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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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How Alias Anticipated Modern Superhero Storytelling

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J.J. Abrams’ spy drama Alias, which turns 20 this week, was a lot of things: high-octane action-adventure series, twentysomethings relationship drama, occasional National Treasure homage. It was also, surprisingly, a spiritual predecessor to today’s hyper-saturated superhero movie and TV universes: A preternaturally gifted fighter, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) inhabits comic-book-esque alter egos to infiltrate secret missions related to ancient artifacts and promised immortality, all while ensuring that her nearest and dearest don’t know how many times she’s saved the world—or which side she’s really on.

Like the series’ MacGuffin-generating Nostradamus figure Milo Rambaldi, Alias has proven to be somewhat prophetic itself about what makes for the kinds of superhero stories that land today. With some 20th-anniversary hindsight, let’s look back at what made Sydney’s story so super and what lessons Abrams’ ridiculous(ly fun) series can still impart to the current crop of superhero sagas.

The Secret Identity as Kiss of Death

The highest priority that spies and superheroes share is that they cannot get made—that is, have their identity as a larger-than-life individual linked to their “normal” selves. They must always keep their personal and professional personas separate, lest they risk losing the people who know both sides of them. Alias establishes this difficult lesson in the first half hour of the pilot, when Sydney reveals her true work (she thinks SD-6 is just a covert branch of the CIA) to doctor fiancé Danny, only for him to blab about it later and get bloodily taken out in their bathtub. It’s the first time that SD-6 treats its sweet protégée harshly, making clear the consequences of her actions should she open up to anyone else in her life. And then she defects to the CIA, which will be a death sentence for her if SD-6 ever finds out.

Yet beyond the specter of grisly assassination, what the series really digs into is Syd’s growing ethical dilemma about being a double agent where it concerns the actually good people at SD-6, primarily her longtime partner Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and sweetly awkward Q stand-in Marshall (Kevin Weisman). It would be too easy if the series were only about her getting long-game revenge on SD-6 director Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin); the real conflict comes from Sydney lying to Dixon’s face on every stakeout, knowing that he still thinks he’s working for the good guys and she can’t ruin that fantasy for him without potentially turning him into collateral damage.

Similarly, the moments in which Sydney’s two (or three) lives begin to collide have other heartbreaking consequences: While the scene in which her best friend Will (Bradley Cooper cast as the friendzoned buddy, amazing) gets kidnapped and sees Syd saving him, is one of the decade’s best laugh-out-loud moments, it also leads to Will going into the Witness Protection Program. His life ends, in a sense, because Sydney couldn’t keep everything compartmentalized. And we haven’t even gotten to the awful fate that befalls her best friend Francie (Merrin Dungey)…

What Alias Predicted: The beating heart (or arc reactor) of many a superhero story is this tension between selves—which means that the big reveal of a secret identity has to be carefully timed and deliberately presented. It’s as emotional as Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) mask getting ripped away when he saves the subway car of people in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, as big as Spider-Man: Far From Home doxxing that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in a commentary on fake news, or as pure and simple as Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) outing himself as Iron Man in the very first installment of the MCU. You cannot unring that bell, so it better be a memorable moment.

What Superhero Stories Can Still Learn: Rev the secret identity stakes back up! Captain America: Civil War ably took on the game-changing Marvel Comics arc of the same name by having heroes collectively unmask, and movies like Spider-Man: Far From Home are still playing out those ramifications. But mostly we see the dangerous ramifications of heroes doxxing themselves, without really digging into the strain for heroes to constantly have to lie about the things that truly matter to them.

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Campy Disguises and Clever Aliases

If you’ve watched Alias or were even vaguely aware of it, no doubt the first thing you envision is Sydney in black leather and bright red hair, a.k.a. her iconic look from the pilot. Her non-SD-6-sanctioned, under-the-radar disguise (impersonating Will’s sister) displays her ingenuity and establishes the series’ brand: attention-grabbing hair paired with increasingly ridiculous outfits, from chain mail waitress ensembles to rubber dresses. She’s played punks, rich bimbos, alluring businesswomen, escorts, and all manner of female personas upon which her marks would project their assumptions—all of which belied her true strength and cunning.

Even when future episodes riffed on the color wheel with teal, magenta, purple, and good old-fashioned blonde wigs, it was still within a clear spectrum established on that pivotal mission, when she channels a silly girl who cares more about the color of her hair than her safety, only to pin her torturer with the same chair to which she’s bound.

What Alias Predicted: I would hazard a guess that Natasha Romanoff’s first appearance in 2012’s The Avengers—a seemingly helpless redhead tied to a chair, about to be nastily interrogated—was a nod toward Sydney’s triumphant pilot mission. What’s more, despite the first ten years of the MCU leaning toward sleek costumes, later phases (like WandaVision‘s cheeky Halloween callbacks) have realized that they can embrace the bold colors and campy designs of the comic-book source material.

What Superhero Stories Can Still Learn: Better to lean into the bold colors and campy designs of the comic-book source material than to go for more sleek and cool. WandaVision did this, albeit cheekily and using the excuse of Halloween, but the nod toward Scarlet Witch’s original outfit was well received. Because any superhero can look cool in leather, but only the standouts can rock color.

Rambaldi Artifacts, Immortality, and Clones

While replicating the romantic dramas of Felicity, Abrams was also playing with early iterations of his signature “puzzle box” narrative style: The pilot has Sydney chasing after the mysterious Mueller device, which turns out to be… a floating red ball… which bursts into water the moment she tries to remove it. That head-scratcher of a device is only one of many inventions belonging to Milo Rambaldi, a fictional Renaissance-era philosopher whose sketches and writings all pointed toward the ultimate endgame: immortality. You know, just normal spy thriller things.

The series saw Sydney and co. chasing after all manner of Rambaldi MacGuffins, from a clock to a kaleidoscope to a music box to flowers that either demonstrated proof of eternal life (by never wilting) or amped up human aggression. Through all of this, it becomes clear that Sloane helped found SD-6 in order to collect all of Rambaldi’s artifacts and capture immortality for himself—even and especially at the cost of people like his daughter, Sydney’s half-sister Nadia Santos (Mía Maestro).

Before we get more into Rambaldi’s prophecies about the sisters, we can’t forget the parallel fever dream of the series: clones! Or, rather, secret agents genetically modified to look like anyone—which means everyone is a suspect. This constant paranoia quickly got out of hand on the series, but its first reveal was perfect TV drama: There’s not an Alias fan who doesn’t remember “Francie doesn’t like coffee ice cream” and the complete devastation that followed—the knock-down, drag-out fight that destroyed Sydney’s apartment just as badly as Danny’s death, but also Sydney’s heartbreak upon realizing that her best friend was already long dead.

What Alias Predicted: The Infinity Stones themselves are less interesting than in various superheroes’ personal connections to them: Loki (Tom Hiddleston) tempted by the tesseract in Thor: Ragnarok; Star Lord (Chris Pratt) and the Guardians of the Galaxy channeling their friendship to withstand the effects of the Power Stone; Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) stages of grief as she copes with trying to keep the memory of Vision (Paul Bettany) alive even without the Mind Stone. In short: grounding the most out-there plotlines in the personal ensures they will always land.

What Superhero Stories Can Still Learn: Ground the most bonkers of plotlines in the personal, and they’ll always land.

The Chosen One and the Passenger

This is when the Rambaldi business started getting less National Treasure levels of charming and more outright weird. Turns out the team wasn’t just recovering a treasure trove of artifacts, but also Rambaldi’s prophetic writings—including the mysterious “Page 47,” which featured a drawing of a woman known as the Chosen One… who bears quite the resemblance to Sydney herself. That would be easy enough to dismiss as a strange doppelgänger coincidence, but then comes the reveal of “Project Christmas”: When Syd discovers that she didn’t just stumble into the spy life on her own, but was actually trained as a sleeper agent from childhood, it only amplifies her fears that she has no true agency over her life.

Further Rambaldi writings center Sydney and Nadia into predestined roles as the Chosen One and the Passenger: supposed foes who are fated to clash, with one dying. Nadia getting injected with “Rambaldi fluid” in order to tap directly into the long-dead man’s consciousness (contained within another artifact known as the Sphere of Life) only earns her some nasty apocalyptic visions. But despite their genuine friendship that comes from bonding over their fucked-up childhoods, Sydney and Nadia are forced into that preordained confrontation when the latter is injected with a compound that reduces her to a mindless killing machine… all while a giant red ball is hovering over a city in Russia, because why not. Even after Nadia dies, and is brought back to life, then dies again, with her ghost haunting Sloane as he finally attains immortality, she remains a presence on the series.

There are certainly echoes to Black Widow and how it handles Natasha and adoptive sister Yelena’s (Florence Pugh) strained reconciliation after the older sister got out of the Red Room while the younger was still caught in its web. Their bickering banter about vests and poses, their differing memories of their false childhood, and their respective feelings of abandonment are what elevated Black Widow’s standalone outing—and made it even more tragic, on multiple levels, that this was the only time we would see the two of them in a movie together.

What Alias Predicted: Sister stories are gold! The Rambaldi storylines would mean nothing if they didn’t hinge on a tragically preordained confrontation, just as the MCU’s Red Room depiction seemed overdone until it was presented within the context of multiple generations’ differing experiences with its bloody legacy.

What Superhero Stories Can Still Learn: More stories about sisters! With Nat dead not long after she and Yelena had just started to bond again, it’s vital that Yelena’s future MCU appearances show her still grappling with the little time they got together.

After all, the best superhero stories are the ones that can feel just as fresh now as they did 20 years ago.

Alias is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The post How Alias Anticipated Modern Superhero Storytelling appeared first on Den of Geek.

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film-clown · 5 years ago

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Holy shit. So I’ve just watched 13 Reasons Why, season 3.

I know I cry at pretty much everything but god fucking damn, this show hit. It hit in every way possible and it is absolutely their best season. They talked about such important issues in the real world such as ICE and abortion rights, and they carried the sexual assault storyline better than ever. I think, almost every plot line was done very, very well. I’m gonna discuss everything from the show, so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched it.

First and foremost, I’d like everyone to give a huge standing ovation for Devin Druid’s performance this season. I cannot even BEGIN to express the way each and every one of his scenes moved me. They obviously continued the story of his assault by Monty, and they did it damn well. This storyline also very well showed that a person can move on, heal, and better themselves from mistakes they make. Tyler changed, with the help of amazing friends and a support system. I loved it, truly. I’ve seen many comments about how this was the show’s way of making viewers feel bad for a school shooter, and honestly? I’m not going to look at it that way. Second chances are how the world runs, but I’ll get into that later.

Now speaking of Monty... LOOOOOOOOOOOLL

Alright so.. I kinda saw this coming? 💀💀

I mean, kinda. But not really. I feel like as much as people would call Monty’s plotline this season toxic, due to the internalised homophobia, I’m going to choose to look at this as something people genuinely go through.

As a male jock, in high school, it’s a HUGE joke to be gay. Unfortunately, slurs are always thrown around, and even if you aren’t homophobic, the energy that jocks give out about the LGBT+ community will surely make you into that. So honestly? The demonstration of how Monty felt throughout the season when it came to his sexuality was accurate.

Now this little bit is gonna be my soft side talking - don’t attack me for it. The scene in the last episode where Monty finally goes up to the guy from Hillcrest and isn’t a dick to him, I can’t describe how that made me feel. And when Monty’s dad later came to visit him in prison, and spit on his face because he figured out he was gay? That shit made me sad. If you’re gonna spit on his face, do it because of what he did to Tyler. Not because he’s gay. Fuck.

In conclusion, I think Monty had some potential. Some. I don’t think he deserved to die though, and he certainly did not deserve to be blamed for Bryce’s death just because he’s dead.

Jock culture is so toxic. It was strongly established this season with both this plotline and the assault one (gonna get to that later) and I hope the world watches this show and takes some action. I don’t give a fuck what you’ve done in your life, nobody deserves to not love, or be loved.

I really feel bad for Monty to have grown up in such a toxic environment, with a piece of shit homophobic dad and that jock culture. The scene where Winston says, “You can be whoever you want to be” and Monty says “No.. I can’t.” Yeah I’m sorry but that scene broke me.

PSA: Monty’s still a dick. This is just my lil gay self talking.

Also, Timothy Granaderos and Deaken Bluman are so sexy. Thank you for listening.

Now fuck. GOD DAMMIT YO. Tony Padilla’s storyline fucked me up.

As much as I cried half the time, I’m so glad the writers brought up the misuse and abuse of ICE towards POCs in America. It broke my heart into so many pieces when viewers found out that his family had been deported and/or held in detention centres. It is so not fair. And to think that there’s countless families in our real world who are suffering through this shit. :(

I love Tony and Caleb so much. Imagine finding somebody who loves you THAT much. I’m glad that after showing a toxic gay “relationship” (Monty and Winston) they showed something as beautiful as this. Definitely one of the best parts of this season.

Speaking of relationships... wow.

I loved them. Like truly. First of all; the SEXIEST couple I’ve ever seen in any series. Also I think my emotional connection with them is cause they literally came back to each other...

...and they stayed together. Through everything that happened this season, they stuck together (for the most part, lol) and I loved that. The love triangle of Alex, Jessica, and Justin was weird though.

I also really, really loved Jessica’s journey on loving her body again. And treating herself right. It’s good that they brought up female masturbation in this season too, the stigma really needed to be broken. I’m so proud of her 🥺.

Okay and, wow. Justin’s reveal on being a survivor.. my god. One thing that’s really good about this show is, it highlights that men can also be sexually assaulted, or raped. And, that does not make you any less of a man. Society needs that reminder.

Also. I love Justin so much. So so much. But I’ll make a separate post for my man.

The brotherly relation between Justin, Clay, and Zach. My favourite thing to come out of this season. I’m so glad that the realest people in this show found a brother in one another.

The adventure of Justin settling into Clay’s family was a heartwarming thing to watch, as well.

This scene made me cry SO much. Clay coming back from hearing about what happened to Tony’s family, to tell his parents he loves them and making sure he’s thankful that he has them. I love this family so fucking much. It was a true wake up call for me too. I went and sat with my mum after watching this. Even if your relation with your parent(s) is rocky, please never take their place in your life for granted.

Alright. The best fucking scene from this ENTIRE show. All 3 seasons. This scene was: it.

You can watch Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

I cried start to finish on this one. Viewers also find out that Justin is a survivor, and I.. wow. Fuck. I literally have no words for everything to do with this.

This scene is so important for everyone to watch. It’s important for survivors to watch this to know that they’re not alone. You are never alone. And to those who haven’t been a victim of assault, please stand by those who have. Please support them, fight for them. The justice system is cruel to survivors, and unity within society is what can get us through another day. It can make things better.

Honestly I suck with words. Go watch the scene and hear what Jessica says.

Alright, now it’s time for the most controversial topic of 13 Reasons Why; Bryce Walker.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that the show is shitty for trying to sympathise and make viewers feel bad for Bryce - and I’d like to agree to disagree. Bryce is awful, the fact that he raped so many girls and did such horrible things to so many different people will neither be forgotten, nor forgiven. But I’m gonna choose to look at his plotline in the most positive ways possible.

You cannot forgive a rapist, or an abuser. They aren’t mistakes, they’re somebody’s actions that were intentionally done. But you can choose to let the person learn from it. You can choose to let the person grow, do better. I believe that everyone, no matter who, deserves a second chance. Not a single person in this world is perfect and if people weren’t given second chances, this society would be lifeless. I will choose to believe that Bryce was doing better. I saw a post that said something along the lines of, “It took the loss of his girlfriend, friends, and social status for him to realise that what he did was fucked up.” And I agree. Of course it took that for him to realise. Nobody realises what they’ve truly done until they, themselves, face the consequences for it.

The writers truly did an amazing job on portraying Bryce’s storyline. As problematic as it is, it’s reality, and as Thanos once said, “Reality is often disappointing.” Like, do you know how good you have to be at your job to make viewers FEEL BAD for a rapist? We all knew how horrible Bryce is, yet some of the scenes with him and his mum brought me to tears. I’d also like to give a whole round of applause to Justin Prentice because, wow. That man is damn talented. He did an amazing job this season. Don’t ever forget to separate the actor from their character!

One of the things that really stuck with me from this season is when Ms Baker was brought in for questioning. She said, “Did you know that this department has put more investigative efforts into solving the murder of a convicted rapist, than it ever did for any of his former victims?” And WOW. Did she lie? Did she really fucking lie?? No she didn’t.

Going back to what I said earlier, the justice system is cruel to victims. The way they investigated Bryce’s death vs how they treated Hannah’s case is how things are in real life. It’s really upsetting.

Also, the way they portrayed feminism/the SO club was DISGUSTING. I wish they had done better with that, rather than to carry on the annoying and disrespectful feminist stereotype. Protesting at Bryce’s funeral was so disrespectful.

By the way, wasn’t that Audrey from Scream? LOL

The last topic I wanted to discuss is Ani, but she annoyed me so much that I refuse to put in effort to talk about her. She’s absolutely disgusting for having sex with her friend’s rapist, as well as sticking her nose in business that had nothing to do with her. As Justin once said, “Fuck off, Ani.”

In conclusion,

This show is, and always will remain controversial and problematic. And a lot of people will choose to view it in the most skeptical way possible, rather than to see the points it makes. I definitely agree that this show hasn’t always been the best at portraying certain things - especially in season 1 - but they’re doing better now. This is high school culture (not the part where students are investigating a murder instead of doing homework). This is how the justice system treats rapists vs their victims. These are the struggles of survivors.

AS USUAL, THE SOUNDTRACK SLAPS. Go listen to it, please and thank you. This one is my personal favourite!!

Also, I’m always open to discussing/debating the things I talked about in this post. :)

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takaraphoenix · 6 years ago

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Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

I’m already tagging it with like four different spoiler tags, but just in case someone who hasn’t gotten to see it yet forgot to block spoilers, review under the cut:

The short of it first: I love this movie. I, however, also hate this movie. There were many wonderful things about it and many things I disliked or that upset me. Overall however, I think the balance made for a perfect ending to the MCU. (Which, makes me feel really weird about the fact that there will be... more MCU.)

Fair warning, this review will not be in any particular order, more like... what comes to mind. Because there was just so much happening in it. So I’ll bolt the particular hero each section will be about, for easier navigation.

First things first, we gotta talk about the time paradox. Look, I know it’s not a plothole, it was very much intentional, they set it up from the moment Bruce met the Anient One, however it still drives me insane that they killed Thanos from 2014 and... it changed nothing in their time.

If Thanos from 2014 is dead, he can never even go and collect the Infinity Stones and this entire reality should cease to exist. The Ancient One’s explanation on how removing something from the past leads to a split timeline makes little sense to me, because it first and foremost should change this timeline.

I know it’s most likely meant to set up the multiverse - the x-Men, it’s going to be used to work in the X-Men, probably also the Fantastic Four. But the lack of explanation as to why changing your own past does not affect your present time was rather... frustrating for me.

Same goes for “Loki escapes punishment in 2012 with the stone”. How did the stone end up in the 70s then? And what impact does this have on the Thor timeline? Will he wreak more havok? Or change to good earlier?

For a movie working the primary angle of time-travel, answers about the paradox created were... too scarce for my taste.

IRON FAMILY

That being said: My Tony Stark stanning ass is absolutely living for the fact that Tony just... solved time-travel in one night, casually, like it’s nothing.

And as such, I gotta talk Tony first, don’t I?

I am now 100% the Tony-Nebula friendship that everyone was expecting after Infinity War and in the reality I will be accepting from hereon out, Nebula and Tony get to stray friends.

Though, a dynamic I did not expect to absolutely love and stan is Rhodey and Nebula! Oh, that was so good. Generally, Rhodey in this movie was so good. He is usually just treated as the add-on to Tony and in this movie, he was... so much more than that and seemed to stand on his own a lot. (Yes, he’s still in this section because he is still part of the Iron Family so sue me.)

At first, I was honestly frustrated that Pepper was just... The Wife And Mother and seemed to have so little... input into things. Like, support, brainstorm along with them, anything. She deserved to be more than that.

I genuinely don’t have an opinion on Morgan. Like, yay, Tony got to be a dad, but also she was just such a generic Child with no defining personality traits, which granted, there was no time in this movie to establish that, but having no time is not an excuse for shortcomings.

What really broke me was Peter though. Peter being the reason Tony invents time-travel, even though it could mean losing Pepper, losing Morgan, losing his own life - Peter is what pushes him over the edge into helping. And then the reunion. The hug, the confusion on Peter’s face. And gods did it wreck me when Peter cried over Tony’s body.

I mean, generally, Tony’s death wrecked me. I’m starting to cry again as I write these words. I fully admit that it was perfect. There is virtually no better way to have Tony Stark go out than by him single-handedly in the most literal way possible saving the entire planet and the universe, with his last line being “I am Iron Man” as he wields the Infinity Stones - seriously, if you watched this movie and still try to post Anti Tony shit, I have to wonder what movies you even watch because this entire damn franchise literally rests on his shoulders, holy shit.

It was... It was the most perfect ending for Tony possible. But I still hate that it ended. I wanted an Ironheart movie where he mentors a potential Riri Williams for the future of the MCU, I wanted Tony cameos in future Spider-Man movies, I... wanted him to get the chance to grow old and see his daughter grow up.

But holy shit that funeral. Everyone. Just... everyone. Even Harley. Which, admittedly, I only figured out after wrecking my brain for an hour trying to figure out who that lanky brunette kid was that stood around alone and then remembering that Harley should have had a cameo in this movie too and--oh. That... that was really a deep dig for the Iron Man stans and I wished it had been a tiny bit more prominent. Like, having him and Peter talk, even just for a brief moment, about Tony, to remind us who Harley is and what those two have in common. That’d have been a nice touch.

TEAM ANT

Scott being the one to come up with time-travel as the solution was kind of hilarious to me, considering he isn’t a scientist and he has never encountered time-travel before. (I mean, Stephen literally introduced time-travel to some of them as a thing that is possible before.)

Legit, one of the two only times I cried in this movie was when Scott searched for Cassie’s name on the memorial and then was reunited with her. Paul Rudd played it so well and so heavy with emotions, it was amazing.

Hope, well, due to having been dusted, she got a shorter end of the stick. Which, in itself, should not make me salty because obviously did the dusted ones not play a huge part in the movie - but the fact that she was dusted to begin with, seriously, they dusted more female characters than they did male characters and there are already so few female characters and I am still salty that in a movie called Ant-Man and the Wasp it was entirely about one Wasp getting un-fridged just to then have them kill off two Wasps.

I have to admit, I have a certain saltiness that while Hank got a cameo in the 70s, Janet again was not deemed important enough. She got a non-speaking role to just... stand there during Tony’s funeral. That’s it.

TEAM CAP

Steve. Gotta admit, this movie brought me back to St0ny. Civil War completely killed that ship for me, but I really, truly loved how they worked Steve and Tony together again in this movie. From the first confrontation when the ship lands, to Tony screaming at Steve in the compound and them then slowly rekindling again. Because the emotional outburst was needed and deserved and had it not come, something would have felt... cheap.

I’m not sure how I feel about how they solved things with him and Peggy. Honestly, I’m so tired that Peggy post the first Captain Marvel is literally just Steve’s Love Interest, even though she was so much more. When she appears, it’s only to dance with Steve or to be sad about Steve and it’s... frustrating. And I don’t know how much they just changed her life by having her and Steve get married in the 70s. Not to mention, uh, what did Steve do in the past 50 years? Just hide out at home? Since Captain America’s face is kind of recognizable.

Look, Steve and Peggy getting married and growing old together, being happy together, is absolutely the dream ending for Steve’s storyline. Genuinely. But this was too big a thing to be so casually handled. The ripple-effect that two Steves in one timeline have, the implication that this Steve really did give up fighting bad guys, during four decades where no Captain America was there to help, it’s... so very, very vague. I know there was no time to dive into this in full length, obviously, but that doesn’t quite excuse it.

I love that he handed the shield off to Sam though. He is easy to establish as the new Captain America since we all already know him and honestly, the only two options would have been Sam or Bucky - and... please just let Bucky retire, that boy’s been through too many decades of shit don’t force him to live up to Steve now, so yeah, Sam is the better fit there.

That being said, Bucky. I liked that Steve handed the shield off to Sam, but I was missing a proper Steve-Bucky reunion. Bucky nudging Sam to talk to old!Steve and even before that, after getting undusted, there was... nothing. After 75% of Steve Rogers’ plotline in the MCU being centered around Bucky Barnes, the least they could have done would have been a proper, heartfelt reunion and a last conversation between the two. So Steve didn’t want to tell Sam about the marriage? One more scene. One where Bucky sits down next to Steve and Steve tells Bucky about his life with Peggy, even if just shortly, but... that was something that was missing, for me.

Clint was... there. I just... I don’t know, man. He was out there murdering criminals for five fucking years and they couldn’t track one archer during all that time and now he’s supposed to go back play house with Laura? I honestly, genuinely would have preferred that they killed him off at that point.

Also because Natasha deserved better. They fridged her. They took the only female member of the original team and basically killed her off for the others’ man-pain. Seeing those five guys crying about her at the lake felt like really nothing but fridging. She died so they could have the stone, she died so Clint lost her - that was literally the only note on that. She died so Clint would lose her. That’s the definition of fridging and it makes me mad, because apparently during those five years, she was like a leader to everyone else.

I was, honestly, ready for them to spin off a female Avengers team after this movie. Led by Natasha. And that they did her dirty like that makes me mad.

Wanda was also in this movie. She was badass, that’s something. (This is literally the nicest you will ever hear me say about MCU!Wanda.)

WAKANDA

They really did Wakanda dirty. Mainly so because they did them dirty in Infinity War already - aside from Okoye, they literally killed off every single significant cast-member from Black Panther.

Shuri, I’ll hand it to you they had to kill off because otherwise Steve and co would have had an alternative to go to instead of Tony and thus they wouldn’t have brought the team together as they planned. But the way she was treated after? She didn’t even have a speaking role in this movie, damn it. Not even... one line... She and Peter never got to interact. She got a bit of action, but not much.

T’Challa at least had a speaking role, but also suffered from having been dusted in the previous movie and thus only getting ridiculously little screentime.

M’Baku! He had one scene. He ran through the screen once. That was it. That’s just... ridiculous. He didn’t even get a major throw-down or anything.

And Okoye? The only undusted one? I am genuinely disappointed that she was not part of the team. They got the whole gang together, but the gang didn’t include anyone who wasn’t an OG Avenger or a Guardian. Valkyrie and Okoye should have been brought onto the team too.

Never mind Nakia, she didn’t even get a cameo at the end like the queen did. She was just like... Sharon Carter and Jane Foster: Not found. And yes, I get it, you can’t get all 200 MCU cast members, that doesn’t make it less frustrating when key characters are just... missing.

THE ASGARDIANS

The humor around every Bruce and Thor scene was... very Ragnarök. That’s not a compliment. It’s jarring, considering that this is an Avengers movie and I would have preferred their regular characterization over that one-off movie one with its... strange, cringey humor.

Seriously, they did Bruce so dirty. He was little more than a punchline. He’s a genius scientist, but now he’s a poser in the body of the Hulk who rather takes pictures with fans? And who completely screws up time-travel - but don’t worry, it’s hilarious so it’s okay.

And I better not start with Thor. Look, I approve of the fact that he grieved, that he was shown to not handle shit well. But... the extend in which he didn’t handle shit well was... not satisfying for me, but that’s a matter of taste I suppose. I didn’t like that he killed Thanos off just like that when Nebula was right there - and yes, Thor lost a lot, but Nebula would have had the right to kill him off and Thor took that away from her.

I did love his conversation with Frigga though. That was... incredibly well-handled and very nice and exactly what he needed to get at least most of his shit together again.

Though it really frustrates me how... ridiculous it was that he didn’t save Frigga. What makes anyone who got dusted more worthy of being saved? They died too. They were killed off too. It was a legitimate kill. But here, you decided that going back in time to save them is okay. When Thor however gets to be right there and have the chance to also save his mom... that’s a no-no? Why? That’s bullshit. You are altering things, saving people who died, but you get picky about what people get saving? Fuck off.

Valkyrie was... why was she not part of the team. They went and picked up Thor for the mission. They sent Bruce to pick up Thor, Bruce who knows Valkyrie the best after Thor. Why would he not also take her with them because they could have needed the backup?

And I don’t know how to feel about her as a king either. Maybe... Maybe let the Asgardians vote? Try democracy if you say you no longer have monarchy? You can’t just... appoint the next king like that.

Where exactly did her pegasus come from, by the way? I mean, did they have time to save the stables in Asgard too...? Just, where?

Also on the note of characters who didn’t make it into the movie I’d like to give honorary mentions to Sif, who I love and dearly miss and also would have wanted to meet Valkyrie.

THE GUARDIANS

Same as with Cap and Bucky, I was salty that Rocket and Groot did not get a heartfelt reunion.

And that Quill getting to see Gamora again was handled as a joke despite just how... emotionally loaded it could have been.

Drax and Mantis were... also in this movie, I guess. Some of the dusted characters came out shorter than the others.

Also, I really don’t know how I feel about Thor joining the Guardians, to be quite honest. Not... my favorite idea, because him and Quill have such a bad, obnoxious dynamic and it was already annoying during Infinity War and now during Endgame and both had like... five minutes of it. An entire movie with it would just give me a fucking migraine.

FEMALE AVENGERS TEAM??

And also, on the note of a female Avengers team - that group-shot of every female hero looked really fucking epic, I had tears in my eyes when Okoye repeated Natasha’s words from Infinity War; She’s not alone. That was... that was a bit much for me, but personally, I found it really undersold.

They took the time out of this movie to show us a shot we have all already seen. That big epic “first time of all the Avengers in one scene” shot.

They had the time for that, but they didn’t fully give that to the girls. It was clear they were trying to recreate that moment with the female Avengers, but it was such a split-second image - the least they could have done then would have been to give it a proper spin, to pause, to really show it off. Show off what female heroes Marvel has to offer right then and there.

And yes. They absolutely had the time for that. They could have just cut the damn shot that we have all already seen in favor of this new one, for example.

And since now seems to be as good a time as any, let’s talk about Captain Marvel and her hair. I love it. It made my lesbian heart really very happy.

Part of me hated that she was off-world for most of the movie, most of me knows on a rational level that the had to have her off-world or else things would have ended too quickly. And I liked how they explicitely pointed it out in-universe too, through Rocket and Carol.

Stephen was also in this movie. Not very much due to having been dusted and not actually doing a lot, but him telling Tony what to do was... It made me cry some more. And I guess Wong also got a brief cameo.

IN CONCLUSION:

So, on the overall, I complain a lot about how the dusted ones came short, how certain emotional scenes could have been deepened.

There would have been an easy solution to that. Make one more movie. Make this finale a trilogy instead of a two-parter. There were so many characters with individual plotlines in this movie and they deserved to be heard. Endgame should have been a two-parter in my opinion.

Also, I don’t like the five years time-jump. I just... yes, yes, big tragedy, lots of people dead, but somehow I find it incredibly unrealistic that five years into the future, the world would be slowly turning dystopian and no one moved on even a little bit? Life... Life would go on, somehow. And this made it look like it just didn’t.

I’d have had an easier time had they put this one year later, but I guess then Morgan couldn’t have been an adorable girl and would have just been a screechy baby so they needed the time-jump, huh.

Still I think five years was too much on the overall. Clint out there, murdering criminals for five years without being caught by the Avengers?

But yes, in the overall, I really did enjoy the movie. While some things came to short, they still put a pleasant amount of focus on the emotions and dynamics. It was heartfelt, emotional, sad, it gave Tony and Steve both the end they deserved. It did however still include a lot of things that didn’t sit right with me or that I thought were fault and I do still require a more elaborate explanation on the time paradox.

The total sum of this movie however was the perfect ending for the MCU. Which... is actually kind of a problem considering there is more MCU happening? And while, yes, I am totally here for Captain Marvel 2 and Black Panther 2, I... honestly... am basically done with the rest? And those two mainly due to the quality of their first movies and the fact that they happen isolated. Space and Wakanda. Not... yet another story in New York but this time without the Avengers you know and miss now.

#Avengers Endgame #Avengers Endgame Spoilers #Avengers Spoilers #Endgame Spoilers #A4 Spoilers #Phoe's Movie Reviews #Marvel

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anythingstephenking · 4 years ago

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Tony! Toni! Toné! has done it again

Did you know that Tony! Toni! Toné! has over a million monthly listeners on Spotify? Not bad for a band that hasn’t put out an album since 1996. Can you name a Tony! Toni! Toné! song that isn’t “Feels Good”? I can’t. Can you think of another band with three exclamation points in their name? I can’t. Do you remember when Panic(!) at the Disco removed the exclamation point from their name? I do. Do you remember when Ke$ha removed the dollar sign from her name? I definitely do.

The tangent to end all tangents, but we’re back with Danny (or more matured “Dan”) Torrance and his pal Tony with Doctor Sleep! I was so excited when this novel was coming out I pre-ordered my copy when it was announced. Then never read it. Whoops.

Since I started my King journey, I haven’t let myself watch any new King adaptations of source material I haven’t read, so I got to watch the movie for the first time too! Someday I will finally get to watch The Outsider. I’m actually on a bit of a roll - 5 books in the last month or so.

I ONLY HAVE 12 BOOKS LEFT! PRAISE BE.

King said that a lot of folks would ask him at book signings “What happened to Danny Torrence”? If I was King I’d probably says “I dunno man, he’s not a real person” so I guess that’s why I have no imagination. Instead of sparking annoyance with the insatiable requests of his Constant Readers, it sparked creativity, and that’s why King is king.

Alright, lets actually talk about the book. We’re back with the Torrance family, and for an extremely traumatized family unit, they’re doing ok after Jack’s demise. I mean, the ghost lady from room 217 shows up in the bathtub every now and again, but that’s to be expected right?? The Torrances are living in Florida, stating that there’s no snow in Florida. But they know there’s like, a lot of resorts in Florida right? Presumably haunted by a lot of old biddies sending their food back to the kitchen and tipping their ghost waiters 2%.

There’s a little bit with Wendy, a young Danny and Dick, who’s still around and helping Danny manage his shine. Dick helps Danny lock away the lingering remnants of The Overlook by quite literally locking them in boxes in his mind. Ok sure, I guess?

But we’re not here to find out how Danny’s awkward middle school years were, and so we skip past the braces and straight into the alcoholism. Because of course. Like many flawed-but-heroic King characters, a grown up Dan Torrance has an alcohol problem. Given who his dad was, I can’t say I’m surprised. Dan says it’s a crutch to dim his shine. Genetics and quieting your clairvoyance - the top two causes of alcoholism in the United States.

Dan’s character isn’t any more interesting than the other alcoholics in King’s novels unfortunately. He’s fine; standard “I wanna get better” bullshit. To his credit, he does turn his life around, joining AA, getting a sponsor and settling down in one place for more than 10 minutes. He does shitty things but feels IMENSE guilt afterwards. I suppose remorse is a character strength.

Turns out Dan isn’t really the star of the show here, it’s Abra, a young gal with a very powerful shine who has never even had a sip of whiskey. We’re introduced to Abra as a baby in a terrifying passage about her abilities. As a baby, she starts crying and wakes both her parents from powerful nightmares that include the numbers 11 and 175. Her parents can’t soothe her and it gets so bad they take her to the hospital, where she wails until just shortly after 9:30am. It was September 11, 2001, and the numbers the family had nightmares about were the flight numbers of the terrorist planes. An infant, warning her parents through dreams. I mean, girl’s got it.

Abra grows up and does a bunch of other stuff that can mostly be considered fancy party tricks. She makes small connections with Dan’s mind here and there, but things heat up when we meet The True Knot.

So The True Knot are vampires that aren’t vampires. Because they don’t drink blood, they drink “steam” which is emitted from those that shine while they are tortured. Cool. It’s a new and refreshing take on typical vampire tropes, and they’re decent, other-worldly baddies.

Here’s where things go a little sideways for me. Abra manages to catch the interest of the True Knot’s leader Rose, and you can tell the remainder of the book will be a cat and mouse between the good guys and the bad. We learn that the True Knot has gathered much wealth and resources (as the undead tend to do with all the time in the universe) and they have footholds all throughout the US, including Jerusalem’s Lot and Sidewinder. Yes, the Sidewinder where the Overlook once stood. So how, in gods green earth, did these folks not latch onto a young Danny? His shine was powerful enough for a friggin’ building to attack him, but he somehow slipped past The True. Someone asks this question in the book and I was not satisfied with the answer.

Plot holes aside, the relationship that Dan and Abra develop is quite charming, and because Dan’s a recovering alcoholic and Abra is 13, this is a romance free story. They team up, and the cat and mouse is amped up because we’re not just chasing The True through the streets but through their minds, with Abra and Rose popping in and out of each others brains like it’s nothing. It’s accelerated even further by the True catching measles from one of their victims. Now, I am looking at you, American Horror Story Season 5, for using this exact same plotline in Hotel two years later.

In the end, Dan gets his redemption arc, a new home, a career, 15 years of sobriety, a family. Abra gets… to live a normal life as a teen? I suppose this is the most important thing when you’re 13.

While a fun, page turning story (I think it took me 3 nights to plow through) there’s really not much to chew on here outside of the fast paced plot. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It feels to me highly personal retelling of the recovering alcoholic, with Dan fully duking it out with his demons and coming through on the other side. I’d imagine that the parallels with King’s own demons is not all that dissimilar. At times it does feel like reading an advertisement for AA.

At the end of the day, The Shining was a story of alcohol and isolation; Doctor Sleep is a story of sobriety and companionship. One ends well; one does not.

6/10

First Line: On the second day of December in a year when a Georgia peanut farmer was doing business in the White House, one of Colorado’s great resort hotels burned to the ground.

Last Line: “Until you sleep”, he said.

Adaptations:

I feel more and more letdown with every modern King adaptation I’ve consumed recently.

The new Stand miniseries? Hated it.

1922? Hated it.

The new Pet Semetary? HATED IT.

Lisey’s Story? Currently watching and hating it.

Dark Tower? COME FREAKING ON.

I’m trying to remember the last King adaptation that didn’t make me go “meh”. I suppose IT: Chapter One? Gerald’s Game was good too I guess. I absolutely adore Castle Rock, but Hulu cancelled it because they’re stupid heads.

I actually miss the “so bad it’s good” movies of the early years - I’d rather watch Cat’s Eye 20 times than have to sit through 1922 again.

I was anxious for Doctor Sleep because I love love love Mike Flanagan movies and he did a decent job with Gerald’s Game. Oculus and Hush are two of my favorite modern horror movies, and if you ever want me to jabber on for hours on end, ask me about The Haunting Netflix series.

Unfortunately, I filed Doctor Sleep into the “meh” column. It’s a hard adaptation; remember that the Overlook exploded in the book, but was still standing at the end of the movie. Dick dies in the movie, but he’s still kicking it in the book. The list of inconsistencies go on and on.

It’s like how David Yates had to clean up the whole patronuses-are-actually-animals thing after Alfonso Cuaron’s creative decisions in Prisoner of Azkaban. If you get that reference, you win today’s nerd award (TM).

So Flanagan had his work cut out for him and he does well at marrying the two parallel universe storylines. The most infuriating plot-hole in the movie was the fact that they let The Overlook rot after the Torrance family left? I mean, Grady killed his wife, two girls and himself, and the owners decided to keep on keepin’ on, but sure, they decided to pack their money-filled suitcases and close up shop when Jack Torrance bites it by freezing to death in the hedge maze? Sure thing.

But it wasn’t bad. It was just fine. It’s ok.

Would I recommend this movie to someone? Sure?

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brandxspandex · 7 years ago

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Thor: Ragnarok review of sorts

So I just went to see Thor: Ragnarok for a second time and I think that I’ve collated my thoughts enough to give an overview of my opinions on it. Under the cut because this got really long…

Firstly, what I didn’t like about it:

I wasn’t crazy about the way they killed off the Warriors Three with so little ceremony, especially Volstagg and Fandral (Hogun’s death was a bit better). Volstagg in particular is a pretty major and beloved character in the Thor mythos so to see him done away with like that was unpleasant. It’s made even worse by the fact that The Dark World implied that MCU Volstagg has a family with a bunch of little children like 616 Volstagg does.

I similarly didn’t like the way they wrote off Thor’s relationship with Jane Foster with the same casual disregard. I didn’t even like the Thor/Jane plotline and kinda wished they’d never taken that particular path in the first place, but it really irks me when a story sets up a particular relationship or character or plotline or whatever as important and something we should be emotionally invested in, and then proceeds to write it off as though it never mattered. It weakens my trust in the narrative, as it makes me wonder why I should get invested in anything else it pushes me to care about, if there’s a chance it’s just gonna act like it was never important later on. Plus, even if I personally may not have particularly cared, it makes me feel bad for people who did. Sure, more often than not people’s ships don’t work out in canon, and you just have to live with it, but it’s a whole other level of insult to have your ship just tossed away as though it never meant anything. Contrast this with how they dealt with Bruce/Natasha in the movie; I don’t really care for that pairing whatsoever, but I’m still glad they acknowledged it in a way that was consistent with the way it was presented in Age of Ultron. Ultimately, while certain relationships don’t do it for me and I personally think they drag down the narrative, I think that if they’re going to be done away with, it should be nonetheless done in a manner that is respectful to way the relationships have been presented up to that point.

While I enjoyed Hela, as I will expand upon a little further on, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat underwhelmed by her character, knowing how much cooler the comic book character she’s based on is. As keen as I was for Hela, I knew that there was no way they were going to manage to make her as interesting as her 616 counterpart, but I nonetheless hoped they’d chuck in some little reference to the clusterfuck of factors that make her so fascinating in the comics, but there wasn’t really anything like that. On that note, I was hoping that there would be some interesting Hela and Loki interaction, given they have such a major relationship in the comics (not to mention the connection between their mythological counterparts), but they barely interacted at all. I was also really hoping that Hela was going to survive in order to act as a substitute for Mistress Death and Thanos’s object of obsession, and whilst that still isn’t completely off the table, it honestly didn’t feel like they were setting that up after all. Still, I can hope.

On a more minor note, I was a bit irked that the after-credits scene from Doctor Strange ended up being a scene in the film. It felt a bit like being retroactively robbed of an after-credits scene since there is no longer any point in watching it on its own at the end of Doctor Strange.

As for the things I was more ambivalent about:

I had mixed feelings about the humour in the film. On one hand, I love comedy and levity, especially when it is mixed with other genres I’m into. In fact, the humour that runs through the MCU is a big part of why I love it so much. On the other hand, when the humour of an established setting is suddenly amped up, particularly when it smacks of a very particular (and new) style of comedy as it did in this film, it can feel rather discombobulating, almost like the rules of that universe have spontaneously shifted to make this string of funny things happen. So while I found the humour in the film to be a lot of fun, I did feel that sense of discombobulation.

On a related note, Thor’s characterisation in particular felt like it shifted quite a bit to fit the style of humour in the film. I enjoyed his characterisation, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was quite the break from how he acted in previous films. I guess I’d have to watch this movie back to back with some of the previous ones to determine whether or not this is a valid feeling. It is something that does seem to happen quite a bit, I find; certain creators have a very particular way of handling characterisation that causes a lot of characters to take on a certain…tone, when they are written by said creator. I got the sense that was going on in this film.

I’m not sure how to feel about the destruction of Mjolnir. On one hand it was a bold move, but on the other it takes away the most iconic thing about Thor.

They didn’t show Thor and Loki hugging at the end, and while I’m sort of outraged, I also have to wonder if cutting away actually made it all the more impactful, but I guess we’ll never know for sure.

Things I thoroughly enjoyed about the film:

While I found Hela’s overall character rather underwhelming, I certainly can’t fault the stunning way she looked or the overwhelming amount of swag she simply radiated; it was glorious. I would have liked to have it wrapped around a more interesting backstory and/or character motivation, but I can at least relish this shining beacon of sassy goth villainy.

It is also good to know that Hela is at least still a dog person in the MCU, and Fenrir was a very fine example a death goddess’s best friend.

How fricking cool was that seemingly ROCKET POWERED DRAGON at the beginning???

I found myself endeared to Valkyrie the moment she drunkenly staggered off the walkway of her spaceship and then proceeded to mow down a gaggle of scavengers with gauntlets that controlled her ship’s turrets. It was a good first impression.

Both the Hulk and Bruce Banner were fabulous, funny inclusions in the movie, and I really enjoyed their interactions with both Thor and Valkyrie. Honestly, if either Bruce or Valkyrie end up romantically involved with anyone, I think I’d most prefer for it to be with one another.

Doctor Strange was also a fun inclusion from start to end.

I also loved how Thor had Mjolnir disguised as an umbrella during those Earth-bound scenes, in reference to the old comics where it would transform into a walking stick. They even had the detail where he taps it against the ground to transform into his Asgardian garb.

The Grandmaster (and his fricking orgy ship) was just a whole lot of fun.

As was that bloody Kiwi space rock (and his ant friend)…but let’s be real, the mere existence of New Zealand is funny in itself.

While the revelations about Odin and the royal family weren’t explored nearly enough for my liking, they certainly provided a goldmine of worldbuilding and fanfiction possibilities for fandom to play with.

Finally, the things about the movie that I loved:

When I first became invested in the MCU one of my favourite things about it was the bond that formed between Bruce Banner and Tony Stark in The Avengers, so I felt a bit bummed by some of the more recent films in which that relationship seemed to fall to the wayside. Therefore, the way Bruce kept mentioning Tony in this film, even if they were little, incidental mentions, made me very, very happy. I really hope this means their relationship hasn’t been forgotten after all.

Personally I was never truly convinced that Loki killed Odin at the end of The Dark World, but I was very glad to have it confirmed that Loki just dumped him on Earth. Loki’s desperate love for Odin was the thing that ultimately won me over to his character in the first place, and I think that would have been ruined for me if it turned out that he had killed him. I think the way the movie dealt with Odin overall was pretty spot on actually; it introduced the darker elements of his character that have been apparent in the comics for some time, but kept his characterisation nonetheless consist with how he was portrayed in the former films. I was quite satisfied with how his arc played out.

Out of all the characters in the movie, I feel like the tone suited Loki the best. After all, it makes sense that a god of mischief would be at home in a bizarro comedy. Whilst I felt that a number of the other characters had shifted their behaviour slightly to suit the film’s comedic tone, Loki’s characterisation felt completely natural to me. Now that I think about it, I think Loki’s been growing progressively funnier over the course of each movie he pops up in, which is great since he absolutely should be funny. Don’t get me wrong, I loved angsty little Loki from the first Thor movie, but he really needs to have a solid dose of mischief served up alongside all that angst. Honestly, what are the more quintessential ingredients of Loki than angst and mischief? I feel as though that scene of Loki masquerading as a suspiciously fruity Odin, building statues of himself and watching dramatic theatre about his life would seem like absurd Flanderization for most other characters, but for Loki it felt as though he was finally becoming the character he was always meant to be.

I furthermore loved the character arc Loki undertook in this film; it felt like a really organic progression from his character growth in The Dark World. What really got me was that scene where Thor tells Loki that although he refuses to change, he could be more, because if that isn’t a Journey into Mystery/Agent of Asgard reference then it’s a hell of a coincidence.

On that note, Thor and Loki’s interactions were wonderful; a fantastic blend of funny and heartfelt, antagonistic and cooperative. Basically their relationship in this film was everything I want to see from their comic counterparts that Marvel keeps refusing to show me goddammit.

I loved the unique aesthetic of the film both visually and aurally; such a cool combination of the high fantasy thing the other two Thor films had going on and the synthy, 80s Kirby-esque sci-fi element that they introduced. Seriously, what other movie looks and sounds like this one does?

Admittedly I’m only really familiar with 616 Skurge from the Walter Simonson 80s run, in which he doesn’t have that many appearances, but of course it does contain his most notable appearance, and I loved the way they adapted that into the film. It might even be my favourite scene in the movie. Skurge’s whole character arc was really the cherry on top of this film for me.

LOOP ZOOP

But fricking seriously how the hell did we get to the third movie in a Thor movie trilogy and only now they’re playing Immigrant Song?

I did not see that twist on the Ragnarok thing coming and honestly I was pretty impressed by it; I especially liked how they subverted expectations in regards to Loki being responsible for instigating Ragnarok by indeed having him directly responsible, but for reasons I never could have anticipated.

While Infinity War is probably gonna screw it all up, I loved the promise presented by set-up at the end with Thor being the Captain King of a starship of homeless space fantasy gods traversing the stars, with Loki by his side. Holy shit I desperately want to watch a sci-fi series spinning off from this premise.

SAFE PASSAGE THROUGH THE ANUS

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niamsuggitt · 7 years ago

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The Ides Of July 2017

Hey guys! It’s time once again for The Ides Of, but this is a shorter column than usual. What can I say, it’s summer, there’s less TV on and I’ve been outside at least once. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some damn good stuff in here, but there’s notably less.

Part of me feels like I should compensate with a longer, ramblier introduction, but nah, let’s get on with it.

(Is ‘ramblier’ even a word? I don’t think it is. More rambly? No, that’s not right either.)

—

Movies

I began the month by watching John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski 2017), which picks up pretty much right where the first film left off, and doesn’t let go for the entire running time. It’s another hugely enjoyable action movie with some fantastic set pieces and a brilliant, central performance from Keanu Reeves. I would probably say it was a step down from Chapter 1, if only because it hits a lot of the same beats and doesn’t come out of nowhere as being surprisingly awesome. I think what makes these films work is the very slow, deliberate world-building that goes on around the rather basic revenge plotlines. John Wick’s world of assassins has a definite fantasy twist to it, and every new rule, every new artefact we see, such as ‘markers’ only asks more questions, and I think that feeling of only just scratching the surface of a mystery is very powerful. It’s why I think the fervour of my fandom for a new world is always at it’s highest right at the start. When every page is a new discovery. In John Wick, both chapters, every scene is a new discovery. It’s why I’m both excited and nervous about the upcoming John Wick comics (even if they are by the excellent Greg Pak) and the possibility of a TV show. I want things to remain murky here. I mentioned Keanu earlier, but the rest of the cast is also great, with standouts being Ian McShane (of fucking course), Peter Serafinowicz and a very cool Matrix reunion with Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. These John Wick movies are just a lot of fun, very cool action, strong (albeit, as I said, simple) stories and just that hint of something higher.

I then watched La La Land (Damien Chazelle 2016), finally getting around to one of this year’s big Oscar contenders after months and months of hearing and reading some rather heated debate. Now that we’re a bit removed from all that, I have to say that La La Land is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that deserves a lot of the praise it received and, in my view, not as much criticism. The opening musical sequence is just a delight, a blast of classic Hollywood movie magic in that most prosaic of places… a traffic jam. That sense of old-school big musical carries throughout, and whilst at times I feel like the balance between that and the more modern, plotty scenes is a bit off, it works more than it doesn’t. All of the musical numbers are excellent, sticking in my head after the film, and I enjoyed how they fit into the story of Seb and Mia, both of whom are interesting, flawed characters with strong performances from Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. At first I was surprised that Stone won an Oscar here, because it’s not the kind of role that normally wins the big awards, but in a way, that makes it even better. She just sells the whole conceit here so well. One thing I found interesting is that the movie uses the classic Hollywood musical romance style to tell the story of a relationship that doesn’t end up working out. The two main characters aren’t able to live their professional dreams together. They have to sacrifice their being together to be successful in their own fields of acting and Jazz music (speak of the Jazz thing, that whole ‘La La Land white mansplains Jazz’ thing was way overblown, yes, Seb does do that a bit, but 2, 3 scenes later, John Legend’s character disagrees with him, and is shown to be correct!). I am conflicted about that final scene, where they idealise their romance and we see how it ‘could’ have gone. I can’t quite parse the meaning just yet. But overall, La La Land is great, effortlessly charming, with a directorial style and panache that hasn’t been discussed enough I don’t think. I think I definitely need to see ‘Moonlight’ now, just to see how they stack up. La La Land is good for sure, but I can see why others didn’t like it and don’t see it as ‘worthy’. Hopefully we can forget about that now and just appreciate what an experience it is.

And finally, I went to the cinema to see Spider-Man: Homecoming (Jon Watts 2017) and it should be no surprise at this point that I loved it. Not only do I like basically every MCU film, Spider-Man is my overall favourite superhero, so having him get his own story in that universe is just what dreams are made of for this particular dork, particularly after the relative let-down of the Amazing Spider-Man movies. I would probably say that Homecoming isn’t as good as an overall film as the first 2 Raimis (particularly Spider-Man 2), but that MCU connection gives it that extra edge. Think about it, when people talk about what makes Spider-Man so special, it’s pretty much always in comparison to other superheroes. Compared to Captain America and Thor his life’s a mess. A young kid can’t identify with Batman, but they can with Spidey. Superman’s costume shows his face, but Spider-Man’s hides his, so it could be anyone under there! Spider-Man’s charm is that he’s not like other heroes, so, as good as Raimi was, given that Spider-Man is the only hero in those films, that charm is missing. Lest we forget, the very first issue of Amazing Spider-Man sees Spider try, and fail, to join the Fantastic Four. This film follows a similar path, although swap out the FF for the Avengers. Post-Civil War, Peter Parker is desperate to join the Avengers and be like Iron Man. But throughout the course of the film, he, and the audience, realise that isn’t where Spider-Man is supposed to go. He has his own corner of the Marvel Universe. A friendly neighbourhood if you will! Basically everything in this movie works. I’ll start first by saying that Tom Holland is pretty much perfect. He showed that already in Civil War, but man, he doesn’t drop the ball here. He is funny, endearing, clever and heroic. Basically, he is Spider-Man. The cameos from Robert Downey Jnr’s Tony Stark are just enough, and the way other Avengers make their presence known is just hilarious. I thought Michael Keaton was brilliant as The Vulture, making the character understandable but also very menacing. But of course, with Spider-Man, it’s not just about the superhero action, but also about the personal drama, and I think Homecoming does the best of any adaptation at nailing Peter Parker’s home-life. The scenes between Peter and (the still disarmingly hot) Aunt May are great, hinting at the tragedy that binds them, but not dragged down by them. All of the high school stuff and characters are fantastic, feeling like the best combination of the classic Lee/Ditko days and the more modern, Ultimate Spider-Man. I mean, Ned is basically just Miles Morales’ best friend Ganke (speaking of Miles, loved the reference to him with Donald Glover’s character) and the new spins given to Liz, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant and MJ are great. I really loved Zendaya’s performance as ‘Michelle’ here, she’s a different kind of love interest, in that she barely is one at all! She came out of nowhere to be perhaps the funniest character in the film. And man, is it funny, that’s another thing Homecoming delivers where other films perhaps didn’t, the humour. The MCU is always comedic, but this is taken to another level. Can you tell I really liked this movie? I watched it after a tough week personally, and it really turned things around. Spider-Man has always taught me a lot about how to live my life, and it’s great that he continues to do so. I hope Tom Holland is inspiring a new generation of kids.

Television

Given that it’s Summah, there’s not as much TV as there usually is, but what there is to talk about is good stuff. The only returning show for me at the moment is Preacher (AMC) which is back with one hell of a bang. This second season has the series feeling a lot more confident, both in it’s ability to stick closer to the comics now that we’ve left Annville behind, but also in how it deviates from the source material. Whilst I enjoyed Season 1, Preacher really should be a road trip story, and that element is front and centre, as Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy search across America for God. Not only are they being followed by the Saint Of Killers, but recent episodes have begun to introduce my favourite antagonists from the comics, Herr Starr and The Grail. The fact that their introduction has been somewhat surprising is a sign of how good this show can be. It is familiar, but also able to give me something new. I said this a lot last year, but whilst the story may differ, the tone of this show is pure uncut Ennis and Dillon, and that’s hard to beat. The opening sequence of the Season Premiere was just the perfect mix of comedy, gross-out and violence. It blew me away. I continue to love the central performances from Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga and Joe Gilgun. I don’t think any of them are likely to get Awards consideration, but they deserve it for me. The only real negative for me so far this season has been the Eugene/Arseface storyline, where we see what he’s up to in Hell. I get what they were trying to do, but making Hitler a sympathetic character doesn’t really work. It just felt like the wrong kind of ‘offensive’ for Preacher. But the sequences showing Eugene reliving his worst memory were some of the best the show has done. Preacher is a series that’s not for everyone, but as a fan of the comics, I really enjoy it a lot, Rogen and Goldberg continue to grow and evolve the show, and it’s really very exciting.

I also watched 2 Netflix originals in their entireties. First was Five Came Back (Netflix), a 3-part documentary series about the filmmaking exploits of 5 famous Hollywood Directors during WW2; John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra and George Stevens. The series uses a lot of fascinating archival footage, and also pairs each of the 5 with a modern director; Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo Del Toro, Lawrence Kasan and Paul Greengrass. I found this to be a fantastic, powerful documentary, which made me look at not just these individual directors differently, but also see cinema as a whole and WW2 in a new light. The first episode is a little slow, introducing us to the 5 men’s lives before the War, but the later episodes are on a whole other level, and just blew me away with the footage they shot. One thing that really brings it home is the fact that a lot of what, particularly Ford and Stevens shot, was in colour. You don’t often see WW2 in colour, but it made it feel so much more real and effective. The football of Dachau concentration camp in colour was particularly harrowing. You just don’t expect to see that in colour. It was incredibly powerful and you really see why, after his experiences, George Stevens felt he was no longer able to direct comedy films, and instead only did drama from then on. It changed him so deeply. One thing that’s particularly cool about this series is that Netflix have also put a lot of the propaganda films the Directors made on the site as well. I haven’t watched any yet, but I am intrigued. It’s certainly made me more interested in their wider careers. I’ve seen most of Ford and Capra’s big pictures, but the likes of Wyler, Huston (who I know more as an actor) and Stevens I don’t think I’ve see any films of. If anyone can show me how I can see ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’ in the UK, let me know, it looks like a fantastic counter piece to ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’. If you have any interest in the golden age of Cinema or WW2, you have to watch this series, it is a superb examination of both.

Over the space of just about 3 weeks I watched every episode of GLOW (Netflix), which really is fantastic. Given that I like the bastard art form that is professional wrestling, I was already pre-disposed to liking this series, but it transcends that to become a top quality series in it’s own right that, actually acts as a fantastic explanation of why ‘sports entertainment’ works. If you have any friends or family that don’t quite get it, I think GLOW, rather than any 5-star match or amazing promo will help you explain. Over the course of 10 episodes GLOW introduces some truly fantastic characters, delivers some brilliantly funny moments and also provides enough depth and drama so as not to be ridiculous. The way the series plays with stereotypes is just excellent, as pretty much everyone defies your expectations. The central performances from Alison Brie, Marc Maron and Betty Gilpin are the standouts, but really, everyone is good. I was very surprised to see UK pop star Kate Nash appear as Rhonda. I had no idea she could even act, but she was hilarious in all her scenes. It was also great to see Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim, Ellen Wong appear, and as a fan of the much maligned 3rd season of Veronica Mars and poor Piz, Chris Lowell was fun as Bash. But the main thing here is Brie, whose Ruth is just one of the great modern TV protagonists. She manages to be both sympathetic and also an awful person at times, and it was great to see her slowly get her confidence back as she develops the ‘Zoya The Destroya’ persona. Her Russian heel accent is so damn good. One thing I liked is that the show treated Wrestling seriously, and that the matches we do see were kind of good, by 80s standards. It was great to see so many cameos from real wrestlers, the likes of Johnny Mundo, Tyrus, Carlito, Joey Ryan, Alex Riley (surprisingly good? How did this happen, he was so bad!), Kazarian and Daniels and of course, Awesome Kong/Kharma, who plays the biggest role in the series. GLOW is just a fun ride from start to finish, and I think it’s probably the best paced Netflix show I’ve watched. Most of their shows, as much as I enjoy them, tend to lag in the middle, but with this? I could have easily watched 3, 4 more episodes. Perhaps it’s the 1980s setting? Both this and Stranger Things kept the pace. I can’t wait for a second season, and man, if WWE knows what they’re doing, they should try and get some of the stars of GLOW to appear at Summerslam a la Stephen Amell. I mean, Smackdown already has a sexy Russian villain and a heroic champion who literally feels the Glow. It makes almost too much sense.

Now for some quick hits!

The 2-part iZombie (The CW) was really excellent, and set the series up for a very different 4th season next year. Zombies are now public knowledge, and a significant proportion of Seattle’s population are now Zombies. This is what the series has sort of been building to all along, but I don’t know if I ever actually expected it to happen. Now that it has, I am very excited to see what it will be like. Part of me will miss the classic dynamic of eating brains and solving crimes, but I have faith that the writers can keep the sense of humour and we won’t lose what makes the show fun.

The finale of American Gods (Starz) was very strong, particularly for an amazing Ian McShane monologue, the appearance of several Jesuses (Jesi?) and another brilliantly stylish flashback sequence focusing on Bilquis, but man, 8 episodes was too short a season, I feel like Fuller and Green have only just gotten started! Part of me thinks I should re-read Gaiman’s novel before Season 2, but I also like the fact that my memory is so hazy, it means I can still be surprised, like Preacher. These 2 shows actually have quite a few similarities now that I think about it.

Silicon Valley (HBO) ended it’s 4th season with the departure of one the main characters, Ehrlich Bachman, and I have to say it was bittersweet. I will mis T.J. Miller’s scene-stealing performance, but they way he left? Just abandoned by Gavin in Tibet to do drugs? It was so damn funny. I hope the series will be as strong without him, I think it might actually help them shake things up a bit and allow the plot to progress a bit more, because whilst this series is always funny, Season 4 did feel a bit like ‘2 steps forward, 1 step back’ at times.

The last few episodes of Veep (HBO) Season 6 were a bit like that too, although probably intentionally? Especially given that the finale featured flashbacks to throughout Selina’s political career. I am wary of her running for President again, but at this point I could watch these actors do anything, they are so funny, and I think that David Mandel and his writers, whilst different from Iannucci, have a firm handle on them. Veep is just a comedic classic at this point, and if a Presidential comedy can still be funny in the age of Trump, it really is good.

Music

Two albums to talk about this month, and both a returns for recent favourites of mine. First up is How Did We Get So Dark? (Warner Bros. Records 2017), the second album from Royal Blood. With this record, the Brighton two-piece don’t exactly reinvent the wheel, once more delivering 10 blistering rock tracks in the space of about 35 minutes. But when the wheel you’ve already got is so damn good, then it doesn’t really matter does it? This is another great collection of rock songs, that hit hard and stick in your memory. Given that this is reportedly a break-up album, the subject matter of the songs is probably a little darker than the self-titled debut, but with Royal Blood, the lyrics tend not to matter as much as the feel of the song, of the bass and the drums just kicking in your face. I would say my my favourite song on here is probably ‘Hook, Line And Sinker’, but the title track is also great, and really, they’re all excellent. I suppose it would have been interesting to see what a more experimental Royal Blood album would be like, but for now, I’m fine with a bit more of their formula. If they haven’t changed after 2 or 3 more albums, then I’ll be worried.

Public Service Broadcasting’s Every Valley (PIAS Recordings 2017) does however represent a rather big evolution for the band in question, as they are now no longer sampling old films and documentaries, but actually feature some singing! This record is another concept album, with the band once again examining an area of history. One might think that Welsh Mining would be nowhere near as exciting as ‘The Race For Space’, but it turns out it is, and, in my opinion at least, makes for a better album, their best yet. Given the current surge in left-wing politics in this country, this is now a very timely album and one that has resonated with me a lot. One of my great-grandfathers was a miner, albeit not in Wales, so there’s that personal connection too. The mines allowed so many working class people to provide for their families, and that allowed subsequent generations to prosper, leading to my generation of the family being far more middle class and comfortable. When the mines and other industries were gone, I think Britain lost that social mobility, and we need to bring that back. Enough politics though, what about the music? It’s fantastic, with PSB’s familiar excellent musicianship married not only with iconic, memorable samples, but as I said, also with some original singing from some great guest-stars, such as Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura and James Dean Bradfield of The Manic Street Preachers. However I think the best song features singing from the band itself, as J. Willgoose Esq himself duets with Lisa Jen Brown on the heartbreaking ‘You + Me’. That song is just wonderful even outside of the concept. It has extra meaning because of the other songs around it, but can stand alone I think. The same can also be said for the final track, ‘Take Me Home’, which features a resounding chorus from a real Welsh men’s choir. The last few tracks here, after the strikes and after the mines have been shuttered just wreck me. I almost cried when I first heard them. This is just a wonderful album, from a brilliant band that always impress and look to do new things. They could easily be a novelty, gimmick band, but this shows they are so much more.

Books

Not to toot my own horn too much, but sometimes I can be an astute, intuitive motherfucker. Last month, when talking about Moonglow (2016) by Michael Chabon, I wrote that it reminded me a lot of Gravity’s Rainbow. Well, only a few pages later… Chabon brings up that book in the text! That brought a real smile to my face, as did the rest of this novel, as well as a fair few tears. Chabon’s depiction of his grandfather’s life comes together very well, telling a fascinating story about some very interesting people. The revelation of just what Chabon’s grandmother’s secret was blew me away, especially in the rather nonchalant way it was explained. It wasn’t some big bomb-shell (this book has enough literal ones of those!) but a slow unravelling. Like I said, it was emotional, and I can only imagine what it was like for Michael Chabon and his family to discover and for him to write about. This is a very strong book from a brilliant writer, yes, it’s a deeply personal story about his family, but I think the themes brought up are applicable to almost anyone. It certainly made me reflect on my relationships with my parents and particularly my grandparents. All 4 of them are dead now, but I certainly feel like I should speak to my Dad and Aunts and Uncles to get a better sense of where I come from.

I’m currently reading Dorian Lynskey’s 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History Of Protest Songs (2010), which is, as the title would suggest, a history of protest music throughout the 20th century. Lynskey writes about 33 songs and how they reflected and even formed social change. This is a very interesting read, and in these politically tumultuous times, one that feels very vital, even if it is 7 years old. One thing that I appreciate here is the breadth of songs Lynskey chooses to write about. Some of them are very familiar to me, like ‘Strange Fruit’ or ‘Give Peace A Chance’ and others I’ve never heard of! I’m excited to find out more, and luckily, every song in this book apart from one is on Apple Music, so I’ve been able to compile a playlist so after reading a chapter I can listen to the actual song. I’m currently just getting up to the 1970s, with the next chapter to read being ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ by Gil Scott-Heron, which is just a classic. Of course, this book is more than just a music book, and instead reflects the changes in Western, particularly American, society. A lot of these early chapters are about Civil Rights, and then Vietnam. From reading the contents, that’s going to evolve into Gay Rights, and feminism, and many other causes. Every chapter teaches me something new, not just about the musicians, but about the protest movements themselves. The only negative thing really is that reading this book has shone a light on the fact that our current political climate is sorely missing any good protest songs. The final chapter in this book is Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’, and that song is nearly 15 years old! I think it’s because the left is so much more cynical nowadays, when we see a song with a ‘message’, we dismiss it as preachy and smug? That’s certainly what I tend to think, but then again, I do like a lot of the songs in this book! I suppose if he did an update Lynskey could write about ‘Oooohhhh, Jeremy Corbyn’ to the tune of Seven Nation Army? That’s about as close as we get these days.

Games

Much to my shame, I have barely had any time for video games this month. I haven’t even touched Zelda! I am a failure to the people of Hyrule. I hope they'll forgive me. I have however still been playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch) when I have a spare half an hour or so. I’ve been playing it in Hand-Held Mode this time, and it is just so awesome to be playing a hand-held Mario Kart Game with such awesome graphics. I can remember playing the shit out of Mario Kart Super Circuit on the Gameboy Advance, and this is bringing back fond memories… only it’s 100 times better and bigger. One thing that I think is going to increase my playing time going forward is that I’ve just picked up a Switch Carry Case. Now I’ll have nothing to worry about in putting it in my bag and gaming on the go. Now that I have this case, I think I’ll start using the Switch to it’s full potential and perhaps actually get on with Zelda once more.

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So that’s your lot, I hope you enjoyed it. I must admit that even though this was shorter than normal, writing this was a bit like pulling teeth!

Hopefully next month will be easier, especially because Game Of Thrones is back! Oh man, I’m excited for that.

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