Netflix Update: What's Leaving Us in January 2015

In which I report on the upcoming changes to Netflix.

Along with a new year comes a new crop of movies on Netflix.  And while it is varyingly hard or easy to see some films go, this month's outgoing streaming options are a bit more of a mixed bag.  For every Batman, there's a Brady Bunch movie.  For every movie that I own on DVD (like 12 Angry Men), there's another that I don't (like The Grapes of Wrath).  When all is said and done, I'll survive this particular changing of the guard.

And although there is precious little time left to make good on watching these films, one that I am going to try to make time for is The Grapes of Wrath: the 1940 classic set in the Great Depression's iconic Dust Bowl.  Well regarded among the cinematic elite and well remembered by the well-viewed lay person, it's one that's perplexingly escaped me until now.  And what better way is there to ring in the new year than by taking in an exceptional film?

Beyond that, however, there are a few films (and shows) in particular that I will be sorry to see go.  Batman is an obvious choice, between its surreal set design and iconic pro and antagonists.  Despite its troublingly racist undertones, Big Trouble in Little China was as incredibly fun of a movie as Beverly Hills Cop and Gladiator, both of which are also getting the axe.  Braveheart was one that I would have loved to show to Becky (who, oddly enough, has never seen it), although we'll have to track down a copy elsewhere.  Those who have been around for a while will also remember how much fun I had watching Carrie.  Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stargate and all four seasons of Transformers - even Michael Bay's Bad Boys - will be sad things to see leave.

So which films will you be saddest to see leave at the end of the year?  What are you planning on sneaking in just under the wire?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.  The full list of outgoing films are listed below.

12 Angry Men (1957)
A Mighty Heart (2007)
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Backdraft (1991)
Bad Boys (1995)
Batman (1989)
Beethoven (1992)
Beethoven's 2nd (1993)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Braveheart (1995)
Can't Buy Me Love (1987)
Carrie (1976)
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
Duck Soup (1933)
Far and Away (1992)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero; Seasons 1-2 (1983­ and 1986)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Gladiator (2000)
Good Burger (1997)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Happy Gilmore (1996)
Hitch (2005)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Kiss the Girls (1997)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Love Actually (2003)
Manhattan (1979)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
My Girl (1991)
My Girl 2 (1994)
Red Dawn (1984)
Rocky I­V (1985)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Saved! (2004)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Spaceballs (1987)
Stargate (1994)
Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan! (1978)
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
The Company Men (2010)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Longest Yard (1974)
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
The Parent Trap (1998)
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Titanic (1997)
Tombstone (1993)
Transformers: Generation 1; Seasons 1­-4 (1984­-1987)
Turner and Hooch (1989)
You've Got Mail (1998)

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Unreality Companion: Ten Movies to Look Forward to in 2015

In which I expand on the content from my weekly Unrealitymag.com article.

Since this last week's Unreality article was a look back on the quality films that 2014 gave us, I figured that the opposite was worth looking into for its companion piece.  So let's take a look at the must see films of 2015.

10) Terminator Genisys  Terminator 3 aside, I've been a loyal fan of the franchise since I first saw The Terminator as a kid (and even Rise of the Machines wasn't that bad).  They've successfully straddled multiple genres, logically tackled the wibbly wobbly science of time travel and followed a cast of interesting characters and their increasingly tangled narrative for going on four decades now.

Terminator Genisys takes the series to its logical conclusion: circling back around on its own narrative to that fateful night in 1984.  But, as often happens with time travel, something's gone horribly wrong.  Instead of coming to the rescue of the hapless Sarah Connor, she comes to his - as if fully formed from the head of Zeus - with the Schwarzenegger Terminator in tow.  They now face an amped-up version of Judgment Day's T-1000 and the prospect of straight-up preventing Judgment Day itself.  While I'm a bit leery of undoing three films worth of internal logic central to the franchise's driving narrative, I can't help but get excited about the best-looking Terminator film since 1991 and the chance to see just how meta the narrative can get by retreading its own origins.

9 - Jurassic World  It took me a good long while to finally warm up to the idea of yet another Jurassic Park, especially given how disappointing every single sequel has been, but I think that the franchise may finally have rediscovered what made the original great in the first place.  No longer concerned with bringing dinosaurs to mainland America nor whatever the Hell was supposed to be going on with the third film, Jurassic World features an actual, working dinosaur preserve, a stable population of dinosaurs and an insurgent breed of engineered mutants: simultaneously bringing everything back to square one and exponentially raising the original's stakes.

Besides, it has Star Lord riding into battle with his private army of Raptors.  What's not to love about that?

8 - Tomorrowland  I've seen this film's trailer half a dozen times already and I still have no idea what to make of it.  The retro-futurism in the titular city, although glimpsed for only a few seconds, looks like incredible fun and the in-camera interplay of the two worlds (as the protagonist varyingly picks up and puts down the pin) worked far better than it should have.  Even if Tomorrowland falls short of Pirates of the Caribbean quality, I think that it's pretty safe to say that Disney's learned their lesson from Haunted Mansion.

7 - Victor Frankenstein  It should come as no surprise that I am a huge fan of horror.  In the last few months alone, I did run-downs on the best 21st Century Horror Movies, why Blumhouse Productions is the only real name in cinematic horror these days and more-or-less kept up with the new season of American Horror Story.  It only makes sense that I would be drawn towards a reworking of Mary Shelley's timeless tale of monsters and madness.  And when that film features the immeasurable talents of Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy, it promises to be more than just some tired retread quickly drawn up to capitalize on the resurgent popularity of the horror genre (I'm looking at you, I, Frankenstein).

6 - The Lazarus Effect  Remember what I said about Blumhouse Productions earlier?  Their uncanny knack of turning pulp into legitimately thrilling films is the exact reason why I would be as keenly interested as I am in an original film that I know next to nothing about, featuring the talents of a non-entity director, non-entity screenwriters and a cast of capable (if largely unaccomplished) actors.  Mark my words, The Lazarus Effect is going to be the best original horror film of the year.

5 - Sinister 2  Blumhouse has a really full slate in 2015.  Between this, The Lazarus Effect and Insidious: Chapter 3 - not to mention the now-bumped to 2016 Conjuring sequel - there are a surprisingly high number of horror films to look forward to in the coming months.

The first Sinister was an absolute masterpiece of suspense and execution with a highly franchisable concept.  One friend of mine has pretty much had the film on a continuous loop since its home release in early 2013.  Given how much Baghuul's previous victims play into how he stalks his current ones, it will be interesting to see exactly how much the original's plot is revisited.

4 - Ant Man  Despite its troubled production, which saw the tragic departure of director Edgar Wright, filming went ahead with this Marvel outing as planned.  With any studio not named Marvel (or Blumhouse), replacing the acclaimed director of the Three Flavors Trilogy the seminal mind behind Bring It On  would have probably been its death knell.  But if Marvel has proven nothing else this year, it has the uncanny ability to pick the right talent for the right projects, regardless of how questionable (or just straight up terrible) it seems on the surface.  So rest assured, despite how things may look on the surface, Marvel has this super-sized outing in the bag.

3 - Spectre  Bond's most recent outing (and, potentially, Craig's last as 007) brings the iconic S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) back to the big screen for the first time since For Your Eyes Only (itself having first appeared in Dr. No).  The franchise as a whole, and Skyfall in particular, has shown a remarkable knack for knowing exactly where and when to incorporate elements from its fifty-year history to make it feel like it's a part of something larger than itself.  Don't be surprised if Quantum, the terrorist organization that was pulling the strings in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, ends of being some peripheral extension or modern incarnation of the iconic organization.

2 - Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens  The central question that Star Wars fans are consumed with concerning this film is "did Disney learn from Lucas' misguided prequel trilogy?"  Having had long and hard to consider both side's arguments, I can definitively say "probably."  Writer-Director J. J. Abrams turned the floundering and incredibly niche Star Trek franchise and redefined it into a rampant mainstream success.  Cowriter Lawrence Kasdan was responsible for not only Episode V and VI's scripts, but for Raiders of the Lost Ark as well.  Throw in the original cast and the possibility of being the first in a big-screen adaptation of The Thawn Trilogy, and Disney seems to be doing its best to do right by the film's broad audience (and, more importantly, their money).

1 - Avengers: Age of Ultron  The follow up to not only my favorite film of 2012 (The Avengers), but my favorite film of 2014 has some pretty big shoes to fill.  But with writer-director Joss Whedon returning along with the meta-franchise's impeccable cast, everything appears to be soundly in hand for the Avengers' second outing, which will feature Earth's mightiest heroes squaring off against Ultron: a Stark-revived defense program that is most likely the spiritual successor of Project Insight.

Ultron concludes that the Avengers themselves are the biggest threat facing global security, he sets off to take each of them out in the name of the greater good.  Even more intriguing, though is that Kevin Feige (the Godfather of the MCU) has refused to reveal exactly which Avengers are in which Phase 3 movie specifically because doing so would spoil where certain members end up at the end of Age of Ultron.  This, along with other evidence, lead me to believe that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will end up being a loose adaptation of Planet Hulk, although questions abound concerning the fates of Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury as well.

And this is with me not going on about Mission: Impossible 5, Ted 2, Insidious: Chapter 3, Cinderella, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 or The Jungle Book.  No matter which way you look at it, 2015 is going to be a huge year for movies.

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Unreality Companion: 5 Best Christmas Specials

In which I expand on the content from my weekly Unrealitymag.com article.

Christmas is just around the corner, and I've already started getting into the Christmas spirit (not only here, but on Unreality as well).  And seeing how this week's article on Unreality is a roll call of the most entertaining Christmas horror movies, I thought that I would do a complete 180 here: a run-down of the best Christmas specials.

5 - Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire  Although Simpsons holiday specials in the following years may have been better written, animated, voiced and conceived, the original captured the spirit of the season the best.  It may not be the most quotable, probably not even the most memorable, but it is easily the Christmas-est of them all.

In fact, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire was the series' inaugural episode, meaning that it had to double-down on what it needed to accomplish.  Not only did it have to introduce the show's expansive cast of characters, but it had to do so while telling an endearing holiday narrative.  Despite what it was working against, the episode pulled off both goals simultaneously, with more heart than most other specials could have hoped for.

4 - A Tale of Two Santas  I don't know what it is about Matt Groening, but his shows have consistently captured the spirit of the holiday, in their own unique way, for the past twenty-five years.  I was strongly tempted to include Xmas Story on here instead, but the third season's take on the holidays, much like the aforementioned Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, captured the spirit of the season better than its more imaginative competition.

The episode features a delightfully 31st century take on the millennia-old Santa: a corporate robot whose threshold for "good" was set so astronomically high that nobody can possibly meet them (except for Zoidberg).  As a result, Christmas has become a time of fear, when people barricade themselves in at home and pray to live through the night.  But when the Planet Express crew incapacitate Santa, they set out to return Christmas to a time "to bring[...] people together, not blow[...] them apart."  What results is one of the series' best overall episodes: exciting, hilarious and touching in the way that only Matt Groening can seem to manage in earnest.

3 - The Year without a Santa Claus  This was easily my favorite Christmas special as a kid.  And even though it's lost its #1 position, its imaginative, intelligent and all-around entertaining take on Christmas still beats out a lot of the more slickly produced specials that have come out both before and after its 1974 premiere.

Interestingly, I can't think of any other show or film that presents the cosmic half of Christmas.  Some touch on the inherent religiosity of the holiday, but The Year without a Santa Claus pits the elemental forces of nature against the immortal Santa Claus, his well-meaning elves and the hapless mortal denizens of Earth.  It even presents the calm-minded Mother Nature herself: the only being (cosmic or mundane) capable of reeling in her bickering children.

This is definitely something that Christmas needs more of.  I don't need it needs to be more cosmic, just more epic: more willing to take big risks that may or may not pay off, but are worth taking all the same.  Christmas has become too safely intimate, too unwilling to tackle hefty, large-scale narratives.  The only one to even try in recent years is Arthur Christmas which, like The Year without a Santa Claus, paid off in a big way.

2 - Woodland Critter Christmas  This is not your parents' Christmas special.  Those looking for kid-friendly holiday entertainment that the whole family can enjoy had best keep looking for it.  Woodland Critter Christmas is not for the faint of heart.

The reason why I love Woodland Critter Christmas is largely the same reason why I love Gremlins.  It takes two completely unlike concepts - Satanic horror and old-fashioned Christmas specials - and throws them together with reckless abandon: damn the consequences.  But because of the shockingly intelligent way in which series creators Parker and Stone handle their juxtaposed subjects, they succeed at pulling of an episode that is as conventionally structured as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, yet as grotesque as Rosemary's Baby.

Speaking of which...

1 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas  This is hands-down my favorite holiday short: surpassing the old darlings and holding off the recent upstarts alike.  It succeeds in capturing the distilled essence of Christmas in 26 minutes what the live action adaptation couldn't manage in four time that length length.

It's not hard to see why it has held up so well over the years either.  The animation is clean, the songs are memorable and fun, the writing is lean and the moral center of the film - that "Christmas doesn't come from a store [...] Christmas means a little bit more" - only continues to be more resonant the more commercialized the holiday becomes.  And, best of all, Boris Karloff, who played the monster in Frankenstein, narrates the happy, Christmassy Dr. Suess cartoon.  Now there's an image for you.

What Christmas special do you plan on watching, or have watched already, this year?  Are there any Christmas specials that I should have included on the list?  Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.

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The Weekend Review: League of Super Critics Part 1 - The Best of Nostalgia Critic

In which I review a selection of last weekend's entertainment.

The reason why this installment of The Weekend Review is so late largely comes down to not knowing what to write about.  I didn't see or play or read anything especially memorable this week.  The movies I rented were either extremely "okay" (Return of the Living Dead, Conan the Barbarian and The Exorcist III) or were pushed back until during the week (ie, Cloud Atlas).  I'm slowly working my way through Alpha Sapphire right now, but really don't have much in the way of a review about it right now.  Work aside, it was just a lazy weekend that I mostly spent web-surfing.

Aye, now there's the rub!  The majority of my aforementioned web-surfing came in the form of catching up on the League of Super Critics: in particular Nostalgia Critic, Nostalgia Chick and Cinema Snob.  After all, this article series isn't about big-budget entertainment - just entertainment in general, which means that these minor internet celebrities are legitimately on the table for discussion.

But why limit myself to just one critic when there are so many to choose from?  So for the next three weeks, I will be reviewing the best of the best: the best videos featuring the Nostalgia Critic, Nostalgia Chick and Cinema Snob.  So now I present the short-list for the best video's featuring the League's headliner: Nostalgia Critic.

5 - The Lorax  Despite the incredibly weak film that he chose to review, Nostalgia Critic's review of The Lorax is surprisingly filled to the brim  with a combination of incredibly entertaining scripted material and incredibly warranted criticism.  It's the first time that we are introduced to recurring nemesis Hyper Fan Girl: a weirdly endearing character who not only features in videos that barely missed the grade (Old vs New: Spider-Man Movies), but also on a video which appears higher up on this list (spoilers).

The narrative framework for the episode features two pandering network executives who produce cheap, disposable and ultimately forgettable schlock to a dumbed-down, focus-grouped audience simply to generate as much profit as quickly as possible.  And while their interactions with Critic are hilariously droll in of themselves, it does lead to a surprisingly reassuring reveal (especially when other critics would pessimistically write off the film at best and doom-say the end of quality childrens' movies at worst).

While adaptations such as The Lorax (and The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat) are all invariably terrible, they do serve an unseen social function: popular enough by themselves so that they're widely seen and discussed, but terrible enough to draw that same audience back to the books upon which they're based.  While Dr. Suess' body of work is exceptionally written (despite being aimed at children), it's a fact that is largely taken for granted.  People need to be reminded of the classics, even if reminding them means making a terrible movie based off of them, because watching a train-wreck on screen will invariably draw people back to the books that got the story, characters and even basic premise right in the first place.

4 - Princess Diaries 2  This video takes Nostalgia Critic's relationship with Hyper Fan Girl to its logical extreme.  She abducts him under threat of violence in order to force him to review Princess Diaries 2 with her and, invariably, fall in love with her in the process.  She even seduces him with a veritable treasure trove of testosterone-fueled nostalgia - comic books, trading cards, VHS action movies, retro video games.  They play off of each other with practised ease, and their friendly neighborhood hit man varyingly provides over-the-top seriousness with his gruff voice and over-sized gun as well as carefully timed interjections of narratively subversive humor.

But even with so much attention and screen time devoted to the frame story, the commentary on the film - which can only be described as God-awful - is some of the entertaining that Critic's ever put to film.  Parsing through Princess Diaries 2 in the intensive detail that they do leads to a surprising revelation about cinema:"it's not about giving people what they want, it's about helping people discover what they need [...] to balance out excessiveness with variety and intelligence," even if that just means watching Expendibles 3 while reading Jane Austin.

3 - Top 11 Underrated Nostalgic Classics  In a lot of ways, I think that Nostalgia Critic is better known in the annals of the internet for his top 11 lists than he is for his reviews of individual movies.  It's easy to see why: the lists are essentially a condensed series of mini-reviews that, owing to the absence of Critic's usual brand of elaborate scripted comedy, are often much shorter than his typical episodes.  Of these, his list of underrated classics is both his best and most memorable.

While I generally think of Nostalgia Critic as a comic first and a substantive critic as a distant (although still valid) second, this video highlights the critic in him best.  Divorced from stagy, hit-and-miss humor, he gives succinct and insightful reviews of a sizable number of films that are admittedly overlooked far too often.  Of course I don't agree with every inclusion, it struggles with the same issue that I did when reviewing Oliver & Company: is a movie really underrated if everybody agrees that it's underrated (or, conversely, if it was a popular success when it first came out?

2 - The Shining Mini Series  As I mentioned above, Nostalgia Critic is prone to excessive, elaborate, stagy, hit-or-miss humor.  That's not to say that it's bad at all, just that it falls flat as often as it meaningfully connects with me.  Even within an otherwise great set-up (like Princess Diaries 2), there always seems to be a joke that falls flat at just the wrong time (when Hyper Fan Girl blows up like Wile E. Coyote because she didn't update her software before replaying the movie).  His review of The Shining mini series, however, suffers from none of this: being truly and consistently hilarious throughout its 42+ minute run-time.

Critic is also substantive in a way that he rarely is outside of his lists, not just reenacting extensive scenes from the film to comedic effective, but comparing and contrasting it with the original Stanley Kubrick film.  In the end, he even admits the relative strengths of both adaptations, and that, at least in respect to portraying the psychology of its protagonist, the mini series was superior to the more viscerally thrilling film.

1 - Sailor Moon  This is unequivocally my favorite Nostalgia Critic video.  Although his frame narrative doesn't compare favorably against The Shining or Princess Diaries 2, it is not only funny, but avoids the pitfalls that his frame narratives often suffer from.  It even takes a few comedic swipes at other formulaic - if well-remembered - tv series like Full House and Home Improvement.

Despite the weaker framework, this episode best combines humor and criticism in an organic way that actually highlights exactly how funny and how insightful his commentary is.  His digressions concerning the age of the characters on the series, as well as the age of consent in Japan, are single-handedly the funniest he has ever been: even taking self-referential issue that he included the title character on his list of hottest animated women.

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Unreality Companion: No Guardians in Infinity War?

In which I expand on the content from my weekly Unrealitymag.com article.

Up until about an hour ago, I was at a complete loss about what to write about for this week.  I reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy for Unreality, but had absolutely no idea what to connect into that with.  I had already brought up what I thought Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be about and even touched on how the Guardians of the Galaxy has heralded a new Golden Age of superhero cinema, where literally everything is on the table for adaptation.  What did that leave for this article?

But then I came across a quote by Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn when asked about the possibility of his intrepid team:

"We really are separate from the Avengers, and I don't think people should assume too many things about the Guardians play in all these. We have our own galaxy to take care of. We have our own galaxy to save. Earth is the Avengers’ province. Thinking that everything is going to come together in a perfect way is not necessarily the way it's going to happen." 

This changes everything.  The assumption until now was that we would be seeing everybody in Infinity Wars, and I mean everybody: upwards of 30 Avengers, the remaining agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and any number of supporting characters from each stand-alone franchise.  For those of you who've been counting, that would potentially include Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Black Falcon, the questionably reformed Winter Soldier, Star Lord, Gamora, Groot, Rocket, Drax, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, The Vision, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ms. / Captain Marvel, Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Luna, Lockjaw, Triton PLUS Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Director Coulson and his team (Skye, Fitz, Simmons, May, Triplett, Hunter, Mackenzie, Morse) PLUS anybody else they decided could use some screen time.  This is in addition to the actual antagonists - Thanos, Nebula & Co. - who featured prominently in Guardians of the Galaxy.

This is only a fraction of who would potentially make the cut.

And even with two movies spread over two years to help spread everything around, it would obviously be even more crowded than how Batman vs Superman is looking right now.  Not including everybody in the films is obviously the right decision to make, but it's just so shocking to hear those making the movies say so, given how interconnected the meta-franchises have been thus far.  Each Avengers film seemed to exist purely for the purpose of throwing every one on the growing roster of heroes together; The Avengers included the main four plus Hawkeye and Black Widow while Age of Ultron promises the previous six plus Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Black Falcon, War Machine, Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Heimdall.  The natural - if unmanageable - progression from there is to include the everybody already mentioned plus everybody about to be introduced.

But looking on this issue with a bit more clarity than before, it looks like the five Guardians of the Galaxy and their supporting cast are out Infinity Wars and, if my prediction about Guardians of the Galaxy 2 are right, maybe Hulk as well.  And seeing how both Captain Marvel and Inhumans come out between Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2, all of those characters are also likely to not make the cut for the Infinity Wars cast.  Plus, seeing as how Inhumans is so closely tied to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it would be fairly safe to assume that those characters would be largely off limits as well.

Mark my words, though, Captain America: Civil War will have some kind of repercussions in the MCU that will keep at least a few others out of that particular lineup as well; in other words, guess who's going to die in 2016 (my money's on the disenfranchised Hawkeye: suitably tragic, given his Avenger status, but nothing that will end an otherwise profitable solo series).

We'll just have to wait and see.  But, if Gunn's any indication, we at least have a clearer idea about what shape Infinity Wars might take, even if it means that we'll have to wait a good while longer before we get to see Star Lord take in the sights of Earth.

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Extra, Extra!: Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange

In which I report on the latest in entertainment news.

It seems like both Marvel and DC have been finalizing all of their big pieces for their upcoming superhero films in the last couple of weeks.  Whereas DC was looking to see which of three women would helm their upcoming Wonder Woman movie, Marvel's been vetting for a Doctor Strange.  In particular, they focussed their search on one of four candidates: Ryan Gosling, Joaquin Phoenix, Ethan Hawke and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Although undeniably a phenominal actor, Ryan Gosling was my least favorite of the prospective Strange candidates.  In fact, he is the only one of the bunch that I actively did not want to be cast in the role.  My reasoning really comes down to two simple points: I do not believe that his talents would lend themselves to Stephen Strange and he is simply too young for the role.

When I look at Ryan Gosling, I don't see a middle-aged surgeon whose life falls apart when a tragic accident robs crushes his hands and ends his career.  I see an up-and-comer: a young man whose drive and determination vastly outweigh his experience.  While a perfect fit for Drive (where they even go so far as to call him "the kid"), Only God Forgives and Fracture, that doesn't translate into an older, wiser and more thoroughly despondant character.  Maybe given another decade or two to become a craglier, harder-eyed old man I could see it being an equally good fit for him, but not in the here-and-now.

Joaquin Phoenix is the possibility that seems to have gotten the most people either excited or upset.  I've seen just as many people declare him the obvious best choice as I have call for absolutely  anybody else in the role.  While certainly not my first choice, I would have been more than happy with a celebrated leading man like Phoenix in the role.

Beyond his obvious talents and experience, he perfectly looks the part: hard-featured, older, but still full of youthful vitality.  He'd play off like a more grounded version of Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, and that's just what the role calls for.  My big issue with Phoenix is that I do not believe his acting range itself is perfectly suited for the Sorceror Supreme.  He is most comfortable with intimate character pieces like Her, Walk the Line and The Master.  When he does branch out into showier roles, regardless of how well he ultimately does, his performances border on caricature.  Although heartbreakingly close to perfect, he would never-the-less be an imperfect fit for Strange.

Ethan Hawke was always my top choice for the Sorceror Supreme.  Although not as celebrated as Phoenix critically, he is never-the-less an exquisite actor who has earned every shred of praise he ever received.  Unlike Ryan Gosling, he is the perfect salt-and-pepper age for the role: not so young as to be unconvincing as an elderly mysanthrope, but not so old as to be unconvincing in such an admittedly physical role.  And, like The Incredible Hulk's Edward Norton, he is an adept screenwriter who has been credited with writing the majority of his own dialog in the highly lauded Before Sunset and Before Midnight.

The problem with Hawke is that he has the lowest public profile of all four candidates.  People will come out in droves to see Ryan Gosling, even if they don't care one way or the other about Marvel's mystical guardian of the Earth.  The same goes for Phoenix and doubly so for Cumberbatch (who seems to be devouring franchises the same way that Unicron devours planets).  Hawke simply would not convince the unconverted to give the film a chance.

The choice that Marvel did go with is my second favorite of the four: Benedict Cumberbatch.  He is perhaps the most talented actor of the group (although I personally think that Hawke would ultimately come out on top), has proven more than capable of handling similarly-styled characters in the past and would bring his own ravenous fanbase to the film who might otherwise stay at home watching rerun of Sherlock.

My only issue with him is that he's like an inverted Joaquin Phoenix: possessing the perfect range and feel for the role, but quite simply not old enough for the part.  Stephen Strange is an aging surgeon, and Cumberbatch is straight-up adorable.  Obviously the part can be tempered to fit whatever advanced age Cumberbatch is capable of pulling off, but the fact remains is that he simply cannot portray as old of a character as Phoenix or Hawke.  Like Gosling, he would be absolutely perfect for the role in the future, just not for the film that they're making in 2016.

When all is said and done, however, I am, in fact, incredibly pleased with the actor that Marvel chose to go with on this project.  While he's not my first choice by any means, he his none-the-less an immensely talented actor with range enough to play the good Doctor and the devilish means of drawing even more fans into Marvel's fold.  I cannot wait to see what Stephen Strange's first outing in the MCU is going to look like two years from now.

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