Comics 101: Jessica Jones

Who Is Jessica Jones?

Netflix and Marvel are getting ready to debut the second of their "street level" adaptations and their choice is an... unconventional one.  Most people had heard of Daredevil through Ben Affleck and 20th Century Fox's ill-advised red leather adaptation.  It was ripe for re-interpretation and the Netflix version was Daredevil done right.  

Jessica Jones is a character that people, outside of the most Marvel devout, probably hadn't heard of until this series was announced.  That is a shame, because Jessica is one of the most authentic, fully realized female characters in the Marvel or DC Universes.  Jessica was created by Brian Michael Bendis and made her debut in "Alias" #1 in November 2001.  It's hard to introduce a brand new, compelling character in the modern age, but that is exactly what Bendis did.  He made Jessica relatable.  She comes off as a real person.  She has edges and doesn't feel at home in the super hero world, even though she has multiple connections to it.  Since there are lots of people who will watching anything with the Marvel logo, it stands to reason that this weekend folks will be spending time with Jessica Jones for the first time.  Here are five things to know about your new favorite Marvel heroine.

The Five Television Shows You Should Be Watching

Five Television Shows That You Should Be Watching

This has been a great time for television.  TV is no longer the desolate wasteland of crass, mindless drivel that it once was.  To be fair, it hasn't been for a while.  There are still reality shows and those shows that make you wonder how it got green lighted in the first place: Did anyone watch "Cavemen?"  RIP "Work It."  But for the most part, each network, broadcast and cable and now, Netflix, have multiple shows vying for your attention and no matter how hard you try, you are going to miss something.  Thank goodness for summer.  All the major network shows are on their summer hiatus so now you can spend this beautiful summer weather bingeing all the shows that you missed or didn't have time for during the regular TV season.  Now, like I said, there are a lot to choose from, but here are 5 shows that I think everyone should be watching.

The Real Housewives of New York City Recap: "Get Off My Jock."

The Real Housewives of New York City, Episode 3: "Battle of the Brunches"

Season Seven of "The Real Housewives of New York City" reminds me a lot of Renewed Ramona from season 3.  It's going out of it's way to remind viewers why they began and presumably enjoyed spending time with these women in the first place.  Step one in this plan was to bring back fan favorite, Bethenny and then do everything they could to put the ladies in situations that brought to mind the glory days of the show's first three seasons.  How else to explain Countess Luann bringing "Jellybean" Kelly Bensimon aka Bethenny's nemesis to "pick up joint" Boutique?  Was anyone buying Luann's "I just randomly ran into her and invited her along" excuse?  Bethenny certainly wasn't and commented that it was a "slithery" move.  Another season 3 callback!  After Luann kisses the proverbial ring and apologizes, Bethenny seems cool and joins the other ladies, Kelly included.  Will this be the last we see of NYC's most infamous socialite?  Time will tell.

Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Movie Review: "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

The first Avengers film was an experiment that could have gone horribly, horribly wrong.  It was something that had never been before.  Taking four characters that had headlined their own solo films, toss in two more, and hope for the best.  It was a recipe for over bloated disaster no matter how successful Marvel had been so far.  The whole thing could have imploded and possibly spelled the end of the MCU, but Marvel had other ideas.  They hired Joss Whedon to write and direct the film and he used his uncanny knack to get to the heart of any character to make a summer blockbuster filled with explosions feel like an intimate character study.  It was lightning in a bottle and audiences ate it up.  A sequel was inevitable and now that it has arrived the question is can the follow up re-capture that sense of excitement and wonderment.

Movie Review: Ex Machina

Movie Review: "Ex Machina"

It's a tale as old as time (or at least as old as science fiction).  How intelligent do we want the machines that we surround ourselves with?  What would happen if they gained sentience, if they could think and make decisions for themselves?  How would we react?  Would they deserve to be treated the same way we would treat someone with flesh and blood?  These questions seem even more relevant today as we are surrounded by technology more so than ever before.  Our phones keep getting smarter, algorithms are predicting our shopping activity, tailoring online ads to our interests.  Is it really so hard to imagine that there may come a day when machines are thinking for themselves?

The Real Housewives of New York City Recap: "You Die With Clothes On"

The Real Housewives of New York City, Episode 2: "New House, Old Grudges"

"Forgive.  Sounds good.  Forget.  I don't think I could."  - The Dixie Chicks.

This is an adage that the ladies of NYC firmly live by.  There have been so many apologies thrown around over the years.  Are any of them genuine?  If you are accepting the apology, but still holding a grudge, does it even matter if it's genuine or not?  Should Luann be wary of Ramona's apology?  For years, Ramona took every opportunity to rub in Luann's face that her marriage to Mario was a sham perfect and Luann's was a joke and was in an open marriage, maybe the biggest insult that you could level against the Countess.  Now here stands Ramona in the house Luann is selling that she shared with the Count, people have just finished picking through it and here stands Ramona desperately trying to squeeze a tear out of those humongous bug eyes that are so Botoxed I'm not sure how she even blinks.  It's an odd moment, but very Ramona.  When she sets her mind to something, she does it and Luann is right to be wary since I'm sure that within a couple of episodes she will have gotten on Luann's bad side.

The Real Housewives of New York City Seventh Season Premiere Recap: "The Wealthiest Homeless Person in Manhattan"

The Real Housewives of New York City, Episode 1: "The B Is Back"

You can fanboy/girl/person over anything really.  It doesn't need to be nerd related.  One of the things that I fanboy over pretty hard, are the various Bravo Housewives franchises.  My favorite is far and away the New York brood.  To celebrate this weeks premiere, I've gotten out my statement necklaces, I have a Ramona Pinot in one hand, a Skinnygirl margarita in the other, my well read copy of "Widow's Guide" and I may or may not be sporting a stylish blouse from The Countess Collection.  

The big news in regards to this premiere is that original Housewife, Bethenny Frankel, has returned.  Bethenny was a cast member for the first three seasons before exiting for her own successful spin off.  Bethenny, maybe more than any other Housewife, has leveraged her exposure on the reality series to really become successful.  Bethenny became a multi millionaire when she sold her Skinnygirl brand and landed on the cover of Forbes.  Things have been not great for Bethenny these past few years, well as not great as they can get for a multi millionaire.  She and her husband, Jason Hoppy, are going through a messy divorce and custody battle over daughter, Brynn.  Her talk show failed after less than one season.  It's easy to see Bethenny's return as someone who has failed returning to where she first found success with her tail between her legs, but can someone as rich as Bethenny really be considered a failure?  Will her return to RHONY get her back on top?  Let's check back in with Bethenny and the rest of the ladies.

Stop! Collaborate and Listen! - The Best Albums of March

Spring is Almost Here and March Gave Us Three Great Albums

It's been a long, cold winter.  It's been dank and gray and you haven't wanted to be outside.  Fret not!  Hope is on the horizon.  Spring has started to... spring.  One of the ways that I brave the winter months is with music and March was a good month for that.  Here are three albums that I really enjoyed that were all released in March.  I should give a disclaimer.  I don't buy every album that everyone releases, so these are out of the March releases that I purchased.

What the Fuck... RuPaul's Drag Race

#JusticeForTrixie

We've all been there.  You're watching your favorite television show, reading a book from your favorite series, listening to the latest release from your favorite artist and you see, read, hear something, that takes you aback.  Your mouth drops open.  The only reaction that fits is for you to exclaim "What. The. Fuck?!"

That is exactly what happened on the latest episode of one of my all-time favorite TV shows, "RuPaul's Drag Race," when Ru told season 7 stand out Trixie Mattel to sashay away.  Now, let's be real, Trixie didn't do the best in the maxi main challenge.  It was a challenge that she should have slayed.  It was to create a spoof out of a RuPaul hit song.  Trixie's team was the worst, but she didn't have much to work with.  Pearl continued to sleep walk through the show.  She didn't seem to be a big fan of the "Tan With You" concept that Trixie came up with, but she wasn't offering up any other ideas.  Katya just tried to stay out of it and Miss Fame decided now was the time to take some initiative whether she was shouting the word "cock" whenever the camera was on her or with her singing and dancing skills.  

It became obvious that shit was going to go down during the judges critiques, which seem to be getting shorter and shorter.  Katya, Jaidynn Diore Fierce and Kennedy Davenport were singled out as the best in each of their respective groups and Kennedy was declared the winner.  Which made sense to literally no one except maybe Ru.  What did Kennedy do exactly?  She didn't really bounce back from her bottom two showing the week before.  With this group of queens is going from atrocious to mediocre such an amazing thing that it deserves a win?  I'm not Jaidynn's biggest fan, and how she has not been clocked and read for literally wearing a variation on the same outfit every week is beyond me, but the bitch's Bianca Del Rio was fierce and she deserved the win over Kennedy.

In the end, Pearl and Trixie were in the bottom two and Pearl stayed.  My jaw hit the floor.  How did this happen?  How did Kennedy, Mrs. Kasha Davis and Kandy Ho outlast a queen who, Ru admitted, had the funniest audition she'd ever seen?  How did someone who came up with the concept, wrote most of the lyrics and basically carried her group end up in the bottom two over a queen who was wearing an ugly dress, a moldy wig, and who, when conceptualizing her drag look, simply goes for pretty and FAILS.  Miserably.  

And I'm sorry Michelle Visage.  I know you are trying to play damage control and tell folks that there was more to that lip sync we didn't see that justified Pearl staying, but here's the thing.  Blondie's "Dreaming" is 3 minutes long.  We saw like a minute and a half of it and in that minute and a half Trixie was slaying it.  She knew all the words.  She was smiling.  She was full of energy.  She was dancing.  She was feeling it.  What was Pearl doing?  Showing a little bit of energy?  Making intense faces?  What happened in that minute and a half that we didn't see?  Did Pearl transform into a whole new person.  Was she doing back flips and splits?  Did pads magically appear?  I'd really like to see this full lip sync.  

Sigh.  I really don't like to ever throw around the word "rigged" when I talk about any reality show competition, but maybe this was?  Has Ru already decided who she wants and doesn't care about anyone else?  Is there hope for Trixie on the show?  Are they faking us out?  Will Trixie show up in a few episodes, make her triumphant return and win the whole thing?  My gut tells me no.  Maybe next season Trixie will pull a Shangela and win the whole thing.  

So, join me in the comments and lament Trixie's untimely departure or tell me why she deserved to hit the road.  In the meantime, here is Trixie herself letting us all know that just like Mary J. Blige, she is going to be just fine.

Here Comes the Spider-Man

An Unprecedented Deal with Sony/Marvel Will Bring the World Famous Wall Crawler Into the MCU

Unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably read all about the deal that Sony and Marvel have struck to bring Marvel's (arguably) most recognizable character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The Web Slinger will be introduced to the MCU through an existing and already announced Marvel Studios film and then he will make his solo film debut on July 28, 2017.  This is amazing, spectacular, superior (see what I did there?) news!  When the Sony hack happened, e-mails were made public that Sony/Marvel had spoken about this in the past, so this announcement wasn't totally out of left field, but the more time that passed this seemed more like a fanboy fever dream than anything that would actually come to pass.  Now that we know that this is a go, and it's settled in, it's time for the best part of the process: Wild, unbridled, unsubstantiated speculation!!!

Trailer Debut: The Fantastic Four

First Teaser for Summer Reboot Debuts

The first two Fantastic Four films were awful.  Jessica Alba as Susan Storm?  Galactus as a weird giant cyclone thing?  Michael Chiklis.  So, it wasn't a huge surprise when Twentieth Century Fox announced that they were going the reboot route to try and bring one of Marvel's longest running properties to prominence on the big screen.  It started out promisingly enough.  Fox announced that Josh Trank would direct the reboot.  He was just coming off the well received, found footage teens with powers flick, "Chronicle."  It all started to unravel a little bit when the cast was announced.  In case you didn't know who was in the movie, Miles Teller is Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara is Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Jamie Bell is The Thing and Michael B. Jordan is Johnny Storm/the Human Torch.  There was the ridiculous faux controversy of casting an African American actor as Johnny.  Again, dumb.  My main issue with this cast is the fact that all of them save Mara are under thirty.  I can kind of understand the studio wanting to cast younger actors, but it's hard for me to take Reed Richards seriously, when the actor playing him is younger than I am.  

More red flags popped up when the cast and director began describing the film.  Mara was told by Trank that she didn't have to read up on any of the source material.  What?!  Look, I get trying to bring your own style to it, but you should have some sense for who this character is.  Then, there were reports that this was going to be a more "realistic" take on Marvel's First Family.  Really?  Realism?  The word "fantastic" is in the team name.  There should be a sense of wonder.  They are a team of adventurers.  Now we get this first teaser trailer.  You would think that this would clear up some of the doubts that people are having, but instead it just muddies the waters further.  This looks like another ploy to turn a franchise that is about as far as it could be from Batman into a Dark Knight retread.  It's dark and grimy.  You get some fast cuts of the team using their powers, but nothing too concrete.  It's unclear how the team gets their powers.  You see them entering these strange pods and then they are maybe transported to another planet?  There is an Ominous Voice Over Promising Impending Doom™ that is maybe provided by Victor von Doom.  

I don't know about this you guys.  Nothing in this trailer gives me Fantastic Four.  There is no sense of camaraderie.  No humor.  Who knows.  Maybe the person who cut this trailer just didn't know the actual tone of the movie, so they gave us this.  The people involved in Marvel's second big summer movie, "Ant Man," faced some criticism when it was released because of it's serious tone.  The actors and filmmakers were quick to respond that there was humor and light heartedness that the trailer didn't convey.  So, maybe that will be the case with this movie?  I mean, if worse comes to worst, and this flops, Marvel will get the rights back and maybe we will finally get the live action Fantastic Four that fans deserve.  Here is the trailer:

What do you guys think?  Am I missing something?  Is there someone out there really excited to see this in August?  Convince me in the comments.

Stop! Collaborate and Listen! - The Best Albums of January

January Is the Worst, But These Three Albums Will Make It a Little More Bearable

January sucks.  There is no need to sugar coat it.  It may be the worst month of the year.  January is like being stuck at the bottom of the hill on a roller coaster.  You are coming down from the highs of the holidays and making your New Year's Resolutions and convincing yourself that you are going to keep them.  Two weeks into January, you are already giving up on those hopeful resolutions and you've settled in to the funk you will most likely be in until at least April.  

Knowing that January is the worst, you would think the entertainment industry would kick it into high gear to help us forget about how it's not even worth it to leave your house, but you would be wrong.  January is a dumping ground for movies that studios have zero expectations for and music that the artist and the producers don't really want people to hear.  This January gave us all a nice surprise with three albums being released that should help us trudge through the winter doldrums.

The Best Albums of 2014: #20-11

The Best Albums of 2014: #20-11

It is that time of year again.  As we prepare to bid adieu to 2014 and say bonjour to 2015, it's fun to look back at the things that we really enjoyed throughout the year.  2014 was a pretty great year for music even if it wasn't good for much else.  We didn't get a surprise Beyoncé album at the end of the year, but we did get stellar albums from established greats and new talents ready to take their place.  This list will be long, so I thought I would go ahead and split it into two.  Feel free to comment with your picks or to disagree.