September 17, 2015

Fall TV Picks for 2015

The Fall season is upon us bringing back much loved TV shows. Questions will finally be answered, new stories will arise, and characters will go on new journeys. Here are my top shows I’m most looking forward to:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Sept. 29 at 9E/8C on ABC)

I’m sometimes wary about third season’s because in my experience if I enjoy the first two seasons of a show, it may disappoint me with the third season. However, I believe this show has the capability of having another great season. I’m looking forward to seeing Bobbi Morse working in the lab and Skye (Daisy Johnson) and Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie working together. The one thing I’m looking forward to the most is Jemma Simmons coming back. Her storyline for this season has so much potential, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed she actually gets a good story this season.

iZombie (Oct. 6 at 9E/8C on CW)

I need this season to already be here so the showrunners and actors will stop teasing about the big mysterious story arc for Major Lilywhite this season. I’m also excited Peyton Charles will be back. This show is gold to me right now because of all the characters and relationships they have created.

Jane the Virgin (Oct. 12 at 9E/8C on CW)

I love how quirky this show can be, and still keep both feet on the ground when it truly matters. It recognizes the stories are from a telenovela, but still keeps this great level of being sincere. I can’t wait to see the Villanueva ladies back in action, and coping with a baby boy in their close knit family for the first time.

The Librarians (Nov. 1 8E/7C on TNT)

I finally was able to watch this show for the first time this month so this choice may be partly do from still being on a high from it. Ezekiel Jones quickly became a favorite of mine. The best episodes from season one generally were ones with Noah Wyle ( he is a great weakness for me), and I’m keeping my fingers crossed he shows up many times over season two.

Elementary (Nov. 5 10E/9C on CBS)

Last season was like a light among darkness for me. I found most of my favorite shows facing difficulties, but I could always rely on Elementary to be good. The season finale broke my heart, and it will interesting to see what will happen next. The best news to have come from season three so far is John Noble playing Sherlock’s father. I never want my TV screen to part with this man for long. He’s too valuable.

Finally there are the new shows I have been anxiously waiting for since they were announced.

The Muppets (Sept. 22 8E/7C on ABC)

The Muppets were a huge part of my childhood. I’m looking forward to seeing them in this mockumentary setting. I finally get to see the Muppets in their everyday lives. The first clip ABC released was a great creation and still brings a smile to my face. Here’s to seeing Miss Piggy with several handsome guys falling for her.

Supergirl (Oct. 26 8:30E/7:30C on CBS)

The main reason why I’m excited is because there is finally a DC comic show based on a female. The trailer was good, and Calista Flockhart has already stolen the scene she was in for the trailer. It is going to be interesting to see if anyone else will be a scene stealer. The eye candy doesn’t hurt either with Mechad Brooks.

Jessica Jones (Nov. 20 on Netflix)

As soon as they announced Krysten Ritter was going to be Jessica Jones I was sold. It also didn’t hurt when David Tennant was announced as the baddie, Kilgrave. I’m intrigued in seeing Tennant playing a baddie when the majority of time I have seen him on my TV screen I have fallen for him all over again. It is awesome 2015 is the year we get three new comic related shows based on women, but it should have happened sooner.

September 16, 2015

Ladies of Marvel: Comics Edition

In June, Marvel announced this month would be celebrating their ladies from the comics with “Women of Marvel.” They would re-release issues of Black Widow #1, Captain Marvel #1,Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1, Thor #1, Spider-Gwen #1, She-Hulk #1, Ms. Marvel #1, Silk #1, Princess Leia #1, and Spider-Woman #5 (the reason for the fifth issue was because it was the introduction of a new story for Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, and a costume change) for $1 each. This means if you are interested in trying out one of the comics, now is the chance. You can see if one of their stories interests you, and support the ladies while doing it.

I started really reading comic books this year. Before I would casually pick up an issue of Buffy to see what was happening with the Scooby gang, but this was the year I got serious with comics. What got me interested were the announcements of Thor being a female (Thor), Sam Wilson (Falcon) becoming the new Captain America (All-New Captain America), Peggy Carter getting her own short series (Original S.I.N.), and a new series based on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters (S.H.I.E.L.D.). Now I am trying to collect a few of the Marvel ladies comics.

For me my top five of these ten would be: Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Silk, Spider-Woman, and Thor (Black Widow is another favorite). Most of these characters have been around for a while, but it was easy to learn about these characters and histories through the issues and sometimes the internet. It is easier to find out a character’s background thanks to Google.

One reason why I would suggest Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) would be due to the movie coming out a couple of years from now. This was a good series by Kelly Sue Decconick. This series is over now, but a new one will start up soon written by the Agent Carter show runners, Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas.

Of course this recommendation leads me to also suggesting Spider-Woman because Drew and Danvers are best friends, and while Drew may not end up in the movie there is always a chance. It would be awesome to see the two of them together on the big screen.

It would also be great seeing Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) in the movie. Before Danvers was known as Captain Marvel in the comics she bore the title Ms. Marvel. Danvers has shown up in Ms. Marvel and those were some good issues. It would be a great introduction for Khan and/or Drew to be included in the film.

Marvel is also releasing five one-shots featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. agents this month with four out of five of those issues being female agents: Peggy Carter, Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird), Melinda May (Calvary), and Daisy Johnson (Quake). While these single issues are not $1 I will still recommend picking them up.

Of course if you enjoy them, I would highly recommend reading S.H.I.E.L.D. since Morse, May, and Johnson have all been in the series including another lady agent, Jemma Simmons (my favorite).

September 15, 2015

“I’m Engineering”

Only two more weeks until Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back on my TV screen. There is still time to catch up or refresh your mind on what happened during the last two seasons. It is amazing to see this group of characters and how much they have evolved since the pilot. Leo Fitz is probably the one who has had the greatest character development.

In the first season, Fitz was still the baby of the group towards the end of the season. Fitz was a newbie who joined the team because Jemma Simmons dragged him into it. Fitz didn’t really have his own identity. He was FitzSimmons who trusted easily. Season two was a game changer for him.

At the beginning of season two, Fitz was relying on a Simmons who wasn’t there. However, Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie soon befriended him, and helped him overcome his disabilities. By the time Simmons came back to the team they were no longer FitzSimmons. For the first time he was Leo Fitz. While he was not able to handle everything he did as his last year, he was no longer the baby of the group.

Last year, Fitz proved he has chemistry with everyone. His friendship with Mack became one of the greatest relationships on the show. The show also introduced Phil Coulson, Lance Hunter, and Fitz as a trio towards the end of the season, and the trio quickly became one of my favorite things with those episodes. The three of them do not appear to have anything in common, but they were able to give pure entertainment when together.

The best relationship highlighted last season for Fitz was him and Skye. Fitz was in Skye’s corner throughout her whole process of learning she was Inhuman. One reason was because he had already went through the change of no longer being who he once was in season one. He recognized she was having a difficult time with the transition, and he was with her. He was Skye’s number one cheerleader. He didn’t care she had changed because he knew while she may have physically changed she was still the Skye he was friends with.

Fitz grew up during season two. He was able to develop his own voice, and actually saw more action. Fitz got better as time went on and season two, and one of the best episodes that showed his character growth was the finale. He partnered up with Coulson and Mack to take down the Inhumans and Gordon. While it was fun to see Fitz get into some of the action this past season, I believe someone needs to give him some field training.

As for the FitzSimmons aspect this past season it was more of a relief to have seen them separated. Jemma was more of her own person and season one, but Fitz wasn’t. While it hurt to see them apart it was the best thing to happened to Fitz. He was able to fully become his own person who didn’t rely on Jemma.

He was able to make his own decisions, and be more daring. It was good to see them become friends again towards the end of the season, but it was also good to see them having their own perceptions.

Fitz was able to evolve so much, and is quickly becoming one of the strongest characters of the show.

August 14, 2015

Girl Meets World: Who Are You

***WARNING: This post contains spoilers for Girl Meets World episode, 2.12 “Girl Meets Yearbook.”***

Last week’s episode of Girl Meets World dealt with identity. Each of the younger characters were typecast in a role in their yearbooks. This led them to change personalities during the episode minus Lucas who was trying to get his friends to revert back to their former selves.

Farkle is the first to change. He doesn’t want to be known as just Farkle. He wants to be a regular guy. Over the series, Farkle is one who has questioned who he is the most. He has had more than one identity crisis. First with someone making fun of his turtle necks. Then this year he chooses Team Maya when the class gets detention. One reason being because he has a crush on Maya, but the main reason is he is not comfortable with being in a Farkle labeled box. He is still trying to find himself. He is the one who wins the MVP for this episode.

One of the best scenes was between Lucas and Farkle at the table talking to each other. Lucas wants the Farkle he knows back, but Farkle acknowledges while he still wants to take over the world he is changing. Earlier, Farkle hints at Lucas should know about people changing, but Lucas doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get that Farkle is referring to himself having already changed.

The group has only known one Lucas. The one who is alright with everything, but this season has shown Lucas wasn’t always like this. Farkle has observed and made note of the references about the Lucas pre-NYC. The show has given hints Lucas wasn’t always the outstanding guy he is now. He’s changed, and this group of friends has helped make maintain who is now. He maintained his cool when the bully was picking on his best friend, Zay. The closest slip up he had was when he went with Maya’s team during detention. It makes me wonder if one of the reasons why Lucas wants his friends to go back to normal is because he wishes to still be grounded by them.

The part of the show I didn’t enjoy as much was the girls. It appeared the writers were using the girls to push an agenda, and they self-contradicted themselves. The show wants to put Shawn and Katy together, and tried to prove it by Katy not being able to impersonate Shawn because she cares about him.

I would not have taken objection to this scene as much, if Katy warned Maya about this when Maya tries to impersonate Riley. Maya’s friendship with Riley is stronger than whatever Katy feels for Shawn. This leaves me with the question do we take Maya’s observations about Riley with a grain of salt? Maya is extremely close to Riley so it is very possible she may not see straight with Riley. If the writers wanted us to believe both Hart women, then they should have found a better way to express what they wanted without the self-contradiction.

July 24, 2015

Ant-Man: A New Hope

*Warning: This post contains spoilers to Ant-Man*

I was wary about Ant-Man, when it was announced that Edgar Wright had left the production. What piqued my interest with the film again was announcement of Evangeline Lilly being in the film. A part of my problem was I never really pictured any of the actors in a Marvel film, but I should have learned by now Marvel generally excels at casting. Michael Peña definitely gets the MVP for the film (as well as Paul Rudd’s face which never ages). His character made this film feel like a mix between a heist and superhero film. The whole knowing a guy scenes were a delight with him telling the story.

The film also didn’t hurt with Sam Wilson’s (Falcon) appearance. It joined the movie to modern day Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world needs more Falcon. I would also like to applaud the film with Scott Lang suggesting they call the Avengers to help out. The thing about watching single character films after the first Avengers movie is they generally leave me asking why the character didn’t call up their new buddies to help out?

The one thing that caught my main focus is some Marvel movies can actually give more than one origin story in a film. Captain America had two origin stories. The forefront story was Steve Rogers, but then we also learned about Bucky Barnes who became the Winter Soldier between the first film and Captain America: Winter Soldier.  Ant-Man dealt with Scott Lang’s origin, but it also showed Hope van Dyne’s story. I fell for Hope and believe there was not enough screen time with her character. The mid credits scene appealed to me because Hank Pym was finally giving Hope her own suit. It shows potential with her character.

Sebastian Stan who plays Bucky has a 9 picture deal with Marvel. If Marvel has this deal with him, why can’t they make Hope’s character a bigger player? Yes, Bucky is big in the universe, but so is The Wasp. If Marvel is going with a new direction with her then let Hope become a bigger part. We need more ladies in these films. Captain Marvel is eventually going to come out in theaters, but what about the other characters? Marvel needs to give more screen time for Hope, and they could easily. They don’t need to worry about an origin story. We already got it with Ant-Man.

The film altogether was enjoyable. I don’t think it was absolutely necessary for Scott and Hope to be caught kissing in the end, but it was still an enjoyable film.

*Other observations*

*I was absolutely surprised and excited to see a Hayley Atwell appearance as Peggy Carter, at the beginning of the film.

*Major kudos to giving the girl a train set. It showed a girl does not have to have a room full of dolls.

*I think Kevin Feige is starting to walk a thin line by not exactly including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Grant Ward is taking over Hydra so it makes me wonder how Mitchell Carson is tied into Hydra with no association with Ward. Yes, I know there can be different subsets, but it is still becoming a fine line.

July 19, 2015

What to Watch: iZombie

This is a little bit different than my regular binge post due to the fact only the first five episodes are available on Hulu or the CW website. I’m recommending iZombie because after Tuesday, the first episode will no longer be available to watch. CW is re-airing the first season right now on Tuesdays at 9/8 C. So take some time to spend on this “ZomComRomDram.”

1.) The Many Personalities Liv Moore Takes On.

Rose McIver is a talented actress. She takes on a new personality with every brain she eats, and it is fun to see the different character traits she is able to portray.

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2.) Opposite Gender Formula

The show has reversed genders with the normal formula many shows take on. The lead is a female zombie. They also have the ex-fiance, Major Lilywhite, who knows nothing about Liv being a zombie. Another thing that separates this show from other shows is Major gets his own story. One of the main problems with certain TV shows is the love or former love interest only being the background to support the main character. They do not get fleshed out. Major does get to be his own person.

3.) The Dialogue

Generally when a show has wit with a dash of pop culture I’m sold.

4.) Girl Friendship

TV is hardly ever without some epic bromance, but it is harder to find a good, solid girl friendship. Marvel TV generally has DC TV beat on this front. DC has gotten a bit better, but it still needs to take a step or more up. Peyton and Liv’s friendship is an excellent example of where DC/Vertigo is getting it right. The best part is they have not been involved in a love triangle.

5.) Guy/Girl Friendships

As much as I cheer on girl friendships, I cheer on guys and girls being friends just as hard. I love it when I get a sense of equality between a guy and girl. Where they don’t have to have a crush or unrequited love on the other character in order for them to interact. There needs to be a good representation of these friendships, and this show has them.

6.) Ravi and Major

While the other two types of friendships are important to me, I cannot ignore this friendship. I don’t know if this friendship was always planned, but the chemistry between Rahul Kohli and Robert Buckley is terrific.

7.) Veronica Mars Cameos

Because you know it is going to be a party anywhere Ree-shard Casablancas shows up.

8.) Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti

Ravi probably gets the MVP award. The man is a delight and the optimism he shows throughout the series is great. He is Liv’s personal cheerleader, and a Major lover. This is a friend you will always want in your corner, and wish nothing but happiness for him.

July 11, 2015

Comic Con 2015: Best of Friday

“Oh what a day. What a lovely day!” Friday was a great day, and will probably be my favorite day of Comic Con. It was full of my favorite casts being happy with their internet accounts. The panels yesterday were perfection (minus the whole Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD having to share a panel)!

Agent Carter already wins with Hayley Atwell alone, but it becomes even better with James D’Arcy added to the mix.

What makes the Dubsmash even better is what Luke Mitchell tweeted earlier.

With this Con where Agent Carter is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is close by.

Now if they would have only told me Jemma will be ok, the day would have been perfection.

Then there was iZombie with one of the best announcements of the day.

This made me happy because the show lacks with number of girls.

The winner of the day would have to be Star Wars with the surprise concert and free lightsabers. It proves that Comic Con is indeed a magical place where just about anything can happen.

July 10, 2015

Comic Con 2015: Best of Thursday

This year, it felt like Thursday was the calm before the storm. Right now my twitter feed is exploding with Agent Carter love because Hayley Atwell will win at Comic Con this year. There were some epic moments yesterday.

The first epic moment was Bill Murray making an appearance. This man deserves all the love. He checks off at least one surprise guest at the Con.

Marvel is livestreaming the Con, and a couple of my favorites were Lyndie Greenwood (Jenny Mills is my girl) and Will Friedle.

Marvel also interviewed Nicole Perlman, co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy and writer for Captain Marvel.

There was also a interview with Kris Anka. I know he is an artist for Marvel, but I mention him because he is the one who recreated Jessica Drew’s (Spider-Woman) outfit. It is the reason why I started reading and fell in love with the series. He is also the artist for the new Captain Marvel comic series written by the Agent Carter show runners, Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas.

io9 came out with a review on Blindspot, Supergirl, Containment, and Lucifer. It made my Tom Ellis heart smile. They talk about funny Ellis is in Lucifer, and I will repeat what I have said before, watch Miranda.

http://io9.com/which-fall-tv-show-will-rock-your-world-our-spoiler-fr-1716703519

Con Man!!! It is a beautiful thing when nerds come together with especially when is Alan Tudyk is at the head.

The winners for Thursday had to be the iZombie cast.

Rahul Kohli is the winner of the day

*Bonus* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

July 9, 2015

Pre-Comic Con Highlights 2015

San Diego Comic Con officially started today, but you could already feel it in the air last night.

Last night, Conan had his first Comic Con episode and it dd not disappoint. The episode was nerd heaven with all the references, and the the art department should get major kudos for their geeky creations.

The Mad Max: Fury Road introduction was glorious. Conan has had some great introductions in the past, but this may be my all time favorite. The credits were also amazing with the comic style, and you end up playing guess the reference all throughout.

The show then hit the ground running with the new Wolverine auditions.

Personally I would watch a new Wolverine movie with Nick Offerman or Betty White. I also think Kristen Schaal should be in a Ghostbusters film.

Then there was Gollum coming out and stealing Elijah Wood’s The One Ring.

The best part of the night for me was the Seth Green appearance and him and Conan having a lightsaber battle.

Another highlight of the night was the Lucifer writers tweeting this pic.

I fell in love with the pic first and foremost for the Tom Ellis, but then I noticed how many writers are women. While it is not an equal amount (my true wish for a writer’s room) there is still a good representation.

Finally, the cherry on top is of course Hayley Atwell. I’m counting it because she is Peggy Carter. This lady is going to steal Comic Con this year with her awesomeness and Dubsmash videos.

July 7, 2015

It’s Almost Here!

San Diego Comic Con starts this week, and the internet will come alive. My Tumblr and Twitter feed will fill up so fast, it will be hard to stay on top of it. The internet has made it easier for people who are not able to attend the Con. News of panels and interviews arrives seconds after announcements are made (some sources even livestream). Then there is my favorite part of this coming weekend, NERD HQ. Where some of my favorite people do panels with fans for charity. While I may not be there in person, I made a list of randomness to find while living on the internet for the next few days.

1. Surprise Guests

2. Hayley Atwell doing at least 3 Dubsmash videos

3. Someone giving the finger (probably a cast member from The Walking Dead)

4. hearing the word “Awesome”

5. mention of a Chuck movie

6. seeing former cast mates meet up

7. mention of Stephen Amell’s upper body (bonus points for visual)

8. Firefly reference (there should be many this year with Con Man being at SDCC)

9. obscene amount of PDA between casts

10. cosplayers from canceled shows

Have a fun weekend, and may it be full of epicness! Always remember you can have fun on SDCC weekend thanks to the internet. Yell at your friends at how rude your favorite people are being and bond.