Gabriel von Grünbaum

The Geekscape Interview: ‘Black Ops III’s Rachel Kimsey Is Pwning Hollywood!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJanuary 13, 2016

Rachel Kimsey is a regular person, just like us. Except, that she’s standing toe to toe with giants in one of the biggest throwdowns ever in the entertainment industry. 2015 was a huge year for the business of entertainment. Records were pushed past their breaking points—only to be shattered again within months.

First to break a global record was Jurassic World with the title of biggest opening weekend ever for a film, only to be fully supplanted in December by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thing is, while these movies were setting all-time records for film, neither of them were able to pass what was being called “the biggest [global] entertainment release of 2015,” Call of Duty: Black Ops III—who held that title, taking in over $550 million in just 72 hours, until being dethroned by the juggernaut release of Fallout 4, which pulled in over $750 million in a mere 24 hours. It’s a bare-knuckle drag-out showdown for the business suits in entertainment these days.

All that, within months of each previous release this year; an exciting time indeed. In this clash of entertainment titans, there’s only one person standing in the center of it all—shoulder to shoulder with the Chris Pratts, Bryce Dallas Howards, Jeff Goldblums, Ron Perlmans, Lynda Carters, Daisy Ridleys and Harrison Fords—whose performance makes you question the nature of reality to such a degree that she practically shares the same name with her character.

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Of course I’m talking about Rachel Kimsey’s Rachel Kane in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. “She was always named Rachel Kane from the beginning,” Kimsey humbly admits. (Although, after a little poking around, I heard rumors that some time may have been taken before settling on the name—and when Kane was decided on, it may have originally been spelled differently, with a C—just sayin’.) Like Hollywood releases, maybe even more so, the success of a video game such as this is the result of a large team of contributors. However, there’s no denying that Rachel Kimsey’s portrayal of CIA Agent Rachel Kane is one of the more vital elements to the success of the immersive experience this game provides.

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“Black Ops III, builds off of elements of Black Ops II but also stands on its own. Rachel Kane makes her first appearance [in Black Ops III] and I’m all over it.” Although Kimsey didn’t appear in that previous one either, this isn’t the first time she’s answered the. . . call of duty. “Well, this is the first time you’re seeing me in Call of Duty. I worked on Call of Duty: Ghosts with Infinity Ward; I worked on the DLCs doing a lot of really fun voice work.” Which wasn’t her first digital rodeo either. “I’m pretty sure my face and body scans from the Spider-Man 2 film actually ended up getting used in the Spider-Man 3 video game, for which I also provided voice work but it was for another character, Betty Brant—I think my face and body were paired with somebody else’s voice. So this is the first time my face and my voice have been matched together in a game—and, of course, being a principal member of the campaign it’s. . . I mean, it’s just the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. It’s so much fun.”

Her entire performance is motion captured and paired with 3D model scans of her body, her voiceover is delivered through her tracked and recorded facial expressions so that every aspect of the CIA agent in the game is Kimsey. She performs Rachel Kane perfectly in the she-is-totally-on-our-side-right? storyline, providing a deeper level of realism that has players questioning their allegiances. “I have a lot of fancy contracts saying that I can neither confirm nor deny any of these plot conjectures. I can say, listen to all my advice in the game because I give really good advice. I’m on your side, people.” Really?—so it’s a bad idea to cross Agent Kane? “It’s just a foolish choice—you should be looking out for yourself better than that.” So the CIA helps those who help themselves? “It’s simple—you can win or you can ignore my advice.” She smirks. Dang it!

Rachel Kimsey’s just like us, except that she’s cooler. As the day approached for our scheduled interview I had some plans on where we might sit quietly and talk—maybe something covered in ivy with tea and VIP areas. Hollywood types are fancy, right? She had some plans of her own, requesting that we meet up in a quirky comic book shop in Studio City. She’s beaten me there so that when I walk in the door—knocking the bell above it—she pops up from behind a rack and peers at me over her already impressive armful of comics. “I’m working on a couple of projects that I cannot wait until my non-disclosure agreement gives me permission to disclose,” she gasps desperately through grinding teeth, “because they’re really really exciting.” The tortured declaration has left her nearly breathless but she soldiers on, “I really do think they’ll be just as exciting for the audience as they are for me.” She presses her lips together in an effort to stop before she says something she shouldn’t—and then blurts out, “So much fun!” The eavesdropping comic book guy behind the counter looks disappointed—he’s already recognised her from her time playing “Michelle,” a disguise of Candice Wilmer, on Heroes and wants the scoop on what’s next for Kimsey.

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To contrast or provide better perspective for the unspeakable excitement just around the corner she offers a little history in her own creative development. “There was a time I used to feel really jealous of other kinds of artists. I know it’s really hard to make a living as a dancer but at least you can always dance. Maybe no one’s ever going to buy your paintings but if you’re a painter, you can always paint. Maybe nobody buys your book but you can always write. But I’m an actor and you can’t act in a vacuum—you can’t act by yourself—you have to have an audience to be an actor because acting is all about connection. I used that thinking as an excuse to let myself off the hook for not showing up for myself—not being in my own creativity—because, the truth is, there’s a whole lot more than saying words in front of an audience that makes you an actor. I can be in class, I can be reading screenplays, I can be writing down ideas, I can be producing a web series or short film—even make my own movies nobody ever sees and edit them with free software that came on my phone; with a camera and lens that’s better than the cameras that I bought back in the day because I was going to make things. I realized it was just an excuse, it was an excuse to let me off the hook because I was sad I wasn’t making anything and I didn’t have the guts to step up and fix it. Redefining it makes everything feel different—you gotta be a maker. You can be a maker no matter what income is paying your bills; your income doesn’t have to define you. You can start small; just start. Define yourself, make stuff, make things—be a maker. It’s awesome. You don’t have to be ‘cooler’ than you are, just do what you do.”

Anywhere in Studio City, as the name implies, is a stone’s throw from many of the major studios Hollywood is famous for. The actress’ natural habitat for “doing what she does.” In fact, one memorable time I had the opportunity to talk with her about her work, she was just such a rock toss away from where we now stood. Across the cement shores of the “Los Angeles River”—(yes, that’s the actual name of the large cement drainage ditch that’s usually no more than a dainty creek) on the other side of the very same street, in a Universal backlot—she was being ripped out of a train by Doctor Octopus in the film Spider-Man 2.

Bringin in the big guns for @codblackopsps3 @SFMagicMountain pic.twitter.com/rh2ExiyZRQ

— Rachel Kimsey (@RachelKimsey) October 31, 2015

You see, Rachel Kimsey is just like us, except that she’s tougher. With her comic book collection now properly augmented it’s finally time for us to move on to a quiet coffee shop where we can sit and. . . “There’s a Mexican place down the street I’ve been meaning to try. I hear they have fires in the patio area and a salsa that’ll Ark-of-the-Covenant your face off,” she offers. I’m actually surprised she doesn’t punctuate the pitch by pulling out Dr. Jones’ bullwhip and giving it a good crack. The exciting stories continue even as we navigate down Ventura Boulevard.

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Building an unshakable performance foundation with years of studying Shakespeare, she went on to train in stage combat, then elaborate stunt choreography and eventually martial arts. Her ever developing skills led to an extended stint working in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Stunt Show at LeoFoo Village in Taiwan where she would brawl cowboys, get shot “dead” and tumble off of buildings for eight shows a day, six days a week, delighting excited audiences. After all that, facing off against ghosts, ghouls and “Old Man Jenkins!” as Daphne in the Broadway touring company’s production of Scooby Doo Live! in Stagefright across the US (with dates in Las Vegas and, what is now, the Dolby Theatre in LA) was a walk in the park. Naturally, she was the easy choice for casting directors in search of a special someone to face off against Doc Ock.

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Her dedication to physical performance paid off a few years later when—after a motorcycle accident required a series of surgeries over several years to rebuild the bone in her leg—she would rely on that strength to fuel her recovery. Again, not content to merely complete her own physical therapy, she became fascinated with body mechanics and went on to study even further; picking up certifications along the way and even offering specialized training to those who were interested in what she was learning. As she began to refocus on acting again, she would find that her time spent studying therapies and teaching physical training would pay off once more—in an unexpected way.

“When I was working on [Call of Duty:] Ghosts, I would get into the booth and the director would say, ‘Okay, so here’s the situation; you’re the only woman on the field, the field’s full of men. There’s lots of ambient noise, it’s really loud and distracting—things are banging and exploding, noise all over the place—and you need to get the attention of this small group of men about twenty to thirty feet away from you. Go!’ Oh!—it’s just like teaching Crossfit every day! Music’s too loud, everyone’s doing this really intense thing, I have to make sure they can hear me really clearly through the noise about thirty feet away. . . Got it! So it turns out, years of teaching taught me the skills to support my voice and make a sound that could cut through noise—‘cause just getting louder didn’t work without shredding your throat. Turns out that’s exactly the sound you need to be a soldier on the battlefield in a video game.”

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Now, what about the new character in the new game? “Who is Rachel Kane? First, for there to be a game, somebody has to give you the operation. Who gives those operations?—the CIA. Well, I’m CIA Agent Rachel Kane, so come along with me—like I said, I’ve got some real good advice on how to survive.” There must be more to her than that, right? “The part was really well written and there was a lot of thought and a lot of care that went into the story. I was told early on that, ‘You’re not a damsel in distress; you’re going to hold your own on the battlefield and it’s going to be really clear that you belong there and have every right to be there right from the beginning.’ So before I’d seen any pages or knew what we would be up to, I started thinking about my character like, ‘I am capable, strong, prepared and active on behalf of myself and my team members. I can rise to any occasion.’ Keeping that in mind helped me shape the core and motivation for the character.”

Director Adam Rosas, Ben Browder (Player), Rachel Kimsey (Rachel Kane), Noshir Dalal (Khalil), Sean Douglas (Hendricks)

Arriving at the Mexican restaurant, the host offers us a table inside since it’s chilly out but she squints at him to better judge the situation. “Do you have anything outside?—by the fire?” He glances my way and I joke that we’re not afraid to heat things up. “You know what else heats things up?” she adds. “Face melting salsa. Let’s do this!”

Rachel Kimsey is just like us, except that she’s way better looking. Our exuberantly awkward joky-finger-gun waiter’s attempts to “casually” uncover her relationship status are a natural and common testament to her allure. Comparing the end result Agent Kane character—built from precise scans, image captures and photo reference texture-mapping that the designers made of her—next to Rachel Kimsey in the flesh, you’ll notice that they decided to subtly tone down her natural beauty. Were they trying to keep players, like our waiter, from getting distracted? Did they want her looking a bit more rough and tumble; worn around the edges? Or is it simply that it’s not yet possible to technologically capture all of her appeal in a digital bottle?

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Maybe it’s something that only her fans will take issue with because it seems to be a non-issue for her. “I just noticed that—I think—they adjusted my eye color or something,” she mutters, taking a moment to consider the question. Yes, that’s one of the adjustments. I suppose an argument could be made that the digital scanners aren’t yet able to pick up her additional glow of inner beauty that shines through all the more when she drops wisdom on you like this—

Our salsas arrive—with chips, tacos and other delights to test them on—but she’s still reflecting on a point she wants to make, gazing into the flames near our table. “I can’t even tell you how many friends of mine have the story of, ‘I went through a terrible breakup and my life was falling apart and I got this audition that they tell me I nailed—because I got the job. I never would’ve gotten the job if my life wasn’t falling apart at the time because I didn’t have a filter and everything just came pouring out of me.’ Well, if you’re not in the practice of letting everything pour out of you because life is hard—because we’re sensitive artists and the world pokes at all of our soft and tender places—if you’re not in the practice of saying, ‘yes, and. . . I will show you anyway,’ then when that opportunity comes, are you going to be able to step up in that moment? Maybe not—so be in that practice.” It’s a good reminder not just for performers but for everyone who’s passionate about whatever it is they’re doing.

“It shouldn’t just be people who go through terrible breakups and whose lives are falling apart that land those good jobs! It should be people who are happy too! Everybody should be able to be able to find that place. People at rock bottom feel like they have nothing to lose and they become fearlessly raw. That level of honesty is uncommon and very attractive no matter where you are or what you do. You absolutely can do that without going through trauma, you absolutely can choose to keep the walls down—but it has to be a choice. Choosing to focus less on worrying about what you have and instead focusing on genuinely experiencing what’s currently happening can yield some amazing results. When everything is going well, you have to be willing to risk it all by letting those genuine elements come out and connect with others. If that’s not what [the casting director is] looking for, that’s okay too—you move on to the next thing. It’s going to be perfect for something.”

Truly beautiful.

She’s got me so captivated, I hardly notice that I’ve already polished off four salsa laiden tacos—face happily intact—and it’s time to wrap things up. She’s agreed to teach some private sessions in the morning and wants to be well rested. As she speeds off, vanishing into the twinkling lights of tinseltown, I can’t help but feel excited about the mysterious undisclosed projects she has lined up next—her final hint still ringing in my ears when I had pressed her for more, “I think that you and Geekscape readers in particular are really going to love it.”

The thing is, Rachel Kimsey is just like us AND she’s found herself smack-dab in the middle of a record breaking entertainment revolution worth billions and billions of dollars by doing things genuinely her own way. And that is what sets her apart. Ignore her good advice at your own peril, indeed.

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SPOILERS:

Here then are collected shots of Rachel Kimsey’s performance in cut-scenes from the game (obviously, this will be all SPOILERS for anyone who hasn’t played through yet).

Geekscape Reviews: ‘The Shannara Chronicles’

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJanuary 5, 2016

Holy cow—I couldn’t wait, so I’ve started writing this as I’m reviewing this first batch of The Shannara Chronicles episodes to say—you need to be watching this show. January 5th at 10pm (9pm Central) on MTV, you need to be watching The Shannara Chronicles. If you consider yourself at all a fan of fantasy, this is absolutely the show you’ve been waiting for. It has incredible production value that stands up in this post Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones world, extremely cinematic and marvelously impressive for television. Writing, directing and acting are all as equally impressive as the art direction and costume design. In fact, my biggest complaint at this point is that there’s a character whose name sounds like “Al-Anon”—I keep wondering how his meetings are going.

The first time I got to see footage of what they were creating for the show, I literally had to take it—not with a grain of salt—with a boulder of salt. It couldn’t actually look that good, I thought. If it looks that good, the story’s probably terrible, I thought. If the story’s good too, the casting is probably awful, I thought. There had to be a shoe that was going to drop some where. . . So far I’ve yet to see any dropping shoes anywhere.

It’s thousands and thousands of years in the future, like way after Skynet. There are post-apocalyptic dystopian visions like The Hunger Games—this is after that, way after that. The reset button on the world, having long since been pressed, this then is the re-emergence of civilization (with magic!) on Earth. Over the millennia, humans have evolved along different paths becoming elves, gnomes, trolls and so on—oddly, animals like horses and dogs are still just horses and dogs, and relatives like aunts and uncles are occasionally murdered by demons.

Like any fantasy, we pick up right when a great evil is about to be unleashed on the land. Of course, any hope for the future rides on the destinies of certain “chosen ones” that begin their Hero’s Journey by turning it down. Pretty boilerplate—these are the staple elements common to fantasy (and most other stories), so there really are no new concepts in play. Although, the idea that it’s taking place far into the future feels new and is fun to chew on. What really works very well through these first episodes is the fresh telling through interesting and well-constructed characters. Characters that began as interesting creations on the page and continued into some solid performances in cool costumes. And, lest we forget it’s MTV (even as the network is in the midst of redefining itself, again-again), everyone is adorable and/or gorgeous and/or rugged and worthy of being stared at a lot. It’s those characters that are making the show engaging and fun and absolutely worth carving out couch-time for—and the special effects, really good special effects for television. Then there’s the sexy romance angles, the action-packed adventure elements, gorgeously stunning settings and locations. . .

That is to say that I could give you details about the druid warrior with glowing scars, the bleeding tree that locks demons in its leaves or the fun that comes with recognizing some of the ruins of our world in the distant backgrounds and establishing shots—but experiencing all of that and so much more, first-hand, is the real magic and pleasure of watching the show. The plot points are nothing to write home about; it’s the journey getting to those points. I don’t think this is the show that’s going to hook you because you’ll be wondering who gets killed next week and what other shocking secrets will be revealed—I think this is the show that will hook you because in the back of your mind, you’ll kinda sorta believe in magic again for an hour each week. That and the cast is very stare-at-able, as I mentioned before—meaning you can look at them for a long time and your eyes won’t hate you for it.

Judging by these first several episodes, this may literally be the television fantasy adventure I’ve been waiting for since. . . ever. If Hercules and Xena were never really up to snuff for you—if Legend of the Seeker was almost everything you were looking for—The Shannara Chronicles may just be what you’ve been hoping for too.

Here’s some more video to tide you over until it starts:

Gabe’s SPOILER FREE ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Reaction!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumDecember 18, 2015

So I’ve literally just walked out of the theater. (Side note to theater: This is Star Wars—no one’s in a hurry to get out—please don’t turn up the lights before the credits even start rolling! Party foul!)

How fanatical am I? Not too much—I mean, I don’t go around dressed up in costume or anything—although my hot neighbor (who I’m carpooling to the theater with and who thinks this is film isn’t any more significant than say, The Scorch Trials) immediately asks, “Han Solo?” Guess I nailed it, subtly.

StarWarsTheForceAwakens_Selfie01_600x900 — Here I am, ready to head to the theater.

The real benefit to seeing something as soon as it comes out isn’t just to avoid spoilers, it’s also great because your expectations have been formed strictly between yourself and the film’s marketing team. There have been more than a few times when a film’s accumulated hype left me disappointed with the actual delivery—the product of unchecked adoration from the fanbase. Returning to such a film years later, my expectations palate cleansed, I find it to be much more enjoyable. Sometimes, a lot of bad reviews will having me dragging my feet to see something; only to realize, when I finally do see it, it’s just my cup of awesome.

My aim here is to provide your expectations a solid baseline—something you can hang onto in the oncoming storm of reviews and reactions that will be thrust at you from all sides now—until you’re able to see it for yourself and enjoy forming your own genuine experience and reaction, good or bad.

Again, all spoiler free, cause I hate when the beans are spilled beforehand—Star Wars: The Force Awakens is everything we need it to be. It is an organic extension of the galaxy far far away constructed in episodes IV, V and VI. Satisfaction, excitement and anticipation are the words in play. Some of the more elaborate wish fulfillment that might’ve taken place is instead solid and healthy story development as a new generation rightly takes the reins of the galaxy.

The tropes and mechanics you want are all there. The comedy is fitting with the proper Star Wars tone; as is the drama, story dynamics, character development and interactions—which were sadly all lost in the prequel trilogy. The action and cinematography are taken up a notch without violating what came before. So the production is very solid, any remaining uncertainty is only to what degree the story will resonate with you.

Zero complaints for me—although, the end result feels a bit more “The Empire Strikes Back” in that it leaves you hungry for more—which isn’t a bad thing! My expectations were already at a level where they wouldn’t have been fully slaked unless I left the theater having finally been taught to use the force and handed my very own genuine lightsaber. Again, short of becoming a literal Jedi in just over two hours, it was everything I needed it to be. I’m looking forward to watching it again and again, picking up all the little things I’m sure I missed during this first viewing.

Bottom line? No regrets. Looking forward to seeing it many more times. I think Star Wars: The Force Awakens is very hard to dislike—unless you believe in general that movies pretty much suck and sci-fi/fantasy anything is rather stupid (in which case we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation anyway and I wonder why you’ve read this far in the first place—good luck with your sad life).

Star Wars!

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Red Carpet Live, 12/14 5:30pm PT

by Gabriel von GrünbaumDecember 14, 2015

TONIGHT: Watch the “‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Red Carpet Live” at StarWars.com!

The City of Hollywood is no stranger to big premieres and celebrity events. The Oscars actually shut down an entire city block to make room for the all the celebrities and media covering the event. A whole block!—tonight’s Red Carpet event has four full blocks shut down. Yeah, it’s that big, folks. In addition to the Hollywood police, Disney is ponying up thousands more for additional security to handle the anticipated crowd.

If you have a tough time with crowds of that size or can’t make it out to Hollywood, California you don’t have to surrender to the dark side as your anger consumes you. At 5:30 pm PT (8:30 pm ET) just head over to www.starwars.com to enjoy the event live, hosted by Andi Gutierrez, Anthony Carboni, and David Collins. See you there?

May the force be with you. . .

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The Amazon Exclusive ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two’ Set Is A Must Buy!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumNovember 25, 2015

Whoa. On Tuesday, December 8th Marvel teams up with Amazon on an exclusive offering to knock your Captain America socks clean off! The Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two collection drops only on Amazon with all new bonus content, film replicas and more. In addition, each film features custom disc sleeves from artist Matt Ferguson.

Geekscape got a sneak peek at these alternate covers to share with you—and they’re freaking awesome. Go ahead feast your eyes and start squirreling away your pennies!

Iron Man 3, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Thor: The Dark World, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Guardians of the Galaxy, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Avengers: Age of Ultron, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Ant-Man, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two — Bonus Material, alt-cover by Matt Ferguson

This collection is not messing around—it doesn’t seem like this is going to be the “pretty good one,” only to be replaced next year by the “super awesome edition.” This collection already has all the goods I look for in my film collecting proclivities—and then a little more! I ended up buying a 3D TV several Black Fridays ago when it was the same price as the standard model and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. As a result, if a movie I want comes out on Blu-ray and there’s a 3D version—that’s the one I buy. That and so much more is already baked into this collection! In their own words:

The limited edition, 13-Disc Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection invites you to hold the greatest power in the cosmos in your grasp – an orb containing one of the legendary Infinity Stones! Plus Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray™ and Digital Copies of all Phase 2 films, in collectible packaging designed by artist Matt Ferguson. This set overflows with stunning Marvel memorabilia, including a gold-foiled page from the book of Dark Elves, an ancient drawing from the Morag vault, Avengers and S.T.R.I.K.E. uniform patches, a replica of the Tony Stark Tattoo from Marvel’s Iron Man 3, and much more!

I mean, come on!—there’s a freakin’ ancient drawing from the Morag vault! What more can you possibly ask for?!

Personally, there were some moments I didn’t fully connect with in this film collection—but honestly, I take the blame on those for the time being. Maybe I was in the wrong mood when I saw them or something—planning to give Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron further viewings before making my final call on them. (Especially after getting a better understanding of what went into this intricate web Marvel is weaving as best they can during this release event.) However, here’s the thing—even if every film isn’t up to the snuff of say, Guardians of the Galaxy, they’re still better than most other offerings in their genre; meaning—you can’t lose, even if you lose, with these films. You will be properly entertained come hell or high water!

This unveiling comes properly on the heels of the release of the premiere trailer for the first film in Phase Three, Captain America: Civil War, this week. Whoowhee!—that trailer’s some dramatic adrenaline right there.

And now, my lovelies, because these are just the sort of details I hunt down when considering investing in a collection to add to my. . . collection, here are all the technical details they’ve provided us at this time:

Marvel’s Iron Man 3 (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

Marvel’s Ant-Man (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

1:1 Prop Replica of the Orb

PLUS an Exclusive Bonus Content Disc with 166 minutes of bonus material and more!

From Here To Infinity: Phases 2 & 3 Of The M.C.U.
Journey back through Marvel’s Phase 2 films, from its launch in Iron Man 3 through its fulfillment in Ant-Man, to see how individual characters grow and change, how their relationships with each other evolve over time, and how the universe itself expands with each story. Listen to filmmakers discuss the first set of Phase 3 films– Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – and discover there are no limits to the adventure!

Phase 2 Tag Scenes: A Making-Of
Learn the story behind the post-credit sequence in Marvel’s Phase 1 and 2 movies, and explore how the scenes connect and unify the far-flung characters and worlds of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant w/Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg
Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer With Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg
Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 With Audio Commentary By Louis D’Esposito, Max Hernandez, Titus Welliver And Jesse Bradford
Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter With Audio Commentary By Louis D’Esposito And Hayley Atwell
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King With Audio Commentary By Drew Pearce And Ben Kingsley
Iron Man 3: Deleted Scenes
Iron Man 3: Preproduction Creative
Thor: The Dark World: Deleted Scenes
Thor: The Dark World Preproduction Creative
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Deleted Scene With Audio Commentary By Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Preproduction Creative
Guardians of The Galaxy: Deleted Scenes
Guardians of The Galaxy: Preproduction Creative
Avengers: Age Of Ultron: Deleted Scenes
Avengers: Age Of Ultron: Preproduction Creative: Hulk vs. Hulkbuster
Ant-Man: Deleted Scenes
Ant-Man: Preproduction Creative

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2015
PRODUCTS: Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and Digital HD
AUDIO: Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, Digital HD = English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, French-Canadian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Latin Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English DVS 2.0 Dolby Digital
LANGUAGES: English & Spanish, French
SUBTITLES: English, French & Spanish

Geekscape Reviews: ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumOctober 31, 2015

Fear not, you primitive screwheads, Ash vs Evil Dead brings back everything you love about Evil Dead in convenient fun-size packages each week on Starz. Be sure to set your DVRs for the premiere, fittingly airing tonight on Halloween. If you’re unfamiliar with the magic that is the Evil Dead, it has been appropriately summarized as “splatstick”—meaning, imagine the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges with shotguns, chainsaws and broken beer bottles fighting demons from hell, then roll all of that into one man, Ashley ‘Ash’ J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) with his boomstick shotgun and a chainsaw for a hand—which he lost after evil got into his hand and it went bad. . . so he lopped it off at the wrist.

Can the show really hold up to its cinematic heritage? Actually, I would argue that not only does it hold up but it enhances the legendary storyline. It’s all the same creators returning to play in the gory sandbox, Sam Raimi and his crew including Bruce Campbell. The main cast for the show, assembled around Campbell, is great—Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Jill Marie Jones and Lucy Lawless—with character perspectives enhancing the lunacy or contrasting it to make it feel all the more real. Guest stars are pleasantly surprising, including Mimi Rogers in the second episode who, believe it or not, does her own stunts—and after witnessing her scenes, you’ll be impressed with what she pulled off. At first I thought, the shots had to be a stunt double but I was wrong.

I must admit—as a testament to the strength of the storytelling and gleefully insane entertainment—that there was a mixup with my screeners and I ended up watching the second episode before the first but I didn’t lose a shred of enjoyment. The characters are so strong that you’re immediately sucked into the story and clinging to the roller coaster of thrills, chills and laughter.

As is Raimi’s style, the camera itself is a character–whipping through scenes and sets with a breakneck speed of pans, crash zooms and ultra extreme dutching that shoves you directly into the middle of the action. The giddily exuberant use of the fake blood budget sprays out of those climactic scenes and will leave your screen soaking in delightful crimson.

Firsthand word from inside the writers’ room was that there were three challenges to overcome to get the show where it is today. The first and probably biggest and most unfortunate, is that Raimi doesn’t have control over all of the rights to the third Evil Dead film, Army of Darkness. Writers had to be careful and clever to make sure the show fit with the storyline without violating the rights that they couldn’t get—which they’ve pulled off very well, making everything feel properly cohesive. The second was that, since the show is filmed in New Zealand, sometimes common American visual references weren’t always available. One example was that the signature car with the steering wheel on the common American left side couldn’t be found locally and had to be shipped over. Their final challenge, that Starz was beginning to have doubts about what they’d gotten into, was quickly abated early in production when they saw the rough cut for the first episode. The executives quickly changed their tune and were on board with any crazy idea the writers could come up with from that point on. Now, the whole room challenges each other to come up with the wackiest setup they can and make sure that it gets on camera. Those scribes must be doing well because Starz has already picked up the show for a second season! After the first two episodes, I can hardly wait to see what’s coming next!

So pull on an old sheet with eyeholes cut out, yank on that mask or slap on that makeup to get out there and have some Halloween fun with your friends trick-or-treating tonight then beat a path home for some excellently cringey chuckles and pillow talk with the very groovy Ash vs Evil Dead! Catch you on the flip flop.

https://youtu.be/0h5NNl48w1M

Watch ‘Sock ‘Em Dead’ From The Premiere Event!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumOctober 20, 2015

When the invitation arrived to attend Robert Rodriguez’s premiere screening of his latest short Sock ‘Em Dead, to say that I jumped at the opportunity would be an understatement—I still need to bring in some painters to patch the hole in my ceiling. I’ve been a fan of Rodriguez’s since discovering him with his film Desperado. I appreciate his rebellious approach to getting his projects made on his terms and turning out great entertainment come hell or high water.

The night finally arrived and I made my way to a Hollywood backstreet above the Walk of Fame to find an intimate crowd gathering off an alley adjacent a hidden parking lot. They were dressed with a rugged glamour and I knew I must’ve found the right spot.

Or maybe not?

The large imposing bouncer at the No Vacancy didn’t have my name on the guest list but it wasn’t any big deal because Andrea from the El Rey Network emerged like a ninja from an arrangement of shrubbery to update the list and get me in the door. Little did I realize at the time that this was only the beginning of my adventures for the evening. Once inside, I went up a series of staircases into a hallway with locked “hotel room” doors. Had I taken a wrong turn? No one was around to guide me and eventually, at the end of the hall, was a door that I found to be unlocked. Inside the room was a “call girl” who asked me to wait for a moment, at which point there was a fevered exchanging of interesting glances before she cleared me to enter—was that the password?—a precise choreography of glares and come-hither stares? She activated a panel that split the bed apart and revealed a staircase hidden in the walls. Excelsior! I descended down into the wonderful reception that the El Rey Network had put together for the evening.

SockEmDead_Poster-FDTDCast01_600x900 — “From Dusk Till Dawn” Cast | www.goldfra.me

The guests were made up of my kind of celebrities and entertainment professionals—many of which were past, present and future colleagues of Robert Rodriguez, as well as the man himself. At the bar, I ordered a mezcal and enjoyed mingling with the other guests. Rodriguez provided the details of how Happy Socks had approached him to make a promotional piece for their company. He liked the idea and agreed but wanted to do more with it, so he waited until production began again on the TV series From Dusk Till Dawn, when he could use the resources that were assembled for the show. He tapped Madison Davenport as the lead but there are a lot of other Rodriguez ensamble favorites that make cameos throughout—Wilmer Valderrama was a hoot and Danny Trejo was perfect.

It’s a quick fast paced short that provides a great behind-the-scenes set up and then gets straight to the action in true Rodriguezian fashion—and to quote the man himself, he shot the whole thing “mariachi style,” his shorthand reference to getting in, getting the shots, and getting it done fast and efficient. To likewise make the review of it fast and efficient, it’s a real kick in the pants and absolutely worth the ride! To say much more, I think would do a disservice to the excitement of the initial experience.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/KXz8strRs98

SockEmDead_Poster-GrunbaumMiller01_600x900 — Gabriel Grünbaum and Michelle Miller | www.goldfra.me

Chatting with Davenport after the film had screened was a real treat. I think most often, when actors—or anyone—knows they’re being put on the spot, there can be a bit of professional distance that kicks in. However, it was a “first name” sort of moment with Madison as genuine delight lit up her face. The audience reaction was energetically enthusiastic and when I asked her if it was a different experience from seeing it in a dark editing room, she was quick to correct me. “No, this is the first time I’ve gotten to see it finished! It’s so cool. I think people liked it.” I think she was right—a lot.

I got the chance to speak with Rodriguez some more too, with the hopes of getting details on some of his projects that have been simmering for a while such as, Barbarella, Madman and the rights he acquired for Heavy Metal. Unfortunately there are no new details he was willing to divulge at this time—however I took the opportunity to ask if he ever planned to do a feature-length adaptation of his original award winning short that kicked everything off for him as a young director, Bedhead. I was delighted to hear that he actually did have a feature-length script that he has ready to go the moment the timing is right! Meantime, I guess we’ll have to make due with his epic project underway with James Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel. Stoked!

A surprise highlight of the evening was getting to spend some time with actor Ted Raimi and his fiance, the lovely Suzanne Keilly, who is a writer working on Ash vs Evil Dead. Keilly’s tales of the writers’ room were a lot of fun—writers coming up with the craziest stuff they could think of and then following through to make sure the idea made it on camera. Initially, it sounded like Starz (producing and airing the show) may have been a bit hesitant but, after seeing the pilot, they understood what gold they had on their hands and were excited for whatever the writers could dish out! Sounds like a recipe for fans getting some sugar, baby. Of course, I had to ask Raimi and Keilly about whether we would be seeing him on the show. His response was cryptic but I think that we will have something to look forward to. I also couldn’t resist the opportunity to reminisce with him about Drag Me to Hell and (a personal favorite) Legend of the Seeker—his experience on that show sounded very enjoyable, working in New Zealand with Bridget Regan and Craig Horner, both of which he spoke highly of. I was happy to hear that Ted is a fan of Geekscape saying that he’s not just an actor he’s also a lover of genre entertainment himself and appreciates Geekscape’s personal touch approach to keeping geeky fans informed. I’ve heard stories of what a nice guy Ted Raimi is but I had no idea what a genuine pleasure it is have the opportunity to speak with him. There was a lot of agreement about this from the Geekscape staff so, Mr. Raimi, this is your official invitation to join us on the show whenever you have the opportunity. We’re all huge fans and would love to have you!

SockEmDead_wTedGabeSuzMichelle_800x375 — Ted Raimi, Gabriel Grünbaum, Suzanne Keilly and Michelle Miller

SockEmDead_wGabrielMichelle_800x375 — Gabriel Grünbaum with Producer, Michelle Miller

By the time I had the charmingly quirky layout of No Vacancy down, it was time to head out into the night again. Much as I wanted to stay, I guess they live up to their name and I had to settle for a goodnight wink from the “call girl” guarding the gates to the evening’s revelries.

The marvelously ambitious El Rey Network and innovative Happy Socks really put together a fantastic evening on par with the excellent presentation of the channel’s rebel broadcast. The team-up here with Happy Socks didn’t immediately make sense to me but after receiving a set of Rodriguez’s signature blood and vampire inspired socks from Happy Socks, the pairing made sense—a couple of mavericks from different walks of life joining forces in a way that no one else could come up with, let alone pull off. Sock ‘Em Dead is a wonderfully fun shot of adrenaline that premieres Tuesday, October 20th on HappySocks.com and I absolutely recommend you check it out for a good time!

From the press release:

Maverick filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez, is bringing his action-packed, fierce style to a partnership project with unique high quality sock and underwear company Happy Socks. Rodriguez has collaborated on a short film called SOCK’EM DEAD, featuring an A-list cast and crew with an authentic cinematic style, shot and edited entirely at Rodriguez’s Austin, Texas based full functioning production facility, Troublemaker Studios. SOCK’EM DEAD stars Madison Davenport and features some fun celebrity supporting roles such as long time collaborator Danny Trejo as well as From Dusk till Dawn star, Wilmer Valderrama.

The short film will premiere globally on October 20, 2015 on www.happysocks.com. To celebrate this collaboration, Happy Socks will release a series of three pairs of socks which Robert Rodriguez designed, available October 12th.

To get great photo solutions for your next event, like the ones featured here, check out Gold Frame at www.goldfra.me and on Instagram at @gold.frame.

Fall TV 2015: Top 10 New & Returning Shows!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumOctober 8, 2015

With shows debuting year-round now and the internet liberating us from the chains of broadcast scheduling, fall’s television premiere season doesn’t quite feel like the mark your calendar affair of yore. Still there’s some great new entertainment coming at us this time of year to gather and enjoy.

There is one trend I’ve noticed in combing through everything—there are a lot of variations on one particular theme. It feels like half the shows on television are an Unusual Genius Helps Authorities Fight Crime (UGHAFC?). It doesn’t mean we should write a show off just for falling into this category—some are doing it very well—only that I’m a little amazed to find the pattern unfolding right under my nose. Some returning UGHAFCs include Sleepy Hollow, iZombie, Castle, The Flash, Scorpion—Grimm mostly fits, although, the authorities are more often tolerated or managed. Some new UGHAFCs are Blindspot, Limitless, Minority Report—Gotham‘s side plot is technically the coming of age for a future UGHAFC. I’m sure you could probably come up with some more examples. I think the strength of UGHAFC shows like Sleepy Hollow, iZombie and Castle is the amount of time we get to spend in the Unusual Genius’ world and how well developed that world is.

I’ve been dutifully consulting my Magic 8 Ball about this fall’s lineup of new and returning shows and thought it only fair to share some results with you. There’s a lot of exciting stuff popping on screens all over and I decided to cut through the noise and find the best possible feasts for the ever dwindling spare eyeball-time. First of all, I’m trying to keep the focus on those shows with some sci-fi/fantasy elements—but there may be some shout-outs and honorable mentions that lie on the fringes. That’s about it, so let me shake this ball and we’ll get started!

Top 5 Harvest of Returning Shows:

№ 5: SLEEPY HOLLOW

(Oct. 1st, 9pm, FOX) Dear Magic 8 Ball (is that how you address these things?), I feel like Sleepy Hollow is poised now to embrace the power of the dark side with wit and and style to become even better. Muah ha ha ha ha! Will the new season mark its entry into the television halls of greatness?! — “Outlook good.”

Watching Sleepy Hollow develop, as it tests its footing on the shaky television landscape, has been enjoyable. Their strongest element is absolutely the man-out-of-time/fish-out-of-water dynamic of Ichabod Crane as he’s forced to face off against magical monsters tied to the American Revolution each week. The handsome Tom Mison, as Ichabod is inspirational casting and he deservedly carries the show alongside the innovative creatures/monsters each week. His back in my day gripes each week, comparing America today to the first days of the nation, are an absolute comedy highlight of the show—and moments like the time he’s handed a gun which he fires once and then tosses because pistols only had one shot during the Revolution—priceless.

As for the rest of the cast—fine actors for the most part—one gets the impression, subconsciously at the very least, that they and the writers are still trying to figure out how exactly they fit into this world. Personally, I was disappointed with the decision to write Ichabod’s wife, Katrina Crane (the lovely Katia Winter), off the show. She felt like the second most solid and interesting character next to Ichabod but it became apparent that the writers didn’t know what to do with her.

The other choice I have reservations about was humanizing the headless horseman. Yes, it’s interesting to find out the monster’s backstory but the resulting manifestation of this personification of doom and destruction feels more effective when its operating out of a removed realm of all but inexplicable evil. I don’t necessarily feel the need to understand the daily emotional motivations of a headless demon (unless they are incredibly fascinating and unexpected). The fact that a decapitated creature from hell wants to kill and destroy works satisfyingly all on its own.

A really great thing to count for the plus column is that, whatever their special effects budget is, they’re using it very well to create some really stunning visuals and excellent creatures.

On the whole, the UGHAFC series had a very good start and it gets stronger and more enjoyable with each episode, even through most of its minor missteps. Considering that they’ve taken a short story by Washington Irving, twisted it with another of his short stories, Rip Van Winkle, and are managing to serve up entertainment that I look forward to each week is quite a feat in itself. I look forward to hoisting a mug of warm mead to the new season of Sleepy Hollow!—(P.S.: Bring back Ichabod’s wife!)

https://youtu.be/fzak6l4w11g

№ 4: iZOMBIE

(Oct. 6th, 9pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I had a great time watching the first season of iZombie—will the second season be able to hold up and possibly be even better? — “Most likely.”

iZombie has been adorable fun right out of the gate since starting last season—which is an odd thing to say about anything having to do with zombies (see The Walking Dead below). Versatile Rose McIver is perfectly cast as Olivia “Liv” Moore (get it?!) who became a zombie after getting scratched by one at “the worst boat party ever” on Lake Washington and, after waking a little less than dead, left her budding career as a doctor to become a medical examiner’s assistant at the Seattle PD morgue—which supplies her all the fresh brains her new zombie metabolism craves.

As a viewer, you eagerly follow her through the unfolding plots. Zombies themselves are a conceptually diverse tool in storytelling, allowing for grim commentary on various aspects of modern life. The fresh take that iZombie uses is in identifying with the zombie main character, relating to the isolation and the desire to connect with others—to fit in when you feel like an outsider. Will she let her family get close to her again? Will she get back together with her fiancé? Or will she eat them all as she fears she will? Meantime, Liv is out solving the murders of the victims who come through the morgue as a makeshift UGHAFC “police psychic” because she gets visions from the lives of the brains she eats. Not only that, it’s a delight each week to watch her act in strange new ways because she also takes on the victims’ habits, skills an personalities! (You could almost say she’s the next best thing to Tatiana Maslany’s performance of over ten clones and counting in Orphan Black.)

Her two closest cohorts turn in great performances too. Rahul Kohli as the medical examiner and closest confidant about all things zombie, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti, and Aly Michalka as Liv’s befuddled bestie and roommate, Peyton Charles, use the elegance of their natural comedic timing even in dramatic service to the more heartfelt scenes. The effect is laughs and “feels” at all the right moments.

After more developments than I can list here during the first season, I’m really looking forward to everything that’s poised to unfold for season two of iZombie!

https://youtu.be/E4I3BWFJwcg

№ 3: THE WALKING DEAD

(Oct. 11th, 9pm, AMC) Dear Magic 8 Ball. . . astonishment, cringing, canned food, The Walking Dead. . . More excellence? — “Without a doubt.”

The Walking Dead. Holy crap, The Walking Dead. I think we can all agree that this show has pushed television into new territory. I don’t recall seeing or hearing of anything like this on television before. Legit graphic horror as a television show that’s not really pulling any punches—and it’s not just out to shock you, it’s the thinking-person’s horror that’s exploring the nature of life, relationships and defending yourself with anything in reach. Wow. I think this likely helped pave the way for the horrifically gorgeous 3 seasons of Hannibal (til they yanked the plug on that awesome sauce).

This has the most realistic feel of all the entries in this countdown. The reason it comes in at number 3 for me is that it’s just so damn heavy—heavy drama and most times I’m looking for some more levity in my entertainment. If you’re a gloomy Gus, this could be your number one.

The Walking Dead is basically like daily American life with the volume turned all the way up. When hordes of rotting corpses lurk around every corner, hungry to rip you apart and eat you alive, what is it that’s most important to you?—and what are you willing to do to get it and protect it? The Walking Dead reveals the essence of life contrasted against terrifying death on an individual basis that exposes elemental truths of humanity—the good, the bad and the ugly. It questions the true nature of what it means to be strong and to be weak. The surprising and shocking punches these revelations land with sink in like reminders of what we’ve always felt was floating just beneath the surface of our world.

With everything (and everyone!) won, lost, taken and found in Arlington at the end of last season, I cannot wait to see what’s in store for our band of raw threadbare avatars to the richness of the human condition on the next installment of The Walking Dead. (P.S.: Someone please bring back hauntingly beautiful Hannibal!)

№ 2: SUPERNATURAL

(Oct. 7th, 9pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I’m addicted to Supernatural. Will my love be returned yet again with a remarkable season 11?! — “It is decidedly so.”

If you were able to take the very best things about the greatest buddy-cop teams, blend that with the cream of campfire ghost stories and then throw open the doors of possibility—you’d have only the jumping off point for the series. It continuously finds ways to keep folding in more—more character dynamics, more storytelling structures, more deep questions tastily sandwiched into monster mayhem. . . If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they were taking notes from Doctor Who.

The brilliant minds behind Supernatural have successfully built a dynamic that feels comfortable for the returning viewer week to week and at the same time allows for amazing flexibility. Much like The X-Files, one episode may be extremely dramatic followed by one that is practically an hour-long comedy! In fact, I might describe it to a potential viewer as a healthy combo of The X-Files, Ghostbusters and Starsky & Hutch. A sort of on-the-road dude version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if you will.

The Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean (irreplaceably played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), crisscross the country “saving people, hunting things.” The entire series started as a buddy-cop, road-trip, monster/ghost of the week flavored sort of affair—with the boys chiefly fueled by burgers, unleaded, damsels in distress and the hunt for the demon that killed their mother and Sam’s girlfriend. In those early days, the season-long story arc would take a distant backseat, in their black 1967 Chevy Impala, to each episode’s encounter.

Since then, the Supernatural universe has been massively fleshed out and now each week is most often about another piece in the puzzle for the season’s storyline. The boys have graduated from tackling urban legends come to life each week to taking on hell, purgatory and even a rebellion in heaven over the course of a season.

Every time I think, “Well, that’s it. The end of the series. There’s nowhere to go after that season finale,” they pick up on some unfinished aspect I missed to spin a fresh new season around. It’s a magically delightful sort of 3-Card Monte—”Whoa, I was looking over here while they were setting that up over there!”

They’ve picked up an excellent entourage along the way of reoccurring characters, including my current favorites, Crowley (I can never get enough of Mark Sheppard), the new king of hell, Castiel (Misha Collins is awesome!—he should be cast in everything), a rebel angel who once took over heaven, and now Claire (a very impressive Kathryn Newton) the orphaned teenage daughter of Castiel’s vessel (long story), who brings a fresh new dynamic and energy to the show for each episode she’s in.

One of the remarkable feats that Supernatural has pulled off, quite a few times now, is reaching through the fourth-wall. They’ve done it in several different ways and haven’t fallen on their faces yet—if anything, it has actually enriched the experience of the show each time—extending the definition of “supernatural” in a deeper way that seems to defy the physics of television shows themselves. (Tried a couple different ways of explaining more here—but I don’t think reading about it would give the experiences justice. I would rather not rob you of those first experiences yourself, if you don’t already know what I’m talking about.)

Without giving too much away, the ancient (original?) curse that kept Dean alive in the previous season has consequences that pit the brothers against each other last season. Now, with the setup for The Darkness impending, the new season of Supernatural looks promising indeed.

https://youtu.be/tdIbvJ_RgiA

№ 1: DOCTOR WHO

(Sept. 19th, 9pm, BBC America) Dear Magic 8 Ball, will the new season of Doctor Who be some can’t miss television? — “You may rely on it.”

The idea that Doctor Who isn’t the number one show on everyone’s must-see TV list (or “rather ought to” telly queue?) is a concept I find wholly befuddling. Doctor Who is, quite simply, the culmination of all human storytelling up to now—it is the ongoing saga that has successfully digested all other existing story structures. It’s sci-fi, fantasy, drama, horror, comedy, thriller, western, classical, procedural, ghost, love, family, monster. . . The storytelling lens of Doctor Who is so broadly fine tuned that the lucky and talented writers are able to weave any tale they wish through it. Every episode is a display of magic unfolding. It’s safe to say, if there is any kind of storytelling you like, Doctor Who has episodes for you—and if there are story types you don’t like, Doctor Who may just put them in a new light for you.

To say that Doctor Who is like The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Alien, Indiana Jones, and even The Labyrinth and Harry Potter all rolled into one isn’t inaccurate—but it just doesn’t do the show full justice because it’s even more than that.

There are two caveats for American viewers: the first is that it’s a British show—and it becomes far more British the further back in the canon you go. British, meaning that, the pace and construction of characters, themes and interactions can take a moment to adjust to for Yankee brains. It’s just a slightly different perspective on the world that Hollywood rarely shines a light on. The second thing to keep in mind, particularly if you plan to dig into the back catalog, regards the production: producers of the show have always done their best to show all of time and space with whatever limited budget they were allotted. Since the fabric of spacetime is apparently infinite and their budgets weren’t, you can see where they might often fall short—but, if you could forgive some papier-mâché costumes and old cardboard sets you were richly rewarded by the stories. To quote the Doctor himself, “it’s more like a big ball of wibbly–wobbly. . . timey-wimey. . . stuff.” That said, the further decades you go back, the more you can see how it has grown from something akin to filmed children’s theatre into the juggernaut it is today. Additionally—and this is coming from two decades working in digital format conversions—although recent advancements are making it unnecessary, the British have always broadcast television in the PAL format at 25 frames per second, while American eyeballs have been tuned to NTSC at almost 30 frames per second for decades and decades. Even after conversion, what you’re watching can feel “wrong” on a subconscious level to the Yankee brain just because the flicker is different. It took me about six of those earlier episodes to adjust. These days, most entertainment is being shot at standard film speed which is 24 frames per second, a frequency the entire world is accustomed to.

Now that the show has garnered ever stronger international audiences, the “Britishness” has become a bit more universal and the production values have gone way up. You can pinpoint the change to the episode of the first season that Matt Smith took over the reins of the Doctor. The only requirement now is a tolerance for the initially perceived silliness and frequent leaps of faith (fat that comes to life, alien assassins that consume your life’s potential and then leave you to live to death, a police “phone booth” that is a whole world larger on the inside and travels through time and space)—for which you are fully rewarded. After some time as a viewer, the concepts begin to feel much less far fetched—the show succeeds in taking nearly any “wacky” setup and presenting it as honestly valid and valuable.

Last season introduced Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and, while every “regeneration” is traumatic for viewers, this one somehow felt more so. The writers weren’t exactly sure how to write for him yet? It became the Clara Oswald season, which was perfectly fine by me. Jenna Coleman as the Doctor’s current companion is really electric and has delivered some of the most powerful scenes on the show recently. Now the breaking news of this being her last season on Doctor Who is extremely disappointing after she carried the last season. What the future holds after this season is uncertain but I’m sure it will be great—I’m just devastated that this will be the last of Clara Oswald as the companion. So catch her while you can!

I’ve often been moved to tears, fallen from the couch in peels of laughter, cringed with fright and been held breathless in astonishment—frequently in the same episode (“Blink”, “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Vincent and the Doctor” just to name a few). I expect all of this (and more!) with the new season of Doctor Who.

Returning Honorable Mentions:

№ yeah!: CASTLE

(Sept. 21st, 10pm, ABC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, should I stay loyal to my not-so-secret crush on Castle this season? — “Yes.”

Strictly speaking, Castle doesn’t belong on this list—but I feel the need to give it a shout-out regardless. The fact that it stars Nathan Fillion is practically a qualifier all on its own. The rest of the cast—including Stana Katic, Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas—are fantastically enjoyable as well.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for Fillion, I never would have checked this show out in the first place—procedurals just aren’t my cup of tea—but Fillion as a bestselling crime fiction writer embedding himself with the NYPD?! Had to give it shot—and I’ve been far from disappointed. (Well, that and—full disclosure—I first met Seamus back when I was performing standup with his lovely, funny and talented wife, Juliana Dever [frequent guest star as Det. Kevin Ryan’s girlfriend/wife], years ago and was excited to cheer on his big break with Fillion when the show premiered.)

Castle continues to plumb the writer playing cop—with actual cops!—UGHAFC premise brilliantly. They feature enough stories that blur the lines between the realities of a police procedural and Rick Castle’s love of sci-fi/fantasy to keep me hooked and invested week after week. Episodes like the one with the man who said he was from the future, the one with the artifact that may have been a portal to a parallel dimension or the one about vampires. . . or Bigfoot—the list goes on—are often left delightfully open ended. Am I looking forward to the new season of Castle? You betcha!

№ hope?: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Sept. 29th, 9pm, ABC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, the special Agents of SHIELD have yet to uncover my devotion. Will they pull it off this season? — “Better not tell you now.”

The fun thing about season premieres (and finales) is that shows typically have bigger budgets to play with. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is a good example of that this season. Fan reaction to the show overall thus far has been lukewarm on average. Scripts are lacking strength with some plots and dialogue that can feel forced. Characters are difficult to connect with. The whole thing has a sort of manufactured aftertaste.

Fresh out of the gate this season, the show is looking pretty dazzling but will they be able to connect with viewers who are dying to love them? Being one such viewer, I’m settling in for this season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and hoping they finally open up to me.

№ zip-a-dee-doo-dah: THE FLASH

(Oct. 6th, 8pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, The Flash looks great but I think I’m missing something—should I take another run at it this season? — “Concentrate and ask again.”

There are a lot of folks that are huge fans of The Flash. I am merely a fan. For about the first 10 episodes you watched as the show sort of meandered around, testing its footing to see what tone it wanted, what kind of show it would grow into. It was interesting enough to keep me watching but, even as its direction became more focused in the final few episodes, I still wasn’t finding myself able to really connect with any of the characters. The portrayals all felt a bit too cartoony to me. I want to care, I really do, but I don’t. If I can’t invest in the characters, I can’t invest in the story—and there’s a lot of great story to work with.

To tell the truth, the show is already one of the better options on TV—but, in age of so many series that are able to make significant connections with viewers, The Flash is coming up a bit short. There is so much in the works for the series’ second season, more time travel, parallel dimensions, parallel Flashes. . . It’s all sounding very exciting—I’m just hoping The Flash‘s creators can get me to care.

№ bat: GOTHAM

(Sept. 21st, 8pm, FOX) Dear Magic 8 Ball, Gotham‘s looking good—did they lose some weight? Should we make a date this fall? — “Signs point to yes.”

Very pleased to see that Gotham recognized its shortcomings from last season, corrected course and is off to nice start this fall. Honestly, even after the last Gotham update here on Geekscape, I didn’t think the show was going to make this list. Many times, when a series or franchise attempts to make a course adjustment, creatives’ egos and/or executives’ bottom lines can interfere, making the adjustment not enough or overly extravagant.

So far, it seems Gotham’s refocus is just right—characters are exhibiting a fuller range of emotion and the whole presentation has just the right amount of silliness, inherent in Batman stories from the beginning. The dark whimsy has been blended back in to properly offset and enhance the ol’ Detective Comics‘ native flavor of gloomy dreariness on the palette. Its a balancing act that the comics have been pulling off for decades and you can feel when screen adaptations get wrong. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the season plays out. Bravo, Gotham creators!

№ hmm: GRIMM

(Oct. 30th, 9pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, what’s up with Grimm? Should we be watching the new season? — “Reply hazy, try again.”

Honestly, I really like Grimm. I look forward to each next episode. However, there is something I keep trying to put my finger on that keeps me from fully connecting with the show. My current theory is that there is an “underlying apology” to its presentation—maybe? A sort of, “Sorry we’re not a standard cop show—but we’ve got a really nice secret society of creatures mythology thingy we’re working on that we hope you’ll like!”

Just be true to yourself, Grimm!—be proud of the dorky/geeky genre baby that you are! If you double-down and go whole-hog with what you’ve created, your current audience will become solid devotees—and probably start dragging more people to the party!

The two characters that seem to genuinely inhabit the world of Grimm are Monroe and Trubel—with a shout-out to Bree Turner, as Rosalee, and Sasha Roiz, as Capt. Renard. Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe, the gentle, awkward and reserved big bad wolf was a surprise hit very quickly. This guy is clearly a professional actor who studied the material he was given and created a marvelously rich character out of it that is my main draw to the show each week. Jacqueline Toboni as Trubel, a runaway who discovers she has special abilities to hunt as a grimm, is another example of marvelous acting chops and has been an invigorating addition. Her take on the character is an excellent fit with the mythos in play.

The real trouble is that it seems the writers too often lean on story constructs better suited to soaps and primetime cop dramas. Even when they try and dive deeper into the secret society and the royals it comes off more like something from General Hospital or The Young & the Restless rather than exciting and mysterious, like a Frankenstein, Dracula, Indiana Jones or Goonies type vibe. I mean, Nick’s longtime girlfriend gains powers and suddenly decides to be evil?! I didn’t get that at all.

The show is inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales; I recommend returning to that source material and capturing that magic. Should you watch Grimm? I don’t know—I do—and I wish I could feel stronger about recommending it.

Returning Show Quick Takes!

THE LEFTOVERS — Damon Lindelof, I love you as a human being with excellent taste and a creative soul—but I’ve been burned by your creations too many times to give this fascinating premise a shot.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: [ANYTHING] — More like Eccentric European Fetish Story and I prefer to get my obscure French vampire sex romps from the source—Gérard Depardieu.

ARROW — A lot of people really love this show and it has clearly done well in the ratings. Maybe you’re one of these fans (or potential fans) but for my palette, I got the impression at the start that this might have that neutered and manufactured flavor to its construction and I have yet to see any clips or segments that make me think I might’ve been wrong. (Yes, I just used “neutered” and “flavor” in the same sentence and am now questioning all the life decisions that have led me to this point.)

ONCE UPON A TIME — I feel so strung-along by this show; like it’s always just about to get good—or even interesting. Once again, I’m just going to give it a few more episodes to. . .

SCORPION — This UGHAFC show is actually pretty neat and fun, I enjoy watching it—however, it’s placed pretty much at the end of my queue each week. I don’t feel like I have to watch it. I really do like it though.

Top 5 Crop of New Shows:

№ 5: HEROES REBORN

(Sept. 24th, 8pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball. . . Uh, Heroes Reborn? — “Ask again later.”

I was really ready to write this off out of hand but the pilot has me sort of pausing to consider. After the fizzle-out of Heroes the first time around, for its self-important meandering storylines that didn’t come to any interesting conclusions, it looks like we may be in for more of the same. The thing with Heroes is that it somehow makes you doubt if you’re really not enjoying it or just not synched up with it properly. Then once the episode’s been over for a few hours, you realize you really didn’t care about it at all and could’ve better spent that time gardening, researching French poetry or stalking your ex.

I have the feeling that Heroes Reborn is going to be more of the same. However, it’s just good enough to bite your lip and try to hang on for a couple episodes to make sure. It has started out addictive, like the first series (best story line; Zachary Levi’s serial mutant/”evo” killer—worst story line; the girl who can enter a video game with a sword), let’s hope that it’s not ultimately disappointing, like the first series. Damn, this is a special kind of hell. Just get it right, Heroes Reborn!—for crying out loud, just get it right.

https://youtu.be/7vs78vS7MFo

№ 4: BLINDSPOT

(Sept. 21st, 10pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, the setup ingredients for Blindspot‘s entertainment level seem perfect—maybe too perfect. Is this a safe bet to get into this season? — “Signs point to yes.”

Blindspot sneaks onto this list with a decent sci-fi-adjacent premise and the casting of my favorite part of the Thor movies, Jaimie Alexander, as Jane Doe—a woman who wakes up naked, zipped inside a duffle bag and freshly covered in cryptic tattoos; with no memory of anything. . . except the skills to do everything. . . especially kicking ass. Are you kidding me?!—I’m so entirely in!

Her tattoos seem to point to large scale crimes and attacks that haven’t taken place yet—so, naturally, I’m holding out that she’s actually from the future and her memories were chemically wiped to keep her from playing the lottery, retrofitting a Delorean and starting Skynet or something. So far the show hasn’t backed up my theory yet. Bullocks. Alexander’s performance in the pilot is pretty dead on as, essentially, a newborn in a frightening world, with frightening skills and the frightening realization that she has no idea if she prefers coffee or tea because she doesn’t know what they taste like. The second episode feels a little worrying, like they may allow the super-cool setup to drift into the background as they concentrate on being just another UGHAFC procedural. Let’s hope not. Creators; if that is your intention, take a look at Castle and take notes—they’ve clearly nailed the formula.

I’m already hooked on Blindspot and I’ve got my fingers crossed that they keep me seduced.

https://youtu.be/9FHLBldRdIo

№ 3: LIMITLESS

(Sept. 22nd, 10pm, CBS) Dear Magic 8 Ball, will Limitless live up to its name—with entertainment!? — “Outlook good.”

Limitless returns us to the world of the film it’s based on. Chances are, your feelings about the film is probably how you’ll feel about the pilot—and then a bit more. For example; I thought the film was fine but I’m really liking the show so far. If you didn’t like the movie you may really not like the pilot—however, it’s got some good things going for it: great cast, pretty good (and simple) setup and, somehow, the show feels a touch more relatable than the movie did. I also found it rather inspirational; not in the, “I wanna do drugs,” kinda way but in the, “I’d like to reclaim that mental and physical agility I enjoyed as a youth. Do some Sudoku. Hit the gym. Bust out some parkour. Make sure my health insurance is paid up,” sorta way. The lingering feeling at the end of an episode is one of fun—a peek at what the world might be like if it really was your playground.

Some people like the instigating premise of the plot, some don’t. Either way, the strength of the show is in the casting and the clever writing. Jake McDorman plays the guy who stumbles into the super drug NZT. I last saw McDorman in the enjoyable failure, Manhattan Love Story, and he seems to bring a certain relatable sparkle to anything he does—I’m glad to see him again in the lead role here. Jennifer Carpenter plays the FBI agent who must hunt him down and control him to contain the situation. Of course, Carpenter was previously the delightfully scene-chewing sister in Dexter and she brings her relatably pleasing hidden below the surface cocktail of damaged-goofball.

The dynamic becomes the man-boy slacker, who is suddenly made into a super-genius, being wrangled by a woman who may secretly resent having had to grow up. She seems to sympathize and identify with the chemically induced slacker savant and struggles with the conflict of wanting to follow his lead while still following her orders from the FBI.

The danger here is the show falling into that same UGHAFC mold that’s been done a lot lately. If they manage to continue keeping that in the background and focus on telling the journey of a guy thrust into knowing infinitely more than he ever should, that will make for a really entertaining series. It probably helped a lot that the first two episodes are directed by the brilliant Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man). All things considered, I’m enjoying Limitless a lot more than I thought I would.

№ 2: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

(pilot available now, series continues Nov. 20th, Amazon) Dear Magic 8 Ball, can The Man in the High Castle really deliver on the amazing promise shown in the pilot already? — “Outlook good.”

Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle is really rather impressive. I have to admit, while I am a huge fan of the shopping perks that come with Amazon’s Prime membership (anything I want can show up at my door in hours!), I haven’t ever used it to watch anything except for The Addams Family movie and episodes of Hannibal (so good—someone bring it back!) which weren’t available elsewhere. This pilot—which was picked up for series earlier to start this fall—looks like it’ll be the show that finally puts Amazon in my regular rotation.

The show is an engrossingly complex answer to a simple hypothetical question: What if the Allied forces had lost WWII to Axis powers? The story picks up in an alternate 1960s where the US has been split into Nazi and Japanese Empire controlled states. There’s a narrow band of neutral territory between them—and their political scheming against each other—running along the Rockies. It’s within this neutral zone that the mysterious Man in the High Castle is rumored to exist—releasing films of an alternate reality where the Allies won the war. I know, right?!

Adapted from a Philip K. Dick story, I should warn you it’s probably not going to be the feel good show of the fall (take other adaptations of Dick’s works; Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall. . .)—but if they keep working the source material properly, you can bet it’ll continue to be great. That is to say, the pilot is great and very promising already. The success of this initiating episode must be due in large part to the executive producer—who directed that richly visceral adaptation of Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? creating Blade Runner—Ridley Scott.

So it’s already impressive and it’s in excellent hands?—I think it’s a safe bet that adding The Man in the High Castle is going to enrich all our queues with some marvelously engaging entertainment.

№ 1: ASH vs EVIL DEAD

(Oct. 31st, 9pm, STARZ) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I don’t even need you on this one. I couldn’t be more stoked for the arrival of Ash vs Evil Dead! — “Groovy.”

Ash vs Evil Dead?! Are you kidding me? No question—if you can only watch one new show this season Starz’s extension of the Evil Dead franchise is the one. To be fair, the Evil Dead flavor isn’t for everyone but if you’re reading Geekscape this is very likely your cup of tea, even if you don’t know it yet.

That “flavor” is difficult to put into words but here’s a shot: it’s a genuine horror screwball action comedy. It’s what might result if Monty Python teamed up with National Lampoon to produce a Stephen King story. It doesn’t pull punches with the horror or the comedy. You’re knocked out of your seat with frights and laughs.

The key players are back in what they are describing as a natural evolution of the material; prolific producer/writer/director Sam Raimi (Army of Darkness, Spider-Man) and the irreplaceable Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.) as Ashley “Ash” J. Williams. This time out, they’re joined by another regular Raimi player, Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Salem) in what sure to be one heck of a badass team up.

I really don’t know what else I can tell you—it’s “you had to be there” entertainment. You could read the excitement of our reaction at the SDCC announcement. It’s the ol’ Evil Dead made fresh and new by the very same hands that made it in the first place—including the one and only Ash, his boomstick and his chainsaw hand! If you want more than that, you’ll have to make it yourself with your own army of deadites! Ash vs Evil Dead, baby! I think it’s going to be like pillow talk for your face.

https://youtu.be/unnLg1TPCYM

New Honorable Mentions:

№ ooh: CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

(Oct. 12th, 8pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I know this is kinda outta left field but—should I spend this fall with the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? — “Most likely.”

This Crazy Ex-Girlfriend stalks her way on here for living in a hilarious world where she can bust out musical numbers wherever she goes. That can technically qualify as fantasy when. . . What? You say you don’t like musical numbers? Ha ha ha, I was once like you. However, I think series creator, star and certified geek herself, Rachel Bloom begs to disagree with your feelings—making her point with her hit, NSFW (without headphones), YouTube sensation: F*** Me, Ray Bradbury. See now how your feelings were wrong? It’s okay—the same thing happened to me. If that video is what she can do with a shoestring indie budget, I’m looking forward to what she’ll might pull off with a Hollywood bankroll—after she has to wash her mouth out with soap! Salacious! Sign me up for a recurring date with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

№ sooner!: JESSICA JONES

(Nov. 20th, Netflix) Dear Magic 8 Ball, Jessica Jones is absolutely can’t miss, right?! — “Signs point to yes.”

Jessica Jones really deserves to be in the top 5 of new shows—Heroes Reborn could easily be bumped to make room for such promise—but, at this point, this really is mostly just promising promise. There aren’t many details out there about what Netflix is doing with Jessica Jones. Marvel fans know it’s the story of an UGHAFC who has mostly hung up her superpowers to become a private eye but exactly where and how this series picks up the story remains to be seen. Netflix has done a fantastic job with Daredevil so the outlook is very good for this new entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m a huge fan of Krysten Ritter since Veronica Mars so I’m super excited to see her in the super title role here. David Tennant as Kilgrave and Carrie-Anne Moss as Harper are just a couple more of the excellent cast. If and when any new shreds of detail emerge you can bet that Geekscape will get the Jessica Jones nuggets to you, just as we have been. I want to put this in my eyes right now!

New Show Quick Takes!

THE MUPPETS — Hell yeah! Already into this all the way. Bit darker than I was expecting—almost like a drama with hilarious frosting. Like a slower paced Aaron Sorkin creation—with puppets.

SUPERGIRL — Man, I hope this is any good! At this time, I have yet to see anything that conclusively tips the scales—and my expectations are low. So, here’s hopin’ you fly, Supergirl.

SCREAM QUEENS — Happened to catch a clip of Scream Queens and found it delightfully amusing. Looking forward to catching up and watching this little gem. Judging by the creators’ former effort, Glee, it should be great for at least a season.

MINORITY REPORT — I’m sorry. I just don’t have any more room—especially for something that appears to have gutted all the fascination out of the original story to make this show just another UGHAFC lightly dusted with sci-fi. What I really wish is that this was another season of Almost Human—damn, that was a good show. . . bad name, good show.

‘Doctor Who’ Spin Off: ‘Class’ Just Announced Today!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumOctober 1, 2015

BBC Three has just announced a new Doctor Who spin off entitled Class. In writing this initial 8 episode run centered on students in modern-day London, they may be shooting for a middle road between previous spin offs. Torchwood featured some darker stories of a special ops. team aimed more at older audiences, while The Sarah Jane Adventures was a decidedly kid friendly installment in the Whoverse. Class sounds like a unique creation of Who-ology, geared more toward the young adult crowd.

Class is a YA series set in contemporary London. Incredible dangers are breaking through the walls of time and space, and with darkness coming, London is unprotected.

—BBC Three

Executive producer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock) has teamed with award winning author Patrick Ness (the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls) to create the series. Ness, born in the States—and having lived in Virginia, Washington state, Hawaii and southern California (where he attended USC)—before becoming a naturalized British citizen in 2005, seems an excellent choice to be writing about other worlds and dimensions. Moffat sound very excited about Ness, saying, “No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we’re bringing his brilliant storytelling into Doctor Who. This is growing up in modern Britain—but with monsters!” I’m guessing something along the lines of the setting being a British school sitting on the Doctor Who universe equivalent of the Hellmouth from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Whosphere got a taste of Ness’ skills with his 2013 short story for the 50th anniversary, Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue, which is available as a bite-size ebook featuring Peter Davison’s fifth Doctor.

Ness has nine other full novels under his belt—his latest The Rest of Us Just Live Here (read the back cover below) hits US store shelves on October 6th. He appears to have a strong storytelling resume outside of his novels as well, having written and reviewed for The Daily Telegraph, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian. He has even taught creative writing at Oxford University! None of it, however, makes him too hoity-toity to play in The Doctor’s sandbox. To hear him tell it, “I’m astounded and thrilled to be entering the Doctor Who universe, which is as vast as time and space itself. There’s so much room there for all kinds of amazing stories, and to work with Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin to find a place to tell one of my own has been an absolute joy. I can’t wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-Levels.”

Whew! If he’s that into it, sign me up! The show will air on Britain’s BBC Three later next year—no word yet on when it might hit American shores but BBC America is probably the logical venue. Can’t wait for more details!

The Rest of Us Just Live Here Back Cover:

What if you aren’t the Chosen One?
The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.
Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.
Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

Special Content Showcase Event For ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ In-Home Release!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumOctober 1, 2015

We had the opportunity to attend the Special Content Showcase for the in-home release of Avengers: Age of Ultron (digital available now, blu-ray starting October 2nd) and the event was the perfect blend of prestige and accessibility. It served as an unveiling for the special limited editions of exclusive poster art for the film by artist Tyler Stout, which was incredibly impressive printed in metallic inks. There was also a very neat Hulkbuster t-shirt that, honestly, I’m not seeing anywhere online in the sea of available Hulkbuster t-shirts (didn’t even realize that was a thing). It wasn’t exactly made clear how you could get this exclusive, limited quantities, shirt. There’s a slip that came with mine saying that you can get one for $20 (plus s/h) when you buy the movie—so maybe there’s a slip in the blu-ray case or a digital certificate if you buy a digital copy?

AvengersAgeOfUltron_AltPoster01_600x900 — Special Print of Tyler Stout’s Poster on Metal

Hosted in the Hero Complex Gallery in Los Angeles, they put out a nice spread in a very welcoming, cozy and creative environment. The gallery hosts a lot of rotating art events, many tied to entertainment. I recommend you check them out at hcgart.com and plan to visit for your favorite exhibits when you’re in the area.

We enjoyed the presentation that screened several of the extras included with “home release” of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and I must admit I found them quite good for providing and fleshing out a high level overview of the Marvel movie universe—presenting and tying together events from the various films to map out everything Marvel has been setting up leading to the Infinity Wars. They provide a nice review/recap and get you excited for everything that is to come.

AvengersAgeOfUltron_KevinFeige01_600x900 — Kevin Feige (President of Marvel Studios)

That was followed by Kevin Feige (President of Marvel Studios) and Jeremy Latcham (Executive Producer of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron) making an appearance to wax philosophical with attendees about the meanings behind various events in the movie and the Marvel films overall. There wasn’t anything particularly revealing or surprising but it was very nice to get that reassurance that every event, no matter how small, was being consciously woven into the tapestry of the larger arcs that guide the various Marvel films. This also extends to the shows—and, the same way actors in the films have been able to cross into the shows, the street goes both ways. So that, if the actors in the shows are willing, when there’s an opportunity for a particular character to appear in the films, Marvel is very interested in keeping the same performer in the role. That’s a level of consistency and loyalty I can really get behind.

Feige and Latcham also took some time to discuss the integration of Spider-Man going forward. The most interesting part is how fluid and planned out their story architecture is so that they’re ready for any combination of possibilities that might develop—will a given character be available to weave in?—is there room in the narrative of a specific film for a particular character?—will the same actor being playing the part?—and if that actor is replaced, will there need to be an explanation of some kind? They’re keeping all of these things in mind and have plans within plans ready for the different possible combination of scenarios that will still keep with the overall vision. That’s some impressive planning that will not only play out with the integration of Spider-Man but also Captain Marvel.

AvengersAgeOfUltron_JeremyLatcham01_600x900 — Jeremy Latcham (Executive Producer)

The heartbreaking part of the evening for me was when we finally got to ask about plans for Howard the Duck (after the tease in Guardians of the Galaxy) and were just met with laughter. Another attendee got even more specific asking when and how Howard the Duck would be making his way to Earth. “Well, it didn’t work out so well the first time,” was their brief response; referencing the 1986 film, Howard the Duck (featuring Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones and Tim Robbins) that disappointed at the box office and with fans—except this one right here. . . although, to be fair, it has been a couple decades since I’ve seen it. Regardless, I’m personally looking forward to more Howard—I’ve still got my fingers crossed that he’ll be making some more cameos soon.

The evening definitely gave me some more love for Avengers: Age of Ultron, understanding better about all the plates they’re trying to keep spinning. And it really is saying something about an entertainment company when the worst thing that can be said about their weaker entries is, “it was pretty good.”

Joss Whedon, you moved mountains! We love you! Please don’t stay away too long!

Geekscape Movie Reviews: ‘Cooties’—Hang On To Your Nuggets!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 18, 2015

What happens when a struggling hack writer collides with the dull necessities of modern society at the very moment when its systemic foundation cracks and unleashes hell on Earth? The answer is Cooties.

From the twisted minds of Leigh Whannell (co-creator of Saw and Insidious) and Ian Brennan (co-creator of Glee), Cooties is a horror comedy with unexpected laughs and unapologetic thrills. When a cafeteria food virus turns elementary school children into killer zombies, a group of misfit teachers must band together to escape the playground carnage. The film stars Elijah Wood (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings), Rainn Wilson (The Office), and Alison Pill (The Newsroom) as teachers who fight to survive the mayhem while hilariously bickering in an uncomfortable love triangle on the worst Monday of their lives.

There’s a world that exists between terror and hilarity—Cooties is that world. Additionally, there is a world that exists between the mundane and the deadly—Cooties is also that world. Lest we forget, there is yet another world that lies between the shackles of huge studio budgets and the freedom doing just what you please with cell phone video—Cooties has a very nice summer cottage in that world.

So should you go see Cooties? Yes, it was a real hoot! (However, you might want to watch this safety video first.) I can see it easily connecting with audiences simply as a fun date movie—where your date squirms into your arms during several scenes—and/or, on the other end of the spectrum, as silly commentary on the American diet overall and poultry production specifically (see “Extra Credit” below).

The movie is chock-full of quotable lines and memorable moments—which, refreshingly, aren’t all given away in the trailer!

Admittedly, I can get a little squeamish with gross-out stuff and, while the opening title sequence—over How It’s Made type shots of a poultry processing facility—had me squirming deeper into my seat, it was the perfect setup for the movie. It sets the right tone from the first frame.

The basis for the horror, tainted chicken nuggets, is at once silly and frighteningly realistic. The chills, squirms and laughs are a very natural extension of this premise. The comedy is, at times, surprisingly sharp; hitting more often than it misses—and some asides and “throwaway” lines are so clever you may miss the jokes lurking below the surface joke. To the writers’ credit, many of them are “had to be there” laughs. Only when I was trying, in vain, to explain some nugget of hilarity did I discover the sneaky comedy and/or horror lying just underneath. (For example: When the vice-principal gives an offhand description of the silent office secretary as hilarious and then qualifies it with the explanation that she’s experienced a lot of tragedy some time ago. Funny on its own and then also “inside comedy” funny.) On the other side of the spectrum, there are plenty of sight-gags and fart jokes to go around.

My overall impression of the production was that I felt the limitations of the budget but it wasn’t constantly detracting from my enjoyment of the material—a successful B horror comedy. Hand in hand with this, the sense of this being a feature directing debut was also felt, providing some rough edges and unexpected choices, but again, more interesting than negative. I might describe it positively to my friends as “a sillier twist on the love child of The Faculty and Shaun of the Dead; which would sell me on it.

The cast is a really good ensemble but I think the standouts for me were the characters created by Leigh Whannell (Doug) and Nasim Pedrad (Rebekkah) who struggle with basic human interaction from vastly different perspectives. All of the characters aren’t merely misfit teachers, they’re misfit humans by societal standards, which can make them feel all the more relatable. I’m hoping there will be a bigger budget sequel where we can follow these more hardened characters struggling to survive in this hilariously scary new world.

One thing worth mentioning is that I enjoyed the setup of Jorge Garcia’s character and wish that he would’ve been integrated into the story more. I bring this up just to keep you from sitting there going, “When is that guy going to spring into action?!” He won’t—so don’t worry about it. Content yourself with being amused by him as he is.

As I’ve elluded to, I’m not really a fan of splatter-flicks or gross-out movies but I feel that this did a great job of walking up to that line and reaching across just enough to make its point without turning me off. (Oddly, a shot of a kid eating his booger may have gotten the biggest reaction out of me. Guess I haven’t been desensitised to that yet.) I was a little worried about what I’d gotten into with the entire intro title sequence but, by the end of the titles, I was fully engaged and not too grossed out.

I feel that Cooties successfully lived up to the premise it established—and while it may not have hit it totally out of the park, it rounded the bases in satisfying fashion. Grab your best guy or gal and go catch Cooties—just know that in short order you’ll be grabbing them even tighter with squeals and laughs.

EXTRA CREDIT:

Let John Oliver get you ready to go out and see Cooties tonight with this clip from Last Week Tonight:

How To Stop a ‘Cooties’ Outbreak!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 18, 2015

Quiet down now, class. Settle down. Now, I know that review on Cooties may have you worried—but there are some very simple steps you can take to make sure you stay safe. Lionsgate has been kind enough to send us some tips to keep in mind. So pay attention to this video and be sure to catch Cooties, September 18th in theaters and on-demand. Roger!—I said hush up now and listen to Jack McBrayer!

https://youtu.be/NQgBDwnD3bM

Geekscape Reviews: ‘LEGO® STAR WARS: The New Yoda Chronicles’ On DVD 09/15!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 14, 2015

Unleash the lighter side of the Force and share all of the action packed thrills of these interlocking, intergalactic adventures in LEGO^® STAR WARS: The New Yoda Chronicles! Coming to DVD on September 15, 2015!

Honestly, I’m not really sure what’s going on with this one. Sorta felt like I was watching something out of context. Like someone walking up and delivering, “Orange ya glad I didn’t say banana?!” Much like one can do with the marvelous LEGO^® blocks themselves, it appears the creators took Star Wars apart and reassembled the various elements into a new story. I think the need to maintain a narrative held them back from offering something even more entertaining, as this concept would’ve likely worked better as disconnected sketches—like the ol’ Looney Tunes shorts.

I’ve played the LEGO^® video games (and the Star Wars titles specifically) and had a lot of relaxed silly fun playing them with friends. The New Yoda Chronicles is basically like those cut scenes from the game stitched into a show. The effect is like a Robot Chicken that’s safely geared for nine year olds. Meaning, if you’re over 14, the jokes tend to fall flat. It’s all quite cute and there are some clever fan-worthy puns on both Star Wars and LEGO^® references but none of it was enough to make me seek this show out on my own.

Taking all this into account, I don’t think this is a program that I would mind if it was playing in the background on repeat by delighted little rug-rats. I’d even be likely to smile at moments I caught in passing.

The animation quality is equal to that of those videogame cut scenes, which is to say, not bad. The only extra on the DVD is an alternate ending for the story which, oddly, is a bit more nihilistic. I suppose, when it comes to learning hard truths, being taught by adorable LEGOS^® isn’t a bad way to learn.

Geekscape Reviews: Harper Lee’s Controversial ‘Go Set A Watchman’

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 11, 2015

Well, after covering the tease of the first chapter, I finished up Go Set a Watchman. For those of who have yet to read it, I’m sure you’re still probably wondering what the truth behind the recent hubbub really is. In Harper Lee’s first—and until now, only—book, To Kill a Mockingbird, the epic father figure, Atticus Finch is basically a superman (given the time period) lawyer for civil rights. He set the bar for basic human decency during a period of awakening in American society. He was a bright beacon for the reformation of white guilt into something more constructive, as a nation began the attempt to make right the sins of our fathers.

There are probably several other ways to describe the character’s impact on society but—judging by the headlines these days—whatever it is, we’re still working on it all these decades later. . . which is rather mind blowing. So it is that, while Mockingbird was a wonderful dream to shoot for, Watchman is probably a more realistic presentation, kissed with optimism for finding a path that was still out of reach then and there—a path we’re, shockingly, still trying to navigate.

The new Atticus is not a superman—probably unrelatable to many but the most progressive at that time—he’s just a sorta decent (for the time) old dying white guy who recognizes that times are rightfully changing. He knows the new America needs to happen and recognizes that he won’t be welcomed by it because of his ingrained prejudices and his contemporaries’ actions in the old. His only hope of contribution to the new order is that he might have succeeded in raising his daughter to be a strong intelligent leader—that she will help overtake his generation and, hopefully, wipe their sins from the nation.

The most important thing to remember here is that this is a progressive book for the fifties, when it was written, offering little more today than perspective and understanding for a bygone era. The fact that that time is not quite as bygone as we’d like, makes Watchman all the more relevant.

Now, I must say, hopefully not giving too much away, people’s reactions are actually the whole point of the story! What I’ve read in articles and on Twitter—some from people refusing to read it!—are the themes directly addressed in the book. I find that telling. It may be the issue we have yet to face as a society—that we’d rather imagine everything’s fine instead of facing the truth and doing something to correct it.

In that regard, Watchman could prove to be even more powerful than Mockingbird, especially for today, because it pops that bubble of optimistic illusion and forces us to look at the ugly truth still facing us—daring us to make it right once and for all.

For the literary geeks; I have to say I quite enjoyed the experience of the author’s work with little touch from an editor. It felt raw and immediate to find her thoughts spit out across the pages just as they had formed in her brain. Switching between perspectives, time periods and storylines as they occurred to her. Did I occasionally have to reread some sentences to realize a subtle transition had taken place?—yes. But it was exciting and thrilling to feel like I was cresting the wave of inspiration with her as the muse pulled her in a new direction. The way she used words and sentences to paint her creations was beautiful to experience. I fell in love with Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and her world from the first chapter and felt the horrible sting as that world changed before her eyes.

Honestly, as a reader, my favorite moments were those where we find Jean Louise flirting—with Henry, life and adventure or possibility. Her character is sharp and witty—a pleasure to experience. Her vulnerabilities are charming; her strengths, admirable. She’s tough and unwilling to take guff from anyone but, for all her experience living in New York, it’s her naiveté that I found most disarming. Scout as a young woman may actually be the perfect avatar for America today—believing the world to be sunnier than the hard truths lurking under the surface—truths that must be addressed to cure the persistent cancer. In her defense, she may not know all the facts but she knows what’s right and she’s ready to take a stand. My favorite exchanges were between her and Henry as he does his best to court her. My favorite line out of context was actually delivered by her uncle (probably my second favorite character), “I’ve played hell with her fruitcakes.” I’m considering adopting it as a non sequitur hashtag, #IvePlayedHellWithHerFruitcakes. You know that has a lot of uses—let’s make it a thing.

That said, however, I’m left with the impression that this is a short story that was stretched out like taffy, reaching out beyond what was necessary to tell the tale. That is to say, as author’s drafts tend to be, it was not efficient. It’s easy to see why some wise editor, over half a century ago, advised Lee to take some aspects of this story and build a new one from them. It’s the recommendation that gave Lee immortality with Mockingbird. However, her raw skill and talent here for carving characters and worlds from words breaks my heart that she wasn’t inspired to write more through the decades.

All told, I think Go Set a Watchman, is a read you won’t regret. It may not leave you feeling like you’re connecting with a rosy dream world but the lingering effect may be the impression of a better connection with an ever evolving real-world America and inspire you to make it the best you can.

‘The Final Girls’ Latest Trailer Is Super Fun!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 7, 2015

The potential that The Final Girls (theaters, streaming, on-demand October 9th) seems to suggest goes beyond parody or homage and, leveraging mechanics borrowed from science fiction, actually uses the horror motif to birth a new experience in a unique genre that has few other entries.

Off the top of my head, Stay Tuned and Pleasantville are a couple examples of movies where entertainment becomes a viable dimension, while television’s Supernatural has toyed with the concept, using various approaches (coming at it from inside and outside!), in several episodes to fantastic effect. [At this point, I took off on a tangent about one of my unexpected all-time favorite examples of this—but it went on a touch longer than I’d imagined, so I’ve scooched it down to the bottom here. I do think it’s relevant and really expands on the potential covered here. I finally summarize with:] Bottom line; the conceit possible here is a still-fresh existential exploration of the meaning—while also testing the limits of functionality!—behind our very existence on an individual level. . . and that’s freakin’ exciting.

My reactions to the trailer alone are already leaping around the emotional spectrum. Is it possible that these filmmakers are able to tap genuine emotional moments within their “lightly sci-fi” parody of a horror film homage? Could this be another level of intelligent creative force such as Community and Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon has been safeguarding as of late? The only bigger thing I see on director Todd Strauss-Schulson’s resume up to this point is A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, which means he’s pretty much unproven at the moment. Maybe unlike some in Hollywood, I find this very exciting—do we have here an emerging voice about to burst on the scene? My fingers are crossed.

The cast looks pretty darn decent with a couple existing genre entertainment favorites, Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) and Malin Akerman (Watchmen), as well as a few comedy heavy-hitters that have been making names for themselves recently, Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Adam DeVine (Pitch Perfect, ModernFamily) and Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), while the rest of the cast looks like some talented rising stars without a bad apple in the bunch.

Could the “feel good horror movie of the year” literally have it all?—horror, hilarity and genuine feeling stuffed in a clever wrapper with a side welcomed cheesy? I say we find out together!

The Part Where I Go off on a Fitting Tangent I Hope You’ll Enjoy:

One of my favorite examples, because I never saw it coming and it fit a square story peg in a round show hole better than could ever be expected, happened on the sitcom ‘Til Death. Actually, I don’t think anyone ever saw it. . . period. I only ran across it because I was working at that time to get the episodes up on iTunes. What sets this example apart is that it directly includes the viewer in on the event. If you never saw the show—and, according to ratings, few did—it was the story of a married couple (Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher) who were bitterly holding on to their marriage “til death,” putting up with each other, their struggling twenty-something daughter (several actresses, including Krysten Ritter) and the dope she married (wonderfully played by Timm Sharp). That’s a broad stroke because I was never really watching either until the daughter’s husband, who she lived with in a trailer, parked in the backyard. . . started seeing the set! Like he would point out the lighting rigs, reference the boom mics and talk about the set props! It was brilliant!

At one point he references there was like four different actress that had played his girlfriend/wife over the years! He laments not being able to have sex because the scene always cuts away just as it’s starting! He could see beyond the forth wall but it wasn’t violating the reality for any of the other characters who convinced him to start seeing a therapist (Mayim Bialik, who’s acknowledged as having played Blossom!).

It was some of the most innovative television I’ve ever seen and the flashy hook was deftly used by the writers to explore the nature of reality, acceptance and what the meaning of life could be—the promise of science-fiction as a tool of revelation crammed into a dying goofy sitcom that wouldn’t see another season! (If you ever want to see this for yourself, seek out only season 4. The previous seasons were trying all the standard attempts to save a sitcom that never should’ve been. That last season found a fantastic world on the very far side of jumping the shark.) It’s one of the greatest events I’ve ever witnessed and a lot of fuel behind why I’m so excited about what the filmmakers could pull off with The Final Girls.

Force Friday! We Review ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ Season 1 On Blu-Ray!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumSeptember 4, 2015

With the release of Star Wars: Rebels season one on blu-ray (yes, and DVD for those trapped in the previous decades), now you can make every day of the year #ForceFriday!

After getting the generous opportunity to preview the disks and dive deep into the extras, I’m finally prepared to confidently provide you with what you can expect. Here’s the quick and dirty: Firstly, if you’re a Star Wars fan, anywhere within six years of the age 12, this show is bulletproof! I would’ve sold my grandmother to Tusken raiders at that age to have a show like this! I settled for re-watching The Empire Strikes Back after school each day—which wasn’t bad. The next question is; how does it stand up for everyone else? Not bad. . . Believe it or not, the characters and dialogue is often better than the three recent Star Wars prequel films. It also does a far better job of introducing cute and/or fun alien creatures that play a part in the storyline without giving you that creepy Jar Jar effect. I still can’t get enough of these Loth-cats!—I want one! So, for adult Star Wars fans, I’d say it scratches that Star Wars entertainment itch but you’ll still be hungry for more—after all, this show is clearly geared toward kids.

Full disclosure; this is really the first non-feature film Star Wars entertainment I’ve gotten into—with like three exceptions: that ’80’s Christmas special (the main reason I got gun-shy about straying from the films), The Empire Strikes Back game for Super Nintendo (loved it!) and Captain EO in 3D at Disneyland (magical—and probably the closest comparison I can make, entertainmentwise, to Rebels; minus the music, dancing and Michael). So I can’t draw comparisons for you with Clone Wars, except to say that I’d now like to see Clone Wars.

For those that are new to the series—like me—it’s the story of a teenage punk, Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), who’s scrounging and pilfering from the powerful Empire—now that they have taken control of his home planet—when he runs into a band of outlaws doing the same thing but with a more “Robin Hood”-style agenda of aiding those under the boot heel of the Empire. It isn’t long before it’s revealed that one of these outlaws, Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), was training with the Jedi until they were all hunted down by the Empire and he escaped into the underground. When he recognises that “the force is strong” with our young protagonist, he feels it’s his duty to take the kid on as his padawan and train him in the ways of the force, even though he never finished the Jedi training himself(?). Many adventures ensue and the season-long story arc results in the first event that is the official formation of the Rebel Alliance.

Vanessa Marshall, Tiya Sircar, Steven Blum, Ashley Eckstein and Jason Isaacs (excellent as the Inquisitor) round out the voiceover cast, turning in some really good performances. The character animation is likewise impressive—several times I found myself reviewing a shot or scene just to examine the excellent, and sometimes subtle, motion choices. (That said, I was surprised to find a few half-baked herky-jerky walk-cycles.) When it comes to the modeling, lighting and texture mapping, I understand much of it is done for style but I think a little more detail would’ve been fitting. It would’ve been nice to see shapes and surfaces with a little more character and lighting with a bit more range (when you’re in space, I’m sure some shadows would be fully dark and direct sunlight might wash things out a bit more). Atmospheric effects cost rendering time/money, so I won’t hold the lack of such visuals against them. . . but if they ever have the budget, it really could push the visual style over the top.

As an adult, for the first few episodes, the experience was a bit like being invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and being served Tofurky with a smile—you just sort of grin and bear it while trying to connect with what the real thing tastes like. Then, with the episode 5 (on the disks), “Rise of the Old Masters”, things suddenly seem to click into place and Rebels becomes its own distinct story. Characters, dialogue and relationships gel and become compelling on their own without the need of Star Wars features’ memories to fuel them. That said, there are some truly excellent cameos that were well worth the price of admission—including one Mr. Lando Calrissian in a revealing encounter that was a fun enrichment of my connection with the Star Wars universe.

If you’re an adult, chances are that you won’t find the dialogue or character arcs particularly compelling but you will get a satisfying sense of a fuller experience with the Star Wars galaxy as it continues to become more colorfully defined. If you’re physically or mentally anywhere near the age of 12, this is an absolute must-have! The character development and challenges faced are tailored to opening up the world of a young mind. For the older, more jaded and cynical brains, the connections may form around the unfortunate recognition of the tyrannical bureaucracy of the Empire and the vague memory of adolescent dreams where anything was possible. Either way, Rebels finds its way under your skin in a pleasant way. Kids will love it for years on end—adults will find it very pleasant and enjoy confidently re-gifting it to a niece or nephew. (If you’re a parent, I think you’ll both feel like winners.)

The extras are a lot of fun—shorts that inform references and sequences in the episodes; behind the scenes interviews with artists, writers and actors; summaries; overviews and excellent teases of what’s to come in the next season (lots of action, development and more fantastic appearances of vital Star Wars characters!).

Recommendations: If you’re within spitting distance of age 12, convince your parents, guardian or doting uncle/aunt/grandparent to get it for you—loads of fun. If you’re an adult Star Wars fan, find a kid in your family/neighborhood that you can sit and watch it with as an excuse to pick up this fun show.

Now that I’ve seen this, I’m looking forward this fall to season two of Star Wars: Rebels and looking forward to spending more time with my nephews as I head out to pick up Star Wars: The Clone Wars for us to watch together. That Christmas special from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away has finally been cleansed from my palate.

From Lucasfilm/Disney:

In the first groundbreaking season of Star Wars Rebels, young hero Ezra Bridger joins the clever but motley crew of the starship Ghost in their resistance against the Empire. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people. Ezra and his new rebel friends — Hera, Kanan, Sabine, Zeb and Chopper — embark on daring adventures in their fight against oppression across the galaxy, receiving help from familiar heroes such as Lando Calrissian, Ahsoka Tano, and Jedi Master Yoda. Pursued relentlessly by the Imperials and a Jedi hunter called the Inquisitor, this tenacious ragtag band of rebels will find itself in the crosshairs of none other than Darth Vader when season one closes in a shocking two-part finale.

Bonus Features:

Blu-ray:

Rebels Infiltrates Star Wars Celebration (Exclusive to Blu-ray)

Season One shorts: “The Machine in the Ghost,” “Art Attack,” “Entanglement,” “Property of Ezra Bridger”

All DVD Bonus (see below)

DVD:

Rebels Recon: 14 behind-the-scenes featurettes

Star Wars Rebels – The Ultimate Guide

Star Wars Rebels Season 2 – A Look Ahead

Holy ‘Gotham’ Season 2, Batman!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumAugust 29, 2015

Ben McKenzie, James Gordon on FOX’s Gotham, recently talked with Entertainment Weekly about what’s in store for season two of the show (premiering Monday, September 21st at 8pm). He talked about the show moving away from the procedural approach into a more serialized presentation—giving story arcs more episodes to play out. “I think we made a mistake relatively early on in trying to introduce a villain and take care of that villain in one episode: catch them, send them to Arkham, do whatever,” McKenzie said. “That was just a mistake. We should’ve never done it.”

I really don’t think that was the problem—I believe that either approach could be satisfying when done right. I think the real issue at odds is that the main character, Gordon, is rather “one note.” However, that is more or less the case for every character on the show—except for maybe Donal Logue’s Harvey Bullock. For the most part we’re just seeing shades of one mood from every character. Under different circumstances, I might hold the actors responsible—but when it’s every character and that same sentiment can be extended to every plot, I gotta start thinking it’s the writing.

So: Dear Gotham creators, congratulations for putting together a really good show, getting it on the air and having it picked up for a second season! An accomplishment truly remarkable in today’s cutthroat television landscape!—nearly akin to birthing a unicorn. Seriously, awesome job so far. You’ve assembled quite the rogues gallery of talent to play your characters each week too. My suggestion?—use them more. One sure way to ensure your show has longevity is to get viewers to connect with your characters—and the best way to do that is to make them human. Give them some human moments, plots and experiences. Let’s see Gordon relaxed, joking and enjoying a moment more often—it’s what humans do. It’s just those sorts of moments that will also paint a starker contrast to the o’erhanging gloom of Gotham City itself. If we can see all these characters a bit more like humans that possess the full range of emotions, we’re far more likely to invest in them and, therefore, the show. (Are any of us interested in the fate of a coworker whose every comment is a complaint?) If it’s just a bummer-fest with the bummer squad each week, eh—maybe Joker should hurry up, come of age and finish them all off already. Just a thought. [Example? Weakest part of The Walking Dead: the half season where everyone was just bummed out about the bummer that life had become.]

Now, there’s also talk of bringing in a ton of new villains, which is fun—and McKenzie did go on to say, “The audience really wants to understand who these people are and live with them, sit with them and enjoy them. Whether they’re evil or good, they are entertaining. So that’s what we’re doing in season two.” Well then, maybe everything is right on track and we’re in for a heck of great ride this season. I hope so—I love watching people, who are clearly putting in the effort, win—especially after going through the pains of birthing a unicorn this cool.

Ridley Scott’s Next Film Is ‘Prometheus II’!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumAugust 29, 2015

While talking with Empire Magazine about his tantalizing new movie The Martian, Ridley Scott said that he’s already begun scouting locations for his next movie, Prometheus II. The offhand comment sent me into fits of geeky glee.

First here, let’s attempt to get everyone on the same page. Number one; Aliens was James Cameron’s (Terminator, Terminator 2, Avatar, etc.) movie, as much as Alien³ was—I say this very lovingly—David Fincher’s (Seven, The Game, Fight Club, on and on. . .) and Alien: Resurrection was—again, with love—that wonderfully crazy French bastard, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s (Amelie, City of Lost Children, Delicatessen) and Joss Whedon’s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers, etc.) “love child.” I deeply enjoyed each of these films on their own; appreciating what each filmmaking team brought to the original story told by Ridley Scott’s Alien. I considered each to be its own perspective and take on the Alien universe and appreciated them as such. I’m still working on my own romance/buddy-cop/comedy version that ends in a space port with the fiance running from a hive of xenomorphs to stop her true love from leaving over a misunderstanding about seating arrangements for their wedding while her space-cop partner tries to deny his feelings for the alien queen. Working title: Alien Schmalien.

The point being, Prometheus was meant to be Ridley Scott‘s extension of the Alien lore specifically, rather than the visions of other filmmakers or what the studio had in mind. The problem some may have had with the film is where it deviated from those other visions.

The problems I had, that some others might share, may have had to do with the contributions of Damon Lindelof—this is just a theory. It’s based on the number of projects I’ve been so excited to see that have come up short in the execution of the final vision—stories I discover Damon Lindelof had a hand in creating. For example: Lost, World War Z, Tomorrowland, Cowboys vs Aliens, The Leftovers, etc. Has anyone done this math yet? I believe Lindelof has excellent taste and his interest in projects he wants to be a part of is fantastic. I also believe he’s got some great skills for building intrigue and investment in a story line but he can’t seem to master the fundamental skill of the satisfying wrap-up.

I truly believe Lindelof is an excellent storyteller; his characters, dialogue and scenarios are top notch—he just can’t seem to stick the landing. He’s almost an inverse of George Lucas in some ways, who has marvelous worlds and story arcs bleeding from his very essence but seems to have trouble with characters talking.

Prometheus_FassbenderRapace01_240x480 — Fassbender & Rapace mugging for EW

So, for those who didn’t enjoy Prometheus at all, I think these are the two likely reasons: those who are not actually Ridley Scott fans (Blade Runner, Legend, Thelma & Louise, on and on. . .) but probably James Cameron fans and/or those who couldn’t see past the weaker parts of the story. Good news for those who are Scott fans? Lindelof is not (yet?) part of Prometheus II. But that doesn’t mean we fans are out of the woods just yet—the writers attached at the moment are Michael Green and Jack Paglen. Green (Green Lantern, Heroes) and Paglen (Transcendence) are another couple writers who, so far, are working with great material but not generating the results we’d hope for. I’m always excited to think that anyone can transcend expectations and emerge a hero!—uh, lantern. I only have their pasts to temper my hopes with for Prometheus II and I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’re all impressed—even those who aren’t Scott fans and would rather be watching Sex and the City (Green). On second thought, maybe not those ticket-buyers. (Some days I’m a Carrie—others, a Samantha.)

My recommendation to anyone looking to set the dial on their own expectations (good or bad) is to watch Alien and Prometheus—these are directly Ridley Scott’s visions of this universe. Any of the other films, entertaining as they may be, won’t properly let you know what you’re in for. If you’re just a fan of the marvelous Aliens, you’ll be better off hosting a Terminator 2/Avatar marathon—”Come with me if you want unobtainium!” If you’re a fan of the grossly underloved films Alien³ and/or Alien: Resurrection I think we should get together to form our own support group. Seriously.

Bottom line? I’m stoked! IMDB has Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace—two names I cut and pasted to make sure I didn’t misspell them—attached to reprise their roles as android David and archaeologist/scientist Elizabeth Shaw. The story will likely involve their voyage to the homeworld of the “engineers.” Again, full on stoke mode! And you can be sure that we will keep you up to date as any new details emerge.

‘Turbo Kid’ Is Finally Hitting US Theaters!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumAugust 25, 2015

This trailer looks bad—awesome bad! Badass! Just the sort of cheat-day candy I wanna fill my eyeholes with!

These writer/directors clearly love three things:

The ’80s
B-Movie Apocalyptic Coming of Age Stories
Over the Top Awesome Badassery!

If, like me, you’re also a fan of such shenanigans, then the winter of our discontent may be about to blossom into a spring of BMX fueled laser explosions. Based on the trailer, Turbo Kid looks poised to hit that sweet spot where it’s self-aware enough not to be self-conscious—delivering on its promise without apologizing for it.

As far as I can tell, these filmmakers have yet to burst on the Hollywood scene but if this film is nearly as good as its trailer I’ll be happy to say I watched it happen for them when Turbo Kid hits theaters August 28th.

D23 2015: ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ Posters Revealed!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumAugust 15, 2015

Alice Through the Looking Glass is coming (May 27th, 2016) and it’s bringing all the original tea party guests with it—including Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter—as well as new party guest, Sacha Baron Cohen! What a delightful scamp!

It’s time for a little madness! Check out the teaser posters for ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS! In theaters May 27! pic.twitter.com/xap45a435t

— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) August 14, 2015

Firstly, may I say, I’m a huge Tim Burton fan. His capability to tap my id is nearly unmatched—at least with his earlier works. Lately, however, I’d be quite remiss if I didn’t admit that I’ve been leaving the theater after one his films feeling like I’d seen something visually lush but rather packed with empty calories. Admittedly, I’ve been skipping a few lately—but since Mars Attacks! I’ve most enjoyed Sweeney Todd and Dark Shadows. Taken as a whole, it seems that some of his child-like wonder for the endearing macabre has been replaced by. . . a sense of duty to producers or investors? The struggle with his own id played out before us on screen as it was pacified and validated—no longer feeling quite so urgent and raw. Meaning, I’m thrilled with reports from the rumor mill regarding a Beetlejuice sequel as much as I am worried.

So it is that I have rather mixed feelings regarding the upcoming Alice Through the Looking Glass being directed by James Bobin (Da Ali G Show, Flight of the Conchords, The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted) rather than Tim Burton. Bobin’s work is largely successfully amusing. My first reaction, given Bobin’s directorial efforts thus far, is that he’s sure to hit the silly and senseless tone of the first film perfectly—this is also my regret. There was something real and genuine in tone that was missing from Alice in Wonderland, something that kept me from connecting with it as much I hoped to—something that I fear only Tim Burton can provide when he’s on his game, like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice. Maybe I was younger then and it is I who has lost the child-like wonder for the endearing macabre? Oh, man; I hope not.

On the other hand, maybe it’s writer Linda Woolverton (returning for the sequel) that shoulders some of this burden? She hasn’t yet been able to reach out of the kid zone of stories that don’t end up appealing to anyone over 12—Maleficent being the one real chance and, much as I enjoyed watching it, it still felt a bit empty. Perhaps producer, Joe Roth comes into play here. Of his films, Snow White and the Huntsman is the one I may have enjoyed most—and, while I know this admittance just produced a lot of groans, looking over his resume I find a lot of films I’ve skipped or submitted to only after finding that my first two choices were sold out.

Now, could I do any better? Maybe not but I’d sure as hell try, given the chance—let’s hope this team is feeling the same way.

So it may just be that we’re in for a sequel that lands much as the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels did—rather thuddish, entertainment-wise—but here’s hoping it’s something far grander that captures a wonder and the deserved adoration that the original animated Alice in Wonderland did.

Watch The Red Band Trailer For ‘Deadpool’ RIGHT NOW!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumAugust 4, 2015

Holy crap!

What?

Sorry, I mean—holy $#!%!

Did you eat my sacred burrito? I was saving that for an emergency.

What kind of emergency?—your trainwreck face?

Or in case I get stuck in an elevator with the Kardashians.

This article got derailed before it even started.

The debut of this Deadpool trailer in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con was so beyond amazeballs that we need to invent a new expression! People were freaking out! There were tears!

Fantastico?

Freaktastic!

It was better than putting your @!&# in a #@!& slathered with %#$&% and #%@&!%& your $#%& to her mother.

. . .

It’s kinda Shakespearian, right?

. . .

Or superrific.

I think I need to wash my brain out with soap.

After so many attempts to get Deadpool magic on screen, it looks like it’s finally going to happen! With an R rating! You know what that means?!

Violence? Extra violence? Stan Lee getting some strange?

Boobies?

It means we can say what we want!

Ooo, then I’m changing my answer to boobies. Or as I like to call them, #!@@-&#!$ domes of %@&#. What the hell’s wrong with this keyboard?

. . .This article is rated PG.

&@#%$. . .

Cut to the trailer!

. . .Where’s the soap?

#HallH is on their feet! #Deadpool is now playing 58 commercial-free minutes of “Who’s the Boss.”

— Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) July 12, 2015

Will Rachel McAdams Join The Cast Of Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange’ Film?!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 29, 2015

In Rachel McAdams’ own words to the L.A. Times, “it’s still super-early days, and I don’t know where that’s gonna go, if it’s gonna go anywhere at all,” but word that she’s considering taking a leading role across from Benedict Cumberbatch—in the title role—of Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange is very exciting news. McAdams reliably turns in strong performances in romance (The Notebook), comedy (Mean Girls), action (Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes) and is lately proving her dramatic chops with True Detective. (Check out Geekscape’s coverage of True Detective here.)

Honestly—hopefully, without spoiling anything—I’ll admit that I was most into the Sherlock Holmes films when she was most on screen and part of the storyline. Hearing others in Hollywood tell it, McAdams already seems a sort of ethereal presence in Tinseltown—preferring to stick closer to her Canadian roots rather than getting lost in the glitz and glamour—which could naturally bring just the right energy to Doctor Strange.

If she ends up with the, as of yet unnamed, role in Strange, she’ll be joining Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor as well as Cumberbatch in the Scott Derrickson (writer/director of Sinister and Deliver Us from Evil) directed adaptation. I’m not sure if Derrickson’s resume gives me enough to get a bead on how he’ll handle the Strange film but I did sorta appreciate some of the choices he made directing the 2008 remake, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Overall, that film got a pretty cold reception and only almost made its budget back in stateside box-office receipts—but I doubted any update would ever be able to fill the big shoes of the original in the first place and did my best to remain open to it from there. I’m curious to see what Derrickson will do with Doctor Strange—want to give him a shot—but mostly I’m worried. I really want to see Strange a success—especially with the cast being assembled!—and I’ve got my fingers crossed.

As far as which role McAdams may be considering, at this time we can only speculate. So I will!—I’m speculating it’s Clea. I mean, who else? The Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension—she and Doctor Strange are practically a package deal—it makes sense to me. McAdams has that kiss of otherworldly beauty; all she needs is the white hair. Depending on what sort of origin story is told, if Strange is already sort of established from the beginning, the film could be the story of meeting Clea and facing off together against Dormammu! We could then extrapolate that Swinton may be Umar and Ejiofor may be Dormammu, yeah?

Let’s hope there’s a bit less speculation and a whole lot more details soon!

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Gets Official Home Release Dates

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 25, 2015

Marvel Studios has announced the official home release dates for Avengers: Age of Ultron. The official arrival on Digital 3D, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere is September 8th and on 3D Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital SD and On-Demand is October 2nd. Which begs the obvious question; is anyone still buying the old DVD format? If that’s still being made available by studios, why not shove a VHS in there too? Oh, wait. . . it would actually be pretty cool if they made movies available on Super 8 reels or something! I swear I would run out and buy one of those projectors if that was an option!

Okay, I’m getting off track—back to Avengers: The iconic heroes are forced to reassemble and face their most intimidating enemy yet—Ultron. The home entertainment release includes Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes, Making-of Featurettes, Gag Reel and more.

Another solid success for Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios.

I had a good time seeing this in the theater. I’m a fan of 3D—have it at home—this chapter used it well and so I’ll be adding this to my library of 3D titles. Personally, I had zero disappointment with this addition to the Marvel universe there was just a hint of “wanting” that I left the theater with—however, since I can’t exactly put my finger on what that was I let it slide. I think I’ll have a good time trying to figure it out as I watch this over and over again at home.

I enjoyed this film’s character dives into the psyches of Hawkeye, Black Widow and Dr. Banner. The elaborate battle scenes were something that I was already expecting from the film to begin with, all the flash and spectacle of the incredible effects—if they weren’t there, I would’ve been very disappointed—so it was nice to get the treat of seeing more of what made these characters tick. As was the case with Iron Man 2, I don’t know if they’ve yet found a way to portray brooding Tony Stark engagingly. It was a tight rope walk to find the way to pull it off with Bruce Banner—which has now been nailed, as far as I’m concerned—but Tony still needs some work in that department.

You can check out MCDave’s full review of the film for Geekscape here.

Ooo, trailer time! Enjoy!

X-Files: The Lone Gunmen Rise Again!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 22, 2015

They’re back from the dead! Or they were never dead! Or they were just at a really long Grateful Dead jam show—and now they’re back! Word through the grapevine is that The Lone Gunmen will appear in The X-Files revival that’s slated to start January 24th, 2016—apparently premiering after the NFC Championship Game—on FOX.

yep, it’s true. https://t.co/w718E0y6i8

— DEAN HAGLUND (@dhaglund) July 22, 2015

They’re joining creator Chris Carter’s roster of other verified returns; David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner and William B. Davis as the Cigarette Smoking Man.

The original Lone Gunmen—Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood, and Tom Braidwood—will be back to reprise their roles much to the unbridled glee of “X-Philes” everywhere. The characters are proving to be quite hard to kill, surviving the dangers on The X-Files, surviving the season one cancellation of their own self-titled spin-off and now returning after apparently having been killed! Details on their return are slim—is it flashback(s)?—was their demise staged?—but I have my theories that could tie-in with yesterday’s news of Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under, Dig ) and Robbie Amell (The Tomorrow People, The Flash) joining the cast as Agents “Einstein and Miller.” I put those character names in quotes because I have some thoughts—and because their character descriptions are pretty vague and interchangeable; “sharp and confident” and “smart and smooth”. These thoughts of mine hinge on this visual characteristics comparison:

I mean, come on! You’re seeing this too, right? They’re almost clones of Duchovny and Anderson! Now, here are my theories—

Theory One: These are not the same Lone Gunman! They’ve come here from a parallel dimension! And they somehow brought Young Parallel Scully (Ambrose) and Mulder (Amell) with them! Come on—you know you were thinkin’ this too.

Theory Two: The Lone Gunmen that died were copies made by aliens! The real Lone Gunman are back from space! And once again, they’ve somehow brought Young Space Scully and Mulder—who were being grown from samples of Dana’s and Fox’s DNAs!

Theory Three: The Lone Gunmen appear in flashbacks where they set up—through flashbacks within the flashbacks—the groundwork for the spin-off X-Files: The Quantico Years featuring the Young Impressionable and Ambitious Scully and Mulder. The angsty spitfire show would feature a lot of love triangles (often with aliens and monsters) and serve to reboot the entire series for the YA crowd with special guest turns from members of One Direction (who in a nod to the wordplay of “The Lone Gunmen” will be referred to as “One Directions”.

You know one of these is what’s really going on—admit it!—and it’s probably theory three. . . Unless!—The Lone Gunmen were thrown into the future! They’ve returned with Scully’s and Mulder’s eventual offspring in an effort to save the us all from Skynet! I could go on and on—the point being that something is absolutely going on and FOX is trying to hide it from us. It’s a conspiracy! Look at the evidence! Thank our lucky stars that The Lone Gunmen are back to get to the bottom of all of this. What do you think? The truth is out there!—in January.

SDCC 2015: ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ Is Set To Rock MTV

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 19, 2015

“It seemed impossible. But then, most wonderful things did until someone accomplished them.”

— Bek Ohmsford (The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Morgawr)

And so it goes with MTV bringing The Shannara Chronicles to cable television in January 2016! It’s a rich and ambitious production that knows it’s entering a post-Game of Thrones TV landscape where expectations are higher than ever for television to rival the production values of films with big budgets. Additionally, keeping with the Game of Thrones comparison, there is a rich tapestry of 25 books and counting from author Terry Brooks’ various series set in the world of Shannara—a post-post-apocalyptic fantasy realm set in the far distant future where magic has resurfaced.

Let’s kick things off with a gander at the Official First Look trailer screened at Comic-Con this year:

Clearly, you’re stoked. I can tell because I’m stoked too. Before we get too far however, it seems that most of us have been pronouncing Shannara wrong all this time—Terry Brooks explains:

This is a case of, “You made your bed, now lie in it.” For years I have insisted readers should pronounce the title in a way that feels natural to them. I have avoided glossaries, insisted majority rules, and watched the larger number of readers pronounce the word SHA-NAR-UH. So when I brought this up in a meeting with the writers, they simply said, “Well, everyone says it SHA-NAR-UH. So we will, too.” End of discussion.

SHANE-AIR-AH? SHAN-ERA? SHH-ANAR-A? Guess we won’t ever know what he actually has in mind unless we’re able to track him down at an official reading or convention.

Sticking with a focus on the show here, if they pull it off well, it’s set to help fill an epic void on television right now that only the afore mentioned Thrones is currently servicing. Before that was Legend of the Seeker, remember that one? For all it’s shortcomings and rough edges, Seeker was the only thing available on television to scratch a very specific itch. Upon its cancellation that fantasy-void felt deeper and darker than ever—until Thrones came along. Holy moly, did it ever come along—with a bang. . . or a chop, or a stab, or a naked. . . Anyway, nothing against Thrones being just what it is—I’m a big fan—but I could use a little more fantasy entertainment with a little more magic to really scratch that itch good. I’m happy to say it’s looking like The Shannara Chronicles is poised to do just that.

Couple quick thoughts on MTV itself: Does no one there remember what the M stands for in MTV? Guess it’s kicking a dead horse to say it’s not “music television” anymore—only bemoaned by those who were alive before 2000 but it still feels like it bears mentioning.

“Between this and Teen Wolf, I guess MTV now stands for ‘Magical Television’!”

—Jonathan London, The Original Geekscapist

Along those lines, one request of the network: Squeezing the latest pop songs into Teen Wolf works fine but please don’t do that for this fantasy set show devoid of Auto-Tune, nightclubs and Coachella. Maybe feature some funky classical-type groups, chamber ensembles or really out there orchestras if you wanna do some music tie-ins. I don’t know—what do you guys think?

Wait!—someone get MTV on the line. Maybe these insane freaks are available:

‘Wayward Pines’ Is All That And An Extra Scoop Of Rum Raisin

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 18, 2015

These days it’s not at all uncommon to be a little gun-shy when a new show debuts. Will it deliver? Will the network stick with it as it builds an audience or pull the rug out from under the early adopters? Will it feature often overlooked ice cream flavors? Well, I’m here to tell you, you have nothing to fear with Wayward Pines.

I’m going to attempt two things here. One is to encourage you to watch the season finale with me next Thursday on FOX at 9/8pm. The other is to tell you about the show without telling you about the show—trust me, it’s better that way and you’ll thank me for it later. (If you want spoilers, I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding them around online—but I think a lot of the magic lives in not fully knowing what you’re signing up for.)

I’d like you to imagine a love-fest between The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, Lost, Twin Peaks, The Matrix and The Prisoner, where some of the best parts of their DNA are harvested and used to create what is easily the best sci-fi show on television right now—and it’s got Carla Gugino. Boom. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and look around and you’ll see that it’s getting solid scores from the critics (Rotten Tomatoes has it at 86% fresh, IMDB is at 8.2/10).

FOX tells it like this:

Based on a best-selling novel and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), WAYWARD PINES is an intense, mind-bending 10-episode thriller starring Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon (Crash) as a Secret Service agent on a mission to find two missing federal agents in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID. Every step closer to the truth makes him question if he will ever get out of Wayward Pines alive.

It’s not often the case where a new show will deliver on its promises and then continue to get even better week after week, as is the case here. I feel confident the season finale won’t be letting us down—I anticipate it’ll leave us satisfied and hungry for more at the same time. I’ll spoil one thing and that is this; there are rules to living in Wayward Pines.

1. Enjoy your life in Wayward Pines
2. Be happy
3. Work hard
4. Always answer the phone if it rings
5. Do not discuss the past
6. Do not discuss your life before
7. Do not try to leave

Unlike some other mystery shows of late, Wayward Pines never leaves you hanging for long. The mysteries are solved just as new ones are introduced—it makes for a very satisfying and engaging experience.

So I encourage you to catch up—watching the first 9 episodes on FOX.com is one easy way—and then join us fans in watching the season finale so that the network gets the number of eyeballs it’s looking for and brings the show back for another season. That is, unless you’d rather just watch a lawyer/doctor/cop/fireman/politician struggling with a love/family/work triangle instead—’cause I think the networks always have a few hundred of those waiting in the wings.

If you’d like a little more background on the show, check out Geekscape’s original piece from the Wayward Pines‘ debut by Dennis Finocchiaro. If you’re just looking for a little visual tease, here’s a replay of FOX’s trailer:

https://youtu.be/QmFPf7I0Jlc

Remember this; there are no crickets in Wayward Pines.

Tatiana Maslany Is Finally Recognized By The Emmys!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 17, 2015

“About bloody well time!” were the words on the lips of many BBC America viewers and fans of Orphan Black when the announcement came that, after long last, Tatiana Maslany was finally being nominated as Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the 67th Emmy Awards.

We wish you could hear the screaming in BBC America’s office just after 11:30 a.m. as Tatiana’s name was read… because we could hear you — loud, proud, and online.

I mean, Canada has already given her her own street, for crying out loud!

Her snubs for the nomination the last couple years have come as quite a shock to most anyone who’s seen the show. It’s not that she’s turning in a great performance each episode; it’s that she’s nailing like 10 different characters and counting—in one show! Geeking out actor-wise, it’s amazing to watch her change vocal intonation, accent, countenance, total physicality and on and on. It took me several episodes before it hit me that these different clones I was following were all the same actress—I mean, I knew it going in but completely forgot about it as I was pulled into the various storylines; each character felt so vastly different. That’s acting at it’s finest.

Maslany will now face Claire Danes (Homeland), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Robin Wright (House of Cards) in the Lead Actress category this year. Amazing performances from all of them but—and let me be clear—just one each.

I bet Gareth Edwards and the crew working on the Star Wars spin-off under development are kicking themselves if rumors are true that they really have passed over Maslany for the lead. (Here’s hoping, for all our sakes, that it’s not too late to still make it happen.)

BBC America were quick to congratulate their star:

You can check out our full list of 67th Emmy Awards nominees here. And if for some reason you’re one of the sorry few still not acquainted with Tatiana please allow me to let Seth Meyers introduce you (and then go watch Orphan Black):

Go #CloneClub!

‘Go Set a Watchman’: Review of Harper Lee’s First Chapter

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 13, 2015

I really wanted to do this right, so I set up my e-reader with the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman available online, poured myself a drink and went out to sit by the pool and read it. I didn’t go back and re-read To Kill a Mockingbird first; honestly, it’s been years since I read it and I have fond memories of experiencing the book—but I didn’t want to do a direct comparison. I figured tons of people would be doing just that already and I wanted to see how this story, that takes place about 20 years after Mockingbird, would stand on its own.

Wow. I was taken by its elegant simplicity. The sheer beauty of the commonplace and Harper Lee’s uncomplicated skill to expose the opportunities for delight and discovery in routine elements. Her lines pulse with a subtle magnetic vibration that ushers you wholly into a full sensory experience of grown Scout, Jean Louise Finch. To say it another way; Lee makes the regular feel luxurious with no heavy lifting on the reader’s part. Additionally, I found that I often chuckled to myself as I read the chapter and laughed out loud several times. The characters are instantly and easily related to, so that you’re quickly delighting in their interactions like watching old friends at it again—although you’re meeting these adult characters for the first time. Even a train conductor we never meet feels as familiar as a lovable uncle!

Quite simply: this is writing at its finest and I’m really excited to read the whole novel. My sincere compliments to legendary talent, Harper Lee. Just beautiful and—wow.

Now, some things to keep in mind. This manuscript was written in a very different social and political climate. Even in this first chapter, there are references to race and gender that can feel archaic and uncomfortable—and from what I understand, there’s much more of this to come throughout the book. Lee bats at these conventions like a cat with a piece of string—I was laughing with Lee on the conclusion of the encounter at the end of the chapter but maybe for different reasons than readers of the past would’ve laughed. It stands the test of time because the material finds new meaning as the eras tick by. The important thing is the feeling of Harper Lee’s soul and intentions behind these dusty words and references—judging by this first chapter, that feeling is unconditional warmth. Remember that this is a manuscript she wrote in the mid-1950s—this is a hot-off-the-presses time machine directly into the past. I’m sure that, if published then, there would’ve been a backlash from certain “conservative” groups about her progressive thinking. I feel like she was building a bridge between these people of the past and their brighter future—while, now in that future, seeing these old words and references can feel a little weird. She logically used the lexicon and referential structures born from the history, perspective and customs of those times as she kindly joined the shifting in then-current events.

It’s also interesting to note, as far as her writing timeline, that To Kill a Mockingbird was actually written after this manuscript; a prequel that ended up getting published first. At that point this manuscript wasn’t touched again; lost until it was recently found in storage! Some are talking about Atticus’s portrayal in Go Set a Watchman as being at odds with the character we loved in Mockingbird. One likely possibility here is that Lee refined her vision of Atticus Finch as she wrote Mockingbird and never had the chance to go back and apply those same refinements to this original manuscript for Watchman. I’ll be approaching the experience of reading this full novel as a chance to take a little peek behind the curtain of remarkable wordsmith, Harper Lee—and to ride this excellently eloquent time machine her young idealistic-self crafted for us. In hardback. On paper pages.

The full novel will be released everywhere by HarperCollins Publishers on July 14th, 2015. You can taste the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman for yourself here at The Guardian.

SDCC 2015: ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ Trailer Premiere vs Comic-Con Smartypants

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 12, 2015

The boomstick of awesome was unleashed on a room full of primitive screwheads with the announcement of Ash vs Evil Dead the series debuting on Starz October 31—yes, Halloween! The fancypants Mr. Bruce Campbell (a.k.a. Ash Williams) joined Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi as well as Executive Producer of the new series, Craig DiGregorio (Reaper, Chuck), and Lucy Lawless who will play Ruby Knowby.

Ash—I mean, Bruce—gave us some sugar and elaborated on what was referred to as the equivalent of an hours-long mega movie in episodes, “. . .They need to be let loose, like the savage beasts that they are. And the only way that we can bring you the carnage and mayhem that you truly deserve is to be on a network like Starz where they don’t have a problem with. . . anything.” To paraphrase the jabber-mouths, when asked if there will be more seasons—yes, as long as all the loyal jolly roger fans demonstrate to Starz how much they love the show. . . and Starz loves money, if you see what I’m driving at here, Einstein.

Now, let’s pause real quick so I can take my pants off and get comfortable here in these fruity-looms. Come on, you know you’re shocked that I was wearing any in the first place! Much better. Okay, you, shove a sock in your pie-hole and pay attention—your pants are optional—it’s time for a trailer break, baby.

https://youtu.be/unnLg1TPCYM

Groovy.

Listen, babe, if that there wasn’t enough to get your motor running you might be a few marbles shy of a full knife drawer. But I sure can sympathize if you little monkeys are thirsty for more, so I’ll leave you with Starz’s coverage of the full SDCC panel. Enjoy it or—if you’re a soulless deadite—don’t. I’ve got a whiskey bottle to go marinate in so I don’t really give a hoot about your touchy-feelies, sweet-cheeks. But—and this ain’t just the pillow talk, baby—you’ll dig it.

SDCC 2015: ‘Doctor Who’ Season 9 Trailer (and More Goodies!)

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 9, 2015

(better read with a British accent)

One of the brilliant things about San Diego Comic-Con is that it’s making life aces even if you’re not jammy enough to be there getting gobsmacked directly.

Sure, if you’re at the Con you can pick up the exclusive Doctor Who comic (covers’ art by Alice X. Zhang) and you’re likely jolly well delighted to be the first to get the scrummy scoop first-hand on the Whovian chapter of LEGO Dimensions. . . Let us pause to reflect on the trailer:

However, you’re no damp squib if you’re not arse over elbow with the makeuped and costumed in Southern California—you’ll just need a smidge of patience for your fix.

If, like me, you’ve been suffering doldrums waiting yonks for the good Doctor’s return to the telly then it may please you to hear the announcement out of SDCC 2015 that we only have to make it a bit further—September 19, Doctor Who returns! While the news of Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams’s appearance is now officially confirmed, showrunner Steven Moffat isn’t dropping much in the way of more clues. (Judging only by the cracking trailer, I’m going to guess she’s Zorro.)

Fancy a dekko at the series 9 trailer?—it’ll put the colour back in your cheeks.

Blinding! Not enough? Feast your hungry little skull orbs on these highlights from the panel. Pip pip now, off you pop.