ThaOGDreamWeaver

...thiiiis is the vooooiiice of the Mysterons... we knoooooww that youuu can heeeaaarr us, Earthmen... 🟢🟢 (that's the sorta-kids version). Yeah, I don't think I could party on Mars anyway. The place has no atmosphere, it's cold-hearted and has no magnetism. The core stopped spinning eons ago, leaving Mars unprotected from solar winds - which for us just make pretty lights thanks to our magnetosphere. But as an unshielded planet, it's been stripped practically bare, and is bathed in constant radiation: about 50x that of Earth. And that's much higher if a solar flare hits. We may have a better option in the Solar System: Callisto. She may have an icy exterior but a warm heart: and is far enough away from Jupiter that her bigger neighbour isn't a problem. Surface radiation is 10x Earth average - but below the average in Scotland, so the worst side effect would be lots of pale ginger people. Best of all, lots and lots of water, and that's fuel, air, and life.

Inspired by the news about Red One... What are some good cape films/themed episodes/comics for Yuletide? Obvious one to start with is Batman Returns - and if Die Hard's a Christmas film, then absolutely the Keaton/Pfeiffer flick qualifies too. What are your picks? BTW, although I haven't seen Red One - and from the looks of things, I may not be alone on that - I am still allowed to have an Opinion on one particular thing about the production. Rantette below.

An occasional thread for capery crossovers to our reality. To kick off: Tufts University researchers have accidentally created… web fluid. Spider silk, based on fibroin proteins, is an incredible material which nerds around the world study for its tensile strength . But the ones used in labs used to take several hours to solidify. Then one day an assistant prof had been making proteins with a dopamine base, then cleaned his gear with acetone and forgotten to rinse it. The presence of these two chemicals caused the fibroin to harden instantly, overcoming years of engineering puzzles. Typically enough, the nerds then immediately worked out how to fire, spin and mix this stuff under light pressure, creating webshooters. The lines can already grab and pick up items 80 times their own weight, though there’s a way to go to match spider silk or supporting Tom Holland. https://now.tufts.edu/2024/10/10/inspired-spider-man-lab-recreates-web-slinging-technology

Another one from my Tarot deck: Strength. Yell if you need to borrow this one for anything.

Side note: in Polish, there’s a phrase, “nie moj cyrk, nie moje malpy”. (“Not my circus, not my monkeys” = not my problem). I’ve always wondered if that was a punchline, but never found the other half. Any ideas?

Part of the appeal of Alien has been the slow-build dread, but Aliens flipped that into full-on chaos mode. Given he was responsible for the Fargo series as well (badass Martin Freeman - who knew?), I think he's very capable of both. What bugs me is the idea that this is a prequel, set 30 years before the first movie, following the investigation into a crashed UFO. It definitely sounds like something a little different, but how it gels with the rest of the canon I'm not sure...

Aliens:Earth is for FX/Hulu... which may be part of D+ fairly soon officially. Anywhere outside the USA, there's an FX channel on D+ for stuff like The Old Man and AHS, which sits kinda odd in the menu next to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We don't get the ESPN stuff, except for some odd bits and pieces under the NatGeo banner.

More very quick bits including about 15 seconds of Andor. Good to see the returning and new cast at least. And perhaps m'learned coll' @Techwright will know what that ship is, but Vader's going to be p*ssed if that's Cassian jacking his new ride. Also tiny fragment of the Noah Hawley (Legion) series Alien:Earth, which is a prequel set Down Under. Facehuggers? Strewth, he's just bein' friendly, mate...

So the last season of What If? drops fir Christmas again… …and while I’m glad to get one last run, I’m kinda sad too. Letting writers run wild with anything and anyone in the toybox is a great way to explore new story ideas (and sometimes kick off whole new arcs). Might not be game-changing but damnit if they weren’t fun. Peg’s back, though less as the Anchor Being of the series than a guest shot this time (Hayley being busy with the final Mission Impossible flick.) Sam, Bucky, Kahoori, Wong and Red are also joining the party: some Celestials and alt-watchers show up: Moon Knight does some light assembling: Kat and Howard somehow get stuck together: Agatha puts on a show of cosmic proportions for Kingo: Shang-Chi heads out West with Deadeye Kate: and while the mighty Thor might be missing, there’s still someone around to bring the thunder. All in all, it’s (mostly) lived up to billing and brought new ideas to the table, while pencilling in around some others. Gonna miss it.

Speaking of entertainment... Andor S2 drops April 22nd, so expect a trailer around three months earlier. Bothan spies have not smuggled any new trailer footage out of D23B (so if you see any new trailers online, they're "fan concepts"). However, what we know: S2 will be 4 x 3-episode mini-arcs, with large time jumps in-between. Ben Mendelsohn and Alan Tudyk both return, so we'll likely meet Krennic towards the end of the series and could pick up K2-SO anywhere along the line. Luna says the writing is bang-up stuff... ...with the final arc changing how we think about Rogue One. (Not 100% sure I like the sound of that, but it's always been Tony Gilroy's story...)

I don't think Marvel would make flicks about the kid who turned up as the octopus to their Nativity... ...oh wait. Joking aside, Marvel kinda need a new MCU Anchor Being. Iron Man's dead. (And while they can bring back RDJ the actor, actions having permaconsequences in the MCU is a good decision.) Cap is living undercover with Peg in an alternate timeline. Captain Marvel, much as some of us like her, isn't selling the tickets. The Kang Thang misfired horribly, and not just because of talent issues. And Deadpool can't sell lunchboxes to Walmart. Well, not that kind. Probably. While they're trying to figure out who that is - and I hate to say this, but unless BNW is a complete surprise package it's probably not Sam - Thunderbolts seems like a nice placeholder, gives a bunch of underused characters a second shot at a first impression (well, Bucky's had a better run than the rest, and Walker could be... interesting.) As for the forced lobotomy... right now, I could go for some uncomplicated, brain-soothing entertainment.

Still not sold on Cap:BNW, although... A little more enthused about Thunderbolts*, which still seems like a perfectly amenable popcorn-friendly cape-r with possible DARK UNDERTONES.

Same. It sounds like Grimm: The RPG (and I would be very up for it if someone released a tie-in pack or starter game version for that. There's still quite a few obsessed Wesen fans out there). BTW, if we're allowed to plug stuff... ...friend of mine is one of the makers of Hypertellurians, if you're up for some fantastic adventures through the Ultracosm. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/274032/hypertellurians-m-anvil-edition?term=hypertellurians It's got brass spaceships - sorry, aethercraft. Magic. Deadly theme parks. Lethal tailoring. Cunning hedge mazes. Interdimensional poodles. Battle nuns with tanks. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/293814/solemn-scriptures-of-the-battle-nuns-of-the-mercyful-sepulcher?src=newest_recent

Streetlife DJs - Gunn Crime (Soundsystem Mix)

Bruce isn’t slowing down any time soon, but running around like a maniac for nigh-on fifty years keeps you fit. Not sure if Steve has arthritis or if he’s just cramped from having his foot superglued to the same monitor every night since the 80s. Iron Maiden - Writing On The Wall Mandrake Project - Resurrection Men

I wouldn't know about cutting all the weird stuff. Agatha All Along ended with 4.8m viewers - which would be pretty respectable for a linear TV show, but pretty darn strong for D+ - and that was 48% up from the premiere. That's also on par with The Acolyte premiere, which was a lot more heavily promoted, but lost audience share as it went along. https://deadline.com/2024/11/agatha-all-along-finale-ratings-disney-1236165137/ Thing is though... The Acolyte wound up costing an eye-watering $230m, largely because of all the digital FX, and none of those characters really found an audience. Even me: I can't name one of them, neither do I care if they have a future in canon. Agatha topped out at $40m all told, and still looked the business. It might not necessarily have appealed to every audience, but it found one. (Judging by my social feeds, a dangerously obsessive one. Even I'm getting sick of the song now, blasted Lopezes.) And there is demand for every single one of those characters. For crossovers. New stories. Merch. I'm trying to convince myself I don't need yet another tarot deck, but the official one comes out next year and pre-orders sold out already. People are not going to watch a thing just because it's Star Wars, or Marvel, and definitely not DC. (Black Adam, anyone?) Ignoring the need for strong story/character hooks, and instead relying on spectacle and big name, expensive leads is not gonna make you a good movie or good money. Smaller, story/character-driven productions means you can tailor different things to different audiences you're fairly sure will go for it, and then see who they bring to the party.

Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home) - 2022 Remix

Oddly enough, that made me laugh the moment his dad walked in wearing that coat and those glasses, but I get the why. (Does anyone else remember how weirdly brown everything was in the 1980s? Walls, seats, clothes, lots of velour and stuff... brown, beige and then VIOLENT, EYEBURNING ORANGE FOR NO GOOD REASON.) First half of the trailer you've got lots of natural light, greenery, regular looking obscenely clean buildings and, well... earth tones. Brown. Comforting and familiar. Second half is strange Christmas light colours, the blackness of space, dark foreboding places. It's so damn Amblin. And then they layer on that needle-drop of Peter Schilling's Major Tom. They know what they're doing, that trailer crew. My worry is that sugary sweet kids tend to annoy the hell out of me, on film or in person. But I am assured that there will be proper threat and trauma. Walt, George and Steven all knew what kids like: rollercoasters. There has to be that fear.

Patti Austin - Baby Come To Me (pr: Quincy Jones) The Italian Job Suite - Quincy Jones & Don Black

Unwrapping this mummy for a small note: Moon Knight S2 has allegedly been canned. Which, given it was an expensive little oddity, isn’t surprising. (Agatha’s done rather better on numbers, and only cost $40m total for 9 eps - that’s peanuts compared to the likes of The Acolyte. And most of that went on Kathryn’s wardrobe, I think…) However, K.E.V.I.N. has been taking pitches for a theatrical movie. Oddly enough, I think this concept might work better within the tighter confines of a 100-minute straight story.

I’m not sure he’s truly either. Then again everything about him is true… “especially the lies.” BTW, apologies for manifesting weird pockets of reality again, but Kim decided to go as her true form for Halloween this year…

Happy Gothmas Halloween, everyone… Tenacious D & Friends - The Timewarp 💋

Movie night, anyone?

(Yes, they're BOOleans)