I owe you a Fantastic Four: First Steps review, don't I?

The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/co-scripter Stan Lee, and through this title the "Marvel method" style of production came into prominence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four



This is a film that I was admittedly very much on the fence about seeing. I've not seen a Marvel film or a superhero film in theaters since...roughly, I can't remember? I think the last one was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III? I'd gotten a tad burned out on the genre. And so many of the films felt repetitive. And well, it's the Fantastic Four - and I've always been ambivalent of the comics and the team. I read a few here and there, curiosity and well, I'm an X-men comics fan since roughly college, and there's cross-overs. But I wouldn't call myself anything approaching a fan or expert? So I went into this with mixed feelings, low expectations, and for the most part blind. I hadn't really seen the trailers and I knew very little about the film - outside of who the villains were, who the cast was, and that it was retro-futuristic 1960s from the posters, whatever that meant.



The film, directed by Matt Shackman, and written by Josh Fredman, Eric Peterson, and Jeff Kaplan - is among the tighter of the genre entries to date (and believe it or not shorter). Clocking in at just under two hours. The plot clicked along, it had just the right amount of suspense, and emotional gravitas for this genre. It wasn't overly predictable, nor convoluted. It did a good job of setting up both its world and the characters without inundating us with too much unnecessary exposition, and it was fun. There was in short, no huge information dump, yet at the same time - it introduced the story to those who may never have read a comic or seen a Marvel flick or television series (a rarity for Marvel). It also had an almost childlike innocence to it - which is true of the early 1960s comics and 1970-80s superhero flicks - which some may find silly, but I oddly enough found refreshing? It may just be that I'm tired of dark grim films and content, the world can be depressing enough all on its own. In some respects this film reminded me of another era - the films released in the 1940s and in the 1960s, films depicting a better world, where problems can be solved with a smattering of cool science and cooperation, a kind of cartoon escapism.
( vague spoilers and mainly just cut for length - what works, why it works, why it's better than all the previous efforts, and why you should see it. )

Overall, the film is worth a watch, particularly on a big screen and in a good theater. And well, if you are an MCU, Marvel or most importantly? A Fantastic Four fan? I'm certain there's a few of you out there?

A couple of things that have zip to do with the meme.

Spoke with Mother. Apparently her church is requiring her to do a virtual background check to see if she complies - in order for her to sing in her church's choir. And she can't get it to say she complies.
( our conversation regarding this insanity... )

Oh, and I saw Fantastic Four : First Steps - which was excellent. It was everything I wanted in a superhero Fantastic Four film and then some. I've been lucky - I've only been to the movies twice in the last three years, and both films I loved to pieces (the other one was Oppenheimer).

***

Below is an insanely long MCU (Marvel Cinema Universe) franchise list - television and films, meme. Similar to the Star Wars and Star Trek memes, but longer. I thought about making it even longer by adding all the films that were adapted from Marvel Comics by other studios, such as Across the Spiderverse, and well all the X-men films, but chose not to, because the list is long enough on its own. There are lot of Superhero films and television shows out there. If they stopped making them tomorrow? We would not be deprived. (Not to worry - they won't.)

I take no credit for this monstrosity, I snagged it from colls, thank you colls for doing it.

( insanely long MCU superhero film list )

I was going to post a quote of the day, but I can't remember it? So probably not that important.

After a bit of a lull, here is the return of the Good News Report, which is mainly about the environment, and not for once, about a hundred different litigation disputes. (In case you didn't already know that that US is a highly litigious country, with an insanely complicated court system - 2025 has managed to educate you on that point with interest, and in less than six months. 2025 is providing litigation attorneys with a lot of work.)

Anyhow, this post is mostly about environmental good news, although I'm certain there will be court cases resolved and otherwise in the middle of it, because that's how we roll.

Disclaimer: As always, good news much like humor and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary on this?

1. The United Nations reported a global shift toward renewable energy, passing a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels-6aca4846e594ea8405f91edda39a03ad?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

2. Todd Koehnke and Tim Macklin, cofounders of the Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration, have set out to restore the health of Connecticut’s overfished oyster beds by collecting shells from about 50 seafood restaurants in the state and dropping them back where they came from.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/used-oyster-shells-connecticut-long-island-sound/?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

3.Conservationists and AI are successfully teaming up to help save the California red-legged frog.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/19/g-s1-78230/ai-california-frog-science-conservation-threatened-species?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

4. Despite the national extension shutting down, Illinois is keeping its dedicated 988 lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth.

https://khqa.com/news/local/illinois-to-keep-988-suicide-crisis-lifeline-for-lgbtqia-youth-after-national-extension-hangs-up-federal-funding-cuts-trump-administration-governor-jb-pritzker-idhs-secretary-dulce-m-quintero-mental-health-behavioral-services-counseling-support-teens?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

5. There are now about 11,400 high-speed, public charging stations in the US, and hundreds more are being added every few months. Driven by the private sector, the rapid expansion has continued despite the Trump administration’s freezing of construction subsidies.

https://archive.is/

6.President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state in pursuit of what he called the historical French commitment “to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

https://archive.ph/CcnmN

7.Enbridge announced it will invest $900 million on a 600 megawatt solar power project in Texas.

https://archive.ph/Z9ARd#selection-1309.20-1319.206

8.In general, donations to NPR and PBS stations have surged since Trump’s cuts were signed into law.

https://archive.ph/vc5ex

9.Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels signed a declaration of principles to end decades of fighting, commit to a comprehensive peace agreement, and commit to “building trust” through various measures.

https://apnews.com/article/congo-m23-rebels-peace-qatar-rwanda-f80166117d557991896ef89d4cd3a324?user_id=66c4cab45d78644b3acfbcde&sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

10.Tree planting in England is now at its highest recorded rate in over 20 years

https://forestrycommission.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/27/a-year-of-growth-tree-planting-rates-hit-their-highest-level-in-over-20-years/?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

( the rest of the 30 items of note )

Sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night. Woke up in the middle of the night, and my body would not let me get back to sleep. Finally did, and had an odd dream about being unable to give new people I met my contact information. As if something was preventing me from putting it down accurately. I kept putting down the wrong thing. Also, I couldn't seem to get to my flight on time. Very odd dream. As a result of the sleep deprivation - I decided to only take a short walk today at lunchtime, well that and the fact that the pants I was wearing kept sliding down my hips as I walked, because I'd put a wallet and a phone in the front pockets. So I had to keep pulling them up. (Highly annoying.)

And spent most of the morning, taking a cybersecurity course that made me paranoid about everything I've ever posted on DW and social media in my lifetime. (We're required to take web based training modules for work every year, they are the same ones. Actually this one may have been updated. But the others are the same. )

***

Anyhow, here's a bit more of the August Question a Day Memage.

4. The artist Laura Knight was born on this day in 1877. She was an artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving, and drypoint. Can you draw? Do you doodle?

Yes. I've been able to draw and paint since I was a small child. And took watercolor as a teenager. And have had art classes intermittently from the age of 5 until roughly my mid-thirties. I have worked in watercolors, etchings, engraving, and acrylic, not so much oil. And I don't think I've done drypoint.

I've posted some of them here from time to time. I can draw from memory, from life, and from photos.

Some people can sing, some can play instruments, I can draw and paint. - that came naturally to me. So does taking pictures. I'm visual. I can usually reproduce what I've seen, or a representation of it, through my own lens. My difficulty is knowing when to stop adding stuff to it. My mother used to yank my drawings and paintings away from me as a child before I ruined them.

5. How often do you check what paid subscriptions you’ve signed up for (e.g. an App on your phone, a TV channel, a subscription to a magazine, a membership to an organisation).

Not as often as I should? But I do keep track. If I'm not using, then I cancel. Just cancelled Paramount Plus and New York Magazine, next up may be three others.

6. Would you rather go on a city break, a seaside holiday or have a staycation?

I live and work in the city, and can go to the seaside if I want to. So probably a staycation and just do both?

7. This week in Bristol in the UK is the National Balloon Fiesta, a time to celebrate hot air balloons which draws thousands of visitors each year. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon (or would you like to?).

No. And...ambivalent? I'm not really a fan of heights? I could probably handle it, but I wouldn't go out of my way or anything.

***

So, I've been slowly rewatching the Buffy series, I forgot more about it than I realized. I honestly thought it was memorized, but apparently I managed to delete some of that over the years. Go figure.

I had forgotten why I didn't like Season 3 of Buffy as much as most fans of the series seem to? People rank that season high, and seem to love it.
But I never quite did and I forgot why, well until now.

It's the Faith Arc. It doesn't work for me. I was watching Dopplegangland last night, which much like Amends, is a stand out episode. The dialogue snaps, crackles and pops. It feels a bit like watching a movie. The color palette is precise, the costumes perfect for the characters, and every lead character is utilized in some way. Also the characters emotional arcs are all furthered.

But, it is also an episode in which the writer, in this case Whedon, is working over time to fill in some serious plot holes.( Read more... )

Anyhow, it's late and bed calls.

So I may or may not continue rambling about this at a later point.

Was feeling a bit off, so I took three COVID tests - all negative, so it's not COVID. And I'll go to work tomorrow. I think it's a combination of sleep deprivation, sensitivity to wildfire smoke (frigging Canadian wildfires), massive swings in blood sugar, and boredom at work.

I did get 8,900 steps in. ( Read more... )

Finished watching another episode of Andor S2 Ep. 8 - which was quite good and a rather satisfying ending to the whole Cassian/Syril arc, also Deidre/Syril and Cassian arc. Cassian clearly has no idea who Syril is, while Syril was obsessed with killing Cassian.

( Read more... )

It was a good episode, if a brutal one. The second season is slow to start but picks up its pace towards the second half. It takes a while to build everything, also there's two storylines that kind of bog things down - Mon Motha, and whatever Forest Whittacker's character is doing.

Still doing Buffy S3 rewatch, and well, the writers don't appear to know what to do with either Xander or Cordelia at this point. ( Read more... )

The Faith centric episodes that immediately follow are somewhat better, but the B villains drag the first of the two down a tad. ( Read more... )

Other take-aways?

I can see why Faith ditched the Scooby Gang for the Mayor, except for one small problem? Faith is anti-authority to the max - so it would have made more sense for her to leave town? I mean I get why she ditched Buffy and company, I would have too, if I were Faith. But I don't understand why she hooked up with the Mayor?
( critical explanation follows )

Oh another takeaway - I can now tell that Gellar did not do her own stunts at all. ( Read more... )

It's still enjoyable, but not quite as enjoyable as it was twenty years ago.

Here's a picture from today's walk at lunch time. And I think I have a biting fly or bug in her, it just bit my foot, and it stung. Doesn't itch, just has a slight burn to it. No, no bite. Maybe just a nerve tingle? Ugga Bugga, I don't understand my body at all sometimes.

Well Walking is considered an exercise, can't imagine why it wouldn't be? (Physical therapists prefer it - running causes lots of injuries. I should know, I used to run.)

And I've been doing "Japanese Walking" my entire life. Three minutes fast-paced, then slower walking, then increasing intensity, then a slow down.

I slow down to take pictures, then speed up. I walk everywhere. My preferred mod of transportation is my feet on the ground.

Also finally started on the watercolor of a woman I saw on the train, that was plaguing me. It's turning out better than expected. Now lets hope I don't destroy it - which I often do - by not adding to much to it.

***

Television Shows

1. Paradise - I don't know about this one. The mystery is okay. The science fiction trope - annoys me. I don't like the trope. I'm not a fan of ( spoiler for the reveal in the first episode )

Also, there's something about the lead actor, that always has grated on my nerves? A kind of smug self-righteousness or superiority? It comes across in every role he plays? I do however like Julianne Nicholson and Cassidy Freeman, so I may stick with it, not certain?

2. Andor S2 - Episode 7 was good. I kind of split it in half though. I do like the sense that each episode is its own separate movie?
It's getting better as it goes. And I've fallen for Cassian.


3. And So it Goes - Billy Joel documentary on HBO Max - is about five hours long, and I'm three quarters of the way through. It encompasses Billy Joel's life from a child to roughly 76 years of age now, where he is now. Joel as previously stated is an American Pop Singer, Song-Writer and Composer who rose to fame in the later half of the 20th Century. He was/is classically trained, and his musical underpinnings are classical - not blues or rhythm or blues like most rock and roll music. His musical structure tended to be closer to the 1950s and early 60s rock and the songs of Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Frankie Valley, the Sherrels. Which you either appreciate and like or you don't. Many rock critics have a fondness for the Blues, and don't like anything that veers away from it. The other problem was well - a prejudice against Long Island. There's a kind of Manhattan/NY snobbery about those who live out on Long Island or Jersey (it's silly of course, but people are well silly.)

The documentary much like the Beatles docs - focuses on the music, and the personal hand in hand. It's well edited, and well put together. But it does...how to put this exactly? Goes a bit overboard in promoting the product of Billy Joel, and how great Billy Joel is. And it's a difficulty I have with musician documentaries. At times they feel a bit like fan service? I find them slightly more interesting when they back down from the fan service and let the person and their life stand for who and what they are. Instead of asking - why do we like him, what appeals to us, and trying to answer that? Just let those questions and answers go unsaid? It's not a critical documentary at all - however, there are critical things under the surface? Joel married much younger and very beautiful women, post-Elizabeth Webber. The latest 33 years younger. Those were the women he has had children with. He also is a heavy drinker, and at least two of his marriages broke up because of heavy drinking, partying and not being around. And he was never satisfied - always hunting for something else, out there.

I think it goes back to my painting - adding too much on top, which causes problems. Sometimes stepping back and letting it stand is best.

I don't need to hear that music saved his life, or he doesn't know what else he could have done, or you do what you love...just let the music stand with the story, and let it just be that.

At any rate, others loved it, I have mixed feelings about it? But I've always had mixed feelings about Billy Joel and his music. And I can see why people don't like him.

***

Today's and yesterday's questions:

2. Do you like milkshakes? What’s your favourite flavour?

Yes. At the moment? Coffee. When I was a teen - Strawberry - I loved McDonalds'Strawberry milkshakes - I can't drink them now of course. But when I was in Junior High aka Middle School - I'd get one on my walk home from school at McDonald's which I passed in the mini-shopping center one block down from the school. (The Middle School is long gone - it's now an independent retirement center, and so too, is the McDonald's. I haven't seen them - was told this by a friend of my brother's - I've not been back to that area of the world in more than 20 years.)

3. Have you ever played hopscotch?

Yes, as a child, and as an adult.

It's a popular pavement or sidewalk game.

***

Here have a flower:

Well, the mammogram wasn't painful at all, uncomfortable yes - I had to contort my body, also a lot faster than the last one. (I can't decide if opting not to do the enhanced digital imaging helped in that regard or not? Or maybe it was the technician? I liked this technician better than the one I had for the last three times I did it.) It took maybe fifteen minutes. While the last one took a thirty minutes.

Afterwards I tried to go to Duman but alas it wasn't open yet. (I also couldn't remember where it was. I knew it was on Court, but thought it was closer to the grocery store - in reality it was five blocks north of the Union Grocery Store. I did not go to that grocery store, instead I walked a good ten blocks to the Health Food Store across from Carroll Park, and bought a bunch of gluten free items that I've not found elsewhere - ( Read more... )

It's a good thing I didn't try to meet Wales for brunch - since I got out of there by 9:25, and was done with my errands by 10:30, and home by 11.

I decided, after a quick snack, to take a walk, sat for a bit in a garden:
( garden )

And then went to Hamilton's for lunch. Since it was a lovely day, in the upper-70s, with a nice breeze, I chose to sit outside under the blue domed canopy on the side street, listening to an audiobook via my ipods (which I'd gotten dirt cheap for $24 on Amazon some time ago). ( food good, service was lacking )



After that, I walked off the meal by wandering towards Greenwood Cemetery - I wanted a small water bottle but the eateries only served teas and coffee.
I did however find Uncle Frankie's Pizza, which serves gluten free crust. It's brick over pizza with gluten free crust - and you can get it to go. Definitely going back there. I may drag Wales there at some point.

I almost wished I'd gone there today, but I wanted a burger, fries, and an iced tea, and to sit outside in the shade, listening to an audio book, while I watched people.

Uncle Frankie's as you can see below (well not everyone, but those who can) doesn't quite provide that - all they provide is an uncomfortable picnic table.



Then off I went to GreenWood Cemetery - but didn't take that long a walk, because I ended up getting a blister on my right ankle, from wearing sneakers with no socks. I'd done it before. Hadn't gotten any blisters. Even wore them to work and back, no blisters. I have no idea why I got blisters on that foot today. It hurt for a bit, then didn't. So I managed to make it home. Then it hurt again. I have a band-aid on it now and am nursing it.
( Greenwood Cemetery )

Did however manage to take some photos of flowers on the way to the cemetery, which I'll leave you with while I continue to nurse my blister.
All in all, I clocked over 12,000 steps today and approximately 5.5 miles. ( Read more... )

The flowers are outside of a building about a block down from my own, which I passed on my way home from the grocery store today.

On the way to the grocery store - it was spitting or drizzling in snippets, so I had an umbrella. And along the way, ran into a young man eating chips. He was roughly half my height and probably twenties. Attractive for the most part. Thin. Athletic. I was bigger than he was - but I'm bigger than a lot of folks, and have gotten used to it?

( Read more... )

Tomorrow - cancer screening - breasts, and maybe a stop by the linen store on the way home. Wanted to maybe do brunch with Wales, but Wales wants to sleep in and it didn't pan out and I got annoyed.

People have been annoying me lately for some reason or other. I keep wanting to smack them upside the head, which I can't do of course. Also they don't really deserve it. People sometimes are just annoying. I can be annoying. I honestly think it's just the nature of the beast or humanity. We can be an annoying species. How the Earth tolerates us, I don't know.

OR.. I think it's just a combination of not getting enough solid sleep, blood sugar issues, menopause, weather, and ordinary frustrations. Let's face it - life is difficult for everybody.