Star Trek: Celebrations - So Close, Yet So Far

By Brandon T. McClure

With June in the USA being pride month many comic book publishers take the opportunity to celebrate their queer characters. Predominantly, DC Comics has published an oversized one-shot consisting of stories centered around their queer characters for many years. This year IDW is joining the fun by releasing an oversized one-shot called Star Trek: Celebrations. This new issue will feature stories written by queer creators, such as Vita Ayala (Children of the Atom), Steve Orlando (Commanders In Crisis), and Mags Visaggio (Cold Bodies), who will tell stories centered around the prominent queer characters in The Star Trek universe. But, just by looking at the cover, there is one show being represented more than the others: Star Trek: Discovery. Sadly this is shining a light on a worrying trend within the Star Trek franchise.

The solicitation for Star Trek: Celebrations reads “IDW proudly presents a one-shot anthology centering and celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the Star Trek universe! Join legendary heroes from each era of the beloved franchise in stories that showcase the strengths of infinite diversity in infinite combinations.” The cover features Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Adira (Blu del Barrio), Gray (Ian Alexander), Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), Seven of Nine (Jerry Ryan), Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), Hikaru Sulu (John Cho), Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), and Jennifer Sh'reyan (Lauren Lapkus). That makes five characters from Star Trek: Discovery, two from Star Trek: Lower Decks, two from Star Trek: Picard, one from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and one from Star Trek Beyond. 

It makes sense that Star Trek: Celebrations wouldn’t use any characters from before 2016's Star Trek Beyond because Star Trek didn’t have any queer main characters, at least none that were “out of the closet”. Looking back on the franchise, fans have speculated that many characters were queer, with some actors, including Andrew Jordt Robinson (Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) agreeing, which he made known to TrekMovie.com in 2020. While Star Trek didn’t have any queer main characters, it is littered with queer-coded characters and has always had a passionate queer fanbase with their own queer headcanons (Any Spirk shippers out there?). Due to the era in which the shows were made, queerness was relegated to background and subtext. But that began to change in the latter half of the 2010s.

While Star Trek Beyond features Star Trek’s first queer character, it was Star Trek: Discovery’s premiere in 2017 that is most notable in the history of the franchise. Star Trek: Discovery launched a new golden age of Star Trek for the streaming era and immediately made an impact with its historic representation. Star Trek: Discovery has broken down barriers when it comes to positive queer representation since many of the main characters and principal actors belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. For a franchise that has been so progressive in the past, it was severely lacking in queer representation, and Star Trek: Discovery was in a position to change that. With Star Trek: Discovery acting as the “flagship show”, it boldly led the likes of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Picard into a new progressive future. But seven years and five shows later, Paramounts priorities seem to have shifted.

The first season of Star Trek: Picard saw the return of Jerry Ryan as Seven of Nine, a role she originated on Star Trek: Voyager. She became a key player in the series, as did her on-again/off-again girlfriend Raffi Musiker. The final episode of the first season of Star Trek: Picard implied a relationship between Seven and Raffi was beginning to develop. But they broke up between seasons one and two only to spend the entire second season getting back together again. Now the stage was set for the relationship to blossom. Except they broke up again between season two and three. The two of them never spent time together as a real couple and while the end of Star Trek: Picard put them in command of the new USS Enterprise - G, it wasn’t as a couple. Sure, the show could get “brownie points” for putting queer characters in charge of the Federation's flagship, but if it’s not shown on screen, does it count? If Star Trek: Legacy happens, will the two of them get back together, or will the writers spend another season teasing their relationship, only to not take it anywhere?

It’s important to note that while Seven and Raffi weren’t together on screen, there is a story that explores their relationship between seasons one and two of Star Trek: Picard. Written by Kirsten Beyer, Star Trek: Picard - No Man’s Land is a full-cast audiobook that tells the story of the Fenris Rangers asking Seven and Raffi for help with a “beleaguered planet.” For her part, Beyer has written many Star Trek comics and was a co-creator of Star Trek: Picard in season one before Terry Matalis came on board in season two. The inclusion of this audiobook implies that Seven and Raffi are allowed to be complex queer characters, just as long as it’s not on screen. Matalis did try to explain himself by saying that he thinks “Starfleet regulations have a lot to say about them being officially together which is why we had them apart to begin with. We knew we were ending here and that would be a big conflict of interest on the bridge.” So it’s not homophobic, it’s just that the fictional organization of Starfleet told Terry Matalas that they couldn’t be together. To his credit, he did end the statement by saying “will this ABSOLUTELY be a story you want to tell in the future? A story about a Captain who loves her First Officer and vice versa? Absolutely.”

Sometime between seasons two and three of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Becket Mariner and the Andorian Jennifer Sh’reyan formed a romantic relationship. The show didn’t dedicate much time to this relationship but it clearly made Mariner happy and it certainly made the fans happy to see. In the second to last episode of the show, Becket is blamed for a bad interview with a Federation journalist named Victoria Nuzé and Jennifer breaks off the relationship. More than anything, this feels like a story that the creators of Star Trek: Lower Decks wanted to tell, but the finale gives the audience the sense that Mariner is not going to try and get back together with Jennifer. Perhaps it’s got more to do with Mariner’s self-destructive nature and less to do with a decree from Paramount, but the loss of this queer relationship is one more symptom of an ever-growing problem. It’s also very noticeable that Jennifer only appears in the background of season four a handful of times.

While progressive for the time, the original Star Trek struggled when it came to its portrayal of women. Probably none more so than Nurse Christine Chapel. Originally played by Majel Barret, she was often used to support Dr. McCoy in the sick bay and when she wasn’t doing that, she was lovesick for Spock. Flash forward to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Christine Chapel once again occupies the Enterprise sick bay, this time played by Jess Bush. It appeared that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was interested in adding some much-needed depth to this maligned character and one way they decided to do that was to make her bisexual. Jess Bush also identifies as bisexual and was likely interested in exploring that new aspect of the character and delivering positive bi representation to the world of Star Trek. There was plenty of room left to explore the character, her relationships, and history which would add depth and context to her relationship with Spock. Sadly, the second season did away with all of this. All implications of her bisexuality were scrubbed from the scripts and her complicated, and frankly uninteresting relationship with Spock became the primary focus. Much like her original series counterpart.

It's not controversial to say that the online reception to Star Trek: Discovery has, itself, been controversial. However, many Trek fans were delighted to see this kind of representation in their favorite franchise. The world of Star Trek was beginning to look more and more like the beautifully diverse world we live in. A home to many and the next step in realizing Gene Roddenberry’s vision of utopia. But if you look at these shows today you would likely never know that any of these characters listed above are queer. For years a segment of the Trek fandom, spurned on by bad faith actors within the right-wing community, has been bullying the show's creators, actors, and fans due to a perceived agenda to push “identity politics,” a term implying that someone's identity is inherently political, but only serves as a smokescreen to try and hide a more sinister term. Paramount seems to want to desperately please these “fans'' by going back on much of the progress that was made in the initial years. Star Trek: Discovery has been the only show that was able to retain its overt queerness, but much of its last three seasons have been filled with TOS or TNG nostalgia in the hopes of bringing these “fans” back to the franchise. 

No matter what happens, characters like Mariner, Chapel, Seven, and Raffi are still queer but because the shows have decided to largely ignore this aspect of their identity, they might as well be straight-coded. It’s not enough to say these characters are gay, bi, or trans. That’s not representation, that’s throwing the fans who want to see themselves represented scraps. These characters mean a lot to fans and it feels like Paramount is trying to force the franchise back into the closet. The frustrating thing about Paramount doing all this is that it’s not going to work. The bigoted fandom will never come back to Star Trek, if they ever watched it all. They’ve all grown up with a weird fictional “apolitical” version of Star Trek and have become the villains in the show they claim to love. Paramount+ is not a streaming giant so they probably feel like they can’t afford to alienate what they believe to be a large section of Trek fans, but all it’s going to do is alienate the ones who do love the franchise and want to see it evolve. Paramount is sending a message to those fans: “You don’t belong in the future, because it makes people mad.” 

Last year saw the end of Star Trek: Picard and this year will see the end of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks. After this year, every explicitly queer character will be gone from the Star Trek universe, except for Nurse Chapel. Sure, new shows could pick up the slack and surprise fans with positive representation, but it’s depressing to think that the sole remaining queer character is going to be Nurse Chapel. Since the writers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have decided that Chappel’s queer identity (or identity in general if we're being honest with ourselves), is less important than setting up her ill-fated love affair with Spock, all eyes are on future Trek shows and movies. With a Starfleet Academy show and Section 31 film on the horizon, fans are eagerly awaiting to see if they will continue what Star Trek: Discovery started, or will Nurse Chapel be the death knell of queer Trek characters. If the Star Trek: Celebrations comic returns in 2025, will there be new queer characters to add, or will we be seeing the same characters over and over again until the franchise lies dormant again?

A comic book like Star Trek: Celebrations should be a celebration of how far we’ve come in the Star Trek franchise and not a reminder of what we’ve lost. It may be conspiratorial to say that Paramount is targeting queer stories and demanding they not be told, but something is going on, or else these stories wouldn’t be consistently downplayed. Star Trek: Celebrations is a wonderful idea and should be celebrated as the milestone it is, and it’s a shame that it’s made so many realize how little has changed since 2017. The difference between comic book readers and television watchers is in the millions. These milestones should be celebrated on the television shows that inspired generations to look up at the stars and work towards a better tomorrow. It’s important to tell queer stories in every medium, but it’s such a shame that all of the work to showcase queer love and queer stories on the television screen has been relegated to one issue of a comic book in June.

FOUR EYES REVIEW / The Book of Boba Fett - Season 1

Welcome back to another “Four Eyes” review. We take this moment to share 2 opinions on a single geek topic.

Below both Justin and Jenny will each dive into what they thought about Season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett. Join us for an interesting recap.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media using #foureyesreview

SHOW: The Book of Boba Fett

STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Jennifer Beals, Sophie Thatcher, Timothy Olyphant, Pedro Pascal, Amy Sedaris

RELEASE DATE: December 29th, 2021

WHERE TO WATCH: Disney+

FROM JUSTIN POMERVILLE (2 Broke Geeks):

So we have come to a close on the first season of The Book of Boba Fett and this series has been polarizing among Star Wars fans. I am in the camp that the series was not very good. I believe the pacing was off and the writing was a mess. I think if given more time and some tweaks, this series could have been even better than The Mandalorian series that came before it.

Personally, I believe that Boba Fett is an overhyped character in Star Wars. He was just the bounty hunter that got shot by a blind Han Solo and fell into the Sarlacc. That was it. Granted, I do acknowledge that he has an elaborate backstory outside of the films, but I have never read any of those and never ventured out to look into them. However, when Boba Fett showed up in The Mandalorian and actually did stuff, I started to get more invested and excited for The Book of Boba Fett.

Boba Fett (Temura Morrison) in Lucasfilm's THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Where did it go wrong for me? The series was lackluster. The first four episodes are split between two stories. One story being Boba’s past, starting from when he escaped the Sarlacc. The other is present-day where Boba has taken over Jabba’s palace and is working to control the criminal underworld on Tatooine. That was the first problem for me. Throughout those episodes, it felt like they focused more on Boba’s past versus the current timeline. They slowly built up to why the past was important, but I was more interested in the current story. I felt like they didn’t have much invested in the current storyline, so forced to heavily lean into how Boba came back, met Fennec Shand, and got his stuff back.

(L-R): Temura Morrison is Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen is Fennec Shand in Lucasfilm's THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Honestly, the next two episodes became the most interesting thing about the show, when we visit the Mandalorian (aka Din Djarin). We follow Mando as he’s missing Grogu, learns to control the dark saber, and is then forced out of the order because he took his helmet off. There wasn’t any jumping of past and present timelines, just a simple story of Din wanting to see Grogu again before he goes to help Boba battle the Pykes for their spice trading.

The finale of this show is also very spiritless as they spend even more time reviewing how they got to their current situation. They have a gunfight, and win the whole thing, forcing the Pykes off-world. They needed more time for this series to make it feel like a big deal. They reintroduced a bounty hunter from the Clone Wars series, and he has one fight scene and then dies by Boba’s hand. Not only that, Boba’s whole character arc just felt wasted. He begins the series with wanting to rule the criminal underworld to keep Tatooine safe, becoming a protector of the people. Being in power for what feels like just a couple of days, he hints that maybe this life was not made for him. He might move back into the life of a bounty hunter because he was told that killing is what he is good for.

Overall, this show just felt very boring and served more as a side story in the big Star Wars universe. It wanted to be the next phase of Boba’s life, but instead fell flat on its face. The episodes involving Din having the only real growth. The unrelated win was by making people excited for the next season of The Mandalorian. I’m sure they will be making a second season, but I don’t foresee it being something Disney will be focusing on, especially with all the other series they have coming down the line. If I had to rate this series on a letter grade, I would give it a C.

FROM JENNY ROBINSON:

Despite the harsh criticism of this show, I actually enjoyed it. I would give it a solid B in the grading system. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of questionable decisions. For some reason, they didn’t bother me as much as they did others. I do wish they would have done it as either a movie or released all episodes at the same time. The weekly release I feel is the main reason it did not connect well with the audience. There were slow character builds that then forced the audience to wait. It slowed the pace down dramatically and may be the reason why some of the audience lost focus. Those first episodes as we follow Boba Fett into power in the current storyline while also recapping where he has been since Return of the Jedi in the flashbacks was a cool take to expand his personality but also plays out pretty slow.

I have always thought Boba Fett was rad. Despite not having many lines and very few scenes in the original movies, you have to admire anyone that Vader also respects. Boba Fett turns heads when he walks into a room, for sure. Those initial episodes this season develops a character that has empathy for those around him. While captive, he offers to help the other capitative. Instead of wreaking havoc on the Tuscans, he chose to learn from them. When a bully shows up, he goes to battle to bring them down. Those flash backs finally gave him a legit character with a moral compass, and I dug it.

Boba Fett (Temura Morrison) in Lucasfilm's THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

The failure I find in the series was it didn’t know what it wanted to be and tried hard to expand a short story into an extended tale. I loved the idea of Tatooine being ran by crime syndicates. I thought the “old west” take was super cool (especially inspiring the duels with Cad Bane). The show could have wrapped up the flashback/Tuscan Raider thread in half an episode. The final battle could also have been completed in fifteen minutes. I was invested though, so I can deal with the drawn out plot despite going against my “less is best” mantra.

I understand that they needed the Mandalorian in order to persuade Cobb Vanth to join with Boba Fett and Fennec. I was extremely excited (those who know me know why) to see Cobb Vanth’s return. His parts in this series steal the show (in my honest opinion). The showdown between Cad Bane and Cobb Vanth was one of the highlight for me. The Tatooine desert backdrop, assumingely inspired by all those classic Hollywood westerns, sets a great atmosphere. Add in physical expressions of the two gunslingers, you knew you were watching forces to be reckoned with.

Cad Bane in The Book of Boba Fett

I smiled through the entire finale as well. Some of the smiles may have been due to some incredibly ridiculous parts (what was up with biker dude’s spin shot?!?!). I REALLY smiled when Boba Fett came riding in on a freaking Rancor though! Those are the moments in movies/shows that I am a sucker for. So much fun (even though they used the same frame twice)!!! The fight could have been half the time as it was since the shooting became a bit repetitive but again, I still smiled.
AND… the after credits!!!!!!!!!! Sign me up and count me in!!!!

REVIEW / Dexter: New Blood Season Recap

By Patrick Nagy

Wow! Here we are. The year is now 2022 and am I’m actually writing about Dexter? Dexter the serial killer of baddies and other serial killers?! That Dexter??? You heard that right! Showtime, original show runner Clyde Phillips, and star Michael C. Hall decided to give it one more go and right the wrongs of the last season that aired back in 2013.

Let’s be honest (in my honest opinion), the show “Jumped the shark” after season 4. So they decided to give it another try, and jump back into the world of Dexter (based off a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay) and leave us all with a little better taste in our mouths.

We start out with where the original series left us. Dexter has moved to a remote town under an assumed name “Jim Lindsay” which I assume is a nod to the original author. Long gone are the tropical beaches of Miami, instead we find our protagonist deep in the woods working at a sporting goods and supply store. The interesting plot move is he is now dating the town Chief of Police, Angela Bishop played by Julia Jones. I guess Dexter just can’t stay away from his police upbringing. A kind of “keep your enemies closer” type of thing, maybe. Yep, Dexter has the perfect alias and the perfect new life…and he would’ve gotten away with it too if not for that snooping kid.

Kid you ask? That’s right! Dexter’s past catches up to him when his long lost son Harrison (Jack Alcott) tracks him down.

Angela Bishop (played by Julia Jones) and Jim Lindsay (aka Dexter Morgan - played by Michael C. Hall) in Dexter: New Blood

This instantly throws Dexter into a world of confusion as he wants to reconnect with Harrison. He feels regret over abandoning him, but it also brings the return of his “Dark Passenger”. We also see Dexter’s imaginary moral compass (in the form of his late adopted father Harry) has been replaced by his now late sister Deb. Jennifer Carpenter reprises the role she brought to life from the original, only this time she’s in Dexter’s head. She knows what he is, knows what he’s done and that he want’s to do again. Carpenter seems to relish this role screaming in Hall’s ear at close range (her ex-husband in real life).

Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) in Dexter: New Blood

Soon after Harrison shows up Dexter wastes no time in finding a potential baddy to quench his dark desire. The local rich kid bully, Matt Caldwell (Steve M. Robertson) has a questionable past accident and very little care for the rules or laws. Dexter reluctantly sells Matt a rifle from the store and forces him wait the federally required three days despite Matt’s protest. Later that week, Dexter delivers the weapon to Matt’s house where a disgruntled friend let slip that Matt may have gotten away with murder in said accident thanks to his father’s money and influence. In light of this confession, coupled with Matt illegally shooting a rare white deer on native land (right when Dexter was about to pet it!)…Well. That’s all Jim, I mean Dexter needed to bring back the iconic kill room and dispose of the body via his fire pit. Later he moves the body parts to a local incinerator when the search ends up on his front door.

This brings us to our true baddy of the mini series, Matt’s father: Kurt Caldwell. Kurt is masterfully played by the legendary Clancy Brown. Kurt has it all for a big fish in a small town. Money, influence, and some dark secrets of his own. Kurt believes Dexter has something to do with Matt’s disappearance and he makes sure he’s a thorn in his side throughout the series.

Kurt Caldwell (played by Clancy Brown) in Dexter: New Blood

Another outside character interfering with Dexter’s quiet hidden life is true crime blogger Molly Park played by Jamie Chung. Her podcast “Merry, F*cking, Kill” explores serial killers. She even had episodes on the Trinity Killer and the Bay Harbor Butcher! She comes to town trying to break the case on a string of missing women in the area over the past twenty or so years.

Podcaster Molly Park (played by Jamie Chung) in Dexter: New Blood

All of these factors interfere with Jim (aka Dexter) trying to reconnect with Harrison who also appears to have his own “Dark Passenger”. Harrison meanwhile is dealing with his sense of abandonment, memories of his mother’s brutal murder, the first time feeling accepted by classmates and his wrestling coach / police deputy Logan (Alano Miller), and finding love in his new girlfriend Audrey (Johnny Sequoyah). Audrey by the way is the adopted daughter Chief of Police Angela whom is dating Dexter…it’s a lot.

Jim/Dexter (Michael C. Hall) bonding with Harrison (played by Jack Alcott) in Dexter: New Blood

If you’re a fan of the original series I think you’ll really like this one. It has all the elements of the original series and a few call backs including an appearance of the Trinity himself. (John Lithgow). I myself really enjoyed it. Not to talk badly about the final four seasons, but the creators got what I think they finally set out to do, give the fans a little closure.

The full season of Dexter: New Blood is streaming now on Showtime.

Moon Knight: Trailer & Comics

Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight in Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ show

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

We now have the first trailer of what I consider my second most exciting Marvel project: Moon Knight. It has a similar vibe to Netflix’s Daredevil, although it will remain to be seen if Marvel decides to pull the trigger on a darker and slightly more violent show than what Disney+ has released to date. I highly doubt it, but one can dream.

For those of you who are interested in the character, here is a quick 101.

Marc Spector was a mercenary who was left for dead on an assignment in the desert. He was revived by the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu and appointed as Khonshu’s fist and high priest. By night, Spector enacts justice to protect those in trouble by using extreme violence as warning for all criminals. Spector suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and has two other personalities; millionaire Steven Grant and cab driver Jake Lockely. Although he has no super powers, Spector is an expert pilot, detective, marksman, and is an master in many styles of martial arts. 

Here are a couple of comics I highly recommend if you want to dig deeper into the world of Moon Knight. All of these can be found on the Marvel Unlimited app.

Werewolf By Night #32 (1972):

Moon Knight’s first appearance where he hunts down The Werewolf By Night (tentative Disney+ Halloween special in the works).

Moon Knight (2016):

Marc Spector wakes up in an insane asylum with no idea if the life he lived was real or not. He must figure out the truth of his sanity. Had he actually lived the lives of his other personalities, including the Moon Knight?

Moon Knight (2018):

Someone is trafficking Ultron’s robot body through Los Angeles and it is up to Marc to stop the criminals. On his new home turf, his psyche is shattered more as he has new voices in his head; Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine.

Avengers #33-#37 (2020):

In The Age of Khonshu storyline, Moon Knight steals the powers/artifacts of the Avengers for Khonshu to take over the world.

Moon Knight (2021):

In the most recent run of Moon Knight, he opens the Midnight Mission where he protects those who are dealing with the weird and horrifying.

Justin's "Not Your Standard" Christmas Movie List

By Justin Pomerville (@justin.pomerville @2bgpod)

Tis’ the season!

We all have our holiday traditions. One of those traditions may be having a favorite holiday film that is a must watch every year. Most people will have classic holiday features like How The Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Carol, and The Santa Claus. Others will choose films like Die Hard and Gremlins that you can argue whether or not they are actually Christmas films (but we are not going to open that can of worms). 

There are so many films that surround Christmas to some extent; from the classics, the Rankin/Bass specials, and the huge bin of Hallmark originals. Beyond that, there are also some interesting gems that are Christmas themed that I believe you should know about. One of them might even become your new Christmas tradition film.

Because this is a ME list, the majority of these will be horror films, because….why not?

Of course, this is just a small portion of the plethora of choices.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what other holiday films are a must during the Christmas season.

BETTER WATCH OUT

STARRING: Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic, Dacre Montgomery, Patrick Warburton, Virginia Madsen

RELEASE DATE: October 6th, 2017

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Peacock, Amazon Prime, Shudder)

A psychological thriller about a babysitter defending a 12 year old from a home invasion that gets weirder and weirder by the second. 

Levi Miller as Luke in Better Watch Out

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

STARRING: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sara Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu

RELEASE DATE: November 30th, 2018

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD ( Vudu, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime, AppleTV)

A horror/comedy that is basically a musical Shaun of the Dead. A zombie infestation threatens the little town of New Haven during Christmas. Anna and her friends are forced to fight for survival.

Anna (played by Ella Hunt) and John (played by Malcom Cumming) encounter a monster snowman in Anna and the Apocalypse.

FATMAN

STARRING: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Chance Hurstfield

RELEASE DATE: November 13th, 2020

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Peacock, Amazon Prime, AppleTV)

A very different Santa Claus (played by Mel Gibson) fights to save his failing business. At the same time, a naughty child hires a hitman (played by Walton Goggins) to take the jolly man out for giving him a lump of coal.

Mel Gibson as Santa Claus in Fatman

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE

STARRING: Jorma Tommila, Onni Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Per Christian Ellefsen

RELEASE DATE: December 3rd, 2010

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Hulu, Amazon Prime, Shudder, AppleTV)

A secret drilling expedition in northern Finland has caused children to go missing, reindeer being slaughtered, and the appearance of an old feral man. Two boys believe that Santa Clause’s tomb has been unearthed.

Onni Tommila as Pietari Kontio in Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

SANTA’S SLAY

STARRING: Bill Goldberg, Douglas Smith, Emilie de Ravin, Robert Culp, Dave Thomas

RELEASE DATE: January 1st, 2004

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Peacock, Amazon Prime, Vudo, AppleTV)

Santa (played by wrestler Bill Goldberg) is actually a demon that lost a bet with an angel and is forced to bring Christmas cheer around the world. When the bet is off, Santa goes back to his evil ways and spreads Christmas fear.

Bill Goldberg as Santa Claus in Santa’s Slay

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

STARRING: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck, Bill McCutcheon

RELEASE DATE: November 14th, 1964

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Amazon Prime, Youtube, Tubi)

Martian Fuler Kimar is unhappy that the children of Mars have become lazy and under the influence of too much pop culture from Earth. In order to hopefully get the children all peppy again, Kimar orders the kidnapping of Santa Claus, in hopes he can help out.

Santa Claus (played by John Call) in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Movie Review / Black Friday

MOVIE: Black Friday

STARRING: Devon Sawa, Ivana Baquero, Ryan Lee, Stephen Peck, Michael Jai White, Bruce Campbell, Louie Kurtzman

RELEASE DATE: November 19th, 2021

WHERE TO WATCH: Theaters / VOD Rental (Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Vudo)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

As we get into the holiday spirit, it’s only fitting that I watch a new “festive” film to get me into the holiday spirit. As someone who works in retail, one of the more horrific days that basically rings in the Christmas season for me is Black Friday. So, it almost felt necessary to watch the new horror/comedy film starring Bruce Campbell that has the same name.

This film feels like a mash-up of Night of the Comet and Night of the Living Dead but with a Christmas theme. The plot is very, very simple; comets crash land inside toy stores and start turning people into undead aliens. They then merge together to become a giant monstrosity. We follow a small group of retail workers and their horrible manager as they try to survive the invasion.

Stephen Peck as Brian and Bruce Campbell as Jonathan in Black Friday

With a very straightforward plot, I was hoping that the main focus would be in solving the mystery of where the aliens came from and the best way to deal with the threat. To an extent, that is what happens. They did seem to focus a little too much on the side plots of the lives of the retail workers which is fine, except the plots don’t feel like they ever have a resolution of some sort.

You have Kevin (played by Devon Sawa) who is a divorcee that got the short end of the stick when it comes to seeing his kids. Marnie (played by Ivana Baqeuro) is Kevin’s love interest. We also have Chris (played by Ryan Lee) who is a germaphobe whose father is not proud of him. Although we have these storylines, it really focuses on Kevin and how everything just keeps coming up short for him. It never really hits, mainly because of how the whole invasion plays out.

Marnie played by Ivana Baquero and Devon Sawa as Ken in Black Friday

Practical monster effects and gory were pretty decent in this film. There is one monster that kind of looks like The Blob from the 1988 remake, but these aliens felt like cannon fodder overall and second fiddle throughout the film. In my opinion, there wasn’t even a scary scene throughout the film. That’s why this was geared more as a comedy/horror, right? Unfortunately, the comedy feel pretty short as well. The majority of the comedy comes from Johnathan (played by Bruce Campbell), the terrible manager. Bruce plays the role like most of his roles; cocky and dumb. That works in some roles, but in this movie, it feels he was just a name to get people to run to the theater.

With all that said, it was exactly what I needed to recover from the real retail Black Friday (which isn’t too far off sometimes to the movie Black Friday). It’s a mindless fun popcorn movie. Enjoy!

Practical Effects in Black Friday