Jack Attack Tuesday – 7/29/14

Tusk, Sons of Anarchy, Patriots Training Camp and the Batman V Superman Teaser

It’s Tuesday again.  I can’t believe July is gone already.  I work on a 6-day work/school week every week, and when a new month starts I can hardly believe it.  Needless to say, this summer will most likely be considered a wash, but that’s not the worst thing since the schoolwork is paying off in spades.  This week was relatively light on flicks and shows but in spite of that I did manage to carve a chunk out of the TV Homework Ammon gave me from our podcast last week, as well as a few other things. Kevin Smith remains one of the most interesting fanboys in pop culture.  The guy changes his mind on a dime but he has a pretty direct connection to a lot of franchises and movie stars that are on the A-list, not to mention the great podcasting work he’s made his primary function these past few years.  Smith was someone I used to love as a director, mainly for Clerks, Clerks II and Chasing Amy.  Since he’s strayed from Jay and Silent Bob, his work has been spotty at best, but I absolutely love Red State.  I think the film is a unique take on a genre, has a pretty solid cast for what it sets out to do and is entertaining in a darkly cynical way.  Color me excited for Tusk, Smith’s next horror-thriller hybrid.  In fact, if Smith only made horror from here on out, I think I would be alright with that.  The story seems weird but the mere fact that Smith is giving Michael Parks some scenery to chew on is enough for me to be all in.  September can’t come soon enough. As per the final season coming up, I decided to pick up where I left off on Sons.  I had stopped somewhere at the beginning of Season 4 almost a year ago, but luckily Netflix saved my place and I started up again without any confusion.  I’m two episodes from finishing Season 5, which by the time this posts I will have probably finished.  Rather than give you a summation of my feelings in paragraph form, I’ll give you my bullet points:

• Jax is a tool
• The plot is way too complicated for a biker show.  Seriously, this is a moody soap opera where guys sometimes go and beat people up for “turf”
• Loyalties bounce back and forth so quickly I have no idea where a lot of the characters stand
• Tig is way too ok with the shit that gets thrown at him in this season (so far)
• Walton Goggins is a comedic demigod

I will be finishing this soon.  I think I’m hate-watching this the same way Jim Law does, but you could do a lot worse on TV these days. This week marked the birthday of the guy I consider to be the greatest director of all time, Stanley Kubrick.  If you aren’t familiar with his work (you don’t know Stanley Kubrick?  WTF?!?!), just watch 2001: A Space Odyssey and get into it.  Seriously, the guy made classic, challenging films with each outing.  How many directors can even get one of those throughout their career?  From the brutality of A Clockwork Orange to the innovation of Barry Lyndon, Kubrick was and, to me at least, always will be the most innovative filmmaker of the century.  Here’s hoping Nolan rises to this level of greatness with Interstellar (something I see as a distinct possibility). Comic-Con came and went without too much fuss this year.  The Marvel panel told us nothing we don’t already know and Star Wars didn’t even make their presence known.  Warner Brothers, however, severely rocked my socks with the Batman V Superman teaser.  I have made it known on this site in the past that Zack Snyder is a toolbag of epic proportions.  He severely fucked up Man of Steel and, despite the visual greatness, shit all over Watchmen.  That being said, Affleck looks incredible in the armored Batsuit.  This teaser told me two things right away:

1. Affleck may pull this off
2. Snyder may be poised to give us the truest incarnation of Batman we’ve seen yet

I know this is a bold statement to make, but this 30-second teaser was very satisfying.  I am still hesitant that this is going to work out well, but if it does it could be the most comic-bookey (is that a word?) flick we’ve seen yet.  I love Nolan’s trilogy for it’s ability to take Batman and put him in the real world, but hopefully this gives us a different, more comic-centric approach to the character.  I still don’t give a fuck about Superman though. The fact that August is already here means Patriots football is very close to being back.  Pre-season, whatever, I’m in.  There’s an energy with the reports coming out of camp this year that most of us fans can really feel.  This time of year is always full of optimism for football fans, that’s true.  Hell, social media lit up when Sammy Watkins made a smooth, one-handed catch after recovering from a trip at Bills training camp last week despite it being completely undefended.  The fact that we’ve got Edelman coming off a career-high season, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner being added to the secondary along with the return of Patrick Chung and a healthy, hopefully non-buterfingered Steven Ridley, there’s a lot of hope this year.  My fingers are firmly crossed we can contend with the Broncos on a more even playing field this time around.

Finally, I’m leaving you with the spectacular Mad Max Fury Road trailer that premiered at Comic-Con.  This thing looks really great and very Road Warrior-esque.  Check back this week for our next Strain commentary (sorry about last week, schedules didn’t quite permit), as well as a possible BingeMusic Cast and our daily blogs.  Binge on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akX3Is3qBpw