The Suggestion Box #107: Bodybuilders, and Kryptonians, and Von Erichs, Oh My!

Posted on by Lauren

Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

Ben’s Anime WARNING: Ninja Kamui – I may sound like a broken record here, but I think that the prevalence of computer animation in anime is a blight upon the medium. Sure, we have extremely rare successes with things like Chainsaw Man, Blue Eye Samurai, and Promare (to name the few examples I can think of), but the amount of lazy/terrible stuff I’ve seen in the past decade is more than worrying. Ninja Kamui is essentially the perfect example. It starts out by doling out a couple of phenomenal episodes packed with absurdly gory, stylish, well-choreographed fights between ninjas. Then the eponymous “kamui,” which translates to “suit” enters the picture and it all goes to Hell. There’s still some impressive effort made in the action, but it’s all rendered pointless when the fighters are coated in horrifically ugly, stiff CG armor. The story was dumb from the get-go, making it clear that the action was meant to be the series’ main draw, and when the back two thirds and change of it is drastically worse than what came before, there’s really nothing here for me to recommend.

Ben’s Movie Pick: The Iron Claw – As I said the last time I watched a movie centered around professional wrestling: I have no real interest in the sport. However, I am a fan of great acting and emotional rollercoasters, and The Iron Claw certainly features both of those. The real-life story of the Von Erich brothers is so tragic that it almost doesn’t seem like it could’ve actually happened, and A24’s film captures that pain while showcasing the how and why of it all. There are moments of joy, heartache, romance, and loss throughout the film, and the stellar ensemble cast brilliantly convey it all, whether you want to feel it or not. The bond between the brothers (played by Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons) feels like a genuine treasure, which makes everything they go through that much harder to stomach. Holt McCallney and Maura Tierny are equally great as the siblings’ parents, and Lily James is a strong romantic interest for Efron’s leading role too. Doubling as a biopic of Kenvin Von Erich (Efron) and a critique of the overly tough-men mentality, The Iron Claw is a deeply affecting film; one that breaks your heart into a million pieces before ending with an exquisite final scene that perfectly condemns toxic masculinity.

Ben’s Movie Pick: Pain & Gain – I really wish that Michael Bay would make more stuff like this. I love The Rock (the movie), Armageddon, and am a fairly big fan of the first Transformers, but Pain & Gain is undoubtedly his best movie. It’s (extremely loosely) based on the story of the Sun Gym gang and their get-rich-quick schemes/crimes, which include kidnapping, extortion, and more. The movie is engrossing, has great pacing and style for days, and is often laugh out loud funny. Pain & Gain also has the best performances I’ve seen from the Rock (the actor) and Anthony Mackie, and while I wouldn’t say this is either Mark Wahlberg’s or Ed Harris’ all-time greatest movie, they’re pretty damn close to the top of their game here. The film may lack the near-constant explosions that Bay is mostly known for nowadays, yet it’s probably the most well-made movie of his career. It’s definitely the smartest.

Lauren’s TV Pick: My Adventures with Superman – Though it may be hard for me to get excited for Superman on the big screen these days — I will always be enraged over there being no sequels to Superman Returns (even though, admittedly, that ended up being for the best now considering the Singer and Spacey of it all) and Man of Steel, as Henry Cavill’s time in the cape was ultimately wasted — at least I have the small screen and My Adventures with Superman. Following Clark Kent as he exasperatedly chases his fellow Daily Planet interns Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane around, protecting them from themselves and their overly enthusiastic penchant for running headlong into danger for a story, MAwS gives us the magical girl transformation you never knew Clark needed, initiating his journey of self discovery as he gradually unlocks his powers through combat with familiar villains and the new alien tech spins on their origins (Parasite, Silver Banshee, and Livewire, to name a few). Watching Superman do what he does best vs the bad guys will excite most thanks to the quality animation, but I wouldn’t be myself if I wasn’t living for the adorable burgeoning romance between Lois and Clark (and the Jimmy Olsen third wheel angst — honestly this is my favorite Jimmy in a while too; he’s just the best best friend anyone could ask for), and the “who am I?” angst as Clark discovers more and more about the people he comes from and his purpose on Earth. Angst that is likely about to get a whole lot angstier with the introduction of Supergirl in season 2. Can you tell I like angst? Oh, and Lex Luthor will also be there.

So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

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