'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 3, Episode 13: 'No Country For Old Dads'

This episode focuses on Ray, who is still in the clutches of the Darhks.  It turns out his captivity is a blessing.  Not only does it allow him to acquire some key pieces of information that will help the team later on, but it makes for great viewing material for us.

It should come as no surprise that Ray's boundless optimism and goodness clashes with the Darhk's perspective.  It allows for some "buddy comedy" elements to come into play when he and Nora are dispatched to retrieve a scientist who has cracked cold fusion so that said information can be used towards reassembling the fire totem.

It also allows for some solid character development.  Even though Nora is still a villain.  We see that she does have layers.  Her time with Ray does start to change her a bit (something even Damien admits he should have seen coming) and her relationship with her father gets both examined and developed over the course of the episode.

Speaking of Nora's father. Damien was in rare form this episode.  His hammy comedy worked, his menace remained intact, and we actually got some genuine pathos from his devotion and commitment to his daughter.  This was what made him such a solid villain before and it felt like it had been lacking as of late.  We see that there is still some fuel to the Darhk fire and it's refreshing to say the least.

There's not much for the rest of the team to do, but we do get some plot advancements there as well.  Amaya learns that the Darhk's possession of the totems is corrupting the spirit plane.  Rip also alludes to some dark secret of Ava's that could threaten her relationship with Sara.

That last part seemed a little shoehorned in for forced drama, but we'll see what the secret is and how its inevitable reveal plays out.

Wally joins the team in earnest.  He doesn't get a whole lot of screen time, which is a bit sad seeing as not being utilized was one of the major criticisms for his character on "The Flash".  He does get to save the day, though.  He and Sara also have some nice exchanges peppered throughout.

It was also nice to see Rip start to get accepted back into the group.  He isn't exactly welcomed with open arms, but it does seem like the wounds are starting to heal.  His genuine remorse and determination to fix things probably had a lot to do with that as well.

While Mallus himself doesn't appear, his arc does get advanced on several fronts.  We know how the anachronisms tie into his end goal and he appears to take over Nora at the episode's end.  Oddly enough, Darhk seemed unfazed by this.  Yeah, her voice didn't change and her eyes didn't go red, but those big black veins around her forehead seemed like a dead giveaway.  I guess we'll see how that develops later.

Overall, this was a very strong episode.  The script was solid, the cast all did great, and we saw some pretty big developments for the season's story as a whole.  It was also nice to see the heroes come away with a win.  It seems like it's been a while for them.  True, they didn't get Amaya's totem back yet, and Nora now seems to be attuned to it, but Wally did snag the fire totem and Ray still has the formula for cold fusion, which I figure has to be a game changer for the future of the Arrowverse's Earth.  There's only a handful of episodes left, so it should be interesting to see how things play out from here.

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'Jessica Jones' Season 2, Episode 13: "AKA Playland'

The second season comes to its end.  As is befitting of a season finale, this episode manages to cram in quite a lot.

While Alisa may have initially taken Jess hostage, it isn't long before Jess is coaxed into going along with the plan.  Even with everything that has happened Alisa is still convinced that the two of them can work together for the greater good.  Jess is skeptical, even invoking a similar plea from Kilgrave (something Alisa seems to take offense to), but the episode gives us another example of the two actually working quite well together as heroes when they save a family from a burning car.

Alisa is even convinced that the two of them can go to some other country to feed the hungry or bring supplies to the sick.  Jess gives an odd look, but it was an oddly heartwarming moment.

It's enough to put Jess' two worlds at war.  She's reluctant to leave her life, but at the same time, she wants to reunite with her mom.  Similarly, Jess' old life isn't too keen on seeing her leave.  Both Acosta and Trish take it upon themselves to try and save Jess from the situation, even if she is on board with the plan.  It even seems like Alisa herself is second guessing the plan.  She has a nice moment with Jess where she's

Alas, things aren't meant to be as Trish's actions result in Alisa's death.  On a somewhat related note, Trish is a freakishly good shot.  Anyway, as you can imagine, Jess does not take too kindly to this.  Trish's pleas and reminders that she had Jess' best interests aren't enough.  Just as it was with Malcolm, Jess' connection to Trish seems irrevocably severed.

You'd think that this would give the episode a dark, downer ending.  Impressively enough, it actually ends on a more positive note.  Jess decides to start living her life and she has a nice dinner with Oscar and Vito.  The resolution is bitter sweet, but considering how much crap Jess has thrown at her, it's nice to see her get a nice moment like that.

All in all, this was a strong ending for the season.  It managed to tie up a lot of the season's loose ends and still sow some seeds for the next one.  Granted, it'll be a while before we get to that, as there are a few other Netflix MCU shows to cover, but it'll be interesting to see where the show goes and how it all wraps up.

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'Cell' (2016) Movie Review

John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson reunite to partake in another adaptation of a Stephen King novel.  Sadly, the results aren't nearly as impressive as the first outing.

The plot is fairly simple and straight forward.  A mysterious cell phone signal triggers what basically amounts to a zombie outbreak.  We follow an artist named Clay (Cusack) who makes it his mission to find his family amid the ensuing chaos.

There are moments here and there, but the movie largely falls flat.  There isn't nearly as much tension as it seems like there should be.  One major problem is with the phoners themselves.  They don't come off as particularly menacing due to the fact that the extras playing them make them come off as more ridiculous.  Given that their extras, one might forgive their lack of talent, but the camera spends a lot of time on close ups of them, making it a more noticeable flaw.

Things do get better when they start to coordinate and become more than just the typical rage zombies, but it isn't enough to make a lasting impression.

The human cast fares slightly better, though they don't have a whole lot to work with.  Samuel L. Jackson brings some of his trademark gravitas to the table and his character does have a lot of the best lines, but you can see better from him in other films.

Stacy Keach also could have used more screen time.  He's great in the portion of the film he's in, but he's pretty much a one-scene wonder.

Isabelle Furhman stands out as the only one who seems to be making a genuine effort.  She's the only one who shows signs of shock, grief, and horror at what's going down.   She's probably the one you connect to the most.

As a result, even the film's attempts to be more emotional don't work as well as they should.  When Clay goes on what amounts to a suicide mission, the big goodbye should be a powerful and moving moment, but it's just kind of there.

The movie also has structural problems.  The group just kind of wanders from place to place.  I honestly forgot what their end goal was at one point, which is odd given that it's pretty simple.  There needed to be more of an impetus behind the characters' actions.

Even when Raggedy shows up, not much is done with him.  He's just there because he was there in the book.  Granted, he wasn't the most impressive King villain in the source material, but at least he did stuff.  There's no development or exploration of what he is or what his end goal is. He just stands there.

Pacing is also a problem.  Like in the book, the pulse hits very early allowing for the action to start almost immediately.  However, with only a 98 minute run time, the film's plot feels both underdeveloped and unnecessarily padded out.  A part of me wishes that the movie had more time to explore certain aspects, but it didn't really use the time it had very well.

The Pulse itself is never really explored.  Even the speculation scene amounts to one line from Jackson's character.  It's pretty much just a plot device.

Overall, this was a lackluster outing.  It had potential and there are sparks here and there, but it is another film that isn't really worth going out of your way to see.

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'The Dark Tower' (2017) Movie Review

After years of languishing in development hell, a cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series finally got released.  The results are.....eeh?  It's telling that the blurb on the DVD cover states "it delivers Idris Elba as an action star". 

Even putting aside the fact that the series is lengthy and deep, this outing had several things working against it. With only a 95 minute run time, a lot feels glossed over.  There's a lot more telling than showing and Roland's big arc feels rushed.

The latter part is also due to the fact that Jake is made the main character.  I get it, he's from our world, so he can be the audience identifier.  On the other hand, when you're coming in to see Idris Elba, Tom Taylor doesn't really cut it.  He does OK for the most part, but that wasn't what we were sold.  This problem does fix itself once Jake makes it to Mid-world and partners up with Roland, but it does lead to a first act that feels slow and is generally unwelcome.

There is also a noticeable lack of tension at several points.  The action sequences are largely well done and have their fair share of highlights, but it still feels hollow.

What really props this take up is the two leads.  Granted, Elba doesn't have a whole lot to do, but when he has material to work with, he brings what he can.  While he does well showing off Roland's badassery, I think the fish out of water scenes in New York will leave a more lasting impression on viewers.

McConaughey, on the other hand, works really well as Walter aka The Man in Black.  He's clearly having fun with it, but he's also able to bring a good amount of menace to his performance.  He is also able to use Kilgrave's skill set much more effectively.  Yeah, that's right, he came off much creepier and unnerving than Tennant.

As this is an attempt to streamline the narrative, there are lots of little homages to specific aspects of the books.  Fittingly, the movie also makes nods to other King works.  Jake is a psychic now, with it specifically being referred to as "the shine".  Roland also uses a spider as an example when talking about the dark forces that exist beyond the barrier of the multiverse.  Heck, even the main plot itself of using psychic kids to power a big machine is taken straight from "Black House".  The people behind this were clearly familiar with the material, they just didn't have the time to bring it all together as effectively as one might hope.

One thing that Dark Tower fans were quick to note was that Roland still had the horn.  This was meant to indicate that this wasn't so much an adaptation of the books, but a sort of sequel.  It was a clever way to explain the differences and give the producers some leeway, but I'm afraid even that only goes so far.  I mean, even the nature of the tower itself is different.  I don't know if you can handwave that with "time loop".  Not much is made of the horn or the time loop, though Walter does have one line where he compares Roland's quest (as well as their overall conflict) to a dog playing fetch.  I thought it was an amusing wink to the fans.

This is hardly the worst King adaptation out there.  It's not awful, there are things to like, but it is an underwhelming undertaking.  I think a longer run time would have really helped get us invested in this world.  As it is, it's just blah.  I know the intent was to turn this into a multi-movie franchise, but I'm not sure how that would work.  Walter's dead (though they could write that off as some sort of trick.)  The movie does allude to the Crimson King, but would he just do the same thing?  Would some other dark force be enlisted that would force Roland to go to the tower?  I have no idea, but it's a moot point as the movie didn't do so hot at the box office and a sequel seems unlikely.  I've heard rumors that they are trying to do a TV series based on the books.  The way the story is structured they could "reboot" it by just making that another loop and still keeping it all canon.  We'll see if that ever comes to fruition, though.  In the meantime, this one doesn't hurt, but there's no real reason to go out of your way to see it.  It's worth a rental at best, but there are better options out there.

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'Jessica Jones' Season 2,Episode 12: 'AKA Pray For My Patsy'

I don't know why, but this episode gave me problems.  They weren't so much in the episode's content, but in the fact that Netflix just did not want to cooperate.  I had to deal with repeated crashes and freezing.  The app didn't need to update and the phone still seems to work (as evidenced by the fact that I was able to watch an episode of "The Flash" with no trouble.)  I figure a lot of people are watching the new season, but I didn't have this problem with "Defenders", so I don't know what the deal was.

As a result, it was hard to really get pulled into this the way I, as a viewer would want.

Still, the episode brings a lot to the table.  It goes to great lengths to isolate Jessica.  Acosta, her cop friend essentially severs ties when Alisa kills his partner, Trish rips into Jess for not living up to the superhero ideal, and Dorothy (Trish's mother) tries to pin the blame on Jess shortly after offering an olive branch and assuring her that it wasn't the case.

Between trying to kill Trish and killing the aforementioned cop, it becomes clear that Jessica has to kill her own mother.  She doesn't come to this decision easily, even chastising the cops for adopting a "shoot to kill" approach to the situation, but ultimately there's no other option.  It culminates in a rather tense stand-off where our hero holds her mentally unbalanced matriarch at gun point.

It is a bit of an echo to Kilgrave, only Jess can't bring herself to do it.  While Alisa's pleas do fall on deaf ears, it's still a bridge too far.

It gives Alisa the window she needs to effortlessly knock out her daughter via pistol whip.  To Jess' credit, she does fare slightly better in an earlier confrontation.  When Alisa tries to use Jess' own arm to choke out Trish, Jess straight up punches her mother in the face and then throws her across the room. I still say she's in dire need of a win, but this episode at least threw her a bone.

Hogarth scores a win of her own, tracking down Shane and Inez and dishing out her own form of payback.  It was very much in character for her to set them up the way she did and it was something of a dark highlight for both the episode and the character.  Plus, it gave us a Turk appearance, those are always a highlight of any Marvel Netflix series. 

I'm ambivalent about the cliffhanger.  That final tracking shot of Alisa driving the RV to who knows where was ominous, though at the same time, it isn't like Jessica is in any real danger.  Still, it does leave you wanting to see what happens next. 

Being this close to the finale, it was bad timing for Netflix to flake out the way it did.  It kind of undercut things, but it'll still be interesting to see how things wrap up for this entry in the Marvel saga.

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'Doctor Sleep' Trailer Reaction

There have been quite a few Stephen King adaptations in the pipeline as of late.  One was for one of his recent novels, "Doctor Sleep", which is a sequel to his classic, "The Shining".  A trailer for the film adaptation just landed yesterday, as such, let's have a look and see what we're in for.







This is an interesting contrast to the recent, "It: Chapter Two" trailer. I think that this creates a stronger atmosphere and definitely comes off feeling creepier as a result. 

Like the aforementioned trailer, the second half includes a musical score that seems a little odd.  I think "It" did the better job on that front.  Granted, that one was out of place, but it still made an impact. This tune just left me feeling "eh".  Closing out with that creepy opening theme from the Kubrick film did work wonders though, brilliant touch there.

Speaking of, it seems like this is acting as a sort of loose follow up to said film.  It makes sense. You couldn't really say that it was a film sequel to the book, as that would turn potential viewers away.  I guess you could've used that TV mini-series that wasn't very well received.  Really, using the Kubrick take is the best way to go, given that it is a well regarded classic that a vast majority of people have seen.  The trailer itself strikes the right balance, acknowledging what came before and paying homage, but also showing that this story is going to go in its own direction.

Overall, this one looks solid.  Ewan McGregor looks like he's going to be a good fit for the older Danny.  I think it's going to be a good watch.  We'll find out if that turns out to be the case in November.















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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 3, Episode 12: 'The Curse of the Earth Totem'

The Legends begin the task of acquiring the various totems so that they may combat Mallus.  It was nice to see the events of Vixen's seond season get a mention.  Mari is also name dropped at a few points in the episode.  Oddly enough, while the team does visit present day Detroit, Mari herself doesn't make an appearance.  I get why Amaya would keep her distance, but you'd think the other Legends would try to bring her in.

On a similar note, Sara returns to present day Star City to go on a date with Ava.  The sub-plot itself is fine, but you'd think with everything going on re Cayden James, that there would have been some allusion to it.

Most of the episode takes place back in 1717.  This brings the crew into contact with the dreaded pirate Blackbeard.  I'm not sure about the depiction.  I mean, it does subvert expectations, and there were some good gags that came from it, but a part of me did want to see the character live up to his reputation.

Still, the pirate setting seems like a natural fit for a crew of superhero misfits.  There are bits where the episode embraces it, but it seems like they could have done more.  Mick takes to the environment like a duck to water and Amaya eventually embraces her "dread pirate" persona to an extent.  It just seems like there could have been more swashbuckling to be had.

I also think that I'm growing weary of the Darhk's as adversaries.  Damien just doesn't do it for me like he used to.  He just kind of shows up and it doesn't pack the same punch.  His best scene is when Ray comes to offer aid to a mortally wounded Nora.  The fact that he didn't hesitate to give Ray Amaya's totem back was actually pretty heartwarming. It's somewhat undercut by what happens soon after, but they are villains, so it really should've been expected.

I found the undead Earth totem revenant to be the more interesting adversary.  Well, OK, there wasn't much in the way of personality, but she was creepy and imposing.  The fact that she effortlessly disposed of the Darhk's early on in the fight did make for a great "wham moment' and you knew that this was a force to be reckoned with.  Granted, most of the Legends' heavy hitters were on the ship and Damien is ultimately the one to bring it down, but it was still a cool sequence

On other fronts, we see Rip continue his efforts to recruit Wally into the upcoming conflict.  You'd think that Wally would be game, but between Jesse leaving him (wasn't that some time ago at this point?) and not really finding a place on team flash, he seems content to focus on his newfound spiritual journey.  You'd think that he would have kept up the superhero thing independently, but such is not the case.

As such, the speedster and the former time master.....get drunk.  I'm not entirely clear on the logic behind this one, but it was funny.  The two do make for a good buddy pairing, even though  pair of characters have just met, the two actors play off each other very well.

This results in some great character moments, such as Rip getting his coat back and the two busting out some "Careless Whisper" at a Karaoke bar in 1992 Japan.  Is it weird that I found this to be the best part of the episode?

I'm not sure why Wally felt the need to "pants" Gary.  It does make a nod to Wally's "jokester" persona that he's had for some time and Gary is a butt monkey, but the fact that Wally doesn't even know the guy is what throws me off.  The alternative is that Rip told him to do it. I guess that does kind of work in its own way.

The sub-plot comes full circle as Rip tosses out the idea that Wally could find his place on the Waverider crew.  It is consistent with what the show has been going for and Wally himself does seem like he's at least starting to open up to the idea.  We'll have to see how that element plays out.

I wonder if the Bermuda Triangle will also play a role later.  It was likely just a plot device to get the Waverider back to the present, but it does seem like they could have investigated that a bit more.  They did hammer in the fact that it's called "the devil's triangle" and they are facing a demon, could be something there.

This episode had potential, but ultimately, it was just kind of there.  It seems like it was more about setting things up.  It does that adequately, in that Wally is starting to get brought in and the episode ends with Ray hostage and the Darhk's having a lot of the totems, giving the episode a "the villain wins" vibe.  It is a step down from the previous episode, though.  It passes the time, but I don't know how memorable this one is going to be in the long term barring the "Careless Whisper" sequence.

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