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Tweeks: Teen Beach 2 Because Disney

Full Disclosure:  We are obsessed with Disney Channel musicals.  And who can blame us?  It looks like a lot of people (of all ages) are too. Disney knows what they are doing with the genre and according to the Disney Channel last Friday night’s Teen Beach Movie 2 was its biggest cable TV original movie of this year & the most-watched TV telecast in nearly 2 years in the youth demos.  It was watched by 7.5 million total viewers — and only 3.2 million were kids (6-11), 2.8 million tweens (9-14) in the Live +3 ratings.  There were 13.3 million total viewers during the weekend encores.  That kind of makes the sequel to 2013’s Teen Beach Movie starring Maia Mitchell & Ross Lynch a definitive summer event for our demographic.  If you want to be able to have something to talk to kids, tweens & teens this summer (besides our #ComicMixChallengedChallenge) our video will tell you all you need to know.  Though if you also love a good musical movie or have a soft spot for Frankie & Annette beach movies, we bet you’ll enjoy this too — at any age.

Dennis O’Neil: Is Superman Super-Smart?

superman

Yeah, I’ve heard that Superman is super smart as well as super all the other stuff he’s super at, but I don’t know. I can’t recall a single instance where he thought his way past some obstacle. More likely, he’d just uproot the obstacle and toss it to somewhere like Jupiter. Maybe he is really bright and it’s just easier to toss a problem to Jupiter than cogitate about it. But the question is there.

I mean, if he’s so smart how come he can’t remember his own name? You ask how I know that he can’t? (Maybe you’re not so smart?) It’s that big S on his chest. The darn thing serves on purpose other than that of forcing script writers to jump through hoops explaining why it’s there. And why is that? Could it be that the S is a prompt for those times, after a long bout with Kryptonite, say, when the Man of Steel needs a little help in the memory department. A quick glance at the torso and… oh, yeah, S. I’m Superman. Now if only I could recall what I’m faster than…

Allow me to escort you out of the world where we treat Superman like someone who actually exists and into the present moment, where/when we will let ourselves wonder why Joe Shuster, the guy who did the visual part of creating Supes, decided to put the S where it is in the first place. I looked at the earliest drawing I could find and yep, there it is, the S, encased in something that resembles an arrowhead. Present at the beginning, albeit in a pre-evolved form. What inspired teenage Joe to add it, that Cleveland summer’s day some 82 tears ago?

Both Joe and his writer-collaborator, Jerry Siegel, are gone and, I think, they weren’t nearly as often interviewed as they should have been, so, barring some new information, we’ll probably never know what was in Joe’s head. The best guesses I’ve heard regarding superhero suits, is that they were inspired by circus costumes and/or the illustrations in the science fiction pulps that Joe and Jerry almost certainly read.

Seems reasonable. But: no thoracic initials in those clothes. And none on the Phantom’s wardrobe, either. The Phantom’s creator, Lee Falk, later said that the Phantom’s outfit was inspired by the movies’ Robin Hood. Wherever it came from, it certainly is a recognizable superhero costume. But no dorsal P. Falk debuted the Phantom in 1936 and so his masked jungle dweller beat Superman into print by about two years. But Superman was created as a newspaper strip in 1933 and languished until Joe and Jerry peddled it to Max Gaines for use in one of those new funny book magazines. So the Phantom likely didn’t influence Superman and vice versa.

But the meme Joe and Jerry created, the costumed superman, influenced dozens – hundreds? thousands? – of later creations, a number of whom had something on their chests. No initials: that element of the meme was not widely imitated. But lanterns, lightning bolts, bats, stars, and my favorite, sported by a character named E-Man, Einstein’s E=MC2. Yep, world’s most famous equation, right there below his collarbone.

Ah, but does any of this mean anything? Well, does it?

 

Comics Round Up: June 2015

These books each deserve their own posts, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to get it. But here’s the deal I have for them: if I write more than three solid paragraphs about any one of them — and that does happen; I’m never sure how long my fingers are going to keep moving — that book will get broken out and become its own post. (So it’s entirely possible no one but me will ever read this introductory paragraph; that’s happened before with planned round-ups.)

Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen

by Dylan Horrocks

Autobio comics can be fun, but they can only go so far. Comics are such a time-consuming discipline, with so many hours spent hunched over a drawing board, that creators who rely on that mode either disappear up the navel of anatomizing their own process or misrepresent the few bits of their lives spent doing other things. Some creators, though, take “themselves” — or some version of their selves and lives — and throw that into something deeply unreal. And that can be much more satisfying.

This new graphic novel from New Zealander Horrocks — best known in artsy comics circles for his book Hicksville , best known in the CBR world for writing Batgirl for a while — is not about “Dylan Horrocks.” As you can easily see from the title, the hero is named Sam Zabel. And the Big Two superheroine he writes is Lady Night, a mystic hero in the Dr. Fate mode. And the fantasy world he falls into is, I have to assume, not something that comes directly out of Horrocks’s experience.

Though that would be pretty cool, if it did.

Any story about a creator becomes a story about creation: about making stories and being blocked and finding inspiration and working despite obstacles and the wellsprings of story and all of that jazz. Horrocks does a good version of that story here, but you’re not likely to be greatly surprised at the twists of the story or the places it goes. Stories about stories are a minor genre these days, and this is a pretty good one. (You can still read a version of it — I think it was somewhat updated and altered for book publication — on Horrock’s site.) And if telling this story re-energized Horrocks so he can tell more stories, and maybe even stories (unlike this and Hickville) that aren’t about how comics are special and cool and the greatest artform in the history of the universe while at the exact same time a pitiless industry that eats its young….well, that would also be pretty cool.

Sin Titulo

by Cameron Stewart

This is another fantasy story, with some elements in common with Sam Zabel — though not the connection to creative people or comics — but I probably shouldn’t emphasize that part, since those are the secrets that come out later in what’s mostly a mystery plot. And it also originally appeared for free online, though its URL leads to a blank page. (You can google it yourself, if you like: I see no reason to link to nothingness.)

So a young man goes to visit his grandfather in a nursing home and is shocked to learn the old man died a month before. A noir plot then start up: a photo of the grandfather with a beautiful young woman suggests depths, then disappears; a thuggish orderly is abusing patients and has darker secrets; the young man gets obsessed and starts neglecting his job and girlfriend. But there are also prophetic dreams, of trees and beaches, and the solution to this mystery will not be mundane.

Sin Titulo is a strong story, that turns naturally from realism into fantasy and uses its noir elements — not just plot; the layout and drawing style evoke classic strip comics and the dark alleys of old movies — with assurance and ability.

No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Vols. 6 & 7

by Nico Tanigawa

Every series falls into ruts; every comedy finds that its running jokes stop running quite so well. I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s happened to this manga series, since I could have had an off day while reading these, or maybe these stories just didn’t connect with me the way I hoped they would. But I am feeling that WataMote (the fan-name for the series, from the first two words of the Japanese title) is thinning out a bit, and not as exciting to me as it was before.

(Speaking of before, can I point you to my reviews of volumes 1 and 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 ?)

I don’t have much more to say about these volumes: I found parts of them funny, but more opaque. It may be because this clump of story got into more Japanese-specific moments that they didn’t connect with me, or maybe Tomoko’s schtik is wearing on me. Either way: this was still fun, and I’ll come back for another volume or two (which should see Tomoko to her graduation), but maybe not any more than that. It could be that the first few volumes are the best: that’s not uncommon. And those stories still exist, and are still as good as ever.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Comics Reviews (July 1st, 2015)

Part One: Comics

From worst to best of what I voluntarily paid money for.

Secret Wars #4

It’s not even that it’s a bad comic. It’s just that, well, at this point it’s become impossible to read this comic as a separate phenomenon from the overall realignment of Marvel comics (see part two of this post). Here we have what is in effect a brutal rejection of an entire line of thought in Marvel comics that has been going for several years – the Cyclops-as-Revolutionary angle. The comic is explicitly configured to allow Cyclops’s vision of fiery rebirth a moment in the sunlight and then to cut it down. Specifically in favor of a Reed vs Doom story. Although with the knowledge that both X-Men and Fantastic Four are being consciously downplayed within Marvel right now for broader corporate reasons, it’s tough to see that as a promising dualism either.

The real problem, though, is that I’ve always wanted to root for the Cyclops-as-Revolutionary angle. I’ve always thought that challenge to what superhero narratives are was worth exploring seriously and allowing the possibility of moral validity. Hickman turns away from it very, very hard here. I reject that, aesthetically. It’s not even that I think Cyclops is morally right. I think that’s a functionally meaningless question within the melodramatic metaphysics of a superhero universe. It’s that I think Cyclops is a vehicle for giving voice to perspectives superhero narratives don’t usually get to explore, and that Hickman gave him depressingly short shrift here.

Yes, there’s more issues and this may turn around. But this is a review of this specific issue. And given Secret Wars demands to be read as a meta-commentary on the state of Marvel Comics, I think what it’s saying this month is rank fucking bullshit.

Grant Morrison’s 18 Days #1

Honestly, I just think it’s unfair to ask the world to offer any sort of critical judgment of this, and I’m half-inclined to say that I’m going to buy it and not review it. It’s clearly not a major Grant Morrison project. And look, I don’t begrudge him taking the money and running, which he’s clearly done with this. But this book is a Kirby pastiche reworking of the Mahabharata with an artist who is not Jack Kirby. And a writer who is not Jack Kirby. It’s pretty. It’s competent. But what on Earth is one supposed to say of it? Morrison is in the backmatter comparing himself favorably to Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare. This issue doesn’t stand up to either. But equally, it seems vital to note that the problem is not what the book is – a western comic based on Hindi mythology. The problem is that this is just a Kirby pastiche of novel subject matter.

Ultimate End #3

There’s a shell game here, obviously. This book inherits its premise from other bits of Secret Wars. Not all of those bits are out yet. So the precise nature of Manhattan and of this mash-up of the 616 and Ultimate Universes is not yet revealed. I am interested in that question. The problem is, like Jason Aaron’s Thor run, it’s an intellectual problem, not a story.

Darth Vader #7

We switch to the good stuff for the week, I’m happy to say. Or, at least, what we might call the “good but didn’t quite work for me” stretch of reviews. This is capable, interesting, and still a Star Wars comic that I’m buying purely for the fact that I enjoy watching the writer work. In this case he doesn’t do anything that immediately grabs me, which is in no way a valid criticism.

Years of Future Past #2

A serviceable comic undermined by the fact that anything X-Men and Secret Wars related is aggressively ephemeral. That’s not a problem of course; the demand that comics “matter” is a very silly one based on a misunderstanding of what comics are. The problem, I think, is that Bennett is too restrained as a writer. She’s got loads of talent and style – the Colossus monologue page is a brilliant piece of style. She writes a brilliant Magneto. The final page reveal is a massive grin-inducer. But she has a post-apocalyptic team of mutants none of whom have to survive, and this book comes off as timid compared to its canvas.

Chew #50

I can tell that this is a well-structured issue. It’s obvious that it’s an interesting plot beat to throw at issue #50 of a sixty-issue series. It pays off a lot of stuff. It’s clearly a good comic. And I am entirely aware that my problem with this issue is quite literally my problem – one unique to me, and a failing on my part as a reader. That said, it builds to a final page reveal that depends on my being able to identify a character who has no dialogue in this issue. And… I can’t. I forget who the blonde woman in Chu’s arms is. I don’t remember her relationship with anyone. I’m sure she’s done stuff in the book and is important, but… nope. Total blank. So the whole thing just sort of… deflates for me. Like I said, my fault. My failing. Still didn’t work for me.

A-Force #2

It’s interesting to basically watch a book be demoed on a setting other than its actual one. Which is to say, I like A-Force, the comic about female Avengers led by She-Hulk. I like the takes on the major characters. I like the choices of major characters. But this still falls slightly short for me. I think it’s because, as an issue, it’s kind of vacant. As with Years of Future Past, Bennett (and she would appear to be lead on this issue) doesn’t really go for the sort of “and now for the big moment” revelry that the pop comics style she’s a best fit for demands. There’s no moment that feels like punching the air and saying “that’s what I spent my money for.” She’s good. I think she can deliver some top drawer comics. But she needs to work on that aspect of her game.

The Wicked and the Divine #12

And now we shift to the great stuff. And this is great. Gillen handles the shift away from McKelvie well. Kate Brown is a good transitional artist for this, maintaining the book’s basic visual grammar but introducing us to a spin on the premise. But this is a calm between the storms issue; Gillen is running out the clock, going down some side alleys and doing his worldbuilding. But it’s an obvious bit of non-misdirection. He’s flagging, in a variety of ways, that we’re eventually going to circle back to Laura and, by extension, Lucifer. I mean, if nothing else, gee, it’s funny how every god who’s died so far is an underworld god. I WONDER WHAT THE AFTERLIFE IS LIKE.

Which works. There’s a tension of an eventual reveal that infuses a side trip like “let’s pay attention to Cass’s old assistants for an issue” with a really compelling tension, especially as the larger “who’s going to figure out what Ananke is actually up to first” game plays out in the background. As serialize drama, the moving parts are exquisitely put together.

Equally, and again this comes down to “we’re judging issues here, not books,” Gillen makes a Sandman analogy in the backmatter that’s on point. This issue – maybe this arc, but certainly this issue – is one of those side trips like the dead boy detectives in Seasons of Mists or the entirety of World’s End – a conscious step away from the main story. And the truth is… well, that’s why Sandman works better in trade.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #7

What can I say. Ryan North is funny. He has clever ideas. This book shows that off. There are many highlights, and I will not spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it. Oh, OK. Ratatoskr .

Uber #26

Sheer bravado. Uber‘s version of “Blackwater” or “The Watchers on the Walls,” with an entire issue spent on a single battle. With twenty-five issues of buildup that have screamed loudly that this is not a book that offers a rosy view of war or history, the idea of a major battle testing a sympathetic character’s technical capabilities is genuinely terrifying. Uber has taught us to fear, very much, for our main characters. And this issue trades on that, while maintaining an exquisite balance of personal character focus and sweeping historical scope. Small moments and big ones juxtapose. It’s awful. It’s ugly. It’s intriguing. It’s brilliant. Fucking hell, this book.

Part Two: The Marvel Previews
 
From best to worst, with a clear marker of where the stuff I’ll buy ends.
  1. Karnak – Well, it’ll only be six issues, but this is delightfully batshit.
  2. Ms. Marvel – “Crushed it” indeed.
  3. Spider-Man – Love me some Miles Morales.
  4. A-Force – Wilson is an autobuy. Love the cast.
  5. Ultimates – Galactus on a team book by Al Ewing, yes please. Also Miss America. All the yes.
  6. Invincible Iron Man – Bendis on Iron Man sounds a safe bet.
  7. All-New All Different Avengers – Great cast, Waid’s a reasonably secure bet as a writer.
  8. Uncanny Avengers – Have liked enough of what I’ve seen of Duggan to try this, but Deadpool is worrisome.
  9. New Avengers – Buying entirely because Ewing is an autobuy for at least a first issue, but nothing that grabs me here as such. Squirrel Girl’s nice.
  10. Guardians of the Galaxy – Bendis is, ultimately, still an autobuy, although this has hardly been my favorite book of his.
  11. Contest of Champions – Seems very silly, but I’ll always give an Ewing book a shot, as I said, and very silly could be fun.
  12. Spider-Gwen – The abrupt pause in the series after #5 definitely screwed up momentum on this for me, not least because it wasn’t a great issue, so this could end up being a jumping off point for me eventually, but it’s not yet.
  13. Angela: Asgard’s Assassin – As the above reviews suggest, Bennett isn’t quite catching for me, but I kind of want to give her more chance, and I am already invested in the plot here. This is the lowest-ranked book to be a definite buy for #1.
  14. Spider-Woman – The premise grabs me, and I have a vague intention of giving Hopeless a try, as I don’t think I gave him a fair shake previously, so this is the best bet of where that might happen.
  15. Howard the Duck – Have had enough recommendations for this that I mean to check out the first run. If that’s good, will buy this too.
  16. Sam Wilson, Captain America – Nick Spencer can be good, and I like the idea of a Sam/Steve schism. Give me more premise and we’ll see.
  17. Daredevil – Soule is hit and miss, but he does do good lawyers, and the Daredevil/Gambit pair is intriguing.
  18. Web Warriors – Maybe, as I like some of the characters, but I’m pointedly trying to keep my pulls down, and this seems exactly the sort of book I can decide against.
  19. The Totally Awesome Hulk  – I don’t know, who is the Hulk? I tend not to like questions like that, but the name charms me.
  20. Venom: Spaceknight – OK, those are not two words I expected to see together, and that raises an eyebrow at least.
  21. Uncanny Inhumans – Probably not, as I haven’t fallen in love with any of Soule’s previous Inhumans work, but I’m not saying no.
  22. All-New Wolverine – OK, this doesn’t grab me inherently, but mostly because I don’t know who Taylor is. I like the art and the premise. The highest-ranked “maybe” for me – everything below this is a 0% chance of my buying it barring new information.
  23. Amazing Spider-Man – Haven’t loved Slott’s stuff post-Superior Spider-Man, and think this will be my exit from Spider-Man.
  24. Captain Marvel – I haven’t gotten to Agent Carter episode two yet, and it’s been months, so I don’t think this team will win me back.
  25. All-New X-Men – Of the three X-Men books, this is the most promising, not least as I do mean to give Hopeless a try on something, as I said. But with the X-Men line on the whole looking droppable right now, this falls below the plausibility point.
  26. Extraordinary X-Men – Lemire and Ramos are both “not dealbreaker” sorts of creators, so this just sort of leaves me cold, but I do like the feel for an X-Men book.
  27. Uncanny X-Men – Interesting premise, but I have no faith in either Bunn or Marvel tackling this sort of sinister X-book.
  28. Nova – Gutted to see that this does not feature the awesome Nova family from Infinity Gauntlet.
  29. Doctor Strange – I don’t think I like Jason Aaron’s work.
  30. The Mighty Thor – Will be dropping this, as I just don’t dig the angle.
  31. Hawkeye – I like the Clint vs Kate premise, but I’ve not been following post-Fraction Hawkeye, and this doesn’t look set to grab me.
  32. Spider-Man 2099 – Glad people who like this have a book.
  33. Star-Lord – Haven’t felt a hole in my life without a Star-Lord book before, don’t imagine I’ll start now.
  34. Old Man Logan – Not the Wolverine book I suspect I want.
  35. Ant-Man – Just sort of the purest distillation of “meh” for me.
  36. Silk – The character hasn’t grabbed me yet, and the villainy tone of the solicit leaves me cold.
  37. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – I don’t even like the television series.
  38. Drax – Can’t see this working for me.
  39. Vision – Don’t know the writer, no obvious hook in the premise, not a character that grabs me
  40. Illuminati – this looks utterly not like my thing.
  41. Deadpool – I don’t like Deadpool.
  42. Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Cute premise, but this seems the embodiment of “cool idea but not a book I would enjoy.” Low place mainly due to the appalling resolution of the art, I suspect.
  43. Scarlet Witch – Robinson does not currently interest me, especially not after this shitstorm .
  44. Squadron Supreme – Cannot imagine why I would buy this.
  45. Carnage – I loathe Conway’s work.

Originally published on PhilipSandifer.com.

Molly Jackson: Knowing Too Much

Knowing Too Much

Marvel has been slowly and steadily announcing their plans for their “new universe” coming this fall. It has been the hot topic on most geek blogs and is keeping people excited, sort of. In just watching this event creating the new Marvel Universe unfolds, I already have some misgivings with how things are going.

With nearly two months left of the current world-changing event, we already know who is going to survive Secret Wars. We already know what new series they will be in and who the creative team is. It’s no fun if you know the answer before the question is done being asked. And now the question is, why bother reading the event at all?

I’ve waited a little bit before jumping into buying Secret Wars. I had just finished with Convergence – which was basically the same event – and needed a break from world combining. Also, I was not a huge fan of the Free Comic Book Day prequel comic. And frankly, I wanted to hear people’s reactions. A friend has told me the basics but admitted that while it is interesting, it is not the most cohesive story. I’m considering just skipping Secret Wars all together since I already know the outcome.

The other hand is, I was excited to give Marvel another chance sans the weight of their overgrown universe. In the past, I had a hard time trying to jump into large universes because of the weight of history and the complex, never-ending storylines. Then, Marvel Point One happened. I tried out and liked quite a few issues. However, the series I enjoyed failed to keep me interested because they immediately went back to complex tales. DC Comics learned from this, and then made their complete reboot a lot more accessible. My hope was a new start for Marvel meant an easier entrance to exploring that universe beyond just a few standalone stories.

It all comes down to why I read anything. I read to experience through another’s eyes, hear another’s thoughts and feel another’s feelings. I read to explore new worlds and characters. And I read to enjoy the plot unfolding before me. All I can hope is that Marvel’s new universe won’t be completely spoiled before it is even born.

Mike Gold: The Shoe’s On The Other Foot

gay-pride-2015-11-4825331

My long-time friend and colleague Martha Thomases does not like wearing high heels. This, of course, is her right. I have been sympathetic to her position, even to the point of referring to it as a contemporary form of traditional Chinese foot-binding.

gay-pride-2015-19-6714749That was until this past Sunday. Now, meh, not so much.

I’ve been to many a Gay Pride rally, including – yep, I’m bragging – the very first in New York. I’ve been to such rallies in several different cities; I’ve been to them after terrible tragedies such as the Stonewall Inn riots and, less than ten years later, the discovery and growth of HIV. Yet each and every march and rally has been fantastic fun, each one a deeply meaningful, fun-filled and life-affirming event. I have always walked away from the rallies and parades feeling much better about my fellow humans – even in my most cynical times that account for some six decades of my life.

More to the point, I always had a great time. Always.

So this year’s Gay Pride march and rally in New York City, coincidently held two days after the Supreme Court finally made marriage equality the law of the land, was something I wouldn’t miss even if I had lost my arms and legs and had to be carried in a basket. Thankfully, I was fully able to walk.

If Elon Musk had been there, he would have figured out a way to capture the energy of the event and use it to fuel a battery that would run every car in America for a year.

There’s no question the gay culture that has always affected our mainstream culture no matter how closeted it had been in the past. Several of our ComicMix columnists have commented on this point and several more may yet: right now, it is the perfect topic for a pop culture site such as this one.

The New York City parade, which attracted more than two million onlookers and, it seemed, about as many participants, was fraught with politicians and corporate sponsors. No, Mike Huckabee didn’t march, nor did any of his fellow Republican presidential candidates. That wasn’t a surprise and, besides, the parade route always was crowded. Delta Airlines, NBC/Universal, Master Card, and Coca-Cola were among the many who entered elaborate floats. So did a great many religious organizations – but certainly not all. Parents brought their children, both as onlookers and as participants.

This year’s parade marshals were two British peers: Sir Ian McKellan, also known as Magneto, Sherlock Holmes, Gandalf and others; Sir Derek Jacoby, a.k.a. Emperor Claudius and both Doctor Who’s arch-enemy The Master as well as The Doctor himself; and Ugandan LGBT activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera. All around, a class-act. It was sort of like the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but without the – what’s it called again? Oh, yeah. Blatant bigotry.

The parade ran in a light rain from 36th Street and Fifth Avenue to the Stonewall Inn, a distance of nearly two miles. From my vantage points I couldn’t conduct a scientific study, but I believe there were more adults wearing high heels than not. Of course, I’m also counting the dozens (at least) of paraders wearing stilts.

Seeing all those folks marching in their fine footwear, I think I’ve got to backtrack on that foot binding thing. I figure, it must be worth it.

gay-pride-2015-51-9257269Now… you say you don’t like gay marriage? You’re opposed to it? Somehow, it lessens the value of your marriage? Well, congratulations. You’re in luck. There is no more “gay marriage.”

Now… there is only “marriage.”

(Photo notes: At top – PBS’s rolling billboard for Vicious, starring McKellan and Jacoby. Up there on the right – part of the massive Delta Airlines presence, including a flight attendant with an astonishing hat size. Down here on the left – your humble columnist, posing with the newly transgendered crimefighter, The Shadow.)

 

Box Office Democracy: Ted 2

  • News
  • June 30, 2015

ted2I was disappointed by Ted 2 and considering I didn’t think much of the original Ted I’m not sure where the hell I get off feeling like this. Ted was a flimsy frame upon which a few passable jokes were hung and Ted 2 is a slightly flimsier frame with fewer decent jokes but it makes a huge difference as Ted 2 collapses into joyless wreckage. It’s a lot like watching five back-to-back episodes of Family Guy without commercials in a dark room that you’re socially conditioned not to leave or do anything else in but watch the screen. I guess what I’m saying is Ted 2 is an awful lot like a nightmare you can’t wake up from.

Good comedy has to come from some sort of relatable character base and that simply isn’t present in Ted 2. The characters are just whatever they need to be to get the next punch line to work and have no consistency from scene to scene beyond Boston accents. Amanda Seyfried replaces Mila Kunis as the female lead and narratively we go from a woman disappointed that Ted and John (Mark Wahlberg) have no ambition in their lives to a woman who finds John to be a real catch despite his only character traits present in this film are being really hung up on his ex and consuming a copious amount of pornography. I suppose the shrewish girlfriend is a slightly more tired cliché than the inexplicable attraction to a loser trope but it isn’t fantastic work. Giovanni Ribisi returns as the villainous Donny who I had completely forgotten from the first movie because that movie also felt like it never had any stakes so why would anyone bother to retain any of the information? If Ted 3 comes along in three years I certainly won’t remember John Carroll Lynch played the bad guy in this movie an I think Lynch is a fantastic underrated actor unfortunately wasting his time here.

Setting aside the thin characters and the plot that doesn’t seem to care enough about its own integrity or consistency to even be worth seriously discussing the movie just isn’t that funny. I’m not going to say I never laughed but I’m sure I laughed fewer than ten times. It’s comedy that wants to get laughs by being shocking either by being gross or being inappropriate or sometimes even by being obscure and I’m not sure Seth MacFarlane is capable of surprising me in these ways anymore. I’m too on my guard to not see every race joke coming and I’m now too familiar with his childhood pop culture to laugh uproariously when they use a song from Revenge of the Nerds for their musical montage. I’m sure this does much better among a younger audience who are probably still sitting through their first million smoking weed jokes but if you’ve seen more than your fair share there’s nothing new or exciting here and unfortunately that applies to most of the material.

 

Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season One Forces Way onto Shelves 9/1

star-wars-rebels-season-one-e1435606493277-4633369BURBANK, California, June 26, 2015 –– Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season One delivers all 15 action-packed episodes plus never-before-seen bonus material and cast/crew interviews revealing the magic behind the making of the hit series. Releasing on Blu-ray and DVD on September 1, this is a must-add collection to the library!

In the first groundbreaking season of Star Wars Rebels, young hero Ezra Bridger joins the clever but motley crew of the starship Ghost in their resistance against the Empire. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people. Ezra and his new rebel friends — Hera, Kanan, Sabine, Zeb and Chopper — embark on daring adventures in their fight against oppression across the galaxy, receiving help from familiar heroes such as Lando Calrissian, Ahsoka Tano, and Jedi Master Yoda. Pursued relentlessly by the Imperials and a Jedi hunter called the Inquisitor, this tenacious ragtag band of rebels will find itself in the crosshairs of none other than Darth Vader when season one closes in a shocking two-part finale.

Star Wars Rebels is created by Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Sherlock Holmes), and Carrie Beck. The Lucasfilm Animation production is also executive-produced by Filoni and Kinberg as well as Greg Weisman (Gargoyles).

Featuring the voices of Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer) as Kanan, Vanessa Marshall (Young Justice) as Hera, Steve Blum (The Boxtrolls) as Zeb, Tiya Sircar (The Internship) as Sabine, Taylor Gray (Bucket and Skinner’s Epic Adventures) as Ezra, David Oyelowo (Selma) as Agent Kallus and Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) as the Inquisitor.

Bonus Features:

Blu-ray:

  • Rebels Infiltrates Star Wars Celebration (Exclusive to Blu-ray)
  • Season One shorts: “The Machine in the Ghost,” “Art Attack,” “Entanglement,” “Property of Ezra Bridger”
  • All DVD Bonus (see below)

DVD:

  • Rebels Recon: 14 behind-the-scenes featurettes
  • Star Wars Rebels – The Ultimate Guide
  • Star Wars Rebels Season 2 – A Look Ahead

Disc Specifications:

Release Date:              September 1, 2015

Format:                       Blu-ray (2-Disc) & DVD (3-Disc)

Rating:                         TV Y7 FV

Run Time:                   Approximately 330 minutes (not including bonus)

Closed Captioned:      Yes

Aspect Ratio:              1:78 (Widescreen)

Audio:                         5.1 Dolby Digital

Languages/ Subtitles:   English, French & Spanish

 

About the TV Show:

New episodes of Star Wars Rebels Season Two premiere this fall on Disney XD.

Emily S. Whitten: Turtle Power! The Original TMNT

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I’ve said before that some of the voice actors I’ve interviewed are the voices of my childhood, but I couldn’t possibly have been closer to interviewing a whole collection of voices from my early childhood at the same time than when I was at Awesome Con this year talking to all four of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Rob Paulsen, Cam Clarke, Barry Gordon, and Townsend Coleman. (I also interviewed the amazing Jess Harnell and Jim Cummings, so if you missed those interviews, check ‘em out now!)

I watched a fair amount of cartoons as a child, and among the ones with the earliest, largest impact on my young life were those coming out in the ‘80s, including Thundercats, Duck Tales, Inspector Gadget, Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, He-Man, Danger Mouse, and more. But of all the ‘80s cartoons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles consisently stands out as a favorite, with both a premise and characters (brought to life by the voice actors!) that I just loved. <a href=”

Greg Cipes (the current Michelangelo), I used to glue myself to the TV when TMNT came on, knew the theme song by heart (still do!), and totally had a favorite Turtle (Raphael! I do love snark). To this day I remember weird little bits of plot or character that apparently ingrained themselves in my brain from the age of six. So getting to talk (albeit a bit briefly, since the con was so busy) to all four of the Turtles in the span of the same hour was just really, really cool. As is being able to share those talks with you!

So if you’re a Turtles fan or you just like cool videos, click <a href=”

 for shout-outs from Raphael (Rob Paulsen) and Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman), and interviews with Leonardo (Cam Clarke) and Donatello (Barry Gordon).

And if you want to see what the guys were like in action, doing their fun voices at Awesome Con, check out the Awesome Con <a href=”

Toonz panel, as filmed by my great friend Kristy Sproul of Voice Chasers.

Enjoy! And until next time, cowabunga! And Servo Lectio!

Enter to see #RogueCut of X-Men: Days Of Future Past at SDCC free!

xmdofp_roguecut_invite_v5-550x340-6484561To celebrate the home entertainment release of the X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut Blu-ray on July 14th we’re hosting a contest!

On Saturday, July 11th, the never-before-seen extended #RogueCut edition of X-Men: Days of Future Past will be screened at the Reading Theater in the Gaslamp District of San Diego. And we’ve got the chance to give away 10 pairs of VIP access wristbands. That’s guaranteed access to a screening!

We’ll be choosing winners at random, the only requirement for winning is that you will be in the area and able to attend. No San Diego Comic-Con badge needed! All you have to do to enter is comment on this article using a valid email address and you’ll be entered for a chance to win.

Don’t worry if you don’t win passes, you will have the opportunity to gain two VIP (guaranteed) access tickets to the screening by purchasing the X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut Blu-ray through one of these locations:

  • The Fox booth on the show floor (Booth #s 4229)
  • The Nerd HQ/IGN Lounge (Children’s Museum)

Additional seating will be available to fans on a first-come, first-served basis.

Beyond the two VIP tickets for the special screening, fans that purchase the Rogue Cut early on Blu-ray and DVD during Comic-Con will also score a limited edition lithograph, celebrating 15 years of the X-Men franchise. Rogue Cut will contain nearly 90 minutes of extra features including deleted scenes, featurettes and gag reels, sure to engage the most ardent enthusiast.  This entire package of content will be available at MSRP $19.99 and is a must-have for every X-Men fan.

Rogue Cut Beauty Shot

ABOUT X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ROGUE CUT

With a never-before-seen, alternate cut of the film—plus nearly 90 minutes of all-new, immersive special features, the X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut takes you deeper into the X-Men universe than ever before. Rogue makes her return as the all-star characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves and unite to battle armies of murderous Sentinel robots who are hunting down mutants and humans alike!

Remember, all you have to do to enter is comment on this article using a valid email address and you’ll be entered for a chance to win. May the odds ever be in your– no, that’s the other Jennifer Lawrence film franchise. Good luck! See you in San Diego!

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