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Spending The Weekend With Jessica Jones!

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Netflix and Marvel have launched their second attack on my free time, Jessica Jones.  It amazes me to say it, but so far I like Jessica Jones more than their previous outing Daredevil.  Which I loved.  It is because it is so different than anything else on TV.  Daredevil was Marvel’s take on what the CW has been doing well for awhile now, and that is the standard superhero TV show, but a little darker and with a slightly bigger budget.  Jessica Jones on the other hand is a completely different beast all together.

The show is about the titular Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) as she runs her Alias private investigation firm, but mostly as she tries to track down the crazy evil Kilgrave (David Tennant).  It starts off normal enough until you start to learn more about their powers.  Jessica is super strong and can jump really far (she calls it controlled falling), and Kilgrave can make anyone do anything he wants if tells them to do it in person.

Kilgrave’s power makes him one of the scariest bad guys Marvel has unleased.  Sure Loki could control people’s minds, but Loki had a certain charm to him that made his deviousness more palatable.  Kilgrave however is pure nightmare fuel.  He doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and his obsession with Jones.  Once a person has served their purpose they are lucky if they are left to go about their normal lives.  He is a spoiled child, and no one can tell him ‘no’.

The acting is top notch.  Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones is a very broken woman, but she insures that you see her inner strength pushing through it all and matching her outer strength.  David Tennant is putting the world on notice that he is not The Doctor anymore.  Kilgrave is one screwed up dude, and it will be hard to see Tennant any other way for awhile.  Mike Colter’s Luke Cage has me excited for his new show coming next year.  The Unbreakable Man should be a lot of fun to watch.

Jessica Jones may be Marvel’s darkest and most twisted tale.  It is living up to its TV MA rating, but it is great to see that Marvel has more up its sleeves than just dudes in costumes.  In this case a little sociological horror and some gumshoeing.  Netflix and Marvel have been really knocking these shows out of the park, and as long as they keep releasing them, I will be renewing my Netflix subscription.

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Wait… I Know That Voice

I-know-that-voiceHave you ever been watching a cartoon/anime/video game/commercial/movie trailer and thought to yourself… Hey, I know that voice! That voice, if you didn’t know already is connected to a human body sitting in a  booth somewhere in Los Angeles and that body is fascinating.

John DiMaggio, known for such voices as Bender from Futurama and Jake the Dog from Adventure Time, wanted to celebrate and document the varied talent and effort that Voice Actors put into their work. The film simply allows them to talk, strangely something Voice Actors like to do, and over the course of the 1hr 30min runtime you get to put a face to that voice you are always hearing.

The film gives you a greater appreciation for the work that they do and the effort they put into each roll. They show and explain how Voice Acting is more than talking with a funny voice or accent; really breaking down how Voice Acting is different from stage or film acting. The real attraction is the cast of characters whose voices grace our ears. All of them are passionate about their work and proud of their skills, but you get the sense that the community is fun, tight-nit, and humble – there is little ego on display.

The film takes some time to develop, introducing viewers to people but not really establishing who they are; sort of just throwing viewers into the deep end to figure things out themselves. Overtime however you get a sense of who each person is and what they do or more aptly who they voice.

If you are a fan of cartoons, anime, video games, or voice work in general I highly recommend I Know That Voice. Its on Netflix and you’ll be talking funny for a week just to see if you have what it takes to a Voice Actor.

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It Is The End Of An Era: The Soup Has Been Canceled!

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I can’t believe E! did it!  They got rid of the one reason to watch their channel; They canceled The Soup.  When I got the news, I wanted to drive down to LA and yell at some studio executives.  To remind them that they extended Joel McHale’s contract through 2016, but then I was overcome with sadness.  The Soup has been part of my weekly routine for what seems like forever (12 years).  Having Joel make fun of all the absurdity on TV seemed to make everything okay.  Like I wasn’t the only person that couldn’t believe all of the garbage on TV.  Especially since the station that was putting out most of the garbage in the first place was also airing The Soup, so it let us know that they were in on the joke.

Regardless it was sad new to hear, and I am sure Joel McHale will land on his feet, he is on the new X-files for instance, but I will miss his hilarious thirty minutes of comedy perfection every Friday night.

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I Don’t Even … It’s Well … The Gods Of Egypt Trailer …

There is so much I don’t understand about the Gods of Egypt trailer.  First off who thought a movie about feuding Egyptian gods was a good idea, and then to have it star two very white dudes: Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and King Leonidas (Gerard Butler).  Three if you count Jamie Lannister’s plucky human sidekick (I am not going to bother looking it up).

I mean I kind of get it.  People aren’t watching swords and sandals movies anymore, so let’s try and mix it up by having different people wear the sandals, but still, no.  Not to mention different people aren’t wearing the sandals.  They are the same people, but just representing a different people group, so they kind of messed up their own idea.

Even more confounding is that even though this is the first trailer, they have given away the entire movie.  In order!  The two gods fight and Jamie looses his eyes.  Leonidas is a very bad god and subjugates Egypt, so the humans send some plucky kid to help Jamie.  They struggle their way back to Egypt so Jamie and Leonidas can go at it again.  The only thing they didn’t show was Jamie almost losing, but then the plucky human does something to save Jamie at the last minute.  The trailer was one scene away from being the CliffsNotes to its own movie.

God of Egypt is shaping up to be 2016’s The Last Witch Hunter, but it may even look worse, and that is saying something.

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Supergirl Is Finding Her Feet But…

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Each episode of Supergirl gets better, but the problem is what isn’t on screen: Superman.  The show just can’t shake him.  They are always talking about him.  He is a major character of the show, and he has no screen time (well almost none)!  This is what I was worried about with Supergirl, and why I thought they should have gone with Kara’s Earth Two counterpart Power Girl.  By having the ‘S’ on Kara Danvers chest they are having to write around the most iconic superhero of all time.  That is not an easy task.

For now I think they would be best served by just not talking about him.  The show has established who Kara is, and that she is a hero in her own right, so now they just need to focus on her and her gang.  No more of this ‘what would Superman do’ crap.  He is not around, and this isn’t his show.  Heck it might even be good for Kara to get a new job.  That way they could make her less of a Clark Kent knock off.  Like I said, the show is getting better, and it is keeping its fun airy vibe.  It is nice to have a superhero that is enjoying herself, and there are much worse ways to spend an hour.