Author Archives: Doc

Comic Catch-Up #12

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February 4, 2023

Welcome back to the Comic Catch-Up#12. This is the official fourth day of the special event here in February to try and help catch up my reading from the piles of comics I have around my house. Things have been going swell so far as I have been looking forward to the time allotted for the comics.

I jumped into some back issues of the Avengers this morning along with some other books that I have been working through one at a time.

So… here we go.

Avengers #46-50. When I was looking at these back issues, I saw that this storyline was labeled W.W.S.H. which stood for World War She-Hulk. That did not make me feel enthused. One, it felt derivative, as if the book was just trying to build upon the old World War Hulk storyline that is so beloved. Two, I really hated the way the Avengers comic had been portraying Jennifer Walters. I was not a fan of the brutish She-Hulk form of this character so I considered skipping this arc. However, I knew Jenn had her own series which I have been keeping up to date on and that she was back in her old form, so I had hoped this would be the catalyst for that return and this arc led into the Avengers #50 (Legacy numbered 750) extra sized book so I decided to go ahead and read the arc. And I was very pleased that I did because I truly enjoyed it. By the end of #46, I was into it and read for the next issue. This storyline was written by Jason Aaron and the art was by Javier Garrón (and issue #49 included the one-named wonder Flaviano).

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3: Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Federico Vicentini, we get the introduction of a new villain who is in pursuit of Miles and the people he cares about. The character’s name is The Rabble and this character had an interesting design. I am still unsure how The Rabble will play in the series, and honestly, a good chunk of this issue was nothing much. I did enjoy the Miles team up with Misty Knight. TEAMWORK!!!

Strange Academy: Finals #2. Written by Skottie Young and art by Humberto Ramos. I always enjoyed Humberto Ramos’s work on Amazing Spider-Man so it is nice to see him with this new cast of characters. As I have not yet read the Strange Academy books, most of these characters are unfamiliar to me. I am intrigued to learn more about them as I dive more into these books.

Public Domain #4. Chip Zdarsky continues to tell the story of of copyrights and writing comic books. And he is somehow making it compelling and fascinating. I’m not sure if I am supposed to be supporting Miles Dallas, but I find him to be quite the jerk in this book.

Judgment Day #3. Judgment begins. Truthfully, this story has become a little messy. There are a lot of characters involved and I am not sure exactly who is with whom. Jean Grey has a strong issue and the book does bring back Starfox, who is always a welcome sight. And who would have guessed that you could not trust Mr. Sinister?

Grim #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano, continues to be an engaging book with a lot going on. We get some info on the cool character we saw last issue. He was called The End and he was quite the troublemaker. The book also gave me Dogma vibe. The Kevin Smith movie had God go missing and here, it seems that Death is missing. Of course, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Cover the Dead with Lime #1. Written and created by Jonathan Chance and illustrated by Hernán González. This issue was set in the past, back in the 17th century and looked to deal with fighting against certain plagues. The characters are not too developed yet, but the circumstance was definitely interesting. I think I have issue #2 as well before I can decide if I want to continue to search for more of this.

Poker Face (1 x 05)

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SPOILERS

“Time of the Monkey”

I had a chance to watch the fifth episode of Peacock’s new series, Poker Face yesterday, starring Natasha Lyonne. I had started to be concerned about the show. The last episode was my least favorite of the series so far and the formula had started to wear a little thin. I was hoping that it would right itself because I have really enjoyed the character of Charlie Cale and Lyonne’s portrayal of her.

I am happy to announce that I found episode five to be highly entertaining (though very unlikely) and that the series took the formula that it had been using and piqued it a bit, making it feel so much fresher than it had become.

Then, when you add a talented actor such as Judith Light to the cast as a guest star, things are destined to improve.

As in past episodes, we start off with the murder. This time, it was the wheelchair-bound Judith Light playing Irene, and S. Epatha Merkerson as Joyce, who were collaborating to murder a man at the old-age complex called Mossy Oaks. The manner in which they pulled off the murder was the part of the show that really required the viewer to suspend disbelief.

Getting past the actual murder itself, the format changed a little bit. The show did go back in time to show that Charlie was still there, but unlike previous episodes, Charlie did not befriend the eventual victim, she became friends with Joyce and Irene, the soon-to-be killers.

Turned out that Irene and Joyce were not just some cool old broads, but were domestic terrorists from the 1960s who used bombs to send their messages and had intended on targeting a group of high school students at a Model UN conference. They were stopped by a man they had been intimate with,named Gabriel and they wound up spending years in jail.

Of course, Gabriel, under his witness protection, was placed at Mossy Oaks, triggering the revenge-minded pair.

Charlie’s lie-detecting skills helped her uncover Gabriel’s “fake nephew” who was his FBI handler, played by Howard Wolowitz himself, Simon Helberg.

Charlie wound up in some dangerous situations as the two women were anything but push overs and the fight scene between them was a real hoot. Judith Light is an outstanding actor and she had several moments of excellence in this episode.

I enjoyed this episode a great deal and I am pleased that episode 4 seemed to be the exception for me.

Comic Catch-Up #11

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February 3, 2023

A late start because of cold temperatures allowed me to get the Comic Catch-Up reading completed early and now I am finishing the post after school got over.

Continued several of the series runs that I started the other day. Some good books here.

Grim #2. “Chapter Two: The End“. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art from the one-named wonder Flaviano, Grim #2 continued the story of Jessica and her challenge after losing her scythe. She believed that her own death, a death that she could not remember, was an important piece of the puzzle so she went to break into where the memories were stored. Things did not work out well for her. Grim has been a good read so far and it has continued to hook me with the story and the art.

Avengers #45. I started in on the pile of Avengers comics that I am behind on. That took me back quite a long while with a story of Blade becoming the sheriff of Count Dracula’s new official nation of vampires. Jason Aaron wrote the story with Luca Maresca providing the art. Cory Smith and Jason Keith gave us the cover.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #2. “Old Friends“. Shang-Chi meets up with an old flame and partner in MI6, Leiko Wu. It was all a set up for British Intelligence to get their hands on the ten rings. This series has been written by Gene Luen Yang and the art inside this book was done by Marcus To. Dike Ruan and Matthew Wilson were the cover artists on this issue.

Wakanda #4. “The Other Path.” This was my favorite issue of this anthology series so far. It featured Tosin, a character who I had never heard of before. The opening page called him The Wakandan. I really dug this character, and I also loved the Kime as well. This was an exciting story, featuring the villainous Abomination as well.

Judgment Day #2. Uh oh. Did the Avengers just make a big boo boo? The story of the war between the factions of the Avengers, Eternals and X-Men reach a new height as the Avengers reinvigorate the Avengers HQ, which was an old Celestial. This became the literal judgment day. Kieron Gillen was the writer and Valero Schiti did the art. Mark Brooks was the cover artist. It had a very end of the MCU Eternal’s feel to it and I’m ready to see where it goes.

Strange Academy: Finals #1. Written by Skottie Young and drawn by Humberto Ramos. Strange Academy is one of the books that I wanted to read, but I just never got around to it. I always found the few issues that I did read interesting. That whole series is one that I should look into during this catch-up. I found this start of the story pretty solid. I enjoyed learning a little bit about these characters.

Public Domain #3. Chip Zdarsky continues to create a comic that is totally intriguing and engaging despite there being no super heroes and focusing on the creators of the comic books. Who would have guessed that a meeting with a lawyer over copyright law would be so fun? I am very curious to see where this book is heading.

Avengers Forever #7-9. I grabbed a whole bunch of Avengers Forever back issues and The Pillars story, Part Two, Three and Four. They were all multiversal versions of the main Avengers, #7 was a bunch of Steve Rogers, #8 gave us a special Thor and #9 brought us a different version of Carol Danvers. The creative team included Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Cam Smith and Guru-EFX. The covers were all really great (especially #8) and they were done by Aaron Kuder and Jason Keith.

Comic Catch-Up #10

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February 2, 2023

Welcome back to the Comic Catch-Up. I pulled out a series of books form the piles, but I avoided, this morning, reading any run of any one title. I wanted a flavor of the issues, giving me more to continue as February continues.

Apparently that troublemaker Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today meaning that there will be six more weeks of winter. That rat. Well, it just means that there may be more late starts at school (like tomorrow) to give me time to continue with my catch-up.

Today’s books:

Grim #1. “Chapter One: Don’t Fear the Reaper“. Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Flaviano (one name, like Cher or Madonna, I guess), Grim #1 finds a grim reaper taking the souls to death, only she loses her scythe to her last soul. When she goes to retrieve it back i the land of the living, she discovers that the living people can now see her, something that did not happen before. This was a interesting book with a good hook to make me look forward to the next issue. I really liked Flaviano’s art too.

Wakanda #3. “Color of Death“. The third issue of the anthology series now has a story featuring Killmonger. Continuing the Marvel Comics characters being made to be more like their MCU counterparts, Wakanda #3 was written by Ho Che Anderson and penciled by Sean Hill. There is yet another really short backup story with teh “History of the Black Panther Chapter Three” written by Evan Narcisse and drawn by Natacha Bustos. Mateus Manhaini gave us an excellent cover with Killmonger in full display.

Judgment Day #1. Written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Valerio Schiti, this first issue of the limited series featuring the Avengers, the X-Men and the Eternals was very gripping. I do not plan on following the countless crossovers while reading this series as they are always a waste of time. I am looking forward to reading this book as the storyline is rumored to be an inspiration for the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty MCU movie.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #1. “Absolute Power”. This theme for the Marvel books that I read today seems to be making the comics more like the MCU. Shang-Chi with the ten rings, the versions from the movie, were cool and it certainly makes Shang-Chi even more bad ass. Written by Gene Luen Yang with Marcus To providing the art, Shang-Chi is in good hands. Another awesome cover, this time drawn by Dike Ruan and Matthew Wilson.

Public Domain #2. “The Usual Spot“. This is an interesting book. It is not a super hero book. It is a book about super hero creators and the rights of those creators of their characters. There feels as if there is a lot of commentary directed at the lack of artists in particular receiving appropriate royalties for their work. I had been told that this was the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby story, but this issue feels less like that and more of the MCU (and other major film companies) not providing sufficient compensation for creators of these characters that are making millions (if not billions) of dollars at the box office. Chip Zdarsky is an amazing writer who is able to get me intrigued in a story about the comic book creator and his family.

Knock at the Cabin

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M. Night Shyamalan is no stranger to controversy, In fact, I would go as far as to say that he thrives on it. The director’s latest film, Knock at the Cabin is definitely going to stir up some controversy.

A happy family consisting of Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff) and their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) went to a secluded cabin for a getaway. As Wen was outside catching grasshoppers, she was approached by Leonard (Dave Bautista), whose manner about him about him(as well as his own skill at grasshopper catching) put the young girl at ease. However, when she saw Leonard’s three associates arriving with what she defined as weapons, she rushed off to find her two dads to warn them.

Locking themselves inside the cabin did not prevent the four strangers from forcing their way inside and taking the family hostage. However, the group had a bizarre request. They claimed that someone in the family had to be sacrificed and one of the others had to kill them. If a sacrifice was not made, the world would face an apocalypse.

Andrew and Eric, facing an implausible decision, did not believe Leonard and his apocalyptic statements, despite everything that they tried to do to convince the couple. Unbelievable events began to occur, bringing a shock to all.

I do not want to spoil this for anyone, but my biggest problem stems from what would be considered a spoiler, so beware. I’ll say it this way, I found the ending of this movie to completely ruin what I had found to be a taut, exciting thriller. The ending left me cold, disappointed and felt cruel and lacking a sense of purpose outside of just torturing these characters.

The ending spoiled what I had been finding to be an exciting and thought-provoking film, but the resolution was completely unnecessary and unsatisfying in any way.

Until the end of the film, I was finding myself involved in the story. The performances were excellent. Dave Bautista continues to show that he is willing to expand his repertoire as an actor with a multilayered performance. Both Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff were top notch as the loving couple dealing with their own past, which we touch upon in flashbacks. Those flashbacks take us nowhere and do not have any purpose except to make us agonize over the end even more.

Oh Ron Weasley, how far you have fallen. I kid of course as Rupert Grint played the role of Redmond, a mean-spirited bigot who becomes one of the foursome led by Leonard. Grint is really solid and I did not recognize him until I saw the credits, speaking even more to the level of his performance.

Kristen Cui does a very solid job as the little girl, providing more than just an afraid child. She is very capable and has to emotionally deal with a lot of the strife that is brought to the cabin.

Though the performances were all excellent, the characters, especially the four attackers, were barely developed and lacked much to support the craziness that they were spouting. Outside of Bautista, who was also not the deepest of characters, these remaining three were fairly disposable and unremarkable. Grint’s character presented a possibility, but any sort of potential from that character was tossed aside almost immediately.

The first hour of the film brought the goods, keeping me on the edge of my seat, but the last forty minutes or so wrecked the positives that I had about the film and I left the theater feeling downtrodden and, almost, cheated.

2.5 stars

Comic Catch-Up #9

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February 1, 2023

January has come to an end and the Genre-ary DailyView along with it. With that concluding, it is time to officially start the Comic Catch-Up Daily Read. The goal is to dedicate at least an hour a day to reading the piles of back issues that are all over my room and try my best to catch-up. I started to do some reading in January, but I did not dedicate myself to a daily read. I was able to do eight Comic Catch-Up posts last month. This is right now number nine.

Of course, it is also Wednesday, which means it is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY! YEAH!

So there are several of the brand new issues in the pile of comics for the first of February. Truthfully, several of these books that were not in today’s haul, were read last night, but it still will count.

I honestly thought about renumbering the Comic Catch-Up, calling it Volume Two (just like so many comics these days), but I decided the Legacy Numbering was how I would go.

With that out of the way, this starts Comic Catch-Up #9 (February)

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1. My friend Todd at Comic World told me this was a one-shot. Imagine my surprise when I got to the last page of this issue and I saw an advertisement for next issue (#2). I really enjoyed this book with a daughter that we (at least, I) never knew Blade had. Her name is Brielle and she is starting to receive some special gifts genetically from her famous father. The book was written by Danny Lore and the art was by Karen S. Darboe. It featured a cool cover too from the art team of Ryan Stegman, Rachelle Rosenberg, Karen S. Darboe and Chris Peter. I wonder if the vocal minority and their misogamy will come for Bloodline since it is a female character. Either way, I really liked this “ONE SHOT” and I look forward to the TWO SHOT. (Heh)

Dark Web Finale #1: I have not been a fan of this Dark Web storyline that has been running through the Spider-Man books recently, but I did think it picked up a bit recently. This finale was decent. There was less of the ridiculous demons and more with Ben Reilly and Hallows Eve. I also enjoyed the character development for Madelyn Pryor. Still, Rek-Rap is in running for the worst new character. I am excited for Spider-Man books to get back to normal soon. Dark Web Finale was written by Zwb Wells and drawn by Adam Kubert, Francesco Mortarino, with Scott Hanna.

Scarlet Witch #2. There were two stories inside issue #2. The first one was written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Sara Pichelli, featuring the return of Viv Vision. I loved Viv back in the Champions and the whole introduction of her in the Vision series is some of the best comics written, in my opinion. It was great to see her come to Wanda despite the complicated history between her and Viv’s dad, Vision. The backup story included Storm in a cool little adventure for a good cup of tea. It was written by Stephanie Williams with art by Chris Allen.

Silver Surfer: Ghost Light #1. A new series featuring the Silver Surer, although Norrin does not appear much in the book. The main story details Toni who has disturbed the final resting place of Al Harper, her uncle, bringing him back in a strange form, glowing green. This is another book that is based around the story of a young girl and her younger brother. I liked this quite a bit too. It was written by John Jennings and drawn by Valentine DeLandro. Taurin Clarke did the art on the cover.

Sabretooth & The Exiles #2. Written by Victor LaValle and drawn by Leonard Kirk, this is a back issue that I picjed up today because I could not find it. I had #1 and I know where #3 is, but two was not found. I actually do think that I am enjoying this series so far. I have not been a big X-Men fan recently, but this group of characters is intriguing and Sabretooth is facing some major issues with hs healing factor. The final page of the issue had a beautifully drawn splash page.

…and now the back issues:

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise #1-3. This series starring Dr. Strange is a beautifully original series with art and colors that are absolutely sensational. I am utterly confused about what is going on, but I am loving the journey in trying to figure it out. The art is just so unique that is grabs your attention in every way imaginable. I admit the story has me confused, but I am happy to keep trying with such a visually stunning piece of art as this. It is written and drawn by Tradd Moore and Heather Moore does the coloring (which is amazing). Issue two does list Jensine Eckwall as a special guest artist along with Moore. This series concludes with next issue.

Public Domain #1. I love Chip Zdarsky I have the run so far of Public Domain and I started with reading issue one last night. However, I realized as I got into the book that I had read this already. That did not stop me because I was enjoying the tale that Zdarsky was weaving. I will be diving into the remainder of the books with this one soon. I am interested to see if I have read any of those too.

Wakanda #2. Evan Narcisse and Adam Serwer wrote this issue and Ibraim Roberson was the artist for the first story featuring M’Baku. There was also a very short Part Two in the “History of the Black Panthers” backup story. I am working my way through this anthology series, having completed it in my collection today with issue #5. I do like the character of M’Baku, even if he is basically following the character form the MCU now.

Captain Marvel #45. Part three of the storyline “Revenge of the Brood” continued along with some cool moments with Carol and Gambit along with other X-Men, Spider-Woman and Hazmat. It started off very confusing, but we dropped the veil of confusion when we learned what was going on with our heroes. Brood everywhere and our heroes may have had them implanted inside them as well. No sign of Binary yet.

Midnight Suns #1. Written by Ethan Sacks and drawn by Luigi Zagaria, the first issue was exceptional with the joining of Wolverine, Magik, Blade, Agatha Harkness, Nico Minoru, Zoe Laveau and Spirit Rider in a group to confront demons attacking Strange Academy. The demons picked a poor day to attack as guest speaker, Blade was in attendance. This was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to finally getting my hands on issue 2.

The Killer: Affairs of the State #1. I have no idea why I bought this book. It was written by Matz and drawn by Luc Jacamon. The credits say that Edward Gauvin did the English translation, which I am not sure what that meant. I was bored out of my mind reading this book. I really did not like it. It was too dense in exposition and dialogue. A lot of times I like some good writing but this felt just too much. It felt like it took forever to get through the issue. I wonder if this was a book stuck in my box… (heh heh).

Until tomorrow…

Dark Star (1974)

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Day: January 31st, Movie: 33

It is January 31, 2023, and that means today is the final day of the first ever Genre-ary DailyView. Thirty-two science fiction films were watched over thirty days leading to the final film, John Carpenter’s Dark Star.

Dark Star was a science fiction/comedy that was John Carpenter’s directorial debut. The movie began as a USC student film that was developed into a feature film, receiving a limited theatrical release.

The film looked in on a crew of the starship Dark Star which had been out on a twenty year mission to blow up unstable planets that might threaten future plans. Dark Star had begun to break down and malfunction, leading to more troubles.

There are some funny moments in Dark Star. The talking bombs are a real hoot. There are several intriguing situations that happen during the plot. I really enjoyed the last half of the movie more than I did the beginning.

It definitely feels like a student production with the special effects (which were okay for 1974) and the list of unknown actors. They did use technology to create the jump to hyperspace that they would use a few years later in Star Wars.

As I said, the second half of the movie was more entertaining for me, with some of the visuals making me laugh out loud. I was not involved with the characters, but I loved the bomb. A talking, spiritually debating bomb is funnier than hell.

You can see how John Carpenter developed into a director who directed and produced some of the best science fiction films of all time. You can see it begin in Dark Star.

Poker Face (1 x 04)

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SPOILERS

“Rest in Metal”

I will say that this has been my least favorite episode of Poker Face so far.

Same format. We see the murder and then we see how Charlie was already there and connected to the victim. I hope that format gets mixed around some because it is starting to get a bit dull.

The whole metal rock thing was not something I could connect with. A band who killed their new drummer in order to steal a song that he wrote was not he best story I have ever heard. I did like how they wound up getting caught. The people who were ready to sign the band presented the fact that the song had stolen the music from the theme of the sitcom Benson. That seemed to be the biggest sin to these record execs. Only after this did they reveal that the group had been revealed as the killers of their drummer.

Chloë Sevigny guest starred as Ruby Ruin, the lead singer of the group Doxxxology, who had one major hit early in their career that had been written by their drummer at the time and they received zero royalties for it. This sets up the story of the episode.

The only hope was that Benjamin Bratt returned this episode and brought the story of the pilot with him.

Natasha Lyonne continues to be excellent as Charlie Cale, the human lie detector. She was the best part of this episode and some of the highlights coming from the future look great. I hope this was just a bump in the season.

The Last of Us (1 x 03)

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SPOILERS

The Last of Us has been a fantastic show so far. I never played the video game that the show was based upon so I have been coming at this fresh and it has been so great. Coming into Sunday night, I enjoyed the show’s format and the emotional power.

Sunday night’s episode started off differently. There was no flashback to kick off the show. Instead, we found our way to Joel and Ellie right away. Little did I know that the flashback was still coming and that it would be the major chunk of the show.

Not only was it still coming, but it was involving two characters that we had not met or had any connection to. It was a strange decision to me, but it paid off big time.

We spent most of this episode with the love story/relationship of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It was weird at first, but it did not take long to be engaged with the drama.

I have heard some people claiming this was one of the greatest hours of TV ever. I may not go quite that far, but it was clearly a brilliant episode that was not afraid to spend most of the episode diving into the relationship of two characters that we did not know. As I said, those early doubts washed away quickly.

The connection between the two actors was amazing. You believed everything that they did and said to each other. As their relationship grew, each obstacle presented a new challenge or conflict, but they faced each one together.

We saw Joel and Tess make an appearance in the flashback, helping Bill and Frank out with some chain fence tips and friendship. That would set up the final scenes with Joel and Ellie arriving at Bill’s house at the end of the show.

Before that happened, we got some of the most touching and painful moments between the two men. The love between these two unlikely lovers was on display here and how much they completed the other. As Frank was suffering through some kind of unspecified problem, he made a decision that he would take control of fate and have one more day before ending his life. He and Bill had a wonderful day together, including a marriage and a perfect dinner. It was ended with a drug laced wine that was intended to end his life. Bill had a surprise for Frank, saying that he was his reason for living, his purpose. Bill would join Frank in death.

Sad, yet remarkably romantic.

This was an outstanding episode that, apparently, was not included in the actual game. They were able to add details to the character of Bill from the game and we learned about the relationship between the two men. It shows that The Last of Us is nto afraid to exceed the content and to improve it.

Poker Face (1 x 03)

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SPOILERS

“The Stall”

The third episode of Poker Face on Peacock was another fun episode, with Charlie finding her way into another murder mystery, this time thanks to a MAGA dog.

Picking up a barking, little dog that only stopped barking when the radio was on a far right radio podcast, Charlie got a job with a BBQ joint in Texas. Taffy Boyle (Lil Rel Howery) had his own podcast, which led to his plan to off his brother, George (Larry Brown).

Once again, Poker Face showed Charlie and her lie detecting skill in a very positive light. She is smart and the show absolutely gives examples of this.

I will say that I was not a big fan of the little dog. Its constant yipping was annoying, but the use of it as a plot device was a tad sad.

Benjamin Bratt does not make an appearance in this episode, for the first time in the series.

This is, yet, another episode that used the basic formula of showing the murder and then showing that Charlie had arrived already and had some kind of connection. So far the formula has been fine, but I am hoping that this does not make the show become repetitive. It looks as if things may be changing up soon, and I do hope it will to keep things fresh.

Good so far though.

Box Room (2014)

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Day: January 30th, Movie: 32

I made a decision this evening. Because I have a bunch of write-up to do tonight (The Last of Us and a couple of Poker Face episodes) and Monday Night RAW, I decided to push the film that I had scheduled for today to tomorrow, and I went to look for a short that would work for today. I found a sci-fi short called Box Room, which was something else.

Jerry (David Joseph Magee) was a sad and lonely young boy who lived with his neglectful mother (Erika McGann) in an apartment. When he discovered a damp space on the wall, Jerry began peeling away the wallpaper. He uncovered a strange, alien-looking orifice that was inside the wall. At first, Jerry was repulsed by the creature, but, as he continued with problems with his mother, he made a choice. Jerry had sex with the creature. And then things got worse after that.

This movie was really fairly gross. Only a hormonal and, perhaps, depressed teenager would even consider sticking his penis inside that creature. It looked horrible and left all kind of yuck across anything that Jerry put inside it (such as a pencil). How could he think this was a wise idea? There was a dream sequence in the short that was horrifying.

David Joseph Magee does a really solid job in a film where he has to shoulder a huge part of the storytelling. And the orifice in the wall was clearly designed to look like a monstrous vagina, and it was frightening. The whole thing was extremely creepy and unsettling, but was pretty great. It absolutely delivered feelings during the story and created plenty of tension. The ending was just as gross as the beginning.

It was only fifteen minutes and it was worth the grossness.

Poker Face 1 x 02

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SPOILER

“The Night Shift“

The second episode of Poker Face was another good episode. I really enjoyed how this murder had been set up and how Charlie went about to solve the case.

A winning scratch off ticket led to a murder of a young man, shoved off a roof and then bludgeoned to death with a crowbar. The killer made it look as if a truck driver had killed him.

Unfortunately for the killer, Charlie had met the trucker that night and the story of what happened did not ring true to her. The truck driver was an intriguing character, as if she were right out of Nomadland.

Cliff Claven himself, John Ratzenberger appeared as a local mechanic who fixed Charlie’s car.

I really do enjoy this series. Although there have been several of these “murders-of-the-week series, Poker Face has a different feel to it. I’m curious if the next several episodes are going to follow the same basic formula. That may be a problem heading forward. For now, the show feels very original and different from the other types of shows like this. I hope they can find a way to maintain such success.

Space Cowboys (2000)

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Day: January 29th, Movie: 31

Well, this one is not really a science fiction film. Maybe a few of the events at the very end of the film may let this qualify, but I wanted to watch this movie so that is the reason why I had this be a second film of the day in the Genre-ary Sci-Fi DailyView. Space Cowboys was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred several older actors in critical roles in an Armageddon-like movie.

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner played a group of pilots who lost a mission back in the late 1950s and spent decades in regret. When a Russian satellite was falling out of orbit, NASA had to recruit Eastwood to fix the navigation system on the satellite, which was one that he had created and no one else knew about any longer.

Eastwood blackmailed Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) to allow his old crew to come back and fly the mission or he would not help. Against his better judgment, Gerson agree only if the crew could pass their physicals and the training other astronauts go through.

As I said, there is a lot of similarities to the movie Armageddon here, including being about as unlikely of a situation. The plot implausibility was a major factor for this movie. Even though you had four very charismatic characters involved in the story, what they are asking the audience to buy is a lot.

Still, if you can toss those doubts out of your mind, Space Cowboys was a fun and pleasurable ride.

Along with the four lead actors, we have several top notch stars involved including William Devane, Courtney B. Vance, Barbara Babcock, Blair Brown, Loren Dean, and Rade Serbedzija.

There were some predictable moments and some clichés, but the four stars are entertaining and a joy to watch.

Poker Face (1 x 01)

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SPOILERS

“Dead Man’s Hand”

I have found another series that I want to watch. It was on Peacock, of all places. I have Peacock mainly because of the WWE, but they do have several movies and original series on the streamer as well. I just have never been interested in any of their shows before. I saw the premise for Poker Face and the high Rotten Tomatoes score for the series and I wanted to give it a chance. After the first episode, I was in.

Television has had plenty of examples of these kind of “mysteries-of-the-week” shows. Mysteries where we know who the guilty person is, but the fascinating part is how our protagonist is going to figure it out. It worked for Columbo, The Rockford Files, Monk. If the lead character grabs the attention of the audience, they will follow along as the character discovers the truth.

Unlike the other shows I mentioned, Poker Face’s main character is not a cop or a detective. She is not Columbo. She is not Adrian Monk. She is not James Rockwell.

Created from the mind of Rian Johnson, Poker Face tells the story of Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a woman who can tell if someone is lying. Natasha Lyonne was a regular on Orange is the New Black as well as several other projects. Part of the success of this episode was the charisma and skills of Natasha Lyonne.

The show kicked off at a casino where one of Charlie’s friends, Natalie (Dascha Polanco), a casino maid, found incriminating evidence on a laptop as she was cleaning a room and she took it to her boss, the casino manager Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody). Unfortunately, Frost was involved and wanted that information hidden. He sent his security head Cliff (Benjamin Bratt) to take Natalie out. Since she had an abusive husband, he made it look like a murder-suicide.

This first episode was written and directed by Rian Johnson and he brought his best to the series. I enjoyed this first episode very much. The shocking suicide of Adrien Brody’s character was a huge event in the episode and set up Charlie to go on the run to avoid Frost Sr.’s vengeful plan. It was kind of like David Banner on the old Incredible Hulk TV show.

I have three more episodes after the pilot that have been released already available on Peacock. There will be new episodes every Thursday.

Brazil (1985)

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Day: January 29th, Movie: 30

Terry Gilliam is a filmmaker whose work is filled with some of the most imaginative storytelling that you are ever going to find. 1985’s Brazil falls right into step with that concept. Brazil was the second film in Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination” with Time Bandits and the Adventures of Baron Munchausen being the other two.

According to IMDB, “Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a harried technocrat in a futuristic society that is needlessly convoluted and inefficient. He dreams of a life where he can fly away from technology and overpowering bureaucracy, and spend eternity with the woman of his dreams. While trying to rectify the wrongful arrest of one Harry Buttle (Brian Miller), Lowry meets the woman he is always chasing in his dreams, Jill Layton (Kim Greist). Meanwhile, the bureaucracy has fingered him responsible for a rash of terrorist bombings, and Sam and Jill’s lives are put in danger.“

Gilliam’s film is a dark comedy set in a dystopian future. It takes some inspiration from George Orwell’s novel 1984. Brazil is a satire focusing on bureaucracy and technocracy. There is a real feel of English comedy to Brazil which may be something that prevents some audiences from appreciating how funny and clever it actually is.

Jonathan Pryce leads a remarkably strong cast as Sam Lowry. He played the role with a confused state that makes him a naturally excellent protagonist which played right into the final resolution of the movie.

The outstanding cast included Kathrine Helmond (Jessica from Soap and Mona from Who’s the Boss) as Sam’s mother. I was pleased to see her again, as she was one of my favorite actresses from those sitcoms. There was also Kim Greist, Robert DeNiro, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Bob Haskins, Peter Vaughn, Ian Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Sheila Reid, and Barbara Hicks, along with a ton of British actors.

The movie contained a lot of creativity and imagination, throwing together some visuals that were excellent and fairly absurd.  Brazil is a lot of fun and has become a cult classic because of its insane story and a visionary narrative.  Terry Gilliam is one of the most original filmmakers you are ever going to find.