It’s Indy Day! Fanboys to Sport at Least a “Semi” All Day!
Only 19 years since the last movie (I was only six at the time, ahem), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (that’s a lot of typing) arrives today (or last night at midnight, if you’re a true fanboy)! In honor of this momentous occasion, Fanboys of the Universe officially declares May 22, 2008 as Indy Day! Woohoo!
What does this entail, you ask? Well, for starters, everyone can now skip work or school and go see the movie!* Also, you’re allowed to wear your fedora and carry a whip (and it’s not even Sunday afternoon beer bust at the Faultline)! Finally, grab your favorite twink in a leather jacket or silver-haired daddy with a whip and go for a long, romantic motorcycle ride straight to your local movie theater! And popcorn is free!*
Happy Indy Day from FBOTU!
*Warning! Indy Day benefits may not actually exist outside my own head.
I picked up Season Three of The Muppet Show yesterday. See how I made that sound so casual? The truth is that I drove to the store specifically to get my hands on Season Three of The Muppet Show yesterday. I’m loving having all of these on DVD. As many times as I’ve seen the show, there are still bits and pieces that I’ve somehow forgotten or were edited out of subsequent broadcasts. Season Three boasts a long list of gay icons to enjoy, too, including Liberace, Gilda Radner, Cheryl Ladd and Lesley Ann Warren. The special features this time around include an instructional video from 1968, featuring Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Jerry Juhl demonstrating the different kinds of puppetry. Also from the vintage file are the Purina dog food commercials featuring Rowlf and Baskerville from the early 60s. There’s also a new short documentary called A Company of Players that could have been three hours long and I wouldn’t have minded. It gives some great background and behind-the-scenes info on the performers and the origin and development of our favorite characters. As I watch each episode, I’ll post some thoughts in the Forum. Because I know the world is just dying to hear my thoughts on this.
After a two-week hiatus, the Fanboys of the Universe podcast is back! In this episode, LongSufferingBoyfriend Michael, Adam and I do a quick run-down on the big fanboy movies coming to a theater near you this summer! Sex and the City is not among them. Here are a few highlights:
Indiana Jones and the Hot Twink
Will Indy finally give up on the ladies and indulge in the love that dare not speak its name with a reckless young pupil named Mutt? Was Indy’s fear of snakes just a Freudian denial of his true feelings? Hopefully, the new move will explain it all.
The Incredible Suck
Marvel and Edward Norton give us the movie no one asked for. Well, it’s the thought that counts.
We Are the Dark Knights Who Say “Ni!”
I try to explain to Michael and Adam that when two grown men who wear makeup and costumes are obsessed with each other and engage in a twisted relationship of power and prowess, it might just be kind of gay.
Nights in the Batcave can get a little wild. Sometimes the Boy Wonder gets cocky and needs some firm, but loving mentoring by his guardian. Luckily, the Batman has these nifty bat-cuffs on his utility belt.
Entertainment Earth describes these little beauties thusly: “Reproduced for the first time ever as a high-quality prop replica, these metal Bat-Cuffs unlock with a special bat-shaped key. They fold in half for easy transport, or can be displayed on the included stand.”
Displayed on a stand or folded in half for easy transport...I think I know which one I would choose. I’d have those suckers ready to go at a moment’s notice. “You’ve been a very bad boy, Robin.” For $136.99, you can have a pair of your very own.
Chance is traveling for a couple of days, so Razz-Bel stepped in to offer a few of his own fanboy thoughts! Thanks, Razz-Bel! Enjoy!
When I was a child, many things used to scare me to no end: monsters, the darkness, squash and...my secret. Even at a young age, I was more than aware of my difference to most other little boys. The thought of coming out of the closet scared me more than anything else could. When I was a pre-teen, I forced myself to get into horror movies to try and get over my fears. Slowly, I learned to love the things I hated. Including myself.
Early on, I developed a love-hate relationship with all things zombie. From Michael Jackson’s Thriller video to my shocking discovery of the terrors in Return of the Living Dead. Horror filled my mind when the writhing, dried-out upper torso of the female corpse monster explained that it hurts to be dead. That burned into my tiny impressionable brain. The same brain she would eat if given a chance. I didn’t sleep comfortably for about a week!
I grew older and like any normal teen, my sexual urges became more prominent, and so did my nightmares about the living dead. “What would my parents and friends think about me?” I’d wonder. “What sort of monster would they see me as?” In my dreams, the creatures were always trying to reach out to me. Suddenly appearing out of thin air. Coming at me in gigantic masses, or one at a time. Sometimes they’d just sit and stare at me as if to say, “We see you. You can try to hide, but we always see you.”
Hyperdictionary.com has this listing under Monsters in their dream dictionary: “Monsters represent parts of yourself that you find brutish and ugly. You may possess some fears or some repressed emotions.” Yup! Sounds like me at 16. I realized the undead were my way of putting a face on my fear. I was separating myself from others and pretending to be myself, when in reality I was only lying to myself. It took a while, but I eventually realized that I’d have to stop running and turn and face those rotting zombie demons head on! (Same goes for squash. Which isn’t too bad when you mix a little cheese with it.) I had to embrace who I was and not treat myself like a whipping boy. Like any good hero, I came out and faced the problem head on. Although I did make a mess, the monsters pretty much stopped coming around.
However, whenever I’m stressed out or not happy with some aspect of my life, the zombies return. Like when I had reached my limit of tolerance at my last job, they’d come back into my dreams and tell me the same as before. “We see you. You’re not really living. You can’t hide forever.”
It’s FBOTM Friday! That means there’s new shots of Reinaldo in the Gallery! If you’re just joining us, Reinaldo is our Fanboy of the Month for May. You can read his bio here.
P.S. If you’re interested in being an FBOTM, e-me at . We’ll be doing another FBOTM photo shoot at Comic Con in July. So let me know if you’re going to be in San Diego and if you’re up for the challenge!
After years of rumors, speculation and development, it looks like the Fraggle Rock movie is a go! According to Variety, The Weinstein Company and The Jim Henson Company are working together to bring Gobo, Mokey, Wimbley, Boober and Red to the big screen! Cory Edwards (Hoodwinked!) is set to direct. I loved Fraggle Rock as a kid and I’m looking forward to having them back in some form. And I hope they can get the original cast. It would be great to introduce a whole new generation to the Faggles...I mean Fraggles.
How have comic book superhero tights, capes and freakshows influenced fashion? If you are in New York or planning to go to New York, be sure to check out this exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
May 7, 2008–September 1, 2008
Special Exhibition Galleries, 1st floor
Image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture and high-performance sportswear, the exhibit reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. Objects are organized thematically around particular superheroes, whose movie costumes and superpowers fuel discussion on comic books and fashion. If you go, please give us a report!
