Re: Entertainment Joys

[Prajnaparamita]

I've made in a third of the way through the PDF of Chainmail Bikini, a comic anthology of women in gaming, put together by the wondrous Hazel Newlevant (and featuring a comic by the awesome Sophie Yanow as well) and there's already been three comics by transwomen. I think I was actually tearing up at the end of Boy or Girl. (By Kori Michele, who I really need to find out more about.) Plus of bunch of comics by WoC as well. (I haven't found anything I haven't enjoyed yet, but Memoir of a Part-Time Knight by Yao Xiao is one of my favorites now) So yeah, it's really great!

Sorry guys, this was a Kickstarter backer only gift--you'll just have to request it at your local comic book store and wait 'til September!

Also, funny story, I discovered the Kickstarter the week that we were reading Yanow's War of Streets and Houses (understanding urban planning's role as a form of coercive social control and government repression from a queer perspective on the 2012 Montreal student protests--read it ya'll!) and when I alerted my professor to it he said I should get up in front of the class and make an announcement about it. So that day I got up on the podium in the lecture hall and was like "Hey guys, you all need to know about this totally awesome thing--Chainmail Bikini blah blah blah edited by Hazel Newlevant (who we were also reading in the class) and it features a comic by Sophie Yanow about playing Magic: the Gathering as a teen, which looks really cool, so you should totally back it on Kickstarter--every extra dollar gets given back to these totally awesome indie comic artists! So yeah, Hazel Newlevant and Sophie Yanow, it's going to be great!"

Then I got down from the podium and was like "Hey, who's that cute lesbian chick who's looking at me? ...Oh god I completely forgot that Sophie Yanow is coming to class today, and she's right there and I had no idea..."

But she was totally chill about it, and when she signed my book she drew a picture of herself watching me make the announcement. It was like one of the best things that's happened to me in a long time--and I'm so glad Chainmail Bikini has lived up to expectations as well.

[Guest]

-googles Sophie Yanow-

Oooh, I like her art style.

[Prajnaparamita]

Just for comparison, this is her art style from War of Streets and Houses:



So cool

[Guest]

Her artwork is pretty neato. Very cute and stylish. :3

[bomaye]

It is a strange day when I watch an episode of Arrow and go ":/" and watch an episode of Gotham and go "That was pretty good." And yet, here we are

[Guest]

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2909658-why-tom-hardy-bailed-on-suicide-squad?lt_source=external,manual

I love Tom Jane and Ray Stevenson's Punishers, and I can definitely get behind with Tom Hardy being the next Punisher too. In fact, I would LOOOOVE it. :3

[Guest]

Welp, finished all of Luther. It was oh so good. He's like a less insufferable Sherlock that actually gets punished for being a shit head.

Can't wait until the final movie / season thing.

[Gentleman Johnny]

I'll miss The Newsroom. Can someone sign Aaron Sorkin to an Ex Machina adaptation now?

[reboot]

Witnesses, a French suspense/mystery, is really good if you like a slow build but intriguing story. Recommend.

[Guest]

Aaaaaaah Mad Max: Fury Road!

[Gentleman Johnny]

That's what I'm hearing. Going to see it tonight in costume with a bunch of other Wastelanders. So excite. Much squee.

[eselle28]

I also heard great things. It seems that it played last night in some US cities, but it definitely wasn't in mine. Oh well, there's always tonight!

[eselle28]

So, the best female led action movie I've ever seen is called...Mad Max. Weird, but I'm not complaining.

[bomaye]

Kieron Gillen's run on Journey Into Mystery. Described as "Sandman in the Marvel Universe with a laugh track."

I don't think I read this run as much as I breathed it in and out. What a brilliant thing they did with Loki.

[eselle28]

I've been griping a lot about certain TV shows that shall not be named, but luckily, I've also been getting a steady dose of entertainment joys from Saga. I love the emphasis on building families, even unconventional ones, and it seems like the series has a nice mix of acknowledgment that the world is awful some times and positive, optimistic moments. Also, Lying Cat is the best character ever.

[CP96]

Oh man, Saga is so good.

I've been reading loads of comics recently but getting away from superhero stuff. Saga, as already mentioned, and Y The Last Man (also by Brian K Vaughan). I strongly recommend Y The Last Man. The basic premise is thus; one day, every mammal with a Y chromosome dies in a single moment. All except two; a young escape artist and his pet monkey.

I've also just read The Sculptor by Scott McCloud. A young struggling artist makes a deal with Death; he only gets to live 200 more days, but during that time he can reshape the world around him with his bare hands, to make any sculpture he can imagine.

Lastly, Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee O'Malley. It's awesome.

[Enail]

I read the first volume of Saga and found it enjoyable enough, but nothing special (I did love Lying Cat, though!). Do y'all think it's a series that gets stronger as it goes on, or is it more of a 'if you like the first one, you'll like the rest?" I do generally really like Brian K Vaughan.

[eselle28]

I read the first volume of Saga and found it enjoyable enough, but nothing special (I did love Lying Cat, though!). Do y'all think it's a series that gets stronger as it goes on, or is it more of a 'if you like the first one, you'll like the rest?"  I do generally really like Brian K Vaughan.

I thought Volume 2 and Volume 3 were a bit better than Volume 1, but I did think the increase in quality was a gradual one as the story got moving rather than one of those cases where there's one issue where things pick up dramatically.

[CP96]

So, in the entertainment rants thread, I said this:

I've been hearing a lot of reports that the new Mad Max is an extremely progressive movie with interesting female characters and strong feminist themes. Awesome. I don't mean that sarcastically, that genuinely is awesome. We need more movies like that and I wish the film-makers every success.

I've also heard reports that the new Mad Max is an incredible action movie that shows modern, CGI over-reliant movies how it should be done. Again, awesome, I hope that catches on.

I still have zero interest in watching it though. Post-apocalypse as a setting does nothing for me and from the trailers I've seen I'm just not interested. I wish people would get off my fucking back about it.

Well, it's time for me to eat crow because I did go see it in the end and I fucking loved it. Every minute of it. The action was incredibly well paced and directed. The overall visual design was stunning. I loved the soundtrack. Most of all, this film was one of the best examples of show-don't-tell. Almost all of the world-building and character development came from visual cues rather than dialogue. In fact, you could almost cut out the dialogue entirely and not lose much of the total experience. I say that as a compliment. It's almost a silent movie.

[bomaye]

God, I love the relationship between Flash and Reverse Flash in the show. Hatred and pride and mentor/mentee. Shockingly complex for The CW.

[reboot]

Helena is and always will be my favorite clone

[Andrew Corvero]

Helena is and always will be my favorite clone

[bomaye]

So the TMNT (2003 animated version) get into a ninja fight with a Men-In-Black style secret service agent. They knock his sunglasses off with a lucky strike, he hits back, perfectly catches them between his index and forefinger, and places them back on like nothing's wrong.

And then when the fight got really serious, he unfastened his tie.

God, this shit is fun. And shockingly violent for a kid's cartoon (Baxter Stockman started as a regular man and now he's a disembodied brain, they implied Leo decapitated Shredder like the original comic before dropping THAT big reveal, no visuals but a lot of sounds mimic bone-breaking or blood splattering noises)

[CP96]

I had an excellent delivery in the mail today. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace on DVD. Fun times ahead rewatching this most groundbreaking, radical and terrifying classic horror series.

[reboot]

I just watched the Babadook and scared the crap out of myself. Good movie if you want to do the same

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