Ghostbusters 101 Issue 3.

Issues 1 & 2 (and other stuff).

And now...

Issue #3.


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Big Summer Movies Part 5. (Part 2)

Part 1 (Guardians 2)

Next up, we have...


Alien Covenant (2017)

Previously with this franchise....

• All of them but Prometheus.
• Prometheus.

From the Prometheus review....

I'm sure hapless knuckleheads will be picked off one by one, and something will be flushed out of something.
And goo, there will be goo.

Yep.

So, this left a lot of unanswered questions, which hopefully will be answered in "Prometheus 2: The Search For Space-Jesus".

Hahaha!! NOPE!!!

Get ready to be as creeped out and tense as in Alien 1.
Then as pumped and amped by action as Alien 2.
Then as betrayed and gloomy as Alien 3.

Is it even worth looking forward to "Alien 7: How The Fuck Does This Mess Get Back Up To The First One?"?
Not for me.
I'm tapping out.
Bye!

Next time, Wonder Woman!!! (That HAS to cheer me back up)


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Lit review #12.

• #7 Catcher In The Rye, A Confederacy Of Dunces.
• #8 Doctor Sleep.
• #9 I Am Legend.
• #10 Ghosts From Our Past
• #11 Tobin's Spirit Guide 

Slash Of The Titans (2017)
(The Road To Freddy vs Jason)

Previously-

• I REDO the Freddys!
• I REDO the Jasons!

I've probably told this story a hundred times on here, but here it is again.
From when the Freddy glove grabbed the Jason mask at the end of "Jason Goes To Hell", to when "Freddy vs Jason", finally actually came out, was 10 fucking years of development hell.

And every year along they way, New Line was like "no, this year it's coming out for sure!!", so I kept falling for it, and getting all keyed up, and it was torture.
Goddamned torture.

So, this book finally reveals what the fucking holdup was, and what was actually going on.

Turns out, there was no one magic thing, there was no one evil/stupid asshole to blame, and New Line was just as frustrated as I was.

It's somewhat covered in "Never Sleep Again", and "Crystal Lake Memories", but with 20 minutes for each movie, they can only really summarize.
Both of those docs in the commentaries come right out and say "there's a whole separate documentary there of the development hell of Freddy/Jason, and all those crazy drafts".

Well, here we finally have it, but in book form.
Book form is better, you really need a deep dive into it, and a film can't do that.

The structure it goes with, is it describes each draft of the script, and interviews the writer of that script, plus a producer or actor, and in that process, the whole story and timeline gets laid out.

It starts with the first attempts Paramount actually tried back when Jason 6 came out (7 was actually a substitute for FvJ), then goes through "Jason Goes To Hell", to the final 2003 FvJ movie, to the "Freddy vs Jason vs Ash", comics, and up to now with everyone reflecting on it, and finishes off with Robert Englund.
Along the way, it even touches on the "Jason vs Leatherface", comics, and an FvJ video game that didn't get made because the flick was stuck in development.

Excellent.
Loved it.
Having this story on my shelf really gives me closure on that chunk of my life.
I'll treasure this thing.

The closest thing you can get to a "Never Sleep Again", Part 2.

If you're a Nightmare or Friday fan, this is a must.
But, even if you're just a general horror, or plain old film fan, this is a good insight into the development and screenwriting process.

This now sits proudly next to "Hollywood Monster (Robert Englund)", and "Wes Craven: The Man And His Nightmares (John Wooley)".

And...I guess that's it.
Until Mark Patton's "Scream, Queen", and Robert Englund's "Nightmares in the Makeup Chair".
See you then!


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Ranking the MCU so far (2017)

Every new review for the latest entry, I say "not as good as this one", or "better than that one".
Well, with 15 down, now's as good a time as any to put them in order as a baseline for future entries.
So, without further ado...

1. Captain America: Civil War

A lot of people have Winter Soldier here, and I don't blame 'em, but for me, this edges it out just a smidge. It's the Spider-Man sprinkles on top that really put it over the top.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Whether you have this as your number 1 or 2, I said this one edged out Avengers at the time it came out, and I stand by it.

3. The Avengers

Was the best superhero movie ever made for quite awhile.
Still in the top 3, not too shabby.

4. Guardians Of The Galaxy

It's Guardians, nuff said.

5. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

I wish I could mash Vol 1 & 2 into one movie, and that it could occupy 4, but, no, doesn't work that way.

6. Iron Man

Seen it again recently, and it still holds up.
Prototypes of franchises usually don't.
A damn good movie that laid the tracks for everything else.

7. Dr. Strange

Again, wish I could have this in a tie for best standalone with Iron Man and Ant-Man.

8. Ant-Man

Ditto what I just said for Dr. Strange.

9. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Been seeing this again rerun on Starz, and damn, it's good.
It gets better with re-watching.
But..I LOVE 1-8. Don't LOVE this one. Almost though....

10. Captain America : The First Avenger

Good start to an incredible trilogy, and retroactively the start of the whole universe.
But...again, don't love it.
Some do. Some have it right up in their top 5.
If you do, good for you.

11. Thor: The Dark World

Some people have this one their outright hate list.
It has flaws, but the good parts are really good.
Especially anything with Hiddleston's Loki.
Touching base with Loki in the aftermath of Avengers makes this one worth it.
Too bad Christopher Eccleston is so wasted.
I think that's the big source of bitterness for some fans.
I guess I can see that....
Also, so far, it blends into continuity second least of them all.
Maybe "Ragnarok", will tie it in better.

12. Thor

Same issues with the first Captain America.
Sets up a lot of great lore and characters that play out better later, but I just don't love it

13. The Incredible Hulk

I should have this higher, because I'm such a devoted Hulk-head, but...eh.
They were figuring this whole cinematic universe thing out.
Blends into continuity least of them all.
The re-casting of Ed Norton doesn't help.
Thunderbolt Ross in "Civil War", helps, so it balances out, but still...
The best of the standalone Hulks though.
He's much better in the Avengers flicks.
I'm betting heavily on "Thor: Ragnarok", being the best Hulk appearance ever.

14. Iron Man 3

At the time, I said this was the best of the 3 Iron Man standalones.
Eh...
I didn't have enough of phase 2 to compare it to.
And hey, wait, just noticed...the poster is a total rip of the "Thor: The Dark World", one!
Wait...chronologically...swap that.

15. Iron Man 2

Least good of them all, but still not bad.
IMHO, there isn't a BAD one of the bunch, just less and less good ones.
They're all watchable.
Plus, this one introduces Black Widow and War Machine, and they really pay off as great characters down the line.
Particularly Widow.
And the revelations in Winter Soldier and Civil War really give this one a boost when you go back to watch it.

So, there we go, and there they are.
See you next time for "Spider-Man: Homecoming", and "Thor: Ragnarok".


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Big Summer Movies Part 5. (Part 1)

And, we're back again!
A year to the day*, in fact!!
(*See Civil War below)

Previous cycles.

• Big Summer Movies Part 1.
• Big Summer Movies Part 2.
• Big Summer Movies Part 3.
• Big Summer Movies Part 4.
• The big 2016-2017 movie recap!

And, we start off with....


Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

Previously on MCU phase 3....

• Captain America: Civil War (first, second)
• Doctor Strange (first, second)

And previously on Guardians Of The Galaxy....

• Guardians Of The Galaxy (first, second, third)

I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!! :-D

• Doesn't capture the perfection on Guardians 1, but damn, it's good!
• B+ rather than an A.
• If you do the math on the flashbacks and flash-forwards, it happens in 2014, so it's only  a month after the first one.
• Gunn knows how to squeeze the tears out of you. There's choke-up moments.
• Everyone gets a moment to shine, even frigging Nebula!!
• Chock full of Easter eggs, and 5 pre/mid/after credits scenes.
• Best Stan Lee cameo ever!
• Howard The Duck is back!
• More Baby Groot than you can shake a stick at!
• Setups for both Guardians 3, and Infinity War.
• Stallone is going to figure big in Guardians 3.
• More 70's and 80's nostalgia than you can shake a stick at! 
• 8 year old me would have worshiped these movies.

Definitely go see it!
Well, if you fell in love with the first one, of course you're going to go see it.
And...who the Hell didn't like the first one?
Nazis, probably.

Next time, this again, or Alien: Covenant.

As I mentioned here, if I see the same movie twice or thrice, I'll update it in comments of the first time, instead of doing a whole separate review.
Linking all those links has just gotten too clunky.
Takes me 30-40 minutes constructing the post before I can even write my fuggin' review.


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I don't h8 the 90's anymore (Part 1).

Previously....

• I H8 the 90's.
• I H8 the 90's (part 2)
• I H8 the 90's (part 3)
• The Best Of: I h8 the 90's.

The beautiful thing about the past, is that it's gone.
All you've got is memories, and you can tinker with how you look at those.
That's the real fucking time travel.
So, let's use some time travel to reclaim this pain-in-the-ass decade once and for all.


Looking back, it was the animation decade.
The music scene had gone to shit, and fashion was garbage, and there were a lot of godawful sitcoms and lame disaster movies to sift through, but the cartoons flourished better than any time I can think of.

FOX

Fox had (and still has) The Simpsons, plus....

....King Of The Hill...

...Futurama (squeaked by in 1999)...

...Family Guy (ditto)...

...The PJ's (ditto)....

...Batman:The Animated Series...

...Spider-Man...

...X-Men...

..Peter Pan & The Pirates...

...Tiny Toon Adventures...

...Animaniacs...

...Pinky And The Brain...

...Freakazoid...

...Eek The Cat...

..Extreme Ghostbusters...

...EXO Squad....

...Swamp Thing....

...Toxic Crusaders....

....and Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.


Disney

Disney syndication had....

...The Disney Afternoon, which contained...

...Gargoyles.

Plus, they were on a huge lucky streak with their movies....

...and those are all getting live-action/CGI remakes in the 2010's.

...and speaking of CGI...

...Toy Story 1 & 2!!!


MTV

MTV of course had...

....Liquid Television, which spun off....

...Beavis And Butt-Head....

...which led to "Beavis And Butt-Head Do America", and spun off...

...Daria.

Liquid Television also spawned...

...Aeon Flux, and....

...The Head. Which was half of...

...Oddities, with...

...The Maxx.

They had other stuff like "The Brothers Grunt", but it sucked, so fuck it.


Comedy Central

...had a lot of cartoons over the past 2 decades, but in the 90's, they started out with just...

..Dr. Katz, and...

..South Park, which led to...

...South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut.


Nickelodeon

..had Nicktoons, the best of which were...

...Ren & Stimpy, and...

...Rocko's Modern Life.

You want me to look back fondly on Rugrats and Doug?
You're dreaming.


UPN/Syndicated/Misc

UPN had...

...Hulk, and...

...Dilbert.

There were other Marvel shows, but they stunk, and there were other adult shows, but they straddled the early 2000's.

Then, on USA, you had....

....Duckman.

And on ABC you had....

...The Critic.
Which was an un-acknowledged Simpsons spinoff.

Then, in syndication, you had...

...Beast Wars...

....Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles...

...and Pirates Of Dark Water.


Cartoon Network

Toonami, Adult Swim, and Aqua Teen didn't start 'til 2000, but there was still...

...Space Ghost Coast To Coast...

...Cartoon Planet...

...Johnny Bravo...

...Dexter's Laboratory...

...Courage The Cowardly Dog...

...and The Powerpuff Girls, which spawned...

...a movie in the early 00's.


Aardman Animations

...did "The Wrong Trousers", and "A Close Shave", in the Wallace & Gromit series.
*Gives Spencer the finger*
(He knows why)


Plymptoons

...were on Liquid TV, among a host of other places, and "The Tune", was the first Plymptoons movie. Basically, it was Plymptoons skits strung together with a loose plot, like the Bugs Bunny compilation movies.
Apparently, he's still out there doing stuff, they just don't play it on TV anymore. :-(
I gotta go dig this new stuff up, and check it out....


Don Bluth

Poor Don Bluth studios. :-(
A string of hits, and then by the 90's, they couldn't catch a break.
So, this bombed pretty hard.
I was working at Wal-Mart, and I put out an end cap of Anastasia junk.
Wrapping paper, stationary, party plates, anything made of paper, they had Anastasia on it.
No takers.
Not even dumb grandmas that don't know what kids like.
That shit was still up long after I'd left, into the 2000's.
That fuckhole is a Marden's now.
I like to go there to gloat inside that it's gone sometimes.
Anyway, Anastasia has an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Check it out.


Warners

The Iron Giant.
Now considered an animation masterpiece.
Maybe someday, Anastasia will get the love too.
We'll see.


And finally, the 90's was a golden age for...

ANIME

Sci-Fi Channel (before it was SyFy) had "Saturday Anime", which showed a meaty cross-section of stuff from the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Of course, this got me into...

...TENCHI  MUYO!!!!!

And that was a legit 90's anime.
Began and ended there.

What I think holds up, and is worth your time...the first 13 episodes of the original series, the middle "time and space adventures", episodes of the TV series, and the 3 movies.
Enjoy!!

Ghost In The Shell.

The live-action remake of this just bombed.
Good.
The animes stand alone, they don't need fucking with.

Cowboy Bebop
Didn't see this until it came to Toonami in the 00's but this was out there in the world to be had.
I was too wrapped up in Tenchi at the time.

Brilliant.
The peak of the artform.
It was all downhill from here.

Roujin Z.
About Japan inventing a robot hospital bed to care for the elderly, but it goes haywire, and runs amuck.
Hi-jinks ensue!!

The basis of the "Trapper Keeper", episode of South Park.

From the director of "Tokyo Godfathers".

Iria:Zeiram The Animation.

The anime prequel to the live-action sf-horror "Zeiram".
Both are worth a watch.

Where "Vampire Hunter D", is as close as you can get to a Castlevania anime, this is as close as you can get to a Metroid anime.
Girl in a power suit fights gore monsters.
What's not to love?

Trigun.

A human space colony rebuilds up to a wild-west level of tech and civilization, and a fella named Vash The Stampede has wacky adventures.
Hi-jinks ensue!

Toonami rotated this once, and never again.
A shame, this show is almost as good as Tenchi, it deserves way more love than it gets.

And finally...

Studio Ghibli

Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Only Yesterday, & Pom Poko.
Beautiful films all.

(Correcting nerd voice) "But Mike!! Kiki was 1989!!!".

1. Close enough,
2. The alternative was "Porco Rosso", and I hate that one.
This is my positive nostalgia, muthafucka!


And that was 90's animation.
Pretty impressive when you pull it all together like that.

Next time, live-action.


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