Buddha's Rhubarb Of Opinions On Media

Glib reviews of movies finally on the Netflix Captain America: Civil War - Directed by the Russo Bros. Now this is an Avengers movie. Everyone is petty, even when they are owning up to civ casualtiesYes it's a very paint by numbers but extremely well paced comic book story, that makes the most of it's two and a half hour running time. The Story would be over in two issues of a comic, maybe three or four with certain modern writers more prone to giving their artists quirky dialogue and sex jokes than punchy punchy scenes. So much punchy punchy in this movie, and better choreographed than most super-movies, with the jump cuts that make the fighting seem fake (ask Jackie Chan about this, wide shots are best for good solid action that makes people wince in pain. jump cuts just scare you.) Any who, like all good comic book team ups, the heroes spend most of their time either having a punchy misunderstanding, or they are tricked by a villain. this movie has both. Most of the

Glib Reviews of movies recently available on Netflix (and other sources most likely) The Last King - Directed by Nils Gaup Are ancient Norwegians technically Vikings? I don't know or care. As far as I am concerned these fur and armour wearing bros who look like Thor, Loki, or Odin, are Vikings. Ahem... indeed, they are 'Vikings on Skis'. I am tempted to stop the review there, because what more impetus to watch this fast moving generic plotted but with awesome Vikings on Skis. In typical fashion with these sorts of historical action thingies, the King is killed. everyone thinks it a blonde haired ambitious (Marvel's Thor) Thor type Earl, but it turns out to be his evil Loki haired (aka Tom Hiddleston-y looks) bro. Anyhoo, the real evil guys are of course the church bros. Hint: you know the Bishop is evil when he demand that you being him the head of a baby. I don't see these points as spoilers, just fun things to watch out for. Have I mentioned the Viki

Glib Reviews of New Movies The Girl With All the Gifts - Directed by Colm McCarthy What a refreshing zombie movie is not something I have ever considered writing or saying before. But this film merits that ‘accolade.’ From a novel & screenplay of the same name by a writer whose comic book writing I dig very much, Mike Carey. (he wrote the great Vertigo comic Lucifer which is an okay tv show at the moment, but was a glorious comic book)  Director McCarthy sets a really good pace, the music is over the top, but well suited. There are lots of frightening and uncomfortable moments in this film, before anything even really happens. The zombie-fied world presented without too much long winded exposition is kind of unique as it look s past just oh look infected zombie horde. Also fast zombies are the best zombies. The acting is pretty top notch, especially from the young lead, Sennia Nanua, and Glenn Close looking rather like a slightly younger Dame Judy Dench, and

Glib Reviews of Movies on the Netflix Deadpool  - Directed by Tim Miller The very first movie I have watched on Netflix in 6 months.....You know given that I’m such a big superhero comics nerd, you’d think all the super-movies out there would thrill me. They are okay. And occasionally they are good, sometimes not very good at all. But I’d say we have enough in this recent wave of them to say the average is pretty average, really. I enjoy watching them, even the crappy ones just because they are my comic books sort of come to life. But mostly I’m disappointed when they aren’t animated. I like comics because of the form more than anything. Graphic narrative storytelling aka comics have always been my first love, go to media to entertain myself. Something about real life versions of super folks though irritates me. Is it the cheesy dialogue? I read and love lots of comics with cheesy dialogue. Really, for me each comic book (or graphic novel) whatever the style of dial

Glib Reviews of Recent movies (and not so recent) Major! - Directed by Annalise Ophelian In the last few days I actually got my butt out to see a couple of films, that couldn’t have been more different, but were both quite satisfying in their own ways. It’s summer, and festival season. Right now there’s the Queer Film Festival, aka Out On Screen, as well as one of my favourite local cinematheque yearly series, their Film Noir series. On Thursday after work I wandered down to the getting slightly easier to find SFU Goldcorp Theatre at SFU Woodward’s on Hastings Street, for the Vancouver Queer Film Fest presentation of ‘Major!’ A wonderfully uncliched in structure and tropes documentary about the legendary trans icon and elder, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. Known mostly as Miss Major, or Mama, or Grandma to those in the community she has known, loved and helped. Mostly she has spent her life helping others. From being a den mother to young trans, and queer folks for decades

Glib reviews of recent-ish DVD and/or Blurays Bone Tomahawk This is one weird movie, or really maybe it’s two weird movies or three. Weird western definitely, of the more bookish Jonah Hex kind of tales. Not the movie, the 70’s version of the Comics is my touchstone. Ol’ Jonah was grizzled as heck and dealt occasionally with some spookier creepier western elements, in a very pulp western type of way. The first few minutes of the film were all about Sid Haig’s ode to Slim Pickens in his portrayal of a deeply cynical murderer and brigand who stumbles across into a burial ground and horrors unseen but seared in your brain in a very verite styled opening. Maybe there are a few short films in this movie that I like more, the more I write about it, defomitely more than when I sat down, to give it a middlin’ review, but thinking about it in review as opposed to the more visceral vibe of right after the movie ends, literally with a thud. If you are a fan of slow moving wester