The Book of Boba Fett

 

Everyone's favorite bounty hunter from the 80's is back.Well technically he returned in the Mandalorian's season 2 when he tracked down Din Djarin and Grogu to Tython. As recapped in my blog post on Mando, Fett reclaims his beskar armor and even aids Din Djarin with his quest to determine the location of Moff Gideon's cruiser after Grogu is abducted. They successfully rescue Grogu and Grogu unites with Luke Skywalker. The end of the season sees Fett returning to Tatooine with Fennec Shand and taking Jabba's throne from Jabba's Major Domo Bib Fortuna.

The Book of Boba Fett starts off by recounting the events leading up to the Mando episode. We get the back story of how Boba escapes from the Sarlacc Pit after the events in ROTJ, how he loses his armor, and how he is subsequently rescued by a tribe of Tusken Raiders. Boba learns that being in a tribe has its benefits. His time with his Tusken family drastically alters his beliefs. The series also explores his relationship with Fennec and explains why Fennec becomes his partner and co-conspirator. 

Flash forward to the current day and Boba is now the daimyo, or underworld crime boss. He goes into town to collect protection money only to be disrespected and even attacked. All signs point to the Hutt's. However after confronting the Hutt's, and avoiding getting killed by another bounty hunter  Black Krysantan, he discovers that he is dealing with a different entity altogether. The mysterious organization even massacres his Tusken family after he successfully helps them to deal with the spice train that uses the Tusken territory as a major route. He soon finds out that it is the Pike Syndicate. This powerful illegal spice trade organization even manages to turn the local trandoshans and others against Boba and his allies. He enlist the help of Din Djarin. It is at this point that we get what fans call Mandalorian's season 2.5.

We follow Din on a mission as he seeks out the Armorer to mold an armor for Grogu out of the beskar spear, which he acquired after assisting Ahsoka Tano. He also finds out about the Darksabre history from her. Turns out that there was a Mandalorian Jedi named Tarre Vizsla. He is then challenged to a duel for the rights to the sabre by the heavily Armored Mandalorian Paz Vizsla, who happens to be a descendant of the house of Vizsla. He emerges victorious, but is excommunicated from the Creed when the Armorer discovers that he had removed his helmet in order to save Grogu. Bereft of his ship, he travels back to Tatooine to seek out Pelli Motto who has a new 'Razor Crest' for him. Turns out she has a souped up N1 Naboo Starfighter. Initial reluctance turns to pure joy when he gets to test out his new ships capabilities.

Fennec pays Din a visit at Pelli's docking bay on behalf of Boba to enlist his help in the upcoming battle and Din agrees to help for free. But he has something to attend to first. He then departs to see Grogu. His rational is that Grogu is a Mandalorian foundling and therefore should receive his foundling armor. It's only with Ahsoka's persuasion that he decides not to interfere with Grogu's Jedi training. We get a fantastic montage of Master Luke, in his prime training his new padawan, reminiscent of Luke's training on Dagobah with Master Yoda. Luke tells Grogu about Master Yoda and even introduces Grogu to the training remote Ben Kenobi used all those moons ago on the Falcon. It is also revealed later that Luke offered Grogu a choice between Yoda's lighsabre, or Din's gift. He chooses the latter.

Meanwhile Din is back on Tatooine and joins up with Boba and his allies to make a stand against the Pike Syndicate. He visits his old friend Cobb Vanth and Mos Pelgo, now known as Freetown. The people of Freetown only agree to help after the Pike Syndicate sends Cad Bane to gun down their sheriff. They stand their ground at the town square and get hammered from all sides by fully Armored scorponok droidekas. The tide is only turned when Boba uses his gift from the Hutt's, a baby rancor. In a final showdown with his old nemesis Cad Bane, Boba finally triumphs by using the skills he acquired from his time with the Tusken family.

Overall I had no issues with the series like some of the hard-core fans. In fact I quite enjoyed the story arc. I loved the chemistry between the leads. Temuera Morisson is Boba Fett. He brings a certain gravitas to the role. I especially love how he infuses his Maori heritage into the role.Ming Na Wen is also incredible as Fennec Shand. She brings the intensity and physicality to the role. My only gripe was the mod crew and their brightly colored Power Rangers inspired Vespa's. They seemed out of place on Tatooine.

I'll be back : A retrospective look at Terminator 2

 

This James Cameron masterpiece starring action megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be one of the greatest syfy thrillers ever produced. Even though there have been several more Terminator movies, this one remains the yardstick which all  others are measured against. Much like the Star Wars movies before this, the VFX developed for this movie was way ahead of its time. It's visionary directors such as Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg that continued to push the envelope,  making movies like Jurassic Park and the Avengers possible today. I remember being totally captivated by the action sequences and VFX as a teen and ran my two pack VHS tapes into the ground. One contained the theatrical release of the movie, and the other contained a BTS documentary. I spent a good amount of time discussing the intricacies of the movie with my peers. We even adopted some of the vernacular from the movie into our everyday speak. Some of the most memorable lines include I'll be back ','Hasta la Vista baby' and 'Chill out dickward'. I actually like this one a lot more than the first one.

The story follows the events of the first movie. Linda Hamilton reprises her role as Sara Connor, the birth mother of the future leader of the resistance, John Connor, now played by Edward Furlong. Sara is locked up at a psych ward at the Pascadero state penitentiary and John now lives with his foster parents. Turns out that Sara has been trying to warn mankind of what's coming but people think that she has lost her mind. Things start to unravel when a T800, Arnold's character is sent back in time by future John Connor to prevent judgment day when Skynet becomes self aware and launches nukes that leads to the annihilation of mankind. Skynet senses this as well and sends a more lethal and advanced Terminator, a liquid metal, or a mimetic poly alloy T1000, played by Robert Patrick to assassinate John. What follows is a mad dash to save Sara from prison, track down the creator of Skynet, Miles Dyson of CyberDyne Industries and convince him to destroy all his research and development on what would become Skynet and to stay alive. Our heroes get into some skirmishes with the T1000, like in the prison where the T1000 melts through the prison bars in pursuit of Sara. Arnold also gets to say the now immortal line 'Come with me if you want to live' after Sara sees him for the first time and thinks he is the Terminator from the previous film. We also learn that Terminators can be taught to be more human. John grows really close to his guardian as a result of this.

This movie features some of the biggest and best action sequences like the bike and truck chase in the monsoon drain, the highway chase ending at the steel mill and the final showdown between a badly damaged T800 and the seemingly undefeatable T1000. The use of practical effects for the majority of the movie is what separates this from the current crop of blockbusters. There may be be bigger and more bombastic movies out there but Terminator 2 Judgement Day will always have a special place in my heart.

Flashback Friday : Airborne

Cheesy melodramatic and very 90's. This best describes the movie I will be spotlighting today. We don't get fun, small budget productions such as this anymore.  Harkens back to the simpler times where movies didn't take themselves so seriously. This is a little known movie outside the rollerblading and surfing communities.. In fact I didn't know anyone outside of my family who had watched this until almost a decade later when I mentioned the movie one Friday arvo at a pub and my friend Shannon Pobar, an avid surfer exclaimed that she loved the show! Finally I could discuss this with another human being.

The story premise is a pretty simple. It's the typical fish out of the water scenario where the protagonist  Mitchell Goosen, played by Shane McDermott a native of Los Angeles gets thrown into unfamiliar environment and has to either sink or swim. Mitchell is your typical southern California teen, laid back Rollerblader who spends his day skating down the streets and surfing. His life is turned inside out when his tenured folks get a grant to travel down under to study the Australian wombat. To Mitchell's chagrin his parents decide to send him to Cincinnati instead of bringing him with them. They send him to live with his aunt instead. The scene where he awaits on a snow filled tarmac for his visa card, his surfboard. Priceless!

Mitchell bonds with his weird goth cousin Wiley, played by a very young Seth Green of Robot Chicken fame. He is a socially awkward teen who is a  self professed hockey nut, as in Nintendo hockey. Mitchell gets into trouble the first day at school due to his cool zen outlook in life. He is a hit with the girls, but gets into trouble with the hockey jocks. All that talk about liquid drano and his SoCal lingo like 'chill brah' doesn't help his cause. Jack Black plays Auggie, one of the jocks who pokes fun at Mitchell's mannerisms and accent. Things come to a head when the preps challenge the leader of the group Jack and his team and they enlist the help of Wiley. Mitchell has to stand in for his cousin when he is knocked out as he has never played actual hockey in real life. Mitchell proceeds to lose the game for them by accidentally  scoring for the preps.

His school life is turned inside out following this incident and he and Wiley get hit by a barrage of pranks daily. Mitchell's is almost at breaking point lamenting how he needs the smog and traffic in LA. His  life takes a turn for the better after he receives his Rollerblades in the mail and goes on shred the rails, half pipe and stairs. He also meets a girl, Nikki and impresses her with his knowledge of plants. Things go pear shaped while they were out and a date and is rudely interrupted by the leader of the preps. Mitchell also  finds out that Nikki is Jack's sister. He also chooses not to fight, going as far as to say no one is worth fighting for. He later regrets his actions  but still refuses to resort to violence and instead finds a way to utterly humiliate the leader of the preps at a local roller hockey game. He wins over the jocks who recruits him to join a dangerous down hill race at a place known as the devil's backbone. He finally wins over Jack and gets Nikki back.

And there you have it, my Friday Flashback review. This is a fun family friendly movie packed with some great aggressive skating action from the pioneer of aggressive skating Chris 'the airman' Edwards and his Team Rollerblade skaters. Chris play one of the jocks and stands in for Mitchell when he does a soul grind on the rail, doing the McTwist over the halfpipe coping, and using the flatbed truck to jump down an intersection.RAD!

Getting high on Plastic Crack

I'm an addict! There I have admitted it. It's the first step to recovery right? Haaaha I doubt that I could ever! I have delved too deep down that rabbit hole to get out. So why do we collect? What drives our thirst for such items? Today I want to explore the reasons why we choose to horde items from music CDs to beer can labels. My drug of choice is plastic crack, or action figures. 

Nostalgia and wanting to fulfill a childhood memories is a big driving force for most collectors. We all grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons, read comic books and watched movies right? Depending on the era you were born in, you were   probably into Star Wars in the 80's, Transformers, MASK, MOTU, TMNT in the 90's, late 90's Power Rangers and so on and so forth. These franchises formed our collective consciousness, as well as shaping us into the adults we are today. Back in the days when we were just kids and didn't have any buying power, all we could do is ogle over TV ads and toys on the shelves in the stores. And if we were lucky enough, our parents would gift us with action figures. Times were also very different back in the old days with kids not having the technology that children have today. We didn't have DVD's, let alone streaming or the Internet. All we had was books, comics and figures to help us relive exciting moments from our favorite movies. We were basically immersing ourselves in a fantasy world using our minds and imagination.

these same fans are now adults with disposable incomes and can finally afford to purchase the very figures that they lusted over as kids. In fact a current study of the toy industry shows that the biggest demographic that contributes to toy sales are adult collectors in the 30 to 50's. Kids these days just aren't into toys. They are more into their cell phones and aps. This is reflected in the way action figures are distributed,through online specialist stores like Entertainment Earth and Big Bad Toy Store. Gone are the days when one could walk into a Walmart or Target and see rows upon rows of toys. This trend of adult collectors has also given rise to higher quality figures from the likes of Mezco, SH Figurearts, MAFEX, Hottoys, Sideshow, McFarlane Toys to name. There's even a Netflix series 'The Toy's that made us', delving into the history of some of the biggest movers and shakers of the toy industry. Some of the highlights of the program include Kenner Toys and how they grew from a small business to a juggernaut, all thanks to the popularity of the Star Wars action figure and playset lines. They were the first company to popularize figures in the 3.75" size. This size was later adopted as a industry standard.

Collecting, other than fulfilling childhood needs and wants also allows us to link up with the like minded and being  part of a community. Hey as they say geek is the new cool. Just look at the larger franchises on TV and at the movies. Some collectors also buy vintage toys as an investment, since some of the rarer and sought after pieces can fetch a hefty price. Examples of these include mint on card, or MOC vinyl cape Jawa, double telescoping farm boy Luke Skywalker, double telescoping Darth Vader on a Star Wars cardback. Rarer yet are the prototype rocket firing Boba Fett that was advertised on the cardback but never made it to production due to safety concerns about choking hazards.

So what do I collect? Well I have items from all my favorite franchises. My pride and joy is my complete vintage loose figure Kenner Star Wars line ,minus the last 17 POTF figures, loose vintage X Wing, Landspeeder,

Rebel Armored Snowspeeder, Millennium Falcon, AT ST, Darth Vaders Tie Fighter, Slave One, and 12 MOC figures. I also have a selection of 6" Hasbro Black Series figures, some Marvel Legends MCU characters, the main robots from the Transformers Studio Serie, assorted LOTR's MOC figures, MOC figures from Hasbro's 90's run of Star Wars. I have sold off quite a large portion of my figures as well, due to space and monetary constraints. You will soon realize that 'collect em all' is not always the best way. It's better to zero in on the characters you like. For Star Wars, I stick to the core players from the OG Trilogy. For Marvel it is the OG MCU Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. For Transformers, it's Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream.

My favorite You Tube channels

 We live in an era of consumerism. Our hunger for the latest news spawned a whole new genre of amateur productions on YouTube. The advantages of these is that laypersons have a platform to voice their views. And the best part is if they have a big enough audience, they actually can influence studios decision making. There are obviously downsides with made up news. It's up to the audience to vet the veracity of the information presented. I personally watch and tune in to quite a number of video podcast on a daily basis. Below are some of my favorite You Tube channels.

UsualMike Television (https://www.youtube.com/@UsualmikeTelevision)

A fellow Aussie host this YouTube channel. I follow a few action figure review and news channels, but Mikey is by far the best and my go-to for the latest Star Wars figure news. Got to support fellow Aussies right? Anywho that is not the reason why I love Mikes channel, of which he now has two, one for Star Wars and one for GI Joe. Mikes home of action figure news features the most up to date information about the latest releases. Mike clearly puts a lot of effort and research into his videos, and  his unbridled enthusiasm shines through every time. His opening exclamation 'And on this edition of the noose' gets me pumped every time. And I like how he steers clear of all the shenanigans that seem to plague the other channels. Just another really nice and down to earth bloke with a passion for in box collecting.

Mr Sunday Movies Caravan of Garbage (https://www.youtube.com/@mrsundaymovies)

James and Mason host the TV and movie review site Caravan of Garbage. I must admit that I am biased as I love everything Aussie. Maybe it's the candor. There is a certain earnestness to the the way things are presented. Much like Mike, I really enjoy their fresh takes on popular movies, Easter egg breakdowns, trailer discussions. What I particularly love about their show is the spotlights on slightly older movie franchises. And did I mention their chemistry? James and Mason are like PBnJ.

Double Toasted (https://www.youtube.com/@DoubleToasted_)

Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas  have to be the funnest  and most boisterous movie reviewers ever. They never fail to split my sides. The channel reviews current movies, cover current trends like BLM, and also bad movie roast, which is my favorite segment. They have a zany movie rating system that also elicit  guffaws. For Black History Month they had Retro Reviews where they reviewed my favorite cult classic , The Wiz! And did I mention that Korey and Martin run live shows? They travel around continental US, bringing their brand of humor to the masses.

Clownfish TV (https://www.youtube.com/@ClownfishTV)

Hosted by a couple Kneon and Geeky Sparkles, who also runs the Pirates and Princesses blog, they were once Disney insiders. These days they seek to uncover the underlying issues with modern day Disney and with woke and cancel culture in geek media . I find their discussions about gamer and comic gate, the current state of the movie industry, and the current conditions of the Disney parks and attractions to be very interesting and informative. Kneon has a deep understanding of how the comic book industry works as he himself is a creator and he is involved in the industry.They also discuss in depth the problems faced by Disney fans such as the rising cost of park tickets, Disney's woeful attempts at getting Star Wars fan's to stay at the exorbitantly priced  Starlight Cruise, where everything is overpriced.

Overlord DVD Doomcock TV (https://www.youtube.com/@OverlordDVD)

Self proclaimed ruler of the earth, Doomcock and his minion Harvey Cthuhlu broadcast their transmissions from the center of the earth. Doomcock's mission is to save pop culture one movie at a time. Doomcock has connections in Hollywood and his inside scoops are often to the point. How many big name franchises have fallen to the wayside due to social pandering? Good examples include Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. This Kathleen Kennedy vehicle single handedly broke the Star Wars Fandom in two. And now we have an impending disaster in the upcoming James Mangold helmed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Rumor has it that they are trying to erase Indiana's past and replacing him with Phoebe Waller Bridges character. Doomcock hopes to reverse this trend by keeping the fans informed. Together we can end this terrible conflict and bring order to the galaxy. Doomcock was so influential that he was featured in the godawful She Hulk series!

Mini Reviews : Wednesday

 I have always been a fan of the original Addams Family, at least the movieverse version with Raul Julia   and Angelica Houston as Gomez  and Morticia Addams. And who can forget Christina Ricci as the irrepressible Wednesday Addams, or Christopher Lloyd's Uncle Fester? Dark Gothic humor at its finest. So imagine how excited I was to learn about Netflix new series spotlighting the Wednesday Addams character. Now granted that newcomer Jenna Ortega had huge shoes to fill, with Ricci's portrayal so firmly engrained in our pop collective. Jenna didn't just show up. She totally owned the character and captured the deadpan, nonchalant mood including the unblinking, soul piercing gaze. She even choreographed a dance that went viral on social media! What's more interesting is that we get the original Wednesday Addams Christina Ricci in a meaty role. We get Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Gwendolyn Christie as the school principal Larissa  Weems, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, and Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin. The story is markedly darker and less comedic, playing out like a detective drama following a murder mystery, with supernatural beings of course. The story follows Wednesday moving to a new school, Nevermore Academy, which also happens to be her mother's  Alma mater. Following a bizarre series of brutal slayings, Wednesday traces the breadcrumbs left behind by the perpetrator. The story has some clever detours to throw us off the scent of the actual killer and the puppet master behind the scenes. I highly recommend watching the series. 

Is the MCU imploding?

 Antman Quantumania opens today and things are not looking good for the MCU. The movie was certified rotten by the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Even the  so called Disney shills are declaring how lackluster the movie is, comparing to the likes of the Eternals. For a movie that is supposed to launch Marvel Phase 5, this certainly does not bode well for the future of the franchise. In a recent interview, Marvel's head honcho Kevin feige admitted that they are pushing out too much product and that they should pull back and focus on quality over quantity. Duh you think?

In my opinion that is just the tip of the iceberg! Marvel Phase  1, 2  and 3 were very well planned and laid out. We had fleshed out three dimensional heroes that had their time to shine in their own feature films. The supporting acts were also expertly interwoven into the stories. This was also pre WOKE Marvel where they would try to shoehorn in feminism and diversity into their characters. Don't get me wrong. I am all for empowerment and diversity when done the right organic way. A good example is the Eternals and Shang Chi. Both movies had diverse casting that fits with the narrative of the stories. The only reason I think the Eternals didn't do well at the box office was due to its stylistics. It was a marked departure from the usual bombastic style of the Marvel movies. Now juxtapose these with Captain Marvel. I regard this as the start of Marvel's decline. Captain Marvel felt like the typical over powered Mary Sue. This is shoehorning at its finest. They introduced her so she could show up and save everyone from Thanos. I am so glad that the Russo brothers didn't cave in and let Tony Stark's arc play out.

Then there is the issues with cohesiveness in storytelling and the overarching arcs. These feel missing from the phase 4 movies. Kevin Feige' s hiring of different directors, and apparent greater freedom of expression meant more directors going off on tangents, and not in a good way. Both She Hulk and Thor Love and Thunder were such travesties because of this. That coupled with the the fact that Marvel was putting quantity over quality just makes matters worse. So do I think the MCU is imploding? You betcha! The saying that you can capture lighting in a bottle only once rings true. We are never going to match the dizzy heights that Avengers Infinity War and Endgame achieved. That was the pinnacle of the MCU.

Flashback Friday : Wayne's World

 

Who among you readers remember this cult classic from the 90's?? Based on the SNL skit from the insane minds of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey Comes Wayne's World. The story follows the antics of Wayne and Garth, who run a wacky talk show from Wayne's basement. They spotlight crazy inventions like the 'suck cut'. So what does it actually do? Well it sucks and it cuts. The inventor tries it on Garth and it works so well that it is also sucking his will to live. Their program becomes viral and attracts the attention of a studio executive, played by Rob Lowe. He wants to take Wayne's world to syndicate television, complete with sponsors. Complications arise when Wayne meets a girl Cassandra, played by Tia Carrera, who also catches Rob's eye. There is a hilarious scene where Wayne learns how to speak Cantonese, Cassandra's native language, but misuses some words to comedic effect. Also Wayne and Garth are not sell outs, and proceed to make fun of the sponsors, screwing up their chances to be picked up by the station. Oh well they were better off freewheeling from Wayne's basement anyway. Wayne ends up getting the girl in one of the ending.Yeah there were two endings!. This movie also featured the iconic headbanging scene to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, lingoes like 'schwing', 'We're not worthy', 'party on Wayne, party on Garth','I slipped' and the riff  ' Wayne's World, Wayne's World, party time, excellent, riu, riu'. Definitely a must watch classic!

Billionaire, philanthropist, playboy

 

I felt compelled to write this post seeing that Jon Favreau just got honored with a star on the walk of fame at Hollywood Blvd on the 13th of February 2023. In attendance was his close friend and collaborator Robert Downey Jr. It was Favreau's visionary directing and faith in his then downtrodden friend that lead to the renaissance of Downey Jr's career and the birth of the multi million dollar juggernaut now known as the MCU.

Before I delve into the phenomenon known as the Ironman, how many of you remember both Jon and Robert  from the early years? I'm sure that you recall Jon's  comedic roles on FRIENDS as a crazy rich guy who wanted to fight in the octagon, or the clown who clashes with George Costanza at a children's party and claims that George is living in the past and and no one knows who Bozo is  on Seinfeld? His comedic timing is uncanny, and he gets to showcase this as Happy Hogan in the Ironman movies. He is also a brilliant director, having directed Disney's live adaptations of the beloved Lion King and The Jungle Book. He is currently leading the revitalization of the Star Wars franchise with the Mandalorian.

Downey Jr, the star of the Ironman and Sherlock Holmes movies has had his fair share of up and downs with drug addiction and sobriety. He has some diamonds from his troubled years, such as the amazing Chaplin, his time on  the TV series Ally McBeal, and as Kirk Lazarus in the largely controversial Ben Stiller production Tropic Thunder. Here he plays an actor playing a African American. He has been my all time favorite actor since I first watched Only You, Hearts and Souls and  Weird Science. Despite his misdemeanors, his colleagues have always said that he maintained his professionalism on set and gave his all. Downey Jr's method acting as well as his quick wit is a joy to watch. The only other thespian that can inhabit a role like that is Johnny Depp. Downey Jr's life and career turned around when he met his current wife Susan on the set of Gothika. She kept him on the straight and narrow.

Fast forward to 2008 and the release of the Jon Favreau helmed Ironman. Jon had to literally fight to keep the uninsurable Downey Jr on the project due to his checked past. And Downey Jr wasn't even the top biller for this second tier  Marvel superhero movie. That spot went to Terrance Howard, who played James Rhodes. Jon's gamble paid off and Robert Downey Jr became the face of the MCU. Sure he was supported by some great actors and actresses. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. But it was his genius that made Stark believable and relatable. RDJ, with all his insecurities and  flaws was born to play Tony Stark! In Downey Jr's own words, ' I'm lucky to be able play myself in different roles '. This is a well paced origin story that fleshes out Tony Stark's arc from a narcissistic arms dealer to semi enlighten superhero after he experiences a life altering event in Afghanistan where he almost loses his life. He is taken hostage by the terrorist organization, The Ten Rings and has to design a device to prevent the metal shard from reaching his heart. With the help of Dr Yensin, Tony creates a mini Arc reactor, and the first Ironman suit. He realizes that they have been stockpiling Stark Industries smart bombs, and that Obadiah has been behind all the nefarious dealings. 

The second movie sees the introduction of Scarlett Johanssen Natasha Romanov and Mickey Rouke's 'Whiplash. While this was also directed by Jon Favreau, I felt like this was Ironman's weakest outing and felt more like a filler. This one lacked the punch and  heart from the first one. The story loosely adapts the storyline from the comic 'Demon in the bottle' and we see Tony trying to stay sober after discovering he is slowly being poisoned by Palladium from the arc reactor. He also has to deal with a vengeful Ivan Drako/ Whiplash, who feels that his father was never given the recognition as a co inventor of the arc reactor. He is hired by Stark Industries rival Hammer Industries. He creates an army of remote drones, and it is up to Tony and Rhodey, now played by Don Cheadle. This movie does however have the best action sequence of the three when Whiplash attacks Tony at the Monaco grand prix. How cool was Tony's suitcase Ironman suit?

Jon Favreau made way for another former collaborater of RDJ, Shane Black for Tony Stark's final outing in a solo movie. Again this installment failed to live up to the standards set by the original  2008 movie. Many fans liked this one even less than the last one. The main gripes were the lack of Ironman action, and the fake out with the Ten Rings and the way they handled the Mandarin, which will later be rectified by Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This movie adapts the graphic novel ' Extremis'. Guy Pierce plays a brilliant scientist who is snubbed by Tony during his self indulgent days. He creates an unstable super soldier serum that grants those that can withstand the transfusion process the ability to melt metal and heal. The catch for those who can't is death by explosion. To cover up the explosions from the experiments, they concort a story about terrorism and create a character, the Mandarin, played by Sir Ben Kingsley. I actually really enjoyed this movie. Despite not having much Ironman action, we actually get to see Tony Stark the man at his lowest and most vulnerable, sans his armor. Well technically he does have an experimental Mark 42 suit. The problem is that it's finicky and doesn't work very well. Tony has PTSD from his experience when battling the aliens in NY. We get to see him overcome this, with a little help. 

We get to see Tony's development further in the Avengers movies. More  on this in future blogs!

My favorite CW Series UPDATED May 4th

Supernatural

This series was my constant companion during my trying graduate school years. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester are thrown into a life of hunting supernatural beings after Sam's girlfriend and their mom Mary (Samantha Smith) are taken by the yellow eyed cross roads demon. They originally follow their dad John's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) lead, but quickly learn to tools of the trade. Through out it's historic 15 season run, we see the boys team up with an angel, Castiel (Misha Collins), King of the underworld Crowley (Mark Sheppard) and even a witch Rowena (Ruth Connell) as they take on demons, vampires, shapeshifters, Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) and even God (Rob Benedict)! Carry on you wayward son.

The Flash

If the Arrow is dark and gloomy, the Flash is the opposite bright and more optimistic. Grant Gustin is the perfect Barry Allen. He brings a certain earnestness to the role, and much like the rest of the small screen Arrowverse actors and actresses, are light years ahead of their big screen counterparts. I  rather have Gustin in the titular role in the  upcoming Flash movie than with the troubled star Ezra Miller. With and amazing supporting cast, we see team S.T.A.R Labs take on the chief antagonist Eobard Thawn-Reverse Flash, played to perfection by Tom Cavanagh. Candice Patton is the perfect foil for Barry as Iris West, together with Jesse martin's inspector Joe West. This is my favorite DC series by far.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

This gem of a series reinvents itself with each new season and always feels  fresh and never dull, a rarity in the industry. I have to give mad props to the writers of the show. The series centers around a rag-tag  group of so called heroes originally assembled by Rip Hunter to clean up the problems by time travel using a flying time machine, the  Wave Rider. Our team consisting of stallwarts Sarah Lance -Caity Lotz, Ray Palmer -brandon Routh, Rory-Dominic Purcell, as well as a rotating cast of colorful characters like Zari-Tala Ashe, Ava Sharpe -Jes McCallen and Nathan -Nick Zano. No historical event is off limits as the writers expertly weave these into the show. As such we get to see our crew in all sorts of costumes and wacky situations. The series is certainly very unique and one of the best CW shows. Unfortunately the series got cancelled before we got a satisfying conclusion to the story.

Superman and Lois

This series is a brilliant take on Clark Kent-Kal El and how he juggles his duties as superhero and father. The CW accomplishes what none of the movie verse movies manages to do, explores the human side of Superman. Tyler Hoechlin, though not the archetypical Superman, does an amazing job opposite Elizabeth  Tulloch. He is your relatable and down to earth Kal-El. The show opens with Clark moving  his family back to his hometown, Smallville. We see how his teenage son Jonathan and Jordan deal being removed from all their friends. Things get even more complicated when Jordan starts developing superhuman powers like his pops. This series also explores the Tal Rho relationship,and we get to bizarro Superman and John Henry Irons. This series, now into its third season has a very cinematic feel to it. I just simply love the warmer color palette they use. It harkens back to the Christopher Reeves era, where everything was optimistic and full of hope. 

I can do this all day

 I'm a big Ironman buff, thanks to my love for Robert Downey Jr, but found the MCU movies to be severely lacking in the storytelling department. I only enjoyed the first one from Jon Favreau. But let's shelve that discussion for another day. Today I want to talk about my favorite Marvel superhero trilogy that I feel has the best and most fleshed out character arc of the triumvirate of Ironman, Thor and, as the title of the blog hinted at, Captain Steve Rogers, aka Captain America!

I must admit that I was a little hesitant at the beginning as I didn't really enjoy Chris Evans performance as Johnny Blaze in Fox's insipid Fantastic Four movies. In fact I didn't even catch 'The First Avenger ' on the big screen! So imagine how I felt when I got to watch this for the first time. Evans made me eat my words with his incredible performance. He was the embodiment of everything Captain America is, humble and

courageous (He throws himself on a grenade to save everyone, showing how selfless he is. This character trait is what defines him and makes him the perfect candidate for the super soldier serum). This first chapter follows Steve's transformation from starry-eyed scrawny kid to superhero. He is originally used as a poster child for the army, doing roadshows. But when he realizes that he might be able to save his friend Bucky, he takes charge and proves his worth. Together with Bucky, they take on Red Skull and Hydra. The supporting cast, Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving (Red Skull) all give stellar performances.



If you enjoyed it the first one, the  second installment is even better, with many regarding this to be the best of the three. This one explores Bucky's reappearance as a pawn of Hydra. Turns out Bucky didn't die in the fall in the first movie and was experimented on and transformed into the mindwiped assassin with superhuman strength and a bionic arm, an entity known as the Winter Soldier. It's up to Cap to turn his best friend back to the light side. Sebastian Stan takes center stage in this sequel and gets to explore the darkness in his mind. While not as deep dived as Steven Grant -Marc Spector psyche in Moonknight, Stan plays the conflicted role perfectly.We also see the introduction of Anthony Mackie's Falcon.

The final installment of the trilogy adapts the Civil War story arc from the comic books, but on a much smaller scale. No X Men yet in the MCU yet! We do get the introduction of Tom Holland's Peter Parker and the late Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa. Many regarded this as Avengers 2.5 as it features all the main Avengers from Age of Ultron. Following the fallout from the events in Sokovia, the US government decides that the Avengers have to be regulated and to be held accountable. It so happens that at a UN meeting, a terrorist attack leaves the king of Wakanda dead. T'Challa takes on the mantle of the Black Panther and vows to hunt down the perpetrator. Video evidence points to our ambiguous friend Bucky. Tony Stark is convinced that he is Bucky, but Steve Rodgers trust his reformed BFF. This splits our band into team Stark and team Rodgers. Turns out they have all been played by by Baron Zemo who blames the Avengers for the death of his family during the Sokovia incident. The fallout between former friends Tony and Steve has far reaching consequences going into Infinity Wars.

Overall I really enjoyed the whole Captain America and Bucky Barnes story arc. Both characters felt really fleshed out. The choice of the stories are far meatier compared to the Ironman and Thor trilogies. I would attribute this to the expert direction of the Russo brothers who directed the second and third  movies, as well as the incredible Infinity War and Endgame movies. This trilogy is essential watching in my opinion!

Fortune and Glory

 I'm sure you know where this quote comes from if are a big movie buff and geek. If you don't, how can you even call yourself a fanboy or girl. I'll give you a hint, Harrison Ford. You still don't know? Oh come on I'm referring to Willie Scott's comment to a certain archeologist-adventurer who has a penchant for getting into trouble with the German's, Russian's and Nazi's. Yes I'm talking about the iconic Dr Indiana Jones! He is so enduring that Harrison Ford is going to don the fedora and leather jacket for the last time at 80 years of age this summer in 'The Dial of Destiny'.

Star Wars and Dr Jones was quite literally my childhood in a nutshell. With John William's theme playing in my head, I would reenact scenes from the movie. In fact I aspired to be an archeologist growing up thanks to George Lucas and Steven Speilberg. The  first movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' follows Indy's quest in Cairo  to uncover the location of the ark of the covenant, all the while being chased by Nazi's. This first adventure features the amazing boulder escape scene in the jungles of Peru and the face melting scene. Here we meet Indy's good friend Sallah, played by John Rhys Davies and Indy's old flame Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen.

The second installment of the trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, takes a much darker turn, much like Empire in the Star Wars trilogy. In this Indy has to face a blood thirsty cult to recover some sacred stones to save a village from famine and free the village children who have been enslaved by the Maharaja of Pankot palace and the Thugees. He is aided in his quest for the Shankara stones by a street urchin named Short Round, played by Ke Huy Quan, and the sassy Willie Scott, played by Kate Capshaw, of whom he runs into after a botched deal with some thugs in Shanghai. This movie stood out to me due to the bloodcurdling sacrifice scene, but has the best action sequences in the mine car chase sequence and the finale rope bridge over the chasm scene.

The third part of the original trilogy is my favorite out of the three. It explores Indy's relationship with his dad Dr Henry Jones, played by the incredible Sir Sean Connery. His dad goes missing and Indy has to follow the breadcrumbs left behind by his dad, using dad's 'grail diary'. Henry made finding the Holy Grail his life's work. Using the clues in dad's diary, Indy travels to Austria with Marcus Brody and finds his dad, as well more clues to the chalice that held Christ  blood at the crucifixion. Legend tells that whoever drinks from the chalice will be granted immortality. Set in awe inspiring Petra in Jordan, Indy's final trial puts his faith on the line as he races against time to save his dad.

This trilogy made Harrison Ford a bona-fide star and started the whole scruffy tomb raiding action genre. We had Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone. There are shades of Indiana Jones in the Tomb Raider games and movies as well, with Lara Croft being a female Indy. Then there is Nathan Drake in the Uncharted games and movies. Heck even the Brendan Fraser Mummy series draws inspiration from these. Need I go on? In fact Indy was so popular, they brought the original cast back for Indy 4, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and introduced Indy's and Marion's son Muff, played by Shia LaBeouf. And as mentioned above, we are getting a fifth installment featuring Sallah and his daughter. 

We shall see how things play out. Personally I would have preferred if they had left it at The Last Crusade with our heroes riding off into the sunset. I didn't enjoy the whole extraterrestrial theme of The Crystal Skull, and the whole time travel thing in The Dial of Destiny just doesn't scream  Indiana Jones to me!

Mini Reviews; Alice in Borderland

I  admit that I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic series, so it should come as no surprise that I gravitated to Netflix's latest adaptation of the manga 'Alice in Borderlands' by Haro Aso. It's a rather refreshing take on the premise and interweaves characters from Alice in Wonderland. The story begins in the bustling heart of Tokyo where our main protagonist Ryohei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), our Alice, meets up with his best friend's Chota Segawa-carpenter (Yuki Morinaga) and Daikichi Karube-walrus (Keita Machida).Arisu is a gamer with no direction in life. Chota works in a deadend IT job. Karube, the toughest of the three works as a bartender and is the voice of reason of the trio. They cause a minor ruckus in the middle of a busy intersection and run into a restroom cubicle in the subway to hide from the cops. Whilst hiding, the power goes out and everything changes. The whole city is deserted. And so begins the madness. Our group discovers that they are somehow transported to an alternate world where they have to play games to earn a visa, that is if you survive the game. The games are based on a deck of playing cards! The symbols determine the type of games. As an example if a heart card is drawn, the players are pitted against one another and there can only be one winner. The number of symbols on the said drawn cards determine the difficulty level, as well as the number of 'free' visa off days before you have to play again. So what happens when your visa expires? Well you get dead via laser beam through your head!

As with all post apocalyptic themed series, this show relies on shock and gore, so I would classify it under the horror genre. And you get that in spades. And much like TWD, the characters all have crosses to bear and must each find their inner strength, the reason to live, and finally to escape the madness. Arisu makes it his quest to find out who the game masters are, and if there is a way to get home. Mixed rather brilliantly into this is character parallels from Alice in Wonderland. Key players that we encounter through Arisu's journey's include the first person they meet Saori Shibuki (Ayame Misaki), Yuzuha Usagi -White Rabbit (Tao Tsuchiya), who would later becomes Arisu strength and partner, Kuina-the smoking caterpillar (Asahina Aya), Shuntaro Chishiya-Cheshire Cat (Nijiro Murakami), Tatta, archer Heya and members of the Beach, Ann-the White Queen, Takeru-Hatter and Aguni-March Hare. See if you can identify the inferred players with their Wonderland counterparts. There are currently two seasons and definitely worth the watch!

Mini Reviews; A man called LOGAN

I'm starting a new segment today highlighting movies and TV series I enjoy. And what better way to start than with the best X Men movie, James Mangold's Logan. Hugh Jackman once again don's the feral facial hair and adamantium claws as our titular hero. For all those of you who know me, Wolverine has been my favorite Marvel character since the beginning. Surprise, surprise it's not Ironman. Fox studios has pumped out a number of X Men movies over the years, and frankly they have been pretty meh, with the exception of maybe X2 and Days of the Future Past. These are great summer popcorn flicks with little substance. So imagine how surprised I was after watching Logan. This is by far the most in depth examination of Logan aka the Wolverine's fractured  psyche.

The movie opens with a broken and run down Logan driving people around and just trying to  make a living.He gets jumped by some thugs and has to unleash the beast within. But is this the Wolverine we have all become so familiar with? Not at all! We find out all is not well. His claws don't extend properly, and his healing factor is failing. Logan is dying of adamantium poisoning. We also discover that the X Men are  no more, and Logan is caring for an ailing and cranky Charles Xavier, who suffers from terrible psychic seizures. Logan watches over Charles with the help of Caliban. He wants nothing to do with world affairs other than living out his existence. Logan is, however once again dragged into action when he is contacted by a nurse from an experimental facility with a little girl in tow. Laura has mutant abilities similar to Logan.

There is so much to dissect here.Logan has to deal with mortality for the first time, and his disillusionment with the world at large. He is a broken man and is tired of fighting. The drab color palette used by Mangold throughout the movie perfectly captures the sombre mood.The choice to focus on the relationship between Logan and Charles, and later with Laura was perfect. We get to follow the individuals and get into their headspace. The characters felt more fleshed out as each received a great deal of  screen time. And we definitely got Oscar worthy performances from Hugh Jackman, Sir Patrick Steward and even Dafne Keen! This movie felt more like a drama and less like a summer superhero movie. Definitely the best comic book movie out there PERIOD!

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