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"Batman vs. Robin (2015)" Plenty of Swings, Plenty of Misses

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      Huh? What? I was ready to give this movie a semi-positive score, not too positive, but just enough for attempting to try new things with a story that I admitted was very flawed. I felt the source material for this movie could have done more, though I'm just not quite sure this movie understood what it should have/was supposed to do. It definitely includes many of the same lines/imagery from the comics, and for that I appreciate it, but I feel like once again they've missed the mark about Bruce and Damian's relationship in these films, and I feel it is much too flimsy for me to care about. Let's talk about it.     First off, let's start with the good. They flesh out the court of owls, ever just slightly, but it's what I asked for. You see them with an actual leadership structure, you see them do more than just sit there and stare at Batman in their porcelain-white masks and they also even talk a little bit. By that same token it probably could have done jus...
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"Batman: The Court of Owls and The City of Owls" Good Concept, Bad Execution

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      I remember when the Court of Owls was first introduced as a concept. Of course I was nine at the time so I thought it was pretty cool that there was this secretive society that Batman didn't know how to fight because they made up the city he was sworn to protect. Nowadays, whenever they're brought up people seem pretty mixed about them, at least on comic book Twitter. Personally? I couldn't actually remember much, though as a child I do remember looking back at Scott Snyder's time writing Batman quite fondly. As such, with rumours that they might be featured heavily in  The Batman Part II, and it being a main sticking point in Batman vs. Robin , which is my next DCAMU film to review, I thought it would be the perfect time to look back at this arc. Let's talk about it.     Oddly enough, the introduction regarding the Court of Owls is actually split up into two arcs and while I don't hate it, it leaves a lot to be desired. I will say the second half, Th...
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"30 Rock Season 2" Shaping Itself Up

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      I doubted, and doubted, and doubted, but I have to admit, 30 Rock season two was pretty good. I was concerned it wouldn't really get any better, and since this season was already cut short due to the writers strike, making it only fifteen episodes, it was a real uphill battle. But they did it, the writing felt sharper, it felt like they had a better idea of how to both handle the characters, and balance the main cast so it didn't feel as Jack- and Liz-centric, even if I loved those characters. Let's talk about it.     I feel like the show is really starting to figure out how what to do with the side characters. I will say Dot Com and Grizz have risen up tremendously on my list of favourite 30 rock side characters, even as Rachel Dracht doing random roles has sadly disappeared. Like one of my original complaints from the first season was that they hardly actually did anything with the setting of it being on a show, and while I don't think they've actually d...
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"Justice League: Throne of Atlantis" Weak Everything

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      This movie is so weak man. It's not even a good Aquaman adaptation, it's barely a Justice League movie, and they continue to push this unacceptable Superman and Wonder Woman relationship. What do I even write about this movie. It was just extremely underwhelming, and I would not recommend it under any circumstances. It's just a complete waste of your time. I can't believe I'm saying this but I kind of enjoyed the mandatory Batman glaze from this film, which is saying something about how boring the rest of it is. Let's talk about it.     Well first of all despite being titled as a Justice League movie this film could hardly be constituted as such. The Justice League fared significantly better against Darkseid than versus Ocean Master, it was quite pathetic. Not to mention the Justice League hardly even get any screentime together. I understand that there are a lot of characters. Like they made a good point about the league hardly feeling like a league yet, ...
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"The Word for World is Forest" Angry, Heavy-Handed, but Still Good

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      This is by far, the angriest book I have ever seen from Ursula K. Le Guin, and it kind of works. Don't get me wrong, the Vietnam War allegory is very, very thick. Like almost hilariously so. I'm not even an expert on the Vietnam war, but the "very definitely human" shorter species who live exclusively in forests and fight back using guerilla-style warfare is very on the nose. Yet I still liked it? It felt decidedly significantly less sci-fi than other Usrula K. Le Guin novels, and honestly could have simply been in separate continuity and very little would have changed. Let's talk about it.     Let me get this out of the way very quickly. The noble savage trope is very much well and alive with the  Athsheans, there's no other way to cut it. Their people view Terrans as these backwards creatures, who are oddly hairless, and have no strong connection to the Earth. They have this "mystical" way of dreaming that is so foreign to humans that even th...
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"30 Rock Season 1" A Solid First Season That Gets Me Excited

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    I have finally done it. I've found another sitcom to sink my teeth in, and this time I think it might just be good enough for me to really sink my teeth in. Truth be told, the only reason I did not start this show sooner is because the first time I was watching this show, I actually cut off a small chunk of my fingertip, and so I was so mad with myself for the month or so every time I thought about picking up the show again I'd be reminded of my finger slowly growing back. Then, that list of the top 100 shows was released, and people started comparing this TV show to my beloved Community , which in my heart remains one of the greatest peaks television has ever reached, and I just had to see if it was any good. Let's talk about it.          Off the bat, I will say, this TV show definitely feels like one in its first season. It really does not know/struggles to balance between who are the main characters/who is going to be showcased. You start off th...
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"Son of Batman" Largely Unimportant

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    Well, there I am, slowly going through the DC Animated Movie Universe. Honestly, you won't get much from this film, and that's what I expected, which is why it took me a little bit to get to this film. I'm not planning on doing the Tomorrowverse, so I'm really just trying to get to The Death of Superman  and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War . Like I'm not really that excited to watch some of these films. And sadly, I would say I have been quite vindicated on my stance about this film being quite weak. It's not bad, I mean it's a nice change of pace from reading comic books at night all of the time, but I would not call it particularly strong. Let's talk about it.     I think part of the issue with this film is that it's too contained. Part of the appeal of introducing Damian Wayne was that there was this whole other "Bat-family" out there to interact with him. As Batman's "only" real son by blood, it was interesting seei...
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"It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 18" A Relatively Fine Season with Some Bright Spots

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    I do have a weird relationship with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia , on one hand some of it's earliest seasons are some of the best seasons of television I've ever experienced, especially comedy-wise. But nowadays? It mostly just hovers are the fine-enough stage, and I watch with half-enthusiasm, hoping to get some laughs if I'm lucky. Oddly enough, Season 17 ended off on quite a large cliffhanger. Frank was getting married, so I expected some nice big changes, but nope. They nipped it as quickly as it came, and they wrapped it up in about two episodes, both of which had their moments but were kind of eh. Let's talk about it.     I will say, I thought this season ended much stronger than they began. There were some real standout episodes this season. " The Gang Goes to the Ren Faire" was quite fun. I loved that gag where Dennis forces Charlie to watch him having sex with a random women who hates it, and then Charlie comes out of the shadows and chas...
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"Justice League: War" Surprisingly Good

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      This movie was.... surprisingly good? I remember seeing a tweet not too long ago basically disparaging the New 52. Which is kind of fair. They had some pretty bizarre storylines, and for an era that was supposed to be a reset it just made everything messier. They also made fun of the first justice league cover from that time, which was a story that this movie adapted. I have to say though, I honestly kind of enjoyed this film, significantly more than I thought I would. Like it's not my favourite, but considering it barely clocks in over an hour, it's a good time for a starting point. Let's talk about it.          Don't get me wrong, I don't have complaints about this film, but the list is surprisingly shorter than I thought. First of all, this Cyborg design is ugly. I always preferred Martian Manhunter and was never a big fan of moving Cyborg up to the big leagues since I liked him in the Teen Titans, but if you're going to promote him at le...
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"Earth X" Fairly Underwhelming

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      I must say, when I first read this comic, I expected something quite different. After all, with the Alex Ross art, and the idea of it being dystopian universe, I just expected something much closer to DC;s  Kingdom Come. Sort of like Avengers: Twilight, but I was mistaken. Instead what I found was quite a comprehensive sort of evaluation/look back on the history of the Marvel universe, and some bizarre decisions that made the ending feel quite flat. Let's talk about it.     I will admit I am a bit more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan, but even still I can't help but feel like this comic is missing something. I almost think it's trying too much? Don't get me wrong, I actually like quite a few of the elements in this comic. I appreciate it doing a sort of retrospective on every single hero people have come to know and love. It's not really anything I haven't heard before, but hearing the conversations between X-51 and Uatu as they go through them is quite...
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