Walter White Wednesday 91

With this post, I want to highlight some truly amazing fan art.  Now, I've done this before with Walter White Wednesday (click  here!) but the show continues to inspire people to truly go all-out, so it's time for another round.

First, artist Francesco Francavilla created some wonderful visual tributes to Breaking Bad.  Check out his work in the link!

Next, Hungarian artist Zsolt Molnar (he works under the name Zsutti) created posters for every one of Breaking Bad's 62 episodes.  It took him repeated viewings of each episode to suss out the perfect quote to sum up each episode and it took five months to complete all the posters.  Here's a link explaining the process and here's a link to all 62 posters.  It's some incredible work!  The image at the top of this post is Zsutti's poster for the season five episode "Buried," and as you can see, "X" marks the spot.

In other news, my co-author, Ensley F. Guffey, has been busily putting together his first curated museum exhibit.  No, this one isn't about Breaking Bad - even Bryan Cranston had to move on at some point (seen the Godzilla trailer yet?  It's at the bottom of this post; go check it out!) - instead Ensley's exhibit, Four Color Culture, details how comic books have taken an active role in the political and cultural life of America since the 1930s.  It's going to be a fabulous exhibit and I look forward to hearing his lecture on Sgt. Rock and American memories of World War 2 on March 1.  Join me if you're near Johnson City, TN!  If you can't make the lecture, the exhibit remains on display at the Reece Museum until April 14.

And here's that Godzilla trailer!  In theatres May 16th!

Chasing Creativity

This weekend, I saw both The LEGO Movie and The Monuments Men. At first, I wasn't sure how I could link the two; after all, one is based on an incredibly popular toy of interlocking bricks and the other details a seemingly-oddball effort to save priceless works of Western art during WW2. But the link is actually an easy one - both films deal with the human drive to create. And honestly, both films do it well.

The LEGO Movie is the one getting most of the press. It seemed like the film would be an hour-and-a-half long commercial for colorful snap-together bricks, but nooooooo! Go see this movie. It's heartwarming, has plenty to keep both the kids and the adults in the audience plugged in and it has some serious things to say about creativity vs. conformity wrapped in those plastic bricks. A vast array of vocal talent (Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, and a host of cameos ranging from Jonah Hill to Bill Dee Williams.  Oh, and be on the lookout for Liam Neeson's "Danny Boy") and a solid story. You can create beautiful things by following the rules, but in order to make your efforts truly yours, you have to be willing be a Master Builder with your life. Not a bad lesson to learn. Brought to you by the creative team behind the first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, you'll leave with the catchy, meaningless pop tune "Everything Is Awesome" caught in your head on an endless loop, but don't blame me for that.

The Monuments Men is based on Robert Edsel's bestselling book and details an incredibly unlikely true story about how a small group of art historians and architects were put together and charged with recovering artistic masterpieces stolen by the Nazis as WW2 was winding down. Now, war doesn't really become less dangerous as it "winds down," and these unusual soldiers weren't spring chickens. But there were committed to their mission, which they saw as no less than rescuing the soul of what we were fighting for in the first place. Hitler, who by some accounts was a deeply frustrated painter, dreamed of establishing the ultimate museum and had ordered his commanders to strip Europe of its artistic treasures and both private collections and national museums were laid bare. (Mind you, only "proper" art would be displayed - to this day, we don't know how many pieces by "degenerate" artists such as Chagall, Kandinsky, Marc, and Picasso were summarily destroyed for failing to live up to the Nazi aesthetic ideal.) I enjoyed this movie quite a bit - there are several scenes that literally moved me to tears. (I think some critics wanted more Indiana Jones and were miffed that they got something more deliberate and thoughtful - don't let that keep you away. This is an adventure story and the ensemble cast, which includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman, among others) kept me captivated.) Art matters. It has to. And, as absurd as it may sound to try to rescue a sculpture while men are dying, it matters that much. George Clooney, who directed as well as starring in the film, understands that the audience needs a through-line, so he focuses efforts on two particular pieces - a Michelangelo statue of the Madonna and Child (click on the pictures to enlarge) and a medieval altarpiece (a story that began before the war and continues to this day. Click here for details!). It's a moving film about the power of art and the human desire to, if not create beauty, at least to protect it from destruction.

So - whether you want to create your own art with a click-click-click or swing a paintbrush across a canvas - there's something for you in movie theaters this week!

Walter White Wednesday 35

Breaking Bad is an incredibly detailed and nuanced show that sparks strong reactions in its viewers.  Many of these viewers feel a compulsion to write about the show (ahem), or Tweet, or create in other ways.  One of those ways is through fan art.  Like fanfic (oh, yeah - it's out there), some is good, some is less so, and some is just awesome!  I've tried to feature some fan-created art here with the weekly "Walter White Wednesday" posts and it's high time I pointed you toward some of the fan creations that deserve a good long look.  Some are touching, some are thrilling, and a few are just funny (see top of post - a weakness of mine is my inordinate love for puns).

First, this link takes you to a curated collection titled "Breaking Bad Art Project," which was displayed at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles back in August. The works include both straight up fan art as well as pieces that were commissioned by the event organizer, Paul Scheer.  Show creator Vince Gilligan comments on the exhibit, along with Bryan Cranston (Walt), Bob Odenkirk (Saul), Betsy Brandt (Marie), and RJ Mitte (Walt Jr).  All proceeds went to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of Barbara Slovis, the mother of Breaking Bad's extremely talented cinematographer Michael Slovis.  Great, great stuff.

Buzzfeed collected their "25 Best Pieces of Breaking Bad Fan Art" - lot of focus on Walt here.

Like all good things (and some not-so-good things), Breaking Bad is active on Tumblr, where fans share their artistic creations inspired by the show.

Have you ever thought about taking Breaking Bad and tossing in other characters from other shows?  Like Game of Thrones or (heaven forbid) the Muppets?  Then this is the site for you!

Honestly, there is some wonderful, highly creative, professionally polished stuff out there - both visual art, writing, and video - that's done by fans out of love (or sometimes done by professionals trying to beef up a portfolio, but hey, it's still unpaid) that is well worth seeking out.  Find it, admire it, then let the creator know how much you liked it.  This stuff doesn't create itself, you know!

Until next week, chemistry fans!