Maxxxine

Not fully what I expected but I'll take it!

It certainly paid off watching all the movies chronologically because this movie wears it's references on it's sleeve and I feel caps off the trilogy just fine. Set in 1985 we catch up with Maxine in Hollywood California as she is starting to make the jump to feature films but a blackmail plot centering on her bloodsoaked past is about to blow the lid, and on those occasions well...it's time to make plans. Ever so slight misdirect in the trailers though, it kinda shoves the Night Stalker angle down your throat but it doesn't bear much semblance on the plot, more as a background incident that helps set the stage which the movie was awesome at, it gets you in the mindset and gives a brief overview of what was going down in that corner of history. The soundtrack, the fashion, the world events, and all those small details that an old ass nerd like me can pick up. At almost 2 hours without credits the film moves at a brisk pace showing the transition of Maxine from porno star to movie star, and the mental state she is in. I mean obviously if you survive the events of X you're gonna have some PTSD in some way, so I appreciate how much the filmmakers tied everything in a pretty little bow for us fans. I'm not certain if the film crew shot on proper 1980s film stock or cameras but it had that particular look about it while keeping the modern techniques as with Pearl. I do ever so slightly sense this movie may not grab everyone how the last two movies did, but really the quality has barely shrunk. Mia is still a great lead and getting to see her achieve movie stardom gives her enough material to work with, plus she's just a fucking mental badass at points like my God! Girl has got issues but those moments were my cup of tea. It really is her film but the supporting cast of characters do fine work, from her agent played by Giancarlo (still the man), to her video store metal friend played by Moses Sumney who had my vote for best character, to just the messenger private eye of the blackmailer played by Kevin Bacon, some shine brighter than others but all did very well. It doesn't truly fit that horror vibe as the others which may contribute further to it being the black sheep of the series, it fits more a mystery drama but it got no problem showing some visceral detailed gore. I'll admit straight up to you this is the weakest entry in the trilogy, but it's still getting a good ass score! If you're a fan you'll no doubt enjoy it a great deal and if not you can walk away entertained regardless. I give it 3.5 stars, 8.5/10! A very good week, and next week will be limited to one review but I got some shows coming up for you so I'll need the time. By all means give it a watch and let me know which is your favorite, if I had to pick I'd probably go with X myself. So be safe, stay fit, stay sharp, make good decisions and I'll see you in a week!

The Mandalorian: Season 3

One more week.

I am prefacing this now. I don't wanna hear it, this was a good season, take your tribalism us and them, flawless or shit, all or nothing attitude and bugger off. Kay? Kay. Mando, new season, huzzah! No spoilers this time around, we'll save that for a later time, but I feel this kinda had to go the way it went. This is kind of an odd comparison but roll with me it involves a bit of Star Wars. Once Star Wars was released in 1977 space movies got big again, coming out of the woodwork in fact, and EON Productions saw this and set their next James Bond film in space titled Moonraker with space stations, lazer guns, and earth destroying globes of a different size, but after that they knew they had to bring Bond (pardon the partial pun) back down to Earth with a more serious and very unflashy follow up with For Your Eyes Only. The exact same thing happened for The Mandalorian. It got too big for it's britches last season, so much happened, so many big names entered the chat to where it got a bit crazy! And the writers and creators knew they couldn't keep that same level so they brought it back down a notch. We still have a fairly important story with Din and Grogu setting out to essentially reclaim Mandalore, and as the show progresses we get more and more mandalorians to assist in the cause. That's pretty much the overarching plot, but the individual episodes feel slightly akin to season 1's episodes where each new episode is a new adventure. There's quite a few standalone episodes that still have some expansive information and events occuring but they're more in the background. I equate this season to a very Arthurian source, the mandos feel a lot like knights, ownership over the Excalibur style Darksaber is brought into question, a quest to reclaim a kingdom, it really fits that style while of course being the glorious space fantasy opera it always has been. Just to highlight some of my favorite episodes for you without divulging every episode's plot, episode 3 The Convert. Kind of a no brainer coming from me and my Imperial ties, even if I did have to watch turncoat traitors support the quite frankly inept New Republic. Like seriously I could bitch about the New Republic all day and compare it to Fritz Lang's Metropolis and George Lucas' THX 1138 in just how dystopian it functions especially with former Imperial officers, but we don't got time for that today. Seeing Doctor Pershing and Elia Kane (Hello there new crush.) again was really cool and the progression of that story just wowed me! Episode 6 Guns For Hire I actually really liked, kind of a side mission with Din and Bo but the fact I get Jack Black in Star Wars is completely mental and stunning and I love everything about it, didn't strike me until later but we got some Blade Runner influence in that episode so that bumped the score up a good fair bit, and I know...I know. The Darksaber thing. I know. Deep breath. Din is not a ruler, he is not a leader type. I viewed that situation as him willingly giving up the Darksaber to have a better future for his people and to reclaim Mandalore, a selfless and optimistic act so that his people can band together once more. I knew certain folk were gonna jump at the jugular over that dispute in episode 2, but it's fine trust me. It's okay, we're okay. And of course the essentially two part finale, wow. They still know how to deliver and wrap things up pretty nicely. Too much to talk about, too much to spoil, all I'm saying is I very much enjoyed this season. And from the ending it feels like, to use another analogy, like a bell curve. You start with season one and it slowly starts ascending up the curve, then season two goes even higher and hits the peak undoubtedly, then season 3 starts climbing down and by the end settles down again, so naturally season 4 I feel wholeheartedly is gonna be street level Star Wars again, a return to form. You know it's like poetry they rhyme, each stanza rhymes with the last. Now onto production technicals! Cast still brings their A-game, lot of love given to Katee Sackhoff this season and I am all there for it! Pedro Pascal still being the best poppa in the galaxy and there is a sure fire character progression for him from season to season, he is truly an honorable man. All our supporting cast including our celebrity cameos were wonderful of course, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Katy O'Brian, Omid Abtahi, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Giancarlo Esposito, Jack Black, Lizzo, Christopher Lloyd, and of course Ahmed Best, absolutely fucking marvellous work and thank you for being part of my favorite galaxy. Stellar visuals as always from planet surfaces, to jetpack flying, to starships, to creature effects, it's all 100% pure, top shelf, chef's kiss, certified gold production and effects work. With so many new details and beautiful nods, it's a feast for hardcore Star Wars fans and still just as accesible and fun for newcomers. Another fine addition to our collection. And oh my God, there's so much Star Wars to talk about both this week and in the months to come. Lucasfilm pulled the crank and dropped a metric ton of new material on us April, and all I can say for the future is more! MORE!! Throw me in a Snoke tank and hook it up to my veins, I live for this shit. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and tomorrow we jump back into the FiloniVerse proper.

Son Of Batman

And to think this movie is nearly a decade old, good God time is fricking wild.

I actually have a disclaimer to issue before the review, I was aware of the fact that Bruce and Talia got a little hey hey and had a son named Damian, however I knew nothing of the actual storyline in the comics beyond that so this is essentially my introduction though I've read this adaptation doesn't follow the comics closely. But I gotta admit I did like it! The story presented is more than just Bruce learning he has a son and has to reign in his more lethal tendencies because he was raised by Talia and Ra's, now that is more or less the focus of the movie but I would admit that would still be a really cool and very fascinating story to see as like a drama superhero film, these two opposing personalities and ideologies clashing, but pretty much from the start it had my interest. This might sound odd but the film crafts this mystery for the viewer but there actually isn't a mystery in the film, you follow me? Because opening scene, friggin' Deathstroke flat out assaults the League of Assassins, I mean Protocol 10 missile strike and kills Ra's, now with my history and knowledge of the character Slade Wilson I know he is a mercenary first but the guy can hold a grudge so it proposed this question of who hired him to take out Ra's al Ghul? Turns out he was acting independently but it doesn't give you that information till a bit later on, and the story that unfolds from there is different and far from what I would have guessed but not bad. I really like this friction that Batman and the soon to be Robin have here, and with a character like Damian who has trained with the League since I'm sure he could walk it really dispenses with a lot of the origin of a new Robin who is very much a novice in all forms of crimefighting, and he actually has incredible combat skills and an intelligent mind staying at the same pace as Batman, even if he is a bratty little shit at times. It's a very welcome shake up of a classic formula. And the movie is really short too, not even an hour and fifteen minutes with credits, so it moves at a good pace but still has moments to breathe with a particular favorite scene of mine being Bruce taking his son to the Batcave, no dialogue, no plot, just the Batmobile driving through a rainy Gotham night. I appreciate that tremendously, it's not always a rush to the next action setpiece or the next argument between father and son. Granted the writing is really good when they do hash things out, but even I'll admit the switch between no qualms about murder to playing by the rules of the Batfamily seemed kinda quick for the kid, but like I said it's a short movie so they have to get that arc in quick somehow. I was a bit taken aback by the voice cast here, this follows the normal continuity of the animated DC movies so Jason O'Mara is still the Batman and he does have a good voice. But the big shocks came from the supporting cast, I took note that both Ra's and Deathstroke had excellent voices but couldn't place them and wonder of wonders, Thomas Gibson voices Deathstroke and goddamn does he have such a great voice for him, and Ra's is voiced by modern bad guy extraordinaire Giancarlo Esposito. That blew my mind, I totally couldn't place those voices! And Talia is voiced by Morena Baccarin, beautiful Leslie Thompkins from Gotham, nice! But may I just take a quick sidestep for a moment and say what the actual hell Talia? She flat out, and this is text and not subtext, drugged Bruce and banged the shit out of him! Like....what??? She was that hard up for the guy to perform literal date rape, I'm kinda stunned. I didn't know THAT part of the story going in! Moving on from that fuckery, the animation style is also in the standard of the mainline animated DC movies, and this is so not a slam against that series but I will fully and adamantly admit that my favorite DC movies like the comic books themselves, are the one offs. I love reading the graphic novels and watching stuff like Superman Red Son or Gotham By Gaslight because of the stand alone continuity. Even though to be candid further, the beauty of DC nowadays is you can pick almost any comic run and read it through to the next reboot and call it a day, each run being a different version on the infinite Earths to look at it one way. But all in all it's a very solid movie, not one of the absolute best but a good entry regardless, and considering now I know precisely zero about what comes next I'm looking forward to the next movie. I give this 3 stars, 7.5/10! I've heard murmurs of the Court Of Owls will appear so fingers crossed for that because it is a fantastic story.