Daily Archives: November 12, 2013

What we want from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

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guardians-of-the-galaxy-footage-leaked

We’ve seen a little bit of director James Gunn’s 2014 Marvel outing “Guardians of the Galaxy,” so we kind of know what to expect.

Granted, we haven’t seen much. Just a half-minute of footage released at Comic Con last year – it’s subsequently popped up online – and a minute of Gunn-directed footage in the middle of the credits of “Thor: The Dark World.”

Yes, the “Thor” footage isn’t from “GOTG.” But Gunn directed it and it features Benecio Del Toro as a “GOTG” character, the Collector. And yes, he’s acting weird. It is Del Toro, and it is a Gunn-directed performance.

So based on what we’ve seen so far and what we hope, what do we want to see next summer?

guardians movie concept art

Action. Based on the Comic Con preview, I don’t think we have to worry about this. The 30 seconds of footage I’ve seen has a ton of fighting and shooting and other good stuff.

Humor, but not too much. All the Marvel movies have their share of humor. The way Gunn is approaching “GOTG,” it looks like it might be the funniest of all the Marvel movies so far. But Gunn has, based on “Slither,” the ability to summon up the dramatic and horrific as well as the funny.

A little bit of weird, but not too much. Okay, so you’ve got Rocket Raccoon, a hard-bitten … raccoon who is an incredible fighter, and you’ve got Groot, an alien that looks like a tree that says only, “I am Groot!” Gunn has to be careful to not push the rest of the movie over the line into total weirdness. I’m a little worried about how Del Toro will come off, but he’s not a central character.

Thanos. We know the Mad Titan is likely to be the Big Bad in “Avengers 3.” But he’s a Guardians antagonist and Gamora, the Zoe Saldana character in “GOTG,” has ties to Thanos. So how about a little Thanos action in “GOTG?”

Ties to the Marvel Universe we know. Considering much of the story is apparently set in another corner of the galaxy, it’s hard to imagine Captain America popping in. But …

iron man in guardians of the galaxy

Iron Man! Tony Stark’s armored avenger is a member of some incarnations of the Guardians in some comics. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Robert Downey Jr. interact with Rocket Raccoon?

And it would be good preparation for “Avengers 3,” when I think all of these colorful characters are going to be all together for a cosmic blowout.

 

TV catch-up: ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘SHIELD’ and more

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sleepy hollow headless horseman

The highlights of my TV viewing year are the limited runs of “Mad Men” on AMC, “Justified” on FX and “The Walking Dead” on AMC. That’s not to say there aren’t other shows that I’m hooked on.

But they always take a backseat to those three.

This fall, there’s a surprisingly high number of shows that have rapidly become must-see (to coin a phrase) viewing. This doesn’t count “Parks and Recreation,” for example, a charmingly daft sitcom that just keeps chugging along.

Here’s a roundup of what I’m digging right now:

“Sleepy Hollow” – This fantasy adventure series, which has become something of a hit, is one of the greatest pleasures on TV right now. If you haven’t watched the first half of this 13-episode season, go catch up, online or on demand, right now. I’ll wait.

Okay, back? The story of the return of Revolutionary War soldier and spy Ichabod Crane, reborn in modern times more than 200 years after he and the (now) Headless Horseman fought it out on a New York battlefield, is terrific fun. Crane is teamed with a young female cop as they investigate the rebirth of the Horseman, who turns out to be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations. 

The show has something for everyone: Fish out of water comedy and commentary, monster of the week, creepy thrills, fun special effects and great chemistry among the cast members.

Tonight’s episode found the 21st century characters explaining to Crane the secret relationship between Thomas Jefferson – one of his contemporaries and heroes – and Sally Hemmings, all the while preparing a snare to trap the Headless Horseman with ultraviolet light. You don’t have to ask. Just go with it.

“The Walking Dead” – I was relieved to see the Governor show up at the end of last night’s episode. I was feeling a little claustrophobic with the flu storyline that’s dominated this season so far. I do love the beefed up roles for many in the cast, including Carol. Was anyone else as surprised as I was about Carol’s exile?

“Agents of SHIELD” – I was looking forward to this Marvel spin-off more than any other series this fall, and I’m not alone in my disappointment at the resulting show. Each episode is an improvement on the last, for the most part, but I can’t be the only one that’s impatient with the character development and over-arching plot. I’m still watching, however.

“The Blacklist” – God help me, but I’m enjoying this series more than “SHIELD.” “The Blacklist,” about a mysterious criminal (James Spader) who comes in from the cold to help the FBI catch other criminals, isn’t quite as looney as “Sleepy Hollow,” but almost. Spader is the main reason to watch as he gives a master class in unsettling but entertaining villainy.  I can’t wait to see him as the bad guy in “The Avengers: The Age of Ultron.”

“The Mindy Project” – As fun and kooky as “Parks and Recreation” is, there’s not a more clever sitcom on TV right now than “The Mindy Project,” with Mindy Kaling as a neurotic doc surrounded by neurotic docs in NYC. The second season of the show is even better than the first.