It has been a long time since I have seen a movie as disturbing, unsettling and upsetting as Soft & Quiet, which I found on Netflix for the June Swoon 2.
I had no idea what this movie was about. The synopsis for the movie did not prepare me for what I was going to get. Shown in real time, a group of women, led by kindergarten teacher Emily (Stefanie Estes), held a meeting at a local church for their club. From there, things spiral out of control.
These seemingly sweet and kindly women were a part of a club of “like-minded” women. This was a nice way to put racist. They were an white support group that complained about every minority in the area. That was dark enough, but I had no idea what was coming next.
As they were heading to pick up some wine and go home to continue their meeting (after getting kicked out of the church), they came across a couple of Asian women at the store and engaged in some vicious comments.
This escalated to the point where the women went to the Asian women’s home to teach them a lesson.
It amazes me how much hatred there is for people in the world based on nothing but physical differences or perceived slights. Watching this really drove home the point how much hate can be a cancer and how it can become more easily.
This was a horror movie in the way that real life can be a horror. Blumhouse produced this movie and it absolutely created horror in me.
This movie was not an enjoyable experience, but it was not enjoyable because of the way it made me feel. The movie was extremely effective in its story and the acting felt real. There are several movies that I think are powerful and brilliant movies that I will never watch again. This is one of those.
I chose to go with Downton Abbey: A New Era as the June Swoon 2 film for the day despite the fact that I never watched any episodes of the original PBS series or the first feature movie. I wondered as I was watching A New Era how much of this movie would have been affected by me not watching anything prior to it. I didn’t feel lost as I watched it, but I wondered if it would have felt richer if I had.
There were several storylines going on during the film. First, some of the crew went to the South of France to see a villa that had been left to Violet Grantham (Maggie Smith). Second, a Hollywood movie crew came to Downton Abbey to film on location. There were other storylines involving the staff too.
There did feel like there were some storylines were ignored or pieces of the plot were never fully addressed. Again, that may be because I do not know these characters as much as a longtime fan of this property would be, but there were some moments that felt lacking.
I did like the idea of the Hollywood movie angle. It was actually the story of Singin’ in the Rain as the film they were making was a silent picture, but silent pictures were on their way out. So they changed it to a ‘talkie’ picture. Problem was (just like Singin’ in the Rain) the lead actress of the film, Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock) had a voice that was terrible and they had Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) dub the film. So this story worked because, one of the greatest musicals of all time already used it.
I do love Maggie Smith. Every minute she was on screen, the movie truly popped. It was a shame that she did not get more time, but it did make sense for the narrative. I also enjoyed the ultimate British butler Mr. Carson (played by Jim Carter) bringing the British to France.
I found this Downton Abbey film to be passable. I was not totally lost and it was enjoyable enough. They did cram a lot into the two hours and it felt as if it could have been shortened up some to make it more concise. Still, not bad.
“An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now she’s faced with a grim decision—whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to the Twilight Zone.”
Wanda Dunn has been hiding away from Mr. Death for years. She has seen him when others have died and it has led her to shut herself inside a condemned building and not leave the premises. When a police officer is shot outside her door, she opens it up to help him.
However, everything was not as it seemed, as is common in The Twilight Zone. When another man comes to try and convince Wanda to leave because the building has to be torn down, she realized that that man could not see the injured police officer in the room.
Turns out that the police officer was Mr. Death, offering Wanda a chance to come with him. He shows Wanda her own dead body, which lies on the bed in the room.
Well acted episode and the dialogue between Robert Redford and Gladys Cooper, who played Wanda, was a highlight.
“One More Pallbearer”
Not sure how the purpose of this episode. Was it meant to be a revenge tale or simply a practical joke meant to teach the subjects an abject lesson?
Either way, I did not like this.
“What you have just looked at takes place three hundred feet underground, beneath the basement of a New York City skyscraper. It’s owned and lived in by one Paul Radin. Mr. Radin is rich, eccentric and single-minded. How rich we can already perceive; how eccentric and single-minded we shall see in a moment, because all of you have just entered the Twilight Zone.”
Paul Radin held grudges from his life and he is looking for a way to save face. He pretends that he has called back three people form his past who have treated him poorly and he pretends that the world is going to be destroyed in a nuclear bombing. He provides them safety in his bomb shelter but he asks for apologies. None of the ‘victims’ want to stay. They all prefer to go to their homes and loved ones and die together if they must. This drives Paul crazy.
None of this makes any sense and it is just filled with exposition and nonsense.
“Dead Man’s Shoes”
The shoe is on the other foot, literally.
Another weaker episode of the show, as it follows poor hobo Nathan Bledsoe as he finds a dead body and steals that body’s new shoes.
“Nathan Edward Bledsoe, of the Bowery Bledsoes, a man once, a specter now. One of those myriad modern-day ghosts that haunt the reeking nights of the city in search of a flop, a handout, a glass of forgetfulness. Nate doesn’t know it but his search is about to end, because those shiny new shoes are going to carry him right into the capital of the Twilight Zone.”
The shoes belonged to a gangster named Dane, whose spirit then possessed Nathan in an attempt to gain revenge on the gangster that killed him.
However, Dane shows himself not very smart as he winds up dead again and dumped in another alley (this time, it being poor Nathan). Another hobo takes the shoes and apparently starts the circle all over again.
I, along with a bunch of other reviewers, claimed that The French Dispatch was the most ‘Wes-Anderson-movie’ that we had ever seen.
Well, Asteroid City is that but on all kinds of steroids.
I am not sure that I have seen anything are weird and as wild as Wes Anderson’s latest movie, Asteroid City. My mouth was agape multiple times and I grasped my head with my hands over and over again.
And yet, I was weirdly entertained.
The narrative was bizarre. It was a play being hosted by Bryan Cranston, and directed by Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) starring an actor playing Augie Steenback (Jason Schwartzman) but was shown as if it were happening with Augie and a group of people attending a junior stargazing event in Asteroid City where an alien showed up and stole the meteorite that had landed in the town years before.
There were storyline everywhere with some of the most eccentric characters that I have seen on screen together in a long time. Anderson brought an A-list cast, full of many of his typical band of actors that appear regularly in his films. The cast, along with those already mentioned, included Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Jake Ryan, Maya Hawke, Liev Schreiber, Sophia Lillis, Grace Edwards, Hope Davis, Rupert Friend, Steve Park, Ethan Josh Lee, Aristou Meehan, Tilda Swinton, Matt Dillon, Steve Carell, Henry Rhoades, Tony Revolori, Bob Balaban, Fisher Stevens, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Hong Chau, Rita Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, and Preston Mota.
This movie was extremely chaotic. Things were weird and did not always tie together in any sort of true narrative structure, but every strange thing that happened was funny or shocking or entertaining. There were scenes that were included that felt like its own little thing and I could not believe what I was watching.
I was shaking my head throughout the film. As I was watching the movie, there were times that I considered walking out for good and other times I considered giving it 5 stars. There were several people in my theater that did walk out during this movie and I couldn’t blame them for it. Still, I laughed. I was engaged. I was entertained. I had no idea what was coming next and isn’t that a great theater experience.
There is no doubt that Asteroid City is not a film for everyone. If you are a fan of Wes Anderson, you may like this movie (although it may go too far for those fans as well). There will be those who absolutely hate this movie. I understand that feeling. I might even agree with it. But I enjoyed myself. Just sayin’.
4 stars
(…but this could be anywhere from 2 stars to 4.5 stars too.)
Raunchy comedies can be great or they can be horrendous. Comedy is so subjective and many times I do not like the movies that fall into that raunchy category. However, No Hard Feelings starring Jennifer Lawrence looked funny from the trailers and I was hoping that this one would be a lot of fun.
According to IMDB, “On the brink of losing her home, Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying.”
Andrew Barth Feldman played that 19-year-old son, Percy, and he did a fantastic job of if. He and Jennifer Lawrence made a wonderful pairing, which is one of the reasons why No Hard Feelings worked as well as it did. If you did not like the two lead characters, this film would have been doomed.
Now, this movie was surely predictable. As soon as Percy’s parents told Maddie that Percy could not know that they were hiring her to “date” their son, it was clear what was going to happen. The thing is that predictable does not necessarily mean bad. A movie can be predictable and still be effective if executed properly. And No Hard Feelings id a good job with its humor and its situations that they placed Maddie and Percy into.
I guess this film is not as ‘raunchy’ as I thought it was going to be, which is probably another reason why I liked it more than I thought I might. It had its moments, but it could have been way worse than what we got.
My favorite scene was the skinny dipping scene, but not necessarily for the reason you may think. I do not know how to go into this without spoiling it, so I will just say that this moment was awesome for several reasons.
I also wanted to shout out the supporting roles of Percy’s parents, Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti, and Maddie’s best friends, Natalie Morales and Scott MacArthur.
No Hard Feelings had two lead stars that were funny and charming together. They were easy to like and that made a predictable storyline less likely to be a problem. Jennifer Lawrence was committed to the comedic aspects of the film and was not afraid to take it that extra step.
I hardly recognized Dean Stockwell when he first came on the screen with the American army during “A Quality of Mercy” episode from season three. I had seen this episode low on lists of Twilight Zone lists, but I did not think it was that bad. However, I could tell what it was docked for. It’s the same thing that I am going to dock it for.
Dean Stockwell played Lieutenant Katell, a young officer during World War II (the last day actually) who arrived with a platoon that had lost its last two leaders. They had a group of Japanese trapped in a cave, but they were not sure what they were going to do. Katell showed up, ready to rush the cave and kill all the enemy soldiers.
The the Twilight Zone took over.
Katell found himself in the body of one of the Japanese soldiers, but earlier in the war, and the man in charge was acting the same way he did when arriving with the Americans. He was able to see how mercy could go a long way.
The problem? Stockwell had face paint, eyes done up and a horrendous Japanese accent. I do not know why it was decided that Stockwell perform this in such a stereotypically racial manner, but this choice ruined the scenes for me and really weakened an otherwise strong episode.
EYG Hall of Famer Leonard Nemoy was in the episode too as one of the American soldiers.
I have a busy day today at the movie theater; in order to fit everything in to the schedule today, I had to make plans for the June Swoon 2. What I planned was to watch a short this morning. The short I decided on was on Netflix and had been the Academy Award winning short for Best Documentary short at this previous Oscar ceremony. It was called The Elephant Whisperers.
This doc took us to India where we meet an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie, who were able to raise two orphaned baby elephants. At first, they were given responsibility over a calf named Raghu, who was frail and sickly. Bomman and Bellie cared for the baby elephant and a bond grew between them. From the great success that they had shown with Raghu, the park rangers of the Mudumalai National Park entrusted them with a second baby elephant named Ammu.
Watching the interactions with the elephants and Bomman and Bellie was fascinating and beautiful. The couple truly treated the elephants as part of their family. Bellie spoke of the loss of one of her own children, a daughter, and how Raghu was able to comfort her, literally wiping away her tears. This was a poignant moment in the doc.
The doc showed the elephant kicking a soccer ball around, playing freely like any little kid might.
The imagery and picturesque shots of the park made The Elephant Whisperers even grander than it would have been. Director Kartiki Gonsalves made her film debut with this documentary, spending five years with the family of the Kattunayakan tribe.
The 41 minute short is a beautiful piece of art and shows a close relationship between humans and elephants. The film does a great job of showing the bond between them and the feelings shown by both human and animal.
This evening, I went for five season three episodes and we got all kinds of variety.
“The Midnight Sun”
Whoa, what a hopeless feeling episode this was. Apocalyptic, twice within.
The earth’s orbit has been changed and it is now moving toward the sun and the temperatures on earth were getting hotter and hotter. Two women, Nora and Mrs. Bronson, were the only people remaining in their apartment building, trying to stay cool and survive the heat.
Water, looters, their own minds all were struggles they needed to face. As the news gets worse, the two women get closer to the end. Mrs. Bronson succumbs to the heat and Nora seems to be ready to go as well.
Then we learn that Nora was actually in a fever dream and that none of what we saw was real. However, we learn from Mrs. Bronson and the doctor that was attending Nora that the world was off its orbit but going away from the sun. The very opposite was happening, the planet was freezing to death.
This episode could certainly be used today as a metaphor for climate change, I’m not sure that would have been the basis for the idea back in 1961. The episode gives us a picture of how the human race would react to such an event, with a lot of anger, frustration and selfishness. Even though there would also be some good people as well.
“Still Valley”
Civil War conflict mixed with the occult and the devil… good times.
Not sure how to feel about this one.
“This is Joseph Paradine, Confederate cavalry, as he heads down toward a small town in the middle of a valley. But very shortly, Joseph Paradine will make contact with the enemy. He will also make contact with an outpost not found on a military map—an outpost called the Twilight Zone.”
Paradine wound up in the town, but he found all the Union troops frozen still. Not dead. Not asleep. Just standing still. He did not know how this happened, but… he would find out.
An old man was there and he claimed to have used black magic to freeze the Yankees. He did so by reading spells out of a book labeled ‘witchcraft.’ By doing so, he said that he had to align himself with Satan. The old man was dying and gave the book to Paradine, who returned to his camp and explained what happened, proving that he had this power.
The end was strange because Paradine was uncertain if he should continue to use the book because he had to renounce God as well as align with the devil. He ends up throwing the book into the fire.
Not the best episode I have seen. The characters were inconsistent and choices did not make much sense. Why did Paradine suddenly realize that he had to renounce God when he already used the book to freeze a troop of Union soldiers off camera? And these soldiers were meant to go to Gettysburg after this.
Not a very good episode.
“The Jungle”
“The carcass of a goat, a dead finger, a few bits of broken glass and stone, and Mr. Alan Richards, a modern man of a modern age, hating with all his heart something in which he cannot believe and preparing – although he doesn’t know it – to take the longest walk of his life, right down to the center – of The Twilight Zone.”
Alan Richards and his wife Doris have just returned from Africa where Alan was on a business trip. He was apparently cursed by some natives and his wife was really superstitious. She snuck all kinds of good luck charms, including a lion’s tooth, into their home and his pockets.
He leaves the tooth behind at a bar. Can you guess what happened next? I bet you can.
This one was dumb. Alan kept hearing drums and animal sounds as he tried to get home, only to be mauled by a lion that was on his bed (perhaps after already eating Doris?).
The animal sounds were unintentionally funny and the things that happened to Alan along the way were more and more ridiculous. And where was Doris?
“Once Upon a Time”
I thought this was a really creative and interesting episode. Featuring Buster Keaton himself, this episode was a tribute to the silent pictures that Keaton made his fame in.
The episode started out in a literal silent picture, following along Keaton as Woodrow Mulligan from the year 1890. It had the background music, the intertitles giving the audience dialogue to read and plenty of slapstick humor that was prevalent in the silent era of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin.
Mulligan worked as a janitor in a laboratory where the head scientist had created a ‘time helmet’ which gave the wearer a chance of going to any year and spend 30 minutes (this time seemed to change throughout the episode. A bit of a plot hole here). Mulligan put it on and was transported to 1961.
In 1961, we get sound, including Mulligan speaking aloud. It was no longer a silent picture. He met up with a man named Rollo and then it felt very much like a ‘Laurel and Hardy’ type film.
I enjoyed this tribute to the era of silent films and the icon Buster Keaton. It felt like one of those ‘very special episodes’ of shows(like “Atomic Shakespeare” for Moonlighting). I love the big swing for the episode.
“Five Characters in Search of an Exit”
Okay, I did not see that coming.
Five characters stuck in a strange circular prison. They could not remember anything. All they knew were what they were: A clown, a bagpiper, a ballerina, a tramp and a major.
The major was the newest arrival and was struggling trying to make sense of what had happened. He desperately tried to find an exit from their prison, trying everything. He would not give up even with the others not supporting him. The clown, in particular, was spending more time taunting him or making fun of him than being useful. The ballerina though seemed to believe in the major.
They stood on each other’s shoulders (in a fun pit of camera work) and tried to climb out, only to fall. The ballet dancer was injured, but that still did not deter the major, who set up a rope with the end of his sword to use as a grappling hook.
This time, the major makes it to the top and falls into a pile of snow. This is when we find out the truth… they were all dolls in a container during a toy drive for Christmas.
“Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in a distorted image of human life. But this added hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children, there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer, and a Major. Tonight’s cast of players on the odd stage—known as—The Twilight Zone.”
What a twist that was. No way I saw that coming. The ending took this episode to a much higher level than it had been. This was a top notch pay off. There have been some episodes where they have a great build but the ending is disappointing. This one stuck the landing, big time.
As we are starting toward the last week and a half of the June Swoon 2, there are some films that I have never heard of before. Significant Others is one of those. I found it while going through Prime (it looks like it was on Paramount +) and the premise sounded decent. The Rotten Tomatoes score was fresh so I put this on the list.
Unfortunately, I did not like this one much at all.
A couple go hiking on a trail and plan to spend time in the wilderness. Harry (Jake Lacy) was much more excited about the trip than Ruth (Maika Monroe) was, but harry had more on his mind. After hiking awhile and setting up camp, Harry proposed marriage to Ruth. However, Ruth is very anxious about marriage and she had a panic attack.
The next day, they find a dead deer, covered with some kind of black goo. Harry thought it had some kind of disease. Ruth came across a cave that held a surprising truth that she was not expecting.
I won’t go any farther to eliminate any spoilers, but this film took a big step down from this point on. I had some tension building at first as I wondered what was going to happen in these woods. When it happened, things changed dramatically, including a tone that bounced all over the place.
The film was short, but felt longer than it was. The performances were fine and the film looked decent. Still, I feel that much of the story went off the track after awhile.
The Twilight Zone returned to the Old West for another story involving Lee Marvin and Roscoe P. Coltrane.
This episode was a creepy tale of fear and revenge. A local rapscallion named Pinto Sykes is gunned down by a crew of townsfolks. The man, Conny Miller, who had been hired by the town to hunt Pinto down, returned to the town to find out that Pinto was already dead and buried.
The townspeople told Conny that Pinto claimed on his deathbed that if Conny ever came to Pinto’s grave, that Pinto would reach up and grab him.
The others in the bar, led by Roscoe (I know his name was not Roscoe, but the actor, James Best, is best known by me for his role as the Sheriff on Dukes of Hazzard), laid wagers that Conny did not have the courage to go and kneel by Pinto’s graveside. Conny made he bet (though honestly, he was not really quick about it).
The next day, Conny was found dead over the grave.
This was very atmospheric and creepy. I liked most of this episode. The only issue I had was that Conny did not end up shooting Pinto, it was someone else in town. We only heard about Conny and Pinto’ relationship and we did not see any of it. Why did Pinto hold such a negative feeling toward Conny? I’m really not sure.
Lee Marvin and Lee Van Cleef appeared in this episode and both men are veterans of Western movies, lending a high level of credibility to the show.
“It’s a Good Life”
A monster story about the worst monster ever… a little boy named Anthony.
“Tonight’s story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there’s a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines—because they displeased him—and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages—just by using his mind. Now I’d like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It’s in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn’t like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you’re looking at now. She sings no more. And you’ll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because, once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn’t I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He’s six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you’d better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.”
We spent the episode watching the adults cower to this little boy, telling him how his bad behaviors were the right thing and how they were happy that he just killed thee people or created this three headed animal and then killed it.
I really wanted someone to step up and do something about Anthony. There was a time when one of the dinner party members, drunk as he was, tried to get the others to do something about the boy and he wound up getting turned into a jack-in-the-box and eventually sent to the “cornfield” which was a place Anthony sent all people who had negative thoughts.
Bill Mumy played Anthony after playing Billy in “Long Distance Call.” He was very sinister and unsettling as the little monster. I wish there was some form of resolution to the episode, but it is a well known, iconic episode.
“Deaths-Head Revisited”
One of the most haunting episodes of The Twilight Zone yet. Deaths-Head Revisited is a comment on the horrendous circumstances behind the concentration camps run by the Nazis before and during World War II.
A former Nazi SS captain, calling himself Schmidt, came to Dachau, Bavaria to go back to the Dachau concentration camp, walking around the compound, reveling in the remembrances and nostalgia. He is met by a man whom he takes as a caretaker of the camp. He does recognize the man as Alfred Becker, a former prisoner at the camp.
Becker takes Schmidt around the camp, as frightening sounds continued around. Finally, Becker told him that Captain Lutze (Schmidt’s real name) was to be put on trial for his crimes against humanity. Lutze realizes that Becker had been killed in Dachau years before and that this was a ghost facing him. Lutze wound up going mad, and would end up taken away in the present day to a mnetal instution.
The doctor who examined Lutze said “Dachau. Why does it still stand? Why do we keep it standing?” An answer mentioned in Serling’s closing narration:
“There is an answer to the doctor’s question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes; all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God’s Earth.”
The only criticism I have for this episode, which I found extremely powerful and haunting, was that I wish Lutze was not such a one-note villain. When he returned to Dachau, he was just as sinister, just as sadistic as he had ever been and he was outward about it. I would have like to have seen more than just the mustache-twirling villain that he was. Something with more layers would have made this even more powerful. Even still, this is one of my favorite episodes so far.
It is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and I have a brand new banner for EYG Comic Cavalcade. The new one included several new pics from the comics including ‘boobs and nipples.’ Ah, always fun.
Ultimate Invasion #1. Written by Jonathan Hickman and Penciled by Bryan Hitch. Reed Richards from Universe 1610, aka The Master, escapes from his prison. and intends to somehow return to his own universe. He actually offered Miles Morales to go with him. The Master taunts the Illuminati with his plans, showing that they could not stop him. This was a really good issue, though I was not too anxious to buy it three times (thanks Todd).
The Bone Orchard Mythos: Tenement #1. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. We start off the next horror series from the Bone Orchard Mythos universe. We start off by being introduced to seven characters who love together in this tenement building and they have some kind of connection.
The Avengers #2. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by C.F. Villa. Stuart Immonen did the cove art. The Avengers spend a chunk of this issue saving normal people that Kang has told them are doomed. And Carol Danvers waits to see if Kang the Conqueror survives to give the details about what had happened and what was about to face the Earth.
The Incredible Hulk #1. “Age of Monsters” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art from Nic Klein. The Hulk is back and the new series is returning to the horror concept that we got with the Immortal Hulk. Thankfully, the Hulk is no longer a spaceship! This first issue was very good and I am much more excited than the previous story arc.
Hellcat #4. “Soulmates” Written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Alex Lins. I love Hellcat! This has been a fantastic series so far. We get the reveal of much of what happened and what Damien Hellstrom is wanting to do. The book keeps heading back to Patsy’s teen years to mix this story together. Next issue will wrap this excellent series up and I will be sad to see it go.
The Tick #6. “Villains Inc.” Written and penciled by EYG Hall of Famer Ben Edlund. Todd surprised me with this book in my box. He picked it up this weekend and wondered if I wanted it. I did. I do not have much in way of Tick comics, but I love the big, blue force of justice. This is a very early issue too, with a story that was adapted in the pilot of The Tick cartoon from the 1990s. Thanks Todd.
Wonder Woman #800. Honestly, I bought this as a collectible. I skimmed through it and saw a bunch of Wonder Woman stories. I got the C cover, out of a WHOLE BUNCH of variant covers. Mine is by Brian Bolland. I’m not sure why I picked this up. I skipped Flash #800 last week. Oh well.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #7. Written by Cody Ziglar and featuring art by Federico Vicentini. Dike Ruan and Alejandro Sanchez were the cover artists. Miles continues his battle with Carnage. Iron Man showed up in this issue too. I have to say that I am still confused because I have not been reading the whole Carnage Reigns arc. I’ll be happy when that ends soon.
Wild’s End #1. Written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard. I saw an ad for this book in one of Boom Studios’ other books (it may have been Ghostlore #2) and it looked interesting. I picked up the virgin cover, but I did not like it. I did not get engaged with the story and I was just not interested. Do not order this one for me, Todd (running joke).
I am Iron Man #4. “Chapter Four: Limitless” Written by Murewa Ayodele and drawn by Dotun Akande. I enjoyed this issue of I am Iron Man quite a bit. Tony Stark is seeing giant creatures but no one else can see them. The first few pages where Tony is trying to find anyone who could see what he was seeing was a lot of fun.
Scarlet Witch Annual #1. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Carlos Nieto. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. The prelude to Contest of Chaos. Wanda and Agatha Harkness sit down for tea. That is just the start. It was an interesting story. At one point, it felt as if Wanda was in control of the situation, but it looked like Agatha had her own motive.
Hallows’ Eve #4. Written by Erica Schultz and drawn by Michael Dowling. Janine continues to use her monster masks to battle Maxine Danger and the Beyond Corporation. Maxine’s lackeys are able to get some of Janine’s masks and we look like we are prepping up for the next issue finale.
Edge of Spider-Verse #3. “Nobody Knows Who You Are” Written by Dan Slott and drawn by Humberto Ramos. There is a back-up story here too, but I bought this because of the first story involving Spider-Boy. We see Spider-Boy unmasked for the first time (I think) and his name is Bailey Briggs. I’m still not sure what is going on here, but I am in on Spider-Boy.
Today’s June Swoon 2 film was a real surprise. Honor Society is a coming-of-age comedy that was on Prime (Paramount +, I believe) starring a strong cast of young actors in a very creative and unexpectedly funny movie.
Honor (Angourie Rice) was a senior hoping to escape the town she lived in by getting a recommendation to Harvard from her sleazy guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). She discovered that she was one of four potential candidates for his recommendation and she decided to go out of her way to bring the other three candidates down.
Honor is also our narrator for the movie, breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the camera during each scene. This worked extremely well because of the charming nature of Angourie Rice. It also helped us get inside the head of Honor, whose behaviors and actions were pretty rotten. Because she kept speaking to us and explaining the thought process behind everything, Honor avoided becoming one of the ‘mean girls’ that typically populate this kind of movie.
In fact, although the group of characters in this movie certainly fall into the normally stereotypical tropes of a coming-of-age movie, these characters defy those expected roles.
As Honor is moving through her plans, you can see the development of the character and the lessons she learns along the way. You knew something was going to come crashing down at some point, because it always does in this style of movie. However, I will say that Honor Society pulled off a late movie twist that I did not see coming that played with all of the expected tropes. I was very impressed with the reveal in this film.
Mind you, things turn out a little too nicely, with the feel of a sitcom. The way this high school film ended this story was too perfect for it to be realistic, but it did feel like something more fantastical than a realistic portrayal so I did not hold that against it.
The cast was excellent. Gaten Matarazzo, Armani Jackson, Any Keum, Kelcey Mawema, Avery Konrad, Kerry Butler, Danny Wattley, Miku Patricia Martineau, Andres Collantes and Michael P. Northey are all great in their roles. Gaten Matarazzo gave an especially strong performance here, getting to do more than he has done on Stranger Things.
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was a lot of fun, filled with a fantastical story mechanic and plenty of laughs. Angourie Rice was very charming and she is so likable, even when her character is pulling things that you shouldn’t be liking. A hoot of a film.
Marvel Studios is back on Disney + with the first episode of Secret Invasion dropping on the service this morning. As someone who has enjoyed all of the Disney + series to some extent, I was looking forward to the debuting show, especially since it puts Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury front and center.
Based loosely on the Marvel Comics event series from a few years ago, Secret Invasion deals with a group of Skrulls and their desires to find a new homeworld. Fury and Carol Danvers promised to help them find a place at the end of Captain Marvel, but apparently, that promise fell to the backburner. This has made some of the Skrulls angry and ready to take matters into their own hands.
Secret Invasion kicks off with an episode that gives us a taste of what the series will be about. Paranoia. Trust, or lack thereof.
Even though the series is about a group of shape shifting aliens, Secret Invasion feels very grounded. It is more of a thriller/political espionage story than a superhero one. The Skrulls make a perfect foil for this type of series as their ability to shape shift makes them very dangerous.
Everything is centered around the performances of Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn. Sam Jackson’s Fury feels damaged, shaken and unhinged by the blip. Taking this character who we have known since Iron Man and making him vulnerable by his own experience of being dusted is very smart. Add to that his body struggling against him because of age or because of wear increases the feeling that Nick Fury is different.
Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos is clearly still torn between the desire to help his people and to be loyal to Fury. His loss of his wife offscreen and the anger of his daughter G’iah (Emily Clarke) will give him a ton to play as well.
The opening credits have stirred up a ton of controversy online. The AI used to create the credits is a hot-button issue and caused some backlash against the series. I found the opening credits to be very ominous and fitting for the series, but I can say I do not know much about this subject.
Olivia Colman made her first appearance in the MCU as Sonya Falsworth as a member of British MI6. Sonya could be considered the Nick Fury of British Intelligence. Her few moments of screen in episode one whetted the appetite to see more from this powerhouse actor.
Okay, so that is far enough before we talk about the shock ending of the episode. During this Skrull terrorist attack on Moscow, leader of the Skrull revolution, Gravik, who is played very ominously by Kingsley Ben-Adir, in the shape of Nick Fury, shot and apparently killed Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders. Smulders, who has been around the MCU since near the beginning, is a beloved character and he apparent demise will cast a pall across the series. I do not want Maria Hill to die, but I can see how her death here would really be a powerful trigger.
This was a very good opening episode and I was captivated by what was happening. The feeling that you are never sure what is happening and that there is no one to trust was highlighted by the events of this series. I am looking forward to finding out where this heads next.
Okay, so not Castro, but a man named General Ramos Clemente. But it is Peter Falk, famously who would become Lt. Columbo- one of the most iconic detectives of all-time, playing this role. I have to say it was distracting. That is not the fault of the episode, but I could not help that.
You see this trend in the time having white actors play the ethnic roles. Someone like Falk playing this character today would be controversial. I do think Peter Falk does a decent job in the role in this episode, but he had several mannerisms that were distracting and did end up pulling me out of the episode.
The episode dealt with the idea of paranoia and of the suspicion of powerful people that those around them have their own motivations. We see the slightest suggestions, in this case a mirror giving the reflections of betrayal, lead to Clemente taking his friends and supporters and executing them all.
“Ramos Clemente, a would-be god in dungarees, strangled by an illusion, that will-o’-the-wisp mirage that dangles from the sky in front of the eyes of all ambitious men, all tyrants—and any resemblance to tyrants living or dead is hardly coincidental, whether it be here or in the Twilight Zone.”
Today’s June Swoon 2 film was one that I found on Peacock the other day as I was searching for more 2022 movies to add to the list. It is a film from New Zealand directed by Gaysorn Thavat called The Justice of Bunny King.
Bunny King (Essie Davis) was a woman who had been convicted of manslaughter after killing her abusive husband in self-defense. Bunny had her kids taken away from her and placed in the system. Once she had served her time, she came out and had to jump through several hoops in order to attempt to regain custody of her kids.
She started to live in the garage of her sister’s (Toni Potter) home because Bunny was unable to find a home of her own and that was the first step in getting her kids back. However, Bunny caught her sister’s husband Bevan(Erroll Shand) molesting his step-daughter Tonyah (Thomasin McKenzie). Bunny’s sister did not believe Bunny and took the side of her husband, throwing Bunny out of their house.
Bunny stealing Bevan’s car, taking Tonyah and hiding out with her. Bunny’s plan was to have a birthday party for her daughter, who was turning six. Things went poorly after that.
Essie Davis was magnificent as Bunny King. You could tell that Bunny had plenty of problems, including a temper that caused her to fly off the handle, but you knew that she loved her children and she loved her niece. Even though she may not have made wise choices, she did them for the right reasons and that made her easy to root for even though she was basically kidnapping Tonyah.
Thomasin McKenzie, who appeared in other great movies such as Last Night in Soho and Jojo Rabbit, was exceptional as the young girl who Bunny was trying to rescue from the abusive circumstance she found herself in. McKenzie was quiet and moving as she displayed the loyalty to Bunny despite Bunny’s rapidly elevating behavior.
The story was dark and at times tough to watch. Bunny’s bad behavior was never acceptable, but you certainly understand where it was coming from and at the heart of the woman was love. Not a role model for sure, Bunny King is a survivor and a force of nature. She actually reminded me quite a bit of the character of Leslie from To Leslie. Both women are rude and their malfeasance is against norms, but they have a hidden strength.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 