Media Notes: Roundup for May 2018

These are the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during April 2018.

Movies and films (links to IMDB.com unless noted otherwise). Some of these films I watched via new (to me) site TubiTv.com. The site offers free viewing of films and some television series. It is not comprehensive, but it has an interesting selection at times:

• Soldiers of the Damned (2015. Horror). It is the Eastern Front in World War II, and a Nazi unit discovers in the forest that there is something in the forest worse than the Russians. The Nazi unit, led by Major Kurt Fleischer is tasked with escorting a scientist out of the war zone after retrieving a relic.The movie is billed as horror, but it is more suspense combined with an artifact hunt film. It was better than I expected. If you need something to watch on a slow night, this is an interesting one. Via TubiTv.
• Robocop 2 (1990. Science Fiction). This is certainly a movie of the late 80s to early 90s. While not a great film, it is interesting for its look at the American corporate world. OCP is as evil a corporation as they come; however, not as bright where it counts, but they have enough money to make things go away and survive.  Robocop has been successful, but crime is still rampant in the broke Detroit, which OCP intends to foreclose on. Meanwhile, a new drug that is more addictive than anything known hits the streets. OCP wants to "upgrade" Robocop, and they create Robocop 2. However, the 2.0 version is not exactly a good cop. In a way, the commentary the film made is very relevant to the U.S. today when you look closely. Things like Detroit going broke, climate warming, and rogue corporations for instance. By the way, screenplay is by Frank Miller, who wrote the story. To contrast, you may want to seek out Miller's comic book (link to a short review I did of the comic back in 2008. May be time to reread it). Via TubiTv.
• The Magnificent Dead (2010. Western. Horror).  The title is a play on the classic film The Magnificent Seven. In this film, it is 1870, and a rancher keeps the small town of Rosewood under his grip, preventing the railroad from coming to the town and his grazing lands. The townspeople want the railroad to come and bring prosperity. After the rancher and his men kill the railroad scouts and their gunmen, the townspeople, under the guidance of Father Julian, decide to hire a group of six gunmen. These men are lepers, and so they fight ruthlessly. Did the town make a good deal, or did they make things worse in letting these mysterious gunmen "clean up" the town? It is a bit slow initially, but soon the pace picks up into a western film with some horror in it as the gunmen are revealed to be more than just lepers. It was alright; it was an interesting concept. Via TubiTv.
• Dead Space: Downfall (2008. Animated. Science Fiction. Horror). In planet Aegis 7, a mining colony finds an alien artifact. Earth wants it, and they send a ship to retrieve it. However, in taking the artifact, they unleash a horrifying alien species. Based on the video game, this animated film is an alien invasion story. Like other stories, such as the Alien franchise, there is an institution that wants to preserve the horrible creatures or artifact, in this case the captain commanding the ship, under orders to bring the artifact back. There is a vague religious/theocratic subplot (the unitologists) who may or not be behind the desire for the artifact. For a horror film, it is quite gruesome, but pretty much in line with other space horror films. Movie is a prequel to the video game. It was pretty good.Via TubiTv.
• Suicide Squad (2016. Action. Adventure. Comics). The DC movie of Suicide Squad, the group of criminals and villains Amanda Waller puts together to work on behalf of the government to do the missions not even heroes will do. At least that is the premise of the comics. In this film, the squad comes together when they need to stop the Enchantress, an old interdimensional entity, from taking over the world. This movie got panned by reviewers, and I have to say the plot does have its holes, and it does miss opportunities. But it was better than I was expecting. They got a decent cast, especially folks like Will Smith (as Deadshot, and he does what he often does well, the man with some deadly skill who has children he cares for. Seriously, look at a few of his other films), Jay Hernandez (who portrays Diablo, the fire man. Quite a complex character), and Viola Davis as Waller, who is ruthless. Jared Leto steals it at times portraying The Joker. So, not great, but it was still entertaining. For a slow night, sure. This was definitely a movie I was glad to wait for the DVD. As I said, for a night at home, sure. Paying for it in the theater, nah. Still, I'd say go read the comics for the full, better experience. Supposedly, there may be a sequel in 2019. We'll have to wait and see. Via DVD from Berea Branch of the Madison County Public Library. On a side note, if you are interested, I read and reviewed the first two trades of the series New Suicide Squad (links to volume 1 and volume two).
• Spawn (1997. Action. Fantasy. Comics).  The adaptation of Todd McFarlane's comic. We are not talking great movie here, but it is a nice slice of government cheese (not quite Velveeta). Al Simmons, special ops soldier, gets betrayed, sent to hell. He makes a deal with the Devil for revenge on his employer, sent then to Earth as a Hell Spawn. However, that is just the beginning. The Devil wants Spawn to lead his army into Armageddon. Spawn must now choose between good and evil. The special effects still look pretty good, but they do show some age. Martin Sheen as the villain does OK, but it is John Leguizamo in the role of Clown, the demonic nemesis of Spawn, that steals much of the movie. Still, even Leguizamo can't totally save this. Still, I find the movie entertaining as a light superhero kind of movie. It could have been so much more though. If you are interested in the character, there are various comic books out there, and there is also an animated series which I may look for down the road. Watched via Vudu.com.

Television and other series:

• Iron Chef (Japan, 1993-1999, plus some specials up to 2012). I have been watching episodes of this via YouTube, where you can find full episodes in various forms.  Despite the age, the show with its English language dub remains interesting. I have been watching this in and out for a few months now. I love the look at the culture, the food, and the variety based on the theme ingredient and the challengers. Makes for a great distraction from the hard times these days. This month I am going to try to list what I watch every month as I remember. Without commercials, regular episodes are about 40 to 45 minutes each. Among the episodes I watched this month, in no particular order, are:
• Bamboo Shoot Battle 2.
• Asparagus Battles 1 and 2. 
• Apple and chocolate battle.
• Abalone battles 1 and 2.
• Shark Fin battle.
• Shanghai Cabbage battle. 
• Sea urchin battles 1 and 2.
• Sea cucumber battle.
• Sea bass battle. 
• Yogurt battle. 
• Yellowtail Battle. This was one of the Tadamichi Ohta Faction's battles (the "guardians of traditional Japanese cuisine"). Their chef this time was a salt specialist. This battle was the third time they battled against Morimoto the Japanese Iron Chef.  
• Yam Battle. This episode is also an autumn equinox special episode. It featured a Zen Buddhist monk cooking in a specific vegetarian style. 
• Unisex Salmon Battle. This is the episode where Kandagawa joins forces with Ohta and the Ohta Faction, which seeks to preserve traditional Japanese cuisine, is formed. This is the first battle of the faction against Morimoto. On a note, unisex salmon, according to the show, is a rare type of salmon, you get one of those out of every 5000 salmon or so. It is a very rare salmon with an immature reproductive system. Apparently, they have a unique taste as a result, and at the time, a single fish could cost about $300 each. What I love about this show: I often learn new things.
• 21st Century Battles. A special of two battles to celebrate the arrival of the 21st century. First battle featured the Iron Chef's long time nemesis Toshiro Kandagawa. Watching the Kandagawa and later his alliance with the Ohta Faction was like watching wrestling grudge matches, but with cooking, great fun overall. Second battle was the rematch between Morimoto and Bobby Flay. Personally I like the Kandagawa battle, which was very moving and a great cooking performance overall, and I am fine skipping the second battle. I never cared much for Bobby Flay, and his presence in Iron Chef did little in his favor. (On a side note: I have little interest in the current American version, which I think is dreadful).