Emerald City Comic Con 2012: The Costumes
My apologies for the Mindy overload here, had to jump in a few pictures with these awesome folks.
Slideshow of the great costumes at Emerald City Comic Con 2012:
Oscars 2011: Movie Score and Soundtrack Playlist
Every year since the inception of our hosting an Oscar party, I’ve crafted a mix CD for our guests based on the films released in that year. Not all of the scores and soundtracks I poach from are on the Oscar docket. Indeed, with such paltry pickings this year, very few of the tracks align with the Academy Award nominees.
Here is the tracklist for this years winners:
- Earth to Asgard – Patrick Doyle (Thor)
- The Wolf – Fever Ray (Red Riding Hood)
- They’re Calling My Flight – Cliff Martinez (Contagion)
- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Emily Browning (Sucker Punch)
- container park – The Chemical Brothers (Hanna)
- Immigrant Song – Karen O, Trent Reznor (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
- How To Kill a Vampire – Ramin Djawadi (Fright Night)
- Nightcall – Kavinsky (Drive)
- Moses vs The Monsters – Steven Price, Felix Buxton, and Simon Ratcliffe (Attack The Block)
- Magneto – Henry Jackman (X-Men: First Class)
- The Circus Sets Up – James Newton Howard (Water for Elephants)
- The Show – Kerris Dorsey (Moneyball)
- Man or Muppet – Jason Segel & Walter (The Muppets)
- Star Spangled Man – The Star Spangled Singers (Captain America)
- Hold On – Wilson Phillips (Bridesmaids)
- Love Will Take You – Angus and Julia Stone (Breaking Dawn)
- Can You See Jane? – Patrick Doyle (Thor)
- Mah Na Mah Na – Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths (The Muppets)
BONUS TRACKS:
99 Problems – Hugo (Fright Night)
Iron – Woodkid (Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Trailer)
YouTube Playlist HERE.
Some of the tracks are disabled because YouTube and record labels are stingy, ridiculous jerks who don’t understand new media, but whatevs. You can get a sense of the entire compilation together through the playlist feature, even if you have to listen to some tracks as stand alones. Pretty good stuff. Handing this mix CD out as a party favor on Sunday!
As always, if you ask me nicely I can mail you a burned copy of the CD via the good old US postal service. Possibly with a special, nerdy treat included. Email me at Mindy@tinyheroes.net if you’re interested!
Five Favorite Nerd Moments of 2011
It’s the last week of 2011, and therefore a time to look back at the year and make lists. And who doesn’t love a Top 5 Countdown? This particular list is going to focus on those amazing nerdy moments which transpired in my 2011 world.
NERD MOMENT #5:
Although technically my introduction to this series took place in 2010 at around 6am in a Portland airport, I didn’t really fall in love until the television series came out. And then again when my spouse got hooked into it. And then again when I discovered the bromance of sorts between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister. And while I’m currently stuck at the mid-point in Book 3, I know I’ll get through all the rest of the material probably before the next book comes out.
Yes – the series is problematic in terms of race and gender. The violence against women in the book and the ridiculous sexploits on the show are a bit off-putting. But I’m hopelessly in love with A Song of Ice and Fire. Hopeless.
Read Game of Thrones related content here. And here.
NERD MOMENT #4:
The movie and the costume it took me a year to put together. I was very skeptical about the film and remember having arguments with several people because of all the CGI and how much it tried to cram into two hours (don’t they all?) but by the time I finished the costume and re-watched the film, I was pretty much in love. It’s sappy and romantic and hits just the right tone.
Read Captain America related content here. And here.
Thor Costume and Going Digital
Need someone to talk me down from this ledge. REALLY wanting to purchase a female Thor costume. Buycostumes.com dropped a lovely 25% off coupon in my inbox this morning and I’ve been agonizing over the decision ever since.
The Thor movie is one of my favorites, and I am tempted to start-up a subscription for X-Men and Thor comics. Just get back into comic books again period.
Therefore I need some input on a few things:
1. Should I purchase this costume, helmet and hammer?
Or no? I have until the end of this business day before the coupon expires, and then it probably wouldn’t be worth it. What would be worth it? Stumbling around drunk in a wicked cool Norse god helmet.
A Lady Loki outfit is also quite tantalizing. But they don’t have anything pre-fabricated. And can you imagine those horns around drunk people? Dangerous, dangerous stuff. Even in a regular comic book convention, I would be afraid of knocking people over all the time.
2. Should I subscribe to superhero comic books again? I love my local comic book shop, but I’m just not getting out there often enough to empty my box properly. Then it expires and I feel guilty and never open a box at that shop again. To save all the embarrassment and heart-ache, why not just subscribe to the monthly shipping services? It’s around $30 bucks a title for the year. The whole year! I drop that much each time I enter the comic book store.
X-Men First Class: The Review
There’s some saying out there about expectations and how you shouldn’t get them “up” when you don’t know exactly what the outcome will be. It’s a saying because it’s mostly true. So there you have it. I had ridiculous expectations for this film which didn’t translate to what we actually ended up viewing.
But I blame it on the pre-release fervor and those stupid Rotten Tomatoes numbers. 98%! 92%! Now it’s down to 88% – which sadly does not beat out The Dark Knight. But then again, X-Men: First Class hardly carries the same gravitas.
Not that it doesn’t make an attempt. It suffers a bit from Thor syndrome – it feels like three films in one and there’s hardly a moment to pause and breathe (except for maybe that wacky week-long montage). Really though, there’s much too much crammed into one film. It teeters perilously close to drowning in its own ambitions, but there was enough to rescue it from mediocrity (still kicking Thor’s Asgaardian ass).
*THAR BE SPOILERS BELOW*
THE GOOD: MAGNETO AND XAVIER
Who would have thought it was possible for Ian McKellen as Magneto to be upstaged by a young, muscular James-Bondy version of himself? Certainly not this lady. I had high hopes for Michael Fassbender after realizing I’d seen him in at least two other movies where he effortlessly stole the scenes. You might have missed him in Inglourious Basterds, Centurion and 300. In case you forgot how dead sexy and mostly naked he was in that last movie, here is a refresher:
That jump scene in the man-diaper? Delicious! And such intensity.
He has seriously made me fall deeply and madly in love with Magneto, who I’ve always kinda crushed on in the comic books especially when his clone Joseph was hanging around adding some extra tension to the Rogue and Gambit relationship. Though it was really hard to like him after he ripped all of Wolverine’s adamantium out of his body. Yeah, that happened. Kinda cruel.
Deeply surprised at a lack of similar sexual attraction to James McAvoy, who has been an actor crush since Atonement. No matter how hard they push the Charles Xavier as sex-kitten vibe, he cannot surpass the years of history I have with Xavier as a bald wise-old-sage. It would be like dating Buddha or finding him appealing during his younger years. Kinda skeevy.
Magneto however, has the bad boy image thang going for him. The heart-wrenching back story. Xavier’s evil-stepfather was non-existent and instead he spent his life apparently playing patriarch to Mystique if you can buy that. Which I can’t. That was the first bitter pill to swallow in this film. But that’s for later.
BFFs for Life! Until we spend the rest of it morally at odds. Whatevs. Chess is fun!
The Xavier-Magneto man love story was the drive of this film. Everything else, including the other mutants seemed secondary, dull and wasted. When you have two solid, attractive actors of their caliber – the entire film could have been hinged on them.
I wanted more of their story. I wanted the entire movie to be theirs because we only saw them on-screen for about 10-15 minutes of bonding before…you know, all the craziness happens (not going to spoil all of that ya’ll).
These two actors were hands down the best part of this film and decidedly rescued it from itself. The same cannot be said for the rest of the flick.
X-Men Nonsense: No Patch For You
So I woke up last week with this brilliant idea to make an X-Men: First Class track jacket by obtaining an Iron-On Patch and augmenting an article of clothing. And then in the shuffle of the weekend and getting ready for the weekend, it was lost. Only to be resurrected yesterday with the idea that I could easily locate an “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters” patch in Portland, Oregon.
Like THIS
Because it is, after all, Portland Oregon. The home of Dark Horse Comics and Oni Press. Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, Scott Allie. You know – it’s kind of like comic book heaven. And at all the conventions, there were patches galore. So OF COURSE one of our 10 or so comic book stores in the Portland Metro area would carry them.
Right? Right?
Dead fucking wrong. After spending an hour yesterday calling around to all of our local comic book stores, toy and hobby shops – I came up with nothing. The only place remotely close to PDX is in Everett, Washington. That’s about an hour North of Seattle. So my only alternative was to drive four hours away or try and convince someone to air-mail it to me. Neither option was feasible. For an Iron-On Patch.
Guess that means I’m not especially nerdy?
So then it occurred to my feeble, yet sometimes winning brain that I should make one of my own. I mean, I can knit. I can sew. How hard could it be to create a patch?
Turns out – not that difficult. The hardest part so far has been in obtaining a usable image of the symbol I want. Tonight I will procure the right kind of iron-on transfer paper for our Photosmart printer and test-run an old shirt. Then I will apply it to an item I intend to wear. Target has shirts for $8, so in the very least I’ll be able to sport an X-Shirt.
To avoid further embarrassments such as this in the future – Dan and I purchased THREE X-Patches from some shop in the UK. They are flying across the Atlantic Ocean and across the country as we speak. There is something exceptionally nerdy about getting packages from foreign countries. I kinda love it.
Thor: More Fun Than Expected
It may shock and appall many to know that I am not a raving fanatic of the God of Thunder. Not because of anything HE did, but because I only have a limited amount of time to spend on superheroes and the X-Men usually dominate that realm (Thor reference!). Sooo – for a comic book fan of my tastes, what is there to love in a Thor flick?
How about almost everything? As “Iron Man” before it, “Thor” provided lots of fun. And in a comic book movie adaptation especially with content as light and fluffy as “Thor”, what more could you expect?
WHAT’S GOOD
The special effects were well done, the action sequences spot-on for this type of hero. I hadn’t especially noted it, but Dan was quick to mention how the film had dispensed with the ubiquitous wire/John Woo/Matrix fighting scenes for punching, kicking and a good old-fashioned wrestle in the mud. Which is totes appropriate for a Viking. Good job fight choreographer. Your efforts were duly noted by the general public!
The cast exceeded my expectations having only glimpsed Chris Hemsworth in the Star Trek film (in arguably the most memorable/traumatic opening sequence to grace the screen in a while), wasn’t sure what he would have to offer up as this larger than life character. He managed it quite well and showed a pretty adept comedic timing. As did the always lovable Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgaard. And to some degree Natalie Portman. I’m still not convinced I like her in comedies. But she can hold her own with this cast. And she won an Oscar, so I guess that means automatic pass. She did have loads of chemistry with Hemsworth but unfortunately I never quite bought their relationship. Which wasn’t their fault – but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Maybe it’s just my baby hungry brain, but was anyone else speculating about whether or not she was pregnant during the filming of this movie? It’s post “Black Swan.” Just saying.
As for the Asgaardians – Anthony Hopkins was stellar as old Odin One Eye. He growled, howled and menaced as is appropriate to the All-Father. Renee Russo was his lovely wife Frigga. Blink and you probably missed her. Pretty sure she had one line and a weak-ass battle with an Ice Giant. Pretty lame for the All-Mother. Tom Hiddleston was a much more subdued Loki than I anticipated, especially after having encountered him in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance video game series. And part of me was secretly hoping they would cast him as a female. Lady Loki was smokin’ hot!
Even without all the showy aspects of Loki on display, Hiddleston’s performance was probably the most emotionally adept of anyone in this story. Thor is kind of a d-bag for most of it (but that’s his arch) and you JUST KNOW he’s never going to lose, so the tragedy really falls to Loki and I couldn’t help but sympathize with him.
RACE AND GENDER
The whole Ice Giants thing – I don’t know about you but there was this weird race thing happening there that I’m not sure about. It was pretty surface, so I don’t think there’s much more analyzing to do. The ice giants were people of color being slaughtered by the mostly white Asgaardians (save the sexy and a bit scary Heimdall played by Idris Elba and the asian dude who had one line). If the Skrulls ever make it to the screen, I have a feeling there will be a similar reaction as well.
Free Comic Book Day 2011: Portland Preview
Some of youse out there might know already, but Saturday is the national and annual Free Comic Book Day 2011. The DH and I have charge of two nephews (their dad is off in Tennessee processing insurance claims from the Southern Tornado devastation last week). Therefore, our activities might be much more muted than last year, but I’m pretty excited about the prospect of introducing one of my nephews to his first comic book shop (ESPECIALLY on FCBD).
They are extra lucky, because we’re also taking them to Thor on Friday night. I don’t doubt there will be a free comic there (as there was for Iron Man 2 last year).
So what’s going down in Stumptown that is kid friendly at our comic shops? I’ll divulge all right here.
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-From 10am to 6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last
– No in-store artists or signings or other special events are advertised. You should stop by anyway if you’re in the neighborhood!
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– I’ll assume 10am or 11am-6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last (as most stores are doing) no times are indicated.
– Didn’t have much posted on their webpage and only a small blurb on their Facebook profile mentioning two artists will be available for signings, with no time frames included.
- Zachary Baldus (New Mutants, American Splendor)
- Shannon Wheeler (artist/writer, Too Much Coffee Man)
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– From 10am to 7pm FREE COMICS while supplies last, $2 Doorbuster graphic novels, 60% off hundred of sale items, TFAW bucks, signings, stormtroopers and pirates.
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Comic Con 2010: Day Three
Day 3 was another early rise – and it was COSTUME DAY! We donned our BSG gear and headed out around 8am fully prepared to snag the Trolley. We lucked into a shuttle ride over and plopped ourselves down in the Hall H line for the Green Lantern, Harry Potter and Sucker Punch panel.
BSG in line for Hall H
The line was pretty comparable at that point (at least, we thought) to where we were at on Thursday, but we ended up in the last five rows of the auditorium despite our early rising and pre-planning. The WB swag for this panel was incredible – a reasonably sized tote bag, a “Wanted” HP shirt, a limited edition Green Lantern comic book and a Sucker Punch bracelet.
The Green Lantern panel itself was pretty exciting. Ryan Reynolds is a bright and terribly funny dude, and the clips they showed had some pretty wicked cool CGI. They will feature a lot of the Lantern Corps characters (none of which I know, but the audience seemed pretty excited) and even had the scribe Geoff Johns on the panel confirming that the movie will be bad-ass. They skirted the issue of a Justice League film in the future…but clearly this film is a jumping off point for that.
Ryan Reynolds had a delightful exchange with a young questioner who asked him how it felt to recite the Green Lantern oath (which he promptly did to the delight of the audience) and signed a free comic book for the boy, who was wearing a green lantern ring. Then Reynolds handed off his own ring to one lucky con-goer.
Look closely at his hands - you can see the ring!
The Harry Potter panel was next – and Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy arrived to show us the clip, which was an extended trailer rather than a chunk of the film itself (which many of us were hoping for). It all looks very stunning, but honestly the 3D didn’t add much to my experience, so I don’t think I’ll be plunking down an extra $3 in November. It was a little under-whelming and half of the Hall bolted out the door (including Smalls, on her way to a Vampire Diaries signing) immediately after.
Tom Felton looking dashing, tan and decidedly un-angsty
Which leaves us with Sucker Punch. I’d seen a single image from it – featuring four scantily clad dangerous looking womens and some leering male ringleader, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. Clearly there is fighting and action as the title would seem to indicate, and the presence of Jenna Malone brings an element of respectability to the affair…though I am on the fence about Zack Snyder as a director. The premise is intriguing – a woman confined to an insane asylum creates a fantasy world along with three other ladies who can share in these adventures which centered around killing Nazi zombies, slaying dragons and fighting robots. So – count me in. Even if it lacks substance, the visuals alone were quite stunning.
A great shot of the panel for Sucker Punch
I was annoyed though by our proximity to the entrance doors, the constant stream of chatting and rustling during the panel made it hard to hear and concentrate on the women. Snyder kept referring to them as “the girls” as if they were one unit, and the majority of the audience questions were “did you know you’re a woman?” Ugh. It was frustrating.
We sacrificed our long wait for Hall H seats after that and dashed over to the Hilton for The Guild panel. We happened to arrive there just at the same time as Ryan Reynolds, so Dan was able to shake his hand and compliment his work as an actor. It was definitely a very cool moment.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively entering the Hilton
Just a little over-shadowed by our complete inability to make it into the panel we wanted. We waited for an hour and then gave up once the announcement was made. But we got to hang out by the Bay, stare at a Dole boat and catch a glimpse of some crabs…so it wasn’t entirely wasted time.
This hand touched Ryan Reynolds.
Since we didn’t have anything else on the docket aside from potentially seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the evening, we wandered back towards the Convention Center and noticed that the Hall H line was nearly empty, so we decided to camp out and try to make it back in for the Marvel Panel.
San Diego Comic Con 2010: The Schedule
The entire schedule for San Diego Comic Con 2010 is now posted on the website, and Smalls and I frantically updated our Google Doc schedule all weekend until it’s in a relative semblance of order.
Diagnosis: Comic Con = Too Much Good.
There is no way humanly possible to do or see all that one would like at this event. Despite this setback, we have cobbled together what we’d like to see, and surprise, surprise, most of it isn’t about comic books at all.
No wait, why isn’t that surprising? Because Comic Con is almost not really about comic books anymore. It’s largely dominated by Film and TV, along with video games and whatever other popular culture elements I cannot fathom at the moment.
And that, sadly, is fine by me. I’ve got enough comic book goodness up here in the Pacific Northwest to sate me. What I want from SDCC, as honestly as I can describe it – is to see some celebrities up close and personal and watch exclusive clips and get some free shit and soak up some sun and record as much of it as I possibly can.
I’ll be updating often on this blog and the Tiny Heroes Twitter account for anyone who is interested.
You can also look at My Schedule (along with alternate panels) here.
Wednesday July 21, Preview Night
– Walking the exhibit floor, getting freebies from booths, etc.
Thursday July 22 – Hall H
– 10am-11am = Megamind
– 11:15-12:45 = Tron
– 1:00-2:00 = Battle Los Angeles/Salt
– 2:15-3:15 = Red
– 3:30-4:30 = Visionaries (Joss Whedon/JJ Abrams)
-4:45-5:45 = Expendables
– 6:00-7:00 = Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
– 7:30-8:30 = Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog
Friday July 23- Ballroom 20
– 11:30-12:30 = Caprica
– 3:00-4:00 = The Joss Whedon Experience
– 4:00-5:00 = Girls Who Kick Ass
– 5:15-6:15 = True Blood
Dan
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