So Many Lovely Superheroes

Justice League Unlimited: Remember all the reasons I had for loving The Flash last week? Well, I love Lex Luthor for the exact opposite reasons. He's so badass. But more on that later. I was actually surprised by how much I liked this episode since I've never even heard of Deadman. But I think the great thing about JLU is that in a half an hour they can make a viewer really care about these low profile DC characters that he or she might not have any prior knowledge of. At the end of the episode, I really felt for him. I wanted him to be able to pass over, or whatever ghosts do when their work is done. Also, I wondered if he wore that costume when he was alive. It seemed really odd to me that he would die and get a change of clothes.

It was fun to see the big three working together. I think I would have liked to know what they would have talked about when they went out to dinner together. It was fun when Deadman was possessing them. I loved Superman finishing his sentence when Deadman left his body. "...You have to eat it with a spoon. What am I doing in Africa?" And Wonder Woman getting all pissed off at Deadman for possessing her without her permission was great. I love Wonder Woman. She even fills in with Flash's obligatory jokes. But that Batman really hates guns, huh? Dude, it wasn't your fault. Hell, it wasn't even you.

And now for the Legion stuff. I love this storyline. Villains are so much fun. Grodd's master plan was pretty hilarious. I think it would have been fun if he was successful, but only because the idea of Gorillas driving cars, grocery shopping, etc. Makes me laugh. Getting to see Supes, Bats, WW, and Lex as gorillas was awesome though. I think Gorilla Lex was hairless too. Hehe. But overall, it was a pretty lame plan. I just don't get why Grodd would want to turn everyone into gorillas. I would have understood wanting to kill all of humanity more. I just don't get what he had to gain by it. It was awesome when Lex shot Grodd, and completely understandable. Also, I loved Lex's interaction with Bizarro. I hope we get to see more of that now that Lex is in charge. Lex is even respectful of women, not wanting Tala to debase herself by groveling to Grodd. Somehow I don't think he'd see it as debasing herself if she was groveling to him. How about that Tala, huh? So opportunistic. First she's making with the interspecies love (which is pretty gross), and then she's all over Luthor. Some chicks just dig power. I do need to point out that she was voiced by the wonderful Juliet Landau, aka Druscilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any Lex and Brainiac interaction. I guess Lex is a tad more sane now. Too bad. I think Lexiac is my "one true pair," as shippers say. Well, we know that Lex's ultimate goal is to reconnect with Brainiac, so I'm looking forward to some evil, fun, and kinda gay moments in the future.

Captain America: First Avi Arad announced that they were making a movie. Then he announce that they had a screenwriter . Seems like things are moving along quickly for Cap. I think that's great. Captain America has deserved a quality film treatment for a long time. He's a great character. Here's a quote from Arad about what the movie will be like (taken from IGN Filmforce article): "One of the things our movie is going to deal with is what happened in 60 years," says Arad. "Which world was better? Sixty years ago or now? Within, obviously, a kick-ass plot and all the stuff that you've come to expect from a superhero movie." And that's awesome, because the whole being a man of the past having to live in the present is really a fascinating aspect of the character. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I never had my own ideas of what I would like to see in a Captain America movie, though they may have been overly ambitious. Personally, I envisioned it as a trilogy, or at least two movies. (Aren't all action/comic book movies trilogies now anyway?) I thought it would be so cool to have an entire Captain America movie set during World War II. It would have been the best way to use the Red Skull too. It could have been a real war movie. And then Cap would have died at the end, but obviously not really. The second movie would be all about his adjustment to the present day. Then the third would just be a kick ass superhero movie that would show the completion of his development. I dunno, mostly I just wanted to see the WWII movie. I wanted all the unabashed and unironic flag waving. I also wanted them to use Mark Millar's line from The Ultimates. The "Do you think the A stands for France?" line. Best. Line. Ever. I still hope they use that line.

In the second article, Arad indicates that they have a director and star in mind. I have no idea who these people could be, (I certainly hope that the director they get is better than Brett Rattner), but I'm going to float some ideas. For director, I actually think Michael Bay might work out well. I know his movies often suck, but if the script is good, I think he's got the right visual style to pull it off. Think of all those American Flags in Armageddon. That's what a Captain America movie should look like. I had actually thought he would make a good director for Superman for the same reasons. As for the star, what about Jensen Ackles? Maybe I'm just biased because I have a crush on him, but I think he's a pretty good actor, and he's certainly got superhero looks. At first I thought he was too short, but his bio says he's six foot. Maybe it's just that a year opposite the 6'3" Tom Welling and now the 6'4" Jared Padelecki has made him seem short. The idea first came to me when I heard that he was the runner up for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville. The WB ultimately chose Welling, and I think that was probably because Welling looks like Superman. Ackles really doesn't have that Superman look, he's much more fair, not as broad shouldered, etc. It got me thinking about what superhero I would cast Ackles as and Captain America immediately came to mind. I think it's because I see Cap as being similar to Supes in that they are both inspiration symbols that stand for ideals and values that are still important but often seem old fashioned. Anyway, this isn't one of those casting ideas that I'm so attached to that I'll get pissed off if the don't chose the actor I picked (like when I decided Selma Blair should play Lois Lane, Michael Vartan should play Angel, and Gary Oldman should play Sirius Black - I got that one right). It's not even like when I saw Pleasantville and thought Tobey McGuire might make a good Spider-Man (an idea I got before Sam Raimi who picked him after seeing the later released Cider House Rules). Ackles as Cap is more like a random thought. But you have to admit, I cast Sirius Black and Spider-Man really well.

X-Men: The Last Stand: They released some posters. I'm still not impressed.

Spider-Man's Best Villain: IGN Comics had a tournament. Inexplicably, Venom beat the Green Goblin. Really fanboys? Venom? Better than the Green Goblin? Green Goblin dropped Gwen Stacy off a bridge for Christ's sake. And he's just completely messed with almost every aspect of Spider-Man's life: he made him think Aunt May was dead; he took his daughter, who then apparently died, and let's not forget that he was behind the whole clone saga. Did you read that crap. If that wasn't an act of pure evil, I don't know what is. That wasn't just a crime against Spider-Man, but a crime against all humanity.

We have the technology...

We can make him stronger, faster, better than he was before.

OK, so tonight's episode of Smallville didn't feature the Six Million Dollar Man, but Cyborg's bionic, so it's close enough.

This wasn't a great episode, but there really was a lot of good in it. And once again, kudos to the actors. Tom Welling continues to impress, and John Glover, Annette O'Toole and Michael Rosenbaum were their usual amazing selves. Actually, I think it's only problem was that it just wasn't exciting enough, but overall, I have to say that I liked everything about it except for Lana. But when do I ever like Lana?

For starters, I want to point out that "Cyborg" was immediately recognizable as being written by someone new. Caroline Dries did not use any of the typical shortcuts that have come to be a hallmark of any episode that nods to Clark's future. There wasn't a single heavy handed Teen Titans reference in sight. Also, there was some well done pop culture referencing, which always seems to fall completely flat on this show. I counted 3: Chloe's "on a scale of one to Taye Diggs" line and Lex's 2 Six Million Dollar Man references ("I have the technology" and "it cost a lot more than $6 million.") There were 4 if you count Victor's Sharper Image line. Also, like "Aqua," this was a future superhero team-up episode with Lex Luthor firmly in the bad guy category, but the writing of his character wasn't all over the top and cartoony. But I'll get to Lex later.

"Cyborg" was the first ever Superman episode of Smallville. This was Clark Kent helping someone that he didn't know simply because it was the right thing to do. And his interaction with Victor was very good. And I loved when he told Victor that his thanks wasn't necessary and "Help someone else out when they are in need and we'll call it even." Adulthood looks good on Clark Kent. It's even alleviating my bitterness over the 100th episode. Here's hoping we don't see a return of the whiny, selfish little bitch Clark that was all to pervasive in the first half of the season. And I have to say that it was so nice that Victor Stone was played by a competent actor. Lee Thompson Young was such a breath of fresh air after the likes of Alan Ritchson. And the character was so sympathetic. It was nice to see a future hero that wasn't portrayed as a petty thief or an eco terrorist. And I loved the simultaneous jump out of the building with the dual impressions. I was upset when I first heard that they were using a Teen Titans character on the show, but I have to admit that Cyborg fit in with the whole arc of the show really well. I guess the Smallville Powers That Be do, on occasion, know what they are doing.

As for the B-plot, color me intrigued. At this point, I am still not certain whether Lionel is still being inhabited by Jor-El or not, but I'm leaning towards not. I think that after the plotline with the stones last season and his possession earlier this season, not to mention knowing about Professor Fine, the spaceship, and hearing Lex say that the Kryptonians were looking for Kal-El, he's put 2 and 2 together and come up with Clark is and alien name Kal-El. He is a smart guy after all. I also think he's Lionel and not Jor-El because I don't see any reason why Jor-El would be interested in either LuthorCorp or Martha Kent. I have no idea what Martha is thinking, but I'd like to believe that she's smarter than her current actions would indicate.

Again, the low part of this episode was Lana. How many times can you tell a character to shut up? I don't know. I forgot to keep track. I'd like to point out that Lana got into another car accident this week because she was doing something that she shouldn't be doing while driving (this week it was drinking coffee) and yet somehow she can make it seem like it wasn't her fault. Lana, Victor did not come out of nowhere. You just weren't looking. Thank god he was bionic or you'd be responsible for his untimely death. Also, how many times do we have to sit through Clark and Lana breaking up? I really hope she got the message this time. I think when Clark told her "I've always loved you and I always will, no matter what happens" instead of just saying "I love you" he was saying "I'm over you" in the nicest possible way he knew how. She of course will go running to her new back up boyfriend, but I have no idea how they are going to pull off a relationship between Lana and Lex without her coming off as at least a little bit shady herself. But I suppose if she can be so willfully ignorant to the fact that Clark is obviously an alien (she's the one who said there was one living among them since the first meteor shower), than she can be willfully ignorant to the fact that Lex is evil. Meh.

Chloe. I missed her. I didn't feel the episode needed more of her, I just like it better when she's around. And her tops are still inappropriate for the workplace.

Finally we get to Lex Luthor. I was so proud of him this episode. Sure he still needs to get some security, but he's clearly tapping into his inner Magnificent Bastard. This episode had the exact kind of Lex Luthor I wanted to see. A Lex Luthor that has completely crossed the moral line, but has found a way to justify it to himself. I also loved the fact that I had no idea when he was lying. His denial of involvement during his first conversation with Clark was completely plausible, and I'm still not certain if he was outright lying at that point or if he was telling the truth and then conspired with Dr. Krieg after Clark went to him with the information about Victor. And of course this all implicates Lex in Dr. Hong's murder. But would Lex really go kill the guy himself? Isn't that what minions are for? And both scenes between Clark and Lex were great. I know Lex is the bad guy, but he had every right to be pissy with Clark in that first scene. But the second scene was wonderful. It's exactly what I want the rift to be about, and I think this exchange sums it up the best:

Clark: You always think the ends justify the means, don't you Lex?

Lex: What I think is that some miracles have a price, but that doesn't make them any less profound.

THAT is everything I've wanted to see.

Toad Murderer

Lost: Is it wrong that Sayid tortures someone and I still love him and Sawyer squishes a frog and I hate him? Seriously. I was so angry at Sawyer. I mean, he lives in a jungle. There are going to be annoying animal sounds. Deal with it. Was it supposed to be some kind of call back to when he let the boar live last season? If so, I don't think it worked. But I understood where Sayid was coming from. I know a lot of it was working through the pain of Shannon's death, but I honestly think he had a point. He's right about The Others, and Jack is kind of delusional if he thinks they can wage a war without stepping over a moral line. And I think the look they guy shot Sayid after Jack stopped Sayid from beating him pretty much affirmed the fact that he was in fact a big fat liar. I didn't find the backstory particularly compelling (they all seem to be a bit lacking this season), but I loved the fact that it featured Clancy Brown. He was great. He always brings just the right amount of creepy. And I'm going to predict right now that we're going to see him pop up again in some other character's backstory. No idea why I think that; I just do. But I also thought we'd see Robert Patrick again, so what do I know? Mostly, my opinion of this episode could best be summed up this way: Yay! A Sayid episode.

Veronica Mars: UPN decided not to air any new episodes of Veronica Mars until America's Next Top Model returns to the line up. Apparently South Beach is the worst lead in ever. On one hand, I'm glad that UPN is giving the show it's best chance to succeed. They're doing everything they can to make sure as many people as possible see the new episodes, and that's great. On the other hand, I'm ridiculously disappointed that I didn't get a new episode to watch. But at least the repeat they aired was a good one. It had so much good stuff going for it, including the return of Aaron Echolls, Joss Whedon , and a dead rat. Actually, the first time I saw this episode, I completely missed the fact that what Keith found under the seat was a dead rat, not that I thought it was something else. I just had no clue. But Joss Whedon was surprisingly great in his acting debut. Very funny stuff there, Mr. Whedon. Is there anything you can't do? Probably not, which is why I simultaneously love and hate you.

Alias spoilers: The Ausiello Report at TVGuide.com has some news that makes me ridiculously happy. If you want to know, you should just read it, but I'll tell you why it makes me so happy: it involves my #3 TV boyfriend.

OH MY GOD! How Awesome Is The Flash?

Justice League Unlimited: Seriously, wasn't Flash and Substance fantastic? One of the most entertaining half hours of television I have seen in a long time. I love how The Flash (and Wally West too) knows everyone's names, and even promises to paint some lady's fence. Of course everyone in Central City loves him. How could they not? I think my favorite scene had to be when The Flash, Batman and Orion go to question The Trickster in the bar. The Flash is so understanding, convincing him to take his meds, saying he would visit him in the hospital, and trusting him to turn himself in. And when he's asking Batman come to the museum opening? Too cute. Also, you could not pull off "Disco of Death" with Batman or Superman without it coming off like a bad Silver Age comic. (I've actually seen that Silver Age comic. It was Superman.) I know that sometimes I tend to favor animated characters based on who does their voice, and The Flash is prime for that as he is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, but it's impossible not to love The Flash. It's all about him and The Question for me.

In Alexis Denisof news, I never would have guessed he was doing the voice of Mirror Master is I didn't already know. He didn't even sound like him when he's talking with his natural, non-English, accent. In other cool voice casting, Ron Perlman (aka Hellboy) was Orion, and best of all, Mark Hamill was The Trickster. I loved him as The Trickster on The Flash TV series. That was a really good show. (I need to get it on DVD.)

Best Lines:

"You've all been so great to me over the years. I hope I always make you proud. Uh...that's all."

"You're a stand up guy Bats. Don't let anyone ever call you a crazed loner."

"It's not black tie, is it?"

"Bilateral symmetry." (Yeah, I don't know why either, but I love it.)

"Uhhhg. OK. But you guys are so slooow."

"James, your off your meds, aren't you?"

"We'll play darts. The soft kind."

Flash: "Dude, soon as you finish your drink, turn yourself in."

Trickster: "Got me again, Flash."

"Dude, the bad guys went down and nobody got hurt. You know what I call that? A really good day.

Couple of questions about the episode: Wasn't Barry Allen the forensic scientist? Is Wally West one in the comics, or did they just do that for the cartoon? Why are The Flash's villains so trippy? Were the creators doing drugs? What's an Arnold Palmer?

This episode is getting saved on my DVR, just because it puts such a big smile on my face. And speaking of things that will get saved on my DVR...

Arrested Development: I think these were four of the show's funniest episodes. I don't think I can even go into what happened, because it would never make sense unless I explained every little thing. And I know I could never do it justice. But to mention a few of the high points: Justine Bateman, Franklin, Michael constantly waking up next to a family member, Judge Reinhold, the revelation that Lucille was the mastermind behind all of the Bluth Company's dirty dealings, the Iraqi model home full of Saddam impersonators, Buster facing his first and second greatest fears and Ahn Yong's revenge. Oh, and Ron Howard's appearance in the epilogue was a nice touch. I am going to miss this show so much. I really hope Showtime picks it up. Unfortunately, I don't have Showtime, but at least I'd be able to get the DVDs. This is one of the best sit coms ever. It would be a crime for it to go away now, because there is still so much funny left.

Michelle Kwan: I am so upset that she had to drop out of the Olympics. I know it was a long shot, but I was so hoping she'd finally bring home the gold. It would have been that unbelievable, Dan Jansen type moment. And I've been such a big fan of hers for so long. Isn't she everybody's favorite? It just would have been so nice to see her go out on a high note.

On a final note, I couldn't help but be happy for the Chinese pair that won the figure skating silver medal. After the nasty spill the girl took in the short program, they really didn't even seem like they had a shot at any medal. But their long program was almost flawless. It was a truly amazing come from behind, triumphant moment. Too bad they couldn't snatch that gold away from the Russians, but they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

Random Thoughts 2

Olympics Opening Ceremony: Woo pyrotechnics! Those Italians really love the fire don't they? And I think the bit with the Ferrari doing donuts was Italy's answer to Atlanta's silver trucks. Only more expensive, so less white trashy. And the American pop music during the parade of nations kind of took a bit of the majesty out of the ceremony. It's hard to take anything seriously when YMCA is playing. But I loved it when Bob Costas said that it would make his night to hear "Betty Davis Eyes" and Brian Willaims responded, completely deadpan, "Donna Summer would do it for me." I have no idea if that was a joke or not, and that's why it was so funny. Yoko was kind of a WTF moment too, and I wasn't impressed with Peter Gabriel. Oh, and the women who brought out the Olympic Flag? Let's see. We got a Noble Peace Prize winner, and acclaimed author, a couple of Olympic medalists, an activist against violence against women, oh yeah, and these two actresses. OK Olympic committee. I was upset that Tomba wasn't the one to light the flame, only because I predicted that he would be. I don't like being wrong. The actual lighting of the flame was pretty spectacular though. Again with the lots of fire. I guess it was to go with their passion theme. And going out on Luciano Pavoratti singing "Nessun Dorma" is always a good idea.

Veronica Mars (cont.): I feel like such an idiot. I found out yesterday why Hannah's dad looked so familiar. He's the plastic surgeon who claimed he made the anonymous call from the bridge. I'm starting to think Logan's intentions towards Hannah aren't entirely honorable. Well, not that I ever though Logan would do anything honorable, but you get what I mean. Also, since I didn't mention it Wednesday night, Mack and Beaver are the cutest couple ever. Love them. And I love what they did to Dick. I've only ever been a shipper of two TV couples before (Buffy&Angel and Sidney&Vaughn), but I totally am going to ship Mack and Beaver. I may even have to start calling him Cassady.

Smallville: Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a disappointment. It could have been so much better. I would have been much happier if it was an actual Chloe-centric episode, but she was possessed by Gretchen for most of it. And I hated that they retconned Chloe's history with regard to her mother yet again. Chloe's mom left when Chloe was 5, not 12. But Allison Mack was great as usual, so it was at least nice to get to see her play her range a bit. How hard is it for these writers to look this stuff up? I loved the Chloe and Clark scenes. It was so nice to see Clark actually caring about Chloe and not being a whiny little bitch. At the end, he actually went to her to talk about HER for a change. And I liked the fact that it seemed like he remembered what happened to Lex and wasn't going to let it happen to Chloe. He was concerned for her, but he also had faith in her. It doesn't make sense to me that Lana and Lois were like "Oh yeah, she's gone nuts" since they have all been possessed. Being possessed or otherwise mind whammied should always be their first reaction. Always. To every slight change in behavior. It happens that often.

OK, and let's just take a minute to discuss the new depths of Lana hatred that this episode. Not only did she manage to make Chloe's problems all about her and Clark's relationship, which is to be expected since she's still Lana and everything is always about her, but she went to Lex to get Chloe committed to Belle Reve. Where the hell does she get off? Lex barely even knows Chloe. Hate her. And don't even get me started on Lex. I don't care how much money and power he has, he would need Chloe's father to agree to it. Where was Gabe anyway. Did he finally get a job, but it's on the Alaskan pipeline? WTF? And about that barn scene? Lana, You. Broke. Up. With. Clark. Why won't they just let it die? Liked the fact that Clark just seemed totally uninterested in her bullshit. It could have been bad acting on Welling's part, but he's been doing so well lately that I actually think Clark didn't care. YAY!

And Lois *sigh* With her cousin in so much trouble, this could have been a real chance to give the character some depth. She's only in just over half the episodes. They shouldn't waste those appearances. But as much as Erica Durance impressed me with her acting in the basement scene, Lois was as stupid as ever. For starters, does she actually think Chloe would become suicidal because she's taking a full course load and working a part time job? Of course a muffin peddler would think that. Only a crazy person would actually want to DO something with her life. And why is it that when she suspects the psycho orderly, she calls the sheriff, but she doesn't think to lock the door behind her? Does she like getting kidnapped? The powers that be seriously are not doing anything to dissuade me from the Chlois theory. Oh, and Lionel, Jonathan's body isn't even cold yet. He really is the Magnificent Bastard. Overall, the A plot did nothing for me. It was meaningless. I liked the end scene. I thought it was pretty touching to see Chloe face her fears like that, but I wish the episode had put the possibility of Chloe going insane to rest.

Spike: Old Wounds: Oh god was it bad. The characterizations were way off. Do they honestly expect me to believe that Angel and Company would really give that much thought to a murder Spike may or may not have committed in 1947? He committed a ton of murders in 1947. They know this. They also know he has a soul now. Angel is a lot of things, but he was never that big a hypocrite. The art is really creepy too. It looks like that movie Waking Life. And Angel: Old Friends isn't much better. The point of the Angel finale was that you have to keep fighting even though it's hopeless. So how does that mini series open? With Angel in seclusion. Did the writers they have working on the Angel and Spike comic books at IDW actually watch the show? Grrr.

Eddie Izzard on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: I love him. That is all.

Supernatural: Apparently they are not re-airing the episodes on Sunday anymore, so I completely missed this week's episode. Grrr. And apparently they pretended to be priests. Why do I think that was all Dean's idea? And why do I think he was totally unable to pull it off? I guess I'm going to have to give up either Scrubs or House so I can watch this show now. That sucks. I really like both those shows. But I think I'm going to drop House. FOX is more likely to show that over the summer than NBC is to show Scrubs.

I haven't watched the Arrested Development finale yet. I'm gonna do that tomorrow. It's going to be so hard to say good bye to that show. It's the funniest thing on TV.

Random Thoughts

Veronica Mars: This was a good episode, but not nearly as good as last week's. Between this week and last week, my respect for Jackie went way up. Could she be this year's Logan? I hated him at the start of last season too. My respect for Logan went way down. Flirty Logan is just kind of nauseating, with his sikeningly sweet voice and lack of wit. I totally think something fishy is up with Hannah's family though. I got bad vibes from her dad. Also, he looked really familiar, and it's bugging me. Don't like cutesy Logan. And it was pretty low of Weevil to use his six-year-old cousin in a robbery, but Veronica so has a soft spot for him anyway. Mostly I felt bad for Keith. He was utterly crushed to learn that Terrence Cook threw that game. He lost his hero in that moment, and Enrico Colantoni sold that emotion so well. Not enough good things can be said about him. And I think it's pretty obvious the Terrence Cook had nothing to do with the bus crash. It's way too early in the season for that.

Lost: I saw the Sawyer conning everyone reversal coming a mile away. Why else would he get the flashbacks? In the beginning of the episode, the flashbacks didn't seem to have anything to do with the island plotline. I knew they had to tie back in at some point. And I'm kind of annoyed, because Sawyer was a character that I really hated at the beginning, but as we learned more about him, my attitude towards him began to soften. All season long I was just wishing they would kill him off, and then when he was shot in the finale, I was really upset, not to mention surprised that I would feel that way. But this episode just brought him back to selfish jackass territory. I'm intrigued by Charlie's dark turn at the end though. I didn't see his involvement coming. He's become an annoyance, so I'm glad they are going in a different direction with the character. I still don't know what to make of Locke, but I could see his point about not wanting to arm everyone, after Michael taking off and Shannon being shot, but I really do think that Jack is right. I don't think they should let themselves be at the mercy of The Others. And we got to see a bit more of Sayid this week, but I still feel that he's being underutilized. Naveen Andrews rocks and I miss him in the episodes that he's not in. Speaking of characters that I miss when they're not around, Mister Ecko is still awesome. He wasn't really in this episode. I just felt the need to say that. All in all, Island politics are heating up and it's pretty intriguing. Can't wait until next week when they finally don't push the damn button. I bet nothing happens.

Young Avengers #10: Is it messed up that I absolutely love this comic book? I feel like I should be too old for it, but it's so good. And I guess it shouldn't be surprising, considering the number of teen shows I watch. If you read it, you know that they introduced a new character, a speedster named Tommy, who just happens to look identical to Billy (aka Wiccan) except for the hair. Given the fact that Billy's connection to Sacrlet Witch has already been established (not to mention the similar powers) and the fact that Tommy has Quicksilver's hair a powers, I'm going to say that Tommy is Billy's long lost twin. I just hope this doesn't mean that Billy will lose it, marry the new Vision (who I think inherited Iron Lad's crush on Cassie), create some imaginary kids and try to kill them all. Tommy, on the other hand, already shows some potential for a turn to the darkside, though I'd prefer it if they keep him as a good guy. All the kids on the team are a bit goody-two-shoes, despite the fact that they constantly disobey rules, so they probably could use the a resident bad boy. And the mystery over whether Teddy is a Kree or a Skrull is interesting. I don't know anything about the Krees, Skrulls, or their war, so I'm going to have to do some research on that.

Runaways: Ever since I read an interview with Joss Whedon where he said that Runaways was his favorite comic book I've been trying to find the trade paperbacks. Amazon.com was out of stock on Volume 1, but I eventually lucked out and found it a Borders. The problem is that I absolutely loved it and now I can't find Volume 2. Grrr. Amazon seems to have all the subsequent volumes in stock though, so I'm going to order them all so I make sure I get them. My only question: why are the TPBs so small? They're not comic book sized. But I guess that's why they're so cheap, so I won't complain too much.

Star Wars Holiday Special: They actually showed a short clip from it last night on Conan. As it's from before my time, I never saw it, so I was fairly excited just to see 30 seconds of it. Harrison Ford was pretty good natured about it, given the fact that he looked, quire rightly, absolutely mortified by its existence. It was hilarious. In just that short clip, you could really pick up on how terrible it was. And creepily enough, I think there was some unresolved sexual tension between Han Solo and one of the wookies. Totally bizzare.

Beastie Boys on Letterman: They were pretty awesome, but I was totally thrown by the fact that they kept cutting to digital camera footage that was filmed by Letterman and Paul Schaefer. I've never seen them do that before. I kinda liked it.

Saw II: I haven't seen the movie, but I just saw a commercial for it. I think I need to find me a guy who would give me a horror movie for Valentine's Day. It's be way better than getting that Reese Witherspoon movie that's being released on DVD the same day.

I'm pretty sure I had more to say, but I really can't remember now. It's late anyway, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow when I give my post mortem on the new Smallville episode. I'm actually really excited about this one, as it's Chloe-centric and has a viewer discretion warning. I love stuff with viewer discretion warnings.

And I Didn't Even Have To Start A Campaign

Today, while at work, I was checking up on all things Whedonverse (at Whedonesque) when I had to suppress a rather loud "squee!" Soon Alexis Denisof will be on my television set once again.

As I'm sure you have noticed, Buffyverse alumni have been all over your television this season. Alyson Hannigan (aka Willow Rosenberg) and Nicholas Brendon (aka Xander Harris) duked it out Monday nights at 8:30 until the latter's show was criminally cancelled. (I have major problems saying goodbye to a show that featured former cast members of Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freaks and Geeks. Good thing How I Met Your Mother features a Freaks and Geeks alum too.) Amy Acker (aka Winifred "Fred" Burckel) is kicking ass as a baddie on Alias. David Boreanaz (aka Angel) is finally able to quit the brooding and make use of his oh so charming smile on Bones. Christian Kane (aka Lindsey McDonald) is some chick's husband on Close to Home. (I've never seen that show, no idea what he actually does on it.) Seth Green (aka Oz) is apparently the only good thing about Four Kings (and Robotic Chicken is hilarious). James Marsters has a recurring role on Smallville as Professor Fine/Brainiac (hopefully to return soon). Charisma Carpenter is a sluttier, sleazier, meaner Cordelia as Kendall Casablancas (best character name ever) on Veronica Mars. And there may be more that I am forgetting. But there is one actor that I have sorely missed in all this upswing in employment for former Buffyverse actors: Alexis Denisof.

Not everyone liked Wesley Wyndham Price, though I adored him, but you cannot deny that the actor who played him was quite possibly the most talented guy on any Whedonverse show. And given those casts, that is saying a lot. Simply put, Alexis Denisof could do it all, and, between his time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, he did. So why didn't he have a job? I have no idea. These shows just didn't know what they were missing. And I was reduced to getting excited the camera panning to him for a reaction shot at the Emmy's. (They did it a few times, which surprised me since he's not famous. Maybe the director was a fan.) But now I have something a little more substantial to get excited over. In an article over at Zap2It.com, Alyson Hannigan said that Alexis, her real life hubby would be on two episodes of How I Met Your Mother. It doesn't say when it will air, but I can't wait. I know two episodes on a sitcom isn't much, but it's something. And I hope that it will lead to bigger things next season. He deserves it. And if he doesn't end up with a better gig next season, I will start the Get Alexis Denisof Back on TV Campaign that I have been threatening friends and family with since October.

And to hold us over until his episodes of How I Met Your Mother air, Alexis Denisof will be providing the voice of Mirror Master on this Saturday's episode of Justice League Unlimited. If you've never seen JLU, which is finally returning to complete what is probably its final season after a far too long hiatus, you must check it out. It's an amazing show. I regret that I was such a latecomer to it, and pray that they don't wait too long to release the DVDs. Also, it's voice talent reads like a who's who of Whedonverse actors. (Here's a list of who will be doing voices in upcoming episodes, courtesy of Whedonesque.com.) And if that's not enough to get you to watch (though if Alexis Denisof isn't enough, Adam Baldwin and an appearance, albeit small, from The Question should do it), Michael Rosenbaum (aka Smallville's Lex Luthor) will be voicing The Flash (one of my fav JLU characters) in a couple of episodes, including one where The Flash and Lex Luthor pull a body swap. Oh the meta referencing! How can you not love that?

OK, I'm going to let it out now. SQUEEEEE! Alexis Denisof is going to be on my television again! :)

Spider-Man 3

Why is all the enthusiasm I had, for movies that I was once so excited about, leaving me? I gave up on X-Men 3 quite a while ago, but now I'm starting to have my doubts about Spider-Man 3 as well. It was looking so promising too. Sandman and Venom were all but confirmed, with the potential for a new and interesting take on latter villain, via the casting of Topher Grace, that I never felt was as strong as his popularity suggested. Plus, it was looking like Harry Osborn was going to assume the mantle of the Green Goblin. Did it seem kind of crowded? Yeah, but in a good way.

But recent news about the movie is getting me a bit distressed. Maybe it's just that I'm no fan of love triangles, but it seems a bit late in the game to be adding Gwen Stacy and her father, Captain Stacy. Adding Gwen Stacy now is just sending off major Superman III vibes for me. And then there's just the fact that I was never that big a fan of the character. She spent too much time complaining about Peter being a bad boyfriend and blaming Spider-Man for her father's death without actually doing something proactive like breaking up with Peter for never being around. It always seemed to me that the most interesting thing about her was that she died. But then, I'm not all that familiar with that era of the comic books (I'm planning on doing my homework though).

Mostly I just feel that this is crossing a line as far as cluttering up the story. I can understand having two main villains, because I never thought that Sandman or Venom were strong enough characters to be the sole villain of a movie. And having Harry become the Green Goblin is just a continuation of the subplot that ran through the last film as well. But Mary Jane and Harry Osborn should provide enough of a personal story for Peter. And the nature of the Venom storyline, with the symbiote costume, should do plenty to screw with Peter's personal life too. I could understand it if it was Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, as she would present a temptation for Peter both romantically and as Spider-Man, as she's not exactly a good guy, but I fail to see what Gwen Stacy offers to the story other than being a secondary love interest. I'm curious if they plan on going with the Ultimate Spider-Man version of Gwen Stacy. I'm not a fan of Ultimate Spider-Man. I'm sure they are very good stories, but I already have a version of these characters that I quite like. I didn't feel the need for a new one (even if I have a problem with some of the stories). Also, as a long time fan of Spider-Man, I've kind of become attached to the supporting characters and villains as well, and many of them just don't resemble the original versions. There's more to a character than just the name. It always seemed to me that if you are going to completely change the character, you should change the name too. This is just a long way of saying that I'm not thrilled about seeing an Ultimate Gwen Stacy. The fact that I'm not impressed with the film version of Mary Jane doesn't give me much hope for the characterization of Gwen Stacy either.

It's amazing to me how two little characters can push me from being totally psyched about Spider-Man 3 to be kind of apprehensive. I was already concerned that the movie was going to be way too long, and now I'm afraid that too much of that time will be filled with romantic angst. I get enough of that from Smallville. And again, not a huge fan of love triangles. They so rarely work and often make characters that are supposed to be heroes too unsympathetic. Maybe if it was more of the light hearted love triangle that the comic books enjoyed, it could be fun, but seeing the first two movies I don't think that's going to happen. But I'm just going to have faith in Sam Raimi. Spider-Man 2 was amazing (no pun intended), so who knows what he'll be able to pull off this time around. The way he utilized his horror movie sensibilities in the last film makes me excited to see how scary he can make Venom. It could always be worse, too. Sam Raimi could have moved on to another project and Brett Rattner could have taken over directing duties and added a mutant hooker. And I have a lot more faith in Sam Raimi's ability to handle his ever expanding cast than I do in Brett Rattner's, because Raimi is talented. Plus, I look forward to any movie that has even a cameo by Bruce Campbell.

Supervillainy

When I think of supervillains, three stand out above the rest. These are the three that I look to as role models in my quest to move from amateur supervillain to professional supervillain. In order of greatness, they are:

1. Dr. Doom

2. Magneto

3. Lex Luthor

You can argue the order of this list, but never the content. Dr. Doom is the supervillain whose greatness I most aspire to. He has a whole nation at his disposal, Doom Bots, cool armor with a metal mask, the ability to shoot these cool power beams out of the palm of his hands, and, the thing that allows him to get away with it all, diplomatic immunity. Best of all, he wears that lovely cloak. I think I would look really nice in a green cloak. Failing that kind of power, I'll take Lex Luthor status. His wealth and political cloak allow him to get away with a lot. For the longest time, people didn't even know he was a villain. That's brilliant.

Obviously, I can never really be like Magneto. He fights for a cause, and as I don't believe in anything (apart from the Smallville Chlois Theory) I don't really see myself becoming that kind of supervillain. I do admire his arrogance though. As a matter of fact, I have yet to achieve the kind of sense of self worth that really sends you to the highest ranks of supervillainy. Dr. Doom, Magneto and Lex Luthor all see themselves as superior to all others. I can only manage to see myself as superior to most. I'm thinking of taking a course on boosting my self esteem. Maybe get some of those subliminal message tapes.

Another obstacle is that I seem to lack the necessary science background. Had I found my calling sooner, I could have majored in biology or physics in college. I had to go and get a useless degree in history. (Well, not completely useless. I learned a lot about revolutions and I plan to apply that knowledge when I overthrow my first government.) Even Lex Luthor, evil business leader and politician, is a scientific genius. And it goes without saying that Dr. Doom's brilliance in the field is second only to Reed Richards. How else would he be able to make all those Doom Bots?

My final obstacle is the lack of a good nemesis. Dr. Doom has Reed Richards. Magneto has Professor Xavier. Lex Luthor has Superman? Who do I have? I have thought about going around staging disasters like Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable, but I don't think my nemesis necessarily has to be indestructible, so that seems a bit pointless. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. I imagine finding an archenemy is a bit like finding true love, when you find it you just know. And when I do find my archenemy, then I will truly know what kind of supervillain I will be. Until then, I'm doing my homework, studying Books of Doom, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and other great works of villainy.

And what if I never become the great supervillain I aspire to be? Well, I have back-up plans. I am also interested in the fields of piracy, witchcraft and paranormal expertise.

Oscar Nominations

So, I was all set to write about the Spider-Man and Friends cartoon in this update. For some reason, I had Firestar on the brain. Then I came home from work and found my copy of Entertainment Weekly, and right away I'm annoyed. It's the Oscar: The Ultimate Viewer's Guide issue, a special collector's double issue. Why am I annoyed? Well, it rained today, so naturally my special collector's double issue is all wrinkly from getting wet. It's not a big deal, because I wasn't going to keep it. But what if I was one of those people that did keep these collector's issues? I'd have to go out and get another one. Also, I just really like my magazines not to be bent or wrinkly or anything. I'm anal. I know.

Anyway, I was looking through the magazine, and it has all the Oscar nominations. I realize that I haven't seen any of these movies. (Well, I saw Crash, which I actually really liked.) Unfortunately, I just don't get to go to the movies much, or at all, anymore. I am practically a shut in. So when I do go to the movies, I'm just not likely to go see something like Good Night, and Good Luck or Capote. While I'm sure that they are really great movies that I will enjoy when I do see them, and I do think that all movies are better on the big screen, I just don't think I would regret not seeing them on the big screen the way I would have regretted not seeing King Kong on the big screen. Maybe it's because my tastes tend to be more geek than not. I don't know. I do know that King Kong was amazing looking, and 25 foot gorillas just don't look as good on your TV. Neither do dinosaurs. (Also, the Skull Island natives scared the hell out of me.)

I do think I would have liked to see Brokeback Mountain in a theater. A 24 inch television screen can't do Montana, or Ang Lee, justice. The other movies I'm willing to wait for DVD (though I wish I could go see every movie that came out in theaters like I used to). Consequently, when I decide who I'm rooting for on Oscar Night, it is largely going to be based on who I think will give the best acceptance speech (George Clooney), whether there is an actress in the running that I have an irrational hatred for (Chalize Theron), who I think is cute (Heath Ledger), or whose nomination amuses me because she was the girl who ate a deer in an episode of Smallville (Amy Adams). But that's about who I plan on rooting for, not necessarily who I think will win.

And is Oscar Night really about who deserves to win? Does it really matter if you've seen the movies? I say no. Even when I don't see the movies, I normally do pretty well with my picks just from being able to read all the "buzz." For example, when Roberto Benigni won for best actor, I knew. It was a pretty easy call actually. He was the one who was going on all the talk shows and had basically becoming Hollywood's little pet monkey. Personally, I can't stand the guy; I still can't bring myself to watch Life Is Beautiful; and I would have much rather seen the award go to Ian McKellan (for Gods and Monsters) or Edward Norton (for American History X). That same year Shakespeare In Love beat Saving Private Ryan for best picture. Now, I liked both films a lot and didn't really have a preference, but I wondered why anyone was surprised. Shakespeare In Love is a movie about writers and actors. Plus, it had the Miramax promotional budget behind it. How was it not going to win best picture? So when I make my Oscar picks, which will be right before the Oscars, these are the things I will be thinking about.

Now I'm going to go enjoy the cool articles about past Oscar winners and ceremonies. They're always the best part of any Oscar issue of Entertainment Weekly.