More on Boba Fett...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Writer-director James Mangold should watch the 2012 Dredd film (starring Karl Urban as Judge Dredd)—if he hasn't done so already—to see how the tone for a Boba Fett movie should be like. You can read my full review of Dredd here. That is all.

Image of the Day: A Mandalorian Artwork...

In honor of Boba Fett getting his own Star Wars movie soon, just thought I'd share this artwork that I drew of the Mandalorian Commando 23 years ago...when I was a freshman in high school, and George Lucas recently announced that he was gonna film the prequel trilogy. The Boba Fett spin-off is set to be written and directed by James Mangold, who helmed last year's X-Men flick Logan and such movies as 1999's Girl, Interrupted, 2005's acclaimed Walk the Line and 2007's 3:10 to Yuma (one of my favorite all-time Westerns). Boba Fett, as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi, are two of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars saga who'll get their own films after Episode IX hits theaters in December of next year.

And speaking of another beloved Star Wars character, I can't wait to watch Solo: A Star Wars Story at AMC Theatres tomorrow! I'll post my (hopefully positive) review of it by this Sunday. Happy Friday.

Godzilla, King Kong and the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

So how many of my fellow comic book/film geeks realized that not only did Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) co-star in Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla movie, but Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) both appeared in last year's Kong: Skull Island...which is set in the same cinematic universe as Godzilla (leading to the King of the Monsters and the Giant Gorilla confronting each other in 2020's Godzilla vs. Kong)?

Apparently, if you want to speculate about who the next actor and actress will be to star in the MCU, just watch a monster flick that Warner Bros. (the studio that owns the American film rights to Godzilla and King Kong) churns out in the future! Carry on.

VENOM: A Selfie with the Symbiote...

To commemorate the October release of the Spider-Man spinoff film Venom—starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed—Sony Pictures set up this website where you can upload a selfie and incorporate it with the Symbiote as seen in the official theatrical poster above. I recommend that you do this on your computer instead of on your smartphone...as you have much greater control in rotating and/or cropping your selfie to make sure it convincingly matches the size of the Symbiote in this pic. I'll probably create another image, but this time with a selfie of me pretending to look a lot angrier to make the pic more intense.

Venom arrives in theaters nationwide on October 5 (the day after my birthday). Carry on.

Image of the Day #2: Work-in-Progress Photos of My Marvel Drawings...

Just thought I'd share these work-in-progress pics that I took of the Black Panther, Iron Man, Spider-Man (a.k.a. 'Iron Spider' in Avengers: Infinity War) and Thanos artwork that I posted late last month. As you can see with my past couple of blog entries, I'm on a bit of a Marvel binge right now. Happy Saturday!

Image of the Day: Getting Ready for CAPTAIN MARVEL...

Even though this poster is fan-made (I stumbled upon it online), it totally makes me stoked to watch Captain Marvel when it hits theaters nationwide on March 8, 2019! We'll see what the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most powerful heroine (played by Oscar winner Brie Larson) has in store for Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet next year. And yes, I plan on watching Avengers: Infinity War at the theater again (I saw it last Saturday at a matinee screening). I have my tix for the 10:40 AM showing at AMC Theatres this Saturday. Carry on!

Back in the Day: IRON MAN Is Unveiled to the World...

Ten years ago today, the first Iron Man film arrived in theaters nationwide and began a franchise that currently spans 19 movies and culminated in the record-breaking success of Avengers: Infinity War last weekend. Back in 2008, it was Warner Bros. and DC's The Dark Knight that took the box office crown that year (with the Chris Nolan movie earning $535 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide)...but Iron Man's "modest" success (it made $318 million domestically and $585 million worldwide) was only a precursor to the major financial windfall that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would enjoy over the next decade.

While Warner Bros. strives to achieve the same kind of success with its future DC Expanded Universe movies like it did with last year's Wonder Woman (we'll see if Justice League 2 ever gets made, even though I enjoyed the first film last November), Disney and Marvel Studios can only ponder about the amount of box office gold they will achieve once Infinity War completes its epic run in cinemas, with this July's Ant-Man and the Wasp and next March's Captain Marvel (and of course, the still-untitled Avengers 4 next May) lurking on the horizon. But this blog entry is about the flick that started it all.

Much props should go to Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard (I hope he's not beating himself up too much over the amount of money he could've earned if he wasn't replaced by Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine before 2010's Iron Man 2), Clark Gregg and director Jon Favreau for allowing the MCU to become what it is today. Oh, and let's not forget about Samuel L. Jackson—whose end credit appearance as Nick Fury and his immortal words "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative" would lead to cinematic history. That is all.

Images of the Day: The AVENGERS Are Back on the Big Screen...

To commemorate the nationwide release of Avengers: Infinity War in cinemas tonight, just thought I'd share these illustrations that I recently drew of Black Panther, Iron Man, Spider-Man (in his 'Iron Spider' suit from Infinity War) and their Infinity Gauntlet-wearing nemesis: Thanos, the Mad Titan. I myself will be watching the movie during a matinee screening at AMC Theatres this Saturday. 10:45 AM, to be exact.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I usually prefer using traditional markers to color my artwork instead of a digital paint program—'cause I'm old-school like that. But I do like utilizing Adobe Photoshop for cool lighting effects...as shown in my Iron Man, Iron Spider and Thanos drawings. Happy Thursday!

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY... The Final Poster and Theatrical Trailer Are Here!

A few hours ago, Disney aired a new preview for Ron Howard's upcoming Star Wars installment during American Idol on ABC TV. The preview—which should appear on the big screen in front of Avengers: Infinity War less than three weeks from now—finally gives us a hint about what the main story will be. Needless to say, it's a heist film, just like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is, but on a smaller, more comedic scale. And I'm diggin' it. The new trailer gave me more confidence that Alden Ehrenreich will do a commendable job impersonating the great Harrison Ford in his take as Han Solo. Donald Glover looks more and more awesome as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke is gorgeous as Qi'Ra, Woody Harrelson will once again play a mentor figure (like he did to Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games franchise)...this time to Solo, and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) definitely looks like he'll get to shine in Solo: A Star Wars Story (compared to the amount of screentime he had in The Last Jedi). And of course, the Millennium Falcon will have its own origin story as well. Can't wait to see how badass Paul Bettany will be as Dryden Vos; ditto with the mysterious Enfys Nest (the actress who plays her hasn't yet been revealed).



There are so many cool images in the new Solo trailer that I couldn't fit most of them here. But why would you want screenshots anyway when I posted the trailer itself at the very bottom of this blog entry? I hope you're as excited for this new Star Wars flick as I am! If not—well, there's also the start of filming for Star Wars: Episode IX to look forward to this summer (in late July, to be exact). That is all.

---

THE SHAPE OF WATER Wins Best Picture!

In honor of Guillermo del Toro's latest film winning the Academy Award for Best Picture (plus Best Director, Original Score and Production Design) tonight, just thought I'd share these pics that I took at a special screening for The Shape of Water on February 22. Guillermo del Toro and his co-writer Vanessa Taylor were on-hand after the movie ended to discuss the adventure-fantasy drama at Landmark Theatres in west Los Angeles. Needless to day, del Toro is a genius! He is absolutely inspirational... There are so many insightful things that he said during the Q&A last month, but this one comment stood out: "Cinema has been around for over a hundred years. All you have is your voice." So true.

It doesn't matter if a certain story has been retold over and over on the big screen since the dawn of the 20th century. All that matters is that you put your own personal spin on this tale—much like how George Lucas put a spin on old Flash Gordon sci-fi serials as well as western and Japanese samurai flicks by creating Star Wars, Ridley Scott brought back sword-and-sandal epics with Gladiator, horror films were re-defined by the Scream, Saw, and Paranormal Activity franchises, and James Cameron put a spin on Fern Gully and Dances with Wolves with Avatar. Though um, I think that last example isn't particularly flattering to Mr. Cameron... But the message still stands: Even if the story may not be completely original, write it anyway with the knowledge that you're hopefully adding a neat twist to it via your own unique idiosyncrasy. Carry on.

Oh, and congrats to retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant on winning an Oscar for his animated short film Dear Basketball tonight!