TV

Five Ideas for MCU Team-Ups

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

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One of the best things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is seeing all our favourite comic book heroes recreated on the big screen. But one thing that’s better than that is seeing them all interact with each other. After all, when you have a universe filled with such a colourful cast, not having them hang out is just a waste. Why have all these characters in a shared universe if they’re not gonna team up once in a while? And Disney and Marvel clearly know this. The Avengers movies were all huge successes primarily for this very reason. But while we’ve enjoyed these awesome cross-overs, we’ve never had any proper team-up movies.

Sure, Black Widow helped out Captain America in The Winter Soldier, but that was still Steve’s movie. And while Hulk showed up in Thor: Ragnarok, it wasn’t really a Thor/Hulk movie; just a Thor movie that the Hulk happened to be in. We’ve had “team-ups,” but no movies where two characters get to enjoy equal footing, and I feel this is something Marvel should do more of. The big crossovers are great but they run the risk of some characters having less to do than others. Focusing purely on two individuals can lead to stronger interactions and a tighter narrative. There was even a whole series of comics called Marvel Team-Up that explored this very concept. Imagine a series of movies like this.

So, purely for my own enjoyment, here are five ideas for team-up movies that I’d love to see be made for the MCU. Continue reading →

My Ten Favourite Steven Universe Songs

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Steven Universe

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Steven Universe is arguably one of the best cartoons ever made. Or, at the very least, one of the most popular modern ones. Whether it be because of its soft and cosy atmosphere, it’s large and lovable cast, or the stories and messages it presents, a lot of people love this show, myself included. Today, I want to highlight one of the show’s most notable aspects – its songs.

You can tell just by watching the show that the crew LOVE making music and song numbers. I can’t quite describe it but every song has the same level of heart and passion put into it, resulting in a unified yet varied soundtrack, with some of them sounding like they’d fit in a stage musical. So, with the Steven Universe movie almost upon us and it being a musical as well, I’m sharing my ten favourite songs from the show so far, in order of when they appeared in the show. And let me tell you, there were a lot to pick from. Continue reading →

Legend of the Three Caballeros – A Poor Man’s DuckTales or An Awesome Alternative?

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

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Anyone remember Disney’s The Three Caballeros? Released in 1944, it was an anthology of shorts that were linked by an overarching plot involving Donald Duck receiving birthday presents from his Latin-American friends, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. I’ve never watched it myself and, from what I understand, it’s not exactly up there in terms of recognisability; it’s biggest contribution simply being the introductions of those aforementioned two characters.

Why am I bringing this up? Because last year, somebody within the company decided they wanted a new animated series based on this movie that would be all about the titular characters travelling the world and encountering various mythological figures and monsters while trying to stop an evil sorcerer from coming back to life… and then make it only available in the Philippines. Yeah, I’m still confused about that last bit. It’s almost as weird as me waiting over half a year to actually write about it when it’s no longer relevant or topical (things kept getting in the way, leave me alone). Continue reading →

Ten Scariest Monsters in Gravity Falls

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Gravity Falls

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Here’s something that I’ve been meaning to write for a very long time. And with it being the week of Halloween, now is the perfect time to remind you all that Gravity Falls was a damn scary cartoon when it wanted to be. While the show saw twins Dipper and Mabel regularly dealing with all manner of paranormal phenomena during their summer vacation, they were usually just kind of weird and occasionally more humorous than threatening, like the surprisingly sophisticated Multi-Bear or the living videogame character Rumble McSkirmish.

But every once in a while, viewers would be subjected to something surprisingly and effectively creepy and/or terrifying. I’m still baffled that Disney allowed creator Alex Hirsch and the rest of the staff to include some of these monsters.

I’ve already praised the show in my review of it but let’s go deeper into the strange woods of this quiet Oregon town and get a good look at what I consider to be the scariest beings in Gravity Falls. Continue reading →

My Ten Favourite Justice League Unlimited Episodes

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League Unlimited

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Three weeks ago, I wrote a list of my ten favourite episodes of the Justice League cartoon. If you recall, in that article, I mentioned I would be giving its sequel show, Justice League Unlimited, it’s own list. This is that list.

JLU is a slightly different beast compared to the previous show. Stories were more self-contained, with most of them being wrapped up within a single episode. The cast was even larger, with the League having expanded to feature even more of DC’s impressive and eclectic cast of superheroes, introducing us to the likes of Green Arrow, Vixen, The Question and many more. But one thing didn’t change – the show’s dedication to tell interesting, dramatic and overall well-written stories with great character interactions and development, as well as on-going plot-lines that lasted throughout the show’s run and even continuing on ones from previous entries in the DC animated universe.

So let’s not waste any more time and jump right in with my ten favourite episodes from its three-season run. Continue reading →

My Ten Favourite Justice League Episodes

/ Michael Beckwith / 2 Comments

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Justice League

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I’m just gonna cut to the chase – I consider Justice League to be one of the best cartoons ever made and the standard that I hold a lot of other shows up to, particularly DC’s other animated offerings. It’s responsible for why I love so many of DC’s superhero characters (especially its depictions of Superman and Batman) and introduced me to characters I might otherwise have never known. To this day, I’m still mad that the series never got a DVD release outside of America.

So after recently re-watching the series in its entirety with a friend of mine, I figured why not finally express my love on this site by listing my ten favourite episodes from the show. Continue reading →

A Series of Unfortunate Events – The Terrible TV Show

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

Before we begin, I feel you should be informed that the subject of this review is not a pleasant one. In fact, it is so unpleasant, so needlessly cruel and so depressing, that I would honestly advise that you stop reading immediately. You have no obligation to continue. Close the tab and do something more entertaining or uplifting like watch a funny cat video or start reading a fan-fiction where nothing bad happens and everyone gets to live happily ever after. For there are no happy endings, or happy beginnings, or even happy middles in today’s subject. Continue reading →

Tangled: Before Ever After – A Shining Success or A Complete Mess?

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Tangled

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When Disney announced they would be making a TV series based off of Tangled, I was admittedly skeptical but still curious. Everything seemed perfectly wrapped up by the end of the movie; there was even a short all about Rapunzel and Flynn’s (sorry, Eugene’s) wedding. It didn’t really seem like there was anything left to do with the story or characters; the cynic in me wanted to assume that this was just Disney trying to make some easy money.

But, let’s not forget, Disney have done the same thing before in the past. Fellow 90s kids no doubt remember catching at least one episode of the likes of Hercules, Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, and all of them are considered to be of decent quality. So, out of fairness, I decided to give the pilot movie, Tangled: Before Ever After, a shot and see if it does a good job setting up the show. Is it as glorious as gold or is it as messy as Rapunzel’s bed head? Well, read on and find out. Continue reading →

Gravity Falls – L’P ZDWFKLQJ BRX

/ Michael Beckwith / 3 Comments

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Why must the good cartoons end so early? Yes, recently, we saw the end of Gravity Falls, possibly one of the best Disney cartoons ever – hell, probably one of the best cartoons period. I only got into the series relatively late (in fact, I started watching the show during it’s Season 2 hiatus) but I feel like I’ve been with it since the beginning. From the very first episode, something about it resonated with me and now that it’s over, there’s an empty hole that needs to be filled by another high quality show (ironic considering I only started watching Gravity Falls because Legend of Korra had ended).

So, since Gravity Falls celebrated its end with one hell of a final episode, I want to celebrate it too in my own way – by explaining why it’s so good and hopefully convince you to watch it if you haven’t already. Continue reading →

Heroes Reborn – My Superpower is Intense Apathy

/ Michael Beckwith / Leave a comment

Heroes

Anyone here remember Heroes? I do. Well, did you know it’s coming back? I remember rumours surrounding the show’s revival circling around a bit for a few years and it seems they held a bit of truth to them. The show was incredibly popular during its run and quickly expanded into other media that fleshed out the universe and told their own stories. It eventually ended after four seasons in 2010 and… boy, what an abrupt and unfulfilling ending it was. Continue reading →