Month: July 2016

Weekly Wonder Woman

Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #1 and Justice League: Rebirth #1

12 July 2016 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

I know, I know. It’s been a while. It’s always been a while, these days. But to be fair, despite all the general turmoil that is ‘Rebirth’, things have been quite quiet in the comics world for our Diana over the past few weeks, so I’m not horribly behind.

There has been movie news, of course. Licensing Expo 2016 has revealed all manner of costumes and props from next year’s movie; there have been Justice League set visits, with details of what the Amazons will be like, as well the fact that Wonder Woman will get a spear and her armour may get its red colour from congealed blood (do they not have Vanish on Themyscira?). Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition has been released in the US and there’s a new trailer for that, too, with a bit more fight from our Diana.

But there’s also been comics news. You may remember the recent, long-running, very tedious ‘Savage Dawn‘ storyline that ultimately led to the death of nu52 Superman. Somewhat weirdly, two additional comics were supposed to be part of that storyline: Superman-Wonder Woman #30-31. Except they never got published in the big scramble to get Rebirth out the door. But now they’re going to be included in the collected ‘Savage Dawn’ graphic novel. What’s in them? Who knows.

And current Wonder Woman artist Liam Sharp is also interviewed in DC All-Access, where it’s revealed that the likes of Ares and Dr Psycho will be showing up, reimagined, at some point in the forseeable future. And that Wonder Woman is currently 28 years old. You hear that, Geoff Johns? How comes she’s as old as Grail then?

After the jump, I’ll be looking at Diana’s main appearances in comics over the past few weeks: Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #1 and Justice League: Rebirth #1. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out before then that Justice League #52 saw Diana a bit miffed (but no more than that) that Lex Luthor not only is wearing Superman’s symbol, he’s also bought the Daily Planet purely so he can own nu52 Superman’s cape.

Meanwhile, alternative Diana and alternative, slightly power-mad Superman aren’t getting along very well over in the Injustice: Gods Amongst Us: Year Five #27. But at least they’re getting on better than he and Flash are getting on.

Diana gives Clark an order

Don't order me around

And another alternative Diana popped up in Dark Knight III #5 to pass a bloody comment on Brexit.

Dark Knight III #5

I’m guessing she’ll argue that Queen In Parliament requires an Act to be passed before Article 50 can be triggered. But I might be reading into it too much.

Continue reading “Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #1 and Justice League: Rebirth #1”

What have you been watching? Including Marco Polo, Secret City, 19-2, The Last Ship and Preacher

11 July 2016 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, my chance to tell you what movies and TV I’ve been watching recently that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.

The usual “TMINE recommends” page features links to reviews of all the shows I’ve ever recommended, and there’s also the Reviews A-Z, for when you want to check more or less anything I’ve reviewed ever. 

With the fourth of July weekend in the US last week, things have been a little quieter than normal, but not completely quiet. There have been a few new shows to review and I’ve already cast a glance over Dead Of Summer (US: Freeform), The Kettering Incident (Australia: Foxtel Showcase) and Roadies (US: Showcase; UK: Amazon Prime), as well as passed a third-episode verdict on American Gothic (US: CBS; UK: Amazon Prime). Last night in Australia, Barracuda (Australia: ABC) started, and I’ll be reviewing that by the end of the week, I hope. There’s also a couple of new acquistions of Netflix that should be getting my attention this week, too.

Nevertheless, the regulars have been looking a bit thin on the ground, which means that after the jump, I’ll only be looking at 19-2, The Last Ship, Preacher and the final episode of Secret City. Oh yes – I managed to watch the first three episodes of the new season of Marco Polo. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to hear about them, too

Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including Marco Polo, Secret City, 19-2, The Last Ship and Preacher”

News: Hunters cancelled; John Barrowman: DC TV Universe regular; Dean Norris joins Girlboss; + more

11 July 2016 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Internet TV

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV show casting

US TV

Review: Roadies 1×1-1×2 (US: Showtime; UK: Amazon Prime)

8 July 2016 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Sundays, 10pm ET/PT, Showtime
In the UK: Mondays, Amazon Prime

Although the theory of ‘the auteur’ is eminently quibblable, it’s fair to say that you can spot the work of Cameron Crowe a mile off. Whether it’s Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Elizabethtown or We Bought A Zoo, his work is usually characterised by an indie sensibility; a central male-female, potentially romantic relationship; quirky dialogue; a focus on music; and a lot of heart but not much brain. You won’t get very far through Roadies, Showtime’s new series about those unsung heroes and heroines of the live music industry, before proclaiming it as possibly the most Cameron Crowish piece of work that Cameron Crowe has ever done.

Crowe’s never been one for putting plot above character, so it’s a little hard to say what Roadies is actually about, other than that it’s a show about roadies – and the first episode is an introduction to all of them. The ostensible focus of the show are Luke Wilson (Idiocracy, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Enlightened), the tour manager with a failed marriage and who now sleeps with women literally half his age, and Carla Gugino (Watchmen, Threshold, Wayward Pines), the production manager with a failing marriage and who doesn’t sleep with anyone. They have such The Thin Man chemistry together and obvious devotion to one another, everyone who meets them thinks they’re married – except they’re not!

However, Crowe seems more interested in Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), the young roadie who’s heading off to film school because she’s stopping believing in the music. If only she could recover her faith. Most of the first episode follows her around as she slowly rediscovers that faith thanks to all her fellow roadies, who are all a motley bunch of amiable characters: Ron White, the old hand who may have murdered two people but all the bands like; Keisha Castle-Hughes (Game of Thrones, The Almighty Johnsons, Whale Rider), the lesbian; and Peter Cambor (The Wedding Band), the guy from New Jersey who worked with Elvis Costello for a while and got stuck with his accent. There’s also Machine Gun Kelly, a roadie for another band with a strange relationship with Poots, which gets explained at the end of the first episode (spoilers, sweetie).

Crowe’s one real concession to plot comes from Rafe Spall (The Shadow Line, I Give It A Year), the semi-menacing English finance guy who used to work in sports and ‘real estate’ so doesn’t really get music, but who’s been sent over to make some budget cuts. Who’s for the chop? Probably not Poots, judging by the other age-inappropriate, Crowe-typical relationship that gets thrown into the mix. Probably no one, in fact, as Spall gradually learns that it’s love and people, not numbers, that keeps everything working backstage and you remove a piece of that bizarrely intricate puzzle at your own risk.

That first episode is in many ways lovely and heart-felt, albeit a bit saccarine and divorced from reality, with obvious love for music and people oozing from every scene – even for Spall and the creepy stalker girl who wants to do odd things with microphones (Jacqueline Byers). The trouble with auteurship, though, is that unless you’re Aaron Sorkin and prepared to consume superhuman amounts of cocaine to write a classic script every couple of weeks for umpteen years, it’s not something that can transfer over easily from film to TV.

The result is that even though Crowe directs the first two episodes, he hands over writing duties to others from episode two. Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life) is the first to pick up the slack, but although she’s good in her own right, she’s not up to being Cameron Crowe. The result is faux-Crowe and a little bit painful to watch without his heart-on-a-sleeve gushing. It doesn’t help that Wilson pretty much checks out after the first episode, even if everyone else is working hard, particularly Spall whose role switches from menacing to comedic from the second episode. To be fair again, Wilson does give a near-perfect performance as someone who’s coming down after smoking heinous amounts of weed, so there’s that one small concession to reality, at least.

If you like Cameron Crowe, it’s worth watching the first episode at least, as long as you consider it as a one-off short movie. Watching any more than that would be intolerable. You can watch a trailer below, and if you’re in the US, you can watch the first episode for free here.