This second episode of True Detective season 2, Night Finds You, pulls back the reigns on the full-throttle development that spiraled out of control in episode one and dives deep into heavy exposition. Where the first episode was chaotic, last night was loaded with characters walking into rooms, talking about many many things, and pushing forward the investigation into the death of Ben Caspar. While the droning discussions were heavy on plot details, they were anything but compelling. Thankfully, the second half of this episode seems to have found something, as it falls into a nice groove, and we already have our first shocking upset of the season.
The episode begins with Vince Vaughn’s Frank Semyon, musing about his troubled childhood after seeing a water stain on his ceiling. We get a great deal more of Frank Semyon, but he is still poorly drawn and altogether uninteresting as a villain thus far. While he is supposed to be a threatening power player it is already clear he has everyone else do his heavy lifting and his character is, frankly, boring after two episodes.
As for the three cops investigating the murder, their backstories are minimal this time around. We get a brief scene of Velcoro (Colin Farrell) being confronted by his ex-wife who tells him, in some more heavy-handed dialogue, “you’re a bad man.” Tell me something we don’t know. There are also a few interesting, intimate moments between Velcoro and Bezzerides as they beat the streets. Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) is easily the most compelling of the three detectives, mostly because her entire book of bugaboos hasn’t been fully explained like Farrell’s character and as an actor, McAdams is more compelling than Taylor Kitsch. Bezzerides seems to have sexual identity issues, perhaps, as does Paul, who is spotted staring longingly at a male prostitute from his hotel balcony. All of this lies in the undercurrent of the episode, which is much more concerned with giving us a great deal of information in rather dull exposition.
Thankfully, the dialogue leads us to the final moments of the episode, where the offbeat noir weirdness that made the first season so compelling begins to show its face. We get a major, game-changing occurrence in the final seconds, one that will have everyone frantically speculating for an entire week. I know I have an opinion on what happened and didn’t happen, thanks to a few shots from the season previews.
Night Finds You works as a sort of antithesis to the unhinged chaos of episode one, almost to a fault. I am confident, however, that the heavy and aimless exposition is behind us, and that the final moments of this True Detective episode will propel the series into some fascinating avenues. There is still hope for this season of True Detective to become something different than the first, but still be must-see TV.
David Morrissey “The Governor” on AMC’s The Walking Dead was at Walker Stalker Con in Orlando and Morrissey reflected on his proudest moment from the series.
I can tell you that I don’t miss dating one bit. It seemed like for every good date that you might have there was always about four bad ones you would have to endure. I think that the worst date experience that I ever had was when I went out on first date with a girl and within the first 30 minutes of the date she brought up the subject of being married and having kids. From that moment on our date became this hour and 2o minutes of clunky/awkwardness in which she insisted as we were leaving that this was connection that she has been waiting for. This experience sprung directly into my mind the moment I finished watching The Overnight.I screened this movie that had all the promise of being this wonderful comedic experience but in the end was simply just a clunky/awkward experience that I would soon forget.
In this movie, Alex (Adam Scott) and his family are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting between his family and the mysterious Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) leads them to schedule a family get together. As the night goes on Alex’s wife (Taylor Schilling) continues to warn Alex that this night is getting very strange. The night together turns very quickly into an adult version of a “playdate” if you catch my drift.
The Overnight is just another example of a movie that simply just tries too hard. From beginning to end you can just sense that they are trying to create these shock filled moments that would induce laughter but I found myself shaking my head in confusion. Don’t get me wrong, this movie did shock me at times especially during Jason Schwartzman and Adam Scott’s nude scene in the pool. I’m all for a movie that’s different and edgy but this movie struck me as a big old bag of blah. The one hour and 20 minutes felt like it was four hours and 20 minutes which is never a good sign. At times in this movie I wanted to find the nearest wall and bang my head into it as to induce a concussion so I would not have any memory of this time that I will never get back in my life.
So why invest your time watching a movie that will just leave you feeling irritated? We are in the best time of year for checking out the latest and greatest at the cinema. Life is too short to waste your time with things that feel both clunky and awkward that you will want to forget.
It was at this moment when Taylor Schilling and Adam Scott filmed this scene with Jason Schwartzman that they should have just quit the movie.
I guess sometimes even Channing will take on a role just to cash a paycheck.
I’m sure that everyone who is reading this article has been in a car accident. Car accidents are one of the most sudden and violent moments that can happen to a human being. After sitting through Magic Mike XXL, I was left with that same feeling like I had been in a car accident. This was a first for me because for as long as I have been a film critic, I don’t think I have ever seen such a confluence of terrible choices being made in one single movie. I was witness to my first ever cinematic accident. I can already hear the ladies shouting at me, “You didn’t like it because you are guy and you don’t even come close to sheer hotness of Channing Tatum.” I agree with you that I am nowhere near as hot as Channing Tatum ( most men aren’t) and I will never even come even close (maybe I’ll one day be mistaken for an adorable George Wendt but that’s about as good as it will get for me).However, If you are looking for a movie that is – unfunny, has a confusing premise, has terrible acting, and leaves you with a sense of feeling like you were violated economically then Magic Mike XXL is the movie for you.
The movie takes place 3 years after Magic Mike Lane’s (Channing Tatum) retirement from stripping. In the beginning of the movie you already get the sense that Mike misses the sheer excitement of being on stage. They demonstrate this by working in a dance number right in the middle of Mike working on a hard piece of metal. You know, just like most metal workers do. Opportunity comes knocking when his old dance crew (Kings of Tampa) show up in Tampa on their way to a stripper convention. Yes, a stripper convention. He is persuaded to join the crew for one last ride because Mike just can’t resist the chance to strip again.
Magic Mike XXL is not a very funny movie. The part that made Magic Mike enjoyable (yes, I liked the 1st one) was the character Dallas played by Matthew McConaughey. Dallas added spark to a movie that desperately needed it and turned Magic Mike into a fun movie. I can still remember that scene in Magic Mike where they are in a dance studio figuring out there routines and it was those sort of moments that were desperately missing from this movie. To put it simply Matthew McConaughey helped lift the quality of the first movie greatly. Without him this movie lacked magic.
Magic Mike XXL turned one of the most obvious premises in the history of cinema into one of the most confusing ones that I have ever witnessed. Why are ladies going to flock to go see this movie? They are going to see these men get down and dirty in their G- Strings. The script writers for Magic Mike XXL decided to focus on the relationships these men have. Let me speak on behalf of all the women in the world. “No one cares about their relationships they just want to see the men without shirts!” They took a movie that was wildly successful at the box office, making 113 million dollars (according to Box Office Mojo) and changed it. Yep, that makes perfect since to me.
Magic Mike XXL is one of the worst acted movies that has played on the silver screen since Ishtar. The producers decided to change the premise of the movie from a fun movie about a group of guys in the adult entertainment business to a film centering on the interpersonal relationships of the guys in the group. Never mind the obvious flaws, but now you are depending on actors such as – Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Jada Pinkett Smith, Channing Tatum, and Kevin Nash. Only one of those actors has any sort of credibility and the rest are just sad list of choices If you are going to try and make a movie with some depth then you better get great actors, rather than the abhorrent ones that you assembled for this cinematic accident.
Magic Mike XXL will leave you feeling financially violated because of the drastic change in the amount of fun dancing moments that are in this movie. In Magic Mike, you got what you paid for and it left you satisfied. In Magic Mike XXL, the amount actual dancing that you see is cut by about 40% and that’s not why women want to go see this movie. In this day and age of rising ticket prices, don’t be fooled into thinking that you will get the same movie that you got the 1st go around. Magic Mike XXL is a very different movie.
After all of this, I will tell you that I am under no delusion that Magic Mike XXL somehow will not make money at the box office. Some will call this movie review proof, just based on the notion that you might get to see Channing Tatum’s butt. However, I will say that Magic Mike XXL is one of the worst movies that I have seen in 2015. I am hard pressed to think that another movie might with be much worse. It’s an atrocious cinematic accident that is destined to make a ton of money at the box office.
While it lacks the edge and dramatic impact of its predecessor, and has serious pacing and structure issues that make it more a collection of random scenes and production numbers rather than a cohesive film, Magic Mike XXL should make its target audience happy simply because it delivers what the marketing promises: lots and lots of Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, and Joe Manganiello-flavored beefcake served up in new and creative ways. It’s the perfect “girl’s night out” film, with plenty of glistening muscle, well-choreographed groin-hoisting dance moves, lots of humor and even a little sweetness thrown in. Consider it a wistful love letter from Tatum and company for all the love they got for the original film, heavy on the eye candy and light on everything else.
It’s been three years since “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) left behind his life as the headliner for the “Kings of Tampa” to follow his dream of starting his own custom furniture company. While things haven’t exactly gone the way he had hoped they would and business could be better, he’s had little reason to look back to his past life until out of nowhere that past life comes back to town looking for him. The remaining “Kings” — Ken (Bomer), Big Dick Richie (Manganiello), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), and emcee Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias) — have in mind to follow Mike’s lead and bring their illustrious male entertainer careers to a close, but not before one final adventure, an epic exit from the stage with the largest possible backdrop, a legendary stripper convention held every year in Myrtle Beach.
Immediately, Mike sees a few glaring holes in this grand plan concocted by his former mates, but he also sees a chance to have some fun with the people who were as close as brothers for years while they all shared the stage at Xquisite, and so on a whim he rejoins the Kings aboard Tito’s food-truck-turned-tour-bus, looking forward to putting on one last great show. But before they arrive they’ll have to resolve some old hurts left unspoken since Mike’s departure, and they’ll have to figure out just what they’re going to do once they get there, since the old routines are just that: old. In Mike’s mind they’re just not enough to grant them all the blazing glory departure they all desire.
The solutions to those problems, along with reunions with other old friends, connections with new friends and admirers, and a few unexpected misadventures, all present themselves on that long drive from Tampa to South Carolina, so that when the boys are finally set to take the stage, they’re ready to deliver the performances of their lives and hopefully move on to the next chapters of their lives on their own terms.
The first Magic Mike, filmed on a budget of approximately $6.5 million with Steven Soderbergh (Side Effects, Ocean’s Eleven) directing and a story loosely based on Tatum’s experiences as a stripper prior to his acting breakout, was a surprise hit in 2012, and made its mark in part due to all that skin and male sex appeal, but also thanks to a script that humanized its characters and cast a revealing light on the seedier side of the business, a business that Tatum’s Mike spent the whole film trying to get away from. In comparison, Magic Mike XXL is almost a complete reversal of that emotional plot thread: here, audiences follow Mike as he dives back in, at least temporarily, in order to experience once again the things he loved about that life: the music, the dancing and the camaraderie he shared with his fellow “Kings.” Thus, because it’s intended as a celebration of the good times, the film’s tone is much lighter; in addition, there’s a great deal more introspection here, as the difficulty of transitioning from one kind of life to another, the choices one has to make in one’s thoughts and actions in order to make those changes real, is a recurring theme. The result is a film that may surprise audiences with how talky it really is, in comparison to the expectation one might have going in thanks to all that shirtless bod driven marketing.
Also, what’s evident from the moment the Kings re-enter the scene is just how much fun everyone in this ensemble is having, especially the newcomers to the cast. Jada Pinkett Smith saunters and sizzles her way through her every scene as Rome, the “empress” of her own male entertainer establishment in Savannah who shares a complicated history with Mike, and Andie MacDowell brings some surprisingly sultry Southern sass as a wealthy Charleston divorceé who puts the boys on the spot when they find themselves guests in her home. Donald Glover (TV’s “Community“) also gets a chance to show off both the intelligence and charisma that have made him a fanboy favorite in recent years to be Spider-Man in a future film as well as the musical talents he’s displayed as Childish Gambino in the role of Andre, one of Rome’s sweeter offerings at her club. From the first film’s stars, while Tatum of course gets the biggest share of screen time and makes the most of it, arguably the most impressive in terms of talents on display is Bomer, who gets a chance to show off some serious singing skills to complement his pretty-boy appeal.
But for all the clear good intentions involved in the conception of the film and all that talent brought together to bring it to life, it’s hard to say that it all works the way Tatum and his fellow producers hoped it would. The film moves in fits and starts, with a second act that’s curiously light on the kind of song and dance audiences come in expecting and a third act that’s little more than one production number after the next. There’s just not that much to the story aside from the road trip and the conversations and experiences shared along the way, some of which are funny, some of which are sweet, but most of which lack any real dramatic heft. It’s also a film seriously in need of editing in order to tighten up the pace and inject energy, which is a very strange thing to say about a movie about male strippers and the energetic performances they put on in order to get all those dollar bills flying in their directions.
In the end, Magic Mike XXL is a film whose appeal will no doubt be absurdly skewed in connection to the expectations of audiences going in. The folks who expect to enjoy it no doubt will enjoy it, and will be laughing, hooting, and whistling at all the right moments while having a grand old time. Folks who go in expecting not to enjoy themselves — guys who promised their girlfriends they’d see this without complaint after they dragged said girlfriends to see Mad Max: Fury Road or Avengers: Age of Ultron, for example — will certainly not enjoy themselves at all, not even a little bit. There’s no middle ground here, nor should there be. After all, when was the last time you saw someone leave a male revue having anything less than an extremely positive or extremely negative experience? It just doesn’t happen all that often, and it probably won’t happen here, either.
Magic Mike XXL
Starring Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, Amber Heard, Donald Glover, with Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Banks, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Directed by Gregory Jacobs.
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rated R for strong sexual content, pervasive language, some nudity and drug use.
Gotham, unlike its many DC Comics TV counterparts, has been relatively silent about its upcoming season 2. Monkey’s Fighting Robotscaught up with Gotham star David Mazouz, who plays Bruce Wayne aka young Batman, in the success FOX Batman prequel series. Mazouz stated that Gotham season 2 will focus more on Bruce Wayne’s duality, as is a major plot point in the DC Comics Batman. Comicbook reports that the Batman villain Tigress will be clawing her way into Gotham in season 2.
Obviously, like every other villain except the Penguin, she will not likely immediately be her full-out self. Jessica Lucas, star of Edgemont, 2030 CE, Friends with Benefits, and CW’s Melrose Place, will play Gotham’s season 2 feline. For those keeping record, this will be Gotham’s second cat oriented future villain. Lucas’s description as Tabitha Galavan aka Tigress on Gotham season 2 will be as follows.
“an enforcer for Galavan’s brother Theo, an evil industrialist with plans to completely control Gotham. And while Theo will be one cold calculator, Tabitha will embrace her alter-ego’s namesake by seeking sensual satisfaction in her crime.”
Gotham’s Tigress is apparently described as “sexy” and “violent”, and carries a “bullwhip”. This might strike some Batman and Gotham fans as odd, as the other feline villain-to-be carries the same weapon. This might cause some to want to start re-theorizing, as Gotham fans did with the Joker, but it is safe to say that Catwoman is already well established at this point.
According to Cineblend, Gotham season 2 will also feature Mr. Freeze, and unsurprisingly more on the Joker’s backstory.
So, what is everyone most excited about in season 2?
The Flash, not unlike its emerald archer compatriot, has shared a lot about their season 2 characters and plot. However, unlike Arrow, the Flash has been mum on its next major villain. For those who hate spoilers, and our still finishing season 1 of the flash, please look away for a while. For the rest of the Flash fans, let us move on and dig deeper.
Reverse-Flash is no more, well, at least for the foreseeable future. So, naturally, the Flash will need a new big baddie to tackle for season 2. Sure, Killer Frost aka Caitlin Snow’s future alter ego is supposed to be a villain, but Reverse-Flash’s departure left massive shoes to fill in the villain department. According to Comicbook, the Flash star Grant Gustin gives a little tid bit of information in this department.
“We’re introducing a really cool big bad that’s going to be revealed kind of immediately.”
So, the Flash is already aware of his season 2 nemesis, which is good. The fans have only gotten a flashlight turned on and off on the subject, but this does mean it will not be long before the flash fans find out just who they are. In the Flash season 1, fans were really left hanging for most of the season before the reveal came. Many knew that something was not right with Dr. Harrison Wells, and each week a new evil metahuman came to town, but the Reverse-Flash reveal came later in season 1.
Guston also shed the same amount of light on the Flash’s involvement in the new CW / DC Comic show Legend’s Of Tomorrow in an interview with Collider, at the Saturn Awards.
“I’m going to be a part of that right out of the gates as well. I get to be Flash on three TV shows. I was unemployed a year and a half ago, so that’s pretty cool.”
A lot of big things coming for the Flash in the fall, as the CW released its fall schedule, and surprise, surprise, the Flash will be at the same time. It returns Tuesday, October 6.
So during one of my weekly comic book buying binges at my local comic book shop, I came to a disturbing realization. It was when I was flipping through some of the more recent stories I love that I discovered something. With all the violence, gore, sexual discussion, and graphic content super hero comics aren’t really for kids anymore.
I’m not saying that super hero comics are more adult. They’ve had more adult story lines and topics since the seventies. I’m saying that they really aren’t for kids anymore. The two big companies (DC and Marvel) don’t seem interested in attracting a younger demographic. The latest trend both companies are invested in is creating more comics that are fishing for the millennial demographic. That is to say, more comics are geared and reworked to have characters that are social network savvy, have strong feelings about injustices in the world, and have a more diverse element. One only needs to look at Marvel’s newest launch to see that is the latest trend.
And there’s nothing wrong with trying to attract that group, as it’s a growing market. But, all I’m asking is why can’t we also see more comics that are for children?
Now, to be fair, there are some comics for kids on the stands now. It’s just that they are “tie in” comics for Marvel shows, Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble. Tie in comics are a staple in the industry, and don’t necessarily indicate quality. However, these particular comics are notorious for simply taking screen shots from the show, paste them into comic panels, and then add word bubbles. They aren’t even new stories, they rehash episodes of the cartoon shows.
Something that lazy just shows that Marvel doesn’t care about attracting an adolescent audience. They don’t want kids comics on the stands, because they’re probably worried that they won’t sell. Which sadly is true, kids comics will generally sell less than regular comics. But, I think that this could be solved by a few changes in a promotional sense. DC and Marvel could do more to expand on their current children’s line. Perhaps instead of rehashing the same stories, Marvel could hire better artists and writers to create new stories. Come on Marvel, you’ve got Disney money, don’t tell us you can’t hire people to create a children’s oriented Avengers book.
In fact you did it in the past with Marvel Adventures book. If you don’t know, those were great, funny self-contained books that were easy to read and weren’t bogged down by continuity. They weren’t directly connected to the main universe, so they were wonderful for kids to jump into.
And DC isn’t off the hook on this either. Sure they’ve had awesome kid’s comics in the past like Tiny Titans, Li’l Gotham, and Scooby Doo comics. But, they’ve all been canceled quickly after they debut. This comes back to a lack of promotion on the genre. There’s a weird thought process that comics aimed for children are somehow beneath the medium. Which is ridiculous, because kids are literally a growing market. Comics are filled with concepts and characters kids would be interested in reading.
Although, it’s a little unfair to place all the blame on the companies. Comic book stores aren’t showing off the few kids comics that are out now. My favorite comic book stores usually only have one shelf for kid’s stories located away from the main books. Perhaps if they helped in trying to get children to buy comics, DC and Marvel will want to try harder to create better stories.
It’s hard to say who’s at fault for the lack of children’s super hero comic books. However, despite some adult content in comics, there are now stories that are inclusive fore all ages. JLA #1, Batgirl, Ant-Man, Starfire, and Ms. Marvel can be enjoyed by any audience member regardless of age. So, maybe we should be asking creators, and companies to craft more stories that can be enjoyed by everyone. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have kids comics either. It’s seems silly to completely ignore the children’s demographic, especially since they are the future of comic book readers. We need more kids comics, and we need them soon.
Harold Perrineau of LOST and The Matrix was at Walker Stalker Con in Orlando and he would like to put his hat in the ring if Netflix and Marvel where to add Blade to the cast of Daredevil or another show in the Marvel Television Universe.
Perrineau was the voice of Blade in a 2011 animated series.
