Kia and Duke discuss their night at the Natural History Museum for Duke’s work christmas party where they got to party with a Stegosaurus! Kia opens up about her self help course and also reveals her Christmas cosplay photoshoot.
The couple commit a few new years resolutions to audio stone. Comics discussed this episode include: Y: The Last Man, Rat Queens, The Wicked + The Divine, American Vampire and Copperhead.
Don’t forget to visit Needtoconsume.com or find them on social media.
No, this has nothing to do with cutting off your own leg. This game involves The Unusual Suspects reviewing what may well may be one of the very best movies of 2014. Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the true story of Alan Turing, one of the most important men of the 20th Century whose name many of us have tragically never before heard.
Brian, Chris, Ed, Elliott, and J.C. sit down to play the game during this Highly Suspect Review of Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game, which could have alternately been titled How I Learned To Stop Caring About Being Antisocial and Learned The Enigma Code. Give the review a listen. The only way to win is not to forget to press play!
Brad, Sean and Brian put a cap on 2014 with their “Top 10 Horror Blu-ray Releases of 2014.”
A little Christmas is still injected into the conversation as they discuss Scream Factory’s Tales From The Crypt & Vault Of Horror double feature, as well as Full Moon’s release of Trancers!
In most work places, there are unspoken rules that everybody follows. They are the no-brainers that somewhere along the way you learned from peers, school, and/or from an awkward faux-pas moment.
I remember when I first attended my first super high-end trade show for work, in a bright green dress, fabulously standing out like a sore thumb. I learned very quickly that wearing black is standard for these events. Was it a big deal? Not really, but it was an ignorant mistake that affected the image of our team to customers. However, consider how a small boo-boo like this when combined with, say, coming in late, or my cell phone ringer on full blast during a meeting, could turn into a much bigger problem. These small no-no behaviors in the work place, if compounded over time can easily prevent a promotion, get you fired, or make you the first pick on a round of lay-offs.
During production on a movie or television show repetitive faux-pas or even one poorly timed mistake, can get you booted off the set and out of a job in minutes. A movie set can be a hostile environment and in many cases the crew doesn’t have the time to show a newbie make-up artist the basic dos and don’ts of production. It’s a sink or swim mentality, that relies on the newcomer being observant, extremely courteous, and unafraid to ask overworked and sleep-deprived colleagues to clarify set policies. There is no human resources department to help you out and usually, the closest thing to management support is the lead of your department, who is probably overworked, under-budgeted, on a time squeeze, and couldn’t give a shit if the gaffer yelled at you unfairly. There are unions to protect your rights, but they require a registration fee and a certain levels of experience to become a member. They won’t be able to help you until after an incident and usually only intervene in cases of unfair pay. Even then, if the movie doesn’t participate in union jurisdiction, you may be shit-out-of-luck.
A question you might have is why there are so many rules to film and television production. Firstly, everything is EXPENSIVE! The cost of lights, the camera, and, of course, the crew can be staggering. Secondly, it’s also very time sensitive. In filming, time really is money, since actors, crew members, locations, or/and equipment fees are negotiated by time needed. For example: A studio may only offer the crew two days to use a specific set for a crucial scene. That same set becomes unavailable again for six months. So if after viewing the footage, the director decides they need to reshoot a portion of the scene, the producer has to re-employ the entire crew for that scene, and that may not be possible if, by then, that same crew is booked with another movie. Even the best budgeted and organized productions encounter problems from unprecedented events and circumstances. So rules must be followed, to avoid slowing down valuable production time.
In the spirit of empowering new make-up artists, I’ve collected a few golden rules of on-set etiquette:
Always show up early to set, ready to work.
Duh! Remember that you need to be set up and ready to go before the actors show up. That means make up kit organized and set out in accordance with the scene list for the day. You need to have everything laid out, for maximum speed if the actors show up late, and they almost ALWAYS show up late. If the call time is 8:00AM, get there at 7:45AM, set up, and be ready to help the lead make-up artist. She’ll be impressed, as will the assistant director, who is usually there before everybody else. To gain ground in this industry, you have to be noticed, for good reasons, and being an early bird is the easiest way to gain ground, especially if you show up showered, with a fresh face, and no hangover. This alone will make you stand out among throngs of party animals that work in the make-up industry. Nothing enrages me more than when make-up artists show up with a dirty face from last night’s make-up residue with their pores oozing the scent of poor decisions. Gross.
Turn off your cell phone and put it away until official breaks, lunch, or when the set wraps.
I carry a vehement disapproval of using cell phones for personal reasons when at work, but on a film set, it can actually be detrimental to the project. Depending on the sound equipment, cell phone signals from text messages and calls can actually interfere with the recording. I have been on set where the head of sound production ripped off his headphones after a take and yelled, “Who the FUCK has their cell phone on in here!” It turned out to be a production assistant who was immediately fired. Remember that the “sound guy” has a super sensitive microphone and he’s trained to notice faint noises that might affect production value of the movie. If the actors nail an amazing and difficult scene, and your vibrating cell phone is heard, they may not be able to use that perfect moment and you might be out of a job.
In addition, it’s just plain unprofessional to not be 100% committed to the project. You should be observing the thousands of interesting things going on around you. You can learn so much about film by just being present and watching the production unfold. It’s a great experience to be on set, so be there with the crew, not texting that douchebag you shouldn’t be dating anyhow.
Hot Sets: Don’t touch anything without asking!!
So when a movie set for a particular scene is perfectly put together, the set designer or producers will display a sign indicating that the set is a “Hot Set.” This means that you must stay away from the set and never, ever touch anything inside of it. The DP (director of photography), the gaffer, and the director have plotted out every little detail of the lighting, camera angles, flow, blocking (where the actors physically stand and move about the set) and prop placement for the scene. Even moving something a few inches may alter a very intricately planned set design. Remember that you are not seeing the full picture, or the post-production work that goes into the scene afterwards. Your seemingly harmless curiosity about a set piece may require hours of expensive post-production work or even a reshoot. I have also seen this mistake get a production assistant chewed out when he moved a mug that was purposefully turned to have a company logo facing away from the camera. He put it back with the logo facing the camera, and the DP noticed it after 3 takes. Those takes couldn’t be used, since the budget wouldn’t allow for post-production digital touch-ups. We had to shoot the scene all over again because of a bone-head move.
Don’t ask to go home if the shoot is running late and don’t complain about it.
I’m super guilty of breaking this rule, especially after I started running my current business. It’s the reason I had to quit doing make up as a full time career. I couldn’t handle the hours, and trust me, they are loooonnnnggg hours! The bottom line is, you go home when the shoot wraps for the day, not a second sooner. It doesn’t matter if you were promised a 6:00PM wrap time and it’s now 11:00PM. It doesn’t matter if you have to pick up your kids from school. It doesn’t matter that you had a six hour turn-around the last three nights and they don’t even need you for this last scene. You are part of the crew, and you go home when the day’s work is done. The director is the only person who decides when you are done. So sit tight, bring a book to read, and don’t make any promises to the outside world that you can’t keep.
Never bring a friend or family member.
It’s amazingly cool that you are on a movie set! There are so many neat things happening around you and the cameras are for real!! Just look at the director’s chair with a name on it!!! AWESOME!! It’s tempting, but don’t bring your mom, dad, or friends to show off your cool new gig. You should be proud of landing this job, but it’s not like a regular office with cubicles. As I’ve been very clearly explaining, this is a very detailed and time-sensitive work environment, so why bring an unauthorized individual who may risk your work performance by inconveniencing the crew? All movie productions also have certain privacy and confidentiality standards and your mom’s innocent Facebook pic might jeopardize your contract. Make sure you have a Plan B for childcare as well. If your babysitter falls through or your kid gets sick, you can’t bring them on set. Apart from being in the way, outsiders are a liability to the production. Movie equipment can be dangerous and there are wires all over the floor. It’s easy to get hurt and expensive to replace any damaged gear.
Ask questions!!!
Even if you have been on a set a million times, ask and clarify everything. Each production company and/or director has a different style of set management based on their system for creativity. Have your supervisor take you on a set tour and find out where you will be working and any off limit areas. Find out who you are allowed to talk to during filming, how breaks work, who you should check in/out with, and what to do if you are running late. And very importantly, find out if you are allowed to take pictures on set! Don’t be snapping away on your camera without permission! Seriously, if after orientation, you still have a few doubts about something, don’t just let it ride. Be obnoxious for a few minutes by drilling your supervisor with questions on the first day, so you can be easy to work with throughout the rest of the project. Jot down notes, especially during your first few times on a movie set.
It’s funny, some of you may look at this short list of etiquette and think, “Duh!” But I’ve seen folks get in trouble too many times on set to believe that this is common knowledge. Production sets can be confusing places where many things are going on at once. Always approach each new job with humility, open communication, and honest dedication. You’ll be remembered for it and that will get you more work!
There’s no denying that DC/Warner Bros. has continued to dominate television with its many live-action and animated programs for years. Marvel has certainly tried to compete with shows like Agents of SHIELD, Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble, but they haven’t exactly achieved much critical success. They’re looking to change that with their Netflix series starring many of their popular street level superheroes.
The heroes in question include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Each are said to be getting their own series which will later bring them together for a crossover mini-series called The Defenders.
Last week, new images were released showing Daredevil (Charlie Cox) still wearing a very early version of his costume. Reminiscent of the black suit first seen in Frank Miller’s Daredevil: The Man WithoutFear, the costume, setting and look of the pictures point to a show that is the complete opposite of something like Agents of SHIELD in terms of tone and style.
If anything, the show seems to be taking on the appearance of a gritty-crime drama instead of a series about heroes and supervillains battling for the heart of New York City. If this is Marvel Studios’ first legitimate foray into the morally gray aspects of their cinematic/television universe, then Daredevil is the perfect character to do that with. Plus, if the showrunners and writers manage to avoid the awkward humor and poor character development that has plagued shows like Agents of SHIELD, then they’re already off to a fantastic start.
In addition to the newly released images, Marvel announced yesterday that Mike Colter will star as Luke Cage in Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones, an all-new 13-episode series starring Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) as Jessica Jones, a former hero turned private detective. The series is set to premiere on Netflix in 2015 following Daredevil.
Marvel’s Head of Television and Destroyer of Beloved Comic Characters Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween, Ultimatum, Nova) commented on the casting and praised Colter as the “perfect” actor to embody the role of the Hero for Hire.
“Fans have longed to see Luke Cage and in Mike we’ve found the perfect actor. Viewers will get to meet Luke Cage in Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones, and experience why he is such an important super hero in the Marvel mythos.”
While Loeb isn’t exactly the best litmus test when it comes to judging quality (this is the man whose hands are in such “quality products” like Ultimate Spider-Man and Agents of S.M.A.S.H.), Colter has certainly been trying to make a name for himself in a number of well-known television shows and videogames. He’s currently the lead in the Xbox original series Halo: Nightfall and has made appearances on The Good Wife and American Horror Story: Coven. He’ll also be lending his vocal talents to the highly anticipated first-person shooter Halo 5: Guardians as Agent Locke, a protagonist which he portrays on the live-action Nightfall series. While Colter is set to play Cage in a number of episodes in A.K.A Jessica Jones, Marvel has been mum in announcing a premiere date for Cage’s own Netflix show.
While fans will certainly be waiting for the Luke Cage series announcement in the coming months, fan speculation about Cage’s role in A.K.A Jessica Jones has already stirred excitement among comic readers. As many die hard Marvel fans know, Jones and Cage are not only well known for their roles and appearances in such comics as Alias, Daredevil, New Avengers and Iron Fist, but they are frequently looked at as one of the most stable and loving couples in all of comics. Cage’s multi-episode appearances all but confirms that Marvel will more than likely explore the early days of their working and personal relationship with one another.
In any case, it’s exciting that Marvel has been moving ahead with casting these highly anticipated shows. Who knows? It’s possible a certain kung-Fu master might pop up in a few episodes to lend a hand to these “heroes for hire.” One can only hope.
What bout you reader? Are you excited about Marvel’s Daredevil and series of other Netflix shows? Thoughts on the Luke Cage casting? Let us know in the comments below!
Remember when Steve Carell made you laugh? As a Daily Show pundit and then during his legendary stint on the American version of The Office? Remember how he became one of the most beloved faces in television?
Well you better forget that shit right the fuck now!
Foxcatcher is the latest film from Bennet Miller (Moneyball) who is once again approaching a sports story from an unusual angle. But don’t go thinking Foxcatcher is going to make you feel romantic about wrestling the way Moneyball did about baseball. This is a dark, bleak, wholly unnerving film headed by a scary immersive performance from Carell himself.
The Unusual Suspects strap on their jockstraps and step into the squared circle to grapple with this contender for Oscar gold. Brian, Chris, J.C., and Elliott soar through this review like a flock of golden eagles. This is the Highly Suspect Review that America needs. Not the one it wants or needs, but the one…look, just listen to it ok?
Welcome back to Animated Anarchy for our first full-on review covering the Legend of Korra! Although we promote the use of carnage against cartoons, we are not supported by the Red Lotus. After going through years of developmental hell rivaling that of Arrested Development, The Legend of Korra has completed its fourth and final season as of Friday, December 20, 2014.
The arc of the Avatar fighting against the modern threats of an industrializing world and trying to connect back to our spiritual nature has finished, as Korra, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, Asami, Lin Beifong, and Varrick have concluded their adventures for now. There’s so much more to discover in the Avatar universe, but it’ll take some years or some new reincarnations in games or comics to see what will be done next.
I want to say now that this will be an in-depth, spoiler-heavy review of the series as a whole. So if you haven’t watched all of Korra and you are invested with how it wraps up? You have been warned. But for a quick review: The fans have loved how this show that created a new plotline since Season 2 wrapped up so well in such a tightly-packed amount of time. I loved it too, as the action was at it’s most beautiful and it ended with so many satisfying payoffs for certain characters. So as I talk about the finale, I will be covering every season’s build-up, development, and overall quality.
These are reactions I suspect for those who haven’t watched Korra
Book One: Air
Season 1 is the most standalone of The Legend of Korra, as directors Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko created this season originally as a one off. And by itself, it’s such a tightly made, great mini-series that feels as a natural evolution from the “Warring States” feel of The Last Airbender. At the turn of the century combing elements of technology and bending makes for some really sweet inventions and new ways to stir up trouble. There’s a greater shift towards organized crime and political manipulation that makes it harder for the Avatar to do his/her hands-on approach to balance.
Korra works as a fascinating opposite to Aang as Korra is very powerful and good at handling responsibilities, but is more headstrong and less in tune with the spiritual nature. She’s talented, but there’s a lot to keep her grounded compared to many of Aang’s hidden-layers under his unbridled positivity. You have the brothers Mako and Bolin who work as a fun pair focusing the plot around a pro-bending circuit. We also have Aang’s son Tenzin, voiced expertly by J.K. Simmons, who is a fantastic tutor and guardian to help Korra understand Airbending and is endearing thanks to his dynamic, entertaining family.
Just hangin’ out wit the family…on a flyin’ bison.
Book 1: Air has a really superb balance between the fun of Korra exploring the new setting of Republic City and exploring the seedy underbelly of radical new forces. Along the way Korra and Mako make waves fighting gangsters with the police chief captain Lin Beifong and getting to know industrialists Hiroshi and Asami Sato. All the build up is captured beautifully in Episode 6, when Amon and the Equalists ruin the stadium of the pro-bending circuit.
The antagonist of this season, Amon, is genuinely scary…arguably the most fanatical villain of the entire Avatar universe. He has stirred up the pot by asking the biggest question of the series…what do the non-benders do? He’s absolutely compelling as he is able to control Republic City with his devoted, fascist group. I’d even throw in that Hiroshi works as a great secondary antagonist, as he’s able to make Amon’s rise to power come to life because of his own feelings. The stakes increase with every single episode and the way they call back to the original series is brilliant. The action is beautiful and the final episode involving the fate of Amon and his brother is one of the most defining moments in children’s entertainment.
The only way to make him more threatening would be to give a voice like Steve Blum…..oh wait.
That being said, there are two significant problems with this series that can’t go unnoticed. There’s a forced love triangle but between Mako/Korra/Bolin that was poorly handled and an entire episode was devoted to it. The Last Airbender had romance between several characters, but it was never as blatant or forcibly dramatic. It’s a flaw of the series as a whole that would be hard to shake off for a while. Many people also complain that the ending is too squeaky clean wrapped everything up and having Korra and Mako kiss at the end. As a one-off, I wasn’t really bothered by the decision to end it this way, but everything else was so expertly done I couldn’t knock it.
Now I would normally reduce some points for how it’s touched on in later seasons, but that’s not the case. Season 1 is so incredibly stand-alone that it doesn’t cover much of the continuity later on. The Equalists aren’t touched on again and Amon is hardly mentioned with exception of an occasional flashback. The best thing Season 1 did was provide a backdrop to make the new world so fascinating and bring up so many possibilities combing spirituality with our modern necessities. It’s clean, it’s trimmed, and it’s damned entertaining for what it was able to pull off.
Season 1 Arbitrary Rating: 9 out of 10 Pro Bending Trophies
This COULD have been the ending, but it apparently pissed people off.
Book Two: Spirits
As Season 2 moved into production, Nickelodeon decided to give the directors three more seasons to expand Korra, making it a full on universe in it’s own right. But this meant more characters to create, a new villain, and exploring where Korra’s and Mako’s relationship was going to go. Along with this new surging production, Avatar’s standard animation company Studio Mir had been temporarily replaced with Japanese Studio Pierrot. I believe because of all of these sudden, massive changes, Konietzko and DiMartino had created what is easily the worst season of the Avatar franchise.
Season 2 began on really rocky territory, introducing the villain Unalaq and bringing in more of the political aspects of potentially creating a war between the Southern and Northern water tribes. We get to see a lot of new characters, but there’s a surprising lack of depth amongst most of them. Korra’s cousins, Deska and Eska, are a clichéd duo of unemotional twins who seem bored with everything, and the female gets into an abusive relationship with Bolin that is played too much for laughs. We finally get to meet Korra’s parents who have some unique history with Unalaq, but they feel majorly like minor supporting characters. Tonraq, Korra’s Father, in particular is probably the worst voice actor amongst everyone in the cast.
“I love you wife…and daughter.”
What hurt the worst about this season is that the writing and character interactions took an enormous hit in quality. Korra, who we loved so much conquering her fears backpedal hard into petulant, whiny brat who doubted and fought against everything in her way. Bolin became incredibly doofy and egocentric, and would beg his brother on minute to help him out of his terrible relationship, but then jeer him at him in another scene when things would fail due to his own volition. There’s even hope introduced as we meet Aang’s other children, Bumi and Kya, but their only lines consistent of complaining that Tenzin was the favorite or that Aang was never actually there to raise them. Not only did it become noticibly weak and tedious, but quite predictable at times.
The one character that saved this season to make it still watchable was Varrick, casted perfectly by character actor John Michael Higgins. His dialogue is the most charming and unique and he’s able to breath in some life and general zaniness that was missing in this very dour season. He has all of the best elements of Sokka, but there’s a real conniving aspect of his nature that made him such a standout. He also managed to transform Bolin into a hysterical running gag, making him a “mover” star with his inept, Ed Wood-style of directing and inserting random, yet brilliant ideas for promotion.
But going back to the issues, we soon find out that Unalaq also suffers from the bad writing and is…motivated mostly out of spirit-fueled crazy. This isn’t the really good development we had with Fire Lord Ozai’s dictationship, instead a sadly simple “I want to destroy the world and let the spirits roam free” motivation. It gets so hopeless and desperate by the end, which they had to forcibly end the season with a Deus Ex Machina to solve several of the problems. Especially with Eska/Deska finally acknowledging their father’s evil actions at the last minute or having Jenora discover a giant tree that no one seemed to notice. It ends in well-made, giant spirit fight very akin to Pacific Rim, and peace is restored, albeit with spirits now entering the real world.
Now you might be asking, what about the two-part Beginnings episode that explains the origin of the Avatar? Okay…here’s my biggest controversial opinion of the entire series. I think the origin story is just…okay. I love Avatar Wan, I think the art was amazing and it was great to see many characters and themes returned, but I was let down by a core concept of it.
Admittedly, the first Avatar State is pretty artistic.
In the Avatar world, we now have a physical manifestation of good and evil with Raava and Vaatu. Making it so clear-cut takes a lot of the tooth out of the human cruelty or scheming out of the villains. Unalaq is somehow the one villain that nearly destroys the world with magical, spirit altering powers because he embraces Vaatu’s influence. There should have been more discussion there to talk about why the evil is necessary to create balance, as we only see how bad things go down by letting Vaatu take control instead of Raava. If you want to promote the importance of balance and merging, then you gotta show both sides of the coin.
Not to mention, I was kind of bothered by how the spirits are held in such high praise in the show, when they appear to be just as flawed as humans are. I always enjoyed how the spiritual nature of the show was very ambiguous, as it was something specific to the Avatar or people who really wanted to destroy the balance like General Zhao. It’s as if the spirits are all-knowing manifestations, but they simply wish to spite humanity for not knowing anything and trying to survive. It’s a part of Eastern philosophy that was touched on incredibly well at first, but when they tried to actually give the spirits character, it just made the writing continue to stand out as weak.
So as a whole, Season 2 is just a hodge-podge of missed opportunities and character flanderization. However, to its credit, it actually did set up many cogs in motion for the later seasons. There are great cameos, there’s more build up for the Avatar’s mythos, and a select few are able to keep their head above water. Even the incredible animation appeared to backslide with botched talking scenes and more distracting set-pieces. I wasn’t sure The Legend of Korra was going to go from here, but I hoped things would go up.
Season 2 Arbitrary Rating: 5 out of 10 Moustaches to Rip Off Incompetent Cops
Book Three: Change
And boy, did they pick up from their mistakes. Konietzko and DiMartino apologized in several audio commentaries of Season 2 explaining the various production errors that harmed the story. They didn’t mean for people to be so offended to Korra’s attitude or disappointed in the dropping the Equalist regime plotline. I would hold them under the firebenders more for these mistakes, but honestly? I believe Season 3 is the best season of The Legend of Korra and they took all their criticism in stride.
You can tell they are sharing elements of The Last Airbender using chibis.
With the forced integration of the spirit world, a strange phenomenon has gifted random people throughout the world to become airbenders. But this sets off a frightening chain of events as the war criminal Zaheer (voiced EXPERTLY by Henry Rollins), sets off to break his partners out of jail and find the Avatar. So as our heroes are exploring across the world to find more airbenders to keep the culture alive, they have to deal with a looming, mobile threat that could destroy them at any time.
Legend of Korra really needed a change in scenery after spending so much focus on Republic City and the South Pole. So not only do we return to the feeling of The Last Airbender by traveling to new places, but we really get to see how the rest of the world has changed in the 70+ years that has passed. I always thought the Earth Kingdom was fascinating with their class system, and their notable cities like Omashu and Ba Sing Se were particular stand-outs. We also get a great villain in the Earth Queen who wants to use the airbenders to form her own army.
Book 3: Change perfectly integrates what was great between both Avatar series. We’ve returned to our heroes (who are written well once again) on the run from a new threat but they have a greater desire to help people in need. Korra, Asami, Tenzin are incredibly well utilized, but we actually give some much needed development to characters like Jinora and Bumi. Even Varrick is brought back to bring in more mythos to our ever-expanding world and add some great comedy to lighten even the darkest situations. After all, he was only a war profiteer.
“I have figured out magnets, so give me a billion dollars!”
So not only do we have much more to discover and explore, but we’ve brought so many great new elements into the mix. I really enjoyed the metal city of Zaofu, with Suyin added some much needed diplomacy to the group’s headstrong dynamic. We got to learn more about Lin Beifong and more about Mako/Bolin’s family, giving them critical backstory. Yet, the single greatest thing to happen within this season compared to all the others is the sheer force and creative villainy that came from Zaheer and the Red Lotus.
4 Benders, 2 Couples, 1 Sociology.
Zaheer and his astoundingly powerful group of benders, Ghazan, Ming-Hua, and P’Li are possibly my favorite villains of the entire universe. What’s so captivating about this group is that we’ve never actually seen the philosophy of the Air Nomads become so warped into an evil idea. Zaheer believes that anarchy and chaos will create a new order that the world has needed since the 100 Years War and the way he has disciplined himself to come so far is simply astonishing. Season 1 had a fantastic “oh-shit” moment, but this season had three incredibly defiant, shocking moments including two on-screen deaths. Making moves this ballsy is likely why Nickelodeon shifted them online.
And the group is not only successful several times with their astounding bending powers and fighting, but they have really grounded chemistry. One of the best moments of this is during “Long Live The Queen” where Ming-Hua and Ghazan captured Bolin and Mako to transport them to Ba Sing Se, as Bolin starts asking them questions about their past. When Bolin guesses correctly about the duo’s unspoken attraction, Ghazan grins and goes “2 out of 3, not bad.” Touches like that make this group of villains so much more interesting than the rest and it makes their history quite believable.
The way Book 3 ends is what particularly gives it an edge above all the other seasons in my opinion. Every single detail from the rise of the airbenders, to the trouble in the Earth Kingdom, and the shackling over the Avatar pays off in an incredible climax. The action shifts so dramatically and the way Zaheer nearly kills off Korra with a special type of poison creates a new quandary for the legacy of the Avatar. But I loved how every character was able to come together to defeat The Red Lotus, with Jinora almost becoming the new hero for a generation of justice-seeking benders.
We all feel ya there, Korra…
If The Legend of Korra had to end here, I would be completely fine with it. It’s bittersweet considering Korra could have never healed from the trauma of the poison, but it brings forth the balance she’s always wanted for the world. Tenzen’s dream becomes a reality as the Air Nomads will live on and people have now found or developed new families. All was good in the world, but there was one distinct, held frame that proved that there were new evils on the horizon.
Season 3 Arbitrary Rating: 10 out of 10 4000 year old poems
Book Four: Balance
So with the final season being literately pushed into productions, the creators and directors decided to do an interesting choice and push the storyline ahead three years. With a gap in time like that, there was a lot of fan theories of what would the next theme of the season be. Especially since Book 3 left so many ideas left open to close and discover. And what they decided to do was definitely interesting, but it made for a quite the payoff.
The world happened to change quite a lot in that period of time, primarily with Bolin and Varrick who have found employment in the great, military-unifier Kuvira. Mako is currently working as a bodyguard for the only heir to the Earth Kingdom Throne, Prince Wu, and the airbenders have established themselves as a force in the world. As tensions begin the rise with the growing influence of fascism, there’s only one question on everyone’s mind…where’s Korra?
“Ich bin ein Metalbender!”
Book 4 continues the series’ sense of gutsy direction as Korra has spent her time suffering from PTSD that came from the fight with Zaheer. You could understand that the creators wanted to break the character down in order to build her back up again, as she started off as more combat-oriented than Aang did. Throughout the arc, we get to see the return of Toph, who is just as enjoyably gruff as she was originally introduced. But the big threat starts to push in on Korra’s healing process, as Kuvira wants to create a giant, cataclysmic weapon using the power of spirit vines.
For the final season, the directors and writers really did a bang-up job ratcheting up the suspense of the new villain and the consequences of following an evil idea with good intentions. I was surprised how so much of the season was focused on Bolin and Varrick, who were constantly justifying there reasons for working with Kuvira, but become more and more aware of how far she was willing to go to bring her vision to life. There’s even a great redemption subplot with Asami trying to bond again with Hiroshi while he’s in prison. All of the characters had pretty good arcs, but this concern brings me to my biggest issue with Book 4. Pacing.
An Artist’s Rendition of Korra vs. Nickelodeon’s Executives
Now again, I can’t bring everything against the creators for the constraints here. Nickeoldeon undeservedly gave their best critically acclaimed show the shaft because it didn’t have good enough ratings. It’s baffling on so many levels because Korra ended up being swapped several times to different channels and new airing schedules. When they gave up and suddenly moved the entire series online…we’re they expecting to get more views that way? It’s such bullshit, but these issues did cause some trouble for the overall story.
Considering the time shift, I felt like the entire season needed three good episodes to develop all the characters. Kuvira’s rise to power is quite significant, but we should have seen more behind the scenes to make her so effective throughout the years. Even Mako got the short end of the stick, as his character was mostly playing the straight man to Prince Wu, who is mostly frivolous to the actual story. Many plot points or dramatic shifts that happened between or during episodes were made far too fast, not giving enough time for the emotions to settle or create slow rising tension and dialogue. It led to a lot of underutilized expectations.
But this issue in pacing didn’t take away from Korra’s best selling point, with the action-oriented animation. With Studio Mir taking complete control again, the bending has been absolutely on point. Because metalbending is so prevalent amongst all the characters, it goes to show you can create so many types of weapons and fighting techniques with characters in motion. This really comes into play as Bolin’s Lavabending is able to accomplish so much, or the fully developed mecha suits create an imposing force for the good guys.
So not only did they watch a lot of Game of Thrones for inspiration, but Gundam too.
All of the visuals really made our build up to the final climax for the series phenomenal. Kuvira taking Republic City nearly single-handedly with her giant super weapon makes such an impact against the world. It was giving me flashbacks to the intense destruction from Fire Lord Ozai. The way the group comes together to take down Kuvira makes for such a dramatic, even tear-jerking finale as everything is put on the line. But as two small nitpicky notes, I do think it was awkward for Kuvira’s backstory to be crammed into the last 10 minutes and for Varrick and Zhu Li to suddenly marry.
So then we get to what the series finally leads to…and I have to say that all of the ill-will I might have had for the series melted away with their final scene. It made me forgive the forced pace of the season and even the primarily pointless clip show have more weight to it as we reached the ending. Everyone appears to have settled with their victory, embracing the new spirit portal and the unification of good against evil. But we make one little trip.
THEY DID THE THING! THEY DID ALL THE THINGS!
Call it fanservice, call it “not showing enough”, call it a way to punish those who wanted Korra to end up with anyone else. This finale scene of Korra and Asami embracing as they enter the spirit world is a fantastic note to end the show with, giving more hints to what could happen and leaving the fans with a strong message about bonding during the darkest moments.
And not only that, think of how many barriers this broke with this simple scene. It stands as a bisexual character that was one of our true, female protagonists, it’s an interracial couple with a strong, supporting history, and it accomplishes all of this on a children’s animated show. That’s such incredible progress. Usually you have to find obscure, foreign, adult oriented cartoons to do a feat like this. If anything, it goes to show that Nickelodeon should be mocked for having such little faith in such a beautiful, poignant series.
Season 4 Arbitrary Rating: 8 out of 10 Gigantic Mecha Suits
For The Legend of Korra as a whole, it has been one hell of a ride with all the crazy mudslides, tidal waves, and sweat-inducing moments nonstop. In this age where I could talk with all my online friends about where the show was going or how engaging the animation was, The Legend of Korra was a series I happily watched week to week whether it on TV or on the Internet.
However, I do have to admit that the original The Last Airbender series was overall a better product. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s perfect in it’s own right; a pinnacle of Western Animation. And The Legend of Korra is really, REALLY good too…but just doesn’t make it. Chalk it up as much as you want to bad decisions from the studio, but Book 2 is still lacks the overall quality that made everything else so good. I imagine we’ll all watch that season for completionist’s sake and to catch foreshadowing, but it’s going to be rough to see it all.
It’s very much like comparing Batman: The Animated Series to Batman Beyond or Superman: The Animated Series. It’s all incredible, but one was more compelling for being so complete and consistently well told.
This shot at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender still gets me every time.
Still, Korra deserves all the credit for everything it did right. The way it captured mixing the mystical sense of bending with technology was flawless. It still had engaging characters who varied between old sensibilities versus our new culture. The series created so many new possibilities to explore in the past, present, and future of the entire universe. And it had what can easily be called the best action scenes of any animated program so far.
The Legend of Korra Series Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Portals to the New Romance
So I will miss the journey of these characters. They ended on a great note, it feels like the universe is in balance, and we’ve all gained the bounty of having another great, mature cartoon that will last for decades. The only thing not ambiguous is the future of Nickelodeon…
As the legend hopefully continues on…
Thanks everyone for reading this incredibly detailed review and analysis of The Legend of Korra. What do you think? Did you love the ending? Do you agree/disagree with any of my points? Do you think the universe will be expanded again? Leave a comment below and add your own insight!
Deck the halls with lots of sportsmas! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-yeah!
As Christmas draws nearer, we have prepared for you a rather festive excursion Inside the Locker. Adam and Elliott are out caroling, but Brian’s dad is visiting for the holidays! He sits in with Brian and J.C. for a Yuletide restructuring of the show’s usual format.
Put on your big red suits (and no, we’re just talking to Ohio State fans) and join us as we stuff this Santa-tastic episode right up your stocking!
Show Breakdown…
Show & Yell (1:50)
Since our last show, Brian and J.C. have been to a combined total of four pro sporting events: 3 NBA games and 1 NFL game. They engage in a little show-and-tell recap of their experiences. J.C. got to see LeBron play, and Brian got to see his Colts win their division. Also, Brian had an epic beer fail like no other.
What We Want for Sportsmas (20:15)
We sent out a survey to some of the most prominent figures in sports and the things that top their holiday wish lists conveniently perfectly set up both our headlines and awards for the week. Crazy right, who’da thunk?! We chat about Harbaugh’s chances of moving to Michigan, why we’re still firmly on Team America, and dad comes up with the perfect joke surrounding Jay Cutler’s benching.
Redubbing Manziel (51:34)
In his first NFL start, Johnny Manziel took a big ol’ Cleveland Brown right on the field. In response, we have decided to do a little work on Johnny Football’s nickname. We think any one of them would be more appropriate, and that IS how we will be addressing his Christmas card.
Fantasy Report (59:13)
The first round of ITL’s fantasy football is in the books. We recap the standings as well as the freaky ass finish of the two matches in Brian’s league. Seriously, it’s bizarre and defies all the maths.
Follow us on Twitter, to be the only one not doing so would be as embarrassing as pretty much everything that happened to Johnny Manziel last week.
Nine years, two months and two days. It’s been that long since The Colbert Report aired it’s first episode on October 17th, 2005. Yes, it didn’t seem like that long ago that Stephen Colbert, fresh off his successful eight year run as a correspondent on The Daily Show, walked onto his stage for the first time to invent the word Truthiness, give Peter Mayhew a salute to his then newly acquired US citizenship with a Chewbacca action figure and have a “gravitas off “with then-Dateline host Stone Phillips. Now The Colbert Report has aired it’s final episode, giving Stephen the wings to move on and succeed David Letterman as the host of CBS’ The Late Show next summer. It’s nice to see Colbert moving up in the world of television, as he deserved to be rewarded for the raw natural talent he’s displayed not only on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report but also in his work on projects as varied as Strangers With Candy, The Venture Bros. and his books I Am America (And So Can You) & America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t. He really does deserve this position and I’ll gladly watch him, even if he is on CBS.
“I feel like my heart is going to burst because it’s full of rainbows.”
We aren’t saying goodbye to Stephen Colbert, the comedic talent who’s skills will continue to live on. No, instead we are saying goodbye to Stephen Colbert, the cartoonishly conservative character who has entertained us for so many years with his over the top right wing attitude. The Colbert who revealed The Wørd, presented his Tip of his Hat & Wag of his Finger, fought against himself as a Formidable Opponent, gave the Colbert Bump to everyone from Neil DeGrasse Tyson to Toby Keith, trotted out his Alpha Dog of the Week and made sure we Better Knew A District. This Colbert, initially conceived as a satire of ego driven, misinformation spreading Fox News pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck, managed to become something more. While still serving as a skewering talking head to the concept of these ultra conservative personalities on television, the Colbert character also managed to evolve into the ultimate satiric statement on what the 24 hour news cycle and politics in general had become; just plain silly.
“America, here’s my stimulus package! Hello ladies.”
True, The Report was always considered a comedy show and silliness naturally crosses into that territory, but Colbert’s brand of absurdity was all his own and that’s the brilliance of it. By cementing his silly personality onto this show that’s supposed to “spread the truth”, the Colbert character served as the ultimate parody of the opinionated and laughably frivolous nature of what television news and politics overall has turned into over the last decade, with Colbert the character examining the words of mainstream public figures from the most overly warped ultra-conservative perspective and performing giant publicity stunts on air that were always be ridiculously odd. Yet at the same time, Colbert the comedic talent managed to give Colbert the character this affable charm and endearing sense of honesty mixed in with that ego driven satire through sheer force of personality. This is clearly evident even in Colbert’s Christmas special A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All, which skewers old school Bing Crosby specials with his traditional and bizarre comedy styles that involves everything from a high Wise Man Willie Nelson to Elvis Costello being eaten by a bear, making it an annual watch every year for me. So when Colbert did something as self important as assuming the cheers of his audience are for him with every guest’s introduction or literally marry his hand, it served both as an inditement of the massive hubris of mainstream political figures and as just a hilarious good time.
“There’s nothing wrong with being gay. I have plenty of friends that are going to hell.”
In fact, that ability to just be as goofy as possible is a major part of why I personally fell for Colbert and even started to enjoy watching his show more than The Daily Show. Mind you, I still do enjoy Jon Stewart and his correspondents on that show and they do manage to let loose between their striking political commentary and be silly. Yet, Stephen Colbert never stopped the bizarre cartoonish sense of humor even when delivering the news. Hell, sometimes Colbert would drop the news angle in general and do something audaciously absurd, whether it be a full on fight between himself, Stewart & Conan O’Brien over who made Mike Huckabee a briefly popular presidential nominee, a “metaphor off” against Sean Penn, hugging adorable puppies with Tom Hanks, getting crushed by a vending machine while interviewing Matt Damon, challenging Korean pop star Rain to a dance battle, singing Somewhere Out There with Jimmy Fallon, interviewing Smaug the dragon himself or dancing with the likes of Bryan Cranston, Hugh Laurie, Jeff Bridges and Henry Kissinger himself to the tune of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” That lack of restraint Colbert had on his show made him an entity all his own in terms of late night television in oh so many ways, all the way to his final episode send off set to “We’ll Meet Again” with his celebrity friend chorus. The show ended as it should end; sincerely silly.
“I’m not the kind of guy who says ‘I told you so.’ I’m the kind of guy that makes it into a banner.”
Of course, that brazen sense of self also resulted in some very ballsy moves on his part. Outside of his show, Colbert the character delivered a devastatingly biting inditement of then current Commander In Chief George W. Bush while standing a few feet away from him at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006, read his own sincerely written bill on immigration & social workers in character at a 2010 congressional hearing, went toe to toe with the man who inspired his entire persona on The O’Reilly Factor and hosted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear with Jon Stewart right outside the National Mall in Washington D.C. Colbert’s commitment to the character was so admirable in situations like these, which makes the few moments where he breaks character all the more endearing. And I’m not just talking about whenever he laughed through a joke he flubbed either. There were rare occasions when Colbert pretty much dropped the act to be sincere, the most notable of which happened last year when he started his show by giving his recently deceased mother a eulogy. It’s a tender beautiful display of genuine emotion and one of the more touching moments in the history of the network known for airing South Park and Tosh.0.
Remembering Lorna Colbert
So, it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to the double whammy of one of a kind that was The Colbert Report and the Stephen Colbert character. All the laughs, all the tears and all the irrational screaming over our Nation’s supposed greatest threat; BEARS. However, on a more personal note, I’m saying farewell to one of my biggest comedic influences. Since I was a middle schooler, The Colbert Report served as a major source for political satire that I used to watch on a daily basis. It made me question the media my elders consumed and presented politics for the preposterous goofy mess it is. I admittingly fell off of watching the show regularly as I grew older, but I always made sure to check in with the Report for at least a clip on a consistent basis, whether it be a notably foolhardy take on some modern problem in the news or a particularly engaging interview subject. I regret not watching more frequently, but I took The Report for granted, thinking it would always be there to lighten up dark days and give me hope in a world that was so cruel. But it won’t be there anymore. So, if this somehow manages to grace the eye of the real Stephen Colbert at some point, all I have to say is this; Mr. Colbert, thank you for all the good times. Good luck at CBS. I know I’ll be watching. And as for Stephen Colbert the character, all I have to say is this; Mr. Colbert, watch out for bears, keep eating that warehouse stockade full of Americone Dream ice cream and spread the word of Truthiness wherever you go so that everyone can have a better tomorrow, tomorrow. Stephen & Friends – “We’ll Meet Again”
