Why I'm Going to Four Geek Conventions This Year

YTD: I have attended one geek convention and have tickets for three more. Even I know this is overdoing it, so I feel compelled to explain.

1. San Diego Comic Con

My badge for this event was purchased in February. I went last year and the same people I went with wanted to go this year. So did I, so that was easy. After the figurative magic I experienced last year, I wasn't going to say no this year. I'll go until I'm tired of going or until I want to save for a bigger trip, whichever comes first. 

2. Salt Lake FanX (or "wait, they're doing a second Comic Con?")

The first Salt Lake Comic Con last year wasn't all that great (understandably so, since they originally had the Sandy Expo Center booked and 2,000 people in mind) and the FanX event just seemed like a way to squeeze more money out of the public. I hadn't planned on going, but then they announced that James Marsters was coming. 

Seriously. How am I supposed to pass up the opportunity to meet Spike? That, plus my brother (who is currently in Afghanistan) asked me if I would take his daughter since he wouldn't be here to. Come on. Who says no to that? 

And look how cute she is in her Merida dress with the Ghostbusters gear! 

3. Salt Lake Comic Con

Yes, I have already purchased my ticket. Mainly because a 3 day pass generally costs $60, but they're way dang on sale right now and I got mine for $33. I'm not overly excited for anyone yet (some cool people, but no one draws me the way James Marsters did), but I figured, eh. I'm probably going to go anyway, might as well save some money. Oh, and turns out it was worth it so far because Eliza Dushku will be there. It's now my goal to get a picture with as many Scoobies as I can. Even though Faith wasn't ever tight with the group. Poor Faith... 

4. Fantasy Con

I saw a billboard for this and thought, 'that might be fun. Smaller turnout, maybe?' I was on the fence about going (again, 3 day passes are $60), but today I found out that Simon Pegg will be there. I love few people as much as I love Simon Pegg. He has long been my biggest celebrity crush (for I have many) and when I went to London a couple years ago, I actually daydreamed about bumping into him on the street. This is what a fangirl looks like. 

Sadly, that didn't happen, but I have been in fairly close proximity to him (four seats away to be exact - I'll never get tired of telling that story) and it was delightful. Hopefully this time I'll get a picture with him. 

And no, I don't go to cons just for the famous people. Although that is a big draw. Especially now that I have my "name dropping wall." 

I just added up about how much money I'll be spending at cons this year, what with tickets, merchandise, autographs, photos, hotel, food, gas... Sigh... At least only one of these is out of state! 

For Your Consideration

With all the awesome comic book movies coming out, it's got me thinking about all the awesome comic book movies that aren't coming out. Here's a few movie and casting ideas for WB/DC, Disney/Marvel, Sony, Fox, and any other studio who has the movie rights to super heroes (even though I really only trust Marvel to make really good super hero movies at this point). And yes, the majority of these are women, because duh.

Wonder Woman - Gina Torres

I think at this point there is more fan art depicting Gina Torres as Wonder Woman than any other actress. The amount of awesome that would exist if this movie were made would make geek world implode (except for those few, yet loud, douche bags saying, "wah! Wonder Woman isn't black, wah! Why is it okay to cast a black person for a white character but not the other way around? Wah!" Douche bags...)

Seriously though, first thing I'm going to do when I die is watch the first (for there are several) Wonder Woman trilogies written by Joss Whedon and starring Gina Torres. Even her husband (the great Lawrence Fishburne) has said that his wife is, in fact, Wonder Woman (she apparently has the lasso and everything!)

Jessica Jones - Tatiana Maslany

Alias is one of my favorite comics and I'm thrilled that they're bringing the story to the small screen through Netflix. Jessica Jones is a former super hero turned private eye and you get a viewpoint not generally seen with her. I'd like to see several actresses portray Jones, but my favorite right now is Tatiana Maslany. If you haven't watched Orphan Black, stop reading and go do that now. She plays a set of clones (eight that we've seen so far) and she plays each one beautifully. At first glance she probably looks a little young to be playing Jones (she's only 28 and someone older would be fantastic), but she could easily pull this role off.

Captain Marvel - Katee Sackhoff

Can we just take a moment to bask in the awesomeness of this artwork? First, Captain Marvel's new outfit is phenomenal and second, she's depicted in the classic power pose without being hyper-sexualized, yet I'd say few people wouldn't still find this sexy. Isn't it fun when you have the best of both worlds?

Anyway, this is definitely one of those 'well, duh!' for both character and cast and I am not the only person to independently come up with Katee Sackhoff to play Carol Danvers. She'd be absolutely perfect. Plus I'm sure Sackhoff would be thrilled to play her. A while ago the rumor was that Marvel had approached her, and I'm REALLY hoping it was for this. Danvers would be a great way to cross over the Marvel Cinematic Universe with The Defenders miniseries on Netflix.

Black Widow - Scarlett Johansson 

Let's face it, who doesn't want a Black Widow movie? At least out of those of us who are thoroughly enjoying this golden era of super heroes.

Black Panther - Chiwetel Ejiofor

Not having a Black Panther movie by now is almost as crazy as not having a Black Widow movie. Cause he's awesome. There are several men I'd love to see play the King of Wakanda (a couple of them are already a part of the MCU), but Chiwetel Ejiofor is a major contender. A phenomenal actor for a great character. Makes sense. Plus, he could totally hold his own standing next to the babe-squad that is currently the Avengers.

Storm/Ororo - Lupita Nyong'o

Please?

This movie likely wouldn't be a stand-alone Ororo movie. But she has often led the X-Men and watching that movie wold be fantastic. Especially if it had anything to do with Brian Wood's current story line (go read that if you haven't). Really though, X-Men needs a reboot. Let's give the movie rights back to Marvel, shall we? Plus, don't you think Lupita Nyong'o would totally rock the mohawk?! (I love the Internet)

Super Best Friends Forever

So, I started casting a live action movie (Emilia Clarke as Wonder Girl, Alison Brie as Batgirl, and Brie Larson as Supergirl), but I realized that SBFF is perfect the way it is. This needs to stay animated and come back to life either though a TV show, a full length movie, or more shorts. As long as Lauren Faust is behind it, I'll be on board.

If you haven't watched these shorts yet, I've made it easy for you to get started:

A Love Letter to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Dear Marvel Studios, Disney, Kevin Feige, et al.,

I just got back from a viewing of Captain America: Winter Soldier and I would just like to take a moment to thank you for your devotion to good story telling.

You and I had a bumpy beginning. You selling the movie rights of pretty much all of your characters, and me not loving anything the individual studios put out. X-Men and X-2 weren't terrible, but my expectations of anything related to my favorite super hero team are going to be way too high. And I get that wasn't you. You had very little (if any) creative control, but I'm still sad you gave them up in the first place. You wouldn't have let Halle Berry play Storm and wear that ridiculous wig.

Come on. Ororo is way cooler than that.

But I'm getting off topic. Because I know that wasn't you.

You wised up about ten years ago. You were starting to get a lot of your characters back and you promptly made Iron Man.

Seriously, remember how freaking awesome that movie was? Now, I had been a big fan of all the Batman movies up to that point because I'm a big fan of Batman, but this was hands down my favorite super hero movie when I saw it. I like a little comedy in my movies.

We'll gloss over Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 because you were still getting your feet wet with the former, and the latter you made so quickly because you were not expecting its predecessor to be so wildly popular. But now you know, you don't start filming before the script is done, nor do you make the main character go through the exact same arc. Even Sam Rockwell can't save you from that.

But even then, you were concocting a plan. A plan to introduce more super heroes that no one knew (because those were the ones you had rights to) and build up to a movie that brought them all together. It was unheard of. People said it couldn't be done. But you gave the finger to all those nay-sayers and gave us two solid (well, at least one solid and one sufferer of a low budget) movies in Captain America and Thor. "What is to be next?" we all wondered.

Now, in my opinion, this is when you really showed your colors.

You hired my very favorite Hollywood person to write and direct Avengers. 

It was a risk. You knew that. He had created one very successful show, one moderately successful show, and several unsuccessful shows ("success" meaning viewership and longevity. They were all great shows). As for film, he had directed exactly one fan-service movie at that point. That's all you had to go off of. That and his phenomenal writing and obsession with comic books. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Joss Whedon is a household name now and he finally has that blank check to make whatever he wants (after Phase Three is complete, anyway).  

In fact, he did such a good job that you put him in charge of Phases Two and Three in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the writing and directing of Avengers 2 and 3. 

Phase 2 began with a bang from Iron Man 3, with Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: Winter Soldier on its heels. 

But why stop there? You had successfully tied in four separate films with four huge characters. Why not turn to another medium in television? You decided to start planning series on Netfilx for characters like Jessica Jones and Daredevil, eventually making a Defenders miniseries, not to mention the Peggy Carter series for ABC, just because she is so awesome.  

And there was still more you could do! Thor is from another planet, why not bring other extra-terrestrials into the mix with Guardians of the Galaxy? And then tie those characters in with the Avengers and make Avengers 3 all about the Infinity Gauntlet?! 

I'm sure you'll kill off Iron Man at that point, but that won't be the end, will it? You'll replace him with someone like Black Panther (I'd prefer to see him sooner rather than later) and keep the members of the Avengers team changing as it does in the comics. Sure this will create a need to introduce a lot of characters, which require a lot of trilogies, but you've found a solution for that too, haven't you? One Marvel movie every quarter. Each season a new movie, forever tying in to the overall story. Just the way a comic book does. 

It's a beautiful formula. And, as my friend rightly points out, adding to this perfect storm is the huge success of female centric films like Hunger Games and Frozen right around the time you started toying with the idea of movies for characters like Black Widow and Captain Marvel. I think you've finally realized that there is a huge desire for female centric films among the movie going population and those movies won't be a big gamble as long as you pick a great creative team. 

And you're killing it in that department. 

With love and admiration (along with the hopes of continued success and lots of kick-ass ladies), 

Jenna

P.S.

The Most Anticipated Film of 2014

There are plenty of movies I am truly excited for this year. Winter Soldier, Godzilla, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mockingjay... 

But nothing, not even watching badass ladies kicking butt on the big screen in at least three of those films, is getting me more excited than this:

Sorry for the quality of this video, but it really is the best promo/introduction to the show I could find. It's the Comic-Con promo for season 2 and just sums up the show so perfectly.

That's right, folks. Kristen Bell et al. are at it again.

This is one of my favorite scenes from the show and it just goes to show you how freaking awesome Veronica Mars is. Both the character and the show. 

So let me brief you on this little gem in case you haven't had the good fortune to come across one of my all time favorite TV shows. Veronica Mars is the story of the teenage girl I wanted to be. She's sarcastic, witty, harsh, lovable, and all sorts of crazy smart. High school student by day, private investigator by night. She solves all sorts of mysteries from dog napping to murders and it's freaking amazing. 

Veronica Mars was tragically cancelled before its time. Season three ended with her freshman year of college and season four was supposed to pick up with her several years later fresh out of Quantico. You can watch what they made here: 

and here: 

Sigh... what could have been. An FBI show with Veronica Mars? Who would say no to that?! (I'm looking at you, WB/CW/whatever it was in 2007)

Anyway, for years the stars and creators of the show wanted to do a movie and for years Warner Brother's turned them down. Finally, an agreement was reached. From what I understand, creator Rob Thomas took the idea to do a Kickstarter campaign to Warner Brother's because they wouldn't give him the money to make a movie. They told him if he raised the money, they would promote the film. The goal was $2 million and they raised that within the first day (aided by yours truly). Total came to about $5.7 million.

They filmed, they gave out t-shirts, then there was the first footage at Comic-Con. Being in geek Mecca was exciting enough, but to be there in Hall H with the rest of the cast... it was pure magic. 

DID YOU CATCH THE BUFFY JOKE THEY THREW IN THERE?! 

And then they came out with an actual trailer. 

And then they listed where the movie would be shown. Only a select few AMC theaters were chosen, and the one AMC theater in Utah was on the list. Then there was a big mix up and the AMC theater wasn't showing the movie and a bunch of angry Utah fans (including yours truly) borderline trolled AMC's twitter and later that day I purchased my ticket. Don't underestimate the power of angry fans on twitter.

I am currently re-watching the series and I have about as many episodes left to watch as I have days left to watch them. If you haven't watched it yet, it's streaming on Amazon Prime or you can borrow the DVDs from me. I still don't have the third season because it wasn't my favorite, but I'll have to buy it now with a movie continuing the story so I'll have it for you shortly.

The anticipation is mounting. Will Veronica get back into the PI business? Will she dump the lovable and steady Piz for the passionate and unstable Logan? Will she realize that solving crimes is what she was meant to do and pursue a spot at Quantico and make my season four dreams come true?

Only three more weeks until I find out.

P.S. I never could get enough of Dick.

Movies to Watch for VD

I'm laughing like an idiot right now, by the way. That title is freaking hilarious.

Still laughing. One second...

Okay, I'm good.

So last year I saw a post on one of my favorite websites (The Mary Sue) that went through romanceless movies to watch on Valentine's Day. I thought, "what a fun idea!" I started writing my own post, then got bored because I realized how little I care about Valentine's Day. Yes, being in a relationship has recently made me a little more cheesy than I generally am, but I still don't care about the holiday. Don't hate it, don't love it, I just don't care.

But I wanted to write something this year for several reasons. First, it gave me a reason to make a venereal disease joke and those are almost always funny (unless you have VD, in which case I'm sorry for my poor taste and insensitivity). Second, I'm kind of celebrating the holiday this year (not with my long distance boyfriend, mind you) by ironically enjoying a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, unironically enjoying homemade heart shaped sugar cookies (because those are good in any shape), and watching a movie with my sister and brother in law, so I guess I'm in some kind of holiday spirit. And Third, I felt like it.

So here's my list of things to watch on Valentine's Day. All with some sort of love theme, cause why not? I limited it to TV shows and films that I own. I also took my own pictures because I just got an iPad and wanted an excuse to use it. Don't judge the quality of the pictures, because who takes actual photos with their iPad, and don't judge the carpet. I rent, it's surprisingly affordable, and I live by myself. I'm not going to begrudge an ugly carpet.

Persuasion

Because it's one of my favorite Jane Austen films. 

Wonderfalls

Because Jaye learns a number of lessons - at least two of them have to do with love.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Because love isn't always pure, nor does it end with everyone still alive.

The Importance of Being Earnest

Because duh, Judi Dench!

Pushing Daisies

Because no one tells a good love story like Bryan Fuller and Jim Dale. 

Band of Brothers

Because what stronger bond is there than that formed in battle?

Midnight in Paris

Because even though I have pretty much no respect for Woody Allen as a person, I still like this movie.

Once

Because it's pretty much the best love story ever.

Babe

Because the only bond stronger than a man and his dog is a man and his pig.

An Ideal Husband

Because Cate Blanchett is my lady crush. 

Parks and Recreation

Because Leslie Knope invented Galentine's Day.

Pacific Rim

Because not every love story is a romantic love story.

Oscar

Because I don't care what Rotten Tomatoes says - this movie is hilarious and everyone should watch it.

French Kiss

Because no one can rock a mustache and still be hot like Kevin Kline. 

Bridesmaids

Because it's one of the funniest movies ever made.

Anything written by Shakespeare (yes, even Henry V)

Because he pretty much invented love.

The Elizabeth Gaskell Collection (Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and North and South)

Because Pride and Prejudice has nothing on these three (except when Darcy gets wet).

Firefly

Because a love story between an inanimate object and its crew is a beautiful thing.

Jurassic Park

Because too much love for something (especially dinosaurs) can sometimes end badly.

The Cornetto Tilogy

Because it tells the tale of the three greatest bromances of all time.

Silver Linings Playbook

Because it normalizes mental illness and duh, Jennifer Lawrence.

Roman Holiday

Because love is sometimes short-lived.

While You Were Sleeping

Because these mashed potatoes are so creamy.

Best in Show

Because people really love their dogs. 

Amelie

Because it really will change your life.

Labyrinth

Because even though David Bowie has power over me, he has no power over Sarah.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Because we love watch rich people get conned out of their money.

Moonrise Kingdom

Because it's the best love story Wes Anderson has ever told. 

The Philadelphia Story

Because duh, Katherine Hepburn!

Sense and Sensibility

Because this isn't about anything but love.

Sabrina

Because I'm pretty sure this is the only remake I like better than the original.

About a Boy

Because Will really does have a heart and duh, Toni Colette!

Pillow Talk

Because anything with Doris Day and Rock Hudson is a good idea.

Pride and Prejudice

Because Elizabeth is pretty much the coolest Jane Austen character ever.

Anything with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

Because you like to think that it's a trilogy and they both suffer from chronic amnesia but they always find their way back to each other. 

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Because it's probably the greatest musical ever. 

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Because you'll sit up 30 minutes into the movie and go, WTF?!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Because you don't need an excuse to ever watch this show.

Benny and Joon

Because I used to like Johnny Depp.

Seven Psychopaths

Because at the end of the day, it's just a love story about a man and his dog. 

The Red Curtain Trilogy

Because nothing Baz Luhrmann has done since has even come close to touching these three. 

Casablanca

Because it is the quintessential love story.