This minimalist Spider-Woman piece is pretty fantastic!
I just love this song, and just felt that this was the Wednesday to play it. Pat Benetar and We Belong.
Yesterday, Hollywood lost one of its greatest masters of horror, Wes Craven. Born in 1983 and a horror movie enthusiast myself, it would have been impossible for me to not have been exposed to Wes Craven’s work or influence on the genre. His ability to terrify with the smallest of details to the craziest of creations is what made his work stand the test of time. His work from the seventies and eighties was so popular, that many have been remade in the last ten, fifteen years. Yet, none could really capture the original finesse of the stories the originals told.
Over the years, his accomplishments have equaled many, including:
The Last House on the Left (1972)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Deadly Friend (1986)
Shocker (1989)
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Scream (1996)
Cursed (2005)
Red Eye (2005)
My Soul to Take (2010)
The most culturally impacting of all of his creations being the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and his creation of the murderous, nightmare king, Freddy Krueger. A figure that is still revered in terror to this day. Nightmare on Elm Street is the most successful of all of Wes Craven’s creations. Nightmare on Elm Street is my personal favorite, and one I feel still holds up today. It balances the right amount of realism and fantasy to create an unforgettable ride of fear that the human mind is capable of as well as just how powerful vengeance can be, even from beyond the grave.
This was not the typical teen slasher flick of its day. The Krueger/Nightmare allowed for a unique story that left watchers confused and on edge as to what would happen next. It especially didn’t encourage anyone to go to sleep after the fact. Freddy changed all of the nightmare rules and became a cultural icon of fear.
Craven’s next biggest accomplishment was his single handed resurrection of the horror genre during the late 90’s with the film, Scream. The film was a wonderful homage to the slasher flicks from before with a freshness that appealed to new generations using mystery, suspense, and even comedy. It spurned a franchise of a new boogie man for a new generation, a boogie man that is almost as notable as its predecessor, Freddy.
Wes Craven’s imagination and terrifying storytelling will be greatly missed. My heart is heavy with sadness, but his films will live on in his absence, ready to influence and inspire many generations of horror film hopefuls to come. You will be missed, Mr. Craven.
I would love to have this chica chilling next to Carol, if I had her too. Lol! This is why they are wishes.
I had the pleasure of seeing Nu Shooz at the 80's Freestyle concert I went to a couple of weeks ago. They were rocking the some fabulous thread full of sequin and silk. It was a good time, especially when they performed this song, I Can't Wait.
Marvel Studios was quite successful with the Netflix series, Daredevil. So much, that it left fans eagerly awaiting more, which is a pretty big deal when the original film version had most fans run screaming in terror. While Marvel has confirmed a second season along with some interesting characters from the comics taking part. However, the second season of Daredevil will not be the next Marvel Studios and Netflix collaboration. The next big collaborated event for the two entertainment giants will be Jessica Jones slated for this December. This character will be new to the non-comic book fans, but her presence is a big deal.
Why is she a big deal? She will be the first featured super-powered heroine for Marvel Studios. Her success and failure might very well change what Marvel Studios will create next where female superheroes are concerned. I am specifying “featured” meaning she is not a part of a main ensemble cast like Black Widow for Avengers and Gamora for Guardians of the Galaxy or a supporting character like Scarlet Witch and Lady Sif. Even Earthquake has to be considered as a part of an ensemble cast, even though storylines for Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. have been pretty focused on her character. Jessica Jones will be a television variant that isn’t exactly going to be on network television and won’t have the big screen treatment. Regardless of this, her success will probably impact Marvel Studios upcoming silver screen venture, Captain Marvel.
Why will she impact this? Well, that is because Hollywood tends to have an established view of television series or feature films that feature female superheroes. They back their beliefs up by using such film atrocities as Catwoman and Elektra. Hollywood has a belief that female superhero movies would make terrible projects, because the before mentioned films came to be horrible investments. What they seem to be missing is that those films were not horrible because a female happened to be the feature, no they were horrible, because they were actually horribly made films.
That being said, let’s give you a little comic book insight of who Jessica Jones is. Currently, I have no idea how they are going to develop her story and what exactly they may leave behind or take from the comic book versions, but a little insight wouldn’t hurt. In the comics, Jessica Jones was in a car accident with her family leaving her as the only survivor. She came into contact with chemicals during this accident which eventually led to her abilities. Random fact, Jessica actually went to high school with Peter Parker, Spider-Man. This fact is played with a little in various moments in the comics, but not enough to make it a necessary plot line that will be put into the show. But hey, Sony and Marvel Studios are friends now, so you never know. She eventually decides to don some tights and venture into the superhero business, also dying her hair pink and calling herself Jewel.
I know the series is going to take place after she decides to leave the life of a superhero behind, which will be interesting to see what they utilize as the reason. In the comics, Jessica had an awful and terrifying encounter with the very sadistic, Purple Man. He used her against her will in various ways with his mind control, so much so, that it took Jean Grey of the X-Men to help her regain herself and live again. I know that all of those details cannot be used in the series, especially Jean Grey, but I wonder how far and matching they will take her and Purple Man’s relationship. As a woman, it is a pretty disgusting. This, in the comics, is what makes her give up her superhero life and become a private investigator. She is still super-powered, but she drops the Jewel identity and anything related to it, including the hair color and tights.
The general show premise is currently similar to the above in a vague way. Jessica will have dealt with something drastic to end her superhero career and uses her new investigation business to help put herself back together as well as find other extraordinary people. The Purple Man will be playing quite the role in the series, but it is suggested that Jessica will know him already and be dealing with past issues, whether they be the same ones that ended her stint as a superhero in the comics.
I eagerly await to see how Krysten Ritter does in this role. This will be the first time I see her tackling a role like this. My previous experience with her has been seeing her play the goofy best friend or one of her better known roles as the very “bitch” from Don’t Trust the B…… in Apartment 23. Since I have no other reason, but to trust Marvel Studios at this point, this will be exciting to see. Of course, a lot of whovians are really excited to see David Tennant, as am I, but this won’t be the lovable Doctor. If they go adult like Daredevil, I imagine will see something more reminiscent of Barty Crouch Jr, except more controlled and hella sadistic with a bit of masochism for seasoning.
Other interesting points to know about this show is that it will take place in Hell’s Kitchen. Yes, as in Daredevil’s Hell’s Kitchen. I am not going to say that the characters will physically mix between the two shows, but I imagine that there will be a lot of mentioning at the very least. Cameos are still not a complete dismissal. For those that may not know, Marvel Studios, contracted with Netflix to do 5 shows with the following four, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, becoming the final show of the Defenders. While I personally didn’t see any Jessica Jones or Luke Cage connections in Daredevil, they did start dropping seeds for the upcoming Iron Fist. Pretty much everything the drug boss, Madame Gao, was and was involved with screamed Iron Fist. Luke Cage will be a part of the Jessica Jones series as Jessica will be a part of his. This is pretty expected from a comic book lover perspective. The two are very much together in the comics.
I am looking forward to December, but I really hope Jessica is a win. A loss at this point in the game is going to hurt and support previous opinions, especially where Marvel Studios stands. We need a win for female superheroes.
Really Torrid? You're killing me with the nerd shirts. I want this so bad.
I do enjoy Lisa Lisa and am very excited to see her as well as many other 80's freestyle artists this August. This is definitely a jam you turn up and have fun with. I give you Lost In Emotion by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.
Marvel Studio’s latest addition, Ant-Man, came out this weekend. If any of you were like me, especially if you were also a Marvel Comics fan, you were pretty much on the fence with this one about whether or not to see it. This film hasn’t had the smoothest production.
The first issue I had when they announced that they were doing an Ant-Man movie was when they announced that Michael Douglas was going to be playing Dr. Hank Pym. There was probably a collective “huh” that escaped from the Marvel Comic fandom. Not that Micheal Douglas isn’t a great actor, but his presence states a certain age for the character that just didn’t make sense. While we were chewing on that for a bit, Marvel Studios announced that Paul Rudd would be playing Scott Lang and be taking the mantle as Ant-Man, not a surprising move since they clearly aged Dr. Pym, but it didn’t really make sense, still. Another shocker wasn’t so much that there wouldn’t be a Wasp character, but no Janet Van Dyne.
Dr. Hank Pym is one of the original Avengers in the comics. While he did fight alongside his fellow Avengers, Pym was a man of science, and not a soldier. There was many a time that Pym refused to go to battle. He was also a man that preferred to talk things out before using his fist. Unfortunately, the majority of Hank Pym’s stories throughout the comics also include if do not involve his wife Janet Van Dyne, also known as the Wasp. If you are going to create a movie and kind of do the basics of Pym’s life, you would think she would have a pretty large presence in the film somewhere. It became pretty clear that newly hired Evangeline Lily would not be Janet, but they didn’t really reveal her as Pym’s daughter until much later.
So yes, this film didn’t have Janet Van Dyne for us, but it was also the storyline of Avengers: Age of Ultron that caused a lot of concern for Ant-Man. Long before the Age of Ultron movie came out in theaters earlier this summer, we were very aware that Dr. Hank Pym would have no involvement. That to a comic book fan like myself was pretty unfathomable. Ultron has always gone hand in hand with Hank Pym and Tony Stark, but mostly Hank Pym. Ultron was originally a creation for peace, but Ultron turned out to be the very epitome of the sin pride. Every good intention of Tony and Hank went into Ultron. Tony built the technology that would make Ultron powerful enough to stop any if not all obstacles and challenges to protect the Earth. Hank made Ultron intelligent and made him think by creating a way to map his own brain and program it into Ultron as its artificial intelligence. They created him to protect the Earth, but forgot to have him protect humanity. Ultron calculated that Earth’s greatest threat was humanity. The point is that the faults Ultron had made it capable for the Avengers to stop him, was that he had Hank Pym’s faults. Pym and Ultron have always been very connected in every variation in the comics, but we were going to have a movie with Ultron and no Hank Pym.
The Ultron storyline for the second Avengers movie is truly the reason why I was concerned with how the Ant-Man movie was going to work, but you know what? It was Avengers: Age of Ultron that really gave me the reason to give it a chance. I got the mind stone aspect of the Ultron story. It made sense, and most importantly didn’t give Tony Stark power than he never had in the comic books. Tony’s a genius, but there are places in the scientific world that he may understand, but can’t compete. Avengers: Age of Ultron not only made me okay enough to chance the Ant-Man movie, but understand that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is very much its own beast.
What you will expect in Ant-Man is hilarity. It isn’t action focused. The origin story is very reminiscent of Iron Man. The first Iron Man movie had a lot more action scenes due to the nature of Tony’s origin, but it’s the same formula. Paul Rudd and Adam McKay took Edgar Wright’s original script and finished it. These are men known for their comedy, and it is in there. Paul Rudd was pretty much is usual sarcastic self, but Michael Peña was killing me in this movie. This is an actor that I consider a chameleon. Peña has terrified me, made me cry, and made me laugh on a variety of occasions. When he does funny, though, this man is funny. He had me crying.
So yes, this was a very different Marvel movie. One that showed its funny bone as opposed its muscles. It was still a story, it introduced both Scott Lang and Dr. Hank Pym and why they needed each other. It was very refreshing, actually. Marvel Comics have always balanced the emotional spectrum very well, and just as some characters may lean in serious or comedic direction, story arcs or issues can do this as well. I like seeing that the films are leaning on that formula as well. This could be considered the worst Marvel movie so far, but if I ever want to fail at something, this is the way I’d do it.
What Ant-Man also did for me was solidify that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is its own, and it will flip, play, and do as it sees fit. There will always be nods to the comics, and in some instances it will follow the heart of the comics if not pull directly from them. This world will do what it wants. It is terrifying, especially when Marvel Studios is gearing up to drop the Civil War story, which clearly has to be very different, since we don’t have many heroes nor any X-Men. It was kind of an all hands on deck storyline. I will just have to wait and see. The other one that terrifies me is the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, because I am a Carol Corps girl. Her character is fantastic to play with. She has been through everything, and is a very serious but fun character. She has so much to offer for a film, but we will just have to wait and see.
Terrible? Probably, but a part of me wants it enough that I'm willing to sacrifice any embarrassment I hold in actually coveting such an item. Damn my very single little heart.
