Finished watching Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Kathryn Newton and Sam Rockwell. The film open with the grieving Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) deciding to hirer the billboards just outside the town in hopes to gain the attention of the police department and singling out Police Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) over the case of her daughter Angela's (Kathryn Newton) death as there has been no arrests in months. Overall this was a great film as it is able to bring across some amazing drama thanks to how the film's plot effects each character which leads to great character interactions between the film's cast. There is a great amount of character development over the course of the film as some characters thanks to the way they grow over the course of the film and learn from their own mistakes especially with Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) who is able to grow as a character thanks to a multitude of events. 8/10.
Finished reading Captain America: Steve Rogers: The Trial of Maria Hill, continuing the Steve Rogers centric Captain America series from writer Nick Spencer as Steve's current status as a secret Hydra agent. The book opens with a flashback to Steve's time within the Hydra school he attended as the flashback scenes continue with Steve becoming friends with Baron Zemo and eventually meeting Doctor Erskine. Meanwhile in the present the Red Skull has continued to build Hydra's forces after successfully helping the people in Sokovia with their fight against the dictator of the country. The book then continues with Steve at the Alpha Flight space station helping Captain Marvel against an constant swarm of Chitauri, while back on Earth Maria Hill is preparing for her trail over the incident at Pleasant Hill with the hope to get of free with the potential of an Earth wide shield to help protect alien invaders. Overall this was a good book as continues to build upon the story of Captain America being a secret Hydra agent and how this came about thanks to the great flashbacks of a younger Steve Rogers showing the difference of Steve's history since the Hydra reveal. The present day storyline with the Red Skull's new direction with Hydra and the fall out of S.H.I.E.L.D. dealing with Maria Hill after Pleasant Hill take interesting directions especially with how Steve allegiance to Hydra affects these situations. The whole art team does a great job throughout the book in bringing the great character moments and interactions to life extremely well as each character's emotion is shown thanks to the great detail that's but into the book drama and conversations. While the transition between the the present day storyline and the flashbacks to Steve's twisted past continue to have the changing colour palette that worked extremely well. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, bringing another Spider-Man centric event into fruition as Spider-Man finds himself fighting against the resurrection of multiple people from his past that have apparently come back from the dead. The book opens with Spider-Man at the funeral of his Aunt May's most recent husband Jay Jameson Sr where J Jonah Jameson blames Peter for his father's death for not agreeing with going with a procedure from the company New U. After the funeral Peter along with his colleague Anna Maria Marconi decide to meet with one of Peter's employees who had the procedure from New U only to discover that the employee has been taken to New U after missing his medication on a camping trip. This leads to Spider-Man going to New U's headquarters in San Francisco where he soon discovers that the company is run by his villain, the Jackal who has been busy bring the dead back to life by closing them with all their memories intact. Things take a turn when the Gwen Stacey clone is found out to be Spider-Gwen who is helping Kaine to stop New U because the world becomes a over run by zombie like creatures that Kane and Gwen have already witnessed happen on multiple parallel universes. Overall this was a great book as writer Dan Slot takes the lead in the story that see Spider-Man dealing with the return of clones affecting his life again as the action feels as important as the character interactions and development with the situations they find themselves in which also show in even within the parts of the book that is written and cowritten by Sean Ryan, Robbie Thompson and Christos Gage. The book has some great twists and turns that bring back some older characters to the Marvel Universe and sets them for the future stories especially with the reappearance of Kaine along with the surprising development and return of Ben Reilly sends the characters into some interesting directions thanks to what they have to deal with in the book and the positions it leads them. While the Silk and Prowler parts of the book are used to great effect as the give a different view to the events of the main story while also giving some of the supporting cast members more time within the book to develop and come to terms with what is happening within the story as well. The art throughout the book is great as each art team is able to bring the story to life extremely and give each part of the book it's own feel with the change of character taken centre focus while also still makes it feel like a connected part of the book. 8/10.
Finished watching Hostiles, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Rosamund Pike, Christian Bale and Wes Studi. The film open with a group if native Americans attack a family home where they steal their horses and burn the family home of Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike) who was the only survivor of the attack after watching her family being killed. Later on Rosalie is soon discovered by a group of soldiers lead by Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) who have been tasked to escort a chief named Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family from New Mexico to their home in Montana as Yellow Hawk has been allowed to life his last days in his home by orders of the president. After helping Rosalie bury her family she joins the group as everyone begins to be more careful for any potential attack on the group. Overall this was a good film as it takes a slow start into getting into the film's main plot but once the film gets into its stride it's a pretty enjoyable film as there are some great action scenes and character moment. The multiple character interactions throughout the film are great as shows whole each character being able grow on the journey as each character begins to form relationships and respect with one another over the course of the journey. 7/10.
Finished reading Uncanny Inhumans: IVX, concluding not only the series but writer Charles Soule's time with the team and it’s related characters. The book opens with the daughters of the Inhuman Auran speaking with her partner Frank McGee about his time working with their mother. After building enough information from people who where close to Auran, Treste and Irelle head to the Quiet Room to meet with Reader in hopes that he could bring their mother back to life with is ability to make the things he reads come to life. However when Reader brings Auran back things are not what they appear when Auran's memories and personality is being contradicting with each other. The second story sees the return of Maximus as he forms a team consisting of himself, Lineage and the Unspoken as Maximus come up with the plan to create new Terrigen crystals in hope to be the hero of the war between the Inhumans and the X-Men by giving them a reason to stop fighting and the Inhuman race to continue. The final story is an epilogue to Charles Soule's time with the Inhumans as Black Bolt and Medusa begin to rebuild their relationship while reminiscing about the events that have transpired over the last few years. Overall this was a great book and it brings an end to writer Charles Soule's time with the Inhumans by wrapping up smaller stories that the series has previously been set up along with bringing some great character moments with how well the interactions and development for some characters bring some great drama and comedy. The art throughout the book is great as the story centring around Auran is able to bring the great emotional moments to life extremely well while also bring the designs of each character and the Quiet Room greatly. While the second half of the book’s art for the Maximus centric story features some hilarious visual comedy thanks to the situations that Maximus, Lineage, the Unspoken and Triton find themselves in and how they interact with one another especially when they find themselves under the sea meeting with a group of aquatic monsters. 8.5/10.
Finished reading Karnak: The Flaw in all Things, giving the spotlight to one of the main Inhuman cast members as writer Warren Ellis sees Karnak teaming up with S.H.I.E.L.D. to search for a kidnapped boy how recently discovered that he is an Inhuman. The book opens with Karnak getting a call from S.H.I.E.L.D. at the Tower of Wisdom before meeting with Phil Coulson at a S.H.I.E.L.D. substation in the Arctic where Karnak meets with the parents of their kidnapped son Adam Roderick recently went through Terrigenesis which appeared to have barely changed him. Accepting to help find Adam, Karnak begins his search in Berlin where a group named I.D.I.C. who kidnapped Adam are based where Karnak soon finds out things are not what they appear to be when he discovers that the this isn't a simple kidnapping as Karnak soon discovers what Adam's Inhuman abilities truly are and how they could have disastrous consequences on the rest of the world. Overall this was an amazing book as it sends Karnak on a solo mission to rescue an Inhuman from a kidnapping only for the book to take an intriguing and surprising turn with how the young Inhuman ends up becoming in charge to the organisation that kidnapped him as he seemingly begins his own religion thanks to how powerful his Inhuman abilities are. There are some great character interactions between Karnak and the rest of the book's cast from his working relationship with Phil Coulson to the interactions that Karnak has with Adam Roderick and his followers show how much they eventually start to get under his skin. The art throughout the book is amazing as the whole art team is able to bring the brutality of Karnak's fighting style to life extremely well thanks to the way the art focuses on the action scenes. While there is some amazing character designs within the book as some of the people that start to believe in the young Inhuman's abilities leads to some great and at times look horrifying in design which leads to some more great action scenes when Karnak has to fight these creatures. 9/10.
Finished watching Molly's Game directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Jeremy Strong. The film opens Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) at an skiing competition where she has a dangerous fall, when the film transitions to Molly being arrested by the FBI for her underground poker games and how they might be connected to some larger criminal organisations. After getting released on bail Molly heads to New York where she meets with lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) who eventually agrees to defend her in the trial. While this is happening the film is also interwoven with the events that lead to Molly's arrest starting from when she got a job that lead to Molly organising poker nights for her boos at the time Dean Keith (Jeremy Strong). Overall this was a great film as it delves to the world of underground poker from the view of Molly Bloom which brings some great character interactions especially within the poker room settings the film is able to bring a level of suspense to the games being played as well as the suspense with the film's main plot with Molly's impending trial. The interactions between Molly and Charlie brings a great amount of development for the characters with how two are able to work together and build a more understanding with each other that leads to same great exchanges between the two. 8/10.
