Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on March 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

Title: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 16, 2022, 03:23:37 PM

Whoever is the art director has been ON POINT with this one. 

This poster could have EASILY been a cover from any of the runs. 

(https://preview.redd.it/jllx6r8bzcc81.jpg?auto=webp&s=c9fcf241e2dce0b551b311a56982a0dc9f3e0595)

and, I've never been a fan of the Mr Knight persona added fairly recently (last 10-15 years) as it's definitely the most "bat man" (personality not design) of the entire lot, but damn if the design here isn't solid.   

(https://terrigen-cdn-dev.marvel.com/content/prod/1x/halfstack_digital_teaser3_v4_lg.jpg)

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 24, 2022, 03:08:01 PM

Couple new clips released.

First decent look at Khonshu.  I rate this whole tone and feel damn near perfect.  The SOUND design of the clip alone is marvelous. 

Second clip "Summon the Suit" is kind of a question why release THIS clip.  We get to see Layla is not just a damsel in distress, and a little of Harrow's power.  (I'm not sure it's been revealed WHICH Layla it is, there's a couple Marvel Layla's that could fit or could be a new character).  But, Harrow's summoning is pedestrian CGI here, so kind of a why bother? 

Not a clip, another preview, but a lot of actual Moon Knight in motion, and they've clearly spent their budget getting the suit in motion right...but then some more pedestrian CGI when he pulls crescents off his chest. Brief, but noticeable. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 28, 2022, 02:29:05 AM

Hm.  Disney has given this the same rating as the Netflix shows and locked it behind parental controls. 

I'm not a 'it must be rated R' guy, but I'm going to guess this is purely on violence just based on some of the previews, and willing to bet it's limited to an episode or two. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 30, 2022, 03:52:00 PM

Seeing tons of positive chatter for episode one.  I'll watch this evening assuming things go to plan.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 30, 2022, 03:57:55 PM

Gee - I don't know where I get the idea you like Moon Knight.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 30, 2022, 05:24:35 PM

Completely out of character for me right? 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 30, 2022, 05:38:28 PM

Completely.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 30, 2022, 05:51:46 PM

For kid into horror, there was really little else out there at the time.  You walk into the comic store and see this stuff, you just have to buy it. 

(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/rjxw/slvun)
(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/rjxw/thpuj)
(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/rjxw/shrwc)

You would THINK Ghost Rider would capture the attention at the time but seriously...his art kinda sucked. 

(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/smyt/pjvvnys)
(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/smyt/rlsuk)

I actually preferred the super obscure alternative...

(https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/796177.jpg)

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 30, 2022, 08:08:55 PM

I was following Ghost Rider -the real one, Johnny Blaze- sporadically about the last year of the run.  I liked the art.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 30, 2022, 09:05:26 PM

I believe later ghost rider had rotating artists and was rather inconsistent. 

I mean, there's just no comparing werewolf by night here, both same year.  Ghost rider went Universal classic, Moon knight went Howling.  Possibly before the Howling. 

Edit:  And that's probably the thing.  Ghost Rider always kind of had a little bit of camp to it, like 50s horror vibe.  I actually appreciate that more now than I did then.  Moon Knight on the other hand felt just a touch ahead of it's time with the horror aspects. 

(https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/605361.jpg)
(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/rjxw/slvun)

Bill Sienkiewicz just really had a flare for the horror aspects and kept building on them.  Would have loved to see him do some ghost rider. 

(https://comicspriceguide.com/image/rjxw/thxqm)

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 31, 2022, 02:43:16 AM

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Moon-Knight-Welcome-to-New-Egypt-Infinity-Comic

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 31, 2022, 03:34:52 AM

I'm not quite up to speed on the latest runs. 

Anyway, Episode 1 impressions: 

Luke warm. 

It's NOT a great first episode.  Very little is explained, and that appears to be by design. 

Watched with hEt who is going in blind and she's utterly lost. 

Episode 1 gives me the distinct impression this was meant to be binged rather than episodic. 

As an established fan of the character, the first episode focused far too much on Steven, who's always been one of the more inconsistent pieces over the years, but I understand the need for this for people like hEt.

Harrow so far appears to hold the name of the comic version only so far...but appears to be a VERY Moon Knight villain all the same, which is good. 

Sound design was near perfect.   

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on March 31, 2022, 12:42:00 PM

Oh, and episode 1 MAY have the bloodiest scene in the Disney MCU. (Not Netflix shows).

I mean it’s C to C+ on the Uno scale, and created continuity issues with him being clean immediately before and after, but there is definitely a touch of gore intended for the shot where Marvel has notoriously been bloodless even with all the shootings, arm mutilations, etc. 

Weird middling area where it doesn’t go far enough to really ADD to the scene, but it’s not so poorly done it detracts either.  I’d guess wanting to touch on it but maintain PG-13 or at least not go straight hard R.


Edit:  Since I know websites that track this kind of thing, apparently there’s a bloodier scene in Black Widow, if less personal.  Falcon and Winter Soldier also released with a similar scene but it was subsequently edited to remove some blood.  Also the Netflix shows have been given a gore downgrade since moving to D+.

Won’t be shocked to see the aforementioned scene scrubbed clean in that light, then, a month from now.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 06, 2022, 01:38:24 PM

Time for Episode 2...but Talia has some bday shenanigans going on so not sure I'll get around to it today. 

I have watched episode 1 again, however, and picked up on a lot of little things.  Coupled with preview spots, I'm willing to make some broad predictions for the series as a whole: 

It would appear they are actually strongly hinting at Jake Lockley's persona in little tidbits.  I'm betting we continue to get enough CLUES, but we won't actually explore that side this series, but leave it as a stinger for a potential season 2. 

Easter eggs for Frenchie and Crowley (Moon Knight, much like The Shadow he's based on, has many 'agents' that help him or provide information to him where Batman was always more solo but also based on The Shadow) in Episode 1.  Not sure they'll be expanded on. 

Moon Knight is being portrayed as Mark Spector channeling Khonshu's power.  Willing to bet Mr Knight, then, will be Steven Grant channeling Khonshu's power.  Yes, this means Khonshu is real in the MCU.  (which means all the Egyptian gods are too) It also creates an interesting situation where if they ever DO explore Jake, he'll get a Knight persona too...there's a couple potential options but none that have really been as popular as the aforementioned 2.  (god don't go with the ironman-ish version)

Betting on 1-2 episodes taking place in a mental institute where Steven is questioning someone is trying to be convince him this is all in his head.  I'd guess at episode 4/5 with 6 realizing it's real and stopping the baddies.   

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 06, 2022, 05:24:38 PM

I 'spose you didn't like what they did with him in West Coast Avengers?  I think it ended up it was Konshu having a week out in his body...

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2022, 01:30:48 PM

That was indeed a crappy time for Moon Knight.  The whole Mark Spector:Moon Knight era is him trying to be plugged into the wider Marvel universe.  As said, he works better as stand alone.  West Coast Avengers all together were crappy, but it did lead to a fairly iconic moment. 

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3zTcRYIyMnU/XWMQOu7hl8I/AAAAAAAAgtI/_lZCR5ZbeQYQEOeYoQjJDU1cxiPvnP0BgCLcBGAs/s1600/Scan_20190825%2B%25288%2529.png)

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2022, 02:03:24 PM

Episode 2 impressions:   

Episode 1 hit a fairly good tone overall with plenty of horror elements mixing with Steven's bumbling around.   Episode 2, the horror elements are largely gone, and the bumbling continues. 

That said, the best part of this whole series so far is the fact that Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are acting their asses off.  Surrounding characters are ok, but these two are really just putting on acting classes here.  As much as I don't care for Steven Grant's bumbling, it is well done and he DOES feel like a different person than Mark. 

And Harrow is right in line with Fisk from the daredevil episodes where I'm enjoying his time on screen just as much as the hero's .   

Khonshu translates to screen fairly well. 

Quote from: Unorthodox on March 16, 2022, 03:23:37 PM

I've never been a fan of the Mr Knight persona

Congrats Disney, you found a way to make me like him less.  Comedic relief.  Really? 

hEt liked it, and episode 2 did a lot of the heavy lifting for filling in the blanks on what's going on. 

We end the episode with Mark in full control, here's hoping we roll with that for a few episodes. 

Layla = Marlene until I get any kind of evidence to the contrary. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2022, 02:11:18 PM

Everything  Steve Engleheart touched when he came back to mainstream comics was bad -babytalk, endless babytalk- it made me wonder why his early 70s Avengers run is so admired.  West Coast Avengers altogether was indeed crappy.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2022, 03:02:09 PM

That whole thing around Moon Knight quitting the WCA was so WEIRD.

Mockingbird being criticized (hardly covers it, like holy crap!) for letting her rapist DIE (yes, that rapist was a rewrite/weird swing/different soul bs [poop] of the Night Rider restyled as phantom rider posted above), so she quits, and Moon Knight is the only male on the team to take her side and quits with her.  The whole Mockingbird needs to forgive her rapist thing is SOOOOO weird. 

Edit:  On the topic of rape, there was a one-shot in the early 2000's that helped bring Moon Knight back to more regular production.  I recall it was told from the perspective of a support group meeting with these women recounting their rape encounters, all meeting up with Moon Knight showing up too late and promising to find the man.  One of them is a nurse, she finds the guy on life support in the hospital, implying MK put him there, and proceeds to unplug him. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2022, 03:41:41 PM

BTW, you praised Bill Sienkiewicz earlier?  I've never heard anything but praise for his early faux-Neal Adams stuff on Moon Knight --- but I was following New Mutants with pleasure until he turned it into an acid trip, a bad one.  It was completely wrong for that book, and brought out Chris Claremont's worst tendencies as a writer, to boot, also very wrong for that book.  I cannot forgive that.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2022, 09:16:24 PM

Had to google that stuff, and wow, that is some WTF crap there.  Doesn't look like most his other work.  I stand by his horror work. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2022, 10:38:37 PM

I've heard almost nothing but praise for his New Mutants toilet paper, ironically.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 16, 2022, 09:32:58 PM

Quote from: Unorthodox on April 07, 2022, 02:03:24 PM

hEt liked it, and episode 2 did a lot of the heavy lifting for filling in the blanks on what's going on. 

We end the episode with Mark in full control, here's hoping we roll with that for a few episodes. 

Layla = Marlene until I get any kind of evidence to the contrary. 

Episode 3. 

Best recommendation I can make is hEt is fully on board now. 

Episode told largely from Marc's perspective throughout. 

We have extreme hints of Jake/a third personality now.  Practically beating your head with it. 

Layla is Marlene, full stop.   

There is some BAD CGI now on full display.  Episodes 1-2 tried to hide it a bit, kept it in the shadows and it worked well, but now it's just in the open, and it's PRETTY BAD.  I'm speaking as something of a connoisseur on the topic.  I can see that being a turn off for some people, and it's really perplexing when it's back to back with some fairly good CGI scenes.  D+ REALLY needs to up their budgets or switch to less effects driven storytelling.  There were also a couple of really good fight scenes sans-suit that showed we could really avoid a lot of the CGI nonsense if we really wanted. 

The series has really settled into the 2016 run and the origin story as inspiration....which makes Bushmaster conspicuous with his absence. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2022, 06:19:13 PM

Layla Miller, perchance?

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2022, 04:13:20 PM

That was a speculation early, but her full name is Layla Abdallah El-Faouly, created for the series.  She has Marlene's full backstory with a bit of a Marion Ravenwood twist.  I mean Marlene was never a total damsel in distress to begin with but Layla can clearly handle herself quite well, is used to needing to, and has some nefarious contacts. 

(click to show/hide)

The series has revealed the egyptian gods are real, and work through avatars on earth.  Harrow is becoming/is Ammut's avatar, Moon Knight is Khonshu's.  Another 5 showed up in episdoe 3 for the big names, Isis, Horus, Osiris, Tefnut, and Hathor.  There's supposed to be 9 on the council, though, and 4 were a no-show.  I'm not ruling out her having/getting powers in the series, and give it a 50-50 she is/becomes an avatar of one of the Egyptian gods.  My money would be on Maat or something happening to Hathor's present avatar.

   

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2022, 06:32:52 PM

...The Layla name suggests a hot sophisticated lady sort...

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2022, 09:15:47 PM

uh...Hot is eye of the beholder.  She's a divergence from the blonde bombshell of Marlene, and they've really had her avoiding any kind of eye candy outfits or scenes.  She wears actual sensible clothing and kicks some ass without all the flippy twirls or tight outfits of MCU contemporary females.  Probably one of the most grounded MCU females to date actually. 

(click to show/hide)

They're really selling "Moon Knight" as a mantel bestowed by Khonshu, and he's outright told Marc Layla is his next candidate as a means of holding Marc's service...which I'm completely on board with seeing her in the suit going forward if Oscar Isaac doesn't want to...but I foresee backlash if they go that route.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 21, 2022, 03:52:40 AM

Quote from: Unorthodox on April 06, 2022, 01:38:24 PM

Betting on 1-2 episodes taking place in a mental institute where Steven is questioning/someone is trying to convince him this is all in his head.  I'd guess at episode 4/5 with 6 realizing it's real and stopping the baddies.   

Guess where we end episode 4....

Anyway, before that we have a really beautiful episode.  Layla kicks some major ass in what very much feels like an Indiana Jones movie vibe. 

That said, I want to talk about THE sequence. 

Really, 3 scenes steal this episode for me.  Back to back.  But the FIRST is, quite possibly, PERFECT. 

THAT, my friends, is how to do PG 13 HORROR. 

1: No real solid look at the creature.  Ok, yeah, it's a makeup job on a guy, all the better, but you only ever get GLIMPSES. 
2: Creature threat established.  In this case it's disemboweling a live victim in preparation for mummification.  Yes.  Live, in front of us.     
3: This would obviously be too much for PG13, so the camera focuses on our hiding/sneaking hero(s) while the creature does it's thing in the background, which brings us to...
4: ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE sound design.  I mean, this series has been pretty damn spot on in this department from the get go, but this was SUBLIME.  The sound lets you feel the guts being torn from the poor victim...
5: Following that sound with glimpses of the gore, even if 'hidden' out of focus and in the background.  :chef's kiss: 

Favorite scene in all of marvel thus far....but then the parallels to the Mola Ram heart ripping out were not lost on me, and it's among my favorite scenes of all time.

Lesser scene to follow is some jump scares running from creature, but well done for what it is. 

Sub scene later as we fight the creature...And THAT is where this series should have kept things, makeup/appliance plus light use of CGI made this much more satisfying than certain other fights. 


There was a really stupid thing in here that I want more of. 

(click to show/hide)

As we transition to the mental institution, we flip to a really LOW BUDGET obvious Indiana Jones ripoff that is TERRIBLY cheesy that the inmates are watching.  I would watch the HELL out of that if it became an actual movie.

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 28, 2022, 03:57:57 PM

Episode 5: 

Best ~hour of acting in the MCU, period. This is best actor award level acting going on here. 

There are stretches of CGI in here, and a CGI character, and it's all FAR better than what we saw in Episodes 1-3. 

I'll have some broader comments on the series as a whole after seeing how they finish it, but the series has LARGELY focused on the internal conflict between Steven and Marc, which has been for the strength of the show as Oscar Isaac has CARRIED this thing on his back, with the action sequences being sub par in comparison.  I enjoy the changes to Steven from the comic version quite well.  It's been a fairly slow burn to get here, and is probably not for anyone wanting big loud stupid marvel.   

Bushman name drop but still conspicuously absent in the flesh.

~80% sure we saw a slip of Jake in here, but it wasn't addressed.  Still betting on Jake's first official appearance being in the post credits scene after episode 6. 

No idea how they can wrap this all up with only one more episode.  PLEASE don't just do the Marvel standard CGI fight sequence... 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on April 28, 2022, 04:10:10 PM

It's kind of weird, and hEt even commented.  The whole focus on the personalities and personal story has been really good...but we haven't seen MOON KNIGHT suited up hardly at all. 

I can see why Oscar Isaac signed up for THIS show as it is letting him flat out show off...and I also see why they did it as a one-off because I really don't know how or WHY you would tie any of this into the broader MCU.  IF he does appear in other forms, lets say the coming werewolf by night Halloween special, for instance, it's just going to be the costume bit action stuff rather than the personal trauma, which we have really not set up at all. 

Just a weird balance they're doing. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on May 05, 2022, 02:58:04 AM

Well. 

There we have it. 

Episode 6 is more or less the big CGI slugfest that is Disney + Marvel, but it does do it fairly well in comparison to the other series. 

They clearly blew the CGI budget on the last 2 episodes. 

(click to show/hide)

Egyptian gods exist.  Slim possibility it's still just him being crazy but they mostly shut the door on that. 
Suit is definitely mystically powered and grants at least healing and the general physical enhancements.
Steve and Marc know about each other, but they don't know about Jake. 
Steve is a British nerd with a 'bad accent' but is based on a low budget movie that Marc loved so it 'fits'. 
Marc is more or less Marc from the comics. 
Jake hasn't been shown enough to really say.

Layla does wind up as an avatar as I called back in episode 3.
A major portion of the Egyptian gods are imprisoned...[/quote]

 



 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on July 13, 2022, 07:50:59 PM

Moon Knight series Emmy award nominations:

F. Murray Abraham earned a solo nomination in Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for his role as Khonshu.

....I don't see this winning. 

Outstanding Cinematography

Nor this.

Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes

POSSIBLY

Outstanding Music Composition

Strong possibility

Outstanding Sound Editing

Robbed if it don't win

Outstanding Sound Mixing

Robbed if it don't win

Outstanding Stunt Coordinator

....not seeing it. 

Outstanding Stunt Performance for Limited Drama Series or Anthology.

Weirdly specific to 'limited' series so hard to say. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on September 12, 2022, 09:18:12 PM

I kinda dig the black and white, though they never get it quite right.  Bad/cheesy/campy clear attempt at 40s era monster movies.  I give it a 50/50 at being decent, though I'm not sure if a "special" means movie length or hour only. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2022, 05:41:32 PM

...The look's somewhat Universal, but the tone's wrong for that...

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on September 13, 2022, 09:14:04 PM

Yeah...It's like a lot of recent things I see try to recreate the 'classic' feel and they never get that right. 

Like I said, I give it a 50/50 chance of decent/terrible.  I don't think great or even necessarily good is on the table based off that preview. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2022, 09:53:35 PM

-Not that the old Universal pics never had no ladies screaming, but they were somber gothic sorta horror, not quite that over the top...

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Unorthodox on September 13, 2022, 10:32:11 PM

Forced.  It all feels VERY forced.

Like they're shooting for Universal and instead landed on 50's exploitation films. 

Also, shooting in digital for the black and white look really ends up hurting the look.  Gotta shoot on old school film. 

Title: Re: For Uno
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2022, 10:41:29 PM

Well, it's not like trailers are reliable indicators of much of anything.


Like, good chance little or none of it was shot in B&W to begin with.