Current media 1-11-16

I'm still reading all the same books as last time, scroll down if you missed that.  I also haven't had a chance to read too many comics this past week.


Shows I finished since last time:

Ultimate Spider-Man - While I didn't like this season as much as the previous seasons, I enjoy that this series continues throwing in more and more Marvel heroes.  I enjoyed most of the "Web Warriors" introduced, though the multipart ender Contest of Champions was really boring to me.  The biggest thing I enjoyed out of it was suddenly realizing that the guy voicing The Collector was doing the same voice he did for Xan in the first Baldur's Gate video game, so when he got super pessimistic I started quoting appropriate Xan lines every time after he said something. 


Making a Murderer - this became a minor obsession for last week.  A very well done documentary that slowly unfolds the information in a way that allows you to react to it, and therefore forces you to question your own snap judgments about people.  It's infuriating from the perspective of seeing how our justice system is and how little we can do to change it, but also really essential viewing.  Reminded me very much of the Paradise Lost docs, and I can only hope there's some kind of happy ending for these guys too eventually.


Movies I watched:


The Dwarves of Auschwitz - Found this short (45 mins) documentary while scrolling through Netflix.  It's hosted by Warwick Davis and covers a set of 7 brothers and sisters who were saved from death at the camp because of their dwarfism and the fact that they were performers.  It contains an interview with the youngest sister, and her smile is so warm and joyful that it helps temper the more shocking images you see from the Holocaust.  Recommended.


Ant-Man - I held off on watching this one because of Edgar Wright's departure, and at least for me, that departure was still sorely felt.  There were comedic moments in the film that came off really bland and uninteresting, which at least to me felt very much because they were written by him but handed to a director who either didn't have as much skill at comedic timing, or listened to Marvel who told him to tone it down.  It also makes me question why Rudd was even used for the part, as he barely gets to use his humor.  This film really should have been closer to Guardians of the Galaxy in tone and embracing the absurdity of the nature of Ant-Man's powers, and instead it just became a by the numbers Marvel movie.  It wasn't bad, I certainly don't think my time was wasted, and I enjoyed Hope as much as everyone else seems to, it just felt like it could have been so much better. 


It's probably also worth noting  that I'm experiencing a bit of superhero movie fatigue that seems to be resulting in me returning to how I felt about comics in the 90s - Excited for X-men and only vaguely interested in everything else.


All other TV shows besides the above I'm still watching, though I'm now about halfway through American Horror Story season 3.


I just finished listening to the latest episode of Masters of Carpentry, and I added Serial to my podcast subscription list because people are making comparisons to it and Making a Murderer.


I didn't play Final Fantasy 14 like I wanted to, but I did record a commentary track over Jak's playing of Pony Island.  I didn't like the game very much, but you'll have to watch to hear how.  We enjoyed the process so you may see more of those videos popping up in the future.