Does Whatever a Spider Can?: My thoughts on the Spider-Man movie Franchise and Reboot.

Ok well hope you enjoyed the recent sexy pictures cause right now it's time to act serious once again.

I've been a huge Spider-Man fan ever since the Marvel Cards craze back in 1991. And I had to wait 11 years for a Spider-Man movie to hit the big screen. Well when every movie came out raved about how much I loved it well not all of it was true. Now that I am older and wise I will let you know how i truly feel about each one and my thoughts on the reboot.

Spider-Man (2002)
Okay the first Spider-Man movie when it came out I wouldn't shut up about it and how much I loved it. It's classic it's memorable, however there are a few things i had to deal with:
*Organic web shooters: it's a cool twist but not the classic Spider-Man
*Barely any wisecracks.....that's what we love about Spider-Man
*The awful Green Goblin outfit... I mean Willem Dafoe was awesome however he looked like a metallic asparagus. He shouldve been called the Emerald Elf.
* Peter says "NO" to MJ..... nice going Sam Raimi you made Spidey into a sissy.
*Most of all Ugly Mary Jane: Okay Mary Jane Watson is one of thee most beautiful fictional characters ever created and of all the actresses in Hollywood Raimi pics Kirsten Dunst why......cause her and Tobey have "CHEMSITRY" To hell with Chemistry you can't just act the part you must look it too. I admit I thought Kirsten looked cute in the movie but she just got uglier as the movies went on.

Spider-Man is a classic but just these little things in the movie didn't make it as fun as I wanted it to be.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)
As for Spider-Man 2.....YES!!!!! Perfect. That's how you make a Spider-Man movie. The fight scenes with Doctor Octopus were epic especially the train. Peter finally gets with MJ. They based it off two great stories from Amazing Spider-Man #50 (No More) & Annual 1
(loss of powers). I especially loved that they made Spider-Man less of a menace (only to J. Jonah Jameson) and more of a hero even Aunt May admired him. I never was a fan of Spider-Man fleeing the law. We got to meet Curt Connors and we all were hoping for the Lizard I still feel there could've been room for him too.
My only flaws is they didn't play into Doc Ock's sensitivity to light (except when he fleed the hospital). And MJ's ugliness started to increase.
okay just want to say this is Mary Jane.

This is so Not Mary Jane
That's the Marvel Zombie's version of Mary Jane if you ask me.
However Spider-Man 2 was perfect and superb. And I waited patiently for 3 years when I hearf the rumors that my favorite Villain Venom would arrive.

(I painted this acrylic shortly after Spider-Man 2 trying to visualize what Venom would look like I used references from frogs and snakes to make like a slimey texture to his skin.)

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Well the moment of truth was here. In celebration to Venom's appearance on the big screen I made this gouache painting with egg yolk for my class.

...I dug up every possible reference there was of what Venom would look like to make it.
Venom would finally make it to the big screen. I got to see the movie 4 days before everyone else did. And I even met the real Venom, actor Topher Grace the day after I saw and I actually gave him a print of my Painting. I thought the movie was awesome at the time and I had to deal with a bunch of jerks mocking me for it and not letting me enjoy the movie. Anyway if you really want to know what I think of this movie Well in the words of James Rolfe I have to say "This one Really tips the crap scale" or better yet this movie is a "$#!+load of F#@$!"

Okay where to begin.
1. The movie was almost 2:30 hours long and Spider-Man doesn't get the black costume til the 1st hour they wasted a lot of valuable Venom time.
2. Gwen Stacy had no business being in this movie.... she should've been in the 2nd movie because the second movie was the love story it just created another love story. All she did was make up for all the ugliness we had to deal with when seeing Kirsten Dunst.
3. The Sandman was an Awesome Villain and was great in every scene he was in but Why is he the top Villain when I saw the previews I thought he would've been a Villain for Spider-Man to fight til Venom arrived but no they had to make him a main villain, and just like Norman Osbourne and Otto Octavius they had to snap and have a freak accident to become bad guy well news flash Flint Marko always was bad.
4. Sandman killed Uncle Ben.... okay well you just threw the Power and Responsibility out the window right there.
5. The New Goblin.... Okay you couldnt jsut make him the Green Goblin or Hobgoblin instead you have the Tony Hawk Goblin.
6. Peter Parker dances on tables in the Coffee Bean.... newsflash Sam Raimi it's not the 60s anymore Beatniks rarely exist. All you did was waste screen time.
7. The Black Costume was just a painted version of the Red & Blue.... c'mon we love the black costume from the comics cause it kicked @$$!!!
....I understand that Spider-Woman II wasn't around for him to be inspired to have that look on him and I guess they wanted to separate Spider-Man's look from Venom. They should've at least made the black costume in the movie slowly evolve into the picture you see above.
8. Spider-Man unmasks to talk to people.... I remember when the first movie came out Sam said he wanted us to see Spider-Man's eyes......why. We don't need to see his facial expressions. Spider-Man is not supposed to be that careless about his identity.
9. Spider-Man cries too much!!!
10. Mary Jane is still ugly and dresses like a dude.

Most of all..... SAM RAIMI BUTT RAPES VENOM!!!!!!
Venom is in the movie for only 7 minutes, his awesome face is barely seen cause Topher rather show his face, and to top it all off Venom is killed by a pumpkin bomb which turns him into dust. Sam Raimi avoided every possibly way to no put Venom in the movie cause he wanted Sandman, Vulture, and New Goblin. Well Sam you owe all the die hard Venom fans a huge apology. They couldn't even make Brock live to show a teaser with the alien for a possible full film.

There you have it.... is there anything I like about this movie well...... The Fight Between Spidey & Sandman in the sewer, the Sandman origin, Venom's origin and the one scene you see his tongue, The fights between Peter & Harry, and most of all the scene where Venom kills Harry. Do I hate the movie not to the fullest extent.... but it's just hard to enjoy it.

Spider-Man 4
Well the original cast was gonna return with the main villain going to be the Vulture. Yes they ain't kidding the villain who was thrown in as an extra in the 1st movie video game. And possibly the Black Cat with Anne Hathaway... I mean she's cute but

would look terrible with Platinum hair.
THANK GOD the movie fell through.

Spider-Man Reboot
So this is what it is come down to... start all over again. Well I don't see any other option and I have to say I welcome this reboot in 3D. And well the series starts off with Gwen Stacy and possibly no MJ played by the absolutely adorable Emma Stone. I was shocked cause she would make the perfect Mary Jane but they say she's a natural blond. And the villain is possibly the Lizard alright a new one. If that's the case they should base it off the 1st three episodes of Spectacular Spider-Man. And if I hope to God, do the Venom Saga they should follow that show as well. All i have to say is don't have to make me wait another 7 years to see Venom and done right. And I hope they film more than one movie at once cause the cast wont age much and we'll get to seem them often.

"Elementary... my Dear Christie"

Ok well, I decided not to make this post another Disney one. This post is a tribute to one of my favorite video game femme fatales...










Christie Allen from DOA: Dead or Alive series. The beautiful Platinum Blonde, British Assassin.

This is definitely not the first post she was mentioned on here. A while back did a double page spread of her with the rest of the DOA girls.

I drew this simple sketch of Christie while sitting on a deck upstate, back in May.

Last night I figured it's been long overdue that I drew Christie, full figure, and super hot looking. I'll never forget what grabbed my attention when Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball came out... in the video intro where Christie disrobes
revealing her full nude behind while skinny dipping.
The Result and Inspiration was this sketch...

I had a lot of fun coloring this one!!! Definitely more Christie sketches as well as other DOA babes to come!!!

You Dream About Going Up There...

It's been a while. I replaced the Darkchylde pic below with the uncensored version. Anyway...

I love Disney. I've enjoyed collecting the animation books to a few of their films as well.
As a kid I didn't like Beauty & the Beast being that I saw it as a girl's movie. However I did enjoy the movie the Little Mermaid.
[I also enjoyed the short-lived Broadway Musical, despite the new material. I know a lot of die hard fans didn't buy into it but they had to understand some scenes wouldn't work on stage Like Ursula turning into a human and back (especially since Sherie Rene Scott had a huge costume and that outrageous hairstyle).]


Any way i drew this after my favorite scene in the movie where Ariel becomes human. I was probably the only 8 year old to realize Ariel had no bottoms when she came to the surface. And not to mention just like Betty Boop Cartoons had a hit or miss scene where you see bare behind.

I was inspired by my friend Louis Small Jr. to do the sketch. I played with Ocean Ripple, and Wave to create the reflection.

Sweet Chylde of Mine

Back in High School I bought two issues of Darkchylde, but never really got into it. I'll have to admit that the book to me was nothing more than Eye Candy.


At recent conventions I have been finding the books in dollar bins and buying the issues I need. I always thought Randy Queens art was amazing but lately I've been getting into the story. Although it does make you feel real bad for poor Ariel Chylde... an Innocent girl who can turn into demons and release them into our world. I drew Ariel with Piece cause he cracks me up in fact just looking at him does it for me.

Beauties and Radioactive Beasts Part 2 of 2

Thus we come to a conclusion of Beauties and Radioactive Beasts. And what better way to end it than with the most popular females in the whole Godzilla series. The Twin Fairies of Infant Island (aka The Mothra Fairies, or the Mothra Twins).

These two pint-sized (literally) beauties made their debut in Mothra and were played by Japanese duo The Peanuts. And they also appeared in Mothra vs. Godzilla, and Ghidora, The Three Headed Monster. Another grouped played them in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster but I wasn't to thrilled with them. They fairies would also make appearance in other Godzilla and Mothra series.

Anyway the sketch was based off of Mothra vs. Godzilla with Mothra's egg floating in the ocean. And the twins I drew off the Peanuts. Well in the end I made Godzilla the victor cause it is a little hard to swallow that a giant butterfly can defeat a radioactive dinosaur. And well you can check out my similar rant about the King Kong vs. Godzilla battle. This is the only sketch where I portrayed Godzilla as the bad guy though.

Well hope you enjoyed Beauties and Radioactive Beasts. Certainly not the last Godzilla sketch. And definitely not the last Godzilla with beautiful ladies sketch.

Beauties and Radioactive Beasts

Okay it's been a while since I made a post. Last post was unforgettable. And it's been a while since I posted a Godzilla sketch or a pin-up for that matter. The best is when you can combine the two together.

These sketches are based strictly on the women of Godzilla. I have 2 sketches up of 2 beauties, from 2 cheesy Godzilla films.

Riko


Riko the beautiful jungle girl from Son of Godzilla... she is the reason I bought the DVD. I always loved jungle girls, I originally intended to have Riko passing an orange to Minya the son of Godzilla like in the movie however i saw no room for him. Since the movie had lame insect villains I replaced them with my favorite toho monster other than the king of the monsters... Gorosaurus.

Next up we have.....

Daiyo

Daiyo, played by actress so nice she appeared in a Godzilla movie twice. People fell in love with actress Kumi Mizuno in Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, however I liked her in the following movie as Daiyo the Infant Island Native in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster . Another Godzilla movie that takes place on an island. Daiyo even won the heart of the king of the monsters himself. Even though part was meant for King Kong it's nice to see Godzilla has a taste for human females.

That's it for the "Beauties and Radioactive Beasts" for now. I have one more or should i say two beauties of the Godzilla films coming up next.

Pam Grier is Here!

Well a long awaited feat of mine was accomplished last night. I got to meet one of my muses and favorite actresses, Pam Grier. Now on my blog I tend to be quite the wisecracker on here but tonight I like to act out of character for once and be serious.

Over three years ago I was mentored by legendary Pulp / Pin-Up artist Robert McGinnis and learning from him I wanted to learn the secrets and great tips on making beautiful ladies. So for the mentor project I wanted to do a pin-up painting and I wanted it to be Vintage Looking so I said to myself I always wanted to make a nice picture of Pam Grier and I used that opportunity to make one.

The Painting went from Watercolor, to Gouache and accidently Acrylic (which I thought was goauche). And the results was this........You've seen sketches and teasers for this before on the blog, quite possibly my best painting ever. And it's what made me want to continue pin-ups. And it was clear from then on that Pam Grier was a very special MUSE to me.
I always said over and over that I want to give her a copy of this. I never realized three years later the dream would become a reality.

Pam Grier was at Barnes & Noble Tribeca last night signing her memoir Foxy: My Life in Three Acts. And after a long dispute of leaving work early I managed to actually make to the event. Before the signing took place Pam gave us an hour long discussion about what she went through in life. The stories she told were very heartbreaking about her being raped twice (and almost a third) and battling cancer and overcoming the obstacles to beat it even though doctors told her she had 18 months to live over a decade ago. There were lots of laughs to when she mentioned about her relationships with Kareem Abdull-Jabbar and Richard Pryor (she didn't mention Freddie Prinze Sr.). And the most amazing thing of all is after all she's been through... she is 61 and looks as great as she did in the 70s. If you ask me her inner beauty must've crawled outside to make her look and feel young. Pam was very sweet and down to Earth and when she mentioned how the fans who loved and supported her meant a lot to her and made her thankful I put my thumb up to it which Pam noticed, thanked me personally and put her hands over her heart to show how she felt about people like me. I was touched.

After the discussion was over it was time for the signing and the moment of truth arrived as I approached her and told her what an inspiration she was as an actress, role model, andMUSE to me personally I gave her a print of my painting signed, matted, and framed....
She loved it. She thanked me said it was "fabulous" and that I was "very good." Hearing Pam's beautiful words of wisdom made me melt and feel on top of the world. My year is made thanks to her. Thank You Pam for being such a sweetheart and a great role model to us all.
God Bless You Pam!

Long Live the King... of the Monsters!!!

Well everyone remembers my 1st sketch of Godzilla vs. King Kong in Hong Kong. Then since it got so many "likes" on facebook that I made another sketch with them along with a library of Toho monsters. Well it's time I finally end this battle between Godzilla "The King of the Monsters" and the original "8th Wonder of the World" King Kong.The Battle ends in New York City And the Winner is.....
Godzilla!!! I based this off the Perseus sculpture in Florence at the Piazza Del' Signore. Instead of a sword I gave Godzilla the top of the Empire State Building.

LOVE, Jennifer Style!

Hi everyone,

So tonight I got to meet Jennifer Love Hewitt. A beautiful talented celebrity i felt like I kind of grew up with.

She was signing her new book The Day I Shot Cupid at Barnes & Noble. I got their early so I was able to get a pass to the Q&A into the signing. Now when I purchased the book I had to deal with this whiny little British twit give us all these strict ultimatums about the signing and how if we sneak a pic to get autographed other than the book they would go all "Bad Cop" on us. Anyways getting the autograph wasn't the highlight of my night.

Last week I worked real hard into making her a sketch. Yes I like to make my favorite females into Botticelli's Venus.


Unfortunately the little twit said whatever gifts to give Jennifer are not aloud to be given to her and they will be given to a staff member that will supposedly be given to her. Well I was gonna try every attempt to give her the sketch so she can see it. So how we were seated at the Q&A my part of the line was put into this corner which she happened to pass I just quickly pulled out the sketch and said "This is for you" She said Thank you and said I would love ot look at this but my eyes are little blind from the cameras and paparazzi. It was awesome!

Dead or Alive: To the Xtreme

Hey everyone. Ever since buying Dead Or Alive: Xtreme 2 for X-Box 360 last year I became a fan and started to admire the characters. Especially the lovely platinum British Assassin Christie (see 2nd to last post).

Then DOA4 and the movie followed into my collection.

I've been wanting to draw Christie and the others for a while now and I finally did.
I bought a set of 36 Prismacolor pencils. As you noticed most of my sketches I use a color shade over most of my sketches so I figured why not use the best colored pencils. However it got to the point I just want to fully render my figures.

Anyways I made this sketch while waiting in anticipation for DOA Paradise on PSP. Finally a portable DOA game.

My Sketchy Valentine

Well today was Valentine's Day and would you know it I'm single again. So instead of sitting in my pjs playing Video Games I decided to go to Craig Yoe's Artist & Models drawing session to take my mind off it and help me focus on my project. Yeah I know it's a long commute from Staten Island to Peekskill but it was well worth it.

Red Sonja eat your heart out!!
Okay so there was no bloody head. The model had a wooden sword and a mardi gras mask so i tried to make it a little of my imagination. Just like when I added the cigar in the last post.

Yoe, Check these Sketches out!

Went to Craig Yoe's drawing session in Peekskill, NY for the first time. For once I was in a class I was guaranteed a great looking model.... in such a long time. And there wasn't too many damn 1 minute poses and more long poses which made it worth while.

I uploaded this one short pose pic cause Amy the model was posed in front of a mirror and I had tried to put her reflection in within the 5 minute time span.

20 Minute Sketch
Doing this 25 minute reclining pose was more than enough time for me and I actually felt relaxed not worrying about time.

Mine and everybody's favorite sketch... that I did today. Once I finished the the sketch i decide to have fun with by throwing the cigar and replace the dangling earrings with hoops. Well thing was when i made the sketch she reminded me of one of my favorite video game characters of British Assassin, Christie

from the DOA: Dead or Alive series.

Out of the Inkwell... onto the Bristol...with Prismacolor.

Everyone remembers this classic sketch.

Well here is the continuation to that sketch and Popeye has made his decision. I made the sketch for my girlfriend. This time i colored it with Prismacolor markers instead of Photoshop.

Avatar

I was mesmerized by the Avatar movie.

I was so into the story I feel it stole from the effects.
It was definitely a movie where you rooted against the humans, which wasn't a first. I always rooted for Godzilla in all his movie, and the Killer Whale in Orca (except when he bit off Bo Derek's leg... that was just wrong)
It's obvious that Neyriti is my favorite character. One thing I liked about drawing her was that the Na'vi's anatomy is a bit elongated that I didn't have to worry to much with making it precise.

Destroy All Monsters

Hello and Happy New Year!
Since my Godzilla vs. King Kong sketch became a hit on Facebook I decided to make the battle continue. By throwing in more Toho monsters including: Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mothra, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Gigan, and the Son of Godzilla himself Minya. A theatrical Godzilla vs. Kong rematch is a must.