Fan Art Friday

I've been noticing some really nice Poe fan art recently. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Just glorious:

By artist 800PoundProductions

And just the cutest:

By artist Baan00

And because I can't resist a good Poe pun.... okay, okay, and also because I am trash:

By artist Kami (super NSFW Stormpilot art, FYI)

"Poe has a lot of love to give."

Submitted for your consideration: a short interview of Oscar Isaac from Collider at a premiere of X-Men: Apocalypse, and his answer at 1:00 about the rumors of Poe's romantic entanglements in Star Wars. It's either some very charm-soaked poemosexual affirmation or some really evil baiting.

But even if it's baiting, it's easy to forgive if you pretend, when he looks directly into the camera, that he's winking and flirting with me. I mean, with you. As in, with a hypothetical audience member. 

Nevermind, he's definitely flirting with me.

Setting a Course for the Malin System

As a life long Star Wars fan, I've always gotten a special thrill the handful of times I've been to Star Wars filming locations. Like when I went for my first hike in the Marin redwood forest after moving to the Bay Area, all I could do was picture Rebel commandos sneaking through the underbrush (and yes, perhaps regrettably, Ewoks). I also completely geeked out on a ferry trip across Lake Como where we could see the Villa del Balbianello, which served as the filming location for Padme's home in the Naboo Lake Country.

OMG Padme's summer home. Also, please note that Lake Como is drop-dead gorgeous.

It turns out that I've made another filming location pilgrimage, but only in retrospect...

As reported by the BBC, Star Wars fans in Ireland are currently freaking out as filming begins on the very northernmost tip of the island, near the village of Malin Head. And we were in the Malin area last July: I was in the exact place where Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, and Adam Driver are filming right now! Obviously, we had no inside knowledge when we toured the area that the coastline along Banba's Crown would be an active Star Wars filming location just 10 months hence. I guess the Force was with us!

The explanation of why my husband and I were in that remote region of Ireland is kind of a long, convoluted backstory that involves a friend's really epic globetrotting 40th birthday party and legendary Irish hospitality.

Friend's birthday party, private home on the tidal inlet just south of Malin.

We seized the opportunity to visit Ireland when we received the invitation, especially when it involved visiting a part of the country that we likely would have no occasion to ever visit in the future. So we took advantage of our time there, visiting the handful of tourist destinations, like the Doagh Famine Village (yes, it's as sad and campy/weird as it sounds), hiking around Banba's Crown, and a pint and a meal at The Seaview Tavern.

The beautiful coastline off of Banba's Crown.

Little did we know that in May 2016, Malin would become an epicenter for Episode VIII hype as what appeared to be a Millennium Falcon set appeared on the coastline about a mile from Banba's Crown.

I am so thankful that we were invited to that birthday party, that we were able to attend, and that I'm just now getting that special thrill of treading the same earth as denizens of a galaxy far, far away.

"Eire." Rock graffiti near Banba's Crown.

MTV Movie Awards: The Force Is with TFA

The MTV Movie Awards delivered some major recognition to The Force Awakens over the weekend, bringing some eleventh-hour vindication for an otherwise disappointing awards season for Episode VII. JJ Abrams and Daisy Ridley were there to accept the award for Best Movie, which I previously thought was sort of a long shot given the very crowded field of nominees. As it turned out, the Best True Story category and the Generation Award gave fans an opportunity to express support for the high profile casualties of #OscarsSoWhite, Straight Outta Compton and Will Smith. And the other awards were nicely distributed without any one film making a total sweep (I'm looking at you, Ms. Furiosa), so the awards presentations felt much more democratic and diverse than the Oscars.

Adam Driver did not attend the boisterous MTV awards ceremony to accept his award for Best Villain. But Daisy Ridley was her charming, sincere self as she accepted her very well-deserved Best Breakthrough Performance award. Her acceptance speech was divine:

"It feels especially amazing to be part of a film that represents people of all genders--two genders--all races, and all ages in such a positive and aspirational way."

I love that she clarified with a wink that Ep. VII portrays only two genders, correcting herself to acknowledge that even such an inclusive cast of characters still has room to grow when it comes to gender identity.

Awards aside, Sunday's broadcast was otherwise a major event for geekdom. Jared Leto, Margot Robie, Will Smith, and Cara Delevingne introduced a premiere of the newest Suicide Squad trailer, which was eeppppicccccc.

If anything can justify the dark and gritty tone that DC has established for its film universe, this can. As a long-time fan of Super Friends: fingers crossed.

And--YAY!--Harley Quinn has her hammer!

We also were treated to exclusive footage from Captain America: Civil War, introduced by my other husband, Chris Evans. The Avengers have assembled and are kicking ass as a well-oiled machine in this clip. Looks like Black Widow's and Cap's training that began in the closing shots of Age of Ultron has borne some very explosive and telekinetic fruit: "Just like we practiced."

The evening was wrapped up with the world premiere of the teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan, but with the glorious Eddie Redmayne starring, I might have to check it out.

Throw in a bunch of the Deadpool dancers, Chris Pratt being gracious and adorable accepting an award for the action sequence in Jurassic World, and a pantsless Alexander Skarsgard, and it was a spectacle that was right up my gay fanboy alley. The recognition for The Force Awakens as the fans' pick for the year's Best Movie was a crowning moment for this awards season.

Did I mention the pantsless Alexander Skarsgard? Because that definitely happened.

X-Men A-Poe-calypse Trailer

Today's new X-Men trailer shows the scope of Apocalypse's power and it is gorgeous.

My first reaction was: Rejoice! We get to glimpse Oscar Isaac looking normal (i.e., hawt), at least for a few moments!

Beautiful dreamer, amirite?

Unfortunately, he then undergoes some kind of evil ancient Egyptian spa treatment that leaves his skin looking really dewy and moisturized but super ashen:

I hope he did not tip the aesthetician, because that simply does not look right.


Also, as observed by the Nerdist breakdown, the stinger after the Days of Future Past credits suggested that Apocalypse was born with gray skin, so Oscar Isaac's transformation may be a bit of a retcon.

I also really like that we are now squarely in the 1980's, and that the movie seems to capitalize on the fear of nuclear annihilation that, back then, we all expected to happen at any given moment. I cannot begin to tell you how many bad dreams I had as a kid about nuclear wars and nuclear winters and nuclear anything/everything. I'm really looking forward to seeing whether the all-encompassing paranoia is effectively worked into the plot of the newest X-Men film.

My last observation is that Oscar Isaac really is an actor's actor, isn't he? From small premium cable films to Coen brothers to epic blockbusters filled with CGI and make-up; hero to villain to everything nuanced in between. It's been so much fun seeing his career take off like this. Moar plz.

Super Poe-wered Romance

The music video for Coheed and Cambria's "Island" is just the best. I can't stop watching it!

Oh the (In)Humanity: Joey Gutierrez Benched on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Is it hot in here or is he just melting metal
with his mind?

Sadly, last night's episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to diminish expectations that its muy caliente first openly gay character, Joey Gutierrez, would be a major player in the series going forward.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced Joey in last fall's Season 3 premiere. We didn't really find out that Joey is gay until a few episodes later, when a former boyfriend came up in dialogue. And when we did find out, I was really excited that it was revealed (as it should be) as simply a trait of a three-dimensional character with realistic flaws and authentic motivations. A non-exploitive gay hero in a mainstream franchise, yay!

Up through the mid-season haitus, Joey played minor but key roles in the narrative as one of the many new Inhumans that were transformed by the release of Terrigen into the world's oceans at the end of Season 2. The evolution of Joey's initial ambivalence regarding his new powers into growing acceptance was a nicely done story line, with an overt parallel drawn to the process of coming out and the freedom and power of self-actualization. In the mid-season finale, Joey surprised even himself by risking his own life to save Daisy, and a hero was born. I was really excited see his further growth when the season resumed last night.

Unfortunately, last night's mid-season premiere put a damper on those hopes when Joey was given an Apple watch with a S.H.I.E.L.D. screen background and sent home to have dinner with his mother. Or something. It's a plan cooked up by Daisy and Director Mack to give Joey and the other Inhuman Secret Warriors some generous telecommuting benefits and allow them to carry on their former lives while still being on call as S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.

The upshot is that I expect large gaps in Joey's onscreen time while he's away eating his mother's home cooking. I hope I'm wrong, but we might not see the MCU's single gay character again until closer to the Season 3 climax. Free Joey!