Name: JPRoscoe
Email:
Bio: Follow me on Twitter @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.
Posts by JPRoscoe:
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
November 26th, 2020Movie Info
Movie Name: Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Studio: Hughes Entertainment
Genre(s): Comedy/Seasonal
Release Date(s): November 25, 1987
MPAA Rating: R
Those aren’t pillows
Marketing executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) just wants to get home to Chicago from New York City for Thanksgiving and keep his promise to his family. When he suddenly finds himself thrust next to shower-ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy), it feels like their fates are intertwined. Neal just can’t seem to get away from Del no matter how hard he tries. When their plane is diverted to Wichita due to a snow storm, Neal’s only chance to get back home might be Del and almost every mode of transportation possible…will Neal survive the trip and will Del survive if Neal tries to kill him before they reach Chicago.
Written, directed, and produced by John Hughes, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a holiday comedy. The film was released to positive reviews and a strong box office. It has become a Thanksgiving holiday favorite over the years.
I wasn’t from a Planes, Trains and Automobiles family. When it came out, we didn’t see it and I don’t really remember renting it. Despite that, the movie has caught on with me as both a nice ode to the meaning of Thanksgiving and a classic 1980s comedy with two stars of the genre and the decade.
It might look ugly, but it will get you where you want to go
The story is one of those improbable stories that you could probably find a million plot holes to (like just getting his wife to wire money to the police station after losing the rental car and wallet), but it also doesn’t matter. In real life, no one regardless of the situation would give the Del character that much leeway…he’s not charming so much as obnoxious. While Martin is uptight, he has some legitimate pet peeves with Del that would probably only be exacerbated by spending more time with him. The story however works due to the set-ups and a mixing of the typical Odd Couple plotlines.
Steve Martin and John Candy were at their peak when they made this film. The joining of the two stars was genius and expected, but they seem to work well together instead of trying to steal the movie from the other actor. The movie is also filled with tons of cameos like Kevin Bacon, Dylan Baker, Richard Herd, William Windom, Lyman Ward, Matthew Lawrence, and Ben Stein. Edie McClurg gets a special shout out for the classic car rental scene and a perfect delivery.
There’s no place like home for the holidays!
The movie also captures that mad rush of the holidays. Hughes (who scripted other holiday classics like Home Alone and Christmas Vacation) gets the holidays and the magic that comes with them…but also the self-centered nature. Everyone wants to get home, and everyone wants to get to their family. It is part of what makes the last scene touching and still a little bittersweet.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles earns its place among holiday classics. With very few Thanksgiving movies, it has its own special place and that even opens it up for more viewing time since it has little competition. I know I would have killed Del by the end of the movie…but the part of Planes, Trains and Automobiles that upsets me the most is that I really want an Oxford comma in the title (though it is less egregious than some lacking commas).
Brahms: The Boy II (2020)
November 25th, 2020Movie Info
Movie Name: Brahms: The Boy II
Studio: STX Films
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): February 21, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Welcome back, Brahms…now go away and never come back
Liza (Katie Holmes) and her son Jude (Christopher Convery) have survived a violent home invasion. With Jude retreating inside himself, Liza and her husband Sean (Owain Yeoman) have decided to get out of the city and stay at a country home in their attempts to recover. Jude discovers a strange porcelain doll in the woods and takes the name Brahms for the doll. When Jude begins to claim that the doll is speaking to him, and starts blaming the doll for dangerous mishaps, Liza questions if the doll could be something more than a toy.
Directed by William Brent Bell, Brahms: The Boy II is a horror thriller. A sequel to 2016’s The Boy and released to theaters just before the COVID-19 lockdown, the movie was critically panned but was a small success at the box office.
The Boy had a few moments but mostly was ho-hum. I felt that to take a creepy doll and not make him the villain of the movie was a mistake. Brahms: The Boy II tries to rectify this, but it comes off as desperate and dull.
That’s right, mom…bad boy for life!
This movie tries to establish that the doll is possessed after having the Brahms character living in the walls the previous movie and being the killer. The walk back sets up a bizarre “history” of killer dolls on the property and that the dolls all have sway on their children. The addition of a doll that is actually demonic doesn’t actually add any scares…the only good “death” (the character actually survives) is a result of schadenfreude when a bully cousin gets impaled on a crocket wicket that he himself broke. It all leads up to an ending with the doll having a creature looking doll inside of its porcelain head that kind looks like a butthole…gross? Yeah. Scary? No.
Katie Holmes really feels like she’s slumming it here. The movie gives her character little depth (she might be “crazy” because of her head injury) and it feels like it pales in comparisons to other recent traumatized mothers like Toni Collette in Hereditary or Essie Davis in The Babadook. Christopher Covery is put in a big pressure role to play the creepy, non-communicative kid and he does ok (the script is just awful). Owain Yeoman is a non-character in the father, and like Ralph Ineson, it feels like his character doesn’t do much until the end.
“I need TP for my bunghole”
Sorry, Brahms…this is 2020 no TP for you!
Brahms is a creepy doll, but it has been let down by two movies that don’t recognize the ability of a doll to creep out people. This movie plays it slightly better since Brahms is moving on its own. There are some nice subtle changes like Brahms’ mouth smiling when Holmes is examining it’s hands and feet with the flashlight and then turning back to its standard scowl when the flashlight shines on it. That last effect of Brahms “revealed” however once again missed a chance for a good scare.
Brahms: The Boy II is a waste of time. I had hope with The Boy and this pretty much dashed any hope left. Instead of being a clever and scary horror film, it comes off as a B-grade horror movie that was granted an A-grade budget. With mediocre returns, I hope The Boy stays dead…
Related Links:
Moana (2016)
November 23rd, 2020Movie Info
Movie Name: Moana
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Genre(s): Animated/Musical/Action/Adventure/Family
Release Date(s): November 14, 2016 (AFI Fest)/November 23, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG
We are going to have tons of wild adventures! Or at least a couple.
The people of Motunui discover that their once fertile island seems to be dying. Their chief’s daughter Moana always felt that there was something beyond the barrier reef, and at the encouragement of her grandmother, Moana sets out to save her island by fulfilling the legend told to her growing up. Chosen by the sea, Moana must find the demigod Maui and restore the Heart of the Sea to Te Fiti. Moana quickly learns that finding Maui might not be the hard part and convincing him to become the hero of legend might be the real challenge.
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana is Walt Disney family musical action-adventure. Following Zootopia (also released in 2016), the film is the fifty-sixth entry in the Walt Disney Animated Features series and was released to positive reviews. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature (losing to Zootopia) and Best Original Song (“How Far I’ll Go”).
Moana is a movie that I consistently skipped. Even when I got access to it, I didn’t really seek it out. I didn’t think I would dislike it, but it kept flying under the radar when I chose what to watch next. I admire Moana in some respects what it does to “fight” the Disney stereotypes, but it really still feels like a Disney film.
Oh on! Pirates that look like every Nintendo game villain!
The story leaves out some classic Disney features. Moana doesn’t have a love interest or a villager that she’s going to be forced to marry (it doesn’t even introduce a male best friend with a wink and a nod that Moana will end up marrying). It also resists the urge to have a talking animal (it has a chicken and a pig, but they are even less humanized than the animals of Pocahontas). The main villain isn’t as prominent as other villains like Hades (Jemaine Clement’s massive coconut crab feels more like the classic villain). It also takes songs that are a bit less memorable and more complex (except the popular song “How Far I’ll Go” which is pretty typical of Disney theme songs).
Despite the differences between the normal Disney movies, the movie does feel like a typical Disney movie. It has a wacky character in Maui (and proves Dwayne Johnson maybe shouldn’t take singing roles), and a plucky lead that learns the power within her with the help of an old, caring grandmother…fortunately, Moana doesn’t suffer from the murdered mother Disney syndrome. It pretty much follows the path you’d expect the movie to follow and it feels a little long in the middle since both the Kakamora (the coconut pirates) and Tamatoa (the crab) both feel a bit like fillers.
So…mind growing us some food? I’m pretty hungry and eating the chicken is off limits
The movie does look fantastic. The animation is slick and bright, and the South Pacific oceans sparkle and glow. I like the character designs, and Moana does feel like a real teen. The movie in some sense even feels like it has a little Princess Mononoke mixed in with its style. Like a lot of Disney films, I find the artwork in the framework story a bit more intriguing and experimental such as the opening tale of Maui or the illustrations of Maui’s tattoos…but it would have been hard to watch a whole movie in that style.
Call It Courage was a favorite childhood book of mine, and Moana has a bit of Call It Courage mixed in with it. While no one accused Moana of being fearful, she is told there are things she shouldn’t do or try, and in classic Disney “princess” style, she bucks those rules to prove that they are foolish. Moana is a nice movie, but I don’t know that over the course of years it will be the most memorable Disney film…but every Disney film has a generation that adores it, and Moana will sail on. Disney followed Moana with Ralph Breaks the Internet in 2018.
Related Links:
The 89th Academy Award Nominations
Justice League International—Volume 2
November 22nd, 2020Comic Info
Comic Name: Justice League (Volume 1)/Justice League International (Volume 1)/Suicide Squad (Volume 1)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Kevin Maguire/Keith Giffen/Bill Willingham
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2008
Justice League International (1) #10
Reprints Justice League (1) Annual #1, Justice League International (1) #8-13, and Suicide Squad (1) #13 (June 1987- May 1988). The threat of the Manhunters has come to Earth and the Justice League finds itself teamed with heroes and Green Lanterns to stop the Manhunters’ plans. Maxwell Lord’s origins are revealed as the JLI questions who is pulling their strings. Plus, a political prisoner situation in the Soviet Union has Waller’s Suicide Squad going head-to-head with Lord’s JLA.
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, Justice League International—Volume 2 is a DC Comics superhero team-book. Following Justice League International—Volume 1, the collection features art by Kevin Maguire, Keith Giffen, and Bill Willingham. The series continues under its new Justice League International title but also contains Justice League (1) Annual #1 which was released before the title change. Issues in this collection were also collected as part of Justice League International Omnibus—Volume 1 and Justice League: Born Again, Wonder Woman: The Many Lives of Maxwell Lord, and Suicide Squad Volume 2: The Nightshade Odyssey.
I like Justice League International. It is one of the “fun” 1980s DC books in a time when the gritty realism of the ’80s was at its peak. Despite this, the JLI didn’t take itself seriously at all, and for that reason it works…but it is also a mess.
The series has great kismet between the team members but due to the roll out as Justice League, the switch to Justice League International, and the big Millennium crossover, it feels like the series has yet to really get traction. The actual interactions between characters work, but the bigger stories still struggle.
Justice League International (1) #11
The Millennium story doesn’t really stand on its own (and Millennium itself was rather confusing), but after years, I still really don’t get the whole Maxwell Lord-computer story which is self-contained. It is confusing and poorly executed and the fact that Lord is the team’s leader creates problems since it isn’t entirely clear what is going on with him (even when they try to clear it up).
It is followed by a so-so crossover with Suicide Squad which launched at the same time as Justice League. This crossover makes a lot of sense because the JLI and Suicide Squad are supposed to be opposite sides of the same coin, but what doesn’t make sense is that since Suicide Squad is a secret “team”, the Justice League who doesn’t know this don’t seem to be asking the right questions. It is a weird, stuttered two issue crossover that further gets bogged down by the involvement of Red Star and the Soviets who seem to just push the story along.
Despite these criticisms and the fact that the series is so hodgepodge at this point, I still enjoy reading Justice League International. I wish Giffen and DeMatteis would strengthen the storylines (or would have brought someone in to do that) while they stuck with dialogue and scripting…it would have made an entertaining book much more solid. Justice League International—Volume 2 is followed by Justice League International—Volume 3.
Related Links:
Justice League International—Volume 1
GoodFellas (1990)
November 21st, 2020Movie Info
Movie Name: GoodFellas
Studio: Warner Bros.
Genre(s): Drama
Release Date(s): September 9, 1990 (Venice Film Festival)/September 21, 1990 (US)
MPAA Rating: R
We got this…it’s our world now…no problems!
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) has big dreams. Starting working for the neighborhood Brooklyn crimeboss Paul “Paulie” Cicero (Paul Sorvino), Henry moves up the ranks gaining fame and stature in the crime world with his friends and coworkers Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and James “Jimmy” Conway (Robert De Niro). Henry finds himself married to Karen Friedman (Lorraine Bracco) while having an affair with Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo) and running a successful drug operation…but in the crime world, success can come crashing down and “family” only runs so deep.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, GoodFellas is a mafia true-crime drama. The film is adapted from Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy about Henry Hill (June 11, 1943-June 12, 2012) and premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The film received critical acclaim and a cult following. It won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Bracco), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2000.
GoodFellas was kind of the be-all-end-all mob movie when it was released in 1990, and though it felt like the culmination of mafia films, the movie really ushered in a new type of mafia movie while borrowing from films of the past like The Godfather. Though many of the events are based on a real person, the film takes a lot of liberties to craft a real story out of the lives of the characters involved.
I’m funny? I make you laugh? Why am I funny guy?
The movie circles around the classic “rise and fall” story. Like A Clockwork Orange or later Boogie Nights, it shows Henry Hill get into the business, live the high life, and fall, fall, fall until he restarts his life. While the rise is always the “fun” part of these type of movies, they have to get to the actions-have-consequences segment. GoodFellas does a great job still making that part of the movie “fun” and it isn’t as jarring or a downer as some movies do in similar stories. It is a wild and smart rollercoaster with great dialogue throughout.
The film is largely bolstered by a great cast. I’m not the biggest Ray Liotta fan, but he works in this movie due to Henry Hill’s character and a rather forced smarminess to his demeanor. Pesci fits his character to a T. He’s boisterous, obnoxious, and the type of guy you’d only be friends with if you knew your whole life or you were related to. De Niro is always strong but his role feels rather small when compared to Liotta or Pesci. Lorraine Bracco gets the unfavorable role of the mob wife, but she gives a lot of dimension to a character who often feels she is along for the ride. The movie is filled with tons of supporting actors like Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Debi Mazar, Illeana Douglas, Tony Sirico, Vinnie Pastore, Tobin Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Imperioli. Scorcese’s parents Catherine and Charles Scorsese appear with Henny Youngman and Jerry Vale playing themselves (Robbie Vinton plays his father Bobby Vinton in a scene).
You’re in the family now!
Scorsese’s directing and visuals are at top notch here. The movie is slick and fast. It soaks in the time periods in which the film is set and really uses the scenery, make-up, and costumes to explain the characters and the world they live in. The scene in which Lorraine Bracco meets “the wives” is a great example of how the visuals combine with acting to develop the characters, the plot, and ultimately the movie.
GoodFellas is a classic and one of the best of the crime movies. The film feels like a perfect set-up for The Sopranos which appeared almost ten years later (with many of the same actors in roles). The ideas of family were obviously a dominate part of The Godfather trilogy, but GoodFellas takes that idea in a different direction…work, family, and a microcosm of a world all blend into one “thing”…but it is all fake. While Henry Hill bemoans his life at the end of GoodFellas, he’s still living larger than the average guy…often crimes (in the bigger picture) go unpunished.
Wolverine: Old Man Logan
November 21st, 2020Comic Info
Comic Name: Wolverine (Volume 2)/Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2010
Wolverine (2) #71
Reprints Wolverine (2) #66-72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1 (August 2008-November 2009). The world has fallen apart. The United States which was once under the protection of heroes has fallen to villains. On a small farm, Logan raises his family and tends to the land under the control of the Hulks. When Logan’s money is late and he is given an offer by Hawkeye to make-up the lost revenue with a cross-country trip, Logan has no option but to agree…and the Wolverine might still be inside of him.
Written by Mark Millar, Wolverine: Old Man Logan is a Marvel comics X-Men spin-off series. Following Wolverine: Get Mystique, the series created a stand-alone story with art by Steve McNiven.
When I first heard about Old Man Logan, I kind of wrote it off. It felt like it was just a rip-off of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and other post-apocalyptic genre books and movies…it felt gimmicky. Finally reading Wolverine: Old Man Logan, I found I rather enjoyed the series as a stand-alone.
The framework of the story really is along the lines of Unforgiven (early “dream movies” of X-Men often cast a slightly younger Clint Eastwood as Wolverine). Wolverine has given up. He’s no longer a killer, but it is a question if he is a killer inside that never can change or if he is this “new man”. Through the course of the story, Logan finds himself pushed and prodded until he’s forced to revert to his old self…he isn’t quite as healthy or invincible, but he is still dangerous.
Wolverine (2) #72
The only slight problem with the series is that Millar and McNiven create such a great landscape for the story, that it feels largely unexplored. It feels obvious that this is the set-up for bigger stories about this world, but since nothing was concrete when Old Man Logan was released, it feels incomplete in parts. I wanted to know more about Hawkeye, the Hulks, and everything…but I also have “parallel world drain” with so many parallel worlds set-up in the Marvel Universe like M2, the Ultimate Universe, 2099, etc. I don’t know that I need or can follow another alternate reality series.
Wolverine: Old Man Logan has a 1980s gritty darkness to it and has thematic feels to The Dark Knight Returns (I kind of wish they had not used Hawkeye since Green Arrow was such a part of The Dark Knight storyline). Like a Mad Max movie, you kind of don’t know what to expect next…and anything can happen. Though I have a fatigue on alternate reality stories, Old Man Logan is one of the better more recent outings of a comic book. I wish I hadn’t slept on the series as long as I did. Wolverine: Old Man Logan was followed by Dark Wolverine: The Prince but Old Man Logan returned in Wolverine: Old Man Logan Volume 0: Warzones!
Related Links:
Wolverine: Old Man Logan 0: Warzones!
Bone: Rose
November 19th, 2020Comic Info
Comic Name: Rose
Publisher: Scholastic
Writer: Jeff Smith
Artist: Charles Vess
# of Issues: 3
Release Date: 2009
Rose #2
Reprints Rose #1-3 (January 2000-February 2002). Rose and her sister Briar are the future of the Valley. While Rose is impulsive, her Dreaming Eye is wide open, but Briar’s Dreaming Eye appears to be sealed shut. When the threat of the Lord of the Locust begins to rise again, fears of a secret emancipator who has the power to free the Lord of the Locust begin to spread. Rose’s dreams of a dragon lead to disaster, and Rose is ready to prove her innocence…but innocence could come at a great cost.
Written by Jeff Smith, Bone: Rose is a prequel to the Jeff Smith critically acclaimed series Bone. Originally published by Cartoon Books, it was recollected by Scholastic under their Graphix imprint. The story features art by Charles Vess.
I was pretty deep into Bone when Rose started to be released. I opted out of buying Rose, and the slow release schedule helped solidify that decision. With Jeff Smith keeping a rather proprietary control over Bone, it seemed odd that an important “origin story” wouldn’t be presented by Smith…but that doesn’t mean changing up the format of Bone was a mistake.
The story presents essentially what is Gran’ma Ben’s tale. The story of Rose and Briar was touched upon throughout the Bone series, but this provides a more solid and concrete telling of the events that came before Bone. Here, more of the relationship between the sisters is explored and a slight explanation of how Briar was tempted to the “dark side” of the Lord of Locusts.
Rose #3
Unlike a lot of the Bone series, the story is more adult. While there is nothing too adult, the tone of the story might be darker than some of the readers of the books might expect (at least those who haven’t gotten to the last few collections). With that in mind, I don’t know that this volume has as much broad appeal for some readers.
Jeff Smith’s art is distinctive but so is Charles Vess’s. The art is rich and textured. Vess manages to give a more “real world” feel to the characters, but it is also interesting to see how he co-ops Smith’s work for the series (a prime example would be the Red Dragon). I would love to have seen some of Vess’s designs for the Bone cousins and other characters from the Bone series proper just to see how he’d paint them.
Bone: Rose is a worthy addition to the Bone story and worth seeking out if you didn’t read along with Bone when it was published. The series is both like a classic Bone tale but it also feels different from a classic Bone story which is part of its appeal. Reading Bone: Rose makes you wonder what other artists would do with Bone…and has me wishing that Smith might put out a big Bone story which brings in multiple artists and styles to tell it.
Related Links:
Bone: Quest for the Spark—Book 1
The New Teen Titans—Volume 4
November 18th, 2020Comic Info
Comic Name: New Teen Titans (Volume 1)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: George Perez
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2016
New Teen Titans (1) #22
Reprints New Teen Titans (1) #21-27 and New Teen Titans (1) Annual #1 (July 1982-January 1983). A desperate call from Cyborg’s former girlfriend puts the Teen Titans in combat with a cunning enemy that knows how to play the Titans right into hand…Brother Blood has plans for the Teen Titans! Starfire finds herself whisked back to her home by her sister Blackfire, and the Teen Titans join forces with the Omega Men in an attempt to free her. Plus, every year children run away from home and come to the city, and the Titans realize they must try to help the lost children before it is too late.
Written by Marv Wolfman, The New Teen Titans—Volume 4 is a DC Comics superhero collection. Following The New Teen Titans—Volume 3, the series features art by George Perez.
The New Mutants were my teen team growing up. I loved the camaraderie and friendship of the characters. When I started to run out of New Mutants comics to read, the New Teen Titans became my second teen team. Though most of the characters were barely teens (if at all), the New Teen Titans provide a combination of soap opera and superhero that demonstrates some of the best of the 1980s.
This collection has the New Teen Titans really hitting their stride. The battle with Brother Blood sets up a nice, solid secondary villain (behind Deathstroke), and it also is a bit of a different kind of villain for the team since it isn’t just about physical power. The addition of Blackfire for Starfire is also nice to give her character a bit more depth though I wish that they had done more with her.
New Teen Titans (1) #23
The series also features a classic “issue driven” storyline that was pretty popular in comic books at the time. The “Just Say No” campaign was picking up and drugs were pretty much the blame for everything. Add to this, a “runaway crisis” that always seemed to be pushed, and you have the Titans taking on a social issue. It feels rather preachy and cliché now (and it might have felt the same then), but it also feels really indicative of comic books at the time with characters like Cloak and Dagger. The comics were on the fringe of the “gritty 1980s” and the Titans tried to do gritty.
What doesn’t age well about the Titans is the style of storytelling. As a person who grew up with this style of comic book, it is refreshing to read a comic with lots of meat. The characters have lots of internal thoughts, tons of explanatory dialogue, and pages just loaded with text…it is a far cry from today’s comics where there often can just be panels and panels of fighting with no text. While I enjoy it, it might be hard for new readers or readers accustom to modern comics.
The New Teen Titans—Volume 4 is a solid read that also does one key thing to set up the storyline for the next ten issues or so. In New Teen Titans #27, Garfield encounters a girl named Terra who pretty much changes up the team and gave a lot of attention to Wolfman and Perez’s title (or more than it already had). If you are reading the Teen Titans for the first time and are on the fence, definitely stick with it…it is worth it. The New Teen Titans—Volume 4 is followed by The New Teen Titans—Volume 5.
Preceded By:
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020)
November 17th, 2020Special Info
Special Name: The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special
Studio: Atomic Cartoons/LucasFilm/The LEGO Group
Genre(s): Animated/Seasonal/Comedy/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): November 17, 2020
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Even Vader and the Emperor enjoy Life Day!
Life Day is rapidly approaching, and Rey and her friends plan on celebrating with Chewbacca’s family. Rey discovers her attempts to train Finn have hit a wall and seeks to find a way to jumpstart her teaching. When Rey discovers a means to transport through time to observe famous moments in Jedi history, she finds herself jumping through time…but her actions might forever ruin the timeline. Life Day isn’t going as planned.
Directed by Ken Cunningham, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special is an animated family comedy adventure seasonal special. The special was released on Disney+ on November 17, 2020.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was a notorious special. With weird guest stars, some questionable music, and the premiere of Boba Fett in a cartoon, the series gained a cult audience though Lucas and those attached tried to bury it. With references in The Mandalorian and the new Lego special, Life Day lives again!
Mandatory “Baby Yoda” cameo: Check!
The story is largely about friendship and family. As Rey jumps around through time and space, she sees people of her past and family of her past. As she travels through time and space, Poe and the others try to celebrate Life Day with their friends. The humor is very post-modern with lots of references to other Star Wars products with a Lego based humor (like in other Lego straight-to-video movies more so than the big screen Lego movies). Rey of course learns her lesson, and Life Day is saved from the Emperor (with a reference to Scrooge’s redemption and a tie to a classic holiday animated special).
Largely the cast is new for the special, but a few original actors voice their characters. Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, and Kelly Marie Tran stop by for the fun, but some of the voice actors feel a bit odd in comparison to their film actors (though it does tie up some loose ends from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and some of new sequels).
Yoda gets his “Rudolph” on!
I love The Lego Movie look, and it is always a bit of a disappointment to watch the regular Lego specials in comparison. The stop-motion style isn’t used here and instead there is smooth computer animation. I do like a lot of the character designs but that largely is credited to Lego and their sets upon sets of Star Wars Legos.
If you like Lego cartoons, you’d definitely like The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, and if you like Star Wars, you’ll probably like The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special. The special has reverence for the series and reflexive jokes, but it feels like it missed an opportunity. It would have been fun for a completely Lego animated version of the original Holiday Special with the original audio track…then loaded with visual jokes. While the story is a nice message and will be enjoyed by families, I kind of wanted the goofy nature of the original Holiday Special…but I’ll take Life Day any way I can.
Related Links:
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
New Avengers 3: Secrets & Lies
November 17th, 2020Comic Info
Comic Name: New Avengers (Volume 1)/Giant-Size Spider-Woman
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Finch/Rick Mays/Frank Cho
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2006
New Avengers (1) #11
Reprints New Avengers (1) #11-15 and Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 (November 2005-March 2006). The Avengers are headed to Japan to investigate the escape of the Silver Samurai and questions surrounding his detention on the Raft. Recruiting a new mysterious member named Ronin, the Avengers find themselves in battle with the Hand and HYDRA…and they are about to discover that one of their members isn’t telling them the truth about their purpose on the team.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, New Avengers Volume 3: Secrets & Lies is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection. Following New Avengers Volume 2: Sentry, the collection features art by David Finch, Rick Mays, and Frank Cho. The collection is broken up into the three part story “Ronin” and the two part story “Secrets & Lies”. The volume has a short story from Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 (July 2005), and issues in this collection were also collected as part of New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection—Volume 2.
New Avengers had a good start, and one of the things that I was most excited about was the return of Spider-Woman as a major player in Marvel Comics. This return quickly turned to dread as Bendis took a character I really liked and slowly warped her into a character that wasn’t enjoyable or in line with character of the past. This volume is really the start of Spider-Woman’s fall from grace.
New Avengers (1) #15
The “Ronin” story serves as a mean to introduce the Ronin character. When the comic was originally released, Ronin was a mystery. It was implied to be a lot of different characters, and later the guise was used by other superheroes (much like Captain America’s Nomad identity). The Avengers head to Japan and this story later is too close to the “Revolution” storyline…which had the Avengers fighting a whole bunch of ninjas (again).
The second half of the collection involves Jessica Drew’s backstory. It has her being a double (or triple) agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and HYDRA. Along with the Spider-Woman: Origin series, it really started to ruin the Jessica Drew character who had a nice, rich history with ties to lots of aspects of Marvel from the High Evolutionary, to the X-Men, and to even some of the supernatural Marvel characters. Bendis manages to make the character less interesting in his attempt to make her interesting. It is too bad…and then it almost gets completely tossed with Secret Invasion stuff.
New Avengers is a rocky road, and in only three volumes, Bendis’s run is starting to sour. It is a really bad for the future of the book if you know how long he stuck with it, but if you read it issue to issue (where very little happened), you kept hoping something would happen or that he’d leave the book and stop doing event series for Marvel. New Avengers 3: Secrets & Lies is followed by New Avengers 4: The Collective.
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