Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15: 1979-1980

Collecting all of the daily newspaper comic strips from the first of January 1979 to New Year's Eve 1980, The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15 1979-1980 is a wonderful gift for anyone who's a fan of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of Charles M. Schulz's iconic characters. This run, put together by Fantagraphics Books, gives us the regular recurring bits of the kids playing baseball and losing, Snoopy's World War One aviation adventures, and Charlie tricked by Lucy whenever kicking the football. Alongside the usuals, there are also a few long running storylines that last from either a few days to even a few weeks. These include Charlie being in the hospital with an illness and his friends, even Lucy, worry about him, Snoopy and Woodstcock's scout troops getting lost in the mountains as heavy snow descends on them, and Peppermint Patty dealing with a leaky ceiling in school. The fact that by that point the strips have been running continually since 1950 and that Schulz was the sole writer and artist for them, it's astounding how well it still was. By its 29th and 30th year, the writing was witty, funny, full of tender moments and showed a love for the characters that it's surprising Schulz took another twenty years to retire. Although the artwork for each strip was simple and monochrome, Schulz's style is very distinctive and manages to convey enough to connect with the characters. There's also how distinctly different each character looks to keep you from getting many of them mixed up with one another. The legacy and love of Peanuts is also conveyed by the introduction at the beginning of the collection by Al Roker. As Roker was one of the last people Schulz interviewed before he died in 2000, it only makes sense he'd be one of the many people these collections start with. As The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15: 1979-1980 collects two years worth of comic strips from near the start of the second half of the entire run, it's incredible just how astounding two years can be. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:
1. The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15: 1979-1980
2. Daredevil Vol. 1 #170
3. The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1
4. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1
5. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1
6. Deadman: Love After Death #1
7. Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1
8. Hulk Vol. 5 #1
9. Avnegers: War Across Time #1
10. The Yellow Kid
11. Archie and Me #132
12. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1
13. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Killers of the Flower Moon

Adapted from the novel of the same name by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon is inspired by the real life crimes associated with the murders of Osage tribe members by wealthy businessmen and politicians to obtain their oil rights from the 1910s to the '30s. The main crux of the film deals with war veteran Ernest Burkhart marrying Mollie Kyle, though secretly doing it under his uncle's, rancher and deputy sheriff William King Hale, guidance in order to slowly kill her for the oil inheritance. Martin Scorsese, who directed and cowrote with Eric Roth, collaborates with his two best actors in Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. This being Scorsese's first Western, it looks absolutely amazing thanks to the production values and Rodrigo Prieto's lush cinematography. The writing for the most part is pretty good, especially in how that and DiCaprio's performance never lets you be sure if Ernest feels genuine remorse for poisoning Mollie. One thing that brings it down a bit is that while the first half presents itself rather well, the second half feels like it's too many short segments and some of the focus is a bit off. And for a movie that's over three hours long that feels rather strange, thus maybe it would have worked slightly better as a miniseries. Regardless, the strongest aspect to this movie is anytime it focuses on the Osage tribe and how its people deal with their traditions, the changes going on, and their feelings towards the murders happening over the decades. Related to that topic, while the performances from De Niro, DiCaprio, and the rest of the cast are all strong, the absolute standout is Lily Gladstone as Mollie. She's able to capture both a sense of vulnerability and strength that showcases her being able to stand toe to toe with the other two. In my opinion there are aspects of Killers of the Flower Moon that would have worked better as a miniseries, but Scorsese still crafts a well done movie that pays great respects to a group of people and terrible events that are rarely spoken about. Over all: 100%
2023 top list so far:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4. Asteroid City
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
6. Blue Beetle
7. Barbie
8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
9. Elemental
10. Air
11. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
12. Creed III
13. John Wick: Chapter 4
14. Scream VI
15. Killers of the Flower Moon
16. M3GAN
17. Dumb Money
18. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
19. Cocaine Bear
20. Knock at the Cabin
21. The Flash
22. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
23. Renfield
24. Fast X
25. The Little Mermaid 2023
26. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
27. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
28. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Dumb Money

One does not have to understand how either the stock market or Wall Street work to enjoy a movie like Dumb Money. The film is about the real life story dealing with the 2021 GameStop stock squeeze and how a bunch of middle class nobodies, the most well known being YouTuber Keith Gill, managed to figure out a trick to the retailer's low stocks that led to it increasing. This leads to several wealthy people who betted on GameStop's stocks getting lower to loose money when it does the opposite, thus doing whatever they can to cheat the system in their favor. Craig Gillespie's direction and the writing from Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo are all strong, but the absolute strongest aspect is the cast and their performances. With Paul Dano leading alongside Shailiene Woodley, Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, and Seth Rogen, everyone involved gives incredibly strong performances. The movie may be a bit confusing when it comes to how stock trading works, but it at least manages to do it in a way that doesn't leave you bored thanks to the fast-paced and witty writing and the cast making the characters feel like they know what they're talking about. Dumb Money may not be about something everyone understands but, nevertheless, is an otherwise entertaining movie. Over all: 100%
2023 top list so far:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4. Asteroid City
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
6. Blue Beetle
7. Barbie
8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
9. Elemental
10. Air
11. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
12. Creed III
13. John Wick: Chapter 4
14. Scream VI
15. M3GAN
16. Dumb Money
17. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
18. Cocaine Bear
19. Knock at the Cabin
20. The Flash
21. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
22. Renfield
23. Fast X
24. The Little Mermaid 2023
25. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
26. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
27. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Sunday, February 11, 2024

The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1

1980 saw the return of the DC superhero team Teen Titans after being disbanded two years earlier with The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1. While the team still had Robin, Kid-Flash, and Wonder Girl from the previous roster, the new members include Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy (here briefly called Changeling). The debut issue sees Robin being guided by Raven to form a new Teen Titans team so as to help rescue Starfire from aliens who have imprisoned her. This being the start of the series that would be the inspiration for the 2003 animated Teen Titans series, I can already see how much that shows owes to this roster. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez have such wonderful writing, managing to balance out the drama, big superhero tropes, and chemistry through the good dialogue. Being from its time you do get a lot of expositional dialogue and overdone narration, but between Wolfman and Pérez's writing, the lettering by Ben Oda, and editor Len Wein's work it doesn't get in the way too much. Especially as Pérez serves as the comic's main artist who, alongside inker Romeo Tanghai and colorist Adrienne Roy, all create highly detailed, colorful, and imaginative artwork. Considering this is only five years before Pérez worked on Crisis on Infinite Earths, it's no surprise why DC gave him the job for one of their first epic stories. If The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1 is any indication it's that this is the beginning to a fun and wonderful series. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:
1. Daredevil Vol. 1 #170
2. The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1
3. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1
4. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1
5. Deadman: Love After Death #1
6. Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1
7. Hulk Vol. 5 #1
8. Avnegers: War Across Time #1
9. The Yellow Kid
10. Archie and Me #132
11. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1
12. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Top 10 2022 Film Moments

1. Sidney Poitier's rough childhood during Jim Crow Miami in Sidney.
2. Sammy meeting John Ford at the end of The Fabelmans.
3. Vada's reaction to the news of another school shooting at the end of The Fallout.
4. Amleth and Fjolnir's final volcano battle in The Northman.
5. Jack and Babette meeting atheist nuns in White Noise.
6. Paul fighting then attempting to help a French soldier in All Quiet on the Western Front 2022.
7. Pinocchio choosing to become mortal to save his father in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.
8. Nick and Javi's LSD induced adventure in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
9. Weird Al facing off against Pablo Escobar in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
10. The reveal of Landor being behind the murders at the end of The Pale Blue Eye.
Honorable Mentions:
Leonard revealed to be working against all of the mobs in The Outfit.
The reveal of Riddler's real plan in The Batman.
The reveal of what Avalonia actually is in Strange World.
Colm threatening to cut off his fingers if Padraic continues to talk to him in The Banshees of Inisherin.
Tár's breakdown in Tár.
The reveal that Brian's family still haven't gotten the money from the VA at the end of Breaking.
Dewey's death in Scream 2022.
Emily escaping to South America and starting her own credit card fraud ring at the end of Emily the Criminal.
Finney killing The Grabber in The Black Phone.
Charlie admitting to Amy about the murders he committed at the end of The Good Nurse.
The publishing of the article exposing Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassments at the end of She Said.
Olivia having constant doubts about herself in Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U.
Mei choosing to keep her Red Panda abilities at the end of Turning Red.
Briggs adopting Lulu at the end of Dog.
The train getting derailed in Bullet Train.
Thomas and Dimitry's drunken intercom exchanges in Triangle of Sadness.
The flashback revealing Helen pretending to be Andi and meeting Blanc to expose Bron in Glass Onion.
Pearl's church chorus audition in Pearl.
The reveal of what's under the house in Barbarian.
Colonel Parker's manipulations of Elvis throughout Elvis 2022.
Namor's origin story in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Bill Nighy's performance throughout Living.
The musical notes magic fight between two Dr. Stranges in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Evelyn and Joy reconciling at the end of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Margot figuring out how to escape Slowik's restaurant at the end of The Menu.
Marcel reuniting with her family and giving her grandmother a proper funeral in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
Kat confronting her memories and accepting that her parents' death was not her fault in Wendell & Wild.
Otto leaving everything to Marisol at the end of A Man Called Otto.
Stanley telling the story of how he broke his hand in Hustle.
Danni admitting to not being a survivor of the Paris terrorist attacks and the ensuing fallout in Not Okay.
The reveal of Zurg's identity in Lightyear.
Maverick showing the recruits how to execute the mission during training in Top Gun: Maverick.
The Ghost of Christmas Present revealed to have been Ebenezer Scrooge in Spirited.
Manny reminded of his experiences and friends while watching Singin' In the Rain at the end of Babylon.
The motivation behind the murders at the end of See How They Run.
Naru defeating the Predator at the end of Prey.
Michael's death at the end of Halloween Ends.
Ana de Arma's performance as Marilyn Monroe throughout Blonde.
Santa's origins in Violent Night.
Jean Jacket's transformations in Nope.
Jerry pointing out how Tyler's tactics will eventually hurt his friends due to his selfishness in Jerry & Marge Go Large.
The remaining actors escaping from the movie set at the end of The Bubble.
Sweet Pete's animation hybrid transformation in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Alithea wishing the djinn free due to not being able to handle the modern world at the end of Three Thousand Years of Longing.
Sonic absorbing the powers of the chaos emerald in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The reveal of what the retirement home actually does in American Carnage.
Rosaline helping fake Romeo and Juliet's deaths from their families at the end of Rosaline.
Thor giving the kidnapped Asgardian kids powers in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Louis choosing not to know the circumstances of his future death in The Adam Project.
The kingdom opposing the king and queen after learning their war against sea monsters is unjustified at the end of The Sea Beast.
Ben shooting Quentin at the end of Vengeance.
Julia killing Daniel at the end of Watcher.
Howard's death in X 2022.
Maren visiting her mother at a psychiatric hospital in Bones and All.
Bud and Seth helping the Nazarian siblings on a vampire nest hunt in Day Shift.
How Ace ended up in the shelter in DC League of Super-Pets.
Six and Lloyd's final fight at the end of The Gray Man.
Jean threatened by a German spy with ties to the anti-Hitler plot in Operation Mincemeat.
The reveal of Eleanor working against Drea for a past misdeed in Do Revenge.
Neteyam's death in Avatar: The Way of Water.
The reveal of Raju being a part of a resistance movement while working as an Imperial officer in RRR.
Brian letting Charles travel the world at the end of Brian and Charles.
Jon Hamm's performance throughout Confess, Fletch.
Robert Freegard's capture at the end of Rogue Agent.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Blue Beetle

Based on the DC Comics character, though originally created by Fox Comics in 1939 before being bought by Charlton and then DC decades later, Blue Beetle focuses on Jaime Reyes iteration of the superhero. The film sees Jaime being given a blue alien Scarab that bonds with him, turning him into the titular character. While trying to understand how the Scarab works, Jaime gets help from his family and the daughter of the previous Beetle in order to defeat a weapons manufacturer who wants to copy the power of the Scarab into her own army. There's nothing too remarkable in terms of the storytelling as this pretty much follows the standard superhero origin story format. But it not only does it do it well but with the mix of Latin American culture it gives us a wonderful love letter towards people that the superhero genre hasn't widely tackled yet. The direction, set pieces, cinematography, and scoring all aid in giving this movie both its unique touch and wonderful tribute to Mexican and other cultures. What makes the film feel more personal and smaller compared to the previous entries in the DCEU is a good combination of CG and practical effects, especially with the Blue Beetle costume looking so good. However, the strongest aspect to this movie is its cast that mostly involves Latin American actors giving it such authenticity to its story and comic book roots. Xolo Maridueña knocks out from the start and the chemistry he shares with his family, which includes George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, and Damián Alcázar, truly keeps this from being a standard origin story. There's also Maridueña's chemistry between his love interest, played by Bruna Marquezine, and the Scarab itself, voiced by Becky G, that are great highlights towards Jaime's journey. Of course what's a superhero movie without the villains, and while Susan Sarandon and Raoul Max Trjillo play rather average villains the two do give highly memorable performances. Despite Blue Beetle not doing well at the box-office, James Gunn has said that the movie is part of his new DCU which shows just how well done this movie is that it was kept with the change. Over all: 100%
2023 top list so far:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4. Asteroid City
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
6. Blue Beetle
7. Barbie
8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
9. Elemental
10. Air
11. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
12. Creed III
13. John Wick: Chapter 4
14. Scream VI
15. M3GAN
16. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
17. Cocaine Bear
18. Knock at the Cabin
19. The Flash
20. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
21. Renfield
22. Fast X
23. The Little Mermaid 2023
24. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
25. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
26. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania