As a kid in the 80s, I bought wholeheartedly into the image of the United States as a force for good in the world. As I got older, I became aware of America’s dirty deeds. But those were nasty things that America did but it wasn’t who we were. We had also been an engine for growth, advancement, and a bulwark against tyranny. We made mistakes, but we always were striving to be better.

The Netflix Original series Stranger Things is, and I don’t use this term lightly, a masterpiece. It combines Stephen King spookiness and supernatural horror with Spielberg heart and character development, without ever devolving into gratuitous gore or maudlin sentimentality. All wrapped in an accurate 80s nostalgia, with a synth soundtrack reminiscent of John Carpenter and extremely period accurate and meaningful era appropriate pop/rock songs. The show was able to lean into its nostalgia with casting 80s icons who turned around and gave career high performances, not smug stunt casting winks.

Let’s start with the positive: Fantastic Four: First Steps is, in my opinion, the best Marvel movie to come out in a long time. It creates a living, breathing alternate Jetsons-style future-reto 1960s and it’s gorgeous. This isn’t an origin story; the origin story is shown in newsreel footage and interviews, when our story begins the Fantastic Four has already been active, and is beloved by earth. I like that; we’ve seen enough of the hero’s journey in superhero movies already, let’s get to the story.

We all knew Ozzy’s body was giving out. That’s one of the reasons so many people came to say farewell twelve days ago. Still, this feels very fast. Like maybe, preparing for the show and the excitement of it kept him going, despite the illness and pain. But boy, did he go out in style. So many people that he’s influenced and moved were there at the final show to tell him what he meant to them.

(title a play on the tagline of the 1978 Superman movie: “You’ll Believe A Man Can Fly”) If you’ve read my blog, you already know that Superman is my favorite superhero. You know that I was excited about this movie. Given James Gunn’s previous track record with the Guardians movies, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, I expected him to get Superman. So as not to bury the lede: he does.