My Favourite Films - Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

I’ll never understand why the Disney animated films of the early 2000s continue to go unappreciated (And yes, all of them will be featured on this series eventually). Yes, Lilo & Stitch is considered a classic-as it deserves to be-but what about the others? The Emperor’s New Groove is still one of the funniest films Disney has produced-hell, one of the funniest films, period. Treasure Planet is a wildly creative movie with good characters and a strong moral. And the film we’ll be talking about today, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Why is that? Why is the last batch of traditionally animated films by the Big Mouse itself buried and forgotten? It’s not that they were all poorly received by critics at the time, if anything the reception on them ranged from mixed to okay. Even the box-office wasn’t really showing, in what world does a Disney animated movie not make money!? Especially seeing as they were still riding that Disney Renaissance era. After a long run of well received, box-office hits of their traditional fairy tale musicals, Disney were finally in a place financially stable enough to experiment, and let some of their biggest filmmakers tackle projects they were really passionate about. Treasure Planet was a passion project for Ron Clements and Jon Musker that they had wanted to do for years and only after making such hits as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules were they finally allowed to do it. Emperor’s New Groove was supposed to be a traditional musical but they decided to go for a straight up slapstick comedy. And Atlantis was Disney’s attempt to make an Indiana Jones film-you know, before they ended up owning Indiana Jones-and was handed over to some of the best people in Disney’s pocket. They got the best directors, they got the best animators, they got the best voice talent, they got the best people in the industry to produce this film, heck, Disney was so confident they were already planning a spin-off TV Series and a theme park attraction. And despite all that effort, what did it end up with? Mediocre reviews from the critics and barely enough gross to break-even.

So do the critics have a point? Were audiences right? Is my love for this film mostly from a nostalgic point of view or is there something more valuable here? Well. Considering the title of this series is ‘My Favourite Films’ you probably already know the answer. But this isn’t just a case of nostalgia goggles making something seem better than it is, there is legit worth in this film and I want to explore it, I want to talk about how so many talented people came together to make a really-really good movie that deserves so much more attention. So, enough babbling, let’s get to it.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire was directed by Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise and stars Michael J Fox, Cree Summer and a whole ensemble of people. The film follows the adventures of Milo Tatch, a cartographer who is drafted into an exploration to find the lost city of Atlantis. So let’s talk about those directors, do those names sound familiar? Trousdale & Wise were some of the most acclaimed directors at Disney at the time, also directing the highly-acclaimed Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as Beauty & The Beast. You might have heard of it? The first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture? Often considered to be one of-if not-the greatest Disney films ever made? Yeah safe to say these guys were kind of well-respected at Disney, but they’re not the only talents on this film, when I say they got the best in the business, I mean they got the best in the business. The Production Designer was Mike Mignola, the creator and artist behind Hellboy, the music was composed by James Newton Howard, the first draft of the script was written by Joss Whedon, the Atlantean language was the product of Marc Okrand, the man behind Klingon. You could not ask for better people to be working on the film and boy did it pay off. But hey it’s one thing to say we’ve got a talented group, let’s actually talk about their work.

Mike Mignola’s work is of course fantastic, the man has a very distinct style in the realm of character designs, giving a lot of hard edges, lots of exaggerated features. Every character is distinct in their design and the look of Atlantis especially is beautiful, the culture, the technology, the people and it really helps make the films stand out amongst other Disney films. Lots of people complain-especially nowadays-that too many Disney characters look alike and considering that every Disney film is 3D animated these days, unfortunately that’s going to happen a lot more. This was still the time period where Disney was constantly trying new styles, it didn’t always work (Pocahontas) but at least they were trying, and it helped make all of their films stand out from one another, at least from an animation stand point, and this is just another one that falls under there.

James Newton Howard’s score is also incredible, it’s adventurous and upbeat when it needs to be, but what really stands out is the music for Atlantis itself. Everything here is so atmospheric and distinct, the use of choirs to create this spiritualistic sensation, making it seem larger than life, almost godly, it is really brilliantly done. Marc Okrand being brought on to create the language helps to flesh out the world of Atlantis and make everything seem a little bit more believable and consistent. The fact that they put so much effort into tiny little details like this really shows how hard people were working and how far they were willing to go in order to make a really good movie. Especially when it came to the culture of Atlantis, this was going to be the sticking point for a lot of people so they really saved their A-Game for that section of the film.

Moving on to my favourite part of the film, the characters, because of course those are always my favourite element to any film, this film has a wildly diverse cast, and I don’t just mean in terms of personalities-though there is plenty of that-I mean in the traditional sense. While big superhero blockbusters only seem to be able to give women and people of colour their own movies after 15 or so focusing on the white guys, this is a film filled with people of different race, nationalities, age and body types that you could practically have a UN meeting with them. Though yes the main character is still the archetypical straight white male, Milo himself is quite unconventional, he’s not a buff or traditionally handsome hero, he’s incredibly scrawny and awkward, but is the hero because of his intelligence and his bravery. Other members of the crew include Audrey: a Puerto Rican teenager who fills the role of head mechanic, who though being a tomboy never goes overboard into being stereotypical, she still has a soft side to her and is protective over Milo like he were her little brother (Even though he’s older). Sweet: A half-black, half-Native American doctor is incredibly energetic and lively, and considering this movie takes place in 1914 it’s highly unlikely he would be in the position he is but hey it’s an adventure movie, let’s just not bring that up. Vinny: An Italian demolition expert with a dead pan sense of humour who has a very interesting back story of owning a flower shop. Mole: A French Geologist, Cookie: A hillbilly cook and Bertha: an old chain-smoking radio operator, round up the eclectic gaggle of misfit crewmates who all come together for this adventure. A dysfunctional & diverse crew all going on a Fantasy adventure? Seriously it’s like this film was made specifically to tailor to me.

You might have noticed there’s one particular character that I didn’t mention and that’s because I wanted to save her for last: Kida, the Atlantean princess who discovers the crew, brings them to Atlantis and teaches them of their culture. Kida to me is one of the most underrated Disney characters of all time. Hell, it’s a wonder why she’s never featured amongst the Disney princesses. She’s a strong fighter with a kind heart, highly intelligent, acts as an actual Ambassador to her people and unlike most characters often featured in that line-up (Mulan, Belle, Cinderella) she actually is a princess! On top of that she’s also the first Disney princess of colour (So you can shut the hell up about Tiana) yet she constantly forgotten despite the fact she is breaking a lot of ground for a Disney character. She’s a three-dimensional character with plenty of admirable qualities and on top of that, her relationship with Milo is a very well developed one that plays out naturally over time, hell, they don’t even kiss at the end, they just get a hug.

While it’s not important for me that a film be diverse in order to say it’s good, it’s always a nice positive, especially when it’s done this well, no one draws attention to it in the context of the film, instead they let the characters be characters first and if it matters to the audience then they can focus on it in their own time. So if it does matter to you, and considering we live in an age where people are crying out for diversity in our cinemas then it probably does, this is a film that features more people of colour than it does white people, and that is for both the main ensemble, as well as the background characters.

I also respect how adult this film is, it was the last film Disney made where we would ever see characters smoke, but it’s more than that, we see characters bleed and even die. I know this might seem like an insignificant detail, but I always appreciate it when films take their audiences seriously, especially films aimed at children. Film should constantly challenge us and nowhere are we more challenged than as children, most films give us some new experience at the time because of our age, and I appreciated the film showing the violent aspects, it made it a more engaging and memorable experience. But it’s not overboard, it’s not trying to be edgy or controversial, it just shows enough to actually create tension and drama. Hell, the movie opens up with a mass genocide, and ends with one of the most brutal villain deaths I’ve seen in a Disney film.

Speaking of, let’s talk about them. Yeah, while overall I don’t think the criticism on this film is deserved, there are certain points of negativity that I just can’t ignore, mainly the antagonists. Not only are they the dullest characters in the film, but their motivations don’t make any sense. They just want money, I understand that, it’s the most simple and boring of all villain motivations, but why in the hell are they trying to kill Atlantis at the same time!? Hell, at the end of the movie the Atlanteans just give our heroes all of their gold, you would have been rich anyway! Why try and destroy a culture that has survived thousands of years just for a few dollars more!? I also have minor issues with how the exposition is handled, but nothing large enough to cause distain.

But to look the film as a whole? I think it is absolutely fantastic. Yes I’m sure some of my love does just come from childhood nostalgia, but I still think this film is brilliantly animated, has really unique and memorable characters, the culture of Atlantis is fleshed out, the storytelling is mature, and it really deserves to be remembered and praised more than it is. Unquestionably brilliant.

-Danny

600 Posts

You know how this goes. *Pours myself some whiskey* See ya at 700.

-Danny

My Favourite Films - Army of Darkness (1992)

A part of me really wanted to talk about Evil Dead in this series simply because it's one of my favourite stories on how a film got made and is the defining example of a passion project. Unfortunately I don't love Evil Dead. Oh I respect it a ton, and it launched the careers of several of my favourite people in the industry; but as a film, it doesn't do anything for me. However I will say that each film in the series does get better as they get better equipment and the crew behind the films expand their skillset. And despite the sequels not being as challenging as the first one, that doesn’t change the fact that these are all incredibly unique, well made passion projects, with a lot of effort and talent but behind them and is worth talking about.

Army of Darkness is a horror-comedy that was directed by Sam Raimi and stars Bruce Campbell and is the third instalment of the Evil Dead franchise. It sees our protagonist Ash Williams get sucked into a vortex and sent back to the middle ages, where he earns the respect & trust of a group a town and forms a small army to take on the Necronomicon and its army of Deadites one last time. Honestly I don’t know where to begin when it comes to talking about what’s good about this film, there’s just too much to list. I guess the best place would be with the most stunning, the effects. Now yes, usually when someone describes the effects of a movie being the best thing, that’s not usually a good signifier for the plot which…okay is technically true here, but let’s be honest, this is not a film that is all too focused on its plot. It’s like when I discussed The Addams Family, it’s a film that knows where its strengths lie and they’re going to focus on that. You can feel free to say you dislike it because it’s not giving attention to the elements that you think are most important, but you can’t actually call it a flaw in the film. The Evil Dead series is supposed to be fun, experimental, over the top gorefests that act as a treat for the eyes and a hearty laugh for the soul. Saying you dislike them because of the plot is like saying you dislike celery because it’s not spicy enough.

Oh right, I was supposed to talk about the effects. The effects in this film are incredibly, the majority is done through puppet work and stop motion animation and it gives the film a classic Ray Harryhausen feel, they’re cheesy but creative, and clearly took a lot of work. The make-up is also fantastic, particularly the make-up on Evil Ash, mostly because I did not realise that was actually Bruce Campbell under all that make-up. Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero should be commended for what they did here because it outstanding. And their work is complimented by some bizarre and unconventional cinematography that has become a staple for the Evil Dead franchise, wide-angle lenes on hand held camera moving to extreme close-ups, it certainly creates a distinct feeling for the film.

Now let’s talk about the man of the hour, Bruce Campbell, AKA Ash Williams. Often considered to be the best B-Actor in the world. Good lord, how can you not love this man? The best description of Ash I’ve ever heard is: Imagine the scariest monster you can, your own personal bogeyman; well, Ash is the man who tells the bogeyman to go fuck himself! A lot of people describe Ash as the unluckiest and stupidest hero in horror, which in some aspects he is, he is overly cocky, constantly makes mistakes, never seems to grasp the full extent of the situation he’s in…yet he’s also the most badass guy there is. The man leads an army of knights against the Deadites, fights them off with little worry, goes through so much significant pain over the course of these movies, yet here he is, still fighting and with a good quip to back him up.

“Yo, She-Bitch, let’s go!” “I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and shit... and Jack left town” and my own personal favourite “Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the gun.” Everything this man says is gold, he’s one of the most quotable characters there is. Which also helps make this one of the more entertaining films out there. I’ve stated before that the most important factor of my favourite films is rewatchability, and I never get bored of watching this film, every time I watch it with someone new they always end up enjoying it, and I just find myself appreciating it more and more. Now true, some fans of the franchise find themselves liking this one the least because for a horror franchise, it’s not exactly scary. It certainly has some gothic and dark imagery, but nothing to the extent that it would actually frighten someone. For a horror/comedy, it’s a film that much more focuses on the comedy than the horror. Personally this never bothered me because, I never found the Evil Dead franchise scary, I always appreciated the comedy aspects more. So of course when I would find more love for the film that focuses on the comedy more so than the others.

In the end, this is one of those films where you can see the passion and creativity in every single millimetre of film. The effects are an enjoyable send-off to classic Claymation, the dialogue is whitty and memorable, the main character a brilliant mix between foolish and badass. But most of all the effort put behind this film, it is so unique a product that even with its flaws, I am more than willing to overlook them, just simply out of respect for the filmmakers. I love this film, and is of course, one of my favourites.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #7

Considering how much promotional material came out last week (Plus with the ending of Legends) I could have sworn the big crossover was happening this week. Gotta say I'm pretty disappointed, I was surprisingly looking forward to the crossover event. Oh well, guess it's just another week to go...of only two shows this week, well damn.



Supergirl 'The Darkest Place' Review
I'll give this episode credit, they finally made Cadmus seem like a legitimate threat. Kidnapping both Mon-El and Supergirl, draining her of her powers, taking her blood, building Cyborg Superman, yeah, good week to be Cadmus. Then we had J'onn finding out M'gann was a White Martian and that played out exactly as I would have wanted it to. He freaks out and tries to murder her, she does nothing to defend herself. However, I do have to call BS on the wrongful imprisonment, he has no right to apart from his own prejudice, pretty sure Kara & Alex ain't gonna be too happy about that. Finally, a super pointless subplot about Guardian dealing with a fellow vigilante. Goddammit, even when you make him interesting, you find a way to make him un-interesting again. This is such an overdone plotline in superhero stories, the copycat superhero that ruins the original's reputation-hell Arrow has done this at least 5 times-so please, for the love of god, do something interesting with Jimmy finally or just get rid of him. In the end, if it weren't for the Jimmy plotline, I would have no issues with this episode, but I am starting to have less and less tolerance for him. 7/10.

The Flash 'Killer Frost' Review
Did they ever actually establish a reason why Caitlin's powers effect her personality? I mean no one else's personality changes from their superpowers, what makes her's so different? Also god-fucking-dammit another speedster!? I don't care if this one is the "God of speed" or any shit like that, I am sick to fucking death of these fucking speedsters being the fucking villains on this fucking show. And oh, Julian turned out to be Alchemy, whoda fuckin' guessed that!? The only good things about this episode is everyone calling out Barry on his shit. But even then, I kind of hate it because Barry is such a fucking dumbass and I am sick of it! Caitlin calls him out on his shit for doing whatever benefits him, Cisco calls him out on his shit for lying to him, Julian calls him out on his shit for being bad at his job. I've been complaining about Wally, Iris and HR a lot, when really I should have been complaining about Barry for being an idiotic piece of shit. He's the hero of the show, and he's one of my favourite fictional characters, stop being awful!

I hate this episode. I hated Barry. I hated Killer Frost. I hated Savitar. I-haaaaaate-this episode. 1/10.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #6

Ehh, that title was too long to write out every week, let's just settle with this. It's quicker to write and having them numbered still means it's easy to organise.








Supergirl 'Changing' Review
Wow, stuff happening, welcome back. What stuff exactly? Well, Alex coming out to Kara finally, so hopefully this story will go somewhere. I know a lot of people were really happy with how it was handled, but for me personally, it played out exactly how I expected it to. They were so unsubtle about foreshadowing this moment that there was no dramatic build up and of course Kara was going to be fine with it, she's frickin Supergirl. But hey, it happened and I can understand if it meant a lot to people, I just didn't care. Then there was the contintuation of Mon-El's story of him being kind of an asshole but trying to improve himself...only to get kidnapped by Cadmus, that sucks. Also James is finally doing stuff. Seriously, I feel like the writers so desperately want to drop everything with Catco so much that they made James Guardian. Which being honest, is a storyline that I did not think would work, but seeing him in action against Parasite...he wasn't half bad, also he & Winn are gonna be superfriends, yay. Parasite as a villain is interesting, he's always been one of my favourite concepts but two things about this didn't work for me. One: The whole environment angle...it's not 1996 anymore, everyone knows climate change is a real thing-unless you're a republican. Two: Supergirl killed him off...and didn't seem all too fussed about it. I know it's been said to death, but THE SUPER FAMILY DOESN'T KILL! Eh, I can't be bothered to get into it, this quick summary is already getting too long. The story was really well done for everyone...except for the villain, that just seems...baffling. 8/10.

The Flash 'Shade' Review
The fact that they're making it so obvious that Tom Felton is Alchemy must be a misdirection right? They have to have more faith in their audiences intelligence than this? Why do I have a feeling I'm about to be severely let down? Speaking of being let down, hey, Flash writers, bit of advice STOP WRITING WALLY TERRIBLY! "Why didn't you tell me?" "How do we know he's telling the truth?" "You don't trust me" my god he could not be a more whiney, selfish, idiotic brat if he tried. Wally West is my first and favourite Flash, please for the love of god stop making him awful and annoying. But to end this on a good note, Caitlin finally revealed to Cisco that she has super powers and the two of them are probably going to fight it out, because not enough superheroes have fought each other in 2016. While granted I think Caitlin should have being honest from the beginning, and Cisco was a dick for telling everyone, this is actually the plot I am most looking forward to seeing get explored this season and I'm really curious on how it turns out. Please don't suck. So, to recap, 2/3 of this episode sucked, while 1/3 was pretty good. 4/10.

Arrow 'Vigilante' Review
Back when they first announced Artemis for the show (Even if this isn't technically Artemis) I was excited but I knew they'd find a way to fuck it up...they fucked it up. You had to make her a spy? Really? Eh I guess it's not fair to complain when we don't know exactly know how this is gonna play out. What I can complain about is the titular character of this episode. Vigilante. For one: Why keep it a secret what his identity is when people can just google it and see which character it is, unless this is another misdirect. Oh also, the most interesting thing about Vigilante as a character is his suit and stereotypical cowboy persona and you took away both of them! I suddenly have no interest in this character anymore. Finally, Quentin and Thea...can you actually involve them in the plot, I mean yeah they're finally involved to an extent but make it more prominent please. This episode was so-so, nothing actually bad, but certainly has the potential to be setting up bad things in the future, and nothing stood out as being that good either, except for Vigilante claiming he's on Team Arrow's side, to which Curtis responds "Then stop shooting us!" solid logic. 5/10.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Outlaw Country' Review
Yet again, more of what I want to see in this series, fun adventures throughout time & space, and what better place than the Old West? Also, yay Jonah Hex is back, good for him. Actually, to talk about some serious character development that I want to see explored more is Mick's depression. The whole season he's been struggling to cope with the fact his best friend died and has tried several outlets to deal with it. He tried ignoring it, talking about it, moving on, but none of it has worked. In this episode, it seems as though he's giving up, seemingly having no interest in self-preservation and just throws himself into booze and violence, if he dies then so be it. This is heavy stuff, and is serious development for Mick as a character, and most importantly, it feels completely natural and earned. You know despite my praise for the fun and wacky stuff, this show sure has dealt with a lot of heavy shit this season, and it's actually dealing with it well? Wow I did not see that coming. 8/10.

-Danny

My Favourite Films - Dear Zachary (2008)

It feels very bizarre to call something like this one of my favourite films, after all, in this series I mostly talk about the ones that leave me with a good feeling, ones that make me laugh, make me think about life, or ones that I simply enjoy watching repeatedly. Dear Zachary left me feeling angry, it left me feeling hateful, it left me feeling like the world was broken, idiot and corrupt…But to be fair that’s what they’re trying to make feel so good job guys!

Dear Zachary is a documentary directed by Kurt Kuenne and follows the story of Andrew Bagby, a man who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend who is pregnant with his child. Thus the story is half exploring Andrew’s life and all the people who cared about him, and half his parents fighting for custody over their grandchild. This is one of the most emotionally heart wrenching films I have ever seen (As you could probably guess from the previous paragraph) and the key component that makes that so if within the directing. The director was actually childhood best friends with the victim and even though they went their separate ways, after his death he started to learn so much about Andrew’s life and wanted to make a film for Zachary-Andrew’s son-so he would know how good of a man his father was. Because of that the emotions in this film very genuine-even for a documentary-and everyone involved absolutely put everything they can into making this as good as possible. Now yes, some might say that gives the film something of a biased agenda, but that is true for almost every documentary ever, this one is just a lot more upfront about it.

Though Andrew is shown in a very positive light, it’s always in a realistic manner, they never claim he was a saint, they don’t make him seem flawless, but they show that overall he was a very good person who cared about making people happy. He was funny, he was caring and he was sociable so he that meant lots of people cared about him and he did impact a lot of people’s lives. He wasn’t going to be the next Martin Luther King or anything, but he did leave this world making it a little better than before and that’s still important. The other side of the film focusing on Andrew’s parents David & Kathleen however I would actually say is the more emotional aspect of the film. My favourite types of documentaries are the ones where they’re filming it as it’s happening, meaning it’s much harder to tell where things are going because the people they’re following don’t know where things are going.

Seeing these two fight so hard for custody over their grandchild and having to face an ignorantly corrupt system that keeps favouring this mother, keeps just giving her slaps on the wrist despite the fact she is a convicted murderer. If you don’t already hate the system, you will after this film, seeing how so many people who are in charge of convicting criminals, keeping innocent people safe can be so naïve, stupid and sympathetic to the completely wrong people. Speaking of hate, I don’t care if you are the most forgiving, kind, non-violent person in the world, after watching this film, you will hate Shirley Turner-the murderer-more than you would think humanly possible. The way how this woman did not pay for her actions, or how she doesn’t even seem to realize how awful of a person she is, or how much pain she brought into people’s lives, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much hatred for a person from a documentary.

But that is the key here, there are plenty of documentaries out there that I would call fascinating, but there aren’t that many where I would get emotional over. With this, I was literally shaking with anger, I don’t think I’ve ever been so overwhelmed with emotion at a film before, whether it be sadness, fear or rage over what was happening. A lot of this is done through editing, paralleling events from the film to show yet again how awful the system is, unfortunately a lot of this is in ways that I can’t really delve into because I don’t want to spoil how the film ends, like I said, I love these types of documentaries because I don’t know where it’s going and I wouldn’t want to take that away from anyone.

Unfortunately, that makes it so much harder to discuss the film because I don’t want to give that much away. Also seeing as it’s a documentary there isn’t as much to discuss in comparison to a piece of fiction, there’s no acting or script to discuss so all I have is the directing, editing and how it made me feel and I’ve already discussed those. So if any of what I’ve said sounds interesting to you and you’re ready to be an emotional wreck after watching this film then I would highly recommend it, because it is my all time favourite documentary.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Miss Martian

The last two characters to be featured on this series are both teenage superheroes with "Miss" in the title. Coincidence? Actually it's just because I'm sill hyped about Young Justice coming back so I wanted to talk more about it, so, let's discuss my favourite character from the series, Miss Martian.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Miss Martian AKA Megan AKA M'Gann M'orzz is the niece of founding Justice League member Martian Manhunter who is invited to join Young Justice in order to learn more about humans and Earth Culture. Now when we first meet her she is a very perky, upbeat character who feels like she belongs in a bad sitcom from the 70s...Only for it to turn out that is exactly what she based her own personality on. One of my favourite little touches with Martian culture is how they interpret Earth culture, so for them, cheesy sitcoms from the 70s are magnificent works of art, and M'Gann saw a character in one of these shows and based everything from her looks to her personality all on the main character Megan from the show "Hello, Megan!". But she didn't just do this because she thought this was what a cool person was supposed to be, but because she has a deep dark secret.

Miss Martian is not actually a Green Martian, but a White Martian, a race of creatures who are considered disgusting, violent, untrustworthy, hideous and is something she is incredibly ashamed of, so she lies about her true identity to everyone. However, in the episode where this is brought up, in any other cartoon this would be the one where she's honest about her true form and would no longer be ashamed...but she doesn't. She is still ashamed of who she is that she lies to her friends, hell, later on in the show, she goes as far to knock her friends unconscious and alter their memories so they don't find out.

This is all why I love Miss Martian as a character, though overall as a person she is incredibly kind and innocent and loveable, she has so much darkness suppressed in side of her and has done some seriously questionable things. In season two when she thinks Aqualad murdered one of their friends, she has absolutely no quarrel with attempting to kill him, by invading his mind, torturing him and putting him in a coma, and if she didn't find out the truth, she absolutely would have gone far enough to do just that.

Though most of the Young Justice characters are fantastic, it's Miss Martian that stands out for being one of those characters that I didn't know that much about beforehand, but what I did know about her did not impress me. Here they've transformed her into someone who can be genuinely kind and optimistic, but has a seriously messed up side to her that feels perfectly natural considering her background. That contrast between the two sides of her is what makes such such a fascinating character to watch and is also the biggest improvement from her comic book counterpart.

-Danny

Justice League Action is NOT Teen Titans Go!

Collider recently published an article showing several new clips from the upcoming DC Animated Series and they claimed the series seems much more like Teen Titans Go rather than the original Justice League Unlimited. And I am here to say that is a load of bullcrap. Yes this series looks more to be a quick fun adventure series (After all, each episode will only be 11 mins) but there's a difference between being a superhero show with a sense of humour, and being TTG. People forget that the original JL series also had a sense of humour, hell, there's an episode where Wonder Woman gets turned into a pig and the only way for Batman to save her is to sing karaoke...I'm not even exaggerating!

TTG however is nothing but an ADHD sugar rush, no rhyme or reason to the jokes, just "lOL, rAnDom=FuNNy!". There's nothing wrong with the series having a sense of humour, because if you pay attention to these clips, it's only the characters that already have a sense of humour, Joker, Flash, Cyborg, Toyman, they're the ones making jokes; Batman's still his super serious self. Superman & Wonder Woman don't get enough to say to judge their personalities, but I'm just going to hope they got em right. Hell if anything, with the quick animation, pacing and tone, this looks a lot more like the original Teen Titans series rather than Teen Titans Go, and that ain't a bad thing.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly Round-Up 8/11/16-14/11/16

Trump gets elected and no new Flash. Wow this week sucks.

Supergirl 'Crossfire' Review
Oh yeah, Cadmus is a thing, I completely blanked on that last week when I said Supergirl hasn't established a main villain. Maybe it's because everything about Cadmus is reeeeeeeaaaaally dumb. Trying to establish yourselves as the good guys by hacking every monitor and leaving a very ominous and threatening message? Or how about trying to show how dangerous alien tech is by...giving it to any random crook who really don't seem trustworthy at all and Supergirl could take them down within seconds if it wasn't for bad writing? Wow these guys are so dumb. Also is it me or-now I could be wrong on this-but does anyone else have the slightest suspicion that maybe-just possibly-they're hinting that Alex might be gay? I mean the clues are there, despite how well hidden they may be. But in all seriousness, if they wanna make Alex gay then fine, I just wish if they wanted to play it out over several episodes make it feel more natural. If you're going to be as obvious as you are just make her gay already and give her the girlfriend so that story can actually go somewhere. And Jimmy suddenly wants to be a superhero because...he ain't got anything else to do in this show. Oh and Mon-El is kind of a douche...why is he here? Well, it was a good run while it lasted, but Supergirl has finally had a bad episode. If I were to compliment anything I'd say the comedy is better than usual, but that's about it. Everything else just screams rushed writing and is super duper dumb. 3/10.

Arrow 'So It Begins' Review
A shocking revelation this week on Arrow, Oliver keeps secrets from people!...I'm not even gonna complain, at this point i've complained about it so much it's almost as old as the plotline itself. Oh, and a weird riot ensues where people start shooting at nothing, and people are just running over each other for no reason...man that was such a weird fucking scene. In fact the only stand out scene from this episode is the reveal that Lance is Prometheus, not gonna lie, I didn't see that coming. I doubt he actually is Prometheus, but hey, a twist is a twist. But apart from that, yeah there was nothing new or even enjoyable in this episode. 3/10.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Compromised' Review
I was ready to tear into this episode before watching it if they didn't finally address the Legion of Doom in someway, or give us more information on Rip Hunter. Well, we finally get something. We've seen little glimpses of Darhk and Thawne working in the shadows, but it's about time they finally progressed that story, so here we see the two have begun time travelling together with the plan to...actually i'm not sure. I'm guessing hunt down the Legends, but I would hope they have more in mind. Also, Mick facing imminent death? Decides to casually eat a doughnut, nice. By the way what was the point in Martin Stein meeting his former self again? It doesn't change or develop our Martin by him seeing his old self, he's completely in the right about everything, the development is for his younger self...a stand alone character...why should we care!? Speaking of character development, it's nice to see Amaya get some development of her own, seeing her officially move on from the JSA and officially becoming a Legend, hopefully this'll make her feel more like a real member. Also her 80s hair was fantastic. Overall there was some nice development for certain characters and...not so good development for other characters. 5/10.

-Danny

Should Rhodey Have Died in Civil War?

One of the bigger issues with the Marvel films is that everyone is seemingly invincible. Characters die...only to be revealed they're alive later on in the film. The only character to have died and stayed dead (So far) is Quicksilver. So because of this, when Rhodey AKA War Machine gets seriously injured and disabled in Civil War, a lot of people felt they might as well have killed him off. Hell, if anything that would have left so much more of an emotional impact, up until then Steve was just an annoyance to the accords, but if his actions caused the death of Tony's best friend, there would have been hell to pay.

But this is a sentiment that I disagree with, yeah, for once I'm actually glad they didn't kill off a character. Firstly, the death of Tony's best friend would have softened the blow later on when he finds out Bucky killed his parents. Now you might so for Tony's character that it would just build on his already existing fury, but for us, using the same tactic twice would mean the second time wouldn't have been as effective. The first blow is always the hardest, so saving that for the end when Tony, Steve & Bucky are all together so the emotions are high and the tension is hot. It's like why they didn't kill off Han Solo in Return of the Jedi, because they already killed off Darth Vader, and to have two characters die means they would have to go through the same beats twice so neither is as effective as they could have been.

Even more so, his survival is important for the team as a whole. Don't forget, Team Iron Man won the fight, yet you see the ending, they're all separated and contemplating if they did the right thing. It's here that a crippled Rhodey is telling Tony that they absolutely did the right thing. Even though he suffered the most physically from the fight, he is adamant that they fought for the right thing, and he doesn't regret it, even if it lead to him nearly dying. So for me, this character does a lot more for Tony and the team itself by being alive, if he doesn't regret their choices then there's hope for the others to come round too.

-Danny

The Ending to Rocky II is Perfect

We need a win. We really do. So let's talk about one of the best and most well deserved wins in history...too bad it's fictional. I know that a lot of people have issues with the ending to Rocky II, because Rocky I was never about him winning the fight. He had the girl, he had the friends, and he proved that even if he lost, he went toe to toe with the world champion and lasted till the final round, that in itself is more than enough victory for him. But let's be honest, we all love a real victory too. Though to be fair, I am glad they waited until the second film to actually let Rocky take the win, because that way it feels so much more earned. With these two films we see the highs and lows of Rocky's life, we've seen how much we wants to win, and how hard he tries to win. How much effort and passion goes into this, how no matter how much he falls down he will always get back up, and for someone who came from the slums with nothing of value, became the top of his league and just for a little while, he felt like the whole world was cheering him on.

We also get to see the best performance from Stallone in his entire career. Now Rocky is obviously his defining role, it's the one he's most passionate about and even when the films are shitty, he always did his damn best in every performance. Showing the strengths and weaknesses of this character, making him admirable and identifiable (Which is why it's total bullshit he didn't win at the Oscars for Creed!). Throughout this film we get to see so many sides of Rocky, his shy side, his cocky side, his depressed side, and his overwhelmed with pure ecstasy side. And you know what? I'm not even the biggest Rocky fan, each one had things I liked & disliked, I'm glad I saw them and will defend Rocky IV for eternity, but truth be told I didn't ever actually get that invested in the story...Except for this scene. Everything from the first two films built up to this one perfect moment, the pacing made us wait patiently for this, the music overwhelms us with joy when he wins, but most of all that final line. The best final line in any film, with the best delivery in Stallone's career. After giving his victory speech he simply holds up the belt and shouts "Yo Adrian! I did it!" and the crack in his voice in that line, you feel all the emotions going through Rocky there. The sheer disbelief that this is actually happening, the effort in holding back those tears, the pure bliss and pride he's experiencing, all from just 5 simple words.

I would usually put a clip so people could watch it, but honestly, you have to earn this moment the same way Rocky did. Go out, watch the first two films, see his experience first hand, know the character, know his struggles and deserve the chance to see how it all pays off. Because trust me, it is worth it.

-Danny

Juno is the Autumn of Movies

Continuing my over-indulgence of escapist fiction in order to get away from a terrifying reality that I have no control over. We all have those comfort movies, films that we watch over and over again, and for one reason or another we just feel comforted by them. Maybe it's a message that strikes a chord with your life. Maybe it's just a really good comedy that makes you laugh and forget about the pain. For me, one of those movies-and probably my go to comfort movie-is Juno. But it's hard to say why. I know exactly why I love Juno as a movie, it has some of the most relatable characters put to screen in relation to who I am as a person, it has an amazing cast, whitty and quotable dialogue, everything a great movie needs. But none of those things I find comforting, so what does?

Well if you were confused by title, it does involve Autumn. Autumn is not my favourite season, but it is certainly the most relaxing. Life seems just less stressful and extreme during Autumn, the weather is far more neutral so you can go out in a t-shirt or a jacket, whatever you feel more comfortable in, yet with the leaves changing, the world just has a warm glow to it. It even smells different, as if everywhere you go someone has just lit a scented candle. It's also a time where you can spend an equal amount of time indoors or outdoors. In Summer, you're told to spend as much time outdoors as possible and in Winter you're supposed to be indoors, Autumn has it either way depending on what you want.

Because of all this and more, life just feels so much more comfortable during Autumn. So when I say Juno is the Autumn of Movies, I mean that is the exact same feeling I get from this film. Even though the film takes place over the course of 9 months, it feels like it all takes place in Autumn. It's shot with a warm glow, the characters are always dressed in Autumn appropriate attire, no matter the season. Even the soundtrack is very soothing and mellow to help set the mood. Even more so, the plot isn't very high stakes, writers are always told that a film has to be as big as possible, everything needs tension and drama, but this film doesn't really have that. Sure, some conflict is brought in near the end of the movie, but for the majority, it's just Juno dealing with her pregnancy and all the things that entails. Instead of relying on contrived plot points and a formulaic narrative, the film instead ops for something much more relaxing and easy to digest, making it much more about the characters and dialogue than the story.

Some might call this bad, even pointless, but for me, there's enough on the technical side of things to call it great, like I said, the acting, the dialogue, the characters. But the fact that it is so low-stakes and such an easy watch makes me come back to it over and over again and just finding comfort in these characters and this environment. Re-watchability is a major factor in me loving a movie, and if this is a film that I can see 1000 times and still get that same feeling I did on my first watch, how can I say I don't love this movie? And in times like this, we all need just a little bit of comfort.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Ms Marvel

Yeah I'm still reeling it in from yesterday. I imagine this will be going on for the next 4 years. Like I said, I'm throwing myself into a lot of escapist fiction to escape this new world we've entered, one where an absolute racist, homophobic, sexist pig is now one of the most powerful men on the planet. So if we have a real life super villain, let us turn to our superheroes, and who would be a better person to talk about than Kamala Khan, AKA Ms Marvel.

Despite only being around for a couple of years, Ms Marvel has taken off and is one of the most popular comics that Marvel is currently publishing. Of course at first she received lots of attention for being the first Muslim superhero to get her own book, but it was made evident fairly quickly that she was going to be much more than that. When I think of Ms Marvel, the first word that comes to my mind is "dork" because that's what she is. She's a nerd, she writes fanfic, she's awkward and makes lots of mistakes. Even the artwork usually supports that frame, at times looking much more cartoonish and exaggerated than it does realistic. And even though her religion isn't her defining feature, it certainly plays a part in her character, she does still pray, she has to wear certain clothing and speaks in another language when with family. Though I'm not going to say it's an accurate representation because I am wildly under-educated when it comes to the Muslim religion, but seeing as it's being written by a Muslim woman, I'm going to assume it's fairly accurate. It may not be her defining feature, but it plays a similar role to Daredevil being Catholic, or Magneto being Jewish.

Actually the religious aspects do play a role thematically in the series that is actually quite brilliant. Usually in series like this, if there's a certain message they want to get across then it can feel quite ham-fisted or forced, but in this case it balances out quite well. Ms Marvel is also an Inhuman, and at one point in the series she's forced to fight another Inhuman and she calls her out on the damage she'll be doing will be more than just physical, but an entire culture of people will suffer for one's bad actions (I get it!). In fact Ms Marvel has been quite the activist these days. Going against her idol Captain Marvel when she disagrees with her philosophy, leaving The Avengers when she feels they can do so much more to help, and not just by punching bad guys, but actually helping the community and victims. Kamala is not someone who would blindly follow leaders, even people she's looked up to her entire life. She is still her own person, she considers other perspectives and always tries to do the right thing, even when she has to go against her own self-interest, or those closest too her.

Superheroes aren't just escapist fiction where we fantasise about being them because it'll be fun, they're also there to teach us, help us. It's more than just the powers, we want to be these people because that would make us better people. Ms Marvel is a young superhero who threw herself into the deep end and came out a strong, brave, idealistic hero who does everything in her power to help others. As Kamala Khan she is incredibly funny and relatable to the reader without ever feeling pandering and like the best of superheroes, I wish I was more like her, because if we had a few more Kamala Khans in the world, maybe it wouldn't be the shit show that it is today.

-Danny

Why Marvel's Champions Is The Book I Need Right Now

On a day like this I was going to do an open letter type thing talking about how straight white guys, despite lots being awesome people, they are ruining the world, if this US election doesn't already show that. But I just couldn't find it in myself to publish that because it's been less than 12 hours and I am tired. I'm tired of all the grief and pain the next 4 years are going to be for anyone of colour, anyone who is part of the LGBT+ community and anyone with a different religion in what I legit fear might become a totalitarian state that is called the USA. Even though I'm not from America, this affects more than just them, and that's even scarier. World War 3 could be a thing and I didn't even have a vote to stop it...Wait I said I didn't want to talk about this election. Point is: EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!

There have been 2 major votes in the Western World this year, the Presidential Election in the US, and the EU Referendum in the UK. Both of which turned out the results that no one thought was possible, the bad guys one. Now everyone knows who is racist, sexist, just plain stupid depending on who they voted for. But one of the biggest distinctions that has been pointed out in both elections is the big difference in age. For the UK, the majority of millennials voted to stay in the EU, while the baby boomers voted out. While in the US, the millennials voted for Hillary almost unanimously for Hillary. This shows a few things, mostly I cannot wait for baby boomers to die off and stop making the planet worse for the next generation, because my generation is just objectively less bigoted than the prior generations. And yes that might seem like a generalisation, but you can't argue with facts (Unless you're a republican it seems). This is a trend that has been going on for decades now, each generation getting just a little bit less bigoted than the last. Except for this generation, we've now been forced to go back several decades because apparently baby boomers didn't think it was enough to ruin the economy, the housing market and education, they had to go ahead and get one last hoorah for racism in before they finally went into the shallow graves where they belong.


I should probably get to the point of this post. So yeah, when terrible things like this happen, I like to throw myself into escapist fiction, like most do. And recently I've been reading Marvel's Champions, now even though it's only 2 issues in, this seems like the exact comic book I needed. The series is about a group of teenage superheroes (Ms Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Viv, Hulk & Cyclops) splitting off and forming their own team because the adult superheroes are just fucking everything up. So yeah, you can probably guess why I appreciate this book. In a time where the media is constantly putting down millennials for no actual good reason, I just needed something to say "You have it right. You're all doing more to help this world". Yes everyone says you shouldn't live inside of a bubble and it's important to expose yourself to different opinions in order to grow as a person, and I will do that when the media actual gives actual criticisms on a generation that has done nothing wrong. ("Why aren't millennials buying diamonds" That was an actual headline people! Are you fucking kidding me!).

I understand this post was kind of all over the place, in fact I talked more about the election and the generational gap than I did the actual comic, but it's kind of a stressful day and I just wanted to vent about it. So to sum up, if you too are sick of our generation constantly being unfairly put down, read Champions for just a little bit of reassurance. Our generation is important, and we are going to do so much more than those before us, or at the very least, not fuck it up immensely like they did.

-Danny

Young Justice Season 3 Confirmed! Stay Whelmed!

It was announced last night that Young Justice will finally be getting a third season. For those of you that aren't aware, Young Justice was a DC Animated Series that ran from 2010 to 2013 when it was sadly cancelled due to poor merchandising sales. However, it also has a very passionate fanbase who have been petitioning for a 3rd season for years now, something the crew behind the show have also been hoping to do. Finally, our prayers have been answered, Sam Register the President of Warner Bros. Animation announced that the show will be coming back, with showrunners Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman returning.

Though it has not been said when it will be returning or on what platform, it is rumoured to be returning to Netflix. Most of the cries for a third season came after the show was released on Netflix and even if the specific numbers haven't been released, it had very high viewership figured that lead to months of speculation on if Netflix was planning on picking the show up.

Well it's about time something good came out of 2016, I am so excited about this because it's just one of those things that rarely actually happens, a TV show returning from cancellation 3 years after it was cancelled? That's one show a decade level rare. Young Justice was honestly a phenomenal show that I have gone back to rewatch half a dozen times so I can not express how happy I am for this to actually happen and I will be waiting patiently for its return.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly Round-Up 1/11/16 - 7/11/16

Supergirl 'Survivors' Review
Wow, we're 4 episodes in and no major villain has been introduced, in fact the season long story arc this season seems to be more based around a politically charged concept, that being of alien immigration...I actually really like that. This season so far has been putting a lot of emphasis on fleshing out aliens, they're no longer just villains of the week like last season, they're people who live here, having struggles and this show is addressing how life would need to change, what new laws need to be introduced, how to deal with this. This episode in particular had a lot to say about that, introducing Roulette (One of my fav underrated villains) taking advantage and starting an alien fight club of alien on alien violence. The metaphors here are prominent but not exactly subtle, not that I was expecting them to be. On top of that we had a lot of alien friendships being made, Kara & Mon-El finally come to terms and actually show signs of friendship. While J'onn and M'gann are trying to find a good balance of what each other wants, and then of course the big twist that M'gann is a White Martian which hooboy I can't wait to see where that leads. However yet again the biggest flaw is Kara being a reporter, seriously you have an alien fight club, why would struggling to get a story done be even remotely interesting in comparison!? This was a really solid and well written episode apart from that one subplot. 8/10.

The Flash 'Monster' Review
The Flash meets Cloverfield? Count me in! Though really the stand out story here is Caitlin losing control of her powers and becoming more and more dangerous. The reason why I like it is because One: It's not about her having a boyfriend and Two: I like seeing how proactive she is on her own, but when she runs out of options she goes to the one person skilled enough to help, her mother, who she hates. While granted the issues & fixes between the two felt very forced, I still like seeing how much Caitlin has to do this year. Speaking of forcefully fixed relationships, I really wish they had waited a little longer for Barry and Julian to get along, it would have been fine if this episode just had Barry save his life and then at the end Julian gives the speech about wanting to be useful (Great scene by the way) enough to make them get along, but friendship takes time to develop. Also I'll say it, I don't like HR. Firstly he's not a scientist so he is useless to have on the team, but I think the friendship with Harry worked so well, but to be fair I also didn't like Harry when he first showed up so maybe things will be better as the show goes along. 6/10.

Arrow 'Human Target' Review
Well then, lots happened here. Wild Dog got some actual development as a character, Church finds out Oliver's secret identity and gets killed by Prometheus, Team Arrow got to be badasses without fucking up and getting berated. All in all a pretty well done episode...with one major problem. Who the hell is The Human Target!? Yeah I know he's an established character in the comic books but in context of the show we have no idea who he is! How did they find him? How can he make masks to look like everyone? How did he survive several bullets to the chest? Why does Oliver trust him with his secret identity? I have so many questions! But yeah, apart from this...very baffling plot point, a really good episode. 7/10.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Abominations' Review
Boy do I feel under-qualified to talk about an episode dealing with a very serious topic. Travelling back to the deep south during the Civil War, Jax experiences the trauma and disgust of slavery first hand, because it's one thing to hear about it, but seeing it happen I imagine would change a man. I will say it is nice to have an episode focusing on Jax outside of his connection to Martin, and the theme of even when faced with the worst of humanity these slaves did not lose hope, they did not break and there is something inspiring in that. Oh yeah, we also have Confederate Zombies, because of course we do. See this is where I'm split on the episode because they're offering me two really good things, but they just don't go together. One side is a serious discussion of slavery and racism, and the other is the stupid yet insanely fun plot that I expect from this show. It's like bacon and ice cream, both are great, doesn't mean you should combine them. But even if they don't always blend, good is still good. 7/10.

My Favourite Films - The Addams Family (1991)

I think I’ve well established my love for happy characters. Because I’m sick of stories that think a character can’t be happy and interesting. Superman, Elwood P Dowd, Steven Universe, they are all generally happy people and are some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever seen. The Addams Family are sort of the same, but not in the way you would expect them to be.

The Addams Family was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and stars Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston & Christopher Lloyd. It’s based on the comic strip from The New Yorker in the late 1930s, though takes more after the 1960s TV Series. The film follows the titular family, a group of gothic, twisted yet overall pleasant family that don’t fit in with societies norms. Though that’s more of the basic concept behind the family, there is an actual plot to the film, but let’s be honest no one cares. The Addams Family is not a film (Or even concept) that relies on plot, but rather characters, seeing the members of the Addams Family interacting with one another or with regular people, that’s the draw and that’s the best thing about the film. Heck, the film seems to care so little for the plot it almost forgets to have a climax and resolution, they throw in the most half-arsed explanation for everything as a joke, as if they’re saying “We don’t care. You don’t care. Let’s just get back to what you’re here for” and I actually appreciate that mindset. Knowing where your strongest elements are and choosing to focus on that instead of conventional narrative. If anything that’s thematically fitting, The Addams Family are not a conventional family, they don’t want to be a conventional family, they do what they think is fun and are proud of it, so it makes perfect sense for their film to represent that. I’m not sure if this was intentional or just a coincidence but either way it works really well.

But to go back to what I opened this with, unlike the other happy characters I mentioned, The Addams Family are a dark & twisted group of people, loving torture, gothic imagery, constantly harming one another, and they are having so much fun while doing it. They never do anything mean spirited because everything is consensual and confined to just other members of the family. It’s morbid yet pleasant, dark yet charming, gothic yet heart-warming. There’s also something to be said about where the actual humour comes from; never in the film are we meant to laugh at the family, we’re never going “oh teehee, aren’t they so bizarre?” the victim of the joke are always normal people, the ones who are uncomfortable with the fact the Addams Family are spooky but are completely comfortable with themselves. But it’s never mean spirited, anytime the family hurt or scare someone it’s always accidental, and really they’re not doing anything wrong, they’re just exposing their world view to others and the contrast is where the humour comes from. Hell, I think this might be the only family movie with an S&M joke in it.

Especially when you take into consideration the standard tropes of the sitcom family that the original TV show subverted and the film carries over. There aren’t any jokes about the mother-in-law, or the slob of a husband with a nagging housewife and delinquent kids. The family themselves get along extremely well, they love each other and the only time there is ever actually anything that bothers them is when someone in the family is in trouble. Both Mortecia and Gomez, the parents of the family not only have an incredibly lively and passionate relationship-both emotionally and physically-but the two spend an equal amount of time taking care of their kids and acting like real parents. The kids themselves also get along really well, despite always attempted to murder each other, but to them it’s just a game, they never bicker or bully one another.

Lots of people like to complain that cinema is in a broken age of nostalgia, rebooting things from the 80s & 90s as a way to make a quick buck, even if the product themselves isn’t any good. But people seem to forget that Hollywood has been doing this for decades now. The Flintstones, Wild Wild West, Lost in Space, all 90s films based on 60s/70s properties and most of them were absolutely terrible. The Addams Family was not only one of the first ones, but is also one of the best. An adaptation that shows the people behind it understood what made the original so successful and also going against typical Hollywood conventions, refusing to change it for the sake of seeming more modern. Well okay there are some jokes based on “modern” events but they never seem like they don’t fit, it’s all about the contrast of normality vs The Addams Family. And yes while it does technically have a plot with drama and an act structure and a climax and all that stuff, like I said, that gets such little focus they might as well not have bothered. I get the sense this was Hollywood producers telling them they needed to have an actual plot so the crew just made the weakest plot needed and said “There ya go, can we go have fun now?”.

The final note to mention is the casting, which is pitch-fucking-perfect. Almost everyone in this film plays their roles exactly how they were in the original show and even surpasses them. Raúl Juliá as Gomez is an over the top manchild who loves expressing his passion for life. Anjelica Huston as Morticia is gleefully monotone with a subtle confidence to her body language. But let’s be honest the best thing about this franchise was Christina Ricci as Wednesday, her sadistic and homicidal behaviour with almost zero fucks to give about anything makes her perfect for this. Lots of people like to describe an actor as being “born for the role” but if it was revealed Ricci was created and moulded by god himself just so she would be a perfect fit for this role, I’d believe it.

The Addams Family almost has no right to be as good as it actually is, it’s a product of two massively terrible trends in the 90s, nostalgia driven adaptations of classic TV shows and heavily gothic based films made to rip-off Tim Burton. Yet somehow against all odds this is a film that came out with a fantastic cast, a director who clearly understood what made the property great in the first place and a subversion of comedy tropes of the time. This isn’t just one of my favourite films, this is one of the best adaptations ever made and I-adore-it. 

-Danny

Top 5 DC Rebirth Comics

DC Rebirth has been an insanely successful relaunch by DC Comics, in which they rebooted their universe, combining the old continuity with the New 52, it also had them lowering the price of their comics and each series publishes bi-monthly. So not only has this just made the sales for DC sky rocket considering how poorly they were doing at the start of the year, but out of the 32 titles currently being published...there are no bad titles. I would have thought that would have been impossible, at least some should have been bad, but even ones I expected to be bad, such as Red Hood & The Outlaws, I have actually enjoyed them. Now that's not to say every title is amazing, about 10 or so fall under the "meh" category, but that's not bad, if someone said they liked them, I would not be surprised, and for the worst of your multiple titles to be is just "meh" that's still an achievement. So I wanted to celebrate this by talking about my top 5 favourite titles of the Rebirth series (In alphabetical order).

Detective Comics
One of my favourite things about Rebirth is how Batman is being written, mostly for how sympathetic of a character he is to others. He is constantly comforting people, hugging them, buying them food and doing anything he can to help, because believe it or not, that is who Batman is supposed to be. Just go back to the classic animated series, Batman is constantly helping people, not just by beating up villains, but actually talking to them, constantly donating to charities, working with the police and not being a paranoid loner. In this case, Batman has decided he can't watch over Gotham on his own anymore, so he puts together a team of Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan & Clayface to help protect the city. But here's the twist: he's not the leader. He suggests Batwoman to be in charge of the team as she's more qualified, and he recruited Clayface as a chance for the former villain to redeem himself, which so far he is doing just that. I love the team dynamic in this series, I love the artwork, and the ending to the first story arc was amazing and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Green Arrow
Green Arrow is definitely one of those characters that needed a good book, considering how terrible he was in New 52 and let's be honest, Arrow is a pretty bad representation of the character. What we have here is everything Oliver Queen is supposed to be. He's the street hero, the one that looks out for the little guy and never loses sight of why he does what he does, and even though he's a grumpy old man, he will never give up, even if the crap gets beaten out of him, the people close to him are mad at him, he will still be fighting. Also the relationship between him and Black Canary is perfect. I also really enjoy the artwork for the series, it's very unique from the rest of DC Rebirth. So yes, this is a character that I haven't seen done well in over 5 years and it is good to see him how I love this character again.






Green Lanterns
Green Lanterns has been one of the biggest surprise hits of Rebirth. When they first announced this book, I thought "Oh okay, that'll be interesting" and really, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz have been the breakout characters of Rebirth, especially Jessica Cruz, a character who suffers from severe Agoraphobia, which though it does weaken her powers, even going outside for her counts as bravery, which makes her the perfect Green Lantern because every day she faces her fear. This series also does something that I love is that we see these two characters hang out outside of being heroes. Because in my opinion when you have larger than life characters such as superheroes, the best way to flesh them out is to see them in an ordinary situation, such as preparing for a family dinner. These two Green Lanterns are some of the most well developed characters of Rebirth from people who I didn't even know existed until now and I suddenly love them.



Teen Titans
I know this series is only 2 issues in so far, but within those issues they've given me so much to love. Firstly, the fact that this book acknowledges that New 52 Teen Titans was terrible, one of the worst series in the New 52, and they actually say that here, saying how the Teen Titans have not truely been the Teen Titans in a long time. Secondly, Ra's Al Ghul is putting together his own team of super powered teenagers, just tell me you can't imagine the original animated series doing an episode like that. And finally, Damian Wayne, a character that is so perfect at everything he does and has such a massive ego about it and thinks he's better than everyone else actually recieves a lot of development here. He shows weakness, he shows trust, he actually has a really sweet scene with Alfred celebrating his birthday, he picked these people because he wants friends and good teammates. With this book a got an apology for the prior Teen Titans, a plot that feels like it came right out of the cartoon and actual development for Damian Wayne. I am so in love with this book.

Superman

I know I said I was going to do this in alphabetical order, but I wanted to save Superman for last because I absolutely adore this book. It is no secret, Superman is my favourite superhero, but he is also someone that so few writers seem to be able to write well, with plenty of storytellers out there feeling the need to change him to fit more into what they're comfortable with. This right here is exactly what Superman should be, he's everything I want but he is also something very new. In this series Superman is a husband & father and that creates a whole new dynamic, honestly Jon Kent is another breakout character of Rebirth, he is so energetic and likeable. It's a series that shows who Superman is while also doing something new with him and I am so glad that this series is not only good, but great, so I wanted to save it for last to give it a special stand out mention.

Honourable Mentions: The Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman & Nightwing.

-Danny