Avengers (2018) #46-50:

World War She-Hulk

   Following the events of the previous arc, the Russians are furious at the Avengers for wrecking the Red Square. Therefore, they've declared war on the Avengers and are notably holding She-Hulk accountable for the entire situation. Using their Winter Guard, they attack Jennifer Walters and hold her prisoner until they can break her mind and use her as their secret, indestructible weapon.

   Little do they know though - the Avengers were already aware of their ruse. Instead she prepares for the abduction and goes in undercover. Once they use the She-Hulk to destroy Atlantis, she turns on her "captors" and the Avengers are able to defeat the red supervillain army. 

   In it's wake, Mephisto goes throughout time with Doom Supreme to build an evil destruction force of prehistoric bad guys. With Kazar now stuck in another dimension, Doom and Mephisto build their new faction of baddies to I guess destroy the earth, again. Big shocker.

Overall, an OK story. But I'm getting sick of Avengers Mountain and the Avengers BC thing. I'm not sure what they're setting up for but hopefully Jason Aaron has a big card up his sleeve. Only one way to find out though I reckon...

Like this synopsis? Check out my previous Avengers review HERE

New Mutants #19-24 (2019) 

   Who killed Scout, aka Gabby, aka Laura Kinney's clone, aka Wolverine's clone? That seems to be the arc of this series and they finally find out it was, spoiler alert, the Shadow King. One of the interesting things that seems to always happen to these new Krakoan-bound X-Men is dealing with all the evil mutants who have also been given residence in this new utopia, and Amahl Farouk is of course among them as well. 

   As this is all going on, Warpath is training some of the other young mutants in various exercises, taking Magik with him as well. Eventually their paths all cross as a showdown with the Shadow King looms. They eventually defeat him but interestingly enough, we learn that one of the big issues with this who mutant resurrection situation is they don't wanna do it to clones. So the youngin's go rogue, resurrect her illegally (sorta), and we also learn that Proudstar has been re-risen in some other series.

   Overall, a really good story that I enjoyed. What's gonna happen next? We'll have to tune in next time to find out. 

Like what you see? Check out my previous New Mutants reviews HERE

 Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #67-69: Chameleon Conspiracy

   Spider-Man's life is obviously always complicated - and this chapter once again just serves to reinforce that fact. First of all, Ned Leeds is back. He took a ton of Goblin serum from his time as the hobgoblin and managed to survive a murder attempt. Second off, he knocked up Betty Brant. While Spidey doesn't know if he can trust him - yet, his sister Theresa Parker is being tormented by the Chameleon on the truth behind her parents' murder. Also, fellow Empire State University student Jaime still can't get that whole Clairvoyant doodad out of his life. The Finisher wants it but in the end,  Spidey and Ned save the day. Awesome stuff as usual from Nick Spencer and company.

For my previous Amazing Spider-Man review, click HERE

Immortal Hulk (2018) #46-50

 Immortal Hulk (2018) #46-50
Of Hell And Of Death

   I've admittedly never been the biggest Hulk fan. His story is probably one of the most well known of all of Marvel/Stan Lee's creations. If you grew up anytime between now and 1970, you know that Bruce Banner turns into the Incredible Hulk and madness ensues, as the beastly Hulk can't control himself and lays waste to everything in his path.

   Many writers have spent time on the Doctor Jeckyl and Mister Hyde approach to Banner's overtold story and this series was similar in many aspects. But this one was different for a lot of reasons. Joe Bennett's artwork gives it a distinct vibe that kind of reminded me of Frank Miller's style. That combined with Al Ewing's stories really made this a different kind of Hulk book. In this final story, as the series wrapped with #50, Banner is in literal Hell. Joe Fixit is back as well as Alpha/Gamma Flight and even the Avengers all fight it out as they do their best to rescue Banner from the underworld, all the while freeing him from the Leader's grasp. Even Rick Jones makes several appearances, albeit in a very bizarre way. But honestly, I did enjoy this one. I'm sad to see it ending but a 50 book arc is very much enough to stand on it's own. I recommend reading this one from #1-50 if you have the time. You won't be disappointed. 

For previous of my Immortal Hulk reviews, click HERE

Fantastic Four (2018) #31-35

Fantastic Four (2018) #31-35:
 The Bride of Doom

   The Fantastic Four are invited to Doctor Victor Von Doom's wedding in Latveria, with Reed Richards being asked to be his best man. Only problem is that of course, loverboy Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch decides to have some hanky panky time with Doom's future potential bride, Victorious. Obviously this leads to issues with Sky, his fiance, who takes off back for her home plant.

   During the nuptials, she decides to come clean to Doom and tell him about her escapades which infuriates him. He decides to murder everyone but of course fails. One thing he does manage to do is turn Johnny Storm's flames permanently on with some kind of magic cosmic ray. 

   The final book of the story, issue #35 is the 60th anniversary issue and it's a doozy. A bunch of Kangs at the end of time decide to go back through various timelines to kill the FF. Eventually it's revealed that one of them is none other than Mister Fantastic himself. Through what amounts to a ton of pages, he eventually manages to lead his team over the Kang's and is victorious. The issue ends with Johnny still stuck in flame mode, but I'm sure solving it is right around the corner. 

For previous FF adventures, click HERE

White Noise (2022)

from Roger Ebert.com: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/white-noise-movie-review-2022
Brian Tallerico December 29, 2022


Death unites us all. And societies are shaped by not just the dread of that inevitable outcome but the common manners in which we push those existential thoughts aside. Consumerism, conspiracy theories, and collective trauma collide in Noah Baumbach's daring adaptation of a novel that may have been published in the mid-'80s but undeniably speaks to the issues that continue to dominate our culture in the 2020s. A story of a family unmoored from their already fragile existence by an airborne toxic event has relevance to the COVID era that author Don DeLillo couldn't have imagined specifically. Yet, the source material here is designed to speak to a larger sense of trauma and fear—elements that will never go away as long as that pesky Grim Reaper remains in our lives. Baumbach's adaptation of "White Noise" unpacks these complex themes with a playful spirit for about 90 minutes before the writer/director arguably loses his grip on the more serious material in the final act. Still, there's more than enough to like here when it comes to the unexpected blend of an author and filmmaker who one wouldn't necessarily consider matches. Life is full of surprises, right?

"White Noise" opens with a professor named Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle) speaking of the comfort of car crashes on film. Like every choice in this script, it's not an accident. Siskind speaks of the simplicity of the car crash, noting how it cuts through character and plotting to something that's easily understood and relatable. It foreshadows the mid-section of a film that will play essentially like a disaster movie, asking viewers to imagine what they would do if stuck in the same situation. And it's a set-up for another fascinating aspect of "White Noise"—a commentary on crowd catharsis. We are at peace when we see others doing the same thing we are doing, whether it's watching a car crash in a movie, attending an Elvis concert, or buying things we don't need at an A&P grocery store.

Someone who keenly understands groupthink is Professor Jack Gladney (Adam Driver), one of the world experts on Hitler Studies, even though he's embarrassed that he doesn't speak German. The first act—and the film is divided into three parts on-screen—could be called a satire of academia as Gladney, Siskind, and their colleague use big words to help get a grip on big problems. Jack and his wife Babbette (Greta Gerwig) have a blended family that includes the anxiety-prone Denise (Raffey Cassidy), problem-solving Heinrich (Sam Nivola), and two more children. Babbette has forgotten things lately, and Denise notices a new prescription bottle for a drug called Dylar. This is an everyday American family—going through the motions of life as they try to push away the issues that have dogged philosophers for eons, like the meaning of it all and how to stop thinking about when it ends. In one of the best early scenes, a comment about how happy they are leads Babbette and Jack into a conversation about who should die first.

While death is a concern in the first act of "White Noise," it becomes more tactile in the second act, titled "The Airborne Toxic Event." A train crash at the edge of town sends chemicals flying into the sky, and everyone in the Gladney family except Jack panics. As he tries to defuse the situation, Denise becomes convinced that she's sick already, and Henrich obsessively listens to news reports. Before long, they're on the road in a mass evacuation, and one of Baumbach's most impressive technical achievements unfolds, capturing a family on the run from the unknown.

Without spoiling the final act completely, it re-centers the Gladneys back at home, but with death a much more present reality in Jack's mind. Unfortunately, as the intensity rises, "White Noise" loses some of its impact, especially in a few talky scenes near the end that betray the tone of the first half. Yes, the film always deals with "serious" subjects, but it gets rocky when they take center stage, and the tone struggles to merge satire and marital drama. DeLillo's book was notoriously called "unfilmable" for decades, and it feels like this last act is where that's most apparent.

Thankfully, Baumbach has two of his most reliable collaborators to keep it from going off the rails. Driver is, once again, excellent here, crafting a performance that is often very funny without relying on broad character beats. There's a version of this character that's pitched to eleven—the awkward academic forced into trying to keep his family alive despite his inferior skill set—but Driver gives a performance that's often very subtle even as everything around him is going broad. Gerwig is a little oddly mannered early in the film, but that makes sense for a character who becomes somewhat unmoored before the air around her becomes toxic.

To unpack this epic of existential dread, Baumbach has assembled a team that deserves mention. Cinematographer Lol Crawley ("Vox Lux") finds the right balance between realism and parody in his camera work, giving much of the film an exaggerated look amplified by Jess Gonchor's ace production design. The A&P here, with its bright colors and shelves of identical items, is not quite reality, but it's close enough to make its point, and the chaotic sequences of panic in the mid-section have the energy of a CGI blockbuster. Finally, Danny Elfman's score is one of the best of the year, connecting the three tonally different sections.

What does it all mean? Why do we take pills, buy junk, and watch car crashes to escape our fears? The phenomenal A&P dance sequence that ends "White Noise" lands a key theme in a fascinating way—we may all just be buying colorful stuff we don't need to distract ourselves from reality, but let's at least try to have fun while we're doing it.

from indiewire: https://www.indiewire.com/2021/06/evil-season-2-review-paramount-plus-1234645280/

Evil Season 2

Steve Greene
Jun 20, 2021 12:04 pm
@stevebruin

Believing in anything can be messy, so it only makes sense that “Evil” would be, too. The show, which debuts its Season 2 this weekend on Paramount+, fashioned itself as something of a belief kaleidoscope when its initial season aired on CBS proper in late 2019 and early 2020.

The show’s initial hook came from the pervasive-yet-cordial disagreements between Catholic Church assessor David Acosta (Mike Colter) and psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), each tasked with working together to evaluate claims of otherworldly forces in the lives of people in and around New York. Each inexplicable phenomenon that they and universal skeptic Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) encountered over the course of that first season was met with a range of theories stemming from steadfast doctrine adherence (the presence of malignant spirits bent on manipulating humans’ better instincts) to simple scientific explanation (usually an abundance of a household chemical only intended to be used in small amounts).

It would be easy to claim that Season 2 delivers more of the same, but that would undersell the extent to which these new episodes have a far greater dose of “more” than “the same.” After already building to something of a unified theory that tied most of the mysterious Season 1 occurrences together, “Evil” keeps some of that framework and spends the early going of this new season by adding rather than refining. Here be invocations in archaic languages, accidental amputations, and clear-headed confessions of felonies punishable by life in prison.

“Evil” is still a show concerned with contradictions, but it’s not the simpler “science vs. faith” tussle that may have been the hook at the beginning. It’s not just that Kristen and Ben and David have had their respective touches with the unexplained. (As of Season 2, all three have new reasons to question what they’re seeing with their own eyes.) There’s a certain threshold that’s been passed, a blurring between what’s meant to be real and what’s intended as mere perception. As frustrating as it can be at points from an episodic storytelling standpoint, there’s a certain method to that murkiness that puts the viewer on equal footing with the main trio whose perceptions of what to believe has been shifted by visions of avenging archangels, scythe-wielding devils, and disco dance moves from the unlikeliest of sources.

The challenge with this show is always going to be the balance between the big-swing maximalism of its supernatural elements and the quieter character moments it peppers throughout. When those two manage to sync up, like Kristen navigating the complicated realities of her marriage or David’s not-exactly-sanctioned efforts at communing with the sublime, it’s a thrill to have a show that can deftly handle both at the same time. The group dynamics, whether between our three main investigators or Kristen’s four daughters, grow stronger with each passing scene spent together. There’s a feeling of everyone becoming more comfortable around each other, even when the powers swirling around them are more of an enigma than they’ve ever been.

After settling into a groove at the end of last season, Season 2 takes a different enough tack that these opposing forces sometimes leave the show somewhat disjointed. “Evil” has plenty of characters that the series’ writers understandably are hesitant to give up, notably Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson). Fiendish and theatrical in hyper-controlled ways that seemingly only Emerson can tap into, he’s also one of the show’s convenient conduits for outlining what’s at stake. (“It’s so comforting to pray to power instead of weakness,” Leland says when describing his consorts with the Devil.)

Keeping him around is more a blessing than a curse, but the contortions that “Evil” has to make to keep him involved sometimes points to the show having the occasional hit-or-miss streak. If there’s any cause for concern, it’s that this season provides even more chances for “Evil” to go astray. After hinting at the end of last season that a fertility clinic could hold the key to explaining everything, “Evil” keeps adding on cases. So far the show has resisted using multiple episodes to really consider a single instance. If it continues at this pace, there’s a potential for burnout awfully quick.

Even if that comes, there’s still plenty of value in the way the show defies treating individual faith traditions as monoliths. It’s an antidote to the idea that invoking any particular deity (or a belief in the absence of one) should be an automatic justification for any course of action. Many of the show’s arguments bubble up from a theological starting point, but the “Evil” big tent approach draws in discussions of power, patriarchy, bigotry, the nature of righteousness, and the prevalence of modern surveillance tactics. Whether there’s enough real estate to yield any meaningful conversations or if those moments are blips on the way to tying up all the episode’s loose ends by the time 41 minutes are over remain in the eye of the beholder. (Of the first four episodes of Season 2, only the fourth is written by series creators and executive producers Robert & Michelle King. It’s also the one that feels closest to a full “The Good Fight” Season 4 crossover, though the two shows’ DNA are still recognizably linked.)

On some level, saluting the show’s elastic episode-to-episode approach means accepting that there’s a part of “Evil” that will always feel a tad elusive. The show has room for dissections of cognitive behavior, considerations of the ethics of certain Church practices, dalliances with prosthetic-covered dream demons, and a handful of psychedelics-induced hallucinations for good measure. It’s a combination that’s baffling in the best kind of way.

The deeper that “Evil” gets into its mythology, the more it feels like a magician offering an inside look at how they do their tricks. For those who enjoy “Evil” for its web of sigils and exorcisms, Season 2 still has plenty to offer. Peel back the layers of CGI apparitions and simple effects flair (each episode begins with an intricate pop-up book motif) and you still have the show’s simple, tiny unsettling touches: a shriek coming from a garbled voice recording or a strange noise happening just out of sight or a mirror staring back with a sinister grin. They’re all threads in a bizarre tapestry that maybe doesn’t always make sense when looking at it up close. But step back for a full view, and there’s nothing else like it on TV.

Grade: B+