Indie Wednesday: Sleight of Hand



It seems only natural to feature a Rivers Edge film on this Indie Wednesday and none moreso than the Best of Fest winner, Sleight of Hand by Michael Cusack. Cusack hails from Australia and this is only a clip from the 10 minute short.

Food Coma's News and Notes 11.11.13

Pizza By The Pound is pizza king in Paducah. Only sad that it took four years to find it.

Happy belated Veteran's Day, everyone and a huge thank you to all the Veterans. We're running a couple days behind on the blog, so you'll get News and Notes today and the Agents of SHIELD breakdown tomorrow. Anyway...

Around here, we're still recovering from a great weekend and far too much food consumption at the Rivers Edge Film Fest. If you didn't keep up with it, we kept a running diary on Friday and Saturday that you can check out now. Pizza By the Pound got us started on an epic food journey Thursday night and it never slowed down from there.

In fact, the food even followed us home because Cory Greene gave us each a legendary Fillymingo from Flamingo Row before we left town. The Fillymingo looks like a giant roll but is actually bread stuffed with meat, cheese and other goodness. All I can say is I'm already putting in my bid for a trip to Flamingo Row next year. There are several more varieties of Fillymingo that I need to sample.

Paducah Odds and Ends

One of the cooler things we got to do on the trip was explore the abandoned Columbia Theater in Lower Town Paducah. We've walked past that theater for four years, peered through the windows and talked about how great it would be to get a peek inside. This year we actually got to do it and it exceeded our hopes. The theater has been empty and untouched since the 1980s and is everything you'd imagine a grand old theater to be.


As cool as the Columbia looks on the outside, it's twice as neat on the inside. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to post any pictures. All I can say is, if the Paducah townsfolk get the go ahead on their restoration plans, this 1927 built beauty will be one of the coolest theaters in this part of the country. Needless to say, we're really hoping that happens.

Thor

I briefly mentioned in our Running Diary that we stole a chance to see Thor: The Dark World on Saturday afternoon. I'll be going into detail about the movie. For now, I'll say that the sequel got three thumbs up from the WSF boys. The theater was packed and the Marvel movie machine is obviously still cranking along at full steam. In the next few days, I'll revise my rankings of the Marvel films, give a little review, and point the comic Geek Scope at Thor.

See you back here for Indie Wednesday later today and Geek Scope tomorrow.

How about a picture of the Columbia without my big noggin in it?

REIFF Day 2 - Running Diary

8:05am - Better nights sleep after we decided that we could actually turn the air on by ourselves so we didn't wake up hourly in pools of sweat. We get started with (of course) food at the film makers breakfast at Et Cetera bakery. Cinnamon rolls bigger than your head. Unless you're Mickey Rourke. (Allen)


11:00am - Holy moly you can see what we spent the last two hours doing; gorging on sugary goodness. Then we hopped over to buy some chocolates at the candy store and now we're about to watch a short film before we head back to Kirchhoff's for lunch. We're ridiculous.  (SS)

12:39pm - Getting ready to support a tiny little film that needs the money. Thor: The Dark World

3:15pm - Not an official review, but first thoughts on Thor are three thumbs up. Definitely funny. (SS)

7:00pm - The second and last showing of Paranormous went okay. Laughs in some different spots than last night. Now we're sitting in Maiden Alley Cinema waiting for the awards ceremony to begin. No expectations from me. 

REIFF Day 1 - Running Diary


7:35am - One is snoring, one is showering, one is blogging. I'll let you guess. Kirchoff's Deli will open in approximately 3 and a half hours. Let's do this. (SS)

8am - Todd is up and sounds just like Super Dave Osborne. Oh and we're on Central time if you're confused. (SS)

9:40am - We can officially endorse the complimentary breakfast at Fairfield Inn Paducah. Calm before the storm. (SS)

10:27am - we mistimed our arrival at Maiden Alley (this Central Time thing is hard). So obviously, to kill the time we played a few spirited games of Candyland and Sorry. I lost them all. (Allen)


12:15pm - Kirchoff's... mission accomplished. We wait 362 days a year for this. A club for Al, pasta salad for me, and Sheene likes to switch it up.
And there's the obligatory pic of Allen with his sandwich. (SS)

1pm - About to watch the first film of the weekend: Revelation Road. It's a western horror movie about the undead. The trailer had a guy that looks like Robert Duvall. We're excited. (Allen)

3:12pm - We met John Gibson, director of the zombie western we just watched. Nice guy. I bought some homemade crackers from Kirchoff's bakery (a yearly necessity) and Todd had a love affair with a cinnamon roll. It was intense. These trips are seriously becoming more and more about food. Now we're set to watch Can't Stop Me Leavin', a Japanese short and then a documentary about adventure racing.  (SS)

4:12pm - The Americans in this race are the worst. One of them is a professional "life enthusiast."

6:00pm - We have a break before the Paranormous block of short films start. You know what that means. Time to eat. Tonight's feast comes from The Station Burger Co. They fry bacon inside the patty. Uhhh yeah. AND they have TVs AND the UK basketball game just started so jam on it. (SS)

7:32pm - We're sitting in Maiden Alley Cinema right now, about seven minutes away from watching the Paranormous blu ray on this beautiful big screen. Fingers crossed. 

9:30pm - I guess I should say it went well. Laughter! Always a relief. On to some good convo with filmmakers and new friends.


Get Ready: Rivers Edge Updates Start Today!


Our excursion to Paducah, KY starts this afternoon. Departure time is roughly 6pm. That means everyone needs to sync up there communicators and technological doo-dads because we'll be cataloguing this trip in every which way from start to finish. Blog posts, pictures, videos, songs... if you can think it, we'll be doing it. Adventure! Come with meee... and you'll beee...

If Allen buys some buckeyes at the candy shop, you'll know about it the second it happens. If Todd goes crazy and sinks a riverboat, it won't slip past you. If I fall in love on sight with a beautiful lady filmmaker and we elope like star-crossed lovers, you wouldn't want to miss that would you??

I mean, last year we visited Metropolis AND found a vintage Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox. Adventure!

The point is, you need to make regular visits to this blog over the next three or four days. AND find us on all your apps and whatnot right now. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vine... Just backslash walksoftlyfilms at all of the above and you'll find us. And if there's anything stupid you want us to try along the way, tweet it at us and we might do that too.

We plan on doing a running diary here on the site every day of the festival beginning tomorrow morning. Plus, I can already tell you that I've done some restaurant research for the weekend. I'm looking at you, Doe's Eat Place.

Twitter:  @walksoftlyfilms
Vine:  walksoftlyfilms
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Allen's Instagram:  @wsf_allen
Scott's Instagram:  @wsf_scott

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.6

I have decades of otherwise worthless Marvel comics continuity stored in my brain. In Geek Scope, I'll attempt to use that knowledge to shine a light on any hints or Easter eggs producers might drop into Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.
Simmons almost bit it this week.

We didn't get any comics continuity but we had plenty of reference to the Cinematic Universe. I'm still going to take a look at the episode which, by the way, was far and away the best to date. I had begun to doubt if the show could hit its potential. Episode 6 is proof that it can and did.

  • The episode was swimming in Chitauri/Avengers whatnot.
  • Titus Welliver reprised his role as Agent Blake from the Marvel One Shot, Item 47
Seriously the episode was genuinely intriguing and moving. In fact, I'm slightly stunned at how good it was.

The "Is Coulson A Robot?" Update

Lots of development on the LMD front this week. Phil gets a physical which we later discover he ordered for himself because he feels "different." He apparently has some concerns of his own about just what happened to him while he was on the other side.
  • All his vitals are normal; heartbeat, etc.
  • From Coulson's speech to the dying fireman, we find out that he genuinely believes he left "here" and spent time over "there."
  • His bloodwork is perfectly normal.
  • Agent May asks to see his scar and he does, in fact, have a giant scar right where it should be.
So, despite the writers having some fun with it ("...I'm feeling a little rusty"), most of the evidence is pointing to Phil Coulson not being a Life Model Decoy. I think that would be the best move at this point. After all the speculation, that outcome would almost feel anticlimactic unless they put an unexpected spin on it. Now, the mystery has returned and therefore the interest. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be at its best when it finds that sweet spot of spycraft intrigue on the underside of a superpowered world and this episode absolutely zeroed in on it.

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.1 - 1.4


Episode 1.1

All of the main characters are original to the show and/or (in Coulson's case) the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (However, Phil Coulson has found his way from the movies into the comics now, so there is also some reverse transference happening as well.) Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders), who makes a guest spot, has been a vital part of SHIELD in the comics since 2005.

The mystery surrounding Coulson's survival is broached for the first time. Phil believes he recovered in Tahiti and says it was a "magical place." A phrase that has been repeated in multiple episodes and the one clue that might point away from Phil's recovery being completely technological in origin. There are plenty of sources of magic in the Marvel Universe including the "Sorcerer Supreme" Dr. Strange (Think of a 40 year-old Dumbledore if he were a creeper with a goatee. He's also on track to get his own film.) and the otherworldly "magic" of Asgard. If you want to see my spoilery theory on Coulson, you can read it here.


And then there was my favorite moment from the pilot. Despite its hokeyness, Lola the flying car is a major shout-out to all the fanboys who are watching. Flying cars have been a part of SHIELD since its earliest days. Plus they look and operate exactly the way the show depicted, complete with Jack Kirby-esque tubes and technology.

Episode 1.2


Okay, I'm not going to point out every reference the television show makes to Marvel movies (ie technically Stark is a consultant, "a hammer", etc.). I'm focused on what they're pulling from the comics and possibly injecting into the Cinematic Universe on their own. Therefore the main take away for me in Episode 2 is that their flying headquarters, "The Bus," is designated as "SHIELD 616." Prepare for geek overload...

616 is a reference to the main Marvel Universe of the comics. In comics there are an infinite number of alternate realities/universes and hence, multiple Earths. The Earth we follow in the comics is #616. Soooo, primary Marvel Universe continuity is also referred to as 616. Got it?

Other continuities exist on their own, although sometimes they overlap for crossovers (ahhh, comics). The second most important universe is known as the Ultimate Universe (Earth 1610, but nobody calls the Ultimate Universe "1610" and I'm proud to say I did NOT know which Earth it was without looking it up). Ultimate comics launched in 2000 and a lot of what we see in the Cinematic Universe was pulled from these versions of the characters including a black Nick Fury who looked like Sam Jackson.

616 Nick Fury has always been a white guy... until now. So I said all that to inform you that Marvel went to the trouble of introducing Marcus Johnson, an unknown love child of the original Nick Fury. Marcus is black and happens to resemble Ultimate Nick Fury/Sam Jackson. So then... basically, Marcus Johnson discovers he is actually Nicholas Joseph Fury, Jr., decides to go by that name, white Nick Fury disappears, oh... and new Nick's best friend from the military is a guy named Phil Coulson.  TA-DAAA!

Oh so smooth, Marveldisney. You guys are sly indeed.
For the record, I am all for more black characters in the comics and movies, but this particular move was cash motivated and about has ham-handed as anything I can imagine.

Episode 1.3

Dr. Franklin Hall

Episode 3 is all about Dr. Franklin Hall. Long story short, Dr. Franklin Hall becomes the supervillain Graviton in the 616. Graviton can control gravitons (surprising, I know), the theoretical particles that carry the force of gravity.

Although the Marvel Universe has plenty of made up elements like Adamantium and Vibranium... "Gravitonium" is definitely not one of them. That little bit of goofiness belongs solely to Agents of SHIELD.

We may actually get to see the Graviton story play out on the show because we saw the hand reach out of the Gravitonium in the final scene. Let's just hope he wears that costume.

Episode 1.4

No major comic book nods to see in this one. Only a couple of small notes.

  • Melinda May basically says there is no known telepathy in the Cinematic Universe as of yet. Interesting and sort of makes sense because telepathy is almost exclusively a power set of mutants and Marvel doesn't have the rights to their own X characters.

Paducah's News and Notes 11.4.13


HOO-WEE it's Rivers Edge week! Thursday afternoon, the WSF boys will be meeting at the BG Parkway Park and Ride in Lawrenceburg, KY, ready to hit the road and head westward to a weekend of deli sandwiches, indie films, and who knows what else.

You might have noticed that I took last week off from all blogging activities. It happens. I needed some time to ramp up because there will be a ton of content coming out this week and posts and pictures galore from the festival this weekend.

Weekend Trip

Who out there is the spontaneous type? Raise your hands. Okay listen...
Go to Paducah this weekend.

I'm doing you a little favor here. Not because we're going to be there or because you might laugh until you cry and be filled with transcendent emotions while watching Paranormous. No, I'm suggesting it because it really is a great weekend. If we hadn't been accepted to the fest, we likely would have gone down anyway on our own dime. In fact, due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be paying for two of our three nights. You know why? Because it's worth it. Rivers Edge is always a great way to enjoy the end of the Fall season; my favorite time of year. Lower Town is just a really nice, neat area and there are always leaves swirling around on the bricks of Market House Square and Marine Way. And then there's the FOOD. Oh man, the food. You've heard us rave about Kirchoff's and you know about the sandwich meter. But there are more restaurants that we look forward to every year, whether we're eating Italian flatbread or barbeque or burgers and shakes. And the hot chocolate (or coffee if that's your thing) from Etcetera and all the bakery goods next door... just shut up. If you really like movies and have never been to a film festival, this is a no brainer.

Do it. I'm serious. And you'll genuinely thank me.

More Bloggin'

We've got Geek Scopes this week looking at the earlier episodes of Agents of SHIELD, plus the new episode.

Recaps from New York Comic Con are still on the way. And maybe we'll even get back to Indie Wednesday this week. But the fireworks start this weekend. Hopefully there will be all types of tomfoolery to report on from the Southwest corner of our fine state!

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.5

I have decades of otherwise worthless Marvel comics continuity stored in my brain. In Geek Scope, I'll attempt to use that knowledge to shine a light on any hints or Easter eggs producers might drop into Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.

She really likes her flower dresses.

I didn't catch many hidden secrets on AoS this week. As far as I could determine, all the new characters were original creations of the show.

However, there was one small detail that made me raise an eyebrow. Two henchmen appear (quite hilariously out of nowhere) in heat suits to apprehend Chan Ho Yin (aka "Scorch") (aka Scorch?? uugggh). The heat suits immediately brought to mind the AIM agents of the comics.

AIM stands for Advanced Ideas in Mechanics. You may or may not remember that the organization already exists in Marvel's cinematic universe. AIM was Guy Pearce's company in Iron Man 3. And if you start to connect those dots... AIM was behind the Extremis serum which this current mystery group on the TV show is modifying and testing human guinea pigs. Hmm. Whether the visual cue was intentional or not, we'll have to wait and see.

Undead Coulson Theories

(Possible spoilers beyond this point, so beware.) One of the ongoing storylines of the season is the mystery of how Coulson survived being stabbed through the heart by Loki in The Avengers. My theory from the beginning is that Coulson did not survive and is actually an LMD with implanted memories. (Okay, get ready for unfiltered nerd...) LMD's are Life Model Decoys. They are exact duplicate androids of living humans that sometimes don't even realize they aren't the genuine article. They've been used for various forms of espionage and protection.

Tony Stark even mentioned them on the phone in The Avengers when Coulson comes to Stark Tower. "You've reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark..." or somesuch line. Also, in last week's episode Akela Amador asks Melinda May what they did to Coulson. That means something is different about Phil's physiology because Amador was able to see through/into him with her fancy, electronic X-ray eye. That would also lend some credence to the LMD theory. However, if he was a full-on android, it doesn't seem like she would even need to ask the question.

My only other doubt about the theory comes from "Tahiti is a magical place." Obviously Tahiti is the façade they created in Phil's mind for whatever it was they did to him. They've given us the line over and over with magical being the key word. That makes me wonder if some type of Asgard healing science/magic could come into play and possibly Phil is still Phil rather than a robot with Phil's memories.

What are your theories? Leave them in the comments! Keep stopping by on Wednesdays and we'll unravel it together.