This list is harder and harder to do with each passing year because there's just so many geek fandoms out there now, some of which are only accessible to specific streaming platforms. With an insanely busy schedule even though I'm recently unemployed, and launching a new travel blog, I've compiled my annual list. Hopefully this coming year I can find time to watch the shows I've been meaning to check out like The Expanse and even Star Trek: Discovery, but if there's anything this last year taught me, it's that life is super unpredictable. And yes, there are geek shows and movies I saw that weren't worthy to make my list.
Of course, you cannot proceed without this:
You have been warned!!!
The Flash - Gorilla Grodd vs. King Shark
Fans of the comic book hero had been waiting for this battle to go down since both characters were introduced, and rejoiced when it finally happened. King Shark has been transformed back into his human self, but when Grodd overpowers Barry and Nora (too bad he didn't kill Nora) and starts telepathically controlling the citizens of Central City, he opts to go back to his shark form to battle Grodd. The battle is a little shoddy due to the limits of the CW's CGI department, but they do the best they can with a limited budget and deliver a very entertaining and suspenseful fight scene.
Legends of Tomorrow - the Monitor is not amused
The Monitor is essentially a minor god in the Arrowverse who pops up from time to time and gives the heroes updates on the upcoming crisis. In the season finale of this show, the Legends use a book that brings to life whatever is written in it and use it to create a theme park to show that the monsters they've been collecting over the season aren't scary, but are good and misunderstood. Now the Monitor makes a surprise appearance and is watching the Legends do a corny action show to introduce the monsters and is clearly not impressed with their shenanigans. The crowd is also not happy and starts booing until another monster not on the schedule pops up: a dragon. Not only is the crowd more entranced, now the Monitor is too. The camera zooms in to him and he's now clearly entertained and eating popcorn while he watches. He's such a serious character, but it's fun to see him enjoy himself and not be as stoic. Check out this clip at 11.57 down below for this scene.
Spiderman: Homecoming - the bus leap
He may be our friendly neighborhood Spiderman, but Peter Parker is still a high schooler even after having been snapped back to reality. Tony left him a pair of glasses that command Stark technology, including satellites and drones, and Peter doesn't take the time to find out all the ins and outs of his incredibly powerful gift. When caught in a compromising position with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by his romantic rival for MJ, Brad, he decides to use the glasses to prevent him from showing the picture he snapped and accidentally calls a drone strike on his class's bus! When he gives the wrong command and the drone sends a missile at the bus, his quick response of shooting web at the steering wheel only destroys the driver's side mirror. With another strike coming, Peter distracts the class by claiming he sees mountain goats, then leaps up as the bus still moves and shoots webbing to stop the drone. It's a slo-mo scene that works to show how quickly Peter can recover from setbacks, but the scene setup shows just how much Peter still needs learn about being a hero.
Shazam - say what?
What a fun surprise this film turned out to be! This unorthodox superhero film did a good job of subverting typical superhero tropes while also integrating elements of horror similar to what Aquaman did last year. One of the ways it went against norms was in the final battle between Shazam and the baddie, Dr. Sivanna. While Shazam's foster siblings take on the seven deadly sins below, he and Sivanna take to the skies. Shazam eventually eludes Sivanna until he finally sees him a good distance away. Sivanna begins to do the stereotypical villain monologue, but he's so far away that Shazam can't hear what he's saying. He constantly tries to reiterate that he can't hear Sivanna, but he can't hear either and just keeps talking. For a moment taking place in a fantasy universe, this is a realistic look at how acoustics would work in this situation.
Jumanji: The Next Level - Milo's hidden stat
Who would have known that the third movie in this trilogy would hold up so well? I would like to give some serious props to Kevin Hart for his turn portraying Danny Glover, and Awkwafina when she had her turn playing Danny DeVito's avatar. Jack Black was just as awesome as the last one, and the entire cast does an amazing job, but those two did exceptional jobs. Now for the best moment from this film: after the original five with Milo and Eddie meet up in-game and realize that five of them need to switch avatars with each other, Eddie takes over the pickpocket character of Ming and Milo takes on the horse that Bethany entered the game as since her original avatar was being played by Fridge. Milo and Eddie are captured by the baddies and when the team splits up, Alex goes to rescue Milo. After two failed attempts that suck up two of his three lives, Alex finally reached Milo and frees him. Before he continues, he taps Milo to see his stats and becomes excited when he sees them but the viewers don't. At the climax of the game, Eddie rides Milo toward the ledge of the fortress to catch the jewel needed to win the game. Eddie begins to panic but Alex confidently tells everyone to wait. Milo leaps over the edge, and then wings spread from his back, exposing that he was a Pegasus all along. It was a beautifully done scene with a twist that had a very satisfying payoff.
Detective Pikachu - the Toterra garden
Tim and Lucy, with Piakuchu and Psyduck in tow, barely manage to escape the compound where Mewtwo escaped when Psyduck becomes too agitated and sends out a psionic wave that prevented the Greninjas from capturing them. Unfortunately, the wave also causes the terrain around them to move. The team struggles to stay together, not knowing what's going on until they are able to see that the reason why the world is moving: they're not a solid earth, they are on the backs of giant Toterras! So much happens in this scene that you really do need to see it because I can't describe it all. Enjoy!
Xfinity TV Presents: The E.T. Holiday Sequel
We are currently being overloaded with long awaited and never-asked-for sequels and reboots left and right. Hollywood, we're tired of this! And now, Xfinity changes everything with a 4 minute commercial about a reunion between E.T. and Elliot. This commercial plays homage to the film by bringing back Henry Thomas meeting E.T. when he drops into Elliot's backyard and meets his kids. In this very brief movie commercial, it hits on all the important parts of a good story: E.T. getting to know Elliot's kids, enjoying Christmas activities with the family, E.T. introducing Elliot to his family by a communication device (that he probably should have had in the actual movie), and then returning to his space ship when the kids take E.T. via bike to the landing site exactly how it was done in the movie. It was absolutely perfect, and it was just a commercial. This was all we needed, and it was provided flawlessly. And don't tell me some of you didn't cry because I know you did!
World of Warcraft - Sylvanas's power play
I haven't been able to play this game in a few years, but I have been keeping track of the expansions and the lore. With Battle for Azeroth changing a lot of character motivations, one of the characters whose alterations weren't making many people happy was with the Banshee Queen, Sylvanas. With the upcoming expansion of Shadowlands, the game developers chose to push Sylvanas slightly out of the way of becoming Garrosh again with the new trailer. She has an epic battle against the new Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon, and pulls some awesome moves to overpower him. When she removes his helmet, all fans collectively held their breath, fearing that she was going to become the new Lich King. Then, as she raises the helmet, she pulls. She breaks the helmet, thereby destroying the Lich King's power over the undead and opening a portal to the lands where the citizens of Azeroth travel after death. While this action is still iffy to most fans (myself included), Sylvanas's expert power play in bringing down the Lich King was quite the suspenseful moment. Here's hoping the game devs make the expansion worth it!
The Orville - the genocide
This second season almost became more Star Trek than the Galaxy Quest-type feel the first season was. In a darker episode, the android, Isaac, freshly in an adorable relationship with Claire, suddenly goes offline and needs to be taken to his home world to be reactivated. Yet as the crew clashes with the Kaylon race, Claire's son Ty goes exploring and finds himself underground. When Claire goes looking for him, they uncover millions of bodies, leading to the discovery that the Kaylons are not the indigenous race of the planet; they completely annihilated their organic creators and took over the planet. This discovery then spurs the entire Kaylon race, including Isaac, into a galaxy-wide invasion to be continued in the next episode. Very few sci-fi shows dare to tackle genocide of this scale, and boy was it a shocker to watch!
Because FOX keeps a tight lid on its clips, here's the trailer for the episode. But if you can check out the entire episode, DO IT. This is insane!
The Boys - I have a baby and I'm not afraid to use him!
In light of all the superhero shows out there, the new show The Boys flips all those tropes on their heads showing the collateral damage of having super powered humans. Of course there's many layers to this show, and it's soon discovered that superheroes are actually being bred to be exploited later in their lives! Well, put my second favorite Kiwi, Karl Urban, on the job and he'll never disappoint. Urban is Billy Butcher and he infiltrates the compound where these kids are being brought up, but he's soon caught by security. Pinned down by the guards, Billy finds the real-world equivalent of Jack Jack from The Incredibles movies and points him in the direction of the guards. Commence a scene of a baby shooting lasers out of its eyes and pulverizing the guards. Played with gleeful gusto by Urban, this scene is one of the best all year!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Yo-Yo stops the virus
This poor team just can't seem to catch a break. Yo-Yo lost her arms last season and broke it off with Mack before this season began, but found a new relationship with a new agent, Keller. After encountering a living virus that was seemingly killed by a special knife from other world travelers, the team makes the dumb mistake of removing the knife and the virus, shaped like a bat-like creature, goes right into Keller's body. As Yo-Yo tries to get him out of the bunker, the virus takes complete control of Keller's body and begins mutating it, then spreads in the form of deadly crystalline matter. There's only one thing to do, and Yo-Yo doesn't hesitate to do it: she retrieves the knife with her super speed and kills her boyfriend. The last bit of humanity in Keller blinks understandably at Yo-Yo as he slips away and she reacts to what she's done. Once again, this series is criminally overlooked with its subtle acting, so I'll put it here. Good job, you two, for a superb performance.
Game of Thrones - Brienne is knighted
Geek opinions have been ruling the internet forums lately, and regardless of how disappointing this final season was, there was one moment that fans collectively agreed was a great one. Fan favorite Brienne has been one of the hardest working characters, but she's never been recognized as a knight because she's a woman. Well, Jamie Lannister decides to change that and bestows that knighthood that has so eluded her throughout the series. And while this is a special scene for her, it's Tormund's response that sells this scene. No one's prouder than him. Too bad she didn't choose him in the end. For a more satisfactory fan made ending, check this out.
Joker - the gun in the children's hospital
Bravo, Joaquin Phoenix! I could easily make a top ten list from this film alone, so I'll stick with one of the most memorable and suspenseful scenes. Arthur is brutally beaten at the beginning of the film and buys a gun off of one of his coworkers for protection. Later, as he's performing as a clown at a children's hospital, the gun falls out of his pants, which he then chases as it slides across the floor. He then sticks it back in his pants and coolly plays it off as nothing when he puts his finger to his lips and goes, "shh." Obviously, he's fired for what happened, but boy, was that a brilliant scene! Other fantastic actors have played the Joker in the past, but only Phoenix could have pulled off this scene correctly.
Stranger Things - Mike is dumped
Ah, young love is so adorable until reality sets in and you realize that teenagers are super immature. After Mike lies to Eleven about Nana being sick and then taking off to the mall where Eleven happens to be, she confronts him as only she can, seeing right through his lie and asking why he's done it. When he doesn't answer, she walks right up to him and tells him, "I dump your ass!" while Foreigner's "Cold As Ice" starts to play. Short and not-so-sweet, that sweet 80s tune captures the essence of what just happened!
The Witcher - Toss a Coin to Your Witcher
I have read the books but not played the games. As a reader, I had in mind that Jaskier would be Donkey-like to Geralt's Shrek, but I wasn't expecting him to have such an amazing voice. With this little ditty he composes after he meets our anti-hero and subsequently survives their capture by elves, he swarmed geek forums and YouTube. Within days, "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher" generated hundreds of videos of the original song, each having been viewed hundreds of thousands of times at the lowest, and by the millions at the most before it had even been out for a week. This incredibly catchy tune has already been covered by numerous YouTube singers and will likely continue to be. The phenomena of this song being just so darn captivating is something that no other geek song has achieved in so short a time frame.
Picard Trailer - Picard's dog
This show isn't set to premiere for another few weeks, but the trailer (which was difficult for me to dig up when it premiered because I was in Italy at the time) shows promise and I am definitely going to check this one out. Those of us who grew up on Next Gen are all too familiar with Picard's moniker for his first officer, Will Riker, "Number One." In the trailer, Picard has a dog named Number One. Cue the squealing! That's almost too adorable for our Shakespeare-loving Captain. And I have to give a minor shoutout to Jeri Ryan returning as Seven of Nine, and she's wearing a loose sweater. Thank God for that, at least Jeri will be more comfortable this time around!
Crisis on Infinite Earths - you can't leave us hanging like that!!!!
The multiverse ended!!!!!!!!! The five-episode crossover blended the casts between the six shows of the Arrowverse: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and Black Lightning, plus a handful of celebrity cameos, such as Burt Ward, Wil Wheaton, Tom Welling, and Kevin Conroy. There were some notable flashbacks as well, with Brandon Routh (FINALLY) returning as Superman, and John Wesley Shipp being referred back to his stint as the Flash in the 80s. For the first three episodes, The Monitor is trying to assemble a team of Paragons, which wind up being White Canary, Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Routh's version of Superman, Martian Manhunter, and a human named Ryan Choi. In the end, the Anti-Monitor, having taken over Harbinger's body, battles and defeats The Monitor, but Pariah uses the distraction to transport the seven paragons to safety where the Crisis event cannot touch them. But once they reach safety, Superman begins to convulse. Kara desperately tries to do something to save him but doesn't know what's going on, so she can only watch in horror as he stills....and is replaced by none other than Lex Luthor. Lex used the Book of Destiny to disguise himself as Superman and has now replaced one of the seven paragons, the only people who can save the universe. Seriously, WTF???? We have to wait till mid-January to find out what happened????
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker - Ben gets the light saber
This is a post about the top geek moment from this film and not my personal opinions on the movie, though I will say that J.J. Abrams really shouldn't have stuck to his plan with The Force Awakens in cashing in on nostalgia after the dumpster fire of undermining expectations that Rian Johnson pulled. There were a few notable moments that were worthy of being on this list, but I will go with one that I think J.J. did well with. The Last Jedi established the bond between Kylo Ren and Rey, and in this one, it expands to where they can exchange items, take them, or even if they accidentally knock over something nearby it will fall near the other. After Kylo redeems himself and goes after Rey to help her defeat Palpatine, he's almost to her when he's ambushed by his own knights. Rey, about to seemingly fulfill Palpatine's wish for her to kill his body so that his spirit can inhabit hers, then brings Leia's light saber behind her back, which Ben is able to take. It may be a little on the predictable side, but Ben handling his mother's blue light saber, showing his true allegiance to the light side and that his mother's death was not in vain, is a very cool moment.
In the meantime, I would like to thank Adam Driver for being the best part of this series. And to John Boyega, I want to thank him for doing his absolute best despite the writers mostly screwing him over. You deserved so much better and were the most adorable fanboy ever!
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Mothra's reveal
I was horribly sick over my birthday in 2018 and came across a network TV channel that showed all the Mothra movies, so of all the monsters that came out of the original Godzilla universe created by Japan, she holds a special place for me. Although used in many adverts for this latest installment in the Monster-verse, it was still a sight to behold, not just in scale, but also in beauty. In a franchise that focuses on the battles of giant monsters, the reveal of a monster aimed in showing its glorious grace rather than how distinctive it is by the scale and type of damage its likely to deal is a smart move in contrasting the types on monsters we'll be seeing.
Zombieland: Double Tap - the Zombie Kill of the Year Award
Man, that Easter Egg ending with Bill Murray was really tempting, but I just had to go with the award Columbus gave out. The award is mentioned earlier in the film, but pops up again when Columbus is about to give his and Tallahassee's Graceland kills as best of the year but finds out he's been usurped by a clever Italian named Matteo Bianchio. Matteo sets up several mannequins, then yells stereotypical tourist phrases to attract the nearby zombies. They attack the dummies while the Italian starts using a tire jack...and knocks over the Leaning Tower of Pisa onto the zombies. Yup, in any best of the year awards, this one takes it.
Oh yeah, and I can't go without mentioning Columbia Picture's clever opening. In the company introductory logo of the Columbia Lady holding her torch, the fanfare music is played, and suddenly some zombies enter the moment! Columbia then takes her torch and quickly dispatches of the zombies. This has to be the best studio opening since the 8bit Scott Pilgrim one with Universal!
Captain Marvel - Hello...kitty?
I enjoyed this film, but it seemed more generic than the majority of the origin stories from the MCU (and Brie Larson should really stop talking). Yet when I reviewed it what stood out to me was the one moment that actually did catch me off guard and impress me. Unfortunately, it doesn't involve Captain Marvel because, while I liked the movie, I found it way too predictable. The one moment that stood out for me was the one with Goose, the Flerken in cat form. It's been established for a while that Goose isn't as cute as he seems, but now that Maria and Nick are out of firepower, it's his time to shine. Four Kree warriors have them cornered, but then tentacles shoot out of Goose's mouth and snap up all four of them. Shot from the side, and then with only sound effects before the tentacles and the warriors are retracted, it's a scene that delivers shock, humor, and little bit of horror at the implications of what you don't see.
The Mandolorian - Mando goes after the Jawas
If there's anything that the Star Wars universe has definitely established, it's that Jawas are horrible people. They steal with no conscience and will do pretty much anything for money. The second episode of the series has Mando returning to his ship after he recovers Baby Yoda only to find that it has been picked apart by Jawas. In a cool scene, he snipes several of them, but they manage to escape in their crawler with all the major parts of his ship so he cannot leave the planet. He follows in pursuit and takes on the crawler by himself! He attempts to scale up the side but is constantly thwarted by crazy driving, Jawas throwing items down at him, and almost being smashed into the side of a rock face like Indiana Jones. And the best part? Baby Yoda's pod is following him the whole time. As Mando risks his life in a very futile manner, there's a baby innocently following because his pod is programmed to follow by Mando's gauntlet. It's a ridiculously fun scene! Unfortunately, Disney is Disney and doesn't like their clips out for free, but YouTuber Charlie of Emergency Awesome covered the episode and briefly looks at this scene. Skip ahead to 5.57 to watch what he shows.
Yesterday - the chat with John Lennon
Oh man, this is easily one of my favorite scenes of the year, regardless of the fantasy element. Jack and a few other people inexplicably find themselves in a world where the Beatles never existed, and he takes that opportunity to take their music and make it his own. After two others who also remember the legendary band meet with him and personally thank him for preserving the Beatles' music, they refer him to this world's John Lennon, who never became a musical icon nor was assassinated. This version of John is living life doing what he wants to be happy, and is succeeding. I don't want to explain this scene because it's just such a beautiful moment with stellar acting and spot-on casting. Enjoy!
Alita: Battle Angel - one limb is all she needs
On a very serious note here, this movie was superior to Captain Marvel in many ways, not the least of which was that Alita was a much more interesting character. Her crowning moment is when she battles Grewishka and is brutally defeated when all but one of her limbs is cut off. Even then, with only one good arm, she still doesn't back down. He taunts her before he intends to dispatch her, but she breaks free, lands perfectly on her one arm, then launches herself upwards, jams her hand into Grewishka's eye, and drops one hell of a comeback on him. This one scene at least cemented Alita as being a better written character than most of the "strong" female characters we've been told to like.
What We Do in the Shadows - the vampire tribunal
If they're played a popular vampire, they were probably here. Excluding the Twilight series (THANK GOD!). This tribunal scene features the original cast of the popular New Zealand film by Taika Waititi, and has a couple of vampires on trial for attempting to kill another, and I'm just going to leave it at that because this clip does enough to explain the situation for itself. This is only a partial clip, but if you aren't sure who the other vampires are, check out this article here.
Broadway's Beetlejuice the Musical - Beetlejuice rides the sandworm
Now here's an unorthodox one! I was blessed this year with the opportunity to see a Broadway musical, and my friends and I landed last-minute tickets to see Beetlejuice the Musical. And wouldn't you know it, they had an absolutely spectacular moment that needed to make this list! The musical does change a lot from the original Tim Burton film, especially in regards to the ending. If you recall, Beetlejuice is defeated when Barbara rides the sandworm into the house where it promptly eats the titular character. In the Broadway version, Beetlejuice is sucked into the afterlife and Juneau is the villain who needs to be defeated. When all seems lost, Beetlejuice comes bursting onto the stage riding the sandworm and waving about a cowboy hat as the sandworm eats Juneau. So here's a behind the scenes look at the show that tells you about riding "Big Sandy!"
And finally...
Avengers: Endgame - the Captain is worthy
I don't know about you, but the entire experience of seeing this movie for me was a treat. I saw it opening day and was in a theater filled with geeks, and I'm telling you, I have never seen a geek reaction to this moment EVER in my entire life! In the battle against Thanos, Thor is armed with both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir, and when they battle, Thor drops Mjolnir and Thanos is about to drive his own axe into his chest. But then Mjolnir movies, knocks Thanos away from Thor, and goes straight back...to Captain America. Even better was the line that even hearkened back to Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Thor says, "I knew it!" Never has a setup that has taken 5 years to come through been so satisfying and epic!
I would also like to mention two fan videos made to further enhance this moment. This first one added dialogue from Odin from Thor's first film, followed by the clip replayed but with Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," notably used in the prior Thor film, Thor Ragnarok.
The next is the final battle from the film masterfully intercut with the rendition of "Holding Out for a Hero" covered by Jennifer Saunders for Shrek 2.
Honorable Not-Quite-Geeky Mention - Aunt Helene in Ready or Not
This film was just okay by me, but I absolutely have to give a big honorable mention to Nicki Guadagni who played the sinister Aunt Helene in this horror comedy. She is one of the most imposing characters I've seen all year in any form of entertainment, and she takes way too much pleasure in the idea of killing her new niece-in-law. I would definitely list this film as one to see for one character, and she would be it. Thank you, Nicki, for a performance that was way more entertaining than expected.
So this is my list for 2019! I've been saying for years that I'm trying to do more writing and I haven't been doing it, so please accept my apologies if you've been wanting to read more. I'll try to knock out at least one more for my geek blog. Otherwise, check out the new travel blog linked above!
Well, it's another year, and another list has been compiled!
Geek culture is constantly on the rise, making it a bit tough to keep up with everything related to sci-fi, fantasy, and everything geek-related, but that's a good thing! While it may be possible to see everything, I personally didn't have the time to do so, but I saw as much as I could. And boy, were there so many great moments to choose from!
Of course, there are some that I did see that didn't stand out, so they are unfortunately not going to be mentioned on this list (sorry Crimes of Grindelwald, too many plot holes). There are also others that I was told to not waste my time on (*coughJurrasicWorldcough*), so I skipped them altogether. But, as always, there is big...
...In effect. And now, let us begin this list with a king!
Black Panther - the coronation ceremony
Well done, Ryan Coogler, well done! Black Panter exceeded
expectations and provided not only a reat MCU flick, but also the best Disney
princess (go Shuri!)! There were many great moments to choose from, but from
the start, I knew which one stood out the most: the coronation scene. It begins
as a massive celebration on a procession of hovercrafts as the Wakandans drain a
river right before it spills over into a waterfall. The Wakandan tribes then
fill up the rocky crevices, cheering as T’Challa comes forth for the ceremony.
The camera pans across each Wakandan tribe, showing the distinct differences in
their clothing, jewelry, and makeup. Each tribe is awash in vibrant colors the
celebrates both their tribe and country, allowing for them to be separate from
the other tribes and yet whole together as a people. And this royal ceremony isn’t
just a party for their new king, it is a celebration of their culture. The
feeling of pride and excitement is beautifully and masterfully captured in this
scene, and in a unique method for every MCU film to date, the viewers can share
in this same sense of enthusiasm. Never has any moment in the MCU felt like it
was welcoming everyone to be part of this world.
The Flash - Iris jumps off a building to save Barry
Iris got a lot of flack after the show's 4th season. She may have had her episode when she was accidentally transferred Barry's powers, but her incorporation as the "Team Flash" lead didn't fly so well with fans. The 5th season, however, seemed to have the idea to break Iris of her do-nothing leadership. When Barry is kidnapped and his powers inhibited by Ragdoll, it's up to Ralph and Iris to save his life. After Ralph drops a fourth wall breaking quip about getting around the city because he "saw it in a comic book," (I personally think he was referencing The Incredibles), they reach the rooftop where Barry is held captive, and Ragdoll shoves him over the edge when Iris puts her gun down. Without a second thought, she leaps right over with him, clutching the key to the power-inhibiting cuffs as she matches Barry's rate of falling. She unlocks the cuffs, and his powers are back in full gear. Her courage and gusto in this scene renewed the faith in her character for many of the show's previously disappointed viewers.
Annihilation - the tattoo appears on Lena's arm
This surprisingly deep and beautiful film didn't do so well at the box office, but it was so mind-boggling that it spawned dozens of videos on YouTube deconstructing and analyzing every scene. While many go off on wild theories, some do ground the film as being a metaphor for suffering. The five main characters enter the "Shimmer," the alien entity that is transforming a section of the world that the military has sent several troops into without any returning. The mutations of the flora and fauna are beautiful yet grotesque, and soon the ladies are starting to notice that they themselves are starting to experience strange mutations too. As it turns out, they each are suffering from different tragedies, ranging from physical they have no control over, to life events, to self-inflicted. One of the ladies, Anya, has a very distinct and noticeable tattoo on her left arm, one that matches the tattoo of the soldier who was featured in a video of the mutations affecting him. She is killed by a bear after experiencing a nervous breakdown, and Josie willingly allows the mutations to claim her and transforms into a human-shaped bush of otherworldly flowers. Lena, totally alone at this point, breaks down and sobs, and as she rises, ready to seek out the last surviving member of her party, Ventress, her left arm comes into view; she has the tattoo now. It's a very subtle change, but makes an impact as it ties together Lena with others in the Shimmer before her.
To better explain this moment, as it's a bit too deep for me, and also because I don't want to completely parrot the words from the gentleman who did do the research, please check out this wonderfully made video by Dan Olson, who does a lovely job of explaining what's really going on in this film, and the significance of the tattoo.
Deadpool 2 - The Vanisher's identity is revealed
Deadpool always delivers, but I need to give the spot from this film to a character not named in the title: The Vanisher. As Deadpool is rounding up a ragtag group of wannabe heroes so he can rescue Russell, he is given a resume for a person simply called "The Vanisher." When he looks up, there's nobody there. Still, Deadpool offers him the job. As his group is getting ready to parachute from a plane, everyone in his team is buckled in, and you notice that one seat is noticeably empty, but the seat belt is still buckled, giving the audience a moment to take in that this is the Vanisher sitting there. As they jump from the plane, the camera follows each member of the team, making sure to focus on the one chute that is also falling in perfect formation. Then, one by one, each of Deadpool's team is killed off by landing in unfortunately circumstances. The one chute is no exception, as it suddenly crashes into a power line, revealing who the invisible Vanisher was all along: Brad. Pitt. This shocking and hysterical reveal isn't just one of the best in this film, it's one of the best of the entire year. Hats off to you, Brad. I didn't know you had it in you.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Simmons tests fate
Another season, another long list of moments to pick from. The Philinda kiss was beyond satisfying, Yo-Yo losing her arms, Mack being the adorable romantic he is and bringing Yo-Yo mechanical arms from an android he killed, Deke being revealed to be Fitz's and Simmons's grandson, Coulson facing off against apparitions of the previous seasons' big bads...these are just a few of the highlights this year, making it another tough season to find the top moment. After learning that in the event of Earth's destruction, she, Fitz, and Yo-Yo will be among the survivors, Simmons adopts the attitude that all three of them are invincible, and they need to convince Mack of this so he can release Fitz (after he allowed his Framework self to take over and forcibly remove Daisy's inhibitor) and they can stop the supposed culprit from destroying the world: the Hydra-raised Ruby. Yo-Yo brings Mack to Simmons where she tells him if she convinces him she is invincible, he needs to let Fitz out. By doing this, she takes 4 small beakers, fills 3 with water, and the other with some clear acid. Yo-Yo mixes up the beakers, and slowly, Simmons drinks from two of the beakers as poor Fitz freaks out in his cell and Mack tries in vain to stop her. When there's two left, she calmly drinks from one, then collapses in pain. Fitz begs to be let out because he knows how to counteract the acid, and just as Mack opens the door, Yo-Yo shoves him inside and locks him in. Simmons then stands, showing that she had faked her reaction to that last beaker she drank from. But before the three move out, she pours out the contents of the last beaker, and sure enough, the liquid starts eating away at the metal tray it's on. This scene makes the list for its superb acting from all four actors, the high stakes, and the payoff to make the viewers believe that maybe Simmons is right; that she, Yo-Yo, and Fitz are invincible.
Legends of Tomorrow - Mallus vs.....Beebo?
Just when you thought this show couldn't get any wackier, this happens. Beebo is the Arrowverse's recurring gag of a toy that appears to be a combination of a Tickle-Me-Elmo and a Furby, and has made several appearances throughout the CW shows since he was introduced last year. A demon called Mallus has been released by Damian Darhk, and the Legends have the totems that, when used all at once, can create a guardian that has the power to defeat Mallus. Their first attempt fails miserably, but upon their second try, Nate pulls a Ghostbusters boo-boo and allows his idea of a guardian to form: Beebo. So this demon, Mallus, who has been imprisoned throughout time and space for his horribly evil nature, is going to take on a giant, lovable toy, to save all of history. In one of the most ridiculous fights ever to be put to TV, the Legends, controlling the giant Beebo, battle Mallus, complete with his ridiculous phrases, bubbly giggles, and movements inspired by The Matrix. And how does it end? Beebo launches Mallus into the air, then, slams him into the ground in a puff of blue, heart shaped dust. Mallus is defeated, and the Legends emerge in a huge crater, covered in blue fur and fluff. For how amazingly silly this boss battle was, it further incites our imaginations, wondering what other goofy match-ups are coming in the future.
Incredibles 2 - the movie goes meta
We've waited 14 years for this film, and while it had its strong points, it didn't come close to surpassing the first film. Still, Brad Bird is an excellent filmmaker, and I wanted to focus on an aspect of his film that went overlooked by most because it perfectly showed the message he was going for. Bird often puts messages in his films, such as the anti-guns in The Iron Giant, and the multiple themes going on in the first Incredibles movie. He demonstrates the underlying message of this sequel in one of the most clever ways possible: by showing. Elastigirl and Evelyn have developed a means of tracking where the Screenslaver is projecting their message, and when they interrupt Helen's interview, she tracks it, then starts to swing her way toward the signal. All the while that she's closing in on the signal, the Screenslaver speaks out on the various ways people are easily distracted and it makes them impressionable. The Screenslaver's speech is perfectly illustrated as their words are simply background noise while the viewers watch Elastigirl close in on them. We're not paying close attention to what we're hearing because we're too engrossed in what we're watching. Brad Bird just showed us what it is that the Screenslaver sees is a problem with society. Well played, Brad.
Solo - a mistake is fixed
I may be a Star Wars fan, but Disney seriously needs to think twice before milking that cash cow beyond its limits. That being said, Solo was definitely not a bad movie, but the Star Wars universe would still be complete without it. There were a few moments that stood out, but I chose the moment that sticks it to George Lucas's face: Han shoots Beckett in the middle of his monologue. Back in the late 1990s, Lucas added new scenes and effects to the original trilogy, adding an absolutely deplorable moment in A New Hope, instead of Han shooting Greedo in the Mos Isley cantina first, Lucas edited the scene to show them shooting at each other at the same time, and Han moving his head out of the way at the last second. This is a moment that never should have happened and has inspired a line of products stating, "Han Shot First." This is why the moment where Han shoots Beckett is one of the best moments of the year: Ron Howard undoes the stupid decision Lucas made 20 years ago and shows that Han is the type that will always shoot his threats first. Thanks, Ron.
Avengers: Infinity War - Scarlet Witch does what no person should ever endure
It was tough to single out one moment from this intense film, but upon taking a closer look at this particular moment, I realized that it really was far more important than most viewers realized. Scarlet Witch received a lot of flack in Captain America: Civil War for her powers being too powerful and caused her to go on the run with Vision in tow. When the threat of Thanos is realized, Wanda is told that she has the power to destroy one of the Infinity Stones and prevent him from carrying out his genocidal plan. During the battle of Wakanda, it finally falls on Wanda to destroy the Stone, which is also the life force behind Vision, after Shuri was prevented from attempting to remove it with the chance of him being able to live without it. In an agonizing scene, Wanda, standing between Thanos and Vision, is charged with one of the most difficult actions ever put to film: hold off one of the most powerful beings in the universe while destroying a nearly indestructable Infinity Stone, which also means certain death for the man she loves, when she's already lost her own family and the world has marked her for a villain. With tears in her eyes and the weight of the universe on her shoulders, she manages to succeed, if only for a brief moment.
Ready Player One - Daito enters the battle
This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I'm very glad that author Ernest Cline was involved with the project, or else the (sadly) necessary changes would have ruined the whole thing. The Shining sequence was brilliant, the Iron Giant segment was awesome, but I'm going to give the best moment to Daito in this list. Daito was killed midway through the book in both the OASIS and reality, so it was nice to see him survive the film. First of all, when I saw this movie in the theaters, I was nerding out so much when I saw that they kept the Sorrento piloting MechaGodzilla scene that I wasn't ready for the moment-topping action. Daito has been meditating in the real world while the rest of his team has been battling Sorrento and the IOI Sixers, and when he enters the OASIS, he is totally calm and ready for the fight. As the camera focuses on MechaGodzilla crushing his opposition, you see a ship appear in the sky above him: SERENITY.
And then it gets better.
Daito's avatar, in full samurai armor, opens up his inventory and selects his fighter bot to combat MechaGodzilla: GUNDAM RX-78-2.
Nerds and geeks alike pretty much couldn't take much more awesomeness than this. Of course, Daito/Gundam unleashes the most damage on Sorrento/MechaGodzilla, and when he can no longer keep the Gundam form, he presents his middle finger to Sorrento before his blows Daito's avatar away. I just can't even anymore. This was incredible.
Ant-Man and The Wasp - Luis's storytelling skills never fail
Truthfully, this is one I wanted to put on my list in 2015, but that moment between Scott and Cassie was too precious to skip. So now that Ant-Man has come back, I absolutely have to give this spot to Luis. Luis is one of the greatest side characters in film history, and his storytelling skills are one of the highlights of the year, not just in geek films. Luis, Dave and Kurt are held hostage by Sonny's goons and he is chosen for interrogation to find out where Scott is. After a fun bit of whether or not the drug used is a truth serum, Luis jumps right into how he first met Scott in prison, and when told he doesn't need to go back that far, Dave pops in with one of the best lines in the MCU: "you put a dime in him, you gotta let the whole song play up." So I'm not going to say much else because Michael Pena can speak for himself as to why this scene is one of the best this year.
Although I will add, watch Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly as they reenact Luis's version of the story, it really adds to this scene.
Wreck-It-Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet - Ralph's final trope
Ralph certainly meant to live up to the title of his second movie. To raise money for a new steering wheel for the Sugar Rush video game, Ralph, exploring the internet, strikes up a partnership with Yesss, who will pay him for the likes he earns on videos and gifs. In order to achieve this, Ralph releases videos of himself playing with cats, cooking, going Bob Ross (complete with the fro!) with painting, and allowing himself to get hurt in silly pratfalls. He hits on just about every trope and cliche found in popular videos across the internet. But if you left the theater right after the movie ended, you missed the final one that, when you really think about it, is nuts that you didn't think of him doing this too. Ralph, in the post-credits scene, Rick-Rolls the audience. Yes, he actually sings, "Never Gonna Give You Up." It's a true ending that lives up to the title of the film and brings the most appropriate true ending. And better is that Rick Astley shared his reaction video!
Venom - Venom's temporary host
This film may have ranked low with critics and mixed reactions from audiences, but we gotta hand it to Tom Hardy for this role. If it weren't for him, this film wouldn't have worked in any way possible, and completely lacking any fun at all. Despite the film itself being fairly weak, the conversations between Eddie and Venom were a hoot. The scene that stood finds Eddie, having been separated from Venom, being led out to the woods to be executed after being interrogated by Drake/Riot for Venom's whereabouts. As Drake's goons are readying to shoot him, one by one, they are sucked away by Venom, but Eddie doesn't know where Venom is coming from. Down to the last one, Venom finally appears...in a woman's body. Venom chomps off the dude's head and throws the body away, and as Eddie vocally admires his appreciation for Venom's new form, specifically She-Venom, she grabs him and kisses him passionately, and Venom transfers himself back to Eddie, revealing that his temporary host was Anne, Eddie's ex-fiancee that Venom is shipping hard. Once Venom is completely absorbed back into Eddie, Anne suddenly reacts in shock at the revelation that she bit off a guy's head. Not only is this one of the best kisses in geek history, it's wrapped up nicely with Michelle Williams' quip.
Lost in Space - Robot saves Will
There's a right way and a wrong way to reboot a franchise. The Lost in Space reboot is a rare example of the right way to do it. From the first episode, there were twists and turns regarding all the characters, not the least of which was the clever means of having Doctor Smith being a woman. One of the standout parts of this series is the relationship between Will Robinson and Robot, having the two share a special bond after Will saves Robot's life, which in turn causes him to become his companion. When the Robinsons try to free the Jupiter 24 from the ice, Will and Robot are trapped in a closet that has no safety harnesses. After the very narrow escape before the ice crushed the ship, Mrs. Robinson runs off to find Will. Will is found in the closet, clinging to Robot, who is comforting him in one of the most human forms he can take. It's a very sweet and standout moment, demonstrating how strong they've become thus far, and setting up the upcoming emotional gut punch when Will has to order him off a cliff later.
This clip is currently unavailable, but here's a clip focusing on Will and Robot's friendship.
Daredevil - Matt's faith is restored
This third and, sadly, final season for Matt Murdoch has been a roller coaster from start to finish. As a superhero that has the uncommon character trait of being religious, faith played a major role this time around. Although the fight choreography exceeded itself yet again, and Daredevil finally had that showdown with Kingpin, it's the moment that bring Matt back to his Catholic roots that stands apart. One of Kingpin's goons was Ray Nadeem, whose conscience was troubled by his deals with the baddie. He finally can no longer take the guilt of his actions and then makes the fatal decision to testify in court against Kingpin, and is promptly shot afterwards. However, Ray's complete commitment to doing the right thing in putting Kingpin away was enough for Matt to reevaluate his beliefs, and his faith is later restored. Matt is a good example of someone rightfully questioning and losing their faith after traumatic events, and Ray's self sacrifice provides Matt the convincing means to believe again. For a more in-depth look at Matt's spiritual journey, as well as this particular scene, please check out the video below.
Tomb Raider - Lara's first kill
In terms of an origin story, Tomb Raider did a fine job of following Lara Croft as she became the adventurer we know her to be. Undoubtedly, the most important scene in the film is the one where she's practicing MMA and has to tap out when she's bested by her opponent. After surviving a narrow escape from Trinity, Lara is tired and injured, hiding out in the wild. One of the Trinity goons finds her and attempts to take her in, but she fights back, using her MMA training. She fights for her life while he fights in order to subdue her. She soon reaches the best possible position and has him under her, not realizing that she is holding his mouth and nose under the water of the oversized puddle. Very slowly, he begins to succumb to the lack of oxygen, and yet Lara still holds him until he goes limp, and one last bubble breaks the surface of the water. It's then that Lara realizes that the guy is dead, and she lets him go, looking vulnerable and shocked as she mentally digests what she's just done. The scene is sold by Alicia Vikander's incredible performance, and the realism in both the survival instincts taking over Lara, and the perfect choreography that adds to the depth and emotion of the scene.
Black Lightning - Black Lightning meets Thunder
And the biggest oops of the year goes to....Jefferson. Until recently, Jefferson had been in retirement as Black Lightning for years, and completely unaware than his metahuman powers could be passed down to his daughters. His elder daughter, Anissa, has discovered that she has super strength and is bulletproof, but she has only told her mother, Lynn, and doesn't know that her father is Black Lightning. Anissa, under the hero name of Thunder, jumps into action when Lynn is beset by thugs, and takes them out easily, then goes to Lynn to free her from her restraints. But then, Jefferson appears to do just the same: save Lynn. Unbeknownst to him, Anissa isn't the enemy, so he blasts her with his lightning. The two do battle as Lynn, still bound and gagged, watches in horror as her husband and daughter blindly battle each other. Also note actress Christine Adams' face as she tries to make eye contact with Jefferson before he engages Anissa; she does try to stop him, but is powerless to do so. It's a great scene in that the two are both fighting each other for the same reason, and how neither recognized the other until the fight is over.
Doctor Who - bubble wrap
Well, they've done it again. Doctor Who has a habit of taking the most random, everyday items and making them terrifying. From stone angels to libraries, gas masks, and even breathing, this show can and will make just about anything simple deadly. So what does The Doctor do this time? Turn bubble wrap into a deadly device. In a future where a company called Kerblam acts like a futuristic Amazon, one of the workers that's caught Ryan's attention, a young lady named Kira, opens a box and pulls out the bubble wrap. Poor Ryan watches in horror as Kira slowly fingers one of the bubbles in the wrap, and then pops it, promptly causing an explosion that incinerates her. Thanks a lot for making us scared of bubble wrap now, writers! Geez...
The Walking Dead - the torch is passed
We lost Rick this year, but since Andrew Lincoln is signed on for more TWD projects, we will definitely be seeing more of him in the future. So.....what to do while we wait? Well, we follow after the newly appointed lead. After Rick's exit, the show jumps ahead 6 years to find a new group of heroes fleeing from zombies, all of which are fighting back, but despite their resistance, are still being swarmed by zombies. Just as everything looks grim, several are shot, clearing a way for these survivors to escape. A voice calls from afar, telling them to come, and when they do, they introduce themselves to their savior: a 7-year-old girl, armed to the teeth. When they ask who she is, the camera cuts to Carl's familiar hat on the ground, which she picks up and puts it on, saying her name: "Judith. Judith Grimes." Moving the show forward 6 years was a risky choice, and putting the role of primary hero in the hands of Rick's (step) daughter was just as bold.
Supernatural - nobody puts Baby in a hypothetical situation
If there's one constant in Dean's life, it's his love for his Impala, Baby. There was even an entire episode that was filmed from Baby's point of view, demonstrating just how important of a car this bad girl is. In this episode, Sam is trying to get Dean to think hypothetically, and uses the example of "if somebody stole the Impala, what would you do?" Dean freezes with a deadpan face, and with that face translating through his voice, he gives his one word response: "murder." The dialogue continues, Sam still trying to get his point across, but Dean is still bent on making it clear what his actions would be should his previous Baby be taken from him. Brilliant moment, and great acting!
My Hero Acadamia: Two Heroes - David's picture
The popular anime had a film released this year, focusing on Deku and Allmight attending a superhero conference, and meeting up with Allmight's college buddy, David. David is later revealed to be the source behind a coup that incapacitated Allmight, leaving Deku, David's daughter Melissa, and his other friends from school to try to save the day. David's only motivation was to cause a distraction so he could use some technology to help save Allmight, not knowing that he is willingly transferring his One for All powers to the quirkless Deku. Then, the head goon, Wolfram, rises up, revealing that he had a master plan all along and shoots David. David watches in horror as Wolfram's powers amass, but Allmight and Deku are able to defeat him with the infamous "United States of Smash" attack. As David watches, he released that he snapped a picture of Deku during the fight. He had always had a picture of Allmight in his heyday on his phone, looking at it from time to time to remind him of his goal to stabilize his friend. With the picture of Deku in its place, he then realizes that Deku is meant to be the next Allmight, having not yet been told, or even figured it out until then. He smiles when he finally understands that his friend knows what he's doing, and at the revelation that Deku will eventually be what Allmight was. As one who's not too familiar with the anime, I still found this moment powerful and touching, showing how far a best friend would go to save his, and secure in the knowledge that in the end, his hero is making way for the new and very worthy hero.
The clip is currently unavailable, but here's a review of the film from one of my favorite channels.
Also, Melissa was an awesome character. Just sayin'.
A Quiet Place - world building done right
This surprise hit is filled with details in every scene that show exactly what this world is like, where monsters that cannot see but can hear even the smallest sound terrorize the country. In a perfect example of "show, don't tell," everything you need to know about how the Abbott family survives in this deadly environment, and how the world has adapted to this new threat. The barefooted Abbotts are silently raiding an abandoned store for cough medicine, with the aisles mostly picked clean except for a few foods that are too noisy for consumption. One of the boys, Beau, has found a toy rocket, but since it makes noise, his dad tells him he needs to leave it behind. His deaf sister, Regan, has a brief chat with him, removes the batteries, then hands him the rocket, signing for him to keep it their secret. But as they leave, Beau snatches up the batteries and installs them as he lags behind the rest of his family. When he turns on this rocket, it wails out basic toy sounds, and he is totally enraptured, but the rest of his family spins around in utter horror. Lee tries to run to him, but it's too late, one of the monsters gets to him right before the camera cuts away. In just under 5 minutes, the audience is completely aware of the circumstances and dangers of this world, setting everyone off on a crazy ride.
Aquaman - Mera utilizes wine
A fun and surprisingly beautiful movie, Aquaman gave us a better introduction to Arthur's eventual lady love, Mera. Mera is not only a cool character, she also has the underused ability to control water, particularly in being able to draw it from any source she can find from. After she and Arthur are attacked in Sicily, they are split up while four Atlanteans follow after Mera. After a crazy rooftop chase, Mera crashes through one roof, then takes out one the soldiers responsible. Analyzing her surroundings, Mera finds that there are wine bottles all around. When two more soldiers track her, her eyes begin to glow as they do when she channels her powers, and she draws upon not just the water in the wine, but the wine itself to create burgundy spears. The soldiers are skewered by her wine shards and promptly defeated. Mera's distinct power over wine and being able to utilize it the way she did was a clever means of subverting the expectation the audience had on her powers of water.
Since this film just came out, the clip is not yet available. I was able to find a TV spot that does have pieces of this particular scene, so I guess it'll have to do!
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth - the Daughter of the Sea
Blizzard's release of the latest WOW expansion, Battle for Azeroth, had so many pre-release products going out, mostly in the teasing betas, the Before the Storm book (good read, if you're into WOW), other short stories and artwork sold with the collector's edition package, and finally, the Warbringers shorts. Some of these Warbringers were released before the previous expansion, Legion, but this particular patch was going to focus on the ladies: the Horde Warchief Sylvanas, the fallen High Elf-turned-Naga Queen Azshara, and the mage who sacrificed nearly everything for peace only to lose it all, Jaina Proudmore. In trying to bring peace between the Alliance and Horde, Jaina lost her love, Arthas, whom she also had a hand in defeating, her own father when he refused to stop attacking the Horde leader Thrall in a time of peace, her entire city of Theramore, her protege Kindi, and because she didn't take part in the battle against the Legion at The Broken Shore, her own king. Few characters in Azeroth have dealt with the loss that Jaina has. In her Warbringers short, she sings a shanty that was written about her at the time her father was killed by the Horde, which was was responsible for, telling all who hear to beware "the daughter of the sea" and telling the tale of how her father was slain as she let him die. The song continues as Jaina is rowed out to sea by a walking skeleton and tormented by the lost souls of people who died that fateful day. As the song begins to wrap, Jaina raises her father's ship, previously lost to the depths, and says, "I'm listening now...father." The skeleton boatman comes in to focus, then fades away, showing that her father himself took her to his ship's final resting place. Now that it's been surfaced, Jaina takes command of the ship, finishing the song herself. It ends with: "beware, beware, the daughter of the sea, beware, beware....of me." This entire short, from start to finish, was one of the most satisfying, exciting, and overall best non-game items that Blizzard ever released (the later released short, "Old Soldier" about Saurfang is an extremely close second). Jaina's back, and this time, she's holding nothing back.
And let's not forget her awesome moment of enabling that boat to fly and fire arcane cannons during the siege of Lorderon!
iZombie - the melodramatic response
This is a first time entry on my list, having finally been able to actually remember to watch this show. Liv's most recent brain meal belonged to a hopeless romantic named Annie, who was supposed to meet with another hopeless romantic when she was killed. Liv meets this date, Allan, played by Sam Huntington, when she interviews him for info on the murder. Allan, completely in love with Annie, has no idea that his dream girl is dead. When Liv reveals this to him, Allan spreads his arms, and wails the most melodramatic, heart-wrenching "NOOOOOOO!" you will ever see. It's a brilliant performance from the delightful Huntington that stands out as one of this year's best geek moments.
The exact clip is sadly unavailable, but here's a short one that comes afterward that still shows how well Sam fits into this role.
The House with a Clock in its Walls - Cate Blanchett takes out the pumpkins
This movie could have been much better without all the body fluid jokes. The premise was interesting, and the banter between Jack Black and Cate Blanchett was spot on, but the film ultimately failed to impress. However, Cate is someone I haven't had a chance to put on my list for a while, and she is just too awesome to pass up. Having recovered her dormant powers, Mrs. Zimmerman is ready to battle the Izards and prevent them from destroying the world. As she approaches the house with Jonathan and Lewis in tow, their path is blocked by scary jack-o-lanterns. Raising her wand, encased in an umbrella, Mrs. Zimmerman goes into terminator mode and takes out each and every one of those creepy pumpkins. In the hands of a less skilled actress, this moment wouldn't have been that great, but this being Cate Blanchett, her demeanor demonstrates the high stakes of the situation with just a hint of fun, and she sees each and every one of those pumpkins as the extreme threat they are in this universe. Ain't nobody gonna mess with Cate, she's the real deal! This moment is briefly shown at the end of this clip.
The Big Bang Theory - Sheldon sees Amy's wedding dress
The long-suffering Amy is finally marrying Sheldon, so naturally, she wants everything to be perfect. As she tries on wedding dress after wedding dress, it's easy to tell that it's going to be a difficult choice for her because she looks lovely in all of them. And then...she finds the one that she wants: the ugliest, fluffy Southern Belle-esque monstrosity that makes her look like a walking cake. Bernadette doesn't have the heart to tell her how awful it is when Amy buys it, but later in the episode, she comes clean, and Amy is distraught. She tries the dress on at home to see it again, and Sheldon happens to walk in. His reaction: he gasps, and says, "WOW! You look beautiful!" Amy has caused much positive growth in Sheldon's life, and this reaction to this horrendous dress more than makes up for it. Amy may have horrible taste in dresses, but Sheldon loves it. And that's enough for all of us!
Anna and the Apocalypse - "Soldier at War"
I had to double check on the year this film was released. Technically, it was released at several European film festivals in 2017, but it was released to the public in 2018, so in my mind, that counts. I was unfortunately unable to see it since it wasn't released in my area, but I did listen to the soundtrack, which did feature some pretty catchy tunes. One that stood out to me was the song "Solider at War," performed by Ben Wiggins, about taking the lead in smashing the zombies invading Scotland. The music video features the song intercut with scenes from the movie itself, showing the various zombies being dispensed with in entertaining fashions, students dancing in the streets amid zombies running amok, and, my personal favorite, zombies popping out of random places, the best being a ball pit. I hope to see this film so I will be able to enjoy all these sequences in the order they were meant to be seen, but so far, "Soldier at War" is one of the best geek songs to be released this year.
Arrow - the final jail fight
First of all, Daredevil clearly had the best single shot fight scene of the year, but they have a much bigger budget and can do more with their choreography. But ever since Oliver was jailed at the end of the sixth season, there have been fight scenes galore during his time in the slammer that, on a much smaller budget, are still just as impressive. Just when you thought you might get sick of them, Oliver is cleared for release and all the prisoners riot. Although Oliver is on his way to leaving as a free man, he and Ben notice that there are some prison guards, some of which have abused him during his time, are being brutally beaten within an inch of their lives. Oliver won't leave those guards behind, so he and Ben advance toward them. They use two different levels to reach the incapacitated guards, and the camera changes back and forth in a single shot, following Oliver and Ben as they make their way toward the guards, using the quickest and most effective combat strikes and moves as they go. The use of the camera and the fact that this was a 40 second sequence shot flawlessly with believable choreography makes for a smooth scene that doesn't make the viewer dizzy, but enhances the action without looking too cliche or ridiculous.
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies - Robin's nightmare
Now here's a moment that came out of nowhere! Robin is always idolizing Batman, and in this film, he falls asleep, dreaming of the day that Batman names him his successor. He begins to dream in a sequence that completely rips off The Lion King! Instead of a sun rising, the Bat-signal is shown, and the various Justice League members head for Gotham City, some actually chewing on grass, in various animal formations to meet for this momentous event. Then, when Batman reveals Robin, he holds him out over the city the same way Rafiki presented Simba. However, instead of all the heroes cheering, Flash has to point out that Robin isn't a new hero, he's just a sidekick. Poor Robin despairs as Batman falls to peer pressure and just drops Robin off the side of the building, prompting him to awaken. It's common for animation studios to brazenly take massive shots at Disney, but when they're done right, they're amazing. And this was one of them!
Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse - Spider-Ham takes on Scorpion
Can everyone agree that this movie was ridiculously amazing? There was so much fun to the story, the voice acting was spot on, and they used the exact right amount of different variations of Spiderman across the multiverse to not feel too overdone. One of the most interesting choices of Spiderman was Spider-Ham, an actual pig with the powers of the radioactive spider. Being that he is an anthropomophic pig, Spider-Ham/Peter Porker is the silliest of the incarnations. During the final boss battle as the various Spider-Heroes duke it out against Kingpin, Doc Ock, and Scorpion, the latter is dangerously close to taking out Spider-Girl. And out of nowhere....and anvil drops on his head. Spider-Ham is also imbued with the comedic powers of a Warner Brothers cartoon character. This moment literally comes out of nowhere and makes it to the top of the list from this film.
Honorable Mention: Weezer's Africa music video
Weezer is a band I enjoy but not one I follow on a regular basis. Upon seeing that they had released a music video for their cover of Toto's "Africa," I wasn't too interested because I hate covers. But then I saw the full title of the video: it featured "Weird" Al Yankovic! The video is incredibly simple, with the band members just playing their instruments and singing, although lead singer Rivers Cuomo isn't as well lit as everyone else. When the lighting improves, Rivers no longer has his guitar, but an accordion. He was never there at all, Al was! He was lip-synching and faking the guitar playing right from the beginning. And, in true Al fashion, goes to town with his accordion while still lip-syching, and the rest of the band follows suit. To mix a performance like this with such a beautiful song as "Africa" seems completely ridiculous, almost on the verge of sacrilegious. But boy, there was only one was to make it work, and I'll be danged if these lads didn't do it!
Dishonorable Mention: Pacific Rim: Uprising - Mako is killed off
I will admit, I didn't even see this movie. I did see the first, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but when I found out that they actually killed Mako, I refused to see it. Come on, she was a great character, and the filmmakers didn't even allow for her character's death to have an impact on the rest of the movie. So not cool. I'm not even putting a clip of this up, it sucks that much!
Biggest Letdown: Incredibles 2 - where's the greatest good we are ever gonna get?
I said this with the previous mention of the Screenslaver moment: we waited 14 years for this movie. We were promised more Honey. She had only 2 lines. Honey, in the first Incredibles movie, set herself as one of the all-time greatest off camera characters to grace the silver screen. But....only TWO lines???? We deserved more Honey, and she was too good of a character established in a short scene to just give two measly lines to!
Brad, PLEASE! Was giving Honey a few more lines really too much to ask for???? She was eventually included in a deleted scene on the Blu-Ray, and the scene wasn't that great, but Brad was definitely capable of doing something better with her.
Personal Favorite: The Flash - Ralph picks the best soundtrack
Ralph Dibney, the Elongated Man, has been a fun addition to Team Flash, although he has had a tough time of fitting in with the group. In the episode's 100th episode, there's an elaborate plot to assemble a weapon to best this season's big bad, Cicada, so Barry and his daughter, Nora, go back in time to several key moments in the show's history. As they're about to run back to the past, Ralph adds to the moment by striking up Huey Lewis and the News' classic Back to the Future tune, "Back in Time." As both a geek and classic rock lover, I've been waiting for a moment like this in another geek-related show or movie for a long time. And Ralph speaks up for those of us who have been waiting: "when am I gonna get the chance to do that?"
And because I can, here's my favorite Ralph quote from 2017: "For the love of Jeff Goldblum, stop!"
Cutest Moment: Legends of Tomorrow - Brandon Routh sees his wife
Brandon Routh's real-life wife, actress Courtney Ford, was established last year as villain Damian Darhk's daughter, Nora, and came back again in this current season. Naturally, there was chemistry between the two characters whenever this couple played opposite each other. By the end of last season, it was clear that Ray fell hard for Nora. In the 4th season premiere, Ray and the rest of the time are high on a unicorn's magic haze, and Ray, under the influence, hallucinates that he sees Nora. The look on his face when he says, "she's here!" it too bloody adorable, and when the camera cuts to his vision of her, then back to him, it makes you wonder if that's the look he had on his face when she walked down the aisle at their wedding. I'm not much of a romantic, but man, it is so rare to find married actors who go full out like that!
And now, for the best moment of the year!
Incredibles 2 - Jack Jack vs. the Raccoon
You all knew this was coming. And this scene is so amazing it needs no introduction. Enjoy watching it again!
So that was 2018! Hopefully I'll have the time to look into more TV shows this year, and I apologize for not putting up any other blogs despite my promising to do so. I will do my best to have at least 1 up before year's end, should me year be less eventful than 2018 was.
Geek culture is on the rise and there's no stopping it!
So many sci-fi, fantasy, and overall geek shows and films came it this year that it was tough to catch all of them! And the great moments just keep coming, showing off coolness, humor, excitement, tragedy, and overall ingenuity.
This has been an exceedingly busy year for me, so there are many items that weren't able to make this list simply because I didn't have the time, so if I missed one of your favorite shows or movies, or just missed a particularly good one, then I apologize. You can always create your own list too, you know!
And for the record, as with all of my lists each year, and massive...
...Is in effect.
Let's start it off with...
Supernatural: Sam and Dean's Dad left Lucille behind
It only felt right to hearken back to one of the items that made the list last year. My choice from The Walking Dead in 2016 was Negan's piece about Lucille, his barbed-wire bat that knocked off the cliffhanger for that particular season. The actor playing Negan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, also played Sam and Dean's dad, John, on Supernatural. After having taken out a mess of various monsters, Dean and Sam come home, with a blood-covered Dean holding none other than Lucille, tossing it onto the table stating, "dad would've loved this." The geek world went nuts with this reference!
Lego Batman: The Butt-Mobile
Easily one of the funniest movies to come out this year, Lego Batman hit on every single Batman-related trope, going back to the Adam West TV series and going to the new DC Cinematic Universe version. In an extremely childish joke that was also one that was surprisingly never used before, the Joker takes over the Bat Cave and starts rearranging it as only he can do. And the best moment comes when he actually starts rubbing his backside all across the surface of the Batmobile, calling it the "Butt-Mobile." Why this never came to mind before, we'll never know. But it was absolutely perfect.
There was one big missed opportunity though: Robin's radio should've played Seal's "Kiss From a Rose."
Powerless: what rhymes with java?
This short-lived comedy series about an insurance company that deals with the damages from superheroes and villains may not have garnered enough ratings to earn a second season, but it certainly had its fair share of laughs. One particular moment that stands out has Ron, Teddy and waiting for Batman to show because, despite any damages, this is frakking Batman we're talking about here. Van, in particular, is excited for this meeting and has shown up in a Robin costume that blends the 60s TV show look with the awful Joel Schumacher version. As a shadow makes its way across the alley, the boys excitedly coalesce to meet their hero, when it's revealed that it's really just a thug with bad hair. Van, attempting to become the hero of the scene, tries out an 60s-era pun to take out the thug with, "what rhymes with java? Lava!" and proceeds to throw the contents of his coffee cup on the thug, which turns out to be iced coffee and doesn't burn him at all. The geeks are then relegated to emptying their pockets to this guy. This ridiculous scene was brought to us by the amazing Alan Tudyk, who doesn't appear on my lists nearly as much as he should (and that's entirely my fault!).
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: the wrath of Ophelia
Hats off to Mallory Jansen for creating four completely different versions of Aida, the android, who was also Madam Hydra in the Framework, the real world model Agnes, and Ophelia, the Inhuman whose body she created and transferred her consciousness into. As Madam Hydra, she rewired the minds of Coulson, Mace, May, Mack, and Fitz to adapt to the world she created, mostly changing Fitz into a merciless killer and her lover. Now outside of the Framework and in the real world as Ophelia, she adapts to learning what it means to be truly alive and human, saving Mack's life before her base is flooded. She fully expected Fitz to continue loving her, but hadn't considered that his heart would always below to Simmons. In another amazing action job from Ian de Caestecker (as you who have read this blog before are well aware of my total love for this dude's acting), Fitz technically "breaks up" with her, Aida flies into a rage that combines a woman's hellish fury with the intensity of a horror movie stalker and a childish tantrum as she masses her powers and breaks free of the dampening field meant to subdue Inhumans to destroy her way out of the base. Everything in this scene, from Ophelia's facial expressions, to the 360 degree camera turns, to the lighting brought a new aspect of terror to the show. This overlooked performance by Jansen makes the list for this year in leaving an effect on viewers that left them a least a little shaken at the pure evil Ophelia allows herself to become.
The Flash - Iris's message to Barry
For months, viewers of The Flash had seen the vision from the future that Barry witnessed of Savitar killing Iris. It was shocking when it first aired, but being constantly shown that scene as Barry tries to find ways to change the outcome made it less relevant, giving me personally a concern on how it would go over when the moment finally came. Give those writers credit, they managed to not only make the viewers feel when the death happened, but also managed to up the feels. At the beginning of the episode, Iris takes Barry's phone and starts recording, but the scene changes before it shows what she says. Skip to the ending where Savitar is about to stick Iris with his blade: the scene interchanges with Iris's message, which is her saying her wedding vows. They intercut as solemn music plays and Barry tries in slow-motion to get to her in time to save her life, only to watch her die for real this time. That addition of her wedding vows sealed this scene as one of the best moments of the year and cued tears from even the toughest viewers.
And for the record, it turns out it wasn't really Iris, she was switched with H.R. before Savitar could catch her.
Doctor Who - the Christmas armistice
The long-awaited Christmas special, which brought about the new Doctor, Jodie Whitaker, was also the final episode penned by Stephan Moffat and had more than enough twists to satisfy Whovians. Before the Doctor's regeneration, he and his first incarnation return a Captain from WWI to the place on the battlefield where he's supposed to die (it's also revealed that he is Brigadier General Stewart's grandfather), but the Doctor fudges the event just a little bit so that the Captain is returned right before the infamous Christmas Armistice, which helped to bring about the end to WWI, begins. As the Captain and a German officer shakily level their guns at one another, the Germans begin singing "Silent Night," which causes both men to lower their guns. After finishing the first verse, the Allied troops begin singing along in English. From there, both sides put aside their guns and begin to celebrate Christmas together, and the Captain survives instead of meeting his end there. This wildly popular, and practically unheard of, event is one in our world history that doesn't get enough credit for the way it brought about the end to fighting. Only Doctor Who would have taken that chance and brought a historical moment like this to our screens in a way that touched all our hearts and see what the impact of Christmas can have throughout time.
The clip is currently unavailable, but here's a brief special on how it was done.
The 100 - Octavia finds out who she is
A series I hadn't been able to catch up till this year, The 100 features Octavia, one of the Sky People who had never felt that she had fit in, and was constantly trying to find her place in the world, from having a past life being named "Death from Above," to dealing with a complicated relationship with her brother and having lost her lover. Choosing to live in isolation, she set up a residence outside Arkadia with her new lover, Ilian, and tried to stay out of everyone's way to live life as she chose. When Grounders come to reclaim Ilian, they try to bully Octavia into giving him up, then full on attack her despite her warnings to not provoke her. Armed with only a garden hoe, she makes the decision to embrace the fight within her midway through the attack and fights off and kills all three Grounders. When Ilian returns to see the carnage that ensued, Octavia walks right past him, stating, "this is who I am." In that instance, she stops running from her troubles and returns to Arkadia to become the leader that she is needed to be. Though the methods are certainly questionable, it was satisfying to watch Octavia finally come to terms who she is and finally taking the stand to be that person.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Ego becomes The Hoff
The much anticipated sequel may not have been as good as the first, but held its own with many moments that were difficult to choose from. It would be easy just to make a list about Yondu with all his scene-stealing moments, but I opted for my personal favorite. In the film, Peter makes mention that growing up without a father on Earth, he would keep a picture of David Hasselhoff in his wallet and tell the kids he went to school with that the Hoff was his real dad. Cut to Peter facing off against his actual dad, Ego, after learning that Ego had Peter's mother killed. Peter blasts Ego with his gun, and as Ego regenerates and gets on Peter's case about the thanks he gets, he assumes the form of none other than the Hoff before taking on his original form in Kurt Russell. In my opinion, this scene and the one where Baby Groot brings the severed toe to Yondu and Rocket were two of the most overlooked scenes of the entire film.
War for the Planet of the Apes - Rocket the ape proves to be the better man
Rocket has been a part of the Planet of the Apes prequel series and hasn't had as much of an impact on this trilogy until this very moment. Minutes before this scene, Colonel McCullough was monologuing to Caesar about how he had shot his own son because he had contracted a virus that took away his speech and rendered him "less than human." Caesar is locked away in a cage afterward, and the little girl Maurice rescued, later named Nova, who has already contracted that same virus, sneaks into the compound to offer Caesar some condolence by giving him her doll, then bringing him water, as well as some food his apes filched for him. Maurice, Rocket and Bad Ape watch from a distance in horror to see that the troops are coming out and will see Nova. Caesar tells her to hide, and though she takes cover, it's clear she won't be hidden for long. Rocket then takes that moment to create a distraction by making a scene and walking into the compound. As he draws the attention to himself, the soldiers close in, but there's still some that are hanging back. One of the gorilla defectors, called Donkey, leads the soldiers toward Rocket, and he then attacks Donkey, bringing all the soldiers to him, allowing for Nova to escape unseen. It's this moment that shows how much better of a man Rocket is as an ape than the Colonel is as an actual human being. The full clip was unavailable to so I had find split scenes, and the second has Rocket's grand moment.
Logan - for once, Wolverine is truly happy
In this age of anti-heroes, few stand out more than Wolverine, and his final film of Logan follows his story of saving a group of mutants by escorting them to a safe haven in Canada. Having used a maximum dosage of the drug that returns his healing to its normal rate, and been fatally wounded after he stops the thugs and his own clone, Logan comes to terms that he is going to die this time. Laura, aka X-23, was cloned from Logan's DNA and technically his daughter. After all they've been through in the film, she understands this relationship and grasps his hand, calling him "daddy." Though Logan is slowly fading, he manages a very weak, but very genuine smile; possibly the only genuine smile he's shown in the entire X-Men franchise. Although he wasn't a part of Laura's life up until recently, his smile shows that her acceptance of calling him her father has made him truly happy. It's a brief moment that shines light on such a tragic ending.
And yes, there is the theory that this moment was prophesied added to this scene too.
Justice League - the eye contact
I personally enjoyed this movie and don't think it deserved all the flack that it did. The moment that stood out most in this film took place after Superman was brought back to life by the Justice League. Clark is freshly resurrected, but his memory is foggy ("Pet Cemetery!"), and Cyberman can't control all of his functions and accidentally shoots off a weapon that causes Clark to attack the team. As Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyberman all try to apprehend him at once, the Flash tries a different tactic of taking Clark by going around him and coming from behind. However, his super speed is currently matched by Superman, and he can see Barry as he moves. Clark's eye slowly moves to meet Barry's speed, and they make eye contact as Barry is still running. The camera focuses in on the Flash as one word is evident in his eyes: "NOPE." Clark then knocks off the three currently on him and swipes at the Flash, missing but still causes him to trip. That brief moment of eye contact was extremely clever, and definitely one that Whedon improved on over Snyder.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - Jack's appointment with the guillotine
The most recent installment of the Pirates universe may have been better than the last one, but it was still not up the caliber of the first three. Still, it used a plot device that is rarely used in films and definitely made for a great sequence: the guillotine. Jack, having been caught, is sentenced to death and chooses the guillotine since he's never heard of it before. Upon seeing what he's going to experience, he realizes that escape is going to be less likely than his other adventures. As Henry and the pirate crew attack, they blow the platform, causing Jack and the guillotine to start spinning like a wheel! Using practical effects with a CGI blade, Jack goes around in circles as the blade comes dangerously and comically close to lopping off his head in one of the craziest situations he's ever been in. It was a brief moment of hearkening back to the ingenuity of the originals that wasn't too over the top or trying too hard (unlike the beginning sequence).
Supergirl - all we need is Cat Grant!
Supergirl sadly dipped in quality with the loss of Calista Flockhart at the beginning of her second season, but she returned at the end of the season, and what a return it was! Queen Rhea, played by Teri Hatcher, has come to conquer the earth for the Daxumites, and President Olivia Marsdin, played by Lynda Carter, refuses to surrender, instead threatening to fight back. As the two bicker, Cat Grant enters the scene, taking over the negotiations to push the need to talk rather than to threaten. Her speech about how they are all strong women who can overtake anything (and her jibe about Rhea's tiara), stands up to show how the human race has the ability to go above the easy path of warfare to take the chance at bringing interspecies peace first. Unfortunately, Rhea isn't as evolved as Cat and still blows Air Force One out of the sky, but Cat's unwavering stand for the human race without bloodshed is a powerful moment that shouldn't be missed. And yes, both Cat and Olivia survive!
Time After Time - Jack snacks on a burrito
This short lived TV adaptation of a movie featuring H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper into modern times had potential, but couldn't keep it up before falling into silly territory. It did have a clever scene that truly depicted Jack's horrific character, starting out comedic as he's perusing the contents of a freezer and finds microwavable burritos. He takes out one and figures out to nuke it, and just as he's about to turn the TV off a man walks into the apartment. He asks who Jack is, then searches for his wife. Partially unseen to the audience, only her bloody hand is seen dangling off the side of the bed and her husband's traumatized reaction indicate that his wife was murdered by Jack. Jack has followed the husband and dispatches him with a knife in his hands, and walks away, unshaken. He puts the knife away as the microwave pings, and he takes out the burrito and eats it as if what has just happened is just another day at the office. Though the show didn't last, Jack's combination of evil, charm, and collected behavior made him out to be a terrifying villain, and this moment was the proof.
Kong: Skull Island - as if I need a reason to put Tom Hiddleston on this list
Okay, I have a legitimate scene from this ridiculous movie to add to this list and no, it's not just because I have a fat crush on Tom Hiddleston. While this film lacks depth in story and character, Hiddleston as Conrad still sticks out as being one of the better parts of the film, and takes the award for most memorable moment. The party of explorers, trying to escape to the beach to contact the army, have been met with monsters and dinosaurs left and right amidst an already dismal sight of dinosaur bones, and to top it off, there's green poisonous gas all over the place too. Well, Conrad lives for moments like this and steps up to the plate when Hank tosses him his katana to defend against the horde of pterodons using the gas as cover. Conrad catches the katana and grabs a gas mask off a dead soldier, donning it before he slices every single pterodon swooping at him. Masterfully performed by Hiddleston, he smoothly dominates this brief scene that stands out from the rest of the film.
And knowing Hiddleston, there's probably a blooper out there of him wearing that mask saying, "are you my mummy?"
The Librarians - Nicole's tampering with time is what brings Flynn's success
The Librarians TV series came off of several made for TV movies, and in one of them, main Librarian Flynn's guardian, Nicole, was sent back in time, although he thought she was killed. Since Jenkins stepped up as head of the Librarians, he seemed to know when and where to meet Flynn, and sometimes there was an inkling from his character that he knew more of what was going on than he let on. In the season 4 premiere, Nicole reemerges and is imprisoned for using enchanted stones, one of which granted her immortality. As she's locked up in her cell, she confesses her love for Flynn never died, and later than when she was transported to the past, she set in motion several historical events that would bring Flynn to the place where he meets her past self, and to the situation he is in today. Because of Nicole, Flynn is the best Librarian, and has success in just about every scuffle he finds himself in. When he confronts Jenkins over this revelation, he simply explains that he couldn't tamper with history when it had already been done. Nicole's use of changing the timeline to her former lover's advantage is a twist that sent fans of this show atwitter for days.
This clip is currently unavailable, but Flynn and Nicole's reunion is available for the moment before.
Thor: Ragnarok - Thor becomes the god of Thunder to Led Zeppelin
The trailers for this movie featured Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," which has been the perfect song for this MCU's character from the start but not utilized till now. Back to the movie, Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, was destroyed by Hela very early on, but when he was paired against Hulk in a gladiatorial match, he learned he could allow the thunder and lightning to inhabit his body, becoming godlike in physical form. The second time he allows the thunder and lightning to take over, he first lights up Odin's palace and Hela, catching her by surprise with one of the biggest blasts of lightning force ever recorded in the MCU. Then he enters the fray where he battles Hela's forces on the Rainbow Road as "Immigrant Song" begins blaring. In perfect timing with the song, Thor takes out Hela's undead minions, Valkyrie leads an attack of her own, Heimdall defends the Asgardians as they board the transport ship, Hulk takes on Hela's wolf, and even Loki is fighting along with the good guys. The action of this scene is spot on, and the use of Immigrant Song is the perfect tune to make this battle sequence one of the best of year. And there's also the shout out to Skurge as he joins the melee later with his two guns, Des and Troy.
This clip is currently unavailable but there are pieces of it in this video of the available clips and trailers.
Although I am curious, and I can't be the only one, about where Sif was in all this.
Legends of Tomorrow - Amaya communes with a T-Rex
Amaya, aka Vixen, was a welcome addition to the show's second season, and exhibited her coolness to a new level when the crew is transported back to the dinosaur age, one that Ray had been previously trapped in and gotten into bad relations with a local T-Rex when he stole one of her eggs for food (which lasted him a good few weeks). Amaya is descended from a line of African queens that have a totem necklace that allows her to assume the characteristics and traits of just about any animal she chooses, and up to this point, has only used powers of mammals. As the T-Rex draws near, Nate offers to go up against her, but Amaya pushes past and walks right up to the dino showing no fear at all, even when it roars right in her face. She then assumes the aura of a T-Rex, which calms the mama down. She then reaches up and gently places her hand on the mama's nose, and the two have a moment of bonding. When the bond is broken, the T-Rex turns and leaves, leaving Ray and Nate completely awed and dumbfounded. To quote Keanu Reeves: "whoa!"
Wonder Woman - smashing into a tower
Can we just say how awesome of a movie this was? It was tough to pick just one moment from Wonder Woman's long awaited film, but there was one particular scene that didn't seem to receive the notice that it really should have. Diana starts off the sequence of leading the Allied troops against the Germans, finally leading the men to the an occupied town. Having taken out most of the ground troops, a sniper having taken his perch up in the tower of a church, starts picking off the Allies one at a time. Steve and the boys see and opportunity to take him out after Diana orders the civilians to take cover by taking a piece of roofing to shield themselves, and also as a platform for Diana. She takes that moment to run, leaps onto the roofing, then propels herself into the air, moving her shield into place as she smashes into the tower where the sniper is, causing the entire tower to crumble. After the debris clears, Diana walks to the edge to show that she's safe. It's a quick moment, but definitely one of the best to show the fearlessness she has in protecting her allies.
The Orville - addressing the entire population
Seth McFarlane's latest project tackles the Star Trek franchise in the manner of Galaxy Quest to mixed reviews of the fans. As a ship is readying to attack a defenseless world, and the crew of the Orville realizes that they can't just stand back and do nothing. Grayson makes the obvious remark of why they have to intervene: "there's families down there!" Immediately following, Malloy pops in with another very pertinent observation that very rarely gets taken seriously in either pop culture or the real world: "there's probably a lot of single people too!" I never thought I'd say this, but thanks, Seth.
Blade Runner 2049 - Joi becomes real for Wallace
This long awaited-sequel introduced a new generation of more submissive Replicants, this time following after K Wallace. Though a Replicant, he has a strong sense of self and follows his instincts in trying to be as human as possible, complete with a holographic girlfriend, Joi. Though Joi herself is also synthetic, she also has a deep rooted sense of heart and clearly goes beyond her programming in her relationship with Wallace. To show her affection toward K in the physical sense, she hires a Replicant prostitute that she can synchronize her programming with so that K can actually feel something real when she wants to love him. She uses Mariette, a Replicant K met with earlier in the film, and Joi makes the preparations to bring her program and Mariette together as one. As they merge, K watches Joi's face as her and Mariette's faces go back and forth, sometimes even coming out as a meld of their two faces, to be one woman for him. The scene is memorable for the constant flowing of Joi and Mariette, as it is clear that Joi has taken over Mariette's body, but her program is not so strong that it's both women that are there with K. The special effects, making their constant flow between personalities is smooth and flawless, showing the two women working together to be real for the man Joi will do anything to love.
Though this exact clip is currently unavailable, I did find an informative video with theories about Joi that does mention this scene, and in better detail.
Arrow - Oliver's speech to William
It's been a rough year for Oliver Queen, and now he finds himself taking full custody of his son, William, who is still dealing with the loss of his mother. Oliver had known about William for several years and had abided by his mother's wishes for him to not tell William that he's his father. Now that she has died, Oliver has stepped in to be the father he has wanted to be since he learned of William, but he's having a hard time with all that's happened and adjusting to this new life. But Oliver comes through; he understands that building the right relationship with William is going to be tough, and he comes to tell William so. He has a very heartfelt speech explaining that he is going to be the dad William needs, and that "[he's] going to be there for [him], whether you want me to be or not. I am never, ever, walking away from you, ever." Heroes are plenty in geek related universes, but ones who are willing to step up to fatherhood in this way are rare. It's a shining moment for Oliver that brings him to a new level of intrigue.
Spiderman Homecoming - Spiderman finds the hero within
It's a superhero movie trope that the hero needs to find themselves in a moment of weakness before discovering the power they have within, whether they knew it beforehand or not, to save themselves or others, right at the best possible moment. Spiderman Homecoming was no different in that regard, but this particular moment for Peter Parker stands out as one of the best the MCU has put out yet. Peter is at his youngest in this third incarnation, only 15 years old, and still clearly a teenager and not ahead of his time. After facing off with Vulture, he is crushed beneath the weight of a collapsed concrete ceiling and the iron supports, miraculously surviving when the debris came down. As he emerges, clearly shaken and hurt, Peter finds that he can't free himself. In a brilliant performance by Tom Holland, he begins calling for help despite knowing there's no one nearby. He is hurt, scared, and at the most vulnerable in this moment in a way that none of the previous heroes in the MCU have been able to portray. Right here in this scene, Spiderman isn't a hero, he's just Peter Parker, a real human being and teenager, only able to rely on himself to survive. Then Peter looks into a puddle and sees his reflection, and, in a typical teenaged superhero cliche, he hears the words of his mentor, Tony Stark, echo in his head, which gives him the inspiration he needs to draw upon his powers. The scene hints that he was only going to wriggle out, but instead, he rises, bringing up the rubble with him, as he uses everything within him to break out. This scene would have been corny with the reflection moment, but Holland's performance in being so vulnerable sold this moment to bring it to this year's list.
Once Upon a Time - the silly yet epic entrance
Musical episodes are almost always fun, and though this show has long outrun its course, Once Upon a Time finally put out theirs. There were some catchy tunes in this special, but the moment that sticks out for this year is from the first number: "Powerful Magic." Snow White and Prince Charming have discovered that they are under a spell that makes everyone sing. Snow White realizes this first after waking up from her sleep. Then Charming vocalizes a long, "ahhhhhh!" as he enters with a lusty flourish, followed with a beautifully sung, "what's going on?" This moment could have been ridiculous, but the writers clearly took some notes from Into The Woods to stick this moment with heart and comedy.
Game of Thrones - the wall comes down
As always, Game of Thrones provided many of the year's best sequences in both TV and geek realms. Easily one of the most shocking moments was when Viserion was felled by a one-in-a-million shot by the Night King, but that moment was overshadowed by his return in the season finale. As Tormund and Beric are just looking out over the wall meant to keep out the Wildings and wights and just so happen to see an army of wights converging on them. Then a roar fills the sky, and Viserion tears through the clouds with none other than the Night King on his back. Undead and breathing blue fire, Viserion blasts the wall with theorized hotter than orange flames to break the materials and magic that the wall was built from. With relentless fury, Viserion continues his attack until the majority of the wall comes crashing down, allowing for the hundreds of thousands of undead to come marching south. The overall shock value and execution of this scene barely eked out the confirmation that Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark.
And we're all crossing our fingers that Tormund somehow survived!
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - Uther becomes the stone
Guy Ritchie's latest endeavor certainly sounded exciting, but fell flat with its constant and unnecessary flashbacks. Still, there were plenty of fun elements to it, and one moment in particular made the list by focusing not on Arthur, but his oft-overlooked father, Uther. Trying to get his family to safety, Uther brings Igraine and Arther to the docks with the intent of sending them away by boat. The Demon Knight catches up to them and spears Igraine, forcing Uther to fight him off so Arthur can escape. An epic battle ensues, but Uther is ultimately defeated. To prevent the Demon Knight from claiming his sword, Excalibur, he flings it into the air, where it slices him through when it returns to the ground, delivering the killing blow. Then, as the Demon Knight slowly transforms back into Vortigern, Uther's body transforms as well: in his kneeling position that the sword has locked his dead body into, he begins to turn to heavy stone before Vortigern can claim the sword. His weight after the transformation increases, and the dock he is on can no longer support the weight and the stone breaks the timber, sinking to the bottom of the lake. Uther himself, by taking Excalibur as he had, has allowed himself to become the stone the infamous sword was trapped in. Not only is this a clever moment in this film, it also stands as another interesting plot point that the sword, destined for Arthur in all other myths, was meant for him and only him by his father's actions.
Stranger Things 2 - Mike sees Eleven
Stranger Things returned to Netflix with a bang and brought back just as good a season as the first, bringing back just as many chills and twists as the first. One particular moment that most fans were rooting for was the reunion of Mike and Eleven, who had had a brief relationship in the first season, and her being presumed dead in that finale. In this moment, a hounds from the Upside Down have tracked down where our heroes are through Will, as his family and friends have had to use extreme yet loving means to try to break through to him. When his concentration is broken by a ringing phone, it alerts the hounds and they swarm the house as Hopper leads who he can to take up arms against the beasties. Yet as they hear them advancing, they also hear them becoming quieter, and a dead one is flung through the window, indicating that something else is out there. Then the deadbolted door is unlocked, and Eleven slowly walks in. Her reveal is dramatic enough by itself, but it's when Mike steps forward that it becomes perfect. Their eyes meet, and in a spectacularly well-acted scene, Mike's face brightens with a smile. They having a touching moment afterward, but doggonit if that smile wasn't one of the best to hit the airwaves this entire year.
Red Dwarf XII - there's no Cat here, just Rat!
Red Dwarf came back for its 12th season immediately after its 11th, which they haven't done in over a decade. In the final episode of the season, Kryten accidentally opens a time rift that allows causes decisions to have the opposite effects. He is able to fix it, and also finds a way to jump through different universes in the process. Rimmer chooses to find another universe to live in and uses a device Kryten makes to find a universe to call home. One of the universes he comes across finds a sophisticated version of Lister, as he is clean, cultured, and speaks like a gentleman. Rimmer thinks he's going to like it there when he realizes that Cat isn't there, and instead of Cat appearing, there's instead a life-sized RAT wearing fur clothing and bling (still played by Danny John-Jules, who has barely aged in the last 20 years!), bringing all kinds of attitude to the table. It turns out that in this universe, instead of saving a cat when Dave was originally put into stasis, he saved a rat instead, hence the reason why there's a human-sized, anthropomorphic rat who dines on cheese in this universe. Rimmer can't escape that universe fast enough, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone else would either! There are currently no clips of this episode available, but here is a review of the episode.
The Walking Dead - Weird Al, is that you?
The Walking Dead began its eighth season in an incredibly uncharacteristic manner. Known mostly for its dark tones and themes, this series has had its fair share of light moments, but none so nonsensical as this opening scene. The camera focuses on several items in a room, with the "Weird" Al Yankovic song, "Another One Rides the Bus" (parodying Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust, in case you were unaware), playing softly in the background. It continues playing until the camera focuses on Rick and the episode's action begins. Fans are still scratching their heads at the use of this song, particularly because no one can seem to figure if it was used just for the fun of it, or if it's foreshadowing something to come later. But using Weird Al for foreshadowing in a post-apocalyptic show about zombies? Now that would be interesting!
The Mummy - Amunet's escape
Yes, I did find a moment worth making this list from this movie. Far inferior to The Mummy reboot from 1999, this attempt at launching a monster universe by Universal Studios was really not a good start. The brief moment that makes my list this year comes from Amunet's escape after she takes control of a man who knocks out the power so that the mercury being injected into her system and renders her immobilized. Once she vomits the mercury, a guard begins shooting at her. She is able to break one of the chains binding her, then flips herself upside down and begins climbing upward on one chain the way a spider would its web. Then she reaches the hoop at the top, and with the smoothness of an aerial performer, flips over and takes out the guard. The sleek, spider-like movements of Amunet's escape are something rarely seen in fantasy, and make the list for how cool and effortless it seemed.
It's a very quick moment, so feel free to stop watching this clip once it ends.
Star Trek Continues - asking the question Trekkies have been waiting on for years
This fan-based, not-for-profit continuation series of the original Star Trek has been around for years and bringing much satisfaction to fans with their loyalty to the canon and fanbase (suck on THAT, J.J. Abrams!). Though they wrapped up the series this year, episode 9, "What Ships are For," tackled a massive plot hole that every variation of Trek has seemed to write off. This episode deals with Kirk and his crew trying to assist the Hialini, a species living on an asteroid infected with radiation that prevents their eyes from seeing color, from a disease, and another species called the Avetians that they have been at war with. Upon bringing Sekara onboard, it's discovered that she is differently colored that the rest of the population and is one of the species that the others fear. Kirk tries to talk the leader, Galisti (played immaculately by John de Lancie), into trying to make peace with the other species, who comes through with finally bringing the Prime Directive to light: the #1 rule of non-interference. Galisti completely schools Kirk on what non-interference is, finally wrapping it up with the question of, "who do you think you are?" Leave it to the fans to finally tackle this subject that the Trek series always brought up and yet still seemed to ignore. Well done, guys!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Vice Admiral Holdo takes out the First Order fleet
It was a quite a surprise seeing all the backlash that this latest installment in the Star Wars universe has raked in. Though The Last Jedi has been receiving mixed reviews, it had plenty of awesome moments that made it stand out from the other Star Wars films, but I believe that this particular moment is most appropriate to name as one of the top moments of the year. After Leia survives the attack on the command center, she is incapacitated and loses consciousness, and her replacement is Vice Admiral Holdo, who manages to arrange for the Rebel fleet to escape while she holds the enemy fire on the main carrier. Unfortunately, the Rebels are betrayed by DJ, the codebreaker found by Rose and Finn who had tried to hijack Snoak's systems so the Rebels could jump to light speed. As the Imperial fleet takes out the Rebel transports one by one, Holdo jumps into action. She turns the carrier and points it right at Snoak's ship. When Hux sees what she's doing, he orders all the ships to fire on her, but by then it's too late. Holdo makes the jump to light speed, and at this close range, it's a suicide jump. With Snoak's ship in her path, she splits the ship at Ludicrous Speed (sorry, couldn't resist!), and in its wake, it causes a chain reaction that destroys the rest of the Star Destroyers, which is shot in complete silence, adding to the awe of the scene. One woman with one ship running on fumes single-handedly took out a massive First Order fleet. That deserves applause!
Since film was only released weeks ago, this clip is currently unavailable, but here's a character video to her instead.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Valerian's shortcut
Luc Beeson's latest endeavor was highly anticipated, but fell short of the geek world's expectations (I partly blame Cara Delvelegne). After an attack that left an entire council of aliens and humans incapacitated with no fatalities but the kidnapping of his general, Valerian rushes to pursue the aliens and retrieve his commanding officer. Laureline, his partner and lover, has a schematic of the station in the control center and gives Valerian directions on how he can intercept the aliens quickest. By her chosen path, Valerian finds a wall right where he is supposed to go. When he tells her this, she indicates he needs to go through the wall. Pulling his helmet on, Valerian blasts through the wall and passes through several levels of the station, starting with what appears to be a cargo bay, with a huge bot almost stepping on him. He breaks through another wall, passing through what appears to be an arboretum of some kind, before coming out the other end, falling downward before landing on a nearly invisible pad. He shoots at the next one for it to be visible, then works his way across the pads to his next pathway, through a field of blue orbs being tended to by squid-like creatures. He breaks through yet another wall, this time finding himself in the water area where the aquatic species reside. He activates jets in his feet to propel him through the waters, commenting on how his shortcut isn't the easiest. He then breaks through the next wall, falling again, but this time crashing through a walkway tube for the inhabitants to get around in. From there, he resumes his chase. This particular scene about the shortcut, one of the best in the film, is beautifully shot and fast paced, but not so fast that the viewers can't appreciate the beauty of the different sections that Valerian passes through.
And though Cara Delvelegne was not so well cast, Ethan Hawke certainly was in his brief role!
The Punisher - Frank Castle, sharpshooter
It barely took Frank Castle more than a few minutes into his solo series to solidify him into this year's list. He's doing what he does best, which is taking out any and all baddies he deems need to be punished. In this scene, a local guy is out partying, getting ready to having a night of lust with at least two women. Then he's viewed through a scope, and the camera angle changes to show Frank training a sniper rifle on the dude. One of the women is blocking his clear shot, but once she's out of the way, her pulls the trigger, making a brief noise, but the dude is still having a good time. It takes a few seconds for the bullet to reach him right through the head. Then music plays and the camera pans away at high speeds, showing just how far away Frank was in being able to make that target. The use of realistic physics and the distance that bullet traveled made for a good scene to add a new layer of danger to this high-risk character we're still beginning to get to know.
Transformers: The Last Knight - Cade becomes a knight
This franchise has long since run its course, but there was still a shining moment that was worth mentioning and bringing to this list. Cade, played by Mark Walberg, has been around through all the movies and is given a medallion by a Transformer at the beginning of the film, which has latched itself to his body. As Optimus Prime battles and nearly Bumblebee, Bumblebee's voice finally returns, giving Optimus the boost he needs to regain his true sense of morality in saving rather than destroying. However, there are also ancient Transformer knights nearby that see Optimus as a threat and are ready to destroy him, which he is ready to allow them to do. Cade jumps in as one of the knights is about to slice Optimus up, and in true Michael Bay fashion, a slow-mo moment ensues as the medallion on Cade begins to expand up his arm, and finally transforms itself into an impressive, two-handed sword, successfully blocking the knight and protecting Optimus. His shocked expression at what he's just done is followed by the knights then swearing allegiance to him. This moment was one of the very few that brought a sliver of quality to this silly film.
The Ghost in the Shell - Major's utilization of the pole
Although I haven't seen the anime, I would assume it was better than this movie. The android with a "ghost," or human soul, has been captured after trying to catch a rogue android that arranged for several murders. She winds up questioning the wrong men and is captured, brought into a small room with a pole set up in the middle, meant for entertainment. After being handcuffed to the pole, she is questioned and tortured, then mockingly told to dance by the head goon. With the response of "I wasn't built to dance," she grabs the pole and launches herself upward and over, taking down the two goons that had their weapons trained on her. This sequence, filmed in a very small space, showed the utilization of Major improvising her way out of a dangerous situation without doing so in the manner that the pole was meant for. Her movements do show grace, but she uses the pole for stylized defense rather than titillation, as she takes down the goons one by one. It was a well-executed scene that stood out from the rest of the film.
Life - the opening sequence
This sci-fi/horror film was set in the international space station, which has no gravity and had the actors filming with cables attached to their costumes to show that effect. That being said, the movie opens with a narration about how the crew of the station will catch a probe from Mars with samples from the planet. As the narration continues, the camera slowly makes its way up the corridor of the station, showing the detail of the set. Then one of the astronauts passes through, and the camera follows them. In this continual and uninterrupted ten minute sequence, the camera captures the space station, the crew members as they essentially fly across their home, work the controls to make sure they capture the probe as it passes, crack jokes, and even fly up the massive window to watch the catch, showing a breathtaking view of the Earth as well as the solar panels on the side of the station. The scene ends after the probe is caught and the astronauts spend some time celebrating. Continuous shots aren't uncommon for sci-fi films, but this one, with its use of the actors moving around with cables (which were digitally removed) in such precise order was incredibly impressive.
Crisis on Earth X - Jax has tell tell Martin's family
It's always sad when a beloved character dies, especially when played by such a tremendous actor like Victor Garber. This 4-episode Arrowverse crossover pulled together the casts of all 4 DC TV series on the CW as they battled a neo-Nazi regime from Earth X, a version of earth that all others avoid. With a team trapped on Earth X and pinned down by the Nazis, Martin sees an opening to activate the gate that links to their earth, and is shot twice, to the horror of Jax, his other half of their Firestorm persona. The gate is opened, but Martin is dying and the only way to sustain him is if he and Jax merge. They do so, and pass through the portal to the Wave Rider, but the moment they separate, it's revealed that the psychic link that Martin and Jax shared caused Martin's injuries to transfer to Jax, and they are both going to die. Earlier in the episode, Cisco gave them a serum that could separate their psychic connection, which Martin had Gideon perfect, and he begs Jax to give it to him so that Jax can live. In a heartbreaking moment, Jax confesses that Martin is the only father he's ever known, and Martin tells him that he considers Jax to be his son as well, which is why he needs to live. A devastated Jax hands Martin the serum, and shortly after he takes it, the bond is severed, and he dies peacefully, but Jax is overcome with grief. Cut to the scene where he has tell Martin's wife and daughter that Martin isn't coming home: when Clarissa opens the door, Jax just loses it. He doesn't need to say a word, she knows right away what he's there to tell her. She breaks down, and Jax catches her, holding her tight as she cries. Then Lily comes rushing in, already emotional because she knows something's wrong, and when she sees Jax, she knows too. She sinks into Jax's arms too, and all three of them cling to one another. It's a scene with minimal dialogue and perfect soft background music to make you cry each time you see it.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Ruby/Martha faces the snakes
In a second year of a sequel being released 20 years later, this one certainly did a better job that last year's abhorrent Independence Day release. Updated from board game to video game, each character has specific strengths and weaknesses, and Martha as the avatar Ruby has only one weakness: venom. At this point in the movie, everyone in the game has used up two of their three lives except Ruby, and in the climax of the film, the jaguar eye that needs to be replaced to win the game has fallen somewhere at the foot of the monument. Spencer/Bravestone rides a motorcycle to the top while Ruby retrieves the jewel, and finds it has landed amongst a bed of vipers. She carefully sidesteps over the snakes and reaches the jewel, but as she picks it up, every snake suddenly rises into striking position, being controlled by the video game boss, Van Pelt. Speaking as one who's not afraid of snakes, this moment of so many snakes rising at once is absolutely terrifying and haunting, and the added stake of Ruby being in such a vulnerable position having a weakness for venom really makes this scene one that's just disturbing on several levels. The CGI may not be perfect, but it doesn't matter; the atmosphere is perfectly unnerving.
Since this film just came out and the clip is unavailable, please enjoy the trailer.
Oh, and one other thing worth mentioning: all the times everyone kept saying "don't blink!" around Ruby was a great tribute to Karen Gillam's work on Doctor Who.
Sherlock - the real damage sinks in
This final season of Sherlock certainly didn't disappoint, providing many exemplary scenes and moments that could have made up half this list alone. Though it was a very tough choice, my pick for this year came in the final episode, as Sherlock's long lost sister, Euros, sends him, Mycroft and Watson on a game where they have to solve several puzzles involving real people on a plane with a little girl on it will crash. After the last puzzle ends in the deaths of three men, Sherlock has to be as stoic as ever to be able to continue. The next room has a coffin that has a placard reading "I love you," which he is able to deduce is meant for Molly, the coroner who has been pining after him since the show began. Euros tells Sherlock he has 3 minutes to get Molly to say those three little words. In an excruciating sequence, Sherlock finally gets Molly to painfully admit her feelings with 2 seconds to spare. As it turns out, Molly was never in danger as Euros never set explosives in her apartment; the real damage is that Sherlock had to do everything he could to make Molly admit that she loved him, even though he doesn't love her. That realization that he's hurt Molly even further now pushes Sherlock over the edge and he destroys the coffin in the room. It's a brilliant and emotional performance that hit every Sherlock fan right in the heart, especially those who can empathize with Molly (even more so for the Sherlock/Molly shippers).
Personal Favorite: Victor Garber kept us waiting 2 years for this reference
Ever since Legends of Tomorrow premiered, geeks awaited the moment that actor Victor Garber would make a crack about the Titanic. After two long years, and just before the actor's imminent departure, he did so in one of the best ways possible. There's a time anachronism on the Titanic, which Ray suggests they take care of. Stein's response: "I wouldn't set foot on the Titanic. Whoever built that ship oughta be shot!" For those of you unaware, Victor Garber played Mr. Andrews, the builder of the Titanic, in Titanic. And to keep up with the reference, this particular episode's guest star was Titanic lead Billy Zane. Well done, team!
Dumbest Idea: the teleporting dog from Marvel's Inhumans
I gave this show a try and just couldn't do it. Lockjaw, the Inhuman princess Crystal's pet dog also has Inhuman-like powers in that he can teleport people. He's an adorably large bulldog that has been a fan favorite in the Inhumans comic strip, as well as the Marvel's Ultimate Spiderman cartoon. However, while his first teased look was certainly cool to start, the show itself apparently couldn't handle the responsibility of making this dog a good character. The show only made him look ridiculously silly with low quality CGI, and more annoying with his inadequate character balance of having superpowers and also being a large dog to boot. He could have been much better done in terms of character and in story, but this miniseries just had too many issues going in and poor Lockjaw was doomed from the start. He just wound up being annoying instead of endearing. For reasons why the show and idea flopped, please check out this video.
A summary of 2017: The Effect of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman certainly made its effect on pop culture this year, but what was so exciting about this development wasn't that it was a film about a strong heroine. It was a story about a heroine done right. Diana may be a demigoddess, but she is also unfamiliar with the world, which adds to the charm of the film. She learns how to adapt from her humble beginnings to a world at war, and experiences both loss and victory in her story. The way this movie made an impact was that it showed a heroine on a very human level. She was a warrior, yet was still a caring person who chose to believe in the good of humanity.
Since the announcement that Wonder Woman would finally have her own movie, there has been somewhat of a revival in regards to stronger female characters. Though many are appearing, not all of them are that great, or they seem to be pushing some kind of feminist agenda. Others are like Supergirl, which has become a show that is taking the spotlight away from the title character and putting it on more soap opera type subplots on the supporting characters (and hyping up The Guardian only to barely use him at all. So not cool!). This year has been chalked full of strong female characters and they are doing amazing things not to make a point, but because their choice was the right one to make, allowing for them to grow in a direction that the audience can root for.
For example, Sansa and Arya taking out Littlefinger in Game of Thrones. Sansa and Arya were at each other's throats in the first season, and now that they were reunited, Littlefinger was certain he could maintain his slippery influence on Sansa by turning her against her own sister. Despite all his smugness, Sansa overcomes all her childish attitudes that she has struggled to manage and chooses to side with her sister, instead putting Littlefinger on the spot, bringing all his previous crimes to light, to Arya's smug delight. The best moment is when Sansa demands he explain why he meant to turn her against Arya, showing everyone in the room what this man truly is. Both she and Arya make an impact because they are able to overcome their differences and turn the tables on a man who had become so sure of his influence that he would never have guessed they could come together in this fashion.
Though Daenerys has always been a staple of strong female characters of this show, this level of growth from both Sansa and Arya is more of the image that is burgeoning into pop culture today: young women strong enough to overcome their differences and be courageous enough to bring down one of the best players in this political game they've been made pawns in. Strong choices of this kind add depth to characters and also to the show as well, making it more interesting for all.
Then there is the example of standing up for her own heritage. Felicity Smoak of Arrow is of Jewish descent and has grandparents who survived the holocaust. During Crisis on Earth X, she faces down against the Hitler-esque Earth X version of Oliver, Dark Arrow, who is trying to take Supergirl's heart to put into the Earth X version of Supergirl, his wife. Felicity and Ray have whisked Supergirl away, but Dark Arrow finds them and overpowers Ray, demanding that Felicity turn her over. Felicity stands between him and Kara, telling him, "my grandparents didn't survive the holocaust so that the world could be ruled by Nazis, so if you want Kara, you have to go through me." Felicity has always been a strong character, but this has been her best moment to date in standing up not only for her friend, but for her survivor grandparents, and for her own Jewish heritage. Few strong female characters that have surfaced over the years have used their cultural and religious backgrounds in a way such as this, bringing Felicity to to a level of self-actualization and taking pride in her heritage that is almost a superpower in and of itself.
Another who has had a steady character arc is Iris West-Allen, whose bachelorette party was interrupted by Amunet's (played by a delightful Katee Sackoff, who is clearly loving the opportunity to play a super villain) lackey. It isn't just Iris who shines in this episode, it's also her future stepmother, Cecile, who comes through in another twist: she is pregnant! During the party, who has Cecile, Caitlyn and Felicity in attendance, Caitlyn becomes Killer Frost and tries to go on the run, while the other three decide to step up and do something about Amunet. Before Killer Frost leaves, Iris gives her a speech about accepting herself as both Killer Frost and Caitlyn, and how the two can be one amazing person. Then when she and Felicity plan to take Amunet, Cecile insists on helping despite being pregnant, and winds up being the one who ultimately delivers the blow to overpower Amunet from a safe distance away. And we can't forget Killer Frost coming into her own as she does come back to deal with Amunet as well. Felicity has already had her own blurb, but Iris is the one who brings the other two into the folder, as she brought inspiration to both Killer Frost and Cecile to stand up as heroes; her words to Killer Frost in that she can be who she chooses, and her actions spurring Cecile to not back away from doing the right thing, even though she's in early stages of pregnancy (and enjoying it, too!). They may have let Amunet go in the end, but this action still proved that they were all above the easy way of dispatching the villains and allowing them a chance at redemption.
Taking a break from the DCU, we now turn to the MCU with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I mentioned earlier that Aida/Ophelia was the big bad in creating the Framework to trap our favorite agents, but Daisy and Jemma weren't replaced in time and had to do all the work; even after they completed their mission, Yo-Yo went back to retrieve Mack, who chose not to leave. It began with Aida trying to use all the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to round up Jemma and Daisy, claiming they are LMDs. Jemma didn't know this at first and was barely able to see that Fitz was an LMD, and she stabbed that thing to death. Daisy was able to hide among other LMD copies of her before she ran into Jemma. They are able, through hefty convincing, to determine that the other isn't an LMD in a wonderful scene of the two trying to defeat their doubts about the other, and Daisy gives an amazing speech on how she will beat the LMDs and that Jemma can be strong for herself and Fitz. Daisy was then able to gas everyone, and Jemma was able to bring a team at gunpoint to the carrier jet where Daisy was waiting so that the two could enter the Framework.
Once inside, they find that Daisy had been pre-programmed into the Framework as a human and lover of a fully alive and good guy version Grant Ward, while Jemma was programmed to have been killed and has to literally break out of a shallow grave with several other bodies. Though Aida attempts to circumvent these two at every move, their actions with everyone they interact with, from Coulson and May, to dearly departed characters that were programmed, including Ward and Trip, these two completely disrupt Aida's "perfect" world and retrieve their team. Despite the hellish virtual world that hunts Inhumans, Yo-Yo is ready to die in it when Mack can't let go of the daughter in the Framework, Hope (one of the more bittersweet additions to this show to date), who was stillborn in the real world. When Hope does disappear, Yo-Yo shares in Mack's grief as he loses his daughter a second time in life, and still stays even though she knows he may not choose to leave. Through the efforts of these three, they were able to win against Aida and her seemingly endless control over everything, including the hearts of Fitz and Mack.
One of the other developments overall with stronger female characters is that age is normally not a factor. Sansa and Arya were mentioned earlier but have had several years and seasons to grow, whereas the next example, Max from Stranger Things, was only introduced in this most recent season. Max was regularly abused by her stepbrother, Billy, triggering an immense amount of sympathy from the viewers. When Billy tries to drag her home and beats Steve mercilessly when he tries to protect her and the boys, Max decides that enough is enough and tranquilizes Billy. As the drugs take over, she stands up further by taking Steve's nail bat and telling him to leave her alone, then smashes is incredibly close to his groin when she isn't convinced he will leave them alone. From there, he gets the picture. Max made a good example of a victim who found the strength at a young age to fight for herself; showing that anyone, anytime, can find the courage to defeat those who would hurt them and/or their friends.
And shall we mention the ladies of Star Wars: The Last Jedi? I already touched down on Vice Admiral Holdo, but in reality, it was the ladies of the film that were the backbone of the story. We had Leia proving that it takes more than a little space-sucking blast to take her down, and her finally using the Force to return to the ship (call it silly if you want, but it's about time she did that!). She also was a strong enough leader to take down her best pilot, Poe Dameron, when he tried to enforce his ideals over Holdo's and staged a mini coup. Next we had Rey, who not only kept her ground in fighting for the Light Side, but was strong enough in her Force powers and moral convictions to convince Kylo Ren to kill Snoak when he was about to kill her; even fighting alongside her to take out Snoak's men in an epic fight sequence. Even Rose Tico, who has received some unfair backlash, had strong moral convictions as well, always making decisions based on what she believed was right (although the forced love story with Finn was a bit much). Her actions in stunning Finn when he tried to escape showed her gusto, and her freeing of the unfairly treated fathiers demonstrated her compassion for all livings. These four ladies weren't just on the Light Side, their actions proved that they were all on aligned for the forces of good. And I'll give a shout out to Phasma, who was still under-utilized but fun.
Finally, I'll sneak back to the Arrowverse and mention a wonderful episode that actually showed the impact a notable person from history had on today's technology: Hedy Lamarr. Unbeknownst to many, Golden Age Era of Hollywood screen legend, Hedy Lamarr, was also a technician. Without her, many communication devices we use today, including Bluetooth, wouldn't have been created. She had an incredible, and sadly, mostly unannounced impact on our present history, and Legends of Tomorrow made a point of showing how the future would have been altered if she hadn't continued her work as a technician. In this particular episode, Helen of Troy is misplaced in history during this era and takes a role from Hedy, and in the process, half the systems of Wave Rider go down. It's when the Legends remove Helen and Stein (misplaced in Jax's body) convinces her to follow her dreams. This episode also adds some depth to Helen, who is aware of the way she causes men to react and wishes only to live in a world where no one dies over her beauty. It was a wonderful ending when Zari discovers that Helen being displaced in time doesn't alter the timeline, and drops her off in Themiscrya instead of Troy.
There are plenty of other examples of ladies whose characters were made stronger, such as in The 100, and others whose characters that were meant to be. What makes this change in female characters exciting isn't that they're being all butt-kickers and having more realistic body types, it's that they are coming out as being more human, as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman was portrayed. They have their faults, they have their growth, they have their less glamorous moments. The sci-fi and fantasy realm has taken many leaps in 2017 alone to make their strong heroines more realistic, and being less afraid to give them flaws that everyone can relate to.
Hopefully, as more characters such as Wonder Woman and those I have listed, arise and expand into other genres, they are kept as human as possible, and not made unnecessarily seductive to appeal to men, or so dominant that they come off as pushing a feminist agenda. Either way, I believe that 2017 did do a good job in setting the trend of creating good, strong female characters, and has hopefully paved the way for more to come.
A Final Word
I wish I'd had more time to do more research on other sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies (I still can't believe that I didn't have time to check out Star Trek Discovery!) that came out throughout the year, but I think it's also a good thing that I wasn't able to, because that shows that the sci-fi, fantasy and geek realms are expanding to a rate that not every geek can keep up with. There will be plenty of other shows and films that will come out next year that I'm already looking forward to adding next year, and hope that the moments captured will continue to trump the ones that have come in previous years.
Happy new year, and stay tuned for more posts! My resolution for 2018 is to write more!
