Bloodsport: “Nobody likes a showoff.”
Peacemaker: “Unless what they showing off is dope as fuck.”
James Gunn recently said in an interview that he finds superhero movies “mostly boring” right now. Anything ranging from safe and boring or technically well-made but disposable, at best. Gunn received at bit of heat from fans for those remarks, but in some sense, he’s not wrong. Because sometimes following the same formula will eventually wear fin and more risk taking needs to happen.
And here we have ‘The Suicide Squad’, the soft reboot to the 2016 film, but this time directed by Gunn himself, where he delivers a highly entertaining movie that is bursting with creativity and ultra-violence. James Gunn once again shakes up the superhero formula with a slick style. I’m just glad DC is finally letting directors have a voice and a vision, and I hope it stays like that.
The first 10-15 minutes tells you exactly what the movie is going to be.
I just can't believe we got something like this. It's 2 hours and 12 minutes long, but it's always on the move. It’s bonkers from start till finish, and I enjoyed every minute of it. This is probably one of the best shot movies in the DCU. The soundtrack is great as well and used effectively. The action scenes were insane and made the overall experience one of the most fun I had at the cinema in a long time.
A massive improvement over the 2016 film, AKA ‘the studio cut’, is that the movie doesn’t look ugly and isn’t chopped together by trailer editors. The movie is vibrant in colours that made it look pleasing to the eye. The structure at times is messy, and yet strangely well-paced, as there’s a lot going on.
Did I mention the movie is very gory? It’s cartoonish violence, or what people call "adult superhero movie", so it's not for kiddies or for the faint of heart. You would probably guess that not everybody on the team is going to make it to the end credits, so deaths are to be expected, but how certain characters “bite the dust” are so unexpectedly gruesome and brutal, it took me by surprise each time. The marketing for the movie was right, don’t get too attached. As I said before, James Gunn had complete creative control over the movie, and he doesn’t hold back on what he wrote and show on screen. But then again, it's a movie, it's not real, the actors who die on screen are fine in real life...I think.
All the cast members have equal amount of time to shine, and you like these super villains this time around, as each character had wonderful chemistry with each other. John Cena plays Peacemaker, who can be best described as a “douchebag version of Captain America”. An extreme patriot who will do the most horrific things for liberty. John Cena excels in the deadpan line delivery for comedic effect, but surprisingly enough, worked well in the serious moments. Looking forward to the spin-off show ‘Peacemaker’.
Margot Robbie once again nails the role of the chaotic but gleeful Harley Quinn. While the character isn’t front and centre this time around, more of a side character, but whenever the character is on screen, it’s instantly memorable.
Idris Elba plays Bloodsport, a contract killer who’s doing time in prison after failing to kill Superman with a kryptonite bullet, while also dealing with family issues, especially with his daughter. While the character may sound like Will Smith’s Deadshot from the 2016 film, but trust me, the execution here is much stronger. This is by far Elba’s best work in a while. Charismatic and a strong leading presence.
Polka Dot Man, played by character actor David Dastmalchian, a socially awkward, weird, and lame sounding character that has some serious mummy issues, which has a funny running visual gag throughout. However, because of Gunn’s writing and Dastmalchian's performance, the character is more than a joke, but a unique character to watch.
Ratcatcher 2, played wonderfully by Daniela Melchior, who brought so much warmth and heart to the film. I loved how they tied in her tragic backstory into the finale, as it honestly made me cry. And let’s not forget the king himself, King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone. He stole every scene he’s in, because he’s so adorable and has such kind eyes, but when he’s hungry, he can be a killing machine.
The rest of the supporting cast, even in the smaller roles, still manage to stand out amidst all the chaos. I liked Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag a lot more this time around, because the actor was given more to work with in terms of good material. Viola Davis is brilliant as the cold and ruthless Amanda Waller. And Peter Capaldi is always a pleasure to see. Also, I like the character of Weasel, who I can describe as a unholy offspring of Shin Godzilla and Rocket Racoon. He may not be beautiful to look at, but he's beautiful to me.
Like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, the movie has a lot of heart and I like how they took certain characters, who on page sound stupid and ridiculous but are handled with such love and depth, while also being self-aware of its own characterization.
You can literally watch this as a standalone movie and you won’t be lost or confused, as you don’t need to watch 22 other movies to understand it. This is by far the strongest entry in this jumbled mess of a cinematic universe.
Overall rating: Nom-nom!
[8.0/10] This is a season finale without much finality. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but considering we went years between seasons before, the number of dangling threads here and sense of not settling down much of anything the show kicked up this season is a tad disappointing.
But what we do get is good! Midge’s set about women being in charge only nobody’s told them! And the ensuing chaos of the raid! And Abe’s obituary for Moishe! And Lenny reading Midge the riot act! It’s all excellent and in some cases, downright moving.
It’s that last bit though that’s my favorite. Candidly, I don’t like Lenny and Midge sleeping together. In my humble opinion, the show went about as far as it should have in blending real life and fiction with Midge and Lenny’s quasi-date in “It’s Comedy or Cabbage” from last season. Pushing it this far, especially after Lenny’s jerkery earlier, seems unnecessary.
But I like him being the one to talk some sense into Midge. Susie is just freaking done and, given how her phone is ringing off the hook, doesn’t seem to need Midge in order for Susie Myerson and Associates to do some serious business. She’s understandably pissed that Midge gave up the Tony Bennett gig in the name of only headlining, but just sucks it up until she says, not in so many words, that she’s tired of having to listen to Midge’s B.S. about this. And hey, good for her.
Lenny, on the other hand, comes from a place of experience. He’s the one Midge aspires to be like, to be able to speak her mind and still have an audience like he does. And he basically tells her that being controversial is a curse as much as it’s a blessing. He demands that she take him off a pedestal and recognize him for the fuck-up that he is (drug problem notwithstanding). Most of all, he insists that she see this as work, that she give up on the “my way or the highway” bullshit and play ball to get where she wants to be.
It’s the kind of speech you don’t hear very often on television. (The “just do the work” speech to Don in Mad Men comes to mind as the rare comparator.) It’s not inspiring exactly, but it’s motivating. It’s learning to compromise, to put in the work to get you where you need to go, and have the humility to recognize that your path to get there may involve a few less glamorous stops along the road. It comes from a place of love. Lenny sees that Midge is on the cusp of her big shot and doesn’t want her to miss it. And it’s exactly what she needs to hear.
The rest of this one is good too. I’m sorry to say that I recently had an experience of a loved one being in the hospital in dire condition, and “Carnegie Hall” manages to capture both the humor and heartbreak of it. Imogene patting everyone on the arm, Joel looking up medical textbooks, Mei posing as a hospital-provided mahjong player, Abe fearing his keys are a death rattle, it’s all funny in that dark but rib-tickling sort of way.
It comes with a heap of touching moments though. The one that catches you off guard is the conversation between Abe and Shirley. It’s funny too, with detours about services for burial plots and trips to Turkey based on Turkish plumbers. But the heartfelt conversation about “dying with all your teeth” and whether god is cruel for allowing people to know that they’re going to die is profound in a way you don’t necessarily expect from what is mostly a joke character. The coup de grace comes when Shirley reassures Abe, even as she’s hurting, that if Rose passes first, she’ll be there to help him. It’s just unbearably sweet.
The same goes for Abe’s spoken obituary about a thankfully living Moishe. Amy Sherman-Palladino doesn’t lay on the schmaltz. Abe discusses the origins of Moishe’s fabrics shop and mentions the thirteen Jews and even gets philosophical and academic in that trademark Abe Weissman way. And yet, he ends on a note of sincerity. As much as the elder Maisels are characters who exist mainly for humor and to be pests, their actions speak to their true, generous character. Abe’s right. The way they took Abe and Rose in without asking for anything in return, the way Moishe’s looked after Midge when it wasn’t his responsibility, is a mitzvah and the sign of a good man. The speech tugs at the heartstrings and Kevin Pollak does excellent work with Moishe’s plainly touched reaction.
The episode’s a good excuse for Sherman-Palladino to show off her skills as a director. The “Personality” sequence at the burlesque house has oodles of visual panache, and it’s matched with the mad dash to get everyone out the door once the raid starts. We get some good indications of struggle as Midge trudges through a freak snowstorm. And in the big scene with Lenny, she manages to make two people arguing on a big stage in an empty theater visually interesting with the way she blocks the performers and keeps the camera active with them.
That just leaves Midge’s set. As always in these confessional moments, Midge (and by extension, Sherman-Palladino) seize on both the truth and the humor. Her recognition of how women are expected to soldier on in these situations where men are societally permitted to be out of sorts is well-observed. Her note of how doctors are gods but nurses are, as Lenny will say, doing the work, and holding you as you cry, sets up a strong call and response and vindicates hard-working medical professionals. And she closes without a joke, just a wry but piercing observation of who might really be in charge and a wish that a kind man not leave this veil of tears just yet. It’s her best set of the season, and there have been some doozies.
Of course, there’s also the sweetness of Abe and Rose, with him being moved enough by Shirley’s comments to affirm her and her match-making, and give her the wherewithal (and kiss) to spur her to go to war with the Matchmaking Mafia. It’s a nice grace note for the couple.
There’s still a lot up in the air. Shirley still doesn’t know about Mei. Moishe accepts her and her pregnancy, but insists she convert. Midge’s career trajectory is still a big question mark. Susie’s rocket to the top and what the mob’s “taste” will look like lingers out there. How Rose’s war will turn out, what will become of Alfie and James and Dinah, and a million other questions still linger. This is more of a set of ellipses than a period, or even a semicolon.
But it’s good stuff -- touching, funny, and appropriately chastening of its title character at a time when she needs to hear it. I can’t ask for more than that.
[6.0/10] So magic is real in the Maisel-verse. Let’s start there. As Susie might say, “What the fuck?!”
Part of me wants to applaud the chutzpah of going full on Magical Realism at this stage of the game. The show at least teased Alfie’s genuine mystical abilities in the first episode with Susie’s little jaunt into the calendar. But the fact that he can conjure images out of nowhere, predict the future, disappear into thin air, and most of all, hypnotize Rose into doing her act word-for-word is a bridge too far for me. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel already exists in a certain heightened reality. Going beyond some fanciful sleight of hand and making Alfie legitimately magical is just too much.
But you know what? Somehow not the most questionable thing in the episode. Midge is...really callous and oblivious here. I want to believe that the show knows this and is doing this intentionally to reveal a certain self-centeredness that’s going to come crashing down in some way shape or form, especially after how well the show handled the Shy Baldwin confrontation. I’m still a little wary of Sherman-Palladino protagonist blind spots though.
Let’s recap. (1.) She’s very harsh with Joel over the reveal about Mei. Granted, that’s the most fair one of the bunch, since Joel was brusque with her and hearing that your ex is getting married and having a baby would be jarring for anyone. (2.) Yet again, she doesn’t seem like she’s willing to listen to Susie, and even taking gigs without her. Again, granted, the Croatia gig was a legitimate non-starter. But Midge doesn’t seem to hear or care that Susie can’t promote her without Midge making the effort to climb the ladder, to be an opening act where Susie can nevertheless take bigwigs to see her. Midge doesn’t care, and won’t even close the door on her way out.
(3.) Midge’s act is pretty cruel to her family. Maybe you can say she never meant for them to hear that stuff, but it’s still personal and unflattering details to share in a public place without the consent of the people you’re talking about. Anyone friendly with creatives knows that parts of your lives will end up in their art, but there’s ways to handle that gracefully, and Midge’s is anything but. (4.) She’s oblivious to how the story of her accidental instance of being The Other Woman might be too racy for this crowd, no matter how they cheer, and more so might hurt none other than Jackie Kennedy. Now look, emotionally piercing a future first lady with your infidelity-based comedy isn’t high on the list of predictable social faux pas to avoid, but still.
(5.) Last but not least, you even have poor Dinah trying to work around Midge’s self-focus. Whether it’s adjusting meeting times to account for the fact that Midge is chronically late or Midge enlisting her manager to get her dress back from an accidental one night stand, an effort that “took some doing,” you get the plain sense that Midge expects the world to bend to her will. And hey, that’s even setting aside that she recruits mob guys to stalk her ex’s new squeeze, spilling the secrets she swore not to tell anyone in the process.
I think, I hope, that the folks behind the show see how selfish this all is. I hope, as I’ve hoped from the beginning of the season, that this will be an opportunity for Midge to gain some self-awareness. Rose is wrong when she told Midge to stop what she’s doing, but she was right when she told her daughter that they’re all connected. Midge’s choices have consequences for other people. And increasingly, it seems as though she doesn’t care about that, or anything but herself.
But by god, Susie does! In addition to going all out for Alfie, she recognizes the special talent of James, the stand-up Dinah takes her to see at a chicken and waffles joint. It’s enough to keep Susie from firing Dinah, which frankly seemed nuts since, despite Dinah’s controlled chaos, she seemed fantastic at working within Susie’s own brand of chaos and getting things done.
More to the point though, we can see in these things Susie making good on the promise she made at Jackie’s funeral. She’s giving people a chance who would never otherwise get one, people who have something special that she recognizes and wants to nurture. As Midge gets worse, Susie seems to get better, and I suppose I’ll take that trade.
In terms of serious things, that just leaves Joel and Mei. I have a feeling about where this storyline is going (which would, ironically, take it in the exact opposite direction of how Gilmore Girls used to handle these sorts of unexpected developments. Nevertheless, I like Joel freaking out about how his life is about to change significantly. He has no right to be rude to Midge about it, but expecting a baby right when you’ve been robbed at least makes it comprehensible, if not justifiable. Joel telling Moishe, replete with a fainting spell, is a little cheesy as an episode break, but their interactions remain sweet, and I have a feeling all of Joel’s confessions will amount to naught.
In less serious tones, I don’t know how to feel about Abe being strong-armed by the Matchmaking Mafia. It’s a ludicrous storyline to begin with, but then they take it someplace serious and meaningful. For however wrong Midge is for most of this episode, she’s right in telling her mother that if this thing makes her happy and fulfilled, she should fight for it. I’m curious to see where Rose’s arc goes this season, even if the tonal shifts are a bit awkward.
All of that said, this one’s...pretty funny? The gag runs for too long, but Abe accidentally taking communion and not knowing what to do with the wafer is some great Jewish comedy. Astrid’s provincial reactions to Alfie’s show are hilarious. Susie getting dressed completely on top but not on bottom is bizarre but makes for a funny exchange. And the comics, from Midge, to Lenny, to god help us all, Rose Weissman, do a good job in their acts. Hell, the cold open with Midge running into a Handsome Man (freakin’ Jess!) who turns out to be running a Dennis Reynolds play on her is a great comic swerve. For all the discomfiting material in this one, there’s at least some good yuks.
Overall, this isn’t a great lead-in to the finale, whether for the existence of magic, Midge’s self-centeredness, or some weird tonal balancing acts, but I’m still hoping against hope that, after a very good season up this point, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is going somewhere with all of this.
[8.3/10] This is my favorite episode of the season so far. What the show lacks in conspicuous artistry, it makes up for in realism. While I haven't been in the specific scenario of a Bay Area duo preaching “declonaivization” to a group of teens, I have been in any number of mandatory seminars where pie-in-the-sky facilitators cheerily force bored teens through various bonding/learning exercises. This episode gets the reaction of both the instructors and the teens just right.
It’s also a good episode for the various character relationships. I like the continued hints that, despite existing in opposition to each other for most of the series, there’s a strange concordance between Bear and Jackie. The fact that they win the potato dance contest (a strange sentence to write) despite grousing at one another the whole time is a sign that they’re more in sync, more aligned, than either of them realizes. We’ve had hints of that throughout the season, and I’m intrigued where it’s headed.
Likewise, I appreciate the way that Bear and Alora seem to work out their lingering issues from Alora bailing through a “guide your blindfolded friend through an obstacle course” exercise. (And Willie Jack using the exercise to have Cheese get her a soda is a big laugh.) The sense of learning to trust one another through the process seems to help them push past their beef. And yet, the theme of the episode seems to be that some issues are too deep to be resolved through hippie dippie, baseless shtick to keep teens occupied for an afternoon.
The scene at the end of the episode between Bear and Alora Jack is powerful. Bear’s hurt is real, but his attitude is childish, and his attempt to try to hurt Alora in turn by saying she’ll die alone like her grandmother is a verbal knife in the back. He’s right that Alora never apologized, but she’s also right to point out his hypocrisy in claiming to be the bigger person when spewing that kind of B.S., and that she’s not sorry for leaving that sort of childishness behind, even if she didn’t go about it the right way. The acting is a little stiff, but the emotions feel real, which gives the scene life.
In the same vein, I appreciate Willie Jack’s scenario with Jackie. She, more than anyone, has been the most resistant to Jackie’s presence in their orbit, even as she worked to remove the curse on her. The fact that she intentionally bungles a trust fall to get back at Jackie for jumping her friend seems almost cruel in the moment. But I like what follows a lot, where Willie Jack trashes Jackie’s brother, without realizing that the brother is dead, “like Daniel.” There’s a parallel between her and Bear, in trying to get back at someone and realizing you’ve gone too far when you see the humanity in your enemy. Willie Jack’s remorse, Jackie’s hurt and threat, and the way the enmity between them remains is another sign that this session didn’t fix anything.
Despite my backhanded compliment above, there’s a lot of artistry in this episode. The simple composition of Willie Jack approaching Jackie at the clinic is very well framed. The sequences where the kids recall a happy moment from their pasts, realized in black and white with one splash of color is eye-grabbing. And the flowing camera work when Alora is home alone, helps convey the eeriness of that scenario, where she feels the presence of her dead grandmother, or at least sees her sanctuary seem more unnerving in its solitude, conveyed with the cinematography and the acting.
Overall, this is a high water mark for season 2, which has its laughs and its neat directorial choices, but also some well-observed moments among the show’s main characters.
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Good choice of a historical era and setting, highlighting a largely forgotten pirate captain; love the Asian setting, as it is rare for Doctor Who to tackle.
Jodie Whitaker has a few good Doctor-moments acting opposite Craige Els; John Bishop is sassy as always; Crystal Yu seems to enjoy playing the pirate captain Madame Ching, which carries over to her energetic performance; the lead Sea Devil has more personality than any other previous individual of said species.
There's quite a nice swashbuckling sequence on a ship towards the end of the episode which ends up being the highlight of this adventure; there are finally some emotional moments devoted to the Doctor and Yaz, but it's difficult to say where they’re going from here with one episode left of this era.
The BBC once again excels in the costume and set decoration department, bringing a pinch of reality and magic to the visual side of the story; the Sea Devil designs are wonderfully true to the original ones from the classic series, with a slightly updated quality; Segun Akinola's score takes inspiration from the setting and supports the adventure pretty well.
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So much of the plot makes no sense - how do you steer a ship without a crew, the Sea Devils came and went, Dan kills five Devils just like that and so on; the story does not build up to the introduction of the Sea Devils in any way, making their first meeting with the Doctor feel very anti-climactic; it's frustrating how, for the second subsequent episode, we get teases of a Thasmin thing, only for the episode to joke it off before fully committing to anything - make up your mind already! The Asian setting and characters remain mostly a backdrop that doesn't play into the plot all that much; they go the Terry Nation route of introducing a gigantic, secondary monster only to never use it properly.
Nothing is done to make the character feels alive or interesting because there’s no time for real character moments; Madame Ching ends up being mostly a celebrity cameo with no real use within the story.
I don't know whether it's down to the writing, the performances, the direction or the visuals, but this episode feels more like a fan-made spoof or fan film on YouTube than an actual episode of the show; with a very limited guest cast and no ship crew to speak of, this episode feels empty and not very lively, which immediately removes some of its charms; am I seeing attempts at some MCU-style humour? Well, it doesn't work very well and comes across as very forced; this one feels rushed almost all the time, with very little time devoted to actual plot or character development; this episode is lacking real tension and peril - things are waved around for a bit and then resolved so that we can move along to the next thing; there's not a feeling of a bigger, more though-out special - in fact, Legend of the Sea Devils feels more like a mid-season episode than anything.
Not a fan of how the Sea Devils' mouths move when they talk, this makes them look like puppets; the CGI looks very half-baked most of the time and there are some weird cuts and camera angles trying to hide the fact.
