The Dead Don’t Die

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Doc

The Dead Don't Die Movie Poster

This was very much a different type of zombie movie, one that I was not expecting. Certainly, with Bill Murray as the lead, I knew that we were in store for a humorous take on the genre, but I had no idea what I was about to see.

Writer/director Jim Jarmusch is known for his slow take on some of his films and that style is in full display here. The story slowly moves through the movie as characters talk about life and, at times, barely even recognize what is happening around them.

The small town of Centerville finds itself with strange events happening. The daylight is staying longer, the moon has a strange glow and the dead are rising from the grave. All of this because the earth has shifted slightly off its axis because of polar fracking.

Police Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) and Officer Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver) respond to the terrible happenings in the town. Murray and Driver are as deadpan as you can get, as Driver constantly says that “this won’t end well.”

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a bunch of characters from around Centerville, some of who are important and others whose story arc does not seem to go anywhere. The cast is tremendous as, along with Murray and Driver, you have Tom Waits, Chloe Sevigny, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Rosie Perez, Selena Gomez and Carole Kane.

Of course, some of these actors play characters without any connection to the story at all. Tilda Swinton is amazing here, but her arc is bizarre. It was very funny, and at least she did interact with the main actors. There are a group of young actors playing kids in a children’s detention center who literally have nothing to do with the plot.

Some times that is funny and works and other times it feels kind of lazy, as if they are just filling up screen time with scenes. There is a definite irreverence on display inside the film and that fits into the tone.

I loved the work between Murray and Driver. The had a wonderful connection in the movie. Their responses to one another was perfect and fit beautifully with the tone that Jarmusch was going for. Both Murray and Driver were veterans of Jarmusch movies and that experience pays off royally here.

I got a feeling watching The Dead Don’t Die that reminded me clearly of Twin Peaks. It was a show that was filled with eccentric, bordering on weird characters, who found themselves in strange and unexplained situations. The Dead Don’t Die would be an episode of Twin Peaks, but with zombies. There was even a zombie who loved coffee. Of course, as a huge Peak Freak, I would love that and I enjoyed this movie a great deal.

Sure, some of the characters are unnecessary, but they help create a flavor of the town of Centerville. The message of the movie is pretty heavy handed and could have been more subtle, but that does not dominate the movie and does not ruin the enjoyment I had.

3.75 stars

Without A Clue (1988)

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Doc

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This was a film that wound up on my summer to watch list after John Rocha recommended it on a Top 10 Ben Kingsley movies episode of the classic Top 10 Show. I had just recently seen Holmes & Watson, one of the worst movies of all-time, and this sounded like a much better comedy. My time was not as open at that point, but I got around to that list tonight and I enjoyed the recommendation.

In Without a Clue, Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) was the true driving force behind the cases of Sherlock Holmes, going as far as to hire an actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to be the face of the role of Sherlock Holmes .

As it turned out, Reginald Kincaid/Sherlock Holmes was more of an idiot than anything else, requiring notes and lines for memorization by Dr. Watson, who would chronicle the events of their adventures for the papers.

However, a case that became an extremely dangerous one, featuring the arrival of arch nemesis Moriarty (Paul Freeman) led to some dramatic switching of roles once again.

Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley appear to be having a lot of fun with this comedy, filled with witty banter and slapstick humor. Their performances are easily the best part of the movie, and bring in the audience to care for these people. The role swap works exceedingly well.

The movie has a lot of fun with the Sherlock Holmes mythos and it feels like one of the feel good action/adventures from the 1980s. The twist of Holmes being a fraud and a drunk that gets on Watson’s nerves is a bit that works well throughout the entire film. Sure the third act works out pretty much the way you expect it would, but that should not take away from the strength of the pairing of Kingsley and Caine.

Jeffrey Jones, who made several films as the villain in the 1980s (including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Howard the Duck, Amadeus, Beetlejuice) appears as Inspector Lestrade, Scotland Yard’s contribution to the Holmes stories. Jones brought his typical put-upon role to this character.

Without A Clue was a fun time and I am glad to have had the chance to finally see it. Thanks Outlaw!

funtime

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Shaft (2019)

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Doc

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As I prepared for this movie, a movie that I had enjoyed the trailers for, I watched the original Shaft from 1971 with Richard Roundtree and the 2001 Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson. Both movies were escapist fun and featured one bad mutha…shut your mouth!

So when I heard the really bad reviews the 2019 version of Shaft was receiving from critics, I was disappointed, but I remained cautiously optimistic. I mean, I have disagreed with critics before, though, 35% on Rotten Tomatoes does not usually mean this is going to be a winner.

Still, I hoped for the best, and, in the end,…

I liked it.

Samuel L. Jackson returned as John Shaft, and we meet the woman, Maya (Regina King), who tamed, if only temporarily, the sex machine with all the chicks. Unfortunately, a hit gone wrong led to Maya to take Shaft’s baby son away from him and keep the boy isolated from his father for his own safety.

J.J. aka John Shaft Jr. (Jesse T. Usher) had grown up never knowing his father and resenting how Shaft deserted him. J.J. became an FBI data analyst and wound up on the outskirts of a case that led to the murder of his lifelong friend Karim (Avan Jogia). Not sure where to turn, J.J. turned to his father in his search for his friend’s murderer.

Now, the story of this movie is dumb. There is no way around it. The plot is needlessly convoluted and feels too much like a bad 1980s movie. There are two main reasons why this movie works despite the failure of the story.

One, is Samuel L. Jackson. He is clearly having all kinds of fun playing the role of John Shaft once again. He is funny, foul-mouthed and full of inappropriateness, which all adds up to be simply a hoot. Jackson’s Shaft is politically incorrect and loving every minute of it.

The second reason is the relationship that the movie builds between Shaft and J.J. The film focuses on the differences between the two generations of Shaft men (eventually, bringing in a third with Richard Roundtree’s John Shaft, who turned out to not be Uncle John as the 2001 movie indicated). J.J. is a metro-sexual, computer savvy, gun-hater, opposites to his father in many ways. However, the film also shows that J.J. and Shaft have some unexpected connections as well. I loved the chemistry between Jackson and Usher and their relationship made the film for me.

Yes, the villains are one note and the violence is everywhere, but that is the same as the other versions of Shaft. I thought Regina King was a bit overtly dramatic for her role, but she did show the type of fire that might have kept John Shaft interested for all these years.

Shaft (2019) is not a great movie, but I had a good time watching it. Samuel L. Jackson is great as the title character and his relationship with J.J. carries the film past its weaknesses. You may need to approach this film with the right mindset, but there are parts of the new Shaft worth admission.

3 stars

Men In Black International

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Doc

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The fourth film in the Men In Black franchise looks to reboot the films with new characters and stories. Well… there are new characters.

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, who worked together as Thor and Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, don their own black suits and ties to join up with the galaxy defenders.

This is another film this year that is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Men In Black International is a perfectly okay movie that does not elevate itself above the pack of movies looking for your summer entertainment dollar. Yet, it is not the most objectionable time at the theater and if you do choose to see it, it won’t be the worst two hours you spend at the movies. Faint praise, I know.

Molly (Tessa Thompson), after an encounter as a child with the MiB, spent years trying to track down the mysterious organization, finally succeeding. Her moxie impressed the head of MiB (Emma Thompson) who sends her to the London branch of MiB on a trial basis. Molly becomes Agent M and meets up with legendary Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) who, along with London branch leader Agent High T (Liam Neeson), saved the world a few years ago from an alien species known as the Hive with nothing more than their wits and a series 7 deatomizer. Agent M arrives and is thrown into a case with Agent H and things happen.

Unfortunately, that plot of the movie is fairly simple and predictable. So predictable. I was amazingly disappointed with how the film played out because I saw the truth coming a mile away and so should most everyone who has ever watched a movie before. They hinted at some potentially interesting ideas early in the movie in connection to Agent H, but they dropped them for the standard fare very quickly.

The film is saved by the wonderful performances and easy chemistry of Hemsworth and Thompson, who are easily the best part of Men In Black International. Without the charm of these two actors, this movie could be a total mess, but they salvage many scenes just with their work together.

The movie depends on some wild coincidences to make it through the story and many of these coincidence (though spoilers, so I won’t go into specifics) are eye-rollingly bad.

The usually awesome Rebecca Ferguson (from the Mission Impossible series) was here too, but her character is so over-the-top silly that we have zero interest in her. This is a huge disappointment for the film.

In the end, this is an okay movie, if you have a couple of hours to shove popcorn into your face and shut off your brain. Men In Black International really does not give you anything new to think about or to watch, but it does provide you two movie stars at the height of their game. There could have been more here, but, unfortunately, there is not.

2.85 stars

The Immortal Hulk #19

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Doc

Immortal Hulk Vol 1 19

The Immortal Hulk #19

“Butterfly”

Writer: Al Ewing

Artist: Joe Bennett

Cover Art: Alex Ross

Holy crap.

The Immortal Hulk has become a sensation at Marvel Comics. Why has it done so well? I believe it is the approach of writer Al Ewing, who has taken the character of the Hulk and placed him into the genre of horror. It has been a great success as there have been some shockingly scary moments through the first 18 issues.

However, issue 19 takes it to another level.

Wow. I cannot believe some of the things that I have seen. The comic is remarkably compelling and shockingly graphic at times. The artwork fits beautifully into the tone and feel of the presentations.

And the last five or six pages are just brilliantly gore-tastic that I’m amazed that I saw it in a comic book from Marvel. I also have a hard time believing that what I saw happen, just happened. Those final pages are set up throughout the entire issue, though you do not realize it until it is too late.

I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

The Immortal Hulk has been the best non-mini-series Marvel Comic of the year so far (and it has been great for its entire run) and you are missing some of the best work anywhere if you are not reading it.

excelsior

Immortal Hulk Vol 1 19

Silver Surfer: Black #1

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Doc

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Silver Surfer: Black #1

“Black”

Writer: Donny Cates

Artist: Tradd Moore

Cover Art: Tradd Moore

The Silver Surfer returns in a five-issue series written by Donny Cates and drawn by his longtime friend Tradd Moore.

I have always been a Silver Surfer fan, but I have never really loved any of the Silver Surfer solo books. The last one with Dan Slott writing never tripped my trigger, so I approached Silver Surfer: Black with a question in my heart.

However, I found this book to be very good.

While I would not go as far as to say that it was great, Silver Surfer: Black #1 was a solid start to the series and I am looking forward to continuing it. My one problem was that there was nothing that really happened that was new. Basically, the status quo was maintained in the book. It may set up the character the story to move ahead, kind of like a decent TV pilot.

Not sure what happened with Surfer’s hand. I will reserve judgment on this once I understand exactly what is going on.

As for the art. I typically do not like this type of artistic style, but I have to say that the galactic style it brought to the Silver Surfer felt so very right. The art help to pop the story in an almost psychedelic style. I have to say that I dug it. It really worked for Silver Surfer and his space travels.

Then the final panel is strong, leading toward the arc of the story. So as everything is set up in this issue, I think Silver Surfer” Black’s best days are yet to come.

Addendum: There is a wonderful letter written in the letter’s column from the writer, Donny Cates about Stan Lee that is worth the read too. It is touching.

Awesomeness

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EYG Top 10 Zombie Movies

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Doc

EYG23

Welcome back to the EYG Top 10 list. This is the movie list that gives the choices for EYG for the list presented each week by John Rocha and Matt Knost on The Top 10 podcast. It really is an excellent podcast that you should be listening to… and it does not have to be just for movie lovers. Matt and John are extremely funny and have great chemistry together and are always worth the listen.

This week’s Top 10 show was the Top 10 Zombie Movies in honor of the upcoming film, The Dead Don’t Die, starring Bill Murray and Adam Driver. It was an interesting topic that gave them a chance to talk about some different movies.

#10. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. This is the guilty pleasure on the list. Many times, that number 10 slot is saved for a movie that might not be the best one out there, but that I enjoyed. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was a film I went into without expecting anything and I just enjoyed thoroughly. Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller and Joey Morgan are your Boy Scouts that are at the center of the zombie breakout and they are great. It is funny and outlandish and I loved it.

#9. Maggie. This is a quiet little movie that few people have seen, but it did star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the father of a girl who had been infected with the virus that was turning people into zombies. Arnold would do anything he could to protect her from the world. This was not your typical zombie movie, but it showed how you could take the concept and still do something original with it. And it is one of Arnold’s best and most nuanced performances, especially since he returned to acting. Abigail Bresnan played his daughter.

#8. World War Z. This really should have been a horrid train wreck. This movie had so many troubles and problems behind the scenes and there were a ton of rewrites and reshoots. The movie was attempting to adapt a popular novel and that is never easy for the hard core fans. And yet, World War Z turned out not only better than expected, but downright entertaining. Brad Pitt stars in the film and it was tense and nerve-wrecking. Much better than it had the right to be.

#7. Overlord. I might have this movie higher on this list, except, as Matt Knost pointed out when it appeared on Rocha’s list, the film takes its own sweet time getting to the zombies and so it may not necessarily be a full out zombie movie. That was a fair point, but I really enjoyed Overlord and I did not expect to do so. World War II movie combined with zombies…what else could you ask for?

#6. Warm Bodies. This is another one that surprised me how much I loved it. It is such a stupid concept that I never thought that I would enjoy it, but I did. A zombie rom-com? A zombie who falls in love with a human and winds up having love bring him back to life. Sure, Warm Bodies is not subtle in its metaphor, but the great and funny performance from Nicholas Hoult goes a long way to helping make this more than what it sounds like on paper.

#5. I Am Legend. Will Smith is top notch in this movie, featuring him as a scientist who is now alone in New York after the zombies virus spreads across the country. Will Smith is desperately trying to find a cure for the virus while trying to survive. There is a sadness in I Am Legend that Will Smith plays beautifully. The only friend he has left is his dog. He goes about his work and his life with the understanding that anything that he does is most likely a waste of time. There is an isolationism feel to the film that comes through well.

#4. Night of the Living Dead. The George Romero classic. This is basically where the movie idea for zombies came from…. despite the fact that the word “zombie” is never once mentioned in the movie. Honestly, Romero takes the situation and makes the movie actually be about racism and the separation of the races. Then, there was an ending that was very controversial and anything but the feelgood ending you might expect. It truly is a classic.

#3. Paranorman. I hadn’t thought about this one until Matt and John had it on their lists, but I loved the Paranorman animated movie. From Laika, Paranorman tells the story of a young boy named Norman who could speak with the dead and that ability means he needs to be at the center of the town’s curse that is seeing the rise of zombies from out of the graves. Paranorman is a dark animated comedy and is full of wonderfully beautiful images.

#2. Shaun of the Dead. I just recently saw this for the first time and I really loved it. The Nick Frost and Simon Pegg comedy directed by Edgar Wright takes the zombie uprising and makes it very funny. The film is more than just running around fighting zombies and cracking jokes though. It is a movie that deals with relationships between these characters and it does it in a wonderful, charming and still funny way. There are some poignant moments in this film that you do not expect and that catch you off guard as the action/comedy continues.

#1. Zombieland. I remember seeing this movie in the theater for the first time and being blown away with how much I enjoyed it. It was creative and funny, was filled with great characters, had one of the best cameos of all time, and made me love Woody Harrelson for the first time since Cheers. Jesse Eisenberg was better in this movie than almost any other he has made. The use of the rules to survive Zombieland was genius, as they appear on the screen. “Double Tap” being one of the most important in this type of genre film. Zombieland plays with the zombie movie structure and mines it for both laughs and creative story telling.

Honorable Mention: I actually rewatched 28 Days Later for this list, but the film just falls outside of the top 10 for me. 28 Weeks Later is much the same way. The classic Dawn of the Dead is one that I have not seen for years and so I could not include it on my list. The Girl With All the Gifts made Matt’s list and nearly made mine as well. I remembered it as soon as he started talking about it, with the inclusion of Glenn Close. I enjoyed that film very much. I eliminated some possible films, such as the Evil Dead series and Cabin in the Woods because, while they may have zombies in them, they did not feel like zombie movies. Slither is another one I considered, but I do not remember much about the James Gunn film. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies was better than I thought it would be.

EYG23

The Dark Crystal (1982)

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Doc

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I loved the Muppets and Jim Henson growing up, but I must say, that my memory of The Dark Crystal was that I was not a huge fan. So I wanted to take another look at it, as it is a classic film from Henson and because of the announcement that there would be a Netflix series called The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance debuting this year.

After watching The Dark Crystal again, I feel much the same way. I was not a fan of the movie.

Wow. Is this thing dark. I did not remember it being as dark and scary as it is. I cannot imagine showing this movie to a little kid. It is nothing like the Muppets.

That is not a big deal, but there is such a huge exposition dump right off the bat and then the characters take too long to connect to the audience. There are too many characters that are more annoying than anything else (Fizzgig for example).

The visuals are stunning and make the film special. The creatures are interesting and always have that flair from the Henson workshop.

I did like the villainous Chamberlain, exiled from the Skeksis after his attempt to grab the power of the throne after the last leader died. Chamberlain was manipulative and a giant backstabber. He had desire for power himself. He reminds me a bit of the Transformers and Starscream.

The Dark Crystal was a mixed bag for me, because there were some lovely visuals and parts that were fine, but I had some major issues with characterization and narrative format.

overrated

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Black Cat#1

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Doc

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Black Cat #1

“Thieves Like Us”

Writer: Jed Mackay

Artist: Travel Foreman

Cover Art: J. Scott Campbell & Sabine Rich

“The Ongoing Adventures of The Black Cat and Her Purrfect Purrloiners”

Writer: Nao Fuji

Artist: Nao Fuji

“Leaving Miami”

Writer: Jed Mackay

Artist: Mike Dowling

One of my favorite secondary Spider-Man characters is Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, so I was excited to see the first issue of the new series featuring our feline thief.

I am not sure I would have split this into the three shorter stories that are inside this issue. I think I would have rather had a full first issue story and not have the two backup stories. The first back up story is simply two pages and I am not sure how necessary it is. The second back up story deals with the Black Fox and seems to feature Dracula. That immediately made me wonder where this falls in Marvel continuity, because the last time I saw Dracula, he was in a Russian gulag and in really bad shape.

As for the main story here, I like the way Felicia is shown, but the comparisons to Catwoman is impossible to avoid. I do like how the security guards at this museum know who Felicia is and her very presence causes chaos. I like the two supporting cast members introduced here.

The comic makes a reference to Felicia’s super hero heist, which was used in Amazing Spider-man recently, so the Thieves Guild is still a problem for her. This will most likely continue to expand as the series continues.

I would say that I liked this book fairly well and that I see some potentially strong stories that could be told. I hope that the book continues to improve because I tend to pick up Spider-man related books (Silk, Scarlet Spider, Venom etc) only to fall behind reading them. This, of ocurse, leads to me stopping buying them. I would like to keep Black Cat going.

tryit

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Shaft (2000)

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Doc

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Here is the second Shaft. From the year 2000, Samuel L. Jackson takes his turn as “the black private dick who’s a sex machine with the chicks.” Shut your Mutha @#$%^#$@ mouth.

Samuel L. Jackson’s John Shaft is a nephew to the Richard Roundtree John Shaft from the 1970s (as we see Richard Roundtree make some cameos in this movie). He starts as a police officer until the system allows rich boy Christian Bale to get away with a murder and jump bail.

Samuel L. Jackson is great as Shaft (can you dig it?). He embodies the feelings of the original with every F-bomb he drops. The cast has some top flight actors here. Not only do we have Sam Jackson and Christian Bale, but there is Toni Collette, Vanessa Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Busta Rhymes, Lynn Thigpen, and Dan Hedaya. Now, the performances may not be the highlight from any of these stars’ career, but they clearly look to be having a blast with the film.

Samuel L. Jackson carries this movie with the force of his personality and the cut of his tongue. He is the perfect person to have brought the return of Shaft to the big screen.

Of course, I have watched this Shaft (2000) along with the original blaxploitation Shaft (1971) because of the upcoming Shaft (2019) that will feature not only Richard Roundtree and Samuel L. Jackson, but Jesse T. Usher as John Shaft Jr. The trailers look good for the newest Shaft and I am looking forward to seeing how the film changes tones once again. The original Shaft was more serious (at least as serious as the blaxploitation genre could be) while Jackson’s Shaft was more of an action/adventure with the typical Samuel L. Jackson quips. The new trailers make the next Shaft seem almost like a comedy, and I am excited to see what they do.

As for this Shaft, I liked the film. It is not the greatest thing ever to see the big screen, but it made for a fun Saturday night.

funtime

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The Secret Life of Pets 2

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Doc

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I did not like the first movie of this franchise, but, you know what, the second one wasn’t that bad.

It was certainly surprising to me that I found parts of this new sequel to be entertaining and funny.

I should be specific. I really liked the part of the story where Max (Patton Oswald) and Duke’s (Eric Stonestreet) owner gets married and has a baby to be a charming, funny and fully interesting take on the film. There was so much to mine here, including a hilarious trip to a relative’s farm where a dominant Welsh sheepdog named Rooster (Harrison Ford) gives Max some life lessons. This was great.

And there was a funny bit where Max had Gidget (Jenny Slate) keep an eye on his favorite doggie toy and it wound up in the paws of the cats of the Cat Lady’s house. Gidget had to get tips on how to be a cat from Chloe (Lake Bell) so she could go undercover as a cat to retrieve the toy. This was not as charming as the first story, but it was very funny.

Finally, there was a third, nonsensical story arc featuring Snowball the Bunny (Kevin Hart) who believes himself to be a super hero because his owner dresses him like one. Then another dog named daisy (Tiffany Haddish) comes to Snowball with a ridiculous misadventure about freeing an abused white tiger named Hu from the evil circus trainer. This whole bit felt out of place among the rest of the animated movie.

Of course, the when the story arcs come together, you know which one takes precedence, don’t you? The one that could degenerate the film into a silly chase scene involving a train and the wolves from the circus who are chasing the white tiger.

These three storylines have plenty of narrative problems, but the biggest issue is that the third act chooses to focus the most attention on the white tiger story instead of the one it should have focused on, the story of Max and his relationship with the baby Liam. This is where the heart of this movie rests and the fact that the film feels the need for this throwaway third act tells you what they are going for in this series.

I could have gone for the entire movie dealing with Max, Liam and Rooster on the farm. The side plot of Gidget trying tor retrieve Busy Bee would be a great subplot. Expand these parts of the movie and drop entirely the whole white tiger aspect and I think this could have been a really great animated movie. Especially with the perfect voice work of Harrison Ford as Rooster. A better match up of voice and animated character has not been seen in years.

However, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is heads and shoulders above its predecessor and has many moments of real heart and warmth, along with some real humor. Though far from perfect, this is a considerable step forward. It was a film that I was considering skipping, but I am glad I saw it.

3.1 stars

Dark Phoenix

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Doc

Dark Phoenix Movie Poster

The Dark Phoenix saga is one of the greatest comic book story arcs of all-time. Why is it so hard to translate it to the big screen?

Dark Phoenix is the second attempt to adapt the comic arc. The first one was X-Men: The Last Stand, which was a tremendous disappointment. And going into the film, all I had heard was negative word of mouth about the final FOX X-Men movie before the rights revert to Marvel Studios. Because of everything I had heard, I went into Dark Phoenix with my expectations lowered down about as low as they could go.

With the expectations so low, it was not the worst movie I have ever seen, but there were not very many positives that would overcome the negatives.

I heard Schmoes Knows host Kristian Harloff on Collider Live make the perfect comment directed toward Dark Phoenix. He called the movie “hollow.” That description fits perfectly. That is exactly how Dark Phoenix feels.

On a rescue mission into space, X-Men member Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is exposed to a strange, fiery force that, despite blowing up her ship, did not kill Jean. Instead, the energy (known in the comics as the Phoenix Force) entered Jean and jacked up her power level to major levels.

As he power increases, mental barriers set up in her mind by Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) when Jean was a child to block the unpleasant memories of her parents’ death (in a scene right out of Shazam, I swear) began to crumble and Jean became more dangerous.

The X-Men attempt to stop Jean and help her regain herself before the mighty power of the Phoenix consumed her.

There are so many problems here, but nothing that makes me angry or want to never watch the film again. They are problems that make the movie a bad movie.

Let’s start with the positives. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Sophie Turner were pretty solid in their roles. Fassbender is always great as Erik/Magneto, even though here he was doing the same thing that he had done in previous X-Men movies. McAvoy actually plays Charles Xavier as a jerk here, someone who may have good reasons, but who ha done very questionable things.

The opening scenes in space were decent too. It showed the X-men working together and the aftermath showed the world treating the X-Men as heroes for once instead of the freaks that they are used to being called. That was a cool little change that, unfortunately, did not last for long.

Now, the other X-Men were desperately under served. Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) were wasted, basically there to show off their mutant power. They were nowhere near real, 3-dimensional characters. Several of them also acted in a manner that was not like their character. At one point, Nightcrawler began killing people all over the place, including teleporting one of them in front of the train they were fighting on. or those who know about the “Fuzzy Elf,” Kurt Wagner is very Christian and does not kill people. I had trouble with that since it is such an important part of the character.

Nicholas Hoult’s Hank McCoy (aka Beast) is another character who is doing things that he simply would not do under circumstances and the only reason he is doing them here is that the script says he is. This film does not care about character motivations or character traits. They simply want to push along the extremely lacking plot.

And the movie must have something against Evan Peters because his Quicksilver really got the short string here. For such as standout from the previous couple of X-Men movies, Quicksilver gets almost nothing significant to do.

The relationship between Scott and Jean, which was vital to the comic book story, is forced and boring here. We get like one scene of them kissing and then a bunch of Scott looking sad about what happens. One of the biggest problems is that we have not spent enough time with the versions of these characters so we do not care enough about them.

Another character was Raven, played by Jennifer Lawrence. She has received criticism for phoning in her role as Mystique/Raven and many people say she is better here. I actually disliked her in this film quite a bit. Maybe I did not care about her because the trailer had so spoiled her fate ( as did the director in an interview).

The story was sparse. In fact, I would venture to say that practically nothing really happens. I found it even kind of boring as the film moved on.

Director Simon Kinberg, a first time director, also wrote the script for The Last Stand and, seemingly, repeated several of the beats from that failure. Instead of repeating your errors, shouldn’t you learn from your mistakes? The Last Stand is considered one of the worst X-Men movies ever made. We do not need a reboot.

I hated the ending of the third act too. It was supposedly completely re-shot. Rumors indicated that they were worried that the ending might seem too close to another superhero movie (Captain Marvel, maybe?) so they had the finale on a train instead of outer space. Either way, it was a mistake.

It really is sad how such an all-time classic comic arc can be so messed up twice in the movies. I have to say that I am very happy that this is the last X-Men for FOX. Hopefully the characters will find a much better home back where they began.

1.8 stars

Shaft (1971)

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Doc

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Who’s the black private dick
That’s a sex machine to all the chicks?

Shaft.

In just over a week and a half, there will be a third Shaft movie, starring three generations of the bad mother… Shut your mouth.

The trailers look interesting with appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree. I knew of Shaft, part of the blaxploitation genre in the early 1970s but I had never seen the film. Nor had I see the Samuel L Jackson version from the early 2000s. So I figured the time was right for a Shaft watch.

Can you dig it?

Richard Roundtree was the first John Shaft and he was a private detective hired to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a black mob boss.

The Shaft comparison to James Bond is fairly accurate as he is a womanizer, yet very suave. Shaft is a jerk to be fair, but he had a certain charm and he gave his word, and it meant something. Plus, he can be shot point blank and survive without any trouble.

The racial tones were apparent from the 1970s but the white police officer was shown to be a good guy. The villains from the mafia were underdeveloped for sure. The other black men from the black mob were not well used either, except for Ben (Christopher St. John).

The film was okay. The music was tremendous. The Shaft theme, which I already referenced, is just perfect for the film and the character.

Next up will be Samuel L. Jackson’s Shaft (2000).

funtime

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EYG Top 10 Worst Superhero Movies

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Doc

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Looks like it is time to rip some crap up.

This week’s Top 10 show focuses on the worst superhero movies made in honor of this weekend’s Dark Phoenix, which has some bad word of mouth.

And the new show features the return of the awesome Marc Andreyko who was with the guys when they did their best superhero movie list. So it was a nice counter balance.

#10. Amazing Spider-man 2. I had a complete denial in this movie. I came out of it pretending that I liked it, but I had that pain in the gut that told me I knew it was horrible. Jamie Foxx made me think of Jim Carrey’s Riddler. They try to cram everything into this movie because Sony wanted to get to their Sinister Six movie. So a movie where Electro was meant to be the main villain, ended up with the Green Goblin in the third act.

#9. Blade II. Many people claim that Blade III is the worst film in the series, but I cannot speak to that because I never saw it. The reason I never saw Blade III was because I hated Blade II so much. I had enjoyed Blade a great deal so I was looking forward to the sequel and it was so terrible. It felt like I was watching a video game. Literally I was at some friends house prior to going to Blade II watching them play Mortal Combat, and I had the same feeling watching Blade II.

#8. Batman v. Superman. Martha! WHY’D DID SAY THAT NAME? How do you fail when you are bringing two of the greatest heroes together of all time on screen for the first time? There are so many stupid moments in this film, but that Martha moment is the standout. This may have made a good deal of money, but it did not make near the amount it should have and the stench of this film was a big reason, in my mind, for the eventual failure of The Justice League. Maybe the extended version is better, but I find that difficult to believe.

#7. X-Men: The Last Stand. The first failure of the Dark Phoenix story. How can one of the greatest comic book storylines of all time (an EYG Hall of Fame comic) be turned into this total mess? Why would Magneto find his hideout in the woods? The Juggernaut? Juggernaut is an amazing character, but Vinnie Jones just rips this apart. “I’m Juggernaut, bitch!” The upcoming Dark Phoenix film has bad shoes to fill.

#6. Green Lantern. I knew in the first scenes that this was going to be a horrid failure. The CGI on Paralax in the first few minutes was downright laughable and the film never recovered for me. Ryan Reynolds was wrong as Hal Jordan. It is so bad that Ryan Reynolds makes Green Lantern jokes in his Deadpool movies. This film set back the DC movies for years.

#5. Fan4stic. This is the Josh Trank version of the Fantastic Four that was completely messed up by the studio. A few days before the film came out, you had Josh Trank say to the press that this was not his version of the movie. He tried to take the FF in a different direction and, instead, the studio came in and destroyed what he hoped to accomplish.

#4. Catwoman. At least Halle Berry looks great in the cat suit. That was where the positives of this movie ended. I remember watching this movie alone in the theater, which also helped the movie. This was not Selina Kyle. That would not be a problem if the film had been done well. It was not. There was just nothing redeeming about Catwoman.

#3. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The first Ghost Rider was bad, but at least there was the Elvis version of Johnny Blaze played by Nic Cage to laugh at. Spirits of vengeance took the little positive parts of Ghost Rider and crapped all over it. Another film where the CGI looked like a giant video game and the story was nonsensical. Not even the cheesy goodness of Nic Cage could save this steaming pile of monstrosity.

#2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I mean… what else needs to be said about this travesty? This movie was well on its way to being a horrible comic book movie when it suddenly decided to go down in infamy with the treatment of Deadpool. The Merc with the Mouth having his mouth sewed shut in the final act and then being turned into some kind of character that was Deadpool in name only. Ryan Reynolds never gave up on the character thankfully, but this movie did everything it could to ruin it. Then… adamantium bullet to the head? Can I get one of those please so I can forget I ever sat through this wreck?

#1. Batman & Robin. This was my least favorite movie of all time for many years until Movie 43 came along to unseat it. Still Batman & Robin just devastated the Batman franchise and superhero movies in general. George Clooney and his rubber bat-nipples was ridiculous. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mister Freeze was miscast and he spouted out just the most ridiculous one-liners and puns imaginable. Bane and Poison Ivy were just wastes of time. The color scheme was too psychedelic. It was as if they wanted to take the franchise back to the 1960s. However, they still needed the McDonald’s sponsorship as the product placement was obnoxious. The whole Alfred is dying side arc was insulting and obscene. Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl? This was such a train wreck that I keep going forever. Still my second worst movie out of all movies, not just comic book movies.

Honorable mention: I hated the Ang Lee Hulk. I am with Matt Knost who had it in his list. Hulk dogs. Nick Nolte is the Absorbing Man? Ugh. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows -produced by Michael Bay is all you need to say. Spider-man 3 had some moments but the dance scene and the Sandman and a shoehorned Venom. Garbage. Superman III and IV are films that I am not sure I have seen. If I did, it has been literal decades. Elektra is another one that I have not seen fully, but I know it was bad.

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EYG Top 10 Star Wars Villains

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Doc

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The next list I would have done had I had internet access. This list was found on the Top 10 Patreon as the second show from the live show the Top 10 did in Chicago. It was a wild show with John Rocha starting some controversial discussions from his list. Plus, lots of alcohol. The show was funny as can be and, if you are a Patreon, you can listen to the show too.

It was Star Wars Celebration in Chicago the week they recorded this so they did the Topp 10 Star Wars villains.

Image result for Qi'ra #10. Qi’ra (Solo: A Star Wars Story). We found out that she was working with Darth Maul as a double agent for the entire film and her betrayal was a major piece of the film. Solo was not the best Star Wars film, but it wasn’t the worst either. Qi’ra was played by Emilia Clarke and was a beautiful figure in the film.

#9. Supreme Leader Snoke. In the end, Snoke turned out to be lesser than it appeared he was going to be. Everybody wondered who he was. Everyone thought he was someone special. He looked cool. However, the promises of The Force Awakens was cut in half in The Last Jedi, literally. Is he fully gone or is there more to see of Snoke? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Image result for count dooku #8. Count Dooku. Played by the legendary Christopher Lee, Count Dooku may not have reached the levels that he deserved. A Sith Lord, Dooku was at once a Jedi trained by Yoda himself. His Padawan was Qui-Gon Jinn, and Dooku fell to the Dark Side when Jinn died. In the end, Anakin Skywalker killed Dooku in Revenge of the Sith.

#7. Grand Moff Tarkin. Tarkin became a favorite of Palpatine and became the person in charge of building the Death Star. Played by the late Peter Cushing, Grand Moff Tarkin was the man who ordered the destruction of Princess Leia’s home planet of Alderaan. In the end though, Tarkin refused to believe that the Death Star had any weaknesses and he wound up killed when the Death Star was destroyed by Luke.

#6. Boba Fett. There has not been much about Boba Fett in the actual movies. Honestly, he has only appeared a couple of times and there is little knowledge about him from the original trilogy. We know he died by falling into the Sarlaac pitt in Return of the Jedi. There was just something about the aura of Boba Fett that made us all love him. As Han Solo said… “Boba Fett? Boba Fett? Where?”

#5. Jabba the Hutt. One of my favorite villains of the series. Jabba was the crime lord of the Hutts and was after Han Solo for the entire original trilogy. The opening scenes with Jabba from Return of the Jedi are some of the best scenes of the trilogy. There is so much more that we could find out about Jabba and I think he is one of the most fascinating characters in the series.

#4. Kylo Ren. Ah, poor Ben Solo. He fell to the Dark Side and then killed his father, Han Solo. There are many who will never forgive Kylo for that action. Is the Rise of Skywalker about the redemption of Kylo? Who knows. In the end, Kylo has become more dangerous and more powerful as the new trilogy continues. It seemed as if he may have been coming to Rey’s side when he cut Snoke in two in one of the best fight scenes of the Last Jedi. As it turned out, it was not to be as Kylo wound up facing off with (or so he thought) with Luke.

#3. Palpatine. The horrible monster that was behind the entire Empire and, apparently, died in Return of the Jedi. However, we hear his distinct laugh in the new trailer of Star Wars Episode 9. Could he still be alive? Is he still pulling all the strings? He was known as Darth Sidious and was the most powerful of all the Sith Lords. He was behind the destruction of the Jedi and the return of the Sith. He created Darth Vader. He was total evil.

#2. Darth Maul. The new Sith Lord that appeared in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Darth Maul is one of the coolest designs of a character that we have ever had in the Star Wars universe. The biggest error that happened in the trilogy was killing him off in his first movie. Darth Maul could have been a major force throughout the prequels. However, it is now in the movies that Darth Maul did not die in that film. The secret appearance of Darth maul in Solo was one of the highlights of the film and brought him back to the film universe. Ray Park played the great Sith Lord.

#1. Darth Vader (DUH). Of course the best villain in the Star Wars films is Darth Vader. Darth Vader makes the list of the greatest movie villains of all time, and might be at the top of that list too. Voiced by the legend James Earl Jones, Darth Vader became the iconic force of the Dark Side when he told Luke Skywalker, the hero of Episode IV and V, that Darth was Luke’s father. That shocking revelation blew the minds of movie goers everywhere. Originally Anakin Skywalker (and for the argument, I did not place them in different spots as John Rocha did. I see them as the same character), Vader became the right hand man of the Emperor and the main protagonist in the original trilogy. He killed Obi Wan Kenobi, he chopped off Luke’s hand, and he tried to lure his son to the Dark Side. However, Darth Vader was redeemed of his horrendous actions when he saved Luke from the evil of Palpatine. This was the easiest number one on any list in a long time.