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.

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK: Chavo Guerrero vs. Mil Muertes on Tonight’s ‘Lucha Underground’!

by Eric Francisco

Lucha Underground on the El Rey Network continues to kick ass. If you’re lame and haven’t accepted that yet, then we’ve got some exclusive sneak-peeks from tonight’s episode to change your mind.

First, it’s Chavo Guerrero of the legendary Guerrero family duking it out with Mil Muertes.

Like every wrestling fan growing up in the “Ruthless Aggression” era, Eddie Guerrero was a clear highlight. He descended from the legendary Guerrero wrestling family, and that wrestling bug extended to his nephew Chavo.

I loved Los Guerreros. No duh they were exceptional wrestlers, but together they were like clockwork and knew the value of just being entertaining. Their characters erred on cartoonish stereotypes of Latino Americans, but damn it, you couldn’t help but smile when Chavo and Eddie did things like fake being pool boys to loot houses. Go on YouTube and look up their old skits, that stuff remains comedy gold.

While Chavo may have been overshadowed in popularity by his uncle, that didn’t mean Chavo lacked in skill and finesse. He was always one of my favorites, and in his later WWE run, his theme music was damn infectious. I’m really happy to see him carry on his family legacy in Lucha Underground.

Elsewhere, it’s a multi-man tag-team battle as The Crew face off against Mascarita Sagrada, Sexy Star, and Pimpinela Escarlata! Side note: I want to legally change my name to “Sexy Star.”

“Mr. Sexy Star, your table is ready.”

We’re not done yet! Gaze in the glory of these exclusive stills also from tonight’s episode, featuring none other than the aristocrat himself, Alberto El Patron!

Tune into Lucha Underground on the El Rey Network, tonight at 8 PM ET/PT. Check your local listings, esé!

Geekscape Interviews: Diane Ruggiero-Wright, Executive Producer of ‘iZombie’

by Eric Francisco

“Shut up!”

Diane Ruggiero-Wright, the executive producer of the upcoming CW series iZombie, told me to shut up. Don’t worry, it wasn’t hostile. We were bonding, in fact. About, of all things, New Jersey.

Ruggiero-Wright is a prolific television writer and producer currently attached to iZombie, the TV adaptation of the graphic novel from DC Comics. She’s also from my hood in Middlesex County.

“Are you serious? I went to Middlesex County College for a year! That’s so funny.”

“So did my sister!” I tell her.

“I spent a ton of time in Edison. Do you remember the Ramada Renaissance Hotel?” I reply positively. Her earlier work, That’s Life, was based on her experiences as a cocktail waitress there and at the Park & Orchird in East Rutherford.

iZombie isn’t about that. It’s about a zombie, in case that was a little vague. But The Walking Dead this is not. Still, that show comes up in conversation.

“Do you watch The Walking Dead?” she asks me. I tell her I do, and that this past second-half season premiere “ruined me.” Fellow fans know why.

“I can’t get over it! It’s going to take me awhile,” she says. “The double-whammy is too much!” She carefully words things as not to spoil it, even though we had both seen it.

She radiates enthusiasm. Not only for what she does, but for the very world of it: television! It’s our cultural campfire, and in this current golden age it is not just better or well-made, it’s daring. It’s charting new territory not thought possible even just a decade ago. A 20-something zombie navigating through life? That stuff used to be for low-budget movies at your video store. Now, they’re on the channel that once housed Dawson’s Creek, and she oozes passion for all of it. It’s almost infectious. You can’t help but not get excited when she’s around, or even just talking on the phone.

Based on the graphic novel from Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, iZombie follows Liv Moore, a brilliant medical student with her whole life ahead of her until one fateful night transforms her into a zombie. Now working at a coroner’s office, she feeds off of brains to survive but soon discovers she can absorb the memories of the deceased, leading her to solving mysteries and homicides.

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From the very beginning, what attracted you to iZombie? What led you to decide, “This show? I’ll do it!”

Diane: Rob Thomas sent me the comic, and I got the first book and went immediately like, “Yes.” It’s just such a great concept to have. It’s an interesting spin on zombies, I’m a huge fan of the zombie genre and [iZombie was] just such a smart spin.

When you’re a person in your mid-20s, you’re kind of having that pre-life crisis anyway, so that when you’re actually dead it’s just really interesting to me. So I was very much on board from the beginning. I actually said yes when he just told me the title! [laughs] He said, “They wanted me to do this show, iZombie.” I was like, “I’m totally on board. What do you need me to do?” And then I read it, and we talked and came up with our take on it. Our take on it came pretty quickly, we were both pretty excited from the get-go.

So the premiere is fast approaching. You’re marking those X’s on the calendar. Very plainly, just how do you guys feel? What’s going through your heads as team? What’s going through your head?

Diane: It’s so weird. I’m trying to be the naysayer. Because everyone else is so positive that I feel like I have to be all doom and gloom. Because it’s just gone so smoothly.

For both Rob and myself, we’ve been developing these passion projects for years that haven’t gone [anywhere]. And every year as you approach pilot season it’s this labor, you have this thing you’re in love with. And this is just so easy-breezy. They brought it to Rob, Rob brought it to me, we worked on it together, everything went really smoothly, and the pilot shoot went great, our cast was wonderful, and everyone is nice. No one is an asshole! [laughs]

So it’s really one of those things where you keep looking at each other, like the network has been great, the studio is amazing…

Everything is falling into place.

Diane: Yeah! So, it’s kind of, everything is just primed. You’re primed for success, so I feel like I have to be like, “Obviously it’s all gonna fall to hell.” [laughs] It’s scary! We’re just editing the penultimate episode. We’ve just finished shooting the finale.

Oh, wow.

Diane: It’s so hard not to have done all this work and have so much in the can, and not have any feedback from anyone other than your partners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOONQw3tkZk

You built your career working on shows like Veronica Mars, Big Shots, and my mother’s favorite, Dirty Sexy Money. What has iZombie been like compared to working on those shows? In what ways has it been different or similar?

Diane: Not to be a jerk and correct you, but I actually built my career on other shows! I created a show, That’s Life, based on my life in New Jersey for two years. [But] doing Veronica Mars was extremely different because I had only written kind of about my life. Some semi-autobiographical stuff. But the difference with iZombie, it’s strange because once you work with Rob, like [how I worked] with Rob on Veronica Mars, we had such a good kind of rhythm. We were pretty good partners.

To work on iZombie with him was very familiar, and it was kind of great to get back into that rhythm. We have a very similar mindset. So when you do these other projects you’re out there on your own, and when you’re on someone else’s show you’re trying to figure out, you might not necessarily “get it” and it might not be your bag. But working with Rob, it’s pretty easy to figure out because we have the same bag. [laughs]

In regards to the original iZombie comic, what kind of liberties did you take from the source material? Or did you follow it to a T in any way? What influenced those decisions?

Diane: We took a lot of liberties. We were inspired by the graphic novel, but one of the reasons it was a great graphic novel is the reason that we couldn’t make it a great TV show and keep it the same. The things they did in the graphic novel that made it awesome, if you translate it into TV would mean a crappy TV show, because we couldn’t just do it well. They do it great in the comics, but we can’t just couldn’t do it on TV.

There was a character that was a “wereterrier,” so one of the leads turns into a wereterrier and I had friends that did Being Human and I know how difficult, how much money and how hard it is to do those werewolf scenes that they had to do. It’s just really hard to do it well on a smaller budget. You don’t want to sacrifice special effects for story, and we just knew it was going to be too big for us. We took the inspiration from the actual journey of the main character, but the other characters we had to kind of do away with to really be able to tell the story in a visually-appealing way on national television.

Image: Comic Vine
Image: Comic Vine

So it’s a case of why these mediums exist in the first place: Some things can only work for comics, some only for TV.

Diane: Exactly. And it’s funny, because those are the things that the ghost best friend and the wereterrier were things I loved about the graphic novel, but if we tried to do that in the pilot I wouldn’t have liked it. But it’s fantastic in the comic, I just don’t think it would have looked good. [But] we were inspired by the relationships, the people she goes to, it’s definitely the heart [from] the graphic novel because [graphic novel author] Chris Roberson is amazingly talented and he wrote a really great book.

iZombie clearly stands out from the rest of the DC Comics TV out now, and it’s almost surprising how many there are now. Were there any challenges in creating the “non-superhero” TV show?

Diane: To tell you the truth, there weren’t any challenges because we didn’t feel any pressure to make it like a superhero DC show. We just felt the pressure to make it the best version of our show we could. But there was no pressure to live up to a certain “ideal” of a superhero standard. There wasn’t anything like that.

It’s funny, we have this writer on our staff, Bob Dearden, who actually helped us — he helped us when we were breaking the pilot too. That’s a question he had asked us also. “This is a lot of pressure, this is a DC property!” But … we just kind of took it at story. And just concentrated on telling the best. Servicing the material as best we could with our spin on it and doing the best we could.

About Bob and the writers as a whole. As an aspiring TV writer myself, what’s it like inside the writer’s room? What’s a day in the office like?

Diane: Well the writer’s room is closed now, because we’ve stopped shooting. But we had a lot of baby writers and some seasoned vets, and not very many in the middle. [laughs] Kit Boss, who has been around and is unbelievably amazing and brilliant who was on Bob’s Burgers and is just a genius. And we have a lot of new, kind of staff-level writers who were just great. It was a nice mix.

A day in the writer’s room is pretty much something I don’t speak because I’m off writing. [laughs] I [have] become something of the “writer monkey,” once we go into production I’m more of the writer monkey and I’m off in my office writing while things are happening. Rob is a fantastic show runner, so it’s not one of those crappy writer’s rooms where you’re there from ten in the morning until ten at night. The hours are great, it’s fun, and we have a great deal of fun dissecting zombies and what to do with them.

I understand Bob Dearden had a great deal of buzz to him when he got on the show. He had his own web show on The CW Seed, Play it Again, Dick.

Diane: He’s great. He was a protege of Rob’s, [and] I thought, “Who is this guy?” And I read his first Dick scripts and they were amazing, and we became friends by then. But he had helped us so much working on the pilot, he had so many great ideas and he was such a great sounding board and then once we got into production, he was a writer’s assistant, but he was just so sharp and had such a great grasp of the material that we really started to look towards him for insight. I especially always pitch everything to Bob. He wound up writing an episode that came out fantastic!

He actually wrote a couple scenes for me on my last episode. We had a quick turnaround, and I thought “Thank God, there’s Bob, except he’s stuck in Vancouver!” [laughs] He’s fantastic.

As a fellow aspiring writer, I should follow in his footsteps then.

Diane: Exactly! The funny thing is, everybody asks, “What do I do to become…?” You have to write well. [laughs]

(In a later email, I asked about Bob Dearden’s situation. It struck me: why was he stuck in Vancouver? I had heard through sources he had some troubles getting back into United States. I sent an email and Diane responded.)

Diane: I wouldn’t so much say Bob “having trouble.” He’s just in the process of applying for a Visa. Apparently the application process takes a lot of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8c0CQuX-QM

You have a great lead in Rose McIver.

Diane: Oh my God, yes.

She was great in Once Upon a Time and Masters of Sex, but for me personally, I loved her as Summer, the Yellow Ranger in Power Rangers RPM. In your opinion, how has she lived up to your expectations? Did she surprise you in any way?

Diane: She totally surprised me. She just puts a different spin on the ball. And it works. So there’s a lot of times you write a line and you hear it a certain way, and she’ll give it back to you and it’s a little bit different but it works on a level you didn’t even imagine. It’s kind of amazing.

She’s very smart, and she’s extremely witty and the thing about her, she’s unbelievably charismatic. People love her! From the second you start watching the show, you’re just so on her side. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before, where people universally want to protect her and want to be her friend.

On Power Rangers she was amazing. She was like everyone’s best friend.

Diane: Yeah! She’s your best friend, and she’s formidable, but you also feel like you have to protect her, but she’s not like this needy, weak girl. She’s not a damsel, but you still feel like you want to protect her even though you know she can take care of herself. It’s this weird combination, but I would pretty much kill for her in a second. [laughs] And Rose is lovely. She’s the nicest. I’m not even kidding. You could not find someone to say a bad thing about her. She’s the nicest, coolest, down-to-Earth, funny, like one of the boys but [also] one of the girls.

I’d love to meet her one day!

Diane: You have to!

rosemcivergeekscape
Images: Saban Brands, The CW

As one of the show runners, what do you think iZombie is ultimately about? Thematically speaking? What is the heart and soul of iZombie that can speak to the audience?

Diane: I think the heart of it is the journey of coming to that point in your life where you’ve been working. When I’m in my twenties, once I get out of high school and college, and I be this thing that I’ve known I wanted to be my whole life, my life will be a certain way, and then getting there and realizing that it’s not. And life is completely different than you thought it would and [you’re] reevaluating the world and the way you think about the world and yourself. And that’s what’s happening to the Liv character in an extreme way.

Not only is she learning about the world and herself, she has the onus of trying to protect the world at the same time. So, I think that’s the cool story of our show.

As someone in that position now, I can completely relate.

Diane: [laughs]

iZombie premieres March 17 on The CW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWCyqJv6q7g

Update: This article in its original form mistakenly named Diane Ruggiero-Wright as “Diane Ruggiero.” That error has been corrected.

Go Behind-the-Scenes of the Upcoming PlayStation Series ‘Powers’

by Eric Francisco

In about three weeks will be the premiere of the PlayStation-exclusive series, Powers. Man, a PlayStation TV series. What a time to be alive.

I admit I’m not very familiar with the original graphic novel from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, but just from this sneak peek it has my attention.

What I’m dwelling on is that it’s a PlayStation series. I remember reading in Console Wars how Sega wanted their Genesis to be an online, multi-media hub of sorts but was handcuffed by its time. Now, a video game console can create a compelling television series and no one thinks it’s that weird. The doors are opening, the pillars are falling and it’s so exciting to me.

Powers premieres March 10 on the PlayStation Store. The first three episodes will be available, followed by a new episode weekly.

Will you be watching Powers?

Is a Mighty Morphin’/Dino Charge ‘Power Rangers’ Special Happening?

by Eric Francisco

We are just two episodes into Power Rangers Dino Charge and already fans are praising it for being an exceptionally better series than anything produced since the purchase from Disney in 2010. Fans had to wallow in the dark before the dawn, but Dino Charge is that dawn.

Right now that sun is shining brighter than ever, because a social media flub may have just unveiled HUGE news for Dino Charge: the return of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers!

The official Instagram account for Power Rangers uploaded the image below before being quickly deleted. This being the internet in 2015, of course you can still see it.

From Morphin’ Legacy on Facebook:

10991191_800995103281086_1698827447732839598_n

Take a moment to re-read it several times. You need to.

Seriously: Are we getting a Mighty Morphin’/Dino Charge crossover?

Let’s get some stuff out of the way.

First, team-up footage does exist thanks to the Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger movie featuring Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger. (I just lost like half the Geekscape audience now, didn’t I?) But as Dino Charge has proved just a few episodes in, they seem to not give many craps about Kyoryuger because the series has thus shown an overwhelming amount of entirely new footage. Executive producer and friend to all mankind, Judd Lynn, must have finally convinced Saban to really use that Saban money to make it rain up in the Power Rangers production offices!

Ahem. Basically, this means that just because there is existing footage of Mighty Morphin’ Rangers fighting with the current Dino Charge kids, that doesn’t mean a team-up was going to happen at all. But this Instagram gaff just made things a little more interesting.

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Second, full disclosure: Karan Ashley, the actress who portrayed Aisha the Yellow Ranger in seasons two and three of the original series and the 1995 film, is a friend of mine. However, she has not spoken to me about any sort of team-up or return to Power Rangers in any capacity. If she is indeed signed on for a team-up special, I can only assume she signed very strict NDAs and thus wouldn’t tell her friend, a geek blogger who writes for a news website. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t tell her anything either!

Third, how free are the original actors? Between the convention tours and involvement in non-Power Rangers projects, I can’t imagine when they can spend a week or two shooting in New Zealand. They have a far easier shot at booking the actors of DinoThunder, at least one would presume.

In any case, a Mighty Morphin’ team-up with Dino Charge would just be flat-out AWESOME. There have been many crossovers in the show’s history — and we’re coming off Super Megaforce, which was supposed to be the biggest one of them all (spoilers: it kinda wasn’t) — but a total original team/rookie squad dynamic has never been done before. I don’t count Operation Overdrive‘s “Once A Ranger” special in that context, since none of those veteran Rangers served on the same team.

Not to mention, it’s the freaking original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. No, this peculiar Instagram post didn’t feature Jason David Frank or Thuy Trang (of course, bless her soul). But this is about as close to the original team as possible, and seeing ALL of these Rangers back would make my heart sing.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for a possible, cross-generation team-up special? Let us know!

Watch ‘Sirens,’ the Failed TV Pilot Starring the Green Ranger and Fergie

by Eric Francisco

What you’re about to see is nothing short of the greatest thing you will see all day, courtesy from our friends at Dan’s (Toku) Rants.

A failed TV pilot pitch, Sirens was to be a modern sci-fi/fantasy show similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer but way more bizarre and awesome in the most ridiculous of ways. The premise? A trio of pop singers that are secretly mermaids THAT KNOW KARATE must stop an aquatic alien invasion. Have your eyeballs exploded from reading that sentence? Did you go into shock at “karate mermaids”? Just wait, because the pilot stars Brad Hawkins (VR Troopers, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood), Jason David Frank (“Tommy” from Power Rangers), and Fergie.

Yes, THAT Fergie.

You need to see this right now.

How this wasn’t picked up is beyond my comprehension.

Long before Fergie sang about her lovely lady humps, she was Stacy Ferguson in the R&B/pop group Wild Orchids. They were moderately successful: they released four studio albums, toured with *NSYNC and were named by US Weekly as the #18 Best Girl Group of all time in 2013. But at some point during the group’s lifespan, they almost went into television and Sirens was to be their ship. A little ironic, no?

The project was helmed by Power Rangers producers Doug Sloan and Ann Austen, which explains Frank and Hawkins’ involvement. For a particular brand of geek, seeing these two share a screen is downright fascinating: it’s the leader of the VR Troopers fighting the leader of the Power Rangers! And the Power Ranger is a bad guy! Seriously, if Sirens was picked up, everyone’s childhood hero could have had a run at being the ruthless, cocky muscle for a villain several notches below Lord Zedd. This is the real loss of Sirens. “Get the hell off my car!” could be the next meme in the Power Rangers fandom if this goes viral.

Also involved was renowned effects director Steve Wang. His work is on display with those creature designs. Wang is renowned in certain circles, and you’ve seen his work: He created the Predator. Elsewhere, Wang directed the cult classic Guyver 2: Dark Hero and the Emmy-winning series Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. You might think I’m kidding with that Emmy, but I’m not. He also directed one of the most popular and unique Power Rangers episodes of all time, “The Rescue Mission,” from the Lost Galaxy series.

The creation of Sirens is bizarre purely because of the talent involved. It was put together like any other show normally is, but the cross section of boys’ action TV and pre-teen/teen pop is unlike anything seen before and since. Imagine if the Marvel movies had a project involving Iggy Azalea. Who is it for? But hey, that was just Billy Clinton’s carefree ’90s.

Full disclosure: I have seen this before. In 2012, I went to No Pink Spandex Live! in New York City which was an intimate meet-and-greet with Jason David Frank. It was really cool being just inches to JDF, who at the time was just getting into the convention scene. At NPS Live, Frank provided a screening of this very pilot pitch, and for the life of me I wish I remembered more of what he said about it. There was nothing scandalous or controversial in the creation of this pilot, as I recall it was very run of the mill. It’s just noteworthy because of who’s in it. (Although I do recall Frank discussing a strained relationship after Sirens with Sloan and Austen, his Power Rangers producers.)

Sirens isn’t a secret, it’s just obscure of the highest order. Brad Hawkins, the male lead of this awesomely woman-dominated show, has talked about it in an episode of the Dan’s (Toku) Rants podcast:

“Yeah, Fergie. I was actually really excited about that. She was in a band called Wild Orchid … I just knew there were three hot chicks in this series and me and Jason get to fight a little bit and that’s kinda fun. But it was awesomely terrible, it really is. It’s terrible. But the girls did good. I mean we used the same stunt team from Power Rangers so it was a lot of spinning and kicking, martial arts and stuff. But it just didn’t get the green light and you know Fergie was so depressed she got in a band called the Black Eyed Peas and they just kinda made a zillion dollars and became super stars. So you know, it all worked out.”

The road less traveled will always be the road that fascinates me the most. I hold no delusions: even if Sirens was picked up, its strange premise would have cornered it and it could have been just as quickly forgotten and as obscure as VR Troopers is now. That’s not a knock on Brad or anybody from that show, because even Brad knows how little that show is remembered.

But Sirens remains a delightful anomaly. At the time Sirens was being produced, the audience for Power Rangers were growing up into their teens. At that age, all kids look for something darker, edgier and sexier, so Sirens could have had a real audience. It had all the action those kids were used to, but turned up a notch by virtue of just not being Power Rangers. It had beautiful women, so the puberty kickstarted by Pink and Yellow Rangers (and Kaitlin Hall, because come on, VR Troopers!) just goes into overdrive.

Probably most important, these were ass-kicking MERMAIDS. This was an action-heavy show starring girls whose target audience were probably girls right from the start! It’s honestly hard to tell that from the pilot, but akin to Buffy, Sirens had a magic formula that could have made it appealing across the youth demographic quadrants.

Also at the height of this era were pop bands, those boy and girl groups of yesteryear that dominated the charts. Clearly this show had no shortage of that. It’s so weird and goofy, but if it had the chance maybe Sirens really could have been big.

Who knows what other projects featuring similarly polarizing figures in pop culture have fallen by the wayside?

Rejoice! TNT’s ‘The Librarians’ Renewed for Season Two!

by Eric Francisco

Oh hell yes! TNT’s The Librarians has just been renewed for a second season.

From the press release:

TNT has renewed its hit fantasy-adventure The Librarians. One of the hottest new shows on cable, The Librarians burst onto the scene with a chart-topping launch in December and went on to finish the year as basic cable’s #2 new series of 2014, second only to TNT’s The Last Ship. The show’s success extends across TNT’s multiple platforms, with each week’s episode reaching an average of 11.4 million viewers through linear telecasts, DVR playback and VOD, digital and mobile viewing. TNT has ordered 10 episodes for the second season, which is slated to launch later this year.

I’m going to be honest, those big numbers surprise me. There is virtually zero passion for the show from other geeks that I can see, and it was hardly discussed on other outlets and blogs. Hell, even we here at Geekscape remained relatively quiet on this delightful series.

The Librarians was one of the best and woefully underrated new TV shows from last fall. I was concerned its lifespan would be cut short due to lack of buzz, but my worries have been relieved.

If you haven’t watched the series yet, go out of your way to do so. In one word, it’s fun. It has the spirit of Guardians of the Galaxy but with B-movie/genre TV sensibilities. I’m in love with the characters and the world they have been thrown in. The premise has opened their doors to literally anything, and in its first season the show has lived up to that. Haunted houses, Santa Claus, minotaurs, even a U.N. for fucking DRAGONS. It’s great stuff.

We may be rooting for other, lesser-known shows like Constantine, but in this golden age of television our television adventures have been too quick to explore the darker reaches of the human condition. I’m not condemning this, but we’ve rendered whimsy and wide-eyed points-of-view into something uncool. We’ve belittled optimism and hope, and it’s kind of made us all too moody. Even our beloved Doctor, in his Twelfth form, and the once wise-cracking Green Arrow have become something darker than they probably should be.

Check out The Librarians on TNT and add a little pep to your step. When you watch, I dare you not to smile.

Source: Turner Press Room.

See Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer Be Spy Bros in ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ Trailer!

by Eric Francisco

Currently blowing up your feeds is the trailer for Guy Ritchie’s newest film, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., a feature film adaptation of the old TV series. If you haven’t seen it yet YOU NEED TO.

The film stars Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Debicki, who might be my new celebrity crush.

I’m a big fan of Guy Ritchie’s bombastic style, and this film oozes his swagger. It’s sexy, thrilling, amusing and incredibly well-crafted in the right ways.

We can all make jokes about this film being Superman fighting the Lone Ranger (who wants to remember that movie?) but I think it has the potential to be a really great buddy cop action movie for the modern age. That’s a genre I confess to kind of miss. Plus, Cold War-era spy thrillers are back in vogue with Archer and The Americans kicking all sorts of ass. If you aren’t sold yet, why not?

Also, I’m just really glad Armie Hammer is still working. The Lone Ranger was a total mistake, but I like his screen presence and I think he has the potential to be a great leading man. It’d be a shame if his talents weren’t used to their full advantage.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is slated for release August 14, 2015. Oh man, August. I can’t wait for the weather to be nice and hot again. Fuck this snow.

Side note: Guy Ritchie has just joined Twitter (@RealGuyRitchie) and Instagram (@GuyRitchie). I hope it’s just him handling his social media and not a PR team. Guy Ritchie’s eyes through Instagram filters could be insane. Follow him! Just don’t stalk him, of course.

Jon Stewart To Step Down From ‘The Daily Show’

by Eric Francisco

It’s the end of an era.

Jon Stewart, the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, will announce he will be stepping down from his position on tonight’s episode.

https://twitter.com/ComedyCentral/status/565296357792284676

As we said when Stephen Colbert’s Late Show premiere date was announced, put your political opinions aside and understand the impact of Comedy Central’s 11 o’clock hour this past decade. While they weren’t the bastions of unbiased political journalism, they were expert satirists that arguably did more to get people — young people, in particular — involved than any news outlet ever did.

Also like Stephen Colbert, the guy was a nerd. I can’t just pick one moment, but The People vs. George Lucas is on Netflix. Go watch the first few minutes right now, it has Jon Stewart talking to George Lucas on his show and tearing apart Lucas’ plot holes in front of him. Not out of anger, but because he’s a hardcore Star Wars geek and wanted answers. I would too if I had his show!

This was something we all knew would have to happen eventually, but it never mattered when because it was always going to hurt. Right now it feels like a Falcon Punch to the gut.

Not much is known about the future of the show or Jon Stewart’s career. We’ll let you know as soon as we do.

Geekscape Interviews: Brandon Seifert, Author of ‘The Harvester’

by Eric Francisco

“Portland is secretly the comics capital of the US. There are more comics illustrators per capita here than anywhere else. And more here, period, than anywhere but New York City.”

I love to travel. Having been born, raised and now still living in New Jersey, I yearn to see the world even if it’s not across an ocean. That’s how the subject of writer Brandon Seifert’s current residence, Portland, came up. I’ve never been, but I adore Portlandia.

“I moved here in 2006. I can’t speak to what it was like before that but it has always been, from my experience it has always been an extremely geeky city. When I moved to it, they used to show three episodes of Buffy every Tuesday night at a local movie theater for free, and you could get beer,” Brandon tells me. That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.

“There was geek trivia [which] was this huge thing for years,” he continues. “They had to move it to a bigger venue, and even then it still wasn’t big enough. It’s this extremely geek-friendly city, and it’s a city where fandom and nerdy stuff have really penetrated into kind of the popular youth culture in a way they haven’t in a lot of other cities. You go into a comics convention here and the people you see typically is in the same cross-section of people you see down the street.”

Originally from Alaska, Brandon Seifert is a comics author with a foot steeped into horror. As he should, he’s co-written Hellraiser with Clive Barker himself. He’s also built his name elsewhere, with his debut series Witch Doctor, Disney’s Kingdoms: Seekers of the Weird, Doctor Who, and Spirit of the Law. If he’s at your local comic-con, look for the guy in a tie and sweater vest behind a table.

His newest series, The Harvester, comes from Legendary Comics and will hit shelves later this week. For centuries, a mysterious force has targeted evildoers and criminals in brutal fashion. Thought to be just a myth to scare others silly, scholars have searched for evidence to prove his existence and all efforts have been futile. Two ordinary but rebellious investigators embark on a mission to prove the Harvester’s existence, his purpose, and his entire story once and for all.

This may not end well.

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What can you tell me about the origins to The Harvester? How did you come to the idea of a criminal boogeyman, and how did you choose the unlikely protagonists?

Brandon: So, I can’t take credit for The Harvester. The original idea came from Thomas Tull, the Legendary CEO. Thomas has come up with a lot of story ideas over the years, and since he started Legendary Comics he’s been bringing in other writers to co-create along with him and to write comics based on his ideas. The Harvester was one of those. He came up with a lot of the kind of core stuff for the character. And then [he] brought me in and kind of shared what he’s been thinking with me. And then I took it and kind of ran with it.

What is that kind of creative relationship like? As a creator yourself, is it refreshing? What kind of challenges does it have?

Brandon: For me, any kind of situation I’m in on a writing project, it’s got its strengths and its weaknesses. In a project that I’m just creating … on the one hand, I have total control over what I come up with. On the other hand, I have to come up with all of it myself. Like, the entire workload is on me. If I’m having problems with it, if I’m stuck, I don’t have anybody else there to suggest other things or ask questions, stuff like that.

The way things have gone with The Harvester where I’m brought in fairly early on a project that’s already got some material there, and then kind of develop it to a certain degree on my own, and then develop it to a certain degree collaboratively, on the one hand it doesn’t have that flexibility. I don’t have that freedom that I do with something [on my own]. Some of the heavy lifting is done for me. But I’m somebody who really likes writing exercises, I like writing challenges. It’s actually easier for me to write if I’m given some specific parameters, or something that I need to hit. The problem with doing anything is that I can do anything, so what do I do?

So, I really like the creative process on The Harvester. It was a good mix of those.

On your Tumblr blog, you wrote a few short pieces about movies that start with opening scenes that act as a microcosm for the rest of the film. It’s hard to tell with The Harvester because the whole story has yet to be told, but you kinda did that here, I’m assuming, with the opening fight. What is it about that kind of storytelling that fascinates you?

Brandon: What I like about it, in writing and in movies, people always say “Show, don’t tell.” What they mean by that is demonstrate the point through action and visuals. Demonstrate, don’t explain. In chemistry class, if your teacher is writing stuff on the board about some chemical reaction, rather than putting a piece of white phosphorous in water and you watching it catch fire. In stories, I don’t want somebody to explain white phosphorous and water to me at the very beginning. That’s the last thing I want to see when I start a new movie or a new comic. I want to see somebody drop that white phosphorous in water so I can watch the damn thing burn.

Whenever I can do that, whenever I can start a story with a scene that is kind of like is a prototypical archetype example of what you’re gonna get in the story overall, that’s definitely my preference.

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You’re no stranger to horror stories. You’ve written Hellraiser, Witch Doctor. What is it about horror that fascinates you? What’s the most important thing that you’ve learned about writing horror?

Brandon: That’s a very good question. I think horror is one of the most difficult genres to write well. And I don’t honestly regard myself as writing it well. I have my moments, but overall I don’t. There’s a lot of genres in fiction that are about certain plot tropes. In science-fiction there has to be some kind of science that doesn’t exist. In fantasy there has to be some kind of phantom, or dragon, or magic or something. With horror, comedy and tragedy, [they’re] genres that are about evoking a mood, or inspiring a reaction or emotion in the audience more than anything else. I naturally gravitate towards comedy the most because I like it. I like laughing. I like making people laugh. I’ve spent a lot of effort learning how I can eventually do that. Horror, scaring people, that’s much more difficult. Especially because all of us, our settings are all different when it comes to horror. The things that scare us are very different. I’m afraid of heights, but you might be fine of heights. You might be afraid of spiders, but I’m okay with spiders. That kind of stuff.

I’m actually not sure what the most important thing I’ve learned about horror is. Except that it’s very, very hard. And if I actually want to scare people I have to really, really try and think it through.

What can you tell me about the artistic vision of The Harvester? In so few words, it’s rough and “dirty.” Some panels are in entire single palettes. What influenced this style?

Brandon: I think a lot of it is Eric Battle’s style. It’s very much the style of our artist and colorist. I feel like it really happens to lend itself really well to the material we’re doing. Because this is “dirty,” gritty. The series has kind of like a crime comics feel to it, [and] kind of a horror comics feel to it. But it’s also got a superhero comics feel to it. Because you’ve got this larger-than-life being with superhuman powers and basically this mandate to fight evil. And these are all elements of the story and they’re all things Eric Battle, our artist, does really well.

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What’s in store for everybody in The Harvester? For the protagonists and the Harvester himself? When they meet, I can’t imagine they’ll sit down for a latte. Should we be worried for them?

Brandon: Honestly, I would be worried for anybody who meets the Harvester. And we’re definitely going to get into the reasons why in the next few issues. But, as far as what to expect, this first issue is all about set-up. That first scene was kind of a microcosm, but the rest of the issue kind of is too. And so, in issue #2, we’re going to see more of what you saw in issue #1, but also the big plot is really gonna kick off. We’re gonna meet our villain, and things gonna be set in motion.

Our viewpoint characters, Vickie and Justin, yeah, they are so not going to be sitting down over cappuccinos with the Harvester.

That would be a great scene!

Brandon: Yeah, that would be a lot of fun.

What is the story of The Harvester really about to you? What’s the big, grand thematic idea you want the world to know about The Harvester?

Brandon: Oof. [laughs] I don’t tend to think in those terms in my writing. And if I have thought in those terms, I don’t think I’ve ever succeeded. I think one of the problems with fiction is, if you sit down and try to construct fiction with a specific point, then it ends up being didactic and heavy-handed. So for me, I don’t know. Honestly, I think the thing that keeps occurring for me in The Harvester is the idea that people are complicated. People do things that are constructive and altruistic and people do things that are destructive and selfish. There are no clear-cut good people or bad people.

One of the examples I like to use is the Birdman of Alcatraz. He was this notorious murderer, but the reason they called him “Birdman” was because he was also an amateur ornithologist who wrote a very early, seminal book about diseases of birds while he was in prison. He had this very vocal fanbase who were always writing into the prison after he was no longer allowed to keep birds and no longer allowed to continue releasing writings in public. He had this fanbase writing in demanding he be allowed to do this. Meanwhile, he was strangling guards and stuff in the prison. And he’s like one of the heroes of the 1946 Battle of Alcatraz.

So that’s kind of the point in the series. You’ve got the Harvester, who overall is doing bad things in the service of a good cause. And the villain we introduce in the second issue, he’s also working in the service of a good cause and also doing bad things. So where do you draw the line? There are heroes and villains in this, but there is no clear cut. Everyone is doing good things and everyone is doing bad things.

The Harvester #1 hits shelves February 11 from Legendary Comics. You can also follow Brandon Seifert on Twitter!

Original Red Ranger, Austin St. John, Announces Return to Acting in New Film Role

by Eric Francisco

For the original leader of the Power Rangers, it’s back to action.

Austin St. John, who portrayed the heroic, square-jawed Jason the Red Ranger in the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and the Gold Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo has announced his first cinematic role in nearly two decades on Facebook.

The film is titled Survival’s End, a post-apocalyptic movie that Austin describes as “insane” with a “betrayal.” Vague, but OK. Crowdfunding has just begun and is on schedule to begin production later this year. (Indiegogo link here.)

From Austin St. John’s Facebook page:

“You guys know me as Austin St. John, who led the Power Rangers from the 1990s. You don’t know what I’ve been doing since then. I’ve been a medic. I’ve been overseas. I have led teams, I have worked with some of the greatest leaders in the military and non-military emergency medical communities. I have learned so much.”

He should have added “AND NOT ADULT FILMS,” because that needs to stop circulating. He dodged bullets overseas, stop thinking he boffed dudes on camera. (Which is not a bad thing, but he didn’t do it!)

Austin St. John has been growing a hunky beard these last few weeks, which I’m sure has tickled the fancy of anybody into the recent lumbersexual phenomenon. When he originally hinted at it, he clarified that it wasn’t for a return to Power Rangers so I expected it was a kind of apocalyptic, The Walking Dead/Book of Eli/I Am Legend kind of project. I was right! I should play the lottery this week.

In fact, I was watching last night’s phenomenal The Walking Dead season premiere and thought Austin specifically would be a great addition to the cast. He could go beard-to-beard with Andrew Lincoln then morph and stomp on walkers with the Tyrannozord.

It’s been a weird, sometimes unfortunate time recently for Power Rangers alumni. Jason David Frank, the original Green/White/Red/Red again/Black Ranger challenged WWE exile-turned-UFC fighter CM Punk. Rick Medina, another former Red Ranger, was arrested and released of all charges. And Amy Jo Johnson, the original Pink Ranger who kickstarted your puberty, busked on a street in Canada in costume. All of these have been strange and kind of depressing (but that last one was awesome!). So it’s nice to hear some nice, good news coming from a former teenager with attitude.

Austin St. John has become something of a friend to Geekscape. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him on camera at this past Power MorphiCon…

…and he shared my article about his response to Rick Medina’s arrest on his Instagram page.

http://instagram.com/p/ypbHSvA66y/?modal=true

Stay tuned with Geekscape and we’ll let you know about Austin St. John’s epic return as soon as we know more. You can donate to the film on Indiegogo and you can like Austin St. John’s Facebook. And ours too. All of that works.

You Need To See The ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Trailer (NSFW)

by Eric Francisco

The intersection between hip-hop and geek culture might be bigger than we previously thought. One of my fraternity brothers who raps on Soundcloud is one of the biggest gamers and anime fans I know (Cheap plug: Listen to him here.) Beyond MC Frontalot and Community fans who chill to Childish Gambino, there is a generation of new artists like XV who rap about growing up on Dragonball Z and Final Fantasy.

Nevertheless, I think everybody needs to see this (NSFW) trailer for the upcoming Straight Outta Compton.

Let’s talk about one thing before anything else: the filmmaking. From the introduction with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube revisiting old stomping grounds to the actual film itself, it’s supremely well-made and has all the makings of a culturally relevant piece of pop. I’m just so in love with how it looks. The director of the film is F. Gary Gray, whose previous works include Friday, The Negotiator, and The Italian Job.

Straight Outta Compton looks to be The Social Network for ’90s gangsta rap, about the formation of the infamous N.W.A. (Yes, there were rags-to-riches biopics before The Social Network, but allow me my shorthand.) You have your humble beginnings, doubts from loved ones, all the way to success with scantily-clad women at your side and lawyers throwing legal jargon to scare you. Seriously, you could see mirrors between this and that still-amazing Social Network trailer.

But while Straight Outta Compton has the makings of a strong yet typical biopic, if you know anything about recent American history might know what could set it apart. The racial tensions in the aftermath of Rodney King was a few years after the N.W.A.’s rise to fame, but judging from the trailer they seem to be compressing that time period. Even so, the N.W.A.’s, radical, in-your-face anthem “Fuck tha Police” and other lyrics that left little to the imagination spoke to people, and brought to the world’s attention the divides between communities and their law enforcement. That’s something we are all too familiar with today, twenty years later. The N.W.A. had a titanic presence in everything concerning that national discussion, when they became more than just hip-hop but a voice. Whether their voices helped or hurt matters, that is up to you.

In any case, the movie might be more than an average biopic and could be an extremely topical work upon release, and Geekscape adores the cinema. There are other movies coming out this year, not just Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars.

Will you be seeing Straight Outta Compton? Let us know, homie.

Latest ‘Constantine’ Rumors: Headed to Syfy? Why That’s A Good (& Bad) Thing

by Eric Francisco

We here at Geekscape are massive fans of Constantine, and we’re doing our best to support the littlest DC Comics show that can. Arrow and The Flash might be the cool jocks of the class, but Constantine is that really nice but kind of quiet person that might be expelled if he doesn’t study more.

The latest rumor concerning everyone’s favorite occult detective is a really fascinating one: The show might be rebranded as Hellblazer and air on Syfy.

From Cinelinx:

Despite the low numbers, NBC’s Constantine show has a very active and rabid fan base.  When word about the series’ production halt came about, the internet was flooded with #SaveConstantine posts and hope for the future.  Sadly, things haven’t been looking all that good.  Recently NBC announced a wave of show renewals for their channel and the DC Comics show was nowhere to be seen.  So is all hope lost for this show?  Maybe not…

 

I’ve heard from a couple of sources now that NBC doesn’t really want to give up on Constantine and are actively searching for ways to keep the show going.  Let me preface the next thing I’m about say with this: the sources have made it clear that this is an IDEA/possible plan being bandied about.  So it’s not 100% and may not come to pass, but it is one of the more popular ideas being put out there right now amongst the show-heads.

 

Still with me?  Okay.  The idea here isn’t so much to keep Constantine going on NBC but to move it to the Syfy Channel (where the marathon they ran of the show did very well) and rebranding it as Hellblazer.  The new channel would give them a little more freedom to explore some of the darker aspects of the comic and appeal to a broader fanbase.

It’s still only a rumor and not an actual thing that’s going to happen, but let’s speculate because this is the internet and that’s all we do: it’s a great plan. Constantine clearly has dedicated fans willing to follow it into hell (HAHA, get it?). #SaveConstantine trends each time an episode airs. It’s like chanting “WE WANT SOMETHING” when that something is standing right there with their arms up.

Syfy has already aired Constantine with a marathon a few months ago, so this wouldn’t be the weirdest and biggest change ever. In fact, Syfy (when it was Sci-Fi) aired Heroes reruns to help build the audience for NBC.

And just how much cooler is the Hellblazer title than Constantine? Both names are evocative and unique for sure, but Hellblazer is far easier to understand and is just so rad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQauGK0AeS4

Basic cable is a great place for a show like Constantine. The show hasn’t shied away from the grosser aspects that John Constantine involves himself with. Last night’s episode had John inspect a corpse with an exposed chest. Despite having seen every nasty zombie and horror media, and even some actual medical procedures here and there, I got pretty squeamish.

Still, on basic cable where shows like The Walking Dead thrive, material like Breaking Bad explored the darker reaches of the human psyche, and The Americans can do some of the most brutal stuff ever seen, Constantine might be in better company. Let’s keep up with the high school metaphor: Constantine is that same nice kid but is like, super into punk, prog metal and gross stuff that turns you off. Putting the show on basic cable is like him going to a concert where he can hang out with others just like him instead of getting weird looks from everyone else in class.

Furthermore, it can benefit Syfy. Almost everybody had a laugh at the channel’s expense when its president admitted they missed the genre-TV train that everyone is on board now. Game of Thrones, The 100, The Walking Dead, Arrow, The Flash, all of these are massively popular shows that could have done well for Syfy but now are nowhere near an inch of them. Syfy had momentum after the groundbreaking Battlestar Galactica reboot, but then they tried to attract a wider audience and lost focus. Now they’re Sharknado.

(If you blame WWE’s presence you can go fuck yourself, pro wrestling is a weird and awesome subculture that all geeks should love. Check out WWE NXT, Lucha Underground, or New Japan Pro Wrestling which is offering its stuff this month for free.)

Syfy is slowly but surely trying to win back viewers. While geeks aren’t normally into reality programming, having shows like Face/Off or Heroes of Cosplay are modest efforts that show that reality TV isn’t just for the uber-rich to be dumb asses. I’m a huge fan of Dominion, an apocalyptic series about humans warring with heaven’s angels. Z Nation, their zombie series, is starting to get an audience which has legitimately surprised me. Defiance is doing well, and 12 Monkeys is getting buzz like crazy. Then there’s Helix, which a friend told me he didn’t expect to like, and Ascension was a cool experiment.

Constantine would be an amazing fit. It can perform exactly how it does now and not concern itself with cancellation, and it pretties up Syfy in their mission to become must-see TV. Everybody wins.

http://youtu.be/ntqjeVq2qyA?list=PLe1meJtylm2UmSTzEFbP-k6wS5Z2Ms1FQ

Except maybe not. You should know that I think this is a great move, but a move to Syfy is something of a defeat for nerd culture. Constantine is one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, so if his show — on broadcast TV, which rubs elbows with Jimmy Fallon and SNL — moves to the network that the mainstream associates with weird stuff they would never watch, it seals the fate of Constantine to remain a niche property.

Think of it this way: Green Arrow was a D-string superhero barely known by the mainstream, but a well-made TV show on an accessible network allowed him to become a household name. So how is it that Constantine, who was voted the third most popular comic book character of all time by Empire magazine and once was portrayed by Keanu Reeves, can’t attract the same audience?

We talk often about how nerds have taken revenge. Everybody sees the Marvel movies, your whole family gathers for Game of Thrones, you and your friends get excited for The Walking Dead, and comic conventions are bigger than they ever have been and are no longer an easy joke. San Diego Comic-Con is so huge, the city depends on it every year to stimulate their local economy. For the entertainment industry and certain cities, geeks are needed.

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Constantine‘s very premise is as grand and big as something like Doctor Who but its punk heritage gives it a sharp edge. Should it be popular, Constantine could open the doors for more similar media. What happens when it’s rejected?

One little weird show getting moved to a more appropriate network isn’t the death knell for who we are. Far from it. But it’s a stark reminder that we haven’t penetrated the culture as much as we thought we have.

As of right now Constantine is still an NBC show and a move to Syfy isn’t even hinted at. Keep up with Geekscape and we’ll let you know more as soon as we do. Until then, #SaveConstantine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwtt4Eapeyk

A Live-Action ‘Legend of Zelda’ (Might) Be Coming to Netflix!

by Eric Francisco

Hold on to your replica Master Swords for a little while longer, Geekscapists. A Legend of Zelda live-action series might be coming to Netflix.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The video streaming service is in the early stages of developing a live action series based on “Zelda,” about an ordinary boy named Link who must rescue a princess named Zelda and save a fantasy world called Hyrule, said a person familiar with the matter. As it seeks writers to work on the show, Netflix is describing it as “Game of Thrones” for a family audience, this person said.

As of right now Netflix has not commented, so don’t celebrate just yet.

Still, the fact that there are rumblings even remote to this kind of project is amazing. We talk often about how geeks have become the mainstream, but I’m still reminded on a daily basis how wide the gap still is between geek and mainstream cultures. Even when Game of Thrones is the hottest show on TV and the Marvel movies make more money than third-world GDPs, you would be surprised how wide the gap between the cultures still remains.

But back to a Zelda series, this is just so BOSS. I’m not the biggest Legend of Zelda fan, but I would totally watch a TV series based on the games. I’m familiar with them enough and I know the series’s mythology is pretty wonky, so there’s no harm in creating a continuity unique to just the show.

I love the idea of a family-friendly fantasy series. Not everything has to be grim, depressing, and aiming to be “realistic,” whatever that fuck that means. We might be raising a generation of pessimists with the amount of depressing television out right now.

Sit tight as we hope to learn more about a LIVE-ACTION Legend of Zelda series. This wouldn’t be the first TV series based on a video game, as far as I recall, but we explore the movie option so much we forget TV is a viable option. And we’re living in its golden age!

Jimmy Fallon Had a ‘Saved By The Bell’ Reunion For All You ’90s Kids

by Eric Francisco

Last night The Tonight Show emanated from Los Angeles, so it was the perfect opportunity for Jimmy Fallon to have… a Saved By the Bell reunion! Wait, what?

In what was inevitably going to blow up on your newsfeeds because the internet only consists of ’90s kids who know the struggles of things like scrambled porn, Saved By the Bell superfan Jimmy Fallon reunited most of the core cast of the early ’90s TV show for a skit that referenced all of the moments that will trigger all their childhood feels. Or something.

Jimmy Fallon has been trying to get a Saved By the Bell reunion to happen since he was host of Late Night, but I guess just by being in LA it was far easier for their schedules to line up than to fly out to New York. Even so, the reunion didn’t include Lark Voorhees (“Lisa”) or TMZ favorite Dustin Diamond (“Screech”). And I’m the only person in the world who liked Tori (portrayed by Leanna Creel), who was a quickly-introduced, quickly-forgotten “new girl” of the gang towards the series’ end.

I know Hollywood stars, no matter where in their careers, try to maintain their image, but these guys must be participating in some dark magic because they look damn near immaculate. They all look like they just stepped out of the real set. Except for Dennis Haskins. He seems to be left out of the weekly rituals.

How about you, geeks? Did you watch Saved By the Bell every morning on TBS before school like I did? Wait, you mean this used to air primetime on NBC? Whoops.

Geekscape Interviews: Jabbar Raisani, Director of ‘Alien Outpost’

by Eric Francisco

Military action and sci-fi are two film genres that have gotten along pretty well over the years. From Aliens to Mass Effect, it’s not difficult to imagine throwing a bunch of square-jawed marines up against a horde of savage creatures.

Yet, as cinema and art continue to evolve upon the shoulders of giants, there’s always a new spin to be had on old methods. Sometimes an old dog won’t just learn a new trick, that fella might just show off a whole new routine.

Jabbar Raisani, who has built a name for himself in the VFX world for his work on Game of Thrones — a small show you may have heard of — has directed his first feature film, the sci-fi/actioner Alien Outpost from IFC Midnight. Taking cues from meditative, modern war films like The Hurt Locker and Restrepo and combining it with epic, original sci-fi, Alien Outpost just might be one of the most unique action movies in recent memory.

Decades into a dwindling conflict between humans and an advanced extraterrestrial species, the soldiers of an understaffed, underfunded military outpost are pushed to the brink and take the fight to the last remaining alien stronghold to desperately end things once and for all. Along the way, a skeleton documentary crew follows them and chronicles what could be their last days on Earth.

I recently spoke to director Jabbar Raisani about the challenges of making his first feature film and how his VFX knowledge have prepared him to be a more efficient director.

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What influenced the form of the film — a fictional documentary? Why did you want to tell this story in that style as opposed to traditional narrative formats?

Jabbar: With the documentary, the documentarians can have an angle in terms of why they’re making the film. And that to me was more interesting than doing a found footage film. There’s no intent on the part of the filmmakers in the film itself. And I really wanted it to feel like these guys had an intention in putting together a documentary together which is to bring attention and awareness to a world that people aren’t really thinking about as they did a decade ago when the attacks and invasion first happened.

There’s a level of cinema violence and access that, safe to say, probably wouldn’t be in a real documentary. There are limbs flying, people dying on screen, and you film rather private conversations. As a director, how did you decide to deviate from the documentary form and become a sort of fly on the wall?

Jabbar: It’s one of those things where you’re always trying to find that balance between telling the best story and maintain the style. On occasion, as we get into the action in the end of the film, to depart a little bit from style to allow for a little better storytelling was what I opted for because I wanted the best viewing experience. As opposed to being completely rigid with the documentary style.

Outpost 37 Stills 2013

You didn’t want to be attached to just one style. You wanted liberty in form, so to speak?

Jabbar: Exactly. And I felt that, as you got to that point in the movie, it was very well-established and maintained, especially when it comes to the actors and the interviews and getting to know the characters, that when it got to that level of action I felt the story would be better served and the audience would enjoy it a little bit more if it loosened up.

You’re well-known for your special effects work, notably on HBO’s Game of Thrones. In what ways has your special effects background influenced your directing? For example, do you decide camera framing by how you want the VFX shot to look?

Jabbar: Yeah, absolutely. One of the benefits of spending years on set as a special effects supervisor is that part comes really natural to. Where I have to spend very little [time] thinking of how a frame is, what to shoot, what’s going to work best in post, and that part comes second nature. So it allows me to really focus on the actors and the performances and the story that’s being told without being bogged down by the technicalities of the visual effects.

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Alien Outpost is your first time feature, but you’ve directed shorts like Watermelon Seeds and Speed Stack. What were some of your biggest challenges in bringing your first feature-length vision to life?

Jabbar: The challenges are really throughout the entire process. When you’re directing a film, you’re not only the creative force behind it, you’re really the driving force behind everything. From the first draft of the script, we had written a bigger movie, a more expensive movie, and the first thing you really have to come to terms with is the budget. You’re never gonna get the budget you want the first time. Once you expect that, you realize that it’s a lot of just making comprises, but you’re trying to make the best compromises that result in the best product. And it really goes from the very beginning when you’re writing the script all the way until the last VFX shot. You’re trying to figure out who to best send out the resources that you have.

Who were some of your influences growing up? What directors made you want to pursue filmmaking? Who specifically influenced Alien Outpost? Personally, I sensed a heavy The Hurt Locker and Restrepo vibe.

Jabbar: Yeah absolutely! I watched a lot of military documentaries and Restrepo was definitely high on my favorite flicks. I really wanted to make something that felt real, but have elements that I really like, which is the sci-fi/action stuff. In regards to directors, James Cameron and Ridley Scott as far as feature films go, you know? I’ve watched Alien probably thirty times, Terminator 2 maybe more than that. [laughs] And there’s another guy, David Nutter, he’s a television director. He’s excellent. He’s done a lot of work on Game of Thrones. I did Thrones with him, season three, and he’s one of the guys that I’m like, “Man, that’s the kind of director I want to be.”

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You know, I should have figured you’re a big James Cameron fan. I should have seen the Alien influence.

Jabbar: [laughs]

In Alien Outpost, you’ve changed our world in a bit of a bizarre fashion. You’ve had the aliens destroy Brazil, there’s a new North Korea, but design-wise, the year of 2033 doesn’t look that much different from 2015. What was behind the decision to keep the future world of Alien Outpost looking like it does now?

Jabbar: Going back to the invasion, these creatures, when they landed, really prevented us from progressing. The idea is that they’ve destroyed the way the world currently works, and for years we just struggled to get by. And then finally we’re rebuilding to get back where we are now, as opposed to just having flying cars in the distant future.

Can you describe the world-building elements in some further detail? What dictated their design? We don’t get to know the aliens — the “Heavies” — very well at all. What led you to shroud them in some mystery?

Jabbar: Story wise, in terms of why we don’t go into great detail about who the Heavies are, is that in the world the documentarians are making a film, that’s common knowledge to people of that world. So, when this film comes out, they’re very familiar with the Heavies. So that’s why the film tries to describe everything about them. And again, that leaves us open for a quadrilogy, to me, with two subsequent films and a prequel. And that gives the audience something to look forward to.

In terms of design, Eddie Yang and Steve Wang are responsible for the design of the creature. They both worked at Stan Winston Studios, that’s where I met Eddie, and worked with him on films like Iron Man and Man of Steel at his own company. So I had a long, working relationship with Eddie, and I knew that he would be able to bring this thing to life in a way that was really beyond anything I could imagine myself. He and Steve co-designed it, between those two guys — Steve most famously credited for designing the Predator at Stan Winston Studios. So I knew they could achieve anything I could imagine.

Damn it, I knew I saw a little Predator in the Heavies. I should have picked up on that.

Jabbar: [laughs]

I would get beat up if I didn’t ask this question, so I apologize ahead of time, but: What is happening this season on Game of Thrones? Can you tell us anything at all what’s going to happen?

Jabbar: Luckily I do know. But I’m sworn secrecy, and more than that I would be breaking contract with HBO if I said anything. But I will say, the books are out there, the books are fantastic, and start reading them.

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What ultimately want to tell the story of Alien Outpost? Were you trying to draw parallels to the recent Iraq War? Or is this just a classic tale of heroism and bravery?

Jabbar: It’s definitely a classic tale of heroism and brotherhood, of bravery, between these soldiers that are out there, fighting these battles that may not be like World War II where there is a clear enemy and a clear bad guy. And things, much like today, are not as black and white as they used to be. I really wanted to draw on some similarities and conflicts we’re experiencing today, while telling a bigger story of just men that are banded together against a common enemy.

From IFC Midnight, Alien Outpost is out now in theaters and Video On Demand.

Original Power Ranger Austin St. John Offers Wisdom Over Rick Medina Arrest

by Eric Francisco

In case you missed it, actor Rick Medina, who portrayed Cole the Red Ranger in 2002’s Power Rangers Wild Force and villain Deker in 2011’s Power Rangers Samurai, has been arrested for the murder of 36-year-old Joshua Sutter. According to various reports, Medina was involved in a heated argument with his roommate when he escaped to his room. When his roommate forced himself in, Medina somehow brandished a sword and killed Sutter. Medina called the police himself shortly after. You can read this news anywhere online, but UPROXX has, in my opinion, the best researched piece, right down to the correct picture of Rick Medina, and not any of the original Power Rangers. I expected better from A.V. Club.

When the initial reports came in about a former Power Ranger who killed his roommate, I dreaded the incoming messages I’d receive. I did not look forward to the wave of jokes, misinformation, and constant rumor debunking I’d have to do, because I’m the “Power Rangers” guy in every social circle I’m in and people expect me to explain things to them even though I already have been clarifying such rumors for years. No one listens. No, the producers weren’t racist. No, the Red Ranger did not do gay porn, he was a military medic (and even if he did gay porn, who fucking cares?).  No, a Power Ranger hasn’t already killed someone before, that piece of shit was just an extra no one can point out. Still, people talk and the inevitable game of telephone mucks up what should already be a straight-forward story.

Sure enough, I was messaged throughout the day by various, truly well-meaning friends and acquaintances who only know anything about Power Rangers because of my association.

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As someone who has worked in some capacity with several former Power Rangers actors in the last few years, I feel like I have this unenviable responsibility to actually clear up a lot of misinformation and confusion that is bound to occur when any news comes out of a 20+ year old pop culture joke. I have to fight the snark and the dirty mess because somebody fucking died for no good reason and no one is willing to stand up for good taste and accuracy, and nobody cares to get their information right. I have to stop a tidal wave from hitting the shore and no one is listening to me when I yell to get to high ground.

My only solace is that I’m not alone. With me on this: Some actual, former Power Rangers themselves. Enter Austin St. John — yes, Jason, the ORIGINAL Red Ranger from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, former military paramedic and never has been an adult film star — offers the best, most poignant perspective on the incident. I do not know how well Austin knew Rick Medina, but they have worked together — they shared many scenes together in the “Forever Red” 10th anniversary special in 2002 — and, as Austin has said in interviews before, everyone who has ever been on the show are on the same team (this was in reference to rumors of alleged heat between himself and former Green/White Ranger Jason David Frank).

“What else really can be said that wouldn’t be a waste of everybody’s time?” Those are some amazing words, almost a shame they were used for this particular incident because they can be applicable for almost all baffling, equally heartbreaking news we hear about too often.

Also a shame: I will bet you all the money in the world and everything I own that this video gets zero traction from other geek news outlets.

I sincerely hope everybody finds peace soon.

Geekscape Interviews: Dominik Garcia-Lorido, star of ‘Wild Card’

by Eric Francisco

We are only two months into 2015, but we may already have one of the coolest, slickest action movies of the year. Wild Card, directed by Simon West, is a remake of the 1986 movie Heat (which was also based on the 1985 novel of the same name by William Goldman) and stars Jason Statham as Nick, an odd jobs man with a gambling addiction who becomes the bodyguard for an awfully young self-made millionaire.

Standing out among the crazies and crooks that populate the movie is the beautiful but haunting Holly, portrayed by the alluring Dominik Garcia-Lorido. Brutally assaulted by a two-bit gangster and his cronies, she seeks the help of Nick and exacts her revenge — but leaves Nick vulnerable to his vices.

Dominik Garcia-Lorido is the proud daughter of celebrated actor Andy Garcia, but she is also a rising star in her own right and has the chops to someday carve out her own legacy. I recently spoke to the star of the new movie about some key scenes and the overall challenges in playing such an intense character.

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Holly is probably the most intense character in the whole film (and that one of your co-stars is Jason Statham says a lot). What kind of challenges did you as an actress have to endure in portraying her?

Dominik: I never wanted her to be the victim. I never thought she was a victim. That was never how I came into playing her, even in the audition. But there’s vulnerability she doesn’t want to show. She wants to feel that, but she doesn’t want to show it. Which is a real trait people have. There’s pride there, but you have to know that vulnerability, you can’t play with just pride. So, I think she’s one of the strongest characters I’ve ever played.

She was the strongest character in the whole film, in my opinion.

Dominik: Thank you. That means a lot.

One of the coolest scenes, but also the most wrenching to watch, was Holly torturing Danny DeMarco, the film’s antagonist. What can you tell me about the making of that scene? Did you happen to research anything about torture?

Dominik: No, I didn’t do any research into torture because she doesn’t know. And… it was such a delicate scene to shoot. They were real shears that I had against him, and I was so worried about not really hurting him with it, you know? Not really hurting his thigh and all that. And I felt so odd. He was holding them in my hands, they felt kinda heavy, they’re hard to clench, but you know what? At the end of the day, I thought, “embrace that.” Because Holly doesn’t know how to do this. This is only her first time doing this. She’s not like this professional torturer whose weapon of choice are these garden shears. She would have probably just grabbed those and was like, “I’m gonna go do this,” but then go, “Actually, this is really crazy what I’m doing.” So I think all that, bringing more humanity into it, you know? All those feelings of uncertainty. So when those things happen, I try to remember to embrace that.

Aside from the aforementioned scene, the movie was a ton of fun to watch. Are there any fun behind-the-scenes stories you’re willing to share?

Dominik: I actually can’t remember any. We definitely had a lot of laughs and everything, but it was very professional, you know? It wasn’t a blooper after blooper kind of deal, but we were filming in New Orleans, which is just a fun city. So some of the cast and crew hung out. I hung out with Milo, and Michael Angarano a lot, and we were all in the same hotel. So we had fun in the city, but also we weren’t all shooting around the same time. So you went to work, and then you were home, or sometimes I was back in LA.

Revenge is one of my favorite literary themes, whether it’s in Hamlet or Oldboy. Holly manages to exact her revenge, but she also leaves them alive. In your opinion, why do you think she was satisfied leaving DeMarco and his cronies breathing?

Dominik: In one version, in the original version of the script, she actually cuts the whole thing off. And puts it in her purse.

Damn!

Dominik: I think that she isn’t a murderer. You know? She’s not a murderer, she doesn’t have the strength to do that. And, I think, when she turns to Nick and is telling him “I want my revenge, I want these balls in my hands” and all these things she’s raving about, she’s so emotional and angry. She’s not being rational when she’s so angry and hurt about something. And when it comes down to it, walking in and seeing him tied down and beat up, and these guys tied down and beat up, she has these garden shears and thinks to herself, “What am I really doing?” She’s still a human being, she’s never done anything like that before. So I think that ends up being enough. And really, it’s what he did to her. It matches what he did to her with the gun in the shower. So she does the same thing to him and tortures him in the same way.

So it’s less about revenge and more about poetic justice.

Dominik: Paying back and belittling him.

Your first role was in 1995, but you began acting full time since The Lost City. What are some of your dream roles that you absolutely need to play someday?

Dominik: For me, it’s really all about the writing. I love really simple stories about real people, and real life kind of struggles. Whether it’s about relationships or going through some sort of illness, or trauma, or anything that people go through, something a lot of people can relate to. The beautiful thing about cinema is that it can be very cathartic for the people who watch, and for the people who play those roles too. But those are the things I want to do. And also, I would love to do something that would require a lot of physical training for. I think it would be a lot of fun, and would be a cool challenge.

I understand you’ve worked with your father several times. As the child of a world-renowned actor, is it difficult to be close to that legacy? Are you seeking to surpass it, or has acting become a glue that bonds you two?

Dominik: It’s a great thing that we share this passion, and he gets it and I get it, and we can talk actor to actor. But no, I don’t find it difficult. I think that as I’ve gotten older, I’m confident more being an actor in my own right. And we’re different. We would choose different roles. But I don’t know, it is what it is. But I see it more as like a blessing than a curse, to be able to share that understanding for what we do with my dad who I’m super close to.

Wild Card is in theaters and On Demand now.

Watch an Exclusive ‘Power Rangers Dino Charge’ Clip! (And, We Might See The Premiere Earlier!)

by Eric Francisco

Get excited, Power Rangers fans! Yeah, all three of you!

The hype for Dino Charge has begun, and unlike the hot garbage from the last few years, it actually looks exciting! The Rangers appear to have nuance, and — gasp, character! In this clip, Tyler and Shelby accidentally become Power Rangers for the first time ever.

To non-fans it doesn’t seem like much, but to Power Rangers fans who have suffered through Samurai to Super Megaforce, there are shades of earlier, better-written series like DinoThunder in this clip so any excitement we had going in are slowly becoming validated. I for one cannot wait.

Power Rangers Dino Charge premieres February 7th on Nickelodeon. But according to a Twitter post from earlier, we may be able to watch it sooner than that!

Wow, only 100 retweets? As of right now, there are 764, so yeah, we’re seeing it soon! Keep checking back to Geekscape, we’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more.

Geekscape Interviews: Alison MacInnis and Camille Hyde, TWO Awesome Pink Rangers!

by Eric Francisco

With Power Rangers Dino Charge jut on the horizon (premiering February 7 on Nickelodeon) I’m proud to present an interview I kept in my pocket for a few months now: An interview with Alison MacInnis and Camille Hyde, two very lovely actress who have played/are playing two equally awesome Pink Rangers!

Alison MacInnis portrayed Dana Mitchell, an EMT selected by her father to become the Pink Ranger in 2000’s Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, which is among one of my favorite seasons in the series. She was a childhood crush, so yes — I was nervous. You would be too.

Camille Hyde is a new entrant in the pantheon of Power Rangers legends. Not much is known about her yet beyond some key production information and press releases, but we do know she’s a tough-as-nails tomboy and… yeah, that’s it.

Recorded on the fly at the 2014 Power MorphiCon, I sat down briefly with a veteran crime-fighter and a rookie scrapper and had a fun little chat about what it’s like being a superhero in pink. Power Rangers Dino Charge premieres in exactly two weeks, but now is the perfect time to hear from the best of the best.

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What do you think about Power MorphiCon so far?

Alison: This is unlike any convention I’ve been to. This is my fifth, but, it’s surreal. Everyone recognizes me, instead of maybe one in a thousand? Oh no no, wait, not everybody. Not Chip. Not Chip Lynn. Not the guy I worked with in close quarters for a year. [I] went to meet the new Rangers, ran into him in the hallway, and he was like, “I have no idea who you are.”

Camille: I think the convention this year is amazing. The fans are amazing. They love us so much. They’re so loyal. And it’s just so nice to come here and feel all the energy and excitement of everyone who has been such a loyal fan of the whole series. So I mean, it’s just been a pleasure for me to be a part of this. I’m really excited.

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What was going through your mind when you were going up on stage for the Dino Charge reveal?

Camille: I think the biggest thing was being a role model. Trying to be that new figure for little girls who are gonna be looking up to me and trying to make my first impression count for them.

I was actually going to ask that, what is it like being a role model, for young girls especially?

Alison: Daunting.

It’s a heavy burden?

Alison: No, you just don’t want to mess up. It’s overwhelming. And an honor. An absolute honor. The little girls that come up, [these] cute, sweet, baby girls.

Did you watch Power Rangers growing up?

Camille: When I was really little I used to watch it all the time when I was at home. Growing up I lost touch with it, and then as soon as I found out it was coming back I was really excited, because it was a part of my childhood and I’m so glad it’s so successful and has so many followers.

Alison, you and I met at San Diego Comic-Con, and obviously we’re at a convention right now. Is there anything you two like to geek over personally?

Alison: I played Dungeons & Dragons pretty religiously, and I just canceled my Warcraft account so I might just get out of my house once in awhile. But D&D? Oh yeah.

Camille: Well I was always huge on The Sims, I guess? [laughs]

I love The Sims. Don’t be ashamed!

Camille: I also had Neopets until I was like, 17? So, if that doesn’t make me a geek I don’t know what does.

Did you two have any martial arts experience prior to Power Rangers or did you go through a boot camp when you signed on?

Alison: No! [laughs]

Camille: I did when I was little, but it was like a Saturday kind of thing, when I was in the second grade. It wasn’t serious. So, I’m in for it! I’m definitely gonna get my butt worked.

Alison: They called me a creampuff when I was auditioning. Koichi called me a creampuff.

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Really?

Alison: Oh yeah. He apologized after about a month. He said, okay, I take it back, you can do this.

Camille, have you started production on Dino Charge yet?

Camille: Not yet, we’re actually set to leave for New Zealand next Saturday. So we’ll be shooting in the next couple weeks, and all through next year.

Do you ladies have any last words for the Geekscape audiences out there?

Alison: Watch the Mega War! It’s coming out soon!

Camille: Next season is going to be unlike any other season, it’s going to be huge, it’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be so incredible. You can’t miss it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebu9oPWZ7WE

Marvel & ABC Studios Announce New ‘Once Upon A Time: Out of the Past’ Graphic Novel

by Eric Francisco

After a few days of teaser images on Facebook this past week, ABC Studios have announced a Once Upon A Time graphic novel to be published under the Marvel label. Enter Once Upon A Time: Out of the Past.

ONCE_OutOfThePast

From the press release:

Marvel Entertainment and ABC Studios are proud to announce the follow up graphic novel to the massively successful Once Upon A Time: Shadow of the Queen.  ONCE UPON A TIME: OUT OF THE PAST is an all new graphic novel inspired by ABC’s popular television series “Once Upon a Time.”  This 112-page hardcover hits comic shops and bookstores everywhere on April 1st, 2015.

Welcome to Storybrooke, a small New England town where seemingly regular people go about their everyday lives with no idea who they really are – the fabled storybook characters we all grew up with! But Fairy Tale Land is not the “happily ever after” you may have read about – their stories continue, and the Evil Queen has set a dark curse upon their homeland.

 

Travel back in ONCE UPON A TIME: OUT OF THE PAST to the origin stories of your favorite characters from the show!

 

ONCE UPON A TIME: OUT OF THE PAST brings together the best graphic novel creators in the industry, including “Once” series writer Kalinda Vazquez, returning writer Corinna Bechko (ONCE UPON A TIME: SHADOW OF THE QUEEN, PLANET OF THE APES), and featuring the lush art of Eisner award winning Janet Lee (DAPPER MEN, EMMA), Pascal Campion (PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, SHERMAN AND PEABODY), Vanesa Del Rey (HIT,SINATORO), and Betsy Peterschmidt (BOYS WITH WINGS) with cover artist Stacey Lee (SILK).

Okay, real talk. I love Once Upon A Time despite being all levels of terrible. When this season of Game of Thrones ended I was jonesing for more fantasy TV and didn’t feel like watching The Lord of the Rings again, so I hopped on Netflix and checked out Once based on word of mouth. I finished the first two seasons within a week.

But I admit I’m slightly confused by the concept. It’s a book of origin stories? Viewers of the show know how much the writers make use of flashbacks and origin stories, almost ad nauseam. What else is there to tell? I guess I have to find out by buying the book, don’t I?

The real synergy I’m hoping for between Disney and Marvel is an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D/Once Upon A Time crossover. It would make absolutely no sense, but I want it. I can’t be the only one who wants to see Coulson drive Lola around Storybrooke.

He could pick up Emma and they can make jokes about her jacket matching Lola’s coat.

Then Coulson could meet Rumple and be all like “I’ve dealt with tricksters like you,” BECAUSE REMEMBER HIM AND LOKI?

Now I can’t think about anything else.

Even the Former Green/White Ranger Doesn’t Know Much About the ‘Power Rangers’ Movie

by Eric Francisco

Every so often I’ll write a small throwaway line about the upcoming Power Rangers movie in any given news I post here. Because with every film that announces a release date in late 2016 or after, by then I will have seen a fully-realized, big-budget Power Rangers movie. A film that, I personally hope, stands to compete against DC, Marvel, and the big, noisy nostalgic tentpoles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (It won’t, but just let me hope.)

It’s still so bizarre to me that the movie is happening. The way the franchise was handled by Saban and Disney past its heyday, it looked like Power Rangers could never have a place in the larger pop culture zeitgeist again, even when the nostalgia wave first hit with Transformers. It’s proof that I can never work as a psychic, because now you’ll see former Power Rangers stars in nearly every comic book convention, you can buy expensive, fully-articulated figures, the complete series on DVD, fanfilms, and now the looming big-budget movie.

As far as us peasant consumers go, we know nothing about the movie. It has two well-known writers, it had a well-known (and hate magnet) executive producer, and that’s it. No cast. No director. Who else doesn’t know much about the movie? Former Power Rangers star Jason David Frank, aka “Tommy,” the Green/White/Red/Red again/Black Ranger.

From a recent interview with comicbook.com:

The movie is definitely set for this year. Everything is in place. They won’t give me specific details because it’s all like hush-hush. Even me, I try. I email Saban and ask them kind of what you’re asking me, but they do feel that I’m going to be part of it, because they feel there’s no movie, at least, without me. The funny thing is, one way or another, whether it happens or it doesn’t, I’ve been great to Lionsgate and I’ve been loyal to Saban. It’s not like they owe me, but if I want to ask for a personal favor, I’ve invested into their emotional bank account. I feel like it’s fair to have that withdrawal with them, because I’ve done nothing but support them for the last 10 years, 20 years in fact.

 

So when that happens, I don’t need to cash in any favors. I believe it’s going to happen anyway, but when it does, I’ll keep my fans involved, but I will tell you it is being filmed this year.

 

I know that for a fact. It’s going to be great when it is.

Jason David Frank has become a polarizing figure amongst the Power Rangers fandom in recent years. Whether it’s because he blows up his Instagram so much or what he’s actually saying in those posts that creates his enemies. His effort to ride CM Punk’s coattail a few months ago didn’t help his image much either.

I still don’t know what to think about the movie. Am I excited? Yes. Do I hate being left out? Yes. I will work as the director’s towel boy if it means I can participate, but if I can’t then I’m more green with envy than Jason David Frank’s spandex.

We have nothing else to report about the movie, but we will for sure when we learn more. Believe me.

If you’re hungry for more Jason David Frank, you can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can even see him in Bat in the Sun’s Super Power Beat Down. After all that you should be like the gluttony victim in Seven.

‘Power Rangers’ Alum Rajia Baroudi Diagnosed With Cancer

by Eric Francisco

I caught wind of this earlier but couldn’t get to a computer in time to write it up. Former Power Rangers actress Rajia Baroudi has been diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma.

A GoFundMe page has been started on behalf of the actress. A combination of controlled diets and holistic remedies are being used because she is allergic to particular chemicals, so chemotherapy is out of the question.

We are using diet and holistic remedies as she is an APOE Type 4/4 and is very sensitive to chemicals in her body – so no chemotherapy is being done.

Before you say that you’ve never seen Rajia say “It’s Morphin’ Time,” you totally did. Rajia Baroudi portrayed Delphine, the White Alien Ranger. She was the leader of the Alien Rangers of Aquitar in the mini-series Mighty Morphin’ Alien Rangers (SHE! SHE! Power Rangers had women leaders! DC didn’t announce a Wonder Woman movie until this year!) the 10-part finale of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers that transitioned the show into Power Rangers Zeo. So it’s a safe bet that she was a part of your childhood, no matter how small.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkO0c86y44w

Yeah, they weren’t credited in their own opening credits, which is all sorts of bullshit.

In addition to Power Rangers, Rajia has a varied career in video game voice acting, having lent her talents to Diablo III and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

A word about the Alien Rangers in Power Rangers lore: As beloved as Mighty Morphin’ is, I don’t hear a peep about the Alien Rangers whenever BuzzFeed gets nostalgic or a so-called ’90s kid dwells about, you know, the ’90s. I’ve always wondered why, because I can’t think of any kids’ TV show that managed to do the mini-series thing decades before Marvel’s Agent Carter.

The Alien Rangers were among the coolest things the original Mighty Morphin’ series ever did. They were totally weird, totally strange, and totally badass. The Alien Rangers hailed from an ocean planet, Aquitar — further expanding the scope of Power Rangers — and were hella weird human/fish hybrids that had cheesy-but-charming brain stuff on their heads. Their resting pose was a hand symbol and their heads constantly jerked, probably to drive home to kids still too young to comprehend language that they’re aliens. One would think the weird brain stuff would have communicated that easily.

I fucking loved the Alien Rangers. The Mighty Morphin’ costumes are classic, but the Alien Ranger costumes are beauty in simplicity. They have no diamond patterns or sculpted helmets, yet they all look amazing when paired together. They’re among my favorite costumes of all time even if they lasted just ten episodes. Because of how simple they were, I always drew them in my grammar school notebooks or art class projects like a dorky da Vinci, hiding them in plain sight. I remember doing their hand thing for the entirety of my oldest brother’s wedding, because I was seven and didn’t give a fuck. But the best thing about the Alien Rangers were how they contributed to Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers in ways no one ever thinks of: they expanded the universe. That seems pretty normal today since everything has to have a universe, but Power Rangers had a gigantic imagination that no other kids’ show had.

Power Rangers aired in a decade where TV sci-fi came back with a vengeance. Starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late ’80s to The X-Files, Babylon 5, Farscape, Sliders, Stargate SG-1, Reboot, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager, Power Rangers is an underrated contributor to sci-fi that introduced a generation to love technology and giant robots. In turn, the show soon embraced its sci-fi aspects fully by exploring other planets, dimensions, and even alien societies (like Edenoi, featured in the three-part episode that introduced the spin-off series Masked Rider). In later years, sci-fi became Power Rangers‘ very identity with seasons like Lost Galaxy, Time Force, and SPD.

The Alien Rangers single-handedly added a dimension to Mighty Morphin‘, where suddenly Angel Grove, aka your backyard, isn’t all that matters. But no matter who they are, be it aliens or just people who look or sound different than you, goodness is universal and teamwork can overcome all.

As a lifelong Power Rangers fan, this is just awful news about Rajia. I can only speak as a fan and encourage you to donate and spread the word to get the lady back to full health.

You can learn more about acinic cell carcinoma here and you can donate to Rajia’s treatments on her GoFundMe here. We wish Rajia a speedy recovery.

‘Constantine’ Premieres To Low Ratings (Again) & It’s Near Cancellation (Again)

by Eric Francisco

NBC’s freshman series Constantine is back where it was weeks before its winter-hiatus: Near cancellation.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Constantine‘s return hailed just 3.1 million viewers on Friday night, and if you do not get Game of Thrones-caliber numbers on a night no one watches TV you deserve to get verbally slapped in the form of an excuse at a TCA press tour. That’s how this business works, right?

From EW:

“Still talking about [whether to renew the show],” Salke said. “We wish the show had done better live. It has a big viewership after [live airings] in all kinds of ways, and it has a younger audience. The live number is challenging. It hasn’t kind of come out of Grimm the way we wanted it to. We love the show. I think it’s fair to say we’re really still talking about it.”

 

Added Greenblatt: “We got on the bandwagon of these shows based on comic books, and maybe there are too many of them. It’s a popular series of comics, but it’s not The Flash. It’s not Batman, so maybe it suffers a little bit there. But as Jen said, it’s a show we really liked. We love Matt Ryan, who is the star of it. I think we did right by the fans who didn’t like the film that was made of it, and I think the future is still up in the air on that show.”

Holy misguided notions, Batman! In what galaxy did NBC think Constantine is a superhero? Yes, he’s in comic books, and yes, he’s had some outings with guys like Batman. But a superhero? The fuck, NBC? Lesson learned: Our basic understanding of geek culture still has a long, long, long way to go.

And what a shame too, because the return episode fucking ROCKED.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ERukJvW6g

Their mention of Grimm is on the right path, but saying Constantine is failing because there are too many superhero shows on the market is way off the mark. It’s not like The Flash because before the show, people vaguely knew the character. No one knew who Constantine was, and even now they still don’t know. The 2005 movie flopped and left no pop culture footprint, so NBC had a totally fresh slate. People didn’t know or care about Constantine and NBC had the chance to make them.

Constantine and his world should be the farthest things you can think of when you think of “superhero.” Did they choose Constantine because they thought it would be like Batman, except British and a Sex Pistols fanboy? If they did then this whole thing was a mistake from the start. Dark fantasy. Gothic horror. That is what should have been in their heads, and that is what their competition should be. Adult fantasy is fairly in vogue despite uneasy acceptance by the mainstream audience; Game of Thrones is as big as it can be, Dragon Age is a really popular video game, Buffy is beloved, but no one gave a shit about I, Frankenstein or Dracula Untold. Only cool people liked Hellboy.

Constantine on broadcast TV should be like The Exorcist mixed with Law & Order — something NBC should be familiar with — while having a punk Han Solo as a lead. It’s a winning formula that’s rather unique, even against the current crop of other supernatural horror shows. They shouldn’t be picking fights against Marvel or The Flash, they should be trading jabs with Supernatural and Penny Dreadful.

But they do have an audience. The buzz created at Comic-Con was successful enough that it has become the current underdog favorite. Campaign hashtags are a big sign that something is worth looking into, and #SaveConstantine has made regular appearances just before, during, and after episode airings.

NBC should have known that unless by some drastic paradigm shift in our culture, the macabre aesthetic of Constantine would never let it be the next Batman. Even Batman shed his gothic texture to appeal to mainstream audiences. Take a bow, Christopher Nolan, that’s all you.

As much as I love Constantine and want to keep it going, this loss of faith by NBC proves they went into this kind of blind. I want to believe David Goyer when he told me that people at NBC have been wanting to produce Constantine for years, but I get the feeling it wasn’t a group effort.

From our New York Comic-Con interview with executive producer David Goyer:

 “We have an executive at NBC, Perlina, whose been a fan of the character even when she used to work at Showtime with Bob Greenblatt, so she’s been wanting to do a Constantine show ever since then. And Bob Greenblatt came over from Showtime and they came from pay cable sensibility, and watching what’s been happening with cable versus network and clearly network has had to change so I think it’s a comfortable fit. Of all the networks, it’s hard to imagine Constantine working on any of the other networks.”

After these recent events, I almost cringe reading that. Clearly NBC was not the best station for Constantine. Maybe Netflix or premium cable, but broadcast — even on Friday nights — isn’t where the beautiful bastard belongs. Still, I’m not going to lose hope. Here are some “hacks,” because no one in my generation knows what a hack actually is, that NBC can do to keep Constantine.

1) Consider a new air schedule.

Constantine changed its timeslot to an earlier 8 PM, but as you can see that did zilch to help matters. Earlier in the show’s lifespan, comparisons to Hannibal made sense because like it, Constantine is a dark show (not nearly as Hannibal, of course) that found success despite a Friday night slot. But unlike Hannibal, NBC stands to lose money when Constantine performs poorly. NBC has no major stake in Hannibal‘s success or failure due to its foreign investment, but Constantine is produced more traditionally, with the network ponying up dough. In order to make more on their investment, would it be too much if NBC considers a new timeslot for the show’s hopefully-not-unlikely second season? Perhaps Sunday when they’re not competing with non-competitors Arrow and The Flash?

2) Yeah, uh, don’t compete with The Flash or Arrow.

Despite being a DC comics property, Constantine is not a damn superhero. Even in a sanitized vision, Constantine does not and cannot carry himself like a brooding, self-righteous vigilante or a smiling, can-do speedster. His very essence is very unsuperhero-like. So don’t steer the ship into the storm and focus on calmer waters: Appeal to the horror crowd. They may intersect with superheroes, but go after fans of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story without mercy. They may not be big bucks like superheroes, but they’re far more devoted, loyal, and they will reward quality with immortality.

3) You know what? Make Constantine just the fucking worst.

John_Constantine_0029

While on the subject of superheroes, make Constantine unique on broadcast TV and actually make him a fucking bastard. Television has embraced anti-heroes since the Age of Tony Soprano, even though they haven’t found a place on broadcast yet. If you truly want to make Constantine a hit, do something different that your supposed competition, super heroes, can’t ever do with their protagonists: Make them terrible. To the show’s credit, they have had him smoke, drink, and sleep around, but there is still a righteousness to Constantine that dulls his edgy vices, making him resemble everyone’s dad in a trenchcoat. Take this opportunity and embrace Constantine’s worst aspects.

4) Build the Justice League Dark now.

Should Constantine be blessed with season two, the show should waste no time and expand the scope of the show. I’ve already stated that the strongest asset Constantine has is its ultimate control of DC’s occult territory. As soon as they can, they must build towards this woefully unexplored side of DC — which hopefully can alter notions of what a “comic book show” can or should be, because The Walking Dead is long past its comic book roots now.

Swamp Thing. Zatanna. Deadman. Shade. Madame Xanadu. Frankenstein. The Spectre, because sometimes you can flip off the comics too. Neither The Flash or Arrow are any closer to bringing us the Justice League. To the producers of Constantine, jump on this chance now. Introduce these freaks to pop culture as soon as possible.

5) More of this. Way more. Give us barrels full of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGL2iuRDnA

If you build it, they will come. And you’ve built it, NBC. Just clean it up (so to speak) and hold out for people to see.

Behind the Backlash of the 2015 Oscar Nominees

by Eric Francisco

By now you may already know all the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards, set to take place on February 22nd. The full list is reproduced below for your convenience. (Source: Oscars.com, obviously, and Entertainment Weekly.)

Best Picture

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5CjKEFb-sM

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Best Director
Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida, Poland
Leviathan, Russia
Tangerines, Estonia
Timbuktu, Mauritania
Wild Tales, Argentina

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper, Jason Hall
The Imitation Game, Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie; Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma; Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me; Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again; Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
Tom Cross, Whiplash

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game, Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Into the Woods, Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best Animated Short
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Live Action Short
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman, Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar, Richard King
Unbroken, Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar, Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Best Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy, Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
Interstellar, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past, Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Best Documentary — Feature
Citizenfour
Finding Vivien Maier
Last Days of Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

As internet humor have seeped into mainstream ideology, there has been an increased awareness over the near-parodical “Oscar-bait” sub-genre. You’ll never find a permanent Oscar genre in the racks of Best Buy — maybe older winners on discount on a display during the season — but you’ll recognize the cues of “Oscar-bait” well enough. You might remember this from a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbhrz1-4hN4

But several times in the last decade the Academy Awards have once or twice awarded truly outstanding feature films that not only buck this trend but also give hope that the popular image of the Academy — stuffy, old farts mentally stuck in a generation long past gone — are just an incorrect notion.

This year is not one of those years.

I will not speak so much on the quality of the films chosen for the “big” categories, like Best Picture; whether it’s because I haven’t seen them or elaborating for or against would be exhausting and longer than anyone would care to read (it depends on what film we’re talking about here). But as someone who hopes to be involved in the industry one day, this year’s list is extremely discouraging.

I have not seen The Theory of Everything, so I cannot judge Eddie Redmayne’s performance critically. I’m sure the effort and work to become Stephen Hawking was a harrowing, challenging experience for the young actor and he executed it in picturesque fashion. His work may or may not deserve some recognition, sure. But as pointed out by critics like Vince Macini of UPROXX, his mere selection can draw blood from the most fervent of anti-Academy critics.

A handsome British heartthrob playing a tousle-haired, permanently smiling physicist with crooked glasses and a degenerative disease isn’t a performance that should be nominated for an Oscar, it’s a performance that should be nominated at a parody of the Oscars. Playing a nuanced character with depth and complexity seems a lot more impressive to me than smiling a lot and looking placid while feigning a disability. Aside from that, the filmmakers are trolling you. This film has been discussed as an Oscars vehicle since the first moment it was announced. It’s a film so blatantly pandering the producers knew all they had to do was get through it with a straight face and it would automatically rain laurels. It’s sort of like the awards movie equivalent of calling in sick and your excuse is a giant carbuncle on your sphincter, something so embarrassing no one will question it.

Along with Eddie Redmayne’s nomination, you may have noticed the movie Selma is hardly on this list. For Best Picture and Best Song (uh, OK) it remains in the race, but it has no stake in any of the awards that celebrate the individual effort where a lone figure is front and center for the world. Best Director for Ava DuVernay? Best Actor for David Oyelowo as a compelling Martin Luther King Jr.? Best Actress for Carmen Ejogo? Nope.

Our own MCDave had this to say in his review of Selma.

Some naysayers will declare DuVernay’s assumed Oscar nomination for Best Director as nothing more than a flashy headline, as she’d be the first female of color to ever be nominated. Yet, truth be told, she does a remarkable job and would be worthy of any such recognition.

Unfortunately we will never even see that headline. Ava DuVernay’s snub for Best Director is one of the strongest central points of contention this year against the Academy, and the Academy’s blunder is doing nothing to encourage new perspectives beyond the default settings.

DuVernay as a black woman — two characteristics that immediately separate DuVernay not just physically but in perspective and world view from the rest of the nominees — just her selection would have been a step forward for what feels like leaps backwards in social politics from the past year. Decades upon decades of misunderstandings and ill-communications between racial and gender divides came to a head in 2014, whether it was #GamerGate or Ferguson, and the awards celebrating the art from the Year of Turmoil has been spit in the wound. We’re parents in Toys ‘R Us and our children have piled on one too many toys in the shopping cart.

When I mean decades, I really do mean decades. The Huffington Post has pointed out that the 2015 Oscars is the whitest crop since 1998.

This is especially troubling when you consider that last year’s Oscars was a banner year, with a Best Supporting Actress award for Lupita Nyong’o and Steve McQueen taking home the Best Picture title as producer for “12 Years a Slave.” “Selma” is nominated in that category this year, so we may have a victory for Ava DuVernay’s film, but that nod — and another “Selma” nomination for Best Original Song — hardly counts as redemption here. As Chris Rock can tell you, there are still far too few people of color in the industry, but at least one non-white person* has been nominated each year in the four acting categories since the last whitest Oscars ever nearly two decades ago. Here’s the whole list:Screen Shot 2015-01-16 at 1.52.59 AM

I joked on Facebook after the nominees were announced that one of the most popular and critically-acclaimed movies of the year that featured an ethnically diverse cast was Disney’s Big Hero 6, which was nominated “only” for Best Animated Film. That’s not to knock animation, it’s just telling that among the only films of the year where people of all backgrounds came together as one unit to receive the richest prize in the game was a cartoon. Kinda shitty that a great movie like Guardians of the Galaxy could not be in the running, isn’t it?

Side note: I’m still trying to process that Big Hero 6, a totally random 5-issue Marvel series I bought on a whim a few years ago while in high school, is now in the running for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Fucking mind-blowing.

https://twitter.com/CNNLADavid/status/555722621216518145

Trending now is #OscarsSoWhite, a scathing response to the upsetting nominations. Like most sarcastic hashtags, many of the tweets are downright hilarious, further proof that the laughter sometimes is the best medicine. But wouldn’t it be nice to never have to be sick?

There is no remedy or magic serum. It is a terrible problem, which is bound to happen when the voting board is obscenely narrowed to one particular taste. But why do the Academy have such a limited palette? Consider who their voters are.

From The LA Times:

Even with the 432 new voting members, the overall academy is still 93% white, a decrease of less than 1% from what The Times found in a 2012 membership study, and 76% male, also a less than 1% decrease from what The Times found two years ago.

If you have gotten to this point and you still ask yourself “Why is this such a bad thing?” the first thing I want you to do is seriously ask that question to yourself again. The second thing I want you to consider is that art is human expression, and yes even commercial films are art, and if the human expression is expressed by only one kind of human, is it really the complete experience?

Let me clarify that even the most popcorniest of movies are still art. The kid watching Batman undergoes an audio-visual experience and by doing so may learn a thing or two about the world, or increases his visual literacy, a woefully underrated subject that is barely taught in academia. But when the stories that compel him or her are influenced and formed by the elite few, the coming generations do not expand their perspectives or their worlds are co-opted and their living is not validated because they feel alone and isolated. They feel no one can relate to them. I know this, because when I was young and until I saw movies with other Asians in low to middle class households, I didn’t think I actually existed. This divide, in my humble opinion, is killing us; we lack empathy for others because we simply don’t see them enough, be it on the street or the screen.

With all my heart I want to believe that the Oscars are nothing but utter bullshit, they are pure posturing and if anything poisons the industry with Thunderdome-esque blood feuds, pressure, and decadent glamour. Yet, they cannnot be outright ignored. The theoretical kid I made up isn’t probably going to watch Foxcatcher or The Imitation Game, but kids grow up sometime.

The Oscars, in some monstrous way, still matter. Consider, again, Vince Mancini of UPROXX.

Maybe not to you, maybe not to me, maybe not to NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, but in terms of which movies actually get made, awards matter because they matter to actors. Who are rivaled only by sparrows and military junta in their love of shiny medals. And because awards matter to actors, awards affect actors’ choice of projects. Which affects which movies get made, which affects which movies we see. Put simply, a lot of bad movies wouldn’t get made if A-list and up-and-coming actors weren’t jumping aboard solely for the chance to win awards. To say nothing of the more interesting scripts and novel approaches to material that get shoehorned into predictable awards vehicles in the hopes of pleasing predictable awards voters.

Typing with fury on my keyboard is therapeutic but it will do nothing to sway any of the Oscar voters who, in the incredibly slim chance are reading this at 2 AM. So, onwards to February 22.

Jake Gyllenhaal Replaces Tom Hardy in ‘Suicide Squad’ [UPDATE]

by Eric Francisco

UPDATE: It has been clarified that Jake Gyllenhaal is only in the running to replace Tom Hardy, it has not been confirmed. We apologize for the mistake.

Trying to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Tom Hardy has just departed from Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad for scheduling reasons and has been replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal.

From TheWrap:

Hardy was forced to exit the project because Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “The Revenant” is going over schedule into mid-March, after which Hardy will be needed to promote WB’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which comes out on May 15. “Suicide Squad” is expected to start production in April, and that time crunch is why Hardy had to drop out of the film.

Let’s get the bad out of the way: No more Tom Hardy. While Margot Robbie and Jared Leto’s Harley Quinn and Joker respectively remain my number one reason to see Suicide Squad, Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg could have been a show stealer because he practically show steals every time. Even the terrible Bane from The Dark Knight Rises is a fun watch if you’re in the right headspace.

Now for the good: Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal has always been a captivating actor, but this year’s Nightcrawler made everyone rally for him when he was curiously snubbed for an Oscar earlier today (reactions to that coming soon). His omission from the race (among others, like everyone involved with Selma) has been a point of backlash against the Academy today, and I’ve seen no shortage of outrage on behalf of Gyllenhaal on social media.

There’s cold comfort in that Tom Hardy left for the simple reason that he can’t make time for it. There was no diva breakdown or hatred or bad blood for anyone or for the superhero genre. In any case, Suicide Squad remains the DC movie to watch, and they have an incredibly solid choice in Gyllenhaal.

Suicide Squad is set for release August 5, 2016. (Holy shit, I will have seen a Power Rangers movie by then.)

 

New ‘Mortal Kombat X’ Trailer Confirms Kitana, Kung Lao, and GORO!

by Eric Francisco

Raise your hand if you actually forgot it’s 2015 a few times so far. Anyone? Anyone? Just me? I’m going nuts, aren’t I?

A new year means new everything, including new games! Mortal Kombat X is coming April 14, and this new trailer confirms a few returning fan favorites: Kitana, Kung Lao, and yes, motherfucking GORO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzOp16SY42A

I knew some fan favorites had to return, but I thought the game would predominantly feature brand new characters. Not that Mortal Kombat is a literary masterpiece, but it does have a large sandbox universe to play with. The idea of playing characters who are the children or successors of established ones — like Cassie Cage — intrigues me. There’s lineage! There’s history! There are new fighting styles! But after looking at the character list on Wikipedia, the ratio to new to returning seems like those new characters are just novelty.

But hey, who isn’t excited to play Kitana, Kung Lao, and Goro? Goro, motherfuckers!

Who are you excited to play as? Let us know!

Geekscape Interviews: Amber Benson, author of ‘Witches of Echo Park’

by Eric Francisco

“Echo Park is this magical world and I wanted people to get lost in it.”

That’s what author and Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson told me about her new book, The Witches of Echo Park, while signing at Midtown Comics in downtown New York. My life’s scenery has been predominantly New Jersey and its malls, exits, pork rolls, and diners, so I felt compelled to learn a little about the still-foreign land that is southern California, never mind that I have been to Comic-Con.

The first installment of a planned series, Echo Park follows 20-something Lyse who returns home to Los Angeles to be with her terminally ill great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her. With her time running out and a looming threat rising, Eleanora brings Lyse into her underground world of magic and sorcery and bestows her leadership of her coven. It’s a total 180 from her comfortable new life in Georgia for sure.

When I first heard of Witches of Echo Park I was kind of unimpressed. It reeked of tween fantasy for a more experienced crowd, targeted to women who grew up reading Harry Potter and are now post-grad/in grad school living on their own. Books are art and art is for everyone, target demos be damned, but I just didn’t think I could relate to it. Still, I kept an open mind as I opened the attached excerpt in my email.

An hour later, I’m frantically hitting the right key refusing to acknowledge I just finished the last page.

Accompanied by my best friend and some new pals I met on line (all of them Buffy fanatics), I sat down with Amber Benson herself, who told me she had a great time doing the Geekscape podcast a few days before. You remember that, don’t you?

http://instagram.com/p/xuxMmhAN0a/?modal=true

The Witches of Echo Park isn’t your first book, but what inspired your venture into writing? Did you maybe write something as a kid that started those gears turning in your head?

Amber: I wrote a lot of really bad poetry as a kid. We’re talking like, “the flower is dead, just like you and me someday,” just ridiculous, gothic, bad bad poetry. But I was reader. I was a book whore. Even now, I read constantly. Even at 38, I’m still a book whore! But that is what inspired me to write, I would get lost in books. They were magic to me. To sit down and read a book and travel to a new world and meet these characters and feel connected to them just saved me in my childhood and adolescence. That is why I wanted to write, because I wanted to do that for somebody else.

Mind if I ask what your favorite book of all time is?

Amber: Oh my gosh, my favorite book of all time? That’s really not fair!

It’s a hard question.

Amber: That’s a really hard question. I’m a big Dostoyevsky fan. Probably The Idiot by Dostoyevsky is my favorite book of all time. It’s my go-to favorite. I know it’s random, weird thing. [laughs]

What specifically inspired specifically Witches of Echo Park? How did you come to blend fantasy with southern California? And why Echo Park?

Amber: Echo Park is my hood. And I spent a lot of time wandering around. I like to take long, hike-y walks. Hike-y walks. Is that a real thing? A hike-y walk?

I think so. You’ve written enough to invent stuff now.

Amber: [laughs] There’s something just really magical about that neighborhood. You walk down Sunset Boulevard and there’s really hipster coffee shops and sort of nestled in between them are these botánicas where you can walk in and get spells. I’m not kidding you, real spells and saint’s candles, and Aqua Net hairspray, which I never quite understood why that was there.

I remember, you wrote that in the book.

Amber: Mmm mm. And then you walk up and down these stair streets. They’re stairs that have street names, and houses that you can only access via these stairs. There’s no way you can get to them via car. You have to go up the stairs to get through to these adorable little bungalos with magic fairy lights. There’s just something super magical about that place. If you go to the top of Echo Park Avenue there’s this swing. It’s just an empty field, a tree, and a swing hanging from the tree, and it’s like, “This is where memories go.” And it looks out all over Water Village and Glendale and it’s just absolutely gorgeous and magical. And that’s my hood! I wanted other people to know how beautiful and wonderful it is.

How much of the book can you describe as autobiographical? Aside from the obvious witches and fantasy elements, of course.

Amber [laughs] That’s the real stuff! I am magic! Just so you know, Eric.

So this is a memoir?

Amber: This is a memoir. I am magic. I do magic. I give magic. [laughs]

How much is autobiographical in the sense of how much of you is in Lyse or Eleanora? 

Amber: It’s so funny. I didn’t realize how much of me was in the book until I was with my therapist. [laughs] And we were talking about it, and she was like, “So basically you’re telling me this is like, a lot of this is your…” and I was like, “Oh, my, God.” I wouldn’t say that I’m Lyse or Eleanora or any of the characters specifically, there are pieces of me in all of them. And a lot of the characters, pieces of them are based on people who lived in my neighborhood. My group of ladies. Not that any of them are them, wholly, but I stole pieces and put them in the characters.

But a lot of the stuff with Eleanora and Lyse and the coming-home aspect, of accepting your fate and figuring out who you are and owning that, that’s a big part of who I am and what I’m trying to do with my life. I see it in the other series, like the Calliope Reaper-Jones books, but there’s a part of me that has to learn to own that I am who I am and I don’t need to hide my light under a bushel, or be uber-humble so people like me or be freaked out by some of the stuff that I do. You have to own who you are. Just because I’m doing this awesome stuff and I’m happy in my life doesn’t mean I don’t want other people to be happy. There’s room in our lives for all of our lives to shine. Me just owning who I am inspires other people to go, “You know what, I’m awesome, and what I’m doing is really cool and I want other people to be a part of that.”

It’s tough being a woman. You’re taught that you’re supposed to be humble and not own who you are. You’re supposed to just be meek. And I don’t want to be that way. I want to go, “You know what? I’m fucking lucky to do what I do, I get to write what I want and I got to be on this amazing show, and I’m just gonna own it.”

You certainly have people who love you for that.

Amber: That was just a meandering way of saying these books are just ripped from my home life, apparently. [laughs]

Lyse is about to have some massive responsibilities dropped on her shoulders. What kind of journey are we about to embark with her? How will she, as a 21st century post-college grad, accept that she is supposed to lead a coven of witches?

Amber: [laughs] There’s a big, over-arching plot line that will play out more in the next couple of books. It sort of involves covens all over the world and this sort of corporate, sort-of religious group called The Flood, basically trying to bring about the end of days. They want to wipe the slate clean, they don’t like the magic and things happening.

Hence “the flood.” Very ominous.

Amber: Yeah. So Lyse is going to play a very big part in that. It just goes beyond a coven, it becomes fighting this sort of corporatized vision of religion trying to decimate the world.

The title is Witches of Echo Park, but how far will Lyse’s journey take her? Will we be seeing ethereal planes, spiritual worlds, or will it all be in Echo Park?

Amber: We’re going to be on the Earth. [laughs] But we are going to be bigger than Echo Park. We’re not going to be going to Middle Earth or anything like that.

You’ve built new mythologies several times, be it Calliope-Reaper Jones or Ghosts of Albion. These are entire worlds and you’re the architect. How do you maintain order in the chaotic creative headspace?

Amber: I walk softly and carry a big stick, as Teddy Roosevelt used to say. [laughs] I keep document files of all the information. I hopefully keep things. I have a great editor who is on top of it and copy editors that make sure I’m doing what I need to be doing and not making gross misjudgments with plot and structure. So, I have a team that help me keep it in order.

A little about Buffy if you don’t mind.

Amber: Sure!

You played a pop culture icon in Tara. You brought a face to LGBTQ youth to the world stage. Even today the struggle for equality continues. How do you feel about being this kind of iconic figure for almost a whole generation?

Amber: I feel like Alyson and I were both really lucky to play these characters and got to bring this relationship to life. I’m not a religious person, but the word “blessed” comes to mind. We opened the door, you know? Not just us, it was a group effort, there were a lot of people working to make this happen, but there needed to be representation in pop culture. The LGBTQ community needed to be represented. Those characters needed to be three-dimensional, real characters. And I think, we, and Joss, opened the door. Or kicked it in a little bit, actually. And I’m so honored we got to do that. I feel very blessed to walk in their shoes.

You’ve also built an audience with modern fantasy. After Echo Park, what other genres are you seeking to explore? For example, would you perhaps pen a sci-fi story?

Amber: I would love to write sci-fi. I’m a big hard sci-fi fan. I’m a big Neal Stephenson fan. I would love to write something of that milieu, that would be amazing.

What is Witches of Echo Park ultimately about, and what is it about to you? What is it about Lyse and her journey that you want to tell the world?

Amber: It’s a prodigal child story, about coming home and owning who you are and accepting that we’re all special. Not trying to hide it, not trying to be humble about it, but saying, “I am special because I am human, because I am here, and I am willing to be open to this world.” And that is Lyse’s journey, to be open to this magical world and willing to become the better version of herself.

Thank you so much. I hope New York treated you well.

Amber: New York is awesome, always.

The Witches of Echo Park is available now. You can keep up with Amber Benson on Twitter, and listen to her on the Geekscape podcast talking with our fearless leader Jonathan London.

 

‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ Premiere Date Announced!

by Eric Francisco

No matter your political opinion, you have to love Stephen Colbert’s brand of comedy. More than just satire, Colbert and his fellow The Daily Show friends have done so much for the national conversation it’s almost unbelievable. Last year, it was announced Stephen Colbert would bow out of The Colbert Report and into the bigger seat of Late Show on CBS.

Not much was known beyond the blunt news and it was expected that Stephen Colbert wouldn’t be bringing his Papa Bear-lovin’ alter-ego from Report with him. That character just can’t exist on broadcast television. Now, according to The Verge, we know when we’ll be seeing Stephen Colbert again: September 8.

From The Verge:

Stephen Colbert will take over the Late Show on September 8th, replacing David Letterman after more than two decades as host. Letterman’s final show will be May 20th. Colbert was chosen to be the Late Show’s new host — the second host in its entire history — last April, at which point he began winding down the long-running Colbert Report. The Report ended its nine-year run last month with a star-studded finale, giving Colbert over half a year’s time to prepare his new series and begin moving into the Ed Sullivan Theater once Letterman moves out.

That’s certainly a lot of time for Colbert to get into a new (possibly more relaxed?) version of his comedic character. For some reason I had it in my head we’d see him as soon as February, whether that was just me reading an incorrect source I cannot recall.

One thing I do recall is where I was when he was announced to take over. I was interning for Late Night with Seth Meyers this time last year, and at that time Seth Meyers was the new kid on the late night TV block. I was sitting in for a production meeting when one of his writers was checking their phone and interrupted the meeting. “Colbert just got Late Show.” In that instant, it was like an OK for everyone to whip out their phones and check their Twitter feeds. It’s a fun, small memory I have for safe keeping.

In case you didn’t already know, Stephen Colbert is also a gigantic nerd. After losing some of his family to an airline crash in his youth, Stephen retreated to fantasy books and immersed himself in Tolkein and Dungeons & Dragons. He frequently made Star Wars and Lord of the Rings references on The Colbert Report, so much so that it’s difficult to find just one clip. He had a cameo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Entertainment Weekly recently had him dress up as Hobbit characters for an end-of-the-year shoot, and do I even need to mention this?

Or even this?

Will you be checking out Late Show with Stephen Colbert? Let us know!

WWE Will Announce ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage To Hall of Fame Tonight on RAW

by Eric Francisco

The collective “FINALLY!” you just heard from several co-workers, friends, and roommates is because the WWE have just announced that the legendary “Macho Man” Randy Savage will be the first name for the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame. The formal announcement will be made tonight on WWE RAW.

From WWE.com:

A live report on WWE Network by Scott Stanford confirmed that inducting “Macho Man” into the Hall would be none other than the other half of The Mega Powers, Hulk Hogan.

 

One of the most colorful characters and most popular Superstars in WWE history, fans worldwide have been clamoring for Savage’s induction since the hallowed Hall opened its doors. Even WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin broached the topic in his must-see live podcast on WWE Network with Mr. McMahon just weeks ago. The WWE Chairman said that Savage would “definitely” take his place in the Hall of Fame, though he did not indicate when.

 

A former two-time WWE Champion, Intercontinental Champion and WCW Champion, the late “Macho Man” also took part in what is considered one of the greatest matches in sports-entertainment history when he battled Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at WrestleMania III.

 

The 2015 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place on Saturday March 28, the night before WrestleMania 31, at San Jose’s SAP Center. Tickets for the event go on sale this Saturday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.

It’s almost strange that Randy Savage isn’t already in the Hall of Fame. The way he is revered to this day by colleagues, fans, and WWE’s marketing team would make you think he has already been immortalized. The younger members of the WWE Universe certainly know of him, if they play WWE video games, play with WWE toys, and watch his classic matches on home video collections or the WWE Network. His matches against Hulk Hogan and his battle against Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania III are the stories that make an icon. While Savage was known for regularly planning out matches ahead of time, he was so nervous about his WrestleMania match with Ricky Steamboat that they rehearsed the whole thing move-for-move in hotel rooms for months. Whether you think planning ahead or making up as you go is a good thing or bad thing in pro wrestling (and yes, it is an actual thing), you can’t deny Savage’s dedication to his craft.

This Hall of Fame announcement is less excitement and more relief that it’s about damn time.

In addition to rocking the wrestling ring, Randy Savage also lent his presence to the big and small screens, playing the evil wrestler Bonesaw in 2002’s Spider-Man and a thug in the 2008 Disney animated movie Bolt. He also lent his voice for TV animation like Dexter’s Laboratory, Duck Dodgers, King of the Hill, and Family Guy. Of course, who could forget his time as the Slim Jim spokesman?

Everyone knew “OH YEAH!” after these, whether they were wrestling fans or not.

Randy Savage passed away from an automobile accident in 2011, breaking the hearts of fans across the world. His Hall of Fame induction is just the seal to his untouchable immortality.

Congratulations to Randy Savage’s family. We still miss him.

It’s Liam Neeson vs. Ed Harris in ‘Run All Night’ Trailer

by Eric Francisco

Who would have thought just ten years ago that there would be a profitable subgenre of action films of old dudes kicking ass and that it would regularly star Liam Neeson? I’m sure there’s some cultural interpretation you can make of it that it’s the baby boomers’ backlash as they refuse to acknowledge their fading light and can still throw down like they used to back when men were men and were great, or something.

From Warner Bros., Liam Neeson’s next “I am Liam Neeson and you will die” movie is Run All Night, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who previously worked with Liam Neeson in another, also so-very Liam Neeson movie Non-Stop. This time, Liam Neeson is mob hit man Jimmy Conlon, who went by the name “The Gravedigger,” and he’s pitted against his former boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris). With a nickname like that he should have tried independent wrestling.

It’s tit-for-tat when Jimmy kills Shawn’s son who in turn tried to kill Jimmy’s son (Joel Kinnaman). A vengeful Shawn then sends all his soldiers to hunt down Jimmy and his son and to escape they will run all night. Oh, I get it now! But can’t they just use their words? I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.

Run All Night is in theaters April 17, and unlike the title you should probably just sit down.