Jumanji: The Next Level

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Jumanji: The Next Level
  • IMDb: link

Jumanji: The Next Level Blu-ray reviewJumanji: The Next Level brings back the cast of 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for another trip into the video game version of Jumanji as Spencer’s (Alex Wolff) friends follow when the isolated college Freshman goes looking for something familiar. This time around, however, the players are all in different avatars and two of the players have been replaced by Spencer’s grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his former business partner (Danny Glover).

I wasn’t all that impressed with the 2017 film which was fun at times but also lazy and largely forgettable, and The Next Level offers more of the same: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson smoldering, characters hashing out their issues while running for their lives, and Karen Gillan running around the jungle in short-shorts. The addition of the older players does offer some new dynamics (along with quite a few easy old people don’t understand technology jokes), and having none of the players in the avatars they expected is one of the sequel’s best choices.

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Stargirl – Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Stargirl – Dr. Mid-Nite
  • wiki: link

Stargirl - Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite television review

On Halloween, Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) gets two more recruits in “Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite” as Beth Chapel (Anjelika Washington) sneaks into Courtney’s room and gets Dr. Mid-Nite‘s goggles to work and Courtney learns that the son of an original member of the JSA lives in town. Beth discovering Courtney and Yolanda‘s (Yvette Monreal) secret last week is immediately followed-up here. While Beth wasn’t chosen by Courtney, she proves her worth by identifying the brooding Rick (Cameron Gellman) as the son of Rex Tyler who we see murdered at the beginning of the episode in a flashback after stashing his son with a no-account brother. Pat (Luke Wilson) also sees a connection between the angry young man and the original Hourman leading him to discover just what Courtney has been up to the past two weeks.

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Action Comics #1022

/ / Comics

Action Comics #1022 comic reviewClark Kent, meet Conner Kent. Action Comics #1022 centers around Superman getting his head around the idea that there is another Superboy from an alternate timeline of Earth. Calling in as many experts as possible to confirm Conner is who he thinks, it’s a more familial connection that cements Conner is indeed finally back home on the right Earth.

There’s some great stuff here including both Conner and Clark’s awkward reactions to the odd situation. Then there’s Jon‘s return from the future shocked at Conner’s existence but not angry or resentful but helpful (and in awe of that awesome jacket). I was curious about how much of the current Young Justice series would get brought into DC’s main storyline, and Action Comics #1022 offers a great example of how well DC’s larger continuity can still intersect in great ways.

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Young Justice – Nightmare Monkeys

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Young Justice – Nightmare Monkeys
  • wiki: link

Young Justice - Nightmare Monkeys television review

“Nightmare Monkeys” offers several revelations to the Young Justice team. The first comes at the end of the episode’s main story where Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) becomes lost in a pair of Goode VR Goggles designed to take over the minds of those it identifies as possessing a meta-human gene. Taking place within Garfield’s mind, the show’s writers have fun by inserting him into both the Hello, Megan! television show and version of Doom Patrol that was obviously styled after Teen Titans Go! (and even uses the show’s cast to voice the Doom Patrol characters rendered in Go‘s style). In another sequence, the episode also brings back Garfield’s pet monkey as either a Monkey God who prevented his mind from completely shutting down or some part of the character’s subconscious that recognized the danger and created false realities giving his friends time to save him.

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Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

/ / Comics

Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular comic reviewCatwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular is the latest DC over-sized one-shot to bring in several artists and writers to feature a character in a series of short tales. It’s on par with the Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular fans of Catwoman may wish to pick up, but there’s nothing here that’s a must-see.

My three favorite stories of the collection are the extremely meta “Conventional Wisdom” in which Selina finds herself signing autographs at BatCon while being confused with the various costumed fans (all of which is caused by Dr. Destiny), “Art of Picking a Lock” which features narration of story from Selina’s past while she is currently saving Slam Bradley from Joker henchmen, and “Helena” which features an unprepared Catwoman dealing with pregnancy (in a bit of a throwback to Earth-2’s Huntress origins).

While the collection doesn’t feature a Batman: The Animated Series story, the collection of art does feature an entry by Ty Templeton featuring my favorite version of Catwoman’s costume along with looks at her various costumes over the years.

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