Welcome to another addition of Five Cool Things where I talk about all the interesting, fun, and cool things I’ve discovered over the last couple of weeks. This time I’m talking about two different Batman comics, the latest installment in the John Wick universe, a crazy sci-fi/horror series from MGM+, an absolutely bonkers early film from Yorgos Lanthimos, and the trailer to the new Mandolorian film. Let’s get started.
Batman: Three Jokers
I’ve been on a bit of a Batman kick lately. The Caped Crusader is my favorite comic-book character. I like that he doesn’t have superpowers. I like that he’s often drawn like some old film noir. I love that the best stories are like detective novels with Batman solving some mystery. He’s also got the best Rogues’ Gallery in all of comics.
Buy Batman: Three JokersHis greatest villain is, of course, the Joker, and this comic poses the question, what if there wasn’t just one Joker, but three? Writer Geoff Johns is having a little fun with that as the three Jokers are basically manifestations of the different Jokers that have appeared throughout the history of Batman comics.
There is the Criminal, a pragmatic, intensely serious Joker of the type that appeared during the Golden Age; the Clown, a campy, colorful Joker from the Silver Age; and the Comedian, a sadistic psychopath who represents the more modern takes on the character.
These three Jokers are using the acid that turned them into Jokers to make even more Jokers. It is up to Batman, Batgirl, and Red Hood to stop them. It goes into some pretty dark and interesting places. The art by Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson is wonderful.
There is some interesting background to this comic. Apparently, Geoff Johns teased the three Jokers concept in an earlier story, but it took him years to actually write this one. And there is much debate over whether this story belongs in the canon. I’m not one to really follow the cannon, but I really dug this story.
Ballerina
I haven’t been a fan of action movies since college. I just find endless explosions and shootouts kind of boring after a while. There have been a few exceptions over the years, and the John Wick franchise is one of them. I can’t say that these films are better than, say…I dunno…something with Liam Neeson in it or the Fast & Furious films, but I like them. A big part of that is Keanu Reeves. He’s not a great actor or anything, but he is a movie star, and he just seems super cool. Which is perfect for John Wick.
Buy Ballerina UHDThe question for Ballerina, which the marketing listed as “From the World of John Wick,” is “Can anyone else fill Keanu’s shoes?” And the answer is, “kinda.” Standing at 5’3″, Ana De Armas is a tiny little thing, not exactly an imposing threat. But through the magic of movies, and an incredibly physical performance, she holds her own.
I’ve never been all that interested in the lore of the John Wick series; it is all nonsense to me, and there is a lot of lore built into Ballerina. Unlike the original film, where we’re just dropped into this world of super assassins where John Wick is pulled out of retirement, here we get a whole origin story for Eve Macarro (De Armas), plus more information on the organization.
I didn’t care for any of that (though it is more or less handled well). What I’m here for is the action, and it more than satisfied. There are numerous action sequences, including a massive set piece towards the end, which also finds John Wick getting in on the killing. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the best bits of the other films, but it more than makes up for that in creative killing with weapons as far-ranging as hammers, blowtorches, and ice skates. I hope they keep making these films for a long time.
From: Season 1
There is a lot of Lost in this MGM+ series. It is a giant mystery box of a show with a large cast of characters. Its main star is Harold Perrineau, who played Michael in Lost. Our characters find themselves stuck inside a strange small town. And when I write “stuck,” I mean that in a literal sense. They really can’t leave. They can get in a car and drive on the road that should lead them out of town but will only find themselves on the other side coming back into town in an endless loop.
To make matters worse, when the sun goes down, monsters come out. They look like humans and act like them too, but if you find yourself outside, or if you let them indoors, they will kill you in the most brutal way possible.
And that’s just the beginning. There are mysteries on top of mysteries. A few too many of them, if I’m being honest. There are times, especially in the first few episodes, when the show barely takes time to breathe.
One of the things that made Lost so special was how each episode gave us a flashback for one of the characters, allowing us to know them better outside the island. There are a few flashbacks in From, and it does allow for a few character moments inside this town, but it seems more interested in the mystery than the people.
I suspect the writers won’t be able to pull it off in the end. There are currently two more seasons, and I’m guessing they’ll keep piling up the mysteries with no idea how to wrap them all together. I expect to be disappointed in the end, but for now I’m just enjoying the ride.
Dogtooth
Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most original and strange directors currently working today. His films are dark, hilarious, violent, and utterly bizarre. Dogtooth is, perhaps, the strangest. It is about a family living in an isolated compound. The parental units have never allowed the three children to leave. In fact, they make up stories about how dangerous the outside world is; they declare it is full of deadly cats. But inside this place, things are even weirder. The children are given daily vocabulary lessons, but the parents make up new definitions for old words. The children make up strange games to play and compete with each other. The father beats them harshly if they disobey.
Buy Dogtooth 4K UHDThe children have been told they have another brother, but he’s been banished to the other side of the garden wall. They often talk to him through the vines and throw him gifts. The children have no contact with the outside world. The parents keep a telephone locked up inside their bedroom. When the children hear the mother talking on it, they assume she is talking to herself. One day the father decides his son needs sexual release and brings in a coworker to fulfill those needs.
And on it goes into wicked absurdity. Kino Lorber has just released the film on 4K UHD and you can read my full review.
Batman: I Am Gotham
While Batman does live inside the larger DC Universe, and he does periodically interact with superheroes like the Flash and Superman (and, in fact is a member of the Justice League), Batman does not himself have powers, and for the most part, neither do the villains he faces in Gotham.
Buy Batman Vol. 1: I Am GothamI Am Gotham ponders what the city would be like if it had its own, true superheroes. A pair of Superman-esque heroes show up one day, calling themselves Gotham and Gotham Girl. Batman is at first pleased as he’s finally got some real help cleaning up his city. But of course, he wants them to help in his very particular way. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan.
Writer Tom King has some fun exploring what Gotham would look like with its own Superman. This is the first part of a three-part series (the other series are titled I Am Suicide and I Am Bane). I’m very much looking forward to reading them.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
I just finished watching the second season of Andor. That’s a great Star Wars series. It digs deep into the lore and gives us so much more information about how both the Empire and the Rebellion work. It is dramatic, full of action and heart, and just about the best thing Star Wars has ever done.
The Mandalorian is not that. It is almost the opposite. It is light and silly, and with Grogu it seems designed to sell toys. I wouldn’t call it a great show, but it is an entertaining one. That’s all it is trying to be. It seems odd to me that after six years without a Star Wars film, the franchise is finally returning to the theaters with what amounts to a feature-length episode of a series that’s already had three seasons. But what do I know?
The trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu does look fun. It also looks a bit too silly for my tastes, but that scene with the At-At falling into the ravine piques my interest.
