Movie Talk - The Universal Studios' Mummy Movies

Since we’re in the month of Halloween, I thought it was time to return to the Universal Monsters once again. This time, it’s the Monster with a preference for limping: the Mummy. By the way, I’m going old-school, so there will be no mention of the 2017 trainwreck with Tom Cruise. I still haven’t seen the movie yet but if I get that bored, it might be a watch. Unlike movies such as Dracula and Frankenstein, The Mummy was a bit of an original idea. It was influenced by the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb being found in Egypt. The rumors about curses befalling those who opened those tombs also played into crafting the movie.

I saw The Mummy long ago when it was available at Movie Gallery. As for the other movies, I actually didn’t see those until somewhat recently. When my sister got me and my dad the whole Universal Monster Collection, I pretty much went through the Mummy movies. They were pretty short movies, so it was pretty easy to do. I might have seen one of them as part of a marathon beforehand, but I’m not sure. I did know about them through those Crestwood books I used to pick up at the library. I re-watched them all for this post. There was another movie along with that collection that has Abbott and Costello in it, but I’ll skip it for today.

Favorites - 16 Characters Who Were Recast in Movies/TV

TV and movies can be a bit weird especially when they are serialized. One thing that is definitely a head-turner is when an actor replaces another actor in the same role. The thing that got me on this path was thinking about Harriett Winslow from Family Matters. I vividly remember Judyann Elder replacing the role that Jo Marie Payton had played for almost a decade. That’s just one I've noticed and I thought it was weird. I also saw it a lot on other shows too. Movies even go through this.

The reasons for actors replacing other actors can vary.  Some die during the role. Others get fired or just decide to quit. It can happen at the beginning, during production, or well on into the lifespan of the series. So, here are 16 characters who were recast for a show or movie series. I’ll even throw a game in this too. Hopefully, I can fit all that into a nice title for this post. I’ll only be doing shows and movies I’ve seen, so I’m sorry if I’m leaving your favorite one out. It’s also not in any order as well.

1. Vivian Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) 

This is probably one of the most known recasts. Janet Hubert played Vivian on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for three years. From what I heard and read, she and Will Smith didn’t get along. She supposedly violated her contract (she was pregnant at the time) and got ousted. After that, Daphne Reid was brought in to play Vivian for the rest of the show’s run. She was actually the first Vivian I remember seeing since I didn’t watch the show until the fourth season. She even got to play the part for three years, so it sounds a little equal, you think?

As for which version I liked better, I have to go with Hubert on this one. She seemed to have more of a bite to her. She also kind of got more to do than Reid did. The episode where she decides to go back into dancing is one of her coolest moments. Reid’s Vivian seemed to be more in the background at times. Even though she didn’t much to do, I did like her and she had some good moments. Still, the first Vivian did it for me.

Random Thoughts On... Dynamite's Highlander Series

Outside of the movies and TV series, there isn’t much Highlander tie-in material out there. There are a couple of novels, some comic books, and a couple of video games (mostly cancelled ones), but that’s it. The creators have a tight leash on that property, don’t they? I can’t blame them, though. After all, it hasn’t been all good for the Highlander franchise. There's Highlander 2: the Quickening and other things to consider.

Around 2006, Dynamite Entertainment got the license to produce some Highlander comics. It was the 20^th anniversary of the first movie and there was another movie (Highlander: The Source) in production. Dynamite had a main series and a couple of mini-series but I’m just looking at the main series. I did hear about this comic series some time ago. I even saw the covers for some issues, but I wasn’t that interested in checking them out. It was Highlander Re-Watched that “reignited the Quickening “within me. There was also the fact that the trades were pretty cheap. You can barely turn away something that’s potentially interesting and cheap.

The series lasted 13 issues (#0-#12) and lasted from 2006 to 2007. Since we have another MacLeod showing up with Connor, this takes place in the universe of the TV series. Continuity can get a little confusing with this franchise. Writer Brandon Jerwa wrote it all and Michael Avon Oeming was along for the first arc. They worked closely with David Abramowitz, the creative consultant from the series and the movies. The artwork varied with each storyline.  “The Coldest War” was done by Lee Moder. “New Year’s Eve,” a single issue, was done by Kevin Sharpe. Fabio Laguna handled the third storyline,”Dark Quickening.” The final arc, “Armageddon,” had artwork done by Carlos Rafael.

Random Thoughts #46 - "Dearly Beloved, We're Gathered Here Today To Get Through This Thing Called Life"

The Flash probably has the best super-move in most fighting games.

It's been a while since I've done one of these. I might make this a regular thing again and include some different things. So, before I go to bed after re-sorting books and watching documentaries, I think it's time for some Random Thoughts.

Teeth, Stop Bothering Me!
So far, life's been nice. It's life, so you know you'll get the good and bad. Work's good. God's been good. The family and friends have been nice too especially a certain redhead. More on that some other time. Anyway, my mouth has been the place to go for the last couple of months. First, I got a couple of fillings. Then, I had to get a root canal since a back tooth got infected. I haven't gotten the crown yet, though. I also have a couple of other fillings scheduled for later too. I'm not much of a talker, so I guess this is someone's way of get me to open my mouth more. "Ha ha," I sarcastically say.

"Stuff's Gettin' Weird, Yo!"
It has been a weird year. We've had a lot of weird stuff happen especially in the last few months. It's either a tragedy, something weird, something stupid, or something that's all three. No, I'm going to get too political here, but you might know who I'm talking about. Is it going to get better? I'm not sure. I'll keep praying it does get better. That being said, I'll continue to hone my horrid martial arts skills.

Movies/TV
I think I'm going to make this a more recurring thing. I won't go too in detail since I'll talk about some of these later, though.

• Get Out - I finally saw this some time ago. It was actually a pretty interesting movie that melded psychological horror, comedy, and racial commentary. I liked the main lead and I hope the director, Jordan Peele, gets to do more over time.
• Logan - This was sad but in a good way. It takes Logan and Professor Xavier for one more ride in the X-Universe. The story and acting are great. I also liked the inclusion of X-23. While it's not perfect, it was a nice, somber end to Wolverine. 
• Power Rangers - This was a nice surprise. While it is your standard origin story, it was pretty good. I liked all the new Rangers and Rita was pretty scary in a good way. While it isn't perfect, I thought it was a nice revamp of the original MMPR. I'll touch on this more later, though. Can we get a sequel?
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - I'll touch on this later as well, but all I'll say here is that it was pretty entertaining. It took a lot of the comedy from the first and tried to add some nice heart to it. It also had a pretty good, surprising villain. 
• Wonder Woman - I'll go into detail with this next month, but I can say that this was pretty good. While it's a standard origin story for Diana and it's not perfect, it's a pretty good one.
• Spider-Man: Homecoming - Before I say anything, insert something about Black Panther here. Anyway, I saw this on a date since that was probably the only way I would have seen it. I'll probably remember that day more for other stuff  (good stuff, mind you) than this movie. That being said, I liked it. It's not perfect, but it's the best Spidey movie we've gotten since 2004. Yeah, I said it. It's another I'll touch on more next year.
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Yes, I just saw this in 2017 and I wish I saw it much earlier. I wanted to wait before I saw the third one. If you wondered what a better version of Battle for Planet of the Apes would look like, see Dawn and be amazed. I'll say more later, but what I can say is that it's an almost perfect movie.
• Marvel's Inhumans - So... this was released on ABC and I've saw the first three episodes Friday. It's not good. While the casting looks fine, everything else is a bit crap. That's the best thing I can say about it for now. Maybe it'll get better with the next five episodes (it's only eight eps.) but I'm not holding my breath. 
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - I had to end this list on a positive note, so here's this awesome anime. It had good characters, great action, and pretty interesting story. Check this out even if you're not a fan of anime. 

Well, I'm outta here. I got to get sleep. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. I know there's a lot of crap out there, but try to find the good in life just as long as it isn't illegal in a majority of countries. As I said before, life brings the good and the bad. So, I'll leave you with a hint for November.

"Yeah!"

Favorites - Ten Favorite Superman Villains

Made by Legion472 on Deviant Art.

Well, it’s been a busy month. I think I’ll take a small break after this. Now that I’ve looked at 20-ish villains of Superman’s, you know a list of my favorite ones is next, right? As I said before, Superman has more than Lex Luthor and those two other dudes. Some of them are alien powerhouses.Others were ordinary folk who got transformed into something horrible. Then, you have the ordinary guys who are intelligent, rich, or pretty screwed up in the head. Sometimes, those ordinary guys are all three. I’ve already said a lot on them, so I’ll be quick about it.

TradeTales! - Superman: Up, Up, and Away

Well, I’ve finally gotten to the end of this themed month… at the beginning of October. That happens when one needs a root canal. This time, I think it’s time for a free-for-all. Instead of one villain taking Superman on, have an A-lister and bunches of B/C-listers take him on. There have been a few stories that have done that. Heck, they just did that recently in Action Comics. The one most think of is “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Since I’ve already did that one, I found another that’ll do the trick. You might even recognize aspects of it from another Superman property: Superman Returns.

Superman: Up, Up, and Away was a crossover between Superman (#650-653) and Action Comics (#837-840). It was a part of One Year Later, an imitative that moved the DCU ahead a year. The missing year was covered in the maxi-series, 52. During that year, Clark was powerless ever since his fight with Superboy-Prime in Infinite Crisis.  The story was written by both Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns. Pete Woods handles a majority of the art duties with Renato Guedes doing a couple of issues. So, if you want to see Superman Returns done better, keep reading.

Superman: Up, Up , and Away!

Writers: Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns

Artists: Pete Woods and Renato Guedes

Colorists: Brad Anderson and Renato Guedes

Letters: Jare K. Fletcher, Nick J. Napolitano, and Rob Leigh