Lack of Updates - October 2024

 Hello Dear Reader,

My apologies for the lack of updates in the last week or so.

As is common this time of year, I have a lot of time-sensitive projects and responsibilites that are all converging at this time.  These include doing a research paper for my Diaconate class, re-writing a screenplay, running class retreat, in addition to my parish assignment work and my job.

Thank you for your patience.

We should be back to our regularly scheduled program in the next week or so.

God bless!

Catholic Skywalker

TV Review: Penguin Episode 1

 

After Matt Reeve's The Batman became a big hit, HBO greenlit a spinoff miniseries about the villain Oswald "Penguin" Cobb (Colin Farrell).  Farrell's performance was one of my favorite parts of the movie, so I was curious.  But since the movie was two years ago, my enthusiasm waned.  When I heard that the show premiered, I didn't make it a priority to watch.

But I have to say, Penguin was really good.

Be warned that this is a very violent and vulgar show.  It is very much in the mold of classic mob entertainment like Goodfellas or The Sopranos.  If that type of movies and shows are too distasteful to you, then you will want to avoid this show.  I was also annoyed that there was some brief nudity, which makes this show difficult to recommend.

The story takes place in the immediate wake of the end of The Batman.  The flooding of Gotham and the death of crime boss Carmine Falcone has caused chaos on the streets with an outbreak of crime and gang wars.  Oswald (or "Oz") was one of Falcone's lieutenants who sees an opportunity to rise up in prominence.  However, he has several obstacles.  Falcone's drug-addict son Alberto (Michael Zegen) has been put in charge.  In addition, decisions are being made to move most of Oz's operation is being taken away from him.  And the biggest chaotic point is the arrival of Sofia Falcone (Christin Millioti): Carmine's insane daughter who has been released from Arkham.

I cannot help but think about the classic line from Game of Thrones: "Chaos is a ladder."  In the aftermath of the disaster in Gotham, things are all in disarray.  Oz looks to capitalize on this, but he is playing an incredibly dangerous game, one that could kill him as easily as elevate him.  When he thinks of running and hiding, his senile but domineering mother (Deirdre O'Connell) humiliates him and puts steel in his spine.  Also in a dark twist on the Jason Todd story, Oz finds a teenager named Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) trying to steal his car.  Oz then forces him to assist in his dark quest.  One of the things that makes this relationship so fascinating is that you really get the feeling that Victor may not live to see dawn (I will not spoil if he does or not).

The writing for this episode is excellent.  Oz is very complex.  He is a corrupt, vicious man.  But he has very human aspirations and you can't help but want him to have some success in the face of overwhelming obstacles, even if his goals are terrible.  The plot doesn't glorify him, but you can see that he aspires to be someone who is loved more than feared.  Unfortunately, that love seems out of his grasp, so he chooses fear.  He is a smart man, no doubt.  But his flaw is that if he is pushed too far he acts emotionally.  In one of the early scenes we see him lose control.  He revels in his actions at first, but when cold reason begins to take hold he understands the hole he has just dug for himself.

The production value looks great.  The director does an excellent job of showing us the difference between the street-level enforces and contrasts that with the posh lifestyles of their bosses.  The directing is sleek and tense all around.

But what really makes this show work are the performances.  Colin Farrell is mesmerizing as Oz, and I don't use that description lightly.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him.  He reminds me so much of Robert DeNiro in The Untouchables.  He carries in him the same intelligence and menace, but he also lets you behind that danger to see a real character underneath with just enough humanity to make us emotionally invest in him despite his crimes.

I also have to say Millioti is fantastic as well.  She doesn't try to be a hyper-masculine girl-boss that stands toe-to-toe with Oz.  But her menace is horribly believable.  This is very hard to achieve.  I remember when I watched The Last of Us and Melanie Lynskey was the leader of an an insurgent army.  She would boss around men twice her size who cowered in front of her, but it rang false and artificial.  Because of that, I couldn't buy into the story.  But Millioti brings a simmering insanity boiling under her calm surface.  She is scary because she is a crazy person backed by violent men and dirty money.  On top of that, she is as smart, if not smarter than Oz and Millioti knows exactly the right buttons to push to keep us on edge.

Because of the darkness of the tone, the show may go down a path too disturbing for me and cause me to tap out. 

But for now, I am incredibly excited to see what happens next.

Film Flash: Super/Man - The Christopher Reeve Story

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

A moving documentary about a flawed, passionate man that had the courage to perservere.

New Evangelizers Post: St. Augustine and the Attraction to Sin

   

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

“To do what was wrong simply because it was wrong – could I have found pleasure in that?” (St. Augustine, The Confessions II.4)

When St. Augustine was a youth, he and his friends got the brilliant idea to steal pears from an orchard. This seemingly harmless prank became a serious point of reflection for the saint many years later. When writing his famous Confessions, Augustine took this moment in his life to question why we sin.

St. Augustine struggled with the reality of his sin. When Augustine and his friends robbed the pear tree, they did so not because they were hungry. They did it because “we derived pleasure from the deed simply because it was forbidden.” (The Confessions. Book II, 4, 37) Augustine had such a difficult time understanding this sin because it seemed so morally insane. We desire sin because of some kind of good. As Augustine said, “Sin gains entrance through… good things when we turn to them with immoderate desire…” (The Confessions. Book II, 10) But Augustine was tormented by this memory because it was not the stolen pear that gave him pleasure, but the stealing: “I feasted on the sin, nothing else, and that I relished and enjoyed.” (The Confessions. Book II, 12)

This touches on the great paradox of human nature: we are made in God’s image and likeness and yet we are attracted to sin. We are not pure angels nor are we vile beasts. We have the contradiction of both light and darkness in us. As we read in the previous week, Augustine holds that we are not evil because of our material nature, but it is with every human as a kind of second nature.

Augustine raises the idea that we feel the attraction to sinful things simply because they are wrong. As Augustine points out in the quotes above, we desire some good inside of every sin. Even the ancient philosophers like Plato made the point that human beings desire the good and not the bad in itself. But there is something so irrational about wanting something that is bad, simply because it is bad. If we are made in God’s image, how can we be attracted to evil for itself?

Before the Fall, human beings were made free from sin in God’s image and likeness. But after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, our human nature was broken by Original Sin. One the lasting effects of Original Sin is that it gives us something called “concupiscence,” which is our human attraction to sin. Concupiscence is the reason that something becomes more desirable to us if it is forbidden. If I tell you “Don’t wiggle your toes,” you may suddenly feel the urge to move them simply because I told you not to do so. One of my favorite flavors of ice cream is Friendly’s “Forbidden Chocolate.” The makers of that desert know that by calling it “forbidden” it stirs in us a desire for that indulgence.

Because of this, it is not enough to arm people only with knowledge of what is right and wrong. Concupiscence can make it easy to ignore the greater good. We could be tempted to think about humanity only in terms of our concupiscent nature. If we do that, we could be like John Calvin and write of human beings as being totally depraved. Are we so broken that we are beyond the pale?

I do not think Augustine is making that point. But if we treat our fellow human beings as completely depraved, we will fail to see Christ inside of them. To see the human person as fundamentally bad would be to deny the essential nature of our being in God’s image and likeness.

You can read the whole article here.

Sunday Best: Top Ten Superhero/Supervillain TV Shows of All Time

 Last week I had a chance to watch the first episode of HBO's The Penguin.  I will have my full review later, but it got me to thinking about the best Superhero/Supervillain TV shows.  In the last few years, there have been several productions from both Marvel and DC.  Going through this list, there were some shows I ranked in surprising spots.

With TV shows, there is always a bit of a catch.  A great show can be remembered poorly because the quality of the show slid drastically over time.  But for the purposes of this list, I will focus only on the greatness it achieved.

Also, this is not the best "Comic Book TV Shows."  The list is reserved to shows about superheros and villains.  So that means shows like The Walking Dead and Locke and Key will not be on the list.

So here are the top ten.

10.  Jessica Jones

This was not a pleasent show to watch.  In fact, it might be the darkest super hero show I have seen.  But that doesn't take away from the quality of that first season.  Killgrave was one of the creepiest villains I have ever seen in a show.  Watching him tightent the noose around Jessica and her friends kept me enthralled the entire season.  After that first season, the quality dipped, but I still remember how intense it was at the beginning.

9. Loki

Of all the Disney Marvel shows, I think this one might be the best.  It has flaws to be sure, but Loki comes off as a more dangerous Doctor Who.  The second season had incredibly charming supporting characters and closed the arc on Loki's journey in an incredibly satisfying way.

8. Stargirl

There is something fun and innocent about this show.  While it may never have reached the depths that other shows on this list may have, Stargirl was so enjoyable because at its heart it was a family show.  Sometimes they dealt with mature topics, but it always came back to the idea that in this world our friends and our family are our greatest super powers.

7. Batman

When I was a small child I loved this show.  But then in my teens I reviled it for its campy tone and silly humor.  But now that I am a man, I look back on this show with great fondness for what it was.  I can see why my childlike eyes were drawn to the vivid colors and dazzling visuals.  I think I owe this show a lot for stirring in me the love of superheroes.  If you take the show for what it is, it can still be incredibly enjoyable.

6. Smallville

I love the fact that this show is about the "man" behind the "super."  While most people probably remember the big fights and spectacles, I think back on the character moments.  I loved watching how Jonathan and Martha helped shaped Clark into the man he became.  I loved watching his youthful crush on Lana eventually transform into a mature love for Lois.  I was enthralled by the slow-moving tragedy of Clark and Lex's doomed friendship.  Piecing the mythology together over ten years, the last 5 minutes of this series might be some of my favorite moments on television.

5. The Incredible Hulk

I hope that this show regains popularity in our collective pop culture memory, because it was great.  Lou Ferrigno was a mountain of muscle that you could believe was the Hulk.  But the real key to the series was how deadly serious Bill Bixby played David Banner.  He gave him such a haunted and tragic look that the happier the ending of an episode the sadder you were that David had to move on.

4. Arrow

There is a reason why the CW "Arrowverse" lasted as long as it did.  Arrow essentially made a Batman show around Oliver Queen.  Season 2 might be one of my favorite seasons of television with that fantastic villain in Slade Wilson all the way through to the final episode.  And the quality kept up for a few more seasons in a way where I looked forward to what was going to happen next.  

3. The Flash

If Arrow is the CW's Batman, then The Flash is their Superman.  Bright and hopeful, this show added so many fantastic sci-fi elements to the story.  I loved the way they explored Barry's powers and his character.  Thrawne was such a fantastic villain that brought menace and charisma to every episode.  You never knew what to expect.  With a show like this, they unlocked all the potential of what a super hero show could be in ways I had not seen before.

2. Superman and Lois

This one may surprise many people that it is up this high on the list.  But the concept of the show is fantastic: Superman and Lois rasing teenagers.  This is a problem that you cannot punch your way out of and heat vision would just make things worse.  The drama comes from when our heroes are at the most powerless.  This past season when Lois got her diagnosis, I felt the anguish of Clark in a way I hadn't felt since Superman: The Movie where he said, "All those powers... and I couldn't even save him."  On top of that, this show does something that so few movies and TV programs do: subvert expectations in a satisfying way.  The pilot episode ends on a twist, but the writers were so smart in making you think the story was going in one direction when it was actually going in a much better one.  That has consistantly been the case with this show, with one final season to go.

1. Daredevil

This show is brutal.  You feel bruised after watching it.  But that is because it makes you feel every hit, both physically and emotionally, that our hero takes.  Matt Murdoch is up against impossible odds.  And more often than not he fails.  But the light in the darkness is that no matter how much he wants to give up, there is just enough spark in him to keep going.  And while Matt is no saint, this show takes the question of God and the Catholic faith respectully and seriously as our characters wrestle with the darkness of the world.  The writing is fantastic.  The fight choreography is some of the best.  The stories pull me in and have me on the edge of my seat until the final moments of the season.  Disney is set to release a follow-up to this series and I am dubious that it could possibly match the quality of what has come before it.

Honorable Mentions:

Agents of SHIELD

Agent Carter

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Wonder Woman

The Adventures of Superman

Thoughts?

Film Flash: The Killer's Game

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Mediocre movie that tries and fails to transition from John Wick to Bullet Train

Sunday Best: Rest in Peace, James Earl Jones

 His was perhaps the most iconic voice in all of cinema.

On Monday, September 9th, James Earl Jones passed away.

Born in 1931, Jones came from a poor family in Mississippi, where his father abandoned them to become an actor when James was only 5.  Although they eventually reconciled, James had to move to live with his grandparents in Michigan.  He became so nervous that he developed a stutter that was severe enough to render him almost mute.  But one day a teacher noticed his talent for writing poetry and nurtured him into finding his voice.  If that teacher had not done that, the world would be robbed of that irreplaceable voice.

Jones went to the University of Michigan and joined the army, but was not called up until after the end of the Korean War.  After his time there, he went to New York to become an actor.  His reputation grew as he performed Shakespeare to much acclaim.  He won awards for portraying boxer Jack Johnson in the play The Great White Hope, which he then played on screen.

While he is remembered so much for his voice, he was a powerful presence on the screen.  He could be a farmidable villain in Thusla Doom or a stabilizing presence with his James Greer in the Jack Ryan movies.  He was also one of the few actors that could pull off comedy as well as drama.  His supporting turn in Coming to America is incredibly funny.  And his lampoon of himself on The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite episodes.  

I think that the movie that best shows his range is one of his best known: Field of Dreams.  In that movie he is dramatic, mysterious, funny, and sage.  All of these mixing qualities never feel false.  You believe he could beat Kevin Costner with a crowbar one moment and then giggle like a child at the idea of leaving this mortal plain.  His "People Will Come" speech might be one of the finest in movie history and it is not simply because of the writing.  His absolute commitment to that monologue makes it move from good to timeless.

But once again, we must return to that voice.  He gave Star Wars such a great villain in his voice for Darth Vader.  For my generation, Darth Vader was the embodiment of evil.  That voice gave him a power that was terrifying.  The look itself was scary, but that voice left an indelible mark on all of us.  There was no mistaking it, there was no replacing it.  It was often imitated, but could never be replaced.  

And I don't think people give him enough credit for the nuance he put into that role.  Go back and listen to his performances.  In the first movie, there is a youthful arrogance in his inflections.  In our memories we hear the weight of that heavy voice.  But listen to how he talks to Obi-Wan with little taunts like "Your powers are weak old man."  He says this like an immature youth.  By the time you get to Return of the Jedi, you hear the wear and tear in his voice.  The long loneliness of the the dark side is keeping him from his son and that is reflected in that voice with his final line, "Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes."

His regal voice gave such emotional weight to the story of The Lion King.  His classic line "Remember who you are," feels like it carries with it the wisdom of the ages.  He carried that power and dignity through an amazing career on stage and screen, helping him to be one of the rare EGOT achievers.  

Jones was married twice.  He met each of his wives when he was playing Othello and she played opposite him as Desdemono.  He and his first wife divorced after 8 years.  His second wife in 1982 and they were together until her death 35 years later in 2016.  They are survived by their one son, Flynn.

Many people may not know that, like Star Wars co-star Sir Alec Guiness, Jones was a convert to the Catholic faith.  Also like Guiness, he did not speak about it much publicly.  He converted while he was in the military and briefly discerned a call to the priesthood.  He said of that time, "The only thing that I had that was not geared toward the art of killing was the Catholic Church... and the complete works of Shakespeare."  

And with that in mind, I think it fitting that we end with words from his beloved Shakespeare:

"He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again."

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Rest in Peace, James Earl Jones