Posted by
Anonymous
- Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Carissa Andrews paints perfect literary art. There... I said it. During the opening chapter, it became ever so obvious to me that she has a very poetic mind. It reminded me of a time when I was writing articles for commission, and I wrote a piece entitled "Art VS Fart." It entailed my own failings as a writer, which were just a small addition to the overall categories of various arts. Included in it was a statement that I find to be true, even if I am a bag of hot air. That statement was:
There are storytellers, and there are artists in writing.
Either can tell a story, but the artist tells it dramatically and with precise metaphoric detail. The words are beautiful or terrifying, the description so absolute you can feel it in your bones, no matter the mood of the description or the interpreter of the words.
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| Carissa Andrews |
My opinion is that this story is fantastic. It revolves around a character who has just made the decision to separate herself from the new design of human society, one that parallels the society in Equilibrium, a movie starring Christian Bale. Her separation comes with a flood of emotion she's never felt, a realization of forces she has never known, and a truth she never expected. Her escape from human society "opens her eye" to a world unknown.
The story is unique and takes its time letting you in on its secrets. Whenever I thought maybe I had it figured out, I would quickly realize otherwise. This happened several times; eventually I gave up trying, and just read until I absorbed everything I possibly could, not wanting to fool myself again. There were icky love chapters that held my attention somewhat less, but I never felt that they stole anything from the Pendomus story. After all, the main character is feeling these emotions for the first time in her life. Eerily, I think those moments even added to the feeling. These are not words that you will find me saying frequently.
My only criticism is that I never did learn the origins of the elemental beasts, which are magnificent creatures with indeterminable power. They made their appearance and they will clearly be making more, but they are only partially explained in nature. On the upside, this work seems to be one of many, so I suppose there is time for her to elaborate later. It all comes together in the end, building up into an epic that will live on in other installations. I think Carissa Andrews is a great author, and I think the Pendomus books will be recognized as fine literature in the young adult dark fantasy genre.
Indie Authors Looking For Exposure
Posted by
Travis Goss
- Monday, October 21, 2013
For the first episode of Rose Colored Let's Play, Travis plays one his favorite video games of all time, the Sega CD epic classic (at least that's his opinion), Sewer Shark.
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| Welcome to part one of RCLP: Sewer Shark |
That's right, the FMV classic which is a guaranteed high octane thrill ride (not really) through an underground sewer system infested with mutated critters.
If you like what you see, then please comment, like, share and subscribe. It helps me out and helps keep you up-to-date as to when new episodes are released. Also, go check out my other YouTube channel, Rose Colored Reviews, and stay tuned for my review of the 80s Saturday morning cartoon classic, Muppet Babies.
Posted by
Fellonius Munch
The Predator: elite extra-terrestrial headhunter, wholesale action star ass-kickin' pussy-face, kinky bodystocking and codpiece enthusiast, skull trophy-polishing expert to the stars and, undoubtedly, the greatest rastafarian ambassador to science-fiction cinema there was and will ever be... very nearly portrayed by an 80's martial arts movie star from Belgium...
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| "I'll give you twenty bucks for that arm..." |
Ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger's original 1987 sci-fi action blockbuster, the Predator has had a pretty damn interesting career that goes way beyond nearly three decades of cinema and into comic books, novels and video-games, proving that if he isn't the most popular alien ever conceived for multimedia, he's only got to kill one or two others to have that honour.
For those of us to witness the original movie on VHS when it first hit the shelves, we've crapped our pants, we've laughed, we've cried (out of fear, frustration, hormones) and we've sighed and we've groaned at the many injustices also heaped upon the ever-enigmatic legend of science-fiction horror.
Everybody familiar—or downright obsessed—with all things Predator knows that the stuntman in the suit that made the magic happen was the late 7'4" man-mountain Kevin Peter Hall...
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| "One ugly whut, lil homie???" |
But what isn't so well-known is that the Predator went through several stages of design before special effects legend Stan Winston (see also Terminator, Aliens, Pumpkinhead, Jurassic Park) and director John McTiernan (Die Hard) came to settle for the giant pussyfaced, musclebound rasta look. One of those designs was of a smaller Predator... one more agile and versed in what I can only imagine to be some form of space martial arts...
Predate? Pred Jitsu? Pred Fu? Aikillyo? Who knows?!
But the man set to play that character—had it all worked out—was none other than accomplished martial artist and then-rising action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme. And had that become the reality, as opposed to what we know today, we might have been faced with a completely different science-fiction/horror/action legacy altogether, if not a completely different Van Damme.
In fact, with the ludicrously successful and seemingly unstoppable movie career enjoyed by Schwarzenegger, it probably would have done JCVD's career bigger favours than the likes of Universal Soldier, or um... Timecop... and prevented some pretty nasty direct-to-video movie choices, if not granted him unlimited amounts of drugs and possibly killing him in the process, but that's not a road we're going down on this one.
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| "Ummm, hey... you appear to be lacking pop tarts." |
Don't be silly, Van Damme wouldn't have been looking for Pop Tarts in the middle of the night. Not back in the initial decline of his fame and fortune. No! Pastry, jam and icing sugar were no match for cocaine back in the day!
But back to the point, I'm actually bold enough to will hundreds and possibly thousands of insults upon myself in suggesting that a Van Damme Predator could have been completely badass. And I brought me a valid argument, too, so please keep reading.
The Predator, is as we fanatics know so well, the coolest, awesomest, most intelligent and terrifying beast to grace the screens of science-fiction cinema (and yet I personally also find him curiously cute and cuddly-looking). Granted, if he had a Belgian accent whenever he muttered...
At the beginning of his career, despite falling foul of one very desperate last-ditch guerilla-style booby trap that McGuyver would have thought amateur, the Predator did take out a hardcore band of elite soldiers, and most of them being played by a rather naughty mix of 80's action and sporting superstars (Arnie, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers), working class evil henchmen (Bill Duke and Walter Hill favourite Sonny Landham) and then Richard Chaves and finally Shane Black—who just reads comics and tells bad jokes (but later went on to write and/or direct some awesome stuff like Lethal Weapon and Long Kiss Goodnight to Iron Man 3). Yes, despite being killed off at the end of Predator, a given so that Arnie wouldn't fall foul as the hero of the movie, that should have been enough to set the Predator up for heady success in future battles, proving he was in fact the most lethal combatant in the Universe. You'd have thought the Predator would have won at least one battle and survived over the duration of a few decades. But no, even if he completes a mission, it always seems to be the death of him. Not if it had been Van Damme behind the mask, and you know it—if at least for the favours granted by plot armour. Aside from that, who other than CHUCK FUCKIN' NORRIS is the reason Van Damme is the man he is today?
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| Jean-Claude and Chuck sharing a Christmas Cracker back in the day. |
So, how do you suppose the Predator movies, beyond Arnie's awesome original, could have been improved, and how could the addition of Van Damme as the titular creature have helped?
1. Predator 2 (1990)
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| "Shut up, you're always too old for shit!" |
I personally appreciate the stylish ultraviolent gorefest that is Predator 2 and we all love Danny Glover, being too old for that shit and such. But we don't like to point out that—by the simple ground rules set in the original—this Predator had too damn many chances to kill him and uncharacteristically failed too, every time. Think of that when I also point out that Danny Glover/his jumpy cop character, Mike Harrington, isn't just weedy in comparison to the Predator, he's also a literal ant hill in comparison to Arnie's mountain, and he doesn't have the combat skills. Dutch was an elite soldier, used to fighting guerillas, terrorists and, allegedly, whole armies the world over. Although surviving 'Predator' he was no doubt defeated come the sombre finale. In 'Predator 2' Harrigan is a weary middle-aged cop who's in over his head and knows it, yet seems to have the luck of a damn cat. I mean seriously. How did Danny Glover survive at all? Honorable mention: Adam Baldwin also survived that movie. But that's allowed. If anything, a Predator 3 should have seen him as the lead, with him being left in charge of the secret operation hunting the Predators down. But then he wasn't world-renowned for his action and comedy capabilities until Firefly, despite also being badass in Full Metal Jacket and Independence Day.
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| "...the man they call meeeeeee." |
How Van Damme would have made Predator 2 more credible: If not for making Danny Glover's victory over the Predator credible, he would have at least beat the living crap out of him worse than the original Predator did Arnie with some swift moves.But then he could have made the whole film a lot more credible. Kevin Peter Hall, who died the year after that film, wasn't agile enough to make the increasingly acrobatic stunts for this movie as convincing as they needed to be. This wasn't tree climbing, this was urban alien free running, for cryin' out loud. The fatal blow to the Predator is Danny Glover stabbing him through the heart with his bladed frisbee thingy, also quite embarrassingly making him cry like a bitch. Not a Predator... A BITCH! That's like WWE's Kane falling for a poorly executed low blow after sustaining possibly hundreds over the years (and that guy's nuts probably need a mask more than his face). No, this time, the Predator could have just done the splits and knifed Glover right in the ball sack, frisbee between the tits and all, and did more of a manly scream, like...
Because you're never too old for THAT shit! But then I still believe that this could have been closer to a better alternate ending, as we all know Van Damme loves his weird interpretive dance. So why the hell not?
2. AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
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| They call this hairstyle the Pred-Emo! |
Many Predator fans actually appreciate AVP. However, the purists and the ones that read the Dark Horse series believe it's a ridiculous crock of shit, despite having some really nifty effects spent on the Aliens and Predators. Maybe because of that, they couldn't afford to hire writers to make the story believable. I mean, Predators being an ancient race, enslaving humanity and using them to build the pyramids as alien hunter theme parks? All of the LOLs, but that ruined the film for me, that and the fact they almost totally ignored everything that made the comics awesome to begin with. Alien vs Predator was conceptually meant for outer space, on common ground between the Xenomorphs and the Predators, somewhere in Ellen Ripley's distant future. Not a freakin' pyramid in the snow full of stupid Resident Evil style mazes and booby traps. I still feel robbed. Predator kicks the absolute shite out of humans, aliens and even a gigantic alien queen at the end before we're reminded that he was stupid enough to fall for that old chestnut early on - a Facehugger of all things. Sorry, but, I'm pretty sure that if they've been hunting aliens for millions of years, they'd get briefed on this shit in junior school at the least. Plus, doesn't the Predator have sufficient enough tooth and jaw action to just bite that tiny alien's dick off or something?
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| "Nomnomnomnomnom" |
Where Van Damme could have made it right: By employing martial arts skills that didn't make the Predator hunting team look amateurish. Yes, granted, they are meant to be somewhat amateurish, as they are at their little theme park of death for the sole intention of earning respect as young hunters, but they died too freakin' easy to have any credibility at all. Plus if Van Damme had been the lead Predator here, we might have got to see one "makin' whoopee" with that woman that survives the whole sorry ordeal. But even if not, we'd have most certainly seen the Predator survive too. He'd have just been too clever to fall for that Facehugger "kiss me quick" routine...
3. Predators (2010)
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| I got nothing on this one, sorry. Brody's long face depresses me. |
Ignoring Requiem, but not completely forgetting the rest of the cast of 'Predators', I just find it hard to believe that the most hardcore Predator here, the Berserker, is defeated in a matter of moments by two of the weakest excuses for action stars ever cast in a film about a bunch of hardcore killers selected to be hunted by a bunch of advanced and seemingly evolved Predators. I'm, of course, talking about Adrien Brody, who for some reason reminds me of Milhouse from The Simpsons, and Alice Braga... the religious wack-job from 'I Am Legend'. Talk about the Predators being ROBBED!!! In my own opinion, the four most hardcore characters die too soon, and at least two of them shouldn't have; namely Misters Oleg Taktarov...
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| "Herro!" |
...and Danny Trejo.
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| "Peace, brother... or Machete kill you!" |
To have killed them off so easily pointed out the severity of the situation, sure, which should have pointed out that Brody and Braga... or Bro-Ga, even... were fucked. And yet against all odds, they not only survive, they defeat the ultimate Predator, even while Braga is PARALYSED! This was probably the most embarrassing defeat to the Predator species out of all past defeats. Modern-day filmmakers and actors looking to carve a niche for themselves in the action genre seem to think it's all gravy when you have a big gun, a deep gravelly voice and cool fashion sense, but whereas director Nimrod Antal did a great job building atmosphere and replicating the mood and tone of the original film, 'Predators' had more inconsistencies than my mum's gravy.
How Van Damme could have improved Predators: By being the Predator captured and hung out as bait for our "heroes", being let off the leash towards the end and actually defeating the Berserker Predator with some swift fighting skills, rather than just looking weak and getting decapitated. No doubt, that fight was awesome but it does nothing for the fact that we wanted the old-school Predator to beat the Berserker and fly his human saviours back home to relative safety. Because if Van Damme had been the Predator, that would have most certainly happened!
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| Rather than this. |
What do you think, Fanboys? Would a Jean-Claude Van Damme Predator have been better than the one we already know and love? Would it have changed the rules of the game? Would we have seen more Predator victories, more sequels over the years, even? Thanks for reading and feel free to comment with your thoughts!
Posted by
The Dace Man
- Sunday, October 20, 2013
Hey there Fanboys and Fangirls. Chris "The Dace Man" Dace here, giving the review of The Walking Dead, Season 4 Episode 2: "Infected." I figured I watch this show religiously week in and week out, so why not take a few moments to share with my fellow Geeks and Nerds and see how you feel about this current season of The Walking Dead! Before we go any further, I warn you that this review will contain spoilers.
Now that we got that out of the way, let's dive in. We kick off this week's episode with Tyrese's squeeze getting ready for bed, and right where we left off with Patrick in the prison all dead-like and now walking into D Block. Also we see someone feeding rats to the walkers pressing up against the gates. Cut to the awesome theme song that gets us all hyped.
Now we have seen from the season premiere that Rick has assumed the role of a farmer, and we continue to see that it's a role he is content with. So Patrick has made his rounds through the cell block, which I can't get over—NO ONE heard him!! Michonne decides to hit the road again, but just as the C Block crew, our main cast, rises and gets their day started, we hear loud bangs from D Block. Michonne pumps the brakes on the horse and heads back to the prison as Rick, Glenn and Daryl haul ass into the cell block knowing Walkers are in there. Michonne sprains her ankle in a skirmish with two Walkers. With the help of Carl and Maggie, Michonne makes her way back into the Prison and tapes up her leg... we'll revisit Michonne in a few minutes to discuss the latest character development for the stone-cold swordswoman.
We return to Cell Block D, where The Council is meeting to discuss the discovery that Patrick had no bite marks or scratches. They come to a consensus that it is some sort of flu or virus that has infected the young lad, and realize they all could possibly be infected. Meanwhile, Carol is dealing with the death of a father of two girls, and now find herself in charge of two of her own. We see that Carol has become a badass this season and is now reflecting her personality on the children. So I'm very interested to see how the children and Carol will pan out, seeing as the children said some odd things that show conflict between them.
Later, we see Rick and Daryl speaking about leadership and how Rick is content with being a farmer, when Maggie alerts them that the fence is being pushed over. The gang springs into action and tries killing as many Walkers as they can, but to no avail. Rick then makes the tough decision to sacrifice the pigs in order to lure the Walkers away from the fence. We see Rick struggle with the decision, and with his realization that the leadership role is being forced upon him once again. At the same time, we see interaction inside the prison with Michonne and a baby, which sparks a lot of emotion in her and draws out tears... so it's has piqued this viewer's interest about her back story. We wrap up this week's episode with a final scene featuring Tyrese going to visit his squeeze, who has flu-like symptoms and has been quarantined. Tyrese arrives to find a blood trail out into the yard, and there he sees two charred bodies that had been recently set ablaze... including his main girl. End episode.
Overall, I would rank this season's start rather slow, but I believe each season has started off rather slow and that the real "Holy Shit" moment will come when the season goes on break. We've seen it the past two seasons—Daryl and Merill being reunited in a fight to the death, and The Barn scene on Hershel's Farm where Rick reluctantly kills Sophia, the girl they've been looking for. So we start to get somewhat rolling this season with a new concept of a virus, which I feel could get boring quick, but the hope for the season is... The Governor is still out there... So tell me, what were your thoughts on this week's Walking Dead?!?!?
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is
looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other
bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Until then, for the few, the
proud, and of course the Dacetacular, grab a beer, and in this case a hazmat suit, and check out what's going on here in the
Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
Posted by
Unknown
- Saturday, October 19, 2013
Once upon a time it was a dream come true for most characters in the DCU to be chosen by a Green Lantern Ring. There was a cool planet for you to live on and you even got your own personal mini power battery. Two issues into Lights Out finds the corps transformed from an elite intergalactic police force to a band of refugees desperately trying to come up with a plan before they lose what little power their rings have left forever.
Part three kicks off immediately following the explosive death of Oa. Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan stand amongst the new batch of guardians and the rubble of their home. Despite Hal's attempts to take charge, the group descends into an argument over what to do next. Hal thinks it's best to attack Relic again, but with the aid of the magic fueled Red Lanterns. The Guardians, however, fear for what's left of the corps leaving the party at an impasse. While it's easy to look at the score board and understand that the GLC is getting knocked around, these pages do a great job of illustrating the frustration and desperateness of their situation. They are fighting a losing war and they know it. Before things get too intense, however, the entities return to steal the show, and Kyle Rayner's body.
While we've seen entities possess everyone from the long lost Sodam Yat to the Flash, we've never seen quite this many at once. In a universe where lanterns have worn multiple color rings, however, I suppose its the next logical step. Six of the nine entities, black, yellow, and red missing, invade Kyle Rayner's body and give him a new suit that'd make any Power Ranger jealous. While the arrival of the green entity, Ion, has usually been heralded as a saving grace, the entities make it clear that they don't mean to help the corps and immediately aim to take off in their new vessel prompting a tension filled space chase. In a desperate attempt to stop the fleeing entities, the entire corps unites to try and restrain the rogue White Lantern. Unfortunately, their combined might is no match for that of six entities. With a single sweep of his arm, Kyle sends the corps through space to the Red Lantern home world Ysmault.
While the majority of the corps is busy being hurled through space, John Stewart is in another space sector leading his small band of refugees to the Indigo Lantern home planet. In a cheeky bit, Stewart reveals that the password needed to reveal the planet is "nok nok" a play on the Indigo Lantern's signature single syllable utterance. While Stewart descends to talk with the Indigos, Kyle continues to be pulled along by the will of the entities. Fortunately, the Guardians soon find him and coach him through gaining mastery over the conflicting emotions. Pleased they saved him, the Guardians believe they can now use the power of the entities within Kyle to take another swing at Relic. Kyle shoots them down and ominously ends the issue by saying they should, in fact, be helping Relic.
Lights Out part three had a long going on. Although the narrative split into three different components, this was still the most productive issue to date. It seems that most of the stages are now set for the various groups to begin really getting into the heart of the story and, consequently, the real action. With all three teams at a crossroads, part four is sure to be an issue worth checking out. Stay tuned to fanboysanonymous.com for the next installment as we continue to follow the Lights Out event.
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Friday, October 18, 2013
Not much has been announced about the upcoming Batman vs Superman movie (not even the title), but one thing that has been brought up is a potential football scene that was filmed. It was revealed a few days ago that Zack Snyder would be shooting a scene for the film at Weingart Stadium.
Now, Batman-News.com has managed to give us a look at the jerseys of the two teams involved in that scene, representing Gotham City University and Metropolis State University:
The easy guess here is that they're including a simple scene just to play off the Army vs. Navy style of football games, NOT that this is somehow a reference to the football scene in The Dark Knight Rises or anything of similar importance. This is just another "Superman vs. Batman" kind of thing to throw in there.
However, since we don't know much about this movie yet, that could be a completely wrong assumption on my part.
Either way, it seems kind of interesting, so I'm game.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Thursday, October 17, 2013
Is it just me, or is Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. extremely similar to the television series Firefly?
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| There are some glowing similarities |
As I previously stated, there's something that just isn't sitting right with me about this show which has prevented me from fully getting on board with liking it. In comparison, Firefly was recommended to me by multiple people that said I would undoubtedly love it, as it would be perfect for my likes. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., at face value, would appear to be perfect as well. However, after watching every episode of Firefly, I simply did not like it. Is this a coincidence, or is there more to it?
Both shows were spearheaded by Joss Whedon, the man who was also responsible for the films The Avengers (launching point for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Serenity (follow-up to Firefly), so you could assume that there would be some similarities simply because they would go with his style of storytelling.
Still, the more episodes that go by and the more I think about it, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seems like it was built around the Firefly formula and outlined with the same core concepts.
Don't believe me? Here are some similarities I've noticed between the two series.
#1. Villain of the Week Model
Like in Firefly, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gives you a plot-centric tale where the characterization is gradually spread out in little bits and pieces amongst the episodes. Summaries can be written as "the team deals with ____, which in turn causes them to _____." This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as a show like this would fall apart with boredom if it were structured more like .......heroes
#2. An Aerial, Mobile Base
In Firefly, they have the Serenity ship. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., they have The Bus. One is a spaceship and the other is an airplane. Same general concept when it comes to storytelling. The crew is on board a flying vessel that will transport them to whatever location they need to be for that week's adventure and said vessel is given a nickname, instead of just being "a helicarrier".
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| The Bus from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Serenity from Firefly |
#3. The Pilot is a Protagonist
Firefly had Hoban Washburne and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has Melinda May. Extra points? Both pilots have nicknames just the same as their vessels do. I'm referring to "Wash" and "The Cavalry".
#4. The Best Skilled in Combat is a Woman Who Doesn't Want to Fight
Speaking of Melinda May, she's known as The Cavalry because of her supposedly ridiculous skills in combat. Right from the start, they hounded in the idea that May chose a desk job because she doesn't want to fight anymore. Meanwhile, Firefly gives us River Tam, a young woman who was brainwashed and turned into a super soldier, but cowers all the time (until you get to Serenity). At this point, I think if Joss Whedon was commissioned to do a Superman film, we'd see Lois Lane beating up Doomsday or something, since he's clearly got a thing for this trope.
#5. Background Underlying Plot Point: A Member of the Crew is Special and Doesn't Know It
River Tam's experimentation was a story that probably would have panned out over the course of a few seasons, but never got a chance to. What is wrong with her? Who did this to her? So on and so forth. From episode one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we're told hints about what happened to Coulson. How did he come back to life? What is so magical about Tahiti? Is he a Life Model Decoy or was he revived from magic? Why did SHIELD do this to him? Both River and Phil don't know what's going on with them.
#6. Lead Character = Handsome, Gruff and Arrogant...with a Heart of Gold
Agent Grant Ward. Malcolm Reynolds. Two men that are cocky and kind of act like douchebags, but we see that they legitimately care about their fellow crew members.
#7. Lead Character Flirts with Outsider Non-Warrior 'Social' Person
Malcolm clearly had a thing going on with Inara Serra, who was not a fighter by any means. Instead, she was some sort of space-escort prostitute thing. I don't know what the job was called, but she represented a weaker person who brought an outsider's perspective to the group, needed protection, had people skills and was supposed to be beautiful. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grant Ward has a budding romance with Skye, our resident newbie to the group who feels like an outsider and guess what...can't fight worth a damn. She needs protection, brings a different perspective to the group's mindset, and seems to have the most amount of people skills in the bunch as she keeps being the driving force of the crew's camaraderie in working together. Plus, she's clearly made out to be the most attractive (which in my opinion, she is, but your mileage may vary). There's no sexuality to Melinda May's character, nor is there any being shown with Jemma Simmons. Skye, on the other hand, gets to flirt with Ward, who gives her longing stares and effectively undresses her with his eyes like so many fanboys are doing on each episode.
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| Yeah...guilty as charged |
#8. Female Casting Comparisons Continue
On top of this, we have several other parallels. Melinda May and Zoe Washburne are the older women that have a leadership role and both are portrayed by non-Caucasian cast members. There isn't a single blonde among the main cast of women for both series and to take things a step further, all of the women have at least shoulder-length brown hair, rather than short red hair or something else of the sort. Notice any similarities between Jewel Staite and Chloe Bennet, both of whom are mixed Caucasian + something else to make them just slightly noticeably different (part Chinese on Bennet's end, part Iroquois on Staite's).
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| Chloe Bennet, aka Skye | Jewel Staite, aka Kaylee |
I hereby declare the merger of your two characters Skylee.
#9. The Brutes, The Nerds, the Outsider and the Handler Overseer
Ward and May are the muscle of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Jayne Cobb and Zoe Washburne (with some Malcolm in there as well) are the brutes of Firefly. The nerds on board The Bus are the Fitz-Simmons duo, while Simon Tam and Kaylee Frye represent the brains on Serenity. We've established that Inara and Skye are the two outsiders, but we didn't mention that Derrial Book and Phil Coulson are the older men that are dispensing wisdom. That is, unless you count Nick Fury as being the true overseer, in which case the drastically older man in comparison to the rest of the cast, who also happens to be black, fits the bill, doesn't he?
#10. Futuristic Alien Technology
Last but not least, the series revolves around action that spawns from technology that is beyond our current levels and has alien influences. Nuff said.
Ten reasons right there that prove that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is borrowing a ton of its backbone from Firefly. Some of these things are unavoidable (ie, our attractive lead characters in a romance) but some of them just seem far too coincidental to not be choices made specifically because they're personal preferences, as opposed to what might work best for the show.
Here's hoping—at least for my own sake—that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can step away from the Firefly method of doing things and go beyond it. If it keeps this up, you won't be hearing too much praise from me about the series.
Have you noticed any other similarities between these two shows? If so, leave us a comment and let us know!
Posted by
Fanboys Anonymous
Fanboys Anonymous has just turned one year old and although the site is just a baby, it's grown up quite a bit!
Over the course of the past year, Fanboys has gone from being a germ of an idea living inside fellow A Mango Tree web branch Out on Limbs to surpassing it drastically.
The difference between our first month's performance and our current records is astonishing: an increase of 12,034%.
Our family here has expanded as well. Originally, the fanboys themselves consisted of about a dozen people, all friends of Anthony Mango, and we now brandish a roster of roughly 50 talented individuals from all over the globe and all walks of life. Fanboys Anonymous takes pride in showcasing perspectives from everyone out there, no matter who you are, where you're from or what you're a fan of. We are developing into a very rich community that welcomes you all to join in on the fun.
Unfortunately, we've suffered a significant setback with the loss of our YouTube channel, which at the time was doing spectacularly. There's a chance it may be resolved, but the likelihood of this happening depends entirely on Google (insert laugh here). If you'd like to continue supporting Fanboys Anonymous on this front, please subscribe to our backup channel @ www.youtube.com/fanboysanon which currently has not been set up with content or anything of the sort, but will most likely be our new channel going forward.
As we start another year for Fanboys, we have our eyes set on the prize with more vigor than ever.
A revamped logo is only the beginning. The site has gone through various tweaks and will continue to improve as time goes on.
In the coming year, Fanboys Anonymous will continue to reach out to our fellow geeks in the hopes of becoming the best possible central hub and your source for all the things we all like.
You will see tons of new segments for the site along with more video content, shows and podcasts. More interviews will be conducted. Stay tuned for everything from tournaments to fan fiction, tutorials, trivia, contests, commentary tracks and more!
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If you want to stand up and share with us, hop on the Fanboys Anonymous train right now. This ride is just getting started!
FANBOYS ANONYMOUS
A support group and safe haven where geeks go for all things nerd culture.
Posted by
Sean Mitchell
- Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Alternate title:
Nintendo Hates America. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is looming on the horizon like an evil hellsent moon, and recently Nintendo put icing on that cake. The catch? This gorgeous handheld/game bundle is currently only planned for the UK. What is this travesty?
Not the system of course, that shit is GORGEOUS. The fantastically minimalist design? The gorgeous gold and black color scheme? Not to mention the fact that it's the big mama XL version!? Nintendo, are you serious!? As far as I see things, there are only two major flaws here. The system comes with a download code for A Link Between Worlds. I vastly prefer physical copies. The second flaw here is much more serious. There is zero news as to a US release date. What is going on over at Nintendo? They didn't want to give us Xenoblade, The Last Story, or Pandora's Tower, and we can add this stunning 3DS to the list. Hopefully, just like the games, Nintendo will be swayed as to this as well. If brought to the states, this would simply BLOW OUT. I know I would line up for one.