Into the Longbox

A few weeks ago, because we have Paramount Plus now, I finally got around to watching this movie that came and went over the summer. If you missed it, let me save you the trouble with this review. Don't bother unless you're a sucker for punishment like I am. It's amazing the sunk cost I have with these live action Transformer movies and I keep going back. I KNOW I have a problem. That's on me. Let's hope you're not with me, because misery loves company. First of all, God love Peter Cullen. Here he is like 40 years later, still giving voice to Optimus Prime. I hate that they trotted him back out for this movie. Like Kevin Conroy, he is always the definitive voice of this character. However, it's time we all faced reality and accept that they need to get new blood. These movies hurt my soul because these movies always make Optimus look like a completely incompetent leader and I hate hearing the voice of my childhood attached to that. Who knows what the timelin...

Although I finished this weeks ago, I'm just now getting around to writing about it. What you can take about that is my "meh" feeling with Marvel shows that leaves me ready to move past them, rather than talk about them. But then I'm not doing my duty for YOU dear reader, so let me give you my thoughts. Like the first season of Loki, I thought this was okay. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. What I respect about it, unlike the other shows, is it has this water cooler effect to it that I can't explain. To be more specific, it feels like appointment viewing and then you want to talk about it with your friends or co-workers and then guess about what happens next. Out of ALLLLLLLLLLLL the shows that Marvel has done, this show and Wandavision are the only ones I felt this with. It probably has something to do with the fact that these shows usually have the potential to change the overarching narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). So does this s...

I just saw "The Marvels" on Monday night and I wanted to write about it as soon as I could. To not bury the lede, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It is easily the best Marvel movie this year. I have more in-depth thoughts about the state of the MCU that I'll share at the end, because they are emblematic of something far worse and it's nothing to do with this movie itself. There is an undeniable fun chemistry amongst the three leads of this movie. If you hate strong female leads, you better go elsewhere. The lynch pin is definitely Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan. She was so damn likeable in the Ms. Marvel TV show and she's equally, if not MORE likeable here. Instead of being a useless third wheel, she holds her own in all the action scenes. Her family also makes the transition to the big screen and they bring some lightheartedness and grounding to the movie. Brie Larson actually gets to show a personality in this movie, something that had been missing in all her a...

My poor, beleaguered blog. I swear one day I'll consistently post to you. And post on timely topics. Today is not that day for ONE of these items.  It is no secret that DC has been destroying Marvel when it comes to animated features. I mean, does Marvel even make them anymore? Other than this year's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (which I will talk about soon) I can't even think of anything. While there is adult fare, like Harley Quinn, we skew in the other direction with this new show on HBO Max. Well, it's not new anymore by the time I got around to reviewing this, but whatever. You get my drift. We've been subjected to many different versions of Lois and Clark over the years. This show has to be the most wholesome thing I have ever seen. It has an anime look and some of the anime sensibilities, but when you get past all that, you have a wholesome versions of the early days of Superman that you will ever get. Some may be upset at how they play fast and loose with t...

I could come up with a million excuses why I'm late on my review for this movie. You've heard them already, so it doesn't MATTER. Let's get into it. Blue Beetle. Let's be honest, this is not the movie any of us asked for. But it is the movie we deserve. What do I mean by that? We deserve a fun, super hero movie that isn't about saving the world, but a personal story with our main character. You can be reductive and say it's like Iron Man's origin movie or Ant-Man's, but that is going to make you miss out. Also, other than the fact that all the heroes where a suit of armor, that's the only similarity. Don't get forget that Tony Stark and Scott Lang were assholes before they put on a hero suit. Jamie Reyes is none of that and is instantly more likeable.  Okay, let me also say this. The trailers for this movie do it a huge disservice. They make it seem like Jamie (Xolo Maridueña) is this poor down on his luck kid. In actuality, he just graduated...

Look, I am always behind in how long it takes me to post about what I watch. It's now become a feature, not a bug. So let's just get right into it without you accusing me of ANYTHING. Over the years, I have come to realize that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are probably my favorite property. It is easily top four with Transformers, Dragon Ball Z and Power Rangers. I can't explain it, nor WILL I. It's my prerogative. I have figures all over the damn place in my room and my favorites, by a mile, are my 1/4 sized set of the Ninja Turtles from the first live action movie. The property has been rebranded, rebooted so many times, it's hard to keep count. And I've watched nearly all of them. I enjoy each iteration. When I heard this movie was going to skew the turtles on the younger side of their teenage years, I half rolled my eyes. I go hot and cold on Seth Rogen. I feel like I've aged out of most of his humor and I can find him very annoying. All that being s...

In all my anger directed Secret Invasion, I forgot to mention that I finally got around to watching this movie on HBO Max. This was my first reaction after finishing this movie. I'm going to hate that the fun type of movies like this coming from DC will probably go away under James Gunn. I think this is a character and franchise that should continue on in the new DC Cinematic Universe.  Truth be told, I actually enjoyed this movie. I feel bad for the actor that played Billy Batson, because this movie was almost exclusively featuring Shazam. Don't get me wrong, Zachary Levi is fantastic and I'm glad he got to shine in this movie. We also get a heavy weight like Helen Mirren being in this movie. She instantly elevates anything she is in. They used her sparingly, so that when she shows up, there is an impact. If there is one small gripe I had with this movie, is that it leaned into the trope of incompetent super heroes doing their best. Then getting super competent in the end....