STREAMING SF FILMS ON TV: CHOOSE WISELY

It seems like forever since I’ve posted here in Spacefreighters Lounge and a lot has been happening. But unless you’re a regular listener of my screen review podcast My Moviehouse My Rules, you’ve probably missed my recent takes on some big SF films available for streaming on your home television screen.

Let’s start with the film causing the most excitement, WONDER WOMAN 1984, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. (By the way, this review contains spoilers, so if you hate reading the details of a film’s plot, you may want to skip out now. But I’m about to save you some money on HBO/HBO Max and two-plus hours of your time so you might want to read on.)

So much was wrong with this movie I hardly know where to start. How about with the premise? An ancient artifact is unearthed which acts as a kind of Alladin’s lamp for all who touch it, granting the greatest desires of their hearts. 

A failed businessman (Pedro Pascal—GAME OF THRONES, NARCOS) steals the artifact from the museum where Diana (Wonder Woman) works and proceeds to use it to take over the world, but not before both Diana and her insecure colleague Barbara (Kristin Wiig) have wished upon the “Dreamstone” without thinking things through.

Diana’s heart’s desire, of course, is to have her greatest love, Steve (Chris Pine) returned to her. The problem is he must take over the body of some poor shlub to make that happen. (As my daughter said, “What the Quantum Leap is going on here???”) Barbara, on the other hand, desires only to “be like Diana.” Only she doesn’t have the core values that we see instilled in the young Wonder Woman early in the film on her home island of Themycira.  Barbara ends up as the supervillain Cheetah, an “apex predator” to rival the superheroine she once admired.

In the meantime, the businessman, Maxwell Lord, believes he’s found a way to outsmart the consequences of using the stone, which always exacts a price from those who wish upon it. He becomes the stone itself—yeah, I know—and people wish on him. He becomes ever more powerful until the story comes to a head when he gains access to a worldwide broadcasting system which allows him to have everyone in the world wish at once. As you might imagine, contradictory wishes make for chaos. Wonder Woman must save the day!

But, oh, no! The stone has demanded the price of Diana’s superpowers in return for granting her wish. She is gradually growing weaker. (And if you watch any superhero movies at all, you know this is a theme. Love, attachment to a mate, is a sure way either to get that mate killed or to lose yourself as a hero. Something about sex draining your energies. Who thinks up this stuff anyway? Oh, yeah, right! 40-year-old virgin fanboys.) So, she and Steve must give up their dream of being together—again. (If you remember, Steve had to die in the first Wonder Woman movie.) Diana renounces her wish, gets her powers back, kicks Cheetah’s ass, then finds a way to use the worldwide broadcast network to get everyone to renounce their wishes and stop the chaos.

It even works on Maxwell Lord. The sight of his son, lost and alone in a world gone crazy, is somehow enough to bring him around and he renounces his wish and lives happily ever after. Really? There are no consequences for him? It was bad enough this character was so derivative—echoes of WALL STREET’s Gordon Gecko or a recently twice-impeached high official or any other soulless loser you’d want to name—but that he was so easily redeemed and left unpunished went against my grain. What are superhero movies for if the bad guy doesn’t get his just desserts?

And no consequences for Steve and Diana hijacking that guy’s body for a week? We see the guy on the street later; he seems fine. Just a Goldilocks and the Three Bears moment—somebody’s been sleeping in my bed (and wearing my clothes and taking my body for a spin)?

Then there were the mistakes of moviemaking that made this film hard to watch. Jenkins apparently thought the 80s represented “the height of Western civilization and society” and wanted to give Wonder Woman a chance to deal with the villains of that time. Seriously? I lived through the 80s and I can’t think of anything to recommend that era. The hairstyles and clothes were awful; with a few exceptions the music sucked; fueled by conservative politics, individual greed, unemployment, and interest rates were all sky-high. In this movie we’re forced to relive all of that, including and especially the spectacle of Chris Pine in horrible 80s clothes.

The first Wonder Woman movie introduced us to a thrilling heroine with a fight choreography all her own. Diana has little opportunity to do any of that in this movie. The action scenes are few and far between, giving Gal Gadot no chance to show us what she can do. Even the big fight scene with Cheetah is disappointing. Mostly, Diana is reduced to saving kids, and in one laughable scene she nearly squashes some tykes getting them out of the way of an armored vehicle they should easily have seen coming miles away down a dusty road. Couldn’t mom have just yelled, “Hey, you kids, get out of the damn road!”

But I guess you get the picture. I wouldn’t waste your time on this one unless you just have nothing else to watch. This one’s a No-Go.

 Jones and Clooney in THE MIDNIGHT SKY

For a better SF home night at the movies try THE MIDNIGHT SKY. This Netflix Original film is directed by George Clooney and stars the usually drop-dead gorgeous actor as a haggard, bearded astrophysicist waiting out the end of the world in an isolated research station in the Arctic. The scientist is suffering from terminal cancer (much like the world, which is being swallowed by radiation from some unnamed disaster, likely a nuclear war). His one last remaining task is to warn off a spaceship returning from a successful mission to explore a previously unknown moon of Jupiter where life has miraculously been found. (Okay, that requires a leap, but why not? Let the CGI guys play.)

Clooney calls the movie a cross between GRAVITY (the Oscar-winning space film by Alfonso Cuaron in which he himself starred) and THE REVENANT. (You know, the one where Leonardo de Caprio is almost murdered but survives by hiding in a dead bear. Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay for both THE REVENANT and THE MIDNIGHT SKY.). But to me it has more parallels with an old-school film someone is shown watching part-way through this one: ON THE BEACH, starring Gregory Peck. In that film, the U.S. and Russia have let loose the nuclear dogs of war and the last outpost of life is Australia, waiting while a cloud of deadly radiation makes its way around the globe toward it. That film’s director was the redoubtable Stanley Kramer, and it provides some of the most unforgettable science fiction images of the Cold War. I think Clooney doesn’t do such a bad job with the same emotional feels here—the isolation, the fear, the despair—both as a director and as an actor.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY has some plot twists that give it extra interest, including flashbacks utilizing actor Ethan Peck (Gregory’s grandson, known for playing Spock in CBS All Access’s STAR TREK: DISCOVERY) as a younger version of Clooney’s character. But it does require some suspension of disbelief to think we have a hidden treasure trove of lush life on an as-yet-undiscovered Jovian moon out there just waiting to rescue humanity. Even if that humanity’s Adam and Eve would be David Oyewolo and Felicity Jones. (Yes, the supporting cast is great—it also includes Kyle Chandler, Demian Bechir and newcomer Caoilinn Springer as Iris, a young stowaway on the Arctic research station. Clooney can command just about anyone he wants when he’s making a movie.)

The film might be a little slow—all the weight of SOLARIS without the “scenery” if you take my meaning—but it is atmospheric and thought-provoking, like the best SF films should be. You’ll like it if you like Clooney, Peck, any of the rest of the stellar cast or post-apocalyptic SF in general. Definitely a Go.

Check out the rest of my podcasts (New Screen Reviews with Old School Attitude) here, or on my Facebook page for My Moviehouse My Rules with new posts every Wednesday!

Cheers, Donna

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder Woman at ten thousand metres

Hi there. Did anybody miss me? I've been away overseas to (literally) the other side of the world. It wasn't the best trip I've ever had. Getting sick while you're traveling really does suck. However, as usual, I'm blogging the journey, so if you're interested you can find the trail here.

I want to offer huge congratulations to all the authors in the Embrace the Romance anthology on achieving New York Times best-seller status. That's a fabulous effort - especially because it's not free, or $.99 cents.

I'm becoming increasingly depressed at how so many authors are tossing their hard work away. Readers just have to sit on their wallets and wait for the next "twenty-something full, brand new books for 99 cents" deals. They're coming out there, thicker and faster, all in the hope of NY Times best-seller status, or attracting new (paying) readers. On that point, I can see some value in having something like a first in series free. I do it myself, with The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy. But sorry, folks, the days of giving away my work are over for me.Writing is too much of a hard slog. Besides, it's not just the writing. We have to PAY for editing, covers, maybe some marketing. It all ends up with a negative balance that is very hard to claw back on other titles.

One thing about looooong haul travel is you have time to catch up on a movie or two. I got to see Wonder Woman somewhere over Asia. Here's the trailer. I'm not going to give it an enthusiastic five stars because I'm not a super heroes fan. I watched this one because it's a WOMAN. And it was very well done. I loved that the older women were older women, scars, wrinkles, and all. Despite my known aversion to women going into fights in bikinis, with WW it's different. She's an Amazon, a Greek warrior. Back then the men didn't wear too much armor into battle, either, so it fitted the background. Also, the color scheme was toned down from the bright crimson and blue in the comics, so it worked much better.Sure, I had to suspend disbelief with the Greek gods thing. Given the history of the Wonder Woman comic, I guess that's unavoidable.

I had some quibbles, and I don't think I'll be giving much away when I ask what happened to the gunship? But all in all, it was a fun movie with a wonderful heroine. If I was a comics fan I'd be looking forward to seeing WW in future Avengers movies and such.

One of the best bits of dialogue in the film comes when Steve is getting all doubtful about sleeping in close proximity to Diana, who doesn't turn a hair. At one point she says something along the lines of, "You need a man to procreate, but that's not necessary for pleasure." Love it.

The ladies of Wonder Woman: All the feels

Do we at Spacefreighters Lounge have room for another post on WONDER WOMAN? I'm thinking hellz yeah.

In fact, I don't really need to say much more than this:

I've lived to see my childhood princesses become generals. pic.twitter.com/CjVyYt1c4T

— M Evan Matyas 🏳️‍🌈 (@EvanMatyas) June 5, 2017

(Cue soundtrack)

Let me just say... this 49-year-old woman right here on this Spacefreighters barstool? As she watched Robin Wright kicking ass all over that beach, she had to fight not to blubber like a baby into her popcorn and Earl Grey tea. And yeah, I'm talking about myself in the third person because that's just how epic this experience was.

Women of a certain age are invisible? Well I dare you not to see THIS coming, because if you don't, it'll be the last thing you ever don't see:

One of my fave things about @wonderwomanfilm: @realrobinwright as Antiope, with wrinkles & battle scars as amazing older woman #WonderWoman pic.twitter.com/zbl9WNWXCF

— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) June 2, 2017

Want to revel in the awesomeness that is Wright's Antiope? Go here.

A lot's been said about Diana herself as well as Antiope, but let's not overlook Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons and 2017 Mom of the Year. She's all, not MY daughter, I'm keeping her safe from the world's evil and especially that asshat Ares. Cuz that's how moms roll. But when it becomes obvs that Diana's got mad skillz, a heart of gold, and a date with destiny, mom sends her off with her blessing AND all the family bling.

Never let it be said that we EVER get too old to need role models.

As for Diana herself, I'll just repeat the word Donna used in her review: Mesmerizing. My daughter and I hardly moved in our seats. I could watch those slow-mo combat acrobatics for days, and I usually fall asleep during action sequences. The film could have included another hour in Amazonian paradise and I would have been perfectly happy. Not that I'd want to miss a single moment of the stranger-in-a-strange-land performance that followed.

The film may not win Best Picture. The overall plot, we can probably all agree, is not without flaws. And also, DON'T CARE. By the end of the movie I could hardly contain my feels. Antiope and Hippolyta representing all over the place, and Diana standing up for the little guy while stomping the bad guy because Diana's gotta do Diana, yo.

Hie thee to thy nearest multiplex.

"It's about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world."

Vivien Jackson's Take on Wonder Woman: Guest Blog

Recently, I started reading Wanted & Wired, a SFR in the cyberpunk sector of our genre galaxy written by author Vivien Jackson. I was immediately enthused and so, so hooked--futuristic world, complex characters, wildly imaginative setting--wow! So while I'm still chomping at the bit to finish this first novel in the Tether series, the second book went into the queue for release later this year. (Can you tell I'm stoked?)

So I'm very honored to host Vivien Jackson today for a guest blog on a subject that's been bandied about the internet with mucho gusto in recent weeks--Wonder Woman!--and to briefly discuss Wanted & Wired's sequel, Perfect Gravity. Welcome, Vivien.

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Yesterday, I took my daughters to see Wonder Woman. They’re huge superhero-movie fans—Guardians of the Galaxy (both Vols.) and Doctor Strange are their favorites … or were. See, even though they’re jaded, veteran fans, they seemed to understand that something monumental was going on with this movie. They were quiet all the way through, ingesting.

With credits still rolling and her gaze still locked on the screen like it was made of magic, the younger kiddo breathed, “She is so badass.”

We stopped off to take selfies next to the standee, and, pushing through the glass doors, out into the over-bright late afternoon, the elder kiddo said, “You know what, Mom? There aren’t any other movies where the girl is the hero, all by herself. I mean, Harley Quinn was pretty cool, but it wasn’t her movie. And River Tam and Black Widow, same thing. They all have teams and, you know, boys who tell them what to do. They aren’t in charge.”

Of course, my brain started whirring and I’m thinking, well, Ripley was kind of end-to-end the heroine of Alien, and there was that unfortunate Cat Woman Halle Berry thing, but in the main? Out of movies she would know? This probably was the first, or at least the best. It was all about the heroine, all about her struggle and her journey, not some dude’s wish-fulfillment earn-the-princess-prize flick.

So you know what, kiddo? You’re right. This is new. And women my age have been waiting for it for so long.

Diana – Wonder Woman – is the wish fulfillment of thousands, possibly millions of women. Consider:

She is all of us when she selects clothes based on how they feel on her skin and how feasible they are for her activity level, rather than whether they accentuate her eyes or minimize her belly pooch.

She is all of us when she cannot remain on the sidelines and watch her sisters fight. When she must instead fight alongside them.

She is all of us when she takes enemy fire, just stands there against the incoming hail of bullets, so that the people she nurtures and leads can safely do their jobs. (Hint: This is what moms do every day, just with fewer special effects.)

She is all of us when she walks into the halls of power and stands unembarrassed, confident amidst the decision makers. Like she belongs there.

She is the best of us when she disbelieves in the inherent evil of humanity and strives instead to reveal the core of us, which is amazing.

She is the woman I want my little girls to someday become. And she is the woman I try to write in my futuristic books, because I need the world to evolve toward her example.

I have a book coming out in November, Perfect Gravity, and though the heroine, Angela, isn’t an Amazon princess, she is a woman burdened by authority, a decision maker who sometimes makes the wrong one. Her journey is a struggle to own all the disparate parts of herself, to be both warrior and nurturer, thinker and feeler, fairy-tale princess and real-life power broker.

When I saw this cover from Perfect Gravity—brand new and official, the first time Angela has had a face outside my private brain space—my thoughts were very like kiddo #2’s after seeing Wonder Woman: She is so badass.

When someone tries to kill powerful continental senator Angela Neko, Texan outlaw and old flame Kellen Hockley is the only man who can keep her safe...and help her save the world. Perfect Gravity is second in the snarky, sexy cyperpunk Tether romance series.

Now available for preorder: Amazon | Nook | Google Play

Vivien Jackson writes stories with robots, grenades, pixies, and always, always down-home salacious kissery. She’s an unrepentant fangirl of many fandoms and would love to discuss your favorite ships: @Vivien_Jackson on Twitter or on the web at www.vivienjackson.com.

WONDER WOMAN FINALLY FINDS HER GROOVE

When I was a kid you could not convince me that Wonder Woman was cool. I was down with the rest of the DC Universe—Superman and Batman, especially, but also Aquaman, Green Arrow and the Flash on occasion. But WW just always seemed like the kind of gal guys dreamed of (especially the guys who read comic books). She can kick ass, they said, but she looks so hot in that skimpy get-up!  Since I was nine and totally dismissive of such thinking, I gave her a pass.

By the time Lynda Carter brought Wonder Woman to the television screen in 1975, I was graduating from college and had no interest in her star-spangled campy action heroics. There may be some women out there now who found a role model in Carter’s version of WW in their childhoods, but I missed that bus.

Now at last we have a Wonder Woman I can consider an equal member of the Justice League. Portrayed by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, in the film directed by (yes! a woman!) Patty Jenkins, this WONDER WOMAN is rocking movie screens everywhere with a combination of beauty and mesmerizing action grace. The only thing left from earlier versions of WW is a blazing guitar riff from the Seventies show (and, of course, her catchy weapons, which include stylish bulletproof cuffs and a Lasso of Truth). (Though, honestly, true fans would know better if the backstory is accurate.)

Diana, Princess of the Amazons, is a rebel with a cause—to save humankind from the ravages of Ares, the God of War. She takes on the mission when an American spy working for the British in WWI (Chris Pine) crashes into the ocean off the Amazons’ protected island, and she is forced to save him. She becomes enamored not only of the spy, but also of his fight in a “war to end all wars.” The Amazons, she believes, have a sacred duty to oppose Ares, who must be behind the war. Her mother, the Queen (Connie Nielson), disagrees, but Diana has been rebelling against her restrictions since an early age.

So, Diana leaves her isolated island in the company of the handsome spy. Adventures (galore) ensue, some of which may be a bit much for younger audiences. World War I was a gruesome affair, after all, and even without close-up images or a full visual of the effects of gas warfare, the action can get a little too real. (As opposed to other superhero films, where the fight is between invulnerable beings or the destruction is so over-the- top as to be cartoonish.) Sacrifices must be made (and since Zach Snyder of BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN fame had a hand in writing the story, you can probably figure out what they are), but good wins out over evil as it should.

If you’re thinking the plot is lacking detail, you’d be right. It’s a summer blockbuster, not Oscar material. The central question of the film seems to be whether we humans are ourselves responsible for the horrible things we do (the hero’s POV), or some external, supernatural force (e.g. “the gods”) is interfering to keep us at each others’ throats (Diana’s argument). In the end, however, it’s no surprise that Wonder Woman chooses to continue to be a force for good in the world, no matter what the source of evil.

I haven’t gone looking for other reviews of this film, much less have I sought out any fanboy reaction to the idea of a female lead AND a female director for a superhero film. The numbers speak for themselves, with a record-breaking opening weekend gross of $103 million domestically (the top earner) and $122 million internationally. The film did better internationally than any Marvel superhero origin story; it did well in China (where the character is virtually unknown); and it had the best opening weekend of any film directed by a woman ever. Bravo, Patty Jenkins.

But the biggest kudos belong to Gal Gadot, the strong, beautiful young actor who has given this superheroine a new life. She leaps off the screen and makes you believe—Lasso of Truth and all.

Yep. WONDER WOMAN is a definite GO!

Cheers, Donna