FLCL Progressive Episode 6: A Review

In a way, the finale of FLCL Progressive kind of sums up FLCL as a whole. The emotional and thematic arc of the story comes to its logical conclusion, while the actual events of the plot are oblique and confusing. Which is just a fancy way of saying I had no idea what was actually happening and why it mattered. But this is FLCL, so the plot doesn't matter. The characters reaching emotional maturity is, and that's what happens here. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

FLCL Progressive Episode 5: A Review

Episode 5 of Progressive kind of has the same problem something like Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince did. It's the last chapter before the finale so the major conflict of the climax has already been established and it's too late to bring in anything new. So if you don't spend the chapter as basically just a lengthened first act for the finale, you're mostly just jogging in place. Episode 5 feels like that as the major progression in the story is more emotional than plot-centric. That's not a bad thing for something like FLCL which is more about themes than actual narrative and that emotional progression is important, but in this case it does still have that sense of jogging in place.

FLCL Progressive Episode 4: A Review

I might have lost the thread here folks. For the most part, Episode 4 of Progressive continued on much how the first three episodes did. Some series-appropriate wackiness, some vague exposition on the bullshit in the story's background that doesn't really matter, some of Jinyu and Haruko at each others throats. But after one curveball of a callback, the episode's main conflict resolved and I became totally lost on what happened next or what any of it meant. But then again, this is FLCL so more's the fool on me for trying to make sense of the nonsensical in the first place. Still, the story did get deeper into its main character and there may be some hints that the background matters more than I gave it credit for.

FLCL Progressive Episode 3: A Review

It's a Beach Episode! Hooray!

Of course this is still FLCL, and when you've only got six episodes to work with even the beach episode isn't going to be just filler fluff. In fact, I like that the production crew basically subvert the typical anime beach episode from square one. These are usually an excuse to show off the female characters in skimpy swimsuits, light fanservice, so what does Progressive do? It has Hidomi wear an oversized shirt over her cute swimsuit for all the fun beach antics. Not only is that a funny subversion, it's also totally in character.

FLCL Progressive Episode 2: A Review

My main criticism of FLCL Progressive's first episode was that it lacked the energy and wackiness of its predecessor. The second episode tackled this issue basically right out of the gate, presenting something very much in the spirit of FLCL while still being its own thing. Haruko seems to be the missing factor in regards to that lacking energy as she moved if not into the spotlight than at least out of the wings this episode.

FLCL Progressive Episode 1: A Review

I doubt that I was the only person shocked and bewildered when [adult swim] announced that they were making not one, but two sequel series to the legendary (and legendarily weird) anime FLCL. Both a distillation and rebuke to its infamous predecessor Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL has become a classic in its own right, thanks in part to being regularly reshown on [adult swim]. But FLCL was so much its own thing and of its time, and the nature of its story so self-contained, that it was very much a question of how you would even begin making one sequel, let alone two.

The answer so far seems to be by not trying to make a sequel. FLCL Progressive, the first of the two sequel series, premiered its first episode on [adult swim]'s Toonami block last night, and it's taking an unexpected but not unwelcome approach to the challenge. In a way, Progressive almost seems like its doing to its predecessor what the original FLCL did to Evangelion.

[REDACTED] is Alive? Explaining Solo: A Star Wars Story's surprise cameo

SPOILERS FOR SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, AND STAR WARS: REBELS 

While the release of any new Star Wars movie is sure to be chockfull of shout-outs, easter eggs, and call-backs to other stories from the franchise, the recent Solo: A Star Wars Story caught every fan worth their salt off guard with a surprise cameo from a character we never expected to see onscreen again. Though I'm not the first person, Star Wars fan or not, to rush to the Internet to explain how this character can make this appearance, most of them are missing out on the full story. Because while this character doesn't show up until the end of Solo, it's really the middle of their own story.

Last chance to avoid spoilers,

Best Movies of 2018 (January-April)

Yep, We're keeping this train going for the new year. What can I say? I like the format and it's easier than trying to put a Top 10 together at the end of the year. Plus, it highlights some lesser known movies that might not make a Top 10 list but are still worth your attention.

So, let's get on with it then...

A Sort-of Review of Ready Player One: "Am I an Easy Mark?"

There's a moment during the climax of Ready Player One that caused me to have a revelation. It was during the final battle in the Oasis, the film's virtual world, where one of the heroes dives into the melee in the form of the classic RX-78 Gundam from the 70s to fight the main villain, who was piloting Mechagodzilla at the time. Watching this made me cheer and laugh in joy, probably to the confusion of my fellow moviegoers, but as the moment passed and the film continued a thought came to my mind. I asked myself, "Why did I just cheer at that? Is it just because I know what a Gundam is and thought it was cool to see it? Is throwing a semi-obscure nerd reference like that at me really enough to get me going? Am I an easy mark?"

This thought stayed with me throughout the rest of Ready Player One and after I had left the theater. I began to rethink the movie in these terms, of whether I enjoyed it more because I was able to recognize all the shout-outs, cameos, and easter eggs peppered throughout. I certainly enjoyed the film more than I was expecting, but was this part of the reason? Thinking on it led me to a bigger question, as a critic am I more forgiving to movies and entertainment that play to my sensibilities? Can my objectivity be fudged by playing on shallow eye-candy like seeing a Gundam fight Mechagodzilla? Am I an easy mark?

How to Fix the Dark Universe: Part 3 (The Monsters)

Part 1, Part 2

Having laid out most of the groundwork in the previous two articles, let's just get down to brass tacks and come up with some prospective ideas for the individual films of this speculative Dark Universe. Just a reminder; these are period films very much in the gothic horror adventure mold. Van Helsing and Mina Harker are veteran monster hunters and Dracula is building up a cult of followers and fellow monsters to achieve some dark end. This list is roughly in the order I would release the movies in.

With that being said, let's start in the same place as the actual Dark Universe...

How to Fix the Dark Universe: Part 2 (The Universe)

Part 1

Now that we've figured out the basics of what the Dark Universe actually is as a franchise, let's take this installment to flesh out the universe itself and figure out what the over-arching story is.

Universal is actually at something of a disadvantage here. Unlike Marvel or DC, which has decades of material to draw from and who could basically just port their universe as is over from the comics to the movies, the Dark Universe doesn't have as strong a foundation. Yes, there are the original films from the 30s and 40s, but those were made in a very different time when worldbuilding and continuity were still nascent ideas. Since there have also been tons of knockoffs and adaptations of this same material by other studios which have had influence on the popular perception of the Monsters. It's all kind of a jumbled mess. Everyone has an idea of who Dracula is, of what a werewolf and a mummy is, and perhaps they even know some of the rules, but the specifics are fuzzy.

That's a challenge to overcome, for sure, but it also presents an opportunity. Because the specifics are fuzzy, it leaves us to set the specifics in people's mind. We can take everything that's iconic about the brand and distill it into the platonic ideal of itself. Like what Grant Morrison did with Superman in All-Star Superman.

How to Fix the Dark Universe: Part 1 (The Basics)

It's a cliche to point out by this point that ever since the explosive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every other studio in Hollywood has been trying to launch their own interconnected universe of films to get in on the action. But less pointed out is the fact that, so far, Disney and Marvel have been the only ones who've pulled it off with any luck. The DC Cinematic Universe has finally pulled out of its tailspin but Justice League's box office may make that too little, too late. Legendary's MonsterVerse with the 2014 Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island is doing all right, but there are significant gaps in releases for that. Even the nascent expanded Star Wars movies have been dealing with a lot of behind the scenes drama. But no enterprise shows off the failure of launching an expanded cinematic universe more than Universal Studios' Dark Universe project, which came into theaters dead on arrival with last summer's The Mummy.

The Mummy failed for many reasons; bad script, unclear tone, too much focus on the lore, but the initial idea of rebooting the classic Universal Monsters as a Marvel-style cinematic universe wasn't a bad one. After all, the Universal Monster movies of the 1930s and 40s basically invented the concept of crossover movies and shared universes, even if they weren't as fastidious about the continuity and actors as Marvel is. It's an idea I think still has merits, as does Universal as they've brought in a new producer team to rework the concept from the ground up. But just for fun, I'm going to do my own take on it. Over this three-part series, I'm going to lay out my own thoughts on how Universal should fix the Dark Universe in regards to which characters to use, what approach to take, and what some of these potential films could be like.

(And we'll pretend the good version of the Dark Universe doesn't already exist and is called Penny Dreadful.)

But before we get into specific movies, we've got to hammer out the basics first.

Best Movies of 2017 (September-December)

2017 has gone and like the rest of the year, there were plenty of great and interesting movies worth seeking out. Fall is usually when we get the quality movies and would-be Oscar contenders, so it's not surprising we got some rich cinematic experiences in the final third. Unfortunately, because of that same Oscar race, I wasn't able to see all the best-reviewed stuff before the end of the year. Like The Shape of Water would definitely have been on this list if I'd seen it in time. Nevertheless, here's the alphabetical list of 2017's last few great movies.

Drumroll please,