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amoveablejake · 4 years

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A Vision of Wanda

See what I did there

Yes. I know that I have discussed ‘Wandavision’ previously and also that I start most of these pieces with a slight disclaimer but thats neither here nor there. The reason why again we’re jumping back in to looking at the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is because I am finding it hard to think of anything else. I was also excited for ‘Wandavision’ and from the limited trailers that I saw for it I thought that this does look like it could be something I am very much going to fall for, what I didn’t realise was that it was going to be the inside of my head and surpass all of my expectations.

As the series is still ongoing I won’t ruin anything about the key plot points today. Once the series has wrapped up perhaps we’ll dive back in to talk about the development of the narrative and the greater impact but for today I thought in order to dodge that bullet we’d look at the aspects that have made me adore the project in a sort of spoiler free way.

First off, and yes this is a spoiler so look away now, the show within a show format is a real hit for me. It is a fantastic way to tell this story and to examine Wanda’s frame of mind but more than that it offers up some excellent excuses to see Vision in some brilliant outfits and more importantly to hear some exquisite theme tunes. As I write this I am listening to the theme tunes for the Wandavision show within ‘Wandavision’. Honestly, they’re all hits. They make me nostalgic for times I didn’t live in and make me think back to golden days that I haven’t experienced outside of photographs. They bring with them a sense of comfort that as a viewer we cling to as everything else in Westview seems to unravel. Like all good old fashioned sitcom opening songs they set out the premise of the show which in this case is quite the minefield so instead we get a sickly sweet look at Wanda and Vision’s life that really is anything but? After five episodes I’m still not quite sure where the series is going to end up but as long as we keep the theme tunes coming like this I will be more than happy to stay along for the ride even if it results in heartbreak city.

Now, another part of the series that has really sucked me in the Suburban setting. Look, I’ll admit I’m a sucker for the American suburbs. I enjoy the way it is portrayed in films like ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ but really I’m always looking for it to be shown under the American gothic light and this is what we get with ‘Wandavision’. The picture perfect outside and something brewing on the inside is what I’m always drawn to, with projects like ‘Twin Peaks’ (oh boy, how much time do we have) aswell as a book that I’,m currently reading called ‘The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires’ which I would highly recommend. I guess what with ‘Wandavision’ and the Southern Book Club I am currently quite deep into the American gothic suburban life and I’m not complaining at all. The hidden sinister thoughts behind the smiles has captivated me once again and if both can pull off the ultimate reveal like ‘Twin Peaks’, well, I’ll be one happy resident in suburbia.

There wasn’t really an end goal to my piece today. I’ll admit it was more of a love in for ‘Wandavision’ without trying to give too much away. I will however, try to round us off with a thought other than pure head over heels infatuation. After the end of ‘Endgame’ I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to go in the MCU and honestly I still don’t know. But, if Marvel Studios continue to take risks and branch out from the path they have previously forged with off beat projects like ‘Wandavision’ then I don’t need to know where we’re going to end up because I am more than happy to just be along for the ride.

-Jake, a man trying to figure out how to get into Westview to steal Vision’s clothes, 07/02/2021

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marvelvsmarvel · 5 years

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Bona Fide Superhero: Jessica Jones

So Far From Home was truly Amazing and Endgame was beyond words. But although the Netflix corner of the MCU has all be cancelled I can proudly say that Jessica Jones Season 3 was the best one yet and one of the better closing seasons of any show I’ve seen in a while. Obviously they knew this was their last run so there wasn’t a cliffhanger or anything at the end but it’s the way the summized the series and closed the chapter and shot it all that felt right and good.

I’m gonna start with supporting cast because hopefully you already know that I feel Krysten Ritter as JJ is such a perfect and natural casting on par with the likes of RDJ as Tony Stark. New squeeze Erik Gelden: 1. Having this incredible power to detect the good and evil in people (I bet Frank would give this guy a whiplash) though you have to admit it was an amalgam of good and evil since no one is perfect which leads to 2. Unlike Arturo from S2 this guy wasn’t an inherently good guy had a lot of shit he was working out including shit he kept going back on but he was just real and seemed like the most real character that’s been on the show (some might say he’s relatable) and then 3. It helps that he has this Pedro Pascal look and vibe to him.

Speaking of Jess’s squeezes the little surprise visit from Luke was seriously a love letter from those of Marvel Netflix and the Defender’s. Knowing where Luke’s character is in his own world but seeing him come back to help a friend. It just screamed to me that things change people change but you still got me and I am still me. Something small but big was her little wave goodbye to him because waving is out of pocket for Jess but instead it felt like a sincere goodbye to these characters who we’ve come to really dig into who showed us the blurred lines of heroics but who showed us that while being a hero isn’t easy doing good normally just takes doing something.

In spite of this I turn briefly to the true villain of the season and then the true antagonist of the series. Jeremy Bobb as Gregory Salinger is one of those things where you hope he didn’t have too much fun in this role. Turning out a whole serial killer was just bleh and I think appropriate. Every other villain from Kilgrave to Kingpin or Sasha or Mariah all were power thirsty individuals with some having the actual power to back it up. But with the tone and theme of Jessica Jones a smart and creepy and cliche loner middle aged white man serial killer is the type of villain you expect these street level heroes to go after and stop. Now if this were Punisher the guy wouldn’t have made it out his front door but the complexities that make up Jess told this right to her arc that killing isn’t easy but doing things the right way are often times even harder to accomplish. There couldn’t have been a better way to show her character development and the strength and will that she has that really is heroic.

In comparing her to the other Defenders it seemed like Jess wouldn’t naturally have an archenemy and would never get that stand-off of equals but boy were we wrong. Let me just say I love Trish Walker and even more Rachael Taylor since I first saw her of Transformers with her whole Australian accent but seeing her in her drug induced addict ways is really her peak performance. Her beautiful blue eyes get this crazed look of pain and desperation. Honestly she kicked a whole lotta ass in this one and I had wished we gotten a real Hellcat costume out of it like how her mom suggested cat ears and how her business is literally a fashion company just makes it a missed opportunity. But she’s been the true antagonist of the series keeping in mind not simply a villain she turned out to be but an antagonizing opposition to our hero. She’s been an addict since she was young and famous and grant it child fame claims that to most people but this antagonizes Jess to be her sister’s keeper which is a loving act but could also be a harmful burden. I don’t want to knock their sisterhood because their love is real but some people can’t help themselves and it does harm them and those around them more. But while Trish always saw her as her protector that came with perceptions and projections to get Jess to be a hero that she wanted her to be instead of the great loving hero she already was to her. This comes to a head with Trish getting powers and trying to realize that lifelong perception of a real hero only to be consumed by the power and turned by it until it was her heroics or nothing at all. It’s a sad storyline for her from beginning to end because even if that hero of hers were to have shown up in her past and saved her from her abusive dad her loving yet cruel mother is really the one that set her down this path through best intentions.

So lastly is Jess and if you’ve read this far just know this last part is me gushing over how much more I’ve come to love her and Krysten Ritter for her. She’s just the coolest one of these Defenders because she’s just badass without trying has all the best one liners and drinks bourbon. This season really showed off her real strength being her love and resolve. Jessica Jones was meant to be a shady personality with a heart of gold and nothing screamed that more that her destroying Sallinger’s evidence to save Trish. Like all she had to do was steal it not actually do what the serial killer asks! But that’s her. She’s a woman of her word. But two key standoffs with Trish the first after she destroyed the evidence in the hotel room where she tells Trish I choose you always. Her acting there really sold it a broken person trying to keep the pieces of her life together even though the thing she did to do it broke her heart. Then there was what was meant to be her hero showdown against the evil version of herself though the pain of going through with it rendered a heartbreaking performance. She wears her leather jacket like a cape her cocky attitude and strut her heroic calling card but she didn’t want any of it. Her sister literally tried to kill her and it pained her so much and pissed her off that she lifts and drops her with the most force she’s ever used on a person. It was the lashing back from Trish at her when she was taking drugs in the club it was Trish calling her a coward because she tried to prevent the surgery to give her powers. It was Jess’s greatest fear that one day she would lose the only family she had left no matter how hard she fought with all her powerful strength and even stronger love to defend and keep it because she knew it was inevitable. The ending was less of a teaser and more to reflect that even heroes have things they regret have people they’ve lossed have demons but they rise above them day after day after day. Thank you, Jess...

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undertheinfluencerd · 3 years

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Powder Keg, originally titled Krudttønden, is a biographical drama that explores the events leading up to the 2015 Copenhagen shootings in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France a month prior. The film revolves around four people who would find their lives rocked by the event, including an aging police officer, a struggling-to-find-work security guard, a filmmaker, and a recently released criminal who finds himself increasingly influenced by more radical Islamist groups.

Related: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Movies & TV Shows: Where You Know The Game Of Thrones Star

Game of Thrones alum Nikolaj Coster-Waldau spoke with Screen Rant to discuss the docudrama, its efforts to remain honest to the tragic events and people involved, and what he took away from the project.

Screen Rant: This was a really powerful movie, it’s a really interesting exploration of the tragic events. How familiar were you with those events prior to signing on for the film?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: I was very familiar with that day. I was home, I live just north of Copenhagen and it’s a small country. It was a national trauma that had happened because we in Denmark felt we were isolated from that kind of event. Just before this thing happened, there [were] these horrific attacks in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo paper that we obviously followed with horror, but then when it happened in Copenhagen, it really was just a wave of shock. So I was very familiar. and it was a big reason why I wanted to be part of this movie.

So your character, is he based on one specific person, or is he sort of a composite of multiple real people involved?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Rico, the cop that I play who is the anti-terror squad leader, is not a specific cop, because, you know, you just can’t give those names out and they wouldn’t want us to. But we talked with — myself, the writer, director — with all the researchers and had discussions with those people, so he’s not a real person, but he is based on reality.

What were some of the biggest lessons that you took away from the research and from talking with these real people to help sort of inform your performance?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: There’s the basic, as with any part, of how much work they do, how much training, [chuckles] how hard it is, which obviously I could use for Rico. My character feels like he’s at the peak of his career, but his body is telling him, “No, you are at the end of it, my friend.” He wants life to go on as it always has and this is his whole identity, so I could use that directly, that knowledge. But also, I think what I loved about the story, about the script, was how they chose to follow these four characters that day and insist on the humanity that they all share. I think with this story, what was so shocking was that with some terrorist attacks around the world — 9/11 is of course the defining moment of the last 20 years in the Western world — these were people that came from somewhere else, it was like a foreign attack if you will.

Here it was a Danish citizen who chose to do this, who decided that discussion is no longer an option, the only way forward is by killing the people I don’t agree with and I think that is so tragic and so disturbing and so sad that we got to that point. It’s also why I think it’s important that we all have to acknowledge that, as much as we might not want to, we are also part of the problem of division. We see it all over the world, this whole weird time we live in where politics becomes Mortal Kombat sometimes and that it’s no longer okay to disagree, that if you disagree with me, you’re a bad person. We need to change our ways because it leads to destruction and fear and it undermines what we kind of all want to achieve and that is what I love about this movie. In this story is that it insists on the fact that we are all in this together.

Whether it’s Omar who commits the killings — obviously this is his choice, he’s a grown man, he is responsible, but how did this 20-year-old end up doing this? Are there any moments before this where you go, “Well, maybe if we as a society had done something differently? Is there something different [we should do] differently,” but to at least have the discussion, I think, is very important.

Looking at all of those elements coming into the film, what would you say was one of your biggest creative challenges throughout the production?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: I think the biggest challenge was, “Is making this movie too soon?” When something really traumatic happens, how much time does it need before you can actually look at it with a healthy perspective, if you will. I think that, obviously, we came to the conclusion that it was important. Even when I got the script, I was like, “Oh, yeah, when was that?” And I thought it was further back in time. Sometimes when traumatic things happen, we get through them, and then we want to forget about it, especially with this one as it did not fit the self-image we had as a country.

That feeling almost made it more important for me, because I was shocked by that I myself was like, “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that happened. And was that 15 years ago? No, it was four years ago. Oh, s***.” Because the problem hasn’t gone away. We see that on a small scale in neighborhoods where people fight like crazy or you see it on a global scale, now you have the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Then you go, “Well, we tried to solve an issue by brute force 20 years ago and it did not really turn out the way we want it. Not because we didn’t have all the best intentions and all the goodwill, it just didn’t work. So how can we deal with these things in a better way?” Sometimes it can be very painful to talk about it, obviously, but it’s I do think it’s important to insist on.

I couldn’t agree more. This film also marks an interesting sort of trend for you lately in which we’re getting to see you return to more Denmark-based productions. What’s that been like for you, getting to speak in your native tongue more often on camera in comparison to, obviously, Game of Thrones and such?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Yeah, it’s funny because it wasn’t really a plan to do three Danish movies, but I just loved these very different scripts and it just felt like, “Yeah, I’ll do that.” I got to see my family a bit more, which was also a wonderful bonus, but I love the stories and that’s always what I allow to dictate the choices I make. Since then, I just came back from Mexico, where I did this very American movie, so now I’m back to the Anglo world.

You got to have a good balance of both, right? So you mentioned the physicality of your character and how that connects to his story and though there’s not a whole lot of action scenes in the film, there are a few involving your character. How was the physicality for you from the actor’s perspective as much as the character?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: It was interesting, I mean with this movie there was some specifics that were, I wouldn’t say challenging, but challenging production-wise and also in terms of just being very careful of the subject matter, because it’s a real story and we wanted to be as close to what happened on that night. It’s very sensitive because three men were killed and we were shooting in neighborhoods where that happened where there is still a lot of tension, so I think the challenge was more about being truthful, but also be very, very careful not to make it seem as if we’re trying to take advantage of a tragedy. I’m obviously, because I was part of the creative team behind the movie, I’m proud of the movie and I feel we’ve managed that balance, but that was, I think, the biggest challenge.

I think it was a very special movie to make [for everyone involved] because every one of us had a relationship to that story and knew that story and it was such an emotional day [when it happened]. At the end of the movie, you see this huge march of light that happened the following day after the attack in Copenhagen where people came out, just walked very peacefully with torches, insisting on reacting in a peaceful, loving way to something so horrific. I’m answering your question in a very, very, very long answer [laughs], but I think the biggest challenge was the fact that this was a real story that happened recently and it affected everyone, both us making it but also, I would argue, most people in Denmark.

Given how personal it was for you, how does it feel to finally have it coming to the States after initially coming out last year?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: It’s wonderful that it’s coming out. When it came out in Denmark, like so many other movies we came out on Friday after the Tuesday the country was shut down. [Laughs] It was, you know, it was disappointing in that way. A pandemic affects everyone, of course, but I’m very happy that it has a life because I also think that it’s a universal story. I think whether you’re American or Danish, you can relate to the horror of terrorism and – obviously, in the US you have had more attacks – but the way it affects you is the same I think.

More: 10 Best Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Roles Before He Played Jaime Lannister

Powder Keg is now available on digital platforms and VOD.

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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Peter Jackson's Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes | ScreenRant

Peter Jackson is one of the most renowned directors working in Hollywood today. He might be most famous for bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life on the big screen (in true George Lucas fashion, he did it perfectly with one trilogy and then divided fans with a prequel trilogy), but he’s directed a bunch of movies besides that.

RELATED: 7 Things in Lord Of The Rings Canon That Peter Jackson Ignored

He actually got his start in the “splatter” subgenre of horror as a young filmmaker in New Zealand. Some of his movies have fared well with critics; others haven’t done so well. So, here are Peter Jackson’s Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes.

14 The Lovely Bones (32%)

Peter Jackson has only ever made one major misstep in his career, and The Lovely Bones is it. It’s about a teenage girl who is lured into a weird shrine by a pedophile (who couldn’t look more like a pedophile with the thick-rimmed glasses, greasy hair, and creepy smile) and then murdered.

She then wanders the Earth as a lost soul, watching her family as they reel from her death. It could’ve been a powerful work of teary-eyed young-adult coming-of-age drama in the right hands, but Jackson just didn’t strike the right tone and the movie failed as a result.

13 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (59%)

It spelled trouble the second Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema decided to adapt The Hobbit as an eight-hour Lord of the Rings-style trilogy, because the book isn’t suited to that. It’s basically a fairy tale.

The Lord of the Rings encompasses three giant volumes, but The Hobbit can be read in an afternoon – where did the producers get the idea to adapt both of those to the same length? (Well, of course we know where: the promise of billions of dollars.) The third Hobbit movie focuses on “the Battle of the Five Armies,” an event that has absolutely nothing to do with any of the main characters, leaving them to be sidelined.

12 The Frighteners (63%)

In this horror comedy, Michael J. Fox plays an architect who finds himself able to communicate with ghosts and spirits following his wife’s death. This leads to a run-in with the specter of a mass murderer and the Grim Reaper himself.

One critic has described The Frighteners as a cross between Ghostbusters and Twin Peaks, but it doesn’t have the heft of either of those projects. Tonally, that description is right on the money, but whereas those two can be watched over and over again and never become tiresome, this one runs out of steam before the end of the first viewing.

11 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (64%)

It wasn’t too long after The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hit theaters that fans started calling it The Phantom Menace of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga. As the first installment of a prequel trilogy to a beloved and almost perfect cinematic saga that overuses CGI effects, has too many cheesy comedic characters, and ultimately fails to live up to the original, it’s fair to say that that’s an accurate description.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Why The Hobbit Trilogy Wasn't As Good As The Lord Of The Rings (And 5 Why It Was Better)

Sitcom star Martin Freeman has too much of a cynical, wink-to-the-audience quality to carry the weight of one of these trilogies on his shoulders. The Fellowship of the Ring, this ain’t.

10 Bad Taste (68%)

Peter Jackson’s directorial debut certainly lives up to its title. It combines horror, science fiction, action, horror, and a healthy dose of its titular tastelessness for a delightful, if gut-wrenching romp.

Like most first-time directors tackling an indie feature, Jackson leaned into his low budget and made a big-budget movie on a low budget for a rough, messy, but endlessly fun moviegoing experience. The plot sees an alien fast food chain coming to Earth to grind up human beings into meat for their burgers, and it only gets more absurd from there. Surprisingly, Bad Taste put Jackson on the film industry’s radar.

9 Meet the Feebles (71%)

Moviegoers enjoyed the novelty of Jim Henson-style puppets appearing in an R-rated movie with tons of swearing, sex, and graphic violence a couple of years ago in The Happytime Murders. However, Peter Jackson had reveled in this gimmick – and with much more effective results – years earlier with his film Meet the Feebles.

The black-comic tone of the film might not be to every viewer’s tastes, but with catchy musical numbers and a perverse puppeteering style, Meet the Feebles expertly uses juxtaposition to its favor. It’s an adult-oriented delight for people who grew up on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

8 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (74%)

If The Hobbit had been adapted as a two-part film as Guillermo del Toro intended and not stretched out to a trilogy, it would’ve been another story.

In The Desolation of Smaug, scenes that last a paragraph in the book and never should’ve been included in a film adaptation in the first place, due to their lack of consequences and relevance to the plot, are dragged out into half-hour set pieces. In Peter Jackson’s quest to make The Hobbit films as grand and epic as The Lord of the Rings films, what we got are movies that don’t feel grand or epic, but are really lo-o-o-ong.

7 King Kong (84%)

Since the original King Kong is one of cinema’s most revered classics, Peter Jackson took on a practically Herculean responsibility when he signed on to remake it. Jackson has said that he was struck by how much the original made him care about the titular ape, so that’s what he strived to do with this remake.

And it’s fair to say, since he used the motion-capture technology he pioneered with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and cast his Gollum, Andy Serkis, to play Kong, he managed it. We’re never on Carl Denham’s side – we see that the ape is just a fool in love.

6 Braindead (86%)

In his early days as the “splatter” king of New Zealand, Peter Jackson made this hilariously gory horror comedy about a man living with his mother who gets into trouble when he beds the wrong girl and a rabid rat-monkey turns the town into a horde of the undead.

Although it wasn’t a big box office success on its release, Braindead quickly became a cult classic, and in Time Out’s survey of the horror genre’s foremost actors, directors, and writers, Braindead was determined to be the 91st greatest horror film of all time. Simon Pegg also noted it as a huge influence on Shaun of the Dead.

5 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (91%)

Peter Jackson was shooting all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back, so if the first one didn’t hit, he would’ve been in a lot of trouble. The first chapter had to make such a strong impression on audiences that they’d be willing to commit to two more movies over the next couple of years.

Thankfully, The Fellowship of the Ring made that impression. It introduced audiences to characters they could root for – Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, the whole gang – and successfully sold the weight of what was at stake with a stunning prologue and an ensuing narrative to back it up.

4 Heavenly Creatures (92%)

Heavenly Creatures was Peter Jackson’s cinematic dramatization of the Parker-Hulme murder case, which rocked Christchurch in 1954 and has continued to echo throughout the New Zealand consciousness – in books, plays, novels, and of course, movies – ever since. The shocking case saw a 16-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend murder the 16-year-old’s mother.

Until then, Jackson was known as the “splatter” guy – this movie proved he was a real filmmaker. This was the movie that gave Kate Winslet and, to a lesser extent, Melanie Lynskey (best known as Charlie’s stalker Rose from Two and a Half Men) their big breaks, and earned Jackson and his co-writer Fran Walsh an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay.

3 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (93%)

The closing chapter of Peter Jackson’s big-screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy ended things in such a satisfying way that the Academy gave it a record number of nominations, and then when it won every single award it was up for, it also set the record for most wins.

RELATED: Everything We Know (So Far) About Amazon's Lord Of The Rings Series

And bear in mind that it’s unheard of for the Academy to even consider awarding a fantasy movie. Shooting the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy back-to-back was a monumental and ambitious undertaking, but it’s clear from The Return of the King that Jackson was up to the task and then some.

2 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (95%)

The second part of a trilogy tends to be the best – The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, The Road Warrior, the list goes on – because it doesn’t have to set anything up and wind anything down. It’s a stepping stone; it’s all action.

However, most Lord of the Rings fans would consider The Return of the King to be slightly better than The Two Towers, because it’s the epic finale and, against all odds, it’s actually a satisfactory conclusion to the story. But then again, The Two Towers has the breathtakingly cinematic Battle of Helm’s Deep sequence that the MCU attempts to top three times a year.

1 They Shall Not Grow Old (100%)

The most impressive achievement of this World War I documentary is the colorized imagery. Peter Jackson took grainy, black-and-white photographs from 1914-1918 and gave them a splash of color and a touch-up to make them look like they were taken today by an HD digital camera.

As a tribute to all the young men who fought in the First World War, many of whom gave their lives, They Shall Not Grow Old is a powerful and poignant study that more than earns its rare 100% rating. The fact that the doc was released in 2018, exactly 100 years after the conflict ended, is the icing on the cake.

NEXT: David Fincher's Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

source https://screenrant.com/peter-jacksons-movies-ranked-rotten-tomatoes/

#screenrant

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obsidianarchives · 6 years

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Black Woman Creator: Afiya Augustine

Hailing from the tropical isle of Trinidad, Afiya Augustine is a writer, freelancer, podcaster, and creator of Pretty Poet Ink, an online handcrafted accessories boutique. Afiya finds tons of inspiration for her work from her love of pop culture, nostalgia, history, science fiction and fantasy. When she is not crafting, she spends time listening to music, tweeting, writing poetry and prose, posting photos of her family, catching a flick, or learning something new. We spoke to Afiya about being a creator, balancing creating with a nine to five, and who some of her favorite Black women creators are.

Black Girls Create: What do you create?

I create quite a few things, actually. First and foremost, I am a writer. I’ve been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since I was twelve and have been a professional entertainment writer/editor for well over five years.

Next, I am the creator and founder of Pretty Poet INK — an online boutique of handcrafted wonders. I both design and create a plethora of things, which (at the moment) includes wearable and useable art otherwise known as jewelry and accessories. With my jewelry, I often use actual semi-precious stones, crystals, glass and wood beads, in addition to plated and precious metals. My accessories are mostly fabric-based items like bow ties, hair bows, and I’m slowly venturing into things like wallets and pouches. In addition to pieces that are of my own design, I also do custom pieces for others, usually for special occasions like weddings.

Lastly, I host a podcast, called ‘Adult-ish’, which is tackles the everyday trials and tribulations of transitioning into adulthood and all the responsibilities that comes with it no one ever really tells you about.

BGC: Why do you create?

I started creating because quite honestly, I liked it. I’ve always been a person interested in creating. I like to express the way I’m feeling through my various crafts. I use my writings to express my emotions, thoughts, daydreams, and wishes. I used my jewelry to convey a feeling, a connection to a certain aesthetic, imagery. I love the idea of bringing something from my imagination to life. It’s very calming and it's also a feeling of accomplishment to see something start as just a few beads or a thought and watch it come together as a necklace or a poem.

The same kind of goes for my podcast. I record to connect; to share my experiences with others who may have gone through the same things I have.

BGC: Who is your audience?

I create for an audience of like-minded individuals, which at times is a very small group. As it pertains to anything I write or record, I’m reaching out to an open-minded audience, individuals who aren’t afraid to push their boundaries or ask silly questions. With regard to my jewelry, a lot of my pieces are for those who are OK and accepting of something “different,” who can find a deeper meaning in the baubles and connect to them on the level from their inspiration.

For instance, I really love historical content so biographical films or movies set in different decades fascinate me and can be reflected in my work. I also love MCU and DCEU films and books, so you’ll find pieces dedicated to that. Science-fiction and fantasy are genres I’ve been reading since I was a child, so some of my pieces are emblematic of those worlds as well as countries and cultures I’ve never seen but wanted to.

Overall, everything I create is for the nerds, the historians, the world traveler, and those who can find themselves lost in fantasy and wonder.

BGC: Who or what inspired you to do what you do? Who or what continues to inspire you?

I can’t recall when I was first inspired to write. I just remember picking up a pencil and making a story. I can remember when I was about seven or eight years old, I was with my mom visiting my aunt in the hospital. She was dying of cancer and so my mom was there with her speaking to the doctors. I was moving around a lot, so my mom fashioned a little book out of medical tape and napkins. She gave me a pencil and so I wrote a little story with illustrations. I remember my aunt even peaking, asking my mom, “What is she doing?” and I just kept making my little story. Since then, I’ve just kept a pen and a piece of paper on my person at all times.

I was inspired to start making jewelry when I worked in the bead shop of a craft store. It was one of my first jobs out of college back when trying to get a job in editorial was a long shot thanks to the recession. I would glance in magazines like Beadstyle or Stringing and see all these beautiful pieces and think, “how can I inject a bit of myself into this?” I loved the color compositions, the textures, and I wanted to make them expressive of who I was and what I could do. It was about bringing something to life… even though it’s an inanimate object, proving to myself that yet again, there was something I could do. And I’m continually inspired by the idea of being able to make something new. Putting a new object into the world. A sense of pride and accomplishment washes over me with each piece. So much so that I often find it hard to sell them! It’s me saying to myself, “Yes. I made that. I can make it and I did make this.”

The podcast came out of a conversation with a friend who thought our random, off-the-wall chats would be fun to listen to and so, after meeting with a few people interested in our chatter about turning into adults, a podcast was born.

BGC: Why is it important as a black person to create?

It’s important for Black people and especially for Black women to create because there aren't many of us who can have our voices heard. It’s very endearing to hear or see another Black person creating, whether it’s a book, a comic, a clothing line. I feel like we, as a community, have a super strong purchasing power and are always hungry to consume new things and as such, we should be investing in one another. Why not lift up those who can relate to you? Who can create items for you — that not only speak to who you are, but what you are? As a Black female entrepreneur, I’m trying to reach other Black people with similar interests to let them know 1. You are not alone and 2. Here’s a way that allows you to express yourself.

For me, I feel it’s important for us to create to connect to individuals like ourselves and to do so with our creations.

BGC: How do you balance creating with the rest of your life?

Terribly. LOL. I work a full-time job that requires me to travel upwards of 4 hours a day (and 5 hours on a bad day). But I do my best to think of creating. During my commute, I might jot down an idea for a design, write down combinations of colors and shapes that I like, or brainstorm ideas on how to sell or pitch a product. I’ll spend my downtime at work scrolling through websites for ideas, tips, supplies, etc. Maybe put some in a shopping cart and save it for later.

In the past, I used to commit to writing at least one new piece of prose a week, usually about something I observed on my commute home. But that’s when I used to get a seat on the trains. Now, if I have a thought for a story or a line for a poem, I may either jot it down in the Notes section of my phone or post it on Twitter.

On the weekends, I try to record an episode with a co-host one day and craft the next day. The only thing that sucks is that I have to limit my time when the ball starts rolling because I can find myself creating well into the midnight hour. And Lord knows I need all the sleep I can get to have the energy for work.

BGC: How do you balance creating when you feel drained or exhausted?

It’s very trying to balance creating when I’m drained or exhausted because when I’m in that mood, I really want to do nothing but relax and recharge. Sometimes, I will give in, but when I realize I’ve done for too long, I will put music on and sit in front of my table. Often times, touching my supplies, organizing materials, and going through my bins with all the little goodies, brings me back.

BGC: Do you have advice for young creators or ones just starting?

The first bit of advice — learn more about your craft. Next, take your time getting into it. Find a good teacher or mentors who can help you through it. Take a class here and there and see if you really like it or not. It’s OK if you realize it’s not for you.

In the very beginning, I was so excited about jewelry crafting that I spent a ton of money on beads and didn’t know what to do with them. I was also self-taught and found myself constantly looking for tutorials on the web to guide me through. Several years in, I’m still asking the pros questions and learning new techniques as well as understanding there are just some aspects of crafting that aren’t for me.

My writing is OK, but it can always be better. To improve that, I do my best to read one of the many books I haven’t cracked open yet on my bookcase. In seeing some of the different styles, vocabulary, structure, etc. I can better find my own voice.

BGC: Who are some other Black Women creators you admire?

Well, one is definitely my mom. She’s a seamstress and has been working a sewing machine for as long as I can remember. She’s also pretty handy with a glue gun when she’s ready, though I’ve probably surpassed her in that area. Other women I know include Tandeka Fable of Fabl Design and Shirley Blanc of SincerelyMe Sweets, both of whom are crushing it with their startups.

Women I admire from afar include Lorraine West of Lorraine West Jewelry, a handmade luxury brand based in NYC, as well as actor/writer/director Issa Rae because she’s hella dope. I’ve been admiring this woman since Awkward Black Girl on YouTube, and she even gave the OK for me to send her some of my jewelry pieces! Who doesn’t love her, like seriously?! (Holla at me if you want more pieces, Issa!)

BGC: What are your future projects?

My future projects include expanding Pretty Poet Ink into several brands. As I previously mentioned, I do custom work for special occasions and am looking to bridge that into a bridal brand where I will be making custom bridal pieces and accessories — veils, bouquets, brooms etc. In the not-so-distant future, I’d like to venture into home decor. It’s my dream to have people not only wearing but living with Pretty Poet Ink around them.

Also, I would ultimately love to finish and publish at least one novel, and a chapbook of poetry. And when it comes to podcasting, I’m hoping to land a spot on HBO or Showtime like some other famous podcasts out there. If not that, at the very least a live recording at a little bar with our few faithful fans.

You can shop Pretty Poet Ink here and subscribe to the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as find all her editorial work on her blog. You can also listen to the Adult-ish podcast on Google Play, iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, and Spreaker. Check out Adultish on Twitter as well.

#Black Woman Creator

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aion-rsa · 6 years

Text

Why The Fantastic Four Will Thrive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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The Fantastic Four are joining the MCU, and it's the one good thing that will come out of the Disney/Fox deal.

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Feature

Books

Mike Cecchini

Fantastic Four

Jul 27, 2018

Marvel

Stan Lee

Jack Kirby

20th Century Fox

The Fantastic Four are going to have their day now that Disney and Fox shareholders have approved the merger of the two studio giants. This is a deal that is terrible for cinema and even worse for news, but one that is certainly good for superhero fans. It just might require a different approach than Hollywood is generally willing to take with superhero movies as we know them. For the sake of this article, please spare me the "we already had two great Fantastic Four movies with The Incredibles," argument, because we all know that.

The failure of Josh Trank's 2015 Fantastic Four movie with critics, fans, and at the box office was a damning indicator of just how far the Fantastic Four brand has fallen since its comic book heyday of the 1960s and '70s. But maybe the issue is simply that the Fantastic Four don't lend themselves quite as easily to familiar superhero movie tropes as some of their more successful counterparts. The 2015 movie was the third big screen incarnation of the Fantastic Four, and the fourth movie overall. The first was the Roger Corman production, made for approximately one million dollars only so that a film studio could keep the rights out of the hands of Marvel long enough to make a more suitable movie. That movie was both faithful to the source material and sincere in its tone, but it may or may not have ever actually been intended for release.

In the mid-2000s, we were given two Fantastic Four movies from 20th Century Fox and director Tim Story. Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer were similarly faithful in look and tone to the classic Marvel comic book. They were also dull, by-the-numbers blockbuster fare with a cast that (the fairly inspired choice of Chris Evans as Johnny Storm and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm aside) failed to capture the vitality or chemisty of the FF's traditional family dynamic. Worse, like the 2015 movie, they utterly wasted one of the greatest comic book villains of all time, Dr. Doom.

See related

The Roger Corman Fantastic Four Movie: The Most Faithful FF Ever

Why the X-Men Don't Belong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Full Marvel Movie Release Schedule

The Tim Story films weren't particularly interested in reinventing the wheel, and their deviations from the letter of FF mythology were no greater than those that made tried-and-true box office titans like Batman or Spider-Man more suitable for the big screen. Unlike a proven ticket and merchandise mover like Spider-Man, there's an increasingly vocal sentiment that the Fantastic Four are inherently old fashioned and faintly ridiculous, and that modern audiences simply don't have a place for them in their already superhero saturated hearts. On the surface, when your "coolest" member is a guy who can burst into flame, that kind of pales in comparison to some of the sexier heroes out there. The relatively grounded approach to Trank's Fantastic Four may have been an attempt to combat this, and it certainly calls back to what Bryan Singer did in the first X-Men film, which moved along at a similarly glacial pace during its first act and did away with the characters' more colorful garb.

But it wasn't that grounded approach that sunk the new FF franchise. The Tim Story movies, as faithful as they were to the comic book aesthetic, both made more than twice their budget back at the worldwide box office, but nobody, not even the most fervent superhero movie apologist, was ever particularly enthused about them. They earned middling reviews and tepid fan reaction, and there was never any sense of urgency to get Fantastic Four 3 into production.

While the Marvel Studios house style that blends witty banter, cosmic adventure, and family friendly bloodless violence is perfectly suited (even inspired by) the Fantastic Four, they've had enough on their plate over the last few years without trying to cram the X-Men or Fantastic Four onto their release schedules. But the release of Avengers 4 in 2019 not only marks the end of the latest "phase" of Marvel movies, it also ushers in an era where trilogies for heavy hitters Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man have run their course while audiences have thrilled to multiple Avengers movies. What was once impossible is suddenly commonplace, and this is where the Fantastic Four will have a chance to distinguish themselves.

Watch Fantastic Four on Amazon

The next Fantastic Four movie must genuinely offer audiences something different. And "different" is exactly what made The Fantastic Four "The World's Greatest Comics Magazine" when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were at the controls for over 100 issues. Nobody needs another origin story (for this or any other franchise), and the elemental iconography of the Fantastic Four doesn't really need much more explanation than "a guy who can stretch, a woman who can turn invisible and project force fields, a human torch, and a tragic but powerful rock monster." Superheroes are now such a part of the cinematic vocabulary that spending thirty minutes explaining the hows and whys of superpowers is as wasteful as explaining how the hero of a Western learned to shoot and ride a horse.

So while every Fantastic Four movie has nailed the broad strokes, what is always lacking is the real soul of these characters and their world: one full of impossible adventure, surprises, and technology. The Four have never been known for solving their problems by hitting them, so you can eliminate the idea of a noisy, city-destroying climax. The FF is about big, cosmic, timey-wimey ideas, and the smart, quirky, friends and family who have to work through it all together. Need an example of how audiences might relate to that brand of non-traditional superheroics? Doctor Who is adored by loyal fans and it's a perfect example of how to depict awkward smart people finding (mostly) non-violent solutions to reality-warping problems.

The Fantastic Four comics of the Lee/Kirby team at their peak in 1966 to 1968 contain page after page of budget busting visuals and concepts that would send any Hollywood bean-counter to the poorhouse. Instead, we've been stuck with dull backlot slugfests (FF 2005), a purple cloud instead of Galactus (Rise of the Silver Surfer), and a hastily devised green screen nightmare (FF 2015). I'm giving the 1994 film a pass because that movie is lucky it had craft services, let alone special effects.

It's difficult to imagine a potential movie franchise more antithetical to current superhero movie trends than the Fantastic Four. The team is, quite literally, a family. Their adventures are almost uniformly intergalactic or interdimensional in nature. Half of the members have power sets that don't lend themselves to the brute force that has become shorthand for most superheroing. Done right, the Fantastic Four can and should be the property that Kevin Feige and Disney executives look to when they fear audiences are tiring of superhero movies. The FF is another Guardians of the Galaxy in waiting, and unlike those blockbusters, it comes with considerably more brand recognition out of the gate.

It's not rocket science or interdimensional travel. Someone will figure it out. See you at the Baxter Building in Marvel Phase Four.

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

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#aion-rsa #Books

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