Author: Jim MacQuarrie

When he's not arming children for the zombie apocalypse or coaching the USC Trojan Archery team, Jim is writing about "all the stuff that would have gotten you a wedgie in 1976" at AtomicJunkShop.com and serving as the President of CAPS, the Comic Art Professional Society. His kids are all grown up, and his wife is patiently waiting for him to do likewise.
Dogsled team in 'The Call of the Wild'

Ten Things Parents Should Know About ‘The Call of the Wild’

Jim MacQuarrie1

Beautifully photographed, the latest film version of ‘The Call of the Wild’ is a warm and family-friendly adventure story. Perhaps too family-friendly. The film follows the same basic story as the novel, with a deliberate softening of most of London’s dark and violent moments in order to produce a PG-rated version, and minimizes or eliminates the book’s bloody confrontations. The resulting film is entertaining, but somewhat inconsequential, though it may spur some viewers to read the source material.

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Han Solo and Chewbacca in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story.'

10 Things Parents Should Know About ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

Jim MacQuarrie

Solo, the latest entry in the Star Wars saga is a fast-paced action movie, a heist film, a love story, a buddy picture, and also incidentally an origin story for one of the best characters in the franchise. Ever wonder where Han Solo came from? How he met Chewbacca? What happened between him and Lando Calrissian? What the heck is the Kessel Run? Those questions are just the jumping-on point for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

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10 Things Parents Should Know About ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’

Jim MacQuarrie

The long-awaited sequel to Marvel’s most oddball film has finally arrived, opening May 5 in the US, and it lives up to the promise of the first. Visually spectacular, action-packed, with a surprisingly resonant emotional core, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 fleshes out the eclectic crew and their relationships, brings in new characters, and provides a big chunk of Oedipal drama to think about on the way home.

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Madison McLaughlin as Artemis in the 'Arrow' episode "What We Leave Behind."

Artemis Returns: A Chat With Madison McLaughlin

Jim MacQuarrie

Actress Madison McLaughlin joined the cast of ‘Arrow’ as Evelyn Sharp at the end of the fourth season and returned this year to join Team Arrow as Artemis; she turned evil and revealed that she was working undercover for bad guy Prometheus a few episodes back and has not been seen since. Producer Marc Guggenheim tweeted that Artemis returns to the show this week. I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her career.

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The Doctor Strange Cast Talks

Jim MacQuarrie

The Beverly Hills Montage Hotel welcomed most of the cast of Doctor Strange for a press conference on October 20. Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen and Benedict Wong, along with Producer Kevin Feige and Director Scott Derrickson answered questions from the audience and moderator Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood, talking about Marvel’s 14th movie, the second installment of “Phase 3.”

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‘Leave it to Chance’ 20th Anniversary Slips By Unnoticed

Jim MacQuarrie7

Before there was a Harry Potter, there was Chance Falconer. Smart, fearless, resourceful, Chance is exactly the girl hero that young readers and their parents are eagerly seeking today, and yet very few people know she exists. How Scholastic hasn’t snapped up ‘Leave it to Chance’ is a mystery to me, but now that the 20th anniversary of the series’ debut is upon us, it’s long past time to sing her praises and see if anyone notices.

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‘Captain America: Civil War’: How to Make an Ensemble Super-Hero Film

Jim MacQuarrie3

The third installment of Marvel’s ‘Captain America’ franchise could just as easily be marketed as the third ‘Avengers’ movie, though Cap is front-and-center enough to justify the branding, and the film serves more as a sequel to ‘Winter Soldier’ than ‘Age of Ultron.’ The latter film is a significant contributor to the story, particularly in its introduction of several vital cast members.

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Cap vs. Iron Man: The Press Panel

Jim MacQuarrie

On Sunday, April 10, the cast of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ assembled in a ballroom at West Hollywood’s London Hotel to field questions from reporters. Divided into two groups, “Team Iron Man” and “Team Cap,” much of the resulting conversation was virtually impossible to accurately transcribe, being thoroughly punctuated with snarky comments, jokes, and constant laughter.

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‘Frank and Steinway’ Kickstarter

Jim MacQuarrie

Wil Panganiban’s ‘Frank and Steinway’ is an entertaining and amusing comic strip built around the premise that Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula were laid off by the movie studio and forced to seek other employment. They end up as roommates, working at a Starbucks and trying to keep afloat in hard times. Panganiban is currently running a Kickstarter campaign in order to finance publication of a second book of his collected strips.

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Long Beach Comic Expo Ticket Giveaway

Jim MacQuarrie

Our friends at the upcoming Long Beach Comic Expo were kind enough to partner with us to give away free tickets. We have two sets of two to give to you!. That’s two FULL weekend passes, good for 2/20 & 21 at the The Long Beach Convention & Exposition Center in Long Beach CA. If that’s in driving distance to you, you should totally enter.

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