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Freeform Is Finally Getting A Show I Am Interested In, The New Warriors!

There are so many comic book TV shows out there now.  Though for a while it seemed that DC was destined to own broadcast TV while Marvel would just keep trucking along on Netflix (with the exception of Agents of SHEILD).  Not so!  Marvel is adding two new shows this year, Inhumans and their first comedy The New Warriors.

The internet is going nuts for The New Warriors because it will have Twitter favorite Squirrel Girl played by the AT&T Girl (Milana Vayntrub).

I guess she was in This Is Us too, but who watches that show.  Anyway, I have been hoping for a good superhero comedy, so I hope Freeform can pull it off.  Though if the internet has taught me anything, The Amazing Squirrel Girl can do whatever she sets her mind to (she beat Thanos once)!

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I Gave Joel McHale Money For A Book He Kind Of Wrote!

I know it shocks some of you, but sometimes I read books.  You just don’t know about it because most them are in a series, and it seems odd to review the twelfth book in a set.  Anyway, I recently finished, “Thanks for the Money: How to Use My Life Story to Become the Best Joel McHale You Can Be!”.  If you can believe it, it is satirical self help book based on the life of comedian and actor Joel McHale.

It is about Joel complaining that he doesn’t make enough money, so he hires ghostwriters to write a book to make him more cash, and apparently if we follow his life, we will be just as moderately successful as he is.  Seems reasonable.  I will not need to get as many hair plugs as he did though.

It is a pretty funny book.  It seems to know I have a weakness for witty footnotes, and this book contains a lot of them.  It is a quick read at barely over 300 pages, and quite a few of those are pictures.  It also contains a lot of info about his parents … you know what I am not going to spoil it.  Just be ready for anything.

If you like Joel “Soup Man” McHale (I am not sure he would like that name), you will probably like this book.  It is full of his biting sarcastic persona.  I know I enjoyed myself.  You will probably only be disappointed if you really wanted to buy a self help book to be more like Joel McHale.

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Spider-Man Comes Home!

We finally got our first Marvel Studios co-produced Spider-Man movie, and it was worth the wait.  Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best Spider-Man movie to date.  Just narrowly beating out Spider-Man 2.  My only complaint is that I feel they played the movie a bit safe.  The Marvel movie formula works, but I wish they would try and shake it up a bit.

Spider-Man: Homecoming starts out with a quick recap of the events of Captain America: Civil War from Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) perspective.  He then waits to hear from Tony Stark about his next mission while becoming the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man we have all come to know and love.  Along the way he gets in a fight with some guys with super weapons.  To protect his city he is going to have to track down and take out the maker of these very dangerous weapons.

Did you see something I didn’t mention in the plot above?  That’s right Peter never gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and there isn’t yet another Green Goblin.  Spider-Man: Homecoming is not an origin film in the classical sense.  Peter is still new to his powers, and not far along in his superhero career, but those looking forward to Uncle Been dying while saying something about power and responsibility will be disappointed.  It is very refreshing.

Tom Holland is the best Peter Parker we have had on screen.  Which is saying something.  Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were pretty good Spider-Men.  Even if their movies weren’t.  All of the backup cast was great as well, and obviously Michael Keaton is going to be good no mater what movie he is in, so it is no surprise that he is fantastic as the blue-collar villain Vulture.  His performance keeps the character from becoming a one-note throw away villain.

Honestly, like I said above my only complaint is that Spider-Man: Homecoming can be a little too Marvel-y.  It fits in very well with the other Marvel movies, but that is because it is very much like the other Marvel movies.  It is a weak complaint I know, but after sixteen movies it would be nice to see something fresh and new from the studio.

For everyone that was excided to hear that Marvel Studios would be taking the reins for at least the next few Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the movie they hoped it would be.  It is funny and charming, and it brings in a lot of Marvel cameos and Easter-eggs to find and enjoy.  Just don’t expect something new and different.  It is like buying a Snickers at the grocery store, very good, but you know what you are getting.

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The Paladin searches for Okja

Okja by Bong Joon-ho, best known for Snowpiercer and The Host, is a Netflix film starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, and Seo-Hyun Ahn as Mija the little girl who has spent her whole life with Okja on her grandfather’s farm in South Korea.

Okja is a genetically modified superpig, which Tilda Swinton’s Lucy Mirando hopes will rejuvenate the Mirando Corporation. As an aside, Tilda Swinton is fantastic. Twenty-six superpigs were given to regional farmers to raise traditionally over a ten year period with Okja eventually chosen as the best and brought to New York City for a big celebration. Mija of course doesn’t want to loose her friend and so begins the journey to save Okja.

Along the way we meet Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dr. Jonny Wilcox, who reminded me of Nigel Thornberry from the Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys, only a shell of his former famous self. You also meet Paul Dano’s Jay, the charismatic leader of the ALF cell trying to free Okja and Steven Yeun’s K, one of his followers. Along with the grandfather and Mirando employee Mundo Park (played wonderfully by Je-min Yun) all the characters are somewhat gray and no one is clearly black and white.

Over the course of Okja’s two hour run you go a lot of places and it moves fairly predictably, but the characters and the actors that bring them to life make the journey worthwhile. The computer generated Okja, while at time can look a little fake, also draws you in but not by being hookie, cartoony, or anthorpromoric, but by being a real animal. Bong Joon-ho obviously has a point to the story but he doesn’t force it on you or tie a bow around everything; instead you are left to digest and ponder what he showed you and perhaps decide for yourself.

Okja isn’t a classic, but it is still expertly crafted and preformed, so check it out if you have Netflix.

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Get In The Ring With GLOW!

Netflix continues to churn out the hits with GLOW.  It is hard to keep up with all the new programming that Netflix produces, but I think GLOW is worth paying attention to.  It is a fictionalized account of the creation the real G.L.O.W. which was on the air from 1986-1990, and the dramedy manages to be both funny and poignant.  Though I don’t think it will be for everybody.

Any time I watch historical fiction, I like to see if there is any truth to it, and sadly in GLOW’s case the story on screen is nothing like what really happened.  It is still really good, but just don’t expect to be an actual expert on G.L.O.W after watching GLOW.  In the Netflix Show’s case, it is about a group of struggling actresses trying to find work, and not just work, but also something other than playing secretaries and waitresses, so they go to a gym to give wrestling a try.  Of course no one takes them seriously.  Women’s wrestling in the 80’s was a joke, so they have to train hard while overcoming one obstacle after another.

The actors they got for GLOW are all top notch.  Alison Brie plays her role as Ruth, a ‘good girl’ learning to be a heel, perfectly.  Though with her resume that is hardly a surprise.  Then the rest of the ladies just come in and add more depth and character.  The few gents in this show deliver as well.

Since this show is by the creators of Orange is the New Black expect GLOW to be for adults only, and it takes a while for it to find its feet, but once it does it is very engaging.  Now I want to go out and watch some wrestling!  Just kidding, wrestling still isn’t my thing, but GLOW, a show about some ladies kicking butt in the 80’s, definitely was.