Vibranium v Unobtanium: A Slate Investigation

Hey, what's my costume made out of again? (Disney/Marvel)

Most of Black Panther is set in the imaginary African nation of Wakanda, a technological utopia whose monarchs have for centuries observed a strict policy of isolationism, keeping would-be colonizers at bay by hiding their nation’s wealth and scientific advancement from the outside world. We’re told in the movie’s very first minute that Wakanda’s prosperity derives from its abundance of Vibranium, and that this bounty was delivered via meteorite long before humans walked the Earth.

And for a resource they're trying to keep secret, the Wakandans sure talk about it a lot. 

Even more than the characters in Avatar (Remember Avatar? Nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for my boy James Cameron? Still the highest-grossing movie in the history of movies?) speak the much-derided name of that movie's extraterrestrial miracle metal, Unobtanium.

A lot more.

For this Slate piece, I did the transcription. And the math.

Field Notes. I should've let my mom teach me shorthand like she wanted.

Ragna-roll With It: Thor: Ragnarok, reviewed.

It's way more fun than this photo would suggest. (Disney/Marvel)

Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor movie by an Asgardian mile, but don't let that backhanded compliment keep you away. With dual villains played by Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum plus a Mark Mothersbaugh score, it's a stealth The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou reunion. Lo, here's my NPR review.

The Strangest Yard: Whipping, or The Football Hamlet, reviewed. Plus: King Kirby.

Emily Whitworth and Kamau Mitchell in Whipping. (Kathleen Akerley)

My review of Kathleen Akerley’s latest opus, Whipping, or The Football Hamlet, is in today’s Washington City Paper, along with a few paragraphs about another show that has regrettably already closed: Crystal Skillman & Fred Van Lente’s King Kirby, a bio-play about legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby and his lifelong struggle to be fairly compensated for the dozens of Marvel Comics characters he created—or co-created with Stan Lee. They don’t agree on who did what, and therein lies the tale.

If this subject interests you, I recommend Sean Howe’s 2012 history Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.

Time for Carrousel: Logan, reviewed

The family that hides together, abides together. Dafne Keen, Patrick Stewart, and Hugh Jackman in Logan. (Fox)

I'm looking forward to the argument we're going to have over beers, you and I, about whether Logan is the best comic book movie since The Dark Knight or the best Western since No Country for Old Men. 

Here's my NPR review, where I ran out of space to cite all the things I loved about this movie (Eriq La Salle! Autotrucks!), or to warn you that if you know you will recoil from the sight of an 11-year-old girl defending her life with lethal force, you should skip it. And it would probably be more correct to call it the Rocky Balboa of Rocky movies than the Creed of Rocky movies, but sometimes clarity is more important than pinpoint accuracy.

Bring tissues.

Doctor Strange, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Review Movies on the Radio

Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch in Dr. Strange (Marvel).

Something new for me: Reviewing movies on the radio. Here's my Weekend Edition Sunday assessment of Doctor Strange, wherein Marvel hands the role of brilliant, arrogant, goateed rich-guy Avenger from Robert Downey, Jr., the most recent movie Sherlock Holmes, to Benedict Cumberbatch to the most recent TV Sherlock Holmes.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue. X-Men: Apocalypse, reviewed.

Apparently that's Oscar Isaac under there. (Twentieth Century Fox)

I've enjoyed these last couple of period-piece X-Men movies, but with the 1980s-set Apocalypse, the DeLorean may at last have run out of Plutonium. Here's my NPR review.

Wanna see a terrific movie this weekend? I recommend The Nice Guys or, if you've got the constitution for it, The Lobster.

Bucky (and Everybody) with the Good Hair: Captain America: Civil War, reviewed.

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans try to talk it out. (Marvel)

For NPR: The 13th Marvel movie/third Captain America movie/third Avengers movie/fourth Iron Man movie/exciting Spider-Man & Black Panther teaser trailer is as good as you've heard. The first notices went up after this screened a month ago (not in DC), so all I could do was try to write the Blade II of Marvel movie reviews.

The lack of memorable music in these films is a stubborn and inexplicable problem, though. Yo, Kevin Feige: Hire Michael Giacchino or somebody. You can afford him. 

Captain America: The First Avenger, set during World War II, had a stirring theme. I suspect Feige or someone deemed it too old-fashioned to be retained for Cap's present-day adventures. Too bad. 

It's Clobberin' Time: Fantastic Four (2015), reviewed.

Stan Lee & Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four No. 1 hit newsstands on Aug. 8, 1961.

Because it comes from a promising young director and features a strong cast, the third attempt to turn Marvel's proto-super-team The Fantastic Four into a hit movie franchise turns out to be the most disappointing yet. My NPR review is here.