World’s Best Media

Doctor Who Series 11: Review

Published on January 8, 2019November 24, 2020 by Michael Christopher ColeLeave a comment

A little over a year ago, I wrote about What I Wanted to See from Doctor Who, going forward, specifically because Jodie Whitaker was about to become the first female Doctor in the show’s history. The big thing that I didn’t want to see was the over sexualization of the Doctor, just because she would now be female, and they did that. Arguably of all the Doctors of the modern run, she was the least sexual, or sexualized, and I’m happy with that, because after all this is an near immortal alien being with untold thousands of years of accumulated knowledge, whose consciousness never really dies. The Doctor is nearly a goddess (formerly a god), hanging out with people who are merely decades old, and extremely mortal. The sexual/romantic nature of that is always a bit questionable, so steering away from it, at least in her first season as a woman, was probably a good idea.

Now, by that single metric the show was a success, but as you can imagine, whether or not a show’s main character is or is not over-sexualized isn’t the true determination of its quality. This season was incredibly divisive, from what I saw on some Facebook pages, and the Doctor Who subreddit, this was a love it or hate it season.

Many were claiming the show wasn’t Doctor Who anymore, citing that the new format of “Team TARDIS” with the Doctor and three season long companions, changed the dynamic too much from the Doctor and single companion model, which had been the case in most of the previous season, the only change being when a companion would bring on a boyfriend (Mickey, or Rory), or when they’d meet other aliens/time-travelers (Captain Jack, River Song). Personally, I liked the dynamic, it was definitely different, but I don’t want to watch the same old thing over and over.

The dynamic, and the characterization of the four TARDIS inhabitants was for me the strength of the season. The writers and actors had clearly worked to flesh out the characters. Graham and Ryan had unresolved issues that became very naturally resolved, as step-grandfather and step-grandson, and really played out well. Yas learned that her family were not all the tradition following people she had thought, and that her wanting something different and adventure weren’t that far off from her grandmother. Finally, the Doctor, who is always a bit different after regenerations was just that a bit different, but really not too different, enough to reinvigorate, but not so much as to alienate… at least for most.

One of the major complaints that I saw on Reddit, was that the Doctor is too much of a feminist, and more specifically a dreaded SJW. Honestly, I don’t really see it. The Doctor of the 1960’s may have been much less feminist than Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor, but I don’t think the last couple of iterations have been. The truth is, like much of serialized sci-fi, Doctor Who is a show about striving for the fullest of human potential, and much of that is in a social aspect. Star Trek boldly went with the first interracial kiss on American broadcast television, and as early as season one of this reboot, we had a character of Captain Jack Harkness, who for lack of a better term seemed omni-sexual, but was certainly as attracted to Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor, as he was to Rose. This isn’t really new for the show, nor for the character.

What was new about this dynamic for the character is that suddenly the Doctor is being taken less seriously because of her gender, and this is frustrating when she is for all intents and purposes the most authority on nearly every subject in the universe. So, there was a little time dedicated to it, but it was a surprisingly little amount of time, usually no more than a line per episode (sometimes nothing at all). So, personally I assume that this criticism of the ‘overwhelming feminism’ is little more than Trolling.

But there are certainly some genuine criticisms, and I think it’s really important to take those seriously, because I personally want the show to be its best, and it cannot do that if the writers and show-runner bury their heads in the sand. The big piece of genuine criticism, I think, was overuse and clunky exposition. Lots of people online have mentioned it, but it bears repeating. This show, like a lot of heavy sci-fi uses exposition more than some other genres, and that’s ok, but I would say this season seemed to do it the most, and that’s not a good thing. I don’t any of the episodes were ruined by exposition, but in a show like this, they need to show and not tell as much as possible.

I would say that this season gets either a C+ or maybe (if I’m being generous) a B- from me. There was plenty of fun, and the characters were really done, but other than that I think there wasn’t enough there for me. Some seasons have multiple episodes I would point people to, to get a feel for what the show should be, and this season really only had one (two if you count the New Years special, which is really Season 12 Episode 0).

“Rosa,” which was episode 3, tells the story of our travels getting thrown into 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, and meeting Rosa Parks just days before her famous arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus. This was a great episode in pretty much every way, and I don’t want to say too much as to ruin it, but I will say this, even though the show does a lot of historical episodes, and places the doctor into a lot of historical scenarios, I’m not sure any have had the possibility of alienating the audience like this before, and it doesn’t (at least not for the real reasons). You see in these historical episodes, a lot of times we find out that the Doctor was actually responsible for setting in motion some major historical event, and this hasn’t really ever been a problem, because it’s either played as a bit of a gag, or maybe it’s a historical event without an individual historically receiving credit, and so the Doctor isn’t stealing anyone’s credit. That’s a fine line for the show to thread, and watching it I was a bit worried “oh please don’t make it that the Doctor sets this up, or take anything away from Rosa Parks,” and it doesn’t. It’s brilliant in letting the plot of the show revolve around the show without setting really touching the moving parts of the actual history. Think about when Marty McFly tries really hard in Back to the Future 2 to not interact with or change anything Marty McFly from Back to the Future 1 does in 1955, it’s kind of like thbat. It’s by far the episode of this season that shows what Doctor Who can and should be.

Written by Micheal Cole

MUST WATCH: Gotham: The Final Season (Premiere Review)

Published on January 4, 2019November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Tonight the final season of Gotham premiered on Fox and honestly I was very excited to watch it. It’s hard to believe that this is the same show that just a few years ago had some of the absolute worst superhero writing on TV. When Gotham began, it was more or less a shittier Smallville, with proto-versions of Batman’s rogues gallery popping up each week for Ben McKenzie’s Jim Gordon to deal with. It was a shame because the show was very well cast and all the actors were perfect in their roles. Since the very first episode, Ben McKenzie has made a great Jim Gordon (he was also the voice of Batman in the animated film adaptation of Batman: Year One). Many of the great Batman stories are also great Jim Gordon stories, so it was very important for them to get this character right.

We even got to see a part of Bruce Wayne’s life that is very rarely explored, the years immediately following the murder of his parents. David Mazouz is easily one of the most compelling live action versions of Bruce Wayne we’ve seen. He conveys Bruce’s dark, brooding intelligence without ever sounding like a whiny brat. With excellent actors memorably playing classic Batman characters like Alfred, The Penguin, The Riddler, Selina Kyle and more, the series felt like a frustrating waste of great talent. Terrible writing hamstrung what could otherwise have been an excellent take on the Batman mythos.

About halfway through Season 3, specifically the mid-season finale, something fundamentally changed about the show for the better. I think there are two big reasons for this and one of them was how the series began to use Bruce Wayne. First of all, David Mazouz had grown up enough that he was just old enough to start becoming more crucial to the action going on in the story. Pretty much from the pilot on, Bruce has slowly been learning important skills that would become crucial on his journey to becoming Batman. Season 3’s mid-season finale saw Bruce being taken hostage at a circus by Jeremiah Valeska. If you’re not familiar with Gotham, Jeremiah (played by Cameron Monaghan) is basically their version of The Joker, and a damn good one too. The episode culminated with a show down in a hall of mirrors between Bruce and Jeremiah, where Bruce comes very close to killing Jeremiah. The whole episode was pretty great and I found myself watching the rest of the season once the show returned from it’s hiatus. You started to see Bruce take a more active role as a vigilante even though he wasn’t dressed like Batman.

The second reason the series changed for the better in my opinion, was because it stopped being a bad prequel series, building up to some day in the future where we get to see Bruce put on the Batman costume in the last 5 minutes of the final episode. In the same way that Smallville was entirely built around the show teasing Clark eventually putting on the Superman costume, that we only see him wear for about three seconds in the series finale. Instead, Gotham became more of an Elseworlds Batman story. I think it’s the smartest thing the show could’ve done because they took the mythology and made it their own. They were no longer slaves to the mythology of the Batman comic books. They allowed their story to be an alternate take on the mythos. This choice gave the show its own identity. It also made it more exciting for the audiences because things weren’t necessarily going to play out exactly as they had in the comic books. As a result the back half of Season 3 was a hell of a lot of fun and frankly I love Season 4. One of the reasons I love the show Krypton on Syfy is that the show isn’t a prequel, it’s more about the DC Universe’s past being changed by time travel. Changing Krypton‘s history, changes the history of the entire Superman story and by extension the entire DC Universe.

So coming into this final season, which was going to be drawing from classic Batman stories like No Man’ Land and Zero Year (In fact this episode’s title is “Year Zero”), I was pretty psyched to see what they were going to do. I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed.

After the events of last season, Gotham has been completely cut off from the outside world. The bridges are down in the city and it’s been 87 days since Gotham was officially declared a No Man’s Land by the US government. Unfortunately, not everyone who wanted to had the means to leave the city before it was cut off from the rest of the world. Children, families, innocent people have been trapped in a city that has become an almost post-apocalyptic dystopia. Gotham’s been carved up into territories, with different factions controlling different neighborhoods. Penguin Control City Hall and the surrounding area. He’s also the only person in the city manufacturing bullets for guns, which are more or less currency in the city. Scarecrow, Firefly, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and other villains have also carved up their own peace of the city. Somewhat ominously, Jerimiah Valeska hasn’t been seen since the beginning of No Man’s Land. I have a feeling he’s waiting to make his own suitably dramatic entrance.

The only part of Gotham City for the average citizen who’d been left behind is the area controlled by the GCPD. Gordon with Bullock and Lucius Fox by his side, are not only leading what’s left of the GCPD, they’re also protecting and feeding hundreds of refugees and supplies are running out. A lot of this is straight out of some iconic Batman storylines, so as a longtime Batman comic book fan this is cool to see.

Fortunately, Bruce Wayne and Alfred decided to stay behind as well and Bruce is doing everything he can to get supplies smuggled in. Not only to the people suffering in the city, but medicine for Selena Kyle as well. She was shot in the stomach at point-blank range by Jeremiah in the season finale last year and unless something drastic is done she could be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. Of course this heavily weighs on Bruce, who blames himself for her condition.

Part of the fun of this season is seeing how close Bruce is to becoming Batman, even though he isn’t ready yet. There’s an early scene where Bruce takes down a bunch of thugs trying to steal medical supplies. The power has gone out, so he uses night vision goggles courtesy of the Lucius Fox to take them out one by one, in very Batman fashion. However, just when it looks like he’s saved the day, the lights come back on, the night vision goggles blind him, and the thieves get away. This is an important scene because it shows us that while Bruce is well on his way to becoming The Batman that we know, who could’ve easily taken down a group of bad guys in a situation like this, but he’s not quite there yet. He’s still making crucial mistakes and he still has much to learn. It’s important the series didn’t just suddenly turn him into Batman over night. Bruce’s journey throughout the series has felt earned. Based on his training it makes perfect sense for him to be exactly at the level he’s at now.

The episode largely sets up the status quo for the season and puts the pieces in play for things to come. We know things are going to get a lot worse before they get better because the episode opens with a flash forward to No Mans Land Day 391 and shows Gordon, Bullock, The Penguin, The Riddler, and the rest of the GCPD fending off a full blown siege by… someone. For Penguin and The Riddler to be teaming up with Gordon, it must be a pretty serious common enemy.

All in all I really enjoyed this episode and considering that it was mostly set up, I have a feeling once the story really gets going this has the potential to be a fantastic final season for Gotham. I couldn’t help but love the scene when Gordon and Bruce were standing on the roof of the GCPD together. With Gordon shining a spotlight on the sky to give people hope, foreshadowing so many of their interactions in the years to come. As Bruce walks away at the end of the scene, Gordon ask him if he regrets staying behind in Gotham, Bruce replies “No. You?”. Jim Gordons smiles and says “Hell no”. Am I looking forward to the rest of Gotham’s Final Season? Hell, yes.

Gotham (Season 5) “Year Zero” – 8.5/10

Thanks for reading!

-Paul

Thank You For A Great 2018!

Published on January 1, 2019January 1, 2019 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

5DE75DD1-E24E-4FE3-9B1D-222638483BAE — This New Years Eve… party like you’re partying with The Avengers! You only go ‘round once!

As we close out 2018, I just wanted say a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers, listeners, and supporters. World’s Best Media wouldn’t exist without you and I’m so grateful to you all for helping to make my silly dream a reality.

I also want to give special shout outs and thank yous to our fantastic contributors and a few other great people who’ve helped World’s Best Media in so many ways. To Michael Cole, Chocolate Diamond Media, Ryan McDonald, Paul Sr., you guys help make this whole thing work, so thank you very, very much. I’m eternally grateful.

To the guys at The Hall of Comics in Southborough, MA, Mathew Wright, Constance Wright, Matt Supple, Marc Rodolfo, & Sam Gryzbowski, you all know what wonderful things you’ve done and your help and support keeps me going. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

All of you have given me a gift I can never repay. Thank you. But make sure you stick around, because 2019 is shaping up to be our best year yet!

Now, I like to end every New Years Eve by watching this classic moment of quiet friendship, between two iconic DC characters. It’s a great little moment. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Have a safe and happy night!

-Paul

FIRST LOOK: DOOM PATROL TV Series On DC Universe!

Published on December 30, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul…

Last week, the DC UNIVERSE Streaming Service wrapped up the first season of it’s flagship original program, Titans. Considering that, initially, there was some negative buzz about the project, Titans turned out to be a damn good superhero show with a unique take on the DCU and a killer teaser for Season 2. There really isn’t a superhero show quite like Titans airing at the moment.

One of the coolest parts of the season was how the show alternated episodes by focusing on the overarching, season-long story in one episode. While the next showcased great, but more obscure characters from DC lore and giving them time to shine. We met characters like Jason Todd (the new, borderline psychotic Robin), Hawk & Dove, Donna Troy aka Wonder Girl, and Doom Patrol.

Doom Patrol popped up around the 4th episode of Titans and was a early highlight in Season 1. Raven is rescued by Garfield Logan aka Gar aka Beast Boy in his tiger form and then takes her to see the rest of his “family”, The Doom Patrol. The Doom Patrol lives in a mansion under the eye of The Chief whose real name is Dr. Niles Caulder. Each member of the Doom Patrol had been in some kind of sever accident and Dr. Caulder’s very bizarre methods saved their lives. However, though his strange methods saved their lives, the side effects of his treatments gave them special abilities. Some are so extreme that that they see themselves as freaks and become more or less shut ins. When Raven is ready to leave, Beast Boy decides to strikes out on his own with the Titans. The Doom Patrol will always be his family, but he needs to start his own journey. As happy as the rest of the Doom Patrol are for him, there’s a sense of tragedy because none of the rest can ever do that themselves. Gar’s the only one of them who can remotely pass as human. They want Gar to have what they can’t: Freedom to live his own life. Basically Doom Patrol is really, really, fucking weird.

I can’t say I was much of Doom Patrol fan or knew that much about them besides Grant Morrison’s acclaimed Doom Patrol run from the comics years ago. Seeing an episode with those characters front and center made me kind of like them. They’re kind of goofy, but if you don’t take it too seriously the Doom Patrol characters are a lot of fun.

For the moment, the plan for DC UNIVERSE is to make at least one episode of an original series available on the app each week. Of course, all of the the content the app provides, like free comic book downloads from DC’s library, DC films, and more.

Young Justice: Outsiders (Part 1) will be available on DC UNIVERSE January 4, with 3 episode blocks coming out each week. Young Justice returns for Part 2 of the season this summer.

Shorty after Part 1 of Young Justice: Outsiders finishes up, the Doom Patrol series will premiere on February 15th. Even though these are the same characters, in the same universe, there are 2 big differences from the Doom Patrol series and the Doom Patrol episode of Titans. The Chief, the somewhat menacing Dr. Caulder, will be payed by Timothy Dalton. While Cyborg has been added to the team in Beast Boy’s absence. Out of the many comic book series premiering in 2019, this has the potential to be a very fun and weird superhero show, so make sure to keep an eye out for this one.

057AFF25-6726-48C6-AC56-F47D418AD360 — “Remember when I was in *The Mummy*?! (Sigh) Better days…”

49E6F5C1-959F-43A7-81BD-C4D4EAAE29AB — “I’m Timothy Dalton For Christ’s Sake! What the *FUCK* am I doing in this thing?!”

Check out the teaser below and these cool character posters in our first official look at the series. I’ll sat this it looks weird as hell and I really dig that.

What do you guys think of Doom Patrol? Are you going to give it a try? I’d love to hear your comments below.

-Paul

PODCAST: Aquaman Review (SPOILERS)!

Published on December 28, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Aquaman is the latest entry in the DCEU or “The Worlds of DC” as it’s officially called… but FUCK THAT! They’re stuck with the DCEU as far as I’m concerned! Name your own movie universe or someone else will do it for you, dammit! You don’t get to, all of us sudden, finally give a name to already struggling, shitty Movie Universe after it’s been in existence for five goddamn years! (Ok… deep breat… rant over.)

My father (though I’m still holding out hope that my biological father is the mailman) Paul Sr. and I just came out of the new AQUAMAN film and decided to have a little discussion about it. We do go into some SPOILER territory, so BEWARE.

With movies like this, we usually do a deep dive spoiler filled review, covering the entire film from beginning to end, analyzing the story, as well as the characters. This time was a little different, because we basically just sat around and had a conversation about the film. What we liked, what we didn’t like, our thoughts and the characters and the action sequences, etc.

So, while we do discuss some spoilers, there aren’t nearly as many as other episodes of The World’s Best Podcast. We discuss Jason Mamoa in the title roll, Amber Heard as Mera, the villains: King Orm AKA Ocean Master & Black Manta, as well as where the films falls in quality among the other DCEU films. All this excitement and so much more on the latest episode of The World’s Best Podcast! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/16573168

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2&i=1000426551981

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=57905202&autoplay=1

Thanks for listening!

-Paul

PODCAST: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Review! (Some SPOILERS)

Published on December 21, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Spider–Man: Into The Spider–Verse has come along and done what so many people didn’t think was possible, the film yet again reinvents the superhero genre. For the past several years, a number of people in the industry, including individuals like Stephen Spielberg, called the comic book or superhero movie phenomena “a bubble” that will eventually burst like the Western, for example. They argued it’s a genre that will eventually no longer be relevant.

In my opinion, there are major flaws in this kind of thinking. First of all, the terms “comic book” and “superhero” are incorrectly, interchangeable used. Comic Books aren’t a genre, they’re a medium. Just like film, television, or prose literature. While superheroes are certainly the most recognizable type of comic book storytelling by far, comics tell a vast array of stories in dozens of different genres. Comic books and Graphic Novels tell hard boiled mysteries, fantasy sagas, countless sub-genres of science-fiction, coming-of-age romance stories, World War II memoirs, and many others. Comic books, like film and prose tell incredible tales in every genre. So, my point is, to say that there is some kind of “bubble” that will eventually burst, not only misunderstands the current business landscape in Hollywood, it also fundamentally misunderstands what comic books and superheroes stories are.

What’s so brilliant, what’s so genius about Into The Spider–Verse is that it is a superhero film that truly reinvents the genre. Just when the critics thought there was no longer anything unique, compelling, or wildly original to find in a superhero film, here comes Spider–Man: Into The Spider–Verse. Without a doubt the biggest thrill ride you will have at the movies all year.

I know these are very bold statements, especially coming from me. After all, this is the same year that saw the release of Avengers: Infinity War, which is certainly up there vying for the top spot of my favorite MCU film. However, I feel to compare Infinity War and Into The Spider–Verse is missing the point. These are very different movies, trying to do very different things for their audience. What’s so wonderful is that we can get two completely different superhero epics that are both game changers for the genre. They’re both brilliant pieces of entertainment, yet they’re nothing alike. I feel wonderfully grateful that in addition to several of the other very good superhero movies we saw this year, we get two genre redefining superhero film masterpieces that don’t feel like more of the same.

Now, onto the podcast!

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally here to give my two cents on the terrifying, the terrible, the AMAAAAAAZING SPIDER–MAN: INTO THE SPIDER–VERSE!!!!! Even though it’s been out for a hot minuet, I still wanted to do an in-depth recap and review of what may be one of the best superhero movies ever made. Period. That’s some pretty high praise. There are SOME spoilers here, so proceed with caution, but this is NOT a full SPOILER-FILLED extravaganza. Also, I take some time to discuss the recent Arrowverse Crossover, Elseworlds! How does it rank among the other crossovers? Where is the Arrowverse heading from here? All this and more! Enjoy! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/16534399

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2&i=1000426239297

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=57830472&autoplay=1

Thanks for listening!

-Paul

First Trailer For New HELLBOY Movie!

Published on December 20, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

One of the great tragedies of the film world is that we’ll never get to see the completion of Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Perlman’s Hellboy Trilogy. Like RDJ as Iron Man, Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Ron Perlman simply IS Hellboy. He’s synonymous to the character. As much as we’d love to see the end of his and Del Toro’s epic tale, I’d rather have a new interpretation of Hellboy on the big screen that no Hellboy at all.

If you’re going to follow up an act like Guillermo Del Toro, you better have something good up your sleeve. What I love about everything that I’ve seen from this new Hellboy film, is that it seems like the filmmakers are blazing their own trail. They have a brand new TAKE that’s all their own. This isn’t a watered down version of Del Toro’s Hellboy. These new filmmakers realized that if they’re going to pick up the Hellboy torch, they better swing for the fences (to mix a few metaphors).

First of all, the folks behind this movie are going for a hard-R. Which makes sense considering director Neil Marshall is at the helm. He’s not know to pull punches with gore and brutality. In addition to cult classic feature films such as Dog Soldiers and The Descent, he’s directed two of the absolute best episodes of Game of Thrones: Blackwater and The Watchers on The Wall. With episodes of Constantine, Hannibal, and Westworld under his belt as well, it’s clear that Neil Marshall is the right man to bring a darker, bloodier Hellboy tale to the big screen.

The cast is pretty damn good as well. If you can’t have Ron Perlman, David Harbour (Sheriff Hopper from Strangers Things) is an inspired choice for Hellboy. He perfectly captures the mix of hero, outcast, and everyman that makes the character so endearing. I can’t think of a better choice for the role.

Rounding out the cast are some new faces in familiar roles and some really fucking cool characters from the comics who are making their live action debut in this movie. The great Ian McShane plays Hellboy’s adopted father and the head of the B.P.R.D., Prof. Bruttenholm (Pronounced “Broom”). Daniel Dae Kim is new to the franchise as fan favorite B.P.R.D. member Ben Daimio, a decorated soldier who died in battle and inexplicably came back from the dead immediately before his autopsy. In the Bad Guy department, Milla Jovavitch plays the villain, classic Hellboy Big Bad, Nimue The Blood Queen.

What’s so cool about this trailer if you’re a Hellboy fan, is how much of it is straight out of the comics. A bunch of the monsters you see Hellboy fight and a lot of the imagery from the trailer are straight out of the comic book. Specifically stories like “The Wild Hunt” that delt directly with Arthurian legend (I’m pretty sure The Sword In The Stone itself makes a cameo in this trailer). This movie was already a must watch for me, but after watching this trailer it’s easily rocketed to one of my most anticipated films of 2019.

Check out the trailer here:

Thanks!

-Paul

PODCAST: Interview with comic book artist Craig Rousseau!

Published on December 17, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

7B637512-39DD-417D-B29B-B822427CF9B9 — Batman Beyond by Craig Rousseau

I had the opportunity to sit down my with comic book artist Craig Rousseau and interview him about his work for Marvel, DC, and his creator owned projects! Craig has worked on characters like Impulse, Batman, Captain America, and The Avengers and has done excellent work with his creator owned projects such as PERHAPANAUTS and KYRRA published at Image and Darkhorse. When I met with Craig during an event at The Hall of Comics in Southborough, MA, we had a great discussion about his career in the comic book industry and I thank him for taking the time to answer my questions. Please enjoy my interview with Craig Rousseau! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/16491752

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F16491752

Special thanks to The Hall of Comics in Southborough, MA for making this interview happen! Check them out at https://thehallofcomics.com

Find out more about Craig at craigrousseau.com

3ED357DD-F4FD-473F-ADD0-DAEF772C3894 — The team from Perhapanauts

Thanks for listening!

-Paul

PODCAST: Movie & TV Fan Theories!

Published on December 10, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here..

On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, Writer and Filmmaker Mike Cole returns to the podcast as guest co-host where we discuss movie and TV fan theories. We cover popular fan theories from Harry Potter, Pixar films, The Flash and more. Of course with some fun detours along the way! Enjoy! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/16421489

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2&i=1000425462176

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=57632995&autoplay=1

Also, if you get a chance, check out our Facebook page, World’s Best Media, to see my video breakdown of the new trailer for the highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame! It’s one of my best trailer breakdown videos, so I’d love for you all to give it a watch. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below. We love hearing feedback from you guys, good or bad! Thanks for listening!

-Paul

TV REVIEW: Elseworlds (Part 1)!

Published on December 10, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Tonight, Part 1 of the 3-part DC superhero crossover event Elseworlds aired on The CW. As I’ve often said, these annual crossovers are always a delight for me to watch. They’re always wildly entertaining and they seem to get more ambitious year after year. After watching the first episode of Elseworlds, I came away from the episode thinking of one word: Fun. This episode was fun as all hell.

All of the Arrowverse crossovers have been really fun, but compared to something like last year’s epic Crisis on Earth–X, Elseworlds feels more exuberant and joyful. Don’t get me wrong, Crisis on Earth–X was an absolute blast. However, watching Elseworlds, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this cast looking like they’re having more fun and It’s easy to see why.

Barry and Oliver are very different characters and the episode gets a lot of entertainment mileage and comedy out of them switching lives and abilities. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more watching an episode of an Arrowverse show. It’s really funny seeing Oliver’s bewilderment at suddenly waking up with superspeed and the world believing that he is Barry Allen. While Oliver immediately feels out of his element, Barry seems to be getting much more of a kick out of suddenly having all of Green Arrow’s skills and fighting ability.

For the purposes of this review, I’m not really going to touch on the overarching threat and the circumstances that altered reality. This episode focuses more on the “What do we do now?” than “How did this happen?”. Though we briefly see how this was set in motion, it’s a very minor part of the episode. I’m sure they’ll be covering much more of that territory in the next 2 installments.

I only have one real criticism of the episode. Considering all of the insane things that Team Flash have seen and been through over the years, I found their reluctance to believe that Barry and Oliver had somehow switched powers and identities a little odd and out of character for the team. It really only exists in the story to give Barry and Oliver an excuse to go to Supergirl’s Earth and seek out Kara’s help. They figure that if something is wrong with their reality, another universe like Supergirl’s may not be affected. Of course they’re right and Supergirl recognizes them for who they are right away.

To my utter delight, Kara just so happens to be visiting her cousin, Clark Kent and his wife Lois Lane, on The Kent Family Farm when Barry and Oliver pop up in her universe. In a nice Easter Egg that will make many long time superhero TV show fans happy, The Kent Farm where they filmed this episode is the same Kent Farm that was used on the TV series Smallville. When we see the farm for the first time “Save Me” by Remy Zero, the them song to Smallville, kicks in and I’ll admit that had me grinning ear to ear. It was a hot mess at times, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Smallville.

As a long time DC Comics fan, it was so much fun seeing Barry, Oliver, and Kara interacting with Clark Kent and Lois Lane on The Kent Family Farm. In what I think was my favorite moment of the episode, as soon as Oliver meets Clark, he immediately starts puffing up his chest and Barry instantly calls him out on it. It’s great.

Though we’ve seen relatively little of him over the last few years, Tyler Hoechlin is probably my favorite the live action Superman right now. Anytime he shows up in the Arrowverse is cause for celebration and his inclusion here does not disappoint. While it seems like he may be out of the picture at the end of the episode, I know for a fact we’ll be seeing him again throughout the crossover. I was equally impressed with Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane. In what little screen time she has, she instantly embodies Lois Lane. She’s tough, funny, smart, and likable. As much as I like Amy Adams’ Lois Lane, Tulloch seemed really dialed in to the character and I can’t wait to see more of her as the crossover progresses.

Another very pleasant surprise was the inclusion of an iconic DC villain that’s the perfect enemy to have a Superman, Supergirl, The Flash, and Green Arrow go up against. Apparently in this new altered reality, Professor Ivo, the psychopathic scientist responsible for torturing Oliver and his fellow castaways on Lian Yu, killing Shado, and indirectly creating Deathstroke in Arrow Season 2, somehow got off the island alive. He opened his own lab in Central City and created the iconic, ultra powerful android A.M.A.Z.O. using advanced robotics, computer programming, and the Mirakuru super soldier serum that was such an intricate plot point in Arrow Season 2. A.M.A.Z.O. has the ability to immediately replicate the powers of any meta-human it comes into contact with. In the comics, it’s so powerful that even the Justice League have a difficult time handling this thing. So this was the perfect bad guy for the heroes to go up against in the climax of the episode.

Elseworlds only has three episodes, unlike last year which had four episodes and a much bigger cast. Legends of Tomorrow isn’t officially part of the crossover this year (part of me thinks that’s a shame because I would have loved seeing someone like John Constantine interact with the characters featured in Elseworlds ). This year has a much tighter focus so far on Barry, Oliver, and Kara. As a result more money went into these 3 episodes and it really shows on screen. More money means better special effects. You can really see how well that money was spent because A.M.A.Z.O. looks incredible and his final fight with our heroes is really, really fucking cool. The Arrowverse in general and The Flash In particular, has always had excellent special effects considering they’re on The CW. Which makes the fight with A.M.A.Z.O. all the more impressive.

Last year the 4-part Crisis on Earth–X aired over two night, with each night featuring two episodes of the crossover. This year we’re getting 3 episodes spread out over 3 nights. So it definitely felt like the whole thing was over way too fast. Which is really a testament to how well Part 1 of Elseworlds was executed, because it leaves the audience wanting to see the next installment immediately. I know I certainly did.

Part 1 leaves you with one hell of a set up for Part 2. The episode wraps up with our heroes heading off to the legendary Gotham City in search for answers. We catch a glimpse of Wayne Tower and a quick glance at Batwoman looking out over the Gotham City skyline. After seeing how good this episode was and how so many amazing characters and pieces of DC lore show up, the promise of seeing iconic places like Arkham Asylum and Gotham City leaves me incredibly excited for the next installment of Elseworlds. I don’t want to speak too soon, but at the rate Elseworlds is going it’s shaping up to possibly be the best Arrowverse crossover yet.

Elseworlds (Part 1): 9/10

Thanks for reading!

-Paul