I saw Thor: The Dark World over the weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised. That said, I never really go into a Thor movie expecting much, as he’s never been my favorite corner of the Marvel Universe. The movie’s not without its problems, though, and it’s probably best to just not think too hard about the whole thing. I’ve heard some people say that it’s now ranked as one of their favorite Marvel movies, but I don’t see where they’re coming from at all. Sure, it’s got some great character moments, but I, personally, rank it alongside The Incredible Hulk. That was a serviceable, yet underrated, movie that told a full story without doing much to further the overall push toward something greater (The Avengers film, in the case of The Incredible Hulk). I don’t feel that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is any richer for having Thor 2 in it, but I felt the same about the first Thor, which felt like it existed solely to get Loki into position for The Avengers. It was a fun movie, but it’s nothing special. Not great, but good. It also helped to wash the taste of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. out of my mouth. I enjoyed it, and if you just focus on Kat Dennings, you can pretend it’s a very special episode of 2 Broke Girls.
I also watched Aziz Ansari’s latest Netflix special, Buried Alive. Aziz hit 30 and his material matured along with him. To me, that’s unfortunate, as I miss the old stuff about his fat cousin and Kanye. Instead, he’s become something of a relationship guru. The special is mainly about how most of his friends are getting married and having babies, and how crazy he finds the whole thing. It’s a smart special, but it’s not especially funny. I think I laughed once, which is odd when it comes to me and Aziz. I was really hoping for more, but this just didn’t land for me.
While we’re talking about disappointing releases, Lady Gaga’s third studio album, Artpop, was released this week. I thought about doing a track-by-track review of it, like I did for Born This Way, but I know my audience by now; y’all don’t wanna read that shit. Still, I’d have probably done it if the album had been GOOD. It is not. I’ve probably listened to it 10 times by now trying to find a glimmer of something there, but it’s just so lackluster. I predicted this when “Applause” was released, but the Little Monsters tried to tell me that it was all part of something bigger that we’d have to wait and see. Well, now the whole album is out, and there’s nothing bigger to speak of. In fact, “Applause” is the closing track, which is odd because, well, who releases the final track as the debut single?
Something big happened with Doctor Who this week, but when I tried to read about it, it felt like I was reading fucking Chinese. Seriously, how can a show about a fop in a phonebooth with a future dildo be so damn convoluted? I studied 90s X-Men! I can handle a complicated plotline, but that franchise just doesn’t seem to translate well to written descriptions. Maybe I’ll give it a shot one day. Maybe not. And yes, I realize it’s a “police box” and a “sonic screwdriver”, but you know I’m still right. Why couldn’t it be a show about a really smart owl, like the title implies?
Last week, I wrote about the Muslim Ms. Marvel, and linked to the Nerds of Color roundtable post that featured some of my thoughts. Well, it seems that article was picked up by Racialicious, and I even got name-checked in their post. I thought about commenting, but no one has personally attacked me yet, so I’ll just hang out in the rafters until something juicy happens over there. It’s cute when minority communities get excited about something in comics, ’cause they have no clue that Marvel and/or DC will just find a way to fuck it up for everyone involved.
Links I Loved
Man Smoking E-Cigarette Must Be Futuristic Bounty Hunter – The Onion
The 16 Most Delightfully 80s Things in ‘Ghostbusters’ – UnderScoopFire!
The Top 10 Schwarzenegger Character Names – The Robot’s Pajamas
This Week’s Post
Thrift Justice – Fleas and Thank You, Xuxa
One fought dark elves, while the other is a dark elf. One sounds like an overeducated owl, while the other kinda looks like one. Only one of them, however, had the West Week Ever.
From left field, it’s none of the above!!!!
I really enjoyed something this week, but I was afraid to give it the West Week Ever because I don’t trust the network. My latest man crush is Pitch Perfect/21 & Over‘s Skylar Astin, and he stars in TBS’ new comedy, Ground Floor. Think of it as a modern day Dharma & Greg, as Astin plays Brody, a workaholic money manager who has a one night stand with Jenny, one of the girls who works on the ground floor of the building. Since there’s a class difference between floors, the whole gist of the series is that they come from different worlds, but try to make it work. It’s from Bill Lawrence, who created Scrubs and Cougar Town, so there are lots of familiar faces. The cast is great, especially Rory Scovel who steals every scene he’s in. I also applaud the casting of Cougar Town‘s Briga Heelan as Jenny, who’s beautiful but not a waif. It also doesn’t hurt that Pitch Perfect‘s Alexis Knapp is in the cast, playing a similar role to her PP character. I tend to hate romantic sitcoms, as I tire of the will they/won’t they dynamic, but I like everyone so much that I’m willing to give it a shot. I still haven’t forgiven TBS for cancelling Wedding Band, and this show has a similarly troublesome timeslot (Thursdays at 10 PM). So, we’ll see how the show performs, but it was definitely my highlight of the week. So, that’s why Ground Floor had the West Week Ever.
Man, really Will? James and I both thing Ground Floor makes no damned sense because there’s no maintenance worker in the world who looks like that blonde chick. They just don’t get paid enough for that perfect hair.
Jenn- see, I figured her more like a dispatcher than actual maintenance. “Ground floor” is just the catch all for the working class folks in the building. IT’s down there, as well as maintenance. She’s probably just the one who orders supplies. And she probably has a friend who does her hair. See? Problem solved!
I might be one of the ones who came out of Thor 2 calling it one of the best comic book movies ever. I admittedly overreacted, but it’s still one of my favorite. Top 5 for sure, and it’s all based on how strong Hiddleston is. I admit, this movie has major flaws, (like not developing the main villain whatsoever), but they can get away with it as long as Loki is around. I think it did advance the Marvel Universe, because of the ending. It was a little [SPOILER ALERT] “Zartan in the White House” for me, but it works, and keeps things moving. I look forward to a third Thor movie after that ending.
Aziz is best when commenting on 50 Cent, and yes, his cousin in South Carolina. Love those bits.
I also tried to dive into the Doctor Who mythology once, and even had a pretty good navigator help me out (as far as where to start, backstory, etc) so I wasn’t just stuck to reading, but you’re right. I just can’t do it. I want to though. We’ll see.
The only thing I’m not loving about Ground Floor is McGinley. It’s too much Dr. Cox, could even be the same character.
I enjoyed most of the hell out of Thor 2 despite some of its problems. I’m not expecting high art, just wanted to have fun and I did. Now Winter Soldier on the other hand, looks like it’ll be about something. It even got me to start reading Thor, one of the few Marvel books I don’t read.
@Howie – I feel like I NEED to know Doctor Who trivia, but I would have to run out of every possible alternative before getting around to it. It just feels so daunting – kinda like how I felt about Star Wars. I was totally wrong about that, though, as I saw the 3 movies and now I get all the jokes. Doctor Who has over 50 years of story, and half the episodes are lost to time. It just seems like too much work.
@Dex – You’re right about McGinley, but he seems to have more heart than Dr. Cox. He’s still gruff and abrasive, but there’s a good guy in there, not hidden as deeply as there was in Cox.
The first Thor movie got me to read some Thor comics, but that didn’t last too long. I couldn’t find a book that I really wanted to revisit on a monthly basis. Which one do you read?
Yeah I’m seeing a little more difference with McGinley after a couple episodes. But as long as he keeps using that tone of voice and doing the whistle thing, he’s Cox 🙂
I started reading Thor, God of Thunder the most recent Marvel Now series. The first arc was kinda interesting with this being that was on a god killing spree and the story takes place at 3 different points in Thor’s life.