I watched "The Watchmen"

OK, I read the comic a hundred years ago and barely remembered anything from it except that I enjoyed it waaaay back then. Keeping that in mind, I went in pretty blind in the theatre. However, after watching the movie, I managed to borrow a copy and re-read the book.

As with all of my movie reviews, spoilers may be mentioned.....


My Favorite writer of all time Peter David once said that the real purpose of a comic book movie (or any movie that is based on "X") is to get people to buy (or research) the source material. After watching Watchmen, I did just that. It's funny, I believe this is the first time that the movie was better than the book. To me, re-reading the book was like watching a "director's cut" of a movie. I can see why it was cut to begin with. The only main difference between the book and the movie was the dynamic between

Night Owl

and Silk Spectre II. I really wasn't feeling the chemistry between the two in the book, whereas in the film, they just clicked so well. The end of their story arc was also altered, but I liked this version better.

Speaking of endings, the how (but not the why) was...adapted for the movie. Seeing as how a lot of key scenes were dropped/edited out (and rightfully so)leading up to the giant squid invading N.Y., it made sense to keep him only in the pages of the comic. To me, I felt that blaming Dr. Manhattan was a better way to go to tie the movie together.

There are a few things that were explained in the book that were left out in the movie such as the symbol on Dr. Manhattan's head (a hydrogen atom) and Rorschach's moving mask (special heat sensitive fabric).

The one that stood out the most to me was, where did the Silk Specter get her costume from? (in the comic, instead of just showing up on Nigh Owl's apt empty handed, she moved in a few days later having her things sent from the military base to the apt).

Many shots/Dialog were lifted directly from the book, further showing that a comic book can translate well into a movie form. Speaking of which, I am reminded of last week's post about Chun Li and the director saying that he didn't want costumes in his movie because he wanted to ground his movie in reality. There were costumes in Watchmen, (hell there was a giant blue guy walking around!) yet it felt more "real" than any part of Chun Li. So it's not the costumes, it's how you use them.

Since I am on the topic of the giant blue guy, I have to mention his.....Pepe' Grande Azul. I didn't remember seeing it in the comic the first time and I sure as hell didn't expect to see it featured in the movie, but there it was, just hanging out for all to see.

Lastly, I wanted to mention a couple of things that were added to the movie that weren't in the book, such as the actual fight between The Comedian and his killer, how Rorschach got his costume back in the prison as opposed to going back into his place for a "spare" and the actual fight in the prison. Good stuff all around.

Keep in mind that when you go see this one, leave the kiddies at home. It's rated "R" for a reason!

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chin Li

You read right, that is what the marquee said for the new Kristen Kreuk movie Street Fighter: The Legend of CHUN Li. That right there should have been a omen of things to come in the horrible, horrible movie. It's so bad that it makes the original an oscar contender by comparison!

As with all my movie reviews, spoliers may be mentioned.


For those of you that don't know, Street Fighter is an arcade game which was super popular in the late 80's. So much so that Street Fighter 4 was just released a few days ago. This movie focuses on one of (if not the first) female playable character in a fighting game. Chun Li is Chinese and (even if she doesn't look it, Kristen is also of Chinese decent)








Wait a second! Those last two pics arent of Kristen, but of Ming-Na Wen (she played Chun Li in the original). Which one looks more authentic? now to be fair, I didn't post a shot from the actual movie, but there are no costumes (well, maybe except for Vega)


Now I'm not going to get into the whole "Hey this wasn't in the game!". Instead, I'm going to take a look at it strictly from a "stand alone movie" view. In an interview, the Director stated that he wanted to "ground this movie in reality, like the X-men movies (referring to the lack of colorful/original costumes as seen in the comics/video games/cartoons)". That's fine, but except for the fact there there was no costumes, the "reality" was not real at all. The dialog, motivations, even just plain simple actions left me wondering, "What are these people thinking?". For example, the evil scheme (which really was just something to fill up time in the movie) was this: Bison (played by Neal McDonough Blackmails (I believe) some important people in the Chinese govenment to sign over some public property to a company so that he can buy it back for a profit? Or for no reason at all (well, after recieving a mysterious scroll and talking to some random lady) Chun Li has to leave all her possesions behind and live on the streets so she can meet Gen, a Kung-fu master (played by Mortal Kombat's Robin Shou). Or even when Bison decides to destroy Gen's home (where Chun Li is now training/staying at). He send in a (for lack of a better term) a SWAT team, THEN has the place blown up with a rocket, THEN hires his Assassin to go and Kill them? Shouldn't that be the other way around? Finally, to learn more about the evil corporation run by Bison (after looking him up on the internet), Chun Li goes into a club where she does what can only be described as a pseduo-lesbian dance-invite/lure (you just have to trust me on this) so she can get Bison's right hand woman away from her bodyguards to interrogate her.

"What about the fighting?" you may ask. The Jackie Chan/Jet Li movie The Forbidden Kingdom was a below average movie. However the fight between the two aformentioned actors made everything bad about that movie go away. Sadly this is not the case. Now just about everyone cast in the movie is not a fighter so I didn't expect much. But I know fake fighting can be just as good (IE: Charlie's Angels). The fighting was sub par and the slow motion effects didnt help maters any.

So Story/acting/casting-nope
Action scenes-sub par
Costumes-not here

So is there anything good about this movie?

Maya. (Played by Moon Bloodgood)



At least, she was smoking hot (even if she really didn't have much to say/do that made any sense)....

Power Rangers vs Buffy

OK, ok. Everyone (well, not everyone) has been talking about the new Joss Whedon show Dollhouse starring executive producer Eliza Dushku (Faith From Buffy (as if I had to tell you!)). I had to give it a second showing before I could make my decision.

First let me say that I know all about the Joss vs FOX feud (for those of you that don't know, Fox has been all over this show making Joss re-write and re-shoot the pilot to make it more of a "stand alone series with a looming story arc" (such as
The X-Files or more recently Fringe) as opposed to an on-going full on story arc (such as 24 or Lost). Also, I have to say that (as most of you know (or should know by now) I am a HUGE fan of Power Rangers.

As mentioned in a previous post, the original Pink Power Ranger is starring in a new CBS show called Flashpoint. Dollhouse happens to air opposite said show. That said, Dollhouse has to be pretty good to tear me away from watching Kimmy. It really isn't. After two episodes, I still have no reason to watch this show other than Eliza herself (and I have watched shows just because of a certain actor,/actress is in it). I really don't care for the characters or even the story behind this dollhouse. I am left to wonder if the original pilot was any better and would have hooked me. So far each week we learn alittle more about the cast and we see Eliza stretch her acting chops as she "becomes" a completely different person with the knowledge and the skills needed for the particular episode. It was brought up in another blogger's entry about the show, but why go to the Dollhouse in the first place? If you have that much money and need a negotiator/date/target practice, why not just pay for one? They gotta be cheaper than the dolls in the show.

If has been said that after 6 episodes, the show will shift in a new direction. I can give it till then. If it will make it that long is another story....

Even 3 pairs of boobs couldn't save.....

Yes, I said it. Despite the fact that there was a generous amount of nudity, blood, and gore, the "re-imagined" version of Friday The 13th was a (pardon the pun) a horrible movie.

As with all my movie reviews, Spoilers may be mentioned.....


First of all, This new movie is actually re-telling the first 4 Friday the 13th movies. Starting with the mom killing the camp counselors (part 1) to Jason with a bag over his head killing people (part 2) to the Hockey mask (part 3-D), to finally killing Jason (part 4). For those of you that don't know, part 5 had a fake Jason, part 6 made him a zombie, part 7 had him fight a psychic, part 8 had him in Manhattan, part 9 took him to hell, he fought Freddy in Freddy Vs Jason, and (even tho this was released prior) went into space.

They took the original timestamp from the release of the original movie (1980) and using "real time" Jason is now up and about in 2009 as an adult killer. That leads me to my first problem. It's 2009 people. Why are the people in the movie as stupid (or stupider) than they were 20 years ago? The only "real" indication that they are in present day is the Technology the victims are using (G.P.S., cell phones, etc).

Through out the movie I kept on wondering a few things:

1) Why were people doing what they were doing.
2) Why are the people living there still alive (since there really is no motivation for Jason killing people except that they are near the camp)
3) Why was this movie even being made.

Unlike the new Halloween which enhanced the original film, this one, just rehashed what was already done. There was nothing special, nothing different, nothing...just nothing to say about this movie except that it was a huge waste of time.

When I was in the SDCC, I actually sat in on the Friday the 13th panel where the cast and writer/director was present. Even at that time, I wasn't feeling it despite the good intentions I felt the panel had.

One quick note, (for those of you who actually saw this movie) when they finally killed Jason at the end of the movie, I was left wondering why he wasn't fully destroyed as opposed to just his brain being chopped up. And why would they dump him into the lake (which led to the oh-so-obvious ending)?

"This will probably be..." or "the good the not so good and Fringe", or "Rejuvinated"

OK, While I am undecided on my title, my review of the New York Comic-con will be as complete as possible, which may make this my longest post to date.

I live about 2 hours away from the con (and I drove each day!) so I got to the con around 2:30pm on Friday. I just had a late start and planned to be there around noon. As soon as I got there, I went right to the press room got my badge (Thanks Lance!) and headed into the con. They did say that the show was to be bigger, but to me it felt somehow smaller (I didn't realize that there was a third floor till around 4:30pm on Sunday). I made sure to hit up my buddies Sam Vera from Crazee Comics, Rich Bernatovech from Sentinels, Brian Kong, Brian and Jess Ferrera from Terminal Press (who also have been co-hosts to my radio show), Christian and Antonio Montalvo from Alpha Godz, the Lazerman guys, and all my buddies from The Comic Artists Guild (C.A.G.) as well as James Seetal and Mark Mazz (more on him later).

Once that was done, I walked around the con and tried to take it all in. After all these years (and finally making it to the SDCC), I feel it's just more of the same (not that that is a bad thing). I attended a C.A.G. panel (if you are into comics as a craft, you should join them!) and then the C.A.G. awards (hosted by Samuel Vera.)

The Categories and winners are:

(I'll try to upload the images as time goes on)

Best Story Writing: Shawnti Therrien for Meth: A Reason to live




Best Story Art: Hector Rodriguez for Hell's Blood



Best Single Story created by a team: Hector Rodriguez, Keith Murphey and Scott
Murphey for Hell's Blood

Best Writer: Everett Soares



Best Penciler: Hector Rodriguez

Best Inker: Alex Rivera



Best Colorist: Liz Ortiz



Best Letterer: Ed Traquino



Best Cartoonist: Matt Ryan



Best New Talent: James Rodriguez



Production Excellence: Ed Traquino

Best Workshop/Panel: Matt Ryan for "Sales Techniques"

Best Web Comic Creator: ZMAN



and C.A.G. MVP: Keith Murphey


Afterwards, I hung out with Arlen Schumer (after his fine lecture on "The Twilight Zone" original TV series). He was kind enough to treat me to dinner at The Empire Diner. Never been there before, and as promised it had one of the best burgers I have ever had. Special shout out to Brigador Stamback


Saturday:

I had a plan for Saturday. 1) meet Seth Green. Now the thought had occurred to me during the SDCC as Seth had walked right past me (I originally thought that he was a guy who looked like Seth, and then realized that it was him!). I thought, "Hey maybe If I gave him some copies of our best of CD, it might lead somewhere.". Alas, I wasn't ready back then. So today was the day. I went to the Robot Chicken panel, and it was a blast! I managed to get a good seat b/c I actually went into the earlier Cup O' Joe panel. it was basically a "what is coming up in Marvel Comics" panel with an interesting Q&A. I say interesting, because some fans questions were more like complaints. The Marvel guys took a page from the Obama book and was like "I'm sorry" and "it won't happen again". I was impressed with that. Getting back to the Robot Chicken panel...They brought a couple guys from the show most notably Seth Green and Breckin Meyer. All of them were funny and I had a feel that they really wanted to be there and generally are fans of comics and the like. During the panel it was announced that they all would be signing stuff for free on a first com first serve basis but only for an hour right after the panel in a completely different room. So with about 5 minutes to go I took off left the panel to get in line for the signing. Met them (asked Breckin about Rat Race 2, "Never gonna happen he replied."), and gave Seth all of the Cd's.



I honestly believe that he'll listen to them. He also liked the artwork so Kudos to Brian Kong! Once my mission was over, I went around the show floor s'more and then headed out to the Indy After party. It was a great party. Free (great Mark friendly) food, (cash bar tho, but since I don't drink, it's all good) great company, and a performance by a Tool Fist cover band (well, the band didn't actually show, but the Lead singer rocked on, so Kudos to him!).

Sunday:

Sunday I got a super late start. Got to the con around 12:30pm. today was all about Fringe. I had always planned to see the Fringe panel, but because of the special signing area for Seth the day before, I decided to check that area first to gauge the line. At 1pm (the panel was at 2pm) there were about 5 people on the signing line. I was informed that there was going to be a (non-ticket) signing at 3pm. First come, first serve, and they were only signing for an hour. Which was fine. I decided to go to the panel and leave early as I had done the day before. First off, I have to say how impressed I was to see the entire cast from the show. Best thing was that it wasn't announced, so it was a pleasant surprise. Around 2:50pm, I ran out of the room to the signing area. When I got there, the line was longer (about 25-30 people, which wasn't so bad). While on line I met a group of people that were waiting on the line since 1:30 and they were just in front of me. They had no idea there was a fringe panel and had just read the autograph sign upstairs and headed down to the signing area. we talked for a while and then a staffer came along and said (this was a little after 3pm) "there are already 150 people inside the waiting area for signatures there is no guarantee that you will get an autograph." Seems that the original group of and anyone who got there before 1:30 got to go inside while everyone else was waiting outside. So the panel ends late (I know this b/c a huge rush of people came out and get on line (around 3:20pm)) and another announcement was made, "there are 150 people inside already and you may not get an autograph.". Once again fine, I was near the front of the line so I'll take my chances. 4:10pm rolls around and there are now about 10-15 people in front of me (and this is just to the door). Seems alot of people gave up and left the line. During this time information was very light. they should have had someone go to the back of the line and tell them there was no way they would get anything signed, or at very least tell everyone on the line that the chances were slim, or even that we were on the "stand by line". I even tried to use the power of the press pass to just get a photo of them signing other people's stuff (which wouldn't hold up the line or anything) and I was told that FOX said "no press." Now that sucked (but I know it had nothing to do with the NYCC). So at 4:20pm, (keep in mind that no one on the line had been let in the door which led to the actual signing area since I got there, nor the group who was there since 1:30) the guy came out and said, "Not gonna happen." A lot of people were upset. My thoughts is this: once the 150 people were inside, there should have been better communication with the people outside, or just make it a ticketed event (since the entire cast was there).

Oh, Special shout out to Lindsay from C.A.G.!

Uninvited Movie review

It's not the same as doing a show on a movie, but why not tell you what I thought about it. as with all my movie reviews, spoilers may be mentioned.

Overall, it was a slow movie. and while things "happened" it really didn't have that "horror movie" feel. The main girl of the movie comes home after a 10 month stay at a looney bin due to the PTS of seeing her mom die in an explosion. And we are led to believe that the mom's home health aid (who happens to be sharing a bed with the father now) that she killed the mom. During this time the girl accompanied by her sister is being (for lack of a better term) haunted by ghosts of people the aid had killed.

Now here is the thing. If this movie was a straight suspense movie i think it would have been fine. but it is billed as a horror movie. Now with a pg-13 raiting you can't expect mmuch (altho The Ring was pg-13). This remminds me of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village. If it would have been billed as a straight drama, i think i would have enjoyed it better.

I saw this movie with some frined's of mine and one of them turns to me and says "there is supposed to be a big twist in this movie". That set off all kinds of alarms, so now I'm looking for anything that could be clues so I can figure out the ending. I was half right. My friend was (the other) half right also. But he figured it out from the very beginning.

Once the twist was revealed, alot of things make more sense, but it raises some big questions, like why the hell was she being haunted at all....

So if you keep in mind that this is no horror movie you might this movie. If you are looking for a good horror movie, go watch My Bloody Valentine instead

"Smash, SMASH?"

In the world of entertainment, people... "borrow" ideas from each other all the time. I mean how many shows or movies have the same concept? I recall somewhere that there are only 7 original stories. So it's understandable that alot of stuff is similar.

Some things go too far. Any one remember Go-bots? At the time, many people thought that it was a rip-off of Transformers (actually, Go-bots came to the USA first).

It's the same for comics (since they are also part of the entertainment world). How many Batman (Night thrasher), Superman (Supreme), and Hulk (Pitt) clones are there out there? Even stories are used more than once. Really, how many nefarious plans can one guy have? There was an episode of South Park called "The Simpson's did it". In it, the mentioned that since Simpson's have been on the air for so long, there was no more new ideas out there. Many comic characters have been around for decades, so it is understandable that a story may repeat (or recycle) here and there.

Let's take a look at the Spider-Man/Obama comic. Image co-founder Eric Larsen was quoted as being upset that Marvel comics "stole" his idea from a Savage Dragon comic where his main character saves a president in an (almost) similar way. Ironically, he was also accused of doing the same thing with a Hulk comic (issue #420), where the main character (both Hulk, and Savage Dragon, in their own titles of course) had to face the dilemma of giving a friend a blood transfusion in the hopes that it would cure him of AIDS.

This one however takes the cake. According to Comic Mix, (another) Image co-founder, Rob Liefeld is going to have a massive multi-part inter-company crossover where his character "SMASH" declares war on his entire World. Just for the record, the pencils are supposedly unused pages from his Heroes Reborn work. I bet if World War Hulk wasn't successful, SMASH would not have been seen again....

Got any change for me?

It still amazes me on just how many "important Tuesdays" there have been since I started writing this blog.

So today is the day. President Obama.....

I have to say, I never thought this day would come.

Now, lets see what will happen. Since everyone is all about "change" now. Maybe things will change for me and the book (well, the rest of the book) will be published, and the show (in what ever form) will go live once again. A better economy means more sponsors for me! Everybody wins!

But, I look around and nothing has "changed" for me yet!

But to quote Ed O' Neil as Al Bundy "As the man in the stall said to the man waiting, "Give it time."."

Still Morphenomenal after all these years

As I have mentioned many times in the past, I was (and still am) a HUGE Power Rangers fan. Because of which I have watched a few movies or TV shows because they have a former cast member in it. Out of everyone, there has been two that have done the most work Cerina Vincent from Lost Galaxy and Amy Jo Johnson the original Pink Ranger.

Cerina has done quite a few direct-to-dvd movies and has had two Feature films.

But I wanted to talk about Amy in this paticular post. She was a main character in the J.J. Abrams' (yes, that one) show Felicity and now she is on a new show (which got picked up for a second season, airing now) Flashpoint. The show isn't so bad, but because Amy is in it, I'll watch it (of course it doesnt hurt that she is still kinda hot).

"As with all of my movie reviews, this will be a free flowing discussion so spoilers may be mentioned"

I remember when I used to say that 3 times per show when we had a movie review show. Anyways...here is my

Spirit Movie Review

A lot (and I mean ALOT) of people is trashing this movie. I saw it Sunday night and I thought it was OK. Yes, just OK. I cam see what Frank Miller was going for, and I think it was hit or miss at times. Now I have never read, (nor even really heard of) The Spirit, so I went in with no expectations at all. Well, almost, I knew that the "style" of the movie was supposed to be like Sin City.

The movie started off on a down note but it tried to work its way back to to an OK movie (I mean Having the Hero and main villain fight in the first few minutes of the movie is never a good thing, cause where do you go from there?). We did have a bump or two along the way, such as the use of a cell phone in what appeared to be a period movie and the oh-so-bad-over-the-top acting that if you take it seriously for one second, you will not be able to enjoy this movie. By the time we got to the end of the movie was all set for whatever they decided to throw at me, but I was so wrong....

Here we are at the climax of the movie. we are led to believe that The Octopus has killed The Spirit for good this time, the Femme Fatale and the Octopus' side kick (played by the oh-so-hot Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson respectively) are facing off and the place is surrounded by cops. Now for no reason at all, the Commissioner (played by the guy who was the dad in the "Wonder Years") decided to call in an all out assault on the Octopus (aren't they supposed to arrest people?). When I say "all out" I mean ALL OUT! every cop starts shooting, and they bring in the helicopters to shoot at one man just to make sure they got him! I was like what the hell? I'm still shocked about that 3 days later!

Like I said, it was an OK movie, something that probably will get alot of airtime on network TV/basic cable in the years to come.

The Cat Purrs No More

Not a good way to end out the year. Another legend dies.....Eartha Kitt, who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died at the age of 81 of colon cancer on Christmas day.

a self-proclaimed "sex kitten" famous for her catlike purr, was one of America's most versatile performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination. She also was nominated for several Tonys and two Grammys.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television.

When her book "Rejuvenate," a guide to staying physically fit, was published in 2001, Kitt was featured on the cover in a long, curve-hugging black dress with a figure that some 20-year-old women would envy. Kitt also wrote three autobiographies.

Once dubbed the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson Welles, she spent much of her life single, though brief romances with the rich and famous peppered her younger years.

Her first album, "RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt," came out in 1954, featuring such songs as "I Want to Be Evil," "C'est Si Bon" and the saucy gold digger's theme song "Santa Baby," which is revived on radio each Christmas.

In 1996, she was nominated for a Grammy in the category of traditional pop vocal performance for her album "Back in Business." She also had been nominated in the children's recording category for the 1969 record "Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa."

Kitt also acted in movies, playing the lead female role opposite Nat King Cole in "St. Louis Blues" in 1958 and more recently appearing in "Boomerang" and "Harriet the Spy" in the 1990s.

To me, she was Catwoman on "Batman", the '60's series starring Adam West, replacing Julie Newmar who originated the role.

She was once quoted as saying "Generally the whole entertainment business now is bland," in a 1996 Associated Press interview. "It depends so much on gadgetry and flash now. You don't have to have talent to be in the business today."

Kitt was plainspoken about causes she believed in. "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," she told the group of about 50 women. "They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."

In 2000, Kitt earned another Tony nod for "The Wild Party." She played the fairy godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" in 2002.

As recently as October 2003, she was on Broadway after replacing Chita Rivera in a revival of "Nine."

She also gained new fans as the voice of Yzma in the 2000 Disney animated feature "The Emperor's New Groove.'"

Kitt was born in North, S.C., and her road to fame was the stuff of storybooks. In her autobiography, she wrote that her mother was black and Cherokee while her father was white, and she was left to live with relatives after her mother's new husband objected to taking in a mixed-race girl.

An aunt eventually brought her to live in New York, where she attended the High School of Performing Arts, later dropping out to take various odd jobs.

By chance, she dropped by an audition for the dance group run by Dunham, a pioneering African-American dancer. In 1946, Kitt was one of the Sans-Souci Singers in Dunham's Broadway production "Bal Negre."

Kitt's travels with the Dunham troupe landed her a gig in a Paris nightclub in the early 1950s. Kitt was spotted by Welles, who cast her in his Paris stage production of "Faust."

That led to a role in "New Faces of 1952," which featured such other stars-to-be as Carol Lawrence, Paul Lynde and, as a writer, Mel Brooks.

While traveling the world as a dancer and singer in the 1950s, Kitt learned to perform in nearly a dozen languages and, over time, added songs in French, Spanish and even Turkish to her repertoire.

"Usku Dara," a song Kitt said was taught to her by the wife of a Turkish admiral, was one of her first hits, though Kitt says her record company feared it too remote for American audiences to appreciate.

Song titles such as "I Want to be Evil" and "Just an Old Fashioned Girl" seem to reflect the paradoxes in Kitt's private life.

Over the years, Kitt had liaisons with wealthy men, including Revlon founder Charles Revson, who showered her with lavish gifts.

In 1960, she married Bill McDonald but divorced him after the birth of their daughter, Kitt.

For years, Kitt was unsure of her birthplace or birth date. In 1997, a group of students at historically black Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., located her birth certificate, which verified her birth date as Jan. 17, 1927. Kitt had previously celebrated on Jan. 26.

The research into her background also showed Kitt was the daughter of a white man, a poor cotton farmer.

"I'm an orphan. But the public has adopted me and that has been my only family," she told the Post online. "The biggest family in the world is my fans."

Another Death

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry, passed away early morning on December 18th after a short battle with Leukemia in her Bel-Air home, surrounded by family and friends. Roddenberry was 76 years old. She began her acting career in the 1950's with roles in such popular shows as "Leave it to Beaver," "Bonanza" and "The Lucy Show; but it was her numerous roles in the legendary Star Trek franchise that fans came to know and love her. Roddenberry had featured roles in almost every Star Trek television and film entity and became an iconic figure within the fan community.

Her roles included Nurse Chapel in Star Trek: The Original Series, Lt. M'ress in Star Trek: The Animated Series, Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every incarnation of the series. However, it was the love affair between her and the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry that earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek." Over the course of their more then quarter-century love affair, she became not only Gene's partner, but also his creative muse. Majel helped Gene expand the Star Trek universe and was an integral part of its continued legacy after his death, working on Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda.

I also found out that she is going to be the voice of the computer one last time in the new Star Trek movie out next year.

It is reported that she passed away peacefully, surrounded by her son Rod Roddenberry and family friends.

While I never had the pleasure of meeting her, I did meet their son (did an interview with him at the SDCC) and my condolences go out to him as the only surviving member of the Rodenberry family.

You shall be Punished!

Only if you don't go and see the new Punisher movie. I liked it. I really liked it. That says alot seeing as how I was going into the movie expecting not to like it. Thomas Jane (who was born to play The Punisher was quoted as saying that he was "waiting for a good script" to make the sequel) which tells me that this movie didn't have a good script. So this movie had to work twice as hard to win me over. It did.

Now yes the story was pretty basic. Punisher kills some guys, he makes a mistake and then kills more guys to make up for that mistake. They throw in Julie Benz just so they can have a woman (IE: Heart) in the movie.

Even tho I loved it, most people passed on it. One of the 50 worst openings of all time (well, since they kept track of this sort of thing).

The two main problems I had for this movie is 1) the Actor was just not suited for the role. Even tho he only did one out of the three movies, Thomas Jane will always be Frank Castle to me (much like Linda Carter and Christopher Reeve.) and 2) it had a '90's feel. So much so that The Punisher could just walk up and down New York City in full Punisher Gear and no one would bat an eye. It's something that would fit right in a movie made 10+ years ago, but not here.

So overall, if you like humor, violence and a 90's feel, you'll like this movie. I give it an 8.

The Spirit

No, not this Spirit. I'm talking about the Christmas Spirit.

As most of you know, I am a HUGE Power Rangers fan. But before Amy Jo Johnson donned her pink tights, there was a guy called Pee Wee.


















Speaking of Power Rangers....








Happy Holidays!!!

what is on my mind

"Don't rest on your Laurels", most entertainers say. "Keep it fresh", I have also heard. So how can I do those things when I need sponsors to bring back the radio show? I am still looking into the podcast and (as long as the website is fully updated by then) I plan to try to get some funds at the NYCC.

I never have been a salesman (which isnt that good of a thing when selling myself is important to get some sponsor $$) but I have to really up my game if I want to continue on my little adventure. I set out to get my book published, and it is out. I set out to go to the SDCC, and I went. So now I have to be as equally set to get some bocu bucks in order to bring the show back and keep the momentum going. Any thoughts/suggestions?

NYCC vs Big Apple

When I was in High school, I used to frequent a comic shop in Flushing Queens. Back then it was a big deal going to one of those places. Normally I got my comics at the newsstand by my school. Cut to a few (well, many) years later and we had Michael Carbanaro (head of the Big Apple Con) as a guest on my radio show. Turns out that he was the owner of the very same comic book store I had gone to as a kid! During that show, I found out that b/c of the great convention debacle of (I believe) '96 he founded the Big Apple cons. The aforementioned debacle was a convention at the Javits center (in NYC) that was closed down by the Fire Marshal. Mike took it upon himself to get everyone there (seeing as how he had everything he needed to start a con, people, vendors, "celebs") to go to a Church and start his own convention company that very same day. For years it was a monthly con which was out of a church (actually the basement) near Columbus Circle. Once every year he held the "National" convention which was in November at a bigger location. I got to "know" Mike and we have a business relationship. As time went on, he moved to a bigger and better venue (across the street from Madison Square Garden) which is where all of his cons are held to this very day. He has had big cons, little cons and all types in between. If you may remember I have had tables at some of those conventions. It's where I have met quite a few contacts from the comic book industry.

Then along came the NYCC. Reed Exhibitions who did Book conventions said "Hey, Comics are books. Hell, part of the word comic book is book! Let's do a convention just on that." Of course at the time, they were unsure how things would go. The city was un-cooperative "Comics are for kids, there is no money the be had" and since the other "big name" in comics never held a con there (Wizard) they rented a small portion of the Javits center out. They only had two headliners (the Wrestler Kane and Milla Jovovich) but they promoted the hell out of it.

It sold out. Not only did it sell out, people who already had tickets to get in couldn't. It was a huge disaster and a huge success at the same time. The second year, the show was double the size and it still sold out. Same for the third. It keeps getting bigger and better each year. This year is to be the biggest yet, and it is being predicted that it will surpass the SDCC (which will celebrate 40 years in 2009) in just a few more years. The con has gotten so big that they are asking for $65.00 for a 3 day pass at the door (cheaper if you buy it online).

I "know" the Head of the NYCC (Lance Fensterman) too. He also has been a guest on our show. Once again, we have a professional relationship going. So I have no "sides".

But it seems that while Mike has been puttering along and getting headliners like George Lazenby (for his most recent con). Lance gets Stephen King, Neil Patrick Harris, Grace Park and Brenden Frasier just to name a few. Now yes, Lance only has one show a year, and Mike Still has many, but Lazenby?

I think there is place for both cons in NYC. but Mike has to set up to the plate, and Lance has to remember the roots of comic book conventions.

Sing along!

Now that I have figured out how to upload video, you just gotta listen to this:




I know this one has been on my Myspace for the longest, but here is a new one!





even tho these aren't my favorites, since this is a comic book blog I just have to put this one here:





and...since Bond just came out.....





of course you can see all his stuff on his you youtube channel by clicking the title of this post!

Catching up

OK, from the looks of things, EVERYTHING should from the website will be up in time for the NYCC. I just spoke to my good buddy Lance Fensterman (who was a guest on the show and just happens to be the head of the NYCC) and I can get my press pass. The third webmaster turned out to be all talk and no action so I have to go back to my second webmaster. He had gotten backed up because of a campaign that he was running, but now that that is over, he has s'more free time.

If I get really lucky, I might be able to give away one pair of free passes to the NYCC if everything is updated in time.

Also, (for those of you who bought my comic and want to see the rest) I will be getting on top of my publisher so that all the issues and the trade will be out next year.

Wish me luck!

History

I have to say it. I just didn't think that the world was ready for a Black President. I guess "24" had it right all along.

Morgan Freeman being President is no longer Sci-fi.


I am speechless.

Congrats to Obama.

Street Fighter: The Later Years

Just watch. It's 9 parts but totally worth it. As a bonus, I now have figured out how to post videos (at least the ones from youtube).



























I have heard on the rumor mill that they will make more based off of the new Street Fighter IV game (which will be out soon).