Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, “End. Begin. All the Same”, Review!

The Dark Crystal (1982) is one of the top fantasy films in terms of world building with designs by Brian Froud.  The film was personal and meaningful to Jim Henson, but somehow sputtered at the box office.  Still, there weren’t many fantasy offerings at that time and over the years, Dark Crystal has become legendary.  The story was basically self-contained, but there is more story in the past.  I was eager for sequel especially with The Power of the Dark Crystal, a Genndy Tartakovsky film, that was promoted at Comic Con.  Still, it was dragged out and finally found a form in the Boom Studios comic book series in 2017.  A manga from Tokyopop, Legends of the Dark Crystal, was published in 2007-2010.  Archaia Studios produced a series of three graphic novels, The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths from 2011-2015, the first two graphic novels were co-written by Brian Froud.  There are prequel novels starting with Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee.  Now there is the Netflix series by The Jim Henson Company.  It is developed by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews.  The series is directed by Louis Leterrier.  He has directed the series Tycoon and the remake Clash of the Titans (2013).  Brian Froud has designed the creatures and costumes.  It is started streaming on August 30th.  

The story begins with a burst of light, then focusing on patterns before reaching the triple suns of Thra, it has a narrator (Sigourney Weaver) noting the world of the Crystal of Truth.  We see it hovering over a magma pit and lakes.  The narrator explains that the Crystal is a part of Thra and it is protected by Aughra, seen in statue form, then we see glimpses of creatures.  Then, we see the members of the seven Gelfling clans all holding each other in ceremony with their clan symbols around them.  The Gelflings are Elfish-type creatures, the size of children, with long, pointed ears.  There is the Vapra of the mountains, rulers of the other clans.  We see briefly, the princess Brea, reading a book.  Next is the Stonewood clan of the Endless Forest.  They are renowned as warriors like Rian who guards the crystal castle.  Then, we see the Grottan who are underground Gelflings, then see Deet as she unfolds her wings.  There is the symbol uniting all of Thra which is dissolved away with the narrator noting that there are visitors to Thra, we see the gold statues of the Skeksis.  The Skeksis are bulky creatures with snouts like crocodiles, vultures, and other beasts and wrinkly skin.  They tell stories to Aughra and build an observatory for her.  We see her third eye pulse with light.  The Skeksis wanted her distracted and they take the Crystal of Truth.  The narrator says that it has been a thousand trine, an age, since their arrival.  The Skeksis declare themselves Lords of Thra and we see the mewling of The Chamberlain (Simon Pegg).  Pegg is a genre favorite actor with his voice work in Ice Age: Collison Course (2016) and also playing Scotty in Star Trek Beyond (2016).  The Chamberlain was a stand-out from the first movie and it is nice to see him here at his manipulative best.

The Skeksis look younger, less burdened by their robes, and the Emperor starts the ceremony.  

The suns pour down on the Crystal of Truth to send purplish rays that keep the Skeksis immortal.  The rays fail and the Skeksis worry that they can’t keep living without the Crystal.  The Emperor (Jason Isaacs) breaks up their chatter.  Isaacs has voiced The Grand Inquisitor in Star Wars: Rebels and also starred in Star Trek: Discovery.  He tells the others that the Scientist (Mark Hamill) is working on a solution.  Hamill is known for voicing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and of course returned as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.  The Emperor sends them away, the Chamberlain overhears the Scientist complain to the Emperor.  The Scientist activates the machinery to draw the Crystal down.  A close-up of the Crystal chained and held by mechanical arms.  The narrator notes that the Crystal is corrupting Thra down to its creatures.  We see some of them that are caged by the Scientist, until one, a Spitter, bursts free and skitters away.  We see the crystal castle in a beautiful valley with a river, a familiar sight to those who have seen the movie.  Podling servants are bringing in food when they are met by Rian (Taron Egerton).  He voiced El-Ahrairah in the 2018 animated Watership Down and of course played Elton John in this year’s Rocketman.  

THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE -- “End. Begin. All the Same” -- ANYA TAYLOR-JOY --  Keith Baker/Netflix.

Rian says he is sworn to protect the Lords of Thra, but playfully wants to try their food to the annoyance of the Podlings.  Mira (Alicia Vikander) joins Rian in trying to sneak away food.  The Gelflings laugh and run off with the food.  Mira uses her wings to fly up to the Spy Glass before Rian can reach it.  She later talks about their first meeting and they dreamfast, touching hands, and sharing their memories.  The Spitter interrupts their dreamfast.  Captain Ordon (Mark Strong) reviews his troops.  The Collector (Awkwafina), who sneezes and drips mucus, the nastiness of the Skeksis is fun, and Scroll-Keeper (Neil Sterenberg) prepare to travel for their journey.  Awkwafina voiced Courtney in this year’s The Angry Birds Movie 2 and also out in theaters has the drama The Farewell.  It is interesting to see and hear the Skeksis who are so absurdly evil and revolting that they are fun.  This applies to this two with The Collector thinking back to her time before Thra.  The captain calls in the Armaligs, plated, wide-snouted creatures that can roll themselves for transport.  Rian and Mira appear with their message, but the captain is going to accompany the Skeksis.  He appoints Tolwyn instead of Rian to be in charge of the castle guard.  Rian is surprised that his father doesn’t trust him.  Mira is stunned so she can’t tell the captain the report.  Captain Ordon mounts his Landstrider, these are long-legged creatures with leathery flaps seen in the movie.  The creatures of Thra are fascinating, such diversity and strange shapes, 27 years before Avatar (2009) and 10 years afterwards with Age of Resistance.  It is great to see familiar creatures and peoples, but with a twist.  

The group starts off crossing the bridge of the crystal castle.  Rian explains that he didn’t tell his father of the Spitter so he could hunt it.  They are joined by Gurjin (Harris Dickinson).  At the serene, snow valley of Ha’rar, we have the Librarian (Toby Jones) searching for books, then there is view of the library with scattered books and a creature eating book paper!  Princess Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy) is joined by her sister Tavra (Caitriona Balfe).  Taylor-Joy voices Marla in Playmobil: The Movie, out on December 6th, and she is also in Glass.  Balfe is best known for Claire Randall in the Outlander series.  She wants to show her sister Mother Aughra’s picture, but Tavra tells her that Brea will join the Tithing.  Brea is eager to ask the Skeksis questions.  There is some singing as we get into the phosphorescent lit Caves of Grot.  The singer is Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel) who is harvesting moss.  Emmanuel was Missendei in Game of Thrones and also Ramsey in The Fate of the Furious (2017).  She takes a bite of the moss which makes her face glow.  Then, she flies around the caves, seeing her family, and drops the moss for Nurlocs.  Deet hears a baby Nurloc and gathers some moss, but it has a strange growth the color of the Dark Crystal. The corrupted Nurloc becomes vicious and we see this with an adult Nurloc.  The underground world is fascinating especially its connection to the world.  

THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE -- “End. Begin. All the Same” -- MARK HAMILL -- Keith Baker/Netflix. 

At Ha’rar, Brea leaves behind Tavra, and so eager to see the Lords she falls in front of the caravan!  It stops in time and the Scroll-Keeper invites the princess to ride along.  The ceremony has The All-Muadra (Helena Bonham Carter) with her daughters, Tavra and Seladon (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).  Carter was in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) and Ocean's Eight (2018).  Mbatha-Raw was in A Wrinkle in Time (2018) and Beauty and the Beast (2017).  Brea and the Skeksis join them.  The Scientist is lashing the Crystal with electrical bolts until it starts to draw out his lifeforce.  The Chamberlain shuts down the machinery and talks with the Scientist.  His experiment has changed the Crystal into drawing out essence, but he needs subjects to test it on.  Then, they see two Gelfling guards. Deet discovers the Sancturary Tree (Theo Ogundipe) that speaks to her about The Darkening.  This corruption of the Dark Crystal that will spread unless the Gelflings can stop it!  The threat is not only to Thra and the Crystal, but the Gelflings now fueling the Skeksis mad quest for immortality!  It will take Deet, Brea, Rian, and all of the Gelflings to lead the Resistance and save Thra!  There is so much detail with Thra in only the first episode, brilliant voice cast, and a story that will eventually lead to the desolation seen in The Dark Crystal!     

Five Crystal Shards out of Five! 

#DarkCrystalAgeofResistance, #EndBeginAlltheSame, #LouisLeterrier, #SimonPegg, #MarkHamill, #TaronEgerton, #AnyaTaylorJoy, #NathalieEmmanuel 

Battle at Big Rock Review!

Battle at Big Rock is a short film that aired after Jurassic World (2015) on the FX network.  The run time is 8 minutes and the film is directed and co-written by Colin Trevorrow.  The other writer is Emily Carmichael who also co-wrote Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018).  Trevorrow has guided the franchise starting with Jurassic World, co-writing and directing, and then co-writing the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).  He introduced Battle at Big Rock noting that it takes place a year after Fallen Kingdom.  The last film had the dinosaurs transported from Isla Nubar to the Northern California estate of Benjamin Lockwood.  The dinosaurs were freed and now roam the country.  The opening has the Universal logo over the world now with a T-Rex fossil forming a continent!  The Big Rock National Park Campground is in the Angeles National Forest, California.  We hear reports of sightings of the dinosaurs.  Then, we get the father grilling a chicken leg which he passes to his daughter.  Melody Hurd plays the eight-year old daughter who is not happy at the burnt chicken.  The father is played by André Holland who was in the series Castle Rock and also Moonlight (2016).  

He sees his neighbor, Greg (Chris Finlayson) who is relaxing outside of his RV.  There are other people around the campground.  Inside their RV, his wife, Arianne, is played by Natalie Martinez busy getting the kids to the table.  She is in The I-Land series and was also in the film End of Watch (2012).  The brother played by Pierson Salvador is trying to show his sister his card trick.  Arianne says that they are a family for two years.  The daughter says that Greg let her use his crossbow.  The father calls out to Greg, but no one is at the camp!  Something stirs in the dark forest, it is the snout of a two-horned Nasutoceratops, the Dino checks out the area next to the campfire.  The daughter notices that there is a baby Nasutoceratops that nuzzles a flashlight.  The adult lets out a warning bellow.  Out of the mist, comes the roar of an Allosaurus!  The family stares out of the window of the RV at the confrontation.  This is some interesting dinosaur behavior, but of course the Allosaurus isn’t satisfied with just dealing with large prey, so the family is in jeopardy!  After the film, there are snippets of encounters with other dinosaurs.  It is released on Youtube so you can catch it there as well as other outlets.  Side note: if dinosaurs are loose in the world, shouldn’t there be barricades and warnings not to have people in isolated areas like camps?  A nice teaser to the next Jurassic World film!        

#BattleatBigRock, #ColinTrevorrow, #MelodyHurd, #AndreHolland, #NatalieMartinez 

The Outpost, “The Only Way”, Review!

Garrett is free, Janzo was trying to detox him, but now he is intent on his mission to kidnap Gwynn!  Night, he climbs the walls of The Outpost to scale its rooftops, and enter Gwynn’s room.  He takes out his sword, but sees flashes of Gwynn saying, “Garret, come back to me.”  Garrett again sees the portrait of a true princess with a “misshapen face.”  He takes out a portrait and finds Gwynn’s actual face.  He takes out his sword, but Gwynn wakes in time to stop him.  In the misty forest, Zed and Talon have reached a cave.  They entered the darkened cave, Talon takes out the amulet which glows and lights a path.  Constellations glow on the wall.  Zed says he spent his life there looking at the stars before his mother died and he was trapped in the world of dust.  Zed activates a stone tablet that rises up from the floor.  At The Outpost, Garrett explains about the portrait, and then remembers killing his father.  He says The Three are waiting for Garret to finish his task before bringing in their army.  Gwynn tells the guards that Garret is not a prisoner.  Alone, they kiss, this seems sudden.  I wonder why Janzo is not there to explain his part.  

THE OUTPOST -- “The Only Way” -- IMOGEN WATERHOUSE -- Aleksander Letic/NBCU International -- © 2019 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

At the stone tablet, Zed searches around it, but finds only stone.  Talon finds one of the enclosures around the tablet, Zed uses his dagger to free the hole, something strikes his finger.  The strange power, asterkinj, that is similar to Talon’s portal opening flows to his forehead.  Later, they walk the forest, he says it is the same as Talon’s, but with some other power.  There are seven of them.  Talon tries to explain how she uses it.  At the camp of Milas, Gwynn looks at the battlement.  They plan on reaching Milas.  Night, at the tavern, Janzo panics at the arrival of Garrett.  He examines Garrett who wants to find Talon.  Janzo tells Garrett that she went to the shrine.  He brings up Talon’s Blackblood ally.  Garrett leaves and Brogan, dressed like in a bad theater play on royalty, brings in some colipsum.  Janzo follows him.  He appears at the Mistress with the coin from the drug exchange.  Janzo confronts the Mistress who rages at Brogan. Janzo discovers that his mother is making colipsum.  He is about to tell Gwynn about the colipsum, but of course the Mistress has the solution to save The Outpost.  Using colipsum to turn Milas’ army into Plaguelings!  This is an old and savage tactic, diseased corpses were thrown at armies and wells were poisoned, it is kinda stunning to see that tactic used here.  

Janzo tells Gwynn about the Mistress’ colipsum operation.  She says that Gwynn should release the Plaguelings with the army addicted to colipsum.  Gwynn wants a cure.  Naya has reached the Citadel and wants to deliver her report to Dred.  She enters the cells and tries to get her family from Dred.  He says he killed them.  Dred says that the army is about to attack The Outpost.  She stabs him with a dagger!  Everit Dred collapses in his cell.  Is this the end of Dred or can The Three revive him?  At The Outpost, Garrett meets with Tobin, and he wants him to break the siege.  Garrett is on the battlement with the Mistress and Gwynn.  Then, the Plaguelings are released attacking the camp!  We haven’t seen a Plagueling attack in some time.  Milas wakes up to fight with a Plagueling.  Morning, Talon wakes up next to Zed, there are Prime Order soldiers in a camp nearby.  Zed mentally commands a soldier to put his hand in the fire!  Later, Zed wants to return to the ruins with Talon.  She wants permission from Gwynn.  Tobin and Gwynn ride out to check on the camp.  Tobin draws his sword and tells Gwynn he is looking for Milas.  He finds him infected by a Plagueling, but is able to stab it with a dagger.  A Plagueling attack, shouldn’t they have saved them for the Prime Order?, is brutal even for the threat of Milas.  

THE OUTPOST -- “The Only Way” -- AARON FONTAINE, IMOGEN WATERHOUSE -- Aleksander Letic/NBCU International -- © 2019 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

Tobin drags out his body and then declares that he has command of the survivors. Gwynn pledges that she will help the infected.  Janzo examines the survivors and separates the infected. Gwynn of course needs more than the remaining survivors to fight the Prime Order.  Garrett is about to leave with the breaking of the siege.  He sees Gwynn holding hands with Tobin and then rides away.  Janzo is busy working on a cure.  The Mistress enters angry that Janzo didn’t give her an apology.  She doesn’t notice that the Plagueling is close to her and bites her.  Janzo is worried since his mother was taking Colipsum.  He sees the woman who recovered from the Plagueling.  She tells him that they had tungrun root.  He works on the cure with help from the Mistress.  The infected man leaps up and then collapses.  A Greyskin is about to crush a sleeping Talon with a rock, but Zed commands it to stop.  She wakes up and stabs the Greyskin.  It is great to see the Greyskin even if a brief appearance.  For some reason, Talon doesn’t feel trust when Zed just saved her life.  He asks Talon to open the portal to release her people.  Zed tries to use the asterkinj, but it fails to work on Talon.  Her motivation doesn’t seem clear.  It took Talon some time to get familiar with her power and she expects Zed to instantly do so and confide in her.  

Three Daggers out of Five! 

#TheOutpost, #TheOnlyWay, #asterkinj, #Zed

Happy Birthday Travis Knight!

Happy Birthday Travis Knight!  His father, Phil Knight, is of course the founder and chairman of Nike.  He is invested in Will Winton and Kngiht was an animator there for The PJs (2000) and Gary & Mike (2001).  Knight was placed on the board of directors and when Will Vinton left the studio, it was reorganized into Laika Studios.  He was lead animator for Coraline (2009), and was also lead animator and producer for ParaNorman (2012), and The Boxtrolls (2014).  I interviewed the stars of The Boxtrolls; Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead Wright, the directors, and Travis Knight. 

Travis Knight meets Kubo and the Two-Strings cosplayers at Gallery Nucleus, 2016, photo by the author.

Travis Knight was nominated with directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable for Best Animated Feature Film for The Box Trolls (2014).  He directed, produced, and was an animator on Kubo and the Two-Strings (2015).  Knight was nominated along with Arianne Sutner for Kubo and The Two Strings as Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards.  It won the BAFTA.  He also directed Bumblebee, the Transformers movie, which came out December 21st last year!  Travis Knight produced Laika’s latest film, Missing Link, which was released on Blu Ray.  Happy Birthday Travis Knight!

#TravisKnight, #Laika, #KuboandTheTwoStrings, #BumblebeeMovie 

Galaxy's Edge in the Star Wars Canon!

It is interesting to hear details of Batuu and the Black Spire Outpost that trickled out before the opening of the Disney Park expansion lands.  Galaxy’s Edge is on the border of the Outer Rim and Wild Space.  We know that hyperspace routes have turned it into a smugglers’ refuge.  There was a peek at Batuu as one of the destinations of Star Tours starting on November 17, 2017.  The first story on Galaxy’s Edge was in the Marvel Comic Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.  It was written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney.  Its first issue was published on April 24th.  The storyline of the comic book featured antiquities collector Dok-Ondar and the mercenaries of Kendoh’s group.  Dok-Ondar relates stories that involve familiar to us about characters like Greedo, Hondo Ohnaka, and Doctor Aphra.  The series is an overview of Galaxy’s Edge and there is a focus on Dok-Ondar and his shop the Den of Antiquities.  Then, we got the adventures of Hondo with the young Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars: Pirate’s Price by Lou Anders in the Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon series.  This is the first encounter of Hondo Ohnaka and the Millennium Falcon.   The young readers book came out on January 8th.  You have a chance to fly the Falcon in Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run attraction and this is the back story.  

The Disneyland version of Galaxy’s Edge opened on May 31st.   A recent book was Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson which was published on August 27th.  Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios brought guests to Black Spire Outpost on August 29th.  Black Spire deals with Vi Moradi who of course first appeared in Galaxy’s Edge in live action form.  She is a Resistance spy on D’Qar given orders by General Leia to establish a base on Batuu.  Vi Moradi is recovering from torture by the First Order under Captain Cardinal.  He was betrayed by Captain Phasma and Vi saved him and he recovered taking the identity of Archex on Cerea.  After the Hosnian Cataclysm from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Crait in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Vi is told to set up the Resistance Base at Black Spire Outpost.  A Resistance Base would mean that it should show up somewhere in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!  It opens in theaters on December 20th.  I don’t know if there was filming at Disneyland or Disney World or reshoots.  Maybe the theme park is built on sets and visuals from The Rise of Skywalker (and vice versa).  The Galaxy's Edge story seems to be Kylo Ren and the First Order occupying Black Spire Outpost.  Rey appears in Galaxy’s Edge as a character, but not in the comic books or other stories.  Oga who owns Oga’s Cantina, Savi, proprietor of Savi’s Workshop, both are not seen yet at Galaxy’s Edge, but the Black Spire novel features both characters and gives some back story to the locations.  

Black Spire Outpost, a possible setting of Rise of Skywalker?, photo by the author. 

The time period of Galaxy’s Edge?  It seems to be between Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.  I think the roll out of the titles seem to give pieces to add to the story of the Star Wars films.  The Force Awakens had the Aftermath series by Chuck Wendig with the first novel that came out on September 4, 2015.  After the Battle of Endor, Norra Wexley works against the last of the Empire on Akiva with the New Republic slowly rebuilding the galaxy.   This leads to the Battle of Jakku.  Also released on the same day was Star Wars: The Lost Stars by Claudia Gray.  This had Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree from Jelucan who are woven throughout the Galactic Civil War until they end up on Jakku!  The comic book, Star Wars: Shattered Empires, was by Greg Rucka with art by Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzeta, and Emilio Laiso.  The first issue came out on September 9, 2015.  Then, there was Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka, published on December 18, 2015.  The release pattern of the Lucasfilm stories seem to be introducing Jakku like Batuu.  This is back story on the setting and some of the characters.  Will Rise of Skywalker show brief glimpses of Black Spire Outpost or have a few scenes there?  This would mean that if you visited Galaxy’s Edge before Rise of Skywalker, you got to experience the land before it truly became canon on film!  I would like Rey, Poe, or Finn eating a ronto wrap (or other food item) and maybe a blue milk!  I hope they don’t drink Coca-Cola thermal detonators or we see them on film.  We haven’t seen much food or drink closely in the Star Wars movies.  I’m not certain if Dok-Ondar, Oga, or Savi will appear as cameos or even show up in Rise of Skywalker.  DJ Rex?   It would be interesting if Vi Moradi or Hondo Ohnaka appear in it.  We know for certain Chewbacca is there from the trailer!  

#GalaxysEdge, #GalaxysEdgeBlackSpire, #ViMoradi, #TheRiseofSkwalker   

Strangelands #2 Review!

Strangelands continues with the second issue featuring a cover by Giuseppte Camuncoli.  It has a closeup of Elakshi Land and then Adam Land behind her, the names are coincendental, on their bodies are ghostly images.  They were on the run when their mysterious patron, Kittyhawk, sent them to Wild Saints Lodge in Colorado.  The series is written by Magdalene Visaggio and Darcie Little Badger with art by Guillermo Sanna. The head of the lodge, Winsome Fletcher, is using the Ignited in sinister ways.  Adam explains the woman who punched her hands bloody which ended up on his shirt.  Also, that counselors took her to a clinic next to the lodge.  Elakshi goes to her appointment with Winsome.  She mentions that Adam didn’t have parents and then that her parents were strict.  These are interesting characters and it is fascinating to understand their past to engage with them in the present. 

As a child, she learns to dance ballet to the sneers of her peers and praise from her instructors.  Elakshi is bullied by other girls, but continues to dance on stage and at competitions.  This leads to the night she met Adam and Ignited.  Elakshi has won a dance competition with Martin, her partner from Buenos Aires.  She meets Adam and it seems like instant attraction.  This was not apparent in the earlier issue, but they were on the run.  Adam says that he can waltz and Elakshi takes him on the dance floor to take the lead.  There is a man in a tuxedo, bald with a beard, he signals for the exits to close.  He knows that they are going to Ignite?  They drink before returning to the dance floor.  Elakshi finds out that they both have the last name of Land.  Then, masked gunmen break in and begin firing on people!  This cycle of violence is what we have seen in Ignited.  Martin is shot and Adam tries to bargain with the gunmen, but one notices his cheap suit and ignores his trust fund story.  We get Elakshi and Adam reach out to touch and the Ignition spark crackles between them!  

The next scene is the violent aftermath of their powers unleashed.  Adam and Elakshi are the only survivors.  She crawls over to Martin, but something horrible happens, some use of her powers?  This returns to Winsome with his session with Elakshi.  He wants to speak with Adam.  He is checking the distance between them on his watch.  Adam tries to enter the session, but is blocked by a guard.  So Adam climbs a tall tree and leaps off it to the roof.  He uses his power to enter a window and then sneaks past guards.  Adam draws the wallet and i.d. of a guard with his power.  Then, he uses it to enter a room, but apparently they were expecting him!  There is also the arrival of another character who introduces himself as Hendley Berman.  The motorcyclist that was pursuing them last issue?    I’m really liking this origin issue, understanding the characters, and putting them in a threatening situations.  The powers are well handled, fine art, and it feels paranormal than super powers.  Shades of Stephen King more than X-Men. 

Three Jellyfish out of Five! 

#Strangelands, #ElakshiLand, #AdamLand, #WinsomeFletcher 

It Chapter Two Review!

It Chapter Two is a perfect horror package of stark horror moments, brilliant characters and actors, with strong direction by Andy Muschietti!  He has directed the earlier It (2017) movie and Mama (2013) which starred Jessica Chastain.  The film is of course a sequel to Muschetti’s first part, It.  Both films are based on Stephen King’s novel which came out in 1986.  There was later in 1990, a two-night mini-series co-written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace.  It was brilliant with the silliness and horror of Tim Curry as Pennywise.  The movie was written by Gary Dauberman who wrote the first It film and also this year’s Annabelle Comes Home.  The earlier film was pushing the adult scale in language, but very little in horror besides the opening.  

This movie needs no knowledge of the previous film, mini-series, or book, in fact, this entry can be self-contained.  It has a long running time, two hours and forty-nine minutes, but while I had a few yawns, I was riveted with more scares and story development.  The narrative balances the original cast of young heroes in 1989; leader Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Martell), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), one of the best characters in the last movie, Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly calls him New Kid more in a reference to his like of New Kids on the Block, Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), his part was reduced in movie 1, jokester Ritchie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), and uptight Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff). 

It is 27 years later, 2016, in Derry, Maine where there is now a carnival.  At a carnival game with the water guns filling clown mouths, a young man, Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) wins the game.  He gives the prize to the young girl whom he says helped him win the game.  Very nice.  Then, he kisses his boy friend, Don Hagarty (Taylor Frey) who gives him an `I Love Derry' hat.  This upsets a young kid and his older, punk friends.  The couple walks away, but the bullies catch up to them and beat up Adrian.  He is thrown off of the bridge into a more horrible fate.  This is in the form of the clown, Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgård.  He give a maniac performance with strange eyes and drolling mouth.  

The attack by Pennywise is seen by Don and endless red ballons stream from under the bridge.  A very impressive image.  What isn’t clear is the incident of bullying and homophobia, in the novel, the bullies are arrested, but here there is no resolution here, no reason why Pennywise chose Adrian as a victim.  Called by the police report is the older, Mike Hanlon, now a librarian played by Isaiah Mustafa.  He was starred in the Shadowhunters series and is known by his part in the Old Spice commercials.  Mike has discovered a deflated red balloon in the bushes and a warning to the Losers Club. This shifts to the adult Bill Denbrough struggling to type his screenplay at his trailer.  He is now played by James McAvoy who was in this year’s Dark Phoenix and Glass. 

Bill, like the other members of the Losers Club who have left the town, has no memory of what they faced there.  Mike who stayed in Derry keeps his memories.  Bill is called to set at Warner Bros. Studios (kinda showcasing the studio making the picture and I wonder about Warner Bros. Horror Made Here when it returns).  His wife, Audra (Jess Weixler) is in a bloody dress and the director, Peter, a cameo, mentions he has to change the end of the script.  Audra argues with Bill over the endings of his screenplays and novels.  This is a running joke pointed at Stephen King.  Audra had a stronger part in the novel and mini-series, but is only a cameo here.  

Bill gets the call from Mike that starts to bring back his memories and the Losers Club’s promise to return.  Next, we get the older Ritchie Tozier played by Bill Hader.  He of course explores a comedic and dark side in his series Barry and voices The Wanderer in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.  He is nauseous at Mike’s phone call and struggles to perform his stand up set in front of a large audience.  Next, there is a meeting over architecture plans for a new building, on the conference call is Ben Hanscom now played by Jay Ryan.  He played Vincent in the latest Beauty & the Beast series and in the drama show Mary Kills People.  James Ransone plays the adult Eddie Kaspbrak driving while arguing with his wife on the phone.  Ransone was in Sinister (2012) and Sinister 2 (2015).  He gets the call from Mike and ends up in a car crash.    

Then, we get a look at the grown up Beverly played by Jessica Chastain, who was also in Dark Phoenix with McAvoy and starred in the bio film Woman Walks Ahead (2017).  She gets the phone call from Mike and her jealous husband, Tom (Will Beinbrink) has overheard the call.  He gets suspicious when Beverly says she wants to leave for Derry.  It becomes violent and the conflict reflects on the cycle of abuse Beverly suffered from her father (Stephen Bogaert).  Lastly, we get Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) who is busy completing a puzzle when the call comes in from Derry.  All of the Losers Club are stricken by fear at the return of Pennywise, but Stan has always had a practical view of life and is troubled by IT’s existence.  

What is impressive is that for the most part the adult cast resembles their younger counterparts.  There is a flashback to the sewer drainage, bodies are floating with the burst of water from the success of the Losers Club against Pennywise in the last film.  Bursting from the water is Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton).  He returns to his home and the police arrest him for the murder of his father.  We get the current Bowers in an asylum and he sees the red balloon before finding his knife in his room.  He violently frees himself from the asylum and now tasked by Pennywise to hunt the Losers Club.  His friend, Patrick Hosckstetter (Owen Teague) is now a corpse who drives him to find the Losers Club.       

Bill is the first of the Losers Club to meet with Mike at the Chinese restaurant.  He is driven by the guilt he feels over the death of his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott).  Beverly and Ben meet outside of the restaurant, it appears like there is attraction there, but Beverly believes that Bill is the writer of the poem from when they were younger.  We get to know the characters and group dynamic from their meal.  This is of course disrupted by Pennywise.  After the dinner, Beverly reveals that she had a vision of all of their deaths.  The Losers Club is divided with most members wanting to leave Derry.  Bill goes with Mike and he is shown a pyramid-like container which he had taken from Native Americans.  A vision reveals that Pennywise is a creature that arrived in a meteor some time ago.  The Native Americans stood against IT.  

He hopes to have the Loser’s Club perform the Ritual of Chüd to destroy Pennywise.  It sounds more H.P. Lovecraft than Native American.  Mike takes the Losers Club when they all return spooked by Pennywise and they find the clubhouse built by Ben when they were kids.  He tells them that they have to find artifacts from their past as part of the ritual.  This was for the most part missing from the mini-series, but a strong part of the novel’s ending.  There is no sling shot that is an important part of the book and mini-series.  Hader’s Rithie, Beverly says “Beep beep Ritchie” once, he has an interesting development when he was a child, but this is never completed as an arc.  The strange fact was that I read the Stephen King book some time ago, so memories of it were slowly returning like the Losers Club.  I'm familiar with all of the versions of the story, I was still surprised and scared of Pennywise.  It Chapter Two is the best version of King's story without the cosmic turtle!  

Four Red Balloons out of Five! 

#ItChapterTwo, #AndyMuschietti, #StephenKing, #JamesMcAvoy, #JessicaChastain, #BillHader, #JayRyan, #JamesRansone, #AndyBean  

Long Beach Comic Con - Last Day!

The Long Beach Comic Con finished last Sunday and it was an exhausting and fun day!  A feature of the Long Beach Comic Con is the appearance of Star Car Central.  It featured Herbie the Love Bug, the ECTO-1 from Ghostbusters, and the jeeps from Jurassic Park and Jurassic World.  Something to get interest in the con and it is outside of the convention center for everyone to take pictures.  The one of the highlights was meeting the Cosplay Parents, Steven and Millie Tani.  They attended D23 and other conventions.  I’ve gotten to know cosplayers over the years, but the Cosplay Parents are the best since they best embody the spirit of cosplay.  Their costumes for the day was Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but the retired couple dresses as Captain America and Agent Carter, Han Solo and General Leia, as well as Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor.  They have many social media pages including https://twitter.com/cosplayparents?lang=en. 

Cosplay Parents at Long Beach Comic Con! Photo by the author.

I also got a chance to catch up with Christian Gossett, who wrote/drew Red Star, which is a stunning sci fi epic.  Red Star covers Maya Antares thinking about her husband she lost in the Battle of Kar Dathra.  She is a sorceress who powers the skyfurnaces of the United Republics of the Red Star.  It is an incredible sci fi world mixed with magic and reflecting the “Mythic Russia” after World War II.  The series is collected in trade paperbacks.  Check out: https://theredstar.com.  He mentioned that he directed two episodes of the CW sci fi show, Pandora, the third episode, “Masters of War”, and the ninth episode, “Under the Red Sky.”  The series was created by Mark A. Altman and concerns the adventures of Jax (Priscilla Quintana) called Pandora, she attends Earth’s Space Training Academy.  

Part of the ticket offers was a Hero Initiative package; lanyard, pin, and sketchbook.  They are the organization that fulfills their motto “Helping comic creators in need.”  Their page is at: https://www.heroinitiative.org.  I decided to get some sketches to fill that sketch book.  One of the artists I got to sketch was Howard Chaykin.  He also contributed to the Hero Initative 100 Project.  Chaykin was the artist for Sword and Sorcery, a DC fantasy title with Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, the heroes created by Fritz Leiber.  He wrote the limited series Fafhrd and Gray Mouser for Marvel/Epic with art by Mike Mignola which Chaykin said was to make up for his art in Sword and Sorcery.  I attended his panel later in the day.  He is very frank with his discussion of comics.  The other artist I saw was Denys Cowan.  He has worked for Marvel and DC and I remember his work on The Question.  He created the Black Panther poster art for Mondo, but I noted that the regular theater posters for comic book movies should be by comic book artists.  

Christian Gossett sketching, Javier Hernandez is sitting behind him! Photo by the author. 

There was a section for voice actors and actors around the side and back of the hall.  I saw Keone Young who is known for his voice roles as Storm Shadow in the G.I. Joe animated series and also Commander Sato in Star Wars: Rebels.  He appeared on True Blood and many other series.  Young mentioned that the producers of Star Wars: Rebels was looking to cast an Asian character.  At the Women of Sci Fi and Horror area of the convention was Jackie Dallas.  She played Detective Harris in the thriller The Pining this year.  Dallas also plays Jen, the girlfriend of Mr. Clarke, in Stranger Things.  We had an interesting conversation about Asian films from Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell.  You can check out her page at: https://www.jackiedallas.com.  Besides the panel on Howard Chaykin, I also attend the Attack of the Writer/Artist panel hosted by Barbara Kesel, writer and editor.  Christian Gossett was one of the speakers, as well as Gabriel Hardman who is the artist on Green Lantern: Earth One, Mike Kunkel, creator of Herobear and the Kid, and Javier Hernandez, creator of El Muerto, the Aztec Zombie.      

#LongBeachComicCon, #CosplayParents, #ChristianGossett, #HowardChaykin, #DenysCowan, #KeoneYoung, #JackieDallas,

The Outpost, “There Will Be A Reckoning”, Review!

Garret is captured, but it seems there is an agent of the Capital there at The Outpost.  Talon and Zed quest to find the artifact, but Janzo’s treason has to be dealt with on her return.  In the forest, Zed and Talon walk, they hear a baby caught by a beast.  Zed draw his bow and looses an arrow at the beast that drops the child.  It charges and he puts it down with another arrow.  The mother holds her baby thanking Zed and the father takes her away. Milas argues with Gwynn over the wedding agreements with the Mistress and Aunt Gertie.  He says he wants a deed for the lands to the man who enters bandaged.  Janzo analyzes Garret’s eyes with a lamp.  Milas leaves with Tobin and Gwynn watching him on the battlement.  Zed and Talon look at the night sky.  He asks about her cutting off the tips of her ears.  She touches Zed’s ears and then kisses him.   So it begins.  Morning, at the camp, the husband has brought soldiers.  So it would be better if Zed let the beast take away the baby?  The soldiers close in with Zed and Talon apparently asleep.  One snaps a twig and then Zed and Talon are taking on the soldiers.  Zed is acrobatic in defeating them.  The husband runs away.  It is more important to hunt down the person who saved his child because he is fearful of the person's race? 

THE OUTPOST -- “There Will Be A Reckoning” -- JESSICA GREEN -- Aleksander Letic/NBCU International -- © 2019 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

Back at The Outpost, The Mistress worries that Milus’ army left and may be taking Tobin’s lands.  She wants her sister to go defend his lands.  Garret wakens in his cell, the Capital traitor takes the watch, and goes to suffocate Janzo with a pillow.  He manages to throw a pot of hot water on him and leaps on the soldier’s back.  Munt is able to knock out the soldier.  Janzo threatens Garret and then has Munt punch Garret.  Munt takes the soldier to be questioned by the Mistress. She has him taken by the Plagueling.  The Mistress sends Munt to go with Aunt Gertie to spy on her.  She sees off The Mistress and Munt follows on a donkey!  It seems like the actor who plays Munt is game for trying anything!  Milus rides with his army as we see above them his army  Janzo is busy experimenting when Gwynn enters.  Garret says he was confused and of course he grabs Gwynn by the throat until knocked out by a soldier.  The bells are sounded in The Outpost, Gwynn and Tobin go to the walls, and see Milus and his soldiers.  A messenger rides in a horse and wants loyalty from the false queen.  Gwynn orders arrows to send a message back.  She tells Tobin that she wants to parley and he offers to go negotiate with his cousin.  Gwynn has the Mistress go with him.  

The Mistress says to Milus that they will send a thousand men.  Milus says that he was three thousand.  Tobin goes to parlay with Milus alone.  Janzo sees them with his telescope and Gwynn sends him back to work.  In a tent, Milus threatens to starve out The Outpost.  The Mistress says she is in pain and she is met by Devin who is a colipsum dealer.  She is sending a man to make the deal.  Milus wants the false queen for his lands to serve as governor.  Tobin enters The Outpost with The Mistress.  He tells Gwynn Milus’ plan.  Birds are released, but they are targets for Milas’ archers!  At a rocky cliffside, there are shrines, Zed says that all of the Blackbloods could live there.  The Mistress wants Danno to scale the wall of The Outpost.  He gives a bag of colipsum to the dealer to get a bag of coins in return.  Garret tries to escape the cage and get the keys to his cell while the guard sleeps.  He snaps a wooden pole and then is about to tie his shirt with the pole to break from the cell.  Garret threatens Janzo.  I like that it is taking some time for Garret to be break free from the Capital’s conditioning, but it also doesn’t make sense that a prisoner would not be searched so they would find the vial to keep his brainwashing. 

THE OUTPOST -- “There Will Be A Reckoning” -- REECE RITCHE -- Aleksander Letic/NBCU International -- © 2019 Outpost TV LLC. Courtesy of Electric Entertainment.

Janzo finds out that Garret was trying to reach his belt and finds the vial.  Janzo drinks it and discovers it is Niasa root.  The vial makes him compliant.  It is foolish that Garret’s belt is the last place Janzo thinks to check.  Janzo has a cup that will help clear his mind.  Garret hesitantly drinks the cup.  Talon sees the traces of her human family when she was a child.  Zed goes to dig out a tree root to find a gem on a skull.  He attaches the stone to a locket and it glows blue.  Gwynn has the arrival of Tobin who is drinking grape juice.  She asks him what Milas offered to betray her.  They kiss.  The Mistress sees the bag of coins brought by Danno and reports the entire camp will be on colipsum.  A way to stop the army and we have the persistance of Garret even though he lost his ally.  He has taken Janzo’s antidote so it may work in time or give him pause to stop his action. The show seems to shift, Tobin was interesting last episode, now it is Zed who is an interesting romance for Talon.  There is some action, but it needs to move closer to the finale.  Still, the amulet is kinda cool.    

Three Daggers out of Five! 

#TheOutpost, #ThereWillBeAReckoning, #ZedTalon, #Garret 

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #5 Review!

“A Double-Edged Sword” concludes the Galaxy’s Edge limited series.  It features a Tommy Lee Edwards’ cover that shows a Star Destroyer over the Black Spire Outpost Marketplace with Kendoh and her crew.  At Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, Kendoh’s group is confronted by the stormtrooper sergeant and the First Order.  Dok-Ondar speaks to Kendoh in Ithorian and the sergeant is frustrated since he doesn’t speak it.  He orders one of his troopers to shock Kendoh, the spider-like alien, with his blaster.  The sergeant notes that the First Order is occupying Black Order Spire and we get glimpses of Docking Bay 9, Savi’s Workshop, The Spaceport (with Hondo and Chewbacca in front of the Falcon), and the Resistance Camp.  This is just scrapping the edge of some interesting places at the park expansion.  I would like to see another limited series maybe focusing on Vi Moradi written by Delilah S. Dawson! Maybe spinning out of her Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire novel?  The sergeant cuffs Kendoh with the butt of his blaster rifle.  Some of the action is complicated, but it is all in fun.  

Dok-Ondar warns her about the curse of the Sword of Khashyun that will cause the owner regret for the rest of her life.  It flashes back to Moraband with Dok-Ondar dealing with Aphra and the killer droids.  Bee Tee sends out a blast to one of Dok-Ondar’s wolfman henchman, but he blasts the astrodroid in return. Aphra uses the sword on the wolfman.  Then, Dok-Ondar blasts at Aphra, she uses the sword to deflect the blasts, but this knocks her out.  The sword falls and Dok-Ondar has difficulty removing it.  Dok-Ondar leaves Moraband on his ship and also left Aphra and the other half of the Sword of Khashyun.  Kendoh takes action in the shop and leaps past the Kyber Statue that was recovered in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #3.  The stormtrooper blasts ricochet and strikes them back!  Kendoh also grabs the case.  Dok-Ondar’s IG droid, BK-86, activates and Wooro is passed the box.  He uses the case to bash stormtroopers.  Kendoh finds the lightsaber recovered in the second issue.  She uses it to open the canister with one of Dok-Ondar’s creatures.  Kendoh shapeshifts back to Dok-Ondar’s Clawdite henchman Varg.  He has recovered the second piece of the Sword of Khashyun.  There is another complication to the Kendoh hire and it ends with a Black Spire Outpost two page at sunset!  This is a fun introduction to Galaxy’s Edge, prepping you for when you visit, but I would like a bit more!   

Four Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWarsGalaxysEdge, #ADoubleEdgedSword, #DokOndar, #SwordofKhashyun 

Happy Birthday Keanu Reeves!

Happy Birthday Keanu Reeves!  He started in television and appeared in the hockey drama Youngblood (1986) playing the goalie Heaver. Next, he was in th drama, River’s Edge (1986) before playing Chevalier Danceny in Dangerous Liasons (1988) based on the Choderlos de Laclos’ novel.  Then, he took the iconic part as Ted Theodore Logan, part of the time traveling duo in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989).  Reeves had another memorable part as Johnny Utah in the action movie Point Break (1991) directed by Kathryn Bigelow.  He returned to explore the afterlife in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991).   Reeves was also in the drama My Own Private Idaho (1991) written and directed by Gus Van Sant.   Next, he was Jonathan Harker in the horror film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).  He was in the Shakespearean adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing (1993) directed by Kenneth Branagh.  The Bernardo Bertulucci film, Little Buddha (1993), displayed to me Reeves acting ability playing Siddhartha.  Then, he had another strong role as Jack Traven in the action movie Speed (1994).  Next, he had the lead in the sci fi film, Johnny Mnemonic (1995), with a script by William Gibson, the cyberpunk author.  He matched wits with Al Pacino’s John Milton in The Devil’s Advocate (1997).  Another iconic part was playing Neo in The Matrix (1999), a sci fi masterpiece that combined cyberpunk, martial arts, and , written and direted by the Wachowskis.  

The next films of The Matrix Trilogy were filmed back to back with The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and Neo embraced his destiny in The Matrix Revolutions (2003).  He followed up the trilogy playing John Constantine taking on supernatural threats in Constantine (2005) based on the comic book.  Reeves was in the computer animated drama, A Scanner Darkly (2006) directed by Richard Linklater and based on the Philip K. Dick novel.  He was the alien Klaatu in the sci fi remake, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).  Reeves was Kai in the fantasy action movie, 47 Ronin (2013). Then, he was in another iconic part in the action film, John Wick (2014). The next year, Reeves played a husband faced with two unexpected visitors in the thriller Knock Knock (2015).  Key and Peele’s comedy Keanu featured the voice of Reeves.  He returned as John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017).  Reeves played Tex in the comedy detective series Swedish Dicks (2016-2018).  This year, Reeves was in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.  He played himself in the comedy Always Be My Maybe.  Also, Reeves voiced Canadian stunt motorcyclist, Duke Caboom, in Toy Story 4.  Next year, he will return as Ted `Theodore’ Logan in Bill & Ted Face the Music, out in theaters on August 21st.  He will also play Neo again in The Matrix 4 due to hit theaters in 2022.  Happy Birthday Keanu Reeves! 

#KeanuReeves, #TheMatrix, #JohnWick3, #ToyStory4, #Bill&TedFacetheMusic