Author Archives: Doc

Day Shift

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Vampires. Every so often the blood sucking undead show their sometimes ugly faces to the world and we get a new vampire flick. Netflix has provided the newest addition to the genre this weekend with a film starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco and Snoop Dogg called Day Shift.

Down on his luck pool cleaner, Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx), has a secret life. He hunts vampires. Unfortunately, his second life has caused a rift between him and his ex-wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) and his daughter Paige (Zion Broadnax). Jocelyn told Bud that she planned on moving then back to Florida. Bud begged her to wait until Monday so he could make the extra money that they needed.

This meant that Bud had to try to get back into the Union that he had been kicked out of awhile ago so he could make the money quickly. Union head Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange) allowed him to come back, despite his better judgement thanks to a recommendation from ultra cool vampire hunter Big John (Snoop Dogg), but Seeger assigned Seth (Dave Franco), a union rep, to follow Bud along, looking for violations so he could kick him out once more for good.

Day Shift had a lot of fun to it. Jamie Foxx was a perfect lead bad ass in the film, being given the most development of any of the characters. He was willing to do whatever he could to not lose his family. Snoop Dogg brought a lot to his limited screen time, ratcheting up his cool factor. I’m not sure how much I enjoyed the Dave Franco character.

The film does a pretty solid job of building the world around these characters. Set in the San Fernando Valley, there is a ton of information provided about the different vampiric types living in the area and the background of the Union.

There is not much to the story outside of the action beats. There are plenty of fun and graphic vampire kills as Bud’s trying to raise money. The ending battles may have gone on a bit long, but they are fairly well planned out.

In the end, the film rests on the charisma of its lead star and Jamie Foxx gives a solid performance to carry the story. If you are a fan of Jamie Foxx , this should be right up your alley. If you are a fan of vampire films, this one does a decent job, though there are a couple things that happen that made me question the rules of the world.

Overall, it is fun and a harmless viewing experience on Netflix.

3.4 stars

Luck

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Apple TV + had a new animated movie on its service called Luck from Skydance Animation. Directed by Peggy Holmes, Luck has some flavor of Pixar to it, but there are some clunky aspects to an overall sweet tale.

Sam (Eva Noblezada) is one of the unluckiest people in the world and, after years in an orphanage, she was never able to find her “forever family.” She bonded with Hazel, another younger girl in the orphanage who is hoping to be adopted.

Sam, who found a lucky penny after feeding a black cat named Bob (Simon Pegg), accidentally flushed the penny down the toilet. This was when she found out that Bob could talk and was from a magical land called Luck. Hoping to find another magical penny to give luck to Hazel, Sam and Bob returned to Luck to save Hazel’s forever family.

The film is sweet and the characters are decent. Bob is a great animal friend character and there is a ton of imagination in the movie. The animation is top notch and the colors are wonderful. There is a lot to like here.

However, the story is very complicated. The whole workings of Luck require a lot of exposition along the way and some of the things do not work as well together as others.

The voice cast is strong. Eva Noblezada and Simon Pegg are our main two leads while there is also Whoopi Goldberg, Jane Fonda, Flula Borg, Colin O’Donoghue, Lil Rel Howery, and John Ratzenberger.

Luck may be a little long, but it is a good film to show the youngsters as it has a great message and they will love seeing the fun and interesting characters.

Luck is on Apple TV +

3.2 stars

I Am Groot

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Today, Disney + dropped a new Marvel series, I Am Groot. This was five animated shorts that followed the life of Baby Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel.

The shorts were all between 3-6 minutes, so they were a very quick and easy watch. The character of Baby Groot is remarkably cute, predating even the cuteness of Grogu. Each episode took a small moment with our favorite walking tree and created a fun, humorous and enjoyable interlude.

While, I Am Groot is clearly directed toward a younger audience, there is plenty here for the older viewers as well. The humor tends toward the dark end of the spectrum and there are a couple of moments that are laugh out loud funny.

The animation is gorgeous. It is so full of life and beautifully rendered. There are several specially designed characters through the five shorts.

My favorite of the shorts was entitled “Groot’s Pursuit” where Groot wakes up in the middle of the night and encountered a water-based creature. The end of the short has everything great about Baby Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy type humor.

These shorts are just fun and they are uncomplicated. They do not require you to worry about the greater MCU, the significance of the story or finding the hints toward the future of the films. It is just here and it is a joy of visual storytelling with a bare minimum of dialogue. I hope Marvel continues making shorts with Baby Groot and other edges of the MCU.

Thirteen Lives

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One of the most dramatic true stories of recent memory turned into the focus on Ron Howard’s latest film as Thirteen Lives, a film based on the group of footballer kids who would up trapped in a cave for 18 days as the water rose around them, found its release on Prime Video the past Friday.

The daring underwater cave diving rescue is compelling as can be and it is filmed expertly so. The rescue of the 12 children and their coach in 2018 from Thailand’s Tham Luang Nang Non made international headlines in 2018.

Ron Howard organized a great cast featuring Colin Farrell, Viggo Mortensen, Joel Edgerton, Paul Gleeson, and Tom Bateman who played the experienced cave divers who came to help with the rescue and eventually became a vital cog in an insane plan.

There were a lot of scenes that helped develop the story that were strong and powerful, but there was not a ton of depth given to characterization. The story was strong enough to carry the film through.

I thought this was a great movie, but, to be honest, I was not sure the purpose of making a big screen film version of the tale considering there is a documentary on Disney + called The Rescue that does the same job as this film, including dramatic real life videos and clips showing the rescue. Though I thought that Thirteen Lives was really great and an excellently created, I personally preferred the doc, which had me glued to every real image.

Still, Thirteen Lives is excellent, features a heart-warming true story, and has a top cast giving their best performances in a ton of water. I thought Colin Farrell was the standout as he beautifully portrayed the uncertainty of the situation on his face.

Thirteen Lives is on Prime Video

4 stars

Prey

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I have been out of commission for almost two weeks and I have found myself behind on several of the movie and television projects that are coming out in early August. Now that I am back, I decided to start off with one of my most anticipated films of the summer. I was always a big fan of Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and, my personal favorite, “Mr. I ain’t got time to bleed” Jesse Ventura, and so when I heard about a prequel to the film set 300 years ago, my curiosity was piqued.

To be fair, I am not sure that I would define the film as a prequel. It is set prior to the events of the original film but, with the exception of the Predator itself, there is little connective tissue. I would say that it was more like a film set in the same world/universe.

Young lady Naru (Amber Midthunder) wanted to be more than what she was expected to be. She wanted to be a hunter like her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and she was anxious to be able to prove herself. Naru was extremely intelligent and thought her way through each situation though most of the others in the Comanche tribe was unimpressed.

On the hunt for a killer lion, Naru realized that there was something else in the wilderness of the Northern Great Plains, something bigger, something unknown. She began tracking the new hunter and discovered some horrifying things along the way.

Amber Midthunder was an absolute rock star in this movie. She is a star in the making. You could put her on a list already of some of the best female action heroes of all-time and not be exaggerating. She was electrifying as Naru in just about every aspect of the film. She was great.

The story was simple. Hunter vs. hunter. The Predator kills things and Naru tries to survive. There were certainly underscoring of the themes including those of never giving up, don’t let others prevent you from accomplishing your dreams and intelligence can overcome strength.

I was glued to the film for the entire run time. It was well put together and beautifully shot, building some great tension and nervousness over the characters and their eventual fate.

Some of the special effects were definitely lacking at times. There were some sequences where the bear, or the fighting Predator look too video gamey, which was clearly an effect of the budget. However, it never became too distracting and there were several outstanding moments of action as well.

This was a serious movie. It did not have the over-the-top type characters of the original, which lent a fun aspect to that film, but it would not in in place here. As of right now, probably because of Jesse Ventura, I may place the original Predator at the top of the list, but this film is right on its heels and might supplant it eventually.

4.75 stars

Only Murders in the Building S2 E6

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SPOILERS

“Performance Review”

Every week when I watch Only Murders in the Building, there are two items that every week I can almost guarantee that I think about after watching the new episode on Hulu.

  1. I would love the charming, humorous episode, and….
  2. It feels like it goes way too fast.

Ever since I have begun watching this show on a weekly basis, I swear each episode ends and it feels to me that it had just started. It’s always around 35 minutes, give or take, but it goes so quickly that I feel upset. This is not a show issue, it is a me issue. I just want to make the comment that I am enjoying this show so much that time flies by in no time.

Last week’s cliffhanger over the question of Oliver’s son’s true parentage was teased all episode. I do love the fact that Oliver has told his two friends the truth of this so he could lean on them while he awaited for the DNA test to come in. We did not see him tell Mabel or Charles, but the discussions indicated that he had. I love that he did that and it played off the fact that Charles had hidden the fact of his relationship with Jan (by the way, using Jane Lynch as Charles’s stunt double to break up with Jan was inspired).

It was a tough week for Mabel. When the three crime fighting podcasters realized that they were not texting with Detective Williams when they were asking about a matchbook they found that had a blood mark and a fingerprint upon it, they decided that they would set a trap for this person. They were going to set up an evidence pick up and placed a glitter bomb in the trash can instead.

Turned out the mysterious man in black was bombed with the glitter, that our crimefighters missed because they were arguing over Charles’s strange relationship with Jan.

Mabel had come across her girlfriend Alice at her apartment, who was creating some kind of mural dedicated to ‘Bloody Mary.’ Mabel took off feeling betrayed.

She also wound up on a subway train with the man in black covered with glitter who came toward her.

Oliver’s son sent an online video to his father from someone who filmed Mabel stabbing the man in black with her knitting needle, continuing to make her look like an unbalanced killer.

There was also an interview on Tina Fey’s character’s podcast, Only Murderers in the Building, of one of Mabel’s old co-workers who claimed that she had cut off his finger.

Public opinion is certainly building up to make Mabel look like she is guilty. Our killer is going out of the way to make her look bad.

The Village (2004)

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Do Over: EYG Sunday Morning Revisit Week 13

M. Night Shyamalan was one of the hottest young directors working after his debut The Sixth Sense and the Bruce Willis vehicle, Unbreakable. Unfortunately, the reported wunderkind’s work began to take a downward spirals, to the point where they were not even placing his name on the trailers promoting the movie.

Part of the problem was that Shyamalan films started with a couple of epic twists and he became known as a director whose movies will always feature a mind bending twist that makes the movie special. This became expected, and, this became an albatross around Shyamalan’s neck.

The twist completely crushed The Village beneath the banality of the truth of this movie. Any positivity that the film may have built up with its 19th century aesthetic and eerie creatures is undone by the twist ending that Shyamalan presents.

I was astonished by the cast of this movie. As the opening credits flew by, the names of the actors involved in The Village was way more remarkable than I remembered. Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Cherry Jones, Brendan Gleeson, Judy Greer, Celia Weston, Jesse Eisenberg, and Frank Collison was an amazing group.

There are moments in the movie that work well. The relationship between Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) and Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) is nicely developed, but some of the oddities of the characters could be developed more. Adrien Brody’s character was ill-defined and felt more like a plot point than anything else.

Boy, does the plot require some stretching and, in the end, has so little reason to it that it destroys the goodwill it may have had. The initial appearance by the creatures from the woods was creepy and they looked good, but the answer to the mystery just was unsatisfying. There could have been a really strong horror film with some adjustments to the story and the elimination of the twist ending, but it was there to the film’s detriment.

The Gray Man

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Anthony and Joe Russo brought us their next non-MCU film, back to the world of Netflix (though it has been available at the theaters across the nation for the last week). The Gray Man is an action thriller film with shenanigans involving the CIA and their off-the-books assassin in their Sierra program.

We see a distinctly de-aged Billy Bob Thornton recruiting Ryan Gosling from out of prison and into the Sierra program, to become a ghost, a killer that the CIA could point to what they want to happen and the killer would take care of the job. Facing the choice between this and prison, Gosling became known as Sierra Six.

When Six was sent after a former Sierra agent, Four, to assassinate, he realized that the CIA was not out for the best intentions. Six stopped the assassination when a young child got in the way despite the CIA handlers insisting that the kid was just acceptable collateral damage. Though Six still carried out the assassination, it was a considerably messier attempt. Before he died, Four gave Six an encrypted drive detailing the corruption at the CIA.

With Six going rogue, the CIA approached Lloyd Hanson (Chris Evans) to retrieve the drive and to kill Six. Hanson was a former CIA agent who had been kicked out of the agency because of sociopathic tendencies. Lloyd was going to do whatever it took to accomplish his mission.

The Gray Man was a mixed bag. The acting was pretty good for what was here. In particular, Chris Evans was absolutely fabulous. He was chewing every scene he was in, emoting out from behind that amazing mustache. Chris Evans had personality to spare and carried the enjoyment of the movie, despite the fact that he is playing a horrible person. Ryan Gosling was basically playing the same character that he typically would play, though he did it fine. He was very stoic in many ways as he played this assassin. They gave Billy Bob Thornton’s character a niece to put in jeopardy, played by Julia Butters. Ana de Armas played another CIA agent who wound up helping Six. She was fine, but her character was quite lacking. She was just a face that showed up to shoot guns.

The action was good, but there was a lot of it. There may be too many gun fights without quite enough other versions of the fight sequences. The hand-to-hand fights were always more interesting than just the guns being shot.

The final battle between Six and Lloyd was a letdown though, which I will not go into to avoid spoilers.

The Gray Man is better than many of the Netflix original films, but not by much. It is a film that could be an entertaining watch if you have nothing to do some afternoon. I would not have been happy to watch this at a theater, but at home on Netflix, there could be worst films.

2.9 stars

2022 Eisner Award Winners

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The announcement of the winners of the annual Eisner Awards were revealed on Friday night at San Diego Comic Con.

Best Short Story

“Funeral in Foam,” by Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier, in You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus)

“Generations,” by Daniel Warren Johnson, in Superman: Red & Blue #5 (DC)

“I Wanna Be a Slob,” by Michael Kamison and Steven Arnold, in Too Tough to Die (Birdcage Bottom Books)

“Tap, Tap, Tap,” by Larry O’Neil and Jorge Fornés, in Green Arrow 80th Anniversary (DC)

“Trickster, Traitor, Dummy, Doll,” by Triple Dream (Mel Hilario, Katie Longua, and Lauren Davis), in The Nib Vol 9: Secrets (The Nib)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot (must be able to stand alone)

Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1, edited by Darren Shan (Marvel)

Mouse Guard: The Owlhen Caregiver and Other Tales, by David Petersen (BOOM!/Archaia)

Nightwing #87: “Get Grayson,” by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Wolvendaughter, by Ver (Quindrie Press)

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez (DC)

Best Continuing Series (TIE)

Bitter Root, by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, et al. (Marvel)

Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Limited Series

Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, by Daniel Warren Johnson (Marvel)

The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)

Hocus Pocus, by Rik Worth and Jordan Collver, hocuspocuscomic.squarespace.com

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (BOOM! Studios)

Stray Dogs, by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner (Image)

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King and Bilquis Evely (DC)

Best New Series

The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (DC Black Label)

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

Radiant Black, by Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa (Image)

Ultramega, by James Harren (Image Skybound)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Arlo & Pips #2: Join the Crow Crowd!, by Elise Gravel (HarperAlley)

Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai (IDW)

I Am Oprah Winfrey, by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos (Dial Books for Young Readers)

Monster Friends, by Kaeti Vandorn (Random House Graphic)

Tiny Tales: Shell Quest, by Steph Waldo (HarperAlley)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Allergic, by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter (Scholastic)

Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat, by Ben Towle (Dead Reckoning)

Rainbow Bridge, by Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe, and Valentina Brancati (AfterShock)

Salt Magic, by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear, by Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung (Dial Books for Young Readers)

The Science of Surfing: A Surfside Girls Guide to the Ocean, by Kim Dwinell (Top Shelf)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Adora and the Distance, by Marc Bernardin and Ariela Kristantina (Comixology Originals)

Clockwork Curandera, vol. 1: The Witch Owl Parliament, by David Bowles and Raul the Third (Tu Books/Lee & Low Books)

The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (Kokila/Penguin Random House)

Strange Academy, by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos (Marvel)

Wynd, by James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas (BOOM! Box)

Best Humor Publication

Bubble, by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, and Tony Cliff (First Second/Macmillan)

Cyclopedia Exotica, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

The Scumbag, by Rick Remender and various (Image)

Thirsty Mermaids, by Kat Leyh (Gallery 13/Simon and Schuster)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, translation by Nova Skipper (VIZ Media)

Best Anthology

Flash Forward: An Illustrated Guide to Possible (And Not So Possible) Tomorrows, by Rose Eveleth and various, edited by Laura Dozier (Abrams ComicArts)

My Only Child, by Wang Ning and various, edited by Wang Saili, translation by Emma Massara (LICAF/Fanfare Presents)

The Silver Coin, by Michael Walsh and various (Image)

Superman: Red & Blue, edited by Jamie S. Rich, Brittany Holzherr, and Diegs Lopez (DC)

You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife, edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus)

Best Reality-Based Work

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Press)

Hakim’s Odyssey, Book 1: From Syria to Turkey, by Fabien Toulmé, translation by Hannah Chute (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula, by Koren Shadmi (Humanoids)

Orwell, by Pierre Christin and Sébastien Verdier, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness, by Kristen Radtke (Pantheon/Penguin Random House)

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, by Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh (Living the Line)

Best Graphic Memoir

Factory Summers, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall (Drawn & Quarterly)

Parenthesis, by Élodie Durand, translation by Edward Gauvin (Top Shelf)

Run: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

Save It for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest, by Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

The Secret to Superhuman Strength, by Alison Bechdel (Mariner Books)

Best Graphic Album—New

Ballad For Sophie, by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia, translation by Gabriela Soares (Top Shelf)

Destroy All Monsters (A Reckless Book), by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)

In., by Will McPhail (Mariner Books)

Meadowlark: A Coming-of-Age Crime Story, by Ethan Hawke and Greg Ruth (Grand Central Publishing)

Monsters, by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

The Complete American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton (Dark Horse)

Locke & Key: Keyhouse Compendium, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez (IDW)

Middlewest: The Complete Tale, by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)

Rick and Morty vs Dungeons and Dragons Deluxe Edition, by Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Zub, and Troy Little (Oni)

The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California Deluxe Edition, by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, and Becky Cloonan (Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

After the Rain, by Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by John Jennings and David Brame (Megascope/Abrams ComicArts)

Bubble by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, and Tony Cliff (First Second/Macmillan)

Disney Cruella, adapted by Hachi Ishie (VIZ Media)

George Orwell’s 1984: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Fido Nesti (Mariner Books)

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, by Robert Tressell, adapted by Sophie and Scarlett Rickard (SelfMadeHero)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Ballad For Sophie, by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia, translation by Gabriela Soares (Top Shelf)

Between Snow and Wolf, by Agnes Domergue and Helene Canac, translation by Maria Vahrenhorst (Magnetic)

Love: The Mastiff, by Frederic Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci (Magnetic)

The Parakeet, by Espé, translation by Hannah Chute ((Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

The Shadow of a Man, by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, translation by Stephen D. Smith (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Chainsaw Man, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)

Kaiju No. 8, by Naoya Matsumoto, translation by David Evelyn (VIZ Media)

Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow (Omnibus), by Toranosuke Shimada, translation by Adrienne Beck (Seven Seas)

Spy x Family, by Tatsuya Endo, translation by Casey Loe (VIZ Media)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, translation by Nova Skipper (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips, by Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longarón, edited by Christopher Marlon, Rich Young, and Kevin Ketner (Ablaze)

Popeye: The E.C. Segar Sundays, vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Trots and Bonnie, by Shary Flenniken, edited by Norman Hathaway (New York Review Comics)

The Way of Zen, adapted and illustrated by C. C. Tsai, translated by Brian Bruya (Princeton University Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

EC Covers Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Farewell, Brindavoine, by Tardi, translation by Jenna Allen, edited by Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, edidted by Steve Korté (TASCHEN)

Spain Rodriguez: My Life and Times, vol. 3, edited by Patrick Rosenkranz (Fantagraphics)

Steranko Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artisan Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Uncle Scrooge: “Island in the Sky,” by Carl Barks, edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

Ed Brubaker, Destroy All Monsters, Friend of the Devil (Image)

Kelly Sue DeConnick, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons Book One (DC)

Filipe Melo, Ballad for Sophie (Top Shelf)

Ram V, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios); The Swamp Thing (DC); Carnage: Black, White & Blood, Venom (Marvel)

James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Joker, Batman, DC Pride 2021 (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Blue Book, Razorblades (Tiny Onion Studios)

Best Writer/Artist

Alison Bechdel, The Secret to Superhuman Strength (Mariner Books)

Junji Ito, Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection, Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, Sensor (VIZ Media)

Daniel Warren Johnson, Superman: Red & Blue (DC); Beta Ray Bill (Marvel)

Will McPhail, In: A Graphic Novel (Mariner Books)

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Filipe Andrade, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios)

Phil Jimenez, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Esad Ribic, Eternals (Marvel)

P. Craig Russell, Norse Mythology (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Federico Bertolucci, Brindille, Love: The Mastiff (Magnetic)

John Bolton, Hell’s Flaw (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Juan Cavia, Ballad for Sophie (Top Shelf)

Frank Pe, Little Nemo (Magnetic)

Ileana Surducan, The Lost Sunday (Pronoia AB)

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Jen Bartel, Future State Immortal Wonder Woman #1 & 2, Wonder Woman Black & Gold #1, Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary (DC); Women’s History Month variant covers (Marvel)

David Mack, Norse Mythology (Dark Horse)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Alex Ross, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain America/Iron Man #2, Immortal Hulk, Iron Man, The U.S. of The Marvels (Marvel)

Julian Totino Tedesco, Just Beyond: Monstrosity (BOOM!/KaBoom!); Dune: House Atreides (BOOM! Studios); Action Comics (DC); The Walking Dead Deluxe (Image Skybound)

Yoshi Yoshitani, I Am Not Starfire (DC); The Blue Flame, Giga, Witchblood (Vault)

Best Coloring

Filipe Andrade/Inês Amaro, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios)

Terry Dodson, Adventureman (Image Comics)

K. O’Neill, The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Oni)

Jacob Phillips, Destroy All Monsters, Friend of the Devil (Image)

Matt Wilson, Undiscovered Country (Image); Fire Power (Image Skybound); Eternals, Thor, Wolverine (Marvel); Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Oni)

Best Lettering

Wes Abbott, Future State, Nightwing, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman Black & Gold (DC)

Clayton Cowles, The Amazons, Batman, Batman/Catwoman, Strange Adventures, Wonder Woman Historia (DC); Adventureman (Image); Daredevil, Eternals, King in Black, Strange Academy, Venom, X-Men Hickman, X-Men Duggan (Marvel)

Crank!, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Oni); Money Shot (Vault)

Ed Dukeshire, Once & Future, Seven Secrets (BOOM Studios)

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

The Columbus Scribbler, edited by Brian Canini, Jack Wallace, and Steve Steiner, columbusscribbler.com

Fanbase Press, edited by Barbra Dillon, fanbasepress.com

tcj.com, edited by Tucker Stone and Joe McCulloch (Fantagraphics)

WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau (WWAC)

Best Comics-Related Book

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk (Penguin Press)

The Art of Thai Comics: A Century of Strips and Stripes, by Nicolas Verstappen (River Books)

Fantastic Four No. 1: Panel by Panel, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chip Kidd, and Geoff Spear (Abrams ComicArts)

Old Gods & New: A Companion to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, by John Morrow, with Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman (Crown)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner (Rutgers University Press)

The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth, by Andrew J. Kunka (Rutgers University Press)

Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity, by Zack Kruse (University Press of Mississippi)

Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comics Imperialism, by Paul S. Hirsch (University of Chicao Press)

Rebirth of the English Comic Strip: A Kaleidoscope, 1847–1870, by David Kunzle (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design

The Complete American Gods, designed by Ethan Kimberling (Dark Horse)

The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Deluxe Edition, designed by Justin Allan-Spencer (Fantagraphics)

Crashpad, designed by Gary Panter and Justin Allan-Spencer (Fantagraphics)

Machine Gun Kelly’s Hotel Diablo, designed by Tyler Boss (Z2)

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964 (TASCHEN)

Popeye Vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)

Best Webcomic

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, by CRC Payne and StarBrite (DC/WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/batman-wayne-family-adventures/list?title_no=3180&page=1

Isle of Elsi, by Alec Longstreth, https://www.isleofelsi.com/comics/ioe6/page-259/

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=1

Navillera: Like a Butterfly, by Hun and Jimmy, translation by Kristianna Lee (Tapas Medie/Kakao Entertainment), https://tapas.io/series/navillera-like-a-butterfly

Unmasked, by Breri and Nuitt (WebToon Factory/Europe Comics), https://www.webtoonfactory.com/en/serie/unmasked/

Best Digital Comic

Days of Sand, by Aimée de Jongh, translation by Christopher Bradley (Europe Comics)

Everyone Is Tulip, by Dave Baker and Nicole Goux, everyoneistulip.com

It’s Jeff, by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru (Marvel)

Love After World Domination 1-3, by Hiroshi Noda and Takahiro Wakamatsu, translation by Steven LeCroy (Kodansha)

Snow Angels, by Jeff Lemire and Jock (Comixology Originals)

Will Eisner Hall of Fame Inductees for 2022:

Max Gaines, Mark Gruenwald, Marie Duval, Rosie O’Neil, Alex Nino, P. Craig Russell

Nope

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One thing for certain when you watch a Jordan Peele movie, you’ll be thinking about it after it is finished. Peele’s third film, Nope, does not break that streak.

Peele’s horror/thriller film followed brother and sister OJ Hayward (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Hayward (Keke Palmer) who were horse trainers for movies. The Haywards were struggling with their business, forcing the to sell some of their horses off to pay their bills.

However, one night there was a discovery of something in the skies that changed the siblings’ mindset. Something that they believed would fix all their problems if they could just get this recorded.

Nope is one of those movies that is very difficult to talk about without dealing in spoilers, so I will do what I can to critique the film without going into specifics.

Let me start with the main two characters, portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. Kaluuya is excellent as the stoic, quiet, almost brooding head of the horse training, but Keke Palmer steals the show. She was absolutely fantastic as Emerald, bringing so much energy, emotion, humor and anxiety to the role. Steven Yeun was good in his limited screen time, but I would have liked more from him. Brandon Perea added a nice touch as a supporting character from the Best Buy-type shop.

The visuals and the special effects were gorgeous and the cinematography was exquisite. This film looked amazing and helped create the tension that was prevalent in the movie.

Speaking of tension, Jordan Peele is unbelievable at creating anxiety and tension in his movies. You are constantly on the edge of your seat and are never quite sure what was going to happen next.

There are a couple of scenes that worked tremendously well, but did not seem to have any purpose in the film outside of providing some background to one of the lesser used characters. I loved the scenes, they were were filled with suspense and fright, but I am just not sure why they were included.

Then, the reveal of what was happening felt a little off. It is not really a twist in the story. It is really just telling us what was going on and it felt a little flat. Again, it looked amazing and it worked in the context of the scenes that it was in, but something felt lacking.

Nope did feel like there were a couple different movies crammed together into one, with each movie needing more to flesh them out.

While I do have some criticisms of the film, I liked it more than I did the last Jordan Peel film, Us, though it does not reach the excellence of Get Out. I enjoyed my experience of watching the movie and came out mostly satisfied.

3.7 stars

Only Murders in the Building S2 E5

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SPOILERS

“The Tell”

Only Murders in the Building has become one of my must sees right away. I have fallen in love with this series and I love our three main characters played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. They have tremendous chemistry with one another and with any other characters that may show up during their investigation of the season’s mystery.

The writing is always top notch and clever as can be and I do not see the twists coming as I do for most other shows where the mystery is not as well developed.

Of course, this season is the murder of Bunny and she casts her ample shadow over the show. It seemed as if the patron of the Arconia’s murder is tied to a ton of secrets in our main characters past, or even current, lives.

In a fun segment called “Son of Sam” which featured a card game where Oliver passed out cards and tried to figure out who was the killer among the room filled with innocent blondes. We see him playing this game early in the episode back in the 1970s (including Nathan Lane) and he pulls the same routine at a present day party trying to get info about Cara Delevingne, whose character is currently dating Mabel.

Interestingly enough, Jan, from her jail cell, pointed her finger at an artist as the killer of Bunny. I have to say that the odd connection that Charles seems to still be encouraging is a tad uncomfortable. I thin it is meant to be and to highlight how lonely Charles actually is for a relationship beyond his friends.

The whole Cara Delevingne story revealed that she had been lying about herself to Mabel, but that she had nothing to do with the murder, the latest red herring that this show does an admirable job of setting up. However, I think there is more to this suspect that what we have seen so far and I am not ready to count her as not guilty. She may not be the killer, but there is more to this than we know.

The big reveal of the episode was implying that Oliver was not the actual father of his son, Will, and that Will was a result of an affair between Oliver’s wife Roberta and Teddy Dimas. We saw the pair sitting together at that murder mystery party we flashed back to in the 1970s. This was quite a bombshell and could be extremely painful for Oliver moving forward.

With this episode focused mainly on Martin Short at the center of the show, while the other two cement or reignite relationships with other people, Oliver gives us a really strong character portrait and sets us up for what could be a terrible smack when Oliver and Will learn the truth.

Ted Lasso Season 2

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SPOILERS

This morning I finished off the second season of Ted Lasso on Apple TV + and I have to say that my life goal as of right now is that I want to be more like Ted Lasso. I want to be able to rip off constant pop culture references within sharp banter while being unbelievably respect to everyone. Ted Lasso’s dialogue is one of my absolutely favorite parts of this series and Jason Sudeikis delivers it perfectly.

We also were introduced to my favorite new character of season two with Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (played by Sarah Niles). Her arc with Ted as he recounted the reasons behind his panic attacks is just tremendous and her no nonsense approach made me love her so much more. In fact, when she was hit by the car while on her bicycle, I audibly gasped and would have been pissed off if she had died from the accident. Thankfully she did not and she remained. I am still upset that she left the team as of the season’s end.

I loved the whole season, but there was one episode that just did not do it for me. Episode nine, entitled “Beard After Hours,” followed Coach Beard after he left Wembley Stadium and got involved into a series of strange adventures that reminded me of the old episodes of Moonlighting when Mrs. DiPesto and Herbert Viola would have their own solo episodes. Those episodes were fine, but they were what you turned on Moonlighting for. You wanted Dave and Maddie, not Agnes and Bert. While I like Coach Beard as a character, I was not interested in this episode, even though the things that happened to Beard were fun and original.

I loved the relationship between Roy and Keeley but I was not happy where they were at the end of the season. I kept rooting for Roy to pop the question, but it did not happen. I found the confession episode where Roy and Keeley told each other all of the details of what was happening to them in connection to their love life. I want them together.

The relationship between Rebecca and Sam was interesting and brought some fascinating depth to the show. Sam brought out a lot of his character, much more than we had seen before.

Nate’s turn to the dark side was remarkably well done and he will be a very fascinating villain for season three.

Diamond Dogs! Woof Woof Woof Woof Woof

I love this show because they consistently take this show in different directions. I was sure that Ted and Rebecca were going to develop into a relationship. I thought that was the obvious route they were going to take, but there has been no sign of that happening. They have just created one of the best male-female friendships there is on TV. This show avoids clichés and tropes better than any show I think I have ever watched.

I can not wait until season three comes.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

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Do Over: EYG Sunday Morning Revisit Week 12

I saw this Mel Brooks comedy in the theaters. It attracted my attention because Cary Elwes was in the role of Robin Hood, and it played upon my love for him as the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. Unfortunately, I hated this movie. So this week’s Do Over brought back Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Watching this one today, I did not feel the hatred that I did when I first saw it in the theater, but I would not say that I liked it. Much of the humor was forced and just not funny. I’ve seen much funnier Mel Brooks films such as Young Frankenstein, which is the bar for all of these.

This was the basic Robin Hood story, parodying the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Roger Rees’s Sheriff of Rottingham was a clear parody of Alan Rickman’s performance from that movie. I am not sure if it is intended or just a side effect of having Cary Elwes play a familiar role, but the film felt as if it were also parodying The Princess Bride at times.

Dave Chappelle played Ahchoo, Robin’s friend and the son of the man who helped Robin escape from a jailhouse during the Crusades. Richard Lewis played Prince John, who was ruling the kingdom in his brother’s absence. Amy Yasbeck was Maid Marion with her metal chastity belt protecting her honor.

There were a ton of cameos in the movie including Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Isaac Hayes, Megan Cavanagh, Patrick Stewart, Tracy Ullman, Dick Van Patten, Robert Ridgely, and Avery Schreiber.

I did enjoy the song and dance routine to “Men in Tights” that featured most of the main Merry Men. I remember hating this in theater, so this piece of the film was an improvement.

I did not find any of the “blind” jokes about the character of Blinkin, played by Mark Blankfield, to be funny. It was a joke that carried throughout the entire film and just seemed to be poking fun at a handicap. It just did not age well.

In the end, I did not hate this movie as much as I did when I was younger, but I did not like it very much either.

Ted Lasso Season 1

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SPOILERS

I included a spoiler tag even though this has been out for a couple of years now. Just to be safe in case there are people out there, like me, who had not seen Ted Lasso before today.

Ted Lasso has been one of those shows that everyone loved and everyone talked about, but that I had not watched. It is on Apple TV +, which I have, but I never got around to watching it. After hearing so many positives about the show, I put it on my list, but I had not gotten around to it. With The Boys, Ms. Marvel, Stranger Things over for now, and Only Murders in the Building releasing once a week, it felt like the right time to dive into Ted Lasso.

So I started it up, knowing that there were ten season one episodes and that if I was not interested, I could easily discard the binge and watch something else. However, that was not going to be a problem because I was immediately hooked after the first episode.

Jason Sudeikis played Ted Lasso, an American football coach hired to come to England and coach football (aka soccer) in a Premiere League team that had been ravaged by an ownership divorce between Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) and Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head).

Rebecca, angry over her ex-husband’s affairs and betrayal, had decided that the way to pay him back was to ruin the one thing that he loved, the AFC Richmond. This story started with a very Major League flavor to it, but I like this storyline much more, because we meet Rebecca and we find out why she has been such a cold and angry woman. While she is sabotaging her team, we can see the reasons and we can see the strain it put on her as she grows closer to Ted and others in her orbit.

There were plenty of other stories going on through the season including the brash, young and selfish stud Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), the aging and always angry captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and his developing relationship with club manager of PR, Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), who had a relationship with Jamie. There are several interesting characters floating through the series as well.

Other great actors involved included Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Toheeb Jimoh, Kola Bokinni, Annette Badland, Andrea Anders, and Ellie Taylor.

The episodes were hilarious and kept the sport team clichés away from the show. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I was never sure how things were going to happen and I enjoyed how the show kept me off balance with the sport tropes.

The character of Ted Lasso is as hopeful and inspirational as you are going to find, yet he is instilled with his own personal issues that he has to overcome. Jason Sudeikis truly deserved his Emmy win for this season.

Next up will be season two.

Ms. Marvel S1 E6

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SPOILERS

“No Normal”

The finale for the first season of Ms. Marvel on Disney + aired this morning and was just a fantastic finale that really nailed the landing on one of the most surprising, unexpected and undervalued Marvel Studios series on the streaming service since they began producing them.

And… in the biggest shock of all… Kamala Khan was revealed to have a “mutation” according to her best buddy and science whiz Bruno. As if that word wasn’t enough of a trigger for Marvel fans, the few chords of the X-Men Animated theme played over top of the scene to tell everybody… yep, we have just introduced “mutants” into the MCU and we did it in Ms. Marvel episode 6.

Not in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Not in WandaVision. Not in Loki. Not in Thor: Love and Thunder. Not in any of the other countless, constantly-speculated series or movies from Marvel Studios. Nope, in Ms. Marvel.

Of course, some people are still mad that she is not an Inhuman. Some people are still sore about them changing her origin and her powerset. None of that bothered me in the slightest because the real key to the character of Kamala Khan is not that she was an Inhuman, but that she had this large and supportive family. Honestly, I loved the way they adjusted her powers and we even got the “embiggen” in this episode, despite it being shown in a different style than in the comic pages.

Once again, with Kamala back in Jersey City, the main focus of this series, which has been going since the beginning, is that of family. The Pakistan episodes 4 & 5 still dealt with family, but felt a little weaker because we lost out on everyone except Kamala, Muneeba and Sana.

Episode six, back in Jersey City, took the best parts of the first three episodes (the art design, Bruno, Nakia, Yusuf) and the next two (increased powers, Kamala and her mom) and blended them into a great final episode.

Great family bits:

  • Muneeba present Kamala with her new superhero suit.
  • Kamala announces to her family that she was “Light girl” and they already knew because Muneeba told Yusuf and he had it on speaker.
  • Yusuf, sitting on the roof of their house, telling what the name “Kamala” meant and it leading to Ms. Marvel.
  • Aamir appears from out of nowhere to watch over Kamala because his mother wanted him to and Kamala says “Superheroes don’t need chaperones”
  • Muneeba says to a concerned Yusuf about trusting Kamala, a switch from episode 1.
  • Kamala and Nakia make up.
  • Zoe joins the group at the school and becomes a big part of the “Home Alone” bit.

I thought the battle with Damage Control at the end was tremendous. I loved the use of the powers and how Kamran’s powers were both potent and out of control. This series was not about the villains, which is why there are several people who feel like there was something missing. The whole storyline with the ClanDestine and Damage Control was meant to give them a plot point. This show was about the Kamala and her friends and family.

I say this every week, but Iman Vellani is absolutely a treasure, and she needs to be protected at all cost. I have heard some people criticize her performance in some of the more emotional moments from episode 5, dismissing it because of her lack of experience. I hope that, as she learns more of the craft, she does not lose the realism, the authentic nature of Iman Vellani that she showed every time she was on the screen. I truly believe that Iman Vellani could be the new Robert Downey Jr. of the MCU as we move along into Phase 5 and beyond.

And then there was a mid-credit scene featuring Carol Danvers that really was confusing, but was clearly a set up for The Marvels film coming in July 2023. Bri Larson looked fabulous in her new costume.