Michael Offutt's Blog, page 100

Into the Badlands on AMC hit most of my Quentin Tarantino fanboy buttons with its incredibly gorgeous fights

So AMC premiered their new series "Into the Badlands" last night right after their weekly dose of "The Walking Dead." I gotta say that it hit most of my Quentin Tarantino fanboy buttons. The credits were wonderfully done in full comic book story board mode with silhouettes and samurai swords. The filmography was beautiful with the over-saturation of color doing its part to make me feel like this is a fantasy world where the rules are different.

I liked the very Steampunk-esque vibe I got from the show too. It seemed to play well with the absence of guns, the prevalence of martial arts, and the setting that was part poppy field and part Louisiana bayou. The characters that we met are named: 1) The Widow, 2) Jade 3) Lydia 4) M.K. 5) Veil, and 6) Sunny. Those are all the ones that I could remember. Sunny is a complete badass that channels Jet Li and Jackie Chan in every scene and M.K. is the mysterious boy with strange berserking powers that only emerge if he tastes his own blood. The mythology of the world is set in the distant post-apocalyptic future where (apparently) opium is highly valued, Barons (white people) are warlords with armies of ninjas, and where people in "The Badlands" hear rumors of a better life in the great ether that lies beyond the known world. These are all themes that go into every post-apocalyptic story. After all, you can't have an apocalypse without hope.

And "Into the Badlands" I think has plenty of hope going for it. Sunny is going to be a father, so there's urgency for him to want to seek out the truth behind those rumors of a distant land where people aren't killed for having children. M.K. adds fuel to the fire of Sunny's imagination by verifying that he came from that place...only he doesn't know how to get back. Of course, right? That'd be too easy. And the other Barons are circling Sunny's Baron, which is bad because I think if Sunny's Baron dies it's kind of like a medieval Japanese society, and he'll be expected to die with his lord.

All in all though, I was amazed by the big fight sequences. It's exciting that there's a martial arts drama with no skimping and the action is as good as in any movie. I guess I'm just going to hold on and enjoy the rumble. So did any of you catch "Into the Badlands" last night?

A Victorian age Sherlock with Cumberbatch at the helm is exactly what the doctor ordered

As much as I like modern day Sherlock Holmes, I gotta say that the BBC doing a Sherlock series with Cumberbatch and in a Victorian setting meets every single one of my requirements for what is good. I like the Victorian setting. It's good for storytelling. Do you agree? Bravo BBC, Bravo.

Is shared universe franchise television the answer to a flooded market?

In case you didn't know about this, the C.E.O. of FX television (John Landgraf) said in August (before the TV Critics Association) that there's a bubble in the television industry. He said that there are too many scripted television shows, which leaves audiences and content creators in a bad position. When asked about why he thinks there's a bubble he said, "I can tell you that I went from someone who could keep track of every show...to absolutely not being able to keep track of every show." In the same address, Mr. Landgraf also indicated that it is now difficult for people to find great TV.

At first, I think it would be easy to say that there's a lot of similarity with what Mr. Landgraf is saying about the state of television and what was said by institutionalized businessmen at the top of the traditional publishing pyramid just a few short years ago. I remember reading articles about how the plethora of books put out by self-published authors was just a tsunami of crap. As the metaphor went, the tsunami would just pull everyone under so that no one could make any money any more. There would be no "incentive" for anyone to write books; the truly good ones (which naturally only the traditional publishers are capable of finding) would never see print because they'd all be out of business. Basically, it would be a literary apocalypse.

Circling back to television, I know it takes a lot of money to produce a show. Daredevil on Netflix cost $3-4 million per episode, and I think The Flash on the CW costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $1-2 million (which I attribute mostly to the reusing of locations between their franchises). With that out on the table, it is easier for me to look at what Mr. Landgraf is saying from a "business" perspective and admit that he's probably not entirely wrong. Shows absolutely have to attract enough viewers or they can't support advertising which pays for all of the programming. This is partly why (when I watch things on DVR) I rarely fast forward through commercials. I must support the industry that pays for all the eye candy that I watch every day, right?

I suppose what I'm saying is that scripted television simply can't be done without a skilled team of people all working toward a common goal. Books on the other hand can be done by one person who acts as publisher, author, cover artist, editor, etc. And that's probably why I don't really worry about the book industry. After all, writers produce material because they have to and not because they're paid to do it. I don't think this is true for scripted television shows.

However, I'm not in the business of producing television programming like Mr. Landgraf is, so I don't know the numbers. From a consumer point of view though, I have no problem picking out the shows that I watch. Sure, it requires dedication and reading of blogs like io9 that have teams of writers assigned to following different shows during a week BUT I CAN DO IT :). Because of io9, I'm currently blazing my way through Person of Interest on Netflix (and have been finding it thoroughly enjoyable). I've also consumed How To Get Away With Murder (based on reviews...and yes it really was frickin' amazing). These are incredible shows that I didn't watch live because I was watching something else. So maybe who Mr. Landgraf was talking about isn't me. He's talking about the casual middle class consumer that subscribes to basic television and waits to watch shows that can be shared as a couple. You know, people with kids enrolled in sports and only a few hours a week where there's time to relax...this as opposed to people like me burning through television series like someone that has no life and is screaming, "I need my next FIX! GIMME GIMME GIMME" which is honestly how I feel when an episode of The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones ends.

So let's assume that Mr. Landgraf is right and I'm wrong. Let's assume that there can be a "bubble" in television and that at some point there just won't be enough viewers to support all of the shows and as a result a lot of our favorite shows will just go extinct. Remember Firefly? Kind of like that only on a mass scale, and that's just simply recognizing that "Firefly" seems to have some kind of absurd life with people who follow science fiction when in my opinion it was simply "above average." But this blog post isn't about how everyone seems to have jumped on the "Firefly" bandwagon making it seem like the show was somehow this spectacular brilliant phenomenon when it really wasn't even as well written as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, or Breaking Bad. So if we assume that there's a bubble, then the next question is, "What is the solution?"

I think this very thing is behind why we're seeing so much shared universe franchise television being made. The CW has a shared universe Justice League of America thing going on, we just recently learned that Bones (on Fox) and Sleepy Hollow (also on Fox) share a same universe, and then there's the whole "Chicago Trilogy" (which is very successful) on NBC: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. We have yet to see if Supergirl will join the CW's Justice League franchise or if it exists on its own in a separate universe (which is what we must assume). Personally, I think shared universes are awesome because I like the characters I love to be interconnected through plots and stories. Just look at the Marvel movies. Who here doesn't think that the way Disney brought together the Avengers was simply spectacular. Would it have been as cool if we didn't have the separate films of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America? I'm going to say, "No."

So in a way, a flooded market or "bubble" (if you will) is forcing television to up its game. Maybe that's what Mr. Landraf is actually complaining about when he talks about "bubbles." He's complaining that it's harder to make television that people will watch now. A big corporation complaining that they have to work harder to satisfy consumers? I think that's something I can get on board with and enjoy. What do you think? Is there a bubble in television? Is it hard for you to find a television program to watch? 

If you're feeling insecure today I think it's time to let John Steinbeck show you what worked for him because maybe it'll work for you too.

If you're feeling insecure about your writing, let John show you what worked for him. This post is brought to you by The Insecure Writer's Support Group.We have a Facebook group located HERE.

The co-hosts for November are:Tyrean Martinson
Karen Walker
Denise Covey
Stephen Tremp

Here's Not Here felt artsy and comforting and psychologically wonderful compared to last week's episode of The Walking Dead

There are spoilers in this episode analysis :). You have been warned.

Last night, The Walking Dead treated us to a special 90-minute episode that was all about Morgan. At first, I was irritated that it looked like there would be nothing on the developments of last week. But once I settled into the episode called "Here's Not Here," the actor John Carroll Lynch (who played Eastman) gave an astounding performance as the cheesemaker that gave Morgan a reason to live.

Reflecting on the episode now that it's over, I realize that this was a really strong story. I loved the way Gimple decided to explore who Morgan is and why he seems to think now (of all times) that all life is precious. And then there's the quote from Eastman when he tells Morgan (as he's dying) that he "could stay" in the cabin but he hopes that Morgan doesn't. Life is about people, and he encourages Morgan to seek out others so that he won't be alone.

It's too bad really that "the Wolf" Morgan was relating his tale to in the jail there in Alexandria couldn't get the message. Despite how touching the tale of Morgan's redemption was, the surviving prisoner of the wolf invasion promised to continue to kill just like the psychopath that Eastman starved to death in his cabin.

Also I love the subtle answers we all got in this episode. There was the chocolate candies that we saw last year when Morgan laid them on the altar at the church just outside Terminus. Well now we know where he got them from. There was the answer as to why Eastman had a jail in his cabin. We were shown how Morgan learned aikido and how to use a staff so effectively. I just hope Morgan eventually finds a way to "pay it forward" so to speak and finally find peace.

I've changed my mind about Glenn in The Walking Dead and I now think he's 100% alive

There will be spoilers in this post. Please go away if this bothers you.

So I think that AMC is borrowing a page from HBO's mega-popular series "Game of Thrones." Even though Game of Thrones still doesn't come back for almost half a year, photos have surfaced online from the upcoming season and Jon Snow is in a lot of them, dressed in Stark armor, and he's leading an army. Speculators from super bloggers known as "The Watchers on the Wall" speculate that he (of course) gets resurrected by Melisandre and subsequently isn't a part of the Night's Watch anymore because his oath stands fulfilled. But that doesn't mean that HBO can't pump up ratings by killing off a beloved character and leaving fans around the world to speculate on his fate.

Well the same thing happened with Glenn in The Walking Dead. Only in this case, it's a set photo released by AMC during the late summer when Glenn was photographed in a group with Jesus (a major character from the comic) who hasn't been introduced yet. Here's a copy of said photo below.
Jesus in the comic books is a badass, able to escape handcuffs, do karate moves, and wield all kinds of martial weapons. He's also a nice guy, and he approaches the people in Alexandria to form an alliance of sorts between the community they have and the one Jesus is originally from (which happens to be much bigger). Which pretty much sets up that Negan will be introduced in the season finale sometime next year. Negan is the most brutal of The Walking Dead villains to date, and he's actually the one that kills Glenn as an example to Rick (who opposes him). I "suspect" that AMC is probably going to adhere somewhat close to this although they might substitute Daryl for Glenn. If that's the case, then there will probably be riots in the streets.
Anyway, since this photo got brought to my attention, I thought I'd let all of you know that I've changed my mind on Glenn's fate. He's 100% alive and AMC is trolling all of us hard because it's the kind of thing that brings in the advertisers. And that's just the way it is.

Is the secret brother that Iris just learned about on The Flash named Wally by chance? If that's true is the CW doing Crisis on the Infinite Earths?

Look...the CW has just been knocking it out of the park with "The Flash" and "Arrow" this fall, and last night's episode entitled "The Fury of Firestorm" was no different. The insertion of heroes and villains from Earth 2 is just the beginning of what I must assume is a steady build toward Crisis on the Infinite Earths. If they can pull off Crisis at some point in the future, I'm going to go bonkers because it's even more ambitious than The Avengers. However, it also means that Barry Allen dies (if they follow the plot in the comic book drawn by George Perez), allowing Wally West to become "The Flash" infused with all of the powers of the Speed Force.

Up until now, there hasn't been a "Wally" West. But I don't think it's much of a stretch to think that the CW wants to at least introduce him. I mean, Iris's last name was always "West" and so was Joe's (naturally). And last week, they introduced "Francine" who was Iris' deadbeat former addict mother come to Central City to get to know her kid again. This week we found out that Francine was in town because she has a terminal disease. But because Iris is an investigative reporter, she discovered a secret that Francine had kept from her and Joe: the existence of a brother that she's never met. Iris asked Francine, "Do I have a brother?" but the emotions were coming too fast and too strong for Francine to answer before Iris walked out. What I wanted to know was, "Is his name Wally?"

Wally West is going to be the third Flash (the first was Jay Garrick and the second was Barry Allen--please correct me if I'm wrong comic book nerds).

Random Thoughts:

1) I do like that it's Iris this time that is keeping "the secret" from Barry and Joe. It's a good "turn of the table."

2) It also seems like a very natural way to introduce someone (Wally) considering they've never talked about him at all. Usually shows are just sloppy and introduce someone as a "cousin" and just expect the audience to go along with it.

3) The C.G.I. for the huge man shark guy at the end was awesome.

4) The new Harrison Wells looks like he may be a good guy. That will be so weird because he looks just like the old Harrison Wells who is responsible for killing Barry's mom. How will Barry ever get past the way the guy looks to work with him on anything? 

AMC is trolling the whole world with Glenn's death on The Walking Dead.

AMC is trolling the whole world with Glenn's death. Sometimes, I feel like (to use Lady Gaga's words) that I'm in a "Bad Romance" with The Walking Dead. Week after week, it beats me up to the point that I need therapy. Yet I still come crawling back.

If you don't know, we're three episodes into the sixth season, and Glenn was in a pretty hopeless situation having fallen from atop a garbage bin into a herd of walkers. Our last shot of him were guts being pulled all red and glistening from what looks like his corpse. I say this last point with caution because Glenn fell from atop the garbage bin with Nicholas in his arms. Did Nicholas land on top of him? Is that Nicholas' body we're seeing being ripped apart? And if so, Will Glenn survive by being coated in zombie parts and blood and all things vile and be able to walk out of there?
Are those Glenn's innards? Or are they Nicholas'? Damn you AMC!It honestly doesn't seem very likely that Glenn could be alive. At this point, I'm comfortable saying that 95% of me thinks he's dead. But I hate this "uncertainty." The showrunner didn't have to film this sequence with such ambiguity. None of the other deaths have been ambiguous at all. Glenn could have fallen from atop the garbage bin a few seconds after Nicholas fell. That would have dispelled any and all theories that Glenn could somehow survive. As it is, even The Talking Dead featured no interview with Steven Yeun, which is normally how the show likes to play major deaths. It also didn't list him in the official list of deaths and then it referred to Glenn's death as "the most shocking moment from tonight" rather than "Glenn's death."

Shame on you AMC. You did this on purpose. It's not going to make me stop watching the show, but to shamelessly troll the emotions of a HUGE audience that will want to make up reasons for a beloved character to be alive seems like a desperate cash grab. Sigh. I guess I'll have to just put up with it until they decide to definitively answer the question by showing Glenn's reanimated corpse. However, if AMC holds true to form (like they did with Beth), it will be half a season before we get any more clarity on what happened to Glenn.

What do you Walking Dead fans think? Is Glenn dead? Is it possible for him to somehow survive? Is AMC trolling all of us and laughing its ass off?

I just don't want to admit that this is how it ends. Not for Glenn. He deserved better. 

Supergirl airs on CBS on Monday after Big Bang Theory and I hope it will be good.

The Supergirl pilot airs Monday on CBS directly after Big Bang Theory. I know the pilot leaked online about six months ago, but I never bothered tracking it down and watching it. Instead, I'm content to wait it out just a few more days and watch it live on CBS. I'm sure it'll be good. Why? Because I trust the showrunner, Greg Berlanti, who is the genius behind the CW's amazing comic book adaptations of Green Arrow and The Flash. Also, I gotta say that I love the idea of Supergirl. She's absolutely got the power to deal with heavy hitter supervillains, and it's going to be different than yet another Superman reboot (which has been done to death).

But there are a few nagging questions that I have. The first is obviously whether or not Supergirl will take place in the same universe as Arrow and The Flash. I think it would be awesome to have crossovers galore on television, but I'm not so sure how CBS would feel about doing that with the CW. Additionally, is Supergirl going to be unapologetically a girl? And if so, will that turn some people off when the character of Kara is in non-superhero mode? And I wonder if there will be any sexist trolls that come out complaining that the actress doesn't feature an "in your face" rack for men to stare at.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the latest tv spot, I'm including it below. Have a great weekend.

My mind keeps wanting to disbelieve that I'm actually seeing Han Solo and Leia on the screen again.

After the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer premiered during halftime of the Giants vs. the Eagles Monday night, my mind was pretty much ruminating on it all night. I did manage to score some tickets for me and some friends at the first IMAX showing. The Fandango website crashed multiple times, and I heard that the volume of ticket sales was 8 times that of the previous record holder, a.k.a. The Hunger Games. Early predictions are saying that this Star Wars movie is going to be the biggest movie the world has ever seen. Yes, it'll supposedly be the one that dethrones Titanic and Avatar. And I, like everyone else, is wondering how Luke Skywalker plays in all of this. I'm wondering (too) why Leia looks so sad in the screen grab below:
This is gonna be a long two months to have to wait. I gotta say though that my mind keeps wanting to disbelieve that I'm actually seeing Han Solo and Leia on the screen again. It's like Han Solo overload. This is the most "epic" play of a nostalgia card I have ever seen. Well done Disney.