#i am. well aware of the audience the dealer has and finding out i technically am part of it was both Very Funny and Harrowing. Fucking Oops

[logicpng]

i swear i am normal about him

[ljones41]

“BLACK PANTHER” (2018) Review

"BLACK PANTHER" (2018) Review I am going to be brutally honest. For the past three years, I have harbored mixed feelings about the output from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The year 2015 produced one movie that I found entertaining, yet disappointing; and another film that I found entertaining and original, but not exactly mind blowing. But the years 2016 and 2017 proved to be very disappointing, as far as MCU movies were concerned. By the end of 2017, I thought the MCU had finally lost its mojo . . . until I saw "BLACK PANTHER", early in the following year. 

I realize many might find my comments something of a head scratcher. What exactly was wrong with the MCU films between 2015-2017? Well . . . I thought "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" was entertaining, yet problematic. I enjoyed "ANT-MAN" very much, but I would never regard it as one of the franchise's best. The movies, starting with 2016's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR" and ending with 2017's "THOR: RAGNAROK", struck me as very disappointing and somewhat inferior. Despite the fact that the franchise was raking in millions - or billions - with these films, I personally believed it had reached an artistic abyss . . . until I saw "BLACK PANTHER". Not only did I find the latter film entertaining, I also regard it as one of the better MCU films I have seen in the franchise's ten-year history. With "BLACK PANTHER", it seemed the MCU had not only climbed out of the abyss, but had reached (or nearly reached) a pinnacle. "BLACK PANTHER" basically told the story about King T'Challa aka Black Panther adjusting to his role as the new sovereign of Wakanda, an isolated and fictional African nation that is the most technically advanced in the world, thanks to the vibranium metal within its borders. Wakanda has spent most of its existence pretending to be a poor, third-world nation in order to protect itself from the world - especially Western nations - and prevent them from learning about its rich source of vibranium. The narrative for "BLACK PANTHER" picked up at least a week after the events of "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR". T'Challa and his premier bodyguard and leader of the Dora Milaje regiment, Okoye; extract Nakia, T'Challa's ex-lover and a Wakandan spy, from an undercover assignment in Nigeria. All three returned to Wakanda's capital to participate in T'Challa coronation as the new king. During the ceremony, the leaders of Wakanda's five tribes are each given the opportunity to challenge the temporarily de-powered (via a potion that expunges his super strength and speed) T'Challa's role as the new king by ritual combat. One of the leaders, M'Baku of the mountainous Jabari Tribe, challenges T'Challa. After a fierce fight, M'Baku concedes defeat and T'Challa is officially acknowledged as King of Wakanda. Unfortunately, T'Challa's triumph is short-lived when Wakanda intelligence becomes aware of a robbery committed by a group of thieves led by an old foe of the country's, Ulysses Klaue. The latter had stolen an old Wakanda artifact from a London museum that contains vibranium, a metal substance that has allowed Wakanda to become the most technically advanced nation in the world . . . unbeknownst to other nations. When Wakanda intelligence learns that Klaue plans to sell the vibranium to the C.I.A. at a location in Busan, South Korea; T'Challa, Nakia and Okoye travel there to interrupt the planned sale and arrest the arms dealer. Instead of arresting Klaue, T'Challa stumbles across a family secret involving one of Klaue's fellow thieves, an African-American named Eric Stevens aka Killmonger, which will threaten his position on the Wakanda throne and endanger the country itself. After being disappointed by five MCU movies in a row, I found myself wondering if I would ever enjoy a movie from the franchise again. Thankfully, "BLACK PANTHER" proved to be a more than pleasant surprise. Thanks to Ryan Coogler's direction and the excellent screenplay that he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, "BLACK PANTHER" proved to be a unique film that combined the usual elements of a comic book movie, a family drama and a rare exploration into the political and social aspects of the African diaspora. Family drama is nothing new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Audiences have seen this played out in movies like the Thor trilogy, 2015's "ANT-MAN", and to a certain extent, 2008's "THE INCREDIBLE HULK". "BLACK PANTHER" is another addition in which a deadly encounter between T'Challa's father and uncle - King T'Chaka and Prince N'Jobu in 1992, led to the new king learning about his cousin and N'Jobu's half-American cousin, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens aka Prince N'Jadaka. That 1992 encounter led to Erik becoming an orphan and abandoned by his isolationist uncle T'Chaka. This, in turn, led Erik to see revenge against the nation of Wakanda. Ironically, Erik never got the chance to exact his revenge on the very person responsible for his loss, namely his uncle, who was killed by Helmut Zemo's bomb in "CIVIL WAR". But for him, T'Challa and Wakanda served as a convenient scapegoat for his vengeance. What made all of this even more fascinating and a lot more original than the MCU's other family dramas was how Coogler and Cole managed to mix a good deal of political controversy into this family saga. One of the reasons Prince N'Jobu had fallen out of favor with his older brother was his growing disenchantment with Wakanda's isolationist policy with the world - including those of the African diaspora around the world. After his experiences in late 20th century Oakland, N'Jobu decided to reveal Wakanda's existence to Ulysses Klaue and help the latter infiltrate Wakanda to smuggle out more vibranium. N'Jobu had planned to use the vibranium to create weapons and lead a revolution of the African diaspora against the dominating Western nations. With his father dead, Erik planned to not only get his revenge against the Royal House of Wakanda, but also carry out N'Jobu's plans. Watching this, I am reminded of Loki's plans in 2011's "THOR" - namely to keep a powerless Thor stranded on Earth, while he sets up the Frost Giants' destruction and win Odin's favor. As much I had enjoyed that movie, Loki's plans seemed rather lame to me in compare to Erik's. But what made this story arc even more interesting is that in the end . . . Erik's plans to use Wakanda weapons to conquer the world eventually led to T'Challa's decision to finally end Wakanda's isolationist policy. "BLACK PANTHER" featured some pretty solid action sequences. I enjoyed the sequence featuring T'Challa and M'Baku's fight for the throne; Erik and Klaue's confrontation at an abandoned South Korean airfield; T'Challa and Erik's battle for the throne; and the Battle of Mount Bashenga, in which T'Challa and his forces attempted to prevent Erik and the Border Tribe from sending Wakanda weapons to the outside world. All are pretty good action sequences. But if I had to select my favorite, it would be the confrontation at the Busan casino between T'Challa, Nakia and Okoye against Klaue and his minions. With C.I.A. Agent Everett Ross thrown into the mix, this particular sequence was simply boss, especially since it lead to a wild car chase on the streets of Busan. That once scene featuring Okoye slamming her wig into the face of a Klaue minion will probably remain imprinted in my mind for years to come. Another aspect of "BLACK PANTHER" that I admired was the film's production designs. Mind you, the film maintained that same flat photography that the MCU has become infamous for. However, I think Rachel Morrison's photography was enhanced by some sharp colors, the movie's visual effects, Hannah Beachler's gorgeous production designs that convey the world of Wakanda, along with the art direction team led by Alan Hook. Aside from Beachler's production designs, I was especially impressed by Oscar and Emmy nominee Ruth E. Carter's costume designs. Someone had compared them to those costumes featured in the 1988 comedy, "COMING TO AMERICA". But honestly . . . I think I prefer Carter's more natural designs, as featured in the images below: 

But all of the above would have meant nothing without the talented cast for the film. "BLACK PANTHER" featured some first-rate performances from the likes of Daniel Kaluuya, who portrayed Border Tribe leader W'Kabi, who desires his own personal vengeance against Ulysses Klaue; Sterling K. Brown as the revolutionary Prince N'Jobu; both John Kani and son Atandwa Kani as the older and younger versions of King T'Chaka; Angela Bassett as T'Challa's strong-willed, yet loving mother and advisor, Queen Ramonda; Denzel Whitaker, who gave a solid performance as the younger Zuri; and Martin Freeman as C.I.A. Agent Everett Ross, who proved to me more entertaining and relevant in this film than he was in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR". However, there were those performances that really impressed me. One came from Andy Serkis, who was a hoot as the murderous, yet over-the-top South African arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue. Letitia Wright was equally entertaining as T'Challa's witty and charming sister, the tech-savy Princess Shuri. Another came from Lupita Nyong'o, who gave a passionate and heartfelt portrayal of Wakandan intelligence agent and T'Challa's former girlfriend, Nakia. Forest Whitaker gave a first-rate performance as Wakanda's top courtier and former spy, Zuri. Whitaker was especially impressive in one scene in which his character was forced to confess King T'Chaka's past actions regarding N'Jobu and Erik Killmonger. Winston Duke was very impressive, imposing and at times, rather amusing as M'Baku, leader of the mountainous Jabari Tribe. Also, his first appearance in the film - during T'Challa's coronation ceremony - is one of the most memorable moments I have seen in a movie for quite some time. Danai Gurira was equally impressive and imposing as Okoyo, the traditionalist leader of the king's bodyguards - the Dora Milaje. Although I found her character's conservatism a bit annoying at times, I must admit that Gurira gave one hell of a performance. However, this movie is really about two characters - King T'Challa of Wakanda aka the Black Panther and his paternal cousin Erik "Killmonger" Stevens aka Prince N'Jadaka. Yes, I know that the movie is called "BLACK PANTHER". But to be honest, this movie is about both cousins and how their conflicting views on Wakanda's role in the world and especially upon the African diaspora. Chadwick Boseman's second turn as T'Challa proved to be a different kettle of fish from the driven newly ascended king determined to seek revenge for the death of his father, T'Chaka in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR". In this film, Boseman gave a more relaxed performance as the happy and more satisfied young king, eagerly anticipating, yet slightly fearing his new role as king. However, Boseman's relaxed performance skillfully transformed into one of disbelief, anger and outrage when T'Challa learned about his father's actions back in Oakland 1992. This was especially apparent in two scenes in which Boseman gave outstanding performances. The first scene featured his confrontation with Zuri, who confessed the true circumstances about Oakland. Boseman gave a very intimidating, yet regal performance in that scene. The other featured T'Challa's second dream in which he expressed anger and disappointment at his father's spirit for what happened to Erik. Speaking of the latter, Michael B. Jordan has been receiving rave reviews for his performance as Erik "Killmonger". Some have been declaring his character as the best MCU villain ever. I do not know if I agree with that assessment. But I must admit that Jordan gave one of the most skillfully ambiguous performances I have encountered in the franchise. Audiences could easily sympathize with his backstory - the young boy who had lost his parents and abandoned. Also, one cannot help but admired Erik's desire to help those African nations and members of the African diaspora - something that his cousin seemed unwilling to do. And yet, the level of violence Erik seemed willing to utilize in order to achieve his goal or his unwillingness to face that the one person who had truly wronged him was dead justified why the talented Jordan had portrayed him such ambiguity. As much as I enjoyed "BLACK PANTHER", I did have some problems with the film. One, there is a chance that I may have stumbled across a major writing blooper. In "CIVIL WAR", Avenger Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch had accidentally killed a group of Wakanda subjects during a mission in Lagos, Nigeria. The Wakandans had been there on a goodwill mission. This lead King T'Chaka to publicly support the Sokovia Accords - an act that led to his death. And yet, Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole made it clear in the 2018 movie's screenplay that Wakanda has practiced a policy of isolationism for centuries. Although Coogler and Cole remembered T'Chaka's death in the 2016 movie and Bucky Barnes' presence on Wakanda soil, they apparently forgot about this goodwill mission in Nigeria. Also, why did Erik Stevens wait so long to travel to Wakanda and make a bid for the throne? He could have challenged his uncle T'Chaka for the throne and get his revenge against the very man who had wronged him. Instead, he waited until after T'Chaka's death. Why? Exactly when did Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes arrive in Wakanda, as shown in one of the post-title scenes in "CIVIL WAR'? The movie opened with T'Challa and Okoye returning to Wakanda for the first time since T'Chaka's death. Were both Steve and Bucky aboard T'Challa's plane? Were they aboard the Avenger jet that Steve had used to fly to Russia in the 2016 movie? Where were they? In fact, there was no scene featuring the pair's arrival in Wakanda for the first time, which I found rather odd. Speaking of arrivals, why was Okoye with T'Challa when he first returned to Wakanda? I realize that she was the leader of the Dora Milaje and that King T'Chaka was in Austria at the time of his death. But Okoye was missing in a scene from "CIVIL WAR" in which Avenger Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow had sought T'Challa's help to track down Steve, Bucky and Sam Wilson aka the Falcon. As the king's leading bodyguard, she should have been there - whether with T'Chaka or T'Challa. Instead, another Dora Milaje bodyguard named Ayo (portrayed by actress/model Florence Kasumba) was there. Yet, the latter was missing aboard T'Challa's plane upon his return to Wakanda. One last question . . . why did T'Challa's closest friend, W'Kabi of the Border Tribe, seemed so willing to help Erik carry out his anti-isolationist policies? Why? I understand that he might be grateful to Erik for finally killing Klaue, the man who had killed his father years ago. But am I really to believe that his gratitude extended to supporting Erik's decision to end Wakanda's isolationist policy . . . especially since he had made it clear earlier in the film that he fully supported the old policy? Was he really that grateful to fight on Erik's behalf when T'Challa had returned alive to resume the challenge against Erik? I truly found this hard to believe. And why was the only truly negative black character in this film was the only one of some American ancestry? There was something about the film's portrayal of African-Americans that struck me as rather negative and a bit one-dimensional. In this film, African-Americans seemed to consist solely of poor and slightly thuggish people barely capable of surviving on their own, except through criminal activities. The idea of Wakanda coming to their "rescue" with advanced technology made the latter country seem very similar to the White Savior trope. And if Wakanda was going to share their technology, why did T'Challa do so with the entire international community, instead of simply other African nations and the African diaspora . . . as Nakia had originally suggested? Considering that Erik had pointed out that many countries - especially in the West - were catching up technically with Wakanda, along with the international community's generally negative attitude toward African nations and those of the African diaspora; I cannot help but wonder if T'Challa had ever considered that many of the more wealthier nations would take advantage of his generosity at the first opportunity? Or was this plot twist something that Kevin Feige and the other Marvel/Disney suits had insisted that Coogler and Cole include? However . . . despite these misgivings I have about "BLACK PANTHER", I cannot deny that I truly enjoyed the movie. I did. I thought Ryan Coogler, along with screenwriter Joe Robert Cole and a talented cast led by Chadwick Boseman, did an exceptional job in bringing comic book hero the Black Panther and the world of Wakanda to life. At this moment, "BLACK PANTHER" has become one of my five favorite movies in the MCU franchise.

[riddlez213]

As I write this it is the end of summer and while I have had a little break and have had some fun I knew my coming back was inevitable because while I love what I do on this blog and what I do outside of it with the same skill set I thought it would be a great idea to do something different. I’m going to find out the backstory of Heath Ledger’s Joker. I am a huge comicbook fan and I love Batman for not only his amazing detective skills not put forth in many works but also his rogues gallery and every character’s amazing psyche. And then there is the best comicbook movie of all time “The Dark Knight” and it goes astray from the source material with a perfect and in some way better interpretation of the Joker played by Heath Ledger. But as the original Joker is this one also has a lack of backstory even more so that the original and for the 10 years after its release people have theorized and theorized without much skill into case work and they’ve gotten pretty far but today I put forth my theory or theories depending on how you look at it and with actual evidence that is solid and a little bit of assumption but not nearly as much as some theories on this go. In the movie he kills 28 to 35 people so definitely on the mass murder scale but also displays signs of something far sinister with his preference of knives making him seem more like a serial killer. His ratio of actual intelligence and social manipulativeness and also other display signs of antisocial personality disorder puts him on the definite psychopath side but some aspects such as sexual promiscuity and superficial charm are not present and also his teenage and marriage history isn’t known but I would assume that he would have had trouble as a teenager especially if he was indeed abused in his childhood. so this doesn’t actually put him at the top of the psychopath spectrum but it is worse because he doesn’t care about anyone from his nihilist point of view including himself. He sees himself as a vessel that chaos can come from or be a part of. This means he doesn’t care about hygiene or his looks in the traditional sense. He very much does care about his looks but he doesn’t want to be seen as attractive he wants to be seen as crazy or a freak because he doesn’t believe himself to be and wants to show people how they are the same as him but also in doing that they would realize they are extremely crazy just like him. So technically speaking he isn’t completely psychopathic just like he tries to make sure he is undiagnosable to not only show that every system is a list of flaws but also that he is unpredictable and represents uncertainty. Many comic book characters follow a similar path such as the punisher, batman, and I’m sure many others. Regardless he would definitely be leveled as legally insane but possibly not in our world but I’ll get to that in a moment. Legally insane means that you were not aware of your actions in the event of a crime and is a very slim amount of courthouse cases that it is even discussed in. Especially since on the outside it is hard to not identify him as crazy but instead is extremely intelligent and an amazing specimen of research if it is even possible. In the DC universe these terms seem to be tossed around more and it is probably because there are a lot more criminals out there than in this world and also that they have more faith in their treatment because of Arkham Asylum’s large amount of support financially and in terms of workers. In this world he is obviously not insane because although he is aware of his actions he doesn’t really know right from wrong because of his hatred for all people but in a way he does still know right and wrong and this is obviously not a case of him not aware of his own actions because he isn’t say a schizophrenic. From how “The Dark Knight Rises” was suppose to go before the death of Heath Ledger the Joker was definitely going to bust out of Arkham and face batman again and even if he was put in a mental hospital the first time around in this world the second time he wouldn’t be so lucky because if they keep putting him in an asylum and he keeps breaking out we would just execute his ass and batman wouldn’t even have to worry about breaking his one rule. This would especially be showing how intelligent he is in order to escape and he could possibly escape from Blackgate prison or one of our real world prisons I don’t know. Another aspect I think might be apparent in this joker is his “hypersanity” which in the comics is joker’s ability to realize he’s in a comicbook which could be true. He could realize he’s in a movie or comicbook as well because if there are infinite parallel universes like theoretical physics suggests then there is a parallel universe where he is in a comicbook or a movie and this is the one where he is in a movie. In fact there is a universe where you are in a comicbook or where we are all in a comicbook and to him it makes everything a joke and if we all thought like that all the time we would be in the same purple shoes he is. Alright enough on the criminal profile I think it’s time for some actual possible origins. The first thing I looked at were the scars. They are hypertrophic scars and his scars are actually called a glasgow smile that was actually in the Black Dahlia case and a few other famous ones. It is usually followed with a stabbing or kick to the stomach so when the victim screams they rip the “smile” open so if we saw him shirtless and saw that it would be a definite 99% proof he did not do this to himself. but instead I will have to go with 98%. Here are pictures of the scars

The red circles indicate the tearing of the actual cuts themselves. The black is just a cut below the mouth that seems accidental. And overall both sides of the smile are not even. This seems to have been done by a different person or people because if he did this himself he would have obviously used a mirror and wouldn’t make these mistakes if he would have taken his time. These type of scars take 3 years to heal. This means he had at least 3 years before he went to go create chaos in Gotham. We know that the Joker had only been active from the end of batman begins into the dark knight because at the end of batman begins Gordon shows Batman a Joker card explaining who he is briefly. So this means he had his scars before he even considered himself the Joker. As Gordon shows Batman the card he explains how Batman could make way for villains with a taste for the theatrical like him which is a perfect segue into saying that Joker probably saw what scarecrow and Batman did in Batman Begins and in seeing there are other “freaks” out there became one himself and it is deeply embedded in the comics that there can be no batman without joker and vice versa. But how does Batman use all his detective skills (although most of the tech he used was incorrect in terms of forensics) and still not be able to identify the Joker? Well everything about him had been deleted without a trace. But how does someone achieve this in the real world? Well in a missing persons case or some other crime someone is obviously missing and after 7 to 8 years they are considered legally dead but even if you are legally dead you were still once a person and therefore still have records. The most likely of something like this to happen would come from the government or even the military because they are the system and they do it all the time. That brings me to the theory itself. I believe that the Joker was indeed a soldier overseas but instead was tortured by his fellow soldiers for probably doing something they didn’t agree with probably brought about through something he did morally whether it be not allowing something illegal to happen or killing an innocent person on purpose. either way he is tortured and given his scars and left for dead and erased from ever existing. He survives and makes his way back to society whether he ran from home to Gotham or lived there originally. He then becomes homeless living on the streets until discovering someone he relates to: Batman. He then finds his way through the ranks of the criminal underworld messing with the rest of the mob and eventually making the bank heist we see in the beginning of The Dark Knight. This is why in the beginning of the movie we see all the crime bosses discuss who stole their money and Salvatore Maroni states “Stupid whack job, wears a cheap purple suit and makeup. He’s not the problem.” And we even see this cheap purple suit in the beginning where the threading is even coming undone because of its age in the bank heist. You can even tell how different the makeup looks when he is in the bank heist to when he is talking to the crime bosses with his famous pencil trick. Also in the interrogation scene he states “what would I do without you go back to ripping off mob dealers?” implying that he had done it multiple times in the past. This even explains why he says to two face he only did everything with some gas and a couple of bullets because in his mind that’s what it felt like to him and it persuades the audience and two face because overall it didn’t seem like a lot of actual traditional power even though we see a rocket launcher and 28 to 35 dead. This would add even more to the idea he suffers PTSD making it extremely possible he doesn’t even remember where he came from like he is in the comics. And PTSD can effects the hippocampus creating short term and long term memory loss. He even states he is like a dog chasing cars and that he wouldn’t know what to do if he caught one. But something else that I found very interesting is that he definitely knows who Batman is because also in the interrogation scene he says to Batman “You know for a while there I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her.” and “Does Harvey know about you and his little…” and finally “choose between one wife or the other. Your friend district attorney or his blushing bride to be.” The reason he knows torture methods is probably because he did it while he was in war because he tells batman not to start with the head when batman bangs his head against the table. In fact him wanting to be a clown or freak possibly comes from how he may have been viewed in war with his fellow soldiers. He could have even been, in a way, similar to or the same as the comedian in The Watchmen comics since they both share the same ideology. This means since his second explanation of his scars was false then the other one is probably false too. But he still mentions how he hated his father when even not talking about his scars and it seems likely a psychopath like him came from that kind of background because most psychopaths come from that. When he states that even when a truck load of soldiers is blown up it’s all part of the plan that is probably because he witnessed it happen but he would have looked a lot different if that happened to him. In the dark knight manual it states the GCPD think he could have been an Arkham escapee and a victim or Dr. Krane (Scarecrow). This is possible but I don’t think Joker is very afraid of everything and Arkham wouldn’t really have the ability to erase records from existence and in fact they would probably have copies of all of it. So what do you think? Do I seem correct or just as crazy as Joker himself? What would you like me to investigate next? I say this was definitely a fun thing to work on.

  -Riddlez

File 19: The Joker Files As I write this it is the end of summer and while I have had a little break and have had some fun I knew my coming back was inevitable because while I love what I do on this blog and what I do outside of it with the same skill set I thought it would be a great idea to do something different.