This was originally published in the Watch The Skies November issue.
I’m doing two things with this recommendation that I wouldn’t normally do. First, I’ve not finished all of the episodes of the show in question. Second, it’s a little bit of genre mixing but there’s enough quasi Lovecraft in what I’ve seen to make me thing readers here might be interested. What am I talking about? Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix.
To the first point, having watched the first two of the eight episodes, I feel confident in my recommendation. There is a bit of a Twilight Zone vibe as each story has an introduction at the physical representation of the cabinet. The stories have been well written and paced for a shorter time frame, with episodes averaging around an hour (the shortest being 38 minutes, the longest at 1 hour and 3 minutes). The special effects are well done, in that they don’t detract from the story. I think that says a lot in the day and age where the computer is leaned on so heavily for effects that it can have a negative impact on the story telling. Beyond the actual effects is the aesthetic of it all. This show is appealing on the strictly visual level. The details are not lost in this show.
To the second point, it’s the little details. Giant rats, summoned demons, and statues of great Cthulhu (in a blink and you miss it moment) are among the things that lead me to genre mix here. There is nothing expressly or specifically “science fiction” in this show, but there is a lot of the fantastic and I think that’s worth taking a look at.
I intend to follow through and finish all the episodes. I think you should be watching it too!
This was originaly published in the June 2022 edition of Watch The Skies.
I don’t think I can overstate how much I am taken with this art.
I went back through the list of shows that I have recommended in the history of these articles and was stunned to see that I had not brought up Love, Death & Robots. I don’t know how this has escaped previously, but no longer.
Love, Death & Robots is an animated series, but this is very specifically aimed at adults. The creators original intent was to have something similar in nature to the animated film Heavy Metal (from 1981). Do not for a moment think this is a children’s cartoon. It is NOT. It is brutal, sexy and mind rattling in varying degrees throughout. Netflix loaded up the first season of LD&R back in March of 2019. There were 18 episodes for the series, each coming in with a viewing length under 20 minutes. The second season of 8 was released in May of 2021, and the most recent season of 9 episodes launched just last month (May of 2022).
The stories for these animations all come from some of the best writers in modern science fiction, fantasy and horror. Names like, Bacigalupi, Asher, Scalzi and Sterling. There’s even an episode showing a story written by Harlan Ellison. These stories carry weight and have real punch in such a short time frame. The set up to the closure, if there is any, come right at you. The first two seasons each won an Emmy. The story telling is only rivaled by the pictures that accompany the stories.
IF you dislike ‘cartoons’ for some reason, I challenge you to watch these and NOT become a fan of animation. The art, the shear beauty of so many of these works will make you question how they were created. Admittedly, they are not all hyper realistic, but even the goofiest stories are well animated. The colors, the smoothness, and the pure vibrancy of even the darkest pieces still amazes me. I have some that I re-watch for the story and many that I re-watch just to see them. Just to experience their beauty again. I don’t believe they needed more marketing, but the third season has actually done something neat to accompany all this art. There were some clues hidden in certain episodes of the third season. If you followed the clues, you’d find your way to some computer art from the show. The hunt, and the clues have continued on various social medial platforms since the third season was released.
I highly recommend this show. You should definitely be watching.
This was originally published in Watch The Skies May issue.
I’ve noticed a trend lately toward animated shows. While this show is once again aimed at kids, I have found a number of interesting and fun writing choices being made. The show follows a human girl named Luz who stumbles through a portal into another world. The land known as The Boiling Isles is filled with startling, weird and amazing characters living on the remains of some kind of giant or titan. There she becomes friends with a rouge witch named Eda, also known as the Owl Lady. Luz decides to stay and learn magic from this most powerful witch.
While I have not yet finished the first season, I suspect I will consume the entire series. Yes, each episode is relatively short and contains a ‘lesson of the week’ kind of format, but there are much longer story threads being woven through the background. It’s got some really fun and funny moments that are clearly aimed at the adults watching the show. At one point Eda is relaxing and says (fourth wall breaking style), “Ah, a quiet moment of domesticity… I wonder how long that will last” and in moments she is rewarded with a crash and screams. “Ah, there it is…” and she moves into the story. It was such a small moment, but anyone that has dealt with kids of any age knows that moment, deeply, and would just feel that come right through the screen.
In looking up some information about this show I’ve encountered a few spoilers that I will not share here. Anything beyond an abridged third season seems to be in jeopardy as the comedy / horror vibe (along with a couple of other factors) seem to not fit with the current Disney+ vision. I can say with certainty that I am not the only one believing in the writing for this show. It first aired in 2020 and won a Peabody Award in 2021. Weird, whimsical and believable fun – you should be watching this show.
You need to know right up front that there is cartoon violence involved in what I’m recommending this month. IF that’s not your thing… definitely skip it. IF you’re not put off by the old school Loony Tunes style bashing and blowing up, then this show is for you.
The main characters in this short are /Rowdy (rotten criminal) and Peanut (guard dog). Rowdy is after the most valuable painting in the world and Peanut is trying to keep that painting right where it is in the museum. The catch here is that YOU help decide how it all works out. This animated feature is interactive. There will be a series of questions at various points in the show that require your input via the remote control. Get all the questions right, get one result. Get a question wrong, get something totally different. Run out of chances and you can go back and try again, giving you a completely different result. The run time was listed at something like 12 minutes, but be warned! I ended up going through multiple times to see various options and endings and was watching for far longer than the listed run time.
Pre-pandemic, if you’d asked me about the Legend of Vox Machina I would have stared at you blankly. I had heard, vaguely, of Critical Role but that would be about it. The team producing the web hit Critical Role has certainly made a massive impact on media and the route things have to production.
I’ve talked in other places about something people are labeling “the Mercer effect” as it relates to the expectations of people when they play Dungeons and Dragons. The team at CR (and it IS a team, including a lot of production) create a drama that people can follow along with BUT it doesn’t meet the expectations of players when said players get to their own game tables. Most people don’t have a production team to help run their game, nor do they do it as part of their job so even regular old game / planning time is limited. A new players view of the game can be warped by production quality.
Now, take that same story with all the warping. Get professionals to set the script, trim the action, do the voices and then have crazy good animation and you get Vox Machina’s first season on Amazon video.
I have watched the whole season. I can say that I enjoyed it. It is a very well done animated series.
The criticism(s) I have for it revolve around that warping.
I don’t watch CR when they role play their campaign on YouTube. IF I have that many hours, I’m playing or I’m designing my own game for when I’m playing. It’s not a polished show and you’ve got to wade through it all to get to the good stuff. That’s the whole point I hear you saying, but really – I don’t have that kind of time. Am I maybe missing some Easter eggs or not understanding the ‘in’ jokes? Absolutely. Do I care? No. No I do not.
Having watched the show I get what people mean about expectations. They fight and kill a dragon in the first or second episode. I have NO idea what the actual level of the characters are in the CR game, but in MY world dragons are epic, boss level fights that don’t get resolved that quickly. Dragons are part of the name of the game and defeating them like some kind of minor winged reptile without the kind gravitas they deserve just doesn’t seem right to me. It set me off for the whole series. This is made worse by the fact that one of the main bad guys is (or appears to be) a vampire. That in NO WAY works out that way in my world. Are vampires exceptional and challenging monsters? You bet. Do they have more power than dragons? Never. So – my hang up on that one, but I think it ties in with expectations.
Percy has a gun. Yes, it’s demon related and possibly magical in nature, but it’s still a gun. This is not a chocolate in my peanut butter kind of situation. I don’t want guns in my swords and sorcery game. I play fantasy for a reason. IF I want guns I’ll play a role playing game with guns. This was an aspect of the show that clearly worked, but just took me out of the right head space.
Editing the story down to basically half hour episodes is both good and bad. It’s good, because the writers got to the meat of what’s going on without requiring me to wade through all the dice rolling and background decision making that goes with any good role playing game. I really appreciated being able to get through the shows in a timely manner. What they did while doing that is skipped past longer story arc development. I know – can’t have it both ways, but this is the expectation thing again. Part of the joy of the game is working up all those deep character backgrounds and having all the other players know and use that info. It’s that shared aspect that makes the game great. The animated show didn’t give the feeling of weight that all that stuff was in there. It’s not easy to describe that feeling when you don’t know all the backstory, but you KNOW all that backstory is there. You can feel it with little details.
In the end, it was a fun ride. I found myself pointing and laughing on more than one occasion, remarking that actions / choices reminded me of our own game or that we’d had remarkably similar actions in our game. It’s relatable, but it’s just one version of how the game goes. It’s not MY version and maybe it’s not YOUR version either. It’s worth checking out. It’s fun. I look forward to the next season – just don’t expect to see a dragon defeated that easily in any game I run.
This was originally published in the Watch The Skies fanzine, September 2021 issue.
What If…
When I’ve worked on my recommendations for this little column each month I’ve tried to find things that are bent toward the (potential) interests of this group, but also slightly off the beaten path. These things might not be your preference, but should certainly be worthy of consideration. I’ve tried not to go for the obvious, splashy things out there.
This month is a break in that trend. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is pervasive in pop culture. The series of movies and shows that have the common, unifying thread of a group of comic book super heroes has been with us for a solid decade now. The story lines, the characters, the massive tent pole films that seep into all the nooks and crannies of the genre are familiar. Perhaps they are familiar to the point of apathy. The MCU could be running the very serious risk of over saturation with the sheer number of films and shows it’s dumping forth for mass consumption. The omnipresent super hero genre has kept me away, until now.
The house of mouse has an animated show based around the stories of these well known super heroes called “What If…” that gets directly to the heart of the science fiction and fantasy genre. The title of the show is the very essence of what makes SF/F great. The best stories always ask that question. What if? Can we go back and change things? How would that have worked out if one tiny thing changed (butterfly effect anyone)? It’s a terrific mental exercise. The MCU has now combined that concept with stunning artwork to make a series of short animations. These stories give us the characters we’ve come to know viewed in very different lights. Asking the simple question “What if…” and following through with things like having the Ravagers pick up T’Challa rather than Peter Quill or having a serial killer remove Avengers before they start their journey to being a hero.
Yes, viewing these episodes does actually work out better if you’ve seen and / or are familiar with the films that have been put out in the long series from Marvel. The stories are short (averaging about a half hour each) and only give us glimpses of what might have been. It’s those glimpses that make it work. The animation is at exactly the level you’d expect from a world leader. There’s a lot of great stuff in there. This series is definitely one you should be watching.
Normally I’d put this sort of thing under the “You Should Be Watching” section of Watch The Skies, but I feel that a lot of members of the group would find the fact that I keep going back to animated television shows aimed at kids to be problematic. Since I am a dad, I find myself leaning toward these shows more and more, even when my own kid isn’t completely interested. I say “isn’t completely interested” because often times she will jump in halfway through something I’m watching. It’s not cool when I suggest it (because what kid wants to think their parents are cool or know anything, right?) but then gets caught by the actual show.
This is the case with Kid Cosmic. I can’t call it a subversion of the super hero genre, but it is certainly an interesting look at that genre and what sort of effect that genre has on kids. This hits close to home for me because I remember all the times when I was a kid that I watched Spiderman (as part of the Electric Company show I believe) and then went directly out to play and imitate that hero.
~ Side note ~ Yes, kids have always done this. Imitating what they see is part of developing who they will become. Yes, it can be dangerous. It was then and it is now. Teaching kids safety will ever only go so far. Pushing boundaries is part of being a kid. One of my earliest memories of being a super hero ended with a trip to the hospital for stitches. It’s going to continue to happen. If you’re a parent too, be prepared.
Kid Cosmic actually takes this whole concept head on. The star of the show is steeped in the heroic stories of comic books. He’s got energy and enthusiasm to spare. He finds cosmic stones in a crashed space ship and just knows to his core that he’s supposed to become a hero and save the planet. He scoops up the stones and does his level best to prepare to be a hero. The problem with this prep is that he really sucks at it. Constantly.
In an interview about the project, the creator (Craig McCracken) states that was at least part of his point, “It’s just part of being a kid, and I like the idea of exploring that fantasy, but also this blind confidence that they’re going to be immediately great at it.”
It’s a dose of realism in a genre that is packed with over the top expectations. A short, ten episode season is available on Netflix right now. My daughter and I have watched them all. There’s a good, solid message in the show along with some very entertaining moments. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into the super hero genre, kids fantasy shows, or just good writing.
I’ve railed against the stagnation of ideas (based on bankroll rather than creative capitol) in the past. I don’t need another version of Dune, King Arthur, or Lord forbid Robin Hood. Seriously… move on. Find one of the hundreds of fantasy books out there to work from. I mean it. I am really not looking forward to a LOTR series, no matter who’s making it. I saw the abomination that was what they did to the Hobbit. I am really uncertain about the series they’re planning based in the world of Willow. There’s just a lot of stuff out there that strikes me as a particularly bad idea.
Having said all of that, there was one mentioned that I might be able to get behind.
There’s a report out that says George Clooney may be attached to a remake of Buck Rogers. A couple of parts to unpack there.
Loved the ships. Smitten with Col. Deering.
First, while I don’t always like the work that Clooney does, I respect that it’s generally fresh and worthy. There are a number of things he’s been part of that are quite good. I enjoyed his part in O Brother Where Art Thou and thought that was a fantastic remake of the Odyssey. This is one of the things that gives me hope for this remake or restart or whatever name they put on it these days. IF you’re going to re-imagine a story, get clever. Change the time frame, update the language, make it accessible to a more modern audience.
Second, while I was a fan of the television show when it aired back in 79/80 that wasn’t the original series. Buck has been around since the 1920s. He had a couple of big radio show runs and was a staple in the comics industry for a lot of years. I also wanted to say I was a “big fan” but I was far more interested in / taken with Battlestar Galactica. That show was easily a bigger hit with me. Gil Gerard and Erin Gray did a fantastic job making a disjointed show work… but even as a kid I saw that it was just that – disjointed.
So, I’m going to hold out hope for this one. I think an excellent space show would do really well right now. We haven’t aged ourselves up to the date when the title character is supposed to “wake up” in the future, so there’s still a ton of room to work with. Hopeful.
Are there any other “remake” candidates you think might actually work?
I had commented recently on the sinking feeling I had when it was announced that a Dungeons & Dragons movie was in the works. It makes sense as the traditional swords and sorcery genre seems to be on the rise, but is filled with potential pitfalls.
Recently I read reports (here and here) that a Dungeons & Dragons television series is in development.
Spell effects will be a challenge
I had a moment when I thought, “Lord, here we go. The market is going to get a glut of embarrassing fantasy stuff…”. Then that moment passed. The longer I thought about it, the more I believe that a television series could be the best possible answer for Dungeons & Dragons. If it’s done well it can have significant staying power and inspire a whole new set of folks. This might work…
Pro-
Fantasy television has had success. I will point to what seem like disparate shows but I think both Xena and Game Of Thrones show that serialized fantasy can work and have staying power. GOT is clearly the more up to date example here, but it had certain advantages that Xena didn’t get – and Xena got SIX season. Yes, that’s enough to go into syndication. It was also contemporary with Hercules. That was the 90s. In the 2000s we got two seasons of Legend of the Seeker. Fantasy as TV can work.
The upside arguments here are many. A series gives characters time to develop and plots time to unwind. You can have individual episodes along with longer, over arching stories. The episodic nature lends itself entirely to the D&D format. Each season could be considered a campaign. Actors, settings and even entire worlds could change between seasons. There are absolutely VAST options here. YouTube has shown that there is a sustainable audience for this too.
Con-
The downside or potential negatives are equal in number and variation. Going “cheap” on this will not help. Cardboard swords and rubber monster masks slapped on extras are going to be a tough sell in the land of 4K sets. Locations will shine through. Movies can spend more on this and have a limited time they will be in place, so picking the right place matters. The wilds of New Zeland or a city in Spain that’s hundreds of years old are clear and obvious ‘characters’ in the movies they’re in as much as any on screen actor. Locations like that cost $ and a new series might not have that kind of backing. Special effects is going to be another hazard. Go cheap there and you will fail. Get too deep and your budget and schedule will fail. Spells are a major part of D&D and must be part of the show. If they are done poorly it will hurt any chance of the show living on.
Landing Spot-
This will also be a major factor in how this potential show comes off. Will it be network or streaming? IF it’s streaming, will it be a major player or “off brand” looking for success to build on? Network shows will have a different, broader audience potential but will be strictly limited by what can and cannot be shown on said networks. They will be cut down and sliced up in a different way to allow for commercials. This changes how the story is told. A streaming service will hit a more niche audience directly, but it’s just that – niche. You’ve intentionally capped your number by subscriber base. You’ve given a lot of options for what the story can do that can’t be shown on a network though, and that might help draw people that might not otherwise “tune in”.
The story itself ~
The most important success factor for any movie or show is the story and the people that populate it. IF you have a story about people you don’t care for or about, the show will die. IF you have a set of people you care about and they don’t DO anything but sit around and have anxiety and bad relationships with each other, you’ll have an art house film and that will die too.
A lot of this comes down to expectations. The writer they have talked about gives me some hope. A good writer matters. A film or television series needs to set a reasonable bar to attempt to hurdle. IF the show comes off the starting line thinking it’s going to become GOT and doesn’t immediately reach that kind of “buzz” or viewership, it’s likely to get dumped. If it doesn’t aim for that level of quality, it will never garner any attention (other than perhaps from places like RiffTraxx). It’s an incredibly challenging mark to hit.
My suggestions ~
First, having a writer doesn’t say if it’s an original script or if it’s an adaptation of something. I’d say an original script could give the best chance at success here. Something that people can create a new fandom of their own with. Original might just be the best chance.
Second, IF the stories will be adaptations, there are some specifics to stay away from. Despite the immense popularity among players, stay away from Drizzt and the Underdark. It would make gamers happy but anyone unfamiliar with the background or game at all will instantly file this under “Witcher knock-off”. Stay away from Dragonlance. I know, longest running, super popular, etc. BUT the dragons would feel like they were reaching for GOT territory, the special effects would be a major hurdle AND they’re in a lawsuit right now. Not a great combo. I would also stay away from anything related to Conan. It’s a favorite, but the pulpy nature of it combined with it’s age doesn’t feel like the right fit for the modern political era.
Lastly, stay away from using DUNGEONS & DRAGONS as the sole title. Give it a different title first and let D&D be in the second line or description or tags or something. Calling it just or only “Dungeons & Dragons” implies that this will cover any and all adaptations that go with the game. It’s one aspect (of the many) that I really hated about the movie they did all those years ago. One title and they killed it for how long? Follow the pattern that adventure series inside the game follow and give it an interesting hook followed by “A Dungeons & Dragons Series” or something like that.
There is a much greater chance of upside with a television show. I still have that anxious feeling, but it is moderated. I am eager for some quality sword and sorcery that I can watch. I really hope they manage to pull off something wonderful.
This was previously published in Watch The Skies fanzine – January 2021
The lost Star Wars film.
A very Star Wars look, right?
Diving into 2021 does not mean we’re charging forward and looking at something new. In fact, this is a retro view that I had somehow missed along the way. Like 40 years missed along the way. I admit I’m not a super fan when it comes to all things Star Wars. Yes, I saw the original films when they came out. Yes, I had a ton of the toys. No, I’m not a member of the Jedi church. I love them and they hold a place within me even if I don’t keep up with every single release. It’s a film (and TV show and book and toy…) franchise like no other and it turns out that something really interesting was tacked onto it. Fantasy.
That’s right, fantasy. George Lucas commissioned a fantasy film. He wanted this fantasy film to be shown before or in association with Empire Strikes Back. You read that right. Empire Strikes Back – tied directly to a swords and horses fantasy film. It was made, it was shown, then it was lost.
Recently, during the preparation for a discussion about the influence of films on fantasy gaming I was digging for clips and information about various movies I’ve watched or heard about over the years. There are a lot of excellent films out there is you love fantasy. Then I stumbled onto a thread about fantasy and Empire. That’s how I came to know about Black Angel.
The age of Black Angel is part of why I wanted to put it here, along with the story of how it was made, lost and subsequently recovered. It is a very moody piece. The scenery is amazing. The background music is haunting. There is a look and feel to this film that is undeniable. In the notes about the film it was revealed that parts of the crew for the movie Excalibur watched this and took copious notes. The look and feel of Excalibur and Black Angel are quite similar. Some of the techniques used in Black Angel were picked up and used in Empire as well.
As a fan of the history of science fiction and fantasy it’s a neat treasure that’s available for free. The mood, the look, the sound all make Black Angel worth the short run time.
