Favorite MCU Moments.

It should be fairly obvious to anyone visiting this site that I am a big fan of cinema and superheroes which of course means this weekend is almost something of a holy celebration. And why shouldn't it be? Even with the existence of previous shared movie universes like Universal Monsters or long-form action series like Zatoichi or Tarzan, nothing has ever really been like what Marvel has put together with Infinity War. Good or bad this is a major shift for what movies can be.

When I was just a wee one it was common practice to live with very low expectations for any superhero movie. At the time it was easily one of the worst genres out there filled with garbage like Batman and Robin, Spawn, and Howard the Duck. The highest our hopes would ever reach is that we might one day get a Spider-Man or X-men movie that wasn't completely embarrassing. No kid was crazy enough to think we'd one day be blessed enough to not only see characters like Thor, or Rocket Raccoon in film but to see them done well. The additional notion of a shared continuity developing through all of these films was a largely untested concept. Now we live in a time when these ideas are taken for granted. This weekend should carry more meaning for film-lovers, comic-fans, and kids who grew up in a time when superheroes movies were actually good yet it's already tarnished by the current consume and cast aside mentality. On the upside, both Korea's got their shit together so it's a banner time all over the world.

Since this weekend is so important I wanted to ring it in with a special post. At first I thought I might do a total ranking of the MCU, every film, short, season of television, all of it. Then I realized that's the sort of hollow writing already prevalent across film journalism. Instead let's talk about some of my favorite moments from this franchise. After-all, what good is it to express what you enjoy without elaborating on why you enjoy it? There are plenty of options ranging from Spider-Man's interigation mode to Dr Strange's chase through the mirror dimension. For the sake of brevity I'll keep it down to just a few choice scenes. For anyone who may have been avoiding pleasure for the past decade, there may be some spoilers. In my defense, I gave you at least a year to catch up on these. Where else on the internet can you get that sort of consideration?

Drax and Mantis:

It may come to some as a surprise but I am not a big fan of the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Yes I like it, but it is far down the totem pole due to a combination of the circumstances of my original viewing and it's flabby storytelling. The sequel however I am all over. For all of its color and noise Guardians vol. 2 is a family drama in disguise. It's like The Ice Storm with lasers and evil demi-gods.

Even with my lesser outlook on the first entry, Dave Bautista as Drax was an immediate favorite. The guy can perfectly capture the whiplash nature of this painfully honest, often foolish, and tortured brute. No where else is this on better display than his conversation with Mantis among the gardens of Ego.

First there's the comedy of him insulting her looks before he softens to speak of the importance of inner beauty. Eventually the surroundings remind him of his departed daughter. At this point Mantis reaches out to use her empathic abilities on Drax and the scene becomes so much more.

Upon touching him she is clearly overcome with grief, openly weeping while he sits in place, a stoic look upon his face. In this moment she is introduced to loss unlike she's ever known while he lives with pain as a constant companion. It's such a wonderful moment that seals a bond between this warrior and his new friend “this gross bug-lady.”

Zemo's end:

Helmut Zemo is one of the most drastically altered villains from his original comic antics. Instead of a crazy costumed warmonger we were given a broken yet very determined man. As if changing the character wasn't enough his role was rather unique. Instead of a villain who creates the situation our heroes face, he instead manipulated those events to further his goal.

Both Zemo's plan and motivation were simple, even if his methods could stretch belief. This is a man who was utterly failed by these costumed-crusaders whose robotic creation Ultron caused the death of his family. Knowing he couldn't take such individuals on himself, he meddled whenever possible to turn them against each-other.

The completion of Zemo's plot wasn't some grand speech or bid for power. He sat outside, listening to the last message from his wife with plans to commit suicide. It was the intervention of Black Panther who chose to move past rage and loss to bring his enemy to justice. Not only does this moment serve as his first heroic-act but it's the entire backbone of the movie. These few minutes of film are the debate between a man whose life was ruined by so-called heroes while one of them stands in front of him, promising to do better.

When viewing the film for the first time I was concerned how Black Panther would play out in coming films as his motivation through most of Civil War as he mostly acts as a foil. This scene gave him footing as a real hero, perfectly setting him up for his own great adventure.

Vision and Ultron:

In general it's never a good idea to introduce a major character to your ensemble story when there's only 40 minutes left to spare. When that character is as good as Paul Bettany's Vision however things are a little different. Not only does he make a huge impression with minimal screen-time but he walks away with possibly the best scene in Age of Ultron.

Not unlike the confrontation between Zemo and Black Panther, this final meeting between Ultron and Vision serves as the debate between both sides. On one end there is Ultron, convinced of humanities looming failure, he would rather push them into extinction to make way for something new. On the other side is Vision who in only a brief time on this Earth has learned that the beauty of life is not found in security or continued success.

In a film as stuffed and fast-paced as this, taking out the villain with some explosive final maneuver would have been tacky. Letting the conflict end with a debate between artificial father and son gives the battle a level of dignity not often seen in this sort of story.

One can't help but take Vision's speech as something of a prophecy as well. Our time with these movies may not last. Lord knows, maybe the 2020s will see a resurgence of romantic comedies. In the here and now, we have the chance to experience this universe on a regular schedule and that's a beautiful thing regardless of how long it lasts.

Winter Soldier Attacks:

In case you were worried my entire list would consist of crying and moral-standoffs here's some full-blown action that accomplishes something very rare, the feeling of stakes. Hear me out. When watching action films we're generally secure in the knowledge that the hero will make it out just fine. This makes the methods they use to dispatch their foes the entertaining aspect of the film. The Winter Soldier reached a level of intensity reserved for only the finest action cinema where we start to doubt if our leads will make it out in one-piece.

The moment when the Solider goes after Cap, Black Widow, and Falcon for the first time is so intense witch surging music and excellent choreography. Each and every strike feels potentially fatal, pushing everyone to their limit in order to survive. The fact that it culminates in Captain America discovering the identity of this mad-dog killer adds a great cherry on top of an outstanding fight-scene.

Father and Son:

I've already mentioned just how much of an improvement I found the second Guardians to be over its predecessor. Every single element was a step above what had come before, allowing me to finally get in touch woth these characters that I had previously only found amusing. In an unexpected turn of events this colorful space adventure with poop jokes and classic folk-rock warped up with one of the most sad and touching moments of any superhero film.

From the music of Cat Stevens to the light-show put on by the Ravager fleet the funeral is the perfect mix of depressing while still celebrating the life that was lost. Each member of the group sees their emotional arc hit its peak whether that be admitting to love or learning from the friend they lost while each of them helps to raise a young Groot which completes the theme of parenthood throughout the film.

For me this ending is something a barometer to judge someone's tastes by. Consider how many still consider the movie as a simple popcorn flick, largely ignoring that the main ending shot of is of a crying raccoon at a fireworks laden funeral. It's a bit of a giveaway that if someone just sees this as something colorful and entertaining then they may not be the best person to engage about the intricacies of storytelling.

With that I'll stop waxing poetically about a decades worth of so-called silly movies. There's not long to go before I finally get to hit the theater and it seems like I'll have to live those hours out in fairly Amish fashion as one very tiny thing has already been spoiled for me. While I wait, feel free to share some of your own favorite scenes or if you want to keep it lighter just share your personal best entries in the franchise. This is a time to celebrate how far this genre has come in the past ten-years and what that means for us nerdy folk moving forward.

Star Wars Book Club: Life Debt Review

Spring is a time for renewal and around here that means breathing life into old features. It seems impossible to me that I haven't reviewed a Star Wars novel since November yet here we are. Honestly it was for the best as the series was taking up too much of my reading time and I needed a break to return to proper literature like The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Refreshed by my time away I've delved into a sort of anti-spring cleaning where in I stock up on missing items on the cheap. Now with a newly restocked reading pile it's time to dive back into the new cannon and see what's worthwhile.

First up to the plate is Aftermath: Life Debt, the direct sequel to Aftermath which as you may recall was a very important step into the era between the original and sequel trilogies that was dragged down by lousy writing and horrendous pacing issues. Right from page one you can see this second installment has made major strides in improving on its predecessor. No longer does the prose largely consist of awkward bullet-points instead offering fully formed, descriptive paragraphs. Within less than a chapter I felt safe in giving Chuck Wendig the non-existant most improved Star Wars author award. Having finished the book I must sadly report that for all its improvements, Life Debt still has enough problems to keep it from soaring.

The story this time around is... well, that's where the problems start. The advertised plot is about the group of heroes from the previous title getting swept up in Han Solo's attempts at liberating the Wookie homeworld. In reality there's a good 7 or 8 storylines going on, few of which are actually interesting. The first fifty-odd pages are about the group hunting down Imperial officers for the new republic. This moves onto a combo of their current living situations, New Republic politics, the love-life of Wedge Antilles, and wheeling and dealing between the remnants of the Empire. There's even some bits involving Mas Amedda who pops up for a couple chapters before vanishing from the narrative.

It's not until the one-third mark or so that the locate Han Solo and liberate Kashyyyk storyline comes into play, and a large amount of that is skipped in favor of the sad drama of the Wexley family after husband/father Brentin is discovered to be alive. There's brainwashing, torture, parades, and a bizarre super-prison, yet once the flourish of activity had finished I wasn't sure anything of value had actually occurred.

Since it can't relay on the story to carry the weight, what about the characters? When it comes to the core team, Wendig does the classic so-many-steps-forward with some-steps-back routine. Bounty-hunter Jas begins a romantic relationship, thinks she may be getting too attached to her new friends, attempts to leave, and doesn't. Temmin begins to work his way out of the mopey-teenager mold until his parents broken relationship throws him right back there. Former Imperial Operative, Sinjir has a romance, begins to soften, looks to reshape his life, then dumps his boyfriend and murders people. Norra and Jom don't suffer nearly as much from this emotional whiplash because she's consistantly awful and he barely matters.

What about the legacy characters then? Those towering figures that have been the backbone of the franchise since it began? Plot wise, they're mostly treated with respect as we're treated to important events such as Leia's pregnancy or Han and Chewie parting ways to pursue their own adventures. Problem is most of them don't feel authentic enough. Look at some of the other books we've reviewed on this feature. Titles like Tarkin or Guardians of the Whills are vastly improved by how well they capture the essence of those characters. Here we have a Han Solo who seems too soft and jittery, a Leia who doesn't feel cunning enough. Possibly the worst treatment is bestowed upon Mon Mothma comes across as foolish and untrustworthy despite serving the cause since before the Skywalker twins were even born.

By now you should be seeing a pattern of how this book works, for every strength it has an equal or greater weakness. Consider how much stronger the pacing is than its' predecessor. After a slow opening it keeps a steady clip for the remainder only it starts to move too quickly, rushing past an entire month of the campaign to free Kashyyyk. When we return to that plot we find that one of the heroes had been captured and viciously tortured at the hands of a very over-the-top villain who maybe lasts for two-chapters. It's almost as if a large chunk of the book went missing.

Once again this weird wobbly approach to storytelling effects the overall tone as well. Characters speak to each-other in a very fast and jokey fashion yet none of them can stop focusing on how emotionally damaged they are. The story is one part bloody war, another part mopey family drama, plus some Manchurian Candidate style conspiracy, with jokes and multiple romances. Worst of all it often doesn't feel like Star Wars so much as more generic sci-fi. It's like How I Met Your Mother mixed with The Hunger Games by way of lackluster prestige TV.

Overall Life Debt is a massive improvement for the Aftermath trilogy but that still doesn't make for a good read. I'm a little unsure of where exactly to place this one in the rankings though it's definitely going in the lower-end. Frankly the series would probably fare better without such important placement within the franchise. Since this is a key look at the period between the original films and now it can't slid by as simple fluff. The series needs to try harder if it ever wants to rank as something more than a curiosity. Let's look at the rankings.

1. Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

2. New Dawn by John Jackson Miller

3. Bloodline by Claudia Gray

4. Guardians of the Whills by Greg Rucka

5. Ashoka by E.K. Johnston

6. Tarkin by James Luceno

7. Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

8. Battlefont Twilight Company by Alexander Freed

9. Moving Target by Cecil Castelluci and Jason Fry

10. Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka

11. The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu

12. Catalyst by James Luceno

13. Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig

14. Smuggler's Run by Greg Rucka

15. Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne

16. Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

17. Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

18. The Weapon of a Jedi by Jason Fry

Now that the book club feature is back expect to see it hanging around for the foreseeable future. There are currently three more novels in the reading pile which is at least enough to take us into Summer. Seeing as that's when I'm likely to start school, we'll have to wait and see how the schedule will go from there. For now let's just hope our next entry will be something to rave about.

Friday the 13th NES

Being someone who loves both horror and video games you'd be forgiven for assuming I like horror games. Sadly that's not often the case. Over the years horror gaming has become dominated by survival titles or multiplayer-shooters, two genres that hold little interest for me. Of course there are always some exceptions such as Dino Crisis or Silent Hill 2 in the survival camp, got nothing for multiplayer. Still I miss the days when a horror-themed game could be anything from an adventure like Castlevania, brawlers such as Night Slashers, or action like Zombies Ate my Neighbors. My recent dive into retro-gaming has brought a lot of these titles back to me but there's one game I never played as a wee one. One that speaks to a very special fandom of mine. Won't you join me in stepping back in time and finally attempting Friday the 13^th for the NES?

Published in 1989 by infamous garbage-factory LJN, Friday the 13^th has a reputation as one of the worst NES games ever. The main reasons listed are pretty common for the time; stuff like unbalanced difficulty, vague goals, and head-scratch worthy navigation. Other than a brief sample many years ago, I've basically never played the game. As such a big fan of the franchise that simply won't do. But I'm no dummy, I know better than to just dive into this sort of game without first doing some homework.

Turns out the past few years have offered a slight change of opinion towards the game as time has revealed a layer of depth that isn't immediately visible when just futzing around. This begins to make sense when you take into account that the game was developed by Atlus, the company responsible for the massive and complex Shin Megami Tensei franchise. So much has been learned about this game over the years that players who took months if not years to complete it as children now know tricks that make it beatable within a few minutes.

So how does the game actually play? you're wandering around Camp Crystal Lake as one of six different counselors with very different stats. The majority of the time this is done in standard side-scrolling fashion as you face off against zombies, birds, bats, and wolves. Once in a while you'll be alerted that Jason is attacking a cabin and is about to kill off the campers inside. This is one of the two ways to lose the game, either all your counselors die or all the campers do. There's already a chance of encountering the big J out on the trails but he's far more dangerous in close-quarters where you have to face him punch-out style.

You begin with rocks as your one and only weapon and much has been made of how terrible these are. Not only do they deal a pathetic amount of damage but the throwing arc is so jacked that it often soars over your enemies. Better items can be found by jumping or completing certain tasks with each handling quite differently. The knife flies straight but isn't very strong, the axe is a stronger straight-shooter, the torch has a small arc and can do some major damage to Jason, and the pitchfork will go through multiple enemies in a single shot.

The goal of the game is actually very basic, defeat Jason three times over the course of three days. Going about this on the other hand is far more complicated. First there's the matter of getting and keeping a better weapon since even the knife hardly makes a dent in our favorite slasher. Then there's learning the lay of the land and Jason's patterns as he goes in different directions depending on what part of camp he's in. Beyond that there are side-quests such as hunting down the shrine of Pamela Voorhees and fighting her possessed floating head. Defeating the old dame nabs you her sweater which offers extra protection.

All of that was stuff I learned before even turning the game on so I figured I'd have a chance at making some progress. I may not be some professional-player but I've got enough skills to finish games like Ikaruga. I picked one of the better councilors, Crissy and set out on my journey only to get my ass handed to me. Then I went again with Mark, and right out the gate Jason was attacking a cabin across the camp from me. The game won't give you a second of peace. If Jason isn't attacking you on the road then he's cleaving through a cabin full of campers. In the process of my repeated defeats I realized I had no clue how to perform some of the basic actions such as the dodge when fighting in cabins or how to switch between characters. Marking those down as topics to look up later I then went searching for a guide on getting the torch.

The video-guide had a fairly simple route to obtaining the holy fire required to put Jay in his place. The first few steps went off without a hitch. At one point I was supposed to get a key in the woods only no items were appearing. Adding to the frustration was the “beep beep' of the alarm informing me that Jason was currently tearing ten-year-olds in half down by the lake. This wasn't working which means it was back to the internet.

Perusing different guides and FAQs I found another bizarre little detail. Among the different stats like speed and jump-height each character must kill a certain number of enemies in order to make items appear. Mark has to take out 4 baddies in order to get some goodies whereas some of the far worse characters only have to take out 2 or 3. Beyond that I learned how to perform the dodge technique, some of the intricacies of forest and cave navigation, and how the day/night cycle effects various enemies. It was becoming all the more clear that I was still just a novice when dealing with this game. Even with my lack of experience I decided to march on and face Jason one more time. This was so far my most successful run as I not only obtained both the axe and torch but nearly killed Jason in the process. Unfortunately Mark suffered an accident in the caves and everything went downhill from there.

Finally having played the game, do I think it deserves a reputation as one of the worst NES titles? Hell no, I've played infinitely worse on that old darling. Beyond that there are few so few licensed games that offer so much depth and theme. Consider that out of a group of six playable characters only two are obvious heroes, just like one of the movies. The protection offered by Pamela's old sweater, the need to defeat Jason multilple-times. Even the game's pacing is such that the big goon is always causing trouble be it attacking you or another part of the camp. It really is like being in the final act of a movie, staying on the move and struggling to survive. Of course there are a few daffy additions like the zombies but even those aren't that important. Most of those small enemies exist solely to soften you up for encounters with Jay Jay. If nothing else I have to give the game some respect for the sheer amount of crazy ideas on display coupled with it's fairly accurate representation of the license.

When viewing the game from a player standpoint it loses some points. The vague goals, high-difficulty, and morbidly repetitive soundtrack are enough to dive anyone nuts. Yet I still find myself tempted to return armed with further knowledge. Maybe then I'll finally find Pamela's Shrine or figure out a use for Paul other than murder-sponge. That's saying something when you consider all the retro-games I've tried lately only to immediately tire of. There's something special to Friday the 13^th, even if it's buried under plenty of issues. While I'd like to revisit the title, I'm not sure as I'll ever be good enough to win, so what then?

A very happy unlucky day to you all. Be sure to spend it the right way and indulge in Jason antics, be it film or game based. Around here we're most likely going to play my Part IV vinyl soundtrack and watch a mini-marethon of the TV show. Seeing as I'm recovering from some bizzaro springtime cold, I'd say I've earned it.

Lupinranger vs Patranger Episodes 7-9

After a good stretch of activity I've taken the opportunity to be a slug this past week. Sure I've done plenty of things from reading, writing, exorcising, just not much of importance. Think it as an unofficial vacation complete with sleeping odd hours and watch odd combinations of vintage commercials, Live PD, and of course Super Sentai. Lest ye think I'm a total sponge I do want to share a few updates with you before today's topic. First off I have another article up at Horror News Net. I'd appreciate whatever extra views you can send that way. Here at home we will soon see the return of Star Wars book reviews after their unintended hiatus. Finally there will be something for this upcoming Friday the 13^th since it'd be downright blasphemous to forget the patron saint of campground slaughter.

Given how the first few installments of Luinranger vs Patranger have established the world and characters, I'd say we're now able to tackle the series by episode rather than topic. That being the case here's a trio of one great installment, one weaker adventure, and a big game-changer.

Episode 7:

Our first tale of the evening places the spotlight firmly on Umika, AKA Lupin Yellow. If this serves as any indication for the quality of her focus episodes then I'm looking forward to every one of em. The reason is that despite her role as the girly hero she ends up giving us a very dramatic story with a lot more depth than you might expect.

It begins innocently enough with Sakuya asking her out on a date, a prospect that holds little interest for our heroine though her teammates suggest that it could provide a good opportunity to get information on their rivals. The conversation doesn't last long as they must go hunt down the current monster who uses his collection piece to expand his stomach in order to eat people.

Kairi and Tooma are devoured in the ensuing fight which sends Umika into a bit of an emotional panic. We've seen this sort of thing before in tokusatsu or anime programming but here it feels valed. This is a teenager who in less than a year has lost her best friend, dropped out of school, and began a life of stealing from interdimensional monsters. Seeing her two new friends possibly killed in the process of protecting her is almost enough to push the girl over the edge.

Figuring she has some time before her friends are digested, she figures out where the goon will strike next and accepts a date from Sakuya provided they visit that restaurant. Once the Patranger engage the criminal, Umika makes her move to steal the collection piece which forces the monster to vomit out his current crop of victims. Our thieves leave the police to clean up the mess.

In just a single episode we see so many sides of Umika. She's shy, socially awkward, and emotionally frail. Yet she revealed herself to be smart tactician and manipulator devoted to becoming a better hero who can protect her friends despite their statement of accomplishing the mission no matter the cost. None of this would work without a decent performance and Haruka Kudo proves to be up to the task. Let's face it, a good deal of Sentai actors are hired for their physicality, both their looks and an ability to fight or dance. It would be easy to think she got the job simply by being adorable but she actually plays the more emotional elements quite well. Girl's got some real potential to be the backbone of this series.

Episode 8:

During our last update I mentioned my general dislike for Jim Carter as the sort of standard cutesy mascot so you might imagine a story that gives him more screen-time kinda drags down the quality. That is very much the case for part 8. Even so, a weak installment of this series is better than anything Kyuranger threw at us. Simply put; better tools equal better work.

The main focus is on a sting operation steming from Tsukasa's suspicions that her teams favorite cafe workers may in fact be the phantom thieves. The police then send out Jim Carter as a decoy Bangler while they watch the cafe. Of course the cops didn't count on Good Striker revealing their plan to the thieves.

Naturally Lupinranger pulls out just enough trickery to clear their names and this whole sub-plot was fun if a bit of a time waste. The episode did manage to move the main story along a bit further as Kairi stumbles across a secret Gangler base where Goche is carrying out human experiments. Little is known about what her actual plan is but during the ensuing fight she uses a collection piece as some sort of biological scanner.

As if the weird experiments weren't enough we get yet another hint that Kogure has a much grander scheme going on when he feigns ignorance about the scanner before flashing the audience a sinister smile. A similar incident occurred in part 7 when after comforting Umika and giving the impression that he honestly gives a crap about her, he then went on to spout some cryptic garble to himself about their giant machines.

Anyway, number 8 was-one half goofy filler, one-half mystery, and just ok. As I said earlier though, if this is the worst this show has to offer then it's still packing one hell of a pedigree.

Episode 9:

Our final tale tonight was devoted to Kairi meeting a woman who increases his drive to restore the Lupin collection and regain his brother. This isn't a romantic plot though, they're relationship is totally platonic. What brings these two together is a pendant. Turns out there was a collection piece stolen some time before the Ganglers ran off with the majority of it. This item was passed down to a jewelry designer named Ema who has no clue that freakish criminals are out to get her heirloom.

The Lupinrangers rescue Ema from an initial attack and hide her away at the cafe. Meanwhile Patranger puts together a fake jewelry showcase in order to draw out her assailant. The phantom thieves then split up so Kairi can convince Ema to give up her pendant while Umika and Tooma steal the Ganglers item.

Destra catches on to the situation and goes after Ema forcing kairi to reveal his identity to both the girl and villains while seeming more heroic than ever. Ema gladly parts with the pendant and hopes to mend her relationship with her sister and that her protector may one day see his brother again. wouldn't ya know her bauble happens to be a two-piece robot for our hero to use in battle. The day won the lad marches home with a renewed sense of purpose. All sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?

While Lupin red was off saving pretty ladies his team struggled with Patrangers and a rather Gangler. In the scuffle, the beast was destroyed along with his collection piece thus eliminating their chance at restoring the Lupin collection and seeing their loved ones again. Obviously this is a huge change for the show going forward. Not only does it drastically impact the thieves mission but it also alters their rivalry with the cops. Before now the police were just irritating. Now the thieves have a real reason to hate the other team. Just think of Sakuya who harbors his massive crush on Umika who will now see him as a man who stopped her from saving her friend. This is a development I thought may came eventually but not this early. Personally I can't wait to see where things go from here.