Ken's Alternate Universe!

A New Who???

In The TARDIS

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!! There was an extremely huge announcement the other day about the newest incarnation of the Doctor from Doctor Who. Stop now if you haven’t heard/don’t want to hear about who the next Doctor will be!!!

Unless you’re the type of Doctor Who fan that avoids the series like the plague, you probably heard a major announcement on July 15, 2017.

Full disclosure: I personally haven’t watched the last two series of Capaldi’s run as the Doctor. The stories have been terrible in my opinion and I just lost interest. With that being said, even I know that a new Doctor has arrived. There has been a lot of speculation as to who would become the newest face of everybody’s favorite Time Lord. Numerous actors and actresses were rumored to be taking over the role. Tilda Swinton and Kris Marshall were two names that popped up more often than others. Neither one of them was chosen, though, and fans learned on Sunday that the new Doctor would be:

Jodie Whittaker

Now, I must admit that I am not familiar with Whittaker’s work in other programs. Her most prominent work appears to have been on Broadchurch along with another former Doctor, David Tennant. I never watched that show, so I can’t gauge how she’ll do in her new role.

What I can say is that as is typical with every single Doctor that has ever been announced (even before the age of the internet), there is a lot of controversy surrounding the newest actor in the role. Of course, the internet makes reactions to the announcement immediate, and in many cases, extremely nasty. I remember quite well how people ranted that Matt Smith was too young for the role and that Peter Capaldi was too old. The same holds true with Whittaker, but not because she’s too old or too young or too attractive or too unattractive.

It’s because she’s a woman.

In all honesty, I’m neither here nor there about the announcement. I hope that Whittaker does a good job. More importantly, I hope that the writing improves. Matt Smith was saddled down with some terrible stories near the end of his run, but I enjoyed him in the role enough to stick with the show through the bad times. Capaldi never captured me and his stories were atrocious. I quickly lost interest in the show during his first series and have only sporadically watched it since that time.

With that being said, the thing that bothers me most about the announcement of Whittaker isn’t that a woman has taken over the role, it’s that so many people lash out against those who are negative about the change.

Some of the complaints come from men. Some of them come from women. Many men who complain that the Doctor shouldn’t be a woman are often on the receiving end of nasty comments that call them misogynists, bigots, “broflakes,” and male chauvinists. The reaction to women with negative opinions of the casting weren’t as harsh, but still pretty nasty.

There’s also a lot of positive reaction to the announcement. Many men and women are happy to see a woman in the role of the Doctor. People are saying that a gender change in the character has long been overdue. Others say that it’s about time that a female was placed into the lead role of a science fiction franchise. Star Trek: Voyager fans have been very vocal about the fact that their franchise had a female lead first with Kate Mulgrew’s portrayal of Captain Janeway.

Outside of the series revival, I am not aware of any precedent set about the character changing gender. It has only recently been mentioned with characters such as the Corsair and with Missy, who was once the male Time Lord known as the Master. The General also regenerated into a female form. There’s also mention of the Doctor being able to change gender in the Paul McGann short, The Night Of The Doctor, in which the eighth Doctor is told by the Sisterhood of Planet Karn that the regenerative powers of the Time Lords is enhanced on their planet, allowing one to choose what they regenerate into, including man or woman.

In the classic series, females from Gallifrey were referred to as Time Ladies. Romana was prominently featured in the show and was portrayed by Lala Ward and Mary Tamm. Another Time Lady, the sinister (but oh, so wonderful) Rani, portrayed by Kate O’Mara, never regenerated on the show, but showed no inkling of becoming a male that I’m aware of. There were a few other Time Ladies that popped up in episodes as well, but no hints were made about their gender in past regenerations.

Here lies the problem.

While many people have no issues with Whittaker taking over the role of the Doctor (including myself), especially since the revival of the series has made the gender changing regeneration canon, I do see the point that many people, men and women, are making about why the Doctor should remain male. Yes, I’m pretty sure that there are a bunch of broflakes out there who simply can’t stand seeing a woman in the role, but I also believe that many men and women are standing behind the basis of Time Lords and Time Ladies that was established during the classic series.

It seems that many people are too caught up in the man versus woman scenario and do not want to listen to legitimate reasons from some fans for keeping the Doctor male. I would really love to see these people take a step back and simply listen to the reasons that some are against the gender change. I hated John Simm as the Master, but I got over it. I hated Michelle Gomez in the role as well (what little I saw of her). He was too hyper and psychotic. She was annoying. Does that make me a misogynist? No, it just means that I didn’t like either actor in the role and/or the way the character was written.

It’s true that we haven’t seen Whittaker in action in the role yet, and after an episode or two, many opinions will change. Some men might like her more than they did when she was announced. Some women who loved the announcement will be screaming for a change. Basically what I am saying is that it’s okay to love the new Doctor and it’s okay to dislike the new Doctor. If you dislike the change because you can’t stand a woman in a prominent role then I really can’t defend you. However, if you dislike the change due to the precedent established in the classic series, I fully support your opinion.

Don’t let people push you around. If they bring up other gender swaps in characters, remind them that the character of the Doctor hasn’t been rewritten. The character has regenerated. One popular argument is that of Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica. While the character was male (portrayed by Dirk Benedict) in the original series, the reimagined series made the character female (portrayed by Katee Sackhoff). The problem with this argument is that the new series didn’t pick up where the original left off. It was basically a reboot of the old series with different actors in the classic roles. Yes, the gender changed (as it did for other characters in the show), but Benedict’s character didn’t morph into Sackhoff’s character. They are essentially two different characters in different timelines. Fans of the classic BSG might not have liked the gender change, but they had the option to look at the new Starbuck as a different character engaging in different stories. Fans of the new version of the character could simply ignore the classic series.

With the Doctor, however, the character regenerates into a wholly new being that carries with it the baggage of its past lives. Each time the character regenerates, the dynamic changes but the history is still there. Add to that the fact that the first two showrunners for the revived Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat, added a little romance and/or flirtation between the Doctor and some of his companions, and you really have a changed dynamic. Will the new Doctor fall for male companions? Female companions? Alien companions? Will the new Doctor be stand offish with new companions? “Who” knows?!?!?

Oh, and that whole argument where Tom Baker made a joke about wishing his successor in the role good luck no matter who he or she is doesn’t fly because it’s his opinion, and not canon. As much as I enjoyed Tom Baker in the role, he definitely cannot change canon at will.

Imagine Whittaker’s Doctor interacting with Tegan and Turlough. Would Tegan be as snappy with a female Doctor as she was with Peter Davison’s Doctor? Would Turlough decide not to kill the Doctor because he grows to admire her as a protector of the innocent as he did with No. 5 or does he decide not to kill her because he is attracted to her or possibly believes that she doesn’t deserve to be the leader of their traveling party because she’s a woman (I can totally see Turlough being threatened by the fact that a woman is in charge)? The dynamics can and probably will get crazy, and I have to admit that I’m pretty excited to see what direction this new regeneration will take the character and the series as a whole.

In conclusion, I welcome Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor. I can’t wait to see where the show goes from this point. New showrunner Chris Chibnall definitely has a mess to clean up with Moffat’s work in my opinion.

Here’s to better stories and a good run as the Doctor for Whittaker. Let’s play nice, folks, and hear out all opinions before we judge people for disliking a change. Remember that change is always difficult, and we need to be understanding with each other.

As always, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think about the new Doctor in the comments section.

Swinging Into The MCU

Spinning A Web

When it was first announced that Sony and Marvel had come to an agreement to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, geeks like myself rejoiced. I personally enjoyed both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as everyone’s favorite wall crawler, but Sony flubbed Maguire’s run with a terrible third film (ya know, the one with Eric Foreman as Venom) and couldn’t piece together a story interesting enough to win over audiences for Garfield (despite Spidey’s awesome Rogues Gallery).

If anybody could right the radioactive arachnid ship, it had to be Marvel, right???

Yes and no.

Before anybody goes into fits, understand that I really did enjoy Spider-Man: Homecoming, but something was missing and I just can’t put my finger on it. Let’s look at what I liked about the film first and then try to pick apart the more problematic areas.

Just FYI, there be spoilers ahead!!!!! Stop reading NOW if you haven’t seen the film!

The Cast

Casting directors are three for three when it comes to putting a new face into the Web-slinger’s suit. When I first heard that Tobey Maguire was going to be Spider-Man, I shuddered. He wasn’t very impressive in anything else that I saw him in, but I was wrong about him as Spider-Man. Maguire did a great job. Garfield impressed me even more, adding a little more attitude to his version of Peter Parker.

Tom Holland was brilliant. He portrayed Spidey as a hero desperate to fit in with the big league talent like Iron Man and Captain America. His awkward and humorous attempts at heroism early in the film won me over. His constant harassment of Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) in order to get called up by Iron Man was believable and funny. I really enjoyed his attempt at using his suit’s “interrogation mode” to shake down Aaron Davis (Donald Glover).

On the flip side, Holland portrayed Peter Parker to perfection. Peter was your typical nerdy kid in love with the popular, older senior. His awkward attempts at fitting in with her and her friends and the way that he looked at her for just a little too long brought back plenty of terrible memories for myself and plenty of other audiences members, I’m sure.

Jacob Batalon was hilarious as Ned, Peter’s sidekick and Spidey’s eventual “man in the chair.” His reaction to finding out that Peter was Spider-man was great. Had I been put in the same situation, I’m sure I would have been just as excited and eager to help as Ned was in the film.

Robert Downey, Jr. basically walked through his now well-worn Iron Man shoes in this film. Thankfully he didn’t overshadow Holland or any of the rest of the cast. He was mainly there as a mentor. I hope Marvel keeps it that way. Chris Evans had a couple of cameos as Cap. They were some of my favorite parts of the film.

Marisa Tomei (hot Aunt May), Laura Harrier (Liz, Pete’s crush), the aforementioned Donald Glover, Bokeem Woodbine (Herman Schultz, Shocker), and most of the rest of the cast were excellent, but there were a couple of misfires that I’ll get to later. Oh, and how can I forget to mention the hilarious Martin Starr, who portrayed Mr. Harrington, Peter’s Decathlon coach. You might remember him from Freaks and Geeks.

The real stand out in this film, at least in my opinion, is Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture. Keaton is no stranger to comic book films (Batman, anyone?), but his portrayal of the Vulture was one of the best I’ve seen as a Marvel Cinematic Universe villain. I actually felt a little sorry for the guy. I totally saw where he was coming from in the film and as a father myself, completely understand why he kept a piece of the Chitauri pie for himself. He was protecting and providing for his family. He was using criminal methods to do so, but I honestly believe that his heart was in the right place.

Keaton’s “dad talk” scene with Holland was my favorite part of the film. It took the “meeting the dad for the first time” moment and made it even more uncomfortable and lethal.

The Plot

Fitting in is something that we all go through at some point in our lives. It’s an extremely basic thing but we can all connect with it on some level. Peter sees taking down the Vulture as his ticket to an all expenses paid trip to the Avengers squad. He also sees being a part of the decathlon team as way of fitting in at school at getting to be around his crush. He makes poor choices with both and suffers the consequences, but manages to come out ahead in the end. Peter learned that being the popular kid like Thor or Hulk isn’t necessarily the best thing in the world. He also learned that getting a date with the girl he really likes can be just as much of a daunting task as taking down a super villain.

The Action

There was plenty of action in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Peter faces off against two versions of Shocker at different times in the film (and to different degrees of success). He also has an epic action sequence that takes place at the Washington Monument. His first encounter with Vulture takes place on the Staten Island Ferry in a sequence that mimics a similar encounter from Spider-Man 2 where Maguire’s Spidey faces off against Doctor Octopus (the brilliant Alfred Molina) on a train. The big battle between Spidey and Vulture takes place above New York City and is quite the spectacle.

The Humor

Spider-Man: Homecoming is funny. It’s really funny. There’s more humor packed into its run time than both Guardians of the Galaxy films combined. The laughs don’t become tiring or cheap as they did in the second GOTG, either. They are consistent, believable, and memorable. They rely on Peter/Spidey’s awkwardness and need to belong to deliver, and they work almost perfectly every time.

And Now For The Complaints

I’m sure that many of my complaints will be seen as petty, but they bothered me nonetheless. Here goes.

The Cast

Flash Thompson, where art thou? Flash Thompson is Peter’s big bad in high school. He’s one of the best bullies to ever grace the printed page and received two fine portrayals on the big screen via Joe Manganiello (the Maguire films) and Chris Zylka (the Garfield flicks). In this go round, Flash is portrayed as a snarky rich kid who can’t get over the fact that people like Peter more than him (at least on the decathlon team). He’s smarter than old school Flash (he’s on the DECATHLON team, not the FOOTBALL team). He verbally abuses Peter more than anything and loves to flaunt his wealth. The character is portrayed by Tony Revolori in Homecoming, and his verbal abuse and more intelligent ways are supposedly based on the more modern style of bullying that kids go through today. Really? I have a teenager and last time I checked, kids are still getting beat up at school. This straying from type for the character bothered me. I would have much preferred that Flash stay more like the traditional Flash. His style of bullying is timeless, like it or not.

Also, I have absolutely zero problems with Zendaya. In fact, I think she’s a pretty cool actress/singer. I enjoyed her on Shake It Up and have listened to her music with my daughter. Heck, I once stood in a line full of ten to twelve year old girls to get her autograph for my daughter (who wasn’t with me at the time). Here’s the proof:

However, she was entirely miscast in this film. Her character, Michelle Jones, who we later learn goes by MJ (sheesh), would throw a rod into the spokes of the film almost every time that she popped up on the screen. The character was completely unnecessary.

The Action

Yes, I mentioned the action as a pro earlier, but it was definitely a con as well. As wonderful as the climactic battle over the skies of the city could have been between Spidey and Vulture, it just fell flat in my opinion. Why? Because you couldn’t see what the heck was going on. The scenes were shot at close range, blurry, and went by faster than you can say, “Can the real Flash Thompson please stand up?”

The best action sequence in my opinion was the Washington Monument elevator rescue. You could see what was happening, humor was injected into the scene, and feelings of peril manifested easily.

Plus, Spidey bulging out his muscles in an attempt to hold the Staten Island Ferry together looked eerily similar to this:

See what I mean?

The Music (Or Lack Thereof)

Michael Giacchino helmed the score of Spider-Man: Homecoming. He also scored the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films, Jurassic World, The Incredibles, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Doctor Strange as well as many more successful films. He does a very good job of blending themes from previous composers into his own work. He did it with the Star Trek theme from the original series and from the first films/The Next Generation and the work of John Williams from both Star Wars and Jurassic Park. He included the old Spider-Man theme in Homecoming, but after the initial introduction of that theme, the music takes a backseat to the rest of the film.

On films that Giacchino doesn’t have an existing theme to base his score on, he falls back on the same rhythms, beats, and tones. I’m no musician, but I can recognize repetitive sequences in music. Just listen to the soundtracks for Abrams’ Star Trek films and the Doctor Strange film. You’ll hear many of the same sequences in both.

Plus, Giacchino also sucks the emotion out of great themes. The music was severely lacking in both Jurassic World and Rogue One.

Music helps build characters, emotion, and tension. It is a character in its own right in films in my opinion. The music doesn’t do that in Homecoming. It’s just sort of there. The biggest pop received from me was at the end of the film whenever The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop was played.

In Summary

So, despite some of the casting choices, action sequences, and the music, Spider-Man Homecoming is a pretty cool film. It’s funny, catches the vibe of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and hinted at a few other baddies including the Tinkerer, Prowler, and Shocker (who I hope gets more screen time in another film). It had one of the best villains since Loki, and managed to take place inside of the Avengers timeline without necessarily being a part of it.

Oh, and I loved this costume:

So I do recommend that you check out Spider-Man: Homecoming, but don’t get too caught up in the hype surrounding the film and Marvel’s involvement. There are better Marvel films out there. Heck, there are even better Sony films out there (Spider-Man 2). HC is fun and you won’t regret watching it in the theater.

As always, thanks for reading. See ya next time!

Ahhhh! The Wonder Of It All!

Themyscira….London….And Then The Front

Book-ended by two highly anticipated Marvel films, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, the arguably more anticipated DCEU film, Wonder Woman, had a ton of weight on its shoulders. The film was preceded by the lukewarm Man of Steel, the record-breaking (but fan dividing) Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad, which left many fans praying that Wonder Woman could save a supposedly sinking ship. (For what it’s worth, I thought that all three of the previous DC films were good, with only Man of Steel being somewhat of a disappointment. I have reviews for all three of these films on this blog. Feel free to peruse them later.)

Of course, there were plenty of naysayers about DC’s resident Amazonian warrior. Many of them were Marvel fanboys that were blinded by the success of their own favorite film franchise. Some of them were chauvinists who thought that no super heroine-fronted film could make it without a male hero to step in to save the day. There were also plenty of DC fans who had given up hope that Detective Comics knew what they were doing when it came to films and decided to watch Flashpoint Paradox yet again (which is actually an awesome animated film, by the way).

Thankfully they were ALL WRONG!

Wonder Woman hit the big screen to huge audiences. Unlike BvS and Suicide Squad, which saw big drop offs in ticket sales after their opening weekends, Wonder Woman maintained solid and impressive numbers. GOTG had been in theaters for roughly one month prior to Wonder Woman’s release, and the only potential threats to her position atop the box office came in the form of a mediocre Pirates of the Caribbean sequel (released May 26)and an even more lackluster The Mummy reboot (released June 9).

Spoilers Ahead! Stop Reading Now If You Haven’t Seen The Film!!

The film opens with Wonder Woman as a child growing up in Themyscira. She longed to join her Aunt Antiope (Robin Wright) in training for battle, but her mother, Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) denied her. Secretly, however, Diana joins Antiope for private sessions. Eventually the duo are found out, but Hippolyta allows Diana to continue training.

During this time in the film, we also learn the story of the “God killer,” which is supposedly a sword that can destroy Ares, the god of war, if and when he returns to send man into an unending time of war. Obviously he’s going to be returning soon, and Antiope believes that Diana needs to be battle ready and eventually learn her true fate.

Then a US spy literally crash lands in Themyscira, bringing with him a bunch of very angry German forces that are trying to kill him. Diana finds the spy, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), and the pair end up fighting alongside the rest of the Amazonian warriors as they subdue the Germans…..but not without casualties.

Antiope is killed during the battle, as are many more of the Amazons. Hippolyta is convinced that Steve Trevor is one of the causes of the attack, but Diana defends him. We then get to see the Lasso of Truth for the first time. With it, the Amazons learn of a great war (WWI) that is going on outside of the protected walls of their homeland. Diana is convinced that the war is the work of Ares, and determines to find him and destroy him. Hippolyta doesn’t want her to go but eventually gives in to Diana’s request.

Diana and Steve Trevor take off for London, where he introduces Diana to Etta Candy (Lucy Davis), his secretary, and a room full of men, primarily politicians and generals, who can’t wrap their minds around the fact that a woman wants to help them and, gasp, wants to go to the front line in order to take out the enemy. Seeing the way that Diana interacts with Etta Candy and the politicians/military men gave us a humorous look at a woman’s place in that time period. Diana empowered Etta and wasn’t taken seriously by the men, but she would soon prove her worth on the battlefield.

Like I said previously, the men didn’t take Diana seriously and, as a result, refused to help her and Trevor get to the front. Trevor takes matters into his own hands by gathering up a ragtag group of men who agree to help him and Diana. At the last minute, another ally, Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis), shows up with money to fund their adventure.

Diana believes that Ares has disguised himself as General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and that if she can kill him with the God Killer, the warring ways of mankind will come to an end. Trevor’s group, which includes French Moroccan agent Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), sniper Charlie (Ewen Bremner), and smuggler Chief Napi (Eugene Brave Rock), set off with Diana and find themselves pinned down by the Germans in No Man’s Land (a brilliant play on the fact that a woman would be leading the way). Trevor tells Diana that they cannot save the people in No Man’s Land because it is too dangerous. He tells her that the best way to help them is to continue on their journey to the front.

Unlike Superman in Man of Steel, where Henry Cavill did a lot of sulking and wondering if he should use his powers to help mankind, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman goes against her human counterparts when they tell her that she can’t save everyone. She climbs out of the trench and walks directly toward the German lines. It’s one of the most epic moments in the film. Her courageous example convinces the rest of the soldiers to help her, and they save No Man’s Land.

That moment sets Wonder Woman apart from the other films in the DCEU. She knows her role immediately and doesn’t hesitate to help those in need. Two movies into the DCEU and Superman is still struggling to find his place in this world (and might be dead…..yeah, right). Batman is old and angry and quickly losing faith in humanity. Wonder Woman, however, knows that she must help, no matter the odds.

As the film moves on, a plot by Ludendorff is uncovered that includes using poisonous gas to kill the Allied powers in the Great War. The gas is created by the sinister Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya), who loves to test her gases on human subjects.

This ultimately leads up to a confrontation with Ludendorff, and Diana easily kills him despite his use of a drug provided by Doctor Poison that gives him super strength and a bit of roid rage as well. After Ludendorff’s death, however, war rages on. It confuses and hurts Diana. She can’t understand why mankind keeps on killing and fighting for no real reason.

Steve Trevor attempts to explain to Diana that the world is full of evil people and that all she can really do is continue her fight no matter what sacrifices have to be made. It is at this point that the true Ares is revealed (and I’m not going to name him), and Diana goes into a battle of strength and wits with the god of war. Ares tries to convince her to join him and run rampant on humanity, but he fails in his quest. An epic battle ensues and a major sacrifice is made that gives Wonder Woman all of the fuel she needs to end the war with Ares.

You’ll have to watch the film in order to find out what else happened.

What blew me away about this film is how human and grounded it is. It shows the horrors of war, especially in the scenes that take place in Veld, like no other superhero film has ever done. Most comic films gloss over the tragedy and loss of war. Captain America: The First Avenger did this. It was still a very good film, but at no point did the viewer really get a good look at how horrible war can be. This has continued throughout the Marvel films and only managed to become somewhat grounded with Captain America: Civil War, where lip service is paid to the major losses of life due to the two Avengers films. Wonder Woman could easily be a period war film, but with a superhero involved.

The cast was superb. Gal Gadot carried the film as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, and Chris Pine stood by her side as a reliable friend. There was some romantic tension between the pair, but it was dealt with through the use of humor and sensitivity. David Thewlis and Danny Huston were excellent in their respective roles, as were all of the members of Trevor’s gang.

The female cast, particularly Robin Wright and Lucy Davis, were brilliant. Wright was fierce and convincing as Antiope. Connie Nielsen was also solid in her role, as were all of the ladies portraying Amazons in the film. A special shout out goes to Anne Wolfe, a professional and very successful female boxer, who portrayed Artemis in the film. She grew up in my hometown.

Davis gave us a look at a woman who spent most of her life in the shadow of the men she served. As the film progresses, however, Davis is given more responsibility and her confidence blooms. I hope that we get to see her again (possibly in flashbacks or in a visit from the Flash in the upcoming JLA film).

The music was wonderful. Rupert Gregson-Williams weaves the score through the film and rides the emotional highs and lows of each scene. Included in many of the film’s tracks is the brutal electric cello solo work of Tina Guo. When the cello plays, you know somebody is about to get hurt.

So, does Wonder Woman hold up against any of the Marvel films? You betcha. In fact, it easily bests the bulk of Marvel’s offerings with only Captain America: The Winter Soldier giving it a run for its money. It’s definitely the best DCEU film on the market, and hopefully DC’s winning ways will continue with the upcoming Justice League film.

Wonder Woman has proven that DC can make a film that stays true to its comic roots and give fans a story that can be enjoyed by comic book readers and the general public. I believe that the previous films (let’s just forget about Green Lantern) tried too hard to appease comic fans and the general public suffered as a result. Marvel has a solid formula of spoon-feeding stories to non-comic readers that makes their films easier to digest, but maintain enough of a balance to keep comic readers happy.

Wonder Woman was great, and here’s hoping that Justice League will be just as wonderful. As always, thanks for reading. See you again, soon!

Daredevil

Hell’s Kitchen, New York

Yes, I know. I’m way behind on this topic, but the fact of the matter is that I only recently subscribed to Netflix. Life has a way of preventing us from doing things that we really want to do, so I had to wait a bit before taking the Netflix dive.

Oh, and since it’s been out for a couple of years now, just know that spoilers are ahead.

While Marvel has definitely figured out the formula for cranking out hit films, their foray into television is more hit and miss. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while entertaining, has consistently lost viewership over its four (soon to be five) seasons. I quit watching the show regularly about two thirds of the way in on season one, and the few episodes that I’ve managed to watch since that time haven’t impressed me at all. Agent Carter only managed to last for two seasons before it finally gave up the ghost.

Despite Marvel’s mediocre foray into network television, I figured that having fewer restraints on their Netflix programming might actually work in their favor. In my opinion, it did. Daredevil has turned out to be a much grittier, more realistic look into some of Marvel’s “B Squad” heroes.

Growing up, I was first introduced to Daredevil in 1979’s The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Issue 190, Something Evil This Way Comes. I still own a copy of the issue (although it’s in bad shape). I loved how a blind hero was working the streets with just as much success as big league heroes like Captain America. In fact, I’ve always seen Daredevil as an A-lister in the Marvel universe.

The Netflix series begins with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and his best friend, Foggy Nelson (the highly underrated Elden Henson) opening up their own law firm with zero clients, zero prospects, and zero money. Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) becomes their first real client and they hire her on as an office assistant in order to pay for their services.

This trio is really the heart of the series. Henson provides some much needed comic relief (this series is darker in a vein similar to DC’s cinematic universe) but is also a brilliant lawyer who gains confidence with each case and social interaction. He’s not just a bumbling sidekick, but a man loves his work. Without Foggy to keep him grounded, Matt Murdock would probably lose control of himself.

Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page is a much more mysterious character. Early on in the series it is hinted that she’s hiding something from Matt and Foggy. She often goes out looking for information despite the wishes of her lawyer friends. This means she gets into trouble once in awhile but she somehow manages to make it out of every bad situation with just a few scratches. A romance develops between her and Matt that I really enjoyed, but it gets derailed by a character introduced in season two that I’ll get to later.

Charlie Cox does an excellent job as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. He gets his tail handed to him regularly. He bleeds, gets bruises and cuts, almost dies a few times, and often relies on others to help him out in certain situations. It’s these things about the character that I love. He makes mistakes (in the real world and superhero land) and suffers the consequences for them. His relationships grow strong, unravel, or are reduced to a level of toleration. In many cases, especially when it comes to the law firm, he plays second fiddle to other characters.

As the series played out, our first real look at a villain comes in the form of James Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore). He is the go between for the true villain of season one and said villain’s associates, which happen to be numerous gangs throughout New York. Wesley made an immediate impact with me, and I couldn’t wait to see him turn up in each episode. He was cold, calculating, and never flinched when dealing with characters like Leland Owlsley (the brilliant Bob Gunton) and the secretive and sinister Madame Gao (portrayed by Wai Ching Ho). Madame Gao happens to be one of my favorite characters on the show as well.

Wesley is also our introduction to the many solid supporting cast members that keep Daredevil interesting. Leland and Madame Gao were excellent, as were characters like Nobu (Peter Shinkoda), Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), and Claire (portrayed by the lovely and wonderful Rosario Dawson). There are other characters that move in and out of the narrative, and they are just as wonderful as the recurring members of the cast, especially Scott Glenn as Stick, Matt’s mentor.

Of course, every superhero needs an arch enemy, and Vincent D’Onofrio knocked it out of the park as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Despite not making a physical appearance until a few episodes in, Wilson Fisk’s shadow loomed large over the entire Daredevil story. Someone was manipulating criminals, police, politicians, lawyers, and just about everyone else in Hell’s Kitchen, but no one would mention his name. All we knew was that when his representative, James Wesley, showed up, things were about to be shaken up.

D’Onofrio brought heart to the character and for just a few minutes, I sort of felt bad for the guy. When we finally see him unleash his full fury on one of the Russian gang leaders, though, there’s no doubt about how cruel and powerful Fisk can be. His childhood haunts him, and he puts himself on a mission to “clean up” Hell’s Kitchen. Simply put, D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is the most interesting villain ever cranked out by Marvel on the small screen and he’s second only to Loki in the MCU.

Season Two of Daredevil brings with it new dangers and new characters. One new character, The Punisher, declares war on the gangs of Hell’s Kitchen. He brutally murders any and every criminal that gets in his way. He’s referred to as a one man army on many occasions (and rightfully so), and he initially gives Daredevil (and Nelson and Murdock) a lot of headaches.

The Punisher/Frank Castle is portrayed by Jon Bernthal. Being a huge fan of The Walking Dead and having met Bernthal in person, I expected quite a bit from him in this role. He didn’t disappoint. In fact, Castle’s story is the highlight of the second season. The bond he forms with Karen works perfectly, and his uneasy truce and clashing vision of justice with Daredevil moves the story along at an excellent clip. Heck, his interaction with Kingpin in prison is wonderful as well.

The only miscue in the second season, at least in my opinion, is the addition of Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung). Listen, I have absolutely nothing against Elodie Yung. I honestly believe that she played Elektra to the best of her abilities. However, I feel like the character was sort of dumped on the series because the writers felt that they needed her to shake up the show. She wasn’t needed. The Punisher, the Blacksmith, Kingpin, Madame Gao, Stick, and Nobu were very capable of stirring the pot. I really wish that they would have held off on introducing Elektra in either season three of Daredevil or in The Defenders.

Elektra’s story was too rushed and unnecessary. There were enough stories needing to be told in season two already. But, the past cannot be changed and the character has arrived. Hopefully the writers will do better with the character in future installments.

I really enjoyed watching Daredevil. While the MCU dances around in technicolored madness and minimal bloodletting that earns a soft PG-13 rating, Daredevil is in the trenches getting bloodied, banged up, and scraped off of the cement. It’s funny that so many people complain about how dark the DCEU films are but seem to love Daredevil for being almost as dark. I hope that Netflix and Marvel continue to use their lesser known characters in this fashion. It will open up people to a whole new (to them) batch of characters that are just as interesting as the likes of Spider-Man and Thor.

Next up on my Netflix Catch Up Marathon is Jessica Jones. I’m three episodes in and, as of right now, I’m not that impressed. Krysten Ritter hasn’t had a lot to work with story wise so far, and I’ve found myself wanting to seek out different entertainment choices. Hopefully things will pick up now that Kilgrave (David Tennant) is finally showing his face. I hope that Tennant chews this show all to pieces.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be giving my review of Jessica Jones soon enough. From there I’ll hit Luke Cage and Iron Fist. By the time I’m done with them, The Defenders should be almost available.

The Gang’s All Here

The Funny End Of The MCU Spectrum

While everyone seems to be caught up in all of the wonder that is the upcoming Wonder Woman film (I can’t wait to see it myself!), I’m still over here in Louisiana trying to play catch up with everything from Netflix to the MCU. Marvel’s latest entry on the big screen, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, was highly anticipated and rightfully so.

Marvel has released a seemingly unstoppable string of successful films that range from great (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) to middling (Thor) to downright terrible (Iron Man 3). Phase Two of the MCU introduced stand alone films for characters that aren’t as familiar outside of comic book pages with names like Ant-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The first Guardians film was a hit. It was full of humor, action, and featured a likeable cast. As with almost every other MCU film, though, it featured a rather dull villain (Ronan) and despite being extremely cool and fun to watch, it didn’t have much depth to it in the long run.

GOTG, Vol. 2 makes up for the villain this time around, but comes across as being even more shallow than its predecessor.

!!!!!STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN GOTG, VOL. 2. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol.-2-pic-20 — Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) Ph: Film Frame ©Marvel Studios 2017

The film reunites Chris Pratt (Star Lord) and company for another galaxy saving adventure. The Guardians are hired by the Sovereign race and their leader, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), to stop a creature that is trying to take batteries (the very powerful, very valuable variety of batteries) from their supply. After successfully taking out the creature, they receive payment in the form of Nebula (Karen Gillan). Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) liberates some of the batteries for himself as well, and when the Sovereign find out, they send out an attack force of drones to stop the Guardians.

Luckily for the Guardians, Ego (Kurt Russell) shows up and wipes out all of the drones (but not before the Sovereign do some heavy damage to the Milano). He then takes Star Lord, Drax (Dave Bautista), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to his home planet (which happens to be HIM) in order to show his son what he’s been missing over the years. Along for the ride is Mantis (Pom Klementieff), an empath who helps Ego sleep at night because of the difficulties of being a powerful Celestial. Rocket and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) stay with the ship to repair it and keep an eye on Nebula.

Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol.-2-pic-26 — Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 L to R: Rocket (Voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Voiced by Vin Diesel) Ph: Film Frame ©Marvel Studios 2017

Rocket and Groot run into problems with a group of ravagers lead by Yondu (Michael Rooker), who has been hired by Ayesha to capture the Guardians. After successfully capturing Rocket and Groot, Yondu’s men turn on him when he decides to look the other way when Star Lord is brought up. This leads to mutiny, and Yondu finds himself imprisoned with Groot.

Nebula sets out to find Gamora and have her revenge, but they find the bodies of Ego’s other children that he hoped to combine powers with in order to trigger his “seedlings” that he planted in his travels that would literally take over other worlds and spread his singularity across the galaxy. None of these children had the power of the Celestials like Star Lord and were terminated by Ego.

This is where Yondu really comes into play in the story. Michael Rooker chewed up the scenery in the first GOTG film, and does even more of that this time around. It’s revealed during the movie that Ego hired Yondu to collect and bring the children to Ego’s planet. When Yondu finds out that Ego murders the children whenever they don’t stack up to his expectations, he takes the child he currently has in tow, Peter Quill, and protects him from the slaughtering Ego. When other Ravagers find out that Yondu has been trafficking children (a big no-no), he and his men are shunned.

Mantis, who has become fast friends with Drax, reveals Ego’s plan to him. They join up with Gamora, Nebula, Yondu, Rocket, and Groot in order to convince Star Lord that what Ego is doing is evil and they prevent the duo from joining forces to completely take over the galaxy. This angers Ego, and he attacks the group as a planet and Star Lord as the human Ego.

An epic battle ensues that includes multiple 80’s references, Baby Groot detonating a bomb that destroys a planet, and Star Lord realizes that while Ego might be his father, Yondu is truly his daddy.

Of course, no epic battle occurs without sacrifices, and Yondu gives his own life in order to save Star Lord. I have a major problem with this moment in the film, but I’ll address that later. Once Ego is destroyed and balance is restored to the galaxy, a funeral is held for Yondu. During the funeral, the Ravagers that shunned him and his men earlier show up and give him a proper send off. They realize that Yondu is much more honorable than they ever believed him to be.

Then the credits roll. We see a teen-aged Groot doing teen-aged things, there’s dancing in the credits, Sly Stallone (who portrays Ravager Stakar in the film) joins up with some old pals, and we see a cocoon holding Ayesha’s newest weapon against the Guardians. She calls it “Adam,” which is an obvious reference to Adam Warlock. Hopefully we’ll see him in the already announced Volume 3.

Issues

Sure, the film was fun to watch, but it seemed like director/writer James Gunn didn’t really know what to do with most of the characters this time around. Drax, while still a powerful warrior, was basically reduced to comic relief. Everything that he did in the film was used for laughs. The same could be said for Rocket and Groot. Gamora was still fighting her sister (and Karen Gillan definitely improved her performance this time around), but other than the pair deciding to join up together to help fight Ego, there was no real character development. Heck, even Star Lord remained basically the same.

The only character that had any real development was Yondu, and he was killed off in the final minutes of the movie, which brings me to my biggest gripe about this film:

Why did Yondu have to die?????

Peter Quill was fresh from a fight with his Celestial father who just showed him how to use his powers. Quill literally created a giant Pac-Man out of nothing to battle Ego, yet he couldn’t scrounge up enough juice to make a space suit for his “daddy” to slip on until the rest of the Guardians caught up to them???? You could argue that he was tired from the battle, but he could have at least whipped up a breathing mask for Yondu.

In Summary

Like I said, the film was very enjoyable to watch, but it’s basically more of the same from the first film but with a better villain (Kurt Russell was born to play a character named Ego). It’s definitely not one of my favorite MCU flicks, but it’s still better than Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron. The special effects were excellent and the fight sequences were pretty cool overall.

I’ll buy it on Blu-ray when it hits the shelves like I always do and watch it for the laughs, but this film could have been much better.

As always, thanks for reading. I know that a few people probably disagree with me about this film, so let me know why you disagree with me in the comments.

May Update

Lake Charles, LA

2017 has kicked my tail. I’ve missed every single convention that I hoped to attend so far and will not make it to Southern Geek Fest, either. Why? I’ve been really busy with work, family duties (which I’m not complaining about), and life in general. Money is also tight as well. With that said, I wanted to give another push for Southern Geek Fest.

SGF has a great lineup this year, and I’m really disappointed that I won’t be making the trip east to hang with my biggest and favorite geek family. I know that I talk about this group more than most, but they really are that great. If you can make it to Hattiesburg, MS at the end of this month, do so, you will not regret it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The slideshow above is only a small sampling of the wonderful guests that will be present at SGF. Celebrities from Clerks, Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, and comic artists will be on hand, as well as authors, pro wrestlers, and much, much more.

In other news, Star Trek Continues recently released their latest episode, Still Treads The Shadow. If you haven’t seen this episode (or any other episode for that matter), check them out here. There are only a few episodes remaining, so be sure to experience this brilliant fan-made production of Star Trek.

Oh, and that image above? That’s a creation of the super cool Hannah Barucky. I purchased a print from her awhile ago of Dr. McKennah (portrayed by the lovely Michele Specht). I hope to one day meet this wonderful lady at a convention in order to thank her personally for her awesome work. Check out her art, cosplay, and fashion work here.

Well, that’s all I have for now. 2017 has me beaten down a bit, but I’m not out! Hopefully I will see a few of you in the real world very soon. As always, thanks for reading!

It’s The Little Things

Over many years…

Well, I didn’t get to attend CyPhaCon like I hoped thanks to the fact that real life once again swooped in at the last second and dealt me a vicious blow that kept me from much of anything over the weekend. With that in mind, I figured that I would give all of you a glimpse into my world. I’m literally throwing this together at my office, so don’t expect any amazing photos.

Here goes….

Collector……Hoarder……Stockpiling Fool…..Call me what you will, but I like to collect things. I’ve collected many things over the years and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. Many of my things are stored away, rarely seeing daylight. Other things, particular mini figures and a few bobbleheads, are displayed either on my shelf at home or at my office. My office usually features my current addiction, but a few things have managed to stay put over the years that refuse to go into storage.

I have an Ozzy Osbourne bobblehead that has been in my office since I first acquired it (which was roughly at the height of “The Osbournes” fame in the early 00’s). He has rarely been dusted or even paid much attention to since I placed him on my desk, but every once in awhile I take a look at him and smile.

My office also features a number of recent Batman and/or DC Comics themed acquisitions such as a classic 1989 Batmobile and the recent 2016 BvS Batmobile. I also have a ton of mini figures such as the DC Comics’ Lil Bombshells, Funko Pint Size Heroes, Mighty Meeples, and a whole host of other mini figs.

I’m a sucker for mini figures, but I also like larger figures such as the Star Wars 6″ Black Series figures, standard sized action figures, and the 6″ DC figure line as well. I also enjoy collecting books, music, and just about anything else I can get my hands on, as the following photos show.

I’m also a collector of photographs and autographs. I have binders that I keep all of my autographed photos in and even more binders that include photos that I’ve taken with both celebs and friends over the years. One great tradition that has been going on since 2011 has been me getting a group shot with the members of Orion’s Envy. I’ve befriended these wonderful ladies over the years and I probably have more pictures with them than I do with some of my family members! It’s always fun to see them at conventions.

Below are a few of my photos with friends and celebs, as well as a few autographed pictures, and a special collection of most (but not all) of my photos with Orion’s Envy (and a couple with the Just Us League as well).

10416594_10202954124627342_1128553965130413062_n

14463292_10209223374914681_3313242291530526726_n

14590334_10209219702582875_6254171962130175027_n

14520407_10209219703182890_8978639762736518991_n

14650614_10209220956774229_114583179820895385_n

10390202_10202954117067153_866912540275718086_n

10470864_10203428444525043_1687553845485718187_n

10170688_10202954122427287_6366184308801727894_n

13006744_10207775111909011_1765979485443029735_n

12670529_10207726116164148_6648133199612438354_n

11703210_10206057215882684_2569958949956189980_n

1422391_10206591633482790_8931319342620464357_n

10014667_10202577903702054_2069884381519026449_n

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you might have noticed, my weight has greatly fluctuated over the years. I’m constantly working on that. In fact, if you read some of my earliest posts, I actually talk about my weight issues.

So, no CyPhaCon for me over the weekend, but hopefully you’ll accept this glimpse into my collection as an apology. As always, thank you for reading. I hope to see some of you out on the trail or at a convention very soon!

Somebody Cue Up “Eye Of The Tiger!”

All Over Alexandria

Two warnings right off the (barbed-wire wrapped) bat:

1. This post is loaded with spoilers from all over the seventh season, including Sunday’s epic finale. Avoid at all costs if you’ve missed any of this season.

2. I’ll probably go into Shiva overload before this post is over. You’ve been warned!

With that out of the way, let’s get down to business.

Sunday’s season finale of The Walking Dead was one of the best ones yet. It ended on a note of unity and confidence, two things that were gravely absent most of this season. We witnessed the Scavengers turn on Rick and company at the worst possible moment. I have to admit that while things were falling into place for the beginning of the war, I had my suspicions about Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her crew. What really tipped me off was the way that the Scavenger sniper leered at Michonne (Danai Gurira) while they were setting up and her, “We win!” remark while swapping places with Michonne.

The episode unfolded while we were given snippets of a vision Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) was having while riding in a coffin to Alexandria. The vision came in the form of Sasha talking to her deceased (by way of Negan) lover, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz). She was also listening to some sweet tunes provided by Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Eugene also provided her with a pill he created earlier in the season for some of Negan’s wives. It was meant to kill Negan, but Eugene refused to take the risk and didn’t give it to the wives. Sasha made the decision to sacrifice herself in order to get one last shot at Negan and possibly save her friends in Alexandria and The Hilltop.

Meanwhile, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), the Alexandrians, and the Scavengers were preparing for war against the Saviors. Little did they know that the Kingdom and the Hilltop were also planning to attend the festivities, and their presence would pay off in spades later in the episode.

Dwight (Austin Amelio), fresh from giving himself up to Rosita, offers to help Rick bring down Negan from the inside. Nobody trusts him except for Daryl (Norman Reedus), and even Daryl’s trust in him is weak, but the group decides to let Dwight return to the Sanctuary so that plans can be put into motion.

Cut back to the moment where the Scavengers have betrayed the Alexandrians. The Scavengers have confiscated the guns from Rick’s group and have them pretty much surrounded. Michonne realizes what’s going on but is immediately jumped by the Scavenger sniper.

Negan says that Sasha (safely tucked away in a coffin on a flatbed truck) can help make things right with the group. When Negan opens the coffin, though, a zombiefied Sasha leaps out at him in one last heroic attempt to take him down.

Not even flinching, Carl (Chandler Riggs) sees the surprise as an opportunity, grabs his gun, and starts shooting. Other members of Rick’s group do the same. Chaos ensues. Soon enough, though, Negan and Jadis’ groups regain control and Rick and Carl find themselves in a very familiar and very uncomfortable spot.

With that being said, Rick still mouths off to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and reminds him that he will, no matter what, kill him. Negan decides to take his own confusion and fury out on Carl, but midway through the first swing of Lucille, a surprise attack comes out of nowhere. That surprise? None other than Shiva, King Ezekiel’s pet tiger!

The big cat’s attack heralds the arrival of the Kingdom and the Hilltop communities. Scavengers and Saviors run for safety, and Negan, completely shocked and, for the first time, a little bit scared of what’s going down, makes a mad dash for his truck. Ezekiel screams that Alexandria will not fall that day and Maggie leads the Hilltop’s charge, barking sure orders to the left and right.

the-walking-dead-tiger-is-a-lot-funnier-when-you-know-its-just-a-man-in-a-blue-unitard — A side by side look at the CGI Shiva attack and the “real” Shiva, a stuntman, in action.

I let out a yell of “Shiva!” when she appeared on the screen. I then screamed out Ezekiel’s name, Carol’s name, Morgan’s name, Maggie’s name, and pretty much anybody else from either community that I recognized. It was a glorious moment and the biggest highlight of the season. All of the poor CGI from earlier in the season was forgotten. All of the somewhat drawn out episodes were forgiven. It all led up to this beautiful, wonderful, tiger-fueled moment and it…..was……GLORIOUS!

Negan and his crew bolted, middle finger held high, but they knew that for the first time in their existence that a potential threat to their safety had arrived. The combined forces of the Alexandria Safe Zone, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom will definitely be a formidable opponent, and I can’t wait to see what season eight has in store for us.

As I warned y’all earlier, I’m going to have a Shiva love fest for a bit. That big cat scared the crap out of Negan and all of his crew. Negan was caught with his pants down and was made to look like a fool. How in the world are they going to fight a tiger? Shiva is fast, silent, and strong. She adds an entirely new weapon to the mix. I just hope that the production crew holds off on any other lackluster CGI in the show and focuses strictly on Shiva.

I’d also like to point out how quick Carl was to react whenever Walker Sasha tried to eat Negan’s face. The kid is tougher and smarter than his father most of the time, and that’s saying something. He accepted his fate at the hands of Negan THREE TIMES this season. He’s definitely got some brass in the ol’ Fruit of the Looms!

Ezekiel (Khary Payton) has definitely injected some life into the series. As I’ve stated before, Negan doesn’t impress me that much. He’s too slight to be physically imposing and I find it hard to buy him as a feared leader. King Ezekiel, on the other hand, has charisma, a booming voice, and can look very imposing with that hair and….that….TIGER! Payton does a brilliant job in the role, and I hope that Ezekiel stays around for a long time.

That’s all I have for this week. I hope to see some of you this weekend at CyPhaCon in Lake Charles, LA. Online registration is closed, but you can purchase tickets at the door. Folks in the Lake Area will get to see a couple of familiar faces in Chuck Huber and Luciana Carro, both of whom have attended other conventions in the area. If I remember correctly, this will be Huber’s third visit to the area and Carro’s second. Her first visit was for ConDuLac, the defunct convention that bore CyPhaCon and a second convention which has also shuttered its doors, BayouCon.

Julian Glover (Star Wars, Game of Thrones, James Bond) will also be in attendance. I hope to meet him this weekend.

I plan on attending late Friday night, Saturday afternoon or evening and possibly on Sunday. If you’re in attendance, come say hello!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll post a follow-up on CyPhaCon next week and then I’ll start prepping for Southern Geek Fest at the end of May!

“Walk” Right Up!

Lake Charles, LA

The Walking Dead has definitely had a peculiar season seven. Some fans loved the violent opening that finally revealed the victim of Negan’s brutal attack. They were shocked when Lucille, Negan’s beloved barb wired bat, dealt a second death to a character that was very near and dear to viewers of the show. Many viewers (and I’m betting that most of them were casual) believed that the violence in that episode was a bit too much for viewers, and demanded changes to the levels of violence in the program.

Where in the heck have these people been since season one? Oh, well, AMC folded to the complaints and apparently a lot of the gore that we would have seen this season was reduced to wide angle shots and audio-only deaths.

BEWARE! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 7!!!! STOP NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THIS SEASON YET!!!!!

From there, the show went on what many consider to be a hit-and-miss cycle of episodes. Many of these episodes focused on just one or two characters, like The Well, which caught up with Morgan and Carol, and Swear, a Tara-centric episode. I enjoyed both of these episodes, and pretty much every other character driven episode like these, with the only exception being the Rick and Michonne lovefest known as Say Yes.

Other episodes saw our beloved heroes attempting to acquire support against the Saviors from the Hilltop community, the Scavengers, and the Kingdom, all with varying degrees of success. The Scavengers, lead by the bizarre Jadis, agreed to an alliance after uneasy (and violent) negotiations in New Best Friends. This carried over into the Say Yes episode, as did a considerable amount of poor CGI, but I’m not going to talk about that today. The Kingdom refused, but despite this, Rick found allies within the group, particularly Richard.

As the season wore on, Richard tried unsuccessfully to force the Kingdom to join with the Alexandrians by setting up Carol to be murdered by the Saviors and then attempting to sacrifice himself but failing in that attempt only to have young Benjamin die instead. The result of Richard’s actions led to the return of the voices in Morgan’s head, as he brutally choked Richard to death in front of a gang of Saviors and King Ezekiel. I was so glad to see crazy Morgan back, as well as crazy Carol after she reunited with Daryl and found out about Abraham and Glenn.

Last night’s episode, The Other Side, gave us a slightly deeper look into the life of Jesus, revealed even more friction between the Hilltop’s leader, Gregory, and Maggie, who is quickly building her own following within the community, and focused primarily on Sasha and Rosita as they set out to murder Negan.

Rosita’s vengeance has clouded her mind, making her want to infiltrate the Savior’s compound and kill Negan. Sasha, the levelheaded member of the duo, believes that it is best to shoot Negan from a distance. Rosita is eventually convinced that Sasha’s sniper technique is the best method to use, and while waiting for the perfect shot, the pair iron out their differences over Abraham. When Sasha can’t get a clear shot, Rosita’s desperation plan goes into effect.

The pair make a failed attempt to free Eugene from the Saviors. After successfully making it to the front gate of the compound, Sasha and Rosita offer to free Eugene. He refuses their help and runs back into the compound. This sets off the community, and Sasha seals herself inside the compound after tricking Rosita to stay outside of the gates. She tells Rosita that she’ll get another chance and then runs off into the compound. Rosita runs off and then the camera focuses on her shocked face whenever she sees a figure watching her.

Who is it? Rumors are flying around, but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

With that brief summary out of the way, I have to say that this season has been lacking. I’m a huge fan of the character development episodes (heck, I enjoyed season two, the heavily loaded character developing season that many fans hate with a passion), but only a few of them were strong this season. There were a lot of boring sequences (and that dumb Easy Street song) that made watching some of the episodes quite a task. Also, the CGI was noticeably horrible in the two episodes I mentioned earlier in this post. I’m assuming that the background behind Rick in New Best Friends and the wretched deer from Say Yes were a result of AMC throwing all of their money into Ezekiel’s tiger, Shiva. If that’s the case, lay off of the CGI until Shiva shows up in a scene! Shiva has looked pretty awesome for a television series CGI animal, but don’t sacrifice the rest of the show just for the cat.

On the plus side, I’ve grown to really enjoy the performance of Steven Ogg, who portrays Simon, one of Negan’s most trusted leaders in the Saviors. In all honesty, he’s more imposing than Negan. There’s no showboating with a bat or excessive leaning back. Simon’s just straight up untrustworthy. I love that about the guy. In last night’s episode, I’m not sure if he was truly wanting to help Gregory or setting him up for a fall. That difficult to decipher demeanor and the added bit of “just one wrong word shy of crazy” makes Simon one of my favorite characters this season.

Oh, and even though Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an excellent actor, I still believe that he is a poor choice to portray Negan.

Well, I’ve blabbed enough. As always, thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it on social media. I’ll be hitting the con scene in the very near future, so look for me if you feel the need to do so.

I’m Jealous!

Not At A Convention!

I have to admit that I am super jealous of all of my friends that have been attending conventions this year. Many of them went to Wizard World NOLA earlier this year, but this weekend a ton of them headed over to Pensacola, FL for Pensacon! It’s one of my wishlist conventions to attend because they seem to bring the big guns every year as far as guests go.

You don’t know how hard it was to see my friends taking photos with the likes of Sophie Aldred (frickin’ Ace from Doctor Who!), John Wesley Shipp (The Flash, the original frickin’ Flash!), and Lita Ford (a legend in hard rock and my ex-wife in way too many dreams). It pained me to see Ming from Comic Book Men hanging out with my friends in Southern Geek and Southern Geek Fest. It bruised my innards whenever I saw that the Nature Boy, Ric Flair, was also a part of the festivities.

To top it all off, Pensacon had the audacity to really rub it in my face by announcing guests for next year’s event (February 23-25) including Lou Ferrigno (The Incredi-frickin’-ble Hulk), Paul Blake (gosh darned Greedo from Star Wars), former WWE star Lita (she hangs out in my dreams with Lita sometimes!), and Frazer flippin’ Hines, Jamie from Doctor Who! Don’t you dare click here to learn about this year’s event and to keep up with what’s happening next year! Hopefully the scheduling gods will smile upon me and I’ll get to attend this wonderful event!

You’re probably thinking: Ken, why don’t you just go to one of your all-time favorite conventions, CoastCon! Brilliant idea, you! Except for the fact that I have work scheduled for that weekend! CoastCon truly is one of my favorite conventions. It’s one of the oldest fan-run conventions in the southern United States and it’s celebrating forty years this year!

This wonderful event decided to stick it to me this year, inviting some of the coolest guests that they’ve ever had like Oded Fehr. You know this guy. He’s killed mummies in the flippin’ The Mummy franchise, taken on zombies in the Resident Evil franchise, and dominated in Showtime’s Sleeper Cell. To make the fact that I’m going to miss this event even worse, they’ve added awesome authors like Claudia Gray and the Gothic Queen Supreme (and Facebook friend) Kimberly Richardson! They’ve also thrown in stuntman, actor, and all-around cool guy (and friend), John Mangus!

14222302_1753352894947830_4148153596388195338_n

16298899_1821210198162099_3003341504111954458_n

13240573_1698416793774774_8718798271865046285_n

16143123_1813440222272430_8686944545646577179_n

This excellent event is taking place March 3-5 at the lovely Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. Visit their webpage for more information about this great, long-running convention.

Okay, okay. So I missed Pensacon and won’t be able to attend CoastCon. What about something a tad more local? CyPhaCon, perhaps?

Yeah, it’d be awesome to attend CyPhaCon, which has consistently put on awesome events in Lake Charles, LA and will do so again from April 7-9, but work is going to prevent me from attending the bulk of the convention. Hopefully I’ll get to visit on Saturday afternoon and meet Julian Glover (Star Wars, Game of frickin’ Thrones), Chuck Huber (Bones from Star Trek Continues and anime vocal mastermind), and the lovely Luciana Carro (Battlestar Galactica). I’ve met Luciana at CyPhaCon before, and she’s an awesome lady.

To really bust my chops, CyPhaCon also added the very talented Jessica Von Braun, who happens to be one of my favorite artists. My family loves her work as well. There’s going to be awesome tunes, awesome authors, and all sorts of cool panels to attend. Check them out here and see what all the fuss is about.

Despite missing all or most of some of these wonderful events, the month of May has graciously offered me a small window to attend another of my favorite events, Southern Geek Fest. This one is close to my heart, as I’ve become good friends with many of the folks that are a part of this event and love the fact that Southern Geek, a Facebook group, gave birth to this wonderful convention.

Southern Geek Fest will feature tons of awesome artists, authors, and panels, as well as a lot of celebrity guests and cosplayers as well. One of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, will be in attendance, as well as Peyton Wich of Stranger Things, Victor Gischler (who has done work on titles such as Deadpool and The Punisher), and one of the loveliest, friendliest cosplayers on the circuit, Kimberly Battista.

Oh, and rumor has it that DDK will make his triumphant return to Hattiesburg, MS once again and turn it into Hottiesburg! Visit SGF’s webpage to learn more about the event. I promise that you’ll have a great time!

So, I might be jealous of all my friends at the moment, but whenever I return from SGF with an autograph and photo from Hacksaw and a pic with the wonderful Kimberly Battista, we’ll see who’s jealous then!

As always, thanks for reading. If you happen to attend any of these events, especially CyPhaCon and/or SGF, be sure to drop me a line so that we can meet in person!

In The TARDIS

Share this:

Spinning A Web

The Cast

The Plot

The Action

The Humor

And Now For The Complaints

The Cast

The Action

The Music (Or Lack Thereof)

In Summary

Share this:

Themyscira….London….And Then The Front

Share this:

Hell’s Kitchen, New York

Share this:

The Funny End Of The MCU Spectrum

Issues

In Summary

Share this:

Lake Charles, LA

Share this:

Over many years…

Share this:

All Over Alexandria

Share this:

Lake Charles, LA

Share this:

Not At A Convention!

Share this: