Critical Hits & Misses #344

• Tom Hanks refused to attend a screening of his own movie, The Post, at the White House, and denounces attacks on the First Amendment. 


• And over at EW, Olivia Munn pens an essay about her own experience with sexual harassment, and why she is speaking out against an industry with a history of forgiving abusers and punishing victims. 

For today's musical hit, we have Katy Perry and "Hey Hey Hey"

Today's critical rolls: Blessed Be and Merry Winter Solstice to you if you celebrate it (I do). May your Hannukah have been wonderful if you celebrated that. And may your Christmas be full of warmth and happiness, if you will be celebrating next Monday. What are your holiday traditions, even if you don't formally celebrate a religious one at this time?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #341

• Mess with Jeff, prepare for death. In the never-ending battle of dealing with the toxic elements of Overwatch's playerbase, Jeff Kaplan performs an epic takedown of a forum troll who tried to play innocent on why he/she received a temp-ban in Overwatch. 


• Marvel's (white) Editor-in-Chief has apologized for posing as an Asian writer, and says he's listened to what people have been telling him about why it was wrong. We'll see, I suppose. 

For today's musical hit, we have "It Feels Like Christmas" from Panic! At The Disco:

Today's critical rolls: Are you ready for the holidays? Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, most likely you have some time off coming up. What are you planning on doing?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Ghost in the Shell Film Analysis Part V and Final: The Problem With the Ghost in The Shell film

The film has one Big Issue, and it’s racism. In fact, it’s such a big issue that it manifests itself in three ways: white-washing, Orientalism and Eurocentrism. Yes, in previous installments I spent a huge amount of time praising how believable and cool future Japan was, and yet I’m charging the film with charge being Eurocentric anyway, for reasons that will become clear when I get  to that point.

I confess that I’m not the most ‘woke’ person out there when it comes to US racial politics, mainly because I’m not from the US nor have I ever lived there, so I have a higher tolerance for racial bullshit than what people would otherwise expect from me. However, when I start noticing stuff, Hollywood, you done fucked up.

Now, I said white-washing was not something I would discuss because better words have been written elsewhere, so I’ll just leave you with these quotes by Scarlett Johansson:

I think this character is living a very unique experience in that she has a human brain in an entirely machinate body. I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously. Hopefully, any question that comes up of my casting will be answered by audiences when they see the film.

Right. Because the character having a brain that originally lived through a Japanese experience erases that character’s experiences when the film you’re heading makes the exact opposite case is totally not playing a character of a different race. Alright.

I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.

Oh, Scarlett, honey. Have I Got News for You!

I understand part of her statements come from wanting to conceal the twist of the film, perhaps due some contractual obligation of  the sort or whatever, but they don’t exactly make Scarlett come off better, alright? (They also raise the question of why she accepted this role in the first place.)

This leads us to Orientalism. There are positive definitions of the term, but the one I’m going to go with is the Western tradition of outsider interpretations of Eastern cultures that feature prejudice, exoticisation, fetichisation, etc., as shaped by imperialistic narratives going back to the 18th and 19th centuries. This is not a good way to introduce the general audiences to other cultures, since it’s inherently disrespectful.

Which leads me, again, to the robo-geisha scene. Something I didn’t perceive during the preview, albeit I noticed now, is the fact that the robo geishas have the ability to interface with a human brain at all. (Brain-hacking, remember?) Later in the film, I believe at Dr. Dahlin’s lab, they are referred to as ‘companion bots’. I concede that the implication may or may not be sexual, however, I am inclined towards the latter interpretation due to the fact that the robo-geishas are based on the Hadaly robots from Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and those robots are clearly sexual, explicitly stated to have non-essential parts as pertaining to their roles in order to function as sexdroids. This bothers me, since I find it hard to believe that future Japan would allow robots that work as geishas to be sexdroids, given the respect given to the geisha profession. To me, it reaks of the ‘geisha girl’ stereotype formed during the Allied Ocupation of Japan that underscores the Western belief that geisha are prostitutes.

So sexy.

There’s also the fact that there’s not many Japanese people in the film, as extras or in the cast. Yes, I know, didn’t I say about a million words before now that I didn’t mind that? Incorrect, I said I didn’t mind the lack of spoken Japanese, given that it is a logical assertion that can be inferred from the setting. But for a film set in Japan, to not have Japanese people other than a couple characters here and there… Maybe six or seven years ago I read a film review about a film that had been white-washed, too, and had issues with Orientalism. Let me paraphrase one of the lines that struck me the most: This is the perfect white-people’s dream; they get to enjoy the Asian culture without all the pesky Asian people in it. (Now, this doesn’t go for all white people, of course, but that quote is seriously perfect. I believe I read it on a The Last Airbender review?)

I’m sure someone with more knowledge of Japanese culture would be able to point out more instances, but these are the two that jumped at me.

Then there’s the Eurocentrism. Eurocentrism is a term that describes notions of European exceptionality; sort of like ‘manifest destiny’ but for a whole continent. It’s another colonialist narrative.

Usually, I wouldn’t have given much thought to the fact that the Major has a brain in another body. I mean, this is a transhumanist narrative, right? However, I believe I have to take that in context of the film, and what it means for the viewer. And throughout the film, the Major is called ‘beautiful’. Kuze calls her that, Dr. Ouelet calls her that, various creeps calls her that, and certainly Scarlett Johansson herself is a fine example of conventional, feminine, Western beauty ideal. That’s fair enough. But  when this film can’t be bothered to feature a single Japanese character, aside from Aramaki and Togusa, amongst the main cast, it becomes problematic. And when Dr. Ouelet tells the Major that she’s ‘what everyone will become’, it’s skeevy.

Kuze is seen here not looking Japanese.

In-universe, Dr. Ouelet refers to her body as ‘perfect’, that the pinnacle of directed human evolution is to cast aside everything but our minds. In context with the viewer, however, given the whole white-washing thing, the subtext is that everyone will be white. There is literally no other way this can be interpreted, given that Kuze is stuck in a white male’s body, and he was originally a Japanese youth named Hideo; and Dr. Ouelet implies his failure was just another step towards the future — towards Major Mira Killian. It isn’t really helped by how the Major at the end of the film is warmly received by her mum — which is great for her character, don’t get me wrong! — but wearing Scarlett’s face, with a brain that explicitly came from Japanese runaway Motoko Kusanagi (played by Japanese actress Kaori Yamamoto). When we live in a world where, in many places, the only way to be beautiful ideal is the Western beauty ideal, this is completely unacceptable. (Each word is a link.)

The final expression of Eurocentrism in the film comes from the fact that all scientists and people associated with high-tech employment are not Japanese, whether we’re talking about the people who were fussing over Batou after he gets his new eyes or everyone who is alligned with Hanka Robotics. I have to say that this normally wouldn’t ping on my radar, if at all, were it not for all the points I blathered on above. You see, Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell manga was published in the 80s, the time where Japan was deemed the technological powerhouse of the world.  It was written in that context. Even with all the lack of Japanese people, I would have expected for there to be Japanese people working as employees for Hanka as a sort of way to pay homage to that historical context in which the work was made. But all the cutting edge tech is developed, and assessed by Europeans or European-looking people, such as Dr. Ouelet or Dr. Dahlin. It’s such a little thing, but it adds up to the snowball of ugliness.

Dr. Ouelet, seen here whitesplaining to Major.

I understand the filmmakers didn’t intend any of this since they cared so much to make future Japan so awesome, and they paid proper attention to the source material, and so on and so forth. But! And this is a big ‘but’! Intentions do not matter when they harm people or promote narratives that harm people worldwide. And these issues just described feed into each other; the colonialists narratives of Eurocentrism and and Orientalism are reinforced by the whitewashing of the casting. I can explain away a lot, however, there comes a tipping point where I cannot explain away the erasure of Japanese people from a Japanese narrative set in Japan.

And this, this is why I could not bring myself to rec this film.

Critical Hits & Misses #340

Now you listen here, Old Man.... --Rey, probably
Get off my lawn, Millenial punk! --Luke, probably

• In a battle more brutal than the Rebellion and the Empire, a war is being waged online. Two generations of Star Wars fans fight over whether or not The Last Jedi was good. (Spoilers)


• Goddammit. TJ Miller of Silicon Valley and Deadpool fame has been accused of sexual assault, and is denying it.  

For today's musical hit, we have Christmas Booty. You're welcome.

Today's critical rolls: What side of the force are you on? By which I mean, what did you actually think of The Last Jedi. Please start your post with a spoiler tag if you're going to be talking about sensitive stuff. 

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Blockbusters: Thor Ragnarok vs. Justice League

Superhero movies are big business these days and during the times when a genre is big business, everyone wants to be releasing as many of them as possible. That this eventually leads to a bubble is an article for another time. No, the point this time is that eventually there starts being some overlap between some releases, and since there were two major Superhero releases and I'm desperately trying to release some content, I thought I'd compare and contrast them, in a series of categories I'm more or less making up as I go.




Expectations:

Thor Ragnarok

As I've said on multiple occasions, I've got a little tired of the MCU lately, which gave Thor a pretty major uphill climb to start with, especially when you consider that the previous Thor movies are probably the weakest ones in the entire MCU, with the possible exception of Iron Man 2 (and that Hulk movie Marvel hopes we've all forgotten) and Thor: The Dark World is probably the worst of the MCU movies.

That said, there were reasons to expect some good things out of this. The director of this outing is Taika Waititi, who previously directed What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, both of which are excellent films that deserved to be watched. So perhaps, I thought to myself, this movie could be okay, could even be pretty good.

Justice League

If there was a bar that could be lower for a movie than the one for Justice League I don't know what it could be. To start, while Wonder Woman was a genuinely excellent movie, the other movies in the franchise range from Pretty Bad (Man of Steel) to Oh My God Make It Stop (Batman v. Superman). Add in the horrifying event Snyder's family endured during production, the switch between directors and the massive rounds of reshoots and recuts supposedly happening behind the scenes, and it seems like we're lucky the movie even came out at all.

The Casts:



Thor Ragnarok

Both of these movies are ensemble focused, and Thor has an incredibly impressive one. From our long standing series greats like Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba, to our newcomers like Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson and Cate Blanchett, the cast of this movie is a laundry list of great actors. All of them very attractive.

And they all turn in great work. Yeah we knew that Cate Blanchett would be giving us a great performance (and let me be clear, she's basically perfect) and Chris Hemsworth is a perfect Thor, but Jeff Goldblum's comic timing is still completely on point and it's shocking what a massive standout Tessa Thompson is, dominating the entire screen from the first scene she's in. I really hope we get to see more of her in later Marvel films, she's fantastic.



Justice League

Obviously the major standout from Justice League is was and always will be Gal Gadot. She's the central element of easily the best film in the DCEU. She's incredibly adept at selling her character and she totally dominates every scene she's in. The rest of the holdover cast is pretty good; Affleck still looks a little disinterested in this role, but he's getting better, Jeremy Irons is still great and hey, Cavill gets to act like a human being.

The new cast is a mixed bag. Erza Miller is genuinely entertaining as The Flash and while the movie doesn't give him a whole lot to do outside of punching things, I actually really liked Ray Fisher as Cyborg. The big letdown is, surprisingly, Jason Momoa. He's certainly a big guy and kind of cool outside the movie, but something about him is just not clicking with his performance. He has shockingly little screen presence in movie and between this and his performance in Conan, I'm starting to worry his good performance as Khal Drogo was a fluke (Note: I haven't seen Stargate Atlantis).

Story and Script:

Thor Ragnarok

Our story this time around starts out as yet another Thor story: Thor is flung out of Asgard, Asgard is in peril in his absence, he must find his way back, he's got Loki (who remains a treacherous little s**t) and some other secondary characters at his back. You get the basic idea, we've seen it twice before.

But then something odd happens around the midpoint. Once the film finally gets its plot squared away, it becomes a well written character focused piece with metaphors about owning your history and making up for your family's mistakes. There's a lot of good character work and fantastic dialogue in the latter half, that really kept me involved in the final battle, something that a lot of MCU movies have had trouble doing.



Justice League

It's the plot of The Avengers. I don't want to trash it, it's a good solid foundation for a plot, but well, there's a magical square shaped macguffin that a guy from outer space is looking for so he can open a portal to a place where his army is waiting, requiring a group of heroes to team up to bring him down, even though they don't initially get along. It's just the plot of The Avengers with the names replaced a couple extra beats.

It's in those extra beats that we see the scars of the film's long and troubled production, with several moments are so tonally out of step with not only the rest of the film but the rest of the DCEU that it might as well be playing in a different theater. The film is clearly pretending that huge chunks of Batman v. Superman either didn't happen or happened completely differently than it did, and while everyone has seen the fun scene where Batman and Flash are talking about getting into a fight, that scene is in the middle of a sequence where Steppenwolf is torturing and murdering civilians. The film is clearly the result of a troubled production and occasionally seems to have been edited with a machete.

Action:



Thor Ragnarok

For a superhero film, Thor is surprisingly light on the action, preferring to spend most of its 2nd act in character work, with only the fight between Thor and the Hulk (plus occasional jumps back to Asgard) really doing most of the action. It heats up in the third act and the final action beat is incredibly engaging, but up until that point, it's pretty dialogue focused. That's not a complaint, I like that about it.

Justice League

This is one of those places where Justice League is an unambiguous success. From Gal Gadot's incredible physical presence to the way they actually manage to include Cyborg and Batman in the action scenes to even the way they manage to make Flash work. Yes, I'm still waiting for a better film visualization of super speed than the one in Days of Future Past, but this one is still pretty good... even if the lightning surrounding the Flash never stops looking silly.

Conclusion:

I could not have gone into these two movie with lower expectations than these two, so I will say that both managed to surprise me. I expected to hate Justice League and honestly, I can honestly say that I didn't even dislike it. Heck, I may have even kind of liked it. I might see it again when it hits DVD.

But in every comparison episode, there must always be a winner, and this time around, the clear winner is Thor Ragnarok, shooting up the roster of Best MCU Movie to land near the top and giving me hope for the megafranchise yet. So if you've somehow gotten to December without seeing both of these, give them both a shot.

But go see Thor first.

Elessar is a 27 year old Alaskan-born, Connecticut-based, cinephile with an obsession with The Room and a god complex. 

Critical Hits & Misses #339

*judges you in Jedi*

• Mark Hamill is having none of your bullshit, Teddy. Hamill burns Ted Cruz for 'smarm-splaining' net neutrality to him. New word. I approve. 


• Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they wear shields. Chis Evans (and Netflix, and others) react to the FCC's decision to repeal Net Neutrality. 

For today's musical hit, we have Thomas Rhett and "Marry Me"

Today's critical rolls: I need some new tunes on my playlist. Hit me with some of your favorite music/artists/videos!

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #338

• Surprising nobody, The Last Jedi wrecked at the box office on Thursday night, suggesting this weekend may be one of the biggest ever. 


• Because Star Wars weekend, USA Today ranks the other 8 flicks in the franchise. See if you agree!

For today's musical hit, we are keeping with the theme of the day, so have the Main theme from The Last Jedi by the eternal John Williams.

Today's critical rolls: NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS PLZ. What's on the agenda for the weekend? Does it involve The Last Jedi? Did you already see it, and love it/hate it? 

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #337

• Popular Marvel Bad Boy Loki is getting a new series of novels in 2019, and even better? He's going to be pansexual and genderfluid. Yes plz!


• This in-depth article over at Wired discusses the strange case of the DDOS attacks that nearly brought down the internet, all in the name of Minecraft. 

For today's musical hit, we have G-Eazy with Halsey on Jimmy Kimmel, with "Him & I"

Today's critical rolls: Happy Star Wars day! Are you excite? Are you hype?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #336

• Merriam-Webster has named the word of the year for 2017 to be "feminism." Hmm, pandering to SJWs, it appears. 


• Our favorite reluctant badass heroine gets a new trailer and a premiere date, finally! Cannot wait for Jessica Jones season 2!

For today's musical hit, we have Lindsey Stirling's "Angels We Have Heard On High"

Today's critical rolls: What's YOUR word of the year? Mine is "creeper." Not because I like it, but because I've used it a LOT of late, unfortunately.

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #335

• Big Brother is watching and you pay him around $10 a month: Netflix put out kind of a creepy mocking message about the exactly 53 subscribers who have watched A Christmas Prince 18 days in a row. O... k? This article actually talks about privacy and how Netflix could, in the future, be using your data. 


• The internet using its powers for good: Rotten Apples lets you know what movies to avoid in order to not support creepers. 

For today's musical hit, we have Sheryl Crow's "The Dreaming Kind"

Today's critical rolls: Okay, if you had to watch ANY movie for 18 days straight (for like, I don't know, world peace or something), what would it be and why?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #334

*judges you in Ice*

• Queen Elsa (aka Idina Menzel), has something to say to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who has decided that victims of sexual harassment have to "let it go." 


• Wired has an excellent piece on how corporate boards have been complicit in sexual harassment for decades, as claims by victims have gone unpunished or paid off to silence, and serial sexual harassers are kept around when they make good profit. 

For today's musical hit, we have Eminiem's "Untouchable"

Today's critical rolls: Made it to another Friday! What's on the agenda for the weekend?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #333

Not all heroes wear capes. Jeremy Slater doesn't. Probably. 

• Today in "TV You Should Be Watching Right the Eff Now And So Should I," The Exorcist showrunner Jeremy Slater doesn't give a fuck if homophobes were upset about a gay kiss. Involving a bisexual priest. Sign me up right now!


• The Washington Post analyzes the past winners of Time's Person of the Year, and how rare it is for an individual woman to win the title, and how an individual American woman has never won. Ironically, this year's Person of the Year, the "Silence Breakers" (aka all the women who have come forward recently about sexual harassment), exemplifies the problem perfectly. 

For today's musical hit, we have Lindsey Stirling and "Silent Night"

Today's critical rolls: Gay kisses are awesome and popping up a lot more these days in media. What's your favorite gay/bi/trans/etc kiss in visual media? Personally I thought Captain Cold and The Ray were entirely too adorable on the Arrowverse Crossover a couple of weeks ago. 

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #332

• It's good to have allies. John Oliver got into a feud with Dustin Hoffman over the allegations of sexual harassment, with Oliver defending the woman who has accused Hoffman. The actor fired back, but whatever, dude. We've got your number. John Oliver is a national treasure. 


• In this excellent article at The Hollywood Reporter, Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep discuss why they decided to very quickly put together The Post, a film about Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, who famously made the decision back in 1971 to post the Pentagon Papers, a momentous decision. Graham's story has never been told on the big screen, and was left out of the Watergate drama All The President's Men. This important woman will finally have her story told, and it's largely in part because of the current climate in Hollywood due to the Weinstein scandal, and the ensuing wave of allegations that have rippled through the industry since. 

For today's musical hit, we have Demi Lovato and "Tell Me You Love Me"

Today's critical roll: There aren't nearly enough biopics about women in history, as important female figures like Katharine Graham are often cut out of the stories told by men about men. Hidden Figures was a welcome change, and it sounds like The Post might be too. Whatever other historical women would you like to see get biographical movies that do them justice? 

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #331

• And the hits keep on coming to the entertainment industry. Danny Masterson, star of Netflix's The Ranch, has been fired from the series following multiple rape allegations. Netflix has come under fire for not responding sooner, since police have been investigating since March.


• Err, do not want. Quentin Tarantino wants to make a Star Trek movie.  Forbes discusses the pros and cons. As a longtime Trek fan, I see mostly cons. 

For today's musical hit, we have 88Glam and "Bali"

Today's critical rolls: Look, we already had JJ Abrams come in and try to make Star Trek everything that it isn't, so like CAN WE NOT with Tarantino? What do you think? Yay or nay to Tarantino taking on Roddenberry's vision?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #330

• I guess WB execs were paid off by Disney too, right, DC fans? Because Newsarama reports that Snyder was almost fired before Justice League was made, but wasn't only because of Time Warners' impending merger with AT&T, and firing a major director would have looked bad. 


• Welp, looks like Hollywood isn't the only male-dominated industry full of shitheads. And we're not talking about stand-up comedy. Or politics. Or corporate America. Or... well you get the idea. This time it's Classic Musical that has a sexual harassment problem. Yeah... you read that right. Classical Music. This is me throwing my hands up in the air and giving up on humanity. 

For today's musical hit, we have Linkin Park's "Crawling (One More Light Live)"

Today's critical rolls: The holidays are right around the corner. What's your take on gift-giving? Do you do it? Do you prefer to hand-make items? Have you hit the mall yet? What kind of stuff do you like to receive, in turn?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Critical Hits & Misses #329

• Sexual harassment is a daily topic of discussion now, with all these allegations spilling out of various industries. But not all women can agree on what constitutes sexual harassment. This fascinating article talks about the differences between how women over 50, and how Millenial women, perceive interactions with men. 


• Fellow The Last Jedi costars break our hearts but make us laugh as they tell stories of Carrie Fisher on set in what became her last movie. We still miss you, Carrie. 

For today's musical hit, have the fabulous Lindsey Stirling and "Christmas C'mon"

Today's critical rolls: What's on the agenda for the weekend?

Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.