TITANS Official Trailer DC Universe (SDCC 2018)

Friends.... I had to break my blogging hiatus to share just how craptastic this Titans trailer from SDCC is. In case you were out of the loop this is like the big showpiece for the new DC Streaming Service "DC Universe". It looks so bad. Like whoever wrote it came up with that "Fuck Batman" line and then worked backwards from there.

There's a lot to unpack here and I don't really have the time to do it justice. I'll just summarize all the points I don't have time to make: You can make a show about serious issues and drama without all the grimdark nonsense the film version of DC/WB is obsessed with (See any of their successful TV shows). If any property deserves that sort of serious but fun treatment it's the Teen Titans. Muddying it up and having Dove, the character who is supposed to be the pacifist ying to Hawk's violent Yang, slashing bad buys ankles with her wing knives is just ridiculously poor taste. Have fun DC, good luck with this nonsense.

Public Links

A collection of Seattle public access TV stars. Hey it's that guy, and that other guy. I kinda of remember them!

Full disclosure, I didn't have cable TV growing up. So my entire exposure to the public access channel was relegated to sleep overs and slumber parties at friends houses. Still, I remember watching that guy ramble about Courtney Love murdering Kurt Cobain. Or the guy that would play porn clips every once in a while. Of course they were never porn clips you wanted to see, it was always like middle aged hairy Europeans getting it on. Just terrible stuff.

20 Halloween Costumes That Will Destroy Your Childhood. Destroy my childhood might be a bit of an overstatement. Still, who thought sexy Oscar the Grouch was a good idea?

A Live-Action, Nightwing-Centered ‘Teen Titans’ Show Is Coming, But There’s A Catch. Man, DC really is looking to corner the Superhero to small screen marketplace. Arrow, Flash, Gotham, now rumors of Teen Titans and a Supergirl project? Teen Titans, sorry I mean Titans, seems like an absolute slam dunk. The cartoon from the early aughts was super popular, those kids have grown up and are right in the CW's target demographic. Play down the action so you can make it on the cheap and play up the melodrama and boom you've hit the Smallville sweet spot.

Complete Starcade Episodes Online. Hey kids remember Starcade? No? Hey middle aged adults, remember Starcade? Thought so.

How “Empire Records” Became The Unlikely Film Of A Generation. Ugh... Empire Records is a fun movie but let's get one thing straight it's a stupid movie. Sure, I'll watch the hell out of it Saturday at 10am but "the film of a generation", who honestly thinks that? This is all about the iGenerations's rampant nostalgia. I swear if I read one more article about how something that was incredibly mediocre was AMAZING just because it came out in 1995 I'm going to barf.

That being said.. Liv Tyler in this movie cangetit

6 Cartoons I'd like to see on Netflix Streaming

Animaniacs

They're tiny they're tooney they're just a little looney... Animaniacs is a cartoon that when it aired was really hit and miss with me, however when they hit they hit big. I'm surprised it's not already available streaming, considering when it aired and how beloved it was, it seems like this one would be a no brainer to appeal to both gen-xers and millenials.

Eek the Cat

Eek the Cat was produced by Savage Steve Holland, the same guy that wrote and directed One Crazy Summer and Better off Dead. That's really all you need to know about it. That and it's the only kids cartoon I've ever seen to do a Pulp Fiction parody.

Robotech

I know very little about Robotech. I know it was an imported version of the Japanese cartoon Macross but I don't think I've seen more than 2 episodes. It was run in syndication in the 80s but I'm not sure it ever aired in the area that I lived in, or if I did I'm sure it was on a channel I didn't get. In the late 80s early 90s I caught a couple episodes on VHS but other than a motorcycle that turned into a suit of armor I can't remember a thing about it.

There are people my age that go NUTS for Robotech, one of these days I'd like to see what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately I believe the distribution rights for the US have been in dispute for years with no sign of hope.

Talespin

This would be Ducktales if I didn't already have the first couple seasons on DVD. In fact let's consider this listing a catch all for the Gummi Bears, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck. That whole Disney afternoon block was full of good quality cartoons. Hopefully with Disney's new deal with Netflix a couple of these will pop up soon.

Teen Titans

One day while wearing my Space Ghost t-shirt I had a conversation with a girl, who was at least 10 years younger than I was, that they just don't make cartoons like they used to. I loled a bit on the inside because her frame of reference for old school cartoons included cartoons that I didn't think were that old, including the Teen Titans.

The new Titans cartoon, Teen Titans Go, is a good cartoon in it's own right but it's light on action and high on comedy. It would be nice to watch the classic cartoon every once in a while to switch things up.

Star Blazers

Oh Star Blazers let me count the ways that I love you. Star Blazers was another Japanese import that ran in syndication in the states in the late 70s to early 80s. There are few people that remember the show that don't have fond memories of it. Back in the mid 90s I caught the entire first season on VHS so I have a decent memory of how the story goes, still it would be nice to rewatch it. It would be even nicer to watch it alongside the new Anime Space Ship Yamato 2199.

Star Blazers has been on Netflix streaming before.. sort of. Netflix had the "movies", the first of which was just a compilation of episodes from the Iscandar story arc. They're not bad they're just not that good. Most people when they think of Star Blazers think of the Iscandar story arc, anything less than the full 26 episode season is a big let down.

DC comics: bad at math

So there's this big sex controversy surrounding a couple of DC comics "new 52". I haven't really mentioned it because I haven't been to the comic shop in a few weeks and.. well.. I mean it's a comics controversy, who really cares?

David Willis sums up the kerfuffle in this cartoon pretty well.

I get the outrage, believe me I understand nerd outrage. But part of me kind of wonders where these comic book readers have been for the last couple decades? I don't understand why it's ok for Tarot to have a haunted vagina, or Witchblade's costume to be nonexistent, but Starfire's slut turn is something to quit reading comics over.

I guess there's different standards for "mainstream" books. Again, I understand but I sort of don't all at the same time. It's fine for new fictional comic book characters to be tarted up sluts, but when you take an existing fictional comic book character and give her the X-tina "dirrrty" treatment you've gone over the line.

Sometimes the hairs nerds decide to split can be incredibly capricious (big SAT word).