Page 143 - Sharp: The Book For Men SS21

It’s the rare schoolyard argument that has followed us all the way into adulthood: who’s better, Spider-Man or Superman? The friendly faceoff between the two biggest comic book publishers continues in earnest this year, with both the Marvel and the DC cinematic universes expanding to introduce action-packed new miniseries on popular streaming services. Tom Holland’s portrayal of New York’s friendly neighbour- hood webslinger may have taken Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel to town at the box office over the past de- cade, but the small screen is a whole new battlefield. How have TV’s mightiest heroes fared?
Marvel: WandaVision (Disney+) A surreal pseudo-sitcom about superheroes navigating life in the suburbs. Weirdness and star turns from Elizabeth Olsen and Kathryn Hahn ensue.
DC: Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Crave)
A four-hour episodic recut of the 2017 movie, removing all of the footage filmed by Joss Whedon and adding in Jared Leto’s Joker.
SUPERHERO SHOWDOWN
Assessing the latest output from the Marvel and DC universes
THE MOVIE MARATHON OF THE MOMENT Nine films — and one miniseries — hold the answer to “What should we watch?”
Wes Anderson works wonders with whimsy, Scorsese is the mob boss of mafia movies, and Tim Burton brings a goth twist to big blockbusters. But Mike Nichols swerved so seamlessly from one genre to the next that his six-decade- long filmography offers something for fans of almost any type of cinema. Since reading this spring’s breakout biography, Mike Nichols: A Life, by film historian Mark Harris, we’ve been binge-watching our way through the director’s greatest hits. Consult our guide to find your next compelling watch.
Monster movie: Wolf
(Jack Nicholson with fake teeth is freak- ier than anything in The Shining.)
Buddy comedy: Carnal Knowledge (Garfunkel plays one of the buddies. Alas, Simon does not play the other one.)
Corporate conspiracy flick: Silkwood (Cher and Meryl Streep face
off against a nuclear plant. Guess who wins!)
Arthouse drama: Closer
(Not so much a movie about sex as it is a movie about talking about sex.)
Droll social commentary:
The Birdcage
(Starring Robin Williams as a gay Miami club owner — and style icon.)
Black and white classic:
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(And dinner parties were never the same again.)
Romantic comedy: Working Girl (A good confidence-booster to watch the night before a job interview.)
Weepy post-breakup watch: Heartburn (You’ll be playing Carly Simon and eating pasta for three days straight.)
Coming-of-age tale: The Graduate (The scuba diving pool scene is as good as you remember.)
Prestige television:
Angels in America
(Forever the ultimate binge watch.)
The verdict: With its weekly Friday release schedule and exhilarating twists, Wandavision brought back event television. Zack Snyder’s Justice League just desaturated the same movie we didn’t like the first time around. Plus, we’re still holding a grudge after the disappointment that was Wonder Woman 1984. Sorry, DC. We’re still excited to see Robert Pattinson’s emo Batman, though.
PEAK TV
The new terms you need to learn before shopping for your next home theatre set-up
Television screen technology, much like the television streaming industry, is evolving at an alarming rate. OLED, which is the last big innovation you may have heard of, is more or less still the premium technology to beat, but it now has some fresh competition from this year’s latest revolution: mini-LED televisions. By decreasing the size and increasing the number of lights used to illuminate their screens, these sets allow for better colour and contrast variety — often at a lower price than OLEDs. To make things especially tricky, LG brands its mini-LED TVs as QNEDs, while Samsung markets its sets as Neo QLEDs. And for those who are fans of the “bigger is better” mentality, Samsung plans to launch a 110-inch TV under this Neo QLED umbrella later this year. Whether you’re screening Godzilla vs. Kong or just a marathon of trashy reality Netflix shows, that thing’s guaranteed to roar.
SIMPLER TIMES
Video game remasters recapture the old-school appeal of days gone by
Particularly right now, there’s a special comfort to be found in transporting back to the carefree era when our favourite video game characters were still made out of jagged little pixels. On the other hand, the novelty of bad graphics can wear off quickly. Thankfully, contemporary video game designers have been on a serious nostalgia kick, remastering the classics to meet modern standards. Here are three of our favourite sources of psychological escapism.
PS4/XBox One:
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time follows the same formula established in the marsupial’s original ’90s adventures, but with a few new twists, like a fun power-up that lets you warp in and out of alternate-dimension versions of the same level.
PS5/XBox Series X:
Last summer’s perfect remaster of 1999’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skat- er moves onto next-gen consoles with additional upgrades to its already super-crisp visuals, such as native 4K support. One thing that hasn’t changed: the killer soundtrack.
Nintendo Switch:
Super Mario 3D World is actually a reissue of a relatively recent 2013 Wii U game, now bundled alongside a fresh companion game, Bowser’s Fury. Since we never owned a Wii U, both are totally new to us — but anything starring the Italian plumb- er evokes retro magic in our books.
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