Staff Picks of the Week – May 12th, 2017
It is Friday! It is time for the Staff Picks of the Week! You know how this works, each week a select few of our staff members share with you what has been keeping them entertained. But before we get to the picks, let me share with you what is new at Rogues Portal this week! Check out reviews for Superwoman Vol. 1, Secret Weapons #1, Misfit City #1, Bug! The Adventures of Forager #1, and Medisin #1. And that’s just a taste of the reviews! We have plenty more. You know we have you covered with film and TV! This week we review the films: The Lost City of Z, Snatched, and Alien: Covenant. We also have reviews for the latest TV episodes of: Riverdale, Doctor Who:Knock Knock, and Sense8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. came out last week! Check out our review as well as The Secret Origin of Mantis! Stephanie Cooke interviews Hope Nicholson about The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen. And don’t forget our impressive selection of podcasts! Check out new episodes of Scooby Dos or Scooby Don’ts, The Comics Agenda, and The Missfits. All this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the content we produce! Hang out for awhile, comment on some articles and tell us what you think!
Rhian’s Pick of the Week – My pick of the week is the Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again which was aired back in October 2016. It’s a tribute to the 1975 cult classic film Rocky Horror Picture Show, using the original script by Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman. The tribute boasted a solid cast which included Laverne Cox (who did a fantastic job as Dr Frakn N. Furter), Adam Lambert as Eddie (who made Hot Patootie his own), and of course you cannot have a Rocky Horror tribute without having the legend that is Tim Curry play a part in it! I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while and after finding out that it had received mixed reviews I really wanted to see what it was all about… and I loved it! I thought it was a nice fitting tribute to the cult classic. There were some moments where I felt it was slightly over the top but for a tribute it was great! Ryan McCarten, who played Brad, stole the whole show for me! The singing was incredible and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! You cannot ask for more!
Stephanie Pouliotte’s Pick of the Week – I’m sure you’ve all watched the first episodes of the new Starz adaptation of American Gods, I mean who hasn’t? So far the show differs a bit from the novel, enough to make Shadow a more emotionally relatable protagonist, but if you’re looking for an adaptation that stays truly faithful to Gaiman’s original story, you should pick Dark Horse’s ongoing 27-issue comic run American Gods: Shadows (check out my reviews for issue #1 and issue #2!) I’m always down to read all things Gaiman and, aside from maybe Stephen King, he’s probably the current living author with the most adaptations of his writing into comics, movies, and TV shows. I mean getting TWO American Gods adaptations running simultaneously is a first even for him and they both strive to do very different things. Though you could just as easily pick up the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, and Nebula award-winning novel for a re-read, if the show has you craving more of Gaiman’s Gods you’ll get all the good story stuff in the comic, plus the rich and textured illustrations of amazing Scott Hampton, not to mention the wonderfully bizarre variants by well-known Gaiman collaborators like Dave McKean! Issue #3 drops next Wednesday, so be sure to check in early next week for my advanced verdict!
Amelia’s Pick of the Week – My staff pick of the week is the album Achtung Baby from U2. I’ve been re-listening to this album a lot in the last little while because Achtung Baby is always amazing to go back to after a little while away from. I honestly don’t think I would have survived high school without these twelve songs. The album as a whole was on repeat as I penned stories or homework in my room and attempted to forget over the course of an album that I was dirt poor and living with abusers. Say what you want about U2’s music nowadays or about the personalities within the band, but Achtung Baby is timeless, and without a doubt, one of the best albums of all human history.
David’s Pick of the Week – My pick of the week is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2! I am a huge GOTG fan and was blown away at how well made the first one was. It immediately became my favorite Marvel film. Yeah, I might be a little bias though. But nowhere in my wildest dreams that I imagined the sequel being better than first and once again, I was blown away and proven wrong! I really liked Vol.2 better than the original. Each character had a decent amount of screen time and James Gunn developed them so well! My favorite has been and always will be Rocket Raccoon, but I thought Drax stole every scene he was in. I liked how they worked Ego into the story and having Kurt Russel play him was just a bonus. I could go on and on and on talking about the film but I can’t take up six pages with my opinions! So if you are a GOTG fan, I’m sure you have already checked it out. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. My next trip is to see it on IMAX!