literally the most unrealistic thing in the entire mcu is that loki would get ahold of an infinity stone in 2012 and use its power to do anything other than become ibiza's number one pansexual dj and international molly kingpin

Yea i think it was fine for what they had to work with. It's only six episodes and they got the ball rolling decently for that pace.

Marvel Loki doesn't resemble Nordic Loki that much, but they kinda need to base that on the version that was written by Stan Lee in the 60s.

They made a big deal about the brother dynamic with Thor and random father issues with Odin. All that's Marvel stuff. From mythology Loki was Odin's blood brother and at times a cool uncle to Thor. That changed when Loki had one of Odin's fiveish sons kill another one. They tortured Loki as punishment till Ragnarok.

It's a simplified pg-13 version of a generic trickster god. There's name recognition without the kink and general darkness associated with the base mythology. I don't know how you tell the story of Odin's 8 legged horse to kids. This one time Loki transformed into a mare and had a stallion impregnate him in a wholesome way as bros do and soon after a baby horse appeared on Odin's doorstep.

I can see similarities in the show with Umbrella Academy. I picked up the comics a month ago and i'm maybe ninth in. So far it's weirder than the show was. I think i get to cheat half a season with the comics assuming i finish reading those before the 3rd season gets released.

Somewhat related, if for unknown reasons you haven't watched Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016-2017) that should work, if you liked Umbrella Academy. It's just 2 seasons and there will never be more. Douglas Adams wrote those.

honestly the douglas adams part sunk the hook, ill peep it.

hey crazy umbrella academy point; now that ellen page is a dude, i feel like thats gonna be a bit distracting in season 3. color me old fashioned.

your points are well taken re the delta between the classic myth and the literal disney version. im fine with a tiktok soap opera version honestly. i mean honestly its a well done piece of work by and large so im going to just let shit play out and hope it doesnt get too stupid.

the fact that they acknowledge that loki is very deeply fucking dead in his own timeline and that hes never going back is very weird and confusing and makes me wonder if we end up in some meta mindfuck where 'our' loki defeats the 'bad' loki only to become disillusioned with the timecops and uh ohhhhh it was our loki all along, doing his mischievous angry god thing or whatever.

im really hoping they dont drop that on us because 5 minutes into this show it was more or less not just the most obvious plot arc but almost the only one available.

I was actually considering upgrading my ESPN+ subscription to check out some of the stuff I have missed. Maybe after I am done with The Wire for the second go round. 10.1.1

Mandalorian is boring AF

I am going to start this tonight 10.1.1

at its best, mandalorian is a moody homage to 1970s samurai films.

its hit rate for that is maybe... 20...30%? and i respect that.

the rest is disney comic book bullshit with gina carano acting how she imagines actual actors act.

honestly im grateful for it because ngl 70's samurai films hooooooo lawd thats my sweet spot.

tine can't understand why he's not getting any matches on eharmony, when they asked what his perfect date would be, he put in, "seven hams on rye, seven samurai, a diet mr. pibb, and you"

Thanks Tine, now I feel like I am watching a remake of Kung Fu. Bill Burr is god though so we are pushing through ep 6.

see i unironically enjoy watching the entire Kung Fu run every few years so maybe im telling on myself a little.

but yeah if you compare the color palettes to like 70s and 80s japanese period pieces, you see where a lot of this is coming from.

that and Kung Fu of course.

I ain't hatin'... In fact I am probably enjoying the show more now. I enjoy a good homage.

I am not an expert on the genre (although I did meet David Caradine once) but I did watch Kung Fu as a younger person. Never got into the foreign stuff but maybe will check some out when I have some time - recommendations appreciated.

Now I can't get Samuel L Jackson out of my head though lol

I think the loop goes something like this...

1. Japanese directors were influenced by westerns

2. Westerns were influenced by samurai films

3. Star Wars was influenced by samurai films

4. Kung Fu's concept was by Bruce Lee

5. Mandalorian is related to points 1-4

...for old timey stuff Kurosawa (7 samurai, Yojimbo and Rashomon), Hidden Fortress for original Star Wars influence. Kurosawa did a lot of Shakespeare related stuff, but they aren't necessarily in this discussion. For Mandalorian the biggest influence is Lone wolf and Cub. Manga from the 70s with 6 film adaptations. Best known out of those is mildly bastardized mishmash of the first two movies called Shogun Assassin. Oh and Lone wolf and Cub is influenced by Kurosawa.

John Ford is somewhere in the mix. Sergio Leone made a lot of things.

Fistful of Dollars by Leone (also original Django by Corbucci) is a remake of Yojimbo. Magnificent Seven by Sturges is a western remake of 7 samurai and one EP of Mandalorian gives it credit. There's Rashomon remake in the works as 10ep show from HBO MAX. The Rashomon storytelling framework has been used so often that it doesn't really even register anymore.

I have no idea how well Kurosawa's movies have stood the test of time. Guessing Yojimbo is the easiest entry point today.

Later stuff that's influenced by some of the above could be Kitano's Zatoichi or the new Warrior show. Warrior is the Bruce Lee's Kung Fu without yellow face. Not as standalone:ish with 2 seasons out and 3rd on the way.

Ps. Zatoichi is the blind swordsman character. There's was 25 movies and 100 episodes in the 60s/70s. Shintaro Katsu played the lead and then later produced the Lone Wolf and Cub films. Was also cast as lead for Kurosawa's Kagemusha, but was fired on the first day. Coppola and Lucas have production credits for Kagemusha.

Oh and Zatoichi's first loose American remake was Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer.

Sam Peckinpah is somewhere in the Mandalorian influences.

Kitano is best known for his Yakuza movies. Sonatine being the flagship of the series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFKaftsfDgk

There be loops and all is whole again.

And what Lone Wolf and Cub is best known...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA49DaVmJWQ

...first minute is from Shogun Assassin.

Loki is pretty good so far I am just shocked that they got Owen Wilson to play a giant testicle