Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Brother Beavis at Baltimore Comic Con







Brothascomics Baltimore Comic-Con Review
My first comic book convention was in Dayton, Ohio back in my comic buying heyday. I don’t remember it having a fancy name or logo and I don’t remember having to pay to get in. I do remember it being a complete sausage fest with a bunch of comic book long boxes laid out on folding tables in a crappy ballroom. I was there with a list of missing back issues, looking through every one of those boxes hoping to fill in the gaps in my X Men collection. I haven’t been to a lot of conventions since those days, but I know comic book conventions have had a few upgrades since then.


My Baltimore convention experience is mostly as a spectator of the now departed Otacon, which left for DC this year. We would camp out in outdoor seating at one of the restaurants on Pratt Street – the main road between the convention center and the Inner Harbor - and watch the spectacle pass before us. In my crowd, I was the only one with any nerd cred, so I would be identifying (some of) the costumes and everyone else would be not caring. It was a lot of fun - after hearing one too many “these nerds/freaks” comments and having one too many beers, I would usually start ranting and irrationally criticizing my companions for their mainstream interests (“Why you drinking that water, water nerd?”). Good times.


I’ve known there was a Baltimore Comic-Con, but I never knew much about it. It’s always been on my, “Someday, I should …” list, and today was finally the day. I donned my Brothascomics t-shirt, suited up my daughter in her Batgirl gear and we hit the con with all the speed and endurance of a 7-year old girl – which is to say, not very fast and not for very long.



The Baltimore Convention center is pretty big, with a couple different buildings spread out over a couple blocks. Once we got inside, we had to go upstairs to register. I could have asked for directions at this point from the many people helping out, but I chose to follow people who looked like they knew where they were going. They didn’t. After actually reading the signs, we found the exhibit floor a level down in the basement. The exhibit floor was huge, with lots of vendors – way more than we could get to in the couple hours we were there. We made a point to stop by the Third Eye Comics booth, which is our local store in Annapolis. I was halfway motivated to look for a New Teen Titans trade, but my long box rifling skills are nowhere near what they were back in the day.

I'm sure the Producer could find something in here



Cosplay at the con was great. I have tremendous respect for cosplayers and the amount of passion and energy they put into their craft. As usual, there is that somebody you see right when you get there that you don’t get a picture of and then never see again – this time it was a dude in full Aqua-Bro cosplay. Looked great. I did get a picture of Gambit, one of Brothascomics most loved and hated X Men, and a great Medusa.







Overall, my experience with Baltimore Comic-Con left me wanting more. I could easily see making it a destination weekend. With all the elements of comics, sci-fi and fantasy making it into the mainstream, these conventions have changed – but Baltimore Comic-Con really did feel like an event for comic book fans, and I was glad to be in the midst of it sharing the experience with other fans – rather than just watching it go by on the street.
Cheers to Baltimore Comic-Con!!! 



Brother Beavis
Contributor BrothasComics


Monday, September 18, 2017

Can We stop with Arnold Remakes






This wont come as a surprise to many, but I am not a real fan of the action movie-especially those made in the 80's and 90's.  I have never seen a Rambo movie and many of the other action stars of that era, I passed over a lot of those, too.  I saw the Die Hard 1 and 2, but after that I bailed on all of those.  I never seen a Chuck Norris movie.... its just not my bag.

The ones I mostly did see were with Arnold Schwarzennegger;  mostly because my college roommate, Jim loved the dude.  As a body builder himself, he admired Arnold and he would make( force) me to watch Arnold movies... a lot.  I have seen the Terminator so many times because of Jim!  And I get the appeal of Arnold in the 80's and 90's.  He was charming, built like a brick house, and his coming to America from Austria rags to riches story is appealing on many levels.  So I sat through Predator with Jim( we even saw Predator in the theater), Running Man, True Lies, and of course Total Recall. And I cannot say I didn't enjoy the movies! They were fun, had action, and Total Recall is memorable for 3 things!

was not gonna miss a chance to put this in article

After college, I have not seen too many Arnold movies.  I missed the Last Action Hero, Twins, and I think the only movie I saw with Arnold was Jingle All the Way!  He went onto become the Governor of California and his movies, as profitable as they were in the 80's and 90's, have spawned these horrible remakes in the 2000's and continuation of franchises that shoulda died when he became governor.
But Hollywood would never let that happen.  There have been numerous Predator movies, Terminator is still churning out sequels( with Arnold dropping in like Kendrick drops in on peoples tracks), there was an awful Total Recall remake as well.  Now news dropped this week that there is a True Lies pilot in the works at Fox( see full article below)

True Lies to Pilot at Fox

Can we just move on from Arnold and his movies already?  He and his movies almost seem like a relic of a past era. Those movies worked BECAUSE of Arnold and the era in which they were produced!  Attempting to recreate that magic is not gonna work now and Arnold is way too old to have anything to do with these movies or shows that would be significant.  And on top of that, these young kids today could give a damn about who Arnold is!  And what they do know, is probably not all that positive!

So can we let this era die, please?  I mean make Expendables movies over and over again.  There is an audience for those older action stars and movies. I am sure my boy Jim has seen and loved all the Expendable movies.  And I am sure if I were around, he woulda drug me to see all of them.  But unless the 3 boobed lady showed up, I don't think I have any real interest!

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Is it worth a Redbox: The Big Sick





The Big Sick tells the mostly true life story of Kumal Nanjani and his wife Emily and how they actually met.  Kumal is a Pakistani Muslim who came to the United States at 14 years old and hails from a traditional Pakistan family.  His life in America has changed him tho and even tho he loves his family, he rejects much of the traditions of his culture- especially the one about arranged marriages.

Kumal is working as a stand up comedian in Chicago where one night he meets Emily, who heckles him from the audience.  The couple meets, hooks up, and a relationship blossoms from that point.  While they are dating, Kumal's mom is constantly bringing him to Sunday dinner to meet potential Pakistani wives for him to marry.  All the while Kumal never tells Emily about this or brings him to meet his family.  Kumal knows his family will reject him if he brings home a white girl.  This all comes to a head and Kumal and Emily break up.

Shortly after their painful break-up, Emily gets sick and is forced to go into the hospital.  Without spoiling too much, Emily's parents, played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter, come to be with their very ill daughter and deal with Kumal who feels guilty and obligated to stay and help Emily recover.

I saw the trailers for this movie a while back and thought it looked interesting.  The title and cover does not tell you much about the movie so I had no real idea what this movie was about.  I found it very funny and heartfelt, tho and even tho I reject anything that has to do with Judd Apatow, director Michael Showalter allowed this story to flow in the 2 hours to a great conclusion.  It helps that the movie was written by Kumal Nanjiani and allowed his family to be respected and not turned into racist caricatures.  I appreciated that and could relate to them in a way that I did not expect.

Overall, a really good movie.  Its definitely worth a Redbox rental!


The Producer

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Rotten Tomatoes Does not Affect Box Office






A study was done by some dude( you can read the article below) that basically said that negative ratings on sites like Rotten Tomatoes does not have a real affect on Box office!  Some people like, Female Perspective and Big Hutch at Brothascomics, really give alot of weight to Rotten Tomatoes and the ratings that movies have.  I have always taken these ratings with a grain of salt AND understand that the American movie goer LOVES CRAP! I mean LOVES IT.

Look, no matter what ranking or number a critic gives The Fast and the Furious or Transformers, or any other franchise movie, their fans are gonna see that movie.  If they are truly entertained by that crap, they are gonna see that crap.  In fact they will see it over and over and then purchase the Blue Ray.  People like what they like and the words of a critic is not gonna dissuade them from liking or seeing that movie.  Critic ratings may have a small affect on the average movie goer but even then, I have never heard a random person say they did not see a movie because of the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes!

So if you like that shit, like that shit!  Just don't try and convince me that Batman V Superman was a good movie or it was "misunderstood"! That movie was shit and I didn't need a critic to tell me!

Full Link to Article
Rotten Tomatoes has no affect on Box Office

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JJ Abrams Back for Star Wars






News broke over the past few days that director, Colin Trevorrow, was out of directing Star Wars IX and now director of Episode VII, JJ Abrams will be back in the directors chair to end the trilogy he began with the Force Awakens.

This news was met with great enthusiasm by many Star Wars fans and some skepticism by some #DamnDisney people as this is another highly visible director change following the removal of Josh Trank from an untitled Star Wars movie and the removal of tandem directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the untitled Han Solo movie.

I am not sure why the change of directors bothers people before a movie goes into production. Whether its creative differences, changes in schedules, whatever... before the movie goes into production, I do not see the big deal.  Now after the movie is being shot, a change in director is a huge deal.  Often merging two competing thoughts and ideas into one movie can create a messy, unfocused picture.  Hopefully it works out well!

Any director who gets into bed with the House of Mouse should already know their creative juices and energy may be curtailed by the Mouse!  You either check your ego and roll with the flow, or find yourself in Directors Jail waiting for your next big break!  Either way, just don't kill Finn and let him get the girl.  Pretty much if those two things happen, I'll be ok no matter who directs!

Full Story at Variety
JJ Abrams is Back

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Jean Grey Returns




If you have been around here for a while, you know I have a major weakness for redheaded comic books characters.  From Mary Jane to Cherly Blossom, I cannot get enough of the Gingers.  So it would come as no surprise that I am a huge of fan of Jean Grey/Marvel Girl/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix.
Since she "died" in X-Men 137 and through her various resurrections and teased ressurections to all of her dopplegangers from Madelyne Pryor to Hope Summers, and Rachel Grey- I am just a huge fan of the character.

With her younger self now running around in a fairly entertianing solo book and leading X-Men Blue, I kinda had a thought that Marvel would consider bringing back OG Jean.  Just when things are going well for time displaced Jean, of course OG Jean would make a return.






Well news broke this week that Jean Grey is on her way back in an event in December called, naturally Phoenix Ressurection.  And I may be the only person at brothascomics who is ok with this.  I have always felt that Jean shoulda never died and the creators at the time painted themselves into a corner by making Jean/Phoenix so powerful.  Its why they keep coming back to Phoenix and all the sorta Jean Grey characters.  They are all just copies of the origial so lets bring Jean back.

The only reservation I have is that this will be short lived and they will just "kill" her again.  I do kinda worry that her rebirth will lead to a return of OG Scott Summers- who needs to stay dead forever! But thats another post.

Check the full article at SyFy

Return of OG Jean Grey


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Disney aint calling Stan Lee








I love Stan Lee. Love HIM!  He was really like my Father growing up because mine was not really around. I spent more time reading the words created by Stan Lee than those who were inspired by Jesus.  I truly adore this man and what he as done in the world of comics.

News dropped this week  where Stan Lee stated that Marvel is working on trying to get the rights back from Fox for X-Men and Fantastic Four.  These two properties would complete Marvel/Disney universe and fans could get so many of the team-ups and crossovers that we grew up reading.  It seems like a no-brainer- except for the billions of dollars involved.  Fox is in no hurry to give these properties up and Marvel/Disney is in no hurry to pay them the billions to get them back.  Its comic book game of Chicken seeing who will blink first.

Here is what I do know... at no point in these conversations between these two media conglmorates did they call Stan Lee and let him know what was happening. I am sure the revere them man who has helped line their pockets with money, but like the Queen of England, Stan is just a figure head at this point with no real power.  Just keep making them cameos and fly the flag but Stan is not in the board meetings anymore.

I'd love it if this happened.  Fantastic Four and X-Men need to be under the Disney/Marvel banner!  But I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Full article from our friends at Geeks of Color( hey Dorian)

Marvel working to get Fox Properties according to Stan Lee

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Can We Terminate the Terminator



News dropped this week that the Terminator franchise is looking to reboot itself... again with Terminator 6.  This reboot has now brought on director Tim Miller who is most famous now for having directed Deadpool.

Look, Terminator as a franchise been dead to me since Terminator 2.... And I mean dead to me.  I kinda hate that movie to be quite honest with you.  But since then, we've had a female Terminator, Batman as John Connor,  Khalesi trying to make this franchise work,  and of course  they keep bringing Arnold's corpse and steroid looking ass back from the would be grave to make a spot check cameo.

Let franchises' die man.  There is no shame in that.  Each subsequent movie dilutes the original to the point that it almost makes the OG less enjoyable- especially since the movies have the technology to make it cool, but the movies still winds up sucking.

At this point, the only Terminator movie I'd be really interested in is them coming back to the past to prevent them from making future Terminator movies!

Full Article at Heroic Hollywood

Terminator 6

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RIP Len Wein



This past week, legendary comic creator Len Wein passed away at the age of 69.  Like most creators in the Golden Age of comics at Marvel, he is often a forgotten member of the team that helped us bring the classic characters that we know and love so well.  Probably most importantly, he helped bring us the Giant Sized X-Men Team which rebooted the book as a much more diverse line up with his creation of Storm and Nightcrawler coming onto the team.  He is also the modern creator of Wolverine who is.... look there is no X-Men without Wolverine as he became the most important member of the team in modern times.

Brothascomics has been to several cons over the past few years and we were unable to meet him. This is a huge loss in comic history- one that we hope does not get passed  over!

Full article at NY Daily News
Len Wein Passes away

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John Cena is Shazam?





News broke recently that WWE wrestler John Cena is one of the front runners to play Shazam in the DC adaption of their popular comic book character.  It seems like an odd choice to me.  Even tho Cena has done a few movies under the WWE movie studio- as well as some main stream movies, I am not sure he is the right person to carry an entire movie franchise on his back.  He has to be tired from carrying the WWE on his back for the last 15 years, but Cena as Shazam?  That seems like a pretty big stretch.


I can see how this would appeal to a certain fan base of wrestling fans who would love to see Cena as Shazam VS the Rock as Black Adam in some amalgam of rasslin and comic books coming together.  But as a comic book and wrestling fan, this seems like a horrible idea.


Check the full article below

http://comicbook.com/dc/2017/09/04/shazam-movie-casting-john-cena-joshua-sasse-/

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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Who is Emperor Snoke





Our friends over at Heroic Hollywood posted this gem about Star Wars: The Last Jedi digging into the origins of Emperor Snoke.  As curious as I am about who is pulling the strings for the 1st Order and Kylo Ren, its really more of a secondary plot to me!  I want to know more about Luke's life after Return of the Jedi and his life on the island!

Good stuff all around.  Check the link for the full article!



Supreme Leader Snoke Star WarsOne of the most mysterious new characters introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the ominous head of the First Order, Supreme Leader Snoke. Appearing as a towering hologram, fans immediately began speculating on the character’s past and rise to power, hoping that the next chapter of the saga would provide the answers they seek. While Star Wars: The Last Jedi will finally introduce Snoke in the flesh, director Rian Johnson recently told Empire Magazine that the film will provide few details on his origin.

https://heroichollywood.com/star-wars-last-jedi-details-snoke-origin/.Wa7H8frbvHk.facebook

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