Search
Search results
THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD - Season One
10.0
Rate It
TV Season Watch
Based on the comic book series by Charles Forsman, "The End of the F...ing World" sees two...
THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD - Season Two
8.5
Rate It
TV Season Watch
Based on the comic book series by Charles Forsman, "The End of the F...ing World" sees two...
Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2: Angela
Neil Gaiman and Brian Michael Bendis
9.0
Rate It
Book
Spinning out of the dramatic conclusion of Age of Ultron, dimensions collide and Heaven's most...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated FoxTrot Sundaes in Books
Feb 16, 2022 (Updated Feb 16, 2022)
Our First Dose of Sunday Fun with FoxTrot
This collection features just over two years’ worth of Sunday strips from the comic strip FoxTrot. Originally released in 2010, this was the first collection since cartoonist Bill Amend semi-retired, only releasing new strips on Sundays. This is the first collection since he made that switch, and it has all new material.
The jokes may be familiar with the fans of the strip since the characters really haven’t changed, but that doesn’t make them any less fun. I actually haven’t read the strip much in recent years, and it was great reconnection with these old friends. Even if I saw a punch line coming, I would laugh, and I smiled my entire way through the book. A few of the strips may be dated since they refer to then current events, but that’s a minor issue for me.
The jokes may be familiar with the fans of the strip since the characters really haven’t changed, but that doesn’t make them any less fun. I actually haven’t read the strip much in recent years, and it was great reconnection with these old friends. Even if I saw a punch line coming, I would laugh, and I smiled my entire way through the book. A few of the strips may be dated since they refer to then current events, but that’s a minor issue for me.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) in Movies
Mar 18, 2023
Middle of the Road Marvel
The good news for long-time, hard core Marvel Cinematic Universe fans is that the next “big bad” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been unleashed and we will now get to see “Kang The Conqueror” (in his permutations) battling our heroes for the foreseeable future.
The bad news is that for casual fans – and folks that are just plain tired of the MCU – things are going to get more complex and convoluted as the MCU heads deeper into the “Comic Bookiness” of their source material.
Such is the case with ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, the 3rd standalone Ant Man film starring Paul Ruud, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas. It is a very “Comic Bookie” film in that it takes the audience to the “Quantum Realm” and all the quirky characters and locations therein.
Director Peyton Reed (who helmed the previous 2 Ant-Man films) leans into this “Comic Bookieness” in that he accents the weird and bizarre and creates comic-book-like panels on the images on the screen. Consequently, this makes the film interesting to look at, but for the most part, there is not much substance under the surface.
For their part, Ruud, Lilly, Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer (returning from the 2nd Ant-Man film) and newcomer Kathryn Newton (taking over the role of Ruud’s daughter, Cassie) are game in what they are asked to work with and react to (mostly to a green screen with CGI filled in later) and they all are winning (enough) presences on screen to spend a very enjoyable time with.
Jonathan Majors is on-board as Kang the Conqueror (a version of him was seen at the end of the first season of the Disney+ series LOKI) and he brings his considerable acting chops, gravitas and weight to the proceedings. He is a force to be reckoned with which was apparent from almost the first time he commanded the screen in this film. It will be interesting to see where he takes things from here.
The problem with this film is that it is (mostly) style with very little substance. Necessarily, the plot drives a more dramatic, darker theme to this Ant-Man film than in previous outings and the film suffers because of it. One of the charms of the Ant-Man films is that Director Reed was able to lean into the inherent goofiness of Paul Ruud and the absurd idea of him being able to shrink. That quirkiness and sense of fun is gone – as are regular characters played in the past 2 films by the likes of Bobby Canavale, Judy Greer, Randall Park (who has a blink or you’ll miss him cameo) and (most egregiously) Michael Pena.
What they are replaced by are some quirky “Quantum Realm” characters – most of whom are CGI and are voiced by some very good voice performers – it just doesn’t hit the same, since the overall theme is darker. Katy M. O’Brian and William Jackson Harper (who is rounding into a very intriguing performer) bring gusto to their roles as a few members of the Quantum realm, which helps pick up the sagginess of this film, but not enough. Not even a Bill Murray appearance can elevate this film to something funner than it is.
All in all a “fine” entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and one that will remind you very much that you are watching a film based on Comic Book characters – but it falls squarely in the middle of the MCU entries...a catalogue of which is becoming very deep (maybe too deep), indeed.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
The bad news is that for casual fans – and folks that are just plain tired of the MCU – things are going to get more complex and convoluted as the MCU heads deeper into the “Comic Bookiness” of their source material.
Such is the case with ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, the 3rd standalone Ant Man film starring Paul Ruud, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas. It is a very “Comic Bookie” film in that it takes the audience to the “Quantum Realm” and all the quirky characters and locations therein.
Director Peyton Reed (who helmed the previous 2 Ant-Man films) leans into this “Comic Bookieness” in that he accents the weird and bizarre and creates comic-book-like panels on the images on the screen. Consequently, this makes the film interesting to look at, but for the most part, there is not much substance under the surface.
For their part, Ruud, Lilly, Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer (returning from the 2nd Ant-Man film) and newcomer Kathryn Newton (taking over the role of Ruud’s daughter, Cassie) are game in what they are asked to work with and react to (mostly to a green screen with CGI filled in later) and they all are winning (enough) presences on screen to spend a very enjoyable time with.
Jonathan Majors is on-board as Kang the Conqueror (a version of him was seen at the end of the first season of the Disney+ series LOKI) and he brings his considerable acting chops, gravitas and weight to the proceedings. He is a force to be reckoned with which was apparent from almost the first time he commanded the screen in this film. It will be interesting to see where he takes things from here.
The problem with this film is that it is (mostly) style with very little substance. Necessarily, the plot drives a more dramatic, darker theme to this Ant-Man film than in previous outings and the film suffers because of it. One of the charms of the Ant-Man films is that Director Reed was able to lean into the inherent goofiness of Paul Ruud and the absurd idea of him being able to shrink. That quirkiness and sense of fun is gone – as are regular characters played in the past 2 films by the likes of Bobby Canavale, Judy Greer, Randall Park (who has a blink or you’ll miss him cameo) and (most egregiously) Michael Pena.
What they are replaced by are some quirky “Quantum Realm” characters – most of whom are CGI and are voiced by some very good voice performers – it just doesn’t hit the same, since the overall theme is darker. Katy M. O’Brian and William Jackson Harper (who is rounding into a very intriguing performer) bring gusto to their roles as a few members of the Quantum realm, which helps pick up the sagginess of this film, but not enough. Not even a Bill Murray appearance can elevate this film to something funner than it is.
All in all a “fine” entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and one that will remind you very much that you are watching a film based on Comic Book characters – but it falls squarely in the middle of the MCU entries...a catalogue of which is becoming very deep (maybe too deep), indeed.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies and Sundays by Lee Falk and Wilson Mccoy Volume Ten 1950: Volume Ten: The Complete Newspaper Dailies and Sundays by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy 1950
Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
Book
THE PHANTOM the Complete Newspaper Dailies and Sundays by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy: Volume Ten...
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated A Work in Progress: The Untold Story of the Crawley Writers’ Group in Books
Jul 11, 2021
Hilarious (2 more)
Mad characters
Unbelievable situations
Such an easy read, and one that had me giggling throughout.
We follow a group of writers through emails, both to the group and some privately between members. This eclectic group would in both way be friends outside of the group, and it shows with just how different they all are. A couple do meet up outside of the group, with hilarious results (the night in the hotel before comic con being the one that sticks in my mind the most!) that mean you can’t help but wonder just how these people get through day to day life.
It was great to follow this group through the trials of trying to write their own work, as well as the trials of being thrust together with people they didn’t particularly like, and to also see that they either didn’t understand or didn’t want to see some of the sarcastic comments that were pointed towards them.
Reading this book was so easy, and such a different type of book with it all being written in email form. Although it sounds like it won’t work, in this case it absolutely does. I loved every minute of this, and could have read so many more pages of it!
Thank you to Dan Brotzel, Martin Jenkins, Alex Woolf and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this beautifully written and extremely mad book, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
We follow a group of writers through emails, both to the group and some privately between members. This eclectic group would in both way be friends outside of the group, and it shows with just how different they all are. A couple do meet up outside of the group, with hilarious results (the night in the hotel before comic con being the one that sticks in my mind the most!) that mean you can’t help but wonder just how these people get through day to day life.
It was great to follow this group through the trials of trying to write their own work, as well as the trials of being thrust together with people they didn’t particularly like, and to also see that they either didn’t understand or didn’t want to see some of the sarcastic comments that were pointed towards them.
Reading this book was so easy, and such a different type of book with it all being written in email form. Although it sounds like it won’t work, in this case it absolutely does. I loved every minute of this, and could have read so many more pages of it!
Thank you to Dan Brotzel, Martin Jenkins, Alex Woolf and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this beautifully written and extremely mad book, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Steph Freeman (26 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
Feb 21, 2018 (Updated Feb 21, 2018)
Excellent character development within the movie. (3 more)
No need to be a comic book "nerd", this story has something for everyone.
Accuracy in the culture (as much as can be expected for the genre).
Cinematography and costumes were superb.
Not Just Another Origin Story
As someone who knew nothing about comic books, their stories, and their characters prior to the last 15 year influx of Marvel and DC movies, I love the origin stories. It allows me to learn about the character, the world, and the connections between them without having to figure it out between punches or laser beams. This story delivered all of the above, with a fair amount of ass kicking in the meantime.
Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, and Danai Gurira were an amazing protagonist team, with Martin Freeman and Michael B. Jordan rounding out the character archetypes beautifully. The costumes, make up, and cinematography were gorgeous, but the real star of the movie for me was Letitia Wright. Her comedic timing and her elegance made Shuri the best supporting role I have watched in a long time.
I don't know a lot about the culture in Africa, a terrible oversight of my American education, but I do have friends from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Togo who were very excited to see their culture represented in such a blockbuster film. It was refreshing to see something so beautiful that will hopefully inspire young Americans to learn about a culture outside of our borders.
Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, and Danai Gurira were an amazing protagonist team, with Martin Freeman and Michael B. Jordan rounding out the character archetypes beautifully. The costumes, make up, and cinematography were gorgeous, but the real star of the movie for me was Letitia Wright. Her comedic timing and her elegance made Shuri the best supporting role I have watched in a long time.
I don't know a lot about the culture in Africa, a terrible oversight of my American education, but I do have friends from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Togo who were very excited to see their culture represented in such a blockbuster film. It was refreshing to see something so beautiful that will hopefully inspire young Americans to learn about a culture outside of our borders.
Rodney Barnes (472 KP) rated The Incredible Hulk (2008) in Movies
Feb 15, 2021
Great Reboot From the First
As a comic book fan the Hulk is my favorite superhero. I never missed an episode of the old television series and had many comic books. So I think this movie did the Hulk justice. I absolutely hated the one with Bana. This one was a great improvement. I must say I do like Norton better in this role than Ruffalo. I am not saying Ruffalo is bad but Norton captured what Bruce Banner is for me. I liked the design of this Hulk and the essence of his rage was captured very well. The supporting cast was great as well. William Hurt and Liv Tyler did a great job as General Ross and Betty Ross. I was so glad they brought one of the Hulk's main enemies into this movie as well...The Abomination. For those that don't know, the Abomination is a gamma monster the same as the Hulk but he is bigger and stronger than the Hulk. The thing about the Hulk is he has this x Factor. The madder he gets, the stronger he gets. So he is more than a match for Abomination. This movie set the standard for how a Hulk movie should be made. There was a part in which there is a set up for another villain of the Hulk's...The Leader. We haven't seen anything about him yet in the MCU but I am hoping this comes to fruition. As a Hulk fan..I recommend this movie