When Sam’s Town came out, it had something of a mixed reception by fans, being seen as inferior to Hot Fuss. The likes of Rolling Stone magazine panned the album with a two-star rating. However, it didn’t take too long for the album to be reassessed and seen as another great work from a great band.
Perhaps the most affecting thing for Killers’ fans back then was how different the album sounded from Hot Fuss. That great album was more of a straight forward attempt at pop rock, meanwhile Sam’s Town is more interested in giving a weird blend of sounds. It’s mostly pop rock with a touch of the electronic, with everything played up to eleven. Take for example, “Bones”, one of the singles from the album that had its video directed by Tim Burton; it’s operatic and thrilling, a potent rock piece with use of synthesizers and a choir. It’s not such a stretch from a song like “Everything will be alright” from the previous album, but here, The Killers play things broadly. It seemed like too much at the time, but now that we have grown used to this effort, one can appreciate The Killers having fun and experimenting here.
Also, perhaps another surprise was the Sam’s Town’s more seemingly personal touch. Hot Fuss dealt with its themes in a more general way. That doesn’t make it any less personal, but something about Sam’s Town just feels like Brandon Flowers putting himself out there. There’s a certain naïveté to the lyrics, fitting for the themes of nostalgia throughout the album. There’s a certain sincerity that may strike some as clumsy, but that’s the point.
The album has won many fans ever since, with many seeing it as some of their best work if not their best. It is true that often bands suffer something of a sophomore slump, and that can be seen as their failing but this is one of the occasions where the failing was on the fans’ part. But now many have changed their mind and as the fans get older, I wouldn’t be surprised if they connected even further with the album.
If you haven’t given it a listen, you can do so here.
United States Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym ordered Apple to help the government unlock and decrypt the iPhone 5C used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who shot up an office party in a terrorist attack in nearby San Bernardino in December 2015.
The federal judge instructed that Apple provides the FBI a custom firmware file, that would enable investigators to brute force the passcode lockout on the phone.
Tim Cook pledged to fight a federal order to unlock the phone, arguing the court ruling would force a loophole into the encryption of iPhones that could breach Apple users’ privacy around the world.
Tuesday night, the CEO of Apple responded with an open letter to his customers on apple.com.
A Message to Our Customers
The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.
This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.
The Need for Encryption
Smartphones, led by iPhone, have become an essential part of our lives. People use them to store an incredible amount of personal information, from our private conversations to our photos, our music, our notes, our calendars and contacts, our financial information and health data, even where we have been and where we are going.
All that information needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission. Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data.
Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us.
For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers’ personal data because we believe it’s the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.
The San Bernardino Case
We were shocked and outraged by the deadly act of terrorism in San Bernardino last December. We mourn the loss of life and want justice for all those whose lives were affected. The FBI asked us for help in the days following the attack, and we have worked hard to support the government’s efforts to solve this horrible crime. We have no sympathy for terrorists.
When the FBI has requested data that’s in our possession, we have provided it. Apple complies with valid subpoenas and search warrants, as we have in the San Bernardino case. We have also made Apple engineers available to advise the FBI, and we’ve offered our best ideas on a number of investigative options at their disposal.
We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.
Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.
The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.
The Threat to Data Security
Some would argue that building a backdoor for just one iPhone is a simple, clean-cut solution. But it ignores both the basics of digital security and the significance of what the government is demanding in this case.
In today’s digital world, the “key” to an encrypted system is a piece of information that unlocks the data, and it is only as secure as the protections around it. Once the information is known, or a way to bypass the code is revealed, the encryption can be defeated by anyone with that knowledge.
The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.
The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens — from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals. The same engineers who built strong encryption into the iPhone to protect our users would, ironically, be ordered to weaken those protections and make our users less safe.
We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack. For years, cryptologists and national security experts have been warning against weakening encryption. Doing so would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data. Criminals and bad actors will still encrypt, using tools that are readily available to them.
A Dangerous Precedent
Rather than asking for legislative action through Congress, the FBI is proposing an unprecedented use of the All Writs Act of 1789 to justify an expansion of its authority.
The government would have us remove security features and add new capabilities to the operating system, allowing a passcode to be input electronically. This would make it easier to unlock an iPhone by “brute force,” trying thousands or millions of combinations with the speed of a modern computer.
The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.
Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.
We are challenging the FBI’s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.
While we believe the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.
This episode of Venture Bros. finally gets to develop that love interest for Hank. Remember in Episode 1 when Hank tried to heroically save a drowning girl in the building across the street? Well turns out she wasn’t drowning, and she’s also Wide Whale’s daughter.
A girl like Serena, that’s the daughter, feels smothered by her over-protective, mob boss of a father. As far as evil villains go he’s a pretty great dad. Of course, he’s a sworn enemy of Dr. Venture. The two are like rival businessmen, literally living across the street from each other. Dr. Venture doesn’t pay Wide Whale any mind after Brock kicked his ass in the previous episode. He’s busy setting up an R&D section in the basement of Venture Industries. Now Pete White, Billy Quizboy, and Dr. Venture have billions of dollars worth of mad science to play with. This opens the show up to some hilarious and science fiction-like possibilities for Season 6.
But this episode is really about Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. People try to manipulate her left and right. First it’s Wide Whale, and now it’s a new badass villain known as Copy Cat. Copy Cat seemingly wants to get a seat on the council, but the effort he puts into discrediting The Monarch says something more. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch will hopefully catch onto Copy Cat’s bigger ploy, whatever that may be, and continue to come into her own. She’s also so much of a badass that she doesn’t need The Monarch or Copy Cat. It would be great to see her really take advantage of her position in the guild.
With everything revealed about The Monarch’s father it’s possible he might turn to a life of a hero. Maybe? The Monarch’s father was really The Blue Morpho. Like father like son. The history between The Blue Morpho and Dr. Venture Sr. might explain why The Monarch feels this relentless need to arch Dr. Venture.
The iconic manga and anime character, Astro Boy is getting the live-action treatment courtesy of New Line.
According to The Hollywood Report, the company is in negotiations to pick up the rights to the character. New Line has hired Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore to work on the script. The duo worked on San Andreas.
Astro Boy was created by Osamu Tezuka. Astro Boy is a robot boy created by a scientist as a replacement after the death of his son.
Monkeys Fighting Robots will deliver more details as they become available.
One advantage of late night talk shows is that having musical guests can lead to people discovering some bands that could otherwise be left unknown. One such band was The Fratellis. They came on Late Night with Conan O’ Brien and played “Flathead”, a very catchy song. I was hooked and decided to listen to the rest. But how does the rest of the album Costello Music fare? Not bad, actually. It’s a solid work but like too many albums, very few of the songs rise above the level of memorable. Besides “Flathead”, there are other unforgettable pieces such as “Whistle for the Choir”, the sweetest tune in the album. It’s so good and melancholy that it made me wish that the band had delved more into that kind of songwriting on this album, instead of defaulting into pure feet-tapping rock.
The rest of the album is vivacious and fun to listen to, but it’s hard to imagine anyone listening to all of it more than once. Songs like “Chelsea Dagger” and “Baby Fratelli” have made their appearances in movies like Hot Fuzz and Pitch Perfect, and while entertaining and joyous, they don’t really live up to “Flathead” and “Whistle for the Choir.” One thing that has to be taken into account is that this was their debut album, and even some of the best bands have done a whole lot worse. Ten years later, it has stood the test of time; the great songs are still great and the decent ones are still decent. This may seem like a tough evaluation of the album, but it’s a good work and even if it’s just for something like “Chelsea Dagger”, it’s a good listen and a good debut for anyone looking to listen to The Fratellis for the first time.
If you want to listen to the album yourself, get it right here.
With the team split between two worlds, the number of conflicts doubled, as Team Flash takes on every current conflict that has been in the forefront of their minds.
Earth-1 Barry is in captivity, Earth-2 Barry is coming to grips with reality that his other worldly twin was a mere couple of feet away from him. Harrison Wells is the closest to getting his daughter back as he ever could be. Jay, at least we hope it is, is a mere child’s joke away from another chance as regaining his speed. All that and more on Tuesday’s episode of The Flash.
It seem’s that a haunting monologue is the new starting point for many episodes to come. As Zoom is racing through Earth-2 Central City, he is heard calling out to Wells, knowing that he is back in his home world and itching to get a run at his daughters capturer. A feat that has been falling short since she has gone missing.
Overall, the episode shied away from any of the major storyline. Really having two world’s full of story to sift between, it was a real central plot driven episode, which was a nice break from the dozens of arcs going on through this season.
The goal was simple, save Barry, return to Earth-1 and lock Zoom back in Earth-2. Easy, right?
Well, like any episode, things get muddy real quick. In the search for Barry, and the harder search for Zoom’s lair; Harry, Cisco, E-2 Barry and Iris Allen put E-2 Barry’s CSI skills to the test and set out to find an unlikely ally, one who would know where Zoom’s hideaway might be. From the heartbreak of her leader killing her love, Killer Frost was the center of attention, and Cisco knew that he could get her to cooperate. Barry battles his cell, unable to get out of the glass-like case.
With software that might be useful on Earth-1 some day soon, E-2 Barry cross-referenced heat signatures, obvious related temperature drops and other markers, the hunt for Frost was on. Which led them right to the middle of the forest.
Back on Earth-1, reeling from the threat of Geomancer, we see the Central City Picture News and Iris is hard at work. But, a new sheriff in town seems to have other ideas. A new editor, Scott Evans, flexes his power muscle and strikes down a Flash “fluff piece,” wanting more hard hitting stories that put the Flash in a negative light. In an almost 180 degree direction, it seems that this new editor is ready to dirty his name and prepare the city for when the Flash is not there. In fairness, the sudden disappearance of the Flash is one to create controversy and to cause some worry that the lives of Central City’s residents may face danger that is far beyond stopping. However, this vendetta that came hastily screams of a hidden reason, one of which I believe we will be seeing very shortly.
One of the bigger events from last week going into this is the first taste of Jay Garrick and his speed. In his first confrontation with Geomancer, his Velocity-7 induced speed burst quickly wore off, but was around just enough to get Geomancer’s attention and set the stage for round two. The solution was not the Velocity-6 that was created, obviously leading to the development of Velocity-7. However, much like it’s predecessor, the effects were temporary and detrimental to those who use it. As we have learned, Jay has dabbled with Velocity-6, leading him to his current health state.
His second run-in was a good segway for the debut of Velocity 9. In an almost Microsoft-like way, Caitlin Snow seemingly skipped over the entirety of Velocity-8 and went right for nine. With Geomancer causing a tremor and toppling a building, Jay skipped the whole testing part and immediately injected it right into his bloodstream. In what could only be described as one of the coolest scenes that was a long time coming, we could see the spark in Jay’s eyes. One thing was for sure, Jay was back in business.
Sprinting away, Jay answered the call of Geomancer, aware of a second Flash in Central City and saved the people that we’re almost trapped inside the rubbled and debris.
While overall it was an underwhelming event and no physical altercation took place, it was a new change with the addition of a fourth speedster to the roster and the third current one running about. Despite this long awaited breakthrough, he was clearly run down from the rediscovered speed, opting to lay down while he adapts to the change. Upon looking at the further research of the Velocity-9, Caitlin realized a breakthrough in the V-9 and how it is helping Jay’s regenerative abilities and is actually healing his ailments. After trying to announce it to him, the third and final appearance of Geomancer happened right in S.T.A.R. Labs, as he must have followed Jay back to the labs and launched a full-on attack on her and Iris, with Jay nowhere to be found.
Unwavering, Geomancer attacked the ground and caused a tremor that seemed like it was going to take the entire lab down. Heading for the gun to subdue him, Iris and Caitlin were amazingly well-prepared for the unsuspecting attack. Things looked like they were going south fast, but Caitlin managed to get the gun and knock him out. Later on, Joe put the neck dampener on him and locked him up in the basement, preparing him for Iron Heights.
At this moment, things began to get interesting.
With Barry and Jesse finally face to face and trying to figure out a way to escape, a third face began to stir the rumor mill and wild guesses on Twitter. A mystery prisoner donning a steel mask, only able to communicate via taps on the glass was a mystery up until this point. Clearly, he has a role in the whole scheme of things, because why would Zoom hold a random person hostage. Zoom is way too calculated and concise to be as random as to hold someone if they weren’t of some value. He is holding Jesse as a bargaining chip so Wells cooperates in stealing Barry’s speed, and he is holding Barry in order to sap his speed.
It’s only until Jesse and Barry discover that the tapping is in sync with a certain pattern. He never goes above five taps, but it’s obvious that he is attempting to say something. Boiling it down, Barry realizes that he is using a form of tap code. Using a 5×5 grid of the letters of the alphabet, excluding the use of K for C since they’re similar phonetically, they finally have a way to talk to this man in the mask. His message is simple, J…………A………..Y…………Jay? As in Jay Garrick?
The discussion was brief, as Zoom rushes in and cuts him off, scolding him for talking, clearly trying to hide some big piece of the puzzle. Zoom approaches Barry’s cell and easily phases through, grabs Barry by the neck and threatens him for attempting to get him to talk.
Rumors began, as well as my own thought process running rampant, what did he mean by J-A-Y? My only logical explanation, could the Jay that we know right now be a veil for Zoom? I mean, it makes sense. Zoom’s end game is really to become the fastest and strongest speedster in the multiverse. Could he actually be a Jay clone behind the mask and actually projecting another Jay lookalike. We have actually seen Zoom’s alter ego, Hunter Zolomon in the park scene when Jay was showing Caitlin his Earth-1 twin. While there isn’t much to see in the few close shots of the masked mystery, a profile shot shows what looks to be a Jay Garrick-like person.
Nothing angered me more than when they just sort of left that plot right there. Moving onward with the story, Wells, Cisco, Iris and Barry, with the help of Killer Frost, managed to make their way up the hill and happen upon an old abandoned cable car area. In a place that only a speedster can reach, Frost uses her powers to create a wall for them to climb. Once up there, they easily get Jesse out, and turn to Barry and attempt to free him. Frost tries to freeze the glass but fails, and it’s only when Wells identifies it as carbide that the only way for him to get out is to phase through. Knowing that he cannot make up the difference of the different frequencies that the two Earth’s have, Barry comes face to face with his Earth-2 self, who offers some words of encouragement, almost like giving yourself a pep talk in the mirror. Sure enough, he takes it on slowly and manages to phase through the pane and into the crowd.
Concerned about his silent friend, Barry attempts to free him, but is quickly thwarted by Zoom, who returns to his lair. Things get a bit deeper when he thanks Killer Frost for bringing them to him, despite Cisco’s pleas to her and his reminding her of Ronnie/Deathstorm’s death at the hands of Zoom. Giving him the cold shoulder, it seems that Zoom and her had baited them perfectly and Zoom was about to kill Jesse, but was blindsided by Frost, who showed that she does have a warm heart. Barry tried to save the masked man, he was desperately out of time and promised him that he would be back to save him when this was done and over with.
Allowing the team to escape, they were faced with an issue. With Geomancers attack at the lab, the speed cannon was badly damaged and the breach became unstable. Improvising on the fly, Jay used the remainder of his V-9 to open the breach long enough while Joe opened the override switches to keep the portal open. Getting everyone through, Zoom was able to take Wells back, but Wells was able to dose him with the speed dampening serum and Barry pulled him back through to Earth-1. All seemed good, until Jay was ripped back through to Earth-2 by Zoom, and the episode was done, leaving a lot to be answered.
All in all, The Flash continuously delivers on all cylinders, and this episode was nothing short of that. While the weaving of storylines was relatively small this week, the overall plot progression was a well paced thing. It’s always exciting seeing Zoom and Flash face to face, because you really never know how things will end up. Zoom clearly has issues in sapping his speed, even though he has tapped Jay’s speed and ripped it from him. Which raises the question about Jay entirely, and why Zoom is unable to leech from him directly and needed Wells’ help this time.
With next week already pointing fingers at the resurfacing of King Shark and his return to cause mayhem in Central City, it’s likely we will see a small break from Zoom and focus on Barry getting better, faster and stronger. A lot was shown, and a lot more questions have been posed, which is heading towards a dazzling finish of season two.
Best Supporting Actress is typically the most wide open of all the acting races at The Oscars, relatively speaking. There have been plenty of years where Supporting Actress was a foregone conclusion, but the upsets in this category have been more prevalent than in any other. Marcia Gay Harden beating Kate Hudson in 2001, Marisa Tomei nabbing the statue in ’92… there are examples of upsets throughout the history of Best Supporting Actress.
This year, there isn’t even a possible upset alert, because the race is so completely fluid and obtuse. Actor is DiCaprio, like it or not. Brie Larson has been dominating Best Actress wins the entire season (though don’t ignore Cate Blanchett), and most believe Supporting Actor is Stallone’s to lose this year. Not in Supporting Actress, however. One time favorites have been getting shut out of recent awards shows, and two other actresses have shared accolades in the meantime. Perhaps it’s a three-actress race, but even then are any of them a favorite? And if so, that lends even more credence to one of the other two actresses sneaking in and shocking prognosticators.
Winslet/Vikander/Jason-Leigh
These are the three “leaders” in the clubhouse, at least in their own respective ways. It seemed Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance in Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight was a done deal back in December. But a weird thing happened: The Hateful Eight floundered. It’s still Tarantino, so it’s better than half the other films out there. But H8 fizzled at the box office, ran into middling reviews, and scared audiences who didn’t know how to categorize it. JJL still grabbed a much deserved Supporting Actress nomination, but the film itself missed out on several categories where Tarantino films typically have a reserved spot (Picture, Screenplay, Director). this could hurt her chances. Not to mention the fact she has been getting beat by two other heavy hitters.
Alicia Vikander and Kate Winslet have grabbed their share of awards these past few months for their performances. For Steve Jobs, Winslet has won both the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. Vikander has won smaller awards – the Broadcast Film Critics Association and a handful of regional critics association awards for example – for her role in The Danish Girl. Winslet might be the favorite, but Vikander is hard charging. Jennifer Jason Leigh, meanwhile, has been completely shut out.
Winslet has an Oscar and a handful of nominations working against her, and Vikander is a newcomer who very well may have deserved a Supporting Actress nomination for Ex Machina rather than The Danish Girl. Which is similar to Winslet’s win a decade ago for The Reader when she should have won for Revolutionary Road.
But don’t count out the other two…
Rachel McAdams winning for Spotlight could signify a big night for the drama (Supporting Actress is typically the first or second award given). Rooney Mara, who’s arguably a lead, could get noticed for her meaty performance in Carol. They’re long shots, but their performances certainly warrant consideration and are tailor-made to be upsets.
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is slated for a May 5, 2017 release date. Yesterday, principal photography began on the sequel, and a teaser image showed off one interesting tidbit about the cast.
Peter Quill/Star Lord is front and center in the shadowy cast reveal, as is Drax, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon. And there’s also Groot in the picture… Tiny Groot:
It appears Groot hasn’t fully recovered from saving the day at the end of the original film. Or perhaps this is just a wink to the previous adventure.
We don’t have an official synopsis of the film as of yet, but Marvel Studios released this brief statement.
Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” continues the team’s adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.
We do know Benicio Del Toro will return as The Collector, and likely the team is searching for Peter Quill’s origins. Marvel Studios made it official that Kurt Russell is part of the cast and presumably Star Lord’s father.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Dave Bautista as Drax; Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker as Yondu; Karen Gillan as Nebula; and Sean Gunn as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan and Kurt Russell.
How do you solve a problem like Clark Kent? That’s the question that DC have been asking themselves for quite some time. Sometime happened after the New 52, Barry Allen must have messed up somewhere because something got lost in the multiverse when he was putting it back together. Somewhere along the way, writers seemed to lose sight of the character’s optimism and the hope that Superman is meant to inspire. Gone was the moral epicenter of the DC universe we knew and loved, in his a place a darker character, incapable of inspiring those around him. Remember, this is a character who had an entire story-line created as a critical response to the 90’s trend of creating edgier and darker characters. “What’s so funny about truth, justice and the American way?” was so beloved that they even made into an animated movie and yet the publishers seem to have forgotten the lesson it taught us. Despite a list of solid writers behind him, and an occasional noteworthy story-line like Superman: Unchained, the Man of Steel has been unable to find his feet in this new universe. The reason d’etre of DC’s latest limited-series; Superman: American Alien is to examine the man behind the myth and answer that age old question; just who is Clark Kent? If the pitch sounds familiar, it’s because Smallville ran for 10 seasons on a similar premise as did the original Man of Steel mini-series and Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright. This isn’t a Superman series per se, but rather a story about an ordinary man burdened with godlike power and how that eventually manifests itself.
Centered around Clark Kent’s first foray into professional journalism as he competes with Lois Lane for a job at the Daily Planet, our protagonist encounters a number of billionaires certain to have an impact on his destiny. This issue isn’t as standalone as those that came before, relying on your knowledge of the events of the third issue to provide context for much of the events and character development. The illustrious Lex Luthor is compared to Ayn Rand at one point in the issue as and its easy to see why. This Lex is sees himself as the John Galt of his age, the true “Man of Tomorrow” gifted with the ability to change the world. Lex has always been a narcissist, but something seems off with his characterisation. Lex may not need people to like, but there has always been that devilish charm to him that seems absent here. It is ironic that he laments the rise of pseudo-intellectuals, but his own political philosophy is equally susceptible to such claims. However, his tirades are classic Lex and his interaction with Clark, while brief, something that are quite reminiscent of Smallville.
Landis’ excels at the quite moments that reveal Clark’s wholesome background, his social anxiety and his inherently clumsiness. They are subtle, they are cringe-worthy, but they are essential to the character. Those traits are what make him endearing, ensuring Clark is more than just a Herculean figure in blue tights. He is a man, taken for all in all. The age-old story of the country boy moving to the big city and trials and tribulations that result is not lost on us. Superman is what he can do, but Clark is who he is.
We also get a unique take on Clark’s call to action, the moment that he decides to become symbol of hope. It’s certainly interesting to view Batman as an inspiration for Superman, with Clark accepting that there must be light to counteract the dark in this ever increasingly bleak world. Indeed, the theme of the issue is the quintessential question of how to become a greater version of yourself. Is it through making up for past sins? Taking a non-traditional approach to reporting? Or is it in creating an identity that allows you to be an agent for change? Each of these characters are searching for agency and paths to meaningful actualisation, providing Clark with the context he needs to forge his own path. Its a remarkably personal read and one that gives a deeper insight into the character than we have seen in a long time.
Much like the anthology series it takes inspiration from, Superman: American Alien featuring a rotating panel of artists. This isn’t Jae Lee’s first time working with these characters. Indeed, his time on Batman/Superman shines in the ease in which he falls back into drawing these characters. The interiors are stylistically rough around the edges as if coming straight from a sketchbook. The backgrounds are indicative of a location becoming a character in themselves. As we closely begin to see more and more of Metropolis, it becomes almost like a modern re-imagining of Fleischer Studios’ Superman cartoons and its stunning. Design-wise things are quite interesting, we are finally introduced to Lex who seems to be closely modeled off Michael Rosenbaum’s iconic take on the character. Meanwhile, the Dark Knight makes his first full-appearance in a costume reminiscent of the original, crude design featured in his debut appearance from Detective Comics #27. This take on the Caped Crusader is a refreshing change to the militaristic designs of the New 52 and one that fits into the raw world that Landis and his collaborators have been weaving over the last four issues.
When I compare this series to Smallville, understand that is one of the highest compliments I can give a Superman story. Superman: American Alien is a beautifully composed piece of literature that highlights the fragile humanity of Clark Kent and informs us as to the man behind the shield. This is a return to form for both the Man of Steel and Max Landis. Indeed, in returning to first principles, Landis and Lee have finally managed to rediscover what makes Superman compelling on a fundamental level. It ranks up there with A Superman for All Seasons in terms of stories that truly speak to the heart of a character and act as a testament to their longevity. Let’s hope that it’s up, up and away from here.
‘Physician, Heal Thy Selfie’ is the latest escapade from iZombie, and is it any good? Well, it could have been amazing, but I guess it was alright.
Review of iZombie Season Two ‘Physician, Heal Thy Selfie’
First off the episodes murder! This week’s murder case is equal parts progressive and disappointing. On the good side: Three deaths at once, that could really add another layer when trying to get the right vision, no heads or visions, that forces Liv to play detective, tying into the Mr. Boss plot, just generally awesome. Why could this possibly be disappointing? Well, these ideas don’t fully work together. If this murder was just a triple homicide, Liv would have to make a decision, would she only eat one brain and hope that he has the proper memories? Liv then has a 33% of being helpful, or does she eat all three? What would happen? Would the latest brain take over? Would she have all three’s memories and quirks? That could make for a really interesting episode.
On the flip side, having no heads forces Liv not to rely on visions, this could also make for a great episode. Forcing to play detective, actually, look for clues. Would dire circumstances force Liv to step up and reveal an actual talent at observation (ala Psych), or would Clive notice her lack of helpfulness, pushing the Clive-Zombie plotline. This could make a great episode on its own.
#sushionfleek
The problem is these two ideas are incompatible, the triple homicide’s appeal relies on the vision gimmick, whereas the decapitation forces Liv to abandon the visions. These ideas simply don’t work together. Add to the fact that Clive and Liv’s relationship is basically back to status quo, and things look pretty disappointing.
This doesn’t make for a bad murder, though, that is mostly mitigated by the third gimmick this murder had, actually directly tying into a major plotline. Both actually. The murder was done by Mr. Boss, thus, he was relevant in this episode, but it was played like as a Chaos Killer murder, leaving Du Clark with questions. This was the first episode to really do a fantastic job balancing the two (three?) antagonists.
Du Clark is worried about this fake-Chaos Killer murder, attacking someone Major claimed was human, yet his records clearly reflect zombie behavior. This portion, with Du Clark, is pretty problematic. The first is why Du Clark is so concerned at first. From what he knows, Major lied about the human-ness of this man, then killed him later. What would Major possibly gain by lying to Du Clark, and thus not kill the BA, but then kill him later? It isn’t until Major admits to lying about the BA that Du Clark should really be concerned. The twitter troll bit really spoke to the cruel nature of Max Rager, but the connection between the twitter troll and Major was unclear. Was Du Clark just warning that he doesn’t like being looked down on, enough to tweet mean things about, or enough to lie? Regardless the connection is a little flimsy.And, one of the issues about Max Rager from earlier has sprung up again.
And, one of the issues about Max Rager from earlier has sprung up again. When Du Clark threatens Major about killing the BA, he says, “We know she knows.” HOW? It couldn’t be Gilda overhearing Liv because Gilda has been gone recently (as noted by the line, “Wow, haven’t seen you around here recently”), and between when Liv told about the BA and him getting killed was less than twenty-four hours, so Liv never went home. Liv only talked about the BA in the lab to Ravi and Major, thus, there are two possibilities: Gilda could have slipped a listening device into Liv’s clothes, there are two problems with that theory. The first is that we never saw Gilda slip anything. She would have to do this every day, or have multiple bugs on all Liv’s clean clothes, but we’ve never seen Gilda do such a thing. This wouldn’t be such an issue if it weren’t for the second problem. There is no precedent, it’s almost out of Gilda’s character to use bugs like this because in the past Gilda’s information has come entirely through eavesdropping or just putting two-and-two together.
One of these three is a mole… I mean, maybe
Another explanation could be that Du Clark has a mole in Liv’s group. In order to determine the validity of this idea, we have to examine a particular scene, when Liv tells Major and Ravi about the BA. It cannot be Liv, that… makes no sense. It cannot be Major, he’s being blackmailed with this information, he isn’t giving it. That leaves Ravi.
There are three conclusions here: one, Ravi is a traitor, two, Du Clark is omniscient, three, we were lied to about the bugs, which is the worst of the three scenarios.
Most of Mr. Boss’s screen time is actually not regarding the murder, but his interaction with Blaine. Outright, Blaine is freakin’ lucky. When Mr. Boss showed up, there were three things it could be about. Leaking company info, competing in the Utopium market or finding out about zombies. All three are terrifying for Blaine. At the beginning, Mr. Boss talks about stolen goods, this could very well just be a warm-up before the real confrontation. So when Blaine finds out that it’s just about that $5,000 a week, he is relieved. That is the best possible outcome for Blaine. Let’s just hope Mr. Boss isn’t just playing ignorant, but really is.
Speaking of Blaine, he may have had the luckiest moment in the episode, he also had the worst. Peyton’s method of breaking up with Blaine was brutal, and… I felt sorry for him. Is that supposed to happen? The Peyton-Blaine ship was really developing into something nice, and it’s clear to see that Blaine saw a real relationship developing there. That scene was hard to watch.
While the Peyton-Blaine ship just sank, the Peyton-Ravi ship has once again began to sail. Seriously, the long-awaited scenes solely between Ravi and Peyton are here and they were wonderful. The chemistry was fantastic and now I’m torn between Blaine or Ravi.
Speaking of relationships, Liv and Pretty Boy are still a thing. Liv’s worry about his past peaked pretty early and dissipated almost immediately, come on Liv, you gave in so easily! At least, he wasn’t actually lying about the leaking sink, though… his mother seemed pretty delusional, and Liv’s make-up was actually kinda terrifying.
Clive handled Liv’s phone-obsessed stint pretty well, even using her tweet during interrogation to his advantage, nice thinking Clive. The moment when Liv and Clive find the heads in the fridge was pretty great. And of course, it’s confirmed Blaine is responsible for Super U, and Liv now knows that too. Which means that the trust she just re-established in Pretty Boy will dissipate once more, because she now knows that he is working with the Super U, and Blaine, and Mr. Boss.
Ultimately, there was real potential for ‘Physician, Heal Thy Selfie’ to be the best episode of the entire show, thus it was kind of disappointing, but the end result itself was pretty good. Just not great.
