This was previously published in Watch The Skies fanzine – April 2021 issue.
Boss Level – Hulu
For folks that have loosely monitored things in the film industry over the past decade or so will know that Mel Gibson has had some rough sledding. Of course, when the “rough” is based on who you are and how you act toward your fellow humans it won’t garner a lot of sympathy. I have been just fine with Mr. Gibson dropping out of prominence and staying off the screens I watch for entertainment. Then I bumped into this Looper article that said he was having something of a resurgence to his career. I’m not a fan of that, but I wanted to listen to the reasoning. What I did not expect was praise, and was more shocked at the film that was being heralded as something positive for him. Boss Level is a Hulu original film – and yes, Mr. Gibson is in this movie. I decided based on this positive review that I needed to at least check out a science fiction/action film to see for myself.
In this movie Frank Grillo (you may remember him from his stint as Crossbones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) plays Roy Pulver, a former special operations soldier who is caught in a time loop. He wakes up every morning to the same thing. He moves through his day hitting the same beats and changing up little parts in order to see what happens. It is every bit the same concept as any other time loop movie ~ think Ground Hog Day (Bill Murray) or Edge of Tomorrow (Tom Cruise), just add more crazy violence. As the name implies there are a lot of video game like things going on in this movie. There are other notable characters (played by the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong) but Frank Grillo is the main focus. He carries the movie and does it well. This kind of action is exactly the sort of film somebody would expect to see him in. It was tight, the clues and keys to the loop were clever and the action just didn’t stop.
As for the previously mentioned Mr. Gibson, yes, he was in the movie. I won’t deliver any spoilers on the part he plays (it’s very obvious, very quickly) but it does seem to be a fitting part. It’s not a long acting stretch from the days when he starred in a movie called Payback, but he does it well. The reviewer from Looper seemed to indicate that he should have been given more to do or that his role should have been expanded. I disagree. I think we got just enough of him, and that might be too much as far as I’m concerned.
You know what else? I have to recommend this movie. There’s a ton of video game level crazy violence. Yes, it’s a time loop story. I still recommend it! If you have a way to connect with a friend on a Saturday night, grab a cold one, sit down and check out this film ~ you’ll have a good time!
Given the amount I focus on table top gaming, book reviews, writing and art here on The Pretend Blog you might believe that I don’t stray outside my chosen genre. While it’s true that I tend to spend my available time on the things I enjoy the most, I do in fact stretch and get outside the genre from time to time. This particular out of genre experience was brought on when my wife… emphasized to me a non-zero amount of times… that I, in fact, needed to see a movie called Moxie.
For those interested in the visual rather than having me stumble over trying to describe the film in short hand without giving anything away, check out the trailer.
Last night I plopped myself onto the couch with my wife and we flipped the movie on. She had seen it before and insisted that it was worthy of a second viewing. I shrugged and we got on with it.
I didn’t have high expectations going into the film. I had not seen the trailer before the movie. I knew that Clark Gregg was in the movie as he’s a favorite of my wife’s, but beyond that I was unaware of any other things about this movie. I tend not to like ‘slice of life’ films and I didn’t really believe I was somehow going to connect with a teenage girl as a protagonist. I’m also not a fan of punk rock and the movie leans into that musical style. It didn’t add up to a warm, fuzzy feeling for me.
As is often the case, going in not expecting a lot seems to have worked to this films advantage. It had sharp dialog, characters that were real and felt like high school kids that my daughter would hang around with, and moved at a pace that didn’t ever lag. Vivian gets fed up with the toxic nature of things in her school. She digs up a bunch of things from her mother’s box of memories that inspire her to push for changes… and she does. She pushes and spurs others to do the same.
We watched it. No, I still don’t relate to a teenage girl… but my daughter IS one and she really enjoyed this movie too. There was good stuff in there. The circle of friends around Vivian is a diverse bunch. They relate the problems in the system and lay out so many of the reasons that change is needed. The supporting cast is really excellent. Clark Gregg plays a smaller role than I initially thought he might. The shining light deserving of attention is the boyfriend, Seth, played by Nico Hiraga (nope, I never heard of him before this). He digs into the role of ally and makes it work. He’s supportive without being dramatic about anything. He’s sensitive, but not overly so. He’s also not a pushover, standing up for himself when he feels he needs to. One of the best examples of an ally I’ve seen portrayed.
I really enjoyed this movie. Normally I would take something like this and write it up for the “you should be watching” column over at Watch The Skies, but as the subject of this post might have given away, it’s not even distantly related to science fiction. It’s still a great film. If you get the chance, you should check it out too.
This was previously published in Watch The Skies fanzine – February 2021 – Dust.
I attempt to keep the recommendations for this article series away from one specific network or subscription service. Focus that lands entirely on Netflix would rapidly exclude and push away any reader that didn’t have, or didn’t want a subscription to that particular service. In that spirit, this particular article covers one short film individually, but I want to highly recommend going to the channel itself. Dust is on YouTube. It features dozens of films ranging in length between two and twenty minutes. They’re great for a quick hit of science fiction. As long as you can get to YouTube, you can watch them all for free. As I scrolled the various videos available there I realized I’d seen at least one of them before, some years ago. The short film “The Black Hole” lasts just under three minutes and is just as good now as it was four years ago. There’s a lot to see and recommend this channel to science fiction fans.
I was spurred on to writing this by a recent article over at IO9 pointing out the short film “Avarya”. I won’t go into depth on this film because it is certainly short and I don’t want to give too much away. I will say that as science fiction fans, and particularly those familiar with the three laws of robotics, this one is really well done. Fantastic animation, great voices and just the right length (coming in at 19:31) to fill a quick lunch time bump or give some inspiration between binge watches. It does take a bit of a dark turn as the article title suggests, so be warned!
Go and subscribe to Dust and see all the excellent films available there!
Normally I’d put this sort of thing under the “You Should Be Watching” section of Watch The Skies, but I feel that a lot of members of the group would find the fact that I keep going back to animated television shows aimed at kids to be problematic. Since I am a dad, I find myself leaning toward these shows more and more, even when my own kid isn’t completely interested. I say “isn’t completely interested” because often times she will jump in halfway through something I’m watching. It’s not cool when I suggest it (because what kid wants to think their parents are cool or know anything, right?) but then gets caught by the actual show.
This is the case with Kid Cosmic. I can’t call it a subversion of the super hero genre, but it is certainly an interesting look at that genre and what sort of effect that genre has on kids. This hits close to home for me because I remember all the times when I was a kid that I watched Spiderman (as part of the Electric Company show I believe) and then went directly out to play and imitate that hero.
~ Side note ~ Yes, kids have always done this. Imitating what they see is part of developing who they will become. Yes, it can be dangerous. It was then and it is now. Teaching kids safety will ever only go so far. Pushing boundaries is part of being a kid. One of my earliest memories of being a super hero ended with a trip to the hospital for stitches. It’s going to continue to happen. If you’re a parent too, be prepared.
Kid Cosmic actually takes this whole concept head on. The star of the show is steeped in the heroic stories of comic books. He’s got energy and enthusiasm to spare. He finds cosmic stones in a crashed space ship and just knows to his core that he’s supposed to become a hero and save the planet. He scoops up the stones and does his level best to prepare to be a hero. The problem with this prep is that he really sucks at it. Constantly.
In an interview about the project, the creator (Craig McCracken) states that was at least part of his point, “It’s just part of being a kid, and I like the idea of exploring that fantasy, but also this blind confidence that they’re going to be immediately great at it.”
It’s a dose of realism in a genre that is packed with over the top expectations. A short, ten episode season is available on Netflix right now. My daughter and I have watched them all. There’s a good, solid message in the show along with some very entertaining moments. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into the super hero genre, kids fantasy shows, or just good writing.
I’ve railed against the stagnation of ideas (based on bankroll rather than creative capitol) in the past. I don’t need another version of Dune, King Arthur, or Lord forbid Robin Hood. Seriously… move on. Find one of the hundreds of fantasy books out there to work from. I mean it. I am really not looking forward to a LOTR series, no matter who’s making it. I saw the abomination that was what they did to the Hobbit. I am really uncertain about the series they’re planning based in the world of Willow. There’s just a lot of stuff out there that strikes me as a particularly bad idea.
Having said all of that, there was one mentioned that I might be able to get behind.
There’s a report out that says George Clooney may be attached to a remake of Buck Rogers. A couple of parts to unpack there.
Loved the ships. Smitten with Col. Deering.
First, while I don’t always like the work that Clooney does, I respect that it’s generally fresh and worthy. There are a number of things he’s been part of that are quite good. I enjoyed his part in O Brother Where Art Thou and thought that was a fantastic remake of the Odyssey. This is one of the things that gives me hope for this remake or restart or whatever name they put on it these days. IF you’re going to re-imagine a story, get clever. Change the time frame, update the language, make it accessible to a more modern audience.
Second, while I was a fan of the television show when it aired back in 79/80 that wasn’t the original series. Buck has been around since the 1920s. He had a couple of big radio show runs and was a staple in the comics industry for a lot of years. I also wanted to say I was a “big fan” but I was far more interested in / taken with Battlestar Galactica. That show was easily a bigger hit with me. Gil Gerard and Erin Gray did a fantastic job making a disjointed show work… but even as a kid I saw that it was just that – disjointed.
So, I’m going to hold out hope for this one. I think an excellent space show would do really well right now. We haven’t aged ourselves up to the date when the title character is supposed to “wake up” in the future, so there’s still a ton of room to work with. Hopeful.
Are there any other “remake” candidates you think might actually work?
One of the dangers of science fiction is using dates. When you put a date on something that’s in the “distant future” there’s a very real chance (at least if you’re story is good enough to endure) that you’ll eventually reach that date. Then you will pass that date, and things may or may not have turned out quite the way you expected. 1984 is a glaring example of this, but there are a lot of other examples – particularly in film. Two examples of this have popped up and gotten my attention lately.
The first is Johnny Mnemonic. Back in 1995 the year 2021 felt like it was far away. At this point we were supposed to be using physical implants to improve our lives (faster reflexes, stronger muscles) along with those things connected directly to our brains so we could interface with the deep, inner workings of the cyberworld directly. Well, we’re here in 2021. I’m not faster, nor am I stronger. I am also not seeing chain mail shirts as a fashion statement for body guards. Io9 has a fun look at this in greater depth here. I am glad we don’t have an 80 gig limit in our noggins given that I work with terabytes of information regularly. I’m going to reserve judgment on the rest.
The second is less obvious. Reign of Fire from back in 2002. Yes, a ‘future set’ movie about dragons taking over the world and burning the place down. I went back to watch this one again since it had been a while. The opening info dump actually placed the ‘current year’ as 2020. While the world hasn’t burned to the ground, 2020 didn’t exactly register as a stellar year for anyone that I know. This is definitely an underrated movie. It’s got Christian Bale, Gerard Butler and Matthew McConaughey. Yes, all of them in the same movie. The story isn’t deep, but the movie has got lots of action, a Star Wars reenactment play AND a dragon attacking a castle. Well worth digging a copy up and giving it a view.
So, we’re not wearing chain mail. We’re not hiding from dragons. Are we better off? Debatable I think.
What “future set” movie prediction is your favorite?
I had commented recently on the sinking feeling I had when it was announced that a Dungeons & Dragons movie was in the works. It makes sense as the traditional swords and sorcery genre seems to be on the rise, but is filled with potential pitfalls.
Recently I read reports (here and here) that a Dungeons & Dragons television series is in development.
Spell effects will be a challenge
I had a moment when I thought, “Lord, here we go. The market is going to get a glut of embarrassing fantasy stuff…”. Then that moment passed. The longer I thought about it, the more I believe that a television series could be the best possible answer for Dungeons & Dragons. If it’s done well it can have significant staying power and inspire a whole new set of folks. This might work…
Pro-
Fantasy television has had success. I will point to what seem like disparate shows but I think both Xena and Game Of Thrones show that serialized fantasy can work and have staying power. GOT is clearly the more up to date example here, but it had certain advantages that Xena didn’t get – and Xena got SIX season. Yes, that’s enough to go into syndication. It was also contemporary with Hercules. That was the 90s. In the 2000s we got two seasons of Legend of the Seeker. Fantasy as TV can work.
The upside arguments here are many. A series gives characters time to develop and plots time to unwind. You can have individual episodes along with longer, over arching stories. The episodic nature lends itself entirely to the D&D format. Each season could be considered a campaign. Actors, settings and even entire worlds could change between seasons. There are absolutely VAST options here. YouTube has shown that there is a sustainable audience for this too.
Con-
The downside or potential negatives are equal in number and variation. Going “cheap” on this will not help. Cardboard swords and rubber monster masks slapped on extras are going to be a tough sell in the land of 4K sets. Locations will shine through. Movies can spend more on this and have a limited time they will be in place, so picking the right place matters. The wilds of New Zeland or a city in Spain that’s hundreds of years old are clear and obvious ‘characters’ in the movies they’re in as much as any on screen actor. Locations like that cost $ and a new series might not have that kind of backing. Special effects is going to be another hazard. Go cheap there and you will fail. Get too deep and your budget and schedule will fail. Spells are a major part of D&D and must be part of the show. If they are done poorly it will hurt any chance of the show living on.
Landing Spot-
This will also be a major factor in how this potential show comes off. Will it be network or streaming? IF it’s streaming, will it be a major player or “off brand” looking for success to build on? Network shows will have a different, broader audience potential but will be strictly limited by what can and cannot be shown on said networks. They will be cut down and sliced up in a different way to allow for commercials. This changes how the story is told. A streaming service will hit a more niche audience directly, but it’s just that – niche. You’ve intentionally capped your number by subscriber base. You’ve given a lot of options for what the story can do that can’t be shown on a network though, and that might help draw people that might not otherwise “tune in”.
The story itself ~
The most important success factor for any movie or show is the story and the people that populate it. IF you have a story about people you don’t care for or about, the show will die. IF you have a set of people you care about and they don’t DO anything but sit around and have anxiety and bad relationships with each other, you’ll have an art house film and that will die too.
A lot of this comes down to expectations. The writer they have talked about gives me some hope. A good writer matters. A film or television series needs to set a reasonable bar to attempt to hurdle. IF the show comes off the starting line thinking it’s going to become GOT and doesn’t immediately reach that kind of “buzz” or viewership, it’s likely to get dumped. If it doesn’t aim for that level of quality, it will never garner any attention (other than perhaps from places like RiffTraxx). It’s an incredibly challenging mark to hit.
My suggestions ~
First, having a writer doesn’t say if it’s an original script or if it’s an adaptation of something. I’d say an original script could give the best chance at success here. Something that people can create a new fandom of their own with. Original might just be the best chance.
Second, IF the stories will be adaptations, there are some specifics to stay away from. Despite the immense popularity among players, stay away from Drizzt and the Underdark. It would make gamers happy but anyone unfamiliar with the background or game at all will instantly file this under “Witcher knock-off”. Stay away from Dragonlance. I know, longest running, super popular, etc. BUT the dragons would feel like they were reaching for GOT territory, the special effects would be a major hurdle AND they’re in a lawsuit right now. Not a great combo. I would also stay away from anything related to Conan. It’s a favorite, but the pulpy nature of it combined with it’s age doesn’t feel like the right fit for the modern political era.
Lastly, stay away from using DUNGEONS & DRAGONS as the sole title. Give it a different title first and let D&D be in the second line or description or tags or something. Calling it just or only “Dungeons & Dragons” implies that this will cover any and all adaptations that go with the game. It’s one aspect (of the many) that I really hated about the movie they did all those years ago. One title and they killed it for how long? Follow the pattern that adventure series inside the game follow and give it an interesting hook followed by “A Dungeons & Dragons Series” or something like that.
There is a much greater chance of upside with a television show. I still have that anxious feeling, but it is moderated. I am eager for some quality sword and sorcery that I can watch. I really hope they manage to pull off something wonderful.
This was previously published in Watch The Skies fanzine – January 2021
The lost Star Wars film.
A very Star Wars look, right?
Diving into 2021 does not mean we’re charging forward and looking at something new. In fact, this is a retro view that I had somehow missed along the way. Like 40 years missed along the way. I admit I’m not a super fan when it comes to all things Star Wars. Yes, I saw the original films when they came out. Yes, I had a ton of the toys. No, I’m not a member of the Jedi church. I love them and they hold a place within me even if I don’t keep up with every single release. It’s a film (and TV show and book and toy…) franchise like no other and it turns out that something really interesting was tacked onto it. Fantasy.
That’s right, fantasy. George Lucas commissioned a fantasy film. He wanted this fantasy film to be shown before or in association with Empire Strikes Back. You read that right. Empire Strikes Back – tied directly to a swords and horses fantasy film. It was made, it was shown, then it was lost.
Recently, during the preparation for a discussion about the influence of films on fantasy gaming I was digging for clips and information about various movies I’ve watched or heard about over the years. There are a lot of excellent films out there is you love fantasy. Then I stumbled onto a thread about fantasy and Empire. That’s how I came to know about Black Angel.
The age of Black Angel is part of why I wanted to put it here, along with the story of how it was made, lost and subsequently recovered. It is a very moody piece. The scenery is amazing. The background music is haunting. There is a look and feel to this film that is undeniable. In the notes about the film it was revealed that parts of the crew for the movie Excalibur watched this and took copious notes. The look and feel of Excalibur and Black Angel are quite similar. Some of the techniques used in Black Angel were picked up and used in Empire as well.
As a fan of the history of science fiction and fantasy it’s a neat treasure that’s available for free. The mood, the look, the sound all make Black Angel worth the short run time.
I have written in the past questioning the “we won” thought process of geekdom taking over the world. I am happy that there are so many geeky things in the world now. I love that so many things have cropped up and made their way to the public eye. Seeing so many things creates this feedback loop wherein I start to wonder if I’m really seeing fandom or if what I’m seeing is a naked cashing in on something that has reached the level of ‘fad’ and will soon fade into the background again. I will say now that I work very hard at NOT being that fan. You now, the one that claims if you didn’t suffer enough or if you aren’t a fan of precisely the right thing or you haven’t been into it long enough that you’re not truly a fan. That’s a load of crap. If you took up your geeky hobby or fandom last week you’re still a fan. You don’t have to be a fan of the same things I am, nor do you have to enjoy them the same way I do.
As with anything that pushes to the forefront of popular culture, levels of quality come into question as well. Sure, I saw a full set of Dungeons & Dragons dice the other day at the dollar store. Does that make them good dice? Does that make them bad dice? I didn’t buy them ~ I have no idea what the quality is. What it does mean is that if there’s a kid out there that wants some new gaming dice and he can scrounge up a buck, he can buy some. I’m happy for that. The dice may or may not meet my quality standard, but my standard has evolved over time. I’m really digging for quality now.
I am looking for high quality when it comes to the game I hold dear and how it is represented. A while back I posted wrote a couple of pieces about sword and sorcery films. I listed the top ten, and then added to (or amended) that list when I went hunting for newer material. One film conspicuously absent from my list was the Dungeons & Dragons movie.
Yes, blue lipstick guy.
Insert heavy sigh here.
For anyone that doesn’t know about it, New Line Cinema put out a Dungeons & Dragons film back in December of 2000. I was really excited to see it. I wanted it… I was willing it to be amazing. My Jedi mind trick failed or my will was not strong enough or maybe the time just wasn’t right. I loath that movie. It’s terrible AND didn’t do much more than pile ridicule onto fans at the time. Bear in mind this was a full eight years before the MCU’s first film came out (Iron Man – 2008) and still a year before the first of the LOTR series hit theaters (Fellowship of the Ring – December 2001). This movie did every single thing I feared about putting D&D forward into the public view. Big names were in this film. Jeremy Irons won an Oscar. Seriously. I’m not a fan of Mr. Irons, but they got an Oscar winner in there. I was also not a fan of casting one of the Wayans brothers in the movie. It has nothing to do with diversity – I think there should be more of it. It has everything to do with putting a stand up comic in as comic relief and not writing *any* clever lines to help him. He was hands down the worst character in the film – and yes I’m counting blue lipstick guy. The movie was just not good. Seriously, on a $45M budget it made back less than $16M domestically. That’s a bomb. I think it speaks to the strength of the brand that they were able to get funding for another two films (and YES, the third one did drop direct to DVD). It didn’t help matters that the following year’s release of Fellowship showed what a fantasy movie could look like. LOATHE IT.
What brought all this bile up you might be thinking.
I am filled with trepidation. A big name utterly failed to help the last one. There’s a lot of interest in D&D since the Stranger Things series came out… but… it could just go so very, horribly wrong. I find myself right back where I was twenty years ago. I so very, very much want this movie to be amazing. I want it to be “Fellowship” good. I have no faith in Hollyweird. The crusty old people pulling the purse strings will mess this up somehow. I say this based on the film adaptation of Ready Player One specifically, but not exclusively. There was an entire segment of that movie that could have (and should have) revolved around the D&D part that was written into the book. It’s not like D&D is unpopular right now. Rather than use that an entirely new section was written in as a homage to some other director and a film adaptation from 40 years ago (The Shining). My only glimmer of hope is that Joe Manganiello has also been said to be attached as one of the story creators. Joe has been very public about his love of the game and the fact that he continues to play.
A lot of people claim they love, respect, adore, play Dungeons & Dragons but I don’t see it. They’re going to screw this up… again. I don’t want them to, but I fear they will. I so very, very much want this to be amazing. I’ll have to revisit this post after I see the movie. It’s scheduled to release in the US in May of 2022.
I’m almost certain we’ll be back in movie theaters by then.
