Author Archives: Doc

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

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The third film in the franchise of magicians involved in more than just stage magic arrived this weekend. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is the next film featuring the Four Horsemen of Magic.

The first two movies were fine, but nothing that really jumped out. It was not a film franchise that I expected would have three films, and, this one definitely left some hints at the end that made you think that there might be more coming. I’m not sure if why needed #3, let alone any more.

I mean, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t was okay. I wasn’t offended by anything they gave us. There are some good actors with charisma that are fun to watch and some of the magic is fun.

However, the film’s story was lacking. The film’s dialogue was not clever or must hear. It was very much let’s put engaging actors into certain situations and let them magic out of them. If you are going for anything deeper than that, you haven’t been paying attention to the franchise.

Rosamund Pike was our main villain and she was, at least, fun to watch. There was not much more to the character than that, but she did seem like she was having fun chewing up the scenery. The new magician characters, the new generation of Horsemen, were also fine, though nothing truly original or new.

I don’t think that there is anything in this movie that is going to stick with you for more than a day or two, but I did not hate watching it in the theater. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is an average time at the movies.

2.8 stars

Pluribus S1 E3

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SPOILERS

“Grenade”

This show is trippy.

Carol is trying to maintain herself, but with so much taken away, she is finding the way of life to be tough. She does not want the “convenience” of being able to ask for anything and have the Others provide it.

Like a live hand grenade.

Carol asked about how long she had before they turned her into a mindless drone too. Their response: they were not sure. They were working on it.

Carol did get on the phone with one of the non-English speaking survivors. There was a contemptuous conversation there that will clearly come back later in the series.

There was more humor in this episode than in the previous ones, but it felt like a pause between major events. The series has been renewed for a season two already, but Vince Gilligan believed he had a four season story, so things may be on the slow burn for awhile.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #26

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#26

Agatha All Along

This is probably the most surprising of all the Disney + Marvel shows. If you would have told me that one of my all-time favorite Marvel shows would feature Agatha Harkness, I would not have believed you. Yet, here we are at #26.

Agatha All Along is a spin-off of WandaVision, featuring the character of Agatha Harkness, a witch who had been stranded in Westview because of a spell from Wanda Maximoff. When she is able to pull herself out of the spell, Agatha goes about trying to regain her stolen power by collecting a coven and traveling the Witches’ Road.

Anchored by the brilliant performance by Kathryn Hahn as Agatha, Agatha All Along was an exceptional show with a storyline that carried through the entire series, with comedy, drama and music.

Yes, the variety of ways that the show played “Done the Witches’ Road” was one of the highlights of the show. In episode two when the coven sang the song in Agatha’s basement (with Mrs. Hart’s perfectly deadpanned line, “Am I supposed to know this song?”) to the rock ballad version during the trials of the Road in episode four, the music was such an engaging part of the show.

The show introduces Billy/William, the resurrected son of Wanda and Vision. Of course, in the comics, Billy is known as Wiccan. We had met a younger version of Billy in WandaVision and seemingly lost him there too. This brought him back to the MCU in the form of actor Joe Locke.

The other members of the coven included Debra Jo Rupp (who returned to her Wandavision role of Sharon Davis, aka Mrs. Hart), Aubrie Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, and Patti LuPone.

The mystery of the Witches’ Road is extremely compelling and led to some of the best episodes of Marvel TV you will find. I would argue that episode 7, “Death’s Hand in Mine,” is one of the best single episodes of TV Marvel has produced. It featured the backstory of coven witch Lilia Calderu, played by the grand dame of Broadway, Patti LuPone.

Agatha All Along was tremendously entertaining and was one of the best written Marvel Studios Disney + shows around. It was a surprise favorite and it deserves this high spot in the top 100.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #27

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#27

Daredevil

The Man Without Fear made his way to Netflix and what we got was brutal, violent, and brilliant.

Daredevil had three seasons on Netflix, before going back to Marvel Studios where they put out Daredevil: Born Again.

This show was supremely awesome for several reasons. It took people’s breath away with its hallway one-shot battles and its deacpitations with car doors.

Matt Murdock, blind attoney-at-law, was played by Charlie Cox and his main antagonist, Wilson Fisk, was played by Vincent D’Onofrio, and you could not have found two better actors. So great were they that, when Marvel got the rights back and were planning to do something different with Daredevil, they decided why fight the fan outrage because they simply could not replace these actors. No one would accept the recast.

The rest of the cast was great too. It included Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Jon Bernthal, Rosario Dawson, Elodie Yung, Ayelet Zurer, Toby Leonard Moore, Wilson Bethel, Scott Glenn, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Bob Gunton.

The show was so well written and enjoyable that Matt did not get into his Daredevil costume until the final episode of season one and people were okay with it.

Dardevil: Born Again will have a seaon two on Disney + continuing the legacy of these characters who made such an impact on Netflix.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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November 13

Yet another good week. There are several really good covers this week. Three independent books this week so no DC or Marvel in the medal winners.

Also-rans: Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #4 (Here it is, Todd!), Batman: Dark Patterns #12, Transformers #26, Spider-Man Noir #2, Redcoat #15, 1776 #1, Fantastic Four #5, and The City Beneath Her Feet #2.

Bronze Medalist

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #3

Cover art by Lucio Parrillo

This Dynamite Comic has had some beautiful covers in its short span of publishing. This with Blue Falcon in the rain just looking majestic dead center is an awesome cover.

Silver Medalist

American Caper #1

Cover art by Tyler Boss

I did not know what this book was from Dark Horse. However, the cover drew me to it, so I picked it up. What a lovely and yet painful cover.

Gold Medalist

Die Loaded #1

Cover art by Stephanie Hans

First issue with Image’s new book with one of the most compelling covers. The giant bear with his open mouth and a character inside… with a fox too. It makes me wonder about what this book will be about.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #28

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#28

SOAP

This is the story of two sisters, Jessica Tate… and Mary Campbell. These are the Tates. And these are the Campbells. And this is… SOAP.

Confused? You won’t be … after reading about #28 on the Top 100, a satire/parody of soap operas that ran on ABC for four seasons.

I loved SOAP so much. The stories of the Tates and Campbells never came up lame. Whether it be about affairs, murders, gay love or demonic possession, SOAP was filled with great comedic performances and laughs.

In fact, I do not think I have ever seen an episode of TV that I laughed harder at than when the Tates and their butler Benson discovered that the baby was possessed by Satan. I know it doesn’t sound like high comedy, but it was so wonderful that you couldn’t help yourself.

The castlist was large and filled with some of the best actors in the business. Billy Crystal was on the show as TV’s first homosexual. Others in the cast included Katherine Helmond, Robert Mandan, Richard Mulligan, Cathryn Damon, Jimmy Baio, Diana Canova, Jay Johnson, Robert Guillaume, Donnelly Rhodes, Roscoe Lee Brown, Ted Wass, Jennifer Salt and Arthur Peterson Jr.

Moments leap out of my memory. When Burt thought he could turn invisible and would snap his fingers in front of him. When Benson, The Major and Chester went to attempt to save Billy from a cult and ended up in blackface pretending to be a band. Jessica going to heaven.

I think SOAP is one of the most overlooked TV shows in television history.

ADDENDUM

While I have been doing this list, there have been several times where I thought that I had forgotten a show, only to see it on th elist. I thought I had forgotten Frasier, but it was there. I thought I had forgotten Night Court, but it was there. This is the first show where I thought, “Did I forget this one” and I had forgotten this one. So I decided to give an addendum to SOAP’s entry because this spin off of SOAP would have definitely been in the Top 100 and I missed it.

Benson

Benson saw Robert Guillaume’s character benson, who was the Tates’ butler for three years on SOAP, moved to the governor’s mansion of the state (whichever one they were in) to become the head of household affairs. Benson DuBois (finally got a last name) enteracted with the bumbling Governor with a heart of gold, the overbearing German cook Gretchen Kraus, and the Governor’s sweetheart of a daughter, Katie.

Robert Guillaume won an Emmy Award for his role in this show.

Sorry I forgot you, Benson. You deserved better….

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #29

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#29

Batman

POW! BOOM! ZOK!

In 1966, ABC broadcast a TV show starring the Caped Crusaders from DC Comics. Batman and Robin made their return to the public eye with this action/comedy series.

Batman was played by Adam West and Robin was played by Burt Ward, and they were the way that the Dynamic Duo was seen until the Batman ’89 movie where they gave batman an update.

The show was one of the earliest show I can remember being obsessed with. Each episode was similar as Batman and Robin would face a villain from Batman’s extensive rogue’s gallery and get captured at the end of the episode and placed in some kind of dasterdly death trap. The next episode would resolve that trap and would wrap up the villain. The villains became iconic too as we got the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, King Tut, Mad Hatter, among others.

When I was young, I always bugged my mom to make me a mask like Robin. I was a Robin fan as a youth. Looking back, whenever they had the big fights, Robin would have to fight the big bad villain and Batman would punch out the hoodlums. I was always surrpised how underappreciated Robin felt.

I was, of course, watching reruns of the show. I would always look forward to Batgirl episodes starring Yvonne Craig, who was added as a character in the third and final season.

My friends and I would use the term “Batman Leap” which was when one of us would make an illogical leap to answer a question or solve a problem… something that made no sense, much like Batman and Robin would do on the series. Glu Glutton’s Glue Factory being a prime example.

The campy nature of the show appealed to many, but typecast the actors involved for decades.

Either way, I loved the 1906s Batman series, and it belongs on this list.

So… what’s next on the list? We’ll find out… Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!

Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)

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I had wanted to see Kiss of the Spider Woman in the theater when it was at Cinemark, but the schedule did not permit it and it was gone before the following week. It was one of the big financial flops of the year, but I was still interested so as soon as it could be rented on Fandango at Home (aka Vudu), I watched it.

I loved the film.

This musical drama was based upon a 1992 stage show and a 1976 novel, but I had no background on any previous adaptations. I came into this with a fresh eye.

Set in Argentina in 1983, the film had a backdrop of a revolution that would be called the Dirty War, where the military junta seized control of Argentina. This was set at the tail end of the time period.

According to IMDB, “Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, convicted for public indecency. An unlikely bond forms as Molina recounts a Hollywood musical plot starring Ingrid Luna.“

Diego Luna played Valentin and Tonatiuh played Luis Molina, and the film was carried by them. The movie split the musical away from the prison scenes, which kept the prison more realistic and gritty. The musical parts were in technicolor and were big, bombastic Hollywood fare. Ity created quite a distinct contrast between the different sections of th efilm.

Diego Luna was tremendous as Valentin, the political activist who Molina was sent to spy on.

Jennifer Lopez played Ingrid Luna, the actress who played Aurora and The Spider Woman in the recounted movie that Molina shared with Valentin. Lopez brings a level of credibility that this film required.

The music was catchy, but honestly, I do not think that I would recall any of the songs, which is not a good thing for a musical. Still, the music was entertaining during the watch of the film. I won’t be purchasing the soundtrack on Apple Music, but I think it worked for the film.

I thought this was a great film with some really strong performances.

4.5 stars

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #30

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#30

Bates Motel

Bates Motel was based on Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho, though it took some step that the movie did not take. And it was for the better.

Bates Motel was on A&E and went five seasons.

I loved Bates Motel. It was so insanely well written and acted that these already iconic characters became even more so.

Freddie Highmore played Norman Bates as a teen and his performance as the mentally imbalanced youth was amazing. You knew Norman’s destiny, but you just could not help but hope they would find a way around it.

Vera Farmiga played Norma Bates and she brought the character to life. She was spirited, passionate and a force of nature and you wished beyond all hope that she would not end up dead as a corpse in the attic. Her realtionship on the show with Nestor Carbonell’s Sheriff Alex Romero is one of my favorite TV couples of all time. Both of these damaged characters absolutely came to life when they got together. It was way too short of a relationship.

Of course, the signature relationship of Bates Motel was between Norman and Norma. The relationship bordered on obsessive from both sides and the toxicity was obvious. Another excellent addition to the show was Norma’s other son, Dylan, played by Max Thieriot. The second son brought such an unknown quality to the show and became one of my favorite characters on the canvas.

You were never quite sure where the show was going. It combined amazing drama with horror and mysteries that seemed to have clear answers, yet you were never quite sure.

As a “contemporary prequel” to Psycho, Bates Motel was a thrill a minute.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #31

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#31

X-Men ’97

When it was announced that Marvel Studios was going to do an animated show that picked up after the X-Men: Animated Series from the 1990s, lots of people were interested.

Who would have guessed that it was going to be one of the best things Marvel Studios had done on Disney +?

The return to the world of the X-Men took the best of the show from the ’90s and blended it with some of the best of animation from today. The animation of the show had the flavor of the original, but was also drastically improved and was beautifully rendered.

Some characters really got to shine in the new version. Cyclops, who has never been portrayed well in live action or animation, was immediately shown to be the brilliant character that he was. The show took quite a risk with the character of Wolverine. Undoubtedly the most popular X-Man, Wolverine spent most of the time of the first season on the back burner as other X-Men such as Rogue, Cyclops, Gambit, Nightcrawler took center stage. Wolverine was still there to do something awesome, but he was not everything to the story.

Then, episode five, a show called “Remember It” is, arguably, the best television episode ever done by Marvel. There is no denying that “Remember It” hit hard and showed what kind of storytelling this show was going to present.

X-Men ’97 will be returning for a second season and it was well deserved.