Early Reports of Death

The early reports from folks who have seen Deadpool are coming in, and they are quite positive. Deadpool is a film that exists predominantly due to the fact that fans (and that includes Ryan Reynolds) want it really bad, like really bad.

And yet, part of me suspects it may be an overall flop, even if it is loved by critics. Right now? It is the fan community getting to see it. Of course, Fox wants that positive word of mouth. And it is encouraging to hear that the filmmakers really get what makes the comics and character so entertaining.

The ad campaign is very tongue in cheek and funny.

And yet, I wonder…will that all translate to success with a wider audience? Is the Deadpool fanbase enough to make this film a hit? Will the dark and violent humor translate outside that target market? It make, but I suspect that right now, this film may not be the success some are anticipating, precisely because it appears to be very reverent to it’s source material.

January 20, 2016 0

Favorite Films of 2015

There are a lot of movies I have not seen. So bear that in mind. If you are wondering why the Room is not on this list? It is cause I have not seen it.

Mad Max: Fury Road
Biggest surprise of this year for me. When first announced, I thought there was no way this could work. It would be a lesser sequel to a franchise that puttered out over 20 years ago. And yet, George Miller came back to his franchise and blew the audience away. The film is insane with it’s visuals. It’s characters are minimal yet compelling. it has a positive message. and it is amazingly re-watchable.
Selma
Ava DuVernay has given us a powerful gut punch of history. The performances are excellent and the film pierces the heart.
Creed
Like Fury Road, this one totally surprised me. It was the smartest way to continue the franchise with great performances from Jordan and Stallone. The story is compelling and inspiring.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Introducing lovable new characters, bringing back beloved heroes and putting the prequels to the best use possible…I greatly enjoyed this.
What We Do In Shadows
Thanks, New Zealand. This mock documentary follows four Vampire Flat mates and manages to mine laughs from even the most awful parts of vampire lore. Very funny film.
Maggie
A small and personal zombie film with one of Schwarzenegger’s strongest performances.
Jupiter Ascending
A much maligned film, it is like watching a live action Anime. it gets goofy at times, but like most Wachowski Sibling films visually stunning.
Mr. Holmes
A typically thoughtful performance from Ian McKellan and a movie that is comfortable moving at a slower pace. Having a compelling story allows them to take there time without becoming boring.
Ant-Man
This was such a fun change of pace after the more grim Age of Ultron. It had a strong and likable cast.
Krampus
This one was just a light fun holiday scare movie that I enjoyed immensely.

January 5, 2016 3

The Forced Questions (Spoilers)

So, we are a few days into the release of the Force Awakens and those…less impressed…have gone out to offer their challenging questions. So, this is all spoilers. If you have not seen the film and are avoiding spoilers? Do not read this.

I have seen people talk about the major plot holes, but have not seen them presented. Most of what I see is people saying “This new mystery has come up, PLOT HOLE!” A new mystery in a franchise is not a plot hole. How does Maz Kanata have Luke’s Lightsaber?! That is a mystery, not a plot hole.

One of the busiest memes I have seen is Rey-centric. It can be summed up as “How does this scavenger know how to fly/fix ships/use the force? The film establishes that Rey has flown ships before. She states that she has flown ships before, but has never flown outside the atmosphere. So, we know she has flown. Which pretty much answers how she was able to fly the Millennium Falcon. This is not a magical thing. She has never flown it, but she was left in the care of Unkar Plutt, a junk dealer. It seems highly likely she spent plenty of time around the Falcon. She knew all the modifications Plutt made. As she and Finn are running to escape the First Order’s attack on Jakku, she says they should not take the Falcon, as it is a garbage ship. She is clearly, in fact, very familiar with the Falcon.

And it should be noted, we see proof of Rey’s flight skills far sooner than we ever see of Luke. In Episode IV, Luke tells Ben that they do not need Han Solo, he is a decent enough pilot. But we see no actual evidence of this until the final moments of the film where Luke flies and X-Wing.

Rey is very likely a skilled mechanic. I have known a few mechanics in my days, as well as people who fixed up cars with no formal education. There is literally no reason that “scavenger” equals “lacking Technical Knowledge”.

How does Rey know how to use the Force. Luke could barely use the Force without training. Except, he really had no training before Yoda, and he was using the Force. Ben really did not train Luke, he told him a few things. Rey appears familiar with Jedi lore, more than Luke did, he had to be told the basics. But Rey was experiencing the Force in ways Luke did not. What this suggests is Rey has a more raw connection. It is not out of line that between Han Solo’s comments about the reality of the Jedi and Luke Skywalker, her experience with Luke’s Lightsaber and finally Kylo Ren’s attempts to interrogate her, Rey had the confidence to at least try and use the Force in her escape. And there is no way she would have beat Kylo Ren if he were not severely wounded. And we know she was a skilled fighter with a staff, quickly picking up a lightsaber is hardly a stretch.

Finn is the black Storm Trooper that had some folks upset. Yes, we all know there are clones in the prequels, based on the talk of the Clone Wars from the original Trilogy. The film establishes they are no longer using clones. It is impossible to completely ignore the prequels, and the film only makes reference when it needs to. An interesting note is the reference by Lor San Tekka “balance to the Force”. As Peter Chattaway (who has a very different reaction to the film than I) has noted, the whole concept of “Balance” within the Force is a prequel thing. However, in the prequels, it was specifically in reference to Anikan Skywalker. Here, the comment is a reference to the Jedi. Lor is stating there need to be Jedi, and with Luke missing and no one to take his place…the Force is out of balance.

Weird criticism? Darth Vader’s helmet is in perfect condition. I think the person making that claim blinked. The Vader Helmet was a melted mess.

Finally, the dumbest complaint comes Brian Godowa… Rey has a “boys name”. His ass backwards mentality on women as heroic leads is the real problem. But he falls into a camp that sees Rey as “pandering”. Six Star Wars movies that focused on Male leads. One animated feature and two animated series focused on male leads as the central heroes. But one film where the heroic Force wielder is a woman, and the series is “pandering”. How ridiculous.

December 23, 2015 0

Prologue to What a Scrooge

I have always had a soft spot for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.Oh, that is underselling it. It is my favorite Christmas tale. I like it more than the Christmas Story from the Bible. I can watch endless attempts to tell the tale.

I like the whole idea behind it. The ghosts, the memories, the redemptive nature of the story, the hope it tells of in our choices. It fills me with a certain joy and hope for what can be. I also think it is a “pure” horror story. Strong horror often can have a moral center, as opposed to the diluted in the modern world which often means “gory”. But A Christmas Carol is a true horror story.

Marley returns from the grave, given an opportunity to help one of his only friends from suffering his miserable fate. The ghosts are going to torment Scrooge with what could have been, what is and what might be. And Ebeneezer Scrooge? He is timeless. We see him today, unwilling to share, hoarding wealth, justifying his miserly ways.

“Are there no prisons?”

“And the Union workhouses. Are they still in operation?”

“If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

“I haven’t SQUANDERED it, if that’s what you mean by “making myself comfortable!”

We justify greed and miserly ways. We call it good business sense. It is a powerful tale, one to be reminded of every year…

So I thought I would look at nine different versions of the film. It’s fascinating to see the variety of ways the filmmakers have sought to portray Marley and the Ghosts. I hope to keep adding to this list each year…focusing on the good, the bad…but we will coubntdown to Christmas day starting tomorrow.

(The featured image is actor Tom Atkins as Scrooge. I would love to see his stage performance of this wonderful story. But that would involve a road trip to Pittsburgh)

December 16, 2015 2

Direct Sequel vs Kinda a Sequel

Zack Snyder has commented that in his mind, Batman V Superman is actually the Man of Steel Sequel. There is a Man of Steel 2 on the Warner Brothers slate-with talk of George Miller directing (which would be exciting)-but Zak really feels this is the true follow-up.

And this feels like it is becoming an issue with both Marvel and DC films.

In the early days, the Marvel stand alone films were allowed to focus on the hero. There might be a cameo, or a supporting role (Black Widow in Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier). But the films were primarily focused on the hero’s journey, while the larger Avengers story-line might be lightly hinted at.

But Captain America: Civil War seems to be suffering the same problem as Batman v Superman… so stuffed with heroes, it feels more like “Avengers: Infinity War-Prologue”. They are feeling less like proper films in a franchise and more like the setup films. Adding Spider-Man to Civil War only enhances that.

I kind of get what they are doing with Batman v Superman, because Warner Bros has been playing catch-up after trying to determine how to get that Avengers cash without totally looking like they are trying to copy the the actual Avengers formula.

So we are getting long movies full of heroes, all while they give less and less room for the title character. Part of what I enjoyed about both Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy was they had connections to the greater shared universe they inhabit without losing their own spirit.

I worry both DC and Marvel will be making it near impossible to allow even their solo movies to be focused on the hero whose name occupies the Title Card.

September 22, 2015 2

Fantastic Lemonade

So…I was not a fan of the the latest stab f the Fantastic Four. And I was not alone. But Jamie Broadnax, whose writing I respect and enjoy, has voiced an appreciation of the film.

This challenged me to think about the film a bit harder. Specifically, are there things I did like? Things that I could appreciate even if they did not work?

There things I liked. For instance, Franklin Storm. I liked him. He radiated a general kindness and his interactions with Johnny and Sue were welcome additions. It’s frustrating he kind of fades away until he is needed for the “Big Emotional Motivation” towards the end.

I did like Johnny Storm in general. The specifics frustrate me…Johnny as a free spirited risk taker works better for me than “Angry Risk Taker”. Michael B. Jordan manages to still infuse some charm into the role.

I like the cast in general. All the actors are proven talent, so the issue was never performance. The actors did their best with questionable material. Dr. Doom especially suffers there. Nothing about his early behavior suggests what he will become. There is an offhanded comment about whether the world should be saved…but once everyone gets their powers, Doom is lost and nobody seems to care. Once he reappears he hates the world and wants to destroy…because.

The use of powers, especially by Reed, were pretty effective.

I liked the inter-dimensional travel part of the plot. The use of science in general. The early suggestions of Sc-Fi Adventure would have been a great path to go. This was clearly borrowed from the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics. I think this works well.

Leaping from there, I think would have benefited the film to have a different villain. Victor Von Doom should have been there, but more as a scientific foil for Reed. It might have been a good idea to borrow from the comics, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Doom alters their coordinates, resulting in the tragedy that gives them all powers. And Sue would be there with them. Not sitting back at a computer terminal.

Instead, a different villain. An obvious choice would have been Annihilus. The discovery of an alternate dimension is not one way. Save Doom for a later film in the franchise.

And then there is the whole deal of Reed running away. Yeah, it gives Ben his motivation for anger towards Reed. But it felt like getting rid of Reed was more because they did not know what to do with him. The idea that Reed sees Ben in his rock form and simply runs away…just does not gel. It would have made more sense to show Reed working with Franklin and Sue Storm with the goal of getting everybody back to normal. The big conflict with the military regarding the attempts to turn Ben and Johnny into weapons.

There are all sorts of ways this film could have gone to be better. A brighter color pallet for instance. More humor. More heroics.

And for Pete’s sake…give Ben Grimm some pants.

August 11, 2015 0

Spider-Man Swings Past the Origin

The site Collider has a discussion with the writers (though, the actual interview occurred on the Andy Greenwald Podcast) of the rebooted Spider-Man franchise.

Much talk has been given about Spider-Man’s second reboot and his entering the the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The hype is getting so ridiculous that an article appeared in my Facebook feed *confirming* Spider-Man would appear in Civil War. People are so desperate for angles that they are confirming stories confirmed months ago.

The more interesting part is the address the most common concern people seem to have about the reboot. Are we getting stuck with another origin story? The fact that Spider-Man is appearing in Civil War would indicate the answer to be no. The MCU has been fairly good at not jumping backwards. The timeline appears as if they will be jumping into a story with an active Spider-Man.

This interview suggests that, currently, they are not writing an origin movie:

“I think that everybody feels like you know he got bit by a spider and you know Uncle Ben died, and we probably don’t need to revisit that.”

“We want to explore the fact that just because you get superpowers doesn’t make you into a really sophisticated, successful adult. He’s still a kid and he’s clumsy and he’s a geek and he’s a bit of an outcast, and in many ways the superpowers amplify that and exacerbate his trying to fit in.”

This is good to see. Truthfully, the origin movie is rarely needed. I get that there are all sorts of fun that can occur with someone learning their powers. But a simple solution is set the story early in the hero’s career. This allows for amusing and dramatic stumbles due to inexperience. You can still set up the rivalries.

In that sense, I get the idea that DC is working with. It seems like Batman v Superman will be introducing characters who are already active. I am not fully behind the “older Batman” approach…but in a way, I appreciate the way they seem to be avoiding another Batman origin story. Sure, it appears we will see some flashbacks, but comics have always reflected on characters origins in their storytelling. But Warner Brothers and DC seem to be realizing they can start the story later in the career of the character. Really, I think it would have helped Man of Steel to start in his early career, instead of the introduction to his world as fighting a massive and destructive battle with Zod.

To be fair, Marvel has not just given us origin films. The Incredible Hulk was not an origin tale and really, Thor was an established Asgardian Warrior. But Marvel really has leaned heavily on origin films. And it certainly worked for the best with Captain America. So it is good to see that Marvel and their screenwriters understand that it is just not necessary to retell the Spider-Origin all over again.

August 1, 2015 0

Diverting The Train

There seems to be a lot of surprise over the fact that the new vehicle from Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow, Trainwreck, totally favors monogamy.

But is this that shocking? Should conservative and liberal critics be shocked that a Hollywood film favors monogamy over commitment to one night stands? The liberal contingency has given more of a tired sigh over yet another Apatow film favoring “conservative mores” while Conservatives seem pleased.

Honestly, I have not issue with Apatow films favoring the idea that monogamy is good. I will go as far as to say…I think it is silly to complain about it. As film critic Peter Chattaway noted, at this point, should anyone be surprised that an Apatow makes a film that favors monogamy and marriage?

One might note that Amy Schumer is the screenwriter, so that surprises them. But has there been proof that Schumer would normally oppose the message of the film (I confess, I have only seen bits of Amy’s standup and clips from her show which have been “uncomfortably” hilarious)? And really, based on the previews? Did people really think the film was going to favor the lead *not* falling in love?

I would actually suggest that Hollywood has rarely gone against monogamy. Most films about relationships end with the relationship succeeding. The main set of films in the American Pie franchise all tend to favor committed relationships, mining more casual sexual encounters for laughs.

Trainwreck sets it up in the previews…Amy’s drunken dad (Colin Quinn) teaches her that monogamy is a sham, them she meets a guy (Bill Hader) who challenges her notions of relationships…where do we really think that is going?

I have not seen the film yet, but I think being shocked that it favors relationships and monogamy over sleeping around is…naive.

July 30, 2015 0

The Argh of Apocalypse

The X-Men films started off strongly (X-Men was decent, X2 was very strong) faltered in the middle (X3 and X-Men Origins Wolverine were big stumbles), X-Men:First Class started the films back to a solid footing that X-Men: Days of Future Past continued with. The Setting in the past helped give the films a sense of purpose. And as they go into the 80’s with the X-Men: Apocalypse, introducing Apocalypse makes a lot of sense.

In the Marvel comics world, Apocalypse was the first mutant. He is ancient. And he looks like this:

Entertainment Weekly recently revealed the look of Apocalypse for the film:

And it just feels…off. People slammed it quite harshly. My own reaction was that it looks like a lame Doctor Who villain or a rejected idea from the Wishmaster franchise. I mean, maybe there is going to be a barrage of digital yet. But some folks quickly jumped up to point out that folks complained about Quicksilver and look how that turned out.

And, this is fairly true. People howled loudly about how awful Quicksilver’s outfit looked. And yet, Quicksilver was one of the most engaging characters in the film. His sequence in Days of Future Past was a real standout.

And so, folks are understandably saying, the character could still be awesome. And true, the performance may turn out to be awesome. I am not expressing a dissatisfaction with the performer. But I am rather unexcited about the characters look…and no performance is going to suddenly make it look cool. I may like the performance and character, but unless there is a lot of post production touch up, I cannot see the character looking less comedic.

As an aside, the inclusion of Jubilee feels odd… Jubilee is really very much an element of the 90s X-Men comics. Yes, she technically first appeared in the 80s. May of 1989. The actress seems like a good choice and they do seem to have hit her style near perfectly.

Oh yeah, Moira McTaggert is in this one…if it’s not archival, there is a 20 year jump in time since we last saw her…are they aging Rose Byrne (the character would be pushing 50, if not older)? And really Entertainment Weekly and Filmmakers…if Scott Summers is a “bad boy” in your film…crap, that is a big misunderstanding of the character.

July 28, 2015 0

Better, But Still Not Quite…There…

So San Diego Comic Con saw the release of a new trailer for next year’s Batman vs Superman and…

Well, I am a little more hopeful…but not yet excited.

The trailer is unclear if Batman has been active for years or if he retired, though there seems to be indications he is returning to his cowl.

While I am a bit bummed that we will not have an established friendship, they are clearly coming at this with the heroes fight, realize they are wrong, join forces model. This is, certainly, a classic comic book story. But Superman and Batman have a long history as close friends. I would hope they can do it as effectively as John Byrne did in 1986’s Man of Steel mini-series.

They cannot, of course, give us a long established relationship, as Man of Steel established the very first time people saw Superman was his battle with Zod. And the Man of Steel is our introduction to the DC Cinematic Universe. It is off to a grim start. I have expressed in discussions with friends that I am bothered by the literal hero worship aspect because I felt it had not yet been earned. Granted, the film is likely set a few months after the previous film…and I can appreciate that they are trying to address all the destruction in Man of Steel.

So what makes me feel more hopeful?

The Man of Steel Returning cast. Getting to see Clark Kent active as a reporter. Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is intriguing to me right now. Jeremy Iron’s Alfred seems to nail the idea that Alfred is Batman’s needed conscience. It looks pretty exciting. Wonder Woman looks tough.

So, I am still cautious and not yet at optimistic.

July 27, 2015 0