Tag Archives: disney

A Disturbance in the Force (2023)

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June 24, 2024

A Long, Long Time Ago… in a Galaxy far away… Well, maybe not that far away.

Few fandoms are as currently as toxic as the Star Wars fandom. Not to put down the entire group of people for the divisiveness of some, but there is no denying that Star Wars fans lean towards hyperbole. One only needs to look at the discourse surrounding the new Disney + series, The Acolyte, to understand it.

However, the Star Wars universe had something once that is both beloved and reviled unlike anything else. It was something that George Lucas himself wanted to see banished from the canon of his creation. It was something that Star Wars fans desperately tried to see for decades… a badge of honor among those who truly called themselves Star Wars aficionados.

The Star Wars Holiday Special.

So today’s June Swoon focused in on a documentary from Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak all about the creation of and response to on of the most infamous TV specials of all fandom.

Between the release of Star Wars and Empire Strikes back, the CBS network wanted a Star Wars special to broadcast over the holiday season and they turned it into a variety show, featuring Chewbacca’s family as well as Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman and Art Carney. It aired once and then disappeared, only to be seen by those who could find a bootleg copy.

This documentary included clips of all of the Star Wars performers, including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher with their thoughts on the special. Harrison Ford’s responses are always the most entertaining as he is clearly hoping the special would disappear forever.

There were also interviews of a ton of famous people in the geek community giving their comments and thoughts on the special including such notable stars as Kevin Smith, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Bobcat Goldthwait, Seth Green, Paul Scheer, Donny Osmond, Gilbert Gottfried, and Patton Oswalt. There were a lot of interviews with people involved in the creation of the special including Bruce Vilanch, Mick Garris, Bob Mackie among others.

Though the doc certainly says that this special was bad, there was items included that show how some people, particular those who may have seen the special as a child, loved the show. Jon Favreau is an unapologetic fan of the special and they showed how he included Easter eggs from it in The Mandalorian. The clips from the animated section of the special was shown as the first place we saw Boba Fett.

The documentary was very funny and gave real opinions of people who were desperate at the time for content in the Star Wars community. One wonders what the fandom today would do if something like the Star Wars Holiday Special were to be released on Disney +. The review bombing that would happen would be generational.

All Star Wars fans should be looking for this documentary, which I rented on Amazon Prime. If you are interested in how something like this able to be created, you should check this out. It was highly entertaining and an easy watch.

Inside Out 2

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Inside Out is one of my favorite Pixar films of all time. If it weren’t for Toy Story 3, I think it would be the undeniable champion. Even still, it is in the argument. So, I did feel some wonder about a sequel to such a film that I found so beloved.

Rest easy. Inside Out 2 is wonderful. A beautiful film ripe with emotion and a cleverness that many films lack. It may not have the emotional wallop of “Take her to the moon for me, okay” from the original, but there are plenty of deep emotional beats that form together into a wonderful tapestry of what it is like to be a teen in the middle of puberty.

Riley is back, just turning 13 years old and life has tossed some conflict her way. And because of that, there are a group of new emotions arriving in the Control Center, immediately clashing with Joy and the others.

Inside Out 2 has such creativity and imagination with adapting feelings into these personified characters that is so very impressive. Each character has exceptional design and fit right in with the returning Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness.

The returning voice actors are great, including Amy Poehler, Lewis Black, and Phyllis Smith. Tony Hale, who replaced Bill Hader as Fear, and Liza Lapira, who replaced Mindy Kaling as Disgust, do wonderful work as well. Our new voices which include Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui and Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment are great additions.

Pixar animation is always top notch and this is just another example of that. The look of the film is visually stunning and gives everyone something to enjoy while watching.

The story is excellent as well as it focuses on Riley at a three day hockey camp. Something happened on the way to the camp that triggered Riley and her emotions have to work overtime in order to make things right, or as Anxiety tries to do, plan out her entire future.

The story of Riley is simple enough that anyone can relate to what she is going through. As a new teenager, this kind of news can be earth shattering and absolutely makes sense as to why Riley is affected as she was.

The movie is so cleverly written and is very funny throughout. It never feels as if it is just repeating the same formula of the original even though several of the beats could be considered alike. Everything inside Riley’s mind has changed enough from the previous film so to make this trip back there something feeling fresh and original.

Yes, there is no Bing Bong type moment, but I think the overall story may be stronger than the previous one. I certainly found the finale to be exceptional and I had tears in my eyes watching it.

For anyone who was claiming that Pixar had lost that magic, this should take that comment away. Inside Out 2 is an exceptional movie for both kids and adults and is probably the best movie of the year so far.

5 stars

Jim Henson Idea Man

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Director Ron Howard brought the new documentary of EYG Hall of Famer Jim Henson to Disney + today, and it was lovely, showing the magic that this amazing man brought to the world through his creations.

The Muppets have been one of my favorite IPs for decades. I remember coming home from elementary school to watch the Muppet Show. It was a seminal show for my childhood, and Jim Henson was the driving force behind it.

The loving manner in which Ron Howard moved us through the early years of Jim Henson right up to his death was beautifully conceived and joyous to watch.

With interviews from the Henson kids, Frank Oz, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Connolly, and other Muppet performers combined with older and newer clips of Jim Henson himself, the documentary does an excellent job of giving the story of genius.

The section of the documentary that spoke about the death of Jim was especially affecting, and the clips from the funeral from the group of speakers was very emotional and seeing Big Bird sing “It’s Not Easy Being Green” was an amazing tribute. I was unaware that Henson passed away at age 53, which is simply too young. The mind boggles at what this creative genius could have accomplished if he had spent more time on the earth.

The doc went into his time on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and his feature films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Some of his early short films were fascinating to see and illustrated what a creative force Jim Henson could be. It was a wonderful love letter to the legacy of this man who was responsible for so much entertainment during his life.

The doc pushes all of the nostalgia buttons while still providing an engaging look at his life and career and how much he affected the world. This is an excellent documentary on an amazing individual.

4.6 stars

Percy Jackson and the Olympians S1 E8

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“The Prophecy Comes True”

I was unaware that this would be the season one finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I had it in my head that the show would be 10 episodes. I don’t know why, but I did not anticipate that tonight was the final episode on Disney +.

Of course, it made everything happening during the last seven episodes make more sense. I did think that some of the episodes were rushing through their stories, but with this being the finale, I understood that more.

I also did not anticipate the late , great Lance Reddick showing up as Zeus in one of his final TV appearances before his way-too-soon death last year.

Percy stepped up big time in this episode. When he had his showdown with Adam Copeland’s Ares, I thought that was cool, but as he marched himself off to Mt. Olympus to go face to face with Zeus, well, that took some guts. 

I really think Walker Scobell showed some serious progression of his skills over this season. You could see the confidence in the young actor as the character became more his with each episode. To the point where he was absolutely a leader and a hero by the finale.

Season one was a lot of fun and I was surprised how much I looked forward to a new episode every Tuesday night. I did not miss a Tuesday night and I sure do hope that this will receive another season promptly. 

Oh, and the tag at the end of the episode….gold!

Echo

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Everybody thought this series was going to be an utter mess. They said that Disney was dropping the episodes all in one day because they just wanted to get it done with and past it. Echo was supposed to be a waste of time.

This turned out to be an excellent five episode show. 

I was not a fan of the character of Echo in the Hawkeye series. She was probably the weakest point of that series and felt almost added in.

This show does a sensational job of taking some of the Maya scenes from the Hawkeye and blending them into the series, particularly the first episode. The tone of these scenes felt completely different and worked in the surrounding sections.

I liked the progression of Maya and her character. She was cold at the beginning and as she slowly accepted her Choctaw Nation generations. Alaqua Cox did a fabulous job as Maya Lopez, unable to speak, but still using facial features and body language to provide an understanding of the character.

The supporting characters in this show are very interesting and are some of the best written characters. Maya’s childhood friend Bonnie, her grandparents Skully (played by the wonderful Graham Greene) and Chula, her cousin Biscuits and his dog Billy Jack, her friend Henry and, of course, her ‘uncle’ Wilson Fisk.

Vincent D’Onofrio returned to form as Kingpin. He is always so great as this character. Lots of people hated his Wilson Fisk from the Hawkeye series, but I did not mind it. It was not as good as his appearances in the Daredevil Netflix series, but characters can be different. Here, he is closer to the way he was in that Netflix series. The connection of Kingpin and Maya was a major piece of the show.

The Echo series took a lot of criticism for dropping the shows all at once, but this feels as if the show was designed to be binged and it works that way.

This also makes the Netflix Daredevil series MCU cannon, which has been questionable over the years. They go right into the Wilson Fisk backstory with his father (how he bludgeoned him to death with a hammer). Oh and the first episode fight with Daredevil was spectacular.

I will say that I feel as if the final episode was a little rushed. I did like how the Maya-Fisk relationship ends up resolving. I’m not sure if I liked how the ‘Echo gives the others power too to fight’ because it seemed to be kind of add.

However, for the five episode series, I think Echo is an excellent series and was better than I thought it was going to be.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians S1 E5

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“A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”

As a fan of the WWE, I was looking forward to seeing Adam Copeland, a former WWE wrestler under the name of Edge, appear on tonight’s Percy Jackson episode on Disney +. Copeland was playing God of War Ares on the show. He did a great job providing Ares with some quirky traits.

However, Percy and Annabeth went on a side adventure to recover Ares’s shield as the God of War kept Grover as insurance. 

Grover showed he was smarter than Ares as he was able to suss out (at least, according to the cliffhanger) who it was that stole the master bolt. I guess that Grover will let us in on the secret next week.

Percy and Annabeth are really bonding, much more than either of them expected. 

They found themselves in an amusement park created by Hephaestus. There was a trap that Percy had to trigger in order to get the shield, but Annabeth would not give up on him and talked Hephaestus into freeing Percy.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been a consistently good show every week, with a cast of charming and engaging young actors and some fun appearances by Olympians. It looked like the previews for next week has Lin-Manuel Miranda showing up as Hermes.

The quest continues in Vegas!

Top 30 TV Shows of 2023

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There are so many TV shows! It is impossible to watch everything.

This is my list of 30 TV shows that I have watched this year from 30 to 1.

#30. Secret Invasion (Disney +). I wasn’t going to put this on the list, but there were enough moments in the show to be enough for this list. Much of the one on one scenes were decent. The rest of the story was lacking.

#29. Bonus Action Vol. 1 (YouTube). Jay and Adam play D&D with their friends and it was great. Surprisingly great characters with development. Watched on YouTube.

#28. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney +). I have only seen two episodes so far (waiting for #3 tonight). Good so far.

#27. Goosebumps (Disney +). RL Stein’s classics were reimagined for this Disney + series. Justin Long starred. This was okay, up and down.

#26. Whose Line is it Anyway (CW). I wish I could see this more, but it sneaks past me. Ihave to catch it on the app if I can. It is in its last season with the regular cast.

#25. American Horror Story: Delicate (FX). First half of the season aired near the end of 2023. Typically creepy horror show. Having to do with pregnancy.

#24. The Muppets Mayhem (Disney +). Muppet series featuring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. This was fun and had some great music. Loved Janis’s version of True Colors.

#23. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV +). Godzilla has some cameos. Follows two groups of humans, one group in 2015 and one in 1954. The 1954 group is more interesting.

#22. Bodies (Netflix). Limited series on Netflix, based on a graphic novel. Four time periods, same body. Mystery on how this is possible.

#21. Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix). Amalgam of Edgar Allan Poe’s best stories in a new series that watches a group of men and women from the same family die and the patriarch confess.

#20. Invincible (Amazon Prime). One of the top animated shows on TV. It only had 4 episodes in 2023, with the rest of the season two in 2024. Violent and dramatic.

#19. Silo (Apple TV +). Futuristic, apocalyptic drama where humanity has taken up residence inside a giant silo to protect themselves from the environment. Or is there something else going on?

#18. Schmigadoon (Apple TV +). Musical. Season two used classic musicals such as Hair, Chicago, Sweeny Todd as inspiration. Darker. Very funny. 

#17. The Mandalorian (Disney +). Season three was not as awesome as past seasons, but it still has Pedro Pascal and Grogu. 

#16. Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix). Another series that I have recent started and have yet to finish. Amazing animation and a deep character. Love this.

#15. The Rookie (ABC). The ABC drama featuring Nathan Fillion continues to be entertaining after four seasons. Fillion shouldn’t be considered a rookie any more.

#14. The Bear (FX). Fantastic show that takes place inside a restaurant. At least, the rebuilding of a restaurant. Stars Jeremy Allen White.

#13. Shrinking (Apple TV +). Jason Segal and Harrison Ford star on this drama/comedy about psychiatrists and the troubles they face in life, specifically dealing with loss.

#12. Poker Face (Peacock). Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale who has a special power… she can tell if someone is lying. Case of the week style… from Rian Johnson.

#11. Fargo (FX). Season five of the series has been kicking some butt… particularly by Dorothy “Dot” Lyon, a housewife who is more than what she seems. Jon Hamm stars too.

#10. Monday Night RAW (USA). RAW has really improved this year. There was a time not too long ago that I was thinking about not watching RAW. It is now appointing viewing with CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes etc.

#9. Friday Night Smackdown (FOX). More WWE action with the show that rode the Bloodline storyline all year long. There were some moments in that storyline that could have been Emmy worthy. Acknowledge Smackdown.

#8. Ted Lasso (Apple TV +). The final (?) season of the show had its ups and downs, but usually was hilarious and it gave us a satisfying conclusion. 

#7. What If…? (Disney +). The MCU telling stories about what might have happened. The What If.. Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? and What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? are two of the best episodes of the whole series, let alone season 2.

#6. Gen V (Amazon Prime). The Boys spin-off, featuring as many shocks and gory moments as its parent show. There are some wonderful characters that are less corrupt as the Boys.

#5. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). Third season brought both Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep to the show involving a mystery centered around Oliver’s Broadway show. Some great music coming from it too.

#4. Jury Duty (Freevee). One person on a jury is a real person and the rest are actors. The court case is not real. How will things go? This is exceptionally funny and engaging. James Marsden appears on the show.

#3. The Last of Us (Max). Maybe the best video game adaptation of all time. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey play Joel and Ellie, two people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Emotionally devastating.

#2. One Piece (Netflix). Live action Manga with a group of characters that are the key to this show. The chemistry of this crew, led by Monkey D. Luffy, played by the charismatic Iñaki Godoy, is the most important part of the series. Creative, fun and thrilling.

#1. Loki (Disney +). The God of Mischief is back with more time traveling hijinks. Loki is desperately trying to save the TVA from being destroyed and, in the same way, save the multiverse. Tom Hiddleston has mastered this character after all these years of playing Loki and his chemistry with Owen Wilson’s Mobius is amazing. Their friendship takes this series to a different level. The end of episode four may be the most shocking cliffhanger ever.

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 The John Carter Memorial Award

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Flop.

It is a term that gets thrown around a lot in the world of movies. At times it is really a matter of opinion. Others it is painfully apparent as to whether a film has flopped. Sadly, 2023 saw more than its share of flops.

Truthfully, even some of the better movies of the year could be considered a flop this year because of the way the box office seems to be going. I know that there will be some films on my Top 30 films list of the year that would be considered a flop. It has been a tough year.

Even the juggernaut of film companies, Disney, has lost its share of money on movies this year. If it can happen to Disney, it can happen to anyone.

The excess of streaming services can be blamed for some of these flops. Who wants to go to the theater when they can just wait a few months and see the film on Disney + or on Max?

The John Carter Memorial Award is given to the film chosen by EYG as the biggest flop of the year. This year was a tough decision.

Past years had some tough choices too.

John Carter Memorial Award

Previous winners:  John Carter, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Lone Ranger, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Expendables 3, Jem and the Holograms, Pan, Rock the Casbah, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Robin Hood (2018), Mortal Engines, Playmobil: The Movie, The Rhythm Section, Reminiscence, Strange World  

This year had plenty of runners-up.

Dis-Honorable mention: One of the reasons that these films are considered flops is the size of the budget. Some of these movies just spent too much money and had no chance of making it back. One example was the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which was a decent movie, but it seemed as if no one was going to go see it. Certainly not enough to make up a budget of reportedly 294.7 million dollars, not counting marketing. Another film with a budget too high was the first official flop of the MCU, The Marvels. I liked that movie a lot, but it did not make it to $100 million domestically. Killers of the Flower Moon also did not make much money domestically with a considerably larger budget than this type of film usually has. Shazam: Fury of the Gods did not succeed on building on a successful first film. Disney’s latest film Wish should have done much better business than it did, just showing that Disney is struggling to put together that classic animated hit. Big George Foreman only made $5.7 million worldwide on a $32 million dollar budget. I did not see it either. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One was one of the best films of the year, but it just did not make much moolah.

Of all of these, though, there is one that should have been way more successful and should have been a lynchpin of the films this summer. 

Winner: The Flash  

This was a huge DC Comics film, featuring one of the top characters of the company. The Flash had a nine year TV show preceding this. And yet, it was as if everything was playing against The Flash for Warner Brothers. Starting with the craziness of its star’s life over the last couple of years. Ezra Miller made headlines with his behavior and it reflected poorly on The Flash. Though not the sole reason for this film’s downfall, it did play a part. Secondly, the film was not very good. It had some parts that were solid, but a film that saw the return of Michael Keaton as Batman should never have had this much trouble. Third, everyone knew that this was a film that was staggering to the end as the whole DCEU was being revamped into the DCU by James Gunn and this film would not go on. 

I’ve always liked the Flash. He is one of my top DC characters. This was, at best for me, okay and I could see the numerous problems with it. I never would have guessed that it would only make $55 million opening weekend. 

That makes this the John Carter Memorial Award winner for 2023.