"Accomplishments"
At home: When people complained about the CG in The Flash, I was thinking, well, that doesn't usually bother me very much, but whoa Nelly - they weren't wrong! While one could accept that it was a choice (albeit the wrong choice) to make the time travel sequences look like video game cut scenes with CG characters of that caliber (mixed with "I don't even know what I'm looking at"), it's a problem that crops up elsewhere, leading to action scenes you can't really care about because it doesn't look like any humans were involved, just deep fake faces applied to video game avatars. Indeed, the best Easter Egg/inside joke/nostalgia thing in the movie is absolutely undermined by this problem. And as a comics guy, I will never not be annoyed at the Geoff Johns-ism of pretending the whole thing with Flash's mom is a "canon event", integral to the character. It's not. It's a late addition to make him more like Batman or Spider-Man (hero must have tragedy), and they already did this while story on the WB TV show (down to the Crisis stuff), so what's the point. But while I thought this version of the Flash was fun comic relief in Justice League, it's a version that does not hold up well as the lead of their own feature film. That kind of comedy in fact taints the whole thing. The Flash is ridiculous and once Young Barry is added to the cast, he's stupid and obnoxious beyond the audience's endurance. The humor is often juvenile, and surely, this is the superhero who says "shit" the most. It's to the point where the movie is mocking DC's cinematic efforts and things done are often undone, or are pointless, including one particular hero's noble sacrifice which really does nothing. The movie has its moments - some cool action bits, speed tricks, and lots of cameos - but mostly thanks to Michael Keaton's Batman. The trailer (which spoils a large proportion of the surprises) made me cringe, showing him mostly repeating lines from Batman '89 - nostalgia done wrong - but it's not so bad within the movie. But to get him in there at all makes the script tell us a bunch of hogwash that doesn't understand the difference between a time travel story and a Mult-eye-versal one. But then there's a lot this movie doesn't understand about the canon it's referencing, so it's a lot more like the "way off" superhero movies of the 90s (including the aforementioned Easter Egg) than anything produced in recent times. The WB has been taking the wrong lessons from their successes and others' for at least 35 years now, and this is very much like they thought "oh, people liked Peacemaker? more like that, then".
When Reset started with an exposition scroll and narration over action to set up its premise, my expectations started dropping, but it bounced back nicely, thanks. This Chinese sci-fi epic uses parallel world theory to get around time travel paradoxes (and generate tragedy potential) and has Yang Mi essentially loop herself back into a situation several times to prevent the death of her child and the theft of sensitive data. But be careful, time travel is dangerous and as your cells degrade, you might go a little nuts and/or turn into an action hero! Yang Mi carries the film well in her multiple roles. Reset is clever with its recursive plot, has a few cool action scenes (even if the CG involved is sometimes stretching the limits of what the production is capable of - but I've seen way worse out of China), and indulges in some intriguing world-building futurism that wasn't strictly required, but makes a nice complement to the film. (I don't think we'll make it though, 2025 as seen through the eyes of 2017 is a little too cutting edge.)
Korea's take on Frequency, Signal is more of a police procedural (and takes inspiration from real cases!) in which a Cold Case squad gets help from a walkie-talkie that somehow allows communication between the present and the past - and vice-versa, at the risk of changing history! Some may ask if its temporal theory is consistent - sometimes it's Rubber Time, sometimes History seems Fixed - but I don't think we're seeing the first "loop", so it works for me. And truth be told, the cast of characters is so memorable, I think the show would have been binge-worthy without the genre element. The police are presented - aside from our passionate, heroic leads - as either lazy or corrupt, a by-product of telling cold case stories, and the leads each have cases dearer to their hearts, things unsolved that have led them to this point, and to Fate taking a hand. Full props to Kim Hye-soo for playing both a hard veteran and a wet (VERY wet) rookie in the two time frames, interacting with her trouble-making senior and profiling junior in completely different, but complementary ways. Now, the way they portray the past, with some vertical distortion, takes a while to get used to (seems like playing with saturation would have been enough - made me check my TV settings at least), and there are way too many flashbacks, repeated lines, etc. (I get it, it's a complicated story, and if you're watching week-to-week over 16 episodes, you might need the refreshers), but these are small technical problems. I do want to address the slightly maddening ending, which some have called a cliffhanger. I don't think it is. What happens next is either pretty clear, or left ambiguous for the audience to decide. It's not a case of "cancelled before the end", because this show was a huge hit in Asia, but rather one of different sensibilities. We Westerners do love certainty and closure, don't we? Don't let it phase you or keep you from enjoying this one.
In South Korea, juvenile court judges are part magistrate, part social worker, and in Juvenile Justice, sometime-investigators as well (even if that's called "crossing the line"). Kim Hye-soo (Signal) plays a strict judge who, in your basic TV show, would be empathetic, but in this 10-episode series, overtly hates young offenders. Kim gives an incredibly still performance. Her Judge Sim has an incisive mind, but has been deadened by a mysterious tragedy that will come to the fore by the end. Her moralistic attitude is balanced by an almost too empathetic younger judge, and head judges who she feels betray her convictions. Through the several cases (which take more than a single episode to try), we learn a lot about the social order in Korea and its justice system as it pertains to juveniles, and the show definitely has something to say. And though it's not our system (unless you're Korean, dear reader), it does make you reflect a LOT on issues that are just as relevant wherever you live. A firm hand or an empathetic touch? Could the answer be both? And what about systemic issues? The show keeps us on the hook by avoiding episodic cases - I always had the finger on the "next episode" button - but let me ask a critical question: Why do people in Korean dramas use... pauses so often to create... tension? It's a bit much.
The Beauty Inside's premise is a fanciful one: Every time Wu Jin (there's a magical name) wakes up, he becomes someone new - man, woman, senior, child, sometimes even a foreigner who can't speak Korean. So what happens when he falls in love? It sounds like a high-concept American romcom idea, in which hilarious misunderstandings and a lot of lying and gaslighting occur for the lafs. Instead, the film takes it seriously, dares let the love interest in on the secret, and rather than comedy, we get a romance. A beautiful, though potentially tragic romance. I do hope they called the Book of World Records on this one, because they should probably be listed under Character Played by the Most Actors (I couldn't make the actual count, but they credit 24 separate people), though his internal voice remains the same and keeps us attached to the character (and Han Hyo-joo of course remains a steady presence, though even her character Yi-soo admits she is just as changeable, where we may find an underlying metaphor). In the end, it tells us that, yes, you have to love people for who they are, but adds an important distinction: for who they are continually becoming. The movie is a bit long for the story it's telling, but it confounds expectations enough to stay interesting, sweet and charming.
I'm not always sure what to make of Mike Plante's deadpan narration in And with Him Came the West, a video essay on intersections between Hollywood and Wyatt Earp's life. Obviously, it's because the comments are personal, and he probably didn't have any money to hire anyone we'd connect to the westerns clipped for the doc. But the tone could be that of a hard gunfighter too, so form is married to content, perhaps accidentally. Along with a surface dissection of history as represented in film, Plante offers a cool thesis about celebrity in the Old West, and how events can conspire to turn someone into a myth, and therefore a character. Some of the incidental links between the OK Corral and movies create intriguing texture. But overall, there's a lot of padding to get this to feature length, and the result is rather scattershot. (There, I got a gun play pun in there before the end. Achievement unlocked.)
Gaming: The new Saints Row (which some call Saints Row 5, some Saints Row Reboot, some even Gen-Z Saints Row) has you start the street gang from scratch in the desert area of Santo Ileso (a mix of Arizona and Nevada, mostly), though I'll admit I customized my Boss the same way I always do - she has always been half-Asian, half-Latino, and all sass - even if it's not a continuation). Of all the sandbox game franchises, the Saints has always been my favorite. It's the goofiest, bounciest, and craziest. By the end of the original storyline, it was more a superhero vs. aliens game than a vehicular crime story, so I welcomed getting back to the game's roots. One amusing thing is that there's a massive LARP being played around town, and when you use foam weapons, your takedown animations look like you're play-acting safely (otherwise, very violent). I report in with all areas cleared (of threats, discoveries, ventures and side hustles - there's a lot of variety there) and the final missions done, but there's lots of casual play left in the game. Perks are unlocked by completing challenges of all sorts (plenty left), the photography app allows you to collect all the weird and wonderful stuff you find around the map (might be fun with an online guide), and every weapon and vehicle in the game has a special ability you can unlock by completing their own mini-challenges (like doing flips with them, or killing certain kinds of enemies with them). In other words, there's tons to do, which gives you objectives when you're at the "faffing around" stage of the game. Good fun. RIP Volition.
RPGs: If the previous session was all set-up, this week our Torg Eternity heroes' defense of Copenhagen resolved into a long bit of action, though well spread out in small skirmishes, Dramatic Skill Resolution (how to prepare for flaming balls coming out of the sky) and a chase scene. Didn't hurt either that it was fronted with a "secure an ally" interaction sequence. Result? My players who are more into interaction than combat didn't have time to get bored (which they often do as fights drag on). It also went a bit faster, I suppose, because we lost a player to a power outage, so at his behest, put the Monster Hunter on auto-pilot (shoot, kill, repeat, roll Land Vehicles during chase against a mounted wyvern). It also helped that they DID secure the help of the Trolls, in part thanks to a Romance card played by our new Paladin (that's TWO Copenhagen leaders he's loved up in as many sessions), though I swore to give him complications (and so he had to refuse a betrothal at the end lest he were forced to leave the team and create a new character, at the risk of being thrown well across the Tivoli Gardens - good thing he splurged on Persuasion). While they defended the royal palaces and saved the Mayor, a giant Peter Jackson of a battle raged around them, which I hope also gave the action flavor. And oh yeah! Glory Moment! In Aysle! Which means the Paladin suddenly gained Troll Boots that can stomp foes with great damage just like the Trolls can. It's what can happen when you put all your resources in showboating in front of your rocky lady. With gifts from Galadriel (I mean Eruvel Cathfaine), the PCs are now set to cross into Norden (I mean Sweden), which is pure Aysle, to find their missing team member (whose player is recovering from a flood AND COVID, so yeah, he's been failing saving throws left and right lately).
Best bits: Confirmation that our previous GURPS campaign did intersect with Aysle, as the Trolls say they are motivated by their tribe being helped by Sebastian's ancestors (events told in our Shiftworld: Vikings adventures) - these connections mean something to certain members of my group even if they may be non sequiturs to others. The Paladin's choice of love poem this time was Rimbaud - not only better than Victor Hugo in my estimation, but also a word alchemist, which made a kind of beautiful (accidental?) sense for romancing what is essentially an earth elemental. The Monster Hunter zip lining to the second palace shooting undead vikings in the face without letting go (while the other characters fell off and nearly broke their ankles). Lightning Strike on the wyvern during the chase - just a cool visual. The escape van eventually cuts through a swampy park to lead the creature to awaiting Danish tanks and gets blown out of the sky. I really like the whole Asten, Goddess of Secrets, religion the Elves have got going in this region, so of course some of Eruvel's gifts were secrets whispered to certain PCs. And generally, while it's risky in terms of plot hooks, I do like the role-playing involved in a couple of the characters having difficulty making allies with non-humans/natives of the other Cosms. The Monster Hunter's first instinct is always to shoot non-humans and has to reign himself in, while the Realm Runner grumbles at any alliance made with the outside and an integrated Copenhagen repulses him (he's missing the big picture). In both cases, these are role-playing choices, not the players' own opinions, so it creates interesting tension with NPCs and also, the other PCs.
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