Tunesday: Bryan Tyler's THOR: THE DARK WORLD (Complete Score)

Having already scored Iron Man 3, composer Brian Tyler (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)  returns to the Marvel Movie-verse with Thor: The Dark World.

The music for the previous Thor movie was brought to us by Patrick Doyle, a long-time collaborator of that film's director, Kenneth Branagh. It had a delicate, sovereign quality to it that was a nice change of pace from the typical superhero score. As much as I've enjoyed Bates' trademarked drumming on Now You See Me and Fast Five, his work on Thor: The Dark World seems to be only concerned with frenzied thump. It reminds me of every MMORPG start menu I've fallen asleep to.*

Pay particular attention to the Loki theme throughout. Much like the film itself, Loki is effectively characterized. The rest is servicable but not particularly memorable.**



*That's a lie. I don't play MMOs.

**SPOILER: Alan Silvestri's Captain America gets a nice little musical nod too.

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Boardwalk Empire 4x10: White Horse Pike (review)

Whenever a television show is down to its last three episodes, be it for the season or the series finale, that's when a viewer expects all of the pieces to be in place for when the final moves are to be made. Viewers are banking on the writers having a gambit that leads to a satisfying endgame. With serialized dramas, the expectations are much higher for an ending that's both resolute and gratifying. Some succeed such as Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and The Wire; others such as Dexter, Entourage and Weeds hit stellar marks with their first few shots out of the gate and then eventually become bastardized through a lack of foresight and creative staffs that often operate with a blatant disregard for continuity. While this second-to-the-penultimate season four finale episode appeared slower than most, the people behind Boardwalk Empire seem to know what they're doing.

RECAP: Agent Knox continues to pump Eli Thompson for more information in regards to organized crime. He wants Eli to give up Nucky and Joe Torrio in Chicago. To further drive the point home (literally), Knox goes to Eli's house under the guise of a friendly insurance salesman. While intimating to his family that tragedy could strike at any time, Knox manages to get under Eli's skin. In Tampa, Sally Wheet oversees the bootlegging operation when she overhears Vincenzo Petrucelli, Meyer Lansky and Charlie Luciano discussing their covert side-operation to smuggle heroin along with Sally's liquor. Sally promptly informs Nucky who has Eli and Agent Knox verify her story. They travel to US-Route 30 (aka the White Horse Pike) to stop their convoy. They find the heroin, but not before Agent Knox kills when of the drivers with a headshot to assert his authority (and to show off). Eli and Nucky then question Meyer Lansky at gunpoint about his role in the heroin smuggling. As with everything during this period, he did it because his boss gave him no choice and because "there's a lotta money ta be made!". They demand that he get in touch with his boss, Joe Masseria in New York to come to Atlantic City to discuss the matter. Lansky gets to keep his life and the heroin. Interestingly enough, Lansky was being questioned in front of a body-sized ditch that was dug for himself and the heroin. The same kind of ditches witnessed in various scenes of the 1995 film Casino, which was directed by Martin Scorsese (executive producer of BE).

Arnold Rothstein (under the alias "Abe Redstone") once again goes to Margaret Schroeder in Manhattan to offer her a better job in return for insider trading in real-estate stocks. At first, Margaret refuses. But a combination of a home life racked with neighboring screams of domestic abuse and the realization that her boss is a 1920's version of Gordon Gekko forces her to reconsider. She gives Rothstein the information he requested and makes a deal with him for her and her children to live in a better neighborhood with better rent. 


In Chicago, Al Capone meets with Nelson Van Alden to discuss territory acquisition since the death of Dean O'Bannion. Joe Torrio enters and it becomes clear to this viewer that Al wants to supplant Torrio as the Chicago boss. While enjoying themselves in a brothel, Joe makes a surreptitious exit immediately before Capone receives a threatening phone call. Seeing poised assailants from across the street, Van Alden cries out a warning before their space is riddled with machine gun bullets. A few working girls are killed, but Al, his brother and Van Alden are unharmed. Al then tellingly mentions that "Thank God Joe got outta here in time, eh?".

Perhaps taking up the majority of the episode is Chalky White's war with Dr. Valentin Narcisse. Chalky's with his staff outside in the back-alley of Club Onyx planning an ambush on Narcisse. Richard Harrow, now a custodian for the club, happens upon the meeting while emptying garbage. Some of Chalky's staff liken Harrow to an immigrant taking jobs away from the Negro. Chalky stands up for Harrow as a friend, shakes his hand and offers him "work". Considering his formidable skill-set, if Chalky added Harrow to his ambush, Narcisse would've been dead before the end of the episode.

Chalky and company go to the North side and shoot up Narcisse's storefront while he is present. They kill everyone but him. Before escaping, Narcisse manages to shoot Chalky in the shoulder. Hiding out in American Legion Hall, Chalky has Harrow tend to his wound when Daughter Maitland shows up. Narcisse is furious after the shooting and goes to Club Onyx demanding for Nucky to disclose Chalky's whereabouts. Fed up, Nucky implicitly threatens Narcisse while sternly telling him numerous times to "get the $^%@" out of my club". AC Mayor (and Willie Thompson's new boss) Ed Bader campaigns at the crime scene of Narcisse's storefront, scolding violence while Nucky and Chalky meet at American Legion to discuss Narcisse. Nucky later has his meeting at the club with Masseria who introduces his partner in the heroin trade: Dr. Narcisse!

 

Narcisse says he would like to involve Nucky in the business venture IF he delivers Chalky White. Nucky considers the money proposed and makes the deal. But then, he calls Ed Bader to send over two sheriff deputies to take Chalky out of town. Through Willie, Nucky learns that Bader had met with Narcisse earlier and realizes that he and the mayor are now allied. The two sheriff deputies sent to Chalky try to kill him and Daughter while they have them in tow. Chalky manages to kill both of them. At the FBI headquarters, Director Hoover has his agents view a film on Marcus Garvey. Claiming Garvey has committed the ultimate crime of putting ideas in the heads of Negroes, he is a threat that can only be taken down from within. Hoover claims to have an undercover agent in Harlem doing just that (I wonder who that could be?). Meanwhile, Chalky's son and daughter visit the club after hours. Narcisse, under the pseudonym Richard Pastor, tries to seduce the daughter into his fray when learning of her parentage and cancelled wedding plans. 

Back in the Thompson home, Eli returns to find dozens of armed men out front. Nucky informs him of the Narcisse/Bader alliance while arming himself. He tells Eli that Willie fed him this information and that their both ready. Eli is surprised and shocked at his son's indoctrination into the "family business". But relents and ends the episode with "All right...let's sort it out.".



MY THOUGHTS: Wright usually portrays Narcisse as the epitome of cool, calm and collected. Except on tonight's episode. Giving his character that level of emotional outrage at Chalky's assault was essential as it added a depth that was heretofore unseen. I cheered when Chalky just went straight H.A.M. and tried to kill him early on. The twist of Narcisse's reach with both organized crime and political figures was also well-played.

One nice symbolic touch in the episode was Richard Harrow, a war veteran, tending to Chalky White's wound in the basement of an American Legion building. Harrow makes Chalky an arm sling out of an American flag. This same flag is used by Chalky to kill one of the law enforcement officers bribed to kill him. Even in the 1920's, "irony" and "poetic justice" are terms that carry heavy meaning.

The ending of the episode felt reminiscent of The Godfather. Willie Thompson is like Michael Corleone while his two father figures, Eli and Nucky represent Vito Corleone's dichotomy. They don't want him involved in their line of work, but they reluctantly permit it anyway. When Eli asks his son if this is what he wants for himself, Willie calmly responds by imposing an even more imposing question: "Pop, isn't it what we do?".

Narcisse is nowhere near as vile and reprehensible as last season's chief antagonist, Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale), which is why I'm not eagerly anticipating his inevitable send-off. I like the character's mystery so much that I hope he gets a stay-of-execution until next season. I also hope that the last two episodes deliver a pay-off that leaves me salivating for more.

 

Grade: B+
Written by Sy L. Shackleford (sylar10)

Sy L. Shackleford is a jack-of-all-trades columnist for Action A Go Go. A UConn graduate with a degree in both psychology and communication sciences, he is a walking encyclopedic repository for all things Marvel Comics, hip-hop, et. al. He also writes reviews for hip-hop albums which can be viewed on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sy.shackleford

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LEAKED: 5 Minutes of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

Marvellites pressed enough to catch Thor: The Dark World in IMAX 3D got a special sneak preview of Captain America: The Winter Soldier this weekend. For those of you not willing to pay twice as much to go deaf in the name of higher resolution, AAGG's got you covered.

Clickity-Click before it vanishes...

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Movie Review: "Thor: The Dark World"

Asgardians face off against an army of confusingly nebulous "Dark Elves" with frustratingly vague (but unquestionably sinister) motives in this paint-by-numbers, but still marginally superior sequel to the moderately entertaining 2011 hit Thor. This sequel is about as high in quality as you can expect from Marvel Studios flicks, and by that I mean "it's more entertaining than it is particularly good". 

The fact that I don't feel any real burden to provide a more extensive plot synopsis for The Dark World highlights it's biggest problems (problems that plague Marvel's films); firstly, the plot is thin and routine. Secondly, the film is in no way engaging enough for the plot to matter much anyway. It's an inoffensive romp through the colorful and fantastical "nine-realms" that accomplishes little-to-nothing by way of narrative progress. The supposedly apocalyptic threat that the Dark Elves (who we know are unquestionably evil for no other reason than having the word "dark" in their title) present feels so empty that no real tension develops from it. This is the eighth film thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's already become thoroughly customary that the villains are soundly defeated during the finale with little to no losses suffered by the protagonists. The MCU's antagonists are a load of hot air, and the Dark Elves aren't an exception. The story gains a minor amount of dramatic traction through the interpersonal drama between the Asgardians, but that doesn't make up for the fact that the overarching plot of the film is all bark with absolutely no bite. Marvel's success is based on innovation of business-model, not innovation in storytelling, and The Dark World is perhaps the most obvious example of this to date. Which isn't to say that Thor 2.0 is Marvel's worst film, on a scale it would fall somewhere in the middle, but the grandiose franchise model is no longer enough to amuse and so the burden falls onto the story of the individual film to deliver, and, like The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger before it, Thor: The Dark World doesn't really cut it as a stand-alone narrative.

That being said, Dark World isn't without merit, and given that it doesn't have to cut it as a stand-alone narrative due to it's placement within what is essentially a theatrical television series in it's second season, it mostly works just fine. In numerous ways it succeeds in improving upon it's predecessor by expanding and deepening the world of Thor, which felt rather empty in the last entry. Asgard is a believable city with a culture and a population now, which really shouldn't be the achievement that it is, but it's definitely a much needed change. The cast is competent, if not overly enthusiastic to be there. The visual effects (with the exception of some shockingly spotty green screen) and fantasy landscapes look like a supermarket brand version of The Hobbit which is either doable or insufferable depending on how much you enjoyed The Hobbit. The action is zippy, inventive and entertaining. And the script, though uninspired, is at the very least "fun" and humorous. As much as I rag on the actually quality of this film, I would be remiss to ignore how legitimately entertaining it is, in its own unapologetically silly manner. It may not be impressive in any particular way, but there's undoubtedly a decent amount of fun to be had in Norsemen with magical powers fighting a horde of goth-elves in battle sequences that are a goofy hybrid of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (oh yeah, there's lasers in this because "space"). Which is all Marvel really needs to keep their target audience entertained.

Thor: The Dark World sticks religiously to the time-tested Marvel tradition of "high on 'fun', light on substance". How much enjoyment you get out of it will be entirely contingent on whether or not you continue to be amused by Marvel's house style. If you had been hoping, like myself, that Iron Man 3 was a deliberate step for Marvel towards the dramatically engaging, Thor puts said hopes to a peaceful rest. Light, fluffy and inconsequential is the name of the game for this franchise, and The Dark World is yet another entry that keeps that flame alive and burning. For what it is, Thor is a relatively solid entry in a dependably entertaining series of films. It may be largely devoid of commendable filmmaking merit, but it's fun and it's not hurting anybody, and that's alright by me. All I ask from Marvel is that they continue to make films that are at least entertaining and make me laugh, and Thor: The Dark World passed both of those qualifiers. Would I see a third? Sure. Do I need to see a third? Not particularly. 

 

 

Andrew Allen is a television (and occasionally film) writer for Action A Go Go. He is an aspiring screenwriter and director who is currently studying at the University of Miami. You can check him out on Tumblr @andrewballen and follow him on Twitter @A_B_Allen.

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Disc Two: BAD GRANDPA's Johnny Knoxville Explains the Joke

As much as I'd hate to admit it, Bad Grandpa looks pretty damn funny. So funny in fact that I'm going to probably skip watching The Counselor next week and carry on my slightly confusing tradition of catching Jackass films in the theater. God knows that I didn't set out to make it a goal, but...here I am.

Sorry, Ridley Scott and Cormac MCarthy. Your self-serious crime-drama will have to wait for Netflix.

Yes, even I'm shaking my head as I type this.

In the following clip, Johnny Knoxville -- amasser of the Jackass empire -- gives a sneak peak into what it takes to execute a practical joke. Oddly enough, this glimpse into the production of Bad Grandpa is a fairly intriguing behind the scenes featurette.

Clickity-Click...

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The ACTION A GO GO Vixen Of The Week is Thor The Dark World's Jaimie Alexander

 

 

This week the debate among the team was unanimous. Sure, Natalie Portman would be front and center on all the posters and getting all the glory, but Jaimie Alexander will be doing heaping helpings of ass kicking along the way, so without a doubt she had to be our ACTION A GO GO VIXEN OF THE WEEK!

 

 Jaimie Alexander is Sif! She's tough, no nonsense, and makes even the toughest gods or foes cower in fear. Yeah, she's awesome, and this time around that it was no contest.

 

So now, we present to you, the unstoppable Jamie Alexander!

 

 



 

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Trailer Park: Honest Trailer for 2011's THOR

Thor: The Dark World is coming out tomorrow in the US. Marvel hasn't been doing it for me in 2013, so color me slightly disinterested. But...hey, that's the beauty of franchises. They can go from sour to stellar with each passing film. It's not the end of the world.

The fine people at Screen Junkies decided to roast 2011's Thor. As far as skewerings go, all their points are amusingly valid. Still, I'll take a decent but earnest blockbuster over an assembly line production any day.

We shall see.

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