andrew_jorgensen

Much like The Fantastic Four film - I was on the fence about seeing this film. It had mixed reviews, and I didn't exactly love the last few Superman films I'd seen. Also, James Gunn's last cinematic effort, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol III gave me a headache. (Although I'm thinking that may have been more of a Star Lord and Rocket issue than a Gunn issue.)

As you may or may not know, Superman 2025 is the eleventh Superman film in a long and winding series of films, dating back to 1948, with the most recent being Zack Snyder's highly controversial Man of Steel (2013). (That's not including all the television serials and animated films and serials.) Superman was originally created by two Jewish immigrants way back in 1938 - when fascism was on the rise in Europe, and Hitler was in the midst of persecuting the Jews. They created Superman as a sort of inspiring hero during those dark times, he was an immigrant to the US, an alien, who was kind and helped others no matter what. A beacon of hope.

I've seen various people in comics and in film try to do a more nihilistic take on the character of Superman or a nihilistic commentary on the character - and it never quite works for me. I understand the desire to do it - and why a lot of folks don't like the original version, but Superman at his core is a hopeful character and a kind one. What lies at the center of the Superman story, at its very core, is hope. Get away from that - you lose the story. If you veer too far away from that - you are kind of losing who the character is and why, which is what happened with the previous take on the character, and why Gunn for the most part wisely goes back to the source material and the Salkind's version. It's worth noting that Gunn cleverly references both Salkind's take on Superman and Snyder's. Snyder's science fiction take, and version of Lex is kind of melded with Salkind's.

Superman 2025 directed by James Gunn, written by James Gunn, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster - is the first film in James Gunn's Gods and Monsters arc for DC's rebooted film verse. Clocking in at just over two hours, it clicks by at a good pace, and I didn't notice the time fly by, but, there are one or two fight scenes I'd have trimmed, but I feel that way about most action films.

It's important to note that unlike all the previous films, with the exception of sequels, this does not start with Superman's origin story. It starts in the middle of story - Superman has lost a major battle, his first, the film tells us why and what later on. A lot of action happens before the film even begins. We're in the middle of it and it works, because we've all seen the origin tale multiple times, over twenty to be exact, so it's not really needed. They refer to it, we're told what it is, so in case you were hiding under the proverbial rock for the last 80 years, you know.

Unlike the Fantastic Four Film - this film is harder to discuss without substantive spoilers. I tried, I gave up.
( spoilers )

All that aside? I loved the movie. It kept to the core values of the source material, and the original intent of the writers. The filmmakers told their story with just the right amount of humor, and humility. And it put a smile on my face. Lifted my spirits. And gave me hope.

After watching it, I had an overwhelming urge to break into a jig and cheer, instead I just posted online that I loved it to little bitty pieces. I enjoyed it so much, that I've watched it twice now. And will most likely down load the soundtrack to listen to - tomorrow at work.

It also taught me a valuable lesson - be careful with reviews or read them with discretion. Many of the reviews I read turned me off of the film - leading me to believe, erroneously so, that it was too busy, head-ache inducing, with a low-brow and crude sense of humor. This couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know what film they saw? But it wasn't the same film I saw - and I've watched it twice now.

Reviewers, myself included, are human and tend to critique the film through their own lens. We often tell a story with an agenda in mind, either hidden or overt, and that includes reviews. I've learned, the hard way, not to determine what to watch, read or listen to based solely on someone else's view of it. More often than not, I have to see it for myself. We never see the same films as others do, because we see them filtered through our own mind and baggage. And more often than not, we only see what we want to see.

I owe you a Fantastic Four: First Steps review, don't I?

The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/co-scripter Stan Lee, and through this title the "Marvel method" style of production came into prominence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four



This is a film that I was admittedly very much on the fence about seeing. I've not seen a Marvel film or a superhero film in theaters since...roughly, I can't remember? I think the last one was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III? I'd gotten a tad burned out on the genre. And so many of the films felt repetitive. And well, it's the Fantastic Four - and I've always been ambivalent of the comics and the team. I read a few here and there, curiosity and well, I'm an X-men comics fan since roughly college, and there's cross-overs. But I wouldn't call myself anything approaching a fan or expert? So I went into this with mixed feelings, low expectations, and for the most part blind. I hadn't really seen the trailers and I knew very little about the film - outside of who the villains were, who the cast was, and that it was retro-futuristic 1960s from the posters, whatever that meant.



The film, directed by Matt Shackman, and written by Josh Fredman, Eric Peterson, and Jeff Kaplan - is among the tighter of the genre entries to date (and believe it or not shorter). Clocking in at just under two hours. The plot clicked along, it had just the right amount of suspense, and emotional gravitas for this genre. It wasn't overly predictable, nor convoluted. It did a good job of setting up both its world and the characters without inundating us with too much unnecessary exposition, and it was fun. There was in short, no huge information dump, yet at the same time - it introduced the story to those who may never have read a comic or seen a Marvel flick or television series (a rarity for Marvel). It also had an almost childlike innocence to it - which is true of the early 1960s comics and 1970-80s superhero flicks - which some may find silly, but I oddly enough found refreshing? It may just be that I'm tired of dark grim films and content, the world can be depressing enough all on its own. In some respects this film reminded me of another era - the films released in the 1940s and in the 1960s, films depicting a better world, where problems can be solved with a smattering of cool science and cooperation, a kind of cartoon escapism.
( vague spoilers and mainly just cut for length - what works, why it works, why it's better than all the previous efforts, and why you should see it. )

Overall, the film is worth a watch, particularly on a big screen and in a good theater. And well, if you are an MCU, Marvel or most importantly? A Fantastic Four fan? I'm certain there's a few of you out there?

A couple of things that have zip to do with the meme.

Spoke with Mother. Apparently her church is requiring her to do a virtual background check to see if she complies - in order for her to sing in her church's choir. And she can't get it to say she complies.
( our conversation regarding this insanity... )

Oh, and I saw Fantastic Four : First Steps - which was excellent. It was everything I wanted in a superhero Fantastic Four film and then some. I've been lucky - I've only been to the movies twice in the last three years, and both films I loved to pieces (the other one was Oppenheimer).

***

Below is an insanely long MCU (Marvel Cinema Universe) franchise list - television and films, meme. Similar to the Star Wars and Star Trek memes, but longer. I thought about making it even longer by adding all the films that were adapted from Marvel Comics by other studios, such as Across the Spiderverse, and well all the X-men films, but chose not to, because the list is long enough on its own. There are lot of Superhero films and television shows out there. If they stopped making them tomorrow? We would not be deprived. (Not to worry - they won't.)

I take no credit for this monstrosity, I snagged it from colls, thank you colls for doing it.

( insanely long MCU superhero film list )

List Memeage, only culture junkies need apply.

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

Star Wars Franchise

RELEASE ORDER
( all the star wars series and films released to date that you've seen. )

I've actually seen more of the MCU stuff than the Star Wars stuff. Although I have admittedly watched more of the Star Wars than Star Trek - at least I think I have? Let's see?

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

Star Trek

RELEASE ORDER
( all the Star Trek Series and films seen to date )

Hmm, I was wrong, I've seen more Trek than Star Wars. [Morale? Never assume without checking first.] There's only a handful that I've not seen. Who knew? Apparently I'm more of a Trekkie than a Star Wars fan. Granted Trek had more content availability when I was growing up - Star Wars didn't take off again until the 21st century.

And that's a lot of Trek. I think that out does the Star Wars franchise ten to one.

Side note? The forgettable film, Star Trek Nemesis? The villain was written with James Marsters in mind - based on his performance as Spike. But Marsters is a die hard Trekkie, and blew the audition. He froze when he met James Patrick Stewart, had similar problem when he met Nimoy. So, Tom Hardy got the role and his career took off instead.

And I've seen more of the DCU and MCU franchise than of those two. Let's face it I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan, with a weakness for superhero films. I tend to hide this side of myself from most of the folks that I know - current cubicle mate wouldn't understand. I miss my previous cubicle mate who loved superhero films and science fiction.

Sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night. Woke up in the middle of the night, and my body would not let me get back to sleep. Finally did, and had an odd dream about being unable to give new people I met my contact information. As if something was preventing me from putting it down accurately. I kept putting down the wrong thing. Also, I couldn't seem to get to my flight on time. Very odd dream. As a result of the sleep deprivation - I decided to only take a short walk today at lunchtime, well that and the fact that the pants I was wearing kept sliding down my hips as I walked, because I'd put a wallet and a phone in the front pockets. So I had to keep pulling them up. (Highly annoying.)

And spent most of the morning, taking a cybersecurity course that made me paranoid about everything I've ever posted on DW and social media in my lifetime. (We're required to take web based training modules for work every year, they are the same ones. Actually this one may have been updated. But the others are the same. )

***

Anyhow, here's a bit more of the August Question a Day Memage.

4. The artist Laura Knight was born on this day in 1877. She was an artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving, and drypoint. Can you draw? Do you doodle?

Yes. I've been able to draw and paint since I was a small child. And took watercolor as a teenager. And have had art classes intermittently from the age of 5 until roughly my mid-thirties. I have worked in watercolors, etchings, engraving, and acrylic, not so much oil. And I don't think I've done drypoint.

I've posted some of them here from time to time. I can draw from memory, from life, and from photos.

Some people can sing, some can play instruments, I can draw and paint. - that came naturally to me. So does taking pictures. I'm visual. I can usually reproduce what I've seen, or a representation of it, through my own lens. My difficulty is knowing when to stop adding stuff to it. My mother used to yank my drawings and paintings away from me as a child before I ruined them.

5. How often do you check what paid subscriptions you’ve signed up for (e.g. an App on your phone, a TV channel, a subscription to a magazine, a membership to an organisation).

Not as often as I should? But I do keep track. If I'm not using, then I cancel. Just cancelled Paramount Plus and New York Magazine, next up may be three others.

6. Would you rather go on a city break, a seaside holiday or have a staycation?

I live and work in the city, and can go to the seaside if I want to. So probably a staycation and just do both?

7. This week in Bristol in the UK is the National Balloon Fiesta, a time to celebrate hot air balloons which draws thousands of visitors each year. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon (or would you like to?).

No. And...ambivalent? I'm not really a fan of heights? I could probably handle it, but I wouldn't go out of my way or anything.

***

So, I've been slowly rewatching the Buffy series, I forgot more about it than I realized. I honestly thought it was memorized, but apparently I managed to delete some of that over the years. Go figure.

I had forgotten why I didn't like Season 3 of Buffy as much as most fans of the series seem to? People rank that season high, and seem to love it.
But I never quite did and I forgot why, well until now.

It's the Faith Arc. It doesn't work for me. I was watching Dopplegangland last night, which much like Amends, is a stand out episode. The dialogue snaps, crackles and pops. It feels a bit like watching a movie. The color palette is precise, the costumes perfect for the characters, and every lead character is utilized in some way. Also the characters emotional arcs are all furthered.

But, it is also an episode in which the writer, in this case Whedon, is working over time to fill in some serious plot holes.( Read more... )

Anyhow, it's late and bed calls.

So I may or may not continue rambling about this at a later point.