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PODCAST: Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi SPOILER Review!

Published on December 16, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everybody,

It’s Paul

After months of waiting, It’s finally here! Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi has hit theatres at last! We couldn’t wait to dive into this podcast. This Episode is so EPIC that I needed TWO guest co-hosts to handle it! (Unfortunately Tim was out of town this weekend).With me on the show is long time World’s Best Media contributor Ryan McDonald; as well as friend and supporter of World’s Best Media, Mr. Matt Supple. This episode is FULL SPOILERS!!! And there’s A LOT to unpack. So, wait until after you’ve seen the movie (or if you don’t care). There was a lot to unpack and go over, but I think we did a good job. Enjoy! Listen here or on iTunes :

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13595419

Podcast: The Walking Dead TV Series SHOCKER with Special Guest co-host Paul Wright Sr.

Published on December 11, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hi everybody,

Here’s a relatively short (by the standards of this show at least) Episode where we talk about the shocking developments on Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead. Also, keep a lookout Friday morning when we’ll have our full Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi up. We’re also going to try to get in a review of Netflix’s new Marvel series The Punisher if we can. Until then, please enjoy this fun episode about the most recent episode of The Walking Dead. Today I have a very special co-host, beloved by fans the world over, my Father… Mr. Paul Wright Sr! Listen here or subscribe on iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13554612

STAR WARS RETROSPECTIVE (Part 7) EPISODE VII THE FORCE AWAKENS

Published on December 8, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey everybody,

So here it is, our final entry in our look back at the epic Star Wars saga. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this series of articles. Everyone involved has had a blast doing it and we hope to do something similar in the future. I also want to personally thank the writers who contributed to the series. Thank you, guys! You all did a great job. Now all that’s left is to see the new movie! I know I have my tickets to Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi! May The Force Be With You…

-Paul

Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens Written by Paul Wright

We never thought it would happen. A promise 40 years in the making. The fabled final 3rd act in an epic 9 part Saga. We knew that Anakin and The Republic’s story in the prequels would ultimately, inevitably end in tragedy. Now a new, uncharted story awaited us…

I don’t remember when I realized “This is really going to happen. We are getting the final 3 films.”. As I’ve always said seeing Star Wars films have always been deeply personal experiences for me and I was thrilled that as I entered a new chapter in my own life that I’d get to share in The Star War Saga with my friends and family once again. They thrilled me as a kid with the re-released Special Editions, The Prequels illicit many fond memories from my high school and college years, but now I’d get to experience the Saga as an adult. It’s a great feeling.

I do remember the excitement leading up to The Force Awakens. I remember that first incredible teaser released over a year before the film opened. Man, if there’s one thing Star Wars is incredible at, it’s the art of teaser trailers: Andy Serkis’ voice over. A panicked looking stormtrooper, a droid shaped like a ball, a girl on a big speeder, and of course a snow cover landscape with a dark figure unsheathing a red lightsaber with a cross guard. Then… BOOM The Millenium Falcon being chased by tie fighters. The trailer said “Here’s something new, but it’s continuing the story you love.” The idea of watching the fall of the Jedi and Anakin Skywalker’s decent into Vader was interesting (at least on paper). But there were a lot of questions left unanswered after Return of The Jedi and all our key characters were still in play. Finally we’d see that story.

As soon as I heard J.J. Abrams was the director, I knew we were in good hands. I remember him being interviewed for his first Star Trek movie and saying that he wasn’t a Star Trek fan, but Star Wars was why he became a film maker. In fact, if you look back on almost all of his work, he constantly brings up Star Wars as his reason for being a film maker. Personally, I think he did a hell of a job. The worst thing that could have happened would have been if The Force Awakens was… fine. Just a movie, just OK. Terrible is better than “OK” in a strange way. But he didn’t do that, he made a Star Wars film and one of the great Star Wars films at that. Yes the film has it’s flaws, but the movie is exactly what it needs to: a great start to a new trilogy.

What makes this movie work so well is its characters, both new and old. We all fell in love with Rey and Finn. Poe was cool enough, we’d see more from him in subsequent films. Kylo Ren gave us another truly great Star Wars villain. Everyone’s favorite Princess was now General Organa. In hindsight, I like what they did with Luke, it gave us that much more anticipation for the next Episode without being a true cliffhanger. But the man who stole the show was the smuggler who made The Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs…

There are so many things I could bring up and analyze with this film, but today I’m going to focus on one aspect a little more than the others: The Solo family (mainly Han and Kylo Ren AKA Ben Solo.

One of my favorite parts of this film is how Han Solo is portrayed and especially how Harrison Ford plays him. It’s been no secret that Ford has no great love for the Star Wars franchise. I was surprised he agreed to do The Force Awakens, but I think it was a great idea for Ford as an actor. He’s alive in this character and in this film in a way we hadn’t seen him in far too long. It was like, Holy shit, Harrison Ford… its good to have you back. This was not the Han Solo of the Original Trilogy. The thirty years had changed him, this was a man with more depth and perspective than the cowboy smuggler we new and loved. But the cowboy smuggler was still there.

This films biggest weakness is it’s plot. As so many other have said, when it comes to the story, it might as well be a remake of A New Hope. But in one of my favorite scenes of the film, when Han, Chewie, Finn, and Rey are on The Millenum Falcon, that “weakness” actually helps the movie to give us one hell of a great character moment:

Han Solo: This map’s not complete. It’s just a piece. Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him.
Rey: Why did he leave?
Han Solo: He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him, destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible. He just walked away from everything.
Finn: Do you know what happened to him?
Han Solo: A lot of rumors. Stories. People that knew him best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.
Rey: The Jedi were real?
Han Solo: I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is… it’s true. The Force. The Jedi… All of it… It’s all true.

What’s wonderful about this scene is that it brings Han’s story full circle. 40 years ago he stood in almost the same spot and called The Force bullshit to Ben Kenobi. Which gives me the perfect opportunity to point out how significant it was that Han and Leia chose to name their son Ben. This goes back to that new depth to Han that I spoke about before. I think that naming his son Ben was almost certainly Han’s idea, not Leia’s. Leia knew him more as the fabled General Obi-Wan Kenobi The Jedi warrior who fought in The Clones Wars, Han was the one who knew him as Ben in the short time they spent in each other’s lives. This tells the audience that the massive impact Old Ben Kenobi had on his life, was not lost on Han. This old man who Han dismissed as a fool set Han on the path that would define him. The path that led him to everything in his life that mattered. They spend such little time on screen together that fans forget how important Han Solo meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi was. But Han didn’t forget.

Ben Solo AKA Kylo Ren played brilliantly by Adam Driver has the potential to be one of the most complicated, interesting, and best characters in the Saga. As far as I’m concerned he’s already great. But depending on where the story takes him, by the end of the trilogy, he could become iconic. I always felt like this was how Anakin should have been portrayed in the prequels. What made Kylo Ren unique was his struggle not with the dark side, but with his better nature.

That was take on a dark force user that we hadn’t seen before. He saw the light as something tempting him off his path, where the dark side was so easy to slip onto for so many others.

I knew Harrison Ford would die in this movie the second I’d heard he signed on. There was no way he was going to stick around for two more films (they’re lucky they got him for this one). So I knew walking into the theatre, that’d we’d probably be saying goodbye to one of the most beloved characters in cinematic history.

As death’s of legendary characters go, it’s fine I suppose. Killed by his son and falling into an abyss. I still don’t know if Ben Solo intended to kill his father no matter. Had Ben Solo known what he was going to as soon as Han stepped onto that catwalk. Was Han getting through to him or was this the only way that confrontation could play put? I think there was doubt there in Ben Solo. The Dark and The Light inside of him pushing and pulling. Who knows? Unfortunately we all know the choice he makes…
Will he find some sort of redemption like his grandfather did? Does he even deserve redemption?

In the end, what makes The Force Awakens a great chapter in the Star Wars Saga is the magic. It manages to tap into the moments of wonder, the excellent characters, and excitement that make a great Star Wars movie. The stage has been set for Episode VIII. I hope The Last Jedi is The Empire Strikes Back of the new trilogy. All I know is that I can’t wait to visit this world and these characters again.

May The Force Be With You…

(To my female readers.. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it)

EW.COM Has The First Look at X-Men Dark Phoenix

Published on December 8, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Check out http://www.ew.com for the full article

Podcast: The Universe’s Greatest Superheroes & Super Villains (Part 2)

Published on December 5, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey, everybody!

Tim and I finish up our discussion of the best superheroes and super villains of all time and shit gets real deep. Infinity Gauntlets, the nature of good and evil, and we’re pretty sure we caught a ghost on tape! So keep an ear out for that! At the very least, it better than Part 1, so there’s nowhere to go but up! It’s a good one! Listen here or subscribe on iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13446238

First Look: Robin from the upcoming live action Teen Titans series

Published on December 2, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Warner Bros is starting their own DC TV streaming service in 2018 (the way we watch TV is about to get real fucking weird. Stay tuned for more from me on that). Among the original content set to debut on this streaming is Season 3 of the incredible and beloved Young Justice Animated series. As well as a live action Teen Titans series. Now we have our first look at the Titan’s team leader and by far it’s most well known member, Dick Grayson AKA Robin:

Robin is being played by Brenton Thwaites best known for being the poor bastard who had to run around with Johnny Depp on most recent Pirates of The Caribbean movie. A few years back he starred in a great little sci-if film called The Signal, which is pretty cool and underrated. Definitely check it out if you can. I was happy with this casting because he’s more or less the right age, he certainly looks the part, and even when he’s been in some movies that are complete DOG SHIT he’s always likable and the quality of some of the horrible movies he’s been in have had nothing to do with his performance.

The mask is a little “wonky”, but otherwise I really dig the costume. It definitely seems to be inspired by the Batman Arkham video games, which is a good thing. It’ll be interesting to see how well some of the other Titans translate to another medium. The roster includes Starfire, Beast Boy, Hawk, Dove, and maybe Raven, but I’m not 100% certain about that last one.

Bottom line for me is obviously I’m very intrigued to see how theyll handle translating this to TV. Dick Grayson is one of my favorite DC characters so I’m really excited to see DC using him in live action. This is the only time we’ve seen him in live action besides Chis O’Donnel playing him in the good awful, franchise killing Batman Forver and Batman and Robin. Side Note: I mean, Chris O’Donnell is like 30 fucking year old in that first flick. So Bruce Wayne just decided to adobt an adult man. That’s a pretty fucking bizarre scenario. If you follow this site at all you know they’ve already got me hook, line, and sinker. Of course I’m going to watch this fucking show.

(Chris O’Donnell’s face in this pic looks like he just saw himself in a mirror)

I’ll be interested to see how this ties into the DC Universe. Will it be it own thing, with it’s own version of Batman, The Joker, etc.? Will it be in the DCEU? Or is it part of The CW’s Arrow-verse? Who know? But I’m looking forward to finding out.

Teen Titans will premiere on Warner Bros. DC TV streaming service sometime in 2018.

Thanks as always for reading!

-Paul

STAR WARS RETROSPECTIVE (PART 6) EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

Published on November 30, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hi everybody,

First of all thank you all so much supporting this series of articles. We had a great time putting them together. We’re really getting down to the wire here because today our article is on Star Wars Episode VI Return of The Jedi. I originally asked Marc Rodolfo, the author of today’s article, to just right the article for Episode VI. But I thought it was so damn good, that I asked him to write the Empire Strikes Back article, which we published last week. So this is absolutely one of my favorite articles in this series ( I feel like I say that for every piece because all of them are so damn good, I love them all!). Please enjoy!

– Paul

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of The Jedi written by Marc Rodolfo

Cartoons and Carbonite: A Reflection on Return of the Jedi

I hated Return of the Jedi the first time I saw it. Strange, I know. Especially since I am now such a huge Star Wars fan. But there was a reason for my initial ignorance; Return of the Jedi was the first Star Wars movie I had ever seen. And because it was the first Star Wars movie I had ever seen, I had absolutely no fucking clue what the hell was going on.
At the behest of my mother, I was told over and over “you should watch this movie,” and my mother, bless her heart and all that, didn’t quite remember that Star Wars was a trilogy and that Jedi was the end of that trilogy. See this was the early 90’s before the word “Prequel” became so dirty, and at a time when the words “Special Edition” were still just a mere twinkling in daddy Lucas’ eyes. Star Wars had hit a lull in popularity and at the time, it wasn’t quite on my burgeoning nerd radar. Star Wars, to early 90’s me anyway, was nerd stuff. I had better things to do like watch Batman the Animated Series, or the saturday morning Spider-Man cartoon, or set-up and play out elaborate and dramatic scenes with my action figures from the aforementioned shows. Yeah, Star Wars was nerd stuff and I was, decidedly, not a nerd. Denial is a funny thing.

Anyway, I ultimately gave in to my mother’s suggestions and we went to the video store to rent a VHS copy of pre-special edition Return of the Jedi. If I had been less moody that day, maybe I would have noticed that what sat right next to Jedi on the rack were VHS copies of The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope; and yes, it was called A New Hope back then. Lucas began his artistic OCD in 81’ with Star Wars’ first re-release. But I was a little jerk back then and DID NOT want to watch some old movie with crappy special effects. Hell, I had just seen Jurassic Park. The dinosaurs looked like they were pulled right out of the past and plopped on a Hollywood soundstage. The rancor…looked like something out of a nightmare version of a christmas special. It was some cheesy claymation crap that made me cringe instead of fear for Luke’s life.

And that…is exactly where I stopped watching. Right at the rancor. I shut it off and counted the days until Jurassic Park would release on VHS. Jedi just couldn’t hold my interest. Besides having no idea what was going on, not knowing who these weird looking robots were, or why Indiana Jones was frozen like he was about to get hit by a car, or what that gross looking slug was all about, or why this guy dressed all in black was talking like some bad ass when he looked like anything but a badass, this stop animation monster was in no way as realistic as the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. I had my fingers stuck in my ears and my feet firmly planted in the ground.

It wasn’t until years later that the trailers for Episode IV dropped in all their special edition glory. “Wait a minute,” I said to myself, “how do I know these characters?” I even remember getting in a short lived tiff with my mother. Now I knew. Now I knew that you weren’t supposed to start with Jedi. How could she have done this to me? Start me off with the END of a story? It was like reading Return of the King without Fellowship, or A Storm of Swords without A Game of Thrones. A New Hope was first. Duh! THAT is why I couldn’t get into Jedi. That is why I spurned it and didn’t give it a chance. And that really was the reason I never liked the movie. Eventually, I saw A New Hope and I fell in love; the rest of the trilogy came after and I fell further into the fandom.

At the time, there not being an internet community to bitch about everything, people actually seemed excited. Star Wars was getting re-released (re-re-released?) and in the way George Lucas originally intended. The special effects were getting cleaned up, the creatures actually looked as realistic as the dinos, and all the little nuances were being perfected. It was time to embrace Star Wars. Of course, this was all in preparation for The Phantom Menace which had hyped me even further, but the excitement was real. I became a Star Wars fan and Jedi, a movie I once “hated,” became my favorite.

Why did I love it so dearly? Jedi was the redemption story for one of, if not, the greatest villains of all time (rivalled only by the Joker). The feeling of finally seeing what was under the mask of Darth Vader was indescribable; I was both alleviated that he was just another guy and saddened that he wasn’t something more.

Yet, I loved every bit of Return of the Jedi. I loved the Max Rebo band’s new song, as corny as it was. I loved the sarlacc’s beak coming out of the pit. I even loved the “Victory Celebration” song that replaced “Yub Nub.” In fact, “Yub Nub” can go screw. I even loved the damn ewoks, as crappy as they seem now. It was also when I fell in love with Leia. Yeah, sure there was the golden bikini and all, but seeing her in the army digs later in the movie during the Battle of Endor, is what really made me fall for her. This cemented my appreciation for a strong woman that wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty and kick some ass when she needed to; Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver were on that list too.

Many complain about the changes of the special edition episodes today, but I was never disillusioned by them. Jedi was a perfect movie in every way. Though I will admit, that as I have grown older, Empire has replaced it as my favorite. As Dante from Clerks said, “[Empire] ends on such a down note. That’s all life is: a series of down endings.” It’s interesting that Jedi was my favorite as a kid and now, as an adult, Empire, the darker of the two, has become my favorite. If that’s not a metaphor for…something I don’t know what is. But Jedi will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a movie that taught me to give things a second chance, to not judge right away, to embrace my nerdom, to love princesses that kick as much ass as the princes, and to have an appreciation and love for old cinema.

May The Force Be With You…

Avengers: Infinity War Trailer! With Commentary from Paul!

Published on November 30, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Here it is! At last…. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR! Here’s the full trailer and below I recorded a little commentary. So pull up the trailer on a another device and play my commentary to go along with it! Friends, this looks fucking mind blowing…

My commentary:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13469212

Podcast: The Greatest Superheroes & Supervillains Of All Time (Part 1)

Published on November 28, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwright2 Comments

Dr. Paul Wright of S.T.A.R. Labs (Formally with The Baxter Building) leading expert of Metahuman biology and Prof. Timothy Cuff of Arkham Asylum, the world’s premiere mind on vigilante psychology, came together to put together the DEFINITIVE list of the greatest super heroes and super villains in this 2-part symposium. Please enjoy! Listen here or on iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/13446054

MUST WATCH: Crisis On Earth-X (Review)

Published on November 28, 2017November 17, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Now this is more like it! This was geek heaven. As I knew it would be, it was the perfect way to cleanse the palette after the disappointment of Justice League. More so than any other crossover The CW has done, this just felt like one big 4 hour movie (well, a 3 hour movie with commercials by the time we see all 4 parts). Tonight’ part one was 2 hours of pure superhero fun. The individual shows don’t even get their typical openings, the title card was only Crisis on Earth-X, which made the whole thing feel a little more special. During last years crossover, there was definitely more of a focus on the characters and the story of each particular show throughout the crossover, like Arrow for example. That’s not the case here at all. This is clearly a movie spread out over 2 nights and the event is far better for it. Personally, I absolutely loved the first night of the annual CW DC Crossover Event. Warner Bros. executives take a look, THIS is how you do an Epic Superhero Team Up Crossover.

Especially if you’ve been watching all of these shows from the beginning like me, the fun little character beats and interactions makes this more than just wall to wall action. Just like the scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where the team is having a party, just relaxing and they all take turns trying to lift Thor’s hammer. It’s fun just to watch all of these characters play off each other. Even with all of the characters involved, it never felt over crowded. It’s redundant at this point to keep saying this, but every scene with Mick was gold. I love how a man whose literally tried to kill the groom multiple times, was invited to this event (or he just tagged along for the food and free booze). I loved how chill Sarah was about her one night stand with Alex after the rehearsal dinner. Yet another reminder that Sarah is kind of the Han Solo of Legends. I want to keep this review relatively brief, so I wont go into too much more detail, but it was so much fun seeing these heroes work together and fight the bad guys. And who doesn’t enjoy seeing Nazis’ getting their assess kicked?

When it comes to the villains, a big highlight for me is that we got Tom Cavanagh playing Eobard Thawne again. This wasn’t an alternate Earth Thanwne, this is the same man Barry’ s been fighting for his entire life. I’m not sure how it’s possible (and frankly I don’t care) as good as Matt Letscher was as Reverse-Flash, Tom Cavanagh will always be the true Eobard Thawne to me.

I thought making Earth-X Oliver and Kara a couple was fun and unexpected. Even in an alternate Earth you would expect someone like Barry to be with Kara, so that relationship was a nice curveball (I’m not 100% sure, but I think they might actually be married).

Of course, I’m sure there were a million fans out there who loved seeing Tommy Merlyn return (even briefly) as Earth-X’s Prometheus. You could really see the pain in Oliver’s face seeing his long dead friend only to lose him all over again. Sure it wasn’t HIS Tommy, but that doesn’t really matter to Oliver in that moment. There were so many moments and Easter Eggs that any DC fan would love to see. Hell, we got to see Metallo show up, like full blown robot, no skin, Metallo. What a treat.

This wasn’t perfect of course. I have one or two nitpicks. Considering the level of the story they’re telling, with a lot of action set pieces and the use of fully CGI characters like King Shark and Metallo, the budget for this undertaking must have been pushed to the max. As a result, some, but not all, of the VFX looks a little rubbery. Also, considering how many doppelgängers were in play, it was sometimes hard to keep track of who’s who in some of the fight sequences.

I should have mentioned it before, but super villains crashing the wedding of a superhero is a staple of the superhero genre. I’m really interested to see who the “modern day Hitler/ leader” of Earth-X is. My guess is Vandal Savage, which is cool on paper, but he was never well liked as a villain on Legends. The comic book version of Vandal Savage is much more interesting . Ras Al Ghul is another possibility. In the comics at least, he wasn’t afraid to use the Nazi’s as a means to an end. But who know? I’m REALLY looking forward to tomorrow night because, so far this is shaping up to be the best Crossover Event they’ ever done with these shows.

Final Grade: A+

Thanks for reading!

Paul