Zak and George

I wasn’t anxiously anticipating the Snyder cut, but there was always a fairly good chance of my watching it.

Why not? And I do like when creators can just completely put themselves into the work. When he’s allowed, Zak Snyder is certainly good at that. Sometimes that works for me. Sometimes it doesn’t. His output is comparable to Tim Burton’s in my mind. Neither of them like to compromise, and that turns out wonderfully when they’re creating their own material or the subject matter they’re working with is already suited to their tastes. I like it less when they impose their tastes on something that’s not very compatible.

It’s why I love things like “Sucker Punch”, “Watchmen”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “The Corpse Bride”. All of those were either created by their directors or adapted from works that clearly resonated with their psyches. It’s also why I think that Snyder and Burton were not the people to make movies about Superman and Batman respectively. They weren’t necessarily bad movies in an abstract way, but they weren’t great at focusing on those characters’ essential natures.

And while “Justice League” falls more into the ill fitting category for Snyder, he nonetheless made a gorgeous movie that flowed well, and even if I hadn’t enjoyed it more than I expected to, which wasn’t at a nadir to begin with, I would have supported the realization of that vision anyway.

In another sense, I could compare him with George Lucas. I legitimately love how that dude is such a rarity because he maintains is auteur nature even when he’s a vastly powerful figure in the Hollywood machine. Snyder has a bit of that, and both of them have been praised for things like concepts and visuals even by people who derogate their writing. I don’t think either of them is really bad at that, but part of the reason for which Lucas dwells deep in my heart where Snyder barely ever approaches is because I personally like Lucas’s inclinations more. That’s on me. But I still appreciate when those two and others of similar vision can realize their ideas to their full satisfaction.

Agents of Yesterday

Of the DC shows, “Legends of Tomorrow” has been the clear favourite for me, in large part because it’s a weird, whimsical time travel romp that’s especially

brazen in its embrace of superhero surreality.

Which has often been what “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” didn’t do. Where “Legends” felt like comic book “Doctor Who”, “Agents” felt like an “X-Files” imitation with little connection to justify the placement of “Marvel’s” before its name. It’s not bad. It just often felt bland to me.

But this final season has turned that around for me. From what I can tell, it started by taking a page from the “Legends” book and went on to take several chapters, and I’ve honestly been having more fun with it than I did at its previous high point, which would have been the end of the first season when it was allowed to get crazy with the aftermath of “Winter Soldier”. 

So yeah. For anyone who wants a slightly more directed take on comic book time travel questing from the Marvel side of things after exhausting DC’s version, this last season of “Agents” gives solid satisfaction.

Bonus Question!

Best Marvel Agent?

I remember liking Agent Zero in the old Weapon X comics.

Sith Stuff

I remember when The Old Republic came out over the holiday season of 2011. It focused on an era of Star Wars I loved, but I wasn’t feeling an especial call to actually play it. Its gameplay basically just seemed like a rougher version of World of Warcraft, which I was already playing. But in the week after Christmas, I was convinced to give it a try, and in that first period after its release, the wave of excitement around it just added to the wondrous experiences offered by the diverse facets of its story. That excitement fell off after a while, and I did too. I’ve occasionally poked my head in, but I didn’t really think I would again.

But it’s been on my mind recently. The time of year and the recency of “Rise of Skywalker” probably played some role. Again, I wasn’t planning to actually play it, but I decided to download it just in case. And then I hit the play button on that same day. Again, it was the week after Christmas, and I was drawn in far enough to give it a chance. I’m really not going to treat it like Warcraft or anything, but the story’s intrigued me enough to basically let it play out like a single player narrative game with the bonus of having other people around in the world. It’ll be a spurt, and then I’ll drop it again, but right now, it’s a prime source for a legendary era of Star Wars wherein all that wild Jedi and Sith nonsense I love so deeply flourished across a galaxy that often looked even more fantastical than what the epoch of the films would show.

Bonus Question!

What’s your Sith name?

Darth Yowl.

Girlfriend in a Phone-a! I know! I know! It's Siri-ous

I just saw "Jexi". I didn't see "Her", but I assume that this was basically that but more dysfunctional. Which is why it's a comedy. And the fact that it was a comedy was all I knew beyond its main actor before I saw it. But yeah. Like “Her”, it’s a movie about a dude who gets far too intimate with a sentient digital assistant.
So. It was fun.
Will I see "Her"?
I doubt it. But I'm sure it's good too. But "Jexi" was what I saw.

Bonus Question!
Best sentient digital assistant?

J.A.R.V.I.S. In large part because Paul Bettany in Marvel is like chocolate in peanut butter soup.