Happy Birthday George Takei!

Happy Birthday George Takei!  A veteran actor of the television screen, Takei’s first film role was in Ice Palace (1960).  He was in the production of the civil rights musical Fly Blackbird (1961). One of his first genre roles was in “The Encounter” (1964) episode of The Twilight Zone.  Then, he had an iconic part as Sulu in Star Trek (1966-1969).  Takei worked on the John Wayne war film, The Green Berets (1968).  He returned to voice Sulu in Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974).  Takei co-wrote with author, Robert Asprin, the science fiction novel, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe (1979).  He also reprised the role of Sulu for film in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).  He appeared as Dr. Marcus in a 1980 episode of the tv series, Beyond Westworld.  Then, continued as Sulu in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.  In 1990, Takei co-wrote with Peter David, Star Trek Annual #1 that involved Sulu.  

The final adventure for the original crew was in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).  This is also where we find Sulu is captain of his own ship, the U.S.S. Excelsior.  He also started voicing parts in The Simpsons from 1991 and continuing on several episodes.  Takei wrote his autobiography, To The Stars, in 1994.  He appeared as Captain Sulu in “Flashback” (1996) episode of Star Trek: Voyager.  Takei provided a voice in the Disney animated film, Mulan (1998).  In 2002, Takei voiced his own head in Futurama and would continue to voice the character in other episodes.  He was the voice of Sensei in the Kim Possible (2003-2007) animated series.  Takei played Kaito Nakamura in the sci fi series Heroes (2007-2008).  He voiced an alien general, Lok Durd, in a 2009 episode of Star Wars: Clone Wars.  Takei returned as Kaito Nakamura in a 2010 episode of Heroes. Takei played the grandfather in the musical based on his life, Allegiance, the Broadway production was filmed in 2016.  It was interesting to hear Takei voice a character in Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).   He has recently appeared as Yamato-san in horror series, The Terror.  George Takei co-wrote with Justin Elsinger and Steven Scott about his childhood in the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy.  Happy Birthday George Takei! 

#GeorgeTakei, #StarTrek, #Allegiance, #KuboandtheTwoStrings

Wonder Woman #771 Review!

 Diana was transformed in Infinite Frontier #0 finds herself a stranger in a strange Asgard.  She finds an ally with Siegfried and discovers the nature of the Ragnarok cycle from the talking squirrel, Ratatosk.  He is part of the world tree, Yggdrasil, and there is a change with the disappearance of the Valkyries.  Diana sees a mysterious figure, one of the Quintessance?, I’m guessing the Phantom Stranger.  He has been the supernatural guide to others.  The regular cover by interior artist Travis Moore has Diana in her armor about to be swallowed by a massive serpent along with Ratatosk!  There is also a stunning variant cover by Joshua Middleton featuring Diana with sword and snowy background.  “Afterworlds Part 2” is written by Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan.  It opens up at the tables in Valhalla with red-bearded, shirtless Thor thinking everything is just a part of the cycle.  Diana tries to bring up the change with the missing Siegfried, but Thor only cares about the battles.  

She leaves Valhalla and walks with the more sensible Ratatosk.  The squirrel perched on her shoulder I’m thinking there should be a Ratatosk stuffie toy with magnet.  They are headed to Nidavellir, the land of the dwarves, the entrance is a dark cave.  The squirrel warns Diana about the Murk Elves, Dokkalfar?, I’ve seen them called Dark Elves.  They are ambushed by several Murk Elves, pale hair, and luminous eyes, but Diana is still a warrior and can wield her sword. Still, Ratatosk tries to warn her about the boulder dislodged by Murk Elves.  The shadowy figure still tries to warn Diana that she doesn’t belong in Asgard.  Diana bursts free from the boulder, regaining her powers?, and defeats the Murk Elves cheered on by Ratatosk.  They continue on walking down steps in a tunnel to reach the forge.  I’m loving the red-tinged colors of the forge by Tamra Bonvillain.  At the forge, is a short man in a white shirt and tie, Dr. Psycho!  Long time foe, Edgar Cizko, was introduced in Wonder Woman #5 (1943).  He says is in Asgard by astral projection and offers to forge a sword for Diana.  She wants to know what happened to Valkyries and takes out a length of rope, telling Ratatosk to avert his eyes, very funny!  

Cizko threatens to tell the serpent, the enchanted weapons put their owners under his control, and gives up the location of a key to the Valkyries’ fortress.  Apparently, the rope works as a Lasso of Truth for Diana, a new power?  Diana leaves Dr. Psycho tied to a chair.  They continue on, Diana carries a torch through a tunnel, and Ratatosk explains that the serpent is Nidhogg, who will eat the world!  The beast did appear in the Marvel Universe with Thor #339 (1983).  Diana says she will be careful, but trips and falls!  She has wakened a presence with an evil voice.  It is the massive, red-scaled snake, Nidhogg.  The beast is lurking in the roots of Yggdrasil.  Diana is looking for the key which Nidhogg has eaten and Ratatosk mentions the eagle’s egg.  She makes a bargain for the key.  Ratatosk leads Diana climbint to the top of Yggdrasil.  I really like that we can see world tree and its parts in this story.  

Diana reaches the tree top and finds what looks like an elderly man hanging from a rope.  He has an eyepatch so was instantly identifiable, it’s Odin.  They are watched by ravens, Huginn and Muninn, thought and memory, that gather information for Odin.  She tells him all that she has learned and also that Thor doesn’t understand any of it.  The rope snaps and Odin falls.  Diana hears the war horn that signals the battle.  She thinks of Siegfried and sees him in his armor, a vision?  They reach the top of Yggdrasil and find the giant eagle, something out of Ray Harryhausen, in its nest atop a giant egg.  It shrieks and Ratatosk tells Diana that someone said something to the eagle, which has no name in Norse mythology, and it grants them one egg.  Diana lifts up the giant egg and Ratatosk is happy that they can take the secret ways down Yggdrasil, a slide!  There is a trick Ratatosk has for the egg and Nidhogg!  Young Diana’s story continues in “Lessons Learned” by Jordie Bellaire and Paulina Ganucheau.  She is told the history of the Amazons by Clio, the Amazonian scribe, and is set on finding a missing book.  Wonder Woman #771 brings a detailed slice of Norse mythology without the battles which were in the first issue and more Ratatosk!  

Five Lassos of Truth out of Five! 

#WonderWoman771, #Nidavellir, #MurkElves, #DrPsycho, #Nidhogg, #Odin

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 working 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 (2015-2019).  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 began voicing Lord Commander in the animated Final Space series.  He started his podcast, “David Tennant Does a Podcast with…” early in 2019.  Then, he voiced Spitelout in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. (2019).  Also in 2019, Tennant was Crowley in the Good Omens series based on the book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. He voices Scrooge McDuck in the animated This Duckburg Life.  Happy Birthday David Tennant!  Allons-y! 

#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.  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).  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).  

Sean 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 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 villainous 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 Olympians: 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).  In The Martian (2015), the adaptation of the Andy Weir book, he played Mitch Henderson.  He currently plays Joseph Wilford in the Snowpiercer series.  Bean voiced wolf hunter, Bill Goodfellowe in the animated Wolfwalkers (2020).  Happy Birthday Sean Bean!

#Sean Bean, #SharpesRifles, #TheLordoftheRings, #GameofThrones, #Snowpiercer, #Wolfwalkers 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, “Truth”, Review!

 Last episode re:Cap,  Then, we have Cap Walker bust in with Battlestar to arrest Zemo.  The  Dora Milaje arrive for Zemo, Bucky and Sam get involved so the Dora Milaje don’t kill Cap Walker and Battlestar.  Ayo is able to easily disable the Winter Soldier’s arm!  Cap Walker gets his shield caught by a Vibrarium spear.  They find Zemo has escaped.  Karli threatens Sarah, Sam’s sister, how she is able to learn about Sam’s personal details makes me think it was Dr. Raynor All Along!  Sam has Sarah go into hiding.  Falcon and the Winter Soldier meet with Karli.  Sharon detects Cap Walker and warns Sam.  Cap Walker finds Battlestar captured by the Flag Smashers.   The battle begins with Cap Walker, Falcon sees that Cap Walker can bend an iron bar, he has taken the serum!  The Winter Soldier and Falcon join the fight, Falcon is handy with just his wings.  Karli kicks Battlestar into a pillar and kills him!  Cap Walker doesn’t take this well.  Karli runs.  Cap Walker goes after Nico and bashes him with the shield outside in the square and brings down the shield killing him in front of everyone in the square recording the murder with their cell phones!  Cap Walker sees the people and we end with a shot with him and the bloody shield, the image that shook the MCU!   Who Will Wield the Shield?  

Cap Walker is running, images of his murder flash in his eyes, he enters a warehouse and screams!  Cap Walker and words of Lemar echo in his mind.  Falcon and the Winter Soldier enter the warehouse.  Sam says Cap Walker has to give him the shield.  Cap Walker then thinks they just after the shield.  It gets into a fight.  Cap Walker is able to knock down Winter Soldier and his cyborg arm is disabled.  The Falcon takes on Cap Walker, but his wings are ripped apart as Cap Walker screams, “I am Captain America!”  Several times, he tries to bring the shield down in the killing blow against Nico.  Falcon helps Winter Soldier and uses his rockets to break Cap Walker’s arm taking the shield!  Cap Walker still tries to get back the shield, but the Falcon and Winter Soldier combo is too much for him!  The Winter Soldier drops the bloody shield by Sam and walks away.  Sam starts to wipe the blood from the shield.  

Sam informs Bucky that the Flag Smashers are being arrested by the GRC.  Torres arrives and Sam asks Bucky if he is going after Zemo.  He looks at the broken wings.  Sam takes the shield and leaves his wings behind.  Washington, D.C., John Walker looks at the protestors as he is stripped of the Captain America title.  The senator does not give him a court martial and Walker begins to scream at him.  He is dishonorably discharged.  His wife, Olivia (Gabrielle Byndloss) watches in the audience.  She was introduced in Walker's debut, "The Star Spangled Man."  Walker walks away, later his wife says he has to meet with Lemar’s parents, a mysterious woman walks up to them.  It is Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). This  is actually a character who was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics and first appeared in Strange Tales #159 (1967).  She was played by Lisa Rinna in the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998) tv movie.  She has a streak of purple, in the comics, it is a distinctive white streak, but this works.  Dreyfus is perfect, she just walks in playing a character I’ve been waiting for since Nick Fury showed up in Iron Man (2008), she is a love interest for Fury, his wife?, and steals the show!  She knows all about Walker and mentions that his best choice is answering her phone call, love it!    

                        The Shield, Summer of Heroes Showcase, Disney’s California Adventure, 2017, photo by the author. 

We move back to the empy Latvian courtyard, Karli and her followers look around, Dovich finds the notice that it was closed by the GRC.  She tells them that it is time.  At a lakeside memorial to his family in Sokovia, Zemo pays his respects, he is met by Bucky who shows him his gun.  Zemo tries to explain that Karli has gotten even more radicalized.  Bucky holds up the gun, but the chamber is empty!  His cyborg hand drops the bullets as the Dora Milaje walk up!  Zemo is taken away to the Raft as Ayo tells White Wolf that he should not show up in Wakanda.  As Ayo is about to walk away, Bucky asks for another favor.  Night, Baltimore, Maryland, Sam walks up to Elijah who is playing basketball.  Elijah sends him to see his grandfather.  Sam has the shield in the bag!  He takes it to the backyard where Isaiah is watering his plants.  Isaiah says he doesn’t want the shield.  Sam says he wants to understand.  Isaiah brings up the famous Red Tails and the crosses burned on their lawns when they returned.  

Sam is going to take the best parts of Captain America and also bring in the forgotten parts of this country to make the ultimate Captain America!  This is something that the comic books had tried with the new Captain America, but it didn't stick, it's back to Steve Rogers.  It was great that Sam Wilson was Captain America, but the comics needed story like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to prove Sam is Cap.  This is the future of the MCU, we are moving from the past, I don't want to see Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, but it would be nice.  Later, Isaiah shows Sam the picture of his wife who died while he was imprisoned.  He explains that he was told the serum was a tetanus shot and that his fellow soldiers who got the injection were captured.  The order was made to destroy their prisoner camp.  Isaiah freed them, but they later died, and then he shows Sam his scars and the 30 years of experimenting on him.  

A nurse covered for Isaiah declaring him dead, Valentina?  She gave him all of the letters from his wife kept from him.  Isaiah says he would be dead if his existence was revealed.  This is very powerful.  I’m glad there is an episode instead of a cameo for Isaiah.  He says they will never allow a black Captain America, I think he’s wrong.  Sam walks out of Isaiah’s house with the shield.  He calls Sarah on his phone and tells her he’s coming home.  In New Orleans, Sam works with his nephews fixing a fishing net.  He tells Sarah is there to reflect and help with the boat when the buyer gave up on it.  Sam is going to pull an It’s A Wonderful Life with Sarah helping everyone in the neighborhood.   Bucky shows up and this is a true partnership with Bucky helping Sam and his family.  He has a case from Wakanda, I think this is not just wings, maybe a vibranium-laced suit?  Don’t miss the mid-credits scene!  This episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in bringing in most of the characters and defining what it is to be Captain America!  

Five Red Wings out of Five! 

#TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier, #Truth, #JuliaLouisDreyfus, #ContessaValentinaAllegradelaFontaine , #GabrielleByndloss  

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 played Meg March in Little Women (2019), directed by Greta Gerwig.  Happy Birthday Emma Watson!  

#EmmaWatson, #HarryPotterandtheDeathHallowsPart2, #BeautyandtheBeast, #LittleWomen

Re:tro Re:view - Ewoks: The Battle for Endor!

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) continues the adventures of Cindel and Wicket, plus it introduces and features Teek!  It is of course the second television movie, the first one was Star Wars: Caravan of Courage (1983): http://geektruth.blogspot.com/2020/10/retro-review-star-wars-caravan-of.html.  The setting was the Forest Moon of Endor and we are introduced to the Towani family.  This was Cindel and Mace who have to ally with the Ewoks to free their parents, Jeremitt and Catarine, from the giant, Gorax.  The movie is currently streaming on Disney+ as part of Vintage Star Wars.  It is written and directed by Ken and Jim Wheats.  They also wrote A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988).  George Lucas provided the story for the film.  We return to the Forest Moon of Endor, in the grassy fields, Cindel (Aubree Miller) and Wicket (Warwick Davis) play.  Cindel had an all white clothes that looked like pajamas in the first movie, she has added a brown tunic.   

On a hilltop, Cindel greets her father, Jeremitt (Paul Gleason), as he prepares the family’s star cruiser.  Cindel explains to Wicket that they have to return home, unidentified, and go back to school.  They head back to Wicket’s village, not on a treetop, but I hope they explain why the move to the forest floor.  Wicket senses danger, they reach a hill, and hear the sounds of a battle!  Marauders are capturing Ewoks and putting them in bone cage wagons.  The Marauders are bony ridged aliens that wear armor cobbled together with ragged clothing.  They carry blasters, but it seems their technology is cobbled together and they are in a sense stranded pirates.  Their race was identified as Sanyassans in a 2002 article in the Star Wars Gamer magazine.  I would actually prefer the Ewok’s enemies, the Duloks, green-furred, tribal warriors.  They were in the Ewoks cartoon and I hope The Mandalorian makes them canon.  

The wagons are being pulled by blurrgs.  These are the bulky reptillian creatures with two legs and a short head.  They entered canon with Star Wars: Clone Wars, “Liberty on Ryloth” (2009), and recently, the first episode of The Mandalorian.  The Ugnaught, Kuiil, rode one.  The leader of the Marauders is Terak (Carel Struycken).  The actor was the Arquillian in Men in Black (1997).  Wicket takes on a Marauder collecting Ewoks.  Cindel finds that her life monitor warns her about her mother’s life.  She races to find her.  Cindel’s brother, Mace (Eric Walker), is busy defending the village with his blaster rifle.  He warns her as Cindel finds her mother fallen at his side.  He drags her to a hut.  As Cindel runs, there is an explosion, and she finds Mace and her mother’s lights go out on her life monitor.  The action may be typical for a fantasy movie, but the loss of family which was the whole point of the first film is just sad.  After seeing the fantasy of Ewok Adventure, this gives some dramatic cred to the teddy bears taking on the Empire.  

Jeremitt is being bashed around by Marauders at the star cruiser.  He is met by the witch Charal (Siân Phillips).  She played Revered Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in Dune (1984).  She wears a black-feathered coat and a metal breastplate like  Morgan le Fay in Excalibur (1981).  It was explained in Star Wars Illustrated Universe (1995) by Kevin J. Anderson that Charal is a Nightsister, these were women using the Dark Side of the Force and introduced in The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton.  They entered canon with Clone Wars season three episode, “Nightsisters” (2011).  Charal tells Jeremitt that Lord Terak is searching for what he possesses, but he is confused on what is the object.  The Marauders begin tearing apart the star ship.  Terak appears taking off a mask and he wants the Power.  A Marauder has pulled free what looks like an energy canister from the ship.  Terak holds it in front of the others. 

Jeremitt uses a tree branch to knock down a Marauder and then picks up the pirate’s blaster to shoot another raider and try to escape.  A Marauder shoots him in the back with his blaster rifle!  Jeremitt reaches Cindel and runs with her.  Terak sends his Marauders after him.  Charal has a ring later identified as the Talisman of the Raven in Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side (2013) by Daniel Wallace.  It had an indirect reference in Clone Wars.  Charal twists the ring and throws her feathered cape to transform into a raven.  Jeremitt has taken refuge with Cindel in a gap of a tree.  The Marauders look for them.  Jeremitt tells Cindel the story of the little bird and wants her to go to Deej and his family.  The raven appears and croaks their location.  Of course, this is like the raven in Willow (1988) and it does feel like there are elements of that film.  Still, why doesn’t Jeremitt blast the bird?  He sends Cindel off and shoots the Marauders.  A rifleman fires and we see Jeremitt’s hand slide from the tree!  Lucas’ story was to focus on an orphaned girl, but we have the tragedy of this beginning.  

The raven flies after the running Cindel, kinda scary, and then runs into Charal who takes her away to the caged wagon.  Wicket sees Cindel as the prisoner wagons start to move.  It is interesting to see the blurrg effects, stop motion, on a television movie, this would Lucas’ early entry into television.  The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) was turned over to other people.  This eventually leads to The Mandalorian.  At night, Cindel feels alone, and Wicket says he will watch over her.  The Ewoks have broken the wooden floorboards and Wicket and Cindel are able to slip through the gap.  They move to the side of the road, but two Marauders chase after them in the forest.  They are escaping prisoners, but aliens blasting at little kids?  Cindel and Wicket reach a mountain pass and Wicket has found a cave.  The Marauders have an unfortunate end and should know not to play with blasters.  Wicket assembles from bones and skins a glider while Cindel sleeps.  He looks for the right bone in the cave and happens to waken in a dragon-like beast!  It was identified as a condor dragon in The Illustrated Star Wars Universe.  

Cindel throws a torch from the campfire, this would drive off the condor dragon!  Still, it grabs Cindel and flies away!  This action straight out of a Ray Harryhausen movie!  Wicket takes the glider to rescue Cindel.  They are able to reach the night forest and crash into the ground.  He takes her to the safety of a gap in a tree.  In the morning, while they sleep, a white-furry hand sneaks into Wicket’s bag.  Wicket wakes up and we see the wizened, child-like face of Teek (Niki Botelho)!  The actress reprised the part in the Star Tours (1987) ride video and also appeared in Batman Returns (1992)!  He has buck teeth and long ears.  The best part is that Teek can move at super speed more sustained than the bursts of speed by the Jedi.  Cindel finds the little feller charming.  Teek is the best character and very needed after the darkness of the beginning.  Cindel tries to explain to him that they are hungry and Teek has them follow him.  He leads them to the hut of Noa played by Wilford Brimley who passed away recently.  Noa is a cranky explorer who has teamed up with Teek and may help the Ewoks win their freedom!  Ewoks: The Battle for Endor expands on the story of the Ewoks, features incredible effects, and Teek!  

Four Life Monitors out of Five! 

#EwoksTheBattleforEndor, #KenandJimWheats, #AubreeMiller, #WarwickDavis, #NikiBotelho, #Teek, #CarelStruycken, #SianPhillips

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.  

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). Davison played William Priestley on the show Gentleman Jack.  Henry Reynolds in the dramatic mini-series Life was played by Davison.  Happy Birthday Peter Davison!   

#PeterDavison, #DoctorWho, #AllCreaturesGreatandSmall, #Life 

Re:tro Re:View - Freaky!

Freaky is a horror movie about high school through the Blumhouse filter!  There are some horror movie premises that are just too on the nose, in the case of Freaky, it’s in the title, the body switching of Freaky Friday (1976) and the reboot in 2003.  Similar to Happy Death Day (2017) is Groundhog Day (1993), but with a twist, some horror, and fun that are in Blumhouse movies.  The director and co-writer is Christopher Langdon who also took on the same duties with Happy Death 2 U (2019) and directed the first Happy Death Day. His co-writer is Michael Kennedy who worked on the cartoon show, Family Guy.  We start with a red-soaked studio opening.  It opens with the bloody title, "Wednesday the 11th", as we get a house. In the backyard is two teen couples telling stories about the Blissfield Butcher. He kills teens at Homecoming. One joker guy spills beer on a teen girl, Ginny, and follows her as she goes into her house. She shows the guy the antique collection, skulls and various artifacts, of Ginny's father.   

The teens are all kinda jerks so you can see Kills written all over their faces. The joker teen goes down to the basement to find a bottle of wine, he instead discovers the Butcher (Vince Vaughn) and that his choice of wine is not healthy.  Vaughn of course is known for comedies like Wedding Crashers (2005), but also he was in the drama series, True Detective.  There is some cleverness here in the body switch, but we don’t really get too much of The Butcher’s reason for killing, he’s just a killer. He wears a skull-like mask. Meanwhile, we get Ginny and her boyfriend, but the Butcher hunts them down. The Butcher chases Ginny to her house and throws a spear at her. She runs to the closet and is able to hide from the serial killer. Ginny’s parents return home. Still, the Butcher is able to make his kill and then sees a dagger in the antique collection. This shifts to morning, with teen girl, Millie Kessler (Katheryn Newton), waking up. Newton was Lucy Stevens in Pokemon Detective Pikachu (2019) and plays Cassie Lang in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Millie is the bullied girl who of course changes with a serial killer’s style.  

The date is seen, it is Thursday the 12th. Millie goes to breakfast, and sees her mother, Coral (Katie Finneran) and older sister and police officer, Charlene (Dana Driori). Finneran was in the Brockmire series and Driori was in the High Fidelity show. Charlene is called away. Millie walks to school and picked up by her friends, Josh (Misha Osherovich) and Nyla (Celeste O’Connor). Osherovich was in the drama, The Goldfinch (2019) and his character has some funny remarks. O’Connor was in the Wetlands (2019) film. They are all seniors and head to Blissfield High School.  Josh and Nyla head to class and Millie is bullied by Ryler (Melissa Collazo). The actress starred in the Swamp Thing show in 2019. She looks over from her locker to her crush, Booker (Uriah Shelton). The actor was in the Looking for Alaska Hulu series. Millie shows up late to woodshop class, Mr. Bernardi (Alan Ruck) is not happy about Millie.  Ruck was known as Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). Woodshop, you know there are some deadly tools there. Millie gets a text about the murders that goes out to all of the students. The friends up at the empty drama stage.  

Night, at the Homecoming football game, the beaver mascot, gets a can thrown by a football player. It is Millie, not a cheerleader, but a mascot. Afterwards, Millie sees her friends, but stays behind waiting for her mother to pick her up.  Later, she calls home, but Coral has fallen asleep drunk.  Officer Charlene sees that she is asleep and calls her sister.  Millie then sees the shadowy form of the Butcher!  She runs then hides under the bleachers.  The Butcher suddenly appears and Millie has to run in her beaver mascot costume!  He tackles her and then raises up the skull dagger, the jewel-like eyes of the dagger glows red.  It pulls back to an Aztec pyramid and the Butcher stabs Millie in the shoulder.  He sees blood from his own shoulder and runs away as Charlene checks on Millie.   At the police station, Coral sees her daughter, and then she sees the dagger taken to the evidence locker.  At home, Millie is troubled by visions of the serial killer, and then wakes up, but it is not Millie.  The actors have fun in the role reversal parts!  

Then, we move to the hanging animals and mannikins at the lair of the Butcher.  He wakes up looking at the mirror, it is Friday the 13th!  Coral prepares breakfast for Millie and she shoves the meal into her mouth.  Millie picks up her mother’s knife, we see reflections of her face in the blade, and she sees Charlene. At the town square, there is a profile of the Butcher shown on the news, he walks the streets, but is recognized!  Millie Butcher looks through her closet and finds a red leather jacket.  She walks silently through a cheerleader celebration.  Impressive, that the Butcher knows how to apply make-up.  She finds her friends joining her, but Ryler cuts in to check on her new found celebrity.  They go to the locker room and it does not go well.  Millie Butcher goes to the school and tries to get the help of Nyla and Josh.  They discover the name of the dagger, La Dola (Spanish for “The Pain”), has cursed Millie and the Butcher.  There is some funny lines and moments with Vaughn as Millie, a little clever, and there is still some gory moments!  Freaky is a fun horror movie with some nasty kills and the Blumhouse touch!   

Four La Dola Daggers out of Five! 

#Freaky, #ChristopherLangdon, #VinceVaughn, #KathrynNewton