All the news that's unfit to print
Peter David is currently hospitalized having suffered a heart attack and a number of strokes. He previously suffered from a stroke in late 2012 and recovered. He now has medical bills building up due to these recent health complications. Therefore, a GoFundMe has been established to assist with all the expenses. I send Mr. David and his family my best wishes and hope everything works out okay.
Note: This review contains spoilers for the plot, or what there is of it.
First off, there was a, "Modern Warfare 2," game in 2009 but I'm talking about the 2022 version. If you are confused that is perfectly okay. For those of you familiar with the, "Call of Duty," franchise, it has focused on conflicts from World War II, to possible future wars, to the modern-ish day. Some of the games are a bit insightful and at times have an interesting message to impart about war and its futility--nothing close to, "Spec Ops: The Line," but something. "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II," doesn't have much of a message besides, "America, Love it (and Some Allies) or Go to Hell in Cool Fiery Explosions."
This is a game where a bunch of bad buzzwords have teamed up to put the United States in danger via a Mad-Libs-styled team of Iranian terrorists, Mexican cartels, and Russia (depending on the era of the Call of Duty games Russia is a friend or huge foe). To combat this mix of dangers it falls upon America along with some other friendly troops (a Brit named Ghost, a Scottish fellow named Soap, and some, "Good," Mexicans who aren't corrupt among other random folks). The result is a big and dumb jingoistic action movie where rules keep the good guys from getting the job done and sometimes they have to violate international laws in the name of freedom. It's a cynical paradox but one that is never actually thought about in any deep manner. This is a game that views the World through a prism of good, evil, and little else. Ed Smith of Polygon called it, "A masterpiece in the worst way." That said, even something vapid and visceral can be admittedly mindless fun.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," is a series of moments and vague political gesturing in search of a plot. There are people who hate our freedom and want to destroy us, we have to go after them before they can hurt us, morals be damned. Should our efforts to stop bad guys result in cool night-vision shoot-outs, hopping truck to truck on a dusty highway, or raiding an oil tanker in a blinding rainstorm (it looks great on the PS5), then all the better. Will there be the usual betrayal halfway through where someone who you thought was on your side turns out to be evil? Well yeah, this is a, "Modern Warfare," game!
This is where I give the one, count it one, piece of credit that is due to, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." Another villain in the game turns out to be a private military company/PMC. Anyone who is familiar with these entities knows they are basically mercenaries who can be hired by any country and follow none of its laws/rules of engagement. At first, you work with them but then they turn out to be jerks, and the fact that this game takes any stand at all beyond the usual, "Pro-war, pro-intervention," one and says that maybe PMCs are bad is at least...well, not admirable, but something, maybe?
For real though, if you want to read up on some history when it comes to America and PMCs a whole lot of shady stuff can be found (just Google, "Blackwater," for starters). At least this game takes a stand of sorts that hiring people to fight your wars could be a bad idea (I mean, the, "Metal Gear Solid," series touched on this years ago, of course, but at least this game is doing the bare minimum in one element). I agree with Claire Jackson of Kotaku in observing that once Shadow Company is revealed as a villainous entity the game gets a bit more interesting story-wise, although I was entertained by some of the bombastic parts in the earlier segments--you hang upside down from a Helicopter at one point by a rope shooting at terrorists, it's zany.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," is generally as deep as a muddy puddle. Just like a puddle, it provides an ugly reflection of one way to view the World. Puddles can be fun to jump around in, however, splashing about and having a good time. Still, you eventually need to go back inside and wash all the grime off. I had fun with this game, but I'm ready to rinse the cynicism and its simplistic messaging of, "Us-versus-them," away. I imagine there are real people who view international politics with a rhetoric as reductive and spiteful as this game, but I honestly hope they are kept as far away from any real power as possible.
4 out of 5 stars in regards to fun.
1 out of 5 stars when it comes to having an actual message.
I hate holiday car/truck commercials. Unless your bank account is flush with cash I can't imagine most people just randomly surprising their partner or family with a car. The most annoying version of this ad is the one where the man surprises his lady with a puppy by whistling before she then whistles and reveals he gets a truck. It's just dumb. You should always talk with a partner/family before randomly getting a pet or vehicle. Both are expensive and both are a responsibility. The latest version of the ad can be seen at this link, but it has been around for a chunk of years. I recall how, "Saturday Night Live," skewered these advertisements with its own parody a couple of years ago. Check it out:
Now that's an ad!
I wrote earlier this month about how AWA was expanding their comic distribution beyond Diamond to also work with Lunar. I discussed how it seemed like there was a trend where--if I may quote myself--"I'm pretty sure these publishers who are sticking with Diamond but also willing to work with Lunar and/or PRH are hedging their bets on Diamond's comic division folding or otherwise not being used by a chunk of stores." Now, Mad Cave Studios will be working with Lunar as well as Diamond. More publishers expanding to other distributors. Bets are getting hedged.
I honestly think that even if folks hate Diamond, they do need them for the distribution of a chunk of stuff, but ever since 2020 (which seems like eons ago) Diamond has lost its once firm grip on the comic distribution market as the sole entity. As long as Image and a variety of other publishers stick with Diamond as their sole distributor their comic division will struggle along. Plus, many comic and comic/collectible stores will need Diamond for a variety of items besides comics. Still, times are rapidly changing.
Next month we will get a ton of, "Spawn," variant covers to celebrate the character's 30th anniversary this year of 2022 (yep, 1992 was 30 years ago, which makes me feel old). There will be a lot of variant covers from Image--where Todd McFarlane created Spawn--and a whole bunch from DC. The ones at DC are because there is that big new crossover coming up between Spawn and Batman, so why not have a bunch of covers featuring Spawn with other DC heroes/villains? It is kind of fun, but man, that is a lot of Spawn.
I recently was in a discussion on Reddit with folks when someone posted how they loved the artwork in Spawn comics but found the writing to be painful. I commented that I weirdly enough really like Spawn stories not written by McFarlane. That sounds odd, but I have a fondness for the, "Hellspawn," series Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Niles wrote with Ashley Wood and Ben Templesmith doing the artwork. I also liked the crossover with WildC.A.T.S. that was written by Alan Moore of all people and considered hokey and dumb by some, but I feel it has a silly charm. Again though, when McFarlane himself writes his creation, I tune out any text and simply enjoy the artwork.
Do we need so many, "Spawn," covers? Probably not. Are some clever and do many of them look quite pretty? Yes, yes they do. These covers are like a lot of, "Spawn," content, frankly. A ton of style and minimal examples of substance. Just enjoy the pretty pictures and move along, in other words.
I was reading an article by Kyle Turner on, "Paste," that doesn't argue so much that, "Die Another Day," was good, but had some interesting ideas. The movie came out in 2002 and I recall seeing it in theaters and another time some years later, but that was it. Hence, my memory of the flick is a bit foggy, but I can say it was not very good. Overreliance on CGI, a plot that leaned far too heavily in sci-fi for my liking, and just general messiness. However, one over-the-top element actually kind of works in retrospect. The big villain of the movie is a North Korean terrorist--Col. Sun-Tan Moon--and he's had ample gene therapy and plastic surgery to resemble a white British dude modeled after Pierce Brosnan's James Bond.
Going by the name Gustav Graves, he's able to gain power and respect now so that he can take those he hates (but resembles) down. As Turner observes in his article, "On a literal level, it’s fascinating and unsettling, racialization inverting itself and whiteness becoming a snake eating its own tail: Graves tells Bond that he modeled his persona after him, with, 'Unjustifiable swagger,' and, 'crass quips,' a funhouse mirror of the man whose love only extends to Queen and country." The big baddie is someone who exists basically as a mockery of everything James Bond is and stands for. That's such a surreal and strange idea that it is one part of the movie which actually kind of works even if to get there you need a bunch of made-up jargon about gene replacement and altering DNA.
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| Gustav Graves...or is he? |
Someone hates Bond and the UK so much that he basically becomes an extreme and nearly parodic version of what he despises and finds himself beloved for it. The whole thing is a bit like when Max and Leo try to make a play so bad it'll bomb in, "The Producers," but they end up with a massive hit because the result is so absurd that the concept strangely works. It's just that in, "Die Another Day," we don't get, "Springtime for Hitler," we get a North Korean terrorist who transforms himself into a WASP-y Brit.
Don't get me wrong, "Die Another Day," is still pretty low on my list of Bond movies I've seen (The Daniel Craig-led, "Casino Royale," is probably my all-time favorite), but I'll admit it does at least one thing that is interesting and clever along with all the less entertaining stuff. To be fair, Halle Berry does what she can with her role as Bond's latest fling, but if you want Berry giving her all in a genre flick, I'd recommend, "Swordfish," anytime over this movie.
If you're in America or its territories, you might be celebrating Thanksgiving today. Should you be doing so I hope you have a fun holiday and eat plenty of tasty food. If you're the person preparing the food, don't forget to give yourself a break as well. I'll be chilling with Samii and Clarkson as well as my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, so it'll just be a pretty relaxed day. Have a good one, everybody!
Earlier this year I made a post discussing how I was not a fan of Beyonce's song, "Break My Soul." I found it to be a rare misstep, but now with, "Cuff It," getting popular I can say that is a tune I enjoy. It's catchy, has peppy and sexy lyrics, and makes me wanna groove. "Cuff It," has a bit of a retro vibe with the funky guitar and horns straight out of a 70's jam, but doesn't feel like a wholesale rip-off that way, "Break My Soul," was reminiscent of a mediocre house music song. Have a listen:
That's a darn good song right there. I knew even if, "Break My Soul," let me down something else would be a return to form, and "Cuff It," is quite great.
I watched the Netflix mini-series, "Pepsi, Where's My Jet?" over the weekend and it was delightful. The mini-series chronicles over four episodes how a man named John in his 20's sued Pepsi for a Harrier jet back in the 1990s. It was advertised as if it were a part of an ad campaign where you could use Pepsi points to get a t-shirt, glasses, a bag, or (theoretically) a jet. As Pepsi did not advertise the jet as being a joke (at first) this led to a very real case when John submitted money for Pepsi points (with assistance from an investor and friend named Todd) and requested his jet.
The documentary approaches all of this madness with a nice lighthearted tone and is quite fun. At just four episodes it doesn't stretch the story out too much either as interviews with former advertising pros, Pepsi execs, lawyers, and plenty of discussion with John himself. If you don't know whether John eventually got his jet (or money equal to its value) I won't spoil the ending, but even if you do know how everything shook out the story is still worth hearing and seeing in this great little documentary.
5 out of 5 stars.
