Cloak and Dagger, “Rabbit Hold”, Review!

Tyrone and Tandy are in the church and she is worried that Mayhem entered his Cloak.  He says she passed through him to “somewhere else” and says that Conners entered the Cloak dimension.  O’Reilly takes the girls who were held prisoner.  Tandy is angry that he didn’t tell her.  Tyrone can’t enter his own dimension.  Tandy offers to go.  Dagger has entered Cloak's dark dimension to help people swallowed up by him to escape.  The gang members are questioned, one wants his phone call.  Tandy wants to find Mayhem and needs Tyrone to be afraid.  The gang member knos the name Tyrone Johnson!  O’Reilly sees a girl handcuffed for a prostitution charge.  She tries to argue and then tries to make a phone call.  Tyrone throws a Light Dagger.  He is unfazed, but she confronts him with some hard truths, and he is afraid about Conners.  Tandy enters his Cloak using her Light Dagger in the  black emptiness.  She sees the blood trail to the gas station.  Tyrone picks up the phone.  O’Reilly tells Tyrone that the gang saw his wanted picture.  His family is in trouble.  

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Rabbit Hold” -- EMMA LAHANA, OLIVIA HOLT -- Alyssa Moran/Freeform. 

Adina sorts the papers on her kitchen table, someone walks in the house, she takes out a gun.  It is Tyrone.  After months, mother and son are reunited!  The sign for the station lights up, “Roxxon Gas”, then she sees a body, it is the young Tyrone (Maceo Smedley)!  For some reason, I didn’t expect him, but this is like the Id and the Ego.  No, it is a figure at the crossroads.  There is a way out.  Tyrone warns his mother about the gang.  The Guide shows Tandy a telescope with a “Insert Payment and Let Go” sign.  Adina starts collecting her papers and Tyrone sees the gang member walking up.  Tandy inserts the Light Dagger and gets a coin with a line symbol, a Dagger, and the other side is black, Cloak.  Tyrone starts to run out of the house.  Tandy sees herself walking.  Adina finds a car and drives away with Tyrone.  Tandy enters a building and finds the blood trail.  Mayhem slams her against a wall!  Tandy is unafraid and can’t summon a Light Dagger.  

Mayhem can’t leave because she is a “half-person.”  O’Reilly enters the Johnson house with her gun.  She checks photos on the table and then sees a police officer.  He calls more officers to find Tyrone.  O’Reilly takes the folder with photos.  Tyrone’s mother is worried is there.  They stop by a police car blocking a street.  Tandy finds a place at the mall to escape.  Mayhem sees nothing in the mirrors.  Tandy sees herself as a ballerina, holding the Light Dagger, a doctor, and more.  She holds up her hand, a light flash, and they are at a mall riding an escalator.  Tyrone pulls up his hood with Adina trying to take hi away.  They are called out by a police oficer and run.  A gang member sees them and makes a call on his cell phone.  Adina and Tyrone board a bus.  He stresses he is not a kid.  The gang member is on the bus.  They leave and he is caught in the moving cable car.  Wandering the Cloak dimension, Mayhem senses something new, she notices that there is evidence of another person.  

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Rabbit Hold” -- OLIVIA HOLT -- Alyssa Moran/Freeform.

Tyrone takes his mother to one of the sightseeing places he went to last season.  Tandy notices a record store.  The names on the records are the missing girls!  Tyrone opens a board so they can enter the window of the Clemens Colony.  He tells his mother about it.  Tyrone tells about girls having a “casket-shaped box.”  Mayhem takes about the missing girls.  Mayhem doesn’t know who is behind the smuggling of the girls.  Tandy sees the album name, Tandy Bowen.  Tyrone says he was told about the place from Evita.  His mother doesn’t trust the “blond haired girl.”  Mayhem sees some records that are shrink wrapped.  She takes out a record to play.  The gang members pulls a gun on Tyrone and Adina!  A Britney Spears song, "... Baby One More Time", is played like a lullaby.  It is Tandy as a child.  Her parents argue. Tandy takes out another record.  This is the gang member Tyrone saved and they try to calm him down.  Adina walks towards him and Tyrone takes the gun.  Outside, they see the gang members ready with weapons.   Tandy plays a red record and sets next to her young self on a couch.  She was listening to head phones while her parents argue.  

The gang members are coming and Tyrone is handed a phone. Tandy opens another record.  The gang members check out the rooms, he calls O’Reilly for help, she activates the loudspeaker at the station.  Tandy plays the record.  She is the young girl headed out for ballet.  O’Reilly walks in as the police sirens are heard.  She takes away Adina.  Tyrone pulls up his hood.  Young Tandy leaves her parents fighting.  Tandy sees.   Adina is taken away by the police.  Connors (JD Evermore) is wandering the mall opening a rain poncho.  He sees Mayhem who hits hi.  The police are about to enter.  Mayhem pulls up Conners in a noose.  He apologizes.  Tyrone kneels as the police officers close in.  Tandy knocks away Mayhem and cuts Conners free.  There is a rumbling, Tyrone’s Cloak is activated, at the church Tandy sees Tyrone collapsed.  Conners breaks through the church window.  What was in the past doesn’t stay there!  A great episode with a supernatural mystery paired with a real world threat!     

Five Light Daggers out of Five! 

#CloakandDagger, #RabbitHold, #MaceoSmedley, #JDEvermore

Happy Birthday David Tennant!

Happy Birthday David Tennant!  He might be known as the Tenth Doctor, but David Tennant is an accomplished member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.  He started with As You Like It in 1996.  In 2004, Tennant played D.I. Peter Carlisle in the Blackpool series.  One of the interesting parts for Tennant was as the mysterious Barty Crouch Junior in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).  His long run as The Doctor begun in 2005 with the episode “The Parting of the Ways” and then he passed the Tardis torch in “The End of Time: Part Two” (2010).  He went to see a the wedding of a former Companion in The Sarah Jane Adventures.  In 2011, he starred along side Catherine Tate in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.  He voiced Huyang, a professor droid workign for the Jedi, in episodes of the animated Clone Wars (2012) series.  Tennant voiced another robot, The Fugitoid, in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2015-2016) cartoon.  

A long running role was as D.I. Alec Hardy in Broadchurch which he worked on three seasons in 2013, 2015, and 2017.  He returned as The Doctor in “The Day of the Doctor” (2013).  Tennant voiced Spitelout in Dragons: Race to the Edge (2015-2018).  At about the same time, he starred as Kilgrave using his powers to control people including Jessica Jones (2015-2018).  Tennant voiced a classic Disney character, Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales, the cartoon that started in 2017 and continues today.  In 2018, he was Cale Erendreich in the crime film, Bad Samaritan.  Also that year, he played John Knox in Mary, Queen of Scots.  He recently voiced Spitelout in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.  Upcoming for Tennant is the Good Omens series based on the book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.  Allons-y!  Happy Birthday David Tennant!   

#DavidTennant, #DoctorWho, #Broadchurch, #GoodOmens 

Happy Birthday Sean Bean!

Happy Birthday Sean Bean!  One of Bean’s early genre roles was playing the Prince in “The True Bride” (1988) episode of The Storyteller.  He was part of the McCabe family in The Field (1990) based on the John B. Keane play. Bean was a deadly villain, Sean Miller, in Patriot Games (1992).  He started the tv films of Richard Sharpe based on the Bernard Cornwell novels playing the lead in Sharpe’s Rifles (1993) and Sharpe’s Eagle (1993).  Bean played the romantic lead in the tv mini-series Lady Chatterley (1993).  He returned as Sharpe in Sharpe’s Company (1994), Sharpe’s Enemy (1994), and Sharpe’s Honour (1994). Farmer Grey was played by Sean Bean in Black Beauty (1994) based on the classic novel by Anna Sewell.  Bean was back in Sharpe’s Gold (1995), Sharpe’s Battle (1995), and Sharpe’s Sword (1995). Then, he was the secret agent turned villain, Alec Trevelyan, opposing James Bond in GoldenEye (1995).  Sean Bean continued the Sharpe films with Sharpe’s Regiment (1996), Sharpe’s Siege (1996), and Sharpe’s Mission (1996).  

He played another romantic lead, Count Vronsky, in Anna Karenina (1997) based on the Leo Tolstoy classic.  Bean continued the Sharpe movies with Sharpe’s Revenge (1997), Sharpe’s Justice (1997), and Sharpe’s Waterloo (1997).  He was part of the team of operatives in Ronin (1998).  Bean took another iconic role as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).  He was a partner and Grammaton Cleric in the sci fi movie, Equilibrium (2002). Bean returned as Boromir for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).  He played the Greek hero, Odysseus, in Troy (2004).  He was the villanous rival, Ian Howe, in National Treasure (2004).  Bean concluded the Sharpe films with Sharpe’s Challenge (2006) and Sharpe’s Peril (2008).  Zeus was played by Sean Bean in Percy Jackson & the Olynpians: The Lightning Thief (2010).  Ned Stark was another iconic role for Sean Bean in the first season of Game of Thrones (2011).  Bean was in the video game adaptation, Silent Hill: Revelation (2012).  He played another secret service agent in the action movie Cleanskin (2012).  Bean was in the sci fi movie Jupiter Ascending (2015) as Stinger Apini.  In The Martian (2015), the adaptation of the Andy Weir book, he played Mitch Henderson. He is currently playing The General in the street racing show Curfew.  Happy Birthday Sean Bean! 

#Sean Bean, #SharpesRifles, #TheLordoftheRingsTheFellowshipoftheRing, #GameofThrones  

Happy Birthday Emma Watson!

Happy Birthday Emma Watson!  She is of course known as Hermione Granger and started working in film with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001).  Then, there was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).  Watson provided the voice of Princess Pea in the animated film, The Tale of Desperaux (2008) based on the book by Kate DiCamillo.  She returned to play Hermione in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).  In between the Harry Potter films, she also played Hermione in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (2010) for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction.  Then, she finished the series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).  

Watson played Lucy, working on the set of Marilyn Monroe’s film in My Week with Marilyn (2011).  She had a romantic part as Sam in the drama, The Perks of Being a Wallflower directed by Stephen Chbosky who wrote the book.  Next, she was Nicki, a part of The Bling Ring (2013), directed by Sofia Coppola.  Watson played herself in the supernatural comedy, This is The End (2013).  Darren Aronofsky co-wrote and directed Noah (2014) with Emma Watson playing Ila, wife of Noah’s son.  Then, she was in the drama, The Colony (2015).  Watson also played Angela Gray in another drama, Regression (2015). It was in 2017 that she had the lead, Belle, in the live action adaptation of the Disney animated film, Beauty and the Beast.  Watson was also Mae in The Circle (2017) based on the Dave Eggers’ novel.  She has upcoming, The Little Women, out on December 25th based on teh Louisa May Alcott novel.  Happy Birthday Emma Watson!  

#EmmaWatson, #HarryPotterandtheDeathHallowsPart2, #BeautyandtheBeast, #LittleWomen

Game of Thrones, “Winterfell”, Review!

Winter is here!  Daenerys Targaryen, who has brought her Dothraki and Unsullied armies, and has formed an alliance with Cersei Lannister, taking rule of Kings Landing.  She hopes to take on the unstoppable hordes of White Walkers, wights, and others led by the Night King!  Her dragon, Viserion, was lost in an attack on the Night King.  His army has brought down the Wall with Viserion and is heading south!  The opening has the Wall shattered by the dragon with the ice slowly crawling forwards. The folding out opening doesn't pass overhead of all of the kingdoms, it enters their halls.  It ends with the Iron Throne!  The episode was directed by David Nutter and written by Dave Hill.  A boy runs across an icy castle.  He sees the spears of marching soldiers and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) smiles.  He climbs up a tree to see the army marching.  Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington), whom we found out was Targaryen, ride into Winterfell.  He passes Arya.   Then, there is the Hound, Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) riding up with Gendry (Joe Dempsie), an unknown son of King Baratheon.  In a carriage is Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Tyrion jokes with Varys, then Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson).  Jon tells Dany he warned her.  Two dragons pass over Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) at the Winterfell, home to the Starks.  Jon rides up to see Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) overjoyed to see him grown.  Then, he goes to embrace Sansa and wants to see Arya.  This reunion really brings it all full circle to season one.  Daenrys meets with Sansa who gives her Winterfell.  Bran tells Dany that the Night King has Viserion.  

GAME OF THRONES -- “Winterfell” -- Emilia Clarke -- Helen Sloan/HBO. 

Sansa has brought all of her armies.  Jon says that ravens are to bring the Night’s Watch.  Jon Snow was made King of the North, but he says he gave up his crown to keep the North.  Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) sits with Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham).  Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) vouches for Jon Snow and says there is a great army and two dragons.  Sansa says that she may not be able to feed this army.  Supplies are carried out.  Tyrion greets Sansa as the Lady of Winterfell.  He mentions she is his wife.  Sansa doubts that Cersei will keep to her promise of bringing her armies.  Tyrion looks at Bran.  Jon is at the tree and then sees Arya who hugs him.  We have waited years for this moment.  She shows him her sword, Needle, and says she used it.  He takes out his sword, Longclaw, for her.  Jon says he needed her help.  Kings Landing, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) is given the report by the Hand, Qyburn (Anton Lesser) that Night King’s armies have breached the wall as ships from the Iron Fleet approach.  Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek) has brought his army.  In the ship’s hold is Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) tied to a post, Euron holds it over her.  She says he is on the losing side.  Euron tells Queen Cersei on the Iron Throne there is 20,000 men in the army, but not the elephants she expected.  He wants a private meeting with the queen as the Mountain risen from the dead stands guard.  Cersei walks away from his suggestion of meeting with her.  She acknowledges him and he follows her.  

GAME OF THRONES -- “Winterfell” -- Kit Harington -- Helen Sloan/HBO. 

Three women are undressing talking with Bronn (Jerome Flynn) about the dragons.  He is interrupted by Qyburn with a summons by the queen.  He is told there are several wagons of gold to be sent after Jaime Lannister who she thinks betryaed her with the crossbow that killed her father.  Starts to dress and he asks about King Robert Baratheon.  She says she likes his arrogance.  Arrows kill men on a ship and Yara Greyjoy is freed by Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), her brother, who kills her guard with an axe to the head.  She headbuts him and then pulls him up.  Three ships are sailing and Theon wants to head north, but follows his sister back to the Iron Islands which she says the dead can’t go.  She sends him to fight with the Starks.  A caravan of supplies reaches Winterfell, it is the Karstarks.  Davos talks with Varys and Tyrion.  He mentions a proposal.  Dany walks with Jon and she mentions Sansa’s dislike.  Dothraki riders report the animals eaten by the dragons. Daenerys worried about them and their lack of appetite.  She mounts her dragon, Drogon, and she tells Jon to mount the other.  He of course gets on it since he is part Targaryen.  His dragon, Rhaegal, takes flight and Dany joins him.  Jon is unsteady and Daenerys takes the lead.  Jon is no dragonrider yet and they move through snowy canyons.  The dragons land and Dany sees an icy waterfall.  They kiss.  Not exactly romantic with the Luke and Leia connection.  

At a forge, Gendry is working making an axe with a dragonglass blade for the Hound, Arya meets again with the Hound.  Dragonglass can destroy the White Walkers.  She shows Gendry a drawing of a weapon of Valyrian steel.  Sansa’s chambers, she tells Jon Snow that one lord has turned away their request.  He tells her sternly that without Daenerys they will lose against the Night King.  She asks him if she loves Dany.  Daenerys enters with Ser Jorah Monmount (Iain Glen), loyal knight to Dany, and meets with Samwell Tarly (John Bradley).  She thanks Sam for saving Ser Jorah.  He says he needs a pardon for borrowing things from House Tarly.  Dany tells Sam that his father, Randal Tarly, refused to bend the knee to her with his son.  Sam starts to cry for his family.  He is lord of House Tarly!  Sam asks for his leave and sees Bran who tells him Jon must be told of his true family.  Jon is paying his respects to his father, Eddard Stark, at his family’s tomb and Sam stumbles in.  He didn’t know about Sam’s family.  Sam reveals Jon is Aegon Targaryen, the true king of the Seven Kingdoms.  His mother was Lyanna Stark and his father was Rhaegar Targaryen.  Jon thinks his father betrayed him, but Sam says he swore to protect him.  The snowy remains of a deserted castle, the Last Hearth, Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) draws his sword, and Berric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), with the survivors of the Night’s Watch.  They hear footsteps and meet with other Night’s Watch soldiers.  A boy, Ned Umber (Harry Grasby), is pinned to the wall along with limbs in a spiral, a message from the Night King!  He starts screaming, he is a wight,! Berric with the flaming sword burns him and the limbs into a fiery symbol.  The supply train moves into Winterfell and a rider dismounts, it is Jaime Lannister (Nikolah Coster-Waldau), and he sees Bran Stark, the boy he crippled by throwing him off of a tower in Winterfell!  Powerful acting for each actor and a great build up from the first episode to this one!    

Five Shards of Dragonglass out of Five!       

#GameofThrones, #Winterfell, #EmiliaClarke, #KitHarington                   

Strolling Through the (Theme) Park One Day: So Cal Renaissance Faire - 2019!

Before the last season of Game of Thrones is here, it is time to go back to a calmer time at the Renaissance Faire, now running to May 19th.  It is located at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale.  The faire is next to a park surrounded by rocky hills that enclose everything from the outside.  This weekend was the Time Traveler Marketplace Weekend!  You are met at the entrance by costumed revelers shouting hearty greetings.  Once inside the faire, there are rows of booths with many crafters, and merchandise to buy.  The people of the faire are lively and may give you a comment in passing even at the opening.  There are so many costumes, I saw some in Star Trek uniforms, and of course a Daenerys and a Melisandre.  It is so fun to see faire goers dressed up like people working at the faire.  This is something not permitted at Galaxy’s Edge.  Note: the park ground is dirt paths and can suddenly turn to mud.  

The Jousters at the Ren Faire, photo by the author. 

There are various groups like Clan MacColin that display armor or activites like threading.  The members of the clan headed out in a parade to travel to their performance stage.  Past Ren Faires, I’ve seen the procession by Queen Elizabeth to the Royal Joust.  There is music and dancing throughout the faire.  A crowd pleaser is MooNiE the Magnif’Cent, he does the whistle of Harpo Marx for communication, juggles, and tightrope walks.  The crowd laughed and clapped throughout the show, one, two, eleven!  He mentioned returning to the faire from Chicago.  Check out MooNiE at http://themoonieshow.com.   I also saw the acrobatic skills of Draiku Aerial Silks, spinning, and dangling in the air from the silks!  I caught part of the Celtic music of the Jackdaws.  You can check out their music and download the digital album, On The Leash, at: https://thejackdawsirishband.bandcamp.com/releases. 

Moonie the Magnificent, Ren Faire, photo by the author. 

There is activites like archery, axe throwing,  and fencing, most of my fencing training comes from St. Judes School of Fencing, I used my training when I was learning how to use a lightsaber at the Nick Gillard Jedi/Sith Masterclass.  The food is a little tame from what I remember, I didn’t see Toad in a Hole, but the turkey legs are still massive!  Still, the highlight of the faire is always the joust.  A lady in chainmail announces the joust.  There are two sides of the jousting arena for audiences, for my side, was the knight with a blue feather on his helmet.  His name is Sir Edgeron of Aquatine.  The jousters made two passes, glancing blows, bu Sir Edgeron struck well the top of a shield.  This is  right out of The Hand’s tourney.  The knights are well trained.  You can see their Facebook page at The Jousters - Home.  The Renaissance Pleasure Faire is the chance to go back to the time of knights, maidens, and the entertainment of the day.  Check out their page at: http://renfair.com. You can truly learn and step into a medieval world! 

Announcing the joust!, Ren Faire, photo by the author. 

#renfaire, #MoonieTheMagnificent, #thejackdaws, #thejousters

Happy Birthday Peter Davison!

Happy Birthday Peter Davison! We might now him as the Fifth Doctor, with his white cricket jacket, Panama hat, and carrying a stalk of celery in his pocket.  He started out playing an alien, Elmer, in a 1975 episode of the sci fi show The Tomorrow People.  He had a long running part as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small based on the James Herriot books.  Davison’s run was from 1978 to 1980, then specials in 1983, 1985, and regular part from 1988 to 1990.  He was also in tv series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy playing Dish of the Day in a 1981 episode. 

Peter Davison, at Gen Con, 2013, photo by the author.

Davison moved on to take the role of The Doctor with a youthful crew of Companions from 1981 to 1984.  He played the artistocratic detective Albert Campion in Mystery!: Campion (1989-1990).  In 1994, Davison voiced Mole in the animated The Adventures of Mole based on the character from The Wind in the Willows. It was in 2007 that he returned as The Doctor meeting David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in Time Crash.  He was Henry Sharpe in Law & Order: UK (2011-2014). Recently, Davison plays William Priestley on the show Gentleman Jack.  Happy Birthday Peter Davison!   

#PeterDavison, #DoctorWho, #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall, #GentlemanJack 

Missing Link Review!

Missing Link is a cryptozoological, Western, Jules Verne-esque, Raiders of the Lost Ark-styled, Laika animated film of fun!  Missing Link is written and directed by Chris Butler.  He wrote and co-directed ParaNorman (2012) and wrote the screenplay for Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).  It starts off with the Bigfoot foot print and then makes a transition to the shores of Loch Ness. Out on the loch is the boat rowed by Mr. Lemuel Lint (David Walliams).   Walliams is a comedian known for Little Britain and worked with Matt Lucas on the show.  Lint is a portly fellow with a hat and coat.  

He assists Sir Lionel Frost ably voiced by Hugh Jackman.  He is the refined gentleman explorer that seems cast in the mold of Professor Challenger and Phileas Fogg.  Jackman had a perfect role as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman (2017), he is iconic playing Wolverine recently in Logan (2017), and he voiced the Easter Bunny in Rise of the Guardians (2012).  He has fun with his flawed, but charismatic explorer!  Sir Lionel has the confidence to brave any danger, but there is also an awkwardness.  He lures Nessie to the surface, can’t spoil it!, to take a photo of it.  The Loch Ness Monster was also in a similar time period film with The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).  Sir Lionel attempts to lasso the Loch Ness Monster, it shrugs off the rope, and promptly swallows Mr. Lint! 

Sir Lionel dives in and is able to catch hold of the rope to steer Nessie close to their boat.  Mr. Lint is spat out and they find their camera to take proof of the monster is destroyed.  Sir Lionel back in his London house finds that Mr. Lint is upset at being in danger, pointing out all of his companions who left him, and quits.  Now alone, Sir Lionel finds in his correspondence, a letter giving proof of the Sasquatch in Old Creek, Washington!  He has the footprint cast of the Bigfoot.  Sir Lionel races in a carriage to the Optimates Club.  A stuffy organization of explorers with Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry) boasting about killing a rare species.  

It is obvious that this explorer’s club is only interested in trophies to mount on their walls.  Lord Piggot-Dunceby is assisted by Mr. Collick voiced by Matt Lucas so both of the Little Britain duo are here.  Sir Lionel hopes that his discovery of the Sasquatch will get him entry into the club.  Lord Piggot-Dunceby is offended that there would be a missing link in mankind’s descendants, it isn’t proper to think of such things, but Sir Lionel challenges him since he doesn’t believe in the Sasquatch.  Lord Piggot-Dunceby accepts the challenge, but has Mr. Collick arrange to have his henchman, Stenk, stop him.  

Sir Lionel lays out a map for the journey, part of the clever transitions of the movie, and reaches the Northwest.  He rides a horse into the frontier town that is out of classic Westerns.  Sir Lionel is pointed to the forested hills.  He reaches the remains of a house and sees the large footprint.  A hairy shape moves into the woods.  This is straight out of the shaky Patterson film and reminds me a little of Harry and the Hendersons (1987).  Sir Lionel stops the Sasquatch, the letter flies out of his hand to be caught by the other, there is a growling sound, but this is not a beast!  

He speaks and Sir Lionel is surprised, he says he learned to speak and read from a shaman, and the explorer examines the Sasquatch.  He is taken to the Sasquatch’s cave and is explained why he is there by his host, “I’m lonely.”  Sir Lionel was contacted because he is known at least in papers as a world traveler and his help is needed to reach his cousins, the Yetis, in the Himalyas. Sir Lionel believes it is the lost city of Shangri-La.  This vaguely reminds me of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), but the lost city reminds me best of the classic film, Lost Horizon (1937).

Sir Lionel works out a name for his new companion, he has Lint’s passport, and can change it so he is Mr. Link.  Later, he finds that Mr. Link should have his own name, and takes the name Susan, love it!  Zach Galifianakis voices Mr. Link, he had an iconic role as Alan in The Hangover (2009), he voiced Humpty Alexander Dumpty in Puss in Boots (2011), and he was recently the Happy Medium in A Wrinkle in Time (2018).  Mr. Link has had little communication with people he is refreshingly frank and funny that is appropriate to the character and film.  

Mr. Link joins the ranks of the best Laika characters.  They make an agreement, Mr. Link will give proof of his existence, hair clippings, and Sir Lionel will help him find his cousins in Shangri-La.  Sir Lionel takes him and the horse into the town to get some rest at the saloon.  He throws a blanket over Mr. Link to keep his identity hidden.  I love the concept that clothes over Mr. Link completely hides him!  They are confronted by the short, relentless, and brutal Willard Stenk played by Timothy Olyphant.  He of course is currently in the Santa Clarita Diet series.  This of course breaks into a bar fight which is not violent, but so silly and absurd, it is hilarious.  Stenk escapes, but he follows Sir Lionel and Mr. Link who are traveling to Santa Ana, California!  

This is seen as a hacienda for Adelina Fortnight voiced by Zoe Saldana.  She is a widow who was formerly romantic with Sir Lionel, and her husband was a former explorer and friend.  This reminds me a little of Marion Ravenwood and also Alice Hastings from Journey to the Center of the Earth.  Saldana is known for playing Gamora, recently in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Uhura in Star Trek: Beyond (2016), but she also voiced Maria in the animated film, The Book of Life (2014).  Her voice is of a Spanish lady in California like Catherine Zeta Jones’ character, Elena, in The Mask of Zorro (1998), elegant, and ready for adventure.  Mr. Link, in an ill-fitting, yellow striped suit like something from Laurel and Hardy, waits outside as Sir Lionel is looking for Fortnight’s map. 

Adelina is angry at him for saying that she has trapped herself inside the house like her pet canary and sends him running!  Sir Lionel plans to break into the hacienda with Mr. Link, but Mr. Link takes things literally so Adelina catches them.  They manage to get the map and the next day are caught by Adelina trying to board a train.  Also, there is Stenk, who purues them across the world!  Of note is the ship journey that later during a storm, turns into a chase that has a twist on the gravity-defying stunts of Inception (2010)!  This animated movie has it all, I was laughing throughout it, and the story is basically about friendship, of finding where we belong.  Laika films are rare treats of stop motion beauty and memorable characters.  Don’t miss this one!  

Five Maps out of Five! 

#MissingLink, #ChrisButler, #HughJackman, #ZachGaliafianakis, #ZoeSaldana 

Cloak and Dagger, “Shadow Selves”, Review!

The last episodes of Cloak and Dagger had them tracking down the ambulance driver taking away girls.  This also unleashed Mayhem!  It opens to a white mouse tested by Mina Hess (Ally Maki) exposed to the Terror.  She also mentions that he was tested on humans.  The power shorts out.  It comes back on and there are two mice!   One is vicious and kills the other!  We get the title, “242 Days Ago”, it is night, and figure claws out of the lake.  It is Brigid O’Reilly.  She returns to her apartment, on her tv is news reports of the Terror, notices her dark green fingernatils, and drinks from her kitchen fawcett.   Brigid starts to lash out and throws her refrigerator down.  She hears that Detective O’Reilly is taken to the hospital.  We get “240 Days Ago”, O’Reilly is taken on a gurney and her counterpart who looks just like her checks her hair.  She brings up a pillow, to snuff her out, then hears voices.  An officer enters the room to check it and the O’Reilly double drops from a vent.  It shifts to “Now” with the bloody hand of the dark O’Reilly.     

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Shadow Selves” -- AUBREY JOSEPH, OLIVIA HOLT, EMMA LAHANA -- Photo Credit: Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani.

Tyrone, Tandy, and O’Reilly stare at the dark O’Reilly.  He knows she killed the gang members at the club.  Dark O’Reilly draws her gun, but Tyrone cloaks them away.  Tyrone is out of breath using his power.  Tandy has questions O’Reilly about her dark half.  Tyrone calms her down.  Mina checks out Tyrone.  She tells them mice number eleven split.  This is what happened to O’Reilly.  She shares everything with her double up to the division.  Mina says the double only has anger.  O’Reilly says, “Mayhem.”  I love this twist!  The comic book had O’Reilly transform into Mayhem and this Jekyll meeting Hyde works with the Divine Pairing.  “236 Days Ago”, Mayhem O’Reilly takes some cigarettes to an apartment.  “Now”, Brigid says she can’t shoot anymore, Tandy says that she will know where Mayhem is going.  She takes them to S.R.O. a hotel for the desperate, the clerk is fearful, but O’Reilly gets the keys to “her” room.  Inside, they see pictures on the wall, Mayhem has taken her suspects to kill them!  At the church, Father Delgado (Jaime Zevallos) puts his things into a box except a cross, it’s “200 Days Ago.”  He walks out with the box, but is questioned by Dark O’Reilly asking about Tyrone Johnson.  She says she’s no longer a police officer.  He has given up being a priest.  

He walks off, “Now”, they are studying the wall of Mayhem.  Tyrone opens a case with guns.  O’Reilly is putting together the next steps.  Tandy says the ambulance driver says that there was another job.  Tyrone takes out Tandy who is getting upset.  He wonders if Tandy thinks he is like Mayhem.  She says he is a protector.  O’Reilly finds the cards that Mayhem was using to sort out people.  It is strange, but the dark double also reminds me of the movie Us.  She shows them the playing cards that she uses as a police officer.  O’Reilly has found that she is following the New Orleans sex trade.  A man, I did not recognize this was Father Delgado!, is spouting out rants about sin, drinking on a street corner. Then, he collapses.  She tells him that she is about to sin.  Then, we see the sign of the “Glitter Gutter Strip Club.”  We see “122 Days Ago”, the Connors card is placed by Mayhem on her wall, the first one.  She writes on another card ,”Who is his partner?”  She enters a police car and begins using a computer search taking a picture with her cell phone.  Wyatt, an officer, asks why she is in his patrol car.  She says his car was unlocked so he should get her a coffee.  O’Reilly goes to her chief (Andrea Frankle) to ask about Connors.  Her chief says she might have a “dark streak”, then Wyatt gives her the coffee.  “Now”, the group is headed to the next strip club, Tyrone is hesistant.  O’Reilly waits outside with her gun while the duo enters.  

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Shadow Selves” -- EMMA LAHANA -- Photo Credit: Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani.

Tandy passes a dancer, the lights flash, and Mayhem holds up a man.  Tandy throws her Light Dagger and Mayhem catches it!  She runs at Mayhem, but is thrown down.  O’Reilly pulls a gun at her double!  Mayhem tells her to shoot.  There was no hesitation in Us.  O’Reilly lowers her gun and Mayhem walks away.  Mayhem puts up more pictures on the wall, “113 Days Ago”, she attends a city hall meeting in glasses and baseball cap.  A vote is made for an investigation on violence towards a woman.  The last member to vote is Adina Johnson who looks at a man and votes no upsetting the entire room.  The man leaves and his car stalls.  He opens the hood to check it when Mayhem talks to him.  He is a former police officer.  She slams him into the car and chokes him.  He had defended Connors.  She slashes his neck.  It is “102 Days Ago”, Mayhem walks up to a man on the street.  She tells the street preacher about her victim.  Mayhem gives him a drink.  She walks away and stumbles on a flyer for a missing girl.  She sees others.  It is again “Now” with the trio looking for Mayhem.  They see crying girls who say Mayhem saved them.  There is a dead body of a man and O’Reilly’s badge.  It is strange in the chaos after the Terror that the only justice is the brutal “justice” of a killer.  

Tandy is frustrated over the size of the slave trade.  Mayhem puts up the missing posters on her wall, “48 Hours Ago”, she enters the club and begins taking down the gang members.  “Now”, Tandy and Tyrone get from O’Reilly that the girls are too fearful, Tandy takes hold of one girl’s hand with her Dagger glow.  Darkness, she sees the girl is alone and crying.  She has no hope Tandy says.  He thinks back and sees the girl in the ambulance gurney falling out, she is the same girl he saw cloaking in, he sees a building.  Delgado preaches and throws down the bottle.  The duo return to the building.  I love the connection with Tyrone that was seemingly random, but becomes important.  “36 Hours Ago”, O’Reilly on the street, the reflection was actually Mayhem!  “Now”, Tyrone has scouted the place, he Cloaks in, to see gang members hanging out.  One walks as a guard with a gun past rooms.  He returns to tell Tandy what he saw.  Tyrone doesn’t want to wait for Mayhem like Tandy wants because his brother died playing things Mayhem’s way.  Dagger forms the light globe and throws it into the building blinding the gang.  Tyrone Cloaks two girls to O’Reilly.  The gang members return to find the girls are gone.  Tandy stands up with a gun pulled on her!  The gang member is run over by a truck.  Mayhem walks out of the truck.  She takes the gang members gun and fires on the gang members, Tandy stands behind her.  Cloak takes away the boy he saw stunned at his powers.  Then, he brings Mayhem into his cloak!  He looks at Tandy, their partnership is in trouble! In Cloak's world, Mayhem walks to a gas station.  She opens a refrigerator to see Fuchs’ body.  He smiles at her and tells her about pancakes.  This episode is intense, brings together so many threads, and powerful acting by the characters.  I think the best episode of the series! 

Five Light Daggers out of Five!      

#CloakandDagger, #ShadowSelves, #AllyMaki, #JaimeZevallos

Where Did the Colossus Go?

Spoilers! The end of the first season of Star Wars: Resistance, “No Escape”, had the Colossus, the setting of Resistance and a base turned into a starship, set on course to the Resistane base on D’Qar, but is lost in hyperspace!  So where did the Colossus go?  The answer is basically in the minds of the writers and producers, but let’s throw some theories.  First, the easy answer is a planet close to D’Qar, in the same region, but different region is Naboo.  This would update the planet for the Sequel Trilogy.  Second, they could end up in Ilum in the Unknown Regions, this was used by the Jedi to find lightsaber crystals, and was mined by the Empire in the Ahsoka (2016) novel.  What will it be like in the time period of the Sequel Trilogy?  This might also lead to the third choice.  Third, we have another Star Wars animated series where we have characters who are lost in hyperspace, Thrawn and Ezra Bridger taken away by the purrgil, whale-like creatures that move through hyperspace, in Star Wars: Rebels, “Family Reunion and Farewell” (2018). 

Entrance to Galaxy's Edge, D23 Expo, 2017, photo by the author.

I suspect they were taken to the Unknown Regions and found by Snoke.  Whatever the destination of Ezra Bridger, it could be that we have Dave Filoni again connecting two series with the Colossus ending up in the same destination as the purrgil.  There was a surprise in Star Wars: Rebels with the appearance of Ahsoka Tano so Ezra Bridger would be like Ahsoka showing up.  Fourth, it could be Takodana, this is the destination of Aunt Z and the other Aces like Hype Fazon.  They would introduce Kaz to Maz Kanata.  Fifth, this might seem obvious, Batuu, with Galaxy’s Edge getting promotion in novels and the upcoming theme park expansions, it would of course be perfect to have Colossus make a stop here and have some adventures before continuing on.  This would allow the Star Wars: Resistance characters to be at Galaxy’s Edge!  So, what do you think is the destination of the Colossus?  Answer in the comments!  Is there another planet or place that is the possible destination of the Colossus?  We will find out the answer in season 2 of Star Wars: Resistance in the fall.  

A) Batuu 

B) Ilum 

C) Naboo 

D) Snoke’s planet 

E) Takodana 

#StarWarsResistance, #TheColossus, #Batuu, #Takodana

Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley!

Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley! She was on tv before making the hyperspace jump to the screen as Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Ridley supplied the voice of Taeko in the anime, Only Yesterday, released on Blu Ray in 2016. Her next film was in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017) as Mary Debenham.  

Ridley voiced Rey in the animated Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017-2018).  She returned as Rey in Last Jedi.  Last year, she played Ophelia in the title role of the film, Ophelia, showing her perspective in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Then, she voiced Cotton-Tail in Peter Rabbit, the live action film based on the Beatrix Potter books  Ridley has upcoming of course Star Wars: Episode IX to be released on December 20th.  Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley!

#DaisyRidley, #StarWarsTheForceAwakens, #MurderontheOrientExpress, #Ophelia 

Twilight Zone, “The Comedian”, Review!

The Twilight Zone was relaunched on CBS All Access and the first episode is available streamed almost everywhere.  The original show, which ran from 1959 to 1964, was groundbreaking in bringing all sorts of genres, fantasy, science fiction, and horror to an anthology created and hosted by Rod Serling.  The show featured an incredible roster of writers, besides Serling, there was Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, and Ray Bradbury.  It is developed by Simon Kinberg, Jordan Peele, and Marco Ramirez.  “The Comedian” debuted on April 1st.  It is directed by Owen Harris who also directed an episode of Black Mirror.  The episode was written by Alex Reubens who worked on the show Key & Peele as well as co-writing Keanu (2016) with Jordan Peele.  

There is a warning about the adult content of the show.  It starts out with Kumail Nanjiani starting his set, Nanjiani is of course known for the show, Silicon Valley, and also his brilliant work co-writing and starring in The Big Sick (2017).  Nanjiani plays a subdued, smart comic, but he really works as a comedian on fire.  I think this is a very personal to Nanjiani, Reubens, but also reflects on Peele.  It resolves to a painting of a well dressed audience on the wall, hints of The Shining (1980)?  He plays Samir, casually dressed, working at Eddies Comedy Club.  His opening is about guns and the Second Amendment.  The audience is quiet.  He focuses on the “well regulated” part of the amendment.  Samir looks out at the unlaughing crowd.  He orders a drink at the bar and is joined by fellow comedian, DiDi Scott, played by Diarra Kilpatrick. She is also in the sitcom The Last O.G.  Didi is someone that Samir confides in and she is a little funny. 

TWILIGHT ZONE -- “The Comedian” -- KUMAIL NANJIANI -- Robert Falconer/CBS. 

Samir wants to tell thought provoking jokes and then points to another comedian who he says murdered people.  This is the drunk Joe Donner (Toby Hargrave).  Diarra doesn’t believe he is a murderer and leaves for her set.  He is then joined by legendary comedian J.C. Wheeler.  He is of course played by Tracy Morgan, a dramatic part here, he is best known for 30 Rock and The Last O.G.  It reminds me of the classic TZ episode, “A Game of Pool” (1961) where a legendary pool player has a final match with an up and coming player.  Samir asks J.C. where he has been, he had it all, but he is mysterious.  J.C. mentions the audience is interested in him.  He promises everything to Samir and says once the audience connects, then it will be “gone forever.”  Samir toasts J.C.’s glass. 

Joe Donner finishes and hands his mic over to Samir.  

He starts with the Second Amendment again.  Unsmiling faces.  He mentions they look like his dog.  There are some laughs about his dog named Cat.  The audience laughs their heads off.  Samir heads home to his apartment.  He calls for his dog.  Samir goes to tell his sleeping girlfriend, Rena (Amara Karan) about his success at the club.  He asks about Cat, but she says they don’t have a dog.  Jordan Peele as host speaks about Samir and the cost he is willing to pay, but he doesn’t say Samir has just entered the Twilight Zone!  I love the surreal show introduction, strange as the original, but fresh.  The show returns with a ruined bus stop at Franklin St.  We overhear Deven Singh (Marc Joseph), Samir’s ten year old nephew, ask about it and Samir tells his nephew that a drunk driver, a comic, hit the bus stop and killed people.  They put up missing dog posters.  

TWILIGHT ZONE -- “The Comedian” -- DIARRA KILPATRICK, KUMAIL NANJIANI -- Robert Falconer/CBS. 

Deven points out the joke of the no apostrophes sign to his uncle.  DiDi interrupts them and she likes Deven’s jokes.  Samir is back using the 2nd Amendment joke, really if jokes fall flat, he should use something else in his set or comment on his situation. Clinking ice cubes.  Deven is on his phone.  Samir starts joking about Deven.  Then, Deven is gone. Later, Samir asks Didi about Deven, but she doesn’t know him.  He goes out to the street, it is raining, asking about a “little boy.”  Then, he tries to use his cell phone, but there is no Deven Singh.  Samir goes back to his apartment, he interrupts David Candell (Ryan Robbins) having wine with Rena.  We find out later that he was Rena’s mentor as a lawyer.  He picks up the family photo that had Deven in it, but he is not there.   

Samir tries to explain to Rena about J.C. Wheeler and that the persons mentioned in his jokes are gone.  David checks on them, but Rena takes Samir aside.  There is a memorial to the bus stop victims.  Samir eyes it as he heads towards the comedy club.  On stage, he tries the 2nd amendment again, then about his nephew, it doesn’t work.  Neither does his joke about the president.  He looks at Joe Donner.  Samir starts to make fun of him for killing a mother and her baby.  The audiences laugh.  Joe Donner laughs with his bottle of beer.  Clapping and then there is no Joe Donner.  Samir checks the bus stop and sees that it is intact.  Some fans say he killed in his set.  Samir says he “unkilled.”  At night, while Rena is asleep, he goes through the people on his laptop from his life that were mean.  Playing God.  Rena laughs at the club.  Samir is on a roll.  Still, there are consequences, Samir may not have seen It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), he is not thinking about others and there is a twist.  Is there fear, a mind, a person behind the laughs?  It is strange, but needs to be intense and creepy to be Twilight Zone.  

Three Jokes out of Five!  

#TwilightZone, #TheComedian, #KumailNanjani, #DiarraKilpatrick