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Black Widow

Black Widow

I just spotted this report of Black Widow flash mobs all over the world today, all in the name of encouraging Marvel and Disney that yes, dammit, there is a market for female superhero merchandise, and that superheroes are not just for boys.

I’m not a cosplayer so I can’t really join the flash mobs–even though according to the Mary Sue’s report, there’s one right here in Seattle. To wit: AWESOME. But I love me some Natasha. She is the direct and specific reason that I started digitally subscribing to several of Marvel’s titles. And she’s also the reason that at least two different times, I’ve been complimented on a t-shirt choice–because I found this Black Widow t-shirt on WeLoveFine.com. About THE only place to date that I’ve been able to find any Black Widow shirts at all. And that’s a crying shame.

Because it’s insulting to young girls who might want a Black Widow toy to replace her with Iron Man or Captain America on her own motorcycle. Sure, Iron Man and Captain America are awesome, but y’know what? If you’re a young girl wanting a Widow toy, you want Black Widow.

And if you’re a girl–or a woman, or hell, a Marvel fan of any gender–who wants Natasha on a T-shirt, your money is just as good as the people who’re buying the shirts with the rest of the Avengers on ’em. So it boggles my mind that Marvel and Disney can’t see their way clear to releasing some official shirts. THIS IS NOT DIFFICULT.

In the meantime, WeLoveFine.com has our backs. And I may just have to go give them more of my money.

June 6, 2015 by
The Internet

Amazon vs. Disney: FIGHT!

Amazon is already not looking good on the Internet this weekend, thanks to trying to corral KDP authors into their slapfight with Hachette. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Dara discovered that Amazon is apparently ALSO in a dispute with Disney right now. So if you were looking to preorder copies of Muppets Most Wanted or Maleficent or Captain America: The Winter Soldier on disc from Amazon and found that you can’t, this would be why.

And I gotta say–seriously? I mean, picking a fight with a book publisher is one thing, but going up against the Mouse? And by extension, all the Disney and Marvel fans who want to order their movies? Captain America’s fandom, who have Winter Soldier about to drop on Blu-ray and DVD and who have the money to slurp up hundreds of thousands of copies? You want to piss all these customers off, Amazon?

Amazon even pulled this stunt with Warner earlier this year, too, according to the link above. And when you take all these examples together, and add in Amazon’s dispute with Macmillan a few years back as well, they start making quite the trend. If they keep it up, it’ll become a trend of making themselves unreliable to their customers.

‘Cause see my previous commentary on the Hachette post I put up yesterday. At the end of the day, if a customer comes to Amazon looking for Winter Soldier and sees that they can’t get it, if they REALLY want the movie right then, they’re going to go elsewhere to buy it. Target. Or Best Buy. Or Walmart. Or hell, even the video section of the nearest grocery store.

At the end of the day, all the customer knows is that they want to buy a thing. And if Amazon can’t provide that thing on a reliable, regular basis, eventually they’re going to start taking their business elsewhere.

Best comment I’ve seen on this was in the thread on userinfojames_nicoll‘s post about it, to wit:

Reports from Amazon distribution warehouses show massive Rodent Infestation chewing through stock.

Because YEAH. Pass the popcorn.

ETA: The NY Times has picked up the story!

Whedonesque has also noticed, which brought to my attention that yes, this impacts orders for the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., too.

Which of course leads to the obligatory second best comment I have now spotted, this time on Facebook: “Hail Hydra!”

ETA #2: The Mary Sue has the story now. And another NY Times article goes into both of the Amazon news items from over the weekend here.

August 10, 2014 by
Movies

Movie review: Maleficent

Dara and I were a bit late to seeing this movie; we know it’s been out for weeks now. But we finally got a chance to see it before it vanished from the theaters, and I’m pleased we did. Overall picoreview: pretty good, though I have a bit of a hard time going above that, mostly because both Dara and I wish there would have been more substance to the script.

(ETA: Dara in particular lays down an excellent argument about symmetry–about failing to show us King Stefan sufficiently justifying his evil actions, and Maleficent justifying her good ones. Go see what she has to say, too!)

Overall, though, holy crap Angelina Jolie rocked the hell out of the role. And the costume and wardrobe and makeup people should get an Oscar alone just for the work they did on her eyes, her facial structure, the horns, and the cheekbones. Also, WINGS. Because I mean DAMN.

I’ve been asked if this film is kid-friendly, and I’ll say here what I said on Facebook: that I do have the caveat of not being a parent, and not regularly interacting with children, so I’m not exactly in a position to be the best judge of that. That said, I’d suspect that there’s some intensity here that might be a bit much for younger children, particularly in the violent climax of the story, as well as overall rather adult plot themes. Older children may fare better, but that could depend on the kid.

Spoilers behind the wall of thorns!

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July 19, 2014 by
About Me, Television

Merry Christmas and Happy Doctor Who Day!

No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, I hope it’s going splendidly for you! If you’re with loved ones, may you have excellent food and presents; if you’re spending it alone, may you have something handy to pamper yourself, maybe good music or food or books.

If you are a writer, may your muse give you a present of the best possible words for the stories you want to tell.

And if like me you are a fan of Time Lords, may you enjoy the Doctor Who Christmas special airing tonight! Thank you, BBC America, for airing the new special here in the States in a timely fashion–and uncut as well! 😀

userinfosolarbird and I are going out tonight to see Tangled at Pacific Place and then we’ll be looking for somewhere nice to have Chinese food for dinner! After that, we are totally all over the Doctor Who.

Enjoy your holiday, all!

December 25, 2010 by