Fantastic Four x Gargoyles #1 (One Shot) [2025] - Publisher: Marvel

The issue begins with a flashback to Valencia 1094, where Demona saves Angelika from De Ablo who is trying to obtain gargoyle blood to create an immortality elixir called "Elixir Vitae".  Demona frees her and they escape.

We return to the present labeled as "now" in Manhattan where Angela, Broadway and Lex are squaring up against the Fantastic Four.  Introductions happen and everyone stands down.  Lex mentions seeing their flare.  I had to refer to the comic “Demona #0” where the Gargoyles initially see the flare after dealing with Demona stealing.  In that comic, Sue says, "You weren't actually the three heroes I was summoning", so at this point we don't know who the FF were summoning, but no one else shows up to assist them.  The issue at hand - the FF need help with the "Grey Gargoyle" aka Paul Duval who is turning people to stone on the Brooklyn Bridge including two of our favorites Brendan and Margot.

Meanwhile, an unknown yellow gargoyle with purple armor is being tortured and escapes some sort of containment device, mentioning allowed that he has to warn someone.

Elsewhere, Tony Stark is giving David Xanatos a tour of his facility where we see a collection of Iron Man suits and a large containment tank filled with blue liquid. Xanatos leaves.

Back to the bridge, the Gargoyles and FF attempt to stop Duval.  He uses some kind of smoke grenade that turns everyone to stone in the blast radius including Angela, Mr. Fantastic, and other humans on the bridge.  Everyone else is okay as Sue traps Duval in a force field.

Back at Stark Industries, Xanatos in his Armored Gargoyle suit, comes and steals the large containment tank.  As Iron Man attempts to stop him, Xanatos summons his Steel Clan which allows him to escape.

We then go to Castle Wyvern where that yellow gargoyle with purple armor introduces himself to the rest of the clan as "The Gargoyle" aka Isaac Christians.  He warns them of an alchemist named Diablo is attempting to create Elixir Vitae.  Lex returns to the castle to inform them of the situation on the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Xanatos delivers the large containment unit to Diablo who has promised Xanatos some Elixir Vitae for his services.  Diablo monologues to the containment unit, letting the reader know that he was behind everything that has happened thus far:  he let Isaac Christians free, he set Duval on his mission, and he got what was in the containment tank.  He did this all with the intent of capturing a gargoyle to get its blood.  

Back at the bridge, the police arrive to protect those in stone.  Iron Man shows up to assist as well, and Goliath has Hudson and Coldfire to stay there to help if needed.  Everyone else departs away from the bridge to some other location in New York.  Suddenly, Diablo uses a portal to steal Angela.  Sue and Broadway follow while Sue uses her invisibility powers.  Everyone else battles "Dragon Man" who was the one trapped in the containment tank.  It turns out he's an AI and Lex easily shuts him down using the FF's electromagnetic pulse gun on their vehicle.

Meanwhile, Diablo uses a spell to turn everyone back normal who had been turned to stone, so he can take Angela's blood.  He also sense's Sue and Broadway's presence and captures them with some sort of green energy ropes.

Demona shows up and uses "Fulminous Venite" to defeat Diablo.  Broadway and Angela chain up Diablo as Demona disappears.

Later, Reed mentions being able to reprogram Dragon Man.  Reed gets a call from Tony Stark.  Xanatos tells Goliath and Brooklyn that he had no idea that Angela would be put in harm's way.  Xanatos then gets a call from Tony Stark.  Goliath and Brooklyn welcome Isaac to the Clan.

We have a nice little happy ending showing the FF clan all together at home as well as the Gargoyle Clan all together at their home (including Edwardo which means this takes place before the events of "Gargoyles Quest").

The final shot shows that the Baxter Building and the Eyrie Building are just a few skyscrapers away (leaving this open for a future adventure/team up).

The Life of a Showgirl [2025] album review

This is the first album of Taylor Swift's that I've listened to from beginning to end.  Most of my experience with her music is from the radio.  She's got some bangers and earworms for sure.  She's obviously very popular, which is very much an understatement.  

I've never sought out her music unless someone said, "Hey, you should check out this song".  My wife is NOT a fan of her music at all and will change the radio station every time her music comes on.  Years ago, there was one summer where we were driving to the beach and her popular hit at the time came on three different times during the three hour drive and we joked about how many more times we'd hear it.

With that said, I feel that most of her music in the past, and again with this album is made for high school girls.  I think one of the lyrics was "in second period" referencing high school.  I'm not the target audience and that's fine.

So you're not a fan, why did you listen to the album?  Curiosity, the hype, and my wife LOVES George Michael so I wanted to hear Taylor's take on "Father Figure".  That song and "Eldest Daughter" are the standouts for me, but I don't really seeing them getting radio play unless they take out or censor the expletives.  Speaking of which, 8 of the 12 tracks are marked as explicit.  Is that normal for her albums or are her lyrics getting more mature as she's maturing?

I'm not a music aficionado nor a Taylor stan.  I don't know which tracks are the diss tracks.  I don't hunt for Easter eggs, nor did I read the lyrics as I listened to the songs looking for hidden meaning.  I did notice she said "New Heights" in "Father Figure" which made me think of the Kelce's podcast.  Not sure if that was intentional or not and if it was or wasn't, it has no bearing.  I'm just a guy who listened to this album once and two of the songs twice.

Jurassic Park Rebirth [2025] review

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this film. Based off of the horrible experiences of "Fallen Kingdom" and "Dominion", I was not expecting much which is why I waited to rent it.

Was there bad campy dialogue? Yes.

Were there questionable plot choices and logic? Of course.

Did the movie make me care about the characters? Surprisingly yes, for the most part.

Firstly, I liked that the writers got through the simple premise fairly quickly and by the 25 minute mark, we were on the boat ready for the adventure on the way to the island. The movie took a beat to have a scene with Scarlett Johansson's character and Mahershala Ali's character which I think was important in making us care about the characters. I would have preferred more show than tell, but I think people want to see the dinosaurs ASAP so any potential flashbacks would have gotten in the way.

Then they shifted to this random family who were also at sea, and it was interesting how they were pulled into the plot and then once they got to the island, the writers gave us two different branching stories. I got some "Kong Skull Island" vibes from the one crew and I think the writers used the other crew to mirror Alan Grant's journey across the island from the first "Jurassic Park" film. Alan Grant does get a quick name drop by the scientist character played by Jonathan Bailey who I didn't know until my wife mentioned was the same actor in Wicked. I think he did a great job and I was impressed by his handling of those two very different roles.

I think this movie had a good mix of dread, action, and decent pacing. With the baby Triceratops, I was semi expecting for the mom to pop in at some point and save the day, but that didn't happen so good for the movie to keep the audience on their toes for a little bit.

Without spoiling, there was a character that did something that made me well up a bit, so good job to the writers for pulling that off. I was surprised that I would care about any of these new characters that much.

In the end, it's definitely worth a rent / watch. I'd give it a 6.5/10.

Karate Kid Legends [2025] spoiler review

The movie wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.  In simplest terms, this movie felt forced and formulaic.  I can picture the writers sitting in a room and reverse engineering what they wanted to do to tell the story they wanted to tell.

Step 1:  We want to combine Karate Kid (1984) with Karate Kid (2010).  We got it!  Establish the connection of Miyagi's sensei / great grandfather and his connection to China so we can connect what we established in Karate Kid II to Jackie Chan's Han character.  Perfect!  Fits nice!  Now that we've done that we can bring together Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han!    

NOPE!  Not yet!  

Step 2:  Now that we established that, we need to focus on the new character- the titular Karate Kid:  Li Fong.  What's his story?

Well first, he wears headphones while training when no one else is?  Why?  Never explained.

His mom moves him from China to New York.  Why?  Because that's Karate Kid 101 - it's a fish out of water story - check.

Next, we need him to meet a girl that has been in a prior relationship and that prior relationship cause problems - check.

Step 3:  Now for the curve ball - the girl has a DAD and he's got problems.  So let's focus on him, and boxing, and bookies, and have Li save him from the bookies Miyagi style but with a little Jackie Chan flair.  Then let's focus on the boxing match and get some flashbacks regarding Li's dead brother.  Oh and Li needs a dorky best friend for no reason.

Step 4 - Time to address step 1 and complete the film:  Now that Li is at his lowest, it's time to bring in Jackie Chan.  How does he know he needs to visit?  Who is running his giant dojo while he's gone?  Unknown.

But wait, now that Jackie/Mr. Han is in New York, he needs to visit someone first.  He travels to California and we finally get Daniel LaRusso in the movie.

Mr. Han:  I need your help.

Daniel:  I can't.

Mr. Han:  K bye.

Back in New York - Mr. Han trains Li for the upcoming "All Valley" I mean "5 Boroughs Tournament".  How do we make it more exciting?  Add some Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat-eque type of animation before each fight.  Also, we won't explain it, but you can get more than 1 point per bout and to win you can knock out or get 8 points.  Is the tournament televised?  Who is choosing the random fighting places?  Where are these random fighting places?  Unknown.

Oh, also, Daniel shows up just as Mr. Han had predicted in the next scene.  He magically knows where to show up to help train Li.

Li is trained.  Li wins.  All conflicts are resolved.  Happy ending.  Don't forget William Zabka cameo and out.

With that said, I thought Ben Wang did a great job as Li Fong. I don't think any of the other side characters were needed. It would have been nice if we got more development of the Conor character. I'd give it a 4/10.

Matewan [1987] review

Years ago, I mentioned to my former boss that I grew up in Scranton, PA and that my grandfather was a coal miner so he highly recommended that I should watch this movie.  His other selling point was that James Earl Jones was in it.

After years of waiting for it to be available on streaming to no avail, I realized that I could borrow movies from my local library.  I got the Criterion DVD version which was released in 2019.

Plot wise - the movie is based on a true story of the events of Matewan, West Viriginia in the 1920s where the town was essentially owned and run by the coal company.  Due to the harsh conditions, the workers decided to strike and form a union.  The coal company hired foreigners and African Americans to work as scabs.  Joe Kenehan, played by Chris Cooper (his first film), enters to help support the workers and form their union along with the foreigners and African Americans.  He wants to do it without violence.  As you can surmise, this does not go well and there is a lot of in-fighting and turmoil.  On top of that, the coal company sends violent people to break up the union.   The big build up is this western style shootout on the main street of town.

Is this movie worth your time?  It's hard to say.  It's definitely dated and you can tell there was a very small budget.  The main story is a little slow, but there is an interesting mini arc in the middle of the movie regarding Joe and a local woman working with a spy for the coal company.  James Earl Jones has a few lines, but he kills it.  The best thing about this movie is the acting.  The child acting is a little much, but you have to give them props for holding their own.  There are a lot of familiar faces like the Warden from Shawshank (Bob Gunton), the woman from Dances with Wolves (Mary McDonnell), and the weird teacher from Happy Gilmore (Josh Mostel).  Also if you're a fan of Newsies, Kevin Tighe plays an antagonists in both this movie and that one.  He definitely has a face of a villain.  And last, but not least was a young David Strathairn who's been in a whole bunch of stuff like A League of Their Own.

Overall, there's a powerful story here, with a few gut punches, but this movie didn't knock it out of the park for me.  I can see why it critically acclaimed and part of the Criterion collection, but I felt it could have used a little bit more to keep me engaged in the middle to last act.  It's funny though as I find myself typing this review and rethinking on it, I wouldn't mind watching it again.  

The Conners [2025] - Postmortem

After 7 seasons, The Conners had its series finale on Wednesday, April 25, 2025.

Postmortem

The finale episode was titled The Truck Stops Here which is fitting since the first episode was called Keep on Truckin'.

Regarding the 7th and final season, there was only 6 episodes and I guess they had a general condensed idea of what they wanted to tackle storyline wise to wrap things up. Sadly, those ideas weren't very interesting nor rewarding for the viewer. For example, Darlene's husband Ben was essentially absent the entire season as he was spending his time starting a new magazine with the insurance money from when his hardware store burned down. Darlene was essentially having an emotional affair with Seth Greene's character, and then it was resolved with a simple "I'm sorry" from both of them.

Unfortunately the downfall of this show, as seen by this thread not really having any activity since 2019, is when the show was trying to push a specific message or be too preachy. That didn't bother me as much as it bothered others; I simply wanted to be entertained. The comedy (and entertainment) of the show came from the characters interactions and their comedic timing. The family dynamic of ribbing on each other is very relatable. Sure, you need some emotion moments but time to time, but sometimes they felt too manufactured. So while the plotlines were lackluster, I thought the comedic writing was pretty good for the most part.

In the end, I was never a huge fan of "Roseanne" when it was on because they always felt stuck in a rut which I guess was the point. It was "Gillian's Island" in Chicago. This lower middle class family was never meant for greatness. You appreciate what you have, you deal with the hard times, and you celebrate your small wins. "The Conners" was more of the same so while I found the show mostly entertaining each week with some clever writing, this isn't something that I would revisit in syndication.

The Jack Ryan - verse

In 2021, I started a re-watch of the entire Jack Ryan universe of films and in 2025 I finally finished.  In the meantime, from 2018 to 2023, I also enjoyed the Jack Ryan Amazon series.  Below are my reviews and synopses of that journey.

Starting on April 16th through April 18th, 2021, I watched the first three films.  

The Hunter for Red October [1990]

Jack Ryan:  Alec Baldwin
Greer:  James Earl Jones
Cathy (Muller) Ryan:  Gates McFadden
Sally Ryan:  Louise Borras

I remember watching this movie with my dad when I was 9 and too young to appreciate and understand it. 31 years later, I find that this movie is very well done. The special effects are outdated and you have to suspend your belief, but the story and acting is solid and compelling.  Highly recommended.

Patriot Games [1992]

Jack Ryan:  Harrison Ford
Greer:  James Earl Jones
Cathy (Muller) Ryan:  Anne Archer

Sally Ryan:  Thora Birch

There is a huge tonal shift from the first to second movie.  (1) The focus changes from Russia to Irish Republican Army (IRA), (2) the main target of retribution is Ryan and his family while the threat to the US, as a whole, is present but minor, and (3) since the tension is mainly focused on the main character (and family) it doesn't feel as epic as its predecessor.  The movie ends on a cliffhanger regarding the sex of Jack and Cathy's baby which leaves you wanting more, but at the same time leaves you unsatisfied.

Clear and Present Danger [1994]

Jack Ryan:  Harrison Ford
Greer:  James Earl Jones
Cathy (Muller) Ryan:  Anne Archer

Sally Ryan:  Thora Birch

To keep things fresh, the antagonist is now the Columbian drug cartel...or is it?  More on that later.  Thankfully, the focus shifts from Jack's family (who are essentially in one shot in this movie where you get to see that they had a son) and now the focus is back on the US government, specifically the President and two cabinet members.  The main plot focuses on the war on drugs and what the US government is willing to do to win that war.  While the "Jack Ryan / analyst" storyline is played for suspense, we are treated to action in the form of a secret US operation in Columbia.  As the movie unfolds, you can see what the script was trying to do to keep the audience interested as the plot deepens to reveal the US government has been in bed with the Columbians the whole time.  The slow burn of Jack uncovering the enemies on both sides results in the movie kind of dragging and only slightly gets more interesting in the third act.  Unfortunately, we get another unsatisfying ending with Jack in court bringing to light the corruption within the US government with no resolution on what happens after the fact.

I will say that all three of these 90s films do a good job of sprinkling in the facts about Jack Ryan.  He's a former marine, whose helicopter went down, and because of his injuries he could no longer serve so he somehow ends up working in the CIA as an analyst.  He's super smart and he's able to see patterns that others miss.  He also has an innate ability to determine how a person is going to act before they act.  I definitely got a lot of vibes that Homeland's Carrie Mathison is essentially a female Jack Ryan.

Fast forward to 8 years later and we get...

The Sum of All Fears [2002]

Jack Ryan:  Ben Affleck
Greer:  N/A
Cathy Muller:  Bridget Moynahan

In this reboot, before the word reboot was part of the lexicon, we are treated to a movie that tries to be more epic and intriguing as its predecessors.  It's a little disjointed and messy, but mostly does an okay job.  I liked that we got a younger Jack and that we got to see his budding relationship with Cathy.  It would have been nice to see a young Greer but instead we get Morgan Freeman playing the character of DCI William Cabot who ends up passing away for dramatic effect.  While the movie's plot pits the US against Russia, the real enemy is a secret Neo-Nazi group that are only able to enact their plan once they get their hands on a nuclear weapon that was lost years ago and has only been recently uncovered.  Similar to "Clear and Present Danger" Jack gets to see some action, but most of it falls in the hands of Liev Schreiber's character of John Clark (played by Willem Dafoe previously and will be played by Michael B. Jordan in 2021's "Without Remorse").  Jack's innate ability to predict what the Russian president will do saves the day and we get a satisfying conclusion where a peace treaty is signed and all the Neo-Nazi's are taken out.  It's a little unrealistic and confusing at parts, but thankfully the movie doesn't leave any part of the plot open ended.  Jack proposes to Cathy and the movie ends.

Fast forward to 12 years later...

Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit [2014]

This movie was not available on Amazon Prime Video to watch as I journeyed through the other films so I skipped it. 

[April 19, 2025]  This movie is currently available on Paramount+ so here's my synopsis and review:

Jack Ryan:  Chris Pine
Greer:  N/A
Cathy Muller:  Keira Knightley

The movie begins with a jarring scene of the events of 9/11 happening as a young Jack Ryan views them on a television while at school in London.  This leads him to join the military and not finish his degree.  While in an active war zone, his helicopter is fired upon, he breaks his back but saves the two members of his team.  As he heals and learns to walk again, he meets Cathy, his physical therapist.  They begin to date after he is healed.  While he is healing, Jack is recruited by the CIA run by Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner).  Harper tells Ryan to get his degree and then he gets a job on Wall Street while secretly working for the CIA.  Neither Cathy nor his company knows.

After 45 minutes of this movie giving the audience this setup, I'm intrigued, but ready for some action to move the plot forward.  We're finally treated to some action when Jack is sent to Russia to speak with the president of one of the companies that does business with his Wall Street company.  Jack is attacked in his hotel by his handler who he ends up drowning in the bath tub.  Jack is an analyst and out of his depth so he's visibly shaken, but still has a job to do.  He meets with the president of the Russian company Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh) who has already sold off any of his suspicious assets so there's really nothing more that Jack can do so he invites Viktor to have dinner that night to buy some time and figure out his next move.  In the meantime, Cathy makes a grand gesture to surprise Jack in Russia and inadvertently gets wrapped up into his CIA affairs and has to go to dinner with him and Viktor or else risk his cover being blown.

As Jack balances dinner, Cathy, and the CIA, he pretends to be drunk, goes for a walk and then he's able to get the information he needs on Viktor's secret deals, but then has to save Cathy from being kidnapped.  After he saves her, and the CIA decodes the information, they figure out that Viktor's monetary doings are tied to a terrorist plot that will happen before he sells off more Russian assets which will devalue the American dollar.  So not only will American lives be lost, but damage to the economy is also at risk.  On the flight back to Russia, Jack and his team are able to figure out that Viktor's son, who supposedly died was he was a child, was actually sent to the U.S. as a sleeper agent.  Jack and the CIA track him down Viktor's son, who is now an adult, and stop him from blowing up a truck that could have potentially destroyed 6 NYC buildings.  Viktor is later killed by his own government.

This movie was actually pretty enjoyable.  I liked all the characters and villains.  It may have been a little slow to start, but it made up for it with a fast paced third act.  While this appears to be another attempt at a reboot to the franchise, it unfortunately failed to revitalize it.  I searched online to read that this movie didn't make enough money at the time to justify a sequel so it appears to have been shelved yet again until...

Fast forward to 4 years later...

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan [2018]

Jack Ryan is back and now on Amazon Prime.

Jack Ryan:  John Krasinski
James Greer:  Wendell Pierce
Cathy Muller:  Abbie Cornish

April 20, 2021:

Regarding the first season on Prime -- I thought the first episode was just okay.  Most of the joy that I got out of it was making the connections to the movie characters and events.  I especially smiled at the intro of Cathy.  Thankfully each episode has improved on the one before it and I'm really beginning to care about all the characters, even the villains.

Again, I'm getting "Homeland" vibes, but Jack Ryan and Carrie Mathison are totally different characters.  I'm kind of expecting a twist with the villain, but at the same time, I'm not sure I want one.

April 26, 2021:

I'm just starting the 6th episode of Jack Ryan and the show has definitely improved with each episode. The third one was a little rough with the VERY weird introduction of the drone pilot and the whole casino bit but I liked where they took that story in the end and how he saved the woman from being raped.

I wasn't sure about Cathy at first but she is definitely starting to grow on me. It seems like her and Jack's worlds may collide very soon and I think that's a very clever way to bring it all together instead of her eventually just finding out what he does like how it was portrayed in Sum of All Fears.

July 18, 2023:

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan [2018-2023] Seasons 1 - 4

Season 1's antagonist Suleiman is a well written villain as there is also some good in him. He's easy to hate one minute but sympathize another. Since he hails from the Middle East, there are a lot of "Homeland" vibes for better or worse. This season ultimately shines due to the partnership / buddy cop relationship between Jack and Greer (the character of James Greer is played by James Earl Jones in the 90s movies).

Season 2 shifts from the Middle East to Venezuela with the questionable antagonist of President Reyes. It's a decent enough season. The highlight is the inclusion of a new character named Mike November (Michael Kelly) adding some "House of Cards" vibes, but only the good kind.

Season 3 takes us back to Russia and by "back to" I mean in association to the first film. This time, instead of a nuclear sub, there is a project that began in the early years of the Cold War called "Sokol" that has just been reactivated. The good guys get some help from some Russians wanting to do the right thing, again invoking the same ideas from "The Hunt for the Red October". I recall the ending being a little unclear and not super satisfying, but I think this season was a little bit better than season 2. Both dragged at times but kept my interest for the most part.

The 4th and final season focuses primarily on Myanmar (formally Burma) located in Asia. Many of the villains in this season are both foreign and domestic so it keeps you guessing in this tight compact 6 episode season (where the 3 previous were 8 episodes). Again, Jack, Greer, and Mike are fun to watch and they have a great dynamic. Michael Pena's character of Chavez is a new and welcome edition to this season. I don't want to say any spoilers, but I like how it ended and I feel these series can connect nicely to the early 90s films.

If you liked Homeland, this series is worth your time. John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, and Abbie Cornish are great. Also, like I said above, Michael Kelly was a great addition in season 2-4, and Betty Gabriel's character of Wright is a standout as well. Lastly, if you liked Derek Cecil from House of Cards, you'll love him in the final season.

[April 20, 2025]

Now with Shadow Recruit viewed and reviewed, is my journey complete?  There was an article back in 2022 that stated that Michael Pena's character from season 4 of the Prime series was eyed for spinoff, but I haven't heard anything.  I know "Without Remorse" was about a spinoff character but I guess maybe it didn't do well so maybe the other show didn't get green lit.  The latest news is a possible Jack Ryan movie staring Krasinski being in the works.  It will be something that I will definitely check out when it releases in the future.