b2rianLS

you can apply that to many situations, i'm sure, but as i reach the conclusion of week 1 at my new job, i'm so grateful for what i've got now. The support, the organization, the overall environment... and granted, i embarked during a particularly easy time, with a crew full of folks who know what they're doing, and relatively low-traffic period, but the hours just fly by, i don't feel any pressure, and i know that the manager cares about running things with maximum efficiency and minimal stress. At my last job, i couldn't even go to the bathroom in peace, because since i was often the only one working there, the whole store would be unattended. i never took a lunch break, i never really had time off, wasn't offered a raise in my 5 years working there, and the pressure, the long hours, the mounting responsibilities were just draining after a while. it was a dream job, yes, but toward the end, i didn't have a life anymore. i had to squeeze in my SELF in the days between work. So i'll check back in a month from now, 6 months from now, see if it's still goin' good, but for now, i'm just so pleased with where i am

Sources: www.slabcitycomics.com/products/sam-and-twitch-22, McFarlane Toys, eBay, various, etc...

skip this paragraph if you don’t care about my childhood. growing up without cable or internet, some of the most entertaining events in my childhood were my family’s weekly visits to the video store. The store we went to had like a 3 for $5 special, which means my parents got a movie or two, and the kids got a movie. Often, when there was nothing appealing in the kids section, I’d just re-rent favorites. One of those tapes that I got over and over was the Batman/Superman movie, a crossover of my then-favorite show, the Batman/Superman Adventures. That was an hour of television where they aired an episode of Batman TAS and Superman. The two, however, didn’t cross over until that movie (which was pretty much just an extended episode titled “Worlds Finest.” It was mind blowing to see them interact, to see them on a mission together, and to this day, if you ever watch that movie, it’s a beautiful clash of egos. You’ve probably seen that GIF of Superman saying “Thanks for helping me save Lois. i couldn’t have done it without you” and then Batman casually responding ”i’m aware of that.” I couldn’t get enough of it, but even with the success of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy,” i never imagined there’d be a real life Batman/Superman movie. CUT TO: ComicCon 2013… The Announcement Coming off of the success and controversy of “Man of Steel” director Zach Snyder comes onstage, thanks everyone, and announces that there’s another Superman movie coming (you can watch the video here and skip this paragraph if you want). He then makes one of the astonishing announcements in cinema history. It’s HOW he announces it, however, that gives me chills to this day. He brings out an actor to read a quote. He says “some of you will recognize it, and we’re not adapting this thing, but it is the thing that will help tell that story” the actor then recites the words: “i want you to remember, Clark. in all the years to come, in all your most private moments. i want you to remember my hand on your throat. i want you to remember the one man who beat you.” Right after,the room went dark. On the screen behind the stage, a superman logo appears. Then? The batman logo. This is it. After being in existence for 75 years, these characters are going to meet on the big screen. (that quote btw? that’s from Frank Miller’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.” more on that later)  The Batfleck i remember exactly where i was when it happened. There have been a handful of events in my life where the internet broke with monumental news- The Death of Michael Jackson, The Killing of Bin Laden, The Casting of Ben Affleck As Batman. i celebrated it right from the start. i love Affleck, thanks in part, to Kevin Smith. Smith was one of a handful of people who defended, who vouched for the Batfleck (if you’re not in love with Ben, if you’re not convinced he’s the PERFECT guy for Batman, listen to minutes 3:36-28:40 of this episode of Smith’s podcast which is all about Batman). People talked so much shit, people vehemently opposed the casting,  people condemned the flick before even a single frame of it was shot. When the costume was revealed, a lot of those naysayers ate their words. When the trailer was revealed, not a negative thing about Affleck was said. By the time the movie started screening, the phrases “best Batman ever” and “definitive Batman” started being mentioned,  and last week, when the reviews for BVS began to come in, one of the things people like most is Affleck as Batman.  The Response the night of the fan screening (which was like, Tuesday the 22nd), fans left the screening in bliss, tweeting about how incredible it was. But when the press screened it after, they didn’t take too kindly to it. I’ve read/watched reviews where people talk about lack of character motivation, about the movie needing editing, all sorts of flaws. So fans seem to love it, critics don’t,  how will this mixed response affect the opening box office? we’ll see. My Response? if you read the first paragraph, you know that this is a movie i’ve been waiting my whole life for. I am, however, too broke to watch it at the moment, so i decided i’ll wait til like, Tuesday morning, when i can save a buck or two. I was at one of my friends house Friday night,and though she and i had planned to hangout for a few more hours, i got a text from my other friend (and co-host of my podcast), Diego. He had an extra ticket to BvS and asked if i wanted to go. i responded something along the lines of “fuck yeah!” apologized to my friend for cutting the visit short, then i rode my bike like, 4 miles to the movie theater, with only 15 minutes before our screening was to begin. i got there on time, and we watched the movie. Without spoiling it, i’ll say this- it takes a lot for me to be moved, physically OR emotionally, and this movie did both. i don’t go to the movie theater (i only watched one movie in theaters last year, and before that one, i hadn’t gone since 2013) yet this one was one i felt i HAD to watch in theaters. i’m so glad i did. The guy in the seat next to me was crying, i was crying, i didn’t look over to see if Diego was crying, but he told me afterwards that he loved it. He was a little confused in some parts, which is what i was afraid of. Casual viewers might have some trouble keeping up. But if you’re a fan of this stuff, if these characters are your religion, you’ll LOVE it. There are moments taken directly from Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” which is literally one of the most important novels of the 20th century. The fight between bats and supes, the costume, the bat symbol, this movie borrows so much from TDKReturns, that there’s even a line which brought me to tears because it meant so much to me. That’s not the only moment where i cried, there were several parts where i was just overcome by the performances, by the situations, by the gravity of it all… it’s so good. Superman goes through SO MUCH in this movie, WonderWoman, and the rest of the incoming DC Universe, are introduced in such brilliant ways. The only downside? fucking Michael Cera as Lex Luthor- i hated his performance. Oh, and there were a bit too many dream sequences, but each one is pretty important, since it assists in our understanding of each character’s psychology. anyway, if you read this shit, you clearly don’t mind long stories about fictional characters, so you really should watch it. 

which is weird because i’m a lifelong comic book fan, i have a career thanks to comic book characters, and it makes me so happy that comic characters are our cultural interest, but i’m just not interested in watching these movies anymore. The first “Iron Man” was a perfect movie- i doubt anyone could argue that. I loved the first “Captain America” movie because it took place during WW2 and stuff, and while i don’t care for Thor and the others, you must admit that the first Avengers movie was fucking groundbreaking. Like, all these characters in THE SAME MOVIE? that’s like when the Power Rangers met the Ninja Turtles. or that one photo of Elvis and Johnny Cash. or when Brittney, Beyonce, and Pink were in that one SuperBowl ad for Pepsi. But after it’s been done once, it’s a little underwhelming the second time. Like, i’ve seen them interact and save the world together, i don’t need to see it again. So i put off watching “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” for like a year because i just didn’t care. CUT TO: Saturday Afternoon i redbox’d Avengers2 because my parents like dumb action movies on Saturdays. i decided i’ll put it into the BluRay Player and sit around for the first 15 minutes to catch them up on what’s going on (they don’t keep up with the Marvel Universe, and i’m sure they probably can’t tell Maria Hill from Black Widow, so i was just going to answer some questions so that the movie made some sense). But what happened is that i stuck around and watched the entire thing, liking it WAY MORE than i thought i could. after the opening scene, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner start talking about artificial intelligence and they accidentally create a SUPER SMART computer (named Ultron) that knows EVERYTHING (thanks to the files on it+ all the info on the internet).The computer becomes self-aware then begins to hijack digitally-controlled devices (including the buildings computers, mobile devices, and the ‘drones’ that Tony Stark built). my mother said something like “imagine if that could happen…” to which i responded, “i kind of does already happen.” I started talking about how mos new cars have a lot of computerized controls on them, and that recently, Jeep was in hot water because one of their vehicles was LITERALLY HACKED, and driven off the road or something. We’re giving A LOT of control to the machines, we’re surrendering too much power to them. It’s fucking scary, but slowly, we are creating Ultrons. so what the movie is about, for anyone who cares, is Ultron carrying out his mission, what he was programmed to do, which is to bring peace and safety to the world. Tony Stark wanted Ultron to do what theAvengers do, “saving the world,” but he interpreted it differently. Ultron is going to save the world by getting rid of the primary threat to its peace and safety: humankind. take away the action scenes, the colorful costumes, etc, and that sounds like the synopsis for a great horror movie! i kid you not, this movie scared the hell out of me, because that villain is actually right. His extinction of our kind is entirely justified! Aside from that terrifying premise, these characters are psychological messes! the Cap is so lonely, and struggles to fit into a world he’s not really native to, attempting to live as a civilian when he was essentially ‘created’ for war. Iron Man is like me- a vain, arrogant creator who is obsessed with his legacy, his products, and the responsibility of making things that people are happy with- that people are positively affected by, haunted by the possibility that he may someday be a failure. The Hulk is LITERALLY SUICIDAL- and he struggles with the fact that he is a monster, that he is capable of (and probably likely to) hurting everyone around him. He doesn’t feel he deserves to live, aware of the damage he’s done and WILL cause. Same goes for Black Widow- she hates herself for all she’s done. she’’s an assassin who has taken and ruined many lives, because like Cap, she is the product of a war, and only knows the life of a warrior. All this stuff, by the way, isn’t just me digging into the movie- it’s there, it’s explored, and it almost brought me to tears like, four times. so yeah, even if you don’t give a shit about flying men and green monsters, if you appreciate good stories, studies of tortured characters seeking to serve a purpose, and you like watching worst-case-scenarios play out, go check it out. 

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