Cinema Sunday: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

So last week, I said that the Cinema Sunday posts for the month of May would be about movie musicals. 

So here we are at the 2nd Cinema Sunday post for May and what have we got?  

A Marvel movie? Really? 

OK, but that Marvel movie is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and since music is integral to the GOTG series, well, I'll allow it. 

Randie was home for a visit so it was Andrea, Randie and I who ventured forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to go see this latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

I warned Andrea to be prepared for someone to die. Dave Bautista had been making a big show of telling anyone who would listen that he was done with Drax forever, I figured it stood to reason that Drax's number would be up in this final installment of the Guardians saga.

Spoiler alert: Drax doesn't die. In fact, none of the principal members of the Guardians perish by the end of the film. 

But writer/director James Gunn didn't need to resort to character deaths to put us through the emotional wringer. 

The High Evolutionary experiments on organic beings and matter to create the perfect species.  And he is obsessed with capturing the experiment that got away, Rocket.    

Gold-skinned, superpowered man-child Adam Warlock is sent to retrieve Rocket, an effort thwarted by the Guardians but not before Rocket is mortally wounded and the only means to save him is in the genetic modification hellhole Rocket escaped from in the first place. 

Peter Quill leads a Guardians team that includes Gamora who is AND is NOT dead. 

Recap: the Gamora who was in love with Peter Quill was sacrificed for Thanos to retrieve one of the Infinity Stones. Journeying from the past is a Gamora who never met Peter Quill and could not give a shit that he's still pining for his lost love who is somehow in front of him and yet not.  

GOTG Vol. 3 is chocked full of epic action sequences: Warlock's attack on the Guardian's home base on Knowhere, the knockdown drag out brawl at Orgocorp,  the destuction of Counter Earth, more battles aboard the High Evolutionary's ship which spill over back to Knowhere.  There is destruction and violence on a spectacular scale as James Gunn leans hard on the mortality telegraph that someone we we care about is going to die.

This not new territory for Gunn. He had me convinced almost everyone in the cast of Peacemaker was doomed to die in the season finale but all the main cast makes it out alive. 

And Gunn does it here with the Guardians. Dying is easy but living is hard and everyone winds up changed by the challenge of living. 

We see Rocket in a series of flashbacks as a subject of the High Evolutionary's experiments, sharing a cage with other animals who have been given human intelligence and the gift of speech. But Rocket is unique. He doesn't just know what he's been taught but has the ability to intuit answers to questions he can't yet know the answers to.  It's this ability that the High Evolutionary wants to study and replicate into this next phase of experiments.  As for Rocket and his animal friends,  the High Evolutionary has total and utter disdain for them and as soon as he dissects Rocket's brain, he intends to kill them. 

Rocket attempts an escape but it results in his friends being killed by the High Evolutionary. Rocket does make his escape but as the bitter, caustic being we've come to know.  

These flashbacks are brutal and heartbreaking. James Gunn is evil. 

For all the high octane action set to hyper sonic rock 'n' roll, what drives this movie is what always can be found at the core of any GOTG movie, heart and humor. 

I read a review that described Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as "like listening to your favorite band on their final tour: all killer, no filler... the greatest hits mixed with new stuff that reminds you why they’re awesome in the first place, and a desire for the last song to never end."   

I think that summarizes my feelings about the movie as well.  

Songs For Saturday: Gordon Lightfoot

A couple of weeks ago, Gordon Lightfoot passed away. Gordon was a musical icon of the 1970's with his distinctive voice and his storytelling gifts as a song writer. 

Today's Songs For Saturday is in tribute to Gordon Lightfoot.  

Our play list begins with "Carefree Highway"

Perhaps Gordon Lightfoot's most epic story in song is his ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". 

And our Gordon Lightfoot playlist for today concludes with "Sundown".  

Gordon Lightfoot was an extraordinary talent who will be sorely missed but his music will live on forever.

And that concludes this week's Songs For Saturday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.  

Your Friday Video Link: Betty Boop and Cab Calloway with "St. James Infirmary" (And a BONUS Link!)

 

Your Friday Video Link this week is well...  weird!  

This is taken from a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon that tells a condensed and somewhat twisted version of Snow White.  And that gives us Cab Calloway singing "St. James Infirmary Blues".   

AND here's a BONUS link! 

Here's Hugh Laurie (yeah, that guy from House) at the piano and singing "St. James Infirmary Blues".

A "Christian Conservative" Learns Karma Is A Bitch

Republican Texas State Rep. Bryan Slaton described himself as a "Christian Conservative", a warrior against the sexualization of children.  He had recently voiced his support for a bill that bans drag performances in the presence of children.

Well, he won't be voting on that bill. 

Bryan Slaton resigned his seat ahead of expelled from Texas House of Representatives.

Guess why! C'mon, guess!   

Yeah, you know where this is going.  

Mr. "Christian Conservative" was fucking a 19-year-old intern. 

He invited her to his apartment, got her drunk and had sex with her.

Karma is a bitch! 

Donald Trump Is a Loser! Again!

Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll said Donald Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.

Carroll sued Donald Trump in a civil lawsuit and a Manhattan jury unanimously found Li'l Donnie liable for sexual abuse and declaring he owes $5 million in total damages.

So E. Jean Carroll took on Donald Trump and won. 

Or to put it another way....

Donald Trump is a loser! LOSER! LOOOOOOOOOOSER!!!!

Trump described the verdict as “A DISGRACE” and “A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”

He also claimed that he was not allowed to defend himself. 

Which was (do I really need to say this?) a lie.

Donald Trump had the option to attend the trial and take the stand in his defense. Last week, after Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina told the court that Trump would not be testifying, the judge gave Li'l Donnie a Sunday evening deadline to change his mind.  

He did not and made no appearance in the court. Tacopina called no witnesses on Trump's behalf. 

Well who would dare speak on behalf of Trump while under oath? 

Lawyer: So you are a friend of Donald Trump?

Witness: Er, I'm... uh, under oath...

Lawyer: Sorry. Let me rephrase. You know Donald Trump?

Witness: Oh yeah, we've known each other for years and years.

Lawyer: So you are a friend of Donald Trump?

Witness: Really, I am under oath.

Lawyer: Right! Right! So E. Jean Carroll has accused Mr. Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room.  As someone who is a friend of Donald-

Witness: Under oath.

Lawyer: Sorry, right. As someone who has known Donald Trump for years and years, how would you assess Ms. Carroll's accusation. 

Witness: Well.....

Lawyer: You are under oath.

Witness: That sounds about right.  

I mean, what choice did Joe Tacopina have?  

Well, that scenario kind of did play out. During the course of the trial, Li'l Donnie's video deposition was played and basically...

Donald Trump was the best witness Carroll's legal team could've hoped for. 

So the case is over and Trump lost in court. 

Again! 

The Fire This Time: Allen TX

Well, here we go again.

 

The fire this time is in a shopping mall in Allen TX, approximately 25 miles north of Dallas where 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia opened fire on Saturday at Allen Premium Outlets, leaving 8 people dead, giving us the second-deadliest US mass shooting of the year.

 

It also marks at least 200 mass shootings within the first five months of 2023. And the massacre in Allen is the second-deadliest so far this year, behind the January mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, that left 11 people dead.

 

Garcia was killed on the scene by an Allen police officer who was on a call nearby when the shooting started.   In addition to his AR-15 style firearm and another side arm, Garcia had several more weapons waiting for him in his car.   Garcia’s black tactical gear was adorned with an insignia believed to be associated with extremist groups. Garcia had an extensive social media presence, including neo-Nazi and White supremacist-related posts and images. 

 

Steven Spainhouer was on the scene to check on his son who worked at the mall.  His statements were particularly chilling and heartrending. 

 

“I started counting the bodies on the ground … one, two, three, five, six, seven bodies. The first girl I walked up to … I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side, and she had no face.  I saw moms and dads covering the eyes of their kids in tears, kids holding their hands up, people running for their lives.”

 

Spainhouer also found a surviving child whose mother had been struck and killed as she shielded him from bullets.  “When I rolled the mother over, he came out. He was covered from head to toe, like somebody had poured blood on him.”

 

While Steven Spainhouer was confronting the horrors of unfettered gun violence, guess who was out with their usual platitudes thoughts, prayers and what about the runaway crime in Democrat cities? 

One Republican congressman was on TV citing his willingness to discuss violent crime such as mass shootings or the constant looting for stores in Chicago. 

(It's a favorite "whattabout" for Republicans to distract from any given mass shooting by also bringing up Chicago which happens to have a Democrat mayor and yes, the Republican talking points play book will tell you, Chicago is a dystopian hellscape of horror.) 

Actor Kevin Sorbo made this inane comment on Twitter: "Assault weapons aren’t real. Just like there’s no such thing as an assault car, or assault pencil. Stop blaming objects when the person is at fault." 

I can't even begin to process that statement. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott blamed mental health problems for the latest massacre in his state.  

   

A veteran and former cop, Steven Spainhouer had this to say: “I’m a gun lover; I have guns. But these M4s, AR-15s, they’ve got to get off the streets or this is going to keep happening, and we’ve got to stop that at some point. Prayers and condolences won’t bring these people back. We need some action in our legislatures at the federal and state level for better gun control, and I’m saying that as someone who loves guns.”

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Lucky Hank, :Lucifer, The Librarians and Late Night With Seth Meyers

Last week’s Tuesday TV Touchbase was focused on the letter “M”. 

Today, the Tuesday TV Touchbase is brought to you by the letter “L”.  

Is my blog being written by the writers of Sesame Street?  

Let’s start with Late Night With Seth Meyers which isn’t producing new episodes right now due to the writer’s strike.

Long story made short: Studios are trying to screw over writers on programs and movies produced for streaming.

Anyway,  when it is new, Late Night With Seth Meyers remains probably the best source of information on what the hell is going on through it’s “A Closer Look” segment.  OK, it’s supposed to be a funny look at the news but these segments are remarkably well researched and a lot of the humor comes from the sheer stupidity and/or audacity of people like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene and more.   

It proves the axiom of “It’s funny because it’s true.”  

While “A Closer Look” is both funny and informative, it can be quite depressing when you’re confronted by the incessant torrent of  sheer stupidity and/or audacity that seems to be unending. And it’s also a bit of bummer when you realize that the only people watching “A Closer Look” are the people who can already see the truth and it’s not reaching anyone caught up in the delusion that everything is fine.

When not being a bulwark between sense and insensibility, between truth and dishonesty, Seth has some really funny recurring bits that are just there to be funny with no greater purpose in mind. And the stupider they are, the funnier.  There’s “Surprise Inspection” based on the premise that some of the writers on his show are just padding their joke numbers with some really bad jokes so Seth reveals those jokes and mines a lot of comedy out of just how unfunny and dumb these jokes are.  

Seth had the same premise with “Popsickle Schtick” where the worst jokes a dad or a 5 year old could tell and re-enact them with poorly animated popsickle sticks.  

I hope the writer’s strike will be resolved soon.  I miss Seth’s company during these times of political and social uncertainty.

Next up for the letter L is Lucky Hank.

On one hand, this series is wickedly funny with moments of heart wrenching pathos. It’s a roller coaster, this series.

But sometimes I have trouble with the man at the center of this show. Hank Devenaeux is so self obsessed with his pain. Bob Oedenkirk makes Hank tolerable and engaging as a character but damn, Hank can be a real pain.  He’s the antagonist as protagonist. He may be the star of his own story but he is not the hero of it.  As much as he whines and complains about his place as a professor and department chair of a middling liberal arts college in friggin’ Pennsylvania, when his wife Lily has a really good opportunity to take up a position at a prestigious private school in New York City, Hank doesn’t want her to take the job because he doesn’t want to go.  It’s clear that a lot of Hank’s pain is self inflicted.  

When Hank finally takes the opportunity to confront his father on abandoning him when he was a child, he finds his dad in the throes of dementia. Hank pours out his heart on how much his old man hurt him and the old man is very much an old man and has no idea who this guy talking to him is.  Dad also thinks he’s in Florida.

We've got 2 episodes to go in this first season. More on that in a later post. 

I can’t say I like Hank very much but I like Lucky Hank, a series that challenges me. 

Next up is Lucifer, a series about what happens if the Devil quits Hell, buys a night club and helps fight crime.  Andrea and I began making our way through this series on Netflix from the beginning and quite frankly, I was surprised by how well she took to this series.  OK, the devil is played by the disarmingly charming and very British Tom Ellis so there’s that.   

Mostly the show was a cop procedural with the standard “murder of the week” as Lucifer and police detective Chloe Decker on the case.  By the time we get to the end of the 5th season, the mythology of the show, the concepts of Heaven and Hell as real places with various celestial beings at busy doing shit, moved to the foreground.  As much as the exploration of the celestial side of things was interesting and entertaining, I did sometimes come to miss the simplicity of Lucifer and the Detective solve crimes premise. 

Over the course of the series, we not only get the character development of Lucifer learning (with a LOT of effort) on how to be a better man, we get an evolution of Chloe Decker who really learns to lighten up and embrace some of Lucifer's chaotic approach to life. 

Watching Lucifer became a Friday night ritual for us. So when Andrea and I reached the end of the series, we were genuinely confused on what the hell we were going to do with our Friday nights.

So I decided to introduce her to (in keeping with the theme of the letter “L”) The Librarians.

Now I have seen some of the episodes of The Librarians on my own but not all of them and not in order. Plus I had never seen the movies starring Noah Wylie that launched that franchise. 

Basically the Librarian franchise has a strong Doctor Who vibe with protagonists who are more apt to outsmart and outwit opponents as out fight them.  Knowledge is power. 

The made for TV movies are a revelation with a look and feel that evokes a epic cinematic feel.  Noah Wyle's Flynn Carsen is is a likeable character with a Doctor-like propensity for knowing stuff and a knack for getting into trouble if not always quite being in sync with other people. These movies do provide a bit context in the series episodes I saw. I'm looking forward with getting back to the series once Andrea and I are done with the movies.  

And Bob Newhart as the mysterious quasi magical head of the Library just kicks ass.  

Next week, the Touchbase is bringing you.... well, I have no idea. I watch too much television so I'll think of something.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.