It’s March! The first quarter of 2017 is over and, whatever part of the globe you’ve been on, this year has been pretty friggin’ crazy. So, with this issue, instead of fighting it, we’re going in all the way. This month, we’re bringing you the WILD CARD EDITION. There’s no rhyme or reason. It’s all the mind-blowing, thought-provoking content we could pack into one newsletter! Let our selections be an escape, a reflection, and a balm from the full-on circus happening outside your front door! Let’s keep each other sane!
All indie. All Awesome
FILM
Written and Directed by Marco Kalentari
Would you give your soul to save the world? In just over fifteen minutes, we dive into a world that’s completely unlike our own. An old tradition is given new life when a society that is close to extinction fights back. Joshua, the Shaman, is the bridge between the survivors and the enemy. This is differently a must watch! Check out their website at MarcoKalantari.com.
Code 8 – (unfortunately it’s) A Short Film
The Must-See of the Year! Why isn’t this 90 minutes?! I was blown away when I sat down to watch the Sci-Fi short, Code 8! The world receives a game changer when a low percentage of humans gains supernatural powers. The movie follows the changelings as they try to stay under the radar and survive. The only downside of this film is that it’s just the beginning! Never miss an update by following the creative team behind Code 8 on Twitter @Code8Movie
The Narrow World
A Papaya Films Production, directed by Brent Bonacorso
With love, we are never alone in the universe. Like District 9, this film will stick with you. Unlike District 9, you will feel warm and fuzzy inside. There were times during this film that I forgot I was watching a “mock”-umentary. You quickly become so invested in the characters surrounding the alien visitor. Plus, with the perfect song choice at the end setting up the perfect emotional mood, you may be using the excuse of something being in your eye. Never miss an update from Papaya Films by following them on Twitter @PapayaFilms
“Wire Cutters” – An Animation Short
A Jack Anderson Film
You know that saying, “When you play dirty, you can’t win.”? Watch as your emotions rollercoaster from love to hate in the darker version of “Wall-e”. This animated short tells a story of two workers on the grind as they are programmed to only work alone. What makes this short impressive is not the fantastic graphics but the fact that this is an award winning student film! Find out why greed is the scariest monster and check out this fantastic animation now! Never miss an update by following the director, Jack Anderson on Twitter @JackAnders
BOOKS
Dragon Sisters by Joyce Chng: An excellent fable full of heart and sympathy, but in this book it’s not just for the humans but for the “beasts” in our tales as well. Recommended for anybody who wants more from Chinese culture, mythology, and dragons than Disney will ever provide. (Which is, like, yes! Added excellence: this book is interspersed with loads of traditional recipes for lots of the tasty royal dishes featured in the tale!)
No Return: A Novel of Jeroun by Zachary Jernigan: Genre-blending kicked up to 12 on a scale of 10. Ass-kicking clerics? Check. Shape-shifting bio-mechs? Check. Several sentient species vying for supremacy? Hello. A warrior traveling with the ghost of her daughter? Yes, please. All on one planet about to go to war with its god? Yes! Coupled with writing so visceral yet crisp that the world of Jeroun becomes a 3D environment. Fiction for risk-takers.
The Coyote Kings, Book One: Space-age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust: You haven’t had this much fun with inventive wordplay and warp-speed imagination since Dr. Seuss first thrilled you. Bros before Mechs? Not in Hamza and Yehat’s world, the 2 Gen-X geeks who kick off this tale. This is the one that began Minister Faust’s cult trajectory, and he’s blazed new indie trails ever since.
COMICS
As great a psychiatrist as Dr. Frasier Crane may be, when the Avengers or X-Men need to talk about their latest conversion to evil or sidekick betrayal, they don’t go to him, they talk to Dr. Brain. Shrinking the Heroes (formerly known as From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain) by Minister Faust is an incisive, super mashup of sitcom antics and high-powered adventure.
I was super fortunate to get an autographed copy of David F. Walker’s book The Adventures of Darius Logan Book One: Super Justice Force, a novel about a young black man given an extraordinary second chance after a horrific attack kills his family. Left alone, Darius dances on the edge of good and evil until a near-death incident with the cops lands him with the Super Justice Force, the ultimate mashup of the JLA, Avengers, X-Men, Legion of Superheroes, Teen Titans, and the Defenders.
Before Mark Millar’s Jupiter’s Circle, a comic about the children of superheroes, there was After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn, author of the Kitty Norville series. Golden Age is the story of forensic accountant Celia West, daughter of the world’s greatest superheroes, and her struggle to live her life outside the shadow of their greatness as a normal everyday woman.
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