Spontaneous Musings

1. Got my new toy - the 10th Generation Ipad - perfect size and syncs well with the iphone. Now just have to figure out how to draw on it. I've an idea for a new story that involves drawing, and writing, but we'll see if I can get it to work.

I've decided to try my hand at illustrated works for a bit and see how that flies?

2. Finished Fool Me Once - the limited series adaptation from a Harlan Coben novel/ I've never read Corben, not my genre. He writes what my father used to call airplane thrillers - nicknamed for the ability to read them in their entirety in the space of time it takes to fly from point A to point B, often with airport layovers in between. My father read a lot of them, and tried his hand at writing a few - starring business men like himself - because he felt that most of the books lacked that reality. Sorry, certain things remind me of my father and I feel compelled to tell people about it. Kind of feels like keeping his memory alive or something?

We miss him. My family. He was a big presence in our lives. And now...there's just a hole or gap remaining, filled with disjointed memory.

Anyhow, the series was okay. Fairly uneven in writing and performance, some of the performances were better than others. The lead Detective was good, but the rest? Uneven.

It held my attention for the most part, but I felt the plot got away from the writers, or writer (not sure how close it is to the novel - haven't read it). Tried to do too many things and I lost track of it.
( Vague spoiler )

I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

3. Finished a few comics...which was among the reasons I got the Ipad. It works better than the Amazon Fire, which I've had for about ten years, and is crappy now. It doesn't down load well, and doesn't do much more than work as a kindle reader. I can read books on Kindle on Apple Ipad, computer, and phone just as well - if not better. Plus get Marvel Unlimited. And draw and write on the ipad. Going with the Ipad. And they cost about the same now. So made sense to get an Ipad as opposed to trying to upgrade the crappy Amazon Fire HD.

I think I'm done upgrading my Kindle devices. I have a Kindle Paperwhite which works well enough.

* X-men 1 by Jed Mckay and Ryan Stegman

For the most part? Good start for X-men from the Ashes.

The art is different than previous issues and takes a little getting used to, but overall above par. With comics, it’s always about the art first, the writing second. The dialogue pops for the most part. And the characters make sense. I rather like the scenes between Cyke and Logan, Hank and Cyke, and Magneto. Also it makes sense that after being tortured and put through hell - Cyclops would retreat to his birthplace, Alaska, and take the mutants who can’t blend in with humans, or are ostracized with him. The team up works for me - we have people who are deadly, former assassins and villains, which again works well with Cyclops, a character who believes in second chances. Only quibble - is the villains feel kind of stale? I was never a fan of the U-Men. But I’ll give it a chance, the rest is working for me so far.


* Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips

Better than expected. Finally someone who loves and appreciates the character - is writing and handling the art. Better yet? We have a female writer as opposed to the endless line of male writers handling the character. Male "comic" book writers don't always handle powerful female superhero characters well. In the previous series on The Phoenix - the male writers turned her evil, had her first love, Scott, save her from herself, and she sacrificed herself on the moon for them all. It was the 1970s. What can you expect? Gender politics was just gearing up for a fight.

Now, decades later, or rather a century later - we have a cosmic heroine, and we're largely in her point of view. ( Read more... )

* X-Men: The Wedding Special (2024) #1 - Celebration of Pride Month (the Wedding of Mystique and Destiny)

Mystique is a bisexual transgender character, and Destiny is equally bisexual. Both are usually portrayed as female. But Mystique is a shape-changer.

Uneven - mainly due to the multiple stories within it? It's an anthology. ( Read more... )

I've been re-reading the Sandman comics, and listening to the audiobook, prior to seeing the series on August 5 - when all eleven episodes begin streaming on Netflix.

From the Guardian article on Neil Gaiman:
( taken from the Guardian article )

Rest of article can be found HERE. He lucked out. A woman wouldn't have been able to do it. There were almost no women writers of comics in the 1980s and 90s, oh there were a few, but it was a tough biz to get into back then.

The Sandman Creator Explains Why He Tears Down Online Trolls.

The buzz on this is good. Gaiman executive produced and writes the first episode and is involved with all the episodes. He also was involved in the casting and production design. And he runs a very safe and kind set.

"I know the rule is you’re meant to ignore the trolls and not feed the trolls,” Gaiman admitted. "But I would look at people sounding off on Sandman who were obviously not Sandman fans. What I would watch would be 60,000 Sandman fans going, 'Of course you’re doing it this way. Of course you have a non-binary Desire, Desire was always non-binary, that’s brilliant casting.' Or 'Gwendoline as Lucifer, what amazing casting.' And then you’d get five or six people trying to make a lot of fuss who never read Sandman in the first place. And I mostly decided I was done with it."

Gaiman went on to say that while he sometimes feels he should ease up on his retorts, he thinks his general response is warranted given how hard the cast and crew has worked on the show. "Occasionally I do feel like I’m taking an enormous sledgehammer to squash the tiniest ants, and you really shouldn’t," he said. "But then again, they can be really irritating sometimes, and I’m proud of what we made."

He's kind of funny about it. He squashed the one whinging about his casting choices not being reflective of the artist's renditions or versions in the comics, and the artist not getting a say - by simply stating, well actually he did. I consulted him and he agreed with me.

Or the people whinging about Lucifer not being a hunky guy - aka Tom Ellis, and he said, "not my problem" and "actually my Lucifer looked more like an androgynous David Bowie. (He's absolutely right his does. So does Mike Carey's - which Ellis's series is based on. In Carey's Lucifer comics - Lucifer doesn't have any genitalia - he's non-binary. In other words - a they not a he. Angels are "They" not she/he, they are not binary creatures in Gaiman's verse or Carey's.

If you read the comics - you'll pick up on it pretty quickly. I've read both Carey and Gaiman's. In fact, Ellis' Lucifer series doesn't fit the comics much at all - it's one of the reasons that I gave up on it. I found it jarring. I liked the comics better. Lucifer is interesting in the comics, in the "Lucifer" television series he's a 12 year old putz in an adult male body. Which was fine for a bit - until it got annoying.

On another note - no we didn't win the megamillions, someone in Illinois got it.

Mother: What are you doing today?
Me: Nothing.

Which wasn't entirely true - I went to the fruit and vegetable store - after the storm. But other than that...I just laid about, surfed the net, and watched television.

Good news - they finally proscribed something to treat my Dad's UTI. This could mean - that some of the dementia may level off.



It was muggy outside and hot. Eighty-eight degrees with 80% humidity feels a bit like a steam bath. But I'm not sweating that much. And wasn't dripping wet. Methinks my body has finally entered menopause and is past perimenopausal hell storm? Fingers crossed. Also thunderstorms - but no headaches and no edginess. And no crying jags, wicked irritability, or hot flashes. Hmmm. Feeling grateful for that. It's the little things.

***

Television

* Loki

I finished watching Loki series today - it's the first to get renewed for a second season. Honestly of the series that I've seen, it's the one I care the least about getting renewed. But I guess I can see why they renewed it first. It kind of ended on a cliff-hanger? While the others didn't? Also we got a bit more of the others?

Mother asked if she should try it. And I told her the same thing I'll tell all of you. It's a metaphysical philosophical mind puzzle by way of Marvel Comics - it's not the easiest thing in the world to follow. Particularly if you aren't familiar with the Marvel Universe or their take on time travel.

I already knew a great deal of the stuff that they relayed in the series - from reading X-men comics for the last forty-some years. The X-men delve into the whole multi-verse time travel mind-puzzle bit a lot more than the other series do, actually. Reading X-men can at times feel like reading speculative science fiction with pictures. Loki also reminded me a little of Noah Fawley (sp?) LEGION. Had that same sort of noirish mind-puzzle aspect to it. Which if you think about it is kind of necessary for trickster anti-hero like Loki.

Loki is by no means my favorite character in the MCU. I like him well enough, due to the actor. But the character - I often find annoying - he's whiny. He's less whiny here - mainly because he is too busy to whine.
Plus we have a great female anti-hero protagonist to follow - who kind of steals the series out from under Loki. It's kind of fun watching her steal it from him and Owen Wilson.

Loki sets the viewer up to expect one thing - and through a kind of sleight of hand delivers something else entirely. We're set up to believe Loki is the hero or protagonist of the series and in a way "Loki" is - just not the one we think. There's a lot of nice twists or set ups or tricks in store.
In fact the whole story is a bit of a trick - on both the characters and the viewer - with an end result that opens up the film verse in a nice way.

At the same time, it's also a satiric commentary on various governmental systems and hierarchies. And, shows how the attempt to create order is rather messy - and results in petty bureaucracies, meaningless justice systems and court systems that feel seemingly random and make no sense.

( spoilers )

There's a lightening storm happening outside my window, and Netflix has finally dropped Gunpowder Milkshake the all female action flick with Paul Giametti. I'm seeing less and less people with masks in the apartment building and outside now - in part because it's bloody hot.

I'm ignoring the news for the time being. I figure it can play itself out without my notice.

1. Yes, I know everyone is bored of the Whedon thing. But, this is kind of interesting. I found it finally on Twitter - it's about what lay behind the whole CC reveal, and those who followed. Hint - it wasn't about Buffy or the Marvel movies or for that matter, The Nevers. No, it is about Whedon's long running attempt to get into the DC film verse after leaving the Marvel film verse.
( Read more... )
What happened? Snyder's daughter died by suicide and he got tired of fighting the WB, and put his family first. The rest of the story is...appalling to say the least. And complicated.

You can find it HERE. It does not show various film critics, comic artists, comic fans, Whedon fans, Whedon, WB or comic writers in the best light. They basically took advantage of someone else's tragic loss for their own personal gain. It is appalling. They also lied about it.

It's an interesting read - because it shows how difficult the film industry can be and why so many go off and do their own things.

At any rate - there's apparently a Snyder Cut of Justice League premiering on HBO MAX tonight - ETA, misread, it's dropping 3/18/2021 - March. It's four hours long. And none of it includes Whedon's footage. Also, only five minutes of it were shot during the pandemic and after 2017. And Whedon's version only contained five 30 minutes of the original Zack Snyder cut - which is possibly why - the re-shoot was hell on wheels - because they basically re-shot the entire movie in less than four months. Cutting everything they did previously. After already shooting and working their asses off on the previous version. AND - various actors ended up with their scenes cut completely. It was - if you can imagine - shooting an entire movie over two years, only to have the director you've bonded with - get fired after his daughter died from suicide - and have a new director that you don't know jump in and throw his weight around. Force you to work hard and long hours, and say lines that you don't feel were in character, and do it in breakneck time, and act as if everything you did the past two years was pointless.

I'd have wanted to skewer Whedon and the WB for that alone. I don't blame the cast for hating them. Add to that - Whedon's version bombed, and the actors struggled afterwards. Plus the anticipated sequel was cancelled.

Now, finally, they get to see the version they worked hard on and were proud of - air. (They spent years trying to get to this point. The previous film aired in 2017.)

I can't see it tonight, but I'll try to see it over the weekend. I'm curious. Although - I'm not really a huge fan of Snyder's films - they give me a headache - all the fight scenes are like paintings, but also feel like watching a video game. So we'll see if I make it through it.

The twitter feeds mentioned Chris Helmsworth has been indicating issues with Whedon for years. So I looked.

Recalls Joss Whedons fury when Avengers Cast Kept Screwing up a Take

I think writers make bad directors for the most part.

2. Winter Storm and Texas Power Outage Map

Texas wanted its own power Grid to avoid the Federal Government - Now What?

Ted Cruz is not having a good year. Nor for that matter is Texas.

But I feel for my poor family members. I have three cousins, their kids, and youngest Aunt in Texas. I'd prefer that they be okay. So far they are.

3. Footloose or Dancing in the Movies



Off to bed. Assuming they quiet down upstairs. It is quiet. It just sounds like someone is moving furniture above me every once and a while.

I tried to read a thinky post about brain stuff and my brain shut off.

1. Scott Allie - Dark Horse Comics Cuts All Ties With Scott Allie Amid Accusations of Sexual Abuse

Warning, the abuse detailed is rather harrowing. It also read a bit like some of the explicit sex scenes in various "erotic" contemporary romance novels. Mother and I, who have both read a lot of romance novels in our lifetimes, and continue to do so - discussed this at some length today at lunch time. (I call my mother twice a day now - once at lunch, and once after work, sometimes three times a day - it breaks up the day for both of us, and helps me stay sane.)

Mother stated that she prefers historical romances to contemporary in part because they are less sexist. The difference in power - makes more sense. While in the contemporary it feels almost misogynistic. As does some of the sex.

We also agreed that comic book industry is not a good place for women. I hate to say this - but it's made up of people like the Trioka in Buffy, and the gang in Big Bang Theory - run, ladies, run. I know this because I've read comics for over thirty years, and I've interacted with a wide variety of comic book fans. The women are rather cool, and so are some of the men. But there's a lot of sexism and a lot of jerks. It's mainly about power. The film industry, to be fair, is no better. My sisterinlaw gave up on film in college and pursued design instead partly due to that.

In regards to Allie? I did not like him. And stopped reading the Buffy comics for a bit, in part, because of him. I skipped S9 for example. I found him obnoxious and his view of the series did not fit mine. Also, he reminded me a little of Warren Mears.

He stopped editing them sometime around Season 10, when a new creative team took over the comics - possibly due to the events that transpired in 2015. And you could tell the difference. Suddenly it seemed to be less misogynistic, and less sexist, also less male fantasy. There was a definite shift in tone. And the artist was female, so that helped as well. Season 10 and Season 11 were good. But I'd skip S8, 9, and 12.

2. In our continuing saga of the State of New York vs. The Corona Virus

Per the Governor's email: New York is reaching out to offer assistance to states with high infection rates. As states across the nation are seeing spikes in new cases, New York's outlook remains good. NY is contacting Florida, Texas, Arizona and other states with high infection rates to offer our help. In our hour of need we had volunteers from across the country who helped us go from the worst situation in the country to one of the best, and we will repay that help and that kindness in any way we can.

Yes, we are making everyone from your states self-isolate for 14 days upon entry, but we are also willing to send aid in your hour of need. Huzzah!

I explained to project manager today that while our agency was part of a bigger transportation agency, it was really it's own little governing force most of the time. Kind of like the State of New York and the United States.

And..according to the NY Times...A federal judge ruled that houses of worship in New York City can hold indoor services at 50 percent capacity, rather than the 25 percent allowed under the state’s reopening plan.

Gotta love that freedom of religion thing - under the US Constitution, you have the freedom to kill your congregation with a virus! Huzzah!

I don't know about you, but I see this as continuing proof that the US Federal Government and specifically the Republican Party is attempting to kill us. Very glad to be a Unitarian - they are not congregating any time soon.

3. In the continuing saga of the World vs. the Corona Virus (which kind of demonstrates and proves my theory that the human species is not only self-absorbed, with the attention span of a hyper puppy (actually I think the puppy has a longer attention span, I'd say a cat - but I've watched cat's stare at a bug for hours), but also colossally stupid.)
( spoiler alert - the world is not winning it's war against the virus. )
But it's not all dire, apparently donations and giving hit an all time high, there's more giving and donations to charitable causes this year than any previous one, including 9/11. Something tells me that 9/11 will be kind of a footnote in history after this.

4. Black Lives Matter vs. Latin Lives Matter..

I think people (meaning our ever fickle and somewhat lacking in attention span news media) have begun to get tired of the Black Lives Matter Movement and there's a slow shift to Latin Lives Matter now.

The NY Times reported on two stories - one where a Latino man in Tuscon, Texas also was killed by an illegal choke-hold and the video was finally released, with all three men fired. and two, that the number of Latino deaths and infections out number most other deaths across the US.

( excerpt )

This is going to get worse. Apparently our evil federal government has urged the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Healthcare Act Again or Obamacare. This is worrying for me, because my brother and his family are on Obamacare, as are my cousins. Without it - they can't afford medical care or are in trouble.

I hope and pray that the US Supreme Court does the right thing and votes with their conscience, not their greed, and tells Trump to go fuck himself.

Ugh. Painful. Hence the news break. John Scalzi stated he was taking one for a bit, after waking up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache.

It's why I'm reading "The Widow of Rose Hill" - a funny little mystery/paranormal ghost story/historical romance. And watching Black Sails, Artemis Fowl, and whatever else I can find that is fun and fluffy this weekend and has zip to do with current events.

The pic below kind of expresses how I'm feeling at the moment about all of the above..

1. Saw the movie Yesterday in Martha's Vineyard. I've mixed feelings about it. The more I think about it the more I like it. The premise is that a world-wide electro-magnetic shift thrusts all the characters into an alternate universe where various things no longer exist, such as The Beatles -- the Beatles is the focus, because the point of view character or protagonist is a Beatles fan and a struggling musician. The lead is rather good, but Lily James as the love interest felt a bit weak. I also liked Kate McKinnon as the crazy tough corporate music lable manager, attempting to make a killing.

The plot? ( Read more... )

2. CBD -- this is now legal in New York, and Mass, apparently. So far a mixed bag. My mother is able to use it South Carolina -- she uses one drop each night for her legs. I've used it to regulate mood and anxiety, also back pain -- and it works like a charm.

But alas, there are interesting side effects.( Read more... )

3. Veronica Mars.

I read about this on vacation but unfortunately the friend I was staying with had NEVER watched the show and had no interest.

So any Veronica Mars fans or viewers out there?

Veronica Mars Season 4 Ending that is Unfair to Fans

OR basically the ending that pissed off a million fans, or to be exact shippers.
(I'm not sure anyone but the shippers is still devoted to the series. I lost interest ages ago with the lackluster third season and the bland movie. Rob Thomas, as a writer, is uneven, and a bit grating. I didn't fall for iZombie, and got tired of Mars mid-way through the third season. Yes, I know, he's doing "Noir" but it's sort of Noir light, and I've seen it done better elsewhere.]

Anyhow, he decides apparently to really do noir in Season 4. I'd considered getting a brief Hulu subscription to watch Veronica and S3 of Runaways back to back in December and January, but now I'm on the fence.

( Spoilers )

4. For Marvel fans...MCU Phase 4 and 5 plans.. SDCC has released some exciting news.

* They are doing a Female Thor film, that will premiere in 2020, starring Natalie Portman, when Jane Foster becomes Thor.

Wait. What? Wow.
( Details and casting spoilers below )

* Phase 4 - all Marvel's upcoming movies and television series

- Black Widow (a turning point in her life, pre-Avengers) - MAy 1, 2020

- The Falcon and the Winter Solider (fall 2020) - Disney Channel as a limited series
( Read more... )

- The Eternals - November 6, 2020

( Read more... )

* In 2021, Marvel will release its first film about a superhero of Asian descent. Meet Shang-Chi, a martial arts master played by Simu Liu. Liu is best known for his role on the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, and he’ll be starring in The Legend of the Ten Rings with Awkwafina and Tony Leung. Awkwafina’s role has yet to be announced, but Yeung will be playing the notorious Marvel supervillain the Mandarin. (Not the fake Mandarin we met in Iron Man 3 — the real one.)

* WandaVision -- limited series on the Disney+
( Read more... )


- Doctor Strange and the Multi-Verse of Madness
( Read more... )

* Loki -2021 or how the MCU keeps characters alive, while keeping them dead at the same time.

( Read more... )

* What IF? (Oh this is cool, it's animated, and an adaptation of Marvel's legendary What If series.)
( Read more... )

* Hawkeye - Disney + limited series

( Read more... )

* Blade is being redone with Marshali Ali
( Read more... )

YES!

* And of course, we're getting Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

It's a great time to be a superhero fan. Isn't it?

5. Marvel X-Men Plans Revealed

And these are really interesting and different.

Jonathan Hickman is returning to Marvel next week to light a fire under the X-Men, and at San Diego Comic Con, he shared his plans for the first wave of X-Men comics to follow his place-setting launch titles, House of X and Powers of X.

Six books launch in the first wave: X-Men (Cyclops, Christopher Summers, Rachel Grey, Cable, Jean Grey, Vulcan, Havok, and Wolverine), Excalibur, X-Force, New Mutants, Fallen Angels and Marauders.

"House of X and Powers of X lay the groundwork for a whole new world of X-Men stories for years to come, and the Dawn of X books are the promise of that new world come to life,” said X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White in a press statement.

White later told Polygon more about the lead in books: "[After House of M] the [books] became less about acceptance by humankind and more about the fact that they were going extinct and that they might disappear as a species. That was the driving force of the X-Men, and while there have been fluctuations in that story over the years, I still think that generally that’s been the thrust of the line for quite a while. I think it was time for a change.”

Powers of X (pronounced "Powers of Ten" at the panel, but it's not clear if that was trolling or not) is the story of mutants throughout time, while House of X is more about the mutants in the now, though the two intertwine. They then reset the X-Men the same way "Disassembled" did to the world of the Avengers, and from there, the first wave of new books launch.

* X-men

X-Men #1 launches in October, written by Hickman with art from Leinil Francis Yu (who recently helped launch Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America).

This is the flagship X-book with the heaviest hitters and the series driving the rest of the line. It ALSO has almost nothing but Summerses on the cover - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rachel Grey, Cable, Corsair, Havok, and okay-if-you-say-so-but-only-because-I-trust-you-Jonathan Vulcan - along with Wolverine in his scientifically proven best costume.


YES. A dream book for Cyclops fans everywhere.

* The Marauders

Marauders #1 also launches in October, from Gerry Duggan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity Wars) and Matteo Lolli (Asgardians of the Galaxy).

This book has Emma Frost's Hellfire Trading Company funding a team of Marauders sailing the seas protecting mutants and presumably doing some light raiding. The team is led by Captain Kate Pryde and Lockheed, with Iceman, Storm, Bishop, and Pyro rounding out the crew. This book should probably be called Privateers but who am I kidding, I'm probably buying an X-Men book with Storm, Bishop, and Iceman on it.

[And from the cover? It appears that someone finally decided to give Emma Frost a costume that doesn't make her look like a Victoria Secret take on a Dominatrix Superhero.]

*The New Mutants (which frankly looks like a throwback, and again, a how-to guide on how Marvel resurrects a slew of characters that it recently killed off during a previous run)
( Read more... )

* The Excalibur

( Read more... )

* Fallen Angels

( Read more... )


*X-Force

( Read more... )

This looks wickedly cool. Marvel is putting X-men front and center again, and yes, there are plans to pull them into the MCU movie-verse. But not until Phase 5.

They've plotted it out though, and promise no more rebooting after this -- we hope.
I'm looking forward to new stories starring my favorite characters. With cool art.

Also, just so you know, Tessa, The Valkeryi is my default icon. She's also the first LGBTQA superhero in the MCU. (Not in the comics -- the comics have Northstar as the first, a mutant, and Bobby Drake.)

1. Reading Meme

* What I Just Finished Reading?

E-Books [because I read everything on the Kindle at the moment]

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

This was disappointing. It started out being this great story about a female attorney in Bombay, India who had managed to survive a nasty marriage and was solving legal mystery....to a rather boring murder mystery that meandered and felt a tad...boilerplate.
( Read more... )

E-Comics:

[By the way, comicxology unlimited -- gives you discounts and you can borrow up to 50 comics at a time. That's how I'm doing this.]

* UnCanny X-men #20 - 2018 by Matthew Rosenberg -- geeze, a lot of characters are getting killed off during this run. To date, they've killed off one or two characters per book. Granted they aren't exactly major characters -- and honestly most of the major characters they've already killed off at least twice already. (It's bloody hard to take character deaths all that seriously in comic books. If you do, you clearly haven't been reading them for very long -- just wait, whichever favorite character they killed off -- will most definitely return at a future date.)
( review )

Age of X-man - Marvelous X-men Issue 5 -- found this series to be rather slow and sort of boring. It's a bit too preachy -- and feels like AU fanfic. (Actually most comics do at various points, par for the course.) Will be happy when it's over.

BoomComics Buffy Reboot #5 -- I may have reviewed this already? Can't remember.

CJL: Did they turn Xander into a vampire?
ME: Well...sort of.
( Read more... )

What I'm reading now?

Outside of hammering away at my novel...which is writing not reading, so never mind.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

This is the first fictional novel by the 70 year old woman living out in the wilderness of Idaho...who used to write naturalist books about Africa with her ex-husband.

So far? ( Read more... )

As an aside -- it's odd, all the fictional (non-comic) books I'm reading are by women, and all the comics seem to be by men. ( Read more... )

2. Struggling with restless legs at the moment, blame my mother for bringing it up -- that and dehydration.

Tired. Have not been sleeping well. Most likely weather related, the humidity fires up the arthritis which fires up the sciatica, which drives a needle of hot pain into my left knee.

Doctor suggested knee to ankle pillow -- been hunting on Amazon. Not sure, think I found something -- currently using a regular pillow. Doctor is actually pretty good for a change, even if she's a bit blood test happy.

Finally saw it. (I gave up on movie buddy, who to be fair let me off the hook when he told me he'd have to reschedule due to a prior family commitment on May 18. It's May, people with small children tend to become increasingly unavailable.)

Got my hair done first -- color and cut. (I've found an amazing colorist, she's Russian and does a color treatment that has actual highlights in it, it looks better than my natural hair color.) And the stylist is cool as well, has tattoos up her arms.

Anyhow, Avengers: Endgame

First off, I saw it in RPX. Which is about three to four dollars more than standard. Will I do it again? ( RPX Theaters )

There were about 10 movie trailers, including Spider-man Far From Home, which aired after the credits. There is no tag to the credits -- since this is the final film of this particular series.

The movie itself? Did I enjoy it? I loved it, for the most part. There were moments where my jaw just dropped in awe and a chill went down my spine. Others that well, made me want to shake certain characters -- come on, get a move on. It's highly suspenseful in places -- I honestly had no idea where they were going with it at one point. And it does a great job of referencing every film that came before it (so, it works a lot better for people who saw all 21 previous films, and know those characters than for folks who hadn't). There are a few...character centric moments that seemingly go on forever. (More on that under a spoiler cut.)

I went in cold. All I knew was it involved Time Travel, Captain Marvel is in it, and Captain America says goodbye. That's it. (Yes, I did a very good job of avoiding spoilers.)

The movie does wrap up the franchise well. But it is a character driven piece not a plot driven one. And there are places in which it gets bogged down a little with plot mechanics. That said, the plot for the most part is rather tight, and it skirts the mistakes most time travel films and stories make or the traps they fall into.
Marvel generally speaking is rather good with time travel -- should be, they've done it enough.

And there are a few surprises -- particularly in how they manage to maintain continuity and reference previous films.

Like I said -- it works better if you've seen all 21 of the previous films.

I found it funny -- hilarious in spots, but I admittedly have an off-beat sense of humor. I also cried in various places. So it worked for me emotionally. Not sure it will for everyone. Depends on whether you share my snarky and absurdist sense of humor.

( Spoilers for Avengers - Endgame )

1. What are you reading?

Lots of X-men comics. Adventures in Bad Taste (AIBT) has some interesting bits as well. Honestly, taste is in the eye of the beholder.

Finished Uncanny X-men (2018-11) by Matthew Rosenberg and Salvador Larroca.
The problem with the X-men -- is they have a tendency to just use the same title and renumber. So we have Uncanny X-men 11 - 2015, and Uncanny X-men #11 - 1990s...so it's really hard to find the issue in Good Reads.

Anyhow here's the somewhat spoilery review:

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Still reading a romance by Laura Kinsale, The Shadow and the Star, which would either make you roll your eyes or you'd enjoy. I fall somewhere in between. ( Read more... )

Also reading Age of X-men -- which is sort of the flip-side of Age of Apocalypse, where the X-men live in an isolated Utopia, with no humans. A nice commentary on utopian views and how they are great in theory but not in practice.
And being a long running serial -- there's some nice character touches along the way.

Finished both Age of X-men - Alpha and Marvelous X-men -- which is the lead title. There's about five or six titles, five issues each, and an Alpha and Omega -- patterned after the Age of Apocalypse. And it is a critique of a certain set of current political idealogies that are cropping up. Ayn Rand's Individualism aka Objectivism and the whole concept of letting go of negative emotions, connections, and isolating oneself in a peaceful existence of contemplation -- no tribal connections of any sort. One big unifying family, with children created via a hatchery. Oh, Brave New World...indeed. (Reminds me a little of Adolus Huxley.)

It's well done. The art has a sort of calm look to it -- peaceful pallet, simple lines, reminds me a lot of post-modern literary comics. And the X-men are the Avengers. They live in their own nice homes, solitary, and meet as a team to fight the world's ills. There's no romantic love or love, so no strife. Everyone is friendly. No family ties, just loose friends. No biological connections. Individualism reigns supreme. And we're given the philosophy -- it's a utopia of sorts. Yet, there's a quote after each segment..."At the heart of every so-called utopia is tyranny" and in Age of X-men, "revolution is in who we are, not just what we do...the desire to fight for freedom" -- from Ursula Le Quinn's The Dispossessed.

These new writers, artists and editorial staff have something to say. It's odd, but most ideological and socio-political critique is found cult art or pulp. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, comic books, soap operas, then really in the more literary or mainstream fair. It's no accident that Buffy was the first broadcast television show to depict a lesbian relationship, or that All My Children was the first to do so, and pre-dated Buffy by about five years with not one but two relationships, along with a gay storyline. Daytime Soaps often tackled serious social issues that prime time series steered away from. Why? Because they fell under the wire of the censors and the advertisers during that period were a bit more open-minded. Comics are the same way -- often going right for the juglar regarding complex socio-political issues. It wasn't surprising to me that both Captain America-Civil War and Black Panther tackled serious socio-political issues that most films steer clear of. Or that we see them tackled in horror films. Perhaps being able to use metaphor helps? It provides enough distance from the reader/viewer and the topic for it to be discussed?

I don't know. But it is to a degree why I've always been drawn more to genre, and in particular comics and soaps. Well that, and the fact that you can't find better character arcs and analysis anywhere else. Nobody explores characters better than a long-running serial. That may explain, why I don't think characters in sitcoms are well-developed and seem a tad shallow. Mainly because we don't get to look at them from every angle imaginable.

2. What are you watching?

Finished Russian Doll -- earlier in the week. See posts for reviews. It's good, but the Groundhog Day/Time Travel gimmick still annoys me and does not work from a plot perspective. (shrugs)


A Million Little Things -- it's okay, irritating in places, but compelling in its' own way. I'm interested in the mystery but find the individual emotional character subplots -- annoying and poorly written also very cliche ridden in places. ( spoilers )

And I gave up on it -- and wandered off to do laundry. Shows how well it was holding my attention, doesn't it? Then came back and finished.

( spoilers )

*Grey's Anatomy -- which was a whole lot better and once again made me cry.
Sigh. I do like how these writers handle love triangles -- which is to sort kick them to one side. That said, why they feel the need to push people to have romantic relationships...( Read more... )

* Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Well they are doing a great job of wrapping up all the character arcs. Also in explaining mental illness and Rebecca's journey through it. While at the same time, critiquing romantic shipping and how our society pushes romance, careers, etc to equal happiness. Rebecca is now pursuing her dream of being a musical theater star.

3. Doing?

Did Laundry. Four loads. Huzzah. The laundry gods were with me.

I finally saw it! (I may well be among the last people on DW to have seen it.) I was accidentally spoiled by sci-fi writer John Scalzi, so knew what to expect going in. And a lot of people on FB were being a bit vocal about it. DW was nicer -- thank you for that. I got somewhat spoiled by FB and Scalzi. In this case, that was probably a good thing. Less traumatizing. Also, I'm long-time comic book fan and reader, so I know they'll undo everything that happened in this movie in the next installment.

(I've read one too many of these sorts of scenarios.)

Was surprised by it -- it was a much better film that I'd expected. And a far better one than Last Jedi in some respects. The directors and writers had a lot of balls to hold in the air, and they managed to not drop any of them. Considering we had lots of characters and various locations, they did a could job developing all of them -- in part by simplifying the plot. A convoluted plot would have killed this film. It required a simple plot, a clear goal, and a complicated villain. Last Jedi had a convoluted plot, no clear goals, and a simplistic villain. As a result it was harder to follow, I plan to watch it again on "On Demand". Although, to be fair, I think, if you aren't into the Marvel films or the characters, and haven't seen them -- you'd be lost too. This film much like Jedi is targeted towards a specific nitch audience -- the ones who have seen all the films and are familiar with all the characters. Co-worker saw it on a cruise with his wife, and she drove him nuts asking him who everyone was.

Take aways? We have scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downy Jr. Stroke of genius to put Tony Stark and Dr. Strange together with Peter Quill, Chris Pratt. Although three actors tend to play smart-ass arrogant assholes. Watching them on screen together? Comic gold. Also Thor and Rocket and Groot and Peter Dinklater. We've got Scarlett Johnaseen, Ogya, and Wanda fighting together.

The cast? To die for. Peter Dinklater, Chris Evans, Chris Helmsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlet Johannson, Chadwick Bosman, Letitia Wright, Mark Ruffalo, Gweyneth Paltrow, Don Chedal, William Hurt, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillian, Chris Pratt, (a lot of Chris's, damn that's a popular name, very happy it's not mine (grins evilly)), Bradley Cooper, it goes on and on.

I laughed my head off at times, and I cried. It's a devastating movie in places. You spend a great deal of it going..."Oh nooooo, nooo.....Damn it." The audience was NOT happy at the end of it. There was a very disgruntled crowd leaving the movie theater. "That movie sucked. Dumb movie. I can't believe they did that." I thought it was somewhat risky and really got it's point across.

It is an impossible film to discuss without serious spoilers. So still above the spoiler cut? Great FX, great fighting scenes, and a good tight plot and good character development. It was nowhere near as busy as I'd expected. Like I said, pleasantly surprised and a far better film than Avengers 1, Avengers 2 or Justice League, all of which had less characters. And Brolin played a fascinating villain.

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Overall? I'd give the film a B+/A- for what it is.