Welcome back to the eleventh week of Convention Sketches!
We feature a convention sketch here every week. We’ve got a whole pile of our own, but we want to see yours, too. Email us convention sketches you want to show off and let us know what website you’d like credited for it. (bigshinyrobot(at)gmail.com)
This week’s sketch is from Adriana Ferguson who makes comics with her cohort Kristin Van Dam at Minor Acts of Heroism…
Predictably, this comes from Shazbot’s personal archive.
Good Morning, Big Shiny Roboteers! Today, we’re happy to add a column to the site that hearkens back to yesteryear. A time when children would pile into a movie house Saturday afternoons and be regaled by the derring-do of the heroes of the day! You could fly with Captain Marvel and Superman, swash your buckles with Zorro, or rocket into space with Flash Gordon! While we can’t guarantee that the magic of those bygone days can be recaptured, we’re sure as heck going to try!
That being said, out first offering is the first on-screen appearance of a hero who just graced the silver screen again, The Green Hornet! This serial adventure was released soon after the character was conceived for radio and as such is hugely responsible for how the Hornet and Kato are perceived visually. In fact, when the Golden Age incarnations of both characters are used today, they’ll still look similar to the appearances in this film. For our inagural column, we’ll be showing two chapters of this tale, but be sure to come back every Saturday morning, and we’ll resolve the cliffhanger for you!
DC has revealed 14 different 3 issue minis that will tie-in to their upcoming “Flashpoint” event. It seems to me that something will happen that will cause a splinter earth or alternate timeline to take effect. The event will be helmed by a 5 issue mini written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert with inks by Sandra Hope. Now I’m sure you won’t be lost if you don’t pick up every single mini series. So you’d only need to pick up the ones that interest you. DC has been posting the following teases on their blog over the last few weeks:
The mini-series that will accompany the event are:
Whatever Happened to Gotham City?
FLASHPOINT: BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1-#3
Whatever Happened to the World’s Greatest Super Villains?
FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE & THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #1-#3
Whatever Happened to the Aliens?
FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR THE GREEN LANTERN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: PROJECT: SUPERMAN #1-#3
Whatever Happened to Science & Magic?
FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN & THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN #1-#3
Whatever Happened to Europe?
FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1-#3
Everything You Know Will Change in a Flash
FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1-#3
The subtitle for Season Three has always been a curious thing to me. Secrets Revealed. It didn’t make much sense. But as we get into the second half of Season Three, not only does the subtitle make sense, I can’t imagine why it would be called anything else.
After the revelations about Darth Maul last week, I wasn’t sure how I could be more pleasantly surprised going into this episode. That they would be exploring the prophecy of The Chosen One has been teased since the very first press release about the season and I’ve been trying hard to keep my expectations low but it didn’t really matter. This episode blew away all of my expectations and brought me near geeky tears more than once.
The best way to describe this episode is that they’ve set an entire three-episode arc of The Clone Wars in the domain of evil from The Empire Strikes Back. Things aren’t what they seem. Voices and echoes permeate the surroundings. Bizarre apparitions appear based on the notions and emotions the characters bring with them. The possibilities of the future are foretold and it’s all akin to a religious experience.
Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan are sent out to investigate a 2,000 year old Jedi distress signal and arrive at a rendezvous point but nothing is there. I have to note that the ship cockpit, the dialogue, and the lighting all lend itself to feel very much like the scenes in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope. Confusion sets in when a bright light sucks them into the force nexus and the scene cuts to a close up of Anakin’s face, unconscious. Perhaps it was just me, but in that shot specifically, I was reminded of his son, Luke.
The three of them arise, wondering what the planet is all about when they are met by a strange, angelic apparition who introduces herself only as Daughter. She leads our Jedi heroes into a bit of a trap, separating them before the dangerous nightfall. Anakin is forced to seek out shelter in a monastery and Anakin and Ahsoka seek shelter in a cave (much like the Domain of Evil from Empire) together.
The night brings visions to our heroes. First, Obi-Wan is visited upon by Qui-Gon Jinn (voiced by Liam Neeson, reprising his role) who speaks cryptically as ever about the future and the past and the possibilities that lie in the fate of The Chosen One. Ahsoka is visited by her future-self and is told that if she wishes to see her future she needs be taught by Anakin no longer.
Finally, Anakin is visited upon by a vision of his mother. Shmi Skywalker. (With Pernilla August reprising the role as well.) This scene was instantly heartbreaking. There isn’t one specific thing that played so much on my heart strings other than the pain on Anakin’s face and in his voice and the soothing tones of his mothers voice. It was a sad scene but descended further and further into being frightful.
This episode deals very much with the pain of guilt and how Anakin is letting it shape him. He’s carrying around the guilt of his mother’s loss and the subsequent slaughter of the Tusken Raiders like a ton of bricks and it weighs him down, preventing him from being what he can be. And it’s incredible to watch these normally internalized issues play out.
But soon, the old man (known as Father) agrees to let Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka off the planet if Anakin agrees to a test to see if he’s truly The Chosen One. He agrees and the Son and Daughter arrive in the form of giant winged creatures with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka gripped in their lethal talons. And Anakin is given a choice. He must choose which to save, his master, or his apprentice. Only The Chosen One can possibly save them both. And he does it. Through the strength and trust in the force and with a seeming hint of anger and fear of loss Anakin is able to subdue both the Son and the Daughter simultaneously and forces them to bow at his knees.
For the first time, I felt that the balance of the force in Anakin in this point of his life is that he can balance the light and the dark like no one else, but his Achilles heel is the fear of loss. He can do tremendous, powerful, sometimes horrible things, but for the most part (until his fall) he is able to keep the unchecked powers of light and dark within his body and soul.
And the Father confides in Anakin that his role as The Chosen One is to replace him. He is dying and it is Anakin’s destiny to make a choice. He can keep the nexus of light and dark in balance and keep the Son and Daughter in check because he is The Chosen One, or he can choose the path of selfishness and his corporeal life to what will be his eventual ruin.
The prophecy of The Chosen One has never made more sense on a variety of levels.
This episode was incredible. On every level. The mythology of Star Wars was advanced. Secrets were indeed revealed. The animation and new models were second to none. The spirit of Star Wars was raised indelibly. The lighting (particularly of the Yin and Yang of the arena floor and the transitions from day to night and back again) was astounding. The voice work from all of the actors, particularly Matt Lanter, has never been better.
The music and audio was also second to none. There were hints of themes from The Phantom Menace and The Empire Strikes Back in the music, and there was that one tell-tale breath of Darth Vader that chilled me to the bone.
Every element of this episode was firing on all cylinders.
As much as I loved last weeks episode and thought that it tied ‘Assassin’ for my favorite episode this season, this episode far surpassed it. I’m going to be watching this one again and again.
It’s sad and terrifying and tremendous.
Words are escaping me. But this is what Star Wars is all about.
And this is just the first episode of three. If this is just a taste of what’s to come, I can’t believe what we’ll be getting in the next two episodes.
Every week for about 2 1/2 years the fellows from the Geek Show Podcast have been bringing you an excellent, hilarious, geeky hour of geekiness every week. For almost two of those years, I have been producing a video version of their show for Xfinity’s Utah On Demand system. Their licensing agreement was such that the content was exclusive to them, but we’ve since worked it so that it is only a window of exclusivity and now we’ll be getting the show every week on the internet.
Be sure to check out their website and subscribe to their podcast. The show’s regular panelists includes Kerry Jackson, host of X96′s Radio From Hell, Leigh George Kade from Grimmleigh’s Fiends, Shannon Barnson, my co-host at the Pub Quiz, Jeff Vice and Jimmy Martin from the Big Movie Mouth-Off, and Scott Pierce, television critic for The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Geek Show will be putting the video up on their website, and we’ll be putting it up here as well… You know… Since I produce it, damn it.
As a warning, these appear in their original NSFW form.
Here’s part 1 of the 1/10/11 show:
And here’s part 2 of the 1/10/11 show:
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger shuttle launch and subsequent explosion.
I was only 4 years old when it happened. Unlike my older sister who was in kindergarten and pretty much every other child in a public school in the United States I did not watch it live. I remember the buzz and marketing that was built up before it though, such as “Space camp” a film that came out that year. The Reagan administration sincerely believed that space was important to America’s future. The decision to send a public school teacher to space was rather obviously a marketing choice to invigorate the nation, the public school system, and most importantly children’s interest in science and space. 73 seconds into its launch, Challenger suffered cataclysmic systems failure (frozen “O” rings were discovered to be the cause), and exploded on live national television. I don’t recall much of the tragedy. I DO remember that 2 years later when I was in 1st grade the press photo of Christa McAuliffe, the school teacher to “won” the lottery to be the first teacher in space was still on the wall of the class room in memoriam. It was haunting. I think that photo more than anything made me really aware of the Challenger tragedy as a child.
This anniversary gives us a moment to reflect. Not only on the 7 lives that were lost, but to perhaps see a point in the past where things changed. I’m reminded of the Dr. Who episode called “Turn Left” where Donna Noble must rewrite time (and thus save the world) by making one change in her past. President Reagan had no intention to discontinue the space program. He believed deeply in space as new frontier and America as having an almost “Manifest Destiny” roll in its exploration. But history has shown us a different tale. NASA became harder to fund in wake of the tragedy. Priorities changed. The Nation changed. And in the past 20 year Science has gone from being seen as a bettering force in human endeavors to a point of ever growing controversy in the “culture war”. In the speech President Reagan gave after the tragedy he reiterated his support for NASA and the space program. But I think no one would know the cumulative effect in our culture this would have. I am not saying that kids in my generation were scared off science by Challenger. But in hindsight the contrast of what was hoped for versus what was is striking and thought provoking. There have been many stories of late that interconnect with the current dialog of the question of America’s place in the world. Especially in regards to innovation and the sciences. So perhaps my mind just naturally gravitates back to that subject as it seems to be a point of collective meditation in the zeitgeist.
Dark House announced yesterday (via MTV’s Splashpage) that Qui-Gon Jinn will be getting his own comic series set in the times before Obi-Wan Kenobi was his padawan.
Count Dooku will be appearing in the book as well.
MTV has a full interview with Scott Allie, the writer, and some preview pages.
Here’s the official solicit and description of the issue:
STAR WARS: JEDI—THE DARK SIDE #1 (of 5)
Scott Allie (W), Mahmud Asrar (A/Cover), Stéphane Roux (Variant Cover)
On sale May 18 (One day before Phantom Menace’s 12th Anniversay)
FC, 40 pages, $2.99, Miniseries
Twenty-one years before the events in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is dispatched to prevent the outbreak of a civil war on the homeworld of his Padawan Xanatos—whose father is king. It is a mission that will lead Qui-Gon into close contact with the dark side and start him on a quest that will have a major impact on the future of the Jedi Order!
But with Qui-Gon returning both to comics and The Clone Wars, and it was announced yesterday that Shmi Skywalker is returning as well, and Darth Maul may be back, lurking in the shadows, is The Phantom Menace having a new Renaissance?
An encounter on Facebook yesterday had me thinking, “If Episode I is so reviled, why are there some people reacting so vehemently in the negative to the inclusion of some of these characters?” Granted, Darth Maul was one of the few things held universally sacred from Phantom Menace, but talking to some fellow Star Wars fans, there was a sense that his death was final and it would be frustrating to them to change that truth in the same way it was frustrating to some of them that Anakin was inserted into the end of Return of the Jedi.
If The Phantom Menace was so hated and despised so universally, why would there be any hint of that outcry of it’s slightly shifting continuity? And why would Dave Filoni and crew (and Dark Horse Comics) be bringing these characters back to the forefront of the expanded universe if they were so shallow and hated? It seems as though if all of your suspicions about Lucasfilm as a whole being as business savvy as it is, wouldn’t forgetting these characters ever existed be a wiser plan if they’re so disgusting to the average fan?
It seems as though now, 12 years later, The Phantom Menace is finally getting a little bit of the good reputation it deserves back.
And history is looking more kindly on it and its characters.
One interesting thing to point out in the interview with Scott Allie proves something I’ve been saying for a long time: Kids love the prequels and 30 years from now, no one will know the difference between the 6 films or care.
I have a 5-year-old son, so I watched the prequel movies way more than a lot of guys my age. My son loves them so much, and we’ve watched Episodes 1-3 over and over. I know them backwards and forwards.
What say you, the devoted readers of Big Shiny Robot!?
The LA Times is reporting (via their gossip blog, so treat this news accordingly) that Joe Manganiello is in the running to play Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in his upcoming Superman film.
Manganiello is apparently from the show True Blood, which is a little worrisome because every time I’ve watched that show (the first few episodes) it was beyond cheesy and boring.
From their report:
Here’s what we know: At last week’s Academy Bake Off, a celebration of visual effects in film, talk around the room (especially from the team working on the new “Superman”) said Manganiello kept popping up in serious talks about a new face for the franchise.
He’d fit right in — director Zack Snyder is no stranger to ab-tastic leading men (as he made Gerard Butler a star with “300”), and producer Christopher Nolan also has experience molding breakout hotties (ahem, Tom Hardy).
When Extra pressed Manganiello about it at the Producer’s Guild Awards, he said, “I would be honored. I love Zack Snyder, I love Christopher Nolan.”
So… There you have it. File this one under rumour, but it’s an interesting idea nonetheless.
What do you guys think? Can this dude pull it off?
I was able to get my hands on a Slamdance film (as I was covering it for IN Magazine) and since it has an inherently geeky bent I thought I’d cover it for Big Shiny Robot! as well.
Superheroes is a documentary directed by Michael Barnett and features a quick look into the lives of Real Life Superheroes. Shot beautifully on what looks to be DSLR cameras, Barnett and his crew followed a few different groups of Superheroes on both coasts (and a few spots in between) and tried to examine what they did and why.
For me, the film works much better in its second half where the filmmakers drop the filming and editing style of superiority over their subjects and takes them seriously, finally treating them as peers. At that point, the movie becomes most engaging. I’ve watched this film twice and I can’t get over the grating nature of the first half of the film.
We’re introduced to a pair of Real Life Superheroes, Mr. Xtreme from San Diego and Master Legend from Florida, and the film is cut in such a way that we’re supposed to feel as though they’re weirdos or unbalanced or that we’re supposed to laugh at them. Mr. Xtreme is photographed in his overly cluttered house in sweatpants watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. These sequences are intercut with introductions to other superheroes, namely Master Legend, who the audience is led to suspect that he’s nothing more than a drunk in a costume. “Expert” interviews interspersed through this section are limited to Marvel comics legend Stan Lee who questions the sanity and intelligence of anyone willing to fight crime without super powers, and a San Diego Police Psychologist who is convinced that the subjects do more harm than good and they are probably unbalanced.
It’s not a very flattering opening. And I can only speculate, but it feels that the filmmakers were laughing at their subjects through the beginning of the production and not expecting to find the heart and soul they found in these people.
After that turning point, the film is incredible.
The best stuff, however, comes toward the end, following a Real Life Superhero named “Life.” The scenes of him connecting with the homeless on the streets of New York were touching and almost enough to elicit tears. I would love to see a doc dedicated to him completely.
There’s a great film in here somewhere, though not the exhaustive examination of Real Life Superhero culture they seem to think it is, and I hope before it gets distribution they’re able to salvage the first half of the film. Don’t get me wrong. I really liked it, but it’s hard for me to divorce my instincts as a documentary filmmaker from my instincts as a film viewer and this film is pretty good, but could be great.
I’d also love to see a much more long term take on the subject, following someone for a long time to really get to the heart of them.
EW is reporting that young actor, Luke Pasqualino, is set to play young William Adam in the upcoming SyFy Battlestar Galactica prequel series, Blood and Chrome. To date, it looks like the biggest thing Pasqualino has done is a starring role in the BBC’s teen drama, Skins.
Pasqualino will star as the young, talented fighter pilot William Adama, a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.
SyFy’s previous attempt to get a BSG prequel series off the ground with Caprica was unfortunately cancelled late last year. This new series will focus on a young Adama right in the midst of the tenth year of the first Cylon war. I just recently watch the original SyFy BSG series and fell in love with the characters and the universe, and while I have yet to see Caprica (which will finish out it’s first and only season) I’m all for another series following the career of a young Bill Adama.
As far as this casting goes, I’m just happy it’s moving forward and much prefer this casting to the rumored former front-runner for the part, Milo Ventimiglia. Some comments around the web are saying that this kid is too much of a “pretty boy” to play such a badass character like Adama, but don’t forget, this is pre-war-hardened Adama – a young kid looking for a battle; I’m sure we will see the character progression of this young man becoming the Admiral he later becomes.
There is no set air-date yet for Blood & Chrome, but it will premier on SyFy some time this year with a two-hour movie premier.
So, BSG Fans, what do you think? Can you see this kid growing up to become the Bill Adama we all know and love? Sound off in the comments below!