Author Archives: Doc

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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I am a massive Spider-Man fan. I am unapologetic about that. I expected that going into Spider-Man: Brand New Day this afternoon. Maybe I am not necessarily the most unbiased reviewer you’ll see. However, I have been consciously working on being more fair and balanced about MCU movies.

Having said that, I LOVED this movie.

Peter Parker is struggling with his isolated lifestyle after the world forgets that Peter Parker exists (thanks to the Dr. Strange spell). Peter has thrown himself into his Spidey work, teaming up with NYPD to help bring down the criminal elements of the city. A mysterious powered person brings a ton of chaos to the city, Damage Control and Spidey.

I am not going to spoil anything in my review at this point. I am going to try to cover these points as generally as I can.

Performances are top notch. Tom Holland does a remarkable job as Peter Parker, playing the sadness of his life has engulfed him in. I have heard a lot of reviews calling this a much more mature performance from Holland, and that is a perfect description.

Sadie Sink, lips closed on her character, was unbelievable from the moment she was on the screen. She is such an accomplished actor and I think she is going to be an utter star in the world of the MCU.

The relationship between Peter and Frank Castle, played by the wonderful Jon Bernthal, is one of the best ones in the film. I found their pairing to be so great, unexpectedly so. Bernthal and Holland have great chemistry with each other, which you also see in The Odyssey, that Spidey and Punisher, one of the biggest odd couples you’ll see, sparkle together in dialogue, especially.

We know from the trailers that the Hulk has made a return in this film and the scenes with Hulk and Spidey are some of the best of the film. The action is spectacular. Mark Ruffalo does a fabulous job in the role as Bruce Banner, and, after so many years playing the role (since Avengers in 2012), he has such a grasp on Banner.

The special effects and action in Brand New Day is some of the best of any of the Spider-Man movies. Director Destin Daniel Cretton, who brought such a gravitas to Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, shows us once again that he can handle action and fight scenes as well as anyone. There were a bunch of shots that were spectacular.

The film uses the supporting cast of previous Spidey movies, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, just about perfectly. You can feel Peter’s grief over the loss of them as friends and how he is struggling to move on without them. This is the best performance of Zendaya in any of the Spider-Man movies.

One would think that this movie would be packed too full with all of the characters and storylines, but that is not a problem. The film has extraordinary pacing that works so well.

The film showed Spider-Man in the way that I believe he should be shown. The choices he made and the story beats with the character is just the way Spider-Man is portrayed.

I loved this movie and I will be going back to it again. There are so many fun things in the film and I can not wait to see it again.

5 stars

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #69

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#69

Mulan

Released: June 19, 1998

Runtime: 87 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: traditional hand-drawn cel animation with classical Chinese art, minimalist design, and pioneering computer-generated imagery

Studio: Disney

Amazing as it seems to me now, I had never seen Mulan until 2019. The main reason I went to finally watch the film was because the live action that Disney was coming out with and I thought I should see the original before the live-action, and I loved it. The voice of Mulan was one of my favorite actresses from Agents of Shield, Ming-Na Wen.

Voice cast: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, James Hong, George Takei, Pat Morita, and Miriam Margolyes.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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July 29

The fifth week of the month still brought us some great covers.

Also Rans: Queen in Black #1 (Cover C), X-Men #34, The Horror of Godzilla #1, The Patron #1, Feral (Cover A), Greatest American Hero #1 (A Cover), Justice League: Knight Vision Special #1 (Cover C), Feral #25 (B cover), The Mortal Thor #13, and The Dirt Beneath the Devil #1.

Bronze Medalist

Feral #25

Cover F virgin foil

Cover art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez

Feral has had some of the best covers during its run, and this wraparound foil virgin cover is right there with some of the tops. This is a lovely foil of Cover A, which still made the Also-Rans.

Silver Medalist

Doomquest #2

Cover art by Alex Ross

Dr. Doom leading the Revolutionary War soldiers across the Delaware River is a fun cover, done even better by the iconic Alex Ross. This is a wonderfully enjoyable cover for a fun series.

Gold Medalist

Greatest American Hero #1

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Rafael Loureiro

This is my favorite cover for the new Greatest American Hero series from the number ones. It is an homage cover, which I always enjoy, of Action Comics #1. The use of Amp Comics in the title is clever and the drawing of Ralph was great.

X-Men ’97 S2 E7

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“Strange Land, Savage Heart”

This week’s X-Men’97 brings back Graydon Creed and bring him to the Savage Land.

I do not know as much about Exodus and the Acolytes of Magneto as some of the other areas this show has covered. Like everything on this show, the storylines adapted from the comics over the years do feel as if they are rushing through a lot of stuff.

The main focus of the episode was Nightcrawler trying to rescue Creed, his half-brother, from Exodus and the Acolytes, and the return of Colossus. There was a character developing episode that looked at what makes a person do what they do.

I am not sure why it was set in the Savage Land, outside that this is where it took place in the comics. We got a T-Rex and two pterodactyls. The setting certainly does not play into the story much, if at all.

Nightcrawler and Exodus have a fun teleporting sword fight.

The episode was quick and I did feel the shortness of the episode with the story they were telling. I think this could have easily been spread out over two episodes and I do think the overall story is hurt by rushing it. The show is moving toward the big showdown with Apocalypse and I just believe this was to bring Colossus back.

The moment at the end with X-Force and the skeletal remains of Apocalypse was a great tag for, I assume, the final two episodes of the season.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #70

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#70

Toy Story 5

Released: June 19, 2026

Runtime: 102 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: ultra-realistic computer graphics with a tactile, 2D pastel chalk and watercolor style

Studio: Pixar/Disney

Toy Story 5 is the most recent of the films on this list. While Hoppers and Minions and Monsters might make a future list of Top 100 Animated Movies, Toy Story 5 had to make this one. I am a big fan of the Toy Story franchise, and the latest film works in many different ways. Having Jessie being the main focus of the story was a good choice.

Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack,  Conan O’Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris,  Craig Robinson, Matty Matheson,  Annie Potts, Keanu Reeves, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal, Tony Hale, Wallace Shawn, Lori Alan, Jay Hernandez, Blake Clark, John Ratzenberger, Melissa Villaseñor, Jeff Bergman and Anna Vocino . 

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #71

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#71

Up

Released: May 29, 2009

Runtime: 96 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: a stylized, caricature-driven form of 3D computer animation characterized by geometric character shapes, simplified proportions, and a rich use of color theory

Studio: Pixar/Disney

This is another movie that is lower on my list than it would be on a bunch of other lists. I think the first 10 minutes are some of the best moments of all time, but the rest of the film is only good.

Voice cast: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft,  John Ratzenberger, and David Kaye.

Rick and Morty Season Five

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I watched the fifth season of Rick and Morty on HBO Max this morning, moving my way through the series.

The last two episodes of the season, “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall” and “Rickmurai Jack,” really flipped the show on its head with a break-up of Rick and Morty, and the revenge of Evil Morty, aka the President of the Citadel.

I have to say, one of the things I love about Rick and Morty is how they use continuity and return to dangling plot lines from previous episodes, even previous seasons. When in episode “Rickdependence Spray” they sent the Giant Incest Baby into space, I knew it was coming back around sooner or later.

It makes sense that they need to shake up the status quo on Rick and Morty as they have gone for five seasons. You have to keep it fresh and much of this season did a decent job of that. There were several episodes that seemed to me to be very complex, maybe even overly complex. The whole “decoy families” in the episode “Mortyplicity” and the whole “Amortycan Grickfitti” episode felt too much.

Lots of obvious parodies of the season including Planetina (Captain Planet), the GoTron ferrets (Power Rangers/Voltron), and Changeformers (Transformers).

The rivalry between Rick and President Curtis is revisited in a weird episode where Rick tries to get the President to pardon him by turning himself into a turkey. They also mentioned that this is not the first thing that Rick pulled this trick. It was weird because during the course of the episode, Morty accidentally opens up the giant robot hidden in the Statue of Liberty. That was a story bit that really was never fully touched on.

I did like Mr. Nimbus, who seemed to be a parody of Prince Namor, the Sub Mariner. This was the first episode, which had a weird storyline with Morty going into a dimension in search of wine and how that affected the creatures of that dimension.

Overall, I liked this season more than I liked season four. I have seen some hints that Space Beth is going to be used in a storyline which is interesting. Maybe she can do something with Giant Incest Baby, which would be her grandson.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #72

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#72

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Released: July 29, 1989

Runtime: 103 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: traditional, hand-drawn 2D cell animation featuring fluid aerial movement, a warm European-inspired aesthetic, and detailed watercolor-style backgrounds

Studio: Studio Ghibli

Voice Cast: [English Dub] Kirstin Dunst, Phil Hartman, Tress MacNeille, Janeane Garofalo, Matthew Lawrence, Debbie Reynolds, Edie McClurg, Jeff Bennett, John Hostetter, and Kath Soucie.

The Muppet Show S2 E4, E5, E6, E7, E8

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Spoilers

Guest: Rich Little

Guest: Judy Collins

Guest: Nancy Walker

Guest: Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy

Guest: Steve Martin

Some fun episodes from the second season highlighted the Muppet Show rewatch today.

Starting with the Rich Little episode. Honestly, his imitations of the Muppets were fairly weak. I have heard many better over the years. I did enjoy the final number where Rich Little sang as famous celebrities songs from musicals including “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Did You Ever?,” and “I Remember It Well.”

That first episode also started Gonzo’s affection for chickens, as he was auditioning them for a dancing act. Of course, these were live chickens.

Judy Collins came next and she sang a whole bunch of songs. I guess when you have someone with her voice, you try and use it as much as possible. The performance of “Send in the Clowns” is one of the most iconic guest songs of the show. I enjoyed her version of “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” too. It was neat seeing her do a piano duet with Rowlf with “Do-Re-Mi.”

We get the backstage storyline with Scooter’s uncle J. P. Grosse, who is ready to tear down the theater to put in a parking lot.

The Nancy Walker episode saw Kermit at home sick and Fozzie trying to run the show. Things do not go well for our favorite furry funnyman. My favorite bit was the accidental mixing of Veterinarian’s Hospital and At the Dance. They worked very well together.

Edgar Bergen brought his ventriloquism act to the Muppet Show, which fit in beautifully. Charlie McCarthy was very smart mouthed when it came to the Muppets. It was a lot of fun.

My favorite number on that episode was the “Time in a Bottle” song where the old scientist was making a formula to turn him younger.

Then, the best episode of this chunk was with Steve Martin. They took the typical Muppet formula and flipped it around as Kermit cancels the show for the night because they accidentally scheduled it on a night when they were supposed to be having auditions. Kermit sent the audience home and they spent the time auditioning new acts.

Steve Martin stuck around to “entertain the boys” and did a bunch of fun things from his act, including balloon animals, banjo playing, doing “Ramblin’ Guy.”

Some of the new acts we saw audition included Statler & Waldorf singing/dancing to “Varsity Rag,” a little girl named Carrie Louise and friend (who was a frog, and she would sing while the frog added the word ‘ribbit’ to the songs), Baskerville the Hound and his comedy act that reminded us all of Fozzie Bear and Marvin Suggs and his All Food Glee Club.

The show had removed the laugh track since the audience was gone and we would hear just a few guffaws from, apparently, the Muppeteers.

I loved how they took the format and tried something totally different and it really was a fresh episode.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #79

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The Boroughs

“Time To Go”

The penultimate episode of the Netflix show The Boroughs was amazing. I was into everything that was going on from the beginning to the end.

All of the arcs going on are just so exciting. Sam’s struggles inside The Manor, Wally’s attempts to save Mother, Renee and the group’s attempt to break Sam out, Claire’s realization that her father was right… all of these are working so well and blends together into a great final scene.

We even get a deeper motivation for Blaine, who we learn is more about saving his wife Anneliese from her pain (who had polio and withered limbs as a youth) than just his own selfishness.

Mary McDonnell played The Dutchess is a new great character who can also hear The Mother. It was revealed that Sam’s weird images of his wife were coming from Mother. It helped turn Sam’s thoughts about Mother around. She’s not a monster…

I love when the whole group is back together and on their way out of The Manor, only to have Sam say they can not kill Mother, they have to save her. I also loved the scenes between Claire and Paz.

Again, knowing this show will not be renewed, I sure hope there is a satisfying way for the story to end and it does not leave off on a cliffhanger. I was not sure about this show when I started it last month, but The Boroughs has been fabulous.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #73

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#73

Encanto

Released: November 2021

Runtime: 102 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: vibrant computer-generated (CG) 3D animation style

Studio: Disney

We don’t talk about Bruno… no, no, no.. We don’t talk about Brunoooooo

Truth is, the first time I saw Encanto, I thought it was kind of boring. It took a second rewatch for me to enjoy it more. I was in a better frame of mind the second time and on, finding the strengths of the Lin-Manuel Miranda songs and the fun, engaging story. I don’t know why that first viewing did not do it for me, but it goes to show that thoughts do change on movies over time.

Voice cast:  Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, Maluma, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, and Wilmer Valderrama.

Rick and Morty Season Four

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The fourth season of Rick and Morty on HBO Max was my binge this afternoon.

I am going to be honest here. I think there were some real high highs in this season of ten episodes, but also a few episode that I found to be lower than normal.

While there are several episodes that I did not love, there were still some really funny moments within these episodes. There were no truly horrible episodes in the season. I would just say that some of the shows were just not as strong of overall stories as they could have been.

The episodes that I did not like much were “One Crew Over the Crewcoo’s Morty,” “The Old Man and the Seat,” “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty,” and “Rattlestar Ricklactica.”

My favorite parts of the season for me were the following: the return to the Beth’s clone story from last season. I loved the episode of “The Vat of Acid Episode” which may have been the darkest of the entire series. The Rick clones across the multiverse were fun in the season premiere. The remarkably meta and fourth wall breaking episode “Never Ricking Morty” was awesome, even with the guest star role for Jesus Christ. Rick fights Zeus. They had a Covid-19 joke as well that was very funny.

It did seem like the second half of season four was considerably better for me than the beginning of this season.

Guest stars for the season included Sherri Shepherd, Sam Neill, Kathleen Turner, Taika Waititi, Jeffrey Wright, Pamela Adlon, Elon Musk, Justin Theroux, Claudia Black, Matthew Broderick, Liam Cunningham,Keegan-Michael Key, Eddie Pepitone, Paul Giamatti, Christopher Meloni, Susan Sarandon, David Herman, Chelsea Peretti, Harland Williams, Grey DeLisle, Natasha Leggero, Jake Johnson, Lauren Lapkus and Nat Faxon.