The first draft of the latest Ryta book is done. I've already started working on the second draft, and am looking to get this ready for publication within two weeks or so. The new story is a big step forward in that it's war between the major factions, with a few twists thrown in here and there. I'm feeling good about it. Keep it here for further Ryta updates.
The latest trailer for the new Spider-Man movie came out today, and it looks very good. While I love seeing Spidey in the Marvel universe (Iron Man and Captain America make appearances), I'm really psyched to see Michael Keaton as the Vulture, the film's main villain.
Keaton's been a favorite of mine since even before I saw him as Batman in the Tim Burton Batman movies ("You wanna get crazy? C'mon, let's get crazy!"). He's proven to be a very effective villain in several thrillers that he's done, and I can't wait to see what he'll do with the Vulture.
When we last saw Hawaiian cop Grace Park, she was chasing a bikini clad suspect on the beach (and in the surf). But now Grace gets grabbed by the bad guys and tied to a chair (note: her boyfriend/husband/boytoy is tied with her).
Does she escape her bonds and kill the weird masked bad guy? I think so. :)
You can watch/download this clip right here.
Now that's what I'm talking about. This is the first full trailer for the Justice League movie that's coming out this November, and it looks great. And I never thought I'd say this, but Aquaman comes off looking like a real bad-ass here. (Aquaman?! Who knew?)
No sign of Superman, but the appearance of Amy Adams as Lois Lane gives me hope, and as much as I love the Flash TV series, I'm still looking forward to seeing Ezra Miller's take on the Scarlet Speedster. And Gail Godot's Wonder Woman? I'm already looking forward to her standalone movie, and now we also get to see her in this? Oh, wow....
I'm really pumped to see this one!
A picture that didn't make it to my Halloween gallery last October finally gets posted now. You can see what buggy horrors awaits you right here.
Rogue One - A New Hope Mashup from Barre Fong on Vimeo.
Someone merged together the last five minutes of Rogue One into the first five minutes of Star Wars: A New Hope, and it works beautifully. I thought Rogue One was fantastic; it makes for a worthy prequel to the very first Star Wars film. Watching these scenes one right after the other, it's impressive to see how closely the new film adheres to the world of SW: A New Hope.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Rogue One again. It comes out in a couple of days on Digital Download. It then releases on Blu-Ray/DVD on April 4. Can't wait to do a double feature of these two movies back to back.
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of musicals. The idea of people breaking into song in movies always seemed silly to me (I've no desire to see La la Land for this reason). But, having said that, I enjoyed "Once More, With Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I enjoyed it so much I even bought the soundtrack album.
Side note: If you haven't seen this episode of Buffy, you should seek it out. The music is a mixture of contemporary rock, pop music, and old-school Broadway musicals. And all of the songs serve to advance the story, as well as reveal the characters' inner feelings. And it's also very funny in spots, too.
So I was willing to give this new musical a shot. It offered another team-up between The Flash and Supergirl, which I was eager to see. And both actors have singing experience from being on Glee (a show that I avoided like the plague, because, you know...it was a musical).
But, having now seen it, I have to say that while it was cute overall--there are some funny moments here and there, and the chemistry between Grant Gustin (Flash) and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) is great, as always--it didn't grab me like the Buffy musical episode did. Unlike Buffy, which created all-new music, the music in the Flash/Supergirl show was a mixture of old and new songs, and it just left me cold.
While the show did resolve some personal issues for the main characters, it would have been nice to see them solve these problems on their own, without resorting to a hackneyed plot device like this.
Oh well, they can't hit every episode out of the ballpark, I guess. I'm still a huge fan of both shows, and look forward to seeing more (non-musical) episodes from them.
I'm wrapping up the first draft of the new Ryta the Jungle Girl book. Just a couple more scenes to write, and it will be finished. But then the second draft work starts, which is editing and rewriting (and sometimes writing; I already know I need to add a couple of new scenes into the manuscript).
But everything is on course for the new novel to be published in early April. I will keep you updated of its progress right here.
Another movie to watch out for. Charlize Theron, who's a favorite of mine, stars in this spy thriller helmed by one of the guys who did John Wick. It has something of a "Jane Wick" vibe, and that's a great thing. Looking forward to this one.
Note: this is a red band trailer, so it's not safe for work, nor for the kiddies.
Emma, the super spy, is caught by the bad guys in her slinky black catsuit. Will she escape? Will she warn Steed in time? And will she do this before the next commercial break? My latest Poser picture can be seen right here.
Although it's been a mild winter, this last full week of the season is going to be socking it to us pretty hard in several parts of the country. With deep-freeze temperatures and blizzard conditions hitting us in the northern areas, it must seem like spring is a thousand years away.
To that end, I wanted to offer not just a bondage clip, but one that had babes in bikinis on the beach. It was sort of my way to saying "hang in there." Hawaiian policewoman Grace Park goes after a female suspect who's out surfing. After a few minutes of hunting her down and giving chase to her (while clad in a bikini) Park gets her girl.
The beach bunny is cuffed to a chair at the precinct, still clad in her bikini, while Park (now fully clad) interrogates her. It's fun and cheesy, and hopefully will serve as a reminder that warmer days are coming, once we get through the cold stuff. So hang in there. Spring *is* coming.
You can watch/download this clip right here.
I always try to be positive about everything (after all, there's enough negative stuff in the world as it is). And when I first heard about a new Star Trek series that was coming in 2017, I was (and still am) excited to hear the news.
Of course, being on the 'net, you hear things--rumors, mostly. And for the most part, they're just that: rumors. This video addresses many of the rumors that have been floating around about the upcoming Star Trek Discovery series.
As the video itself points out, you can take it all with a grain of salt, but it makes for a fascinating listen. I'm still hoping the new Trek series is good.
Just wanted to wish everybody--especially the women--a Happy International Women's Day.
The live action version of Ghost In The Shell, starring Scarlett Johansson, opens in a couple of weeks now. Adam Savage takes a look at the skin-tight Thermoptic suit that Johansson wears in the film in this interesting behind the scenes video.
I'm not too familiar with Ghost In The Shell, although I'm looking forward to seeing this version judging strictly from the trailers. I think I might watch the original film first just to get caught up on the story.
This weekend Logan opens in theaters. It's supposed to be the final Wolverine movie starring Hugh Jackman--and I'll certainly miss him, because he was great. I'm a huge fan of the X-Men films overall, but I always enjoyed Jackman's turn as Wolverine, especially in X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
Playing with Logan in theaters is this brief short starring Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds also released it on his Youtube channel so people won't have to see it in theaters (I'm still planning on seeing Logan very soon, though).
I admit that I never even heard of Deadpool until I saw that film, but I loved it, and I'm looking forward to Deadpool 2 (which they're working on now). Here's hoping Reynolds gets to play Deadpool for a good long time as Jackman has played Wolverine.
I have a new picture over on Deviant Art, where I just discovered that it has been recently sold to new owners. I don't have a problem with this, as long as the new guys continue to promote freedom of expression.
In any event, you can see my new pic, which involves a half naked woman, a lot of black tape, and a zombie, right here.
The latest trailer for the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy has dropped, and it really looks very cool. I'm wondering if Nebula (Karen Gillian) will become a new member of the group, as this trailer seems to suggest. That would be cool, but even if she doesn't join them, it's nice to have Nebula back again. Hell, it's nice to see this whole crew back again. I'm really looking forward to this one.