What If…? S2 E1

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“What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps”

Marvel Studios kicked off the second season of What If…? in style today with a flashy episode that had a definite Blade Runner/noir vibe to it including a cast of characters that you wouldn’t expect together.

Marvel began their special release formula with the first of nine consecutive episodes released daily, from December 22 to December 29th on Disney +. Ever since I heard about the idea, I have been excited for it. It felt like a special Christmas gift to fans and I was down for it.

The first episode featured Nebula, once again voiced by the awesome Karen Gillian, investigating the murder of Yondu in an alleyway on the planet Xandar. One wonders where an idea like this comes from because it does not seem to make much sense. However, once it started, you could tell this was a solid episode.

We got a weird crew too. Howard the Duck, a casino owner, voiced by Seth Green. Korg, voiced by Taika Waititi, returned again. Groot was here too, though I do not know if it was Vin Diesel doing the “I am Groot.” Jude Law was here as Yon-Rogg, his character he played in Captain Marvel. Peter Serafinowicz resumed his role as Garthan Saal, that he brought to life first in Guardians of the Galaxy. The fact that the show brings all of these familiar voices back for this animated program is amazing and it really commits to the feel of an overarching universe.

Jeffrey Wright is back again as The Watcher, the narrator of the What If series, although Nebula took over the narration of this series in the noir style. 

The animation is beautiful throughout, with some imagery that could be art. 

The only drawback I have for the episode was that it felt too short. This could have easily been an hour and a half episode and have plenty to fill. 

A strong start to our nine day marathon. 

2023 In Memoriam Part 2

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In Memoriam Part 2

Bob Barker

Sinead O’Connor

Gov. Bill Richardson

Bill Miller

Bob Geddie

Camden Toy

Darren Watts

Jimmy Buffett

Pat Robertson

David Crosby

Dick Butkis

Earl Boen

Frances Sternhagen

Frederic Forrest

Gangsta Boo

Julian Sands

Lance Reddick

Gary Wright

Piper Laurie

Raquel Welch

Gordon Lightfoot

Roger Whittaker

Ray Stevenson

Richard Belzer

Tina Turner

Tom Verlaine

Robbie Bachman

Sandra Day O’Connor

Tom Sizemore

Tony Bennett

Van Conner

Victoria Lee

Keith Giffen

2023 The X-Mas Movie of the Year

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The X-Mas Movie of the Year

Previous Winners: Violent Night

I have not seen a bunch of X-Mas movies this year. In fact, I only had two down.

And then I realized that I was missing one.

Before I realized, my two choices were Candy Cane Lane, with Eddie Murphy, and the animated Merry Little Batman on Amazon Prime.

I was leaning toward Merry Little Batman as the winner of the award. 

Then, I realized that there was another that would qualify as a Christmas movie that is heads and shoulders above these two. As soon as I realized it, I knew what the winner of this category would be.

Winner: The Holdovers

The Holdovers is a potential Oscar nominated film that was excellent. Paul Giamatti is wonderful. The movie is a special story and I am glad that I remembered it in this category. 

Leave the World Behind

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I have had this on my queue over at Netflix for several weeks now, but I had not gotten around to watch it. Leave the World Behind, the new apocalyptic film with a cast of A list celebrities, was almost two and a half hours long which tempered my anticipation.

I have also heard a couple of contradictory opinions on the film. It seemed as if the film was divisive for audience members, some unhappy with the ending, others finding it to be really good.

So with more time now that I am on winter break, I pulled up my Netflix account and gave it a try.

Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) decide one day, out of the blue, to take their two kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), on a vacation. Amanda rented a beach house and whisked her family off.

However, they are not long in the house before the owner of the house G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) arrived in the night with a story about a blackout. G.H. hoped that they could stay in the house that night and figure out what to do in the morning.

Amanda was very distrusting, feeling uncomfortable with G.H. and Rose, and Rose had the same kind of snippy attitude leading to some awkwardness between the two families.

The longer they stayed together, the worse the situation seemed to become. 

The film is absolutely a slow burn as things developed at a leisurely pace, which may have been to the detriment of the film for some. A slow burn does not bother me though as I got a chance to get to know these characters. 

Admittedly, several of these characters were not very likable. Julia Roberts, in particular, played Amanda as a brutally unlikable person. Myha’la had the same level of unlikableness. There were times when the pair of them were hard to watch because of their attitudes.

However, these traits that could be considered negative by some really built the tension and the anxiety of the situation and the mystery of what exactly was going on in the world outside the beach house was compelling and filled the characters with dread. There were two scenes, played at the same time, one, involving Kevin Bacon and, the other, some animals that was just about as tense of a scene as I have seen in a movie this year.

The elephant in the room is the ending. Of course, I am not spoiling the ending, but I need to address it. The ending did not bother me at all. I did not find it to be problematic, though I do understand why some viewers may be irritated by it. It is the same type of trouble some people had with the ending of LOST. I loved the ending of LOST, so clearly that is not an issue for me.

The film is well acted, tense and slow story that keeps you in a state of confusion over what is happening, and does an exceptional job of providing suspense at the end of the build up. It is long, but I found it compelling.

3.9 stars

2023 Comics Year in Review

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2023 was the year that I really got back into comics, big time. I had been buying books and reading a few here and there, but I was having piles of comics at my house that I was not getting to and some that were still in the bag I bought them in at Comic World. And Todd is always hording those bags.

Anyway, with the beginning of the Comic Catch-Up post, I started working through those piles of books, getting them bagged and boarded. Once the piles were basically done, I switched the post to EYG Comic Cavalcade and here we are.

I have also expanded my collecting of books from just Marvel to Marvel, Image, Boom! Studios… and even DC (a little). I have a very wide swath of comics I get in a month.

So I have given out some of the year awards for EYG Year in Review for the world of comics.

Best Marvel Series: Daredevil. Daredevil was consistently one of the most enjoyable books each month. Chip Zdarsky created an amazing tale for Matt Murdock and Saladin Ahmed has continued the thrilling arc for the character in his new series. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, She-Hulk.

Best Independent Series: No/One. This was a tough choice. I loved a lot of independent books this year, and I bought a bunch of them. However, I guess No/One got a bit of a push when I found the podcast that is tied to it. I have truly enjoyed this book so far. Runners-Up: Something is Killing the Children, Something Epic, Void Rivals, Killadelphia, The Great British Bump Off.

Best DC Series: Knight Terrors. This is a bit of a cheat, but this summer storyline lead me to buy the entire run of books, including all the crossovers. I liked more of this than not, with the main limited series being some great stuff with Batman and Deadman involved. Runners-Up: Peacemaker: Tries Hard, Superman: Lost.

Best New Character: Spider-Boy. Dan Slott’s latest creation in the world of Spider-Man is the young Spider-Boy who remembers being Spider-Man’s sidekick. Problem is that he is the only person who remembers that happening. Spider-Boy has been fun so far. Runners-up: No/One, Danny Dillon, Hunter’s Moon, Hallows’ Eve, Red Goblin

Best Writer: James Tynion IV. Tynion has been one of the best and most prolific writers on the independent scene all year. With Something Killing the Children being awesome every month, there was also Blue Book, Universal Monsters: Dracula, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, W0rldT33, The Department of Truth, The Deviant etc. It has gotten to a point that when I see James Tynion IV on a comic, I want to buy it. Runners-Up: Jeff Lemire, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky, Szymon Kudranski, Jed MacKay, Saladin Ahmed

Best Artist: Szymon Kudranski. His work on Something Epic was absolutely astounding. His art of those issues stuck with me and made me think of him for this book. It is so realistic that it looks photographic and I find it absolutely beautiful. Runners-Up: Lee Bermejo, John Romita Jr., Elena Casagrande, Werther Dell’Edera, Martin Simmonds.

Best Graphic Novel: Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes. A creative book featuring the iconic detective. Runners-Up: Parasocial, Killadelphia trade paperback. 

Best Issue #1: Something Epic #1. This book inspired me to head out and actually search down as many of the variant covers that I could find. It was such a great issue I felt excited after reading it. Runners-Up: Hellcat #1, Predator versus Wolverine #1, The Deviant #1.

Best Surprise: Predator vs. Wolverine #1. I could not believe that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While the next couple issues were okay at best, this first issue really shocked me with how much I enjoyed it. Runners-Up: Killadelphia, Void Rivals, Transformers

Most Underappreciated: Hellcat. I loved this limited series. I know it did not have the best following, but Patsy Walker had an exciting and enjoyable mystery to solve involving her ex-husband Damian Hellstrom. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Peacemaker: Tries Hard

Best One Shot: Hellfire Gala #1. Big things happened in this book and I was really enjoying it. The Orchis storyline kicked into high gear and the X-Men have yet to recover. Runners-Up: Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1, The Original X-Men #1, Howard the Duck #1.

Best Older Series I Started this Year: Gideon Falls. I absolutely loved this series and it was a big reason why I dove into the independent scene as much as I did. Jeff Lemire created a classic with this 28-issue masterpiece. Runners-Up: Omega the Unknown, Planetary, Ice Cream Man, Howard the Duck, That Texas Blood

Cover of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #35, Cover D. Drawn by Elena Casagrande. 

Comic Character MVPs for 2023: Spider-Man, Optimus Prime, Deadman, Erica Slaughter, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, and Moon Knight.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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We are starting a new weekly post this week. I have said a couple of times during the EYG Comic Cavalcade posts which cover I think is the best one of the week. So I thought that would be a cool weekly post instead of just leaving it in the Cavalcade.

By the way, this is my personal opinion of the favorite cover. I mean no offense to anyone but if you disagree, that is your right.

So…

2023

December

This week’s Favorite Cover comes from Image Comics.

The Deviant #2

It is the Cover A version

The cover art was done by Joushua Hixson

We get a shot of a Christmas tree with an old man staring down at a drink. The sinister Santa in the window behind. The black surrounding around the image on the cover really does a great job of creating a tone for this excellent book, written by James Tynion IV.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians S1 E1 & E2

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“I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”

“I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”

The new Percy Jackson series dropped its first two episodes on Disney + today and I watched them tonight.

What did I think?

It was okay.

Lots of exposition at the start. The introduction of the characters have been decent. The key to the series will be the casting of Percy especially. Walker Scobell, the young star of the Ryan Reynolds film The Adam Project, is playing Percy Jackson. How did he do? Okay, I guess. He seems to be trying hard. He definitely has potential and some charisma. I have liked what he has done before so I have hope.

We just met Annabeth in episode 2, played by Leah Jeffries. Percy, Annabeth and Grover, played here by Aryan Simhadri, and their chemistry is absolutely the key to this series. 

I have to say that the first two episodes were decent enough that I am ready to continue to watch this weekly. It did not blow me away, but I do think there is a lot of potential for this series.

It did look pretty decent. The shot of the Minotaur in episode one was awesome. 

I have not read the Percy Jackson books and I only know this franchise because of the movies, which I know were not great (the first was …okay). I am curious to see where this goes. I have heard that this series is closer to the books by Rick Riordan so we’ll see.

2023 Best Documentary

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Best Documentary

Previous Winners:  Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Scientology Movie, Tickled, Finding Neverland, Tiger King, The Beatles: Get Back, Lights & Magic

I have not actually seen a lot of documentaries this year. I usually enjoy seeing documentaries, and there is no real reason why I have not seen very many. 

So here are my top four…

#4. Stan Lee. This Disney + film was a nice doc about Stan the Man. Almost too much of a puff piece, but enjoyable for fans of the icon. Best part was a radio confrontation between Stan and Jack Kirby. Wanted more like that.

#3. Taylor Swift: The ERAs Tour. Not really a documentary, but a lot of fun. I have never considered myself a Swiftie, but I enjoyed the concert film.

#2. American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes. This Peacock special was really well done. The WWE always puts together the best docs about their wrestlers. This story of Cody Rhodes’ journey was compelling and gave us some true insight on the American Nightmare.

#1. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. An Apple TV + film that brought us into the story of Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, and how his life was affected from it. Michael J. Fox was interviewed extensively for the doc. 

Picket Fences S4 E7

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“Down the Tubes”

John Littleton finally returns to the show after getting shot earlier in the season only to head out the door. Don Cheadle was always too big for the show. He is an excellent actor and he wound up leaving Picket Fences for bigger things in the world of cinema.

Meanwhile, Jill is scheduled for a tubal ligation, which has been driving her crazy. It was leading to some feelings that did not make a ton of sense. 

Then, Jimmy was dancing the polka with Laurie Bay for charity. 

Then, lots of weird things happen from out of nowhere.

  • Jimmy seemed to start having feelings for Laurie.
  • Laurie, by the way, is five months pregnant. 
  • Jimmy sucks at basketball
  • Littleton started laughing during a court case.
  • Littleton had a dream that led him back to Chicago, and his way out of Rome.
  • Jill and Joanna try on wigs.

Things just happened this episode that did not seem to come form anywhere. It felt rushed and chaotic, much like most of season four has felt. 

2023 In Memoriam Part 1

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The In Memoriam 2023 Part 1

Includes:

Robert Blake

Rosalynn Carter

Terry Funk

Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda)

Brett Sawyer

Butch (of the Bushwackers)

Darren “Droz” Drozdov

“Exotic” Adrian Street

The Iron Shiek

Jeff Beck

Angus Cloud

Brooks Robinson

Burt Bacharach

Chris Smith

Gina Lollobrigida

Glenda Jackson

Harry Belafonte

Jay Brisco

Inga Swenson

Jerry Jarrett

Steve Hartwell

“The Genius” Lanny Poffo

Lisa Loring

Mario “Black Warrior” Legendario

Nicholas Coster

Ron Cephas Jones

Moonbin

Ryan O’Neal

Superstar Billy Graham

Sylvia Syms

“The Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski

Yoshio Yoda

The X-Files S2 E7

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“3”

Scully is still missing, as Mulder places her file squarely in the X-Files, now reopened. Solo Mulder heads to LA to investigate a murder that had connections to a series of cases in the X-Files. Cases that have a connection to vampirism.

I did not like this episode very much. The biggest problem with it for me was the relationship that was forced for Mulder and the woman Kristen. I did not buy that for a second and it felt so out of character for Mulder, especially with Scully missing.

David Duchovny was solid but the absence of Gillian Anderson was absolutely felt. Bringing in vampires for this episode was not a good choice. Unlike later in the series where we had a more comedic episode with vampires, this one just never seemed to really work. It played with some of the vampire tropes, but was more of a mess than anything else.

Scully’s absence needed to be played up more than it was. Thankfully, I believe she returns very soon.

2023 Expendables Awards for Acting Excellence

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It is time once again for the Expendables Awards for Acting Excellence. The awards given out to members of the massive cast for their best and worst appearances. And this year we had a new Expendable movie so we’ll see how things go.

Best movie w/Expendable: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Harrison Ford is here and, while the movie is at best fine, it is one of the best of the group of films with these actors in it. 

Best Expendable Actor: Harrison Ford for Shrinking. The Apple TV show that saw Ford as a psychiatrist. His work was really great in this series.

Worst movie with Expendables: Expend4bles. Ironic that the worst of the films this year featuring this group of actors is Expend4bles, which is easily one of the worst movies of this entire year. Even in my review of the film, I said that it would be the worst movie of the year if it had not been for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. This was truly a terrible movie. 

The Bruce Willis Quantity Over Quality Expendables Award for Most Movies Made: Jason Statham. This year, Statham made four movies and, they were all just terrible. Expend4bles and The Meg 2 are among those four and they have a chance to be in the top 5 worst films of the year.

Best Expendable Cameo: Antonio Banderas (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). Banderas was one of the highlights of The Dial of Destiny and I really wish he had stayed around for more in the film. Banderas has actually won Expendable Awards every year for awhile.

Best Expendable with a Giant Shark: Jason Statham. This is an award that was given out the year of The Meg, and now it has returned for this time. 

Best Expendable in Blue Makeup (or CGI face): Kelsey Grammar (The Marvels). The cool cameo in The Marvels post credit scene of Beast from the X-Men FOX universe was mind blowing and hinted at some major mutant fun. 

Picket Fences S4 E6

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“Heart of Saturday Night”

Saturday night in Rome.

What does everybody do when there is nothing to do?

They sit around bored? Like me.

This was not my favorite episode of the series. There was not much to it. It felt very forced in a lot of moments. Jimmy gets his penis stuck in his zipper. Maxine is thinking about buying a vibrator. Matthew spends about the first twenty minutes with his friends driving around chanting “party” in the most annoying way possible. One of Judge Bone’s friends dies at their poker game. Wambaugh wins the pot. 

It just felt very muddled.

There were some sweet moments in there too, so it is not the worst of the episodes, but there just is nothing of note.

Season four has been a real downer so far.

The 2023 EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

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The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

Previous winners:  Stan Lee (Big Hero 6*, Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* ), John Cena (Daddy’s Home), Chris Evans (Thor: The Dark World, Free Guy), Sigourney Weaver (Cabin in the Woods), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: First Class), Yoda (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Harrison Ford (Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick)

Stan Lee was the king of the cameo appearance during all Marvel movies. So this award keeps up the honor of The Man.

Runners-Up: Kelsey Grammer donned his blue makeup to return to Dr. Henry McCoy in The Marvels. Gary Oldman showed up in Oppenheimer. We had a great appearance in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by Antonio Banderas. I wish he had been in the film longer. I’d say a close second was Donald Glover in Across the Spider-Verse. His appearance in the animated show as a live action person was shocking. Tilda Swinton was one of the best parts of The Killer. It was a shock to see George Clooney back as Bruce Wayne in The Flash. Bill Murray was in the Quantum Realm in Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Bradley Cooper showed up in Dungeons & Dragons. Tessa Thompson‘s Valkyrie got a call from The Marvels. 

Winner: Rhea Perlman.

Rhea played a mysterious character in the huge hit Barbie. She turned out to be Ruth Handler, the person who invented Barbie. She had a couple of amazing scenes with Margot Robbie, bringing some of the best, emotional moments of the film. 

2023 The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year

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The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Previous Winners:  Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), In the Heights (2021), Mass (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

This year had a few solid ensemble casts. I generally consider an ensemble cast here as a cast without a main lead, although some of the previous winners did have lead performances too.

Runners-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. A great finale for this franchise within the MCU. Everybody got their awesome final moments. Dungeons & Dragons was a surprise hit of the year, at least critically. Their group of actors worked so well together. Air was another film that did great earlier in the year. The third Poirot film with Kenneth Branagh was the best of the three, A Haunting in Venice. Saltburn had a leading performance, but the ensemble around him was part of the weird film’s strength. 

Winner: Oppenheimer

Sure, you could make an argument that Cillian Murphy is the lead of the film. I mean, it is named after his character. However, there are so many rich and complex characters populating this film that you could argue that this might be one of the best ensemble casts of all time. Oppenheimer was a huge hit and should be heard from again come Oscar time.