I agree with everything Bort says (about anything)
Supergirl was entertaining enough, but I'll admit to having to force myself to watch probably half the season. Mostly because it was good times for the whole family to watch together. I'd stream it, not buy it.
Flash is best. I'll probably buy it, if the extras are any good.
What they said.
SuperGirl has plenty of flaws and is often up and down but its still decent and is worth watching for Melissa Benoist alone who just kills it and basically saves the show. It's pretty much the antithesis of Man of Steel. Where that was dark SG is light, where Superman only cares when killing his kind, Supergirl cares about the people.
The Flash is amazing and easily the best DC franchise going right now! If you haven't seen it, it's a must watch. Again being the antithesis of the cinematic universe.
Arrow was decent for the first few seasons but suffers from repeating their original storyline over and over while failing when adding relationships to the main character mix. It also suffers from meddling as some of the better side storylines got prematurely axed as execs thought the tv universe suicide squad would confuse people with the movie coming out and has since been scrubbed from the show.
OK, I took the hit for all of you. I saw Suicide Squad yesterday with Mick.
One word: Don't.
It wasn't just that the fight scenes were muddy and badly shot or the script was confusing and cliched. The worst, the very worst thing, was the music. Every single member of the squad was introduced with the most obvious, stupid, cliched pop music cue possible. I am not even exaggerating. When they got the whole, seven member, squad together and Seven Nation Army started playing I cracked and said, "Oh, come on!" out loud in the theater.
Here is Mick's concurrence, that he tweeted out today.
Quote:
I saw "Suicide Squad": a mediocre film made WHOPPINGLY terrible by the hackneyed pop-culture music cues stomped into it... >>
...At every possible opportunity, like they couldn't pass up a chance to do the most cheeseball thing they could think of.
However, Waller was unfailingly awesome as was Viola Davis performance. She deserved a much better movie.
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"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 get the distinct impression that DC figured that Batman v. Superman would be their big Summer movie, and that Suicide Squad was just intended to be a sort of "filler" movie that would help flesh out the DC Movie Universe and fill the gap before the release of Justice League. But given the poor performance of Batman v. Superman, DC was/is desperately hoping that Suicide Squad will be a hit.
I doubt that's going to happen. It feels ... slapped together, somehow ... not at all like a movie that was ever intended to be that big a deal.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
As an aside, I read another Snyder interview recently -- this time with Deborah Snyder.
She repeated Zack Snyder's claim that the "problem" with Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman was that people didn't understand the "deconstruction" of Superman and Batman -- but that they'd come around once they saw how brilliantly it was done.
Thus, she demonstrated that she doesn't get it either.
Then she doubled down and insisted that there are no such thing as "heroes," and that "grown-ups" know this. Though she didn't come right out and say it, the clear message was: "These movies are for adults, and if you want to see movies about genuine heroes -- people who are good and selfless and do the right thing because it's the right thing -- then you're either a child or a moron".
Have I mentioned before how much I hate, hate, hate the ridiculous and insulting notion that "dark and cynical = mature," and that anything idealistic or hopeful or -- God forbid -- fun is "childish" and "immature."
Gah!
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
Lol! Because when you go to see a movie about an alien that looks human, wears spandex and gains godly powers when exposed to the spectrum of our sun, facing off against a billionaire that dresses for bondage furry night at the club, we're clearly looking for dark realism.
Some of the issues with Suicide Squad can be related to Snyder, after the failing of BvS reshoots and a reedit were ordered to lighten the mood of the story a bit, some of the Joker scenes were also removed. The irony here is that this is probably one of the few DC movies that could work well as a darker more gritty franchise, and I bet we will see a directors cut that gets praise over the theatrical release.
I think deconstructing something like Superman - the actual Ubermensch portion of it - can be done, but I've yet to see anyone actually do it with any credibility. Zach Snyder was trying to follow in Frank Miller's footsteps (plus the three or four other major DC story lines that were jammed into BvS); and while he is good at action movies and definitely has an interesting style, the stories he chooses to tell aren't all that great (even when cribbing from others).
I honestly enjoy(ed) 300. It took an artful comic theme and put it directly on the screen. Yes, it's hyper-masculine. No, it's not historic. But I still enjoy it. His efforts on Watchmen prove that it's more about the style, the look, then the story and the subtext. What was originally a deconstruction of comics and the heroes on their pages turned into a glorification, and justification for their existence.
Any subtlety held in The Dark Knight Returns and the Death of Superman was completely lost in the production of Dawn of Justice. What we got wasn't a deconstruction. It was a completely different character. A Jonathan Kent who can tell his superpowered alien son that maybe he shouldn't save a bus full of anyone let alone children is not the Jonathan Kent that raised the Superman anyone recognizes. The Martha Kent who can tell her superpowered alien son that he doesn't owe anyone a damn thing is not the Martha Kent that raised the Superman anyone recognizes. They are different people. Maybe with a more "real world" motivation. But you don't go watch Superman for "real world" reality - you go to see the Big Blue Boy Scout who is able to resist temptation, not just because there's almost no limit to his ability but because he was also raised to be good.
Literally everything that Marvel gets right about Captain America as a character, Snyder gets wrong about Superman.
On a positive note, I agree with Janet that The Killing Joke was well-done, and didn't treat Batgirl/Barbara Gordon disrespectfully.
And gods yes, Mark Hamill is just plain brilliant. Kevin Conroy is great too, of course, and so is Tara Strong -- but Mark Hamill is just plain incredible. (And by the way, hearing Batman laugh, to me anyway, is just plain unsettling.)
I also liked that Batman -- while being somewhat short with Barbara/Batgirl at times, and for understandable reasons -- wasn't portrayed as a complete ass. I don't know why so many writers seem to want to portray Batman as such a complete jerk that no one in his or her right mind would want to work with him.
Yes, he's driven -- he wouldn't be Batman if he weren't. That doesn't mean he has to treat everyone else like dirt. That's why I've always liked the earlier episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, where he treated Commissioner Gordon, Dick Grayson, random citizens, and even Harvey Bullock with genuine respect -- and, when appropriate, kindness and compassion.
In some of those episodes, you could see the obvious love and pride he held for Dick, as well as the love he felt for Alfred. Heck, he'd even go so far as to tease Alfred or Dick every now and then.
I like that version of Batman much better than the "so focused on his 'War Against Crime' that he can't be bothered to treat anyone with the slightest degree of respect or even common courtesy" version of Batman.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
I've been seeing the think-pieces about Harley Quinn popping up over the weekend. I only read one of them but I've seen people scoffing at the others, so I know there were quite a few. In their article on the weekend box office numbers, the AV Club expressed shock that female viewers rated the movie higher than men, despite how sexualized Harley was.
In my opinion, these people are overlooking two very important things. First, Harley Quinn is one of four female characters in the movie. Amanda Waller is a great, powerful female character, so are Enchantress and Katana, to the extent that they get screen time. Enchantess' human form, June Moone is a bit of a whiny drip, but even she has her moments. Most women do not expect to have no women in a film depicted as a sex object. Having the majority of the women in the film not depicted that way is important.
Second, and I don't know why no one else is talking about this, is that Harley's relationship with the Joker is shown as significantly more mutual and healthier than it is in BTAS. Sure, he's shown as torturing her during the breakout from Arkham, but he also spends most of the movie trying to break her out of prison. In BTAS, Joker never went back for Harley when he broke out. He even planned to drop an atom bomb on Gotham without getting her out of Arkham first. So film Joker is much, much more attached and committed to Harley than animated Joker. Not sure why those people writing think-pieces didn't notice it, but it actually bothered me while I was watching because I'm used to a very different depiction of their relationship.
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"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
During today's presentation at the Television Critics Association event, plenty of details were revealed about the CW's slate of DC superhero shows. "Supergirl" in particular had a few big announcements in the form of character additions. As reported by Deadline, Sharon Leal will appear on the show as Miss Martian while Chris Wood will play Mon-El.
It's unknown what role Miss Martian will play on the show or what relationship she will have with Martian Manhunter (David Harewood). Sharon Leal previously appeared as Zuri Ellis in the NBC series "Grimm." In the comics, Miss Martian is a White Martian named M'gann M'orzz who served as a member of the Teen Titans.
We should be in for a treat. Both Melissa Benoist of Supergirl and Grant Gustin of The Flash have musical backgrounds. They've both appeared in the show Glee. Other supporting cast members also boast musical talents: Jesse L. Martin, who plays Joe West on The Flash, is famous for originating the role of Tom Collins in Rent on Broadway, while Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl’s Winn) has appeared in the Broadway production of Newsies and the film version of The Last Five Years. Additionally, Carlos Valdes (The Flash’s Cisco Ramon) has released several EPs under the name Tha Los, and Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West) has a music video for his song "Higher."
Second, and I don't know why no one else is talking about this, is that Harley's relationship with the Joker is shown as significantly more mutual and healthier than it is in BTAS. Sure, he's shown as torturing her during the breakout from Arkham, but he also spends most of the movie trying to break her out of prison. In BTAS, Joker never went back for Harley when he broke out. He even planned to drop an atom bomb on Gotham without getting her out of Arkham first. So film Joker is much, much more attached and committed to Harley than animated Joker. Not sure why those people writing think-pieces didn't notice it, but it actually bothered me while I was watching because I'm used to a very different depiction of their relationship.
Apparently a good deal of the film that ended up on the cutting room floor depicted the bad side of the Joker and Harley's relationship. After the flop of BvS and its' dark setting most, if not all, the dark parts of Suicide Squad were cut in order to lighten up the mood of the film.
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The best way to make America great is to lower the standards!
Just saw this and it’s one of the best summations I’ve seen of everything wrong with the DCCU:
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Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.
“All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.” -Adam Smith
I was one of the people who wonder-shamed the choosing Gal Gadot to be Wonder Woman. I'm glad to look back at past-bort and at his dumbness; and at the same time be thankful I didn't follow the other nerdhaters who were really against that casting. When the first wave of SHE'S TOO THIN, SHE'S NOT AMAZONIAN ENOUGH and what-all, I definitely decided to adopt the wait and see - see the costume, watch her acting - attitude. And I'm also glad I did that.
So here's this set photo from BvS that GG recently shared. I think she's every bit the embodiment of Wonder Woman that Lynda Carter is.
BUT ABOVE ALL THIS, I DON'T CARE WHAT HAMZIMMER OR WHOVER TRIES, THIS IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE WONDER WOMAN THEME.
Flash: Good as always, a bit shaky so far in setting up the main villain but a lot has been devoted to dealing with flash fucking things up. It's developing as another promising season.
Arrow: After ignoring last season I'm stepping into this again, and it's... better. A new team arrow, some forward progress, and the flashbacks, while still kinda annoying are actually going somewhere.
Legends: Not perfect but big improvement! Dumping the single quest and being slammed around in time is doing them some good. Not to mention their enemies are finally as campy as the show and they seem to be embracing the silliness. As usual White Canary and Mick are the break out stars, making it worth wild. I really hope they give Canary a serious female love interest instead of the smattering 'oow better not go to far, tehehe' they've done so far. But already this season is shaping up to be better than the last (especially without insufferable asshole and barista woman).
Super Girl: Holy shit, it's SuperMan, and he's not silhouetted. Beyond that it's been stronger this season and just as dorky as ever.
ETA:
As fans have been speculating, looks like they are setting up Alex for a girlfriend.
As someone who grew up mostly a Marvel fan, the CW DCU is making me enjoy DC comics, and they are the few shows I regularly watch anymore.
I'm of many minds on the inclusion of Superman in Supergirl. On the first hand, I'd love if the show could stand more on its own without referring to him so often. But on another hand, the way they have been alluding to him couldn't continue as it was. I mean, it's the Super-family. He's going to show up at some point and be, you know, Superman - the singular and one of the most iconic superheroes of all of them. On a third hand, doing it the way they did wasn't terrible. Keep him off screen and let the show find its own way and now having him show up but not show up his cousin, you know?
I don't know. I'm all over the place on that.
And with the exception of staying away from Arrow, I can't disagree with anything else. Ari is very smart and I agree with everything he says.
I quite like that they've finally acknowledged superman, I mean either send him off on some galactic mission or accept he's there, but the half assed version was annoying. I've quite liked the idea that SuperGirl is almost on par with him.
Along those lines, Legends season 2 has been 10x better than season 1 and takes it's place among the other CW DC lineup this season. Campy, fun, violent, it's worked so far, and I'm not just saying that because Sara is captain.
(I do wonder though, why doesn't Mick take advantage of his cronos armor.)
Arrow is so much better this season it's insane! It must be the most wildly uneven show on television. It's looking season 2 good right now. All the DC CW shows are good this year, with Arrow and Legends fighting for most improved.
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"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
Rewatching this season of Flash I have to say it's better than I thought, a number of things that felt uneasy were stabilized and knowing this a rewatch has been enjoyable. HR in particular is much funnier on the second watch through once you aren't assuming he's up to no good. Which overall I find fascinating.
While there's been no evidence for it, I kinda want Savitar to be Eddie pissed off that he died for nothing.
Supergirl, Arrow, Legends, have all been better than their previous season.
Somebody in the doll (er ... "action figure") market is having some fun, I think.
A few days ago, I wandered into the toys aisle at a local Walmart to look through their stuff. They had a bunch of DC superhero action figures, so I took a look at them. One of them was labeled "Wonder Woman: Classic"; as expected, her costume was all bright and colorful and her skin was a nice, healthy shade of flesh tone. Next to it was one labeled "Wonder Woman: Batman v. Superman"; it was all shades of gray, with no color -- even her skin was gray.
I can't help but think that was somebody's idea of a joke.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”