9/11

Horror.

Absolute Horror.

Horror met with Heroes.

Heroes to the end.


13 years ago.

Never Forget.

Wednesday Comics: Original Sin Finale and Multiversity #1

ORIGINAL SIN #8

Last week gave us the finale of the big Marvel crossover Original Sin.

The story centered around the murder of Uatu the Watcher.  The final issue resolves that mystery.

Was it worth the wait?

The issue would have had a much stronger emotional impact if it hadn't been obvious who the murder was since issue #3.  The flashback seen right before Uatu's death is the best part of the entire mini-series.  It is a sad and gut-wrenching, but not as powerful as since, as I wrote earlier, the killer was obvious.  If there had been a twist or a bigger surprise, my heart would have broken.

Jason Aaron's story was fine, but a bit anti-climactic.  There are super villains, but like Civil War, the main fight is between the "heroes."  And like most Marvel stories, it feels like this is just a set up to another story.  The events here will lead to the new female Thor, a new Winter Soldier series, and new cosmic character called the Unseen.  In fact, I didn't understand at all the last 3 pages.  It was only later when I accidentally came across a wiki article about it that I finally got it.  For that reason, too, the story didn't have as much of an impact.  Artist Mike Deodato does capture the dark and moody nature of the story and I look forward to seeing more of his work.


MUTLIVERSITY #1

DC has been hyping the new Grant Morrison mini-series for a little while.  They've been billing it as a big, epic cosmic story that will rattle the different corners of the DC Multiverse.  The implication has been by giving Morrison a giant creative sandbox to play in, it will accentuate his eccentric strengths as a writer and bring out his best.

The result?

Absolute, total, and irredeemable crap.

I know that I am just a blogger on the inter web and we stereotypically vent venom onto anything that doesn't please our peculiar artistic pallets.  Yet I have tried very hard to be measured in my criticism and tried to find what is good and excellent even in those things that did not delight me.

But not with this.  With this, all the restraints are off.

As I wrote a while ago regarding Morrison's work, the thing that drives me nuts is that critics still rave about his work as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Critics trip over themselves boasting about his genius.  But his stories are awful.

Like Batman RIP, Multiversity feels like Morrison is just showing off.  Its starts off with a Monitor-type character being pulled from reading a comic book into a destroyed Marvel-like universe.  This, I guess, is Morrison trying to be meta, saying that the reader is the hero by reading the comic but then has to deal with the consequences or something.

The story then cuts to Obama-Superman, on of Morrison's previous creations, as he is pulled from his parallel Earth into the bleed (the place between universes).  Here he teams up with other heroes like Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew along with other oddballs from the different dimensions.  He seems to like taking obscure parts of DC lore and putting his special spin on it, because we really need to have a dark and gritty reboot of Captain Carrot.  If I'm not explaining the story very clearly its because there isn't a very clear story to tell.   Evan Ivan Reis art, which is always top-notch, cannot save this festering, pretentious mess.

I hated it.

If you like Morrison, then you should like this.

If you like storytelling that isn't awful, then you won't like this.

Film Review: Wish I Was Here

I should have posted this review much earlier, but I got sidetracked.

I am a huge fan of Zach Braff's first movie Garden State.  I thought it was smartly written and beautifully shot.  It had an angsty poetry to it that I really enjoyed.  I couldn't wait to see what he would do next.  But its been a decade and now Braff has brought to the big screen his follow up: Wish I Was Here.

Is it as good as Garden State?  No.

The movie is about Aiden Bloom (Braff), who like his character in Garden State is a struggling actor.  But like Braff himself, Bloom is 10 years older and the "struggling" part takes on a whole new meaning because he is married to a hard-working wife Sarah (Kate Hudson) and raising two kids: daughter Grace (Joey King) and son Tucker (Pierce Gagnon).  Because acting gigs are rare, he doesn't have the income necessary to send his kids to private Jewish school.  For that, he relies on his estranged father Gabe (Mandy Patinken) to foot the bill.  But then Gabe's cancer relapses and uses the kids school money on treatment.  This throws Aiden's life upside down, trying to figure out how to get his kids an education, connect to his dying father, try to get his younger screw-up brother Noah (Josh Gad) to help,   and keep his dream of being a professional actor alive.

The toughest part of the movie to watch is the first half, primarily because Aiden is incredibly selfish.  He is a father and he does want what's best for his kids, but he hasn't really grown up.  He whines and moans about his life like a spoiled child.  The film wisely does not make this complaining sympathetic.  When Aiden asks the head rabbi of the Yeshiva to be charitable and give his kids free tuition, the rabbi asks him why he doesn't get a paying job?  Aiden balks at this, but the rabbi's point is clear.

Even his wife Sarah seems caught up in a kind of "me-first" popular culture.  This is also horribly evident in Noah who lives in a trailer by the sea and wastes his life on the internet.

But one of the best things about the movie is the character Grace.  She loves the Yeshiva and is very devout to her Jewish faith.  Her parents don't know how to handle this.  Her mom tries to buy her trendy clothing, but she desires to be modest.  Grace tries to talk to her father about spiritual matters and he ignores her.  It's not that she is preternaturally saintly.  King plays her with all of the faults and insecurities of a young preteen girl.  But I was so impressed by the way Braff took her faith seriously.

This was especially important to me as someone who found himself being more religious than my parents.  Please don't misunderstand.  I am not saying that I was in any way better than them.  I am still in awe of all that they have done and still do.  It would be a miracle if I am half as good a parent as they them.  But there were many times I would argue with one of them for the Catholic faith that they raised me to believe.  Braff captured perfectly this awkward situation where the child is more knowledgable about the spiritual life, but the parent is still in charge of directing the child in life in general.

The second half of the movie is much better as Aiden slowly begins to grow up.  He begins to really assume the role of father in a wonderfully believable way.  Sarah also has an incredibly nice scene with Gabe where she speaks about the most important things we need to do before we die.  Hudson has shown some real maturity since her early rom-com days.  Patinken is fantastically understated as the dying Gabe.  He is stoic and passive-aggresive.  But there are wonderful moments where he shell slowly begins to break.

Gad's Noah is kind of a waste.   It's not that he is bad in the role, but the part has no depth to it.  He feels like an accessory to Aiden's story.  They even have a romantic subplot with Noah and his Cosplaying neighbor (Ashley Greene).  But it feels a bit too forced.  The narrative is also a bit choppy and episodic with no strong driving force forward.  For these reasons, it never reaches the level of Garden State.

But the movie works when its exploring the important things in life: faith and family.  Braff doesn't preach or act as if he has all the answers.  But he finds something beautiful in the embrace of these two treasures.  Even as his character struggles with giving up his dream of being an actor, he finds fulfillment in ways he never thought of.

And he accompanies this exploration with some fantastic visuals.  He makes the journey lyrical and beautiful.

3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Sunday Best: Sitcoms of All Time #13 - How I Met Your Mother

9 Seasons (2005-2014)

Like Friends, this series has already started to diminish. Most of this has to do with what occurs in the final episode (more on this later).

But for now, let me take the time to explain why How I Met Your Mother is so high on this list.

First of all it had some fantastically sharp and funny writing. It shot out jokes with a frenetic energy that multiplied laughs on top of laughs.  The witty use of words was one of my particular delights (eg "revertigo," "Slapsgiving," "trilling it up," etc.)

The directing was also incredibly dynamic for a 4-camera show. Director Pamela Fryman was not shy about jumping around radically in space and time to set up and then slam dunk a joke (as they did with Ted's mustache)

The cast also had a fantastic chemistry. While some of the performances were uneven throughout the series, the connections the characters had to each other was always believable.

Now, I cannot continue without addressing the major flaw with the series. It is the reason that it is not higher on the list and why it may fade further down the list with more reflection:

The finale.

I did a more comprehensive analysis of the final episode soon after it aired. I will not rehash all of that here.

And having a bad ending doesn't necessarily diminish the rest of the televising series. But in this case it does.

The reason why is because the entire trajectory if the series built to the ending. The title of the show points to the final episode. With that kind of a buildup, a show must deliver or at the very least maintain the integrity if what has come before.

SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

But the final episode undermines a lot of the emotional investment of the series. Barney and Robin are broomed, Tracy the mother is doomed, and Ted's grief time just zoomed. I originally wrote that "Sunrise" was the best episode of the series (9x17), because it so poetically showed the end of the Ted/Robin romance. But the finale takes all of that away. In fact, the finale takes a lot of that away. The entire series was about reaching the moment where Ted met Tracy. It was what we were waiting for. Everything in the series depended on that payoff. And unfortunately, they got more wrong than right.

The shows other 2 detriments, as I've mentioned before on this blog, are that it sometimes went too broad with the comedy (especially with Marshall and Lilly) and it swam too much in its immorality (especially with Barney). I gritted my teeth through a lot of the Barney ick and the like, because I thought they were moving to redeem the characters through growing up. But even though there was some measure of growth, there wasn't enough to close the door on their old sins.

But even through all of this, How I Met Your Mother could still use comedy for great effect, especially in drama. Not only could they set up a joke and get a big laugh, they could set up a joke and then break your heart. Think of the countdown in "Bad News" or Robin talking to her kids on Christmas Eve. And it did it better than most show's I've seen.

TV THRESHOLD

Pilot (1x01)

This is one of the rare shows where I went all in with the pilot. As I wrote before on this blog: "This was the episode that set the precedent.  It set up the tone and the flashbacks and the wit and the humor.  It still holds up along with the rest of the series.  But the best part was the last 30 seconds: the hook.  All of the promotions implied that Robin was the eponymous mother.  But with the words, “And that’s how I met your aunt Robin,” I realized that this show was much more than it seemed. I was hooked.  And I was in until the end."

JUMP THE SHARK

Dopplegangers (5x24)

This is not a particularly bad episode, but it was the first time that one of the shows running gags felt stale.  In the episode, it brings up the idea that if Marshall and Lilly see a doppleganger of someone in their group then they will decide to have a baby.  The main problem is that the end of this season felt so much like treading water.  As they years dragged on, we wanted the journey to find its destination.  But this felt like the upcoming seasons would be a lot of waiting around until the main storyline pushed forward.  And that was true for the next 2 years.

BEST EPISODE

Slap Bet (2x09)

(from an earlier post)

"Not only is this episode incredibly funny and has long term ramifications all the way until the final season, but Robin’s secret was something that took me by absolute surprise and made me laugh so hard.  Not only did they capture the absolute cheesiness of 80’s teen pop stars and their videos, but they made sure to make her anthem “Let’s Go to the Mall” horribly catchy."

But the other thing about this episode is that it encapsulated the show.  

OVERALL:

What I mean by that last sentence is this:  How I Met Your Mother, at heart, was a mystery set in a sitcom universe.  Part of the joy was discovering the secrets of the future and the past that could delight or depress, but always it had the power to make you feel.

(BONUS:  How I Met Your Mother Alternate Fan Ending.  DO NOT WATCH if you haven't seen the actually final episode)

Casting Call: SHAZAM!

The news just broke that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be playing major DC villain Black Adam in the upcoming SHAZAM!  movie.  He had been dancing around awhile hinting at either playing th hero or the villain.  But now that he is cast, the burning question is:

Who should play SHAZAM!

For those unfamiliar, the story centers on an orphaned boy named Billy Batson who is chosen by a magical wizard so that when ever he says the magical word "SHAZAM!" he transforms into an adult superhero.

Imagine the Tom Hanks movie Big, but with super powers.

The person who plays the part should not only be someone who is believably a child in a man's body, but someone with enough charisma to go toe-to-toe with the Rock!

Mark Wahlberg

photo by MyCannon

I know that he is caught up in the new Transformers franchise.  But he was a funny and believable man-child in Ted.  He also can bring the action.  Not only that, but he had great chemistry with The Rock in Pain and Gain

Bradley Cooper

The best thing that Cooper has going for him is his impish personality.  He could completely capture all of the mischeif that a child with superpowers could think of.

Channing Tatum

photo by Gage Skidmore

Though not my first pick, he certainly does look the part and is a decent box office draw.  He could appear strong but also young and inexperienced.

John Krasinski

original photo by Kristen Dos Santos

He was a finalist for Captain America.  He has a playful demenor that could really tap into the humor that this role would call for.

Alan Tudyk

photo by RavenU

This is a wild card, but Tudyk is a lot of fun and his boyish personality and his deadpan facial expressions could be a winning combination.

Vote in the poll (to the right of the screen) for your choice.  If you vote OTHER, be sure to put your suggestion in the comments section below.

New Evangelizers Post: On the Necessity of Hope

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com

In my last article I wrote about the sin of suicide.  Self-murder is an act of ultimate despair.  If you end your own life you believe, for whatever reason, that you will have no more good days ahead.  Or if you do have any, they will be marred by the overall pain of living.

But despair isn’t just a sinful disposition. It is also a disposition of ignorance.  None of us knows what tomorrow will bring.  To say that my future will be devoid of happiness is to say more than it is possible to know.  Life may very well get worse and worse each day until death.  Or it may get better and better.

It becomes easy to feel this way when we are overwhelmed by something.  Last year I began to experience chronic pain.  It was inescapable and unrelenting.  The greatest intensity of it lasted about three months.  I still have flair-ups every now and again, but it is mostly under control. 

But I will tell you that those three months were difficult to bear.  The worst part wasn’t the pain itself, but this dreadful feeling that it was never going to end.  “So this is my life now,” is a thought that crossed my mind quite often.  When in the midst of my suffering, I couldn’t see or imagine a time when I would be without it.

For some of us, that suffering is physical.  For others it may be emotional.  The pain of a broken heart often feels like it is beyond repair.  When we lose someone we love, it feels like the color has drained from our lives and all our gray days stretch wretchedly before us.

But whatever the turmoil is, it can cast a veil over our eyes so that we cannot see any further than our next successive moment of pain.

And that is why we need hope.

You can read the entire article here.

Labor Day Prayer to St. Joseph

Happy Labor Day!

As often as I unjustly complain about work, I am very grateful for my employment.  I love my job and I pray that I am making a difference in the world.

I credit St. Joseph for all of my jobs.  I pray that, like him, I can be a good worker and provider for my family and work the best that I can to be a model of moral manhood.

I pray that St. Joseph bless all the work of our hands that we all build up the Kingdom of God together.

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls - Pray for me.