Happy Birthday Ray Bradbury!

Happy Birthday Ray Bradbury!  Ray Bradbury was a prolific writer who made a mark in fantastic fiction and gave a hopeful vision of the future.  His first story was printed in Forrest J. Ackman’s Imagination!  Forrey was a great supporter of Bradbury.  He worked on the screenplay for John Huston’s adaptation of Moby Dick (1956).  The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) had a scene out of Bradbury’s story, “The Fog Horn” (1951) which made a life long friendship with Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen.  One of the best adaptations was the 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone based on Ray Bradbury’s short story, “I Sing the Body Electric”  Fahrenheit 451 was made into a film in 1966 directed by Francois Truffaut, but featured Julie Christie more than focusing on the theme from Ray Bradbury’s highly regarded novel.  There is a recent film starring Michael B. Jordan starring as the fireman tasked to destroy books.  

The Martian Chronicles based on Bradbury’s 1950 collection of his Martian stories was made into a miniseries in 1980.  There was a television series, The Ray Bradbury Theater, which ran from 1985 to 1992.  One of Ray Bradbury’s book that was most influential to me is Zen in the Art of Writing (1990), I highly recommitted it to any creative person.  An animated television film narrated by Ray Bradbury was made of The Halloween Tree in 1993 which won him the Emmy Award.  The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) was a film with an incredible cast that went direct to video.  A Sound of Thunder (2005) was released in theaters, but twisted the original story and failed at the box office.  It was a 1989 episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater.  In 2007, he was awarded the Pulitzer Citation for his work.  We lost Ray Bradbury in 2012 with “Author of Fahrenheit 451” on his headstone, but he lives on in his writing.  Happy Birthday Ray Bradbury!   

#RayBradbury, #Fahrenheit451, #TheMartianChronicles, #ASoundofThunder 

Disneyland Park 65th Anniversary Review!

Disneyland 65th Anniversary, the online event, streamed for D23 members is hosted by Leslie Iwerks.  The host is the executive producer and director of The Imagineering Story, the series which is currently streaming on Disney+.  She is also the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, the animator who worked with Walt Disney on the first Disney cartoons.  She interviews a group of Imagineers; Tony Baxter, Kim Irvine, whose father worked at the animation studio, her mother played Madame Leota, Scott Trowbridge, he led development on Galaxy's Edge, and Janette Lomboy, Vice President of Disney Imagineering.  Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955 and is currently closed to the public.  The group had just visited Disneyland yesterday.  Of course, I have to note that I’m a former DLand cast member.  The park doesn’t show its age. 

Kim Irvine worked with John Hench, she was asked what she would say to upcoming Imagineers, she said it would be to be at the parks with the guests, “out there all the time.” Trowbridge oversaw the Galaxy Edge expansion.  He noted about being careful about how Galaxy’s Edge added to the Disneyland experience, “it belongs to them (the guests).”  He said about going to the park without cast members that he realized “how much life they bring to the place.”  I think this is an important point.  Cast members make guest experiences.  I was busing tables at a restaurant, a family liked my energetic busing so much, they asked to take a picture with me!  Baxter said he will be consult with the team on the Splash Mountain (which he worked on) remodeling with The Princess and the Frog.  Again, I went on the cast member testing of the ride, and the film was just a setting for the attraction, not central to it.   

                                                    The opening of Disneyland, 2019, photo by the author. 

Scott Trowbridge showed the Rise of the Resistance toy that will be available when the park opens.  Baxter talked about innovations with the simulator used in the military and bringing it for Star Tours.  Lomboy spoke about installing a project at Innovation at EPCOT and saw some women who spoke in a different language, but was impressed all the same.  The international scale of the parks is important.  I think this is one of the aspects that also impressed me, guests come from all over the world, it is a microcosm of cultures.  Irvine said, “Disneyland gives people hope.”  She said she was at the park with no music or people and she felt that the wind through the trees was like the park “quivering” in anticipation of guests.  Yes, we can only wait until returning to the park, but I find since I've first been to DLand that is always something new to find in some corner or it is great to see things that are familiar!  It is great to hear from Imagineers who helped build the parks! 

#DisneylandPark6thAnniversary, #LeslieIwerks, #TonyBaxter, #KimIrvine, #ScottTrowbridge, #JanetteLomboy  

Happy Birthday H.P. Lovecraft!

Happy Birthday H.P. Lovecraft!  Lovecraft is an icon in horror faction published mainly in pulp magazines.  He followed in the footsteps of his idol Edgar Allan Poe, but did not achieve Poe’s recognition.  Lovecraft was known for crafting the Cthulhu Mythos which was featured in his story “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928).  It was made into a film by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society in 2005.  The Haunted Palace (1963) starring Vincent Price used elements of Poe, but based it’s plot on “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.”  Lovecraft’s stories are guilty of overt racism and misogyny in a few stories, but his horror is unparalleled.  His story, “The Dunwich Horror” (1929) was made into a horror film with the same title in 1970.  Rod Serling’s television show, Night Gallery adapted “Cool Air” (1971) and “Pickman’s Model” (1971).  There was the horror movie Re-Animator (1985) based on the Lovecraft story, Herbert West - Reanimator (1922), it led to two sequels.  If you need a good book to get started I recommend The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft by S.T. Joshi (1997). 

In 2001, Stuart Gordon directed Dagon which is based on Lovecraft’s The Shadow over Innsmouth (1936), one of my favorites of his stories.  The film lapses into horror movie cliches, but is the movie that I think most captures the atmosphere of Lovecraft’s work.  One of his most brilliant works was the novel, At the Mountains of Madness (1931) which Guillermo del Toro has attempted to make into a film.  If you are interested in Lovecraft films check out The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft (2006) by Andrew Migliore and John Strysik.  H.P. Lovecraft has influenced role-playing games with the Call of Cthulhu game.  Spinning out of the Arkham Horror game is The Dark Waters Trilogy with the first book Ghouls of the Miskatonic (2011) by Graham MacNeill.  In comic book, I found the best vision was by Esteban Maroto who collected his work in Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu.  Alan Moore wrote the limited series Providence (2015-2017) for Avatar Press which was an adult treatment of Lovecraft’s stores.  Matt Ruff had his novel, Lovecraft Country, published in 2016.  It follows Atticus Turner finding a racist America that also holds Old Ones horror.  There is a new series on HBO that adapts the novel.  I always give the warning to be cautious reading Lovecraft, his dark world view can start to affect you, but his world building in horror fiction is incredible.             

#HPLovecraft, #TheCallofCthulhu, #AttheMountainsofMadness, #StuartGordon

Re:tro Re:view - Almost Human!

Almost Human was a brilliant sci fi series that lasted only thirteen episodes, one season! It was executive produced by J.J. Abrams and of course there is a Star Trek connection with Urban. The series features music composed by electronic musicians The Crystal Method. The pilot opens with text explaining the world of 2048; filled with “unknown drugs” and criminal organizations. To combat this, there is a new policy, police officers are partnered with “an Advanced, Combat-model Android.” This shifts to the war zone of Los Angeles streets as we get Detective John Kennix (Karl Urban) firing with his rifle that has blasts that sound like lasers.  

Urban is known for playing Eomer in The Lord of the Rings films and is currently in The Boys. John Kennix is a flawed human, but operates as a rogue element. Kennix has two androids lead an assault with the report of his fellow officer, Detective Pelham (Chad Riley), who is injured. He has an android analyze his par†ner’s wounds and the android sees that it is hopeless. The androids have almost plastic faces. Kennix tries carrying him away, but an explosive shot strikes his right leg and he goes down. He is in shock, sees his partner has died, and then that his leg is severed. Shadowy gunmen throw another explosive, Kennix drags himself away, then there is a detonation. A shocking defeat. 

Kennix dreams of his lover, Anna (Mekia Cox), and then regains consciousness in a medical unit. The Recollectionist (Hiro Kanagawa) asks him what he remembers. He is in a machine checking his memory. He notes that Kennix was in a coma for 17 months! Kennix is trying to shift through his memory to try to identify the Syndicate killers. He says to the doctor that he just recalled a memory of Anna. Kennix walks out to the street sleek designs that remind me of a different shade of a Blade Runner future that is more grounded. He enters his car and takes a pill. The future also resembles another sci fi police movie, Minority Report (2002).  At his apartment, Kennis plays the last recorded message left by Anna, one week before he revived.

Then he gets a call from his police chief, Captain Sandra Maldonado (Lili Taylor) in her office. Taylor was Carolyn Perron in the horror film The Conjuring (2013), and stars in the 2020 Perry Mason series. The police chief is a standard, but here Maldonado looks at Kennix and his partner to work outside of procedures, a strategist who cares about human life, and also can use her gun. She demands that he return to work, an armored robbery was committed by the Syndicate.  Kennix starts walking, his right leg is artificial, he takes off a device that was not finished with its “synethic calibration.”  A drone flies past police headquarters. 

In the halls, is Detective Valerie Stahl (Minka Kelly), talking to Detective Vogel (Toby Levins) about his lockout from the computer system. Kelly played Jacqueline Kennedy in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2011) and starred in the Titans series as the superhero Dove. She researches cases and data, but also is handy with a gun. Their attention is taken by the arrival of Kennix. Another officer, Richard Paul (Michael Irby), mistrusts him since every officer died in the Syndicate attack except Kennix. An android officer, 785, introduces himself as his new partner, but Kennix just walks away. He enters the office and refuses to work with an android partner.  

Maldonado reads the report of the psychologist who rejects his return to duty.  Captain Maldonado shows Kennix the video of the robbery that used “parabolic charges” like in the raid.  She wants him to investigate to uncover how the Syndicate knew about the raid and says she only trusts him. They drive into the city, Kennix drives across a bridge, a tunnel has many images on its roof. Kennix is debriefed by an officer that truck was carrying “programmable DNA.”  Stahl introduces herself. 785 explains what was stolen in the robbery and Kennix has flashbacks of the raid, one of the items at the raid is Myklon Red which was in the robbery! Valerie checks on Kennix who is lost in the memory. She says that she suspects a new gang involved in the robbery. 

At his car, 785 says he has to report Kennix, on the highway, Kennix throws the android out to be crushed by trucks! This shifts to a close-up of an android technician, Rudy Lom (Mackenzie Crook), examining robotic butterflies.  Crook is known for playing Gareth Keenan in the British comedy series The Office and was in Veran in the fantasy series Brittannia. Rudy is a lonely tech stuck in the basement, but a genius at his work and he gets a chance to do some field work.  Kennix shows him the order for a synthetic.  Rudy says there are no MX models and takes him to a storage area with body bags. 

Kennix is worried about the DRN model, Dorian (Michael Ealy), because he says that model is “crazy." Dorian of course has normal skin, but the side of his face is laced with blue circuitry when he is analyzing or sending data. On a table, Rudy starts to activate Dorian, and warns Kennix about the “bugs” in his programming.  He says that model was an attempt to duplicate human emotions, but the DRNs were overloaded wth emotion.  Rudy gives Kennix a metal tunning fork to activate Dorian.  It sends a charge that wakens Dorian and Rudy informs him that he was inactive for four years. Dorian introduces himself and is impressed wth Kennix’s record which Kennix says needs an update.  

A Syndicate leader gets an update on Kennix and orders his men to leave.  This picks up with Kennix driving with Dorian who is making expressions, very funny. Kennix explains he was ordered to have an android partner and Dorian expresses his dislike of the term, “synthetic.”  In a way, it deals with a sort of prejudice on a sci fi level. The partnership of Kennix and Dorian is perfect, very funny, and both actors can handle the action. There is friction, but they really need each other to work on cases and on personal levels. The series has some crimes at the Twilight Zone-level, exploring the future while reflecting on our day now. Almost Human was a short lived, Fox, sci fi procedure show that gives an interesting glimpse into the future!  

Five DRNs out of Five! 

#AlmostHuman, #KarlUrban, #MichaelEaly, #MinkaKelly, #LilyTaylor       

Catching up with The Boys!

 Season 2 of The Boys is coming on September 4th so it is time to catch up to a series with a very adult take on superheroes!  We saw the trailer for season 2 on August 4th, here’s info you might need from season 1.  The Boys is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.  It is based on the long running comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.  The first series published by Wildstorm was in 2006-2007.  The Boys is currently published by Dynamite Entertainment.  The Amazon Prime series is developed by Eric Kripke who also created Supernatural.  The first episode, “The Name of the Game” (2019), also the title of the comic's first issue, was written by Kripke.  The show opens with a patchwork of comic book panels formed into a mosaic of The Seven; Lamplighter, the hooded, mysterious hero, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Homelander, Black Noir, the only one with a mask, A-Train, and Translucscent while we get the logo Vought Studios.  These are the counterparts to the Justice League.  This might be a parody of the Marvel Studios movies.  This resolves to the movie poster of Invisible Force 2 starring Transluscent.  

This resolve to the advert on the back of a bus as two teens talk about Transluscent and The Deep.  They hear a crash as a security van is chased by police.  The teens see the van hurtle towards them and start to run.  A car is thrown and we see Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) leap and then race across the windows of an elderly lady.  McElligott played Hannah Onway in House of Cards which of course also starred Robin Wright.  The actress is Irish, perfect casting!  She stands in front of the teens as the security van is crushed by Maeve’s invincible figure, very nice effects shot.  Maeve is the legendary woman in Irish mythology, she ruled Connaught during the time of the hero, Cuchulainn.  We can see from her armor that she is an analogue for Wonder Woman.  Still, it is interesting to see another mythology used and I wonder how Maeve got her identity and armor.  Two gunmen have the teens as hostages as Maeve smiles.  The machine gun is melted onto the hand of one gunman by the heat vision of Homelander.  We can see from his powers that this is Superman.  

The other tries to futily empty his clip at Homelander (Antony Starr) until he is thrown into the air, then crashes into a car.  Starr played Garrett Hawthorne in American Gothic.  Homelander wears the American flag as a cape and also his epaulettes on his shoulders are metallic instead of cloth which makes him resemble Judge Dredd, the UK parody of American justice.  The newsreport on the incident is seen by Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), the actor is the son of Dennis Quaid and was Fish Bang in Logan Lucky (2017).  Hughie is our average guy, pov character.  He brings in a box of audio equipment for a customer.  We get that he is knowledeable and helpful.  His job at the electronics store was added by the series writers.  Hughie is hesitant to talk to his boss, Gary (Jack Mosshammer), then another customer enters.  This is Robin Ward (Jess Salgueiro), the actress is in another superhero show, Jupiter’s Legacy, based on the Mark Millar comic book.  They head off for lunch, Robin wonders if Hughie asked for a raise, Hughie just makes excuses.  She brings up about moving in together.  This is a nice couples moment.   

They kiss and mention about Billy Joel when there is a flash.  The shockwave and splatters of blood hits Hughie’s face.  Then, we see the twirling mass of blood and bones that was formerly Robin!  It shifts back into normal speed, the blood falls and we see the superhero, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), saying he can’t stop.  Usher was in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), the son of Will Smith’s character.  A-Train is of course The Flash.He runs away as Hughie realizes that he is holding the severed arms of Robin.  This scene was in the comic book, but what I found was that the series is more graphic in showing the remains of Robin floating in the air, but also the electronics store scene is very important in setting Hughie’s character, and the sense of normalcy before the violence.  Also, the comic book had Robin and Hughie in the middle of a chase between superhero and supervillain.  The Flash had to deal with a speed enhancing formula, Velocity-9, in the comic books.  This switches to the quiet Des Moines, Iowa as we get a young woman Annie (Erin Moriarty).  She played Hope Shlottman in the Jessica Jones (2015) series.  She plays the innocent woman, but also gives us the perspective of what we think of as the classical superhero motivation. Her role at first is not strong in the comic book. 

Annie is busy lifting a car and punching at a wall.  Then, she goes on a video audition as Starlight, with a white and gold costume, cape, and headband.  Starlight warns the interviewer to turn away and then unleashes her light powers.  She goes into another interview talking about her mother taking her to Miss Hero pageants.  This is a great intro to heroes, since we get a better sense of Starlight as a person, in contrast to the superhero feats and terror at the opening.  Also note in the comic, Starlight is not introduced until the second issue, so the comic book is unbalanced and also has her first greeting Homelander at The Seven’s base.  She admits she wants to join The Seven to save the world.  This is what we expect from superheroes, but not the case with these heroes.  Hughie is on the couch with his father, Hugh (Simon Pegg), after Robin’s funeral.  Pegg is a genre vet with Star Trek Beyond (2016) which he also co-wrote.  Of course, the comic book had Darick Robertson drawing Hughie in the likeness of Pegg.  His acting here is brilliant, just an ordinary guy who has lost the ability to take charge, and loves his 80’s television.  

Hughie wants to watch the news interview with A-Train.  They are interrupted by a Vought representative who wants to make a $45 k settlement for a non-disclosure agreement.  Hughie has thoughts of raging at the rep, but instead asks for time.  At Annie’s house, she prepares a meal talking with her mother, Donna (Ann Cusack), the actress was was last in the horror series Castle Rock (2018).  They get the call that Starlight has joined The Seven.  Hughie is looking to file a criminal case against A-Train when his father tries to convince him to sign the NDA.  His son walks out.  Then, next to Seven Tower, we get the fans cheering on the arrival of Starlight, she is met by Ashleigh Barrett (Colby Minifie), director of talent relations.  We get Madelyn Stillwell (Elizabeth Shue) giving a shareholders speech on Vought International.  Shue may be known for Back to the Future Part II (1989), but she was also known for the horror film, Hollow Man (2000).  We see until the end of the series that she is running Vought.  Then, we see Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) is the CEO.  Esposito is Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian.  

A standard commercial has Stillwill noting the 200+ superheroes, “We make heroes super.”  Starlight is being prepared by make-up artists and then Stillwell introduces The Deep (Chace Crawford) who talks about the retirement of Lamplighter.  Crawford was in the soap opera Blood & OIl.  Lamplighter will return in season 2 played by Shawn Ashmore.  It is obvious from the hero’s name and green and gold costume that he is standing in for Aquaman.  Then, Starlight makes her stage debut, but she just stares out at the audience.  Hughie goes to a store to pick up some beer and sees A-Train on all of the packaging.  He takes the beer to the counter, but starts breathing heavy and collapses. The Deep takes Starlight on a tour to the meeting room of The Seven.  She admits that she had a poster of him in her room.  He takes down his pants and threatens her membership in The Seven with Starlight about to use her powers.  Transluscent (Alex Hassell) is interviewed on late night television.  Hassell was in the Torchwood episode, “Combat” (2006).  This is playing while Hughie is at the electronics store. The popularity of the Supes reflects our own celebrity culture.    

He is met by someone at the store.  Bearded and in a coat, this is Billy Butcher (Karl Urban).  He is known for many genre parts from Star Trek Beyond (2016) to Dredd (2012).  Urban was also in the sci fi series Almost Human.  The comic book series focuses on Butcher while the television series has the narrative focusing on Hughie and Starlight.  I see Butcher as the Batman of this world.  Black Noir looks like a Batman, but he is silent and doesn’t take a strong role in what is happening.  Batman, in the modern comics, is the voice in the Justice League for when superheroes cross the line.  We might also see the similiarities in that Hughie’s girlfriend is named Robin, Hughie is the Robin of this world, learning with Butcher.  He is brought into Butcher’s group because of the unfairness that underlies the Supes running the world.  We also get the other members introduced over several episodes of The Boys.  They are Frenchie (Tomer Capon), he is an explosives expert, Capon is an Israeli actor known for his other series, When Heroes Fly, Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), he is running a juvenile detention center and argues with Frenchie, Alonso was Tsu’tey in Avatar (2009),  and later The Female also known as Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), The Female is a wild child with vicious powers kinda like X-23, Fukuhara is also another superhero, Katana, in Suicide Squad (2016).  

Hughie happens to meet Annie on a park bench and they start a romance helping each other.  Butcher sees this is an opportunity.  Starlight has to come into her own as a superhero and deal with stage mother expectations.  The Boys has to uncover the secret behind Compound-V and the plans of Vought International.  Stillwell has plans to authorize The Seven to be part of national defense.  Hughie later encounters Ezekiel (Shaun Benson) at the religious Believe Expo, he has stretching powers and Hughie sees him earlier at a club. Also, there is the girlfriend of A-Train, Popclaw (Brittany Allen), a former member of the group, Teenage Kix, she can extend claws out of her wrists Wolverine-style.  Another ex-member is Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment) who can read minds through touching a subject.  There is also a mysterious character played by Shanel VanSanten who was Patty Spivot in The Flash.  The series has some dark, very adult content, the comic book has some shock value with misogynist tones, the television program has taken scenes, but paced them out and developed the female characters.  Ennis has good ideas, taking up the challenge that was laid down by Alan Moore's Watchmen; not what would superheroes be like in the real world, how would they affect daily life unbalancing it on a geopolitical and corporate level.  The Boys has some fun characters, superheroes that are really super villains that you love to hate, and surprises that shake up the traditional superhero story!   

Five Compound-Vs out of Five! 

#TheBoys, #JackQuaid, #ErinMoriarty, #KarlUrban, #AntonyStarr, #DominiqueMcElligott, #JessieTUsher

Happy Birthday Halle Berry!

Happy Birthday Halle Berry!  She began her career in the drama series Living Dolls as Emily Franklin.  Then, she was Vivian in Spike Lee’s drama Jungle Fever (1991).  Berry followed it with the comedy Boomerang (1992).  One of the interesting early role for Halle Berry for me was as the airline attendent Jean in the action movie Executive Decision (1996).  In 1999, she won the Emmy Award for her lead in the television movie, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.  An early genre part for Halle Berry was as Storm in X-Men (2000).  She won the Best Actress Academy Award for the drama Monster’s Ball (2001). Berry was a Bond Girl and spy, Jinx Johnson, in Die Another Day (2002).  She returned as Storm in X2: X-Men United (2003).  

Berry was in the horror movie, Gothika (2003) as Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist who finds herself in the hospital.   Another comic book role was the lead in Catwoman (2004).  Berry reprised her role as Ororo Munore in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).  She had serveal parts in the sci fi movie Cloud Atlas (2012).  Next, was her final time as Storm in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).  Then, she appeared in the sci fi series Extant (2014-2015).  There is a resurgence in Berry’s film roles playing Ginger Ale in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).  In 2019, she has the stunning action part as Sofia in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.  She is the executive producer of the television series Boomerang based on her 1992 film.  Upcoming is Halle Berry’s directoral debut with Bruised in which she also stars as MMA fighter Jackie Justice!  Happy Birthday Halle Berry! 

#HalleBerry, #MonstersBall, #JohnWickChapter3Parabellum, #Bruised 

Happy Birthday Sebastian Stan!

 Happy Birthday Sebastian Stan!  One of his first genre roles was as Chase Collins in the supernatural horror film, The Covenant (2006). Stan had a long running role in the television drama Gossip Girl (2007-2010) as Carter Baizen.  He was Jack Benjamin, prince in the fictional kingdom of Gilboa, in the television series Kings (2009). Stan played the bully, Blaine, in the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine (2010).  He was also in the drama Black Swan (2010). Then, he entered the MCU as James “Bucky” Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).  Stan starred in the horror movie The Apparition (2012). 

He also had a role in the fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2012) as Jefferson also known as The Mad Hatter.  Stan returned as the Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).  He played Chris Beck, an astronaut on the Ares III mission, in The Martian (2015).  Next, Stan played Jeff Gillooly in the bio pic, I, Tonya (2017).  He had a cameo as The Winter Soldier in Black Panther (2018).  This year, Stan was also in Avengers: Infinity War fighting as The Winter Soldier on the battlefields of Wakanda.  Stan played Scott Huffman working to get the Medal of Honor to William H. Pitsenbarger in The Last Full Measure (2019). He has upcoming the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2020). Happy Birthday Sebastian Stan!

#SebastianStan, #ITonya, #TheLastFullMeasure, #TheFalconandtheWinterSoldier 

Magic: ManaStrike Review!

The mobile game, Magic: ManaStrike, is made by Netmarble Games who also created Marvel: Future Fight in 2015.  It was released in January of this year.  Magic: The Gathering is the classic and long running card game.  The game started with Limited Edition in 1993, I started playing with the eighth expansion, Alliances in 1996 right after Ice Age, and the latest expansion is Magic: The Gathering 2021.  The basic rundown of the game is you have a deck of cards, there are decks to purchase or you can open packs to get a random assortment, deck building is a skill.  You can chose to play a color, a dual colored deck (my favorite), or a multi-colored deck of several colors.  

The five colors each have their strengths and weaknesses; Black which has its Vampires, Blue with its Merfolk and counterspells, Green has Elves and spells like Giant Growth, Red is a burn deck with Fireballs and Dragons!, and lastly White with Angels and Disenchant spells.  The colorless cards are Artifacts which may be creatures.  You play cards from your deck which is casting spells as wizard known as a Planeswalker.  This is against a rival player or even team.  You play cards based on how many lands you have in play, this is Mountains for Red cards.  If you play a creature card like Mistral Singer, you pay the Mana cost which is gained by tapping cards on the battlefield, turning Islands and also generic mana which can be any color.  This brings the creature to the battlefield.  There are special abilities like Flying with the red Hellkite Punisher which can only be attacked by other creatures with Flying.  

Planeswalker were introduced as cards in the Lorwyn (2007) set.  The prominent characters are; Lilliana Vess (black), Jace Beleren (blue), Nissa Revane (green), Chandra Nalaar (red), and Ajani Goldmane (white).  My favorite is Ajani because he is a white-furred lion man, the cat soldier, from the plane of Alara.  Manastrike gives you the choice to play one of the Planeswalkers.  You can play others once you get started.  The game screen and intro graphics are fantastic.  Once you click the Manastrike icon, it switches your phone to horizontal mode.  The Magic Pass icon on the left side of the screen has Quests like Use Mana this gives you some bonuses like Common Coin or Emojis.  The shop has daily items like cards.  You build your Rank through game play and earn titles from Beginner to Mythic.  On the Card section on the right of the screen, you assemble your cards into the creatures and spells used for the duel.  The Mana costs go from 2 to 5.  You have to careful balance your cards so there is a mix of strong creatures and cheap, fast creatures.   

 

Some of the cards are common to players like the Ratchet Bomb that destroys creatures or buildings.  Below Card is Battle and Event, this is PVP battles, the Event puts you into battles to win rewards.  You see the battlefield, your side has two Guardians that you must protect, and you have to destroy the Guardians on the other side.  They are large statues that can throw bolts to protect themselves.  You gain a Spark from every battle you play even if you are defeated.  This helps you gain in Rank, you might lose Rank if you are at Rank 4 or higher.  

The creatures that only attack Buildings like the Guardians are weak, but I have one, Aedrop Aeronauts that blows up and turns into Dwarves!  The Building I like is the Barracks that sends out waves of soldiers.  It has a limited time and also vulnerable to Ratchet Bombs or heavy attacks from your opponent.  The rest is a mixture of Flyers, cheap and tough to take on a variety of enemy Flyers.  Then, I have a number of small, cheap swarmers. It either works out that I can destroy an enemy Guardian or my opponent overwhelms me with powerful creatures or swarms!  At Rank 4, the game's stake rises since if you lose rank, you get kicked out the club.  I found out: 1 bring some very strong creatures instead of mostly low mana creatures, 2 wait, you have to wait to see what side your opponent brings in a Planeswalker, also you are building up your mana, 3 swarm the Planeswalker if too close to your Guardian!  In any case, you have to give a pause and take a breather.  Magic: Manastream is an intense PVP cell phone game!       

Four Mana out of Five! 

 #MagicManaStrike, #NetmarbleGames, #MagictheGathering, #AjaniGoldmane 

Happy Birthday Chris Hemsworth!

Happy Birthday Chris Hemsworth!  He started his career on the show Neighbours, an Australian soap about the lives in the fictional Erinsborough.  In 2002, he played King Arthur in the television fantasy Guinevere Jones. He made his debut in American films as George Kirk, the father of James Kirk, in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009).  Hemsworth took worldwide fame and recognition taking the lead role in Thor (2011) directed by Kenneth Branagh.  He played Curt in the clever horror film the Cabin in the Woods (2012).   Then, returned as Thor in The Avengers (2012) directed by Joss Whedon. Next, he played the Huntsman in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Hemsworth returned as George Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013).  Chris Hemsworth starred as race car driver, James Hunt, in Rush (2013) directed by Ron Howard.  He picked up Mjolnir again in Thor: The Dark World (2013).  Then, he teamed up again in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).  He showed his comedy chops in the remake Vacation (2015). 

Hemsworth starred in Ron Howard’s In The Heart of the Sea (2015) as Owen Chase, the first mate of the whaleship Essex which inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.  He returned in the sequel The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016).  Again, Hemsworth played comedy in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016).  It was really Taika Waititi who gave the MCU a freshness with Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Hemsworth played Captain Mitch Nelson in charge of the Special Forces team sent to Afghanistan in 12 Strong (2018).  Also, this year he again played Thor taking on Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.  Next, Hemsworth played Billy Lee in the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale (2018).  He not only had a new weapon, the axe Stormbreaker, but also a new physique in Avengers: Endgame (2019).  This year, Hemsworth played mercenary, Tyler Rake, in Extraction which debuted on Netflix.  It adapted the graphic novel Cuidad by the Russo Brothers.  He has upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder!  Happy Birthday Chris Hemsworth! 

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