Previous Winners:Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Inside Out 2
We had a really great year for animation this year. In fact, I usually connect this with the Worst Animation movie too, but I could not find one that I hadn’t given a fresh review to so I am just giving the Frame Award out. All positives here and that is great.
(Of course, I did not see Smurfs, which probably would have been that place.)
2025 Animated Movies: There are a couple of films that I would not put on the list which would be Elio and Stitch Head. Both are acceptable films. Elio might be considered weak if you used the Pixar metric to judge it, but other wise, it was decent.
Top 9 animated films of 2025.
#9. Dog Man. I did not like the trailers for this, but the film itself was decent.
#8. Ne Zha 2. This made almost 2 billions worldwide, but almost nothing in the US. Fun flick though.
#7. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Loony Tunes Movie. This was fun, but I would have rather had Bugs Bunny than Daffy and Porky. Still, it was Loony Tunes goodness.
#6. In Your Dreams. A good film on Netflix that deals with family issues (specifically divorce).
#5. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. One of the most recent animated films that surprised me with how funny I found it. Mark Hamill always helps.
#4. Bad Guys 2. A sequel that was just about as good as the original with some fun characters in wild situations.
#3. Predator: Killer of Killers. The Hulu animated film in the Predator franchise. It really was a solid film and led into the badlands films brilliantly.
#2. K-Pop Demon Hunters. A film that should not have been this high on my list, but it had exciting story, great music and beautiful animation.
and #1….
Zootopia 2
This is possibly the highest grossing film of the year (we will see how Avatar ends up), but Zootopia has broken the billion dollar club and is just a really awesome story as well. The voice acting is tremendous and it is a really solid film in the Disney studios.
Dr. Robby kept saying in episode 11 that there was only two hours left in the shift, but I knew there were still multiple hours of episodes remaining. I did not know what was going to happen.
And then all hell broke loose.
Some of the most unbelievably intense, stressful stretches of television that I have ever seen. The whole active shooter storyline came back around and slammed everyone at the ER in one massive blast.
I get the feeling that David, the boy who had the hit list back at the beginning of the day was not the culprit of this shooting. It may seem a bit contrived, but I believe it is all coincidence. When David strolled back to the hospital to pick up his mom, he did not seem like someone who just shot dozens of people.
Either way, this series of episodes was amazing, in the most difficult and painstakingly horrendous ways possible.
Who would have thought that the high pressure baby delivery in episode 11, with Dr. Collins working it after suffering her own miscarriage, would be the low stress scene of these three episodes. That whole baby thing was just anxiety-filled and I was begging the screen to save the baby.
Then, it went crazy.
Watching the hospital prepare for the mass shooting before the victims arrived was fascinating. I wonder if that is the way most/all hospitals respond to an emergency like that? They knew what had to happen and they turned their ER into a MASH unit. I have never quite seen anything like it.
Then, Robby cracking at the end of episode 13 brought one more scene for Noah Wylie’s Emmy roll, with all the weight of the deaths of the day, compounded by this horrible triage situation, and trying to explain to his step-son (of sorts) how he could not save the girlfriend.
I can’t imagine what would be going through the minds of those doctors and interns who were having their first day on the job before everything went to crap. They all were having their moments during the chaos.
The first season is down to just two episodes remaining, which does not seem to be enough to manage everything that the show has set up. This makes me feel that there will be plenty of things dangling at the end of the season, when this day finally comes to a close.
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, Deadpool & Wolverine), 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), Rhea Perlman (Barbie)
SPOILERS
I am adding a spoiler tag to this award because the winner of The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo of the Year Award came from a movie that I just saw and has not been out for a long time. So if you are wanting to see this certain movie and you do not want this cameo spoiled, please skip this award for the moment.
Stan Lee was the master of the cameo. He is a three time winner of this award and, of course, had it named after him. A cameo can be a great thing. It can be a sudden surprise, something that you couldn’t believe. It could be something that made the scene perfect. It could be an amazing Easter egg. It could be an inside joke that only some of the audience may get. Or it could be the appearance of a celeb or a character that shows how much respect or love they have for the content in which they are appearing.
I actually was not anxious to do this award, despite it being one of my favorites and one of the oldest we had. The reason is I do not have a great deal of cameos in movies this year. There are actually several big ones in TV (which we’ll give out with the More TV Awards later this weekend), but the movies were light for me.
Naked Gun had a couple of good ones. Dave Bautista appeared in a fun joke, replacing Liam Neeson for a bit of the film. Weird Al was in that film too. I considered giving it to Al because he has been in so many of the Naked Gun films over the year. Bradley Cooper appeared in Superman as Jor-El, which was unexpected. John Cena’s Peacemaker was also in Superman. Sarah Michelle Geller appeared in the reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but that film was such a mess that I wouldn’t want to give this award for that. Then there was William Zabka at the very end of the Karate Kid Legends, which was a fun shout out to Cobra Kai.
None of these were very impactful overall. I take nothing away from any of them, but I am not sure these were going to deserve this award, in the name of Stan Lee.
Then I saw Anaconda today.
Again, SPOILERS ahead. If you do not want to be spoiled by this… I’ll give you a countdown.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
The EYG Stan Lee Cameo Award goes to…
Ice Cube as himself (Anaconda)
Star of the 1997 film Anaconda, Ice Cube makes a shocking return to the screen in 2025’s Anaconda. In the film, Jack Black and Paul Rudd are filming a reimaging of the film Anaconda, and they make plenty of references to the original film. Ice Cube pulls a Deus ex machina near the end of the film to show up and save the guys from certain death. Ice Cube strolls in as bad ass as they come. J-Lo makes an appearance later in a post credit scene, but Ice Cube gets this nod for being indispensable to the story itself.
I am very pleased for Ice Cube here after the disaster that was War of the Worlds.
When I first saw a trailer for this movie, I thought to myself, “This is like the Hand that Rocked the Cradle.” I said this to a friend of mine and she said that it was not anything like that. She mentioned that it was originally in a novel by Freida McFadden, which I did not know. I decided that I would give this a chance. My friend was right, this was not in that subgenre of horror film where the babysitter tries to do crazy things for reasons.
According to IMDB, “A struggling young woman is relieved by the chance for a fresh start as a maid for a wealthy couple. Soon, she discovers that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.”
This one has its ups and downs for me. I am not sure how I feel about it. I think the three main cast members, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, do a fantastic job with what the story asks of them. They have great chemistry with each other and are very believable in everything that they do.
One of my problems though is I hate it when people do stupid things in a thriller. There are several things that Sweeney’s character Millie does that makes me want to yell at the screen. Couldn’t she see this coming? Maybe at first, but as the film moved on, why are you not recognizing what is going on? I hate it when the characters do really stupid things.
The end of the movie was fun, but I did see it coming. There was something that, when mentioned in the beginning of the film, I knew was going to come back around as a major piece later in the film, and sure enough, I was right.
There was also a section near the beginning of the third act of the film where suddenly we were doing a ton of exposition, explaining what had gone down. I thought this was a weak point of the movie.
The Housemaid feels like Hollywood camp, but in a glorious way. It feels as if everyone involved understands the assignment in this story and are ready to give it their all. There are weaknesses in the film, but I think I came out of it more positive than negative.
Back in 1997, a horror film about a giant snake appeared. Anaconda, starring Ice Cube, J-Lo, and Jon Voight, was a terrible movie, but it survived the years and became an iconic cult classic film. In 2025, we now got a meta-sequel to the film starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd which debuted this weekend.
According to IMDB, “Four childhood friends are going through a midlife crisis so they decide to remake their favorite horror movie from the 1990s in the Amazon Forest When a real giant anaconda shows up, they get more than what they bargain for and their comically chaotic movie making turns into a life-or-death situation. The movie that they’re dying to remake? It might just kill them, literally.“
I heard some negative things about the new film before I went into it, which made me nervous because I had thought the trailers looked good and I was excited to see it. The negative comments made me feel much more tentative about the movie.
I can understand why some people might not have been a fan of this, but I enjoyed it a lot. I found this funny, the characters likable and entertaining, and the meta qualities of the film worked so well.
I thought there was a lot of clever writing involved in this movie. The humor is solid. There were a couple of jokes that I usually do not like, but, for me, even those worked well.
No spoiler here, but there was a great cameo in the film too.
There are some negatives to the film too though. I do think it started fairly slowly and the film really took off when the characters get on their boat. I do think that I wish the trailer hadn’t spoiled some of the best laughs in the film because I think it would have been so much better.
I am happy that I liked this movie more than what some were saying. I found it funny and engaging. I do enjoy a film with as many meta jokes and Anaconda falls right into that.
It really feels as if Pluribus has only just started its season. It’s hard to believe that the show is already up to its first season finale already, but that is the case. Apple TV + dropped the finale a couple of days early (before Christmas).
And what a finale this was. In some ways, it was smaller, quieter than I might have expected. But then again…
There was an A-Bomb!
Carol and Manousos come face to face in this episode and some of the early scenes between these two were truly hilarious. I loved the use of the umbrella to block out the chance of the drones spying on them, reading their lips.
The mistrust between Carol and Manousos was on display as they tried to communicate via cell phone translation programs. There was some high comedy with that translation program as well. When the phone was in the sewer, but still translating, well, that was the height of funny.
Carol seemed to believe that Manousos had taken it too far with his “experimentation” on the Others. Carol’s close relationship with Zosia was coloring her perspective and she joined Zosia on another isolation attempt. This time, however, it seemed clear that Manousos was not going to fold like Carol did. He seemed like a type of guy who does not mind some isolation.
Carol never really understood the relationship she shared with Zosia. Carol looked at it like it was a typical, normal relationship, but that was not the case. Carol looked to be in denial about a lot of what was going down. When Carol learned that The Others had her frozen eggs (that Carol and Helen had decided to harvest years ago) and that they could change that into stem cells, the same stem cells the Others needed to turn Carol into another member of the hivemind, things crashed around her. Carol had Zosia return her to her home and decided to join with Manousos after all.
And the atomic bomb reveal at the end was insane. Maybe it was not literally an A-bomb… though Carol had asked about it earlier in the season…
Pluribus’s first season was sensational. I know the series has been renewed for a second season. I hope we do not have to wait three years to get the next episodes.
The Batman and Robins are the awards we give out every year for the worst of the worst. The awards for rottenness are given out to stuff that just did not work.
Worst Movie: To be revealed at the Least Favorite Movies list.
Worst Actor: Ice Cube (War of the Worlds). Ice Cube is a talented performer who gave a horrible performance in a horrible movie.
Worst Actress: Gal Gadot (Disney’s Snow White). She was miscast as the Evil Queen and nothing that happened in Snow White showed that she could not elevate the material.
Worst Director: Justin Tipping (HIM). One of the worst films of the year. It’s so bad that they needed to pretend that Jordan Peele had something to do with it.
Worst Sequel: Fear Street: Prom Queen. The first Fear Street trilogy was so good and a lot of fun. This was the antithesis of that.
Worst CGI: Star Trek: Section 31. Not much was good about this one.
Favorite Rotten Movie: Captain America: Brave New World. There is a lot of hate for this movie, but I enjoyed it a lot. It could have been better, but it does not deserve as much hatred as it got.
Worst Movie That I Did Not See: The Smurfs
Cashing a Paycheck: Richard Dreyfuss (Into the Deep). Dreyfuss was one of the reasons why I watched this shark movie. That was a mistake.
Worst Reboot/Remake: I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Most Successful Bad Movie: A Minecraft Movie
Worst Movie Based on TV/Video Game: Smurfs
Worst Superhero Movie: Old Guard 2
Worst Trailer: A Minecraft Movie. This trailer showed me how terrible this was going to be
WTF: 2073. It was from HBO Max, but it was a bizarre mixture of doc and horrific film.
Worst Performance by Oscar Winner: Michelle Yeoh (Stra Trek: Section 31)
Worst TV Show I Watched: Alien: Earth. Started great, but fell off quickly. Too boring for an alien show.
Worst Product Placement: Amazon Prime in War of the Worlds. It played more like an advertisement for Amazon Prime.
It was a big year for the child actors. There have been some truly powerful performances in the world of entertainment in 2025. The days of kid actors getting cast because they were the niece of the director is probably over (at least, unless that niece is incredibly talented).
Previous winners:
I See Kid Actor Award
Previous Winners: Emjay Anthony (Chef), Jacob Trembley (Room), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Dafne Keen (Logan), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy), McKenna Grace (Troop Zero), Jeremy T. Thomas (Antlers), Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical, Abigail), Madeleine Yuna Voyles (The Creator)
Runners-Up: Last year, I speculated that our only two-time winner of the I See Kid Actor Award, Alisha Weir, was rumored to be up for Dorothy in Wicked: For Good and that she might be a threepeat. She was not cast in the role and will need to wait for awhile to gain that third award. Cary Christopher carried a lot of weight in the hit film Weapons as the one boy who did not disappear. His scenes were very powerful. Christian Convey has been a runner up for this award multiple times from his past work as Sweet Tooth, Cocaine Bear, and Oliver in Invincible. He is back in the runner-up column for his role in The Monkey.Maia Kealoha had a huge job stepping into the live action role of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch. The young girl did a fantastic job. The Gomer Award winner this year, Sketch, had a group of kids who were at the center of the story and did a tremendous job including Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, and Kalm Cox. Group of kids fighting monsters has been a popular trope lately. Stranger Things 5 has returned with a couple of new kids to go with the rapidly aging kids from past seasons. Nell Fisher became Holly, sister of Mike, and Jake Connelly, who stole the show in episode 4 as “Dipshit Derek.” Then, It: Welcome to Derry had two groups of kids. The first group Pennywise murdered including Matty, played by Miles Ekhardt. Teddy and Phil, played respectfully by Mikkal Karim-Fidler and Jack Molloy Legault, also died in the first episode, shocking us all. However, the next group of kids really became the focal point of the show, especially Will, played by Blake Cameron James, Lilly, played by Clara Stack, Marge, played by Matilda Lawler, and everyone’s favorite hero Rich, played by Arian S. Cartaya. I would have considered Cartaya for this award because of the impact that character had on the show, if the award winner wasn’t so obvious. Alfie Williams was one of the lead actors in 28 Years Later, and he did a great job in a very difficult role. Other actors included Helena Zengel (The Legend of Ochi), Sara Wong (Bring Her Back) and Patrick Scott McDermott (Rust).
The winner of the I See Kid Actors Award for 2025 is…
Owen Cooper (Adolescence)
I knew this winner back when I watched Adolescence on Netflix in March/April. Owen Cooper played Jamie Miller, the young boy accused of murder in the four episode miniseries.
Cooper was absolutely staggering in the role. He carried off the character with the professionalism of a long time actor. This was his first major role. He wound up receiving an Emmy Award for his performance.
Specifically episode three of the show, which was a continual one shot (as all of the show was) between Jamie and clinical psychologist Briony, played by Erin Doherty. The performance was chilling as the show dived deeply into the mind of the damaged boy.
I knew he would get this award and, despite some heavy competition above, Owen Cooper is the I See Kid Actor Award winner for 2025.
Okay, there were a couple of moments during these two episodes that we rough on me. There was a heart attack scene that was just about more than I could handle.
I do like how the show has been, for the most part, more about the characters than with the illnesses. Whether it be the staff of the ER or the patients, the characters are the driving force behind story.
The abortion arc is really good. There is a father abuse storyline that did not work for me. One comment was made that the doctors and nurses were mandatory reporters but couldn’t report without evidence. As a mandatory reporter, that is patently incorrect. That pulled me out of the scene.
Then, it took a dramatic twist with Trinity Santos, who was a character that I have not been a fan of so far in the series, and a vicious confrontation with the child abuser in question. It was fairly unrealistic, but very kick ass. It helped that storyline.
The end of episode seven was horrific, as Dr. Collins went into the restroom, with tears, seeing blood in her underwear. There had been subtle hints through the last couple of episodes that Collins, who was pregnant, was going to have something terrible happen to the baby. While it is unconfirmed as of yet, this ending scene did not make things look good.
This pair of episodes started to show Doctor Robby was acting unlike he normally would do. I had a bit of a problem with that too because up until here, he seemed like he was great. I had no idea that he was acting differently than normal. The show had told us about his struggles on the anniversary of his mentor’s death, but I still thought he was doing a great job. When Collins called him out on his behavior, I was surprised. Some of these scenes with Robby felt out of place from the rest of the season. Of course, we did not know Robby before this series, and all of the episodes have been the same day, so it is hard to see the changes.
The show brought up the kid with the “hit list” again, but it is a story arc that feels like it will come back hard later in the season.
I was so happy that Whittaker made it through episode 7 without having to change his scrubs!
The flip side of the Gomer, The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year is the film that I had expected big things from, but it came up short. I might have liked a film that gets this award (this year is an example), but I found more problems than I expected.
The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year
Previous Winners: In the Heart of the Sea, The Snowman, Amazing Spider-Man 2, After Earth, Dark Knight Rises, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Batman v. Superman, Christopher Robin, IT: Chapter Two, Tenet, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Halloween Ends, Next Goal Wins, Gladiator II
This year’s runners-up: There was a film from Netflix this year that starred Chris Pratt called Electric State. It was a sci-fi movie that should have been fantastic, but it was far from it. A film that had Jordan Peele’s name on the advertising was called HIM. This had no right to be as bad as it was. M3GAN, the original, was a Gomer runner up, but the sequel to it, M3GAN 2.0 was just dumb and took the worst parts of the original and expended on it. Many people think this will win the Oscar this year for Best Picture, but I was disappointed with One Battle After Another. It was fine. I just expected more than what I saw. I love Ke Huy Quan, but Love Hurts hurt when I had to watch it. Another two movies that I heard positives about, but hated was Friendship and Together. Both big on Rotten Tomatoes, but not at EYG.
And this year’s Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year was…
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
I did like this movie. I gave it a fresh rating. It got like 3.5 stars from me.
And yet, it is getting the Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year.
The final film in the Mission Impossible franchise should have been one of the best films of the year. The first hour or so of this movie was just too dull and repetitive. The ending was great, but I just did not like getting there. The film was too long and could not be totally saved by the great last hour. Then the final shot of the film was disappointing too.
This is a good movie that should have been mind-blowing.
Sha Na Na was one of my favorite shows as a kid so I am enjoying the trip down memory lane with the boys. I have to say that I still believe that the show is so much better when you have guest stars on the show with musical abilities.
These three episodes featured: Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell and Leslie Gore. If I were them, I would have had Chuck Berry do a second song on the actual stage set. They had him do “Roll Over Beethoven” in the road set, which was great, but he could have done another one on the actual stage with the live audience.
They did brink Leslie Gore out to the stage to the audience when she was on episode 21. It just felt more special than the others, even though Chuck Berry knocked the performance out of the park.
In episode 20, Sha Na Na performed “Unchained Melody, which may be their best performance ever on the stage. The song was at a quicker pace and the background choreography was spot on. A lot of times, Sha Na Na look a touch out of step with the background dancing. I mean, they are singers and not necessarily dancers. However, this performance was fire. Unchained Melody, which was more well known as by the Righteous Brothers, was originally performed as a doo wop song by Vito and the Salutations in 1963. This is the version Sha Na Na was doing.
We also got some great vocalization with Bowzer and Johnny in Lovers Never Say Goodbye, in episode 21. This group have some great singers that compliment each other really well. Bowzer and Johnny work perfectly together in this song.
Alley Oop was one of the most distinct memories I have of the comedy skit songs the group would do. They would break in the song to do some silly joke. Most of the jokes were cringy, but I did love the song performed by Dirty Dan and Screamin’ Scott.
They still overuse the crowd noise/laugh track, but it is not as distracting as it was in the first half of season one.
So this was a series that I have wanted to watch for awhile now. The time was just never right, but with Christmas break upon me, plus the second season debuting in January on HBO Max, I thought I would give The Pitt a try.
See, I am a hypochondriac… well, sort of. Medical shows have bothered me in the past. I am bothered by things that can go wrong in the human body. While it does not make me feel as if I am having the same symptoms, it does bother me. That being said, the idea of each episode being an hour at a time in an emergency room made me think of 24 and I was intrigued.
I almost stopped at the first episode. A couple of scenes in that first show nearly finished me off. I was in on some of the storylines though so I decided to stick with it. After four episodes, I am fully in and will hopefully not have any further issues.
The storylines were coming hard and fast in the first four episodes. I was working on the EYG Comic Cavalcade as I was watching so the number of episodes just kept rolling as I worked. Perhaps I shouldn’t work as I watched, because I was being distracted by the show.
Noah Wylie led this cast of actors that I mostly did not recognize. Yet, they all did a great job with their roles. The short term stories with the patients were all very engaging and ranged from deadly serious to a good laugh.
One that especially caught my attention was a mother who faked an illness to get some help with her son. She found a list of girls to eliminate in his room, causing some serious tension of the story. That one is still percolating away. There was one that seemed to fly by faster with a brother and sister who desperately tried to keep their father alive, despite his wishes not to be on life-saving equipment. That story felt like it played out over a longer time than what it actually did, since the four episodes were designed to be only four hours total.
There were also a bunch of deaths in that four hour period. It truly showed the anguish the doctors and nurses have to deal with in their daily job.
The characters are introduced really well as there is not a ton of time to spend with them. Their minutes on screen are maximized extremely effectively.
I was not sure I was going to continue to watch this during episode one because of my own issues, but I am glad I pushed on. This is a strong series so far and my goal is to finish season one before the arrival of season two in January.
Hey all. I am on Winter Break so I am into the relaxation mode. EYG is involved in the Year in Review, finishing up the movies for the year, waiting for Stranger Things Part 2, starting on The Pitt on HBO, among other things. That may sound busy, but it is busy with things that I love.
Comics are a big part of the break as well. We just gave out the Comic Cover Artist of the Year. To no one’s surprise, it was Mark Spears. He also won the Platinum Medal for the Overall Cover of the Year with the metal variant of Mark Spears Monster #3 with the giant shark on it. Love it.
Books this week:
Avengers #33. “Twilight” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by CAFU & David Curiel. We get some background on the origin of the Impossible City. This was the Legacy number #799, making next issue a major anniversary.
Radioactive Spider-Man #3. Written by Joe Kelly and pencils by Kev Walker. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Morry Hollowell. The Age of Revelation arc with Peter Parker comes to an end. Peter survived, which is weird since so many of the characters in this timeline have bit the big one. Aunt May did not make it though.
Survive #4. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Doug Braithwaite. Arturo Lozzi & Laura Martin did cover art. Survive continues to an awesome read. I mentioned last time that this book has a cinematic feel, and this issue kept that up. I really enjoy this Bad Idea book.
Exquisite Corpses #8. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with James Tynion IV and art by Adam Gorham with Michael Walsh. Cover art by Michael Walsh. I also picked up Cover D by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). This continues to be one of the best books of the month.
Mark Spears Monsters #8. “All That Remains.” Written, Art and cover art by Mark Spears. This is the blind bag issue and I got two of them. The first one I picked up was a foil variant, which was a 1:666 (Gold Medalist). These Monsters books are more than just cover. The story has been a lot of fun.
Mortal Thor #5. “Thy Soul to Take” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. I also picked up Knullified variant by Netho Diaz (Bronze Medalist). We get a new variation of Odin, talking to a new variation of Loki, talking about Sigmund.
Wrestle Heist #1. Written, drawn and cover art by Kyle Starks. This new Image comic is an intriguing new book with some professional wrestlers. We are following the heel character Sterling Steele, who is preparing to leave the company. That turned out to be a problematic decision.
Nightwing #133. “A Thing That Should Not Be” Written by Dan Watters with art by V. Ken Marion. Cover art by Dustin Nguyen, Elizabeth Torque, with Sabine Rich. The Martian Manhunter comes to Bludhaven to help Nightwing to head into the 5th dimension. Will Dick be able to come back.
Black Cat #5. “Hero to Zero” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. Felicia is arrested. Bailed out by Mary Jane Watson. Confronts Tombstone. All in a busy day. Black Cat has been a good read so far.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #5. Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran. I have enjoyed this series. However, this final issue was not the best of the series. I was disappointed with the ending… especially with the asterisk at the THE END.
Space Ghost #6. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done Francesco Mattina. What happens when Space Ghost gets turned into a space vampire? I did not know that there was even such a thing. Jan and Jace show their importance once again.
Daredevil & Punisher #2. “The Broken Machine.” Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Tommaso Bianchi and Gabriel Guzman. Cover art was done by Skan. This book has a great example of the different sides of crime fighting between Daredevil and Punisher.
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #3. Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Pepe Perez. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. Spidey fights the monster version of Evangeline as she tried to find the mystic book that turned her.
X-Men: Book of Revelation #3. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, JP Mayer, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. Elbecca makes her move on Revelation only to find that she may not have been as secretive as she thought.
Omega Kids #3. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Rod Reis. We see that Quentin Quire is still a bad ass. The Omega Kids had a lot of potential, and Quentin was impressed with their abilities.. just before he killed them all. Age of Revelation claimed more victims.
Strange Tales #3. Written by Jeremy Whitley with art by Bayleigh Underwood. Cover art was done by Bayleigh Underwood & Jim Campbell. The Hulk is on a rampage, controlled by the Enchantress.
Sam & Twitch Case Files #20. Written by Thomas Healy with art by Von Randal. Marco Failla did the cover art. The previous case that has been haunting Sam is underway. I have enjoyed this duo over the last couple of years.
Everything Dead & Dying #4. Written by Tate Brombal with artwork by Jacob Phillips. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips & Tongi Zonjic. The normal people are going all in against the zombies in the small town. However, a certain little girl is on her way back to her daddy.
The Last Wolverine #3. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Edgar Salazar. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo and Matthew Wilson. More death in the Age of Revelation. Leonard sacrifices himself to save Logan. This book obviously is vital to the overall story as Logan is back and ready to contribute.
G.I. Joe #16. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art was done by Tom Reilly. Cobra Commander makes his present known in the Dreadnok War. Duke and the Joes are back and are ready to join in.
Hector Plasm: Hunt for Bigfoot #3. Written by Benito Cereno with art and cover art by Derek Hunter. This short series finished with this issue. The truth about the bigfoot comes out in the issue. This was a fun little series.
Cul-De-Sac #5. “You’re Not the Hunter Anymore.” Written by Mike Carey with art and cover art by Jonathan Wayshak. The Bad Idea book is feeling like it is wrapping up. Everything all started to come together.
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #15. “The Haunting of the Wrecker” Finale. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Domenico Carbone. Davide Paratore did the cover art. Moon Knight wrapped up the Wrecker story. Then, someone kidnapped him. This leads into the next version of the Moon Knight series, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1 coming in January.
Absolute Flash #10. “Rogues’ Revenge” Part Two. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Nick Robles. The Rogues are still out there as Wally tries to find out what is going on. Was that Barry Allan at the end of the book? Something weird is going on.
Liquidator #2. Written by Peter Milligan with art and cover art by Piotr Kowalski. Barry Dyer is feeling down, down enough that he might be suicidal. Instead, he was recruited as a Liquidator, and time travel action ensued.
High Strangeness #3. “Book Three: 1983” Written by Christopher Cantwell & Daniel Noah with illustration by Valeria Burzo. Cover art was done by Valeria Burzo & Francesco Segala. The anthology series has another solid story.
Endeavour #2. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Marc Laming and Tony Shasheen. Marc Laming did the cover art. I like this DSTLRY book quite a bit as we see more with the kids left alive on the ship. This is a great story.
Space Scouts #2. Written by Matt Kindt with art and cover art by David Rubin. The new Dark Horse oversized book is a good time. We start seeing the truth behind the whole Space Scout competition.
Bat-Man: Second Knight #2. Written by Dan Jurgens with art and cover art by Mike Perkins. The Bat-Man and Superman are together as the Scarecrow is causing some trouble. I love this Elseworld story setting our heroes in the World War II time frame.
Other books this week: They’re All Terrible Deluxe Edition #1, Harley Quinn x Elvira #3, Yuletide #3, Ghost Pepper #6, Ancestral Recall #5, The power Fantasy #14, Conan the Barbarian #27, No Place #2, 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2, and Rivals: Ignite #1.
Quick Bits: This week’s quick bits kick off with Planet She-Hulk #2 as Jen continues along with trying to run Sakaar. Rogue Storm #3 was my least favorite third issue of the Age of Revelation. I am still unsure where the timeline for Black Panther: Intergalactic #1 falls. Korvac is causing trouble in Battleworld #4, BUT Spidey and Bucky find a new group of heroes. Crystar was there too! Sonja Reborn #4 has a cool picture cover. Alien vs. Captain America #2 sees the Howling Commandos get f-ed up badly. Racer X #4 once again is the same story as in Speed Racer, just from a different perspective. Terrorbytes #3 gives a prison story that was very interesting. W0rldtr33#17 focuses on the internet maybe coming back. DC KO Harley Quinn vs. Zatanna#1 sees a cool fight between these two. Harley dies, but clearly she is not dead. Not sure I have been a fan of these individual fight books so far. The Author Immortal #3 has not been my favorite book so far, but it is original. Die!Namite: Blood Red #3 has Red Sonja joining up with Vampirella and Miss Fury. It has been a fun book.
It Was Just An Accident was an international film which was a co-production between Iran, France, and Luxembourg. I had heard positives about the film on FYC and I had a chance to rent it off Fandango at Home.
According to IMDB, “An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, he rounds up a few of his fellow ex-prisoners to confirm the man’s identity.”
Powerful storytelling as we follow this group of people who had had their lives touched by this tormenter from an Iranian prison. Each person had to reassess their own choices and moral line as they attempt to confirm that this man is who they believe him to be.
There are enough doubts tossed around by the script that you as viewer are never quite sure which way the story will go. Is this the cruel torturer or is it a man who had a similar injury? The tormentor had a prosthetic leg and was dubbed the nickname “Peg Leg.” The man had the same prosthetic, but since the victims were always blindfolded, they could not specifically identify him, and the man had a seemingly cohesive story to cover the possible truth. I will admit that I was never 100% sure during the movie is he was Peg Leg or not.
Without spoilers, I loved the ending of the film. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really found it to be refreshing.
The performances from the actors were top line. Vahid Mobasseri played Vahid, the mechanic who first discovered the possible Peg Leg, played by Ebrahim Azizi. Mariam Afshari was Shiva, a photographer who Vahid tried to get confirmation from. Other cast members included Majid Panahi,Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr, Delnaz Najafi and Georges Hashemzadeh.
I really enjoyed this international film. It was extremely well written with some exceptional performances.
The third film in the remarkably successful franchise of Avatar was released this weekend with the film Avatar: Fire and Ash. I have had an up and down reaction to the franchise over the years. When I first saw the original Avatar, I was not a fan. Before the second one came out, I rewatched the original film and liked it better. When I saw the next film, I enjoyed it more. I was not sure what all that meant when it came to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
According to IMDB, “Jake and Neytiri’s family grapples with grief after Neteyam’s death, encountering a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe, the Ash People, who are led by the fiery Varang, as the conflict on Pandora escalates and a new moral focus emerges.“
Avatar: Fire and Ash, once again, is amazing to look at. I saw the film in 3D and it was spectacular looking, especially with the setting and background. I will say that there were some moments where some of the characters looked weird to me. It was not consistent, but there were enough times where it jump out at me. Otherwise, the technical aspects of the movie are marvels.
I have to say, I was bored with most of the first two acts of this movie. It is painfully long and I do not think that it needed to be as long as it was. It felt as if it could have been trimmed down, at least, a half hour. Having said that, the third act was much more compelling and full of action. I will say that, during some of the scenes in the third act, this movie fell victim to something that always bugged me about Transformers movies, which was it was difficult at times to tell who was who in the big battle.
I also feel that lot of this story is a basic retread of the other films, especially the second film. There were a bunch of things that seemed to be the same beats we already have seen.
I am sure that Avatar: Fire and Ash will make a ton of money at the box office this weekend and during the holiday season, I am not sure that it will reach the same levels as the first two did. I could be wrong, but this feels like an inferior version of those films. While it is spectacular to look at, there is not something new and amazing in the special effects. It is amazing, yes, but I do not think we can say this is considerably better than other films in the area of effects.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 