Hats off to the Russo Brothers

I hope they get more keys to the Marvel Cinematic kingdom after Captain America 3. They had a wonderful idea for Hawkeye's inclusion in CATWS which was sadly axed due to schedules and as I watched the main featurette on the CATWS digital version a little while ago, I could not help but smile.

These guys get Marvel. It took their work with Markus and McFeely to finally deliver a Black Widow who was BW. Same for this incarnation of Nick Fury, he's finally doing Nick Fury things.

And now I can finally watch the darn movie! :D

Here's hoping...

I can get a copy of Matalo! 

I distinctly remember Wild East releasing this Spaghetti western some years ago but because Lou Castel did not really impress me, I passed on the opportunity.

Now I find out the villains are very hippie-like (there's nothing I like more in my Italian westerns and horror than hippie protagonist and antagonists), so I am hoping to track it down.

If you went by genre cinema, the Italian filmmakers did not like the counterculture. Queens of Evil and A Lizard in a Woman's Skin were primo examples of that disgust. In the former,  the villains are the status quo elders and our hero (or silly boy) is the hippie kid. In the latter, hippies are believed to be the monsters (the killer.)

In Matalo!, the hippie-like bad guys are plied against the status quo townsfolk.

 I own my three favorite Italian hippie genre films: Keoma, Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (okay that's Spanish) and A Lizard In A Woman's Skin.

There are many I have not seen and I'd still like to. There's something about the counterculture that fascinates me more now than it did in the past.  I love bikers from 60s and 70s films and the books about the real ones from back then, hippies fascinate me even though I'm straight edge and psychedelia in clothes, films and art really floats my boat.

But there's something about the discovery of a genre film that incorporates this era that makes a must see for me.

*Sigh* Death of Wolverine and why I need to take a break from Marvel Comics

Marvel's obnoxious price points aside, it is clear that the comic arm is finally pushing me out.

Logan was my favorite character at Marvel for almost 20 years. He was my gateway into the comics realm and I loved him. When Origins hit in 2001 all that changed. To say I was not a fan of Paul Jenkins story is an understatement. Then came Daniel Way's awful spin off series and crap concepts like Daken and X-23.

I have wanted to read Wolverine on a regular basis since those two series and concepts ruined the mysteries and awesomeness of Logan (He will never be James Howlett to me), but outside of Jason Aaron's initial arc which saw my other favorite mutant (ex) David North on the dark side of things,  nada. The previews told me everything.

And now Marvel is killing off Logan because they wrote themselves into a corner with the aforementioned titles and concepts. They can claim reader burnout (and I am sure this is a part), but I knew when they began using the loss of the healing factor (at the same time The Wolverine did), well I knew what was coming. Marvel claim they have no exit strategy for bringing Logan back, which means it will take a few years and some brain-storming to resurrect Wolverine.

Frankly, the new Marvel with its ridiculously forced PC panderings*, overpriced and uninspired characterizations and concepts remind me who is really in charge.

This is not the Marvel that tried everything and anything any more. This a company clearing running out of ideas, eager to make money through stunts, weak events and letting once great characters wither.  With Logan's death, I feel my enthusiasm for Marvel comics dying too. Getting my fix from some of the films is just fine.

Rest in Peace Logan, your last decade was unworthy for you, but I will always remember how great you were before.

*If you're going to make Thor a title and give it a woman, Sif or Valkyrie should have it. Hell, what was the point of Angela being his sister if not to do this...

And if we were guaranteed that Falcon became Cap permanently,  I'd be fine with that. Like Wolverine's death,  Falcon's temporary boost is most likely just a stunt until Captain America 3 will be released. Sam will be in good hands thanks to Al Ewing, but Rick Remender just wrote one of the worst Captain America runs ever and now poor Sam is about to go under his pen as well.

Cynical. Yeah, I am, but Marvel and DC helped make me that way. Deaths do not stick, nor demotions or promotions. Stupid events reign on high and the PC pandering over the past year is very disappointing. It all feels forced.

There is no reason to kill off Wolverine or placing Bucky in space.  I think I'll stick to a select few Marvel movies and just leave my love of certain characters there.

For comics, thank Danu there's more Slaine next year.  < Please don't follow the American big two concepts Mr. Mills, I'd love to see Slaine be an old Barbarian still defending his goddess and realm. >

>>> Note to self, stop typing on an iPad.

Ugh! Starlog Escape From New York remake rumors

You know with the awful E.F.N.Y. remake rumors Starlog just posted, I suddenly do not think my wailings from previous attempts were justified.

If this version goes through, I will skip seeing the film(s). Hunnam is the absolute worst choice of all previous candidates. Just because he can play an outlaw biker does not make him Snake.  And do not get me started on the team concept for this version.

Go away, Joel Silver!

Viggo as Satan a wickedly wonderful Perf

While talking on a board about Angel Heart and De Niro's excellent take on the Devil - how this was my second favorite human Satan, another poster brought up Viggo Mortensen in the Prophecy. I agreed with said poster as it's probably still my favorite Mortensen perf (along with Nikolai from Eastern Promises and Aragorn from well you know...)

I still love Viggo in the Prophecy. It was the first performance of his I saw (and theatrically to boot!) I remember thinking "Wow! The guy who played the devil stole the movie from Christopher Walken."

And lo and behold, channel surfing a few minutes after I agreed about Mortensen, the Prophecy was on the tube.  I watched and fell in dark love with Viggo's devil all over again.

I am disappointed Viggo will not be Stephen Strange, but I'd love to see him play a wizard as he has the warriors down pat. Here's hoping. Mortensen is a terrific actor and one who always challenges himself and the audience. I look forward to what he does next and secretly pine for another genre role eventually.

Trading waiting on Bucky Barnes The Winter Soldier

Bucky was my 'new' favorite comic character of the last decade thanks to Ed Brubaker's terrific Winter Soldier rethink which I gloriously stumbled into in 2005.  I have never looked back - even when I loathed the idea of him as Cap. Jason Latour also did a good run on the character.

As of Original Sin and Marvel pushing everything cosmic (thanks in part to the incoming Star Wars license I am sure), now Bucky will be going interplanetary and to other realms.

Like Asgard (Oh, goody.)

And with additional protagonists. Let's just say I am not a happy camper.  Even if Kot uses one of them in Secret Avengers, this should be Bucky's book. I'd like to see him be a lone wolf for awhile and NOT do the intergalactic/realm business. Did they seriously run out of Earth based stories (YES...if it was Brubaker, I'd wager NO, but it is not so...)

I loved Marco Rudy's art in the New Avengers Annual. His style is perfect for Doctor Strange, does not seem so for Buck.

Look, I can crank and be fan woman BEEP-head here (and I know I am this close to exploding), but then I remember Change is constant. You either go with the flow or you do not. I do not here. I'll wait for the trade and if I don't like it, big whoop. It'll be like the recent Moon Knight runs, quickly forgotten.

There is an interpretation of Bucky I do enjoy and he's up on the big screen.  That's important, as long as there is an incarnation I enjoy somewhere, terrific. And if not, as Francesco Dellamorte says, "life goes on."

Movies

Argh! All this CATWS promo talk from the Russos is making me wish it was already this time next year. They are teasing bits from Cap 3 and I am giddy.   Presuming I will remain in one piece after seeing Mad Max Fury Road (hopefully in MeMAX, uh, yeah right, IMAX.)

What about Avengers Age of Ultron and Ant-Man? I will probably see A:AoU at cheapie price in the morning and Ant-Man? I'll skip it unless there is a Bucky Barnes-related post credit scene. I'm perfectly fine with skipping Marvel Cinematic Universe films if I have no desire/reason to see said film.

In the Bang Head Here department,  I find out IFCcenter (who are showing a Midnight run of Escape From New York in September which I cannot attend) is screening The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. Awesome sauce. Then I check the screening time? Not awesome sauce.

I can be consoled by the hope of a quick release to Video on Demand.  

And also in past Bang Head Here, I just missed seeing If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death on the big screen. Gods, I love Gianni Garko as the mysterious and fun gambler Sartana (I even helped a former pal in spaghetti western circles with a Sartana website.)  If You Meet... was a part of a Klaus Kinski fest. This makes me think, Why they did not show the excellent And God Said to Cain since Klaus headlined that one?

But when I bang my head (and not just extreme metal y'know) just teaches me to be a little bit more proactive with the revival film houses here.

LOL at the Underworld reboot. Why? The series ran it's course once they ditched Lucian. I still heart that scene in the original where he bites Michael and subsequently opens up a  can of Lycan woof-ass on the car roof and Selene's shoulder... but I always change the channel after that scene.

This weekend, I might watch Ragnarok. I am game for a fun Norwegian take on Indy (no Nazis necessary.)