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Posting the best strips from the series, in order from the beginning.
Every Wednesday and Friday
281
Posting the best strips from the series, in order from the beginning.
Every Wednesday and Friday
Great Lakes Comic Con this weekend!
So this weekend I’m grabbing Maddie and heading out to Great Lakes Comic Con, just as intended.
Well perhaps not JUST as intended…..
The original plan had been to go as Voltron – following the ’80’s retro theme GLCC has going on this weekend. But when we pulled out Maddie’s She-Ra outfit, a different idea occurred to me. We 
really like doing themed costumes and this was the perfect opportunity to pick up a project I had abandoned a while back.
Remember the Iron Man project? Well as soon as I was done with Iron Man I intended to do a Man-At-Arms costume. I got as far as half a boot and then got distracted by something shiny. Three years or so later, I’m getting back to this project. There’s a lot of influence from the 2002 reboot, but a lot of elements from the movie as well (things like the visor on the helmet and the eagle on the shoulder guard) and blending it in with my own touches.
Trying to go a little more detailed than normal, to emphasize the tech feel over the medieval look. Going with gold incited of yellow, silver instead of blue, and toning down the greens into an army olive.
I fully expect to have to repeatedly explain that no, I’m not from Bioshock or World of Warcraft….
I didn’t stop there though. I decided to upgrade Maddie’s She-Ra as well. That Dremel I got for Christmas has really been a game changer, allowing me to go to much greater extremes with the details and I decided to not only do my armor, but create new wristbands and a new belt for Maddie, as well as adding the arm cuffs this outfit has never had. Throw in a bag of jewels from the dollar store and her She-Ra has gone from looking cute, to looking fierce. I’m really excited to see this all put together on her. We’ve also attached a floating Orko – he can move around my shoulder from front to back. He probably won’t come out untill later in the day though – I don’t want to tempt fate with a tear or something worse.
Still, all in all, I can’t wait! There’s an amazing guest list out there – just see for yourself!
As for tonight, we’re finishing up that John Hughes retrospective at the Lorain Palace– Sixteen Candles should put me in just the right frame of mind for Great Lakes tomorrow! Hope to see you at the con tomorrow and the movie tonight!
The Breakfast Club
I know, how does somebody get to be my age without ever seeing the breakfast club?
The real problem is I’m about six years too young actually – in 1984 I would’ve been about nine, the wrong demographic. Still, it must have been on television when I was growing up, I just don’t know why I’ve never gotten around to it. Fortunately, the guys up at the Lorain Palace managed to fix that for me this weekend. The Palace is doing a John Hughes retrospective this month. I’ve seen Ferris Bueller – it’s an old friend and has always been in my film collection, but much of Hughes is other work has never made it onto my screens.
They began the screening with some trivia – I was unaware that the original plan for this movie was to make it a three film deal – each movie 10 years apart over the span of 20 years. Having seen this one, it really gets me wondering what did happen to these people? There is an ark within the film, but I can see how they would be a far greater arc as these kids age into their 20s and 30s. 
Look, I really don’t need to rehash the plot here do I? I’m pretty sure until Saturday, I was the only person in the western hemisphere that hadn’t seen it.
While there are some timeless themes, the movie dates itself. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, the Maltese Falcon dates itself very firmly in the 30s – Happy Days dates itself very firmly in the 50s(well the first few seasons anyhow). The Breakfast Club is a Time Capsule to that era– and even with the problems that we see these kids having, there is an optimism to the film that is extremely 80s. You can see we haven’t hit the post-modern deconstructionist era yet. In fact you can see how this film is one of those kind of stories that very style rebels against. At the end of the film, Ali Sheedy gets prettied up and falls in love with the jock– I personally liked her look far better before Molly Ringwald got ahold of her – am I alone here? In fact Sheedy is my favorite of all the characters in this film. She is fascinating, And turns out a marvelous performance. 
I’m not used to Emilio Estavez in this context – a teenager, a jock. Molly Ringwald on the other hand, is playing exactly who she always plays – Molly Ringwald. It’s fine, and it works. I really want to know more about Judd Nelson’s character though. What is this really the way thugs dressed in the 80s? I seem to remember a lot more leather and longer hair. He sure does convey the appropriate arrogance mixed with a touch of menace.
See, I’m still the wrong demographic for this film – I’m closer in age to the teacher that I am to any other students, and I’m from an era that was far more cynical and used to the antihero rather than the heroic archetype.
The Palace isn’t done yet though, it’s Ferris Bueller this Saturday and next week Sixteen Candles screens on Friday night. Sixteen Candles is another one I’ll be seeing for the very first time and I’ll be seeing it on the big screen. Seriously, come out and join me both nights for these films!
See you there.
Join me this weekend for Cleveland Movie marathons!
Okay….so let me explain what’s going on this weekend.
Friday starting at 7:00 the Aut-O-Rama drive-in theatre will be presenting a horror marathon : Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare On elm Street, Friday the Thirteenth and The Shining (Yay! I was so bummed that the shining screening was cancelled a few weeks ago). The Drive-In has two screens, so on the opposite screen there will also be family friendly films like Hotel Transylvania, Gremlins, Casper and BeetleJuice. The cost for the four film marathon is thier standard admission of $9.00.
Saturday night going into Sunday morning is 12 Hours of Terror at the Capitol Theatre on west 65th street in Cleveland. The all night marathon includes the Original Evil Dead, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, From Beyond, Creature From the Black Lagoon (in 3d!), Christine, Street Trash and a surprise feature. Seven movies for $30 at the door (or $25.00 in advance).
After Breakfast at Church, I’ll be heading out to the Lorain Palace for thier double feature of the Friday the Thirteenth remake and Poltergeist. Cost for the double feature on the biggest indoor screen in Lorain County is $5.00.
A film weekend of Cinema Wasteland proportion (for about the same as a weekend pass). I know we’ve all seen most of these films on TV over the years, but there’s something special about seeing something like this on the big screen at a theater. There’s an experience to it….and these aren’t the sterile, neon lit, faceless multiplexes that are scattered through out the country. These are beautiful old theaters. Places with character. The Palace is one of my favorite places on earth, and I’m so grateful that we still have a drive in like the Aut-O-Rama around here- close to my home (twenty minuets) and already upgraded to digital.
Come join me for one or all this weekend!
Star Trek into Darkness
Finally took a break from Violent Blue to get out to the Lorain Palace to see the new Star Trek movie. My reaction was simple. It was good. It wasn’t Star Trek, but it was good.
I think that’s the only way I can look at these movies and be okay. The whole time travel conceit helps, but I’m just far too aware that these are not the characters I know. That’s Chris Pine playing Kirk. It’s not Kirk himself on screen. I never had those kind of feelings with the original cast…not even with Nimoy’s cameos in the new movies….when Nimoy shows up – that’s Spock. I believe it. When Zachery Quinto is on screen, it’s Zachery Quinto in pointy ears.
It’s not just the cast though, J.J. Abrahams seems to be missing some of the soul of Star Trek, and certainly the familiarity. When the Klingon ships show up – I had no idea what I was looking at. If they hadn’t told me those were Klingon ships, I never would have figured it out. That wasn’t the case when the bird of prey showed up in Star Trek 3. It LOOKED Klingon. There was a design language that told us what we needed to know immediately. Those new ships….they’re just a bunch of polygons flexing up and down. It’s a shame, I like Abram’s direction, and his style, but I wish he’d been 
given the reins ten years ago and done this stuff in continuity, rather than in a tangent universe. I think that would have been a beautiful and bold change. This….this is just…not Star Trek.
I’m not going to try and make snarky remarks about this being a remake of Wrath of Kahn, because it isn’t. It’s a completely different kind of Kahn story and a good one at that. It’s also a great thing they set Kahn up to be able to come back, and really using him is logical. Over the years he’s been set up (correctly or incorrectly) as Kirk’s arch-enemy. It makes sense for him to show up here. The touches like the Spock shouting “Kahn” as Kirk lies dying in a radiation chamber are obvious 
homages (and I think, a little unnecessary) but this is not even remotely the same story. I do believe it can stand alone and really is a great story.
I did like all the alternate uniforms we saw. The diving suits were really cool and I even marginally like the gray suits for headquarters, though the hats I think took the military look to far – anyone who complained about Harve Bennetts red uniforms looking to militaristic ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Still the I liked the variety. I’ve always thought that was a nice part of the films- we had the base red uniform, and different coats for away missions, and different uniforms for engineering and medical.
They take the alternate uniforms a little far this time though don’t they?
Seriously. It’s the same complaint I had with IM3. We don’t actually see Tony in the suit enough. It’s still a problem here. We waited all last movie to see Kirk in the gold shirt, and we got it for five seconds at the end. This movie, we’re still spending the majority of the film with him in different uniforms.
Perhaps they were able to get away with this better when Shatner and Nimoy and Kelly were in the roles (although I’m not even sure about that. On of the things that irritates me about 3&4 is the lack of screen time for my favorite of all Starfleet uniforms) but with these characters, we haven’t had enough time to emotionally invest in these actors as the characters. We haven’t had 
enough exposure to this ensemble and it only heightens the feeling that these are just actors playing the characters… not the characters themselves.
And that’s what it keeps coming down to. This isn’t Star Trek to me. I don’t recognize it, and that’s a shame. I think people like me would have been more ready to embrace it if we’d had more, not having to wait for three years. The only continuity we’ve had is a comic book series from IDW and perhaps a few kids novels. A sister series on TV would have helped. A set of monthly novels and more magazines would have helped. Most of all, an eighteen month turn around schedule would have helped.
But there’s none of this, and whatever bloom there might have been, is off the rose.
These are fun sci-fi- action flicks (something that Trek films devolved into during the TNG movies- and they really should be blamed for that), but they aren’t Star Trek, and that’s fine. But don’t expect my devotion. Don’t expect my respect.
When does Doctor Who start up again?
Happy Fathers yester-day
So father’s day was interesting. Amy asked the girls what they should get my father and they said “Lone Ranger stuff?” That was a fine answer. She then asked them what they should get me. They both chimed in “Heroclix!”
That’s cute. Not sure why they were thinking that, especially since I haven’t played in a month or so, but then again, I do play with them sometimes on the Gotham City map that’s set up in the Library. Nevertheless, I didn’t think they were going to follow through with that.
Did you know Five Below has Heroclix?
Nothing new of course. In fact I don’t think they sell anything that’s playable in a modern age tournament, but then again, a lot of the time I’m playing golden age (all sets) anyhow. They got me a box of Hypertime, and a box of Justice League. Lydia chose the Hypertime box because it had Catwoman on it and she expected her to be in the box.
I actually pulled some nice figures out of the Justice League box. There was a Batman and Robin duo figure I always wanted and a really powerful Emperor Joker…200 points, but way powerful. I think I may match him up with that Lex and Braniac figure I have some time.
Amy also got me a gift certificate for Comics Are Go! (and they have the best gift certificates ever….) and while they were there, the girls snagged bookmarks and the free All-Star Superman for me. It occurs to me that my girls have been in that shop more times than Amy has.
We took the girls to see Epic this weekend as well, and while I was there I noticed two previews for movies I want to see that I’ve been putting off. Superman and Star Trek are both coming to the palace. I’ll be heading there for both in 3d, 5.00 each.
Finally, if you were watching the parade in Avon Lake this weekend and you thought you saw me dressed as a zombie…you were right. I marched with the Lorain County Zombie Outbreak Response Team to promote their Zombie Walk in the fall – a charity event to raise food for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
I think I hurt my back with some of that shambling. You’d think I’d have finished that assignment for Angel Lite comics or gotten more work done on Violent Blue, being out of commission like that….
Argo City Comics 