Deadpool 2 ((NO SPOILERS))

Antho got us tickets to see DP2 the first day we could go see it.... With the 7:20pm tickets in our possession, we went about the necessary nonsense of our day before walking our happy butts up to the Eclipse theater in Downtown Las Vegas. Thank the gratuitous advertising machines that are the entertainment industry, because even with our arrival being about 10 minutes behind the original "start" time, there were still ample previews and plenty of lighting available when we got into the theater. The Eclipse theater, by the way, is extra-fancy in that not only does it offer big cushioned reclining chairs to kick up your feet in, but you get a menu and in-theater service should you choose to take it. One guy in our theater got multiple beers throughout the film, and other's were getting sliders or nachos to nom on. Yes, you can in fact order cocktails to enjoy while watching DP 2. They missed an opportunity by not serving chimichangas, but so it goes. We, being artists of a moderate income, opted out of the $12 cocktails and $17 snacks, at least this time through, but they're definitely there should you want them. The servers are clad all in black and have pathways they navigate through during the film so as to be minimally invasive, but it's still a tad bit distracting in the midst of the action.

Shortly after our arrival, the lights went dim and we were on our way into the messy, raunchy, silly mess that is Deadpool 2. 

And don't get me wrong- I loved the first of this installation of Deadpool! I loved it so much I went for it and recreated Negasonic Teenaged Warhead's hairstyle, for crying out loud.  This two-films-so-far franchise has vastly outranked it's horrifying X-Men Origins bastard cousin, and is a fun ride all around. 

The problem is, can they cover any new ground? With a film like Deadpool, which was so groundbreaking upon its release (OMG,  a superhero movie that breaks the 4th wall! has an R-rating!), they're going to be confronting a lot of expectations. If it's too similar, fans will (maybe) hate it for being derivative,  because if it's not Star Wars that's not acceptable. If it charts whole new ground and veers into uncharted territory, leaving familiar faces and arcs behind, people will flip their shit, too. It really seems a difficult situation for the film-makers, who, ideally, just want to make a movie that's true-ish-enough-to-the-character-of-the-comic-book incarnation of the Merc with a Mouth. In the end, of course, it's all about money...but let's (try to) be positive here!

What we end up with is something that feels similar, has a lot of familiar faces, with some fun new additions and some shocking new developments. It's decidedly more fun than Infinity War, if not solely because I don't feel like I need therapy after watching it. I laughed. I cried. But I didn't feel particularly blown-away. This was, for the most part, familiar terrain. There were some new jokes and situations thrown in that made me literally laugh-out-loud and guffaw, but for the most part it felt like the movie version of slipping into that ratty old robe with the weird stains that you've grown comfortable with and loved for a while but aren't entirely sure why you still subject your naked and unprotected flesh to it's embrace time after time. The new ground was gratifying, but not mind-melting if you've got a cursory familiarity with the backstory. 

I didn't hate it. In fact, it was kind of fun. 

Did it break whole-new-ground and make me cream my pants with the sheer amazeballs of it? Nah. But it entertained and kept the spirit of the prior installation well enough. I think the inconsistency with the behind-the-scenes situation does come through to an extent, but that could be the result of the overall inconsistent tone of the movie. It hammers on some heavy topics, but it's in Deadpool's irreverent style so it can feel a little jarring at times, perhaps. We watched the first movie prior to seeing this one, and it was a noticeable change in tone. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's noticeable. I definitely felt like there was more of an intentional "take-home" message from this one. 

Overall, I'll be seeing it again. It's not the worst thing I've seen this year, and there were definitely some funny moments worth revisiting. 

Cheers.

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Avengers Infinity War ((NO SPOILERS))

I don't know about you guys, but Antho had bought our tickets to see the momentous, much-anticipated Infinity War (in 3D) weeks before it actually came out. Marvel has been building up to this movie for a decade now, and it's built up an immense universe with a huge cast of heroes rushing in to save the world, time after time...but what if they can't? Is there ever going to be a threat that is too great for Earth's (and the Galaxies') greatest heroes? That seems highly improbable, given how successful our heroes have been in past movies, but when the newest menace appears on the scene, that big Purple guy with the ballsack for a chin, he poses a much larger threat than any of his predecessors... except, maybe, Ego? Because the dude was a celestial, a literal planet capable of creating life like a god, so...but Thor himself is actually a God... so I digress. What even is Thanos? Aside from a big mean purple hero eating machine, I mean. In some of their previous installments, they've touched on this idea of their fallibility a bit, giving Iron Man a case of PTSD and some cosmic dread when he has a vision of impending doom, but for the most part the Avengers and friends have done a pretty bang up job at keeping Earth (and the Galaxy) safe enough. There have been civilian casualties, and damages, which was what lead to the events of Civil War, but for the most part we haven't lost any of the major players or important battles.  

What this all translates to, for Infinity War, is a movie with a lot of moving parts and a lot of anticipation. There's a huge cast of beloved heroes necessitating screen time and character development... because despite having most of our heroes fleshed out and developed in their own individual character films, there has to be some grounding and development in this movie for the consequences or results to have weight. We've had so many new characters introduced into the MCU in recent years: Tom Holland's Spider-man, Ant-man, Black Panther, Vision, Doctor Strange... So one of the movie's first challenges is bringing all of these individuals together, somehow- which is where Thor Ragnarok branching into the galactic space helps, as it gives sufficient backing to Thor running into the Guardians crew, but we still have to unite all our Earthbound heroes, too... and get to the meat of the plot, the conflict, the epic battles... Even though the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes, it felt rushed and some crucial plot points felt shortchanged in their brevity to me. Then there were glaring absences of people who, for all intents and purposes, SHOULD have been there. Where'd they go? Are we to assume their absence means the worst or the best? Or were they just deemed inconsequential bit players after gaining ground in our hearts in previous films? 

There's absolutely no doubt that there's going to be a follow up to this movie, because holy shit. I'm not going to discuss how it ends, just that it's not satisfying to me. At all. I knew going into it that there was going to be a cliffhanger ending because of course there is, but I still wasn't prepared nor was I happy. And now we have to wait at least another year for the second half.

After the credits wrapped, the girl seated next to us in the theater was complaining loudly that she had been dragged out for "half a movie". Not really sure how she would have survived 10 years of Marvel movies thus far and not concluded as much was bound to be the case, but not everyone watches Superhero movies for fun I suppose. I don't watch football but I know what the superbowl is, and that's essentially what this movie is for the Marvel Universe, right? 

Anyway, if you're a fan of Marvel you're invariably going to go see this movie if you haven't already gone. It's headed towards making $230 Million for opening weekend. If you're reading this post debating whether to go see it, just go. Be part of the zeitgeist. Peer pressure and all that.

As for me, I'm going to be processing all the emotions I'm left with after this movie and all the shit going down on the CW Flash lately. 💔

Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by!

💖

XOXO,

NAU

We live in public

The ever-increasing accessibility to the internet has lead to its becoming an integral tool for human interaction. While it is often a place to share drunken frat party photos and indulge hedonistic curiousities, it can provide valuable breeding grounds for reconnecting lost friends and forging business networks. It is possible for people to connect in ways that were previously unheard of, if not unimagined.

The internet prodigy Josh Harris in particular was able to predict much of the current social trending and interpret their impacts through a fascinating series of human experiments. One such experiment included locking a community of artists into a bunker that was completely video monitored and linked together, such that everyone could instantly look in on anyone around them. Every aspect of their day was recorded and available for anyone within to witness, making privacy an obsolete concept. It was a literal interpretation for what the social networking and internet experience has evolved into.



The movie puts forth a lot of interesting topics for consideration, and I believe it's something many of us must face when dealing with the internet. Information is instantaneously available now, streamed directly onto our smart phones, gaming consoles and computers. We can access just about anything at any time, no matter what laws or governing forces attempt to intervene as of current. This isn't always the case, of course, as was the situation with Google in China. This instant interchange of information can go both ways, however, allowing for information tracking, malware, identity theft and a host of other problems. As participants in the internet it's important to take everything we share online into consideration because once there, it is no longer our's. It's a matter of personal interpretation when it comes to how much we share, but it's something very important to consider.

What do you think? Have you seen his movie? I found his predictions to be pretty accurate and it's fascinating to see his literal interpretations of the future of the internet's usage. The movie follows the direct impact on a large community as well as on his own personal intimate relationship.