From time to time, Mendelson's Memos is able to present reviews and/or essays from guest writers, as is the case this afternoon. Merrill Barr is a frequent analyzer and reviewer of television for both blogs and podcasts. A former contributor to FilmSchoolRejects.com, he currently runs the television podcasts The Idiot Boxers and Operation: Nikita for FatGuysAtTheMovies.com and occasionally provides written reviews for DarkMediaOnline.com. He can be found on twitter (@sonic43), Facebook (facebook.com/merrilljbarr) and Tumblr (TheIdiotsBox.com). He can also be contacted via email at TheIdiotBoxers@gmail.com. Please enjoy, share, and comment.Four years ago, when it came to movie hype, there was no greater combination of studio marketing and rabid fandom than Comic-Con. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Green Lantern, Twilight, Captain America, Piranha 3D, Avatar, Scott Pilgrim, Cowboys & Aliens, The Avengers, if your movie had even a sliver of nerdy potential (and sometimes not at all [Salt]) you went to the annual San Diego Comic Book Convention, better known as just 'Comic-Con'. But that mentality is shifting in movie land. The downside to a massive marketing push like Comic-Con is – and let’s not beat around the bush, that it is all marketing. Really cool, sometimes clever and intelligent marketing, but marketing none the less – is that there needs to be results. The problem is that it’s hard to differentiate the impact of Comic-Con vs. every other piece of marketing inside the box office because of one thing… Time.
Timing is everything. Every film’s marketing campaign is a strategic practice in the art of timing. This TV spot, or this trailer, or this poster, or this interview, or this review at this time is what research and past experience says will yield the greatest result. The problem with Comic-Con is that it takes that system and throws it out the window. Often times, films being promoted at the convention are due to be released as far as a year out. And therein lay the dilemma studios face. Is the money worth it? We aren't just talking about the cost of a few plane tickets and hotel rooms for the cast, director and writer. Sometimes we’re talking upwards of hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to rent out theaters for exclusive screenings, bands to perform live shows, workers to build fully functional and walk-able attractions.
The only way to make that money back is in the box office. But it became clear after films like Cowboys & Aliens, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Tron Legacy either bombed or disappointed in ticket sales that the expenditure wasn’t worth it for a property no one has heard of outside the con. And if they have heard of the property, then there is no need to spread the word at Comic-Con. If you’re attending the convention, you already know that Whedon is directing The Avengers, Bane is the villain in the next Batman film and Peter Jackson filmed The Hobbit at 48fps. You don’t need the studio expenditure of the con to inform you of that, especially when you have to wait upwards of a year to see the final result. But that game changes with television.
When shows like Teen Wolf, Psych, Burn Notice, The Legend of Korra, Warehouse 13, Sons of Anarchy and Nikita go to Comic-Con, the studios don’t have to wait months to see the result of their expense. They wait days, weeks at the most for the Nielsen ratings to come in. And if past season are already on services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and iTunes, the bump in streaming numbers is either going to be there or it won’t. For television, the expense of Comic-Con makes sense because fans can either see the final product of past episodes right then and there or they only have to wait a few weeks (two months tops) for the show to premiere. Last year, while Disney was busy pulling The Avengers out of Comic-Con, the television networks held over one hundred panels for various shows across all demographics. And the result of that labor was clear and decisive.
Television going to Comic-Con makes sense because television is a medium built on immediacy. It’s a medium built on social conversation before, DURING and after the program airs. Film, while some may view as the superior medium, is slow. Comic-Con is anything but. While no one is saying that some cool stuff isn’t shown for movies at Comic-Con, it’s become clear the expense is not worth the result. But television, thanks to the digital age and a generational need for “I want it now,” can take advantage of the benefits the convention offers. It’s just a matter of timing.
Merrill Barr
Much of this is speculation, so bare with me. Jeff Snyder over at Variety reported today that Channing Tatum and Will Arnett have been cast as voices in Warner Bros' new Lego movie. The bad news is that yes there is a Lego movie coming, but the good news is that it's being directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, they of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street (so they are two for two so far). The even better and more curious news is that the live-action/animation hybrid Lego: The Piece of Resistance is casting Tatum as Superman and Arnett as Batman. Yup, Justice League may or may not ever happen and Wolfgang Peterson's Superman Vs. Batman project is a distant memory, but we will indeed be seeing an big-screen team-up of the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel in some form. That's certainly amusing and perhaps noteworthy, but a little imagination leads to an even more insane possibility. In short, what if Warner Bros. gets the rights to use all or most of the various properties that Lego currently has? 
As a huge X-Men fan reading the comics in the early 90's you know I love me all of Jim Lee's Blue and Gold teams costume designs, so the default Cyclops in my mind and the version I want of him in every collection/scale/series is this one right here. Not only is he my default Cyclops but the 90's Blue and Gold Teams is the definitive incarnation of the X-Men I always want to see completed, we got about under half of them made so far, still need the likes of 90's Bishop and 90's Beast, and a couple others in their 90's costumes. Most of Cyke's body I believe is the Hawkeye mold, with he's head, forearms, hands, and lower legs being new pieces with soft plastic straps, and he's trademark chest baldric to complete he's costume.
All of he's slip-on pieces have superbly painted on details, the red and black for X's is mandatory, but the touches of gold on he's belts and straps are a real amazing stand out I was really surprised by. In addition to he's new parts Slim sports the new thigh cut articulation giving him well over 20 points of articulation, making him one of the most poseable Marvel Universe figures on par with he's son Cable and series mate Scarlet Spider. This rendition of the X-Men leader is a true must have for all X-Men fans and MU collectors, and one step closer to completing the Blue and Gold Teams.
Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny stared out as a trilogy of Sega Saturn games which was then compiled in to one single game, and then become a novelization. The Blue Destiny project, where three upgraded RX-79 Gundam units were installed with the EXAM System which gives the pilots Newtype level piloting abilities. Blue Destiny Unit 2 was hijack and used by Zeon Ace pilot Nimbus Schterzen after he's EXAM equipped Efreet Custom was destroyed in combat against the Blue Destiny Unit 1.
I being totally intrigued with getting this model kit for a long time for multiple reasons like being a Gundam all in one color other then white, the white arm joints, and he's beam rifle being molded in two separate colors. Being an upgraded version on the RX-79 he uses the same armaments in beam rifle and beam sabers, and even has the extra ammo clips for a 100mm machine gun which he doesn't come with. Like the RX-79 series Unit 2 store he's beam saber in the calf of he's legs which the model recreates by removing the holster door and reattaching at an angle to appear opened.
There's an interesting case of reversed censorship going on: "You call yourself 'Fat Amy?'" "Yes, so skinny b*** like you won't do it behind my back." Amy is bringing out what is usually kept within one's mind or under one's breath so, by bringing out what is usually kept hidden--commentary about her weight and figure--we may discover how this is a trick for Amy to cover up something else. 
When we first see a picture of Stacee Jaxx in the film, it's a poster and he's wearing a silver cock piece of a satanic head with a very long, red tongue sticking out of its mouth, and Stacee's own tongue sticking out as well. In the video excerpt below when Patty (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is rallying some Catholic church women to her political cause, a poster of Stacee Jaxx has been placed over the altar as the anti-Christ; at about 0:26 into the video, there is a shot of the famous poster:
Before Stacee goes to the Bourbon Room for the second time, he calls the office of Rolling Stone magazine from a pay phone to talk to "Cinderella" (because he can't remember Constance's name). Why does this happen? Stacee Jaxx is a multi-millionaire (and in the 1980's that still meant something), so why call from a pay phone? Those who read my post on Night Of the Living Dead (last October) might remember the artistic importance of a ringing phone, making a call, answering a call: it symbolizes our destiny. Stacee is "calling out" to Constance and the pay phone lets the audience know the price that Stacee is willing to pay to get back with her--what price? The self-destructive fame trap which everyone seems to crave, but everyone seems to die in.
Last thing: the role of animals.
Why?
Dear Readers,
I am about to go into cardiac arrest writing the review for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, I am so angry about it. I hate it when you take the time to visit the site and I don't have anything new up, so here is a pop quiz to test your skills of analysis (if we don't do this once in a while, you won't realize how good you are becoming on your own!). Please remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Please watch this once, and don't worry about "noting anything," your first impressions are going to be really important; then, watch it again to start analyzing. I have listed questions below to help you and the lyrics are below that! This is Delta Rae's, Bottom Of the River:
