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lokitvsource · 3 years ago

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You came into the show with the idea of Loki clashing with the TVA already in place. How exactly does this kind of arrangement work at Marvel? Michael Waldron: There was a creative brief that was 20 pages or so that basically said: “We want to do something about Loki running up against the TVA. Here’s some different avenues that might be cool to explore.” It was really serving it up for writers as a jumping off point for us to put together our pitches. Then I went off and really worked on the idea of Loki being brought in to hunt another Loki, and that becoming the heart of the show, and the Loki/Sylvie relationship. The big thing that I did in my pitch — even as early as pitching it to Kevin [Feige] — I really walked through the six episodes, kind of similar to what they were. I knew I wanted Episode 3, for instance, to be a little bit of a Before Sunrise, with Loki and this character walking across this apocalyptic moon. But Marvel had the initial, probably the most important spark of genius, which was just Loki and the TVA.

Where did the idea of the variant being a female Loki come from? That was one of my ideas, that we then confirmed in the writers room. Yeah, we knew from the get-go that it was going to be Loki falling for another version of himself.

Why was that appealing to you? I love writing any romance; it’s fun. Especially, it hasn’t been done a ton in the MCU. There’s an obviously self-reflective quality to it. And a show that’s quite literally about self-love; it is Loki getting to see parts of himself. At the start of the show, he kind of hates himself. He assesses himself to Mobius as a villain. And then he meets Sylvie, and he sees her as someone on a heroic crusade. He sees the good in her, and is able to see the good in himself.

Mobius suggests that, of course, Loki fell in love with his own variant, because he’s a narcissist. Do you think he’d be capable of falling in love with someone who is not a version of himself? [Laughs] I don’t know if he didn’t fall in love with himself first. Maybe after that, but the first time he falls, maybe this is what it had to be.

What’s the key to telling a time travel story that takes advantage of the concept without confusing the audience? I think it’s doing a lot of work that the audience never sees. It’s really understanding the logic of this thing, building out the TVA as a real organization that actually exists in our minds. Our writers room, we had a TVA handbook, encyclopedia, what they do and why they do it, a glossary of terms. And then you want to only give the audience the absolute bare minimum to understand the story, and to just get swept up in the emotional stakes of everything. If the sci-fi of it all, if the time travel logic of this show did not hold up week to week, then that would have distracted from the emotional journeys of the characters. So I’m glad that even though everyone had to take their medicine a little bit, along with Loki, in episode one, I’m glad it didn’t distract from the story we were telling. And we had the benefit of Loki being the audience’s eyes in. The audience is learning as he is.

There’s a funny scene in Avengers: Endgame where the Avengers start arguing about exactly how time travel works in the MCU. How much did you have to study what other Marvel movies had done with the idea to make sure your rules were consistent? Fortunately, Endgame was the main one, and that’s how they understand it. The TVA is an organization that understands time travel on a deeper level, probably more comprehensively than the Avengers do in Endgame. We wanted to make sure we were staying true to any rules that they laid out, but sort of establishing our own rules. It’s a time travel show. What was I thinking? A movie’s one thing, but a show is hard.

How many Loki variants did you have on the writers room whiteboard at various points? Hundreds. So many different Lokis. There was one Loki, actually maybe it was a version of Mobius that took off his glasses, and he just had really tiny eagle eyes, like he could see everything. There was stuff like that all over the white board. Tom Kauffman, who wrote that fifth episode, he’s an amazing comedy writer, and was on the first three seasons of Rick and Morty. His first draft of that episode was just bananas.

Was there a variant, or a crazy idea in general, that you really loved but couldn’t ultimately do? There was so much different stuff that we wanted to do in the Void. But the truth is, I don’t want to say any of it, because you never know. The ideas that I want to do the most may pop up elsewhere.

Okay, so let’s stick with a variant we did see. Was Alligator Loki actually a Loki, or just an alligator that happened to be wearing a Loki’s crown? A magician can’t reveal his tricks, man. That’s the great debate. Let it rage.

What was Alligator Loki‘s origin story on your side of things? Who pitched him and how was that initially received? That was maybe my very first meeting with the producers at Marvel, Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard, talking about the show, and me saying, “When we’re doing this, you can encounter lots of different Lokis. You could have an alligator Loki. Why? Cause he’s green.” And us all laughing about how stupid that was. I think I made the point that it’s that energy of what we can do with the show. We can have something like that, but let’s play it straight. Alligator Loki, you get a laugh out of it, but by and large you try and play it straight. That was the fun tonal balance that we tried to strike in the show.

There’s been some conflicting information out there about whether the big bad was originally just going to be He Who Remains, who’s a different comics character altogether from Kang, and whether the casting of Jonathan Majors changed the plan. From your point of view, what happened? The character was always written as a version of Kang, as early as the first draft of the script, we knew in the writers room, relatively early on. He Who Remains, that’s the guy behind the curtain with the TVA, and we saw an opportunity to fuse that mythology with the Immortus mythology. And that was just really compelling. It was a way to elevate, it just felt right for Loki, because Loki was there in the first Avengers, he’s the one who brought the Avengers together, and here is directly related to the exploding of the multiverse, this event that will drive the events of Phase Four. Certainly, when Jonathan came in, it allowed us to step on the gas of just how eccentric and charismatic this character could be. I was inspired in the writing of He Who Remains by Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia, trying to give it that Frank TJ Mackey energy a little bit. He captures that and then elevates it to something else that’s different and weird.

You just said how important the multiverse is going to be to Phase Four of the MCU. How challenging is it to have to set up this big thing for the larger Marvel endeavor while also serving the needs of the particular story you’re telling on this show? It’s a challenge in the sense that it’s all a relay race, and you’ve got the baton on this thing, and you want to do a great job. The name of the game over at Marvel is with each movie or TV show, make it the best it can possibly be. And they’re really supportive of that, and trust that it will organically fit into the larger blueprint of everything. We were excited about introducing a version of Kang, because yeah, to introduce this new big bad was cool for our show. I was aware, and cautious, of the thing I read in your review, that it might not be the most sound storytelling to introduce a new character at the very end that we’ve never seen before as the big bad of this thing. Obviously, we had the benefit that people know who Kang is, and there’s a meta thing where a portion of the audience knows Jonathan Majors is going to be playing Kang in Phase Four. But the finale was only ever going to work if He Who Remains, in a compelling way, serviced the Loki and Sylvie emotional story. That was the most important job that that character did in the finale: he laid out a very compelling conflict that ultimately drove the two of them apart.

There has also been some confusion as to exactly when you knew that there would be a second season, as opposed to you just making a limited series. Initially, in the writers room, we were not operating as though there would be a second season. And the whole way through was, this should be a story that should stand on its own. I referenced The Leftovers and Mad Men all the time. I think about those seasons, they pushed the overall stories forward, but you can pull any one of those seasons and look at it on its own as an individual story. I wanted that to be the case here, whether we did a second season or not. I think we always felt that we would want to propel Loki forward into the MCU after the conclusion of our season. The only question was, would that be in an appearance in a movie, or would that be in a second season. And it was only over the course of development that the stars aligned to make a second season.

But that end scene, where Mobius no longer recognizes Loki and the TVA is filled with Kang statues, wouldn’t have been a satisfying conclusion to a limited series. That is an ending that only works if there’s going to be a second season. So there is another conclusion to the story that I wrote that exists out there, that I guess is just for me. My own little play, that I perform with my action figures.

What was Sylvie’s original plan, before Loki hijacked her to that dying moon? It was to empty out the TVA. The entire bombing of the Sacred Timeline was to create a diversion. She’s not going to be able to create a multiverse from doing that. Ultimately, the TVA has the manpower to get out and take care of these events, but they’re going to have to scramble a lot of their minutemen teams, and it leaves the Time-Keepers significantly less guarded than they would have been otherwise. That was her plan.

You didn’t come into this as a big comic book nerd. So was there someone on staff who could tell you, “Well, there’s this giant cloud called Alioth that eats time,” or, “Well, one time Thanos had a helicopter,” or maybe someone assigned to you by Marvel? I’m constantly reading the comics but trying to not be so beholden to the and do our own thing. I charged our writers assistant, Ryan Kohler, with, “You’ve got to become the authority on all things TVA, all things Kang, and all that.” So he and my assistant, Sophie Miller, became a support staff who read a ton of these comics and became a wealth of knowledge for the writers to turn to. And then the Marvel producers, obviously are very well versed in the comics. It was Kevin Wright who came in one day and was like somebody throwing down a blueprint in an asteroid movie, going, “Alioth! Look at this!” And we were like, “Ohmigod, this is perfect!” The best thing about working on these comic book shows is that if it’s from the comics, it doesn’t matter how much of a deus ex machina it is, it’s just cool, like, “I can’t believe you pulled that from the comics.” Alioth, that was a big breakthrough that unlocked the last two episodes for us.

That is not a famous comic book that introduces Alioth. It’s an obscure Nineties miniseries, with really ugly art. But you look at it and see what it could be. You say, “If we do this, and it feels like Twister, it’s going to be really cool.”

Was Mobius’ love of jet skis there simply to illustrate his character, or did you have a grander idea in mind? I will come clean: I’m a jet ski guy. I’ve spent a good amount of time on jet skis in my day. I used to tow a jet ski to a lake and ride it in college. So it probably was me. Loki, I was just becoming a steward of that character. Mobius was a character I really felt I got to create from nothing. There’s not really anything to that character in the comics. So bits and pieces of me found their way in. I just think there’s something so poignant — here Mobius is, a guy who is literally fighting to preserve all of time in the multiverse, and yet his interests are maybe the most humble, human, terrestrial, unremarkable thing you can think of. Just a jet ski. And when you’ve got Owen Wilson playing him and it’s just that much better.

Will you be back in some capacity for Season Two? [long pause] Time will tell.

‘Loki’ Head Writer Michael Waldron — and ‘Rick and Morty’ Alum — on MCU, ‘Heels’ and More

#loki tv #loki series #michael waldron #interview

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hlupdate · 4 years ago

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Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

#harry styles #variety #021220

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hldailyupdate · 4 years ago

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This Charming Man: Why We’re Wild About Harry Styles

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

Harry for Variety. (2 December 2020)

#harry styles #harry update #article #variety #hldaily #December 2020

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knovesstorytelling · 4 years ago

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Murray Mysteries S1E3 Transcript

Episode 3. Dr Seward’s Clinical Hour

Written By May Toudic

Mina: Welcome to Murray Mysteries.

[Theme music plays.]

Mina: Hello everyone! And welcome back to the podcast. Today’s episode is something a little bit different. I promised variety, entertainment, and a healthy amount of educational content. So, we are branching out. I’m here with Dr. Jane Seward, who agreed to tell us about her job as a clinical psychiatrist and share some of her case notes with us.

Jane: Thank you for having me, Miss Murray. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Mina: Thank you for coming. I know this can’t have been the most, um, comfortable location for us. First of all, how did you end up running a whole mental health institution at such a young age?

Jane: Oh, I, I guess I got lucky. I did quite a few internships during my degree, including at the institution I currently work at. They offered me a residency after graduation and then a permanent job. The previous director left soon after that and he offered me his position.

Mina: You must’ve done an amazing job to climb the ranks so quickly. I assume junior members of the staff usually aren’t a first pick for a job like this.

Jane: I do my best, but I wasn’t any more deserving than any of my colleagues.

Mina: Okay.

[She hums in thought.]

Mina: Now, can you tell us what your job entails exactly?

Jane: Mostly administrative tasks. The day to day running of an institution like this one requires a lot of paperwork. But I do get to take on a few patients to keep my skills sharp and conduct my research.

Mina: Wha— what kind of research?

Jane: I’m generally assigned to cases that can’t easily be diagnosed with anything in the handbook. I have a patient at the moment — oh, uh, you want to play the recordings?

Mina: If you don’t mind. Listeners, the very organized Dr. Seward has agreed to share some of the voice notes she takes on the job to keep track of her cases. We’ll still be here to interject if anything needs explaining, but for now, take it away Past Doctor.

[A beep.]

Jane (recording): Right. New patient in today, and a promising case. I’ll call him R in here for confidentiality purposes. Late 50’s, impressive physical strength, very excitable with periods of depression and some fixation we haven’t managed to pinpoint yet.

[A beep.]

Jane: R has been with us for a few days now and I’ve had the chance to get to know his case better. He displays signs of a few known disorders, but his symptoms are peculiar. He’s obsessed with animals, started collecting insects he found in his room and common areas. Spiders mostly. Some flies, even a few birds. He uses a lot of his own food to keep them alive, even if we upped his portions, so we’re somewhat worried about his nutrition. Although it seems like he’s, um. Eating some of them. Escalation is a concern in this case, especially since he’s started requesting other pets. He keeps asking for a cat, which we of course had to refuse. We’ll see how the situation evolves in the coming days, but this is an interesting case. Zoophagia, some kind of fixation, I need to do more research. There must’ve been a similar case somewhere, sometime. But if this hasn’t been documented yet, this could be big. Right, to the books.

[A beep.]

Mina: That is fascinating. Do you already have a diagnosis in mind?

Jane: There are a few possibilities, but I don’t want to favour a particular one until we have more information. I’m hopeful we can diagnosis in due time. It’s easier to treat a condition when we know what we’re treating.

Mina: Um. What happens if, uh, if it isn’t a known condition?

Jane: In the unlikely case this is something new, I do research. More research, and more research on top of that. Take a lot of notes, ask for a second opinion, then a third. Then I write a very long paper, have it peer-reviewed, and submit it to many, many, many academic journals.

Mina: That sounds like a lot of work. But, it would be rewarding, right?

Jane: A new illness is quite an important discovery, yes. But the well-being of the patient comes first, and the best thing for him would be to get diagnosed and treated for something that has a precedent.

Mina: Of course. Well. Ah, this has been a great talk! I’d love for you to come back and keep us updated if that’s okay with you.

Jane: Hem, yes. Yes, why not. I, I just.

Mina: Ah. I’ll make sure Lucy’s out.

Jane: Thank you.

Mina: Well, this was clinical hour with Dr. Jane Seward. Tune in next time for an update on R’s mysterious condition.

Jane: Oh, um. Goodbye!

[Jane leaves the room.]

Mina: I hope you all enjoyed that because this week’s personal update isn’t the cheeriest. Sorry. I know, I promised you, uh. Fun and entertainment. I just—

[She sighs.]

Mina: I’m worried. Talking to you makes me feel a little less... Alone. Like I’m not just, talking into the void. The past few days have been complicated. I haven’t heard from Jonathan in a while. At first, I figured he has no reception. The place he was headed to was in the middle of nowhere, so we figured this might happen. But. I still got nervous after days without signs of life. So I reached out to the boss at his firm, Mr. Hawkins, uh, to see if he knew anything. But he told me he just received an email from Jonathan saying he was leaving his client’s place. Just one line. No time frame, no flight details. Nothing.

[She sighs again.]

Mina: It’s not like, it’s not like J, I swear it’s not. He’s usually open and communicative. First Christmas after we got together, he went home to see his family and kept texting me about every single part of his day. When he woke up, what he dreamt about, what he had for breakfast, what the weather was like, what presents he’d found for his third cousin and the food—

Mina (laughingly): Oh God, so many food pictures.

Mina: Anyway. I tried to ignore it and, uh. Just wait for him to get back. But it’s been a few days now. And no matter how I think about it, there’s no way it would take that long to get from the Romania to UK. Mr. Hawkins hasn’t heard from him either, not since that one email. I keep thinking something’s happened to him. I get this… feeling of dread every time the phone rings.

[She lets out a quiet breath.]

Mina: I would normally talk to Lucy about this, she’s great at talking me out of a crisis, but she hasn’t been herself either. She’s sleepwalking almost every night. Her mum says it used to happen when she was a kid, but definitely not that much. We agreed to keep her bedroom door locked at night. I sleep in here with her so I can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t try and get out. But that means I keep getting woken up by her moving around and I’m not sleeping much. Lucy’s mum thinks all the sleepwalkers gravitate towards roofs and cliffs and end up falling to their deaths. So far, Lucy’s only been wandering through the house and raiding the fridge, but uh. Better safe than sorry?

Mina: She’s even more angsty than usual too. Art had to fly to the US, their dad’s not doing great, so she’s been dragging me into her schemes and making herself busy. If I have to spend one more night watching her do shots at the village pub, I might lock her in during the day. No, no I feel bad just saying it. But, come on! Even jigsaw puzzles aren’t worth all this. Especially not when she keeps getting distracted and sending Art pictures of the funny shapes.

[A pause.]

Mina: The weather’s turning, I should— I should go check on her. I promise the next update will be more fun. I’ll do cartwheels or something.

Mina (whispering): Wait, no, you can’t see me.

Mina: Um, verbal cartwheels? I’ll— I’ll do those? Ugh. I’ll talk to you next week, when I’ve had time to figure out what verbal cartwheels are and how to do them. Bye!

[Theme music begins]

Credits: Murray Mysteries is a Knoves Storytelling production. This episode was written and produced by May Toudic and featured Drew Victorie as Mina Murray and Bebhinn Tankard as Dr. Jane Seward. Original music by Sophie K. Thank you for listening.

#mm transcripts

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sulietsexual · 5 years ago

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Could you elaborate why you were dissapointed in season 3 of Stranger Things? I haven't seen it yet but feel free to spoil stuff, already saw tons of gifsets on here.

royalweirdonj said:Thoughts on Stranger Things 3?

Okay, so I have some mixed feelings about this season, so I’ll talk about both the good and the bad and why I was ultimately disappointed with this season (at least in part). So we’ll start with …

What I Liked

First and foremost, I absolutely loved what they did with El’s character development and characterisation this season. El is a character who hasn’t really had the chance to grow or develop because she’s always so isolated and/or going through so much trauma. In Season 1 she was basically just a traumatised child and in Season 2 Hopper kept her very isolated and her weird sojourn to find her mother and her sister didn’t feel authentic to me. But this season finally gave her the opportunity to start to develop her own sense of self and I loved that, especially the medium through which she did so, ie her friendship with Max.

We’ve all wanted this friendship since Season 2 but I don’t think that any of us realised how glorious it would be. El is a reserved and unsure character (when she’s not being pushed to save everyone) and so she really needed someone like Max in her corner, someone who was loud and assertive, who would stand up for her when she couldn’t stand up for herself and who could show her how to be more dominant and make her own boundaries and rules. I loved the shopping montage, particularly the part where Max helped her pick out clothes that felt like her (”Not like Hopper or Mike, but like you.”), as well as their sleepovers, the way they investigated everything together and the bond which formed from them being the only girls in a group of boys who didn’t always understand each other. It was a really sweet and organic friendship and I’m so glad that the Duffers decided to develop it.

And speaking of friendships, I also adored the dynamic between Steve and Robyn, the way the show turned what we all thought would be a romantic relationship on its head and instead turned it into a sweet and snarky friendship between two people who genuinely liked one another. Robyn herself was a great character and her presence on the show greatly improved the overall tone. I loved how smart and quirky and snarky she was and Mia Hawke really made the character feel authentic. And I really loved the subversion of her and Steve’s relationship and her coming out scene. Steve Harrington proved what an absolute cinnamon roll he is with his reaction to her coming out; I loved that his only response was to tell her that she needed better taste in women and I loved that in the Three Months Later sequence they were still besties looking for jobs in the same place so they could stick together.

Steve Harrington remained the awesome character he’s always been. Loved that his and Dustin’s friendship is still so intact and that they still care about one another so much. Also loved him sneaking the other kids into the movies on a regular basis. And I liked how the series demonstrated that while he isn’t book smart, he’s smart in other ways, such as figuring out where the music on the recording came from or using the vial of green substance to jam the elevator door open. It shows that he knows how to think on his feet and that he pays attention to his surroundings and is street-smart. I love what they’re doing with his character, allowing him to continue to grow into a more kind, smart and compassionate character with every season.

Also, I loved seeing Science Teacher Scott Clarke again! I missed him in Season 2, so seeing his epic reappearance was amazing! Wish he’d been in more than just one episode.

Characters aside (although, I should mention that I love Joyce Beyers more with every season, her “Mom Voicing” the Government was brilliant and I liked that they touched on her grief over Bob’s death) but that aside, the season felt really well-paced. Only having eight episodes meant that the story progressed quickly and there wasn’t a lot of filler, which was good. There was also so much excitement and action going on that it was very easy to binge-watch the whole season. That being said, I feel like the season changed direction mid-way through, which brings me to …

What I Didn’t Like

Following on from the previous paragraph, I feel like Season 3 started as a character-based season and then quickly switched to a plot-driven season (and on an added note, I was kind of annoyed that the plot this season was literally the same as last season ie the Mind Flayer has taken over someone close to one of the party members and they have to close the gate to stop them - again. Also, the subplot with the Russians was kind of lame).

There was so much characterisation laid down in the first half of the season which was then kind of forgotten about in the second half once the action got underway and then was never resolved. Will spends most of the first three or four episode lamenting his lost childhood and desperately trying to re-connect with his friends. It’s heartbreaking to see how much he craves the days before everything, the days where he felt safe, where his friends were there for him and not concerned with their romantic entanglements. It was actually a really interesting look into Will’s character and how he’s desperately clinging to the old days but once the Mind Flayer comes into play, this is pretty much dropped. Aside from a half-hearted attempt from Lucas to bridge the gap, Will’s disconnect from his friends and the fact that they’re growing up faster than he is and therefore growing apart from him is never addressed again, leaving this particular thread unfinished.

Hopper’s characterisation and his storyline regarding being a parent to a thirteen-year-old was also left unresolved. Overall, I didn’t love Hopper’s characterisation this season. He seemed overly aggressive and I really didn’t like that he got so drunk when Joyce didn’t turn up for their date. He’s obviously having communication issues with El, and the opportunity to resolve these issues died along with him. His jealousy over any man who even talked to Joyce was irritating and I didn’t like that he essentially threatened a fourteen-year-old kid and seemed pleased with himself when said kid then hurt his daughter (because it meant that he got his way and that’s all that mattered). I understand why he was so alarmed with El and Mike spending so much time together but the fact that this never got resolved in an adult manner irritated me. And his death, well, we’ll talk about that soon because that pissed me off beyond belief.

Billy’s character needed more depth. I did feel a bit sorry for him this season and he definitely felt like a better character than the previous season, but any development he had (including his relationship with Max) happened offscreen, so it was hard to believe that Max would grieve for him so much after everything we saw him do to her in Season 2. Obviously things have gotten better between the two of them and Billy himself is nowhere near as gross as he was (although he’s still a dick) but we never got to see this growth/development, so it was hard to really empathise with his character or feel grief over his passing, even for Max.

Nancy’s character felt (once again) kind of useless this season and her storyline was (once again) so separate from the main storyline that I really feel that it could have been removed entirely and it wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. Also, I get that we were supposed to feel that she was being treated in a sexist manner by the men at the newspaper but, I mean, she was only an intern. She wasn’t there as a reporter, she was working as a intern and it’s an intern’s job to run menial tasks such as getting coffee, picking up lunch and doing boring tasks like photocopying and filing and the bad treatment she received seemed to be based more off her intern status than her gender. Also, what did she think, that she would become some groundbreaking reporter based off a summer job with zero experience or writing credentials? Lastly, Jonathan barely felt like a character this season, his sole reason to exist seemed to be to prop up Nancy’s storyline and I hated that after Jonathan delivered that epic (and entirely true) speech about how Nancy didn’t understand the lower class and how he needed the job and wasn’t born with the same silver spoon in his mouth that she was, he then turned around and apologised and said that he was wrong (which he totally wasn’t). Yet another example of Nancy treating a boyfriend like crap and getting away with it, but hey, “feminism”!

I also didn’t really like the dynamic they wrote between Joyce and Hop. It was good at first, with him going to her for advice on how to deal with El and Mike. But once she “stood him up” and they developed that weird snarky “banter”, I found myself growing tired of the dynamic. Also, bringing back the creepy conspiracy theorist from Season 2 to tell them they needed to bang (like he did with Nancy and Jonathan) was, again, so annoying. I hate when characters are told that they have feelings for one another, rather than developing naturally. So yeah, never been much of a Jopper shipper and this season made me even less so. Bring back Bob!

Oh, and lastly, Erica Sinclair is the most annoying little snot of a character. I didn’t find her entertaining at all. She was rude, obnoxious and mean, horrible to pretty much every character, took advantage of Scoops tasting policy while acting like an entitled brat and I just honestly could not stand her. I wish they’d left her out of the Steve/Robyn/Dustin dynamic, she was just such an unnecessary addition.

What I Hated

So, characterisation issues and weird bait-and-switches between it and plot aside, there were a couple of aspects to the new season which I truly hated.

First of all, this season was unnecessarily violent. Like, I get that there’s been violence in this show before, but it’s always been stylized violence, usually aimed at bad guys and quite subdued. But this season? Wow. Starting with that horrible imagine spot where Billy envisions bashing Karen Wheeler’s head in, it just never let up. Having grown men savagely beat up teenagers was way more than I needed to see and the violence often seemed really gratuitous and unnecessarily drawn-out. Steve’s torture at the hands of the Russians was really hard to take, especially because it went on for so long. I hated having to watch them punch Robyn in the face. Jonathan’s brutal beat-down from the Flayed Editor of the paper was horrible to watch and, once again, went on for way too long. Also, watching Flayed!Billy literally choke, punch and smack thirteen-year-old El around was horrifying. Also, his taking of Heather (and later on his attempt to take El) was incredibly rape-y, what with him leaning over them while they were incapacitated and telling them “Don’t move/struggle”, “It will be over soon”. Totally uncalled for and incredibly hard to watch. Maybe I’m oversensitive but I honestly don’t think that the show needed to display that level of violence.

The character assassination of Karen Wheeler continued, with her and her creepy middle-aged mom friends sitting poolside to perv on a eighteen-year-old kid. Imagine if the genders were reversed and it was four middle-aged men perving on a young girl? Also, why would she even consider sleeping with a teenage boy? Sigh. Remember when Karen Wheeler was a concerned and caring parent, who was strong enough to yell at government officials when they wouldn’t tell her what was going on and dropped by a grieving friend’s house with food and comfort? At least she and Nancy had that sweet scene in which she was encouraging to her daughter, but the rest of the time she was just useless and didn’t even know where her kids were.

Speaking of which, why did this show separate Joyce and Hop from their kids for so long? And why on earth would Joyce and Hop be willing to be separated from their kids for so long, after everything they went through the previous year? It felt so OOC for them to not even be suspicious that they hadn’t spoken to either of their children for at least three days, just taking the word of other parents that their kids were alright.

And lastly, the thing which pissed me off the most and actually made both me and my husband instantly switch off from the show and feel like we had just wasted eight hours watching this season, the death of Jim Hopper.

I know, I know, the Stinger maybe hinted that he was still alive. I know we didn’t see a body. I know that there were hints of time travel in future seasons and that Jim Hopper possibly isn’t dead. But you know who doesn’t know this? The characters. And I hate that. I hate that El has now lost her father, less than two years after finally finding one. I hate that she’s now alone, separated from Mike and while, yes, Joyce will take care of her the best she can, it’s never going to be the same. I hate that Joyce now has to suffer through the heartbreak of losing yet another man she had feelings for, less than a year after she lost the first. I hate that she made the decision to move away (even though I understand it) which separated her kids from their relationships and removed El from the one person who still loves her with all his heart. I hate that the season ended on such a downer, with such loss and tragedy and sadness. It really brought down the whole season for me and left me with a horrible, sad and empty feeling and not at all looking forward to more seasons because of all the crap the characters have gone through.

Whew. That got really long. Hope this was coherent!

#psychoticdelena #royalweirdonj #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #stranger things season 3 #answered

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helencweekestx · 5 years ago

Text

Tips For Marketing Post Corona Virus

April 6, 2020

Online marketing

Companies rely on marketing work to get the word out about what they offer and to draw people in to purchase their products or use their services. Companies use advertising to get people interested in what they are doing. There are times when companies are doing really well, especially when the world around them is prospering, and there are times when companies struggle. It is important for a company to know how to market their products after something like the Corona Virus strikes. A company must know how to change its advertising after something affects the whole world and starts to make people think differently.

Focus on People’s Needs: When marketing a business after a big ordeal like the Corona Virus, it is important for a person to think about the needs of the world around them. The one who is trying to get people to focus on a particular business needs to think about what the business is doing for those people who are hurting. It is smart for a person to consider every product and service that the business offers and for them to share about those products and services that are most relevant to those people who are struggling because of the virus that took place and took their job or put a strain on them in some other way.

Share About Cleanliness: The Corona Virus is something that has many people thinking about germs and worrying about which businesses out there are making their employees wash their hands and which are not. Many people are concerned about the practices that a business has put in place to help fight the spread of the virus, and people are still going to be thinking about germs after the virus is gone. It is important for those who are trying to get people to trust a certain business to keep talking about all that the business is doing to keep things clean and to help prevent the spread of germs. Even after the virus is gone and people are feeling a little safer, those who want their business to do well should let people know about changes that they have made to the way that they are keeping their building and products sanitary.

Share About Giving that was Done: If a business has helped out with the relief efforts through the whole virus ordeal, they should let others know about that. A business does not have to brag about the exact amount of giving that they have done, but they can help people know that they care about their community by sharing about some of the causes that they were a part of while everyone was struggling. A business can market their products by letting people know that they see what is going on around them and that they are always willing to step in and help out those who are struggling. The business that has given to charitable causes deserves to have people know that they have done that and that they have made sacrifices for the benefit of their community.

Reassure People that Everything Will be Okay: One of the best ways that a business will be able to market their products after the virus is gone is by letting everyone know that things will be okay again. People are going to be struggling after the virus is gone and they are going to be worried that there might be another virus around the corner. People are going to be less likely to buy products and pay for services when they are concerned that something bad is about to happen. It is important for those who are working to market the services of a business to let their potential clients and customers know that things were bad but now they are not. It is important for those people to let their potential clients and customers know that they will do everything in their power to help make sure that things stay good for a long time.

Be Careful in Creating a Marketing Budget: Those who are jumping into the work of marketing a business right after something like a virus has been around need to make sure that they are careful with the spending that they do. It can be tempting to take a lot of money and spend it on advertising to get the word out about a business after a bad time, but it is important for people to think about the advertising that makes the most sense and to consider their budget and how much they can actually afford to spend on advertising. The one trying to market a product after the virus is gone should be saving some of their money aside when they first start with their work of advertising that product and take things slow as they begin to work.

There are changes that will forever affect people after this virus is gone. It is important for a person to know how to market a product or service well in the days following the virus so that they can help a business grow.

Kyle Busch

With over 15 years of marketing experience I have helped over 1,000 businesses amplify their customer base. I have spent the man hours to make sure every one of my clients have had a positive experience. I take the time to sit and get to know every company I work with on a personal level. I started this company to put qualified leads in front of the companies who are looking for them. The Website Marketing Company headquarters in Orlando, FL. 32803 services clients across the country.

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14:16 23 Oct 19

J Davis

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Kyle Busch

19:33 04 Jun 19

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 13.9.2017

Well, it’s obviously Sunday and not Wednesday but I finally got the Roundup out. My apologies if anyone was anxiously awaiting my Roundup this week but due to both the huge number of comics I had to go through and the fact that I had a lot going on this past week in my personal life, including two seven hour car drives, this was a bit difficult to fit into the schedule.

But I managed and late is still better than never so let’s get into how the second week of September’s comic yield treated us!

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Defenders, DC’s Detective Comics, Marvel’s Elektra Vol. 1, DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman, Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists, Marvel’s Runaways, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman

DC’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #24 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Michael Garland, Erick Arciniega

I love this comic so much that I’m certain that me even talking about another issue in one of these Roundups probably sounds hilariously repetitive at this point, but I just so love this book, and even my disinterest in comic space operas didn’t take away from the amazingness of this book because Taylor understands how to make a comic compelling.

Story: We come to the end of the contagion/space opera storyline with the emphasis that this book works best with, which is the unendingly positive relationship between Laura and Gabby. Laura’s attachment to Gabby and their belief in each other is unlike anything we’ve ever seen for Laura’s character before and it just never stops amazing me. They are the defining part of this book and, more importantly, they are the defining part of each other’s overarching character arcs -- Gabby teaching Laura to take care of herself (literally and metaphorically), Laura giving Gabby the encouragement and support she never had herself. There was no other way this book could have ended but with these two proving to beat the odds again, and that makes the resolution feel deserved, as well as how the healing factor they both share has been a driving part of this storyline to begin with.

Art: Kirk does solid work throughout this issue, particularly with the expressionism you see in Laura’s face throughout, and I really liked the alien designs. But that all being said there was some off model panels and the such which is just to be expected from working on a monthly comic. It still is very good art and the colors helped make each change of scenery.

Characters & Dialogue: Of course I covered our titular Wolverines, but it needs to be said that I actually really appreciate Jonathan unexpectedly beginning to speak English? Because that’s hysterical but it also fits, and I love that he still spoke with perspective of a Wolverine. I also thought Taylor did a good job with the voices of the Guardians, too,

Marvel’s Defenders (2017-present) #5 Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Justin Ponsor

*long heralding breath* So just one week after my epic Bendis rant, I.. reveal that I’m also following his run on the current Defenders. Which... I mean in my defense, if I want to keep up with just about anything going on at Marvel that isn’t the crapshow that is Secret Empire, I have to concede to the fact that Bendis is still the writer on half of those books too. Which... I mean if you’re like me and you have that super complicated relationship I have with BMB then you understand why this is both a necessity and a blow to your standards. I know, I know. I’m disappointed in myself, too.

Story: As much as I really could have done without the cliffhanger on this issue, this continues to be one of the comics that Bendis really manages to perform at his best on, and arguably that’s because he’s invested so much time and work over his career into developing most of these characters -- particularly Jessica, Luke, and Daredevil.

The pacing has remained on top, Frank Castle’s actually respected as a character but also portrayed as incredibly dangerous to everyone involved, and the humor has been true to the characters and situation. All of which is very commendable... if not .... a bit annoying and repetitive at times. Like yes, Marvel stupidly retconned that Matt had a public identity because they can’t commit to anything that disrupts the status quo. It doesn’t make it less annoying that half the dialogue involving him is lampshading everyone not knowing his identity.

There’s also the patented Bendis rhetorical advice where you have two or more panels of the exact same panel for ~dramatic pauses~ which I think only long time Bendis readers have burned into their alert systems. But overall, when Bendis is good he nails it.

Art: Marquez and Ponsor are honestly some of the best talent in the industry right now and I like that they don’t just sit back on their laurels but adapt their styles just enough to match the tone of every book. It gives the Marvel universe a consistency without sacrificing the individuality of books. And it really makes a difference on this title, I feel.

Characters & Dialogue: There’s the punchy dialogue you expect from Bendis writing but like I said, you can definitely tell where his investment for character lies. Which... makes it conspicuous when his writing for Luke always tends to be a bit worthy of criticism. But this villain Diamondback? gahhhhhhhhhh I legitimately cringe at some points. like nooooo let’s not.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #964 James Tynion IV, Christopher Sebela, Carmen Camero, Ulises Arrelo

I have such a love-hate relationship with this comic, I swear. There’s probably not a single comic I cheer on more and want to be at its very best but there’s also no other comic that receives my critical ire the way ‘Tec does. Is it all fair? Eh. Arguable. Is it all with love? Also arguable. We’ll see where that takes us for this particular issue.

Story: Look, it’s as obvious as can be at this point that no one’s as critical and just simply not on board for a Clayface redemption storyline than I am. I don’t want it at all. I was never on board with it. Never will be. And... in that way it felt like Detective Comics was actually addressing me and readers like me through this issue. The entire plot with Clayface is ... questionable at best to begin with, but to have one of his victims fully lay it out for him and us just how there’s so little he could ever do to undo the clock for himself or others. And he proves that even more by how poorly he reacts to this news and blows his second chance over it just... feels deserved after SO LONG of them just ignoring it.

And then they had it tie into Cass’ character arc in the end by her deciding that she and Basil are the same. And they’re not!!! They’re just not. It’s amazing that it can feel like such a slap in the face. Especially when this is such.... a B-story and yet it got the cover? Sure. Whatever.

In any case, the main story is Steph, Leslie, and Harper all apparently drinking the kool-aid that Anarky is giving them. And then Bruce coming and subtly pushing Steph out of her moments of happiness, even if it’s for the right reason and I’m just here wondering “uh. Tim’s back next issue why is this not resolved yet?” These issues would have worked so much better if Steph’s story was not taken away from by constantly giving Clayface’s story panel time that should have just been kept on Steph. She deserved more development before Tim got back, and her arc should be more satisfying by now.

Also. When is Detective Comics going to bother to actually have, you know, detective stories? Mysteries? Ever? no? great.

Art: The art rotation on this book is always great, even when it’s not my favorite artists it’s still just beyond fantastic and some of the best getting published at DC right now. Which makes you wonder how they manage it with a bimonthly title like ‘Tec. It’s good, and even its splash pages are easy to read and follow which is such a relief these days.

Characters & Dialogue: I feel like the characterizations and development was the weakest it’s been in ‘Tec for a while, especially since it’s usually the high point of the comic. This time around, though, there’s just too much that feels unresolved and unsatisfying. Like.... why didn’t Bruce go after Steph and make sure she knew that Tim was alive? At the very least.

And again I feel like this comes down to the fact that Steph’s time was split on the page with Clayface’s even though their storylines didn’t intersect thematically or literally! And it’s ridiculous considering we just came off of several issues where Azrael’s arc got center stage and even though there was a B story (CONCERNING CLAYFACE AGAIN) there was a majority of time spent with Jean Paul and his perspective.

Marvel’s Elektra: Always Bet On Red (2017) Matt Owens, Juann Cabal, Antonio Fabela

If there are two characters at Marvel who I have a more complicated relationship with than Arcade and Elektra... Well, honestly, it’s just probably because I haven’t read enough of the characters that would meet that criteria for me. Elektra, on paper, is the type of female antiheroine/villain that really truly love, with plenty of pathos but also a lack of only being an antiheroine through redemption or changing her methods. A Bad Woman who is allowed to be a Bad Woman. Arcade is a character whose general MO and abilities are a cross of three of my favorite villains in general -- the Riddler, Toyman, and Calculator -- and has been the villain for a few stories I greatly love. But I don’t love them because... Well, it feels like most of the time writers don’t know what to do with Elektra because they only know how to make female villains likable by either giving them a redemption arc or by making them a love interest -- things that either would not stick for her established character or would make her tied to Daredevil inseperably. ANd Arcade has been given Joker-levels of mass murdering -- especially of children in the Marvel Universe -- to the point that it’s hard for me to really enjoy his presence on its face anymore.

So. That leaves the question of how this story works for me as a whole with quite a steep slope to get up on its own.

Story: For being about two characters who I have, at the very least, very high apprehensions about, this story managed to be fascinating, compelling, and altogether rather satisfying in the use of both Elektra and Arcade for what they can contribute to a narrative. The stakes were high throughout, especially once Elektra was trapped within the Murder World, but it all benefited from her unique perspective and the general unpredictability that Arcade brings to any story as a villain.

The back drop of Las Vegas for the adventure, too, was a stroke of some brilliance because the characters both fit there and clashed for the parts of the “mythology” of the city, as it were, that they represented.

Still it was far from perfect, and while I’m obviously no huge defender of Arcade or a fan by any means, the weak point here was actually the side characters, especially on the “first level” of the game that Elektra encountered or how disposable the majority of her opponents and teammates were. The stakes were high for Elektra to survive, certainly, but it clashed with her new code of ethics -- of taking life to save life -- to have her not even familiarize herself enough with the people on her own team to take their deaths to heart. Which is why the “next” level where she had to race the clock and save her newfound friend more engaging than the Saw-like devastation we saw on display when she had a larger group who were all taken out one by one. Mostly without reaction from Elektra herself.

And if this team were mostly not fighters and not compelling, then what attracted Arcade to them enough to put them in Murder World? Did he think that feeling responsible for them would weigh Elektra down enough to make the competition more even? Obviously not since he went through the trouble of kidnapping the only person in the city that Elektra had remotely bothered to make a human relationship with. So the entire “first level” was just very confused in my book. I would have either had Elektra working with a small group who all died immediately, or have been the only one in the initial level to make it seem like Arcade took her as a serious enough threat and thus sicked an entire group against her. Either of those would have made the story more compelling.

Art: The art is amazingly beautiful and consistent throughout the trade. This really does prove the point that I and so many other comic readers and reviewers have been making a while now with a consistent art team truly enhances the visual and narrative cohesion of a story and can make a much tighter and easier to follow along with. And here it not only works but it provides for some truly beautifully done and well controlled action sequences that remind me of straight back to the Dylan Horrocks run of Batgirl (2000-2006)

I also want to shout out to the shear inventiveness that was allowed for by the environment of Murder World. Like in the panels I posted here for example, the meging of this house comic style with retro gaming honestly worked so much in the favor of this comic it’s unreal. I really enjoyed it

Characters & Dialogue: While Arcade is... well, what I expect from Arcade these days, xnd honestly that’s more than I can ask for at this point because.. Agin, literal mass murderer. But Elektra really does come off the bst here (as she should in her own title). Still very much the antiheroine, Elektra for once is given a lot of motivation that centers -- albeit subtly -- on the ideas and pressures of unity in womanhood and the protectiveness she can grow toward other women. It’s the deaths of a shipment of entrapped, trafficked women that set Elektra off on this quest of self discovery, and it’s the protection and comforting of a woman she befriends in Las Vegas that prompts her motivations within this particular story. And honestly? It really works for me. She has always been a character most defined by the loyalties she holds, and they have never been many. But it’s nice to see her even reluctantly discovering herself through these non-romantic relationships with other women for once. It was really enjoyable and, like I said, subtle.

DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #3 Ty Templeton, Luciano Vecchio

Hm. I won’t be going into this subject in the bulk of the main review due to how I section things out and because I’m not going to completely judge this story before it’s completed, but I feel like here’s as good of a place as any to discuss the issues of queerbaiting. I have very complicated feelings about Ivy and Harley as a couple. I enjoy their dynamic, I enjoy the ship, and I want it to be canon and receive plenty of focus more than almost anything else to do with the two characters. But I can’t be joyful when it’s dangled in front of me -- especially in scenes like the one above, because it is such a queerbaiting classic to use these two or to, at the very least, have the question the creative teams behind them because a good percentage of the time it’s fetishizing a flf relationship for the sexual gratification of men without ever committing to actually canonizing a sapphic relationship. And I’m one lesbian who’s pretty damn tired about it honestly. And that’s what this issue felt like to me -- queerbait by hinting and innuend os for the relationship between Harley and Ivy when being blatant in allowing Harley to hit on Nightwing and Catwoman to hit on Batman in the scene right before this.

And now I have to be even more on guard for this comic to follow the plot of the animated movie and be worried that this all is just setup for a pointless and literally out of nowhere sex scene between Harley and Dick. Great.

Story: Much the same here, though I have to admit that the turn of pace right at the end by having Harley realize her status as seen among the rest of Gotham’s crime community is that of “Queen Hench” and thus declaring that she was going to take charge and no longer play second banana was a great moment. Especially since Ivy is strangely cold and dismissive of Harley in this story, compared to usual at least. It must have something to do with our weird mystery man. Or the writers just deciding that we’re now going to write Harley and Ivy’s relationship with the exact same tones and beats that they did for the Joker and Harley despite FINALLY canonically having Harley call his abuse of her what it was. And the scenes with Bruce and Dick I’m... just of two minds about, I don’t love or hate them. They seem to be there for comedic relief B story to Harley’s main story which is... hilarious in a meta sense but, hey, it gets me more puns.

Just don’t let it all be setup for whoopee with Dick and Harley. For the love of god PLEASE.

Art: Wow holy crap. Every complaint I made about the previous issues is addressed and fixed. The lineart’s crisp, the coloring is bright and variable, the characters don’t go off model nearly as much, and it’s still very much that identifiable DCAU style but also has that mark of belonging to its artist. Who is not Rick Burchett anymore. Maybe every couple of issues we’re going to get a trade off, but I have to say, for my personal tastes this was a stunningly crisp evolution of the art for the story and I appreciated it almost immediately.

Characters & Dialogue: Harley is great as always, and I liked Selina’s characterization and the details put forward about how she’s actually on parole and whatnot. but I’m still not sold on Ivy’s characterization here. After all she’s the one who went to Harley and saved her, not the other way around. So why is she suddenly being so weird and mysterious.

The only other major characters are Bruce and Dick and... it’s just weird. There’s this disconnect with their personalities where I feel like this would make a lot more sense if Dick was in the Robin suit. I mean, why not? He was older and more mature in the Robin years of the DCAU anyway, he had this same rapport with Bruce. He didn’t have this kind of relationship with Bruce in his Nightwing years of the DCAU. So I’m just confused all over. I’m sure it’s just because the movie did it this way which probably means sex which probably means you’re going to be getting a lot of screaming and angry keyboard smashing from me in the future *le sigh*

Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists (2017) #4 (of 6) Kaare Andrews, Afu Chan, Shelly Chen

Will I ever stop enjoying this comic to the utmost extreme in spite of all my Danny Rand reservations and general apprehension with the whole Iron Fist concept? It’s still questionable, but not in this issue at least because I still love the heck out of Pei, Danny, and general ridiculous adventures of middle school and Kung Fu.

Story: Pei’s still trying to find her spot among cliques and within the realm itself, with Danny in her life, and with her destiny as the future Iron Fist. And she also won the dance queen because she beat up the people that were going to cheat for her nemesis. And I love it. I love all of it. But I most of all love that Pei’s perspective is not admonished or treated as childish by the narrative, even when she’s not being the most reasonable. Danny and the scroll storyline also got more concentration mostly because we’re narrowing in on the Big Bad and only have two issues left. So it was all pretty positive. Especially since the end brought both storylines together at long last.

Art: It’s precious still and fits with Pei’s story perfectly. But there were plenty of panels where this same style’s take on Danny was... gruesomely ugly and terrifying. I can’t tell if that’s a a bug or a feature.

Characters & Dialogue: Pei and Danny are as great as always, but I really want to thank this comic for having a children’s, all-ages story which prominently features an undeniable queer romance featuring kids. It’s so refreshing and lovingly done that it genuinely warmed my heart. Much like the short film “In a Heartbeat” we need more unsexualized queer romances for younger children to attach to. I’m glad to see it here.

Marvel’s Runaways (2017-present) #1 Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson

This is incredibly exciting, because I actually never read Runaways while it was being published in any of the previous iterations, but thanks to the recommendations of close friends, I started and finished reading the previous volumes in time to get excited for the comic’s return here under a promising new team and fantastic, beautiful art.

Story: Being the first issue, this is a lot of set up, especially with Nico’s circumstances since the previous series and the team’s apparent breakup. I love that the scars are deep but the comic goes out of its way to be inviting to old and new readers alike in introducing Nico, her powers, their limitations, and the Gert and Chase and their relationship as well as their relevance to the team. I’m very curious about all the set up -- especially how the current storyline seems to be setting up that Nico’s running out of spells with the Staff of One and it’s a legitimate problem that will be needing address. Hopefully the story won’t drop it where it is.

Art: Wow I was really wowed with just how beautiful the art was in this comic. Kris Anka hadn’t been on my radar before this but they definitely are now. The character models were great, the apartment felt lived in and fully thought out, and everyone in general just seems to have properly aged and their current iterations are exactly how you would imagine they would be from the previous volumes.

Characters & Dialogue: We haven’t rejoined the entire cast of the Runaways just yet, but the work with Nico who was central to this issue was phenomenal set up and really appreciated. Chase is as obsessed with saving Gert as ever, and the love between him and Gert seems to have been where the previous left off. I liked the ingenuity that was on display from all the characters and the genuine love and concern they obviously had for each other. Just great all around.

DC’s Titans (2016-present) #15 Dan Abnett, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse

Everyone else learns that Dick was the traitor and Titans manages to actually subvert everyone’s expectations. In all honesty, I’ve been blown away by how surprisingly good this comic has continued to be despite everything that should have been working against it.

Story: Like I mentioned above, Dick being the traitor was completely subverted by having Roy immediately discover it and the rest of the team ready to take him on as a result, only for Dick to prove that he was thinking ahead and using his position to undermine the HIVE, unlike in previous New Titans stories where Dick was under the control of Brother Blood or others. And I like that as tested as the relationships feel like they are at the moment, there is a real sense that the team’s built on something stronger and more durable. And I like that Mal and Gnarrk’s storyline is getting more prominent in the story as well. And I would say that this is going to prove that they’re stretching the current storyline out just a bit too much... except for that ending. The idea of Wally actually having a heart attack has completely changed the story for me because this feels like an actual game changer.

Art: Once again I’m in the position of not knowing really what to say about Brett Booth’s art for the comic that I haven’t already. He’s surprised me with his character art lately, but I still get extremely annoyed with the over use of slanted and action-styled panel layouts that really don’t match what’s going on in the story or the art. Dynamic panels just don’t fit pages of dialogue in between action set pieces and that’s all I have really to add. It’s good! The layouts could be better, but the art itself is just fine.

Characters & Dialogue: The relationships and characterizations are so closely tied to the narrative of Titans -- like my favorite team books usually are -- that going over the story beats tends to cover the characters and dialogue. That being said, because there are so many characters and so much change going on that it’s hard to say who has the most impact on this particular issue, and I’d argue that it’s going to prove that Titans is a book that might be better read arc to arc rather than issue to issue so that the overall feel of whose story this is would be more apparent.

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #9 James Roberts, Priscilla Tramontano, Joana Lafuente

It’s strange only be subscribed to one Transformers comic at a time right now, but as much as I miss TAAO even now, I’m greatly excited by how much Lost Light seems to be JRo and the team getting back to that amazing stride they had prior to Season 2 of MTMTE, and of course by that I mean that this single issue managed to bring me so much emotion and end me on both a positive note, fridge horror, and complete heartbreak all at once.

Story: There was a small part of me that wanted to see the return of Skids, but I honestly feel like Lost Light maintained a good and consistent idea by not bringing him back and instead focusing on the relationships of the cast that are still available. This really was a two-issue storyline and it utilized every moment of it as well as every unique opportunity afforded by being about Transformers to begin with -- revival after death is possible, removing someone’s memories or emotions is possible, altering the factitious part of what someone is is a horrifyingly real possibility as easy as deleting a computer file -- an entire friendship, an entire love, gone in a moment. And of course there was so much emotion to gt through for our conclusion -- love, grief, friendship, betrayal, selfishness, selflessness, humor, and ultimately a supremely foreboding sense of what’s to come from the Lost Light’s adventures to come given that ominous conclusion.

Art: Priscilla Tramontano is just... genuinely one of the best artists to work with Transformers and I’m so grateful to have her on Lost Light right now because it definitely helped ease some of that disappointment I’ve had with TAAO ending. Her art is gorgeous, her coloring is fantastic, and the expressions that are under her control are just fantastic start to finish. I liked how diferent everyone’s build looked even without color corrodination. Though, I will say, the brighter and shinier art did have some odds with Roberts’ patented darker elements in the storylinethat I think a change in coloring style may have helped at different points

Characters & Dialogue: I would argue that when it comes to characterization and when it comes to dialogue in the medium, there’s probably no one in comics more clever and ore fascinating than James Roberts. Every bit of dialogue is important, every change in tone is purposeful, and so much is fit into every issue it’s hard to not be starstruck. If there are readers who are not as invested in Nautica, Velocity, Anode, and Lug, I could see how these two issues may have been disappointing, but for me personally I liked narrowing down on our already lessened cast to get more ideas about their personalities and personal arcs.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #30 Shea Fontana, David Messina, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

I am honestly kind of in shock that.... DC is ending Shea Fontana’s run after only three months. Like, finding out about her being replaced by James Robinson of all people... and that he is starting off the bat with an arc centered around Diana’s new brother has almost eclipsed what should be my summation of this Wonder Woman run. So I’ll give a shout out to Fontana now.

She had a nearly impossible task of taking over for Greg Rucka hot off of one of his best received and most acclaimed comic runs in years and she managed to rise to the occasion with an emphasis on Diana’s character, her relationships with the modern world, and her love for people but also her defiance of allowing her abilities to be misused by the wrong people, so she’s powerful and she’s in control of her autonomy. I greatly enjoyed her storyline and really appreciated her voice being added to Diana’s history.

Story: We come to the end of “Heart of an Amazon”. It felt like a very quick wrap up of her storyline and I hope she wasn’t cut short on a run she thought would be longer, but the inspiration and the seriousness of Diana’s impact on the world around her was at the forefront with a healthy amount of good points for Steve and Etta in the climax. I wish we had more time to fully understand what parts of the government were a part of this plot against her, but it seems like that’s a line that will be dropped now, unfortunately.

Art: The art has been somewhat inconsistent with Fontana’s run, but Messina is probably my favorite of the rotation. He has powerful anatomy for almost all the characters but especially with Diana, and her height was always emphasized. The colors were also really great for contrast and much appreciated.

Characters & Dialogue: I went over this for the most part, but the best part of this storyline was Fontana really understanding the difficulties of Diana’s relationships with her loved ones in the modern world -- her protectiveness, but also the loneliness she feels being alone, and fears being left by others’ mortality. And I felt this had a decent resolution to that point that I really appreciated by letting Diana not necessarily be saved by Steve and Etta but her being reminded of how much they are there to take care of her, too. I really loved that emphasis and it made the ending feel that much better as a result.

There were a lot of fantastic comics in this Roundup, but it’s hard to understate what an absolute home run, straight over the fences, that Runaways ended up being this week. It’s a shockingly great start to a series I’m now enthusiastically looking forward to. There is a lot of love that’s obviously there for the original Vaughn run and what it managed to do, but this comic also showed no fear in confronting many of the aspects of the series before it that could be more criticized and could use greater address. I have a lot of high expectations after this issue and I hope it can maintain its momentum.

I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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#Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #Rena Roundups #Harley Quinn and Batman (2017)#Elektra (2017)#Defenders (2017 )#Wonder Woman (2016 )#Transformers: Lost Light (2016 )#Titans (2016 )#Runaways (2017 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#All New Wolverine (2015 )#Immortal Iron Fists (2017)

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brokehorrorfan · 8 years ago

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Interview: Ted Raimi (Ash vs Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Darkness Rising)

Cult actor Ted Raimi discusses his new film, Darkness Rising, which hits select theaters and VOD on June 30. He also talks about the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II and his recent return to that universe on Ash vs Evil Dead. Perhaps most exciting, Raimi reveals exclusive details about his upcoming feature directorial debut, a psychological horror film titled The Seventh Floor.

Can you begin by telling us a little bit about Darkness Rising and how you got involved?

Darkness Rising was a good script. A friend of mine, Austin Reading, directed it. We've worked together in the past on a few things, and he’s a good director. He asked me to do a cameo in it. Normally I don't do those, but I really liked the script, and I like Austin's directorial style too, so I said yes. It's a good, spooky haunted house movie. There's a lot of those, but I think this one's unique. The cameo that I do is a period piece, so that made it doubly interesting.

I'm sure you get approached for horror movies all the time. What attracts you to a particular project?

Any number of things. Artistically, if it's something that hasn't really been done before. Haunted houses are certainly nothing new, but it's how this one approached that was very original and great. Typically, if they're not friends handing my scripts like Austin did, they need to get you on a scary level that is a genuine fright. Cheap scares are easy. Monsters popping out of the darkness is a simple thing to do. Jacques Tourneur, this American director who pioneered that, has been imitated so many times we've forgotten where it originally came from.

That said, things that really scare me I love to consider. For example, one of my favorite horror moments of all time is in a movie that is mostly terrible: The Amityville Horror. It's a dreadful movie; I'm not a fan of it. But there's a scene where the guy who wants to buy the house goes to the bank and get gets like $78,000 in cash - remember, this is the '70s - and he puts it in the library. He walks next door to talk to the owner and says, "I'm ready to make you an offer." Then he walks into the other room and the money is gone. That is absolutely frightful. Your whole life is gone. Your family is in trouble. That's true terror. If scripts can approach something in that manner, that excites me.

You appeared on Ash vs Evil Dead last season. How did it feel to return to the Evil Dead universe after all these years?

It was fantastic! It was like a high school reunion, but with new kids that I hadn't met yet. All my old pals were there - Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless and a lot of the crew and the producer, Robert Tapert - but then there's these new guys, played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo. Those guys are just tremendous! They're like the next generation of Ash. It was great to work with everybody. And I got to put the monster suit back on, for better and for worse, as well playing Chet Kaminski.

What was it like to get back in that Possessed Henrietta costume?

Trepidatious, but glad I did it! There's a new team in New Zealand that recreated Mark Shostrom's amazing original creation along with the guys from KNB special effects. They did a good job. It was challenging. It was still just as hard as it was 30 years ago, but I'm glad I did it. It turned out good, and we had a good time making it. Bruce and I were there again, 30 years later. It was the weirdest deja vu. The cabin was the same, we were in the same costumes. It was like we had gone forward in time 30 years. Usually you want to go back, but we went forward. It was weird!

Was it strange to be on an Evil Dead set without your brother Sam Raimi in the director's chair?

No, not at all. It's still his vision, but now there's new directors that have their own vision to add to it. It makes it very refreshing.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II, which remains one of the best horror sequels of all time. How do you feel reflecting back on that time in your life?

Good! That was my Screen Actors Guild card intro. In those days, you had to have a line in a feature film that was also Screen Actors Guild, so I agreed to do that movie. I thought, "This will be an easy way to get my SAG card." But it was, in fact, that hardest way I could have ever done it. It was the equivalent of, say, there's a train that goes underneath the Alps from Italy to Austria. You can take this train. Alternately, you can hike the Alps all by yourself in bare feet. And I went, "Oh, I guess hiking the Alps in bare feet must be the way to go!" So that was that.

You voiced two characters on Buddy Thunderstruck for Netflix. What was that experience like?

It was great. Those guys at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios are terrific, immensely talented. That show was written by a guy named Tom Krajewski, who really wrote some fine episodes and very funny dialogue. It was great, because it’s stop-motion animation and all done in Burbank, California. Normally, these days cartoons are all outsourced to India, China, places like that, but this was done frame-by-frame in Burbank, just like Disney used to do in the '20s. It was cool. I really felt like I was working on something iconic. I thought it turned out very good.

Plus, it's nice to do something that's kids-friendly for once in my life. Usually, everything I do you can't show kids - except for maybe a couple of Spider-Man movies, and even those are a little scary for the young ones. I've got cousins and nieces and nephews that can actually watch something I did, as opposed to, "Well, when you're a little older, you can watch Uncle Ted's stuff!" [laughs]

I know it's early, but have you heard anything about a second season of the show?

I haven't yet, but Netflix is very, very quiet about their shows. We can't get a peep out of them. I think it has something to do with how they aggregate their ratings; I don't really understand it. I have not heard anything, but it certainly seems to be a popular show. Fans approach me about it when I go to conventions. It was a lot of fun. I was very grateful to have done that. It's nice to not shave and get in a booth and drink coffee and do your lines. It's incredible that you don't have to go to set and do all that stuff. It was fun.

As someone with your longevity in the industry, do you have any advice for upcoming filmmakers or actors?

Always try to make the make the greatest movie you possibly can. Don't make an okay movie just to make a movie. There's enough crap out there, and your movie will get lost, and you will be known as a mediocre filmmaker. Make the greatest movie you can. If it falls flat on its face, well, at least you tried.

One other piece advice: don't ever try to be a cult filmmaker or cult actor. The audience decides that for you. There's nothing you can do about that. A lot of people have tried to be a cult actor but failed in one way or another. Some actors desperately try to be as strange and as outlandish as possible. It's not that they're bad actors, but it's not up to you. I tried to do the best I could, thinking I was a pretty straight-ahead actor, and all of a sudden I was a cult actor and doing conventions and all that.

Speaking of conventions, what are those like from your perspective?

It's a wonderful thing. You get to meet fans. When you do movies and especially television, which I've done so much of, the best you can hope for is to sit in your living room with some of your friends, drinking booze and having a laugh, and then it's all over and everyone goes home. But when you go to conventions, you get to meet the thousands of fans that go to these things, and you say, "Oh, my God! All you guys watch it, too? That's awesome!" And I'm a fan myself. Most actors go to those things I think because they have to, but on the last day I'm there I'll close up shop early from shaking hands and doing panels and stuff, and I'll go walk to the floor. I love to see all the cool stuff, because I really love horror.

Are there any celebrities who you were really excited to meet at a convention?

Are you kidding? Yeah! I don't really care about autographs personally, but I've met some icons. I just met Dario Argento. It was insane meeting him. When he was alive, I met Jonathan Harris. I used to watch re-runs of Lost of Space when I was kid, and Jonathan Harris played Dr. Smith. He was awesome, an old Shakespearean actor. Also Malcolm McDowell and other guys who I always loved as a kid, thinking, "I'll never meet him," but I've finally met them all. They were were awesome and great inspirations. Also a lot of directors, like Dario and John Carpenter, who I first met at a convention and have since spoken to many times. It's a wonderful thing. And now I'm one of them! These young actors go, "I've seen you in so many things since I was a little kid!" So I guess I'm like one of those guys I used to admire when I was kid. It comes around, and that's a good thing.

You've worked with so many great filmmakers - not only Sam, but also the likes of Wes Craven, Bernard Rose, William Lustig, Takashi Shimizu, to name a few - and I know you've done some shorts of your own. Have you ever thought of directing a feature?

Yes, I'm directing my first feature this year, as a matter of fact. It's called The Seventh Floor. Veva Entertainment is producing it, and we're pre-pro now. We don't start shooting until September, at the moment. It's a thriller. I can't tell you what it's about, but it's psychological horror. I'm very excited about that. It's not traditional horror; there's no monsters or zombies or anything like that. It's more in your head.

And this year I created a campaign for the Starz network, which was a really wild experience. If you look online, it's called the Shemps Beer ad campaign. I created it when I was shooting Ash vs Evil Dead, so it was wonderful. Rob Tapert gave me a nice chance to work with Starz, so I made this for their online presence. It was really fun. I didn't know I'd also like advertising. It's the same old story that motivational speakers always tell, but it's kind of great. Somebody says to a kid, "You like playing the trombone?" Kid says, "I don't know, I never tired it." So I tried to be an ad man, and I wound up really like it. It’s odd.

I know you can't give away any details, but are there any particular films or directors you're drawing inspiration from before you get behind the camera on your first feature?

For this one, Roman Polanski and Dario Argento. Both of those guys are incredibly influential; Roman Polanski for his ability to build tension where there seemingly is none, and Dario Argento for his filmmaking style and the speed at which the action happens. It's unbelievable. I've studied them to get a sense of it. I'm also heavily inspired by David Cronenberg. He for the same reason that I like Polanski. He's able to create such amazing moments where there is no action, but you sense a palpable tension.

If you think of Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly, you think about Jeff Goldblum transmogrifying into the insect. But if you watch the first act, there's a scene that lasts about 10 minutes where Jeff Goldblum is talking to Geena Davis in his laboratory, which is in this warehouse. Nothing happens. There's just dialogue, and yet there's something so fearful about the whole thing. It's the greatest magic trick any director has ever done. I don't know he did it. There's no spooky music or spooky camera moves, and yet it's absolutely frightening. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I've watched that first act probably six times trying to get it, but I can't. If I can recreate that to some degree, I'll be a very lucky director.

I have to say, I was excited to learn that you're getting behind the camera, but to hear you mention Polanski, Argento, and Cronenberg as influences, I really can't wait to see it.

Thank you! That's a nice compliment. You really seem to know your stuff! You really did your research.

Do you have any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?

No, just that movie. It's keeping me very busy. That, and a pipe broke in backyard, so I've got to take care of that. That's on a personal nightmare note. [laughs] Normal crap happens to Hollywood people too, just in case anyone's wondering! Fans think it's funny. They see you on TV a thousand times, and they don't know that you also go to Trader Joe's and 7-Eleven. They're like, "You do?" And I'm like, "Yeah, do you think everything magically appears in my house?" Nope! [laughs]

#ted raimi #ash vs evil dead #ash vs. evil dead #evil dead 2 #evil dead ii #darkness rising #interview #article

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 20.9.2017

Released late on a Friday but still meant for this past Wednesday, my Rena Roundups! Of course, the major excuse here has to do less with 9 hour car drives between states and more to do with, you know, a large volume of comics and especially collected trades being thrown at me this month.

But let’s not wait anymore and instead get right into it.

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Batwoman, Image’s Descender, Marvel’s Generations: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel, DC’s Harley Quinn: A Celebration of 25 Years, Image’s Invincible, Marvel’s Power Man and Iron Fist, DC’s Super Sons

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #11 Ryan Stegman, Brian Level, Jesus Aburtov

You know, as soon as a year ago you would not have been able to convince me that I would be enthusiastically reading a Spider-Man comic that featured Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and their adorable loving family all at the same time. Like I would have just assumed that you were lying because Marvel has made it near impossible for fans who grew up reading Spidey from the 80s to the early 00′s to believe that they could ever support a book -- a good book -- that captured that magic again. And yet, if it weren’t obvious enough already, I’m still just head over heels for Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows even after a big creative team change over.

Story: The transition from Conway to Stegman has been almost completely seamless and I think that’s one of the strongest aspects of the book as a result. The story feels like it has been continuing from exactly where it started with #1, with individual arcs always somehow feeding into the ongoing tension between the family feud of Osborns an the Spider-Family. We’ve managed to get a compelling story on both sides of the equation, and as much as we root for Spiderling and her family, the tragedy of the Osborn clan here is felt almost if not more strongly by me at the moment than back in the days when the betrayal and pain of Harry Osborn’s betrayal and suffering under the same mounting pressures and expectations.

All the same, this issue continues to provide comparative scales of good and bad qualities for everyone who is involved. We see an arguably unhinged Peter and MJ going dangerously over the line with enemies, yes, but still people who are not in power around them. Even in understandable circumstances, Peter’s brutality and MJ’s lethality are cold notes to add to how being a parent and having that additional investment has blinded them in some ways to the standards they always held themselves to before. And it’s been foreshadowed throughout the series as Annie became increasingly involved with direct danger.

But at the same time, Normie’s actions make it clear that as much of a child as he is and as much sympathy as his situation might provide, he is a cold and calculated murderer of the board that could have potentially held him back, and his murderous ambitions are selfish even in the face of seeing that he would be providing the same pain and suffering for another child that has twisted himself. And yet, Annie’s right when she notes that Normie’s rationalizing of his behavior and actions are the saddest thing someone’s ever heard.

I’m gushing, but for the past year, this comic has almost perfectly built itself to this point and this cliffhanger feels like we’re actually getting to see how all of these actions will finally prove to have consequences, and it’s a truly wild and exciting point to be at if you’ve been a fan of this series so far.

Art: Brian Level did a really great job in this issue with maintaining the style that has been connecting all the issues of the series so far, a very subtle but eye drawing style of art as well as a choice in coloring that just makes the whole comic very satisfying to read, but also maintaining enough of his own comfort to confidently portray a very wide array of emotions which was incredibly important as this was a very emotional issue with a lot of subplots and character arcs receiving forms of resolution and, at times, set up for upcoming resolutions. It was very impactful and very enjoyable.

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine: Marvel Legacy Primer (2017) Robbie Thompson, Mark Bagley

So, funny story this, I actually didn’t realize that my subscription was going to kick in and include these Legacy Primer issues every week so I ignored them last week even though I picked up a few for free, and then was more than a little surprised to find some I hadn’t selected in my batch when I woke up this morning. So while I won’t be reviewing all of the Legacy Primers I figured it’d be a nice little addition to the series I follow through these Roundups regularly if I mentioned how they caught up new readers to the current events.

For All-New Wolverine it’s a pretty basic outline of what we already know about Laura’s backstory (gracefully skipping over the prostitute stuff) and there’s a tone throughout about how, for Laura, her Legacy is about finding and making a family and how those families have gradually grown who she has become as a person and a hero, as well as how defiant she is toward being seen as only a weapon or killer anymore.

That all said, I’m having to adjust to the fact that her former X-Force uniform colors are apparently just going to be her official colors from now on and my cheese covered heart yearns for the blue and yellow to come back to the forefront. They could even offset it with more black in her costume, but let the Wolverine be blue and yellow like it ridiculously belongs!!

I’d say this is a good, short survey of Laura’s current history and characterization for anyone new who has interest in it, and would recommend.

On a side note, I’m also super happy because it was written by Robbie Thompson rather than the series’ regular writer, Tom Taylor, which gives me a lot of hope for the impact of Wolverine!Laura and Taylor’s Laura beginning to show its real lasting power on the surrounding Marvel Universe.

DC’s Batwoman (2017-present) #7 Marguerite Bennett, Fernando Blanco, John Rauch

Everyone go home. Marguerite Bennett gets to write all the queer women in comics now and forever. She gets it she gets it she gets it and holy cow am I so glad that she’s been adding to the queer at Marvel and DC and just in comics in general by doing what seems so simple but is often so overlooked baselessly. And that would be that she understands how to establish queer women as importantly, undeniably, wonderfully, flawfully human. Put her on Wonder Woman instead of James Robinson are you even kidding, DC? Really? Anyway, that’s neither here nor there because we’ve got Batwoman at the moment and everything is fine. Even if, for Kate Kane, everything’s the furthest thing from fine.

Story: Bennett excels at writing queer redhead women. Plain and simple. But I think even more importantly than that is the fact that Bennett understands how to completely dive into the edges of the actual weirdness and abnormalities of comics in that way that, honestly, only comics really are able to pull off as a medium, and embrace it without sacrificing the maturity and complexity that has been associated with modern comic books. That was maybe most on display for her work with Angela at Marvel, able to use the full depths of Marvel’s religious, magical, dimensional, and galactic establishment interchangeably due to its set up. But I would argue that the structure of this particular issue proves how well it’s going to work with her Batwoman run.

Obviously I’ve talked a lot about how I’m not a fan of flashbacks in comics due to their overuse to justify retcons or make up for plot weakness, but Bennett’s use in this storyline would be something I would use as an example of how to make it work. Each flashback is intwined with the other, and the more we progress, the more they’re connected, the more we’re falling down this proverbial rabbit hole of watching Kate become more incoherent, her POV become less trustworthy, and then ultimately it devolves into straight up psychological nightmare of a fever dream. And it’s hard to tell through most of the issue what is causing this devolution and incoherence for Kate -- injuries from the wreck? the exhaustion of her current mission which has been nonstop for a month straight? something her father’s Colony was developing in the desert? the radiation poisoning from the sun in the desert? There are clues throughout that there’s something nefarious to the way Kate is coming undone here, but it isn’t until that awesome, awesome ending cliffhanger that it finally all comes together with the reveal that the mysterious “Needle” she was hunting for is none other than the Scarecrow himself.

...

You know, if DC wasn’t absolutely stupid and fucked up the reveal by putting it on the goddamn cover of the issue.

I cannot begin to express how frustrating it is to me to have had a fantastic comic which is genuinely thrilling and surprising and actually works like a, you know, detective story by slowly trying to make me think through the deeper meanings and clues of everything so carefully placed into the art and the monologues... and then have it be utterly upended by the fact that DC thinks they can only sell Batwoman as a comic by having big flashy signs saying “THIS ICONIC BATVILLAIN IS HERE, READ THIS FOR A SCARECROW STORY” when the whole point of the issue!!! is that reveal!!! where we find out that needle!!! is Jonathan Crane!!! and all of this is fear gas working on Kate!!!

Just. Wow. Like it’s not even the B cover -- if the first cover was the one they picked for the alternate then I wouldn’t complain that much because the majority of people aren’t going to be getting the B cover unless they buy digital like me where you see both. But we’re talking about the A COVER!!! And it even has a tagline about the Scarecrow and I’m just. Facepalming.

Oh my god, what a horrible editorial decision. Why would you do this? Why would you have so little faith in Bennett and in Batwoman, DC?

It’s frustrating because it’s been... what? Two? Three years now? That I have moaned and complained on tumblr about how I want Scarecrow to be fully utilized and actually be allowed to be the main villain of an arc, used to his full potential. And even though he’s, again, working for an organization here, this is obviously going to be a Scarecrow story and I feel like Bennett writing on a queer female lead comic making the Scarecrow the main villain for an arc is literally about as tailor made as a storyline can be for me. And the futzed it with this cover crap.

Art: I feel like Blanco’s art is familiar to me but I can’t place as to why. I’m usually pretty good at identifying artists at this point since I try to tag them in all of my comic posts on this blog, so I’ll have to look into it. Overall I think it was really good art and fitting, it changed tone and proportion appropriate to the script and knew when to let loose and distort toward the end gradually enough that the change was not really super apparent at first read until the last two pages really proved that Kate was out of her mind.

But let’s be real, the most important test for me is going to be if the animals are anatomically correct. Which, hold your monocles, folks, they absolutely were! That, alone, is worthy of our celebration. Or mine. Since that’s my expertise and what not.

Marvel’s Defenders: Marvel Legacy Primer (2017) Robbie Thompson, Pere Pérez

For our next little overview we have Defenders which feels way too short. I checked the page count and it seems like there’s actually the same number of pages as the All-New Wolverine issue tie-in, but this one felt much less personal and much less informative about the journey each of these characters have taken so far.

In a way, though, that makes sense. Where Wolverine only has to catch us up with Laura, the Defenders is a team book with four members, all of whom get a brief introduction. But, unfortunately, that introduction to their history is all we really get. It didn’t feel like there was really an overview of their history to explain how they are where they are now in the upcoming Defenders storyline.

With the more personal touch Wolverine had, I could sort of predict how all the pieces of her history that were picked to be showcased were probably going to tie-in to what was coming up in her book -- you could feel the sense that the information given was relevant information first and foremost.

This, however, really does just feel like an introduction to the characters that comprise the team. And I think, really, there’s value to that for new readers, but I don’t know if it carries the same volume of value of something that selectively gives a history of the characters that will come into play with the upcoming Legacy arc.

Image’s Descender (2015-present) #24 Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen

Ah, Descender. A comic that is completely up my alley and at the same time is completely dedicated to confusing me and twisting my understanding of what it’s trying to be as a comic. This issue in particular, we just... kinda jump over into the fantasy genre for a nice jaunt to the point that I was wondering if some of these creatures were from The Dark Crystal but let’s get into what exactly the story was:

Story: So after that huge climactic ending note of the last issue where everything was exploding or at the very least coming to a head, we get... this issue that catches us up with Driller, whose ejection into space has landed him in Woch World. Which is the swamp from Empire Strikes Back but with mostly naked goblins. Now, actually, in concept alone I’m not against this change, believe it or not. I actually think after such a heavy and intensive storyline that shifted around between its moving parts as much as the recent arc, it’s actually a great idea to take a breather by shifting the focus and concentrating on a specific character alone. And Driller has proved in the past and in this issue to be a simple but compelling character that really embodies some of the elements and negative impacts of this world.

And with that in mind, I found this an enjoyable issue, but unless magic and Woch are going to work into the greater narrative -- which it seems that they’re not just by the ending having Driller captured again -- then it feels like there was no larger addition to Descender overall than if there had just been one or two pages of Driller floating in space before being captured. If it was meant to drive home that Driller is growing trust and attachment toward organics, well, that’s something that was already hit on before he was ejected and in fact he was ejected because his remorse for killing had led to his confession.

It’s hard to imagine how classic fantasy and magic are supposed to work into this very hard sci-fi universe, and I’m not entirely sure that I want it to. I adore fantasy, don’t get me wrong. And I love science fantasy as a genre too, I mean who doesn’t love Star Wars, but at the same time it’s exhaustingly hard to find pure science fiction anymore and that was probably the element that I appreciated the most in Descender.

Art: Nguyen’s art is good as always, but as I’ve said before, the choice of soft lines and watercoloring this comic is jarring for such a cold and harsh world. And I only am more cemented in that opinion now after this issue because this issue worked with that so well. Like the writing, the setting of magic and earthiness we see for Woch is completely contrary to Descender’s make up as we’ve seen it so far, and the fact that Nguyen’s creature art and organic designs for the environment fit so well prove that for most of Descender’s issues we’re really not getting full use of his range, especially with how many backgrounds and pages are just whitespace being used.

So, in a way, how well the art works for this issue is almost a strike against the normal art overall which is a weird backhanded compliment to offer, I know, but I’m pretty firm on where I stand with this one. However unfortunately.

Marvel’s Generations: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel (2017) G. Willow Wilson, Paolo Villanelli, Ian Herring

Wow! I mean, it legitimately took me, what, four Generations issues before I landed one that actually described the plot of how this crossover event works? Of course it would be thanks to G. Willow Wilson, too, bless her and her magic touch on comic books. Like I suspected it had something to do with Secret Empire fallout and the Cosmic Cube which is why I didn’t bother to try and investigate it for myself, but actually having Kamala explain it out loud was cathartic.

At long last, I have an answer.

Now moving on to the issue itself.

Story: If there is anything to be gained from this generation of Marvel comics, it’s that they absolutely struck gold when DC made the excruciatingly dumb decision of not putting G. Willow Wilson on any of their books after the New52 when she had done a fantastic and acclaimed run on Vixen: Return of the Lion, and allowed Marvel to snatch her up and let her pitch what would become the breakout superhero of the current generation of superhero fans. Like. I hope that every time the numbers come in for the month and Ms. Marvel continues to be a top performer that DiDio lets the rest of the editorial staff line up and take turns kicking him in the nuts.

Anyway, the story itself finds Kamala Khan’s transported back in time by the Cosmic Cube which last I checked was a little girl in Pleasentville and that was about the time that I stopped caring about it in any case, it sends her to New York City back in the totally-not-seventies-but-seventies where she doesn’t fit in to the city and twenty dollars buys her basically an entire wardrobe.

After having a funny cameo from Peter Parker running her over and being annoying, she accidentally ends up working for the magazine owned by Carol Danvers in her Red Suit Ms. Marvel phase which, thank god, of her Ms. Marvel costumes that’s easily my favorites.

There’s a lot of girl power and “look how far we’ve come” before ultimately Kamala gives the literal message of the story at the end by saying that progressiveness isn’t defining what a woman -- or any other group -- should be but empowering them to use knowledge and tools available to accentuate who they already are.

Also they fight a campy bird themed villain in a spaceship on 35th street.

It’s a very simple story and a lot like the All-New Wolverine tie-in isn’t something that will obviously greatly change who the characters will be in the future of their comics, but does paint a new perspective on the relationships being emphasized here. And in that way I’m really glad that Wilson had the foresight to have Kamala and Carol interact both in costume and out of costume. I don’t know if it will have the sort of weight for other readers that the Wolverine issue had for me, but I can definitely say that Ms. Marvel fans who enjoy Kamala and enjoy Wilson’s writing of her won’t be disappointed.

Art: I have a lot of pickiness when it comes to Kamala’s appearance in comics because I find too often that her defining features are often muted or given plain style outside of her own book, most specifically her hair and facial features suffer because.... artists just automatically have to make all women’s faces a certain way and I will never understand it -- and this issue doesn’t quite pass the mustard on that front.

Ignoring that, it is good art and I really loved Herring’s coloring choice here which isn’t quite half-tone of the era but still really provides that grainy texture that blends modern and early comics.

It’s a very great looking comic overall, but I wish artists outside of Kamala’s series used her unique attributes more.

DC’s Harley Quinn: A Celebration of 25 Years (2017) Amanda Conner, Paul Dini, Karl Kesel, Jimmy Palmiotti, Rob Williams, Terry Dodson, Jim Lee, Bruce Timm

Once again we have a DC collection of various stories and comics over the years in honor of a title or character that has more than deserved the celebration. And this time around it is Harley Quinn for her twenty-fifth birthday. Which also happens to mean that it’s my twenty-fifth year of life too since, fun fact, Harley and I are the same age conceptually. Which is.... horrifying and reminds me that I’m turning to dust with every second. But let’s move on.

With these collected volumes, as they’re not a single voice or telling a single story, my evaluation differs from if I were examining, for example, the Power Man and Iron Fist volume you can find lower on this list. There are just too many creative forces and too many stories for me to adequately discuss each individually.

But, unlike my previous review of the Wonder Girl collection, we do at least have the singular focus on one character in this entire book and that is the history and development of Harley Quinn, from Batman: The Animated Series breakout henchwench to top selling antiheroine who’s arguably one of the most marketable and recognizable female characters in comics today.

And in that way it’s a lot more like a historical analysis of Harley over the years since 1992 and how her look, personality, and history have developed pretty naturally as a result. And because I’m me, you can correctly guess that I am an absolute sucker for things like that because this collection is basically what I try to do here on my own blog -- capture through the briefest glimpses of this industry a greater understanding for the world narrative and the consistency (or inconsistency) which comes from that.

And, because of that, it was honestly a really fascinating read to see which comics were chosen to represent who Harley is or at least has become to DC and their fans over the years. Rarely do I read these Celebration volumes and think “yes this is almost every issue I personally would have picked for these characters”, but to be honest they hit the nail pretty firmly on the head for this one when it comes to Harley.

The BTAS tie-ins were among my absolute favorite comics from the various runs, they showed her introduction to the main comics from No Man’s Land, and then transitioned us to the post-New52 and beyond that...

Okay now we have to talk about the elephant in the room. I think this perfectly illustrates Harley’s character usage over the years, and unfortunately a good part of that is because there is a certain amount of stagnation to her preboot incarnation where, especially after her solo series was canceled, they seemed to just not know what to do with her and her best roles ended up being one-off stories perpetuating the correct idea that she’s this abuse victim stuck in her abusive loop. Then, when DC decided to get EDGY they threw out all the things that were loved about her previously in order to to create this more grim, more evil, more flat character, frankly, that we saw in the New52′s Suicide Squad issues. And those are unpleasant reads, but it was also a severely unpleasant time in comics, to be honest.

But then of course we go through the current Harley Renaissance period, where her character is fun and whacky again without losing the possibility of gallows humor OR her sense of pathos, and while there were quite a few issues of her solo series from the New52 and Rebirth, ultimately I think my biggest takeaway was from the issue picked from Harley’s Little Black Book where Harley teamed up with (more or less) Wonder Woman.

These are, arguably, the largest stars as far as female characters are concerned in the DCU right now.... and the stark contrast between them is honestly a really good thing, in my book. You can have your preferences for what you like to see when reading female characters, but like any representation, lacking the full berth and range of experiences and personalities and niches robs everyone of what ultimately makes their particular group feel humanized in the stories we’re consuming. What worked so well about that issue for me is that it played into the strengths and the weaknesses both Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn provide in that way, and because of that it was that much more enjoyable and satisfying to read. At least, for me it was.

So I liked this collection and there really isn’t much I would add to it as I think it did a pretty reasonable job of overviewing her entire history. And I’m sure there’s some people that would want certain Harley classics to have been included as well, particularly Mad Love and the like, but to that I say that they’re included in a lot of other Harley Quinn collected readings and so I’m honestly relieved that some other books are getting the workout instead.

Image’s Invincible (2003-present) Vol. 24: The End Of All Things, Part 1 Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Nathan Fairbairn

Ah, man. I’ve never done a proper overview of my weird relationship with Robert Kirkman before have I? This is also my first time giving a review of Invincible on any of my blogs and it’s... literally the beginning of the end. So I’ve put myself in a corner. Interesting.

So introductions are in order. I’ve mentioned a few... million times before that I was born and raised in Kentucky, far Eastern Kentucky like literally lived so far in the woods didn’t have neighbors for the first three years of my life Kentucky. Which doesn’t lead to a lot of pride in how people treat you outside of Kentucky and especially not how you’re treated in the media. So those rare times you are treated well, or someone from Kentucky becomes successful or famous for something that doesn’t involve coal, there’s this weird relationship that all Kentuckians in some respect really feel toward people. And... in our defense a lot of unexpectedly hugely famous people are from Kentucky -- Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Jennifer Lawrence, Ned Beatty, Muhammad Ali, Tom Cruise, Gus Van Sant, William Shatner, like literally it goes on and on forever, you should look this up if you’re interested. Point is, for various economic circumstances, for kids growing up in Kentucky, there is a weird, unique appreciation that’s instilled in you from a young age to feel pride for anyone who becomes nationally or internationally successful if they are from Kentucky even if they have not stepped foot in the state since they did so.

So it’s... kind of weird to be in this position where people from Kentucky who make that huge leap into success become... controversial to say the least. Especially here on tumblr where certain opinions are worthy of death.

Here in enters Robert Kirkman, Kentucky native, and for us Kentucky comic geeks Kentucky’s first son of the comic world, alongside Tony Moore who was his co-creator for The Walking Dead and the original artist and is also from Kentucky. So ever since The Walking Dead had made it big, if you were a nerd in Kentucky, you were following Robert Kirkman’s career because “he’s our guy”.

But there was also a weird time in my life where, not too many years after growing this relationship with Kirkman’s works through the Kentucky experience, I got onto the comic scene for tumblr more intensely and... Kirkman gave an interview or said something at a con -- I legitimately can’t even remember at this point -- that made him.... illegal to like on tumblr? And I didn’t like what he said and wanted to comment on it but I was learning pretty quickly that sympathies run thin on this site more often than not. So I wasn’t exactly expecting people to take my word that while maybe a #problematicfav, Kirkman’s work has done exceptional things for many people I know.

Hell, the only comic book my sister keeps up with on a monthly basis is The Walking Dead for that very reason.

I stopped reading TWD I think around.... the Governor’s arc? Or the prison? Whichever one of those came second, so I’m so far out of the loop you may as well as call me a foreigner to that world. But Kirkman’s other Image pet project that has been running nearly as long with not nearly the amount of praise and recognition that I think it deserves is his love letter, critique, and examination of the superhero comic genre: Invincible. Which brings us to where we are today. Finally.

Story: There’s this saying I usually have a lot of beef with that I’m sure most of you will easily recognize. It goes “Every story deserves to be told” or “there aren’t bad stories, just poor execution.” And.... to be honest I’ve always hated that opinion because it felt like it was an excuse for never saying that sometimes -- sometimes -- ideas are bad. Value statements can be rotted at the core. And there are some concepts that are just not worthy of the time and investment being told. I generally will give almost any premise a chance, sure, but this severely undercuts what I feel is a simple truth: there are limits. And for a long time, so far as the comic book genre eas concerned, back when Mark Millar was publishing Kick-Ass and we had “THE GODDAMN BATMAN” lose its meme status because another Miller misunderstood that the meme was making fun of how stupid his comic was and thus made it a running “gag” in his gritty ugly Batman reboot, I made a pretty declarative statement to many people that “A bloody, ‘realistic’ deconstruction of the simple idea that good superheroes can exist and can be good because they want to be good people cannot be made compelling or lovingly enough to be more than gore fodder for angry teenage boys.”

I should have remembered two other quotes from two other great men. Uncle Mel Brooks often said that a satire shouldn’t come from hate, but should come from love. And my dad always said, never assume unless you want to make an ass out of you and me. I find these things to be equally profound and relevant to the Invincible situation.

Robert Kirkman has spent a massive 24 volumes setting up this world, so very like other superhero worlds filled with characters and wondrous potential, presented it straight, taken the rug out from under our feet in pretty standard superhero deconstruction fashion (the superman analogue is actually a mass murdering villain oh shock) and then.... after just two volumes of comics, then reconstructs its own deconstructed world from the bottom up.

The deconstruction that Invincible has provided is sort of the same themes of humanity that that other somewhat popular Kirkman work has been so engaging for. In dire situations, where bad people are given free reign for any reason, what ultimately becomes the force that saves humanity, saves our values, is the individual’s choice to continue to value those things even more despite becoming a struggle.

Omni-Man’s redemption is hard fought -- literally a war is fought for it -- but as gruesome as it has been at times to get to this point, he is right, as shown by this very volume. Once his people mixed with other races, once they experienced a lifetime around others they have come to value, goodness doesn’t become a cheap commodity but a lifeline to hold onto yourself and hold on to the people you love the most. And, really, the thing that makes anyone capable of being a hero is being able to recognize those values outside of their own small net.

Which is what made the conclusion to this volume.... probably one of the most heartbreaking moments in Invincible’s entire run so far in a series that is not short on those moments. I mean, last volume ended with Oliver dying. A character we had been lovingly endeared to since Volume Six.

But the most interesting part of this is that Kirkman also realizes that just because a storyline is universal (pun intended) doesn’t make the choice of being good, of being a hero, any less personal. And the irony is that for all the first half of the series’ pushing that it was Mark and Eve’s innate goodness and positivity that inspired those around them to try and become heroes as well, the two of them individually have been worn down by the same factors and losses to the point we are at now where Mark and Eve don’t see themselves as heroes anymore. They see themselves as selfish, as vengeful, as painfully off track from the sort of people they always imagined themselves becoming. And with this final act -- with their family being destroyed on all fronts, be it with Mark seeing Nolan’s death before his very eyes so soon after losing Oliver or Eve’s inevitable discovery that Rex has taken the time to kidnap and possibly endanger their family along with the countless other hybrid families (putting them all??? In one place??? to make it easier for Thragg to take them out??? unless Rex actually plans on using them as bargaining chips which seems more likely), we are set up for the next volume to be the final test of these values so central to all the themes and characterizations of Invincible: in a world where justice and family and passion certainly aren’t invincible, are the values that keep life worth living, keep civilization worth running, still invincible in their own way?

And all this while still dealing with small character things. Things that were needed -- Allen coming clean about his betrayal, Mark being comforted by his father after revealing he had been raped, Debbie taking care of her grandchildren and daughter-in-law, Mark and Eve finally tying the knot officially, all of this still has its place and it’s a sign of good pacing but also a good sense of the values being pushed forward. Even in their darkest times, even when they can’t think of themselves as superheroes like they did when they were kids, Mark and Eve still love the small parts of life and the little bits of humanity provided to them in these situations. And that’s what gives me hope that no matter how bittersweet, the ending of this gruesome war will prove Mark and Eve not only victorious, but saving their humanity as well.

Art: I mean, I’ve always liked the art for Invincible so it’s a little unfair but.... yeah. It’s fantastic. Every issue was well crafted, every character model explorative and unique (I’m so glad we finally got away from the earlier half’s tendencies to have all these weird alien species but even Bug People have boobs if they’re girls). I’d say the coloring has gotten better over time, but really I just think that it was the cooler colors in this volume stood out more and also allowed for the cell shading to really make its impact for the intense battles.

Since I’ve been talking a lot about panel layout lately I thought it’d also be worthwhile to point out that I’d consider this comic a beautiful example of how traditional comic book paneling and layouts don’t have to be boring or plain, but can be just as dynamically used and provide equal amounts of storytelling through their choices as panel variation does. It also helps Invincible be an easier comic for new readers to start on because it’s easy to follow even in the most complex of action set pieces. New comics these days seem to be afraid of the simple panel, thirds to forths layout these days and they shouldn’t. Accessible storytelling does not mean simple storytelling, after all.

Marvel’s Power Man and Iron Fist (2016-2017) Vol. 3: Street Magic David F. Walker, Sanford Greene, Lee Loughridge

Do you ever get into a series just a touch too late and everything suddenly gets rebooted or canceled and you don’t feel like paying twice the amount for the individual solos of what was once a team-up book? No? Well I guess you haven’t been following Marvel Comics long enough yet. And that’s kind of the position I’m in with Power Man and Iron Fist. I put it on trade wait and now it’s over and I’m catching up to it and found out maybe a hair too late that it actually provided for a really solid, entertaining comic with a unique sensibility and style and humor that was full of variety and personality to the very end.

Which is this volume because trade volumes are hardly taken into account by Marvel and I guess there were too many people like me who didn’t catch on to this goodness while it lasted.

Story: We’re still dealing with the floundering restart of Heroes 4 Hire by Luke Cage and Danny Rand, whose attempts to keep secret identities are laughably nonexistent despite Danny walking around in a literal jumpsuit and ninja mask and Luke’s newest outfit after ripping too many of his good clothes that Jessica was getting onto him about is now paying tribute to Bruce Lee in his own yellow and black striped jumper. We set the stage for a new kingpin to try to take over Harlem’s crime syndicates from Tombstone but this time Danny and Luke weren’t tricked into assisting. This was completely a new agent doing so on his own.

Because that secret agent happens to be... Alex Wilde! From the original Runaways! I..... guess. Look, had this been read by me even six months ago my feelings on this development would have been ridiculously less complicated because I had zero familiarity with Runaways. But alas, I read it all. I’m currently subscribed to the new series. And I have Opinions now about this treatment of Alex. Who.... I really wish wasn’t trying to literally rebuild a New York chapter of the Pride by taking over various criminal gangs. And even more so, his motivations aren’t even in line for why he “went bad” in the original Runaways to begin with. He’s not trying to take over Harlem’s crime so that he has control and thus can curtail things to actually clean up crime and make the better world he was literally willing to sacrifice the whole world and his friends for before. It’s just... because he’s smart enough to? His motivations fell extremely flat and it just felt like a very disappointing use of his character.

And part of that is simply because Power Man and Iron Fist was never the kind of book that wanted to nullify the fact that its villains were bad. We’re talking about the kind of book that had its first arc involve Tombstone and then Luke and Danny fought a demon magic thing that I still can’t explain. And you can tell that Alex’s type of nuance wasn’t really something to properly address in this comic because we started fighting a Lovecraftian tentacle monster at one point in the climax and even the villains were aiding Danny and Luke. So really, all around, it kind of felt like having Alex used as the surprise kingpin was the sort of mistake that weakened rather than strengthened the overall story here.

Which isn’t to say that it wasn’t still immensely enjoyable and full of ridiculous action set pieces and real heart-to-heart moments between Danny and Luke. Though, as someone who’s always a little on the alert for queerbaiting, the occasional “jokes” on that expense tended to get to me a bit more than they maybe should have.

In any case, it was a really fun read with lots of style over substance, which I feel like comics shouldn’t be afraid to do every now and then. And that’s a plus to me.

Art: The uniqueness of this book’s art style is honestly one of my favorite things about it if I was forced to pick. The art palette’s saturation and dedication to its yellow and brown base colors was honestly really interesting and not only added to the retro vibe that the comic was clearly going for but also symbolized the unity between the characters as we were seeing them on the page and that just made things all the more endearing when it comes to a story about friendship and teamwork not only from its heroes but also its villains.

DC’s Super Sons (2017-present) #8 Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez

Super Sons just continues and continues with proving to be one of the most interesting character driven, unexpected successes of DC’s current Rebirth and it’s frequently becoming harder to explain to people who aren’t reading it how it’s something they really shouldn’t mss out on because the quality is baked so sincerely into the entirety of the comic itself. Which.... is unexpectedly high praise coming from me since I think it’s fair to say that I have proven that I have no romanticized vision of Peter Tomasi’s career at DC.

Story: We pick up where last we left off, with the boys being pulled into a different dimension by robotic-organic tentacle monsters. As you do. But the interesting, though fairly normal, narrative trick here is that both the boys become so distracted so quickly because of everything that is going on and the near-revelation that it’s Jon’s mom who set him up to be under Damian’s tutelage for reasons we can only assume for now is being put on the back burner, possibly to blow up in everybody’s face eventually. We also get to meet some pretty cool looking young female heroes who match the boys in this new world.

The real shift in tone, though, is in how this issue proves the value of everything Jon has learned from being around Damian and from working with his father on various missions. He thinks more analytically, is more exposed to concepts like multiple dimensions and space travel, but most importantly of all, convincingly argues with Damian in favor of thinking the best of a person they don’t know by trusting that the alternate dimension’s version of the wizard is the hero that they’re being told he is. I hope this continues to prove true, because Damian was right when he said Jon was making convincing and analytical thoughts on the situation. I really wouldn’t be impressed if the small moment of faint praise between the two of them that we got here, and the general bonding throughout the issue where they learned how to best utilize each other’s strengths, was undone later in the storyline to further emphasize that Jon’s naïve and too trusting and Damian’s Cool and Right Always.

I know that seems like a simple request, but Tomasi on his own has not really explored Jon as a more dimensional character like he did for years for Damian because Jon has mostly been a foil to Damien’s quirks that Tomasi loved to develop.

But this issue is great and good and it makes me hopeful that those traits will be continued!

Art: Jimenez’s art is just fantastic as usual, but he has developed his style quite a bit since the first arc. There’s more consistency with the anatomy and proportions and in general characters look like they have more weight given to them than they had been in his earlier issues. It’s still incredibly stylized but it’s finding a content median between his style and the more grounded style of comics.

I think it’s also worth noting that in previous Roundups where I’ve discussed my irritation with, for example, comics like Titans where the panels refuse to be more varied and are just all sliding scale and action panels regardless of what’s taking place in-story, I think that Super Sons provides a genuinely good variation of the two and uses its panel arrangement more wisely. There is a story motivation for wild, slanted paneling -- an action sequence, something happening that disrupts the characters’ flow somehow. But in more calm moments, things which are meant to provide peaceful dialogue or to show off the world when things are not under attack, traditional panel work returns. The panel type reflects the content and the style of the issue and it makes your brain understand the shifts on a subconscious level as much as a conscious one. Which is why I harp on these things when they’re misused or at the very least used poorly.

It’s not because I want straight panel placement all the time, it’s because I feel the variation is the key to success here.

Quite a week! And I’ve got a bunch of single issues and a bunch of trades to pick between. So I want to emphasize that I really meant it when I said that I really enjoyed the comics over all here and I think if my reviews made you curious about picking any of them up you should definitely give them a chance because there’s a lot of quality publications right now. But, as tradition now dictates, we’ve got the Pick of the Week.

For single issues this week I just have to emphasize once again what a treat that Super Sons has managed to be for every issue. It’s such an unexpected surprise and really the sort of book I was not expecting from DC after the last couple of years but it really captures your attention with its quality and especially its dedication to building these characters and their relationships now. I’m not always a huge fan of Tomasi but when he’s good he’s absolutely on the ball, I feel. And this current arc seems to be delivering specifically on that front. It’s a great all-ages book with kid superheroes who are both serious superheroes and also genuinely read as kids with all the ups and downs that entails.

What the pick of the week as far as trades comes down to for me this week is how well collected and compelling the stories were to forming not just a narrative but what would feel like a complete arc for the characters even if it was only a small step of the journey overall that we were privy to this month. And in that regard, there’s really nothing to compare like Invincible, which is beginning its wrap up after what feels like a tremendous journey we’ve all been taken on. There’s a real direction for all the characters and for the story, but maybe more importantly there really feels like a direction for its themes and statement it’s making about the industry as a whole as well. And that’s just something incredibly powerful and almost unique to this industry not for being a statement on superheroes as a genre, but in how dedicated it is to really deconstructing and reconstructing its own characters and context in order to make it. That’s something really special.

And, once more, I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently. On top of that, I have exactly a month and a half to pack up everything I own and move halfway across the country again which is not helping those financial crunches I mentioned before either.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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#SPOILERS #Wednesday Spoilers #Rena Roundups #Harley Quinn: A Celebration of 25 Years (2017)#All New Wolverine (2015 )#Amazing Spiderman: Renew Your Vows (2016 )#Defenders (2017 )#Descender (2015 )#Super Sons (2017 )#Generations: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel (2017)#Invincible (2003 )#Power Man and Iron Fist (2016 2017)

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brokehorrorfan · 8 years ago

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Interview: Stacy Title (The Bye Bye Man, Hood of Horror)

In celebration of The Bye Bye Man arriving on Blu-ray and DVD today, director Stacy Title discusses the unrated cut of the film, critical response, working with greats like Faye Dunaway and Snoop Dogg, the challenges of being as female director, and more.

Can you begin by telling us how you came aboard The Bye Bye Man?

It started with a brilliant producer named Trevor Macy, who I've known for a very, very long time. He felt like he could find a woman who could do horror, because so much of the audience is female, and we bounced around a lot of projects before settling on this. He had a script that was already commissioned based on a chapter in a non-fiction anthology [Robert Damon Schneck's The Bridge to Body Island], and I took that with my husband [Jonathan Penner] and we reworked it. Then I found LAMF, which is a company that's run by Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman, and they came in with the money. After we had the money, STX stepped in also to co-finance and distribute. It was a lucky alignment of fans of mine.

The unrated cut is coming out on Blu-ray and digital. How does it differ from the theatrical version?

It's substantially different. It's what I shot the movie to be; the movie that I thought would come out. But when they started testing the trailers, they didn't want to lose that younger audience. You'll find that there's a lot more intensity. It's more tight, intense, violent, visceral. There's a couple of really excellent shots that aren't chopped up, including a oner at the beginning that was pretty difficult and I worked very hard for, that has Leigh Whannell coming into the house and shooting his sister and his brother-in-law and turning around and walking across the street and stalking the two neighbors. It's all one take, and I was very proud of it. I was kind of sad to chop it up. There's a couple of other really excellent moments. When Cressida Bonas, who plays Sasha, is stabbed in the face, it's much more visceral. There's a lot more violence, and that's kind of my pace, so I'm happier with it.

One thing that's not in either cut that I sort of regret isn't there is something that's connected to the DNA of the movie. There's going to be a way for you to get it. There's two or three clips that comprise a lot of the mythology, the backstory of The Bye Bye Man, and they got cut out of the movie for a variety of reasons. I put that together so that people can see why the Bye Bye Man is who he is, what the coins mean, what the train means, what happened to him as a young boy. Basically, he was murdered, and they put hot coins on his eyes and cut out his tongue. They put him on the train to dispose of the body and cover up the crime, so that's why he rides the train. All that stuff was in the movie. I think people were a little unsatisfied with that stuff, so I'm happy that those clips will be available too. They won't be in the cut, but they will be put out so people can see some of the stuff I intended.

What was it like working with veteran actresses like Faye Dunaway and Carrie-Anne Moss?

It was fantastic! Carrie-Anne Moss is so lovely as a human being and so professional. She really brought up the game of a lot of the younger actors and didn't let them fool around in between takes. She really kept them on point. It was brilliant, because it really kept them focused and we ended up going a lot faster. She was really thoughtful about her character. When you're doing a part like that, you don't really get a lot of backstory or context, but we built it all up so she would have that to work from, even if it wasn't linear or literal of the dialogue. Faye Dunaway was wonderful. She's very demanding, but in a great way, because it really, really lifted up the game of everyone. She's a movie star for reason. She really pops. It was exciting and really an honor to work with her.

And what about Doug Jones, who is so good at playing creatures? Tell me about working with him as the Bye Bye Man himself.

He's amazing. I can't say enough. He could probably be the nicest person that I've ever met in my entire life. I love that inversion, that he has that ability to channel a darker part of himself that isn't really a substantial part of his true self. He was so patient. It took hours and hours to put that makeup on, and he would just sit there and grin and bear it. He would be there for off-camera stuff when he was in process, so that the actors playing against him would have something to work with. He really brought a lot to the characterization and what I wanted. He's so elegant and physical, how he uses his hands and how he moves. He's almost like working with a dancer or the best stunt person, because he has such a sense of space, besides that he's such a wonderful, creative actor. The physical life that he brought to it - truly, not many people could have played that part well.

How do you feel about the critical response to the film?

I was disappointed, to be honest, with a lot of it. I did get some high-end exceptional reviews; I got the LA Times and the New York Times. For a lot of people, that's what they look at. But the fact is that people were disappointed with the mythology, and they were very critical of it. There's a lot of train stuff in the movie; the DNA of the movie has trains and coins. That was all connected to the mythology of the Bye Bye Man. I think if I had a little bit more of that stuff, they probably would have been more satisfied. They wouldn't have thought that my hands went of the wheel, which they hadn't; I just had certain people to please with the different trims. That's just how it goes. But in general I really like how the movie came out. When I've watched it with audiences I've had such an exciting time. I really feel like if you watch it with an audience you can really appreciate the power of it, so that makes me happy.

The Bye Bye Man was your first movie in a decade. Was that an intentional decision?

No. Honestly, I think it's hard for everyone to direct. It's very hard to get these jobs. Being a woman director, especially in the genre, is peculiarly unusual. There's an unconscious bias when it comes to hiring directors. People are just more comfortable hiring men. I'm not quite sure exactly how we get programmed that way. I can say, to be honest, when I think of a DP, I think of men too. I have my own unconscious bias. I believe it's a very similar thing. It wasn't for a lack of trying; it was really just that I didn't get the opportunities.

I'm glad to hear you bring that point up, because it's important to recognize. From your perspective, do you see headway being made?

There is a little headway being made. I know personally I'm feeling it, but there's so much further we have to go. Between 4 and 6% of theatrical features are directed by women and 12% of television. We're about 51% percent of the population, so that disparity borders on criminal. The ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] brought a complaint to the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], who took it, spent a year culling interviews with women, and are negotiating with the six major studios. If they don't settle, they're going to file a lawsuit this fall, and that will bring more attention to it. They can't do quotas, because that's not legal, but they can do proportions, goals, and fines. I think the fines are really what's going to change things. I think Hollywood is not good at policing itself. If they are really going to lose a lot of money, I think they'll pay attention.

Do you have any advice for young women who are interested in becoming a director?

Absolutely. These days, you don't really need a crew to make movies; you can use your phone. I would really suggest to keep making as many things as you can, then you have a reel, something to show. If no one will hire you, hire yourself. That's how you can get other people to hire you, because you don't need them to work, and they see that confidence. Now that you can really put stuff together, even just shorts, there's a great market. It's very exciting to do small work, in particular horror. The audience for horror is more women, so I think there's going to be a lot of women coming up who are going to get more opportunities as people start to figure that out.

With the success of Get Out, it feels like the perfect time to revisit your earlier film, Hood of Horror. How do you feel looking back on that one?

If I had been able to finish that movie I think it would have turned out even better. I ended up losing control of it for a while before they brought me back. I do think that movie has a lot of relevance today. I think there's a lot of really interesting stuff in it that relates to Get Out. I think The Last Supper also has a lot of stuff that connects. Personally, I love Get Out, and I think Jordan [Peele, writer-director] did an amazing job. I really think there's going to be a dividing line in horror now with being able to do issue-oriented stuff, and I can't say more about how excited I am about that. It's great that that's now going to be considered central to the mainstream and we can really talk about these important things.

Do you have any fun stories about working with Snoop Dogg on Hood of Horror?

He was a fantastic guy. He's so interesting and so thoughtful. He's a fascinating person. He doesn't sweat. He's wearing all these silk shirts and stuff, and he literally doesn't perspire. It was interesting to work with him, because he isn't like most actors who need a bunch of takes to do better. Some people start to peak around four or fives takes, and then they might dip down and then give you more later. In low budget, you usually don't get to do more than four or five takes. He was really great on the first take and got bored after that. It was like he laid down the track and he was done. His first or second take was always the best. It was very different from most actors. He also would constantly leave set to watch peewee kids football, because he was coaching. He would be watching all the other teams he was about to play, which is awesome.

Do you plan to continue your relationship with the horror genre?

Absolutely! I love horror. I'm a big horror fan, and I really enjoy that genre more than most. I can't say I don't love comedy and drama and action. I might bridge to science fiction, because there's a couple of projects that I'm circling that are in that area. There's a comedy I'm working on now too, but I'd love to stay in the horror space if they'll let me. The thing is it's mostly men that do it, so I'm really hoping I can continue to have a voice in horror.

You mentioned that you're working on a few projects. Can you elaborate on any of those?

I'm re-writing with my husband the 1980 Shaw brothers movie Hex, which is a great, dark, fascinating movie about hexes. I'm attached to direct that, so that could be something I do next. There's a movie called Mer, which is a very dark mermaid story that I'm attached to. It's not financed yet, but that might be something I end up doing as well.

To wrap things up, why would you recommend someone check out The Bye Bye Man?

It's very scary, it's very intense, and it has a heavy that's really interesting because he's psychological. He doesn't need to touch you to hurt you. The movie is about fear and paranoia, and I don't think there's anything better than a movie about fear and paranoia to help us get through this troubling time we're in!

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