November 1 is my personal anniversary for collecting comic books. I had a few years where I did not buy as many as I would have liked, but officially, I started 44 years ago. My collection is currently in the best shape than it has been ever.
Spoilers
“Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End”
“Maiden Mother Crone”
I’m not crying. You’re crying.
Wow, what a finale. Two long episodes of Agatha All Along that brought some serious emotion and dropped all the answers.
Let’s start with episode 8. Holy crap… what a powerful episode. We discover so much and we get a massive showdown between Agatha and Rio. Billy flying in in his Wiccan outfit was so epic.
This entire time, I was never sure about what was going to happen, and that is a great thing. That confrontation ending with Agatha’s death, sacrificing herself for Billy (though she would later deny it).
Billy returned to William’s room and figured out that the Witches’ Road was created from his mind. This was a theory that I had heard, and it really was clear going back into William’s room.
Then, episode nine, Kathryn Hahn was just astounding. Her performance as a witch who would lose her child to death was heartbreaking. Seeing the origin of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” was fun. We also meet Nicholas, Agatha’s son, and we learn that she did not trade him for the Darkholde, as the rumors indicated. It seemed as if Nicholas had something wrong with him and was going to die in childbirth, bit Rio gave her some time because of their relationship.
I’m not sure how I feel about Agatha the ghost at the very end, but I did like Billy and ghost Agatha heading off to search for Tommy.
It was great to see Jenn pull herself out of the ground just outside of Westview with her powers back. Agatha being the witch who bind her made sense. It was nice one of the coven survived.
This was one of my absolutely favorite Marvel series on Disney +. I do not think it reaches WandaVision or Loki levels but it very well may be #3. What an entertaining and well written and acted show.
Week of October 28
Busy, busy night. World Series. Finale of Agatha All Along. And, of course, the Favorite covers of theweek.
This week, we have three variant covers winning the medals. Todd did a great job picking out the covers for my box this week (but don’t tell him!)
Bronze Medalist
Redcoat #7
Variant Cover B
Cover art by German Peralta
Such a fun cover with Simon Pure laying upon a pile of bones and skeletons. It is a good character cover as we see Simon, who is as old as these skeletons, just kicking back and relaxing.
Silver Medalist
Feral #7
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Trish Forstner & Tony Fleece
What an attractive and fascinating cover. The bright light behind the cat head is excellent with the black color in the back of the cover.
Gold Medalist
Namor #4
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Alessandro Cappuccio
What a beautiful and regal image of Namor beneath the water, the light shining from above. Sharks swimming around the top of the page. Love the contradiction of the light at the top and the darkness at the cover’s bottom.
Three variant covers that show the quality of artists out there right now.
Spoilers
“The Paths Converge”
The penultimate episode of Bonus Action brought one of the greatest moments of the entire series run, where Josh (and clearly hints from Amanda) outsmarted David the DM. Josh’s character Todd was charmed and was being compelled to kill his friend Marlon. However, Todd, who was a barbarian, could not be charmed when in a rage. This is somewhere around the 1 hour nine minute mark. It is one of the most enjoyable moments that I can remember.
It is an awesome episode as well, but that Todd moment is a highlight.
Spoilers
“My Best Friend’s Wedding”
Season four of Only Murders in the Building came to a conclusion last night on Hulu as episode 10 dropped. We had seen the killer last week, so this week was what and how it happened.
The killer was revealed to be Sazz’s protégé, Rex Bailey, who is now going by the name Marshall, the writer on the movie. However, we learn officially that he stole Sazz’s script for the Only Murders movie and that he wound up killing Sazz when she discovered that he had done that.
I kind of assumed that Sazz would wind up being the actual target instead of Charles when he said a few episodes ago that if Sazz died because of him and the podcast, he would never forgive himself. So I was fairly confident that Charles was not the real target. Even when they made it look like the killer was stalking the who crew with those text messages of “I’m Watching you” I had a feeling that Sazz was the true target.
Those text messages and the cameras that had been planted was not referred to in the finale, and I feel like that is a plot hole. It may not be a major thing, but it does bother me a bit. That is, unless this is another hint for a future story. If so, that would be awesome!
They figured out how Marshall made it from Dudenoff’s apartment to Charles’s apartment to get rid of Sazz’s body. As a former stunt man, he climbed out the window and went around the ledge to Charles’s place and he discovered that Sazz was not yet dead, and he watched her die. Cold.
The scene of Oliver and Charles going on the ledge from Fish’s place to get into Dudenoff’s apartment to save Mabel was fantastic! The chemistry between Steve Martin and Martin Short is really felt here. The merengue part was laugh out loud funny.
It was also funny how Charles and Oliver started talking about how they always get another murder right when they solve the case they were working on, and Oliver immediately thought that Loretta was in danger and would be the next victim. I actually thought that was a possibility too and when they started breaking the fourth wall, in sense, making a joke about the new victim, I thought that was cool.
That told me that Loretta was going to be okay. So when we found out that she was heading with her show to New Zealand, Meryl Streep’s absences in the future of the series is explained. They keep Oliver with Charles and Mabel too.
The wedding was very nice. Very romantic. Of course, we do get anther body eventually. Lester the doorman was dead in the fountain in the Arconia. Ready to go for season five.
I do love this show. Charles, Oliver and Mabel are awesome characters and they work so well together. I am very pleased that there is a fifth season on its way in the future.
I will be starting to share these weekly shows on the way to the 2025 Oscars.
One of the best Oscar shows around, mainly on the strength of the hosts: Scott Mantz, Perri Nemeroff, and Jeff Snyder.
Spoilers
“Gold Summit”
The Penguin has been a top notch crime show since it debuted last month on Max. Episode six continued that trend of solid work.
Colin Farrell is doing some of his best work of his career as Oz Cobb, the lowlife manipulator who is behind so much of the problems on the Gotham streets. He is pushing his new drug Bliss, even after people who were selling it wound up being killed.
The vengeance of Sofia Gigante is in full effect. The scenes of Sofia with Penguin’s girlfriend Eve Karlo were tense and you never know what was going to be the result of the face off. I really thought that Eve was not going to make it out of the scene alive.
Oz’s monologue to all of the other criminals at the end of the episode was also very suspenseful. It was obvious that Oz is someone who can talk people into doing things, even if it may be BS.
Victor had a tough episode as he killed Squid, who was trying to strong arm him into getting him in with the drug trade. You could see how the effects of his choices were weighing on Victor.
This may not have been as great as the previous few episodes, but it was still very entertaining.
Spoilers
“Millennium”
This episode had a couple major things. One of them was this served as closure for the TV series Millennium, a FOX show also created by Chris Carter. Millennium had been on FOX for three years, but had been canceled. Since it was canceled after the final episode had been recorded, which left the show on a cliffhanger, this crossover helped put that series to bed.
Lance Henriksen starred as Frank Black, a former FBI profiler, in both this episode and the series, Millennium. I watched a few episodes of that series, but I never got into as much as I did the X-Files.
The other major event here was a kiss between Mulder and Scully. This was done at New Year’s Eve as they watched Dick Clark reporting on the ball drop at New York Times Square for the year 2000, which was, of course, the turn of the Millennium.
This had a story of zombies and it felt a bit off for the show. The zombies here were reanimated corpses of former FBI agents, and there were moments that were creepy. However, I just felt this was too unlike an X-Files episode. It was a Monster-of-the-week episode, but these zombies were too up in your face for the X-Files.
I’m am glad those fans of Millennium got to say goodbye to Frank Black and his daughter Jordan.
Spoilers
“Dark Paradise”
The final season of Bates Motel got underway with a bit of a time jump. I just talked about time jumps in the Battlestar Galactica season 2 finale write up. This is another year jump.
Norman is running his hotel with ghost Norma hanging around making him breakfast. Ghost Norma is quite the helpful hand… baking, laundry, killing hitmen and helping to dispose of the body. Not sure how the physics of any of that happens.
The funniest moment in the show was when Ghost Norma grabbed Norman by the ear and dragged him up to the house to show him the body of the man she killed. All I could picture was Norman with his head tilted to the side, with no one actually pulling on his ear, but he acting as if someone was. If only someone could have seen that.
Dylan and Emma had a baby girl. Awwwww…. I did not remember that from the first time I saw this series and I thought that was great. Of course, Caleb showed up looking for some kind of connection. This story was very nicely handled and showed some emotion. Its funny that a teenage rapist who got his sister pregnant is not the worst one in the family.
One would think that after having a baby, Dylan might have reached out to his mother or brother…even once maybe. Didn’t Emma have a good relationship with both of them. Keeping them isolated does feel a bit convoluted, though I understand they would be building toward something.
Romero is beating the hell out of that punching bag in prison. He had parole denied and he apparently hired the guy that tried to kill Norman. I think Romero is meant to be seen as the bad guy, but I still feel like I understand his rage toward Norman.
They introduced a new female potential victim for Norman. Maybe she will be okay since she reminds Norman of Norma. Or maybe not. Females do not have a good track record around Norman.
Nine episodes remaining for this rewatch. I really have enjoyed revisiting this show. Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga have been on the top of their game every week.
Spoilers
“Lay Down Your Burdens- Part 2”
Part two of this season finale was rocking. And so much happened, effectively resetting the series for season three and beyond.
Legitimately, there was so much here. The election happened and President Roslin rigged it. As shocking as that was, she wound up getting caught and she decided to make things right, which made Gaius Baltar president of the colonies.
That led to a settlement on New Caprica.
Number six exploded the nuclear bomb that was smuggled on to Cloud Nine, destroying everything.
Starbuck returned from Caprica with the soldiers she had gone to retrieve. That whole thing was strange and I thought for awhile that Starbuck had been replaced with a Cylon and that this was not her. There were some hints that seemed out of character for her, but the end of the episode seemed to not support that theory. I still think something weird is going on because that return from Caprica was so anticlimactic.
Dean Stockwell (two of them actually) turned out to be a Cylon and sent out the air vent (I assume. It was a presidential order).
Then we had a time jump of a year. Shows like this doing a time jump is always complicated, but so many of our characters received a serious reboot during this year. I wonder if season three will include flashbacks to this time frame. Certainly, we will see the conflict between Starbuck and Apollo that seemed to have damaged their relationship and maybe even Apollo and Dualla’s relationship too.
The Cylons arrive at the end of the episode, taking control of New Caprica, after Baltar surrendered to them. The army of Cylon robots marched through the streets as the scattered crew, including Starbuck, swore to keep fighting.
We get a glimpse of the baby given birth by Sharon that had been “killed.” The half human, half Cylon baby seemed to be very happy.
The October 13 of 13
What a trip.
I went searching for a film to wrap up the October 13, which to be fair has been a touch underwhelming so far. I was really hoping to find something epic to end out the thirteen.
Well, I found something original for sure.
On AMC + on Prime, I found a stop-motion film called Mad God and it looked interesting. That would be an understatement for this.
According to IMDB, “Equipped with a gas mask and a crumbling map, the Assassin, an iron-clad humanoid, descends into a rusty, peril-laden underworld of grime, blood, and unsettling monstrosities. As the stealthy invader meanders through the labyrinthine post-apocalyptic wasteland on a mysterious mission, going deeper and deeper in the nightmarish realm, the Assassin gradually reaches his final destination: the heart of this grotesque tower of torture. But what cruel, vindictive deity allows fear and suffering to take its most complete creation further and further into despair? Only a Mad God would revel in humankind’s ordeal.”
That synopsis from IMDB is well done, but to be honest, the story is not anywhere near as straightforward as that description. I would venture to say that this film has a very limited narrative structure. The story seems secondary to the goals of this film.
Mad God has amazing, masterful stop-motion animation that creates an atmosphere unlike few movies that I have ever seen. It is frightening at times, disturbing at others. It imbues this nightmare realm with such darkness and alarming imagery that you can help but be taken aback from the visual daze.
The sound effects and score are very effective keeping you uneasy as the images build a surreal experience of monstrous creatures and violent despair.
Written and directed by stop-motion guru Phil Tippett, this passion project takes you deep into the mind of the director. And what a bizarre and warped experience it was. I usually prefer more of a story, and that is just short here, but this is an experience that I would not have passed on. I am conflicted on how I feel after watching this, which, I suppose, is a desired result.
Spoilers
“Episode 9”
An intense episode that, once again, really throws my understanding of what is going on into a confused state… and I loved that.
It felt as if Lois was on a crusade to put things to rest before she moved down to Florida. She saw Marshall and gave him divorce papers (and he was downright cruel at this point), she saw her daughter for one final slap, and she continued dream therapy.
It was here where things started to go weird once more. It was suggested that Lois’s dream, specifically about the Burnside family, which had no connection to her own life, was Lois seeing the future.
Of course, Megan was arriving at a murder scene exactly like the Burnside murder in reality. Right down to the mystery contents of the boiling pot on the stove, which feels as if it is a secret that we will be getting in the finale.
Reality? Hm, I wonder.
When Lois met Megan at the hotel, Lois had her cut her arm so she could see her blood. That was supposed to be how Lois proved to herself that this was real… and then the most surreal thing happened, with Megan’s abusive boyfriend showing up and attacking her. Lois held a gun on him but he did not stop. He tormented Lois about being the dream woman and that she knew she couldn’t kill him. He went so far as to put the barrel of the gun Lois held into his own mouth.
And then she shot him.
That was an awesome moment. A-hole got what he deserved. However, I worry for Lois.
Still, I am not convinced that everything here is real life. The background TVs kept talking about the fires that were spreading, much like the final sections of Lois’s dreams, and I feel there may be something “biblical” going down.
The process of electing a new Pope is full of secrecy. That means you can tell whatever story you want about it, as this new film starring Ralph Fiennes opens wide this weekend.
This movie is based on a 2016 novel by Robert Harris. It is directed by Edward Berger, who directed the Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front.
According to IMDB, “Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake–secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.“
Ralph Fiennes was sensational once again as Cardinal Lawrence. He has such an understated performance that he fits into this story beautifully. He anchors the film with his work.
There are other great performances including Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati and Sergio Castellitto.
There is a twist at the end of the movie that came after it seemed as if the film was over and I am not sure if it was necessary. No spoilers, of course, but this feels as if this was done to create division among viewers. I have no issues with the ending outside that I am just not sure it was important to the story.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the script and the film looked beautiful. Great performances scattered throughout the film. I assume this will have a huge presence at the Oscars. This was very solid.
4 stars
The final film in the trilogy featuring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the man who would become Venom, was released this weekend. I have never been a big fan of the previous Venom movies, but I have enjoyed the character some so I was curious to see what Sony was going to present for us.
The first three minutes of this film was a huge exposition dump involving the scary villain known as Knull, who was being played by Andy Serkis. The problem, this reminded me of the opening to 2011’s Green Lantern with Parallax, which I thought completely failed to start off that movie. I was laughing at Parallax during that opening and the fact that this reminded me of that was a bad sign to start this movie.
Sadly, the film continued to be a mess after this beginning. It went back to the post credit scene from No Way Out, with Eddie in the bar, drunk and getting pulled back to his own universe.
Knull sent some monstrous symbiote hunters to earth in search of Venom, who was now some kind of McGuffin, and they were after him. The monsters had zero personality and was fairly boring.
The best part of all of these Venom movies are the relationship between the symbiote and Tom Hardy. Hardy is great as Eddie Brock and some of the best scenes of the film are when Eddie meets up with a hippie family with the father played by Rhys Ifans. I think more with this family on the road would have made this more enjoyable. However, what the family wound up doing did not make a lot of sense as the film moved on.
I did love the soundtrack to the film, with banger after banger throughout the movie.
Why did we need to introduce Knull in this movie. He was not used, and if this is the final Venom movie, why do we introduce Knull at all and not use him? I feel as if Sony wanted Knull to be their Thanos, but they brought him around too late if that is the case.
This movie is not horrendous, but it is just not very good. Tom Hardy is the strength, but the story around him is not good and the dialogue is weak. The other symbiotes have the “Michael Bay Transformers disease” as none of them have personality or any way to distinguish them.
Will there be more Venom movies? Who knows. Will Knull be involved with Kraven the Hunter? Doubt it. None of the Sony Spider-universe films seem to fit this concept. The final Venom movie is just not that good.
2.4 stars
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 