Let's Make Some Toys

9 Action Figures I Need Made:

Okay, this list is REALLY not in any particular order.  Like at all.  But 

1: Earth-2 Dick Grayson as Batman

Okay, I know this is a long shot, but come on folks, this would just be a really cool deep cut action figure to get.  And they already have most of the parts needed to put this together at least @Todd_McFarlane does.  Plus I'm a huge Dick Grayson fan.  This cannot be overstated.  Dick Grayson is my favorite super hero and I'm not apologizing for it.  Seriously, I could have him on this list at least 2 maybe 4 more times than I do and that's just figures that haven't been made yet that I would like to see coming out.  But this one is special.  It's a deep cut from the silver age that would be absolutely amazing to see get brought to life.  It predates his evolution to Nightwing even.  This was the first time that he grew up.  My Dick Grayson collection is just begging to see this get added to it.

2: Superwoman: Lana Lang

So I just won the Superman Blue and Red figures on ebay recently.  I know this series had its detractors.  Frankly while I read a LOT of the comics back when Superman did it, it just wasn't right (though I still wish we could at least get a millenium giants TPB out there).  But I thought that bringing this power set back and giving it to a scientist like Lana Lang was absolutely in genius.  I also really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Steel.  And no, I'm not happy about how this take on the character ended.  I get it from a few vantage points, but I don't care, this was a great evolution of the character and seeing her carrying on would have just been tremendously fun to read.  But in action figure form?  This would be an awesome addition.  A superwoman figure that my daughter can play with when she quits chewing on everything, and one that'd look really good with the rest of the superman family (and right next to superman blue too).  That does lead into one concern, scale.  I am happy to be collecting stuff that is in the 7" scale, but they need to stay in scale.  Lana shouldn't be as tall as Superman, because she's just not as tall as Superman.  More on this later.

3: Tempest

Can somebody please explain to me how on earth this figure has like never been made?  Garth has been around forever!  He eventually even ascended to take the throne of Atlantis after Orin died (yeah I liked Peter David's run on Aquaman the Best).  He's one of the most powerful magic users in the DC Universe (depending on who is writing him.  He's one of the founding teen titans.  And Tempest was just an all around great character.  I always liked it when he showed up.  Even the Nu52 and Rebirth Garth is still so much fun to read when he's written seriously.  But this was him doing what Dick had managed to do, he's stepping out of the shadow of his mentor and becoming his own character, he grew up.  And with the accessories that could be included for this guy... I mean I challenge anyone to make him not look amazing on display.  We need this figure brought back.

4: Connor Hawke

By now it should be pretty obvious that I have a serious preference for "second generation" heroes.  Those that grew up beside heroes and became their own person.  Connor didn't grow up with his Dad, and he filled his Dad's shoes when Ollie died instead of becoming a new hero, so perhaps he breaks the mold.  But I would absolutely love to see this version of Green Arrow brought to life.  Rereading some of his old storylines right now has proven pretty insightful in some ways.  But I really enjoyed his naivety, his desire to do right by his Dad.  He's the sort of guy that you would be happy to hang out with in real life if you could.  And at the same time they did a crossover event where he basically demonstrated that he is one of if not the best martial artist in the entire DCU.  And yet for some reason he's never gotten any love in action figure form.  He's even referenced in Arrow, though the changed his origins a bit.  Connor deserves his place in plastic.

5: White Lantern: Kyle Rayner

Yeah, at this point, this is admittedly starting to sound like my personal Justice League wish list.  I did NOT like Kyle when he was first introduced.  Hal Jordan was my Green Lantern (growing up on old silver age reprints).  But you know what, he was better than Hal.  He was unsure, he made mistakes.  He made BIG mistakes, and it cost people.  He got hurt, he got beaten up physically and emotionally, and through it all he became the soul of the Green Lantern corps.  There are tons of figures of this guy, but I think the upgrade that he was given in the Nu52 was one of the best things to come out of that era of DC Comics.  Kyle became the White Lantern.  I loved the entirety of blackest night, and then to see Kyle make this evolution as a character, after having been Ion and dubbed the torchbearer.  I was really glad to see him evolve into the wielder of the light of life.  But for some reason, while there are several white lantern figures, the one person who ultimately became that character.  I know they've powered him back down since, at least for now, but this guy deserves to get his due here.

6: Blue Bird

So I'd rather have just had a Blue Bird image, but this was the best one I found that included her BFG.  (don't misunderstand I'd love an Orphan with an alternate head with the bloody bat mask too).  But Blue Bird was an absolutely awesome character.  I for the life of me cannot figure out why on earth they didn't do more with her.  As tech savy as Tim and as raw as Jason, with Dick's color scheme.  Batman and Robin Eternal was where I met and fell in love with this character, it's a heartbreaking origin.  But seriously, we need Blue Bird suited up on our shelves people!  Why has this not happened yet?  Now this is another place where we have to talk about scale.  I love this character, but she's a teenage girl.  She should not be as tall as Batman.  So if he is 7" in height, then she needs to be down around 6.5" at the top of her mohawk.  True, staying in scale isn't the most important thing in the world, but it sure would be nice, and if I'm going to write out this whole dream list I'm going to dream for it all.

7: Dick Grayson - Agent 37

I said I was a Dick Grayson fan.  I was actually really excited for to see this take on the character.  In part because I like Tim Seeley as a creator.  But this was an entirely other take on the character.  Having to play a spy, who was himself spying on the spy organization, it was a fun idea.  In my opinion it didn't end as strongly as I would have liked, and I wish we would have gotten the Nightwing burial issue that was written and drawn.  But it was fun to see him pushed into having to work outside the bounds of being a superhero and into the realm of espionage.  It's a completely original evolution to a character that I have enjoyed for years, and that's a rare thing to see.  Plus it's a version of the character that has never been seen before in plastic.  Dick is in some ways the core of the DCU.  He's second only to Superman in how trusted he is.  And there are still things that come from the Grayson series which are influencing the DCU.  

8: Ravager - Rose Wilson

Can anyone explain to me how on earth Rose FRIGGIN Wilson hasn't been made into an action figure yet?  I mean seriously.  How?  Rose is an amazing character.  She's the X-23 of the DC Universe.  She's gone from villain to reluctant hero.  She's got Deathstroke for a father who forced her to hate him so that she would always have a family with the Teen Titans.  She overcame an addiction and fought every instinct she had to try and become a better hero.  She has a wild streak about a mile wide and yet she's constantly fighting to try and be a better person.  She can go toe to toe with Cassandra Cain, and that was when she was starting out.  We need a real Ravager figure already people.  C'mon, let's make this happen already.  I don't even care if you get the scale off on this one, just make her already.

9: Arsenal

Sure sure sure, we have a Red Arrow figure.  I really felt like that was a step back for Roy.  He became his own man as Arsenal I thought.  This also works nicely with Agent 37 as Arsenal entered the spy game (after overcoming a heroin addiction and dealing with some suicidal issues).  And he was a devoted father to his daughter.  Perfect father no, but he was there for Lian every way he knew how to be.  And he's another founding member of the titans.  He's also an expert marksman with anything.  The list of accessories that this guy could come with is... I mean his friggin name is Arsenal.  I know he's dead, for now, in the comics, but this was the character for a good number of years.  This was the one that reformed and led the outsiders.  This version of Roy deserves to be made alongside Agent 37 so we can have some high-spying adventures in plastic.  

10: Dark Claw - Amalgam

Alright, so I'm adding one to the list here.  But this one will really never get made.  I mean it should get made.  It's a version of both Wolverine and Batman that has never before been put into action figure form.  How many figures do you think they'd sell of this guy?  He's Bruce, he's Logan he's amazing.  This figure would have all the playability of both Batman and Wolverine give us hands with and without claws.  Plus just look at him!  Who in their right minds wouldn't buy this figure.  This is a chance to really showcase what you can do with a little love in a modern action figure line.    I know the character is co-owned by Marvel and DC and the toy rights for those are with different companies, but just imagine for a second what this would be like as a figure and then McFarlane can start the kickstarter campaign already.

Goodbye Uncle John

My Uncle John died Friday November 17th.  I'm not really sure how to write about what I'm feeling right now.  John was not a perfect man, not in the slightest.  But he was a really good guy and I am going to miss him.  I was his first nephew, and he was really excited to be an Uncle.  I never got to know him nearly as well as I would have liked.  In my mind, he was always funny.  Genuinely funny, that was in part because he was able to get my dad laughing hard and could keep him laughing for a long time.

His sense of humor is honestly the thing I'm going to remember the most.  C.S. Lewis wrote that when a person dies we not only lose them, we also lose the parts of us and others that only that person was able to bring out.  And the part of my Dad that John was able to bring out is something that I am going to miss deeply.

Beyond being funny, there was nothing, absolutely nothing that Uncle John couldn't do.  Every time you thought you had found a job or something that he hadn't done, you would hear a new story about that one summer he spent doing some odd job that you wouldn't have imagined.  My personal favorite is when he worked planting dynamite at a quarry.  One time we were trying to figure out the best way to get rid of a stump on our place.  He suggested a pipe bomb essentially, and when we asked what happened to the pipe in that scenario he just matter of factly said, "Oh that's easy, shrapnel." 

Over the last few years, John was sick.  He did manage to still enjoy some moments in spite of that, but it was hard watching him disappear.  There are ways he has permanently impacted my life.  Before he died, he assured us that he was right with Christ and that we would see him again.  I look forward to that day, to seeing that ornery smile again and hearing him laugh once more.

Proud to be an American: Martin Luther King Day Edition

So perhaps this is a bit of an ill-advised post.  But the truth of the matter is, the civil rights movement of the 1960's was the culmination of years more than a century of people working.  Many of those people were white.  Beyond this, today it is easy to only focus on the wrongs done to ethnic minorities.  We focus on skin color and forget that we were once much more divided.  The Irish in particular suffered greatly before finally being accepted.  Jewish people continue to find persecution, even though to the naked eye some would be considered white.  I mean to take nothing away from those who have been made to endure discrimination because of the color of their skin.  But the voices against such practices go back a long way, and my ancestors were among them.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel called The Minister's Wooing in which she popularized the rivalry between Rev. Ezra Stiles, and Rev. Samuel Hopkins.  The Rev Hopkins is my 10th great-grandfather.  Not always rivals, these two once jointly penned a letter criticizing "the great inhumanity and cruelty of enslaving so many thousands of our fellow men every year."  While living in the capital of the New England slave market, Hopkins preached against slavery.  In 1776, Hopkins published an anti-slavery pamphlet titled A Dialogue Concerning the Slavery of the Africans.  This was addressed directly to the Continental Congress.  In 1784, his congregation voted to exclude all slaveholders from their congregation.

Before Samuel Hopkins, my 11th great-grandfather Abraham Isacks Opdengraef was a part of the first protest against slavery in America at the home of Tunes Kunders in 1688.  Abraham was born near the lower Rhine in Germany.  He made the trip to America along with his older brothers in 1683, to participate in William Penn's "Holy Experiment" in the New World.  A fine craftsmen, Abraham won a Governor's prize for the "first and finest" piece of linen woven in the state of Pennsylvania.  He was one of the four signers  of a suppressed anti-slavery petition to his church.  Included was a warning that the men being kept as slaves had every right to fight for their freedom.  He was supposedly the subject of the poem The Pennsylvania Pilgrim by John Greenleaf Whittier.

Lastly, I want to talk about my great-grandpa Quay.  Grandpa was a product of his generation.  He would use the language of his day, and it is not language I am going to repeat.  However, actions speak louder than words.  One of his dear friends was Willie Seals, a black man.  Willie had  been the star chef at the restaurant they owned.  But he was considered a dear friend by the entire family going to weddings and funerals, and always being held in the highest regard.  To this day his meals are legendary in our family.  Beyond this, there is one other story I want to share.  On a trip out to Vegas, a black lady and her kid were about to get kicked off a bus in the middle of nowhere.  Grandpa stood up, said "no they're not", handed the driver enough to cover the rest of their fare and sat back down.

There are more stories, many lost to the sands of time I fear.  At least two of my ancestors, Thomas Todd and Thomas Bentley, appear to have come to America as indentured servants.  Thomas Bentley even appears to have been pursued as a runaway at one time.  There is a lot of tension these days in this country around race relations.  But I am proud to be an American nonetheless.  My ancestors fought to build a country where everyone could live and would indeed be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  Where people could stand and be held in esteem or reproach as equals.  Where people were simple people.  Today, I try to live that out.  I strive to avoid secondary and superficial characteristics in my speech.  It matters not to me that a friend of mine is Asian, Black, Hispanic or White.  Name an ethnic group anywhere in the world, and there is a chance that through the 501st Legion, I have a friend that can fall into that category.  But before they are anything else, they are my friends.  It is my hope that with the help of God we can continue moving to a place where the dream begun by my ancestors in this country and so eloquently expressed by Dr. King becomes a reality.

Proud to be an American: Thanksgiving Edition

The last time I wrote one of these, I talked about my family fighting in the Revolutionary War.  There are some good stories to share from that, and it was fun to write.  So with today being Thanksgiving, I want to talk about two groups of ancestors that I am proud to be descended from.  The first group is people that were Pilgrims, and the second group is my Native American heritage.

My 13th great grandfather, Richard Adams, and his wife Mary Carver are listed on the registry for Mayflower Births and Deaths.  John West was the father of my 9th great-grandfather Col. John West, who became the second Governor of Jamestown.  This family also is responsible for the land that has become known as West Point.  My 10th great grandmother Anne Claiborne (166), and my 8th great grandmother, Mary Burgain (1695) were born in Jamestown.  And my 10th great grandmother Elizabeth Yeardley died in Jamestown in 1636.

Captain John Clay came to Jamestown, Virginia aboard the "Treasurer," in 1613.  A soldier in the British army, John gained the rank of Captain by the age of 21 and was sent to Virginia to control  problems developing in the area. Clay, known as, "The English Grenadier"  was put in charge of the fifty Musketeers aboard Captain Samuel Argal's ship, the Treasurer which was sent to protect the settlers in Jamestown.  Captain Clay eventually became sympathetic to the cause of the settlers and resigned his military post.
Perhaps the best way to transition between Pilgrim's and Native American ancestors is looking at my 9th great grandfather Simon Willard. In some biographies, I have seen him argued to be the most important single individual to the founding of Concord.  Simon made friends with the Native American's and learned to speak their language so that he could do business with them. He is recorded as a very honest man, who never cheated them, and they trusted him; so there was never any trouble between them, and that led to the naming of our town because the settlers lived in peace and harmony and "Con-Cord" with the native people.  In negotiating for the land that would become the town of Concord, one thing that he did was make sure that the Native American's could keep their hunting rights which were very important to them.

My Native American heritage is a bit less firmly rooted than my connections to Jamestown.  There are many instances where we appear to be tied to this people group, but we do not appear on the registries or rolls, in essence, I can't prove it.  Such is the case with my 5th great grandmother Mary Short, a Cherokee woman who was so named because she was of a diminutive stature.  However, we do know that her husband, Nimrod Brewer marched on The Trail of Tears with her.  He sent three of his sons ahead to buy land in Missouri, but 10 family members still died on the journey.  

Alabeth Freeman is another such case.  I believe the history that says she was of Choctaw descent but I cannot demonstrate it conclusively.  The story is that she went from Missouri to register in Mississippi.  However, when she was prepared to sign up, the military man in charge was evidently drunk and in a rather boorish mood, as such she left before registering, quite offended.  She does appear on MCR 7113 filed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs though.  She and her husband Aaron were among the first 10 homesteaders to settle in Douglas county Missouri.

The one connection that I do not remotely question is my 13th great grandmother.  The Princess Matoaka.  She died as Rebecca Rolfe, but is best known as Pocahontas.  Her father was chief Powhatan of the Algonquin tribe.  The story of her saving John Smith is legendary. But she also became the first Native American to convert to Christianity.  This was not necessarily the peaceful conversion some would mythologize it to be.  She traveled to England where she did meet King James I and the royal family.  However, she died while preparing to return to America.

It isn't popular today to really celebrate Thanksgiving that much.  We take the day off and overeat, but it seems more and more like we are more interested in the holiday sales than in actually giving thanks.  I think there are two reasons for this.  The first is that we've decided to revise our understanding of the historical context of the day.  In some circles, we are now considered to be celebrating the oppression of indigenous people groups, and if that were so that would be quite wrong.  I say revisionist history because it ignores the role of Tisquantum in helping the colonists survive.  True, it might not have been the fairy tale version of Thanksgiving that lives in our cultural mythology.  Neither of these simplistic narratives really paints the full picture.  

The second reason the holiday might be struggling is that the nature of this holiday is innately religious and distinctly American.  Neither of those things seems to be all that popular to celebrate being in this day and age.  The idea was that you were going to thank God for the bounty he had blessed you with.  I'm unaware of another society that has created a holiday specifically for the purpose of being grateful.  But today I am very grateful.  I am grateful for the good Christian gal I have in my life.  I am grateful to have enjoyed the day with my family and a fantastic feast prepped by my sister.  I am grateful for the job I have been given that lets me live and even enjoy some extras.  And I am grateful that my ancestors came together to celebrate this day.  My heritage is a mixture of the two parties at work for the first thanksgiving, and I am thankful for that blessing.  I am proud to be an American, to live in a land where I can openly be grateful for the blessings God has given me.  And I am proud of the heritage I have from those that came to this land and those that welcomed them.

Suicide Squad

And yet again, the critics just got it wrong when it comes to a DC movie.  Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if they are simply in Marvel's back pocket and just are trying to predispose people to not go see these films.  DC is not Marvel, to be honest I think a part of the confusion at this point is people may be trying to put these films into the MCU because they have decided that is what a comic book movie is; and they have no place there.  These films are intentionally more serious in tone and they also are a lot more intricately tied together than the MCU films.  The MCU could be viewed as a series of franchises that are all tied together with connecting threads.  On the contrary, the DCEU is one very large franchise with each chapter dependent on the others.  Suicide Squad is far from perfect, but it does a great job of being really entertaining.  I'd say it's a good blend of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy, sorta like the A-Team if they had been villains perhaps.  So that said, if you don't want spoilers for Dawn of Justice then you need to see it before you see Suicide Squad.  And as this is a review, yes, spoilers are about to commence.

This film has a lot to love about it, starting with the soundtrack.  The soundtrack is almost another character in the movie, it's that enjoyable.  The squad is formed as a knee-jerk government reaction to the events of the prior two films, dealing with the devil to try and achieve security.  It shouldn't be any surprise when that winds up going badly for people.  The complaints about the antagonist seem a bit unfounded.  I cannot speak to how well Enchantress was adapted from the comics because I honestly don't know the character that well.  But an ancient witch that is able to break free of her imprisonment with the help of her unknown brother and decides to take it out on the people that imprisoned her by mystically eliminating the world...  I really don't understand why people have trouble with this being a credible threat.

The surprise star of the film for me was Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.  We've seen the character in other
places over the years.  I actually liked the way that C.C.H. Pounder has always portrayed the character in animation.  Davis brought that same cold calculating command to the screen and it worked fantastically.  She is ruthless and heartless and it is fantastic.  This is Amanda Waller, you hate her, but you sorta respect her at the same time.  At her core, she is simply trying to do what she believes is best for her country, and she is willing to go to any lengths to do so. 

Like Enchantress, El Diablo is another character that I didn't know much about going into the film.  I found I really loved the character a lot.  I liked seeing the character unleashed, and I hope we might get to see some more of the lesser known characters explored like this.  Captain Boomerang I thought was more true to his comic character than he had been on Arrow.  Digger was a little too bright in that portrayal and was always just a little bit on the scummy side which was thankfully brought back for this film.  Katana was another character that was seen in Arrow.  I'm a little bit torn here.  Both portrayals were very well done.  This one tapped a bit more into the mystical aspects of her sword, but I loved what Rila Fukushima did with her.  Honestly, I felt that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was under utilized as Killer Croc.  He's a fantastic actor and I would have liked to have seen more of him.

Margot Robbie's character was every bit the fantastic version of Harley Quinn that I was hoping to get.  This is Harley, she brought the character to life perfectly.  Harley was brought to us in Batman: The Animated Series and this was like seeing the cartoon come to life.  She nailed the voice and the mannerisms.  Honestly, she was such a brilliantly chaotic character that she shouldn't have been believable at any point.  That's why Robbie's portrayal is so ingenius, I completely bought her character through the entire film.  There are some great easter eggs for her, from a moment recreating a rather classic picture to getting to see her original costume.  And things like yelling "you're ruining date night" while pulling out a gun were just so spot on that there is no room to complain about the character.

Now let's talk about Deadshot.  I'm torn here.  On the one hand, there was a lot to love about Will Smith's take on the character.  On the other hand, I find I really preferred the way that Michael Rowe portrayed him Arrow.  Smith was every bit the marksman, and the costume was far superior.  They also kept true to the core motivation of the character.  Everything he did was for his daughter.  But it felt like they changed his honor code a little bit. Smith did a better job of showing how cocky Floyd was, but his code was the code of a criminal and not a soldier. I also felt like I was watching a performance, for some reason he just didn't become the character for me in the way that Robbie and Davis did.  I believe that part of the problem is that the character was able to be much more fleshed out on television than in the film.  And that I loved what Rowe did with the character had me going in expecting something different than what I got.

There were a couple other issues with the film.  The first two character introductions seem a bit needless.  Because seriously, they are reintroduced to us at least once, sometimes twice.  I'm not certain why that was the case, but it seemed a bit unnecessary.  I understand that part of this was to show what sort of sleeze was running the prison they had been kept in, but it just felt a bit disjointed with the rest of the film.
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Affleck's cameo's were nicely done.  We see Batman having come back from the edge that he was pushed Dawn of Justice.  He isn't nearly as brutal here as he had become, and while extremely subtle I found it a great bit of character development.  We also got to see Ezra Miller show up in the Flash uniform, and I am beginning to make peace with his portrayal.  Though a part of me still wishes that we could have seen Grant Gustin given the roll as he has done wonders on The Flash series over the last two years.

Finally, let's talk the Joker.  Leto's performance is understandably not going to be for everyone.  I personally wish they had gone a different direction with some of the costume design.  However, he does bring to life a completely different Joker than one we have seen in a long time.  The Joker is the underbelly of Gotham in this take.  Nothing happens that he doesn't know about and allow.  Though Hush Returns is a poor sequel to Hush in the comics, this was a take on the Joker that I enjoyed seeing return to the story and one I am glad we got to see a little bit here.  I was thrilled with how driven the Joker was to save Harley in this movie.  He wasn't the hero at any point, but he was her hero.  In the comics, the relationship between the two has become increasingly abusive.  This is something I have never been comfortable with, and while I wouldn't even come close to calling this a healthy relationship I was glad to see him fight for her throughout the film.

So I encourage you to go see this movie.  It's a good action flick, and it does a nice job of showing us what the world does after Superman dies.  There is also a lesson to be learned from this film, very similar to the lesson taken from Civil War.  Do not make rash decisions out of fear when something bad happens, you may create the very monster you were concerned with. 

Star Trek Beyond: So close and yet ....

Alright, so this is going to be a brief review.  But I don't want everyone thinking I just love whatever pop culture summer popcorn flick comes out by default.  So with that said, let's look at the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise. 

I actually enjoyed Into Darkness, though there are a lot of people out there that do not share that sentiment.  However, this story certainly felt more like Star Trek than its predecessor.  Some of this I can attribute to subtle things like the changes to the uniforms.  But the core of this assertion is in the story itself.  Simon Pegg is a fan of the series, and it shows in the story.  While this is indeed an action adventure flick, wrapped within it is the stories of discovery and the human condition that made the series what it was.  It also feels like a proper sequel to the reboot from 2009.  Some of that might be the soundtrack, which was honestly the best of the three most recent films. 

Overall, I liked the story tremendously.  The character development was tremendous in this film.  We got to see them expanded and utilized like we haven't before.  Like Karl Urban who was criminally underused in Into Darkness.  However, across the board there were great moments for all of the characters and they all seemed to be advanced throughout the film.  From the nod to Leonard Nimoy to the the "controversial" decision to make the character of Sulu homosexual, there were a lot of good nods in the film.  I was really glad to see Demora getting included to be honest.

However, I do agree with George Takei, it would be better to create a new character that is gay than to make a character that was never meant to be homosexual a homosexual.  This is a problem rampant in comics and film right now.  The solution to increased diversity has been to change a character.  I agree very much with what people like Michelle Rodriguez have said, even though she needlessly caught flak for saying it.  Changing a secondary characteristic of a previously male, straight, or white character doesn't really make that character representative of the group they now share a characteristic with because they still came from the same creator and have the same history.  It's harder to make a new character, but I ultimately do agree that it is much more worthwhile.  And the same problem goes for whitewashing characters like what has been done with the Ancient One in Dr. Strange, just a bad idea to ignore a characters history folks. 

Well, this means my blog will probably get read at least because there is sure to be plenty of vitriolic hate mail headed my way.  Okay, back on track.  Seriously, the movie did a lot of really great things for the franchise.  It told a wonderfully enjoyable story and it grew the characters and their relationships.  It fleshed out the world pretty nicely.  So why then did I start this off like I didn't enjoy the film?

Because while this is a wonderful story, it is a story that in my opinion is very badly told.  The overwhelming majority of this film was shot far too close.  I've enjoyed a number of films by Justin Lin in the past.  Honestly Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Furious 6 were all great films I thought.   But this time, and I don't entirely know why, he just shot way too much of the film close up.  At a few points I was waiting on the cast to break the fourth wall and point out the personal space bubble that was being invaded.  If the audience had been where the camera was putting us the characters would have been wondering if they were about to get jumped.  They built grand set pieces and then it was like they were afraid to let us take them in.  

There is a second issue that I take with this presentation.  There was an effect that was so ridiculously and needlessly over used that I was becoming nauseous watching the film.  They continued to do tracking shots throughout the film that spun.  I love tracking shots.  They are my favorite moments in the Avengers films.  Honestly, I love a well done tracking shot.  But these were horribly done.  You're keeping me in the moment, you're not supposed to spin me around and make me motion sick.  Many of these shots were very similar to one of the deleted scenes from Star Trek: Nemesis and that scene was rejected specifically because of how dizzying it was for the audience.

This was further compounded by the first issue.  Had they zoomed out, if they had stepped back a little bit it would have helped make these much more bearable.  If it had been one or two scenes that were shot this way it would be one thing, but we are talking about multiple scenes all shot the same way.  If I am honest, it felt like they got a new toy but didn't read the directions on the proper way to use it.  By not zooming out at all they failed to grant us the chance to, as the viewer, get context for the tracking shots and for what was happening in general.

Now, a lot of this movie does indeed involve the idea of feeling lost, of being directionless and anchorless.   And if the intention was to create a feeling of physical disorientation for the viewer in order to simulate the experience of the characters I can understand why that might have seemed like a good idea.  But, at least for me, it was a horrid idea.  And had this been the idea, when they got their grounding then these techniques should have stopped. 

So for me, on a scale of 5, this was a 4.5 film that is reduced to a 3 star film because of how unenjoyable this great story was to watch.  Back the camera up about 10 feet for the entire film and this would've been a great movie.

Proud to be an American

So while I listen to the fireworks exploding in my neighborhood, I find I am grateful.  I love this land for a lot of reasons.  I find it hard to say that at times.  Today it is more popular to point out the flaws in America and to ignore all of the good that this country has done.  But I am proud of my heritage and the culture that I have been given by those that came before me.  Some came here to escape religious persecution.  Others sold themselves into servitude in the hopes they could build a better life afterwards.  Some came to the New World for adventure, others to try and build a better life than they might have been able to obtain where they were born.  And others were already here when Europe began colonizing this land.  This holiday, I want to share some of my family history focused on the Revolutionary War, which began with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

When the War began, we were there on both sides of the conflict.  Joshua Perry came from a family of Royalists and with few exceptions did not fight on the American side in the Revolution.  However, they were distinctly military, serving prior to and enlisting immediately after the Revolution began. Meanwhile James Billingsley, was a patriot who lost his life when loyalists to the British cause invaded his home in April 1776. These Tories who had been harassing him asked for money. On being told there was none. They took him to a nearby tree and hung him. (This statement came from his wife Elizabeth Crabtree Billingsley who made notes in the family Bible.)

Gabriel D. Smith, entered the service of the U.S. Militia of North Carolina in Mongomery County August 1780 under Captain Thomas Childs and was marched to Mays Ferry where we had a battle or skirmish with the Tories. Childs was wounded by a ball through the arm and placed under the command of Captain Samuel Pond, and marched to Drowning Creek & Betties Bridge and had another skirmish with the Tories there.  He returned home and remained a few days.  Then having been reinforced marched to Betties Bridge and had another fight with the Tories. He was taken prisoner by the Tories in the fall of 1781, and kept about 3 weeks when he made his escape from them and returned home.

And now for perhaps my favorite story:

Ezekiel Billington, enlisted in the service of his country in the spring of 1776 (he was seventeen years old), and served as a private.  Later he enlisted in Capt. Camp's Company and was in a skirmish with the British near Newark.  He was taken prisoner and held in the Old Sugar House in New York until sometime in 1777, when he was removed to a British prison ship in New York harbor.  Rather than remain in prison, the soldier enlisted in the British Army during June and July and was stationed on Staten Island. He was afterwards put on the man-of-war ‘Experiment,' removed in two months to the 'Badger' and transferred to the transport ‘William.' Still with the Tories, he marched to Augusta, GA., and from there to Ninety-six, South Carolina, where he deserted from the British Army.  He joined Gen. Greene's army, served 12 months in Capt. Field's company and was in the battle of Eutaw Springs. Gen. Greene gave him a discharge and a recommendation explaining is imprisonment. He was 21 years of age at the time.  As he started homeward, he stopped in Cumberland Co., North Carolina, ‘in order to work to get clothing.'  It was here that he also seems to have met and taken a wife.

So, this Independence Day I want to say thank you to my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Thank you for fighting to hand freedom to myself and my sister.  Thank you for taking action to secure liberty for my parents and cousins.  Thank you for sacrificing to give us a place where I can believe what I am persuaded to be true without fear of death, a culture that is working to see all people treated equally, even if we don't all agree about what that looks like.  I'm very grateful to live in a land that people still want to come to as a place where they can find some hope for a better tomorrow. 

Another day, we can argue about the way forward.  There will be time to discuss and fight and debate later.  We live in uncertain times, we live in an imposing world with problems that seem insurmountable.  So have others that came before us.  The American Revolution was a rebellion against the largest power the world had known at the time.  They faced an impossible task and ultimately they won.  And for all the bounty that I have been blessed to enjoy just by being born an American I am thankful.  Below are the names of the known revolutionary soldiers from my own ancestry.  Their sacrifice helped to make my life what it is today.

Peter Klingman	Richard William Oldham	Samuel Shannon
James Gilliam	William Absolom Littlefield Sr.	Aaron Freeman
William Mitchell Clay	Jacob Pyeatt	Benjamin Rush
Abia Clay	Richard Walker	John Cross
Simon Bright	John Webb Jr.	John Bethea
James Billingsley	Sgt. Arthur Hickman	Captain Moses Cavett
George Hiram Jewell	Drury Erastus Smith	John Hardin
Jacob Breyvogle	John Pyron	Capt. William "Indian Bill" Hardin
Ezekiel Billington	William Littlefield Jr	Richard Muse
Jacob Pyeatt I	Andrew M. McWilliams	Moses Hamilton Runnells
Samuel Smith	John Haile Mead	Joshua Perry
Isham Joham Huckaby	John Tankersley Sr.	Theophilus Easton
Moses Stephens	Gabriel D Smith
	Lt. Christopher Smith