In the beginning of the summer, Guillermo del Toro's next big movie, Crimson Peak, was announced with little to no idea of what or who would it be about. Now that a plot and cast has been publicized, everyone is buzzing just a bit more about the flick. 

A side of me that I rarely talk about on any of the blogs I write for is my love of Punk Rock music and the roots at which it started. Maybe it's because I am a New Yorker, born and raised by two Punk Rock/music loving rocker kids that told me the golden days of visiting/playing at CBGB's and the magic of the Lower East Side pigsty.

So when years ago I heard someone was finally bold enough to make a CBGB's movie, one that told of all the famous bands that were born there, and would be hugely about Hilly Kristal (the infamous owner of the club) I was skeptical at best, fearing the influx of awful interpretations of some of my musician heroes (including my beloved favorite band since childhood, The Ramones.)


Time had past, and I had forgotten about the existence of the biographical piece, thinking it would be like any of the Punk Rock related flicks of the past and was put to the side. But today I type this post baffled and astounded by what I have seen (link here!)


Someone (by the name of Randall Miller) has done the impossible in making an actual movie about CBGB's and getting actors that (shockingly) look like their real-life counterparts. Most impressive is the casting choices, including Alan Rickman (one of my British loves <3) getting to play Mr. Kristal himself. But the most shocking is the reveal of The Ramones film versions, to which it is then almost impossible to tell the difference's between their real life counterparts.

The actor for Joey (Joel David Moore) is the most striking in his similarities the iconic rocker, with the actor playing Dee Dee (Steven Schub) reflecting the bass player closer to his older days and than his original CBGB's youthful self.

Though I am a still not fully sold on the movie (expect for the epic Ramones portions), I am truly excited none the less and can't wait till it comes out later this fall.

What do you guys think? Are you Punk Rock music fans? Have any interest in seeing this flick? Comment below!

Through a few conversations here and there on the BatB Web Comic Tumblr, a question came up that has been getting some buzz: Who is your favorite version of the Beast? As someone that is a longtime fan of the fairy tale and watching it on film, thats personally a hard question. So since I can not give just one answer, I thought I would give a countdown of my favorites! Cause heck, I love having an excuse to talk about my favorite literary character!

Continuing with my previous posts, I wanna discuss another well known adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Though not regarded by many to be the best nor the worst, this 70's production includes some interesting casting choices and beautiful locations among other notable factors. Let's dance into a look around the 1976 version starring George C. Scott and his wife Trish Van Devere.

First and foremost as mentioned, our two leads in real life were married when filming this, making their chemistry the most realistic one could get when looking for an on-screen couple. Many times you can see the spark between Scott and Devere, though sometimes knowing this fact makes the film's romantic aspect a little bit awkward, especially when it comes to the sequences that involve our leading man screaming off in anger.



Speaking of which, this could indeed be the first version in which the Beast truly has severe anger management issues, something that became more included as a major plot point in future versions (notably the Disney adaptation, which started the permanent trend of that being one of the reasons for his transformation!) But while Disney's Beast gets fussy and chases her out of the house from time to time, this Beast (or Sir Gentle Eyes as Belle refers him to) instead creeps the hell out of our leading lady to the point of her being psychologically damaged in the beginning. This sequences plus moments of the Beast snapping back at Belle with incredible sass make him unlikable overall.

Belle though falls into a similar category, but at least she does something similar to the Josette Day version of 1946 and Disney's 1991 heroine: She defends herself. Sure, she's initially scared but she gets control over her captor and makes him feel awful at the end of his temper tantrums. This Belle also has the distinction of being the only truly feminist version on film, telling the Beast that his liking of Aristotle is ridiculous, especially since she doesn't believe herself to be the woman the famous writer describes. (In short, Belle describes Aristotle to have what us modern day gals would call "Nice Guy Syndrome".)

But Belle is definitely not perfect either. This incarnation of our leading beauty is actually one that quotes herself to only believe in the true stories and no fantasies. Sure, her family believes in old wives tales from time to time, but even when being asked simply to hear the story of a Unicorn, she refuses to be told the story unless it is deemed true.

Now granted this could be a reflection of her honesty, but at times with the way Trish delivers her lines comes off bitchy and cold hearted, something that is hard to swallow from a character that is supposed to ask for something as delicate as a rose.



But one thing that should be given credit to this version is it's age choices. Realistically, when reading the original tale and knowing the time period it was written in, I always thought the "prince" at the end would be an older and more mature man, someone who would be wealthy and able to support a girl this age. As this story was considered by most to be meant for young brides in arranged marriages, it would indeed make sense for the Beast to turn into a man in his middle age.

So while most adaptations one would expect a handsome young dashing Prince, we get a middle aged bigger King character, which though not exactly one of the fantasies of most young women works in its context and is more realistic - something that relates to this Belle's method of thinking. Though oddly, on the last shot of the film, we see that Belle's face is puzzled. Not sure if this facial expression was intentional, but it oddly seems as if this wasn't the complete happy ending she was hoping for.

Now its no secret that I am a big huge girly girl when it comes to my feelings on romance and cute guys in the lime light. I sure do have a huge crush list when talking about celebrity crushes, but I have my own separate list that I believes needs to be mentioned to the masses: My Old Man Crush List.

But how does one determine the Old Man Crush? How is even a male celebrity put into such a category? Well for me, there are a few factors that must be included:

1 - The individual must be older than 45.
2 - Must still look awesome compared to their younger selves.
3 - Must not let their age damage their confidence.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's explore the crush list, with some junior candidates not old enough to become full time members:

Finally some photos of La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) have been released along with an explanation of the photos by director Christophe Gans. Here I did a really rough translation of two key elements from the interview in Premiere Magazine, giving some really awesome insight into this new version of the fairy tale. Again, this translation is very rough, but I hope it at least paints a much more clearer and excited picture for people interested in the film.

This past weekend I went to a convention I heard about for many years. Though some have given me mixed reviews, my boyfriend invited me along for the adventure, and thus I took on the task of investigating Connecticon 2013 (in Hartford, CT!)

First off, what makes this convention different than your mom and dad's older organized meetings is the freedom of fandom's showcased. This convention is geared towards literally any interest, making it a lot less intense than say a purely anime convention or a gaming one. Connecticon literally offers something for everyone, even to the point that a Gargoyles fangirl like me was able to go to a panel with a bunch of other similar minded folks. With aspects like this, it's hard to ever doubt the epicness of such an event, and never doubt it I did.



We arrived later in the day, since the boyfriend unfortunately had to work till the afternoon. But the great thing was registration had absolutely no line AND I got to check out the end of the J-Fashion Show (where my pals Victoria of Parfait Doll and Rune were modeling!) Then I met up with friends to check out the Paul and Storm concert. Incase you haven't heard of the duo, they are famous for their bizarre and catchy parody music and their overall love for internet culture. The best part about the show though was the surprisingly awesome opening act - Brentalfloss! I've been a big fan of the bald headed internet singer for a while and had no idea he was a guest at the con. Seeing him was definitely a highlight!


Saturday was the first official full day of the convention for me to explore! I got my butt up early and went to my first panel, all about Anime Openings from around the world (Italian openings are the weirdest for sure!) Throughout the day I went to more awesome panels, including Marina Sirtis's Q&A (I met her too!), and Jim Cumming's voice actor panel (he did Winnie The Pooh as Darth Vader, 'nough said!)

But there was one moment that stole the entire show for me - the kind of rare moments that only happen once in the bluest of moons.

I went into the elevator after changing into a more comfy coordinate and called up my friend to tell her where we could meet up. I mentioned to her on the phone "I'm heading off to the Nostalgia Critic panel!", and suddenly a man in the corner of the elevator says.... "You are!?" but I ignored him thinking he was just some random guy..... Suddenly I feel my boyfriend take my head and turn it into the direction of the voice.... it was him, THE NOSTALGIA CRITIC! He was right there looking at me dead in the face. I started to laugh really hard out loud and fangirl screamed a tiny bit, and everyone in the elevator laughed too. After that moment and throughout the weekend, we kept bumping into each other. I wish I had the guts to have a real conversation with him, but that moment in the elevator was good enough for me!

The last day of the convention came by way too fast! I started off the morning by going to the Sailor Moon fan panel, which sadly had a lot of technical issues and some interesting audience members (sigh), but it was interesting either way. Sadly a panel about Anime Directors got canceled, but I instead snuck a peak at the bizarre Brony vs. Brony game show.... not sure I'd go again, but it was entertaining.

But the last panel of the day was the best panel of the entire convention. As mentioned, I love the Disney animated series Gargoyles. I'll be honest that it's hard to find people who know the show let alone like it as much as me, and when I find these people I latch onto them and do a happy dance of sorts. So when I heard a fan panel would occur on Sunday, I was beaming from ear to ear. I sadly got there a little late, but I still got to experience one of the best fan panels ever. The panelist was fantastic and had lots of awesome knowledge about the series. We later got to have a whole audience discussion, including a fan cast of a (dream) live action movie. I picked Idris Elba as Goliath, Ron Perlman as anybody (literally, he could play anyone), Nathan Fillion as Matt Bluestone, among others. A lot of people came up to me later and told me they loved my choices! So I guess maybe I could make the live action movie with success!

The day ended with me and Stefan heading off home, stopping off for delicious food at Friendly's, and driving through New England listening to Disney music. So fabulous!