Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.20


This was the best episode since the Captain America tie-ins began. Right off the bat we get a nice Man-Thing reference for all the geeks like yours truly. What is Man-Thing? That's him in the picture; Marvel's version of Swamp Thing. A government scientist was experimenting on plants and got transformed into a mushy plant-man that lives in a swamp... or something like that. This is actually the second reference to Man-Thing in the Cinematic U. Man-Thing's wife appeared in Iron Man 3. (Same name, same scar, AIM agent: check, check, and check.) It seems somebody at Marvel Studios has a soft spot for the green and mossy guy. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him appear in one of the TV properties someday. Now let's get to the rest of the notes...

  • Speaking of Man-Thing, the writers are getting much better at sneaking in Marvel names and references without making them distracting. (The joke two weeks ago about Johnny Horton made me laugh out loud, which is maybe the dorkiest thing I could possibly admit.)
  • Maria Hill was talking to Pepper Potts on the phone when the episode begins, but the most interesting tidbit was the news that Stark Industries is "privatizing global security." That's a fact that could actually play out in The Avengers 2. Kind of cool that they seeded it on AoS.
  • By the way, I thought Cobie Smulders did a nice job and brought some extra juice to the episode.
  • Tripp tells us that Coulson is an "expert in analysis" and Phil correctly diagnoses the predicament his team is in to the letter. I liked that moment and the effort to develop Phil's character, letting us know what makes him talented, unique and valuable as an agent.
  • The emotional moments on the show just don't carry weight and I'll tell you why. The high emotion moments and outbursts happen far too often and usually they don't ring true. So, when you have an occasion where that emotion would feel right and appropriate, its impact is stolen. This is the most emotionally fragile bunch of spies ever and any time the feelings come out, the directors have them crank it up to 11.
  • Skye calls Ward a Nazi and serial killer. I'm glad, because she's right on both counts and I've been worried that the show would let Ward off easy at some point.
  • I liked Deathlok's heart gadget.
  • He still doesn't look enough like Deathlok. I understand the difficulties, but rather than looking like a cyborg, it looks like he's wearing an big, ill-fitting vest. In no way do his appliances look like part of him.
  • Nice to see Lola, but that green screen work... yikes. Forgiveable though. I got some laughs out of it.
  • I like Tripp. There is room to improve on the acting, but I like him and that's more than I could ever say for Ward.

Predictions

Like I said, I was worried they would allow Ward to redeem himself. Now, I'm confident (and happy) to say that Ward is just too far gone for redemption. He's shooting people in the head left and right, including Victoria Hand. Orders or not, Skye's line was correct, he's a serial killer. He had an unfortunate childhood and was misled by Garrett. There isn't enough room to let him off the hook, but I do believe they'll give Ward one chance to sacrifice himself for his former team. One final act to make good and go out on the good side (a la Anakin Skywalker). It could happen in the season finale, but not necessarily. It seems they might like to make him a foil for next season. Scenario B would be something along the lines of Ward kills Garrett and allows the Agents to escape, but he then takes over as the leader of this arm of Hydra; being the oh-so complex character that he is.

We'll see you back here for the final two episodes of the season.

Captain America's News and Notes 4.21.14


Well, it took longer than expected to recover from Kentucky's amazing run through the NCAA Tournament which ultimately ended in defeat to a Huskies program we are learning to loathe. Nevertheless, here we are!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

First, since we've made Marvel fare a bit of a hobby here on the blog, let me start by saying that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an absolutely outstanding superhero movie. This latest Marvel flick is quite possibly their second best overall. Yes, above The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and The Dark World.

I don't want to give an exhaustive review right now, but let me say that Cap 2 had the best script by far outside Iron Man 1 & 3 (possibly better than 3). This was by far the best characterization of Cap himself thanks to the Russo brothers who directed. The sickeningly goody-goody aspect of Steve Rogers that we saw in the Avengers (hopelessly dreary and serious at all times) was nearly eliminated and replaced by a subtle edge. Kudos to Chris Evans who was able to pull that off as well; I had major doubts and he proved me wrong. The improvements weren't solely for Cap; the Winter Soldier also contained the best portrayals of Fury and Black Widow by far. Sam Jackson seemed to be engaged for the first time by his character and, again, you can credit that to a top-notch script.

The hand-to-hand fight scenes also might be the best ever in any super hero movie. Yes, the movie had its problems and weird moments that quite seem to fit, but they were minimal and I'm not going to nitpick. Bottom line: if you haven't seen it, you need to.

WSF Notes

We've been busy bees. That's the other reason I've been doing a horrible job with the updates here. I'll try to make a bullet list of what we have going on and maybe get into some details later.

  • Space Cops editing continues. We're finishing off multiple episodes so we can string together several weeks of releases in a row.
  • Rumors persist of a Space Cops t-shirt that would coincide with the release of new episodes.
  • Some serious pondering happening at HQ. There are some major questions being asked about our goals and priorities.
  • A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday to determine how ambitious we will be in producing a short film this year (the two options are very or not at all).
  • Or will we focus all our efforts into turning Walk Softly into a full-fledged company and new careers for all?

Don't give up on the blog. It's just getting good. The next few months are going to be nothing if not interesting. See you back here on Wednesday? We might have an Agents of SHIELD update.

Aaron Harrison's News and Notes 3.31.14

If you were hoping for news and notes, I have to apologize. It's March. And in March we don't do anything in Kentucky. Because this.


We'll be back up to full speed in a couple weeks for sure. Could be next week, but I hope not.

St. Patty's News and Notes 3.17.14

The Space Cops t-shirt is going to be amazing.

I've been at work painting and editing. Space Cops is all-consuming these days. You're going to want one of these t-shirts. Trust me. So, start saving your pocket change.

If today is Saint Patrick's Day, that means our Lunch with the Arts is only two days away. There is still room to join in the fun and if they don't sell this thing out, you're going to hurt us. You're going to hurt us deeply. We hope to see some new faces there (that don't already own a copy of Cannonball). We have no shame. It's going to be a lively back and forth, so tell your friends.

Keep that green on and don't get pinched, friends.

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.15


Agents of SHIELD continues to build steam in the back half of its first season and my enthusiasm for the future of the show continues to grow. In my opinion, "Yes Men" was the best episode since "FZZT," nine episodes ago. Sif's guest appearance worked well and didn't feel forced. AoS even worked in some Cinematic Universe backstory and new continuity as well. More on that later.

Jamie Alexander was excellent and really made the most of her chance to take center stage. The internet has been crying for prominent female superheroes and I think tonight was a big victory in that regard. I know my ten year-old daughter was pretty fired up about it. Once again there was some solid character development as well as nice comedy and action pieces. The comedy was primarily provided by Fitz and Simmons who were on their game in limited roles. One exchange between Coulson and an entranced Fitz actually made me laugh out loud.

Not many criticisms on this one, but I'll pick at it a little. The fight choreography basically stinks. And, not to get too "inside baseball" on you, but the fights were sped up in post and the frame blending process was obvious. Somebody in the edit chair was in a hurry.

Now, turn away from the screen Agent Ward fans. I don't want to make you cry, but Ward hurts the show. He is the weakest character and it seems no one knows how to make him compelling. If I'm a writer and the show ever needs a death to serve a story... I know where I'm starting. Ouch, I know, I'm ruthless. Also, AoS writers, if Ward knows Lorelei's power set and has his tranquilizer gun pointed right at her, why does he not fire it, allow her to speak to him and touch him? Somebody has to catch stuff like that, because that was just dumb. Try this: she sneaks up behind him, touches him and speaks: easy peasy. (Lemon squeezy.)

  • Admirable exposition to set the scene between Sif and the team. Why is Coulson alive, etc. Coulson asks to tell Thor himself. More setup if they want to use it.
  • Coulson probes Sif for information on blue aliens. She says she knows plenty and goes through the list... Trust the comic guy: it was all blah, blah, blah, Kree. (Told you so.) She does mention frost giants but that notion is dismissed and the guy in the tube was no giant, nor did his features resemble one.
  • So... another outer space alien. Hooray. (Again, I'm sorry, but aliens really are the explanation for everything in the MCU. Switch it up a little guys. You've even been calling Asgard a planet. Stop it!)
  • Lorelei was a good choice as the villain. Her power over men actually provides a good reason for Sif to be the only Asgardian who pursues her.
  • Ward is "as lethal as any"? No. I've seen nothing that makes me think that at all. Writing problem.  If you want me to believe that, you're going to have to show me. Brett Dalton's performances can be stiff, but this is on the writers.
  • I actually felt some emotion for Lorelei's predicament. Kudos.
  • Here's a big one: Odin wants Lorelei back alive...   But Odin isn't Odin is he? So somebody else actually wants her back alive. Heh? Hehhh? If you've seen The Dark World, you know who I'm talking about.
  • Sounds like Ward and May's tryst is over for now.
  • Lorelei intimated that Ward has feelings for someone else. (Skye. Duh.) Although they could possibly play a Simmons switcharoo on us.
  • They really upped the stakes at the end of the episode and I bought it. Fury vs. Coulson?
  • Agent May is in on it (with Fury?) and has apparently been providing inside info for some time.
Theories
  • Skye is a human/Kree hybrid, orphan which is what makes her an 0-8-4 and why she reacted even better than Coulson to the freaky alien juice they injected her with.
  • Would they go so far as to make the alien in the tube a direct relation to her? I lean towards no, because I think we were being led to believe the alien had been there since the 40s or 50s.
  • If they ever use AoS to advance the Loki storyline, people will lose their minds and the ratings will be even higher than the premiere.
No episode next week. Looks like they're having a promotional special for all the Marvel properties in general. Some of those Deathlok clips looked pretty cool. His bionic/cyborg eye was exposed. Are we going to keep inching closer to the look of Deathlok from the comics?

WSF News and Notes 3.10.14


I'm making this short. I have less than an hour left of weekend editing time and I don't want to spend it blogging things you've already heard. Such as...

Space Cops 4

Do you see that picture up there? That's why we don't spit out episodes every other day. Everything in green is a different audio clip. ...Just the audio. Dialogue, music, and every little sound effect imaginable to man. And for every blue clip of video above, several hours of effects work went into most of those. BUT, as promised, Episode 4 is complete (for all intents and purposes). I have to add on some credits and whatnot, but I'm going to call this thing done. Actually, two episodes are done because 4 is being split into two parts. Double your pleasure. Double your fun.

You won't be seeing it right away. There is a lot of prep work being done to make sure all of our ducks are in a row before the release. Promotion, more episodes to keep momentum going, t-shirts, etc, etc. We want to make sure as many eyeballs as possible find their way to the new episodes. Like I said, if no one watches, we have to stop making them and that would make us sad.

Lunch with the Arts

Don't forget, if anyone wants to gab about movies and filmmaking with us, you can join in the fun at the Lunch with the Arts event in Danville on March 19th. That's just over a week away. Have they sold out yet? They have sandwiches, man. Sandwiches. Maybe we'll buy some circus peanuts to pass out. That will get you here, won't it? You circus peanut loving dog, you.
I'm not buying circus peanuts, so don't show up ready to cause a riot.

Keep your eyes on the stars and enjoy the week everybody.
We'll have a new Geek Scope here for you following the new episode of Agents of SHIELD.

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.14

Paxton as John Garrett

Starting now, I'm going to split this column into two halves. The first half will be general observations about the episode and the second half will contain anything that might be a spoiler, even if it's only a theory about where the series is headed. (And I have a lot of theories this week.) I really think the show is starting to find its tone. They've been telling us for a few weeks now that the good stuff was coming in the back half of the season. I'm beginning to believe them. I don't know if AoS can ever give us great television, but it can be entertaining spy/sci-fi fare and the show keeps making positive strides. On with the notes...

  • I love Bill Paxton. I've been a mark for Paxton ever since Weird Science. With that being said...
  • I already love Bill Paxton on this show. A great addition and I hope we see plenty of him.
  • Paxton plays John Garrett who, yes, is another SHIELD agent from comics lore. In the comics, Jonathan Garrett is critically wounded and given a cyborg body. Interesting considering the Deathlok/TAHITI storyline we're in the middle of.
  • We got another mention of the Triskelion in this episode; a SHIELD HQ from the Ultimate Universe.
  • New guy Agent Triplett is in love with Simmons already? How did that happen? He was on screen for three minutes and had a fight with Ward. Did I miss something?
  • Our group shot and killed two agents to save one? With no idea who these guys were? What happened to the tranquilizer "Night Night" gun that they love to use so much? Seems like a writing oversight.
  • How freaky was that ripped up torso in a tube? Continue reading if you want to know my theory on that business.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

The Torso
  • Initially, I hoped it was the original Human Torch (an android) what with the WWII bunker and all, but no such luck. The body didn't seem to be synthetic and GH doesn't fit Jim Hammond or Phineas Horton.
  • Besides being ripped in half, the torso had long nails, signs of decomposition, a few apparent markings on its chest, no eyes, and a possible bullet hole in its head.
  • Either the liquid was blue, or the actual body was. Therefore...
  • I'd like to believe that the torso is that of an Atlantean because that would be a nice a change of pace and the existence of Atlantis would be a significant revelation for the show. However, it didn't have pointy ears so, unfortunately... 
  • My official prediction is that this was the body of a Kree; a blue-skinned race of aliens from the comics.
  • "Guest House" would indicate the being in the tube was a visitor, which points to it being an alien. And since aliens are the explanation for everything in the Marvel cinematic universe (ugh), it's almost certain.
The Clairvoyant
  • The Clairvoyant is a SHIELD agent. I was already fairly certain, but this week basically cinched it.
  • The only thing the Clairvoyant hasn't had an answer for is Coulson's resurrection.
  • In this episode, we discovered that Coulson's procedures were conducted outside of SHIELD.
  • Bingo
  • My best guess has been Victoria Hand. And now, possibly Triplett.

Oscars News and Notes 3.3.14


There are so many things to talk about, I almost dreaded writing the News and Notes this week. So, let's get to it by starting with the biggest news of the day...

Lunch With the Arts

You thought I was going to say Oscars, didn't you? Hold your horses. It seems that Todd and I will be talking indie filmmaking at Lunch With the Arts on March 19th. I think that means we're the artists? If that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, you can register right now at the CommunityArtsCenter.net. I hear these things sell out, so don't let us be the only losers who couldn't put butts in the seats. We've been told the crowd likes time for Q&A, so you can expect plenty of that.

The Oscars

We've been threatening to live tweet the Oscars for several years and we actually did it last night. Look for a post later today that includes a few of the highlights. Ellen did a nice job; the monologue was laid back, but smart and funny. It was a bit hard to concentrate with Kevin Spacey and Jared Leto trying to jump in front of the camera and each other at every opportunity. The biggest shock of the night may have been Jennifer Lawrence's glory road finally coming to an end. I didn't think her Kentucky mojo could be stopped, but it was the year of 12 Years a Slave. And there's always next year.

Harold Ramis

We lost Harold Ramis last week. Mr. Ramis is a man that had an enormous impact on our filmmaking and senses of humor. Ghostbusters, Stripes, Caddyshack, and Groundhog's Day are just a handful of the films from his incredible body of work. In honor of Harold, I'll share a reenactment of the New York Public Library Ghostbusters scenes by my daughter and I (as best we could remember them).



Space Cops

Now for your obligatory Space Cops update. Progress continues at a great pace on what we believe will be six consecutive episodes. And I don't want to get everyone too excited but rumors persist that a lost cache of vintage Space Cops t-shirts are out there and we're getting closer to tracking them down on a daily basis. In fact, we found some of the original spec artwork this weekend. We're starting to think these shirts are real.


Have a great week. Agents of SHIELD is back this week and that means we'll see you back here for a recap and inside scoop on Geek Scope.

Indie Wednesday: Fresh Guacamole

As I edit and design Space Cops t-shirts in my pajamas, it seems like a good time to share a video with you. The Oscars are tomorrow night and

Fresh Guacamole

is the shortest film ever nominated. Now you can act like smarto tomorrow and tell everyone you've seen this.