Daredevil S01 E11: The Path of the Righteous

As Matt continues to recover from his battle with Nobu, and Fisk worries over the poisoned Vanessa at the hospital, we have what seems to be a waiting game. Rather than the one-minute break between boxing rounds, it seems we're getting two or three episodes. I want to see our opponents back in the ring, don't you? Enough foreplay!

Who poisoned the guests at Fisk's benefit? The signs point to Nobu's clan, but didn't Madame Gao say they would have their hands full with other matters? Owsley didn't seem to know at first the drinks were poisoned but caught on quickly, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't him. That pretty much leaves Gao to blame... or Wesley.

Fisk's right hand man has very recently been sidelined by Fisk when dealing with Gao and Vanessa. This would not be the first time I've questioned the exact personal nature of Fisk and Wesley's relationship. Is there more to it than business? Is it perhaps more twisted like that of Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers on "The Simpsons"? Could this mass poisoning be both an act of sabotage and that of a jealous lover?

However we may never know. When Wesley gets wind of Karen snooping around Fisk's supposedly dead mother, he decides to take matters into his own hands. At first it seems he's going to kill Karen, then he offers her a job, which was puzzling. Why does he refer to Fisk as no longer his employer? What is going on here? Sadly this is Toby Leonard Moore's weakest work so far, and it's his last. I guess he's better in small doses. And what did Karen mean about this not being the first time she's shot someone?

I was happy to actually see Rosario Dawson return as the Claire Temple/Night Nurse hybrid character. I honestly felt cheated last episode when appeared only off-screen in a casual mention. Here unfortunately she is just more foreplay, preluding Matt's further discussion with Father Lantom who implies that sometimes the devil is a good thing, a lesson, a symbol, an inspiration to others.

If nothing else, these pep talks knock some sense into Matt, and he gets back into gear and seeks out everybody's favorite snitch, Turk Barrett. This time however, Daredevil isn't looking for Fisk, instead he wants something sensible - body armor. It would seem that the beating he took from Nobu and Kingpin did knock some sense into him. Turk sends our hero to the workshop of Melvin Potter.

Just in case you need a reminder of who Melvin Potter is, his Gladiator chest symbol is on the wall of his shop as Daredevil breaks and enters. As before, the simple armorer gives our hero quite a pounding. Nerdgasm when Potter threw a circular saw blade at DD. Again, enough foreplay, I want to see a full-on full-comic-dress fight between Daredevil and Gladiator. Did anyone else notice the Stilt-Man armor was missing since last we saw the workshop?

If nothing else, I suspect we'll finally be getting the traditional red Daredevil costume from the comics next episode. This was a slow one, highlighted by Night Nurse and Gladiator, with hopes of better coming.

Leonard Part 6

Leonard Part 6 ~ For those who weren't around, it's difficult to explain what a gigantic television phenomenon "The Cosby Show" was back in its day. It was such a ratings blockbuster for NBC that the other networks either programmed around it, or counter-programmed. CBS started "The Flash" (the 90s version) at 8:30 after "Cosby." Fledgling Fox went head to head, moving "The Simpsons" to Thursday nights and adding Michael Jackson whenever possible. For a time "Cosby" was unbeatable.

Bill Cosby chose this time to go back into the movies. The problem was that his popular TV series was derived mostly his then-new family style stand-up, as seen in Himself, but his comeback to film, Leonard Part 6 was more old school Bill Cosby. At least a decade out of date and mocking what the mainstream loved, this action adventure comedy tanked big time. 1971 audiences would have loved Leonard Part 6.

The 'part 6' of the title is explained away by our narrator, the titular Leonard Parker's butler, who says his retired secret agent boss' first five adventures had been confiscated because of national security. He's pulled back into action to stop a madwoman who can control the world's animals. Yeah, it's Ace Ventura without the laughs.

Watching Leonard Part 6 again after many many years, I had to wonder, pitifully, if a laugh track might have helped at all. Some of it is amusing in a Naked Gun or Pink Panther way, some of the situations might be funny on a skit show, but the fact is its a movie and it goes on and on. Saddest of all is Cosby himself who seems to sleepwalk through this mess with all the energy of the Boris Karloff Mummy. As someone who grew up on the man's comedy records, this was heartbreaking.

Leonard Part 6 would make an excellent double bill with Hudson Hawk, or maybe as a lead-in to the inexplicably entertaining and successful True Lies. They are all essentially the same type of flick. Only seek out as a curiosity, otherwise avoid this.

All Things Fun! for Best Comics Shop

Let's talk about comic book shops, shall we? When most folks think about comic book shops, the first thought that comes to mind is The Android's Dungeon, the place run by Comic Book Guy on "The Simpsons" and while there are places like that, they are not the norm. The next thing people think of is the comic book shop on "Big Bang Theory" which is a bit more reality-based, but still not an appetizing place to shop.

And there's All Things Fun! in West Berlin NJ, with a second store at McGuire Air Force Base. Both are run by the wonderful Ed and Dina Evans. The store is (and I admit I'm biased, but the truth is the truth) the best place for comics, games, and toys in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area. All Things Fun! is (like the name says) fun, inviting, and family friendly. Ed and Dina, and the entire staff are some of the coolest folks around, and they love what they do, are knowledgeable about the products, and just plain good people.

Today writer Gail Simone was talking on her Twitter about comic book shops and said the following: "Comic shops that are inviting and inclusive change not just their readership, but actually create communities and acceptance." This is exactly what All Things Fun! is about. I walk into the store, and I know I'll find friends either behind the counter or in front of it that will share my interests.

If you read further on Gail Simone's Twitter, you will find the discussion turning toward how comics shops treat female customers. Many are not very good at it, much like the "Simpsons" and "Big Bang Theory" examples cited at the start of this article, but ATF! is one of the best, not only is it female-friendly, it's also family-friendly.

All Things Fun! is where I met Allison Eckel who's a friend, fellow writer and sometime co-conspirator. With Allison, I write the All Things Fun! Blog, and for years we hosted, with ATF! owner Ed, the All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast, which on a weekly basis talked about new comics, and even featured kid comics segments for younger readers.

Honestly I can't think of any other comics shop that even comes close to ATF!, it's simply the best place for comics in this area. If you've experienced the store, the staff, and the community of All Things Fun!, maybe you might think about voting for them in the Philly Hot List for Best Comic Book Shop. You can vote here. And vote or not, you're not changing my mind, All Things Fun! is still the best comics shop in the area.

Arrow: The Undertaking

About mid-season of the "Arrow" series, the powers that be finally gave a name to the master plan that the bad guys of The List had for Starling City. They called it The Undertaking. It's never been clear what it actually was, but we know it has sinister implications for The Glades - the 'bad' section of the city, and home to Roy Harper, the Verdant nightclub, and the ersatz Arrowcave. One supposes by the title of this episode, we'll finally find out exactly what The Undertaking is.

From all indications, we might just find out what happened to Walter as well. A unique flashbacknot to the island, shows us a meeting of The List several years prior. It seems their original plan was to blackmail bad people into doing good things, but John Barrowman's Merlyn suggests a new 'undertaking,' leveling The Glades and starting from scratch. No Glades, no crime. And there it is.

And OMG, the thing that's going to level The Glades is called the Markov device. Comics readers know that half-siblings Brion and Tara Markov are Geo-Force and Terra, metahumans with earth elemental powers. Brion was a hero who joined the Outsiders and later the Justice League. Tara was a teenage psychopath who joined the Teen Titans in order to betray them to... Deathstroke, with whom she had a very unhealthy and possibly illegal relationship. Wow. I'm guessing The Glades go in an earthquake.

In the soap opera zone, Laurel goes to Verdant to cry on Oliver's shoulder about her break-up with Tommy. Felicity's awkward walk-in may have sent odd signals to Laurel. Sigh. To quote one of my favorite "Simpsons" lines, "When are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?" In this case, fireworks factory equals superhero action.

In a slightly more high quality melodrama moment we get to watch Barrowman tell of his wife's death in order to convince Oliver's father to go along with The Undertaking. It really the first time "Arrow" has given the man room to act. Finally. And we get a glimpse into the making of a villain.

In the distracting secondary plot of the episode (because on "Arrow," the overarc is always the main plot), Felicity goes undercover in a casino to find clues of Walter's whereabouts. As I've said before, Emily Bett Rickards' Felicity cleans up real nice, but then again I like her in and out of nerd.

With no Diggle for back-up, The Hood has to save her, doing so like a bull in a china shop. I counted at least four arrows to the chest, one a woman, probably some of them only patrons to the casino. Once again, I find myself rooting for the police to put this murderous Bizarro version of Green Arrow away.

At first it seems that Walter was dead, and then alive. The Hood saves him, plowing through henchmen to get him, but first parachuting down onto their hideout from a plane. I couldn't get past that. Who was flying the plane? Wouldn't they know it was The Hood on board, and jumping out? Seems like a major loose end here.

Things are heating up and finally coming together. Oliver makes up with Diggle. And he admits to Laurel he still loves her. And, most importantly, he knows that Merlyn and his mom have been lying to him, and they are behind The Undertaking. The secrets are out, time for the real game to begin.

Other shout outs to the comics in this episode include Ted Kord for whom a fundraiser was held in flashback. Ted Kord was the second Blue Beetle. And Walter was being held in Bludhaven, Dick (Nightwing) Grayson's old stomping ground.

Yes, things are finally heating up, I can't wait for the next episode. As long as they keep tying up loose ends, that is.

Yogi Bear 2010

Yogi Bear ~ This is the live action and CGI big screen movie from Christmas 2010 that pretty much bombed at the box office. Much like The Green Hornet a year or so back, I have to wonder if its because the current movie going audience has no point of reference for Yogi Bear any longer.

When I was a wee toddler waaay back in the late sixties, I have great memories of watching classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters like Yogi Bear with my dad. It's a good memory, sitting with my father, seeing the five to eight minute adventures of Huckleberry Hound, Jinx the Cat, Pixie and Dixie, and Jellystone Park's favorite pick-a-nick basket thieves, Yogi and Boo Boo Bear.

Later those good memories of semi-good kids cartoons were ruined by parents groups in the seventies, leading them to join together to fight pollution on "Yogi's Gang," and then later were sidelined as peripheral funny animal characters on "Scooby-Doo's Laff-A-Lympics." After that, except for a handful of forgettable appearances, Yogi was, well, forgotten. Maybe, after the seventies, with good reason. Still, the 1960s cartoon shorts have a warm spot in my heart.

That said, I doubt most of the folks who saw this in theaters even knew who Yogi is, um, was. Those that did, might have been put off as I was. The CGI Yogi and Boo Boo is kinda cool, until you see them next to live action human beings. Then the reality sets in that they are bears because the size ratio is correct and troubling. Bears, even those wearing ties, sometimes tend to eat people. I can see young kids being maybe freaked out by this.

The plot is much too long and complicated for the characters who work best in ten minute increments at most. Similar structure has ruined of films of this genre like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and even Looney Tunes and The Simpsons. Honestly, I would have been happy with eight ten-minute vignettes than one eighty-minute movie, but that's me.

Intellectually disturbing (for me at least) is the fact they acknowledge Yogi and Boo Boo are not only bears, but talking, thinking, tie wearing bears. They even acknowledge its rare, but they never explain why. That drives me nuts. Maybe it's just too meta for me to get past, but it bugs the hell outta me.

Then there's also the voice casting of Dan Ackroyd and Justin Timberlake as Yogi and Boo Boo. Timberlake is not bad at all, but Ackroyd, once you know it's him, never sounds like anything but Dan Ackroyd doing a bad Daws Butler as Yogi Bear imitation. Some folks may have enjoyed and praised us, but not me, I couldn't get past it.

All in all, Yogi Bear wasn't bad, fairly harmless actually, and did have the spirit at least of those original sixties cartoons. Anna Faris didn't annoy the hell out of me, and it had Journey music, so it couldn't be all bad. Good for the kiddies even though they might not even know Yogi or Boo Boo.

New Season Fail?

I hate to say it, but other than the "Wonder Woman" pilot from David E. Kelley that NBC did not buy, I haven't really seen anything from this newest TV season that has impressed me, nothing.

I love Zooey Dechandel, so I checked out her sitcom, "New Girl," on Fox. First I was curious what someone like her who has been so successful in movies would want with television. I mean, this had to either be a great show, or a lot of money, right? Well, it turns out it might just be money. She's fun and hilarious, but her three male co-stars were unwatchable. The problem - there's three of them and just one of her. Awful.

Also on Fox, I tried the much anticipated "X-Factor" from Simon Cowell, and again, I was unimpressed. For someone who wanted to make a show that wasn't like "American Idol," it sure seemed a lot like "American Idol," and not in a good way. Here's hoping that Simon, along with Paula Abdul, return to "AI" next season. It will be better for everyone.

As long as we're beating dead horses, the show I most was interested in this new season was "Terra Nova," which at first glance kinda looked like an American version of "Primeval." If only it was. I'd take another rip-off of a mediocre British scifi series over this dreck any day. Where were the freaking dinosaurs? Damn tease.

Look, don't show dinosaurs in your thirty-second previews of the show for the last four months and not put any damn dinosaurs in the pilot for over an hour. To quote Millhouse in one of my favorite "Simpsons" episodes - When are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?"

There were other series that were disappointments. "Unforgettable," "A Gifted Man" and "Person of Interest" all had intriguing concepts, and quickly displayed with second episodes that they were all three simply formula shows. I don't think we will ever see any progress on the main plot that got us hooked on the show, but will just be case of the week series. Damn shame too.

I was even disappointed by "Homeland." It reeked of predictability for me. Again, a fine concept that just didn't do it for me on the screen. Wow. When the pay cable shows aren't good, you know it's a bad season.

"Pan Am" was a pilot that has to be seen to be believed, so if you didn't catch it, check OnDemand and see it. Not just for the now anorexic Christina Ricci, you need to see this decidedly confused show. First it's kinda "Mad Men," then it wants to be a comedy, then it's an Airport movie and finally at the end it's a spy thriller. See it while it lasts, it could be the quirky fun hit of the bunch, so bad, it's good.

The only show I thought had promise, was canceled before I actually got to see it, which shows you just how on the mark I am with these things. Like "Pan Am," it's a period piece, same time frame, but this one's deadly serious. "The Playboy Club" is/was about a mob murder in, you guessed it, a Playboy club. It had much promise, but, unfortunately, dead on arrival.

It looks like we'll have new replacement shows coming up quickly as I think many of these are headed to the same fate as "The Playboy Club." Hmmm... maybe NBC should take another look at "Wonder Woman"...

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast for 9-21-2011

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast is shot live in a real comics and gaming store in West Berlin, NJ - All Things Fun! - co-hosts Allison ("I remember the 1980s") Eckel and Glenn ("Hey you kids get off my lawn") Walker (boss man Ed Evans returns next week!) discuss the new comics out this week in two fun video segments, now in high definition, and also available on YouTube. See it here!

The first segment includes discussion of the following topics: The New DC 52 including Scott Snyder's Batman #1, the multiple Robins and their heights, iffy Teen Titans continuity, Catwoman #1, Wonder Woman #1, Birds of Prey #1, Blue Beetle #1, Supergirl #1, J.T. Krul's Captain Atom #1, and the rest.



The discussion continues in segment two including: We forgot about Ed, Hawaiian hot dogs, the Fear Itself comics of the week including Avengers #17, Brian Michael Bendis' talking heads and dissing 9/11, Allison's kids comics, Kevin Smith's Bionic Man #2, Tiny Titans and Young Justice, Treehouse of Horror, more Marvels, a pair of X-Factors, Ultimate X-Men in a bag, the indies, and the trades.



Be sure to check out the All Things Fun! website, and the All Things Fun! Blogs, by Allison and Glenn, and ATF! on YouTube.

And be back here every Wednesday morning at 11:30 AM EST to watch the new broadcast, and thereafter throughout the week!

Sands of Oblivion

Sands of Oblivion ~ An interesting horror film. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, as Cecil De Mille is actually a great casting choice, unexpected and quite good. George Kennedy is also here, even though I thought he was dead, but I'm glad he's not as he brings his superior acting skills with him. Unfortunately neither of these men is in this much.

An ancient Egyptian relic is uncovered on the set of de Mille's 1923 The Ten Commandments, an undying evil is released, and hilarity ensues, fun fun fun. Apparently the shooting set was lost, and lost for a reason. Adam Baldwin is a bit wishy-washy here. Although I first saw him as Linderman in My Bodyguard, it's hard for me to see him these days as anything other than John Casey from "Chuck." Here he plays against type and I don't believe him for a second.

The monster is a rather frightening looking alligator-jawed Anubis, even though its size and shape varied wildly each time it appeared on screen. I know I watched this with the lights on, but it wasn't as scary as it could be. There were too many sequences with nothing happening and when it did happen, it was drug out. The dune buggy chase lasted forever.

This was a good old-fashioned horror movie, but would have been much better, if it was shorter and more consistent. Check it out if there's nothing else on.

Cartoon from Hell

I just finished watching the pilot for TBS’ new animated series “Neighbors from Hell.” It really kinda sucked, and based on the folks involved, it was really a disappointment.

It’s got the voice talent of Patton Oswalt, Will Sasso and former "South Park" producer Pam Brady, so this should be a lot better. Although, there were warning signs. TBS promoted the show as being from the same studio as "Family Guy." Hmmm. About the only things this has in common with "Family Guy" is it’s animated and it has a talking dog. And 'same studio'? They may as well have said that it’s from the same key grip as "The Simpsons."

The childlike plot involves a demon family from Hell who come to Earth, Texas, to be exact, to stop a drill from digging its way to Hell. And the simple plot is overexplained at least six times in the pilot, and in the weak excuse for a theme song. The family itself seems like lame imitations of the Addams Family and have almost no charisma at all. Only the dog, cleverly named Pazuzu, voiced by Oswalt, and ripping off Brian from "Family Guy" as the voice of reason, has any staying power.

If there is any saving grace to this show, it is the human, non-demon, cast. The human neighbors and the workers at the oil company with the drill are far more interesting and cartoon-bizarre than any of the demon characters. My question is – why even bring Hell into it? Just do an animated sitcom in the style of "The Simpsons" or "Family Guy" with these characters? The demons are boring, and bring down the rest of the show.

Cartoon Bunny

Next week, Playboy will be featuring something quite different on its cover - a fictional character, even better than that, a fictional animated character - Marge Simpson. This will be the first time in the magazine's history an animated character has been on the cover.

Obviously this is a stunt to promote the 20th anniversary of "The Simpsons" on Fox, but one has to wonder if a better choice might have been made - maybe the mom from "Family Guy" or Wilma Flinstone or Judy Jetson if we're talking mainstream animation. Going off the beaten path a bit, what about Lara Croft? How about the robot chick from Ghost in the Shell? AEon Flux?

The November 2009 issue of Playboy hits newstands on October 16th and also features Tracy Morgan, Benicio Del Toro and new fiction by Stephen King.

The Show that Wouldn't Die

Since its debut on Fox in March of 1999, "Futurama" has had a rocky existence on television. The animated series, revolving around an inept pizza delivery guy frozen and released on the unsuspecting 31st century, has been canceled and un-canceled more times that I want to count. The warmness toward the program is probably due to its creators, David X. Cohen and Matt Groening, the latter being the creator of "The Simpsons." Fox wouldn't do anything to tick off the creator of their continuous cash cow, not if they were smart, but eventually dwindling ratings held sway.

After being syndicated on both Cartoon Network and significantly Comedy Central after (and during) its cancellation(s), "Futurama" proved successful enough to have four direct-to-DVD movies made, essentially a 'fifth season.' Ironically enough, these movies separated by months in between was really no more erratic that the schedule Fox was airing the series anyway when it was officially a Fox program. These DVDs were equally successful to merit the return of "Futurama" as a regular series on Comedy Central with twenty-six new episodes for mid-2010. I wonder how hard Fox is kicking themselves now?


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NBC’s Kath and Kim – A Sneak Peek

One of the things that differentiates Universal Studios in Orlando from Walt Disney World is the extraordinary number of folks wanting “just a moment” of one’s time to take a survey, watch a timeshare demonstration or just generally waste one’s time. Sometimes, just sometimes, these things are worth it.

I was grabbed on this most recent trip to Universal to watch a new television program and give my opinion on it. Heh, heh, they don’t know me very well. I had to assure them that I did not work for the media – you know, television, movies, newspapers, etc. I took note that they did not mention any form of online media, especially blogging. Like I said, they don’t know me very well.

It was the kind of thing where, just like on “The Simpsons,” you push a green button when you like what you’re seeing and a red button when you don’t like it. There was also a ‘tune out button’ to push when you reach the point where you would normally change the channel as if you’d had enough or became too bored. The program I watched was the yet-to-be-aired second episode of “Kath and Kim,” the new Molly Shannon sitcom vehicle on NBC. I hit that ‘tune out button’ before the title sequence (which I might add, at only a few seconds was one of the few things about the shows I liked).

Surprisingly this is an American version of one of Australia’s most popular sitcoms. Now, either Australian television viewers have shockingly lower IQs than Americans, or NBC butchered this adaptation. Judging from the few Aussies I know, I would have to go for the second option. Way to go, NBC, now when are you bringing back “Manimal” and “Supertrain?”

The three leads – Shannon, Selma Blair (who is shockingly bad), and John Michael Higgins (do not watch him jog…) – are at best uninteresting and at worst annoying and nerve-grating. I hated this. Shannon has a daughter and is about to marry again. The whole episode virtually revolves around two premises. One is the constant repetitive joke that Shannon’s character is old, and every bad joke and cliché you can think of is thrown into the mix, and none of it is funny. The second plot (and I shudder to even use the word in this circumstance) involves the concept of misunderstanding, a simple-minded one that is as old as sitcom television itself. Woman sees man with other woman and assumes the worst. Come on, this was ancient when “I Love Lucy” and “The Honeymooners” did it.

There are elements that are fun, but the problem is they are only background details. I liked some of the hip hop music inserted in places and the drag queens at the end were interesting characters – why not make the show about them? I hated her character, but there was no denying the charisma and presence of the unnamed actress who played Angel. She showed promise. Where’s her sitcom? Unfortunately she was barely in the thing, and the rest of the show was unfixable in my opinion.



I guess I picked the wrong day to do this survey. The next one was on the new “Knight Rider” which was being thoroughly hyped by the survey folks and had changes noted that, to me at least, did not sound promising. Val Kilmer as KITT? I had heard that a previous survey was about “My Own Worst Enemy,” Christian Slater’s take on the Jekyll/Hyde concept had received high marks. I would have liked to have seen that. As for “Kath and Kim,” avoid it at all costs when it premieres October 9th.

Simpsons Addendum

The best parts of The Simpsons Movie aren't even in the movie itself, but just before it and on television.

The Burger King commercials:





And the teaser for The Dark Knight:

Simpsons on Screen

The Simpsons Movie ~ This was probably the most anticipated film of the summer, at least in mainstream circles that is. And that anticipation has resulted unfortunately in pre-saturation before the movie is even out.

Other than kids kicking the back of my seat, idiots with cellphones morons who brought their crying infants to the theatre, this was my major complaint. All those cool lines you've seen in the previews and commercials? Those are some of the best and spoiled before you even get to the flick.

The bad stuff out of the way, this is a good flick, much better than any big screen adaptation of a TV series should be. It's much more than just an extended episode - Marge curses, Homer gives the finger and we get to see Bart's nether regions (and really, haven't we all been waiting for that?). The plot is a bit weak, Lisa's love interest subplot goes nowhere and guest star Albert Brooks (listed as 'A. Brooks' in the credits) is pretty much wasted in my mind - but after all that I really liked this. If anything it felt too short.

Spider-Pig, the character and the song, absolutely steals the movie. And while I wish that Disco Stu had more to say and do, The Simpsons Movie is still a summer must-see.