"They’re My Friends. I Made Them."

Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese.

Saw this on Netflix, and I say it's pure art.

A study of masculinity, existentialism, isolation, and delusion.

It's hard to believe it, but Hades (the Greek god of the Underworld) had 3 encounters with his nephew Heracles (Hercules) and was left humiliated. Each. Time.

The most well-known encounter is when Heracles travelled to the Underworld to capture the three-headed hound Cerberus for his 12th and final labor. Hades told his nephew that he could only take Cerberus if he could subdue him without using any weapons. But clever Heracles used the impenetrable Nemean Lion skin he wore as a makeshift muzzle and wrestled Cerberus until he was worn out.

The second time, Hades came to the surface to collect the soul of Queen Alcestis, who agreed to die in place of her husband King Admetus. But Heracles didn't like the idea of the happy couple's love being cut short and wrestled Hades into submission, just like he did his dog.

The third instance is the strangest though. When Heracles attacks the city of Pylos after its king refuses to purify him of his sins, Hades arrives to either collect the dead from the battlefield or defend the city (depending on the version). Either way, when Heracles sees his uncle, he shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow and Hades retreats to Olympus where Apollo heals his wound.

Fun fact: 

There is a good reason why TMNT is one of the most successful franchises of all time, because it got off to a really good start. It was produced independently by Eastman and Laird using money from a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle. The original Ninja Turtles comic remains one of the grittiest, striking, and memorable comics I have ever read. Before the turtles became pop culture reference spewing goofballs, they were badass, red bandana wearing, merciless ninjas who eliminated their enemies often swiftly and quietly. In the original run, the turtles killed Shredder at least three times. 

The comic was a huge eye opener for me. It was the first time I ever realized how different adaptations can be from their source material. That comic encouraged me to go back and read all the books and comics that all of my favorite movies and tv shows were based on (a pursuit I have continued to this very day).

Blade Runner by Ridley Scott.

Based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

I'm a huge fan of this film, it's one of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time.

Blade Runner is simply one of those cinematic candies, that when I first saw it on Netflix, I never saw the world the same way again.

Check it out and feel the visual boundaries of cinema expand.

Frank Frazetta's "Self Portrait".

Frans Francken the Younger’s "Chamber of Art and Antiquities" (1636). 

A painting depicting a 17th century cabinet of curiosities made up of art, collectibles, and oddities from the natural world.

A scene from Studio Ghibli's most timeless, underrated masterpiece....

It's worth mentioning that Miyazaki has a personal affinity with pigs. He often draws himself as a pig and even created a whole film starring a man turned pig, "Porco Rosso" (I love it. The end.).

Allison Schulnik's great claymation short, “Eager”.

War of the Worlds (2005) by Steven Spielberg.

I love Spielberg's adaptation of War of the Worlds.

It's a remarkable film, and one of Spielberg's great dream films, in the way that sometimes you'll have a dream, and it will start out meaning one thing, but by the end it will mean something else.

Sometimes I think that without the first Blade movie and Dark City (1998), there would have been no Matrix as we know it. It wouldn't have been a thing.