Entertainment: Green Lantern is Green Lit!

According to Comicbookmovie.com, Green Lantern will start filming in two months! I typically don't pay attention to all the hoopla that surrounds non existent comic book movies - a lot of time, it's just healthy rumor mill, or nothing truly etched in stone.

But an interview with Martin Campbell, director of the recent Zorro movies, and the two Daniel Craig James Bond reboot films, proves that this movie is on track - with Ryan Reynolds set to portray the Green Lantern...YES!

The approach of focusing Green Lantern on the character's intergalactic cop rendition is a smart move - setting it apart from previous comic book movies. This also opens up a whole galaxy to explore for a movie franchise.

I'm excited.

My 2010 Challenge is...

As a belated Holidays gift from my better half, I spent Saturday afternoon sifting through Ebay for some potential purchases. I went ahead and purchased an Adora action figure from the new Masters of the Universe Classic (MOTUC) exclusive toyline. It's the first figure from the line that I will be purchasing. The interesting thing is - she doesn't go on sale on mattycollector.com (the only place you can purchase it officially) until January 15th. The toyline is so hot that some of the limited release figures sell out in less than a day - one is released every month, with a bonus figure thrown in every now and again.

One of the remedies to missing out on a figure is to have joined the mattycollector subscription club, but you have to pay for that every month. The other way is to go to third party vendors - the online stores that go in and buy the figures in bulk, mark up the pricing, and sell them to the ravenous customers that missed out on the first round. This is not always the solution - Mattel is controlling the distribution numbers of the figures to a degree that you won't find a figure anywhere...without having to pay some outlandish markup through a third party vendor.

I digress...I'm holding out on purchasing a lot of the MOTUC figures due to the simple fact that I've collected many of the characters in the original line, as well as the 2002 updated line. I'm looking for something new - ala the Adora figure. I love the line, and am very excited for it's continuation, but I intend to invest my dollars in building up an MOTUC collection with a focus on the Princess of Power (POP) and New Adventures of He-Man (NA) chapters of the line. Until these figures start showing up on mattycollector.com, I am going to satiate my thirst for POP product by collecting the figures I never could as a kid.

Every month of 2010, I intend to expand my vintage Princess of Power collection by one figure. I am in no way planning to collect EVERY product from the line - I am not a completionist collector, and some products are of no interest to me. The core of this vintage collection will be:

First: the characters that appeared on the show
Second: expanding to interesting pieces that didn't appear in the show

January is Frosta - the Ice Impress of Etheria

She is the reigning Queen of Castle Chill in the Kingdom of Snows, and is known to have an intense crush on He-Man, Adora/She-Ra's twin brother. She sends out blasts of ice, as well as turn things into ice.

Entertainment: District 9

District 9 is a mind-blowing (no pun intended - you have to watch the movie to understand) action piece with social commentary. I almost regret not seeing this in theatres, but I wouldn't be me if I turned left instead of right, would I? The special effects are solid, and the realism of the documentary-style filming, and strong story and character development really drive this movie home. A co-worker pointed out how most of the cast was more or less composed of nobodies, and most of the budget went to special effects. A smart move...

Not to beat a dead horse, but this film is a good companion piece to the hit film Avatar (see previous blog entries), due to the strong social commentary. There's been a shortage of brilliant sci/fi movies - and these two come very close, if not being on the spot. I'm a sucker for solid story and character development in movies - I still hold that the deleted Queen Amidala scenes in the STAR WARS prequel trilogy would have made the films a little better than they were - and justify Anakin's virtually baseless switch to the Dark Side (I still need to see the STAR WARS prequel fan edits)...but I digress... District 9 is armrest-gripping as we watch the protagonist/hero delve into the atrocities of the alien concentration camp, and come to revelations about what's really going on - within the camp and without.

Now, my reviews have no intention of giving away plot details and spoilers - I have a notorious history of spoiling movies amongst my friends, and I dare say I have overcome this...shortcoming. Albeit, District 9 has enough action, story, character drama and special effects to keep any movie-goer's attention captivated.

Entertainment: Avatar Update

An old friend of mine/college room mate, and a guy that's got his finger on the pulse when it comes to computer generated special effects I'd say, pointed out a correction that needed to be made in my previous blog entry: ILM is indeed listed in the credits for the special effects work, but it seems that an FX house by the name of Weta
(also listed later in the credits) did a bulk of the effects. You don't usually hear about movies using multiple special effects companies - the media typically focuses on the big names like Pixar or ILM. But it is quite common for one film to use three or more FX companies for budgetary and timing/deadline reasons.

According to boxofficemojo.com, Avatar is at $615M, and the Sunday totals for the weekend are of course not in yet. We'll see if Sherlock Holmes, which is in the #2 spot, will beat out Avatar - but I doubt it. Several friends/contacts on Facebook responded to my previous blog entry/review of Avatar, most of them admit that they are going to see the film a second (or more) time - in one instance to experience the film in IMAX 3D. This obviously is why Avatar will remain #1.

I wonder if Cameron will outdo himself compared to his last movie blockbuster...Titanic.

Entertainment: Avatar is Good

I don't know what all the resistance to Avatar has been. The movie is on record as being the most expensive ever filmed thus far - estimates ranging from $237 to $460 Million, but what else would you expect from James Cameron? Cameron, who is known for creating the Terminator franchise, directing the second Alien film - simply titled Aliens, and also the massive blockbuster Titanic, should be given credit for producing groundbreaking special effects films that do not sacrifice story and character development.

Avatar is spectacular, and is best experienced in IMAX 3D. George Lucas's special effects house Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) worked on this, and has definitely taken computer generated imagery to the next level. The flora and fauna of the alien world of Pandora literally jump out at you in brilliant and luscious color, excitement and wonder. The story, though at first glance painfully derivative, takes some interesting twists, gives us a solid message about our present and future, and actually allows the audience to invest in the characters as the 2 hour and 47 minute journey unfolds. It is indeed a tale indicative of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, as the main character evolves to stand for something by the end of the film.

Avatar's domestic opening weekend, however was not so spectacular - according to some sources, who compared Avatar's opening weekend numbers to those of New Moon (which made twice as much at $142 million). Bad weather and budget are the apparent culprits, but Avatar has moved on to more than make up for a slow weekend having already made $329 Million worldwide -making back most if not all of its colossal budget.

Indeed, one of the first people that ho-hummed the film was a good friend of mine that figured he'd just see it on DVD. Somewhere along the line, he changed his mind and was waiting in line with us on opening weekend Sunday. The line for the 7:30PM showing for Avatar at the Tampa, FL AMC Veterans 24 theaters was long - people were already there for an hour by the time we showed up, which was an hour before the show. By the end of the film, my friend was glad he came with us to see the film - this was something different, not necessarily new, but a fresh take on what's come before. I raved about the movie at work, and with other friends, and there's a lot of ho-hum out there.

I suspect a lot of that ho-hum is dying down, and the still-ho-hummers will re-nig their ho-humming once they go see what all the hoopla is about.

Society: I know why the won't legalize Pot

I listened to a news report a couple weeks ago on NPR Radio about Humboldt County in California. According to David Samuels of the NEW YORKER, Humboldt County is "the heartland of high-grade marijuana farming in California." In the radio report, it is discussed that not only is legal pot grown in Humboldt, but there is also a significant level of illegal pot growth - what a shock. The rampant pot growth occurs in numerous "grow houses," and it's easy to profit from selling, distributing, and assisting in the cultivation and maintenance of pot in this area. Marijuana is entrenched in the county's economy, due to decades of cultural evolution - the hippies of the 60s migrated here, and camped out on the cheap land, and of course pot was/is a staple perishable in hippie culture. Those hippies are in their 50s and 60s now, and many are comfortable to wealthy, and still consuming pot. But it's not just 50 to 60 year olds consuming pot.

Though, many see the benefits of the entrepreneurial enterprise of the marijuana market, there are the setbacks. The NPR radio report used the phrase "Wild West" to describe some of the criminal activity that takes place - neglected grow houses can go a-blaze and consume ridiculous amounts of energy. These said houses are raided by burglars - whether lived in or not, and then there's those subtle turf skirmishes. This is what the politicians will focus in on to battle the legalization of pot. Legalizing pot is not necessarily the bad thing, it's all of the shady activity that could accompany it. The laws dealing with the proliferation of pot in Humboldt are in many cases far more lenient then other parts of the country.

How do you control a legal pot production market when it's so easy for Joe Schmoe down the road to cultivate it in his green garage, and distribute it as far as he can see - under the table to avoid all those pesky business taxes? This seems to be the issue in Humboldt County, where one can walk through a given neighborhood and point out most of the block(s) containing grow houses from door to door. Is this the type of culture that would evolve if pot is legalized, thus making it more socially accessible and marketable?

Sexist Toys

This entry is inspired by two sources: A five hour chat with a friend at Starbucks, and numerous postings on the Mattycollector.com facebook page. I haven't blogged in quite a while, and it's time to get back to it...

I am not the most avid toy collector - though I do have a designated Toy Room, I have seen other peoples' collections, and my collection pales in comparison. I am in now way a completionist, and would never dream of being so - too stressful. My two main lines of focus are Masters of the Universe by Mattel, and Transformers by Hasbro. If I could own stock in these two companies, I would...some day. I'm 32 years old, and I grew up with these two lines and others. I collected them as a kid, and continue to collect them in my adulthood.

Transformers as of late is proving to be far too oversaturating - the movie line is crap in my humble opinion. I do like the complicated, biomechanical, realistic design of the characters onscreen, but the designs do not translate well to the toys. You have repackaged G1 stuff, reimagined G1 stuff, Animated toyline stuff, the movie stuff...there's just too much of it.

Right now, my focus is on Masters of the Universe (MOTU for short), albeit I don't actually collect the figures...not in the budget. Mattel has a good thing going with its MOTU Classics line. Although there's such a limited supply that it sells out quickly on the Mattycollector.com website, and so those that don't act fast enough are forced to pay anywhere from $34 on up for a figure they missed out on - that's some mark up. These third party stores - Ebay, Bigbadtoystore, Amazon, have to recoup their costs from buying the figures from Matty, and try to make a profit. Understandable, but that leaves me and many others out in the cold. It's already a lot to pay $20 plus shipping and tax for one figure, so to invest more? I'm a fan, but I can't go that far.

Well, that is until Adora comes out in the beginning of 2010. Adora, He-Man's twin sister, is She-Ra Princess of Power, the central figure of the female spin-off line Mattel produced back in 1984. The thing is He-Man was re-released in a Commemorative Series in 2000, then was reimagined in 2002. And thanks to the 4 Horsemen toy sculptors, the He-Man flame was kept alive with their "staction" figures and busts, until Mattel released MOTU Classics. She-Ra and company would not receive any sort of attention until the Princess of Power herself received an update as an exclusive San Diego Comic Con retooling of the 2002 Teela figure. The MOTU toyline itself is guilty of having only three female figures in its entire run from 1982 to 1987 - Teela, Evil-Lyn and the Sorceress. What's tragic is the Sorceress was a central character to the mythos, and her figure was not released until the end of the line...hmmmm.

She-ra's line was relatively successful, essentially being an amalgumation of Mattel's two successes - Barbie and He-Man. This amalgumation unfortunately was a key component in the ultimate failure of the She-Ra toyline. Most action figure lines historically have been guilty of producing mostly male figures, and having maybe one or two female figures. The logic is that boys don't want to have girl figures because well...it's too girly. Mattel's decision to make She-Ra strictly a girls' line doomed it from the start, that and the divergent marketing of both the MOTU and the Princess of Power (POP) lines - which ultimately doomed them both. The problem with POP is that the powers that be really didn't know what it should be. Though it was a line for girls, it was an action figure - which was something that boys typically played with. The term "action figure" was coined so that boys didn't have to refer to their 12" G.I. Joe as a doll. Some parents were apprehensive in buying She-Ra figures because she was considered too violent for girls, and they didn't want to promote tom-boyishness. Boys themselves would not dare venture into the "pink" isle at Toys 'R' Us or where ever to pick up a She-Ra figure. I myself had my mother smuggle my She-Ra figure, and kept her in hiding so my father and brother wouldn't ridicule me.

Filmation, the animation house that produced both the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons, essentially used She-Ra's show as a tool to market both the He-Man and She-Ra toylines...

MISTAKE #1. He-Man was cancelled to make She-Ra. So, in essence, She-Ra season one, is He-Man season 3, with He-Man in a guest starring role. This is where the confusion starts. He-Man's success is largely based on this syndicated cartoon series that catapulted the toy franchise to unprecedented fame and sales. You take that marketing vehicle away, and you are destined to see a decline in sales - which is what slowly happened with MOTU. She-Ra, though being a girls' line was made to be hoplessly codependent on MOTU to evolve. Rather than establish She-Ra as her own independent line with some connections to MOTU, the She-Ra show depicted her universe as half MOTU. ALL of her villains, save for Catra and Entrapa, are MOTU characters. So, in order for a girl to logically complete her toyline, her parents have to buy her boys' toys...big no no. Catra should have been the leader of the Horde faction on Etheria (while Hordak re-established a Horde presence on Eternia perhaps). The feline beauty should have had a mass of colorful villainesses at her beck and call to fight against She-Ra's rebellion. But the logic was that you can't have too many "bad girls" in the line, because you don't want girls to want to be bad...sugar and spice and all that.

MISTAKE #2. The inconsistent marketing for She-Ra, as mentioned above, is another dooming factor. The commercials and collectible fiction depicted She-Ra with more Barbie-esque qualities. Pinks, and orchids donned the advertisements, with She-Ra combing her hair wilst admiring her reflection in a pink mirror in the pink Crystral Castle. This was stark contrast to the television series, which did a good job of balancing the sexes if you will. The pinks and orchids are toned down, and She-Ra herself is a strong, but beautiful take charge kind of lady. Boys could watch the show and respect girls, and girls could watch and aspire to be a strong leader. However in Marketing, you have to have a clear and concise direction for what your product should be, and how it is to be represented. This is definitely not the case.

MISTAKE #3. Making a unisex figure toyline....uh a little too early for that. Let's face it, She-Ra was way ahead of her time. Idealistically, a toyline should be accessible to both sexes, not just for boys or girls. This idea that boys only want swords and guns, and girls want combs and dresses is a little dated. Is it the norm for a lot of people, perhaps. But the doors shouldn't be closed to the boy that wants to comb a doll's hair, or have more female action figures, or a girl who wants to wield a sword and be a warrior princess. Maybe conquering sexism starts with the action figure.