Eternals

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Eternals
  • IMDb: link

Eternals is ambitious as hell. It may be the most ambitious movie Marvel has attempted since weaving together various threads into a single story in The Avengers. Sadly, it’s nowhere near as successful. With an opening crawl, monologues aplenty, and flashbacks, Eternals struggles to introduce and flesh out a dozen characters, their purpose, their backstory, and their place in the MCU.

I’ll give writer/director Chloé Zhao credit for assembling a talented and diverse cast, but with so many characters to keep track of (many of who disappear for large amounts of screentime) more than once I forgot an actor was even in the film.

…

EternalsRead More »

Eternals Read More »

Foundation – Barbarians at the Gate

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Foundation – Barbarians at the Gate
  • IMDb: link

Jumbling the second and third Foundation stories which take place decades apart, with content that was never part of the original stories from Isaac Asimov, and moving Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) even farther from the politician the character was in the original stories to some weird agent of fate, Foundation gears up for a more action-centered storyline as Hardin captures the leader (Kubbra Sait) of the Anacreon invasion force not realizing everything they are doing is playing into the intruders’ plans. While this Hardin is an interesting character, the longer this series continues the less if feels like Foundation.

…

Foundation – Barbarians at the GateRead More »

Foundation – Barbarians at the Gate Read More »

Checkmate #5

/ / Comics

Picking up exactly where Checkmate #4 ended, Leviathan has invaded Checkmate‘s headquarters, which they then teleport into the middle of Thailand. Although their building is rubble, the heroes aren’t quite out of the game as Mark Shaw had planned, thanks to King‘s use of the extra-dimensional doors which deliver them into the basement of the Hall of Justice with hopefully enough time to prevent Leviathan from getting their hands on the Heroes Network.

And, of course, this turns out to be the perfect opportunity for Talia to double-cross the heroes. It’s still not clear what exactly she’s getting out of helping Shaw, but incapacitating the heroes at the point they might stop him from realizing his goal certainly works in Leviathan’s favor.

Lois Lane is fairing a bit better with the sudden appearance of a brother she never knew about, but the “Snowman’s Ticket” is still a git of a mystery, except, perhaps to Mark Shaw.

…

Checkmate #5Read More »

Checkmate #5 Read More »

The Big Leap – We Were Just Babies / I Should Have Gone to Motown

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Big Leap – We Were Just Babies / I Should Have Gone to Motown
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

In “We Were Just Babies” the truth about Sam’s (Crew Kingston Miskel) father is revealed when the show returns to Gabby (Simone Recasner) and Justin’s (Raymond Cham Jr.) high school bringing Gabby’s oldest secret to light by revealing her favorite teacher took advantage of her and then promptly dumped Gabby when she became pregnant with his child. The long-running thread has a far better payoff than I expected, and also gives us a look at the crew discussing what’s best to do with this information, both for Gabby and for the show, ultimately giving Gabby a strong moment to stand-up for herself.

…

The Big Leap – We Were Just Babies / I Should Have Gone to MotownRead More »

The Big Leap – We Were Just Babies / I Should Have Gone to Motown Read More »

Usagi Yojimbo #23

/ / Comics

“Ransom” continues with Kiyoko‘s kidnapping by Boss Hasegawa’s warriors as Miyamoto Usagi and his cousin Yukichi Yamamoto are given until sunrise to return Boss Hasegawa’s stolen ledger if they want to see Kiyoko again. The circumstances aren’t helped with the local thief, realizing how much the book is worth, steals it from Kitsune leaving our heroes with nothing to trade for Kiyoko’s life.

Usagi Yojimbo #23 is a solid middle issue of the arc adding some drama while drawing out the trouble for our characters to be resolved within the next issue. The comic foreshadows some hope for our heroes given the one honorable member of Boss Hasegawa’s soldiers who keeps Kiyoko safe from the others, and the Boss himself, after giving Usagi his word she would be safe until sunrise. Now, if they can just find that book…

…

Usagi Yojimbo #23Read More »

Usagi Yojimbo #23 Read More »