New York Comic Con kicks off on Thursday, director Luc Besson and Jean-Claude Mézières will be in attendance promoting ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.’ New images and poster for the film were released to coincide with the convention.
Besson and Mézières are signing from 11am-12pm and then 2pm-3pm each day at Booth: NC8, located on the North Concourse. New York Comic Con takes place from October 7-9 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Midtown Manhattan.
Besson (The Fifth Element) directs the $180 million budget sci-fi film based on the French graphic novel series from Pierre Christin and Mézières. The film stars Clive Owen, Dane DeHaan, Cara Delavingne, Ethan Hawke, Rihanna, John Goodman, and Herbie Hancock.
Valerian is scheduled for a worldwide release on July 21, 2017.
VALERIAN is a saga that every fan of Star Wars and Star Trek will identify with and love. Valerian and his beautiful, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued partner, Laureline, live adventures set against visually stunning backgrounds: complex architectural inventions, futuristic machines, otherworldly landscapes, and odd-looking aliens that are staples of artist Mezieres’s seemingly boundless visual inventiveness. The stories are gripping and of epic proportion, sweeping along in thrilling, hyperspace speed.
Based on a best-selling novel, ‘The Girl On The Train‘ has been masterfully brought to the screen.
‘The Girl On The Train‘ is instantly reminiscent to Korean thrillers and early 90’s erotic thrillers like ‘Fatal Attraction‘. The non-linear storytelling and hyper-sexualized nature drew me in, but breaking down Suburban life was what sold the story.
The film follows an alcoholic divorcee who becomes entangled into a messy missing persons case. Simply, this movie mocks the idea of “the grass is much greener on the side” concept. Fantasizing about other people’s lives leads our main character, Rachel, into a twisted mess. Her black out drinking is a problem, but how bad is it? Is it so bad she is involved in the disappearance of a girl?
Voyeurism is dangerous. The three women the film, Rachel (Emily Blunt), Megan (Haley Bennett), and Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) are guilty of it. They have their own “perfect” lives shattered due to meddling and sudden changes of heart.
“Facebook And Drunk Ex-Wives Don’t Mix”
-Cathy (Laura Prepon)
The film is heavily marketed as Emily Blunt being the solo focus, but The Girl On The Train moniker doesn’t go to just her. Each of the women play a major role here. Their stories are told while the plot swirls around what’s seen from this train. This dynamic plays out beautifully even with all the moving pieces. It never once gets confusing, and you wait, in rapt attention, for the drama to unfold. Once you get to the climax, it delivers wonderfully.
Emily Blunt delivers some terrific monologues. Her dialogue seems to be the ramblings of a mad person, but the words she speaks and the way they capture them is superb. Usually heavy narration or intense monologuing can be tedious, but it works here thanks to Blunt’s energetic layering. Rachel’s drunk rambling and blackouts are a problem, but there is something else amiss here. Blunt’s performance is bold, daring, and I love how director Tate Taylor manages to highlight her inner turmoil.
My personal favorite performance is from Haley Bennett as the apathetic but pained Megan. Her character does go missing, but it doesn’t mean she is missing from the movie. The scenes with her and the therapist played by Edgar Ramirez are some of the most intensely sexual scenes I’ve seen in a Hollywood film in years. She plays this “Lolita“-like character, but with some honest depth. Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen hasa perfect eye for Bennett as she knows how to linger the camera on the character just enough to tantalize.
Final Thoughts:
Everything came together for ‘The Girl On The Train‘.
The pulpy source material written by Paula Hawkins is almost gleefully brought to the screen. The developed characters of Hawkins’ are adapted well by screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson. There’s a blend of cinematic writing and novel writing that’s quite remarkable.
I can’t gush enough about the visuals of the film. Cinematography is stunning but it’s edited by Michael McCusker with precision. No shot last too long and it gives off a surreal feeling. The narrative is just hazy enough with the writing and editing to leave you guessing until the last minute. Not reading the book made for a better viewing experience as I’m genuinely happy to be surprised.
This is something to be witnessed. Even though the movie may dip into melodrama territory, it all felt like seeing a needed deconstruction of horrible people.
‘The Girl On The Train‘ comes with a huge recommendation.
Let me know how you feel about the movie in the comments below!
A quick Google search for “bootleg toys” will call up a page of websites linking to articles about hideous knockoffs. Some of those articles are pretty fun and worthy of a read but only after you’ve read every article on Monkeys Fighting Robots. And only then.
The Real Bootleg Toys
Distributor DKE Toys gained attention for their upcoming NY Comi-Con figure known as Darth Trump (below). As the name implies, it’s a mashup of Republican Presidential candidate and star of a nightmarish version of The Truman Show in which we are all stuck in, Donald J. Trump, and comparatively the much more human villain Darth Vader. Collaborators Timebandits, Special Ed Toys, and MocJoes are three in a growing force of independent “bootleg” toy makers inspired by pop culture past and present.
The kind of bootleg toys I’m talking about are not knockoffs, but more like reboots that take a lot of creative license. Take for instance one of the earliest toys to make and earn mass attention called the “Gay Empire” which featured pink-armored stormtroopers. The creator of the Gay Empire, known as Sucklord, features a catalog of wild toys that are familiar but unique. A lot of Sucklord’s toys poke a lot of fun at the decades old Star Wars franchise. But Sucklord has a rather deep view on the whole thing “Star Wars serves as a universal language which can be utilized to say whatever you want.” Sucklord almost makes me want to stay awake through The Force Awakens.
It’s hard to pinpoint where this whole artistic industry of bootleg toys started. But it’s easy to know where it’s going when you look at the growing number of artists contributing to the culture and using the “universal language” of pop culture to say new things.
Creator Beau Greener of Credenda Studios is an avid toy fan “when the family goes on vacation, and we pass a toy store, I’m usually the one that wants to stop in and see what they have.” Then a few years ago Beau discovered people making custom toys on Instagram. Not soon after Beau added his spin on things like A Nightmare In Space (below) featuring a hideously detailed Freddy Krueger in Boba Fett’s armor. Freddy in the Star Wars universe might explain why the Prequels were a nightmare to so many people.
For DA Marx of Buzzard Guts, he wandered into the wild world of bootleg toys via Craigslist. Dain was a toy reseller and would end up with extra toys lying around that he could never sell. “I started customizing some things and selling those.” The more I did, the more I enjoyed it.” DA created Riot Scum (below), a punk band that exists somewhere in the Star Wars universe and is no doubt featured on a poster in Kylo Ren’s room.
The bootleg toy business is a busy place. Along with Credenda Studios and Buzzard Guts, other creators such as MocJoes, Retrobrand, Healymade, Killer Bootlegs, and Dollarslice Bootlegs are adding their unique vision to the long legacy of pop culture. Like any other, it’s an industry that competes for the dollars in consumers pockets, but for creators, it’s still very much centered around the artistry and pop culture passion.
Credenda Studios
Legal restraints do make it an interesting industry to play in for creators. Parody laws and fair use are constant issues swirling around everyone involved. For creators like Dain, it’s personal, and something that I think every geek can understand, “I was four years old when Star Wars came out, so I’ve had almost 40 years of that franchise being shoved down my throat. I feel like it’s kind of a part of me.” For most bootleg toy makers, keeping the quantity low makes it easy to avoid legal issues. Beau has heard of larger companies “flexing their muscles” but thinks they consider it a “waste of time and resources to go after a little guy that is just making a run of figures for a movie they love.”
Buzzard Guts
Until Beau or Dain start making a few million dollars in merchandise, I don’t think Disney or anyone else will bother them much. It’s certainly not taking away from the gazillions The Force Awakens made and will continue to make. Bootleg toymakers are creating works of art that only add to the growing pop culture language.
Thanks to Beau Greener of Credenda Studios (Instagram: @CredendaStudios) and Dain Marx (Instagram: @DainMarxToys) of Buzzard Guts for their time in answering a few questions for this article.
Following a tease yesterday by way of a poster and announcement teaser, Open Road Films has released the first trailer for the Jamie Foxx-led action thriller feature “Sleepless”.
Foxx plays undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnaps Downs’ teenage son. In one night he will have to rescue his son, evade an IA investigation and bring the kidnappers to justice. The film is directed by Baran Bo Odar and is based on the 2011 French film Nuit Blanche.
The film also stars Michelle Monaghan, Gabrielle Union, T.I., Dermot Mulroney, Scoot McNairy and David Harbour and is targeting a February 24th 2017 release.
Natalie Portman has been getting all the plaudits for Jackie, her upcoming biopic about former First Lady Jackie Kennedy. The film takes place in the days following JFK’s assassination and, judging by this trailer, the day itself.
This Jackie trailer has an eerie sense of unnerving calm, an edge to it even as it glides along with its classical score. Portman might have her second Best Actress statue sewn up:
So there you have it. There is some breathtaking imagery in Pablo Larraín‘s film. And what you don’t see here is the incredible supporting cast: Peter Sarsgaard as Robert Kennedy, Greta Gerwig, John Carroll Lynch as LBJ, John Hurt, and Billy Crudup. Quite the crew.
Portman has been bobbing along in some strangely inept films since winning her much deserved Oscar for Black Swan. She’s tried some interesting things, but they just haven’t hit the right notes for the most part. This looks to be her back atop her game and sinking her teeth in some solid material. She has the look, and her voice sounds on point. We shall see just how great she is soon.
Jackie will hit up a few more festivals this year before it get its awards season limited release on December 2.
Warner Bros. released a promo on the ‘Suicide Squad’ Twitter announcing an extended edition of the film coming out in November.
‘Suicide Squad’ has grossed $739,020,274 worldwide despite a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many fans were outraged by the negative reviews and believe there is a conspiracy against the DC Extended Universe. ‘Suicide Squad’ had a $175 million budget.
About ‘Suicide Squad’: Figuring they’re all expendable, a U.S. intelligence officer decides to assemble a team of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret mission. Now armed with government weapons, Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and other despicable inmates must learn to work together. Dubbed Task Force X, the criminals unite to battle a mysterious and powerful entity, while the diabolical Joker (Jared Leto) launches an evil agenda of his own.
‘Suicide Squad’ is directed by David Ayer and stars Will Smith as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as the Joker, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress.
The band gets back together on November 15 for digital HD and December 13 for Bluray.
Image Comics released a complete rundown of events for New York Comic Con Wednesday morning, including a guide to every Image creator in Artist Alley.
New York Comic Con takes place from October 7-9 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Midtown Manhattan. You can find Image Comics at booth #1444.
PANELS HOSTED BY IMAGE COMICS:
Comics In #YourImage: Adventure
10/6/2016 at 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM, in 1A21
Charles Soule (CURSE WORDS), Greg Rucka (BLACK MAGICK), Simon Spurrier (CRY HAVOC), Caspar Wijngaard (LIMBO), and Joe Harris & Martin Morazzo (SNOWFALL) are ready and willing to break down how they create perfect comic book adventures, versatile heroes, and chilling villains in complex stories that demand a lot from the reader, but have a huge payoff.
Comics In #YourImage: Character
10/7/2016 at 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM, in Room 1A24
A high concept for a comic is a great invitation, but great characters are what make you want to stay with the book. Characters that you empathize with or are cooler than cool are captivating. Sana Takeda (MONSTRESS), Steven T. Seagle (CAMP MIDNIGHT), Rod Reis (HADRIAN’S WALL), Donny Cates (TBA), and Jason Hurley & Jeremy Haun (THE BEAUTY) are going to dig deep into characters, and how it’s not as easy as a cool outfit and a snappy name.
Comics In #YourImage: Storytelling
10/8/2016 at 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM, in 1A21
You can’t judge a comic solely based on what happens to the characters in it. You have to look at how things happen, what the story looks like, and a bunch of other little tiny things that make comics one of the most vibrant storytelling mediums around. Karen Berger (SURGEON X), Gabriel Hardman (INVISIBLE REPUBLIC), Declan Shalvey (INJECTION), Marjorie Liu (MONSTRESS), Scott Snyder (WYTCHES), and Bryan Hill (ROMULUS) are some of the best storytellers in the business. In addition, check out an EXCLUSIVE preview of the upcoming OFFICER DOWNE film at the end of the panel, based on the graphic novel by Joe Casey & Chris Burnham!
Comics In #YourImage: Spectacle
10/9/2016 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, in 1A24
What is it that excites you about comics, that makes Wednesday the best day of the week? Whether it’s the idea of seeing a new world through someone else’s eyes or getting a look at reality from another angle, we’ve got you covered. Our panelists, including Jim Zub & Djibril Morissette-Phan (GLITTERBOMB), Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, & Babs Tarr (MOTORCRUSH), Jason Latour (SOUTHERN BASTARDS), and Andrew MacLean (HEADLOPPER) know what you want and aim to please.
SIGNINGS* HOSTED AT IMAGE COMICS BOOTH (#1444):
*wristbands will be available for fans to pick as soon as doors open, first come, first served, at the Image booth on the day of the desired ticketed signing.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
12 – 12:45 PM, Alex de Campi & Carla Speed McNeil
12 – 12:45 PM, Joshua Williamson
1 – 1:45 PM, Declan Shalvey
1 – 1:45 PM, Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart & Babs Tarr* (wristband required, 3-item limit)
2 – 2:45 PM, Greg Rucka* (wristband required, 3-item limit)
2 – 2:45 PM, Brandon Thomas
3 – 3:45 PM, Bob Fingerman
3 – 3:45 PM, Brian Schirmer
3 – 3:45 PM, Shawn Martinbrough
4 – 4:45 PM, Brian Buccellato
4 – 4:45 PM, Giuseppe Camuncoli
5 – 5:45 PM, Jim Zub & Djibril Morissette-Phan
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
10 – 10:45 AM, Scott Snyder* (wristband required, 3-item limit)
10 – 10:45 AM, Tim Seeley
11 – 11:45 AM, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda* (wristband required, 3-item limit)
11 – 11:45 AM, Joe Harris & Martin Morazzo
12 – 12:45 PM, Meredith McClaren
12 – 12:45 PM, Shane Davis
1 – 1:45 PM, Joshua Williamson
2 – 2:45 PM, Donny Cates & Geoff Shaw
2 – 2:45 PM, Brandon Thomas
3 – 3:45 PM, Kieron Gillen* (wristband required, 3-item limit)
3 – 3:45 PM, Giuseppe Camuncoli
4 – 4:45 PM, Emi Lenox
4 – 4:45 PM, Brian Wood & Garry Brown
5 – 5:45 PM, Jeremy Haun & Jason Hurley
5 – 5:45 PM, Gerry Duggan & Phil Noto
6 – 6:45 PM, Andrew MacLean
LIMITED* SDCC VARIANTS SOLD AT THE IMAGE BOOTH (#1444):
* Quantities will be limited by customer and per day on a first come, first served basis. Please ask at the Image booth about availability.
CANNIBAL #1 by Brian Buccellato, Jennifer Young & Matias Bergara, $10
MOONSHINE #1 by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso, $10
REBORN #1 by Mark Millar & Greg Capullo, $10
CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES:
TOKYO GHOST, VOL. 1 hardcover by Rick Remender & Sean Gordon Murphy, $35
MONSTRESS, VOL. 1 hardcover by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, $40
NYCC AFTERPARTY: Image Comics and Sonicboombox team up for a night of wizards, bowling, and mingling.
You’re invited to join the fun on Friday night at Bowlmor Times Square
Image Comics, Midtown Comics and Sonicboombox are re-teaming for a special NYCC After Party to be held at Bowlmor Times Square (222 W. 44th Street). A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Must be 21+ to attend. The fun begins at 8 p.m. – 2 a.m. in the Art Deco room (4th floor) 12 lanes of free bowling (first come, first served) Admission: $15 in advance, get tickets here.
Come join Charles Soule, Greg Rucka, Jason Latour, Wes Craig, Alex de Campi, Declan Shalvey, Amy Reeder, Tim Seeley, and more of your favorite Image creators for specialty drinks, complimentary bowling all night long, photobooth shenanigans, mingling, and enjoy a live music performance, Q&A, giveaway, and raffle from Charles Soule and his Wizard Band in celebration of the forthcoming launch of CURSE WORDS.
A few weeks ago we got the teaser for Allied, Robert Zemeckis’s new WWII spy thriller starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Then, we got that whole business about #Brangelexit and all the garbage journalists in the world who wanted to throw Cotillard in the middle of a love triangle similar to the events surrounding Mr. and Mrs. Smith over a decade ago.
Well, now we have the first full trailer for Allied, and hopefully this promising new trailer, full of spy action and twists and turns, will be enough to remind everyone this looks like a pretty terrific spy thriller, and not tabloid fodder.
Check it out:
In 1942, an intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.
I’m a sucker for WWII films, especially spy films. It’s been a while since we had a classic throwback spy thriller of this ilk. And, yes, I’m a sucker for Robert Zemeckis despite his painfully obvious needle drops and hamfisted direction at times.
Who doesn’t love the 80s? Basically, I was born in the best year ever.
1986.
I just wish I got to live through the 80s as a teenager and to have loved and experienced these movies when they first released. I’m an avid movie buff, with an emphasis on 80s cinema. Movies are not made like this anymore, and when you watch them, you get the nostalgia. Questionable style aside, the 80s brought out the best in film.
Here are my top five from 1986.
5. Howard the Duck
Everything about this film is pure 80s gold. It’s futuristic, freaking weird and unbelievably bad in the best way possible. Those clothes, that hair. I miss the times when a swearing duck who hits on ladies was a thing. Not to mention Lea Thompson singing the one and only “Howard the Duck” theme song. He’s a duck from outer space. And a badass.
4. Top Gun
“I feel the need, the need for speed.” Me too, Goose. Me too. In my opinion, the best part of this movie isn’t Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, or all the abs playing volleyball; it was Val Kilmer as Ice Man and his infamous bite. I have been and always will be in love with Anthony Edwards, mostly due to his role in ER, but this movie just sealed the deal. RIP Goose. I’ll always love you. Also, Tom Cruise pre-couch jumping is my favorite Tom Cruise.
3. Flight of the Navigator
Do you ever watch a movie and just know the filmmakers were high when it was written? ‘Flight of the Navigator‘ is one, and it was one of my favorites. I feel like I annoyed the crap out of my mom/sister with this movie. A kid disappears with an alien spaceship and a robot, then reappears eight years later. Probably my first real encounter with robots, and why I love them so much to this day. (Good thing I write for Monkey Fighting Robots, right?)
2. Little Shop of Horrors
I probably shouldn’t have loved this movie when I was a small child. Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello DDS is enough to give anyone nightmares, and the love story was sufficient to hide the murders to feed Audrey 2, at least when I was younger. That and the singing, the lovely colors, and a talking plant. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a child’s dream. This coming from the girls who’s favorite movie in kindergarten was Dirty Dancing.
1. Stand By Me
Where do I even start? An insane cast with River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, and Corey Feldman. Not to mention a John Cusack and a Kiefer Sutherland running around in there as well. Add an amazing soundtrack; you get this gem of a movie. I’ve always been a big fan of all of these dudes. I still love Wil Wheaton. He has helped us nerds so much in life. Corey Feldman is hands down one of my favorite actors from the 80s, and River Phoenix. 1986 River Phoenix, not only adorable but that boy could act. What a shame.
This movie shaped who I was, not as a kid, but as a twenty-something. Watch it again. Listen to the words and take it in. I guarantee you; you’ll feel just like you were there with the group on their hunt. The scene with the leeches still makes me cringe.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may be on a one week hiatus, but that hasn’t stopped news from rolling out about the show. Promotional stills from this season’s fourth episode are now available online, along with a synopsis of the episode’s events.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 4
Season four of the show features our favorite agents up against Ghost Rider. The fourth episode, titled “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire”, continues the story of Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna) and Quake (Chloe Bennett), as well as the now legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. agency.
Without details on episode 3, it’s very hard to figure out what’s going on in episode 4. The stills give very little away, showing only one or two characters at a time. One theme through the photos? Mack looks about as confused as he’s ever been. Coulson shows up in a prison, but who is he meeting with? Perhaps most distressing–where is May?
What we do know about episode three is limited, as well, and seems to come out of left field for the season. We’ve got Ghost Rider’s mysterious past, Daisy’s quest for knowledge, the effects of the Sokovia Accords, government involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D. and now…magic ghosts that possess people? Episode three will also involve a city-wide black out. As the episode is called “uprising”, some theories think this episode will reveal the Watchdogs in a bigger way.
Where Are FitzSimmons?
Coming clean on this one: I am a Fitzsimmons shipper. I’ve been on this boat since “Fitz *points*” “Simmons *points”. Last season was beautiful and frankly a bit overwhelming for my shipper heart. It got me back into the show, which I’d all but abandoned. This season, however, my favorite Brits are barely getting any action (in all senses of the word.) The still for episode 4 have not eased my aching heart at all.
So far this season, Simmons got promoted to official S.A.D.I.S.T. Fitz is left in the dust, watching football with Radcliffe who is essentially a S.H.I.E.L.D. prisoner. While the Fitzsimmons “will-they-won’t-they” story is definitely wrapped up, there’s a whole world to explore with the LMDs, and so far this plot thread is burning away in favor of Ghost Rider’s introduction.
The shots from S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 4 show plenty of Mack and Coulson, but only one lonely shot of Simmons in the field. More Mack is a great thing, sure, and watching him work in the field with Simmons should be exciting. But there are dropped threads all over this show. I hope they get picked up soon, or the show risks losing itself in too many storylines.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 4 airs Tuesday, October 18th. From Marvel’s press release: “GHOST RIDER AND S.H.I.E.L.D. GO HEAD-TO-HEAD, ON ‘MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ ON ABC
“Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire” – As Ghost Rider’s quest for vengeance brings him into an explosive confrontation with S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson and Mack must rely on an unlikely ally in their time of desperate need; and Daisy reunites with a familiar face to stop the Watchdogs, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on the ABC Television Network.”
For DA Marx of 
