The Librarians: And the Drowned Book Review

THE LIBRARIANS:
AND THE DROWNED BOOK

Now that we've gone through a major storyline of locating magical artifacts for an epic confrontation against Lancelot, we are in Season Two of The Librarians facing against another legendary literary figure: none other than Prospero himself. And the Drowned Book does a wonderful job bringing an update to one of Shakespeare's masterworks in a logical manner while keeping the same offbeat, wacky world of The Librarians, where magic is real and knowledge is power.

Once magic is released into the world, Shakespeare's Prospero (Richard Cox), a powerful Fictional (a figure from literature who can exist outside their story) summons another literary figure to be his servant.  Now, the different Librarians are brought together in seemingly random missions to the same location, but they have no interest in working in tandem.  Math genius Cassandra Cillian (Lindy Booth) is set to investigate a new weather machine, master thief Ezekiel Jones (John Kim) is wooing a beautiful Italian countess for her pearl earrings, and art expert Jake Stone (Christian Kane) is after a chess set from Milan.  The Head Librarian, Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) is pretty joyful that the Junior Librarians are doing their own thing, but the Guardian/Flynn's girlfriend Eve Baird (Rebecca Romijn) is not thrilled.  Back at the Library Annex, Jenkins (John Larroquette) is more concerned about artifacts popping in and out.

At the museum's exhibition of a recently-discovered ship, Professor James Worth (David S. Lee) is getting under Flynn's skin for his own powers of deduction and for his ability with Eve, whom Worth continues referring to as "Duchess".  Flynn first thinks that Worth is a Fictional himself, none other than Sherlock Holmes.  However, thanks to work Eve has been doing in putting the various pieces together, she finds that Worth is really Professor James Moriarty.

The various Librarians now find, bit by bit, that they are actually in their own version of The Tempest, and Prospero has found his book.  Determined to regain the world, he escapes with his minion Moriarty, and the Librarians find themselves about to see New York City swept into the Tempest of Tempests.  They must combine their forces and intellects to thwart the destruction of NYC, which involves a literal Sun in the Library's Sun Room and all of them working together.  With the city saved, the Librarians learn two things.  One: Prospero means business.  Two: as a team, they are better.

And the Drowned Book is a fantastic opening episode for a variety of reasons.  Let's start with the fact that we get the overall story arc for Season Two: the machinations of Prospero and the efforts to stop him.  It's good that while we will get a series of adventures, we will see them connect to one overall story. 

As a side note, The Librarians now has a greater focus and logic and consistency than Doctor Who.  Think on that for a moment.

We also get with And the Drowned Book a wonderful lesson for our heroes: their individual skills are wonderful, but they work best when they unite as a team.  There is a wonderful moment when Stone asks Cassandra for help, then is joined by Jones asking Stone for help.  As soon as they start helping out, Stone asks why they stopped working together.  Jones snaps that it was because Stone kept ordering him around, and soon a fight breaks out.  This scene works because we as the audience see that they make a great team, but that they are also individuals with different methods, ideas, and personalities.  Rather than attempt to paper over them or give them a false sense of unity, we see that they recognize the other's gifts while still having occasional conflicts.  It's that 'unity through diversity' that makes the series work: we like them as a team, and we like them as individuals, and we like them for being real in their clashing world views.

I also think the acting is some of the best I've seen from the series.  Whether or not Noah Wyle will play a greater role remains to be seen.  It's a tricky thing.  On the one hand he is wonderful as the brilliant but easily-distracted Flynn, a man who lives in the head more than on Earth.  Wyle gets the character's sometimes bumbling but brilliant manner (and his ability to spout off long lines of dialogue while making it sound coherent is wonderful).  On the other hand, would Flynn be a distraction from the great teamwork of Romijn, Larroquette, Kim, Booth, and Kane?  We spent a good amount of time with Cass, Stone, Jones, Jenkins, and Eve (curious how the women are known by their first names, and the men by their last names with the exception of Jenkins), that they've gelled into a strong group without Flynn.

Perhaps the best performance was from guest star Lee as Moriarty (who outshines Andrew Scott's overly praised Moriarty on Sherlock).  Lee makes Moriarty a fun, even funny figure.  When Prospero calls him to escape with, "Come, Villain", Lee stops a bit, puzzled and chagrined look on his face.  "Villain?  I much prefer 'antagonist'", he says to himself.  In his charming of Eve, his somewhat besotted manner with his "Duchess", and his intelligence, Lee turns Moriarty into not quite a dimwitted henchman but not a truly terrifying figure either.  I think Lee is in complete sync with The Librarians' overall tone of being light, fun, and unapologetic about it. 

That's what makes The Librarians not just fun but family-friendly, and it's good that on the whole, The Librarians keeps that.  There is one moment that might be a bit much for younger viewers (when Eve stabs Moriarty with a sword), but it's made clear that a.) it was in self-defense, b.) Eve was not aiming to hurt Moriarty, and c.) because that is not how Moriarty dies in the short story The Final Problem, the stabbing won't hurt him.  "That's not how my story ends," he tells Eve before dashing off.

Cox is quite menacing in the 'mad genius bent on world domination' mode, but his early scenes as a janitor were quite effective in fooling people it was the same person.  The regular cast work so well together, and they do get their individual moments to show the character's personalities: Kane's more stoic Stone, Cillian's sweet Cass, Kim's shrewd huckster Jones, Larroquette's droll Jenkins.  I still hold that The Librarians is one of the best-cast shows around, and guest stars Cox and Lee show it still is.

The story flowed smoothly, and I was impressed at how well they managed to bring The Tempest into And the Drowned Book without being obvious, but building it slowly and logically (or as logically as a show where magic is real can).  I also must confess, The Tempest is one of my favorite Shakespearean works, so seeing Prospero rise again fills me with joy.

In fact, The Librarians fills me with joy.  There is no jumbled storytelling where illogic rules (like on Doctor Who).  There is no gloomy darkness in it (like on Gotham).  What The Librarians is really a good, fun, frothy, light, comedy-action series, with strong acting and a sense of self.  What can you say about a show where the Sun Room contains a literal sun, and Jenkins asks, "What else would you have in a Sun Room?" with complete sincerity.  Eve's reply ("Magazines?  Cozy chairs?  Mimosas?") underscores The Librarians' goofy but delightful premise.

Good acting, fun story, and a sense of wonder at the world of magic.  The Librarians' second season looks like another excellent romp through the magical world of books.

 

Knowledge Has No Better Ambassadors. 

It's Cool to Be a Librarian...   

9/10

Next Episode: And the Broken Staff

Supergirl: Pilot Review

SUPERGIRL: PILOT

No trailer for a television show has been as disheartening as Supergirl, the newest comic-book adaptation to hit television like a stampede (fighting for a place among all types of versions, from the dark and gritty Batman prequel Gotham and not-so-dark Arrow to the noir-like Agent Carter, the Netflix version of Daredevil, the Marvel spinoff Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the more upbeat The Flash).  A new series built around Superman's cousin played as a romantic comedy.

Now, it's the Tiffany Network that's getting in on the act, as they're taking on the story of Superman's cousin Kara, last seen in a disastrous film version.  The Pilot is not without its flaws, but on the whole I think it's a pretty good start to a new franchise.

Sent from Krypton to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, Kara Zor-El is taken off-course by Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone.  Lost for 24 years there, she manages to finally arrive on Earth only to discover Superman has managed quite nicely on his own.  Her cousin takes her to be protected by the Danvers family, scientists who have helped him along the way.

Kara Danvers has now decided the best thing to do is blend in, since in her voice-over, "After all, Earth didn't need another superhero".  Kara (Melissa Benoist) is now an assistant to Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), a media titan who is also vain, egoistic, and selfish.  Kara has one friend at CatCo, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), who hasn't got a chance with Kara despite his best efforts.  More capable is the new art director at CatCo, "James" Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), who is now hunky, confident, and black, and is called "Jimmy" only by his mother and "the big guy in blue".

Well, Kara seems destined to live her life in anonymity until her sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) is on a plane about to crash.  Kara stumbles into flight as she makes a dramatic rescue.  Alex is displeased that Kara has emerged, and Kara is displeased Cat has dubbed her 'Supergirl'.  Now Kara must find her way in the world to become the heroine she could be.

That won't be easy, given her own sister works for the secret Department of Extra-Normal Operations or DEO.  And of those they are going to keep tabs on is...Supergirl.  DEO head Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) doesn't trust Kryptonians, especially since when Kara's ship left the Phantom Zone she pulled a prison ship with her to Earth, and those prisoners are now beginning to come out of hiding.  However, Alex convinces both they need to work together, and she must take on Vartox (Owain Yeoman), one of the prisoners who wants revenge on Kara since her mother put them in that prison.  Kara is able to defeat Vartox, and James gives her a gift: a cape from her cousin, who is proud of her.  With only James, Winn, and Alex aware of her true identity, Supergirl takes flight.

Like a lot of pilots, I think Supergirl threw in way too much into it, as if wanting to assure that if it didn't fly, it would cover a lot of ground.  This is a shame because we got essentially a cameo from the original Supergirl, Helen Slater (who was much better than the material she was given back in the film) and Dean Cain (one of the many television Supermen) as the Danvers.  Unless they make a return appearance, it does feel like a wasted opportunity.  Nice touch, but wasted opportunity.


Also, there were other elements that didn't quite work.  The whole storyline with Cat Grant is obviously a variation of The Devil Wears Prada (I guess in Cat's case, The Devil Wears Gucci) that seemed to come from another draft of the script that might have made the whole thing more comic than serious.  Her first mission, her being taken down by Kryptonite by DOA, the introduction of DOA, the revelation that Alex is part of DOA: it all seemed to me that what could have made for two to even four episodes was compressed into one.

As a result, the Pilot was a little top-heavy, much to the overall show's detriment.

One thing that is curious is with regards to the new Olsen.  I'm of two minds about the new version.  While I'm a traditionalist with regards to my favorite Superman character, I'm thrilled that we go beyond traditional casting to give African-Americans a greater opportunity to be part of the Superman mythos.  My issue is less with making Jimmy Olsen black (though I'm going to miss the red hair) than with making "James" a more confident, chest-thrusting character.  I still hold to my idea that Jimmy (and yes, I'm on the "Jimmy" side...curse Smallville) as the naïve, innocent, kind of clumsy cub reporter/photographer.  I can see why the change was made, but I think it will come as a shock to see James standing so tall and confident.

Whatever love triangle is being suggested by James, Kara, and Winn isn't going working only because Winn is coming across as less than a threat, and I'll leave it at that. 

However, the best aspect of Supergirl is Benoist, who is able to balance being sweet and loveable and tough and heroic.  She is wonderful in the goofy, rom-com moments and wonderful in the girl-power moments, from the fear of failure to her joy at flying, Benoist doesn't hit a wrong note.

She pushes everyone else up with her with the possible exception of Leigh, who plays the serious Alex Danvers in her subtle sibling rivalry well.  Jordan I figure is the comic relief who comes across more as the obligatory gay friend than a serious potential love interest, and Flockhart's character seems to be playing a character from another show altogether.  It does add to the jumble but hopefully it will be better integrated into the show as time goes on.

It is curious that the name "Superman" was mentioned exactly once.  Every other time, he's referred to as "cousin", "Man of Steel", "man in blue", or some other variation.  I could wonder why, or whether Superman himself will ever appear, but I think it is the show's way of trying to build its own world apart from the overall Superman story. 

As it stands, The Pilot has far too much in one episode where it would have been better to spread things out a bit.  However, with Benoist as the lead, I think National City is in pretty safe hands.

Fly Girl

  

7/10

Next Episode: Stronger Together

Gotham: Scarification Review

GOTHAM: SCARIFICATION

Perhaps a better title for Scarification, the newest Gotham episode, would be The Satanic Rites of Galavan.  In one hour, we had the mental images of two arms being severed, an eye being forcibly removed, and in perhaps one of the most wild things I've seen on network television, a man literally, and I do mean LITERALLY, blown up.  Scarification introduces a new villain, throws in a little romance, and generally goes crazy.

In short, another fantastic Gotham episode.

Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) is still in the death grip of Theo Galavan (James Frain).  Now he wants to have a series of fires set in various locations and rejects Penguin's offer of being his willing employee in exchange for the return of his mother Gertrude.  Penguin is enraged at his weakness and impotency, but is also puzzled by the strange object Theo and his sister Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) insist he give to his arsonists.

These arsonists are the Pike Brothers, but they are loyal to Fish Mooney, so they won't work for Penguin or his right-hand man, Butch (Drew Powell).  In order to get them to work for Penguin, Butch goes to an intermediary the Pikes trust: Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova).  Selina vouches for Butch, and they soon start getting their material ready.  In what appears to be the COSTCO of crime, MERC, there's a raid by the Alpha Unit Strike Force of the Gotham City P.D., and while he tries to escape, Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), shoots him when he pulls a gun.  He fires so many rounds that one of them hits the explosive the Pike brother had lifted, and thus, he literally and I do mean LITERALLY, explodes.

 

Penguin is just having a bad time of it.  His mother is being held prisoner, he's being forced to do work he hates, and now, the Strike Force has raided one of his cash bases as part of Captain Barnes' (Michael Chiklis) plan to take Penguin down.  Still, business must come first, and the Pikes agree to burn it down.  However, their much put-upon sister Bridget (Michelle Veintimilla) has to join in the family business.  She has to carry this mysterious box, which to everyone's horror, contains an eye.  This eye allows access via retinal identification to a secret safe, and in that safe is a large knife.  Bridget is almost killed when the Strike Force manages to connect the fires to their common denominator: they all belong to Wayne Enterprises.  However, even though Bridget set a Strike Force member, Garrett, on fire, she manages to escape with Selina's help.

Penguin is most puzzled by why the Galavans have gone insane over this old knife, until Butch digs up an antiques dealer from the old neighborhood, Edwige (Mary Joy), an expert in old Gotham history.  She tells the story of Gotham's Five Families: The Elliots, the Kanes, the Crowns, the Dumas, and the Waynes.  One of the Dumas, Caleb, might or might not have violated Celestina Wayne, and for that, his arm was chopped off...with that knife.  The Dumas were essentially banished and erased from Gotham history, retreating to a monastery and taking on a new name.

Galavan.

Penguin now sees an opportunity to take revenge on Theo and Tabitha with that knife and starts creating a plan of his own.  That plan is to convince them he's gone completely mad, and as part of that plan, it means cutting off Butch's own arm.   Theo at the end receives Father Creel (Ron Rifkin),  the mad monk of Galavans, with the determination to take revenge on the last Wayne in Gotham.

Bruce Wayne.

I don't think anything will ever top the sight of a man literally and I do mean LITERALLY exploding on network television.  I know I repeat this often, but let's take a look at this.

 

A MAN EXPLODED ON

NETWORK TELEVISION!  

And it wasn't just a quick glimpse or an edited scene where we were left with the impression a man exploded.  We pretty much saw it all.  If Gotham were a pay channel program, I think we would have seen even worse (the eye gouging, the two times a person's arm was hacked off).  In terms of what we can see Gotham has clearly pushed the envelope off the table.  Now, given that I'm an adult, this isn't particularly disturbing.  However, it convinces me that despite the Batman connection I would not let my children watch Gotham.  My teens, maybe, but not anyone under 13. 

However, I have to congratulate Gotham for creating a wild episode, and for some really fantastic performances.  I again declare my unrequited love for Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin.  In his fear, his calculation, his rage, his paranoia (real and faked), RLT just again shows us why he is fast becoming the definitive version of the Waddling Master-Criminal.  He's shrewd but desperate, a most dangerous combination, and RLT now starts taking command of the screen after a few episodes where the fear was that the Galavans would step in.

Scarification also brought the future villain Firefly.  Now, while I understand that the character is traditionally male, but Gotham has cleverly given us a strong backstory to allowing a female to take the role.  Veintimillia is excellent as the beaten-up Bridget, who starts to discover her own strength.  Bridget is still struggling with being a good person, but she is also tasting the first fruits of victory in a male-dominated world. Her scene with Bicondova was a particular highlight, seeing two good actresses argue about the right and wrong actions to take.

In terms of overall story, the Segway into the dark Gothic history of Gotham was fascinating and well-filmed.  It also puts the plot the Galavans have in greater focus (although the targeting of Bruce as part of some age-long rivalry is a bit hackney in my view).  We also did get a chance to see a nicer side to both Gordon and Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), who is entering the cutesy stage with the luscious Miss Kringle (Chelsea Spack).  Their double date (Nygma/Kringle, Gordon/Thompkins) was nice and a nice respite from the overall lunacy of the hour.

Scarification is another strong episode in what is turning out to be a strong second season.  Rise of the Villains is turning out to be leading to even more shocking stories.

Even if the sight of a man literally getting blown up will be tough to top.

 LONG OVERDUE

   

8/10

Next Episode: By Fire

Chappie: A Review (Review #754)

CHAPPIE

On an episode of Are You Being Served?, there was a tagline used regarding a gift with the purchase of perfume/cologne.  "Keep your chappie happy with something snappy".  Would that co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp had bothered to learn that regarding Chappie, his pseudo-intellectual film about artificial intelligence.

We got plenty of the first and none of the second.  Chappie is a disaster, attempting to be both intellectual and endearing in equal measure and failing in equal measure.

In the near future, Johannesburg, South Africa employs a new addition to its police force: robots that handle all the tough and dangerous aspects of law enforcement.  The weapons manufacturer, Tetravaal, is delighted by the J-burg Police orders, especially its head, Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver).  Not happy is Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman), who finds his own mechanized killing machine reduced time and again in funding.  Vincent is also angry at Deon (Dev Patel), who is the genius of the robotic force. 

Deon is secretly working on creating full artificial intelligence, and by luck Robot #22 is about to be scrapped due to extensive damage.  It is the perfect machine to try out his successful AI system.  Unfortunately, the same criminals who damaged #22 are now on Deon's trail.  A super-thug named Hippo (Brandon Auret) has given two minor thugs, Ninja & Yolandi (played by Die Antwoord rappers...Ninja & Yolandi) 7 days to come up with 20 million rand or else.  Yolandi comes up with a great plan: use robots to rob.  Rob...robots...it all works.  They need the genius who came up with the police bots, and Deon is abducted.  They find the robot and decide to use Deon to rework the bot.

Enter "Chappie" (Sharlto Copley).  At first our Robotic Frankenstein is frightened (easy with Ninja, who is too busy acting all thug to notice that he doesn't have as he calls it, "a retarded robot").  With a little love from Yolandi, Chappie starts finding a strange life: part innocent, part gangsta.

To toughen him up, Ninja leaves the sheltered Chappie among a group of thugs, who once realize he's no threat, set him on fire.  Chappie is also tortured and his major chip taken by Victor, who has learned about the AI project.  Chappie struggles to find both his "Mommy" and "Daddy" and/or his "Maker", which gives him contradictory instructions about obeying/breaking the law. 

Victor uses the chip to disarm and disable all the Robo-Cops, causing total chaos on the streets.  No matter, he's got his monster machine that he can control to save the day.  Chappie, who is shocked to find he's been tricked into committing 'the heists', now joins his 'parents' and 'maker' to save the day against Victor and his MOOSE machine.  Deon is injured, Mommy is killed, Hippo I think is also blown away and Chappie is able to transfer Deon's consciousness into another machine.

Near the end of Chappie, I wrote in my notes, "How long is this piece of crap?"  It isn't that Chappie doesn't have some good ideas trying to float upwards, but it got lost in two things: big explosions and a horrible character.  Chappie tries to make its main character endearing, but he just comes across as insipid, with all his talk about "Mommy" and "Daddy", in the child-like sing-song voice Copley adopted.  You don't end up liking Chappie, but end up cheering Victor.

It is hard to take Chappie seriously when you've got this robot speaking in gangsta lingo and wear bling all around his neck.  It comes across as totally comical and illogical, and if the effort with this was to make Chappie more family-friendly, that bombed.  The rather excessive amount of explosions and violence goes against the cheerful, innocent vibe they are trying with Chappie.

Poor Jackman, hamming it up as the villainous Victor and leading to such questions as to why Victor could pull a gun and force Deon's head down on his desk in front of everyone and be allowed to laugh it off as a joke.  I know SA is violent, but this is too much...

Taunting Chappie with a 'Run, Forrest!' line doesn't help.

It also makes me wonder why Ninja and Yolanti played characters named Ninja and Yolanti.  Are they playing themselves?  Are they so untalented as actors that they wouldn't be able to respond to other characters' name?   It's almost sad to see Yolanti, a rapper known only in South Africa, give a better performance than Wolverine.  

Blomkamp I think wanted to try and make another allegory about what makes one human, and the idea that one can transfer their conscious and cheat death is interesting.  However, the hows are a little blank, and worse, all I could think about is not, "Oh, wow, our essence can be moved to a machine", but "Oh, wow, Deon is condemned to live inside a machine, meaning sex will be really, really tough".   How are they really going to procreate after everyone is uploaded?  Who decides who is good enough to be uploaded?  Will this allow a mad scientist or dictator to take over the world?

Well, I found Chappie to be a film that thinks it's saying something, but only succeeds in being funny without meaning to. A gangsta robot wearing bling but still blathering about how "Daddy lies" CAN'T be taken seriously.  Blomkamp has one more shot at redemption to make good the promise of District 9.

Pity that promise is for the new Alien film.

DECISION: F

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Review

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

Unlike a good number of my fellow critics, I liked The Maze Runner, a film I thought was steady in pacing, generally well-acted, and a departure from many dystopian Young Adult fiction adaptations in that it removes romance from the narrative (and in what might be a twist, returns the lead to a male rather than Hunger Games' Katniss or Insurgent's Tris).  Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the second part of James Dasher's trilogy (The Death Cure being the third and The Kill Order being a prequel), builds on what came before.  It, I don't think, is better than The Maze Runner.  It's serviceable, with some great visuals and tense moments, good casting, and an interesting story.  It keeps things going to where one does want to see how it all ends.

The Gladers have made it out of The Maze and find themselves rescued by a mysterious figure called "Mr. Janson" (Aidan Gillen).  They find themselves in a special facility where they discover there are many mazes, a few of them the reverse of their maze (mostly women).  The Glader's de facto leader, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is suspicious of how things are going on here, as is Aris (Jacob Lofland), the person who has been at the facility the longest.  Despite his seniority, Aris has never been airlifted to a safe place from the wicked WCKD organization, which had put all these kids in their mazes.

Soon it becomes clear why: WCKD and its wicked leader Dr. Paige (Patricia Clarkson) are in cahoots with Janson, and Thomas helps his other Gladers: Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Frypan (Dexter Dardon), and Winston (Alexander Flores), along with Aris and Teresa (Kaya Scoledario), who was separated from them, escape.

That was a rather long sentence, so my apologies for that.

They escape and are now headed to find The Right Arm, a rebel group attempting to overthrow WCKD.  Of course, this means having to go through The Scorch, a desolate place full of Cranks (formerly known as zombies or walking dead).  Poor Winston gets infected, and in order to prevent him going full Crank he is given a gun to take an honorable alternative.  They eventually find an abandoned warehouse, or at least they think it's abandoned.  Instead, it is the home of criminals Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and his henchgirl Brenda (Rosa Salazar), who've been waiting for an opportunity to get on WCKD's good graces.  Until WCKD attacks, at which point Jorge and Brenda spirit the Gladers away before Patsy Cline's Walking After Midnight ends...and sets off major explosions.

Well, Brenda and Thomas are separated from the others, and have to go to find them in the sleazy Zone A, where hedonism in Hell is all around.  Jorge pushes the WCKD informant/den of iniquity manager Marcus (Alan Tudyk) to lead them to The Right Arm.  He does, and they encounter the resistance (some of whom were former prisoners with Aris, thus sparing the group).  They meet Vince (Barry Pepper) and Dr. Mary Cooper (Lily Taylor), who tells them that Thomas was their inside man in WCKD.  She gets a cure for the infected Brenda and tells Thomas she left WCKD due to differences between her and Paige over how to harvest the natural enzymes that immune people had.  However, Teresa, in an effort to stop what has happened to her mother to happen to others, has informed WCKD of their location, and they sweep in full force.  The Scorch Trials ends with Paige, Janson, and Teresa fleeing a revived assault from Thomas and Vince, the group separated or in Dr. Cooper's case, killed, and Thomas determined to make one last stand against WCKD.

I don't think The Scorch Trials is better than The Maze Runner.  However, I think The Scorch Trials has what I imagine its readers and those who enjoyed The Maze Runner want: a lot of action, some new twists, and a lot of action.

I make special note of the action because some of the action pieces in The Scorch Trials were downright amazing.  Yes, I know I sound all fanboy at that, but since I've not read the Dasher books (though I did try with The Maze Runner and found that the film stayed close to the book, at least up to the part I stopped at), I am nonpartisan.  Of particular note is when Brenda and Thomas have to escape the ruined city.  Their escape was THRILLING, and yes, I do require that to be in all caps.

When we find the Cranks the first time, it did make people jump and the Gladers rush to escape, while frenetic, was certainly in line with the tension director Wes Ball was aiming for.  He even managed to get a little artsy at times, like when the group walks away knowing Winston has to shoot himself.  The imagery deliberately evokes the end of The Seventh Seal, and while obviously The Scorch Trials is nowhere, nowhere near Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece it was nice of him to sneak that in.

Again and again The Scorch Trials does push the action factor up as far as it can, even if at times one is left slightly confused by what is going on.  I didn't realize those Cranks were the infected beings the Gladers and their group were producing the cure for.  Truth be told, I just thought they were random zombies (and I don't even remember the name the Cranks used).  How Teresa managed to contact WCKD (as silly and obvious a name as to be almost parody) I don't know either.  All the suggestions about Thomas being more involved in things than even he knows is also just a case of having to introduce it now so that we can get on with The Death Cure next year. 

In terms of directing actors, I wonder whether Ball thought some things through.  For example, Janson is so obviously a bad guy one wonders why the Gladers didn't think he would be menacing.  They seem all too eager to accept things, even if it is obvious that it really is all too good to be true.  I don't know whether Gillen was deliberately directed to play up Janson's wicked nature to where he was a mustache short of twirling or whether he thought he came across as sincere when he clearly didn't.  However, it does make one wonder why the Gladers save Thomas go along with what the adults say.

In other respects, my view of O'Brien have not shifted: he still remains one of the best young actors of his generation and hope that he gets parts equal to his talent.  I think he would have made an ideal Spider-Man (though I have confidence in Tom Holland).  O'Brien's Thomas continues to be a young man of mystery, even to himself, and O'Brien makes him into a reluctant action hero, not eager to do what he must but still with the courage to do it.  O'Brien IS the show, and he makes for compelling viewing.

It almost makes me go and watch Teen Wolf again, where he was the comic relief.  He isn't here, and the fact O'Brien can handle being the goofy Styles and the serious Thomas with equal conviction shows we've yet to dig into the depth of his talent.

As a side note, I'm glad The Scorch Trials opens up the casting.  I don't know many Hispanics named Winston (unless they are really strong Anglophiles), so giving the part to Flores, and this not being an issue, is a positive step.  Winston's end is rather sad and moving, so I reject the idea that there isn't character development in the film. 

This isn't to say that all is good.  The adults are all pretty much wasted (though given this is a teen-oriented franchise, somewhat understandable).  The trippy sequence in Zone A where we get what looks like debauchery is more creepy than titillating, and the suggestion of a love triangle between Teresa, Thomas, and Brenda doesn't seem to fit in there very well.

However, on the whole I think Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials should please those who enjoyed The Maze Runner.  I have no way of knowing whether fans of the series will like it as much as I did, but on the whole, I think The Scorch Trials was both a pretty strong follow-up to The Maze Runner and a strong precursor to The Death Cure.

Let's take Thousand Foot Krutch's advise as I Get Wicked with a little help from Andy Hunter...     

DECISION: B-

Oscar Is A Many-Splendored Thing

Jo Van Fleet & Jack Lemmon:
Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor
for East of Eden and Mister Roberts

TUESDAYS WITH OSCAR: 1955

The 28th Academy Awards has some good choices, some bad choices, and some choices that just leave one scratching one's head (Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing for Best Picture?).  We had a most curious incident with regards to Best Picture, as the small Marty overtook the major studio releases to win.  Marty also holds the record for being the shortest film to win Best Picture (at 94 minutes long).  We also had first-time Oscar winners in all four categories and each for different films. 

As always this is just for fun and should not be taken as my final decision. I should like to watch all the nominees and winners before making my final, FINAL choice. Now, on to cataloging the official winners (in bold) and my selections (in red). Also, my substitutions (in green).

THE 1955 ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Something's Gotta Give: Daddy Long Legs
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
I'll Never Stop Loving You: Love Me or Leave Me
The Tender Trap: The Tender Trap
Unchained Melody: Unchained

If you look at the list of nominees, one is amazed that in a rare turn, all of them are great songs and have become standards.  Certainly Unchained Melody (best remembered by its use in the film Ghost) is more remembered than the film.  I have a special fondness I'll Never Stop Loving You since Doris Day can deliver any song with power and conviction.  Now, Love is A Many-Splendored Thing is pretty, romantic, and well-done.  However, I favor another song that is, in my view, both better and better remembered...

From Daddy Long Legs, Something's Gotta Give, music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

Honestly, this year you couldn't go wrong.  That being the case, I'm dumping Love is a Many-Splendored Thing from the list and making just one substitution, but that substitution would be MY choice for Best Original Song of 1955.

Something's Gotta Give: Daddy Long Legs
Bella Notte: Lady & The Tramp
I'll Never Stop Loving You: Love Me or Leave Me
The Tender Trap: The Tender Trap
Unchained Melody: Unchained

From Lady & The Tramp, Bella Notte.  Music by Sonny Burke, lyrics by Peggy Lee.

Peggy Lee found herself an Oscar nominee this year, and while I can't say whether her performance in Pete Kelly's Blues is good or bad, I can say that she should have had two nominations, the second for the beautiful Bella Notte.  In later years, Disney would dominate this category, even with some pretty forgettable tunes.  However, Bella Notte is one of those songs that just stays with you, and I've always found it a highlight of Lady & The Tramp.  How it got ignored is a mystery, but somewhat understandable given how the field had a good slate of nominees. 

BEST DIRECTOR

Elia Kazan: East of Eden
David Lean: Summertime
Joshua Logan: Picnic
Delbert Mann: Marty
John Sturges: Bad Day at Black Rock

I don't have an issue with this group either.  I find that the choice of Mann was a wise one given that Marty is a really small film.  To keep the story going, to bring such heartbreak and ultimate tears of joy is a mark of a great director. 

Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows
Delbert Mann: Marty
Charles Laughton: The Night of the Hunter
Nicholas Ray: Rebel Without a Cause
David Lean: Summertime

At least we didn't get a nomination for Love is a Many-Splendored Thing.  I don't think Douglas Sirk got the credit he deserved for being more insightful about human nature than most directors.  His films were always these very lush, romantic weepers, and All That Heaven Allows is perhaps the quintessential Sirk film.  That being said, I think more people remember that Sirk style in this tale of a May/December romance which was a subtle critique of 1950s morality at the same time.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Betsy Blair: Marty
Peggy Lee: Pete Kelly's Blues
Marisa Pavan: The Rose Tattoo
Jo Van Fleet: East of Eden
Natalie Wood: Rebel Without a Cause

I've seen East of Eden about three times, and I still don't understand what made Jo Van Fleet's performance so great.  In fact, I still wonder exactly what East of Eden was about.  I just don't get it. 

From my perspective, it's a battle between Blair's lonely teacher/spinster and Wood's messed-up kid.  I keep going back and forth between them, but for now, I'm going with Wood's now-iconic role of the good girl made bad.

Betsy Blair: Marty
Lillian Gish: The Night of the Hunter
Julie Harris: East of Eden
Agnes Moorehead: All That Heaven Allows
Natalie Wood: Rebel Without a Cause

Lillian Gish proves two things.  First, silent film stars had voices. Second, some actresses, real actresses, never got the credit they deserved. 

Why Gish?  Well, I'm thinking that as the strong old woman who faces evil with a mixture of faith and firepower, she is a standout.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Arthur Kennedy: Trial
Jack Lemmon: Mister Roberts
Joe Mantell: Marty
Sal Mineo: Rebel Without a Cause
Arthur O'Connell: Picnic

As these are preliminary choices, I feel good about choosing Mineo's really, REALLY mixed-up kid Plato.  It's certainly one that has stood the test of time while the others save Lemmon are pretty much forgotten.  It also typecast Mineo for pretty much the rest of his career, meaning his role had that much impact, people couldn't see him in or as anything else other than the troubled teen.  Now, I think that perhaps I could revisit this and select Lemmon, but for now, I'm going with Mineo.

And for the record, I think Plato was as openly gay as one could be in 1955.  For goodness sake, he had a picture of Alan Ladd in his locker!  How many straight guys do you remember from high school that had pictures of other guys (other than sports players) in their lockers?

Rosario Brazzi: Summertime
Jack Lemmon: Mister Roberts
Joe Mantell: Marty
Sal Mineo: Rebel Without a Cause
Robert Ryan: Bad Day at Black Rock

Again, another actor who never got his due.  Robert Ryan isn't as well-remembered as perhaps he should be, and it's a shame.  Now, at the moment I can't give a solid answer to picking him in Bad Day at Black Rock apart from instinct. 

BEST ACTRESS

Susan Hayward: I'll Cry Tomorrow
Katharine Hepburn: Summertime
Jennifer Jones: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Anna Magnani: The Rose Tattoo
Eleanor Parker: Interrupted Melody

I'm sure I have nothing against Anna Magnani but I have no idea about her performance in The Rose Tattoo (though Tennessee Williams wrote the part specially for her).  A bit of me is scared of Magnani, as if she were going to physically lay the smack down at the mention of the word, "Hello" in her general direction.  I'm also discounting Jones' Eurasian doctor only because the idea of a white actress playing an Asian strikes me as wrong in so many ways.

With that, I'm choosing Hepburn's lonely spinster finding love and loss in Venice.  

Doris Day: Love Me or Leave Me
Susan Hayward: I'll Cry Tomorrow
Katharine Hepburn: Summertime
Grace Kelly: To Catch a Thief
Jane Wyman: All That Heaven Allows

I see it as a two-woman race between Day's tortured cabaret singer and Wyman's lovelorn hausfrau.  However, I'm giving the edge to Day because this is really far from her usual persona of the upbeat girl with a song in her heart.  Whenever Day was given the chance to play straight drama, even with musical numbers in them, she knocked it out of the park.  I never understood why she was so reluctant to go into deeper roles, because she was such a good dramatic actress.   

BEST ACTOR

Ernest Borgnine: Marty
James Cagney: Love Me or Leave Me
James Dean: East of Eden
Frank Sinatra: The Man With the Golden Arm
Spencer Tracy: Bad Day at Black Rock

This was a radical turn for Borgnine, who was usually the heavy (example, From Here to Eternity).  For Marty, he was the complete opposite of his usual persona.  Instead of a villain, he was the hero: a gentle, kind, lonely Bronx butcher who has found a chance at love.  To make us care about this man, not classically good-looking but with a good heart underneath it all, is a beautiful performance.

Ernest Borgnine: Marty
James Dean: East of Eden
Tom Ewell: The Seven Year Itch
Cary Grant: To Catch a Thief
Robert Mitchum: The Night of the Hunter

It's a performance that has become iconic.  Mitchum as the crazed, murderous 'preacher' who is a terror.  I think people who have never seen The Night of the Hunter know Mitchum in the role, and it's a performance that people still talk about.  The failure of The Night of the Hunter doomed any chance for Mitchum to be recognized, sadly.  At the moment, I don't see another performance knocking it off.

BEST PICTURE

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Marty
Mister Roberts
Picnic
The Rose Tattoo

Marty is such a beautiful film, heartbreaking but ultimately joyful about two lonely people finding love that it blows the "epic" nature of Love is a Many-Splendored Thing.  Perhaps it is because the people in Marty appear real (despite it being fictional) and the people in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing appear fake (despite it being based on an autobiography).  Curious that.

All That Heaven Allows
Marty
The Night of the Hunter
The Seven Year Itch
Summertime

The Night of the Hunter now is seen as a classic, despite its flop when released.  I love Marty and think highly of All That Heaven Allows, but for the moment I think that I'm going to go with the more critically acclaimed film.

Next time, the 1956 Academy Awards.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. A Review

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

The thrill is gone...
The thrill is gone away...
The thrill is gone, baby...
The thrill is gone away for good...

I can't muster enthusiasm for Age of Ultron.  I am going to try to give something of an explanation as to why I can't give Age of Ultron a high recommendation.  I know my comic-book loving friends, already having their patience with me tested with my dislike of Watchmen and inability to declare The Avengers or Spider-Man 2 masterpieces on the same level as say, Metropolis, will find my lack of enthusiasm for Age of Ultron more trying.  If I said Age of Ultron was better than any version of Fantastic Four, I think I might be met with death threats.  And for the record, yes, Age of Ultron IS better than any version of Fantastic Four.

Still, for me, the thrill IS gone. 

Whatever joy, whatever excitement that I, someone who didn't read comic books as a child, had for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and got from the films is pretty much over now.  I appreciate and can even admire how Marvel keeps creating this massive film series into a decades-long epic.  However, for me, Age of Ultron represents all that is wrong with current filmmaking, all that Birdman in its way spoofed and criticized about current filmmaking, all that is slick and calculated rather than inventive and original.  Age of Ultron is really nothing more than the continued reliance on brand over story, characters, or originality, as methodical and mechanical a film that can be made to hold fans over until the next episode in these feature-length serials the MCU has become.

I didn't hate Age of Ultron, but now, separated by a few weeks from when I saw it, I can say I don't remember much if anything from it.  What I DO remember is not for its good, and if comic-book fatigue has not set in by now, I feel we are at the cusp of either the complete dumbing-down of filmgoers or worse, the beginning of the counter-revolution against this endless parade of these types of movies, having grown more overtly calculated over time.

The Avengers are back: sarcastic billionaire genius Tony Stark aka Iron-Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Asgardian warrior Thor (Chris Hemsworth), loyal patriotic soldier Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans), expert assassin Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), master archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and anger-management failure Hulk/Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).  They raid a secret HYDRA base where they all learn of two new figures who have unique powers through genetic manipulation (I think): the Wonder Twins...I mean, Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who can run at super-speeds, and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who can control people's minds.

Sound like a couple of Mutants if you ask me...

Anyway, the Maximoff Twins escape, and I think we end up at a shindig at Stark's lavish building, where in between what might as well be a dick-measuring contest where Thor challenges everyone to lift his hammer Mjolnir (which only the pure can lift, Thor being slightly caught off-guard when Rogers is able to move it slightly), both Banner and Stark have found a way to make Stark's Ultron defense system sentient.  Wouldn't you know it: Ultron (James Spader) becomes alive, kills off the loyal computer system Jarvis (Paul Bettany) and now is going to kill all the humans to save humanity.

For some reason, the Avengers are all angry at Stark (and to a lesser degree, Banner) for creating this mess and trying to keep it secret.

Well, now they have to find Ultron, who has hooked up with the Doublemint Twins, gotten arms from a weapons dealer (Andy Serkis, and no, I don't know or care what the actual character's name is), the Avengers have visions thanks to Wanda, is stopped by Hawkeye of all people, and they take refuge in Hawkeye's secret farm, where we meet his family.

Yes, for some reason we have to get into the domestic drama of the Bartons, whom we didn't even know existed until now because, well...

Well, somewhere in all this Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) comes in, urging the team to keep at destroying Ultron, who is creating his own army for total destruction.  They struggle to stop Ultron from getting a new body, the Twins turn on Ultron after Wanda finds what's inside Ultron's head, and we get a whole city lifted up because Ultron is going to use it as a meteor-type deal to kill all life on the planet.

I think.

Well, in the midst of this, Black Widow & Bruce Banner discover they're in love, Pietro dies, the Vision (Bettany again) emerges from Jarvis (I think) and we get more jazz about the Infinity Stones and a whole group of New Avengers: Cap's associate Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Wanda aka Scarlet Witch, the Vision, and Stark's associate War Machine (Don Cheadle).

Here is something that Age of Ultron doesn't know or realize: I. Just. Don't. Care. Anymore.

As I said, I can't say I remember much if anything of the plot because there was just so much going on, with all the talk of Infinity Stones and Scarlet Witch's visions (which were really just either hints for future Marvel movies or in one case, a chance for Hayley Atwell's Agent Carter to have a cameo despite being in the 1940s...and on a better TV show, Marvel's Agent Carter).   And as I said, what I DO remember isn't good.

I remember how Black Widow was treated in Age of Ultron, and that was badly.  Let's go over what has become of our Russian hitwoman.

She's been sterilized.  She's now Hulk's keeper.  She's the requisite 'love interest', falling for a guy we didn't see her falling for earlier.  She's held prisoner by Ultron at one point.

And she's the ideal representation of female action heroines, right?

I remember the seemingly endless Segway into Clint Barton's family dynamic.  Why?  It isn't because I don't like Hawkeye as a character (or Renner as an actor).  I just kept thinking why there couldn't be some secret base out there, or some hidden lair of Stark's, or why Barton has a wife and kids we never had any hint of, or why we should even care.

I remember Taylor-Johnson and Olsen training at the Boris and Natasha School of Russian Accents to where one wonders why they didn't look for Moose and Squirrel.  Really, they were terrible, terrible accents.

I remember wondering whether Serkis was even necessary to this story.

I remember thinking myself shamelessly manipulated by Joss Whedon by having hints of future films dropped on me in terms of 'visions'.

I don't remember having a good time.  Instead, all through Age of Ultron, I kept thinking that I was essentially watching a long trailer for future coming attractions (The New Avengers!) and how the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now cranking out things like a sausage factory, dispassionate, by rote, uninterested.

I can't recall a particularly good or special performance.  Everyone seems pretty much doing what they've done before (and even the effort to make Hawkeye a family man falls flat, me thinking how such a secret is maintained and whether the Barton children ever get asked what their Dad does for a living). 

I remember suppressing laughter when the city goes up into space, and thinking, what is that thing flying around looking like Paul Bettany.

Again, nothing in Age of Ultron made me feel anything other than a slight chill save for Black Widow (which just disappointed me in how the woman has to be either the romance or damsel-in-distress, undercutting all the good both Black Widow and Johansson had done).  Spader was OK as Ultron, but I didn't care whether his plan worked, or whether all those people died (and I imagine the body count would have been high), or whether the Wonder Twins did anything (at least Hawkeye had the excuse he was under mind control). 

For me, Age of Ultron felt cold and calculated, an exercise in marketing action figures and pretty much nothing more.

Again, I didn't hate it, but I do wonder whether with as low a grade as I can give without counting it as a negative review, I might be overrating it already.

I remember nothing in regards to Age of Ultron.  Worse, I don't care to remember.

The thrill is gone...

Next Marvel Cinematic Universe Film: Ant-Man

DECISION: C-