ThaOGDreamWeaver

Welp, that embargo just dropped. So far, 36% Rotten. Even the better ones suggest that someone was trying for a Very Serious Movie about Serious Stuff, while still trying to capture the spirit of the first one. Nah. Empire Strikes Back, this ain't. Look, the great thing about the first one is that both the movie and star knew exactly what they were doing - a big, goofy, slightly messy spectacle that knew that a guy who talks to fish is a weird story beat. It had a sense of its own ridiculousness and played to it. And that energy made up for a lot of the weaker stuff, like an adorable puppy that's run in from the beach and is shaking all over your car's upholstery. So if the end of the DCEU turns out to be a damp squib, that gives Gunn & co a clear run at their new vision. Wish them luck. They're gonna need it.

The original was a fun popcorn flick, especially watching Momoa having a blast, some really imaginative visuals and production, and a battle sequence that felt like it came from a different, better movie. (Kind of expected to see Peter Jackson hanging around in a wetsuit waving a cricket bat at the extras.) But beyond that, there was a lot that didn’t float. Ignoring the tittle-tattle around Amber Heard, the fact that Jason had much better chemistry with Nicole (his mom) was noticeable. Yet again, we have a villain problem: Yahya does what he can with Kane/Manta, but that outfit would have been rejected as too ridiculous by Power Rangers. Pat Wilson’s Orm pales by comparison with Hiddlestone’s jealous relative. And then there’s the script… This time around, we’ve got the same cast, a well-worn main thread about being bored of the job and having it taken off you, a hideously clunky shoehorned climate subplot (even by my goodie-goodie little Guardian-reading Social Justice Rogue standards… look, if you’re gonna run with that stuff, do it properly), and two Curse Of Forbidden Power McGuffins for the price of one. In short, while I might catch this on whatever streaming service survives the 2024/2025 shakeout... ...EDIT: which seems to be already happening... BBC News: Paramount and Warner-Discovery in early merger talks https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67782869 ...I’m not enthralled enough to slap down a tenner for it, and I want my wine and fast forward button on standby.

…”haven’t I seen you before somewhere?”

Meco - Star Wars Theme (Purrfection Remix)

Side note: I would watch a Mullet Cinematic Universe. Though this list is clearly missing Momoa and early Hemsworth. https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a543060/13-hair-raising-movie-mullets-hugh-jackman-kurt-russell-david-bowie/

That he is (though most convincing as Timely: still didn't have Big Villain Energy for me.) And many actors have got away with worse over the decades. But even with a successful appeal, t he material released during the trial is going to mean a long road of publicity rehab. While I normally concur with m'learned coll' TW, the whole multiverse thing was clunkily executed on screen in Quantumania - and not really used except as a shiny creative toy in DS:MoM. It works better in the comics, and across multiple episodes of Loki and What If, where you've got that room to play with new ideas: and you're not unpacking a difficult concept into a 120-minute rollercoaster ride. So while, yes, even DOOM himself might wind up being a variant, just because they Kang, doesn't mean that they should.

Small update. Not entirely sure which topic this goes in, but... Jonathan Majors Dropped By Marvel After Conviction https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jonathan-majors-trial-verdict-1235759607/ I'm not gonna comment on the criminal trial for obvious reasons: read the whole article to the end, make your own mind up. However, in Whollyodd terms: Majors is now off the Marvel roster... ...and has had another indie picture shelved by Fox Searchlight. Mike Waldron (Loki, Doc Strange:MOM, Rick and Morty) has been brought in to do a rework of the upcoming film, now snappily titled "Avengers 5". Oddly, I think this is could be a blessing in disguise for Marvel. Loki's World Tree finale is a fine plot way of bringing harmony to the Multiverse - without the whole dang Kang shebang. Which, frankly, wasn't working out to begin with. Quantumania was a poorly-plotted porridge of an intro/explainer film. Majors didn't really grab folks as a villain (and that's by Marvel standards, who have always had an antagonist problem). The overarching Kang Dynasty Avengers-Assemble-But-This-Time-Across-Time-And-Space was done better last time. Is it time to break Doc Doom out of the toybox? Do Marvel hit pause on the movies for a bit and build out some other stories? Would you like to see them branch out The Batman style into wildly different, perhaps smaller movies? Like a Kingpin solo movie, or what happened to Cap after he broke the laws of time for Peggy (a 1950s Cold War period spy couple piece, perhaps?)

Sounds terrifying. I don't think I could beat that, as I haven't got the core strength to dual wield vacuum cleaners.

...or did it? If Loki's magic created a World Tree to weave together all of time and space, its existence would extend far back into the past, as well as into the future to the end of time. The Asgardians may have discovered their technomagic allowed them to traverse it, though they might not be quite sure why... they'd never know it was Asgardian magic. I wonder if Odin the All-Seeing knew what his adoptive son (or a variant) would eventually become?

There's making deals with the Devil, and then there's making deals with Amazon. Yeesh. But Bezos-abub has clearly given Vivienne "Vivziepop" Medrano the bucks she needs to bring her viral project Hazbin Hotel to full-on life. With sex, booze, swearing, drugs, magick and showtunes. (So pretty much a decent night out in my twenties.) For those of you who never saw the pilot (or spinoff Helluva Boss), we meet Charlie, the rather adorable Princess Of Hell, who decides to tackle the city of Dis's overpopulation problem before Heaven does it... violently and permanently. To do that, she founds a halfway house for salvageable sinners - if she can redeem enough, maybe those above will call off the destruction. Almost nobody believes she can do it. Until she runs into Alastor, the charming, stylish, and incredibly-powerful-and-dangerous-even-by-Hell-standards Radio Demon. Exactly what Alastor is up to, we don't as yet know, but goodness will have nothing to do with it... Even as a viral pilot, the show acquired a legion of dedicated fans - and inspired some amazing original music too. If this thing doesn't worm its way into your brain like some kind of foul eldritch ear-burrowing direworm, you're probably dead already. Really hope they can work it in somewhere...

Final teaser is up: ...neeeever liked Justin Hammer as an antagonist, maybe he'll be funnier in cartoon form. Other than that, we see Peg being shown Loki's World Tree (so, yup, it's all connected... and the baubles look like a fairly rough after-edit), medieval Ant-Man, and some other tiny treats.

Bit of a surprise package for next Christmas lined up: an animated LOTR movie about Helm Hammerhand (who gave his name to Helm's Deep.) No hobbits, lotsa horses, and Brian Cox playing a king. Again. Because he is one. What do we think?

FEUERSCHWANZ - Gimme Gimme Gimme

Neutron flow? Neutron flow? Bah. Easy. I could flip that with two chopsticks, a coil of wire and old copy of Guitar Tech Monthly. But if he messed with the polarity of Klystron Generator... now that's REAL drama.

And as a lifelong Labyrinth fan, I'm pleased the Christmas episode has an abducted baby, a horde of comedy goblins, and musical numbers...

Oh gods, that bit in The Star Beast. Evil Overlord Rule 85: I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button"... Addendum 85(a)(i): I will also not read an entire Haynes Evil Pointy Spaceship Service And Maintenance Manual (Model Years 2023-4008) out loud in an overdramatic voice.

Randomly rabbitholed back into the lore and had a thought...

Small piece of casting news: clearly we weren't the only ones impressed by Nic Hoult, as Gunn has just officially cast him in Superman: Legacy... ...as Lex? Yeah. Yeah, I could see that. Especially as Lex isn't the primary antagonist: that's The Engineer (think T3's Terminator X model.)

The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid! Yeah, being genetically Scottish, pale and interesting, I get that a lot. Even to the point of people taking the mickey on flights back from holiday. Factor 50 all day, every day...

No Doubt - OI! To The World

Love Is A Long Road - Tom Petty

Just regenerating this for a moment as the Specials have now completed...

Hey Duggee - Enid's Dream Weirdly catchy, especially if you like the Weeknd. And then there's the video...

I pretend everything other than the first one exists. The first one is worthy. Because, apart from anything else... this.

I have a few DP type toons to fit different concepts. DP/NInjitsu and DP/Devices have been great fun for my Agents type characters, plus a DP/Empath combat healZ0r. Thinking about making a two-fisted Indiana Jane type next and not sure whether to go /Martial or /Energy. Agree that Fire is your best bet all round round, but Toxic and Cold are situationally useful against enemies that don't resist them well. Cold can also put the brakes on big crowds a little... and very handy for snow displays this time of year. Tox's -DMG isn't quite as useful as if they'd made it, say, -Regen.