Paul here and I wanted to thank all of the loyal listeners of The World’s Best Podcast for so being patient with me. As you may know, I like to get a new podcast episode every Monday (sometimes Tuesday), but my Summer Movie Season film reviews have thrown off my episode release schedule a little. However, we’re back on track now with, not one, not two, but THREE podcasts dropping this week. Beginning with this episode here, in honor of the 4th of JULY…
Roland Emmerich’s INDEPENDENCE DAY is a classic of the 90’s sci-fi/action films. The trailers were fantastic. The cast was great. I was still a kid when the movie premiered in 1996 and I could not wait for the movie to come out. When I finally saw the film, I loved it and through the years it’s become one of those movies that I revisit every summer around July.
In my opinion the film holds up well. In fact, I recently made a list of my top 100 favorite movies of all time and Independence Day easily made the list. To clarify this wasn’t a list of the 100 BEST movies of all time, but my personal FAVORITES.
It’s basically an unofficial modern day retelling of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and it’s so much better than Spielberg’s abysmal crack at adapting that story. Anyway, you can listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:
Some really cool concept art from upcoming superhero projects has hit the internet today. Including our best looks at Captain Marvel and Robin from DC’s Titans. Most of this I found over at CBR.com, but first is the concept art that looks like it’s from the upcoming Captain Marvel film. The big giveaway being the look at a young Nick Fury, which is very cool. Check it out:
Then we have a few cool concept art images that are definitely from Avengers 4…
A few things to point out here include, Hawkeye is finally back (Yay!), Hulk seems to have a costume of some sort. Does this help regulate his transformation from Banner to Hulk and vice versa? Consider they had performance issues in Infinity War that could be a factor. This image of Thanos is interesting because he’s armored up and he has a gun. Why does he need all that if he has the Infinity Gauntlet? Is it working properly? Or did he blow its load killing half the Universe? SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!
Finally, moving from Marvel over to DC, we have our best look yet at Dick Grayson Robin from Titans, the new series from the upcoming DC streaming service, DC UNIVERSE. Take a look…
Cool stuff, huh? Anyway thanks for checking us out as always!
I was ecstatic when Marvel and Netflix announced they’d partnered up to produce multiple TV shows that would be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, focusing on the gritty, street level heroes of the MCU. The original plan was to start with five series. Four focusing on the individual heroes, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, with the fifth series culminating in an epic superhero crossover, called The Defenders. These are probably my 4 personal favorite Marvel characters, so it’s always been exciting when one of these new shows premiere.
Each series ended up being much more successful than Netflix expected. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage in particular were big hits with audiences and critics. As a result this already ambitious undertaking grew larger. What was originally a 5 series model, added second seasons for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, as well as a spinoff series for The Punisher (with more seasons to come including Daredevil Season 3 later this year). The first two season of Daredevil and the first season of Jessica Jones are among the best pieces of fiction to come out of the MCU PERIOD and that includes the movies. Luke Cage Season 1 was excellent as well, but a terrible villain who popped up in the second half of the season, really brought down the show’s average. Fortunately, the creators seemed to have learned from that particular mistake, but I’ll get back to that in a minute…
Like Hell’s Kitchen on Daredevil, Harlem feels very like much a character on Luke Cage
It was the kind of superhero storytelling I was always looking for. These stories aren’t about saving the world, they’re about saving a neighborhood. With fantastic character work and mature content that we’d never see on the big screen in the MCU. When these shows are firing on all cylinders they are spectacular. Sadly, there’s been a dip in quality in the last few Marvel/Netflix outings. However, I’m very happy to say that Luke Cage has returned with a phenomenal second season that surpasses the first and reminds us just how good these shows can be.
First of all, as I said before, this is just better than Season One. Luke’s arc in Season Two is complex and interesting in the best way. He’s more or less accepted his roll as the “Hero of Harlem”, but he carries a rage inside of him because of everything he’s seen and been through. Luke’s struggle to find out how to channel that anger in a healthy way is a big part of his journey in Season 2. With characters like Claire Temple, Danny Rand, and the late, great Reg E. Cathy as Luke’s father, helping him deal with that anger along the way. Luke is right up there with Matt Murdock as one of the most morally interesting characters on the Netflix shows. His rage, the responsibility he feels to Harlem, his growing lack of faith in the justice system, how race affects how he views himself as a hero, and more all add up to one of the most unique protagonists on TV.
Speaking of Danny Rand, this is probably the best use of The Immortal Iron First we’ve seen in the MCU so far. Even though he doesn’t have as much screen time as I would have liked, his presence is felt throughout the season. I wish we saw him more in the season, his big team up episode with Luke is everything you’d hope for. Of course, I was very happy to see the writers planting the seeds for “Heroes For Hire” in a big way.
While we’re on the topic of cool stuff from the comics making their way to the show. After losing her right arm in The Defender’s, we finally see Misty Knight get her badass robot arm like she has in the comics (though in this version the arm is provided by Rand Industries instead of Tony Stark). The arm gives Misty a degree of super-strength and it’s just enough to bump her up into superhero territory. She also has a few great scenes with Colleen Wing, who’s always a delight to see, setting up “Daughters of The Dragon” much like “Heroes For Hire” is teased with Danny and Luke.
As fun all the Marvel Easter Eggs are and as great a hero Luke is, it’s the so called “villains” that bring this series to the next level. Mustafa Shakir as Bushmaster, Theo Rossi as Shades, and the legendary Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard elevate the show to another level as the so called antagonists. Each of them are layered and anchored in very real, human emotions. One of the biggest strengths of this series is that each of these villains have done evil, horrible things, yet at certain points you’ll find yourself sympathize with them and maybe even root for them. At times the lines between hero and villain are blurred, with cops that don’t follow the rules and villains that genuinely want to help their community, it can be hard to decide who to root for. There simply isn’t any other show right now that has such complex villains and it’s one of the best things about the series.
Bushmaster: The new Big Bad in Harlem
Bushmaster is a force of nature, who more than makes up for Diamondback, the Season One villain that really hurt the quality of the second part of the first season. It was great to see a new villain who could go toe to toe with Luke and was also as strong a character as Bushmaster. His motivations are very personal. He’s not looking to become a Kingpin, he just REALLY, REALLY wants to kill Mariah Stokes as he insists on calling her. His history with Mariah and her family is revealed throughout the season and I wont spoil it hear.
One of the greatest aspects of this series is the fantastic music. Live musicians perform live at Harlem’s Paradise, a club owned by Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard), the music is used beautifully to enhance the story and bring style to the show.
Alfre Woodard is fantastic in pretty much anything, but I don’t think she’s ever played a character like Mariah Dillard. She’s magnetic in the role. She terrifying, vulnerable, fierce, sexy, charming, brutal, manipulative, and more. Sometimes you’re not even sure which side of Mariah you’re seeing in any given moment. Is she being genuine or is this a manipulation? She is absolutely one of the MCU’s best villains.
Her relationship with Shades is complex and layered in it’s own right. These two mix business and pleasure. Their on screen chemistry is fantastic and adds something big to both of the characters. Shades, like Mariah, has continued to grow as a character from Season One. I’ve been a big fan of Theo Rossi since his days playing Juice on Sons of Anarchy and his Shades is someone you’ll find yourself love and hate in equal measure.
Lastly, one of the biggest things people will talk about after watching Season Two is how the season ends and where it leaves Luke as a character. SLIGHT SPOILERS HERE The show did a fantastic job of making this turn for the character feel earned. It wasn’t some twist that came out of nowhere. You can see over the course of the season, after everything he’s been through, why Luke would make a decision like this. In the comics, Matt Murdock does a very similar thing when declares himself Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen during Brian Michael Bendis’ run on Daredevil. It was something I always hoped they’d get to on Daredevil’s series, but in the context of the universe Netflix has built, it makes more sense for Luke to be going down this path. I really like the idea whether it’s Matt Murdock or Luke Cage because it’s a unique direction for Luke’s journey as a hero. END SPOILERS
So, Luke Cage Season Two is real return to form for the Marvel/Netflix shows. Season Two improves upon it’s already strong first season with its rich mix of music and setting, unique and compelling hero, and captivating villains. Finally, the end of the season leaves the show in an exciting place with the potential to go in a number of cool directions. If you thought the Marvel/Netflix shows were beginning to lose a step, watch Luke Cage Season Two and you’ll see there’s still some great stories to be told through this format.
Check out the latest episode of The World’s Best Podcast where I give a SPOILER filled review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom! I had to brave the dangerous jungles of Isla Nublar to give you this review, so you better fucking appreciate it! Otherwise, please enjoys my take on the highs and lows of the latest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise.
During the Podcast, I mentioned a video I saw on YouTube from a guy named Patrick H. Willems, who made a fantastic video about why he believes none of the Jurassic Park sequels work. I don’t agree with everything he says in this video, I must admit I really like Jurassic World (the 1st Jurassic World from 2015). He makes some very insightful observations about the Jurassic Park franchise and why he feels the series doesn’t work beyond the very first movie. He makes excellent videos like this all the time and if you like World’s Best Media, you’ll probably enjoy his great YouTube channel: Patrick (H) Willems . The video is embedded on this page, below the links to my podcast. Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:
There’s a quote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, “Once again you’ve put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion!” said by Sirius Black to Severus Snape. The quote is one of my favorites, and I cannot think of a place where it seems to apply more than Hollywood.
If you somehow break through and make a movie about a woman who makes falls in love with a water balloon, the lesson that Hollywood would take from that is “water balloons are sexy” and you’d see some crazy slate of movies in which water balloons have sex with hot women, and drive fast cars, and airplanes, and stuff. (Sorry about all the water balloons but I’m sitting next to a bag full of balloons, so it was the weirdest thing in eye shot.)We’ve seen Hollywood learn the wrong lesson from successes too many times to count, (i.e. all of the Jaws sequels, and Piranha movies and so many others). But we also see them learn the lesson from failures. This can be really upsetting to me personally, because it often means something is abandoned early due to the wrong reasons, and who likes their movie franchises ended early?
The latest victim of this problem, seems to be Star Wars. I wrote about Solo a few weeks ago, but let me catch you up. The film seemed like a bad idea, but it was a good movie. So now, almost a month after it’s release Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that they’re reconsidering Star Wars spin-offs due to its failure.
So let’s talk about its failure, and yes it seems it is undeniably a financial failure (although the budget hasn’t been released so it’s difficult to tell exactly). First of all, you released 3 Star Wars 3 Decembers in a row, and they were all very successful. Is that because the films were excellent? I’ve liked them all, but there is a fair amount of debate on the quality of each. A huge reason for their success was the fact that December doesn’t have much for general audiences, it’s prestige film season, which leaves the “blockbuster” crowd open. That cannot be underestimated as a factor in their success. Solo however, came out just 6 months after TLJ in May. May was the traditional time for Star Wars in the previous 2 trilogies, but May’s were not as packed with action films in those years, and movies had multiple weeks (in some cases months) to rule the box office. This year we had Avengers: Infinity War (also a Disney film, which should be a double no-no for packing them in the same 30-day period) which was the biggest film of the year (and has the potential to be the top of the decade) was released a month before, then Deadpool was released a week before, and just three weeks after Solo, came the Incredibles (again Disney, wtf were you thinking? Spread it out more).
So that’s the first problem, Disney put Solo out with the biggest films of the year, and even by Star Wars standards it shouldn’t have. It’s far from the largest story, or the biggest impact in that universe. The second problem is confidence.
Solo suffered from a few pieces of confidence undercutting. After the fact that many of us didn’t think the idea was a good idea, there were the production ‘issues,’ with Lord and Miller getting fired mid-production, Ron Howard having to take over and needing to reshoot (which involved recasting at least one role), and then lastly there was the rumors of Alden Ehrenreich needing and acting coach. None of these would add up to confidence boosting, then we didn’t see a trailer until February which seemed very late in the game for a film of this size. And lastly, TLJ, it’s a pretty split popularity, but when 50% of the audience thinks the film was a crap-fest, and think Disney has ‘ruined Star Wars,’ six months may not be enough time to cleanse their palettes.
Let me offer an example of a time when the correct lesson was learned, and how it may benefit you to follow in those footsteps. On November 23rd 1963, the BBC aired the pilot of Doctor Who, and it did really poorly in the ratings that night. The executive in charge was on the side of canceling the show after the first episode, because obviously the whole thing was going to be a flop, but the creator was opposed to that. She argued that the show had suffered from the whole world being consumed by JFK’s assassination the day before, and that if they reaired the pilot a week later, that would be a more realistic example of how the show would do. She was right, and the show continued for 26 years before being canceled (and then rebooted, and now having 50 years, 3 movies, and 36 seasons altogether). They realized that timing had been off. Releasing Solo in the midst of the superhero frenzy was bad timing, don’t blame Solo for that.
So I ask you this question, given all of those things could Solo have succeeded? Even modestly? I don’t think it really could have. But Disney is looking the box office and acting as if that means the movie is a piece of shit, which it wasn’t. Please Disney, learn the right lesson. I get that you don’t want this to happen again, but if you learn the wrong lesson it likely will. Please, I love Star Wars too much for it to become the DCEU (with all the second guessing and undercutting and ultimately not learning the right thing)… I’m begging you.
One of the reasons I was so excited for Black Panther earlier this year was because Ryan. Coogler was directing and Michael B. Jordan had a major roll. I’m a huge fan of both of these guys, but I’ve been following Micheal B. Jordan’s career since his days playing poor, doomed Wallace on The Wire.
When Creed was announced my first thought was that this was going to be one movie too many. Rocky Balboa had been such a perfect send off for the franchise, why ruin it with another cash grab? But then I heard Ryan Coogler was directing and Michael B. Jordan was starring in the film, with Stallone returning as his mentor. Now they had my attention. Coogler’s first film was the excellent and tragic Fruitvale Station (also with Jordan as the star). Maybe this was going to be something interesting after all?
When they finally dropped the first trailer, they had me hook, line, and sinker. It looked fucking incredible. Somehow the final film managed to deliver and then some. I shouldn’t say “somehow” because I think it was the talent of the people involved that made Creed such an excellent film. Creed is arguably on par with the first Rocky film as the best of the franchise and this is coming from a lifelong fan of the Rocky series. To put into context how much I loved Creed, the film premiered just about a month before Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens and Creed was still my favorite film of that year.
Again when I heard Creed II was in development I was nervous. Ryan Coogler wasn’t returning (the new film is directed by Steven Caple Jr.) and I loved Creed so much I didn’t want an inferior sequel. It has a few things going for it behind the scenes, Cheo Hodari Coker the showrunner behind Netflix’s Luke Cage wrote the screenplay, so that doesnt hurt. However, once again the got me with the trailer. BIG TIME. I had no idea what the plot of this new was. Once the trailer reveals where the story is going, I dare any lifelong fan of the Rocky franchise not to have big old grin on your face.
This has definitely jumped to the top of the list of my most anticipated films of 2018. Check out the trailer here and see for yourself:
This Episode Of The World’s Best Podcast has been available for a few days to all of our listeners, but I hadn’t had an opportunity to post it on the site yet. So thank you for your patience! This was a really fun episode that I recorded with Ryan McDonald. We do a full spoiler review of The Incredibles 2, we talk about Shymalan’s Unbreakable Universe and the upcoming movie, Glass, we discuss Jordan Peele’s desire to make a film adaptation of the Gargoyles animated series (a personal favorite TV show of mine), & much more! Listen here at the link below or on The Boston Podcast Network ( pod617.com ), and subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:
I don’t have any comic series that I read consistently, but I do like picking up stories that are either getting a lot of buzz, or are going to be the basis for some adaptation. I’ve been seeing a lot about the “Flash War” event which will pit Barry Allen against Wally West. Last week the first issue came out, and I picked it up, along with the ‘prelude’ which was in the annual.
Barry Allen’s “death” in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Which lasted around 30 years before he was resurrected.
Hey Everybody, Paul here. As the resident comic book expert I thought I’d help fill in some of the blanks in the background with ‘Flash War”. Mike not quite having his comic book super nerd powers yet. So anytime in this article you see italics text like this pop up, that’s me putting in my two cents. It’s two authors for the price of one!
Flashpoint!
Now, I’ve read Flashpoint, and Flash: Savage World, a couple of the Justice League trade paperbacks, as well as being a fan of the TV show, so take my opinion as that of someone who’s not an expert, but also not diving in for the first time. If you’re interested in this story, I do suggest picking up the annual with the prelude, because I found that it makes things a bit clearer in the first issue.
The Flash: Blitz by Geoff Johns. A must read to understand Flash War.
Besides the Flash Annual that Mike mentioned earlier, the storyline that is most important to understanding Flash War is a story that goes back to Geoff John’s original run on The Flash BEFORE The New 52 and even before Barry Allen came back from the dead. At this point in DC history Barry Allen had died in the classic mega-event Crisis on Infinite Earths. For the nearly three decades after, Barry’s sidekick Wally West aka Kid Flash became The Flash full time. For a whole generation of readers (or if you even just knew The Flash from the Justice League animated series) Wally West WAS The Flash. Anyway, this super important story was called BLITZ and it was all about how former FBI criminal profiler Hunter Zolomon, who was a good friend of The Flash, became the super villain Zoom and initiated a devastating attack on Wally West and his family.
Zoom AKA Hunter Zolomon VS The Flash (Wally West) during Blitz. Set before The New 52.
I’m not going to review the individual parts, but now that I have an idea of what the story is, I’m going to write about it, and then when the series concludes, I’ll write a review of it as a whole.
So, if you’re familiar with DC’s recent history, they had the “New 52” runs, and then there was Flashpoint which I believe allowed them to reset somethings after that, to try the “Rebirth” runs. Well, there were some consequences to all of these resets and reboots, and one major one, which apparently directly stems from Flashpoint, is that the Wally West (the third Flash) from pre-“New 52” no longer exists as he did. He is still around, but he has no history, much of his memory is cloudy due to being lost in the ever-changing timeline, and almost no one remembers him.
Another must read before Flash War.
Ok so there’s actually another super important story that you need to read called DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH, also written by Geoff John’s. When Barry created Flashpoint and created The New 52 as we know it, “classic” Wally West had seemingly been erased from history. This story partially shows how he escaped from The Speed Force and why there are 2 very different Wally West’s in The New 52 continuity. It also, tells us that Barry creating Flashpoint was not the only person responsible for this altered universe… Just read the story, it’s a huge reveal.
A heartfelt reunion between Barry and Wally from DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH
*Some minor spoilers from this point out*
“Classic” Wally West after he’s escaped The Speed Force in DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH
As Mike goes into here, there are now 2 Wally West’s in this reality. The adult, white, pre-The New 52, FLASH Wally West who escaped The Speed Force in DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH and teenage, African-American, KID FLASH Wally West. Now Wally is a white red haired guy, still operating under the title of Flash (although Iris West-Allen, Barry’s wife and Wally’s aunt who doesn’t know who he is, refers to him as the new Flash because Barry is still the Flash as well.) Wallace on the other hand, is a younger, black teenager (not sure how old he’s supposed to be, but he’s shorter which I’m pretty sure equals younger) Paul chiming in here, he’s roughly in his mid-teens and is Kid-Flash, but is also Iris’s nephew.
Teenage, The New 52, Kid Flash, Wally WestAll of them together. From left to right: Barry, Adult Wally, Kid Flash Wally
So, they’re the same person but different people. It’s a little confusing, but I like it, because I’m a big fan of time-travel and the idea that if anything were done differently in a time-line individuals could be genetically different people from one to another.
Fuck these pricks.
At this point in the article, bless his heart, Mike sort of misinterpreted the chain of events. Basically, Time Agents from the 25th Century (kind of like Minority Report) all dressed like good versions of classic Flash villains, The Rogues, show up at try to arrest Iris for supposedly killing Eodard Thawne (Classic Flash villain The Reverse Flash) at some point… in the future… I guess? Even I’m a little confused on this on, guys. These Time Agents could be full of shit, but adult Wally freaks out at the idea of these assholes taking Iris, where Barry wants to let cooler heads prevail and calmly go with The Time Agents to figure out what’s going on. Some fighting and time travel ensues… One of The Time Agents has a really cool and surprising power source I won’t spoil here.
Eobard Thawne AKA The Reverse Flash. Just a real piece of shit. And yes I realize he looks exactly like Zoom. It’s… Well… IT’S A WHOLE THING, OK!
As the first issue comes to a close, we see that Wally has been transported to a future in which he did exist, while Barry, Iris, and Wallace were transported to the alternate future, and Hunter Zolomon aka Zoom tells Wally he’s going to help him change the past and save his children who were erased in Flashpoint.
Zoom/ Hunter Zolomon
This issue is kind of framed by Hunter Zolomon and his POV. To the best of my knowledge, the first time we’ve seen this version of Zoom and Wally’s kids since before Flashpoint, because they’re all pre- The New 52 characters.
I’m really excited, because as I said before I really enjoy time-travel and time line stories, I also really enjoy stories in which protagonists conflict with each other, sometimes I find it more interesting than when there is a clear protagonist. I’m not sure to what level Zoom will participate, my only familiarity with him is from season 2 of the Flash on CW, but I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up.
The Hunter Zolomon/Zoom of this comic is VASTLY different from the Zoom from The Flash CW series. I like Mike’s enthusiasm, but I think this isn’t a great comic for new readers. It’s really more for people who’ve been following The Flash and DC Comics in general for the past decade or so. I recommend new readers check out, as an alternative, the mini-series The Man of Steel by Brian Michael Bendis currently in it’s 3rd issue. You can get at your local comic book store or on your tablet on the ComiXology app. It’s very new reader friendly and all you really need to know is who Superman is and the bare minimum about his world. I hope you guys enjoyed our different takes on Flash War part 1. Thanks for reading, everyone!
On this week’s episode of “The World’s Best Podcast”, Paul Sr. and I discuss the new trailers for Halloween, Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse, & Predator, The opening of Ocean’s 8 and the other films in the franchise, the death of Anthony Bourdain, and much more! Listen here, on The Boston Podcast Network pod617.com , or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:
Bushmaster is a force of nature, who more than makes up for Diamondback, the Season One villain that really hurt the quality of the second part of the first season. It was great to see a new villain who could go toe to toe with Luke and was also as strong a character as Bushmaster. His motivations are very personal. He’s not looking to become a Kingpin, he just REALLY, REALLY wants to kill Mariah Stokes as he insists on calling her. His history with Mariah and her family is revealed throughout the season and I wont spoil it hear.
Lastly, one of the biggest things people will talk about after watching Season Two is how the season ends and where it leaves Luke as a character. SLIGHT SPOILERS HERE The show did a fantastic job of making this turn for the character feel earned. It wasn’t some twist that came out of nowhere. You can see over the course of the season, after everything he’s been through, why Luke would make a decision like this. In the comics, Matt Murdock does a very similar thing when declares himself Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen during Brian Michael Bendis’ run on Daredevil. It was something I always hoped they’d get to on Daredevil’s series, but in the context of the universe Netflix has built, it makes more sense for Luke to be going down this path. I really like the idea whether it’s Matt Murdock or Luke Cage because it’s a unique direction for Luke’s journey as a hero. END SPOILERS
We’ve seen Hollywood learn the wrong lesson from successes too many times to count, (i.e. all of the Jaws sequels, and Piranha movies and so many others). But we also see them learn the lesson from failures. This can be really upsetting to me personally, because it often means something is abandoned early due to the wrong reasons, and who likes their movie franchises ended early?
World’s Best Media 