Monday Media Musings - 2/17/20

[owlmoose]

Arrowverse update: Am behind again. Interesting that Zari is back. Not sure how I feel about her transformation into a social media influencer but we'll see how it goes. I'm enjoying how everyone on The Flash is adjusting to a post-Crisis world -- they were so braced for losing Barry, and it makes sense that they're all thrown off in one way or another. I really hope Cisco isn't gone for good, although I do think we could use a break from his "do I want to be a hero or not" angst. On the other hand, it was finally nice to see someone besides Laurel acknowledge the loss of Earth-2. But... is it really gone? Despite everyone's proclamations to the contrary, we the audience know from the final scenes of CoIE that at least some of the multiverse survived. I wonder when the residents of Earth-Prime are going to figure that out.

Star Trek: The Next Generation rewatch: In preparation for Star Trek: Picard (which I still haven't started so no spoilers please!!), I refreshed my memory by watching a handful of episodes again, mostly to do with Picard, Data, and/or the Borg. In particular, it had been a long time since I'd seen either "Datalore" or the Hugh arc, and I suspect the details of that will be useful to remember. I've heard nothing but postive buzz about Picard and I'm looking forward to jumping in soon.

Be Kind, Rewind: I spent a good chunk of these last two weeks watching every video on this YouTube channel. Most of the episodes go in-depth on the Best Actress Academy Award winner in a particular year, which provides a jumping-off point to explore all kinds of issues around women and representation in Hollywood. I've also learned a lot of entertainment history. Definitely recommended.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix: Not great, but not as bad I was expecting based on buzz and reviews. It started off with a nice slow burn, as Jean Grey discovers both her new powers and the truth about her past. But the pacing got real rushed, real fast. I wish that we'd gotten more time with Sophie Turner as Jean, to build up her relationships with Scott Summers and Charles Xavier more naturally. And everything with the aliens was pretty weak. In the end, I don't know if it's even possible for one movie do to the beloved Dark Phoenix arc justice -- 20th Century Fox has now tried twice, and failed both times. Maybe Disney can do it up right as a mini-series someday.