Stay Whelmed

Oh my God, you guys.  I just finished Young Justice: The Complete Second Season .

I absolutely love this show. Whoever is running it understands both comic book geekery (which I love) and young adult fiction (which I love.) I don't think I could love it more. OK, there is one thing which I will talk about later when I get into the spoiler section. And it does get a little stereotypical in it's portayal of non-white people.

But first, the non-spoilery stuff... assuming you've seen season 1.

Brilliant incorporation of season 1 elements while keeping it fresh. The time jump was perfectly executed. I love the new characters. I do wish there had been more time for the kinds of character development & team-building we had in the first season.  But I absolutely loved the distinct "families" that emerged. (Sidebar: Always bet on the Bat Squad.)  I could have done without the Mal/Karen storyline in favor of more of our core group.

And I'm just going to go ahead & say it: I have a crush on Nightwing. 

Now. Spoilers....

No, for real. Spoiler alert. You've been warned.  Why Wally? Why why why? In my head, that last bit just didn't happen, & I still have my Kid Flash. All the mourning for Artemis, when we knew she was safe, seems over the top when we get almost no eulogy for Wally.  I know there was supposed to be a season 3, so I'm guessing/hoping there would have been some effects shown. Also, the possibility of some sort of resurrection is how I justify my complete denial. And while we're on the subject of spoilers, dark Aqualad is so so awesome, as is Nightwing's angst (hidden under his humor) and Wally's doubt.  The increase in maturity for all of them shows, as does the weight of the original 3 each now being on their own journey. But Aqualad as a villain is amazing, especially with enough of a gap that we have to accept that it could happen to anyone... and Aqualad was one of the best.

If there had been a season 3, I would have been all over it. 

I am Groot

I thoroughly enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy while watching it. However, I've decided it's best not to think about it too much or else the prevalence of terrible tropes and sexism will suck all the fun out of it.

But, yes Groot. And I'm glad the movie didn't take itself too seriously.

Catching Up

I have several drafts in the works. (Posts for this blog take me longer to write than any other.) But in the meantime here is a (very incomplete) list of media I have consumed in the past several months.

Things I loved:
Young Justice, season 1
The Avengers
Everything by Adele

Avatar: the Last Airbender (not the crappy movie)

Leverage

Things I liked:
Frozen
Home, by Toni Morrison
Good Omens, Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett 
Captain America 2

Divergent series (which I would have loved with a better ending)
Arrow (though I'm not even finished season 1)
Avatar: The Legend of Korra (though I didn't get to finish season 2)
Justin Timberlake's Pusher Love Girl


Things I wish I could unsee/unhear/unread:
Most of pop radio
The ending of the Divergent series

Alrighty then

Nearly immediately after my last post, got laid off from my job. After the ensuing depressive episode, I started watching movies again, but not blogging about them.

I have watched Watchmen, Death at a Funeral, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Ladder 49 on DVD; I'm probably forgetting some. I also saw Wolverine & Star Trek in the theater. I was too ambitious and checked out too many books from the library; I haven't finished any of them. I'm looking forward to Glee coming to tv this fall.

Anyway, I'm resurrecting my blogging self now. So look for many blog posts to come.

A Tale of Two Hulks

I'm going to review both the 2003 Ang Lee movie Hulk, starring Eric Bana and Jennifer Connolly, and the 2008 Louis Leterrier movie The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. I'll try to keep it crystal clear as to which movie I'm talking about at any given time. But if you find yourself lost, just remember everything positive I have to say is about the 2008 version.

Hulk (2003) in 3 words: So. Very. Awful.
Incredible Hulk (2008) in 3 words: So much better.

What can I say? The 2003 version took every opportunity to make a bad decision. The story was absolutely terrible. What's with the crazy-ass backstory about Bruce Banner's crazy-ass father, played by crazy-ass Nick Nolte? It was all over the place and it just wouldn't end. The dialogue was so shallow I could barely stand it. Bana & Connolly tried their best, but they had absolutely nothing to work with and they just ended up looking stupid. Even the special effects were cheesy and lackluster.

I hadn't seen the 2003 version when they announced the 2008 version, but I immediately knew the 2003 version couldn't have been very good if they were starting over just 5 years later. Having seen (& LOVED) Iron Man, I had high expectations for The Incredible Hulk - and it delivered.

Ed Norton is a perfect choice for Bruce Banner: attractive, but not movie star pretty, with the ability to play good guy or bad guy with equal believability. An important thing to remember is that the Hulk is not a superhero; he's a force of nature. When you're in trouble, you don't call out for the Hulk; the Hulk just happens to you. Ed Norton is able to convey the vulnerability and desperation of Bruce Banner while showing the smallest glimpse of what lies underneath.

Liv Tyler is not my favorite actress, but she works here. Betty Ross is a pretty straightforward character, who must embody vulnerability, loyalty, heartbreak & determination. It sounds like a lot, but it's not really. This is the character that changes the least over the course of the movie. Liv Tyler had one note to hit, and she hit it well.

Tim Roth also does a great job as a power junkie soldier who becomes the main foe for the climax of the movie.

Even the visual effects were better, which I'll allow the 5-year time difference probably played a part in. But this Hulk, the 2008 Hulk, looked and behaved like a living being. He interacted with his surroundings in a way the 2003 Hulk never did. One great example is during one large action sequence where you actually see his skin ripple in reaction to a weapon.

Another thing that rocked in the 2nd movie was the inclusion of a couple of Hulk iconic moments: the Hulk thunder clap, and everybody's favorite, "Hulk smash!" These moments make a little part of you stand up & cheer; he's really the Hulk now. We just had to wait 5 years for it.

Buried Under DVDs

Since my last post, I've watched Gladiator, Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Tropic Thunder, Jeffrey, The Great Debaters, The Incredible Hulk (2008 - awesome), hulk (2003 - terrible), Rashomon The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Best in Show, True Romance, American Gangster, Training Day, Elizabeth, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Transamerica, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, 27 Dresses, Dark Knight, and An Inconvenient Truth

Obviously, I'm not doing a great job getting my reviews up. So I'm going to focus on teasers, yay or nay, and ______ in three words. I hope to catch up in the near future.

Review: Snatch DVD

In a word? Pikey. The first time I popped this DVD into my player and pulled up the menu screen, I scanned through the options and almost immediately asked out loud, “What the heck is Pikey?” I’m not sure who I expected to answer, perhaps the ghost of Guy Ritchie. Upon learning that the Pikey subtitle option is used to display subtitles only for a specific character, I then asked the ghost, “Why does he need subtitles?” Cut to the first time Mickey speaks and I start fumbling for the remote control to bring up those Pikey subtitles.

You’d expect that type of experience to frustrate the viewer and take away from the enjoyment of the movie. It actually landed Snatch on my list of must buy DVDs. Brad Pitt’s character, One Punch Mickey, is unintelligible for 95% of the movie, but it doesn’t matter. He never speaks without clear context or being translated. Having the subtitles is just a little extra fun from Ritchie to you, the viewer, acknowledging that the diehards and nerds among us would demand to know the actual lines and attempt to decipher Mickey’s dialogue.

Besides the Pikey subtitles, there are limited special features on the disc, but it does include both widescreen and full frame versions of the film. There are also the requisite deleted scenes.

The story – which is practically irrelevant – involves a diamond heist, gambling debts, boxing matches and several characters trying to one-up several other characters to varying degrees of success.

In a series of situations in which it is often difficult to identify a hero, and the term “bad guy” is completely relative, Snatch delivers enough light-heartedness and humor to keep you rooting for somebody throughout all the madness.

The movie is nearly frantic in pace, a twisty roller-coaster guaranteed to keep you as off-balance as the overmatched boxers that face Mickey. The editing is first-rate and the casting is perfect. There’s also fantastic music. It’s certainly not tear-jerking or thought-provoking. It’s not an epic or a romantic escapade. It’s simple and it’s fun. It’s a good time that doesn’t pretend to be anything more. This is not the love of your life; it’s a fondly remembered fling and proud of it.