055: Constantine 1x02 "The Darkness Beneath" - The G-Word

SPOILERS UP TO (and including) CONSTANTINE 1x02

In this episode:

• Discussion of Constantine 1x02 "The Darkness Beneath," including racism, shirtless Matt Ryan, and ethics in gaming journalism storytelling.
• Yeah, we weren't happy with the portrayal of a Romani woman, the use of the G-word, and everything wrapped up in that. To say the least.
• We liked Zed, though!
• Urban fantasy and supernatural dramas on TV
• If NBC's Constantine hopes to last in the modern market, they're going to need to figure out how to set themselves apart.
• Constantine, Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes, and tracing the effects and responsibilities of adaptation

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Between both of us being sick, me having a cough, the episode's problematic material getting in the way of the plot, Fio's computer crashing, Fio's microphone giving him issues, and (most heinous of all) the recorder cutting off our goodbye's at the end, I completely forgot to mention that I was on another podcast last week!
• Some of you may recall Kenny from our Horror in RPGs episode. I had the pleasure of joining him and his co-hosts on the Halloween-themed episode of their podcast, Lag Time. We discussed gameinformer's Top 25 Horror Games of All Time, I retold my P.T. story, and much fun was had. Also, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT.
• Also-also, I wrote the music for their intro and outro, the latter of which can be found as a full-length song here on iTunes.
• From Fio's timestamps/notes: "I’m talking about miner ghosts, how did we not mention Scooby Doo? That sounds exactly like a Scooby Doo episode."

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners" - Foo Fighters | YouTube | iTunes |

(Header image taken from http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view-screencap.php?tv-show=constantine-2014&image=s01e02_292)

http://archive.org/download/AMOT055/AMOT055.mp3

054: Constantine 1x01 "Non Est Asylum" - Pilot Problems

SPOILERS FOR THE HELLBLAZER COMIC SERIES and NBC’S CONSTANTINE 1x01.

In this episode:

• The premier of NBC's Constantine has come and gone. What are the particular successes and failures of this adaptation and what does that mean for whatever the rest of the series has in store?
• Long story mercifully short, the pilot has the same kind of problems that plague pilots periodically. That's not an excuse, but it's not exactly a surprise.
• Of course, you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out what those problems are. That's how we get ya.
• At the end of the pilot, Liv is no longer an active participant in the events of the series (I'd mark this with spoilers, but it's been all over media news so if you're interested in the show you've probably heard about it). How they handled her departure was... not awesome. Hamhanded, sure, but at least they weren't horrifically awful about it.
• We discuss the taxonomy of horror fiction and where Constantine seems to see itself on that spectrum.

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Our horror movie suggestions for the holiday:
• The Innkeepers
• The Quiet Ones
• Horns
• You're Next
• The Horror of Dracula
• Dracula has Risen from the Grave

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Ring of Fire" - Social Distortion | YouTube | iTunes |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT054/AMOT054.mp3

B06: It's Cold In This House, Pt. IV

In this episode:

• The fourth of four installments of "It's Cold In This House," a short story Ian wrote back in high school.
• Sixteen-year-old Erica and her parents are staying in the home of her childhood friend Kurt while they move into a new house. When Kurt and Erica investigate an open window in the middle of the night, neither of them are prepared for what follows.
• Written, performed, and music by Ian Doherty.
• The whole story:
• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV (this post)

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Sorry this is so late. Didn't really get a chance to work on it until later Sunday night, and then there was The Walking Dead and such, so. Yeah. ^^;
• We hope that if you've enjoyed this, you'll check out our regular podcast episodes as well! (If you weren't already listening to those.) The next one will be up this Thursday on this very feed, and we'll be discussing the first episode of NBC's Constantine.
• Happy Halloween! :)

http://archive.org/download/AMOTB06/AMOTB06.mp3

B05: It's Cold In This House, Pt. III

In this episode:

• The third of four installments of "It's Cold In This House," a short story Ian wrote back in high school.
• Sixteen-year-old Erica and her parents are staying in the home of her childhood friend Kurt while they move into a new house. When Kurt and Erica investigate an open window in the middle of the night, neither of them are prepared for what follows.
• Written, performed, and music by Ian Doherty.
• The whole story:
• Part I
• Part II
• Part III (this post)
• Part IV

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Apparently I was really a fan of the word "abyss" when I wrote this story.

http://archive.org/download/AMOTB05/AMOTB05.mp3

053: Constantine and His Magical Friends

SPOILERS FOR THE HELLBLAZER COMIC SERIES, NBC’S CONSTANTINE 1x01, CONSTANTINE, and SILENT HILL (2006). Mild spoilers for THE WALKING DEAD SEASONS 2, 3, & 4; SUPERNATURAL SEASONS 4 & 5; GOTHAM SEASON 1; and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER SEASON 1.

In this episode:

• Friend of the show Christina joins us as we do our best to give you an overview of what makes Constantine so awesome and why we're so excited / worried about this adaptation.
• Christina actually got to see an advance screening of the pilot at NYCC. Her verdict is mostly positive.
• Pros? Matt Ryan seems to have a good handle on the character and some of the scenes have a definite X-Files vibe going for them
• Cons? Pacing issues (which are pretty much par for the course as far as pilots are concerned) and some of the characters are still struggling to find their voices. The effects are also a little hit and miss.
• Let's address the elephant(s) in the room: Constantine (2005) is a decent supernatural thriller but we can't in good conscience call it a Constantine movie. The New52 Constantine just doesn't feel like a good fit when it comes to his place in the wider DCU and he seems hamstringed (hamstrung?) by the rating of the mainstream DC books.
• We also gripe about the New52 and our issues with DC's "House Style."
• Actually, there's a lot of pissing and moaning about comics in this one. Fair warning.
• Part of that is the assertion that DarknGritty seem to be uttered in the same breath when it comes to the direction to take stories in recent years, but they're really two different concepts that don't necessarily have to go hand in hand.
• Christina regales us with stories of early HellBlazer, especially the way in which it grapples with social issues of the time.
• Comics are inherently political media. That's not really part of the podcast, I'm just soap-boxing at this point.
• We speculate on the state of the universe this adaptation is going to take place in. We already know from the presence of Dr. Fate's helmet in the trailer that there's a wider magical universe out there, but what exactly is the composition of that universe?
• Most importantly, how close will this adaptation cleave to Judeo-Christian Mythology and the Good / Evil binary that have been nearly ubiquitous in network supernatural TV series thus far.
• Also importantly, are we going to see Zatanna or Swamp Thing at any point during this adaptation?

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Christina recently launched a podcast called Bond Girls located over at Deadshirt.net. You can find it here and here.
• As far as further reading to catch you up to speed on exactly who Constantine is before the show begins, Christina recommends the HellBlazer trades Original Sins and Dangerous Habits.
• We get into a lot of asides during this recording. They don't really venture into super spoiler-y territory, but in case you're worried, they cover Twin Peaks, Sleepy Hollow, Ghostbusters 3 Rumors, The Walking Dead, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham, Supernatural, DC's New52, Marvel's Ultimate Universe, Bones, and Leverage.

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Don't Fear the Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult | YouTube | iTunes |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT053/AMOT053.mp3

B04: It's Cold In This House, Pt. II

In this episode:

• The second of four installments of "It's Cold In This House," a short story Ian wrote back in high school.
• Sixteen-year-old Erica and her parents are staying in the home of her childhood friend Kurt while they move into a new house. When Kurt and Erica investigate an open window in the middle of the night, neither of them are prepared for what follows.
• Written, performed, and music by Ian Doherty.
• The whole story:
• Part I
• Part II (this post)
• Part III
• Part IV

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Yeah, these are probably going to be a Sunday thing from now on.
• In case you didn't see it: Last post Fio was quick to inform me that I was not the only person dressed in Halloween-appropriate garb (as depicted in the header image). My apologies.

 http://archive.org/download/AMOTB04/AMOTB04.mp3

B03: It's Cold In This House, Pt. I

In this episode:

• The first of four installments of "It's Cold In This House," a short story Ian wrote back in high school.
• Sixteen-year-old Erica and her parents are staying in the home of her childhood friend Kurt while they move into a new house. When Kurt and Erica investigate an open window in the middle of the night, neither of them are prepared for what follows.
• Written, performed, and music by Ian Doherty.
• The whole story:
• Part I (this post)
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Sorry this is so late. Originally there wasn't going to be music, but my brain won't let me half-ass anything, so once I was like "Hey! I could do music for this!", I couldn't not. I think it was worth it, but who am I to judge? 
• Holy flashbacks, Batman.

(Header image: Me, freshman year of college, done up very simply as a character from this story. It was Halloween, and our writing club decided we should dress up as characters from our own fiction. I'm proud to say that, IIRC, I was the only person whose costume was particularly Halloween appropriate.)

http://archive.org/download/AMOTB03/AMOTB03.mp3