SM: BND

 

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. So, let us talk about SM: BND instead.

I watched it. I liked it. I… feel that there is something too much, or not enough, in it.

Let us expand. In Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ we got to see an almost 3-hour-long film about Odysseus and his entourage – namely his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus, his nemesis Antinous, and his therapist, Calypso. Everyone else was an episodic character, including Athena, and some characters, like Odysseus’s parents, who played important parts in the original epic, are absent entirely.

Conversely, SM: BND is a pageant of Marvel characters, as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films are since the very first movie, (remember it?). Here we see the friendly neighborhood you-know-who deal with the Scorpion, the Hulk, DODC, and the Hand ninjas controlled by the new Jean Grey, while dealing with his increased loneliness from Ned and MJ. Pause.

Right, this is a good point to start. In SM3, Peter parted with Ned and MJ on a tearful, powerful note. Here we see him still single, but still hanging around Ned and MJ even as they are becoming different people who have no attachment to him, no connection. So why is he not moving on?

Well, for one thing, I suspect that Tom and Zendaya are in love, and they do make more money as a package than separately. Oh, they appeared separately in all sort of films… just not Marvel ones, and so Sony/MCU did not intend to buck the trend, especially a successful one. Pause.

In the SP4 finale, we learn that PP is going into space… and without MJ and/or Ned, so there is that. Maybe PP is moving on, and outwards. After all, MCU never likes making aromantic movies, so, who knows? Maybe PP can find happiness without MJ after all.

…Given that Tom and Zendaya are in love and a successful team and Zendaya comes across as the one in charge here, I am not so sure. What else?

Jean Grey is introduced to MCU in a bright new way, since it is a ‘brand new day’. Since the upcoming Doomsday film is bringing the X-Men back as a group, this raises questions as to what happened to the other Jeans. Hey, we had several SM, Lokis, and few other characters – why not several Jeans at once? Sophie Turner might be willing to make a toehold for herself in MCU, eh?

The plot itself… it works, obviously, as do the visuals. This is important, as a plot, is well, important, and so’s the delivery. ‘Stuart fails to save the universe’, for example, has a decent plot and delivery, and… that is it. Right now, the support is highish, but people are still cautious about committing to it, it looks like.

‘Surviving Earth’, on the other hand… it was a beautiful mess whose supporters lost interest midway through. The episodes feel out of order; the season-long ode to motherhood was something else; and I really want to talk about it some other time.

For now, let us just accept that SM: BND is a good film, but not unlike Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’, it has its flaws and doubtful moments and move on. Real life sucks, eh?

However, for now, this is it. See you all soon!

Nolan's Odyssey - July 21

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks… and, apparently, Mr. Nolan feels the same way; he might be able to buy my immediate family, our expanded family, and me many, many times over, but his Odyssey-2026? Is still depressing as Tartarus.

Where to begin? The issue of controversy and Nolan pushing a progressive agenda forth in his film. Here is the thing: he does not. Oh, of course, he has minorities in his movie, both racial (Zendaya and Lupita Nyongo’o), and sexual (Elliot Page), but they are episodic characters; they come and go and while they help move the movie forward, ‘help’ is the key word: they aren’t on screen all that much, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. The actors behind the four main characters – Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus, and Antinous – are all WASPs rather than POCs, but no one seems to mind too much. Next?

Right, Nolan supposedly using Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey as his choice for the source. I read excerpts of her translation of the epic in question, and there is no more political progressive agenda than there is in Nolan’s Odyssey movie. My opinions on Natalie Haynes and her books are not very flattering, I am afraid, but if you read her books, especially the non-fiction, (such as ‘Pandora’s Jar’ and ‘Divine Might’) you quickly realize that she does push forth political progressive agenda. The question here is whether she is a latecomer who is trying to compensate with a neophyte’s zeal for being late, or if she doesn’t believe in it at all, but is just trying – and succeeding - to make money from this political progressivism instead. From Emily Wilson’s Odyssey you do not get this vibe at all; it is ‘just’ a translation/adaption of the classic – nothing more.

Oh, sure, people will argue about the details of Wilson’s translations, but this type of argument attracts only a particular group of people; for the majority, her translation is acceptable – and so’s Nolan’s film. Just like Wilson’s translations, his adaptation changes the details of Homer’s epic, but keeps the main narrative the same. Right?

No. Some plot elements are outright removed, like Aeolus and the bag of winds, or Odysseus’s own parents, who play important roles in the epic. Other elements are conflated – like Calypso, the lotus-eaters, and the Phaeacians. The third are just simplified, like Polyphemus (Nolan’s movie does not name him), or Circe. All of those changes make Nolan’s Odyssey into something else… something not unlike MCU’s ‘Thor’ or DCEU’s ‘Batman’ franchises, just kind of, sort of, less tied to a particular franchise – much less tied…

Then there is the movie’s conclusion. Not only some suitors survived, but also Odysseus and Penelope leave in self-exile. There is a remnant of an apocrypha for Odysseus had to wander even more, till he found a place that didn’t know what an oar was, and so he buried his oar and went home at last, but it’s an apocrypha for several reasons, including ones where both Odysseus and Penelope are ambitious and power-greedy people on top of whatever else they are. Odysseus is coming home; Penelope is waiting for him; but Ithaca, its’ throne, are a part of the Odyssey as well. In Nolan’s film it is rather downplayed, again – Nolan sought to modernize the Odyssey, supposedly, and what did we get?

Well, in part we already answered this – a movie not unlike those made by MCU/DCEU, but also a movie where music sometimes overwhelms the dialogue, and so it’s hard to figure out who’s saying what – but it’s not important, you know the general details and plot beforehand, and everything else can be figured out without words. The plot of Nolan’s Odyssey is quite simple. The plot and the reasoning of Nolan’s Odyssey are secondary to the emotions. The acting, the visuals, the music, they all assault the senses, and the actors’, um, acting, deals the rest. Nolan’s Odyssey is an impressive movie… and as depressing as Tartarus; the only other piece of mass media that had as much angst is… MCU’s Zombies’ mini-series, seriously! In both this show and Nolan’s Odyssey, whenever possible, wherever possible, the worst choice was enacted, and the senses, the emotions, rather than the mind, were affected. MCU’s Zombies attempted to re-introduce Riri ‘Iron Heart’ Williams, after her own show failed; this attempt did not deliver either, and so, Riri does not seem to appear in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer. However, that is another story…

In this one, Nolan’s Odyssey works, but it works because it is a one-time – there is no sequel, no threesome between Odysseus, Penelope, and Calypso, for example. Once the characters and the movie are done, they are done, and we can move on.

Real life sucks. Nolan, apparently, agrees, even though he is famous and rich. I have to admit – I did not see this coming. Ah well, see you all soon!

About Nolan's 'Odyssey' - May 7

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so what does Mr. Nolan do? Plans to make an ‘Odyssey’ that will make RL even more so.

What is the biggest beef of people with the ‘Odyssey-2026’ (upcoming?). The American accents of the characters/cast and the contemporary language. Mr. Nolan openly refers such pieces of modern movie history as MCU and DCEU, (the latter is somewhat defunct now) as his role models. Pause.

MCU, in particular, tried to ground itself in realism, especially the first three phases, but it was ‘realism’, not ‘reality’- Pause. Stop.

Let us look at the trailer again. What do we see? For example, Antinous, treating Telemachus how Jaime Lannister could be treating Jon Snow (in the opening episodes of GoT). The problem here is not in Antinous treating Telemachus badly, but that it was already done in this style, Mr. Nolan is not creating something original, but borrowing someone else’s ideas.

Look at Mr. Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’-related interview. He is referring to Ms. Emily Wilson’s version of the ‘Odyssey’ as his source material. Stop.

Ms. Haynes – remember her – claimed to re-tell some original myths from a supposedly more woman-friendly approaches, but she did it in a manner that was inoffensive and intellectual. Yes, in her novels, (non-fiction is somewhat different) women are good (with exceptions), and men are bad (with exceptions), but those exceptions undercut her entire narrative on one hand, and on the other by offending no one, she is winning no one’s approval either. People, especially literary critics, are singing her praises, but pretty words butter no parsnips and all.

…Ms. Wilson’s re-telling/translation of the ‘Odyssey’ feels a lot like a sister project to Ms. Haynes’ novels – it allegedly might be more gender-equal, woman-friendly, but in reality, it is just another re-telling/translation of the ‘Odyssey’, as a translation/re-telling isn’t the same as writing an original work; Hollywood might be struggling with original works, but so does literature, it seems.

Moreover, just because Mr. Nolan is reading Ms. Wilson’s version of the ‘Odyssey’ does not mean that he will adapt it directly – since his characters are already talking like an average American does – he will not. In translations of the ‘Odyssey’, the characters – and the narrator – do not talk as modern people do; that is the epic’s charm. Well, a part of it anyhow. In Mr. Nolan’s film this will not happen – people are talking in modern American English, referring to the modern American culture (i.e. GoT), to begin with. Huzzah.

Pause. Aside from the language, my main problem are the Lestrygonians – what did they do to them? Listen, if for Homer the Phaeacians were the elves, the Seelie court, then the Lestrygonians were their opposite, the orcs/the Unseelie – and Mr. Nolan is ignoring it; his take on the ‘Odyssey’ already feels ‘inoffensive’ – just like Ms. Haynes’ novels, just like Mr. Serkis’s ‘Animal Farm’, (you didn’t think that I’ll forget it this soon?), despite his words and his allegedly politically progressive opinions, he isn’t trying to convert/convince anyone to join the party; he just wants to make a buck.

No, seriously, the books, the TV series, the movies, the mass media of the centuries past tended to be opinionated if not controversial; each work of fiction, (or non-fiction) tended to push/promote the views of the author (and their cohorts, sometimes), and now this isn’t happening. In the past, mass media often stirred the pot on purpose, and now it does not. Instead, it stirs the pot unintentionally – just look at the Lestrygonians. Just who was the idiotic genius who came up with the medieval knight/Robocop™ idea here?

Alternatively, look at Mr. Nolan’s Scylla. It is supposedly a cephalopod-crustacean creature, according to him. Right, well, the crustaceans – crabs, lobsters, crayfish, and woodlice – are arthropods; they are related to spiders, scorpions, and insects. The cephalopods, on the other hand – octopi, squids, and cuttlefish – are mollusks; their relatives are snails and oysters, (broadly speaking). ‘A cephalopod-crustacean’ creature is just as unreal and mythical as the centaur or a harpy is. (Not the harpy eagle, ok?). Mr. Nolan is trying to be original. He is failing.

What else? No, this is pretty much it. Just as Ms. Haynes, Mr. Nolan is trying to be inoffensive, just as Mr. Serkis tried with the ‘Animal Farm’. The latter was a tire fire that everyone is ignoring, unlike ‘Prada-2’, because ‘Prada-2’ is actually well made from a technical angle; so are Ms. Haynes’ novels. Only, because ‘Prada-2’ is also much more visible than Ms. Haynes’ novels are, it is being discussed more than the latter…

In addition, consequently, will be Mr. Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ – already people are divided about it, and that is just the trailers. Of course, there is also the final trailer for the latest ‘Minions’ movie, and for the love of Zeus, why would anyone release this abomination on the screen? By now, it is the minions vs. the monsters based on Howard Lovecraft’s works, and this is just wrong. When the Western cinematograph tries to come up with something original, this is the best they can come up with? Maybe they should adapt Ms. Haynes’ novels instead – they’re just bland, the ‘Minions’ are worse… That is real life, however. It sucks.

Well, this is it for now. See you all soon.