Shazam: Fury of the Gods

When it comes to their movies, DC has a god problem. Not God, the Almighty. Though, that's definitely something that could be debated at a later date. What I'm referring to are the gods that occupy the pages of DC Comics and the visual media adapted from them. With exception of Wonder Woman, her people of the island of Themyscira and her eternal foe, Ares the god of war, DC's heavenly hosts just don't manage to capture the imagination of theater goers like Thor, Loki and such do. 

What about the New Gods? They're pretty popular among fans! True. But the average person doesn't know the difference between Steppenwolf the character and Steppenwolf the band who brought us the hit song 'Born to Be Wild'. I argue that a lack of familiarity with the villains in Scott Snyder's Justice League doomed the film way more than Joss Whedon's interference with the final cut. And that's also what doomed Shazam: Fury of the Gods!

When 2019's Shazam concluded, we were teased with a potential team up between Doctor Sivana and that domineering worm, Mr. Mind. I was so pumped for the sequel. Even with the poor showing of The Rock's Black Adam movie, I was expecting the Big Red Cheese and his Shazam family to take on Sivana, Mind and Black Adam in this sequel. And if Adam wasn't in the picture, maybe we'd get that evil brute Ibac! Instead, we got 3 daughters of Atlas who I've never heard of before in my life!

The daughters are played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Lui and the controversial actress Rachel Zegler. Lucy Lui was pretty good as the menacing Kalypso. She played a really good psychopath. Zegler was okay. But her romance with Freddy Freeman made her predictable. And I think Helen Mirren is one heck of an actress. But I just don't see her playing the role of a titan/goddess out to punish humanity because they turned their backs on the old gods. In her prime, Mirren is just too nurturing. Throw in a magical apple, some tree of life that actually does just the opposite and a bunch of mythical creatures that are more bark than bite and I was seriously bored with a lot of this movie.

The beginning when the 'Shazamily' saves a crumbling bridge full of car riders to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out For A Hero', had promise. The unexpected return to Djimon Hounsou as the supposedly dead wizard Shazam was warranted. I loved the banter between him and Freddy. And the ending with that very much needed cameo and the whole family enjoying the spoils of victory was a great way to end the film. But the middle was so complicated and I found myself fiddling around on my phone instead of paying attention to the movie. In fact: I recorded this film on my DVR in March, where I made it through the first 45 minutes. It wasn't until now in July that I finally got up the nerve (and care) to complete it. In all honesty, I just finished it so that I could review it and get the 2 hours back on my recorder.

Some are going to argue that the 2023 film bombed because of the pro-Trump platform of lead actor, Zachary Levi. It probably didn't help. But it didn't deter me from watching it in theaters. Out of this world ticket prices led me to wait for it to come on TV. (For those of you wanting to blame the pro-Palestinian comments of actress Rachel Zegler for this movie tanking, her comments came AFTER Fury of the Gods left both the silver screen and Pay-Per-View.) Really, what killed this movie was that it was smited by the gods. The deities of Egypt in Black Adam couldn't illicit an opening segue into more interest for the second Shazam picture. Using obscure Greek gods stuck a knife through its heart. As a result, James Gunn, with his new vision for the DC cinematic universe, buried any hopes of a third movie with what I suspect will be a blockbuster with the new Superman coming out tonight!

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

When Tim Burton's Beetlejuice came out in 1988, I didn't really understand it. I liked the concept of a newly deceased couple navigating the afterlife as well as trying to extricate an annoying living family from their home. However, the movie was called Beetlejuice and the title character is only in the movie for 17 minutes! My 11 year old brain couldn't understand why Beetlejuice was so rarely in his own movie. So I ended up becoming a fan of the cartoon series as well as the action figures.  They were amazing sculpts! As I got older and became a fan of Tim Burton movies, I understood the reason behind the character's absence and it eventually became one of those movies I can't pass up if I see it while flipping channels.

We jump ahead to 36 years later and Beetlejuice returns to the screen after several decades of rumors of a sequel. While the main character still isn't in every scene, Beetlejuice is in enough of the movie that my younger self would have been satisfied. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice debuted last month, breaking records for films that opened in September. I kept wanting to go to the theaters but I was either too busy or not wanting to fight the crowds. At least my wait wasn't too long as it finally showed up on Amazon Prime and Youtube Premium for my bride and I do give it a Halloween time viewing from the comfort of home. 

In the time since the first film, Lydia Deetz has cashed in on her ability to see ghosts. After helping the Maitlands successfully cross over to the afterlife, Lydia could still see ghosts and became a psychic arbitrator between the living and the dead. Despite starring her own reality TV show, her teenage encounter with Beetlejuice has left Lydia a pill-popping neurotic wreck who has PTSD fears of being reunited with her one-time fiance poltergeist. A widow, Lydia is estranged from her daughter Astrid, who thinks Lydia is a fraud because she never can communicate with her dead husband. Living in New York City, Lydia and her daughter must return to Winter River after the tragic death of her father. However, as Lydia begins to clear the house of her father's possessions, the single mom begins to have horrifying visions of a ghost dressed in a black and white striped suit. With every passing moment, it becomes clear: Beetlejuice is nigh!

Almost the entire original cast returns for this film. Michael Keaton is a treasure! The only major exception is Jeffrey Jones, who played Lydia's father in the original film. However, his criminal past of possessing child pornography meant that his involvement in the film was not to be. Despite this, you do see photos of Jones as Lydia's father at the funeral and his voice is used in at least 1 scene.

There's a few new players to the Beetlejuice universe. Justin Theroux plays Lydia's manager and human fiance. I thought it was interesting having Theroux in this film as it was produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment. Both Pitt and Theroux were married to Jennifer Aniston! Imagine the conversations between these two! Monica Bellucci plays Beetlejuice's vengeful wife, thus shedding some light on the main character's origins. Willem Dafoe is an afterlife detective trying to find Beetlejuice's former lover before she can send him to his final reward!

I liked being able to know when and where Beetlejuice came from. But I felt that Monica Bellucci's character was unnecessary. True, without her, that would make Dafoe's character also unneeded and he was some great comic relief. Still, I felt that her parts in this movie didn't really move the plot along other than telling us about the main characters life before the afterlife.

This has got to be one of the most Tim Burton movies filled with the most un-Burton like scenes and music. Thankfully, we get the great Danny Elfman doing the main score. There's stop motion. There's a slew of oddball dead characters. There's another dance scene. But it's no 'Banana Boat' scene. I'm guessing the Harry Belafonte estate wasn't willing to license out other songs of his. 

One thing that I just adored about this film is that it takes place during Halloween. It was seasonal to get to watch it here during the middle of October. Hopefully, it will become an annual favorite. I'd watch it again. It was a nostalgic sequel without being too repetitive of the original. If anything it felt more like a continuation of the Saturday morning cartoon series in which Beetlejuice and Lydia were good friends. Having a 600 year old plus ghost with the hots for a teenage girl is kinda icky. But as friends from differ sides of the doorway to the great beyond felt more comfortable for those of us who got up freakin' early every Saturday to watch a cartoon classic!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 of 10 stars.

A Christmas Story Christmas (2023)

For some reason, I didn't get to see this movie when it came out last year. Was it streaming only and I didn't subscribe to it? That seems right. Not being able to see the sequel to 1983's A Christmas Story is one reason why I read In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash instead last year. Thankfully, this year, it was showing a couple of times on Freeform or some other cable channel and that I didn't have to wait 3-5 for it to debut for regular customers. 

There have been at least 2 other sequels to A Christmas Story. 1994's It Runs in the Family, later retitled A Summer Story is set in the summertime. It has a couple of actors from the 1983 film as well as Jean Shepherd narrating. Then there's the direct to video A Christmas Story 2 which is considered by many to be a stinker. (I've never seen it.) Though touted as an official sequel to the first A Christmas Story, it's not at all based on any of Jean Shepherd's writings. Considering that and the fact that the creator of these characters died 3 year's prior with no involvement in the 2012 movie, let us decree that A Christmas Story Christmas is the true third film in the trilogy.

The movie opens in the early 70s. Ralph is married with 2 kids living in the Chicago area. He's taking a gap year to try his hand at becoming a writer. Only none of the publishers based in the Windy City want to touch his 2,000 page sci-fi manuscript. If he cannot get his book published by new year's, Ralph will have to go back to a regular 9-to-5 job and give up his dream of becoming an author. 

Ralph's parents are due to drive up to spend Christmas with him and his family when he receives the news that the Old Man, deftly played originally by the legendary Darren McGavin, has passed away. In turn, this means that Ralph's family will instead go back to his hometown of Hohman, Indiana to spend the holidays. 

Wanting to capture the Christmas magic his father was known to be a master of, Ralph plans to make this the best Christmas ever for his wife and kids. With the help of his old friends Schwartz and Flick, Ralph's got some great things planned. But as family injuries mount up, the Christmas presents bought at Higbee's wind up getting stolen and a pair of bullies on snowmobiles terrorizing the neighborhood, Ralph is at his breaking point where he's got writer's block crafting his most important work ever: the Old Man's obituary. 

A Christmas Story Christmas doesn't hold a candle to the 1983 film, which in my mind is a classic. A lot of other people now think of it as one of the best holiday films of all-time. Only I was a fan when it came out on video for the first time in 1984. I didn't have to let it grow on me to love it as others have had to recently. The 1983 film is in my top 3 for sure. While the 2022 follow-up didn't even make it into the top 10 of my favorite holiday movies, it did capture the magic of the first film very, very well.

Having most of the original cast helped. Peter Billingsley was Ralph, only older. I'm not sure if that was his natural voice or he did an accent; but he sounded so much like Jean Shepherd, especially during the narration of the movie. R.D. Robb and Scott Schwartz brought the humor of the best friends Flick and Schwartz, now older but still driving each other crazy. I won't spoil any further cameo treats.

In terms of new actors added to the mix, I thought Julie Hagerty was great as Ralph's mom. Don't get me wrong, Melinda Dillon who played Mom Parker in the first movie was fantastic. I understand that due to her poor health, Dillon was unable to participate. But Hagerty brought that dry humor that made her such a great character in the Airplane films, to the role. I thought the actors who played Ralph's kids were amazing as well. Though, Ralph's son Mark, looks like his real father might actually be town barkeep Flick. Henry Miller who played former high school quarterback turned barfly Larry Novick, stole every scene he was in. And then there was Ralph's wife.

Erinn Hayes plays Ralph's bride Sandy. She's known for playing this more sophisticated wife to schlubby husbands. I don't know why they keep using her for that kind of role. Ralph isn't a schlub. Never has been. He's a dreamer that just can't figure out how to make his dreams become realities. Hayes, while not portraying her normal boorish character, just didn't fit in with the rest of the cast. 

I loved the ending. It, along with probably 90% of the other scenes in this film paid homage to the first movie. I wouldn't mind revisiting Hohman, Indiana again. Both for a rewatch and for a potential series. There's so much material from Jean Shepherd that could be used as a limited series that went back and forth from the depression era to the 1970s. Though, I imagine with the absence of McGavin, who plays a massive part in this movie, despite having passed about 15 years prior, might make the earlier stuff unfilmable. Still, I hope this isn't the end of the A Christmas Story original cast in these roles, because it really feels like more is on the horizon. 

Maybe not a new classic for the holidays. But it's definitely a film that warrants watching to catch up on the Parker family and their friends after A Christmas Story comes to a close with the eating of Chinese turkey. Mini Marathon, people!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Silent Night, Deadly Night #1

I start my 2023 Christmas comics reading with a sequel to a holiday classic... HORROR flick! It's Silent Night, Deadly Night #1 from American Mythology.

I've been waiting almost an entire year to read this book. Issue #1 debuted in November of last year with issue #2 dropping in December. That would have been okay for me to wait until then to read it. But issue #3 hit store shelves in late January AND the final fourth book didn't come out until Easter! So I waited...

Silent Night, Deadly Night is a fully sanctioned sequel from film creators Dennis Whitehead and Scott Schneid. Taking place 40 years after the first film, it appears that events from the second and third film in the series have been wiped away from existence. In fact, this miniseries also changes the ending of the 1984 splatter classic because Billy Chapman is still alive!

At the end of the original film, cops shot and killed Billy before he could exact revenge on the abusive Mother Superior who abused him and his brother as kids. Over Billy's dead body, little brother Ricky, proclaims that the head nun is ' Naughty '. And that's where movie series canon ends.

 As Billy's corpse is being wheeled out of the orphanage, paramedics detect a faint pulse and rush to save the crazed Santa dressed murderer. Thus for the next 4 decades, Billy Chapman resided in a low-security insane asylum, keeping mostly to himself, allowing his white hair and beard to grow long like Santa. Every Christmas, Ricky takes his wife and daughter to make a yule tide visit while Ricky wrestles with the demons of his past, fearful that he too might become a sadistic killer like his big brother.

Meanwhile, one of the kids from the orphanage who witnessed Billy's Christmas Eve assault has returned to the town of Eggnog, Utah. Now a famous horror writer, the man hopes to exorcise his own demons from the orphanage and the trauma of Christmas Eve, 1984. Only that's gonna be really difficult as someone in a Santa suit is stalking the citizens of Eggnog, killing those who wind up on this evil Kris Kringle's naughty list.

If you can wade through the fact that this book erases 4 sequels, two of which weren't really even connected to the Caldwell family anyways, fans of the slasher series will enjoy a bloody sequel full of irreverent humor and creepy jump scares. And that's perfectly fine as that's was the intention of the 1984 film that changed the rules for holiday horror. As for the art, it's rough. I don't understand why American Mythology does amazing work with their all ages material; yet their horror stuff looks like it was drawn by the cartoonists at a college newspaper.

For those of you who love their Christmases to be a little bit on the dark side, this is the chilling read for you.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Jurassic Park: Raptor #1&2 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Topps Comics was an experiment from the beloved baseball card manufacturer Topps. Seeing the potential of comics due to the ominous presence of speculators, Topps joined the already crowded comic book marketplace. Marvel veteran Jim Salicrup was selected as the company editor in chief. His clout helped to recruit an impressive roster of talent including Steranko, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Tony Isabella. 

Topps pulled off a coup securing rights to a number of impressive franchises. The Kirbyverse was a number of quasi-interconnected books based on abandoned ideas and projects created by the King, Jack Kirby. Salicrup was able to obtain the rights to produce new adventures of beloved titles like Cadillacs and Dinosaurs as well as classic characters such as Zorro. Being able to obtain the much coveted rights to adapt Francis Ford Coppola's version of Dracula really put Topps Comics on the radar of the comics industry.

Once Bram Stoker's Dracula was secure, Topps Comics was able to draw in popular franchises such as The X-Files, Friday the 13th's hockey mask wearing antagonist Jason and a comic book reboot of Topps' notorious Mars Attacks trading card set! Eventually Topps managed to secure the rights to publish works based on the most movie of the year 1993, Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

Topps Comics first released a 4-issue adaptation of the film. Walt Simonson scripted. Pencils were by Gil Jane with George Perez inks. A special edition issue #0 was a prequel to the movie, exploring how the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar were created.

Immediately after the success of the film, movie viewers demanded a sequel. Fans of the 1990 novel were already begging author Michael Crichton for a second volume. Spielberg's movie magic added millions of voices to that request. While Crichton would agree to begin writing the official sequel novel in 1994, Topps Comics beat the Jurassic Park creator to an officially authorized comic book with 1993's Jurassic Park: Raptor.

The 2-part Raptor takes place just 3 days after the events of the film. With the help of the United States military, Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler are wrangling up the dinosaurs that escaped their enclosures during the tropical storm. Officials are convinced that all of the raptors have been killed by the park's T-Rex. But Alan Grant isn't so sure. 

Not finding any evidence of a raptor nest, Grant is convinced that some of the raptors escaped their pen and laid eggs elsewhere on the island. So the paleontologists travel to a less populated area. The perfect spot is a series of caves that are protected by high tides. Along with finding the missing baby raptors, Grant and Sattler discover an expert poacher is on scene, hired by an unknown entity to capture the infant reptiles.

Jurassic Park: Raptor was the first of a miniseries of trilogies that continues the saga of Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park: Raptors Attack and Jurassic Park: Raptors Hijack finish out the official comic book sequel. The trilogy was written by Steve Englehart, spanning a total of 10 issues. Issue #2 of Jurassic Park: Raptor ends with a 'to be continued blurb' which is really confusing as the cover proclaims that the second book is the last chapter of a 2-parter. Eventually, Topps Comics would release Jurassic Park Adventures, which would collect all 10 chapters of the Raptor Trilogy into a single, sequential series.

Pencils for issues #1&2: Armando Gil.

Inks by Dell Barras.

Covers by Michael Golden.

Worth Consuming!

Issue #1: Rating 10 out of 10 stars.

Issue #2: Rating 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #42 (Comic Book Starting With the Letter J) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Plan 9 From Outer Space Strikes Again!

I really thought I had reviewed the book before. Yet, I've been re-cataloging my collection lately and I just don't have any evidence of any such entry in this blog. I guess I must have dreamed it or wrote it out in my head; both of which are things I've done before without realizing it.

Plan 9 From Outer Space Strikes Again is Blue Water Comics' sequel to the 1959 B-movie classic by schlock master Ed Wood. Until Tommy Riseau's The Room, Plan 9 From Outer Space was considered the worst film ever made. I, however, love it! 

Ed Wood, despite his flaws, was a passionate film maker. Yes, some of his short cuts were due to his inability to see flaws. But a lot of the stuff Wood is maligned for is really due to the inability to obtain adequate funding for the grandiose plans he had built up in his head for his projects. The 50s weren't exactly a period in Hollywood history when producers opened the floodgates of cash towards horror and sci-fi pictures. But man, did Ed Wood try his best. It just wasn't good enough for the general public.

This 2009 sequel was created in tribute to the original films' 50th anniversary and it was a mixed bag for me. I thought that the plot was worse than the original Plan 9. However, I loved how the art and production staff added continuity errors, smudges and off center pages to this book to make it appear technically flawed like so many of Ed Wood's classics. Artist Giovanni Timpano even leaves the strings of the attacking flying saucers visible! It was also very cool seeing some of the original actors of the 1959 film making cameos in this book. Tor Johnson, Vampira and Criswell all return to help the aliens try once more to conquer the earth. Other actors from the first movie might be in this book; but their likenesses might be too generic for me to recognize.

The one thing about this one-shot that really bugged me was the ending. It felt unfinished. Even though Criswell closes the story much like he did the live-action film, I closed this book feeling like something was missing. Well, it turns out in an odd sort of way that I am right.

Just today, Dren Productions released the first of a 3-part miniseries titled Plan 59 From Outer Space which continues the story after another 50 disastrous attempts by those very same aliens to conquer our planet. Will that series even mention this comic? I doubt it. But I'll find out soon enough. It looks like another zany tribute to what every fan of 1950s B-movies confers to be Ed Wood's opus!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Fight Club 2

Tyler Durden Lives!

What an unholy mess this comic book sequel to Fight Club was. 

Set 10 years after the events of Chuck Palahnuik's ground breaking novel, the story's narrator is now going by the name Sebastian. In order to be allowed back into the public, Sebastian must take a butt load of drugs. It's made him and his sex life with now wife Marla fairly dull. Though it has produced a son who has a rather alarming interest in bombs like his old man did- while as Tyler Durden!

I said earlier that Tyler Durden lives. Is he still hiding somewhere in the recesses of Sebastian's mind? Or has Tyler come home to roost somewhere inside of Junior?

I really hadn't much interest in the sequel to Fight Club. I had to read the book and seen the film in college. It was okay but it wasn't that life changing work of fiction that others have seen this Palahnuik work as. But the reason I read it was because someone in my life was changed by it.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my students lost her lengthy battle with lung disease. Knowing how much a fan of this book and it's predecessor was to her, I checked out the books from my local library to use as part of a memorial to my former pupil. 

Since that memorial, this book has sat in my car. I've needed to get it back to the library. But it just didn't feel right. Then yesterday, I had a good hour or so to burn, so I gave Fight Club 2 a read. I kinda want that hour back...

A large majority of the dialogue in this book is covered up by images of medications, roses, and other items. So, I feel like a bunch of the mysteries in this book were meant to never be revealed. But about halfway through, something changed and the book got really good. Then there was the ending...

The conclusion on this book was one hot mess. The author, Chuck Palahnuik, actually becomes a character in the story. Then the world ends or is it merely a fake-out? Then there's the whole issue with Tyler's existence. It wasn't that it was confusing or anything difficult like that. I just felt that the finale was a massive cop-out!

Honestly, did Fight Club need a sequel? That confined, never to be free from the influence of the club he created ending for our narrator, Sebastian, was perfect. I didn't need to have this contrived, partially hidden continuation of a story that paints itself into a massive corner. Some people, such as my former student, loved this comic series. I did not. 

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1

Xerxes #1 (The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander)

Written and Illustrated by Frank Miller
Colors by Alex Sinclair
Logo Design by Steve Miller
Published by Dark Horse Comics

The Wait Is Over

Twenty years after the release of Frank Miller’s opus 300, the master has returned to ancient Greece to continue the story of the god-king Xerxes. This series had been promised as a sequel to 300 but the first chapter actually takes place prior to the events of King Leonidas at Thermopylae. So Xerxes is a prequel/sequel hybrid instead.

Miller’s art is unchanged. His brilliant use of shadows, blinding colors and splatters of ink are just like the art was in 300. Miller studied the art techniques of the Greeks, Syrians, and Persians at the time of 490 BC and masterfully blends it into an epic retelling of war and honor. But visual appeal can only get you so far in a comic book.

Issue 1 of 5

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book for quite some time. But when I first read 300, in was in a collected over-sized form. Unlike a majority of trades, 300 was published in a way that looked like an over-sized square children’s picture book. That same kiddie book format is how Miller has rendered this continuing story.

Unfortunately, Dark Horse decided not to release this book in the format Miller obviously intended. All of the proportions are thrown off. It’s like when you watch an old TV show from the 70s on a big screen 2018 model television. The characters look like they are being seen through a fun house mirror.

This change in format often makes the characters on film sound funny too. Obviously, there’s no sound in Xerxes, except what is in the readers mind. However, using a rectangular standard format instead of square like with Archaia’s Mouse Guard makes for some tough reading. The word bubbles and narration are so tiny in this issue that magnifying glasses should be sold with every copy.

Ready Upon Completion

As much as I am excited that the story Frank Miller began two decades ago is finally seeing print, I am going to wait for the entire book to be collected into one volume. I have very good reason to believe that Xerxes will be released in the correct format that Miller intended as that is what Dark Horse did 20 years ago with 300. Plus with the jumping storyline throughout the Persian Wars, I think the collected volume with be easier to follow especially with such a massive cast of characters.

Frank Miller proves in this first issue that he’s still got it. I just wish that Dark Horse had as much faith in him as this reader does and would have released this issue in a 9×9 sized. The production move would have made this issue much more easier to read. And in terms of plotting, the pacing of the book would flow much more smoother, like blood from the spear of a Persian warrior.

I’ll just have to wait until later this year in collected form to finally appreciate it complete.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Blade Runner 2049- 3D Director's Cut

Months of waiting are finally over for this Madman as I got to see Blade Runner 2049. And I didn't just watch any old version, I went to the 3D showing which also happens to be a Director's Cut. 
   
I'm not normally big on watching a movie in 3D as with my astigmatism, I often get a massive headache. However, Blade Runner has a long standing and controversial history with it's Director's Cuts and I just couldn't pass up watching it. 

If you go to see the standard showing of 2049, the movie runs 2 hours and 49 minutes. But the 3D version runs a whooping 3 hours and 5 minutes in length. The theatre I went to today does bargain showings on Tuesdays, so overall, the showing I went to was a win-win.

The film stars Ryan Gosling as Officer K, a new model replicant Blade Runner that works for the Los Angeles Police Department in the year 2049. His job is to retire the outlawed older models that have become fugitives in society after the events of the original film when a team of six replicants went rogue for killing their creator Eldon Tyell.

K travels to a remote farmer thanks to a lead. At the farm, not only does the Blade Runner capture his prey, he uncovers a shocking secret that could bring society to it's knees. 

I really don't want to go too much more into the film out of fear of spoiling a a ton of great plot twists. What I can tell you is that I thought the story was much more superior to that of the Ridley Scott film. But only with the storytelling! 

The original Blade Runner was heralded as a masterpiece fusion of 1940s crime noir and modern science fiction. At the heart of 2049 is an incredible mystery in which our new Blade Runner must solve before word spreads of what his latest investigation has uncovered. Nope- you're still not going to get the secret out of me. 

Director Denis Villeneuve does a very good job capturing some stellar performances. I've never been a Ryan Gosling fan. But his Pinocchio-like transformation from dutiful police officer to a troubled machine questioning his own inhumanity is at least in my opinion, Golden Globe nomination worthy. 

Returning to the franchise is veteran actor Harrison Ford. Over the past 35 years, fans have debated whether or not Ford's Rick Deckard was a replicant or not. Folks, you didn't get a clear answer then and really, you don't get it in 2049 either. But I have my theory which maybe one day I will reveal. But for now, just know that the secret to knowing whether a character is a replicant or not has something to do with their eyes as in the original film...

Going back to the original, Villeneueve created an amazing work that in many ways stands up to the Ridley Scott original. However, I don't think Villeneuve's version is as visually stunning as Scott's. Take the billboards. They're these glimmering holographic pieces that in 3D really dazzle the eye. But all of their combined glory, those images can't hold a candle to that iconic scene in Blade Runner of a kabuki dancer that Decker drives past to arrive at Tyrell Corp. 

Costuming was another thing lacking in 2049. Officer K's outfit is the only one that's got that iconic fusion style of retro and futuristic. Some characters are dressed in just a tee shirt and jeans in this movie! The fusion of cultures and time periods that made Blade Runner one of my all-time favorite films is missing! This is one of the few times I think the sequel got completely 100% wrong!

There's talk of a third film in the series and I would be okay with that. I just hope they don't wait 35 more years to see it. To add to your viewing experience, I highly recommend that you watch the 3 prequel short films to Blade Runner 2049. A lot of attention and love has been given to 2022, the anime Blade Runner short. But there are two live-action pieces that add valuable information to the puzzle that is the Blade Runner universe.

Check out Blade Runner: 2048 starting Gaurdians of the Galaxy's David Bautista here...

And with that, I hope that you'll check out Blade Runner 2049 in 3D. Lot's of great Easter Eggs and nods to the original that if disclosed, could spoil. However hush-hush I must be, 2049 is very much worth the money, worth the potential 3D glasses headache, as well as WORTH CONSUMING!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Clueless Senior Year

Story by Amber Benson & Sarah Kuhn
Art by Siobhan Kenan
Published by Boom! Studios

Clueless Senior Year follows Cher Horowitz and her friends Dionne and Tai almost immediately after the first film ends. Cher's relationship with Josh has been put on hold while she's struggles to find herself before graduation. Dionne has gotten fed-up with how boyfriend Murray has been treating her. So she decides to run for class president against him. Meanwhile, former ugly duckling Tai must choose between her dream of going to art school or running her aunt's apple farm after she inherits it.

Living in the 90s

The movie Clueless debuted in 1995. At the time, Clueless was hailed as an accurate portrayal of high school life for that generation. I graduated high school in 1996. Without all the excesses of life in Beverly Hills, my experience was pretty similar to Cher's: Nobody knew what in the hell were they going to do with their life.

By 1995, the rules had changed on members of Generation X. We had been told for years to A) graduate high school B) get a degree and C) find a job. However, the job market got tougher as the previous generation before us started getting masters and doctorates. As a result, my generation was told that the 3-point plan we had been sold on wasn't going to cut it anymore. Thus, even more school was on the table if we wanted to achieve our dreams.
Like Cher, many of those in Generation X kinda got burned out with the whole situation. The best way to deal with our problems was to shop them away. If we happened to find love while on a quest to fulfill our consumerist impulses that was all the better. Ah, 90s life!

Not How I Remember It

Reading this sequel to Clueless was really odd because this isn't the 90s I remember. Senior Class just felt dated and no longer relevant. Writers Amber Benson and Sarah Kuhn claim in the book's extensive production notes section to have studied up on mid-90s vernacular and pop culture. But peppering a story with slang and numerous Fresh Prince references isn't enough to capture the giant pain in the butt being a teen in the 90s was. I feel like the story has been updated with millennial problems flavored with 90s era teen angst. That just doesn't work for me.

It's getting to be a big deal to bring back the 90s. Almost every other show scheduled for next TV season is a reboot of a 90s sitcom. While you can argue how originality is dying in the TV medium, that's not the point I am trying to make. At least for these reboots, they're going to deal will the characters living in 2017. But this sequel has Cher and friends still in the 90s. Yes, they dealing with problems like gender rights, the environment, and LGBT relationships. But their responses to them aren't typical for a Clinton Era teen. Okay, I'm playing the historically inaccurate card here. But I can- because I lived it!

Fitting Into the Franchise

Another issue I have with this book has more to do with the Clueless franchise as a whole. Why do we need this book as a sequel when there was a Clueless TV series? For 3 seasons, the adventures of Cher and Dionne continued on after the film. In fact, several actors from the original movie reprised their original roles such as Stacey Dash and Donald Faison. So does this book eliminate the series? Is this a supplement? Did the folks at Boom! Studios forget that part?

Another thing Boom! seemed to have forgotten is what the original cast looked like. All of these characters look like friends of Ken and Barbie. The representations of the characters by newcomer Siobhan Keenan are pretty generic. If this wasn't based on an established property, I wouldn't be opposed to the artwork. But I am one of those in the camp of characters need to look like the actors who portrayed them. One thing I can't excuse is the coloring and inking of the book. It looks like someone used magic markers and gives the series a coloring book feel to it.

Sweet Vibes

I will give some praise where praise is due. This book comes with a soundtrack. Before each major scene, the writers provide you with snippets from each character's collection of mix-tapes. If you happen to be able to play the songs while reading this, it actually adds to the 90s vibe. It's in my opinion one of the few things the writers got right!

Clueless Senior Year would be a great read if it wasn't trying to fit into the Clueless franchise. But since it does, just like Cher, this book can't find it's true self.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

   It was with great sadness and irony that the day my wife and I choose to see the new Star Wars film, it was the day Carrie Fisher died. Work and holiday emergencies postponed our seeing the movie earlier. It's just how it worked out.
   Even 2 weeks after the movie debuted and on a middle of the afternoon workday, our showing was still packed. Critics have called this the best Star Wars film since either Empire Strikes Back or A New Hope. So, let's dig into the specifics of the movie and find out if the critics were right or just caught up in the hype.
    Rogue One has the unique distinction of being both a prequel and a sequel. The film tells the untold story of the construction of the Death Star, which had begun at the end of Episode III, along with how the Rebellion obtained the schematics to the Empire's super weapon just prior to Episode IV. The film also answers a lot of burning questions that fans of A New Hope have been asking for years, such as:

• Why would the Empire allow for a simple design flaw of a 2 meters exhaust port to potentially destroy their super expensive mega-weapon?
• Why does the Rebellion only have a small handful of ships to go against the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin?
• and there's several other questions I could post, but that would spoil many of the surprises built into the film.

   

    Speaking of surprises, there are references, Easter eggs, and cameos galore in the film. One that I will spoil involves on of the main characters- Grand Moff Tarkin! The actor who portrayed Tarkin, Peter Cushing, died almost 30 years ago. Yet, through the magic of CGI, the veteran actor lives again in a pretty convincing yet subtly creepy fashion. Along with Cushing's character, I counted at least 3 other smaller roles done in similar fashion. But honestly, I think it helped keep a decorum of continuity between Rogue One and A New Hope which was filmed 40 years prior. 

      I enjoyed Rogue One. It was great getting to see some big budget production battles. It think they rival and surpass the prequels! I enjoyed how the film captured the magic of the original trilogy and finally, a film without any annoying characters like Jar Jar Binks! Alan Tudyk's (Firefly) voice as the droid K-2SO and Martial Arts master Donnie Yen's (Ip Man) portrayal as blind warrior  in tune with the Force Chirrut Îmwe stole many scenes. 

     

    So was Rogue One the best Star Wars film ever? Nope- because technically, it's not a Star Wars movie. It's set in the Star Wars Universe but it's really a stand alone film. You don't have to even know what's been going on prior or afterwards to enjoy Rogue One- but it helps! 

     The film pulls no punches and to many Star Wars fans, Rogue One has shown them that Disney has no intentions of turning George Lucas' universe into a version of It's a Small World with aliens. The House of Mouse is working on other 'Star Wars Story' films to release at a rate of about 1 a year. If they continue to follow the formula of Rogue One, then the fate of a galaxy far, far away is in very good hands.

    Worth Consuming

     Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

OK- fine. I'll rank them...

                1. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

                2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

                3. Episode IV: A New Hope

                4. Episode VII: The Force Awakens

                5. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

                6. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

                7. Episode II: Attack of the Clones

                8: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

    There... happy?

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

    Have you ever heard of String Theory? It's a principle of quantum mechanics in which you look at time as a string. On one end of the string is the past and on the other is the future. Now imagine that you put a little red bead on the string. That bead represents you in the present and as time moves on, the bead keeps moving to the right: the future. 

   Well, if you take that string and roll it into a ball parts of the past will touch the future. At the same time, some part of the past and future are touching the present as well. Some say this is how you'd be able to explain time travel. But this idea also represents how stories with time paradoxes can operate. In these type of stories, dinosaurs end up in the modern era or Ben Franklin goes on a walk with Marilyn Monroe and Brad Pitt in 1600 Venice. 

   So why have I am discussing temporal physics when I should be reviewing Sin City: A Dame to Kill For which isn't about time travel but a gritty crime noir film based on a series of comics by Frank Miller?

  A Dame to Kill For was like someone took all of Miller's Sin City tales and threw them into a blender. Characters who were killed off in the last film appear in starring roles. Stories that happened in the last film haven't occurred in this one yet even though some of those previous events did. Don't even get me started on one character whose new appearance is explained by a plastic surgery that happened in the last film but didn't happen prior to the beginning of this movie. It's all very confusing.

   The problem with all of this is that instead of making Sin City(2) either a prequel or a sequel. Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller decided to make this film both! I'm pretty sure they teach not to do that in Film Making 101. But with the scrambled timeline, you really don't need to see the first film to understand what goes on in a Dame to Kill For.

   If you can get over the initial confusion of the warped timeline, A Dame to Kill For is a pretty good movie. But it's no Sin City! Both films use creative CGI and green screen techniques to make this look like a comic book comic to life. The acting, especially of Mickey Rourke as Marv and Powers Booth as the slimy Sen. Roarke was quite good. But there was a spark missing from the formula that just didn't make the second film hold a candle to the original. 

   With lots of gore, sex, profanity, and violence, this is a gritty drama done in the classic Frank Miller fashion. So, that being said, this ain't for kids. But if you are Frank Miller fan like I am, you will enjoy this. 

   Rodriquez is from that school of film like Tarantino in which they both love to play around with director's cuts and reissue 'definitive' editions of their movies every so often. I think if Robert Rodriguez would take both Sin City films and re-edit them into a way that they were as one film in correct temporal order, you'd have a much more superior film that's more enjoyable to watch and it probably won't have you pausing the movie every 5 minutes and going on Wikipedia to find out what just happened.

    I'm waiting for that edition and hopefully, it will come packaged with one of Miller's Sin City graphic novels as a bonus.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
   

Jurassic World

    On the same day that the film became the 3rd highest grossing movie of all-time and that it was announced that a sequel was now in the works, I finally saw Jurassic World. I am a huge fan of the movie and an even bigger fan of the original novel by one of my favorite writers, Michael Crichton. Oddly enough, out of all 4 films in the Jurassic series, this was the first one I saw in theaters. 

    Jurassic World takes place some 20 years after the first film. The dream of John Hammond has finally been realized and Isla Nublar has been converted into the technological theme park marvel, Jurassic World. The park is run by super-efficient park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who has trouble seeing the human side of things. Her nephews are visiting the park for the week, but she doesn't even have any time for them as she is super busy wooing prospective corporate sponsors for the park's newest coming attraction- the Indominus Rex.

   This hybrid dinosaur is super stealthy and wicked mean. It's proof of what Jeff Goldblum's character, Ian Malcolm, in the first film advises- 'Man should not play GOD!' When the hybrid manages to break loose, it's up to ex-Navy Seal Owen (Chris Pratt) to save the day. He's been working on a super secret project with Jurassic World's genetic research parent  company InGen involving the training of velociraptors as army weapons. 

    During the melee, Claire realizes that her nephews are unaccounted for and seeks Owen's help to rescue them. While on their rescue mission, they see first hand the carnage of the Indominus Rex, who isn't killing for food but sport, setting itself up to become the dominant thunder lizard of the park. However, there are several species of dinosaur ready to challenge the Indominus as alpha dog as the giant creature destroys park attraction after park attraction and unleashes a hell on the visitors of the park some 65-million years in the making. 

    Jurassic World was an excellent film. It's no Jurassic Park and it doesn't really try to be. However, there are several easter eggs that elude to that classic film and it pays a respectable homage to it without being gaudy or flashy. 

    Yes, there are a few plot devices that were borrowed from the original film and some cliches were telegraphed from the beginning. Particularly as you could tell from when certain characters were first introduced in the film that they would become dino-chow by the time the credits roll. However, the film was a fresh take on a film series over 2 decades old and I didn't feel like I've seen this movie before. (Well, there was one scene in which a flock of flying dinos terrorize the park. I remember leaning over to my wife and saying 'Where's Ian Zeiring (of the Sharknado films) when you need him?")

    The acting was quite good and both Howard and Pratt steal just about every scene they are in which is saying something as there are dinosaurs in just about everyone one of those scenes. Without giving away too much of the end of the film, I will say that I am glad both are set to return in the sequel but I really haven't the foggiest clue how they are going to be able to do a 2nd (technically 5th) film after the amount of dino-destruction Jurassic World occurs.

    A fun 2-hour ride that really puts you in the film. I didn't see the movie in 3-D as that technology gives me massive headaches. But I could see how many would think this movie was made only to be seen in that format. It should be noted- if you see the film in regular 2-D, some scenes will look grainy and I think that is because those scenes were particularly shot to be viewed in 3-D.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

              

   After missing it in theaters and then somehow passing it on HBO and OnDemand, I finally got my hands on a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 2. This action romp through the Big Apple on the web-swinging back of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man pits the hero against the armored Rhino, the electrifying Electro, and the creepy Green Goblin all the while balancing love and job in his civilian life as Peter Parker. On paper, this should be a slam dunk. But at almost two and a half hours long the film's momentum is paced sporadically as the plot gets really dragged out and then all of a sudden it gets jammed pack with a dizzying array action and adventure.

   Amazing Spider-Man left me pleasantly disappointed. It has some very good acting. With the exception of Heath Ledger's Joker, that's not really what superhero films are known for. There were some very fun scenes that succeed thanks to the great acting. But overall the film feel flat in areas that comic based films are praised for, especially plot and SFX.

Andrew Garfield's timing and poise as Spider-Man/ Peter Parker is excellent. The way he makes Spider-Man a thriving part of New York and his scenes with everyday people and the real heroes of the city, the NYPD and NYFD, while in costume were perfect.
 
   Then you got Jamie Fox who played a nerdy uberfan of Spidey's named Max Dillon, who is turned into the misunderstood Electro was fantastic as well. There was a real character progression to Dillon that made him a sympathetic foe. Plus there was great chemistry between Garfield and Fox in their few scenes together.

   Speaking of chemistry, Andrew Garfield's Peter and Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy got it! Maybe it;s because the two are lovers in real life, but they made ASM2 a kind of romantic comedy in the vein of Tracy and Hepburn. Even Paul Giamatti as Rhino was good though I think his Russian accent needed work because I couldn't understand a word he was saying. (OKAY- maybe it was too good!)

    If this was the only dynamic of Amazing Spider-Man 2 then the film would be an instant classic. But the writers, producers, and director decided to add Norman and Harry Osborn into the mix. Norman, played by Chris Cooper, has some sort of terrible auto-immune disease. His search for a cure is what leads to OsCorp conducting its research with spiders that ultimately bite Parker and give him his powers. With Norman's death, his company is handed over to his son, Harry. When Peter tries to reach out to his old friend, the film spirals into about 45 minutes of Harry trying to find a cure for the genetic condition he inherited from his father. It may be important to understanding Harry's character and motivation, but it really slows the film to a snails pace.

   Harry's search for a cure winds up taking on the mystery behind the death of Peter's folks. Peter finds a satchel that belonged to his father and that spins the film off into yet another tangent. Sure, Peter's search does provide some much needed scientific jargon as to why that spider's bite gave him special powers but that's about all it does to benefit the film.

   Ideally with all of the tangents and sprawling plotlines, this film should have been cut into two movies and Amazing Spider-Man turned into a trilogy. But with a major deal struck between Marvel Studios and Sony to add Spidey to the official Marvel movie universe,  I think the plans to make this film series into a trilogy were scrapped in order to get Spider-Man into 'Captain America: Civil War' as soon as possible. (It's rumored that this is the movie in which Spidey will be introduced to the MMU.)

   Sadly, Andrew Garfield will not be portraying the wall-crawler in the forthcoming Captain America flick. In fact the Peter Parker Spider-Man might not even be featured in the forthcoming Spider-Man cinematic reboot scheduled for release around 2019. ( In an effort for a more diverse Marvel film universe, rumor has it that the half black, half Latino Miles Morales Spider-Man will appear in Civil War.)

  Yes- the Spider-Man franchise is going to get a second reboot in less than 5 years time! And for that reason alone, I feel that that this film tries to do too much because there won't be an Amazing Spider-Man 3 to round out the unanswered questions of the first film. One such question is still unanswered- just who is the guy in the shadows at the prison for bad guys? He pops up again in this film and I still don't know who the heck he is.

   Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a rare type of superhero film. It's acting was far better than the story and don't get me started on the special effects. Maybe it's because I watched this film on DVD but the action scenes involving Spidey were so fake looking. But during Stan Lee's tenure are the mastermind behind the Marvel Age of Comics, his stories were known for being heavy on character and drama and that's what happens here. I just hope Marvel Studios allows Andrew Garfield a much-needed swan song before the pass on the mantle of Spider-Man to whoever is cast as the Miles Morales Spidey.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Legends of the DC Universe #26

        

   There are many things going for this opening chapter if you dig under the surface. For one thing, when"The Laughing Fish" was first published, Aquaman had long been an established member of the Justice League and the DC Universe. That's been tweaked a little in this post-Crisis world as Aquaman's literally a fish out of water, unfamiliar with the Joker's reputation. A pre-Crisis Aquaman wouldn't trust the Joker any further that he could smell him. ( I know that's not the term but Aquaman has super strength and can throw pretty far.) Plus, there's an Atlantean girl, with Raven hair and a penchant for red that's a perfect substitute for Harley Quinn,

 The Detective Comics story "The Laughing Fish," it which the Joker has developed a race of fish that has the Joker's face on them is a classic. If the Joker is unable to get his copyright on these aquatic life forms, he's going to start killing government officials. That tale was written by Steve Englehart, with Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin providing pencils and ink. (issue #475)
 
So, when Legends decided to craft a sequel to "The Laughing Fish," it's only natural that they recruited Englehart to craft it.
   
 In this long-awaited sequel, the Joker has just escaped the Dark Knight by means of some sort of sewer system.  But the Clown Prince of Crime isn't in the clear just yet as he's met by an Atlantean strike force posed in Gotham Harbor to undercover the source of the fish mutations. How fortuitous for King Arthur (Aquaman) that he's captured the Joker.
 
   But the jokes on Aquaman, when he's duped into believing that the Joker is the King of Dry Land and that he earnestly wants to fix this mutation problem. Thus, the Atlantean's eagerly provide the Joker with the underwater civilization's resources, including its labs. But there's one thing you never offer the smiling villain and that's a chemistry set.
   
   Make that two things because the Joker is using his new-found trust to slowly turn the tide of loyalty from Arthur away from the hearts of his subjects. If the Joker can become the advisor to a new leader of Atlantis, that will technically make the Joker the de facto ruler of 3/4's of the world!
 
     Oddly, for a Joker story there's one notable omission. He's dark and brooding and has a thing for flying mammals. But don't worry- he's coming! He's coming!
   
    Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Review: GI JOE Retaliation

If you regularly read Madman with a Book, then you know I don't usually review movies. But, since I read the prequel comics and I've been raving about wanting to see the movie on which they were based, I figured I should talk about them some. Be warned, there will be spoilers!

The film was in my opinion much better than the first movie. Maybe it's because I just finished reading the original 155 issue run of the Marvel series. Or maybe it's because this film actually seemed to be more in tuned with the comics than the first film!

The movie has Channing Tatum returning as lead character Duke. In the mix this time is Lady Jaye, Flint, and Road Block, played by the Rock of WWE fame. Girls, don't get too excited as Duke is only in the first 15 minutes of the movie. This is the Rock's show and I think it worked.

In the last movie, Zartan was impersonating the POTUS. In this movie, he's still the PREZ and now he's framed the Joes for killing an important Middle Eastern diplomat. While Road Block, Lady Jaye, and Flint try to find out why they were framed, Snake Eyes and ninja apprentice, Jinx are on the heels of Storm Shadow, who just freed Cobra Commander from a top secret military prison.

Badly injured from the rescued, Storm seeks refuge and healing in a Himilayian temple. Those scenes have some of the best martial arts battles this side of Bruce Lee and some of the most rediculious mountain repelling scenes since Stallone in Cliffhanger. Much of the Snake Eyes trilogy is played out her as Storm Shadow realizes that Zartan, that Cobra master of disguise, killed his master and led him down the path of evil. With that bit of info, the ninja and the ousted Joes team up to bring the President of these United States down! But they are going to need some fire power.

That brings us to Bruce Willis who steals the show as original Joe- Joe Colton and in his retirement manages to possess a gigantic armory. While Colton goes to save the real POTUS from his summer retreat, the rest of the Joes head to South Carolina. There, Zartan tricks the most powerful men in the world into destroying their nuclear weapons and then hands over power of the US to Cobra Commander.

I'm going to leave the plot synopsis at that. I don't want to give away much more. There's supposed to be a sequel and I hope there is. I really enjoyed this film. While watching it, my wife in our office, kept running in the living room thinking something was wrong. I had to take a moment and go "Oh, no nothing wrong. But, (insert name) just did (insert action) and if he doesn't move fast, he's gonna get it."

I don't remember my wife having to ever do this before when I watched another movie or show and she was online in the other room. Obviously, I got into the movie.

I know this film isn't ever going to win a best picture Oscar, but I did not watch it to be informed or moved. I wanted to be entertained and I clearly was. I think Retaliation was one of those few times that the sequel was better than the original.

I highly recommend this movie is you A) love GI Joe, B) love action movies, C) are a fan of the Rock, D) loved to read comic books as a kid or currently still do, and/ or E) was a boy growing up in the 80s. I was all of these and it was a blast.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. Rated PG-13 for mild violence, torture, sexuality (but no nudity) and a occasional swear.