Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2016 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Tony Stark Gets an MD Inferno (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Being an MCU movie, Doctor Strange (115 minutes) didn't need to be that good to win me over. However, (and somebody better warn my kids about this) I am always hardest on the things that I love the most. So, a disclaimer: I liked it. I really, really liked it. Now let me tell you what sucked. Why was Tilda Swinton cast as a Tibetan holy one? Shouldn't they have cast someone, I don't know, Tibetan? The official justification is that the character as written was a racial stereotype, and in order to avoid being racist they had to…be racist by casting a white person. At least it provided a role for a woman beyond being someone's girlfriend. And, if you are interested in the controversy, I encourage you read up on what director Scott Derrickson had to say, which was surprisingly logical and nuanced. But let me continue. I have plenty of other things to be mad about. While I applaud the decision to change Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) from night nurse to surgeon, it would have been great to give her some personality beyond Dr. Strange needs a female lead. The lack of female writers in the MCU is certainly starting to show. I mean, I'm swamped, but I'm sure I could volunteer a characterization more interesting than "hero's designated emotional punching bag that cries a lot." She is a project of exceedingly lazy writing. By the way, so is Dr. Strange (Bandicoot Humptysmaug). As far as I can tell, writers Spaihts, Derrickson and Cargill lifted Tony Stark's character sheet and replaced "electrical engineering and physics" with "surgeon." Among other similarities, both are arrogant, causally disregard authority/common sense and have a physical liability that occurs during the course of the movie and drives them to greatness. I grant you that several of the comic book personalities that inspired these movies can be boilerplate at times, but over the course of the last forty or fifty years, enough writers have passed through the Marvel Machine to evolve them into distinction. But what was it all about? That part's exceedingly straightforward. You see, Dr. Strange is a brilliant surgeon who was so arrogant he couldn't even be bothered to operate on Lieutenant Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes even though the writers worked super-hard to slip in a reference to another MCU movie that only hardcore fans would catch. Karma is an absolute killer, and minutes after refusing to help a bunch of people, the movie becomes a PSA against using a cell phone while driving, as Dr. Strange plummets down the side of a cliff. He comes to the hospital, his hands crushed, unable to perform surgical work. Having exhausted his medical options, he travels to Tibet and convinces the Ancient One (Swinton) to binge watch American Horror Story: Coven with him and re-enact the endless dialogue about finding the Supreme. Having used his eidetic memory to learn several ancient languages, he quickly amasses the mystical knowledge required to access secret magic stuff via jazz fingers and then coax a relic called The Cloak of Levitation to fight his battles against Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelson) for him. Then it gets gimmicky. The director borrows the innerspace visuals from Ant-Man to create the Dark Dimension, where the final scenes of Dr. Strange fighting with Dormammu take place. Does good triumph over evil? Well, I guess we'll wait until Infinity War to find out. Remember that disclaimer above? Out of fourteen MCU films this is probably top five. There is a mid-credits scene AND an after credits scene, both worth waiting for. In fact, what are YOU waiting for? Go check this out before your friends stop thinking you're the cool one. Now showing at Patriot 14 + IMAX. HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910 484-6200. Expires 1/31/17 $i. 50 Drinks. $i. 50 Drinks. $i. 50 Drinks. $2.00 before 6:00 p.m. $3.00 after 6:00 p.m. $1.00 extra for 3D MOVIES Movie Monday: $1.50 All Day(Holiday or 3D movies excluded) Buy one get one free! Buy one get one free! Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry VOL. 16 FREE to Residents, Businesses and Organizations throughout our Community. Welcome to Radio & TV Stations 18 Month Calendar WINNERS! UP & CO M I NG W EEKLY 'S Local Festivals County Libraries Area Health Facilities Schools Public & Private Parks & Recreation Universities & Colleges Frequently Called Numbers Town of Eastover City Welcome Mayor Nat Robertson Interim Chamber President Darsweil Rogers President FACVB John Meroski Cumberland County Commissioner Marshall Faircloth Live Theatres Museums & Galleries Local Annual Events Town of Hope Mills & Hope Mills Chamber Cumberland County Schools Dr. Frank Till