3m3c

I don’t want to disguise tonight.  Smile in your eyes.  Beautiful lines around the eyes.  Want to remember that exactly as it was.  Red wine on top and white underneath.  Did not recognize.  Streaks.  Butterscotch.  You didn’t recognize me?  coffee.  And water.  The classic drink that never goes out of style.  Everything disjoined now.  It all happens over and over again, sometimes in order, sometimes out of order and sometimes all at the same time.  top of the stairs.  Something happens.  Too scared to go down.  I’ll come back for you.  Ya regreso.  Not quite right.  But perfect.  Sorry.  You’re very colorado.  Walking back the questions.  He wants to ask everything but knows what a mistake that would be.  I would like to be your friend.  but friendship isn’t possible.  That makes me very comfortable.  Brujeria.  Witchcraft.  Black magic.  Playful black magic.  Sexy.  Incredible.  Wonderful.  Flirt.  Little by little.  Tease.  In a circle.  That felt right.  Mini skirt.  If you want you can wear a mask.  Perhaps made of lace.  With the pole on the floor.  This did not come to pass.  Same breathing method.  The ice cream will set you back.  Fruit and chocolate.  I just want to stay there forever.  Furtive glances.  I don’t know anything anymore.  Then at the end the long walk and the desire to do it all over again.  This moment is forever sealed.  It exists and it doesn’t.  this is a precious thing.  And everything is you.  Wanting to hug.  Don’t lean in.  laughing genuine.  Inside the car and nothing makes sense anymore.  There is more life than time.  what does she do?  Need to walk it off.  There was no sin here.  But that may not be what he wanted.  One in a different direction.  Perfect smile.  Laugh at me if you please.  Ukuleles and brass when he thinks of you.  Making love in the ocean.  Swimming together.  Light of the moon.  He ran to get you out.  Out of his system. Outside of his mind.  To keep each other warm.  A hug.  Never can happen.  But if only.  I have to apologize.  I can hear the fingers slide across the strings and this is you.  I want to know all the tastes.  I want to know every moment.  I want to experience every new thing and re-experience everything from before but now anew.  Hushed and then laughing.  Arm in arm, hand in hand, no, this never happened.  Only in the ultraviolet dreams.  Walk the...quoting now, where you held me in that night.  Paid the price.  Can’t forget…the crooked…wonderfully crooked but I can’t say a word.  The feeling of desire.  The wish to give in to desire. To be in the sun with you.  To see the sun on your face and watch the ocean kiss your feet.  Hands clasped.  You’ll come back for me.  is that friendship a possibility?  The future is not exactly the right phrase.  Already the best wishes are being thrown out and he cannot bring himself to depart.  A shoulder.  This is what he asks himself over and over again.  There is an indestructible chain.  Don’t worry about anything else.  No sin yet.  Everything is imagined and beautiful.  This word again beautiful.  He tells her that she is beautiful.  But no, this never happened either.  Family.  Story of the brother.  A similar fear.  Comraderies.  Where was he in that moment?  Worried because everything was too real.  In the elevator now.  One hand so close to another.  The wind pushes me home.  And now exhausted and nothing in between us.  Everything now through the glass.  This will one day all be gone but for now it feels so good for him to live and swim inside of it.  Outrunning it.  Can never happen.  That moment with the smile in your eyes.  Sing your name into the night.  A queen.  Where are we going to leave our love?  I want the warm rain to wash it away.  I want to be swept up in it.  He wonders everything.  He wonders how everything will feel.  Never find out.  These are such small moments, gone the second they begin.  But they are infinity.  They are everything forever.  Please forgive the endless longings.  I’ve ruined everything as usual.  No betrayal. I’ve never fallen into the ocean.  I see you at sunset.  Never compromise the one thing above all else.  It’s all the difference in what you’ve seen day after day.  Otherwise I am nothing.  Those moments will live on and on and travel up to the stars.  Never utter a word about the free form.  Leave it all inside the night.  I could fall in love.  Leave all the love inside the night.  The tide will carry it out.  Fingers touching lips.  Hands so close.  Everything is temptation.  We’ve already fallen in love.  Smile and its everything.  The love is already here. It is real and lasts forever.  I miss things that were never true.  He cannot plan for another moment.  I want to get every detail but how many are already lost to the universe.  I hope somewhere I can see it all over again.  Sitting on the table.  Envy.  Inanimate objects.  We are all like astronauts.  Message with a rose.  And the morning smelled so good and it was all imagined.  A secret inner existence.  What are we all hiding from one another?  There is nothing more fascinating.  Longing.  Some things can never be repeated.  We’ll take everything day by day.  I keep going to places where you have been.  The places have a strong vibrant and wonderful memory of your presence.  I’m seeing the echoes of you.  I’m hearing your voice in the walls and retracing your steps and imagining myself there in all those former moments that we will never be able to recover.  The entire lives we will lead and leave behind.  Everything we will ever do.  All the choices we’ve made and all the chances we will never have to make things right. 

Will I be seeing another at the costume ball?  I miss you dreadfully. 

mill7(going back probs but hopes that today of the two the one shown is the one which is everything to me!)

After spending so much time in the treme it felt hip and fresh to return to my old Y2k fears.  No, that doesn’t make any sense.  I’m already off my game.  I don’t know if it was the time away and apart or what but this just felt great and is one of my faves of this initial lucky number.  It would be right near the top!  I spotted or maybe imagined but I think I spotted some great allusions to a manhunter (not a martian one, mind you) and another lucky number though the same lucky number as I previously mentioned.  Prints and blue.  Deep blues.  Love color.  Man’s color (not the man we’re thinking of but a man but another consonant is necessary).  It opens with a word(s) from one of the new four which is always a risky prospect if you don’t have the goods with which to back it up.  If you don’t bring your A plusses as a Danish man might say.  And though I’m not sure anything could have lived up to that particular selection I do believe the themes introduced prior were neatly carried over.  It all added up.  Catherine remains a warm and necessary presence and I enjoyed her increased involvement here and hope that will continue.  I am going to throw some meat down near the dogs to distract them whilst I go looking for the correct scrap heap.  I’m not sure if my plan will work though.  Dogs always get the better of him in the end.  I sense I should have anticipated the denouement but I give peanut butter kudos to the team that I did not and suspect my deep involvement and very specific trickery with lenses prevented this from happening.  I don’t know that I can fully parse out or agree with the motivating conclusion but I was with the entirety of the thing so I can accept it (like a tank of compressed air).  However the ultimate ultimate black magic marker in newsprint conclusion I can fully 100% parse out and accept and once more I left with troubling conclusion that I am unsane (sinks down in his seat again).  Don’t let my troubling self realization blind anyone from the fact that this was a fully quite good three-fourths of an hour and again, thus far ranks at the very top (hey, wasn’t he shattered after being frozen in ice by a captain?).  that newspaper was so troublingly realistic.  Harmless psychopath.  Or am he?  Why did you have to use that word?  Still hung up on things, eh?  Someone remembered just yesterday as I was drinking a couple of doves.  My fingers were sticky with salt.  Used to be during the week, long time, how was he noticed?  Everyone notices.  There was The Angry One.  in blue but not The Rhapsody in Blue but invading thoughts and now everywhere and Diana the Huntress was enough but not enough and like the Jade Pendant life circles back around on itself.  Will be enough later on though.  And there was black, everything was black from the troubled morning to replacement of magenta and a sore neck and a lot of caffeine  (go on and wring my neck, no, that’s the wrong one but the word kinda relates).  It’s starting over again and I regret that and I don’t and I regret everything and I don’t.  at least there was the one – stradlin – which did not return.  Very nearly.  And upon re-entry I considered doubling down, double or nothing as the kids used to say.  Why not?  I am no longer in control.  That’s another ten dollars to lightning larry.  All money well spent of course.  Justice without shoes.  And all at once the answer was upon me.  it would be the perfect synthesis.  Such a short amount of time and I can bleat and blather away.  Must make oblique references.  And now I see about the brains. Now I understand and I sense the sublimity deep within.  It all makes sense now.  I don’t think I’ll eat burritos today though.  But yes, so inspiring.  Fourteen times two.  And now I must return to the place of strange medicine. Everything appears twice and yet it is all so brief.   Does he dare go for a custom job?  Does he dare plunk down that seafood.  The place of strange medicine was still home to the T-doppelganger.  Nothing had changed.  He lost control again (oh hooky).  You know, I really like that silverman film I just watched.  Actually it was the second time I watched it but I really like it.  Two digital facsimiles of love and sex in one day.  Careful, your true colors are starting to show.  I need more off right now and I am going to remedy that immediately while also shipping over a vampire and a ballerina.  I forget an exclamation mark in the last sentence but it was actually implied.  How said that he went looking for The Icy One and came up short.  And in the end everything was so hopelessly flaccid.  The Jackal again.  And now Zeuxis leaving us.  Somehow it all makes sense.  The morning was empty.  None of this information is relevant.  I have really learned nothing.  But it’s all calm for the time being.  Who knows how it will look tomorrow.  It’s 1915 that is so important to me.  and aspects of what follows.  I’ll repeat that number in my mind with a bifurcating punctuation.  On the medical path.  But thank the heavens not leaving behind this other life.  Please let us be reunited today.  Do you understand what I am saying?  I look up to the sky.  Putting on act.  That sounds not nice but it is necessary while we’re out on the floor.  I don’t understand anything.  Rocks.  But that is not the correct spelling.  Pink dreadlocks.  And the sweet sounds of strangulation.  Really liking bad brains, I say to myself apropos of nothing.  Maybe I’ll buy a book later.  Would now be the right time to book my flight to Fairbanks, Alaska?!  THAT is the question.  Maybe I’ll live.  Or maybe I’ll just live in my room (which is the color electric blue).  The Little Star returning was, is and shall be everything to me.  stop counting down the days, motherfucker (reverse this and there is a sly generational (new) reference).  Oh no, this is all reborn.  Commentary on the police officer garb.  Yes father, I shall become a piece of shit.  What crashed through my window just then?!

place to place (how many?!), remain, stained, all...where's my little tape recorder?!

It’s extremely likely that I will be waking up on a bed with deep red sheets very soon.  There will also be red curtains.  And a river outside which reminds me of another river.  I find that I know less….

So the end was nothing he (I?) could have expected.  you’re just a…with grey eyes, never mind….  The lesson and mercy.  Everything was mercy at first and I should have been thankful but I was only desiring sin and soon enough my awful prayer was answered.  But in the midst of that sin he found an unexpected fragility and truth.  How could this be happening?  Why did you use the F word?  But was it at once robbed of the betrayal as the connection was renewed.  Mayhaps that does not make a lick of sense.  This has invaded into the beyond.  There is the center and now this vile thing is reaching beyond, straight to the heart.  Why was this confession made?  What could this possibly mean?  This is advancement.  This is far beyond.  This is true terror and mockery, laughing madly at our easily stolen mortality.  But the first is to come very soon.  Need to take advantage of every moment possible.  I am sorry. 

You’ve been with us for a long time now.  Why did you use that word?  We are on a train somewhere and I rescue you from a fatal sequence that I began.  Of course, a keep a bottle of Jack in my jacket pocket.  Or do I?  surely, you must have something heavily stocked nearby.  This was so much more acidic because it did not have your touch.  Fourth round knockout, know what I’m saying?  I would smile with pride and mistake everything.  Later on it would be so clear and I would be cheering on the beach.  One betrayal after another.  I consider you…  I think of you…   what does any of this mean.  Always changing the dialogue so the betrayal remains one sided.  The seam was just like something else.  We’re awful (me and me).  Awful.  I was and am very thirsty. 

Been a month.  Was it really such a short amount of time?  I have lost all perception of time.  I exist in the past, present and future all at once and I am always a failure.  Succumbing.  No resistance and in the end there was glorious near suffocation and there was relief and there was hate rightly directed at one specific person.  You were hiding.  I was hiding.  Somewhere the image was captured but everything lies through the glass.  I don’t know who the hell I think I am anymore.  Now I laugh and cry at the same time.  this does not make sense.  This is happening.  That’s what I know.  This is happening.  Why use the word? 

Everything was renewed again and far grimmer than ever before.  I am an invasion.  Two separate invasions going on, two entirely separate assaults.  Please forgive.  I told you I would….  You’re…right?  Puzzlement and then clarity.  Yes, I will.  Is this right?  Then the word came.  You’re very welcome.  You’re hiding.  Don’t know the name but young.  Not young, no, that’s not right.  Not young but not old.  Not young but still too young.  And now to the maritime city.  And I hope we shall not be washed away in a wave of red.  Not you and not you.  Me?  fine.  Whatever.

And then it was all upon him.  Such resistance but then such screaming.  Down the throat.  The massive mechanical arm.  Thrust into the air and then down again.  Drowning inside the body.  This is the body politic.  This is the wandering….  Everywhere, black everywhere.  I have failed over and over again because I am terrible.  The electricity everywhere….  Gaze upon the…thy….  Straight to the back and what does this mean with so much caffeine, I’m sick, have a nice day, drive safe, oh wait just kidding.  Very professional.  And the glorious conveyor belt.  I’ve seen her in action.  She’s a monster.  Then into the mouth and this is glory. This is everything he could ever desire.  The word choice is always so important but why that word?  The smile.  Please forgive me everyone.  The screaming again and in the back again, piercing the back this time, gritted teeth.  Grabbing the head and writhing.  Didn’t even break a sweat, eh?  I know, I know.  Reaching up, last ditch, then falling and then ripping and crashing.  These things are all happening at once over and over again and it is so delicious (do you remember that word?  Yes, but why the use of the other one?!).  multiple parties, so much presence.  There is The One of Ice, the Red Devil, another who for now has no moniker except the real one (and small fences) and of course The Rhapsody in Blue who sends everything crashing down again and causes everything and provokes everything and pushes every button and is the cause of all the great ecstasy and screaming and such lovely suffocation.  His knees were weak.  And then we go back and we drown.  Can I do this without it being hypocritical?  Will this be genuine or will it be a sin?  I wanted to go to the park earlier but it rained.  You never know.  Another trip tomorrow.  Another trip but the same trip and more shear lunacy.  All these languages.  A long path to the sunset.  Was it a lie?  That would be the most glorious thing of all.  So richly appropriate.  I deserve nothing less than a lie.  I know less and less….  Where did I put my tape recorder?  I would never change the blue.  The Rhapsody in Blue. 

I will very likely need to Tilt and go Outside today.  Woman at heart.  It’s difficult to believe.  Also, I love the new Nails song, very VERY Bowie esque, very Blackstar and something else I just mentioned.

I think it is starting all over again.  My fault.  Damnation.  Why that word? 

I will see you at the costume ball again very soon.  I miss you dreadfully. 

the colors explain everything to those who...tues again is good...

What will be the theme of today?  I think I have a pretty good idea and I thinks it will be failure.  But maybe not!  It’s all up in the damn air right now!  The little star has returned and thusly some semblance of meaning in my life has returned as well.  The only meaning in which I am permitted.

I’ve been renewing my love with the ol’ horizontal black and whites lately.  It’s been a worthy experience and I think it may lead to great things.  no one has ever considered me to be a world class plate spinner.  I’m just Ricardo, failure extraordinaire.  I was walking down the streets of spain and the paparazzos wouldn’t leave me alone.  Wait, no, that was someone else.  I’ve been spending a great deal of time down in the treme recently and find it to be very satisfying.  That team has not let me down yet.  I need to make the rounds to a few pawn shops and see if my trombone has been recovered.  Then I’ll eat some fried food.  Been listening to The Germs recently.  And a lot more of The Ramones.  Watched a great Altman movie the other day.  My Brando impression cannot compare.  Green.  I bought a Scrooge McDuck comic book the other day but I’ve not yet made the time to read it.  Soon I hope to rectify this error. 

The real question is whether or not I am willing to attempt that 37 hour drive.  Were I younger man it would already be a foregone conclusion but time stops for no one.  still, I picture that far away meeting amongst siblings and crawfish.  Who knows what would happen and why but I imagine a nice peaceful walk where the air smells clean and the lights of bars and ships guide our way.  Ah, the discussion, the misheard words.  The sweet poetry inherent in the laws of accounting and of course multiple languages neither one of us really understand.  Let us not forget the archaic writing.  Or that brave soul electrocuted and then bodily slammed onto a conveyor belt. That was always the fantasy. And white belts.  And white collared shirts and ties.  Hair dye.  Different and lovely and then dark again.  Homemade pastries.  There is no chance for a new beginning for anyone.  Turning dangerous. 

Of course, if I haven’t already expressed my extreme excitement that The Vampire and the Ballerina is finally receiving it’s blu ray release next week then that I was mistake.  I will order it, pay for next day shipping and then watch it 17 times in a row while sipping cognac.  I am eager to add this to my collection.  Apropos of nothing, I am regretful that I never paid for a headscissors session.  So many regrets.  I love music but I don’t have a lick of musical talent.  Tom Waits, love his stuff.  Love Haim’s albums too.  Maybe I’ll go for a midday jog?

You have been so good.  Why break things now?  That is the question to everything.  But really, have you been good?  Caffeine surges through the rivers of life!  I don’t know even know what anything means any more but I was down by law.  It was in paris that I most properly utilized a stick of butter. 

You see, he can resist the one but the other one – the Rhapsody in Blue – is so much harder. Do you understand the mental and emotional addiction taking place?  You are unsane.  That is you, right there shrinking down in your seat.  You are the terrible thing no one wants to see.  They say I can’t be killed!  They say I drink blood!  I was all alone and then the party came.  I am goat.  Goat am I but unfortunately I cannot use my special goat powers to get me out of this situation.  I’m going to read the book Annihilation and maybe another book or two before re-reading The Stand.  Then I’m going to stand. 

White cotton.  Ah, but of course there is another, always another says he.  Dock hands.  Red devil.  Nothing adds up anymore.  Balanced precariously while the steps cover the face.  I try the best I can but the best I can is not (ever) enough.  I need to go the craft store soon and pick up some craft stuff.  Yes, it really is a question of brute strength isn’t it.  These words are all meaningless.  Cash back.  The sun was in my eyes.  Mayhaps Ballard has the answer.  I adored that Bukowski book I read and promptly purchased 7 more.  That’s too bad man, I’ll pray for em.  The ending that I thought was the ending was no more.  Love the new nails.  it sounds so very much like the blackstar.  That should never be confused with the little star (the most but also the most.).  hope I didn’t miss my chance.  

Though I’ve come to realize I don’t really need much of anyone.  I would rather never leave my room.  Shear will on the horizon again.  I’ve seen her in action, she’s a monster.  And then comes the screaming.  Voice inside the inside comforting and admonishing.  Everything is planned days and weeks and years in advance.  Something is so cold now and I fear it may never unthaw.  Once the club is willing to let you in it’s no longer fun to be a member.  My own personal touch.  Pink drink with a cherry on top.  I will stay after they leave.  I am awful. 

Yes, it seems he cannot keep from sinning.  Of course it is all his own choice.  And things may yet work out for the best.  Do you recall…?  Peanut butter.  That always the password.  No, password isn’t quite right.  It was a key word but also a code word.  It with that the kingdom and every soul within was lost.  It was orange at the beginning as I recall.  The color of insanity.  Or course, I think as my head goes light, how utterly proper. 

So back at the beginning again.  Meanwhile, back at the old wrench.  After a long hard sweaty day’s work.  red devil.  And the one made out of ice.  Stand on your tiptoes to….  The Rhapsody…why does it always come back to…I miss you dreadfully…forgiveness not forthcoming. 

AIW Review (Part 5 of 5, final 1024 words)

They leave me overall feeling indifferent and for some reason that bothers me more when it comes to an artistic endeavor.  And like I said with Black Panther with black kids and black audiences and Wonder Woman with little girls and female audiences, I do genuinely like that there is a universe of largely positive characters that kids can enjoy and that audiences overall can grow with and love.  I just wish I felt the same and was as taken by them. 

A real quick aside before finishing: regarding DC and any bias….  I would hope my Smallville rant shows that I can be objective with DC properties (though maybe my thoughts on Nolan’s Batman movies tipped the scale back in the other direction tee hee though I could also throughout a possible Marvel bias on the part of some fans who seem to give a free pass to anything in a Marvel movie but would castigate the exact same thing in a non-Marvel movie) but here’s some quick reminders: I largely hate Superman Returns (sorry, I really don’t say that in a mean way at all, I tried so hard with that one), I hate Green Lantern and while I guess I don’t outright hate Suicide Squad I can’t call it anything other than a humongous mound of steaming dog crap!  I would probably rather watch any Marvel movie over those (with a few exceptions like Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World…maybe the Guardians movies).  And though I do like Man of Steel I would say the Supergirl TV series has far and away done a much much better job at capturing the spirit of Superman and his mythology than anything in his current movies (and Returns). 

Also, if I gave you the impression that I think Justice League is a good movie then I apologize.  It definitely is not.  But I would (sorry) put Infinity War and Justice League on about on the same level.  Infinity War is definitely much more competently made but the end result still leaves me feeling about the same.  They just have different types of problems (though a couple of the same ones, I really don’t see much difference in Thanos going from place to place to get a stone and Steppenwolf going from place to place to get a box and from a story standpoint in and of itself I don’t think either should get a free pass).  That makes sense to me since its clear WB/DC was trying very hard to model that after a Marvel movie (intentionally copying a successful purely commercial property always yields great art). 

Also, keep in mind I love Spider-Man and growing up I read just as much of him as I did Batman.  I still think the first two Spider-Man movies are great (3 is terrible) and I would put those well ahead of most of the current Marvel Universe movies.  The point being is that I think it’s the style I’m chaffing against, not the company or characters.  AND there are some Marvel universe movies I really like!  I do think the first Avengers is a great popcorn movie as you put it (though that term has come to mean something ugly to me.  Are Nolan’s Batman movies popcorn movies?  If so, I want more like that.  Does a popcorn movie mean light, breezy and not challenging or thoughtful?  Is there a relation between a movie’s intelligence level and how much it is a popcorn movie?).  But for sure The Avengers is a great adventure!  I think it got by in part on the innovation (I didn’t even use the word novelty!) of the then budding shared cinematic universe and seeing so many heroes together but it was extremely well done and exhilarating and everyone had their moment and I would easily say it is an essential superhero movie. 

I do think every Avengers/group movie since has merely tried to outdo it by adding more characters and not a better story and I think that’s also a major problem for me with Infinity War: that innovation is only awe inspiring the first time.  I get what people mean when they talk about the ambition of Infinity War but just adding more characters and effects does not make it more impressive to me.  Yes, the brothers Russo film more actors and effects each time.  But it would be infinitely more impressive if each (or at least some) of those characters had arcs as opposed to just appearing and throwing a punch.  Plus, Robert Altman already made the huge ensemble thing with movies like Short Cuts!

BUT more positive stuff: I think the first Iron Man movie is still a very good origin film!  I think Winter Soldier is nearly great.  It dips at the end but it is overall very strong and DOES do some different things with the formula.  I’ve already spoken highly about Black Panther.  I also like Spider-Man Homecoming quite a bit and – while I don’t think it really touches the original two Spider-Man movies (not crazy about the Stark scenes) – I do think the current Spidey is the best.  And I have nothing bad to say about Ant-Man!  That’s right near the top for me!  And lest we forget that the X-Men are Marvel properties as well and I still love X2 and I would say Logan is a truly great film (and one where death and violence actually means something)! 

But if you want a biased statement here goes: I love Wonder Woman more than any of those movies I’ve just mentioned and I’m quite sure that when Wonder Woman 2 comes out next year it will have a far more interesting and thematically rich story than anything in Infinity War 2 or whatever it will be called!

So…that’s all I got! 

Quick Summation: If I had to watch Infinity War or Justice League all the way through again I’d probably pick Justice League just because it’s shorter (it also has a better score: Danny Elfman beats Alan Silvestri every time!  Though strange that Elfman’s score for Age of Ultron was so unmemorable…hmmm…)! 

AIW Review (Part 4 of 5, 1094 more words)

Now about that ending....  I will say right now, this very moment, I do not care how they come back. Whichever one of the stones does it or whoever or whatever does it (I’m guessing that other gauntlet the giant dwarf had will come in handy), whatever.  I will also say this however: one of the (many) things I utterly despised about Star Trek Into Darkness was the horrible contrivance of Khan’s blood being able to resurrect the dead (or I guess just Kirk).  That movie had too many fatal blows for me to ever fully come around but I did resign myself to reevaluating it if the follow up movie explored that idea in an interesting way.  The idea of civilization now having access to something which could cure fatal diseases and resurrect freshly deceased people has HUGE potential for a genuinely interesting and intelligent sci-fi tale.  I told myself if they tapped into that, carried that beat forward and didn’t let it just die as a stupid plot contrivance then I would be less critical of Into Darkness.  Of course that did not happen at all and Star Trek Beyond was just another bland adventure trying to be Star Wars and with very little to offer (oddly, it also featured Idris in yet another useless role). 

So, again, I don’t currently care how they come back BUT if the Marvel team can tell an interesting story – if those “dead” characters are in some other dimension and have to go through some kind of emotional journey or if the path to the resurrection itself is an interesting (interesting in that it informs character and theme, if there is a theme) and DIFFERENT journey for the living heroes (sorta like The Search For Spock) or if there is one Avenger who looks at the world and realizes “you know, Thanos was right, the planet is essentially at peace now that half the people are gone, maybe we shouldn’t be so fast to undo everything” – or something better that I can’t think of…I don’t care, I’m not asking the world, just ANYTHING which shows there’s some thought into emotional stakes and arcs, character growth, thematic depth and relevancy.  I don’t need a lot in these movies for it to go a long way because I am bleeping STARVED for it!  I think that’s why I had such a big positive reaction to Black Panther because it at least tried to put in some of that stuff and be relevant and say SOMETHING!  Just please try and say something and BE ABOUT SOMETHING!  I’ll give mad points for trying!  MAD BLEEPING POINTS!  Just a sprinkle of it!  Just a drop of it, even if it’s by accident! 

If they can make these deaths and resurrections have a cost or have meaning then I will re-evaluate Infinity War.  I give you my word!  But…like the season premiere of any year of Smallville from season 4 on I am guessing what I’ll get is a lot of easy fixes and everything neatly returned to the status quo with all the characters more or less the same and making jokes so they can churn out another 20 movies that all do roughly the same thing.  In keeping with the Marvel house style I’m sure it will look great (though not too distinct because it will still have to look like every other Marvel film), have a lot of flashy effects and lots of jokes by our male leads (I’m sure another member will graduate to full on Stark level comedian as well).  Oh, it will have Captain Marvel too per Nick Fury’s SOS so maybe that’ll shake things up. 

I recently told you that July marks the 10-year anniversary of The Dark Knight. I have great memories of that opening night but I won’t get into that here (however that story has been circulated in some extremely limited edition hard copies for the hardcore Ricardo collectors).  I know I also mentioned how I don’t think any superhero movie has managed to best or equal the dramatic heft and thematic depth of that movie and that most haven’t even come anywhere close to be as fully realized a piece of art as that film.  I used to say that with a sense of pride, being a big Batman fan.  Then I would say it with a bit of confusion, wondering why no one is trying anything ambitious from a storytelling perspective anymore with superhero stories.  I now say it with sadness and resignation.  Infinity War is the 19^th Marvel movie and I can’t foresee them changing their formula anytime soon and there’s no reason they should want to!  I’m obviously in the minority here as these movies are loved by many and make tons of money.  But much of Infinity War has faded from my memory already as these movies are quick to do and that overall makes me sad.  Where I used to think it was a bold and ambitious to launch a cinematic shared universe I now feel it is only those things as it applies to paychecks and effects budgets because the stories are as safe and inconsequential as they come.  

When I first saw Birdman I initially bristled at the cynicism director Alejandro Inarritu inserted about modern audiences and our drooling appreciation of empty spectacle.  But...more and more I am falling in line with the philosophy that movie seemed to be espousing.  Or at least I can understand it better.  To be clear, I definitely don’t put the Marvel films down with dreck like Transformers but I just wish all the ambition in effects and cramming as many characters as possible could go into story, theme, cinematography that fleshes out theme and character and story and an interesting score (Marvel is 1 for 18 on that front as I think Black Panther did try some interesting things with the music). 

I think what I have to accept is that these movies are not for me.  And that’s good!  All movies should not be made with the intention of pleasing Ricardo.  That would only result in the majority of the movie going public being unsatisfied.  I wish these were for me though.  I wish I could love them like so many people do and that I could have walked out pumped up like that couple.  I still do feel some excitement when they come out.  And…despite all the venom (THAT movie looks terrible) I’ve spewed during this email I do not hate these Marvel movies at all.  

AIW Review (Part 3 of 5, 1261 more words)

The structure for me was very tiring. Thanos goes from place to place, has a fight and wins a stone.  The action becomes draining fairly early on and I don’t think any of the action scenes were as good as the airport fight in Civil War.  And another climactic fight in Wakunda so soon (though to be fair I know this was more due to the scheduling but man!)!?  There has been some chatter about cross-cutting making this movie more exciting had it been utilized.  I say some because it does seem like most people are very pleased with it.  I agree this would definitely help, especially in the last half where it does just feel like one loooong fight followed by another with a looong break of Thor building an axe.  I get that with the structure of him finding one stone at a time it almost has to unfold this way but the scenes just feel splayed out and sometimes endless.  But, again, this problem likely stems from my foundational issue. 

Regarding the cast and our band of heroes I now see that every major character with time is going to be made to be another Iron Man.  With Stark, Dr. Strange, Star Lord, War Machine (when she shows up), and now Thor and even Bruce Banner we now have a team of middle aged men all trying to outdo one another with the jokes.  Every male character now must be modeled after Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal.  I’m sure with time (probably not much time) Black Panther will just be another yuckster and the ever bland Winter Soldier will be cracking wise left and right.  This is especially disappointing to me with Hulk as this is a character that can and does often carry with him a lot of pathos but now he is just YET ANOTHER punchline.  I get it.  Iron Man is popular. He has to appear in nearly every movie but does every character have to turn into him?!  I see this as yet another unsatisfying adherence to formula.  I also think Downey Jr. and a couple others appear increasingly bored with each film and despite his paychecks getting larger he is lending out ever smaller chunks of charisma with each new film.  I’m ready for him to be gone and part of that is because there is nothing left in his story at all to keep me interested (I would ask again what his or anyone’s story even means in this movie, like a continued cast member on a show who has nothing left to do but they have a contract so...) but I know that if/when he leaves there are now several Stark clones waiting to take his spot. 

I guess in the end I ultimately found this movie to be very…hollow.  It’s a difficult thing to review.  It comes and goes the team loses until the next movie and that’s it.  It would be almost impossible for this to stand on it’s own unless all someone wanted was a lot of whiz-bang action.  There were some things I like so I will go into this now before returning to another issue. 

I liked Dr. Strange more here than I did in his solo movie so maybe I can appreciate him better when he’s part of a team rather than having to carry the whole story.  I still don’t like his cape and it always makes me think of Aladdin’s Carpet or one of those talking inanimate objects from Beauty and the Beast.  Maybe that’s the point? 

The Red Skull cameo was neat and I liked that whole scene.  Gamora does look a tad foolish when she’s rubbing in Thanos’ face that he doesn’t love anything only to realize the truth a second before being pitched off the cliff.  BUT it’s still a strong scene.  And there is a nice little artistic flourish at the end after he snaps his fingers and sees her as a little girl and she asks what his victory cost him.  That actually might be my favorite moment in the movie.

CGI is not something I really care too much about unless its Sci-Fi Channel level bad.  All superhero movies have a combination of good and bad CGI (including this one) but there are certain scenes where Thanos looks fantastic and the detail on his face is often very impressive.  I love his color too.  He is overall a great visual. 

And overall I do like Thanos and he is easily one of the best villains in the Marvel cinematic universe (not a tall hurdle to clear but I am genuine in this compliment).  I still think Killmonger is quite a bit better and I probably like Vulture more too (could be the Keats factor but I think his motivation and character are clearer) so I’d probably put Thanos third.  His motivation is...interesting but I would again return to asking what any of it means thematically and wish they could spend more than 5 minutes on that sort of thing and take out some of the fighting.  An argument could be made that his plot is reflected in and fleshed out by the loss the Avengers are experiencing but that is badly undermined by the knowledge that they’ll all be coming back.  BUT as a big threat to this team he works and Josh Brolin is able to do a surprising amount of acting (probably the most of any actor in this movie) under all that CGI.  I think I’ve seen enough him though so I hope that he is more fleshed out if he’s going to take up equal screen time next year.  I also did like his story/history with Gamora.  Similar to Black Panther, I kept seeing glimpses of how great that story could be if it were it allowed the time to shine and explored but (for me) those things are undermined by the necessity of adhering to the house style. 

Captain America continues to be BY FAR my favorite character in the Marvel movies.  A huge chunk of that is likely because he is one of the remaining few male main characters who hasn’t been turned into another jokey Stark clone.  He has his humorous moments but they come from a different sort of angle which I appreciate.  I also just love how forthright and genuine he is (I think DC needs to take a cue from him on how to more properly write Superman in their movies).  And I did love how he was momentarily able to hold off Thanos through his sheer will and heroism at the end there!  Cap is given almost nothing to do in this movie (and I do think Chris Evans – like Robert Downey Jr. – looks increasing bored with each successive film) but that moment was probably my second favorite. 

Tom Holland did do well in Spider-Man’s death scene.  I think part of the reason it stood out is it was one of the few times any actor in this movie had to do something other than look stern.  He continues to be a very likable presence.  I don’t like his Iron Man Spider suit.  I didn’t like it in the comics either where it was introduced in Civil War.  Why doesn’t Tony just give everyone an Iron suit?! 

There was some nice subtle displays of each of the stone’s individual powers. 

I’m not a big Guardians fan and I never saw part 2 but Drax is funny here.  And Rubberband Man by the Spinners is a great song. 

AIW Review (Part 2 of 5, 1201 more words)

To be blunt: I don’t care about this story and it is because of the way this universe unfolds.  These characters – though some are quite likable just as in Smallville – do not have meaningful arcs with lasting changes either in their solo films or in the big team-ups.  I don’t believe in the stakes here.  Ever.   And it is because of the universe’s history and what just about every previous entry has proven to me which is that almost nothing matters, nothing really counts and the status quo will be maintained at all costs. 

This is shown in superficial ways across the entire series: SHIELD is destroyed in Winter Soldier but Nick Fury still has an extra non SHIELD ship lying around to help in Age of Ultron so there’s no real consequence of all the SHIELD screw-ups.  This is shown in problematic character ways: Age of Ultron introduces Wanda and Vision to do…what?  Do they matter at all?  Are they in any way interesting?  Does their story inform anyone’s growth or comment on anything?  How many of the villains throughout the entire series actually mattered or informed anything?  And this is shown in other character based ways: Spider-Man needs Stark there in Homecoming (to help sell tickets) and his entire arc is based around Stark telling him he’s not ready until at the end he’s offered a chance to be an Avenger. Then, they play those exact same beats in truncated form within Infinity War.  Will they do the same things in the next Spider-Man movie?  Will Tony and Steve’s rivalry and “break-up” ultimately mean anything?  War Machine is shot or something in Civil War but he’s fine again and flying around and has leg enhancements or something.  Will any of these relationships ever change or have consequences.  Will any of the love interests or romantic subplots matter? Having not seen Thor Ragnarok I knew that he gets his hammer busted and loses an eye.  But – just like Smallville, just like any long running TV show that must return – these things are unbelievably completely undone because he’ll find an even more powerful axe and gain a glass eye because how could we have our hunky Thor running around with a patch all the time?!  The changes can barely even last from movie to movie now!  You made a joke about it but I can’t find this style of storytelling to be anything other than infuriating and completely unsatisfying.  Granted, I still need to see that film and see what emotional arcs affect the growth in Thor’s character but he largely seems the same here (just more jokey, more on that in a moment) as he did in any other movie so I’m guessing there isn’t much. 

I never believed anyone important would die – again, based entirely on every other movie within this universe – and so I was never really caught up in this story because the only story being told here is a big baddie trying to kill everyone.  There is nothing else.  If death is the narrative hook and all previous entries have shown me that they are determined above all else to maintain the status quo then I am unfortunately unable to take any of these stakes seriously.  Maybe Loki is dead but I fully believe everyone else (including Gamora) is coming back.  And I have no attachment to Loki at this point and I have no reason to believe he’ll stay dead.  The deaths at the beginning (including Idris Elba who is always useless in movies but seriously, the black character dies first?!  Guess they had to make up for all the progress of Black Panther!  Mostly joking.  Poor Idris.) felt to me more like a common trope in horror movies to kill off some characters right at the beginning to pad out a body count and suggest some dire stakes.  I don’t really mind the trope but it did not invest any more in the story. 

To that end I would ask what does this story mean?  What is it actually about once you get passed the interstellar conqueror searching for magic stones?  Is there anything deeper to it than that?  Should there be?  Does it matter?

More than just about any other movie I can think of this is really one where we already know pretty much what we’re going to think and feel about it before we sit down because – like most TV shows – this cinematic universe is really not built around surprises (except for obvious and easily undone ones) or change but, as you’ve indicated, giving the people what they seem to want every single time which necessitates being slave to (an admittedly crowd-pleasing) unwavering formula.  You even indicated with Black Panther (one of my favorite Marvel movies) that alterations to that formula seem to result in films you don’t like as much.  So we’re happily on opposite ends here. 

But I feel like the clearest example of what I’m talking about occurred at my screening at the gorgeous Cinema Paraiso and the people with whom I attended.  I went with 3 friends, 2 of these friends (a couple) had seen every Marvel movie and I believe had enjoyed all of them and were very excited.  The other friend had seen some Marvel movies – Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy (he later confessed to remembering almost none of that one and was initially confused when those characters popped up in Infinity War) and probably a few others.  He had no strong emotions either way about those movies and said that with the exception of the Nolan/Bale Batman movies he generally feels all superhero movies are more or less the same.  He never really seeks them out but finds them to be generally enjoyable, if a bit forgettable.  The movie finished and the couple LOVED it.  I don’t know if it was their favorite Marvel movie but they seemed swept up by every minute, laughed at all the jokes and were very eager for next year’s conclusion. 

My buddy however fell asleep during a chunk of it and said (paraphrasing) he thought it was 2.5 hours of the same fights over and over again which he found exhausting.  He did think it was funny when Banner couldn’t turn into the Hulk but said he would not want to see another movie like this again.  My point is that this movie is MADE for the indoctrinated (of which there are many so it will make those billions of dollars) who adore this formula, these characters and who will see this thing multiple times and clap when certain characters appear.  For those who are not indoctrinated because they either don’t care (my friend) or because they do not like and/or are tired of the formula (Ricardo) there is almost nothing here for them.  I truly do not believe this movie – this TYPE of movie – can offer any emotion other than what the viewer already brings in with them (in that way it is bizarrely similar to The Passion of the Christ).  This movie does not care one iota about those not indoctrinated and it does not need to care about them. 

AIW review (part 1 of 5)(1053 or 5633 words)

So here it is!  I did not want to write a rebuttal or anything combative to your review.  As stated, I thought your opinion was very well stated and well supported.  With this missive I am merely expressing my opinion on Avengers: Infinity War the best I can. 

To preface my Infinity War thoughts I’d like to go back to May, 2004 and the third season finale of Smallville entitled Covenant.  I adored that episode when it aired as I felt Smallville season 3 was the strongest season yet (I think I would still say it is the best season but this means something very different now) and that this finale had finished the year off in grand fashion. 

Several months later season 4 began and so also began 7 long years of me trying my best to convince myself that the show was still good.  All this talk about Allison Mack’s cult made me nostalgic for The ‘Ville as I called it back in the day so I broke out my old DVD sets (I have the entire bloody series) and have watched some scattered episodes in the past couple weeks including Covenant.  I’m sure we’ll have time to delve deep into Smallville in the coming months (years?) for as long as we know each other but that particular finale applies to Infinity War, the Marvel cinematic universe and many comic book movies of today (and just many blockbusters in general). 

There it was: Clark was really going to begin his training with Jor-El! The Lana drama is over because she’s leaving for Paris! Clark and Lex are no longer friends after Clark discovered that secret shrine room Lex has for him! Chloe is killed when her new house explodes! Lionel is in prison and more dangerous than ever, orchestrating all this zaniness! Finally, these characters are coming into their own!  I look back somewhat fondly on this naïve (idiotic?) Ricardo but I mostly pity the poor soul because of course, Smallville season 4 began the great stalling tactic which eventually consumed the entire show: Clark is not beginning his training; he’s under Jor-El’s control for 1 episode and can fly for the season 4 premiere to nab those ratings and then he forgets it right afterward!  This Jor-El crud would go on until the very last season where Jor-El finally appears as Julian Sands and I think it’s said that his AI was malfunctioning for that whole decade or something! Lana is possessed by a witch’s tattoo while in Paris (what the bleep?!) and that drama is not over but will in fact TRIPLE down as it introduces Jason Teague and then eventually Lex falls for her as well! This will be run into the ground until season 7 when she FINALLY leaves though she returns in season 8 or 9, now with superpowers and Clark is STILL hung up on her!  Clark and Lex are kind of no longer friends but sometimes are friends and Clark will ask him for a favor in every episode and then berate him when he does things like – gasp! – have consensual sex with multiple women (which Clark himself will do later on) or accidentally kill some fish with some kind of water based military weapon! Lex will limp along back and forth, kinda good, sometimes evil without reason until he’s written out! Chloe was not killed because Lex was actually there to rescue her and whisk her away to an underground trapdoor tunnel or something right as the house exploded! Lionel is quickly released from prison, cleared of chargers, is sometimes rich, sometimes poor, goes wherever he wants, knows everything about Clark sometimes, forgets it sometimes, starts dating Martha Kent (I think) and is never given a consistent motivation again before  Lex finally kills him in season 7 (though he comes back in the last season)!

So essentially that finale changed nothing, meant nothing and the show continued to hit the same beats over and over again to increasingly diminished returns (creatively and in the ratings).  I’ve said before that this show helped me break up with TV.  So many shows do this exact same thing.  It’s all about stalling, milking as much as you can out of it.  No one grows.  There are no arcs with any substance.  The stories don’t actually mean anything.  Whatever happens can and will simply be undone and Clark will stay an oblivious blundering fool until the very last episode where he learns to fly and kills a few villains (his body count across that whole series was MASSIVE).  Anyway, I convinced myself I loved it while it was on but at some point the blinders thankfully came off and I made a vow to never allow myself to be fooled again.  NEVER AGAIN!!!  Though on a side note I’d probably still recommend the first 3 seasons and some scattered Lois centric episodes afterward but I could never recommend the entire series to anyone. 

Flash forward to summer 2013 where a trifecta of blockbusters – Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, and Star Trek Into Darkness all leave me with some form of disappointment and then the following year where I can barely finish Guardians of the Galaxy and I realize that these big movies have become Smallville or rather, have adopted TV’s worst habits as they morph into a giant corporate factory churning out good looking and hollow films. 

I’m actually going to start with cons if you’ll permit me and there is one giant flaw (for me) from which all others are spawned:

Infinity War is by design an incomplete thing that cannot exist without all the stuff (18 movies) that came before it and presumably without next year’s conclusion.  I hope I don’t receive too much pushback in saying that just taken by itself independent of the previous entries there is almost nothing in Infinity War to be moved by or analyze aside from special effects.  So I am forced to analyze this as piece of a much larger commercial whole as I would one of those season finales (which this definitely plays like).  And that is the first and biggest problem and one that is impossible for me to get over just as it seems to be what fans love most about this entire endeavor.