A Little Bit of Bega in My Life

I’ve always been a fan of Lou Bega’s classic “Mambo No. 5”, but that fondness has been boosted in recent years by the fact that hearing it reminds me of arriving in the lobby of our hotel at Disney World at the outset of my family’s vacation in high school, whereupon I was greeted by a version of that song Lou had recorded about Disney characters.

So today I thought “Instead of just being reminded of that by the original song, why don’t I seek out the Disney version that enchanted me so in that hotel lobby, where the sun was shining through the vast windows at the far end?”

So I found it on iTunes, which I still use because I just like the feel of having the files on my phone. But I had to buy the whole album to get that one song despite the fact I’ll probably never listen to any of the other tracks, which also seem to be Disney-focused covers of pop songs. Bega’s might be the only one by the original artist? Anyway, it was a worthy purchase.

Bonus Question!

Favourite Disney song?

Mutants, Slightly Less New

Finally got around to seeing “New Mutants” after it finally got released after years of delays. Finally.

And it delivered. Even other people liked it! Obviously, I was going to enjoy it.

But I think the part that brought the most warmth to my heart was seeing how they made room for a dance montage after “X-Men: Apocalypse”, which is still my favourite of the franchise, relegated that to the deleted scenes.

Cheers!

Bonus Question!

Best New Mutant!

Magik! For weirdness. Also mixing mutanthood and magic. I feel that.

Teen! Vision in the MCU

I’ve heard a lot of theorizing about the implications of Vision’s lack of memories and Infinity Stone in “WandaVision”. The prevalent idea seems to be a version of the rebooted, colourless, emotionless Vision from the 80s or whatever.

I’m going in a different direction. This is a show that increasingly seems to focus on the children of Wanda and Vision, who grow up to be two of the Young Avengers. Billy in particular was one of four founders in the comics. But who was their first recruit?

That’s right! A younger, sleeker version of the Vision. Doesn’t that even remind you of the baby Vision we saw in a recent episode’s opening credits?

My last theory appears to be wrong. I’m due.

Bonus Question!

Vision versus Marvin the Paranoid Android! Battle of robotic ennui!

Vision’s built for combat, but on a basis of pure ennui, Marvin’s been more consistent.

Aphra Name Change - Star Wars Retcon?

Everyone now knows and loves Doctor Aphra, one of the greatest new Star Wars characters of the modern era. Darth Vader’s erstwhile archaeologist assistant. Evil Indiana Jones lady. Overall amoral science type. She began as a supporting character in Vader’s comic several years ago. and now she might be getting her own television series.

Anyway, recently I was looking on Comixology or something for the new issue of her comic, and my search for “Aphra” was turning up nothing. That’s when I realized I’d somehow gotten her name wrong for this entire time. It was actually “Althra” or something. I had no idea how that mistake had happened.

Until I woke up.

Yes, it’s actually Aphra. Chelli Lona Aphra.

Sweet dreams.

Bonus Question!

Best evil Indiana Jones?

I mean …. This guy.

My Wild WandaVision Theory - MCU Young Avengers Soon?

So. Everyone knows Evan Peters, the Quicksilver from the Fox movies who was far less accurate to the comics than the Age of Ultron version even if I liked him more, was cast in the WandaVision series. Everyone assumes he’ll be reprising his Quicksilver role. But was he even Quicksilver to begin with?

Initially, he reminded me more of Iceman, which was great since the Iceman of the movies, while he was portrayed well, didn’t seem to be written in a way that emphasized the quirkiness of the comics version. But now, especially amidst rumours of an imminent assemblage of Young Avengers in the MCU, I’m recalling a character Evan’s Quicksilver, with his youthfulness, charm, jauntiness, and goggles, resembled even more: Tommy Shepherd, the speedster named Speed. He’s the late arrival brother of one of the Young Avengers’ founders and the reincarnated son of Wanda and the Vision.

So. Instead of doing that thing of bringing in a Fox Human Torch to play an unrelated MCU character or bringing in a Sony Spider-Man to play that same Spider-Man in a multiverse kind of cameo, maybe they’re doing a bit of a mix of both where they’re bringing in an actor who played one character who was basically another to play the MCU version of the character they basically were.

So. Evan Peters is Speed. Calling it now.

Bonus Question!

How was that Quicksilver goggle costume?

Like this.

Bee-Lo and Stitch?

Though I was familiar enough with the franchise in general and the television show in specific, I’d never seen the original “Lilo and Stitch” movie. But it’s one of my girlfriend’s favourites, and we finally watched it together.

Here’s what I’ll say. That scene at the beginning where the alien winds up at the dog pound and gets claimed against the manager’s protestations by the protagonist? In my mind, that’s what inspired the beginning of the first Michael Bay Transformers film. Just with a car alien instead of a dog alien. Stitch and Bumblebee even have somewhat similar habits of intermittent unintelligibility.

Bonus Question!

Best bee?

Old Loki

I’ve heard that Richard E. Grant has been cast in the new Loki show, and people are speculating that he’ll be playing an older version of Loki, in line with the weird time happenings of the series. I remember when he was cast in an X-Men film, and I hoped he’d be playing Mister Sinister, who’d also been teased for an appearance. But despite that perfect casting, he turned out to just be playing a random scientist. And not Mister Sinister playing a random scientist, which that character has been known to do.

But I think the aptitude he’d have for portraying Loki would compensate for that missed opportunity. Especially since “Loki” feels partially like a Marvel take on “Doctor Who”, and Grant could knock out that part too. And I think he might have in some comedy sketch or something? I don’t know. But yeah.

Bonus Question!

Best Marvel take on “Doctor Who”?

Probably Dan Slott’s Silver Surfer series. If for no reason beyond the dude’s obvious passion for the franchise. Actually, I liked when he basically turned Hank Pym into the Doctor before that in his Avengers book. I’ll go with that.

Mulanimal Crackers

I have nothing against it, but I really doubt I’m going to see the live “Mulan” movie. I liked the original, but I think my personal experience of the remake would be similar to my assumptions around the 2019 “Lion King”. Too much of the charm is missing to my tastes. In the case of “Mulan”, that charm is largely coalesced in the form of a diminutive dragon with the voice of Eddie Murphy.

But you know what else got released to streaming around the same time? “Animal Crackers”! A movie about officially licensed Animal Crackers with the voices of Ian McKellen, Office Jim, and others of epic merit. With heart! Apparently, it was a huge passion project for some of its creators to the point where one of them painted the official poster by hand. And one of the directors turned out to be the guy behind the animated “Mulan”.

So you know what? “Animal Crackers” is to me the real successor to cartoon “Mulan” for the summer of 2020. Confirmed.

Bonus Question!

I just realized Eddie Murphy’s Mushu could be a descendant of Eddie Murphy’s Donkey and his dragon wife.

Comics, Cartoons, Comedy

Man, that final weekend in August. The August of not a lot of movies!

And this one weekend had three big ones I had to see. Who knew a day would come when an X-Men movie would not be prioritized of all else for me after a lifetime of my affinity for the franchise? And it’s not because I’m not excited. I’d be here for it even if no one else thought it looked good. And public opinion is not seeming to be largely against its quality.

Nah. I’m holding off on that, which is a film that looks somewhat appropriate for the Halloween season in its horror overtones, and the new Bill-Ted movie because of Phineas and Ferb. It hasn’t done much in years, but I still love the soundtrack, which includes some cuts from their first movie, like the song Slash played on. And was called out in for the guitar solo.

Now they have another movie, and since the whole franchise is predicated on endless summer, it felt right to fit it within the season. So yeah. In the words of Phineas, “Alright, Slash, let’s go.”

All of you are called Slash for the purposes of that quotation.

Bonus Question!

Worst Phineas?

Phineas Mason, the Tinkerer, was a bit of a jerk. Especially to Spider-Man.

Mermaid Energy

So. I never actually watched “The Little Mermaid” in its entirety. It came out in the year before I was born, and my parents didn’t really go out of their way to get a bunch of Disney stuff till I arrived. Thus, I have vivid memories of constantly watching “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” in my early years. 

I always meant to get around to it, but I never did until I started seeing this girl who loved it. She had strong mermaid energy anyway, and she seemed like the right person to watch it with.

Seeing it in its fullness for the first time felt like connecting all the scattered dots I’d accumulated through osmosis and occasional peripheral clips over the course of the last three decades. Everything finally got assembled and reinforced by a bunch of songs I didn’t really know.

I always liked “Under the Sea” though.

Sebastian’s got wild pipes.

Bonus Question!

Which Sebastian has the wildest pipes above the sea?

 Bach. The guy from Skid Row. Not the composer.

Real Evil Genius

Just watched “Artemis Fowl”. I keep hearing that all of these film houses are so desperate to adapt a fantasy book series into cinema’s next Harry Potter franchise, and people always seem down on it. Meanwhile, I’m here and loving all of it. But they never do well enough to stick around. it took a year or two for me to realize that the “Golden Compass” movie wasn’t getting a sequel. At least we got James McAvoy’s Asriel in the television series.

And “Artemis Fowl” gave us a whole new Josh Gad with a scratchy voice and a demeanour that almost felt like what you’d get if you got Jack Black in a Johnny Depp Halloween costume.

Basically, I’m saying this movie ruled.

Bonus Question!

Best fowl?

Phoenix.

Wingy Queens

So. I have watched all of "Game of Thrones", but I didn't care enough to pay real attention to the details about all the criticisms of its final season. But I did just see the new Maleficent movie.

And I've got to say, if your main complaint was in the fact that Daenerys was a queen who hung around with fantastical winged beasts instead of a queen who actually was a fantastical winged beast, I think "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" could wash away those Westeros woes.

It also has the actor who played the less bland version of Daario, and he's probably going to have a thing with the wingy queen lady in this too.

Bonus Question!

Best fantastical winged beast?

I've always felt an affinity for the phoenix.

I mean, yeah. There's the whole thing of always getting back up. But also they're shiny, flighty things, and I feel that deep.