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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Are All Marvel Villains Androids, Aliens, or Wizards?

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It is now T-minus one week until the long-awaited premiere of Marvel’s next Disney+ series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, on March 19. To mark the show’s impending arrival, Marvel is ramping up its publicity game and unleashing new trailers and clips of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in action.

In one such clip, released today, Sam shares an interesting theory with his rival/counterpart Bucky. Give it a look below to see what we mean.

“The Big Three – androids, aliens, wizards. Every time we fight, we fight one of the three,” Sam says.

Bucky tries to challenge Sam’s assertion by pointing out there are no wizards. Sam immediately counters with Doctor Strange. “A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat.”

Fair play, Falcon! The conversation ends there but Sam might be onto something with his theory of The Big Three. But just like any good theory, it needs some strenuous scientific testing. Let’s do that testing right now by looking back at the big bad of every MCU film released thus far (plus the studio’s first official television effort, WandaVision) to see which villains can be categorized as: androids, aliens, wizards, or other.

Obadiah Stane (Iron Monger)

Movie: Iron Man Villain Type: ANDROID

Obadiah Stane isn’t a literal android. He is a flesh and blood human being underneath all that Iron Monger armor. But viewing him as an android seems in keeping with the spirit of Sam Wilson’s Big Three argument. Let’s just give The Falcon a win out of the gate.

Emil Blonsky (Abomination)

Movie: The Incredible Hulk Villain Type: OTHER

Like The Hulk, himself, Abomination is an enhanced human rage monster. He has no mechanical parts, so he is not an Android. He also comes from Earth, so he is not an alien. If we wanted to be suuuuuuper generous, we could say the gamma rays that created both The Hulk and Abomination are so scientifically advanced that they may as well be magic, making him a wizard. But that’s too much of a stretch. Emil is in the “Other” category.

Ivan Vanko (Whiplash)

Movie: Iron Man 2 Villain Type: OTHER

If Ivan Vanko decided to completely cover his body with Iron Monger-style armor, we may have an argument for Android. But really, he’s just a mad scientist who loves his bird. One could also make the argument that Justin Hammer is the real villain of Iron Man 2. That’s a fair point but it leads to the same result: “Other.”

Loki

Movie: Thor Villain Type: WIZARD

Wait, why isn’t Loki an alien? He comes from a different world in outer space, whether that be Asgard or Jotunheim. It’s important to remember, however, that Loki isn’t an alien to the other Asgardian characters in Thor. Instead, let’s call him a Wizard due to his advanced magical capabilities.

Johann Schmidt (Red Skull)

Movie: Captain America: The First Avenger Villain Type: OTHER

Red Skull does like to meddle in the magic of the Tesseract. He also has a very wizardly appearance when he is cast off to Vormir. A wizardly appearance does not a wizard make though. Johann Schmidt is an augmented human being just like Steve Rogers or Bruce Banner.

Loki

Movie: The Avengers Villain Type: ALIEN

Surprise! Loki is a Wizard in Thor but an Alien in The Avengers. That’s because the perspective of The Avengers is mostly Earthbound. And to we mortals on Earth, Loki really is an alien leading a War of the Worlds-style invasion in New York.

Aldrich Killian

Movie: Iron Man 3 Villain Type: ANDROID

Aldrich Killian certainly doesn’t have the look of an Android. But due to the amount of Extremis genetic manipulation his body has endured, he is basically more machine than man. And if you’re tempted to say “Aldrich Killian can’t be an android! He has human sentience and intelligence” then you’re gonna have to keep that same energy when we get to Ultron.

Malekith

Movie: Thor: The Dark World Villain Type: ALIEN

Malekith is a hard one to nail down. We’ve already established that Loki can’t be an alien in Thor because he’s a peer to his fellow Asgardians (even if he is a Frost Giant). Given that Malekith comes from another one of the Nine Realms, Svartalfheim, it’s fair to call him an Alien.

Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier)

Movie: Captain America: The Winter Soldier Villain Type: ANDROID

Look, the rules are pretty loose here. You have your memory wiped and you get a vibranium arm? Android. Technically, Alexander Pierce and the compromised SHIELD are the real villains of this movie. But bear in mind that Sam Wilson says that everyone they fought falls into one of those three categories. It’s Bucky who does the lion’s share of fighting in this film.

Ronan the Accuser

Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Villain Type: ALIEN

This is another tough one. Would Ronan the Accuser be considered an alien among his galactic peers? Given that the Kree Empire is a rival to the Nova Empire, let’s go ahead and alienize Ronan.

Ultron

Movie: Avengers: Age of Ultron Villain Type: ANDROID

Duh.

Darren Cross (Yellowjacket)

Movie: Ant-Man Villain Type: OTHER

If the Iron Monger armor makes Obadiah Stane an Android, then why doesn’t the Yellowjacket suit make Darren Cross an Android? Great question! The answer is…I don’t know. Hank Pym’s shrinking technology just seems like more of a tool for human beings than an at-times autonomous piece of armor.

Helmut Zemo

Movie: Captain America: Civil War Villain Type: OTHER

Helmut Zemo is a disaffected Sokovian radical. He does not fit any of the other three categorizations.

Kaecilius

Movie: Doctor Strange Villain Type: WIZARD

Duh.

Ego

Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Villain Type: ALIEN

Sure, a sentient Celestial planet is an alien.

Adrian Toomes (The Vulture)

Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming Villain Type: OTHER

Adrian Toomes is not only just a human being, he might be one of the MCU’s most human villains. To the “Other” category with you, Vulture.

Hela

Movie: Thor: Ragnarok Villain Type: WIZARD

As the all-powerful goddess of death, Hela defies easy categorization. But you know what? If Thor-era Loki falls under the category of Wizard, then so too does Hela.

Erik Stevens (Killmonger)

Movie: Black Panther Villain Type: OTHER

Human. Very human.

Thanos

Movie: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame Villain Type: ALIEN

Thanos is the big bad of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. He’s also a consummate alien invader. He comes from the stars to wipe out half of all life on Earth. Well, he wipes out half of all life in the universe, but it’s the former that matters to our Earthly perspective.

Ava Starr (Ghost)

Movie: Ant-Man and the Wasp Villain Type: OTHER

Whenever Pym particles and advanced levels of technology are involved, you always want to at least give consideration to “Android.” But “Other” is still very much the answer here. Ava Starr isn’t even really the main villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp so much as she is a victim. Perhaps she should be omitted entirely from the villain discussion.

Yon-Rogg

Movie: Captain Marvel Villain Type: ALIEN

Since Carol Danvers is our protagonist and Captain Marvel is told from her perspective, it’s safe to call Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg an alien.

Quentin Beck (Mysterio)

Movie: Spider-Man: Far From Home Villain Type: OTHER

Quentin Beck is a normal human being and therefore an “Other.” I’m just realizing something now though – why did Quentin Beck go by his real name to Talos (posing as Nick Fury) and Peter Parker? Surely, he has Stark Industries listed on his LinkedIn page. Could the entire plot of this movie have been avoided if anyone thought to run a Google search on this guy who claims he’s from another dimension?

Agatha Harkness

Show: WandaVision Villain Type: WIZARD

Who’s the wizard lady pulling every evil string? It was Agatha All Along!

Results

This all leads to the Marvel villain final tally of…

ALIEN – 6 ANDROID – 4 WIZARD – 4 OTHER – 9

It looks like Sam Wilson almost has the right of it. More than half of Marvel villains can be described as androids, aliens, or wizards. But the “Other” option is bigger than any single one of those three categories.

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melyaliz · 5 years

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Canary pt. 16

Canary Masterlist

Fandom: Marvel / MCU

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Notes: A part of me wonders if updates started slowing because I knew this story was coming to a close. I honestly think I have this mental block to ending a story where I don’t want it to end.

Maybe I’ll go back to this one and add more and make it a more coherent story.

Then again, I have a lot of fun other ideas for the new year.

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

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Normal, what was an interesting word.

Any life could be considered normal compared to something else. Maybe just having a power was normal. After all, you were just a girl who lived in a normal city doing normal girl things. It wasn’t like you were part of the most powerful team in the world or anything.

Or maybe being part of the avengers was just normal. Just living your life with people who were just as, if not more, powerful as you. In fact, being around those people could remind you just how normal you were. After all, it wasn’t like you had caught the attention of anyone. You were too normal for that.

Or maybe having a relationship with a god was just normal.

Ok no,

That wasn’t normal.

Not if you were just a normal girl who had lived in a normal town.

Then again, was really was normal?

----

“I could snap your little neck without even flexing.”

“What’s the hesitation?” Loki chocked out as the large warlord held him up by his neck. The large ogre’s hand around the Asgardian prince’s neck. Behind him, the beautiful mistress frowned slender arms crossed over her chest.

“Tell us where it is.”

Loki let out a hissing laugh before being cut off by the hulking man tightening his gip cutting off his airflow. Several feet away the other avengers were fighting off the Oger King’s army.

“My sweet prince.” The beautiful mistress of the stars walked toward Loki placing a pale hand on her lover’s arm singling to him to let Loki speak, “Just tell me where my necklace is.”

Loki’s eyes went from his former lover to the man who would kill him without a second thought. Treaty be damn. (Honestly, he probably welcomed a war against, Oden. They didn’t call him a warlord for no reason.) Then he heard it. That whirring sound. Like a rattlesnake, like the hiss of a mountain lion.

Warring, angry

“Oh, my beautiful one,” Loki said flashing them a wide smile. “My canary has arrived.”

“Wha…”

“Get off” it was sharp and blunt. Crashing into them and pulling them apart. Loki felt his body being thrown only to slow in the gentle arms of a whisper “got you”

She was standing there hair flaring like the wings of a falcon. Waves of sound flying around her like feathers. She was a beauty to behold, standing in front of Wanda and Vision fighting alongside her team. Steve let out a barking laugh as took another ogre’s minion in the face.

“The big guns are here”

The King let out a scream charging at her. A snap of her fingers and he was gent back. Loki stood up dusting himself before summoning a blade with his reformed magic catching his beautiful ex-lover off guard. She frowned down at the sharp steel pressed against her soft skin.

“I see you found a new plaything.”

“She is so much more than anything you could imagine.”

“You were a collector of powerful objects.”

Loki’s eyes flickered toward his Canary. No longer truly his. She was so much more than his. As he watched her charge at the Ogre king twisting his own screams and threats onto himself. With each sound he omitted it came back twice as hard crashing into his large shield the sheer force pushing him back.

Loki was an idiot to think that timid woman who seemed to slip from room too room was anything but a goddess among mortals. All that time calling her his canary.

She didn’t belong to anyone but herself.

A quick binding spell and the mistress was down her eyes shining up at him seething with pure anger. “You can’t win this,” she hissed before he knocked her out. Her body slumping down on the ground.

That was when he caught sight of them. The Oger’s guard dogs, large beasts like hyenas only feet foot massive creatures closing in on the queen of sound.

The pack leader let out a large snarl, teeth barred dripping saliva as he leaped toward Canary. She turned hands up letting her guard down for just a moment.

Yip

The monster let out a soft whine as Loki stood under him a spree going up from the large animal’s chest clean through his spine. Turning Loki’s gaze met hers.

“I am here”

“Seems to me this is your fault.”

“Isn’t it always?”

Canary turned to him studying him for a moment as if really hearing what he said. Seeing through the bitter vail and maybe reading into it more then she should.

But that was her thing, wasn’t it? To hear the sounds others tried to hide?

“Do you have my back?” she finally said, voice soft, words only he could hear. Simple and clean.

Bowing Loki couldn’t help but smile up at her before muttering a spell summoning another lance from under his cape impaling an oncoming monstrous hound. “Let’s dance.”

So they did. Locked back to back, shimmers of Loki’s magic as he duplicated himself. Canary pulling the cries of the monsters twisting themselves around the mirages and back on the monsters.“Best dance partner I could ask for” Loki quipped but Canary just rolled your eyes sending another troll flying. Let’s not forget this man did just make her cry.

And she wasn’t someone to forget that so quickly. Even if they were fighting trolls and giant dogs back to back.

It was going to make more than those pretty green eyes and a charming smile to win her back.

But she couldn’t deny that they both worked so well together. Spinning and twirling until they came face to face with the Oger himself.

“Loki the time has come…” the King said brandishing his sword striding up toward the dark-haired god, “To show you….”

“NO!” the wave crashed into him sending him to his knees. Canary taking a step with each word. “You. Will. Stand. DOWN”

Her last word was a war cry. Pulled from her lungs piercing through his armor and knocking the King out.

“Canary” Loki stood behind her, his voice soft. It hurt to hear. Heavy on her soul.

“I didn’t come back for you,” she said not even bothering to look at him as she walked back to her team. Her family.

Loki watched her go, somehow watching her walk away this time hurt even more than laying on top of Wanda’s shattered doorframe.

Yet, he had no one to blame but himself.

-------

I’m not going to lie, I hadn’t realized how much damage I had done until I walked into the compound.

“Wanda I’m so sorry,” I whispered looking over her broken doorway

“It’s fine, if my door had to suffer so you could speak your mind it died for the greater good.” Wanda said, “Are you coming down to see them off?”

I sighed running my fingers through my hair. A headache forming as exhaustion from what had just happened finally catching up to me. Never a dull moment at the Avengers household I guess.

“I should see Thor off.”

Wanda nodded coming to my side. “He’s out in the front, or that’s where I left him and Loki. I’ll come with you.”

Thor met us with a large smile embracing us both warmly. At least someone was chipper after the battle. I honestly felt like I had been run over by a steamroller, both physically and emotionally.

It had been a day.

“I am so proud to have gone to battle with you.”

“Yeah, let’s not do that again any time soon”

“But we had such great fun” Loki’s voice slipped smoothly behind me. Thor’s bright blue eyes drifting from mine to Loki behind him. Turning I sized him up.

“Brother, where did you go off too?” Thor asked, Loki’s gaze locked on mine unwavering there was a glint of something in those eyes. Something that told me he was up to no good. A part of me was glad he was leaving. He was honestly a bit exhausting. All those hidden meanings, those secret glances. It was going to be a lot easier without him here. Especially how everything had ended.

“Thinking of making a run for it?” I snickered, for a moment Loki seemed to be lifted up at my words. A twitch of the lip with a flutter of his eyes. No, I had no forgiven him but honestly, that was for me to know. It wasn’t like he would be around much longer anyway.

“Back to Asgard then brother” Loki’s gaze finally breaking with mine to meet Thor’s. Thor nodded at his words holding out his hand for his brother to join him.

For a moment Loki glanced back at me. I waved back “enjoy the luxury and things that come with it” with that I turned and left. Not in the mood anymore. All those mind games we had played.

I just needed to rest. And to be as far away from the green-eyed snake as possible.

After all birds and reptiles have never gotten along.

-GET TAGGED!-

Forever tag: @royslittleharper @the-shadow-of-atlantis @coffee-randomness @werewitchling @xx3fsxx @daisyboobear @ @jason-redhood @hello-i-lovespiderman-blr @ocelysium @pinkwitch21 @tomhncharliep @cdwmtjb8

Loki: @wayward-hell @winterssoldierrs

Canary: @baybay123455 @rizanendoza808 @dragonrosegardens @6-daughter-of-a-witch-6 @califorina-grown @2s0uls @oh-no-a-whovian @it-jinxed-us @pixiehex1985 @bolontiku

#Loki #Loki x oc #Loki oc #Loki x reader #Loki reader #Loki fluff #Loki angst #Loki fanfic #Loki x you #marvel #marvel fanfic #marvel oc #Marvel x reader #my writing #Canary #my fic

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mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker · 6 years

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Let’s debunk this shit.

First off...why should we, on the topic of Spider-Man, actually place stock by the guy who has in the past argued Sins Past is as, if not more, bad than One More Day when anyone with an ounce of knowledge of how writing craft works would realize this is abjectly false. As a story the flaws in Sins Past amount to it inserting something into the past that doesn’t fit at all. One More Day by contrast not only does this but needs to violently ignore 45 yrs of established characterization to even function and even then it fails since it needs to contradict its own narrative.

Oh and you know MovieBob is the guy who said ‘That Spec cartoon wasn’t as good as people make it out to be. People like it more for what it could be than what it was.’...WTF was he even watching.

But let’s dive into some more specifics of Bob’s argument.

“OMD ‘needed’ to happen.”

This is objectively untrue.

Let’s give the benefit of the doubt and say what Bob meant wasn’t so much that Spider-Man needed to make a deal with the Devil but rather it was necessary to get rid of Spider-Man’s marriage.

I can’t bring myself to do a 3000 word essay on why the latter alone is idiotic, sexist, myopic and utterly false but here is a cliffnotes version.

There are 2 fundamental problems with Bob’s line of thinking.

The 1st is that to end the marriage you needed to outright alter Spider-Man’s history via a soft DC style continuity reboot thus creating in a literal sense an alternate universe version of Spider-Man who’d just never been married in the first place.

Put simply Spider-Man’s marital status could’ve been ended in universe through numerous methods that avoided that. He could’ve gotten divorced. The US government as some kind of petty revenge upon Spider-Man turning on the Registration Act could’ve legally annulled his marriage along with certain other legal aspects of his life. There could’ve been a reveal that due to a legal loophole nobody realized at the time technically speaking Peter and MJ had never been married in the first place despite believing they were.

None of this would’ve fixed the most egregious contrivance of OMD and OMIT, that by simply never having been married magically this = Peter and MJ would break up. You still need to justify THAT separately which OMD didn’t even attempt to do. OMD in isolation erases their marriage but it doesn’t explain or justify why doing this would mean they are now no longer in a relationship. OMIT tried and miserably failed to do that because once again it required the abject ignoring of decades of established (and logical) characterization.

But what should we expect from the guy who in another video once said Superman would be a jerk if he married Lois Lane because of the stress and dangers it’d expose her to, specifically comparing it to real life people who’s jobs offer comparable examples. ‘Superman would never put Lois Lane through that’ said Bob (though I am paraphrasing I admit.

Why?

If REAL people do that then why WOULDN’T Superman OR Spider-Man do so?

It’s a line of thought which amounts to Bob saying those people shouldn’t have marital relationships. And that is gross.

The 2nd problem with Bob’s ‘it needed to happen’ assertion is the notion that CREATIVELY it was necessary for the health of Spider-Man.

Let’s ignore how creatively (and financially) Superman has been on the up and up since 2016 when he got his marriage BACK.

Instead let’s consider for a moment...why?

Why CREATIVLY does Spider-Man need to not be married to work? Why does he need to be single for his long term creative/financial health?

There is no answer because the truth is he isn’t. Spider-Man’s love life is relevant only in so far as the series follows his life and not being asexual romance is a part of that. At which point if you are arguing for his long term creative health he needs to be able to swap out the women he’s going to be romantically/sexually involved with why then does that not also apply to literally every other character connected to every other part of his life?

It doesn’t.

It’s a bullshit argument born of an ignorant lack of questioning. It’s born of “Well it’s got to be this way because it’s always been this way and it’s worked that way.” Ignoring how it doesn’t and how you know...Marvel comics itself exists off the back of saying “Maybe it doesn’t have to just be this way. I don’t like that way in fact, I like the idea of trying it this other way.”

Spider-Man being single keeps Spider-Man stunted and in a state of doomed to failure. It literally renders his love life redundant because every reader (and this applied before 1987 when he got married, but applies a thousand times more now) knows his romances will never amount to anything and that they are glorified Bond girls. And I’ll be honest the substance (such as there is) in the Bond movies NEVER lies with the Bond girls with the sole exceptions of those few movies where they tease you with the idea that he has deeper feelings for them.

Then you have the fact that marriage as a part of most people’s lives and a responsibility is outright tailor made for the character who’s core concept is entwined around the interconnected idea of responsibility and being a (relatively) normal person. It’s not different to him graduating from High school or moving out of Aunt May’s house or getting a job.

But let’s look at the franchise in the wake of OMD creatively and financially has it been doing better than before?

LOL NOPE!

In 2016 we had the Power Play arc. This arc was THE Spider-Man event of the year. It tied into the previous Spider event of 2015, Renew Your Vows by introducing the incredibly powerful villain Regent who’s powers were that he had the powers of EVERY other hero virtually and in RYV took over all of NYC following killing the X-Men and Avengers on his own. It guest starred fan favourite Miles Morales, the first substantial appearance of the character in Amazing Spider-Man since his migration into the 616 universe. It also guest starred lead character of the MCU and (then) Marvel comics poster boy Iron Man fresh from his hyped up run under Bendis, the biggest name in comics of the previous 20 years. It also teased the appearance of the newest team of Avengers, a brand that has been huge since 2012 for obvious reasons. Oh and it featured the return of another fan favourite Mary Jane who was once more being used to tease the possibility of her and Spider-Man’s romantic reunion which had been a surefire way of raising hype for a story since 2008 onwards. Oh and it was clearly a tie-in to the international blockbuster and critically acclaimed movie, Captain America: Civil War.

And of course you had much promotion from the Marvel hype machine, Dan Slott interviews and the usual variant cover artificial sales inflation gimmick that had become common to Marvel.

Safe to say that this story was a big, big deal and sure to sell well right?

Well....it actually sold less than a barely promoted, run-of-the-mill ASM arc from 2005 by J. Michael Straczynski that featured in the first issue Tony Stark sitting on a chair sans armour and beyond that no guest stars....oh and there were no variant covers....and btw Spider-Man was married in it

. ...Oh....

But hey what about some OTHER Spider-Man stories since OMD. Haven’t THEY been creatively enriching?

I mean we had classics like:

The Lizard ruins the interesting humanizing aspects of his character when he becomes a cannibalistic monster who eats his own son and maybe rapes someone

Black Cat’s characterization gets flushed down the toilet so she can be an indulgent juvenile sexual fantasy for Joe Kelly who believes Spider-Man is fundamentally a man child Black Cat’s characterization gets shot to shit again by her ripping off Catwoman by becoming a gangster, something she has never held aspiration for before and seems to want to get involved in now for no reason at all beyond being angry that Spider-Man imprisoned her and exposed her identity that wasn’t even secret in the first place

Dan Slott who likes Doc Ock more than he likes Peter Parker decides to say screw it and make Doc Ock Spider-Man thus invalidating the entire reason he was hired, which is to write about Peter Parker. He proceeds to make Doc Ock a villain sue and cause readers to wonder if he’s this smart and this dangerous he lost so many times in the past at all? Also he tries to rape Mary Jane in issue 2 and then succeeds in maybe raping Spider-Man himself in the same issue and definitely succeeds in raping the only dwarf character in Spider-Man’s canon.

Spider-Man becomes like Iron Man thus invalidating the entire point of his character and reasons people like to read about him.

A mystery surrounding the Green Goblin’s identity that turns out to be the twist that he was Norman Osborn all along meaning this was a pointless mystery the whole time.

Ben Reilly finally comes back after 20 years but doesn’t act even a little bit like the character people knew and loved causing people to wish he’d stayed dead

Betty Brant is physically assaulted and Spider-Man tracks down the assailant but when he finds him lets him go (thus enabling him to assault other innocent women) because Aunt May guilt tripped him by saying he was a jerk at age 15 for allowing her, a 50+ year old adult and his parental guardian, to cope with Uncle Ben’s death alone on the night of his death.

Fan favourite Mayday Parker has her character now defined by the death of her father invalidating the entire point of her character which was the ongoing relationship between herself and her Dad

Every spider person ever fights a bunch of one note cosmic vampires across alternate niverses who are variant action figures of another one note cosmic vampire villain. The story is utterly reparative and makes Spider-Man play second fiddle to all the other characters cramming for panel time.

I could go on but I won’t.

To count the creative successful and enriching Slott and the post-OMD Spider-Man stories is a far easier task than to count the ones which are for the most part mediocre-God forsakenly terrible and miss the whole point of the various characters involved (most of all you know SPIDER-MAN himself!) because the latter is the norm post-OMD.

Tellingly both volume 1 and volume 2 of Renew Your Vows a book BUILT around the concept of a married Spider-Man have (when judged appropriately given their out of continuity status) garnered perfectly respectable sales (especially in volume 1) prior to their recent time skip (an ill advised move regardless of what the series was about) and critical acclaim. And critical acclaim from people besides Marvel/Spider-Man sycophants like CBR who have vested financial interests in positively reviewing the stories.

In fact there is a very strong argument in favour of Slott being the single most creatively damaging Spider-Man writer in history. The list of things that need to be FIXED because of his idiocy and incompetence is vast.

Moving on to Bob’s other points:

“Peter and MJ being together was a dumb stunt when the did it in the first place”

If Bob had you know READ the stories leading into the wedding he’d know

a) That relationship and marriage was being built up since 1984 albeit with the initial intention being Peter stranded at the altar.

b) A stunt isn’t rendered invalid merely because it is a stunt. A Stunt can make sense and with the build up the wedding had this was one such example

“The marriage generated very few decent stories that wouldn’t have worked just as well without it”

Here is a list of a FEW decent or above stories which in some significant way make use of the Spider marriage between 1987-2007

Kraven’s Last Hunt

Venom

ASM #400

Revenge of the Green Goblin

A Death in the Family

ASM volume 2 #49-50

ASM volume 2 #51-54

Sensational Spider-Man volume 2 #32

Sensational Spider-Man Annual 2007, the only Eisner nominated Spider-Man story ever

Spider-Man unlimited volume 3 #2 Story 2: Making Contributions

Eleven Angry Men and One angry Woman

Parallel lives

Spider-Man: the Final Adventure

Web of Death

Revelations the end of the Clone Saga

Spectacular Spider-Man #241

Spectacular Spider-Man #242-245

ASM vol 2 #39

Ultimate Spider-Man Anthology book: Five Minutes

I Heart Marvel Web of Romance #1

Spectacular Spider-Man #199-200

Spectacular Spider-Man #250

The Tombstone arc

Peter Parker Spider-Man volume 2 #14

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12

Hmmm...it’s almost like Bob sucks at mathematics and story evaluation or something. Then again he did say there was no problem with Luke Skywalker in Last Jedi so you know...I should know better.

Oh and btw the whole ‘those would’ve worked JUST as well without the marriage’ argument is a double edged sword since there are literally less than 20 Spider-Man stories post-OMD that WOULDN’T have worked with a married Spider-Man and only one of them is good...and only if you also take entirely in isolation of Spider-Man’s wider history. Every other story with tweaks could work AS if not MORE effectively with a married Spider-Man.

If the argument is there should be no elements in a story that do not actively contribute to it then shit....why should Spider-Man’s SINGLE status be in a book? Why should Aunt May, Jameson or shitton else be multiple stories across the decades of Spider-Man? Hell by this logic Aunt May or Betty Brant are superfluous to ASM annual #1 which inspired part of Spider-Man 2.

“The Spider Marriage left the franchise spinning it’s wheel for a very long time.”

This is another lie. After Peter and MJ got married there was precious little wheel spinning. Almost immediately we jumped into ongoing stories involving Betty Brant, Joe Robertson, Peter going to school again, MJ and Peter’s finances taking a hit when MJ lost her job, Jameson being impersonated by Chameleon, Black Cat dating Flash, Peter’s parents returning and THEN you got the Clone Saga FFS.

Following that we got Norman Osborn running the Daily Bugle followed by the true wheel spinning garbage of the Mackie/Byrne run which was bad BECAUSE they axed the marriage. Following that when JMS took over his wheel spun for maybe 5 months tops? The rest of the time he reconstructed Peter and MJ and Aunt May’s characters, thrust forward with his Spider totem storyline and then began the slow build up to OMD starting with Peter becoming and Avenger.

There were few months were NOTHING was really happening and the number of issues where that was the case owed much more to the fact that the writers needed to pad out FOUR monthly titles each month!

“By contrast BND and Slott’s run has been good”

By objective writing standards this is a fallacy and Bob is offering no proof to this. He just says ‘it’s been good’. Except Bob’s word isn’t proof unto itself despite how much he must like to think so.

“Peter and MJ are more interesting now”

This is the proof Bob is not a...I don’t want to say he isn’t true fan. I rarely use that term. It’s more that he...isn’t an informed fan.

Anyone who knows any legit shit about Spider-Man could tell you Spider-Man is far from more interesting now than he was prior to BND.

Pre-OMD Spider-Man was the sum of 45 years of experiences. A 30ish average guy who’d been through Hell and a lot of battles and survived them and coped with that pain. He was a competent hero and a flawed human being who was just trying to look out for the little guy and take care of his family.

MJ meanwhile was a woman who’d also lived through Hell but demonstrated sheer steel by surviving it in spite of having no powers to fall back on. She’d gone from a carefree party animal who was seemingly selfish, to a hero in her own right who had an endless well of inner strength.

In contrast post-OMD Peter Parker is a man-child fuck up who illegally invades foreign nations with his giant G.I. Joe action figures whilst often playing second fiddle in his own fucking book to whatever guest stars want to steal the limelight. And he’s not believable anymore. He isn’t a grounded guy who copes with the shit thrown at him. He’s the guy who just shrugs off being killed, having his body stolen and his life upended by his enemy and then losing a year of his life.

That isn’t more interesting unless you are arguing being a Saturday morning cartoon character is inherently more interesting than being....welll actually inherently more interesting than being a certain character Stan Lee and Steve Ditko invented in 1962.

Which Bob plainly isn’t arguing because he’s also listing MJ as ‘more interesting’....how?

MJ isn’t even IN the book regularly any more so HOW could she be more interesting. Worse when she WAS in the book she had 2 roles. Ship tease the fans by being Peter’s friend and confidant (i.e. something she used to do BEFORE BND) or being a blind idiot in Superior which is NOT more interesting.

So what the fuck is he talking about?

I don’t know WHAT he’s talking about. But when you make a statement like: ‘on balance this story that eviscerated and betrayed everything about who Spider-Man is and invalidates his motivation from now on because he sold out in the biggest way possible, was on balance worth it because we got t see Doc Ock as Spider-Man try to rape people’ I certainly from WHERE he is talking from.

And the sun don’t shine there son.

#moviebob #bob chipman #Spider-Man #peter Parker #One More Day #Brand New Day #MJ Watson #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker

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chicagoindiecritics · 5 years

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New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2020: The visual and artistic categories

(Image: hypable.com)

PART 3: THE VISUAL AND ARTISTIC CATEGORIES

The short turnaround 92nd Academy Awards arrive host-free for the second consecutive year on Sunday, February 9th, barely a month after nominations were announced. The pace has added excitement and urgency right on down to my website’s 2020 Awards Tracker. Let’s start calling some winners. As always, that prognostication data is cited in these predictions. This column examines the visual and artistic categories of designs, editing, effects, and more. As I say every year, stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The nominees: The Irishman, Joker, The Lighthouse, 1917, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Who should be here: I’ve got two picks for you where one is indie and one is mainstream. On the big end, I thought Hoyte van Hotema’s work in Ad Astra deserved recognition. On the smaller end, Claire Mathon’s dazzling natural beauty for Portrait of a Lady on Fire has won the second most cinematographer awards this season and did not get a nod.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Like much of the talent involved with The Irishman, Robert Richardson is a rightful legend in his field, but other than a few Scorsese specialty long tracks and slo-mo moves, nothing about his camera work is special in the crime epic. His inclusion feels, again like just about all of the The Irishman nominations, like a token resume inclusion.

Who should win and will win: This one is not even close and it’s going to Roger Deakins for 1917. His long takes combining monstrous crane, tracking, drone, and Steadicam work is beyond comparison and some of the insane best in history. That entire movie is a jaw-dropping “how did they do that” reel and it starts with Deakins’ open lenses.

BEST EDITING

The nominees: Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Parasite

Who should be here: Even if the single-take fakery is a gimmick for 1917, it’s a pretty damn well executed one in terms of economy and hidden smoothness from editor Lee Smith. Less is more and he should be there. More in the “more” department, the massive work it took to take thousands of hours of footage and hone the perfect documentary Apollo 11 also deserved consideration. It’s hard for documentaries to crack this category and I’ll never understand why because editing is everything in that medium.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Take all the things I said about Robert Richardson in cinematography for The Irishman and repeat it here for Thelma Schoonmaker. We get it. She’s a legend working for a legend on a big deal film, but, goodness gracious, that movie is night tight, taut, or sharp in editing. There’s a lot of fat on steak, no matter what truck it fell off of.

Who should win: Much like the sound categories, I think this is a spot where Ford v Ferrari should prevail. The work to merge the second unit shots, stunt performances, and acting inserts with practical sets and props over CGI is incredible. It deserves this outlier consideration for the win.

Who will win: I’m going to be daring here and say this one is going to Parasite. Many people love to point to Best Editing as being married to the Best Picture winner, but that only happens about 60% of the time (including last year with Green Book). A Parasite win here could rile some TV viewers up about Parasite’s Best Picture chances, and rightfully so. However, with no 1917 in here, this award goes to the next best and that’s Parasite and, luckily, the craft of the reveals of its thriller match the award itself in a fair way.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The nominees: The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, 1917, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Parasite

Who should be here: Even if 80% of the film takes place in a single location, that macabre mansion in Knives Out created by production designer David Crank and his team would have been a fun and eclectic addition to this field. For the single location vote, it looks like Parasite got that spot.

Who should feel lucky to be there: I don’t think any of these five finalists are inferior to the craft and category. Any of them would be excellent winners, even with the Knives Out wish.

Who should win: If my jaw was dropping from the camera work of Roger Deakins in 1917, the trait that dropped it even lower was the towering desolation and created destruction of the outdoor locations and sets for 1917 by Dennis Gassner. He wowed us with Blade Runner 2049 and 1917 is just as good from the guy who cut his teeth carving a baseball field in the corn for Field of Dreams. He’s got an Oscar in his living room from Bugsy but has deserved two or three more.

Who will win: Barbara Ling is a first-time nominee in this category for crafting Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. The industry loves celebrating its golden past and this award is a perfect bouquet thrown to Tarantino’s fairy tale to go with Brad Pitt’s future win. From the cars to the ashtrays, the look of the movie was positively dreamy. This is a worthy winner.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The nominees: The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Who should be here: There is no question Black Panther Oscar winner should be there to defend her title, so to speak, with her flamboyant work on Dolemite is My Name. Her work has won more costuming awards this season than any other film. This counts as a slight.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Here’s one more for The Irishman and its parade of resumes. Three-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell soaked up the era beautifully for Scorsese’s film, but we’ve seen this work before. Solid as it may be, it’s not a standout. That’s where a swap for Carter would have fit.

Who should win: Movies are a chance to really play with changing looks and characterization. The double volume of on-screen show-within-the-show roles and off-screen main characters in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was outstanding. Like the production design, not a stitch was out of place and always just garish enough to let the actors have fun. It could still win, but we know older period pieces get more love.

Who will win: .That’s why, and it’s not a bad thing, that Little Women finally wins an Oscar during this ceremony and party. Jacqueline Durran is a veteran with solid work who won back in 2012 for Anna Karenina. This is where finery gets its due.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR-STYLING

The nominees: Bombshell, Joker, Judy, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, 1917

Who should be here: If I were to ask you to close your eyes and picture Elton John, the eyebrows would raise and the wild looks being remembered would be a hoot. That flashy variety in Rocketman should have earned a nomination.

Who should feel lucky to be there: Angelina Jolie and her enhanced cheekbones were enough to get Maleficent: Mistress of Evil a spot in the final five as the weakest of the bunch.

Who should win: It’s not massive, but I really want to put Joker here and not just for Joaquin Phoenix’s frightening look. I think the dinge and class warfare of the movie looked incredible for this award. Give me the daring over the attractive.

Who will win: That’s because attractive is going to win. All you need to do is show a picture of Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and this category is wrapped up for Bombshell. If you needed a second dose to convince you, try to find John Lithgow inside of that Roger Ailes facade. Game, blouses.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The nominees: Avengers Endgame, The Irishman, 1917, The Lion King, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Who should be here: I’ve dropped this title before and here’s another. Ad Astra has won the second most visual effects awards of the year and it was omitted from the finalists.

Who should feel lucky to be there: So help me God, if The Irishman and its crappy de-aging effects actually win, I’m going to break something. When free software fit for YouTube can do a better job that a nine-figure budget, your work shouldn’t be here to win.

Who should win: Call it lifeless all you want, but when you realize that every shot but one (the opening sunrise, in fact) in The Lion King is completely created from a marriage of CGI and cinematography innovations, you have to bow to that newfangled royalty. Their work and detail is staggering.

Who will win: I’d love to see the 1917 train keep going (and it could), but I’m going to push wishful thinking that the saga-capping effects of Avengers: Endgame take the statuette. I think there’s something worth rewarding with the volume and culmination that is its big ending. I’ve been burned here before in this category when I constantly thought the Planet of the Apes reboot effects would and should win. I think with Marvel it’s different. If it wins, I need ABC to cut to Martin Scorsese for a reaction shot of his magnum opus being beaten by the non-cinema MCU “roller coaster.” Take that, you old coot.

NEXT: The writing and directing awards

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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Alita: Battle Angel: 12 Hidden Details Everyone Completely Missed

Earlier this year, Hollywood finally broke the curse of making terrible live-action adaptations of anime with Alita: Battle Angel – the American remake of Gunnm aka Battle Angel Alita. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel followed Alita’s rise from a forsaken robot to the greatest cyborg warrior of Iron City.

Being an adaptation of both the manga and anime, Alita is overflowing with references and visual tributes to the beloved cult source material that many people would miss on their first viewing. Now that the movie is available on video and streaming, here are 12 things you may have missed while watching Alita: Battle Angel to look out for.

12 The Swamp Thing Is Alita’s First Opponent

Alita’s first opponent and kill is Romo, a cyborg with bladed hands who’s also the weakest of Grewishka’s gang. Romo is portrayed by stuntman Derek Mears, who is better known for some monstrous roles that cover his face.

Two of Mears’s most famous monster roles are the Swamp Thing in the canceled streaming show and Jason Voorhess from the Friday the 13threboot. As of now, he’s the ninth actor to portray the famous slasher killer. He was also the super-villain Dwarfstar in The Flash, where he framed Big Sir for murder.

11 Madam M Is The Robed Cyborg

Right after dispatching Romo, Alita faces Nyssiana, who previously lured Dr. Ido into the dark alley. The mantis-like assassin is portrayed by Eiza Gonzalez, who was recently seen in Hobbs & Shaw where she portrayed Shaw’s femme fatale associate Madam M.

Gonzalez is an actress and singer who’s best known for starring in popular Mexican soap operas. Previously, she took up the roles of Darling in Baby Driver and Santanico Pandemonium in the televised remake of From Dusk Till Dawn. She inherited the latter role from Salma Hayek.

10 Captain Boomerang Is A Motorball Champion

Alita: Battle Angel has a lot of high-profile cameos, including Jai Courtney who appears as one of the Motorball players being repaired on in the pitstop. Best known for being Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, Courtney’s character Jashugan may play a larger role in a hypothetical sequel.

Jashugan is a major character in the manga’s Motorball arc, most of which is being saved for a tentative sequel. Of Alita’s many Motorball opponents, Jashugan – who is hailed as the greatest Motorball champion of his time – is the only one she truly respects as a rival and equal.

9 Frank From Lost Is McTeague

When Alita drops by The Kansas Bar, she sees a host of Hunter-Warriors who all laugh at her call to war against Grewnishka. The only one to answer the call is McTeague, a hunter who uses a pack of cyborg dogs to do the killing.

RELATED: Lost: 10 Storylines That Were Never Resolved

McTeague – based on Murdock from the manga – is played by frequent Rodriguez collaborator Jeff Fahey, making this his third appearance in the director’s works. Previously, he managed a gas station/barbecue joint as J.T. in Planet Terror and the devious political advisor Booth in Machete.

8 Johnny Rico Killed Dr. Ido’s Daughter

Midway through Alita: Battle Angel, Dr. Ido reveals that his daughter was inadvertently killed when a rabid Amok – a cyborg junkie – ransacked his clinic for drugs and painkillers. Amok is also portrayed by Casper van Dien, who is best known for being the hero of Starship Troopers.

Casper van Dien portrayed Johnny Rico in most installments of the Starship Troopers franchise, with his time in the original movie recognized as the highlight of his career. He also took up the role of Johnny Cage in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

7 Letty Is Gelda

In a previous life, Alita was referred to as “99” and was a member one of the feared Berserkers – the United Republic of Mars’ (URM) deadly shock troopers from The Great War. Her commanding officer was Gerda, who is last seen fighting alongside Alita in a flashback.

Because Gelda is a CGI character, it’s easy to miss that she’s being portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez. Best known as Letty in the Fast & Furious movies, Rodriguez is one of the most recognized actresses in the action genre. She also took up the role of the revolutionary Shé in Rodriguez’s Machete films.

6 Edward Norton is Desty Nova

Alita: Battle Angel ends with a cryptic shot of a scientist living in Zalem, who’s shown to be watching and controlling the events of the movie. This man is none other than Dr. Desty Nova, the central antagonist of the Alita manga.

RELATED: 10 Ways That The Incredible Hulk Ties Into The Wider MCU

Portrayed by Edward Norton in a cameo, Nova is the mad scientist who created most of Alita’s cyborg enemies. Driven by his futile quest to define good and evil (aka Karmatron Dynamics) through science, Nova is willing to put people’s lives at stake just to get the next variable in his equation.

5 Iron City’s Location Is Geographically Correct

In the manga, Iron City was built in what remains of Kansas City. It also sits under the space elevator connecting the Scrapyard to the floating city of Zalem. Geographically speaking, this is inaccurate since a planetary elevator should ideally be built near the equator.

It’s for this exact reason that James Cameron moved the city Alita calls home to Latin America. This explains why the cinematic Iron City is defined by old Spanish colonial architecture and is found near a rainforest. The city’s original location is referenced through The Kansas Bar.

4 Grewishka Is A Combination Of Two Characters

Though he’s not the main villain, Grewishka is still a gigantic and intimidating force of nature who Alita takes a while to defeat. For curious viewers, Grewishka does exist in the manga and anime but as two separate entities.

The most obvious inspiration is his name, which is derived from the anime’s first main antagonist Grewcica. His appearance and initial purpose are based on Makaku from the manga, where he also threatened to turn Alita into a living pendant. A major change is his employment as Vector’s chief thug, since he originally answered to Desty Nova.

3 Alita’s New Body

Even Alita’s Berserker Body wasn’t impervious to all the punishment she took throughout the movie, which could be why she wears a new body by the movie’s end. In the manga, Alita has a separate body that’s exclusively used for Motorball while her Berserker Body is saved for combat purposes.

However, her third body also allows her to channel blue plasma fire into her Damascus Blade – something only hinted at with her Berserker Body. This is a feature that she constantly used in fights when wearing her Imaginos Body, which was crafted by Desty Nova.

2 The Movie Condensed A Lot Of The Anime And Manga

Given the number of chapters and spin-off materials, it’s simply impossible to adapt all of Battle Angel Alita or Gunnm into one film. This is why Alita: Battle Angel does its best to condense the manga’s characters, themes, and major events into a two-hour runtime.

For example, Alita originally spent entire arcs as a Hunter-Warrior and a Motorball champion. She does both in the movie, but her bounty hunting job was overshadowed by her athletic career. Whole subplots were also omitted to focus the story, losing the likes of McTeague’s/ Murdock’s hatred of Zapan and Desty Nova’s direct involvement.

1 The Mangaka Creator Loves The Movie

It would be an understatement to say that Hollywood doesn’t have the most glowing reputation when it comes to adapting manga and anime to live-action but Alita: Battle Angel is the exception.

RELATED: 10 Anime That Should Be Made into Live-Action Films (After Alita: Battle Angel)

Not only is it considered to be the best American anime remake, but series creator Yukito Kishiro – who disowned the anime – absolutely adores it. He’s seen the movie more than once, finding something new in each viewing of what he calls “the greatest movie in the world.” He even created new artwork for the movie’s release, depicting Rosa Salazar in his manga’s classic style.

NEXT: Alita: Battle Angel Star Rosa Salazar Wants To Return For Sequels

source https://screenrant.com/alita-battle-angel-hidden-details/

#screenrant

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placetobenation · 6 years

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With the summer movie season almost upon us, Andy is here to try to make sure you don’t get fooled when spending your hard-earned money when you choose to take in the latest flick at the cinema.

When people ask me what my favorite type of movie is, I always say blockbusters. Don’t get me wrong, but with the exception of paranormal thrillers and torture-porn flicks like the Saw movies, I love all types of movies. As a movie fan, I believe in balance as far as the movies I see goes. I love to see a big budget summer movie, then follow up it with a comedy and then after that check out an independent drama. But there is one thing that I really hate, when I see an awesome trailer but then the movie is really disappointing and bad. And it’s not like you can really avoid trailers these days. There are at least fifteen minutes of trailers before every movie that you see in the theater. You can always be “that guy” who closes his eyes and covers his ears during them. I see where they are coming from, I like to go in with as little info as possible so that the reveals, twists and turns aren’t spoiled for me. For example, I didn’t try to avoid the trailers for Rogue One, outside of seeing them before other movies, I didn’t seek out more clips and info. It did pay off and I didn’t see some of the plot turns that occurred coming. Some trailers you will see for over a year before the film is released. And often the three-minute trailer can contain all of the best parts of a one hundred and twenty-minute movie, that really gets my goat, so to speak. Here are some of the worst offenders over the last twenty years.

Passengers, released December 21, 2016. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early. This is a great concept for a movie, so many possibilities and directions it could go in. Add in two of the biggest stars today: Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt with beautiful set design and visual effects, it should be a success, right? So where did this movie fall flat? A few places, but mostly on the script level. The characters were under-developed, and it tried to borrow from too many other movies. This film was derivative of “Cast Away”, “Titanic” and “Home Alone.” Also, one of the characters has a major moral dilemma, but I would call more a “dick move” for what they did. In hindsight, the trailer was a bit deceptive, but in their defense, they don’t want to give away the “plot twist,” so I do get why they did it. I just wish this film held up to the promise it’s trailer gave us.

Suicide Squad, released August 5, 2016. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse. What a fun concept, right? Let’s get a team of the worst criminals we have and send them in to stop an even worse supervillain. This was probably one of the best trailers I’ve seen in a long time, especially with the classic rock hits, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Ballroom Blitz,” and “Spirit In The Sky” featured in it. It was so good that the studio had the team that cut the trailer take a shot at editing the film. They only had so much to work with, so they couldn’t even save this movie. I don’t hate this movie, I really liked some parts of it, but it was filled with missed opportunities. They didn’t really develop enough of the characters outside of Harley Quinn and Deadshot. The motivations of the characters weren’t fully defined either. Also, I think a lot of people are really getting sick of the heroes of movies having to stop the giant light in the sky. There were at least three other movies, although only one really got it right, that featured this that year, “Doctor Strange,” “Ghostbusters” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows,” so this needs to go away or least used minimally going forward. This gave a lot of concern that the DCEU was in trouble since with was is in such a rush to catch up to the MCU that they weren’t concentrating on the little things that matter and failing to properly set up the universe. Thankfully with “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League”, they have started to course-correct.

Transformers: Age Of Extinction, released June 27, 2014. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back-street racing boyfriend for help. Honestly, the entire franchise should be on this list. Transformers was one of my favorite cartoons growing up and there are some cool and good parts to these movies. But, it is mainly Michael Bay shitting on my childhood. In regards to this entry in the series, there are so many problems with this movie: the swift and brutal death of the apparent comic relief early in the movie; the mention of the “Romeo & Juliet” law as part of a sub-plot; Optimus Prime being really pissed off and killing a human on purpose. But the worst offense (I will admit it was a cool scene when it happened) was saving the Dinobots for a short scene at the end of the movie after it was the biggest promise from the trailer.

Man Of Steel, released June 14, 2013. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Clark Kent, one of the last of an extinguished race disguised as an unremarkable human, is forced to reveal his identity when the Earth is invaded by an army of survivors who threaten to bring the planet to the brink of destruction. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the first entry in the DCEU. But man, this was no “Iron Man.” The trailer had some cool visuals and it seem to set up an epic battle between Superman and General Zod, which we did end up getting, but the tone of the movie was totally off. I’m not a comic book guy, but even I know that the tone of this movie was way too dark. Superman is the light, “boy scout” of the Superfriends. Batman is the dark character, which is what keeps the balance in the team. This movie was just in the wrong hands, Zack Snyder’s. Superman was too gritty and pissed off for most of the movie. He behaved more like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Plus, there was way too much imagery portraying him as a Christ figure. This is a prime example of that when it comes to a comic book movie, you need to put it in the hands of someone who knows and cares about the source material.

Elysium, released August 9, 2013. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds. After seeing “District 9”, like many, I was looking forward to Neil Blomkamp’s follow up. The trailer was great, but it basically gave away the entire movie. Yeah, a few plots points were omitted but anyone who has seen a movie before could piece together what the missing pieces were. Where “District 9” was sci-fi futuristic take on Apartheid, this film tried to do the same with the theme of division of classes and what could happen in the future. It gets too on the nose throughout and story goes off the rails by the end. Jodie Foster, much like Kate Winslet in the Divergent series, is missed-cast and gives a disappointing performance. When Blomkamp came out with his third film “Chappie”, I decided to skip it and from what I heard about it from people who saw it, I made the right decision.

John Carter, released March 9, 2012. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Transported to Barsoom, a Civil War vet discovers a barren planet seemingly inhabited by 12-foot barbarians. Finding himself prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Woola and a princess in desperate need of a savior. When this movie came out, most people found it to be too derivative of other movies in the genre, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” & “Star Wars.” The funny thing is that the book it is based-on inspired filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg when they were making their early action-adventure films that I just mentioned. And that where the main problem is. The action sequences and special effects are good, but there many similar movies that did them better. Again, like many others on this list, it suffers from poor plot pacing and uneven characters. It was a shame because it was director Andrew Stanton’s first attempt at live-action after having such great success in animation with “Finding Nemo” & “Wall-E.”

Sucker Punch, released March 25, 2011. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility. Surprise, surprise, Zack Snyder is on the list again. This is his attempt at an “Alice In Wonderland”-type story. This movie is visually stunning but not much else is there. The plot is similar to that of a video game with quests and levels that have to be beaten by the main characters. Except for Oscar Isaac & Jon Hamm, all the leads in this movie are all women, which is one positive that can be taken away from this film. However, that positive is almost turned into a negative by the way the characters are depicted and objectified.

Cowboys & Aliens, released July 29, 2011. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way. Spaceships attacking cowboys in the Wild West? Yes, sign me up. This film also had an incredible pedigree out of the gates. It was produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Jon Favreau, written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde. However, this was one of the biggest disappointments I’ve ever seen. Again, the movie’s failure starts at the script level. There were so many character motivations that didn’t make much sense. Underneath the main leads, there was a tremendous amount of miscasting with some of the supporting roles. These were good actors but they shouldn’t have been in this movie. This was a rare misfire by Jon Favreau as a filmmaker. Outside of the concept, there’s nothing much original in this film, most of the set pieces and characters are paint-by-numbers for a western.

Where The Wild Things Are, released October 16, 2009. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king. Many of us read this story when we were kids. Film adaptations of books can be difficult, especially when the source material is so short, only about ten sentences long, in this case. Spike Jonze is a director with a great vision. What we ended up getting is a movie that slogs and bores both kids and adults. It is so dark, bleak and depressing that one wonders what the filmmakers were trying to say from the get go.

Jennifer’s Body, released September 28, 2009. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A newly possessed high school cheerleader turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror? This was screenwriter Diablo Cody’s follow-up to her Oscar win for the critically acclaimed film “Juno.” This film had a lot going for on the surface. It starred Megan Fox, who was red hot coming off the “Transformers” franchise, the aforementioned Cody and horror was on an upswing at the time, especially horror comedies. However, this movie was neither very scary or very funny. There is plenty of witty dialogue, and some very sexy scenes that teenage boys will dream about, but it seems like there was some unfulfilled potential that the trailer promised.

Watchmen, released March 6, 2009. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: In 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it. Based on a graphic novel, many said that the source material was unfilmable. They were half-right. This was a pretty movie but the filmmakers (cough, Zack Snyder, etc.) spent more time on the look of the film and neglected character development and plot. There were also questionable casting choices as well as misplaced songs from the 80’s featured in the movie’s soundtrack. The biggest drawback of this movie is the run time, at an excruciating three hours plus.

X-Men: The Last Stand, released May 26, 2009. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier, and the Brotherhood, a band of powerful mutants organized under Xavier’s former ally, Magneto. Bryan Singer did a very good job directing and world-building in the first two movies in the franchise. And in one movie, Bret Ratner flushed it all down the toilet. This film really messed with the canon of the franchise by killing off too many characters, namely Professor X and Cyclops. With the main plot being about a cure for mutants and the questions and decisions that come along, a much more capable director would have made a smaller film and focused on a few characters dealing with whether or not they should be “cured.” Instead, we got basically an assassination of a major comic franchise that Bryan Singer had to be lured back to in order to save it with “X-Men: The First Class.”, in which they thankfully ret-conned this film from the cinematic universe.

King Kong, released December 14, 2005. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: After a movie crew travels to a mysterious island to shoot their picture, they encounter a giant and furious gorilla who takes their leading actress and forms a special relationship with her, protecting the beautiful lady at all costs. This one almost didn’t make this list, there are a lot of positives with this movie. Peter Jackson had just delivered on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, so why not remake a classic monster movie with today’s money and technology behind you. This is another movie that suffers from being way too long. There are so many sequences that can be shortened, especially the one with the giant insects on Skull Island. It takes forever for them to get off the island and to New York. We could do without the ice skating scene in Central Park. The casting for this movie was actually very good along with great special effects. This is a tough movie to re-visit though because of the slogs between great action set pieces.

Be Cool, released March 4, 2005. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music executive on the way. This movie made me mad when I saw it. I loved “Get Shorty.” I thought John Travolta did an awesome job in that film as the follow up to his comeback performance in “Pulp Fiction.” It was also touted as an on-screen reunion of John and Uma Thurman. Again, another movie with a great cast, but it seemed like a retread of the first movie, just a different industry setting and without the charm. It seemed to get lazy and go through the motions from the start of the movie.

The Matrix: Reloaded, released May 14, 2003. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Neo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,00 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. During this, Neo must decide how he can save Trinity from a dark fate in his dreams. The first “Matrix” was groundbreaking and revolutionary so when they announced a sequel, who didn’t want to see what the filmmakers would do next. This time around, they focused too much on the action scenes and not enough on the characters in the world they built. There was too much exposition in the dialogue, and many of the subplots went unresolved. And what’s worse, they did it again in the next film in the franchise, “The Matrix: Revolutions.”

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, released May 19, 1999. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: Two Jedi Knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to reclaim their old glory. Where do I start? We waited 16 long years for a new Star Wars movie and because of that, they were able to sucker us in. They played off our hunger for the episodes of the saga that we had all heard about for years. They took advantage of our nostalgia for our beloved trilogy. It opened with the 20thCentury Fox and Lucasfilm logos. They gave us the John Williams score; an image of a desert planet with a spaceship; imagery of worlds we haven’t seen yet; podracing; Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor & Samuel L. Jackson as a Jedis; Yoda; Darth Maul with his two-handed light saber and R2-D2 & C3PO. What could go wrong? That’s a discussion for a whole other article. In a nutshell, too much CGI, an immaculate conception, Jar Jar Binks and the history of the trade federation. There are some good parts in Episodes I-III, but those are few and far between.

Pearl Harbor, released May 25, 2001. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A tale of war and romance mixed in with history, the story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941. This was great trailer that showed the promise of what could have been a rare big budget movie that went on to win numerous awards. The story of one of the most tragic and at the same time heroic days in American history was tailor-made for the big screen. What we ended up getting was overblown special effects, an underserved story with a love triangle shoved in. This is another case of an overall bad movie having some great scenes and imagery but it’s not worth sitting through the almost three-hour long slog.

Godzilla, released May 20, 1998. Here is the plot summary, courtesy of IMDB.com: A giant, reptilian monster surfaces, leaving destruction in its wake. To stop the monster (and its babies), and earthworm scientist, his reporter ex-girlfriend, and other unlikely heroes team up to save their city. Coming off the success of “Independence Day”, the team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich could do no wrong, right? Wrong! They decided to take a crack at one of the most famous monster/disaster movie icons, Godzilla and boy, they got it wrong. This was a case of egos getting in the way of making a great film. They threw out the original script and wrote the film themselves. They also changed the design of the title character. The casting was all wrong. Your protagonist is a worm expert played by Matthew Broderick. Really? The plot lacked logic and there wasn’t much in terms of dramatic tension throughout the entire movie. The tagline of the movie was “Size Does Matter.” Guess what? So does the script.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Where to Watch Chadwick Boseman Movies

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The late Chadwick Boseman made just 15 films before his shocking, devastating death last week from colon cancer. But many of those 15 movies (one, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, is coming soon from Netflix) had already left an undeniable and in some cases massive impact on cinema, even before becoming the permanent legacy of an incredible actor taken from us far too soon.

Not only did his portrayal of King T’Challa in Marvel’s Black Panther and three other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries change film history itself, but he brought some of the most important figures in both Black and American culture to the screen. Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall were American heroes of gigantic stature, and Boseman managed to introduce them to new generations of viewers through his sensitive, complex portrayals.

By all accounts, Chadwick Boseman wanted each of his roles to mean something. He wanted to tell the story of Black history and push that story forward every time he stepped in front of a camera. While so much of his filmography achieved that, there was clearly much more than this gifted artist was going to give us had he lived. You can see his power, his decency, his dignity and his charisma in every frame of the work we have, and fortunately it’s almost all available to us. Sadly, it will have to be enough.

Universal Pictures

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)

Chadwick Boseman had appeared on a handful of TV programs before landing his first role in a theatrical feature. While his role as a young version of real life Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little was relatively minor, it did presage Boseman’s star turns in later sports movies like 42 and the fictional Draft Day. As for The Express itself, the story of Ernie Davis — the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy — was sadly a box office disappointment despite good reviews, but might be rediscovered now.

Available on Amazon

101 Films

The Kill Hole (2012)

It was four years before Boseman showed up on the big screen again, in a military thriller with Peter Greene and Billy Zane. It’s significant because it’s Boseman’s first lead role in a film: he plays Lt. Samuel Drake, an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD who is tasked by intelligence operatives to track down and kill another Iraq vet who’s gone off the deep end. The low-budget entry only holds a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but completists may want to see what Boseman was doing before he landed his breakout gig.

Available on Amazon

Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) acknowledges the crowd in 42.

42 (2013)

The film that first got Boseman the attention he deserved as a major upcoming talent is only the second theatrical feature (after 1950’s The Jackie Robinson Story, which starred Robinson himself) to tell the historic story of the first African-American baseball player to make it to the major leagues.

Boseman is full of strength, presence and grace, and he plays beautifully off Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey in one of that actor’s best latter-day performances. An inspirational, moving film.

Available on Amazon

Summit Entertainment

Draft Day (2014)

Boseman followed up 42 with another sports drama, this time a fictional tale of how Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) makes an unexpected first draft pick in linebacker Vontae Mack (Boseman) and must deal with the aftermath of that. Boseman’s role is a supporting one here and he’s fine in it, while the film itself may be enjoyable for NFL fans but a bit confusing for general viewers. There was better to come in 2014 from the actor.

Available on Amazon

Universal Pictures

Get on Up (2014)

Boseman lights up the screen in this biopic of the legendary James Brown, doing all his own dancing and even some singing as the Godfather of Soul. The movie itself, directed by Tate Taylor (The Help) is not perfect, playing with different narrative structures and omitting a number of incidents from Brown’s life. But the main attraction is once again Boseman, who doesn’t so much imitate Brown as inhabit his wild, untamed, often troubled spirit.

Available on HBO Max

Lionsgate

Gods of Egypt (2016)

This half-baked fantasy saga set in ancient Egypt is probably among the low points of Boseman’s career, not the least because of the whitewashing controversy surrounding some of the casting. Boseman himself took the role of Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, to make sure there was a person of African descent in the mix, but even his usual dignity can’t save this CG-addled mess.

Available on Amazon

Disney

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

When Marvel revealed Boseman as the man who would play T’Challa/Black Panther at a 2014 fan event, it seemed like the most natural pick in the world. And it proved to be right off the bat: Boseman’s introduction in the role in Civil War was electrifying, with the actor showing off not only his action chops but the regality and force of personality necessary to play the young king of the Afro-futuristic nation of Wakanda. His turn in Civil War only whetted the fans’ appetites for what was to come.

Available on Disney+

Netflix

Message from the King (2016)

Jacob King (Boseman) travels from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles to find out what happened to his sister, ultimately embarking on a mission to avenge her death against a seedy backdrop of gangs, politics and depraved Hollywood producers. Boseman was also an executive producer on the project, which was directed by Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz, who made the brutal Calvaire in 2004.

Available on Netflix

Open Road Films

Marshall (2017)

Boseman’s last portrayal of a major Black figure in American history was underseen at the time of its release and will hopefully get some revived attention now (albeit under terrible circumstances). Director Reginald Hudlin and writers Jacob and Michael Koskoff focus on the early years of the first African-American to sit on the Supreme Court, and while that unfortunately leaves out some of his titanic later accomplishments, the movie is still a gripping courtroom drama that shows a giant in the making.

Available on: Amazon

Disney

Black Panther (2018)

What can be said about Black Panther that hasn’t already been said? Thrilling, game-changing, and historic, the first superhero film not just led by a person of color but steeped wholly in African culture was a magnificent achievement in nearly every way. You can feel the passion from director Ryan Coogler in every frame, and a dazzling cast is led powerfully by its King, who embodies T’Challa in such a wholly formed way that he will always be associated with the character.

Available on Disney+

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

With so many characters to juggle in Marvel’s all-in clash against Thanos, it was inevitable that some got less to do than others. T’Challa plays a key role in corralling Wakanda’s armies to stand against the Mad Titan in the latter half of the film, and Boseman again brings a formidable presence even with less to do. Yet it’s no accident that some of the loudest gasps in the audience came when T’Challa was dusted at the end of the film — only hammering home just what an impact he had already made on the MCU.

Available on Disney+

Disney

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

With most of the Avengers and their allies dematerialized until the closing sequences of the movie, T’Challa is not much of a factor in the events of Endgame. But as with the audience reaction to his dusting in Infinity War, the response when he, Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) are the first to emerge from a portal to join the final fight remains a high point of seeing Endgame with an audience. It is beyond sad that we’ll never get to see Boseman in the role again.

Available on Disney+

Matt Kennedy/STX Films

21 Bridges (2019)

A good cast and interesting premise — Boseman plays a detective who shuts down all 21 bridges on and off the island of Manhattan to catch two cop-killers — can’t save this film from being just average. Boseman is unfortunately given little to work with in terms of his character. The movie boasts a handful of striking action and chase sequences, but ultimately ends up as a rather generic thriller.

Available on Amazon (coming to Showtime Sept. 5)

Netflix

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Boseman’s Norman Earl “Stormin’ Norm” Holloway is only seen leading his squadron in Viet Nam during flashbacks in Spike Lee’s messy but often brilliant war drama. But his presence is the linchpin on which this powerful, poignant story rests, as the surviving members of that squad head back to the country decades later to find Holloway’s remains (and a buried stash of gold). This searing commentary on war through the filter of the Black experience is likely to be a major Oscar contender.

Available on Netflix

The post Where to Watch Chadwick Boseman Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

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