Podcast 024: Courageous 2--Wakanda Forever

The then Fast and Furious movie has been released, following the franchise formats established in 2011's Fast Five and 2013's Fast & Furious 6. With the crew finally reunited with Han and having thwarted Jacob Toretto's previous threats, the crew gets unexpected news from an old enemy that the ghosts of Brazil are coming to haunt them. Jason Momoa's Dante is the son of Fast Five antagonist Reyes, seeking complete revenge for the death of his father. Despite the more stale elements of this action film, Dante exceeding steals every scene that he is in, making his the most memorable character in this franchise, and the best villain in the franchise. 

Phase 5 of the MCU is getting better with its second entry, the long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which keeps the humor of the first two films intact while expanding the heart and aggressively drawing out the tears. Star-Lord and Drax maintain the same beats, while Nebula shines as the film's MVP and possibly the MCU's finest example of character development since its inception in 2008, but Gamora goes on a completely different and exciting path as a Ravager, showcasing a family full of old and new tricks that ultimate go on a mission to protect Rocket, who's past we finally get a detailed deep-dive into, from the latest villain, the High Evolutionary. 

Let's talk about Star Wars, their recent 2023 celebration, and what they've got going on for the near future. As the most prolific science fiction franchise in the world, Star Wars has both blessed and disappointed fans in recent years, and sure, you can't please everybody, but Disney certainly tries. Let's take a look at the good stuff.

On April 7th--today--my favorite anime, and one of the greatest dramas in Japanese history, Mobile Suit Gundam (1979). Although most Americans wouldn't get to enjoy and appreciate Gundam until around the time the franchise was celebratring its 20th anniversary as one of the most widely revered, influential, and iconic giant robot animes, largely in part Cartoon Network's March 2000 debut of the mega-hit Gundam Wing (which ironically always premiered in Japan on April 7th, 1995), Gundam is now 44 years old. Let's talk about my favorite anime ever that in part inspired the likes of Macross, Evangelion, Code Geass, Darling in the Franxxx, and more, and still continues to move.  

Video game consoles have been an insanely huge part of my life and childhood, and the evolution of home consoles from generation to generation have presented a plethora of ideas and mechanisms we now consider staples, easily taken for granted. With the emergence of always-on DRM gaming and disc-less home consoles, the future of home consoles will soon be at the mercy of other companies in the same niche, but rather its one true rival: the gaming computer. 

I have found so few film series that have succeeded that way that the John Wick series has succeeded. I would absolutely love to see James Gunn's new DC comics Universe on film succeed in the same way(s)....hear me out!

The MCU's Phase Four has been considered to be stand-alone, interim, weaker material for fans to have to suffer through before Marvel finally fully recovers from the Covid-theater crisis and get die-hands back to the movies. I strongly disagree, and I think I've discovered the true purpose of Phase Four: to redeem the characters that were dirty in the past. I have a hunch that Marvel Studios will continue this trend into Phase Five. 

WELCOME TO SEASON 4 of SUPERTANGENT!

The Rocky franchise, starting in 1976, has grown to become one of this most iconic sports dramas in Hollywood history, focusing on the titular underdog boxer Rocky Balboa, and his rival-turned-best friend, Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion. The series, having its ups and downs within the production and releases of the first five films, rediscovered nearly universal acclaim with the sixth chapter, Rocky Balboa (2006), which also served as a bridge into the spin-off series, Creed (2011), starring Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's now-adult son Adonis following in his father's footsteps. With Creed III (2023) recently being released as the first film in the larger franchise that exlcudes Rocky altogether, the series may finally be ready to let Adonis take the helm. 

We also take a look into the fifth phase of the MCU films, beginning with Ant-Man and the Wasp (2023)!   

Today we are getting into the television series Hawkeye on Disney+ as well some personal concerns of next week's Spider-Man No Way Home. It's going to be a multiversal ride, and if we are honoring some villains of the past, why not all of the villains of the past? 

I'm only here to brag today about the most beautiful Emulator for a video game console I've ever used. It's called REDREAM. And it perfectly allows its users to go back to the early 2000's and play all the classics of the sixth generation of home console gaming that current generations owes it's very existence too. Games using cel-shading? Dreamcast. Built-in modem for online gaming? Dreamcast. Internet Browser? Dreamcast. Perfect arcade ports? Dreamcast. Let's take a little dive...