What You Might Have Missed In July
Well, that’s just about a wrap on July! Here in America, we began the month by celebrating our freedoms and independence from tyranny just days after President Rapey McPedophile opened a concentration camp in Florida, popularly known as Alligator Alcatraz. There’s even merch you can buy, which I’m sure will be impacted by his reckless and inane tariffs to tax American consumers even harder, but let’s not lose sight of the simple fact that this is, indeed, nothing less than a concentration camp and yet one more brick in the road to fascism.
Oh yeah, where’s those Epstein files at? Hmmm. Kinda strange on he promised to release them during the campaign and now, months later, he thinks they’re old news and no big deal. Oh well, them’s the breaks, I suppose. Guess we’re just supposed to enjoy losing jobs, medical coverage, and paying higher taxes while the rich get even more breaks. Elect a clown, the joke’s on you.
Over on the other end of the political spectrum in true This vs. That culture war fashion was the new Superman movie, which I’m in the minority of thinking was inane rubbish. Supershit, indeed.
!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!! Skip on down to the next section if you prefer. Yes, seriously.OK, let’s proceed.
Superman 2025 is one of those movies that you can tell is fictional not because it’s a comic book movie featuring a heroic alien clad in form-fitting pajamas, wears his underwear on the outside of his clothes, and who can blast laser beams out of his eyes but because it’s a movie that features American journalists working hard to uncover dirt on a corrupt billionaire and expose his criminal attempts to overthrow a government and bring him down once and for all. Yeah, right, as if that would ever happen.
Beyond its kindergarten-level political naiveté, it’s a wildly underwhelming and uninspiring take on Superman, giving viewers what must be, quite literally, the weakest depiction of the character in recent memory. While I appreciated him not being overpowered and nigh invulnerable, Gunn goes a bit too far in the opposite direction with Superman being such a weak and ineffective defender of humanity that he requires a shitty little yappy dog to save his ass during every single challenge he faces. Our introduction to the titular hero comes with the man crashing into the Arctic, near death’s door, bones broken and bloodied. He doesn’t fare much better in subsequent confrontations with anybody. Superman spends damn near the entirety of his own movie getting his ass kicked from one end of the globe to the other, until the smarmy little dog can save him. It’s pathetic. Why does Lex Luthor even need an army of armored goons to tackle this Superman when he could probably just kick him in the shin and have the Man of Steel crumple like tinfoil? I can’t imagine anybody leaving this movie believing a man can fly, let alone finding any of inspiration in this latest incarnation of Superman. I suspect that purse dog sales will skyrocket, though.
Ma and Pa Kent are embarrassing, soft-headed country bumpkin caricatures that easily make them the worst on-screen depiction of the Kent’s thus far. If Gunn’s Superman wasn’t so earnest and the movie so sickly-sweet saccharine, one might wonder if Clark became a smart, whizbang journalist just to spite their dull, dimwitted golly gee shucks bumbling. Thankfully they don’t get much screen time here, which is a blessing considering how much other silliness gets crammed into every other frame.
Mr. Terrific is a standout, though, and one of the more compelling side characters Gunn jams in here. Unfortunately, aside from Rachel Brosnahan’s turn as Lois Lane, and Nate Fillion’s Guy Gardner (complete with the horrendous, comics-accurate, god awful bowl cut hairstyle) that’s about where the positives end. I have nothing else kind to say about this picture. It’s not quite as bad as the cinematic trash fire known as Batman & Robin (and dear fucking god, given the tone and silliness of Gunn’s Superman, I am now desperately worried about how they’re going to treat Batman in this latest incarnation of the DC Cinematic Universe and bring back Schumacher’s worst instincts about what a comic book movie should be and how flippant and garish it need be), or more recently The Flash or Black Adam, but it’s nowhere near as good as the Dick Donner/Christopher Reeves flicks it tries, and badly fails, to imitate. I thought about leaving the theater multiple times, but stuck it out, hoping it might somehow redeem itself. It never did. I didn’t bother waiting for the post-credits stinger, though, having already had more than my fill of Gunn’s nonsense, and was left wishing I’d have waited for the HBO Max premiere and saved myself the $11.
Truth, Justice, and The American Way — in 2025? I feel like Will McAvoy in The Newsroom just thinking about it.
Congratulations to Marvel, though, for not having to worry about the DC Cinematic Universe as a serious rival for nearly a whole decade, even at their lowest points. I expect they’ll be enjoying another decade of zero competition by way of DCU 2.0. Maybe DCU 3.0 will finally get things right.
Again, though, I am among the amazingly small segment of the population who didn’t care for Gunn’s latest — and I thought I had gone in with sufficiently low expectations! Having seen so much effusive praise for this flick over the last few weeks, I really do wonder what exactly I’m missing here and whether or not if I’ll find more appreciation for it on a rewatch. Time will tell, I suppose.
Either way, hopefully Supergirl will be better. Maybe somebody will blast that insufferable, stupid, little dog into the middle of a giant red sun for me.
END SPOILERS.
In case you missed the news earlier this month or over on BlueSky, all of my books are currently heavily discounted as part of a promotion on Smashwords for their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! This is a chance to get all my books, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading. The bulk of my works are 75% off their usual retail price, with short stories available for the low, low price of absolutely nothing at all. And you’ll be able to download the ebook file to save to your computer and keep forever, without the hassle of some corporate oligarchy deciding you no longer own the books you buy.
But July 31 is the last day! So, if you haven’t already, go check out the sale and grab some books!
SERIOULY, IT ENDS TOMORROW! JULY 31. THAT’S IT. IT’S OVER.
You will find the promo here:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Please be sure to share this promo with friends and family. You can even forward this email to the avid readers in your life! Just be sure to let them this offer expires very, very soon!
Thank you for your help and support and, as always, Happy reading!
NEW REVIEWS 
July was another productive month on the reviewing front for me over at FanFiAddict. You can go check out my thoughts on the following and, if ya ken it, go grab a copy of the books for yourself!
Secret Lives of the Dead by Tim Lebbon
Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
Mushroom Blues by Adrian Gibson
Kill Your Darling by Clay McLeod Chapman
Currently reading: King Sorrow by Joe Hill. Goddamn, this one’s a doorstopper! Due out in October, King Sorrow clocks in at around 900 pages, give or take. I just started reading it yesterday, thanks to the publisher having supplied me with an advance copy, and I’m having real difficulty putting it down. I just want to keep reading it! In a nice bit of serendipity, I also received my ticket to attend one of Joe’s tour stops in the fall, so I have that to look forward to.
Currently playing: Death Stranding 2 (PS5)
Currently listening to: Packing for Mars audiobook by Mary Roach, narrated by Sandra Burr.
