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Thor and the Ethics of Fake Lego (New Substandard!)

On this latest episode of the Substandard (subscribe, leave a review, tell your friends), we discuss Thor: Ragnarok, which, over the weekend, smashed the competition. I mean, it really hammers home the message that comic book movies deliver. But it also helps that Thor featured some electrifying performances. Okay, that's it for "Gene."

JVL loved Thor: Ragnarok, calling it laugh-out-loud funny. Which is what particularly bothered Sonny—should Thor even be funny? Not that anyone one denies Chris Hemsworth's comedic chops—or the way Jeff Goldblum does Jeff Goldblum (remember Vibes with Cyndi Lauper?).

Elsewhere in the episode we discuss the ethics of buying fake Lego—namely the identical blocks sold by the Chinese company Lepin at a significantly cheaper price than the Danish original. It's a legal mess, needless to say, but if I were a lawyer for Lepin, my defense would be, "It's a homage!" Sonny says it's immoral to partake in this sort of shoddy commerce. Jonathan can't wait for the arrival of his Lepin Avengers carrier. (Sonny says the real problem is spending so much money on ... toys.)

But this episode offers advice too! Following my Saturday night bender in New York City, Sonny and I share tips on how to survive day-long drinking. (Sonny emphasizes hydration and Motrin; I stress consistency of spirit, though I don't even follow my own advice and ended up eating a fried pickle off the floor of a pub.)

Cheers!