The Second Best Christopher Nolan Movie is

The Prestige -2006



     Not Batman Begins (5th), Not The Dark Knight Rises(6). Not Inception (4th). Not Insomnia (7th).  Not Memento (3rd).  I didn't rank Interstellar because I haven't watched it yet. The Prestige is about two friends / partners who from tragedy, turn into great magicians and bitter rivals. This is easily the second best Christopher Nolan Joint. If you have never seen it, please Netflix or Amazon stream this movie. Without giving it away, the ending  is so good  that you want to watch it again and again. Yes, its full of bad tooth'd Brits and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. Yes Michael Caine continues his Cal Ripken streak of consecutive  movie appearances. The  female lead, Scarlett Johansson, graces the viewer just enough.

Inception would rate higher, but it got too much hype.

Big Bang Theory and their Lack of Nerd-versity

First off, let me say that I am a big fan of this show.  I did not start watching it when it first came on. It came on while Community was on and my sense or type of humor is more reflected in that show than in the Big Bang Theory.  I discovered it from the reruns on TBS and now I watch it every week( and sometimes the rerun every night). I am a big fan of the show.

But from watching in these past few years, you definitely get struck by the lack of diversity on the show.  Yes they have Raj( I will get to him later) and they have 3 main female characters but people of color a few and far between.  Just from watching it so often, I can tell you the main( only) black people that have been on the show off the top of my head.

The Sassy Nurse Althea

The Sassy DMV Worker

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer

Human Resource Officer

SAG nominee Regina King

Theater Manager

Comedian /Actor Eric Andre

Famous Scientis Neil deGrasse

Rick Fox

I could add Raj's sister I guess but that is really not the point I am trying to make.  This show is made for people with nerdly habits.  Weekly, you get information and visuals about science, comics, movies, gaming.  It exposes alot of non nerdly people to these topics and presents them in a fun and entertaining way that makes you want to watch it again and again.  But it also plays up the stereotype that all nerds are white.  Raj is Indian, but he exhibits no major Indian traits other than his accent.  And all of his culture is made fun of by the characters on the show.  Raj is a self-hating Indian whose sole purpose is to assimilate into the dominant culture. Raj only dates white girls and even when he did try to date an Indian girl, she was gay!  So don't come at me with Raj( or his sister Priya).  The underlying message of the show is that only white dudes are nerds and geeks( and smart) and we all know this is not true.

So what is uncomfortable to the masses about Black nerds?  Does it not fit their pre-conceived stereotypes about black people?  Do we have to always be sassy, athletic, cool, or thugs to fit what people are most comfortable with?  Do they just have no experience with Black nerds? The writers and producers of these shows may have little to no experience with POC and chances are there are few, if any, POC in helping to write and produce this show.

A show like the Big Bang Theory should be an all-inclusive opening into the multi colored and layered world of nerdom. You would not have to look far to find Blerds who read comics, play games, and enjoy sci-fi tv and movies. Hell go on Twitter and you will find a plethora of black nerd centric websites( including mine) that cater to many and all of these nerdly subjects.
The lack of diversity is a slap in the face to all nerds of color and its quite disappointing that 8 seasons into the most popular show on television that there have been 6 black people on it( and only 2 black males).  But maybe that's why its the most poplar show on tv!

-The Producer

Spider-Crisis Averted

With all the news coming out of comic-con this week, there was a nugget that dropped in an interview with Dennis Leary, who played Captain Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man and then made a couple of cameo appearances in Amazing Spider-Man 2

SpiderMan 3 Crazy Plot

In the interview, Leary drops a bomb that in the 3rd movie, somehow Peter Parker was going to come up with some sort of serum that would bring the dead people in his life back to life.  That would allow him to, I assume, bring back Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, and of course, Gwen Stacy!

Burn it with fire!!!!!

That reboot of Spider-Man was already a bad idea.  The idea of doing a reboot, with an origin story was bad enough in the first one.  The super cool, yet emo Peter Parker, all the back drama about how his parents were killed, and the Fault in our Stars romance with Gwen was just about enough.  Throw in a terrible villain with the Lizard and there you have the first one.

Side note as to why not to just trailers

Of course, the sequel doubles down on its awfulness. More villains( Electro, Rhino, Hobgoblin), more back story about his parents that is totally unresolved, more gooey love, and then killing his love interest in a 3rd act of the movie that was totally unnecessary.

Beware of the trailer Batman V Superman people

And now information that the 3rd movie was going to go to resurrection of Gwen Stacy which has been done and overdone in the Spiderman universe for years.  She has been cloned and re cloned.  She had kids with Norman Osbourne and those two kids came back to haunt Spider-Man.  I mean some real Jerry Springer shit in the comics.  So the idea of her coming back for the movie is not THAT far-fetched.  And in the Ultimate universe, Peter does bring Gwen back using a sample of the symbiote from Carnage, who is an offspring from the symbiote Venom.... Good grief. Could you imagine this movie? Not only to resolve the cloning/resurrection, but they had already teased the Sinister Six, the man in the hat,  and probably would have dropped Venom in there, too.  It would have been a total cluster fuck and we are all better off to have never seen it. I'm sure Dennis Leary is going to get a nicely worded email from Sony and Marvel telling him to shut the hell up!

With that being said, why even kill Gwen in Amazing Spider Man 2 anyway?  As much as I made fun of it, the chemistry between Garfield and Stone was the best thing about those movies. Plus ,these movies work in cycles of three and if they were hell bent on killing her,  they could have saved her death, at the hands of Green Goblin, for the third movie. They introduced Harry Osbourne already, they introduced the formula that is turning him into the Goblin in that movie.... they just rushed all of it and left their franchise ruined.  So ruined they had to run back to Marvel to help save it.

It all just reeks of laziness by the filmmakers( I'm looking at you Marc Webb).  In an attempt to make it different, all they did was make it ridiculous by focusing on who Peter Parker is. No one really cares, tho.  Once you get past his uncle dying, the character is more interesting in the suit, not out of it. People care about Spiderman, not Peter Parker.

So we avoided that disaster.  DC-look what happens when you rush movies and characters at the expense of story and plot.  The movie make look good and the trailers may get millions of views, but none of that will matter if your movie sucks!

-The Producer

Batman V Superman Trailer Review

So the trailer that everyone was waiting for finally dropped at Comic-Con! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't waiting around to see it myself and I am a Marvel guy and I have my issues about this movie already.  I still do after seeing the trailer.  Zack Snyder knows how to make movies look good.  How many of you saw the  trailer for Sucker Punch and even Watchmen and thought, " of this is going to be the shit"! He makes great trailers and visual looking movies!

This trailer is no different but it gives us something to look forward to.  I am not the DC hater that Big Hutch says I am.  But I do have my concerns about their cinematic universe because all of this seems so rushed.  So I will start with a critique and then move on to the screen captures.

1. This movie was not planned out. I don't care what they say.  Look, they are taking the idea that Gotham and Metropolis are sister cities like Oakland and San Fransisco.  I kinda like that idea, honestly.  But, if this movie was planned out ahead, they would have mentioned this in Man of Steel( MOS) and even shown a Wayne building in that movie.  They didn't because this was never meant to be the sequel.  MOS is a super flawed movie and I think they realized that and to boost up the hype for a 2nd movie, they added a more trusted property by placing Batman in it!  That is my biggest critique and you can see some shots of  Bruce now during the destruction of Metropolis looking very distressed!

The trailer shows that a Wayne Building was destroyed and that Bruce was not happy.  They are really going with an older looking Bruce Wayne here. I am not sure why?

Superman has to answer for the destruction of the city and we get the narration and video of him going to court it seems. Its so funny that they would make him come to court and he would in the comics because that is what Superman would do.  Yet they allow him to kill in MOS which is not what Superman would do. I digress

Bruce is still upset about what happens.  Trailer shows how he is being taunted for allowing this to happen and we get some intense Affleck looks here! Plus we see Robin's suit which has been burnt and defaced by the Joker.  I kinda hope Robin does not show up in this movie, too.  It already has enough heroes( and we didn't even see Cyborg or Aquabro in the trailer)

Morpheus makes an appearance to tell Clark that no one cares about a report on how to take down Batman! Kinda funny that Lawrence Fishburn is playing Perry White

The women in Superman's life give him two different messages. Funny the wife and the potential mother in law don't get along. Louis is saying that what Superman does matters and he offers hope to people that have no hope.  His momma is telling him you don't owe these people shit!

Luthor finally makes his appearance.  Holly Hunter plays a reporter( she should play Vicki Vale if they want to unite the two worlds) and she interviews alot of people in the trailer.  Luthor being one.  We see him with hair and its been leaked that somehow he gets a hold of Zod's body and is able to somehow mine Kryptonite out of it!

We get our first appearance of Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman.  I will say that I was not a fan of the actress when she was cast. But she looks great as both!  We get to see her use her powers a little.  The big reveal is who they are all fighting because something or someone will bring the three of them together.

There were some screen captures I did not understand.  Batman is fighting in what looks to be like Iraq or Afghanistan against these soldiers but they have Superman patches on their arms.  Was very curious about that!

The last part of the trailer shows battle scenes from our two stars.  Typical stuff! I hope it does not go one for 30 minutes like the battle in MOS.  That would be my other concern, too.  There has to be this battle and then there has to be another battle with the "super villain", as well as battles for Wonder Woman to shine.  This movie is gonna run long I bet!

So there it is! I kinda got hyped watching this.  I cannot wait for my 10 year old to see the trailer because he is a big fan of both characters.  And that is what I have to tell myself sometimes.  These movies are not made for you.  They are made for younger kids and I have to go in thinking that way and not be so hyper critical.  We all benefit from DC pulling this off and making an awesome movie.  It will case Marvel to step up their game and put out better movies.  So good job DC!  Marvel the ball is in your court for D23. Don't disappoint us!

-The Producer

Who's Thirstiest?

New/Old Roles for Black Actors

Our friends over at Newsarama posted an article with news coming out of comic con about Wesley Snipes talking to Marvel about a new Blade movie, Halle Berry talking about wanting to see a Storm movie, and Jada Pinkett Smith wanting to play Vixen in Suicide Squad 2( if there is one).

This got me to thinking.... which one of these people is the most thirsty for their project to happen.  I know everyone will assume Snipes because of his legal woes with the IRS and him needing to get checks but I'm not sure if he is the most thirsty.

Lets look at the suspects:

Halle Berry AKA Storm

Halle Berry has played Storm in four Xmen movies.  God Bless her attempt at an African accent in the first one that was actually abandoned in the 2nd act of the movie.  Her role in the sequels was expanded a bit, but like most characters in Xmen movies, took a Jim Crow, back of the bus seat, to Wolverine.  I think most Blerds always wanted to see more from the character but it never really happens in any of the movies.  Now, Halle Berry is close to 50 years old and at the Extant panel at Comic-con, she stated that she would love to star in a Storm movie, but even if she isn't in it, she would like the character to get her own movie.  The character is being reboot in XMen Age of Apocalypse next summer with Alexandra Shipp playing Ororo Munroe but who knows if that will eventually lead to a Storm solo movie.  All we know is that it wont be Halle Berry and I am ok with that.

Thirsty meter: Eager Thirst.  Halle is doing season 2 of Extant- which I have never seen or actually heard anyone talk about. Its now a summer series which is where shows typically go to die.  But she has an eager fan base that follows her, two children, and a hot head French husband that will bust your ass if you side eye her the wrong way.

Wesley Snipes AKA Blade

Talks have been out there this week that Marvel and Snipes have been talking about bringing back the character Blade.  I wrote a whole piece on this idea that you can find on the website
Blade 2.0
My thought is that if Blade does come back, Snipes would get a cameo or play the role of Whistler but he would not be the main star-mostly because of his age, but he also did sue Marvel after Blade: Trinity and I am sure there are some hurt feelings over at Marvel and they not turning over a franchise film to Wesley Snipes.
Snipes has had a few legal troubles with the IRS and even spent some time in the joint.  But he's out now and has a show coming to NBC this fall.  Expect that to be short lived as NBC cannot launch a successful show anymore( let alone one starring an African American in the lead role).  Snipes' needs checks and a return to Blade would be a nice check for him. I just don't see it happening!

Thirsty Meter: Parched.  Things are barren for Snipes.  I think a better role for him would be King T'Chaka in the Black Panther movie and that gets him back in the Marvel Universe and possibly back in Marvels good graces.


Jada Pinkett-Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith does not need checks. Between the acting she has done and her marriage to Will Smith, she has no need to chase gigs for money( unlike Snipes)!  But she may be the thistiest person on this list.  Jada is always chasing "that" role.  My thought is that her husband is such a big movie star, she is looking to find her own place as an actress( which is not a bad thing)!  But it makes her come off as thirsty as she does not stick with one thing long enough to make an impact.  In comics/sci-fi,she wanted the role of Trinity in the Matrix( didn't get it) but wound up in the sequels as Niobe.  She plays Fish Mooney in Gotham but made the decision to leave after one season.  Now she is angling to play Vixen in Suicide Squad 2( assuming the 1st one is successful).  I don't get it?  Your husband is in that movie and he is going to overshadow almost anyone in any movie he is in so why follow after him if you trying to make your own way?  Also, if they cast Vixen in that movie, you know they are going to go younger, like they did with Harley Quinn.  Its ageism for sure but they are going to look for a younger actress who can fill out the costume so to speak. 

Thirsty Meter: extreme Thirst.  This is gonna come off like I dislike Jada Pinkett Smith and I don't... really.  I think she is a fine actress but  she needs to pick her spots.  Comics and Sci fi have not been good to her and vice versa.  I think at this point she needs to stay on the small screen and have supporting roles in movies, like Magic Mike. I hope that she finds something that uses her talents best and stop chasing after roles that she's not best suited for!

-The Producer

Where nobody knows your name

Architects of Modern Communication - Internet/Email/Digital Camera Creators

Why is it that for three of the most revolutionary communication tools in today’s society, most people have no idea who invented them?  First of all, I discovered who invented all three of these communication tools on a show called The Henry Ford Innovation Nation that comes on early Saturday morning on CBS hosted by Mo Rocca.  These inventions have become such an integral part of our everyday existence that you would think we would have no problem naming who invented them.  Just like we can easily associate Steve Jobs with Apple, Bill Gates with Microsoft and Jeff Bezos with Amazon.  However the average person, could not begin to tell you who invented the internet, email and the digital camera.  We just acknowledge that they just came into existence and role with that.  Hmmm!

First of all the internet was thought of by J. C. R. Licklider who is largely responsible for the theoretical basis of the Internet, an “Intergalactic Computer Network.” His idea was to create a network where many different computer systems would be interconnected to one another to quickly exchange data, rather than have individual systems setup, each one connecting to some other individual system.  He thought up the idea after having to deal with three separate systems connecting to computers in Santa Monica, the University of California, Berkeley, and a system at MIT.  The platform mentioned by Licklider, ARPANET was based on these ideas and was the principle precursor to the Internet as we think of it today. It was installed and operated for the first time in 1969 with four nodes, which were located at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of California at Los Angeles, SRI at Stanford University, and the University of Utah.  Henceforth, the next time you hop on the Information Highway, give thanks to Mr. Licklider for his innovative thinking which led to what we now use.

Email came about because in 1978, a 14-year-old named V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai developed a computer program, which replicated the features of the interoffice, inter-organizational paper mail system. He named his program “EMAIL”. In the summer of 1978, Shiva had been recruited for programming assignments at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in Newark, New Jersey. One of his supervisors recognized his abilities and challenged him to translate the conventional paper-based interoffice and inter-organizational communication system (i.e., paper-based mail and memoranda) to an electronic communication system. So thanks to the desire of a 14 year old to replicate a general office system through the computer we now have email.  Who da thunk!

                                                         

The Digital Camera was created by Steve Sasson from parts from other cameras. The device had parts that were taken from other cameras as the body and other Kodak pieces used for the rest. The whole device weighed over 8 pounds and was as large as a toaster of the time. The device was nowhere as quick or compact as modern digital cameras or camera phones. The protocol digital camera took 23 seconds to take a photograph and only produced images that were a tenth of a modern pixel. It then took 23 seconds for the image to process on to a cassette tape.

                                                          

These innovators should be acknowledge more for their contributions to some of modern societies most used conveniences that have shaped how we communicate on a regular basis.  However, they go largely unrecognized.  So the next time you hop on the information highway to send an email or perhaps Instagram a photo, give thanks to these unknown pioneers, I know I will.

The Female Perspective

Blade 2.0

Word on the street is that Wesley Snipes has talked to Marvel about reprising the role of Blade or possibly some other role within the Marvel Universe.  Back in the day, he was considered for Black Panther.  Could he possibly play King T'Chaka- Black Panther's father?  Or does he go back to playing Blade- the role he made famous in the 1998 movie and lesser sequels in the early 2000's?

This got me thinking... who would they cast as Blade?  All due respect to Wesley Snipes, he is 52 years old and would be much older by the time a movie came out. So who could they cast in the role? Snipes for all his present day troubles is forgotten for being a competent actor and his action and suspense films from the 90's are not as bad as people may think or remember.  Is there a black actor out there who could fill the role of Blade?  Who can sport the high top fade?

As we go through the list of potential actors, we need to eliminate some actors who are either already playing heroes or signed up to play heroes in the future. And eliminate Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington, Samuel L Jackson, and Morgan Freeman as they are either too old or just not right for this role.

So we have to eliminate Anthony Mackie( the Falcon), Idris Alba( Heimdall), Chadwick Bozeman( Black Panther), Tyrese Gibson( Green Lantern ?), Chiwatel Ejafor( Dr. Strange movie?), and Michael B Jordan( Human Torch/Fantastic Four).  Once you take this group of actors out, you are left with not too many movie stars.  There are some actors who have been in movies and some who are possibly more well know for their roles on TV shows.

Here is a list of possibles( in no particular order)

Morris Chestnut

Morris Chestnut has starred in both movies and TV( even has a new show coming to Fox this fall). Not sure about his martial arts background.

















Michael Jai White

Played Spawn in the movie Spawn.  Has appeared in other comic book movies, including the Dark Knight.  Has major martial arts background.

















Michael K Williams

Plays certified bad ass in almost everything he's done.  Can do action and can carry the emotional parts of the character.  By far the best actor on this list!











Derek Luke

Played Gabe Jones in Captain America: The First Avenger. The 2nd best actor on this list and could definitely handle the acting. Not sure if he could fill the martial arts role. Plus he is kinda short!















Laz Alonso

Laz Alonso has appeared in many action films-from the Fast and the Furious to Avatar!  Has good acting chops, as well and could handle the martial arts!















I'm excited about a possible Blade reboot.  I think Wesley Snipes for sure should be involved- just as a supporting character at this point.  Oh and keep Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel far, far away from this!

So who else could it be?  Leave your choice in the comments sections!

-The Producer