That is of course, the catchy lil’ tune from the 1960’s Marvel Super Heroes’ Ironman cartoon. It was a rather cheap affair done more as an animatic than actual animation, meaning mostly static art with a few moving pieces here and there.
They took the actual art from the comic issues by Jack Kirby, Don Heck and others, and as such, there was some pretty cool visuals in there.
With cheap animation. You can check out the old intro HERE.
This was my first exposure to Iron man, much like the accompanying Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Submariner cartoons. Some with very catchy theme songs.
But we’re here to talk about ol’ “Shell head” this time. That was the armored Avenger’s nick-name back in the day. One of Stan Lee’s two main duties back in the ’60’s Marvel Age of Comics was to provide snappy dialog for the characters he created along with Kirby and Steve Ditko. Stan knew how to humanize the heroes, whether it was by giving them vulnerabilities and anxieties, or making everyone feel like part of the gang — including us. Thor was often referred to as “Goldilocks”, Hulk as “Green jeans”, Giant-man as “High pockets”, etc.
The Iron man ‘toon had all the action and drama from the comics. The main suspense came from wondering if Iron man could defeat the villain of the story before his transistorized suit of armor ran out of power. The double threat was that the suit also powered the chest plate that kept his damaged heart beating!
And I’m *guessing* that the Mandarin didn’t have any convenient AC outlets in his castle for recharging!
It was in the ’70’s when I started grabbing the actual Iron man comics amidst so many others. I was always a bit fascinated by this curious “armor mesh” Stark sported. He was always flying around, shooting repulsor rays, but was very flexible in his movements because of the seemingly very thin mesh armor that comprised his red and gold suit. It was also kind of brilliant because his arms and legs almost looked like tights that other superheroes would wear but it was actually armor. Thin armor.
Like chain mail.
Only thinner.
With much less detail to actually draw.
His chest plate, gloves, boots and helmet looked a bit more technological though. There was obviously a ton of micro-circuitry in that armor to make it SO unbelievably THIN, because he had jets in his boots (and sometimes roller-skates!), repulsors in his gloves, some kind of blaster beam in his chest circle, and … metal nipples that for some reason no one cared about because Iron man was pretty cool.
Although when I *did* catch up to Tony’s alter ego in the comics, his mask had a very unfortunate metal noise attached.
Crudely.
As an afterthought.
The upgrade (?) didn’t last long and was actually a miscommunication taken from Stan. The way Ironman’s metal faceplate was drawn, at times it almost seemed as if there was no room for his nose under there. Stan was simply thinking aloud about that one day while visiting the Marvel bullpen in the ’70’s. As Stan was the top dog, he didn’t realize that his random thought would make an editor nervous enough to hurriedly command all artists on all IM-related books to hastily add a crappy pointed nose on Shell head’s face. Stan didn’t want a nose added. Oops. In fact I think it was a few months later that Stan finally noticed the nose and made a call to New York. “What’s with the stupid nose?”
But I really enjoyed the old red and gold armor. Most people did, because that standard look was kept for over 25 years. They tried out numerous variations for different missions, and storylines, but they mostly stuck with the basic, or reverted back to it regularly until the 21st century.
Gene Colan was an artist on ol’ Shell head for numerous years in the ’60’s into the ’70’s, and he had a kinda brilliant method of injecting “emotion” onto the face of Tony’s helmet. In the movies, we usually peeked inside Stark’s helmet to see RDJ emote, but back in the day, artists such as Colan didn’t have the page count or narrative luxury to add frames just to show Stark’s emotions. It probably never occurred to him. No, even though the actual eye and mouth slits on the armored helmet could never move to form expressions, Colan did the next best thing.
Factoring in the curved nature of the faceplate on the helmet, when Iron man was nervous, in pain, worried, in anguish, etc., Gene would tilt Iron man’s back so the eye slits tilted up in the middle for the desired emotion. When IM was angry, determined, or just plain old confident, he’d tilt the head down, so the eye slits angled down in the middle.
Easy-peasy armor-squeezy!
Manufacturing multiple emotions just by tilting the head. A master class by Mr. Colan.
That was really the main bit I wanted to talk about. Just the illustrative Magic of Gene Colan.
Oh sure, I can talk about “Demon in a bottle” (the story of Tony’s alcoholism), some of the other great creative teams on the book over the years, or how RDJ single handedly changed how the comics wrote the character of Tony Stark (they gave him a personality). Or how they’ve needlessly over-complicated the looks of the armor over the years (yes, simple is better).
But really, I just wanted to give some love to the old red and gold and the Colan head tilt.
The other day, the Chicago White Sox (first place in the AL central) were beating up on the Minnesota Twins (last place in the AL central).
It was late in the game and with the Sox winning 15 to 4, the Twins did what most teams do nowadays — they put in a position player to pitch.
The reason teams do this is that when it seems hopeless, they don’t want to burn up a legit pitcher from the bullpen. So they throw a position player on the mound. Basically, they’ve given up. This use to be a fairly rare occurrence but it’s been happening a lot over the past few years.
*Just to be clear, when you grab a position player and put him on the mound, you are saying “uncle”, and it really doesn’t matter how much worse it gets, because you’re already way way down, with little to no hope of a comeback. You throw a first baseman on the mound, you’ve sent up the white flag.
So, it’s late in the game, and Willians Astudillo (who throws about 47mph) is on the mound for the Twins. Yermin Mercedes steps up to the plate for the Sox.
Willians
Astudillo lobs three pitches and the count is 3 balls, no strikes.
The Sox third base coach gives him the “take” sign. So in no uncertain terms, do NOT swing at the next pitch.
He gave the sign because A) Astudillo is so bad, he’ll probably walk him anyway and B) they’ve already beat them silly. Piling on would be considered a classless move.
The latter is part of The Unwritten Rules.
It’s generally considered bad sportsmanship if you rub your opponent’s nose in the fact that they’ve been slaughtered.
Astudillo threw the next pitch and Mercedes belted it out of the park, ran the bases, happy as a lark. Took a quick sec to point to the heavens and issued a quick thanks as well.
Yermin…
Now we once again come to the two schools of thought.
1.This was a crappy thing to do. Sox manager Tony La Russa is old school — and was pissed off. Doing this is VERY unsportsmanlike. AND Mercedes ignored the sign he was given. If I’m La Russa, I’m more annoyed by that.
2.Oh, let the kids play! Who cares about dumb unwritten rules. There’s a reason they’re UNwritten!
Tony…
But….Is it unwritten because this one shouldn’t HAVE to be? It’s usually understood that good sportsmanship is supposed to be a major component of how the players comport themselves.
Conversely, if they’re indeed unwritten, there’s nothing saying you HAVE to follow them.
The day after, a Twins pitcher threw behind Mercedes the next time he came to the plate. A warning. Because if you pull something like he did the night before, there will always be consequences. Not only will your manager be angry at you but so will the pitchers on the other team.
But hey, let the kids play! That’s been the motto for the latest baseball gen.
The problem is, letting the kids loose to do what they want just leads to the adults and the other kids getting pissed off when they’re on the receiving end. All the kids just want to have fun, and celebrate, and don’t want any of the inevitable consequences.
And then there are the stats. YouTube personality Jomboy reminds us that all these guys are always trying to do their best at all times because they’re playing towards future contracts and arbitration. The more hits, homers, etc. they achieve just heightens their value. This is true and fair.
But in that blow-out scenario, what’s more important, maintaining sportsmanlike conduct, or taking advantage of the situation to pump your stats?
I mean, it’s a real game after all. Just because the opponent’s given up, does that mean you’ve got to as well, just for the sake of social graces?
Maybe it’s important to hold on to a few social graces?
Let’s not forget that the Twins manufactured the whole situation in the first place by putting Astudillo on the mound. So really, who’s to blame here?
And….how mad are we supposed to get at a hitter …who hits?
If *everyone* is to supposed to just give up, one side throws a non-pitcher on the mound, and the other team is not supposed to really try that hard, what’s the point? Just end the damn game. Call it a forfeit.
And 99 times out of a hundred, the batter always gets the take sign on 3-0.
Drives me crazy. You know there’s an excellent chance the pitch will be right down the middle. Swing away, unless it’s way outside, and take your walk.
But ignoring the sign from third… hoo boy.
I don’t think La Russa is going to let the kid wriggle out of that.
Unwritten rules. Hey, maybe write ’em?
Let the kids play, or act like the grown-ass men they’re supposed to?
There’s been a LOT of King Kong. His origin story has been told at least three times, along with sequels and reimaginings. But if there’s anyone that has even *more* films about him or connected to him, it’s Godzilla. Even though Kong’s first appearance predates the big G by 20 years, the Lizard God has more than caught up in content.
Oh, not all of it’s been good– for either one. There was a whole run of comical misadventures where Godzilla was played for goofiness. In the original King Kong vs Godzilla back in the ’60’s, Kong was also dragged down into the embarrassing muck. Cringeworthy. Yet there was also a bit of goofy fun for some. Godzooky!
We tried an American version of Godzilla in the late ’90’s, starring Matthew Broderick, which we shouldn’t have done. Listen, mistakes have been made over the many decades. Peter Jackson did his 2005 Kong remake and it was technically brilliant, and loooong.
In 2014, we took another shot at bringing a Monsterverse together, starting with Godzilla. Originally, I went into this with certain preconceived notions–which I should never do– and that backfired on me. Upon a second watch, I liked it a lot more than I did originally. This was followed up in 2017 with Kong: Skull island, then Godzilla: King of the Monsters in ’19 and then GVK in ’21. The SFX throughout were top notch. Excellent.
Now, the biggest hurdle in any Kaiju movie is the quality of the scenes containing the pesky humans. Well, good effects, action, and the humans. I contend that this series does a pretty decent job of presenting the human element, and making their contributions valuable–some, more than others, but still. They also sport a decent guest cast. In fact, off the top of my head, over the course of the four films, Charles Dance, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Reilly, Samuel Jackson, Millie Bobby Brown, John Goodman, and many more.
Across all four films, there is a tangential connection that builds and grows stronger, telling us about all these giant monsters who used to walk the land and were masters of the planet. The two biggest alphas were Kong and Godzilla. Then we get to the title match in Godzilla vs Kong. This is THE heavyweight bout. It’s already established in the Skull island film that Kong is much larger than the old version, who was a mere 50 feet, so this Titan would already be a size match for Godzilla. However, even though this monkey packs the most devastating punch of the bunch, he still has to deal with G’s claws, tail, and worst of all, nuclear breath.
Still, it is an epic battle, which provides a couple encounters throughout the film, culminating in a big brouhaha at the end, which tactically, and entertainingly, is very well done. No, I’m not spoiling anything. If you want to immerse yourself in this Monsterverse, I’d say either grab the blu-rays, or if you have HBOMAX, they have them all in there.
Now, as far as allegiance, it’s funny, because sure, Godzilla is over all more deadly, with a lot more weapons at his disposal, and the bigger cinema profile. But Kong is just a big, and at times, lovable monkey, and a bit of an underdog in a head to head battle. Maybe it’s the underdog thing, or maybe I’m just a specist who likes my primate over the lizard? I know a few high profile, hard core Godzilla fans, who actually have a bit more love for Kong. Go figure. Anyway, I’m team Kong.
As for the best Kong film, honestly, I’d go with the 1933 original because it’s really a technical marvel in its own right, especially for 1933. It’s chilling, scary and thrilling–and the black and white film only enhances that. Do yourself a favor and find a digitally remastered cut of it. After that, I think Kong: Skull Island is a good choice, with an excellent guest cast.
Maybe the best over all Godzilla flick ever done though is Shin Godzilla from 2016. It hits all the right notes and frankly, delivers the best, or at least most lethal and well realized version of the character. It’s unconnected to any of the Monsterverse films, but it does have important ties to the original 1954 film, which was also brilliantly done. If you can catch the original ’54 Japanese version, that would be my other choice.
Shin Godzilla also takes an unusual approach to the human element, in that they deal with the behind the scenes actions of the government as it reacts to the appearance of the monster. It’s quite intense and times, well constructed, and a realistic byproduct of the events.
This was my most eagerly anticipated series from the MCU/Disney+ stable. Had to really shift gears from WandaVision, as this was a very different story — the story of Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, and who gets that shield.
Whereas WandaVision was an experimental tour of Wanda’s tragic life as seen through sitcoms, FATWS is a socio-political thriller more in line with Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie.
It’s gratifying to see a *whole* Bucky Barnes again in every way possible. I’m still blown away by the fact that no name young actor Sebastian Stan played Bucky Barnes in the first Cap movie, yet Marvel never recast, sticking with Stan on this whole incredible journey for this character. And for us viewers, the *investment* in this Bucky Barnes pays off so so big here.
The Winter Soldier coming back in the comics was one of the greatest additions to comics in decades. It even took the “nobody stays dead in comics” cliche, and presented such a strong story, it blew away the cliche. Then they went and did it just as well if not better on screen. Truly amazing.
And as great as Bucky is, I really love the character of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). He’s just … well, he’s a great, down to earth guy, and will make a great Captain America. He’s had his own journey as well since CATWS. Here, seeing his home town, sister and nephews just brings us deeper into his world, where real world problems exist for Avengers too. Sam’s interaction with Isaiah are powerful and heartbreaking (the mere fact that Marvel even WENT there with Isaiah was bold but probably necessary). After this series, seriously, I could see the formation of a new Avengers led by Sam as Cap. Eventually. Plenty o films ahead on the docket already.
It’s also wonderful to see Sam and Bucky tightening the bond between them.
Sam was perhaps a bit naive thinking he could just retire the shield and that the government wouldn’t just take it. I get that he might feel unworthy. I mean who *wouldn’t* when comparing themselves to Steve Rogers? But the whole John Walker experiment had to play out, so Sam would see the light and Walker would become USAgent.
The addition of Julia Louis Dreyfus as the Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is very interesting, because *in the 1960’s comics*, aside from Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan, Val was one of the top officers in SHIELD. Who this incarnation is associated with is anyone’s guess. Seems like Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp) is destined to be a villain in future installments. Aunt Peggy would not be amused. A shame to see her go rogue but all things considered, she did get branded a traitor after Civil War, even after her loyal service time, so she’s understandably ticked off.
It was great to see Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) join the party. He’s a great foil for Sam and especially Bucky. And thanks to his butler on the outside, who’s seemingly very proficient with car bombs, Zemo wins again. Really, he smashed all but one of the remaining vials of the serum, killed the scientist who made it, and orchestrated the car bomb. His goal of eradicating all things Super soldier made incredible strides in this show. We even got to see the purple mask!
The purple mask.
In the past, I’ve gone on about how the MCU tends to elevate or enhance the characters when transplanting them from comics to the screen. Zemo’s no different. Although in the comics, there were two generations of Zemo villains, the original fought Cap in WWII. His big invention was creating Adhesive X! A … really strong glue. He kept it in a vat. Cap shattered said vat with his shield, sending Adhesive X! pouring all over Zemo’s head, causing the purple mask to be stuck on his head forever. Thus, the 80 year vendetta of his family against Cap. Gotta say, I like the movie version better.
Batroc’s another one. In the comics, he was an over the top Frenchman with a crazy pointy mustache. “Wee wee, mon capitan! Are you ready for zee fight?!” Score another for the MCU.
John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is presented as a cautionary tale and is sympathetic enough at first, until it’s clear he’s a bit in over his head, and then he loses it after his partner Lamar (Cle Bennett) gets killed by the main antagonist, Karly Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman).
CHOP CHOP! SPLURT! Two points guessing which scene that refers to.
Karly’s a worthy opponent who Sam’s trying to sincerely help but in the end, there was always going to be bloodshed. Karly and her Flag-Smashers were doomed to fail. I did like that no one’s shying away from the total cluster*** that occurred in the world is now that all the people came back after five years. Seriously, everyone moved on. Abandoned homes were taken over by other people. People got on with their lives and married other people, or at least started relationships that lasted years. Suddenly there was shelter and food for everyone and things were miserable for a time, and then they got better. Much better. I guarantee you, that in the backs of many people’s minds, in that dark little corner, amongst all the survivor guilt, some had that subversive little thought…
…that maybe Thanos was right?
Then, everyone showed up on everybody else’s doorstep, as if NO time at all had passed, seeing their houses gone, loved ones with other people, or dead, jobs gone. Suddenly, the unwashed masses who were finally accepted where they never were before, were all on the verge of being kicked to the curb again, because the missing people came back. Governments were suddenly in just as bad a spot, making decisions which gave rise to a group of super soldier terrorists led by Karly.
Oh, what a mess, but again, one that I’m glad they began addressing.
Also interesting to see such a heavy Wakandan presence here, with a substantial impact on the story, even if there was no mention of the current regime shift over there due to T’challa’s death. The Wakandan Dora Milaje corral Zemo, were responsible for finally getting Bucky’s mind right, showed how quickly they could literally disarm him, and made one hell of an awesome Cap suit for Sam.
And man oh man, he rocked the costume. Yet ANOTHER point for the MCU. See, in the comics, Sam’s wings were really a lot simpler and just *attached* to his arms. So when he became Cap in the comics, the very act of throwing the shield AND staying aloft on wing power was problematic at best (they kinda cheated over it). But the separate jet pack/wings construction in the films make everything easier and workable.
Sam really acquits himself well, right down to a moving and impassioned speech which cements his new identity.
Of course, even more moving is his end reveal to the previously mentioned Isaiah Bradley, whose personal story is a horrifying mirror of real world events such as the Tuskegee Airmen. I’m glad they added Isaiah’s story.
It’s actually very impressive that they fit ALL of this into six 45 minute episodes. I’ve got to believe they’ll be at least another season coming, if for no other reason than to see the cool new logo for “Captain America and The Winter Soldier”.
…and Marvel has “Captain America 4” in the works now.
Merkerson, Harmon, Orbach, Stein and Watterston in S9
For quite some time now, I’ve been watching the original Law and Order.
As I think on it, this all might have started in the hospital last November. Not a lot of channels with good content on in the hospital, and every Monday night on BBC America, they ran a Law and Order marathon of about 7 episodes. Well that was *one* night a week taken care of. So I must have watched a dozen or so eps at least while sequestered. I’d always heard good things about the show, and I probably caught part of an episode here or there over the decades but I never hopped on the train.
I HAD ended up watching the first 16 full seasons of “Law & Order: SVU” a few years ago but I’ll tell you right now, if you’re going to watch reruns of SVU, just concern yourselves with the first twelve seasons, which ran from 1999 to 2011. That was an excellent run as long as Stabler (Chris Meloni) was there. After he left, it started to go downhill, and the show, such as it is, is still on. Sadly.
But as for the *original* L&O… I knew it was good, and I simply didn’t want to get sucked in. Because if a show is really good, I want to see all of it. Well, all it took was me being near death in hospital and being a captive audience. I got sucked in. Sue me.
Noth, Dzundza, Moriarty, and Brooks, in S1
Probably watched half of season 8 while laid up. Jerry Orbach as the somewhat lovable, yet mostly crusty veteran detective Lenny Briscoe, who was always applying his irascible wit. Benjamin Bratt played Rey Curtis, the younger, straight arrow detective. S. Epatha Merkerson, who played Lt. Anita Van Buren, who led the squad room and shouldered the various headaches that came with the cases. Sam Waterston as Assistant DA Jack McCoy, who could be a real asshole. Carey Lowell who played ADA Jamie Ross, who was a go-getter. Steven Hill, who played District Attorney Adam Schiff, who was the epitome of the term crusty-crabby. Oh, yeah, I was hooked.
When I got back home, I had PLENTY of time for recuperation, so I looked around to see if any cable channels were regularly running reruns of the original L&O show.
GUNG GUNG! WE tv, the ION channel, Bounce, BBC America, and at least one more channel I’m forgetting we’re running a lot of eps each week, from different seasons, *plus* Peacock had a bunch of seasons sitting available. So, I set the DVR and in bits and pieces here and there, I watched the many many MANY episodes from the many seasons.
Stein, Merkerson, Farina, Parisse, Thompson, Rohm, and Watterston in S15
Law & Order premiered in 1990 and went until 2010. Yes, 20 full seasons, usually about 23 or 24 eps per season. You do the math.
Right now, I’m kinda in the home stretch. Until recently, none of the many channels were ever showing seasons one or two. But recently, they started showing both. Currently, I have a few eps left of seasons 3 and 12 to watch, and then finally, all of season 1. Another two and a half weeks, and I’ll be done. Since I’m somewhat of an extremist and also a completist, I’m eagerly waiting to finish this whole thing off.
Some thoughts on the various ensemble players who came and left during the course of the 20 seasons. Dann Florek played capt. Don Cragen for seasons 1 thru 3, and was a great character and leader– he eventually ran the house over at SVU for 13 years.
Merkerson played Van Buren in seasons 4-20, so was probably there longer than anyone else at 17 years. She was in charge of almost every detective who was ever on the show, and she was pretty much the anchor on the Law end of things.
Merkerson, Bratt, Orbach, Hill, Lowell, and Watterston in S8
Chris Noth played hot headed and sometimes insensitive lunkhead detective Mike Logan in seasons 1-5, where, at season’s end, he impulsively punched someone out on camera and got busted down to beat cop. He eventually showed up in a L&O TV movie during season 9 but I’m okay missing that. I’ve come to the conclusion that Noth is not that great of an actor. IMO.
Paul Sorvino played Det. Phil Cerreta in season 2 and the start of 3. I originally thought the movie star was slumming it in a tv show but he really did a great job. Not sure why he left. He was replaced by the one and only Jerry Orbach as Lenny Briscoe though, and I think it was during his 12 plus years in the role that the show had its best ratings.
Briscoe was there from mid season 3 until the end of S14, and during that time, he partnered with Logan, then Curtis, then Ed Greene, played by Jesse L Stein. Where as Curtis was a religious, honest to a fault operator, Greene sometimes bent the rules a bit and had a gambling thing on the side that was only lightly touched on. All these pairings were quality entertainment, with Briscoe being the anchor on the street. Usually, the younger guys would be doing the foot chases, while Briscoe would deliver the zingers and the cuffs.
When Briscoe left, Dennis Farina stepped in for seasons 15 and 16 as the tough former Chicago cop Joe Fontana, who also did a great job working alongside Greene. Season 17 had Greene working with the first female detective, Nina Cassidy, played by Milena Govich. Then season 18 saw Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) step in and he stayed until the show’s end, partnering with Greene and then Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson). As of this writing, the only character I’m not familiar with is George Dzundza, who played Det. Max Greeley in season 1.
Sisto, Merkerson, Anderson, Roche, Watterston , and De La Garza in S18
Now, I have to say that even with all these personnel changes, you’d think you might end up with a clunker here or there, but by and large, the show’s format was pretty much bulletproof. Each detective had his or her own style, which the writers had no problem playing to their strengths. That was just as true for both “halves” of each episode.
The whole conceit of the show was dedicating the first half of the show (Law) to the introduction of the homicide, and showing the detectives working it, finally hauling in the main suspect. Then the second half (Order), was showing how the District Attorney’s office prosecuted the case in court. On that side, there was just as much shuffling of cast members of that team, and again, by and large, a great ensemble.
Steven Hill played head honcho District Attorney Adam Schiff for the first ten seasons. He was hilariously cranky and was always in a bad mood, seemed about to keel over with a grunt. The mere idea that after the character left the show, that he went World traveling, solving humans rights conflicts etc…. come on. He could barely move!
During Schiff’s tenure, he worked ADA Ben Stone for seasons 1-4, played by the mercurial Micheal Moriarty. His rather quiet delivery, peppered with occasional alarm was an interesting contrast with some of the drama in the courtroom. His replacement was Watterston’s McCoy, who took that role for seasons 5-17. McCoy was sometimes a righteous fighter for the cause, and quite often, an uncompromising asshole. I’m not sure if that was just his attitudes shifting or inconsistent writing. When Jack got bumped up to DA for the last three seasons, the ADA was Mike Cutter, played by Linus Roche, who played a less likable, less competent, younger version of McCoy.
In between Schiff and McCoy were Dianne Weist playing Nora Lewin (seasons 11 and 12) and Fred Dalton Thompson playing Arther Branch (seasons 13-17). I cannot say enough good things about Weist or Thompson. The former was an ex college professor who was a compassionate lefty, the latter, a very practical, hard nosed and understanding righty. Both were fantastic. I was sad to see Weist leave, and Thompson left for a run at the presidency in the real world. Just a great assortment of DA bosses.
Then you have the second chair ADA’s throughout the run. In pretty much every case, these characters showed they had the right stuff, some coming back in adversarial positions down the line. Richard Brooks played Paul Robinette for seasons 1-3 working under Ben Stone. Jill Hennessy played Claire Kincaid in seasons 4-6, and while driving Briscoe home from a bar, was killed in a car accident–*more on that in a minute.
Merkerson, Noth, watterston, Orbach, and Hennessey in S5
Carey Lowell played Jamie Ross, a divorced working mom, who worked under McCoy for seasons 7 and 8. I believe she was also the first assistant to NOT sleep with McCoy. The asshole had slept with at least four of his assistants. Married the first one. This guy was ridiculous.
Abby Carmichael (Angie Harmon) stuck around for seasons 9-11, Elizabeth Rohm played Serena Southerland for seasons 12 thru mid 15, replaced by Annie Parisse playing Alex Borgia, finishing out 15 then stayed around for 16. She evidently wanted out, so the producers had her brutally murdered. Finally, Alana De La Garza played Connie Rubirosa for the last four seasons.
The only note here would be that Rubirosa was so good, she worked under McCoy during S17, and when he got bumped up to AD, she should have stepped into his role, instead of putting Cutter in there as her boss. She could have kicked his ass in the courtroom easily–and did so in one ep.
*One of the most riveting eps was an unusual “day in the life” angle that ended season 6. McCoy, Claire, Lenny and Rey, all witnessed the official execution of a guy they put away, feeling it was their responsibility to see it through. This was in the morning on their day off, so the four principle characters had the rest of the day to let the event soak in, and showing the viewing audience just exactly how messed up they got after watching the lethal injection.
Rey wandered the city, eventually striking up a conversation with a lovely college coed, which led to them retreating to her apartment. We know for a fact that the resolutely devoted and faithfully married Curtis would never think of doing such a thing under normal circumstances. Lenny meets his estranged daughter for lunch and ends on a strained, bitter note, sending recovering alcoholic Briscoe to a bar.
It happens to be the same bar where McCoy is already firmly planted, telling a stranger his life story, in a very uncommon display for McCoy. He opens up about his bastard of a father, a rough, large handed beat cop who solved everything with his fists. This open and chatty McCoy welcomes Briscoe and even calls Claire to come on over. Eventually, thinking she’s not coming, McCoy leaves, and without any witnesses, Briscoe starts drinking, torn up about the execution and his relationship with his daughter.
A guilty Rey shows up at Lenny’s apartment for council, but he’s nowhere to be found. Claire shows up at the bar looking for McCoy but finds only a drunk Briscoe, and offers to drive him home. And while driving home, a car plows into the driver’s side killing Claire. One of the most powerful and unusual episodes of the entire run.
LAW & ORDER — Season 6 — Pictured: (l-r) Sam Waterston as Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy, Jill Hennessy Assistant District Attorney as Claire Kincaid, Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe, Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
But again, by and large, the show was always top notch and entertaining. Now, I’m not going to recommend that anyone even attempt to try and track down and watch the whole run.
That would be crazy. But I can say that if you happen to run across an episode, ANY episode… it’s probably worth watching. Myself, this need to watch every ep, well, that’s me.
GUNG GUNG! (You’ll understand the GUNG GUNG the first time you watch it)
Because the thing IS.
Enjoy.
Jill Hennessy Assistant District Attorney as Claire Kincaid
I splurged for a month of HBOMAX to watch Kong vs Godzilla and the Snyder Cut, so I’m taking the opportunity to cover some extra ground while I’ve got said month. To that end, some micro reviews on some of the recent entries and one that isn’t so recent.
By and large, these DC flicks are “okay”. When a superhero movie grabs me, I usually get swept away, get a chill. An exhilaration. These moments have not just been in Marvel films, but the vast majority are in that pantheon. Infitinity War is damn near one long set of tingles.
The last two times I got it from DC films? Wonder Woman’s high octane reveal in Batman v Superman. Before that, it was Supes saving the airplane in Superman Returns. Before that, you’d have to go back to Batman ’89 and Superman I and II. So in a nutshell, whether they’re trying too hard or not enough, there’s a distinct lack of glory and exhilaration in these films.
Mind you, it doesn’t make them horrible. Nolan’s Dark Knight is an amazing film, with easily the best ever Joker on film. Maybe really the ONLY time they did it right. But it was still a necessarily dark and grim movie. But I digress–
*Birds of Prey/the emancipation of one Harley Quinn. What I’m struck by here is what the film does with somewhat recognizable characters from the comics. Sorry for the repeated comparisons to Marvel but quite often, those characters are enhanced by the films they’re in. Not always, but quite often, you get a more layered, more interesting character than the ones you get in the comics.
BOP doesn’t really do that, as I found I didn’t care about any of these characters. I cared about most of these characters a great deal back in the comics of the ’90’s, or in the case of Harley, in Batman the animated series. But here, none of them are as interesting, have as much depth, or have become vastly different in the process of coming to film. 5/10
Joker is director Todd Phillips’ homage to ’70’s and ’80’s Scorsese films, mixed with his alternate take on the Joker. It’s not nearly as great as it thinks it is, although Joaquin Phoenix does his angst-y, chain smoking thing. Some say he’s compelling.
One thinks Phillips could have made a movie about Arthur Fleck’s character study without trying to tie it into Batman history. But he described the film to Phoenix as “a heist film” — because in his words, they were going to pry 55 million dollars from Warner bros. to make a movie. Thus, the Batman connection. Probably couldn’t get this film made without. 5/10.
And–That’s not a knock on Phillips or the movie– startlingly, it’s actually very tough for old school directors like Scorsese himself to get backing these days from studios. That’s why Marty had to resort to Netflix to get The Irishman released at all. So you have to do what you have to do these days, even if it means trying to tie into a comic book film.
Side note– one of the things that MAKE the character of the Joker so fascinating, truly one of the most amazing villains in all of fiction, is that *you don’t know who he is*. He’s a mystery. He may tell stories of his origins but they’re usually just that, stories. To make an entire movie that is JUST the character’s origin… nah. Ruins the mystery, nominalizes the character.
Shazam — fun little film, a direct adaptation of the Geoff Johns comic version from a decade ago. This property has always struggled to be relevant to all ages over the decades, and usually never quite finding its footing. This did poorly at the box office but since it’s considered more of a kid’s movie, Warner didn’t seem to mind.
I believe Black Adam starring Dwayne Johnson is still in the offing and the closest thing to a sequel but I doubt there’ll be much crossover as it’s supposed to be a very different film. As for Shazam itself, it was lighter, more fun than most, and it was serviceable. 6/10
Green Lantern — yes, the one from 2011. Ryan Reynolds. Sometimes, you have to look at some of the films around the same era and you understand why some are either praised or condemned. Once again, this one is squarely in the “okay” territory. Not nearly as bad as some say. Not a masterpiece, but certainly not that bad. Good performances from Reynolds, Mark Strong, Taiki Watiti, and Peter Sarssgard.
Blake Lively however, has as much on screen chemistry as a wallpaper commercial, and honestly, the direction and musical score could have been a tad bit stronger, punching the right places, nailing the exhilaration factor. Could/should have been better than what it was, but not the monstrosity people like to harp about.
Maybe if it didn’t hit theaters after Iron man, Ironman II, Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America? Anyway, GL, IS better than the other ones in this list, even if only by a bit. 6.5/10.
Wonder Woman 1984. Aside from Gal Gadot, who is just a delight no matter what she’s doing, this one would have been better off not coming out period. Looking back, I’m having a real rough time thinking of something I actually enjoyed in the film (aside from Gal). Sillier than normal ’80’s references, every guy is a creep, Kristin Wiig is just better suited to SNL, Max Lord and his whole story fell flat, and the mechanism for getting Steve back, yeah, I don’t know.
Diana really has no good excuse for pining for this guy for 80 years. She could easily have any other guy on the planet, but chooses to mope for Trevor. Well, they already greenlit a third film. Hope it’s better. 5/10 (for Gal).
As for Godzilla vs Kong, I was going to devote a whole piece to that, along with the other entries in the Monsterverse, so that’s next time.
I’ll have to go through the “buying a month” thing again in August just to see the new Suicide Squad. I’d just keep the subscription until then but seriously, HBOMAX does not have enough content to keep me engaged for more than a couple weeks, tops.
I’m not paying an additional four months. So, until then….
There’s a lot of gnashing of teeth and pulling out of hair regarding the astonishingly horrible first two weeks of the Cubs 2021 season. There’s also a lot of gnashing of teeth and griping about those who turn so quickly on the team after one of the worst starts in the last 120 years of Cubs baseball. One tweet stated that “if you don’t love the Cubs at their worst, you don’t deserve them at their best.”
That’s all fair.
At the start of any given season, it does take time to settle in and adjust. Some excellent teams need time to get in the swing of things, literally. Meanwhile, some other teams start off with an explosion of action, get a bunch of early wins, and then eventually settle into the basement.
Quality will out in the end.
But I don’t think any of this is happening with the Cubs. Their bats have consistently continually gotten deader since 2016. It’s almost as if the Cubs were given a potion in early 2015. It began taking effect, and got stronger and stronger by the end of 2016 until it reached maximum efficacy in October and early November.
Then sometime in 2017, it started to wear off, until finally, around 2019, they were getting back to 2013 or 14 levels. That’s what it’s felt like anyway.
Is it all mental? Sure. Superstition? Baseball is thick with superstitious nonsense.
But it really IS baffling what’s happened. For at least a couple years after 2016, you had the same bunch of guys. On paper, these SAME GUYS should have been either in or close to the World Series in ’17, ’18, maybe ’19.
Winning the NL Central, by the way, is not a great accomplishment. At least not in the past few years, as the division has been the weakest in baseball. These days, you measure the quality of your play by going up against the Dodgers, or other teams who have to face the Dodgers a lot each year.
The Dodgers are an interesting history lesson too. They HAVE been legit contenders for the past five years, getting close to or IN the WS. In fact, if not for the fact that both the Astros and Red Sox were both slimy cheating machines, the Dodgers WS win in ’20 might easily have been their third in a row. They would have had a legit dynasty going on. They still can, as right now, they’re running away with the best record in baseball and are the odds on favorite to win it all again.
I hope they do, only because they did get ripped off by the cheating scandal a couple years running. I usually have nothing but disdain for the Dodgers, but Houston and Boston have made them sympathetic victims.
But the Cubs. Unlike the Dodgers, they have no good excuse. Not for these first two weeks– forget that, as again, it’s not just this season’s start but the last five years. You can only only blame a “World Series hangover” for just so long. In fact, it’s rubbish.
The one I feel most sorry for is David Ross. When he stepped in last year as manager, he made a point of saying he was going to hold the players accountable. Didn’t happen. Oh, the COVID shortened season, oh, we’re grinding out at bats, oh, we just have to trust the process, oh, blah blah blah.
I understand the manager and players have to say *something* each and every day to the media, but Jesus Christ, there are only so many cliches we can stomach hearing for the 568th time.
These guys are good, we know it!
But ARE they … anymore?
The Cubs are now trapped in a glass case of panic.
What’s left of the championship core is down to a handful of guys, and most of them are on the edge of free agency. They are as good as gone after this year, because general manager Jed Hoyer has not extended them.
Everybody loves everybody, and respects and cares about everybody. Right.
But the second Hoyer traded away Yu Darvish, it was clear where priorities lay. If you’ve got a valuable player, SELL! QUICK!
See, usually, a player headed into free agency will try his best to have a career year, to up his value for his own sake and get that sweetheart big, multimillion dollar contract.
Meanwhile, a guy like Hoyer hopes that they do indeed have a great early start to prove their value, so he can trade them and make loads of money. But… if Rizzo, Baez and Bryant are still performing like this in June or July before the trade deadline, no one wins, especially Hoyer. He’ll have a bunch of worthless trading chips.
Meanwhile, amongst the daily media interviews on zoom, where the players look more like hostages reading prepared statements, it’s the same old thing. “We’re not worried”. “We do our homework.” “We prepare for our opponents.” “Etc.”
Doesn’t really seem like it.
Maybe it’s going into the phantasmagoric, multimillion dollar clubhouse reminding them of what they used to be. Maybe they just keep waiting for some miracle to flick the switch on again. Maybe there’s a toxic element that’s taken hold in the back of the player’s minds. There’s a reason we refer to the Baseball Gods. They are mercurial, malicious and murky. They reside in player’s minds, no matter what they might say.
I think at some point, the ’21 Cubs are going to go on a huge tear and have a hell of a run. Because every team does at some point during every season. Just like they have horrible stretches. But it all comes down to how long and how much, resulting in what kind of team materializes at the end. One of the things I DON’T want is them scoring a boat load of runs one day, get cocky, then go hitless for three games. That’s been a common pattern for the past few years as well.
This team could very likely win their weak division, or maybe more. Or end up staying right here in the basement. No idea.
I do love the vast majority of what the Marvel Cinematic universe has put out. Even the least of which have been quality productions, albeit with issues– but it’s been rare.
On the streaming end, Netflix/Marvel’s also delivered, putting out something like 13 seasons of content in something like four years. Three seasons of Jessica Jones, two seasons each of Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Punisher, one of The Defenders and perhaps most importantly, three incredible seasons of Daredevil.
A lot has been made of the various, upcoming Disney+ series, and WandaVision acquitted itself pretty well in its first season. There’s plenty more to come as well, with “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, “Loki”, and a bunch of other properties.
But where exactly does this leave Daredevil?
There’s absolutely no denying the love fandom has for DD on Netflix. Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/DD), Deborah Ann Wohl (Karen Page), Elden Hensen (Foggy Nelson) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk), are some of the best casting choices this side of Chris Evans as Cap. No argument.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 11: (L-R) Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, and Elden Henson attend the Netflix Original Series “Marvel’s Daredevil” New York Comic-Con Panel & Cast Signing at the Javits Center on October 11, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Possibly the MOST impressive embodiment of a character is D’Onofrio as Fisk. In the comics, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, is THE mob boss of organized crime and a virtual man-mountain of dangerous muscle, housed within what some might mistake as simply the frame of a fat man. This live action portrayal has been a revelation. As cliche as it sounds, D’Onofrio was born for this role.
This is to take nothing away from Cox, Wohl and Hensen, who play a magnificent three musketeers at the office of Nelson & Murdock, attorneys at law.
And we can’t forget Scott Glenn as Matt’s mentor, Stick, or Wilson Bethel as the chilling Ben “Dex” Poindexter, aka Bullseye. Whoever did the casting for this series should get any and all applicable awards ASAP.
If DD was entered into the MCU ranking, the series would rate very, very highly amongst the films. If you look up “binge watching” in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Charlie Cox there. It’s that good.
But when Marvel bought up the Fox film properties like the Fantastic Four and the X-men, and planned out Disney+, there was no mention of Daredevil. They own the property, and Cox and company have proven to be WILDLY popular.
So what’s the problem?
One hurdle was the expiration date on the Netflix property. To the best of my knowledge, Marvel wasn’t technically allowed to produce anything new involving the Netflix properties for two years after the final seasons were broadcast. Meaning Marvel couldn’t really think about utilizing a character like Daredevil, or adding him to a production until 2020, two years after DD season three came out of the streaming service. More on this in a moment.
There is another hurdle, but it might be moot now. Where as Kevin Fiege was THE man in charge of the MCU, Ike Perlmutter was the guy overseeing Marvel’s tv output from a corporate standpoint for a while. Perlmutter has long been known as a corporate tightwad and a pain in the ASS. He had tons of power, and was highly placed in the hierarchy of both Marvel and Disney. Perlmutter made life difficult for Fiege, until Ike was taken out of the equation. There was a time when any utilization of the tv properties would benefit Perlmutter. That’s possibly one reason why no characters from ABC or Netflix ever appeared in an MCU film. It might in some way benefit Ike. Bottom line, there was no love lost between the two.
But again, time has passed, Perlmutter can no longer muck up the works, and Fiege can now do what he wants. PART of that is giving fans what they love and crave.
Case in point, the mid credit sequence of Spider-man, Far From Home. J. K. Simmons portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi movies was an impossible act to follow. That’s part of the reason the follow up Spidey franchise starring Andrew Garfield didn’t dare recast him. But KNOWING how much the fans love him, Fiege brought him back, albeit for a cameo, playing a doctored video by Mysterio, framing Spider-man for murder and outing Peter Parker’s identity. It was a mind blowing reveal.
When the third Spider-man entry in this franchise hits theater’s this December, what exactly will we see? Is Peter and May on the run? Is he in jail? *Does he need… a lawyer?*
I guarantee you, the vast majority of Marvel and Spidey fans knew that Peter would indeed need a lawyer. And we know a guy.
Hell, there’s been several reports that Cox has been filming scenes for the movie, but there’s been no official statement. And when asked, Fiege just smiles. But he knows what we want.
The big question though, even if Daredevil, and/or Matt Murdock ends up in the next Spider-man film…. where does he go from there? Does he make the jump to film? Myself, I would vote no. The producers of the Netflix show had a 4th season all planned out. Bring it to Disney +. Make it happen. There’s a rhythm and flow to how this property works as a series. Maybe they can make it work as a movie, but I say stick with what you know.
One way or another, they can’t just let Daredevil fade away.
Near the end of Star Trek, The Next Generation’s sixth season, there was an ep titled “Second Chances.”
Enterprise visits a planet to locate important research data. It just so happens that it stems from a mission 8 years earlier, where a young Lt. Will Riker *almost* didn’t make it off the planet via transporter. Turns out, there was some nasty interference, but thankfully, Will got off the planet.
But Will did NOT get off the planet.
He was stranded on that planet for 8 years. So when the away team beamed down, imagine how awkward it was when Lt. Riker came face to face with Cmdr Riker–with a neater beard!
Those transporters, much like the holodecks, are a LOT more trouble than they’re worth. The nasty interference back then produced two identical patterns in the transporter buffer and boom. One Riker beamed up, one stayed put. Two exactly the same Will Rikers. Only one was MUCH lonelier. No one realized a Riker was left behind. Why would they? He came back!
So, both Rikers return to Enterprise. What follows is awkwardness between Deanna and this new Riker, because they were still an item back then. Our Riker eventually chose career over counselor and broke Troi’s heart. Now we knew the rest of the story.
Of course, Riker on Riker interaction throughout the ep, as they set about retrieving said research data, or doing *anything*, is like two squabbling brothers, as you might expect. As new Riker resumes pursuing Deanna, old Riker cautions her to be wary so she doesn’t get hurt again. Because you know, a Riker is a Riker is a Riker.
By the ep’s end, new Riker decides to transfer to another ship to get away from himself, since he’s his own superior officer, again, awkward. He takes Thomas, his middle name, as his first to differentiate himself from his twin. Deanna tries not to even let him in again for fear that history will repeat. End of episode. Tom is never mentioned again in TNG.
What an interesting episode. What a load of chickenshit producers and creators.
Hey, producers and creators!
You had an all new, all different Riker. A Lt. from security division. One who had never met this crew, and was more in love than ever with Deanna.
Meanwhile, you were quickly running out of excuses for why Cmdr Riker was passing up his own command every other weekend. Could no one in the office see the OPPORTUNITY you were giving yourself? Of COURSE you did. You just chickened out. What, too much trouble? Were you tired?
You had them both stumbling around on the cliched death bridge on planet, and new Riker almost fell to his death. You get credit for not letting the cliched death bridge earn its title. It took a tiny bit of guts to keep a second Riker around. But then you shipped him off. That’s Weak Sauce. You could have gone into season 7 electrified, but you decided to coast.
Here’s an alternate solution. You tell me if you think this might have been more interesting.
Cmdr Riker decides to kill two birds with one stone. He takes that week’s offer of another command. He finally gets his ship (maybe there actually one he was waiting for?), and gets away from this other him. Maybe there’s some guilt at play as well. Toss this poor bastard a bone. Allow him some time to serve on the Enterprise under the great man, while you stop mooching. Maybe new Riker actually has the chance to make Deanna happy. Meanwhile, you are the master of your own vessel.
Okay, that Riker’s gone, so everyone gets a shift or promotion, or both. This opens up SO many new possibilities for new interpersonal and professional relationships on the show, it’s crazy. Picard has to pick a new first officer. Obviously, it’ll be Data or Worf. Somebody’s getting a new red shirt! Data had already shown he’s got command chops, but Worf’s natural fire would be a good compliment to Jean Luc’s diplomatic, measured ways. What a *wonderful* problem to have in a writer’s room!
As for Jonathan Frakes, maybe he no longer gets second billing, but he doesn’t lose screen time. Lt. Riker gets a bump to Lt. Cmdr. He probably also gets head of security, keeping the gold shirt. *And* he resumes his relationship with Deanna. Having *just* got a promotion, he’s good to stay put for at least the rest of the TNG run, thus, time for him and Troi.
Now, away teams are different. Instead of Riker, Data and Worf… it’d be Data, Worf and Riker. The new arrangement wouldn’t matter to the new guy at all, and probably not Data too much either. But the dynamic between Worf and Tom would be interesting. Especially in season 7 when Worf goes after Deanna romantically.
Again, more rich, layered, wonderful, character twists to be had.
It’s such a shame, because Frakes could have really stretched himself as an actor here, as the rest of the crew adjusted to this new head of security, and he adjusted to his new normal. This sloppy lack of follow up, and timidity regarding taking chances, making bold moves….seems like the lame stuff Voyager would do on a regular basis.
Ah well, TNG would only reach a certain level. Not every Trek show can be Deep Space Nine.
Yes, DS9 actually did have the cajones to bring back Tom Riker, had him steal the Defiant masquerading as Will. Turned out that poor Tom ended up with the Starfleet officers turned terrorists, the Maquis. At least *someone* took the reigns on an interesting character. Things did not end well for Tom, sent off to a Cardassian prison, sacrificing himself to save his crew.
It really didn’t have to end this way. There were some good eps in TNG’s seventh and final season, but a lot of dead wood too. Could have been MUCH more interesting.
I just really hate missed opportunities, because the Thing IS.
Having praised TSC for being an expansive, superior film over the theatrical cut of the Justice League, I feel I must offer, not an opposing viewpoint, but a little clarification, in case the Snyderites out there think I’ve drunk the Kool-aid.
Yes, the Snyder Cut is unbelievably longer, which certainly helps flesh out the characters, or at least give them more screen time. It gives a more complete story. It has an over all consistent visual style, but this is one of the advantages of having ONE director at the helm.
But make no mistake, Snyder is not a genius, nor was this a “masterpiece”. Just a more internally consistent production, making for a smoother delivery in the end.
Although I found the hybrid nature of the theatrical version to be jarring at times, it did have one clear advantage over the Snyder Cut. It has a far more recognizable Superman. Snyder has never understood Superman.
Really, there are many characters Snyder doesn’t understand, probably because he doesn’t understand what a hero is– that’s why he constantly puts his “heroes” in impossible, no win situations, where the only way out is by tortuous killings and murders. And in some cases, just has them kill for the hell of it because it results in cool property damage shots.
Like Wonder woman liquifying the lead terrorist at the museum in front of the school kids, and blowing out the whole side of a building because Snyder loves property destruction. The leader was scum but a simple hand crushing his gun, or even his hand would have been more than enough to stop him. Slamming your bracelets together to disintegrate him to jelly, well, at least one of the little girls declared she wants to be JUST like Diana when she grows up! Kid also seemed intense. But I digress. We’re supposed to be talking about Superman specifically here in The Snyder Cut…
For instance, in TSC, after coming back from the dead, there was no good reason for him to come back in the black suit, other than Snyder thought it looked cool. Yes, they did that briefly in the comics but A) that was in the ’90’s, an era known for shitty fashion trends in comics but there was also a Kryptonian medical angle involved at the time. None of which should have come into play here. Especially since we also got a drawn out fashion show while Kal El wandered through his closet picking out his next outfit. Superman would not come back to a glorious return in anything but his natural colors.
In the Doom future flash forwards, when Lois has died and Supes has gone rogue, yes, then he’d be wearing black, but even there, in this latest dream, Snyder puts the murderous Kal in red and blue, just to be irreverent or contrary I guess.
As much of an asshole as he is in real life, Joss Whedon *does* understand Superman though, and he at least gives us a more true take on the character. There are several bits and pieces in the film where Whedon tries to let the true character come out but maybe the most silver age goodness is evident in the good natured race at the mid credit sequence between Superman and Flash. Simple and fun.
This doesn’t usually go over well with the “Kewl kill krowd” but that’s their loss.
In the end, neither of these films are glowing examples of cinema, but each have things in their favor.
For instance, a small scene between the veteran Batman and newbie Flash, where the kid is nervous because he hasn’t really done this life saving thing much. Batman’s advice of “save one person” to get the ball rolling is a nice, small, vulnerable, human moment. The sort of moment that we usually don’t get in TSC.
But I wish. I wish that Warner Bros. executives and Chris Nolan had gone a different, smarter direction when expanding the DCCU. I wish *they* grasped the concept of Superman, and how he’s a very different character than Batman. How ALL these characters are supposed to be different. They’re not ALL supposed to be dark and badass like Batman.
I wish that circumstances where different and that if Whedon had to do a Justice League movie, it was his concept from start to finish, with no mitigating circumstances and horrible conditions and/or personalities in the mix.
Of course, the best possible scenario would be the Russo Bros. and writers Markus and McFeely doing a Justice League movie, because when it comes to comic characters in films, I don’t think anyone truly gets how it works better than those guys.
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