#I do like Marcus To's betsy a lot

[yalster54]

sis has a bit of rbf goin on

[stormandforge]

Forge at the Hellfire Club: a hypothesis

Guys guys guys (X-Force readers), I just had a brain wave. Big spoilers, be warned.

You know how we've been trying to decode who Sage is talking about in this bit of narration?

"One picosecond after she dies, I'm thinking. Of course I am - I'm always thinking. I remember the first time we met. I wasn't "Sage" then, I was still undercover at the Hellfire Club, working for Charles."

Many of us read this bit as one block. As the same train of thought. Meaning: Sage remembered meeting the person who dies at the Hellfire Club.

It followed that this person, the person who dies, would be Betsy, because Sage had canonically met her at the Hellfire Club. But no, it's not Betsy who died. And it doesn't make much sense for the person who actually died (Surge) to be at the Hellfire Club while Sage was there either. Nori would have been too young. (I know time in Marvel is flexible, but come on, that was long ago.)

What I've suspected for a while is that the now infamous opening phrase "One picosecond after she dies, I'm thinking. Of course I am - I'm always thinking" was a separate train of thought from the rest. It definitely is when it appears again in the next issues, so it makes sense that it should be from the start. It's a mantra - or a haunting, as it were - to be read on its own.

So the phrase we've been debating "I remember the first time we met, I wasn't Sage then, I was still undercover at the Hellfire Club..." isn't connected the bit above it (the person who dies); it's the beginning of a new train of thought.

It's the beginning of her reflection about Forge. She's saying she first met Forge when she was at the Hellfire Club.

We don't know when Sage and Forge first met, so I thought, why not, they could have known each other for a lot longer than we thought. They could have crossed paths when the X-Men clashed with the Hellfire Club back in the day.

But today I decided to look at the narration on its own, without the art or the dialogue, and a very different picture emerged:

"I remember the first time we met. I wasn't "Sage" then, I was still undercover at the Hellfire Club, working for Charles. Usually, I can instantly size up any new player. I create predictive models of everyone I meet. How they think, their motivations, how they move. Not him. Forge was...a jumble. Too many variables and some were in conflict, some oppositional. There were just too many holes in his data flow. At one point, I just asked him. 'How do you work?' He said, 'End of the day, there's nothing wrong in the world that I can't fix by putting my hands on it.' I thought he was a bit full of himself. Even with people like Shaw and Frost strutting around. Now? I know he's not. But what is he? I'm still collating."

We've been deceived by the comic book format, which splits Sage's narration onto several pages and makes you lose her train of thought.

She's saying she met Forge at the Hellfire Club. They were both there.

Fucking hell, the bit about Shaw and Frost? Right there in front of our faces! I thought she was talking about Krakoa times, but nooooo, look!

Forge. Working at the Hellfire Club. Back in the day when Sage was there.

WHEN? WHY? HOW?

More importantly, did they make him wear the ridiculous Victorian outfits? Or did he hold on to his denim shorts?

Please let there be an image of Forge in denim shorts at the Hellfire Club. Come through, Marcus To.

[morose-magnetrix]

Excalibur #25 by Tini Howard (writer), Marcus To (artist), and Erick Arciniega (colorist)

THIS ISSUE IS SO QUEER I’M IN LOVE. 

If you had been sleeping on Excalibur, you really ought to get back into this. After the X of Swords event, Howard has been just serving up banger after banger in terms of plots. All the random bits and pieces have fully come together here. If something isn’t making sense for you, go back at the issues that came before - it was probably answered. This issue is a beautiful swan song for the series but promises more to come (thank the gods).

The artwork is killer. I really mean it. I’ve always loved the fantasy vibes of how To draws, Arciniega really elevates things with the coloring, and even the lettering does a great job of giving a mystic feel to Merlyn’s spells.

The scene of Maggie explaining the battle strategy with her toys is a heartwarming use of the character, allowing her to have more agency than just being a baby - and we again get a hint that Shogo needs to be trained properly in his powers by Bei, pointing towards a likely heartbreaking storyline where Jubilee sends her son to live with Roma. We get great little snippets of Betsy interacting with STRIKE agents who hadn’t known about the entire Kwannon situation, but the true masterclass in doing a character dive on Betsy is with her interactions with Arthur. She doesn’t have her Captain Britain powers, but that doesn’t matter. She reminds him why he’s afraid of mutants and rather than fight him in a duel, she uses her psychic powers to take him down - and I think does some psychic meddling to try to get him to repair his relationship with Mordred (aka He Who Is Not Appearing In This Comic).

The stakes are brilliant too - it really feels like the war epic we had been promised. If the Citadel falls, then they HAVE to guard Avalon at any cost, since otherwise Merlyn could use the Avalon gate to get to Krakoa (the External Gate, I can’t remember, is it closed?). Betsy telling Jamie to take Shogo and Maggie and burn the gate down behind him is chilling, as is the scene later where Shogo burns a trench in reality to prevent Merlyn’s army from coming to Avalon.

But what I REALLY want to talk about is Betsy and Saturnyne - enemies to lovers?! In X of Swords, we saw how obsessed Saturnyne was over Brian, pretty much orchestrating the entire thing to try to get Betsy out and Brian in. Saturnyne has been treating Betsy pretty terribly and Betsy’s been doing her best to take it all with a straight face, continuing to show up and do her job even if her employer hates her. But in this issue, we get a panel where Betsy catches Saturnyne in the traditional heroic pose AND one where Betsy not so discretely is peaking at Saturnyne’s vagina. If we aren’t meant to see a romantic relationship between the two, then I don’t know what they want us to take away from this. If I’m remembering correctly, Saturnyne’s spell in X of Swords was related to her heart as well - so basically, she has it BAD for Betsy. 

And it seems Betsy is into her as well?

I’m sure they’ll have lots of things to do in their boat on the Sea of Secrets - hopefully Betsy and Rachel talked about having an open relationship before this or maybe just what happens on the S of S stays on the S of S. 

Verdict: Ten out of ten magic baths!!!!

[aion-rsa]

What’s Happening With Marvel’s X-Men?

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This article contains spoilers for recent Marvel X-Men stories.

A long time ago, back at the beginning of the interminable, endless month of March that the pandemic has trapped us in, Marvel’s X-Men books were barrelling towards their first big post-Dawn of X crossover, X of Swords. And then the world stopped, and plans changed for the X-Men while everything was paused.

Now that we’re back, plans have changed, and books are coming fast and furious. So what’s going on with Marvel’s Merry Mutants? Which book did Storm get sick in? What book should you read for a good Laksa recipe? New Mutants, but we can answer all your other questions on what’s going on with the X-Men below. 

While we won’t rehash the entire thing, House of X/Powers of X reset the entire X-Men line. Mutants can’t die anymore (or rather, if they do, they’re resurrected from clone bodies and emergency backup minds by The Five and Professor X). The X-Men, and all mutants alive, are now living on Krakoa, a living, mutant island in the Pacific that, at some point in the distant past, broke in half, sending one part of it to a dangerous, monster-infested realm with Apocalypse’s first Horsemen standing guard making sure it didn’t return. 

Humans are back to hating and fearing mutants on a wide scale, but this time it’s mostly because the mutants are vehemently anti-capitalism, flooding markets with cheap, life-extending and health-improving drugs and vowing to take down the human world with economic weapons of their own making. This has the humans initiating some pretty intense Sentinel programs, particularly around the sun, where Nimrod – the adaptive Sentinel whose existence dooms mutantkind in one Powers of X future – was very nearly created. 

And amidst all of that, Moira MacTaggert, the secret mutant mastermind with the power of Groundhog Lifeing (when she dies, her consciousness is immediately transported back to her prenatal self to be born again with all her old memories. She’s on life ten now, btw), is frantically trying to manipulate events so that mutants continue to exist in the long run as the next phase in human evolution, averting a future where man-machine hybrids (like Omega Sentinels and the Children of the Vault) develop while humans and mutants are busy fighting among themselves. She’s also not allowing Charles and Magneto to revive any mutants with precognitive powers, expecting them to see her plan and ruin Krakoan civilization.

X-Men

X-Men, by mastermind Jonathan Hickman with art mostly from Leinil Yu, is where big ideas are being seeded for later use.

This is where the story of Krakoa and its estranged, otherdimensional partner Arakko was further developed (following its introduction in Powers of X and setting up X of Swords, the first mutant crossover of the Dawn of X era). X-Men introduced Hordeculture (think the Golden Girls if they were also ecoterrorist botanists); reintroduced the Children of the Vault; showed how depowered mutants get in line to get their powers back; and saw Magneto and Apocalypse threaten humankind with the most terrible weapon of all: finance capitalism.

New Mutants

It also, just prior to the break, X-Men had a spiritual crossover with New Mutants, initially a split book by Hickman and Rod Reis on the space issues, and Ed Brisson, Flaviano, and Marco Failla on the Earth issues. Brisson, Flaviano and Failla’s story follows a group of Earthbound mutant kids (including Glob Herman and Boom Boom) as they track down stragglers to Krakoa, like Beak and Angel.

Hickman and Reis took the original New Mutants plus Chamber and Mondo into space to go pick up Cannonball (who was living on Chandi’lar with his wife, Smasher). On the way there, they stole a King Egg from the Starjammers and brought it back to Earth, where it turns out, we discover in X-Men, the King Egg is a bioweapon created by the Kree to control the Brood for an eventual war with the Shi’ar. Broo, the supersmart mutant Broodling from Wolverine and the X-Men, eats the egg and becomes the Brood King.

Excalibur

Excalibur is the shining star of the line so far. Tini Howard and Marcus To are growing the mythos of mutant magic with a very odd team that includes Betsy Braddock (now back in her original body and the new Captain Britain); Rogue and Gambit; Jubilee and her mysteriously dragonified son Shogo; new earth mage Rictor; and Apocalypse, who is clearly up to some stuff. Apocalypse picks a fight with Otherworld and places a newly resurrected but still batshit Jamie Braddock on the throne of the magical realm.

Excalibur was one of the first books to return from hiatus, and it came back with maybe the best single issue of the entire relaunch in issue #10. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Marauders

Marauders launched as the story about the Hellfire Trading Company, the corporate arm of Krakoa that distributes the miracle drugs around the world while also smuggling mutants in trouble home to Krakoa. But Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli’s book quickly turned into the mystery of Kitty Pryde – why she’s not able to use the Krakoan gates that allow instantaneous travel around the galaxy, and whether she can be resurrected by The Five. That story has just about come to a head, but it is worth noting that it still contains a great deal of Hellfire Trading Company intrigue between Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw, and a lot of drunken pirate antics. The resurrected original Pyro does get a tattoo of the Marauders skull on his face at one point. It’s fun.

X-Force

X-Force, by Ben Percy and Joshua Cassara, immediately killed Professor X. He was resurrected, of course, but it served as both a notice that everyone is fair game, and alongside Marauders, keeps some slight mystery to character death alive post-The Five’s perpetual resurrection machine. It’s also the story of the Krakoan CIA, so it sets up the global threats facing the mutant nation, and then sends Wolverine to get cut in half fighting them. Also, Forge creates a bio-mech loader suit and smashes the two halves of Logan back together at one point. If that’s something you find yourself chuckling at, this book is going to exceed expectations.

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels focused mostly on resetting the current Psylocke’s status quo. Kwannon was brought back to life and placed in her old body shortly before the reboot (very quickly: Spiral switched Psylocke and Kwannon’s bodies, then before they could be reverted, Kwannon got the Legacy Virus and died, then when Betsy used a villain’s powers to recreate her old body and reinhabit it, Kwannon…uh…got better…). Here, she teamed with X-23 and Cable, with ops backup from Mister Sinister, to track down Apoth, a technological being selling cybernetic drugs to humans.

It’s mostly setup for Psylocke, X-23 (now Wolverine again, I think), and Sinister while adding another technological foe to the mix. It leads almost directly into Zeb Wells and Steven Segovia’s Hellions, a book about Sinister’s team of mutants who are all gleefully, unrepentantly screwed up and are currently on a mission cleaning up some old clones Sinister left lying around.

Cable, Wolverine, and More…

Cable, Wolverine and the Giant Size issues, are still mostly seeding future storylines. Cable, from Duggan and Phil Noto, has only had a couple of issues so far, but it’s brought the Galadorians (the Spaceknights minus ROM, who belongs to IDW now, I think) into mutant orbit and given Nathan a sword for the crossover.

Wolverine, by Percy, Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdanove, has Logan tracking down illicit Krakoan flower dealers, and also Omega Red works for Dracula now. And the Giant Size issues are mysteries piled on mysteries piled on incredible art. Hickman has scripted all three, and so far, Storm caught a technovirus from the Children of the Vault in the Jean Grey/Emma Frost issue (drawn by Russell Dauterman); we find out what’s up with Cypher’s techno-organic arm in the Nightcrawler issue (from Alan Davis); Magneto buys Emma an island from Namor with art from Ramon Perez; and we get actual backstory and incredible Rod Reis art in the Fantomex issue. 

Empyre

The recently wrapped Empyre: X-Men’s opening scene is simultaneously one of the most important to the metanarrative of mutant struggle that’s been developing since the Professor’s “No More” scene in House of X #4 AND the best setup/punchline in any Dawn of X comic. It also starts to deliver on some of the rumored-but-never-announced X-Men ideas that were floated early after the reboot – Angel and M are two of the leads, playing out a little of the boardroom drama we hoped for after an X-Corporation book was rumored.

X-Factor

X-Factor, from Leah Williams and David Baldeon, more or less just launched. It’s about the team investigating and verifying mutant deaths, to put those lives into the queue for resurrection. This feels like the book set up to deliver on the weirdest promises of the relaunch, and the creative team are inventive, fun storytellers, so keep an eye on this. Williams has a very sharp ear for patter and knows her characters well – while it’s not an X-book, Amazing Mary Jane is a stunning accomplishment of delightful character work. Early X-Factor is more of the same, with more mutant high concept.

And all this is leading to X of Swords, the new X-writers room’s attempt to outdo X-Cutioner’s Song: a 22-part Tini Howard-led crossover where everyone swordfights over half of Krakoa. And still dangling in the ether, unannounced but long discussed, are Vita Ayala and Bernard Chang’s Children of the Atom, following a group of mutant teenagers who idolize the X-Men, and a Moira X book that’s expected to fill in some of the gaps in Moira’s many, many timelines. 

The post What’s Happening With Marvel’s X-Men? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[hexiva]

Tini Howard said  “Developing the Captain Britain design was a lot of me sending Marcus everything from like Waterhouse paintings to anime girls with swords, like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Sophitia from Soul Calibur.” So I wanted to draw Betsy Braddock as Utena, and of course, Ororo is her Anthy. 

I like to think this isn’t an AU, but just ‘Ro and Betsy doing a couples cosplay. 

[hollandroos]

The Price We Pay | Four

Summary: A one night stand was all it took for your entire life to change. You're shoved into unknown territory, agreeing to fake date the prince long enough for his parents and the media to get off of his back only there are a few issues... one of them being that you really can’t stand each other.

Series Masterlist

Words: 4.2K

Warnings: None!

Moodboard by @marvelousxtsh

-

“I thought I told you just to dress casually?” You taunt.

Tom steps out of the car– the passenger seat to be correct because after half an hour of back and forth you finally made him agree to drive, claiming it’d be a waste of time to get a driver. Though a part of you wondered when the last time he drove was and if it’d be safe.

But you were still alive, even after the painfully awkward drive between games of Ispy.

He shrugs, brown curls slicked around. “I wanted to make a good first impression.”

“Tom, sweatpants and a hoodie would have been fine. You could scare them off in that.”

His eyes widen, immediately going to stare down at his outfit– maybe it was a little over the top but truth be told he had no idea about your family and where they came from. He feared underdressing and hadn’t debated overdressing in the slightest.

“Fuck, really?”

You tug him forward by the front of his coat, pulling it off of his shoulders. Beneath was a white dress shirt tucked into his pants and you undid the top button, puffing out the collars. You throw the jacket into the front seat of the car and Tom grimaced at the way the material creased, buttons knocking against the dash.

“That’s a little better, you look good like this.” You felt a little proud and he smiles, glancing around for cameras but he finds none– in fact, he finds no one. Your childhood home really was in the middle of nowhere. “Just c’mon, and remember to relax, my family is nowhere as intense as yours.”

God, were you going to kill him–

He shoves the thoughts to the back of his brain. “S-should I hold your hand?”

“Yeah, we want to pull this off don’t we?”

He takes your hand into his own, intertwining your fingers together. The action was probably the closest you’d been since that night and it bought Tom a sense of comfort, reminding him that he wasn’t alone in this– so he began rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I have four siblings.”

Maybe you should’ve told him soon– about Kenny who was only a year younger then you and Carley who was eighteen, then there was Louis and Marcus who were fifteen. But Tom never asked.

Four? Tom had none.

He stands startled. “What–”

“Y/N!” A shrill voice calls and you smile at the two twins that raced towards you, one with ponytails and the other a set of muddy shorts.

They were loud and extremely clingy. Personal space didn’t exist and showers were the enemy– even after a day of helping in the backyard.

You turn to Tom and give him a lopsided smile, small crinkles forming beneath your eyes. And rather sarcastically, you kneel. “Welcome to my life, your majesty.”

-

From there, Tom watched you interact with your four siblings, each of a different age except the twins with completely different personalities. You were right, they were loud and it came as a shock to him.

But he sort of liked it.

The prince was used to hundreds of hallways, the only noise being his own two feet padding against the marble ground as well as his men or the grandfather clocks singing a chorus every hour. Here, you had to speak up to be heard and shout across the table which at the palace would’ve been considered rude– here it was the only way to get your thoughts out.

Louis and Marcus had easily gravitated towards Tom and Carley had clearly tried to suck up the prince and he found it amusing. He allowed them to play around in the fairly expensive ride and even gave each of your siblings a box of chocolates as a ‘hey, I’m suddenly dating your sister please like me’ gift.

Kenny didn’t trust the man one bit.

But he watched you interact with each of the kids like they were your own and he briefly remembered you mentioning the hours you’d spend taking care of them when your mum was at work, making their favourite lunches and playing games to pass the hours.

It was a softer side he was pleased to see.

He watched you smile, corners of your lips turning upwards as they fill you in on everything you’d missed like Kenny moving jobs and their science project at school.

Tom had never had that, the comfort of another sibling. From an early age, he was in the classroom learning how to be a prince– the best kind of prince in fact. He wasn’t learning how to balance books on his head but laws at the age of nine. He had maids and cooks and teachers and busy parents that never ceased to forget about his existence.

But it doesn’t take him long of sitting around an overly crowded family table, much smaller then his own for him to realise that someone was missing.

“Where’s your mum?”

You leave the other kids to discuss whose turn it was to do dishes, ignoring your own stomach rumbling. “Right about now she’ll be at work but she’ll be back by dinner to meet my handsome boyfriend, she’s very excited.” You watch his face change. “Yes, Thomas, the people here do have to work long hours to get by.”

“I knew that! I did, I just thought they finished around three you know…” He feels a wave of awkwardness wash over him and fiddles with his fingers. “I don’t think your brother likes me very much.” He nods towards Kenny.

And of course, you being as uncaring as you turned straight to your younger brother. “Ken, what do you think of Tom?”

His face hardens. “I’m undecided.”

The comment makes Tom tense and if his heart wasn’t pounding before then it most definitely was now. He couldn’t put his finger on why he felt so nervous about this. If anything he must’ve been more nervous then you when you met his parents but he wasn’t sure because to this point in time, you’d done a beyond amazing at keeping your feelings hidden.

Tom felt like he’d barely peeled back one layer of many.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” You try, taking his hand into your own and giving it a squeeze once more. “The others love you.”

It was a small action but one that made Tom’s heart run miles.

“Tom!” Carley says, staring between the two of you. She interrupts your small– barely there but there nonetheless moment. “Did you know that you’re the first boy she’s bought home in… probably forever?”

Toms' eyes widen, finding your suddenly fearful gaze. “Really?”

“Okay that’s not true–” You tense, sending her a threatening glare. But your sister only shrugs, a teasing smile making way on her face. She knew what she was doing and you hated it.

“We all didn’t think this day would come but here it is.”

Your grit your teeth and unknowingly squeeze Toms hand a little harder. He notices. “This is why I didn’t fuckin–”

“Tell me more, I want to know all about Y/N.” Tom interrupts, feeling your grip loosen. “What was she like as a child? did she listen at school?”

-

After half an hour of hearing all about your interest without your consent, your siblings all decided to scatter. Some went off to play with friends, some went to their room to do homework and one of them was apparently working out.

You didn’t know when your sister got so productive.

You and Tom wondered around the property, introducing him to your long missed farm animals. You watched his face change to disgust as he stepped over manure and puddles, nearly laughing at the way he seemed nearly unsure of every single step.

Of course, there were animals at the castle but nothing like this.

He didn’t tend to go around to the pens but seeing the pigs at yours– leaning down to pet them and nearly being shoved back when they rammed into his legs was surprising but made him laugh nonetheless.

And the cows– he loved the cows. There were two of them, Betsy and Bucky and without hesitation he pets the both of them.

“Originally we were going to sell them to the slaughterhouse but we grew too attached, mostly me but the younger ones did too of course and we managed to convince mum to keep them. So now they’re like our pets.” You smile, running a hand over Betsy's back.

Bucky moos at Tom.

“They’re adorable.” He smiles, stepping in what was either mud or cow manure. Tom only screws his face up for a second but quickly gets over himself. He had promised to give this a try and he wasn’t regretting it yet. “Do you have chickens?”

“Lots of them. When we were kids it’d be a race to see who could get the eggs first.” You smile at the memory.

“And here I thought you were a towns girl but you’re really a country girl at heart.”

“And here I thought you were an asshole prince, I guess only one of us was right with our assumptions.” You smile cheekily.

The two of you continue to walk around the place slowly, making sure to take it everything from the surprisingly blue sky to the grass that flattened beneath your feet with every step and the smell– because the smell wasn’t the best but the amazement in his eyes was definitely worth something.

“We haven’t actually had a proper moment to talk.” He mutters, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets. “I mean there was that first night, we were drunk. Then we were rushed then my parents were involved.”

“Have we not?”

“Nope.” Tom shakes his head, the two of you continue to walk around the property. “I hope you know that I appreciate what you’re doing for me. Seriously– it means a lot. I know it probably wasn’t easy to give up work and going from being… you, to headlining the papers.”

“Work was easy to give up, my boss is an ass and it really wasn’t easy have those out there.” You laugh, shaking your head. “Are you going soft on me?”

“I’ve always been soft, you just push my limits.” Tom teases, taking his hands out of his pockets.

You snort. “I do?”

He ignores the moment his hand brushes against yours.

“You have attitude, you’re feisty, no one’s ever spoken to me the way you do before and it’s– it’s different.” He shrugs, voice reaching a new pitch.

“I’m just real, Tom. I’m not going to start kissing your feet or beg you to love me. You’re a man with a crown and that crown means barely anything to me.”

“You see me as a person.” He highlights.

“You are a person. A person that annoys me to an extent.”

You come across the mud puddles you used to push your siblings into when you were a kid.

“Why do I annoy you so much?”

You don’t have an answer to his question at that moment.

So you shove him.

You watch him hit the ground with a gentle thud, mud splattering up and staining the end of your pants but he looked worse.

“Are you fucking serious?” He hisses.

You cover your mouth, trying to prevent him from seeing the smile that took place and the giggles that threatened to spill. You didn’t even care about how threatening his words sounded.

He looked a right mess. Mud stained Toms pants and right up to his waist, hands planted in the mud were a sticky brown and the frown on his face only topped it off. Dirt clung to his coffee brown curls.

You didn’t even take a second to think about how expensive his clothes were before you threw him into the giant puddle of mud or how long it’d take to clean his outfit, you purely focused on the amusement you felt the moment he hit the mud and the look of pure shock and disgust on his face when he realised that he was now coated in the mess.

“This isn’t funny!” He snaps, screwing his nose up at the god awful smell. “Get me the hell out of here or I swear–”

Tom stops, cutting himself off as he sees you clutching your stomach, laughs slipping from your lips. He watches the way your eyes screw shut, strands of hair falling over your face as you lean forward to grip the post for support and you hurl over just enough to take hold of your lower stomach.

“You just– you look so funny right now. You got such a shock too oh my god.” The words came out between laughs and gasps for air, there was even a single tear.

Then he had an idea– one that he knew could either get him into trouble or extend the fun and of course, Tom wanted to extend the fun.

“Can you help me out?”

He sticks a muddy hand out and you wipe a stray tear away, still trying to get your breathing back as you clasp your hand in his. All you thought he was going to do was push himself up, not pull you in.

“Tom–”

Then you were in the mud too, landing right on top of him. Your hands sunk into the muck which was anything but warm, coating themselves in the dirt before a heavy gasp left your lips, spots of mud decorating your cheeks.

Your laughs stopped, mouth falling open and shut like a fish as you took in the sight of your clothes lathered in ick and it stunk– dear god it stunk but not even a second later you took a hand full of dirt and dropped it on Toms clothed chest, turning the white tee a deeper shade of brown. You shouldn’t have been surprised and if you were watching instead of laughing then you would’ve seen him pull you in.

Still, the thought doesn’t plague your mind for too long because seconds later your hands are back in the mud collecting another handful.

“You’ve started a war you won’t win.” He threatens, a smirk forming on his features. Dirt sits at the corner of his mouth.

“Try me, Holland.”

He dumped mud directly on top of your head, strands of hair now highlighted the same colour of the muck you were still sitting in, back coated too from rolling off of him. Instead of getting annoyed, your chest erupted in giggles.

You felt like a child again, throwing mud back and forth with your siblings when your parents weren’t watching and Tom felt like… he felt like a different person. Because the prince would never do something this dirty just for fun.

With mud slathered all over his hands, Tom places one hand on your cheek gently creating a handprint on your face. You were both covered in the stuff. Your clothing may as well be thrown out and your hair would need some serious care but the smile on both of your faces was enough for it to be worth it.

The sun beat down on the two of you as you continued to layer each other in mother nature's gift, screwing your noses up at the sight of each other but that didn’t stop you.

Tom felt his cheeks flush at the sight of you so carefree but doubted it was noticeable beneath the mud. He basked in your giggles, the way your eyes squeezed shut as you wiped any dirt away from your eyes. You were happy and so was he.

There was no camera flashing or expectations to be held. It was just the two of you like it had been the first night and Tom had to stop and realise- this was the girl he’d spent the night with, giggling over glasses of wine and cheap alcohol.

It was carefree, bittersweet.

Then you were sitting there, both winding down and panting, the odd laugh still slicing through the silence and neither of you could even think about what you’d be going back to tomorrow. The next news line or obstacle you’d have to overcome was forgotten.

“What do we do now?” You sigh, taking in the site of both you and Tom covered head to toe in mud. If your mother were home, she would have lost it with both of you. You’d both be in the corner.

You looked the same way you smelt.

Tom screws his nose up, trying not to laugh at the sight of you with mud prints on both cheeks. “We smell disgusting.”

“Come on, we’ll use the shower before my family gets home– and not together!” You offer, beginning to force yourself out of the muck, noticing how his face changed from suggestive to blunt.

He felt something new.

“Damn it,” Tom mutters under his breath, fighting to urge to pull you back in. He didn’t want to go too far. “It was worth a shot.”

“Keep trying, maybe one day you’ll get there.”

That newfound feeling was hope.

-

The shower was… difficult to say the least.

You had to stand and watch the clear water turn a sickly shade of brown as it hit the floor and ran down the drain, clumps of dirt and shreds of grass following closely behind. It made you grimace but lathering yourself in the coconut scented soap and finally feeling clean again was worth it.

You step out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped just above your breasts and hair down naturally wet after the shower.

Tom glances up once– only once, then he directed his gaze back down to the book he was reading. It was clearly one from your bookshelf and by the looks of things he looked pretty into it, or at least he was pretending to be.

Your bookshelf was full and he wondered if you’d ever actually read a single one of them or if they were just for display.

It wasn’t the book in hand that shocked you but the fact that he wasn’t staring you down, his eyes weren’t filled with a certain hunger and instead they were focused on the pages of the teen romance novel. He was showing basic respect and it shocked you.

“Aren’t going to look? I’m practically naked?” You taunt, reaching into one of your draws. The plush, white towel rides up your thighs.

He shakes his head, keeping his eyes on the pages. “I’m not that bad, you know?” Tom chuckles. His hair was still wet from his own shower, hanging over his forehead in unkempt curls, wet and a darker shade then normal.

“I had a hunch,” You shrug. “Just a little bit surprised is all.”

He wore your brother's clothes, simply a plain grey tee and jeans and you’d admit that you thought he looked better in actual colours but he also looked good in the more– normal, everyday clothing.

And actually seeing him fitting in with your family made your heart flutter, stomach twisting and churning.

It actually felt weird to see a boy in your childhood bedroom– a boy that was used to so much more then a shoebox-sized room and a single bed. He was probably shocked by the little amount of furniture because of course you didn’t have a three-person couch in the corner or your own fireplace for when it got really cold.

But he did fit in, you knew that much.

You duck into the bathroom to throw your clothes on and put your hair up in the towel to dry it off, not wanting to deal with pesky drops of water running down the back of your neck and walk back into your bedroom. He was still in the same place.

“My family should be back soon and we could get going if you want?” You offer, tugging the oversized shirt down your thighs.

Tom glances up, placing the book down beside him. “Why don’t we take your mother's offer and stay the night? I mean I can take the couch and we can just head back tomorrow. It’s what? Half five anyway and the ride back would easily take an hour.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yeah, if you want to that is.”

You furrow your brows, silently pleased that he had put that offer on the table. You had missed your family and staying a night would do you good. Maybe it’d do Tom some good too.

“Okay, Romeo, we’ll stay here tonight and be on the road by eight tomorrow?”

“Eight sounds good.” He smiles innocently, legs folded on the bed crisscross and you notice a scarred line down one of his temples beneath the light, a little imperfection that you wouldn’t have normally noticed.

There were those few exterior imperfections that you’d picked up on like that scar and his eyebrow– the one that was a little wonky compared to the other and his height you’d picked up on. He seemed to want to be taller then he was.

But you didn’t have an issue with any of it.

Of course you had your own flaws too and even thinking about them made you want to duck cover and hide. But Tom was slowly picking up on them. He’d be lying if he said he minded.

That night Tom slept on the couch in the living room with a selection of sheets over the top of him and a woollen duvet. For someone who had never slept on a couch in his life, he slept like a baby and you? You spent a solid hour staring at the ceiling before finally drifting off.

Tom felt a sense of comfort, draped in not only the blankets but a sense of comfort. He didn’t worry that people were watching him– attempting to pry out a secret or expose him to the world and he slept soundly that night.

-

It was a seven am wake up.

The sun streamed through the thin blinds, pulling Tom from a rather deep sleep and quite literally, forcing him out of bed. He wouldn’t admit that he fell from the bed with a tumble, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

He neatly folded the blankets given and straightened out the pillows, making the place look presentable and sat and waited for you to come in. He flicked through papers, tried out different seating positions tried to force him back to sleep before he heard the living room door open and stumbled up, turning to see you looking beyond tired– he feared to ask why.

You grumbled a good morning, hugging the fuzzy robe to your chest and trudged to the kitchen. Tom followed loosely behind much like a lost puppy.

“So, the plan today? We leave at around eight and you dropping me straight home? Because I’m tired and don’t feel like dressing up for your parents again– as fun as it was prancing around in a dress last time.” You laugh lightly, voice slightly raspy.

But Tom doesn’t mind it.

“Yeah I can drop you straight home, we can try and avoid the paps but there is something I need to ask.”

For some reason he felt nervous to ask, utterly unsure as to what your answer would be. Of course you’d only known each other for just over a week but the media had suspected around a month or more.

And as a royal things were expected to move fast.

Then your mother walks in.

“Morning you two.”

Your mum sounds as tired as ever, the bags under her eyes evident and hair thrown around messily– much like yours. She wasn’t cherry, never being a morning person but you knew that she was happy to have you back even if it was just for one night.

Tom tenses.

“Morning Ms. Y/L/N, how’d you sleep?” Tom wraps his arms around your waist as he asks the question, pulling your back flush against his chest making you too look like a real couple. You tensed at the sudden physical act of affection, nearly dropping the butter knife but don’t.

It wasn’t the question he wanted to ask but It was one that made him look respectful. You feel his lips ghosting across your temple and for a moment bask in his gentle touch.

“Not well, Marcus kept me up in the night again.” She sighs, “I did sleep a little better though knowing that my daughter was back under my roof.”

You smile, though deep down you felt bad about the lie that you were carrying out. “You know you can come and visit me anytime you need to get away? I’m sure Kenny wouldn’t mind looking after the younger ones for a night or two.”

You’d completely forgotten about Toms question.

“You know I couldn’t, sweetheart, not when you’re finally really starting to live. You have a boyfriend now! And a prince too, that’s incredible.”

You feel a pang of guilt, the product of lying to the women that raised you and only manage to smile awkwardly. So you turn to Tom, craning your neck.

“Oh hey, what did you want to ask me?” You divert attention from her recent comment, feeling a stomach ache coming on.

He blinks a few times, feeling your mums warm gaze on the pair of you. “There’s a gala… yeah, a gala next week and I was wondering if you’d like to come as my date–fake date of course!”

You smile and take hold of his clasped hands– it added to the act. “As long as Harrison does my outfit again then I’m game.”

A gala meant being out in public with Tom as his girlfriend.

Please remember to reblog or send me an ask telling me what you thought of this chapter!! One reblog goes a long way :-)

PART 5

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[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1286

Monday, November 4, 2019

 Tailgaters are one of my driving pet peeves. I have many. I was accosted by one this morning while driving home from the airport at 4:15 AM after dropping off family. I have been rear ended twice so I'm very sensitive to cars that follow too closely. When I couldn't see the headlights in my rear view mirror I took my foot off the accelerator to allow my car to slow down gradually to the speed limit since we were going a little faster than that. The driver seemed to get the message and backed off a little. Once I started to speed up, it was back way too close again. It then pulled out and passed me and the car in front of me on a double yellow line on the airport parkway. I hope that person doesn't wind up causing an accident in their hurry to get where they're going.

 Conan the Barbarian #10 - Jason Aaron (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). We find out why Conan is being sacrificed at long last. A wicked witch and her hell spawned offspring have finally done the Cimmerian in. I hope they don't go with zombie barbarian after this.

 Ironheart #11 - Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This isn't the first time a close family member of a super hero turns out to be a super villain. Miles and his uncle Aaron come to mind. It's till a good shocking plot device though and the last page will make you gasp.

 Invisible Woman #4 - Mark Waid (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). This is an interesting take on Susan Richards but it could easily have been a Black Widow story. This will only have any impact on me as a fan if there are references of her past spying in other stories that Sue is in. The penultimate issue ends with Sue in deep doo-doo and a plane load of children about to be blown to smithereens. The last issue should be cool.

 DCeased #6 - Tom Taylor (writer) Trevor Hairsine with Neil Edwards (pencils) Stefano Gaudiano (inks) Rain Beredo (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Why didn't I listen to my little voice and pass on reading this mini? The zombies win. The end.

 Runaways #26 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Andre Genolet (art) Dee Cunniffe (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Doc Justice becomes the team's benefactor while they figure out where they're going to live. They had to leave their old hideout due to nearby construction. I like that the team is going into action next issue but I don't trust the Doc. He's too good to be true.

 Batman Annual #4 - Tom King (writer) Jorge Fornes (art pages 1-29, 38) Mike Norton (art pages 30-37) Dave Stewart (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). This is basically poorly illustrated daily entries from Alfred's diary of cases that Batman takes on. The point is to show what a busy boy Batman is. I can suspend belief as well as the next Bat fan but chasing a bank robber across the roofs of buildings on horseback defies logic. That was the first case. Then Batman slays some dragons the next day. Dragons. I almost stopped reading. Fortunately, the later cases were more interesting. Overall however, I would give this a pass unless you're a Batman completist.

 Red Goblin: Red Death #1 - Just in time for Halloween, this $4.99 US Norman Osborn and Carnage symbiote mash-up villain will make your blood run cold with all the blood running on the pages. There are three stories here all lettered by VC's Joe Sabino.

 "Great Responsibility" by Rob Fee (writer) and Pete Woods (art) has Norman failing to stop Carnage from going on a killing spree.

 "Big Mouth" by Sean Ryan (writer) and Pete Woods (art) has Norman bumping into an old college buddy and paying him back for some old slight.

 "The Wayside Darkness" by Patrick Gleason (writer) Ray Anthony-Height (pencils) Marc Deering (inks) Dono Sanchez-Almara with Protobunker (colours) has young Normie Osborn being groomed to be a murderous maniac by his grandfather. I forgot that little Normie was infected by the Carnage symbiote too.

 I keep reading Carnage stories hoping to find some redeeming quality to the character and most of them don't present any. That's why I'm not a Carnage fan.

 The Last God #1 - Phillip Kennedy Johnson (writer) Riccardo Federici (art) Sunny Gho (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). Discover a whole new fantasy world in this richly illustrated comic book from DC's Black Label. It's got a Game of Thrones feel but with a bigger element of Sword and Sorcery. The art is gorgeous.

 Excalibur #1 - Tini Howard (writer) Marcus To (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). There's a lot going on in this reboot but I do like that it's still centered around Captain Britain. Things start with Morgan Le Fay and a new gate from Krakoa to her Otherworld realm. Brian and Betsy Braddock's connection to Otherworld plays a significant part in this story. I was wondering why Betsy didn't want people to call her Psylocke anymore and we find out on the last page.

 Basketful of Heads #1 - Joe Hill (writer) Leomacs (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Most of this debut isn't as gory and creepy as the cover suggests but I have a feeling that it will be eventually. The first page has someone walking around with a basket with at least two talking heads and I don't mean the rock group. Then we cut to 1983 and meet Liam and June, two young lovers in Maine. Throw in four escaped convicts and an 8th Century Viking axe and you've got me sucked into this story. I really liked the writing because it connected me to all the characters in the story. I want to find out what the deal is with the heads.

 Savage Avengers Annual #1 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Ron Garney (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). We find Conan in South America as he wanders north and runs afoul of some human traffickers. One victim curses her captors and that alerts Daimon Hellstrom. The barbarian and the Son of Satan meet while rescuing the women at a slave auction and are joined by the Black Widow. Conan's got a crush on Nat now. I love these Conan adventures in the modern world and I hope the Cimmerian makes it all the way into Canada.

 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #13 - Tom Taylor (writer) Ken Lashley, Todd Nauck, Ig Guara & Dike Ruan (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). "You Say You Want a Revolution" stonged me but it didn't stop me from reading this fun issue. Spidey teams up with the Fantastic Four to revisit Under York, the city beneath NYC ruled by an evil dictator. The dictator's daughter, who opposes his rule, helps to overthrow him. I'm glad that threat is gone now.

 The Superior Spider-Man #12 - Christos Gage (writer) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). After making a deal with Mephisto last issue Otto returns as the cold-hearted Doctor Octopus to battle the eight-armed Norman Osborn from another dimension. I thought this title has been superior to The Amazing Spider-Man recently and I am sad to see that this will be the last issue. I hope that's it's for now and not forever.

 Contagion #5 - Ed Brisson (writer) Adam Gorham (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I read this whole thing because there are super heroes in it that I like. Fighting zombies isn't very interesting and the way the heroes defeated the villain was pure crazy comic book made up stuff and that's what I read comic books for.

 Harleen #2 - Stjepan Sejic (writer & artist) Gabriela Downie (letters). We get a bonus origin story of Two-Face in this issue. The budding romance between Doctor Harleen Frances Quinzel and the Joker is unfolding slowly and naturally in this insightful origin story of Harley Quinn. This character has evolved so much in the hands of Stjepan Sejic from her first appearance in Batman Adventures #12, an all ages comic book, by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. What surprises me is that I was made to feel sympathy for the Joker, a villain who I find very hard to like. I can't wait to see the transformation of Doctor Quinzel into Harley Quinn in next issue's conclusion.

 Silver Surfer Black #5 - Donny Cates (writer) Tradd Moore (art) Dave Stewart (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Wow, this 5-issue cosmic awakening is mind-blowingly epic. The Silver Surfer makes the ultimate sacrifice in his battle with Knull, God of Darkness. How Norrin Radd emerges from this fight makes for a major change to this iconic hero. My fervent wish is for this to lead to a new regular series written by Donny Cates. Artist Tradd Moore's close collaboration with this story is obvious in how well his images coalesced with the captions in each panel. I loved all the different ways that he drew the Silver Surfer. I was in awe just flipping through the pages marvelling at the colours and images. You will see that Silver Surfer Black is the perfect title for this story. Buy it when it comes out in book form if you didn't get this mini.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior’s Top 25 Movies of 2018!

What a year we’ve been having with all the politics and internet craziness and my own personal life, struggling to survive without a job and very little work, and YET, it was an absolutely fantastic year for movies. There is no arguing that fact when a good percentage of my annual top 25 came from movies I saw at Sundance way back in January. While there may be a few noticeable omissions that appear on many other top 10s, as well as a few movies I liked that were obvious awards fodder, I’m pretty happy with what turned out to be one of my more eclectic top 25 lists with a mix of smaller indies and big budget blockbusters. (In case you’re interested, I saw 248 movies in 2018, and that is only counting the new movies released during the year and not dozens more movies I saw at film festival and hundreds of older films.)

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it…. Or rather, I hope you enjoy reading this because it took me a long time to write it.

25. Stan and Ollie  (Sony Pictures Classics) – One of the recurring trends I saw happening during what was a relatively sucky year was that many of my favorite things from childhood were brought to the big screen. In this case, it’s the story of Laurel and Hardy, as ably played by Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, as it covers the last few years of their partnership as they’re struggling to fill theaters during a UK tour. The performances by the duo were splendid, as were the two actors playing their respective wives (a hilarious Nina Arianda and Shirley Henderson), the script by Jeff Pope really putting you into the comedy duo’s world and mindset. Kudos to Jon S. Baird for this fantastic biopic, which opens next week in New York and L.A.

24. Annihilation  (Paramount) – Alex Garland’s sophomore film, his follow-up to the excellent Ex-Machina, was a fantastic adaptation of Jeff Vandermeer’s sci-fi novel that should have been as accepted as Arrival, especially with the fantastic premise and performance by Natalie Portman, as well as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson and Oscar Isaac. Sadly, I didn’t rewatch it on Netflix when I had the chance but this is definitely something I’d buy on blu-ray.

23. Mary Poppins Returns  (Walt Disney Pictures) – Continuing the theme from Stan and Ollie, Disney finally made a sequel to one of my favorite movies as a kid with the wonderful Emily Blunt stepping into the shoes of Julie Andrews, and I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it, especially since I wasn’t a fan of Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods… or Chicago, for that matter. For this one, Marshall perfectly captured the magic I felt first watching Mary Poppinsand listening to the album over and over as a kid, with really fun songs, including some co-written by Lin Manuel Miranda, I believe.

22. Aquaman  (Warner Bros.) – While Aquaman has never been my favorite DC superhero, I had high hopes for director James Wan’s first foray into superheroics, and I wasn’t disappointed. Granted, there was a lot to keep up with, since he fit a lot of story into one movie… I mean, who wouldn’t, considering the chances of there ever being an Aquaman sequel? But yeah, Jason Momoa really sold me on the character, and the way the movie remained faithful to the Aquaman lore and mythos made in the comics, and there was just so much to enjoy that I can’t wait to see it again.

21. Boy Erased (Focus Features) – Another second feature, this one from Joel Edgerton, who adapted, directed and co-starred in this adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir of growing up with a preacher father and religious mother who sent him to participate in a gay conversion program run by a zealous fanatic (played by Edgerton).  I thought Lucas Hedges was just fantastic in the lead in this as well as in his father Peter Hedges’ movie Ben is Back, so this year finally put me on the Lucas Hedges wagon despite him appearing in multiple Best Picture-nominated movies over the last couple years. (I also want to point out the Honorable Mention The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which was also quite good as it looked at the problems caused by these gay conversion programs.)

20. Crazy Rich Asians (New Line/Warner Bros.) – I fought tooth and nail against buying into the hype for this all-Asian cast adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, but I’m a total sucker for romance, especially the romantic comedy genre, and this was a fine one for the ages. My worries about this being seen as Asian wealth porn was somewhat off-base – although there was some of that in there – and this ended up being the perfect movie for one of my fave directors, Jon M. Chu, to finally be taken seriously in Hollywood. Granted, I already loved Constance Wu from Fresh Off the Boat and Michelle Yeoh from a million movies, but I loved what newcomers Henry Goulding and Awkwafina brought to the mix, and I even liked Ken Jeong in this, so yeah, a pleasant surprisw, and one I probably will rewatch again soon.

19. Roma  (Netflix) – Likewise, I finally saw this movie at New York Film Festival after tons of hype out of Telluride, Toronto and Venice, but I immediately was able to relate to the love the kids in the film have for their maid, something similar to my own childhood living in Brazil in the early ‘70s. There’s no denying that director Alfonso Cuaron makes stunning films that leaves your jaw agape in every scene, and what an amazing coup for first-timer Yalitza Aparicio, an indigenous woman who might have had a hard time getting roles if not for Cuaron’s brilliance in casting her. This movie hit me even harder emotionally a second time, although I still wouldn’t place it higher on my year-end list since I thought some of it was noticeable directorial wanking i.e. Cuaron could do these big set pieces merely because he had the ability and money to do so.

18. On the Basis of Sex and RBG (Focus Features / Magnolia) – I’m cheating here a little bit just because this year saw two fantastic films about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, first in the doc by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, which created a beautiful portrait of the amazing woman.  Later in the year, Felicity Jones portrayed Ginsburg in a pivotal point in her career where she goes before the Supreme Court to fight for gender equality. It’s an important case but also an important turning point in our country, and I love how Ginsburg’s relationship with her husband, played by the dashing Armie Hammer, was portrayed.

17. Monsters and Men (Neon) – A movie that was seemingly missed by anyone who didn’t see it at Sundance, and even by many who went to Sundance was Reinaldo Marcus Green’s drama about a shooting by a Brooklyn policeman and how it’s viewed by three different people from the neighborhood. Two of those people are Anthony Ramos’ Manny and John David Washington (from BlackKklansman) as a fairly young policeman dealing with the corruption and racism in the force. It also deals with a young baseball prodigy (Christopher Jordan Wallace) who wants to get involved with the protests against the killing even if it might hurt his chances at getting into a good college. If you have a chance to see this movie, you’re likely to be impressed by Green’s storytelling abilities and how it’s used.

16. Searching (Sony/Screen Gems) – Aneesh Chaganty’s directorial debut was an amazing thriller starring John Cho as a man whose daughter has disappeared and using only what can be viewed on a computer screen. Sure, it sounds like a gimmick, and it’s one that’s been used in films like Nacho Vigalondo’s Open Windows and the Unfriended series, but Cho’s performance is a career-best, and Chaganty finds a way to create a plausible thriller that keeps you invested in Cho finding his daughter. (And I loved the hint I discovered to the movie’s big twist on watching a second time.)

15. Widows (20thCentury Fox) – While I liked 12 Years a Slave just fine, Steve McQueen really blew me away with his foray into the heist genre, starring Viola Davis as the wife of a criminal (Liam Neeson), who dies in an attempt to steal millions from a local Chicago mob boss… and political candidate (Brian Tyree Henry – one of this year’s major MVPs). It seems like a fairly simple plot, but McQueen finds a way to integrate the local politics (incl. amazing performances by Colin Farrell and Robert DuVall), surround Davis with some amazing women (including Cynthia Erivo and Elizabeth Debicki) and create a heist film unlike any you would have seen before, as it was far more unconventional than other heist films, as one might expect.

14. Mary, Queen of Scots  (Focus Features) – Fantastic performances by Saoirse Ronan as the title character and Margot Robbie as her cousin and rival Queen Elizabeth made Josie Rourke’s feature directorial debut quite an amazing film. It wasn’t just another costume drama, and as much as it sadly is being overshadowed by The Favourite, the material told this fascinating story about two feuding queens in such an interesting and exciting way, including an impressive battle sequence, making this very different from other period pieces, including the many that have been directed by men.

13. Instant Family (Paramount) – Another one of this year’s surprises was seeing Sean Anders, the director behind Daddy’s Home and its sequel, take on a more serious comedy based on his own real life. Apparently, he and his wife adopted three kids, so in this very funny, sweet and warm comedy, it’s Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg as a couple who take in three Latino kids, including the amazing Isabela Moner, who I think is going to be amazing as Dora the Explorer. But there was so much to enjoy about this film from the easy laughs to some of the sweeter and more touching human emotions on display.

12. Hereditary  (A24) – Another film that premiered out of Sundance (that I missed there) was Ari Aster’s directorial debut, an absolutely horrifying film about a mother (Toni Collette) dealing with all sorts of strange supernatural occurrences after the death of her own mother. A24’s marketing for the film was such a brilliant bit of Red Herring creation that you might go in thinking that Collette’s daughter Charlie (played by Milly Shapiro) was gonna be the main antagonist/conflict… nope! Colette’s amazing performance was countered by a similar one from Alex Wolff, and if you weren’t totally creeped out by this movie’s ending, there’s probably something wrong with you. Aster proves himself to be a fascinating visual storyteller, so I can’t wait to see his next movie.

11. The Citizen (ArtMattan Productions) – Roland Vranik’s Hungarian film that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival all the way back in 2016 finally got a U.S. release thanks to New York’s Metrograph where it played for a number of weeks. After seeing the trailer a bunch of times, I ended up checking it out, and I was blown away by how timely and prescient the story of an African immigrant trying to become a Hungarian citizen related to what was going on in this country over the past year. It’s a wonderful indie film that sadly didn’t get the attention it deserved.

10. Eighth Grade (A24) – Yet another Sundance “discovery” was comedian Bo Burnham’s debut, which featured newcomer Elsie Fisher as 13-year-old Kayla, who is trying to deal with puberty, her last year in middle school and a pesky but lovable father, played by Josh Hamilton. This is just such an enjoyable even if you went to middle school so long ago that you barely remember it. Even so, Burnham found a way to tap into those feelings to create an extremely enjoyable comedy. I’m convinced Elsie Fisher is gonna be a superstar.

9. The Hate U Give (20thCentury Fox) – Probably one of the most underrated films of the year, which thankfully has gotten some critical love in the past few weeks.  I thought this adaptation of Angie Love’s Y.A. novel about a teenager named Starr, played by Amandla Stenberg, fighting with the two sides of her life with the advent of #BlackLivesMatter after watching her childhood friend killed by a white police officer. The cast that producer George Tillman Jr. built around Stenberg was quite impressive, including Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie and Common, with many powerful emotional moments that did a good job explaining what young black people in urban areas must deal with daily. It’s a fine return to form from the director of Notorious and Soul Food.

8. Ant Man and the Wasp  (Marvel Studios) – I bet you didn’t expect to see THIS Marvel Studios rank so high while a couple others didn’t even place in my list (or even Honorable Mentions), huh? Maybe I’ve just gotten sick of the whole thing where every movie is basically set-up for the next movie, which has been the case for a while now. Sure, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a sequel to Ant-Man and there was a post-credits Avengers: Infinity War tie-in, but otherwise, this was the Ant-Man movie I had been hoping for after the rather disappointing first movie. Obviously, having Paul Rudd involved in the writing and not working from a previous plot (as was the case with the first movie) helped the characters from the first movie shine. (Also, loved the Ghost as an antagonist.)

7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse  (Sony) – It was a fairly tight race for my favorite superhero movie of the year, but after seeing this animated take on Marvel’s webbed wonder a second time, it was obvious to me that this was indeed one of the best feature film iterations of Spider-Man outside the comics. Sure, I was a fan of what Brian Bendis had done in the Ultimate comics, maybe not some of the Spider-Verse stuff introduced by Dan Slott, but taking those two disparate things and turning it into a true story about Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore, who should be cast as Miles in a live action MCU movie) and then having Jake Johnson voicing the older “mentor” Spider-Man just made for a fun movie that exemplified all of the previous films directed and produced by Lord and Miller including The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street. I’m looking forward to more big-screen animated superhero movies, and yeah, I liked Incredibles 2 just fine but I was never that attached to the Pixar movie.

6. Love, Simon  (20thCentury Fox) – After blowing up the DC Universe via his many CW TV shows, Greg Berlanti returned to the movies with this coming-out coming of age romantic comedy starring Nick Robinson as Simon Spier, a closeted gay teen who discovers that there might be another gay teen in the closet at his high school. This simple plot led to a wonderful high school coming-of-age rom-com that really brightened me up on a miserable day I was having (the first of many this year), and I loved how relatable Berlanti made the story.

5. Bad Times at the El Royale  (20thCentury Fox) – Possibly one of the most underrated films of the year, Drew Goddard’s second film as a director after the similarly excellent Cabin in the Woods, featured a cadre of individuals converging on a mostly-abandoned hotel on the border of California and Nevada. Jeff Bridges plays a priest, Jon Hamm plays a travelling salesman and Broadway star Cynthia Erivo (also in Widows) is a singer who all show up at the same time, as we quickly discover, very little about the El Royale is as it seems. I almost don’t want to reveal too much more, because it’s the way the story unfolds which had many comparing it to Tarantino (both positively and negatively). I felt that so many filmmakers have tried to ape Tarantino and not understood what makes his storytelling style work so well, but Goodard figured it out, and delivered a rich film full of many surprises. I can’t recommend the film more, since I know very few people had a chance to see it in theaters.

4. Mission: Impossible – Fallout   (Paramount) – Considering how much I was disappointed by Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, I expected its direct sequel to be more of the same, and boy, was I wrong. Tom Cruise and McQuarrie pulled out all the stops to create a viable conclusion to the four movies that had been produced along with JJ Abrams and Bad Robot, which included the extraordinary 4thmovie directed by Brad Bird. I was impressed the first time I saw this in IMAX… but then I saw it again… and again… and again. I just couldn’t get enough of the amazing action scenes and the intricate plot (even though I found a few holes in it). I’m so psyched to see what McQuarrie does next, and it successfully reminded everyone why Cruise is the star that he is.

3. Juliet, Naked  (Lionsgate / Roadside Attractions) – The fact that filmmaker Jesse Peretz was able to adapt one of my favorite Nick Hornby novels in a way that’s faithful but not to a fault made this one of my favorite movies of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. If you couldn’t tell from my love for Instant Family, I absolutely love Rose Byrne, and she killed it as Annie, a woman living in a seaside English town with her boyfriend Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) as an avid fan of musician Tucker Crowe. When Annie posts something negative about a newly-discovered Crowe rarity on Duncan’s blog, they break up, but she also ends up having a long-distance relationship with the actual Crowe, played by Ethan Hawke. There’s just something so spot-on about Hornby’s book and this adaptation was just as enjoyable, genuinely warm and very, very funny. I wish more people went to go see it.

2.  A Star is Born  (Warner Bros.) – Believe me, there may be no one more surprised by how far this movie has placed in my year-end list than myself. I’m not a huge Bradley Cooper fan, nor do I particularly like Lady Gaga or her music, but this is a great old Hollywood story that’s perfectly modernized with Cooper playing rock star Jackson Mane who sees Gaga’s Ally performing at a cabaret club and falls for her just as he tries to help her career. It’s a story that’s been told a number of times before, and sure, I can understand why some women might not like the implications that a man might help the woman have success in the movie industry, but Gaga killed it playing a character possibly not too removed from herself. I’ll be thrilled with any and all Oscars this movie earns, especially for Bradley Cooper, making a stunning directorial debut. (And I always love Sam Elliot in anything he does. He’s so deserving of an Oscar here, too.)

1A. Won’t You be My Neighbor  (Focus Features) – As always, I separate the docs from my overall year’s best list just because I tend to like the genre so much that my entire top 10 would be docs if I didn’t separate them into their own category. But yeah, Morgan Neville has done it again with another 10/10 doc following his Oscar-winning 20 Feet to Stardom. Barring some major push by one of the other docs that made the shortlist (and my top 12 below), there’s a very good chance that Neville’s doc about beloved PBS host Fred (Mister) Rogers will win him a second Oscar. Rogers is beloved by adults who grew up watching his show and getting a chance to look behind the scenes made many adults cry, mainly for joy but also for sadness that these trying times doesn’t have a Mister Rogers to help us through it.

1. Green Book (Universal) – Yes, I’m well aware of the controversy and backlash from many black film critics (most of them who write for ShadowAndAct.com, oddly enough) who hate this movie for one reason or another. By the time all that controversy had reared its ugly head, I had already seen the Peter Farrelly historic buddy comedy twice, and I loved it both times I saw it.  If you’re unaware, it stars Viggo Mortensen as Italian stereotype club bouncer Tony Lip, who is hired to drive and safeguard Mahershala Ali’s jazz pianist Dr. Don Shirley on a tour of the Deep South during the early ‘60s when racism still was running rampant.  The growing chemistry built by these two actors through the situations they find themselves in made me far more interested in Shirley and the Green Book of the title, so anyone complaining about the movie should realize that through entertaining humor, Farrelly has opened a conversation that I hope will continue through next year.

Honorable Mentions:

There were so many good movies this year that all of these fine films ended up just outside my top 25…

A Private War (Aviron) Operation Finale (MGM) First Reformed (A24) Lean on Pete (A24) The Rider (Sony Pictures Classics) Collette (Bleecker Street) Cold War (Amazon Studios) The Miseducation of Cameron Post (FilmRise) Leave No Trace (Bleecker Street) Suspiria (Amazon)

TWELVE GREAT DOCS

This was most definitely the year of the theatrical doc, even though, yeah, there’s still a few Netflix docs on here… okay, one. Otherwise, it was important to see most of these movies in a theater, which culminated in Peter Jackson’s 3D WWI doc They Shall Not Grow Old, which just missed my top 12. Sorry, this feature has gotten a little too long or otherwise, I’d write more about each of these, but most of them I wrote about in the weekly column.

1. Won’t You be My Neighbor (Focus Features) 2. Free Solo (National Geographic) 3. Hal (Oscilloscope) 4. Three Identical Strangers (Neon) 5. Minding the Gap (Hulu) 6. RBG (Magnolia) 7. Rock Rubber 45s (Saboteur Media) 8. Crime + Punishment (Hulu/IFC Films) 9. Shirkers (Netflix) 10. Fahrenheit 11/9 11. Far from the Tree (IFC Films) 12. Whale of a Tale (Giant Pictures)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR:

Every year I like rewarding a studio that goes above and beyond both in terms of releasing great, entertaining movies and also being generally decent to deal with. While Universal has the top movie and Warner Bros. is #2 and Fox has a lot of movies on the above list, I think I’ll have to give this year’s award to Paramount Pictures, not only for making the best Mission: Impossible yet, but also with two wonderful surprises in Instant Family and Overlord, which both were far better than their trailers. (They also released A Quiet Place, which didn’t make my list but was still a solid thriller.) But most importantly, they’re the most improved in terms of press/critical outreach, and I greatly appreciate that, especially in the tough year I had.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

I always like sharing some of the music I’m listening to each year and though my music budget has been cut rather drastically this year, my favorite album of the year was Metric’s “Art of Doubt,”followed by Buffalo Tom’s “Quiet and Peace”and The Fratellis’ “In Your Own Sweet Time.” I also dug Monster Magnet’s “Mindf*cker,” Ash’s “Islands” and James’ “Living in Extraordinary Times,” but none of this gets me more excited as the prospect for a new Cure album in 2019!

Oh, fine.. I’ll tack on my Terrible 10 for the year, but I don’t feel like revisiting any of these: 10. Kin  9. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich  8. The Spy Who Dumped Me  7. Before I Wake  6. Truth or Dare? 5. London Fields  4. Head Full of Honey  3. Mandy  2. Aardvark  1. Assassination Nation 

That’s it for this year. Hopefully, I’ll have more to come soon.

[wesonerdy]

ABC reveals their upcoming 2017 – 2018 primetime lineup, and we’ve got the details, including the announcement about Scandal‘s last season.

Upfronts 2017 continues! Yesterday, NBC and FOX announced their lineup from the upcoming season, and earlier today ABC held their showcase to do the same.

Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, unveiled the network’s new lineup this afternoon at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in NYC, and there are some shake-ups.

What stands out most to me is the changes to Once Upon a Time. After news that the majority of the series’ regular cast is departing, ABC has still renewed the show for Season 7. There are lots of questions about the nature of the reset for the new season. Incidentally, I do think the Season 6 finale does a surprisingly good job of setting the stakes and creating some buy-in from long time Oncers. In any event, Once Upon a Time will be moved from Sunday evenings to Friday at 8:00pm ET|PT. This time spot is notorious for being a death sentence to TV shows, but there’s still reason to be optimistic (more on that later…).

Also, some changes are on the horizon for Shondaland and TGiT too. The Catch has been cancelled, and while Scandal has gotten a full season order, Shonda Rhimes (Scandal’s creator and executive producer) and ABC confirm that Season 7 will be the show’s last. According to Ms. Rhimes:

“Deciding how to end a show is easy. Deciding when to finish is quite simple when the end date is years away. But actually going through with it? Actually standing up to say: ‘This is it?’ Not so much. So, next year we are going all out. Leaving nothing on the table. Creating this world in celebration. We are going to handle the end the way we like to handle the important things in our ‘Scandal’ family: all together, white hats on, gladiators running full speed over a cliff.”

Gladiators right up until the end!

In addition to their returning series, ABC is also introducing one comedy (The Mayor) and four new dramas (The Good Doctor, The Gospel of Kevin, Marvel’s Inhumans, Ten Days In the Valley) in the Fall.

We can expect ABC to bring us TWO revivals, Roseanne, plus a revamped American Idol (moving to a new network after being cancelled at FOX in 2015). Rounding out the announcement is that we can expect two Live Musical Special Events The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live! (debuting Tuesday, October 3) and Rolling Stone 50.

Take a look at the list of shows that have been renewed and canceled, followed by the trailers, synopses, and character images from the coming ABC debuts. Make sure to share your thoughts in comments too!

RENEWED

20/20 America’s Funniest Home Videos American Housewife The Bachelor The Bachelorette black-ish Dancing with the Stars Designated Survivor Fresh Off the Boat The Goldbergs Grey’s Anatomy How to Get Away with Murder Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Middle Modern Family Once Upon a Time Quantico Scandal Shark Tank Speechless To Tell the Truth

CANCELED

The Real O’Neals Dr. Ken Imaginary Mary American Crime Secrets and Lies The Catch Last Man Standing Time After Time

NEW SHOWS

ALEX, INC.

Based on the podcast StartUp, Alex Schuman (Zach Braff, “Scrubs”) is a brilliant radio journalist, husband and father of two who is about to do something crazy – quit his job and start his own company. He quickly discovers it’s going to be a lot harder than he thought. Zach Braff stars, directs and is executive producer with Matt Tarses (“Scrubs”) and Davis Entertainment (“Dr. Ken,” “Blacklist”). Matt Tarses is writer and executive producer. Zach Braff is director and executive producer. John Davis and John Fox are executive producers of the series, from Davis Entertainment, as are Alex Blumberg, Chris Gilberti  and Matt Lieber (Gimlet Media) in association with Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios.

  AMERICAN IDOL

ABC is bringing back “American Idol.” The network, along with producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group, will revive television’s most successful and recognized music competition series for the 2017-2018 season, bringing back the fan-favorite and making more dreams come true. A host and judges will be announced at a later time. “American Idol”‘s profound effect on the music industry is far-reaching and continually growing, launching the careers of superstars Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Katharine McPhee, Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry, among many others.  “American Idol” contestants have sold more than 60 million albums, resulting in more than 80 Platinum records and 95 Gold records. Its participants have generated more than 450 Billboard No. 1 hits and sold more than 260 million digital downloads. “American Idol” is produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group. Executive producers include FremantleMedia North America’s Trish Kinane and Jennifer Mullin. FremantleMedia International distributes the series worldwide.

  THE BACHELOR WINTER GAMES

America’s favorite participants from past seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” from arch rivals to villains, will take competitive dating to a chilling new level.  In an ode to the Winter Olympic Games and slated to premiere in February 2018, “The Bachelor Winter Games” will reunite the all-stars at a luxurious winter resort, where they will go head-to-head in winter-themed athletic challenges, including the toughest sport of all – love. “The Bachelor Winter Games” is a production of Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Unscripted Television. Mike Fleiss and Martin Hilton to executive produce.

  THE CROSSING

Refugees from a war-torn country seek asylum in a small American fishing town, only the country these people are from is America – and the war they are fleeing hasn’t happened yet. As the government tries to uncover the truth behind this mysterious migration only one thing is certain: The lives of the people here — both the townspeople and these newcomers — will never be the same.  Writers Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie executive produce with Jason Reed. “The Crossing” stars Steve Zahn as Jude Miller, Natalie Martinez as Reece, Sandrine Holt as Emma Ren, Rick Gomez as Nestor, Jay Karnes as Craig Lindauer, Marcuis Harris as Caleb, Simone Kessel as Rebecca, Kelley Missal as Hannah, Rob Campbell as Paul, Grant Harvey as Roy, Bailey Skodje as Leah, Jon D’Leo as Will, Luc Roderique as Bryce and Tommy Bastow as Marshall. The pilot is directed by Rob Bowman. The series is from ABC Studios.

  DANCING WITH THE STARS JUNIOR

A fresh new take on an established favorite, “Dancing with the Stars Junior” will pair celebrity kids and kids of celebrities with professional junior ballroom dancers to perform choreographed routines, which will be judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts, to be announced at a later date. Slated to debut in Spring 2018, “Dancing with the Stars Junior” is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions

  DECEPTION

When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician Cameron Black has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, influence and illusion — the FBI. Using every trick in the book and inventing new ones, he will help the government catch the world’s most elusive criminals while staging the biggest illusions of his career.  The series is from writer/executive producer Chris Fedak (“Chuck”) and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Martin Gero and Sarah Schechter.  Illusionist David Kwong (“Now You See Me”) will co-produce. “Deception” stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Cameron Black/Jonathan Black, Ilfenesh Hadera as Kay Daniels, Lenora Crichlow as Dina Clark, Amaury Nolasco as Mike Alvarez, Justin Chon as Jordan Kwon, Laila Robins as Special Agent Deakins and Vinnie Jones as Gunter Gustafsen The series is from Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television. “Deception” is directed by David Nutter, who is also executive producer.

  FOR THE PEOPLE

Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” this new Shondaland drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country – all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom. The series is created by Shondaland’s Paul William Davies and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The series, from ABC Studios, stars Ben Rappaport as Seth Oliver, Susannah Flood as Kate Littlejohn, Wesam Keesh as Jay Simmons, Regé-Jean Page as Leonard Knox, Ben Shenkman as Roger Gunn, Hope Davis as Jill Carlan, Vondie Curtis-Hall as Judge Nicholas Byrne and Anna Deavere Smith as Tina Krissman.

  THE GOOD DOCTOR

Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore, “Bates Motel”), a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital’s surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues. The series is from David Shore (“House”), and “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O” star Daniel Dae Kim. The series stars Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy, Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Brown, Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neal Melendez, Chuku Modu as Dr. Jared Kalu, Beau Garrett as Jessica Preston, Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews and Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman. The series is from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios. David Shore is writer and executive producer. Daniel Dae Kim, David Kim and Sebastian Lee are also executive producers. Seth Gordon directed the pilot and is also an executive producer.

  THE GOSPEL OF KEVIN

Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter, “Parenthood”), a cluelessly self-serving person, is on a dangerous path to despair. In a downward spiral, Kevin returns home to stay with his widowed twin sister (JoAnna Garcia Swisher, “Once Upon a Time”) and niece.  On his first night there, an unlikely celestial being named Yvette appears to him and presents him with a mission – to save the world.  A light drama from executive producers Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters (“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” “Resurrection,” “Reaper”). “The Gospel of Kevin” stars Jason Ritter as Kevin Finn, JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Amy, J. August Richards as Nate, Chloe East as Reese, Dustin Ybarra as Tyler and India de Beaufort as Kristin. The pilot is directed by Paul McGuigan. The series is from ABC Studios.

  MARVEL’S INHUMANS

Courtesy of ABC/Marvel

Courtesy of ABC/Michael Muller

“Marvel’s Inhumans” explores the never-before-told epic adventure of the royal family including Black Bolt, the enigmatic, commanding King of the Inhumans, with a voice so powerful that the slightest whisper can destroy a city. After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself. The legendary comic book series will be brought to life in a way that has never been done before, as a version of the first two episodes will be shown globally in IMAX theaters for a two-week period beginning September 1, 2017. ABC will then air the entirety of the series on the network, with additional exclusive content that can only been seen on ABC. “Marvel’s Inhumans” stars Anson Mount as Black Bolt, Iwan Rheon as Maximus, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, Ken Leung as Karnak, Ellen Woglom as an undisclosed character, Sonya Balmores as Auran and Mike Moh as Triton. The series is executive produced by Scott Buck, along with Marvel’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory with Buck serving as showrunner.  Roel Reiné will direct the first two episodes. This series is a Marvel and IMAX project and is co-produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios.

  THE MAYOR

Young rapper Courtney Rose (Brandon Micheal Hall) needs his big break. For years he’s toiled away in a small inner-city apartment, making music in his junk-filled bedroom closet. Tired of waiting for opportunity, Courtney cooks up the publicity stunt of the century – running for mayor of his hometown in California to generate buzz for his music career. Unfortunately for Courtney, his master plan goes wildly awry, ending in the most terrifying of outcomes: an election victory. With the help of his mother (Yvette Nicole Brown, “Community”) and friends, including Valentina (“Glee’s” Lea Michele), Courtney will have to overcome his hubris if he wants to transform the struggling city he loves. The series stars Brandon Micheal Hall as Courtney Rose, Lea Michele as Valentina, Bernard David Jones as Jermaine Hardaway, Marcel Spears as TK and Yvette Nicole Brown as Dina. From executive producer Daveed Diggs (Tony winner for Broadway’s “Hamilton”), writer/executive producer Jeremy Bronson (“Speechless,” “The Mindy Project,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”) and executive producer Jamie Tarses (“Happy Endings”), the series is from ABC Studios. The pilot is directed by executive producer James Griffiths (“black-ish”).

  ROSEANNE

Iconic comedy series “Roseanne” will return to The ABC Television Network, Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment, announced today. The eight-episode reboot, featuring the original cast – Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky) – will air in 2018. Sarah Chalke, who played the character Becky in later seasons, will also appear in another role. Roseanne Barr will executive produce, along with Sara Gilbert, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford, Whitney Cummings and Tony Hernandez. The series is from Carsey-Werner Television.

  ROLLING STONE 50

For half a century, Rolling Stone has remained an iconic and important voice in American music, culture and politics. Now, the people who have told their stories through the Rolling Stone lens are coming together to reflect on the last 50 years. “Rolling Stone 50” will pay homage to the brand’s influence and impact through a curated journey of its most seminal moments. Live from New York City, the three-hour special television event, set to debut Wednesday, February 7, 2018, will showcase live performances, short films, iconic on-stage moments, never-before-seen musical pairings, and celebrities that have shaped pop culture, music and politics. The special is a production of Done + Dusted and Wenner Media. Jann Wenner and Gus Wenner of Wenner Media and Ian Stewart, David Jammy and Katy Mullan of Done + Dusted serve as executive producers.

  SPLITTING UP TOGETHER

Based on the Danish series, “Splitting Up Together” is the story of a couple (Jenna Fischer, “The Office,” Oliver Hudson, “Scream Queens”) whose marriage is reignited by their divorce. Emily Kapnek (“Suburgatory”) writes and serves as executive producer of this new comedy, along with Ellen DeGeneres. The series stars Jenna Fischer as Lena, Oliver Hudson as Martin, Bobby Lee as Arthur, Diane Farr as Maya, Lindsay Price as Camille, Olivia Keville as Mae, Van Crosby as Mason and Sander Thomas as Milo. Jeff Kleeman, Mette Heeno, Mie Andreasen and Hella Joof are also executive producers of “Splitting Up Together,” which is based on the original series created by Heeno. It is produced by A Very Good Production and Piece of Pie Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Dean Holland directed the pilot.

  TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY

“Ten Days in the Valley” stars Kyra Sedgwick as Jane Sadler, an overworked television producer and single mother in the middle of a separation whose life is turned upside down when her young daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. Just like her controversial police TV show, everything is a mystery, everyone has a secret and no one can be trusted. “Ten Days in the Valley” stars Kyra Sedgwick as Jane Sadler, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as John Bird, Kick Gurry as Pete Greene, Erika Christensen as Ali Petrovich, Felix Solis as David Gomez, Josh Randall as Tom Petrovich, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Matt Abigail Pniowsky as Lake and Francois Battiste as Gus. “Ten Days in the Valley” is from Skydance Television. It is created and written by Tassie Cameron. Executive producers are Tassie Cameron, Kyra Sedgwick, Jill Littman, Dana Goldberg, David Ellison and Marcy Ross.

  THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: THE LITTLE MERMAID LIVE!

In a two-hour special event, ABC will take the iconic “The Little Mermaid” animated feature film and intertwine it with show stopping LIVE musical performances via cutting-edge technology for an explosive evening honoring one of Walt Disney’s most celebrated classics. Fans of “The Little Mermaid” and Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s Oscar-winning songs will enjoy this never-before-seen live action/animation hybrid television experience featuring a soon-to-be announced roster of some of their favorite celebrity artists, whose performances will weave seamlessly throughout the original animated film. “The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live!” is set to premiere on Tuesday, October 3. The special is produced by Done + Dusted with Hamish Hamilton, Ian Stewart, David Jammy, Katy Mullan, and Richard Kraft, of Kraft-Engel Productions, serving as executive producers.

  ABC FALL 2017 SCHEDULE (All Times ET|PT)

MONDAY 8:00pm—Dancing with the Stars 10:00—The Good Doctor

TUESDAY 8:00pm—The Middle 8:30pm—Fresh Off the Boat (new time period) 9:00pm—black-ish (new day and time period) 9:30pm—The Mayor 10:00pm—The Gospel of Kevin

WEDNESDAY 8:00pm—The Goldbergs 8:30pm—Speechless 9:00pm—Modern Family 9:30pm—American Housewife (new day and time period) 10:00pm—Designated Survivor

THURSDAY 8:00pm—Grey’s Anatomy 9:00pm—Scandal 10:00pm—How to Get Away with Murder

FRIDAY 8:00pm—Once Upon a Time (new day and time period) 9:00pm—Marvel’s Inhumans 10:00pm—20/20

SATURDAY 8:00pm—Saturday Night Football

SUNDAY 7:00pm—America’s Funniest Home Videos 8:00pm—To Tell the Truth (new day and time period) 9:00pm—Shark Tank (new day and time period) 10:00pm—Ten Days in the Valley

ABC Unveils 2017 – 2018 Primetime Schedule ABC reveals their upcoming 2017 – 2018 primetime lineup, and we’ve got the details, including the announcement about…

[frontmezzjunkies]

My Two Year Old Baby Blog

By Ross

In the year that has passed since I wrote my first year birthday blog (click here to give it a read), I have learned a great deal about the business of theatre and the press that covers it.  I learned so much about writing a blog, and writing about theatre.  For one, it took the helpful guidance of a few other blogs who post my reviews to teach me how to do a hyperlink.  I know that sounds silly, but what did I know? And I still don’t really understand what a ‘focus keyword’ is, or does, or what I should list.  Regardless, because of the helpful people at OutBuzz and Times Square Chronicles, my posts look better and are read far and wide. Wider than I could do on my own. Wider than I could ever imagine last year.

With thousands of more readers and visitors, Frontmezzjunkies.com has out performed my wildest dreams.  This past year has seen this blog change dramatically from a review-based posting of whatever theatre I could see (or afford), to getting invites and press passes to more theatre than I could ever attend on my own.  And I want to thank all of those at every theatrical press company that ever received any of my emails, and especially to those kind souls that responded.  I know my place in this theatrical press world, and by no means do I think my blog is so special to demand anything.  I am no New York Times reviewer, so my heartfelt thanks goes out to all that helped make this the most special year of theatre going that I can remember.

This past year, I have posted almost twice the number of theatrical reviews than the first year, and the theatre world has definitely taken over a good chunk of my life and my spare time. Just ask my friends, who are thankful that I get to invite them along on so many amazing performances, but who also find it more difficult to schedule free time with me outside of a theatre.  I’m either seeing a show or writing about one.  Or sleeping. Or doing my day job.  Which I still have two of those humming along beside me (I’m a personal trainer and a psychotherapist, for any of you who don’t know).

Some exciting things are in store for Year 3. When asked to submit a number of reviews for consideration for a few unique opportunities coming up (I’ll let you all know when I hear, as big changes are ahead, I think, I hope), I came up with this list.  I already submitted a preliminary list to get to the next round, but I need to resubmit in the summer. So I thought I’d share them with you.  I had to whittle it down to five, one per category, but here, there is no need.  Click on the name of the show to take you to the review, and let me know what you think.  Which review is the better read in each category?  Not which show you liked the most, but which review was written with a unique outlook or perspective. Which review made you think about a show in a different way? Which review is just pure crap?  It’s tricky, cause I certainly have my favorites, but is it because I loved the show, or what I said about it?  It’s hard to say. Tell me your votes.

Heisenberg New York City Center – Stage II Cast List: Mary-Louise Parker Denis Arndt Production Credits: Mark Brokaw (director) Other Credits: Written by:

One broadway play

The Present

Heisenberg

Oslo 

Sweat

The Glass Menagerie

Dear Evan Hansen

One Broadway musical 

Dear Evan Hansen

Come From Away

Sunset Boulevard

Sunday in the Park with George

Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812

Love, Love, Love at the Roundabout

One off Broadway play

Love Love Love

Notes from the Field

Man From Nebraska

Daniel’s Husband

One off Broadway musical

Band’s Visit

Ride the Cyclone

Sweet Charity

Kid Victory

A Streetcar Named Desire at St. Ann’s Warehouse

One Brooklyn/off off show

Streetcar Named Desire

Beauty Queen of Leenane

The Tempest

Escaped Alone

  The Tempest at St. Ann’s Warehouse

Which ones do you think are your favorites? I’d be thrilled to hear your opinion.  And below are some images of my favorite performances over the past year.  Can you guess what shows they are from?

Stay tuned.  A lot is in store for year number three of frontmezzjunkies!

#frontmezzjunkies is celebrating its 2nd year anniversary Happy birthday frontmezzjunkies.com My Two Year Old Baby Blog By Ross In the year that has passed since I wrote my first year birthday blog (click…

[morose-magnetrix]

Excalibur #26 by Tini Howard (writer), Marcus To (artist), and Erick Arciniega (colorist)

Emma Frost: “Betsy, stop this. We need your assistance here, in the real world.”

Betsy: “Don’t. [...] Don’t reduce this to that. As if it’s some fantasy.” 

Tini Howard and Marcus To’s run on Excalibur comes to its conclusion in its 26th issue. This series has definitely had its ups and downs, but in the post X of Swords era it’s really come into its own. Knights of X has been confirmed to be the continuation of Tini’s run, which definitely explains why this very much feels like the season one finale of a show that’s finally found its footing, promising more to come. 

Things I loved about this issue:

1. It’s so queer! We’re blessed with a Rictor/Shatterstar kiss and moment. We also finally get on panel confirmation of the Betsy/Rachel romance that has been brewing in small hints throughout the run, beginning with Betsy giving Rachel Amazing Baby and continuing with their dance at the Hellfire Gala, as Rachel gives Betsy a kiss on the cheek and talks about how Betsy isn’t just needed, she’s wanted. I know that it isn’t a full blown on the mouth kiss, but I get the sense Howard and To gave us as much as they were allowed to, so I still adored it. 

2. Saturnyne’s schemes are revealed. One theme that I have adored in this series is how women deal with misogyny - Roma was trapped under her father’s thumb, Saturnyne is constantly belittled as just a witch, Betsy is discriminated against for being a female Captain Britain. It was really satisfying to see that Saturnyne had worked with Roma to overthrow Merlyn - that Roma was a part of those schemes. It really felt in line with the huge amount of agency that’s been giving to these female characters who are constantly doubted or overlooked by the men around them. 

3. Maggie having the emotional intelligence of a child was really sweet - she was scared for her mom! It’s really easy with hyper intelligent children to make them robotic, but I loved that she was allowed to still be a kid AND a genius. 

4. The idea that Arthur is a composite of all the legends and stories about him is fascinating. It reminds me a lot as to what happens to those who die in Otherworld and are then resurrected - how they become a mixture of all their selves, scrambled up. It explains a lot about Arthur’s paranoid psychology and the idea that a lot of it is him creating a self fulfilling prophecy about Mordred was interesting. I think it similarly explains Merlyn’s instabilities and Roma’s stability - there are countless of legends about Merlyn, whereas unless I’m mistaken Roma is a unique character to the Marvel Universe. 

5. The entire discussion of Otherworld as just some fantasy, that it’s a way for Betsy to escape reality - I think that really speaks to a lot of her character beats. When Betsy was in Kwannon’s body, she went ALL IN on the ninja stuff. Now that she’s Captain Britain, she’s gone all in on the medieval fantasy stuff. I think she has this tendency to just adopt whatever her current role is and make it her identity - she obsesses over things and loses herself in them. Obviously Otherworld is important to deal with, it’s not like she’s lost in a video game, it really is real, but I think it was a great character beat. 

6. She’s fighting for a world that hates and fears her. A common critique of the Krakoan era is that the mutants aren’t doing the hated and feared thing anymore - and I think Otherworld is the natural answer to that. Otherworld is where we get stories about how people are scared of the witchbreed, even as Excalibur does all they can to protect them. I also think Otherworld allows for stories that examines an aspect that isn’t possible with Krakoa - what happens when a minority group creates a nation state and seizes land that was previously inhabited. Krakoa has annexed Avalon (and now lost it), which allows for a lot of unique story telling perspectives, especially with the Israel allegory of Krakoa. 

7. Gambit fretting over his cats after the lighthouse is destroyed. I love him as a cat dad. 

8. Saturnyne continuing to thirst for Brian Braddock. 

9. The title change to Knights of X is explained, as Britain is taking the name ‘Excalibur’ back. 

Things I’d love to see expanded on:

1. I wish we had gotten more time of Saturnyne and Betsy in the Lesbian Sea of Secrets. Maybe we’ll get some fun flashbacks to that one day. 

2. Where’s Mordred? I’d love to see him show up. He’s been such a huge part of the plot with Arthur but has yet to make an appearance. 

3. I actually low key would love to see Saturnyne kicking it on Krakoa now? I feel like her and Selene could get together and throw an AMAZING theme party. Maybe slutty tarot? Anyone? Just me?

Verdict: Eight out of ten knights