S.H.I.E.L.D. TV

ABC has greenlit a live-action pilot based on the S.H.I.E.L.D. team! The rumor is that Joss Whedon is teaming up with his brother Jed and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen to write the show. And yes, I had to look her name up and I am still not convinced I spelled it correctly.

Nothing is written in stone and I don't have any inside information whatsoever, but wouldn't it be great if they did actually pull this off? Who among us doesn't miss Buffy or wish that Angel had gone on just a bit longer. Need I mention Firefly?

We have needed Joss and he came through on the big screen with the Avengers and  the upcoming Avengers continuation. But we also need him on the small screen, reminding us that life is complicated, painful and bearable because we have people that stand beside us.

In addition to Joss, Jed and Maurissa helped to bring us Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog (and I do sing along). I am looking forward to anything these three dream up.

Thanks Joss, you never let us down.

The Newsroom

Before I begin, I need to disclose that I am indeed a HUGE fan of Aaron Sorkin. If I could get Aaron and Joss in a room together I think my mind would just go all explodey. Yes, new word, use it.

Aaron had me at Sports Night, then of course I followed him to West Wing and ran with him into Studio 60. I loved these shows because they had such heart, such feeling. Words are not wasted with Aaron, he uses them to evoke and to entice. There isn't a single episode he has written in which I did not at some point cry and then laugh. His views on love, friendship and loyalty are what I would hope we all strive for, the world would be a better place.

Now he has The Newsroom an aptly named show which concerns well.. here is the official blurb:

From the mind of Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and screenwriter of The Social Network and Moneyball,  comes The Newsroom,  a behind-the-scenes look at the people who make a nightly cable-news program. Focusing on a network anchor (played by Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), the newsroom staff (John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Olivia Munn, Dev Patel) and their boss (Sam Waterston), the series tracks their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles-not to mention their own personal entanglements.

Ultimately, it is a show about people, extraordinary people who are regaining the honor and dignity of what it meant to "do the news". It is about ordinary people, once the news is done, that have hopes, dreams, tragedy and sorrow. To me, this show is a love story, as I believe are most of Aaron's shows.

It is HBO, so I think that limits a lot of people from seeing this wonderful show, but perhaps Hulu and other online avenues will open up. I currently watch it on HBO GO on my kindle fire. You have to have a subscription to HBO, but it is mobile and I can watch it while our 9 year old watches the same episode of ICarly or Disney channel show for the billionth time. (Actually I think ICarly isn't bad, good writers there)

Anyway, you should give The Newsroom a try, you may find a new passion.

The Reboot (or) The Hulk Infinitive

The Amazing Spiderman comes out in theatres on July 3rd. The question isn't, will it be a good movie, chances are it will be better or as good as the Sam Raimi directed trilogy. The real question is, why do another spiderman origin movie so soon after the trilogy? They aren't exactly the same, true, but they are similar enough at the core to warrant some pause as to why we  felt it necessary to make another go of it.

Is this becoming a trend, much like the trend of franchising movies into three or four parts?

I get the desire to tell the version you feel really strongly about. The Hulk is a good example here. Ang Lee, who I am sure does fine work, did a horrible job of representing not only the Hulk, but every character in the story. I can see why it was slotted for a do-over.





I believe that a rebooting a movie can be done well and it can be done badly and it's all in the timing. Did the Hulk need it? Yes, god yes. Does Spiderman? Not really. What is next, reboot the Harry Potter saga with new actors? Didn't like the Avengers? Let's reboot that too...

The American novelist, Ellen Glasgow said, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”

The reboot, as a trend, will ultimately destroy the already tenuous creativity in the movie industry. Production funding is like water, it will find the easiest path.

I want to see a great movie, done with care and passion. I don't want to see someone else's version of a great movie with the "New Improved" label on it.

To Cool For School

It’s kind of funny how the times change.  I swear, if I was a teen now, I’d be so freakin’ cool!

However, I’m not!   A teen or cool.

No, I don’t wish to relive THOSE years but it just kills me sometimes to realize that the dork I was back in the day would be practically the coolest kid in school by the standards of today. 

Maybe not.

I was really introverted but that was really because no one got my humor or my likes and they surely didn’t get me.  I went to school during the age of designer jeans and jocks.  I wasn’t the pretty blond nor was I athletic.  I was raised by a single mom and we didn’t live in a cool house.  The area I grew up in was rich and it was petty.  It still is, sadly.

However, I look at my children and I see the same dorkiness I myself possessed (without the high doses of shy) and they do really great.  They only have a few friends but those friends are good friends.  They are into fandoms and music and art and they aren’t treated like lepers for it.  If they decided to go to school dressed like it is 1982 or 1967, it doesn’t matter because they are only expressing themselves.  If they get said clothes from Good Will that’s even cooler.  Today’s kids don’t realize that if it weren’t for geeks and freaks like me back in the day they wouldn’t be so free to be themselves. 

We fought the battlefields of wedgies and abuse just for the right to read Douglas Adams without ridicule.  We stood up to the ignorant jocks and the shallow beauty queens just so we were able to listen to classic rock and give reports on The Who’s Tommy.  We were the ones that laid the paths with our own blood and tears just so kids these days can dress up as anime characters at cons and not get beaten up for it.

They just don’t appreciate what we gave up for them so that they could be so bloody cool.

Now, to be a geek is cool, mainstream, almost…too much.  When you can see a fashion model wearing an 8-bit MineCraft diamond pickaxe necklace that you’re just so sure she doesn’t get or that tee-shirt that says she’s a Ravenclaw (RIGHT!!!) and you die just a little bit on the inside.  I know there are geeks and dorks and nerds in every corner of the world but sometimes you just know that some people are just doing it because it’s cool and they really don’t get it.  I have a shirt that has a picture of the TARDIS and it says ‘Let’s play Doctor’ and I can’t begin to tell you how many people JUST DON’T GET IT!  Now, I don’t expect people to get the more obscure of my geek stuffs but I would hope people would at least understand my COEXIST shirt.

Or not.

Anyway, my point is these kids nowadays just don’t appreciate how hard it was for us geeks.  They just don’t appreciate how easy it is for them.  

Canon Fodder

It used to be that I would make fun of the overly zealous fanatics in fandom.  Yes, the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters was very different from the movies but it’s all cool even if Egon is a blond and Slimer is now a full on member of the team.  It’s all good, right?  I used to be very forgiving of change and manipulation to canon that, looking back, probably made me a bad fan.

Then I realized, a few days ago, that I’ve now become a crazy uber fan that hates canon change.

Let me explain:

Doctor Who ~ Good as Gold

Let me explain further…

Blue Peter had yet another Doctor Who contest for kids.  Three little girls wrote a script and Steven Moffat picked the winning script to be turned into the little mini DW episode seen below.

It is cute and sweet and not only TOTALLY INACCURATE but CANONICALLY UNSTABLE!!!

(Things are about to explode, so watch out!)

Now, while I totally appreciate and fully believe in inspiring children to write and I think these little girls are freakin’ adorable, I utterly blame Steven for this travesty.

Watch out, Amy!  Companion competition!

Now, my facts may be off here (and I’ve just spent an hour trying to verify the info) but I believe Russell T Davies had negated a few of the Classic Who books with a few of his Tenth Doctor episodes.  I’ll let this slide as not many have read the books and a lot of the New Who fans ignore anything Classic Who.  (WHY? I JUST DON’T KNOW!)

Anyway, this little short written by the adorable, cute, sweet little girls should make me smile and awwww and not be utterly put off by:

                           

                      A)     A Weeping Angel on the TARDIS and is apparently still on-board.

                      B)      The Sonic Screwdriver being used as a 'killing' weapon.  (Would not happen!)

                      C)      The Doctor DOUBLING OVER HIS OWN TIMELINE IN A FIXED POINT!!!

See, there is this little episode called ‘Fear Her’ and it featured a little girl named Chloe Webber.  Chloe had an alien called an Isolus.  It gave her the ability to trap people inside her drawings.  After trapping the Doctor and Rose releasing him, he ran with the Olympic Torch to the stadium, lit the flame and then went back to Rose.

Of course, he mustn’t have noticed the TARDIS parked in the middle of the stadium so the other torch bearer ran inside.  I mean, he’s a bit of a ditz at times but I do like to believe he might’ve noticed something like that.

This kind of messes with canon and this is also why a lot of people were put out by Matt Smith running with the torch in Cardiff.  I was actually happy for the little klutz.  

Matt, Matt, Matt of the TARDIS

Dorky as can be...

AHHHHHH! Watch out for that random middle-aged man-child dressed like Davros standing in the middle of the road...

*TRIPS*

Awwww, Matt!

There were loads of others that had hoped it would be David Tennant.  See, this is what happens when you promise us chocolate but you deliver pixie sticks instead. (Both good, but vastly different.)

Now, there are plenty of people that jumped down my throat to point out that it was a kids contest.  Again, I do understand this fact.  My issue is with Steven for choosing it knowing that ‘Fear Her’ would still be fresh in people’s memories and he should have taken that into consideration.  I like Steven.  I had expected better.

A few years ago, I may have been willing to ignore this and it wouldn’t have bothered me.  Hell, I read fanfiction and canon is practically raped in those stories but they aren’t filmed and put out there to be placed within canon.  It is hard to ignore something on film as being just a ‘cute little thing they did’ when they use the sets and actors from the show itself.  This is what everyone keeps missing.  The Real Ghostbusters was animated with different voice actors and could never really be a part of the Ghostbusters canon just like some people don’t consider novels in some fandoms to be a part of the actual canon either.  This, though, this is a different story and I’m utterly disappoint.

Steven, don’t be like George Lucas!

Your fans will be utterly displeased.

Happy Towel Day!!!

Today is the day we celebrate all things Douglas Adams.  I'm doing my part by sharing this mini pic-spam with you.

I've got mine!!!

Words of Wisdom!

Ford is ALWAYS prepared.

So, go read one of Adams' books.  Watch the movie or BBC version of Hitchhikers Guide.  Quote him.  Carry a towel.  Anything!  As long as you remember what a brilliant man he was and live today like the Vogons will be here tomorrow!

Things I Like:

I thought I'd share a couple of things in Geekdom that I am currently crushing heavily on.  I'll share these little tidbits with you as they tickle my fancy.  It's a very ticklish fancy so I can promise lots of geeky goodness.

First, I'd like to share with you the wonders of Steam Powered Giraffe.  This is a band that consists of The Jon, The Spine and Rabbit, three automatons that were...well, you can read their very detailed history on their site.  In real life they are Jonathan Sprague, Michael Bennett and Christopher 'Bunny' Bennett.  They are creative, amazingly talented and hysterical.

These are my two favourite songs that I cannot stop listening to:

Honeybee...

Brass Goggles...

These guys are also street performers in San Diego.  Here is one of my favourite street performances they do:

'BOBBY McDARIN!'

Okay, other than lovely automaton singing troupes, I also have a huge girl crush on Felicia Day.  (Really, though, who doesn't?)  Well, our favourite Geek-Girl not only has a great...well, what isn't she involved in?  She has a video blog.  It is called The Flog.  It is made of awesome with a side of 'I want to be her when I grow up!'  She has her five favourite things and she also has a bit where she learns a new skill set like being a blacksmith and learning about steampunk couture.  She also answers a fan question at the end of each episode.

 

She is so freakin' adorable!!!

There is a group of actors from Bad Dog Theatre that have been putting on a parody of Game of Thrones.  I WISH they would post full episodes and not just recaps because these guys are hilarious!  If you are a GoT fan you will totally appreciate the in-jokes.  If you aren't, the jokes are STILL funny!

Finally, I want to share a random meme of the day.  It may be old, it may be new but it will always be something that made me laugh.  (Also, it may not be daily as I tend to be forgetful!)  This one is for my Game of Thrones breathren!