Author Archives: Kevin Grew

Halloween 2015 @ The Grew’s House

So I have Salt Lake Comic Con completed my attentions now turn to one of my other passions Halloween. For some LDS people it is not the most desirable holiday but my mind starts going into overdrive when it comes around. I must thank my wife for being such a good sport when it come to my craziness.

What can I do? How can i give the trick and treaters the best experience they have ever had. Each year has to better than the other. I have a good friend who is also into Halloween and we bash ideas around all year on how we can scare our patrons.

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Will Superhero Movies Go The Way of Westerns.

desktop-1441735070Steven Spielberg told the associated press  “There will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western,” That is quite the statement in the current climate of big budget movies filling seats and filling the coffers of the movie Execs. First gut reaction was “What he must be crazy.” I do how ever want to take a more in depth look at the statement.

First of all I live in the town of Kanab also know as Little Hollywood. Why is it called that you ask? Well a good portion of western movies and TV shows were filmed here and their sets still can be seen today. So westerns are a big part of this towns culture and also a lot of the residence still are Cowboys and Gals. The town enjoys the history of the boom of Western movies and we celebrate it every year with the western legends round up.

Westerns did diminish in production that is a fact. Hollywood decided to move on and focus on other genres. They did not how ever stop releasing good western movies here is a list of movies over the past few years and these are just of the top of my head.

  1. Cowboys and Aliens
  2. Django
  3. True Grit
  4. Appaloosa
  5. Priest
  6. 3-10 to Yuma

So is the the genre dead. No It has never been dead. People still want to be that cowboy or out law fighting to survive.

I now come to Superhero movies. We have seen an explosion of good, no great movies that have enthralled the audiences with a chance to step in the shoes of their favorite hero of their childhood. Children are gaining a new respect for these characters too.

Both DC & Marvel have slated movies clear into 2020. Are they going to fill the seats up til then and into the future. I truly think they will because these types of movies are not new to us. Superman debuted in film and TV in the 1950s close to 65 years ago he alone has gone through many an TV show and Movie with huge followings. Many still believe Christopher Reeves is the Best Superman and not too mention the Smallville cult following is immense. I could go through many other comic book heroes and point out all there TV appearance and Movies they have been in but that could take me some time.

Will these movies slow down in popularity. Well more than likely nothing can sustain the growth it is currently enjoying. But will the disappear or become unpopular I say no. People always want to get away from their lives even if it is for two fantastical hours with their hero. Also look at the content available for Hollywood producer to draw on. content that already has a following a base to start from. Hollywood execs know that if they place the right project in the right hands they will be able to fill seats.

Not to say that all Superhero movies are made equal. We currently have had the opportunity to see two franchises that point out that it is all about who is at the helm on whether we receive a movie worth watching.

Guardians of the Galaxy stands out as a story line that had little following and was very obscure content that know one knew. I recall taking to a good friend of mine saying Marvel has done it wrong now. Oh how I was wrong. I went to go and see the movie and I was blown away by how I was drawn into the characters who I knew little about and enjoyed every minute of it.

Then there is Fantastic Four. This franchise was well known and people were excited for the reboot to see if it can live up to their expectation. Unfortunately it fell flat. Disjointed and a confusing plot showed that just putting on the title a famous franchise will not make it money.

So back to Spielberg’s statement to the press “Will they go the way of the western.”  No I do not think so. I think the momentum will slow down but myself and so many others are excited to see where the genre takes us.

 

Inspire and Create

I sat and pondered all weekend of what I would do as my first post on The Geeky Mormon. Should I review the latest movie I had seen or the biggest gossip in the geek world or some intellectual discourse on the finer points of Geekdom. Nothing sat well with me in my mind untilkids I came to this point, “how do my kids see me?”

I am a proud father of 5 kids ranging from 3 to 11 years old. Three girls and two boys, not to be biased they are awesome, but I digress. They each have there own likes and dislikes, hobbies and desires. With a couple, there hobby is to destroy the basement every day when we clean it. I really do not understand! There are situations like flooding and leakage that are enough to call in the basement waterproofing and renovation services per se, but my kids doing that is on another level of a problem! However, even with all other differences, we have one common goal and that is to be together as a family.

A couple of years ago I felt like I needed to do something to inspire my kids to do what their hearts desired. When we look at the world we have a lot of people putting our kids down and telling them to stop dreaming. I knew that I wanted my kids to believe they could do amazing things. My mantra in life from that day forward was, “Don’t limit yourself by what you think you can do but what you dream you can do.” I needed to show that if you believe in something and put the work in to achieving it you can do anything.

Many great people through history have lived to this principle and today we see the benefits of their dreams. If you have the desire you can achieve anything. I wanted to show this principle to my kids, so I began my journey.

I have always been interested in movies, TV, Sci-Fi and comic book universes. I wondered if I could produce my stories and draw the spectacular artwork that is in comic books today. I sat down and began to draw. Wow!! I sucked. I think I burnt my first few sketches due to how bad they were. How was I to teach my kids if I gave up at the first hurdle. This was a big hurdle, I could not draw! I decided to buckle down and study and practice, practice, practice. Slowly I started to see an improvement. Two years later I submitted my art work to the Salt Lake City Comic Con, the third largest comic con in the country to see if I could get a booth. I totally expected a thanks please try again next year, but instead I got an invitation to be in the artist alley.

I did these things to inspire my kids to believe. What happened was amazing. My kids have started to think and dream. My oldest boy William (9 Years old) now produces his own comic strip called The Grumpy Clown. His first few episode of this clowns adventure will be posted very soon. My oldest daughter Hannah (11 years old) a couple of years ago started to write children’s books and she has stored them at her school to allow all the kids in the grades below her to enjoy them.

My youngest three continue to impress me with their creativity and frustrate me with the mess they make.

I think the message from this is that it does not matter how old you are… live your dreams. Take the time and do what you love.

“Don’t limit yourself by what you think you can do but what you dream you can do.”