Classics: The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre

“The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre” stars Humphrey Bogart in one his greatest performances as Dobbs—a man who plummets into greed laden paranoia.

Set in Mexico, Dobbs is an American beggar who meets and bonds with another down-and-out American, Curtin played by Tim Holt. The two men struggle to survive, begging for pesos and looking for labor, as they find themselves susceptible to con artists.

They stay at a Old Oso Negro…

…where they come in contact with an old prospector. Howard, played by Walter Huston who tells stories of his days as a prospector, digging for gold.

And it’s clear that he still longs for those days. But he also shares his experiences about fellow prospectors who’ve done bad things in the name of greed.

And here is where the story begins. Dobbs convinces Howard to take them gold digging. Though, it didn’t take much convincing. Walter Huston played the role with incredible charm and a laugh that brightens up the screen. His personality offered a great contrast to the seriousness of Dobbs impending insanity.

The three men trek through dangerous territory, inhabited by bandits. Until, Howard finds a great spot where all their dreams are about to come true.

But as the story progresses and the gold mounts up, Dobbs sees everything and everyone around him differently. The madness was an impressive thing to to watch and one can’t help but be glued to the screen waiting on the outcome.



**Spoilers**

Analysis/Dobbs:

Between the time Howard first tells Dobbs and Curtin about prospecting AND the time Dobbs convinces Howard to go with them, both Dobbs and Curtin have a private conversation.

“Do you believe what that old man, who was doing all the talking at the Old Oso Negro, said the other night about Gold changing a man’s soul so that he ain’t the same kind of a guy as he was before finding it.” - Dobbs

“I guess it all depends on the man.” - Curtin

“…Gold don’t carry any curse with it… Gold could be as much of a blessing as a curse.” - Dobbs

I ask myself, was it clear that Dobbs had it in him to descend into what he would become? Was he always this way or did he just flip out?

From how the story progressed, it was clear to me that Dobbs was a good guy. Plus, Howard (the voice of reason) said so even after all that had gone down. Before they left for digging, the three men discussed how much money they needed for supplies. Curtin fell short of the amount.

But Dobbs had won last night’s lottery and, without hesitation, offered to cover Curtin’s share of the expenses. So deep inside, he started out very honest with a hint of selflessness.

So how did he change?

One thing that is very consistent with Dobbs is his susceptibility to suggestion. When one guy mentioned a job, he quickly took it… okay, sure, he needed the work; but there’s something more.

The moment Howard talks about prospecting, it took all of a couple of minutes for Dobbs to get that glint in his eye. He wanted a piece of that action.  

Fast forward to the men finding gold and dividing it up into threes…

Howard shared another of his stories. He mentioned that some men like to hide their stash for fear that the other guys might steal from them. This triggered Dobbs hiding his portion of the gold under a rock. Though, Curtin did also. Both men unable to sleep, fearing the other would hunt for their stash. Howard didn’t seem to worry much. He slept fine, not getting involved in all this paranoia. And it felt like Curtin’s actions were in response to Dobbs.

But would Dobbs have hid his stash had Howard not put the idea in his mind? We won’t know the answer, of course. But I suspect, it would have taken a bit longer to get to that stage.

His change escalated when he brought up the money he put up for Curtin’s share. He felt he should get a bigger part of the gold than Curtin. But when Curtin offered gold, not just equal but more than what was given to him, Dobbs took it and dumped it on the ground as if to say he didn’t want it. Dobbs is teetering here… from greed back to normalcy.

But there came a point when he was too far gone.


Lack of water

Dehydrating is never good for anyone. It makes people see things that aren’t there. Now rewind a moment, there was a moment (before his madness), when Dobbs thought he found gold and splashed rocks with water to get a closer inspection of the sparkles. But it was fool’s gold instead and Howard gave him a warning.

“Water’s precious. Sometimes it’s more precious than gold.” - Howard

Add this to Dobbs’ building greed and paranoia and you can see his madness growing.

Why water didn’t affect Curtin that way? Each person is different. Dobbs was rather hyper and he was already weak of mind.

**end spoiler**


Conclusion

“The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre” was a fascinating study on the affects of greed lead by an accomplished actor. And the ending was both satisfying and tension-filled.


 Score 10/10

3 Flaws I Hope Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition Fixes

**spoilers**


When I first saw the movie, I considered making a write-up on what I thought the flaws were. But I decided to wait until the Ultimate Edition was close in hand.  I loved the movie. I saw it three times and each time I watched it, I loved it more. Generally speaking, this is not out of the norm for a movie, but in the case of BvS, I think the reason goes a bit deeper.

In addition, I do think the structure lacked dramatic irony, which is something I was looking forward to and didn’t really get. I discuss this in detail later in this article.

The “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition” adds another 30 minutes to the theatrical cut. The digital release is on the way, but I have already pre-ordered the blu-ray, which will arrive July 19. I am staying away from any spoilers as I hold out until then.

I don’t know if the extra 30 minutes will address the issues I had, but here are the 3 key things I wish were in the movie and hope are in the Ultimate Edition.


#3 Superman doing a personal save

Before I begin, let me just say that Superman is my favorite superhero.

We’ve seen Superman saving the world twice. He killed Zod and Doomsday, dying in the process of the later.

But what we haven’t seen is Superman saving a person (or people) on a personal level. Sure, Clark did it in “Man Of Steel”, but since he’s been Superman, that hasn’t been detailed.

Yes, he’s rescued Lois when she was pushed off the roof. And I loved when he saved Lex from Doomsday. That was a tremendous add. But I wanted something more.


What did we get?

There was a montage with people on the TV discussing the heroics of Superman, including Superman hovering over flood victims. But it lacked some warmth that comes with the type of save I’m thinking of.


Let’s looks at the fire scene:

Clark watches the tv, sees a fire and unbuttons his tie. Then we jump to him carrying the girl out, handing her to the mother when the crowd treats him like a God, which weighs on him in an emotional way.

I think this type of twist is bold and I appreciated it. I always wanted to see a Superman that had to deal with the pressures. But what was missing is the hope, the why behind what he does.

When you focus on the struggle and the pain, then as a viewer that’s what I’m going to feel. What was missing from the scene was the actual save.

Fire scene breakdown: Sees the fire, (skips the save part which is off screen), carries the girl and feels the weight of it all.

The save is where the hope comes from… where we see and feel why he does it. He can’t be saving people just because he has to. He has to do it because he wants to. That kind of thing was left to the “well he’s Superman so we know he’s a good guy.” But as a Superman fan, I want to feel it. I feel it by seeing and, therefore, experiencing it.

What should have happened: Superman flies into the burning building and saves the scared girl. This is the moment where we see the emotional reward. The why he does it. To give this girl hope that she will survive the fire. To give the mother outside, who sees Superman fly in, the hope that she will get her daughter back.

Now, this personal save didn’t have occur during the fire. It could have been something else. But the fire was the perfect spot.


#2 Clark investigating The Batman

We didn’t get much of Daily Planet Clark Kent in “Man Of Steel” and that’s fine since it was a Clark Kent/Jor-El becoming Superman story.

But here we have Superman disliking Batman for ideological reasons and we don’t see him doing a lot of research. It would have been nice to see him talk to that branding victim.

Clark felt rather sheltered. He was mainly in the office and didn’t have much contact with people outside of the usual suspects.  

Gotta add that I loved the scene where Clark Kent meets Bruce Wayne at the party. Their chemistry is off the charts, which bodes well for future Justice League films.


#1 Lex’ plan should be more upfront (eliminate the connect-the-dot method of story telling, add DRAMATIC IRONY)

One of the main concerns I read was:

• The film was a mess
• People didn’t understand some things (claiming plot holes)
• Africa seemed pointless (including the African woman at the Senate hearing)
• Lex plan made no sense

I was able to follow everything the first time I saw it. But I believe the reason I enjoyed it better the second time was because I knew what was happening. This is another thing I hear people say often.


Question: Why were people confused?

It’s been established that there were editing issues bringing the film from 3 hours to 2.5 hours. But you can edit and still not have some people feeling completely lost. It’s about WHAT you edit and HOW you order your scenes that could impact CLARITY.


Answer: connect-the-dot method of story telling

This comes from not knowing any of Lex’ scheme until later on. It really wasn’t until the senate bombing when all the pieces really came together. Inferences had to be made, then on the helipad scene, Lex boasted to Superman:

For some, by this time they were lost or maybe they stopped trying to follow what Lex was doing.

For others (like me), it was a rush of information as I connected the dots and got validation for what I had inferred.


How to fix the connect-the-dot method of story telling

Very simple. Something as quick as a two minute montage during the “18 months later” black screen where we see Lex in front of computer screens showing things like:

• Matching images of Clark with Superman
• Tracking the Batmobile to Bruce Wayne (using street cameras)
• Receiving files of the other Justice League members in an email to show that he is gathering intel on meta-humans
• Lex talking to KGBEast so we can establish that Lex is connected to the Africa incident when the Africa incident happens (instead of us having to connect the dots later).

Things like this. Now I’m not saying that we have to have a montage. But it’s just an easy way to go. What I am saying is that we needed something.

As it stands, the theatrical cut did not show us Lex being involved in things from the start. So it felt like a bunch of separate stories that took long to come together where the common thread ended up being Lex Luthor.

“The Dark Knight” also had a lot of stories and subplots. But it was easy to follow because the Joker’s plans were laid out for us. There weren’t a bunch of things happening behind the scenes with us left not knowing until much later on (like in BvS). Sure you can have twists and turns but you need to establish a foundation first.

For fun try this, watch “The Dark Knight” and imagine how the movie would feel if you eliminated the beginning Joker scene in the bank and the Joker meeting with the mafia men (you know, the disappearing pencil trick). Without the Joker as the connective thread, the story would feel messy.


Lack of Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony, in a nutshell, is when the audience is privy to something the characters are not. It gives the audience a front seat to the action, because they’re in the know.

Example in a Horror movie: The audience sees a killer with a knife at the end of the hall. An unsuspecting character walks toward the danger and as she walks down the hallway, we are stressed out because we know something bad is lurking in wait.

When I saw the trailer with the party scene, it seemed like Lex knew who Bruce and Clark were.

But when the scene comes in the movie, we don’t know… not until it’s too late to enjoy it. Unless you’re on your second viewing. We also see Diana there.

Imagine if we knew that Lex knew who Clark and Bruce where… now imagine the same for Diana… the scene has a totally different feel and it becomes quite funny as we watch his pawns move around the room.

The connect-the-dot method of story telling robbed us of dramatic irony.

ANALYSIS: Approaching the Unknown, Did He Or Didn’t He?

**Major Spoilers**

“Approaching The Unknown” approaches where exactly?

After watching the movie, it seemed like a straightforward story. But after reflection, I asked myself:

“What was his final destination?”

“Did he ever land on Mars?”

This claustrophobic tale studies Stanaforth’s personal obsession with stepping foot on Mars. Mark Strong has a subtle yet compelling performance as he takes us on a one man journey through space.

Stanaforth will be the first person to walk on Mars… that’s the plan, anyhow. How did he get this honor? He build a machine that could, in essence, squeeze water from a rock.

If all goes well, he’ll set up his machine on Mars and create water from the rocks & soil that cover the planet. The apparatus grinds rocks into a powdery consistency and, from there, an electrical conversion occurs.

Three weeks behind him is Maddox, another explorer who will help set up supplies so that they could start building in hopes that humanity could find a second home.

This is to be a one-way mission. Stanaforth is never going back home again and he’s totally fine with that—actually, he embraces it.

At the end of the movie, we see him on Mars. But did he actually get there?

The “Unknown” in “approaching The Unknown” may actually mean his fate is unknown.


Did he make it to Mars?

If he made it to Mars, the story is as shown.

But if he didn’t, there are two possibilities coming from this alternate scenario. Before I discuss this, let me first go into a couple of symbolisms that support this theory.

Symbolisms

1: The men at the space station

On his journey he makes a stop at a space station that houses two men. There’s something not right with them. Too much time in space has left them looking jittery and hopeless. But it’s more than that, their experiment had failed.

They brought with them mice for a socialization experiment—to see how the mice interact with each other. How time in space affected them. Would they get along? Become aggressive? The answer is neither… the mice just died. Their experiment was a failure.

They have spent so much time in space, away from their home, for what they determined was a waste. At least that’s how it appeared to Stanaforth.

One of the men sat with Stanaforth as they both watched Maddox take off on her mission to follow Stanaforth. The man cried, but not before telling Stanaforth to go home.

The symbolism being that Stanaforth’s experiment also failed and he was left with the choice to go home or stay. It was a type of symbolism that appeared to be a warning and/or foreshadowing. Or maybe it was something else entirely…

2: Maddox had to turn around

Maddox and Stanaforth were able to communicate. Cameras were set up so they could watch each other. At some point, she started having trouble with her ship.

Stanaforth helped her fix the problem, but it ended up being temporary. The problem resurfaced and she was forced to return home.

Again, we have another failure of sorts. But unlike, the two men who were stuck at the station until their time was up, she was turning back.

Now let’s continue to…

The two ways he never made it to Mars

1: He died in space on his way to Mars

Stanaforth accidentally damaged his machine while also infecting his water supply. Attempts to fix it have failed and he’s forced to ration what’s left of his water and try to find water through condensation.

If he continues to Mars, he won’t live long. And with his machine broken, there was no mission. His other option is to turn back.

His obsession pushes him forward. Slowly dying without water, his ship hits a magnetic disturbance. He goes into dream sequences that take him back to when he was at the desert, testing his machine. In his flashback, he passes out in the desert.

What if he dies during this dream and as he’s dying he hallucinates about making it to Mars?


2: He died in the desert. He never made it to space.

 

From the start of the film, scenes from the desert have been cut in. He struggles to make the machine work but won’t give up. He doesn’t radio in for a rescue and, after 3 days, he has to restart his experiment.

We see that he finally gets it to work. He then returns to base where he tells Skinner that his experiments works and he wants to take it to Mars.

But as we proceed further into the story, to where Stanaforth’s machine breaks down, we are shown other images from that desert scene. Those of Stanaforth dehydrating to the point of passing out. He loses sensation in his limbs and has the feeling of death.

What if this is where he actually died?

That machine is everything to Stanaforth. Without it, he never gets a shot at his dream of going to Mars. So he doesn’t turn back, he stays out there. His mind loses water and he slowly loses his mind as his thoughts drift to this imaginary setting of space.

The symbolisms of the men in space and Maddox needing to turn her ship around are his subconscious telling him to get out of the desert… to wake up from this illusion and save himself. In addition, add in the machine breaking and Skinner wanting him to come home as another push.

But in the end, the desert takes him.

As I think about this, I feel like the answer lies in the desert. He never left earth, except in his mind.

10 Cloverfield Lane: Who is the Monster?

After letting the movie sit, I pondered on the characters and I looked at the story from different perspectives. And I realized just how much the story changed depending on how I viewed their intentions.

Unlike MY SPOILER-FREE REVIEW, I will dig deep into plot points and major reveals. So this analysis is riddled with spoilers.

**spoilers**

The tagline for the movie reads as follows:

“Monsters come in many forms”

Although 10 Cloverfield Lane is related to Cloverfield; it’s only loosely. So the monsters aren’t of the same variety (until the end… sort of). Throughout the film, the tension is in the bunker, that’s the monster we’re talking about. So let’s start with the obvious and more considered monster…

Howard is the monster…

Howard is the character who is the clear first choice for the bad guy. After all, he had Michelle chained to the bed at one point.

Let’s trace his story:

Howard works with satellites. That’s how he knew of the existence of aliens. So he hired Emmett to build this bunker in preparation of that day.

Suspicious activity:

He has social issues so he may have some kind of problem here. Or maybe he’s just plain crazy. 

He runs Michelle off the road. He says it’s an accident but what if he did it on purpose to kidnap her?

He warns Emmett to not touch Michelle and can’t call Michelle a woman. This suggests that he sees Michelle as a girl. Seeing her as a woman ruins his illusion. The moment he sees her as a woman, she is in danger. This theory is based on him being some kind of serial killer.

Serial killer?…. Let’s rewind.

The word “HELP” is scratched into the window in that portion of the bunker (we’ll call it the “filter room”) that Michelle had to access via the vents. Michelle found that picture of Brittany, a girl whom Emmett said went missing a a couple of years back. But Howard had told Michelle that the Brittany picture was his daughter Meagan.

So Howard lied about the picture. Brittany was one of his victims that he had stashed in the bunker.

Emmett is the monster…

Now this is interesting. Emmett is the character that gets the least amount of focus. Because we see the movie through Michelle’s eyes, Emmett becomes the harmless one, the one who seems honest. Michelle trusts him and so do we since we aren’t given information beyond her perspective.

But what if Michelle has been trusting the bad guy all along? Let’s examine this scenario:

Howard contracted Emmett to build the bunker. That’s how Emmett knew about it.

Emmett saw the invasion and broke his arm trying to get inside.

But why didn’t Howard just let him in? Why does Emmett have to break his way in, especially since (in this scenario) Howard is the good guy? 2 reasons:

1. Howard may have thought Emmett was infected. This is  a possibility because Howard has social issues & is paranoid. Remember when that woman tried to get in and he kept yelling at Michelle to not let her in. But when Emmett tried to get in, it was at the start of the invasion and Emmett wasn’t infected.

2. What if Emmett having to fight his way in is related to the picture that Michelle found? What if Emmett dated Howard’s daughter (or had the hots for her) and because of this, Howard doesn’t trust or like Emmett. Notice how Howard doesn’t want Emmett to touch or get close to Michelle. What if Howard is watching out for Michelle? What if we go even further and say that Howard suspects Emmett of killing his daughter?

What… Emmett killed Howard’s daughter?

Let’s go back to what we know. “HELP” is etched on the window with blood on it. Someone was trapped in the filter room. We also know that the door to the filter room is blocked and can’t open. Maybe it was blocked on purpose.

That room has two exits: the blocked door and the window, which is shut with a lock.

Emmett wanted to crawl through the vents but his arm is broken. So Michelle went instead. Maybe Emmett wanted to go because he didn’t want Michelle to see the clues to what he had done.

But, but… Emmett said that the girl in the picture isn’t Meagan, so Howard is lying. But what if Emmett is lying and that is indeed a picture of Howard’s daughter. This changes the whole context of what’s to come.

Emmett says the girl’s name is Brittany, who went to school with his little sister. Brittany is a missing girl for the last two years. Body never recovered and everyone thought she left the town.

So let’s think about this. A girl goes missing and everyone assumes she left town? You mean her family didn’t call in a missing persons? Okay, maybe she had a bad relationship with her parents and had run away before. So they figured she was not coming back. Or maybe she’s an orphan. We don’t have details, but it does sound suspicious after some thought.

Summing up the theory:

The girl in the picture is indeed Howard’s daughter, Meagan.

Emmett worked with Howard on the bunker. During this time, he dated Meagan or wanted Meagan (maybe she wasn’t interested in him). Howard didn’t like Emmett dating or eyeing his daughter. So Howard wants nothing to do with Emmett.

Meagan goes missing or is found dead. Howard may suspect Emmett, but he doesn’t really know. Howard’s wife leaves him and moves to Chicago.

Emmett killed Meagan. Prior to the murder, he kept her in the filter room for some period of time (might not be too long).

Fast forward to now… aliens attack.

Emmett remembers Howard’s bunker. He tries to get in but Howard doesn’t like Emmett because Emmett dated his daughter. Emmett gets in, breaking his arm.

Emmett sees Michelle who has similar features to Meagan. So he gains her confidence and uses that to further Michelle’s paranoia about Howard. Maybe he planned to kill Howard if he had to so he can have the bunker with her or maybe he just wants to run away with Michelle.

Michelle is the monster…

This scenario is probably the least obvious to see. That’s because it relies on Emmett being the main monster. That’s the key.

So if Emmett is the main monster, how does that relate to Michelle?

Because Michelle inadvertently becomes a monster to Howard when she believes Emmett and let’s her paranoia destroy Howard. Of course, Howard’s social inadequacies didn’t help him.

Let’s look at it from Howard’s perspective:

Emmett dated Howard’s daughter, Meagan, and Howard doesn’t like this. Or Emmett was crushing on Meagan.

Meagan is missing or dead. Howard blames Emmett—either he thinks Emmett may have a hand in it or that he is somehow responsible, like he corrupted her.

Howard hears about the invasion, drives so fast that his car hits Michelle’s. She reminds him of his daughter so he takes her in to save her life.

Emmett and Michelle are getting along. Howard thinks back to his daughter and doesn’t like this. He gives the “no contact” rule to protect Michelle.

Howard notices the scissors and confronts Michelle and Emmett. Emmett confesses, mentions the gun and says he wanted to get Michelle to respect him like she respects Howard. This is his daughter all over again. Emmett is dangerous and will kill him & probably Michelle if he does nothing. He couldn’t save his daughter, but he will protect Michelle. So he kills Emmett.

Michelle turns on Howard and burns the place down.

Howard is dying and sees his safe haven burning down confused as to why she would do this to him after all he had done for her. For Howard, maybe he's come to the conclusion that Michelle corrupted Emmett since Emmet stole the scissors because of her. 

If only he hadn’t let anyone in. Both Emmett and Michelle ended up being evil.

Green Lantern Corps (Fancast): 6 possible choices for Hal Jordan

Rumor (via Latino Review) has it that The Green Lantern Corps movie, which is scheduled for 2020, will have 3 earth lanterns, which include: Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner.

Hal Jordan and John Stewart isn’t a surprise. Hal is the most significant Lantern. John offers diversity and was the major Green Lantern in the Justice League/Unlimited animation television series.

Kyle Rayner is the surprise, with many thinking that Guy Gardner would  complete the trio (if WB/DC decided to go with 3). But Kyle is an Mexican American and offers even further diversity. So maybe that was part of the thinking.

Also, (according to the rumor) Hal Jordan is supposed to be older… a Matt Damon type. That sounds on-the-nose. Not sure if he is being considered, if he turned down the role, or maybe not a choice at all. But Stewart and Rayner are said to be younger

There are many choices for the role. So I’m going to have a bit of fun and propose 6 choices for Hal Jordan.

 HAL  JORDAN

 

#6 Josh Holloway (46): He came into popularity while on the sci-fi show “Lost”. He can play the cocky guy with an attitude. And he has a great smile.

#5 Alex O'Loughlin (39): I first saw him in “Moonlight”, which he was very good in. He played a leading man very well. But he is more known for his current role in the very successful “Hawaii Five-O”. Interestingly enough, he plays alongside Scott Cain, who I think would make a good Guy Gardner.

#4 Nathan Fillion (45): Presently, he is having success on “Castle”. But many of us remember him from “Firefly” where he gained such a cult following that fans worldwide want Nathan to play many leading characters. So why not add him to the Hal Jordan list. The only thing, he would have to get into shape.

#3 Ryan Gosling (35): Who could argue with this pick. A fantastic actor. He can play a wise cracker, as well as, the more serious and darker take, if they push Hal to the dark side.

#2 Matt Damon (45): If Hal Jordan is going to be part of the Justice League, we know he has chemistry with his bff, Ben Affleck. He’s a top notch actor and can play the cool type with a sarcastic edge if need be. And we know he’s in shape after filming “Jason Bourne”. Who wouldn’t want to see Matt and Ben play out the scene from Justice League: War.

#1 Jensen Ackles (38): On “Supernatural” that which could go on well into their grandpa years. But I say, let’s finally put the show the rest—it’s dead, bury it, consider it mercy—and throw Jensen into space. He has a natural comedic charm that is  practically Hal Jordan! And he has amazing chemistry with all his co-stars. That’s important when you’re playing alongside a team of other characters, some of which will probably be CGI’d. And he’s worked with DC, voicing Jason Todd in “Batman: Under The Red Hood”.

To see my picks for John and Kyle:

6 picks for John Stewart
6 picks for Kyle Rayner

Green Lantern Corps (Fancast): 6 Possible Choices for John Stewart

 JOHN STEWART

Some of these choices may be older than what the studio is looking for (as per Latino Review rumor). Traditionally, Stewart is the more serious one when compared to Hal Jordan. But I have a couple who could be more fun if need be.

I removed Michael B. Jordan from the list since he will be in "Marvel's Black Panther"
 

#6 Tyrese Gibson (37): He’s been tweeting about wanting to play the Green Lantern. Posting a pic of himself photo-shopped as Stewart. He’s got a fan base and we know he can act with a team of actors.

#5 Corey Hawkins (27): He was great in "Straight Outta Compton" and has a resume that also includes "The Walking Dead" and upcoming "24".

#4 Dayo Okeniyi (27): No stranger to big budget films having acted in “The Hunger Games” and “Terminator Genisys”. And he’s very good on “Shades of Blue”, which gives him a chance to show off his acting chops.

#3 Aldis Hodge (29): Another “Straight Outta Compton” alumni, he’s a talented actor whose star is rising. To see more of him, just look at episodes of “Turn”, a television series set during the civil war.

#2 Donald Glover (32): I really like this choice. He crosses 30 years of age, but he does have a younger vibe to him. And yet, with a beard (which he seems to be wearing lately) he can have a more rugged look to fit the ex-military type. He’s also a comedian, so he offers quite a bit of flexibility and can play off his co-stars.

#1 Idris Elba (43): He’s probably too old for the role, but he’s still my first pick. I was introduced to his acting from the television show “Luther”. He’s a busy guy, currently filming the best selling book series “The Dark Tower”, which could end up having sequels. And with him being attached to Marvel’s Thor, he may not even be eligible. But I can dream.

To see my picks for Hal and Kyle:

6 picks for Hal Jordan
6 picks for Kyle Rayner