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Who Is The Puppet Master in The Suicide Squad?

While The Suicide Squad is not likely to integrate with the rest of the DCEU anytime in the future, I’m hoping this rework proves that making more Rated R films is a must.

Spoiler Alert

James Gunn has topped himself since he was given complete freedom to redo Suicide Squad. That 2016 film was great at introducing villains to do the dirty work that Uncle Sam doesn’t want to acknowledge, but isn’t all that memorable. This 2021 soft reboot that adds The to the title surpasses everything David Ayer attempted, and ups the ante. James‘ eccentric vision even includes a crazy build up to the finale typical for a Troma film (where this filmmaker got his start). Whether Ayer had to abide by the rules the Warner Bros and DC established with this franchise or he just did not understand the characters at all, Gunn makes the motley crew (from beginning to end instead of those who survived) rootin’, tootin’ hilarious.

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On Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Snyder’s return merely reshuffled and added stuff from the cutting room floor to make the many subplots more intelligible and up the wow factor.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Spoiler Alert

Fans of Zack Snyder‘s DC Universe are not likely to see his set of films completed. He told Vanity Fair his vision and all we can do is sigh and start the #restorethesnyderverse movement. After years of campaigning, reshoots and post-production madness, a new cut of Justice League still has fans divided. The good: the story makes much more sense and the heroes–namely Cyborg (Ray Fisher)–have a role to play. The bad: the setup for the finale won’t see fruition when considering all the politics involved to get this expanded takes finessed for all to view.

This version sets up the coming of Darkseid proper and does not shy away from showing us how bad he can be. They look more like creations from Michael Bay’s imagination, and I doubt there’s a cinematic villain who can rival Ming the Merciless’ fashion sense from Flash Gordon!

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What’s New and Old for This Year’s Christmas Special Viewing?

But as for regular programming from the past twenty years, there’s only a handful of Christmas related works which I’d happily watch time and time again.

Many animated Christmas specials (from 19xx to 2000) are considered tradition, and others–the newer stuff–are jockeying for position as a fan favourite in today’s holidays. Of the channels I’m subscribed to (or are part of my regular network package), the content is not feeling as fresh as it could be. YTV is generally my go to channel, but these days, this station is including programming that mixes up decades and a few new things as staples for the season.