Re:tro Re:view - Bad Boys for Life!

Bad Boys for Life is the third film in the series, super charged with violence and a weak script, but it is saved by Martin Lawrence!  The first movie, Bad Boys (1995), and Bad Boys II (2003) were directed by Michael Bay, I have not seen them.  It is directed by Adil and Bilall who also directed the Belgian crime film Gangsta (2018).  The film was a number of writers with story by Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan. Craig is co-writing the screenplay to the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.  Carnahan is a director and he also wrote the screenplay for the remake of Death Wish (2018). The screenplay has Craig, Carnahan, and Chris Bremmer. The next Bad Boys film is said to have a screenplay by Bremmer.  The franchise has had a new roster of writers on each film.  The writers have forged a movie that was audience pleasing, it brought in domestically $427.8 million dollars, making it the the top box office film at this point of the year.         

The movies opens with some Latin music as we get a shot of the ocean and then the streets of Miami. On a bridge is a racing blue Porsche as we see police sirens in what looks like a pursuit.  Inside the Porsche, Marcus Burnett, Martin Lawrence shouts at Mike Lowrey, his partner.  Lawrence was in comedy movie, The Beach Bum (2019), we see that Marcus is more set for a slower pace, but he should be used to the fast pace of his partner after years of working together.  Mike played by Will Smith just shrugs off Marcus’ panic.  Smith is producer of the movie and also starred in Gemini Man (2019).  He plays the wild card, but his character is inconsisent, he is shown on newscasts as “Bulletproof Mike”, and then unrecognizable by criminals!  Mike notes to Marcus that he should wear his glasses.  I would imagine that good vision would be needed for a police officer with a fire arm, but let’s not worry about logic. 

Mike detours on a beach and then finally slides his car to a street.  We get a hint of the Inner Circle “Bad Boys” song before Marcus scrapes the car door into a fire hydrant.  This is what saves the movie, Lawrence is able to make the most of light moments.  They race into a building and find that Marcus’ wife, Megan (Bianca Bethune) has a new baby.  This set up and twist is used throughout the movie.  The baby is given to Marcus by his wife, Theresa (Theresa Randle). She is one of the few returning actors for the franchise, but this is really a cameo part.  Theresa is so worried over her husband she doesn’t call him or check up on him when he is on the case..  Then, there is Reggie (Dennis Greene) who seems to be a soldier dressed in his uniform, but he seems to be back in civilian life so the uniform may be just a gag.  Also, there is no connection with Reggie to Megan besides that he is standing there.  Megan asks if Uncle Mike wants to hold the baby.  This is a key moment, Mike is the carefree adult who doesn’t want anything to do with children, his character would be better with some of Marcus’ traits.    

This moves to night at the Santa Maria Ixcotl Prison in Mexico.  We get the laundry room of a women’s prison, a female security guard yells at a prisoner (Kate del Castillo) standing still and mumbling.  Del Castillo was in the crime series, La Reina del Sur and has a bit of infamy with her relationship to the drug lord “El Chapo” Guzmán.  The prisoner pulls out a knife to stab the guard and the other prisoners crowd in to beat the guard.  The riot sends an alarm to the other security guards.  A bloody guard is taken away.  An ambulance races in the night.  Of course, this is an obvious Hannibal Lector situation.  The ambulance drivers see a molotov cocktail striking the windshield, as a prison guard finds the body of the woman guard in a washing machine.  The drivers are shot and the “patient” uses her knife on the paramedics.  The paradmedic survivor is shot by a gunman (Jacob Scipio) who greets his mother.  Scipio is in the action movie, The Outpost.  This is a vicious introduction of the two characters and considering that we find that the prisoner had spent years in the prison, why not break out earlier?  

In the day, we get Mexico City, we see the prisoner now cleaned up and in a black dress, she is Isabel Aretas.  There with her son, Armando, whom she tells about his father.  She smashes a jar of his ashes to reveal a flash drive.  The drive contains the coordinates to find the millions of dollars that the father has hidden.  They want to recover it and get revenge for their family.  This revenge is so driving that Armandao patiently waits six months to fulfill his revenge.  Armando looks at his computer going through pictures of judges and other people before finally Detective Mike Lowrey!  Isabel says to kill him last.  Night, back in Miami at a bar, is a celebration of Marcus’ new grandchild.  Leading the cheer is Captain Howard played by Joe Pantoliano.  The veteran actor continues his part in the Bad Boys films and was in the drama From the Vine (2019).  He isn’t the confrontational police captain, more in awe of Mike as an officer, but Pantoliano does much with his small part.  Marcus notes that it has been 25 years partnering with Mike.  Miami Harbor, criminals are cutting into a case dropping the bundles of cash.  One of the gang members is “Zway-lo” (Nicky Jam) is there watching Armando.  He was previously in the aciton film XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017. 

Armando kills the leader and convinces “Zway-lo” to work for him.  At the bar, Marcus says to Mike that he wants to retire.  They are joined by Rita Secada (Paolo Núñez).  The actress was Esme Carmona in The Purge (2019) series. Her character is running AMMO (Advanced Miami Munitions Operations), a high tech part of the police department, she is apparently an ex-girlfriend of Mike and Marcus says that Mike should get back together with her.  Mike and Marcus go out to the street to compete in a race with the captain witnessing.  Mike runs out in front and a black motorcyclist fires three shots into him. Mike is in the hospital as we get the AMMO team work on the case, Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), Dom (Alexander Ludwig), and Rafe (Charles Melton).  Hudgens was in the comedy movie, A Knight before Christmas (2019) which she starred in and executive produced, Ludwig was in teh war film, Midway (2019), and Melton was in the teen drama, The Sun Is Also a Star (2019).  Mike recovers and the wounds are still recovering except when they are not when Mike gets into a rooftop fight.  The film needed script development that would have made Mike into a more interesting character.  Bad Boys for Life is a good action movie, really saved by Martin Lawrence! 

Three Porsches out of Five! 

#BadBoysforLife, #AdilandBilall, #WillSmith, #MartinLawrence 

Happy Birthday Donald Glover!

 Happy Birthday Donald Glover!  He started out as a writer and executive story editor on the comedy 30 Rock.  He then had the brilliant role of Troy Barnes in Community (2009-2014).  Next, Glover moved into music as Childish Gambino. He had a stand up special, Weirdo (2011) on Comedy Central.  Childish Gambino worked with Ludwig Göransson on the album Camp (2011).  He returned to television, starring, writing, and esecutive producing the series Atlanta.  Earnest “Earn” Marks was played by Glover.  Glover played Niko in the horror movie The Lazarus Effect (2015).

                            Donald Glover at The 46 Campaign: Andrew Yang x Donald Glover pop-up, 2019, photo by the author.

In 2017, he played Aaron Davis, who is known as the uncle of Miles Morales, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He won the lead actor and director for Atlanta at the 2017 Emmys.   He released “This Is Amerca” in 2018 which won the Grammy for Song of the Year, Best Music Video directed by Hiro Murai, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Record of the Year.  Glover played the young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).  He starred with Rihanna in the musical Guava Island streaming on Amazon Prime.  Then, he voiced the adult Simba in the remake Lion King (2019). On May 18, Glover returned to play Troy Barnes in the Community Virtual Table Read.  This event was to benefit Frontline Foods and World Central Kitchen.  It was from season 5's "Cooperative Polygraphy" (2014).  Happy Birthday Donald Glover! 

#DonaldGlover, #Community, #ChildishGambino, #Atlanta 

Happy Birthday Mark Hamill!

Happy Birthday Mark Hamill!  His first genre appearance was in Night Gallery with the episode “There Aren’t Any More MacBanes” (1972) as a messenger.  His first voice work was for The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1973).  One of Mark Hamill’s first big screen roles was voicing Sean, leader of the fairies, in Ralph Bakshi’s animated Wizards (1977).  Then, of course he had the role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars (1977).  Next, Hamill played high school grad, Kenneth W. Dantley Jr., in Corvette Summer (1978).  Later, he was in the treasured tv special, The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).  He hit the Broadway stage with The Elephant Man (1979).  Hamill starred in the war film, The Big Red One (1980), before returning as Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).  He finished the Original Trilogy becoming a Jedi Knight with Return of the Jedi in 1983.  Hamill also was on Broadway with Amadeus (1983). 

He entered the superhero world playing the Trickster in The Flash (1991).  Another iconic role and well loved role was Hamill playing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1994).  Also in 1994, he played Colonel Christopher Blair in the computer game, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger.  He voiced the younger Blair in the animated series, Wing Commander Academy (1996).  Hamill also co-created comic book series, The Black Pearl, published by Dark Horse Comics.  He starred in the Watchers 4 (1998) based on the Dean Koontz book.  Hamill voiced Merlin in the live action Wing Commander (1999) movie.  Next, he directed and was featured in Comic Book: The Movie (2004) filmed at San Diego Comic Con.  Hamill voiced Fire Lord Ozal in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008).  

He of course returned at Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).  Hamill also returned as The Joker in the animated film, Batman: The Killing Joke (2016).  He was back as the Trickster on the CW show, The Flash (2015-2016).  Then, Hamill took up the Jedi robes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).  One of his best voice roles was playing himself, The Joker, Trickster, and Swamp Thing in “Missing the Mark” (2017) episode of Justice League Action.  He voiced Luke Skywalker in the animated Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2018).  He had a voice role in Kulipari: An Army of Frogs as Old Jir which is streamed on Netflix.  Also, Hamill voiced Dictatious in Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia.  Hamill appeared as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IX (2019).  He played Master Talus in the Knights Templar series Knightfall.  Hamill voiced The Scientist in Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.  He is a sensation as Jim the Vampire in What We Do in the Shadows.  Hamill is continuing the role of Dictatious in Wizards: Tales of Arcadia.  Happy Birthday Mark Hamill!   

#MarkHamill, #StarWars, #BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, #WizardsTalesofArcadia

Happy Birthday Jim Henson!

Happy Birthday Jim Henson!  One of Henson’s early creations was Sam and Friends which was on WRC-TV, a local station for the District of Columbia.  The first Muppet, was Rowlf the dog, who appeared on The Jimmy Dean Show.  The Jim Henson Company was formed in 1958.  In 1969, Sesame Street aired and has been iconic for children from that day, featuring Bert and Ernie, Grover, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Count von Count, and Big Bird.  Elmo was introduced on 1985 and is one of the popular characters.  In 2017, Julia joined Sesame Street, a four year old autistic girl, the show has never shied away from strong topics.  It currently runs on PBS Kids and HBO.  In March, a Sesame Street park expansion opened at Sea World Orlando.  In 1975-1976, Henson produced Land of Gorch sketches for Saturday Night Live.  The Muppets were a staple of television with The Muppet Show which ran from 1976 to 1981.  Kermit the Frog was our host and of course there was Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, and my favorites, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beeker.  

The Muppet Movie opened in theaters in 1979.  Also that year, Jim Henson formed Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.  Then, he created The Dark Crystal (1982) which was his foray into a mature fairy tale, dark, but a triumph of world bulding.  Of course, the series Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, is currently streaming on Netflix.  He directed The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) and then Labyrinth (1986).  He created another iconic children’s show with Fraggle Rock (1983-1987) and then the animated series Muppet Babies (1984-1991). Next, Henson created The Storyteller (1987-1988) which also led to The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1990).  The first series won an Emmy Award in 1987 for Outstanding Children’s Program.  Then, he created the television program, The Jim Henson Hour (1989).  Jim Henson died on May 16, 1990.  His work and legacy continues.  Jim Henson Television produced the series Dinosaurs (1991-1994) and then the sci fi show Farscape (1999-2003).  In 1991, Muppet*Vision 3D opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  The Muppet films continued with The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014).  A television series, The Muppets, ran from 2015 to 2016.  Muppets Now is playing for the Disney+ streaming service.  Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program.  Happy Birthday Jim Henson! 

#JimHenson, #MuppetShow, #DarkCrystal, #TheStoryteller

Happy Birthday George R.R. Martin!

Happy Birthday George R.R. Martin!  Martin was at the 70th Emmy Awards when the show took Outstanding Drama Series for Game of Thrones and Best Supporting Actor for Peter Dinklage playing Tyrion Lannister.  He started writing science fiction stories and the first one was published by Galaxy magazine in 1971. Martin wrote his first novel, Dying of the Light, in 1976.  It established his “Thousand Worlds” Universe which includes Nightflyers.  His novelette, Sandkings was published in Omni magazine in 1979.  It was adapted with episodes of The Outer Limits in 1995 and 2000.  The story follows a wealthy man who collects animals and purchases four colonies of tiny, telepathic sandkings which of course become dangerous.  George R.R. Martin published his novella, Nightflyers (1980) which covered a deep space voyage, in the Nightflyer ship, to find an alien spaceship, but the mission is complicated by the ship’s computer.  It was made into a movie in 1987 and a new series started on SyFy in 2018 and lasted ten episodes.

                                    George RR Martin at a book signing, 2011, photo by the author. 

Martin started writing on the first season of the 1986 Twilight Zone series.  The one novel series I was familiar with George R.R. Martin was Wild Cards.  It was an anthology shared universe with different authors.  The world has New York in 1946 infected by an alien virus that transforms people into heroic Aces and mutated Jokers.  It is in development by Hulu.  In 1989, Martin was a writer and producer of Beauty and the Beast starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman as Vincent.  Still, he was frustrated with television and went to crafting his fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, which begun with A Game of Thrones (1996).  HBO began adapting the books in 2011 when Martin had his fifth book A Dance with Dragons.  He co-wrote The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westros and the Game of Thrones in 2014.  One of the GoT prequel series is being developed by Martin based on his book, Fire & Blood, which was released in.  It is said to be the subject of the next Game of Thrones prequel series.  We are eagerly awaiting his next book, The Winds of War, promised next year, and A Dream of Spring!  Happy Birthday George R.R. Martin!

#GeorgeRRMartin, #WildCards, #GameOfThrones, #Fire&Blood 

Batman Day!

Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in Detective Comics #27 (1939). The concept was partly inspired by Zorro and The Shadow with name by Kane, but character work and script by Bill Finger.  There were movie serials in the 40's, the character was first played by Lewis Wilson in Batman (1943), and then Robert Lowery in Batman and Robin (1947).  It was really the Batman tv show that sealed the Dark Knight in pop culture.  

The steps in front of the Gotham police department from the tv show, Warner Bros. Studio Tour, 2014, photo by the author.                 

The BAM! POW! was part of pop culture, we see it in the paintings of Roy Lichtenstein embraced the color and zaniness of comic books.  It was fun and satiric.  Launched by Batman: The Movie (1966), the quartet of villains in the United Underworld were bizarre, the death traps thrilling, and the gadgets are just absurd with the Shark Repellent Bat Spray!  We had Adam West and Burt Ward reprising their iconic roles in the spoofy Legends of the Superheroes (1979).  They also had a reunion with The Batman actors in Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003).  

The legacy of that show was so strong, it was difficult to break away until the 80's.  Now, we see it reflected in the Batman `66 comic book and the animated movies, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) and the perfect synthesis of show, animated series, and comics IMO, Batman vs. Two-Face (2017). We saw the return of Burt Ward's Dick Grayson in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" (2019) episode of Supergirl.  The Dynamic Duo and Batgirl will always be fighting to keep the streets of Gotham safe!    

Batman shifted into cartoons with The Batman/Superman Hour by Filmation Studios voiced by Olan Soule and Casey Kasem played Robin.  Also crossing over with Scooby Doo by Hanna Barbera and then joining the Super Friends in various series from 1973 to 1986.  Burt Ward voiced Robin in The New Adventures of Batman (1977) animated series.  The end of the 80's started another Batman craze with Tim Burton's Batman (1989).  

                                Catwoman's costume, Warner Bros. Studio Tour, 2016, photo by the author. 

The character had a James Bond, noir flair with the comic book run by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams in the 70's. The game changer was Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns limited series, it was in thick, bookshelf format, and this looked like the vision that was in the Batman film.  Batman was now serious not silly.  This had Michael Keaton playing Batman.  It was a bit controversial since he previously was in Beetlejuice (1988) with director Tim Burton.  Keaton was thought to be a comedic actor by Hollywood, but the Batsuit gave him action chops.  It is rumored that he will return to play Batman in The Flash movie by Andy Muschietti.  

The follow-up, Batman Returns (1992) had Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.  Side note for Catwoman, the character first appeared in Batman #1 (1940) and became a pop culture sensation first played by Lee Meriweather in the 1966 Batman movie.  Her Miss Kitka hinted at Bruce Wayne's romance with Catwoman.  Then, the character was immortalized with Julie Newmar's Catwoman in her slinky, black leather-like costume, and played with puuurfection by Eartha Kitt.  We had Anne Hathaway's version in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).  The comics led to the Wedding of Batman & Catwoman by Tom King and Mikel Janin, but of course such pairing couldn't last forever. 

There was a constant change of Batman actors, Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995), and finally George Clooney in Batman & Robin (1997).  Joel Schumacher took over from Burton with these films and placed with the Burton darkness with a neon look.   I don't consider Batman & Robin to be the worst Batman film, you have to take it in context, it is meant to be the merging of Burton and 60's.  It may not have worked, but it is entertainment.   

                         Batmobile, Warner Bros. Studio, 2016, photo by the author. 

Batman & Robin seemed to kill The Batman franchise, but it did continue with Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) from Warner Bros. Animation.   It was developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian.  Kevin Conroy is perfect as Batman and Loren Lester voiced Robin.  It was incredible to see Conroy play Batman on screen with "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two" (2019) episode of Batwoman.  This was The Batman of Earth-99 who was the retired Batman kept mobile by his suit that was in the comic book series, Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. 

We also had Tara Strong as Batgirl.  Still, the newest addition to the Batman universe was the character of Harley Quinn voiced by Arleen Sorkin. Every incarnation of character seems to be iconic with Margot Robbie's portrayal in Suicide Squad (2016) in film.  This leads us to director, Christopher Nolan, and his Dark Knight trilogy.  He was able to build a more grounded Batman with Christian Bale in Batman Begins (2005).  The Batmobile was controversial, the fans were outraged that the tank looked nothing like previous visions of the Batmobile.  Of course, now we know that the Batmobile has speed, stealth, and power!  When it was parked at Comic Con, those upset fans were now in awe of it!   

The sequel, The Dark Knight (2008), changed everything.  It featured the addition of Jonathan Nolan for the screenplay.  It was the Academy Awards that made an impact on cinema.  The Dark Knight was nominated for eight awards, including Best Supporting Actor, not a technical award, which lifts this movie up from the fan boy acclaim.  It was of course awards posthumously to Heath Ledger playing the Joker.  So this brings us up to date with Ben Affleck playing Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), a cameo in Suicide Squad, and Justice League (2017).  We have upcoming the Matt Reeves directed The Batman with Robert Pattison in the lead role.  There is a Batman for every era and every fan!  

#BatmanDay, #BobKane, #BillFinger, #AdamWest, #BurtWard, #OlanSoule, #CaseyKasem, #DennisONeil, #NealAdams, #FrankMiller, #TimBurton, #MichaelKeaton, #MichellePfeiffer, #JulieNewmar, #BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, #KevinConroy, #ArleenSorkin, #MargotRobbie, #ChristopherNolan, #BatmanBegins, #ChristianBale, #BenAffleck    

Happy Birthday Joe Kubert!

Happy Birthday Joe Kubert!  Joe Kubert’s first professional work was on Catman Comics #8 (1942) for Holyoke Publishing.  He also worked on Fox Comics’ Blue Beetle and also colored the reprints for Quality Comics of Will Eisner’s The Spirit.  Kubert started at DC Comics with Leading Comics #8 (1943) featuring the “Seven Soldiers of Victory” super team for All-American Publications which became DC Comics. There was a limited series Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison in 2005.  Kubert became editor of St. John Publications with Three Dimension Comics #1 (1953).  He also created at St. John, the prehistoric hero in Tor, in 1,000,000 Years Ago (1953). 

                                                       Joe Kubert, Wondercon, 2010.

Tor was published by DC Comics, a series that ran from 1975 to 1976, Eclipse Comics, Tor 3D (1986), Epic Comics (the creator owned Marvel line) in 1993. Kubert worked on a limited series, Tor, in 2008.  He returned to DC working on Our War at War #32 (1952).  The Brave and Bold #1 (1955) introduced the Viking Prince with the team of Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert as artist.  Kubert was exclusive to DC helping to ink Showcase #4 (1956) which introduced the Barry Allen Flash and launched the Silver Age of comics!  In 1959, the Kanigher and Kubert team introduced Sgt. Rock in Our Army at War #83 (1959).  Kubert produced a limited series, Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy in 2006. 

Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert created the Silver Age Hawkman, Katar, in Brave and Bold #34 (1961).  He returned to the character with Joe Kubert Presents #1 (2012).  In 1972, Joe Kubert started work on Tarzan with issue #207.  One of Joe Kubert’s great legacies was forming the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art with his wife Muriel in September 1976: https://www.kubertschool.edu/   There is an incredible number of comic professionals from that school.  Later, Kubert drew the graphic novel, Fax from Sarajevo, in 1996.  An art book, Superheroes: Joe Kubert's Wonderful World of Comics, was written by Kubert.  His biography, Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert, was out in 2008.  We lost Joe Kubert on August 2012, but his comics and legacy lives on.  Happy Birthday Joe Kubert!

#JoeKubert, #SgtRock, #KubertSchool, #FaxfromSarajevo  

Downtown Disney: Star Wars Trading Post!

It has been some time since I was at Downtown Disney.  It was really on December 2019 for the signing at Wonderground Gallery.  I had gone to Downtown Disney early about an hour, the stores were not open, but you could walk around.  This time, the parking was moved to the lot by Paradise Pier Hotel, then it was a walk to the Downtown Disney temperature screening.  There was some benches and then a queue with social distancing markers.  The cast members were great at answering questions and there was a good number to monitor shoppers.  A queue led to a tented area where temperature was taken with the non-contact infrared thermometers.  I asked what happens if a guest fails a temperature check, the guest is asked to go to a shaded area, temperature is retaken, and if that is failed, the guest is asked to return at a later time. 

                                            Star Wars Trading Post, photo by the author. 

There were also security guards with dogs, I’m not certain what the dogs detect, but I was told by some guests that the other day, the dogs sensed something and those guests were politely taken aside.  This leads to the security check which is standard.  The time was 9:45 a.m. when Downtown Disney opened.  It was interesting to see an empty Downtown Disney.  I went directly to Wonderground Gallery which is now the Star Wars Trading Post.  This is merch that was at Galaxy’s Edge.  It looks like a pop-up store, temporary, and I do hope that it goes back to selling artwork like the other outlet at Disney Springs.  There was a case of Legacy Lightsabers that were at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.  The high value item was a pair of Ahsoka Tano’s lightsabers, they were in a case, blades were separate.  I was told that they were sold out at WDW.  There were several displays of the stuffies that were at the Creature Stall.  Right by the register were sections for Resistance, New Order posters, and droid items.  Plus, the sabaac deck (different than what was sold at Target), gold dice, and cases of the dejarik board game.  Holocrons are available at checkout.  

                                                        

                                         Disneyland, not yet open, photo by the author. 

Next, I saw the line for World of Disney, I decided to try for it.  The line went down the queue for the tram.  The movement was actually good, maybe waited 20 mins. or so, and of course there was social distance markers for each section.  Also, note that there are numerous signs that you should have a mask on at all times, there are hand washing stations and also hand sanitizers at each store.  World of Disney, it has been so long, I was eager to buy everything!  There were Vintage Collection figures of The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, and Remnant Stormtrooper.  Also, the Empire Strikes Back figures and the 40th Anniversary Black Series Luke Skywalker & Yoda (Jedi Training) Two-Pack.   There was of course The Child display for The Mandalorian.  Of course, there was a stand for Mulan and the usual Disney gifts.  What also interested me was looking at the parks, Disney’s California Adventure has its entrance blocked off, Disneyland has an area roped off before the gates.  It is strange to see the parks closed.  I felt safe the entire time, the procedures were in place, and the guests were respectful of them.  It was great to return to Downtown Disney, check out the Star Wars Trading Post, and shop again at World of Disney!  

#DowntownDisney, #StarWarsTradingPost, #TheChild, #WorldofDisney 

Re:tro Re:view - The Hunt!

The Hunt was seemingly controversial, but it’s satire mixed with Saw violence!  It was delayed from a September 2019 release to March of this year.  The film is directed by Craig Zobel who also directed Z for Zachariah (2015) based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Richard O’Brien.  It is written by Nick Cuse who worked on The Leftovers and Damon Lindelof credited with the Watchmen series.  This is a Blumhouse produced film which is always better than the premise.  We open with a swelling of dramatic music as a mysterious woman checks her phone texts, there is a mention of The Hunt and the camera focuses on it.  In a sense this is commenting on the destructiveness of social media.  Some of the deaths may be spoiled, the movie can be shocking if just seen without spoilers, but there is enough deaths in this film!  This moves to an airplane flight where a passenger has demand about what is served to the flight attendant, Kelly (Hannah Aline).  They are interrupted by another passenger who has wakened.  The doctor (Steve Coulter) calms him down and has him lie down, only to stab him in the neck with a pen! 

It is of course shocking, the passenger unexpectedly wakes up, but there should be a sedative, but then we won’t get the gore.  The passenger is still alive so the woman takes care of him with her high heel!  This shifts to a stream bank where we get a young woman (Emma Roberts) who wakes up with a silicone mouth gag like something out of bdsm.  Roberts is recognizable from American Horror Story and she was also in Scream 4 (2011).  She finds that others also have mouth gags and sees another woman (Betty Gilpin) at the stream.  Gilpin is recognizable as Debbie Eagan in GLOW, but she is also in the action comedy Stuber (2019).  They find in the middle of a field, a large wooden crate, a crowbar, very Hunger Games.  A man uses the crowbar to open the crate while the others take cover in the woods.  They find a dressed-up pig scramble out, which should be a warning, and a red display filled with weapons.  The color symbolism, noted in the special features of the movie, becomes evident.  

While the others arm themselves, the woman finds keys on the other side of the crate door, she works with a young man (Justin Hartley) to open the mouth gags. Hartley is known for This is Us and I recognized him immediately as Green Arrow in Smallville.  The woman, identified as Yoga Pants in the credits, is killed.  It is clear from that point that we shouldn’t focus on a character as our protagonist, in fact, this ties into the theme that people should not identify with a person so easily.  In effect, identifying the characters would be spoilers!   They of course are hunted as part of “The Most Dangerous Game” scenario.  The short story by Richard Connell published in 1924 by features a big game hunter finding a human as prey.  The film is not a simple expansion of that concept.  It explores our biases through a political lens, we have the prey as ultra-conservatives and later, the hunters as ultra-liberals.  The controversy of some kind of strange revenge fantasy is incorrect.  Both sides are parodied.  This is of course mixed with some gruesome deaths!

The young man sees another woman run for the woods and then fall.  He finds that she has fallen in a pit trap and helps her pull free from the spikes that have pierced her mid-section.  The kindness shown to other characters is supposed to evoke sympathy in the audience so we think the person may be a protagonist.  He helps her to the woods, but then finds that he has stepped on a land mine!  The explosion tosses the woman back into the pit trap!  She pleads for another person to shoot her and uses his gun on herself.  This leads to the survivors to continue through the forest to a fence.  This is where we find a man (Ike Barinholtz), called Staten Island in the credits, by this time we already know the perspective shifting.  We find him trying to help others over the fence to a road.  The last one is a man with the unfortunate name of Target (Chris Barry).  He is struck by several arrows and tries to return through the forest.  Target falls and a grenade is thrown at him.  It is a dummy so the killers toss another grenade.  There are three survivors, Vanilla Nice (Sturgill Simpson) and Big Red (Kate Nowlin) who make their way to a general store.   

Staten Island tries to understand with the others where they are from the owners, Ma (Amy Madigan) and Pa (Reed Birney).  This is a seemingly friendly Mid-Western couple who smile and tell them there are Arkansas.  Instead, they are some of the participants of The Hunt.  So the trio are not fated to survive.  Finally, we get the woman played by Betty Gilpin, who is in an orange jacket, walk into the general store.  She asks Ma for a pack of cigarettes and becomes suspicious.  The woman lashes out at Ma and Pa, checks out a car and finds it is trapped.  The wisdom of this woman and that she isn’t interested in why she is thrown in this situation is where we finally get that she’s our protagonist.  The protagonist is icy, not driven to emotion and questioning, which is why we find she’s a survivor.  She sees a drone sent to the general store and listens to a walkie talkie to the reports.  The drone is shot by a man named Gary (Ethan Suplee).  He is a conspiracy theorist spouting all sorts of ideas why they are there, something he calls Manorgate, but the protagonist is not interested.  We later get the other members of The Hunt including their trainer, Sgt. Dale (Steve Mokate).  Named after military consultant Dale Dye?  It is assumed that the Hunt members have been hunting for some time, but this is not the case.  If so, there should be mention of some practice victims.  Ultimately, it leads to a confrontation with Betty Gilpin’s character and a character played by Hilary Swank, spoiled by the DVD cover!  The Hunt is more that it seems, a bit weak in script, but is a satiric, violent thriller!           

Three Keys out of Five!  

#TheHunt, #CraigZobel, #NickCuse, #DamonLindelof, #BettyGilpin