Nanopathic Tendencies

Just random wades, treads and dives into random media and science fantasy...

[nanopathictendencies]

Bruce Campbell: nexus being?

So, is the hot dog vendor in "Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness" a variant of the theater usher in "Spiderman 2"?

Or is he the same guy?

(Guess you ask the same of J. Jonah Jameson)

[nanopathictendencies]

Evil Dead Burn OFFICIAL Trailer thoughts

I have a lot of thoughts on this (and the franchise in general).

Up until 2013, the franchise was what I would call 'absurdist horror'; it was gross, it was funny, fun and mildly scary (if that)

When the initial reboot came out, it moved away from the absurdism (almost completely). The intensity of the violence and gore was ramped up and the campy humor was gone. The lack of absurdity also exposed the lack of a solid premise.

Evil Dead Rise felt really off to me. It felt like it was trying too hard to balance serious horror with some degree of dark humor (but not the absurdist/campy humor of the original franchise). The intensity of both the violence and gore seemed to be dialed back (mostly offscreen) and any self mutulation seemed more performative rather than an instinctual/involuntary reflex or act of necessity. Maybe it was playing it TOO safe?

Now that the official trailer for Burn is out, I see a lot of Rise in it but with more intensity in its presentaion of violence (good). Watching a deadite dialogue in a non-absurdist way... kinda changes the tone of the franchise.

Combined with the teaser...?

[nanopathictendencies]

Evil Dead Burn Teaser Trailer (thoughts)

Was of split mind on the trailer. On its own, it's intriguing. Weighed against 3 or 4 decades of nostalgia; not sure how it would tread those water, especially since the reboots seemed unable to break away from the camp that defined previous iterations of the franchise.

The scene itself was a pov tracking shot; giving a very limited view of environment and interaction but not tight enough to give it that claustrophobic feel. I know the goal was chaos, but it felt extremely structured; like making your way through a haunted house on Halloween and how they do jump scares.

There was no background music or modern trailer audio cues either.

Very barebones horror; so barebones that I don't know if this is going to be the tone and style of the actual film or if the teaser is a misdirect or an isolated shot piece within the film.

When the reboot was first announced, this is more of what I was expecting and by the time I had watched Rise, I had almost given up hope that the franchise would:

Make the leap into pure horror/violence

Explore the possibility of encountering the other books

Will update my thoughts once the full trailer releases.

[nanopathictendencies]

Spiderman: Brand New Day trailer

First off, I like the cinematography on display here.

I like the cameos but at the same time, they concern me. Which version of Bernenthal's Punisher are we getting; the brooding low profile loner that gets dragged into things or the slightly more verbose instrument of proactive vengeance? The soldier getting vengeance against the government that murdered his family or the gang hunting vigilante getting payback on criminals for...?

Which Hand Ninjas are we getting; because they sure have a different flavor from their Netflix counterparts.

Still trying to figure out Banner's arc; given all of the things that seem to keep happening in rapid succession in his neck of the woods. I get he's trying to be normal but he seems to be all over the place; from savage to hybrid to jus plain old Banner?

Overall, I am intrigued... and optimistic.

[nanopathictendencies]

Dune 3

I really like the scale of this trailer but I'm frustrated that I don't remember enough of the books nor the previous films to weigh an opinion outside of how it looks.

Complex films, woyld be better serviced as one and done or serialized for the smaller screen. In this era of Short Attention Span Theater, its not inconceivable to lose details in waiting the course of a few years for follow-up projects.

Yes, I'm aware that I could rewatch or reread but for this franchise; I'm not that invested.

[nanopathictendencies]

I have two film trailers I want to address but before I do that (in separate posts), I just want to say "Go Zendaya!"

Two major films, two major franchises/IPs and two trailer drops back to back.

Grats!

[nanopathictendencies]

Predator Badlands

I liked this flick... as a flick. But it doesn't feel... Predator enough? (whatever that means).

Was it too campy? Compared to Predator, AvP, AvPR, Prey, Killer of Killers and Predators; maybe... compared to Predator 2 and The Predator; no.

It's definitely been Disneyfied; in the sense that instead of a R rated, serious gorefest we got a movie about a ragtag group of diverse misfits bonding as friends and family (mixed with gratuitous badassery and mild violence).

It feels like its finding its identity moreso in the expanding world of Weyland Yutani than the attempted chronology of a "Tales of the Predator" universe.

Ultimately, a good popcorn flick but probably not for Predator purists?

[nanopathictendencies]

An Objective Guide to Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

First and main thing to note is that watchin Phase 4 is a massive time investment as it includes streaming shows that were developed after Disney acquired the Marvel IP. In fact, its runtime is greater than the cumulative runtime of the previous three phases put together.

Phase One: 6 filmsapprox 12hrs 24min

Phase Two: 6 films; approx 12hrs 38min

Phase Three: 11 films; approx 25hrs

Phase Four: 7 films and 8 streaming series; approx 60hrs

The other part of this time investment comes from easter egging; these films want, if not demand that you be familiar not only with other MCU projects but also other Marvel projects that predate the MCU and non-Marvel projects.

Black Widow is narratively out of order and although it's based in the MCU, its really its own story and should've been released after Captain America: Civil War. It should be considered as a primer for both Hawkeye and The Thunderbolts.

Shang Chi and The Eternals don't really have prerequisite watching.

Spider-Man: No Way Home holds more gravitas if you're already familiar with pre-MCU Spider-Man films (5 total) and Netflix-era Daredevil, but it's ultimately not required

Doctor Strange in the Multitude of Madness requires a watch through of the WandaVision series; it also wants you to be familiar with The Evil Dead trilogy and the Ash vs The Evil Dead series done by the film's director, Sam Raimi (although its not required). It would also like one to be familiar with Fox's Marvel X-Men franchise and to a lesser extent, the Inhumans tv series but again; not required.

Thor: Love and Thunder doesn't require more than seeing earlier films in that series

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever doesn't require much more than seeing it's predecessor but it should be noted that the lead actor, Chadwick Boseman, passed away before filming so they had to redo the narrative from the ground up.

WandaVision is a needed primer for Doctor Strang in the Multitude of Madness.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a needed Primer for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts.

Loki, What If..., Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special, I am Groot and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law are largely self-sustaining (although She Hulk easter eggs Netflix-era Marvel's Daredevil, it's not a required watch)

Ms. Marvel leans heavily on Captain Marvel but doesn't require one to have seen it.

It's easy to get lost in this phase, due to its sheer size and the apparent lack of connective tissue in some of these titles or the expectation of these projects being the build-up for a crossover event or pay-off of some kind.

There are other critiques of this and latter phases from the audience at large but most are largely subjective and not the goal of this post.

[nanopathictendencies]

Odd Catch

Was rewatching "Hackers" (1985 film).

At about five minutes in, Dade is working a hack into a local TV station. The tv in the background shows a guy spouting some racist nonsense before Dade yoinks his tape and replaces it with "The Outer Limits"; the label on the tape reading "America First" Episode 5.

Thirty years with the same linen...

[nanopathictendencies]

It: Welcome to Derry (ep 3)

What happened to the VFX? From body horror to Harry Potter in one ep.

Found myself more engaged with the Hanlon arc this time around.

[nanopathictendencies]

Weapons

This felt more like a dark comedy rather than a horror flick and reminded me of the Haitian voodoo flicks/tales from back in the day.

[nanopathictendencies]

Marvel Zombies

Not sure how I feel about Marvel Animation's 4ep format, but I did enjoy Marvel Zombies.

Its foot was planted firmly in What If-isms, but it really didn't detract; much.

[nanopathictendencies]

Mary Sue of Mary Sues (Alien Earth)

One of my biggest gripes with this show was the lack of context for all of Wendy's abilities (and everybody's seemingly dismissive attitude towards or ignorance of them). Threat assessment was sorely lacking across the board.

Wendy was Neo in the Matrix... but there were no agents to balance things out and no prophecy to serve as a guiding narrative.

This last episode affirmed my belief that there was no humanity in this show; just monsters (except Arthur... who became a monster). Kinda like a Tarantino flick.

I also felt that the critters were underutilized as entities on their own terms. AE became less about them and more about Wendy and the lost boys (one or two of them anyway).

[nanopathictendencies]

Alien Earth (ep 5)

This should've been episode 1; would've flowed better and got out of the "flashback filler" trend.

I would counter all the folks complaining about how incompetent the crew was by pointing out that this is, fundamentally, a horror show; dumb people are a staple of horror flicks and real life horror.

Sometimes, it defies logic so heavily that we scream at the screen for characters not to do whatever stupid they're about to get into.

(A side thought... what in the Teen Titans Go in going on here, lol)

[nanopathictendencies]

More Alien Earth (ep 4)

Where are the humans in this show? Monsters and aberrations as far as the eye can see.

Maybe the humans are under the heavy foot of one of those monsters.

[nanopathictendencies]

The Thunderbolts*

Marvel definitely likes their Jekyll-Hyde personas; Hulk, Legion, Phoenix, and now, Sentry.

Decent flick but I find myself having a similar issue with it that I had with BNW; maybe its the cinematography but it seems to be... dim/low light? (even Wimter Soldier had contrasts in light and color.

[nanopathictendencies]

Freaky Tales

Kinda reminded me of Pulp Fiction meets Scanners... with just a dash of Kill Bill.

Fun watch.