Author Archives: Doc

Mickey 17

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Academy Award winning director/writer Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer, Okja) is back with his new film released this weekend after several delays, Mickey 17, based on a novel named Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton. Mickey 17 is a mix of sci-fi/dark comedy/drama/satire/fantasy-adventure. Unfortunately, these genres are not combined well and are at odds with the others more times than not.

Mickey 17 tells the story of a man named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), who, in order to escape earth and a loan shark who is after him, volunteers to be an expendable, a person they give the bad jobs to and, if something tragic happens, they clone the expendable and replace his memories.

Which is where the 17 comes from in the title. The seventeenth version of Mickey is the one we are with during the brunt of the beginning of the film. Then something unexpected happened and they wind up creating Mickey 18, even though Mickey 17 was not yet dead.

While I feel that there were several problems with the movie, I did not hate this. In fact, I am kind of on the fence about it. Some of the stronger parts of the film is certainly the performance of Robert Pattinson. His work as both Mickeys was extremely strong, as he was able to create two distinct characters, even though they were meant to be the same person. I am not sure why Mickey 18 turned out to be as different from Mickey 17 as he did, which was something the film did not go into.

The first part of the film was very intriguing. I liked the sci-fi elements to the story, especially the ones between 17 and 18 in the early part of the film.

The film looked great. The CGI was spectacular and you could see the wonderful eye of director Bong Joon Ho.

However, the film was not that funny, with most of the humor falling flat. I did not enjoy the performance of Mark Ruffalo, who was clearly doing a satirical take on Donald Trump. I am not a Trump fan, and I believe there is plenty of area available for parody, but this was just so over-the-top and blatant that it lacked any subtlety at all. Plus the character played by Ruffalo is such a one-note villain that it felt too cartoonish for the rest of the film. Toni Collette, who played the wife of Ruffalo’s character, was better, but she was similarly one dimensional. Her whole obsession with “sauce” made little sense in the overall film.

Several characters and moments were introduced only to never really have a payoff. I love Steven Yeun (Walking Dead), but his character was inconsistent for me and his storyline felt like it was added to get Steven Yeun into the movie. It felt like it could have been removed completely without any massive change to the story.

It was also 2 hours and 17 minutes long, which is not a bad thing necessarily, but it did feel its length during the film. The last part of the movie was chaotic and strange and I am not sure how well it worked. I do like the big swings with the oddity of a film that this is, but it just did not feel to be a cohesive narrative with a consistent tone.

I think some of the ideas in Mickey 17 are extremely great and could have made a better movie than what this turned out to be. For me, I came out of the theater with a meh feel after having some high hopes heading in. As I said, it is not a bad movie. It does not come anywhere near Parasite or Snowpiercer.

2.9 stars

Invincible S3 E7

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Spoilers

“What Have I Done?”

The alternate timeline Invincibles arrived on earth, sent by Angstrom Levy, a villain Mark believed he had killed, and brought destruction and chaos to the planet.

This was a brutal episode of Invincible and saw some real stakes as the major cities of the country were devastated and thousands of people were killed. Sadly, Rex was one of the victims, as he blew himself up taking out one of the Invincible variants.

Our Mark was going through it as well. Not only was Eve badly injured, but he had to face the fact that this entire thing was his own fault. Angstrom brought these Invincible variants to the earth in order to get Mark and Mark was having a difficult time dealing with that guilt. Even though this is not Mark’s direct fault, the idea that it only happened because Angstrom was after him was a tough pill to swallow.

The adaptation of The Invincible War was filled with action and drama. The battle with the incoming Invincibles was tough and we saw all of the world’s heroes responding.

It also feels as if there is a slight warming of the relationship between Mark and Cecil, though Mark is still very cautious around him, and who could blame him for it?

Then there is no rest for Mark as we got the arrival of Conquest during the clean up of the city. Mark was itching to hit someone and these two powerhouses went straight for one another, setting up next episode with another bigtime throwdown.

This episode was compelling as could be and was one of the best of the series so far.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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March 5

I had a real hard time cutting this week’s covers down. My first time through, I had a possible ten covers in the race for the top three medal positions. It was really challenging to try and pick three. I failed at the task. I decided to have a tie for the bronze medal (second time ever). Interestingly enough, none of them are variant covers (there was a cool Peach Momoko NYX cover in the running, but…)

Bronze Medalists

1. Kill Train #2

Cover art by Skylar Patridge

AND

2. The Immortal Thor #21

Cover art by Alex Ross

Kill Train is an awesomely disturbing cover as our main protagonist is wiping the blood from the window of the train. Really cool imagery. Immortal Thor is from last year’s champion Alex Ross and has a great look at the Executioner facing off with Thor. Thor’s reflection in the axe. Oh, and there is Thanos standing in the background.

Silver Medalist

Dust to Dust #3

Cover art by JG Jones

Dust to Dust has had some of the best, most consistent covers of the year. This rattlesnake crawling around this skull is so beautiful.

Gold Medalist

Doctor Strange of Asgard #1

Cover art by Geoff Shaw and Arthur Hesli

Stephen Strange with his coat of many colors on the Rainbow Bridge. This is bright and shiny and jumps out from the pack on a really strong week.

Love Hurts

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I think Ke Huy Quan is as charming and engaging of an actor as you are going to find. I loved him in Everything, Everywhere All at Once and the season two of Loki. Unfortunately, Love Hurts is a mess. I’d go as far as to say that this is not Love Hurts… but instead, Love Stinks.

According to IMDB, “A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.”

There were some fun fight scenes. The story, though, was about as dumb as it comes and there is not one real character in it. Because of all that, the film, even among the biggest action scenes, felt very boring.

1.5 stars

Dog Man

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With a day off school for weather, I had a chance to watch Dog Man on Fandango at Home (Vudu). Dog Man was a movie that I was avoiding at the theaters because it just did not look like something that would intrigue me. The trailers did nothing for the film in my opinion and, even after some positive reviews, I did not care to watch it.

So when I rented Dog Man, I was not especially anxious to see it.

I have to say, this was a movie that I found much more enjoyable than I ever expected it to be.

The film kicked off with the origin of Dog Man, and set up his rivalry with the evil cat, Petey (Pete Davidson). With pressure from Chief (Lil Rel Howery) and the Mayor (Cheri Oteri), Dog Man was chasing Petey, and every time Dog Man would catch him, Petey would escape from the Cat Prison. Everything changed when Petey decided to clone himself.

The script of this movie was pretty good, as it told the story of what was going on, but also reveled in a ton of meta filmmaking. There were tons of jokes about the movie, the style, the animation, and about the tropes that were actually quite funny. They were jokes that worked much better in context than they did during the trailers, which always seemed to be painfully unfunny.

The look of the animation was original and creative. I thought this looked really good and kept my focus on the screen.

I am sure that the target audience for this movie, of which I am not one, would find this incredibly entertaining. I would go as far as to say that I was entertained as well. This had some jokes for me as an adult mixed in with the jokes for the youth. They worked well together.

It is very sweet, maybe even too sweet at times.

I am happy that I was able to watch Dog Man. It was much better than I thought it would be. I would highly recommend it to any families out there looking for some funny family fare that everyone will enjoy.

3.6 stars

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

Daredevil is back.

The new MCU Disney + series debuted tonight with its first two episodes. I liked how the show feels like another season of the Netflix show while feeling like its own thing too.

The return of Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio brings their aura and talents in the roles of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. The power of these two actors absolutely drive this series so far. These characters are complex and three dimensional. They are the opposite sides of the same coin. The discussion between Murdock and Fisk in the diner is such an amazing scene.

I kind of suspected the shocking death that happened in episode one. I had heard some rumors and that minimized it a little bit. It was still tough to see and was an emotional moment.

Yes, there was not a lot of Daredevil in the two episodes, but it made sense as to why we do not see DD much. We get plenty of Matt Murdock though and it really works.

I am very excited to see where the series heads after the first two solid episodes. It was extremely creative and original. Bringing the idea of Mayor Fisk into the storyline is amazing and gives D’Onofrio something special to play.

We are introduced to White Tiger in these episodes, but out of costume at first. I have always enjoyed the character, but I do not have much knowledge of him. I liked how his story worked into the overall arc of the beginning of the series.

We have not seen Muse yet (although I do think we have).

Daredevil: Born Again is on Disney + released on Tuesdays.

The White Lotus S3 E3

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Spoilers

“The Meaning of Dreams”

Big lesson to learn from this episode: don’t release a cobra.

Second big lesson: All the bald, white guys look alike.

Finally, voting for Trump can cause friction among friends.

The White Lotus had its third episode drop on MAX Sunday night, and, between the Oscars and RAW, I am just getting around to it tonight. It was a lot of fun as some weird and humorous things occurred. There also felt as if there were several biblical allegories happening.

Rick, stoned, released a bunch of poisonous snakes from the terrarium at a local snake show, including a cobra which just happened to bite Chelsea. She was rushed to the hospital, but she turned out fine. When asked why he let the snakes free, Rick just said that he felt bad for them. Chelsea said that snakes were evil, but Rick said that even evil things should not be treated badly. This was a weird sequence with these two.

Belinda went to speak to “Gary” because she had thought she had placed the face that she recognized. She was sure that he was Greg, who had married Tanya. He denied it, of course, but she clearly made “Gary” feel uneasy and could Belinda just put herself in danger? I really want Gary/Greg to get his comeuppance this season from his manipulations that led to poor Tanya’s death last season.

Timothy Ratliff finally decided to put his phone away, since it was constantly blowing up with people trying to contact him… specifically the FBI. The stress is beginning to get to Timothy and he took some sleep medication to get some rest. This looks like an arc forming around him and this drug.

Kate told Jaclyn and Laurie that her husband had voted for Trump and that she was an independent, dodging the question about whether she had voted for Trump. Jaclyn and Laurie were laughing about it later and Kate overheard them. I mean… Kate is from Texas after all.

I like where many of these stories are going and I hope for justice for Tanya!

Paradise S1 E8

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Spoilers

“The Man Who Kept the Secrets”

Paradise’s first season of episodes came to a close with an answer to the central mystery of the whole first chunk of episodes: who killed President Cal Bradford?

We see, not only, who the killer was, but also how it happened and where he had been since. It turned out that the librarian Trent was the killer of the President. However, it a plot twist worthy of this show, the librarian was not actually Trent. It turned out that the librarian was the man who attempted to assassinate the President in episode one. He had replaced the real Trent, who was a librarian on the list heading to the underground city. The assassin took his place and hid in plain sight the whole time.

He had wanted to finish the job, but he got comfortable and decided he wanted to live. When Cal had come to the library to make a mix tape for his son, it triggered Not-Trent and convinced him to finish the job.

We see the actual flashback to the murder and it is a dramatic end. Xavier chased Not-Trent as he tried to escape the city. Xavier had found directions to escape and Not-Trent smashed him over the head to take it away.

The end to Sinatra was not quite as satisfying, though Jane shooting her through the throat was not as good as Xavier blowing her head off. Jane did this to keep Sinatra alive and keep Xavier from killing her. Jane had been ordered to take care of Presley, but she did not do it. Xavier was happily reunited with his kids without knowing that Jane was behind the murder of his friend.

This is an awesome show and the show set up a great arc with Xavier on his way out of the city in an attempt to find his wife. Paradise has been renewed for season two so that is exceptional.

FYC: 2025 Oscar Reaction

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I have been very happy to share the FYC crew on EYG this year. I enjoy this show and love the hosts. They have wonderful discussion with intelligence and balance. They can disagree while still clearly being respectful and friendly.

I look forward to the next Oscar season for FYC to return once again!

Thanks to Perri, Scott and Jeff!

Oscar Winners

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Best Picture 
Anora
The Brutalist 
A Complete Unknown 
Conclave
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance 
Wicked

Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain 
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown 
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist 
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Animated Feature Film
Flow 
Inside Out 2 
Memoir of a Snail 
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 
The Wild Robot

Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

International Feature Film
I’m Still Here
The Girl with the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Flow

Directing
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet,  The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Cinematography
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Ed Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anora 
The Brutalist  
A Real Pain   
September 5 
The Substance 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

Film Editing
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked

Music (Original Song)
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late

Music (Original Score)
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

Sound
A Complete Unknown 
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
Wicked 
The Wild Robot

Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked

Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man 
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance 
Wicked

Costume Design
Arianne Phillips, A Complete Unknown
Lisy Christl, Conclave
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, Gladiator II
Linda Muir, Nosferatu
Paul Tazewell, Wicked

Best Animated Short
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candles
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

Best Documentary Short
Death by Numbers
I am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Live-Action Short
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

The X-Files S8 E7

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“Via Negativa”

This was yet another Agent Doggett episode in season 8 that I found very engaging and entertaining. My memory of the 8th season was that I did not enjoy any of these episodes, but on this rewatch, I have found these to be hidden gems. Most of the first eight have been pretty good to awesome, with a few exceptions.

“Via Negativa” is one of those awesome episodes. Even with a limited amount of screen time for Scully, the tone and mood of the show was not lacking and gave a wonderful backdrop for a very strong performance from Robert Patrick.

It was cool to see more from Skinner in this episode and the initial team up with Doggett and the Lone Gunmen. The use of these other X-Files characters helped ease the absence of Scully.

The story itself was not the greatest script I had seen on The X-Files, but there were so many other positives in the episode that it helped create an exciting and eerie show.

Invincible S3 E6

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Spoilers

“All I Can Say is I’m Sorry”

This one was a tough episode to watch.

It started off with the Batman v Superman set up as the character who would become Powerplex lost a sister and niece in the battle of Chicago between Omni-Man and Invincible. He blamed Invincible for the loss and tried to get justice.

In the end, Powerplex’s quest for justice cost him the life of his own wife and son.

Honestly, when I saw that, I immediately thought about Jay Schmidt from the YouTube show pReview’d, which I watch regularly and I know review this show. Jay is very sensitive to anything family-wise since he became a father recently. Seeing the after effects of Powerplex’s attack was devastating, even as an animated show. I had to go watch the pReview’d episode after this and, as I expected, he did not react well. I felt bad for him because he is such a sweet man.

The themes of the episode focused on the results of the loss of life around the fights of the superheroes and how much responsibility the heroes share in the deaths. This is an argument that some films and stories have made, including the loss of life in Man of Steel and, as I mentioned earlier, BvS.

I read a comment that this event in the comic book made a huge impact on Invincible and that it may be a needed moment for the character development of Mark.

Changing the subject for a sec, I just do not like the new black and blue costume. I miss the old one, but it looks as if there is a reason for that change as the tag at the end of the episode looks like something is coming.

Yellowjackets S3 E4

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Spoilers

“12 Angry Girls and One Drunk Travis”

I found this episode really great as some major events happened, despite the feeling that the story slowed down a bit.

In the wilderness, the girls placed Coach Ben on trial for arson and attempted murder. Natalie was the judge, Tai was the prosecutor and Misty was the defense attorney. Misty did a great job too. They had decided that it would require a 3/5 majority to convict Ben and that would come back in a major way later.

After a really emotional and powerful moment from Ben on the stand, Shauna had to intimidate several of the jury in order to get the 2/3 required to convict him. Wilderness Shauna is my least favorite of the Yellowjackets. She is vicious and cruel and filled with hate. It is strange because she is one of my favorite characters in present day, even when she is blaming Misty for all of her troubles or stabbing people in the gut. It is difficult to process the differences between the same character and how I feel about it.

The episode ended with a major cliffhanger, as it looks as if Lottie is dead at the base of some stairs. What happened to her? I have no idea, but Lottie had some strange moments in the episode. This is most likely the big mystery of this season, and it probably connects to the mysterious person who is stalking Shauna and locking her in freezers.

Next week’s episode is the halfway point already in the season and it feels as if the show is starting to ramp itself up.

John Cena Turned Heel

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Triple H had stated that the WWE’s PLC this weekend, The Elimination Chamber, would be an “industry-changing event” and he was wasn’t joking. The biggest shock came at the very end of the show, as John Cena, the ultimate of all good guys, turned to a bad guy.

Some set up. Dwayne Johnson had returned to the WWE as The Final Boss. A week before, he went to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and asked him to give him his soul, and become The Rock’s champion. He gave Cody until the Elimination Chamber to make his decision.

John Cena had just won the Men’s Elimination Chamber match by forcing CM Punk to pass out to the STF. Cena was still in the ring when Cody Rhodes made his way to the ring. This was not uncommon. By winning the Chamber, Cena earned a match for the championship with Rhodes at Wrestlemania and there is a long tradition of people in the matches like this facing off with each other. In fact, earlier in the PLC, Bianca Belair had won the women’s Chamber and Rhea Ripley (and Iyo Sky) came out to confront her. So when Rhodes came down to the ring, it was expected to be a confrontation.

Then the Rock came down, and he told Cody that he wanted his answer. He told Cody that if he said yes, he would have everything, and if he said no, his dream would die, again. However, Cody said that he had already given his soul away to the fans and the ring, and that Rock could go “F-himself,” except he didn’t say “F.”

Cena was excited in the background, and he came over to hug Cody. That was when Cena’s face changed and he received the throat-slitting gesture from The Rock. He then attacked Cody Rhodes and bloodied him with the championship belt.

Cena and the Rock stood over top of Cody Rhodes posing together.

Fans have been wanting a Cena heel turn for years, but the WWE rejected the idea. Cena was the ultimate babyface, granted more Make-a-Wish requests than anyone ever, and was always a heroic figure, even if the crowd was half chanting that “Cena Sucks.” They had chances to turn him heel before, and they never took it.

Cena had announced that he would be returning to the WWE in 2025 to engage in a retirement tour. That at the end of 2025, Cena would retire from in-ring competition. He has become a successful actor in Hollywood so this would be the final run. He wanted to win his 17th world championship, which would break the record of 16, a total he shared with Ric Flair.

Turning him heel on his final run with the company and in such a grand manner was gutsy. It was an amazing decision, one that has immediately been compared to the heel turn by Hulk Hogan when he formed the NWO, largely considered the most famous heel turn of all time.

The WWE is upside down and the Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena match suddenly has so many more stakes involved besides a Cena record. The industry is totally changed and will be for the foreseeable future.

The time is now.