As “Avengers: Endgame” prepares to fall short of the domestic box office total of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” we should ask who has the better movie fans. Are Star Wars fans better than Marvel fans?
Continue readingEpisode 5: ‘The Twilight Zone’ Walking Distance
You can’t go home again. People try to return home, to their past, to their roots, but life doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, however, you do have to find its memory to improve your life today. Martin Sloan arrives near his home town and walks right into “the Twilight Zone” and his 11th summer. Once he realizes when he is, he tries to find his younger self, Marty, and reconnect with his mother and father.
The consequences are drastic and enervating, but his father comes to Martin to return his wallet. Dad knows who the older Martin is, but he urges Martin to leave. There’s only one summer per customer and this summer belongs to Marty, who shouldn’t have to share it.
Dad hypothesizes that Martin is wrong. Maybe, there are calliopes and merry-go-rounds near Martin, but he hasn’t been able to see them because he’s been too focused on the past and looking backwards. Dad says that Martin needs to start looking forward in his current life to enjoy his future.
Like Martin, we need to live in the present to enjoy the future. We can look to the past to draw strength, but it would be foolish to attempt to go back there… because you can’t go home again, even in “the Twilight Zone.”
7 Episodes in: ‘Instant Hotel,’ Creativity and the Power of Critique
It doesn’t take any special qualifications to be rated one of the top one percent of TripAdvisor raters. The only thing you really have to do is write a lot of reviews about places you’ve been. You don’t need to have any expertise in what you’re writing about, you don’t have to take into account anything but your own opinion. There are no other qualifications for being a reviewer.
Continue reading2 Episodes In: ‘Dead to Me’
When Jen (Christina Applegate) goes to a grief counseling circle, Judy (Linda Cardellini) tries too hard to become her friend. Jen holds onto her anger at her husband’s killer, a hit and run driver, and she is left alone with her two boys. Judy comes across as flaky, weird and possibly crazy. She says she lost her fiancé eight weeks ago.
“Dead to Me” deals with grief and other social issues. When the twist is revealed, it’s not because it’s obvious; it’s because of the acting skills of Cardellini and possibly the director’s skills.
There’s only one way this series can end, but much like watching a train wreck, you won’t be able to look away as the characters become more entwined and make choices that, while poor, make sense in what we as viewers know about the situation. The acting is great. Cardellini and Applegate make for an odd couple that fit just right. The situations are funny, and the dialogue is spot on. The characters are sympathetic and the script is well-written.
Don’t be put off by the stated subject matter of the series. “Dead to Me” is funny, smart and deserves to be in queue and binged at the first possible moment. Discover something you didn’t know you were missing.
Episode 4: ‘The Twilight Zone’ Sixteen Millimeter Shrine
When faced with the reality of aging and the passage of time 20 to 25 years after her last big movie, Barbara Jean Trenton retreats in to her study. Curtains drawn, she sits in a chair watching her old movies and drinking – day after day, week after week. While she would welcome a starring role as a leading lady, she cannot accept that her star has faded in Hollywood.
When reality finally catches up with her, she rejects it and claims her home as a sanctuary returned to the 1930s. She escapes into the past, watching her movies and wishing for a better day, one that probably never existed but looked sweeter with time. When she returns to the past, it’s two-dimensional, but it fits her because she herself is shallow. She values looks over substance, and status over possibility.
Barbara Jean Trenton gets her wish and is seemingly none the worse for wear, but the days past aren’t always what they a cracked up to be. Should we move backward toward the comfort of our nostalgia, or should we look forward to a better tomorrow? A theme that the Twilight Zone explores further in “Walking Distance.”
5 Episodes in: ‘Instant Hotel,’ Criticism and Creativity
By the time the fifth episode has rolled around, everyone has drawn lines. It’s the fussy couple vs. the mother-daughter team. Who will win is really beside the point. Throughout the course of “Instant Hotel,” each team has received criticism about their hotel, and each has acted predictably. Criticism makes people defensive. It hurts even when it comes from a place of love, and it rarely makes people think about the actual problem.
It’s difficult to hear when people are raising valid concerns about the results of your passion, and it’s harder to tell the difference between genuine criticism and jealousy or gamesmanship. So, when the teams are facing the Instant Hotel owners, a lot of the criticisms are dismissed.
Some of the criticism deserves to be dismissed. A difference in taste or opinion is no reason for someone to change something. If the hotel is designed for quiet contemplation, and that’s not someone’s idea of a good time, then that hotel isn’t for him or her. It doesn’t mean the owner should change the hotel; it just means that the hotel needs to be marketed to those looking for that type of vacation.
However, there are other concerns that are justified. If the criticism is that there are no curtains on the bathroom windows, that probably needs to be taken care of. If people don’t like the number of mosquitoes, you should at least try to come up with a solution (citronella candles, bug killing light) because sometimes trying is more important than succeeding. If, instead, you decide that people are telling you these things so they can deduct points from your score and don’t take them as valid, then your real guests are going to have to face the issues, and probably won’t say anything.
“Instant Hotel” provides us all with a way to think about how we can deal better with criticism by taking what’s valid for us and using it to our advantage, even if it is said with malice, and leaving behind what won’t serve us or our vision. As a creative person, it’s the same thing. If someone doesn’t like your book because its science fiction and they don’t like westerns, well, you know, whatever. However, when they tell you about the typos they spotted or ask about a plot hole, it may be time to revisit the writing.
For more on creativity, get “Disneyland Is Creativity.” Order “Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories.” Preorder “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.”
How ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is helping Netflix
“Avengers: Endgame” is smashing records like Hulk smashed everything in his many movie and TV appearances. Above all, it’s performing well in China where it’s close enough to all-time records to be mentioned in the same breath as homegrown favorites like “The Wandering Earth.”
The fact that “The Wandering Earth debuted in February and had the highest IMAX gross, which was then beaten by Avengers, creates an interest in seeing the movie. Endgame could gross more in China than “The Wandering Earth” and creating an even greater interest in seeing the Chinese film. If it was that good, it must be worth seeing, and for those who want to be able to say anything intelligent about the heavyweight duel overseas, they’ll have to find a way to see ‘The Wandering Earth” and find out what made it such a huge hit in China. In steps Netflix to fill the gap.
By promoting it as something people can see, Netflix is effectively able to use the free advertising generated by the comparison between “The Wandering Earth” and Endgame to get views of a Chinese film most wouldn’t ordinarily even find to watch much less consider. If Netflix or other streaming services begin to capitalize on the comparisons that go on with box office incomes, we could see a slew of international films gaining steam first through streaming. Once Americans get used to seeing foreign films with subtitles, there’ll be no stopping the influx of new and better films.
Even if those foreign film studios are as mired in sequel-itis as U.S. studios are, the stories and concepts will be new and more original to U.S. audiences. That’s good for storytelling and creativity because foreign films can introduce different ideas and viewpoints into American culture. For now, Netflix gains with having “The Wandering Earth” available to stream, and having one more way to create buzz through using another studios success.
A Question of Imagination
You can’t imagine anything you haven’t already seen. If the imagination is the combining element of the human brain, then it stands to reason that if there’s nothing to combine, you cannot imagine it. I read about an experiment where scientists asked people to draw an alien. They could draw the alien however they wanted, but it should be as different from life on Earth as possible. The people that were asked to draw these aliens still created creatures with legs, arms, eyes, and/or mouths. Some made amoeba like creatures. At least one left the page blank and said we couldn’t see it. Regardless of the instructions, people couldn’t imagine life on another planet without referencing life here on Earth.
So, it’s your turn. Grab a sheet of paper and draw an alien that looks a different as possible from anything on Earth. Go ahead. I’ll wait. (I mean, seriously, as long as you bookmark this page, you can always come back and find this article and continue reading after you’ve drawn your alien.)
After thinking about this for the past couple of days, I gave it a go. I tried to draw an alien that doesn’t look like anything we have on Earth. It’s difficult because of the diversity of life on Earth. It’s also difficult because the creature is designed out of context. What type of planet does it live on? How does it survive? How does it experience the universe?
It’s difficult enough for us to imagine how other life here on Earth experiences the universe. What our dogs and cats thinking about? Is it just ball, ball, food, master, and food, sleep, sleep, food, servant? I know my cat dreams, but what is she dreaming about? Those are our domesticated pets. Put us in the alien environment of water and we just think fish are stupid, or we use excuses about how all animals are to be dominated by mankind. We don’t empathize with creatures we consider below us, and that’s true for people to.
If you weren’t born into poverty, it’s probably pretty difficult for you to imagine what it’s like to be poor. “Let them eat cake if there’s no bread.” “Why don’t they just get a car and drive to work?” “They’re all lazy and don’t want to work hard.” Poor people are often seen as something less than human by the people in the socioeconomic sphere above them, and it makes it difficult to empathize with someone who can’t afford their medication, doctor’s treatment, rent or food. “They should get a job” even if they’re already working three jobs. “They should get an education,” even if they are already working three jobs. “They shouldn’t have kids if they can’t afford them.” Seriously, who can afford kids? The hospital bill alone for a newborn without complications is enough to put me off my tea.
There are ways to fix the problem of a lack of empathy. Reading books is a start. Watching documentaries could help. After all, a lot of people can empathize with the rich because that’s what they see on television, in films and in music videos. Get experiences that are vastly different than your regular life through volunteering – at a soup kitchen, at a shelter, with an outreach group. Start seeing other human beings as being the same species as you and seek out to engage with them.
This is one way to begin improving your imagination. You can imagine a horse flying because you’ve seen horses and things that fly. You’ve seen things that float, so you can imagine a horse flying in that way. It’s not a big leap to think of a horse jumping and missing the ground. It’s gone back centuries. Once you can imagine a horse flying, you can imagine anything else flying. However, to bring something into being that you have no way of imagining is impossible. Whether for art or for life, you have to start with a base of knowledge before you can use your imagination to create something new and hopefully better. Leave your alien in the comments below or share it on Facebook and Twitter #penguinate.
For more on creativity, get “Disneyland Is Creativity.” Order “Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories.” Preorder “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.”
Episode 3: ‘Twilight Zone’ Mr. Denton on Doomsday
Town drunk Al Denton is more than he seems. The other men in town abuse him, make fun of him and make him sing for his drinks. When Fate steps in, Denton is forced to come to grips with his gunslinger past.
Formerly, Denton was the fastest gunslinger in the area. Every day men would come in to challenge him to a duel. Every day he would start drinking earlier in the day. One day he killed a 16-year old; that’s when he put up his guns.
Denton lives in a time that is contrary to his nature. He doesn’t want to kill people, even if he’s good at it, because he realizes that one day he won’t be fast enough. He’ll be the one dead in the street. Unfortunately, word gets out that he has quit drinking and he has bested the fastest gun in town. Denton receives warning that another gunfighter is coming to challenge him.
Denton couldn’t forgive himself for killing the 16-year old because there was no point in doing so. If he had been able to, someone would have shown up the next day and the day after that. Denton would’ve kept having to fight men and boys who thought they were fast with a gun. Forgiveness can only happen when the behavior that has brought on the need for forgiveness has ended, and Denton had no control over ending the behavior without dropping into the bottom of a bottle.
It’s not until Fate steps in and lends a, uh, hand that Denton is blessed to be able to live a life free from the threat of his times. He is redeemed, and he his able to forgive himself. Some people aren’t able to free themselves of a situation because their times don’t allow it; they need help from someone or the luck of Fate. If you can get yourself out of whatever situation is keeping yourself from forgiveness, do it.
Just one month until Lilac City Comicon 2019!
With just a month to go for the hottest ticket of the summer, preparations here at penguinate.com are ramping up. Just like last year, we’ll books, stuffed penguins, posters and Russian Lobby Cards (mini movie posters) for movies from 2017 to the present. Preordering is encouraged to make sure you don’t miss out on our great items. If you want something from Russia, let us know, and we’ll do our best to bring it with us. Remember members of our Patreon Penguinators before June 1, get $1 off for every $10 they spend at our booth, so join today.
At our table, we will not only have books by Shad Engkilterra but we will also have Author Brian C. Baer signing copies of his books. A recognized expert in “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,” his exploration of “How He-Man Mastered the Universe is an enlightening and interesting piece on a cartoon that had greater influence on the future than anyone realizes. His fictional work, “Bad Publicity” is a supernatural noir detective novel and a fun read. His books will be available throughout the convention, and there may be a chapbook “I Haunt the Spaceship” available! Times are yet to be determined for his signing. (This is subject to change depending on Baer’s availability.)
Follow this blog to learn more about Lilac City Comicon and the other things we will be doing on our trip through the west and find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. You don’t want to miss out on our upcoming announcements and articles about creativity, entertainment, books and penguins.
Lilac City Comicon 2019 promises to be a great event with newcomers like Chris Kattan and Hacksaw Jim Duggan – HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The returnees like Blacky Shepherd and Burr Martin bring their larger than life personalities back to Spokane. Join us and find yourself at an incredible comicon event where, you’re sure to have a great time.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 