Suicide Squad (2016)

For such an awful movie, I must admit to being pretty entertained.  Sadly though, no matter how much fun I had watching the banding of such bad-asses as Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Katana, Captain Boomerang and Rick Flag this is a cinematic mess.  David Ayer knows how to make a film look great but he might have considered handing over the writing duties to someone else.  Who do you blame for this colorful poop storm?   Everyone really.  Whoever is in charge at Warner Brothers, please, please, please do whatever you must to make better superhero films.  You have so many great characters, they deserve better than this.   What’s especially frustrating about this one is that you have a great cast in Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Viola Davis , Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje and Joel Kinnaman.   What could have been a fantastic Dirty Dozen-like picture instead turns into a typical end-of-the-world mega-crisis.  This film has it all:  an illogical plot, a cartoony over the top villain, and in your face violence.   Yes, I was entertained.  In fact I was laughing at all the jokes and thought some of the character building was great.  I even like Leto’s take on the Joker and hope he comes back to play the role.   Still in the end this is a bad film and I can only recommend it if you want to have a good time laughing at how bad of a film it is.  Grade: C  (I want to give it a B- because I had fun but I just can’t justify it. Shrug.)

Spoilers:

Suggestion on a sequel: keep the plot simple.   Don’t have them save the world.  Send them out on some top secret mission that not even the Justice League knows about.   Think Mission Impossible, not Avengers with Villains.  Also don’t ruin a great character like the Enchantress.  And whatever you do, don’t have your villain dance around like some weirdo.   No dancing.  Don’t blow up a city.  Keep with what this film does right: wise-ass bad guys having to work together to accomplish a single goal. 

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The second book in the Strain Trilogy is a fun continuation of del Toro and Hogan’s take on the vampire outbreak story.  Nothing really ground breaking here but it’s a fun read.  There were a couple moments where I questioned the character’s choices but in the end I want to keep following the story.   It seems kind of hopeless as the Vampire pandemic spreads across New York City while the billionaire ldritch Palmer uses his influence and money to make sure no one is taking it seriously.  The Master is spreading his reach and the only hope we have is in Professor Abraham Setrakian, old guy who has dedicated his life to find and kill the Master, and ex-CDC officer Ep Goodweather who is having to help his son deal with the fact his mother is now one of them.   Grade: B+

Spoiler:

Vampires are taking over the world.  As a father I would do everything I could to make sure my son was safe, especially if his vampire mom was coming for him.  Not Ep, nope.  This guy decides to let his girlfriend take care of his son while he goes on a suicide mission to save the world.   I get it; he thinks he can stop it.  But your son needs you, man.  This is the part I had a really hard time buying. 

Mr. Robot (Season 1)

There’s a lot of love going around for this show and I personally don’t feel it’s warranted.  It is a good show but there are many better shows out there.  Rami Malek plays a hacker named Elliot who works for a cyber security firm but on the side works for Mr. Robot, a group of hackers intent on fighting corruption.   None of the characters are really likable and it’s hard to care about their vague conspiracy theory cause.  There’s a twist in the show that I saw coming from the start and I didn’t feel was very clever.   The writing is good though and the cast delivers strong performances.  I just would have liked to have liked this show more.   Instead it’s overrated and hard to embrace.   Grade: B

Spoiler:

Did Sam Esmail read Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk or see Fincher’s film of the same name and decide to make his own version of the story?  I wouldn’t say he stole the idea but his show is very close to being a clone.  They even have the same twist (with a slight variation).   Did Palahniuk consider calling his lawyers and ask, “Do I have a case?”  Yes, they are different but at the core they’re the same.  This isn’t really a knock on the show, more of a head-scratcher.  If I had done the same thing I’m sure I would have gotten a call to stop and cease.  It will be interesting to see what they do for season 2.  Or maybe I should say; it’ll be interesting to see what book or film Esmail is going to borrow from next.

Stranger Things (Season 1)

If ever a project was created solely to entertain me it was this one.  This is now in my top three favorite shows on TV.  Netflix, I don’t know where you found these guys, but the Duffer Brothers are for real.   Here it is a blending of Stephen King, Spielberg, and everything ‘80s to make a horror/science fiction spectacular unlike anything I’ve seen (even though its spawned from everything I’ve seen).   Three middle school friends, Mike, Dustin and Lucas, try to find their friend, Will, who mysteriously disappeared one night after playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons.   Meanwhile a strange young girl without a name escapes a nearby top-secret base where something very bad has been unleashed.  Winoma Ryder returns in full-on- crazy-mom-searching-for-her-son mode and David Harbour plays the police chief trying to get to the bottom of many strange things (hee hee).   There are not that many shows I want to re-watch after seeing them.  This is one of them.  The chemistry with the cast is great.  The monster is actually very scary.   I could see this being the next big show.  It’s wonderful.  Can I just write that over and over again in a blog?  It’s wonderful, it’s wonderful, it’s freaking wonderful!  Grade: A

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

After the last installment to this intergalactic reboot, I was glad to see J.J. Abrams leave so another director could attempt to bring back the magic he created and so promised.  I’m not a fan of the second film and had high hopes this third film would be better.  And it is!  Yeah!   It still has its problems but I’m grateful that they at least got us away from Earth and took us out into space.   Again there are some issues with this film and perhaps that’s because instead of making a Star Trek film, Paramount wanted to make an action-packed Guardians of the Galaxy-type film.  That makes sense.   I don’t know how excited today’s audiences would be to see a pure science fiction drama that explored any “big” ideas.   This is more of a fun movie made for those who like spectacle over substance.   Justin Lin does a mostly serviceable job and you can tell the writers (Simon Pegg and Doug Jung) want to have an explosive good time.   It’s not a film you have to see in the theater but it’s good enough to recommend.  If this is the last we see of this cast, making this the last of a trilogy, I’ll be okay with it.  It’s a good one to end on even if I’d love to see this cast return one more time.   I’d love to see this cast return for a Star Trek film that contained some actual innovation but that’s unlikely with those in charge.   Grade: B+

Spoilers:

They might as well paint the Enterprise red.  In every film the poor thing gets destroyed and crashes.   It’s really getting old.  Can’t you guys think of anything more eventful to have happen then the heroes’ spaceship getting killed?   Very redundant and dilutes the impact every time this happens.   Also it’s getting really tiring to have a villain whose sole goal is revenge against the Federation.  That’s the villain’s goal in all three films.  What happened to the Enterprise running into a threat that doesn’t know who the Federation is?   With the endless plots that can be created in a universe teeming with dangerous obstacles it’s very annoying that they keep using the same old “revenge” plot.   It also cheapens any potential conflict or drama from the crew.   It’s like the producers never watched an episode of any of the shows.  And again poor Idris Elba, the guy can’t get a decent role.  Here he’s under a ton of makeup and made to play a very typical baddy.   It’s Idris Elba, folks.  Will someone in Hollywood give this guy a meaty role he can sink his teeth into?   

Note: Anton Yelchin died before this was released by a freak accident.  His death might make it even more unlikely we’ll see more from this cast.  You can’t recast Chekov, it would be weird.  Still I think he would have liked for this cast to keep making Star Trek movies without him.   We’ll see.  A very talented guy and he’ll be missed by everyone who knew him or those who watched him perform.

Hilary Clinton (Commentary)

I’m with her.  Of course.  Our other option is not even an option.  And I’m not going to vote for her because she’s the lesser of two evils, because she’s not evil at all.  I actually think she’s a good person and will make a terrific president.   How anyone could vote for the other guy, I don’t even want to say his name, is beyond me.  I understand it if you’re Republican . . . no, wait a minute.  I don’t understand it if you’re a Republican.  Do you really want the last Republican president (and let’s be clear, his failure will signal the end of the party) to be the Don?   What’s four more years?  Republicans, you survived just fine with Obama; I think you’ll survive another Clinton.  Regardless of her failings (which are Republican smoke screens) she is the most qualified person for the job.  Sure she won’t be able to do much of anything until there’s a Democratic Congress but at least she’ll represent our country with grace and intelligence.  While it will be nice to finally have a woman in the oval office her gender is irrelevant to me.  She’s worthy of the job and I trust in her completely.  I get it though.  She’s not an entertainer like the Don.  She isn’t a great orator like Obama.  She has some baggage.  I don’t care.  We’re not voting for entertainer of the year, we’re voting for a person who can manage the Executive branch, inspire our children, and be a good spokesperson to our neighboring countries.  Hilary is perfect for this role and any vote not for her is a vote for him.  Again it’s not even a choice, it’s so obvious who to vote for I can’t believe the polls show this race being so close.  But sadly it is and I’m terrified.  Hopefully America will walk up to the ballot box and suddenly find their common sense because this election is too important to let a qualified candidate like Hilary Clinton get away.

Donald Trump (Commentary)

This is a joke, right.  I can’t believe this is happening.  Donald J. Trump is the Republican nominee for president.  President of the United States.  Not the President of the Spoiled-Rich Yacht club.  No, not the President of D-List Celebrities.  President of the United States of America.  Trump.  President of the United States.   They’re like polar opposites.  I can still remember watching Trump jump into the race many months ago and I thought it was his way of getting publicity.  There is no way this man can win this election.  We, as in the People of the United States, cannot allow this to happen.  What does it say about our country if we elect this dumb ass as our Commander-in-Chief?  How embarrassing.  How eye-opening!  Our country really has lost its way.   Please American let’s not be dumb.  We're better than this.