We love science. We love Science Channel. And we love Morgan Freeman. So, what can be better than a whole new season of THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN? To launch the fifth season, we explore the question, “Is Poverty Genetic?”
Review: THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN Premiere Episode, Season Five, Wednesday, June 4 at 10PM ET/PT
Filed under Morgan Freeman, Science, Science Channel, Television
DVD Blu-ray Review: DAN CURTIS’ DRACULA (1974)
The early 1970s made possible a very cool television movie starring legendary tough guy actor Jack Palance as Dracula. Imagine Clint Eastwood as Dracula. Close, but no cigar. Today, Liam Neeson could do it, but he probably won’t. The ’70s were a good time for vampires, along with zombies. It was a more innocent time. They had not even begun to claw the surface of today’s oversaturation. Dracula, as both a literary and horror figure, played well with audiences. And certain older actors were welcome too. There was something about Palance, his affinity for the dark side, that made him a natural for the role.
Filed under Dark Shadows, Dracula, movies, MPI Home Video, Richard Matheson, Television, Vampires
Boom! Studios: Sergio Toppi’s ‘The Collector’ To Be Published in English
The late Sergio Toppi, a legendary cartoonist, is being introduced to a whole new generation, thanks to Boom! Studios and its award-winning imprint, Archaia. Last year, SHARAZ-DE: TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS was released. And now, we have the English translation to Toppi’s classic, THE COLLECTOR. It will be released in September. Details follow.
Filed under Archaia, Boom! Studios, European Comics, Sergio Toppi
Review: INTERESTING DRUG
“Interesting Drug” will be your next favorite time travel story. Meet Andrew. One day, he’s a retail clerk. And the next, he’s a mad scientist. It’s all a matter of timing. This graphic novel, created and written by Shaun Manning and illustrated by Anna Wieszczyk, is published by Boom! Studios and is part of its Archaia line.
Bill Plympton’s CHEATIN’ Screening at TAAFI on June 15, 2014
CHEATIN’ is the latest work from animation master Bill Plympton. If you’re in Toronto on the 15th of June, you’ll want to stop by and catch it at the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International. Hot on the heels of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, TAAFI is the natural extension to the festivities. But perhaps you’ll catch CHEATIN’ in Lawrence, Kansas or maybe Karkow, Poland. Check out the full screening list here.
Toronto Animation Arts Festival International – TAAFI – celebrates the many forms of animation from around the world, while supporting and nurturing the community that creates them. At TAAFI 2014 (June 13-16), you can immerse your senses in all things animation on Toronto’s Waterfront (Corus Quay & George Brown – Waterfront Campus)!
More details on the screening of CHEATIN’ at TAAFI follow:
Filed under animation, Bill Plympton, Comedy, Humor
Memorial Day Review: NORMANDY: A GRAPHIC HISTORY OF D-DAY by Wayne Vansant
World War II may seem ancient in comparison to today and yet its impact remains very much alive. This year, we mark the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, beginning with the landing on D-Day on June 6, 1944. This Memorial Day, as the U.S. honors members of the Armed Forces who died in service, we can look back at the heroic efforts of those who quite literally helped to save the world seventy years ago.
Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, History, War, Wayne Vansant, World War II
Review: The Last Broadcast #1
“The Last Broadcast #1” is brought to you by Boom! Studios’ Archaia line and lives up to its promise of being “an urban exploration adventure.” Spelunking has been the subject of comics before, believe it or not. That goes back to 2009 and Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber’s “Underground.” That comic is a character-driven action adventure, which is saying a lot. Either you’re one or the other most of the time. Well, lightning strikes twice with “The Last Broadcast.” And all of the action is not just underground.
Filed under Boom! Studios, Comics, Comics Reviews
Review: ‘Beyond: Edward Snowden’
Bluewater Productions has launched the Beyond series that promises to reveal stories about subjects that some people would rather you did not know. For its debut, we have “Beyond: Edward Snowden.” Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor turned dissident, whistleblower and fugitive, now has his story unfold in this comic book. What you don’t know about the most wanted man on the planet will shock you.
Filed under Bluewater Productions, Comics, Comics Reviews, Edward Snowden, Surveillance
Interview: Antonin Baudry and ‘Weapons of Mass Diplomacy’
Antonin Baudry is the French government’s Cultural Counselor, based out of New York City. He is the author (pseudonym of Abel Lanzac), with cartoonist Christophe Blain, of the graphic novel, “Weapons of Mass Diplomacy.” This is a work of fiction that provides an insightful look at how, amid what can appear as utter chaos, great things can be accomplished. Baudry was part of the staff of French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and helped in crafting speeches including the French position to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a work of fiction, this book provides a unique window in a similar spirit to “The West Wing” and goes it one better with its distinctive vision, timeless quality, and wry sense of humor.
Filed under Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain, Comics, European Comics, France, French Comics, graphic novels, Interviews, movies
Review: ‘Wide Awake in Slumberland’ by Katherine Roeder
Winsor McCay with Gertie the Dinosaur
What will today look like one hundred years from now? In the world of comics, we have no choice but to include DC Comics’ upcoming “Teen Titans #1” in a time capsule, filed under “sexism.” Many of us today see through a glass darkly. But not all of us. One hundred years ago, Windsor McCay was at the top of his game as America’s preeminent cartoonist. Attempting to see what McCay’s world was like one hundred years ago could provide some interesting perspective.
There were certainly other big name cartoonists and plenty of newspapers but there was only one Winsor McCay. He could dazzle his audience. He was part of the zeitgeist. Much like Chaplin, he did what he did with far more distinction than his competitors. In a new book that attempts to place McCay in context, we get some insights about Little Nemo, Gertie the Dinosaur, and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, and how they reflected the American dream. And, among the findings, we confront a problematic character named, Impie.
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Filed under animation, Comic Strips, Comics, Winsor McCay
Tagged as Animation, Books, Comic Strips, comics, Consumer Culture, Consumers, Education, Entertainment, History, Media, New York City, Newspapers, Pop Culture, Publishing, Race, Racism, Satire, Social Commentary, social satire, Winsor McCay