Kevin Smith announced via Twitter yesterday that he is to direct a future episode from the second half of season two of The Flash.
I think when fans of the show saw this, there was a global fist pump. There is nothing better than getting information that one of your favourite shows will be in the safe hands of a director who himself is a massive comic geek. Smith’s credentials when it comes to knowing about comics speak for themselves. In the past, Mr. Smith has written for many comic characters such as Daredevil when he wrote “Guardian Devil”, an eight issue story arc for Marvel Comics. Following this was Green Arrow for DC Comics, with a 15 issue tenure. Returning back to Marvel he wrote two mini-series called “Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do ” and “Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target.”
More importantly, as Kevin is a huge fan of The Flash TV show, it creates a certain safety blanket to know someone who loves the show as much as the fans do will be behind the camera calling the shots. Purely because he will deliver something, the fans will want to see.
With that in mind, here are a couple of things I think we can expect from the episode:
1. There will be plenty of comedy.
Kevin Smith is a very funny guy; you only have to look at the films he has directed such as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats and my personal favourite Dogma. When you team this with the writers The Flash has and the particular actors he will have at his disposal (Carlos Valdes I’m looking at you), then it’s safe to say we can expect comedy fireworks to go off.
2. It will be emotional.
The Flash excels in its emotion. You only have to look at the speeches Joe West and Henry Allen – portrayed by the excellent Jesse L. Martin and John Wesley Shipp – have delivered to Barryin past episodes to know this is true. I would never have thought thatKevin Smithwas a very emotional guy, but after watching this video of him while he watches Episode 23: “Fast Enough”, which is the season finale and the one where Barry travels back in time to when his mother died, I’m convinced he can handle it. I get all misty-eyed just thinking about it.
Here is the video[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_lGaBPbJLM[/embedyt]
Something I really hope he gets to direct is the unveiling of Zoom. The episode he is directing is due to air in May, which would set it close to the season two finale. It would be exciting for him to direct this big a plot point as a director, but also, bring in fan’s perspective.
Let me know if you think this is a good thing or whether you have reservations about it.
As of this writing, a little less than an hour ago, I learned that David Bowie has passed away. I’ve been sitting in my bed, almost literally frozen, trying to process it all. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen many of my favorite artists pass away. As we get older, they get older with us and they get an opportunity to mark moments in our lives. Whether we’re aware of it or not, they become more meaningful. We come to appreciate them almost as if they were friends. A year or so ago, I got in touch with a friend I hadn’t really talked to in years. She was surprised to learn that I still loved a lot of the music I listened to from when we met as teenagers. But I don’t understand, how could you not? If you love something, I guess you can stop loving it. But the good things often stick around, or you get a shot at discovering them again. Bowie’s music has always been a very good thing for me.
I can’t specify when I first became a fan of Bowie. There’s a chance it may have been before I was thirteen, as my father is a massive music fan. Particularly of any rock music from the sixties and seventies. I’m sure that in long car rides or road trips we shared together, I must have listened to The Rise and Fall ofZiggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars at least once. When I was thirteen, I had already started to watch Late Night with Conan O’ Brien and once, they had an episode that was all claymation. David Bowie was the musical guest, singing “Afraid.” When you listen to something and you love it, it’s hard to articulate why. There’s something about the voice, the lyrics, the melody that just rings right in your head. Everything about “Afraid” just felt right. Plus, in that interview he came across as such a gentleman. A very funny and warm man. Johnny Knoxville was one of the guests and Bowie told him how much he loved Jackass. A year later, I caught Lost Highway on television. A cousin of mine and I stayed up late watching it. There are those haunting opening titles, with Bowie’s “I’m Deranged” playing. I realized I was becoming a fan. Since then, I owe a lot to David Bowie. I have a lot of reasons to say “Thank You” to him.
Thank You, David Bowie for getting me closer to my dad when I was a teenager. I was the cliché of a teenager in that I wasn’t happy with my parents for any good reason in particular. I was angry, depressed and talking to me would be like talking to a wall. Car rides with my parents were filled with awkward silences. One day, my father played The Rise and Fall ofZiggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and he mentioned that it was by David Bowie. That made me pay attention to it and pay attention to what he was saying. Again, he’d had that album for years up until that point, so I’m sure it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it. But it was the first time I’d actually listened to it. And it gave us something to talk about, with him even joking that I should try to make a film out of it someday, knowing that it’s my dream to make movies.
Thank You, David Bowie for making great movies even greater with your music. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou just wouldn’t be The Life Aquatic without “Life On Mars?” and “Queen Bitch” on it, or those countless covers by Seu Jorge throughout the film. Lost Highway wouldn’t be Lost Highway without “I’m Deranged” playing over the opening titles. “Modern Love” was so perfect for the ending of Frances Ha. Before I Disappear is burnt into my memory thanks to that haunting scene set to “Five Years.” And I’ll never, ever forget the jolt that “Young Americans” gave me right after the ending of Dogville. Even after all the years I’ve known it and listened to it, “Space Oddity” caught me by surprise in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The helicopter scene just gave it a whole new meaning. Or underscoring “Cat People” to one of the coolest “Getting ready” scenes ever in Inglorious Basterds. A shout-out to this article for including a few right here.
Thank You, David Bowie for those times that you collaborated with other singers, making great songs even better. The Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor” came to me in the perfect time. It resonated because I thought it reflected (no pun intended) some things I was going through at the time. Bowie’s part in it is so minimal, but it was the cherry on top of a great song. His voice was just so haunting and strong. He knew how to knock any song out of the park. Even if it was just one tiny verse.
Thank you, David Bowie for the great life lessons that came to me at the perfect time. The first time I remember actually listening to “Under Pressure” was on a road trip with my cousin. He lent me his Best of Queen album that had “Under Pressure” in it, and of course, this was another time I had actually heard the song before, but not listened to it. And everything about it just felt right, but what really stuck with me were Bowie’s parts of the song. I got the sense that I was being taught an important life lesson. Freddie Mercury asks: “Why can’t we give ourselves one more chance? Why can’t we give love?” Bowie retorts “’Cause love’s such an old-fashioned word, and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night, and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves. This is our last chance. This is our last dance. This is ourselves under pressure.”
Thank you David Bowie, for those times you got me closer to friends; When I was in University, my roommates and I decided to watch Labyrinth. We laughed, eating it up like crazy. It’s a very cool movie, dated in some aspects maybe but one that’s stood the test of time. Getting a little drunk as we were watching it. My favorite part was watching one of my roommates go crazy for David Bowie playing The Goblin King. Any time he’d be on screen, she’d fawn for him. We all laughed about it, and it just made the film better for us. It’s the great thing about movies, about art. Just how it gets people together like that, and give us moments that exist outside the film. Then, there was the time a friend of mine asked me to create an acting reel for her. I told her to propose a song and she went for “Heroes.” I already knew we saw each other eye to eye when it came to music…or most music, but it got us talking a bit about Bowie and lead into a great conversation that got us closer. And later on, during a party with some classmates from my Master’s, I got to sing Under Pressure with a few of them. I was very happy to get all the Bowie parts and they were happy to see me loosen up that way with them, which admittedly, I hadn’t done before.
Thank you, David Bowie for the times you’ve inspired me. Putting in a very throwaway reference to “Life On Mars?” on a short story I wrote for college was the best tribute I could think of. Especially on a story that was partly inspired by that song. Lately, I’ve been writing a lot of Sci-Fi adventures, and in all of them, I’ve turned to listen to his music for inspiration and to set myself in the right mood. Just like Walter Mitty, I find myself jumping into my own tiny helicopters and flying away when I listen to his music.
We don’t get to share time with every artist we love. I feel very lucky to have lived in the same time as David Bowie, and to have gotten the opportunity to listen to his music. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had the same experiences with his music like I have. David, everything sounded better with you. Thanks and rest in peace.
Mark Ruffalo spoke with Entertainment Weekly on Saturday about the potential of Cate Blanchett joining the cast of Thor: Ragnarok. Ruffalo might have revealed too much when mentioned his excitement for Blanchett’s villainous character.
“I’m so thrilled. I saw her at the Governors’ banquet here and heard that maybe she was circling, they were talking to her about the part, so I ran up to her and I was like, ‘Please, please, please make this work!’ She’s just one of the best, and to have her play a baddie is going to be really exciting,” said Ruffalo.
Could Blanchett be cast as Hela ‘Queen of the Dead,’ or Amora the Enchantress?
It sounds like Blanchett is still in the negotiation phase, as Marvel Studios has yet to make an official announcement.
Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi, Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle are working on the script, and the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, and Anthony Hopkins.
Thor: Ragnarok will destroy the universe on November 3, 2017.
Hela ‘Queen of the Dead’ The three Asgardian goddesses of fate, the Norns, are said to have warned the Asgardian gods that Hela would prove to be a great danger to them. Odin, ruler of the Asgardian gods, decreed that Hela would become goddess and ruler of the spirits of the dead on the day of her maturity. These spirits were in the other-dimensional realms of Hel and Niflheim, two more of the Nine Worlds, both of which Hela ruled. However, Odin himself directly ruled the souls of Asgardians and their human worshippers who died in battle as heroes, and had the palace of Valhalla built in a distant section of Asgard to house them.
Amora the Enchantress Amora was born somewhere in Asgard, her parentage unknown. While still in adolescence, she ran away to the land of the Norns and apprenticed herself to Karnilla, one of the most powerful sorceresses in all the Asgardian dimension. There she studied all the basic arts of Asgardian magic until Karnilla expelled her for being too undisciplined. She picked up further mystical skills from seducing other Asgardian magi and wizards. (source: Marvel Database)
Rarely does a live action comic book adaption live up to its source material, and it’s even rarer for it to be better. Either the story is bastardized beyond comparison (X-Men: Days of Future Past), or its an adaption in name only, with a completely original and incomparable story (Avengers: Age of Ultron). This doesn’t necessarily make the adaptions bad; it’s just hard to compare them to the decades of source material they pulled from. That is why it’s refreshing to see an adaption based on a newer character; it’s easier to look at the handful of books they’ve appeared in and say, “They got this right/they got this wrong.” Enter Jessica Jones.
Quick history lesson: Jessica Jones was created in 2001 by Brian Michael Bendis and first appeared in her own series, Alias, which ran for 28 issues. She then went on to star/appear in The Pulse, New Avengers, and other various Avengers-based books, where she changed and grew from a loner to part of an ensemble cast. However, the recent Netflix show Jessica Jones is adapted purely from the Alias title, so that’s what it will be compared to in the history books. And history will show that not only does the adaption live up to its inspiration, but it’s one of those one-in-a-million times where it exceeds it.
Alias was Marvel’s first title under its MAX imprint, which was its (short lived) foray into R-rated content. Unfortunately, that’s all that the Jessica Jones character seemed to be: Marvel’s vehicle to deliver curse words and have sex with Scott Lang (this is all before Disney bought Marvel and turned him into a summer blockbuster). There was no real depth to her, or to the stories. The first 23 issues were just interchangeable P.I. cases, followed by a two-part generic origin tale. The stories could be interesting, but they didn’t develop Jessica’s character in any way other than saying she was a disgraced former superhero with trust issues. That’s a great premise, but it gets old after 20+ issues.
Luckily, issue 24 kicked off an arc called “Purple” (fans of the show know where this is going). It chronicled her fall from grace at the hands of the manipulative Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man. Granted, it still wasn’t amazing. Bendis wrote in some strange meta dialogue that didn’t work. The ending felt somewhat rushed and whimpering. But the story was rock solid. It was intense, and dark. It went to depths that even the TV show doesn’t go.
And the cover art by David Mack is gorgeous.
Thankfully, “Purple” is what the showrunners chose to run with for Jessica Jones. Episode one has Jessica learn that Kilgrave (new spelling, same evil) has returned, and she must decide whether to face him or run. Spoiler alert: she faces him. Otherwise it would be a very boring show. But before that, all of her fear, conflict, and failure to bury her past is skillfully put into this pilot. Jessica Jones takes one episode to accomplish what took Alias 23 issues, and does it better. The rest of the season is dedicated to her working to defeat Kilgrave, and overcoming her past instead of running from it.
Because it dedicates more time to what matters, Jessica Jones is able to develop Jessica into a deeper, more complex character. It actually shows her PTSD and her breakdowns, instead of just having her talk about her trouble. The viewer sees a gradual transition from a Jessica who wants to be invisible into a reluctant hero, starting with her decision in the first episode to help Kilgrave’s latest victim. Plus, she confronts her nemesis multiple times before their final “battle.” The time they spend together in her childhood home is amazing. There is all this time spent building on their relationship, and seeing Jessica strengthen her resolve each time. It’s all so much more well done than Alias, which filled 27 issues with whining and running, leading up to an extremely anti-climactic ending.
Best of all, the show doesn’t rely on its adult theme as a crutch, like the book did. The first word in Alias is the bad one that rhymes with “duck.” It’s the very first word, and then it’s repeated several times to really drive home the fact that they’re allowed to say it. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones doesn’t use it at all. There is swearing in the show, and some of it may be superfluous, but it’s not the crux of the dialogue. Some of the writing in Alias felt like it was there just to surround the swear words. The same goes for the sex scenes. There are repeated sex scenes in Alias, but only one heavy sex scene comes to mind from the whole season of Jessica Jones.
This isn’t meant to sound prudish. There’s nothing wrong with swearing or sex in a story, so long as it doesn’t become gratuitous. When Jessica Jones has a sex scene, it says, “Look at this well done scene, reflecting two characters realizing that they don’t have to hold back for the first time in recent memory, and unleashing years of built up tension.” When Alias did it, it said, “Look, she’s having sex with Ant-Man! Isn’t that crazy?!” This makes sense though, considering what audiences expect from different mediums. Sex and swearing were new to Marvel comics, so they took advantage of the gimmick, and readers were captivated at the time. But viewers are used to sex and swearing in TV by now, so the story still has to be strong to keep their interest.
These interactions are the high points of the entire series.
In all fairness, Alias‘ simplicity does give it a little credit compared to Jessica Jones. The show gets derailed at times with side stories and characters (Nuke played no role, other than distracting the main characters). Of course, the derailments had their place: they were there to build on the greater story running through the Marvel/Netflix shows leading up to The Defenders. But Alias deserves to get at least one point of credit here, and strictly considering Jessica’s story, it did a better job staying focused.
This comparison has come down pretty hard on Alias, referring to drawn out, shallow storytelling. Don’t be too dissuaded to pick it up; it’s still a worthwhile read, and a landmark in the Modern Age of comics. It’s only that Jessica Jones‘ release has shown audiences how good of a story it could have been from the start, and the book’s problems are much more apparent.
That’s what this all comes down to: story. It’s impossible to compare a comic and its adaption on any other bases. Krysten Ritter’s acting can’t be compared to anything in Alias; Michael Gaydos’ artwork can’t be compared to anything in Jessica Jones. The only comparison is which medium told the story better. Jessica Jones did that, hands down.
A new trailer for House of Cards season 4 gives us Frank Underwood, the President we deserve. The trailer, as Kevin Spacey’s Underwood addresses the audience directly, is loaded with shocking, seedy clips which promise another thrilling season of the Netflix series.
Here is the trailer, courtesy of the House of Cards twitter feed:
This new season promises to re-energize the series after season 3 fell short of most expectations. Regardless of how middling season 3 may have been, the show remains a salacious good time for anyone who watches.
Predicting Best Director is the trickiest of the major categories. Since the Academy has decided they want to keep the number of Best Picture nominees secret until the announcement, and the number of Best Picture films could be anywhere from 5 to 10, Best Director no longer mirrors BP as much as it once did. From time to time, a director would grab a nomination and their film wouldn’t get a BP nod. Now, that idea is flipped, which feels weird. A film is good enough to grab a Best Picture nomination, but the director isn’t nominated?
Regardless, this year should recognize a few directors whose films were events, both during production and upon release. Like it or not, one specific director will be back in the pool a second consecutive year, but I’m not convinced he has the inside track to the win.
Best Director
Desiste the fact discussions of The Revenant and its taxing shooting has created some of the most epic and absurd backlash in recent memory, Alejandro G. Iñárritu will enjoy his second straight nomination. Roll your eyes all you want, and sure the publicity train for this film is a little aggressive to the point of being tiresome. It doesn’t change the fact filming The Revenant was a troubling shoot, because Iñárritu had a specific vision. Chill out.
Fan favorite George Miller will get a nomination for Mad Max: Fury Road, because he absolutely deserves it. Mad Max had its own fair share of shooting issues and delays and an arduous schedule. But Miller pulled it off, and the momentum behind his film will trickle down to the brilliant work he did behind the camera. And then there is Ridley Scott for The Martian, another big-scope genre film with a difficult outdoor shoot. Scott is a middling director these days, but he manages to get everything lined up (thanks to Matt Damon) for The Martian.
Now the scale drops considerably, though the quality remains stellar. There are hopefuls whose films may sneak into the BP nominee pool, but their name will be left off here. Denis Villeneuve deserves credit for Sicario, but he won’t be able to fit into the top five. F. Gary Gray will be considered for Straight Outta Compton, but again will probably fall short. These filmmakers will probably be squeezed out by a late-rising film: The Big Short. Adam McKay, as crazy as this seems, will sneak into the Best Director pool. The fifth spot will land with Tom McCarthy, who deftly handles Spotlight with taste and subtle emotion.
February 12th is a date you’re going to want to put in your calendar because that’s the day superhero movies are going to change forever, thanks to Deadpool.
“‘That’s a bold statement”, I hear you cry but I do have a reason, and its the chimichanga of all reasons.
Deadpool is finally being released. After 11 long years in development, it is finally happening. The ‘Merc with the mouth’ will be on our cinema screens in all his glory, for all the world to see.
If you aren’t aware of Deadpool then here is a little rundown: His real name is Wade Wilson and after finding out he has cancer pretty much ravaging his body, he’s offered a spot on the Weapon X program (same one that gave Wolverine his healing powers). Although he’s given a healing factor which makes him pretty much indestructible, it does cover him from head to toe in scars. It also messes with his mind a bit and its safe to say that he’s a wee bit loco. To seek revenge on the people who experimented on him, he becomes Deadpool.
With me so far? Good.
Never before has there been a more faithful adaptation of a character going from page to screen. And I’m not just talking about the way the costume looks (which is pretty much as close as you can get by the way). The humour is there. The violence is there. It’s worth mentioning that he is a mercenary for hire. Yep, he’s not out to save the world, he’s out kill everyone who messed him up. Then there is the little fact it’s an R-rated superhero film. Will this open the door for more R-rated comic films being made? Deadpool is also the first comic character who is somewhat self-aware, and will constantly break the fourth wall. I’m happy to report this little quirk carries over to the big screen.
I’m not saying this will make The Avengers a bunch of stone-cold killers, because lets face it, we all love The Avengers. I think it’s going to change the way these types of movies take shape. The whole Deadpool package (pun intended), is in my opinion a breath of fresh air. Lets start with the trailers. They weren’t full of massive bits of dialogue that gave away most of the story in under three minutes. Most of the trailers involved the scene where Deadpool is taking out bad guys on the bridge and then they added in small bits to the other ones that came out. I’ve had many discussions with friends where there is a split between us about what a good trailer should include. I am in favour of more like Inception or Cloverfield, where you don’t get any massive hints to what’s going on but hooks you into watching the film. I believe it’s about time that studios cut the amount of information that we get to see in trailers and T.V spots. Have one great trailer, that will captivate your audience and you will still get people’s attention.
“If you ace it, they will come”
Next is the way the studio is marketing and publicizing the movie. I have loved the viral videos that have appeared on social media. The mimicking of Hunger Games with Deadpool taking the place of Katniss was delightful. I especially enjoyed the 12 Days of Deadpool we experienced over Christmas.
The main way that I hope it changes things is if Deadpool makes appearances in other franchises. Will this make the films a higher rating or will they need to tone down Mr Pool to make sure they fit in with how they have previously been made? I think it would be great to see some of the upcoming films take on a slightly more edgy tone and Deadpool is the perfect character to help ease this. I believe he is the character that the fans get excited about being redeemed after the let down with the end result in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Speaking of the fans, this film probably wouldn’t be made if it wasn’t for someone leaking the test footage after Comic Con in 2014 (the rumour that Ryan Reynolds himself leaked it is a complete fabrication). Here’s the link for the test footage [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBHjzZX5dyM[/embedyt]
Once it released there was a tidal wave of noise from the fans begging for this film. Luckily for us, the studio buckled and gave it the green light. When the cast were at Comic Con this year they gave a great panel talk and had some great stuff to say about getting the film made. Be warned, this is not for anyone with a delicate ear. You will definitely get a sense of what is to come. Especially from T.J Miller who plays Weasel. Have a look at it here [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze0sfeLX3as[/embedyt]
What really has people excited about with this movie is the main man himself Ryan Reynolds. Mr Reynolds is no stranger to comic book adaptations. To date he has played Hannibal King in Blade Trinity, Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (he was the best thing in the film until they sewed his mouth shut), Hal Jordan in Green Lantern (no-one mention the suit) and Nick in R.I.P.D. It’s fair to say that his hit rate hasn’t been the best with the old superhero flicks but I think the next one will wipe that slate clean for him.
In the hands of the talented Tim Miller, Deadpool (which is his first live action job) is going to give fans a film that I think will be a big hit next year. It will also open the door for him to appear in other Marvel movies over the next few years. We can only hope.
And now I will leave you to gaze upon the awesomeness that is the Red Band Trailer for DEADPOOL, enjoy.[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIM1HydF9UA[/embedyt]
As always, please feel free to comment and discuss any of the above.
It’s been nearly two decades since we got the debut of Spider-Man on the big screen, we have gotten five movies with two different directors and two different Spider-Men. Now we are moving on to our third director, third Spider-Man and even a new studio. So, let’s take a look back at all the ways the previous movies failed and show Marvel how they can make this the best Spider-Man we have seen on the big screen yet.
1. Don’t overload the movie with villains and plots!
The ultimate downfall of the last two franchises was that there was way too much going on in the last film of each respective series. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 are some of the most convoluted and disastrous movies I have ever seen. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there was three villains, a plot about Peter’s parents that went absolutely nowhere, and they were trying to set up future movies. It was a completely incoherent mess and upset many fans of the franchise. All Marvel has to do is keep things simple, nobody wants a movie packed with villains unless it’s a Sinister Six movie and even that’s a risky idea. We aren’t there to see an action fest; we want to see the character of Spider-Man and the problems he has to deal with, and we can’t focus on that if there is too much going on.
2. Stray away from the origin story!
We already know the new Spider-Man movie is going to be set after the tragedy that creates Spider-Man, he has already been Spider-Man for a few months, and we won’t have to sit through 30-40 minutes of stuff we have already seen before. All they have to do is not try and force it in a different way, flashbacks, Peter dealing with the guilt of the death of Uncle Ben and other reminders of that we don’t need. We all know what happened, so please just leave it alone!
3. Make Spider-Man the charismatic character we all know and love.
One of the best parts of The Amazing Spider-Man movies was Andrew Garfield’s performance as Spider-Man. It was almost as if he took the character of Spider-Man right out of the comic books, he had charm, he used witty remarks, and he was legitimately funny. Tobey Maguire would throw the occasional joke out, but his delivery wasn’t there. It always came out the same; I loved Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, but not so much as Spider-Man and I loved Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man but not so much as Peter Parker. Neither of them was the perfect Spider-Man and Peter Parker, and hopefully, Tom Holland can nail the role and take note from the two actors who played the high school nerd while also making the character his own.
4. New villains!
We have seen Green Goblin twice, and we almost saw Doc Ock twice if that tease at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was anything to go off of. It’s time to bring in some different villains like Kraven the Hunter, Morbius, or Mysterio, and then later down the line, we can see a villain like Venom or Carnage be introduced. A character like Morbius may be too similar to The Lizard, but there are so many possibilities with someone like Kraven or Mysterio. In most Spider-Man movies, we see Spider-Man hunting the villain. Imagine seeing an onscreen Kraven played by Gerard Butler hunting down Spider-Man, tracking his every move and eventually coming across his true identity. It could create some amazing tension and amazing scenarios, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps!
5. Utilize Spider-Man’s powers for clever film making and amazing action scenes!
Something no one talks about is the clever use of Spider-Man’s powers and how they incorporate it into the film in the two previous franchises. Look at the spider sense sequence in the Times Square fight in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. People are fleeing the area from Electro, and they are all running towards some sort of life ending hazard, the problem is Spider-Man only has one available webshooter because the other is broken. We quickly see him analyze the situation using his spider senses, we then see him jump into action using his wits to defuse the situation, he puts his thumb over his webshooter allowing the web to spread to multiple angles and save all the people in danger at once. We have also seen him use his speed and agility to dodge danger like Green Goblin’s bladed grenades. There are endless ways to make Spider-Man look like the bad-ass he is on-screen, using his powers to the film makers advantage is just one way to make this happen.
There you have it, five ways to make a Spider-Man not suck. There are obviously many more ways to make a good Spider-Man movie, but we can’t possibly fit that into one article, so let us know in the comments what you think would make a good Spider-Man film!
You might have noticed a lack of reviews for episodes 10-12. There are a number of reasons for this, the primary being it wasn’t fun for me, and I doubt the articles were very fun to read. There was a fear that the last episode reviews would have devolved to unintelligible ranting, lo and behold, that’s exactly what I did while watching the final episode. I was yelling at the screen while watching Episodes 11 and 12. So, I will attempt to elaborate on why I hate this show so much, and approach it with a level head… well, I’ll try.
Without a doubt, Sakurako-san is the worst anime I have ever seen, no anime has left so cold, has insulted me so. I haven’t hated something this much since Pixels. However, it would be unfair to blame that solely on Sakurako-san. Ultimately, my hatred for Sakurako-san is a personal hatred. Sakurako-san reminded me that I’m still pretty new to the anime scene. While plenty of bad anime have entered this brain of mine, this was done with the knowledge that these shows weren’t that great. But Sakurako-san duped me. Fooled me. Tricked me.
Rewind back to September 30th, when I first posted about Sakurako-san, at this point nothing but a trailer, synopsis, and picture had been released regarding this show. This is what I wrote about Sakurako-san at that point. “I cannot wait for it to air.” Sakurako-san was the show I was most looking forward too. More than The Perfect Insider, more than Osomatsu-san, more than Lance N’ Masques, more than even One Punch Man. And yet here we are, twelve weeks later, we find ourselves at this scathing review. So… what happened?
The first episode drops and I really liked it, I saw some flaws here and there, but I ignored them. I was sure this show was going to be amazing. Along came the second episode, and I really liked it, or so I thought. In reality those ‘minor’ flaws were more apparent than before, I responded by piling on even more praise. An immature response to be sure, but I didn’t want my fears to be true. While watching the third episode though… it all broke down. From here on most of the articles were negative, hating on the show. I had never felt so betrayed by a show before. And that is why I hate Sakurako-san, even if it really should
With my therapy session over let’s discuss the actual show now. While the show has many little mistakes (read the individual episode reviews for those), it also has a few large blunders. From here on spoilers will be abundant. If you’d like a non-spoiler review for Sakurako-san here it is: Don’t watch it. Even if you don’t develop an irrational hatred for it, the show simply isn’t worth the twelve episodes it asks of you.
Spoilers
From day one Sakurako-san has advertised itself as a mystery show. Thus it would be appropriate to judge Sakurako-san based on its genre. So what makes a good mystery? Well, according to publishing house Penguin Books there are five major criteria to a good mystery. These are Character, Setting, Plot, Problem, and Solution.
Characters:
There are two major sets of charters in most mysteries, the supporting cast and the main cast. Original, I know. I like to think of these two sets as the problem-presenters and the problem-solvers. In Sakurako-san, the main cast is composed of just Sakurako and Shoutaro. Whereas the supporting case is everyone else, including Yukino (annoying classmate/future romantic interest), Ume (caretaker destined to die for a plotline), Itsuki (teacher dude), Utsumi, (annoying ‘comic relief’ character), Hanabusa (the ‘villain’), and Hector (best character in the entire show).
The main cast is one of Sakurako-san‘s biggest flaws, neither Sakurako, nor Shoutaro are very interesting.
Sakurako:
It’s no surprise that Sakurako is heavily inspired by the most common type of detective, the Sherlock. This archetype is a detective who is insanely smart, can tell a lot from simple observations that most would miss, and often come across as rude. Done well, this archetype strikes the perfect balance between incredible intelligence and measly manners. Creating an imperfect, yet lovable and quirky lead. Sakurako-san utterly fails in this regard, in both intent and actually getting that balance.
First in intent, the Sherlock archetype needs to come across as rude, aloof, with a dash of sociopathic tendencies. You aren’t supposed to love everything about the character, real flaws are there, the viewers cannot ignore them, but should accept them. While just about every well-written character have these flaws, it is an integral aspect of the Sherlock archetype.
Sakurako-san makes the mistake of treating ‘flaws’ and ‘quirks’ like synonyms. Let’s cover the ‘flaw’s that Sakurako has: she is a bit rude, loves cake, and is obsessed with bones (about as much as the show itself). Now how many of those could be considered real character flaws? In my estimation… none. All of these ‘flaws’ are either played for laughs, or a fun quirk. Sakurako is essentially a flawless character, a sure-fire way to tell this is adapted from a light novel.
The short of it is, Sakurako-san is trying to sell you a character, a Mary-sue. Perhaps it’s due to my cynical nature, or over exposure to that tend in Light Novels. Sakurako is just another power fantasy, this time an intellectual power fantasy.
The second mistake Sakurako-san has with its protagonist, is striking the balance between smarts and ‘flaws.’ Sakurako-san has attempted giving Sakurako’s ‘flaws’ a bit of focus. What happened? Sakurako was treated like a child. In Episode 6, with Shoutaro using an intercom to call Sakurako, like when finding lost children. It even said, “Your guardian is waiting for you.” It was played for laughs.
Sakurako isn’t a person, or even a character, just a Mary-sue.
Shoutaro:
In case it wasn’t apparent, Shoutaro is to Sakurako, as Watson is to Sherlock. In comedic terms, Shoutaro plays the straight man. Apprehending Sakurako whenever necessary, and apparently calling himself her guardian. Needless to say Shoutaro is a pretty boring character. That’s not really much of a surprise, as Shoutaro is also the audience POV character too.
There are some… issues. Primarily the fact that Shoutaro is apparently a black belt in martial arts, which he only uses once of course. Also, episode twelve revealed to us that he’s also a stalker?? So…
For the most part though, there’s not much to hate about Shoutaro, there’s also not much to like about Shoutaro, because there’s not much to Shoutaro.
Other (Human) Characters:
I was planning on cover every other character listed above like I have with Sakurako and Shoutaro. But every other character in the show can be summed up in a single sentence, “Every human character in Sakurako-san is annoying.” They all have their various reasons for being annoying, but that doesn’t make for a very good article so we’ll just move on the best character in the show.
Hector:
Hector is by far the best part of the show, why? Because he is the least annoying. Why? Because Hector isn’t human, Hector is a dog. A dog needs little more than be non-threatening to be a decent character. Hector never had the ability to annoy me, thus he is the best character. Because Hector did what no other character could, not be annoying.
Setting:
There isn’t much to say here, Sakurako-san doesn’t have that memorable of a setting, nor does Sakurako-san rely on it. The lack of attention to setting can’t be truly blamed as, despite it’s genre, Sakurako-san is closer to a crime procedural than a mystery. The only comment that can made regarding setting is that Sakurako-san doesn’t lack in diversity. Episodes range from being set in school (ugh) to the mountain woods, to the beach.
While it could be said that this is a missed opportunity, as Sakurako-san couldn’t use the setting to establish atmosphere… however Sakurako-san isn’t know for its atmosphere. So it’s hard to fault Sakurako-san.
Plot:
Due to the episodic nature of Sakurako-san, the quality of the individual plots vary. For the most part the quality ranges from ‘decent’ to ‘terrible’. Rather than getting into each plot (we have episode reviews for that), I’d like to spotlight the best, and examine what this episode did that caused it to reach that ‘decent’ status.
The plot in particular is from episode four, it’s the first episode of the first two-parter in the series. In the episode review itself I begin to delve into why this episode was actually enjoyable, but I’d like to cover it once more, in a little more detail.
In short, it’s due to the narrower focus. At its simplest, the goal of any individual episode of Sakurako-san is to establish the scene, add tension, examine clues, and resolve with solution. Episode four only has to do two of these things, that might not sound like much, but the result is clear. While other multi-parter’s do exist in later episodes of Sakurako-san, the story attempts to balance character drama between the main cast, which, due to the lack of depth in the characters, is understandably flat.
But in episode four, the show is given plenty of focus on the little details, let the facts sink in. Episode four is the only episode I enjoyed, so it was doing something right. Or maybe I only like it because Hector was introduced then…
Problem:
While the problem is technically almost identical to the plot with the same weaknesses, I’m going to use this opportunity to discuss the ‘villain’ Hanabusa. The first introduction to this villain is done in episode four (though he was hinted at in episode two), Sakurako-san then ignores his presence until the second-to-last episode. None of the main cast met this Hanabusa, yet once they knew of his existence, Sakurako began speaking as if she knew him. “Hanabusa is a very smart man! Always a few steps a head of everyone else. He never gets his own hands dirty, he can manipulate others to do his work!”
Speaking of which, his whole gimmick, being completely hairless thus above humanity, is completely ridiculous. No one in their right mind would believe such a thing!
Additionally more time was spent on Sakurako’s uncle, the probable plotline for a season two, then Hanabusa himself.
Solution:
This is the bane of the show, Sakurako-san has terrible explanations. That’s the real reason episode four was the best it didn’t have any. The conclusions Sakurako makes are full of logical leaps and facts that are wrong (see the third episode review for more examples). Her observations make no sense, she’s apparently an expert in everything, and just aren’t fun to watch.
The observation scene should be the highlight of the show. It even has its own freakin’ transformation sequence for crying out loud.
Conclusion:
This show is not worth the watch. That’s the long and short of it. Studio TROYCA has produced two shows so far, both have been gorgeous disasters. But, despite my hatred for it as well, I would have to recommend Ald.Noah Zero over Sakurako-san, it’s just as gorgeous, with better music and an interesting premise.
Despite hating their entire library, I haven’t given up on TROYCA yet, but damn if this didn’t bring me close to.
Rock icon that defined the 70s glam, David Bowie, passed away at age 69 after an 18 month battle with cancer.
Bowie just released his latest album Blackstar on his birthday on Friday. According to producer Tony Visconti the album was intended as a “parting gift” to the world.
January 10 2016 – David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with…
Amora the Enchantress
