YouTube Programs

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Doc

The golden age of television has been upon us for the last few years and there are so many opportunities to find quality entertainment that it is nearly impossible to rank anything via TV. So last year, we split the TV categories into 4 sections. Network, Streaming/HBO, Cable, and YouTube. I really liked the separation and it allows us to look at more series and more types of entertainment.

This list is the YouTube list. The following ten YouTube programs are great. Sadly, there are two of them that are no longer with us, and that makes me very sad. In fact, I hope that, at some point in the year of 2018, the people in charge reconsider their choice and return those two programs to their rightful place. I know that I would watch them.

YouTube Programs

Image result for movie trivia schmoedown #1. Movie Trivia Schmoedown (Collider). The Movie Trivia Schmoedown had quite an incredible year. The Schmoedown is one of the most entertaining programs on YouTube right now. It mixes movie trivia with the world of WWE and UFC fighting. It brings you great characters, teams, storylines, team factions and promos. There are champions and challengers and the games are high drama. The brainchild of the Schmoes (Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis), the Movie Trivia Schmoedown has only grown each week. Each week there are matches mainly on Tuesday and Friday and it leads to big events such as the Collider Collision or the Schmoedown Spectacular. Harloff is the current Movie Trivia Schmoedown Champion having defeated the legendary “Dangerous” Dan Murrell. The team of “Little Evil” JTE and “The Insneider” Jeff Sneider form the championship team of The Patriots who have held that title all year long. They have special divisions that include the Innergeekdom championship, held by Hector Navarro and the Star Wars Championship, held by Ken Napzok. Napzok, who just recently turned heel (or to the Dark Side, if you want to remain in the Star Wars world) had a remarkable promo against the face Harloff. The two of them arguing over Napzok’s heel turn was gold and worthy of the best of the WWE (a world where both men have more than a passing knowledge). This was after Napzok turned his back on his Nerd’s Watch teammate Rachel “The Crusher” Cushing, forcing her to play in a handicap match against Blofeld’s Cat. The episode was uncomfortable, but riveting. This season of Movie Trivia Schmoedown ends on December 22nd with three YouTube videos featuring major matches that is known as the Schmoedown Spectacular II. I know I’ll be watching.

#2. The Top Ten Show (SK Plus). This is a show has I complained about being cancelled last year and returned this year. I love John Rocha and Matt Knost together and they have inspired me to follow their list each week with the EYG list. Great show and great movie talk.

#3. TV Fights (Screen Junkies). The first of the cancelled too soon shows on the list. Roxy Striar hosted the debate show and our own Billy Business was the fact checker. Each week, I would watch along live and it would make my night when Billy would read a tweet from me. I miss TV Fights.

#4. Movie Fights (Screen Junkies). This was almost on the list of cancelled shows, but it has returned with a new host and a new format. Movie Fights became a victim of the sexual harassment accusation of former show host Andy Signore. The others involved, rightfully so, pulled the debate show from the air until they were ready to move on. Thankfully, the show returned this past Thursday with its sneak peak at the new show. Welcome back.

#5. Schmoes Know Show (Schmoes Know). Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis are here again as they host a show on YouTube that streams live (most) every week on Wednesday nights. They have a cast of revolving regulars helping them each week that include such individuals as Ken Napzok, Mark Reilly, Josh Macuga, Brett Sheridan, Joelle Monique among others. There is a ton of fun and great talk. They passed show number 300 this year. Here is to another 300 episodes!

#6. Collider Movie Talk (Collider). A daily movie talk show featuring a revolving panel of commentators giving their opinions on the news of the day. This year, Mark Ellis became the regular head of the panel, replacing former head John Campea. They do routines such as Buy or Sell, Opening This Week and Twitter Questions.

#7. TV Talk (Collider). Here is cancelled show number two. This show was great as it ran every Monday with Josh Macuga, Sinéad de Vries, Emma Fyffe, and David Griffin (and a few other guests along the way). The show was so successful that they moved it to daily. Then without warning, the show was pulled from YouTube. That was strange going from once a week to daily to cancelled. It was always great discussion with a crew that had a lot of chemistry. Bring back TV Talk!

#8. Fatman on Batman (Kevin Smith). Pop culture icon Kevin Smith joins Marc Bernardin every week to talk about the latest in Geek culture and entertainment. Anytime you can listen to Kevin Smith tell stories, it is a good thing, and he has a great chemistry with Marc Bernardin.

#9. Heroes (Collider). Jon Schnepp, director, comic book enthusiast, writer, hosts a (now) daily show that deals with discussion of everything heroes related. Movies, television, comics- anything that they can. There are many others that sit on the panel with Schnepp, but Jon certainly is one of the strongest voices.

#10. In Bob We Trust (Movie Bob). Movie Bob does movie reviews, explains how he would “fix” certain franchises, does a popular series on movies that are “Really That Good” as well as other forms. Movie Bob is enjoyable to listen to as he speaks fast and gives his honest opinions, even if you won’t like them.

I Am Groot Award

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Doc

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This is the “I Am Groot” Award, the film that provides the best voice acting work. This could be an animated movie that has a great voice work, or it could be an actor who performs a performance capture role or a CGI character that in featured in live action films (No, not Steppenwolf).

This award was first instituted last year. We gave out an honorary award last year as well.

Previous winners: Robin Williams (Honorary), Awli’i Crovolho

There was not as many great voice acting this year as in past years, which speaks to the weakness of the animated films of 2017.

Runners-Up: Kate McKinnon (Ferdinand), Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), Will Arnett (Lego Batman), John Cena (Ferdinand), Anthony Gonzalez (Coco), Alec Baldwin (Boss Baby)

2017 I Am Groot Award winner: Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

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Andy Serkis could have been considered another honorary winner of this award considering the epic nature of his career in performance capture. Just with his work in the Lord of the Rings films as Gollum would be enough. However, an honorary award is unnecessary for Andy Serkis as he is continually providing the best performances year after year. And this year, he was exceptional as Snope in the Last Jedi and he was his usual excellent self as Caesar in the final Apes movie, The War for the Planet of the Apes. It is very possible that we will be seeing the man take this award once again before his career ends.

As for the others- Both John Cena and Kate McKinnon were added to this list today, since I just saw Ferdinand. They were both really good in that role. I actually considered Kate McKinnon as the winner of this award, but, in the end, Serkis and his two great roles won out. Will Arnett was great in one of the best Batman movies we have had in quite a while. Young Anthony Gonzalez was great in Coco. Alec Baldwin had a great year overall as Trump, Match Game and here.

Ferdinand

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Doc

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I am having a hard time believing what I am typing right now, but I loved this movie.

I did not expect to love Ferdinand as the trailers for the film seemed like that typical animated fare that is unremarkable and just looking to fill the time between Pixar releases. However, Ferdinand charmed the heck out of me.

The classic story is retold by director Carlos Saldanha, featuring a young calf whose father is taken away to face a famous bullfighter. At first it seems like an honor, but when the bull does not return, it is obvious that something terrible has happened.

Young Ferdinand always had showed a desire to smell flowers rather than engage in fights, including avoiding confrontations with the other, more aggressive bulls. After his father did not return, Ferdinand escaped the Casa del Toro and found his way to a peaceful, idyllic country home of a little girl named Nina (Lily Day). Ferninand (John Cena) became a huge bull, but still had the heart full of peace. When he wound up back at Case del Toro, Ferdinand had to face not only the past, but a dangerous future.

John Cena was great in this voice performance. He delivered the kind-hearted Ferdinand’s dialogue to a tee. You believed that this massive and powerful animal was a sweet caring creature. Still, the best vocal performance of the film belonged to the scene stealing goat, Lupe, voiced by Kate McKinnon. McKinnon was just fabulous as this goat and this was the break out character of the film.

I was so charmed by the message of friendship and decency from this film that I forgive some of the predictability that the plot gives us. Sure the story follows a certain number of beats, but it is such a great time that it does not matter. Even the car chase scene (which had me rolling my eyes) was one that ruin the warmth of this film.

But I was also impressed with the darkness that the film addressed. The whole fact that the world of bullfighting is a cruel sport was not glossed over. The matador (Miguel Ángel Silvestre) was shown as the villain of this story, proudly displaying the horns of the bulls that he had killed for nothing more than show.

But that was not the darkest part touched upon in Ferdinand as there was also the “chop shop” (aka slaughterhouse) where the bulls who failed to be chosen to fight were taken to be turned into meat. I was truly shocked that they brought this concept into the film, and I found it to be extremely effective.

And there was an awesome dance off between the bulls and the bitchy show horses in the next pen that is just about a highlight of the entire film.

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed Ferdinand. It was such a charming, sweet, amusing, gentle movie, but yet had some real dark undertones. It was a total surprise.

4.1 stars

SPOILERS-The Last Jedi

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Doc

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I had written a movie review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and I found it pretty difficult because I did not want to spoil anything. There are reviews that were released prior to the film being released (hello Variety) that told too much about the twists and the story. I did not want any part of that. So it made the review difficult.

However, now, with the specific title of this piece including the big word -SPOILERS- I decided to write my thoughts about the movie with full impunity.

Image result for Luke and Leia I want to start with my favorite scene in this movie, which was the face-to-“face” meeting between Leia and Luke. When Luke arrived to see Leia, they spoke, Leia made a joke about her hair and it was as if these two characters had been together since day one. Luke gave a kiss on the forehead to his sister before heading out to confront her son/his nephew. It was meant to show Luke saying “goodbye” to Leia before he met his end. However at this point, a year after the loss of our beloved Princess, it played more like Mark Hamill getting a chance to say goodbye to Carrie Fisher. I know that is not what the scene was meant to do, since Carrie Fisher survived the filming of this movie, but with her devastating untimely passing, it brought on a different layer. And it was so beautiful.

Some people have complained about the new powers that the Jedis seem to have gained that have never been their before, but that does not bother me in the slightest. We do not know the powers that a Jedi can muster, and, just because we had not seen it happen before, doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have done it. The Force projection ability certainly seemed to be one that was going to take its tole on the Jedi and, thus, made sense as to why it is something that has not been used. Meanwhile, it was used extremely well to further the connection between Rey and Kylo and perfectly at the end to have Luke face off with Kylo.

Speaking of that fight at the end, I LOVED it. The way Luke was “trolling” his nephew during that whole encounter was just tremendous. I did not see it coming, but, if you look back, there are hints here. For example, Luke, when walking on the salt planet surface, did not make the red marks that everyone else made, including Kylo. When Luke walked out of the barrage of cannon fire unharmed, I thought to myself, wait, how did he do that? I was extremely pleased by the answer. Plus, the end of the scene, when Force projection Luke disappeared, he gave the line “See ya around, kid,” to Kylo, just like Han Solo, sticking it to the young Ben Solo once more. It was a perfect end to that confrontation.

I was not as huge of a fan of the storyline involving Poe. There was a running plot thread that seemed to be trying to teach Poe a lesson of not being such a “jump in an X-Wing and blow stuff up” guy and, instead, be more of a leader. The first time I saw The Last Jedi, that storyline bugged me a bit, but it was better in the second viewing. The problem was, so much of the troubles that happened aboard the ship came directly from this attempt to teach Poe how to be a leader that it was hardly worth it. Had Laura Dern just told Poe that she had a plan and had given him a heads up about it, nothing would have come from it. Poe would not have mutinied. Finn and Rose would not have headed off to find a Master Code breaker to sneak aboard the Star Destroyer, they would have never met up with DJ (Benicio Del Toro), and the First Order would never have gotten wind of their plan because DJ would not have given them up. Because she refused to trust Poe, one of the greatest pilots in the Rebellion, nearly the entire Rebellion had been blown up before they ever got to the planet’s surface. Leia had criticized Poe for not turning around at the beginning of the movie when he wanted to try to finish the plan to blow up the Dreadnought and had told him that the loss was too great, but doesn’t that same philosophy include her old friend Laura Dern?

I have to say as well that despite being one of my favorite parts of The Force Awakens, I was not a fan of BB-8 in this movie. I thought the droid lost most of its charisma and humor and was replaced by a killing machine.

One thing I really loved was how the film took two of the biggest, most debated mysteries among the Star Wars fans and gave answers to them that were anything but memorable. The first one was “Who is Snope?” That was made perfectly irrelevant after the Supreme Leader was cut in half by the lightsaber. Who was he really? It did not matter in the story. The second one was “Who are Rey’s parents?” It turns out that Rey’s parents were nobodies, drunkards who had sold her off as a child. I was very pleased at this twist considering how much everyone debated about Rey’s parents (Obi-Wan, Han and Leia, Luke etc). The fact that they were nobodies (from Nowhere, as Rey had said herself earlier in the film) means that anybody can become a special person, someone at one with the Force. It did not just have to be a Skywalker or a descendant of a Jedi. It kind of took away that clubhouse that the Jedis had owned for so long. I loved that.

Image result for boy looking to stars in Last Jedi I think I did mention this in the main review, but I hated the trip to Crait. It was the biggest waste of time in the entire film, and it was also the point when I was originally watching it that I thought to myself, “Is this going to be it?” I had a moment when I thought that maybe the Last Jedi would underwhelm me as some other movies have done. Fortunately, the film picks up BIG time after this, but the entire sequence on Crait could have been cut out. That included everything with DJ, whom I really disliked. The coincidence alone was hard to handle, as Finn and Rose, who had come to Crait in search of a Master Code Breaker (directed there in a wasted cameo from Maz Kanata), wound up getting arrested and thrown into a prison cell with… you guessed it… a thief who could help them anyway. I thought maybe this was the guy Maz was referring to, but they made it clear that he was not.

The only redeeming part of the entire trip to Crait was the final shot of the film. The final shot with the young boy and his broom looking toward the sky, much like the young Luke did so many years prior, was a beautiful ending to the film. The boy also had used the Force to grab his broom (something I hadn’t noticed on the first viewing). The boy was wearing the Resistance ring given to him by Rose. That was the only good thing to come out of the entire sequence on Crait.

I loved just about everything involving Kylo Renn, Rey and Luke Skywalker. These were easily the most entertaining arcs of the film. Mark Hamill was just amazing as his iconic character. However, he was not playing the Luke Skywalker that we were used to seeing. This Luke Skywalker was a broken, sad, battered man who had hidden himself away to die because of his ultimate failure in training Kylo Renn. Hamill, who had publicly criticized some of the choices about Luke, brought his best work in years, if not ever. You could see the pain, anger and anguish in every word or look. And yet, he still broke back into the old Luke when he first saw R2-D2, his old friend.

One of Luke’s best scenes came with the film’s best cameo. We got to see Yoda, as a Force Ghost, show up to give Luke one more lesson. This was puppet Yoda from Empire, not the pristine Yoda from the prequels, and the way this Yoda carried himself was wonderful. The return of Frank Oz to voice the iconic green character was another treat. The dynamic between Luke and Yoda brought you right back to the days of Empire Strikes Back and Dagobah.

I also did not mind the end of the road for Luke Skywalker. When he died on the island planet, I was sad, but the idea that he went out with purpose and peace is a good way to go. He does not end up being violently killed by anyone. Instead, he decides that it is just time. Of course, one could argue that the Force projection is what was eventually what led to his death, and that would be alright with me too. My guess is that we see Force Ghost Luke in the final Episode IX.

Rian Johnson does an incredible job of setting up our story for the future of the franchise, I sure hope that JJ Abrams is able to take some of the ideas that Johnson began with and create a satisfactory conclusion to the Skywalker saga.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Doc

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The Last Jedi is a fantastic Star Wars movie.

This film starts off where the Force Awakens left off, with Rey (Daisy Ridley) presenting Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) with his light saber. This was the cliffhanger at the end of Episode VII and everyone was dying to know what would happen.

Meanwhile, we start off with an exciting action scene with Poe (Oscar Isaacs) in a great space fight.

I want to try to avoid getting into too many specifics here when dealing with the plot, so I am going to try to write this review with only the basis plot beats.

Mark Hamill returned as Luke Skywalker and he was spectacular. This is one of the best performances in Hamill’s acting career. His interactions with Rey were some of the best parts of the movie. Every scene involving Luke is just magnificent and makes you want more. There is one scene in particular with Luke and another character that is just heart breaking.

I loved the entire Rey-Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) parts of this movie. They had some of the best kick ass parts of the film as well. The dynamic between these two characters really set the film series up as an effective way moving forward.

There were some wonderful action, especially in space fights, as is the case with Star Wars movies. The CGI is mostly excellent in the film. There is a sequence involving the Millennium Falcon that is just an amazing scene.

How about the Porgs? I did not hate them. They were cute and not annoying. Since there have been many Star Wars characters over the years that have felt as if they were meant to be included so there would be toys, and most of them have been iffy at best, the Porgs are not that bad.

And what can we say about Carrie Fisher? Our princess was great in The Last Jedi, in what will turn out to be her final role. Carrie Fisher’s time on screen was very melancholic. I loved watching her, but it was sad as well. This was a wonderful way for Leia to be remembered, almost a year from Fisher’s passing.

I enjoyed John Boyega as Finn in the film. He is paired with a new character for much of the movie named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), who I also liked. She was fresh and engaging and I liked seeing her. I will say. though, that I was not much of a fan of the way their story played out. Their trip to another planet was easily my least favorite part of the film and I think it is the reason why the middle of the film felt like it dragged a bit.

As I said, the middle of the Last Jedi dragged, and some of the humor that was included felt like it was in the wrong movie. I would say that around half of the jokes/laughs were forced and did not fit. I was also not a huge fan of the roles played by Benicio del Toro or Laura Dern. Neither one felt fully fleshed out.

There was a point in the second act that I started to question whether or not this film was going to be good. However, it was not too long after that where The Last Jedi just took off. About midway through Act Two and into Act Three, the movie was unbelievably exciting, full of tension and positively awesome. It has one of the best third acts of the year. The film took all kinds of chances and it felt like a Star Wars movie that we had not seen before, while still maintaining enough of the Star Wars flavor to know that we were watching a Star Wars film. It really walked that tightrope well and that ending sequence was mind blowing.

Rian Johnson brought a true gravitas to the eighth film in the franchise, and reinvigorated the series with his vision. The film feels less like a trip down nostalgia road and much more like a new and exciting chapter in a world where we are comfortable. You can certainly understand why the people in charge handed Johnson a new trilogy all of his own to create after this trilogy ends.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a marvelous film that has everything a Star Wars fan could want. We have characters we love, exciting action and adventure, a brilliantly conflicted villain in Kylo Ren, a gaggle of heroic figures struggling against overwhelming odds, fantastic visuals and plenty of unexpected twists that you won’t see coming. The Last Jedi is great despite a few flaws in the second act that drags the film down a tad.

4.5 stars

EYG Star of the Year

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Doc

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2017 was a big year for pop culture and choosing a Star of the year is always a challenge. The Star of the Year could be an actor/actress, a musician, a performer, an iconic pop culture figure, a company…whatever.

The previous winners of this prestigious award include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel Studios, JJ Abrams.

This year’s winner:

Gal Gadot

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Gal Gadot was someone who I did not think would be able to handle the role of Wonder Woman. Sure she looked great, but from what I had seen in Batman v. Superman and other films she had done, I did not believe that she had the acting chops to be Princess Diana.

How wrong I was. She was wonderful, if you can excuse the pun. Then, the movie Wonder Woman became a transcendent hit, bringing the female hero to the forefront of Geek culture. And Gal was stand out. She was also one of the stronger parts of Justice League. Wonder Woman was a special moment for girls and boys together. It cannot be overstated how important it is to the young girls of the world to have a hero like Diana. Gal Gadot is truly perfect in the role. I am so glad that I was wrong about it.

Runners-Up: Stephen Colbert, Tom Holland, Disney, Alec Baldwin, Kate McKinnon.

Colbert, Baldwin and McKinnon truly raised their game this year because of Donald Trump. Tom Holland became a new and Amazing Spider-man. Disney is on the verge of purchasing FOX and maybe becoming the leading candidate for the 2018 Star of the Year.

Best/Worst TV Deaths and Couples

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Doc

Now, I do not mean to make any specific comment on the state of couples by pairing it up with death. It is just a coincidence, but I do usually put these two categories together.

Best TV Death

#5. Mary Watson (Sherlock). I loved Mary. She was great with John Watson on Sherlock. She turned into a villain, but that did not make her loss easier.

#4. Bob Newby (Stranger Things 2). Bob arrived on Stranger Things as a questionable man. Many thought he had an agenda… and he did. His agenda was being a good man. His death was more upsetting than we ever thought it would be.

#3. The Patriot (Agents of SHIELD). Jeffrey Mace was the new head of SHIELD and he was The Patriot. He had a great heroic death, saving people in the Framework. I was sad to see him go.

#2. Sasha Williams (The Walking Dead). Sasha had a great death scene, coming out of the coffin as a Walker. She really put Negan on his heels, and the fact that she had planned it out was amazing.

Image result for shiva walking dead #1. Shiva (The Walking Dead). Maybe the strangest number one we have ever had. The most emotional we have had this year was the CGI tiger. Shiva got a great heroic death as well, saving King Ezekiel from the Walkers. I was truly sad to see Shiva go.

Honorable Mention: Norman Bates (Bates Motel), Stick (The Defenders), Alexandria (The Defenders), Belle (Once Upon a Time)

Worst TV Deaths

I have three names for this and they are all on the same show. And it is Inhumans

3. Triton

2. Gorgon

Image result for henry ian cusick inhumans episode 8 1. Dr. Evan Declan

The first two on the list both died in stupid ways only to come back from the dead. Then, Henry Ian Cusick, who was playing the doctor/scientist who seemed to be an important character, but wound up being killed by Gorgon as a side note.

Best TV Couples

#5. Connor & Oliver (How to Get Away with Murder). I have always enjoyed this pairing and they have had a very intriguing season.

#4. Hook & Emma (Once Upon a Time). It was happy ending for the OUAT couple. Captain Hook and the Savior finally got married. They also had perhaps the best musical episode on TV.

#3. Phil Coulson & Melinda May (Agents of SHIELD). Coulson & May have yet to really get together, but I am enjoying them. They have great chemistry and have serious rooting factor. And now, they are in space.

#2. FitzSimmons (Agents of SHIELD). Another great couple on Agents of SHIELD, Fitz and Simmons have had to struggle to find their way back to each other. They are constantly being pulled apart, and need to find their way back. They are great together.

#1. Jughead & Betty (Riverdale). “Bughead.” Who knew that combining Betty with Jughead would become something so transcendent. They became a much more important pairing than Archie and Veronica. They are in a problem spot right now but I hope they find their way through it because they bring something special to Riverdale.

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Honorable mention: Rick & Michonne (Walking Dead), Asher & Michaela (HTGAWM), Mike & Eleven (Stranger Things 2)

WORST TV COUPLES

Only two here…

#2. Elijah Pope & Sandra (Scandal). Obviously, if you end up shooting your true love in her head, you are not the greatest couple.

#1. Olivia Pope & ANYONE. (Scandal). Olivia has had several partners this year. From former Prez Fitz to Jake to that reporter guy. Olivia is just no where near what she once was. She has won this category before with Fitz, but now it is with anyone else.

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EYG Top Ten Star Wars Secondary Characters

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Doc

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens this week (very excited) and so the Top Ten Show, starring John Rocha and Matt Knost, decided to do the Top Ten List of Secondary Star Wars characters on their weekly podcast. “The Pit Boss” Ken Napzok, the Schmoedown Star Wars Trivia Champion, joined the duo for this list to show his remarkable knowledge of the Star Wars universe.

I listened to the podcast and enjoyed it as I do every week. As I have been doing, I will be adding the EYG choices for Top Ten Star Wars Secondary Characters.

#10. Chirrut Imwe. From Rogue One, Donnie Yen created a wonderful new character who was not a Jedi, but who believed in the Force and that the Force would protect all. Chirrut was blind and extremely spiritual. He brought several funny moments to a film that could have been truly dark.

Image result for MOn Mothma #9. Mon Mothma. Another character who made an appearance in Rogue One, returning from The Return of the Jedi, where she uttered the huge fan favorite line of dialogue, “Many Bothans died to bring us this information,”

Related image #8. Admiral Akbar. IT’S A TRAP! One of the most iconic lines delivered in Star Wars by any character, despite the fact that this could have been a throw away side character. Akbar will always be remembered for that line, but he is actually quite an important character. He was also Ken Napzok’s number one character on his list, which immediately provided Akbar with credibility.

Image result for lando calrissian #7. Lando Calrissian. Billy Dee Williams arrived in Empire Strikes Back at Cloud City on Bespin and created a character that will always be memorable. The oozy charm of Lando fit beautifully with Han Solo. The idea that Lando was in the origin story of the Millennium Falcon as the person who lost the Falcon in a poker game, something that we might get a chance to see in Ron Howard’s upcoming Solo standalone movie.

Image result for saw gerrera #6. Saw Gerrera. Another character from Rogue One. Saw was a rebel fighter during the Clone Wars. I would have loved more with Saw in Rogue One. Part of the real epic nature of this character was the portrayal of Saw Gerrera by Forest Whitaker. The way Saw was more mechanical than human any more really spoke to the difficulty of this character’s life. We may yet see more of this character in the history of Star Wars.

Image result for maz kanata #5. Maz Kanata. Lupita Nyong’o played a great character in The Force Awakens. She has a world of experience that we have yet to see. She had Luke’s lightsaber and was able to provide Finn and Rey a place to pause on their trip. She was someone whom Han Solo knew. There is background to her that we may see yet. Maz is a great looking character and is a great addition to the Star Wars world.

Image result for boba fett #4. Boba Fett. I actually was not as much of a fan of Boba Fett as many people are, but you cannot argue that this bounty hunter had an impact on geek culture. For someone who did not have very many lines and died in a horrific way, Boba Fett was very popular. The outfit is iconic.

Related image #3. K-2SO. One of my favorite droids ever. This droid, voiced by Alan Tudyk, stole every scene he was in in Rogue One and his death was one of the most emotional of any of these ill-fated characters. K-2SO was snarly and snippy and funny as can be. He was the most original droid we have seen in Star Wars and I loved him.

Related image #2. Darth Maul. I would not have included him at first, but the Top Ten guys had Darth Maul on their list, so I included him. I loved Darth Maul and I think he was the biggest waste of the prequels. This guy could have been the ultimate villain until Vader arrived. Ray Park was the actor, but he did not have to give a great performance. Darth Maul had a great look and a great fight scene with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I almost made Darth Maul number one, but I acquiesced to put the one and only number one…

Image result for jabba the hutt #1. Jabba the Hutt. I loved Jabba the Hutt. He was such a great villain in one of my absolute favorite action set pieces from Return of the Jedi. Jabba is slimy, lowlife gangster that is clearly wicked. He kept the carbonized Han Solo as his prized possession. He forced Leia into a metal bikini and put her on a chain. He spoke a weird language. He was fat and slovenly and just so awesome. I would love a Star Wars crime story telling about the world that Jabba the Hut was involved in. And he has an iconic laugh…

So there we have it. Jabba is number one, which is also what the Top Ten guys decided.

Honorable mention: Captain Phasma, Mac Windu, Nien Nub, General Grievous, Salacious B. Crumb, Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, Greedo, Wedge Antilles, Admiral Statura.

Excited for Last Jedi!

Marvel Comics of the Year

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Doc

Okay, so I know that there are plenty of other great comics from other great comic book companies. The thing is… I collect exclusively Marvel Comics (I did purchase the Batman Dark Knight III, but that is basically it).

My list of best comics will be all Marvel. You can happily make your own list.

Top Ten Marvel Comics of 2017

#10. Spider-man. That is Miles Morales. I have enjoyed the feel of Miles Morales consistently.

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#9. Daredevil. The beginning of the year saw the awesome debut of my favorite new villain, Muse. Daredevil had a great year, including a trip to the Supreme Court.

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#8. Iron Fist. The Iron Fist TV series was not up to par with the rest of the NetFlix shows, but the new Iron Fist comic series was great, with Danny Rand having to go through a tournament of the great Kung Fu masters to get his chi back.

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#7. Infamous Iron Man. Who would have thought that having Victor Von Doom repent his evil ways and take up the armored mantel of Tony Stark would be a good idea. I guess it always is good when you have great writing.

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#6. Secret Empire. It started off strong, though very hated. Turning Captain America to Hydra was a mistake. But if you would get past the character assassination, the story itself was pretty good and led the death of Black Widow.

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#5. Amazing Spider-man. Dan Slott brought Peter Parker to the forefront of the world stage as the new Tony Stark, and then tore it all away from him. All the while keeping the core of the character in tact.

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#4. The Unworthy Thor. A five issue series that was just tremendous. Why did Thor lose his hammer? We find out what happened to him right after the loss of the hammer and then we found out why. It was very strong series.

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#3. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man. This series returned as a way to tell more lower level Spidey stories. However, the issue where Peter Parker reveals his identity to J. Jonah Jameson was tremendous and redefined the series and the characters. What a great moment.

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#2. Champions. The team of Ms. Marvel, the new Hulk, Miles Morales, Nova, Cyclops, Viv Vision are always fun and they do feel like a different type of super hero team. Plus, one of my tweets appeared in Champions #7. Whoo-hoo

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#1. Hulk. This is the new She-Hulk comic where they dropped the “She” before it. Since the Legacy issues have renumbered back to the original run so it is labeled She-Hulk again. The first five or six issues of Hulk were awesome. It focused on Jen Walters and her new anger troubles. It also turned her grey. It was an awesome take on the character.

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MOST DISAPPOINTING

Man-Thing. The five issue series with Man-Thing written by Goosebumps author R.L. Stein should have been fantastic, but it was such a thud that I was so disappointed with it. The way he wrote the character was so uninspired that I could not believe it. A master of horror who failed with the Man-Thing.

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To Watch: Runaways. Marvel has gotten the band back together. And with the new series, Runaways could be a great series. It has gotten off to a great start.

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Other honorable mentions: Weapon X, Scarlet Spider, The Totally Awesome Hulk, The Mighty Thor, Nick Fury, Moon Knight, The Invincible Iron Man

The TV Week That Was

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Doc

spoilers

Welcome back to the TV Week That Was.

Image result for carl walking dead Just finished watching the Walking Dead special 90-minute mid-season finale. Most of the episode was leading toward a shocking ending, an ending that they were teasing that everyone would be talking about. And what they were referring to is that Carl was bitten by a Walker. After Negan had gotten free of the zombie trap, he came to Alexandria for vengeance. However, Carl had gotten the others out and confronted Negan. After that, in the sewers where the survivors were hiding, Carl showed the Walker bite to Rick and Michonne. Carl is not dead yet, and, on the Talking Dead, writer/producer Scott Gimple teased that Carl will have something important to do when the Walking Dead returns in February.

Dirk Gently on BBC America continues to be solid television each and every week. The show has tremendous humor, exciting action, twists and turns and some great characters. This week, the violence capita went through the roof as several of the characters from Wendimore were killed. Hardest of all, moments after the sweet reunion, Panto and Silas were shot to death. However, the sight of Bart with a chainsaw preparing to unleash holy hell is really dramatic. I am hoping that the Boy will be able to save some of these characters when Dirk rescues him from Blackwing. Either way, we found out this week that Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs is not dead. Whoo-Hoo! Of course, he then promptly got shot along with Farrah and Tina. This show has really been on a breakneck pace this season.

Agents of SHIELD was just off the charts again this week with the group still in the future and in space. Not only did we get more awesomeness from the crew, but they officially introduced the concept of the Multiverse in the MCU. It was a difficult week for Simmons, though she is just looking all kinds of beautiful with her gold trimmings. She was brought out of her weird daze to help train an Inhuman with her phasing power. The girl wound up in a gladiator style showdown, eventually sending her fist through her opponent’s chest. And what did she get for it? Sold. Besides this plot, Coulson came across some kind of strange message coming from the surface of what is left of the earth, that is covered with the roaches. Agents of SHIELD is rocking season five hard so far.

On Gotham we had a bratty Bruce Wayne sighting this week. Bruce’s bad behavior had Alfred very concerned, but Bruce was not in the mood to listen to his guardian/butler. So Alfred got into some fisticuffs with Master Bruce and blackened the brat’s eye. Because of that, Bruce got himself emancipated and fired Alfred. Bruce’s evolution in Bratman is well under way. Also on the episode, we saw he murder of Carmine Falcone, who arrived to retrieve his daughter. Everyone believed that Penguin had ordered the hit, but it turned out that it was Sophia, his daughter. Sophia blackmailed Jim Gordon into keeping it quiet. Plus, she shot the escaped Pyg in the head. That was my least favorite part of the episode, because I really enjoyed Pyg. Then, with Penguin returned to Arkham, he wound up in the cell next to Jerome.

Star Wars hype continued on the Disney owned network ABC on Speechless as JJ and his brother Ray were able to get tickets to the premiere of the new Star Wars movie. This, of course, led to conflict when JJ wanted to use the tickets to get a hot girl to take him. There is a funny cameo on the show by famous director Kevin Smith, which is even more ironic since Smith talked about not being invited to the Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiere on his latest Fatman on Batman podcast.

Related image I tried to watch the new SyFy series Happy, which is based on a Grant Morrison/Darick Robertson graphic novel but I just could not get into it. Happy starred Law and Order star Christopher Meloni and a blue, flying unicorn that only Meloni could see.

Marvel’s Runaways took another awesome step this week as the group came together for the first time and showed off their powers. And old friend of Alex’s father, who had taken the rap for him to get him out of prison, returned this week and grabbed Alex fro leverage. Little did he know that the Runaways were here to take care of business. We got a good scene between Chase and his father as well, as it turned out that Victor revealed that he had a brain tumor. The show on Hulu has been really great so far and I have enjoyed the slow burn on it.

Image result for star wars schmoedown The Movie Trivia Schmoedown continues its push towards its big show, The Schmoedown Spectacular on Dec. 22nd. This week they had a number one contender for the Star Wars Championship, currently held by “The Pit Boss” Ken Napzok. The fatal five way match saw Sam Witwer come out on top after a very dramatic match. However, after the victory, they brought out Napzok who apparently turned to the Dark Side of the Force and joined the Lion’s Den. Seemingly, Napzok’s Nerd’s watch partner Rachel Cushings talked him out of it, getting Ken to agree to team up with her again against the Lion’s Den team Blofeld’s Cat. That match up is Tuesday, and I expect some shenanigans, especially if Ken and Rachel lose.

The week ahead features a sneak peak of the return of Movie Fights to Screen Junkies. The show that has been off the air since the Andy Signore sexual harassment situation is on its way back and Thursday has a sneak peak. Also more from Agents of SHIELD, a new Runaways, and more.

Happy viewing

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Doc

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Poster

I had a chance to attend a screening of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner today, and I was very pleased that I did. I had never seen the film before, but I found it a fascinating look at the time.

Clearly, race relations remain at the heart of many of the problems we face as a society and it is vital that we face them head on and face them with honesty and respectfulness. This film should be a cornerstone of that respect.

I truly enjoyed the movie. A young white girl named Joey (Katharine Houghton) returned to her parents, Matt (Spencer Tracy) and Christina (Katharine Hepburn) Drayton, with her brand new fiance, Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). They had fallen in love on a trip to Hawaii and the whirlwind romance led them back to Joey’s parents’ door. The issue? John was black.

The Draytons were a liberal couple, raising Joey to believe color of skin was not important in the value of a human, and Joey was sure that they would have no trouble with her marrying a black man. John was not as certain.

One of my favorite parts of this film was how human it was. It did not make the Draytons racists. On the contrary, they were reasonable, friendly and truly believed in the equality of the races. You could see how much respect they had had for John and all the wonderful things he had accomplished as a doctor worldwide. And yet, the thoughts of the dangers and troubles that their daughter would face in a mixed race marriage caused even these progressive thinking people to take pause. I liked how they approached this plot point.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner would become the final appearance on screen for Spencer Tracy as Matt Drayton. Tracy passed away not too long after the finish of the filing of the movie. His performance is so great, as he embodied the struggle of his beliefs against his fears. His longtime scene mate, Katharine Hepburn was beautiful throughout the entire film, with her tears just slightly hanging within her eyes. You could tell how much of a connection these two actors had after years of working together.

Sidney Poitier also turned in a wonderful performance as Dr. Prentice. You could see on his face how uncertain he felt when broaching the subject with Joey’s parents and how he felt when trying to avoid telling his own parents. His strength of character really played through the film, making the struggle all the more challenging for Matt.

There were several other fun performances from secondary characters. Isabel Sandford (from the Jeffersons fame) played housekeeper Tillie with all the sassy you would expect. Cecil Kellaway received an Oscar nomination for his role as family friend and priest, Monsignor Ryan, who provided a neutral voice among the emotions. Virginia Christine played the closet racist Hillary St. George. Her firing by Christina was a highlight of the story.

At its time, this movie was very controversial, with the topic of interracial marriage being a hot one. A few months after the movie finished shooting, the United States Supreme Court ruled the laws against interracial marriage as unconstitutional, making a line of dialogue about John and Joey being criminals in some states out of date.

Tracy and Hepburn together one final time made this film all the more powerful. It was a real enjoyable film that I am glad to have had a chance to see.

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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Poster

Just Getting Started

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Doc

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Just collecting a paycheck.

This film stars Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones and Renee Russo. They’ve starred in films such as Nightcrawler, The Fugitive, Men in Black, The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, Lincoln, Captain America: The First Avenger and No Country for Old Men.

And Just Getting Started. One of these things doesn’t go with the other.

What a waste of time.

Morgan Freeman stars as Duke Diver, the manager of the luxury Palm Springs resort, the Villa Capri. Duke is eccentric and living the lifestyle of the alpha male of Villa Capri. That is, until Leo (Tommy Lee Jones) comes along to steal his thunder. Plus, Rene Russo arrives to give Duke a job performance review for the owning company. Oh, there is a mob story and you are supposed to think that Leo was there to try and kill Duke.

Ugh. This was written by the same man who wrote Bull Durham. What happened?

Plus, in a world where sexual misconduct is being rightfully called out across Hollywood, both Duke and Leo treat women with a remarkably old time style. And Rene Russo’s character of Suzie is played with such a weakness that she actually has to swoon over Johnny Mathias.

Suzie is such a caricature in the story that you cannot take her seriously, even for a moment. She portrays everything that is opposite of a strong woman that it is appalling.

There is little to no humor in the film. When the big laughs are having Graham Beckel’s character sit on a bucket lid to keep a rattlesnake from escaping.

Ha Ha Ha… ugh.

There is no sense being made. You have elder statesmen of actors acting like middle school students in maturity level. You got characters changing traits every five minutes and other characters that are supposed to be intelligent and well versed doing the stupidest things immediately. Russo is a complete damsel in distress by the end of the film and a total incompetent, except of course when she is not and the film wants you to believe that she is more than what she seems. And I have no idea what has happened to Freeman and Jones.

By the way, things keep blowing up and it never seems to attract the police. Same with some high speed car chases. I guess the cops have more important things to do than check out a retirement village.

Just Getting Started was done in the first ten minutes and the rest of the time was an unfunny, boring and predictable mess that had three actors who have seen WAY better in their time.

1 star

Top Streaming Services

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Doc

This is the wave of the future. It is how we will all be getting our programming one day. The number of streaming services have exploded over the last couple of years and there is no putting the genie back in the bottle.

I mean… Disney started talking about their own service in 2018, which is one of the big reasons why Disney is attempting to purchase such a big chunk of IPs from FOX. It is not just about bringing the Fantastic Four and the X-men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is about bringing content to their streaming service.

Yes, Disney is in the future, but for now, I have the list of Top 8 streaming services for 2017. Again, it is my choices and you may disagree. I am not a Game of Thrones viewer so the appearance of that show on a certain streaming service does not impress me.

Image result for youtube red #8. YouTube Red. This is an attempt by YouTube to cash in on the streaming service. I have not purchased this, but the idea of YouTube without the ads is, I must say, appealing. The series that they have for the service has not caught my fancy at this point and it may need to come up with something more interesting to really compete.

Image result for cbs all access #7. CBS All Access. Another one that I do not subscribe to, but the inclusion of the new Star Trek: Discovery series makes one think about it. There are not enough CBS shows for this to matter to me either, but who knows.

Related image #6. Starz. I did have Starz during this year in order to watch American Gods, but I have not watched anything else on it. American Gods was a tremendous show, though and it was well worth the price.

Image result for hbo #5. HBO. There are great programs on HBO, but I do not subscribe here either. I must say though that I have considered this several times. I know that some day I will binge the seasons of Game of Thrones, but, with this series heading into its final season, I will not be getting HBO for it yet.

Image result for showtime #4. Showtime. One reason for this to be as high on this list as it is. It was the reason why I purchased the service. It was for the 18 episodes of Twin Peaks; The Return. After Twin Peaks ended its run, I cancelled my subscription to Showtime. I am just not interested in the network outside of Twin Peaks. I did watch the Putin Interviews while I had it. Those were somewhat fascinating. One of the biggest WTF moments of the year was watching Oliver Stone make Vladimir Putin watch Dr. Strangelove.

Related image #3. Amazon Prime. This is with a bullet. It has some great shows on it, especially the return of The Tick. Amazon also outbid everybody for the rights to create a Lord of the Rings style TV show. Another fun series here was Comrade Detective, showing us how to fight for the Communist ideals. Amazon Prime is hot right now, but I am not sure it has enough oomph to get past numbers 1 and 2.

Image result for hulu #2. Hulu. Hulu has really moved itself into a position of strength. They had some great original series (Handmaid’s Tale, The Runaways, 11/22/63) and it offers you a chance to stream HBO, Showtime and the networks. Hulu has been working on becoming a player to compete with the big dog…

Image result for netflix #1. Netflix. Of course. The king of the streaming service once again, Netflix is appointment TV. Just this year they added such shows as Stranger Things 2, The Punisher, The Defenders, 13 Reasons Why, Glow, Big Mouth, Mindhunter, Santa Clarita Diet, A Series of Unfortunate Events, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Fuller House, Grace and Frankie, Bill Nye, Narcos, Castlevania, BoJack Horseman, Friends from College, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Crown, The Keepers… I could go on. And that does not even include the new movies Netflix is putting out. Or the old favorites that you can get. Netflix is still the top of the line and it might take a lot to bump it off its perch. We’ll see if the Mouse can do it.

The Disaster Artist

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Doc

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I never knew that Tommy Wiseau was inspired by James Dean.

There was a lot shown to us in James Franco’s new movie, The Disaster Artist, based on the creation of Tommy Wiseau’s movie, The Room, which is considered one of the worst movies ever made. Franco, who directed and starred in this, did a very smart thing. He did not spend the whole film making fun of Wiseau and The Room. Instead, he showed us the humanity of the man and his dream.

Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) met each other in an acting class in San Francisco and Greg was immediately taken by Tommy’s passion and his ability to put himself out there. It was something that he was struggling doing, so, despite the fact that Johnny clearly did not have any acting skill, Greg went to Tommy and asked to be his scene partner.

A friendship grew from that unlikely meeting, as Greg and Tommy moved to LA to pursue their dream of becoming actors. However, as the pair found that it was not easy to break into show business, Tommy decided to skip the line and write, produce, fund, direct and star in his own movie.

What came forth was a movie that was downright terrible, but became a cult classic, including midnight showings that are consistently selling out. The filming of the movie had plenty of troubles, but the result of this is hilarious.

Playing a real life character such as Tommy Wiseau is a challenge, but James Franco is sensational in the role. James Franco morphed into Wiseau. His accent, his mannerisms, the way he is was just perfect. Franco did not create a parody of the man. He became him.

And Tommy Wiseau is an enigma. The fact is that we do not know much of anything about him. He has, what sounds like, a thick, perhaps, Eastern European accent, but he claims to have been born in New Orleans. It is not known where Tommy gets his money and how he seems to have an endless supply of it. He financed The Room, rumored to be over 6 million dollar, by himself. Tommy refuses to reveal his age, as Tommy tries to pass himself off as a much young man than he appears to be. The film does a really strong job of playing these odd mysteries off as more than just eccentric behavior. We never do find out the answers as Tommy refuses to give any straight answers to these questions.

The movie was really funny, but there was way more depth to it besides just the humor. The movie looked closely at the relationship between Tommy and Greg, and they were able to connect the audience to these people. Honestly, there were several moments in this movie where I truly felt for Tommy, despite the fact that he was ridiculous and very unaware of his short-comings. The scene where Tommy was at the premiere and the crowd was laughing, the film took several moments to focus on James Franco and his reactions were just crushing. That would not mean near as much if this was simply a satire of Tommy Wiseau and this terrible movie.

Fact is, it is clear that James Franco and everyone involved in The Disaster Artist has a healthy respect for Tommy Wiseau and the movie that he made, even if it is the worst film ever made. That respect comes through in the film.

Seth Rogan and Paul Scheer are in the film as part of the crew that questions the insanity that was everywhere. They were wonderful, and it might have been my favorite Set Rogan performance ever. They were the voice of the audience as we wondered exactly what was wrong with Tommy Wiseau. Rogan’s delivery was pitch perfect.

The movie also showed the other side of Tommy Wiseau as well. There were many times where Tommy was jealous or was vengeful. He wanted things his way and if there was anything that he did not like, he did not respond well to it. Petty things such as not allowing the crew to have water in the hot studio or verbally abusing the actors because Alfred Hitchcock did it too.

The Disaster Artist is a great movie. I loved it. There are so many great moments of heart and humanity, along with the humor and the oddity that made The room such a cult classic. James and Dave Franco are great in the movie, anchoring a cast of huge acting stars, including a group of filmmakers (including Kevin Smith, JJ Abrams etc) opening the film with words about The room.

And the Disaster Artist is not only funny, but it is strangely inspirational. Tommy Wiseau did not allow the problems circling him to stop him from reaching for his dream of making a movie. Despite it being perceived in a manner that Tommy did not want, no one could take that fact away from him.

The Disaster Artist is a great film about the making of a terrible one. I would recommend seeing The room before you go to the Disaster Artist because seeing The Room does help in certain moments. The end of the film features several of the most infamous scenes from The Room side by side with recreations in The Disaster Artist and this shows the level of commitment by this cast of actors.

By the way, stay through the credits to the every end as there is a post credit scene.

The is one of the best movies of the year. I was remarkably entertained.

5 stars

The Room (2003)

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Doc

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Getting ready to watch the comedy The Disaster Artist, starring James Franco, this weekend, I pulled up The Room, written, directed and starring Tommy Wiseau, to wacth once more.

I saw The Room once before, as one of the RiffTrax Live showings and it was unbelievably and unintentionally funny. The thought of watching the Room without some aid was harrowing.

Fortunately, three of the personalities at Collider Video, Mark Ellis, Dennis Tzeng and Ashley Mova recorded a movie commentary about the Room, with Mark and Ashley never having seen it before. So I pulled both of these videos up, played them simultaneously and watched away.

The Room truly is one of the worst movies of all time. It is either this one or Birdemic: Shock and Terror that take the crown. It really is hard to say.

There is not much of a story. Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a successful banker and he seems to have a strong relationship with his future wife Lisa (Juliette Danielle), but Lisa is not happy. She engages in an affair with Johnny’s best friend Mark (Greg Sestero).

Did I mention that Mark is Johnny’s best friend?

The Room is so bad that you have to laugh at it. You can really have a good time watching this because it is so horrible. The acting, the dialogue, the plot, the sex scenes, the multiple establishing shots are all just terrible.

Honestly, I can’t imagine how a film like this gets made. And yet, here it is.

Tommy Wiseau put his heart into this project, and he has given the world, unintentionally, something to laugh about.

I am very excited about seeing the Disaster Artist this week. The film that is the making of the worst film ever. James Franco seems to be channeling the mysterious Tommy Wiseau and could be nominated for an Oscar. Is that ironic, that a film about the worst movie ever has a chance to be an Academy Award nominated film?

Thanks to Mark Ellis, Ashley Mova and Dennis Tzeng for doing this commentary. Their reactions really helped me get through the film. Because The room is definitely…

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