The Saint Review

 

Last night, as I counted down the hours until “The Defenders” premiered, I noticed something peculiar on Netflix. In the just released section, there was a 2017 movie called “The Saint.”

How could this be? There’s a new movie based on Simon Templar, that has a Roger Moore cameo, and co-stars my fellow Bostonian Eliza Dushku, and I knew nothing about it?  Sigh, I must be loosing my movie knowledge in my old age. Anyways, I had to watch this new Saint adaptation, to see what I missed.

The film sees International master thief, Simon Templar (Adam Rayner), also known as The Saint, helping a desperate banker to find his kidnapped daughter. In return, the banker will give Templar the stolen $2 billion that was meant for aid relief in Africa.

The case sounds simple enough, however, The Saint also has to deal with the authorities who have been after him for years. And if that wasn’t enough, Simon will be forced to face am adversary from his past.

As usual, Templar is assisted by Patricia Holm (Eliza Dushku), who provides live intelligence from her laptop or whatever other gadget that’s handy. If you’re a fan of the books, you’ll recognise Holm as Simon’s on and off again love interest, but in this film the relationship is more professional which was kind of cool to see.

Overall, this new Saint is pretty good, but hardly perfect. The stunts in the film are rather good considering this was done on a television budget. But the filmmakers definitely got their money’s worth. Each set piece and location were dressed to look their best, and the effort shows throughout the film.

The maun story is too simple, and nothing we haven’t seen before. However, this movie gave us glimpses into Simon Templar’s past. We see him in school, at home with his dad, and how he became a trained fighter. This movie even reveals something about the family name. Maybe all this information has appeared before in the tv show or movies, but it was new to me.

My favorite parts of “The Saint” were easily its two leads. Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku have great chemistry, and the banter between then felt natural. Whatever he dishes, she sends right back at him. We also get to see how Simon and Patricia met, and it wasn’t as glamorous as you might expect.

Adam Rayner plays Simon with charm and humor, and he looks good in the action scenes. He was particularly good when he had to dress up as someone else. For someone in theri late 30’s, Rayner fit nicely into the role. And I liked the gag about him having a beard early on, which I think was a holdover from his days on “Tyrant.”

Meanwhile, my girl Eliza Dushku stole every scene she was in. She was terrific as Patricia, and I thought she gave a new life to the character. Dushku is funny, beautiful, and can handle her fair share of action. But I’m biased. Ever since I met Eliza Dushku at Wizard World Boston 2005, I’m always going to have a soft sport for her.

From what I understand, this movie was initially intended as a television pilot to reboot the classic series. Last I heard, Roger Moore has at least some control over the rights to the Saint. But now that he’s gone, I don’t know where that stands.

But I’ll tell you this: I would happily watch a regular Saint series starring Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku any day of the week.

“The Saint” score: B

I paid to see that: Blues Brothers 2000

After nearly twenty years, I can finally admit it: I’m the one who paid to see “Blues Brothers 2000” in the theater. I know, I know.

This was not my finest movie moment, and one I’d rather forget. But in my defence, I didn’t think Dan Aykroyd and John Landis would screw it up so badly. And in 1998, the internet was not filled with movie spoilers like it is today, so I had no idea what I was in for. But once the movies started, I knew right away this was going to be a painful experience.

“Blues Brothers 2000” begins with Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) getting out of prison and finding out his brother died years ago. This was the moment the movie lost me. I mean seriously, we’re supposed to believe that NOBODY would tell Elwood his only brother is dead? But things just got worse from here.

Just like in the first movie, Elwood wants to get the old band back together. But this time, Sister Mary wants him to mentor Buster (J. Evan Bonifant), a 10-year-old orphan. I feel bad for J. Evan Bonifant because was put in a no win situation. Fans of the original movie were not ready to accepts a Blues Brothers kid.  And whoever told him to just act like a grumpy elderly person, didn’t do the kid any favors.

The kid eventually bonds with Elwood, and gets his own Blues Brothers suit. Now, I’m no legal expert, but since Elwood doesn’t bring Buster back to the orphanage and then transports him out-of-state, doesn’t that mean that Elwood kidnapped Buster?

But who cares about such silly things when it serves the movie plot.

Seeking out his old band mates, Elwood goes to a strip joint where he meets Mighty Mack (John Goodman), a bartender who has a good voice and is enlisted as Jake’s replacement when the club is torched by Russians (don’t ask). For what it’s worth, John Goodman is the only one in the movie who looks like he’s having fun. He played Mack with such joy you couldn’t help but like him.

Other band members are added along the way, and because every movie needs a villain, the band gets chased by a state trooper (Joe Morton) who is sort of Elwood’s stepbrother. but not really. Not that it matters, because about halfway through the film, Morton has a revelation. He levitates hundreds of feet above the ground, but nobody bats an eye, and he quickly joins the band.

Just like the original movie, “Blues Brothers 2000” has plenty of musical numbers. The film has performances by Aretha Franklin (“R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”), Eddie Floyd (“634-5789”), John Popper and Blues Traveler (“Maybe I’m Wrong”), and i haven’t even mentioned the finale which features B.B King, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, and Erykah Badu, to name a few.

These musical numbers are okay for the most part, but unlike in the original, the performances in “Blues Brothers 2000” feel forced. In the first movie the music moved the story forward, and fit into whatever was happening. But in BB 2000, a scene starts playing out, and all of a sudden everyone breaks into singing and dancing for no reason at all.

In hindsight, it was silly of me to expect this movie to match anything in the classic “Blues Brothers.” But with a few changes, this still could have been a decent movie, or at least a watchable one. The talent is there, all they needed was a better story, an R rating, and no Buster. With just a few tweaks, “Blues Brothers 2000” might have had a chance.

 

 

Comic Review: Elsewhere #1

ELSEWHERE #1
Written by Jay Faerber
Art by Sumeyye Kesgin, Ron Riley, and Thomas Mauer
Published by Image Comics

Amelia Earhart’s story has captured the world’s attention for and incredible eighty years. She’s been the subject of countless documentaries over the decades, and has been portrayed on the big screen by the likes of Amy Adams and Hilary Swank. But as far as I can recall, Amelia Earhart has never been the focus of a comic book, until now at least.

In Elsewhere #1 from Image Comics, writer Jay Faerber and artist Sumeyye Kesgin take us to a faraway world called Korvath. Here, dragons roam the purple skies, the islands float in the air chained to the world below, and Amelia Earhart finds herself trapped by her parachute mere moments after she bailed over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

Earhart discovers that she’s not alone on this strange new world when she’s rescued by Cort and Tavel. They’re part of a rebellion against Lord Kragen, the ruler of Korvath. This is a lot to process, but Earhart’s immediate concern is finding her navigator, Fred Noonan who parachuted with her. But if she has any hope of finding him, she will need the help of Cort and Tavel.

Jay Faerber has been writing comics for nearly two decades, working on titles like Generation X, and The Titans. But Faerber won me over with his creator owned Noble Causes, and Dynamo 5 series for Image comics. Everything I liked about those books, Faerber has brough to Elsewhere.

Faerber makes Amelia Earhart relatable and fun. She’s immediately likeable, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of her. Yes, she’s startled about her surroundings, but instead of crawling into a corner to cry, Earhart sets her mind on finding Fred Noonan, and that’s that.

Sumeyye Kesgin is the perfect artist for this title.Her style blends thicker lines with richer shadows, which makes her page and panel layout stand out. All of the characters immediately recognizable, but its her version of Earhart that is the highlight of this book. Kesgin gives her a wide a range of reactions from shock, to absolute joy as she rides a dragon towards Kragen’s castle.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but Elsewhere #1 was a blind buy on my part.  A couple of weeks ago I didn’t know anything about this series. I only picked it up when I realized Jay Faerber was writing it. But like most of his work, this issue did not disappoint.

The world of comics needs more titles like this, because now more than ever, many of us need an escape to another world. And why not escape to a world filled  with strange new creatures?

Kudos to Faerber, and Kesgin for a true gem of a comic! Elsewhere #1 score: A+

Book Challenge Review: Near-Mint Memories: Tips and Stories from a Lifetime of Comic Book Collecting

Synopsis:

Interested in collecting comic books, but don’t know where to begin?

Drew Van Huss, a comic book collector for over thirty years, offers his insightful tips to beginning a collection alongside entertaining anecdotes about his time spent collecting comic books that will appeal to new and old collectors alike.

Previously featured in USA Today for his love of all things Batman, Drew Van Huss captures the heart and soul of the comic book collector and shows why this hobby can help you create your own near-mint memories.

A Brief History:

While talking books with one of the workers at my local comic shop (Hi Jason!), he mentioned the short book Near-Mint Memories: Tips and Stories from a Lifetime of Comic Book Collecting by Drew Van Huss.

Jason told me it was a very quick read, but a highly enjoyable one. And since one of the items on my 2017 book challenge is to read a book recommended by someone with great taste, I figured this book was right up my alley.

My Thoughts:

For long time comic book readers, the sections on how to get into collecting comics, and where to find them will be pointless, but they will be helpful for newer fans. But what made this book worth reading were the personal stories by Drew Van Huss. Like the time he waited in line for a John Romita Jr. sketch, only to lose out my a mere two minutes.

Drew Van Huss also discusses his favorite comic shop in his Tennessee hometown, and how a trip to that store helped him start healing after his father’s passing. Having gone through similar situations, I was able to relate to Huss’ story that proves comics are always there for us.

Final word and Score:

As I mentioned earlier, Near-Mint Memories: Tips and Stories from a Lifetime of Comic Book Collecting is one short book. I read the whole thing in under an hour, but that doesn’t take away from the great stories within.

Near-Mint Memories: Tips and Stories from a Lifetime of Comic Book Collecting by Drew Van Huss gets a: B.

And just like that, another item is crossed off the 2017 reading challenge:

Retro TNU: Child World at the Westgate Mall

If you were a kid in the 1970’s, 1980’s, or 1990’s, there’s a good chance your go to store for the latest toys and games was Toys R Us. And there’s an even better chance that the Toys R Us holiday catalog was your bible as Christmas got close.

Well, that wasn’t me.

Oh, I browsed the catalog every year like most kids did. But I don’t remember setting foot inside a Toys R Us until I was out of high school. In fact, I don’t remember there being any Toys R Us stores in the South Shore of Boston when I was a kid. However, I did habe two toy stores I’d always go to: Child World, and Kaybee Toys.

I liked both store because I could get a wide range of action figures at either place. So if one place didn’t have what I was looking for, I’d usually find it at the other store. My favorite Child World location was at the Westgate Mall in Brockton Ma. This Child World store was one of the mall’s anchor stores, and it was massive!

Whenever my family went to the Westgate Mall, this was the place I’d park myself. Most of the time it was like “See you in an hour mom.” It was at this child World store where I bought (or my family bought), my first video game, which I belive was a Ninja Turtles handheld game. After one Christmas, I bought myself a Knight Rider handheld game.

Child World was also the place where I got some of my larger G.I. Joe vehicles, like the X-19 Stealth Fighter. I wish I still had that thing. Anyways, my first stop during any visit was always the action figure aisle, and here I found multiple Batman action figures over the years. I also remember buying plenty of those 3 comic book grab bags filled with reprints of recent issues. Hey, don’t judge me, they were cheap!

I haven’t been back to The Westgate Mall since I was in college, but it’s still around today. The Child World closed long ago, but I remember the castle look of the outside stayed around for a while even after something else took over the location. Sadly though, Child World wasn’t the only place to close their doors at The Westgate Mall.

The mall hit some hard times in the 1990s. First in 1992 when the Silver City Galleria opened in Taunton, about ten miles to the south, and again in 1996 when the South Shore Plaza, a few miles north, doubled in size to become the Boston area’s largest shopping mall.

During this time, Westgate’s anchor base took some major hits when Child World, Woolworth, and Bradlees all closed. By the late 1990s, the Wastegate mall was nearly vacant and was in danger of closing for good.

I remember going there the day after the 2000 election. I remember the date well because my friend John and I were looking for an art supply store near the mall, but all we talked about was the election. We went into the mall for old times sake, and many of the stores were vacant.

Even several of the businesses around the mall had shut down by then. Back in 1989 I recall going to the movie theater in front of the mall to see the greatest video game movie of all time, “The Wizard.” But on the 2000 trip, I couldn’t remember where the movie building had been. Also gone were the Paperama, and a Purity Supreme grocery store I went to a couple of times.

If I went to the Westgate Mall today I probably wouldn’t recognize it. I’m sure it’s been remodeled over the years, and new stores have opened where my old favorites once stood. But I still have my memories of the best damn toy store in the South Shore, and I still have a couple of the toys I got there.

 

 

Guilty Pleasure: Major Payne

For most of his adult life, Marine Corps Major Benson Winifred Payne liked to think of himself as the ultimate killing machine. That’s why he’s been deployed nearly a dozen times. But Major Payne is devastated when he’s passed over for promotion and is basically benched from active service.

Payne begs his commanding officer to reconsider, and to give him somebody else to kill. “Sorry, Payne,” he’s told. “There’s nobody else to kill. You’ve killed them all.” This was the moment that the film “Major Payne” won me over.

1995’s “Major Payne” was directed by Nick Castle, and starred Damon Wayans as Major Payne, and Karyn Parsons as Dr. Emily Walburn, Steven Martini as Cadet Alex J. Stone, and Orlando Brown as Cadet Kevin “Tiger” Dunn. I saw the movie by myself the weekend it opened. It was a matinée, so there were only of handfull of people in the theater with me, but I think I was the only one laughing.

I liked Damon Wayans from his days on “In Living Color,” and this movie reminded me of some of his work there. However, I will say “Major Payne” doesn’t break any new ground when it comes tot this types of movies. A lot of the major plot points are things we’ve seen before in movies, and we’ll probably see again.

In the film, Major Payne has trouble adjusting to civilian life, so he ends up taking a job as the officer in charge of the junior ROTC cadet training corps at a private school in Virginia. The members of Payne’s junior ROTC corps are the usual mix you see in movies: there’s a funny guy, a little guy, a fat one, a deaf one, tall ones, short ones, and so on.

Although we see a lot of the school, the only other faculty member we meet is a cute teacher named Dr. Emily Walburn (Karyn Parsons). She is the only one who can get Payne to act like a human being, and the one who keeps having to remind him that these are kids, and not trained Marines.

Throughout the movie, Damon Wayans presents Payne as a tunnel-visioned “killing machine” who sees nothing wrong in applying his values to train the recruits. And we see him put the kids through hell, some of the stuff he does may no even be legal at a school, but it was quite entertaining to see

There are two moments in particular that always make me laugh whenever I happen to catch “Major Payne” on tv. The first one is when young recruit Kevin “Tiger” Dunn tells Major Payne and Ms. Walburn that there’s a monster in his closet. Payne walks into Tiger’s room, and promptly unloads a few rounds into the closet door. He then tells Tiger something like: “If he’s still in there, he ain’t happy.”

My other favorite moment comes when Major Payne is sitting on a bench waiting for a train. He looks at the house across the tracks and daydreams about living there with Ms. Walburn and Tiger. Payne envisions himself grilling, until a guerilla fighter tries to assassinate him.

Payne fights him off by using the grill, and  by drowning him in the kiddy pool. But since this is a happy daydream, the scene ends with the bad guy waking up and joining the family for some lemonade.

Even though I’ve seen this type of story countless times, I still enjoy this movie. “Major Payne” is one of those movies that can always make me laugh, no matter what’s going on. This beg the question: Why don’t I own “Major Payne” on dvd?

 

 

Wayans

Mister Miracle #1 Review

MISTER MIRACLE #1
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerads, Clayton Cowles
Published by DC Comics

Scott Free is the greatest escape artist that ever lived. So great that he escaped Granny Goodness’ gruesome orphanage and the dangers of Apokolips to travel across galaxies and set up a new life on Earth with his wife, the former female fury known as Big Barda. Using the stage alter ego of Mister Miracle, he has made a career for himself showing off his acrobatic escape techniques. He even caught the attention of the Justice League, which counted him among its ranks.

You might say Scott Free has everything…so why isn’t it enough? Mister Miracle has mastered every illusion, achieved every stunt, pulled off every trick—except one. He has never escaped death. Is it even possible? Our hero is going to have to kill himself if he wants to find out.

The new Mister Miracle maxi-series is written by Tom King (Batman) and beautifully illustrated by Mitch Gerads (The Punisher). Issue #1 dropped this week, and I just read it this morning. So what did I think?

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, Darkseid is, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow,wow!

Mister Miracle #1 gets a well deserved A