MTR Network Main Feed

Shanna and Ro return to talk Batwoman and this time Hiroja's joining the fun.

In "Bat Girl Magic", Ryan tries to join the team and balance her Bat life with her real-life but her biggest obstacles are her parole officer and Luke's refusal to believe that Kate is dead. This actually works out because Kate isn't dead. After kidnapping Sophie and Alice, Safiyah reveals that she did blow up Kate's plane … but Kate wasn't on it.

Now that they're properly motivated, Alice and Sophie work together in "Fair Skin, Blue Eyes" to find a missing man, Ocean, whom Safiyah has been searching for. But their tenuous partnership falls apart when Sophie realizes Alice just wants Kate back to kill her once and for all. Meanwhile Ryan fights the Candy Lady, a woman who steals children who have been overlooked by society and funnels them into gangs. This leads to a deeper dive into Ryan's backstory and we meet one of her dangerous exes, Angelique. Seems like both Kate and Ryan have a weakness for killer women.

We discuss this, the wigs, and so much more.

 

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

 

 

 

Follow us on Twitter:

@TheMTRNetwork

@shittybonmots

@TheDrIsIn2015

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

There are only three more episodes of WandaVision left. Allegedly. That's the funny thing about what Marvel has done with this show. Not only is the reality in the show in flux, but they've even made us question our own reality. Is there a secret 10th episode? We have no idea but the fact that we're even questioning it shows how much Marvel has us wrapped around their finger. That and the fact that all of us are still skimming through the end credits just in case they decided to throw something in. And we haven't even gotten into the actual show itself.

This episode continues the tradition of answering a few questions while also causing more of them. Yes we know Wanda has created this reality and is in control of a lot of it but there's still the question of "How?" The why is pretty much answered. She's created this reality as a way to deal with suppressed trauma. But there's clearly more to it. It' also doesn't explain how she was able to bring Pietro back and why he looks different. Vision clearly doesn't remember his life before being in brought back. He doesn't know what an Avenger is or being part of that team. However, Pietro does remember part of his life before. Pietro actually seems way more aware of what Wanda is doing and pretty much approves of it. That adds to some questions as to the motivates behind Pietro's appearance.

We're real interested in seeing what Darcy discovered about what Hayward was up to. She was able to email it to Agent Woo before Wanda expanded Westview so we should be able to finally learn what the Director was up to. He's clearly pushing an agenda here and its clear whatever he did directly led to Wanda's reaction.

 

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

 

@Dpalm66

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

 

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

Well things are escalating quickly on this show and we don’t just mean the ages of Tommy & Billy. Obviously the ending cameo will have a lot of people talking but we think that was just a way to distract from all the other things this latest episode of WandaVision dropped.

Acting Director Hayward definitely fucked up. He completely disregarded Vision’s Living Will and S.W.O.R.D had taken the remains of Vision apart. Wanda found out and lets just say she didn’t react well. Wanda clearly has a distrust and dislike of S.W.O.R.D but it seems like her anger is really directed at Hayward

We’ve been pointing out that Agnes is different from everyone else for a while now but this episode really drives that home. Agnes is always there when Vision or Wanda need something and when she “breaks character” it’s not really fear. She seems very committed to keeping Wanda in this illusion. Deep down we think Agnes is Agatha Harkness but time will tell

Wanda is definitely a villain here. The people she’s controlling are in pain while she keeps this illusion going. The question is how much of it is she doing on her own or is she being guided. Tommy & Billy are manifestations of Wanda but she also doesn’t seem to control them. But is that because she’s slowly losing control and her subconscious is doing it?

Vision at least now knows something is going on but he doesn’t get the full picture. Wanda’s reaction to him when he says “You can’t control me like you control them” should have sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

Let’s talk about that ending. There’s going to be a lot of talk about how “This is how they connect the Fox X-Men movies to the MCU” and we need to throw cold water on that. It’s honestly too small. It’s likely that we won’t see a lot of those previous Fox movies kept. Narratively this cameo makes sense because this episode takes place in the 80’s and Wanda (or someone who wants to keep Wanda focused on staying in the illusion) brought in the 80’s Pietro. Like we said last episode, this is really all leading to the Fantastic Four and really establishing Phase 4 as the multiverse phase. That doesn’t mean when Feige finally decides to do a X-Men film or series that it will directly tie to the Fox films. It’s still more likely that whatever Marvel Studios does with Deadpool 3 will have more indications on the direction of the X-Men because the Deadpool series is closer to the actual X-Men than the Fox X-Men movies ever were. Also, there’s been a recent change in the comics where Wanda and Pietro are no longer mutants or related to Magneto. They’ve always been more Avengers than X-Men and this might be the MCU reconciling that.

This has been a wild ride and we still have 4 episodes left. This has been an amazing first attempt at a series for the MCU and is really opening up the world. We’re able to finally fully explore the grief and hard life of Wanda and it’s even vindicating Age of Ultron (which we have a theory about that in our review). Strap in, cause the next 4 episodes are gonna be even crazier.

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

 

@Dpalm66

@InsanityReport

Is World Domination a father-son bonding activity? Kriss and Dpalm dive into Robert Kirkman's Invincible with the first five volumes. The first 5 volumes of this series are a great introduction to the world that Kirkman has set up. It's also a great example of how those that say they want a "dark", R-rated Justice League (looking at those lost SnyderCut stans), just need to pick up some creator owned books. Invincible starts off as basically "What if we took Superman, gave him a son and then made him an evil tyrant that needed to be stopped by his son?" Seriously, Nolan/Omni-Man beating the shit out of his son Mark/Invincible is something no one is really expecting to see.

But don't think that Invincible is just some DC rip-off. Far from it. Yes they take their shots and have their parodies, but really Invincible does a great job of building its characters and the world they live in into something that stands on its own. By the time you finish volume 5, you're fully invested. There's the trauma of Mark and his mother Deborah trying to piece their lives together after Nolan is revealed to be an evil tyrant and exposed to the whole world. The supporting cast like Allen the Alien, Atom Eve (who when you realize what her powers are you'll be questioning yourself), the Mauler Twins, Monster Girl and others are all intriguing and interesting on their own. Then there's the feeling that you clearly don't know all that is going on besides the fact that Kirkman has a plan and is willing to take his time to build out that world. All of this makes for a great and exciting read. 

We'll be back at the end of the month to do the next 5 volumes. Make sure you stay tuned and pick up your own copies so you can read along with us.

Issues:

* Volume 1 Family Matters

* Volume 2 Eight is Enough

* Volume 3 Perfect Strangers

* Volume 4 Head of the Class

* Volume 5 Facts of Life

what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

@Dpalm66

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

 

Judas and the Black Messiah will (or at least should) make you angry. Not because of the quality of the film or the acting in it. No, it's beautifully shot and the acting is top notch which should catapult this to the top of the runnings for the Oscars. No, it will make you angry because it does a fantastic job of exposing just how diabolical the FBI was in trying to stop and murder any rising Black revolutionary. For those that might think that this film's depiction of the the FBI and agent Roy Mitchell (Played by Jesse Plemons) are an exaggeration, I implore you to go watch the documentary MLK/FBI that exposes how FBI Director J Edgar Hoover was fixated on discrediting (and yes even killing) any Black revolutionary seeking to empower the people. Black people's distrust of Federal agencies isn't born out of conspiracy theories but rather the actual terrible history of these agencies and the roles they've played in oppression.

Judas and the Black Messiah does what a lot of films like it (think 2017's 'Detroit') try to do but either couldn't or were unwilling to do. It paints the picture of a Black revolutionary (Fred Hampton) from the point of view of the man who betrayed him (William O'Neil), while not trying to place O'Neil in a more favorable light. We've seen that before where there's an attempt to humanize and soften the history a bad person to try to explain and rewrite their history. Judas and the Black Messiah doesn't do that at all. I think it is important to note that this isn't a Fred Hampton film or biography. This film is about the betrayal of not just Fred Hampton but of the people (hence the title of the film). The whole theme of this film is that white supremacy is frightened by the idea of a "Black Messiah" which is who they deem any Black person trying to rally the community to fight for their freedoms and rights. There's a scene early in the movie where Agent Mitchell is trying to convince O'Neal to be an informant and Mitchell compares the Fred Hampton, the Black Panthers and other Black revolutionaries to the KKK. It's diabolical and ahistorical but also mimics the language you hear today from those that want to downplay white supremacist groups while painting Black Lives Matters activists as terrorists. 

The entire cast of this film is fantastic. Daniel Kaluuya should be a shoe-in for at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. LaKeith Stanfield and Jesse Plemons play their roles of despicable characters so while you might actually start hating the actors themselves because they're almost too convincing. I'm elated that Dominique Fishback got this opportunity to play Deborah Johnson.  She was great in Project Power even if that movie wasn't good and she should have been the lead in The Hate You Give. She's been great in her roles in not great films for a while so it's great to see her finally land something that matches her performance.

It's ironic that Judas and the Black Messiah got delayed for release until Black History month. Even more ironic because this lines it up with the annual tone deaf tweets and wishes of a "Happy Black History Month" from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies that have decades of Black blood on their hands. At some point this country will have a reckoning with that disconnect and have a real conversation. Unfortunately until then, films like this are all we have to drive home the point.

Due to COVID the Oscars have been delayed until April which makes Judas and the Black Messiah eligible for this year's awards (technically the 2020 awards). Not only do I think it's going to change the conversation but it also highlights how many great Black Films came out during the last year. This is definitely one you don't want to miss.

Judas and the Black Messiah opens in Theaters and on HBOMax on February 12th

 

Look at that. See what happens when you trust the process that's been in place since the beginning of the MCU? Turns out that the first three episodes of WandaVision weren't slow but were perfectly paced and placed for the story being told. Episode 4 takes us outside of the illusion that Wanda has created and shows us how we got here (or at least partly). 

Things that we discuss:

* Maria Rambeau helped found S.W.O.R.D. That means both S.H.I.E.L.D and S.W.O.R.D. were both cofounded by women in the MCU and that's pretty cool

* The timeline puts WandaVision happening about 3 weeks after the end of EndGame. That actually means this happened before Far From Home which makes the after credit scene of that movie hit different (With Nick Fury in space building a station with a bunch of Skrulls).

* The 5 year gap after the blip showed some people really did grow. Darcy is having a come up and Jimmy finally learned that card trick. Good for him

* We knew Wanda was behind a lot of this but the level at which she is doing it is really revealing the horror aspect of this show. Seems like Wanda is puppeting her dead boyfriend's body around in an illusion to make it seem like he's still alive. 

* Speaking of Vision, we have a theory about how this all came to be and why Wanda seems to react so violently to seeing the logo of S.W.O.R.D. What if the acting Director of S.W.O.R.D. changed the name of the organization after they started experimenting on the remains of Vision and Wanda found out. It makes sense. Even though he was killed and the Mind stone was ripped from him by Thanos, S.W.O.R.D. may have been studying him to see if any remains of the stone were there. Wanda finds out after coming back and well...things didn't go well from there. 

This was a great episode that answered some questions and presented so many more. It's safe to say that Marvel knows what they're doing here and their Disney+ shows are going to do a great job of world building for their next phase of movies. We can't wait.

 

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

 

@Dpalm66

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

 

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

There is a good movie somewhere in The Little Things, unfortunately it's just not included the 127 minute runtime of the film. Which is a shame considering the talent put together for this film. How does one waste Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Michael Hyatt and so many other talented actors? To be honest, I would have to say it actually takes talent to be that wasteful. 

The Little Things feels like director/writer John Lee Hancock got the Cliff Notes of the Se7en script, binged a season of NCIS, listened to some true crimes podcasts and said "my job here is done". The film starts off a disappointment with a scene that feels like it's straight out of a cheesy 80's horror film, right down to a female character written to do the most illogical and absolutely dumbest things possible. If the film continued down this cheesy, horror/serial killer route, it might not have been a good film but at least it would have been entertaining. Instead it's just a boring, slog of a film that thinks it's smarter than it is and doesn't earn any of the payoff it thinks it's delivering at the end.

Denzel is Denzel. I'm never going to say that a Denzel performance is bad. Even his worst performance runs circles around many actor's best. But it's obvious when he's phoning it in and this is one of those times. Malek is fine but if you're expecting a chemistry like Freeman & Pitt from Se7en, you'll be disappointed. It's not bad but it feels forced. Jared Leto puts in the best performance of the trio but at times it feels like he's overacting because the script just isn't strong enough.

Since WB is putting all of its 2021 films on HBOMax, you'd think this is at least a no brainer to check out. Problem is, with a runtime over 2 hours, that still feels like a lot of commitment with little entertaining reward.

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Follow us on Twitter:

@Phenomblak

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

 

Our shirts are now on TeePublic.  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

 

Looks like that "12% of a plan" that Layton had last season is turning out to be even more poorly thought out than we expected. Sure, he got the revolution he wanted and took back control of the train. But with Mr. Wilford reappearing and latching his "Big Alice" train onto Snowpiercer, Layton is starting to realize how poorly thought out all this was.  Honestly, gotta give Layton credit, not many people could be as incompetent as Layton this quickly with this many consequences. It's almost a skill. 

Here are a few things we noticed with this season premiere:

* It's funny how quickly Layton has already started compromising on his promises of Democracy on Snowpiercer. It hasn't even been 12 hours and he's already declared Martial Law. I guess he's starting to realize it's much easier to be a revolutionary than actually being in charge and running a functional government

* Ruth is setting Layton up and enjoying every minute of it. The minute she realized Zarah was pregnant with Layton's child, she jumped at the opportunity to give Layton and Zarah special treatment, knowing it could drive a wedge between Layton and the rest of the former tailies. As one of them said "This personal shit is making your democracy harder to believe in"

* Speaking of Zarah, she's annoying and really should have been thrown off the balcony. She's also a traitor and can't be trusted and the more that Layton makes excuses for her the more everyone else is gonna get fed up with him

* Layton is really an idiot. The first time they saw that big Frankenstein dude they should have thought twice about any plan to "take" Big Alice. Even outside of that, it was pretty stupid to plan an infiltration without doing any kind of recon up front. Especially after lying to people and saying that he was going to try diplomacy first.

* There's not a lot right now but it'll be interesting seeing where the plot with the potential that it's not as cold as everyone thinks is going. The fact that Melanie saw snow might mean that maybe the earth isn't as lost as the people think it is.

* Sean Bean as Mr. Wilford is great cause now all of us are thinking about all the ways he has to die.

* Between this show and The Expanse, there really needs to be a "It's okay to kill your sociopath kids" rule. Melanie was all smiles at the end of the episode, bonding with Alexandra but she really should be concerned that her daughter was gonna look here right in the eye as she killed an entire train of people. This little girl might be a problem

And there's plenty to more to talk about. Listen as Ro & Kriss discuss this episode then come back after episode 4 as we'll be reviewing these episodes, 3 at a time going forward.

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Follow us on Twitter:

@BookBlerd

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

 

Our shirts are now on TeePublic. 

There was no way the CW was going to introduce a Black Batwoman and we weren't going to talk about it. Shanna and Ro discuss the themes and storylines that have carried over from season one of Batwoman as Javicia Leslie takes over the role from Ruby Rose. 

Ryan Wilder (Leslie) dons the cowl after Kate Kane disappears in a suspicious plane crash. Though she grapples with her ability to pick up where Kate left off, Ryan, a former foster child and ex-con, joins the Bat Team to protect Gotham and fight back against the personal injustices she's endured. 

Javicia Leslie joins a strong supporting cast and the writers have taken care to find personal connections between Ryan and the characters we've come to know and love like Mary (Nicole Kang), Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), and even Kate's nemesis, Alice (Rachel Skarsten). 

The first two episodes set up some interesting storylines and pull out some nuances that the show can delve into with a Black Batwoman at the forefront of this story. Join us every other week as we cover Batwoman season 2 and watch the show every Sunday at 8pm or the next day online via the CW app.

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

@TheMTRNetwork

@shittybonmots

@TheDrIsIn2015

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!

Yeah. Are you nervous yet? We said this last week but episode 3 of WandaVision is the one that really solidifies this creeping towards a horror show. While we're not 100% sure what's going on, its beginning to look like Wanda might be holding a whole town hostage in her fantasy. The question (or one of many) is how did all of this begin? Was this the plot of someone else that then got out of hand? Or did Wanda do all of this on her own? And what is S.W.O.R.D.'s role in all of this?

Here are some things that caught our eye:

* Wanda swings between having no control of her powers and having complete control. When she's fully into the illusion that is the sitcom her and Vision are living in, her powers seem to do things she's not trying to do. Like when she made the fake butterflies become real (which is frightening) or when she went into labor and her powers went haywire. But then there are times when its clear she's in control. Like the rough jump cut to restart the scene when Vision started trying to mention that things seemed off. Or when she sent Monica...I mean "Geraldine"...flying out of the town. 

* The mention of Pietro and Ultron and particularly Wanda's reaction to hearing the name "Ultron" really drive home that Wanda is suffering from a lot of trauma. Also reminder that her husband's "dad" killed her brother.

* We said that nothing good comes from Wanda having twins but the way they're manifested this time are even worse. She goes through 9 months fo pregnancy in like 14 hours. And even then, she seems to just manifest Billy just her and Vision could both have kids with the names each wanted. 

* One question we don't have an answer for yet is if Vision is real or just all in Wanda's head

* Clearly more attention should have been paid to what Wanda's powers really are. Considering they came from the mind stone, this all could really just be the tip of the iceberg.

Wanda is both in control and out of control and the more episodes we get the more things are sure to unravel. Also knowing this ties into the next Doctor Strange movie, we can't help but think there's no happy ending to this show. This episode peeled back a little bit more of the curtain and we can't wait for more to be revealed next episode.

 

Like what you hear? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

 

Follow us on Twitter:

 

@Dpalm66

@InsanityReport

@TheMTRNetwork

 

Our shirts are now on TeePublic:  https://teepublic.com/stores/mtr-network

 

Want more podcast greatness? Sign up for a MTR Premium Account!