You may have noticed, I've been scarce around these parts lately. Well, it hasn't been intentional and it's not because I don't have anything to say - really, it's just because I've been super busy at life. My two passions, my job and playing poker - not to mention the most important thing of all, my family, these days really do take up all of my time.
But today, I have a cold. My head is stuffy, and the stars and planets have aligned at work to allow me a day of respite. So I will attempt to lay out here, where my head is at politically and in regards to the state of our country.
I officially retired from posting and commenting on politics via' Facebook in 2016, and I'm happy to say I have (for the most part) kept to my abstinence from these things. I do slip once in awhile in commenting in a friend's thread (and then immediately withdraw) or posting my own article about the ever deplorable state of the homeless (mentally ill addicts) in this country and more specifically in Los Angeles, but I don't really consider that issue political. (Though plenty of people chime in anyways about Trump this or liberal failures that).
In any case, I'm now quiet about politics.
Well, and then there's also my private chat group on FB where I've summarily taken each and every last one of my liberal friends who have dared to challenge me to the woodshed and basically pummeled them (verbally) into shame and silence. Only one remains, my dear DSR, who though radically wrong in many ways on many issues, still has the brains and self-awareness to understand that politics are in the end not personal. He also has enough faith in his own convictions that he is not as easily cowed as the others who have come and gone - and gone rather quickly when faced with my rapid fire intellectual beat downs.
And so, mostly, I am quiet about politics.
I learned many, many years before social media, to keep my opinions to myself about politics in all manner of company, both polite and also rowdy, if there were liberals among them. I did at times indulge with my closest friends, but even then, as I valued their friendship far more than me being right, I would hold my tongue when we arrived at fundamental disagreements. Which for some of them, our disagreements are scary deep - such as my friend who doesn't think our troops are the best and the bravest, he thinks they are mostly murderers. That is a friend that I have known since grade school, had I met him later in life, I promise you we would not be friends.
But I digress a bit here. My purpose with this post is to check in with this blog (though I plan to check in within this month again with my annual movie round-up) and let anyone who also still checks in here know, that I am quiet for now - but I have not been silenced.
I mostly avoid discussing politics these days, even in my private facebook group, because I have been turned from someone who was repulsed by Donald Trump and did NOT vote for him in the primary or the general - into someone who now will basically crawl over broken glass to support him.
Really, I have been so put off by the radical left - i.e. the mainstream democrat party - and their hatred for our president, who is kicking all kinds of ass policy-wise (record low unemployment, first wage growth in over a decade, record high stock market, GDP growth that Obama said was no longer possible, and on and on and on) that right now I am not avoiding talking politics because I don't want an argument - I am avoiding it because I don't want to bite someone's head off.
I am so angry with the left right now, it's rather scary, even to myself.
It started with Trump's inauguration and his speech that I thought was pretty great.
The media and Trump's opponents called it racist, and it just went downhill from there.
Then there was Kavanaugh and Covington - both cases of crazed lynch mobs, bringing the verdict first and then scrambling to find evidence that didn't exist. Of course Kavanaugh was a gang rapist, what else would he be? Of course that MAGA hat wearing kid was the instigator, and clearly a white nationalist.
Yeah, um, no.
Right now, I am so angry with those who think this impeachment fiasco is somehow justified or worthwhile - and are blind to how damaging it is to our country - that I really don't want to talk about it at all because I fear I will lose my temper and say things that I will regret.
I have to keep reminding myself that most people, even highly educated people, people who get a 100% on the written Jeopardy test and then pass the audition and actually go on the show - really don't care....
But make no mistake - if you are going through life and you think attacking the president, impeaching the president, doing everything and anything necessary to damage him or remove him is okay; half the country, including yours truly, is actually very, very, VERY angry at you for feeling this way.
From our point of view, if you want him removed from office you are un-American and an asshole. I really believe this - and the left has pushed me here. You have nothing on Trump. NOTHING. And you know it, and yet you don't care because an emotional victory is more important to you than logic or reason.
I understand he's off putting, I understand his character at times is questionable. I myself had qualms about voting for him - and I don't know if I've mentioned it here - but I actually did not vote for him in 2016. I don't like his arrogance, his thin skin or his inability to control his temper.
But in the end, I look at what has happened economically, militarily and judicially to our country over the last year - and I can't help but understand that Trump has become a hundred times more the great conservative than I could ever have hoped. And the hate from the left has grown exponentially and is vastly disproportionate to whatever flaws in character he might have.
The hate from the left is coming because of policy, not because Trump at times can be an impulsive jerk. And that is what is so off-putting to me and why now I am a full throated Trump supporter.
Me, someone who has never liked Trump personally - now I think he is the greatest president in my lifetime. More conservative than Ronald Reagan - and also a more effectual president.
Trump doesn't just talk (often like a jackass) - he gets it done.
Look at this tariff thing with China. Across the political spectrum, both sides now are fairly astonished that his weaponization of tariff's actually worked - and we are now in the best position with China, with a workable and enforceable trade deal with teeth that has been signed off on for the first time - all because Trump was right.
Look at what happened with Iran - they are now cowed. They now understand that you don't fuck with us. Their response was to launch rockets into the dirt. An actual red line was crossed and Trump responded viciously and disproportionately - as he should have. The perfect response, and the only thing the Iranian leadership understands and respects - brute strength. For the first time in 40 years, now there is a glimmer of hope for the Iranian people. Trumps speech to them in the aftermath of the rockets into the dirt illuminated this and was a shining moment in his presidency.
Look at our judiciary. As of this writing he has installed over 180 federal judges who are cut in the mold of Scalia. Our Constitution will now be defended for generations across the country. And the Supreme Court as well will be rock solid for decades to come. And when RGB retires or passes away, Trump's legacy of SCOTUS appointments will become a trifecta of victory for liberty.
And finally, look at math. Math doesn't care about your feelings. All time historic record low unemployment numbers for people of color. Wage growth. A GDP at numbers that most on the left said would never be possible again. Krugman said that the economy would 'crater' under Trump. How very, very, VERY wrong he and his contemporaries were.
All I see, when I look at this Trump presidency is winning. Trump himself said in his campaign that we would get sick of so much winning - and he was absolutely prophetic.
We are winning, and winning and winning over and over and OVER. And all the left can do is play fucking games with souvenir pens and fist bumping on talk shows.
Just absurd and incredible really, just how much the left doesn't give a shit about truth or honor.
Yes, so you may have figured out - I've been quiet, but I'm not silenced. I'm just over it. And very angry at what folks on the left are doing to my president and in turn to those of us just right of center and a bit farther to the right of that as well.
Anyways, I'm eager to talk movies (with some political injection in there as well, this is my safe space for talking politics after all) and I'm looking forward to that in this space, in fairly short order, so stay tuned for that!
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Avengers: Endgame - "Review"! MEGA SPOILERS!
Okay it's not really a review, just a big slobbery sopping wet kiss to this amazing conclusion of 11 years and 22 films - I LOVED THIS MOVIE!
Yes, I've said it many times on this blog - I'm an unapologetic fanboy, I'm not a critic, I desperately want every super-hero movie to succeed and I'm very good at overlooking problems because to me, when I compare comic book flicks today with what I had to work with when I was a kid - there ARE NO PROBLEMS of any real concern in the modern superhero big screen world.
I mean seriously, this is what I had to watch when I was 10 years old.
Watch about 30 seconds, if you can stand it. Yeah, and this was one of the better adaptations out there. And who could forget this?
Sure, it's a dope motorcycle - but that's about it really.
And then now we have this -
Absolutely this is THE best time to be alive for action/adventure/sci-fi/superhero goodness up on the big screen. THIS IS IT!!!
And it's why I was so so excited to finally see Endgame last Sunday with my wife and kid. I had managed to avoid spoilers despite the film being out for three days - and thus, like most folks, I was completely surprised and blown away by the last 3/4 of the movie because the Russo brothers (in all of their brilliance) had deliberately withheld all but the first 20 minutes of the 3 hour epic for use in the trailers.
I genuinely didn't know what was going to happen from beginning to end, but from 20 minutes onward every frame was a complete surprise and an unexpected delight.
Okay - so here we go. I'm going to recap and expound on what I loved, which was pretty much the entire frickin' movie (and really I don't want to use 'frickin').
So be fairly warned thee says I - THAR' BE SPOILERS AHEAD MATEY! (Not sure why but I just typed that with a pirate voice inside my head).
Doing this by memory after seeing the movie only once - so forgive any errors in sequence or detail.
My favorite moments (yes, most of them)...
The cold open with Hawkeye -
Interesting side note: Not once has Clint Barton ever been called Hawkeye in the MCU, the closest was 'The Hawk" in Avengers one. Here in the cold open of AE he calls his oldest daughter by that moniker.
I felt a punch to the gut as soon as the film faded up from black. Quiet scene, no music, which was a perfect choice. I didn't know what precisely was going to happen or how it was going to unfold, but I felt dread in the pit of my stomach for this entire scene.
Thankfully we are spared the sight of Clint's children and wife disintegrating before our eyes, their disappearance happens super quick - when his back is turned - and somehow this is both a relief but also more devastating in it's own way. Our brains fill in the detail and anguish as we leave the farm and head into the Marvel logo.
Tony and Nebula Adrift -
Let me just say, my favorite character by far in this film, and one of my all time favorites in the MCU, is Nebula. The way her character has grown and changed exemplifies precisely what is so great and amazing about the MCU...
Yes, the special effects in these movies are top notch. Yes, the humor is always a fun kick in the pants and often makes us giddy. Yes, the killer app is that it's FREAKIN' IRON MAN and FREAKIN' CAPTAIN AMERICA, etc. etc. coming to life on the big screen...
But what makes these movies GREAT, what makes them truly stories for the ages; is the deference and determination by the filmmakers to keep these characters as grounded and as real as possible. And over multiple movies we are allowed to get to know them, and watch them grow and change before our eyes.
I think Nebula is perhaps the very best example of this emphasis on realism and growth in the characters.
It is very powerful and moving to see how far she has come. The moment when she gently lifts a sleeping (unconscious?) Tony Stark and puts him in the captain's chair, had me welling up with tears for the second time in about 10 minutes into the movie.
She started out as a ruthless killer, desperate to please her maniac father. She has since fled from her tormentor, made peace with her sister, and has started to come around to the possibility of opening herself up to being kind and even tender with others. It is a remarkable and 100% genuine character arc from anger/pain into willing vulnerability.
Later in this scene, I loved the moment when Carol Danvers shows up outside the cockpit window. Very cool, and I was also very glad that the 'tag' in Captain Marvel was a self-contained scene that stayed in that movie and it wasn't a preview of a scene we would have to sit through in Endgame ala' Bucky's arm in a vice at the end of Ant-Man. This was a 3 hour movie, glad they weren't wasting our time with a replay of something we had already seen. Of course my wife and kid who didn't see Captain Marvel might have been a mite confused.
Nebula's reunion with Rocket was the third tears welling, lump in throat, moment for me. Very uncharacteristic of both of them up until the snap, now it makes perfect sense. We've been along with both of them and we get it.
Scott Returns -
Okay if there was one MASSIVE contrivance in this whole movie (and I understand there's actually about 50 small to medium ones) it's when the rat stumbles across the mini-quantum tunnel's control panel in the La Cucaracha van.
I can't help but wonder, in the 14 million + scenarios Dr. Strange looked at, were there several hundred thousand that had the rat taking a different route over the panel and so Scott never got out? If so, how did Stephen know that this reality in particular would have the exact right kind of clumsy rodent? (The internet is already abuzz with folks saying it was Splinter from Ninja Turtles).
Anyways, I digress a tad. I love how this movie took it's time to spend time with the characters in the first hour and I'm most grateful for the time we got with Scott Lange.
From his desperate search among the stone slabs at the San Francisco snap memorial, to his heart wrenching (in a good way) reunion with his now 15 year old daughter (who looks 20) - I'm so so happy that Ant-Man plays such a large role in this film.
Professor Hulk -
After striking out with Tony Stark, a lovely scene with Tony and his daughter in-between as well, Cap, Natasha and Scott hunt down Banner and he's Professor Hulk!
I never read any Professor Hulk comics, but I was well aware of what was going on with this character through the 90's - now I wish I had read some of these comics, maybe I still will!
Smart Hulk is hilarious! Love how he's a combination of not only Banner and Hulk's bodies, but their personalities as well.
Thankfully Endgame has the trademark MCU humor in abundance throughout. As usual, the filmmakers are ingenious about weaving jokes in and out seamlessly with the rest of the story. Nobody wants a selfie with Ant-Man!
So Tony can't sleep and figures out time travel and says "Ok" - so for the next half hour it's the Blues Brothers, we're getting the band back together!
Natasha returns the favor...
After a bad ass mini-fight scene that involves a dozen dead Yokuza gangsters, the Black Widow shows up to rescue her friend from a rain filled life of deadly justice. The interaction between the two actors is the real meat here, they both bring their A-game acting chops and the result is a very touching scene.
Thicc Thor -
Biggest laugh/gasp in the theater - Thor with a beer gut! The Dude Abides.
Love this development, a LOT. I know there's got to be a bunch of in-Cel neck beards out there who don't like Thor "turning into a joke" but I think Chris Hemsworth is so good and so dialed into the character, he's able to play for big laughs but also portray Thor as deeply troubled and struggling with the path to redemption. Cheers to the writers and directors for taking the unpredictable route with Thor, that also happens to make a lot of sense.
BTW, very excited to see Korg, he's my spirit animal. I've said it in earlier reviews, I want to BE Korg!
And so after Scott gets his taco blown away by the Benatar, and Hawkeye tests the time travel and agonizingly misses seeing his family - we are off to time travel, or rather, time heist.
They do try to explain it, in hilarious fashion by referencing every time travel movie ever made, but it's still a bit confusing. Somehow they are going to go back into the past and change things and they somehow won't effect their own past - I think that was the gist of it.
And so we come to that electric moment, when they drop into the time vortex and end up in New York in the First Avengers Movie! Wow!
I have to say, I was pleasantly bowled over at this story telling approach - what an amazing tribute to the MCU and an absolute love letter to the fans. Yes, it is fan service, but in the very best of ways.
New York, one city, three stones...
Loved Professor Hulk's half assed imitation of his old self.
Nice to see the Ancient One again, a fascinating concept that she (and who knows how many others) was also battling aliens just out of camera range. Very Back to the Future 2ish, bullshit though it may be.
Speaking of asses, America's ass is in fine form. LOVED Cap whispering "Hail Hydra" to avoid a direct callback to Winter Soldier. Genius!
Stark and Lang screwing up and allowing Loki's escape with the tesseract, how conveeeenient - but at least it gave us a great scene with Tony and his dad. Very emotional, once again. I really can't understand the film snobs who insist that these movies are corporate and soulless. Well, they may be corporate - but they absolutely are created by people who love these characters and scene after scene brings all the good kind of feels.
Also can't fail to mention what may be Stan the Man's last cameo - just lovely! I'd like to think they shot another 50 or so generic cameos in front of green screen so we'll keep seeing Stan for a long time, but you never know - this might have been it.
Also can't forget, Cap longingly looking at Peggy. Great to see Ms. Atwell back in the MCU. Also very much appreciated Kevin Fiege's relenquishing TV Marvel characters being banned from the movies (except for Coulson) by showing us the original Jarvis from Agent Carter. Loved that show! (Especially the first season...)
Rody and Nebula and an idiot...
Seeing Peter Quill do his dance from a different perspective... I don't know... yeah, I guess he's kind of a goofball!
Here's the mission of real consequence - when old Nebula and old Gamora are still baddies and set things in motion. Loved seeing Karen Gillan's remarkable work here, playing the same character at two vastly different times in her life. Also great to see Gamora again, even if it was one that effectively was Gamora rebooted.
Return of the most underrated Marvel movie ever!
Of 21 films, the filmmakers looked long and hard at which films they should return to - Guardians of the Galaxy, the original Avengers, and of course... Thor: The Dark World! Huh?
I confess, I really like, borderline love, TTDW. I think it is easily the most underrated film in the MCU. Natalie Portman is great, her friend is hilarious, the film never gets boring (though the Either and the Dark Elves are a bit convoluted.). The best part is the third act, with all the different portals and dimensions - expertly directed, shot and cut together. Dark World rules!
Here, fat Thor goes from a joke to an anguished hero in the blink of an eye. Renee' Russo gets a big juicy scene with Hemsworth, nearly 5 times as many lines as she had in both of her Thor movies combined.
It all works - yes, once again it's lump in the throat time. What wouldn't any of us do to have another chance at a conversation with a parent who has passed away? Thanks to Endgame, we get two of these great scenes.
Also, great seeing Natalie Portman, though I suspect that her shot is unused footage from Dark World.
What We Love the Most
Easily the most difficult and least fun, though emotionally enthralling, sequence in this time travel heist is Natasha and Clint's return to Vormir for the Soul Stone.
The Red Skull gets to do his thing, and then we get our hearts ripped out as BW and Hawkeye duke it out trying to kill - themselves, so the other one can get the stone.
I have to say, I was kind of shocked at the final choice. But we know that both of them are the kind that would not hesitate to lay down their life for each other, let alone half the universe. Yes, it's perfectly within character for both of them.
Natasha's death is shocking and sad, and now after the movie has finished it's even more so because it appears it might be permanent. That would be an amazingly sad, but super strong, choice.
Hulk Straps it On
So they all get back (except for my girl new Nebula) and Tony Stark of course figures out how to build an Iron Man-ish Infinity Gauntlet.
Hulk straps it on and does his thing - burns half of his body - but it appears that it worked. When Clint's wife calls, it is tear inducing moment #73 in this movie.
And then the walls come crashing down when 2014 Thanos (along with back in the day Gamora and new flavor Nebula who's a prisoner) and his big ass ship come through the time portal and rain hellfire down on the Avenger's compound.
Lovely touch with the birds in the courtyard before it all goes to shit. Yes, the snap has been undone, and as our heroes dig out from underneath the rubble, the big moment we've all been waiting for is coming.
Nebula literally killing her old self is a very powerful and emotionally resonant moment - it was also very gratifying for me and cemented Nebs as my favorite character of the movie and perhaps of the whole MCU saga.
But First, this movie's version of Thor and Rocket and Groot touching down on Wakanda
All of these movies have that singular moment - that one electrifying instant where you want to throw your arms up and cheer and scream at the top of your lungs.
In Infinity War it was when Thor/Rocket/Groot landed and the Silvestri score hit - hard.
In this movie, it's when Thor is about to get killed by Thanos, and SOMEONE ELSE wields Mjolnir!
That's right, they've been hinting at it since Age of Ultron, but it's true - Captain America can lift the hammer! "I knew it!" screams Thor with glee, and the audience roars.
And then, the ultimate comic book movie geek-gasm!
With the crackling of static in Cap's ear, we hear it "Cap, it's me Sam... on your left"
Yet another absolutely electric moment and what follows is simply the greatest super-hero comic book movie splash page to ever come to life on the silver screen. So amazing it's hard to put into words - it literally makes the giant fight in Civil War seem quaint in comparison.
Yes, they dragged everyone and their mother out to fight this fight.
I got the chills, over and over and over as every super-hero you could ever imagine tumbled out of Dr. Strange's portals to join in. Black Panther! Wasp! Spider-Man! This was it - 11 years and 22 movies all leading to this moment!
Loved how much time and care was spent to give just about every fighter their moment in the spotlight.
Greatly enjoyed Carol Danvers return to the fray, though it would've been nice if she'd taken out Thanos' ship BEFORE it unloaded all the bad guys right?
This is the scene that I will have to watch again and again when it comes out on home video - I know I missed a ton of cool stuff in the background. Reminded me very much of another one of my favorite movies Ready Player One, in it's scope and attention to detail.
Tony's death is handled well, and yes, I once again got a little misty. But the real waterworks started at the funeral...
Return of the Marvel King (or How many endings can we cram into this?)
The funeral scene was awesome, the Happy and Morgan scene devastating. This was my first true blubbery cry, though there had been plenty of occasional manly tear streaks up until that point.
My wife was a little perturbed that Natasha didn't get a full funeral - but I thought the scene with Clint and Wanda was a lovely way to pay proper respect to both BW and the Vision.
Thor joining the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy is pretty hilarious, and also will be delightful to watch if Thor stays in James Gunn's future movie.
And finally, Cap heading off to put the stones back - which insures that everyone gets to keep their reality, right? This is pretty convoluted and confusing, but I guess I'm ok with it. Cap goes back to be with Peggy (which is a beautiful last scene of the film, very touching and sweet) but somehow everything that happened in the MCU doesn't change right?
In other words, the snap did happen - five years did pass (though why is Peter Parker's friend still in high school?) and all the strong story choices (Gamora's death, Natasha's death, etc.) - none of that gets undone, right?
That was my takeaway, so I hope that stays true. I admit it is a teeny tiny bit annoying (I guess it's in my nerd DNA to nitpick a little bit) that Cap gets to go off and take a life for himself, not that I blame him, and yet somehow he still lives in the same reality as the original MCU and we see him as an old man? So there were two Captain America's, one that we know that got frozen and unfrozen and was in the Avengers - and another one who showed up out of the blue on Peggy Carter's front doorstep and (presumably) prevented her from marrying that other guy, or having kids for that matter. Kind of strange.
Oh well, this is such a minor nitpick for me, truly it is. Avengers Endgame was absolutely wonderful, and somehow exceeded my expectations even though there were already sky-high to begin with!
I can't wait to get back to the theater and see this one again, and again!
---
Okay, one final quibble - appreciate that they gave all the characters a shout out in the credits - but I HATED the wobbly mirror-like visages that floated and bobbed about the screen. Do it correct guys! I hate to say it, but easily the best credits sequence at the end of a franchise finale is the one they did for the Twilight movies. Beautifully shot and artfully crafted - these credits in Endgame, I hate to say it, looked like ass.
Don't want to leave on a down note, I did indeed LOOOOOVE this movie, so much that as of this moment it easily sits on top of my MCU rankings. I will have to wait a month or two before I finalize it's position on my list, I will be sure to update this post when I do!
Yes, I've said it many times on this blog - I'm an unapologetic fanboy, I'm not a critic, I desperately want every super-hero movie to succeed and I'm very good at overlooking problems because to me, when I compare comic book flicks today with what I had to work with when I was a kid - there ARE NO PROBLEMS of any real concern in the modern superhero big screen world.
I mean seriously, this is what I had to watch when I was 10 years old.
Watch about 30 seconds, if you can stand it. Yeah, and this was one of the better adaptations out there. And who could forget this?
Sure, it's a dope motorcycle - but that's about it really.
And then now we have this -
Absolutely this is THE best time to be alive for action/adventure/sci-fi/superhero goodness up on the big screen. THIS IS IT!!!
And it's why I was so so excited to finally see Endgame last Sunday with my wife and kid. I had managed to avoid spoilers despite the film being out for three days - and thus, like most folks, I was completely surprised and blown away by the last 3/4 of the movie because the Russo brothers (in all of their brilliance) had deliberately withheld all but the first 20 minutes of the 3 hour epic for use in the trailers.
I genuinely didn't know what was going to happen from beginning to end, but from 20 minutes onward every frame was a complete surprise and an unexpected delight.
Okay - so here we go. I'm going to recap and expound on what I loved, which was pretty much the entire frickin' movie (and really I don't want to use 'frickin').
So be fairly warned thee says I - THAR' BE SPOILERS AHEAD MATEY! (Not sure why but I just typed that with a pirate voice inside my head).
Doing this by memory after seeing the movie only once - so forgive any errors in sequence or detail.
My favorite moments (yes, most of them)...
The cold open with Hawkeye -
Interesting side note: Not once has Clint Barton ever been called Hawkeye in the MCU, the closest was 'The Hawk" in Avengers one. Here in the cold open of AE he calls his oldest daughter by that moniker.
I felt a punch to the gut as soon as the film faded up from black. Quiet scene, no music, which was a perfect choice. I didn't know what precisely was going to happen or how it was going to unfold, but I felt dread in the pit of my stomach for this entire scene.
Thankfully we are spared the sight of Clint's children and wife disintegrating before our eyes, their disappearance happens super quick - when his back is turned - and somehow this is both a relief but also more devastating in it's own way. Our brains fill in the detail and anguish as we leave the farm and head into the Marvel logo.
Tony and Nebula Adrift -
Let me just say, my favorite character by far in this film, and one of my all time favorites in the MCU, is Nebula. The way her character has grown and changed exemplifies precisely what is so great and amazing about the MCU...
Yes, the special effects in these movies are top notch. Yes, the humor is always a fun kick in the pants and often makes us giddy. Yes, the killer app is that it's FREAKIN' IRON MAN and FREAKIN' CAPTAIN AMERICA, etc. etc. coming to life on the big screen...
But what makes these movies GREAT, what makes them truly stories for the ages; is the deference and determination by the filmmakers to keep these characters as grounded and as real as possible. And over multiple movies we are allowed to get to know them, and watch them grow and change before our eyes.
I think Nebula is perhaps the very best example of this emphasis on realism and growth in the characters.
It is very powerful and moving to see how far she has come. The moment when she gently lifts a sleeping (unconscious?) Tony Stark and puts him in the captain's chair, had me welling up with tears for the second time in about 10 minutes into the movie.
She started out as a ruthless killer, desperate to please her maniac father. She has since fled from her tormentor, made peace with her sister, and has started to come around to the possibility of opening herself up to being kind and even tender with others. It is a remarkable and 100% genuine character arc from anger/pain into willing vulnerability.
Later in this scene, I loved the moment when Carol Danvers shows up outside the cockpit window. Very cool, and I was also very glad that the 'tag' in Captain Marvel was a self-contained scene that stayed in that movie and it wasn't a preview of a scene we would have to sit through in Endgame ala' Bucky's arm in a vice at the end of Ant-Man. This was a 3 hour movie, glad they weren't wasting our time with a replay of something we had already seen. Of course my wife and kid who didn't see Captain Marvel might have been a mite confused.
Nebula's reunion with Rocket was the third tears welling, lump in throat, moment for me. Very uncharacteristic of both of them up until the snap, now it makes perfect sense. We've been along with both of them and we get it.
Scott Returns -
Okay if there was one MASSIVE contrivance in this whole movie (and I understand there's actually about 50 small to medium ones) it's when the rat stumbles across the mini-quantum tunnel's control panel in the La Cucaracha van.
I can't help but wonder, in the 14 million + scenarios Dr. Strange looked at, were there several hundred thousand that had the rat taking a different route over the panel and so Scott never got out? If so, how did Stephen know that this reality in particular would have the exact right kind of clumsy rodent? (The internet is already abuzz with folks saying it was Splinter from Ninja Turtles).
Anyways, I digress a tad. I love how this movie took it's time to spend time with the characters in the first hour and I'm most grateful for the time we got with Scott Lange.
From his desperate search among the stone slabs at the San Francisco snap memorial, to his heart wrenching (in a good way) reunion with his now 15 year old daughter (who looks 20) - I'm so so happy that Ant-Man plays such a large role in this film.
Professor Hulk -
After striking out with Tony Stark, a lovely scene with Tony and his daughter in-between as well, Cap, Natasha and Scott hunt down Banner and he's Professor Hulk!
I never read any Professor Hulk comics, but I was well aware of what was going on with this character through the 90's - now I wish I had read some of these comics, maybe I still will!
Smart Hulk is hilarious! Love how he's a combination of not only Banner and Hulk's bodies, but their personalities as well.
Thankfully Endgame has the trademark MCU humor in abundance throughout. As usual, the filmmakers are ingenious about weaving jokes in and out seamlessly with the rest of the story. Nobody wants a selfie with Ant-Man!
So Tony can't sleep and figures out time travel and says "Ok" - so for the next half hour it's the Blues Brothers, we're getting the band back together!
Natasha returns the favor...
After a bad ass mini-fight scene that involves a dozen dead Yokuza gangsters, the Black Widow shows up to rescue her friend from a rain filled life of deadly justice. The interaction between the two actors is the real meat here, they both bring their A-game acting chops and the result is a very touching scene.
Thicc Thor -
Biggest laugh/gasp in the theater - Thor with a beer gut! The Dude Abides.
Love this development, a LOT. I know there's got to be a bunch of in-Cel neck beards out there who don't like Thor "turning into a joke" but I think Chris Hemsworth is so good and so dialed into the character, he's able to play for big laughs but also portray Thor as deeply troubled and struggling with the path to redemption. Cheers to the writers and directors for taking the unpredictable route with Thor, that also happens to make a lot of sense.
BTW, very excited to see Korg, he's my spirit animal. I've said it in earlier reviews, I want to BE Korg!
And so after Scott gets his taco blown away by the Benatar, and Hawkeye tests the time travel and agonizingly misses seeing his family - we are off to time travel, or rather, time heist.
They do try to explain it, in hilarious fashion by referencing every time travel movie ever made, but it's still a bit confusing. Somehow they are going to go back into the past and change things and they somehow won't effect their own past - I think that was the gist of it.
And so we come to that electric moment, when they drop into the time vortex and end up in New York in the First Avengers Movie! Wow!
I have to say, I was pleasantly bowled over at this story telling approach - what an amazing tribute to the MCU and an absolute love letter to the fans. Yes, it is fan service, but in the very best of ways.
New York, one city, three stones...
Loved Professor Hulk's half assed imitation of his old self.
Nice to see the Ancient One again, a fascinating concept that she (and who knows how many others) was also battling aliens just out of camera range. Very Back to the Future 2ish, bullshit though it may be.
Speaking of asses, America's ass is in fine form. LOVED Cap whispering "Hail Hydra" to avoid a direct callback to Winter Soldier. Genius!
Stark and Lang screwing up and allowing Loki's escape with the tesseract, how conveeeenient - but at least it gave us a great scene with Tony and his dad. Very emotional, once again. I really can't understand the film snobs who insist that these movies are corporate and soulless. Well, they may be corporate - but they absolutely are created by people who love these characters and scene after scene brings all the good kind of feels.
Also can't fail to mention what may be Stan the Man's last cameo - just lovely! I'd like to think they shot another 50 or so generic cameos in front of green screen so we'll keep seeing Stan for a long time, but you never know - this might have been it.
Also can't forget, Cap longingly looking at Peggy. Great to see Ms. Atwell back in the MCU. Also very much appreciated Kevin Fiege's relenquishing TV Marvel characters being banned from the movies (except for Coulson) by showing us the original Jarvis from Agent Carter. Loved that show! (Especially the first season...)
Rody and Nebula and an idiot...
Seeing Peter Quill do his dance from a different perspective... I don't know... yeah, I guess he's kind of a goofball!
Here's the mission of real consequence - when old Nebula and old Gamora are still baddies and set things in motion. Loved seeing Karen Gillan's remarkable work here, playing the same character at two vastly different times in her life. Also great to see Gamora again, even if it was one that effectively was Gamora rebooted.
Return of the most underrated Marvel movie ever!
Of 21 films, the filmmakers looked long and hard at which films they should return to - Guardians of the Galaxy, the original Avengers, and of course... Thor: The Dark World! Huh?
I confess, I really like, borderline love, TTDW. I think it is easily the most underrated film in the MCU. Natalie Portman is great, her friend is hilarious, the film never gets boring (though the Either and the Dark Elves are a bit convoluted.). The best part is the third act, with all the different portals and dimensions - expertly directed, shot and cut together. Dark World rules!
Here, fat Thor goes from a joke to an anguished hero in the blink of an eye. Renee' Russo gets a big juicy scene with Hemsworth, nearly 5 times as many lines as she had in both of her Thor movies combined.
It all works - yes, once again it's lump in the throat time. What wouldn't any of us do to have another chance at a conversation with a parent who has passed away? Thanks to Endgame, we get two of these great scenes.
Also, great seeing Natalie Portman, though I suspect that her shot is unused footage from Dark World.
What We Love the Most
Easily the most difficult and least fun, though emotionally enthralling, sequence in this time travel heist is Natasha and Clint's return to Vormir for the Soul Stone.
The Red Skull gets to do his thing, and then we get our hearts ripped out as BW and Hawkeye duke it out trying to kill - themselves, so the other one can get the stone.
I have to say, I was kind of shocked at the final choice. But we know that both of them are the kind that would not hesitate to lay down their life for each other, let alone half the universe. Yes, it's perfectly within character for both of them.
Natasha's death is shocking and sad, and now after the movie has finished it's even more so because it appears it might be permanent. That would be an amazingly sad, but super strong, choice.
Hulk Straps it On
So they all get back (except for my girl new Nebula) and Tony Stark of course figures out how to build an Iron Man-ish Infinity Gauntlet.
Hulk straps it on and does his thing - burns half of his body - but it appears that it worked. When Clint's wife calls, it is tear inducing moment #73 in this movie.
And then the walls come crashing down when 2014 Thanos (along with back in the day Gamora and new flavor Nebula who's a prisoner) and his big ass ship come through the time portal and rain hellfire down on the Avenger's compound.
Lovely touch with the birds in the courtyard before it all goes to shit. Yes, the snap has been undone, and as our heroes dig out from underneath the rubble, the big moment we've all been waiting for is coming.
Nebula literally killing her old self is a very powerful and emotionally resonant moment - it was also very gratifying for me and cemented Nebs as my favorite character of the movie and perhaps of the whole MCU saga.
But First, this movie's version of Thor and Rocket and Groot touching down on Wakanda
All of these movies have that singular moment - that one electrifying instant where you want to throw your arms up and cheer and scream at the top of your lungs.
In Infinity War it was when Thor/Rocket/Groot landed and the Silvestri score hit - hard.
In this movie, it's when Thor is about to get killed by Thanos, and SOMEONE ELSE wields Mjolnir!
That's right, they've been hinting at it since Age of Ultron, but it's true - Captain America can lift the hammer! "I knew it!" screams Thor with glee, and the audience roars.
And then, the ultimate comic book movie geek-gasm!
With the crackling of static in Cap's ear, we hear it "Cap, it's me Sam... on your left"
Yet another absolutely electric moment and what follows is simply the greatest super-hero comic book movie splash page to ever come to life on the silver screen. So amazing it's hard to put into words - it literally makes the giant fight in Civil War seem quaint in comparison.
Yes, they dragged everyone and their mother out to fight this fight.
I got the chills, over and over and over as every super-hero you could ever imagine tumbled out of Dr. Strange's portals to join in. Black Panther! Wasp! Spider-Man! This was it - 11 years and 22 movies all leading to this moment!
Loved how much time and care was spent to give just about every fighter their moment in the spotlight.
Greatly enjoyed Carol Danvers return to the fray, though it would've been nice if she'd taken out Thanos' ship BEFORE it unloaded all the bad guys right?
This is the scene that I will have to watch again and again when it comes out on home video - I know I missed a ton of cool stuff in the background. Reminded me very much of another one of my favorite movies Ready Player One, in it's scope and attention to detail.
Tony's death is handled well, and yes, I once again got a little misty. But the real waterworks started at the funeral...
Return of the Marvel King (or How many endings can we cram into this?)
The funeral scene was awesome, the Happy and Morgan scene devastating. This was my first true blubbery cry, though there had been plenty of occasional manly tear streaks up until that point.
My wife was a little perturbed that Natasha didn't get a full funeral - but I thought the scene with Clint and Wanda was a lovely way to pay proper respect to both BW and the Vision.
Thor joining the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy is pretty hilarious, and also will be delightful to watch if Thor stays in James Gunn's future movie.
And finally, Cap heading off to put the stones back - which insures that everyone gets to keep their reality, right? This is pretty convoluted and confusing, but I guess I'm ok with it. Cap goes back to be with Peggy (which is a beautiful last scene of the film, very touching and sweet) but somehow everything that happened in the MCU doesn't change right?
In other words, the snap did happen - five years did pass (though why is Peter Parker's friend still in high school?) and all the strong story choices (Gamora's death, Natasha's death, etc.) - none of that gets undone, right?
That was my takeaway, so I hope that stays true. I admit it is a teeny tiny bit annoying (I guess it's in my nerd DNA to nitpick a little bit) that Cap gets to go off and take a life for himself, not that I blame him, and yet somehow he still lives in the same reality as the original MCU and we see him as an old man? So there were two Captain America's, one that we know that got frozen and unfrozen and was in the Avengers - and another one who showed up out of the blue on Peggy Carter's front doorstep and (presumably) prevented her from marrying that other guy, or having kids for that matter. Kind of strange.
Oh well, this is such a minor nitpick for me, truly it is. Avengers Endgame was absolutely wonderful, and somehow exceeded my expectations even though there were already sky-high to begin with!
I can't wait to get back to the theater and see this one again, and again!
---
Okay, one final quibble - appreciate that they gave all the characters a shout out in the credits - but I HATED the wobbly mirror-like visages that floated and bobbed about the screen. Do it correct guys! I hate to say it, but easily the best credits sequence at the end of a franchise finale is the one they did for the Twilight movies. Beautifully shot and artfully crafted - these credits in Endgame, I hate to say it, looked like ass.
Don't want to leave on a down note, I did indeed LOOOOOVE this movie, so much that as of this moment it easily sits on top of my MCU rankings. I will have to wait a month or two before I finalize it's position on my list, I will be sure to update this post when I do!
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Movies 2018
This list is a bit late, as I've had a tough time getting to see all the movies in 2018 that I figured might make my top ten. Life has been busy and that's good, but I know there are literally several of you out there who are desperate to find out which movies floated my boat the last year.
If there is anyone new here, know that I'm all about the big budget blockbuster movie - I like shit that blows up real good, loads of profanity, pointless nudity and traveling to other worlds. In other words, I like my entertainment to be entertaining and not remind me of real life. There's enough bleak nonsense in the real world, I don't need it in my movies.
That's not to say I don't strive for truth in my movies - I want characters that feel real, dialogue that crackles and a production design that feels 100% believable. Most of all, I want a great story that has emotional resonance and let's me lose myself for a couple of hours. That's not too much to ask, right?
Also, and I've said this many many times before on this blog and to anyone who will listen. I am deep down a massive fan of all of this stuff. I WANT movies to succeed, I don't go in with a super critical eye, because I wouldn't be wasting my time or money on stuff that I thought might be lousy. I'm rooting very hard from the get go for all of these massive budget busting movies to kick lots of ass, so I'm not disappointed very often. I'm for sure not a critic, I'm an unapologetic fanboy who is deliberately steering this boat to the land of joy. There are plenty of nerds my age who seem to be doing the opposite, most of the time.
Here first is the traditional list of flicks that I really liked a lot, and maybe didn't love, but movies that I would watch again on tv.
Venom - What a blast! Way funnier than I thought it would be. A fun comic book film that meanders a bit too much and doesn't pack the emotional wallop I would've hoped for - but it still wildly exceeded my expectations.
Incredibles 2 - Wanted to love this so badly. It's full of GREAT action sequences and humor, but ultimately it doesn't crack my top ten because it's got the impossible task of living up to the first movie which is a magnificent libertarian manifest of individual exceptionalism. This movie is about family or something, and it's all good - but not great.
RBG - Super enjoyable puff piece documentary about an extraordinary woman and her remarkable life. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has long been a hero of mine - not for her politics, which I pretty much universally disagree with, but for her incredible journey and the way she lives her life. She did some great work with civil rights that is detailed beautifully here. Her best friend in the world, outside of her husband, was Antonin Scalia - who is also a hero of mine and deserves his own slobbering documentary (not holding my breath). I marvel at these two and their friendship. Frequent trips to the opera, out to dinner every week with each other and their spouses. How great is that? We all need to be like Ruth and Antonin.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - A massive improvement after the enjoyable but somewhat derivative part 5. The action sequences here are stellar, and Tom Cruise I guess never ages and does all of his own stunts. Crazy. Loved the story and the humor and was wrapped up from beginning to end. Just misses my top ten.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Went in wanting to love this, and liked it very very very much. The animation is incredible, and the story is pretty awesome with the whole multi-verse thing coming to life. Wish I hadn't learned about the story before I saw it. Wish it wasn't quite so heavy handed with it's preachiness.
Christopher Robin - I was enthralled with this movie until the very end, where they stumbled just a bit in the payoff. Through watching most of CR, I figured it was a top 10 entry for sure, but it just didn't quite work at the very end. Clumsy mumbo jumbo nonsense shoe-horned into an awkward boardroom scene where every bad dialogue cliche is thrown at the villain and suddenly the villain's dad has a heart of gold. Huh? Did indeed LOVE the rest of the movie though. Ewan McGregor is fantastic and it's great seeing Peggy Carter again. I will definitely be watching this again and maybe the end will play better next time.
12 Strong - So glad there are production companies still making movies that show radical extremists as the truly bad guys that they are. Fascinating true story here, moves along well and is superbly acted and shot. Does not suffer from what many military movies do in that all the characters are readily distinguishable from each other. Nice to see normally wacky Michael Shannon inadvertently work on a pro-military, pro-USA flick. Hopefully it rattled his brain a bit and he's got more common sense now.
The Nun - Saw this with my 14 year old and it was a lot of fun. Apparently there's a whole bunch of these kind of movies made by the same production company and they all exist in the same cinematic universe. I need to see them all! I greatly enjoy horror movies that push the idea of good and evil (and God and the devil) existing as very real things. Good stuff!
The Meg - Wife and I got a big kick out of this one, saw it in the theater for a discount matinee. A pretty weak opening aside, this one fires on all cylinders of fun and outrageousness. Jaws with massive doses of adrenaline and silliness - a great popcorn flick not meant to be taken too seriously.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs - This is maybe the ultimate Cohen brothers movie, as it manages to elicit all the emotions we all get when watching their stuff. It's hilarious, it's exhilarating and it's infuriating. I loved loved LOVED the first two stories of six. Then the third story was pretty dreadful and dreadfully slow. The Jack London story picked things back up again, and might be the best of all of them. The fifth story, the endless wagon train melodrama, didn't do it for me at all. Eye rolling conclusion, despite a great action sequence to close it out. And finally, the final story just flat out pissed me off for it's pretentous meandering and pointlessness. Though I must say, it's the one story I still think about the most. Darn you Cohen brothers! Why do you challenge your audience so much!
Bohemian Rhapsody - My kid took me to see this one in the theater, it was her second time seeing it. Highly enjoyable and entertaining, and 100% a love letter to Freddie which is all good as I don't much care for depressing films. Still, I do feel that they might have missed out by making Mr. Mercury always sympathetic through the entire movie. After all, this is a man who made some really really bad life choices - it doesn't do anyone any favors to kind of gloss over them.
All the same, there's some really nice emotional resonance here in spite of the filmmakers wish to not sully the band. Yes, I laughed, I cried, I didn't mind kissing my $15.50 goodbye. It also gave me a great excuse to look up Queen on youtube and marvel at just how fucking incredible they were. The Live-Aid performance, the real one (as good as the film version is) is absolutely astonishing and stands right up to the very best live acts today, exceeds them really.
TOP TEN. - here we are, these are the golden children of 2018 for me!
10. Black Panther - It's Marvel, what's not to love?! Here's an excerpt from my more lengthy review earlier in this blog.
"The movie's greatest strength is for sure it's emotional power - seeing a prospering African country is very moving. When the King is "killed" it is a heartbreaking sequence. It all works. I also especially love Michael B. Jordon, up until Infinity War he was easily the best MCU villain of all time, he is outstanding in every way. My favorite scene in the entire movie is when Killmonger visits his late father and it's in the old Oakland apartment. Powerful stuff."
As for why this isn't higher on my year end countdown, after all it's the 2nd biggest Marvel film ever in terms of box office and THE biggest in the US, I thought this movie was bordering on great but didn't quite have the highest of highs like some of the other MCU chapters - Guardians, Avengers 1, Winter Soldier, etc. I think there is likely a large Hollywood contingent that has this fantasy about BP being the end all be all in intersectional identity politics, thankfully the truth is that this is a very good movie about a great character that has positive things to say about personal responsibility, masculinity and family. Definitely a worthwhile chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but not especially deserving of the insanely over the top praise and awards when it's in the company of Infinity War and other better Marvel movies.
9. Aquaman - This one is a hoot and a holler! I was pleasantly bowled over by Aquaman's frenetic fun and an outstanding lead actor whose passion and enthusiasm for being Aquaman in the Aquaman movie shines brightly through every frame of his performance.
There are some great action sequences, very dynamic camera movement, and also some nice emotional heft thanks to a story that while silly at times (massive seahorses!) manages to stick to what matters; love, family and justice in the face of entitlement, betrayal and anger. Can't wait to get this on video and watch it again and again!
8. Free Solo - Documentaries rarely make it onto my top ten because I'm looking for movies that entertain more than they inform, but this is one of those special docs that has massive amounts of both qualities. It will also make you a nervous wreck! I had to go onto the iPad while watching this to make sure that (spoiler alert) the climber in the movie wasn't dead! We have a good family friend who went to a screening of this where the climber himself was in attendance - she said "I'm literally sitting in the theater with this guy, and I'm still nervous that he's going to fall in the movie!"
Though I saw this at home, the visuals are still incredibly powerful and gave me that 'fight or flight' queasy feeling throughout. This is truly a remarkable achievement in documentary filmmaking and it's obvious why it won the Oscar.
7. Solo: A Star Wars Story - Another movie with 'Solo' in the title! I was wanting to hate this, for the first time in the history of my life I didn't show up on opening night for a Star Wars movie. I had little to zero interest in seeing a story that I already had in my imagination being spoon fed into my eyeballs. But I'm happy to say, I was wrong and this movie is a heck of a lot of fun and holds up extremely well to repeat viewings.
I'm a little bit bummed that this movie "bombed" making only 392 million worldwide, it's unlikely we will get to see the story play out, which is a real shame because it certainly ended on an intriguing note - though the big reveal of the big baddie was kind of lame.
6. Deadpool 2 - Many have said this one falls flat after the first installment; I could not disagree more! This one has more laughs and more heart than the first installment, by quite a bit. Love the X-Force, love what happens to them - that is some EFFED UP STUFF! Pool is wickedly funny, and Cable is a great nemesis and begrudging friend. Loved it!
5. A Quiet Place- My first truly great movie theatergoing experience of 2018. Saw this on a bro-date with my good poker playing buddy, it was AWESOME! I will never forget how quiet the theater was, how it felt that any teeny tiny noise was going to be irrevocably damaging to the movie watching experience. We dare not eat a snack or sip a drink, heck I didn't even want to breathe - absolutely enthralling! Love the cast, love the story, love the heartbreak and the triumph. And I have no doubt that this movie wouldn't be half as powerful watching it at home sitting on the couch. Movies like this are why we still go to the movie theater!
4. Ant Man & The Wasp - We really are living in the best time ever to be a fan of comic books. I absolutely loved this movie and have watched it over and over again at home on Amazon. Some in the nerd community said that this one was "Just ok" - absolutely could not disagree more. It's fun, it has heart, crackling good action sequences - it's Ant Man and The Wasp! A long overdue adventure with one of the original giants in the Avengers, yes, that would be The Wasp. Even though it's Hope and not Janet, this movie still brings all the feels; and that mid-credits tag, what a gut punch!
3. Avengers: Infinity War - I did an exhaustive full length review on this movie that you can read by clicking here, but if you don't want to wade through that wall of text here's the cliffs: Great Marvel movie, superb action, lots of funny and powerful emotional stuff. This is a giant payoff for over a decade of Marvel movies. So grateful we have this incredible franchise of films and I can't wait for Endgame in April!
2. Ralph Breaks the Internet - I"m a bit surprised that this one finished so high on my list; higher than the original did in 2012. This is a continuation of where we left off, that feels natural and actually necessary - a feat that I didn't necessarily think was possible. The original was so great and so fun, it didn't feel at the end that there was more to tell, but now that RBTI is out, I can't imagine the story without this second chapter. Yes, it's that great.
This time it's just as much about Vanellope as it is about Ralph, and her dreams and aspirations. There is a surprising emotional punch to the choices she makes and to Ralph's reaction at her growing up. It ties directly of course to a dad and his daughter and what they go through when the little girl grows up. So yeah, it made me blubber quite a bit. Plus there is all this cool Easter egg shit that is dope AF. Another movie I watch over and over.
1. Ready Player One- The Beard has still got it! This one for me gets to all the feels because it is an utter celebration of popular culture, i.e. all the stuff in life that I'm interested in. There is a big contingent of fans who disparage the movie because it is so different than the book, for me this is never really a concern as long as the spirit of the original material is still there, and thankfully the book's author was heavily involved in seeing that his intentions (if not the details) of the story were preserved.
I watched this movie for the 4th time this last weekend, and I was crying throughout because it's just so darn awesome; that's what puts it on the top of this list. If I can still mine that emotional well fully after repeated viewings, I know I have something great on my hands.
Love the actors and their performances, love the cultural references, love the production design and most of all love the story that works from top to bottom. This is the ultimate geek movie for geeks made by the king of geeks. It really doesn't get any better!
Disappointments - Thankfully the list this year is short.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Saw this in the theater and like all of these big tent pole action adventure movies, I was rooting for it to succeed wildly. I wanted more than anything to love it. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure I like this movie, which is really tough to do with me.
Almost all of the action, we've seen done before and done better. The characters are entirely forgettable. Bryce Dallas Howard's character is so badly mishandled here, by what I suspect is more unfortunate Hollyweird nonsense, that I found myself actively rooting for her to be eaten; which sucks because I really loved her in Jurassic World. Chris Pratt is shockingly almost entirely forgettable, and this stems from the filmmakers commitment to telling a story that we don't really need to see. I guess this was Colin Trevarow's idea for a trilogy, and of course he left after he got "Me Too"'ed, so now we have a jumbled mess. Too bad.
Tomb Raider (remake)- Don't even know if this one is worth mentioning, as the movie sucks so bad, but really it kind of breaks my heart to see a franchise that has oodles of potential fail miserably for the second time. The Angelina Jolie movies sucked, and this one incredibly is even worse. Flat production design, no emotional component to Lara and her dad's relationship (which is tough to do) and a villain that is remarkable in his pointlessness. Give this one a hard pass.
Hard PASS - New for this year, a category of movies that I will be purposefully avoiding, for all of the reasons you probably expect.
Ocean's 8- See it's good and worthwhile because it's all women, see? Blech. How many times do I have to say it - Good movie first, diversity/inclusion/fairness/other bullshit second.
Mama Mia 2- Still infuriated over the first mess of a movie that managed to take spectacularly fun music and turn it into a terrible celebration of actual white privilege featuring people who couldn't sing even after autotune. Thankfully apparently Meryl Streep is dead in this one. Still not seeing it.
Vice - Cool, a political hit piece! Nothing better in movies. Um, no.
A Wrinkle in Time- Truly terrified to see this, as the book is one of my all time favorites as a kid. Heard a couple of the story changes, and no, can't do it, can't deal with it. The story is about God, okay? Not some mysterious force, not some cosmic energy - it's about God. You can't F with that, you can't change it and you certainly can't package it into some new age intersectional nonsense. HARD PASS.
WANT TO SEE - One of the reasons this list is so late is that I was hoping to catch all of these movies before hammering out a top ten list. Oh well, I will return and make edits if I need to. I especially am anxious to see the Mary Poppins sequel and find out if it's a worthy successor or a waste of time. I reeeeeally hope it's the former.
A Star is Born (Not because I think this was necessary in any way, but Mr. Bradley and Ms. GaGa are two performers I greatly admire)
Sicario 2 - (LOVED the first one, hope this is a worthy sequel)
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald. (Bad reviews aside, am anxious to catch up with these characters)
Stan & Ollie (Looks amazing)
Mary Poppins Returns
Widows. (Heard nothing but great things)
Bumblebee (Heard this is shockingly good!)
So there you have it - another year, another batch of movies in the books! Looking forward to seeing the rest of them! If you read this be sure to let me know on social media or the next time you see me if I missed any great ones from 2018.
Peace!
If there is anyone new here, know that I'm all about the big budget blockbuster movie - I like shit that blows up real good, loads of profanity, pointless nudity and traveling to other worlds. In other words, I like my entertainment to be entertaining and not remind me of real life. There's enough bleak nonsense in the real world, I don't need it in my movies.
That's not to say I don't strive for truth in my movies - I want characters that feel real, dialogue that crackles and a production design that feels 100% believable. Most of all, I want a great story that has emotional resonance and let's me lose myself for a couple of hours. That's not too much to ask, right?
Also, and I've said this many many times before on this blog and to anyone who will listen. I am deep down a massive fan of all of this stuff. I WANT movies to succeed, I don't go in with a super critical eye, because I wouldn't be wasting my time or money on stuff that I thought might be lousy. I'm rooting very hard from the get go for all of these massive budget busting movies to kick lots of ass, so I'm not disappointed very often. I'm for sure not a critic, I'm an unapologetic fanboy who is deliberately steering this boat to the land of joy. There are plenty of nerds my age who seem to be doing the opposite, most of the time.
Here first is the traditional list of flicks that I really liked a lot, and maybe didn't love, but movies that I would watch again on tv.
Venom - What a blast! Way funnier than I thought it would be. A fun comic book film that meanders a bit too much and doesn't pack the emotional wallop I would've hoped for - but it still wildly exceeded my expectations.
Incredibles 2 - Wanted to love this so badly. It's full of GREAT action sequences and humor, but ultimately it doesn't crack my top ten because it's got the impossible task of living up to the first movie which is a magnificent libertarian manifest of individual exceptionalism. This movie is about family or something, and it's all good - but not great.
RBG - Super enjoyable puff piece documentary about an extraordinary woman and her remarkable life. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has long been a hero of mine - not for her politics, which I pretty much universally disagree with, but for her incredible journey and the way she lives her life. She did some great work with civil rights that is detailed beautifully here. Her best friend in the world, outside of her husband, was Antonin Scalia - who is also a hero of mine and deserves his own slobbering documentary (not holding my breath). I marvel at these two and their friendship. Frequent trips to the opera, out to dinner every week with each other and their spouses. How great is that? We all need to be like Ruth and Antonin.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - A massive improvement after the enjoyable but somewhat derivative part 5. The action sequences here are stellar, and Tom Cruise I guess never ages and does all of his own stunts. Crazy. Loved the story and the humor and was wrapped up from beginning to end. Just misses my top ten.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Went in wanting to love this, and liked it very very very much. The animation is incredible, and the story is pretty awesome with the whole multi-verse thing coming to life. Wish I hadn't learned about the story before I saw it. Wish it wasn't quite so heavy handed with it's preachiness.
Christopher Robin - I was enthralled with this movie until the very end, where they stumbled just a bit in the payoff. Through watching most of CR, I figured it was a top 10 entry for sure, but it just didn't quite work at the very end. Clumsy mumbo jumbo nonsense shoe-horned into an awkward boardroom scene where every bad dialogue cliche is thrown at the villain and suddenly the villain's dad has a heart of gold. Huh? Did indeed LOVE the rest of the movie though. Ewan McGregor is fantastic and it's great seeing Peggy Carter again. I will definitely be watching this again and maybe the end will play better next time.
12 Strong - So glad there are production companies still making movies that show radical extremists as the truly bad guys that they are. Fascinating true story here, moves along well and is superbly acted and shot. Does not suffer from what many military movies do in that all the characters are readily distinguishable from each other. Nice to see normally wacky Michael Shannon inadvertently work on a pro-military, pro-USA flick. Hopefully it rattled his brain a bit and he's got more common sense now.
The Nun - Saw this with my 14 year old and it was a lot of fun. Apparently there's a whole bunch of these kind of movies made by the same production company and they all exist in the same cinematic universe. I need to see them all! I greatly enjoy horror movies that push the idea of good and evil (and God and the devil) existing as very real things. Good stuff!
The Meg - Wife and I got a big kick out of this one, saw it in the theater for a discount matinee. A pretty weak opening aside, this one fires on all cylinders of fun and outrageousness. Jaws with massive doses of adrenaline and silliness - a great popcorn flick not meant to be taken too seriously.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs - This is maybe the ultimate Cohen brothers movie, as it manages to elicit all the emotions we all get when watching their stuff. It's hilarious, it's exhilarating and it's infuriating. I loved loved LOVED the first two stories of six. Then the third story was pretty dreadful and dreadfully slow. The Jack London story picked things back up again, and might be the best of all of them. The fifth story, the endless wagon train melodrama, didn't do it for me at all. Eye rolling conclusion, despite a great action sequence to close it out. And finally, the final story just flat out pissed me off for it's pretentous meandering and pointlessness. Though I must say, it's the one story I still think about the most. Darn you Cohen brothers! Why do you challenge your audience so much!
Bohemian Rhapsody - My kid took me to see this one in the theater, it was her second time seeing it. Highly enjoyable and entertaining, and 100% a love letter to Freddie which is all good as I don't much care for depressing films. Still, I do feel that they might have missed out by making Mr. Mercury always sympathetic through the entire movie. After all, this is a man who made some really really bad life choices - it doesn't do anyone any favors to kind of gloss over them.
All the same, there's some really nice emotional resonance here in spite of the filmmakers wish to not sully the band. Yes, I laughed, I cried, I didn't mind kissing my $15.50 goodbye. It also gave me a great excuse to look up Queen on youtube and marvel at just how fucking incredible they were. The Live-Aid performance, the real one (as good as the film version is) is absolutely astonishing and stands right up to the very best live acts today, exceeds them really.
TOP TEN. - here we are, these are the golden children of 2018 for me!
10. Black Panther - It's Marvel, what's not to love?! Here's an excerpt from my more lengthy review earlier in this blog.
"The movie's greatest strength is for sure it's emotional power - seeing a prospering African country is very moving. When the King is "killed" it is a heartbreaking sequence. It all works. I also especially love Michael B. Jordon, up until Infinity War he was easily the best MCU villain of all time, he is outstanding in every way. My favorite scene in the entire movie is when Killmonger visits his late father and it's in the old Oakland apartment. Powerful stuff."
As for why this isn't higher on my year end countdown, after all it's the 2nd biggest Marvel film ever in terms of box office and THE biggest in the US, I thought this movie was bordering on great but didn't quite have the highest of highs like some of the other MCU chapters - Guardians, Avengers 1, Winter Soldier, etc. I think there is likely a large Hollywood contingent that has this fantasy about BP being the end all be all in intersectional identity politics, thankfully the truth is that this is a very good movie about a great character that has positive things to say about personal responsibility, masculinity and family. Definitely a worthwhile chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but not especially deserving of the insanely over the top praise and awards when it's in the company of Infinity War and other better Marvel movies.
9. Aquaman - This one is a hoot and a holler! I was pleasantly bowled over by Aquaman's frenetic fun and an outstanding lead actor whose passion and enthusiasm for being Aquaman in the Aquaman movie shines brightly through every frame of his performance.
There are some great action sequences, very dynamic camera movement, and also some nice emotional heft thanks to a story that while silly at times (massive seahorses!) manages to stick to what matters; love, family and justice in the face of entitlement, betrayal and anger. Can't wait to get this on video and watch it again and again!
8. Free Solo - Documentaries rarely make it onto my top ten because I'm looking for movies that entertain more than they inform, but this is one of those special docs that has massive amounts of both qualities. It will also make you a nervous wreck! I had to go onto the iPad while watching this to make sure that (spoiler alert) the climber in the movie wasn't dead! We have a good family friend who went to a screening of this where the climber himself was in attendance - she said "I'm literally sitting in the theater with this guy, and I'm still nervous that he's going to fall in the movie!"
Though I saw this at home, the visuals are still incredibly powerful and gave me that 'fight or flight' queasy feeling throughout. This is truly a remarkable achievement in documentary filmmaking and it's obvious why it won the Oscar.
7. Solo: A Star Wars Story - Another movie with 'Solo' in the title! I was wanting to hate this, for the first time in the history of my life I didn't show up on opening night for a Star Wars movie. I had little to zero interest in seeing a story that I already had in my imagination being spoon fed into my eyeballs. But I'm happy to say, I was wrong and this movie is a heck of a lot of fun and holds up extremely well to repeat viewings.
I'm a little bit bummed that this movie "bombed" making only 392 million worldwide, it's unlikely we will get to see the story play out, which is a real shame because it certainly ended on an intriguing note - though the big reveal of the big baddie was kind of lame.
6. Deadpool 2 - Many have said this one falls flat after the first installment; I could not disagree more! This one has more laughs and more heart than the first installment, by quite a bit. Love the X-Force, love what happens to them - that is some EFFED UP STUFF! Pool is wickedly funny, and Cable is a great nemesis and begrudging friend. Loved it!
5. A Quiet Place- My first truly great movie theatergoing experience of 2018. Saw this on a bro-date with my good poker playing buddy, it was AWESOME! I will never forget how quiet the theater was, how it felt that any teeny tiny noise was going to be irrevocably damaging to the movie watching experience. We dare not eat a snack or sip a drink, heck I didn't even want to breathe - absolutely enthralling! Love the cast, love the story, love the heartbreak and the triumph. And I have no doubt that this movie wouldn't be half as powerful watching it at home sitting on the couch. Movies like this are why we still go to the movie theater!
4. Ant Man & The Wasp - We really are living in the best time ever to be a fan of comic books. I absolutely loved this movie and have watched it over and over again at home on Amazon. Some in the nerd community said that this one was "Just ok" - absolutely could not disagree more. It's fun, it has heart, crackling good action sequences - it's Ant Man and The Wasp! A long overdue adventure with one of the original giants in the Avengers, yes, that would be The Wasp. Even though it's Hope and not Janet, this movie still brings all the feels; and that mid-credits tag, what a gut punch!
3. Avengers: Infinity War - I did an exhaustive full length review on this movie that you can read by clicking here, but if you don't want to wade through that wall of text here's the cliffs: Great Marvel movie, superb action, lots of funny and powerful emotional stuff. This is a giant payoff for over a decade of Marvel movies. So grateful we have this incredible franchise of films and I can't wait for Endgame in April!
2. Ralph Breaks the Internet - I"m a bit surprised that this one finished so high on my list; higher than the original did in 2012. This is a continuation of where we left off, that feels natural and actually necessary - a feat that I didn't necessarily think was possible. The original was so great and so fun, it didn't feel at the end that there was more to tell, but now that RBTI is out, I can't imagine the story without this second chapter. Yes, it's that great.
This time it's just as much about Vanellope as it is about Ralph, and her dreams and aspirations. There is a surprising emotional punch to the choices she makes and to Ralph's reaction at her growing up. It ties directly of course to a dad and his daughter and what they go through when the little girl grows up. So yeah, it made me blubber quite a bit. Plus there is all this cool Easter egg shit that is dope AF. Another movie I watch over and over.
1. Ready Player One- The Beard has still got it! This one for me gets to all the feels because it is an utter celebration of popular culture, i.e. all the stuff in life that I'm interested in. There is a big contingent of fans who disparage the movie because it is so different than the book, for me this is never really a concern as long as the spirit of the original material is still there, and thankfully the book's author was heavily involved in seeing that his intentions (if not the details) of the story were preserved.
I watched this movie for the 4th time this last weekend, and I was crying throughout because it's just so darn awesome; that's what puts it on the top of this list. If I can still mine that emotional well fully after repeated viewings, I know I have something great on my hands.
Love the actors and their performances, love the cultural references, love the production design and most of all love the story that works from top to bottom. This is the ultimate geek movie for geeks made by the king of geeks. It really doesn't get any better!
Disappointments - Thankfully the list this year is short.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Saw this in the theater and like all of these big tent pole action adventure movies, I was rooting for it to succeed wildly. I wanted more than anything to love it. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure I like this movie, which is really tough to do with me.
Almost all of the action, we've seen done before and done better. The characters are entirely forgettable. Bryce Dallas Howard's character is so badly mishandled here, by what I suspect is more unfortunate Hollyweird nonsense, that I found myself actively rooting for her to be eaten; which sucks because I really loved her in Jurassic World. Chris Pratt is shockingly almost entirely forgettable, and this stems from the filmmakers commitment to telling a story that we don't really need to see. I guess this was Colin Trevarow's idea for a trilogy, and of course he left after he got "Me Too"'ed, so now we have a jumbled mess. Too bad.
Tomb Raider (remake)- Don't even know if this one is worth mentioning, as the movie sucks so bad, but really it kind of breaks my heart to see a franchise that has oodles of potential fail miserably for the second time. The Angelina Jolie movies sucked, and this one incredibly is even worse. Flat production design, no emotional component to Lara and her dad's relationship (which is tough to do) and a villain that is remarkable in his pointlessness. Give this one a hard pass.
Hard PASS - New for this year, a category of movies that I will be purposefully avoiding, for all of the reasons you probably expect.
Ocean's 8- See it's good and worthwhile because it's all women, see? Blech. How many times do I have to say it - Good movie first, diversity/inclusion/fairness/other bullshit second.
Mama Mia 2- Still infuriated over the first mess of a movie that managed to take spectacularly fun music and turn it into a terrible celebration of actual white privilege featuring people who couldn't sing even after autotune. Thankfully apparently Meryl Streep is dead in this one. Still not seeing it.
Vice - Cool, a political hit piece! Nothing better in movies. Um, no.
A Wrinkle in Time- Truly terrified to see this, as the book is one of my all time favorites as a kid. Heard a couple of the story changes, and no, can't do it, can't deal with it. The story is about God, okay? Not some mysterious force, not some cosmic energy - it's about God. You can't F with that, you can't change it and you certainly can't package it into some new age intersectional nonsense. HARD PASS.
WANT TO SEE - One of the reasons this list is so late is that I was hoping to catch all of these movies before hammering out a top ten list. Oh well, I will return and make edits if I need to. I especially am anxious to see the Mary Poppins sequel and find out if it's a worthy successor or a waste of time. I reeeeeally hope it's the former.
A Star is Born (Not because I think this was necessary in any way, but Mr. Bradley and Ms. GaGa are two performers I greatly admire)
Sicario 2 - (LOVED the first one, hope this is a worthy sequel)
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald. (Bad reviews aside, am anxious to catch up with these characters)
Stan & Ollie (Looks amazing)
Mary Poppins Returns
Widows. (Heard nothing but great things)
Bumblebee (Heard this is shockingly good!)
So there you have it - another year, another batch of movies in the books! Looking forward to seeing the rest of them! If you read this be sure to let me know on social media or the next time you see me if I missed any great ones from 2018.
Peace!
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
Unacceptable
So here we are - Election Day in America. Hoo boy.
I said a little prayer in my car driving to work today, I didn't ask God for any one side to prevail - I just asked that somehow our country find it's way back to being closer together rather than so severely divided as we have been for the past few years.
God also knows my heart and knows that I would also prefer to see a red wave today, but truthfully - I would take any wave at this point if the result meant less anger and hate in our hearts.
Sadly, I fear that if the Democrats do take back the house, the result will not be unifying whatsoever - but we will widen the gap of fear and fury even more.
Ben Shapiro had a great monologue on his Fox Sunday Election special a few weeks back that went down a detailed list about why we should vote GOP and how terrible the consequences will be if we let the Dems back into power.
You don't need to watch the whole thing - the gist is that the Democrats are frothing at the bit, ready to go to war against our president should they happen to take back the house. In other words, they will aggressively pursue impeachment, along with trying to dig up every little bit of dirt that they can on Trump.
Now I get that millions of Americans detest Donald Trump, but really I don't think that matters as much as the big picture does.
Right now we are a nation divided, certainly more divided than I have ever witnessed in my life time. This division is pernicious in that both sides believe they are righteous and that the other side has lost it's mind.
Clearly, compromise is needed desperately. If I may, here is my view on what has to happen on the left for any sort of bipartisanship to emerge.
As for what has to happen on the right, we'll get to that.
It's one very simple thing the left must do that will singlehandedly help turn the tide from boiling hot rage to at least a manageable temperature:
Our president cannot be called a racist. Period. End of story. When you impugn the man this way, you are painting half of the country with the same brush. It's unacceptable. I don't especially care what people actually believe, but to say this out loud without any actual hard smoking gun evidence, does so much damage to the liberal cause and credibility, it simply has to stop.
Liberals need to understand that when they say Trump is racist, they are saying that we conservatives are racist - or at the very least, racist if we support him.
I have become a Trump supporter, read the previous post for a good explanation why, but I still have misgivings about his character and wish that he wouldn't be so antagonistic all the time.
But I don't believe he is a bigot. If I did, I wouldn't support him. It's that simple. He's a bit of an ass, sometimes a jerk, but I believe he is a good man insofar as other presidents were who also had deep flaws of character.
Bill Clinton has been credibly accused of rape - and has an army of other women who have credibly accused him of various degrees of harassment and assault.
Kennedy was a womanizer of the highest order.
Nixon's deep character flaws are permanently on display in the Watergate tapes.
Clinton is a tough one, because I really do suspect Anita Broderick is telling the truth - and there is a fair amount of corroborating evidence. Unlike the Kavanaugh thing in which there was ZERO.
But the other women that Clinton trampled on, none of them have a story that gets into rape territory; so it's hard for me to know for certainty. Yeah, exposing himself to Paula Jones is revolting and awful - it's not rape. Coming on super strong to a 20 something intern and then demeaning her sexually is revolting and awful - it's not rape. As powerful as he was and as at a great disadvantage she was, it does border on assault but in the end it was consensual.
So when Bill comes up in conversation or on the internet, my first response is not "Oh, you mean the rapist." It does cross my mind, but I keep it to myself, because there is a reasonable doubt.
I admire some things that Clinton did administratively, especially his second term. Along with the GOP congress he balanced the budget for the first time in a long time, and the only time since. He also passed the fantastic welfare reform (which Obama gutted) and an amazing crime bill that saw crime rates fall off a cliff. Obama also had a big hand in weakening all of this good work.
So was Bill a good guy? Probably not. Is it worth it for me to scream RAPIST every chance I get? No.
There is a reasonable doubt, he was our president, not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent.
I would hope that sensible liberals could step back and use the same methodical reasoning in regards to Trump being a racist.
Are there signifiers that this might be true? Sure.
Can you say it with certainty? No.
Is it worth it to shout 'Racist' to the rooftops every time Trump comes up in conversation? Absolutely not.
The damage done by liberals to our country by smearing Donald Trump this way is truly incalculable.
It really is like dropping hand grenade after hand grenade into a political discussion - entirely unproductive and very harmful because the destruction can't really be undone.
It's time to drop the R word from discussion - and if you can't do it, I really have nothing to say to you.
******
Now, I promised I would touch on what we need to do on the right to get us moving back in the correct direction - that is, less angry and more willing to listen.
Truthfully, I'm having a very hard time coming up with something simple that conservatives can do to affect positive change in our political discourse. I kind of think it has to start on the left. A prominent and respected voice needs to make the argument that that our president is not racist. He/she doesn't have to believe it, but the point needs to be made and the American left needs to be convinced that even if deep down they still think Trump is racist, it does ZERO good and a ton of harm to keep bringing it up.
Once this smear is off the table, then it will be on the right to reciprocate somehow; again, this is tough for me. I see the left as the quickest to anger, the quickest to smear, always the first ones to make things personal.
I think the best thing we can do as conservatives is embrace that there will always be a double standard, and then to work within that framework.
In other words, yes, the left will never be called out for their personal attacks because the media supports them. Meanwhile, when a good conservative slips, it's the end of the world because the media is primed to rip them apart.
We just have to embrace that - and always strive to be the adults in the room. It's not fair, but that's the way it is for now.
When someone on the right, for example our president, launches a personal attack - we need to speak up and discourage this behavior. We don't have to feign outrage the way the left does and condemn him whole cloth; but we can give a gentle rejoinder or suggestion at a different approach.
For example - rather than saying -
"Trump is clearly a racist because he says there's mostly gang members in the caravan"
maybe we can say
"I share the presidents concerns that there might be a criminal element among the thousands marching to our country, but I think it's a bit early to conclude that the majority of these folks are criminals."
In this way we don't give into the leftist hysteria about reading Trump's heart, but we do put ourselves firmly in camp grown-up while still supporting our president.
And that, is the best I can do for now.
The correct approach for conservatives who hope to promote unity is thoughtful and involved.
But the correct way to go for the left is very simple and rudimentary.
Calling President Trump a racist is unacceptable.
I said a little prayer in my car driving to work today, I didn't ask God for any one side to prevail - I just asked that somehow our country find it's way back to being closer together rather than so severely divided as we have been for the past few years.
God also knows my heart and knows that I would also prefer to see a red wave today, but truthfully - I would take any wave at this point if the result meant less anger and hate in our hearts.
Sadly, I fear that if the Democrats do take back the house, the result will not be unifying whatsoever - but we will widen the gap of fear and fury even more.
Ben Shapiro had a great monologue on his Fox Sunday Election special a few weeks back that went down a detailed list about why we should vote GOP and how terrible the consequences will be if we let the Dems back into power.
You don't need to watch the whole thing - the gist is that the Democrats are frothing at the bit, ready to go to war against our president should they happen to take back the house. In other words, they will aggressively pursue impeachment, along with trying to dig up every little bit of dirt that they can on Trump.
Now I get that millions of Americans detest Donald Trump, but really I don't think that matters as much as the big picture does.
Right now we are a nation divided, certainly more divided than I have ever witnessed in my life time. This division is pernicious in that both sides believe they are righteous and that the other side has lost it's mind.
Clearly, compromise is needed desperately. If I may, here is my view on what has to happen on the left for any sort of bipartisanship to emerge.
As for what has to happen on the right, we'll get to that.
It's one very simple thing the left must do that will singlehandedly help turn the tide from boiling hot rage to at least a manageable temperature:
Our president cannot be called a racist. Period. End of story. When you impugn the man this way, you are painting half of the country with the same brush. It's unacceptable. I don't especially care what people actually believe, but to say this out loud without any actual hard smoking gun evidence, does so much damage to the liberal cause and credibility, it simply has to stop.
Liberals need to understand that when they say Trump is racist, they are saying that we conservatives are racist - or at the very least, racist if we support him.
I have become a Trump supporter, read the previous post for a good explanation why, but I still have misgivings about his character and wish that he wouldn't be so antagonistic all the time.
But I don't believe he is a bigot. If I did, I wouldn't support him. It's that simple. He's a bit of an ass, sometimes a jerk, but I believe he is a good man insofar as other presidents were who also had deep flaws of character.
Bill Clinton has been credibly accused of rape - and has an army of other women who have credibly accused him of various degrees of harassment and assault.
Kennedy was a womanizer of the highest order.
Nixon's deep character flaws are permanently on display in the Watergate tapes.
Clinton is a tough one, because I really do suspect Anita Broderick is telling the truth - and there is a fair amount of corroborating evidence. Unlike the Kavanaugh thing in which there was ZERO.
But the other women that Clinton trampled on, none of them have a story that gets into rape territory; so it's hard for me to know for certainty. Yeah, exposing himself to Paula Jones is revolting and awful - it's not rape. Coming on super strong to a 20 something intern and then demeaning her sexually is revolting and awful - it's not rape. As powerful as he was and as at a great disadvantage she was, it does border on assault but in the end it was consensual.
So when Bill comes up in conversation or on the internet, my first response is not "Oh, you mean the rapist." It does cross my mind, but I keep it to myself, because there is a reasonable doubt.
I admire some things that Clinton did administratively, especially his second term. Along with the GOP congress he balanced the budget for the first time in a long time, and the only time since. He also passed the fantastic welfare reform (which Obama gutted) and an amazing crime bill that saw crime rates fall off a cliff. Obama also had a big hand in weakening all of this good work.
So was Bill a good guy? Probably not. Is it worth it for me to scream RAPIST every chance I get? No.
There is a reasonable doubt, he was our president, not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent.
I would hope that sensible liberals could step back and use the same methodical reasoning in regards to Trump being a racist.
Are there signifiers that this might be true? Sure.
Can you say it with certainty? No.
Is it worth it to shout 'Racist' to the rooftops every time Trump comes up in conversation? Absolutely not.
The damage done by liberals to our country by smearing Donald Trump this way is truly incalculable.
It really is like dropping hand grenade after hand grenade into a political discussion - entirely unproductive and very harmful because the destruction can't really be undone.
It's time to drop the R word from discussion - and if you can't do it, I really have nothing to say to you.
******
Now, I promised I would touch on what we need to do on the right to get us moving back in the correct direction - that is, less angry and more willing to listen.
Truthfully, I'm having a very hard time coming up with something simple that conservatives can do to affect positive change in our political discourse. I kind of think it has to start on the left. A prominent and respected voice needs to make the argument that that our president is not racist. He/she doesn't have to believe it, but the point needs to be made and the American left needs to be convinced that even if deep down they still think Trump is racist, it does ZERO good and a ton of harm to keep bringing it up.
Once this smear is off the table, then it will be on the right to reciprocate somehow; again, this is tough for me. I see the left as the quickest to anger, the quickest to smear, always the first ones to make things personal.
I think the best thing we can do as conservatives is embrace that there will always be a double standard, and then to work within that framework.
In other words, yes, the left will never be called out for their personal attacks because the media supports them. Meanwhile, when a good conservative slips, it's the end of the world because the media is primed to rip them apart.
We just have to embrace that - and always strive to be the adults in the room. It's not fair, but that's the way it is for now.
When someone on the right, for example our president, launches a personal attack - we need to speak up and discourage this behavior. We don't have to feign outrage the way the left does and condemn him whole cloth; but we can give a gentle rejoinder or suggestion at a different approach.
For example - rather than saying -
"Trump is clearly a racist because he says there's mostly gang members in the caravan"
maybe we can say
"I share the presidents concerns that there might be a criminal element among the thousands marching to our country, but I think it's a bit early to conclude that the majority of these folks are criminals."
In this way we don't give into the leftist hysteria about reading Trump's heart, but we do put ourselves firmly in camp grown-up while still supporting our president.
And that, is the best I can do for now.
The correct approach for conservatives who hope to promote unity is thoughtful and involved.
But the correct way to go for the left is very simple and rudimentary.
Calling President Trump a racist is unacceptable.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Bedside Manner
I've never talked about the birth of my child here - and I don't really feel the urge to, but I think there is a lesson in it for me that applies to today.
Upshot - the birth went, as these things go, overall rather normal. There were moments of straining, anguish, and of course exuberant joy. In the end my kid came out and was perfect.
One tiny sticking point for me was my wife's OBGYN. He was a brusque man with about the worst bedside manner you could imagine. He was rude, he was abrupt, he was not a warm or caring person.
He didn't interact with us too much until it was time for the actual birth. He performed his task proficiently and the baby came out and it was all good. Then, mere minutes after our kid had entered the world he asked to no one in particular "Did anyone see that Laker game last night?"
I had to laugh, this was a joke right? No, he was serious and curious. My wife piped up, "Um, is the baby a boy or a girl?" That's right, he hadn't told us.
The guy was an asshole.
But, I found out later from one of the nurses who came in to Bev's room and chatted with us - "Yeah, he's pretty abrupt sometimes, but if you had had any complications, he's the guy you want."
It rattled around in my brain a bit, this guy, all business and no tact - had been right where we needed him when we needed him and had performed his tasks expertly.
Natalie had arrived a month early, so there was a bit of concern. The doctor had stayed on top of her vital signs and in his own way, took pains to let us know that everything was looking good. When Nat came out, she had her umbilical cord around her neck. It was very loose, but there it was. The doctor expertly extracted her from the tangle, all business, and just as proficiently prepared her for cord cutting - which I got to do at his prompting.
After Natalie had been wrapped up and put in her mother's arms for awhile, the doctor and another specialist examined her in the bassinet and quickly assessed that a trip to the NICU (or it might have been another room for early but not super premature arrivals) was in order. He was concerned about her breathing.
Nat went to the other room, with me tagging along, and she was given oxygen and put under observation. Everything as I remember, turned out fine. While in that room a delightful pediatrician showed up and examined Natalie. Everything checked out good. The pediatrician was so great in her bedside manner, we chatted and by the end of the conversation I was basically telling her 'Great, you'll be Natalie's doctor." Her charm and poise had so enraptured me, after dealing with Dr. Dickhead, that I figured she must be the best doctor of all time.
It turned out, that she was a very good doctor, and we took Natalie to see her for many years before Dr. L, let's call her, left the medical group we were in. But really, she could have been a terrible doctor when I first met her, and I wouldn't have known. She didn't do much to newborn Natalie, other than examine a bit, you know - stethoscope, etc. I could've done the same thing and passed myself off as a doctor.
Anyways, yes she turned out to be very good - but it easily could've gone the other way. Dr. Dickhead however, I knew he was an expert and great at his job almost right away, simply because he had a much tougher task at the time. Logically, he's the guy I should've been praising and fawning over, but emotionally I just wanted to get away from him and chat it up with Dr. L.
By the way quick aside - when Natalie was back with mom and Dr. Dickhead checked in on us, he noticed the baby was mildly jaundiced and asked in what he thought was a joking manner "Whose Asian baby is that?" Lovely fellow.
So the point of this rather long story - is that yes, that OBGYN was a bit of a prick. But given what the nurses said about him, and observing his expertise in action - I'm very grateful he was there.
Would I have wanted a super nice and smiley and super friendly OBGYN? Sure, but if there skill set was below the dickhead's, I'd take the dickhead, thanks.
************
And so we find ourselves with a president who has literally broke the mold when it comes to decorum.
He is brash, he is crude, he is impulsive. He's a bit of a prick.
Oh by the way, the GDP is now higher than the unemployment rate for the first time in a hundred years.
400,000 new jobs.
ISIS has been decimated.
US Military, rebuilt and re-energized. Morale is now sky high with the commander-in-chief enjoying widespread support.
Got Kim-Jong Un to sit down at the table - something all previous presidents have pined for and wanted, and were unable to achieve. The results so far of course, have been less than great, but mad props to our Prez for at least making it happen.
A fantastic conservative on the supreme court and another one imminent.
Massive corporate tax cut (a great thing in my conservative mind) - and a decent tax cut for the rest of us.
Keystone pipeline - jobs over politics, practicality over emotional nonsense.
Paris Climate accords - a TERRIBLE deal for the US that was going to cost us literally TRILLIONS of dollars, while not holding big polluters accountable. Now it turns out, our carbon emissions are still the lowest in the developed world, lower than any European country by far.
Obamacare mandate repealed. So now you can choose and not face a fine if you decline healthcare? Wacky.
And I could go on and on, but you get the point.
Sure, Donald Trump has plenty of flaws.
But if you look me in the eye and ask me - Would you prefer Trump through 2024 or a democrat? What do you honestly think I, or any bonafide conservative for that matter, is going to say?
Trump's a bit of a douche, but he's kicking ass. He is by far the most effectual president I've seen in my lifetime. He doesn't just talk - he does.
I'll take the asshole thanks, don't need to go back to the American apologist, the lukewarm economy, the squishiness on moral issues. Sure sometimes I wish Trump would cool it on the twitter, but really, it's very apparent at this point that he knows what he's doing and understands that liberals and never-Trumpers fall for it every, single, time. That's why he keeps doing it.
I know it's hard for my liberal friends to hear this, but I think it's important.
The American people knew exactly the kind of man Trump was when they voted for him. They simply didn't care. They saw a doctor enter the room and take charge and expertly deliver the baby. The last guy who was in here almost dropped the damn thing.
I'll take the jerk, thanks.
Upshot - the birth went, as these things go, overall rather normal. There were moments of straining, anguish, and of course exuberant joy. In the end my kid came out and was perfect.
One tiny sticking point for me was my wife's OBGYN. He was a brusque man with about the worst bedside manner you could imagine. He was rude, he was abrupt, he was not a warm or caring person.
He didn't interact with us too much until it was time for the actual birth. He performed his task proficiently and the baby came out and it was all good. Then, mere minutes after our kid had entered the world he asked to no one in particular "Did anyone see that Laker game last night?"
I had to laugh, this was a joke right? No, he was serious and curious. My wife piped up, "Um, is the baby a boy or a girl?" That's right, he hadn't told us.
The guy was an asshole.
But, I found out later from one of the nurses who came in to Bev's room and chatted with us - "Yeah, he's pretty abrupt sometimes, but if you had had any complications, he's the guy you want."
It rattled around in my brain a bit, this guy, all business and no tact - had been right where we needed him when we needed him and had performed his tasks expertly.
Natalie had arrived a month early, so there was a bit of concern. The doctor had stayed on top of her vital signs and in his own way, took pains to let us know that everything was looking good. When Nat came out, she had her umbilical cord around her neck. It was very loose, but there it was. The doctor expertly extracted her from the tangle, all business, and just as proficiently prepared her for cord cutting - which I got to do at his prompting.
After Natalie had been wrapped up and put in her mother's arms for awhile, the doctor and another specialist examined her in the bassinet and quickly assessed that a trip to the NICU (or it might have been another room for early but not super premature arrivals) was in order. He was concerned about her breathing.
Nat went to the other room, with me tagging along, and she was given oxygen and put under observation. Everything as I remember, turned out fine. While in that room a delightful pediatrician showed up and examined Natalie. Everything checked out good. The pediatrician was so great in her bedside manner, we chatted and by the end of the conversation I was basically telling her 'Great, you'll be Natalie's doctor." Her charm and poise had so enraptured me, after dealing with Dr. Dickhead, that I figured she must be the best doctor of all time.
It turned out, that she was a very good doctor, and we took Natalie to see her for many years before Dr. L, let's call her, left the medical group we were in. But really, she could have been a terrible doctor when I first met her, and I wouldn't have known. She didn't do much to newborn Natalie, other than examine a bit, you know - stethoscope, etc. I could've done the same thing and passed myself off as a doctor.
Anyways, yes she turned out to be very good - but it easily could've gone the other way. Dr. Dickhead however, I knew he was an expert and great at his job almost right away, simply because he had a much tougher task at the time. Logically, he's the guy I should've been praising and fawning over, but emotionally I just wanted to get away from him and chat it up with Dr. L.
By the way quick aside - when Natalie was back with mom and Dr. Dickhead checked in on us, he noticed the baby was mildly jaundiced and asked in what he thought was a joking manner "Whose Asian baby is that?" Lovely fellow.
So the point of this rather long story - is that yes, that OBGYN was a bit of a prick. But given what the nurses said about him, and observing his expertise in action - I'm very grateful he was there.
Would I have wanted a super nice and smiley and super friendly OBGYN? Sure, but if there skill set was below the dickhead's, I'd take the dickhead, thanks.
************
And so we find ourselves with a president who has literally broke the mold when it comes to decorum.
He is brash, he is crude, he is impulsive. He's a bit of a prick.
Oh by the way, the GDP is now higher than the unemployment rate for the first time in a hundred years.
400,000 new jobs.
ISIS has been decimated.
US Military, rebuilt and re-energized. Morale is now sky high with the commander-in-chief enjoying widespread support.
Got Kim-Jong Un to sit down at the table - something all previous presidents have pined for and wanted, and were unable to achieve. The results so far of course, have been less than great, but mad props to our Prez for at least making it happen.
A fantastic conservative on the supreme court and another one imminent.
Massive corporate tax cut (a great thing in my conservative mind) - and a decent tax cut for the rest of us.
Keystone pipeline - jobs over politics, practicality over emotional nonsense.
Paris Climate accords - a TERRIBLE deal for the US that was going to cost us literally TRILLIONS of dollars, while not holding big polluters accountable. Now it turns out, our carbon emissions are still the lowest in the developed world, lower than any European country by far.
Obamacare mandate repealed. So now you can choose and not face a fine if you decline healthcare? Wacky.
And I could go on and on, but you get the point.
Sure, Donald Trump has plenty of flaws.
But if you look me in the eye and ask me - Would you prefer Trump through 2024 or a democrat? What do you honestly think I, or any bonafide conservative for that matter, is going to say?
Trump's a bit of a douche, but he's kicking ass. He is by far the most effectual president I've seen in my lifetime. He doesn't just talk - he does.
I'll take the asshole thanks, don't need to go back to the American apologist, the lukewarm economy, the squishiness on moral issues. Sure sometimes I wish Trump would cool it on the twitter, but really, it's very apparent at this point that he knows what he's doing and understands that liberals and never-Trumpers fall for it every, single, time. That's why he keeps doing it.
I know it's hard for my liberal friends to hear this, but I think it's important.
The American people knew exactly the kind of man Trump was when they voted for him. They simply didn't care. They saw a doctor enter the room and take charge and expertly deliver the baby. The last guy who was in here almost dropped the damn thing.
I'll take the jerk, thanks.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Movie "Review" - Ant Man & The Wasp
Another fan boy 'review' for your perusal. As always, the disclaimer - I'm a blubbering comic book crazy person who loves all the Marvel movies. I'm not a critic, I'm a massive FAN and Disney/Marvel could literally have a 2 1/2 hour long shot of a toilet and I would be hard pressed to criticize it. So let the knob gobbling commence. (TONS OF SPOILERS AHEAD)
I loved, loved, LOVED the first Ant-Man because it was so unique (at the time) in the Marvel pantheon of movies. It put humor and heart at the very front and center with an emphasis on the humor.
Also, it was as good as origin stories get; it had everything. It was a fun heist movie with eye popping special effects and tech, superbly choreographed and shot action sequences, a dash of romance with great chemistry between the two leads, and of course that most necessary of all ingredients - emotional resonance.
We cared about Scott, we grew to care about Hope and Hank, and the seed was planted to care about the one and only Janet Van Dyne.
Janet, as all of us comic book readers know, is a GIANT in the Marvel Universe. She is a founding member of the Avengers and over 30 years barely left the team - even when her husband Hank turned into a wife beater that she divorced. Hank was kicked out and eventually died, but Janet stayed strong and stuck around, and became a heroine well ahead of her time with her grit and gusto right alongside the other mighty heroes. Janet was and is the ultimate badass.
So I love that this new movie is all about finding her. That emotional power that I crave in these things, is pretty much on display in every frame because of the 10+ years I devoured the Avengers comic book. Even though Janet doesn't physically show up until the end, her presence is felt for the whole film.
I love that there are little hints all throughout that Hank is indeed a troubled man - I don't know that they need to go full comic book with him, but it will be interesting to see how he and Janet shake out. I could totally see a balls to the wall prequel with them, either younger actors or digitally enhanced Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfieffer. On the other hand, the adventures in my head that they have been on are probably better than any movie that could be made.
Before I continue - the reviews by critics have overall been very good, and the fans are on board as well - but one thing I've noticed in Nerd-Land (that awful community on the internet that deigns itself the end all be all of what's good and what isn't in Genre film making) is that the neck-beards have all pretty much said that AM&W is 'good not great'.
I could not disagree more.
Comic Book Girl 19 said "The movie? It's ok." Mr. Sunday Movies said similar.
I say, they're jaded jackasses. (And I actually like them both a lot and watch all their videos).
From beginning to end I was swept away by this new adventure, and the 2 hour + running time felt like an hour tops.
The movie moves like a bat out of hell - yet they don't skimp on the character moments at all. The little girl who plays Cassie (a future superhero as you comic book readers know) is just superb and helps build in even more emotion along with the Janet thread.
Luis is back and even funnier this time, which is crazy, I dreaded them re-doing the lip synched story telling, but here it's even better because they use Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly in the flashbacks! Awesome! Gotta put Michael Douglas and Michell Pfieffer in the next one!
The 'science' is rather absurd and silly at times, like it was in the first movie, but it's so easy to forgive. I look at it in the spirit of the old Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, who used to award a "No-Prize" to comic book readers who would write in a detailed explanations to fill in plot holes
and oversights.
Yes, it's ridiculous that they shrink an office building and then roll it away like a piece of carry on luggage - the miniature building should simply rattle and fall apart as it's rolled along the ground. But, as you may remember from the first movie, they explain that when Scott shrinks he gains strength and power exponentially - I figure the same could probably be said of the lab building. It gets a lot tougher and more resilient when it's miniaturized. So where's my 'No-Prize'? Right?
Other than that bit of plausibility stretching, the rest of the movie holds together very well. I am especially happy that the villains this time around are MUCH more well rounded and believable.
Ghost turns out to be fantastic - and her relationship with Black Goliath is truly something special - he really has adopted her, loves her, and will not go along with her morality bending plans, and best of all Ghost actually listens to him and doesn't betray him! How refreshing is that? I was amazed that Ghost didn't go after Cassie, I groaned when she floated the plan because I knew that's what she was going to do - and then she didn't do it! Awesome! Excited to revisit her character, hope they do bring her back.
The action in this movie is just as good and sometimes even better than the action in the first Ant-Man. Love the kitchen sequence, love the car chase that goes on and on and on! Giant Scott is of course great, stunning visuals of him in San Francisco Bay.
Hanks descent into the quantum realm could not have been done better - I was hoping he would flash into a realistic looking setting like his house - and he does and it's awesome!
Another great great scene - Janet goes into Scott's body. Awesome humor that incredibly also gets emotional! Now that's a hell of an actor who can pull that off - if Paul Rudd had been even a little bit off, the scene simply wouldn't have worked. Outstanding!
So yes, I loved this one - A LOT.
As to where to rank it in my massive MCU ranking list a couple of posts below... well it is tough because the list in my head changes quite a bit every time another movie comes out.
Objectively I think it's fair to say that the first Ant-Man is at least as good as this one, but honestly right now I just want to watch Ant-Man & Wasp over and over! Because it's so new and fresh I feel like it's BETTER in a lot of ways.
I know that passion will cool off eventually, but right now I don't think it's possible for me to put it at the same level or below Ant-Man part 1. I'm going to have to put it in the top 10 for sure, and bump out part 1 down to number 11, also bump down the first Iron man to number 10. Yes, Ant-Man & Wasp is the new number 9!
That's as objective as I can be right now, if I really let my emotions take over I would put the movie in the top 3, but that would be pretty silly. All the movies ranked 1-8 are genuinely objectively better than AM&W - I know this to be true deep down, so I won't dwell or get too goofy.
I would be remiss in this, whatever this is, if I didn't mention the mid-credits scene. What a gut punch! Still, it's pretty clear from Infinity War that the characters who got 'dusted' are all coming back (based on the sequels that are scheduled and some that are already shooting) so I'm not too freaked out. Hopefully Scott Lange will play a major part in Avengers 4!
I loved, loved, LOVED the first Ant-Man because it was so unique (at the time) in the Marvel pantheon of movies. It put humor and heart at the very front and center with an emphasis on the humor.
Also, it was as good as origin stories get; it had everything. It was a fun heist movie with eye popping special effects and tech, superbly choreographed and shot action sequences, a dash of romance with great chemistry between the two leads, and of course that most necessary of all ingredients - emotional resonance.
We cared about Scott, we grew to care about Hope and Hank, and the seed was planted to care about the one and only Janet Van Dyne.
Janet, as all of us comic book readers know, is a GIANT in the Marvel Universe. She is a founding member of the Avengers and over 30 years barely left the team - even when her husband Hank turned into a wife beater that she divorced. Hank was kicked out and eventually died, but Janet stayed strong and stuck around, and became a heroine well ahead of her time with her grit and gusto right alongside the other mighty heroes. Janet was and is the ultimate badass.
So I love that this new movie is all about finding her. That emotional power that I crave in these things, is pretty much on display in every frame because of the 10+ years I devoured the Avengers comic book. Even though Janet doesn't physically show up until the end, her presence is felt for the whole film.
I love that there are little hints all throughout that Hank is indeed a troubled man - I don't know that they need to go full comic book with him, but it will be interesting to see how he and Janet shake out. I could totally see a balls to the wall prequel with them, either younger actors or digitally enhanced Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfieffer. On the other hand, the adventures in my head that they have been on are probably better than any movie that could be made.
Before I continue - the reviews by critics have overall been very good, and the fans are on board as well - but one thing I've noticed in Nerd-Land (that awful community on the internet that deigns itself the end all be all of what's good and what isn't in Genre film making) is that the neck-beards have all pretty much said that AM&W is 'good not great'.
I could not disagree more.
Comic Book Girl 19 said "The movie? It's ok." Mr. Sunday Movies said similar.
I say, they're jaded jackasses. (And I actually like them both a lot and watch all their videos).
From beginning to end I was swept away by this new adventure, and the 2 hour + running time felt like an hour tops.
The movie moves like a bat out of hell - yet they don't skimp on the character moments at all. The little girl who plays Cassie (a future superhero as you comic book readers know) is just superb and helps build in even more emotion along with the Janet thread.
Luis is back and even funnier this time, which is crazy, I dreaded them re-doing the lip synched story telling, but here it's even better because they use Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly in the flashbacks! Awesome! Gotta put Michael Douglas and Michell Pfieffer in the next one!
The 'science' is rather absurd and silly at times, like it was in the first movie, but it's so easy to forgive. I look at it in the spirit of the old Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, who used to award a "No-Prize" to comic book readers who would write in a detailed explanations to fill in plot holes
and oversights.
Yes, it's ridiculous that they shrink an office building and then roll it away like a piece of carry on luggage - the miniature building should simply rattle and fall apart as it's rolled along the ground. But, as you may remember from the first movie, they explain that when Scott shrinks he gains strength and power exponentially - I figure the same could probably be said of the lab building. It gets a lot tougher and more resilient when it's miniaturized. So where's my 'No-Prize'? Right?
Other than that bit of plausibility stretching, the rest of the movie holds together very well. I am especially happy that the villains this time around are MUCH more well rounded and believable.
Ghost turns out to be fantastic - and her relationship with Black Goliath is truly something special - he really has adopted her, loves her, and will not go along with her morality bending plans, and best of all Ghost actually listens to him and doesn't betray him! How refreshing is that? I was amazed that Ghost didn't go after Cassie, I groaned when she floated the plan because I knew that's what she was going to do - and then she didn't do it! Awesome! Excited to revisit her character, hope they do bring her back.
The action in this movie is just as good and sometimes even better than the action in the first Ant-Man. Love the kitchen sequence, love the car chase that goes on and on and on! Giant Scott is of course great, stunning visuals of him in San Francisco Bay.
Hanks descent into the quantum realm could not have been done better - I was hoping he would flash into a realistic looking setting like his house - and he does and it's awesome!
Another great great scene - Janet goes into Scott's body. Awesome humor that incredibly also gets emotional! Now that's a hell of an actor who can pull that off - if Paul Rudd had been even a little bit off, the scene simply wouldn't have worked. Outstanding!
So yes, I loved this one - A LOT.
As to where to rank it in my massive MCU ranking list a couple of posts below... well it is tough because the list in my head changes quite a bit every time another movie comes out.
Objectively I think it's fair to say that the first Ant-Man is at least as good as this one, but honestly right now I just want to watch Ant-Man & Wasp over and over! Because it's so new and fresh I feel like it's BETTER in a lot of ways.
I know that passion will cool off eventually, but right now I don't think it's possible for me to put it at the same level or below Ant-Man part 1. I'm going to have to put it in the top 10 for sure, and bump out part 1 down to number 11, also bump down the first Iron man to number 10. Yes, Ant-Man & Wasp is the new number 9!
That's as objective as I can be right now, if I really let my emotions take over I would put the movie in the top 3, but that would be pretty silly. All the movies ranked 1-8 are genuinely objectively better than AM&W - I know this to be true deep down, so I won't dwell or get too goofy.
I would be remiss in this, whatever this is, if I didn't mention the mid-credits scene. What a gut punch! Still, it's pretty clear from Infinity War that the characters who got 'dusted' are all coming back (based on the sequels that are scheduled and some that are already shooting) so I'm not too freaked out. Hopefully Scott Lange will play a major part in Avengers 4!
Monday, May 14, 2018
Leftism is Revolting - I would NEVER be a liberal today.
Honestly, I would never want to be a liberal today. They are just gross.
I used to pride myself on understanding where people on the left were coming from. While they would wring their hands and tear out their hair in anguish and bewilderment at conservatives, I would simply smile and placidly nod my head at their infantile proclamations. Sure they're dumb, but entirely understandable. Liberals just want what the rest of us want - peace and prosperity and a better world for our kids. Right?
No, not really. Not so much these days.
Lately I have been bewildered myself as the left makes less and less sense.
Why attack every single person you disagree with as a racist? It makes no logical sense to castigate and alienate your political opponents. I am confused at this completely irrational impulse that many liberals have these days... disagree with someone? They are VERY LIKELY RACIST.
Senseless. Rather than engage with ideas and critical thinking, simply go for the jugular with the most vile smear you can think of. No thought or conviction required.
The President? Not mine and he should be impeached immediately.
This is rather absurd and entirely unlikely and doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere logical. Rather than engage with ideas and critical thinking, simply deny plain truth and clamor for the destruction of the presidency. No thought or conviction required.
I want democrats to take back the house, senate and the presidency. So I'm going to double down on my identity politics and make things exponentially worse and alienate anyone who might be on the fence - pushing them away and to the right.
This tactic of simply repeating everything that made democrats lose in 2016 is maybe the most nonsensical behavior of all. Why would you re-emphasize everything that pissed off conservatives and yes even the moderates who voted for Obama twice before?
Makes no sense.
I suppose I should be glad, lefties are all but assuring that they will lose again this November, the blue wave is now more of a trickle as polls across even the most liberal of sources are showing it less and less likely that the Dems will retake the house.
Trump keeps winning and winning, and the left keeps helping him by increasing and not decreasing the hyperbole and hyper-anger.
It's one thing to say that a particular politician or celebrity is racist for something they may have said years ago, that's the kind of character assassination the left has always been eager to implement - but it's quite another thing to now call 60 million people racist. Even if this temper tantrum driven declaration were even partially true, why would liberals want to make it worse? What logic is there in spitting in the eye of those you supposedly want to vote for your candidates?
Makes no sense and it makes me feel like I must be missing something, some bigger master plan to bring people together in the end.
But I know this isn't the case - all the left has left now is anger and hate, and it is boiling over and out of control because it's just making things worse for democrats and they simply don't seem to care.
Makes no sense at all.
I used to pride myself on understanding where people on the left were coming from. While they would wring their hands and tear out their hair in anguish and bewilderment at conservatives, I would simply smile and placidly nod my head at their infantile proclamations. Sure they're dumb, but entirely understandable. Liberals just want what the rest of us want - peace and prosperity and a better world for our kids. Right?
No, not really. Not so much these days.
Lately I have been bewildered myself as the left makes less and less sense.
Why attack every single person you disagree with as a racist? It makes no logical sense to castigate and alienate your political opponents. I am confused at this completely irrational impulse that many liberals have these days... disagree with someone? They are VERY LIKELY RACIST.
Senseless. Rather than engage with ideas and critical thinking, simply go for the jugular with the most vile smear you can think of. No thought or conviction required.
The President? Not mine and he should be impeached immediately.
This is rather absurd and entirely unlikely and doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere logical. Rather than engage with ideas and critical thinking, simply deny plain truth and clamor for the destruction of the presidency. No thought or conviction required.
I want democrats to take back the house, senate and the presidency. So I'm going to double down on my identity politics and make things exponentially worse and alienate anyone who might be on the fence - pushing them away and to the right.
This tactic of simply repeating everything that made democrats lose in 2016 is maybe the most nonsensical behavior of all. Why would you re-emphasize everything that pissed off conservatives and yes even the moderates who voted for Obama twice before?
Makes no sense.
I suppose I should be glad, lefties are all but assuring that they will lose again this November, the blue wave is now more of a trickle as polls across even the most liberal of sources are showing it less and less likely that the Dems will retake the house.
Trump keeps winning and winning, and the left keeps helping him by increasing and not decreasing the hyperbole and hyper-anger.
It's one thing to say that a particular politician or celebrity is racist for something they may have said years ago, that's the kind of character assassination the left has always been eager to implement - but it's quite another thing to now call 60 million people racist. Even if this temper tantrum driven declaration were even partially true, why would liberals want to make it worse? What logic is there in spitting in the eye of those you supposedly want to vote for your candidates?
Makes no sense and it makes me feel like I must be missing something, some bigger master plan to bring people together in the end.
But I know this isn't the case - all the left has left now is anger and hate, and it is boiling over and out of control because it's just making things worse for democrats and they simply don't seem to care.
Makes no sense at all.
Wednesday, May 09, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War - "Review"
I use the term "review" loosely. I'm not a critic of these Marvel movies, I'm an unapologetic fan boy who read comic books voraciously from ages 5 through 15 and now I'm in heaven as all the stories and characters I loved as a child have now come to life on the big screen with big budgets and stellar production values. Best of all, they make TONS of money; way more money than there are former comic book readers in the world - so that tells us that everyone, not just us nerds, is deeply in love with these movies.
So - Avengers: Infinity War, where to begin?
I think it's a fantastic movie and it's especially amazing that the filmmakers pulled it off. They were tasked with delivering the first part of a climax that did two things -
1 - Delivered the goods with Thanos, the villain that the MCU has been hyping for nearly a decade.
2 - Included almost every superhero character that we've met during that decade.
It's amazing that AIW succeeds wildly in delivering these two goals and also manages to have a tight and compelling story with lots of emotional moments with the characters that we've all come to love.
Could someone go in to this film and know nothing about Marvel superheroes and still enjoy it? Probably not. Seeing this movie is a conditional experience. It's important that you've seen and enjoyed at least 10 out of 18 of the Marvel movies if you want to have a good time.
It's pretty unusual for a movie to basically require that you've seen previous movies in order to enjoy it. This is not uncommon in television at all. No one in their right mind would sit down to season 7 of Game of Thrones without watching the prior 6 seasons, right? I think it's okay that we have to do our due diligence with other MCU movies first before taking in the massive payoff that is AIW.
The 10 movies that I would say are 100% required viewing to appreciate AIW fully -
Iron Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel's Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Spiderman Homecoming
Thor Ragnarok
Black Panther
And this is the bare minimum. That is a lot of movies!
If you want to have the absolute BEST experience with AIW you should of course watch all 18 MCU movies, maybe pass on The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, I don't know.
So having made it clear that you're not going to get any critical analysis here - let me get into HEAVY SPOILERS and rank and break down all the stuff that I loved.
Top 5 Favorite Characters (& partnerships) -
5. Doctor Strange - the good doctor is front and center in this epic as he should be, a very critical piece to the puzzle; perhaps THE most critical piece in ultimately beating the bad guy. I loved how Dr. Strange interacted with Stark and also loved when he went full on mystical bad ass with the Shiva goddess multiple arm thing.
4. Spider-Man (or non made up name, Peter Parker) - so many great moments with Marvel's most popular superhero. Really dig that we basically carve out a slice from Homecoming on the school bus and then Spidey descends right into the Infinity War stuff. Great humor up in space, utter heartbreak at the end.
3. Rocket and Thor - A most unexpectedly delightful duo that delivers the biggest cheer of the film and also helps greatly in the humor department.
2. Scarlett Witch and Vision - These were my two favorite comic book Avengers, and I have to say that the big screen versions are even better. Olsen finally dispenses with her uneven accent and I don't miss it. Bettany is note perfect in his performance as the android that breaks our hearts in the end.
1. Thanos - best Marvel villain ever period. It's so great that we can not only understand where he is coming from, but we might even catch ourselves agreeing with him for brief moments before we understand the lengths he is willing to go to. After all, who doesn't want peace and prosperity? Thanos is such a VAST improvement over the comic book character, who just wants to bone death, it's not even funny.
Top 5 Favorite Action Set Pieces - (tough to choose, there are so many!)
5. Hulk gets his ass kicked. - Perfect introduction to Thanos. Hulk gets knocked the fuck out and it's amazing.
4. Wanda saves Vis - outstanding and visceral sequence in Edinburgh Scotland. Really enjoyed the location work (though who knows how much of it is real) and the concept of two very powerful Avengers caught off guard and then the female trying to save her man and get away after he is damaged. Satisfying when Cap and his sidekicks show up, though it is a little strange that the three most human and least powerful Avengers have to rescue two of the most powerful.
3. Tony handheld down the street and around the corner - The long unbroken shot when Stark leaves the Sanctorum and walks down Bleeker and comes across a massive donut in the sky, is about as technically impressive as it gets these days. He's almost clobbered by a crashing car along the way, and when we see the big baddies, it's has a very 9/11 feel to it. Spine tingling and powerful. (The fight with Ebony Maw afterwards is great, but a bit shaky and tight for my tastes. Now that I've seen it a few times, I can follow it much better.)
2. Titan team up - Thanos is almost defeated on Titan by Stark and the gang and the action is superb. Especially dig all the various Dr. Strange portals opening up and closing on cue. Boom! Speaking of Quill, of course he has to blow it but oh well.
1. Wakanda. Well duh. Reminded me a bit of the epic War and Peace battle in the Star Wars prequel Phantom Menace, but so so much better in so many ways. Really dug, in no particular order, War Machine's pyrotechnics, Widow and the other ladies going after Proxima Midnight, Cap and T'Challa sprinting so fast they leave the others in the dust, and of course Thor and Rocket/Groot's epic arrival.
Top 5 Jokes -
5. I am sure I am invisible.
4. Are you making your voice deeper? No.
3. I'll do you one better, WHY Gamora.
2. Kick names and take ass.
1. I am Groot. I am Steve Rogers.
Top 5 Favorite Emotional moments -
5. Quill pulls the trigger - So awesome the moment when Gamora confesses her love for Peter. Lump thoroughly lodged in the throat, eyes watering up.
4. Rocket loses Groot - devastating! Tears a' rolling.
3. Thanos kills Gamora - Incredibly powerful, especially the way Thanos grabs Gamora's arm, in the same manner that all parents grab their toddlers in a supermarket when the toddler has a fit. We all lose our tempers as parents, and there's that moment when you grab them and you're mad - you don't stop loving them for an instant, but you do what you have to do. That was the vibe I got from the very deliberate choice of Thanos grabbing his daughter's arm and Gamora fighting back in the manner of a child.
2. Peter fades away - utterly heartbreaking when Peter says he isn't ready to go.
1. Vision convinces Wanda to end it. - This is the one part in the movie that really, really, got me. I cried probably half a dozen times throughout (I cry easily at movies) but Vision mouthing "It's alright..." TWICE and then of course mouthing "I love you..." right before he buys the farm is JUST SO SO GOOD. LOVE the choice to make the words barely audible.
Top 5 Stand Up and Cheer Moments -
5. Paging Captain Marvel - the moment when the logo pops up, WOW!
4. Boom! Quill's middle finger drop.
3. Wakanda forever!
2. The Hilarious and Deadly Bucky/Rocket Spin!
1. Thor arrives with Rocket & Groot in Wakanda. Perfect camera move + perfect music = #1 Stand Up and Cheer moment!
And so yes, I LOVED this movie. As to where to rank it in my list in the below post, we will get to that, but first, some unfortunate but necessary business of pointing out five teeny tiny NERD nitpicks - the handful of things that I can't help but mention didn't quite add up 100%. Because I am a NERD and it is in my NERD DNA.
5. Cap, Black Widow and Falcon rescue Vision and the Scarlett Witch? Really? Yes, I know Vision was injured and Wanda was frantic because of it, but still - she all by herself could easily take out Cap, Tasha and Sam with very little effort.
4. Ebony Maw can bend time and space, but just kick him out the window and HE DEAD. I know this was a big fun moment for the audience, but it seems highly improbable. Silly I know, nitpicking over the plausibility of the death of an entirely fictional character in an entirely fictional universe.
3. Quill kills trillions by going apeshit. Yes, it is very much in his character - and we are all only human, but this seems to be a bit much even for the hotshot known as Star Lord.
2. Cut off a monsters arm with a portal - but don't try that with Thanos, because... er... why not try it?
1. When Itchy plays Scratchy's rib cage like a xylophone he CLEARLY strikes two different ribs and yet the ribs play the same tone. What, are we supposed to believe Scratchy's ribs are a ''magic" xylophone? I really hope someone gets fired over this gaffe.
And so to ranking - I've gone 'deep into the tank' on this one (that's a poker expression, meaning taking a long time to make a decision) and in the end Avengers Infinity War comes out at number 3, right ahead of Winter Soldier and just behind the original Avengers movie.
I really think this is perhaps the most spectacular superhero movie ever made, mainly because it has the best villain ever AND it manages to give every single superhero their due and there are almost 30 superheroes! Crazy! All the action is top notch, the humor is frequent and great, and we genuinely care about these characters very much. They are endeared to us, so when they hurt we hurt. When they die, we feel it, even knowing deep down that most will be back.
The only reason it's not number one is that the first Avengers is self contained - it's not just a part 1, and Guardians is a remarkable movie, period, not just a superhero movie. It's one that I can recommend to anyone, not just fan boys and girls.
So there it is - I've seen the movie 3 times, I can't wait to see it again and again!
So - Avengers: Infinity War, where to begin?
I think it's a fantastic movie and it's especially amazing that the filmmakers pulled it off. They were tasked with delivering the first part of a climax that did two things -
1 - Delivered the goods with Thanos, the villain that the MCU has been hyping for nearly a decade.
2 - Included almost every superhero character that we've met during that decade.
It's amazing that AIW succeeds wildly in delivering these two goals and also manages to have a tight and compelling story with lots of emotional moments with the characters that we've all come to love.
Could someone go in to this film and know nothing about Marvel superheroes and still enjoy it? Probably not. Seeing this movie is a conditional experience. It's important that you've seen and enjoyed at least 10 out of 18 of the Marvel movies if you want to have a good time.
It's pretty unusual for a movie to basically require that you've seen previous movies in order to enjoy it. This is not uncommon in television at all. No one in their right mind would sit down to season 7 of Game of Thrones without watching the prior 6 seasons, right? I think it's okay that we have to do our due diligence with other MCU movies first before taking in the massive payoff that is AIW.
The 10 movies that I would say are 100% required viewing to appreciate AIW fully -
Iron Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel's Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Spiderman Homecoming
Thor Ragnarok
Black Panther
And this is the bare minimum. That is a lot of movies!
If you want to have the absolute BEST experience with AIW you should of course watch all 18 MCU movies, maybe pass on The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, I don't know.
So having made it clear that you're not going to get any critical analysis here - let me get into HEAVY SPOILERS and rank and break down all the stuff that I loved.
Top 5 Favorite Characters (& partnerships) -
5. Doctor Strange - the good doctor is front and center in this epic as he should be, a very critical piece to the puzzle; perhaps THE most critical piece in ultimately beating the bad guy. I loved how Dr. Strange interacted with Stark and also loved when he went full on mystical bad ass with the Shiva goddess multiple arm thing.
4. Spider-Man (or non made up name, Peter Parker) - so many great moments with Marvel's most popular superhero. Really dig that we basically carve out a slice from Homecoming on the school bus and then Spidey descends right into the Infinity War stuff. Great humor up in space, utter heartbreak at the end.
3. Rocket and Thor - A most unexpectedly delightful duo that delivers the biggest cheer of the film and also helps greatly in the humor department.
2. Scarlett Witch and Vision - These were my two favorite comic book Avengers, and I have to say that the big screen versions are even better. Olsen finally dispenses with her uneven accent and I don't miss it. Bettany is note perfect in his performance as the android that breaks our hearts in the end.
1. Thanos - best Marvel villain ever period. It's so great that we can not only understand where he is coming from, but we might even catch ourselves agreeing with him for brief moments before we understand the lengths he is willing to go to. After all, who doesn't want peace and prosperity? Thanos is such a VAST improvement over the comic book character, who just wants to bone death, it's not even funny.
Top 5 Favorite Action Set Pieces - (tough to choose, there are so many!)
5. Hulk gets his ass kicked. - Perfect introduction to Thanos. Hulk gets knocked the fuck out and it's amazing.
4. Wanda saves Vis - outstanding and visceral sequence in Edinburgh Scotland. Really enjoyed the location work (though who knows how much of it is real) and the concept of two very powerful Avengers caught off guard and then the female trying to save her man and get away after he is damaged. Satisfying when Cap and his sidekicks show up, though it is a little strange that the three most human and least powerful Avengers have to rescue two of the most powerful.
3. Tony handheld down the street and around the corner - The long unbroken shot when Stark leaves the Sanctorum and walks down Bleeker and comes across a massive donut in the sky, is about as technically impressive as it gets these days. He's almost clobbered by a crashing car along the way, and when we see the big baddies, it's has a very 9/11 feel to it. Spine tingling and powerful. (The fight with Ebony Maw afterwards is great, but a bit shaky and tight for my tastes. Now that I've seen it a few times, I can follow it much better.)
2. Titan team up - Thanos is almost defeated on Titan by Stark and the gang and the action is superb. Especially dig all the various Dr. Strange portals opening up and closing on cue. Boom! Speaking of Quill, of course he has to blow it but oh well.
1. Wakanda. Well duh. Reminded me a bit of the epic War and Peace battle in the Star Wars prequel Phantom Menace, but so so much better in so many ways. Really dug, in no particular order, War Machine's pyrotechnics, Widow and the other ladies going after Proxima Midnight, Cap and T'Challa sprinting so fast they leave the others in the dust, and of course Thor and Rocket/Groot's epic arrival.
Top 5 Jokes -
5. I am sure I am invisible.
4. Are you making your voice deeper? No.
3. I'll do you one better, WHY Gamora.
2. Kick names and take ass.
1. I am Groot. I am Steve Rogers.
Top 5 Favorite Emotional moments -
5. Quill pulls the trigger - So awesome the moment when Gamora confesses her love for Peter. Lump thoroughly lodged in the throat, eyes watering up.
4. Rocket loses Groot - devastating! Tears a' rolling.
3. Thanos kills Gamora - Incredibly powerful, especially the way Thanos grabs Gamora's arm, in the same manner that all parents grab their toddlers in a supermarket when the toddler has a fit. We all lose our tempers as parents, and there's that moment when you grab them and you're mad - you don't stop loving them for an instant, but you do what you have to do. That was the vibe I got from the very deliberate choice of Thanos grabbing his daughter's arm and Gamora fighting back in the manner of a child.
2. Peter fades away - utterly heartbreaking when Peter says he isn't ready to go.
1. Vision convinces Wanda to end it. - This is the one part in the movie that really, really, got me. I cried probably half a dozen times throughout (I cry easily at movies) but Vision mouthing "It's alright..." TWICE and then of course mouthing "I love you..." right before he buys the farm is JUST SO SO GOOD. LOVE the choice to make the words barely audible.
Top 5 Stand Up and Cheer Moments -
5. Paging Captain Marvel - the moment when the logo pops up, WOW!
4. Boom! Quill's middle finger drop.
3. Wakanda forever!
2. The Hilarious and Deadly Bucky/Rocket Spin!
1. Thor arrives with Rocket & Groot in Wakanda. Perfect camera move + perfect music = #1 Stand Up and Cheer moment!
And so yes, I LOVED this movie. As to where to rank it in my list in the below post, we will get to that, but first, some unfortunate but necessary business of pointing out five teeny tiny NERD nitpicks - the handful of things that I can't help but mention didn't quite add up 100%. Because I am a NERD and it is in my NERD DNA.
5. Cap, Black Widow and Falcon rescue Vision and the Scarlett Witch? Really? Yes, I know Vision was injured and Wanda was frantic because of it, but still - she all by herself could easily take out Cap, Tasha and Sam with very little effort.
4. Ebony Maw can bend time and space, but just kick him out the window and HE DEAD. I know this was a big fun moment for the audience, but it seems highly improbable. Silly I know, nitpicking over the plausibility of the death of an entirely fictional character in an entirely fictional universe.
3. Quill kills trillions by going apeshit. Yes, it is very much in his character - and we are all only human, but this seems to be a bit much even for the hotshot known as Star Lord.
2. Cut off a monsters arm with a portal - but don't try that with Thanos, because... er... why not try it?
1. When Itchy plays Scratchy's rib cage like a xylophone he CLEARLY strikes two different ribs and yet the ribs play the same tone. What, are we supposed to believe Scratchy's ribs are a ''magic" xylophone? I really hope someone gets fired over this gaffe.
And so to ranking - I've gone 'deep into the tank' on this one (that's a poker expression, meaning taking a long time to make a decision) and in the end Avengers Infinity War comes out at number 3, right ahead of Winter Soldier and just behind the original Avengers movie.
I really think this is perhaps the most spectacular superhero movie ever made, mainly because it has the best villain ever AND it manages to give every single superhero their due and there are almost 30 superheroes! Crazy! All the action is top notch, the humor is frequent and great, and we genuinely care about these characters very much. They are endeared to us, so when they hurt we hurt. When they die, we feel it, even knowing deep down that most will be back.
The only reason it's not number one is that the first Avengers is self contained - it's not just a part 1, and Guardians is a remarkable movie, period, not just a superhero movie. It's one that I can recommend to anyone, not just fan boys and girls.
So there it is - I've seen the movie 3 times, I can't wait to see it again and again!
 |
| Warning: May not have actually happened. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)