Tuesday Nerd-Newsday!

Since all my TV shows are ending (except Agents of SHIELD, which has 7 more episodes and Lady Sif guest starring tonight) here’s some new movie trailers from the Horror/Scifi/Superhero realm that will help keep me entertained.

Stage Fright

Minnie Driver’s character is the catalyst for this film that looks a little Friday the 13th meets Phantom of the Opera. 4/3/14

Under the Skin

Bizarrely atmospheric thriller adapted from Michel Faber’s 2000 novel of the same name, about an alien sent to Earth by a rich corporation to prey on unwary hitchhikers. 4/13

13 Sins

If this tale of an economically disparate man who is driven to commit crimes for cash doesn’t seem wholly original, it’s because it isn’t. This is a remake of a 2006 Thai horror film. True Blood’s Rutina Wesley plays main character Elliot (Mark Webber)’s soon to be wife and Ron Perlman is the detective pursuing him. It looks.. interesting enough. 4/18.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Eva Green is the Dame to Kill For, back in another Frank Miller ultra far apart comic book sequel. The 300 movies were 7 years apart. The character she played recently in 300: Rise of an Empire got some less than favorable views because of Artemesia’s rape-revenge backstory. Hopefully the upcoming flick won’t be so trope ridden. Jessica Alba is still a total fox. I’m looking forward to this immensely. August 22nd.

Amazing Spiderman 2

It looks great. Also, total crush on Peter Parker. Spiderman does the Iron Man thing and creates his own villains.

Captain America: the Winter Soldier

I know pretty much the entire world has seen this. And knows ScarJo is pregnant. But I just wanted to point out that the first Captain America was pretty mediocre, and Marvel tossed in Black Widow because Cap couldn’t carry a movie on his own. I’m so pumped. And I wanted an excuse to link an article that stresses how much Scarlett trained for the stunt work in the Marvel movies. Because that’s badass. May 4, 2014

What are you most looking forward to?

Commentary about Female Heroes’ Costumes (part 2)

So in Part 1 of this rant I touched on the fact that I like showing off my body. I do. I really do. And you can tell me “society told me I needed to” I don’t actually care. I like make up, I like tight clothes, I like looking good. So I sympathized when I Setsu Oh raving about Lara Croft’s recent breast reduction, People jumped in from left and right about how it’s more “realistic” and less “hypersexualized” as if DD cups don’t exist in the wild. @SetsuOh also went on to say that big breasted women are usually touted as bimbos, so a well endowed PhD and survival skills? Bad ass and out of the normal stereotype.

But I think this is a situation where either way there’s something to complain about. But asserting that big breasted women can’t be Indiana Jones because it’s not realistic is fucking stupid.

Which leads me to my next point. Of women who show off their bodies, the more endowed: the higher the chance it will somehow be labelled as vulgar. Because having a female body is vulgar. No, I don’t believe that, but it seems to be the consensus among most of humanity. 

What do I mean?

 

This image was posted along with an article about cosplayers hypersexualizing characters. I agreed with some points… BUT the accompanying text for this reads, “I mean, really? REALLY? If I had kids with me at this convention, I would actually be pretty pissed off as a parent.” And I just have a question: I mean these kids will, at some point, go to a beach or pool, am I right?” She’s wearing slightly more than you average bikini. And yet it’s easy to look and say “SLUT” isn’t it? I have news… That’s not her fault. That’s everyone else’s fault for buying into the hype that if a girl shows off her body then she’s a bimbo and a slut and not worthy of respect. (The post is here, and I agreed with everything up until that point)

Actually, I found this article about MJ’s sexualization over the years. It’s fascinating. It’s also fascinating that photos of Kirsten Dunst from the films were included based only on the fact that she has nipples. 

And on cosplay in general “By wearing their likeness, you are allowing all that the character has come to represent. By emphasizing your own body in the costume that you yourself have created or paid for, you are granting another the right to utilize your form first as approval for continued actions and for generating the idea that women both appreciate and prefer to be cast in this light.” From the post Cosplay and the Female Form and I always feel a little betrayed when those who include themselves as “geeks” and “feminists” say something that is so dubious. Maybe this statement seems innocuous to you, so I’ll explain my position: I like to look good. I like when men look good, too.

So what? It is, in fact, certain individuals claiming feminism who say that women cannot both be beautiful and clever, sexy and strong, pretty and courageous. 

I’m all set.

But with that in mind, I think that the costume should fit the character. Lady Sif should not show up in a chainmail bikini… But you know what, Sonja doesn’t have to go full armor either. I actually think that MJ Watson costume is really dumb, I just don’t find it offensive. I don’t find Kirsten Dunst having nipples to be sexualization, I don’t need other women to tell me what to wear so I can properly represent my gender. No one has to do that.

Don’t understand? I’m assuming we all have Netflix at this point, watch the 30 Rock episode “TGS Hates Women” with guest star Sarah Silverman. She’s hired on and comes in looking like a “sexy baby” and Liz Lemon goes to council her on how she’s too girly for the Girly Show, Tina Fey whose character Liz Lemon became a feminist icon for holding a high profile job and being “real bodied” and too lazy for sex and wanting to eat junk food immediately hates on Sarah’s character for not being like her.

Right after this Sarah lays the smackdown. There’s not clip on youtube, you’ll just have to watch it. You should anyway.

But some images are more ridiculous than others:

Male Objectification Monday: Andrew Garfield

The latest actor to take on the role of Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield, is incredibly handsome. The babyfaced 30-year-old can pull of hipster cool, mature suited style as well as the flashy fitted spandex Spidey-suit. Or no shirt. No shirt is good, too.

 

Look at those buns!

Look at that hair!

But Andrew’s more than just a pretty face, co-star (and girlfriend) Emma Stone take the opportunity to use annoying run ins with the paparazzi to shout out their favorite charities instead of doing something flashy or rude:

(Full story)

AND the entire cast of Amazing Spiderman 2 are leading the Earth Day 2014 celebration. Good looking people who are concerned about the environment and use their privilege to benefit others? I dig it. 

All New X-Men Special #1

The Arms of the Octopus part 1 of 3.

Attempting to force Cyclops to face his misdeeds, among them the murder of Charles Xavier, Beast traveled back in time to recruit the only people he felt could do so -the original X-Men. Transported to the present, they were forced to face the dark reality of their fates. In response, the time-displaced team decided to stay in an attempt to better the future they have found. However, discention formed among the team leading to Angel abandoning his friends. Now, stranded and separated, the original team must find their own place in this unfamiliar world.

Variant Cover

Part of that unfamiliar world includes people yammering away on their cell phones, letting strangers know all their personal business. The gang are exploring the Big Apple together and Hank is narrating intellectually about how here all his stories are gone… and about how he kissed Jean and he doesn’t know if Scott knows.

Then he sees a girl reading poetry. He rambles academically and she divulges that she’s a PhD student… studying time travel no less. She’s really not feeling Hank McCoy, who is coming on way too strong and she begins to excuse herself. However a purse-snatcher stealing from women doing yoga that Bobby was ogling and Hank goes all Beast mode to stop the guy.

To his surprise… she thinks that him being a mutant is super cool.

Hank goes with her to see Dr. Jude. She says he’ll be so pumped to see a former student. So there they are with Dr. Jude, Hank says he always admired the professor’s work on Gamma radiation, which now he doesn’t work in because there’s a certain (ahem) stigma against it. And coincidentally, while he is there a massive radiation spike occurs and Oh hey, it’s OTTO OCTAVIUS.

Jean and Scott are bickering about what movie to see when a pummelled Hank gets thrown into a car. Everyone does the quick change and gets to fighting Doc Ock.

Spiderman busts in to fight the mechanically tentacled man and then Hank tackles Spidey and tells him that Ock is leaking gamma radiation all over the place.

Ock says he’s gotta find Dr. Jude because he’s not supposed to be there! (more time travel? Say whaaaat?)

Spiderman (who is still Green Goblin, amirite?) epically says, “Who are all of you? Some kind of mad cloning experiment of Xavier’s he intended to punish the world with after his death?”

I love Spiderman as an asshole, by the way. It’s hilarious. Anyway, he convinces the kids that they need to take “Otto Octavius” to Dr. Judes lab, I’m using quotation marks because Spiderman (who is an imposter) says that Ock is an imposter. Dr. Jude theorizes that maybe the X-Men’s time travel weakened the space-time continuum and maybe Ock came through. Spiderman thinks not but Ock is to radioactive to run appropriate scans on.

Then… Spiderman uses his Avengers connections to call in the one person that he thinks can help!!!

 

The art is super cute. It’s fun to see the kids being kids. The writing is great, the angst, the insults, the complete and utter confusion of everyone involved. This is a 3 part series (that while taking place in the same timeline as Battle of the Atom, makes no actual sense that these things could be happening at once since Young Bobby and Young Hank were in the future future this week… anyway,)