DCT Episode 43: The Boys (Amazon Prime), or Why This Is One of the Best Superhero Shows On Television

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Da Couch Tomato Podcast, Episode 43, discussing the Amazon Prime series The Boys, the similarities and differences with Pixar's The Incredibles, and why comic book stories are best told in long form.

Da Couch Tomato Podcast is part of the PIPE Network.

This episode is sponsored by Dulce House. Visit them at https://dulcehouse.com/ and use promo code PIPE to get 10% discount.

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Review: Star Trek Beyond, o Isang Introduksyon sa Fractal Film Theory

Nerdist

So ang bida rito ay hindi si Kirk o si Spock. Hmm...

Ano ang pagkakaiba ng narrative feature film sa ibang form ng cinema tulad ng experimental at documentary? Ang sagot: narrative arc.

Ang narrative arc o story arc ay crucial sa isang narrative feature. Ang isang audio-visual narrative ay tinatawag na "failure" kung wala itong kwento. "Story is the master", sabi nga sa film school. Bilang filmmaker, aalisin mo ang manonood sa mundong ito at dadalin mo sila sa ibang mundo sa loob ng humigit-kumulang dalawang oras. Ang tanging pakiusap lang nila ay huwag niyo sayangin ang oras nila.

Screen Rant

Sofia Boutella, nakaupo na parang nasasayang ang oras niya.

That said, hindi naman pangit ang kwento nitong Star Trek Beyond, at maayos naman ang direksyon ni Justin Lin. Isa siyang stand-alone film kasama na naman ang crew ng USS Enterprise na sina Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Dr. Bones McCoy (Karl Urban), Lt. Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), at si Chekov, played by the late Anton Yelchin in his last film.

Medyo manipis lang siguro ang film na ito dahil parang wala gaanong planet-hopping. Sa isang Star Wars film, marami-rami ang mga worlds na mabibisita mo bilang manonood. Ang Star Trek dapat ganoon din, tipong at least four different worlds sana ang napuntahan natin. Pero dito, parang kulang. 'Yung Yorktown space station, dapat hindi nga counted, kasi parang Earth din ang dating e.

Balik uli tayo sa usapin ng narrative arc. As a stand-alone film, wala naman problema ang pelikulang ito. May narrative arc naman, nasusundan naman ang kwento. Pero ang gusto ko lang sana sabihin ay ang narrative arcs ay sumusunod din sa konsepto ng "fractals" sa mathematics. Ang depinisyon ng fractal ay "a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole... in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales". Ibig sabihin, ang isang bahagi ay kamukha ng kabuuan. Pero paano ito nagre-relate sa narrative arcs? Wait lang, hindi pa ako tapos mag-explain.

fractals.nsu.ru

Halimbawa ng fractal.

Halimbawa, sa isang television series, sabihin na nating Game of Thrones, ang isang episode ay may sariling narrative arc. May simula, gitna, at wakas. Ngunit ang isang episode ay isang bahagi lang ng kabuuan, at itong kabuuan na ito ay ang season, na binubuo ng ten episodes. Ang isang season din ay may sariling narrative arc (tawagin nalang natin itong "season arc"). Kapag matapos na ang buong series, ang lahat ng episodes mula sa pilot hanggang sa finale ay may sarili ring narrative arc (tawagin natin itong "series arc"). Lahat ng mga arc na ito ay nage-exist simultaneously, at hindi sila in conflict with the other arcs of the overall grand narrative.

Scifanatic

Sana touch-move nalang ang pagsira sa Enterprise, para hindi na ibalik.

Ibalik natin ang usapan sa Star Trek. Okay, so ang bawat pelikula sa bagong reboot (simula noong Star Trek ni J.J. Abrams noong 2009) ay may kanya-kanyang narrative arc bilang stand-alone films. Pero kung ia-analyse mo siya bilang isang trilogy, parang wala naman yatang trilogy arc. Hindi pa nga sigurado kung ito na ang huling film sa series na ito o kung magkakaroon pa ng Part 4. Kung mayroon mang Part 4, paano ito magta-tie up with the first three films to create a series arc na mukhang may patutunguhan?

Honestly, parang walang direksiyon ang current series ng franchise na ito. Ang dating ay para na siyang television series na puro stand-alone episodes at hindi alam kung mare-renew pa nang isa pang season. Sana lang hindi ito dahil co-writer ng screenplay si Simon Pegg. Hmmm... wait, kung iyon talaga ang balak ng producers nito, na bumalik sa essence ng original Star Trek TV show... well then, ang galing nila. Pero kung hindi naman pala, boo.

Memory Alpha

Bilang pa-konswelo, heto si Idris Elba na naka-shorts.

Star Trek Beyond. USA. 2016.



Original na rating: 7/10
Sulu is gay: +0.1
Pagbitaw ng fake accent ni Sofia Boutella: -0.1
Idris Elba: +0.1
Final na rating: 7.1/10

Star Trek: Into Darkness Review, And How to Properly Watch an IMAX Film

YouTube

Even the title has lens flares.

QUESTION: What genre does Star Trek: Into Darkness fall under?

Is it sci-fi? Of course it is. To not call it science fiction would be an insult to Gene Rodenberry.

G4TV

Nothing says "science fiction" like a facial display console.

Dredd. Not the Stallone One.

Lionsgate/Reliance/DNA

There’s a saying in pop music that if you’re doing a remake, make sure it’s better than the original. The same goes for movies, I guess.

Lionsgate/Reliance/DNA

Though I think the chin was better in the original.

RED

The secret agent/CIA stuff never really gets old. It could look old though if you put in guys like Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren in it. Plus put in there too that dude who played Agamemnon (did I spell that right?) in Troy, and it really looks old! And also, that dude who was in line buying the RED movie tickets looked old too. I feel like I'm entering a Jackie Chan movie (where almost all the members in the audience are like 35 or way older). These are the same guys who watched Die Hard I in theaters back in the day (and they were in their prime back then).

The leads were so in their post-post-prime state that Karl Urban looked young and preppy amongst 'em. Bruce Willis even called Urban (who played Cooper, one of CIA's heads), "6'1 with the cute hair..." I guess you could call his hair cute if you yourself are balding and your hair follicles aren't motivated (or stimulated, whatever) to grow (just like Willis'). Demi Moore might've left Bruce because of his lack of head hair. I think she wants her man's hair just like the head of a Viking's (perhaps like Ashton's?).

Bruce Willis really revels in roles wherein he doesn't have to do any shouting. He always wants to take it easy on his larynx. I mean, come on. Give me a scene from any of the last ten Bruce Willis flicks where he was required to shout a lot. Man, he doesn't even talk loud enough to be John McClane. His voice always seems smooth and suave. Hence, the bald guy roles.

Morgan Freeman just isn't cut out for action flicks like these. Even if he's RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) in this movie, he just ain't athletic enough. Helen Mirren can beat this geezer in a foot race. Plus he (Freeman) doesn't look like an 80-year old with stage 4 liver cancer (his role in the movie).

Helen Mirren really looks old in this one. I mean, she looks old when she played Queen Elizabeth. but man, time flies by so fast. For me, she kinda' looked different in a short span of time. But her accent really kicked ass!

My favorite here is of course, Mr. John Malkovich. Not only does he bring the much needed comic relief, he also embraces the old man role to the extent that he made "old man" synonymous with "veteran killer". Add to that the fact that he did LSD for eleven years under a controlled, secret CIA program, then you really have a funny old junkie runnin' loose with the old dogs.

I wasn't really overwhelmed with this movie or anything like that. It was just what I expected. A bunch of retired CIA agents runnin' around and killin' people. Good job to John Malkovich for bein' the "glue guy" in this team. If you don't know what a glue guy is, think Scottie Pippen of the Bulls. Think Lamar Odom for the Lakers. Think Udonis Haslem for the Heat.

Offensively and defensively, they bring it to the table. Same thing with John.

My rating for this flick is 7 out of 10. If it wasn't for the glue guy, this would be a measly 6.






*image from www.scene-stealers.com