Tag Archives: Editorial

Comic Con, Media Con, However You Con Call Them–We Got Pacific Northwest’s Latest Updates

2 Aug

Fan Expo VancouverOver the Spring and Summer, the Pacific Northwest is very busy because Comic Cons in all its various iterations are resuming. It started with Fan Expo Vancouver in February 2022 and no Kevin Smith wasn’t at this latest. We are hoping that Jay and Silent Bob cancelled appearance prior to this pandemic mess will come back in a future event though!

Even though the province of British Columbia had a lot of health regulations to guide what these indoor shows can do or not, thankfully they were lifted in time for this event, and I had a terrific time. My con report can be read here.

In the past two months, we also had The Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo (June 25), Kelowna Fan Experience (July 15-17) and Anirevo Summer (July 29-31) in one side of the border, and the Washington State Summer Con 2022 (June 23-25) on the other. There were no reports from the groups I monitor to say there were lots of covid cases. Most of these events communicated that attendance is at the participant’s own risk, and none of them advertised what the entry requirement was. That was buried in their webpage’s FAQ under the Health and Safety section. Everyone accepts this pandemic is not going away, and it’s up to the attendee to decide on how to stay safe. The concensus is that people just want life to go on as “normal” as possible instead of living in constant worry.

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Stargate SG-1 Celebrates 25 Glorious Years! And What’s Next?

27 Jul

Stargate SG-125 Years ago today, Stargate SG-1 gave new life to a then three-year-old movie, which original creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin struggled to decide if a sequel should be made. They sold all rights to MGM, and they handed development to Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner to reimagine.

This series started on Showtime, a speciality network which wanted something unique to boost viewership, but eventually, moved to SciFi (now SyFy) before being picked up by local stations. I remember when Chek TV (now Chek News) showed it, because Victoria, BC a ferry ride away to  Vancouver, where the series was made.

The History and Personal Thoughts

Honestly, I consider Stargate SG-1 its own entity. The early seasons delivered a lot more than just a weekly Ancient Alien inspired tale every week. It was serialised storytelling in the style of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the grander arcs–especially concerning Sha’re (Daniel’s wife)–spanned multiple seasons than just one. But this shift wouldn’t be embraced until after the second season. What made this series special was the camaraderie between the stars, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge. It also had many guest stars who are the who’s who of Canadian genre television programming. From Gary Chalk to Matt Frewer to Barclay Hope in later episodes or newer series, I was sold.

Any relation to the movie is explained with the episode “Point of View.” Alternate realities exist. Also, we heard Jack emphasising, “That’s O’Neill, with two ‘L’s!”

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What’s Next Niantic, After Daring to Cancel Transformers: Heavy Metal?

1 Jul

Pokémon Go creator Niantic announces Transformers: Heavy Metal AR game - Polygon

The shakeup at Niantic Inc. cannot go unnoticed. As published on Entrepreneur 360, Tristan Rose wrote, “According to Niantic’s Crunchbase profile, Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, has raised $770 million over 5 rounds giving them a post-money valuation in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion as of November 23, 2021.”

And eight months later, this company is laying off workers (up to 90, according to Bloomberg) and changing priorities. In other reports, John Hanke wrote in an internal email to say this company is “facing a time of economic turmoil” and had already been “reducing costs in a variety of areas.”

The shift is unusual, and many fans are speculating.

The effect on upcoming products means cancelling them altogether. Not only was Niantic to help market and distribute Transformers: Heavy Metal, a Pokémon GO like game, but also they were to produce three other games using the same engine. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, fans can’t say. Very few people may have seen a demo. I wasn’t too excited myself when I offered my opinion about it, but I’d still try the game out. The website for this game is still online at time of writing.

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Can Spider-Man diehards Get #ReleaseTheRaimiCut?

1 Jul

Spider-Man in the rain in his original suit looks at a reflection of himself wearing his black suit in the window of a building, with the film's slogan, title, release date and credits below.Back in 2020, fandom’s #ReleasetheSnyderCut movement caused Warner Brothers to release an alternate Justice League movie. Now, fans of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 are hoping Sony can give this old product a similar treatment. They even have found information on what was filmed and lost, in hopes bits can be restored.

Whether this studio will consider #ReleaseTheRaimiCut depends less on demand and more on support from the team who helped make this film. Earlier this week was Tobey Maguire’s birthday, and social media used that fact as a platform to remind fans they’re still trying.

Read more: Can Spider-Man diehards Get #ReleaseTheRaimiCut?

In the years since, this actor resumed working on television. He has done no other superhero type work after his tenure was finished.

For now, all fans have is an Editor’s Cut which didn’t amount to much in 2017. Owners of that set noted there were three new scenes, three alternate endings and an extended. It was part of the Legacy Collection 4K/Blu-ray Box Set.

Sadly, I feel that nothing will be done to further enhance the old films. Even though reception for the past actors reprising the role was praised in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the only way it can go forward is for a business executive at Sony Entertainment to say to the board, “People love Sam Raimi! He did well with Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, so let’s try again!” 

All supporters can hope for is a fan edit should an update come. It isn’t too hard to put back dropped or deleted scenes into a film from what’s available (i.e. trailers). After finding Spider-Man 3 Editor’s Cut on rental, it didn’t do anything for me to further improve the work. As for whether footage from the Venom films can be used, it’d be a challenge! It may even flesh out the problems with the third film’s story arc about the sentient alien goo.

To stay current with the latest plans, please follow https://twitter.com/RaimiCut  

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What’s Next after The Batman? One Fan’s Wish…

11 Mar

The Batman (film) poster.jpgThe war with gangsters is only going to be bloodier in The Batman. This movie is part one to a three film arc because we’re not offered a clean ending. Confirmed news include a spinoff series about The Penguin and Arkham Asylum. There may also be other empires who’ll descend on the power vacuum left behind after a certain Al Capone type meets his untimely death. Gotham City will never find peace. It’s not in the cards. Not even the Mad Hatter has those kinds of grandiose plans, but I’d be beside myself should that be the case!

As for what writer/director Matt Reeves has in mind, it’s safe to say we’ll see more threats from terrorists. It’s not likely the Justice League will help; an accidental entry from a parallel Earth might appear, but that’ll be it. This product is very standalone–much like The Joker–and we’ve always known the hero operates alone.

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