It’s Paul and I’m very excited to announce my brand new Podcast… PAUL’S PULLS! As you all know I LOOOOOOOVE comic books and superheroes, so this podcast is all comics all the time. It’s a shorter show than “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim”, but it’s perfect for the format. Each episode I’ll be recommending the best comics of the week and talk about comic book or comic book movie, Comic book TV, COMIC BOOK ANYTHING news! I really hope you’ll enjoy it. In the first episode I give an annotated breakdown of the awesome new DC series Doomsday Clock. Then I wrap thing up talking about the very cool new superhero show Black Lightning. The podcast will be available on iTunes soon but for now you can listen to it right here:
I want to tell you all about a show that I’ve literally heard no one talking about, but I don’t want to spoil it. So please bare with me.
The Netflix show Travelers, has some of the most compelling time-travel I’ve seen in a long time. The premise, is that people are coming back from some far off, terrible future, in hopes of fixing it. In that regard it’s pretty standard, but everything else really stands out for me.
The travelers have their consciousness placed in the heads of ordinary people in 2016-2017 (there have been 2 seasons so far), at the moments before they were going to die. The point of this being, that they’re not killing someone to make room, they’re just borrowing what would otherwise be an empty shell. Without getting too into spoiler territory, this process doesn’t always workout for them, and that creates a lot of the interesting aspects of the show. (I really want to tell you, but if I do I’ll be doing you a disservice).
The plot about saving the future, really takes a back seat, to the stories of the characters, who have to adapt not only to a world that they don’t recognize, but to roles and relationships they are thrust into by means of their “host’s” previous life. One thing I will tell you, is that these characters come from a future in which famine has ravaged their food supply, and so any time a new ‘Traveler’ is brought into the show, they really explore their relationship with food. It might not sound that interesting, but food, both the experience of tasting, as well as all of the addictive nature of modern food and sugar, show how they aren’t ready for, or able to adjust while eating in front of non-travelers. It’s a small weakness in their ‘act’ that they all have to perform.
The show focuses on one team of ‘travelers,’ who work toward individual missions as they are assigned. One of the things that I find really cool about the team, is that you have a leader, an engineer, a weapons expert, a medic, but also a historian, who has one of the coolest functions. Essentially, the historian is in charge of remembering all the deaths and events in the area, so that they can go help new traveler’s transition, or look for differences that they may make in the time-line. Philip, the historian, also has to face the idea that as they change the time-line he becomes less essential, and less helpful to their missions, which creates something of an existential crisis for him.
Ultimately, the characters learning that they can’t just travel back and accomplish their missions without lives interfering becomes the meat of the show. Each character ends up with a particular set of challenges that were unforeseen from the future, and they have to adjust and keep going.
I’m only a few episodes into season 2, but the show remains really interesting in this perfect fusion of character and device. What I would suggest to you, is that you watch the first episode, which I consider to be one of the best first episodes I’ve ever seen. It had me instantly hooked and wanting more. That being said, I can’t really tell you anything about why I was hooked from the start without spoiling it for you. I hope you enjoy.
Also, as a side note, and a shameless plug, if you’re looking for time-travel fiction, check out my new time-travel blog, which I’ve been working on since October.
It’s Paul here and I should have had this up yesterday, but better late than never! Here’s Part 2 of The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim2018 Movie Preview! Of course finishing out the episode with me until Tim makes his triumphant return, is super guest co-host Ryan McDonald! In Part 2 we start smack in the middle of the summer movie season and then finish out the rest of the year. It’s a great Episode and I hope you all enjoy it. Listen here or subscribe on iTunes:
An R-Rated, animated Batman movie, that’s essentially, Batman Vs. Jack The Ripper? To quote the great Kevin Smith “Fuck you. Take my money.”. Batman by Gaslight adopts a storytelling device often seen in comics called ”Elseworlds”. “Elseworlds” are basically one off stories where you take a familiar hero and and put them in a unique setting or story they normally wouldn’t be in. It’s a “What If…” story, essentially. For example, What if baby Superman’s spaceship crashed in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas? Or What if Batman hunted Jack The Ripper in Victorian-Era Gotham City? The original graphic novel of the same name that the movie is based on, with art by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, was too short to be adapted to a feature length film. So, the filmmakers had to add to the story, which is fun if you’ve read the graphic novel because you’re getting something that’s both a strong adaptation and completely new tale at the same time.
A panel from the original graphic novel
It’s a great premise that’s a natural fit for the character. Batman’s often referred to as “The World’s Greatest Detective” in the comics, so I loved seeing Batman in a real mystery where he has to use his skills as a detective as much as his skills as a fighter. Batman’s incredible detective abilities are rarely utilized enough outside of comics. It doesn’t hurt that the whole story takes place in a world that looks very much like the city of fictions other great detective and one of the inspirations for Batman, Sherlock Holmes (there’s a small Sherlock Holmes reference that only true Sherlockians will get). The movie looks like it’s was pulled out of the pages of an Arthur Conan Doyle story, which adds to the movie’s cool, steampunk, murder mystery vibe.
A blimp crashing into a Gotham City building.
Bruce Greenwood plays Bruce Wayne/Batman in this film and besides Kevin Conroy, I think he’s my favorite Batman voice actor. He’s played Batman before in movies like Batman: Under The Red Hood (one of the best DC Animated Movies) and the excellent Young Justice animated series, returning for it’s third season later this year. Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) does some great work as Selina Kyle, but I don’t think they ever call her Catwoman in the movie. Besides Batman, Selina Kyle has the most to do in this movie. She’s basically Batman’s partner in solving the murders. She’s taking matters into her own hands because she knows if the victims were rich, white men instead of poor women, the police would be doing a lot more. At the very end she has a little damsel in distress moment I wasn’t crazy about, but other wise she’s an ass kicking badass who is more or less Batman’s equal.
Batman and Selina Kyle
Of course, it fun to see Victorian-era versions of the wide array of characters from Batman’s world. I wont spoil all the fun cameos, but you get to see characters from Hugo Strange to Solomon Grundy throughout the story. Unfortunately, a lot of the supporting cast isn’t as fleshed out as Batman and Selina Kyle which is definitely a big weakness in the film.
Prof. Hugo Strange
This movie takes full advantage of it’s R-Rating. This is easily one of the more bloody and gorey DC Animated Movies made so far. The real life Ripper Murders always struck me as particularly brutal and vicious. The movie does a good job of conveying that THIS Jack The Ripper is a terrifying butcher as well.
Jack The Ripper
One of the things that made this version of Jack The Ripper work for me is that he was a physical match for Batman. This isn’t the same Batman that could kick the shit out of Superman. Batman gets pretty fucked up a few times in this movie. We’ve seen Batman fight armies of alien invaders and beings with all kinds of super abilities and come out fine. But the fact that The Ripper is just a man and he comes so close to killing Batman makes him much more frightening. Compared to other Batman animated movies recently, the stakes may seem lower but they feel higher than ever. This story isn’t “canon”, so characters who wouldn’t normally be on the chopping block could be taken out at anytime, which give the movie a nice edge.
Another look at The Ripper
Stylistically, this film has stepped away from the more anime inspired look that much of the other DC Animated Movies have adopted. Instead, the animation style is more traditional, without sacrificing quality. Including several great fights and action sequences. There a few showdowns between Batman and The Ripper that are particularly well done.
Having never read the original graphic novel, I didn’t know who The Ripper was while watching the movie (and this being Gotham City it could be almost literally ANYONE). So, it was fun not knowing where the story was going, but I did know The Ripper is NOT the same character from the original graphic novel. I’m definitely going to grade on a curve here, because as I’ve said before the quality of the DC Animated Movies has dipped over the past few years and I feel this is a huge step in the right direction. I have a feeling that the movie seemed a lot better than it actually was because the quality of the DC Animated films hasn’t been as consistent lately
Batman on his steampunk motorcycle
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is fun little Batman mystery, taking place in a interesting setting. Whether you’re a fan of Batman, these animated movies, or you just happened to see the trailer and were intrigued, I would definitely recommend this movie. While not without it’s flaws, It is without a doubt one of the best DC animated movies that we’ve seen in a long time. Let’s hope they keep this momentum going into their next movies…
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is available on iTunes now and the Blu-Ray will be released on 2/6/2018
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – 8.4/10
Thanks for reading!
-Paul
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Star Wars Rebels is a fantastic show. It’s added complex, compelling characters and stories to the Star Wars Mythology. As well as expanding and enriching existing Star Wars lore. It’s even pulled beloved characters from the “Expanded Universe” like Grand Admiral Thrawn out of “Legends” and back into Star Wars canon. But all great stories must have a closing chapter and I’m glad to see Star Wars Rebels go out on its own terms with a definitive ending. Check out the trailer for the final episodes here.
I highly recommend checking the show out on Blu-Ray. Below are the links for the Blu-Rays for first 3 seasons (the 4th and final season is still airing) on Amazon. If you use the link below a small percentage goes to keep World’s Best Media up and running. So we are HUGELY appreciative when you use our Amazon Affiliate links! Thanks!
Hey, everybody! I’ve got a few cool trailers for a few upcoming DC Animated Movies for you to check out. The first is the new DC Animated Movie Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay. Check it out here and continue reading below after:
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay takes place in the DC Animated Universe they began creating a few years ago, starting with Justice League: War. Usually each year they’ll do a Justice League, Batman, or Teen Titans movie that’s part of this Animated Universe and then a stand alone movie like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. Apparently this year they’re adding the Suicide Squad into the mix. I liked seeing some of the big and more obscure DC villains they included. Besides the Squad itself, villains like Zoom, Two-Face, Professor Pym, and more are a part of the movie. The voice cast looks pretty solid as well. I’m cautiously optimistic that this could be pretty cool. God knows the bar isn’t very high for it to be better than the live action Suicide Squad movie. There’s no release date on it yet, but I would expect this to be released around March or April.
The DC Animated Movie I’m really looking forward to is the next movie, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, which comes out digitally on 1/23/18 and Blu-Ray 2/6/18. I enjoy thes movies whenever they come out, but there hasn’t been a truly great one in awhile. I’m hoping this film is the one that knocks it out of the park because it looks great. A Victorian era Batman going up against Jack The Ripper? I’m in. Here’s the trailer:
Looks cool, right? But back to Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, this isn’t the first DC Animated Movie to star the Suicide Squad. A few years ago they released Batman: Assault on Arkham and though the title says Batman, it was a Suicide Squad movie through and through. It actually technically took place in the same universe as the Batman: Arkham video games. It’s a solid, fun movie that’s definitley worthy checking out. When I rewatched it recently, I couldn’t help but think “This is exactly how the live action Suicide Squad movie should have been made.” Anyway, we’re going to put up reviews for both of the flicks, so keep an eye out on the site for those.
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Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce AKA Black Lightning
Black Lightening Series Premiere Review
Written by Paul Wright
Black Lightning is the latest superhero drama from The CW, which has made DC superhero shows it’s bread and butter. Based on the DC Comic of the same name, Black Lightning follows Jefferson Pierce (played by Cress Williams), a former Olympic medalist and retired consumed superhero with electricity powers and who gave up the life of superhero/vigilante Black Lightning, to focus on his family. Today, Jefferson’s main focus is raising his 2 daughters with his estranged wife and helping his community in a different way as an award winning high school principal. His oldest daughter Anissa is a medical student who inherited here father’s desire to help her community by protesting against the violent local gang The 100. Meanwhile his youngest daughter Jennifer, a senior at Jefferson’s high school, is going through her rebellious teenage years. Which of course drives her father nuts.
What makes this series stand out is that it tackles issues of race, violence, and the antagonistic relationship between the police and the communities they protect, head on. Before the opening title is even shown, our hero, Jefferson Pierce is driving home with his two daughters and is pulled over and harassed by the police solely because he’s black. The police don’t even offer an apology or explanation when they realize they have the wrong man. It’s ugly and feels all too real. Like thousands of other police stops around the country that are a razors edge away from becoming a tragedy. It’s an opening that grabs you and gets your attention without any superheroics.
Black Lightning is a surprisingly intense series for a superhero show on The CW. Maybe it just feels that way because much of what happens in the story is so similar to what we see on the news everyday. Considering that the main character is a meta-human with electricity powers the show feels more grounded than any other superhero show on The CW.
Goddamn, that’s a sexy man…
MILD SPOILERS
There’s a great scene where Jefferson has to come to the rescue of his daughter Jennifer, when she gets in some trouble with members of the very dangerous 100 gang at a local club. Despite being out of the game for awhile, Jefferson can still kick ass and take names. After he absolutely fucks up the bad guys in the club, which is pretty damn cool, the cops show up as Jefferson is leaving and immediately pull their tasers on him (I should note that Jefferson is in formal wear throughout this scene). After yelling some racially charged orders at him, the cops tase Jefferson, at which point he’s had enough. When the taser has no effect on him, he electrocutes the 2 cops (without killing them) and blows up their police car. It’s a very cathartic moment. Cress Williams, who plays Jefferson, conveys very well that this is probably something that has happened to the character before and this time he’s not going to take any shit.
END SPOILERS
There’s a lot to like in this series. There’s even a little bit of a “Dark Knight Returns” vibe. An aging hero comes out of retirement to find his city worse off than ever and he’s forced to confront a particularly vicious gang. There are definitely some parallels there. Also, any big DC Comics fans could guess where some of the stories may go for certain characters.
Black Lightning in the comics as a member of the Justice League. Umm.. he’s the black guy. Man, the JL needs some diversity!
Overall, Black Lightning was surprisingly good and a welcome addition to The CW’s DC Superhero line up. It’s not completely clear if this show takes place in the “Arrow-verse”, but we are told that other superheroes exist in other cities in this world. Unlike those other DC Superhero shows, Black Lightning seems to have something of a bit more substance to say, which is always welcome in the genre. The characters are likable, especially Cress Williams in the lead roll, the story is appropriately timely, and there are some excellent action sequences. Black Lightning is definitely a show to check out. Highly recommended.
Another picture of Black Lightning from the DC Comics
Black Lightning airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 9PM!
Here’s a very cool trailer for a new series Netflix premiering this year starring Joel Kinnemam from “The Killing”and “Suicide Squad”. I almost thought this was a movie because the special effects and production value were so great. Netflix really seems to be going after it lately with it’s movies. As one of the people who ended up really liking Bright, it’s really cool to see Netflix taking risks and putting out really great looking films. So, I can’t wait to see this movie. My one criticism is that It looks a little too Blade Runner, but I guess it’s based on a beloved book and apparently it’s pretty faithful to the source material. Check it out:
In the latest episode of “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim”, special guest cohost Ryan McDonald and I went through all of the blockbusters, potential Oscar contenders, our personal anticipated films of 2018, and much, much more! This is our EPIC 2018 MOVIE PREVIEW! We give you the scoop on all the films you can’t wait to see in 2018! As always we had a lot of fun recording this episode. But because there was so much to cover this year, we had to break it up into two parts. Part Two will be released next week, so keep an eye out for that. Thank you so much for listening! You can check Part One of our episode out here or subscribe on iTunes:
I wish had posted these earlier, but this week on “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim”, Tim and I each separately recorded solo episodes reviewing two very different, but very cool shows. Tim reviewd the first season of Netflix’s Mindhunter. It’s a great review and a very funny podcast, so check it out below. I intended to review SyFy’s excellent series The Magicians, which I do, but I also get off the rails a little bit and talk about pop culture news of the week. They’re both a lot of fun and we hope you enjoy them as much as we love making them. As always listen here or subscribe on iTunes. Also keep a look out for a special announcement because “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim” will soon be available on Spotify! Here are the episodes below:
Review by Paul Wright
World’s Best Media 