Doctor Strange & Other Reviews...

[shadowkat]

Hot day. In the 90s. Ninety degree weather is not kind to menopausal women who recently had COVID. I sweat profusely, get winded, and feel like I'm going to faint. Best to just stay indoors with the A/C.

So I stayed inside with air conditioning, watched television, a movie, and did a bit more archiving. (The archiving is weirdly addictive. Also, I got an odd email that someone had requested a password change on my account. I was told if it wasn't me - to feel free to ignore and the request would expire. Maybe I requested and forgot? Or there's another shadowkat and they accidentally put in the wrong name?)

Yesterday, walking by my co-workers, who are Long Island Italians, emphasis on the Italian - New York Italians sound like them came out of the Godfather movies, overheard the following...

NC: Never put oil in the pasta.
M: Exactly - heard Lidia on her cooking show state that -
NC: Salt. The oil it ruins the pasta and the sauce
Me: Okay, are you talking about putting oil in the boiling water prior to the pasta ?
NC: Exactly! Never do that. Always put salt. The oil causes everything to slide off the pasta, it can't stick. And you want the sauce to stick to every inch of the macroni and ziti, and the penne, get in every crevice. Otherwise it doesn't work.

***

As promised, Reviews

1. Doctor Strange and Multi-Verse of Madness

This was directed by Sam Rami (reminding me of why I'm not a fan of Sam Rami movies and television shows - he's into cheesy effects and on the busy side of the fence, also I find his direction style jumpy).

Sam Rami films tend to have four things in them:

* Cheesy special effects
* Zombies or references to the evil dead in some winking way
* An old car running into something
* Bruce Campbell being beaten up

In 2021, I read Bruce Campbell's autiobiography (two of them) - no wait, I listened to them on audiobooks for free. In both, Campbell states that his pal Sam Rami likes to put him in all his films - just to beat him up. It's kind of inside joke between the two of them - going back to their first film together - The Evil Dead Franchise - which consisted mostly of Sam Rami beating the crap out of Bruce Campbell.

In this film, Campbell plays an annoying pizza ball vendor, who America (portrayed by Xoitchel Gomez) steals pizza balls from and Strange spells - so that he keeps hitting himself. The poor man is in one of the alternate universes. He's white headed now, but I'm getting there.

***

Anyhow. I was disappointed in the movie. The trailers mislead me into believing it was going to be an entirely different movie. Also, Marvel? Please stop it already with the cute side-kicks to appeal to the tween demographic. I feel like this movie was made for ten-thirteen year olds.


America was not in the trailers. I was mislead into believing Strange goes to the Scarlet Witch for help resolving a mistake he made back in Spiderman - which was opening up the Multi-verse, and needed her help to close it. Which was a far more interesting story in my head than the one I got.
In my version, Wanda and Strange were equally at fault, and had to help each other towards redemption - and fight a villain together. Again, not the story I got.

So I was, suffice it to say, pissed off.

Very happy that I did not make the colossal mistake of seeing it in the movie theater and wasting $15-19 on it. (I paid to see Spiderman on streaming - since it's impossible to see otherwise. But because of a lovely social media friend - I was able to see Doctor Strange on Disney + for free.) Seeing it for free, made it a little less annoying and more watchable. I was able to appreciate certain aspects of it. Also I adore Benedict Cumberbatch. Plus it had some interesting cameos.

But, it was not as good as Spiderman : No Way Home, and possibly the worst Marvel film I've seen in a long time, comes to close to Thor: Dark World and Rami's Spiderman films in that department, but not quite. Also it still isn't as bad as the Fantastic Four films, several of the X-men franchise films, and oh god the last reboot of the Fantastic Four (which is unwatchable). There have admittedly been worse comic book films, too many to count.

So I'd say this was better than those - I liked it better than WW 1984, which a co-worker and I agreed was a bad film. So, yes, it was better than that.

Do I want to explain why I didn't like it? Not really. Mileage it varies.
Also I'd have to spoil you to explain it. Plus, I think I disliked it because I wanted a different movie - worse, was expecting and looking forward to a completely different movie. This is a problem with books, movies, television serials - whenever the audience goes in with different expectations, whether they be high expectations or expecting a completely different direction. It is akin to watching your favorite sports team lose the championship - when you thought they were going to win.

This is why I like to be spoiled for things - that way I don't get disappointed. I was dumb, I didn't read the reviews first. Note to self - read reviews on Marvel movies in the future.


Overall grade: D for disappointing.

2. The Offer

Is Al Ruddy, Bob Evans, and Coppola's story of making the Godfather.

Wales: Is it documentary?
Me: No -
Wales: Is it a fictional -
Me: It's a dramatization of real events, based on Coppola, Ruddy, and Evans accounts of what happened, specifically Al Ruddy - so it's an inside look on what was involved producing the Godfather, and honestly, I'm amazed the movie ever got made.

I am. Amazed.

The best character is Juno Temple's Bettaye, a brassy blond assistant producer to Ruddy, who manages Ruddy and everyone else. She's smart, she doesn't take shit from no one, and she is tough as nails. I adore her to pieces.

For a film that is about 90% male characters, there are some interesting female characters in there.

We deal with Bob Evans marriage to Ali McGraw, which breaks up during the shooting of the Godfather. (Ali McGraw does the Getaway with Steve McQueen and falls for him on the shoot and has an affair - breaking up her marriage, and destroying her career - her film career kind of collapsed due to her marriage to McQueen. Evans would have kept her employed.)

Both Evans and Ruddy are still alive by the way and still producing movies and television shows. Actors die. Producers are too wicked to do so, they seem to live forever.[ ETA: I was wrong, Evans apparently died in 2019.]

Matthew Goode (Discovery of Witches, Downton Abbey) is playing Evans, and is rather good in the role. The whole cast is surprisingly good. The guy who played Alex Kirov in Grey's Anatomy is playing Marlon Brando, and sounds like him. And the guy playing a young Al Pacino is brilliant.

My only quibble continues to be the emphasis on the mob, which I find boring.

3. Stranger Things

Halfway through it. Love everything that is focused on the kids in Hawkins, investigating the weird events in Hawkins. But everything else is dragging.
Eleven's story is frustrating, and she was a touch more compelling in previous seasons (also she looks better with no hair - which is an odd thing to say, but there you go.) Mike hasn't aged well. Will, on the other hand, has - but he was better as a kid. The kids in Hawkins are excellent, the kids in LA aren't.

Joyce and Hopper's storyline doesn't quite work. Joyce goes off to save him and he kind of asks her too, which doesn't quite work - considering she's trying to take care of and protect three kids. OTOH - she'd be dead if she stayed in LA, so I'm glad she took off to save Hopper. It's just frustrating to watch Joyce and Hopper's clumsy attempts to get free from the dumb-ass Russians.

So it's a mixed bag, part of it works, part doesn't. Kind of like the previous seasons. But at least everyone is less whiny than they were in S3.


4. Essex Serpent on Apple TV

It's okay, kind of drags. Similar to the book actually, which also drug.
I liked the female characters in both, the male characters annoyed me - in both.

Kind of agree with SmartBitches review of it. Except the reviewer is raving about her love of Tom Hiddleston, and I'm thinking in the back of my head, you'd be singing a different tune if you knew what I did about him.

[Really don't worship humans, they are flawed creatures. Particularly male humans.]

5. Dark Winds on AMC (broadcast cable) - it's well done. Based on the Tony Hillerman Joe Leaphorn mysteries. And the casting for once is actual Navajho actors, and it's filmed in or around Arizona and on the reservations. Robert Redford, and Hillerman's daughter, and George RR Martin are involved with it.

I found it fairly well cast.

Will stick with it. Just wish it was on PBS - because, ugh, commercials.

6. Decided to try the first episode of Alias on Disney +, which I'd forgotten, but it came back to me in snatches as I watched. The difficulty with Alias - is Bradley Cooper and the guy who played Danny have more on-screen charisma and chemistry with Jennifer Garner, than the CIA agent, Vaughn does (who is her love interest throughout the series). I remembered as I was watching the pilot again - that I watched that series for her friends, who weren't with the CIA or SDX. I think if you loved Victor Garber, Garner, Vaughn, and Sloan - then you probably stuck with and loved the series more than I did. I remember flipping between it and Angel, then between it and West Wing, they put them opposite each other back in the day. And this was before DVR's or streaming existed. Back in those days, you had to choose.

I may or may not stick with it - in that I have far too many other television series to watch and have been rec'd to me by co-workers and other people.

(Co-workers rec'd Bobba Fett, Obi-Wan, Severance, Man on the Moon or to the Moon - Apple TV's series (I think), Time Traveler's Wife, among others.)

Comments

[svgurl]

Also, I got an odd email that someone had requested a password change on my account.
There's a weird bug or bot problem with AO3. I have gotten those emails too and I also tried putting in a support request. I think it's a known problem that hasn't been fixed yet so you can just ignore them.

[shadowkat]

Oh, thank you!! I was worrying over it.

[spiffikins]

I think I disliked it because I wanted a different movie - worse, was expecting and looking forward to a completely different movie.

I can totally see that! Had you see the Wandavision tv series before seeing the movie?

I had seen the trailer for Dr Strange, and, like you, assumed he was going to get Wanda's help for the mistakes made in No Way Home - but found the twist to be reasonable, given the events of Wandavision - although I didn't like the fact that Strange didn't really acknowledge his fuckup in No Way Home.

[shadowkat]

I did see WandaVision prior - but...Spiderman No Way Home gave me hope that they were going to go in a different and more interesting direction?

You're right it's perfectly reasonable.

My difficulty with it was - I dislike this specific trope, which is done a lot in film, comics, and television. I don't know if you were a Buffy fan or ever read the X-men? But they did the same trope there. Basically a powerful woman, often a witch, seeks out Dark Magic out of rage and grief, and ends up almost destroying the world out of either vengeance or a need to re-obtain the person or people she's lost - and then realizes she's become a monster and destroys herself and the magic with her, or something similar to that.

I despise that trope, also it's been overdone.

I'd been hoping for a reckoning of Strange's male arrogance and superiority complex, which they touch upon but never truly examine or force him to come to grips with. It's why he keeps losing Christine, and why Strange almost destroyed various universes. Strange didn't do it out of grief, he did it out of arrogance and a view that he was the best. It's also mentioned at the beginning of the film - when he colleague Dr. West calls him on it. But instead of forcing Strange to truly face that - it's handwaved a bit, and we focus on Wanda's grief again, which was already fully examined and (I thought) resolved in WandaVision (also resolved better in WandaVision).

[spiffikins]

But they did the same trope there. Basically a powerful woman, often a witch, seeks out Dark Magic out of rage and grief, and ends up almost destroying the world out of either vengeance or a need to re-obtain the person or people she's lost - and then realizes she's become a monster and destroys herself and the magic with her, or something similar to that.

True - I remember that from Willow's arc in Buffy - and it was annoying then too, tbh.

I'd been hoping for a reckoning of Strange's male arrogance and superiority complex, which they touch upon but never truly examine or force him to come to grips with.

Yes! I was really hoping for this as well! But while he kept running into other versions of him and seeing what their arrogance and cocksureness did - not only did he not really deal with it - but the final scene shows that he's not even concerned about the consequences of his own actions and is just jumping headfirst into this new "third eye" thing without concern.

I guess it's the main "thing" of his character in the comics? My problem is that I don't read the comics and I'm generally unfamiliar with the storylines and the characters other than what is shown in the movies :D

I wonder if part of the reason for the focus on Wanda in this movie was because Marvel hasn't had a lot of movies where the lead/focus is on a female character? Was this supposed to be "here's your Scarlet Witch movie" ?

[shadowkat]

But while he kept running into other versions of him and seeing what their arrogance and cocksureness did - not only did he not really deal with it - but the final scene shows that he's not even concerned about the consequences of his own actions and is just jumping headfirst into this new "third eye" thing without concern.

Thought much the same thing. He had no arc in this film. He's basically the same from start to finish. And he doesn't appear to understand or recognize why he kept losing Christine in each verse, or why he either destroyed his universes or almost did.

I looked up Cela (because I'm also unfamiliar with the Doctor Strange comics, I only saw him in cross-overs), and discovered that in the comics Cela (Charlize Theron's character in the purple in the blurb after the first credits sequence - who he dives into another verse with), marries Strange, becomes his soul mate, divorces him, and then becomes the new Socerer Supreme - taking his place. (They killed Strange off in the comics, and Cela is now the Socerer). So, I'm wondering if they intend on exploring it in the next film, having him sacrifice himself, and Cela take over. (Charlize Theron plays Cela - and she's a heavy hitter.)

I guess it's the main "thing" of his character in the comics? My problem is that I don't read the comics and I'm generally unfamiliar with the storylines and the characters other than what is shown in the movies :D

Except the majority of the film's audience doesn't read the comics. Also, the film verse doesn't closely follow them anyhow. So, we shouldn't have to be familiar with them at all. While it's nice that they include bits and pieces from them - I think that they kind of need to provide a bit more information for the film audience to follow? The third eye bit wasn't explained well, and neither was Cela who popped up at the very end. I had to look her up. Also I did not realize she was being portrayed by Charlize Theron.

I wonder if part of the reason for the focus on Wanda in this movie was because Marvel hasn't had a lot of movies where the lead/focus is on a female character? Was this supposed to be "here's your Scarlet Witch movie" ?

Wondered the same thing. And I felt kind of cheated. Wanda is a fascinating character and WandaVision was actually one of the better series they did on Disney +. Marvel doesn't quite know how to handle powerful female characters - nor does it allow their power to be their own. Wanda's came from a corrupted source. They tried to counter it with America - but it didn't work, since America's being apprenticed to an all male collective, with her lesbian mothers sucked into an alternate universe never to be seen again. Also, I think Cela is supposed to be a counter - but she's not really in the movie, and is in a blink and you miss her scene at the end. So, what they did with Wanda is kind of offensive?

[iddewes]

No, Robert Evans died in 2019. He did get a lot older than Steve McQueen did, of course.
I hear you on the weather, it’s been similar here.

[shadowkat]

He did? IMBD seems to think he's still alive. He's listed as producer for a few post 2019 films. But I believe you. IMBD is admittedly not the most accurate.

[iddewes]

I just looked and IMDB says he died https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0263172/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
It was big news, too, though I tend to notice these things sooner as I am in a celebrity death group on Facebook. Unless it is a different Bob Evans you looked at? But this is definitely the big producer who saved Paramount and was married to Ali MacGraw.
Btw, his autobiographical film is really good - The Kid Stays in the Picture. I guess he was a pretty horrible guy but he had a really interesting life.

[shadowkat]

I didn't look closely at his bio (it was late last night, and I was watching The Bear on Hulu at the same time). I just looked at the list of films he was producing. And I was also looking at Ruddy's at the same time.

Thanks for the rec on the autobiographical film.

[Wait. There's a celebrity death group on FB?? ]

[iddewes]

He wrote a book with the same name too which apparently is also good but I have only seen the film!
There are probably a few celebrity death groups, I am in one for fans of Dearly Departed, who used to do tours in LA (I went on two of them) and now mostly do YouTube videos. I know the guy behind it all.

[mtbc]

Apple and Disney do quite well between them these days for streaming.

I have to be without Netflix awhile because that's the only way they can cope with a change of country.

Unfortunate about Dr Strange, I rather liked the first movie.

[shadowkat]

I liked the first Dr. Strange a lot better. (Although this film - only requires viewing of WandaVision to really understand - you don't have to see Spiderman: No Way Home at all.)

Netflix has become more pricey - it's 21.99 now, the most of the streaming. Disney is still among the cheapest as is Apple. (Not sure if that's why you have to do without or ?)

[mtbc]

Ah, I have not seen WandaVision, though I half-know a bit of approximate outline from happening upon reviews, I hope that's not overly disabling.

Amazingly, the only way that Netflix can cope with my having changed country was for me to cancel, wait for the end of the billing cycle, then rejoin from my new abode. Not that I have an immediate need to rejoin and, well, yes, Netflix are really challenging the question of value proposition. I may join for a month later this year or somesuch, once they've completely released enough of what I want to see. Once cancelation gets more awkward, the calculus will change again. Though, I had just the most basic, cheap plan on Netflix, I don't need HD, multiple screens, etc.

[shadowkat]

You don't need to have seen WandaVision to understand the Strange film - all you need to know is Wanda didn't handle her grief well, and changed reality - creating her own family, and her own world. The repercussions were - a new Vision (without the Mind Stone or rather Wand's version of it), Monica Rambineau (from Captain Marvel) becoming more than just a pilot, and Wanda finding the Darkhold and getting corrupted by it (apparently).

I have the HD Netflix, but not the multiple scree version.

[mtbc]

Aha, thank you, at least I should be happy enough waiting for it to come out on DVD, especially as my new apartment came with an enormous television.

I do notice the difference with HD, I just don't much miss it when I watch SD instead. I can sure see it's a nice to have, though.

[lizzybuffy2008]

We watched Dr Strange on Friday and weren't thrilled either. I think Marvel is scrambling a bit to try and "fill the hole" left by the departures/death of RDJ, Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman and looking for the anchors. The most popular is Spiderman, but since it belongs to Sony, that is a problem.

I did think that Benedict Cumberbatch had his moments that were really good and I was intrigued by the tie in with What If...Peggy as Captain America and Maria Rambeau as Captain Marvel, but otherwise found it pretty formulaic and was not happy about the turn of events regarding Wanda/Scarlet Witch.

[shadowkat]

Agreed. It reminded me a bit too much of DarkWillow arc in Buffy and not in a good way. (I didn't really like the DarkWillow arc that much either - for similar reasons.)

I was really hoping they weren't going in that direction with Scarlet Witch. It's so patronizing. I'd hoped they would do the opposite - and have Scarlet Witch help Strange fix his mess. (The Trailer's led me to believe that they were going with Wanda helping Strange who screwed up, not the other way around - so I'm really annoyed by how they marketed the film and with the mislead. You know there's a problem with the story/plot when the audience prefers the mislead to the plot twist.)

I think Marvel is scrambling a bit to try and "fill the hole" left by the departures/death of RDJ, Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman and looking for the anchors. The most popular is Spiderman, but since it belongs to Sony, that is a problem.

Agreed. They have a problem - because none of the actors/characters in the second group are charismatic enough to anchor the series. RDJ, Evans and Boseman along with their characters had a lot of charisma and presence. (It would be kind of like killing off Batman and Superman in the DC franchise then being stuck with the Flash - who is owned by another company.)

Benedict Cumberbatch does and doesn't - due to the type of character he's playing. (Strange isn't an anchor character - he wasn't in the comics. He's more a sideline, or advisor.
And none of the others quite have that oomph. Tom Holland does - but his franchise is owned by Sony who won't give it up. And Disney can't buy Sony the way they did with Fox.

They got the Fantastic Four and X-men franchises but don't appear to know what to do with them.
Casting is key on both. Also writing.

[elisi]

The oil causes everything to slide off the pasta, it can't stick. And you want the sauce to stick to every inch of the macroni and ziti, and the penne, get in every crevice. Otherwise it doesn't work.
I was skimming through my flist, but this made me do a genuine double take. How much oil are they adding?? What I learned - and have always done when boiling pasta - is to add a pinch of salt and about a teaspoon of oil. Like 'a splash'. It has never made anything glide off the pasta - besides which the sauce most certainly has oil in it too.

Not really expecting you to reply to this, I guess they just cook differently.

[shadowkat]

Yep. Had exactly the same reaction to the conversation...

I was returning to my cubicle from the restroom, which is several cubicles, like half a floor past theirs, and while passing their cubicles, over heard the conversation. Stopped. Did a genuine double take. Backed up. Listened some more. Then asked.

Because I do the same thing you do.

But "the Italians" do not. I've read the directions on the Italian pasta (Barilla imported from Italy or other brands imported from Italy) - and you don't use olive oil, just salt. Apparently it sticks better to the macroni and zitti if you don't use it.

So I thought about it, and having done both? They aren't wrong. LOL!

[mefisto]

Wow, you nailed my view of Stranger Things S4 perfectly. I will say that I understand the reasoning for El's story, but it drags.

[shadowkat]

I'd read somewhere that the Duffer Brothers seemed to be more interested in writing for the humorous or comic relief characters now, then the budding romances such as Mike and Eleven and Nancy and Jonathan and Joyce and Hopper. Also had shifted focus almost entirely from the Mike/Eleven storyline.

[mefisto]

That may well be the case and if so it's probably a good decision since none of those romances interested me much anyway.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree. The writers don't handle romance well - and honestly I wish they wouldn't try. I like the teaming together and solving the mystery bit better.

[yourlibrarian]

I won't point you to my Stranger Things take as you haven't finished the show, but will link to the Dr. Strange one: https://yourlibrarian.dreamwidth.org/1024054.html

I was surprised to see it pop up already on Disney+ because it hasn't even been 2 months since it came out but Spiderman released in December has yet to show up. I'm guessing that this is because it's jointly owned by Sony.

It does, however, help me decide what to do when Thor comes out next month. I wasn't feeling very enthusiastic anyway and if it can go on streaming by October then I'll risk the spoilers and just wait.

[shadowkat]

Oh thank you! I was hunting for your review last night, and got distracted with one of your other posts. So couldn't find it.

Regarding Spiderman vs. Doctor Strange? Spiderman was a much better movie by a very large margin with far better cameos (I mean I bought Spiderman, and I'm glad I did and want to rewatch it again and again, Doctor Strange? I'm glad I saw it for free - no interest in rewatching it at all). And Spiderman came out at a time in which not much else was out there. Plus, it's part of a deal with Sony, and Sony refused to release it to streaming until the fall and on Starz, at that. Disney + will get it eventually, but probably not until 2023.

Spiderman made more money. Strange did okay, or well enough to justify a sequel, but it didn't break any records as far as I know.

Thor - I think it has the same director as the fourth Thor film, and if you didn't like it, you might want to wait? I'm excited about it - but that's because I read some of the comics its based on, and know they are taking Jason Aaron's story about how Jane Foster becomes the God of Thunder. (I'm wondering if she'll have breast cancer like she does in the comics - in the comics, she does chemo, becomes God of Thunder - and the power undoes all the work the chemo did and rids her body of the chemo, reinforcing the cancer.) Also, Christian Bale is playing the villain - and that's just inspired. (I love Christian Bale.) That said? I don't know if I'll see it in a movie theater or not.

I'm debating about Jurassic World - I love the Jurassic Park movies - that cheesy blend of disaster movie, creature flick, and problem solving turns me on. Also I adore Sam Neil. But I don't know - I actually like them better on my home television screen.

[yourlibrarian]

I plan to see Jurassic World at some point even though I skipped the last one, mostly because the Park trilogy characters are coming back. As it happens I was just commenting to someone else about it on their post and they were underwhelmed and pointed out that if it had been a good movie the word of mouth would be keeping it going but it's not.

[shadowkat]

As it happens I was just commenting to someone else about it on their post and they were underwhelmed and pointed out that if it had been a good movie the word of mouth would be keeping it going but it's not.

Doctor Strange, right?

Yeah. It's the return audience. I was discussing this with mother - who also watched it on Saturday, for Benedict Cumberbatch. She was disappointed with it as well or underwhelmed. But we both agreed - the film didn't bring in the return audience. That's why Spiderman did so well - people went back to see it more than once, and brought friends. So return audience plus word of mouth.

Strange got people in opening weekend - with the marketing buzz, and trailer, and Spiderman cameo, but made the mistake of not building on the Spiderman bit. Instead they went with WandaVision (and not quite as many people saw WandaVision or cared.) So when they didn't get what the trailer and Spiderman promised, they got disappointed, and underwhelmed, and did not return.

Return audience is crucial.

I liked The Eternals better than Doctor Strange actually - I felt it had more oomph and better special effects, which is an odd thing to say. And not what I thought I'd say prior to seeing Strange.

[yourlibrarian]

No, the new Jurassic Park movie. But I agree that clearly Strange did not bring in repeat viewers either or it would have stayed in theaters longer.

I liked The Eternals just fine and am surprised it didn't do better at the time of its release. Was it a particularly captivating Marvel movie? No. But it wasn't competing with much at the time in the theaters either. And unlike Black Widow it didn't go straight to streaming.

[shadowkat]

The Eternals was out in November, and people were still itchy about the virus, also, it wasn't that great a movie - it didn't have the pull that Spiderman did with its franchise. Nor the word of mouth. Also the reviews didn't help.

So, the new Jurassic Park flick may end up on Streaming sooner than expected? That's good news for me at least. So far Spiderman and Top Gun were the big box office winners. Interesting.