The first really great documentary that I have seen this year is now on Apple TV + and features the story of Michael J. Fox and his battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a 90-minute documentary from Davis Guggenheim that looks at the lifespan of actor Michael J. Fox, from a rambunctious child to today, a man struggling against his body and the tremors that come from his diagnosis. All in his own words.
Michael J. Fox shot to fame as the precocious teen Alex P. Keaton on the TV show Family Ties and became a massive movie star with his role in Back to the Future. His recount about the days of filming both of these projects was harrowing at the least. It was a fascinating tale of his early days in Hollywood and the constant struggles of trying to make a living as a young teen/adult.
These early stories were interspersed with imagery from the current day Fox, working with a physical therapist on his movement and walking, telling about times when he would fall or hurt himself.
The doc had an amazing style to it as well. With these details that were told by Fox, the film used images and scenes from past movies and show to illustrate the point being made by Fox and it was a perfect feat of editing. There were so many stories beautifully illustrated by Michael J. Fox’s previous film roles.
Still was both emotional for the viewer and inspirational at the same time. Listening to Michael explain his own feelings during the time when he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, yet battled to prevent his symptoms to be shown. His time hiding the disease from the public had taken a toll on the actor and caused problems with his family.
Yet, with the current face-to-face interviews conducted for the documentary, Fox showed his determination and his stubborn streak, as well as a sharp sense of humor.
This is a difficult film to rate because of the personal nature, but it was a truly well designed, well-structured documentary that reminded us all how much we loved Michael J. Fox and how important we find his story.
I saw a post on Twitter from critic William Bibbiani that had his favorite five movies so far in 2023 and one of them listed was How to Blow Up a Pipeline, a film that I had not heard of before. So when I spotted it on Vudu this weekend, I thought I would check it out.
The independent film from Neon featured a group of environmental activists planned and attempted to blow up a pipeline in protest of the way the pipeline has been affecting the environment.
The film is not just about the act of eco-terrorism, but it also some focus on the characters who were among the crew. It spent a significant amount of time focusing on the individual members investigating the reasons behind their choices.
The ensemble cast do a fine job in bringing these young characters to life in a film that could villainize them. The cast included Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Jayme Lawson, Sasha Lane, Jake Weary and Marcus Scribner as the main group of conspirers.
What I liked was how the film had the group debating how the world would be looking at them in a different manner, even going as far as labeling themselves terrorists. Still, the motives of the group were varied and many of them understandable.
This film would certainly be controversial as it has had some critics claim that it glorifies the destruction of the pipeline and could inspire others in the real world to take up the same efforts. I would say that this film clearly outlines the situations of the characters and does not try to cover up the acts. It is as much about the characters as it is anything else.
The flashbacks that are sprinkled throughout do a great job of getting us invested in theses characters’ motivations.
I thought this was well done and showed the complexities of actions carried out by even the well meaning indiviuals.
I have always been a fan of characters with mental powers, even though they really should all be villains. The fact is there are no powers more designed for corruption than mental powers, especially mind control.
There is a bunch of mind control going on in the new Ben Affleck action/adventure film Hypnotic and, unfortunately, it does not deliver the excitement a decent premise promised, and, instead, turned out to be an overly gimmicked mess.
Ben Affleck played detective Danny Rourke, who was dealing with the guilt over his failure to prevent his young daughter’s kidnapping at a park a few years prior. When he returned to duty, Rourke wound up in a mysterious bank robbery where the main culprit Dellrayne (William Fichtner) is using hypnosis powers to have innocent people carry out his plans. When Rourke discovered that Dellrayne has some connection to his daughter’s disappearance, he is lead to the door of a tarot card reading psychic Diana (Alice Braga), who is more than what she seemed.
Soon, the plot gets convoluted and flipped on its head.
None of this felt real and I was not engaged much with the story. Affleck did not seem to buy into the story either, as I wondered why he was showing such little emotion as a guilt-ridden father. That was actually explained later in a bizarre twist that would have even found M. Night Shyamalan thinking it was too much.
What is real and what is a mind-f*** does not provide the intrigue for this story. There was just too much exposition in a movie that all of that exposition turned out to be wasted.
I did like parts of Alice Braga’s work. She was solid at times, but her character becomes way too confused and tangled. William Fichtner made a fun villain at the beginning when he seemed to be the Terminator-type character that kept coming, but his second half of the movie character could not live up to the beginning.
It was great to see LOST’s Jeff Fahey (aka Frank Lapidus) make a short appearance.
I just did not find this one to be engaging enough and too filled with twists that made me care less for the characters.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful moms out there. This film is advertised as a good film for Mother’s day, even though none of the lead actors of the film are shown as mothers here.
This was a sequel to a surprise 2018 hit movie Book Club starring Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, and Diane Keaton, not to be confused with 80 for Brady which was four older actors including Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno. Honestly, Jane Fonda felt like the same character in both.
Plot synopsis: four older ladies go to Italy. Stuff happens.
That is literally the story here. There were several times when I thought to myself, ‘Is there going to be a narrative?’ and the answer was… no.
Certainly, this movie survives on the back of the four lead actors. Fonda, Bergen, Steenburgen and Keaton are charismatic and likable. Unfortunately, they were given some of the worst dialogue in a movie for while. The film wanted the interactions between the four of them to be the best part of the movie, and it should have been, but it was anything but.
None of this was special, though there were some beautiful shots of the Italian countryside and cities. Everything that you would think would happen in this type of a movie, did happen and it was dull.
To be completely transparent, I did not feel very well in the theater today so I did leave early. I usually do not review films that I do not see all the way through, because it conceivably could get better in the final act, but I feel fairly confident that this was not going to improve.
Secondly, I was in the theater in a row with an older woman who did not seem to be able to stay off of her phone and another group who felt as if they needed to discuss everything that would be going on. Both of these can color my perception of the movie to be fair.
I was not offended by this film and I do like the actors, especially Candice Bergen, but this was not up the the level of these actors. Maybe the ending rescued the lackadaisical film, but I am fairly sure that it did not.
Yesterday was NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at the local comic shop so I was excited. There was a bunch of great new books that I have only slightly made through so far. However, there was something that I had not expected in that pile of new books.
There was one of the best new comics I have read in a long time.
Something Epic #1 came out from Image Comics, written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. I had seen it advertised in Previews a while ago and I added it to the pull list.
What an awesome choice.
I was completely in awe. I loved this so much. I have not felt like this after reading a book in a long time. This book felt like a combination of Spielberg and a classic Oscar-bait film.
The art was truly stunning. It felt as if it were a photograph at times. I was amazed at the beauty of every page. It had a remarkably original style and lay-out. Some pages were full page shots with a ton of monologue while others had no words at all and had multiple small panels that told the visual story. Not only that, but the story continued right up to the back cover. I had never seen that before.
There was also a bunch of different styles of art within, especially from the different creatures that we see throughout the book.
Young 14-year old boy Danny Dillon, who can see Epics all around. Creative thought takes physical form and the Epics are the only ones who can see it. Danny is one of these, however, there is more to this boy’s life besides this as there is something happening with his mother.
A book that celebrates imagination and creativity, Something Epic truly made me excited to be reading comics. It is a gorgeous comic. I got Cover B out of multiple variant covers which was drawn by Tony Daniel and Szymon Kudranski.
I loved this. Can’t wait until #2.
Meanwhile, there were other good books out this week…
Amazing Spider-Man #25. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Kaare Andrews & John Romita Jr. There is an awesome cover on this issue by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. We get some answers about what happened to Mary Jane and how she became a mother. I thought this was pretty decent but I am still not sure if this is how Peter would have reacted to the FF or Cap. Particularly the FF who was always like a family to Peter. Still, apparently #26 is the big one. I’ll be anxious to see where this leads. By the way, there was a fun little backup story with Peter and Black Cat at a wedding called “Welcome to Omaha, Spider-Man.” Written by Rainbow Rowell and drawn by Alvaro Lopez.
Free Comic Book Day: Fishflies #1. Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. This FCBD book was another really cool and lovely horror comic. It was very mysterious and how the fishflies play into the story. This was a great read and does help make me anticipate this new Lemire book more. I have loved most of Jeff Lemire’s work and this seems to be another winner.
Ghostlore #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. This was another awesome new horror book where a family of four winds up in a car wreck and the young girl, Harmony and her reverend father, survived while her mother and brother did not. However, they could still talk to them. The boy, who had not done much speaking, had something to confess and needed them to listen to him. And the boy was not the only one. Very intriguing book.
Daredevil #11. “The Red Fist Saga Part 11.” Written by Chip Zdarsky and featuring art by Rafael De Latorre. Matt Murdock is back to New York and JEEZ does he take an unbeleivable step to try and get the upper hand with the Stromwyns. This was truly a HOLY SH*T moment in a book that has been filled with them over the years.
The Great British Bump-Off #2. “Death by Chocolate Cake.” Script by John Allison and art from Max Sarin. Confusion and misunderstanding abound as the contestants, especially Shauna, try to make a chocolate cake. Shauna has lost her notes on the murder, making her fellow contestants very uncertain about her. This continues to be a fun read.
I am having a good time finding these independent comics to read that are currently being released. I am waiting for Indigo Children #1 to arrive from eBay, which I ordered after picking up Indigo Children #2 at Comic World during Free Comic Book Day. I’m waiting for Where Monsters Lie #3, but I have #4. I should get back to the Image 30th Anniversary Anthology series. I need to wrap up The Silver Coin. Just a bunch of books to read.
I did get some reading done tonight though, knowing that tomorrow is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY. I do hope that the Great British Bump Off shows up in my box tomorrow.
Here was tonight’s books.
Dark Ride #1-5. Written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Andrei Bressan. This is the latest Image Comics book that I picked up to try out, and I really liked it. This started off with a great hook, in black and white, of a man killing and burying his wife. That same man then starts an amusement park centered around horror. What a fun concept and then the book introduces us to a character and kind of hints at him being one of the main characters only to horribly kill him off at the end of issue #1. Loved it. This was just a lot of fun and I am excited to keep reading the series. Have a very creepy Five Nights at Freddy’s vibe.
Middlewest #15-16. Written by Skottie Young and drawn by Jorge Corona. Abel is becoming more confident and starting to organize his friends to set up a plan to escape the slave work that he was trapped in. Not too many more issues of this book and it is clearly working toward a major confrontation with Abel and his father.
The Riddler: Year One #4. Written by Paul Dano and drawn by Steven Subic. The darkness that surrounded the young life of Edward takes an even darker turn in this issue. We see how little Edward could have been saved by Thomas Wayne, but the fates were just against him. I liked this issue more than some of the others. It is really dark.
X-Treme X-Men #4. “Search and Destroy.” Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Salvador Larroca. The de-powered mutants struggle to keep alive against Ogun. Watching Storm, Rogue, Logan, Gambit battling this deadly assassin Ogun without their powers is impressive. Storm is angered over the (perceived) death of Kitty Pryde and is out for vengeance.
Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3. “The Captain We Deserve.” Betsy continues to try and find and stop Morgan Le Fey and to keep her brother alive while doing it. The book has been okay so far, but with Betsy go to see Tony Stark and Morgan sitting upon Dr. Doom’s lap, this look to be picking up soon.
Peacemaker Tries Hard #1. Written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Steve Pugh. I loved the Peacemaker HBO Max series and this comic is clearly trying to cash in on the success of that James Gunn-directed series. This comic has its moments, but a lot of what they do just feels kind of crude. Probably because they do not have the charisma of John Cena on the pages like they do on the screen. Cena gets away with stuff like this because he is so likable. Overall, this issue was decent enough to where I may look for a second issue, but I’m not sure if this is a long term read for me.
Avengers: War Across Time #4-5. Written by Paul Levitz and art by Alan Davis. This five issue series came to a close here as a displaced group of Avengers are traveling time to try and prevent Kang’s latest plan. This is another example of Marvel going back into its past to do a new, original story inside continuity. Honestly, this left me feeling somewhat empty. It was okay, but I think I expect more out of an Avengers book than this.
I really like Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. They are both extremely likable and engaging actors. Unfortunately, their new movie on Apple + does not measure up to their charisma.
Ghosted is a romantic action/adventure spy movie that finds farmer Cole (Chris Evans) thrown into the world of CIA operative Sadie (Ana de Armas) in search of a passcode to open a case that contained a dangerous weapon that arms dealer Leveque (Adrien Brody) is trying to sell.
This film gets by strictly on the two leads and their screen presence. Fact is that the story itself is so dumb that Evans and de Armas cannot elevate this material past the inane plot and silly dialogue.
There is a ton of stars making cameo appearances in this film. Sebastian Stan, John Cho, Anthony Mackie, Tate Donovan, Amy Sedaris, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Blake Nelson, and Anna Deavere Smith all make appearances in minor, or even wasted, roles.
This feels like one of those dumb Netflix movies that drop on the streamer to fill space. The only difference is that this film is on Apple TV +. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are extremely attractive and enjoyable usually, but their work cannot save this one.
Yes, it was this time of the year when the comic companies put out several collectibles that serve as a way to promote their upcoming books or their characters. It has turned into a celebration of the comic book shop and the hobby.
I have not been able to attend a Free Comic Book Day at my comic shop, Comic World in Dubuque because I am usually spending the weekend at the movie theater. However, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being the main film out this weekend, and since I had already seen it on the XD screen at Cinemark on Thursday, I was able to rearrange things so I could go to Free Comic Book Day.
I did start the morning at Phoenix Theaters to watch GotG Vol. 3, but after that, I went to spend some time at Comic World. I knew I had several of the free comics pulled in my box by Todd and so I was excited to see what else I could find.
I hope that all of you out there that went to Free Comic Book Day at your favorite local comic book shop were not just cheap losers who went and picked up the free books and left. This opportunity to help support these shops by picking up some back issues or some supplies is too good to pass. Comic World was even giving discounts on certain things.
I wanted to pick up some kind of complete set, a short series, but there were not very many choices. I did wind up picking on up, but it was one that I never would have thought I would buy. I got some comic bags and boards and a Brzrkr comic box. I appreciate Comic World and I happily will give them my money.
Plus, I was finally able to get a certain ‘white whale’ book that I have been trying to get for the last month or so.
It was a great Free Comic Book Day.
Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1. This gave us some hints at future Spider-Man stories (including Kraven), a bizarre creature Called Flexo in Venom and a hint at Jonathan Hickman’s upcoming Ultimate Invasion.
Free Comic Book Day: I Am Stan #1. The comic was released by a company called Ten Speed Press and featured the work of Stan Lee and his time at Marvel. There was a lot of dialogue in this book, and it was an intriguing look at Stan and how the Marvel method changed comics. This saga continues in September and I think I may be picking it up. FCBD promotion worked for this one.
Free Comic Book Day: Uncanny Avengers #1. This one was quite compelling. Who is Captain Krakoa? How about those giant Iron Man Sentinels? And another Jonathan Hickman tease for a book called GODS. I am looking forward to both of these and I have not been excited for an X-Men related book much recently.
Free Comic Book Day: Dawn of DC- Knight Terrors Special Edition #1. So there is a giant company wide event in DC during July and August that takes the DC line into a horror themed storyline. I do not buy very many DC Comics, but I have to say that this promo is tempting. There was a massive list of comics over those two months, a bunch of two issue mini series. Hm. Do I dare?
Free Comic Book Day: Archie Horror Presents The Cursed Library #0. Grabbed this one off the table. It had not been pulled for me, but I do like the horror comic books. But this was Archie Comics (I’ll come back to that later). This was weird, but okay.
Free Comic Book Day: Spidey and his Amazing Friends#1. This would be a fun book for a young reader, who loved the characters from the Disney Junior TV show. I found this something that I was not interested in, even as a huge Spider-Man fan.
Free Comic Book Day: Marvel Voices #1. The Voices anthology books are fine. I have never been too engaged with these anthologies. This book had some good parts. The Ironheart part was decent and it was great to see Ms. Marvel again.
Marvel Spider-Man 2 #1. Not exactly a “Free Comic Book Day” comic, but it was also a promotional book. I was also not a fan of this book even though I love Spider-Man. It did not feel like the character of Spider-Man felt like Spider-Man. It is hard to explain, but it felt very flat. I will not be reading this Gameverse book moving forward.
Local Man #3. Written by and with art by Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley. One of the recent books that was in my box today. I have enjoyed the first couple of issues of Local Man. This book has been setting a great new world and we continue with the life of Jack, our one time disgraced super hero Crossjack.
And then there was the comic set that I bought today…
Archie vs. Predator #1-4 (no, I’m not kidding). Written by Alex de Campi and pencils by Fernando Ruiz. This was so dumb… and, for some reason, I loved it. It was brutal. All of these Archie characters were having their heads decapitated with their spines pulled out and I was here for it. This was complete camp and total silliness in the very best way. I did not expect this and I was pleased at the results.
White Savior #1-4. FINALLY!!! Written by Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman. Art was provided by Eric Nguyen. As I talked about last Comic Cavalcade, I had been going through a lot of problems trying to get White Savior #4 and I was waiting to read all four issues together. Boy, was the wait worth it! This was fantastic! I loved this book. It was irreverent, funny, shockingly unpredictable. It broke the fourth wall throughout. I was totally captivated by this series and I am so pleased that I finally finished it.
I have been reading more independent comics right now than I ever have before. Some my friend Todd from Comic World call weird. One of these is White Savior, although to say that I am reading this would be inaccurate.
I purchased White Savior #1-3 on Ebay, but I decided to wait on reading the first three issues until I could get my hands on #4, which would complete the series. So I contacted Todd and asked him to order #4 for me, to which he did.
That was at the beginning of April.
I never gave it another thought until I happened to look at the ‘to read’ pile and found White Savior #1-3 and I thought, ‘hey, what happened to #4?’ I investigated and it was released the week before. I inquired again and a second order was placed.
Guess what happened this time.
I asked again, this time in person, and the book had arrived, but still did not find its way into my box. Drew, who had seen it on my list, had his copy… yet mine was nowhere to be seen. I believe that it might just be in my box right now (I’ve seen a photo, but I’ll believe it when I am holding it in may hands).
Perhaps it is finally going to be time to read.
Meanwhile, here are some of the other weird books I have read…
The Great British Bump Off #1. Written by John Allison and drawn by Max Sarin. Who among the new bakers poisoned the unlikable Neal? Shauna believes that she will be able to solve this mystery before anything worse happens. This was funny and I am interested in seeing where their weird Dark Horse comic goes.
Star Signs #1. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Megan Levens. The stars of the Zodiac were destroyed. And strangely enough, Rana Fawaaz has gained a power to freeze time. How does that all relate? Who knows. This was an interesting start and I did like the art (although some of the character’s heads seemed too large).
Scarlet Witch #5. Written by Steve Orlando and with art by Russell Dauterman. Wanda and Scythia battle over Darcy Lewis. And Wanda gets to show off just how powerful she can be. And that last page…whoa!
Moon Knight #23. “Panic Room.” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio. The cover art is from Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg. The new Venom, Dylan Brock, comes to the Midnight Mission looking for help from Moon Knight. I love this Moon Knight series and I did enjoy the inclusion of Dylan Brock, even though I do not read the Venom books.
Spider-Man #8. “Maxed Out: Part One-Clear and Present Danger.” Spidey is frustrated by an inability to save everyone in a fire and it it weighing heavily on his mind. So he approached Norman Osborn to help him adjust his Spider-Sense so it did not just reveal danger that he is in, but also danger to everyone around him. And Electro was here too.
Love Everlasting #7. “Too Hip for Love.” Written by Tom King and illustrated by Elsa Charretier. Joan Peterson is married, a mother and she is losing her grip. She doesn’t understand why things are happening the way they are and she winds up in a hospital.
Groot #1. Written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Damian Couceiro. Lee Garbett was the cover artist. I have always liked Groot, but this book just did not do anything for me. It included a story with Mar-vell and I was not invested in it at all. It was also one of the books set at a different time in the past. I won’t be picking the rest of this up.
Hairball #2. Written by Matt Kindi and drawn by Tyler Jenkins. Matt Kindi also did the cover art. Things are getting worse for everyone. The black cat, Bestie, is finally appearing to Anna to be a danger. Anna talking to her therapist about this cat and how she actually tried to drown the cat, only to see it come back to life. This is an easy read and full of weirdness.
Carnage Reigns Alpha #1. Written by Alex Paknadel and Cody Ziglar featuring art by Julius Ohta. Carnage battling against Miles Morales for one of the first times. Scorpion was here too as the young Spider-Man was taking quite the beating.
When talking about the best trilogies inside the MCU franchise, the argument had always centered around the Captain America movies and the Spider-Man movies. After this weekend, there is another three movie trilogy that needs to be in the conversation and just may be the trilogy to take the mantel.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the wrap up of the James Gunn directed trilogy, arrived in theaters and brought so much emotions, so much great action, so much laugh out loud comedic beats that an argument can be made that this is the best film in the Guardians trilogy, which is saying a lot because I really loved Guardians 1 (and 2 I always thought got a bad rap from some).
Gunn brings to an end this variation of the Guardians of the Galaxy by providing each character in the ensemble their moment in the sun, bringing some outstanding character moments for practically everyone, while penning a film with the emotional core being Rocket (Bradley Cooper)
When something happens, the Guardians are forced to look into the background of Rocket which brings them into conflict with Rocket’s original creator, The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).
I’m keeping most of the plot synopsis short and broad to avoid spoilers, because there are so many awesome beats for every character that I do not want to tip off anything for any viewer. Go into this with the expectation that this is going to be a rocking good time, that it is going to be dark, that Rocket’s past is heartbreaking and that the cast brings it.
Even though all the cast gets excellent moments, Rocket is the center of this film. Bradley Cooper once again brings this CGI creature to life and provides the raccoon with so much heart and soul. Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Dave Bautista’s Drax the Destroyer, and Zoe Saldana’s Gamora all receive some of the best performances of the trilogy in this film and they all get amazing story arcs that pay off huge, without falling into predictability or cliché.
Then, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary is one of the best “worst” villains in any Marvel film. He is so easy to hate. Unlike a lot of Marvel villains who become popular characters and whose plan are even potentially understandable (Loki, Thanos, Killmonger to name a few), The High Evolutionary is just someone that is an evil villain and his cruelty is showed in spades. Iwuji brings this monster to life in a remarkable way, and was consistently chilling.
I heard some critics complaining about the animal cruelty in the film, and there is no doubt that there are some horrendous examples shown, but it all pays into the character of the High Evolutionary and I think those people are just looking for something to complain about.
There are so many laugh out loud moments in the movie and it blends beautifully in with the melancholy aspects of the script. It seamlessly bounces between sad scene and humor effortlessly.
The music, of course, is always a highlight of a Guardians of the Galaxy movie as we receive a bunch of wonderful songs from the playlist of James Gunn. There are a couple of call backs too that make this feel like a perfect close to the trilogy.
That is the clear truth. This film closes the door on this iteration of the Guardians perfectly like few movies can, and it does it in ways that could not be expected.
There are so many emotionally powerful and satisfying scenes that I had tears in my eyes throughout. There were tears of sadness and tear of joy. I legitimately found myself feeling as emotional within the third act of this movie as I did with the third act of Endgame.
I have also seen a lot of complaints about the use of Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. I disagree with this analysis as well. I found Adam Warlock to be used exceptionally well in this film and he received a arc of his own. I can understand how someone who was a big fan of Adam Warlock from the comics might feel disappointed, but, to me, this is just the beginning for this character. The film version is different than the comic version and that is okay. If you bring your own expectations into a character, you can’t complain if they do things in a way that you did not anticipate. The character of Adam Warlock, as written here, works very well and allows the character a ton of potential for growth.
The design and the special effects are amazing. The film is full of color and spectacle.
I haven’t even mentioned Pom Klementieff as Mantis. This is easily the best she has been in any appearance so far. Nathan Fillion’s cameo that was so cheesy and fun. Sylvester Stallone making a return cameo. Groot (Vin Diesel) and his continued growth to tree adulthood. Kraglin (Sean Gunn) is trying to work through his own issues while having a funny running joke with Cosmo (Maria Bakalova). Linda Cardellini provided the voice for Lylla during Rocket’s flashbacks and that character becomes a favorite with really limited number of scenes.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a masterful end to one of the best (if not the best) trilogies in the MCU. I need to see this again, but I think the Guardians of the Galaxy may just be my favorite trilogy of the MCU and that this movie may be my favorite movie of this franchise, placing very high in the overall MCU list of films. It surpassed my very hefty expectations. Congratulations to James Gunn and all the actors of this franchise. I certainly wish Gunn all the success over at DC.
What happens when you take a character similar to John Wick, set him in the ending days of World War II, and give him even less dialogue? You get a Finnish film called Sisu.
Sisu is a Finnish word that cannot be fully translated, but it can be roughly translated into English as “strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.”
Aatami (Jorma Tommila) was a former soldier who had left the military and began prospecting for gold in the Lapland wilderness. When he struck the motherload, he began to travel to the city to cash in the nuggets. However, he crossed paths with a troop of Nazis who was being forced to leave and were scorching the land on their way out.
Finding out that Aatami had gold, the Nazi troops decided to pursue him, not knowing the legend that this man was.
Jorma Tommila, who was nearly silent when comes to dialogue, gave an amazing performance with his facial expressions and his body language. He was a great protagonist that was easy to cheer for even though he seemed to be more powerful of a character than any super hero.
This movie was remarkably brutal and gory. Some of the kills from Aatami were painful and had me gasping. There were shocks that I just was not ready for as they happened. This absolutely reminded me of the John Wick series as Keanu Reeves had the same type of brutal fight and kill scenes as this was. However, the character of Aatami was injured and survived so many situations that should have killed him. There had to be some suspension of disbelief to not roll your eyes. The film does pull off most of the weird situations that did not pull me out of the film.
Violent and gory, Sisu was a lot of fun and you can never go wrong with killing some World War II Nazis. Aatami is treated like a myth and he pulls that off.
It is May already as the year is flying by. It is just a few days away until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is released and I am very excited about that. The school year is down to about a month remaining before summer break. And the weather outside is improving.
Overall, lots of great things to look forward to and the Comic Cavalcade is filled with those as well.
Here we go…
No/One #2. Written by Kyle Higgins & Brian Buccellato with art by Geraldo Borges. Two issues in and I love this book. The mystery of who is the new No/One is rich and layered and the pathway for Ben Kern is completely engaging. I’m getting the vibe that something is heading for a twist in this story and I am totally here for it. This has just been completely entertaining and I can’t wait for the next issue.
The Ambassadors #3. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Travis Charest. So far, this has been an okay read. It is not as gripping as No/One has been, but it is a novel premise and an intriguing follow through. This issue we are introduced to Codename France and her sidekick (and son) Paris. However, there were some minor hints in the book that something more than just the intro of the new characters is going to be happening soon. I am interested enough to keep progressing with this.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Bane of Blastaar #1. “The World at my Fingertips” Written by Ralph Macchio and drawn by Davide Tinto. Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg did the art on the cover. This one-shot is another Marvel story that is set back in continuity, and, honestly, I found this one boring. I like all these characters, but I just did not have any feelings for the situation and Blastaar has never been one of my favorite villains.
Middlewest #11-13. Written by Skottie Young with art by Jorge Corona. Everything has started to pick up in this story since Abel met his grandfather and discovered that he had the same curse as he and his father had. Abel had become angry and mean, sending Fox off and heading in his own direction. He wound up captured and forced to be a child slave, and the troupes are on their way to help him. I am continuing to work my way through this fantasy-feeling book and I have started to really enjoy it.
Thor #33. “Blood of the Fathers Part Three.” Written by Torunn Grønbekk and drawn by Juan Gedeon. Nic Klein was the cover artist on this book. This arc of Thor has not been one of my favorites even though it includes Thanos and Dr. Doom. I mean.. it’s fine, but I am not desperately waiting for the next book to see where the story is heading.
Deadpool #6. “Valentine’s Day.” The relationship between Deadpool and Valentine has been a lot of fun, a was watching them on their date. This issue was very clever and used these characters in excellent ways. The use of Lady Deathstrike as a person Wade could bounce romantic ideas off was just inspired. Deadpool has always been up and down for me, but this current series has most definitely been an up.
Grim #10. “Chapter Ten: Life.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano. Jessica continues with her struggles to become the new Grim Reaper and trying to find and save her friend who had been taken to Hell. Grim is consistently entertaining and has some creative ideas behind it.
Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #5-6. Written by Josh Trujillo and drawn by Adrian Gutierrez. I really enjoyed the conclusion to this mini series. The book took a different way than most comics wrap up and I really appreciated the choice. Jaime took some huge steps forward and seeing the big guns of DC deciding to back the Blue Beetle instead of battle him was an awesome way to go. I’m not sure how I felt about the other Beetles introduced here, but the ending was still fun and something you do not see that much. I also loved the variant cover (cover B) that I picked up. This cover was drawn by Bruno Redondo. This series also made me curious to pick up the next Blue Beetle series in September.
Welcome to another special edition of the EYG Comic Cavalcade where I focus on Image Comics series Nocterra. I read issues #3-13 today, along with the Nocterra: Blacktop Bill Special #1.
I have no idea why I had been buying Nocterra. It was on my pull list and I had been buying them and putting them in the piles around the house. When I started off with the Comic Catch-Ups, I sorted through a bunch of the books, finding the issues of Nocterra. I assume that I saw it advertised in Previews and asked for it to be pulled. I do not remember doing it, but that is the only reason it could be happening. I certainly wasn’t picking it up off the stands every month. I hardly knew anything about it.
Then, as I started reading these back issues, I read issue #1 and I loved it. I was so engaged with the new world that they had introduced and intrigued by the originality of the setting. A lot of independent books these days have some kind of post-apocalyptic world as a setting and a lot of those get repetitive. The world of Nocterra, an the other hand, is creative and one of a kind.
Issue #2 was just as great and I was hooked. That was when I decided that I would hold off on reading any more of the issues until I could sit down with the remaining 11 issues (+the special one) and do a full series read.
That time was this afternoon.
I love the characters in this book. Val and her brother Em are top notch protagonists and Val’s sacrifice that lead to her physical transformation in issue #11 was a cool twist. The remainder of the members of the Sundogs balance things out. Admittedly, the secondary members are not major players at this point, outside of Bailey.
Blacktop Bill. Maybe the best villain introduced in comic in years. The design of the character is just exceptional, creating such an awesome looking bad guy. He reminded me a lot of Spike from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, especially while he was ‘working with’ the Sundogs.
Blacktop Bill was so great of a character, they even gave him a special issue of his own, as they looked at the background of the character. I did enjoy the way they displayed the characters, keeping his face in the shadows, even before he was covered with the Nano coating.
Scott Snyder has written the entire series so far. Snyder has been fairly well known for his work on DC Comics, in particular Batman. Admittedly, he did write the Dark Nights: Metal stuff which I did not like at all, but the Batman Who Laughs is a fun character who probably inspired or was inspired by Blacktop Bill.
The art has been handled by Tony S. Daniel, who also did a lot of work for DC. His art has been extraordinary in Nocterra so far. The themes of light and dark are used extremely well in the art. Technically, Denys Cowan was the credited artist for the Blacktop Bill Special.
The arcs so far have all been awesome. I will say that I hope the comic keeps moving forward. I do hope that they are not just going to be always trying to save the world from the darkness with Bailey and the formula that she memorized, created by her grandfather, Augustus. That feels like something that needs to eventually be paid off or it would feel as if the book is just keeping the goal post moving.
I am also totally engaged in the current flashbacks involving Em and what his birth parents did to him. His backstory of traveling to see his birth parents in #13 left me yelling for more as it ended with a cliffhanger.
This is a book that I do not know why I started buying, but I am so glad that I did. It is currently one of my favorite non-Marvel books that I am purchasing, right up there with the James Tynion IV books and No/One.
It had been quite a while since the first season of Sweet Tooth on Netflix dropped. It was so long ago that I simply hadn’t remembered a second season was coming, and I was shocked when I saw that season two of Sweet Tooth, the show based on a comic from writer Jeff Lemire, showed up on the streamer service.
Christian Convery played Gus, aka Sweet Tooth, after appearing in the big screen movie Cocaine Bear (as one of the biggest scene stealers in the show). Convery does a fantastic job as the titular character in this series and he brings such a solid emotional feel for the character and a more mature and powerful presence.
I was a little disappointed that the show kept Gus and “Big Man” Jepp, as played by Nonso Anozie, apart for such a length of time this season. It made me think of the old days back when LOST would go out of their way to keep Jin and Sun away from each other. However, this show picked up dramatically when Gus and Jepp reunited. The interaction between the two is one of the most vital parts of Sweet Tooth.
The villains of this season were very compelling and menacing. General Abbot, played by Neil Sandilands, easily advanced this character into a horrible person with selfish plans. But even worse is Dr. Aditya Singh, played by Adeel Akhtar, whose scientific research into a potential ‘cure’ for the Sick took him to some dark places and, even if his motives are pure, his actions are much like many of the mad scientists we have seen before. He has lost plenty this season and he seems to be even more obsessed in Gus and the other hybrids.
The secondary hybrid characters were cute and had their moments during the season, but they were definitely in the background. There were some shockingly cringy special effects during the season, especially with the arrival of an alligator-hybrid child named Peter. Some of these effects were a drawback to the story and pulled me out of it.
The show effectively used flashbacks to further the story, especially the origin of Gus and what had happened to his mother Birdie (Amy Seimetz)
The finale for this season did have a cruel misdirect that I did not appreciate much. When they made it look as if Gus had been shot and killed by Abbot, only to reveal that the funeral they were having was for Aimee (Dania Ramirez), who had contracted the Sick, was a cruel trick.
Season three is clearly set up as the group is headed off to Alaska to try and find Birdie. Hopefully, it won’t be as long of a wait between seasons this time.
There have been many variations of the story of Peter Pan in cinema, some okay, some terrible and a few really good ones. No matter how many times this story has been told, it seems as if they insist on trying it again. There is a new film on Disney + telling the story of Neverland, Peter Pan & Wendy.
This film does take some distinct liberties with the story, and I really liked that. Without spoilers, this movie does define the relationship and background between Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) and Captain Hook (Jude Law) in a way that I have never seen before and I found it an excellent twist.
We also get Wendy (Ever Anderson) being much more of a kick ass character than I had seen before. There were also some female characters in the Lost Boys, which have sent the Internet woke mob into a frenzy. The Rotten Tomatoes Audience score was 20% meaning that there were plenty of those complainers review-bombing the show because there is no way this was that low of a score. The critic rating was in the upper 60%, making it fresh. I just do not understand why people get in such a tizzy over something that make so little difference.
Anyway, Alexander Molony’s work as Peter Pan was fine, but I was not blown away by him. His work was passable, and was stronger at the very end, but I have seen better Pan performances. However, Jude Law’s Captain Hook was outstanding. Law embedded Hook with more character depth than we have seen in almost any other version and you could understand why Hook was the way that he was. I really dug that about this movie.
I will say that the tone of the film had some inconsistency throughout. It would go from dead serious to almost too lighthearted/campy. Jim Gaffigan as Smee was one of the biggest perpetrators of this.
This version played up the tragic nature of Peter Pan and his refusal to grow up, making it a figurative albatross around his neck. This Peter Pan was much more of a darker character with less of a heroic nature, even if in the end he was an adventure-hound. I found the new take on these characters one of the best parts of this movie.
Overall, there were a lot of goodness in this movie and I enjoyed the original takes on Peter, Hook and Wendy. The film looked great, even if the portrayal of Neverland was darker than we’ve seen it before. The scenes with the crocodile were fun and exciting and the swordplay between characters, especially Peter and Hook, was top notch.
Definitely a worhtwhile film to watch on Disney +. Would I have thought differently if I had paid money to see it in a theater? Hard to say, but as a streaming film, Peter Pan & Wendy was a worthy watch.
