Indie Wednesday: Icons



I had a true indie short all ready to go for Indie Wednesday. But, then I saw this.

Academy Films brings us an amazing 50 seconds all done in a single shot. For a commercial no less. I'm jealous. If you want to see how they did it, you can find more here.

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.13

Geek Scope uses 25 years of otherwise useless Marvel comics continuity to look for tidbits in TV and movies that the average non-geek might miss.

A solid episode tonight with some building blocks that give me hope for the future. Now, thanks to the publicity grab last week, we already knew that Deathlok was coming and tonight you could say that we saw his birth. The one little bonus for the geeks was the introduction of Cybertek Systems, Inc.. As you can see in the picture above, Cybertek is a division of Roxxon Oil (Marvel's resident big, bad corporation that is always up to something shady). In this case, Cybertek is the developer of the Deathlok tech. Apart from the eye implant that Mike Peterson already has, his new leg is Deathlok's first piece of cybernetic gear. Here's to hoping that the transformation continues and we get a character that is visually close to the Deathlok of the comics. Because, if that happens... awesome is the word for that. Now for the quick hitters...

  • The cybernetic leg was impressive! After seeing that, I might actually believe this Deathlok is going to be the one we know from the comics.
  • The Stan Lee cameo:  we can do better than that.
  • Ward and Coulson trying to operate the Holotable. Best scene in the show. The Ward character actually showed some signs of life there.
  • We saw the debut of what from this moment forward will be referred to as "the cleavage suit" for Melinda May. Ratings ploys all over the place. (BTW, 50 years old? Kudos to you, Ming Na Wen.)
  • Fitz and Skye followed those cars on foot?  Uhh...
  • SPOILER:  Skye will be okay. She's the 0-8-4, remember?
  • I liked Ward going all two-guns Matrix-style when he walked into the house.
  • A Ward/Coulson rift? They got beef. Where are we headed with that?
  • Next episode is March 4th. March 4th?? Are we doing one episode a month now?

If the full push is on to build/retain ratings for AoS, this on and off scheduling is curious. Let's hope it doesn't hurt the audience. Anyway, I guess we'll see you back here on March 4th.

News and Notes 2.3.14


You want some Super Bowl notes? Okay... Anthony Kiedis has a bad mustache, it was one of the most boring shellackings in at least a decade, and some of the commercials were pretty good. Overall, I'd say it was a thumbs up year for the advertising cronies.

Back to Work

Another short update today. Why? Because we're busy! Yes, I finally went back to the days of using every last second of my free time on Walk Softly editing. Approximately 24 man hours have been poured into Space Cops Episode 4 over the past few days and I don't plan on slowing down until it's finished. So many effects shots. Soooo many effects shots. It's painful. And as you can see above, things got a little weird for the boys in this one.

Writing/Pizza Workshop

Did I say I was going to do nothing but edit? Exclude tomorrow Tuesday night from that equation, because we're bringing the minds together for a little creative session in Harrodsburg. Giovanni's Pizza is rumored to be involved. It's been awhile since we've been in the same location together... Lord, help us be productive.

Geek Scope

Did you read News and Notes last week? It was full of lies and I apologize. Apparently AoS took TWO weeks off and this is the week you'll get your new update on the Marvel show. If I'm not mistaken, Stan "the Man" Lee makes a cameo appearance this week. We'll see you back here Wednesday.
For real this time. I'll even try to make sure we have an Indie Wednesday.

Pharrell's Hat's News and Notes 1.27.13


The Grammys were last night. We don't talk about music here, but... frankandbeans look at that hat. Other observations from the night... Lars Ulrich has to let that hair go. Let go, man; you're a bottle of blonde dye away from the Hulk Hogan. And it's extremely entertaining to watch Daft Punk win awards in their robot schtick. My daughter and I went crazy. A good night for robots everywhere.

Geek Scope

Agents of SHIELD returns Tuesday after a week off, which means you can expect a new Geek Scope. It looks like we'll have plenty to talk about in the weeks ahead, but Marvel TV spoiled the fun by giving away all their secrets last week. Mike Peterson is going to turn into Deathlok, which is cool (but they kind of ruined it). They also spilled the beans that Sif will be on the hunt for Lorelei. (They're Asgardians; I don't have time to go into it.)

I'm sure the AoS show-runners didn't want to give up their surprises, but I have a feeling this was a reaction to public grumbling about the lack of a greater Marvel presence on the show. It's going to take a few weeks to actually reach these payoffs, so ABC likely decided to release the info and prevent further bleeding of viewers in the meantime.

Personally, I'm curious to see how far they're willing to go visually with Deathlok.

WSF Biz

If everything goes according to plan, we'll be having a major writing/brainstorming session this week to discuss some of the things I mentioned earlier this month. I'm excited about it.

Robocop

I think I want to see it...
Yeah. Yeah, I know I do. Is there something wrong with me?


MLK's News and Notes 1.20.14


It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day! And that reminds me that I just watched Lee Daniels' The Butler this week. The film itself is solid, especially all the performances, but the primary thought it left me with is how thankful I am for the extremely brave people that fought for civil rights in this country. When you consider just how different our country and the social climate were at that time, the courage and conviction it took to force change is hard to fathom. So, thanks again, to MLK and everyone like him.

Space Cops

On days that I don't work for The Man, I get to work for WSF and those are good days. There will be editing and writing done today and I'm ready for it. If anything interesting happens, I'll throw it out on the WSF Twitter or Instagram or something.

Keep your eyes open for the Geek Scope and Indie Wednesday this week.


Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.12


Comic Connections

  • Donnie Gill becomes a supervillain known as Blizzard (as you can see above). I'm sure that costume would translate well on TV.
  • So far, Marvel has stayed squarely in the D-List for super-powered villains on AoS. (Setting up future confrontations with Blizzard and Graviton so far.)
That's merely an observation, not a criticism. It makes sense that the film guys would guard all the toys in their sandbox, but I think we could safely throw SHIELD a meatier bone than Blizzard, right? Now, with that said, Dylan Minnette did a great job as Donnie Gill. The writing and direction rebounded in this episode after the garbage fire of the previous two episodes.

Big things are afoot in the latter half of the first season with a guest stint by Bill Paxton and appearance of Sif from the Thor franchise, so we'll see if AoS can close strong. Too bad American television doesn't adopt the British model on a show like Agents. Cut the season in half, concentrate on ten great episodes, and you might have something special.

Jennifer Lawrence's News and Notes 1.13.14


Jennifer Lawrence picked up another Golden Globe last night and looks to be in position to win a second Oscar this year. The girl is dominating at age 23. There seems to be little doubt left that she'll soon be Kentucky's most famous product if she isn't already.

Writing Quest 2014

Last week I mentioned that we plan to finish a faith-based feature script by the end of the year. Well, there are plenty of other unfinished scripts that I'd like to polish off as well. One isn't good enough for 2014. Therefore, in the quest to make time where there is none, I will write at least one hour everyday. Starting today. Every writer on Earth will tell you that you have to simply get words on paper everyday. I've known it for years, but today I put it into practice. I know I can find an hour, even if I have to grab it 10-15 minutes at a time. My quality time with Twitter is certain to suffer.

Golden Globes

Right off the bat... Andy Samberg won?
I LIKE Andy Samberg, but...
Andy Samberg???

Let me list every nominee in his category... Don Cheadle, Michael J. Fox, Jason Bateman, and Jim Parsons (who they give an Emmy every year just for showing up). I honestly would have guessed Samberg would have been at the very bottom of that vote tally. Obviously, I need to check out Brooklyn Nine-Nine to get some idea of what happened.


I got to see bits and pieces last night. The opening monologue was good stuff from Amy and Tina. My favorite joke was a well constructed jab at another Kentucky native...  (skip to 5:02)



Oh, Clooney.

Last night was a further reminder of how many films I need to see. Say what you will about Hollywood, it may be top-heavy on quality, but the cream of the crop has been very, very good for the past couple of years. Credit where it's due. Of course, the rest is still a garbage fire.

Geek Scope: Agents of SHIELD 1.11


Just a few words about last night's episode before I get into anything spoilery...  We've now had two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a row which suffered due to writing. I don't like to be negative on here and it's personally important to me not to slam other peoples' creative work. However, I have a rooting interest for this show to stay on the air and reach its full potential and I'm afraid that isn't going to happen if the writing is cringe-worthy on the two most important episodes of the season so far.

Clark Gregg still managed to produce a couple of very sincere moments. All the more impressive considering the circumstances. So, kudos to Clark's acting prowess and his ability to bring some added facets to Phil Coulson that I wasn't sure were possible.

We were promised answers last night. Did we get them? Mehhh... yeah sort of. I would call it satisfactory. We basically know Coulson is still human, we have an overall idea of what he went through and who is responsible. But there are plenty of details still out there to be discovered. That was probably the best way to handle it and best for the show.

Now let's look for any hidden secrets...

  • SPOILER:    Coulson is not a Life Model Decoy.
  • The phone that (killed?) Edison Po seemed to have a very similar effect to the device that Obadiah Stane used to paralyze people in Iron Man.
  • There were zero connections to the 616 (comics) Universe that I noticed in last night's episode, apart from the second appearance of Victoria Hand.

In my lowly opinion, last night's developments practically demand that we see Tony Stark learn that Coulson is alive and then confront Fury on the ethical issues of what was done to him. They can't possibly spend the time in one of the feature films to do this, therefore it would be necessary to make it happen in AOS. It is a moment that begs to be written and seen. It would be the most poignant and emotional issue Marvel has tackled by miles. You bring Downey and Sam Jackson in for this and Joss to write or direct it and you create the best hour of television that this show could ever generate. Put a script and a bag of cash in front of Downey that he can't resist. Make it a monumental TV event. Disney, eat the cost. You would never recoup it in a hundred years but the investment would be worth it. Why? It sends a message. Marvel TV isn't screwing around. This is no joke and this why you, the audience, want to watch every new series we produce from here on out. Because we might do things like this.

Let's hope the writing and directing rebound before the end of the season. I have hopes that the revelation of Coulson's resurrection will continue to be interesting. We'll see you here next week.


Wahlbergs' News and Notes 1.6.14



We started off the News and Notes with Mark Wahlberg... for no reason whatsoever. I just like the Wahlbergs, they shoot straight, this clip was funny, and it seems like they've both been on TV an inordinate amount lately. So, there you go.

It would be nice if I did a 2013 recap for the blog right here wouldn't it?
It's not going to happen. Not today at least. I'm busy, people.

How about this year? Well, I can tell you Todd is eyeballing a possible music video production. And...

Space Cops

Editing is still underway on Episodes 4 and 5, but I'll admit that it's been very slow over the holidays. You know how it goes. The rumor mill says Todd Sheene and I might have an edit and/or 2014 WSF Strategy party.

Christian Movies

Faith-based movies are largely... awkward. That may be the kindest way I can put it. We have a goal here to complete a feature-length, faith-based script that is not awkward before the end of 2014. Where it goes from there, we have no idea. We won't necessarily attempt to produce it ourselves, but who knows...