Swamp Thing, “Drive All Night”, Review!

There was a pause from last week, but we are back to the swamp tonight!  Maria is talking on the phone to  about Susie.  She is stunned looking at the ceiling and Avery notes that she is funding Dr. Woodrue.  There is a groaning at the ceiling.  Sheriff Cable is in a robe looking at Avery.  Maria walks the darkened hall calling for Susie.  She is frightened having seen the girl from the pictures, Shawna, Maria's daughter, down stairs.  Maria goes to get a blanket and finds Susie missing from the bed.  Water runs from the bathroom, Maria sees the dark water in the bathtub, her dead daughter, Shawna, appears from the dark water.  Shawna has a zombie-like form and says she is being replaced.   Swamp Thing looks at a yellow tag on a tree and flashes back to Alec Holland checking the same tag.  He touches the swamp water and finds a body rise from it.  

Then, vines entrap his arms, Swampy screams, and then is freed.  A stranger (Macon Blair) with a beard moves through the swamp and he asks about the fishing to Swamp Thing.  He doesn’t seem too fazed talking to a swamp creature.  This is actually the Phantom Stranger, who first appeared in The Phantom Stranger #1 (1952), and he is a supernatural advisor.  Daniel is racing in his car, but stops at the Marais town sign.  He reaches out and then his right hand ignites in blue flame!  In his trunk is a mask of a blue devil with eyes that glow!  It looks like we are getting closer to Daniel's superhero identity!  Sheriff Cable rolls off of Avery in bed, she gets dressed, he notes that she is still wearing her ring.  The murder is like something out of Twin Peaks.  Abby is studying a sample of  the Swamp Thing.  We finally have her return and then we get the arrival of Jason Woodrue.  He mentions the regenerative properties of the sample.  Next, he brings up Alec Holland.  She gets a call from Susie.  

SWAMP THING -- “Drive All Night” -- DEREK MEARS - - Photo Credit: Fred Norris / 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Delroy finds Avery cooking turtle soup in his kitchen.  Avery brings up his daughter, Liz, investigating too closely in his matters.  Liz brings up the banker she was supposed to meet about his business.  Avery eliminated that threat.  Climbing into Alec’s lab is Jason Woodrue and Remy Dubois (William Mark McCullough), Woodrue uses a flashlight to find some samples of the Swamp Thing.  Woodrue is also getting closer to his transformation.  In the swamp, the Phantom Stranger mentions The Green, the trees that hold memories.  The Green is the concept created by Alan Moore in his run on the comic book.  The Phantom Stranger gives a warning to Swampy who touches the tree and has vines twist around him.  He sees Abby swimming and screaming out for Shawna.  Abby goes to the Sunderland mansion and meets with Maria.  Up the stairs they hear some singing.  Abby flashes back when Shawna was singing at the bridge when they were younger. She opens the door and finds Susie.  Susie seems possessed by the spirit of Shawna.  

Abby realizes that Shawna is there, it gets all Poltergeist, she sees Shawna drowning in the window.  Zombie Shawna vomits something slimy.  Maria sends out Abby.  The possessed Susie wants Maria to be together with her.  Madame Xanadu warns Abby that Susie needs to be saved.  Sheriff Cable drives her jeep over to the woods to meet with Remy.  She asks him about his boat since it was the only one out except Holland’s boat.  He takes out a rifle.  The sheriff shoots Remy when he threatens her son.  Abby is driving with Xanadu who says she opened a door.  She mentions her mother’s death at eight that she holds Xanadu responsible.  The possessed Susie leads Maria out in the swamp.  Abby looks at a grave when Susie runs up to her.  Then, she goes to help Maria who is dazed walking in the swamp water.  Abby tries to apologize and Maria starts to force her to drown in the water!  

SWAMP THING - - “Drive All Night” - - DEREK MEARS, VIRGINIA MADSEN - - Photo Credit: Fred Norris / 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Abby gets free and tries to swim away.  Maria is taken under and Abby tries to find her.  Swamp Thing appears with Maria in his arms. He says he saw her and with a touch shows her the vision at the bridge.  A BMW races to the bridge and the young Abby (Melissa Collazo) and Shawna get out with Shawna at the edge.  Abby pushes her over the bridge into the river and then dives in to save her.  Shawna pops out of the water laughing at her, then is pulled under!  Abby snaps out of the vision realizing that Shawna died from something, she is not the cause.  Matt Cable calls out for Abby.  At the bar, Delroy talks to Liz, and then she asks Daniel about his hand.  She leaves and is confronted by men in masks.  She can handle herself knocking one down.  Daniel is knocked out by the other thug.  Avery goes to the hospital to hear about Maria and is met by Jason Woodrue.  He says the sample was from a “living creature.”  Avery gives him contact information. This episode goes into the dark secret of Abby Arcane, Maria's obsession endangers Susie, and gets closer to the comic book ties! 

Five Vines out of Five! 

#SwampThing, #DriveAllNight, #MaconBlair, #WilliamMarkMcCullough

Happy Birthday Neil Gaiman!

Happy Birthday Neil Gaiman!  He started out as a journalist and one of his early graphic novels was Violent Cases with artist Dave McKean.  Then he wrote Don’t Panic: The Official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion (1988) based on the Douglas Adams’ books.  His first work for DC Comics was the limited series, Black Orchid (1988-1989), with art by Dave McKean.  Afterwards, Gaiman was presented with his own spin on old comics character, The Sandman, it was a series that elevated comic books to literary heights. Sandman #8 (1989) introduced Morpheus’ sister, Death.  Sandman #19 (1990), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, with art by Charles Vess, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.  On July 15, the audiobook adaptation narrated by Neil Gaiman appeared on audible.  Filming is continuing with the Sandman Netflix series developed by Allan Heinberg.  Then, Gaiman co-wrote with Terry Pratchett Good Omens (1990), it is going to be made into a Amazon Prime and BBC series in 2019.  He picked up writing Miracleman with artist Mark Buckingham when Alan Moore left the series with issue #17 (1990).  It abruptly ended with issue 24 (1993) when the publisher, Eclipse Comics, closed it’s doors. 

  

Next, Neil Gaiman worked with Dave McKean on graphic novels; Signal to Noise (1992) and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch (1994).  Then, he co-edited the anthology book, The Sandman: Book of Dreams.  Gaiman wrote for television with the BBC Two series Neverwhere (1996) with a novelization in the same year.  He wrote the fantasy limited series Stardust (1997) with art by Charles Vess.  He wrote the novel in 1999 and it was later turned to a film in 2007.  Gaiman wrote another novel, American Gods, in 2001.  This was also turned into a television series on Starz that started in 2017.  In 2002, Gaiman wrote the novel, Coraline, it was made into a brilliant animated film by Laika in 2009. Gaiman wrote the screenplay for MirrorMask (2005) directed by Dave McKean.  He co-wrote the screenplay for the animated film, Beowulf (2007).  In 2011, Gaiman wrote the script for “The Doctor’s Wife” episode of Doctor Who.  He returned to the Dreaming with The Sandman: Overture (2013-2015), a limited series with art by J.H. Williams III.  He wrote Norse Mythology which was published in 2017.  Almost all of Neil Gaiman's works are being brought to film and television, but Sandman for some reason.  Happy Birthday Neil Gaiman!

#NeilGaiman, #Sandman, #GoodOmens, #AmericanGods

Re:tro Re:view - The Color Out of Space (2019)!

The Color Out of Space accomplishes the difficult feat of capturing Lovecraft's tone and basic story with terror that infects your mind!  It is based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story that was published in 1927.  There are a number of adaptations of the Lovecraft story.  The first was the loosely based horror movie Die, Monster, Die! (1965).  It is available on Amazon Prime.  Stephen King’s short story, “Weeds” has some resemblance to H.P. Lovecraft.  It was later adapted into the segment "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” in the film anthology Creepshow (1982).  Then, the horror movie, The Curse (1987).  Stephen King played Jody Verrill.  The new Creepshow series is on Amazon Prime. 

In 2010, there was a German film, Die Farbe, “The Color” that was retitled “H.P. Lovecraft’s The Color Out of Space.”  It is also streaming on Amazon Prime.  If you are interested in Lovecraft-type films, read The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft (2006), not updated.  Always a word of caution, H.P. Lovecraft’s writings are not for the casual horror fan, they are dark, racist, and misogynist, but a reader has to be conscious of Lovecraft’s weaknesses to appreciate his brilliance.  The film is written and directed by Richard Stanley, who also directed the sci fi movie, Hardware (1990), and was fired as director for The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996).  He plans a trilogy of Lovecraft films with an adaptation of The Dunwich Horror.  

The movie starts with disjointed synthesizers from Colin Stetson until we get a foggy forest.  A narrator explains that this forest is west of Arkham.  It is the fictional town that was created by Lovecraft and contains Miskatonic University.  The words are direct from H.P. Lovecraft.  At a beach is a white horse tied to a tree and a woman (Madeleine Arthur) in a white robe and dark blue cloak around a circle of stones.  Arthur is in the sci fi series, Snowpiercer.  She is performing a ceremony holding up a compass and calling out names of what seem to be angels.  A man (Elliot Knight) is walking up a path with a pack at his side listening to her.  Knight played Brady Ross in the horror show, American Gothic, and I recognize him playing the title character in the Sky1 fantasy series, Sinbad.  He wears a Miskatonic University t-shirt.  She calls on fire to burn a locket of hair to eliminate the cancer of her mother, Teresa Gardner.  The woman is startled by the man walking up to her and he apologizes.  

He introduces himself as Ward Phillips, a surveyor, and he seems to know about rituals.  She says her name is Lavinia Gardener and rides away on her horse.  Lavinia rides up to her house and farm of alpacas.  In a rocking chair, is her father, Nathan (Nicolas Cage) with glasses, who is concerned that she rode off without a helmet and boots.  Cage was in the crime drama, Running with the Devil (2019).  Lavinia’s mother, Teresa (Joely Richardson), appears and asks about her brother.  She rides away to the stable where she finds her brother, Benny (Brendan Meyer), smoking.  Meyer was in the fantasy show, The OA.  He has found their grandfather’s goggles and says that Lavinia took his compass.  Her younger brother, Jack (Julian Hilliard), is staring down a well.  The family besides the mother, is all gathered at the dinner table, he has prepared cassoulet.  In the dusty attic, Teresa is having a conversation through her desktop about stocks, her husband calls up to her about dinner.  The father goes down to the basement to find some wine.  After the dinner, Nathan joins Teresa on the porch looking out at the foggy outdoors that is slowly becoming dark.  It is a quiet moment with this married couple.  

Night has set, the house is still bright with lights, Lavinia has a restless sleep.  Benny is looking at star charts on his computer.  In their dark bedroom, Nathan calls his wife, his “Golden Lady”, and they kiss.  Benny’s dog, Sam, starts whimpering.  Jack is holding is T-Rex stuffie frightened.  There is an unusual swirl of purple in the night sky above the house.   Jack walks out his room to see Sam in the hallway when a strange, pink light appears behind him.  It starts to appear everywhere in the house including on a copy of the Necronomicon in Lavinia’s room.  This is the eldritch book that is found in Lovecraft's stories.  Jack is crouched on the floor trying to cover his eyes when there is a burst of light.  The alien light seems to strike the house wakening up everyone.  Nathan and Teresa find Jack, but he seems stunned, Nathan picks him up as Benny and Lavinia join them.  Outside, there is a pinkish meteor buried with Sam watching over it.  Nathan checks it out, says there is a strange smell, and they have to rush back to check on Jack.  The child is catatonic, unresponsive, Teresa wants to take him to a hospital.  

All of the sounds become muted, we focus on Jack, and then he snaps out of it.  The boy is a bit like the young boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).  In the morning, Jack looks outside of his window at an approaching police car, Benny is poking it with a tiny branch.  Nathan says to his visitors that the smell is “like someone lit a dog on fire.”  The group includes Mayor Tooma (Q’orianka Kilcher) and Sheriff Pierce (Josh C. Waller).  The sheriff strikes the meteorite with a branch and hears a metallic ring.  Lavinia sees Ward and brings him to meet her father.  Then, Ward goes to check on the meteor now the color of dirt, but still smoking.  The mayor and sheriff leave.  Lavinia walks into the house and Teresa says it looked like she has fallen for Ward.  Then, Nathan goes to milk the alpacas, and then sends Benny to show Ward over to the squatter, Ezra (Tommy Chong).  He was recently in the comedy film, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.  The surveyor wants to take samples of the water.  A storm rolls in, Lavinia is outside watching the lightning strike the meteorite!  Ezra seems to understand what is happening, Ward is the voice of science, and the family becomes sick and driven by the madness of the otherworldly presence.  The concept design and visual effects are by User T38.  Color Out of Space has the eeriness of Lovecraft's weird fiction and there is some horror from the alien corruption!    

Four Colors out of Five! 

#TheColorOutofSpace, #RichardStanley, #HPLovecraft, #NicholasCage 

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 10: The Passenger”, Review!

This episode picks up from “The Marshall” on Tatooine, it seems like the base setting of the show from Nevarro which was the setting of season one.  Could there be a Battle of Tatooine at the finale?  There was such a battle in the video games having Rebels battling stormtroopers in Mos Eisley, but that took place in the gaps of the film.  The episode is directed by Peyton Reed who also directed Ant Man and the Wasp (2018) and Bring It On (2000).  The episode opens with a sand flat and some mountains under the twin suns of Tatooine.  Mando is riding the speeder bike with the Fett armor on one side and Baby Yoda in a sack on the other.  A Nikto is hammering a trap with other mercenaries.  The speeder bike sound effect is right out of Return of the Jedi (1983), not the growling motorbike sound from last episode, but it is going full speed.  They set the rope trap in a narrow canyon of rock, it tosses Baby Yoda, and Mando uses his rocket pack to land.  The speeder bike tumbles and explodes. 

He gets into hand to hand combat while a small alien with a mechanical jaw and binocular eyes runs, I think he’s an alien that we saw on Jakku in Force Awakens (2015).  He goes to unwrap a long rifle.  Mando takes down the mercenaries.  Then, the alien has a knife to Baby Yoda.  Mando tries to negotiate and takes off his rocket pack.  The alien sets down Baby Yoda and then runs off with the rocket pack.  You should know that Mando would never let his rocket pack go.  He uses his wrist control to send the rocket pack into the sky.  Then, we have some perfect Western music by Ludwig Göransson as Mando walks through the desert heat with a metal bar carrying Fett armor, rocket packs, his rifle on his back, and Baby Yoda in a sack on his torso.  He enters the cantina, the same one visited by Han Solo and Chewbacca, to see Peli Motto playing sabaac with a massive insectoid creature called Dr. Mandible.   It looks like a slimy, brown ant with jaws and glowing orange eyes.  Mando explains how he got the armor, Dr. Mandible chitters, and Peli explains that he knows a contact if Mando covers his bet. 

He hands over the credits and Peli slams down her cards and says it’s an Idiot’s Array.  It looks like the droid from Return of the Jedi, EV-9D9, is working at the bar.  Peli says that the contact will be at the hangar and knows where there is Mandalorians.  Mando has a hunk of Krayt Dragon meat that sizzles in front of Baby Yoda at the hangar.  It is being cooked by a Podracer engine like in Ronto Roasters in Galaxy’s Edge and watched over by a WED-15 Treadwell droid that we saw in Star Wars (1977).  We probably get the most of Star Wars culture from Peli Motto.  She explains that a Mandalorian covert is in the sector, Arkanis which includes a number of systems, one of which is Geonosis, but most likely the Mandalorians won’t be there.  Peli says the cost of the information is taking on a passenger to the next sector.  He has to travel without hyperdrive.  Then we have the arrival of the alien mother, named Frog Lady, is played by Misty Rosas who also played Kuiil in the first season of The Mandalorian.  She is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, a well known voice actor, who voiced the clone troopers in Star Wars: Clone Wars.  Frogs are usually bright pink, her black globe eyes look more like a pink iguana. 

She carries on her back a container of blue liquid and what Peli says is her “spawn”, very cool to see a human Star Wars character speak in an alien language, kudos to Amy Sedaris.  I think CGI is used for the alien’s eye blinks and mouth movement when speaking.  Peli goes on to say that hyperspace will destroy the eggs and that they have to reach her husband on the moon of Trask.  She vouches for the alien and admits she only met her ten minutes ago!  Peli is quickly becoming a favorite character.  On the flight, Mando tries to communicate with the alien, but she only speaks in croaks.  In the hold, Baby Yoda spots the canister of alien spawn, I’m not exactly certain why the mother would leave the canister out of her sight.  Mando tells Frog Lady that he has set coordinates and goes to the hold only to see Baby Yoda reaches in the canister for the spawn to snack on it!  Mando takes Baby Yoda to his bunk and later is wakened by an alarm!  Two X-Wings flank the Razor Crest, the pilots including Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and Trapper Wolf played by Dave Filoni.  Lee is in the comedy show, Kim’s Convenience, and was in the Robocop (2014) reboot.  Filoni played Wolf in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” (2019).  They check on Razor Crest since there is no transponder, the New Republic requires a beacon from ships.  

The S-foils on the X-Wings start to deploy!  Captain Treva asks if the ship was at the incident with the prison ship, Bothan-Five, and Mando sets the ship plunging to the planet!  He starts weaving through the icy canyons which makes me think of Star Tours.  Mando slides the Razorcrest into a icy overhang and the X-Wings pass them by, but the ice floor collapses!   He goes to the hold and finds a breach in the hull.  Mando finds Baby Yoda eating the eggs!  Mando is startled awake by the voice of Zero, the head of the protocol droid from the sixth episode.  He was voiced again by Richard Ayoade.  Frog Lady uses the droid to translate.  Clever.  Wires spark and the ship looks heavily damaged, but Mando begins repairs.  Baby Yoda tries to get Mando’s attention and points out the Frog Lady’s path.  They find her in a hot springs pool with her eggs.  Mando and Frog Lady start to gather up the eggs for the canister.  Baby Yoda cracks a pod-like egg and starts snacking on the beastie inside.  When others start to break from their eggs, I recognized that they were Krykna, spiders that were designed by Ralph McQuarrie for a creature on Dagobah.  They are recognizable from their pod-like abdomen.  In canon, they are actually native to Atollon and first appeared in the Star Wars: Rebels episode, “The Mystery of Chopper Base” (2016).  The snowy white spider coming out of the egg and swarming is something out of Aliens (1986).  “The Passenger” is primarily a horror story with the threat of the Krykna and Baby Yoda snacking on the mother’s eggs.  

Four Bars of Beskar Steel out of Five! 

#TheMandalorian, #ThePassenger, #MistyRosas, #PaulSunHuungLee, #DaveFiloni 

The Outpost, “Under Yavalla’s Control”, Review!

Last season we had the threat of the Prime Order ready to invade Gallwood Outpost with the Blackbloods arriving to defeat them and then take over The Outpost!  Now, we have a new danger with Yavalla, the leader of the Blackbloods, using her zinj to take over the hearts and minds of everyone!  Now, there is a resistance group with Talon, Janzo, Garret, and Wren fighting against The United.  Zed has joined them.  An army camps outside of The Outpost, Zed sees the return of his Lu-Qiri, his zinj power is controlling the demons.  Talon wants to search for Tobin who may be zinjed.  He is kissing Gwynn and tries to tell her that he married Falista to get the promised army.  Garret and Talon ambushed Tobin and bring him to Janzo’s lab.  Janzo is frustrated because he thinks if Yavalla is controlling him, she find out about them.  

THE OUTPOST -- “Under Yavalla’s Control” -- JESSICA GREEN  -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/NBCU International © 2020 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

In a cell, Garret tries to use a voice, but Tobin realizes who is in the resistance group and that he is in the lab.  Tobin explains his marriage.  Zed controls Tobin making him dance.  He knows the zinj would make him resistant to Zed’s power so he is in the group.  Sammie walks with Gwynn and they meet Yavalla.  Gwynn says her zinj did not divide when she met with Tobin.  Yavalla says that they have to kill Talon and Zed.  Gwynn says that Talon must be protected.  Garret is angry at Zed bringing in Yavalla.  Talon has a plan for Tobin to capture Gwen. Tobin enters the throne room, she kisses him, trying to zinjify him.  Sammie and Yavalla face Tobin outside of the throne room.  He whistles bringing in Zed and Talon!  Zed uses his zinj power, but is thrown back by Yavalla.  Sammie fights with Talon and she ultimately runs him through with a sword!  Really all they have to do is kill Yavalla, no more innocent deaths, Gwynn looks at Talon wanting her death.  Yavalla agrees to surrender to the group with Gwynn.  

The prisoners are taken to the cells under The Outpost and Talon says that Yavalla is defeated.  She says she is not stopped.  After asking about why Gwynn hasn’t infected Tobin, Janzo realizes that there is a gestation period to produce more zinj.  Wren meets with Zed and he tells her that her mother is imprisoned.  He says she is being corrupted by the zinj.  Should this season be called Bad Zinj?  Zed aks her about her loyalty and then sends her to Janzo.  He brings up the stinkfly queen theory and says she must be killed.  Wren wants another solution.  The zinj can be removed.  Talon tells Janzo that he posed a difficult choice for Wren.  Night, Gwynn is in pain as her zinj divides, she asks what happens when she doesn’t zinj another.  Yavalla captures a mouse and has Gwynn move the zinj to it.  Now zinjed, the mouse escapes the room.  Garret goes to talk to Gwynn. He was controlled by the Prime Order.  She tosses Garret to Yavalla’s cell and he stabs her with a sword.  Gwynn is not happy and Yavalla stands up.  The zinj in Gwynn must be keeping Yavalla alive!  Yavalla reaches out to hold Gwynn’s hand.  A solution would be to render Yavalla unconscious so she won’t be able to control others.  

THE OUTPOST -- “Under Yavalla’s Control” -- IMOGEN WATERHOUSE, AARON FONTAINE -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/NBCU International © 2020 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

Yavalla has control of the mouse and sends it to the marketplace and over to Tobin.  It bites him zinjifying him!  Yavalla tells Gwynn that Tobin is coming for them.  Janzo is working in his lab.  It seems like he is working to solve the zinj problem like the Plaguelings first season.  Garret admits that Yavalla can’t be killed.  Tobin arrives and has his guards free the prisoners.  Morning, Wren meets with Munt, he admits he would not let anyone kill his mother.  Munt wants to join Wren to kill Janzo and she sends him away.  She enters the lab and she admits to Janzo her conflict of loyalty.  She says she’s in love with him!  He says he was in love with his sister, but of course that relationship ended.  They kiss and this is ended when Janzo explains that Yavalla can’t die.  Janzo says Garret stabbed her.  Wren heads off to the jail cells and sees the prisoners have escaped.  At the marketplace, the group gathers and asks a Blackblood guard that he has let them out.  Janzo realizes that Tobin is zinjed!  Garret and Talon look out from the battlement and see that Tobin’s army is gone!  Blackfists confront Zed that Yavalla has left with the army.  Garret reveals himself with Talon, the Blackfists back down by Zed’s command, and the group explains the situation.  Talon tells all of the soldiers, Blackbloods and humans, to work together.  Garret tells her that she has to become a leader, Garret leader of the humans, and Zed of the Blackbloods!  A very great episode about loyalty and love.  

Five Zinjes out of Five! 

#TheOutpost, #UnderYavallasControl, #Zinj, #Sammie 

A Short Trip to Downtown Disney!

Since Buena Vista Street was going to be open on November 19th, two weeks from now, I decided to make a quick trip to Downtown Disney.  The objective was to get The Mandalorian figures, since there is not enough pics for reviews, there is going to be pics of action figures!  First, I took a ride-hailing trip to Downtown Disney, there is a walk now towards Disneyland Hotel.  It turns left to the temperature taking tents.  The former security check is just for cast members.  My first stop was the Star Wars Trading Post, I saw the new Galaxy’s Edge t-shirts, but not much new.  

                     Movie posters on a studio building, DCA, photo by the author. 

Then, I went over to World of Disney, no lines, just walk right in.  There was holiday merch and I was most impressed by the full-sized Disney books that were also notebooks, $30.  The Sleeping Beauty book had faux jewels and the Beauty and the Beast book looks like a stained glass window.  I went to the Star Wars section.  The Baby Yoda merch is out of control!  It is on too many items so not interested in getting all of the Baby Yoda items.  There is the Baby Yoda with sounds, not motion like the animatronic figure, it is around $30.  I also saw the Darksaber that was used by Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, $30.  I think all of the items were priced at $30, I don’t remember other prices.  

                Baby Groot stuffies and animatronics at Stage 17, photo by the author. 

Next, I checked out Disney’s California Adventure, there was no red car trollery.  Then, I went over to Stage 17, no line.  I was told by a cast member that it was busier in the morning, but the heat chased away people.  I saw The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special poster on Stage 17 and also The Mandalorian, Free Guy, and Soul on the other building.   I saw more holiday merch; sweaters, a peppermint candy necklace that glows, and Mickey and Minnie in holiday wear stuffies.  Next was a Baby Groot animatronic, it is $60 and there is a Bluetooth speaker that plays music, $30.  I imagine he is to compete with Baby Yoda, but he is not in the same galaxy as The Child.  A good shopping for the holidays trip.  Buena Vista Street could be even more fun.  

#DowntownDisney, #StarWarsTradingPost, #DisneyCaliforniaAdventure, #Stage17, #BuenaVistaStreet 

Strolling through the (Theme) Park One Day: Festival of Holidays!

 Disney’s California Adventure park has an event, Festival of Holidays, that is one of the best Disney experiences!  It ran in the fall since 2016.  In this case, it was early 2018, and it offered special food and drink items as well as holiday entertainment.  You can enter from the Cars Land side or from the San Francisco area that has Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. In its own way, this is EPCOT’s World Showcase, they had a Holidays Around the World changed to Festival of the Holidays in 2016.  The live entertainment is impressive especially the Holiday Toy Drummers.  They march in with the bright red and white uniforms and hats and snare drums.  The drummers march to the fountain across from Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and play “March of the Toy Soldiers” from the Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.  Their synchronized movements and tricks reminds me of The Power of Blast show that was at the Hyperion Theater.  I would really like these talented performers return to DCA in whatever form.  

    

  Festival of Holidays, Disney's California Adventure, 2018, photo by the author. 

There are a number of booths food and drink booths were on one side of the lake, Paradise Bay?, at the end of the park.  The best part is that it has guests experiencing the food, drink, music of different cultures.  What was disheartening was that some guests waited in line for hot dogs, same time waiting and same price, instead of the diverse and delicious foods you didn’t get everyday at the park.  At the Holiday Duets Marketplace was an offering, Braised Pork Belly Adobo on a bed of garlic fried rice, to this moment I still remember that it was my favorite!  At the Winter Sliderland Marketplace I had the Fried Turkey Slider with cranberry sauce and Warm Peppermint Chocolate Float!  They are on small paper trays, but each one was filling.  For dessert, I had the Hot Cocoa Marshmallow Macaron.  Really, I would try almost any offering at the booths and they were worth the price.  These items lasted all day for me.  I did miss the food offerings at Paradise Garden Grill including a burrito that was a flour tortilla with black beans, Spanish rice, molcajete sala, crema, choice of meat; beef, carnitas, or chicken with tortilla chips and molcajete salsa.  The point is there always something tasty that you might try the next time.  You can buy a Sip and Savor Pass that gives you eight offerings, that might be perfect for two or more guests.    

Braised Pork Belly Adobo, Festival of Holidays, 2018, photo by the author.

There is one area that is a standout, ¡Viva Navidad!, that is centered at the Paradise Garden Grill.  It brings back the Latinx focus that was lost with the closure of Golden Dreams in 2008.  The parade, ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party, is fun!  There are folklórico dancers in colorful outfits, large mojiganga puppets, and also Mickey and Minnie!  The highlight for me was a float of The Three Caballeros!  This is Donald, Panchito Pistoles from Mexico and José Carioca representing Brazil.  They are from The Three Caballeros (1944) film and why I found them exceptional is that I’ve never seen them at a Disney park!  There was a meet and greet later and all of them were funny!  Panchito blocked Donald when I was taking their pic!  There is also another parade, Princess Elena’s Grand Arrival,  which features the Royal Court dancers, a float of a Jacquin, a winged jaguar, and of course Elena Castillo Flores herself.  She tells her story from the animated series Elena of Avalor, Elena sings “My Time”  and other songs from the show.  An impressive vocal, a live performance by a princess in a parade!, I did see Ariel sing in Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  

         Holiday Toy Drummers, Disney's California Adventure, 2018, photo by the author. 

There are some incredible dancers for Diwali, with the Blue13 Dance Company bringing the energy and beauty of the Indian festival of lights.  The not to be missed performance is Mariachi Divas, they have won the Grammy Awards twice, and performed at the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill restaurant across the bridge, at the Pacific Wharf.  I was really excited to see from youtube videos, Mostly Kosher, I watched their performance twice.  The show times are listed in the event pamphlet.  They really have fun playing and singing plus interacting with the audience.  Mostly Kosher is a Klezmer band fusing jazz, rock, and hip hop into a fun sound of different cultures.  I really like their song, “Ikh Hob Dikh Tusfil Lib”, which they play in the show.  I hope all of the performers return to Disney’s California Adventure.  The other part of the Festival of Holidays is that there are arts and crafts activities for the different holidays.  The performances and activities are informative which is the best aspect of a theme park.  It makes the theme park a blend of cultures that is so entertaining that I really didn’t go on any rides or check out Disneyland.  The booths are open air so that would be perfect in this environment.  It woud open up a good part of the park and bring back cast members, but I imagine that the Festival of Holidays was planned out in advance.  This was the strategy for Knott's Berry Farm that eventually became Fall-O-Ween.  I hope with a possible opening of Buena Vista Street that this could mean a possible limited return of Festival of Holidays!  

#DisneysCaliforniaAdventure, #FestivalofHolidays, #BlueDance13Company, #MariachiDivas, #MostyKosher 

Happy Birthday Steve Ditko!

Happy Birthday Steve Ditko!  The comic book creator was private and his life and work was explored in the documentary by British chat show host and comics fan, Jonathan Ross, with In Search of Steve Ditko.  You can see it on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfxVO0fLHvA.  Ditko then worked with Charlton Comics co-creating Captain Atom in Space Adventures #33 (1960).  This character was brought into the DC universe and was the inspiration for Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen. Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) before getting his own title starting with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (1963) which had Spider-Man surrounded by the Fantastic Four!  One of the most stunning pages in comic books was Amazing Spider-Man #33 (1966) which has Spider-Man trapped under tons of iron and just struggling for pages.  Still, Ditko left the title with Amazing Spider-Man #38 (1966) apparently over disagreements with Stan Lee.  

One of Ditko’s strangest and well known characters was Doctor Strange introduced in Strange Tales #110 (1963).  His final arc with Doctor Strange was in Strange Tales #130 (1965) to 146 (1966). He left Marvel and went back to Charlton where he created the Silver Age incarnation of the Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, in Captain Atom #83 (1966).  In 1967, he also created The Question in Blue Beetle #1 (1967).  Both characters had analogues in Watchmen with Kord becoming Night Owl and The Question turned into the enigmatic Rorschach.  At DC Comics, he co-created Hawk and Dove in Showcase #75 (1968) who are going to be featured in The Titans show.  He returned to Marvel and one of the strange titles that I first saw his artwork was Rom Spaceknight where the cyborg character finished his war with alien Dire Wraiths using his Neutralizer.  In 1992, Ditko did the artwork for Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special (1992) which was the debut of Squirrel Girl, a character who in Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors voiced by Milana Vayntrub.  The comics legend died in 2018, but his work is forever.  Happy Birthday Steve Ditko!    

#SteveDitko, #SpiderMan, #DoctorStrange, #HawkandDove