Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ninth grade English sucked for me, which is quite the feat considering I grew up to become an English teacher. My teacher, however, looked like the Penguin (not the animal...Oswald Cobblepot...Batman's villain?) and attempted to bilk me out of hundreds of points that I earned because...well, I'm not quite sure. Anyway, one of the things I remember is reading a short story called "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Ninth grade seemed to be the year for amazing short stories like this one, along with "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Most Dangerous Game." This one stuck with me though, so much that I kept reading stories by the author, James Thurber, long after. Ben Stiller's film adaptation of "Walter Mitty" is lovely, in a word, and highlights everything beautiful about the story while writing different love letters to so many other things and expounding on this tiny world that Thurber created.

The title character is, to say the least, a nothing. He works at Life Magazine in the basement, archiving and keeping track of photos. For those of you who don't know, or have forgotten, "Life" was heavily built on photos. The articles were secondary. The magazine was all about going to the places people couldn't go and showing them what they would never have a chance to see, all while showing us that life, no matter who or where you are, is similar.

The movie begins with the news that Life is closing its doors and publishing its last issue. This coincides with the fact that Walter can't seem to catch the e-dating eye of his crush and co-worker, played subtly and wonderfully by Kristen Wiig, and being sent the final shots for Life by a famous photographer, played by Sean Penn. When the photographer talks up a certain frame for the final issue's cover, Walter can't find it, sending him on the crux of the film: a hyper-fantasized journey to find his courage and discover what Life...and life...is really about.

What start out as fantastic sequences that are clearly all part of Walter's life eventually become blurry as to their authenticity. Is he really doing these things? Did he really travel all over the world hunting for this missing photo? Or, as we see in the beginning, is it just Walter "zoning out?"

In the end, the movie is so beautiful, I couldn't care less. This film looks amazing, says so much in such a small package and will have you wondering what your life is truly like. Check it out if you can.

Review: "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD"

I was predisposed to like "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" (which, for the purposes of actually getting this written in the next century shall be referred to as SHIELD henceforth). I'm a Marvel zombie from a long way back and have loved nearly everything they've done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man back in 2009. It wasn't a hard sell: a weekly show featuring perhaps one of the most underrated heroes in the universe, Agent Phil Coulson, dealing with the paranormal and super every week with a ragtag group of misfits? I'm in.

However, the show went past those expectations and fell short of them in varying degrees, all in all making for a fantastic experience that probably could have been a much shorter season. However, I'm not sure it should have been.

Let me explain. This review has become as complicated as Phil Coulson's past.

The idea behind SHIELD, as I understood it, was to expand the universe past the movie screen and give us something every week in the same milieu but without directly referencing The Avengers or whatever. And, it did that. In the first episode, we dealt with Extremis technology (see "Iron Man 3") and the events of the Attack on New York (see everything since the Avengers). We even had cameos form Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill and SLJ himself as the one and only Cdr. Nick Fury.

But, after the initial novelty wore off, we were left with a bunch of characters that, while I cared about them, didn't seem to really have a purpose...until the last seven episodes of the season. Calling it "Uprising" the show seemed to flip everything on it's head. And the show then got really...really good.

But, the problem is there were about a dozen episodes that, while exciting and full of geek fodder, had nothing of substance. Episodes that could link to the Marvel Universe, Cinematic or not, were exciting but all of the threads that had been set up in the beginnings of the show took a long time to get resolution.

Maybe that's a condition of the times that we live in that we can't wait for a show to develop and grow without feeling that it owes us something. And, I'm not saying it does or doesn't. What I am saying, however, is that SHIELD ended strong. I don't want to give anything away, but it ended in a way that makes me excited for the future, not dreading another season of meandering plots that will only matter at the very end. It's almost as if SHIELD has earned that trust that, no matter where they lead me, it will be worth it in the end.

Let's just hope they remember that next season.

Summer = Segments

It's been over a year since I posted something and I feel like a giant tool because of it. However, I have a bit of a renewed focus and, even though this summer is poised to be a productive and crazy one, just know that I'm planning on posting more here. Reviews, ideas, randomness...everything you've come to expect from me over the years. So, stick with me and hopefully I can follow through.

Thanks

Phil

My Day of Media: May 22, 2013

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! For anyone who is upset, they can blame this thing...

His name is Happy and he, along with schoolwork that is now thankfully over, have consumed my life. But, alas, I'm back and have even more time to consume things. Let's get started!

1. The Key of Awesome: Start a Mumford Band!


I
f anyone doesn't know, this week is/was Comedy Week on YouTube, where they feature all of the awesome comedy channels and vloggers around. This is a song all about Mumford & Sons and is a spot-on parody.

2. Stop Podcasting Yourself: Ep. 270- Brett Martin




This week's episode of SPY features first-time guest Brett Martin, a Canadian comedian who recently pissed of a Real Housewife of Ontario. It's a hilarious episode, but that seems to be the extent of his contribution. Worth a listen, as always.

3. Game Grumps: The Typing of the Dead


Yep. It's a zombie game where you shoot by typing words. Enjoy, folks.

4. Kitchen Nightmares: Amy's Baking Company

I've watched my fair share of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, a reality show where famed chef Ramsay goes into restaurants and fixes them. While I much more like the British version (as with most things in life, it's much calmer and genuine over in England) this episode that aired last week garnered a ton of attention.



Usually, restaurant owners are defensive about Ramsay's criticism. Part of this is understandable. He's rude and obscene, often, and after all, this is their livelihood most of the time. However, this couple takes the, no pun intended, cake. Watch if you have a second. It's an amazing episode. After its over, hunt around and check out some of the aftermath of this episode.

No Currency Episode 5 is LIVE

The latest episode of my podcast "No Currency" is live. In it, Alex and I talk about tons of stuff. Most importantly, why kids need vocab and why Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson owe me some props.

You can find the episode here. Also, check out an archive of episodes here.

My Day of Media: May 1, 2013

It's May Day, folks. And in the words of Justin Timberlake circa 2001...



Thanks, Justin. Guys, throw Justin a bone and check out his latest album, which I haven't really enjoyed yet.

Anyway, the grass is cut, my anxiety about life is down a bit I'm looking forward to a day of stuff and things!

1) The Nerdist: Lily Tomlin

If you're not familiar, Chris Hardwick, comedian and former host of "Singled Out" back in the day, calls himself the Nerdist and has revolutionized the world with websites, TV shows, Web shows, and podcasts. He had Lily Tomlin on who was just fascinating. Definitely worth a listen.

2) Who Charted?: Eddie Pepitone

WeWe, Eddie, and KuKu

I love "Who Charted?" Let me state that right out of the gate. It's a fantastic podcast with Kulap Vilaysack (KuKu) and Howard Kramer (WeWe) where they count down the top five songs and movies currently with a guest. But, Eddie Pepitone's disgruntlement wore me down in this episode. We get it, Eddie: All movies and songs suck. I'm not saying that every guest should love it, but it got exasperating to me. Plus, the Chart Goose segment was awkward, since Eddie knew NOTHING about his hometown. An okay episode, but go back to the Paul F. Tompkins or DC Pierson episodes if you've never heard the show before.

3) Songza "Summer Fling" playlist

For those of you who don't know, Songza is a streaming music site that, honestly, puts Pandora to shame. The shining feature is a concierge service. It uses the time of day to suggest activities that you might be doing and then suggests playlists to accompany you. For example, it was Wednesday late morning, I wanted to keep summer going, so it gave me the "Summer Fling" playlist, which was awesome. Check out the playlist and the site here.

4) SModcast: Fatalie

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier talk about George Jones dying and the fact that Kevin knows more about TV teenager problems than algebra. Fun is had by all.

Top 3 Favorite Things About Iron Man

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware that Iron Man 3 comes out THIS WEEKEND! Since I was a young child and started watching an odd cartoon about a man dressed in a metal suit, I've loved the character of Iron Man.

So, in honor of the movie, which I'll be seeing TOMORROW NIGHT, I'm counting down my top three (Get it? Because this is the third movie? Get it?) things that make me love Iron Man.

3) The suit(s). Iron Man's suit is fantastic and can suit (WOCKA WOCKA) any need he needs. Not only is it completely badass, but it has evolved over the years from mainly just protecting him to making him a weapon for good.

Look at how it's changed! Underwater versions. Space versions. EEEEEVILLLL versions. The suit is another character in itself and it's so much fun to watch the suit evolve and reflect the current trends in comics as well as the personality of its creator and main occupant, Tony Stark.

2) Pathos. If you haven't seen Iron Man, let me give you the brief version. Tony Stark, billionaire inventor, made his fortune on making weapons and selling them to the highest bidder. He goes overseas to show off his latest wares and his convoy is attacked...by his own weapons. He's taken captive in a cave and, with a box of scraps, forms the prototype Iron Man suit as a way to escape.

From that moment, he decides that maybe he should use his genius for good instead of evil. Pretty cool, right?

1) Realism. Here's where I think I fell in love with the character. Tony Stark, very early on, makes it clear that he's Iron Man. No brooding. No hiding. He keeps the technology close to himself, but rarely cares who knows what about his identity. It frees up a lot in storytelling.

Then, there's the alcoholism. It's something that will never be in the films, for good reason. (Drunkards don't sell action figures. And that's okay.) But, Stark has gone through the wringer in the comics, ups and downs that someone with that many demons and that much responsibility and access must go through.

There's the list! Any questions? Something that should be added? Hit me up in the comments.