6.11.2015

It's a Different Jurassic World Than Where You Come From.

If Preorder66 ever happened to be given creative control of a summer blockbuster sequel (I have to be very specific here), it would resemble something very close to JURASSIC WORLD.

5.19.2015

Simon Pegg on Geekdom and the Real World

Simon Pegg gave an interview in which he said "geekdom" is "taking our focus away from real-world issues."

Well, allow me to retort.

Geekdom is an odd term, but I'll run with it because that was Pegg's phrasing and I can only assume he means anything that involves fantasy, science fiction, comic books and "non-real-world" storytelling. If the concern here is that we're neglecting the social and economic ills of our time because we're too busy figuring out what Hulk is doing in the Quinjet all day long, then I think Pegg deeply underestimates his audience. I am close friends with many people who are geeks and I see firsthand that they're dealing with the real-world head-on. They have families, loved ones, real problems that occupy them for most of the day and night. So, when a movie about a bunch of super strong/smart people fighting aliens or robots comes along, it's a welcome escape from daily stresses for many of us. The value of these films/shows is not in the material's subject matter, but rather in the catharsis it provides us to have our imagination unlocked for a couple of hours.  As with anything, people can take their devotion too far. But from my personal experience, those folks are in the minority. Swap out "geekdom" for sports, cars, music or other pastimes and you'll see that there is nothing particularly unique about this hobby.

I think he also vastly overestimates the value of his profession in motivating progress on real-world issues of importance.  I love THE GODFATHER, TAXI DRIVER, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and many other "serious" movies (these are the films Pegg cited as that which are missing in today's theaters). But have these films affected the real-world apart from being interesting, diverting experiences for their audience? Does what "Popeye" Doyle do to a drug-running Frenchman affect real-world issues substantially more than what the Hulk does to a maniacal robot? Perhaps the tragedy of Michael Corleone's rise and fall (spoilers, Nickbot) inspires deeper emotions than Tony Stark's character arc, but in the end we're dealing with personal taste over substantive worth. The value in entertainment is for an audience to be engaged by the material.

I think Pegg has mixed his personal frustrations as an "artist" with the box office trends of the moment. The funny thing is, serious movies are still being made! And if Pegg wants to do non-genre work, he can direct his agent to find that material for him.

Finally, as he is a person guiding the next STAR TREK film, he should take a step back and realize that his statements draw a line where one certainly shouldn't exist. STAR TREK has inspired discussions on "real-world" issues for decades through brilliant storytelling and potent symbolism in a very non-real-world context. If Pegg is concerned with doing something important with his time, I hope he recognizes that his position, particularly with STAR TREK, affords him an important opportunity to deliver on the things he longs to achieve.

So, stop bitching and make a good Star Trek movie already.

5.10.2015

Empir3 talks : an update

As some of you may know I have not had the best luck as of late. Because of this I have a lot of free time on my hands, so I figured I would try and be productive. I plan on doing reviews and picture galleries of my stuff, the shots I have here are just testing lighting and the camera it self. Please feel free to leave some feedback .      

4.25.2015

Ichabod and Marvel Collector Corps

So I did a thing.


Its 25 a month. I was wrong. I say worth it. All EX stuff. Also apparently there are 4 variant shirts.

3.23.2015

Tangent66: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.

I grew up a Star Wars kid- born 3 days after my mom saw the original film opening night. If I could have talked upon birth, I would have said to my mom "Thanks for the ride-- now, let's go see that movie again."

The first several years of my life on Earth were spent largely concerned with my getting into outer space. My methods of travel were simple and readily available- repeatedly watching the Star Wars movies was essential. I also had my toys, my pencil & paper and my imagination to guide me home.  By 1983, the Star Wars series was effectively over. My love of it didn't diminish, but my desire for new space adventures remained. A year later, I saw STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK. In that film, I saw a ship explode in a desperate move by its crew to save a man with pointy ears and cool eyebrows. He wore a bathrobe and seemed confused. Fade to black.
Spoilers, Nickbot!
The emotions of that story didn't affect me, but the flavor of what Star Trek offered had me very interested. My journey from a galaxy far, far away into the final frontier had begun.

3.10.2015

Me, Grimlock: The Emotional Intelligence of a Robot Dinosaur.

The year is 2005 and everyone is dying. 

As some of you may know, THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE was a oil-bath of destruction. Having lost Windcharger and some other noble warriors (whose names escape me at present), the remaining Autobots had to quickly gather themselves to defeat Galvatron and his planet-eating patron, Unicron.

Sharkticons of the world unite!

Amidst all of this survivor's guilt, there was one robot who's indomitable spirit went largely overlooked because of his primitive speech patterns- the Right Reverend, (King) Grimlock.

2.27.2015

Leonard Nimoy


Leonard Nimoy connected with countless people over the past half-century. I think there is no finer example of a "friend" in popular fiction than Captain Kirk's right-hand man, Mr. Spock. And while Leonard Nimoy was a fantastic actor, he was most certainly not faking Spock's quality of character. To be precise, we loved Mr. Spock because of the man who played him.

The friendships between its characters is what makes STAR TREK so enduring.  How do we grow as a species? How do we overcome the limits of technology and achieve discoveries beyond our imagination? How do we survive in the face of all-surrounding danger? There are many factors that combine towards our heroes finding a way to succeed, but the one that matters most is that they didn't do it alone.

Leonard Nimoy was Spock and Spock was our friend.

Thank you, Leonard.

2.03.2015

Video Games and Ichabod

THE DESTINY PROBLEM

So, let me start off by saying I like Destiny. I love the ideas behind the world, or what tidbits I've managed to gleam off the surface. I want more lore! I like the mechanics, namely the world traversing and the shooting. But I have a problem every time I play – I keep thinking I could be doing something better with my time.