In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by John Jennison, as they discuss more Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trailers, a dark future for Swamp Thing, and celebrate a special pride edition of The Babadook in This Week in Queer.
In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by Jon Herzog, as they discuss Robert Pattinson being cast as the new Batman, anxiously await the final season of Jessica Jones, and celebrate Hulu’s new animated queer fairy tale series The Bravest Knight in This Week in Queer.
In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by his best friend Keisha Zollar, as they discuss new teasers for season 3 of Westworld and season 2 of Pose, & celebrate Linda Hamilton and Mackenzie Davis in Terminator: Dark Fate as our Strong Female Characters of the Week.
In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by fellow board member Teri Yoshiuchi, as they discuss the next Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths and whether it will come to Netflix, get excited about the new Batwoman trailer, and celebrate Mr. Ratburn’s wedding on the PBS cartoon Arthur in This Week in Queer.
In this week’s super-sized episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by J.W. Crump, as they discuss the new trailers for Spider-Man: Far From Home and It: Chapter 2, and celebrate The CW ordering Batwoman, Nancy Drew, and Katy Keene to series as our Strong Female Characters of This Week in Queer.
In this week’s super-sized episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by Jon Herzog, as they share their spoiler filled thoughts on Avengers Endgame and Game of Thrones’ Battle of Winterfell, discuss controversies surrounding the latest Uncanny X-Men and Sonic the Hedgehog film, and celebrate Veronica Mars as our Strong Female Character of the Week.
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BIG OPENING
KEVIN: Avengers Endgame projected to become highest grossing movie ever JON: Game of Thrones’ Battle of Winterfell had over 17 mil viewers
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DOWN AND NERDY
KEVIN:Happy!, iZombie, Heroes in Crisis, DCeased JON: She-Ra Season 2
In this week’s super-sized episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by Rachel Greeman, as they discuss Avengers Endgame breaking box office records while introducing the first out gay character in the MCU, check out the new trailer for Men in Black International, and celebrate Supergirl’s Dreamer (@NicoleAMaines) as our Strong Female Character of the Week.
Reaching the climax of anything is always a bittersweet moment. The slow, steady build-up (in this case 11 years worth) constantly stroking the fire of your interest, keeping you on the edge of satisfaction. You’re perfectly happy with what is going on at the moment, all the while knowing that something bigger and more exciting is going to come soon. Once it finally comes, you’re able to release the immense (11 years worth of) tension that has been building in one big explosion. That’s exactly what Avengers: Endgame does to the committed fans who have stuck through all the phases Marvel’s cinematic universe has thrown to us, many with mixed results. After the euphoric ecstasy that the film brings, we are left with the sad thought: Will any Marvel film feel this good again?
It’s been a long journey from the first Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame, but it will easily prove worth every minute. First off, you have to applaud Marvel’s commitment to establishing a multifaceted universe before just slamming all the characters together for one major meet-up (*cough, cough* Justice League *cough, cough). Watching Endgame, I got the same chills that the first Avengers film gave me, but that Age of Ultron didn’t. Whether these Avengers films are an obvious cash-grab becomes a moot point when their quality is this high. Out of any of the previous Marvel films, Endgame is a love letter to the fans. Every cameo, every silly plot development, every note of sadness, and even every callback (many of which you’ve probably forgotten about) to previous films shows the attention to detail, not just for the MCU but also for the fans that have kept it running.
The Russo Brothers have shown us the full potential of the comic genre by subverting it ever since they first joined the MCU with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Up until that point, the Marvel films had a fairly predictable tone and narrative. The Winter Soldier proved that there are no limitations to a comic book film and that even they can be elevated. Since then, we’ve gotten gems like James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok. All three game changers, but each for a different reason. If Endgame suffers from any flaws, it is because of the variety of different tones from each of the films. The Russo Brothers try their best to appease the tonal origins of each superior hero, but the lighthearted and humorous nature of one ends up undermining the emotional development of the other.
There will be moments in the film where an overwhelming feeling of sadness will take over. You’ll probably end up watching the climax of the film through misty eyes and a runny nose, so the things that are meant to be the emotional high and low points aren’t that affected by the uneven tone. What is affected are all of the small, somber scenes leading up to those big emotional gut punches, that get ruined because the scenes aren’t given time to breathe before someone throws in a funny one-liner. Luckily, the tone doesn’t affect the pacing in the slightest. At 3 hours, this film goes by pretty briskly. Unless you made the mistake of not peeing beforehand or buying a soda and popcorn, you won’t notice the runtime at all. There is a lot packed into this film and they make every minute count.
Just like Infinity War, Endgame is made fun because all the character interactions we haven’t seen on-screen before. There is one scene in particular, when all the female heroes of the MCU are the focus of a battle, that rivals the power of the No Man’s Land scene in Wonder Woman. During the climax of the film, you’ll run the full gamut of human emotions, going from one feeling to the next. Even though there are a few too many forced pop culture references in the film, seeing the evolution of all our favorite characters makes it more than worth it. Some of them we are reintroduced to, some we say goodbye to, and others we say see you later as the film teases what new adventures are in store for them in the future. Once you experience Avengers: Endgame, you’ll quickly realize that there will never be anything like it again (or at least not for another 11 years), and honestly, maybe there shouldn’t be.
In this week’s super-sized episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by J.W. Crump, as they discuss R.L. Stine’s Fear Street being adapted into a trilogy, bemoan Syfy’s The Magicians decision to “Bury Your Gays”, and celebrate Tuca & Bertie as our Strong Female Characters of the Week.
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BIG OPENING
KEVIN: DC Universe cuts the episode order and releases a teaser of Swamp Thing J.W.: New trailer for the Child’s Play remake
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DOWN AND NERDY
KEVIN:Star Trek: Discovery, Happy!, Young Justice: Outsiders J.W.: The Act, Matt D’Avella on YouTube
When I finally went to college, I suddenly realized that I could pretty much do whatever I want since my parents weren’t around to tell me otherwise. This mostly translated into eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and as much as I wanted. Two semesters and four pants sizes later, I learned a valuable lesson: Just because I could doesn’t always mean that I should. Much like the end of my freshman year, the team behind Hellboy learned this lesson much too late.
Before I started writing this review, I tried to convince myself not to spend the whole time talking about how far superior Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy run was, but the more I think about it, the less I can keep that promise. The two previous Hellboy films were both PG-13, but even then they didn’t shy away from violence. You really can’t have Hellboy, AKA World Destroyer AKA Beast of the Apocalypse AKA the Right Hand of Doom, without there being some sort of fighting or destruction involved. Del Toro has never shied away from that, but in his films, he focuses on crafting a world full of whimsy and mayhem, and then has the brutality become a part of it. Where this new Hellboy goes wrong is that instead of having the violence and carnage being the result of the plot or story, the film treats it like it’s a character all its own.
Director Neil Marshall, who has brought us forgettable, over-stylized films like Doomsday and Centurion, give the Hellboy universe the same treatment. With it’s new, hard R rating, Marshall goes above and beyond to push the limits, but not in any constructive way. He mainly focuses on copious amounts of blood and more gore than you get from even the messiest slasher film. Where del Toro put an emphasis on the magical nature of the unseen world, Marshall tries to distinguish his film by focusing on the hellish aspect creating scenes of blood and dismemberment that would make even Spawn blush. This darker take would be a problem at all were it not for the seeming pointlessness of it all. For a few scenes, this corporal brutality works perfectly, but for most of them, it is literally overkill.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be such an eyesore if visuals didn’t look like something out of an early 2000’s film. The first Hellboy came out in 2004, and even it had visual effects that still hold up today. Everything from the CGI characters to the horrible animated blood and even the obvious green screen landscapes makes you appreciate the visual opulence of every single Fantastic Four film. Yes, even the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four film was more appealing than this film. If it weren’t for the previous Hellboy films, we wouldn’t have a standard set for every subsequent film. Guillermo del Toro’s use of practical effects, magnificent creature design and use of make-up and prosthetics over CGI all make for an engaging cinematic experience whose attention to detail shows you just how much the filmmakers care about their film.
Really the only good character design in this new Hellboy is Hellboy himself, and much of that is because actor David Harbour does a good job in bringing him to life. His one-liners and nonchalant attitude embody the character well-enough to almost make up for the nonsense story that ultimately feels like it is filler meant to take you from one battle to the next. The performances are the most enjoyable part of the entire film, but aside from Harbour, the only other two people who breathe life into this film are Ian McShane and Sasha Lane, who play Professor Broom and Alice Monaghan, respectively. Even our main villain (aside from the filmmakers), Milla Jovovich who plays the Blood Queen, feels like she is just rehashing a mix of the other villains she has played in the past.
As a reboot for the Hellboy franchise, this film crashes and burns. With enough wanton gore and guts to drown a small island, it ends up getting lost in a sea of red. Great characters could have been enough to save the ill-conceived, lazy story, but even those were mostly hard to come by. Somewhere, Guillermo del Toro just finished watching this film and thought to himself, “They didn’t let me finish my trilogy for THIS?! To hell with them.” To hell with them, indeed.
