Brothascomics is your one stop for all things Black and Nerdy. We talk comics, movies, music and pop culture..all from a Brothas Perspective.
We are back with our What we Missed in Wrestling podcast as we recap WCW and WWE/F PPV's in the time frame from when we stopped watching pro wrestling. This week its Summer Slam 1990 and as far as WWF PPV's we have watched, this one is the least terrible. Our double Main Event has Hulk Hogan in one and the Ultimate Warrior in the other. They are both terrible and Vince McMahon is now on commentary and boy oh boy is he bad. Fun listen all around
The Producer
Platonic is a new series streaming on Apple TV and it looks to answer two age old questions: 1. Can women and men be friends without any sexual feelings between the two people and 2. Do you think that Seth Rogen is funny. I tend to fall into yes for the former and no for the latter and this show proves me correct on both ends.
Platonic brings Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne back together for the 3rd time. The first two were Neighbors and Neighbors 2: Electric Boogaloo( JK). In each of those movies, they played a married couple terriorized by living next to college age students and all the drunken, high wakiness that ensues from that. Again, those movies are fine. Rogen and Byrne clearly have great chemistry together but it really comes down to if you find Rogen funny. Because if you dont, this show and those movies are gonna be kinda a rough watch.
This show finds Byrne(Sylvia) and Rogen(Will) estranged from their long term friendship. Rogen married someone that Byrne did not approve of and she told him and he got offeneded and they have not spoken in years. Since then, Byrne has become a lawyer, gotten married, and has 3 kids. Rogen has gotten divorced and has become a master brewer and is partnered with a brewery with another friend and an investor played completetly over the top by Andrew Lopez.
Byrne and Rogen are brought back together as she looks to reconnect with him after hearing about the divorce and after some drinking, they attempt to fall back into their old patterns as friends but the lingering hurt from the, " I do not approve of your spouse" conversations rears its ugly head... for like 1 episode. After that, they fall back into being friends. Even though she has a husband and kids, she is out drinking and doing drugs with Rogen like she didn't have a husband and kids. Rogen is essentially playing a version of EVERY CHARACTER he has ever played: A man child whose actions and decisions are to be questioned continually. And that can be funny at times but he and this character are 40 years old at this point. Wisdom that comes with age are not on display here as decision after decision is just ridiculous to get us to the next ridiculous spot. At a point, you don't feel sorry for his character, you become angry at why this man cannot get his shit together.
And in that, the most important question of if men and women can be friends is lost in the sauce. There is a subplot of Byrne's husband getting jealous and why Rogen doesn't tell Byrne that he's seeing someone but at no point is there any sexual tension or chmistry between the two. They are just platonic friends.
Again, if you like Seth Rogen's stuff, you will like this show. I am kinda whatever about his stuff so the show is whatever for me- even tho I love Rose Byrne. I say it average but that is just me! Episodes now streaming on Apple TV
The Producer
Part 2 of Cartoons and Cereal is our look back at GI Joe. We talk the characters on the show, Brothers Beavis' love of the show, and how The Producer never really watched. Plus we talk healthy cereals now verus when we were kids! Grab a bowl of cereal and hit the watch along with us!
Our review for Spiderverse is coming soon( BTW its great). But check out the trailers than ran before the movie. Not sure if I will see any of them but I'm definitely tempted on a a couple of them,
Blue Beetle
I don't know. This looks fine enough and gives off a very phase 1 Marvel feel but I do not trust DC at all. I have been hurt so many times and I am not sure if I can continue to do this. Its not me, its you DC. Hard Pass
Elementals
You know Pixar has kind of been on the backside since the Disney/Marvel/Star Wars merger. They used to be the most consistent animation property. Now, we are getting Toy Story 5. But up next, the Elementals. I have enjoyed all the trailers for this and I will see- on Disney Plus tho. Hard Pass... in the movie theatre
Teenage Kraken
When this came up, I do not know if my eyes could have rolled back any further, but it was actually kinda funny and weird in a good way. Another movie I will eventually see- just not in the movie thearter.
Transformer: Rise of the Beasts
I saw the two Transformer movies and the two jive talking robots did me in on that Michael Bay trash and I have not seen one since and this one aint gonna happen either. The hardest pass.
The Flash
Look man.... This is a Batman movie featuring the Flash. Its the only way to seel it since the star of the movie is a whole ass criminal. All that being said, this trailer has made me reconsider seeing it- even tho DC continues to hurt me( see above Blue Beetle). I still dont know if I can commit to this- even tho people I know and trust have said its good. Its a pass but not a strong one.
The Producer
Let me start off by saying two things: One, I have never watched a second of any of
the Duggar shows or their spinoffs. I
had no interest in that and reality tv in general so the phenomenon of that
show or that other show with the people who had a bunch of kids…. Kate Plus
8? Or anything that was running on the
so called Learning Channel. Two, I would
call myself a Christian and I came to know Jesus late in life( well into my 20’s)
but I was not raised in church or would even think of calling myself a
fundamentalist. However, I know the
basics tenets of the Bible and the history of Jesus.
Shiny Happy People is the story of the Duggar families rise
and fall and how the corruption of the teachings of Jesus has led to hurt- physical,
emotional, and finicial for those who grew up in that family as well as those
who grew up in the faith that inspired them to have all them damn kids. At the top of that is the patriarch- Jom Bob Duggar and his wife, Michelle. These two parents, who were well into the ILBP( Institute of Basic Life Principles) and followed their tenets and their leader, Bill Gothard. A story about a family with multiple kids, on the surface, seems to be just a whacky American story and it was filled with the "aw shucks" goodness but beneath the surface, the teachings of the church and how it was glossed over by The Learning Channel hid some terrible secrets of the church and the Duggars.
People are familiar with the Josh Duggar part- how he fell
from grace in two big swoops. First from
admitting that he had molested his sisters and other young girls and then from
being arrested, charged, and convicted of the possession of child
pornography. All damning stuff but this
documentary looks into how the Duggars- right in the face of the people watching
that show- were in a cult and presented that cult to the masses of their
followers and fans and hid the abuse their son was committing, as well as the
church that sponsored them.
The documentary has archival footage from all over the place
but more importantly is has friends of Jim Bob Duggar and other family members,
the most important of which is daughter Jill Duggar Dillard along with her husband Derek who give first
hand account of what growing up in that environment and on televisions was like. Since they were filming their lives for everyone to see for several years, there is so much video of their teachings that are and were suspect at the time but it was glossed over by mainstream media because: They were having another baby, or a special when one of the kids got married, etc. Jill Dillard gives first hand account of all that and talks about how when she was molested by her brother, the family covered it up and made her and her sister go on Fox news( of course) to cover for their brother molesting them. Its a sick story and abuse and manipulation under the guise of forgiveness and its heartbreaking. This story, and others, are corroboated by family, cousins, police reports, and damning testimony from the Duggars themselves as to how they allowed Josh to molest these girls, get away with it legally, and be sent to Christian work camp as penace for it.
While Jim Bob and his wife are front and center, they are essentially usefel pawns of the ILBP and the cult leader Bill Gothard. Countless witnesses come to speak about their growing up in that “church” and the abuses they received but also of how the church treated women and children as possessions that needed to be molded and trained into what Gothard believed women and children should be. Bibilical teachings were modified to fit their agenda which often lead to open abuse and feelings of guilty by those women and children who were lead to believe they somehow deserved this punichment for not being godly enough. This “church” is not much different from other churches whose patriarchal stuctres often leads to abuse by the so-called men who are placed in positions of power. And as almost always in these churches, there is a clear diversion away from Biblical teaching into the teachings of one man whose believes are not lined up with the Bible. Gothards used these teachings and the Duggar’s to prostelize these beliefs to millions of people as they built their empire on the backs of their children.
This is a 5 part documentary with each episode coming in
under an hour. I watched it in a day. And while I loathe to see things like this, I
do think its important for Christians to see this and to see how we wind up
making idols out of so co called Christians and how doing so moves everyone
involved further from God’s love and into a relationship with themselves and
their love of money and power.
The Producer
** Spoiler Alert for Spiderverse
If you have already seen Across the Spiderverse, you know the movie has two main antagonost: Spider-Man 2099 and the Spot. While the intentions and motives for Spider-Man 2099 can be debated, the Spot's cannot. He is a villian who is motivated by revenge against Miles Morales.
But his comic book origins is a bit more... well corny. If you read Spider-Man in the 80's, you know Spidey's rogue gallery has some goofy characters in it. For every Green Goblin there is a Red Rocket or a Trapster, or a White Rabbit. And to be honest, the Spot fits right in with those corny villians. So lets take a trip all the way to 198 and Spectacular Spider Man 97 in December of 1984 where we get a chance to see the unamed character who would become the Spot in Spectacular Spider Man #98 in January of 1985!
As he is working for the Kingpin who is looking to somehow harness the powers of superhero Cloak, our soon to be Spot is a scientist. And is often the case, sometimes ambition outweights smarts which leads to an experiment that he cannot take back.
By the time we move onto issue 98, we are gonna get are full reveal of the Spot and on the scientist in question, ..... As he is looking into the powers of Cloak after a pep talk from the Kingpin, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn is transported across dmensions and can use these "spots" to move inbetween time and space. I am not 100% sure if the science checks out but, "because comics" always explains any plot holes.
Again, if you read comics in this period, especially Spider-Man, a villian would be introduced, give Spider-Man a hard time for like an issue, maybe two, and then would be disposed of rather quickly in the next issue. Its like people who feuded with Hulk Hogan. They'd be presented as credible, beat up Hulk Hogan, have a match where Hogan looks dead but he Hulks up and boot to face, leg drop, 3 count. Spider-Man at this time is no different. This book their initial fight the Spot gets the best of Spider-Man and then takes off- which leads to their blowoff match in Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider Man #100
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Our summer 2023 series kicks off with Dungeons and Dragons from 1983
We talk our love of cereal and Saturday morning cartoons with this classic from the 80's based on the role playing game. Be sure to check back for future episodes of some of your favorite Saturday cartoons and lots of cereal talk
