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shadowkat1. I'm avoiding reviews of The Dark Phoenix in the same manner I avoided reviews of Avengers: Endgame. I plan on seeing it regardless. I saw X-Men: Apocalypse and liked it better than the critics did. Was it great, no. It's a loose adaptation of superhero comics..I have low expectations. The only good X-men films to date is "X-men: Days of Future Past" and "Logan". Everything else... is ...well better than most of the DC films, and definitely better than any Marvel flick prior to Iron Man.
So, low expectations. But will see anyhow. I saw X-men: Last Stand in the movie theater, as long as it is better than X-men Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine, we'll be fine. Those are the worst two films of the franchise, although to be fair you'd have to go a long way to beat out the Fantastic Four films which were atrocious. If there was a superhero franchise that needed to be successfully rebooted? It's the Fantastic Four.
I also am leery of it -- since it went from a three movie trilogy to one movie, and was re-shot after Disney was about to re-acquire the rights.
2. Was discussing Trek with a co-worker who is a serious fan. So serious that he is spending $20 a month to get it on CBS All Access. He said it's good, one of the better Treks. We discussed all the Treks. Neither of us are cult Trekkies -- in that we don't write fanfic, wear the costumes or go to the cons. But we've seen most of the episodes and series. At the end of the day, he told me in true Spock fashion to live long and prosper.
3. Truly Funny Review of the GodZilla Movie -- they gave it an F+ but said it was a fun bad movie. (Which to be honest is true of all Godzilla films, sort of the point of the films actually.)
I love how they mention that all the monsters are radioactive...see, if you know anything about Japanese Cinema, and if you grew up watching these films then gradually moved over to Japanese Anime, and have a knack for picking up patterns in things -- you'd realize all of this is how the Japanese internalized and handled surviving not one but two atomic bombs.
Did I mention that I grew up watching Godzilla movies on the Saturday Creature Feature Maintainee and on the Afternoon Afterschool Movie? In the 1970s, the networks broadcast movies from the 1950s-60s at 3:30 PM. I'd go over to one of my best friend's houses and we'd watch them. She loved monster movies. I went to see King Kong with her family and her father insisted it would be more popular than Star Wars (needless to say he was wrong, almost as wrong as my father was in thinking Hook would become a classic like The Wizard of Oz. I remember my mother looking at both of them and saying, "Really? I don't think so.")
Anyhow, the pattern in all those old films was that the monsters were created by the atomic bomb -- or nuclear waste. Godzilla was a lizard but the atomic bomb made him into Godzilla, etc. (The X-men were also created by nuclear atomic bomb testing -- ie. Children of the Atom.)
In other words, the Godzilla movies are a critique of US's ending of WWII, and Japan's stupidity in going to War in the first place. Also a cultural warning not to do it again. It's sort of a reaction to that War. They came out in the 1950s. In the 1950s, people were building bomb shelters.
Japanese anime for many many years also heavily referenced WWII and atomic bomb. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and various others did.
I happen to love Japanese cinema -- so have seen a lot of it. I like seeing how other cultures view the world, and how different and yet weirdly similar it is to my own. I think it would be terribly boring just to watch or be exposed to your own culture's offerings, when you have the option to see the rest.
4. Finished watching the second episode of Songland which I liked better than the first, but this may be because I prefer the music of W.il.iam and the Black Eyed Peas to John Legend. (I'm not a huge fan of the belted pop song. It's rare that I like it -- why? It sounds cheesy.)
Although in this case much like Legend's they picked the song that I would not have picked. The song I loved this week and stopped to listen to was..
I love the chorus...
5. Picked up more comics...and read one of them.
Uncanny X-men #19 (2018) -- where we finally get to see Emma Frost's reaction to Scott Summers being alive and back, her Scott, not the boy from the past.
Unfortunately the art is crappy in this issue. Come back Salvadore Larroca or please get Adam Kubert of While Porticia or someone?
This is the problem with comics...the artists change constantly. The writer tends to stay constant, but the artists jump in and out. I remember when Joss Whedon took on the X-men, he insisted that he keep the same writer throughout his run. Mainly because that was his complaint as a reader -- he loved Grant Morrison's run until the art got wonky and they kept changing the artists. This can be jarring.
I don't know why they shift artists in and out but keep the same writer throughout.
Sometimes a writer/artist will form a bond and stick throughout. Such as Lee and Kirby, and Claremount and Kirby, and Claremount and Lee. But often that's not the case.
Ugh.
Also, another shout out about the book? We get a reprint of Stan Lee's soap box from 1968, where he does a lengthy speech about bigotry and racism, and how important it is to route that out. That we can't overlook it or tolerate it. That we shouldn't judge people on race or religion, but as individuals. It's a lovely speech, but he's not quite there yet on gender. Sigh. But still, close.
It's why I fell in love with the X-men and Marvel verse -- because the writers were progressive and very anti-racism and pro-human rights. A lot of great political commentary can be found in superhero comic books. Stan Lee was a progressive writer and fought racism with his pen. Maybe not always well, but he tried.
The story? It's interesting. It explains why no one remembers Emma Frost. And why she blanked herself out of their memories. And it keeps Emma in that nice amoral ambiguous area...of neither true villain or hero. She's opportunistic as hell, and will always do whatever is required to further her own agenda and her own life or desires.
I do love her, but I hate her outfits. Can we get any more sexist? At least we've progressed to a halter top and form fitting slacks. Previously it was a bustier and fishnets.
Also this issue is told in her point of view for a change, while the other issues were told in Scott's. That's because Scott doesn't know about any of this -- nor realize that he's being manipulated by his former lover. Wolverine, however, has figured it out and brought Kwannon as back-up. Watch out Emma. While Sinister files his nails and chortles with glee.
Also picked up the latest issue of the Buffy comics and I think they changed artists on me. Why? The artist was good. The writer and plotter -- needed help. Don't change artists...bad comic book producers. Bad.
And I fear the writer/producers of this thing are shameful Bangle shippers and about to give me the adventures of Buffy/Angel against the world. No. No. Boom!Comics is making me miss the Dark Horse version.
So why'd I pick it up? Curiosity? And a desire to see if I'm right? Also...I wanted to see how Xander turns out as a vampire. Plus it's cheap.
So, low expectations. But will see anyhow. I saw X-men: Last Stand in the movie theater, as long as it is better than X-men Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine, we'll be fine. Those are the worst two films of the franchise, although to be fair you'd have to go a long way to beat out the Fantastic Four films which were atrocious. If there was a superhero franchise that needed to be successfully rebooted? It's the Fantastic Four.
I also am leery of it -- since it went from a three movie trilogy to one movie, and was re-shot after Disney was about to re-acquire the rights.
2. Was discussing Trek with a co-worker who is a serious fan. So serious that he is spending $20 a month to get it on CBS All Access. He said it's good, one of the better Treks. We discussed all the Treks. Neither of us are cult Trekkies -- in that we don't write fanfic, wear the costumes or go to the cons. But we've seen most of the episodes and series. At the end of the day, he told me in true Spock fashion to live long and prosper.
3. Truly Funny Review of the GodZilla Movie -- they gave it an F+ but said it was a fun bad movie. (Which to be honest is true of all Godzilla films, sort of the point of the films actually.)
I love how they mention that all the monsters are radioactive...see, if you know anything about Japanese Cinema, and if you grew up watching these films then gradually moved over to Japanese Anime, and have a knack for picking up patterns in things -- you'd realize all of this is how the Japanese internalized and handled surviving not one but two atomic bombs.
Did I mention that I grew up watching Godzilla movies on the Saturday Creature Feature Maintainee and on the Afternoon Afterschool Movie? In the 1970s, the networks broadcast movies from the 1950s-60s at 3:30 PM. I'd go over to one of my best friend's houses and we'd watch them. She loved monster movies. I went to see King Kong with her family and her father insisted it would be more popular than Star Wars (needless to say he was wrong, almost as wrong as my father was in thinking Hook would become a classic like The Wizard of Oz. I remember my mother looking at both of them and saying, "Really? I don't think so.")
Anyhow, the pattern in all those old films was that the monsters were created by the atomic bomb -- or nuclear waste. Godzilla was a lizard but the atomic bomb made him into Godzilla, etc. (The X-men were also created by nuclear atomic bomb testing -- ie. Children of the Atom.)
In other words, the Godzilla movies are a critique of US's ending of WWII, and Japan's stupidity in going to War in the first place. Also a cultural warning not to do it again. It's sort of a reaction to that War. They came out in the 1950s. In the 1950s, people were building bomb shelters.
Japanese anime for many many years also heavily referenced WWII and atomic bomb. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and various others did.
I happen to love Japanese cinema -- so have seen a lot of it. I like seeing how other cultures view the world, and how different and yet weirdly similar it is to my own. I think it would be terribly boring just to watch or be exposed to your own culture's offerings, when you have the option to see the rest.
4. Finished watching the second episode of Songland which I liked better than the first, but this may be because I prefer the music of W.il.iam and the Black Eyed Peas to John Legend. (I'm not a huge fan of the belted pop song. It's rare that I like it -- why? It sounds cheesy.)
Although in this case much like Legend's they picked the song that I would not have picked. The song I loved this week and stopped to listen to was..
I love the chorus...
5. Picked up more comics...and read one of them.
Uncanny X-men #19 (2018) -- where we finally get to see Emma Frost's reaction to Scott Summers being alive and back, her Scott, not the boy from the past.
Unfortunately the art is crappy in this issue. Come back Salvadore Larroca or please get Adam Kubert of While Porticia or someone?
This is the problem with comics...the artists change constantly. The writer tends to stay constant, but the artists jump in and out. I remember when Joss Whedon took on the X-men, he insisted that he keep the same writer throughout his run. Mainly because that was his complaint as a reader -- he loved Grant Morrison's run until the art got wonky and they kept changing the artists. This can be jarring.
I don't know why they shift artists in and out but keep the same writer throughout.
Sometimes a writer/artist will form a bond and stick throughout. Such as Lee and Kirby, and Claremount and Kirby, and Claremount and Lee. But often that's not the case.
Ugh.
Also, another shout out about the book? We get a reprint of Stan Lee's soap box from 1968, where he does a lengthy speech about bigotry and racism, and how important it is to route that out. That we can't overlook it or tolerate it. That we shouldn't judge people on race or religion, but as individuals. It's a lovely speech, but he's not quite there yet on gender. Sigh. But still, close.
It's why I fell in love with the X-men and Marvel verse -- because the writers were progressive and very anti-racism and pro-human rights. A lot of great political commentary can be found in superhero comic books. Stan Lee was a progressive writer and fought racism with his pen. Maybe not always well, but he tried.
The story? It's interesting. It explains why no one remembers Emma Frost. And why she blanked herself out of their memories. And it keeps Emma in that nice amoral ambiguous area...of neither true villain or hero. She's opportunistic as hell, and will always do whatever is required to further her own agenda and her own life or desires.
I do love her, but I hate her outfits. Can we get any more sexist? At least we've progressed to a halter top and form fitting slacks. Previously it was a bustier and fishnets.
Also this issue is told in her point of view for a change, while the other issues were told in Scott's. That's because Scott doesn't know about any of this -- nor realize that he's being manipulated by his former lover. Wolverine, however, has figured it out and brought Kwannon as back-up. Watch out Emma. While Sinister files his nails and chortles with glee.
Also picked up the latest issue of the Buffy comics and I think they changed artists on me. Why? The artist was good. The writer and plotter -- needed help. Don't change artists...bad comic book producers. Bad.
And I fear the writer/producers of this thing are shameful Bangle shippers and about to give me the adventures of Buffy/Angel against the world. No. No. Boom!Comics is making me miss the Dark Horse version.
So why'd I pick it up? Curiosity? And a desire to see if I'm right? Also...I wanted to see how Xander turns out as a vampire. Plus it's cheap.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 11:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 12:30 pm (UTC)I flirted with the Captain America -- but I'm already hooked on the X-men, which is unwieldy on its own. Cap -- was never a character that interested me, mainly because ack "super solider" and ack "superman" motif. (Also X-men fan. Cap was always portrayed as a somewhat holier than thou, authoritarian antagonist in the X-men.)
no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 01:30 am (UTC)The comics hadn't served him well, until Ta Nesi-Coates took over his book. (I tried it back in the 1990s. But I'd say the same about the other Avengers.)
The Avengers are sort of the opposite of the X-men, the Avengers movies are better than their books, while the X-men books are much better than their movies (and ugh animated series). Rather amusing actually.
Also Captain America is much more interesting than Superman. (I want to be Black Widow or Captain Marvel.)
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 02:48 am (UTC)I can see wanting to be either the Black Widow or Captain Marvel, but seriously, I would make a great Captain America. Kicking ass on bullies is my dream job.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 04:00 am (UTC)Now, I want to be Captain America. You should have led with that.;-)
That's why I went to law school -- so I could legally kick the bullies with pen and ink. Highly disappointed to learn it doesn't quite work that way.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 12:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 07:22 pm (UTC)I did, however, read a brief interview with Michael Fassbender who not only is familiar with the Cherik moniker but also enjoys the friendship of the two characters the most about the role. I didn't realize he and MacAvoy had been friends before they took the roles. Not, perhaps, as iconic as Stewart and McKellan but still interesting that the roles have created or deepened those relationships.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 07:59 pm (UTC)I scanned Rotten Tomatoes...and the critics hate it, but the movie goers really like it. And, considering rotten tomatoes gave Bumblee a critical rating of 94%, I've decided to not go by them at all. (Bumblee is the worst film that I've seen in the last twenty years. I could not believe how incredibly bad it was.) Also, let's face it movie reviewing is a subjective sport. (shrugs).
That said, curious to see if you like it. Can't see it until June 15. I figure it will last at least three weekends.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 08:19 pm (UTC)(crosses fingers)
See you next week.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 01:33 am (UTC)Looking forward to it!
By the way, have you seen Endgame yet?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 02:34 am (UTC)...and then I realized I just didn't have the energy for it right now. I will talk about Endgame with you when we get together.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 04:03 am (UTC)Yeah, Ultron holds up after seeing both Infinity War and Endgame. Weirdly it holds up better than The Avenger's film does, which is referenced in Endgame.
I could re-watch it.
That's actually a good test of a good superhero and/or action film -- would it be fun to re-watch?
Can't say that about any of the DC Verse films, which surprised me.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 04:38 am (UTC)The first hour? The one that critics called "slow"? I thought it was perfect. The filmmakers took the time to show how our heroes reacted to losing the big battle, and the reactions were on point all around. I loved how Tony--still emaciated and traumatized from his time in space--went toe to toe with Steve and spat back that, yeah, now we're finding out how it feels when we "lose together." Absolutely killer performance from RDJ.
And Paul Rudd? Has he even been better than Scott Lang's first scenes in his horrifying new world? Stumbling around the memorial (uncomfortable echoes of 9/11!), hoping and praying that Cassie's name isn't there--then finding his own. Electric moment.
Then the time travel kicked in, and I had some problems. But we'll get into that next week.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 12:50 pm (UTC)I think we had the same reaction.
Then the time travel kicked in, and I had some problems. But we'll get into that next week.
Yep. I don't like the time travel trope in fiction for a reason. Although I sort of knew I'd have issues going in (since I knew ahead of time it would involve time travel), but it was better handled than a lot of things I've seen...anyway we'll discuss it next Sat.