The last two episodes take the Discovery where no one has gone before…. And we won’t know where that might be until January.
Author Archives: JD DeLuzio
Future Franchise Deals and Discussions with Disney
If you haven’t already heard, Rian Johnson will be overseeing an entirely new Star Wars trilogy, set in some other corner of a galaxy far, far away. Buzz holds that it might not even shoehorn in connections to every existing character.
Talks have stalled, but Disney and Fox continue to discuss a deal that would bring Marvel properties such as the X-Men and the Fantastic Four back under the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s control.
If this happens, should the mutants and heroes rejoin? Or stay in their own universes? And will we finally get a good FF film?
Harassment Allegations hit Superheroes
A wave of allegations of sexual harassment and impropriety sweeps Hollywood, and they now include at least three men related to comix and superhero movies:
After years of harassment and assault allegations, DC has suspended editor Eddie Berganza. Update: Okay, DC has fired Berganza.
Andrew Kreisberg, showrunner for The Flash, who also works on Supergirl, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, has been suspended over allegations of inappropriate touching and comments.
Gal Gadot has announced she will only continue as Wonder Woman if Warner removes Brett Ratner’s company from the next sequel. Ratner faces some of the more serious allegations of sexual assault and misconduct among those recently accused.
Star Trek Discover Discussion: “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum”
If you desire peace, prepare for war.
Since the mid-season finale (when did that become an expected thing?) falls next week, and this week’s episode might as well have ended with, “To be continued!” we’ll save a full review for next week. Here’s a place for a Discovery discussion….
Comic Review: Harley and Ivy meet Betty and Veronica
Back in ’94 Marvel and Archie raised eyebrows across the comix community by pairing comicdom’s favorite red-haired teenager with its most deranged vigilante. Back then, of course, Archie was a fading brand sold at grocery store checkouts to nine-year-old girls, and the Punisher, the darkest dude in comic books.
A lot has changed since then.
In 2017, Archie’s mainstream line may be the most relevant and entertaining comics available, and the company has opened up to entirely new markets. In addition to the good ol’ kiddie digests, still available in grocery stores and pharmacies everywhere, other Archie alt-realities include a retro-sixties Sabrina whose witchcraft draws from actual demonic sources, a zombie apocalypse Archie, and the predictably “edgy” and wildly CWesque iconoclastic and wildly popular Riverdale TV series. So when Archie and DC combine to bring several of Gotham City’s sirens to comic-book small-town America, it feels a lot less groundbreaking. It’s just the world we live in.
The question remains: does the team-up work? Is it worth reading?
The Flash Review: “Elongated Journey into Night”
I stopped watching The Flash regularly when it became too mopey, but I finally caught up with it this week, with the in-CWTCDCU introduction of Elongated Man. Flawed though the episode may be, “Elongated Journey Into Night” showcases the gradual return to the comic-book tone that made the first season so appealing.
Star Trek Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”
It’s Gormagander Day as someone’s idea of Harry Mudd traps the Discovery in a time-loop in an murder-laden attempt to sell out the Federation to the Klingon Empire.
Strangely enough, it’s also the lightest-toned ep thus far. I fully expected to hear the TOS “funny” music at some point.
Halloween Countdown: City of the Dead (1960)
Oh stop! This would be more effective at midnight with howling winds and crashing thunder and even then it wouldn’t frighten anyone
—Professor Barlowe
Hammer Studios made a name for itself in the late 1950s and early 1960s as purveyors of gothic horror, became more sexualized in the early 70s, halted production in the 1980s, and has tried to reestablish itself in the twenty-first century, with mixed results. Its most lasting contributions to the horror genre are probably Christopher Lee’s Dracula, Lesbian Vampires as a genre, and The Wicker Man, one of the most notorious horror films ever made (with possibly the worst remake in cinematic history. Few b-movies have ever been as bad as 2006’s Neil LaBute/Nicholas Cage disaster).
The Wicker Man did not spring fully-formed out of Hammer’s head. Hammer slowly nailed the pieces together, with two significant precursors: City of the Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960) and The Witches aka The Devil’s Own (1966).
With Halloween approaching we’re reviewing both tales of strangers finding themselves in small communities that aren’t what they seem.
Halloween Countdown: The Witches / The Devil’s Own (1966)
Between The City of the Dead and The Wicker Man, Hammer Studios brought a teacher to a small village hiding a sinister secret….
Star Trek Discovery: “Lethe”
Off-duty, the crew wear nifty DISCOvery tees.
The apparently brilliant and logical Sarek falls for two traps (Where’s Admiral Ackbar when you need him?), Burnham, Tyler, and Tilly bond on a rescue mission, and Lorca penetrates the upper echelon, and then reveals the precipice on which his sanity stands.