Justice League Snyder Cut

I'd like to start off by saying that this is chockablock full if SPOILERS if you haven't seen the four hour Snyder Cut of Justice Legue.

On March 18, 2021 the long awaited Snyder Cut of Justice League was released on HBO Max and I sat down and watched all four hours of it.  The back ground of this is that in 2017 Zack Snyder was directing Justice League and in March of that year during post production his daughter's suicide caused him to withdraw from the film and Warner Bros hired Joss Whedon to complete the movie.  

Whedon went on the film additional scenes and although the general story stayed the same he did eliminated some characters and backstory releasing the flick.  You can go to the internet and read all about the fan outcry that they wanted Snyder's version of the film.  I absolutely hated Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice.  I liked some moments in it, I like the actors and the characters they play, except Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.  I hate the execution of the story and many elements of the film.

I went to the theaters in 2017, twice, to see Justice League because I really enjoyed it that much.  Because of how terrible, in my opinion, Batman vs. Superman is I had no interest in watching anything that Zack Snyder had to do with changing this movie.  At the same time, though, I felt I had to watch it because I couldn't judge it if I hadn't watched it. 

Thursday after my family went to bed, I popped a bowl of corn and sat down for what I thought was going to be a terrible movie night.  I was wrong.  I really enjoyed the film.  There were parts of the movie that I thought were really pretentious and dumb, there were parts of the movie that I thought dragged unnecessarily long.  The whole post apocalyptic epilogue dream segment seemed really out of place.  I later read that Snyder filmed that scene in October 2020 because he knew that his DC Universe was basically dead and not moving forward and he really wanted a scene where Affleck's Batman and Leto's Joker interact.

When talking to my friends vaguely about it Friday morning my statement was that I like both versions of the film, I thought they both had their faults but I didn't like one more than the other.  Then on Friday I watched the 2017 Justice League and changed my mind.  I like the Snyder Cut better, fucking hurts a little to say that.  

I'm not going to break down all the differences, there are plenty of websites all over the internet that are going to do that, what I am going to tell you is what made me change my mind.  Snyder does a deep dive into the backgrounds and mythos of the characters and the introduction of them.  When watching the 2017 with some of these scenes it made them seem like the were cut too short.  For instance the scene when Wonder Woman stops the domestic terrorist at the bank in the 2017 version it's 3 minutes long, in the Snyder Cut it's nearly seven and a half minutes.  After watching the Snyder version the 2017 scene just feels like it's extremely chopped up and incomplete.  This is the pattern several times through out the movie.

The main villain in both films is Steppenwolf, however he looks completely different in both movies, and in 2017 he's the big bad guy while in the 2021 flick he's doing to dirty work for his master Darkseid.  The scenes where he acquired the motherboxes is more impressive and the protectors put up a bigger fight in the Snyder Cut.

Superman is a bad ass in both plain and simple, as he should be. 

The argument could be made that if Whedon made a 4 hour cut of the film instead of two hours, that he would have dove deeper into the backstories and the mythos like Snyder did.  Also we have no way of knowing if had Snyder finished the film in 2017 if he would have made a this version of the film.  He had the hindsight to see what the critics and fans liked and disliked about the movie.  

When it comes to which film is the official cannon of the DC Cinematic Universe James Wan (director of Aquaman) and Patty Jenkins (director of Wonder Woman) say that it's Snyder's Version as they directed their films based on his planned cut of the film.    

However, from what I have read the Snyder's direction with Batman, Superman, and Justice League is over.  

Until Next Time!

Some Random Thoughts

It's been quite a week this week, it went by fast and slow at the same time.  I worked from home on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.  I was in the office Wednesday and worked evening shift in dispatch.

Friday morning I had an ultrasound on my live, my latest lab worked showed an elevated bilirubin level and my bariatric surgeon wanted me to have the procedure.  I'm hoping for a call this week to tell me what, if anything, they discovered and see what the next step is.

My buddy Brandon recently wrote on his blog about how he likes the new Popeye's Chicken sandwich and how it compares to other fast food chicken sandwiches.  Well after hearing the hype for 18 months I finally was able to have a Popeye's Chicken sandwich and I have to say I thought it was just meh.  In fact there was such a hype to it, that it was straight up disappointing.

I got a lot of work done this week on my Limitless Wrestling book, and I have 9 episodes recorded of my new segment, Maine's Wrestling History, which airs on the Limitless Wrestling IWTV show The Road Season 3.  The response to the segments have been amazing, people seem to be really enjoying it and I'm very flattered.  

The wife's Bakery she started up last week is also booming with her selling out her weekly orders.  We are taking it slow and steady to not get ahead of ourselves and so she doesn't get overwhelmed.  So far it's very exciting and I'm curious where it's going to go.

On Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite on TNT I got to see one of my all time favorites Tully Blanchard step back in the ring in a six man tag with FTR against Jurassic Express.  It was so frigging good!  The match was great, Tully looked awesome, it was such an awesome dedication to him and all he has done for wrestling.  I can't imagine he'll ever wrestle again and honestly I don't think he should.  This was the way to go out.

I finished watching Lovecraft County on HBOMax and I loved the series so much I bought the book.  I plan on reading it sooner than later, but I have so many other side projects that I want / need to finish first that I probably won't crack it open until next month.  I have so much reading I want to catch up on after I finish this Limitless book.

Until Next Time!

February Movies

 

Wheel of Fortune - comedy about a mechanic who must win a bunch of races according to his birth fathers complex will

Below Zero - Spanish revenge flick I watched on Netflix about about a man going after a prisoner on a transport truck, I enjoyed the movie, it has a good story. 

The Sitter - Jonah Hill flick about his adventures in babysitting some kids for the night when his "girlfriend' calls asking him to bring her drugs.

Twister - The 1996 Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton storm chasers flick.  The wife and I watched this in the hotel room on our getaway night.  

The Hard Way - Michael J. Fox and James Woods flick from 1991 about a tough New York City cop (woods) being shadowed by a big Hollywood actor (Fox) for an upcoming role.

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song - from 1971 the Melvin Van Peebles flick that is credited with launching the Blaxploitation genre.  

New Jack City - A 1991 flick directed by Mario Van Peebles about the crack cocaine epidemic in New York City in the late 1980's. I remember watching this on HBO all the time when it first came out and I haven't watched it in at least 25 years but I recalled so many parts from it as I watched it. 

All My Friends Are Dead - Netflix original that is a Polish movie that reminds me of an american style raunchy teen dark comedy.  I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun!

Malcolm & Marie - Watched on Netflix - Written and Directed by Sam Levinson it was filmed in black and white starring Zendaya and John David Washington, I thought it was a great movie but it is EXTREMELY heavy on dialogue as these are the only two characters in the film.  I really like Washington's voice and listening to him talk. 

Don't Let Go - On HBO max its very cool supernatural murder mystery thriller.  Almost a modern day version of Frequency.

Enter The Dragon - Arguably Bruce Lee's biggest movie and the last movie he completed before he died.

Way of The Dragon - Return of the Dragon - US Title, written, directed, and starring Bruce Lee who fights Chuck Norris in the big finale fight of this film.  Visiting his family in Rome he must stopped evil gangsters that are harassing them.

The Big Boss - Fists of Fury - US Title Bruce Lee's first big starring role in Hong Kong, visiting his family in Thailand he works with them at an ice house which is a front for a drug running business.

Fist of Fury - The Chinese Connection - US Title Classic story of a student getting revenge for the death of his master.  The title song lyrics are amazing! 

Below The Belt - Filmed in 1974 and released in 1980 it is about a young women attempting to break into the world of women's wrestling.

Judas and The Black Messiah - Biopic of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and the FBI informant that lead to his death.  This was an HBOMax in theater and at home same day release.

 Malcolm X - Spike Lee's epic biopic

The Last Dragon - The 1985 cult classic about martial arts master "Bruce" Leroy Green and his battles with the Shogun of Harlem Sho Nuff.  

Baadasss - Mario Van Peebles biopic about the making of his fathers flick Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song.  This film really makes me appreciate Sweet Sweetback and what the flick meant at the time it came out.

In Search of Darkness II - the follow up documentary about 80's horror movies.  It's 4.5 hours long, and even though it's not as good as the first one, it's still an outstanding production. 

Sonic The Hedgehog - great flick!

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino flick that I haven't seen since watching it in the theaters.  I really enjoyed it. 

Freaky - Great flick, a spin on the Freaky Friday story where a serial killer swaps bodies with a teenage high school girl.  

Tom & Jerry - Part live action part classic animation this was a Warner Brothers released in Theaters and on HBOMax same day flick.  My younger kids loved it, I don't ever need to watch it again. 

Until Next Time!

The Muppet Show

Today is an amazing day as all five seasons of The Muppet Show (1977 - 1981) are available on Disney+ for the first time! Seasons 1, 2, & 3 were released on home video but seasons 4 & 5 have not been, although a few episodes of those seasons were released via the Time Life Home Video series.  I never bought the individual seasons as I was as I was waiting for the complete series to come out.  

From the original opening sequence

I have never seen every episode of the Muppet Show before, I can't say for sure how many I have seen, but I am going to watch them in order.   I loved this show as a kid watching it on Saturday and Sunday mornings in reruns and syndication.  I've been a Muppet fan my whole life.  When I was 12 I went to Disney World and attended the Muppet Show Muppet Vision 3D, it was amazing!

Currently I'm watching the first episode with my youngest and Wesley LOVES it!  I mean the kid clearly has good taste.  

The first guest Rita Moreno

A few things about the first episode that stood out to me, the opening theme sequence was different, it wasn't the established one that I grew up on.  A random Muppet that was dancing with Animal in a ballroom skit had the voice that would eventually be synonymous with Miss Piggy.  Miss Piggy looks different and had a different voice at the beginning of the episode in two skits but had her normal voice by the end, she's not a star but a supporting character.  Janice's voice is also different.  Skooter wasn't in the episode either, he appears in episode 2.  

Until Next Time! 

My Left Leg

Yesterday, February 10, I had surgery on my left leg to remove multiple varicose veins from my left leg.  The same procedure I had in January on my right leg.  The good part is that I know what to expect this time for any complications.  What's odd to me is how different the process went this time than last time.

The check in process was the same, and the prep in my room was also the same.  When speaking to the anesthesiologist I told him about my vomiting when I woke up on the way to and in recovery.  He gave me Dramamine before and changed up my drug cocktail.  I was very pleased with that as when I woke up I had no nausea and recovered quickly from it leaving two hours earlier than last time.

When the brought me into the operating room last time I transferred over to the table they began to strap me down and then I was out and the next thing I knew I was throwing up into the hands of some poor nurse.  This time I got brought in, transferred, strapped down, then they put a circulation book on my right leg and started shaving my left.  Nothing was negative it was just longer before I was put under.  

Finally the way my left leg was wrapped and bandaged was completely different than my right.  I'm not complaining about anything just musing at the differences to essentially the same procedure.  In recovery I was looking at my toes and with out my glasses asked why was all over them, the nurse said blood and noted something about blood going everywhere.  Not sure if she was joking or I was still in a misunderstanding haze.

On the plus side, as this leg heals I'll be better prepared on how to handle it.  

January Movies

My January movie watching was a decent mix of old and new with some great classics in there.   

Midnight Cowboy - I've heard a lot about this movie over the years and it's on many lists for being a fantastic film.  Not to mention it won and Oscar back in the day, the only Rated X movie to win one.  The rating was later changed to R.  

Honest Thief - Liam Neeson being Liam Neeson in a very simply, formulaic story.  I enjoyed it, but nothing special

The Beast - Italian flick that is a poor rip off of Taken.  

The Bourne Identity - I love these flicks and it was not my intention to watch all of them, but I did.  I've watched all of the Jason Bourne movies multiple times.   

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Legacy - This is only the second time I've watched this movie but it's really good!

Jason Bourne

Spree - I watched this flick on Hulu, it was a lot different than I thought it would be.  I did enjoy it thoroughly though.  

The Dead Don't Die - This movie stars Bill Murray, Adam Driver, & Cloe Sevigny and for all purposes it should be fantastic.  It wasn't.  There are some good parts but over all it's just not good at all.

Outside the Wire - A netflix original starring Anthony Mackie about a machine that turns against it's creators.  Again some great moments but not a great movie. 

Death of Me - I watched this on Netflix because it was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who has directed a lot of movies that I am a fan of.  Saw II, III, & IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Mother's Day, The Dark Carnival, The Barrens, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Spiral.  They can't all be winners.

Scanners - A David Cronenberg "classic" about telepathic and telekinetic people.  This movie is often talked about for the special effects especially the scene where the guys head explodes, and it is great, and the storyline is very good, the acting is terrible.  

The Empty Man - The first hour of this movie was amazing.  I really enjoyed it and really got into it.  It had a similar theme to Candyman or Bloody Mary where you do something that summons a supernatural being, but then it got convoluted and really started going downhill.  It was like a whole new crew took over and filmed the second half without seeing the first half.  

The Little Things - New flick on HBOMax with Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto.  It was a good flick and it's worth a watch but it's a one time watch for me. 

North by Northwest - 1959 Alfred Hitchcock classic that the wife and I enjoyed together.  We really like it! 

An American Werewolf in London - This was my first time watching this flick and I could have gone without watching it.  It's a John Landis flick and I love him, just not this movie.  What you hear about is the amazing transformation scene, and it really is fantastic, but that's the highlight.  I wasn't expecting the comedic elements and I think it took away from what could have been a great movie.

Until Next Time!

X-Files Season 10 Episode 3

I first posted this on my old blog, I've decided to post it here today because this episode first air five years ago on February 1, 2016

WARNING, HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!

X-Files Season 10 Episode 3 "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster"

I loved this Episode!  It ranks as one of my all time favorites for various reasons.  At the beginning of the episode Mulder reveals how everything he worked so hard to prove in the past can be so easily debunked with little to no effort leaving him jaded that he wasted his life on a fruitless pursuit, and by the end of the episode he finally sees a real honest to goodness, albeit friendly, monster.  This rejuvenates Mulder into seeking the truth.

Mulder meets the horned lizard humanoid Guy Mann

Yes this episode is more on the comedy side of things, but that is the tradition of such episodes as "Humbug" and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".  Incidentally both of these episodes as well as this episode were all written by Darin Morgan.


There are several great moments in this episode, the two stoners at the beginning are played by Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker-Smith who played the same characters in two other episodes in the early seasons of the X-files.

Tyler Labine now and then

The Were-Monster in his human form wears an outfit playing homage to Darren McGavin's Carl Kolchak from the series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".  Incidentally this was the series that was Chris Carter's inspiration for the X-Files.

Left: Guy Mann with Mulder - Right: Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak

In the cemetery there are two headstones that are prominently displayed with the names Kim Manners and Jack Hardy.  Both of these men worked on the original run of the series with Manners directing 52 episodes and Hardy the Assistant Director on "X-Files: I Want to Believe."

The story is a crazed animal control officer that bites his victims throats killing them.  He bites our monster, Guy Mann, in his throat and it turns him from his normal form, a humanoid version of a horned lizard, into a man.  To go along with becoming a human he is also overcome with thoughts and emotions making him human question our futile lives.


Sincerely this is simply a fantastic episode from beginning to end.  I absolutely love it and would really like to see Guy Mann comeback somehow.


Until Next Time!