Wish List : Johnny Depp Collector Dolls

DID - 1/6 scale - Public Enemies - Johnny Depp as John Dillinger

Medicom  Real Action Heroes1/6 Scale  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka

Medicom Real Action Heroes 1/6 Scale Alice In Wonderland - Johnny Depp as  Mad Hatter

Medicom - 1/6 Scale - Sleepy Hollow - Johnny Depp as  Ichabod Crane

Hot Toys - 1/6 Scale  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Johnny Depp as  Sweeney Todd

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Scale  The Lone Ranger - Johnny Depp as Tonto

Hot Toys Movie Masterpieces 1/6 Scale  Johnny Depp as  Edward Scissorhands

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Scale  Pirates of the Caribbean - Johnny Depp as  Jack Sparrow

Hot Toys Rango Johnny Depp Vinyl Figure

Groove Collection Doll - Corpse Bride - Johnny Depp as Victor

Terror Tuesday : Indiana Jones

Everybody knows this one. The face melting scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This movie came out the same year I was born. My older brother used to watch it; along with the rest of the Indiana Jones movies; every weekend, for as long as I can remember. But there were always parts when he would make me leave the room. This one time, I guess I was about 6 or 7, he fell asleep. Leaving me alone with the movie. Not remembering to leave the room at the right moment, I was innocently exposed to the horrors of the face melting scene. My brother was rudely awakened by my horrified scream.

 Raiders of the Lost Ark - Opening of the Ark Ceremony

Needless to say, I had nightmares for more nights than I would like to remember; and my brother got grounded for two weeks. My brother's idea of revenge for getting him in trouble was to traumatize me further with the heart removal scene from Temple of Doom. Wanting to earn back my brothers good graces, I never said a word to my mother. But my nightmares were fueled for years by the combinations of these two images on repeat in my subconscious.

Temple of Doom - Heart Removal Scene

Movie Monday : Ewoks: The Battle For Endor

The army of the Marauders, led by by King Terak and the witch Charal attack the Ewoks village. The parents and the brother of Cindel all die in this attack. Cindel and the Ewok Wicket escape and in a forest they meet Teek a naughty and very fast animal. Teek takes them to a house in which a old man, Noa, lives. Like Cindel he also crashed with his Starcruiser on Endor. Together they fight Terak and Charal.

I love this movie! It was obviously meant for children, but I find the story refreshingly entertaining. George Lucas continues to show us again and again how to believe in fantasy and have fun. I recommend watching this movie with the whole family. I have provided the full film in the above video. Enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Superhero/villain Sunday : Agamemno

First appearance: Silver Age #1 (July 2000)
Status: Villain
Real name: Unpronounceable/unspellable
Occupation: Would-be universe conqueror
Base: Outer space
Special powers/abilities: Imbues inanimate objects with his energy, bring them to life; causes personas to swap bodies.

   Composed of cosmic energy, Agamemno was one of the first sentient beings formed in the wake of the Big Bang. Upon seeing the vastness of space, Agamemno wanted to control it, to rule the other lifeforms just being born. His father, however, wanted to control the cosmos himself, thereby pitting himself against his son. Seeking an advantage to end this stalemate, Agamemno converted himself into sentient energy and toured the universe in search of three objects that could be pieced together into a killing weapon.
   His search brought him to Earth during the early days of the modern heroic age, where he manipulated superpowered heroes and villains to do his bidding. The various members of the JLA managed to thwart his scheme, however, and kept the objects from being used. Agamemno then returned to space, seeking another way to beat his father for control of the cosmos.

Wish List : Groove Collection Doll - Corpse Bride - Victor

Wish List : Hot Toys Rango & Priscilla Vinyl Figure Set

Wish List : 1/6 Scale Jack Sparrow

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Scale

 Pirates of the Caribbean - Johnny Depp as  Jack Sparrow

Wish List : Yamato Fairy Tale Figures

 Snow White

 Alice

 Cinderella

 Little Red Riding Hood

Terror Tuesday : Large Marge

Used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid. From the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Large Marge (Alice Nunn) is a truck driver who kindly picks Pee-Wee (Paul Reubens) up after he was abandoned by the fugitive Mickey Morelli (Judd Omen), and takes him to a diner where he can get transport. It was then that Pee-Wee discovers that Large Marge is a ghost who was killed in a trucking accident on that route.

Movie Monday : Best and Worst of Gus Van Sant

I have always considered Gus Van Sant an artistic genius. He has been responsible for several of my favorite movies. Just to name a few ...

Unfortunately, he has also been responsible for some of the most atrocious garbage to ever make it to celluloid. Such as ...

 Leaving me conflicted on my view of Gus Van Sant. Artistic genius, indulged nut job, or a dangerous combination of the two? What do you think?

Superhero/villain Sunday : Abra Kadabra

First Appearance: FLASH (1st series) #128 (May 1962)
Status: Villain
Real name: Citizen Abra
Occupation: Technosorcerer
Base: Keystone City
Special powers/abilities: Kadabra's magic like powers were purely the result of futuristic technology. However, he is now a genuine sorcerer.

   In the 64th century, Earth was ruled by the Chronarch and his Central Clockworks, Citizen Abra rebelled against the strict order of the Chronarch's world. Championing individuality, Abra was seen as a criminal and banished to Earth's ancient past. Transplanted to Central City at the end of the 20th century, Abra used 64th century technology to create a new identity and became the criminal Abra Kadabra. Desperate for adulation, and possessing powers so amazing they seemed magical, Abra Kadabra crafted a series of spectacular crimes, hoping to win admirers.
   Thwarted time and again by the second FLASH, Kadabra's technology was accidentally damaged, and he was transformed into a ghost like entity. Restored to normal, Kadabra was brought back to the 64th century by a bounty hunter named Peregrine. Kadabra was about to be executed when the Flash saved him and destroyed the Central Clockworks. Returning to the 21st century, Kadabra was stripped of his powers, but after a deal with the demon NERON, Abra Kadbra became a true sorcerer, able to cast spells and fire energy bolts.
   A narcissistic criminal mastermind in two centuries, Abra Kadabra is consumed by two things; a desire for adulation and hatred of the Flash.

Satire Saturday : Epic Rap Battles

Artists vs TMNT

 

Goku vs Superman

  

Rick Grimes vs Walter White

  

Batman vs Sherlock Holmes

Doc Brown vs Doctor Who

  

Gandalf vs Dumbledore

 

Then and Now : Strawberry Shortcake

I will only be discussing the aesthetics of this character. Not the content of her shows. The Strawberry Shortcake of the 80's is the one I grew up with, and love so much. Every time I see this sweet girl it brings a smile to my face, with nostalgic memories of hours spent playing with the dolls of her and her friends. My sisters and I fighting over which one of us gets to be Strawberry Shortcake.

Her reintroduction in 2003 brought with it some drastic changes to Strawberry Shortcakes appearance. It was incredibly disappointing. The sweet girl from my childhood is no more.

The 2009 relaunch saw yet another redesign of Strawberry Shortcake. This one just as bad, if not worse than the 2003 version.

It is still not the original, but of all of the reimaginings of this character; the one from, The Strawberry Shortcake Movie: Sky's the Limit, is my favorite so far. From her strawberry bonnet-ish hat, to her green and white striped stockings, her overall look is definitely a nod to her original.

I am not against reimagining characters from any genre, as long as it is done well. Please stop assaulting my childhood with abysmal abominations of what was.

Wish List Wednesday : Odorous Fish Man

Obadiah Marsh was a tailor by trade who found he had an affinity with the sea. His small personal fortune was spent on many small alterations which over time helped him move with greater ease though the oceans of the world. His new styling and tedious obsession however made him unpopular at dinner parties and he soon found himself without friends. He found new friends at the Freak Show and decided to join their ranks.

Terror Tuesday : Creepshow 2 - The Raft

Growing up on a lake, where we spend almost everyday in the water, you can understand why this would have had a lasting effect on me.

The lake from the Raft is a real place.

Granite Basin Lake.

Iron Springs Rd. and N. Granite Basin Rd. Prescott, Az. 86305

Plot Summary:

Four college students, Deke (Paul Satterfield), Laverne (Jeremy Green), Randy (Daniel Beer), and Rachel (Page Hannah), go swimming in a desolate lake far from civilization. After they make their way to a wooden raft, they are terrorized by a floating black blob resembling an oil slick that grabs a hold of Rachel and consumes her. The students panic. Deke plans to swim to shore so he can bring back help. But before he can, the blob seeps through the raft's cracks and pulls Deke through the raft, killing him. Randy and Laverne evade the creature until it gives up trying to grab them from under the raft. Randy and Laverne are afraid to fall asleep in fear that the creature will attack. They manage to sleep and Randy is the first to wake up, relieved to find that he and Laverne made it through the night. He begins caressing Laverne's sleeping body and fondling her breasts. She awakes screaming in agony as the creature has seeped through the cracks and has a hold of her face, much to Randy's horror. As the oil-like blob pulls her off the raft and begins consuming her, Randy jumps off to swim to shore. He ultimately makes it, barely escaping the creature, and yells "I beat you!" However, the creature rises up from the water like a wave and engulfs Randy. It returns to the lake, with no evidence of the four students even visiting the lake other than their car. The camera reveals a "No Swimming" sign barely visible from behind some growth.

Movie Monday : Perfume - The Story of a Murderer

This is one of the best movies I've seen. It's dark, and dismal. But maintains a certain level of humor throughout. A great story, paired with wonderful acting. An overall wonderful film that you should go out of your way to see. 

Warning! This synopsis contains spoilers!
The film begins with the sentencing of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), a notorious murderer. Between the reading of the sentence and the execution, the story of his life is told in flashback, beginning with his abandonment at birth in a French fish market. Raised in an orphanage, Grenouille grows into a strangely detached boy with a superhuman sense of smell. After growing to maturity as a tanner's apprentice, he makes his first delivery to Paris, where he revels in the new odors. He focuses on a girl selling plums (Karoline Herfurth) and startles her with his behavior. To prevent her from crying out, he covers the girl's mouth and unintentionally suffocates her. After realizing that she is dead, he strips her body naked and smells her until the scent fades. Afterwards, Grenouille becomes haunted by the desire to preserve a woman's scent forever. After making a delivery to a perfume shop, Grenouille amazes the Italian owner, Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman), with his ability to create fragrances. He revitalizes the perfumer's career with new formulas, demanding only that Baldini teach him how to convert scents into perfume. Baldini explains that all perfumes are harmonies of twelve individual scents, and may contain a theoretical thirteenth scent. He also tells a story about a perfume discovered in an Egyptian tomb that was so perfect that it caused everyone in the entire world to briefly believe they were in paradise the moment the bottle was opened. When Grenouille discovers that Baldini's method of distillation will not capture the scents of all objects, such as iron chains and dead animals, he becomes depressed. After receiving a letter of presentation written by Baldini, Grenouille leaves to learn a different method in Grasse. En route to Grasse, Grenouille realises that he has no scent of his own, and is therefore a cipher. He decides that creating the perfect smell will prove his worth. Upon arrival in Grasse, Grenouille catches the scent of Laura Richis (Rachel Hurd-Wood), daughter of the wealthy Antoine Richis (Alan Rickman) and decides that she will be his "thirteenth scent", the linchpin of his perfect perfume. Grenouille finds a job in Grasse under Madame Arnulfi (Corinna Harfouch) and Dominique Druot (Paul Berrondo) assisting with perfumes and learns the method of enfleurage. He kills a lavender picker and attempts to extract her scent using the method of hot enfleurage, which fails. After this, he tries the method of cold enfleurage on a prostitute and successfully preserves the scent of the woman. Grenouille embarks on a killing spree, murdering beautiful young girls and capturing their scents. He dumps the women's naked corpses around the city, creating panic. After preserving the first twelve scents, Grenouille plans his attack on Laura. During a church sermon against him it is announced that a man has confessed to the murders. Richis remains unconvinced and flees the city with his daughter. Grenouille tracks her scent to a roadside inn and sneaks into her room that night. The next morning, Richis discovers Laura lying dead in her bed. Soldiers capture Grenouille moments after he finishes preparing his perfume. On the day of his execution, he applies a drop of the perfume over himself. The executioner and the crowd in attendance are speechless at the beauty of the perfume; they declare Grenouille innocent before falling into a massive orgy. Richis, still convinced at Grenouille's guilt, threatens him with his sword, before being overwhelmed by the scent and embracing Grenouille as his "son". Eventually, the town awakens and decides that the godly Grenouille could not have been the murderer. Druot is convicted for the murders and hanged, since it was his backyard where the clothes and hair of the victims were found. Walking out of Grasse unscathed, Grenouille has enough perfume to rule the world, but has discovered that it will not allow him to love or be loved like a normal person. Disenchanted by his aimless quest and tired of his life, he returns to Paris. Back in the city, Grenouille returns to the fish market where he was born and dumps the perfume on his head. Overcome by the scent and in the belief that Grenouille is an angel, the nearby crowd devours him. The next day, all that is left are his clothes and the open perfume bottle, from which one final drop of perfume falls.

Superhero/villain Sunday : Acrata

First Appearance: Superman (2nd series) Annual #12 (Aug. 2000)
Status: Hero
Real name: Andrea Rojas
Occupation: Mesoamerican anthropologist
Base: Mexico City
Special powers/abilities: Superb athlete and martial artist.

   In her youth, Andrea Rojas moved with her family from Coban, Guatemala to Mexico while her father continued his studies of Mesoamerican culture for the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Joining in her father's work, Andrea also became learned in ancient myths and languages. However, she was increasingly distracted by the modern day ills suffered by her culture, particularly those created by narcotics trafficking and rampant crime. A gifted athlete and martial artist, Andrea adopted the masked identity of Acrata, a name which, when translated, means "those who suppress authority," and decided to fight organized crime.
   Wearing a costume adorned with the Mayan symbol of the shadows, a totem that purportedly allowed Mayan priests to travel stealthily in the dark, Acrata began striking at the drug cartels of South America, frequently uniting with fellow Mexican heroes Iman and El Muerto. The trio once teamed with Superman to defeat the sinister sorcerer Duran. As her calling card, Acrata leaves spray-painted literary epithets to mark her capture of a perpetrator or prevention of a crime.

Femme Friday : She-Hulk

In acknowledgment of my love for all the green ladies. I'm going to dedicate this weeks Femme Friday post to SHE-HULK.

She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) made her first appearance in Savage She-Hulk #1 in February of 1980.

 On a day when Bruce Banner (Hulk) decides to find his cousin Jennifer Walters, who he used to be close with, to confide in, Operatives of Nicholas Trask, a crime boss who had crossed paths with her father, shot and seriously wounded her. Since no other donors with her blood type were available, Banner provided his own blood for a transfusion; as they already shared the same blood type and DNA.

His radioactive blood, combined with her anger transformed Jennifer into the green-skinned She-Hulk when the mobsters tried to finish her off at the hospital.

As She-Hulk, Jennifer possessed powers similar to those of her cousin, though at a reduced level. She also possessed a less monstrous, more amazonian appearance. Initially, the transformation to her She-Hulk form was triggered (as with Bruce Banner's) by anger. She eventually gains control of her transformations when Michael Morbius cures her of a lethal blood disease.

As a criminal defense lawyer, she defended Dr. Michael Morbius in his trial for his vampiric killings.

Eventually, Jennifer decides that she is going to retain her She-Hulk form permanently; preferring the freedom, confidence, and assertiveness that it gave her compared to her more timorous and fragile "normal" form.

 After her brief solo career, she joined the Avengers. This led to her being transported to Battleworld by the Beyonder and her participation in the Secret Wars, most notable for sparking her long standing rivalry with the newly empowered Titania.

After the heroes returned to Earth, she temporarily replaced the Thing as a member of the Fantastic Four. During her tenure with the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk had to prevent a radiation leak in a downed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. This radiation exposure had a drastic effect on Jennifer: she could no longer transform back into her original human form. However, this was an agreeable turn of events for her, since she preferred being She-Hulk, and it was revealed much later that the block was purely psychological.

Due to her affiliation with different supergroups over the years, She-Hulk has donned numerous costumes. She-Hulk's personality has also gone through significant changes: from aggressive and short-tempered to intelligent, free-spirited, and vivacious. Because of her various outfit changes, no single costume can be considered iconic. But, She-Hulk is immediately recognizable due to her size, green skin, and long, dark green, almost-black hair.

She-Hulk's relationships with men have been defined by her dual needs for independence and acceptance. Here are some clips of just a few of her romantic interludes.

 And now to end this weeks Femme Friday, I leave you with some She-Hulk sexiness.