Sleepy Chris

A while ago, my ex-girlfriend expressed surprise at the fact I hadn’t seen “Christopher Robin”. I told her I remembered seeing it come to theatres and just not making a priority of it before it left. I placed that memory around the second half of 2019, but when we went to watch it, I was it came out in 2018 and got slightly confused until the mid point of the film when I realized the source of my error.

In the second half of 2019, there was indeed a Ewan McGregor vehicle wherein he portrayed an adult version of a famous fictional kid who revisits the fantastical aspects that defined his childhood, but that movie was not “Christopher Robin”. It was in fact “Doctor Sleep”, and those two films with their conceptional overlaps mingled in my mind, where the Winnie the Pooh one, related as it was to a franchise I always had an attachment to, easily achieved dominance.

There. Cleared up. And the movie rocked.

Bonus Question!

Worst doctor of sleep?

Doctor Destiny. Dude did some dire dream dastardliness in that diner.

Grimly Phoenix

Just saw "Dark Phoenix". Can't understand the hate. It was a fun X-Men film filled with classic X-Men nonsense. Like "Apocalypse". On a tonal level, I did prefer "Apocalypse", but that's  because it was more uplifting, and my own tastes might have liked that to be the end point. But I'm also the guy who used to end the Ziggy Stardust album on "Suffragette City" because "Suicide" seemed too dour to end on, and now that's one of my favourite songs.

But it's pretty rare for a dude to get a second chance at seeing his vision through without interference, and that's what Kinberg got for this after the complications of "Last Stand". He rose from the ashes of that and made his Phoenix play here.

I will say that the X-Men uniform popped better onscreen than I expected, though I still would have preferred the wilder costumes that were teased at the end of "Apocalypse". What else popped? Mystique's hair. That  coif was radical. It could have come from a bottle called "Radical Red". Pure comic book colour. Cheers for that. And cheers to Kinberg for managing to convince her to come back for endless hours of makeup application.

And I realise now that Tye Sheridan might have won the casting call in large part by virtue of his mouth. That blind pout is pure Cyclops. I loved Marsden in the old movies, but he might have almost been too stylish for the role. He might have made me like Scott more than I should have. But Tye's performance is incredibly honest.

Also. At one point, the X-Men are antagonised by the Mutant Control Unit or whatever, with big letters on their outfits that read "MCU", which seems appropriate after all the legal issues between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Fox's X-Men franchise.

And the ending reminded me of the epilogue to "Dark Knight Rises", which mainly had the effect of making me want to watch a conversation between Xavier and Michael Caine. It doesn't even have to be with Alfred. Any Michael Caine.

Bonus Question!

How was the last season of "Jessica Jones"?

She's not my favourite character of the Netflix Defenders, but for some reason, her show always goes down smoothest.

Nice and Accurate

I just watched "Good Omens", and I've got to say that Crowley is the best example since Alan Rickman's Snape of the ability of an adapted character's entire aesthetic to transcend that of the source material so wonderfully. Dude feels like an underworldly Ziggy Stardust. The book did not set my expectations for that.

Also, it's just good, man. And still true. I don't have any issue with the "American Gods" show, but it didn't do for me what the book did. Along with "Good Omens", I could probably fit it near the top of my favourites. The television series felt too different for my own tastes. But "Good Omens" recreated the novel's feel brilliantly, and I've got to cheer for that.

Bonus Question!

Best omen?

I don't know. Red skies at night? At least if you're a sailor.

Hella Boys

So. New Hellboy movie.

Here's the thing. Guillermo del Toro has inimitable charm, and the same can be said for Ron Perlman. Though the films they made together largely predated the modern superhero movie landscape and its fairly consistent ability to distill the outlandish glories of its source material into quality cinema, they were well made, well performed, and filled with the eccentric warmth of their director. It's hard not to want more of that.

But if you put that aside, 2019's "Hellboy" is a fun romp too.  Some of the marketing made it seem overly grom, which probably would have made me miss the Guillermo works, but honestly, the actual film didn't feel too different in overall tone from the previous stuff. The biggest difference was probably the preponderance of hard rock in the soundtrack, which seems like something Guill wouldn't do too much, but I don't actually remember. I walked in slightly late, but the first scene I saw was some sort of masked wrestling match, and professional wrestling is probably a good point of comparison for the film's feel. Machismo, hard rock, and a kind of endearing ridiculousness leavened by an implicit absence of self-seriousness.

Bonus Question!

Best boy from Hell?

Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan!

Not actually the son of Satan! But still the son of one of many demons who claim that name in the Marvel universe! Also probably has a portal to Hell in his kitchen or something! Also called Hellstorm!

Alien Slaying

I finally saw "Captain Marvel", and I really just want to say that I loved the look of the Skrulls. For real. They reminded me of random villains from "Buffy", which totally feels appropriate for an emotionally oblique blond heroine in the 90s.

Also, these movie versions do a good job of looking distinct from Thanos, who's always basically looked like a Skrull with a purple tan and an Infinity Gauntlet full of protein powder.

Bonus Question!

Best flavour of protein powder?

I've been swearing by maple syrup pancake, but the new Reese's peanut butter cup kind intrigues me. Can anyone attest to it?