This post isn’t a review of Project Hail Mary. It’s not even a review of the trailers. I’m here for a specific and niche reason that is important to me and me alone: ranking the three theatrical trailers based on how well they captured the movie’s vibes.
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Films adaptations of novels are a tried and true method of keeping the Hollywood machine churning. There is no shortage of original ideas, but there’s also no shortage of novels that would make fantastic cinema. By now, adaptation is its own art form. If you want to make a quality adaptation, these are the three rules you need to follow.
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Similar to my post featuring my work from Luna Station Quarterly, this post is an archive of everything I wrote for the organization WisconsinMade Artisan Collective.
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I haven’t been completely idle in the 7 years since I put this blog on pause. For a couple years, I had a stint as a blogger at Luna Station Quarterly, a short fiction market by women-identified writers. My blog was called Spaceships and Notebooks. (To be honest, I find the name kind of trite. I made it up in five seconds right before I sent an email and now here I am with the consequences of my spontaneity). The focus of my posts was queer speculative fiction, and I usually wrote a bunch of listicles.
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About thirty minutes into Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, 2006), middle school teacher Dan Dunne, played by Ryan Gosling, is asked to step into the hall for a word with his boss, Principal Henderson (Starla Benford). This is the only scene in which Benford appears. During the exchange, Principal Henderson chastises Dan for not sticking with the assigned curriculum. Instead, Dan had been teaching the students the general theories behind dialectics—a philosophy theory that discusses how two opposing forces change themselves as a result of their oppositional force—a theory that Dan believes would benefit the students because it teaches them how to think rather than how to recite dates and names.
It is worth pointing out that Principal Henderson is a Black woman and Dan is a white man teaching history at an inner city middle school in which the students are predominantly Black. Dan Dunne, the character, is a White Savior. Or he’s trying to be.
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Viroqua, Wisconsin is a small town with a big name. For the past couple years, it has crept on my radar in subtle ways, mostly in relation to sustainable, environmental-friendly movements. Despite its name, the magazine Edible Madison is based out of Viroqua. I signed up for a newsletter (Love Wisconsin) for work and one of the first stories I read was about Eddy, the man who owns and operates Driftless Books.
The story about Driftless Books & Music sealed the deal for me. I checked out AirBnBs in Viroqua over Memorial Day weekend. I mapped out the drive and how long it would take to get there. I barely looked at what there was to offer–I’ll figure that out during my stay.
I booked it. I went. And this is what happened.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the lack of typical tropes in The Hero’s Journey and how that detracts from Doctor Strange’s character.
Release Date: 4 November 2016
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Scott DerricksonThere is a trope that I love, and it involves that dorky, intellectual who no one believes in that has to overcome every obstacle in order to be The Best or The King or Whatever Title The Prologue Laid Out. Throughout his journey, there is only one person who believes in him. Either his mentor, who inevitably dies, or himself after the mentor’s death and a couple hard lessons.
You see this trope everywhere because I just described the protagonist for The Hero’s Journey. Doctor Strange the movie wants to apply this trope to Dr. Stephen Strange, the character, but misses the mark in a couple ways.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the wavering morality of Steve Rogers.
Release Date: 6 May 2016
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Anthony and Joe RussoIn the previous installments of Captain America, Steve Roger’s (Chris Evans) morality was never questioned even though he was defying orders (especially if he was defying orders). He indisputably did the right thing by rescuing Hydra POWs, one of which was his best and closest friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). He also did the right thing by taking down SHIELD and Hydra in one fell swoop. Here, he is the crux in the split of The Avengers, not because he rejects the Sokovia Accords, but because he wants to protect Bucky from being framed.
It is perhaps the first time Steve’s morality is called into question. And it should have been done better.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I recap the major events of the movies known as Phase 2 and the things we should be keeping track of.
When this publishes, it would have been more than a week since Avengers: Endgame was released in theaters. I would have seen it at least once, maybe twice if I could get a friend or two to see it with me (again, in maybe some cases. I dunno. We’ll see). From here on out, I am aware of what Endgame holds and entails and, yes, it will affect some of my analysis with Phase 3 since I know what the endgame is (see what I did there, hur hurr).
Until then, let’s talk Phase 2.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the importance of doing right for family.
Release Date: 17 July 2015
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Peyton ReedFrom the high-stakes of Avengers: Age of Ultron, we are now taken to the low stakes of Ant-Man. While Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is a former scientist for SHIELD and entrepreneur of his own science lab, his world is separate from the world of the Avengers. In fact, Hank refuses to get The Avengers involved because he needs no one else to have Pym Particles, a specialized liquid that allows for the shrinking (and growing) of matter.
This is just one reason why Ant-Man differs from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Another is the low-stakes presented throughout the film. Sure, the Pym Particles falling into the hands of Hydra is something no one wants, but this movie is ultimately about two fathers wanting to do right by their daughters.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the mischaracterizations of our favorite heroes.
Release Date: 1 May 2015
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Joss WhedonYou’ve probably heard it before and I’ll say it again, the idea of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an unprecedented feat of filmmaking that I can only assume requires a lot of organization, a lot of discussion of what is canon and what is not, and clearly defined goals for each and every movie that comes out of the Marvel/Disney machine. The directors for these films work closely with the producers to keep the movie in line with not just the Marvel overlords but also the characterizations of each superhero that appears on screen.
While Avengers: Age of Ultron is a pivotal movie in the MCU with a lot of events happening with ramifications for movies to come, the characters feel off. It starts with Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) line “Language!” and it’s all downhill from there.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the endearing nature of lovable assholes.
Release Date: 4 April 2014
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: James GunnIf there was one main, overarching plot throughout the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, what would it be? The arc of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) who will always be there to right your wrongs? The durability of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who will also be there to right your wrongs? The bumblings of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as he continues to be fairly aloof about events on Midgard/Earth?
Nah. The real story to follow is that of the Infinity Stones. So far, we’ve encountered a grand total of three: the space stone (Captain America: The First Avenger), the mind stone (The Avengers), and the reality stone (Thor: The Dark World). Guardians of the Galaxy introduces the fourth stone, the power stone. And it does it by also introducing a team of bumbling outlaws trying (and only sometimes failing) to do the right thing. After more than ten movies about people on the right side of the law, we get to follow people on the other side.
That is only one way Guardians of the Galaxy is so refreshing to watch. Here are some other ways.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about nothing in particular. This film is perfect and nothing about it should ever change.
Release Date: 4 April 2014
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Anthony and Joe RussoThis is the ninth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, personally, one of my absolute favorites. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) lives in the modern era and seems relatively well-adjusted. His best work-friend Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is trying to find him a date while he makes a new friend in veteran Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). This is the core team, the ones who can trust each other when they can trust no one else.
Of the core team, Steve and Natasha are given arcs in their own right. Steve once again pushes back against Hydra and everything it stands for while Natasha has to deal with the fact that her dirty work wasn’t for a good cause after all. This is to date the best characterization we will get for Natasha in the entire MCU. Finally, Sam says it best when he meets Nick Fury for the first time: “I do what [Captain America] does, just slower.”
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The Wisconsin Film Festival has been an annual event in the city of Madison, Wisconsin for over 20 years. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the festival and the first year I volunteered with it for free movie tickets. These are the movies I saw and, briefly, my thoughts about them.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about my two biggest issues with Thor: The Dark World: villains without a clear motivation and Jane Foster, the Living McGuffin.
Release Date: 8 November 2013
Distributor: Marvel/Disney
Director: Alan TaylorIn the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movies belonging to Thor (Chris Hemsworth) seem to be the most culturally underrated. This is probably because no one seems to realize the strength of the Thor movies lies not in the fantasy genre from which it takes its cues, but the comedic elements littered throughout.
Unfortunately, we don’t see the Thor movies find their true calling as a comedy with fantasy elements until Thor: Ragnarok. Until then, we have Thor: The Dark World.
Off all the MCU movies to suffer from sequel syndrome, the worst cases are Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron. I’ll talk about Age of Ultron in a later essay. As for Thor: The Dark World, I have two major complaints in addition to my earlier statement that the Thor movies work better as comedies. Here they are in detail.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about how Tony is able to redefine himself in the midst of one giant panic attack.
Release Date: 3 May 2013
Distributor: Paramount
Director: Shane BlackWhen things are overwhelming and you can no longer function, the thing to do is redefine yourself by taking away everything that makes up who you are. The example off the top of my head is Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. This redefinition of the self is the basis of Tony Stark’s character development in Iron Man 3. Unlike Cheryl Strayed in her titular memoir, Tony’s redefinition is not self-imposed.
For Tony (Robert Downey Jr.), the things that make up Iron Man/Tony Stark are two-fold: the Iron suits and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrov). It goes against my principles to liken Pepper Potts, a human, to an item that defines a man, but the movie does it quite often. I’ll get to this later in this essay. For now, let’s focus on what it means to Tony that these things are taken away from him.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I recap the major events of the movies known as Phase 1 and recap the things we should be keeping track of.
Before we really begin, I had every intention of finishing this series before the theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame, but I was hit with some technical difficulties in the form of the PlayStation 3 going for repairs that never really happened and a disappearing television. So, this series will end whenever it decides to end. I hope you enjoy regardless of my bad timing.
So, let’s get started.
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The year has come and gone, and so has January of the new year it seems. I normally try to get “The Year in Review” type posts out in the month of January, but a bunch of other priorities were taking up my time during January. Doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading though.
This list are some (but not all) of the books I read in 2018. The books that made this list are the memorable ones and/or the ones I had enough of an opinion to talk about. Whole series are grouped together to save on space.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about how The Avengers focuses on the characters’ relationships to each other to mask the cookie-cutter plot.
Release Date: 4 May 2012
Distributor: Paramount
Director: Joss WhedonI have written several drafts of possible essays for this movie and none of them seem to be going anywhere. Simply put, I don’t know how to convey my love for this movie as most of my love comes from the fact that it’s just damn enjoyable. The storytelling, particularly how all the heroes come together so naturally, works.
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Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about why Captain America: The First Avenger is an all-around entertaining movie despite some drawbacks.
Release Date: 22 July 2011
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Director: Joe JohnstonWe must first ask ourselves: What makes Captain America good? According to me, it’s because Captain America: The First Avenger is a good-ole war story with a heavy dieselpunk aesthetic and a superhero twist. It’s got adventure, romance, the feel of a pulp novel, and a fantastic cast.
According to Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), however, it’s all about respecting power. When he first meets Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Dr. Erskine asks a couple pointed questions. Do you want to kill Nazis? Why do you want to go overseas when you can be more useful on the homefront? Steve says that he doesn’t want to kill anybody, he just doesn’t like bullies. He wants to enlist because his American brothers are laying down their lives while he stays home and he’s no different than anyone else.
A smarter person might have given up on enlisting and start collecting scrap metal or investing in war bonds or contributing to the war efforts in some other way. But no. Steve wants to lay down his life because he’s no better than the able-bodied men who do.