Let's talk movies and television because there's a crap ton coming out that are at the very least eye-catching. Let's start with "It: Chapter Two". If you've read this blog for a while you should know that I've read and reviewed a good heft of Stephen King's popular works with one exception, "It". "It" is a book I just can't finish because it BORES me to no end, and I TIRED, I really tried but the book just didn't grab me like his other works did. And I'm one of those jerks who needs to read the book before they see the movie (unless I have it on good authority that the movies do the books justice, like in the case of "Twilight"...which is unfortunate) but I have seen the mini-series with Tim Curry a LONG time ago, so long ago that I can hardly say I have seen it. I just remember that being incredibly goofy and not scary at all. These movies don't seem scary but do seem like a crap ton of fun and I just might check them out. After all, James McAvoy is in it and that's pretty neat.
Keeping in the thread of movies, let's talk about "Sonic The Hedgehog" and how they butchered my boy. Listen, I'm happy they're gonna change his appearance, but his appearance isn't my problem with the movie, my problem is quite simple, why are there humans in this movie? Why is he on Earth? Why does Dr. Robotnik NOT LOOK LIKE DR. ROBOTNIK?! The ONLY time there's been a human in the Sonic Mythos (aside from Dr. Robotnik and The Princess In The OVA and completely ignoring "Sonic '06") is Chris Thorndyke from "Sonic X" and his role is considerably diminished compared to Sonic and all the other animal characters. Why not just take "Sonic Adventures" and turn that into a movie? No, instead we have James Marsden toting Sonic around in a bag? This could have easily been an animated movie, but unfortunately, because it's live action and void of any Sonic mythos (no mention of the Chaos Emeralds or anything) we won't get Knuckles or The Floating Island. I can't say enough bad things about this trailer, as a Sonic fan I could have done better.
Since we're on the topic of better, let's talk "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and a better Mysterio? This Quentin Beck claims to be from another universe, claiming that The Snap from Thanos tore a hole which allowed himself and The Elementals (the alleged villains of the film) to enter into our world. Now, it goes without saying but next to Venom, Mysterio is my favorite Spider-Man villain, I've always been a fan of magicians and I love his look, the fishbowl is great and his cape just adds flair. The fact that Jake Gyllenhaal is playing him just makes me even happier, however, I am not thrilled about him being a hero...that's just wrong. I'm hoping that Mysterio either paid The Elementals or they're just an elaborate illusion created by him to gain glory until Spider-Man takes him down a peg and then Mysterio breaks bad...but one could only hope. For as much acclaim is The MCU has gotten least we forget they did butcher The Mandarin, however, I am confident Mysterio will be done justice.
Since we're on the topic of superheroes let's talk about something eyebrow-raising. "Watchmen" has come back into the mainstream, at least in The DC Universe with "Doomsday Clock" still ongoing and now, "Watchmen" is getting The HBO treatment with a TV series functioning as a sequel to the events of the original comic (funny because "Doomsday Clock" was that sequel) boasting Jeremy Irons (in his 2nd DC role) as an elderly Ozymandias after his "World saving" Hail Mary. Damon Lindelöf is running the series and as we know he is a HUGE fan of "Watchmen", as he's made that clear in a number of discussions, so I don't doubt that this series will be good but here in lies the problem...does "Watchmen" need a TV series? The series boasts a Cult Of Rorschachs who probably know the truth of Adrian's deception and seek to expose him, but if we're being honest the aftermath of "Watchmen" isn't interesting and I think that negates the purpose of the story its self.
And I know, the story ends on a cliffhanger, sort of, but with a sequel, we'll see the result of a world semi unified to fight against an alien threat and therefore use their collective powers to fight a common enemy but is the aftermath really that interesting? I'd argue no, the question of "Watchmen" is all about saving the world and what that really means and that's what I mean by "negates the purpose", Dr. Manhattan pretty much said Adrian didn't save the world but he's completely outta the picture now. So what does this series leave for us? Comedian is dead, Niteowl & Silk Spectre are retired, Adrian is well...still the smartest guy in the room, Rorschach is dead and lives on through a cult, I'm sorry I'm not seeing anything compelling here. Also "Watchmen" is already getting an (unfortunately) official sequel with the aforementioned "Doomsday Clock" which for better or worse IS and WILL BE canon. Will I be tuning in? No, I won't have the time but I'll probably be keeping abreast of what's going on.
Since we're on the topic of TV shows now is the time to start pissing people off, let's talk about this new "Twilight Zone" or as I'm now calling it "The Woke Zone". It's time to say something I've been putting off saying for a LONG time, mostly because I've been in denial but it's time to say it: WRITERS HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO WRITE! Not all, but the majority of writers in Hollywood can't write themselves out of a wet paper bag and this new "Twilight Zone" series shows it. I've mentioned in previous Strange Log that I was already getting tired of Donald Trump allegories in media, with "American Horror Story" making his election the catalyst of their previous season (still accepting any and all donations), from Shao Freakin; Kahn saying (and I kid you not) "Make Outworld great again."...which...okay, if Hollywood hates Trump SO MUCH, why are they going outta their way to immortalize him? Just a question.
But the MOST recent "takedown" of Trump comes in the form of an episode titled "The Wunderkind" about a 10-year-old who becomes President and becomes a tyrant...and before you say to yourself that that's circumstantial, bare in mind that EVERY media outlet is taking it as a swipe against Trump, just Google "Twilight Zone Wunderkind Trump" and see what happens. But I'm not getting into politics, this is an entertainment blog after all and I wanna keep it chill BUT when politics starts seeping into entertainment (and this time blatantly with an agenda) it becomes less entertainment and more propaganda. "Black Mirror" tackled politics with "The Waldo Moment" but they didn't showcase the Conservative candidate as a malicious person nor did they make an explicit message that Conservatives were evil, the message behind "The Waldo Moment" was quite simple, stand for something, ignore non-sense, which the Conservative made clear during the "debate" and Waldo's original handler came to realize at the end.
But these writers go out of their way to make sure that in no uncertain terms we the viewer need to know that "Trump is teh evilness!". But I'm not here to talk about Trump, just saying I'm getting annoyed by every writer now inserting just how much they hate Trump in their work, they're as subtle about as making a villain whose name is Pmurt, which is to say not subtle at all. But it gets worse, the latest "Twilight Zone" episode titled "Not All Men" (and you probably see where this is going) takes the cake as being one of the worst things I've ever seen. Let's get something out of the way, I'M NO FEMINIST, never made any qualms about declaring my absolute loathing of Feminism and how it's pretty much destroyed interpersonal relationships between the sexes and I'll never back down from that position. That being said, if I were a Male Feminist I would look at this episode and go "Seriously?".
"Why?", you ask. Let me breakdown the premise of the episode, meteorites crash on Earth and they cause Men to become absolutely aggressive lunatics, beating each other to death and generally causing all kinds of mayhem, they're super aggressive to women yelling at them and attacking them when exposed to these meteorites. Not only that be these meteorites cause the men to become super strong by having their eyes go red and the veins bulge from their foreheads...think The Beast from "Split" but less cool.
Now in typical "Twilight Zone" fashion, there's a twist a-comin'...are you ready? You ready? As it turns out the meteorites DON'T have any special properties that turn men into violent psychopaths, ALL the men were just violent psychopaths...with the exception of the main character's gay nephew. The episode ends with said gay nephew revealing he's had a piece of the meteorite in his back pocket the entire time, therefore, proving it did nothing and saying he simply chose not to act violently. Now "The Twilight Zone" is NO stranger to mob mentality and the like, many an episode uses that trope effectively BUT this is a stretch even for "The Twilight Zone", this episode would have us believe that EVERY single man just one day (on the same day nonetheless) just decided to become a lunatic? The underlining message of the episode is that every man is potentially an ultra-violent lunatic and we men have to make the choice not to be...and again, seriously?
If that's NOT the message of the episode I defy you to tell me what it is, because the episode made it clear that the men were merely using the meteorites as an excuse to go insane. Which again the message is "Men are actually insane and just need a reason.". What's the message? In the opening the main character rebuffs a man's advances and cuts their date short, the man starts acting crazy and then when she leaves his home the man starts throwing stuff and screaming, all because she wasn't going to have sex with him, and I'm HIGHLY dubious on any story a woman tells about her leaving a guy's home or apartment after denying them sex and hearing the sounds of wreckage and primal screaming after they closed the door. Also, and I can't talk about this episode without bringing it up because it is (unintentionally HILARIOUS) the episode stars (the illegitimate Wahlberg) Ike Barinholtz who at the start of the episode plays a "woke" Beta male husband (even going so far as to tell another man at the dinner table to and I quote "Get woke, bro.")...and then later on when he goes, I'm sorry, CHOOSES to go insane he celebrates his wife's birthday (because it's her birthday) in a fashion so hilariously over the top that Ike Turner would roll his eyes. In a scene that's supposed to be scary and threatening and full of tension is undone just by the silliness of Ike's performance and how seriously the women are taking him.
I have NO problem with media having a social message, especially as "The Twilight Zone" did in the past but there was a time when the message was buried in an interesting story that stood by it's self and was more of a parable. These days the message is right smack dab in the middle and it comes off as more of propaganda than an actual story. Moving on.
Let's talk "Mortal Kombat 11"! So this is the 1st new release for PS4 I purchased and as such, I was excited about it. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Mortal Kombat fan (I write as I am currently wearing a Mortal Kombat shirt). I was late to playing the current gen of MK games but I ALWAYS kept abreast of the story and as such, I had fun with "Mortal Kombat 11" but that isn't to say there aren't a few problems. Let's talk about gameplay since gameplay won't be a major discussion of my review of the story mode. I don't really care much for the Gear System, I know that was a thing in "Injustice 2" but I could really care less about the gear, unless they made all the gear readily accessible (so I can take Skarlet's freakin' mask off!). This brings me to The Krypt, and while THIS Krypt is AMAZING (and quite frankly they can make an entire game of just this alone) having the chests be randomized and online as a requirement to access is The Krypt is unacceptable!
"Mortal Kombat" has ALWAYS had very hard mythology behind it and has always played fast and loose with supposedly dead characters but this time...this time death seems permanent. I won't get into anymore as I'll save it for the review (whenever the hell that'll be). As a side note, I will say this "Mortal Kombat" game marks the 1st canonical appearance of Shoa Kahn without his helmet ("Shaolin Monks" IS not canon) and I'm surprised no one's making this a bigger deal. But I digress.
Last but not least, let's talk about The Curious Case Of Feedback. One of the main reasons why I left The Youtube Game (aside from not getting the views worth my efforts) was the lack of feedback, neither positive or negative, just radio silence. And while no one wants negative feedback, some feedback would be nice. My failed Kickstarter for "Blue Mist" received OVERWHELMINGLY negative feedback (and rightfully so) so I had to cut through the snark and annoyance of the person responding to me and get at the core of what he was saying. But what do you do when there is no reaction?
For those of you who've been on this blog for a while, you should know about the time, energy and thought I've put into my Strangeverse Storyline, making a reference guide and actually pulling from internet lore and I'm very proud of that, but...okay, listen, I've written and drawn over 30 something books myself. I have no intention of publishing them because I do them simply for my own pleasure, hence why they're not available to you all, but if I make something available for the public I'm expecting to hear something back and when silence is returned...well...that's upsetting. To this day my most responded to article has been "Why We Hate Hannah McKay" boasting over 84 comments and good discussions had by all. But it seems to me the things I'd like to hear from people on, all of a sudden there's no one to be found, but when I put something out there that maybe I didn't take as much time as I could on it, all of a sudden someone chimes in...and consistently.
I don't know how this stuff works, I don't know how to generate traffic and I certainly don't have time to build up a following on a forum or Facebook group or anything of the like, and I doubt internet traffic is just speeding my way...so...what to do, what to do? Who knows? Anyways, that'll do it for me. I'll try to write articles when I can but being a dad is a handful and work schedule is crazy, plus my laptop probably needs a pacemaker. I'm really worried about this thing and I'm considering getting a new one...we'll see. Anyways, here's a GIF of my reaction to the butchering of "The Twilight Zone" and "Sonic The Hedgehog". I'll catch you guys later!
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