W♥M

Sci-Fi-A-I

Read More The Expanse Possibly the best Science Fiction television show on air right now is The Expanse (no, it’s not Star Trek: Discovery). As I previously mentioned, I love this show. In the world of the Expanse, there are three major …

Beacon 23
amazon.com

There is a new Sci-Fi show on Amazon Prime called Beacon 23. The show is based on the short story series of the same name by Hugh Howey. Originally it was meant to air on Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks… but it’s currently on MGM+ (which is own by Amazon).

The show stars Lena Headey, from Game of Thrones. She is a survivor from a spaceship crash and finds herself woken up on a space lighthouse called Beacon 23. The sole occupant named Halan Kai Nelson, but there’s more to his story than he lets on.

It’s a bit of mystery, and I’m not going to give away too much details… but let’s just say that it’s not what you think it is. Halan is locked out of control because of the A.I. malfunction. The Artificial Intelligence is written in a way where it has “emotions”, which is quite odd. Why would anyone program anger and sadness in a computer program?

Update: I’ve just watched Episode 4 of Beacon 23 and have concluded that this show is absolutely no good. The problem with this series is about the AI. Let me tell you, computers should not have feelings or are they children. It’s just dumb. In this episode, the computer is written like it is a three-year-old and it decides to murder someone. This is just bad writing.

Also, while we’re at it, for a space station, why is there only one person living there? Don’t you need a crew to keep maintenance on the space light house? Or how come the computer didn’t know someone was in the airlock? My home camera and sense motion, don’t you think an advance space craft would have basic sensors? It doesn’t make any sense.

If you’re looking for smart Sci-Fi, I suggest checking out The Expanse.

Read More Star Wars It seems like no one is watching Andor… or at least you rarely hear people talking about this Star Wars new television show on Disney Plus. Maybe it’s because fans are tired of Star Wars or maybe they’re just not interested in this weird prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One? …

The Creator
20thcenturystudios.com

Gareth Edwards’ latest film The Creator has gotten positive reviews. The film grossed $103.5 million with a “low” budget of $80 million.

Edwards is no stranger to Science Fiction, having debut with Monsters (a film I own on Bluray) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (easily the best “new” Star Wars film).

Since Edwards was a visual effects guy, he shot the whole film and used visual effects sparingly, which probably kept the budget low.

The story is about how the artificial intelligence (AI) detonated a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, California, which started a war of humanity vs the robots.

There is a new threat and so the humans brought in an ex-undercover human to navigate the AI’s base.

I won’t give away too much, but the robot’s weapon is not what you think… and their goals are not what you expected.

It’s a simple story, maybe it might have worked better as a television series, where it can explore more on what it is to be human. Are AI really the enemy … or are the humans the true villains.

Read more Television and Sci-Fi.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: September 26 to September 28

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

09/26 The Wombats with Red Rum Club at First Avenue Read More The Wombats Fix Yourself, Not The World is the forthcoming album from The Wombats. The popular band will be heading out on tour to promote the record in 2022 ...

09/26/2023 Tuesday

The Wombats
with Red Rum Club
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

The last time we heard from The Wombats, they released Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This? on AWAL. It looks like the Liverpool band is back on tour.

Wombats (05 Feb 2022)

We previously saw Wombats in 05 Feb 2022 and said, “Originally hailing from Liverpool, The Wombats have been on our radar for over fifteen years and are now enjoying their biggest success to date with the January release of fifth studio album Fix Yourself, Not the World (on AWAL Recordings), their very first to Top the UK Album charts after going Top Five previously.”

Red Rum Club to open.

Tour dates:

Sep 15 Liverpool, UK Arts Club
Sep 16 Liverpool, UK Arts Club
Sep 19 San Francisco, CA, US The Regency Ballroom
Sep 20 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Bellwether
Sep 23 Salt Lake City, UT, US Union Event Center
Sep 24 Denver, CO, US Ogden Theatre
Sep 26 Minneapolis, MN, US First Avenue
Sep 27 Chicago, IL, US The Vic Theatre
Sep 29 Boston, MA, US Big Night Live
Sep 30 Outdoor Columbia, MD, US All Things Go Music Festival
Oct 2 Philadelphia, PA, US Union Transfer
Oct 3 Brooklyn, NY, US Brooklyn Steel
Oct 7 Coldstream, VIC, Australia Grapevine Gathering VIC
Oct 8 Mount Cotton, QLD, Australia Grapevine Gathering QLD
Oct 14 Caversham, WA, Australia Grapevine Gathering WA
Oct 21 Pokolbin, NSW, Australia Grapevine Gathering, NSW
Oct 22 McLaren Vale, SA, Australia Grapevine Gathering SA

09/27 The Glorious Sons with The Velveteers at First Avenue Read More The Glorious Sons JUNO Award winning, two-time CRIA Platinum-certified and six-time CRIA Gold-certified rock group The Glorious Sons will stop by the Varsity Theater .... The Velveteers To start things off, Boulder CO band The Velveteers were determined to make the large outdoor venue feel more like a small club with a primal indie ....

09/27/2023 Wednesday

The Glorious Sons
with The Velveteers
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Canadian rock band The Glorious Sons are currently on tour in support of their new album Glory (BMG Records). The group is known for such hits as “S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)” and “Panic Attack.”

The Velveteers (25 Aug 2023)

The Velveteers (not to be confused with the The Velveteens) to open. We previously saw this band in Aug 2023 and said, “To start things off, Boulder CO band The Velveteers were determined to make the large outdoor venue feel more like a small club with a primal indie rock sound that, like the headliners, sounds much bigger than coming from just three people. They’re out in support of 2021’s Nightmare Daydream (on Easy Eye Sounds, Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s custom label) and the big sound can be attributed to dual drummers Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig and the wails and sharp riffs of singer/ baritone guitarist Demi Demitro.”

Tour dates:

9/11 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
9/13 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9/14 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
9/15 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
9/16 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
9/18 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
9/20 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
9/21 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
9/22 - Peoria, IL - Crusen’s
9/23 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
9/25 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
9/26 - Des Moines, IA - Wooly’s
9/27 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9/29 - Tulsa, OK - Vanguard
10/1 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
10/2 - West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
10/3 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall
10/5 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SODO
10/6 - Bend, OR - Domino Room
10/7 - Crystal Bay, NV - The Bay Club
10/9 - Bozeman, MT - The ELM
10/10 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
10/12 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
10/13 - Kansas City, MO - Madrid Theatre
10/14 - St. Louis, MO - Red Flag

09/28 girli with DJ Sci-Fi at Amsterdam Bar & Hall

09/28/2023 Thursday

girli
with DJ Sci-Fi
at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
first-avenue.com

Girli (aka Milly Toomey) is touring in support of her brand new EP, why am i like this??.

DJ Sci-Fi to open.

Tour dates:

23rd September: Sonia’s, Boston MA
25th September: D9, Washington DC
26th September: Milkboy, Philadelphia PA
28th September: Amsterdam, Minneapolis MN
30th September: Lost Lake, Denver CO
2nd October: Holocene, Portland OR
3rd October: The Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC
4th October: Crocodile Madame Lou's, Seattle WA
6th October: Popscene at Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco CA

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥Comics!: Comic Conventions 2023

Planet Comicon Kansas City (March 17, 18,19) Read More Planet ComiCon Crowds in the thousands flocked to Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City over the weekend to attend the three-day Planet Comicon Kansas City, the region’s largest and longest-running comic and pop …

As 2023 began, so did comic convention season, back in full effect, after the last several years of nothing, or scaled-back. At the end of January, the Angoulême International Comics Festival took place in France, the 2^nd biggest in Europe and third largest in the world, and stateside, Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle was very successful.

We’re sad that the long-running Spring and Fall Cons in Minnesota came to an end, but efforts are underway to resurrect them.

Some show schedules shifted as well, and the end of this month is the staring contest between MegaCon in Orlando and C2E2 in Chicago, both held on the same weekend. Two of the biggest shows in the country on the same weekend- unprecedented!

Here are a few of the major shows scheduled for 2023:

Planet Comicon Kansas City (March 17-19)

(tickets: Planet Comicon Kansas City 2023 :: GROWTix )

The Midwest’s first big show is this weekend’s gathering at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City. Celeb guests include William Shatner, Richard Dreyfuss, Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson, and Giancarlo Esposito, along with voice actors, authors, and wrestlers Kevin Nash and “Jungle Boy” Perry.

Comic creators attending include writers Garth Ennis, Roy Thomas and Chris Claremont, artists Patrick Gleason, Jim Steranko, Todd Nauck, TMNT’s Kevin Eastman, and many more. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott is among other special guests.

Megacon Orlando

Megacon Orlando (March 30-April 2)

(tickets: Buy Tickets | MEGACON Orlando (fanexpohq.com) )

Fan Expo runs this and many other shows around the country, including all the former WizardWorld conventions. Because Orlando is a large tourist destination, flights and lodging are plentiful, there’s plenty else to do and see, but this show is also very busy and large. We were there last year and were amazed at the size of the convention floor.

Celebs include Hayden Christensen, Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy, Chevy Chase, Christie Brinkley, John Cleese and Zachary Levi. Comic creator heavyweights include Frank Miller, Geoff Johns, Joe Quesada, Donny Cates, Frank Cho, Simone Bianchi, and Adam and Andy Kubert.

C2E2 Chicago

C2E2 Chicago (March 31-April 2)

(tickets: Ticket Information (c2e2.com)

Held in downtown Chicago at McCormick Place, this Reed Pop-run show immediately became a “must-go” on the convention scene and food, lodging, and entertainment, are all close by (though the trains still don’t run direct to the venue). We last hit the show several years ago and are overdue for another weekend in the Windy City.

Guests of honor are actors Chris Evans and Tenoch Huerta aka Namor.. Creators scheduled to attend include Arthur Adams, Gene Ha, Joe Staton, Kevin McGuire, Scott Snyder, Sean Murphy, Tony Daniel, and Kyle Higgins.

HeroesCon Charlotte

Heroes Con Charlotte (June 16-18)

(tickets: HEROESCON 2023 :: TICKETS | Eventbrite )

Founded in 1982, this large but small show remains one of the most comic-centric and fan-friendly shows in the country. Usually held over Fathers Day weekend, we loved being there over a decade ago, and can’t wait to return.

Celeb guests: none! This is a real old-school comic convention!

Creators attending include Alan Davis, Mike Grell, Ron Frenz, Lee Weeks, Bill Sienkiewicz, Michael Cho,Matt Kindt, Michael Golden, Rick Leonardi, and numerous others.

Comic Con International San Diego)

Comic Con International: San Diego (July 20-23)

(tickets: Badge Info | Comic-Con International: San Diego )

This is the show that defined the culture and brought the phrase “comic con” into general conversation. The country’s best-known entertainment and pop culture experience, hotels and tickets...err, badges are sold a year in advance through a very specific process, and of course, all is already sold out. World premiere screenings, A-list surprise appearances, and large-scale studio booths are just some of what’s in store.

Initial creator appearances have been announced (including Jim Lee, Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez, Frank Miller, Jock, and Dan Slott) with no schedule highlights yet announced, but anyone who is anyone, will likely be appearing.

Comiket Tokyo)

Comiket (mid-August / December)

(tickets: コミックマーケット100チケット販売について (comiket.co.jp)

Held at Big Sight in South Tokyo both in mid-August and again in December, The Comic Market (Comiket) is the largest comic-related gathering in the world.

Comiket primarily focuses on acting as a communal exchange place for self-published books, known as dojinshi. Japanese dictionaries define dojinshi as self-published material aimed toward like-minded individuals and they also invite any publication (books, music, films, software, etc.) published by individuals not available through standard commercial outlets.

Baltimore Comic Con)

Baltimore Comic Con (September 8-10)

(tickets: Baltimore Comic Con :: GrowTix )

Self-described as “America’s greatest comic book convention”, this like Heroes Con, is a true comic convention that focuses on the hobby, and is a perennial favorite among creators. The venue is in downtown Baltimore (close to the Ravens Stadium) with good infrastructure and plenty of amenities very near the venue.

Celeb /wrestling guests: none! Creators announced so far include Brian Bendis, Howard Chaykin, Frank Cho, Greg Hildebrandt, Al Milgrom, Louise and Walt Simonson, Steve Rude, and Mark Waid.

New York Comic Con)

New York Comic Con (October 12-15)

(tickets: Ticket Pricing and Info (newyorkcomiccon.com))

On paper, this is actually the biggest, most-attended show in the country (some say San Diego under reports their numbers to avoid fire marshall troubles). It takes over the huge Javits Center on Manhattan’s lower West Side and is another well-run Reed Pop show that often features many older classic comic creators as well as newer ones, and entertainment guests.

Guest lists have yet to be revealed but expect plenty of A-List names in all categories.

Lucca Comics and Games – Lucca, IT (November 1-5)

(tickets: Lucca Comics & Games - Molto più di un festival (luccacomicsandgames.com))

Europe’s biggest and the second largest in the world, last year’s show featured special guest Tim Burton and sold a record 320,000 tickets. This year’s show will be it’s 58^th annual, and will, as usual, present their highly regarded international awards of distinction (Yellow Kid Award, Gran Guinigi, etc).

Ticket prices are reasonable and creators appearing represent a wide selection of international artists as well as a few more familiar names, with the show’s gaming portion as or more popular, than the comic side. 

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sci-Fi 2022: Andor, The Peripheral, and Quantum Leap

Read More Star Wars No one likes The Book of Boba Fett. The story is slow, and more than half of it is told in flashback. No one seems to know what the point of the new Boba Fett show is all about. ....

Andor (2022)
disney.com

It seems like no one is watching Andor… or at least you rarely hear people talking about this Star Wars new television show on Disney Plus. Maybe it’s because fans are tired of Star Wars or maybe they’re just not interested in this weird prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One?

For what’s it worth, I think Andor is possibly the best Star Wars television show since The Mandorian.

Andor is about Cassian Andor, five years prior to Rogue One. He starts off with an accidental murder, and follows his story of a grand heist. It’s weird but by episode 6 or 7, the show turned into a prison story. Personally speaking, I didn’t care for the prison story, but the overall story of building a rebellion against the empire is interesting. You can see how the empire started off as bringing order to the galaxy, but slowly turns dark and evil…

The cast is amazing, obviously some were from the film, including Forest Whitaker, reprising his role as a younger Saw Gerrera.

I really love the puppet master, Luthen Rael, who is trying to build this organized rebellion. That amazing starship fight at the end of Andor shows us that he is a real bad-ass! All this time the character is in the shadows and working behind the scene… but when it he’s forced to make a move - he can really throwdown!

Coming off the very disappointing (and boring) Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi television show, Andor was a true delight. It gives me hope that Disney is heading in the right direction, when it comes to quality writing… and I’m very excited to see what Andor Season 2 will bring to Star Wars canon.

Description:

The “Andor” series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.

Read More Westworld HBO has been struggling to find its new hit show since Game of Thrones ended (and it ended badly). Westworld potentially could have been the next-Game of Thrones, but unfortunately Season 2 of Westworld was not good. …

The Peripheral (2022)
amazon.com

There is a great new Sci-Fi television show called The Peripheral that airs on Friday on Amazon Prime. The premier was October 21st, and currently we can only view up to episode 5. So far, I’m loving it.

The series takes place in the future, and centers around Flynne Fisher (played by Chloë Grace Moretz). She thinks she’s trying out some new VR game… but in reality, she’s remote controlling something. I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure if you look online, you can find out more.

The show was based on a 2014 book of the same name written by William Gibson and has a Westworld vibe… maybe because Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers.

Although I am enjoying the show, there are some things that I don’t really think is realistic. For example, there are some some technology from the future that made its way to people in the past. Stuff like invisible cars or sonic blasters… yet no one in the show is surprised or calling in the government. There is also the issue of a hit squad trying to kill Fisher, but they were taken out by Fisher’s brothers and his squad. It was like, huh?

Fisher’s brother is ex-military, and his buddies are all former military… including a triple amputee character, so maybe they can take out a hit squad, but I didn’t really believe it.

Anyway, it’s a good show, I would try and tune in on Friday to see how the story unfolds. Sometime the show is super violent, but if you can stomach it, you’ll like the show.

Description:

The Peripheral centers on Flynne Fisher, a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow's America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future. Until the future comes calling for her. The Peripheral is master storyteller William Gibson’s dazzling, hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind — and what lies beyond.

Read More Quantum Leap Dean Stockwell (American actor and recording artist), 85 Former Quantum Leap star Dean Stockwell, an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor whose stage, film and TV career spanned more than 70 years and 200 credits, has died ... via deadline.com …

Quantum Leap (2022)
nbc.com

You guys know I love the original Quantum Leap, so I was excited to see that NBC has brought the show back for 2022.

In the original series, Sam Beckett is trying to get home by leaping into random bodies. Each episode is a mystery, and with the help of Al, the hologram from the future, and the computer Ziggy, they work out the mystery and Dr Beckett leaps.

Unfortunately, they’ve decided to go in a different direction in the new show. In the new Asian Quantum Leap, Dr. Ben Song deliberately jumps into the past to save someone. The show is half in the past and half of it is in the future. I absolutely hated whenever you see the future. Who cares about the future characters?

The cast now is diverse, an Asian lead, a white woman hologram, they/them programmer, a black director, an Asian security person… it’s a whole rainbow roster. I hate it that they try and please everybody. I suppose none of that matters, but if only the stories and acting are good. The writing is predictable, and everyone gets so emotional. Think The CW, only on NBC.

The best episode so far is the latest, Episode 8. It’s about four runaway students from some sort of school and they get lost in the woods. In the original history, the kids are never seen again… so it’s up to Ben to save them all with the help of his girlfriend hologram.

Description:

Physicist Ben Song and a newly revamped team embark on a journey through time.

Read more Movies and Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek)

Read More Nichelle Nichols Finally, did you know that Nichelle Nichols (the actress that plays Lieutenant Uhura) have released not one, but two albums ? I actually didn't know she was a recording artist until I started doing research for this article. …

Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura from the original Star Trek series, has died on Saturday. She was 89 years old.

We did see her at Wizard World Minneapolis in 2017, but were not allowed to take her photo. To be honest, I thought she looked worse for wear, requiring an assistant and wheelchair to get around.

For Star Trek and music fans, Nichelle Nichols releaesd two albums, Down to Earth and Out of This World.

Variety noted Nichols’ landmark moment:

Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in television history on “Star Trek.” That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the part of her, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on “Movin’ With Nancy,” Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned. The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.

Read more Musicians who died in 2022

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Strange Tales: Men and Crimes of the Future

Men (2022) Read More Alex Garland I am a big fan of A24, the film distributor/producer, ever since Alex Garland’s excellent film Ex Machina in 2015. To be fair, I’m a big Garland fan, owning all his films, including Dredd (owned this twice!), 28 Days Later …

Men (2022)
a24films.com

I love Alex Garland, I love A24, so naturally, I sought out this film. Men is a folk horror film. The Green Man element (the nature part) of the film really reminded me of former horror films like The Wicker Man and Midsomer… all under that folk horror subcategory.

Men is about a woman named Harper Marlowe, who is trying to heal and cope after her husband’s suicide. She goes on holiday at a nice quiet Cotson manor in a small village.

It’s anything but a relaxing stay, as slowly it becomes a horror story about a woman trying to survive all alone. At first, it’s just small, everyday out of place things, like seeing a shadowy figure on the other side of the tunnel. Seeing a naked man outside of an abandoned structure. Those kind of weird unsettling things.

While the first half of the film is slow-burning horror… the second part is more intense and in your face. It’s clear that someone, or perhaps something supernatural, is stalking Harper. Is it in her head or is it real?

Personally speaking, I would have prefer if the movie would have been vague about reality vs the supernatural… but at the end, it’s all supernatural, especially the end with the various birthing.

To me, how I interpreted the film, that the whole thing was in Harper’s head, down her her crashing her car.

Like Garland’s previous Devs television show, I thought the title was bad. My thoughts for Men is the same… the name is just a bad name for a horror film. I know it’s cliché, but they could’ve just called this A Haunting at Cotson Manor, and it would’ve been a better title.

Crimes of the Future (2022) Read More David Cronenberg I'm a big David Cronenberg fan, owning many of his releases on DVDs (including Rabid, Fast Company, The Brood, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Crash, Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises) so I'm really in no hurry to make …

Crimes of the Future (2022)
crimesofthefuture.film

I love David Cronenberg and own many Cronenberg films, including Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly. I even thought eXistenZ was genius, but for whatever reason, Crimes of the Future didn’t sit right (pun intended for the weird chair in the film) with me.

I actually own Cronenberg’s student film Crimes of the Future from 1970, but it’s not related to the 2022 film… it only shares the title. In this new film, it’s about how humans have evolved beyond or adapted to their polluted environment.

The story is about this guy named Saul Tenser, who has this syndrome, where his body develops new organs. They would constantly remove these new organs and use the surgery as performance art. The whole thing is weird… but it’s definitely a Cronenberg concept of using surgery as a metaphor for sex (like how he used car crashes as sex in Crash).

While I think the concepts and ideas are interesting, it doesn’t make for a good story, in my opinion. The story doesn’t really go anywhere and it just felt boring to me.

Personally speaking, I wish Cronenberg would do more of a eXistenZ sequel, or expand, on the video game/reality story. You can certainly explore more and go further, because it’s a brand new world of Cronenberg’s creation and not bound by rules of the earth… even if it’s in the future.

If you’re looking for a fresh Cronenberg perspective, I suggest checking out his son, Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor. This is a hard-core science fiction/horror film that is a lot more exciting than Crimes of the Future. If you want to stay in the David Cronenberg films, I suggest watching Videodrome and Scanners… they are classic Cronenberg.

Read more Movies and Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

MegaCon Orlando 2022 recap (part one)

Read More MegaCon It was with heavy heart but great admiration to be present for the George Pérez memorial service hosted at MegaCon Orlando inside the sprawling Orange County Convention Center. …

Though it only may be the unofficial start of Summer, it is definitely the official start of comic convention season and we packed up our Avengers Quinjet to fly down to Orlando, FL for the Southeast’s largest show, MegaCon Orlando 2022.

Comic book shows have been held in Central Florida since the 70s, and this particular show began in 1993, with now-defunct publisher CrossGen purchasing it in 1999, and its current UK owner, Informa, taking charge in 2015 under its Fan Expo banner.  Fan Expo more recently also assumed all of the former Wizard World conventions, to host numerous cons in major US/Canadian cities. 

Because of the global pandemic, this four-day show was its true return to form, and with anticipation very high, attendance over the Thursday-Sunday event completely exceeded previous attendance records, as 140,000+ went to the gigantic Orange County Convention Center, resulting in very busy aisles, local traffic congestion and full parking lots, and elbow-to-elbow crowds on its busiest day, Saturday. 

All variations of pop culture were represented, from comics to sci-fi, horror to anime, fantasy to traditional and online gaming, and so much more.  Being located close to the Space Coast, NASA even had a display and hosted several science panels. 

Cosplayers were predictably everywhere, though instead of one large competition to showcase costumes, there was a daily afternoon Cosplay Runway for those to show off their elaborate designs. 

Celebrity guests over the weekend included the casts of Cobra Kai, Clerks, the Hobbit films, numerous voice actors and wrestlers, Lorraine Bracco, LeVar Burton, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Nathan Fillion, Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan, James Marsters, and Brent Spiner. 

Comic book creators included several marquee names as well as more recent artists, many traveling in from Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, South Korea, and Singapore and included: Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Greg Capullo, Donny Cates, Tony Daniel, Werther Dell'Edera, Tom King, Adam Kubert, Stanley Artgerm Lau, Inhyuk Lee, Tula Lotay, Marco Mastrazzo, Francesco Mattina, Frank Miller, Ryan Stegman, Mico Suayan, Ivan Tao, James Tynion IV, Ram V, and Zeb Wells, among many others. 

Many of the highest profile events were monetized and involved additional admission, though it was fairly easy to see celebrities in separate panels rather than together (i.e. all four Hobbit stars had their own panels, but their group discussion was at a paid premium).

Artist creator panels often doubled as a fan Q+A along with a friendly sketch duel, involving two or more talents, and there were tribute remembrance panels for recently lost major comic artists, Neal Adams and George Pérez, for fans to share their feelings and stories. 

How-to panels were hosted for those interested in creation of their own costumes, models, games, or tournaments, meetups and speeding dating, and official afterparties were also part of the busy schedule. 

We’ll get into a little more detail in a follow-up column, but it looked to be an overall huge success and the show has already confirmed its next dates- MegaCon Orlando 2023 will occur March 30-April 2.

(click any image to enlarge and see in full)

Unknown Comics booth

Human Claw Machine

sketch duel Bill Morrison v Alex Saviuk

Sketch duel Ryan Stegman v Ryan Ottley

Thing v. Hulk display

Masters of the Universe

1960s Batmobile

Cosplay

Cosplay: My Hero Academia balloons

Cosplay: Ghostbusters

Cosplay: Rocky Horror Picture Show

Cosplay: Warhammer

Friday Crowd at MegaCon Orlando 2022

Marco Mastrazzo, Marco Turini

Jim Shooter

Bueno Dell' Edera Tynion comic panel

Lorraine Bracco

Clerks cast

Ralph Macchio and the Cobra Kai cast at MegaCon Orlando 2022

 

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

A24

Read More Son Lux Max Tundra, No Age, The Ruby Suns, Rustie, Son Lux, Sun Airway, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Taken By Trees, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), YACHT, and many more. …

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EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)
a24films.com

A24 recently announced the Everything Everywhere All At Once Official Motion Picture Soundtrack by Son Lux (Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, and Ian Chang). The film was directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka “The Daniels”) and is about a Sci-Fi/Comedy adventure of a Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to finish her taxes.

I haven’t seen the film, but obviously, you know I’ll eventually check out the film.

As for the soundtrack, it’s a massive 49 songs collection, featuring collaborations with Mitski & David Byrne in duet, Randy Newman, and Moses Sumney.

With so many songs (two years in the making and resulting in over two hours of new music), I believe the soundtrack is digital-only… at least for now. If they want to release it on CD, it would have to be multiple discs.

Read More Climax Gaspar Noé’s films are not for everybody. You have to keep that in mind, as you watch his latest film, Climax. The movie is just a very long dance sequence into hell. There is not much of a … Devs I think the show’s title, Devs, is a bad one. I didn’t know what that title would imply, and it took a lot of recommendations from friends and family, before I begrudgingly decided to check it out … Kid Cudi One of the artist songwriter/producer (and actor!) Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi), has a new third album Indicud. If you're into the DJ/remix scene, chances are you've heard of Cudi, who was "discovered" …

X (2022)
a24films.com

I am a big fan of A24, the film distributor/producer, ever since Alex Garland’s excellent film Ex Machina in 2015. To be fair, I’m a big Garland fan, owning all his films, including Dredd (owned this twice!), 28 Days Later (DVD), Annihilation (Digital), and Devs (which is not available on Bluray at the moment).

Just to give you an idea, A24 is responsible for many of my favorite films, including The Witch (2016), Green Room (2016), Climax (2018), Midsommar (2019), and The Green Knight (2021).

X is like A24’s answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The X film follows a group of filmmakers and actors, heading to a small town in Texas in 1979, to make a pornographic movie. Basically, they all get murdered in horrible ways.

The most interesting thing about the film is that it stars Mia Goth (who got her start in the porno-ish film Nymphomaniac) and Kid Cudi who plays the “man whore”.

While earlier, I dismissed the film for its lack of story, I suppose if you look closer, especially hearing the dialogues from the porno director, RJ. RJ continuously defends his porno film, saying that he’s making “art”, etc. It’s unconvincing, of course, but in many ways, perhaps the real director, Ti West, is saying that he’s making his horror film as “art”. It’s a horror film, let’s just leave it at that.

There’s also a little twist at the end of the film, which I won’t spoil, that surprised me and suddenly one of the character’s motivation and her dialogue made a lot of sense to me.

What is even more amazing is that the end of X isn’t really the end. Apparently, the film’s sequel, Pearl was shot back-to-back during production of X. The film will star Mia Goth again, as a younger pearl (I found out that she actually played Pearl in X, but under heavy makeup).

I’m definitely looking forward to Pearl… any A24 film, I will give it a try.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Incomplete Films: Dune and Halloween Kills

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DUNE
legendary.com

Many say that Frank Herbert’s book Dune was unfilmable… but I think director Denis Villeneuve did a fantastic job with his adaption, at least the first part, of the book. David Lynch made an attempt at bringing the book to screen in 1984, but it’s hard to follow or understand… while Alejandro Jodorowsky (the man who made such cult classics like The Holy Mountain and El Topo) tried and failed to get his Dune version made.

While the action, the world, and characters, are all amazing, the problem with the 2021 film is that there is no ending, no resolution. The film basically ends at the point when Paul, from house Atreides, finds the people of Dune (actually the film only refers to this planet as Arrakis), the Fremen people.

My other problem with the film are some of the characters. Duncan Idaho is a cool, bad-ass character… but when it’s played by Jason Momoa, I just felt like he’s doing Aquaman. His colorful character didn’t blend in with the tone of the other moody, “serious” characters. The other character, Chani (played by Zendaya), who is promoted in the trailers, hardly appears in the film. Her role may be bigger in the next film, but in Part 1, she has like maybe four lines in the film.

As a result of the (lack of) ending, it just felt that Dune is an incomplete film. That’s my only complaint about the film. Otherwise, they did a great job in making the dense book comprehensible to the average viewer.

Watching the film, you can see that clearly the story and ideas inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars and other works (I can also see elements of it in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones).

The 2021 film is so good that I’m inspired to re-watch the David Lynch film and seeking out the Sci-Fi mini-series… just to see the differences.

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HALLOWEEN KILLS
peacocktv.com

You know I love John Carpenter. Carpenter’s original Halloween film inspired so many slasher films, like Friday the 13th. The latest Halloween film, Halloween Kills, is number 12 in the movie franchise. Halloween Kills is the sequel and 2/3 of the trilogy started by 2018’s Halloween film.

In this trilogy, it ignores all the previous Halloween films, including H20, except for the original film. If you follow that timeline, then 1978’s Halloween started the story… then 40 years later, Michael Myers, escaped from the psychiatric hospital, to go back on his murdering spree.

Halloween Kills takes place only minutes after the 2018 film, so I suggest you re-watch that for a refresher, so you can follow the story in the 2021 film.

Despite all the gruesome kills, this is an awful movie. Lead actress Jamie Lee Curtis spends pretty much the entire film in a hospital, while the town folks of Russellville is in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the entire town is written so poorly, that you almost root for Myers to kill them all. I hated everyone in the film, including the stupid kids, portrayed in the film.

Basically, the movie is about the townsfolk vs Michael Myers – and guess who wins? That’s the movie, unfortunately, you’ll have to come back for Halloween Ends to see how the story ends.

Perhaps when I see all three films, Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends, I can fully appreciate what they’ve done… but, right now, Halloween Kills seems like a filler. I almost feel like you can skip this film entirely and go straight for the ending (which won’t come out until 2022).

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sci-Fi 2020

Read More Films As a Christmas gift to myself, I decided to get one of my favorite Scanners on Criterion Blu-Ray. This three-disc edition is a nice upgrade to my MGM DVD. I haven't had a chance to look over the special …

POSSESSOR (2020)
possessormovie.com

One of the goriest, most disturbing films of all time, Possessor came out on 4K/Bluray/DVD earlier in October 2020 … but I finally bought it recently. Wow, I would agree with Film Threat calling this film “the first great Sci-Fi Horror movie of the decade.”

I would put this film in the Horror category… the Sci-Fi elements comes from the technology that allows the Possessor, Tasya Vos, to take control of another person using a remote circuitry that is inserted in the victim’s head. In this film, it appears to be the future, but at the same time, all the buildings and furniture looks like they’re from the 70s… so you can’t quite place your finger on the timeline (however, according to the movie, it took place in 2008!).

The story is not perfect, for example, I’m more curious about how the authorities have not cracked down (or even aware) of this monstrous remote assassination company? Or the fact that there is not anti-possessor technology?

The film also suffers from pacing, with some scenes going on too long. For example, there are scenes that are so extreme and over-the-top, that it felt over indulgent on Brandon Cronenberg’s part. It’s like he wants to shock us, or daring the movie industry to censor him, or maybe trying to live up to his dad (David Cronenberg). Do we need to zoom in on a person’s head being bashed in and losing his teeth? Wait, we’ll turn it up a notch and poke out his eye. The camera does not flinch, it just focusses on the horrifying act. Maybe it wasn’t very long, but it felt like an eternity.

Speaking of which, it definitely feels like a (David) Cronenberg film… and although this is only Brandon’s second film, I am very excited to see more from this young director.

Otherwise, the film is very interesting. After seeing a successful assassination using the Possessor’s method, we’re briefed on Vos’ next assignment: possessing Colin Tate to murder his fiancé and her father. Of course, the problem is that Vos lost control of her host, shortly after the murders, and now Colin is trying to get to the bottom of this horrific crime.

The ending is pretty shocking… and I recommend checking out the Uncut version.

PS, I bought this film on Bluray, but realized that I intentionally bought the Rated R version. It is annoying, I wish Well Go USA would have just packaged the Uncut and Rated version onto one release.

PARALLEL (2018)
vert-ent.com

The Sci-Fi thriller Parallel came out in 2018, via the movie festival circuit, but it was finally officially release “in Theaters” and streaming media on December 11, 2020.

I have to say that this is a pretty indie smart Science Fiction thriller. The film reminds me of Time Lapse (2014), which is another low-budget film around a stationary camera that takes photos one day in the future. In Parallel, the story revolves around a station mirror that allows a person to enter into another parallel dimension.

Some problems I had with the film is how the group of four friends discovered the hidden room and mirror. I know the four friends are smart, but it seems really questionable how they all arrived in the same conclusion of this magical mirror.

Like television show, Counterpart, the two dimensions are the same… but there are minor differences. In Counterpart, the scientists made one small “Butterfly Effect” that made the two universes to be completely different. In Parallel, there are characters that doesn’t exist or have died early, so the two universes are not the same. However, if you take Counterpart’s logic that one tiny change could result in a completely different world… it doesn’t work that way in Parallel. So, accepting Parallel’s world as almost identical to the real world is not believable (especially if the dead person may have children or affected someone else’s lives…)

Anyway, the friends work out that one minute of the parallel universe time is actually three hours in their world. They also work out that every time they enter that other universe, it’s a completely different dimension - meaning that any mark they left in that other world is reset or completely gone when they re-enter the mirror.

The four friends took advantage of this other universe by using that time difference to work on their software. Then they keep abusing the portal for self-gain, like stealing money or ideas from the other world. For example, you can spend a few months in the other world to see what’s popular and then come back with that same “idea”. There are no consequences, because that other time cease to exist when they return back to their normal world (at least that’s the theory).

The story is fun, fast-pacing, and you can easily follow what’s going on. Things gets out of control when one of the characters is mortally wounded. I won’t go on about what happened next, but it does come to a very logical conclusion.

TENET (2020)
tenetfilm.com

One of the most anticipated films of all time, Tenet, finally came out on 4K, Bluray, DVD, and digital, on December 15, 2020. This Sci-Fi/Action thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan was delayed numerous times due to COVID-19, but when it was finally released, it failed to save cinema.

Maybe I’m just stupid, but Nolan’s high-concept and directional choices left me confused and disinterested in the story. I will try to explain the story, as to the best of my understanding. The film is about a CIA agent (unnamed), working for a secret organization, Tenet, trying to uncover the mystery of these bullets from the future. The bullets are reversed, so you don’t “fire” the gun, but “catch” the bullet, because of its “inverted” properties.

The film plays around with time and the idea of time. Nolan is no stranger to these concepts, considering that his first big breakout film, Memento, was told from the ending to the beginning.

While the concept of reversing time through these artifacts from the future, the story and dialogues are often confusing. You’re told that the world will end with this formula, some algorithm, but it’s a vague idea. Why was this formula so dangerous? Why are reverse explosions dangerous? You never quite understand. Most of the “technical” dialogues and characters talking are nonsensical to me. Maybe it’s because they’re British, but it’s shouldn’t be so hard to follow?

Anyway, the film is a mess, and I already hated The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar… so Tenet is Nolan’s third strike for me.

So, yeah, I don’t recommend Tenet. You’re better off enjoying any movie with a start, a middle, and an ending. Maybe Nolan is ahead of his time, but for the present time, I am not a fan.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic