Tag Archives: The Walking Dead

Why You Shouldn’t Watch Hobbs and Shaw

hobbs-shaw-noWhile it doesn’t quite promise to sweep the box office like the franchise it spun off fromHobbs and Shaw is garnering a fair amount of excitement among demographics that want to see Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson do to a helicopter what Chris Evans already did in Captain America: Civil War back in 2016. Well, that and audiences that want to watch two of the biggest, burliest men in Hollywood punch a third big, burly man. That’s not to say that these are the reasons to give this action movie a pass (and in fact seem like strong arguments to actually go check it out).

As the marketing on some posters seeks to remind audiences, “This time there is no team.” In spite of the fact that Hobbs and Shaw is “presented” by Fast & Furious, Dominic Toretto and co. are nowhere to be seen. Not only is la familia absent, but this movie stars two of their former antagonists. Johnson plays the titular Luke Palagi Hobbs, a federal agent hellbent on taking them down in Fast Five, and Jason Statham is Deckard Shaw, an assassin-turned-mercenary who sought revenge on the team for putting his brother in a coma. That said, the general quality of villain-centric films isn’t the reason to skip this one, either (though Suicide Squad should have been enough of a deterrent on its own).

The reason not to watch Hobbs and Shaw takes place at the very end of Fast & Furious 6.

The answer to the question the title of this clip poses is answered by the very screenshot of the man walking with a phone held to his ear (written SPOILERS for the Fast & Furious franchise and others moving forward)

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For Your Consideration: The Happiness and Wellbeing of Minority Characters

This is short [and quite late] even as “For Your Consideration” posts go. While past instances have been particularly research heavy, this installment really leans into the gist of those three words. I’m here to present all of you nice people with a little something to ruminate on, and this time I don’t even have a particular stance on it myself.

Jeremy Whitley is a comic book writer that Marvel appears to be actively grooming, and who I first read due to his penning one of a handful of short stories in the Secret Wars: Secret Love one-shot [a truly excellent Danny/Misty Knight romance].

Secret Wars: Secret Love – “Misty and Danny Forever”. Written by Jeremy Whitley, illustrated by Gurihiru.

Since then he’s also written a tie-in issue of Champions, and is currently on the ongoing The Unstoppable Wasp as well as responsible for another upcoming event one-shot [this time for the summer’s Secret Empire]. Suffice to say, Whitley is swiftly making a name for himself at one of the two largest publishers in the industry.

What he was once primarily known for, and which I’m positive he’s very proud of, is Princeless. Starting back in 2012, the all-ages series has released six volumes and been nominated for two Eisner awards. What’s particularly notable is how he has in part been writing the book for his daughter, with the following interview answer explaining a lot about the title hero’s character design:

“My daughter is black and while I encourage her to look for role models of all colors, girls need to be able to see girls that are like themselves in media. They need it even more when it comes to seeing them portrayed with strength. And, unfortunately, I think that’s sort of a symptom of this exclusionary tendency in the self-professed nerd culture circles. I would love nothing more than to change that culture, but barring that, I’ll help create another one.”

With that in mind it should be of no surprise whatsoever that Whitley is very concerned about diversity and representation in media, and has made a concerted effort to include that in all of his books.

Now to get to the actual meat of this post, I began following him on tumblr not too long ago where he’s very active in engaging with his fans. It was a couple of weeks back that I came across the following exchange between Whitley and two such comic readers:

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John Cho is Hot on Selfie, and Why It Matters

Roughly six years ago I sat in a guest house in London, England, and complained to a Korean friend about not being attractive. It’s funny seeing it typed out now, and it wasn’t so starkly apparent at the time, but that’s exactly what I was worried about. We were studying abroad with a group of mostly White classmates from a predominantly White liberal arts college, and as an eighteen-year-old I had dating on the mind. That, and the beginnings of the idea that things might not be so easy for me given the colour of my skin.

And unlike John Cho and his suit, my skin does not peel away to reveal more equally-good-looking skin underneath.

My primary source was media and pop culture, and how interracial relationships weren’t showcased much, if at all [not much has changed, 2009!]. I suggested that this might create a life-imitating-art situation, where young non-hyphenated-American women might not be as open to the idea of getting together with an Asian guy due to never seeing it on screens small or large. He brought up that he’d had no problems in the past [being musical, and with that bone structure?], as well as the more damning evidence that neither had I. With that I left the topic of conversation alone, not entirely convinced or at peace with the whole thing.

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CWR’s Halloween Movie Recommendations II

Well readers, it’s that time of the year again.

Decorations are going up, costumes are coming out, and here at your favorite blog in the whole wide world, we’ve got your latest batch of chilling and thrilling movie recommendations.

Let’s get to it.

Splice

You know all those classic monster movies with heavy-handed messages about scientists playing God?

This isn’t one of ’em.

Quite the opposite, in fact: Splice is arguably a movie showing just the reverse, the danger of not providing scientists with the necessary resources and trust. And while that’s a long overdue message, beyond that, Splice is a simply fantastic horror flick. Well-acted, well-funded, well-shot, and even if you manage to see certain plot points coming, they’re only made all the more disturbing for it. Continue reading

Culture War Correspondence: Getting Into Reading Comics

EVAN: I wanted to start this off by referring to you readers as “initiated and uninitiated”, but decided that that would be too creepy. The thing is, those words aren’t too far off the mark when it comes to those who are and aren’t in the know when it comes to one of my all-time favourite mediums.

This week Kat [a person who does not regularly read comics] and I [a person who does] will be discussing how to go about doing so, and why a lot of people don’t.

KAT: Oh, I’m glad you added in that last part, because I was just thinking about why I don’t read more comics. Continue reading

Shame Day: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Writers Who Kill Everyone

Before we get started I should probably give the obligatory warning about spoilers. Spoilers below, beware! [Seriously, there are a lot of spoilers -Ed.]

So, I watch Game of Thrones.

I watch it for the awesome female characters, although a little begrudgingly. I mean, do they have to put boobs in my face EVERY SINGLE EPISODE? It’s like the writers are sitting around and realize “Hey guys, we don’t have any of the main characters’ boobs in this episode! What are we going to do?” and then the guy in the back of the room is like “Why don’t we set another scene in a brothel!” and everyone goes “Oh yeah, great idea.” Seriously, I challenge you find me two episodes in a row without boobs. Continue reading