My first real exposure to Dwayne McDuffie was the Static Shock cartoon. I was aware of Static before the cartoon (due to the 90’s Milestone Comics, but I didn’t read a Milestone book until recently). Mr. McDuffie gave the audience an engaging narrative in addition to a different type of African American lead, a positive one. Virgil Hawkins was an honor roll student from a good family and not a gang banger, drug dealer, champion athlete, aspiring rapper (otherwise stereotypical black roles).
With the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons, Mr. McDuffie provided complex and rich stories that made the audience yearn for a world where Wally West, Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent existed. His iteration of Clark Kent stands out in my mind because his Clark was damaged, burdened with such hurt and pain, yet soldiers on doing what he feels is right.
Later Man Of Action would put their Ben 10 series in his skillfully hands and he took that lump of clay and molded into a magnificent structure. He added so much depth and layers to the characters, put the characters through crucibles which caused to grow, and he also played with the concept of redemption along with good and evil. Now that he’s no longer here, the future of this fictional universe and its cherished characters are uncertain. Hopefully the staff will soldier on and make Dwayne McDuffie proud.
His films, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths and All Star Superman, were treats for fans of excellent animation, DC fanboys, and lovers of an enthralling stories. I loved how he portrayed the Crime Syndicate as posthuman mafia with Ultraman ruling like some untouchable don as well as his nihilistic iteration of Owlman. He wowed with the way he was able to capture everything that made Kal El fantastic in Grant Morrison’s original story.
A few months ago, a friend of mine gave me the Icon trade (Icon was one of the flagship titles of Milestone comics). This book stood out because it dealt with issues that the Big Two (Marvel and DC) backed away from, such as teen pregnancy, inner city poverty and racism.
Dwayne McDuffie’s passing has impacted his fans and colleagues alike:
“I can’t wrap my mind around the notion that he’s not here anymore, to be honest.”
– Warren Ellis
“To work with Dwayne McDuffie was to be instantly at home with a kindred soul. You spoke the same language, you read the same comics, you tossed around ridiculous characters like B’wana Beast and the Ultra-Humanite with the same ease as two musicians riffing on a beloved childhood song. And like a musician, Dwayne fine tuned his stories until they sang. Dwayne made it easy because he was so good.”
– Paul Dini
February 22, 2011 marks a sad date for the comic book and animation world. One of it’s brightest and most forward thinking talents has passed away.
Dwayne McDuffie has become one of the giants in the comic book world. He began his career in comics in the late 80’s and early 90’s with Marvel Comics where he wrote for the titles, Damage Control and Deathlok. He would also do freelance work for DC up until 1993 when he finally decided to create his own comic book studio, Milestone Media, as his way to respond to how minority characters were being handled in the two main comic book houses.
With Milestone Media he was able to create a studio which had multi-diversity character that had been lacking within the more traditional Marvel and DC Comics. Titles such as Icon and Static became fan favorites. Even though the studio he created finally shutdown in 1997 he was still able to parlay one of his Milestone titles into a WB cartoon series, Static Shock. He would find his true calling as writer and soon story editor in some of DC Animations best work. A majority of the stories for the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited were either written or supervised by him. He would also be on hand to revamp Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 into Ben 10: Alien Force.
His return to comics in 20o6 would include stints as writer for Fantastic Four and Justice League of America. But his best work continued to be in the animation side as he writes two of the best received animation films from DC Animation with Justice League: Crisis on Two-Earths and, the recently released, All-Star Superman. The latter has already gained such a positive response from critics and fans alike that they’ve called it the best thing to be released by DC Animation.
So, it is with a sad heart that on the release date of his greatest work one Dwayne McDuffie passed away leaving behind legions of fans and contemporaries. There is no better tribute for this giant of the comic book world than one of the greatest episodes of Justice League.
(Hi! This is actually a review that I wrote a while ago for an anthology of B-movie reviews that a “friend” of mine was planning on self-publishing. Much like this site, the book would be made up of different reviewers giving each film their own individual spin. We were going to call it Dinner and a Cannibal Movie. I came up with that title, by the way. Unfortunately, the project was eventually abandoned but not before I’d written a handful of reviews. Here’s one of the shorter ones, for Umberto Lenzi’s Black Demons. Oh, and be warned: Because of the nature of the project it was written for, this review is full of spoilers.)
My ex-roommate Kim and I have a long-standing argument concerning this film. I claim that it’s an Umberto Lenzi zombie film that was made in 1991, long after Italian zombie cinema had run its course. It is also my contention that we saw this movie in October of 2004. Admittedly, we were performing our own private pagan ritual during most of the film’s 90-minute running time but we still paid enough attention to not be impressed by it. Kim, on the other hand, argues that we never watched Black Demons and that, furthermore, there is no such film as Black Demons. I suspect that a combination of her own rather prodigious liberal guilt and the film’s own utter banality has led her to repress the memory of it in much the same way as the protagonist of a Dario Argento thriller will often forget a key detail of a murder he has witnessed.
Black Demons tells the story of five young people who find themselves on the bad end of some black magic. For reasons that are never really made all that clear (largely because the entire cast has a bad habit of mumbling their dialogue), English Kevin is in Brazil with his American girlfriend, Jessica. Tagging along with them is Jessica’s half-brother, a morose young man who is recovering from a nervous breakdown and who has the rather unfortunate name of Dick. Along with having a vaguely incestuous relationship with Jessica (whether this was intentional on Lenzi’s part or just a case of bad acting is up for debate), Dick is also fascinated by black magic and has a tendency to wander off by himself a lot. This leads to a lot of scenes of Kevin and Jessica repeatedly shouting, “Dick! Dick!” as they search for him. This provided both me and Kim a lot of giggly amusement if nothing else.
Anyway, Dick attends a black magic ceremony that he records on audio tape and then proceeds to obsessively listen to whenever the movie needs an excuse to bring on a few zombies. The morning after the ceremony, our threesome’s jeep breaks down out in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, two hikers – Jose and his girlfriend, Sonya – come along and invite everyone to spend the night at Jose’s villa. As luck would have it, there’s a big cemetery located right behind the villa and idiot Dick decides to play his little audio tape right in the middle of it.
(I think Kim may have exclaimed, “God, what a dick,” at this point but she denies it along with the movie itself.)
Needless to say, this causes six zombies to rise from their graves and the usual hilarity follows. It turns out that these zombies were, in life, African slaves who rebelled against their white masters and were put to death as a result. Their eyes were plucked out as they died, though this doesn’t seem to keep them from being able to see once they come back to life. It turns out that the mission of these six black zombies is to kill six white people to even the score. Unfortunately, most of this is explained by Jose who has such an incredibly thick accent that it is next to impossible to understand a word he says. Therefore, the plot may actually be a bit more complex than I realize.
Though, I doubt it.
As Kim and I immediately realized, the zombies need to kill six white people. Yet there are only five white people in the film. Whether this was a case of lazy writing or maybe an actor walked off the film at the last minute, I do not know. However, Lenzi ingeniously handles this problem by killing an anonymous, never-seen white guy offscreen and then having our heroes hear about it on the radio. Still, you have to wonder why these zombies, seeking vengeance for being slaves in their past life, would only feel the need to kill six white people. Sure, it works out in the sense that there are six zombies and this way they only have to kill one person apiece. But still, it seems like they’re letting the white race off a little bit easily here. Indeed, if the solution to all of the world’s racial strife is simply to kill off the five, uninteresting losers in this film, then I have to side with the zombies on this one.
Unfortunately, Kevin and Jessica aren’t willing to sacrifice themselves for world harmony and insist on surviving until the end of the movie. Kevin eventually figures out that the zombies can be stopped by a well-thrown Molotov cocktail. How exactly he figured this out isn’t really clear. Perhaps he saw it in another, better zombie film. (Like Lucio Fulci’s Zombie 2, for instance. Unfortunately, beyond the Molotovs, the bad acting of the female lead, and a grisly fetish for showing eyeballs getting damaged, these two films have little in common.) Kevin’s plan works though not before the tragic ends of Sonya, Jose, the phantom sixth white guy, and yes, even Dick. Leaving behind a bunch of smoldering slaves, Jessica and Kevin flee the villa for a world still torn apart with racial strife and anger. Thanks a lot, guys!
Almost all good horror is to be found in subtext. Such as, Dracula may be pretty intimidating with his fangs and his blood drinking and all, but it’s as a symbol of unbridled lust and secret fantasies that he’s been able to become and remain an icon for over a century. And while Frankenstein might be frightening to look at, his true power comes from being a sign of what happens when man attempts to play God. In an admittedly less literary vein, what else is a truly scary slasher but proof positive over how little control we truly have over our own future? Strictly on paper, Black Demons should be a film awash in powerful subtext. After all, these zombies wouldn’t even exist if they hadn’t been enslaved and treated like property by the ancestors of the film’s heroes. In a world that is still struggling (and failing) to deal with the legacy of racism, a film in which a bunch of slaves come back to life and seek vengeance on only whites should have quite a bit to say. Perhaps if Black Demons had been directed by Fulci or Deodato, it would have done just that. However, this film was directed by Umberto Lenzi which means that it ends with Kevin assuring Jessica that their nightmare is over with the camera ominously (and, quite frankly, obscenely) pans over to a bunch of black children playing on the side of the road, basically equating those living children with a bunch of bloodthirsty, vengeful zombies on the basis of the color of their skin. Whether Lenzi realized what he was doing or not, this one camera movement manages to be a hundred times more offensive than anything found in Cannibal Apocalypse.
Most of you know that I am a huge necrophobe but I dig this idea. The Deathlok character may be a reanimated corpse, he lacks the mindless cannibal angle and is outfitted with state of the art cybernetics. In the 90’s, I discovered Deathlok in his Professor Michael Collins iteration, a pacifist whose brain was transferred into a cyborg killing machine and frequently interacted with A List heroes like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.
In recent years, robotic zombies returned as prototype troopers of Norman Osborn’s HAMMER organization (while they were more shambling zombies than cyborg killers they did plant the seed for a more fleshed-out reintroduction). The idea made a more faithful return in Jason Aaron’s Wolverine run as anonymous Deathlok soldiers outfitted with web shooters, rapid self-repair function, repulsor ray technology, and laser version of Wolverine’s claws. This February, Rick Remender transformed the concept into a pan-temporal virus that has infected Marvel’s posthuman populace and utilizes them as a military force. I appreciate what these writers have added to the tapestry but I yearn for the days of a solo Deathlok soldier. Below are my ideas about how to accomplish it.
My primary Deathlok idea involves a dystopian future 616 where most of the posthumans have been eliminated and humanity is oppressed by the industrial military complex. The resistance group would recover Steve Roger’s preserved corpse, revive it and outfit it with the technology of fallen heroes (Cap’s body is preserved so that the Super Soldier serum could be reverse-engineered). The Deathlok would possess Captain America’s Ubermensch brain and most of his body, Wolerine’s Adamantium claws, Tony Stark’s repulsor ray and Uni-Beam, the Iron Spider’s camouflage technology, Henry Pym’s size change technology, the energy version of Captain America’s shield and the Thor Clone’s hammer.
My other idea merges Remender’s viral version with the Techno-Organic Virus (Marvel’s version of the Borg). AIM or Hydra creates a variant of the Techno-Organic virus that grants the host posthuman abilities in addition to integrated weaponry. In true comic fashion, the vial containing the modified virus ends up in the possession of SHIELD operative who eventually uses it to become a super hero.
To me, one of the most iconic sequences in 21st century cinema comes towards the end of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Volume One. I’m talking about the scene in which Tokyo crime boss O-ren (played by Lucy Liu) walks through the House of Blue Leaves, flanked on either side by her bubble gum-chewing bodyguards. While there’s a lot that makes this scene memorable (the slow-mo staging, Liu’s regal yet fierce persona), what I always remember first when I think about this scene is the song playing on the soundtrack.
Of course, I’m talking about Tomoyasu Hotei’s Battle Without Honor or Humanity. Though the song was not originally written for Kill Bill, it seem to almost perfectly epitomize volume one of Tarantino’s masterpiece. Yes, it’s over-the-top and shamelessly excessive. Yet, much like the best of the grindhouse films that inspired Tarantino, it’s performed with such an undeniable artistry that it’s impossible not to get drawn into it.
Whenever I’m out grocery shopping or walking to my office at the start of my workday, I always imagine that this is the song playing in the background. It definitely brings a little stride to my step.
(The song has other uses as well. A month ago, I wanted to perform a little impromptu dance for a friend of mine. This is the song that I ended up dancing to because I knew that, with this song backing you up, it’s impossible not to look good doing whatever you might happen to be doing.)
In 2009 Liam Neeson began a new phase of his career as an actor. Before 2009 he was always put into roles as the father figure and mentor to a younger protagonist. He did quite well in handling these roles. Most of the time he was the only good thing about the films he was in and it was due to how he handled the supporting role given to him. But 2009 changed everything as Liam Neeson arrived on the film scene as a bonafide action hero in his role as a former CIA Special Activities Division operative in the action-thriller, Taken. That film surprised many and Neeson’s badass portrayal of a father out to save his daughter opened the eyes of many filmgoers who always saw him as the calm, wise elder. He has taken on the mantle of older, action-hero characters from Harrison Ford who lived off and became rich doing roles such as the one in Taken.
Two years later we have another film where we get to see Liam Neeson in another role which cements his place in the action-hero pantheon. Also like Pierre Morel’s film, this one takes place in Europe and directed by another European filmmaker trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood, Jaume Collet-Serra. It would be disingenious to say that Collet-Serra had it in him to direct a film as tight and fast-moving as Unknown. His two Hollywood productions were the remake of the classic horror film, House of Wax, and the underappreciated horror film from 2009, Orphan. With this new action-thriller, Unknown, Collet-Serra and Neeson create a film which owes much of its film dna to Hitchcock and his mistaken-man classic, North by Northwest. I would also say that this film also owes much of its action and characters to one of the early 1990’s best sci-fi action films, Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall.
The film begins with Neeson’s character, Dr. Martin Harris, and his wife Liz (played by Mad Men‘s January Jones) arriving in Berlin to attend a biomedical conference. Right from the start Neeson makes us believe in Harris being an everyman. The good professor doesn’t seem the alpha male-type. But after certain seemingly random circumstances and events puts Harris in a coma for four days we begin to see signs and glimpses that Neeson’s character may have more to him than meets the eye.
It’s when Harris’ awakens from his coma that the meat of the film’s story begins. We know going in that Neeson’s character knows he’s not crazy and that someone out there has made things appear as if he is becoming insane. Maybe the accident in the beginning of the film have given us a false perspective on the film. What we might be seeing could be a manifestation of Harris’ mental breakdown from the accident and subsequent coma. But little clues in the film’s dialogue keeps things vague, but not so much that our initial stance that Harris’ is being manipulated won’t be the final endgame.
It is the endgame in the film which may make or break the whole production for some people. The screenplay by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cromwell is not the strongest out there and it tries to be too complex with its red herrings when trying to keep it simple would’ve sufficed. One could almost sense that the two writers were trying to be too Hitchcock that they lost sight of how Hitchcock’s films were simple affairs which only appeared to be complex. Yet, despite some necessary leaps of logic that audiences needed to make to continue believing in the film, Unknown manages to keep the core story moving forward to it’s inevitable conclusion.
The performances by everyone involved is what keeps this film from spiralling out of Collet-Serra’s capable hands. One would almost certainly point out the strong work by Neeson as the Harris. January Jones’ Liz Harris, at first, seemed like an extension of her Betty Draper character from Mad Men, but as the story moves forward we get to see more layers of personalities in her character to make her interesting beyond the dutiful and supportive wife. But the standout performance outside of Neeson has to go to Diane Kruger as Gina, the taxi driver who was involved in Neeson’s character getting in his accident in the beginning of the film.
Kruger arguably is one of Hollywood’s classic beauty, but she has an ability to actually keep that beauty in check with her acting that we believe her to be the “everywoman” in some of the roles she plays. Beauty doesn’t come into the Gina character’s personality. Kruger does a great job of playing the pawn in a much larger game being played on Neeson’s character. Her reluctance to help him gradually crumbles as she soon realizes that her own safety and survival is now inextricably linked to unraveling the mystery of who Martin Harris really is.
Unknown is one of those films that actually has an advantage being released in the so-called dead season which runs from January and into March. It’s a film season when studios put out films they have no faith in being a major blockbuster which means summer and Holiday season release are out. It’s not prestigious enough to be put out in the Fall and early Winter. But as a piece os well-done escapist fare it’s perfect for this so-called dead season. Jaume Collet-Serra has shown that even when working from an average screenplay he knows how to get the best out of his cast to sell the film to the audience. He also has a firm grasped on pacing and how to handle action sequences.
In the end, the film still loves or dies by how the audience reacts to Liam Neeson’s character. While his Martin Harris is not the Bryan Mills from Taken, by the time the final scene fades to black we begin to see how similar the two characters really are and how much they share. Until the big name films start dropping in beginning in March (blockbuster season seem to come earlier and earlier with each passing year), Unknown is one of those films that should help make this early months of the film season more entertaining than it usually is in year’s past.
As an aside, for those who know their films would understand why I say that, in addition to this film having aspirations of being Hitchcockian, Unknown definitely borrows or has been influenced by some of the story and character developments of Verhoeven’s Total Recall. I almost half-expected for a half-mutant seer named Kuato to make an appearance to explain it all to Neeson’s ccharacter.
I think I’ve been a little bit too hard on Canada as of late. I mean, sure — our northern neighbor did give us Paul Haggis and Vermont. However, Canada also gave us Degrassi: The Next Generation, Jason Reitman, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, and my friend Lindsay Dianne. So, I’m here to say right now: I love Canada! And in order to show that love, this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers is dedicated to films produced up in Canada.
1) Sudden Fury (1975)
I’ve never seen this movie and I don’t know much about it beyond the fact that it was made in Canada. Looking at the cast list at the end of the trailer, I don’t see any familiar names. But the trailer fascinates me because it somehow manages to be intriguing and dull at the same time.
I haven’t actually seen this one either and I’m kind of glad for that because seriously, I am scared to death of rats. I remember this one time when I was little, I was visiting my grandpa’s place in Arkansas and he lived in this big three-story house out in the country. And I was sitting out back in this swing when suddenly, this rat jumped out of a third story window and it landed right next to the swing and broke its neck and died with its tail twitching as I watched. I still have nightmares about that. Anyway, this film is apparently not to be confused with Bruno Mattei’s Rats: The Nights of Terror.
This is one of the several million slasher films that ended up being made in Canada by American film companies looking for a tax shelter. Just imagine how much shorter the trailer would have been in the movie had simply been called Huge. Incidentally, the film was directed by Paul Lynch, the same guy who did the original Prom Night.
Arleigh would never let me live it down if I did a post and didn’t include a trailer for a David Cronenberg film. So, here you go. Now, to be honest, this trailer is only interesting if you know that 1) it’s for a film directed by David Cronenberg and that 2) he made this in between making Rabid and The Brood. Now I know that this trailer probably screams out, “David Cronenberg just needed the work,” but Cronenberg has actually spoken with a good deal of fondness about this film. I personally haven’t seen it but I guess if anyone could somehow make a movie about drag racing exciting, it would be David Cronenberg.
Originally, I was going to end this with the 2 Cronenberg films but then I remembered that Dennis Hopper’s Out Of The Blue was a Canadian production and there were simply no way I couldn’t end with that film. Out of the Blue is, quite simply put, one of the greatest films ever made. I’ve been meaning to write a review of it for a while now but it’s been difficult for me to know where to begin because, in many ways, viewing Out of the Blue was as much of a personal experience for me as watching Black Swan.
The last couple days I have been watching a particular classic Disney animated film not to mention listening to its accompanying soundtrack almost non-stop since yesterday. The song I’ve picked for my latest “song of the day” is the track, “Beauty and The Beast”, and not the Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson version which ends the film.
Beauty and The Beast ranks as one of my favorite films ever. Not just a favorite animated film but a favorite of the medium of filmmaking in general. I saw it the weekend it was first released in the theaters in 1991. I was just out of high school, just turned 18 and eyes full of hope and promise. This film made a huge impact on me and it’s musical score even more so. The score and the songs were composed by musical virtuosos Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
The score is what I would call classic orchestral. It fit the film and the story it was to accompany. The ballad which marks the turning point in the growing relationship between Belle and the Beast was one of my favorites in the film and truly captures the essence of the story. While I must say that I also loved the pop version of the song by Celine Dion (before she went all Vegas crazy in laters years) and R&B singer, Peabo Bryson, it would be the song as sung by Angela Lansbury (in the role of Mrs. Potts) which I consider the better version.
It is difficult not to listen to this version and not picture in one’s mind the sweeping motion of the scene as we see the ballroom in all it’s detailed grandeur. It was this song which marked the high point in my life when unbridled hope and optimism still ruled my life. I would say that even as an 18-year old I was still innocent when it came to certain things in life. “Beauty and The Beast” symbolized that part of my life and whenever I listen to it again almost 20 years now I reminisce about that innocent time in my life.
We all have a particular song, film or story which brings back fond memories of better days in our lives and this song from one of the best films ever made does it for me.
Beauty and The Beast
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Last night, I watched the first episode of Survivor: Redemption Island.
Why Was I Watching It?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I love reality television and Survivor pretty much set the bar for the entire genre. Yes, yes, I know. Everyone wants to spend a few hours talking about how terrible reality television is and how they deserve all sorts of cookies because they don’t watch it. Well, you know what? Have fun patting yourself on the back. I’ll be watching Survivor.
What’s It About?
A group of sixteen strangers are stranded on a beach in Nicaragua where they compete for prizes and scheme against each other until there’s only one survivor left standing. As in previous seasons, all of this is hosted by Jeff Probst who, with each season, makes less and less effort to hide the utter contempt that he feels for most of the survivors. Probst still spends too much time trying to show off his dimples but you can’t help but love the man.
This season, there are big two twists, neither one of which is a real twist because they’ve both been done in previous seasons. The big twist is that whenever a survivor is voted off the island, they’re sent to Redemption Island where they wait for the chance to reenter the game at a later date.
The other twist — and this is the one that people actually care about — is that two of the most iconic “villains” in Survivor history are back this season. “Boston” Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz are both back and playing once again. On last night’s episode, the 16 new players were divided into two tribes. As usual, the two tribes were given names based on some obscure piece of historical trivia but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll just call them Team Rob and Team Russell.
What Worked:
I’ll admit that when I first heard that Russell and Rob were coning back, I wasn’t exactly enthused about the idea. I love Rob and always have but I’ve just about reached my limit as far as Russell is concerned. During his first season, Russell was my favorite because he was just so blatantly villainous and he never wasted any time with all of that silly talk of “playing the game with honor” that so many other survivors have tried to sell in the past. Plus, he was funny. However, about halfway through the Heroes Vs. Villains season, I started to get tired of Russell. Unlike Rob who is always thinking and competing, Russell seemed to be a one trick pony.
Well, I’m sorry to say that Russell hasn’t changed but since everyone on Team Russell seems to have seen his previous seasons, it doesn’t seem likely that Russell’s going to get that far in the game and if he does, I can’t wait to see how he managed to pull off the impossible.
Plus, Russell wasn’t really in much of this episode. This episode was all Rob and I love Rob.
And then there’s Philip.
Philip is on Team Rob. He’s a tall, outspoken, bald man who happens to also be a former federal agent. I know this because he mentioned that fact a few thousand times. He also spent way too much time this episode wandering around in these saggy fuchsia briefs. Seriously, if you’re going to be on Survivor then you know you’re going to be filmed in your underwear at some point. So, seriously, give some thought to what you’re wearing underneath, okay? Me, if I’m ever on Survivor, I’m going to go on a shopping spree at Victoria’s Secret the week before I leave for the beach. Immunity Idol? Who needs an Immunity Idol when you’ve got the right bra? Seriously.
But, anyway, back to Philip. Philip is one of those priceless survivors who you hate but you hope they’re around for a really long time. Seriously, he’s so self-righteous and so full of himself and so stupid and so unaware that he makes for great reality television.
During last night’s episode, Philip “entered” into an alliance with Francesca and Kristine. Kristine had found the immunity idol (I get the feeling that nobody on the Survivor production team making much of an effort to hide them anymore) and the three of them attempted to execute a power move by voting out Rob. However, this plan fell apart at tribal council when Philip, for some reason, ended up explaining the entire plot along with mentioning that Kristine had the immunity idol. End result: Francesca was voted out. It was a classic Survivor moment, a perfect reminder of why I love this show. It’s just so shameless.
What Didn’t Work:
I’m not a huge fan of the whole idea of Redemption Island. The whole idea of a someone getting voted off the island just to get to come back later on in the game has been done before on Survivor and it didn’t work out well. The someone in question was a middle-aged woman named Lil who went through the entire game wearing a Scoutmaster’s uniform. Lil was voted off early, came back late, and nearly won simply because she hadn’t been around for the previous few weeks. It felt unfair at the time.
However, there is a huge difference in that this season, everyone knows about “the twist” whereas previously, it really was a complete surprise on everyone. Whether that’ll make a difference has yet to be seen.
Of course, it’s also rare that any of the new gimmicks on Survivor ever really make that much of a difference in the overall game. Remember Exile Island? Even more importantly, can you remember the last time that an immunity idol actually made a huge difference in the final outcome of the season? As opposed to the producers of Big Brother (who really seem to think that the audience is really into each season’s new twist), the people behind Survivor appear to understand that the main reason we watch is to see how much weight everyone loses while scheming against each other.
“Oh My God! Just like Me!” Moments
There’s always quite a few of these whenever I watch any episode of Survivor because, like a lot of reality TV fans, I tend to place myself in each episode and debate what I would have done. And while we always like to tell ourselves that we would have done the complete opposite of whatever foolishness we’ve just witnessed, we all know better. Whenever I watch this show and I see someone totally failing in a physical competition, accidentally blabbing on until everyone votes for her just to make her shut up, or have a meltdown on-screen, I know that I’m seeing what would happen if I ever actually made it onto Survivor. That’s also the same feeling that I get whenever I see some poor girl go through several episodes with a mass of pixels over either her boobs or her ass. I’ve sat there and shouted, “That would so be me!”
(Actually, I don’t do that as often ever since I was watching an episode over at my sister Melissa’s place and she said, “That already is you, Lisa Marie.”)
Anyway, on last night’s episode, I found myself hiding my face in shame as Francesca, Kristina, and Philip basically gave away their entire strategy during tribal council, announcing how they were planning to vote out Rob before anyone had actually voted and while Rob was sitting less than a foot away. That’s a perfect example of one of those moments that make us shout, “You idiots!” even though we know we’d probably make the exact same mistake.
Also, it was clear that most of Team Rob was crushing on Rob and I don’t blame them because you know what? Rob Marciano is hot! The new gray in his hair just serves to make him even hotter.
(Guys are so lucky in that regard. I thought I found a gray hair a few days ago and I ripped it out of my head and oh my God, it hurt! And then it turned out it wasn’t even gray, it was just a lighter shade of red and the light was hitting it in an awkward way.)
By the way, here’s my strategy of how I’ll win if I’m ever on Survivor: Boobs, boobs, and more boobs. Like, the whole way to tribal council, I would be the one going, “Do you really want to vote these out?” I would also probably try to fly under the radar, be everyone’s friend, and flirt a lot with all the males. Of course, once we merged, then it would be time to go all girl power and start voting them out one-by-one. But, for the most part, my strategy would come down to: boobs, boobs, boobs.
Lessons Learned:
Be wary of former federal agents in fuchsia briefs.
First we hear news that Marvel has tabbed Shane Black to be the director for the third Iron Man film. Now, Marvel has decided to unleash the second official full trailer upon the masses.
This second trailer expands on the first trailer and the Super Bowl TV Spot. There’s some new scenes added but I especially like how they’ve given a longer look at Thor fighting the Frost Giants of Jotunheim which is what will probably lead to him being banished by All-Father himself, Odin, to Earth to learn how to be a hero or some such.
There’s also more new stuff about Loki acting as the main villain of the film. I don’t consider the Destroyer as the villain but more of a tool of Loki’s. From what I could gather from this new trailer it looks like Kat Denning’s character will be the comic relief on the human side of things while Ray Stevenson’s Volstagg does it on the Asgardian side.
The film comes out in both 2D and 3D this May 6th. Let the Summer Blockbuster Wars begin!
Through the Shattered Lens 