"The Engine is Sacred!"

Were you feeling, perhaps, that the "Earth = Third World, Space-Station = America" border-control/immigration/class-uprising allegory in "Elysium" didn't look quite on the nose enough? Well, here are two trailers for Bong Joon-ho's (of "The Host" and "Mother") upcoming "Snowpiercer," in which an ice age has so blighted the planet that the remainders of human society now exist entirely on a gigantic train that travels constantly on a globe-circling track - the richer you are, the closer you live to the engine and get to run the show, while the progressively-poorer live further and further back into the tail. Chris Evans is guy who leads a rebel-uprising among the poor to storm the engines.

The Weinsteins have U.S. distribution on this one, so you'll probably see it sometime between tomorrow and never.

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Escape to The Movies: "The Lone Ranger"

Worse than you've heard.

Intermission looks ahead to Fall.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : The Lone Ranger

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Sharks. Tornado. "Sharknado."

I don't necessarily believe that all things in the world have a purpose - a reason that they come into existence. But, if I did, I would probably conclude that Syfy's purpose has now been served.

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One More "Pacific Rim" Trailer

Depressingly (both in content and because I haaaaaaate "tracking numbers" bullshit being part of the film discussion, but such is life) the "story" of "Pacific Rim's" impending release has turned toward suspense because it's tracking numbers (of likely domestic boxoffice) aren't anywhere near what the people who paid $200 Million+ to make it wanted to see (it's currently projected to open behind "Grown-Ups 2.") But I'm still pulling for it and "Elysium" as the champions of original studio genre-movies this year, and this epic new (final?) trailer is a good reminder WHY:




I can't say that I'm shocked by the tracking though - it feels like the massive ad push that Warner Bros. threw behind making sure "Man of Steel" didn't disappoint (which, incidentally, thanks to the studio's own sky-high projects it still somewhat has) sucked all the oxygen out of their schedule. The press for this thing should've been choking the airwaves (especially on the kiddie networks) and overflowing the toy-aisles to the point that every parent of a school-aged child should be sick to death of hearing about it by now; but it still feels like they're only really pitching to an audience that was already sold back when they greenlit it based simply on the name "Guillermo Del Toro." I'm glad Warner Bros. likes seeing guys like me go nuts for their SDCC rollouts, but guys like me were going to see this anyway - your job is to making my mom want to see your robot movie.

The film is still unlikely to "bomb" given the fact that basically none of this Summer's tentpoles other than "Iron Man 3" have had strong legs for the long-haul; "The Lone Ranger" is almost-certainly DOA, "Man of Steel" will be on its way out of the top-ten by then. And it's all-but garaunteed to do extended, long-term, gangbusters business in the now-vital Chinese/Asia market. But "optics" still count, and the spectacle of one of Summer 2013's few non-sequel/reboot/franchise blockbusters opening second (or worse) to Adam Sandler's yearly "my comedian friends have bills to pay" make-work project is a persuasive-looking argument for turning down good original scripts in favor of "what the hell can we make out of 'Knight Rider'??" 

In the background of all of this, by the way, are the substories that A.) Warners and "Rim" co-producers Legendary Films are in the midst of a nasty break-up and B.) WB is supposedly devoting the vast majority of it's attention to turning the post-"MoS" DCU movies into another decade-spanning corporate safety-net a'la "Harry Potter." Such is the way of things.

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Big Picture: "With Great Power"

...you know the rest.

BTW, did you buy my book? Because you can do that now :)

The Escapist : The Big Picture : With Great Power

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BUY MY BOOK

You can now buy you're very own copy (in print or ebook) of "SUPER MARIO BROS 3: BRICK BY BRICK" from Fangamer. So, please, won't you kindly think about doing so?

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Escape to The Movies: "White House Down"

Surprisingly awesome.

Intermission has more Superman, because why not?

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : White House Down

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Halfway There

So, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (one of the unfortunate "will THIS get you assholes off my fucking back?" toxic-compromise maneuvers of the Clinton era) in key areas, ruling that the Federal Government is Constitutionally prohibited from denying any federal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples married in states where such marriages are legal.


A big win, to be sure, and another step on the inevitable path to full equal marriage for all. But the court also stopped short of ruling one way or the other on a challenge to California's repeal of the gay marriage ban Proposition 8, finding the issue improperly brought before the court and punting it back to the state. So California gets to keep equal marriage... but for now, other states get to keep banning it. The DOMA provision allowing less-enlightened states to refuse to recognize marriages conducted in states with differing laws is also still in-effect; though that will almost-certainly fall on a separate challenge (for example: a military same-sex family is reassigned to a marriage-ban state sues to avoid losing multiple legal protections) either to this court or by the Justice Department.

This is a big, big step and should be recognized as such; but it's not a slam-dunk. The troubling thing about both this and the shameful gutting of the Voting Rights Act yesterday is that both give heavy credence to the prehistoric notion of "State's Rights" conservatism as envisioned by Bush II appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito. As I've said elsewhere, "State's Rights" is a nice idea for small, local issues but for big broad-effect stuff has no functional place in a modern society of instant communication and coast-to-coast air travel;  and the nonsense we saw go down in the Texas legislature overnight is rather illustrative of that.

So, then, what we have now is a country once again divided between states where all citizens are equal and states where only some are equal; and the last time we were in that place it went pretty bad for all involved and really, really bad for the states/people who were on the wrong side of history. Hopefully it won't come to that - hopefully we've evolved in that regard, too.

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Good Company

Wow.

From Texas KXAN Local News (relevant part begins at 2:10)

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Wendy Davis: American Hero (UPDATED)

UPDATE II: It is done. Thanks to he courageous efforts of Wendy Davis, her fellows Texas Democrats and a massive throng of supporters acting to shout-down Republicans and run out the clock, the SB5 bill that would have effectively banned abortion in Texas has been killed.

There are two kinds of people in the word: Thinkers and Believers. Tonight, the Thinkers were also the Fighters - and they won. Thanks to them (for now) no woman in Texas can be forced into a life she did not choose because of someone else's beliefs she may not share or subscribe to.

This was a massive victory for progress and for reason, driven by genuine grassroots, bottom-up, digital-age activism and good old fashioned popular-outrage... and it happened in Texas. Not DC. Not New York. Not Boston. Not LA. Not even Oregon. TEXAS. You think your angry Fox News watching uncles were feeling obsolete and panicky before? Now they know they can't even get away with this shit in Texas anymore.

UPDATE I: The live-stream has ended, it is well past midnight in Texas but it is still chaos in the Texas State Legislature - no one is sure exactly what has or has not happened...


Just under two hours before Wendy Davis' filibuster time would've needed to conclude, the Republican legislators mobilized a series of dubiously-relevant parliamentary maneuvers to shut her down - one relating to her need of a back-brace (and of a second person to help apply it) constituted breaking the "remain standing under your own power" rule regarding filibusters in Texas.

During the ensuing debate over this (during which time she remained standing) her fellow Democrats worked to use parliamentary shenanigans of their own to delay the vote past the 12:00am CST deadline. As the clock rolled over to 12:01, however, Republicans had already begun a roll-call as lead-in to a vote; interrupted constantly by deafening cheers and jeers from pro-choice protesters who had assembled in the gallery. As of 1:27am in Texas, NONE of the major U.S. cable news networks has opted to interupt their reruns of the previous evening's editorial programs to cover the story; but at it's height 160,000 people were watching it unfold on internet livestream.

The situation as of right now is thus: The timestamp on the "official" (according to Republicans) vote is AFTER Midnight, meaning that legally it should be invalid. Republicans are (supposedly) claiming that allowable time can be/was extended because of the interruptions from the crowd. Democrats are (apparently) saying that the law does not afford that option - others are offering screenshots claiming that Republicans physically changed the timestamp from illegal to legal - and they will challenge any attempt to enshrine it as such when business officially re-opens.

In other words: This fight is going to continue, and will likely wind up either in the courts, under review of the Justice Department or both. Some serious shit went down here - and it was watched (and make no mistake captured) live on the web by hundreds of thousands. This is going to get ugly, interesting and will likely not be resolved anytime soon.

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:

There are, fundamentally, two kinds of people in the world: Thinkers and Believers.* Thinkers may not have all the solutions, but in the modern world Believers cause almost all of the problems. Today, Thinkers have a heroine in Texas State Senator Wendy Davis.



Background: Right-wing anti-abortion zealots (but I repeat myself) in Texas have used legislative control of the state government (because there's nothing "States Rights!!!!"-absolutist conservatism can't destroy if it puts its mind to it) to push through a draconian bill that will effectively ban reproductive choice in the state. Republicans have an iron grip on the whole of the state's political machinery, and would be able to simply force this thing through save for one thing: A now seven-hour long and counting fillibuster by ONE Senator, Wendy Davis.

By law, so long as she remains standing (without even so much as leaning) and speaking and/or taking questions from fellow Democrat Senators until the end of the day, she can hold up the special legislative session and the bill will not be able to pass at this time. If she succeeds, it will have taken her 13 hours to do so. You can watch the livestream of this even HERE.

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to gut the most important Civil Rights legislation since Abolition because, in their view, enough time had passed that certain historically-problematic States no longer required the extra oversight of the federal government to keep them from pulling regressive bullshit in regards to Civil Rights. That this kind of bill can still happen, with only the arcane notion of a physical endurance test to stop it, should be illustration enough of just how disastrously wrong they were.

*Not that I should need to explain this again, but "Thinkers vs Believers" is not about religion or atheism. It's about an approach to the world - critical thinking, logic, reason, acknowledgment of reality and the primacy of science. There are plenty of Thinkers who are religious, and a great number of Believers who call themselves "atheists."

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Big Picture: "Jawsome"

Because you demanded it, "Street Sharks."

On a day when the U.S. Supreme Court has essentially declared that state-level government-enforced racism at polling places is okay again; we could all use some silly cartoons in our lives...

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Jawsome

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Is "Jurassic Park 4" Just a Remake of "Jurassic Park?"

I've had a standing-policy about "Jurassic Park 4" for as long as "Jurassic Park 4" has been a possible thing: I will remain nominally positive about the idea of "Jurassic Park 4" up until the (inevitable) point where they decide - for the third fucking time - to waste one of the most potential-laden premises in modern scifi (an excuse for any dinosaur ever to show up anywhere in the world and cause mayhem) by just setting the whole damn thing on the island. Again.

Yes, we all loved the first movie, but why they seem to assume that it was the theme-park location and not the awesome fucking dinosaurs that made it so popular. We've seen the island (no, Part 2 technically being a different island doesn't matter) three times, once was enough, I wanna see a Triceratops stomping around a major city with one or more dudes impaled on his horns, or something similarly awesome.

So, anyway, Joblo thinks they have the basic plot details of the now-in-pre-production JP4; and not only are we back on Isla Nublar again... we're basically back in the first movie again:


According to Joblo's source, the big pitch this time is "what if the first movie had been BIGGER?" Set an unspecified number of years after Part 3, the main setting is supposedly a completed, open and fully-functioning Jurassic Park built on the site of the original. The rides are working, most of the animals have been tamed and it's a huge international tourist destination just like John Hammond had envisioned.

I'll admit: I'm morbidly curious to see this movie (or just read this script) to find out what kind of epic handwave is invoked to justify the idea of anyone re-starting Jurassic Park after everything that's already happened. Interestingly, it seems to borrow at least some basic DNA from John Sayles' infamous JP4 treatment featuring humanoid, weapon-toting dinosaur commandos as heroes: The action apparently involves a new strain of aggressive dinos causing trouble at the park and the use of "tamed" Velociraptors to resist them.

Maybe this is legit, maybe not, but what it does sound like is a disappointing mix of boring and dumb. Okay, fine, I got like 75% of what I've been hoping for out of a "Jurassic Park" sequel from "Dragon Wars;" but I'd still been hoping for more than this...

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Escape to The Movies: "Monsters University"

Because nobody gives a shit about "World War Z." Nor should they.

Also, let's talk more about the XBox 180.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Monsters University

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Unsubbed "Gatchaman" Trailer Hits

Here's a nifty Japanese trailer for the live-action film adaptation of 70s anime staple "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman," which U.S. fans may be more familiar with under the titles of "Battle of The Planets," "G-Force," or "Eagle Riders." Pic opens in Japan in August, no word on a U.S. distributor. New uniforms certainly look nifty, though they do kind of lose the "dressed-as-a-bird" angle. Interestingly, this comes to us from the director of "Grave of The Fireflies" and "Pom-Poko."

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SGC 2013: Day Zero

SGC hasn't even officially begun yet, but I've already gotten to meet lot's of great fans and colleagues. This is going to be a good one, I can feel it.

Regarding my book: I can happily announce that copies of "Super Mario Bros. 3: Brick-By-Brick" (available online soon exclusively from Fangamer.net) will be available for purchase at the ScrewAttack booth in the Dealer Room starting tomorrow (note: cash only). Some fans have already purchased copies from me "in the wild," and if you see me around lugging a briefcase or boxes chances are I've got some and I'd be happy to sell you a copy providing I have the cash onhand to make change; so please don't hesitate to ask.

In addition, I will hopefully be able to sell some copies (supply-contingent, obviously) before and after my panels and possibly also during the autograph session, so keep an eye out for that. I'll likely be re-stocking the booth as needed and to the degree that I am able (supplies are limited) so check back and watch my twitter feed (@the_moviebob) in the event of selling-out. The response to this has been overwhelmingly positive, and if it ends up that I simply didn't bring enough with me (again, online sales coming soon to Fangamer.net) well... there are worse problems for an author to have.

Stay tuned for updates, and if you're here for the con I look forward to seeing you later today :)

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MovieBob's SGC Schedule

So here's where and when I'm scheduled to be places during SGC2013. I'm planning to always have copies of The Book on me for sale while I'm on the floor, though it also looks like it'll have some space at the ScrewAttack sales booth as well, and I'm looking to do some selling before/after my panels and during autograph sessions if at all possible; so those looking keep a look out.



FRIDAY 6/21:
2:00 PM Game OverThinker Autograph Session (Autograph Area Landmark B&C)
9:30 PM "OverThinking It" Panel with Matthew from GameTheory and others (Main Stage 2 Landmark D)

SATURDAY 6/22:
1:00 PM THE GAME OVERTHINKER RETURNS solo/Q&A panel (Main Stage 2 Landmark D)
7:30 PM Gaming On YouTube panel with GameTheory and others (Panel Room 3 Cumberland K&L)

SUNDAY 6/23:
Nothing officially scheduled, but you never know :)

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HOLY SHIT THIS "LEGO" TRAILER!!!

By all rights, a movie based on a line of toys wherein the toys THEMSELVES not only star, but star alongside toy versions of other mass-market branded characters should be THE symbol for the final victory of creeping-corporatism in film.

And yet... "The Lego Movie" looks kind of incredible.

Animation buffs take note: What you're seeing is (apparently) all CGI, but animated in such a way (other than the facial-features) so as to imitate the look of stop-motion made using Lego people. I'm not 100% sure what this technique is called, but I think it's roughly similar to the way the Nicelanders were animated in "Wreck-It Ralph."

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Big Picture: "Man of Tomorrow"

Spoilers, ho!

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Man of Tomorrow

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"The Wolf of Wall Street" Trailer

Hard to believe, but in a few short months "Awards-Worthy (Studio) Movie Season" will be upon us. One of the incoming expected-biggies is Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street," in which Leonardo DiCaprio continues his quest to shame his peers by winning an Oscar while he still looks about 19 years old.

Pic is another "rise and fall of hard-partying late-90s capitalist douchebags" saga, this time based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort, who got busted in '98 running athe crooked brokerage firm that also served as the inspiration for "Boiler Room," one of the brighter spots from that strange "Vin Diesel is going to be a serious actor - no, for real" phase the industry was going through at the time.

Anyway, here's a trailer:

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The Book Is Imminent!

The first printing has been completed on my first book, "Super Mario Bros. 3: Brick By Brick." Very exciting.

The book will be available for sale online likely sometime in the coming week (exact date TBD) exclusively through Fangamer.net (there will be an e-book version as well) although I will be bringing a limited number of physical copies to SGC next weekend to be sold in person (and signed, if that be your bag) pretty-much whenever I've got a free moment to do so and also during/after my designated panel/autograph times.

At this time, those are the only two ways to purchase the book currently slated, and unfortunately I am not able to ship/sell copies over the web myself. However, I'm also working on putting together some local sales-events here in the Boston area and will make the dates/locations of those available as I get them. If you happen to BE the proprietor of a Boston area gaming/book/etc establishment and are interested in discussing hosting a selling/signing event please hit me up in the comments below.

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