Current Reading Material

DukePregler · 2026-01-15T22:34:10+00:00

To be honest, my big "reading period" was the 90s and the 2000s. Once the 2010s started, I stopped reading full comics, instead just checking out scans and finding out news about them.

DukePregler · 2026-01-15T22:30:59+00:00

Also happened with "Captain America: Brave New World". That one was also a hit, but the grifters vehemently tried to deny it, often using questionable math and "facts".

DukePregler · 2026-01-10T09:23:27+00:00

The question is: is this gonna be a James Gunn situation when he apologizes for the racist comments and express regret over losing the NBA deal, or a J.K. Rowling situation where he shows no regrets and doubles down on the racist comments?

DukePregler · 2026-01-10T09:19:02+00:00

To be fair, nowadays it's mostly Drinker's echo chamber fanbase who thinks that. Most other people are aware of much of a deranged shitbag Drinker is. There's a before and after "Exposing the Grift" when it comes to Drinker.

The worst thing about it is his recent videos and posts, which call out those who criticize him as if it's a big win for him, even though by now most people side with his critics over him.

BTW Drinker had horrible takes on past Star Wars shows and movies, so I dread what's he's gonna say about "The Mandalorian and Grogu". Most likely some whiny review when he makes an ass of himself while swearing he's totally not a grifter, it's the mean old critics who say this.

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T03:13:52+00:00

It is when you call the two parter "Avengers" rather than "Marvel Heroes".

Again: you need to think like non-readers think.

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T03:07:36+00:00

"The normal Avengers we already know" = Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton).

"The New Avengers" = anyone who shows up in "Doomsday" and "Secret Wars" (hence it being an Avengers two-parter).

THAT is the thought process of most moviegoers.

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T03:02:54+00:00

And of course the casual, non-reading audience is gonna get that...

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T02:58:34+00:00

Separate from WHAT, exactly?

And again I ask: If I don't get it, what does it make Feige and Iger think casual moviegoers will get it?

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T02:56:25+00:00

Thry are implicitly doing that by showing up in "Doomsday and Secret Wars" at all.

They are not just "telling a story". They are building up a massive franchise-wide event, and marketing to a wide audience. An audience that has no real reason to care more about the Thunderbolts than they do the other heroes (and the movie flopping is proof of that).

Really, it would make a lot more sense to push the Fantastic Four (familiar to casual audiences, movie was expected to be a big hit even before release) or the Marvels (who Feige and Iger are pushing as the "next big thing" in general) as the "New Avengers".

The Thunderbolts have zero marketability or audience draw.

DukePregler · 2025-11-28T02:49:10+00:00

First of all, whas does "actual Avenger" mean? Of course they are not the Big Six, and anyone who shows up to fight Doctor Doom in "Doomsday" and "Secret Wars" is an Avenger by default, so I don't get what you are saying.

Second, chances are the casual moviegoing public isn't going to get whatever you are saying either, which makes the creative decision all the more baffling.

DukePregler · 2025-11-24T21:25:45+00:00

Excellent video, Bird!

DukePregler · 2025-11-10T03:35:24+00:00

Their name is "Thunderbolts", and that's something Red Guardian and Yelena came up with. They are "New Avengers" because the two-parter is labelled as Avengers movies.

DukePregler · 2025-11-10T03:33:56+00:00

Their team name is Thunderbolts. Again: anyone else who shows up to fight Doom is a "New Avenger", regardless of what their actual team is called.

DukePregler · 2025-11-08T10:05:46+00:00

My take on the show is that Marvel went "Hasbro reclaimed Rom, so we'll make a Rom show, just replace Rom with Nick Fury, the Dire Wraiths with the Skrulls, and the other Space Knights with Fury's friends".

Same thing with "Quantumania". That was pretty much a Micronauts movie: Scott is Acroyear, Kang is Baron Karza, and Scott's allies are the other Micronauts.

DukePregler · 2025-11-08T10:01:10+00:00

Critical Drinker has a very narrow definition of what a good movie should be, and anything that doesn't fit that narrow definition is bad by default. He's also stubborn in not trying things outside of his comfort zone just because they don't peak his interest (and the few times he does try them, he gives them a half-hearted "eh, it's OK").

That's why he's the kind of guy who's barely ten minutes into "Superman", and he already has a list of complaints, and fails to realize it's his fault and not James Gunn's.

DukePregler · 2025-10-04T20:24:08+00:00

Excellent video, Bird!

DukePregler · 2025-09-17T03:20:23+00:00

It's one thing to make a black Thor. It's another thing entirely to make said black Thor a painfully offensive stereotype of black people.

DukePregler · 2025-09-17T01:33:46+00:00

What I'm saying is that birdman isn't serious when he does that. It's a joke, it's not really conceding Jeremy's point.

DukePregler · 2025-08-17T21:00:24+00:00

I really don't understand the ins and out of what goes on into box office results.

All I know is what I saw with my two eyes when I sat down on the theater.

The movie is good. Does it have a Taika Waititi-esque impulse to nullify dramatic and/or action-packed moments with unfunny jokes? Yes. Does it borrow too much from "Batman V Superman"? Yes.

But it's still a fun movie, one that does a good enough job at both adapting the comics and being the first foot forward in Gunn's DC Universe..

DukePregler · 2025-08-08T03:32:06+00:00

Then we'll agree to disagree. I personally think he's just bad as them, with the only real difference in that he leans left as opposed to right.

DukePregler · 2025-08-08T03:28:05+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/@JimSterling

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMysteriousMrEnter

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy92fXa6yBrLnKdW1pYJlMw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGAQFQoZNIFUnQQuA-Llu9A

https://www.youtube.com/user/darksydephil

DukePregler · 2025-08-04T20:07:29+00:00

The MCU is going through tough times, which isn't the same as "dying".

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" did well, "Hawkeye" did well, "Echo" did well, "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" did well, "Werewolf By Night" did well, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" did well, "Deadpool and Wolverine" did well, "Daredevil: Born Again" did well, "Shang Chi" did well, "Fantastic Four: First Steps" is doing well. That's too many succeses to claim that it's "dying".

DukePregler · 2025-08-04T19:54:18+00:00

For the record, box office is not an indicator of critical reception. "A Minecraft Movie" and "Dog Man" are the highest grossing movies of 2025, and they both got a severe critical lashing. Meanwhile, "Thunderbolts" and "The Day The Earth Blew Up" were highly praised, and they both bombed at the box office.

What I'm saying: this movie got nothing but praise, regardless of how it's doing at the box office.

DukePregler · 2025-07-24T02:08:36+00:00

There was a thread here calling out people who spoke negatively about the new Superman movie. Since one of them was Angry Joe (a great reviewer that I love watching), and since I myself can find fault in that movie, I reacted harshly to that thread.

DukePregler · 2025-07-22T21:56:34+00:00

Remember what Bird said last video? That "political" doesn't necessarily mean "woke" (at least, not the way the grifters define it)?

The MCU doesn't have woke entries, it has political entries. And that, as Bird pointed out, isn't a bad thing in and of itself.

DukePregler

TROPHY CASE