Friday, January 26, 2024

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the latest reboot of the franchise being headed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. In this continuity, the Turtles want to take part in human activities despite Splinter's fear and distrust of the world above the sewers. Upon helping and befriending a teen version of April O'Neil, who is an aspiring journalist, the Turtles learn about the crimes of Superfly and want to stop them to prove to Splinter that they're responsible and be seen as heroes by the people of Manhattan. The only problem is that Superfly and his gang, which includes Bebop and Rocksteady, are also animal mutants created by the same ooze that changed them. Considering how many times this franchise has been rebooted in such short amounts of time, you'd think this new one wouldn't be that great or hugely memorable. But not only did Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit all do incredible work as director and writers, but they managed to get an incredible home run in not only a good movie with a great story but the writing willing to do unique things for the franchise. Ending the movie with the Turtles, Splinter, and the other mutants being accepted by the humans and the teens attending April's school is a wonderful change of pace from what's come before. Only downside is not all of the jokes, often occurring too much at once sometimes, land and a bit of the TCRI aspects aren't as interesting. If the one thing that any adaptation of this franchise absolutely needs to nail is the chemistry between the Turtle siblings. Thankfully the combination of the writing and the performances from Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon succeed in this. A wonderful aspect to their voice acting is that they were allowed to improvise together and thus making their bond feel more real. The rest of the cast such as Jackie Chan as Splinter is perfectly suited, Ayo Edebiri is wonderful as April, Ice Cube brings great menace to Superfly, and the rest of the cast including the mutant gang are fun. As for the animation, it's quite beautiful and has a slight stop motion look combined with fun and creative comic book style visuals. The movement and action scenes are fluid, and combined with the strong cinematography, creative editing, and memorable score and music will certainly keep you from forgetting for a long time. First debuting in 1984, the Turtles never had a good track record when it comes to their movies compared to their shows, but hopefully Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will change that. 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. Barbie
7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
8. Elemental
9. Air
10. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
11. Creed III
12. John Wick: Chapter 4
13. Scream VI
14. M3GAN
15. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
16. Cocaine Bear
17. Knock at the Cabin
18. The Flash
19. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
20. Renfield
21. Fast X
22. The Little Mermaid 2023
23. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
24. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
25. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Top Movies and Shows of 2022

Movies:
1. Sidney
2. The Outfit
3. Emily the Criminal
4. The Fabelmans
5. Three Thousand Years of Longing
6. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
7. Mickey: The Story of a Mouse
8. Operation Mincemeat
9. The Woman King
10. Doctor Who Am I
11. Watcher
12. Vengeance
13. Hustle
14. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
15. Confess, Fletch
16. Glass Onion
17. All Quiet on the Western Front 2022
18. Brian and Charles
19. A Man Called Otto
20. Bones and All
21. Not Okay
22. Triangle of Sadness
23. Cyrano
24. Breaking
25. She Said
26. Wendell & Wild
27. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
28. RRR
29. Tár
30. Living
31. Fresh
32. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
33. The Pale Blue Eye
34. Top Gun: Maverick
35. Turning Red
36. The Bad Guys
37. The Fallout
38. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
39. The Sea Beast
40. The Menu
41. Strange World
42. Violent Night
43. Rogue Agent
44. The Black Phone
45. Prey
46. See How They Run
47. The Banshees of Inisherin
48. White Noise
50. Barbarian
51. Nope
52. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
53. The Northman
54. The Batman
55. The Good Nurse
56. Pearl
57. Cha Cha Real Smooth
58. The Adam Project
59. Babylon
60. Avatar: The Way of Water
61. Lightyear
62. Elvis 2022
63. Dog
64. Everything Everywhere All at Once
65. X 2022
66. Scream 2022
67. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
68. Rosaline
69. Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U
70. Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
71. Spirited
72. The Greatest Beer Run Ever
73. Day Shift
74. Jerry & Marge Go Large
75. Do Revenge
76. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
77. American Carnage
78. Crush
79. Enola Holmes 2
80. Bullet Train
81. Ambulance
82. Halloween Ends
83. DC League of Super-Pets
84. We Have a Ghost
85. Thor: Love and Thunder
86. The Bubble
87. Minions: The Rise of Gru
88. The Gray Man
89. Jurassic World: Dominion
90. Purple Hearts
91. Black Adam
92. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
93. Deep Water
94. Pinocchio 2022
95. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
96. Morbius
97. Uncharted
98. Blonde

Shows:
1. Andor
2. Better Call Saul
3. Women of the Movement
4. The Devil's Hour
5. Around the World in 80 Days
6. Kevin Can F**k Himself
7. Ozark
8. Peacemaker
9. The White Lotus: Sicily
10. Severance
11. Black Bird
12. Five Days at Memorial
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
14. American Horror Story: NYC
15. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
16. Rick and Morty
17. Inside Man
18. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman
19. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers
20. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
21. Welcome to Chippendales
22. Only Murders in the Building
23. Superman & Lois
24. Euphoria
25. The Righteous Gemstones
Honorable Mentions:
The Sandman
Saturday Night Live
The Patient
Tales of the Jedi
9-1-1: Lone Star
Theodore Roosevelt
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
What We Do in the Shadows
Inside Job
Inventing Anna
Doctor Who
The Offer
Under the Banner of Heaven
American Experience
The Umbrella Academy
9-1-1
Let the World See
Moon Knight
The First Lady
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
The Book of Boba Fett
The Cleaning Lady
Stargirl
Man vs. Bee
The Flight Attendant
American Masters
Young Rock
Tales of the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
Gaslit
Dark Winds
Barry
Marvel Studios: Assembled
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Pam & Tommy
The Boys
Resident Alien
20/20
Baymax!
Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Ghost Island
The Afterparty
Our Flag Means Death
1899
Snowpiercer
Dexter: New Blood
Solar Opposites
American Horror Stories
Fear the Walking Dead
The Walking Dead
Secrets of Sulphur Springs
The Rookie
Blade Runner: Black Lotus
The Boys Presents: Diabolical
Alaska Daily
Legends of Tomorrow
Tulsa King
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Two Sentence Horror Stories
Batwoman
Ghosts 2021
The Staircase
Chucky
The Flash 2014
The Thing About Pam
The Simpsons
The Gilded Age
The Man Who Fell to Earth
An Audience with…
The Cuphead Show!
The Mysterious Benedict Society
I Love That for You
The Amber Ruffin Show
Avenue 5
Yellowjackets
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
The English
Wednesday
The Midnight Club
The Old Man
Manifest
Ms. Marvel
Documentary Now!
Talking Dead
The Problem with Jon Stewart
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Blumhouse's Compendium of Horror
Reservation Dogs
The Orville: New Horizons
The Ghost and Molly McGee
Slow Horses
Made for Love
Grace and Frankie
A Friend of the Family
The Resort
The Legend of Vox Machina
The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time
The Watcher
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Quantum Leap 2022
The Crown
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Sherman's Showcase
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Welcome to Flatch
Killing It
Zootopia+
Physical
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Candy
NCIS
Human Resources
Locke & Key
Roar
I Am Groot
Disenchantment
Young Sheldon
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
Keep Breathing
A League of Their Own
Little Demon
Shining Vale
Walker: Independence
One of Us Is Lying
The Essex Serpent
Bel-Air
The Rookie: Feds
Resident Evil
Hamster & Gretel
Interview with the Vampire
Family Guy
Joe vs. Carole
The Girl from Plainville
Fleishman Is in Trouble
Riverdale
Big Mouth
The Baby
Looney Tunes Cartoons
The Witcher: Blood Origin
This Is Us
iCarly 2021
Blue Bloods
NCIS: Hawai'i
Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
Law & Order: Organized Crime
National Treasure: Edge of History
American Dad!
Law & Order: SVU
CSI: Vegas
Murderville
Bridgerton
Jack Ryan
NCIS: Los Angeles
Nancy Drew
Great Performances
Raven's Home
La Brea
Good Trouble

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Daredevil Vol. 1 #170

While Daredevil has been around since 1964, many of the things we often associate with the character weren't part of his mythos until much later and 1981's Daredevil Vol. 1 #170 introduces his most famous rivalry. Having been primarily a Spider-Man villain, the Kingpin wants to regain the criminal empire he once lost by giving any and all information of his rivals to the government. In turn, his rivals hire Bullseye to kidnap his wife, Vanessa, to lure him out all the while Daredevil reluctantly gets caught in the middle. Frank Miller, who started out as an artist in Spider-Man titles before working on and then getting to write for Daredevil from the late 70s to early 80s, gave the Man Without Fear much of what we know about the character including his Catholicism and martial arts fighting style. With this issue, Miller introduced the start of what would become Daredevil and Kingpin's feud as well as giving the criminal his well known name, Wilson Fisk. Since Miller is both the artist and writer you get a good sense of noir through his slick writing and moody art style. Aided by inker Klaus Janson and colorist Glynis Wein, the comic's lighting and shadows really help in evoking that genre. Early in his career Frank Miller proved how great of an artist and writer he was thanks to comics like Daredevil Vol. 1 #170 that it's no wonder he eventually got to do The Dark Knight Returns. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:
1. Daredevil Vol. 1 #170
2. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1
3. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1
4. Deadman: Love After Death #1
5. Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1
6. Hulk Vol. 5 #1
7. Avnegers: War Across Time #1
8. The Yellow Kid
9. Archie and Me #132
10. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1
11. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Monday, January 8, 2024

Barbenheimer

Yeah, I'm doing it like this. What of it?
Barbie
If Barbie proves one thing is that you can have a toy based movie be not only fun but filled with great writing, superb direction, and an inventive and colorful production. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling shine while Greta Gerwig manages to give a big budget studio film a sense of indie drama that had started her career. How it handles its messages of feminism, existentialism, and masculinity may not go through one hundred percent of the time but it still able to deliver them effectively. Incredibly fun music, inventive set pieces, and just an absolute bonkers look will certain keep Barbie from ever being forgotten. Over all: 100%
Oppenheimer
With Oppenheimer, Nolan shows us the events leading up to the creation of the atom bomb and how the director of the program dealt with the repercussions and political squabbles over a decade later. Being Nolan, he does it by going back and forth between different time periods in a way that feels perfectly him. Cillian Murphy is an absolute beast as he headlines this expansive all star cast. The unique cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema helps establish not only when certain scenes are set but from whose viewpoint we're seeing them from. Oppenheimer is not just a beast of a film, but one of the best there's ever been. Over all: 100%
2023 top list so far:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Asteroid City
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
5. Barbie
6. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
7. Elemental
8. Air
9. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
10. Creed III
11. John Wick: Chapter 4
12. Scream VI
13. M3GAN
14. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
15. Cocaine Bear
16. Knock at the Cabin
17. The Flash
18. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
19. Renfield
20. Fast X
21. The Little Mermaid 2023
22. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
23. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
24. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Most Anticipated Films and New Shows of 2024

Movies:
1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga-Prequel/spinoff of Mad Max: Fury Road centering on the origins of Imperator Furiosa. Besides being a prequel to one of 2015's craziest films, George Miller has Anya Taylor-Joy take on the title role which is a shoe in to be awesome.
2. Dune: Part Two-Adapts the second half of the first Dune book. The first movie was phenomenal, and knowing Denis Villeneuve, this is going to be epic.
3. Deadpool 3-The third in the series sees Deadpool reunite with Wolverine as the title character goes through time travel and universe hopping shenanigans. So much to look forward to between Hugh Jackman returning, integrating the characters into the MCU, and keeping the R rating.
4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire-Sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife sees the old and new cast take on a threat that causes Manhattan to freeze over in the middle of July. As someone who loves Ghostbusters I'm exited to see something entirely new and different.
5. Nosferatu 2024-The second remake of the 1922 German expressionist classic inspired by Dracula. Seeing how Robert Eggers tackled horror with The Lighthouse and violent epic with The Northman, this take on gothic horror excites me.
6. Wicked-Origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West based on the Broadway musical. While I never saw the musical, knowing the story and some songs as well as the casting of Cynthia Erivo will make a recipe for something good.
7. Horizon: An American Saga-Kevin Coster directs a two-part Western epic set before and after the Civil War. As Dances with Wolves is an incredible movie and Costner being so passionate about it, it lives me intrigued.
8. The Fall Guy-Adaptation of the 80s show about a stuntman who sets out to find the missing actor he's doubling for. Being directed by David Leitch, a stunt man doing a movie about a stunt man sounds like it's going to be fun.
9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes-Set 300 years after War for the Planet of the Apes, apes start to form their civilizations after humans reverted to a feral state. If this is the start of a new trilogy I'm here for it.
10. Alto Knights-Gangster film set in the 1950s about two rival mob bosses. While it may sound very typical, the fact that Robert De Niro is playing both characters is enough to keep me invested.
Honorable Mentions
Alien: Romulus
Joker: Folie à Deux-Sequel to 2019's Joker as a musical with Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn.
A Quiet Place: Day One
The Bikeriders-An homage to the biker films of the 50s and 60s.
Ballerina-Spinoff of John Wick.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Inside Out 2-New emotions as Riley becomes a teenager.
Kung Fu Panda 4
The American Society of Magical Negroes
Bettlejuice 2
Mickey 17
Argylle-Spy book author gets caught up in  an actual spy plot, a cat, and Matthew Vaughn
The Book of Clarence-Comedy set during the time of Jesus.
Drive-Away Dolls
IF
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire-Godzilla and King Kong team up to battle a huge threat.
Challengers
Lisa Frankenstein-1980s comedy about a girl reviving a corpse from the Victorian era.
Bob Marley: One Love
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Madame Web
Mean Girls 2024-Musical remake.
Borderlands
Mufasa: The Lion King
The Garfield Movie
Kraven the Hunter
Imaginary
Tiwsters
Night Swim

Shows:
1. A Gentleman in Moscow-Ewan McGregor stars as a Russian aristocrat who is put under house arrest in a hotel by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolutions. A period piece with Ewan McGregor, yes please.
2. The Tattooist of Auschwitz-The true story of a Holocaust prisoner made to tattoo identification numbers on other prisoners. A harrowing tale with Harvey Keitel as the older version of the title character.
3. X-Men '97-Sequel to the 90s animated series. Is there any other reason.
4. Win or Lose-Pixar series depicting the many viewpoints during a softball match. Pixar's first original series also has the different perspectives be seen in different visual styles.
5. Daredevil: Born Again-Followup to the Netflix series that sees Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jon Bernthal returning. The original series being so amazing, I'm expecting so much from this and hope it keeps the grittiness.
6. Masters of the Air-War drama depicting an Air Force unit during World War 2. Made by the same people who made Band of Brothers and The Pacific, this will surely be epic.
7. The Penguin-Spinoff to 2022's The Batman, depicts the title character's rise to power. Seeing Colin Farrell again with all that makeup and performance is reason enough.
8. Echo-Spinoff to the character introduced in Hawkeye. Alaqua Cox.
9. Kaos-A dark-comedic take on the Greek gods set in the modern day. Having Jeff Goldblum as Zeus is surely one of the most inspired casting choices.
10. Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024-Live-action remake of the classic animated series. Will definitely do what the 2010 film failed at.
Honorable Mentions:
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live-Sees the return of Rick and Michonne.
Parish
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries-Spinoff to WandaVision.
The Sympathizer
Dead Boy Detectives
Manhunt
Marvel Zombies-Zombies and superheroes.
Nautilus-Origin story of Captain Nemo.
Griselda
The Regime
The 39 Steps-Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this classic thriller previously adapted by Hitchcock.
Monsieur Spade
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
After Midnight
Hazbin Hotel
The Brothers Sun
Ted-The early days of Seth MacFarlane's foul mouthed teddy bear.
Fallout-Adaptation of the video game series.
Criminal Record
The Franchise-Comedy about the crew behind a superhero film made by Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes.
Shōgun
Ripley
Mary & George
Douglas is Cancelled
Devil May Cry
Day of the Jackal
Grimsburg
Anansi Boys
Supacell
Miss Austen
Knuckles-Spinoff with Idris Elba reprising the role.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

In the latest of Tom Cruise's signature franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 sees Ethan Hunt and his team going up against various forces, including the American government, in finding a rogue AI. Two problems facing this mission is that the AI has gained sentience and manages to hack any digital device and one of the people Ethan is facing against killed someone in his past and is a devout follower of the AI. Director and cowriter, with Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie returns for his third installment in the series and the two write and he directs a very unique entry. As the main villain of the film is an AI capable of altering live cameras and copy voices in any communication device there's a bit of an allusion to how the writing and direction would have been done using AI, which is apt considering how many heads of Hollywood studios want to use such a thing to make movies and tv cheaper. The writing is great at adding little oddities that feel odd while the direction at some points seems oddly done, almost like the AI from the film is affecting the movie itself. As usual with this series, you get really incredible action scenes, such as Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle from the side of a mountain, a very inventive chase sequence in Rome, and an incredible set piece at the end with a falling train. Without the combination of Eddie Hamilton's superb editing and effective visual and practical effects those scenes wouldn't work as well. Fraser Taggart's cinematography is rather simple, especially compared to the look of the last two films, but does capture a great atmosphere whenever the AI is involved. The music from Lorne Balfe gives us the traditional theme first heard from the 60s show while adding more bombast and flare for a small new spin to it. The cast, both returning and new, all give incredibly strong performances and give their characters a sense of not being stock action figures. Cruise hasn't lost his edge even after 27 years and seven movies, Ving Rhames is always a delight, Simon Pegg always delivers, Hayley Atwell is fantastic, Esai Morales makes for a formidable foe, and Pom Klementieff is terrifying. Even after six movies before it, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 manages to not only be a good entry in the franchise but also an incredible action movie in its own right. Over all: 100%
2023 top list so far:
1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2. Asteroid City
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
4. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
5. Elemental
6. Air
7. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
8. Creed III
9. John Wick: Chapter 4
10. Scream VI
11. M3GAN
12. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
13. Cocaine Bear
14. Knock at the Cabin
15. The Flash
16. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
17. Renfield
18. Fast X
19. The Little Mermaid 2023
20. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
21. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
22. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Top 10 TV Movies and Specials of 2022

TV Movies:
1. Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me
2. This Is Joan Collins
3. Lucy and Desi
4. Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
5. Zombies 3
6. The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay
7. Under Wraps 2

Specials:
1. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman-My Next Guest with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy
2. Women of the Movement finale
3. Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter
4. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Jon Stewart
5. Doctor Who BBC Centenary Special: The Power of the Doctor.
6. 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors
7. 20/20 Presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda
8. AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Andrews
9. Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl
10. Stranger Things fourth season finale-Chapter Nine: The Piggyback
Honorable Mentions:
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah finale
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXIII
Werewolf by Night
American Horror Story: NYC finale-Requiem 1981/1987
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return
Talking Dead: The Final Episodes Preview
Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett
Solar Opposites Halloween special-A Sinister Halloween Scary Opposites Solar Special
ENTERGALACTIC
Director by Night
Around the World in 80 Days: Unpacking the Adventure
A Farewell to Ozark
94th Academy Awards
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts
Documentary Now! fourth season premiere-Soldier of Illusion
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema
Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red
Better Call Saul season premiere: Wine and Roses
Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear
21st AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards
Making The Witcher: Blood Origin
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration
Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium
Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire: Behind the Scenes
27th Critics' Choice Awards
Jurassic Park to Jurassic World: The Greatest Moments