X-Men ’97 S1 E10

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 3”

The third part of the season finale was brought to a close on Disney + in one of the most epic animated wars ever put to screen. A struggle with Bastian, with the mind of Magneto, and with the conflict within the Marvel Universe.

There is so much to see in this finale. A finale that ranged from Magneto and Charles inside Magneto’s head, to the momentary return of Phoenix, to cameos from Daredevil, Cloak and Dagger, Cap and Iron Man, Peter and MJ, Omega Red, Alpha Flight, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Red Guardian, Darkstar, and ending with Apocalypse.

The show did an amazing thing, telling this story of Bastian’s future and finding the threads of family within. It blended perfectly with Magneto’s story and the battle with Xavier for his own soul. Onslaught is surely in there somewhere, but I am not sure it is where the next step for this series lies.

Post credit scene with Apocalypse, grabbing something from the ashes of and saying the word “death?” I am not sure after first viewing what it was that was in Apocalypse’s hand, but it will clearly lead to Death in his Four Horsemen. Will it be Gambit?

A version of Bishop returned to meet Forge, telling him that the X-Men were not dead, but were instead lost in time and that they needed to find them. A crew of them in Ancient Egypt with En Sabah Nur and Scott and Jean in the far future with a young Nathan. But we did not see Storm. We did not see Wolverine. Where did they end up?

Phoenix messed up Mister Sinister something bad. Then Phoenix was gone, regulated to a feeling deep inside Jean Grey. I knew we were seeing Phoenix this season. Every opening credit included a scene with the Phoenix. It only made sense. Apocalypse has been on most of them as well.

This animated series truly has been one of the greatest things that Marvel Studios has put out, especially among the Disney + shows. It has to be considered right there with WandaVision and Loki as the upper echelon of projects on the streamer.

They do a sensational job of wrapping up the season’s story while building toward where the next season is heading. The Apocalypse material did not come at the cost of the Bastian/Magneto tale. It was masterful storytelling.

I know season two has already been written, so I cannot wait until this gorgeous series returns to my screen. It can not come too soon.

X-Men ’97 is masterful. An amazing ten episodes that brought the mutants to the forefront of Marvel where they belong.

Bodkin S1 E2

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“Who We Are”

Episode two of Netflix’s Bodkin was pretty decent as the show seems to be starting to grab some footing in both the mystery aspect and the characterization of the group.

The trouble between the investigative Dove and the more relationship-building Gilbert is an intriguing conflict with them. Both seem to have success and failure in their methods of going about their jobs, even if their overall goals are different. Dove is after the story, the answers to the mystery of what happened to the three boys who disappeared, but Gilbert is more about the path that the story takes and presenting it in a manner in which people can relate.

It does feel like the journalist vs. podcaster theme is in full effect. Meanwhile, Emmy is caught between both worlds.

The mystery at the center of the story feels slight at this point. They seem to be trying very hard to make it feel more compelling and I hope that there is more coming from it, but this series right now is more about the conflict between Dove and Gilbert than it is about this mystery.

There are also a few background details finding their way into the story, but none of that feels like it will have the needed kick to elevate the characters into more than the simplistic characters that they have started out as.

Still, I liked the second episode and I think there is enough here with the talented cast to keep watching the remaining five episodes on Netflix.

Word Cloud: Ghosts

Image | Posted on May 14, 2024 by Doc

Them: The Scare S2 E7, E8

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“One of Us Is Gonna Die Tonight”

“The Box”

This is what American Horror Story: Delicate wished it could be.

I was very disappointed with AHS this year as the classic horror anthology series just failed in this season. However, Them: The Scare was everything that AHS was not.

I had not seen the first season of Them, so some of the things that happened in the finale seemed a little confusing. I could only guess (and then confirmed after the show was done) that the photo and the woman giving baby Dawn and Edmond away had some tie to the first season (she did) and that the weird creature at the end also tied it to the first season (yup, it was something called Da Tap Dance Man).

So we have a connection between the first and second seasons, but the story of this season was all about family and the pain of being rejected and tossed away. The seventh episode does a tremendous job of laying out everything that we needed to know to understand what was happening and gave us a horrendous end for Athena Reeve (Pam Grier).

With the exception of the arrival of Da Tap Dance Man, there was plenty of satisfying moments in the finale. The confrontation between Dawn and Edmond was tense and powerful, showing how much love still existed between the twins, even if Dawn had forgotten about him. The scene of Edmond killing himself and giving himself over to the demon with the red hair was tough to watch. The shooting of McKinney was dramatic and pleasing to see the rotten racist get his comeuppance.

This was just so creepy. The imagery of the red-headed man will never allow me to look at Raggedy Andy the same way ever again.

There were several times that I found myself holding my breath from the tension of the situation. The performances were top notch and the tone was just so exceptional.

Them: The Scare was everything you would want in a horror anthology series, filled with thrills and anxiety and a story with themes of family, loss and rejection. I loved this show and I was happy I gave it a chance. Them: The Scare is on Amazon Prime.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E4

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“The Unluckiest Man in the World”

The trial had been going Bob Durst’s way at first.

Then came Emily Altman.

Emily and her husband Stewart were long time friends with Bob. When the prosecution put Emily on the witness stand, they were able to get her to place Bob in Los Angeles at the time of the murder of Susan Berman. That was something that had never happened before.

Because of that, Bob admitted to writing the “Cadaver note.”

I’m not kidding.

This is absolutely nuts.

Bob had sent years denying that he wrote that note, the one sent to the police alerting them to the death of Susan. The one with the misspelling of “Beverly” with an “E”. Now, he has changed his story and claimed that he had walked in and found the body and sent the anonymous note to police to avoid his own suspicion.

This changed the entire feel of the trial.

Emily had not intended on making thing bad for Bob. In fact, the show speculated that she may have thought she was trying to help him.

This episode ended with the shocking reveal that Bob had decided to testify on his own behalf. We get that next episode. Can’t wait!

Boy did this one take a turn. I love how the producers of the mini-series used Bob’s correspondence with friends and others to score the program. Bob’s voice was the key to the first season, and this second season uses his voice just as well. When Bob said that Emily was so stupid, it was an amazing moment.

Them: The Scare S2 E5, E6

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“Luke 8:17”

“Would You Like to Play a Game?”

Whoa. Some huge revelations dropped in these two episodes that made it a little clearer about what was going on… however, there are still some strange things going on.

I always thought Raggedy Andy was creepy.

Part of the intended confusion early in the show, the stuff that made me think that Edmond was only a copycat killer, was that he seemed like he had not killed before. I actually thought for a brief second last episode that these two stories going on we in different timelines, but I dismissed the idea quickly. Turns out, what we were seeing of Edmond was two years before the stuff with Dawn. Boom, mind blown.

Things go down hill quickly for Dawn Reeve. Edmond is her biological brother. She tries to save a little boy by taking him to the hospital and he dies in the back of her car. This little boy had told her that he was seeing a red-headed man who wanted to kill him. She is put on leave from her job because of this. The racist cops of the LAPD made things even worse, making sure that everything looked bad for her. McKinney is such an a-hole.

However, it is not as simple as Edmond is the killer. There is something supernatural going on too. How does that happen? Edmond hears voices. I do not think it is as simple as Edmond has mental illness. There is something deeper and darker going on.

The attack on Dawn’s son during his performance was frightening as could be, as was his breakdown in the classroom as he was seeing the red-headed man.

Wild speculation time: Does Dawn have something to do with these murders? I mean, more than just being connected to them or being Edmond’s sister? The missing time suggestion means something. What is it? Clearly, Dawn is not very stable at the moment and her life is falling down around her.

Deborah Ayorinde was outstanding in these two episodes. I am very conflicted by her character and I am not sure what this show is expecting me to think about everything. Is she just a victim? Or is there something more sinister going on?

Only two episodes remaining and there are a lot of questions with the show. Either way, this has really kicked into high gear, which was impressive because it was always very compelling already.

Bodkin S1 E1

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“One True Mystery”

“People will listen to it?“

This was the question throughout the entire first episode of Bodkin, a series from Netflix featuring Will Forte as a podcaster and Siobhán Cullen as an investigative journalist whose editor insisted on her accompanying Forte on his podcast to get her out of the way.

IMDB says, “A group of podcasters set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in an idyllic Irish town. But when they start to pull the strings, they find a story much bigger and stranger than they could have imagined.”

Bodkin is a dark comedy/thriller dealing with the disappearance of some people in the small Irish town of Bodkin. By the end of the first episode, I was intrigued enough to continue with this.

I definitely liked the actors. Both Siobhán Cullen and Will Forte were great and Robyn Cara as Forte’s investigator on his podcast was good too. The Irish people of the town were very quirky and mysterious.

I did not find anything downright funny, but oddball worked as a descriptor. The curiosity of what exactly was going on when Cullen’s character Dove was struck by a car was definitely interesting.

With some open spots on the schedule for TV shows, I think the seven-episode series on Netflix will work nicely.

Them: The Scare S2 E3, E4

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“The Man with the Red Hair”

“Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy”

This series on Amazon Prime has been so very tense so far, and I am not sure exactly what is going on. I was thinking that Edmond was not the bone breaking killer, but just a warped and mentally sick individual, but the end of episode four seems to show us that my thought was inaccurate. Or was it? Still not sure. That is good writing at this point.

McKinney comes into more view than he had before with his inclusion in a hate group that Detective Reeve comes across and is caught observing. This was a tense moment and helps solidify my hatred of the character of McKinney. When he picked up Detective Reeve’s son and drove him home, it was such a anxiety-ridden moment because you just did not know what he was capable of doing in the moment.

Pam Greer came to play in episode four as she had a real shock to drop on Dawn. This is the first moment of the season where it made sense why they cast an actor the quality of Pam Greer in this role.

Edmond was totally creepy in both of these episodes as it seems as he is escalating things terribly. However, it still does feel as if this is not something that he has done multiple times and that makes me wonder if he is simply copying the serial killer or if this just lets us into the mind of Edmond. Either way, Edmond is completely unhinged.

This has been exceptional so far and it does such a top notch job of creating tension and suspense in the viewers. I am on the edge of my seat every episode and I had not planned on watching a second episode today, but after episode three, I needed to see more.

Halfway through the season and this has really elevated the material.

The X-Files S4 E20

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“Small Potatoes”

Some of my favorite X-Files episodes are the ones that lean toward the comedic. Jose Chung’s From Outer Space, Humbug, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, and War of Coprophages are so awesome to watch and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson work extremely well within them.

So Small Potatoes goes on that list of great episodes.

Shape shifting Eddie Van Blundht is our villain of the episode as he fathered five children with tails with five different women. Thing was, the women did not know they were have sex with anyone except their husbands. One of the women thought she had sex with Luke Skywalker.

One of the best parts of this is that Mulder does not have a theory for a good chunk of the episode. Usually he comes up with his idea of what was going on immediately, sometimes even before the case started. They are quite a bit into the story and Mulder even admits that he does not have a theory of what was happening.

The show did seem to go out of the way to make Eddie a relatable character despite the fact that he is basically a rapist. Eddie was played by Darin Morgan, the former X-Files writer who penned Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose and Jose Chung’s from Outer Space. In fact, Vince Gilligan, who wrote this episode, said they wrote the character of Eddie specifically for Morgan.

One of the best scenes of the episode was at the end when Eddie had taken Mulder’s place and him going through Mulder’s office and trying to seduce Scully. This entire stretch of time when we see Mulder’s life and career through Eddie’s eyes deconstructed the Mulder character and provided a different aspect of it. It was just fantastic writing and showed our favorite conspiracy theorist in an entirely new light.

Doctor Who S14 E2

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“The Devil’s Chord”

I knew Paul and John saved music, but I never thought it was quite so literally.

Note: I have changed my mind about the listing of these Doctor Who episodes. I have decided from now on, I will call them Season 14. This is now S14 E2.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was over-the-top, yes, but I am one of those people who love music and I can understand the power of it. This was a love letter to music in all its forms.

Maestro was an amazing villain, and as a child of Toymaker, and the performance of Jinkx Monsoon in the role was exceptional. Monsoon brought a sinister tone to this character, which by all rights, could have been a joke. Maestro was a mixture of Ethel Merman and Freddy Krueger and Jinkx Monsoon played it with a perfect flair and monstrosity.

The use of the Beatles as an important cog in this machine was a stroke of genius. Having Paul and John come together at the end to play the missing note to banish Maestro was poetry.

“There’s Always a Twist at the End” served as an awesome wrap up to the episode and a fourth wall break that was unexpected. Ncuti Gatwa does an amazing job this episode spanning the emotions of the Doctor, as he made reference to the split of his soul from the specials this past year.

I also loved the warning Maestro gives at the end of the episode, when it is tied back to the warning the Toymaker gave in the special. Something big is coming and I am here for it.

Doctor Who S1 E2

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“Space Babies”

The new Doctor Who has arrived, for the first time, on Disney +.

I was not sure what to call it for the season number, but it was listed as season 1 on Disney + so I decided that is what I would call this.

I have not watched much Doctor Who over the years, but I enjoyed the specials on Disney + last year and I find the new Doctor, the 15th Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa to be a lot of fun. That meant that I would give this series a try.

Ncuti Gatwa has a very comedic presence to him and it worked very well with this episode. How many times does he say “Space Babies?”

I also enjoyed Millie Gibson, who is playing Ruby Sunday, the Doctor’s companion. I thought she was very charming.

I wonder if long time fans of Doctor Who will not appreciate the humorous tone as much as I did. Again, I have not seen much Doctor Who over the years, so it did not bother me at all.

I did like this episode and I plan on watching the next episode some time tomorrow.

Them: The Scare S2 E2

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Doc

Spoilers

“The Devil Himself Visited This Place”

Episode two of this anthology series really picked up the tension. LA during this time frame was rife with racial tension and this episode truly showed the way that the Rodney King problem made things unbearable in the city.

But this is not just racial tension that is amping up the anxiety of Them: The Scare. Part of it is that we have a serial killer of some sort, breaking people’s bones in terrible manners. We have Edmond who is a truly bizarre character and may or may not be tied to what is going on. When Dawn’s son started seeing reflections in the TV, especially of his own face contorted, this show got me.

Dawn’s partner and her chief (played by Wayne Knight) are just such rotten people that it is amazing that Dawn is able to keep herself under control. The isolation she must feel on the force with all of these closeted (not so much) racists. When her partner told her that his first girlfriend was black, I couldn’t believe it.

Edmond’s strange behavior at the very end of the episode is setting this story up to be frightening and fearful. I love it.

Great performances and some absolutely moody situations make this a tough watch.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #97

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Doc

May 11, 2024

It is time for the Comic Cavalcade once again. I picked up a bunch of new books this week this past Wednesday. There is also a bunch of books that I picked up on eBay and some new back issues of Amazing Spider-Man.

I have picked up some New Warriors books on eBay. I am going to start working on filling out the New Warriors. The first volume of New Warriors is missing several of the later books. I did pick up the entire volume 3, issues #1-20. I do love the New Warriors and I am always down for more of this group of characters.

New books this week:

Saga Volume 2 &3. On Free Comic Book Day, I picked up the entire 9 volumes of the Saga series from Image. I have found time to read the second and third volumes this week. They are so good. I was told that I would love this series, and I really do. There have been some shocking things happen that I did not see coming. It truly is a human story of a family struggling to get by. Hopefully, I will be able to carve out some time to keep going on this collection.

The Last Mermaid #3. Story and art by Derek Kirk Kim. I love this book too. This issue was just packed with visual storytelling and the imagery of the book is off the charts. I have to say that the design of the issue is special and helps make this excellent book stand out even more.

Avengers #14. “Blood Hunt Part One” Written by Jed MacKay and art from C.F. Villa. Joshua Cassara & Guru-eFX did the cover art. A new band of Avengers, led by Steve Rogers, steps up while the other Avengers are missing/in deep trouble. Cap brings us Kate Bishop, Quicksilver, Hercules and Hazmat. These are a nice mix of characters and each one is able to share their voice during the battle with vampires.

Fantastic Four #20. “To Work Wonders” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art by Alex Ross (Gold Medalist). This issue focuses upon the continual familial rivalry between Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. These two are always competing with each other, even if they are working as cashiers at the same grocery store. Very strange issue, but it did show the depth of the relationship between the two of them.

Amazing Spider-Man #49. Written by Zeb Wells with pencils by John Romita Jr. Cover art was by Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz. The White Rabbit has been turned into a vampire and Spidey is on the case, looking to help his foe.

Crocodile Black #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by SOM. Andrea Sorrentino did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Brand new series from Boom! Studios and I loved this so much. I did not know what to expect, and I can guarantee that what they gave us what nowhere near what I thought it might have been. I love it when a series can keep me off balance and this certainly did. I can’t wait to see where they take this book.

Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #1. Three separate stories, all written by Daniel Jose Older. Three separate artists for each, including Luigi Zagaria, Eric Gapstur & Scott Hanna, and then Eric Gapstur. Cover art was by Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado. I do love Strange Academy so I was excited to see them involved in the Blood Hunt crossover. I will say that the three stories surprised me although these blended well.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #2. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg are the cover artists. As things are happening with the Osborns, Spidey takes on the Sandman.

Ain’t No Grave #1. “Chapter One: Denial”. Written by Skottie Young and art and cover art by Jorge Corona (Bronze Medalist). New Western series with some real unexpected twists. I love Skottie Young’s writing and this takes our main protagonist into a trip to try and kill Death. Literally? Seems so. A beautifully illustrated book too.

Daredevil #9. “Introductory Rights Part Nine” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Juann Cabal. Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Daredevil and Elektra take on Bullseye and matt Murdock finally goes to see Foggy to let him know that he is alive. Foggy does not take it well, as one would expect.

Dracula: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Danny Lore and art by Vincenzo Carratù with cover art by Rod Reis. I guess it makes sense that if vampires are everywhere across the earth that Dracula would be involved. But did you expect him to show up and help Blade’s daughter, Brielle Brooks?

Doctor Strange #15. “Blood Hunt, Pt. 1” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did this cover art too. Doctor Strange has been turned into a vampire, so he separates his astral form to try and help stop Blade.

Blood Hunters #1. Three stories featuring three separate characters: Clint Barton, Man-Wolf and Dagger. I have to say that the cover of the issue (which was done by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata) made it look like this was a team up between these characters. Instead, it was three separate stories with only the vampires to connect them. It was neat seeing Dagger and Man-Wolf again.

Captain America #9. “The Desert of the Unknown“. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art and cover art by Jesus Saiz. Cap heads to Chile and picked up a penguin along the way. And I do not mean Oswald Cobblepot.

Giant-Size X-Men #1. “Truth or Die” Written by Ann Nocenti and art by Lee Ferguson. Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair did the cove art. A solo story of Angel, aka Warren Worthington III, trying to survive Maze, a trainee of Arcade. This attempts to go deep into the mind of Warren, but honestly, this was at best okay.

The Mildly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #9. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art by Nick Robles. We return to Christopher and his life and we spend some time with Christopher and his two friends in the Monster Club. We get some info about Christopher’s mysterious background as it is sort of his birthday.

X-Men: Forever #3. “Unhappy in their own Way” Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Luca Maresca. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Two main arcs happening. One with Nightcrawler, Mystique and Destiny and the revelation about parentage. The second arc was with Hope and her potential sacrifice to save everyone.

Transformers #8. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson with art by Jorge Corona. Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer did the cover art. The Autobots are beginning their plans to fight the Decepticons and Carly wants in. Optimus Prime does not think that is a good idea.

Geiger #2. “The Hunter and the Hunted” Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Gary Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art. A small town deals with the Glowing Man to take care of a recent masked raider that had been causing trouble in the town.

The Deviant #5. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. It feels like a while since we got a new issue of this series, but it is just as compelling as it was then. What has Michael done? We see some of little kid Michael in a flashback this issue as older Michael is being arrested.

Deadpool #2. Written by Cody Ziglar and penciled by Rogê Antonio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Deadpool and Taskmaster team up to take what was supposed to be an easy mark. Thing do not go as they had planned. Not good when Crossbones shows up.

Other books this week: Boy Wonder #1, Monsters are my Business #2, Captain Marvel #8, Night People #3, and The One Hand #4.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Doc

The franchise of The Planet of the Apes released its fourth film in the new series of films and its tenth film overall in the franchise. The previous trilogy has been claimed by many pundits as one of the best trilogies of all-time, and some wondered why there was a need for a new film and how it would fit into the story.

Well, the film takes place several generations after the end of the War of the Planet of the Apes and focuses on a new set of protagonists, while still using the legacy of Caesar in the basic plot.

Our new protagonist is named Noa (Owen Teague) and he is trying to find his tribe after the were taken away. He was joined by the elder orangutan Raka (Peter Macon) and a human named Mae (Freya Allen). However, it turns out that Mae has her own motives for tagging along.

Our new antagonist is Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) who arrived about an hour into the movie. He is trying to get inside this vault built into a cliffside where there were a bunch of human weapons.

I thought this new film was okay. I did like how they built this new group of characters and starting creating the world around them. I think it has set up for the future films well. The first part of this movie felt kind of dull at times. I did like the character work here, but there felt like too much going on.

The apes continue to look tremendous. The special effects are great. I will say that a few of the time when I would see Raka walking, it looked weird. Other than that, everything looked fabulous.

The third act was a lot of fun. I may have a small criticisms of it, but they are not major problems.

Truthfully, there were some ups and down for this film. I liked parts of it. There were parts that I found boring. It looked awesome. I do think it could have shaved off 10-15 minutes for the runtime. This may be better when you look back on this after the whole trilogy is done.

3.5 stars

June Swoon 3: A Cinematic Flashback

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Doc

For the third consecutive year, I have scheduled a DailyView for the month of June, watching daily a movie from the previous year, 2023, that I missed. There are several Oscar winners in the upcoming June Swoon.

This will be the place where I will keep track of the thirty movies that will consist of the June Swoon 3: A Cinematic Flashback.

Again, the rule is that I will watch and write a review for at least 30 movies, one a day, that was released in 2023 that I had not seen.

June Swoon 3

Sat. June 1, 2024: Anatomy of a Fall

Sun. June 2, 2024: The Zone of Interest

Mon. June 3, 2024: Thanksgiving

Tues. June 4, 2024: Justice League: Warworld

Wed. June 5, 2024: The Last Repair Shop

Thurs. June 6, 2024: The Boys in the Boat

Fri. June 7. 2024: Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor

Sat. June 8, 2024: Rustin

Sun. June 9, 2024: Run Rabbit Run