TV Review: "Gotham"

I don't usually review new TV series until after the 2nd episode but every once in a while a new show comes along that hits a home run on very first up at bat. And before I go there, what regular readers are left, know that I am and have been since childhood, a MASSIVE Batman fan. Closely followed by Superman, Batman doesn't need superpowers to be a Superhero. Other DC Favorites include Wonder Woman; Aquaman (don't you dare!); Flash and to a lesser extent, Green Lantern; Green Arrow and Nightwing. When FOX first announced what appeared to be a DC Muppet Babies, I was less than impressed. It looked... unnecessary, at best. As more clips and promos began to filter across the Net, my interest was piqued, though my expectations were still rather low.

Imagine my surprise when I sat down to watch last night's pilot episode and found myself immediately immersed in and engrossed by what turns out to be not only a Batman & Villains origin story, but a gritty, dark and violent crime drama filled with intriguing glimpses of the young versions of the characters we've come to know and love. The first episode begins (not a spoiler if you know anything at all about Batman's origins) with the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents and the new detective who promises Bruce he will catch their killer, Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie). Gordon's crooked partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is in cahoots with vicious club owner Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) who in turn works for mob boss Carmine Falcone ("Rizzoli & Isles" and "The Wire" alum John Doman). As the investigation mounts, we're introduced to young versions of Selina "Catwoman" Kyle; Ivy "Poison Ivy" Pepper; Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot and Edward "Riddler" Nigma.

First and foremost, kudos to Production Designer Doug Kraner, who has imagined a Gotham City for the 21st Century. Gotham City is gorgeously executed, seamlessly blending real-life New York City with his CGI rendered skyline, while managing (along with expert cinematography) to maintain the Noir atmosphere essential to the source material. Pilot director (and series producer) Danny Cannon has artfully set up what looks to be an exciting and intriguing show. Hottie McKenzie (probably best known for "The O.C.") has been around long enough to deserve the breakthrough role I hope Gordon will be for him.* Gordon is determined to clean up the corruption in Gotham and McKenzie plays him both tough and vulnerable, though it might be nice to see his softer side a little more. Logue is his usual self: slovenly and only looking out for himself, he brings an odd likeability to a completely unlikeable character. Smith is both seductive and vicious as Fish, a woman who won't blink an eye while cutting your throat. The stand-out villain this episode was Robin Lord Taylor's Cobblepot. Taylor's Penguin is madly sadistic and duplicitous and I loved him. 

If you are a Batman fan, a DC fan, a crime drama fan, a comics fan or just a fan of smart,entertaining TV, you should be watching "Gotham,' Monday nights on Fox (just before the excellent "Sleepy Hollow," which has a terrific season premiere!). **** (Four Out of Four Stars)

*If not, he should play Jeremy Renner's brother in something...

More, anon.
Prospero

2014 - The Year in Sci-Fi Movies

Well, at least the year in Sci-Fi movies which have piqued my interest, anyway. There are plenty of tentpole movies coming up that have me pitching a cinematic tent, starting in no particular order with director Gareth Edwards (Monsters) reboot of Godzilla starring "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston; Aaron Kickass Taylor-Johnson and the not-a-twin Elizabeth Olsen. 

Disaster maven Roland Emmerich failed miserably with his over-inflated 1998 attempt to reboot the Toho Studios franchise which started the Kaiju genre. Edwards' Monsters was quite good, though it was more of a character-study set inside a Sci-Fi story. The newly released trailer looks amazing. I didn't get to see del Toro's Kaiju movie Pacific Rim. I won't be missing Godzilla:

Andy and Lana Wachowski, who gave us The Matrix and 2012's wildly underrated Cloud Atlas, are back this year with Jupiter Ascending, a seemingly Jungian tale of a seemingly ordinary young woman who discovers she is the key to the fate of the entire Universe. Mila Kunis (Ted; "Family Guy") and a pointy-eared Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) star.

Christopher Nolan's (more on him in a moment) cinematographer Wally Pfister makes his directing debut with Transcendence, about a terminally ill A.I. scientist whose consciousness is uploaded to a mainframe and sets about to destroy life as we know it. Johnny Depp (thankfully not in a Burton or Verbinski film) stars alongside Kate Mara and Nolan favs Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy.

Marvel has four major films coming out this year, further cementing their dominance in the Superhero genre. Of course, Uncle P has never been a fan of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, so I will be skipping that movie. But I have every intention of seeing X-Men: Days of Future Past; Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the weirdest of the "Avengers"-related movies. Guardians of  the Galaxy.

Then there's the sequel to the Planets of the Apes franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The creator of Gollum and the most recent incarnation of King Kong, Andy Sirkus reprises his CGMC role as the sentient chimpanzee Caesar. Gary Oldman; Keri Russell; Judi Greer and Kody Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) co-star.

Then there's the "Found Footage" movie, Earth to Echo, about a group of boys who discover an alien in a very Spielbergian film from first-time feature director Dave Green:

Last, though hardly least, is Christopher Nolan's belated semi-annual birthday gift to me, Interstellar. Shrouded, as all of Nolan's movies are in secrecy, Featuring a huge cast of major stars, including Matthew McConhaughy; Anne Hathaway; Jessica Chastain; Michael Caine; John Lithgow; Ellen Burstyn and Matt Damon, Interstellar is about a space crew using a wormhole top traverse the galaxy.

As the Brits might say, I am chuffed for the upcoming movie year!  How about you?

More, anon.
Prospero

The Wonder Woman Fans Deserve?

Rileah Vanderbilt as Diana Price/Wonder Woman

I still haven't seen Man of Steel and I'm hoping that's a good thing. Potential disappointment would have far less impact on the small screen. And while not particularly a fan of Ben Affleck as the Batman (Dare Devil was not entirely his fault), I am very dubious of the announced Batman/Superman  movie of 2015, which should be the lead in for DC's Justice League movie. Though many fans (myself included) think there should be a few more origin films before leaping right into JLA. There's both The Flash and Aquaman (the latter often being the least popular member of the JLA) and then there is Princess Diana of Themyscira* AKA Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman.

*Formerly known as Paradise Island.

Created in the 1940's Wonder Woman (like many superheroes of the era) fought both Axis enemies and supervillians. She is an Amazon Princess with great strength, agility and courage. Her golden lasso forces anyone tied up in to tell the truth and her lighting reflexes & deflector bracelets keep her safe from gunfire. Oh. She has an invisible plane. She's gone through many changes over the years and like most superheroes has had some pretty outrageous story-lines. In a recent series, she was endowed with power by the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the most physically powerful DC characters, after Superman. 

Those of us old enough to do so, remember the very cheesy TV series starring Lynda Carter in a pair of blue Depends and the devilishly handsome Lyle Waggoner:

I never understood the point of an invisible plane if we can still see her. Of course, by Season 3, the opening credits lost the comic-book style animation and pro-women's rights lyrics in favor of instrumentals over action shots from the previous two seasons:

Since then, there have been several aborted attempts at a Wonder Woman feature and Direct-to-DVD animated movie, as well as a failed TV pilot from David E. Kelly with Adrianne Palicki ("Friday Night Lights") in the title role. The new costume didn't help.

Adrianne Palicki Fail

Earlier tonight, a friend shared the following on Facebook and I read it and watched it and thought "Yes! this is exactly how to do it!" A production company called Rainfall Films has put together a "concept clip" of how they think Wonder Woman should be made as a film. It certainly seems to fall into the more naturalistic DC Universe created by Chris Nolan's Batman films and perpetrated by Zack Snyder in Man of Steel. And while we don't really get a sense of her acting skills, "Fitness Model/Actor/Unicorn" Rileah Vanderbilt certainly fits the bill physically.

I also like how they've structured the piece with a relevant flashback with decent (if seen-before) CGI effects. Watch the clip for yourself and I'll be back with a few more comments. I recommend watching on Full Screen with the volume on:

Wow! Now THAT's a Wonder Woman for the 21st Century. The costume is perfect Amazon Warrior and the action is fun and exciting with that gritty Nolanesque (yes, I just created a new director-named adjective) attitude and I much prefer her ability to fly over the invisible plane. 

What say you, fellow geeks? Would you see this version of Wonder Woman? Because yer damned Skippy, I would!

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Superhero You'll See This Week

Personally, I have never attended (and don't really hope to do so) a kiki. Made popular by the Scissor Sisters' single Let's Have a Kiki (link may contain NSFW content), a kiki is a small, impromptu party with close friends, or something. There may be catwalk modelling involved. Or Ecstasy. Something.

So, in case I haven't mentioned it before, part of my not-so-secret geekery includes Super Heroes. I'm a DC kid (though Spider-Man was fun). I think it had to do with the characters' secret identities. In public, I'm an upstanding, everyday citizen (except for the billionaire part, of course). Behind a mask, I get to wear tights and a cape and express who I really am. Gee -- I wonder why gay kids identify with Super Heroes? 

As a child, I was Batman for Halloween 3 years in a row. I used to tie a towel around my neck and ride by "Batcycle" (really a Schwinn "Pea-Picker" with a banana seat; wide handle bars and a sissy-bar for a passenger) down the street, singing "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah..." And no, I am hardly ashamed to admit this. Many of you know you did something similar. 

There's certainly nothing new about the homoerotic connotations in the relationship between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dick Grayson/Robin. They sleep in the same bed, for eff's sake! And there's tons of fan art imagining much more going on between the hero and his sidekick.

Of course, comedian Jonny McGovern has his own ideas about Batman; his voice and what he's like when drinks too much (language NSFW):

There are rumors that Warner/DC's announced 2015 Justice League film is in trouble. The latest script is supposed to be a disaster and not a single actor has been signed. Personally, I think we'll need a Wonder Woman movie and a Flash movie, first. And a Green Lantern sequel that isn't a mess of ideas without anything to really tie them all together. And really, why hasn't there been a Wonder Woman movie, already? Sheesh! 

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Comics You'll See This Week

A lot has been made lately about gay comic book characters. Marvel Comics recently portrayed a gay wedding between the Canadian X-Man Northstar and his human partner Kyle, while DC Comics announced that the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott came out as gay in the 'Earth Two' series, in which all previous incarnations of the DC Universe are apparently moot.

Being practically ancient, Uncle P really doesn't get the Superhero comics of the modern world. There have been so many reboots and re-writes, I am actually confused by who is whom. And truth be told (and as I've mentioned before), I'm a DC guy. I just love Superman; Batman; Aquaman; Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. They are the superheroes I grew up with (Spider-Man notwithstanding) and the superheroes I still love (yes, even Bryan Singer's Superman Returns).

And of course, it doesn't matter to me which comic characters are gay or straight. I'm just glad that the industry has embraced its LGBTQ readers and included characters with whom we can relate. And while Marvel may have revealed Northstar's sexuality over 20 years ago (with little opposition at the time), it's nice to see them giving his marriage to Kyle some serious coverage. The X-Men series has always had gay undertones anyway, especially in the movies based on them.

70's Gay Clone Superman

 The hate group known as "One Million Moms" (which should probably be called 'Forty-Thousand Uptight, Teabagger Morons') has come out in opposition to the inclusion of LGBT characters in comics. Meanwhile, not one of them has come out against the extreme violence in comics like The Punisher, where brutal decapitations are commonplace. Heaven forfend that the writers should portray honest and heartfelt love between two men, but it's OK to have a straight hero rip the beating heart out of his enemy. Am I the only one to sense a serious disconnect here? I must think not.

Anyway, comic artist Dale Lazarov just published his own (very NSFW) tome, "Comics Made Me Gay," in which he explains how comic book Superheroes helped to shape his personal ideals of what and who is sexy in the pen-and-ink world of pulp fiction. Trust me, I totally identify with everything he has to say, Comic book heroes embody everything gay men have taught one another about what is hot. Muscles; strength; empathy; attractive young wards and ideals about justice and fairness are the cornerstones of every Superhero comic since Superman made his first appearance in Detective Action Comics in 1938. These heroes, often closeted to protect their true identities from an non-understanding public, have provided inspiration for generations of LGBTQ youth for more than seven decades. It seems so empowering that they are finally coming out of their closets to inspire a new generation of young people to be proud of who they are.

lately, I find myself so amazed at how far the LGBTQ community continues to make ourselves known among mainstream media and I can finally envision a day when that inclusion is no longer an exception.

Keep on fighting the good fight, folks.And know that it's okay to drool over Brendan Routh:

More, anon.
Prospero

Do Over: Hot Super Edition.

Let's try this again, shall we? This post's original title was "Supers Hot" but after the great Firefox Fail of 2011, I tweaked it.

This weekend sees the first of three in Marvel's Avengers saga, Thor. Relative newcomer Chris Hemsworth stars as one of Stan Lee's odder Supers, in that he is neither human nor alien, but an actual Norse god trapped on Earth. My only associations to the character are the 70's Saturday cartoon version and an astonishingly young and gorgeous Vincent D'Onofrio in Adventures in Baby Sitting, which leaves me actually looking forward to seeing what a director like Kenneth Brannaugh does with material that is probably among the more absurd Super Heroes in the Marvel universe.

Marvel also has another specimen of male perfection in Captain America: The First Avenger. Starring the stunnningness that is Chris Evans (above) as Steve Rogers/Captain America, a 90 lb weakling who forgoes Charles Atlas and volunteers for a secret military experiment to create a Super Soldier Ironically, there's an iconic cover featuring Cap punching Hitler in the face. And if I remember, weren't Addie and Hermie actually trying to create a race of Ubermensch ? Anyway, Captain America has been since WWII and has almost as long a history as Superman. Like many comic book Supers, Steve Rogers is no longer the Captain in the current version of the comic, having been replaced at least once, but I couldn't tell you by whom. Hit-or-Miss director Joe Johnston has his work cut out for him in tying in a character from a different era into the set-in-the present Avengers. Of course, I've had my eye on Evans ever since his debut in Larry Cohen's ridiculous but thoroughly entertaining Cellular, which also starred My Obsession. Evans just gets better and better... and his acting has improved, as well... (rimshot). Watch this while I go cool off:

And Marvel competitor, DC isn't sitting out the summer. The also stunning Ryan Reynolds is Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern. After an alien crash lands on Earth, Jordan finds himself in possession of a mysterious ring and lamp, which the dying ET in the UFO says chose him. Hal has been designated arth's Green Lantern, one of thousands throughout the Universe. The mostly green-screen and CGI movie also stars Peter Sarsgaard; Mark Strong; Geoffrey Rush and Tim Robbins. 

Reynolds may not be the best actor in the world, but he's not terrible. And I know lots of folks who could spend hours just looking at him.... Too bad the costume is CGI, too. Then again, Ryan in real tights might just be too much to handle in a mature and respectful manner. The latest trailer makes Green Lantern look pretty a-frickin-mazing:

And while not exactly a comic book hero, pulp writer Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian has been resurrected in the form of Pacific Islander Jason Mamoa, who could be rocketed to stardom (like Conan's first portrayer who went on to something... um...I want to say politcal? Conversely, he could be starring in his one and only major studio film. 

Mamoa was on "Baywatch," I guess. He had bad dreds, from all the pictures I could find. And he wasn't nearly as big. There's something about the shape of his eyebrows that bothers me, but they may just be enhanced for "barbaric" effect. And of course, it's not like they would be a deal-breaker, if you know what I mean. Mamoa's amazing body certainly looks more natural than the former Governor's did in the same role. Of course, 10 minutes with Mamoa's trainer would in all likelihood literally kill Uncle P. And then where would all of you be left? Sigh...

I hope you watched all those in Full Screen. And I hope you all realized that this Summer is the kind of summer gay fanboys dream about...

More, anon.
Prospero

TV Review: "Human Target"

DC Comics' Christopher Chance rears his head again in Fox's remake of the failed 1992 show of the same name (starring Rick Springfield, of all people). IMDb doesn't list what network the show aired on, but since it lasted a mere 7 episodes, I don't imagine anyone is willing to own up to it.

In this latest incarnation, ruggedly handsome Mark Valley ("Boston Legal;" "Fringe") stars as Chance, a private security specialist who takes on high-risk clients in danger. In the DC Comic, Chance takes on his client's identity in an effort to draw fire away from the real person. In Fox's newest incarnation, Chance simply assumes the role of a trusted confidant (or in the pilot's case, an interpreter), so he can be close enough to his client to protect them from evil-doers who want them dead.

Not being familiar with either the DC comic or the 1992 series, I watched the "Human Target" pilot with no preconceptions as to what it was actually about (other than the promos which Fox has been airing, ad nauseum), so I think I was able to approach it with a relatively unbiased eye. And, for the most part, I was entertained, if nothing else. Of course it doesn't hurt that Chance's partner, Winston, is played by Chi McBride (late of my much beloved "Pushing Daisies") and his "man on the outside" is played by future Freddy Kreuger and former Rorschach, Jackie Earl Haley.

The pilot episode concerned the head designer of a new Bullet Train that links San Francisco to L.A. in three hours (an impressive feat, if you've ever driven the Coast Highway). Someone wants her dead, and it's Chance's job to make sure she stays alive. With plenty of comedy and even more face-pounding action, this version of "Human Target" can best be described as a one-hour Bond flick, complete with femme fatales, bald hitmen (you can always tell when a TV character is evil -- he's bald) and an acerbic hero with what may be a death-wish of his own.

Valley is fine here, though I doubt even James Bond would have come through the beating he receives in the pilot with less blood and bruising. And while I'm happy to see McBride back on TV, he is simply transferring the world-weary Emerson Cod from "Daisies" to Winston, yet another world-weary cynic dealing with people who don't do what he thinks they ought to. As Guerrero, the former bad-guy-gone-good, Haley seems weirdly out of place, though I suspect that's what how producers want the character to appear. Haley's dry delivery of death threats to the thugs dispatched to beat him is both creepy and amusing.

I suppose it will take a few more episodes before I decide whether or not "Human Target" is worth the space on my already crowded DVR, though I must admit to being entertained by the pilot.



**1/2 (Two and a Half out of Four Stars).

Here's a clip from the 1992 version for an unfair comparison:



More, anon.
Prospero