Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4

Picking up right where the third issue of the crossover left off, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4 has Batman, Robin, the Turtles, and Splinter surrounded by an enlarged Bane and his enhanced soldiers as they fight their way out of this situation which becomes worse when Splinter is badly injured. The fight scenes are well drawn and fun to look at and the drama afterward works really well when the Turtles, especially Don, have to deal with Splinter's injuries and whether or not he would make it. This is the strongest issue of either this crossover or the first one between both franchises, especially as Don continues to doubt himself to the point he's willing to inject himself with a small dose of Bane's formula. Ending with that kind of cliffhanger is bold and could have gone wrong in so many ways, but leading up to it makes sense. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 2nd set of comics:
1. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4
2. Thor: God of Thunder Vol. 1 #1
3. Wonder Woman Free Comic Book Day 2017 Special Edition (2017-) issue #1
4. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2
5. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1
6. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One
7. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
8. Tate's Not At Comic Con Local Indy Anthology #8

Pop Culture Guy episode 43: Revised Overall Ratings of 2017 Films

Thoroughbreds

Being Anton Yelchin's last film before his death, seeing him in Thoroughbreds was very tragic at times. Yelchin costars with Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke wherein the two play former friends who both plot to kill Joy's stepfather who emotionally abuses her. While Joy's character is initially skeptical about the idea, Cooke plays an emotionless sociopath who has no qualms about going through with it even blackmailing Yelchin's character, a young drug dealer recently released, to do it. The film is very slow, methodical, and has a very artsy way of telling its stories, but mostly done in a way that is very entertaining. For his last film, Yelchin's performance is very strong even if his role was very short and many of his scenes are really memorable. Joy and Cooke have such a perfect chemistry between each other that you wonder if the actresses were friends before shooting. The direction is sometimes very prodding and can be slow many times, the writing is good but certain parts aren't really needed, and the ending feels like there should be more. Over all: 89%
2018 top list so far:
1. Black Panther
2. Game Night
3. Thoroughbreds

Game Night

Game Night is a dark comedy mystery film directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and starring Jason Bateman, Rachael McAdams, Jesse Plemons, Lamorne Morris, Kyle Chandler, and Michael C Hall. The film centers on a group of friends who usually get together to play games until one of them gets kidnapped but the others all think the actual crime is just part of the game and only try to solve it to win a game. This is a hugely hilarious film that works due to the chemistry between the cast, the writing, and how charismatic many of the characters are. The way they all react to the real things going on such as holding a real gun that they think is fake or seeing Chandler's character get attack but think it's for show is beyond funny. How the film begins, with a montage of Bateman and McAdams meeting each other at a competitive trivia game and how every aspect of their lives relates to competitive games is one of the best character introductions and best use of expositional montage to best explain what the two are like. Of course, Game Night isn't perfect as not all of the jokes and comedic moments work as well as others while the idea of the characters realizing that the events are actually happens too fast and early in the film than what I would have liked. For me, I think it would have been better if they learned all about this right at the end of the film, but it's still fun. Over all: 94%
2018 top list so far:
1. Black Panther
2. Game Night

Pop Culture Guy episode 42: Angry Review of the Last 2017 Films