I also wonder if after being at the center of a spacetime explosion he's going to end up, as Zathras would say, unstuck in time.
Also I was wrong, there's one more episode of Legends left this season, and looking at the internet I have to give a long Ugghhhhhhh, at the connection that the Thanagarians are the war like species the hawk people come from in the comic canon. Sure maybe, just maybe they could reboot the insufferable hawk peoples into something more than a sappy relationship and bad dialog.
Rumors do suggest that this will be the end of the Vandal Savage arc and the next season will have a different goal and big bad.
Legends
A pretty decent season finale, mostly scenes with Carter and Kendra that didn't suck, so bonus points. It's also clear the writers know what they're doing (I wonder who keeps pushing the Hawkmance) with a scene between cold and hot that reverses and mirrors Jax and his father. This time our protagonist is open to showing love/appreciation and the receiver is cold to it.
I've realized what I like about White Canary, the boots of course, but more so her farscape personality. Part of what made farscape fun and believable was John Criton's "fuck it, I'm on a space ship, these are aliens, in another part of the galaxy, every morning is wonder, also pain, and maybe a little reefer, sometimes unexpected.
So assuming (assuming) they aren't just playing fast and loose with things, this episode also reveals that many of Rips 'time laws' weren't physical laws but ingrained Time Master laws and you can actually do serious damage/control to the time line if you wanted to.
They basically said "fuck you government" blew up the capitol and are now patrolling the streets of time. Heros?
Yay He's dead he's dead the wood man is dead! I shouldn't be too hard on him, he wasn't given a lot to work with and he did get better at the end, but Vandal Savage was a poor character and the actor didn't have the right amount of chops or tuned scene chewing needed to play him.
OMG Maybe no more Hawk people? Oh please!
Also yay for amicable forced through destiny, breakups.
Arbitrary thoughts Gideon seems to be special and given the cross over what nots, I wonder if this Gideon is gained from Flash eventually. The only other time we've seen her AIOS is future reverse flash. In a previous episode it showed most (all) other time ships have an AI named Gottfried. So is Gideon only special to a set number of people? (perhaps stolen by reverse flash from a future Justice Society.
Overall, rocky, with some flaws but I'm invested enough to be looking forward to season 2. Canary, Cold, and Mick/Heat/Cronos stole the show, but only the hawk people sucked. I bet season 1 could be culled to a pretty decent 8-10 episode show.
With the changes they brought about with that finale I am looking forward to The Season Two of Tomorrow's Legends. Even after all these episodes it feels like they're still trying to figure out what to do with the individual characters. The premise of it all is intriguing enough that I can't help but wait and see where they eventually get where they're going.
Also, that Flash finale, right? SPEEDFORCE shenanigans! DRAMA! ACTION! Grant Gustin taking lessons from Jesse Martin and completely selling that raw emotion was so fantastic. And the big reveal with the Man in the Mask! Though I wasn't necessarily moved with who it was, I did get a little choked up when they put him in Earth3 Flash gear, complete with the helmet.
I was just thinking this morning, with the time reset we're getting in <i>Flash</i> wouldn't it be cool if we start next season with Wally as Flash and Barry as a civilian?
__________________
"freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette
I read an interview with Zack Snyder yesterday about the upcoming Justice League movie. At one point, the interviewer asked if the negative reviews of Batman v. Superman would have any impact on Justice League.
Snyder's response was basically, 1.) the movie made a lot of money, which proves the naysayers wrong anyway, and 2.) anyone who didn't like it was just upset by the "deconstruction" of Batman and Superman; they'll come around in time and realize how brilliantly this was done.
Okay, first of all, neither Man of Steel nor Batman v. Superman was in any way a deconstruction of the characters of Batman or Superman. Snyder doesn't understand what "deconstruction" means, it seems to me. The most charitable interpretation I can think of is that the movies were reinterpretations of the characters -- but "deconstructions" they were not.
This is not to say that reinterpretations of beloved characters are necessarily a bad thing, nor is it to say that they can't work. Neither Man of Steel nor Batman v. Superman works, however, because the writers/director demonstrate no understanding of the characters and what makes them so well-liked. You can't very well craft a good deconstruction of characters when you have no understanding of them in the first place.
It seems to me that there are two likely possibilities here. Possibility #1 is that Snyder simply doesn't understand what makes Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman such beloved characters -- and thus, he doesn't understand why so many people were pissed off by Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. That seems entirely possible, given that he's a self-proclaimed Ayn Rand fanboy. As such, his mindset may well be such that he simply can't comprehend why Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman are such admired and respected characters.
Possibility #2 is related: maybe Snyder does understand why the characters are so beloved, but being a devotee of Rand's "selfishness is good; altruism is evil" philosophy, he thinks that people who revere characters because of the characters' selflessness, self-sacrifice, compassion for others, and idealism are idiots.
Sooner or later, somebody in charge has got to get the message that putting Snyder in charge of movies about characters whom he a.) doesn't seem to understand, and b.) whose ideals he apparently holds in contempt -- is not a good idea.
Regardless, my already-low expectations regarding the upcoming Justice League movie just fell even lower.
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
Sooner or later, somebody in charge has got to get the message that putting Snyder in charge of movies about characters whom he a.) doesn't seem to understand, and b.) whose ideals he apparently holds in contempt -- is not a good idea.
Regardless, my already-low expectations regarding the upcoming Justice League movie just fell even lower.
That isn't going to happen so long as the movies he makes earn a profit. He'll need to deliver a box office bomb before he's taken off the franchise. Do keep in mind that Warner Brothers is interested in making money first, for the minimum amount spent second; producing quality entertainment is a distant tertiary objective.
__________________
Allan Glenn. 1984-2005 RIP
Under no circumstances should Quentin Tarantino be allowed to befoul Star Trek.
That is certainly true. The problem is they are making money hand over fist with the people in charge of the franchise now. Changing the creative team to someone more competent may not translate to greater box office success. They'll ride the team they have until they crash and burn, then wonder what the fuck went wrong. Also, from what I have read and watched about the film industry, the executives at the top are incredibly hesitant to risk tampering with franchises that are already profitable for fear of the possibility of making changes reducing that profitability.
__________________
Allan Glenn. 1984-2005 RIP
Under no circumstances should Quentin Tarantino be allowed to befoul Star Trek.
As it is known around these parts: The DC Cinematic Universe has gotten a big fat meh from me. As much as I like the idea of the Suicide Squad, based on Man of Steel and BvS, I may not see it. In fact, just about everything else I've seen or read about the big build ups to the bigger set piece movies turns me off to the whole thing.
And then there's Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot was the breath of fresh air in an otherwise grim and dreadful movie. She's getting her own movie, you know?
Keep in mind that it's still being run by the people behind Man of Steel and BvS. I would hold off on expressing excitement until some credible reviews come in.
__________________
Allan Glenn. 1984-2005 RIP
Under no circumstances should Quentin Tarantino be allowed to befoul Star Trek.
They will surely have their influence, but the Wonder Woman feature is using different writers and a different director. I remember being excited for Man of Steel, and this is still feeding into other movies that I'm not excited for. But for now, I'm p excite. It's still way early and there's a lot of teasers and trailers and rumors to be had before the filum is released.
Revel in that poster because we can't have anything nice.
According to the ComicCon panel, 'The Killing Joke' has been fleshed out by making Batgirl a man obsessed woman who dons the batgirl outfit to look hot for batman, who's normally seen as a father figure to her. Culminating in them having sex and then him dropping and avoiding her. Which all then leads into the actual killing joke of her being shot and paralyses.
It's sad when the 60s actually treated batgirl better than the progressive 21st century.
That was my first thought upon seeing the poster: "Hey, Wonder Woman will actually be in color? That'll be a nice change."
If Snyder isn't directing, that's a big plus, but yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ari
According to the ComicCon panel, 'The Killing Joke' has been fleshed out by making Batgirl a man obsessed woman who dons the batgirl outfit to look hot for batman, who's normally seen as a father figure to her. Culminating in them having sex and then him dropping and avoiding her. Which all then leads into the actual killing joke of her being shot and paralyses.
Quote:
It's sad when the 60s actually treated batgirl better than the progressive 21st century.
QFT
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
Revel in that poster because we can't have anything nice.
According to the ComicCon panel, 'The Killing Joke' has been fleshed out by making Batgirl a man obsessed woman who dons the batgirl outfit to look hot for batman, who's normally seen as a father figure to her. Culminating in them having sex and then him dropping and avoiding her. Which all then leads into the actual killing joke of her being shot and paralyses.
It's sad when the 60s actually treated batgirl better than the progressive 21st century.
I didn't want to believe a random report. Now that it's around on the internet, I'm sad and disgusted. It's even worse than this.
To ruin more previously good views of fandoms,
according to two friends who were at this years ComicCon, Bruce Cambell is an ass. Not only being a jerk to lots of people but also taking time in a panel to ridicule a woman's Ash cosplay.
They left the Con no longer fans.
I saw the theatrical release of The Killing Joke last night. I didn't have a problem with it as depicted. But I did read the spoilers and have time to sit with it before seeing it. It helped that I already knew that in Bruce Timm's opinion, Barbara and Bruce were a couple. Expecting him not to go there is unrealistic in my opinion. And, I will admit, Barbara does not come off well in Batman Beyond, where she gave the impression of having dumped Batman because she was ready to give up the life and he wasn't and has sat in judgment on him ever since, so there may be an argument that Timm isn't a big fan.
First off, you have to willfully read into the scene to get the idea that Barbara became Batgirl to get Batman into bed. I certainly didn't get anything like that out of it. I'm going to spoiler the rest, and go into some detail.
If you read the article, you know they wanted to extend teh story by giving Batgirl more screen time, not a bad motive to start with. So they start the story some weeks earlier when they encounter a criminal who takes a shine, in a sick manipulative way, to Batgirl. Batman wants her off the case because of this guy's behavior. He thinks her judgment is compromised and the guy is too successfully manipulating her. She refuses and gets angry.
She spends a lot of time venting to a coworker in vague terms. She does admit there's some attraction, but denies that's the problem. She says it's her 'yoga instructor' and that's she in it for the yoga, not him. She rants that she's the best student he ever had but he won't admit it. That, to me, is not evidence of being lovestruck.
Later they get into a physical fight on a rooftop because he keeps insisting that she stand down and leave this criminal to him and she keeps refusing. He tells her it's still fun to her and that she hasn't yet seen into the abyss. That's the fight that leads to the sex scene, wherein she shouts at him that she's doing this, i.e. being Batgirl, because of him. To me, it takes a big stretch of the imagination to read that statement as she is doing it to attract him, rather than emulate him as a hero.
Yes, he stops talking to her for a while after that, but since we're not seeing anything about his motivation besides his conversations with her, it's not clear whether it's because of the sex or because of the fight that preceded it. When she does talk to him, he is on the trail of the criminal and tells her he still wants her out of that fight. When she brings up the sex, saying it doesn't have to mean anything or spoil their working partnership, he tells her they'll talk about it later.
Again, my experience of Timm's Batman is to expect him to be an emotionally unavailable asshole to those nearest to him and to screw up every relationship. So my thoughts at that moment were, "What did you expect?"
He then gets ambushed by the criminal. She sees the explosion, races over and takes out the villain. But she completely loses control and beats him to a pulp while screaming that it's all his fault that things went wrong with Batman. She stops before killing him, but later gives up being Batgirl because she's finally seen the abyss and knows how tempting it is.
If you read Killing Joke, you know the rest. Two things I want to point out. One, the pictures of Barbara shown to her father to try to drive her insane were more tasteful than either in the comic or the original storyboards. I don't know where the decision was made, but in the short they showed after the film they showed the original sketches and the original panel that show the back of her naked body from the waist down. In the final film it's only from just above the knees, so despite the R rating, someone decided to soften it. I think that speaks to respect for the character and the female audience. Second, they added a coda at the end of Barbara getting to work as Oracle, showing that the Joker didn't break her. I think that was an important scene to add.
If my audience was anything to go by, the sex scene was not offensive to most of them. I'm going to transcribe the reactions of the three men sitting in front of me, because I found them interesting and probably indicative of most of the crowd. From left to right:
A) Well, that happened
B) Nice
C) That wasn't in the comic.
And then we all moved on and got caught up in the story.
I probably don't have to tell you that Mark Hamill was brilliant, but Mark Hamill was FUCKING BRILLIANT. I had forgotten going in that he would be playing a pre-Joker version of the character, so the work he did playing the innocent, insecure man he started as was a delightful surprise. And his singing in character? Fantastic! You cannot get better than Hamill as the Joker, I am convinced. I hope they include the short film with him they showed at the beginning as a DVD extra, because I want all of you to be able to see it.
I know Short version, I saw it, loved it and am glad I pre-ordered it.
However, I've never seen Batman as a father figure to Batgirl. I grew up with the Adam West show in which she was his love interest. Then I came back to Batman through Batman Beyond and later BTAS, so them as a couple is something I am completely comfortable with. YMMV
__________________
"freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette
However, I've never seen Batman as a father figure to Batgirl. I grew up with the Adam West show in which she was his love interest. Then I came back to Batman through Batman Beyond and later BTAS, so them as a couple is something I am completely comfortable with. YMMV
Most recent adaptations put Barbara Gordon at about the same age as Dick Grayson. Most have also made it clear that she was at least partially trained by Batman. But as I recall, in the 60's television series, it was established that Barbara was already a college graduate and had become a noted librarian and historian before she ever put on the tights and cape. And Batman had nothing whatsoever to do with her training. As such, it was pretty clearly established that she was a.) closer in age to Bruce Wayne than to Dick Grayson -- or at least, she was much closer to Batman than Robin when it came to both competence and maturity, b.) emulating Batman because she thought he was a good role model and a good influence on Gotham, not because she was trying to win Batman's approval or affection, and c.) very much her own person.
From what I recall, it was quickly established in the series that Barbara was way smarter and more competent than Dick could ever hope to be -- so much so that you just know Bruce was wondering if he could somehow talk her into being his partner while he shipped Dick off to a boarding school somewhere. [Given that Barbara didn't have the Wayne fortune to work with, and so was nowhere near as well-equipped as Bruce was, one could make the argument that Batgirl was, on the whole, a more competent crime fighter than Batman. After all, she had far fewer resources to work with and thus didn't have the luxury of being able to depend upon having a handy Bat-gadget available for every conceivable situation.]
It was pretty clear that Batman and Batgirl were attracted to each other, but it was an attraction between equals, not between a mentor/father figure and student/daughter figure.
If this is the approach they're taking in The Killing Joke, that won't be so bad, I suppose.
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
I dunno. The initial reviews haven't been very good. And frankly, at this point I'm not feeling any enthusiasm for anything that Snyder has even a tangential relationship with. [Except, maybe, Wonder Woman; please let it be good; it's about time that Diana gets a movie of her own, and she deserves a good one!]
Still, Suicide Squad could turn out to be a pleasant surprise.
That having been said, the local newspaper gave Batman v. Superman 4 stars out of 4, and couldn't heap enough praise on it. Obviously, I'll never trust that reviewer again, but even he says in his most recent article that Suicide Squad doesn't look too promising.
If Suicide Squad bombs, maybe the powers that be will realize what a horrible choice Snyder has been, and put someone better in charge of the DC movie universe.
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
On a vaguely related note, I've never seen Supergirl, but I keep hearing good things about it. I'm thinking about buying the first season, now that it's out on blu-ray.
I've heard good things about Flash as well, and (fewer) good things about Arrow. Neither of these strikes me as likely to be worth buying on blu-ray, but I'm thinking that Supergirl might be.
Opinions?
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
I'm thinking about buying the first season, now that it's out on blu-ray.
I would suggest trying before buying. I enjoyed it but it's not everything I wanted in a Supergirl show. We'll have to wait and see if season 2 and a move to another network can make some improvements.
Quote:
I've heard good things about Flash as well, and (fewer) good things about Arrow. Neither of these strikes me as likely to be worth buying on blu-ray, but I'm thinking that Supergirl might be.
Opinions?
Yes to Flash. Very yes to Flash. And Arrow has been hit or miss for me. The first season was okay and improved greatly by the end of the first season. Season two was got better and then everything fell backwards in following seasons.
I watched Supergirl all the way through and enjoyed it. But there is that nagging feeling all the way that they could have done so much more with her. Definitely watch it though.
Flash was better for sure and pretty great overall, well worth it.
I never watched Arrow.
The nice thing about both Flash and Supergirl is that they are lighthearted and fun. Sure there are serious, dangerous, emotional bits but the overall theme is one of hope.