DE: Media Watch

[bjornwilde]

 So what new (or new to you) things are you enjoying that we should be also? Be it movies/TV shows, comics, books, music, webisodes, podcasts, whatever!

Comments

[sdelmonte]

Comics - Pick up something written by Charles Soule. He only started writing comics in the last two years. But he took over Swamp Thing and made a good comic better. He took over Red Lanterns, and turned a absurd and somewhat gross comic into the best Lantern book (and made Guy Gardner great again). He just relaunched She-Hulk (and he happens to be a lawyer), and he's about to handle Marvel's Inhuman series (rumored to be in line for an MCU movie instead of X-Men). Then throw in his creator owned work, like his love letter to NYC, Strange Attractors. Everything he writes is awesome and there is something for every taste.

TV - Netflix has a great deal with Cartoon Network. So all of the second Star Wars: Clone Wars series is there now, and I just started season two. I am really enjoying it, and remembering just how much I love Star Wars, even without Han and Luke and Leia. But the surprise recommendation is Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. I absolutely loved the first season, which turned the old, tired tropes on their ears and gave the characters and the show a lot of heart. I then waited very impatiently till this weekend, when season two arrived online. I can't wait. (FYI, the entire run of Brave and Bold and the first seasons of Young Justice and Green Lantern are also there.)

Also have to recommend Arrow, which has gone from "that was fun, but dumb" to "wow, can't wait" for me. The reinterpretations of classic DC characters work far more often than not, and the cast is almost always great these days. And the action is amazing.

Music: SJ Tucker has bounced around the filk and folk scene for a while now, but I didn't get to hear her live till last fall. And her stuff is so good. Lively, a bit wicked, very witty and always fun. Worth tracking down.

Movies: I almost feel like I don't need to tell anyone they need to see Veronica Mars if they loved the TV show. But I will add that if you choose to see it at home, you will be okay. It's very good but it doesn't need the big screen.

[damncompass]

People keep telling me that I need to pick up Clone Wars. I've heard so many good things about it.

minkhollow and I really just need to doublt down and get Netflix.

[bjornwilde]

I really find Clone Wars to be much better than the movies. I feel like it does justice to Obi-Wan and Anakin (even if he can be a little shit at times, he's much better than the big screen while keeping those qualities which will turn him to the Dark Side).

[damncompass]

I actually didn't mind most of the prequels. I have a Great Love for Qui-Gon (and even played him here for a while once upon a time) so I'll probably love it.

Honestly, it's just mostly that I got a free month of Netflix once and didn't really watch enough to justify it. Maybe if I got the damn Chromecast that I keep talking about....

[bjornwilde]

Qui-gon was pretty awesome and the prequels weren't horrible, I just couldn't stand Anakin and Jar-Jar. I also know Qui-Gon shows up, in spirit, in the last half of season 6. Look for the trailer for Clone Wars lost missions if you haven't seen it.

I don't think Marvel is a draw for you but Netflix is making Dare Devil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Defenders miniseries. Each to follow the other. I also know they have Hemlock Grove (which I've yet to see).

And hey, your old pup rescued by current pup (Quinlan) from drowning once! =)

[bjornwilde]

I love the new She-Hulk and I'm glad to see his other stuff is good too!

[alexiscartwheel]

I also started Arrow recently. I know almost nothing about the comics version of Green Arrow, but I've really been enjoying it.

[camwyn]

I've been watching Adventure Time on Amazon Instant Video, and that's pretty awesome; other than that my major new-to-me media lately has been Gail Simone's Red Sonja comics. She does a fantastic job with her, I think.

[bjornwilde]

Gail's Red Sonja is the first time I ever got why Sonja is her own woman. I always had trouble reconciling the obvious fan service with the strong character before then.

[damncompass]

I've been loving Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Cath has been really wanting to move into my head since I picked up the book. I'm beginning to wonder if she's my alter ego from another dimension. (Except a lot cooler)

Otherwise, I've been watching a play-through of Persona 4 and Persona 3 (both vidja games) and they're pretty awesome.

Not much TV or movies at the moment.

[bjornwilde]

Comics: Rat Queens (Pulp Fiction meets D&D), seconding the recommendation for She-Hulk. Also, Secret Defenders is looking really good. Rachel Rising continues to be great.

TV: I'm to the third season of Clone Wars now and still loving it, even if it only has Quinlan in one episode. I still have Once Upon A Time In Wonderland and Vikings to catch up on, as well as Once Upon A Time and Grimm</>. I keep meaning to check out Black Sails but haven't yet.

Books: I still suggest the Sarah Beauhall series if you love Norse mythology. I'm also reading Monster Hunter Vendetta (think Special Forces vs Monsters written by a gun nut) and Goddess Interrupted (modern take on the Greek gods through a romance lense).

[ceitfianna]

I'm currently reading Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, which is a fascinating book about dragons in a society rather like Victorian England. So there are two daughters trying to make good marriages, family troubles and mixed in thoughts about dragons eating other dragons.

At the moment, I'm not watching anything new more revisiting old favorites. I recently did a rewatch of Baccano! which is so much fun and one of my favorite animes.

[last_kallig]

I have been reading the Darkhorse comics featuring Quinlan Voss. So far, only the the first compendium, but I suspect I will be picking up the others too.

Which is strange, as I am not a comics reader, unless you count webcomics. I blame bjornwilde's portrayal of Quinlan Voss in the Bar. :-)

[the_force_abides]

Good...good. All is proceeding as I have foreseen.

[last_kallig]

Quinlan looks very scary in that icon there! And that reference to Palpatine has me pondering Palpatine's power compared to that of The Sith Emperor in Ibani's time.

I haven't read much of Palpatine in the EU, but the Sith Emperor in Star Wars the Old Republic is in a class by himself. (A horrible, horrible, class. *shudders*)

[the_force_abides]

I think, if my memory serves, the Old Republic Emperor is worse. Basing this on the Star Wars Revan book, who, I believe, is still the Sith Emperor in Ibani's time.

[last_kallig]

Yup. That's him. He's been around for a loooong time. Something like a thousand years or more, I think.

[the_force_abides]

Yeah, he was like a rift in the Force wearing a cloak. Palpatine could only wish he was near that level of power. But then again, Palpatine was a much better manipulator.

[last_kallig]

Very true! Palpatine is much more realistic evil, I think.

[pullsneedles]

Podcasts, sweethearts! I've still got a big backlog. The one I was last listening to was the Dead Authors Podcast. Pretty simple setup: HG Wells finds an actual time machine, picks up authors from various periods of time, and interviews them in modern day LA. Personal favorite episodes (of what I've heard so far) include Mary Shelley, Aesop, the Marquis de Sade, and the Christmas special with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Fans of the Thrilling Adventure Hour will be pleased to find a few regulars popping up with the series itself being hosted by Paul F. Tompkins as HG Wells.

And I crawled out of my cultural rock and watched Back to the Future for the first time ever last Thursday night.

*prepared for everybody to descend on me with their "What, really?!"s and "For the first time, really?!"s and "Did you like it?"s*

[timelessinventor]

..... I need this like I need air.

And Helena needs this too.

[pullsneedles]

I thought you might say that! XD I wanna see what Helena's got to say about this HG's furious/possibly one-sided feud with Jules Verne.

[timelessinventor]

AHAHAHA. That's hilarious because my Helena absolutely adores Verne.

... I might have to turn this into a plot.

Do you happen to have a link to where it can be aquired?

[pullsneedles]

Behold!

For iTunes type podcast stuff, a search on "Dead Authors Podcast" will turn it up right away as well. But the link has pictures. You know you want to see the pictures.

Also, these are performed live at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, which means a)live show quality and b)you can actually buy tickets to see this thing live! The proceeds go to 826 LA, a literacy tutoring program.

[timelessinventor]

.... why do I live on the other coast. Dear goddess, I would totally go in costume as Helena and see if anyone got the joke.

That is amazing. I'll have to download these on my phone.

[pullsneedles]

I'm right there with you. We must go west! :o

[timelessinventor]

I mean, I'm pretty sure Night Vale is East-Coast based, but I don't even really have the transport to get to a Night Vale show.

One of these days, Hartford will become cool, and things will come here.

[pullsneedles]

And Night Vale is doing a crossover episode with Thrilling Adventure Hour, so they all went to Seattle recently.

[yakalskovich]

Bates Motel!! Got curious through a complex tangent, now I keep watching it for the self-inflicted trainwreck that is Norma Bates' life. No fictional character has made me eyeroll so hard since Betty Draper.-

That said, I would adore any version of Norman Bates in Milliways because it would be fun to let Hannibal Lecter loose on him. The two most famous killers in movie history (in their new TV incarnations or not) -- we could sell tickets for their threads, so to speak. Hannibal trying to take Norman Bates apart would be remarkable fun to watch. A really good trainwreck, that one...

[hey35andholding]

BROOKLYN 99! BROOKLYN 99!!one - it's amazing.

Comicwise: Ash and the Army of Darkness is amazing and the best AOD comic series since Freddy vs Jason Vs Ash happened.