I was fortunate to see an early screening of Shazam yesterday! These are the trailer before the movie premiered!
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
I am of a certain age that I was too old when Pokemon became so popular. I mean I know about it and maybe watched the cartoon once or twice, but I never was actually into it. The Pokemon I know the most is Pikachu and I really don't know that much about it. So the idea of this movie for me is a list cause since my kids are also not into Pokemon. Plus, its got Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu and I am pretty much Fuck Ryan Reynolds outside of Deadpool and Just Friends! Hard pass for me!!
Godzilla King of the Monsters
Godzilla has had so many relaunches over the years, its hard to get excited about another one. The last Godzilla movie was actually pretty good, tho and this sequel brings back many of Godzilla's greatest monsters from the past. Movie looks great and all the monsters look awesome, too.
My kids were not down with the first Godzilla but are all in on this one so its a full thumbs up for me!!
This is the finale of Season 5 of the Marvel Hacks! I was lucky enough to screen Shazam yesterday so we have a review here. Plus in Blerd Notes we talk the box office for Captain Marvel. the "dark" Flash movie in development, the Endgame trailer, and the final acquisition of Fox by Disney.
We also review Amazing Nightcrawler and NextGen in the Age of X-Man and we continue our review of Winter Soldier.
Fun listen with your boys the Sandman, Brother Beavis, and The Producer from Brothascomics
One of my favorite things to do is to check out the trailers before the movie begins to get a sense of what is coming out over the next few months. I saw Captain Marvel last week and even tho I was hoping and praying for an Avengers: End Game trailer that did not come, I did see some trailers that may pull me back into the local cineplex. First up
Best of Enemies
Let me tell you something I am sick of.... make white people feel good about being racist movies. From Green Book to Driving Ms. Daisy to The Upside, to this movie about a Black woman and a white man who somehow find common ground on race in North Carolina. Man, whether based on actual events or not, these movies only serve the purpose of making white people feel good for 2 hours and then they go back to their white neighborhoods and white friends and never work to interact to deconstruct a white system designed to benefit them on the daily. Fuck this movie and fuck everyone associated with it.
Dumbo
For me this is a solid, "Thank you, next". The original Dumbo, while sad and emotionally, is also racist AF with them damn crows and I am not sure, but I know somehow, someway, director Tim Burton gonna keep the racism alive with this movie as he has not been a fan of the Negro in his movies. Hard pass and honestly, I do not need to see live action versions of Disney "classics".
Spider-Man: Far From Home
I am a huge Spider-Man fan and I loved Homecoming much more than my podcasting co-hosts. However, this trailer and the lead up to this movie got me feeling kinda uneasy. Maybe it not being set in New York? Maybe the addition of Nick Fury? Maybe the Happy and Aunt May thing? I don't know, but this looks problematic to me on first glance and the full trailer did not make me feel any better. I hope I am wrong.
Frozen 2( Electric Boogaloo)
Its become kinda the norm now for people to kinda diss Frozen; like I hear people saying that the movie was not all that good and that kinda talk was not happening when it came out a few years ago. I mean did they play "Let it Go" to death? Hell yes, but overall, that movie is solid and holds up over multiple viewings( trust me I know- my daughter makes me watch it still). This teaser trailer didn't do or say much but I am not gonna sit here and lie to y'all like I am not gonna be there opening night! Bring it on Elsa!!
Ugly Dolls
The only reason I know about Ugly Dolls is that Marvel Hacks Podcast co host Brother Beavis gave one to my kids when they were little. They always kinda freaked me out a bit and the trailer is creepy, too. Not creepy scary, creepy like I don't think Ima pay real ass money to watch some Ugly Dolls find their true meaning and purpose in life. Feels like a Redbox or a Netflix watch for me and even then, it may not happen!
Dark Phoenix
Sigh.... If you have watched or read or listened to anything Brothascomics has done over the last 2 years, you know full well that we have no use for this movie. Now with the Fox-Disney merger complete, this movie seems even more unnecessary. It looks like a beat for beat remake or The Last Stand and that movie is straight ass cheeks. The EFX look bad, Sophie Turner is a bad actress, Storm is still light skinnded, and Mystique has morphed into Jennifer Lawrence. Maybe there is a good movie in there....maybe. But I doubt it and thank god the Fox Mutant nightmare ends with this stinker.
The Producer
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From time to time as a Netflix subscriber you get these, "You may like" notices from Netflix and I always assume that its based upon your previous viewing history and for the most part, Netflix be wrong as hell for me because my viewing habits is weird AF. Sometimes I am watching cartoons, other times I binge the New Girl, and I am forever watching Spanish novellas on that thing so its a shot in the dark on what I may like.
About a week ago, tho I received a notice about the movie Triple Frontier and I was even more curious as to why it made it into my inbox. As a general rule, I do not watch action/adventure movies because they tend to not hold my interest so I am sure it was not because flagged for that reason. Then I looked at the stars of the movie; most notably Oscar Issac and Ben Affleck and I'm thinking, "oh yeah, now I see why it flagged". I have probably watched the Last Jedi 50 bazillion times on Netflix and the Force Awakens another 50 bazillion so anything with Oscar Issac constantly makes its way onto my suggestions list.
First let me say before this review begins is that I am not a huge fan of violence, even fake violence in movies. Its just not my taste. But i forged ahead and watched this movie because I was intrigued by the stars of the movie, that not only included Issac and Affleck, but also Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, and Garrett Hedlund. A quite sizable list of Hollywood hunks might I say and definitely a reason to press play without knowing anything about the movie.
Our plot centers around a drug lord who has taken control of an area in an unnamed portion of South America( its Colombia, they just don't say it). Issac, playing Santiago, is working with a US government agency charged with trying to take down this drug lord. He has enlisted a beautiful informant who has been feeding him information with the hopes of freeing her brother from prison.
Santiago has been working this government operation for many years and is looking to get out, but by doing so, he would like to make one more big score by taking down the drug lord AND stealing all that drug lords money.
He recruits his crew of mercenaries that he has worked with over the years played by Hunman, Pascal, Hedlund, and a gun shy Ben Affleck who has been out of the game for many years after being shot. Afflecks character, Tom, is living an unfulfilled life in the private sector selling houses and going through a divorce that is stretching his finances and his patience. The thought of one last big score intrigues him and even tho he wants to refuse, he agrees, along with the others to do this one last job.
This sets up a segment of the movie with that siege of the drug lords mansion to get the money and its a very tense and intriguing scene that does delve into much gun violence so if you are of the squeamish nature, there will be some moments where you are turning your head. Once the job is done, our motley crue needs to escape and unfortunately for them, there are some pitfalls in their escape plan.
I do not want to spoil too much, but I will say that the last quarter of the movie often gets bogged down in the minutiae of not actually having a villain in the story. Yes the drug dealer is a bad person, but there is no real antagonist and as the movie is moving to its ultimate climax, you are left feeling anxious as to how this story will end because no matter how you slice it, Santiago and crew are not good guys!
Overall, a fun movie. Maybe a little too long by the end, but not too bad. I think its a perfect Netflix movie in the sense that its more watchable from home on your big screen tv than paying $15 and watching it on the big screen. The characters are all likeable, even tho they are doing a despicable thing.
7/10
The Producer
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The wonderful folks over at Comic Con Revolution were kind enough to bring Brothascomics back to West Palm Beach to cover the 2nd year of the comic con. So the kids and I piled up the hooptie and headed the 45 minutes down to West Palm Beach. We did cover the event last year and you can read our recap here
This year, the con expanded into a 2-day event from the 1 day inaugural year. The folks at Comic Con Revolution do a great job keeping fans interested and invested in the convention throughout the year with timely updates and guest announcements via social media.
This year had a few huge guests in the world of comics, primarily noted X-Men Scribe, Chris Claremont. If you have never or attended one of his panels, the man is a true wordsmsith and one of the greatest story tellers that has ever lived- not just in comics. He regaled me and others with tales of the X-Men and origins of some of our favorite X-characters. A great get for the folks at Comic Con Revolution and I hope he comes back next year.
Along with Chris Claremont, making his 2nd appearance was Ming Chen- fresh off the final episodes of AMC's Comic Book Men, Ming loves the convention circuit and meeting and mingling with his fans. I was able to chat him up for a few minutes and get the low down on his new podcasting venture which you can find here
Lastly, and certainly not least, Venom writer Donny Cates, who was fresh off a controversy from the latest issue of Venom and he was able to talk with for a few minutes about that and his introduction into writing comics.
Lets Break down the Con
The Badge Process
Bigger crowd this year than last year and the badge process can be the biggest letdown for any convention goer; especially if its your first time headed to a convention. Much like last year, the folks at Comic Con Revolution handled the walk up traffic very well, but its always encouraged to buy your badges ahead of time to save you money and time. Most attendees had their printed receipts ready and could head to the ticket booth to pick up their badges.
Con Size
With the convention moving to two days, the size of the crowds were bigger, but more fluid than last year as people begin to move in and out of the convention center over the day. With it being two days now, panels were spread out over the two days and many of the panels were so awesome, you had to attend two days. In that regard, its probably best if you are not local, to try and get a hotel in and around the area. For those not familiar, West Palm Beach can be somewhat expensive, especially on the weekend in the spring so book your hotel early.
The convention itself was had a great variety of creators and exhibitors to satisfy all your nerdly needs. If you are into comics, collectibles, steampunk., manga, anime... all your nerdly desires could be met on the convention floor. They have done a great job and making sure they provide entertainment for a wide variety of fans!!
The Cosplay
One of things Brothascomics prides itself on is highlighting cosplayers of color. Comic convention should be a safe place for all fans to express their nerdly identify and we recognize those players on our site. The cosplay this year was great all around. Many of the costumes from videogames and manga- I had to have someone explain to me who they are. Just a great job by all those involved!!
Overall
Comic Con Revolution has continued its growth into year two and the future looks bright moving forward. Will that be 3 days? Or a bigger venue? I am not sure but I hope I am invited back next year to see what awesomeness they have for their fans!
The Producer
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I was able to interview Ed Brisson at Comic Con Revolution. We talked how he broke into comics, his work on Extermination, and killing off Old Cable. Fun interview with a really cool dude.
For the second year in a row, I was able to head down to West Palm Beach for Comic Con Revolution. I will have a full write up later, but for now, enjoy this video with me and Ming Chen from the Comic Book Men talking the end of the Comic Book Men show on AMC, his new podcasting adventure, and filming the new Jay and Bob movie
