Welcomes to the latest installment of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast. Besides streaming the podcast here, you can also subscribe to it for free on iTunes.
In this episode, Billy and Dave discuss new comics coming out Wednesday, February 12, 2013. They also review comics from the previous week, including the latest issues of Earth 2 and Forever Evil.
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Agents of SHIELD Episode 13, T.R.A.C.K.S., has Coulson’s entire team going undercover on a train travelling through the Italian countryside in order to intercept a package on its way to Ian Quinn.
This episode uses a fun storytelling device. The episode goes along linearly until a certain point, then it divides into four non-linear stories before becoming linear at the end. The four stories are set around the four teams of SHIELD agents on the train: 1. Coulson & Simmons, 2. May, 3. Fitz & Skye, and 4. Ward. Each story starts at the same place, just as the train is passing through a scenic mountain range, which coincides with the moment when Coulson’s plan goes to crap.
Stan Lee makes a great cameo. He’s flanked by two hot women and calls Coulson out for being a terrible “father” after hearing his “daughter” Simmons go on a long and detailed rant as part of her getting into her undercover character. Like many of Stan’s scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this scene provides the episode with a bit of lighthearted fun.
Coulson’s team gets made, forcing Coulson and Ward to exit the train promptly while it’s still in motion. An enemy agent hurls a grenade that lets out a blue gas that seems to do nothing to Coulson and Ward, but the train immediately disappears at the same time. As we find out in May’s scene, the grenade paralyzed Coulson and Ward, and they weren’t even aware that any time had passed when they came to. This time-lapse grenade is what necessitated the non-linear story-telling in the episode, as it kept the nature of the blue smoke a mystery from not only the characters, but the viewers too.
The McGuffin that Coulson and company are after turns out to be a machine that when attached to Michael Peterson’s leg-stump transforms into a fully functional robotic leg. Ladies and gentlemen…say hello to Deathlok.
For those of you unfamiliar with the character, Deathlok is a cybernetic soldier that is half man-half machine. The original Deathlok came from a dystopian future, but in the 1990s, Marvel introduced a present day Deathlok. This Deathlok was a man that had his brain put into the body of prototype Deathlok soldier, which was half-machine, half-reanimated corpse. Think Cyborg from Teen Titans: Go meet Warm Bodies. The machine and human parts of Deathlok’s brain often came into conflict with each other, the machine lacking the soul and emotion of the human part. Deathlok was recently reintroduced to Marvel Comics in Rick Remender’s excellent Uncanny X-Force.
The original Deathlok.
This episode does not go well for Skye. She is the only member of Coulson’s team who manages to infiltrate Quinn’s mansion. She’s rewarded with a bullet to the gut for her effort. By the time the rest of the team finds her, she’s bled out a lot. The team places her in a stasis chamber to keep her alive, so Skye is basically in a coma right now. This is the most danger a member of Coulson’s team has faced since Simmons almost died in F.Z.Z.T. I wasn’t a fan of Skye during the first couple of episodes, but she has definitely grown on me. I don’t expect her to die, and it would be a real bummer if she did.
At the very end of the episode, we get Ward’s reaction to Skye’s near-death experience. Ward is pissed, and not at himself. He blames someone else. He doesn’t say who, but he doesn’t have to. It’s fairly clear that Coulson is the target of his rage. Expect things to come to a head between Ward and Coulson soon.
Like almost every other Best Picture nominee this year, Dallas Buyers club is a very dark movie. Also like many of the other of this year’s Best Picture nominees, this movie is based on true events.
Dallas Buyers Club tells the story of Ron Woodroof, a good ole boy from Texas. Ron is one hard partying homophobe. When he’s not hustling at the rodeo, he’s busy having sex, drinking and doing drugs. Unfortunately, his party boy lifestyle lands him with HIV.
Ron contracted HIV at a time when it was still widely misunderstood to be a disease that only infected homosexuals. Ron even flies off on his doctor, taking his HIV diagnosis as an affront to his manhood, which Ron really ties with his heterosexuality.
Given a 30 day death prediction from his doctor, Ron’s hustler instinct takes over, as he bribes his way into stolen AZT, a then experimental drug. When his AZT supply dries up, Ron makes a trip to Mexico that alters his life and sets him on a new direction of supplying medication to HIV patients (for a tidy profit, of course).
It’s amazing how much weight Matthew McConoughey lost to play Ron Woodruff. The man is gaunt! It’s jarring to see McConoughey this skinny. McConoughey really disappears into the role of Woodruff. McConoughey was fantastic in The Wolf of Wall Street, but that was McConoughey being McConoughey being someone else. But here, he seems like a completely different person. I know McConoughey seems to be the favorite for Best Actor heading into the Oscars, but after watching Dallas Buyers Club, I’d give the award to Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave. That”s not a knock against McConoughey at all. I just liked Ejiofor so much in 12 Years a Slave.
Likewise, while Jared Leto is amazing as Rayon, but I’d give the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave.
My favorite scene in Dallas Buyers Club is when Ron, while shopping with Rayon, runs into Tucker, his former best friend, in the supermarket. Tucker pretty much abandoned Ron when Ron was diagnosed, and is shocked to see Ron still alive. Tucker’s nice enough here to Ron, but then makes a disparaging homophobic comment about Rayon that sets Ron off. Ron grapples Tucker and forces him to apologize to Rayon. This scene was great because who doesn’t like to see a bigot gets his comeuppance, and also it showed Ron’s growth. The Ron a the beginning of the movie would have been making the same homophobic digs at Rayon that Tucker did. But Ron’s grown. Rayon’s not just his business partner. Rayon’s his friend, which is awesome when you think about who Ron was at the start of the film.
Overall, Dallas Buyers Club is a very good movie, but for me, Mud remains the 2013 Matthew McConoughey movie to watch.
In my review for American Hustle, I said that it seemed like David O. Russell was attempting to do his best Martin Scorsese. The Wolf of Wall Street almost feels like this is Martin Scorsese’s answer back. “No, this is how you do Martin Scorsese.” Mr. Scorsese does Martin Scorsese to 11 with The Wolf of Wall Street. This movie is the most over the top project directed by Mr. Scorsese since the video for Michael Jackson’s Bad.
It’s The Wolf of Wall Street’s over the top tone that keeps it so entertaining for it’s exactly three hour running time. Yes, that’s right, 180 minutes. The Wolf of Wall Street is two minutes longer than the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Thankfully, Terrence Winter’s screenplay combined with Scorsese’s directing made for a much faster moving movie than it’s three hour run time would suggest. At no point was I looking at my watch, wondering how much more we had to go.
This is NOT the size soda you want to order for a 3 hour movie.
Following what I would call the classic Martin Scorsese story arc, Jordan Belfort gets really good at doing something bad, is handsomely rewarded for it and then comes crashing down to earth in the end. It’s almost like Goodfellas on steroids. The money that Jordan Belfort makes in The Wolf of Wall Street puts Henry Hill’s biggest heist to shame. Though when the rug gets pulled out from under him, Jordan has a much easier fall than Henry did. They both lose the lives they had, but Jordan’s bounce into his new life seems to have bounced a lot higher than Hill’s, at least in the way that the ending of The Wolf of Wall Street depicts it.
The acting in The Wolf of Wall Street is top notch. Leonardo DiCaprio shows again why he is this author’s favorite actor of his generation. Best Leading Actor Oscar worthy? Not this year, when your competition is Matthew McConoughey in Dallas Buyers Club and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. That said, this continues the streak of Leonardo DiCaprio films being films you should see.
Jonah Hill is great as Belfort’s right hand man, Donnie Azoff. Hill has the most entertaining line in the whole movie when he lets out, “I want…to smoke crack…with youuu!” shortly after meeting Belfort. This will be the line I quote most from the movie.
According to IMDB, Matthew McConoughey’s chest thumping at lunch was McConoughey’s idea, and not something that happened that lunch in real life. This makes sense, as that scene is pure McConoughey. That chest thumping is a warming ritual McConoughey does before acting.
We caught The Wolf of Wall Street at the excellent 84th and Broadway AMC. Dear New York City, why would you go to any other movie theater? This one rocks. Barcaloungers, reserved seats, a well stocked snack bar, what more could I want? If a movie I want to see is playing in this theater, I want to see it in this theater.
This size popcorn is 100% the right size popcorn for a 3 hour movie.
Yes, The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours long. Yes, the f-bomb is dropped over 500 times in the movie. Yes, there’s a lot of drug use, nudity and unsavory characters. And also…yes, you should definitely see it.
In the latest installment of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast, Billy and Dave give their recommendations for comic books being released on Wednesday, February 5, 2014. They also discuss the big revelation in Earth 2 Annual #2, the first two issues of James Robinson and J. Bone’s Saviors, and analyze DC’s mysterious teaser image for Justice League: Dark.
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Her is one of those movies that I don’t know if I would have went to go see if it weren’t up for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. When someone described it to me as “Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with Siri,” I think my reaction was “Ohhhhhhkaaaaaayyyy…” Was this going to be another strange Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary like I’m Still Here?
Part of me wanted this to be real.
After seeing Her, I don’t think it will take home Best Picture, but I’m glad it was nominated, because it is an excellent movie. It might be the most original romantic comedy I’ve seen since High Fidelity (though I’m not sure how original that was since it based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same name). I can completely see Her winning Best Original Screenplay. Spike Jonze’s script is excellent. He takes a high concept idea, “Man falls in love with iPhone,” and crafts poetry out of it. He pulls off the magic of making this relationship eventually feel both normal and believable. In someone else’s hands, I feel like Her would have had the same tone as an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
My only quibble with Her is I wish Spike Jonze went with an unknown actress for the voice of Samantha. I thought Scarlett Johannson did an excellent job in the role, but I couldn’t help but picture Scarlett Johannson throughout the entire movie. Her voice is just too distinctive.
I was a little scared as I left theater after watching Her. Because it suddenly hit me. This movie is the prequel to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Uh-oh.
The Her poster Skynet doesn’t want you to see.
We’ve received some great entries in our Justice League: War Flash Poster Contest. The winner of the contest will receive a Blu Ray Combo Pack of Justice League: War signed by voice of The Flash and Covert Affairs star Christopher Gorham, and a follow from Christopher (@ChrisGorham) on Twitter! Check out the contestants’ entries below!
@JuneGilhouse
@Lovra2
@raiseborough
@Will_iamVega
@UniversoDC1
And the winner is…
…@Lovra2! Congratulations! Christopher Gorham had this to say about @Lovra2’s entry: “I think this captures the heart of the film, and we all know hearts are red. :)”
Christopher also gave an Honorable Mention to @Will_iamVega for having the most original entry in the contest.
Thank you to everyone who entered!
Check out Billy and Dave’s comic book picks for comics being released on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Also in the podcast: the guys review last week’s comics, Billy can’t stop bringing up Rick Remender, and the guys talk about the upcoming 100th birthday of Bill Finger, co-creator of The Batman.
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Tuesday, January 21 was a big day for the Justice League. That day saw the world premiere of Justice League: War at the Paley Center in New York City and the release of JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time exclusively at Target stores nationwide.
The release of JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time may have caught you unaware. The first I heard of it was less than two weeks ago. Needless to say, I was intrigued, so intrigued that I ventured out in a blizzard during lunch to my nearest Target to secure a copy.
A sticker on Trapped in Time says it’s a limited time Target exclusive. I’m not sure if this means it will see wide release into other stores after a few months, or if once Target sells out of their stock, that’s it.
JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is a very different movie than Justice League: War. While War’s art direction is based on Jim Lee’s New 52 costumes, Crisis in Time draws its inspiration from many places. Superman is basically in his New 52 outfit with a more stylized S-symbol on his chest. Wonder Woman is wearing her caped costume from Infinite Crisis. Batman’s costume is a mix of New 52 and the recent Brave and the Bold cartoon. It’s not clear which Robin we’re seeing, but he’s in Tim’s original costume with a mop of hair.
The lineup is straight out of the Super Powers years of Super Friends. The JLA consists of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman, and the villains are their Super Friends era Legion of Doom counterparts. Even Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog make a very quick blink and you’ll miss them cameo.
Diedrich Bader, aka the best thing about The Drew Carey show, voices Batman here. This isn’t his first time voicing the dark knight. He also voiced Batman on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The voice of the narrator in Trapped in Time is also Diedrich Bader, which made me think for a second that he was doing every voice in the movie early in my viewing of it.
The story of Trapped in Timeis a fun one, involving Lex Luthor being thawed out of an ice block in the future ala Demolition Man. While in the future, Lex learns Superman is really Clark Kent and acquires the means to time travel, which leads to exactly what you think Lex Luthor would do if he knew Superman’s secret identity and could travel in time. He’s pursued by Dawnstar and Karate Kid of The Legion of Superheroes. Dawnstar is one of my favorite LoSH members, so I was happy to see her represented here.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I would have liked it better if we saw the ramifications of a world where Superman didn’t exist. But the same fight that causes Superman to blink out of existence Back to the Future style is resolved in a way that the viewer never gets to see what the world would be like if the Legion of Doom could run amok without having to worry about the Justice League. One of my favorite movies is Back to the Future II, so of course I’m be disappointed by not being able to see the Legion of Doom controlled alternate timeline. The movie does end with a twist that sets up what I’m guessing will be the next Target exclusive original JLA DVD. The twist ending was good enough that I would venture out into another blizzard to acquire the sequel.
Comparing JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time and Justice League: War, Trapped in Time is definitely the more family friendly movie. War contains a hero uttering a curse word in the climatic final battle, something that played well to the 20-and-30-somethings at the premiere, but might not fly as well in the living room of a family with a small child. The storytelling in JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is perfect for pre-schoolers to 6th graders. I’d recommend Justice League: War to teens on up.
As per comicbook.com, Trapped in Time is a retelling of the Super Friends episode Secret Origins of the Super Friends, with the story updated to focus on Lex Luthor travelling back in time to eliminate Superman from ever existing. This is a streamline of the original, which focused on the villains trying to eliminate Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern from history. Oddly enough, Secret Origins of the Super Friends is not one of the two Super Friends episodes included in the DVD’s bonus features.
YOu can
Like two of Alexander Payne’s previous films, Sideways and The Descendants, Nebraska involves a journey of self discovery through travel. It’s more like Sideways than The Descendants, in that like Sideways, Nebraska centers around two men taking the most American of journeys, a long car drive.
In Nebraska, a son drives his father from Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska so that the father can collect on lottery winnings. It’s set up early on that the son, David, does not think the father actually won anything. But David uses the excuse of taking this trip with his dad Woody to have a father-son bonding experience that never happened in their relationship previously.
I feel like Nebraska has one of, if not the most honest looks at alcoholism out of any movie I’ve seen in recent years. Bruce Dern’s character, Woody Grant, is almost like a Ghost of Christmas Future for younger people with drinking problems. Woody is a letdown as a husband and father. Decades of drinking have taken a toll on his personal relationships, his body and his mind.
Will Forte plays David very well. It’s cool to see Forte, who I love as a comedic actor (MacGruber!), take on a serious role. If David has inherited anything from his father, it’s his alcoholism. Unlike his father though, David has put drinking behind him before the start of the movie.
Nebraska is a bleak movie, as bleak as the black and white dusty landscape that encompasses most of the movie. Old age isn’t shown as a desirable goal in this movie. With the exception of Peg at the town paper and the nice elderly couple that the funniest scene in the movie centers around (and that I won’t spoil here), the old folks in Nebraska are living very dull, often sad lives. The scene of everyone sitting around the TV, not looking at each other, even when talking to each other, reminded me a little too much about some older family visits I’ve had. I’m sure you’ve had them too.
A large section of the movie takes place in Woody’s childhood hometown, a tiny town where everyone knows everyone’s business. It’s almost like a kind of purgatory that Woody has to endure in order to make it his promised land of Lincoln, Nebraska. Stacey Keach is excellent as the town’s heavy. I really like Stacey Keach. The man plays both good guys and bad guys effortlessly. When he plays a bad guy, as he does here, it’s always with a mix of charm and venom. I feel like Keach is a very underrated actor. His character in Nebraska, Ed Pegram, is like the town’s Satan. He’s the friendly face using you to his own ends. Wait, does Satan hang out in purgatory? I’m mixing my biblical comparisons.
If you have a mother like David’s, I do not envy you. Any time Kate (June Squibb) voiced her disdain for something, which seems to be every time she opened her mouth, I almost excused Woody’s constant drinking. Her nagging and his drinking are a like a chicken and the egg problem. I don’t know which came first, but they definitely perpetuate each other. Kate definitely cares for her family; she jut has the worst ability at showing it.
If you go to the movies for escapism, Nebraska might not be the movie for you. Then again, Payne does mix in humor with the seriousness. David and his brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk) attempt a payback mission for their father that goes hilariously wrong and might be my favorite scene out of any movie I’ve seen in the past 12 months. And the bleakness of the movie is matched by an ending that will make you leave the theater smiling.
I’m glad Nebraska was nominated for an Oscar. I think its nomination is helping put people in the seats, which is a good thing, as this is very good movie. However, I’d probably watch Payne’s Sideways again before I watched Nebraska a second time.