Tag: Marvel

The Snyder Cut is Finally Here and It Delivers

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I originally intended to watch Zack Snyder’s definitive edition of Justice League in multiple viewings due to its ungodly 242 minute runtime. But I have to admit, once I got going it sucked me in and I ended up banging out the entire #SnyderCut in one sitting because it delivers big time.

The difference between the Joss Whedon theatrical release (which some people that are more clever than I have dubbed Josstice League) and the Snyder Cut is night and day. Granted it’s twice as long, but it’s broken up into six parts (not including the prologue and epilogue) which lend some credence to the rumors that HBO Max considered releasing it in weekly installments rather than all at once. Now if you’ve never seen the theatrical release you may just think this is a four hour masturbatory act from Snyder and I wouldn’t necessarily fault you for that assumption, but this just may replace Blade Runner’s Final Cut as the definitive example of a Director’s Cut.

So we all know by now that DC was trying to replicate the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which continues to run laps around DC with the also massive success of WandaVision on Disney+. However, this is 13 years in the making with the first Iron Man coming out all the way back in 2008 followed by The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America THEN the first Avengers movie.

The biggest misstep DC made was releasing a very strong Man of Steel movie, an OK Batman vs Superman movie (that I often forget Wonder Woman is actually in), and then immediately jumping into Justice League with the addition of Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg. With only two of the six characters fully developed it was kind of a tall task to jump straight into team movie, introduce a new villain, and then bang it all out in 2 hours. Now I’m not saying you need to painstakingly recreate every single character arc because we all know Bruce Wayne’s parents were gunned down in front of him as a kid, and Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben was killed because of Spider Man’s carelessness. We don’t need to see that explained all over again, but Batman, Superman, and Spider Man are the three biggest superheroes in the entire history of the comic book genre. Not everyone knows the back story of Aquaman (all my knowledge is from the Vinny Chase movie in Entourage), the Flash (unless you’re a big CW fan), or Cyborg (best known from the cartoon Teen Titans, IMO).

In the original theatrical version all three of those characters get put on the back burner so you never really have time to care about them. With the opportunity presented by a four hour movie, Snyder really dives into the back story of all three, particularly Cyborg, and gives you a reason to want to see these characters succeed. Plus it also does a much better job teasing the Aquaman and Flash standalone films.

It’s hard to get into too much detail as to why the Snyder Cut is so much better without spoiling a lot of what made the cut so enjoyable so I encourage you to watch it before Twitter spoils it. I can say that the quippy Joss Whedon dialogue got axed, the motivations of many characters have changed (for the better), Darkseid is actually, ya know, in this movie, and gone is the unsightly red sky plastering the final act in the original. The new cut is overall darker (both visually and thematically), more violent, more serious, and is even rated R (yay F bombs!). So it is much truer to Snyder’s original version. But to be fair even if he had finished the movie originally, Snyder would have never been allowed to release a four hour R-rated tentpole superhero flick. So while what he has accomplished here is huge, it’s important to keep in mind that he was able to move the goal posts a bit, a luxury which he or Whedon would not typically have had.

I cannot believe how different this movie is after Snyder allegedly filmed only four minutes of additional footage in his reshoots. Granted Snyder had a whole series of DC films planned for what was dubbed the Snyder Verse so there was a lot left on the cutting room floor that he was able to just pick back up. There are also tons of easter eggs and threads (like what actually happened to Robin) that are finally pulled on here just to tease viewers in the name of fan service. 

Now comes the inevitable question of “what if?” What if Joss Whedon never came on board and Snyder had been able to finish his original vision? Would the DCEU have never collapsed on itself and would we already be discussing Justice League 3, the Ben Affleck standalone Batman film, and a potential Jared Leto Joker spinoff? DC has to have known (hoped?) this would be the case and provide new life to an IP that was on ice after critical and commercial indifference. It is kind of a bummer because Snyder fully pulls back the curtain to show us what he was working on and we’re unlikely to ever see that vision realized. The new Knightmare dream scene that is towards the end of the movie (rather than earlier on in the original) is a perfect example of this. But hey, I never thought the internet would ever be able to bully a major studio into investing tens of millions of dollars into a reshot, recut version of a failed tentpole film, and here we are.

I really want to kick down the doors at DC right now and give them the Herb Brooks Miracle speech about great opportunity. That’s what you have here tonight, boys. I’m sick of hearing about what a great cinematic universe Marvel has.

Through their own failures DC has accidentally stumbled into an amazing opportunity here with the multiverse. They can finally stop trying to replicate the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It didn’t work, it happens. With the multiverse DC can simply make all of these random one off films and individual stories with different actors and just punt on a shared universe until they decide to bring everyone together again. It’s something DC has already test run on its various TV series with the Crisis on Infinite Earths event where they even brought back my dude Tom Welling for a brief Superman cameo. If rumors about the upcoming Flash standalone movie are to be believed then DC is really going to lean into that exact mindset with the multiverse as multiple Batmen are allegedly set to appear in the film.

Watching the Snyder Cut is a trippy experience because even the opening minutes are entirely different from the original version with previously unseen footage. I felt like I had Alzheimer’s because in my head I know I’ve seen Justice League multiple times but now it’s…different.

Admittedly, my viewing of the Snyder Cut may be seen through rose colored glasses after 3+ years of the internet lobbying for and then somehow actually getting a completely recut and reshot version of beloved IP. And it worked! Now do Game of Thrones.

On His 72nd Birthday, Ranking the Top 5 Samuel L. Jackson Roles of All Time

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I cannot believe Samuel L. Jackson is 72-years-old, the man doesn’t look a day over 55. Granted, Samuel L. has been around forever and has been in pretty much everything (IMDB calls him a “highly prolific actor”) having appeared in over 100 films in his career. With that being said what are his Top 5 roles ever? A couple of rules here, I’m obviously only including the movies I’ve personally seen, but I must admit I am not a completionist so I have not seen every single one of Jackson’s movies. Also, I left off any roles where he is barely in the movie, as much as I wanted to include the smooth piano player Rufus from Kill Bill 2 who gets 43 seconds of screen time… Jackson talked about his favorite roles a couple years back, but let’s break down what we think his Top 5 roles of all time are below.

No. 5 – Coach Carter
Ken Carter

Before these kinds of sad sack sports flicks turned into a genre of Made For TV movies, Jackson took a film that probably would have went straight to DVD if not for his performance. The biggest name in this movie besides him was Ashanti and a pre-“Step Up” Channing Tatum. So yea this movie was destined to be an MTV2 rerun, but Jackson turns it into a pretty legit movie about redemption, work ethic (or at the very least doing the bare minimum in school to pass), and triumph in the face of adversity.

No. 4 – Star Wars
Mace Windu

Mace Windu is on this list almost entirely because of the story that the only reason he randomly has a purple light saber is because Samuel L. Jackson told George Lucas to do it. But seriously, Jackson brought an aura of cool that Star Wars, specifically the Jedi, lacked before him. Star Wars created groundbreaking characters like Darth Vader that became literal film archetypes, but aside from Han Solo who could you say was actually cool? Samuel L. Jackson reminded people that oh yea not every Jedi is a goodie two shoes, some of them are badass warriors. It’s just a shame Lucas didn’t let him drop some MF-bombs on Emperor Palpatine.

No. 3 – Django Unchained
Stephen

Django Unchained is another excellent Tarantino movie in a long line of them, but it’s one that is absolutely gobbled up by the likes of Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, and Leonardo DiCaprio. I wouldn’t fault you for forgetting Samuel L. Jackson was even in this movie if you haven’t seen it in a while. But upon closer review, I found Jackson’s role of Stephen higher on my list than I would have originally thought and it’s because he plays, as Entertainment Weekly dubbed it, an “unrepentant monster.” Something you don’t see Jackson, or any actor really, do a lot of. Back when the movie came out EW asked him about potential Academy Award hype and Jackson’s answer is why this role is so high on my list.

“Well, the point of that award is that you were an actor in a film who made a dynamic impact on the story with a memorable character. And would anyone else playing the part have been as impactful? That should be the question — did you do your job? Yes. Did I make you hate me? Yes. Did I inhabit the character full enough to make you believe that, and make you uncomfortable enough to make you hate me? Yes. And you feel guilty because then you want to see me die. I did what I was supposed to do for that film, which should be the criteria for voting or not voting.“

No. 2 – The Avengers (and every other Marvel movie)
Nick Fury

You could argue that Nick Fury was basically just Samuel L. Jackson playing himself with an eye patch and a leather duster jacket, but that ignores the fact that he helped tie together the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe before the first movie was even off the ground. When he appears after the credits of Iron Man 1 it’s a complete shock that draws you in and gave you a sense that something very big was happening, even if you didn’t know what that was. Nick Fury has acted as the godfather of the whole Avengers team and the bonding agent in movies with lesser known characters and story lines like Captain Marvel. Nick Fury is the constant in the largest example of cinematic world building ever created.

No. 1 – Pulp Fiction
Jules Winnfield

Jules Winnfield is one of the most quotable characters in any movie ever. Period. Full stop. Jules’ is so memorable for his unique internal conflict of being a gangster’s muscle/hitman while also having recently found God and trying to walk the righteous path. Jackson’s work here provides some all time acting like the diner standoff where he legitimately spawned an entire generation of Etsy businesses creating Bad Ass Motherfucker leather wallets. Then of course there’s the Bonnie Situation scene with Quentin Tarantino dropping in for a cameo before they call The Wolf, but most notably the biblical speech Jackson gives quoting Ezekiel 25:17 right before blowing some poor guy’s head off with his hand cannon. That’s why Pulp Fiction is our No. 1.

Honorable Mentions:

  • Jurassic Park
  • Die Hard: With a Vengeance
  • Jackie Brown
  • Snakes on a Plane (iconic)
  • XXX (an all-time great bad movie)
  • The Incredibles
  • S.W.A.T.
  • Deep Blue Sea
  • Goodfellas (poor Stacks)

What do you think Samuel L. Jackson’s best role of all time is? Tweet us @The300sBoston

Is Marvel Eyeing Shia LaBeouf to Play Iceman in an X-Men Reboot?

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The Loop – According to We Got This Covered (the same site that correctly first reported a She-Hulk show at Disney Plus and a live-action Robin Hood remake at Disney), Marvel is hoping to land LaBeouf to play Iceman in their new X-Men reboot. Previously, MCU was supposedly considering LaBeouf to breathe life into Moon Knight (a rich vigilante character similar to Batman), and while the site reports that LaBeouf is still in the running for that role, the powers-that-be are supposedly more interested in his take on the X-Men character. And, considering LaBeouf’s previous criticism with doing big-budget studio films, this could be a nice way for him to ease back into things without having the pressure as a lead.

Yes, 100 times yes. Count me in. I stan for Shia LaBeouf because he has the makings of a truly elite actor. He’s got action chops (Transformers, Indiana Jones), he’s got Indie chops (Honey Boy, Peanut Butter Falcon), he’s handsome but not overly good looking, he’s already gone off the rails and been to rehab, and he is just generally a weird dude. Not to mention the man can tell one HELL of a drinking story.

LaBeouf is a more of an artist than a traditional actor, which is why I am fascinated by just watching what the guy does. He’s just as likely to be chopping it up on late night TV as he is going to yoga in the outfit of a homeless man.

In all seriousness though the dude is yoked these days and should have no problem convincing people he is an all powerful mutant.

Disney needs to nail this reboot and they know it. I am a huge X-Men fan and I enjoy all of the movies over the last 20 years, some of which were excellent (X-Men 2, Logan, First Class) whereas others were an unmitigated disaster (X-Men 3, Apocalypse). So in this reboot they have to do it right.

I know it’s going to be a massive popcorn flick as the next Marvel tentpole franchise, but all of the best Marvel movies had excellent actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans anchoring them in reality. X-Men in particular needs great actors because the source material is so much more than just people with super powers; it’s outcasts kicked to the fringe of society because of their biological differences. Stan Lee was not afraid to paint the obvious parallels between the X-Men and the battles of similarly ostracized groups fighting for justice like the Civil Rights movement, LGBTQ etc. And this wasn’t just Stan Lee being a woke social justice warrior on Twitter, he was a vocal supporter of these issues dating back to the 60s.

“Let’s lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today,” he wrote in December 1968. “[I]t’s totally irrational, patently insane to condemn an entire race—to despise an entire nation—to vilify an entire religion. Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits. Sooner or later, if a man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance.”

So Disney cannot just make another action flick here, they need legit actors who can tackle the breadth of the source material.

As you probably know Iceman has appeared in several X-Men movies already because he is a sick character with a truly awesome power, but he was such a puss in the original movies. He was portrayed like a mopey Abercrombie model pining over his girlfriend rather than the Ice God that he is. He was finally a bit more badass in Days of Future Past in 2014, which the beard probably helped to be honest.

He finally used his iconic ice surfing powers in that movie too.

Buttttttt only got about 90 seconds of screen time before (spoiler alert) biting the big one.

It’s probably going to be a few years before we get any new X-Men movies anyways, maybe even longer before someone attempts to fill the massive shoes of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. But rumors like this are encouraging because it shows you Disney and Marvel are taking this reboot seriously. The X-Men movies always had a ton of potential, but were undone by poor direction or shitty storytelling or continuity issues, most of which should be righted by the MCU.

What Are the Top 5 Movie Props of All Time?

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I saw this tweet going around the other day posing an excellent question: What is the greatest movie prop of all time? Maybe you’re going with Marty Mcfly’s self lacing shoes or perhaps George Clooney’s Batsuit with the nipples? Here are hands down the Top 5 movie props of all time.

5. Beatrix Kiddo’s Hattori Hanzo sword

A Hattori Hanzo sword is like a modern day Valyrian Steel sword, which didn’t make the cut because GOT isn’t actually a movie. Goddamn was Kill Bill a great movie though. Watching both 1 and 2 are worth the double feature binge if you’ve never seen them. Basically a Hattori Hanzo is the rarest, sharpest, and best kind of sword ever produced. “If on your journey you should encounter God, God will be cut.”

4. Darth Vader’s Lightsaber

Truly one of the most badass characters in cinematic history. There are dozens of Star Wars characters and their lightsabers to pick from and I almost went with Mace Windu’s purple saber or the double sided Darth Maul version, but it’s hard to beat the original bad guy.

3. Happy Gilmore’s Putter

Maybe it’s the white trash in me, but I’ve always loved the Happy Gilmore hockey stick turned putter. It’s practical too as Adam Sandler had to actually sink putts with it. The putter may not be regulation, but I’m not exactly on the PGA tour so I think I can sneak the extra club in my bag. Nothing would please me more than sinking a birdie putt on 18 after shooting in the three figures on the first 17.

2. Mjolnir

Sure I have the plastic replica and a Mjolnir keychain, but give me the real deal! I don’t expect the hammer to come when called like a Golden Retriever, but this is THE conversation piece to stick up on your mantle. I would be shocked and disappointed if Chris Hemsworth didn’t steal this prop after production on Endgame wrapped.

  1. Vin Diesel’s 67 Pontiac GTO from XXX

Long before Samuel L. Jackson was even a twinkle in Nick Fury’s eye, this Vin Diesel store brand James Bond flick introduced us to the greatest movie prop of all time. XXX came out when I was 13 so obviously I was the exact target demo, but I also saw XXX 3: Return of Xander Cage in theaters with Papa Giorgio when I was 27 sooo…

Say what you want about this (delightful) movie, but if you don’t enjoy XXX you are someone who takes themselves entirely too seriously. Now lets get to the best part of the movie: the 1967 Pontiac GTO. This is just the sweetest ride these eyes have ever seen and I’m not even a car guy. This is the best (and most practical) movie prop of all time. For some reason I couldn’t find the scene where they unveil the GTO on YouTube in English so you’ll just have to make do with Spanish. De nada.

So whats your top movie prop of all time?

Am I the Only One Physically Falling Apart From All This Inactivity?

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Since you can only do so many sit ups in your living room, the at-home workouts have fallen off precipitously. Meaning the majority of my exercise comes from walking the dog or a quick (read: slow) mile jog around the neighborhood while I gasp for air behind a mask. So the inactivity has shot way up while physical exercise has taken a nosedive. It also doesn’t help that my iPhone reminds me every other day how big of a piece of shit I am for taking less steps than normal, working out less than normal, and also using my phone for like 7 hours a day.

You would think not working out and lifting heavy weights and hopelessly trying to look respectable for bikini season would mean *less* injuries, but nope. As I often like to say I am aging in dog years and I seem to be physically falling apart due to all the inactivity. I somehow injured my shoulder getting *into* bed a couple weeks ago and I’m pretty sure I just have that now.

Doing some research into why it has become a conscious effort to open a heavy door without destroying my shoulder, the best self diagnosis I could come up with was Bursitis. And now I can’t stop laughing because I never even knew what Bursitis really was when Johnny Knoxville claimed to have it all those years ago.

So thats it for me folks, when the gyms finally do reopen in Boston and they tell us to jump back into our old workout routines, I’ll be sitting here like (old) Steve Rogers at the end of Endgame.

Good Guy Chris Hemsworth Gives Autograph to a Dude Chasing Him On a Motorbike While Filming “Extraction”

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As soon as the Patriots trade down yet again tonight I am giving up on watching the draft and turning on Chris Hemsworth’s new Netflix movie that just dropped. Whether Hemsworth can sustain a career outside of the MCU remains to be seen, but this looks like a pretty sweet action flick. Oh and it seems like Thor is a good guy to boot!

“You know, I always thought that Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but…I think he’s rockin’ the shit in this one.”

Tom Brady Just Partnered With the Directors of THE AVENGERS to Launch a New Production Company

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For proper experience, press play on the music below and then read on.

Tom Brady’s first venture into the original content world, Tom vs Time, was excellent as it was an insightful, behind the scenes look at one of the greatest athletes of all time. Hell, even Jets fans enjoyed that mini series. My only complaint was how short the entire thing was. Six episodes that were each about 10 minutes long. By the end of it I was like a junkie looking for his next fix. Well, it seems we only need to chase the dragon for a bit longer as Tom Brady is partnering with the Russo Brothers, the directors of THE AVENGERS, to launch his new company, 199 Productions. You can imagine the excitement from the guys who spent weeks of their lives re-watching and reviewing the entire MCU catalogue last year.

Tom Brady + the architects of the MCU creating new original content together might literally tear a hole in the space time continuum with how good that sounds. With $22 Billion in gross box office sales over the last 13 years, the Russo’s know what their doing in terms of storytelling. The only thing missing from this partnership is Kevin Feige, but I won’t get greedy here. I would watch just about anything 199 Productions puts out there with the Russo Brothers.

I was hoping for a Tom vs Time season 2 at some point, but this seems like it will slide into that slot. Tom Brady’s *other* media production company Religion of Sports, which he co-founded with Gotham Chopra and Michael Strahan, has created a bunch of content, but most of it has been focused on random subjects like Steph Curry or soccer in developing countries. I need more Brady TV if we’re being honest.

Now is it mildly concerning that Tom Brady announced the creation of a new production company just days before his free agency begins? No…not at all.

The 300s Top 30 TV Shows of the Decade

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With so many options to watch TV like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, Apple TV+, ESPN+ and more coming, its no surprise that a huge chunk of the shows below are not on cable. As they say, the Streaming Wars have begun.

This list is comprised of picks from the staff where we ranked our Top 15 shows with No. 1 getting 15 points all the way down to No. 15 getting one point. Rankings are based on each show’s aggregate score, which seemed like the fairest way to do it. Apologies to all the shows forever in my queue, but I haven’t seen some of the more acclaimed shows like The Wire, The Leftovers or Atlanta so that hurt their overall scores. So sue me, theres a billion shows to watch and I spend approximately half my time scrolling through just trying to decide what to watch.

Also it was a Sophie’s choice of TV to pick from so I made the difficult decision of ruling that any show on this list had to have premiered in 2010 or later to truly make it a show of this decade. So no Breaking Bad, Mad Men or Lost.

Now lets get to the Top 30 shows of the decade!

No. 30 – The Missing/Rick and Morty/Making a Murderer/Trial and Error
No. 29 – Crashing
No. 28 – Narcos

“If Game of Thrones put him on the map this is the show that launched Pedro Pascal into the next stratosphere. Just an excellent Netflix original about two DEA agents taking down Medellin drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.” – Red

No. 27 – House of Cards

“It’s easy to forget about this show at this point, considering how far it went off the rails and Kevin Spacey’s cancellation, but this show was a game changer. When a two-time Academy Award winner got involved with an online streaming show, that was a sign that streaming television offerings would be worthy of our attention.” – Big Z

No. 26 – Big Mouth

“One of the funniest shows on Netflix, Big Mouth is unapologetically filthy and does a great job capturing a very specific time in all of our lives.” – Big Z

No. 25 – Homeland

“This show emerges from the ashes of the height of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts and follows CIA agent Carrie Mathieson as she tries to stop various terror threats before it’s too late, all while keeping a fairly substantial personal secret.” – Joey B

No. 24 – Master of None
No. 23 – Westworld
No. 22 – BoJack Horseman
No. 21 – Billions

“Think “Heat” but with a stock market genius that toes the line or complete disregards it and a US Attorney starving to nail him for it. All sorts of hijinx and side characters add quite the spice to this Showtime great.” – Joey B

No. 20 – The Leftovers
No. 19 – Vice Principles

No. 18 – Lovesick

“One review said Lovesick was “what How I Met Your Mother could have been” and I think that is deadly accurate. Basically a guy finds out he has the clap and needs to inform all previously partners. While he works through that list he simultaneously tries to decipher why love has evaded him so far.” – Joey B

No. 17 – Parks and Rec
No. 16 – Stranger Things
No. 15 – Shameless

“It has waxed and waned post-season 4 or 5ish but still delivers. The saga of the poverty-stricken but street smart Gallagher clan on the south side of Chicago will make you laugh and cry in the same episode.” – Joey B

No. 14 – Daredevil

“Hands down the best depiction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever put on TV. Now its worth noting a lot of those live action shows were hot garbage (couldn’t make it through the pilot of Iron Fist) and they all ultimately got cancelled, but I think that had more to do with the Streaming Wars than the quality of the shows. Daredevil is so good it will make you forget how much you hated that character after the disastrous Ben Affleck movie. Charlie Cox is the catholic with a conscience fighting crime facing off against Vincent D’Onofrio as the completely unhinged Wilson Fisk. Plus this show gave us the criminally underrated Jon Bernthal Punisher.” – Red 

No. 13 – Peaky Blinders

“I consider this the best show currently on TV. Cillian Murphy (the Scarecrow in “Batman Begins”) is a WWI vet who has returned home to Birmingham, England fairly recently and now runs his family crime syndicate using both brute force and his intimidating intellect.” – Joey B

No. 12 – Jack Ryan

“This Amazon Prime show only started in August of 2018 and already skyrocketed up to No. 12 on this list because its that good. Granted 13 Hours and The Quiet Place helped people forget about John Krasinki as Jim from The Office surprisingly quick, but Jack Ryan turned him into a bonafide action star.” – Red

No. 11 – Banshee

“The best kept secret (who the fuck watches Cinemax but not for softcore porn?) of the decade. Basically a Gomorrah of blood, gore, and nudity based around a master thief who gets out of prison and assumes the identity of a bordering-amish country small town sheriff.” – Joey B

No. 10 – Boardwalk Empire

“This is a show that for whatever reason never got the same hype as a lot of other titles on this list, but it had some of the best writing on TV with The Soprano’s Terence Winter leading the ship. It stars a perfectly cast Steve Buscemi as a corrupt politician/bootlegger turned full blown gangster. Not to mention A+ performances from Michael Shannon and Michael Kenneth Williams as flawed, morally ambiguous characters on both sides of the law.” – Red

No. 9 – Black Sails

“I wrote a whole blog about Black Sails and how I believe it got no love because people assumed it was trying to ride GOT’s coat tails with the English accents and old timey-ness (it started the same year). Either way this television precursor to Treasure Island involving pirates and colonialism was an honest to God achievement.” – Joey B

No. 8 – The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story

“Even in the age of DVR this miniseries was appointment viewing. What could have easily been an extended SNL sketch featured some superb storytelling and acting. Sterling K. Brown’s performance was a highlight for me, but is was also probably John Travolta’s best work in a long, long time.” – Big Z

No. 7 – Broad City

“Broad City was basically Girls without all the preachy millennial commentary. Where Girls oftentimes embarrassed you to be a millennial, Broad City reminded you how fun it could be to be broke in the city with your best friend just getting into weird shit.” – Red

No. 6 – Watchmen

“This HBO original hasn’t even finished its first season yet and thanks to Papa Giorgio and I, its already made it to No. 6 on our top shows of the decade. Its that good. I never read the comic book, but if the 2009 Zack Snyder movie even vaguely interested you, this show is 100x better and worth the 9 hours. The show is helmed by Damon Lindelof, who I have absolutely FLAYED over the years for how badly Lost went off the rails at the end, but he has come back strong with The Leftovers and now has hit a grandslam with Watchmen. Lindelof learned from all the mistakes he made along the way to create another complex, political, downright weird world while still leaving all the breadcrumbs to tell a completely engrossing story. The penultimate episode even accomplished the rare feat of nailing time travel as Lindelof tells a story across multiple timelines in a completely coherent way.” – Red

No. 5 – Nathan for You

“Nathan For You is my comedy of the decade. It’s premise is pretty simple: Nathan Fielder presents terrible ideas to businesses with a straight face to boost sales/revenue. Fielder tricks real people into following along with his schemes and hijinx ensue. Whether it be convincing a realtor to rebrand as a “ghost realtor,” hiring a Michael Richards lookalike to leave a large tip at a restaurant to get the restaurant publicity, or conning a Best Buy employee into divulging company secrets in order to help a mom and pop electronics store sell TVs, Nathan For You is the perfect reality show we never knew we needed.” – Papa Giorgio

No. 4 – Better Call Saul

“Possibly the greatest spin off in TV history. Bob Odenkirk is outstanding in this fascinating look at Jimmy McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman. This show moves a little slower than Breaking Bad, which means it would be great to binge if you haven’t been on board since Day 1. A benefit of that slower pace is a more thorough look at much of what was going on in the background on Breaking Bad. So while it’s not a thrill ride every week, it is a very satisfying character study.” – Big Z  

No. 3 – Veep

“In a long history of comedy excellence at HBO, Veep might be its finest offering. Julia Louis-Dreyfus leads an outstanding cast and took home SIX straight Emmys for her portrayal of Selina Meyer. The show won three straight Emmys for best comedy and will be heavily featured when CNN gets around to the TV episode for it’s inevitable 2010’s miniseries in a few years. Veep also boasted some of the best insults in TV history.” – Big Z 

No. 2 – True Detective: Season 1

“If there is one show that defined appointment TV before streaming completely took over the world it is True Detective. The first season was incredibly acted, directed, and told a story across timelines seamlessly. This was a show that Papa Giorgio and I started watching on a borrowed HBO Go account, which meant we had to wait an hour after it originally aired. But we became so enthralled with the show we couldn’t risk Twitter ruining who the Yellow King was for us. So we legitimately bought HBO the day of the finale so we could watch it live. And because it was a self contained anthology series you knew it was all going to come to an end after one season leading to the most fun I’ve had watching TV this decade.

Not to mention, if you’ve so much as tried to film an IG Story you can appreciate the creativity and skill it takes to pull off a SIX minute tracking shot. Meaning they used one camera for this entire action packed scene in one, continuous shot, going in and out of rooms and even over a wall in the middle of a massive shootout.” – Red

No. 1 – Game of Thrones

“This was never in doubt and if you’ve even glanced at The 300s over the last few years you shouldn’t be surprised as I’ve written tens of thousands of words about this show. Game of Thrones literally changed TV and it was the last water cooler show we’ll probably ever get. It was the last TV show that completely dominated pop culture and was something you had to watch in real time or risk Twitter spoiling it because we all were watching it at the same time.

It had its ups and downs including the poorly paced final season and the bizarre finale, but GOT changed the preconceived limits of what a TV show could accomplish. At its core though GOT was a show about politics and getting what you wanted either through smarts and wit or by brute force, but it never got away from the pursuit of power and what everyone was willing to do for that power. It created an absolute murderer’s row of iconic characters from the headliners to secondary characters like Petyr Baelish, and Ramsay Bolton, and even short lived ones like Oberyn Martell all lit up the screen with some of the best acting ever seen on TV. Along the way it won a ridiculous 59 Emmys including FOUR by Peter Dinklage for his tour de force acting. A show about medieval knights, long monologues, dragons, and snow zombies sounds like something that should have been cancelled after a month, but Game of Thrones became bigger than pop culture to truly earn its ranking as the best show of the decade.” – Red 

All Sorts of DC and Marvel Rumors Are Swirling and I’m Having a Nerdgasm

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I am a nerd when it comes to this stuff so take these casting and movie rumors and inject them into my damn veins.

“[Sources] have informed us that inspired by the success of Joker, WB is now looking to do more standalone, dark and mature DC movies. And one project they’d like to make happen is a live-action Batman Beyond with [Michael] Keaton in the lead role.“

There is a rumor floating around that Michael Keaton could be in line to star as Bruce Wayne in a live action Batman Beyond movie. Batman Beyond was one of the best takes on Batman without rehashing the same old origin story that everyone goes back to. It focused on an old Bruce Wayne who used to be Batman with the mantle of the Dark Knight going to a young Terry McGinnis in the not so distant future. If that doesn’t give you a pants tent, well the internet has already started designing fake posters for this non-existent movie.

Then there are people who are doing the mental gymnastics around how this project could already be in the works. Theres been a TON of mystery and secrecy around Robert Pattinson’s upcoming Batman movie and mostly because nobody knows what its about. Especially after Ben Affleck’s script got thrown in the trash. So some people are theorizing that Pattinson could actually be playing Terry McGinnis with Keaton sliding in to play the older Bruce Wayne.

Sign. Me. Up.

And if you really wanted to fuck with people you could bring back Mark Hammil, who voiced the Joker in Batman the Animated Series and in some of the video games, for the fourth iteration of the Joker in the pasts decade.

Also, unrelated yet hilarious, a picture of Henry Cavill’s mustachioed Superman has finally leaked and it is glorious. Honestly, for all the dark tones these DC movies tried to force down our throats, maybe a man of steel with a flavor savor wouldn’t have been the worst thing.

Now that we’ve gone through DC’s latest rumors, lets head on over to the big kid on the block in the MCU.

In his new role as Creative Czar of Marvel, Kevin Feige is reportedly rebooting all of the Marvel TV shows that had mixed results. This comes as no surprise after each of the Marvel Netflix shows was slowly and methodically cancelled. Some like Daredevil and the Punisher were legitimately great shows and others like Iron Fist I could not make it through the pilot. Now its a real shame that Marvel plans to reboot these shows because it just makes the whole Netflix Marvel era feel like a waste of time. (Ironically enough thats been DC’s fundamental flaw forever) HOWEVER, there are now rumors circulating that while Feige will indeed reboot these shows he wants to keep some of the key actors in these roles.

“Our sources – the same ones who recently brought us accurate scoops such as Wiccan will debut in WandaVision, General Ross will appear in She-Hulk and the Inhumans will show up in Ms. Marvel – say that the Man Without Fear is likely to be played by Charlie Cox again. From what we understand, Feige still wants Cox as Daredevil, Jon Bernthal as the Punisher and a few more actors to reprise their roles, but for the most part, the TV characters will all be recast and whether they’re brought to life by a new performer or not, they’ll all be rebooted, with the super producer basically wanting to wipe Marvel TV’s efforts from continuity/existence.”

That is nothing more than a whisper in the wind, but that would be incredible and not to mention entirely unprecedented. I can’t think of one instance of a show or movie getting rebooted with the same actor returning to the role. That would be like Jared Leto and his weird, hoodrich version of the Joker reprising his role in the Todd Philips’ dark, grounded, gritty standalone film.

Don’t mess with me, internet message boards. These rumors are too good to not be true.

 

Dread It, Run From It, Pirates’ Joe Musgrove’s Infinity Gauntlet Glove Arrives All the Same

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Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same.

Despite having all 6 Infinity Stones at their disposal, Joe Musgrove and the Pirates are still in last place and 13 games out of the playoffs.

This is an A+ glove design though and just goes to show how much more exposure MLB could gain amongst younger viewers if they just lightened up a little bit. Obviously this glove would never fly in a real game, but Musgrove was allowed to break it out for Players Weekend. Normally Players Weekend is basically just an excuse for the MLB to act like a couple wild and crazy guys…

…by putting nicknames on the back of team jerseys.

That is of course unless you are a humorless stiff who hates fun like the Yankees’ Brett Gardner, who simply put “Gardner” on the back of his Players Weekend jersey.

He’s probably a fun guy to talk to at parties.

Anyways, if MLB would relax some of its stuffier rules, let players express themselves, and oh maybe chill out with the Gestapo social media policy that takes down every video that makes its way onto the internet, then they would be on to something. I will say, as bad as MLB is at social media, no one is worse than FIFA. I’ve only gotten two C&D’s in my Twitter career and they both came from FIFA after tweeting out videos of players scoring and celebrating. The horror.