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Needing A Break .....

11/16/2018

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I've been working endless hours on screenplays in the horror genre mainly the Slasher sub genre for over 5 years now and while I've dabbled in other genres when writing I've only released Horror films . 

I've been asking myself the same question many times a day lately, that question being "How many times can you reinvent the wheel?" Think about that question in the context of everything you've read to this point ..  

By : Jamie Santamore
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I love horror and I love writing horror but there comes a time when you want to challenge yourself creatively I can write a Slasher screenplay in a day or two because it come so easily to me. that's not a challenge at all . I've been thinking about this for about a year now and I started working on a few projects outside of the horror genre and while they are projects that I'm very passionate about they are well outside my comfort zone . 

One is a Action / hero story the other is a Sci-Fi story that I'm really into right now both screenplays have had many different drafts because I'm working to make them as close to perfectly written as I can before moving forward with them . 

I don't want people to think I'm turning my back on horror because I'm not I love the genre and I will always come back to it (Shhh I'm working on a project secretly that will be my return to the genre after I get a few non horror project out) 

I will complete the Sins of Man Trilogy and my short Suspense / Thriller "The Vengeful One" then I will be taking a break from the horror / Slasher genre for an extended period of time to recharge my brain and hopefully expand my skill set and be an even better writer when it's all said and done. 

This decision is not one I came to easily because I love horror so much but I also have other interests I love Sci-Fi Star Wars, Terminator, Predator, Independence Day, Aliens these are some of my favorite Sci-Fi films . I'm very much an action movie fan Die Hard being my favorite action movie . I also love the Marvel and DC Superhero movies as well. 

I'll give you alittle bit of info on each project . The Sci-Fi project is going to have some cool characters in it with a great story (Alot more complex then a slasher script)  I think I have a cool story to tell that I've been ironing out the details and lining things up for about 6 months now (I had a title before I had written one line of outline) I will be writing another draft of the script shortly. 

Now as far as the Action / hero screenplay this is a story that I have always wanted to write. This is another complex story that I feel is much more complex then a slasher film it has more moving parts and characters that we root for and others we root against.  This project is dedicated to my brother who inspired me to challenge myself with this story. 

This departure from the horror / slasher genre is something I feel I have to do in order to grow as an artist and writer . I can't stress this enough this isn't goodbye to the horror world more like Until next time ..... 

STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :) 
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Where Things Stand Right Now & Looking To The Future ....

11/12/2018

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BY : Jamie Santamore

Things have been touch and go for a long time here at Wicked Carnival Productions with the expansion of Top Guy Productions (Our short film house) and the relaunch on The Maine Morgue YouTube channel . Now it's no secret that we have had many false starts on the film side of our business and that's very much my fault for picking the projects that I did, they way they were shot and all the post production work that goes into those projects and I take 100% of the blame for those decisions . 

I've always been 100 percent transparent with my fans and supporters and I always will be and that is why I'm writing this blog today . Now I've done Six videos for The Maine Morgue and have enjoyed doing them and the biggest reason I enjoy doing them is they are done in house here in my office, I shoot them here, make the intro and outtero packages here as well as mix the audio tracks here in house. 

If A video doesn't get shot it falls on me  I try to shoot and release a couple of videos a week but it's hard with a family life, three autistic children, health issues of my own and running two companies, five twitter pages, 5 facebook accounts, 5 e-mail accounts, 2 websites, an instagram account and the YouTube channel things can get out of control quickly and without me really seeing it . 

I'm focused on getting The Maine Morgue off the ground and if film projects come to be that's great. With all of that said I would like to say that this is NOT me quitting making films. I have 5 scripts that are supposed to be shot over the next several years with my partner Chris Fyfe who is an amazingly talent person who is in high demand right now and simply doesn't have time to work with me on these projects and I'm not even mad about it. Chris is working on his projects building his already huge brand each and everyday and I'm happy for him he deserves all the success he's having . I have friends who I gave them their break into film and they are killin' it out there on the big and small screen respectfully and I'm happy for each and everyone of them as well . 

AGAIN I want to state I am NOT quitting film making or shutting down Wicked Carnival Productions I'm simply stating that with everything happening right now I can't continue on this path of writing scripts just for the sake of writing scripts that are just taking up space on my computer they may never see the light of day. I'm channeling my energy into The Maine Morgue and having fun with that . 

I love every single person I've ever worked with in this industry and have no ill will towards anyone I simply need to focus on they projects that I can control and not the ones that I need a team around me to complete because I simply do not have the team right now to make those projects happen. 

I'm in a good place right now and I CAN NOT stress enough that I an NOT quitting film making simply waiting for the time to be right to move forward ......

Until Next Time Stay Safe out there and Stay Humble, Stay Hungry my friends !
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I Want to say THANK YOU !!!

11/7/2018

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BY : JAMIE SANTAMORE
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN and The Maine Morgue !!

10/31/2018

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN Ghosts and Ghouls !! I hope you have a FUN and SAFE time out there tonight from taking the kids out to get candy to the wild and crazy parties we're all going to. This blog will be a mash up of several ideas I've had recently. 

I've been dealing with several things both personally and professionally and I'm not the type to broadcast them allover the internet I would like to say that those issues are the reason I've been silent for so long here on the website. 


By : JAMIE SANTAMORE

I wasn't sure if I was going to write this blog for a long time and today because it's the best day of the year HALLOWEEN I've decided to write it and just get it out there. I've had a rough couple years both personally and professionally and it's not really a big secret ..... 

I've had issues / problems getting my last to film projects finished and released and while it's hard for me as a creator to justify these delays to the audience I have recently discovered that these delays have been a blessing MORE then a curse . 

I have been able to focus more on writing better scripts for future projects as well as relaunch my YouTube channel The Maine Morgue which is something that I'm very passionate about .   I LOVE talking about horror movies admittedly slashers are my topic of choice. I like going on social media and talking with fans of the genre from across the globe because we are all such amazing people in this fan base. 

I've uploaded four new Halloween themed videos on the channel in the last week and I love doing them, they are getting steady views . I've been battling with doing more videos or simply doing an audio podcast style show. I'm a very animated and passionate person so I decided to do a video series . I have a few concerns with doing videos the first is that I'm not comfortable in front of the camera and I figure the best way to get better is to be in front of the camera, right ?? 

My other concern is what to do about a "Set" for the show.. I live in a small house and my office is the smallest place in the house and my current set for the show is my wall(s) that house my horror autograph collection. I like the set but wonder if it's too on the nose about what the show is and what I want it to be ??  

Lastly I want to talk about views and viewership of the channel. I see people who I look up to on YouTube like Mike and J from WWAM (We Watched A Movie) and Dave McRae, The Cinema Snob (Stoned Gremlin Productions) and Drumdums who I love all their content I looked at their videos and want to model my channel after their while making it my own at the same time. 

Drumdums' channel game me the idea to use my horror autograph covered walls as the set for my channel so THANK YOU Drumdums ! I like the way Dave McRae does his videos he's smart and you can tell he knows his stuff. WWAM they are just great and you can tell they are friends the way they play off each other. I love The Snob as well he's just fun to watch. (Why does he love the Ben Trammer character from Halloween II so much ?) 

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Halloween 2018 and Turning 40 ......

8/29/2018

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I think it's cool that I'm the same age as the greatest slasher movie of all time are the same age .... (That's my opinion you are entitled to your own of course) 

For awhile I thought The Shape of Water over took John Carpenter's masterpiece as my favorite movie of all time but I came back to The Shape because as much as I loved The Shape of Water I don't think any film can stay in my heart like Halloween has .... 

By : Jamie Santamore

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The Maine Morgue Update !

7/19/2018

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The Maine Morgue is something that is near and dear to my heart and was a concept that I worked on for a long time before I launched it as a vlog series where I talk about all things horror and movies in general . 

I've made no secret that I love horror more then any other genre of film and I stand by that no matter what. I do love Superhero movies, Actioon movies, Science Fiction movies and many other genres of film but horror will always have my bloody heart. 

By : Jamie Santamore

The Maine Morgue is and has always been something that I want to develop into something special. I'm currently trying to book as many interviews with Horror celebrities. I have two print interviews already up under The Maine Morgue tab on the site here and will be completing my first audio interview at the end of the month so that will be going up asap. I'm looking to book as many interviews as I possible can so I can keep fresh content coming up on the site as much as I can.  

I think I can make this page something special for my fellow horror fans. I may need some help along the way but I will do my best to do it all by myself. I have an audio recorder on my laptop as well as a screen to load my questions on to. I hope to make the The Maine Morgue interactive at some point so readers of the website can send in their questions and have my quests answer them.  That would be fun, right !?

I will try to get interviews with Horror celebrities that you want to hear about. Send me an e-mail with some of the people you would like to see me interview and I'll do my best to lock down interviews with them. 

I will be focusing more time and energy on The Maine Morgue while I'm waiting for Projects to line up and start shooting so if you want me to interview a celebrity let me know and I will try to get one done ! 

​Stay Humble, Stay Hungry My Friends :) 
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The Journey That Lead Me To Sins of Man : Tribulation ......

7/10/2018

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By : Jamie Santamore

I've talked many times about the Sins of Man trilogy and how I was able to write the first drafts of the scripts in less then a month and that is something I'm very proud of, I'm not going to lie. One thing I've come to know about screenwriting is that until you start shooting the movie the script can and usually does go through changes no matter how well it's written. 

Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis was my first film and what an up and down battle it was from start to finish to get that movie written, cast, shot and released. we managed to get it done because we had a cast and crew who refused to quit, we put many hours of blood, sweat and tears into that movie, will it win an Oscar? no but we did it and that was the point for me I wanted to make that movie just to prove people wrong. 

When we were gearing up to shoot the sequel Sins of Man : Vengeance I looked at the first draft of the script that I had written nearly two years prior and understood that with all the changes we made to the script / story of Rise of Mortis that Vengeance would have to go through a MAJOR rewrite which was something I was not really looking forward to. Immediately I had two main cast members who are at the center of the story moving forward refuse to return for the sequel for travel reasons which I understood but they had both agreed to return for the sequel. so that meant I would have to create two new characters to take their places. As a new screenwriter I found this difficult because I had the story mapped out for the entire trilogy and now had to change most of the moving parts moving forward.

I put together a really good story with characters and elements that I felt fans would root for and against like they should in a slasher movie. and cast a great group of actors to bring them to life. I love the casting process because you get to meet like minded people who want to see you make your movies as much as you do because it gets them work. so I assemble the cast and my cameraman / producer/ editor Chris Fyfe comes back to help out and we end up directing the movie together . we had alot of struggles on set with cast blows, cast members no showing up to shoot, cast members drinking during meal break and not being able to perform afterward. just all the stuff that makes shooting a movie on a tight budget and a tight schedule more intense. We had to rewrite the finale of Vengeance on set because two of the actors decided not to show up and they were the major players in the scenes. so the six of us sat around a table at a local pizza place (Cumberland House of Pizza) eating dinner and hashed out the rest of the story and got it done. 

As we are driving home after a late night shoot Chris and I were talking about me having to rewrite the entire Sins of Man : Tribulation script because NOTHING from Vengeance would match up to it which I knew already I started working on the Tribulation script on August 17th 2016 with one weekend left to shoot on Vengeance. ( The intent was to release the film on Halloween 2016 which didn't happen for a number of reasons. so with the release date for the film passed we decided to shelf Tribulation and focus on a different project just to keep our names out there so I put together a screenplay for a short film titled "The Vengeful One"  it was a tall order for me to write this script because the first two films had gone so far off the rails from what I pictured in my head and I was very displeased with this because the scripts were beautifully written (Not masterpieces but the story had a good pace to it while having twists and turns that fans enjoy and in my opinion the best twist ending I've ever written. 

I completed the first rewrite of Tribulation on January 5th 2017 and I thought it was very well written and flowed well with what we had done with Vengeance. 
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My Thoughts On How To "Fix" Iron Fist .......

6/26/2018

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Since I blogged about my rankings of the Marvel Netflix shows I've received dozen's of e-mails about my order things like "How could you rank Luke Cage Season 2 dead last?" but most of the messages were about my ranking of Iron Fist so high on the list. 

In many of the e-mails I was asked the same question "What would you do to "fix" Iron Fist in Season 2?"  In this blog I will detail my ideas for Iron Fist Season 2 . 

By : Jamie Santamore

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Right off the bat I want to make something clear Iron Fist season 1 was far from perfect, I know that  but for the people saying it was the worst thing Marvel has ever done I would like to direct you to The Daredevil movie from 2003... (I'm kidding the movie wasn't bad for the most part)

I've had people say to me that Danny Rand isn't a character that they can get behind because he's whiny and I agree with that to a point. I believe Finn Jones played Danny in a way that he and the bosses of the show thought would show this man who grew up in a place where things are completely different without his parents to guide him and mold him into a man. I feel the struggles that Danny Rand has been through in his life are lost on the majority of the audience who watched this show for the fight scenes and the story line was secondary. 

The Fight scenes in this show were pretty cool in my opinion now with that said they weren't perfect but they were cool and they looked great . 

The Hand being the main villain's of the season was great because we learned about them in Daredevil and I think that helped this show alot. We got plenty of exposition about The Hand and Danny Rand's job of being the sworn enemy of the Hand because he's the immortal Iron Fist. I think the story line is amazing and really give us something fun and very enjoyable to watch for the duration of the season for any number of reasons. I've put alot of thought into how I would "fix" Iron Fist in season two so here are the TWO things I would do to fix it and ONE thing I wouldn't do .....


#1 I wouldn't make it a straight Season 2 of Iron Fist I would continue to build on the bricks they laid out in Luke Cage season 2 with the "Hero's For Hire" story line. I think you could fix the issues with both Iron Fist season one and Luke Cage Season two. You can build strong villains from both comics.

​2. If they decide to do a straight season two to Iron Fist I think they need to bring him to a place where he is finally at peace with the events that lead to his parents death. I also think they need to use the Davos character and develop him into the Steel Serpent character. By doing this I feel you could really grow both characters in a positive way in the fans eyes. 

3. I would NOT bring The Hand back as the main villain for the season for two reasons 1. I think if The Hand comes back it lessons the events of The Defenders and 2. I feel that there is so much more that Danny Rand / Iron Fist can be so much more then the "sworn enemy of The Hand."  Build him up against other threats and make his character something special in the MCU . 

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I want fans to look at Iron Fist the way I see it, this is a cool story that sure had some issues in season one but in my opinion there are pacing issues and issues with the fight scenes in all of the Marvel shows . 

People dismiss this show before they even give it a chance for whatever reason and that's not my style, I read negative things about the show before I decided to watch it for myself. 

Again I don't think it's a "perfect show" it has flaws everything does but why can't we watch these shows and enjoy them for what they are a way for us to escape reality for awhile ?? Is it that hard to do in this day and age? Danny Rand does whine and cry alot about the events of his life but look at what he had to go through from the age of 10 on.. would you be a chipper rich kid when you finally got back to New York City? I doubt it. 


If you read my last blog you now how this show and the story effected my life in a very positive way by teaching me that Meditation can help on many levels and I took and completed a Tai Chi class. This show can have a positive effect on your life as well, if you're willing to watching ti and focus on the story.  With all that said after you read this blog I encourage you to give Iron Fist a second chance and watch it with an open mind. As Danny says "If you seek the truth hold no opinions." 

​Stay Humble, Stay Hungry My Friends :) 
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"Will You Rank The Marvel Netflix Shows" ....

6/24/2018

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I was shocked when people sent me e-mails asking me to rank the Marvel Netflix shows mainly because I like most of the shows on TV not just Marvel but the "Arrowverse" as well on the CW. Why limit the ranking just to the Marvel Netflix shows ? 

I know this is a direct response to my last blog so for the sake of keeping the conversation open I will rank the Marvel Netflix shows.

NOTE : These are my opinions and no one elses, you may agree or disagree and that's fine. This isn't meant to start a disagreement.
By : Jamie Santamore


I've watched a rewatched each Marvel show on Netflix because I love all of them. Yes all of them. I want to restate that the opinions written in this blog are my opinions and do not reflect the opinions of anyone else associated with Wicked Carnival Productions / Top Guy Productions .

My oldest son asks me on a regular basis who my favorite super hero is and it often changes. As a screen writer I can enjoy all the different characteristics of the characters. do my favorites rank HIGHER on the list then some of the ones I like less, maybe. Will some of my order surprise you probably. Grab a drink sit back and enjoy this list. I will try to write a little like / dislike section about each selection .  

If you missed last week's blog I want to inform you all that I'm a novice comic book fan, I don't read comics (I haven't in probably the last 20 years) I watch all the movies and most of the TV shows and I feel that these shows and movies are geared more towards bringing the casual fans like me while also trying to stay true to the comics for the die hard fans. here is my ranking of the Netflix Marvel shows. 

NOTE : Ranking will be top to bottom (Best to Worst) 

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Daredevil Season One is an amazing storyline, the twists and turns that Matt Murdock goes through with Foggy and Karen. the growth of the character is amazing. Charlie Cox who plays Daredevil plays a blind man amazingly I believed he was really blind. 

I enjoy the playfulness between Matt and Foggy played by Elden Henson, you can see that it effects Matt having to keep this dark secret from his best friend. Claire Temple played by 

The relationships between Matt and Karen Page played by Deborah Ann Woll adn Foggy and Karen is another well written part of the show. they all obviously care for each other. 

I love Vincent D'onfrio as Kingpin )Perfect casting in my opinion. The story line with him for the season was incredible and there was no real let down during the season. 

I enjoy Daredevil because I see a lot of myself in the character. (No I'm not blind) The struggles with where "the line" is and if you should ever cross it I struggle with that as a person and as a screenwriter. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The building of the characters is something that I really enjoyed about this show. I learned alot about the characters I didn't know much about and it helped me understand the character of Matt Murdock / Daredevil much better. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I really don't have many dislikes about this season except maybe that I thought there should be more about the Wesley character, his back story, how he knows Wilson Fisk etc. 



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Daredevil Season 2 is next on the list. We see the beginning of The Punisher late in this season as Matt and Elektra are trying to stop the Hand which I love this story line. It really plays on the heart strings of Matt for Elektra. 

Season 2 was slightly weaker then season 1, I think there needed to be more Kingpin from prison. I like that fact that Kingpin became the boss of the yard so quickly (Would you expect anything less) 

The Kingpin releases the Punisher from prison to continue his mission to take down those responsible for the murders of his family. 

and one of the best and most revealing moments in Frank Castle's character is when he helps Daredevil during the season finale. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I love that they brought us The Punisher in Daredevil. I enjoyed the growth of the characters in season two and you can see how they've been changed by the events of Season one. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I would say right off the top of my head I wanted there to be more of Elektra in the show her back story. (not just her past with Matt)


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3rd on the list is The Defenders which is an amazing show on it's own (I almost would rank this #1) The defenders sees the unlikely and rocky team of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones as they try to discover the Hand's plan and stop it before it's to late. 

This season is fast paced as there are only 8 episodes which is something I loved about it! I feel this show really does alot of the Jessica Jones and Danny Rand / Iron Fist characters. Luke Cage and Matt Murdock are already well established in this story and I feel this storyline really brings the Jessica Jones and Iron Fist characters in a better light because in the case of Jessica you see that she does have a heart and she does care about others.  For Iron Fist you see that he's been fighting The Hand for so long and everything he has been saying is coming to light. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The entire story was awesome from beginning to end.

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : they really left it wide open where The Defenders go from here in Season two (If there is a second season) I like to have a rough idea of what's happening next. 


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4th on the list has to be The Punisher who has always been one of my favorite characters. I used to read the comics with my brother when we were kids. This character always spoke to me for some reason. 

John Bernthal brings Frank Castle / The Punisher to life like no one has before him. The entire cast is amazing really and the story is a great way to give the character his own show. 

​The fact that he works with Micro (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach) took me back for a moment but they need each other to accomplish the goals they need to accomplish and it plays out beautifully for the entire season. 

I love the Billy Russo character also played by Ben Barnes. the way he moves, talks and carries himself you're not sure if you like hjim or not or if he can be trusted. 

This season really puts the final nail in the Punisher's revenge story line so I'm excited to see what Frank Castle does next. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I really enjoyed the subplot story line with Lewis Walcott played by Daniel Webber. this is a sad and painful glimpse of what some soldiers returning home from war become. I was sort of hoping Frank would get to this kid and talk to him before he went down the road he went down it was a sad ending for the character. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I would have liked to actually see the murders of The Castle Family (If that sounds sick I'm sorry) I want to see it play out on screen because I think it would give as all a different look at Frank Castle. 


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5th on the list is Iron Fist season 1. I know what you're all thinking "why is this ranked so high on the list??" Well I'll explain it as best as I can for you. 

Danny Rand / Iron Fist was a character I had never heard of so I was interested in what the show could be and once I saw all the negative BS online about I decided to watch it and decide for myself. 

I clicked on it on Netflix and fell in love with it right away for many reasons but mainly because it was 100% NEW to me and I wanted to learn about the Danny Rand character and thus learn about the Iron Fist. 

Finn Jones who played Danny Rand / Iron Fist is an incredibly talented actor who threw himself into the role and really delivered on the character in my opinion. I enjoyed the addition of Colleen Wing played by Jennifer Henwick she really kicks ass in this show! the development of their relationship and how it turns out was a really cool plot device. 

I enjoyed the love / hate relationship between Danny and Ward Meachum played by the amazing Tom Pelphrey. I also got deeply into the best friend relationship of Danny Rand and Joy Meachum played by Jessica Stroup. 

The father / Son relationship that is shown between Harold Meachum played by David Wenham is an important plot device in the story that was well played by both actors. 

This show changed my life and taught me several harsh realities. I learned to meditate because of this show and I took  and completed a Tai Chi class because of this show. 

I'm not saying that I want to be the Iron Fist but having these tools in my life has made me a better person and I wouldn't have this mindset without the show so THANK YOU to Marvel, Netflix, Finn Jones and everyone involved in the show.. 

I don't see what fans dislike about this show / character. he seemed like a real person with real problems and after you got through that the show was incredible the fight scenes were cool and you believed them (for the most part) 


​LIKE ABOUT THIS SEASON : I enjoyed the story line completely even thought I was confused about the Harold Meachum / Hand connection for a bit. I like that they bring Claire Temple played by Rosario Dawson into this show as well. 

​DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I thought there should've been a cameo from another Marvel hero (Daredevil would've made the most sense)


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6th on the list is Jessica Jones Season 1. I enjoyed this show and thought it was well done I had never heard of Jessica Jones until after the show was out. 

This show really gives us a hero that doesn't like that word used to describe her. Jessica Jones is played flawlessly by Krysten Ritter who I believe is a bad ass women from the word go. She has complex relationships with her friend Trish Walker played by the amazingly talented Rachel Taylor. She has a strained working relationship with Jeri Hogarth played by Carrie-Anne Moss . 

I find Jessica Jones interesting because she doesn't have a superhero name she's simply Jessica Jones. We also meet Luke Cage played by Mike Coulter in this series which was something I found interesting because I had heard of Luke Cage but had never read any of the comics so I was interested to learn about the character. 

David Tennant as Kilgrave was freakin' awesome !! What an amazing character to see in my introduction to Jessica Jones! I can't say enough about the character. I mean who wouldn't want to have that power, right !? 

LIKE ABOUT THIS SEASON : I really enjoyed the development of the Kilgrave Jessica Jones story and to see how it effected her other relationships. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I wanted to see more of Trish and Jessica and learn about their relationship more. 


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7th on the list is Luke Cage Season 1. I liked this story because it's a gritty story about a man with a secret past who is trying his best to be a man of the people and all he wants is to help the people of Harlem. 

The character of Luke Cage is a very cool character I will admit that, he's bullet proof for God's sake! Mike COulter is an awesom addition to the MCU for sure and I can't see anyone else playing this character so if they put Luke Cage in the movies Mike Coulter IS Luke Cage . 

I enjoyed the relationship between  Misty Knight and Luke Cage watching it develop and change over the course of the season was cool .

One thing about the Marvel Netflix show is there have many characters that cross over between shows like Claire Temple, Karen Page, Colleen Wing and my favorite street criminal Turk Barrett his line "I'm Turk Barrett baby." is funny.

One thing that this show doesn't have is a shortage of villains. We have Cottonmouth (Don't call him that) played by Mahersali Ali who is brilliant in this role who is cousins with the crooked Councilwoman Mariah Dillard played by Alfre Woodward as well as Willis "Diamondback" Stryker and my favorite villain from this season Hernan "Shades" Alverez played by the amazing Theo Rossi. 

This story has alot of twists and turns that I didn't expect like when Diamondback takes over from Cottonmouth that surprised me. the reveal that Diamondback and Luke Cage are brothers was a shock to me as well .  I'm gonna tell you that when they opened fire on Pop's barbershop and Pop was killed I cried, that was a crushing loss for the show and the Luke Cage character I think that event sets him on his true path for the remainder of the season. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The show was incredible and the story of Carl Lucas and how he became Luke Cage was a very cool story. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SHOW : their use of the N word, I know that's how people talk but it was off putting in the beginning of the series but I got used to hearing it. 


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8th on the list is Jessica Jones Season 2. I heard through the net that Kilgrave was going to be a part of the show so I was instantly excited about it because I love that character and he played a small part of the season overall I was a little disappointed for sure. 

This season was sort of flat for me. I get the story line with her once thought dead mother and how that effects Jessica and how some people got right into it but after awhile it was like "can they move on to something else." 

This was another show where I thought they should have another Marvel hero pop in for a cameo Iron Fist maybe ?I really enjoyed the show but not as much as others in the universe. 

​LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : I enjoyed the Jessica Jones character as well as the Malcolm character who showed alot of growth in season two. 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The drawn out mother story line mostly is what kills this show for me . 


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Coming in the 9th and final spot is Luke Cage Season 2. This will surprise many of you I'm sure. I want it to be clear that I DO NOT hate Luke Cage season 2 at all it's just hard to place it higher then the other shows. 

I enjoy the story from the word go honestly I enjoyed the relationship issues between Claire and Luke as it shows a real struggle that we have in our lives . 

I feel for Luke who struggles with the fame of being the "Hero of Harlem" and how everyone wants pictures with him etc. that's hard to deal with. I love the D Dub character who was a pest in season one but becomes friends with Luke and starts selling merch for him out of Pop's shop. 

I was bummed when Luke didn't get paid the $300,000 dollars he was promised for the meet and greet and then protecting Raymond "Piranha" Jones who was a Luke Cage super fan! Being a hero isn't cheap think of all the hoodies Luke goes through.. 

The Main villain for this season John "Bushmaster" McIver was weak in my opinion and really wasn't an enemy of Luke Cage as much as an enemy of Mariah Stokes (Dillard). He only becomes an enemy of Luke Cage when he starts causing problems in Harlem. 

I wanted more of the Shades / Maraiah story line then the "Bushmaster" stuff. They built that up so high in Season 1 I wanted that story to come to a close more then anything else. 

They wanted to develop a sub plot around Mariah and her daughter Tilly which was another story line that sort of took away from what I thought should've been the main story line Luke trying to take down Mariah and Shades but we got "Bushmaster" instead .... I found it very hard to understand any of the Jamaican characters not really a problem in terms of the overall show maybe just for me. 

LIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The closure of the Shades / Mariah story line as well as the hints to the "Heros For Hire" story line  as well as the inclusion of Danny Rand / Iron Fist and Colleen Wing into the story (Wish they had more of a role) 

DISLIKES ABOUT THIS SEASON : The "Bushmaster" story as it was more about an issue between the Stokes family and the McIver family and had nothing to do with Luke Cage. 


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With all that said I want you all to understand that I LOVE the Marvel Netflix shows all of them and ranking them was very hard for me for sure. you may agree or disagree with my order and either way ids fine I welcome all opinions This is how I feel about these shows which I watch often. I see alot of qualities in these characters that I see in everyday life and I think that's the point for many people. 

Feel free to e-mail me  here : 

Email Me Here To Continue The Discussion
I welcome you to continue the discussion with me as I enjoy talking shop with fans from all over the world. This has been a tough but fun blog for me to write and it's taken me many hours to get it all done, I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to hearing from you ...... 

STAY HUNGRY, STAY HUMBLE MY FRIENDS : )
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I've Waited Long Enough To Weigh In On This ......

6/16/2018

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Disclaimer : The thoughts and comments expressed in this blog are those of Jamie Santamore and DO NOT reflect the thoughts or comments of anyone else associated with Wicked Carnival or Top Guy Productions.....


By Jamie Santamore
I was walking down town earlier this week and I was wearing a Deadpool hat and t-shirt as well as a Superman ring, a Green Lantern ring and a Atom pendent and I was told and I quote "You can't like both Marvel and DC, you have to pick a side in the war." This statement made me take a step back and think for a moment, I didn't respond to this person I simply walked away because honestly I didn't know how to respond to it.

I wasn't aware that there is a "war" going on between Marvel and DC .... I listen to people trash the DCEU and praise the MCU and I don't get it, I really don't. I like both universes for many reasons. before you all fill my e-mail with hate mail allow me to explain my thought process . 

I feel the movies in both universes are more for the casual fans (like me) and not the die hard comic fans and the reason I feel this way is these two universes KNOW they have the die hard fan base already they gear theses movies and TV shows towards casual fans to generate NEW fans of the product. 

I never watched comic book shows until The Flash debuted on the CW. they did the first crossover with Arrow and that got me into watching Arrow and I went out and watched the first two seasons of Arrow so I was caught up. so we are all clear on my level of fandom here are the shows I watch on the regular 


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Arrow 
Supergirl
Legends of Tomorrow
Black Lightning
Gotham
Lucier
Riverdale
​The Flash 


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Daredevil                             Inhumans
Jessica Jones                      The Gifted
Luke Cage
Iron Fist
Cloak & Dagger
Agents of SHIELD
The Defenders
The Punisher


As you can see I watch many different shows form both universes there are a few shows I couldn't get into namely Legion and Krypton those weren't my cup of tea so I don't force myself to watch it. I watch all of the movies from both universes and enjoy them all. 

My oldest son who is autistic asks me all the time who my favorite superhero is and he thinks it's funny that the answer often changes. (he's not into superheros at all) The last time he asked me my answer was Daredevil because I was re watching the series on Netflix. I also like Green Arrow alot because he's one of my favorites. 

I don't understand why you have to be on one side or the other in this? They are both amazing universes with so many different things to like about them. For example if you look at the wallpaper on my phone, tablet, laptop they are often of different superheros crossing universes right now I have Punisher on my tablet, Daredevil on my laptop and Iron Fist on my phone. I wear my DC jewelry with my Marvel hat because I'm a fan of the characters not which universe they are from.  

The movies seem to be more of a divide then the TV series (just my opinion) Everyone trashes the DCEU and I don't know why?? I loved Man of Steel I enjoyed BVS (wasn't happy that they "killed" Superman) but it was an amazing film to watch. Wonder Woman blew me away !! Suicide Squad was interesting as Harley Quinn stole that movie, I really enjoyed the Floyd Lawton story line as well and Will Smith killed it! Justice League was visually a stunning movie for me. 

​My biggest complaint about the DCEU is that they didn't have Grant Gustin playing the Flash because he is the Flash on the CW show. 

Fans will complain that DC is a dark universe and I agree it's dark but that's what makes it different (not better) then the MCU. The MCU are popcorn movies where you know going into it that the good guys are going to win and there is no doubt in your mind.  (with the exception of Infinity War) Now for the darker storyline fans (like me) look no further then the Netfilx portion of the MCU Daredevil is dark, so is Jessica Jones, Iron Fist. (more on this  shortly) and The Defenders is dark as well. 

So as you can see I'm a fan of both universes and if that's wrong, I don't care. I'm a fan of anythign that tells a good story with amazing characters that I can believe in. 

In  Defense  Of  Iron  Fist ......

This series was shit on from the word go and again I don't understand why ??? This series isn't for the die hard fans it's to get new fans to join the Marvel Universe and care about these shows. Iron fist has it's rough spots but all in all it's a good show for us casual fans to learn about the Danny Rand / Iron Fist character, can we agree on that ? 

This story is one that I really enjoyed for many reasons. I'm not a "lets rank the shows" kind of guy but if I had to I would make this one of my top three of the Marvel Netflix shows. I like the character, the story and the way it was shot. 

Again I think most of these movies and shows are NOT made for the die hard fans who they KNOW will come to the theater and / or join Netflix to watch the product they want to bring in NEW fans like me. before Iron Fist came out I knew nothing about the character much like Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, I have grown to love the shows and characters and am now a fan. 

Feel free to send me e-mails and write comments about why any of these shows / movies are horrible, I read everything I get and usually reply back. I feel The Defenders story line doesn't work with out the Danny Rand / Iron Fist character, look at it that way. 

Earlier in this blog I wrote that I wasn't happy that Grant Gustin doesn't play the Flash in Justice League many fans enjoyed Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash (I liked his performance) my complaint is that Grant Gustin established The Flash on the CW show so it makes sense for him to play him in the Justice League movie. 

This is something Marvel has over DC as they put a clause in Charlie Cox's contract for Daredevil that if he the character is brought into the MCU Charlie Cox would play the part. to me and many fans Charlie Cox IS "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen" aka Daredevil. 

In closing I have to say that I do enjoy most Marvel and DC shows and movies. With that said are there things I dislike and don't agree with? Of course there are nothing is perfect . I don't feel that a person who likes both Daredevil and Green Arrow should be forced to  choose a side in a fictional "war" I like them both and will continue to support both universes because that's the type of fan I choose to be... 

Stay Humble, Stay Hungry My Friends :) 
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    Here is where I will post my thoughts on upcoming projects, ask you fans questions and just talk about about all things horror and Wicked Carnival Productions .  

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