua Fialkov: Coyote Tango does I believe show up in issue 3 or 4. More Jaegers show up. We get to see a whole bunch of them. And Tacit Ronin, we’re seeing Tacit Ronin at the top of our story at sort of the peak of its skills. But unfortunately as the Kaiju are getting more advanced and as the Kaiju are developing, it’s just kind of not enough.

So this is a prequel?

Fialkov: Yes, it takes place before the movie. So we get to follow this love story of two pilots who are now deeply in love and how their love is the thing that either saves or dooms them in the process of fighting this gigantic monster. And like I said, what I’m proudest of really is that it’s very much a story about the people inside the Jaeger, while still having literally eleven pages of monster fighting.

It’s interesting that you’re introducing love, because love happened in Pacific Rim but in a drastically different way. Mako and Raleigh loved each other but not in the traditional movie sensibility. What made you want to insert unambiguous “I love you” into Pacific Rim?

Fialkov: Part of it is that it comes from a story that Guillermo and [screenwriter] Travis Beacham, part of it is that it comes from a story that they really wanted to tell. But then the other side of it is, like you said, we see in the movie two core relationships. We see two brothers at the beginning, we see Raleigh and his brother, and their understanding of each other is because they’ve been together their whole lives. They’ve had this entire life together that has made them easy to become a pair.

And then on the other side you have Mako and Raleigh learning to fight together, and both of them are sort of desperate for this thing to work. They are literally the last hope, they have no choice but to find a way to make it work.

What’s different about our story and what’s sort of fun to explore is this idea that these two people when they met, when they got together, the last people they wanted to match with, the last person they wanted to have a high drift compatibility score with was each other. So we get to see them really resist, and really not want it to work even though everyone around them is telling them “You idiots, this is the thing that’s supposed to work.” So I think that story is really fun and it’s really powerful.

And, again it’s fun because you’re taking those romantic comedy tropes and you’re playing it against the big giant epic scale of a giant genre story.

How much input did Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham have? Did they have any suggestions, or were they totally hands-off allowing you to do what you want?

Fialkov: Like I said, it came from a story the two of them put together. Travis wrote it from conversations with Guillermo, and then once I was brought in it was a very open conversation. I got to sit down with Guillermo and talk about what his vision was and what he wanted to accomplish with the story. He reads every script, he sees every page of art. He’s hands-on, but hands on in the very best way. You’re getting it straight from the horse’s mouth, as they say.

So what were some of your own personal influences? What got you into comic book writing, and what’s it like to be tackling something as big as Pacific Rim?

Fialkov: I got into comics very specifically to tell incredibly personal stories. It was a way to really do what we’re doing in Pacific Rim which is to tell genre stories, stories that are dressed up in the clothes of genre, but are really about people, about people and how they cope.

So this is my sixteenth or fifteenth year writing comic books, it’s been a really long time, and the bulk of what I do are books. Like, I do a book called The Bunker at Oni Press. Also coming up on Wednesday I have a new volume of a book I do called Exodus: The Life After, which is a big crazy adventure story set in the afterlife for suicides. The main character is a guy who woke up one morning in the afterlife for suicides, has no memory of committing suicide, and then goes on this epic adventure with Ernest Hemingway and an assorted cast of weirdos as he tries to figure out who he is and how he got there.

And there’s two trade paperbacks of The Life After out, and then I have a third book that I’m doing right now. It’s a book called King which I’m doing with Jet City which is an imprint of Amazon. It’s a post-apocalyptic adventure book about after every possible apocalypse that has ever happened, there is one man left on Earth, and all he wants to do is get to work to get paid. It’s literally a story of the worst commute ever.

People really don’t know if Pacific Rim 2 is coming. That’s still very much up in the air, and I read conflicting reports every day. So with the fate of Pacific Rim up in the air, what was like to contribute to a story that you don’t know is going to be built upon tomorrow?

Fialkov: I mean, I know that everybody and Legendary loves Pacific Rim. They all believe in it, they care about it. This is their baby. I know that it’s something that, there will be Pacific Rim stuff for years to come. I don’t know anything about the movie or anything about that stuff. Working on it has been really rewarding, again because the difference between this and any, I mean I’ve written He-Man comics, I’ve written Doctor Who comics, I’ve written Spider-Man, I’ve written all these different characters, but you never really get to work with the person who created the character.

Getting to work in this universe with Guillermo and with Travis has really been probably the most rewarding part because you’re getting it, like I said, straight from the horse’s mouth and you’re getting their full vision for what the world’s going to be. And these guys have such a crystal clear vision for the story they’re telling and what the universe is. I’m’ like everyone else, I can’t wait to see what they do next.

What else can you tell me about the book that we don’t know yet? Is there anything that you’re adding into the Pacific Rim mythos that might be included into Pacific Rim 2?

Fialkov: There’s some stuff, I don’t want to spoil it. A lot of it is in future issues. I do want to say, our artists are Marcos Marz who is pencils and ink, and the colorist is Marcelo Maiolo and the two of them are doing career defining work. It is so gorgeous and so cool. Guillermo hand-picked Marcos to be the artist. They’re both just doing brilliant work. And getting to work on it, just as much a fan as you are, I’m as much of a fan. So getting to add to the history of the universe, getting to add to the story of what comes next is such a huge huge huge gift for me.

Pacific Rim: Tales of the Drift is out now on comic store shelves.

‘Power Rangers’ Will Not Be Exclusive to Netflix in 2017

by Eric Francisco

Last week Collider reported that Saban and Netflix had finalized a deal in which the 20-plus year old children’s superhero franchise would be an exclusive to the popular on demand streaming service. According to our friends at Den of Geek!, it’s false.

“[T]here is no accuracy to the report that Power Rangers is moving exclusively to Netflix in 2017,” said a Saban Brands rep to Den of Geek!

Not confirmed is whether or not Power Rangers will stay at its current home on Nickelodeon.

In the original Collider rumor, the 24th season of Power Rangers would be an adaptation of the currently-airing Shuriken Sentai Ninninger and that the new Power Rangers would be titled Power Rangers Shruiken. My radar should have gone off when I noticed “Shruiken” was totally misspelled, but I chalked that up to people not knowing their Asian weapons of warfare. People pronounce katana “ka-tay-na,” for example.

Not to throw shade at Collider but whoever is giving them scoops seems dubious. Their reports on the 2017 Power Rangers film have been spotty; the site recently revealed the alleged character names in the movie; the Red Ranger was named “Callum Oliver” which fueled rumors regarding the continuity of the movie (“Oliver” is the last name of original Green/White Ranger, Tommy). In a confirmed tweet by the official Power Rangers Twitter, the report turned out to be incorrect.

As of now, Power Rangers is expected to continue broadcasting on Nickelodeon with Power Rangers Dino Supercharge airing 2016. Later this month, the Red Ranger balloon will return to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Stan Lee Presents: “No Hero Now” Music Video, Q&A with Director Jennie Kong and Producer Ramon Govea

by Eric Francisco

We’re counting down the days until Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo this week, where our own Jonathan London will be in attendance! (Say hi to him if you see him!) Ahead of the convention founded by Stan Lee himself, a new music video has just premiered on Lee’s World of Heroes YouTube channel, the main man’s geek lifestyle channel we’ve previously covered before.

This week, the up and coming artist Vy Nguyen debuted her music video “No Hero Now,” featuring Jason Chu. The music video/narrative short film follows a comic book-style assassin/superhero not unlike Black Canary on The CW’s Arrow as she rescues her Sifu (kung-fu master, if you didn’t grow up on Donnie Yen movies).

I briefly caught up with the video’s director, Jennie Kong and producer Ramon Govea of Black Mast Studios to talk about the video’s conception, creation, and ultimately the message it hopes to get out into the geek world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdA9txx1m7s

What was the primary design influence to the music video? Cinematically and story-wise? What did you find yourself most frequently referring to?

Jennie: I’ve been influenced by everything from video games to films and TV. I would say that I’ve been most excited to explore a complex female character who is bound to world of violence and betrayal so much, that she gravitates back to it even when she runs far away.  I grew up on strong female characters such as Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Beatrix Kiddo and Sydney Bristow, and I am so fascinated by Carrie Matheson at the moment – so I really wanted to bring a character as contradictory and interesting as those – to life.  Visually, the team on this shoot are big fans of Netflix’s Daredevil and the Captain America triology.

Ramon: Yes, I can’t count how many times we talked about Netflix’s Daredevil.

Credit: Stan Lee's World of Heroes
Credit: Stan Lee’s World of Heroes

Combining a serial narrative beginning with a music video is a novel idea. Why did you decide on this path and what influenced the decision?

Jennie: “No Hero Now” is ultimately contained within a music video format.  I’m a fan of “music video events” that give narrative the chance to breathe, and open up the audience to care about the characters and its world.  It’s a compliment that you do see the world built inside the video, that’s something I always work hard on.  There could be more stories told with the characters, we will see.

What was the most difficult part in shooting the film? What came surprisingly easy?

Ramon: Time and budget restraints were the biggest challenge for me.  There were moments when I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get everything that we needed because the clock was ticking and five unforeseen problems would pop up at the same time.  But the team had the experience and stamina to keep going until we got what we needed.  We had some real MVP’s on our team that I’ve worked with in the past.  The easiest part was probably getting everyone on board with the concept for the video.

Jennie: The actors really embraced the characters and so it made it easier for me to write for and direct them. They were a joy to work with.  Jessika was everything I needed in the portrayal of Rian, and Jack Yang’s Sifu was awesome.

Credit: Stan Lee's World of Heroes
Credit: Stan Lee’s World of Heroes

 

What kind of input did Stan Lee have, at all? What’s it like to have him involved?

Ramon: The Generalissimo was more than happy to support our vision for the project.  He really seems to enjoy watching the content going up on the World of Heroes channel, but in terms of development, he took a more laissez faire approach, giving us the freedom to create without any real expectations.  We were then able to present the final video to him when it was close to finish.

Jennie: Stan and his business partner Gill have always been supportive. It means a lot for us to have Stan introduce the video and invite his community to check out the premiere and also our panel at Comikaze.  Both love to joke around, so it’s a pleasure to work with them.

What are your biggest hopes for the property? What’s the highest you think this can go? Where would you want it to go?

Ramon: For Black Mast, the goal is really just to deliver a great video.  We had a lot of fun developing the idea and watching the story come to life.  We wanted the world to feel much bigger than what you’re seeing on screen, and we have toyed with the idea of expanding in ways that will allow us to further explore this world of assassins and super powers.  Right now all we can say is we will be making some related announcements soon.

Jennie: Would love to develop this and write this world out. For now, we’re happy to be releasing the extended music video first and taking it from there.

Vy Nguyen and Jason Chu. Credit: Stan Lee's World of Heroes
Vy Nguyen and Jason Chu. Credit: Stan Lee’s World of Heroes

The lead hero is an Asian-American woman, an image still absent in much of pop culture. Do you hope this helps you guys stand out?

Ramon: I don’t think our intention in casting Jessika was to make us stand out.  We really just wanted a protagonist that best served the song.  It’s such an anthem and when Jennie and I talked about the characters, I left it up to her to decide who they were and how they fit into the world.

Jennie: For the song, I wanted to stay true to the music video’s lyrics and when I met with Jessika, she truly embodied and understood what the character was about.  Casting is never easy but the actors were easy to choose for this project.  Jack Yang (the team’s leader in the story) and Jessika had also previously worked on a video game together, so it felt natural to shoot their scenes together, as a fallen mentor and a reluctant prodigy.

Stan Lee’s Comikaze takes place this week beginning October 30th until November 1st. On Sunday, Nov. 1, you can meet the cast and crew of “No Hero Now” at their panel at 12pm in room 511ABC.

 

 

NYCC 2015: Josh Holloway, Producer Ryan Condal Talk USA’s ‘Colony’

by Eric Francisco

My first knowledge of USA’s Colony came during San Diego Comic-Con, when I saw branded SUVs and soldiers driving for Uber. I tried to get a ride but they wouldn’t stop. I spent the next twenty minutes walking lost in the Gaslamp District.

But I didn’t have a grudge come last week’s New York Comic-Con, when I sat down with the executive producers and star USA’s newest sci-fi drama set in a dystopian future. Starring Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies (from The Walking Dead). But don’t tell them that it’s sci-fi. They’re adamant about that.

“I think it’s not that much about science fiction,” said series creator Ryan Condal to me in the NYCC press room. “They’ve installed a proxy government of humans and it’s really about the rules of society that have been in us, about a family’s struggle to survive in this mysterious and brand new world. It’s not like we’re fighting aliens, that’s not what the show is about. It’s really about colonization. For us, almost every country in the world has either been a colony or a colonizer and that’s what our show is really exploring.”

Dim futures are en vogue now, from The Hunger Games to The Walking Dead. When asked how Colony could resonate in this era, the producers remained hopeful.

“Our audience is so well educated now with science fiction and genre story-telling,” Condal acknowledges, “but I think it is the themes of the show that we’re exploring: colonization, occupation, living under a policed state or a militarized government… Seeing similar stories told where the worlds are entirely different than in most other stories, I think is really going to hook in the fans. It makes the show unique.”

Star Josh Holloway thinks it’s more of a “character study.”

“It’s not the big flashy war that the normal genre begin with,” he says. “What’s happening is the after effects of [those] decisions we have to make, the moral compromises to survive. Ultimately it’s one of the oldest stories in human history. It’s about occupation, it’s about colonization. We’ve either been occupied or occupied somebody else throughout human history. So these themes, I think is what the audience is going to grasp on to because it’s an old human story.”

Josh Holloway stars as Will Bowman, an ex-FBI agent that was once a “man hunter” and now becomes the hunted throughout Colony‘s first season. “It’s not a superhero show,” he explains, “It’s not physical in that way but he gets physical and he’s in desperate situations… it’s more about putting puzzles together. That’s his super power, if you will.”

Ruggedly handsome, I doubted that Holloway had any difficulty adapting to the role. I was right. For the Georgia native, it was a cinch.  “I love physical action. I grew up with three brothers in the country so for me, that’s like putting on an old pair of jeans.” He also brought up doing martial arts, so I had to ask him what he trains in, naturally.

“Jiu-jitsu right now. Don’t ask me why I started jiu-jitsu at 46. Wow. They just call me Swiffer, they just clean the mat with me. But I’m learning. I’m getting meaner. I also do taekwondo, and I dirt bike and snowboard.”

I doubt we’ll see Point Blank stunts in Colony, but there will sure be a hell of a lot of brawling. “The action scenes and fight scenes are different. They’ve evolved so, jiu-jitzu I just got into. I spend all my time on the ground. I thought, ‘Let’s just get better at ground work!'”

Colony premieres January 2016 on USA.

Let the Final ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer In You

by Eric Francisco

This just aired moments ago during the Giants vs. Eagles game (Come on, Big Blue, WTF are you guys doing?), but it’s here now for your viewing pleasure. Meanwhile, did you get your tickets for The Force Awakens? Because I didn’t, and I’m resigning myself to seeing it the second weekend. Can’t win them all.

I’ve watched the first trailers ad nauseam and this was like 90% new footage so I’ll be happily watching this on loop until December 18. Or December 25, now. Oh God, will I actually see it on Christmas?

Quick thoughts: So it’s clear that Kylo Ren is some kind of Ren pack leader. It was unknown where in the hierarchy he was, but now it looks like he’s got some command. (We all kind of just assumed, didn’t we?)

Also, I’m fascinated how the adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia are apparently legend, not history. That’s going to be verrrry interesting to see play out. I always imagined those three go on to become war heroes (Remember, all the post-trilogy EU canon was wiped clean by Disney). That they become myth is both depressing and exciting.

Yeah, of course I’m excited. Are you too? Where are all the Star Trek fans?

‘The Force Awakens’ Final Poster Is Your New Phone Wallpaper

by Eric Francisco

There are exactly 60 days left until Star Wars: The Force Awakens awakens us, forcefully. And the promotion is ramping up hardcore, but you’d be surprised to realize there hasn’t been an “official poster” or an actual trailer quite yet. But here we are, with the official Force Awakens movie poster.

It’s everything you expect Star Wars to be, but with some neat surprises.

https://twitter.com/starwars/status/655775390691033089/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

For one, I’m surprised at how much prominence Daisy Ridley has on the poster. Not that I doubted her place as a lead, but I thought that would have been given to, say, Boyega or hell Harrison Ford. It’s really great that Star Wars has another prominent female lead in its mythology. I hope there will be more!

The more I look at the poster the more I get excited, as if I weren’t already. The red/blue contrast really pops. I kind of like this better than the Dru Struzan variant from D23, which is sacrilege!

A new trailer is supposed to premiere tomorrow night during ESPN’s Monday Night Football. You mean it won’t air during Monday Night WWE RAW?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres December 18th.

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Momentum’ Director Stephen Campanelli on Clint Eastwood and Bad Guys You Love

by Eric Francisco

 

Momentum, releasing this weekend and starring Olga Kurylenko (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), James Purefoy (Rome), and Morgan Freeman (Like Everything Ever), is Campanelli’s directorial debut, but I wouldn’t call him a rookie. The Montreal native worked with Clint Eastwood for twenty years, starting with The Bridges of Madison County until American Sniper. You don’t work with someone like Eastwood for twenty years without picking up a thing or two.

“I mean learned everything from him, pretty much,” Campanelli explained. “He’s such an amazing director and he’s such a powerful story teller and that’s what I learned.”

Momentum entered production halfway through Eastwood’s American Sniper. “When I was leaving, he gave me words of advice. He said, ‘Just make sure you have a great script and you’ve got a great cast and you’ve got a great crew. That’s 90% of your job this time. Once you’ve got that…’ Then he paused. ‘Oh yeah, don’t forget you have to get a great caterer, because the crew needs to eat.’ Yeah.” I hear Campanelli laugh.

“People gotta eat!” I tell him.

“People have to eat and if it’s crap they’ll complain and if it’s good they’ll be on your side. So that was part of it. He’s got a great sense of humor, but what I learned the gentle nature of working with the cast. He empowers them, which a lot of directors don’t do. A lot of directors I find intimidate their cast and then the cast get a little on edge. He likes to create a very natural for the cast.”

Momentum, shot in South Africa for a modest $20 million, stars Olga Kurylenko as Alexis Farraday, a hotshot heist specialist caught in a game of cat and mouse with a ruthless assassin (James Purefoy) and his team of guns working for one of the most powerful men in the United States. Seeking revenge against the assassin for the death of her friends, Alexis sets out to uncover the truth and make it out alive.

I interviewed Momentum‘s director about his first time sitting behind the camera as a director armed with his visual instinct to create what I think is one of the most arresting indie action movies of the year.

246B4BF2-7A0D-4921-9124-9FCF8B1F6682

Geekscape: What made you choose an action movie for your directorial debut? Because actions movies are very complicated to craft. So what made you take it on, on your first go?

Campanelli: Yeah, in hindsight, it maybe wasn’t the wisest decision but I always jump in feet first. I never shy away from the battle or a challenge. So when I read the script, obviously I went, “Wow, there’s a lot of action. There’s a lot of stuff that happens here.” I am a big fan of the genre, so I was like, “Wow, I’ve watched so many of these over the years, now I get to do one.”

So I am very, very blessed and I thought, “Well I might as well jump in and I got to work with one of my best friends.” He’s a photographer, Glenn McPherson. He’s done a bunch of big budget action movies and I thought, ” Wow, this guy will help me a lot too.”

Being on set for 25 years and doing a mixture of all these Clint Eastwood movies, action movies and all sorts of genres, I was kind of prepared for it, because I kind of knew where to put the camera and I think a lot of directors don’t come from a camera back ground or a very visual background. So I would rehearse with the stunt coordinators. I would say, “So what’s going to happen here?” Then they would tell me and I would say,”Okay great.”

I just instantly knew where to put the camera, so it wasn’t like… I’ve been on sets with newer directors, that have no clue where to put the camera and either I would suggest or the director’s photographer will. I was kind of doing it on my own, “Lets put one here, another here, here.” We used go-pros and stuff, because it was action. The more coverage you got the better and the more dynamic it will be. I got very lucky with an incredible editor, Dubbie White, really made this film another dimension. He was so incredible. I just thought, “I’m going to jump in and do it.” I did.

You said your camera background allowed you to know, way ahead of time, where to put the camera. How else did your cinematography background influence you?

Campanelli: So as I read scripts in general, I’m always picturing the theme itself and I kind of picture where the camera is going. So I was very well prepared in production and all the texts counts and meetings with the crew. I told them exactly where I was going to put the camera. Even though, it was invisible space, so there was nothing there. I was like,” So I’m going to put this here. This is going to here. The guy is going to stand here.” So I was very good at that and I would say as a camera operator, but more so as a director, because no one is going to ever read the script, that I read and the cast read and all of that.

So my job as a director, especially, is to take those words off the page and put them on the screen. So the audience, that’s never going to read the script understands what we all went thought reading it, like the emotions and the visual nature of it. So as a camera operator, that kind of prepared me, because I do that all the time, is I take a camera and point it in the direction of a story and let it come to provision.

But obviously as a camera operator, I don’t get a lot the decisions of the performance and things like that. That’s the director’s job. I definitely enjoyed the extra aspect of working with the cast, getting the nuance of performances and just being able to tell the story in a more direct way, from being a camera operator, but that definitely helped me out. Also coming from the crew, I know what the crew goes through in making a movie. It’s not easy, it’s hard. So I definitely wanted to empower my crew and to really say, “Hey, were all part of this movie. Let’s make this together.” And we did. I was very fortunate of a great crew.

You mentioned Clint Eastwood likes to craft a particular atmosphere on set in order to achieve the best performances out of his actors. Do you do that as well?

Campanelli: I’ve done that as a camera operator too. I create like a nice cocoon for the actors of protection, of giving them judgement on their performance sometimes or just that I got the shot, so I know what I’m doing technically. So don’t feel afraid of screwing up a take, because I’ll get it, but if you give me a good performance I’ll make sure we have it and it’s not ruined. I think some camera people sometimes, “Oh I didn’t get that one.” And it was their performance of a lifetime. I’ve learned that from set too, because we shoot all the rehearsals, mostly on the first takes. So we have to be really prepared, so does the cast. So we all rise to the occasion and the challenge. So far it has been working out great. I’m trying to follow in his footsteps.

Speaking of performances, you have a very interesting cast. Olga really stood out to me, as there are not enough action heroines in Hollywood. What can you tell about the creation of her character and what can you tell me about Olga’s performance?

Campanelli: Yeah, she did. It was amazing. Like you said earlier, I am a big fan of female heroine movies. I just love them. I think there needs to be more of them. I think they are so entertaining to watch and it’s like putting an ordinary person, into an extraordinary circumstance. I just love that kind of situation, because the audience puts themselves in that situation too. They’re like, “What would I do if that happened to me?” I just really, really love that.

Olga, I worked with her on a movie called Phantom Psychopath, a few years back. I was very charmed by her, obviously by her beauty, but also because she’s just a nice, gentle, warm person. I thought I’d really like to work with her someday, so I put her in my mental bank and thought, “Well if I get a movie…”

Olga Kurylenko stars as "Alex" in Stephen Campanelli's 'Momentum.'
Olga Kurylenko stars as “Alex” in Stephen Campanelli’s ‘Momentum.’ Courtesy of Starz Digital.

When I read the script it was funny, because she just came to life in it and I thought, “Oh my God, this would be perfect for her.” So luckily we got it to her and she liked it. She’s done a lot of diverse roles, but this was her first lead action-thriller and she couldn’t of been better. She was so I banged her up and bruised her and cut her and she was amazing. She was like, ” Look Steve what you did, I got a big bruise because of you.” And I’m like, “Well it was worth it, because you did a great job.” She did a lot of her own stunts. Obviously the super dangerous ones, she didn’t do, but she did do like 80 percent or 90 percent of her own stuff, because she wanted to and I wanted her to also. She was such a trooper. It was cold sometimes and she never complained. She was such a treat to work with and I would work with her on anything again.

I’d say with James Purefoy, too. He played such a great evil guy, but yet he’s just so charming. I saw him in The Following and said, ” That’s it, he’s my bad guy. We got to have him.” Luckily he agreed and we got him.

What can you tell me about working with Morgan Freeman?

Campanelli: I’ve done three movies with him as a camera operator and we’ve gotten along very well. We’ve became like friends and he said to me, “When you get a movie and you get to direct it. If you have a role for me, I’d love to do it.” I said, ” Okay great.” Then this came out and I read the part of the senator’s role and I went, “Oh my god, Morgan would be perfect for this.” Luckily he agreed to do it, so I was very blessed. I was like, “Wow, my first movie and I got three of these top notch actors. I’m really, really lucky.”

Was he intimidating at all, to coach on set or was he very approachable?

Campanelli: Morgan is very funny. He is very intimidating on set, but he is a practical joker. He loves to joke with you, so he will intimidate you, but in a funny way. In the first movie, I was so intimidated by him and I thought he didn’t like me, but he was doing the opposite. He was really liking me, because he was intimidating me so much. He enjoyed doing it. So knowing him all these years, I felt very comfortable around him around him. You could tell the crew was like, “Oh my God, that’s Morgan Freeman.”

He commands so much respect and he’s such a very talented actor. We were great. We were very comfortable around each other. I had some notes for him, he had a couple for me and we just collaborate great on everything. He was so incredible at his lines, he remembered everything instantly. He very rarely needs another take, unless we have a technical problem or he cracks a joke in the middle of something. It was a real treat to work with all three on this cast. Like I said earlier I am really lucky to have such a great cast for my first movie.

James Purefoy, in 'Momentum.'
James Purefoy, in ‘Momentum.’ Courtesy of Starz Digital.

James Purefoy as the villain, I agree he’s so charming, but he’s also, like, I just want to destroy him. He is so awful. He beats up a kid! What influenced that character? Was there anything from other books or movies that went into that character? Or was that just a perfect storm of you and James Purefoy putting your heads together?

Campanelli: Right, right. That’s a good question. It probably is an amalgamation of a lot of other bad guys. James put a lot into the character, in terms of being so prepared and have some really nice notes about his character. I trusted the simplicity in that. When I first met him, we talked about his character and I said, “You know you are very evil, but I still want to make you charming. That the audience can kind of secretly, in their subconscious, cheering for you.”

We hate him, but kind of want to be him sometimes too.

Campanelli: In real life he’s like that too. He’s so charming and he’s such a great guy personally, that it transfers to his characters. He was so great in Rome as Marc Anthony and everything he’s done is brilliant. So we collaborated the whole scene, like that interrogation scene, till the end. He and I collaborated for weeks on that, just trying to get the dialogue just right, just perfect for that scene. When we finished, we were both exhausted from working, but we’d get together and talk about it, try to make it great. I’m very, very proud of that scene. So it was just a really good mutual effort on our part.

One of the things that really sold me about Momentum, it happens right from that start when you have the robbers in the black suits and LED lights. They look like really evil Power Rangers.  How did those costumes come about? Who came up with that idea and why did you go there as opposed to just your traditional ski masks and what not?

Campanelli: You almost answered it. I didn’t want to do anything traditional. I didn’t want to ski masks. Of course you’ve seen the Point Break robbers, you’ve seen all these things. I just wanted something different.

I’m not a very good artist, but I was sketching what I wanted and I described to the costume designer and props people, what I wanted. With weeks of just sketches, things kind of came to that final costume. I said, “I want a little bit of steampunk, with the glasses kind of thing.” I wanted texture, so we found this neoprene, not a normal neoprene, we found something with texture. We found this other neoprene that had all these microscopic holes in it. The light will catch that hole. So I’m a very visual person, being from the camera department, so everything in that costume was for a visual reason. That’s why, I wanted to signify the different colors so we know who is who. We had the red, the green, the blue and the purple. So I wanted to make sure the audience to kind of knew who was seeing what, because all of their voices were very similar, with the voice box. That was the whole reason to hide Olga’s character, obviously.

That was in the script originally, with the voice boxes. I thought, “Let’s take it to the next level and make these guys creepy and scary. Let’s open the movie with a bang.” That was my whole thing. I really wanted the first five minutes to grab peoples attention and go for the ride for the whole 90 minutes.

You did. Like I said, I’m a total nerd and I thought, “These guys are like evil Power Rangers. This is awesome!”

Campanelli: That’s great, I’m glad you got that.

I understand that you want to turn Momentum this into a franchise. Hell, the word Momentum means to keep going.

Campanelli: To keep on going exactly.

Olga Kurylenko, in 'Momentum.'
Olga Kurylenko, in ‘Momentum.’ Courtesy of Starz Digital.

Where do you see the story going from here? [Warning: Spoilers!]

Campanelli: I don’t want to give away to much, but I definitely have some ideas for these people and Olga is so excited. She’s really hoping this movie does well, because she really wants to do a sequel too. She loved the character. It was a very sad day when we called a final wrap. It was a very tough movie physically. It was really hard to make, because we had a really short time to do all this action I wanted to do. I didn’t want to do anything cheaply. I really wanted to make things big. It was a small South African movie that I wanted to turn into a big Hollywood movie.

I think I achieved it, but the last thing we see is obviously is going off on the plane. Then I had an idea that she’s so great with getting away with things, that in the sequel, obviously it’s really easy to track a plane. Morgan Freeman’s character, the senator, can easy track the plane wherever it lands. They arrest her.

So I have an idea, where they would be flying, obviously, and she has that computer hacker guy sitting next to her. He hacks the plane, when another plane is crossing their airspace and basically now they are following the wrong plane. Then now they don’t know where Olga landed. That’s how the story would start. She’s in a different country right now. They raid the wrong plane. They go on board, they try and find her. She’s not there and that’s how that would start. Then after that I have some other ideas, but I don’t want to give to much away.

I’m hoping it does well. People should go see the movie to see where it goes next. Then we could increase Morgan’s character a lot more and really bring him into the fold. So I think it would be an exciting ride for all of us.

Momentum is out now in theaters, On Demand, and iTunes.

NYCC 2015: Ming and Mike Talk ‘Comic Book Men’ Season Five, ‘Star Wars,’ BronyCon, and More

by Eric Francisco

Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic on AMC’s Comic Book Men are the excited opposites to the subdued, sarcastic Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan. Unlike Bryan and Walt, according to Kevin in my other interview, Ming and Mike soak up their newfound geek celebrity at Comic-Cons around the country. Who can blame them?

“I love the travel. I’m an adventurer so I think it’s fun,” Ming tells me at this past New York Comic-Con. “I’m visiting cities I never thought I’d be able to go to. The fact that there are fact so many cons now. It’s just fun. Me and Mike come back from a day where guys were in church basements or at the mall or some little closet somewhere. Now, they’re in filled convention halls.”

Mike Zapcic, his co-worker and co-star, chimes in. “Take a look at this,” he gestures in the press room. “This is the entire Javits Center.”

“They take over cities,” Ming adds. “New York Super Week has taken over New York City. San Diego takes the whole city. It’s fun. It’s not grueling at all. It’s more of an adventure to me. It’s like Lord of the Rings, sort of.”

But like a journey to Mordor, it takes its toll.

“It’s a little tiring,” Mike admits. “Don’t get me wrong. I love going to the cons. I love our fans. First and foremost to me, that’s what it’s about. It’s going out and we’re like ambassadors for Comic Book Men, as stupid as that sounds. We still have entire families coming up and saying, ‘We love watching you guys. You teach us something every week. We’re not afraid to let our kids sit and watch this.’ That’s essential what it is for us, for me.

“For him,” Mike gestures to Ming, who begins to laugh. “He is a party animal. Now if you guys had said, ‘What are you doing later on tonight?’ His itinerary is open. He’ll meet you there.” One wouldn’t assume the Asian guy out of a group of comic book nerds would party up, but that’s just because you haven’t seen Ming at hotel parties after conventions.

But cons remain sacred ground. Mike adds: “I recently talked to a friend of mine. She was recalling the first time she went to a con. I think it was Dragon*Con, maybe five or six years ago. She literally broke out in tears. She was like, ‘These are my people. I didn’t know things like this existed. I’ve been going around, I couldn’t find people like me. And, here’s a whole three, four day weekend full of people just like me.’ She got so emotional. Literally it brought her to tears. I’m just like, welcome home. This is it.”

The fifth season of the AMC reality series for dweebs has drummed up a dedicated fan following that stays tuned in after The Walking Dead. Because of that, notable names in geek culture have waltzed through the doors, from Nichelle Nichols to Daryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. Season five will be no different.

“Stan [Lee] drops by again which is always a pleasure,” Ming says. “We had Jim Lee also.”

Mike Zapcic: “What a great guy,” Mike gushes. “Just the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.”

When asked about favorite moments out of the four seasons thus far, Mike replies: “I loved the drag race.”

In a recent episode, the gang drag races Adam West’s Batmobile against the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty. As a fan of the Green Hornet, it was one of my favorites too.

“I’m a big fan of Bruce Lee, for the obvious reasons” says Mike. I show him my phone wallpaper, which was actually Alex Ross’ cover for Kevin Smith’s Batman ’66/Green Hornet #1 cover. I didn’t plan it that way.

What works about Comic Book Men is the guys themselves. Bryan, Walt, Ming, and Mike are like a married couple of four, bickering and giving each other shit but never making any of it malicious. Most reality TV manufacture drama. Comic Book Men has impromptu, hilarious pop culture debates.

“We’ll never stop that,” Mike says. “I’ll be 85 and I’ll be talking about, ‘You know who’d have a really cool wheelchair? Batman would have a really cool wheelchair!’ I’ll still be complaining about the three prequels when I’m 85. I mean, no doubt.”

Working in reality TV have also informed the gang just what goes in to making these shows. They get it: it’s manufactured. But they can’t stand to watch other reality TV, but not for reasons you think. “There’s the whole Wizard of Oz,” Ming says. “We’ve seen behind the curtains. You can see little details.”

Mike adds: “Oh, yeah. I’m not going to name names, but you watch that and you’re like, ‘Holy crap, are you fucking wooden?’ I mean, I know I am wooden. These guys take it to another level. I’m watching Rick just try to be pissed off like, ‘Chum Lee!’ That’s horrible. Get really pissed at the guy and throw something as him.”

Being a “Pawn Stars for geeks,” the guys are still waiting to see their dream items.

“The one things that are like truly one of a kind are I think are movie props. Anything from like the first three Star Wars would be incredible. Although, sometimes you look at stuff like that and it’s so beat up and I was like, ‘This is it?'” The magic goes away. “Like Han Solo’s blaster pistol was like rubber.”

Mike brings up Adam West’s utility belt in *Batman*. “It’s a piece of pleather and some wooden dowels spray painted yellow. That’s like, wow. I want something cool.” Mike then spoils a cool item that they see in season five. “I even saw the Batcopter this season. They had the shark repellent. All it was, was a bunch of canisters strung up. That just sucks. Come on! I want it to be shiny.”

Despite being roughly the same age, Ming and Mike splinter in a generation gap when it comes to their pop culture diet. “He’s more late ’70s,” Ming says referring to Mike. “I’m an ’80s kid. As much as you love the ’80s as well, I think our toys and collectibles are still from different. It’s only maybe, five years apart but it’s still a different. It seems like a whole world.

“You can literally tell time by toys,” he adds. “It’s great.”

Being a fanboy show, surely they don’t have their pulses on everything. I ask them if there are any fandoms that surprise them by their sheer existence, and I can’t say I’m surprised.

“My Little Pony” Ming replies quickly. “Those guys are insane.”

Mike recalls the episode they hit up BronyCon. “When we went down to Baltimore to the BronyCon, I got booed off stage. I thought I just being kind of clever.”

Mike went as a veterinarian. A bloody veterinarian. “Sometimes, the ponies don’t always make it,” he says with a smile.

Someone naturally brings up Star Wars. Because of course. Male:

“I have no mixed feelings. It’s J.J. Abrams. I’m giving him my full confidence. I am very excited. I got chills,” Mike says. Ming echoes.

“Yeah, beyond excited. Once that John William’s score kicks in and you see the X-Wings back again. ‘Chewie, we’re home.’ Come on. You must have a black heart if that doesn’t get you a little bit.”

Comic Book Men premiers Oct. 18 at midnight EST on AMC.

NYCC 2015: Kevin Smith’s Expectations and Love for ‘Comic Book Men’ Season 5

by Eric Francisco

Being from Jersey, I can’t stress enough how much of a hero Kevin Smith was to me. Even if I don’t always find the quality of his work pleasing, and I’ll be the first to admit his record is spotty, he still remains a hometown hero. He’s proof that no one can be too lazy to find success, and every day I wonder if I’d ever have enough guys to max out a dozen credit cards just to make a movie that may or may not be worth it.

At New York Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of sitting right next to the man himself and hear him talk about the next season of Comic Book Men. While he’s always more of a standby guy, just hearing about what happened in the store, the man is still hands-on with the show, thus making one of the few reality TV shows I find myself ever tolerating.

To any Kevin Smith fan, you should know how much the dude loves talking. He’s built an entire career on it. At the press rooms of New York Comic-Con, he was no different.

On the unique construction of Comic Book Men: Didn’t even create it, happened by accident because we wanted to include the podcast and one of the only reality shows where there’s never a moment where you’re the camera and somebody is fucking looking at you going, “You know what happened? I hate this guy.” Or, “Fucking, I was there.” Like the podcast table allows us the device of they have to tell me the stories as opposed to telling it to the camera. One thing I really love [about the show] in terms of the medium, I thought that as clever in terms of, “Wow, we got away with what they call OTF, on the flight, talking to the camera.” I’ll sit there for three days and record and then come out, we do that two more times. The editors go produce it. I start seeing cuts like I started seeing cuts maybe five weeks before. And then basically watch the episode; note it if there’s stuff to cut. And I’m first and foremost, more than anything even more than a writer anymore, I’m an editor.

That’s what I love to do and I got a good sharp attention for it. So I’ll go through an episode and watch it and they’ve done all the heavy lifting, it’s all there but then I’ll just be like, “Cut 12:10 to 12:15.” It’s a strenuous work. There was one I first cut it the episode of Shatner was like, he didn’t show up till the last five minutes and I was like, “Are you kidding me, we spoke for two hours and he did some wonderful shit.” We went back in and it’s one of the best episodes we ever did. So I’m going like, “I made that happen.”Sometimes you just the person on the outside who’s like, “Come on dude. I was there and I know we got more with this guy and if we’re going to sit down with Will Shatner, let’s fucking sit down.” So that episode took a nice jump. So that’s what I doubt really it’s those dudes, and I keep pointing at, those four dudes, produced all the material.

I know it’s an unscripted show, [but] we’re not reality. They’re aware of cameras, they’re fucking everywhere. Otherwise why would they agree to do the show? So some people in season one got shitty about that but, look it’s not reality, it’s of course not. But we never called it that. It’s unscripted. Those cameras show up and then Brian will say, “Okay, the transaction will start.” And they start bringing him through and it just happens that way. And if they’re doing a story episode he sets them in a four shot and then he goes, “Okay, start talking.” And they start generating conversation.

I give them all props, all the content of that show is on their minds, they’re paid as on-camera performers of themselves because it’s not technically performance, they’re playing themselves. But they’re writers as well and those are my friends like the dudes least likely to be writing TV fucking writers and they back doored into it. They generate same thing a writer’s room would do for a bunch of actors so, they get to be themselves but come up with the material. And all their bickering, like Brian and Walter, they’ve been practically married for 40 years.

All that bickering and shit talking became this show, like it became their podcast first on Steve, Dave and that podcast became this show. So I don’t know, it’s a real testimony to everyone else, it may be the most successful I’ve ever been involved with and that’s because I have very little to do with it other than show up and be myself sometimes but, it’s a joy, I love it so much.

How his expectations from the first season have changed now that they’re on season five: I’ve always had zero expectations in regards to the show at all, came together organically and accidentally. If I tried to make it happen, it wouldn’t happen, this dude Charlie Collier wanted original media. I met him through Ellis Siden one of the producers on the show and he said, “AMC is looking for a geek program, cheap geek program.” I said, “Why?” It was because they had, The Walking Dead that worked very well, but they got to go shoot season two and they’re afraid that the audience that showed up is going to lose interest and go away. So they want to keep the geek attention and they thought, “You might know how to do that.” I was like, “Never, oh my God. No.” And so I said, “If you were ever going to do something inexpensive,” I said, “If you put Pawn Stars in a comic book store, that’s be amazing.” As I grew up watching Antiques Roadshow I always fucking watched it with my father, no comics. Toys, every once in a while.

And every time they did it, you’re fucking [gestures excitedly] and you wished for an All Berries episode where it was nothing but toys and fucking comics and so that’s what I pitched. I was like, “Do that man, because I know my audience would watch that, I’d fucking watch that.” So, didn’t even pitch my store or my friends, just pitched that idea. So I had no expectations that it would be some of my store or these guys would be it, eventually it wound up being those dudes. What I said to this dude Charlie Crewman, I was like … he said, and “AMC is interested in shooting a pilot so you’ve got 10K to do it. So is that good?” He goes, “Well, we’ll eat up most of that in location fee, and I was like, “What do you mean location fee?” He goes, “Well, we got to pay a comic book store to shoot there.” The idea was to find the most acerbic comic book store staff in America in a nationwide search and then go shoot there. I said, “Well, I got a comic book store.” And that’s the first time I’d said it in one month that we’d been talking about this fucking show. And he goes, “You’re serious?” And was like, “Yeah, I’m right behind New Jersey, I got a comic book store.” He goes, “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” And I was like, “I don’t know, I guess it sound braggy if I say bit out loud.” [laughs] And he goes, “Really?”I said,”Yeah, and the dudes that work there are very, very funny. Like they do this podcast together called Tell ‘Em Steve Dave so, they could stand in for however is going to be the most acerbic comic book store and staff that we find in our nationwide search.

And he said, “Well, how can I see ’em and hear ’em?” I said, “Here’s a link to their podcast.” And then next day Charlie calls up and he goes, “You’re a fucking idiot, this is the show.”

I never thought to put them forward because they’re not interested in this shit.” Like Ming loves this. and was like, “Oh my God let’s do this of course.” Bryan and Walter, no interest. Like they come up from straight up Jersey style, where they’re terrified of somebody making them look stupid and that was the reason they didn’t want the show. I called Walter, “You want to do the show? AMC, they do Mad Men, they do Walking Dead. They could do a show at Secret Stash.” I was like, it’d be amazing. And Walter was like, “No, I don’t want to do it.” And I said, “Why?” And he goes, “Because I don’t want to be Snooki.” [laughs] Which just shows you how far back this shit started man.

And I was like, “Dude, why wouldn’t you want to be Snooki? She made a lot of money last year.” And he didn’t want to do it for any reason other than I’ve talked him into it because the store was like, I said like years prior, “We’ve got about two years left on that store. So ride it out because I ain’t making anymore Jay & Bob movies so we’re not making anything that would make anyone come into the store anymore.” Most places are going digital, brick and mortar’s dying and shit. We’ve had a great run over ten years, we’re going to shut it within the next two or three. And so as I was talking to him on the phone and like almost at the two year mark, I was like, “I’ll tell you what dude; having a show in fucking AMC is like a commercial for the fucking store, it might make people come into the store.” And that’s the only reason he did it, he goes, “Well, if it keeps the store open, I’ll do it.” And now look at him, his the fucking star of the show it’s fucking crazy.

So I had no expectations then it organically just fucking happened. If I went pitching this and tried to make it happen have my heart in it, I know this business, it wouldn’t happen, This happened by accident and shit.

The fact that it happened by accident and then found a little audience at night with a million people watching, helps that we have two juggernaut shows leading in, in front of us and what not. It’s a gift every year when they renew it and then when do renew it, since I’ve really never had the biggest influence on the show I’ve always hesitated to be like, “All right, this is what we’re doing this year.” It best when I let those dudes do it.

The show kind of works the way it works the way it works, where it’s like I come in, I don’t know what the fuck happened and they tell me a story. And so I never wanted to interrupt that flow. Every once in a while I’m like, “Oh, we should do this.” Like if we go to season six, I know for a fact there’s an episode where I desperately want to do. Years ago I got into my alma mater, Henry Hudson Regional High School, they have this like dopey wall of fame, like hall of fame shit. It’s like me and ten other people. And the boys have been on TV for like five years, so I was there the other week and, I was like,“Oh, my God. You should induct the boys.” And the school was like, “Yeah, we’ll totally do that next year.” So I was like, “Oh my God, if we can go back to high school with this TV show, like I’ll drop the mic, I’ll walk away.” So if we get to season six maybe we’ll get too do that but other than that, I’m just happy to be the guy who comes in. The exact role I play on the show is the exact role I play off camera as well.

Comic Book Men premieres Oct. 18th at midnight EST.

A Stylish New ‘The X-Files’ Trailer, ‘Ask Yourself,’ Aired During ‘Gotham’

by Eric Francisco

As I’m sending out my New York Comic-Con press sessions out for transcription, check out this new promo for the upcoming The X-Files which aired during tonight’s Gotham.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R1WiuzIQbM&feature=youtu.be

It’s very comic book-y and not at all unnerving, which is how I remember most X-Files promos being. Then again I was like four years old and so everything X-Files scared the hell out of me.

Geekscape Interviews: Glass Artist and Graphic Novelist CJ Draden on Forging His Own Path

by Eric Francisco

You’ve seen CJ Draden at Comic-Con before. That fella painting stunning art on supremely bright white glass that always attracts a crowd? That’s him. He’ll be at this week’s New York Comic-Con as well as the Vienna Comic-Con later this year. If you’re going to NYCC, look for CJ and say hello. If you’ll be in Austria, say hallo.

Early in our conversation, I ask CJ how his new book, The Wooden Heart is doing. A departure from his typical superhero art, The Wooden Heart is his stylish take on the classic Pinocchio. In so few words, it’s doing pretty well. “I’m pretty happy with the response,” he tells me. “I’ve been fortunate to have Stan Lee endorse the project. That was a big change in the interpretation of how I was going to go about, being an artist. It would change anyone’s perspective of themselves.” Stan “The Man” Lee telling you he likes you’re work is a heck of an endorsement.

CJ Draden & Stan Lee

Another project of his, Atlas, represents another departure from his typical work you see at Comic-Con. “I think that at any given point in time someone decides to do something with their life, start a project, change a career, do something different, I think it marks their current comprehension of their life, and their surroundings. I think that’s true when an artist creates something, because of the things that you’re interested in or learning about at the time.”

The Wooden Heart and Atlas, CJ tells me, are resonant of specific, super personal times in his life. “I was dealing with a lot of things, and I put a lot of personal things in it. It’s a very personal project. I learned a lot from that. I grew from that and I started taking my lessons and moving on to another point in my life.”

Ahead of his presence at the New York Comic-Con, I interviewed CJ to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be an artist still trying to figure out this crazy world we inhabit.

The Wooden Heart

You said something interesting just know, that “Atlas” was kind of like a turning point for you. Did you always want to be an artist? Or did you stumble onto this career unexpectedly?

CJ: No, I can’t say that I always wanted to be an artist, I don’t really have that clicheé story where people are like “Oh I’ve always been drawing.” I have always been drawing since I was young, but it’s a good thing to bring up because I think that people have a calling, I think if you just make certain choices in life and you stick to what you feel is truthful about you, you’re going to encounter people and encounter certain situations that are going to change you, and lead you in a certain direction.

I did go to college for illustration but I dropped out, it was a struggle, I struggled with this a lot. It wasn’t something that just came naturally, which I was always concerned about. Art is used as a therapy and people enjoy it and it’s always fun to be around creative people. So I was just curious as to why it was so hard for me to do. I discovered myself in my own particular process with the way that I work, and it changed everything. So no it wasn’t something I always wanted to do, but I found a love for it, and I think that the people that follow what I do and support what I do in the past five years, it gave me a sense of purpose. Like okay this is what I’m meant to do, and I grew to love it.

Does it surprise you the amount of support you’ve gotten? You’ve said you’ve had Stan Lee and Michael Rooker praise your work, Whoopie Goldberg too. Does it surprise you that you’ve gained such a notoriety for something you didn’t expect you’d be doing?

CJ: Hell yeah. It’s shocking. Again because I think that in Western culture we have this status quo step by step process of what is gonna lead you to the light, what’s going to make you successful, and that’s through go to college, get a job, start a family, get the white picket fence, all that stuff, and it’s very rare that people promote an outside of the box thinking on how to follow your passions and create a life. So when this started happening I was going to dip out of this, I wasn’t even going to be an artist, but when Stan came around it really changed everything. I was about ready to just stop. I really knew how I was doing so I can legitimately say that I’m still an artist because of Stan Lee. It gave me the spirit to keep moving forward.

Because of all this stuff happening, like being on The View and doing work for Michael Rooker and Whoopie Goldberg and having some interviews with Stan, him endorsing the project, it’s miraculous in a way because I was continuously beat down for being an artist, that’s kind of the standard. Most creative people are like oh you know I was told this would never happen, all my art teachers in high school, my college instructors and peers thought I was a joke, so I left and I started going to the people and they said yeah this is cool stuff, and they kept supporting it, so I just followed what worked, and I just said , okay. I’m going to do what I feel is right.

There’s an interesting parallel between the way you said you lived your life and the way even your art is made. You make your art on glass and that’s a very unconventional way of making art, art. I was curious about how did you arrive at making glass art in the first place?

CJ: That is a very metaphysical and philosophical answer. I tend to over think things a lot, and I get very deep into my own head, and I guess you could say that it is a reflection of myself.

Really?

CJ: Yeah, absolutely. When people, especially some of the things that I’ve noticed when I was in part college, a lot of the things that people were struggling with were transcending information from their imagination to this reality this point of existence through sculptors or paintings or body of work, whatever it may be with a big block of getting that vision out, and I felt this whole heartedly.

So when I started discovering this process I felt that circuit just open up and things just started pouring out that I never thought I could do. So a lot of what I do is purely instinctual and I don’t even understand how I do a lot of it. I feel like I just let go of control in this world that I exist in just starts to pour out and the only way I can really describe it is a portal. When I start carving and scraping and molding and building these shapes into the glass and opening this door into a reality that only exists to me, and allowing people to see into that. I think that’s the best way I can describe it. I think you really have to connect with what you’re doing. You get what I’m saying? You really have to connect what you’re doing.

PrintI’m curious as to know why you gravitate towards the fantasy genre comic book realm, and I can assume that you have some sort of connection there.

CJ: Well it’s a two sided coin in this situation because at the time I started doing this I had no idea what I was doing. I knew that I had discovered something that made me feel like the implicate me, it made me feel at peace. Because there was a lot of depression, there was a lot of different things I was going through in college, and when I discovered this it gave me a sense of peace and I wanted to stick with it. I think that when you find something that you’re passionate about, now you have to figure out what you want to do with it. Especially art, when you have no boundaries, putting yourself in a boundary and committing yourself to a goal, committing yourself can be very challenging, but you have parameters.

So I think the hardest thing was after I discovered something I started building my own process that communicated my vision to people. I needed to do something worth it. So I chose comic-cons because I just went with what worked and people liked the way I did these things that they had been reading about and seeing for years when they were kids, and it was painting a joker, painting a batman, this is pretty wicked, it’s pretty rad. I just kept doing that till I figured out myself inside of that.

At one end of the spectrum I had no idea what I was doing, but at the other end of the spectrum I knew I was going towards something I just didn’t know what it was, and I felt that it would present itself when it was ready, I wasn’t trying to force it. So I have done a lot of the comic work and I have grown up with that stuff, so there is a personal connection with that, but in the same light there does come a point in a persons life where you have to make a step for what you do, and put your own messages out there.

 We all kind of grow up reading about Batman and Superman and these traditional archetype stories then you eventually have to get into a point where it’s like, this is what I do. So it’s a little bit of both. I think we all have connections to these archetypes but there has to be a point where you bring something to thee table. I think everyone felt my journey, it doesn’t matter what career path you’re on.

Do you hope to leave your own creations, your own creations to the table? Do you hope to create something that another “CJ” in the distant future will create works of?

CJ: I don’t think it’s viable for a creative person to think about themselves that way. I think what that does is stops you from moving forward. If I were to allow myself to believe that a character, a creature, a project that I worked on is going to be the next Sandman, then there’s no room for improvement. So I think that as long as you look at everything as a learning experience, and you commit to doing something and you finish it, you’re always going to find something that you need improvement on.

So even if I wanted to see myself as this type of hypothetical person that we’re talking about, I don’t want to think that my rational mind would believe it. You don’t learn anything from the things that you don’t finish, and you never move forward on to something else if you don’t learn anything. So there’s always something to learn, and I’m always putting myself in this retrospective self reflective process. So even if I wanted to see myself, I just wouldn’t like “I’m going to be the next so and so.” I don’t even think I would believe it.

Print

What’s next after New York Comic-Con? What do you hope to do next?

CJ: I have a few other different shows that I’m booked for through out the year, like there’s a big horror convention down in Orlando that I used to do, I haven’t done it in four years. One of my friends, Tony Todd who was Candy Man in Final Destination, is going to be there, so I decided to pick up the show, and go see him, and kind of retouch with some people back in that side of the country. I actually got invited out to Vienna for a major launch of their convention. There’s a big demand over there for the Western art and super heroes and there is a big comic book scene, but not a convention scene. This is going to be like the huge launch of their San Diego Comic-Con. So I was invited out to do this show.

I’m pretty stoked about it because every year, and this actually ties in full circle to what we were talking about, was like where does Atlas come from, every Christmas and New Year’s I have this tradition where I travel abroad, I spend New Year’s in a different city around the world. This past new years I went through Greece and Atlas and this other project, The Zero Mirror comes from my love of philosophy and anthropology and ancient culture, because I love learning about what makes us tick as human beings. I use that as like a platform psychologically to build projects off of because there is so much in the implicate of human being that can serve as creative forces. Because motivation is the driving force to anything we do in life.

So I like learning about different anthropological aspects of cultures so going to be there for Comic-Con is going to be fascinating because it’s going to help allow me to go there for the summer I worked but also see a different part of the world I haven’t seen. There’s Vienna and there’s Prague over there, I’ve always wanted to go there. So I’m pretty stoked about it, it’s always fun to go to a place where your senses, the five senses are completely active.

It’s very rare that we ever get to experience that because we are so focused on responsibility past, present, and future, and where you can just shut off and you’re in survival mode. You don’t speak the language and geographically you have no idea where you are at, and I think it’s going to be just cool.

Geekscape Reviews: ‘The Martian’

by Eric Francisco

The first thing you should know about Ridley Scott’s The Martian is that it’s very good, and probably very important. For the longest time I have felt that our culture devalued intelligence and education; in middle school when I was on MySpace, my classmates filled in “Favorite Books” with “fuck books.” We thought being smart was something to be ashamed of.

But a decade later and being smart isn’t just useful for life, it’s fucking cool, and Andy Weir’s The Martian is the latest in the new brainy fad (a fad I personally hope never goes away). Originally a cheap ebook on Amazon, Weir’s science-accurate novel about an astronaut stranded on Mars has been adapted into a big budget film with renowned director Ridley Scott at the helm. And yes, it’s great! It’s thrilling and suspenseful in all the ways you want it to be and funny in the ways you would n’t expect, and as a participant in the new brainy pop culture it’s going to do a lot to influence young minds to pursue science and value intelligence once again.

I just wish it were better.

The Martian Launch One Sheet

Comparisons to Weir’s novel are inevitable and I don’t think any adaptation should ever be a slave to the source material, but in The Martian‘s case I’m torn. I roll my eyes when I hear complaints like “It wasn’t as good as the book,” but this might be the rare movie where it’s worth debating. Scott cuts out a lot of Watney’s setbacks that keep him isolated from the rest of Earth, which is so crucial for the heart of The Martian. Scott cut out a solid hour that would have effectively communicated the isolation and claustrophobia of Mark Watney, which the book’s hefty 300+ pages achieved. The story Ridley Scott tells is great, but an extra hour would have made it weighted and sublime. Typical moviegoing audiences probably don’t have time for that extra hour nor did 20th Century Fox probably have the budget, but it might have gone a long way to letting The Martian rise above popcorn status.

They really couldn’t have casted this thing better, and it was probably the most important thing they could have done. With Watney on Mars, the Ares III crew ping-ponging in space, and NASA on Earth, no one was ever going to be share the same space at once, yet they all feel like real colleagues. Colleagues who tease each other and give each other shit and tell them when they’re being an ass. It’s one of the best things about The Martian and it works like gangbusters. Populating with prestige talent like Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Donald Glover, Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean, and Kate Mara was probably the only choice they had to make The Martian work.

But no one steals the show better than Matt Damon as Mark Watney, who had the heavy responsibility of having to act by himself for the majority of the picture. Andy Weir wrote Watney to be a smart aleck to alleviate the brutal science that takes up every other chapter in The Martian, but in the film Watney functions as an anchor, a vehicle, as all film protagonists should do. But Damon is funny and approachable, so when he talks about his scientific methods he’s not boring in the slightest. You don’t need to have aced a biology class to appreciate what Watney is doing and how he walks you through it.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Jessica Chastain’s Commander Lewis either. She is a standout character, a leader who feels like she’s failed. Her guilt for leaving Watney behind drives her through the film and it’s awe-inspiring to watch, which is something Weir’s book didn’t explore nearly enough. But neither does the film, which despite doing more than Weir’s book it still doesn’t give Chastain the ample time she could have used to chew on it. Chastain has a gravity (no space pun intended) to her, and it’s a big mistake the film didn’t take full advantage.

In the end, The Martian is exactly what you want it to be. It’s a thrilling story about survival in space with affable heroes that any kid can aspire to be who don’t need for radioactive spiders or titanium armor to be great. But The Martian doesn’t take its time and doesn’t allow itself to breathe (the irony in that statement isn’t lost on me, I assure you). When I read Andy Weir’s novel, I couldn’t wait to be done with it, because I felt for Watney and his predicament and felt choked by his confined space. When I watched Ridley Scott’s movie, I couldn’t believe how soon it was over.

The Martian gets a 3 out of 5.

El Rey Network Got Nerdy: ‘Constantine,’ ‘Almost Human,’ and More Airing in 2016

by Eric Francisco

We’re a bit late because the press release got buried in my email, but El Rey Network just locked down a deal with Warner Bros. and will begin airing reruns of cult TV shows making their basic cable debut for the first time. Among them? Constantine, Almost Human, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, and both iterations of the sci-fi series V.

El Rey just got hella nerdy.

“We are proud to have these extremely popular titles make their off network cable debuts on El Rey Network,” said El Rey Network founder and chairman Robert Rodriguez in the press release. “This is the kind of distinctive, action packed content that viewers have come to expect on our air and these franchises will be the perfect compliment to our existing line-up of iconic and thrilling originals and acquisitions.”

Uh. Yuh-up. Constantine and Almost Human begin airing on Nov. 3 and Nov. 9 respectively, while the rest of the acquired shows will air sometime in 2015 and 2016. Check out the full list of shows with the press release’s description (Almost Human strangely leaves out the fact that it starred Karl Urban) being added to El Rey’s rotation.

Constantine (Begins Nov. 3, airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET)

Almost Human (Begins Nov. 9, airs Mondays at 8pm ET)

Human Target

Mortal Kombat: Conquest

Freddy’s Nightmares

V: Miniseries and V: The Series (2009 remake)

The Twilight Zone (2002 remake)

Night Visions

Yeah, that it’s the remake of The Twilight Zone and not the original is lame, but it’s dope that El Rey got Constantine. It’s the next best thing to happen to the show aside from a total revival. We’ve got his one Arrow appearance to look forward to, and without any foreseeable Netflix availability, a regular spot on El Rey is still a blessing. Almost Human too, which I was totally into until Fox pulled the plug.

So, are you excited as we are for the new shows coming to El Rey? Let us know!

Comedy Central, Trevor Noah Made Secret ‘The Daily Show’ Ads Hidden in Google

by Eric Francisco

What’s the best way to build buzz for a new TV show in need of positive PR? Viral marketing! But as this story demonstrates, in 2015 the truly “viral” stuff that actually catch on are the ones that don’t. At all. While The Daily Show already premiered this week, these short ads meant to capitalize on its buzz aren’t getting said buzz until now.

Comedy Central, which in the interest of transparency I should say was once my place of employment, filmed a bunch of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah commercials then tucked them away, hidden in Google. To see them, you have to search for things like “Trevor Noah girlfriend,” “Trevor Noah religion,” and of course, “Trevor Noah tweets” and click on the oft-ignored Google ad at the top of the page.

From UPROXX.
From UPROXX.

Because the videos are unlisted and only accessible via hotlinks, we can’t embed them. But here are all the ones the Internet has found so far.

“Trevor Noah girlfriend” which was likely aimed to get hits from the Internet’s curiosity over Noah’s bae.

“Trevor Noah age” because no one should be so successful before they can sign up for the army. (He’s 31.)

“Trevor Noah ASMR.” ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which are “sounds that feel good.” Like Trevor Noah, I don’t get it either, and it’s probably my favorite of the bunch.

“Trevor Noah gay” because you don’t matter unless someone Googles to find out if you’re gay. It’s the American dream.

“Trevor Noah autotune.” I give up trying to figuring this out.

“Trevor Noah networth.” I don’t even think Jon Stewart became a millionaire. Did he? Someone Google it.

“Trevor Noah religion.” He’s a black man from Africa in a prominent American position of influence? Definitely a Muslim.

“Trevor Noah wiki” because you’re too lazy to go to Wikipedia.com.

“Trevor Noah shirtless.” Oh behave.

There could be more out there, so if you feel like doing some sleuthing and discover some, let us know!

Breaking Down the Potential 2017 ‘Power Rangers’ Cast

by Eric Francisco

Variety has reported that a slew of young Hollywood actors will begin testing for 2017’s Power Rangers, set to be directed by Project Almanac helmer Dean Israelite with a script by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz of X-Men: First Class and Thor. Based on the information, I can say that for the most part, they’ve chosen well!

From Variety:

Sources tell Variety the studio is about to begin testing young talent, looking at up-and-coming actors and actresses to make up the team. Sources say Daniel Zovatto (“It Follows”), Ross Butler (“Chasing Life”) and Brian “Sene” Marc are among those testing for Zack (aka the Black Ranger), while KJ Apa (“Shortland Street”), Austin Butler (“The Shannara Chronicles”) and Mitchell Hope (“The Descendants”) are testing for Jason (aka the Red Ranger).

Sources also say Naomi Scott (“The Martian”) and newcomer Stephanie Scott are up for the role of Kimberley (aka the Pink Ranger). Insiders say the studio is looking for fresh faces to fill out the team and will probably look for a big name to play the antagonist for the films, though no offers have been made for that part.

These are quite the batch of promising young stars, but let’s break them down by character and see how well each candidate would portray our beloved teenagers with attitude. As of now, we only know the potential candidates for Jason, Zack, and Kimberly.

Let’s take a look at Zack. For a refresher, here is the rumored character description.

17 years old, always the life of the party. Filled with bravado and swagger, Zack’s tough and cool on the exterior. A charming guy who’s never had trouble with the one-liner, nor lacked confidence around women. A great athlete that’s never wanted to play on any team but his own. Zack advertises everything about himself, except the truth, which is that he lives in a trailer park with his single mom, and because of it, feels deeply inferior to all his peers.

Proposed actors: Daniel Zovatto, Ross Butler, Brian Marc.

WOW. They’re really uncomfortable casting a black actor for Zack, and in some ways that’s a bummer. Power Rangers never intentionally casted by skin, but the producers they must feel as though they just can’t get away with letting Zack the Black Ranger be black. While people object to that, the Black Ranger has become an icon for black millennials, and to see that changed would turn ticket-buyers away from the movie. From what I gather, Brian Marc — who doesn’t have much of a body of work to judge him by — is of mixed race.

Ross Butler, however, is Asian. His acting credits are a bit longer than Brian Marc’s, mainly in some Disney stuff and TNT series. He’d be an interesting choice: Besides being Asian and bucking Asian stereotypes (again, read his rumored description), he has a cool air about himself — necessary for Zack –that I’d be excited to see.

Of course, Daniel Zovatto is the highest profile actor, having been on the horror hit It Follows and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While I hope Zack stays an actor of color, Zovatto would be equally exciting as the Black Ranger.

My personal hope is that Ross Butler gets it. Just because it would be a really significant step for Asian men and POC superheroes. Zovatto wouldn’t be bad either but I don’t think he needs Power Rangers, and sadly Brian just doesn’t have enough for me to judge from.

Now, Kimberly.

17 years old, unconventionally cool all in a way the popular girls wish they were. In fact, she was one of those girls, but isn’t anymore. Not since she’s returned to school after an absence of 6 months. Rumors are flying as to why; rumors she seems not to care about, because she’s come back with this new rebel-without-a-cause, edgy attitude. But the truth is, it’s all masking a deep secret that makes her feel profoundly vulnerable.

Proposed actresses: Naomi Scott, Stephanie Scott.

Both actresses are exactly what they’re looking for: young, pretty, and up-and-coming. Both have respectable resumes (Naomi Scott was just in The Martian, although I honestly don’t remember her character). She was, however, a star in Terra Nova, which I did not see enough of to judge her from. It’s also worth mentioning she’s British-Indian, which is a rad departure from the brunette Valley Girl that Kimberly originally was.

Stefanie Scott, just 18 years-old and having starred in Insidious 3 and the upcoming Jem and the Holograms, IS your typical blonde-looking teen, and is a pop star as well. I always imagined a pop star actress would be Kimberly.

In the end, what matters for Kimberly is that she needs to be smarter and more clever than she appears to be. She has to be beautiful, yes, but she’s also not a dumb Barbie. She’s whip-smart and clever, and deceptively so. That’s what’s needed for Kimberly. Either Naomi or Stefanie would be good, but I think Naomi would be more interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlyEVDhDN0

Now, Jason.

17 years old, the makings of someone or something great if he would just get out of his own way. Jason was a legend of this town — a freshman quarterback with the skills to take him all the way. People knew his name. Children wore his jersey. Until, one night Jason wrapped his car around a pole and busted out his knee. Everything Jason was going to become ended in an instant. And with it, he lost himself. When we meet him at the start of the film, he’s a kid in need of redemption. By the end, he’ll be leading this disparate group of teens to shed their individual baggage and find who they truly are.

Proposed actors: KJ Apa, Austin Butler, Mitchell Hope.

I think I’ve mentioned how much I hate they’re departing Jason from his martial arts roots, but what kid could relate to karate when their dads want them playing football?

Disappointingly, all actors are white dudes, and none of them remotely resemble what Jason should be. I don’t get a square-jawed hero vibe from any of them, and even with his emo-laced description I just don’t see any of these guys fitting that role. Mitchell Hope is the closest one, but I’m still not sold.

Is Jon Foo too old? They can just CGI the shit out of him into looking like a teenager, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjIEL6fUOUA

Neither Trini nor Billy‘s proposed performers were mentioned by Variety (maybe I should audition!), but they’re bound to be filled soon.

Power Rangers is set for release on January 13, 2017.

NYCC ’15 Preview: ‘Bloodworth’ from DangerKatt Studio

by Eric Francisco

One of the coolest episodes of Black Mirror was “The Entire History of You.” What if we could just record memories and play them back? Accurately relive them and — potentially — live vicariously through them without creating new ones? That never left me, which makes me excited about Bloodworth, from DangerKatt Creative Studio.

In the near future, the FBI uses memories from people’s memories to solve crimes. And DangerKatt and Bloodworth writer Daniel Corey will be at New York Comic-Con.

1

Having made its debut on ComiXology earlier this month, the limited-edition print run of Daniel Corey’s and artist Chris Fenoglio’s Bloodworth debuts at New York Comic-Con with just 50 (!) exclusive copies. Best of all, Daniel Corey himself will be at Artist Alley table Z14 signing all weekend.

Even cooler, the comics are enhanced with Augmented Reality. Scan the cover to see some video and other content in ways that was science-fiction just a a short decade ago.

The book will retail for $2.99.

Boom! Studios ‘Power Rangers’ Series Debuts January, ‘Batman Eternal’ Writer Attached

by Eric Francisco

Boom! Studios’ anticipated Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series will debut this January with issue #0, and Batman Eternal and Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins penning the script.

When Boom! announced they were writing Power Rangers I anxiously scoured for any information regarding these exact details. I wanted to know who would be taking care of my beloved Rangers (because Boom! sure as hell wouldn’t ask me) and I wanted to know when exactly I should be spending my money. San Diego Comic-Con came and went — where I lucked out and bought all six blind bagged exclusive one-shots written by the wonderful Mairghread Scott — and I gave up trying to learn more. It’s a good thing I gave up, then! That’s a great lesson for life.

Issue #0 will include Scott’s Comic-Con short with art by Daniel Bayliss. It’s unknown who will draw the main series, but I do hope it’s Bayliss. I liked his coloring and representation of the Power Rangers.

Until January, gawk at the amazing covers by Goñi Montes, and Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive look at his White Ranger cover.

power-rangers-white

New Thriller ‘Underground’ to Debut at New York Comic-Con

by Eric Francisco

Superheroes are inherently champions for social justice. Those two words are unfortunately diluted and just by mentioning them hear I fear I may have lost half our audience. But if you are repulsed by those words then you are repulsed by equality, and I’m not sure if we can see eye to eye there.

At this year’s New York Comic-Con, WGN America are debuting Underground, a new thriller I’m so excited about. Set in the American south before the Jim Crow era, slavery is practiced as simply a way of life. Restless slave Noah organizes a small team to plan an escape from the Macon plantation that imprisons them, sparking the legendary exodus of American slaves to the free north. Not that life would get any better for them in yankee territory, but just for the chance to live and breathe as free people is a fight worth taking. The series, I’m told, has just wrapped production on its first season in Baton Rouge.

Creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski have a heavy genre lineage, coming from Sons of Anarchy, Marvel’s Daredevil, and Heroes. Joining them is Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsmith executive producing, the series is primed for a 2016 premiere on WGN America. Check out the robust cast:

Aldis Hodge ( Straight Outta Compton, Turn) as Noah, a restless slave on the Macon plantation who plans an escape.

Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Friday Night Lights, True Blood) as Rosalee, a shy house slave.

Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) as August Pullman, a secretive man who walks a tightrope between morality and survival.

Alano Miller (Jane the Virgin) as Cato, a cunning and charismatic man despised and feared by his fellow slaves.

Jessica de Gouw (Arrow) as Elizabeth Hawkes, a socialite who shares abolitionist ideals with her husband, John (Marc Blucas, Blue Bloods), a lawyer whose principles clash with the legislation he’s sworn to uphold.

Adina Porter (The 100, The Newsroom) as Pearly Mae, a wife and mother and Mykelti Williamson (Justified) as her husband and preacher Moses.

Amirah Vann (Girls) as Ernestine, head house slave and devoted mother.

Johnny Ray Gill (Rectify) as Sam, Rosalee’s half-brother and a talented carpenter.

Chris Chalk (The Newsroom, Homeland, Gotham) as William Still, an abolitionist.

Reed Diamond (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Tom Macon, a plantation owner and political candidate.

Jussie Smollett (Empire), the IRL brother of Smollett-Bell in the cast as Josey, a wild-eyed runaway who doesn’t trust anyone.

Underground will be screened in Room 1A06 at 2:45pm and will be followed by a Q&A panel on Sunday of New York Comic-Con.

Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox Reprise ‘Back to the Future’ for ‘LEGO Dimensions’

by Eric Francisco

Great Scott!

Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox are returning to their iconic roles from the Back to the Future franchise for LEGO Dimensions, releasing September 25 for all home consoles (except Ouya).

They won’t be alone, as LEGO Dimensions  has a loaded voice cast. Also reprising their roles are The Lego Movie stars Chris Pratt as Emmet, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Alison Brie UniKitty, and Charlie Day as the hyped-up hyperspace space man Benny. The Twelfth Doctor from Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, is also showing up.

New to LEGO are Joel McHale as X-PO and freaking Oscar-nominee Gary Oldman as the villainous Lord Vortech. Gary Oldman voicing for a LEGO video game. What a time to be alive.

Meghan Ory Returning as Ruby in ‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 5

by Eric Francisco

Where the hell has Ruby been? I totally forgot. This season of Once Upon a Time will answer that.

TVLine has just confirmed that actress Meghan Ory is returning to the ABC fantasy series this fall, reprising her role as Ruby, aka the Little Red Riding Hood (she ain’t so little in Storybrooke). It’s unknown whether she’s back as a regular or it’s some one-time appearance.

The actress originally took a hiatus from the series to star in CBS’ Intelligence a few years ago, but returned briefly during the season three finale. She’s been gone since, but now she’s on her way back to Maine for who knows what. They’re doing Brave this season. Maybe Merida will shoot an arrow into her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg13Cs-2O44

DC and Warner Bros. TV Taking Over New York Comic-Con

by Eric Francisco

Excited about New York Comic-Con? So are we! And so is Warner Bros., apparently. With a full slate of fall shows, Warner Bros. and DC are coming to New York Comic-Con in a big way.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Gotham are joining Person of Interest, and Blindspot in a WB blitz at this New York Comic-Con. The usual fare is here, including Q&As, pilot screenings, and stars like Brandon Routh, Amy Acker, Arthur Davill, Ben McKenzie, Robin Lord Taylor, Caity Lotz, Jamie Alexander, and more.

But the curious thing are those who aren’t going to be there. Melissa Benoist, “Supergirl” herself isn’t a part of the announced guests, and neither will anyone from Arrow, The Flash, and iZombie. A little weird.

Warner Bros. takes the Comic-Con stage on Sunday, Oct. 11 from 1:30pm until 5:30pm on Empire Stage 1-E. You know. The big one.

And hey, if you’re coming to New York Comic-Con, let myself and Bigyanks know! We’ll be there too! Hit us up on Twitter (@ericthedragon) (@bigyanks). We’ll take selfies and crap.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MubNoWQiSc

Geekscape Reviews: ‘Dragon Blade’

by Eric Francisco

The first thing you should know is that Dragon Blade isn’t a good movie.

The second thing you should know is that it’s worth watching.

DB_1SHEET_27x40_FNL 2

Right now cinema is growing into a globalized platform. Hollywood and foreign products will start to look indistinguishable, and that’s beyond the large interracial casting. As foreign ticket sales boom and domestics decline, movies will begin to reflect a foreign taste that, upon this generation, there will be a harsh clash of cinematic styles and tastes. It is through this that makes Dragon Blade worth a watch: although messy, incomprehensible, and poorly directed, it very may well be the future of movies.

The story of Dragon Blade makes its failure all the more disappointing, because it’s a great story. Written and directed by Daniel Lee (The Mask, 14 Blades), the film takes place centuries ago on the Silk Road. Fugitive Roman soldier Lucius (John Cusack) forms a bond with a Silk Road patrol leader Huo An (Jackie Chan), who is framed for smuggling on the legendary trading route. The two men gain each other’s respect as their men build a Babylonian paradise only for it to fall under siege by Tiberius (Adrian Brody).

2_Jackie Chan & Choi Si-won_3
Jackie Chan (left) and Choi Siwon (right) as “Huo An” and “Yin Po” respectively.

There’s more to it but it’s needless to write in detail, because in the end you only care about Chan crossing swords with Brody’s cartoonish baddie. There’s a band of Huns who come to their aid despite being a pain in the ass in the beginning, and a little blind boy who is crucial to the plot but just sounds so lame and boring to even just write in full. There is more but it’s all filler.

I don’t think anyone ever wished for John Cusack and Adrian Brody, wildly known for blockbuster action films, to have a fight with Jackie Chan and yet they surprisingly hold their own against Chan who actually disappoints in his effort. Still, the film falls short a good two or three more choreographed fights. I’m sure it was cut down because neither man probably had the patience for Jackie Chan’s notorious obsession with perfection (He’ll do hundreds and hundreds of takes to get things right), but the film horrendously suffers when you know half the reason to see this flick is just the curiosity of Jackie Chan fighting Adrian Brody and John Cusack. Upon seeing how well both guys actually can swing a sword, you want more and Dragon Blade denies you that pleasure.

Although famous in the west for his comedy, Dragon Blade is humor-less and that’s fine. Chan has pulled off action-lie, heavy drama, before (Crime Story, The Shinjuku Incident). He doesn’t need to make funny faces in every movie. Still, joking around would have helped because he’s upstaged by John fucking Cusack, who I have a hard time believing can run a treadmill let alone smash metal and in Dragon Blade he looks freaking great. Ditto for Adrian Brody, who otherwise is kind of wasted as he does nothing except sit or walk back and fourth talking like a lame Bond villain.

Adrian Brody as "Tiberius" in "Dragon Blade."
Adrian Brody as “Tiberius” in “Dragon Blade.”

Perhaps failing Chan isn’t so much Chan but Lee’s directing. Or maybe it is Chan, who is getting a bit long in the tooth and probably can’t move like he used to. He still moves better than I ever could, I’m 23 and have never broken a bone, but to anyone really familiar with Chan as an artist you know he’s an expert on tricking the camera to create illusions that can make flailing your arms look like legit strikes. The directing of Dragon Blade utterly wastes Chan, as its plagued with slo-mo and poor editing and framing that take away Chan’s camera magic.

I’m personally amused that the film takes such a Kumbaya angle in its story of the Silk Road. While I want to believe in and find the good in fellow man, a movie that’s so Chinese (a paragon of human rights) be so sentimental and progressive just feels heavy-handed and try-hard. The Silk Road, BTW, was an international trading route that stretched from Europe to Asia through the Middle East when Amazon was still just an amazon. While I’m sure some people got along, money drove the business. It’s all really cool stuff to learn about, but in Dragon Blade it’s nothing more than just set decoration. Really expensive set decoration, I imagine.

If Dragon Blade fails as a movie, it fails because of its filmmaking. At 100 minutes, the movie is rushed yet it takes its time doing the most inane things. Dragon Blade is wrapped up in exposition after exposition, horrible slow-motion, and corny, sentimental editing and some very questionable set pieces. Just in case you didn’t get how the boy is blinded, let John Cusack spell it out for you in more detail. Just in case you didn’t get the friendly rivalry between Chan’s men and Cusack’s outfit, here’s an overly long sparring match that ends in hugs.

John Cusack as "Lucius" in "Dragon Blade."
John Cusack as “Lucius” in “Dragon Blade.”

This is what I’m talking about when I talk of Dragon Blade being some kind of future of cinema: Chinese cinema has very different sensibilities than western filmmaking. They prefer grandiose, sweeping emotion and blunt-force storytelling over subtlety and nuance. Yes, I know America has Michael Bay, but we also have David Fincher and even Steven Spielberg knows how to juggle spectacle with quiet, delicate pacing.

Dragon Blade is very Chinese in its storytelling, but with A-list Hollywood talent like Adrian Brody and John Cusack along with a literal army of Caucasian extras this could be what movies look like if foreign ticket sale trends continue as they do. And that’s not a bad thing, I just wish we had a better film to predict the future with.

We give Dragon Blade a 2 out of 5.

Wes Craven, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Scream’ Director, Passes Away at 76

by Eric Francisco

Oh man. Wes Craven, the auteur who set the formula for both ’80s and ’90s horror, has passed away of brain cancer. He was 76.

Let’s not dwell on the loss of a great filmmaker. Rather, let’s celebrate the work he left behind.

To me, it’s amazing how Craven was able to create the paradigm for two entire decades of cinema horror. Teens having sex and only to get sliced in half were on its way to becoming the norm when Craven’s first feature, The Last House on the Left hit theaters. He would then go on to make The Hills Have Eyes, Deadly Blessing, and Swamp Thing (based on the DC Comics character) before changing the game with A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The slasher genre was well-tread before he brought it back like gangbusters. Freddy Kruger was a supernatural terror who felt real. He was based on a traumatic encounter with a stranger from Craven’s youth, which upon learning added to the mystique of Freddy Kruger for me. Especially since I had an encounter eerily similar to Craven’s when I was his age.

 

Beyond the genius filmmaking that drove Nightmare on Elm Street — the famous “bed blood” scene where Johnny Depp is swallowed up was filmed upside down — it set the new standard for Hollywood horror. He would do it again in the late ’90s with Scream, revitalizing the teen slasher genre with a satire that celebrated and poked fun at it.

In the end, his movies were as much about hope as they were about fear. Nancy from Nightmare embodies these truths. No matter how dark things could get, the resiliency of the human spirit can always light the darkness.

Towards the new millennium Craven kept on keeping on as an executive producer and doing the occasional cameo. He would still sit behind the camera, though those movies weren’t often up to par with his previous work. Still, he was an artist who contributed much to our understanding of what it means to feel fear, and what it means to be utterly fearless.

Geekscape Interviews: Mac Quayle, ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘Mr. Robot’ Composer, Loves Synths

by Eric Francisco

My absolute favorite thing about Mr. Robot, the new USA series about a vigilante computer hacker on a journey to take down the biggest corporation in the world, is the music.

Reminiscent of The Social Network crossed with a dystopian/horror movie, the unnerving soundtrack is an huge highlight for the series. The series’ composer, Mac Quayle, is a rising star in the soundtrack world. Having worked in collaboration in movies like Drive, Contagion, and Spring Breakers before going solo on American Horror Story: Freak Show and now Mr. Robot, Quayle’s distinct style often evokes the darker nature of music with high-tech, synth-heavy sounds.

A few weeks ago I had a chance to speak to Mac Quayle, recently nominated for a primetime Emmy, about his career, from his beginning all the way to American Horror Story and Mr. Robot.

Whether or not you win your Emmy, what was your first reaction to getting that announcement?

Mac: I was really excited. Really excited. Kind of beyond my wildest dreams to be included with such great composers.

What was your inspiration into getting into music? What did you listen to that made you go, “You know what? I can do this.”

Mac: Well, it started with my parents putting me in the church choir when I was six. And it wasn’t really my choice. They just put me in the choir. And that was my introduction to learning music. And I’ve just sort of been on that path ever since.

Was there anything that you listened to later in life that just kept that momentum going?

Mac: I don’t know about one particular piece of music. I’ve certainly listened to a lot, been inspired by a lot of different people along the way. There’s so many, from different phases of life. But some early influences, I’m going to say Devo, Ultravox, New Order, Peter Gabriel…

Really, Peter Gabriel?

Mac: Yeah.

I don’t know why that surprises me. I think that’s kind of cool.

Mac: Yeah, I was a huge fan of his years ago.

What led you into doing soundtracks and movie scoring? I’m not well versed in music, but I know enough enough that it’s a different path than, say, performing like Peter Gabriel. What led you to do movie scoring and TV scoring?

Mac: In a way, it’s like a second career for me. My earlier career in New York was working more in the music business, as a musician, producer, dance remixer, and I did that for a number of years, until the early 2000s [when] the music industry started to find itself in decline and a lot of the work I was doing was drying up. So I decided it was time to move to Los Angeles, and I had a vague idea of getting into scoring, but I wasn’t totally clear. I moved out here in 2004, and I met some people, and I ended up getting my first job working on a TV show called Cold Case, as an additional composer.

I remember that show.

Mac: It was a great opportunity and I learned a lot, and I found that… It seemed like a good fit for me. That was the new direction that my career was taking and I followed it.

Speaking very broadly, soundtrack scoring is more often than not kind of categorized in two different ways. There’s the character theme, and then there’s a piece for a particular scene or moment. Do you personally have a preference for writing one kind of piece over the other?

Mac: Not really. I’m more about whatever works. For me to do a theme for a character, then that’s great, and if it’s more just about a particular scene or a particular feeling, then I’m all for that as well. And sometimes I’ll write a theme for a character and it ends up getting used for that character and other characters. And it works. And so I’m like, “Okay! It works.” That’s all good. I’m basically about whatever works.

What piece of composition do you think has worked the best, the one that just came together almost flawlessly?

Mac: Well, there’s been many, but recently the first piece of music that I wrote for American Horror Story last year, which was actually what got me the job. That piece of music, something about it, it came together not effortlessly, but it wasn’t that difficult to write and it just really seemed to fit the scene. They loved it. They hired me, and then variations of that piece got used so much throughout the entire season, it became a very useful piece of music and components.

This was last season, right?

Mac: Yes. Freakshow.

Your work is noticeably what I’d call kind of like a techno-thriller. You did the soundtrack to Contagion, Drive, I can imagine a hacker out of a William Gibson novel. Even when you use traditional, non-electronic music, they’re very intense and heavy pieces.

Mac: Yeah, I definitely gravitate towards that. On those films you mentioned, I worked with Cliff Martinez, and that’s certainly a bit of his sound and so it was kind of [us] both gravitate towards that.

Is there any reason why you gravitate towards the sound? Or do you just find it works for the material you’re composing for?

Mac: It does tend to work for the projects that I’m working on and that’s part of the reason that they asked me to do it, because they know that’s something that I do. And I also, I’ve just always loved synthesizers. I got exposed to my first synthesizer when I was maybe fifteen. And it just kind of blew my mind. And then I’ve just ever since been obsessed with the synthesizer. I love playing with them, I love how they sound. Now, what you can do with computer technology and all the virtual synth… It’s just an unlimited palette of electronic sounds at your fingertips.

I think one of your most stunning pieces, in my opinion, is your most subdued. It’s in Contagion, when we find out that the strain originated from the bat and the pig. That specifically, do you remember that one, if you remember anything about that … What went into the making of that piece? Because that, to me, … That was just awesome.

Mac: Thank you. And I do have to clarify, that is Cliff Martinez’s score, and I did work on that piece but it’s a collaboration with Cliff. I can’t take credit for it. That piece, I remember it, it was a very strange piece, pulsing, electronic pulsings…

It’s subdued. It’s a reveal. It’s like, “This is what happened.” It’s so stunning.

Mac: Here’s some of the mechanics. This is how film scoring works, sometimes. We had written a piece that was similar to that for another scene in the film. And when we got to the bat and pig scene, we took that piece that we’d written for the other scene, and we put it up against the picture, and it seemed to be a good direction. And so I modified the piece of music to fit the bat and pig scene. So it was not so much like this grand design of, “Oh, what’s the best thing for bat and pig? Let’s write this piece of music.” It was, “Here’s a piece we’d written for another scene. It seems to almost work for bat and pig. I’ll modify it so that it does work.” That’s how that … It’s a little more boring than, “Oh I decided that this pig sound would be really good if I had an electronic pulse.” But that’s just the truth. That’s really how it came up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Ji3Lw_WGw

What is the most vivid memory you have attached to anything you’ve written? What can you listen to, and remember something that’s totally not related to the movie or TV show?

Mac: When I listen to Drive, that I also collaborated on with Cliff. When we finished that film, we were mixing it at his studio for maybe ten days straight. And during that time he had just bought this espresso machine, and we were… the mixes were basically fueled by this espresso machine. And it began this sort of obsession that I’ve had ever since, with espresso. [laughs] And so that soundtrack is always tied to my love of espresso now.

That’s actually really funny to me. The Drive soundtrack is haunting and so many other words, but to you, you just think “Oh, lots of coffee.” That’s hysterical.

Mac: Maybe not so much during the writing of it. It was the mixing, when the espresso [kept] us going for those long days.

What can you tell me about your time on American Horror Story? I know a lot of fans of that show. What was that experience like?

Mac: It was really a dream come true. And it was a dream that I didn’t even know I had. I had not watched the show before I was hired. It was on my list. I had heard great things about it but I had not seen it. And if you had asked me, “What show do you think will be a great show for you to work on?” That would not have been on the list.

It would seem out of your style, out of your general forte, at first glance.

Mac: But when I found myself working on it, I was about a month in, and all of a sudden it felt like my whole life had been leading up to that point. I was just using all these different skills, and musical styles, and all these things that I had never really been able to come together on a project before. It was great. I was kind of amazed. It caught me by surprise.

The season finale to Mr. Robot airs on USA Network on September 2 at 10pm ET.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug4fRXGyIak