. . . And not all good #television shows are on #Netflix & Hulu. The old broadcast stand-bys have some great ones, too! Here’s a taste:
#StrangerThings - Netflix
#ThisIsUs - #NBC
#StarTrekDiscovery - #CBS
#TheOrville - #Fox
#TheGoodPlace - NBC
#BrooklynNineNine - Fox
#Superstore - NBC
#DancingWithTheStars - #ABC
#JerryBeforeSeinfeld - Netflix
#AmericanMade #StarTrekDiscovery #KingsmanTheGoldenCircle #GagaFiveFootTwo . . .
Tom Cruise in American Made is a wild and fun romp through the 1980s and Reagan’s war on drugs. Based on a true, and truly fantastic, story. Don’t miss this!
Star Trek: Discovery’s first two episodes are sheer gold and hereby launches a new series worthy of the iconic name #StarTrek. If you love sci-fi, this is a MUST-SEE not to be missed!
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a more than worthy sequel as it is very much an amusement-park ride of a flick, just like the original. If you loved the first one, you’ll likely love this one too.
Gaga: Five Foot Two is a documentary about her time shortly before her #SuperBowl appearance. You get to see her über emotional, distraught, depressed, and naked (figuratively and literally). All in all, I did not much enjoy it, but it may be the glimpse into her personal life that you’ve been waiting for, if you are a fan.
Wow, ok, wow, so this review could easily take me all day long to write and could become pages and pages and pages long. So, I will abbreviate and condense as best as I can...
First let me say that it has been FAR TOO LONG since Princess Diana of Themyscira had a live-action presence on-screen. Created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, her first appearance was in 1941 in All Star Comics number 8. Thirty-eight years later, in 1979, Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman television program went off the air after running for three seasons. In 2011 Warner Bros / DC Comics tried to get a WW television-movie off the ground and failed. So, nearly FOUR DECADES since the tv-show passed before THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE female superhero of all time, in the whole world, was finally afforded a live-action big-screen big-budget movie. Inexcusable, but I digress and want to thank the WB for finally getting this accomplished.
There were, of course, many many business reasons why it took so long to bring WW to theaters near you, but NONE of those reasons mattered to me one bit. They had made Superman The Movie in 1978. They had made Batman in 1989. Wonder Woman is part of DC Comics’ “Holy Trinity,” but they could not iron out the red tape details to give the fans a motion picture starring the only female superhero in human history as well-known as Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne? <rolls eyes>
Now that I’m done complaining and ranting... director Patty Jenkin’s WONDER WOMAN was really good! Was it the best superhero film I’ve ever seen? No. Was it the worst? Not even close! Did it do “justice” (pun intended) to her iconic and legendary comic book character? Yes! In my opinion as a card-carrying über-geek, as a lifelong fanboy, and as a movie-watcher of thousands and thousands of films: I say that Wonder Woman is a more than worthy portrayal of DC’s first lady of comics! In fact, I have no reservations in saying that Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman is better than Henry Cavill’s Superman AND is furthermore better than Ben Affleck’s Batman. That is to say that I enjoyed Wonder Woman FAR MORE than I did Batman v Superman AND Man of Steel.
I KNOW that the world-wide-web will be BLOWING UP all month, and likely beyond, about gender issues, gender equality, sexism, and feminism as addressed in this film. So, let me say that I was disappointed that Diana was only able to find her true strength and access the full extent of her superpowers AFTER finding and understanding love. I so wish that writers Allan Heinberg and Zack Snyder did not feel that this all-too-often stereotyped and cliché idea in Hollywood should apply to Diana, Princess of the Amazons. I don’t mind at all that she has a romantic love-interest in Steve Trevor, played by Chis Pine, as that was lifted directly from the original comics, but the big ah-ha moment at the end of the film [SPOILER] is that BECAUSE OF THAT intense feeling of love, that is *so* universal, it not only gave her the wherewithal to appreciate the people worldwide, but moreover opened up and unlocked her previously unattainable god-like superpowers. <sigh> That, and some somewhat questionable computer-generated-imagery, and perhaps some slow-pacing at times, were my only complaints of the film.
Wonderful performances were given by all, not just #GalGadot and #ChrisPine, but also by #ConnieNielsen #RobinWright #DannyHuston #DavidThewlis #SaidTaghmaoui #EwenBremmer #EugeneBraveRock and the lovely #LucyDavis!
Wait, did I say I was going to keep this short? So sorry, let me wrap up... briefly...
• Stunt Choreography & Stuntwork: A++
• Costume Deisgn and Wardrobe: A++
• Sound, Sound Effects, & Sound Editing: A+
• Cinematography: A
• Casting: A
• Action: A
• Humor: A
• Acting: A-
• Story: A-
• Special Effects / CGI: A-
• Soundtrack & Score: A-
• Pacing / Editing: B
I’m seeing it again, tomorrow night, if that tells you anything. Hope to see you there!
#WonderWoman #DCComics #Film #Movies #Scifi #GalGadot #ChrisPine
The first thing I said as the post-film credits started to roll was: “I wish this was science-fiction.” Then, I followed up with: “I wish this was fiction!” The film is based on the science-fiction novel of the same name by Dave Eggers and it is disturbing not because it is scary science-fiction, but because we all know that the novel is a fictional look at science-fact.
Before we get into all of that, I’ll say that “good” to “very good” is how I’d first describe James Posoldt’s The Circle. The film is well made, but I’m sad to say that I did not fall in love with it, despite my high hopes and the fact that its cast contained some of my favorite actors: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Patton Oswalt, John Boyega, and Bill Paxton. All did a wonderful job of playing believable characters.
On a not-so-side-note: We lost Bill Paxton this year, on February 25th, from complications following heart surgery. He was 61. His fans worldwide were devastated, including myself. Rest in peace, Mr. Paxton. You are missed.
As you probably already know, The Circle delves into modern technologies concerning privacy and the internet. As I said before, I so wish this was purely science-fiction, but the reality is that online-privacy is already a huge international issue and it will surely only get worse.
So, if you are not yet afraid enough of technology and loss of privacy, then go see this movie to fill your cup to the brim with fear. I wasn’t very concerned with my own personal privacy while using my smartphone, camera, and computer, but now... I’m buying property in an remote and undisclosed location and will soon be moving there and living off-the-grid. Therefore, this review is my formal goodbye.
Okay, of course I’m joking, but there is a fearful part of me that is seriously put off by our ever increasing online lives. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram... I’ve got my eye on you! Though their “eyes” on me are surely much more invasive. In retrospect, this film actually did strike a chord with me and made me so very uncomfortable that I suppose I’d better upgrade my review from “very good” to “pretty darned great.” Any movie that can make me squirm in my seat, like The Circle did, deserves some serious kudos.
#TheCircle #film #movies #socialmedia #www #theinternet #sciencefiction #scifi #EmmaWatson #TomHanks #BillPaxton
Have you read the original manga series? Have you watched the original anime series? Does this Hollywood-ized live-action film version live up to either?
Director Rupert Sanders’ newest iteration of the Japanese media franchise pays plenty of homage, and in many ways lives up, to its predecessors. However, there is something “lost in translation” (pun intended, referencing ScarJo’s 2003 film with Bill Murray, set in Japan). Still, a pretty solid sci-fi story filled with plenty of stunning visual cityscapes and abundant fantastic futuristic eye-candies. The special effects are top notch, including its computer-graphics content. Same goes for it’s art-direction, set-design, costume-design, stunt-work, camera-work, and sound-design - all on point.
It is most certainly not news that Scarlett Johansson is Hollywood’s It-girl for A-list science-fiction action badassery, and rightly so. Ever since her introduction to the Marvel cinematic universe in ‘Iron Man 2′ (2010) as Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), she has been a veritable freight train of kick-assedness. However, this reviewer would argue that her first toe dipped into the pool of sci-fi tough-gal roles was in ‘The Island’ in 2005, a film with a brilliant concept that could have been so much more. I won’t mention her other role in a comic-adaptation, as Silken Floss in 2008′s ‘The Spirit.’ Oh, whoops.
GitS has some challenges with pacing, cliché plot elements, and it feels derivative of ‘Blade Runner’ and such sci-fi films, but all in all I must say that I enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of the foreign franchise and newbies, as well.
#GitS #GhostInTheShell #ScarJo #film #movies #scifi
1-Word Film-REVIEW: ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST’— Magical. #BatB #Disney #EmmaWatson #film #movies #blockbuster
Wholly implausible, but fun, if you can suspend disbelief of, well, most everything within. Setting the bulk of the film in 1973, towards the end of the Vietnam War, and not long after we put a man on the moon, made for a befitting time in history for the human race to discover a building-sized primate living on a newly found island.
In a nutshell, new satellite technology nabs a photo of the previously undiscovered island, and John Goodman plays someone who believes there are monsters living on Earth and convinces the US government to fund a science/military operation to explore the island before other countries do so. Of course the team is unaware that the island might be home to Kaiju-sized creatures, and all hell breaks loose as soon as they arrive.
One giant gorilla is just the tip of this film’s iceberg. Kong is huge, seemingly bigger than he has ever been portrayed before, and he does do some damage to the teams of scientists and soldiers who have come forcibly into his house, uninvited. Added into the mix we soon see deadly pterodactyl-type birds, a ginormous spider, a huge octopus-like lake-Kraken, and “Skull-Crawlers” (large reptilian creatures that come from under the Earth’s crust and which Kong keep at bay).
Samuel L. Jackson plays the superior officer of the military force and is hell-bent on killing Kong, once encountered, and going out with a bang in his long and illustrious career. Tough-guy tracker Tom Hiddleston, and the rest of the cast are, for the most part, simply trying to get to the extraction-point in order to get off the island as soon as possible (about three days).
Notable and well-played roles include that of Brie Larson, who will play Marvel's upcoming Captain Marvel. In K:SI, she plays an award-winning anti-war photographer and did a great job being the “lens” through which we could see the island without judgement. Unlike previous King Kong films, she was not the love-interest for Kong and was not a damsel in distress, a past Hollywood stereotype that is quickly becoming a thing of the past in modern cinema, and rightly so. Also worth noting are Tian Jing, from The Great Wall, and Corey Hawkins, both of whom played scientist roles which I wish had been larger in scope.
John C. Reilly who stole the show as his usual comedy-relief. His role as Hank Marlow, a downed pilot from WWII, has been living with the island natives for 28 years. His back-story is perhaps as interesting, or more interesting, than the battle-after-battle monster-movie’s. During WWII, he and a Japanese pilot apparently dogfight in aerial-combat and simultaneously crashland on Kong’s island. During their time there they not only become friends, but brothers. Hank outlives his “brother” and eventually accepts that no one is ever going to come to his rescue. The heartfelt and genuine moments where Hank is reconnecting with people from the outside world are gems in this film which sorely lacks in overall acting-depth. Granted, it *is* a monster-movie, but we first and foremost must care about the people, so that the fear of the threats to their lives will feel more visceral. Reilly and Larson give the best acting performances, and give we viewers reasons to care.
When you go see the movie be sure to stay for the credits and the post credits clip. There are specific mentions of creatures from... wait for it... the Godzilla franchise which tease at sequel crossovers. Not the first time that the two franchises have crossed-over, and hopefully not the last.
#Kong #KingKong #KongSkullIsland #SciFi #Film #Movies
This IS NOT you’re kid’s Wolverine-movie. This IS YOUR Wolverine movie!
The best "X-Men" movie, so far! Blew me away. NOT your typical Marvel movie. Super violent, super gritty, super vulgar, super good! A perfect "passing of the torch" film!
Hugh Jackman’s best Wolverine to date! Patrick Stewart’s aging and seizure-ridden Charles Xavier is sheer-perfection! Dafne Keen as Laura (X-23) steals the show! For fans, there will be both tears of joy, and sorrow.
Not to mention the DEADPOOL sequel PREVIEW before the movie!!! Did they parody Superman and the phone-booth “quick”-change? Yes. Yes they did.
#Logan #Marvel #HughJackman #PatrickStewart #DafneKeen #Xmen #Superheroes #film #movies #scifi #comicstofilm
SteveO's Four February ‘17 Mini-Reviews —
4/5-stars. The seamless and amazing effects, within, make for marvelous implausible fun. Much better than I’d expected. Matt Damon’s accent was distracting, but our introduction to the impressive Tian Jing more than made up for it.
4/5-stars. ‘Twas not as good as The Lego Movie. However, it is so geektastic for Bat-fans and Lego-fans alike! Will Arnett‘s Bat-voice is perfection and Zach Galifianakis‘ Joker is sheer joy.
5/5-stars. A must-see. A purely wonderful heartache-er. Oscar worthy. Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, and Rooney Mara deliver delightful performances, though little Sunny Pawar steals the show.
3/5-stars. As "bad" as the first one. Laughably absurd, but über fun fight choreography. A “ballet of gunplay,” I’d call it. Keanu Reeves is, well, Keanu. Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, John Leguizamo, and Laurence Fishburne deserve better. Still, after removing my brain during the previews, I was able to enjoy JW2 for what it was... an unapologetic stage for non-stop violence.
1. Tom Hardy is an incredible actor. He is never the same from one project to the next. Furthermore, sometimes, he is downright hard to recognize!
2. Tom Hardy is a freak. He scares the ever living sh*t out of me. More than Javier Bardem, Kathy Bates, Willem Dafoe, Joan Crawford, and Gary Busey (lol)... perhaps combined!
3. Oona Chaplin (Quantum of Solace, Game of Thrones, and granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin) was a fave until her departure in the 'The Red Wedding,' and is becoming a fave in Taboo!
4. Loving the historical connections between Britain, America, and the East India Company within the storyline.
5. Loving the seemingly supernatural strangeness going on! Not sure what it all is, exactly, but am SO intrigued!
6. Supporting-Cast, Camera-Work, Set-Design, and Wardrobe are on point!
7. BBC & FX FTW.
. . .
H o o k .
L i n e .
&
S i n k e r . . . .
A huge spaceship, containing 5,000 passengers, is taking them to a new world to colonize called “Homestead II.” Something goes wrong, and one passenger is awakened from cryogenic-hibernation ninety years early, in their 120 year journey. After trying every single thing that Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) can think of, to return to hibernation, he is left with the realization that he will live out his life on board the ship and die well before reaching Homestead II.
Faced with a life of solitude, with only robots to keep you company, would you consider waking at least one another passenger, as he contemplated? Even if it meant dooming that person to your same fate?
Surprisingly, I felt the story wasn't all that predictable, as I felt that there was going to be some underlying evil causing all of the ship's ever-increasing amounts of problems. Sabotage? Corporate greed? Something bigger, overreaching and sinister? My initial thought was that Passengers was going to be a sci-fi story through and through. Perhaps with the story arc being about speeding up the ship, or waking up all of the passengers, or finding a different planet, or taking a shuttlecraft to their own world, or even... dare I say it... alien intervention. Admittedly, the LAST thing I thought the meat of this movie might be is a drama and a love story.
Of course, I had assumed that the two main characters would obviously become an item and probably fall in love, but I thought that would be wholly secondary to the main storyline. All of the amazing special-effects and intense outer-space challenges were, actually, the secondary storyline.
[ SPOILER-ALERT ]
Finding love, losing love, and re-finding love through GREAT adversity is the core of the story, and the moral. No matter how bad things may be, and no matter how selfish people can be, life is still to be embraced and lived to the fullest. It all came down to Aurora Lane’s (Jennifer Lawrence) decision either to go back into cryo-sleep, or to stay awake and live out a handful of decades with this man who sentenced her to life imprisonment and eventual death. It's a story of silver-linings, in the highest degree. I'm not sure that most people would make the same decision that she did. With a dark-cloud that big and that dark, looming overhead, I'm guessing that most sane people would choose cryo and choose to finish the intended journey in hibernation.
Still, and thankfully for Jim, not everyone is the same, and I applaud Aurora’s ability to give up a life containing more than one person, in exchange for love. It may be a bit sappy, but I also loved how her choice was really a reflection of her father's past advice for her to become an adventurer. What is a wilder adventure than living a life with only one friend, one partner, and one love? True romance I tell you, perhaps forced and traumatic, but true and embraced with no reservations, and no possibility of divorce. What does *THAT* look like. Hard to imagine, even after seeing it played out on screen.
I really liked Passengers, mostly because it wasn’t what I thought it would be, and I like films that take turns I don’t expect.
‘FANTASTIC BEASTS and Where to Find Them’ mini-review by Steve Oatney —
1. Loved it.
2. This is not your kid’s “Harry Potter” movie.
3. This is YOUR “Harry Potter” movie.
4. This is not a Harry Potter movie.
5. Set in the USA, not in the UK, in 1926.
6. Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and Dan Fogler are superb.
7. Digital effects, set-design, sound, and costuming do NOT disappoint!
8. Go see it. Go with a friend. Share a popcorn. I did, and I’ll do so again.
#JKRowling #WizardingWorld #NewtScamander #NoMaj #HarryPotter #magic #wizards #witches #film #movies #fantasy
ARRIVAL review by Steve Oatney —
FIRST, KNOW THIS: This movie is NOT what you think it is. Even AFTER you’ve seen it, it probably STILL isn’t what you think it is! NO SPOILERS… I WON’T tell you much of anything about it, as that would ruin, for you, one of this year’s most amazing films. However, here is what little I *will* say…
Arrival is NOT Independence Day (1996), Starship Troopers (1997), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), Skyline (2010), nor Ender’s Game (2013). All of which were “us vs. them” science-fiction movies. If you’re hoping to see another action-flick where we fight against alien invasion, then prepare yourself to be disappointed.
There are not many films like Arrival, that I’ve seen, but I will say that if you liked Contact starring Jodie Foster, then you might just like Arrival. Both films are in the same vein of sci-fi and both have brilliant and strong women in their lead roles. Both movies are complex and thinky and are much less about futuristic technologies, alien creatures, and interplanetary war. They are much more about the lives and relationships of the human beings who ultimately become integral to the storylines.
Go see Arrival with an open mind and enjoy. It this year’s best dramatic-sci-fi.
FOX’s ROCKY HORROR - Review by S.Oatney
As it turns out... The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, sadly, didn’t make me want to stand up from my seat and dance (as regular midnight moviegoers tend to do, still). This new Fox-television version was mediocre to good, but far from spectacular and I am a somewhat particularly good judge, as I am not a purist diehard fan of the original and, therefore, was not married to the idea that the cult classic must be intrinsically better.
Poorly performed accents and seemingly low-quality audio injured this production, and I found the camera-work to be appropriate, yet unappealing. The production-team tried ever so hard to make the show look and feel like a stage production, and quite well succeeded, but on screen it just felt like a home-video with awesome costumes.
Seeing Tim Curry for the first time since his stroke brought a tear to my eye. TIM IS LEGEND. And was *in* Legend, as well! A heartfelt thank you to Mr. Curry for bringing the original Dr. Frank-N-Furter to life and so very much more!
Admittedly, several scenes did make me laugh out loud, for instance the second scene wherein characters Brad and Janet have just left a church wedding and are now in the adjacent cemetery singing “Dammit, Janet” (a love song) as pallbearers carry a singular coffin back and forth in the background as if they had no interest in finding the actual burial plot. A bit macabre, but oh so humorous. Therefore, kudos to the cast and crew of tRHPS:LDtTWA as it looks like they must have had a blast re-making this wild and fun romp.
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS review by Steve Oatney —
Stop what you’re doing, and go see this movie.
That’s all I need, or want, to say, but you probably would like for me to say just a bit more, eh? Well, okay then. Let me say this: There are two movies at the top of my list for 2016. Were they Suicide Squad and X-Men: Apocalypse as I had hoped they might be? No. No they were not. My two favorite films of 2016 are Swiss Army Man (starring Paul Dano & Daniel Radcliffe) and now KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS is right up there, on the top rung, with it.
At a glance, Kubo looks like your everyday run-of-the-mill animated movie for kids, but it is so much more than that. Is it good for kids? Yes? Is it a silly cartoon? No. Kubo is the story of a young boy who has a knack for storytelling combined with a magical-power he can use while playing music. He can make paper dance, play, fold itself into origami, and even fly. His power was given to him by his mother, an other-worldly magic-user who falls in love with a human and they have a child together, against the wishes of her family.
As Kubo’s father, a once great Samurai, is believed to be deceased, and his mother’s health is failing, Kubo is a full-time caregiver to her. Then, things get interesting. Very interesting. Kubo only has one eye, as his grandfather (another other-worldly magic-user) took it from him in attempt to blind him from the world, believing that his family-members should be above all things earth-bound. Ever since, Kubo’s mother has done what she can to keep Kubo (and his one remaining eye) hidden from his grandfather and two aunts who can apparently only hunt for him at night.
Things go completely haywire when Kubo is caught off-guard while staying out too late and nighttime falls. In order to protect Kubo, his mother gives him temporary wings and sends him away while she battles her sisters who have now found the boy. Kubo awakes to find a monkey tasked with his protection. Together, they begin a search for three items. A magical sword, breastplate of armor, and a helmet, which are the only items that can help keep Kubo safe from his grandfather and aunts. Along the way they meet a humanoid beetle who used to be a human warrior and was cursed to live as a bug with no memory, but the beetle knows that the symbol on Kubo’s jacket is the same as his own warrior’s crest, so he pledges to help Kubo find the magic items, and the true adventure begins!
I’ll not spoil any more of the plot, but will say that the overall moral of the story is so touching, so heartwarming, and so wonderful, that it was a joy to see unfold. Believe me when I say that this achievement in animated filmmaking by Laika (The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman, Coraline) is on par with the astounding work of Pixar and is not to be missed.
Did I mention that Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, George Takei, and Rooney Mara all voiced characters? They all do beautiful work, but Art Parkinson, who voices Kubo, brings the character, and the film, to life with the help of a HUGE team of animators who created this 3D stop-motion fantasy action adventure film of epic proportion!
As I said, and was tempted to leave as nothing more than: Go see this movie.
‘SWISS ARMY MAN’ review by Steve Oatney — A Love-Letter to Life, Farts, and Masturbation —
This film is NOT for everyone, as you can likely tell from my review’s title for this indie-film: "A Love-Letter to Life, Farting, and Masturbation." Ha! Told you; not for everyone. Writer/directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man is a wildly compelling and altogether wonderful offbeat-comedy about a man, stranded on a deserted island, not unlike Tom Hanks in Castaway, but instead of talking to "Wilson," the volleyball with a face drawn upon it, the main character instead finds a dead body washed up on shore and they become "friends."
Yeah, out there, right? You don't know the half of it. The adventures that they go on are pretty inexplicable, though truly entertaining to watch, even the somewhat repulsive bits. How things end up for the man (beautifully played by Paul Dano), and his BFF-cadaver (played by Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe), is an underlying story that is a much more important and powerful commentary on living life to the fullest, than the comedic romp that the facade of this film portrays.
Daniel Radcliffe expertly plays the corpse, which is a sentence I never thought that I would write about any actor, but in this instance it is a beautiful fact. I found myself watching the very first scene in the film and wondering to myself, “These actors read the first few pages of this script and still chose to do the film?!” The first few minutes of the film are out-of-left-field surprising (in a head-scratching and breath-of-fresh-air kind of way) and are nothing like the first few minutes of any other film I’ve seen before. Ever.
As for the love-letter to life, flatulence, and self-pleasuring? You are going to have to go see the movie, for yourself, in order to understand just what that all means. Sorry, but it is too much, and too good, for me to spoil the sheer joy that is this film, in this review. GO. SEE. IT.
#film #movies #reviews
SUICIDE SQUAD review by Steve Oatney —
IS DARKER BETTER?
Or, a better question: Is Suicide Squad dark enough? While I must admit that this was one of my favorite DC Comics’ movies, in a long time, Suicide Squad is still nowhere near on par with the powerful storytelling of The Dark Knight (2008).
Why isn’t this new dark comic-book movie just what the doctor ordered? It seems that the tastes of comic-fan audiences have perhaps changed so much, in recent years, that they now need Superman to be as dark as Batman, and furthermore film studios are now exploring even darker avenues, or “back-alleyways,” as in Suicide Squad. Exactly how can we expect portrayed villains to be ominous, fearsome, and terrifying when our protagonists fit firmly in those categories, as well?
Decades ago, characters like Marvel’s Wolverine, in the X-Men comics, helped to change the playing-field arena, redefining what a hero is, and what separates them from a villain. The line continues to blur, bringing us to Suicide Squad. A team of “heroes” made up of some of the worst criminals in the entire world! I’d like to explore this new darker direction in comic-books and comic-book films, just a bit, so please bear with me...
Comic-book film genre competitor Marvel Entertainment’s R-rated Deadpool broke the mold for big-screen superheroes who, clearly, no longer need to adhere to the goody-two-shoes, squeaky-clean, law-abiding hero archetype from days of yore. Deadpool cursed up a storm, had deviant-style sex on-screen, and sliced and diced baddies like the super-Cuisinart that he is. Why am I writing so much about Deadpool in a review about Suicide Squad? Well, in a nutshell, I feel strongly that SS absolutely should have been made with an R-rating target in mind.
Based upon the main character descriptions, alone, SS in an adult story meant for us grown-ups. Sorry moms and dads, but some comic-books and some comic-book movies are NOT meant for your kids. Sadly, motion picture companies like Warner Bros are still often more interested in putting butts in seats than doing what is right for their characters and stories. Case in point, SS’s PG-13 rating.
Let me elaborate; Harley Quinn, played in SS by Margot Robbie, was originally introduced in a cartoon in 1992 called Batman: The Animated Series. Her villainous character developed over time, in DC comic books, and became more sexualized and violent. Warner Bros definitely hit tilt on the sexiness-meter with her scantily-clad costume in the Suicide Squad movie, but she, and the rest of the squad would have been better served, if they were served-up to us on an R-rated platter where they could take things to the Deadpool-level. Yes, it is true, kiddies, Deadpool has set a new bar, and a pretty high one at that, for adult-targeted comic-book movie storytelling. In my humble opinion, if the WB had Deadpooled Suicide Squad, they would have begun to scratch the surface of sheer greatness.
Alas, I’m finding it difficult to give Suicide Squad an “A” grade. In fact, it is only because the acting was so well done, as were the special effects, that I don’t give it a worse grade. I’d give SS a grade of “B-.” Considering that I’d give Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) even lower grades, that means that SS is actually near the top of my list of DC Comics’ movies, in recent years. Not counting The Dark Knight, I, literally, have to go all the way back to 1989’s Batman and 1978’s Superman: The Movie to find better DC films, which is sort of sad, when you think about it.
Science-fiction fans continue to go ape, these days, for comic-books turned into movies. The last decade has seen more comic movies released than ever before, and ticket sales still continue to skyrocket for this genre. With that, now comes an abundance of comparisons to what fans consider great comic-book films. My short-list of favorites includes films like The Dark Knight (2008), Iron Man (2008), and The Avengers (2012). People seem to be curious about how long this “fad” will last. How many more blockbuster record-breaking comic-book movies are there left to make? Apparently, a lot.
There is no sign of slowing, nor stopping, any time soon. Both Warner Bros and Marvel Entertainment have long lists of films-to-come on into the heroic horizon. Still, if they want to continue to break records for years to come, it will all hinge on storytelling and character-development. Directors matter. Actors matter. Special-effects teams matter. Loads of behind-the-scenes crew-members matter, but it all comes down to a great story being told by great storytellers.
Suicide Squad’s story was good, but not great. The acting actually was pretty great, on all counts, but it was often hidden under piles of special-effects and battle-scenes. For me, the best parts of the film were the setups. The get-to-know portions of the film, focusing on the main characters whom most of us know little about. Will Smith’s character, Deadshot, trying to be a good father to his young daughter while also having a career as an elite sniper assassin with many kills under his belt. The backstory of Margot Robbie’s character, Harley Quinn, who is a psychiatrist turned criminal by The Joker. The Joker, well played by Jared Leto, was more of a side-character and not part of the actual squad. His eerie portrayal of the well known and well loved villain would have likely been regarded as the best Joker of all time, if it weren’t for Heath Ledger’s legendary role. Viola Davis’ character, Amanda Waller, stood out as a tough-as-nails government official who puts the team together and lords over them with an iron fist.
The rest of the squad, played by Cara Delevigne (The Enchantress), Jay Hernandez (Diablo), Jai Courtney (Capt. Boomerang), Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), and Adam Beach (Slipknot), also contributed performances in fine style. Not to mention the appearances of Barry Allen/The Flash played by Ezra Miller and and Bruce Wayne/Batman played by Ben Affleck… helping to interconnect the multiple films in which they will cross-over in the coming years.
What do you think? Is it enough to simply put a team of criminals together to fight national, international, and otherworldly threats? Was Suicide Squad dark enough for your taste and/or expectations? Is PG-13 the right rating for such a film? For my money, I’d prefer to go even deeper into the criminal, and criminally-insane, minds of SS’s unconventional and deeply-disturbed characters. THAT is where the story is. Go there! Live there! Write the script from inside THAT box, and then take it way way way outside that box! I have a feeling that potential spin-off films for Harley Quinn or The Joker (or the both of them together) could delve into the wildly deranged plans and actions of fewer characters at a time, and therefore suffer less the incoherent and somewhat hodge-podged story arc of Suicide Squad.
Looking forward, I hope that DC and Warner Bros can make their future films like Wonder Woman and Justice League great, and perhaps give the most iconic superheroes, in the world, the top-notch portrayals that they so rightly deserve. In my opinion it is a travesty, the lack of Wonder Woman shows and movies over the last four decades! The world’s single most recognizable female superhero deserves nothing less than over-the-top greatness! That… is another story...
‘STRANGER THINGS’ Netflix-Series REVIEW by Steve Oatney —
Are you old enough to remember the eighties? Did you ever see E.T., The Goonies, or Poltergeist? If you liked the eighties, and films such as those mentioned, then I’m betting that you will love Stranger Things. I know I did! So much, in fact, that this review may read as a love-letter to the makers of, and performers within, this absolutely fantastic show which is so perfectly set in Middle-America of the 1980s.
Netflix has, once again, hit a homerun by giving Matt and Ross Duffer the opportunity to bring us a fresh new idea, based upon wonderful supernatural mysteries of the past, and delivered to us gift-wrapped with wrapping-paper made of focused care and newly discovered talent, and all tied-up in a big fluffy bow made of nostalgic love.
I suppose that I was predisposed to love this show, as it started with its first scene showing four boys playing Dungeons & Dragons in a middle-class suburban basement, spotlighting hand-painted miniature figurines to boot! A snapshot of my adolescence that took me back to being twelve years old, in a Polaroid instant!
Let me point out that I do not, typically, like horror, as a genre. My dislike for being startled, and my aversion to blood, guts, and gore is on the highest level. While I have enjoyed films such as John Carpenter’s The Thing, Alien, and shows such as The Walking Dead, I find myself having to often look away from the screen when people’s insides become their outsides. HOWEVER, I bring this up because Stranger Things is not, in my opinion, purely a horror. A “supernatural mystery,” is how I would categorize it, seeing as it is as much like E.T., and The Goonies, as it is like Poltergeist.
Stranger Things is a story about friends, family, and love. It is a story about what it means to be a team and what people can do, might do, and *should do* for not just people we know and love, but also for strangers we’ve only just met. It is also a story about the all-too-human condition surrounding loss. Don’t let that scare you off because without loss, as you know, our appreciation for what we have, in life, would be greatly diminished. Loss is natural and it happens to everyone. If you have not lost anything, nor anyone, just wait a while.
My apologies if that sounded glib or insensitive, as that was not my intention. Rather, I hoped to illustrate that loss is what gives us a thirst for life, nay a lust for life. Recently having lost important people in my life, I now know that we do not ever “get over” losing them, but we can “get through” life with their absence. So, with that, back to the show…
While the show contains some heavy-doses of drama, it is still, at its heart, a science-fiction series, and a great one, at that. Without giving any spoilers, I will say that fans of science-fiction will like this show. As will fans of mysteries, high-school drama, and yes, of course, even horror. Okay, yes, before I said that Stranger Things isn’t a horror, per se, but it does contain horrifying elements and walks the tightrope of horror-content in many scenes.
Is Stranger Things the most original story ever written? No. Is it 100% unique and filled with storytelling elements which we viewers have never seen before? No, definitely not. Is it one of my favorite best-spins on somewhat formulaic-series-storytelling that I’ve seen? Why yes, yes it is!
Okay, here are some “guts” of the story without giving any major spoilers… The ensemble cast is made up, mainly, of three groups: 1) the adolescents, 2) the high-schoolers, and 3) the grown-ups. The adolescents include young friends Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will [who mysteriously disappears and prompts the small town of Hawkins Indiana to search for him for days]. Meanwhile the high-schoolers, comprised of Nancy, Jonathan (Will’s brother), and Steve, are just what we might expect… a blooming love-triangle while the town becomes more focused on the search for Will. Last, but not least, are the grown-ups. Joyce (Will’s mother) played expertly by Winona Ryder, Jim (the police chief), and Dr. Brenner played by Matthew Modine whose character runs a lab-facility with hidden agendas. The entire cast, which inlcudes many young unknown actors, simply nails it and had me believing all the way through.
For those of you who have already watched the show, you know that I’ve left out an important character, above. Her name is “Eleven” or “El” for short. Adolescents Mike, Dustin, and Lucas find El while looking for Will. She doesn’t talk at first, has crew-cut hair, is soaking-wet from being out in the rain. The boys take her to Mike’s parent’s basement so that she may dry off. Their plan is to have Mike’s parents figure out what to do with her, in the morning, but that plan, and ALL plans thereafter, go completely off the rails as we learn more about who El is, where Will might be, and how THINGS in the world are so STRANGE.
What’s that you ask? Do I think that they are planning to make a second-season? Well, if the name of the character “Eleven” means anything, it definitely tells me that there are at least ten other kids out there, numerically named, so I would assume there are certainly more stories to be told... not to mention the eight-episode season which does leave a bit open for discussion at its end.
Stream it, folks! You’ll be glad you did.
MINI [spoiler-free] REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS —
After seeing this seventh installment in the saga... I bought another ticket to see it, again, the next day. Admittedly, I am a mega-fan and a sci-fi geek, but still... I’ve NEVER done that before, for any other film, which is saying something. – Steve Oatney
Poster illustration by the legendary Drew Struzan.
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