BEST OF 2020: MAGAZINE SPECIALS

I usually include these with books that I have read since reading one of the many magazine specials highlights a piece of history that is worth a feature length book just in magazine format.  The reason why these are important is because several publishers produce these magazine specials every year on important subjects and surprisingly these magazines are more expensive than if they had just been put in book form. 

 

Most of the publishers are SPC (through History, Life Explores), TISP (through Time Special Editions, Life Books) and AMI (which does a host of varying subjects).  What I have learned over the last two years of reading these magazines is that they are very topical and of varying subjects to appeal to a multitude of interests and hobbies.

 

Because of the pandemic and quarantine, I had a lot of time to catch up on a lot of magazine specials that had been on my shelf.  I ended up getting through twenty-two of these specials and most of them kept to the theme of religions, presidents, and secrets & civilizations.

 

In terms of presidents, I read Andrew Jackson: An American Populist (TISP), The Day Kennedy Died: 50 Years Later Remembering the Man and the Moment (Time Inc. Specials), and The United States Presidents: The Best and Worst of All Time (Centennial Spotlight).  These were not all printed in the last year by the way but because 2020 was such a politically charged year I wanted to read what I had on hand about some of our nation’s presidents.  I learned more about our presidents reading these three magazines then I ever thought I wanted especially through the Best and Worst of All Time.  Our political and presidential climate has changed so much over the years.  Some of this bled into the America’s National Parks: Celebrating Our Land and Heritage (TISP) as well since the national parks are so connected to our government.

 

This interest then bled into my look into a lot of religious figures and religion.  It started off with the Bible through Amazing Places of the Bible: Travel Through Time to Sacred Sites That Shaped the World (Centennial Entertainment), Jesus: How His Lessons, Miracles and Devotion Changed the World (SPC), and Mysteries of the Bible: Uncovering Its Origins, Characters, and Miracles (SPC).  I have always had an interest in world religions and religious figures.  These lead to me reading Mary: Blessed Art Thou Among Women (SPC), Mother Teresa: The Life and Works of a Modern Saint (Time Inc. Specials), and Francis: The Pope’s Bold Message Comes to America.  The amazing thing about these last three is that they gave me a better understanding of the subject and the deep belief that people have. 

 

A huge selection of these magazines has to do with secret civilizations, secrets societies and mysteries that would normally only be read in tabloid magazines.  Some of the ones that I read during the lockdown were Ancient Civilizations: The Secrets of Lost Empires (SPC), Ghost Towns: The Places That Time Forgot (TISP), PBS Secrets of the Dead: Ancient Mysteries Unearthed (TISP), Secret Societies (SPC), and Mysteries of the Loch Ness Monster (AMI).  Surprisingly, these were not as interesting as some of the others, but they were informative.  I think since these were made more as like a catalogue of info instead of dedicated to a specific person, place, or thing, they were not nearly as effective a read.  They were a quick read which was a good thing.  They also had some pretty damn good photographs and artwork as well.

 

There were a few people that I was particularly interested in which is why I read the following Aladdin: The Origins and Journey of the World’s Most Magical Tale (TISP), Martin Luther King Jr.: His Life and Legacy: 50 Years Later (Time Inc. Specials), Mickey Mouse: Life Celebrates an American Icon (TISP), Mister Rogers: The Magical World of an American Icon (TISP). 

 

The publications were all of various different years.  After I started getting into these during the pandemic, I ended up buying more through eBay and discovered that there were tons of these specials out there and even more with overlapping subjects between different publishers.  It’s a good thing to keep in mind that these specials are a very valuable tool to get info out there to a larger audience (who would rather probably not pick up a book) but another important element is that they also seem to be more up to date with current info rather than out of date or older info (like you would find by reading an older book).  I am hoping that in 2021 I’ll be able to get through even more as there are plenty of specials still sitting on my shelf waiting to be read!

 

BEST OF 2020: LEGIT THEATER

I wish I could say that 2020 had been a profound year for live theater production but once the pandemic hit pretty much every theater closed its doors for the remainder of the year.  Most postponed an entire season of shows as a precautionary measure.  The only saving grace for most theater companies was government funding and if they were bigger theaters or venues, they were able to offer older shows that had been recorded at a fraction of the cost that it would have been if you had seen it live with full production.

 

This being said, I did manage to see two shows before the lights deemed on the world of live theater.  They were both the only shows that the Atlanta Opera completed for 2020 which were “Porgy & Bess” and “Salome.”  I will not say much of each of the individual shows because they were both amazing productions as brought to you by The Atlanta Opera.  There is nothing like seeing a live performance of an opera show.  Part of the enjoyment is the live orchestra and the singers as they bellow into the venue hall and the dancers as they make every inch of the stage their playground.

 

For this reason, my wife and I decided to forgo the Opera’s two tent shows and decided not to get the subscription to their old shows online.  Part of the great thing about live theater is the atmosphere and the opportunity to meet fellow annual subscription seat holders.  We have generally had the same people sitting on both sides of us for the last two years and even though we cannot always remember their names it was always a joy to see them at the show.  This is one of the experiences that watching a show at home just cannot replicate…ever.

 

Now, I bring this all up because as of now there is still no telling when live theaters will be back up to something even remotely calling normal.  The live theater experience is something extremely important to the communal identity that we have whether we know the people around us or not.  This is one of the reasons why people crave the live theater experience.

 

2021 is looking to be just as hard a year as 2020.  Most theaters are still closed and shall remain closed for the better part of the year if something big does not happen.  I am not anticipating much for this year and when I write this same article for 2021 there may not be much difference.  But I can still hope as should you all.

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

“Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

One of the most disturbing aspects of Disney’s acquisition of the 20^th Century Fox assets is that they will now control what happens to the ALIEN and PREDATOR franchises.  The family oriented company has in its control two of the best horror-sci-fi franchises ever made in these two iconic cinematic monsters and yet I can’t help fearing the worst.  My fears have just been realized when Disney announced new versions of both franchises and for the purpose of this article I will only take a look at the Alien franchise mostly because Predator, in my opinion, can work either as a PG-13 or R franchise.

 

The Alien films have all been pretty much individual film-maker endeavors from Ridley Scott (Alien, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant), David Fincher (Alien 3), James Cameron (Aliens), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection), Paul WS. Anderson (Alien Vs Predator), and The Brothers Strause (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).   Despite the mixed audience and critical response between each of the films, they are a singular vision of the director with the exception of Scott who is the only one to do more than one film.

 

Disney, on the other hand, is a company that produces film by committee so that they can appeal to all audiences.  They want their films to be all inclusive and homogenized and to not offend anyone.  So, in reality they don’t want creative filmmakers, they want filmmakers who understand their brand and can continue that brand.  This is most evident in the franchises surrounding their MCU and Star Wars universes which are homogenized and indistinguishable from one another.   These are all PG-13 films that focus on action and adventure and not horror or gore.  The Alien Xenomorph is not like the kaiju from Pacific Rim; these monsters hide in darkness, have acid for blood, and kill everything – violently. 

 

In Anderson’s Alien Vs Predator the horror is toned down for the action and adventure aspects that he is best known for and even though the film was financially successful fans of the franchise felt a little let down, so with the sequel Requiem, The Brothers Strause decided to craft a slasher film with monsters.  Anderson’s film was Rated PG-13 while The Brothers Strause sequel was Rated R and thought to be a return to form but a slasher film is also what audiences didn’t expect from the franchise.  This film did not sit well with anyone.

 

I mention this because at this point 20^th Century Fox had no idea what to do with the franchise as they couldn’t craft a film for all audiences (Alien Vs Predator) nor a film for the fans (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).  The franchise has been through many different creative hands so why not let the director who started it all come back!

 

Scott’s vision with the franchise was to craft a story that went back to the beginning and in 2012 after a five year gap Prometheus was released to a divided audience that  were disappointed by the film that lacked Xenomorphs and had logic problems.  Scott tried to rectify this with Alien: Covenant but by the time this sequel saw release audiences were no longer interested.  It’s hard to determine what general audiences want from an Alien film especially since the films have had such mixed results, which is not a problem the comic books from Dark Horse Comics have ever had.

 

Two years after Cameron’s Aliens became a Box Office sensation, Dark Horse Comics purchased the rights and created the first mini-series that would help put their company on the map (along with Predator, Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, etc. a lot of film franchises).  This original series was a direct sequel to the film and would bring back popular characters from the films (the character of Ripley would eventually return in the third series Earth War which would conclude the storyline of these film characters).  The most astounding thing about the comic book franchise is the fact that over the last 30+ years the franchise has been kept fresh and interesting and almost at a non-stop pace.  Subsequent series would see the Xenomorphs cross into the DC universe and battle Superman, Batman, and W.I.L.D. Cats as well as battle such iconic figures as Judge Dredd, Hellboy, and Vampirella, to name just a few.  Cross-overs with both the Predators and Prometheus franchises happened on a regular basis but within those thirty years the franchise has remained fresh because of the many different characters and stories that were possible.

 

Dark Horse never had a loss for ideas, so why have the films?

 

One of my fears with Disney is that they will take the franchise and craft something more in line with their MCU and Star Wars franchises.  As the Dark Horse Comics have proven, there is a way to integrate all the different franchises into a “shared” universe (which will make Disney happy) but it couldn’t happen unless you could find a way to make it darker and Rated R (to make the fans happy).  Borrowing from the Dark Horse huge history of storylines would be the best way but since I’m sure Disney will yank their license with the characters (like they did with Star Wars) is soon coming if it already hasn’t happened (I’ve heard that Marvel is now doing a series which I’ll have to see how that all comes about).  It’s not too far off to see the Xenomorphs show up in a MCU television series since they already know aliens of all types exist (so why not just add the Xenomorphs?).

 

I can’t really see Disney making an R Rated film that will be in line with the original franchise.  What I do see is a remake or reboot to fit the Disney mandate which is not something I’d be interested in.  I’ve been a huge fan of the films and comic books since the Cameron film so I’m not looking forward to seeing anything Disney has planned either for the films or comic books.  I can only see it as a complete disaster, but then again I can’t say that all the films in the current franchise have been all that successful but at least they had a vision from their respective directors.

 

Only time will tell what will become of the Xenomorphs under the guidance of the Disney machine and unfortunately if I want to see another film come to fruition that is the only version I’ll be able to see.