I’ve watched the first two episodes and have enjoyed both. I’m not the biggest Fallout fan, but I’ve picked up a few references. Will certainly watch the whole season unless it takes a massive nosedive.
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I’ve never touched Fallout, but I’m watching the show w/ my boyfriend. Seems pretty good, it keeps me interested, and it’s been consistently decent throughout.
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Finished watching Fallout. I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I’ve played 3 and 4. That said I really enjoyed the series. I thought it captured the world really well and all the characters were fun. The ending was perhaps a little weak, but I’m very keen to see where Season 2 goes.
Also finally saw Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. I didn’t think it was quite as good as Afterlife, but it was still a very fun time. The references to the second movie and Real Ghostbusters were fun, but it’s such a shame that it further confirmed the video game is no longer cannon.
I think the new cast of 'Busters is really great and carries the spirit (no pun intended) of the originals really well. I loved James Acaster’s character, but I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. Though the character of Melody was really interesting, too. Wonder if we’ll get a third (fifth) film?
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Really glad to hear Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire didn’t fall flat. Not something I would go to a movie theater for, but I am definitely going to stream it when I can get my hands on it.
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Watched Oliver & Company today; nice movie. The opening is so sad/good
I like the “found family” dynamic here; the Dogs be like “we’ve known Kitty for 5 seconds but if anything happened to him, etc.” Really addresses the age-old question “can kity and oupy be friends?”
I like how Winston says “oh, bother!”; real Winnie-the-Pooh Moment there. And there’s a Fagin’s Feet scene, if that kind of thing is your bag, baby
This one would be a hit if they made it today. KITTY
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I watched Challengers. I am not a tennis fan. I have not seen a Luca Guadagnino film before. I think Zendaya has put in good performances before, but she isn’t an actress whose films I seek out.
All that being said, I really enjoyed Challengers. Somewhere between a John Hughes film and a David Fincher flick, Challengers grips you. Despite my disinterest in the sport, I really found myself leaning in to follow the story. It is fun. It is dramatic. It is challenging. It is a movie I recommend you check out!
Great score and cinematography by the way. Worth mentioning as I watched it in IMAX and felt it was worth the premium. A sexy tennis movie might not seem like the kind of movie you would watch in IMAX, but I’m telling you that is the right way to see this movie. The only better way to see the film is if you have the opportunity to see it in one of those immersive 5D theaters so you can feel what it is like for Zendaya to spit on you.
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Looking forward to this one:
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Finished watching Knuckles. It was…fine. A few funny moments, but it skews younger than the films so felt a bit too silly most of the time. It also didn’t add anything to the overall story.
It was very cool seeing Julian Barrett and Ellie Taylor in it, but of course every English character was a villain. What is it with Americans and not being able to get over the fact the country was established by the English? It’s getting to the point where it’s kinda pathetic.
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I now just think of this commercial whenever the trope comes up, lol.
You’re right though, I think what Hollywood really needs are some more villains played by Australians! 
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Ha, that’s actually pretty cool.
The only film I can think of where the villain is Australian is Chappy.
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There are few more Aussies gone villain, I think:
Heath Ledger - Joker
Hugo Weaving - Agent Smith (Matrix)
Margot Robbie - Harley Quinn
Cate Blanchett - Hela in Thor: Ragnarok
Ruby Rose - “Ares” in John wick chapter 2
Dacre Montgomery - Billy in Stranger Things
Jacob Elordi - Euphoria
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Sorry, I meant films in which the character is supposed to be Australian, not “just” the actor playing them. It seems whenever a character is English (regardless if the actor playing said character is English or not) in an American movie/ show, 8/10 times they are the villain.
One of the minor villains in Avatar: way of Water is Australian (and played by an Aussie, which is nice).
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We watched the OG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle [movie] trilogy
Sort of interesting how the first one is [relatively] down-to-earth, then 3 is a time-traveling adventure. TOTALLY unrealistic, but you could say the Mirage comics do the same thing. I tend to prefer the more down-to-earth New York adventures for them
And shouldn’t the future change if they change anything in the past? Or did they always go back to the past, thus the future remains unchanged? And why do they switch clothes, but not accessories[walkman, weapons]? Basil Exposition told me not to worry about it
Apparently Aska from TMNT: Tournament Fighters was initially going to be Mitsu from this movie. But I guess that wouldn’t really make sense since she’s living in the past. LITERALLY!
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I watched Unfrosted. I love Seinfeld (the show) so Seinfeld (the person) has remained on my radar. I think Jerry is not doing himself any favors by complaining about how PC culture is ruining comedy. The dude does not seem terribly conservative for a multimillionaire/maybe billionaire and his comedy is fairly apolitical but, at least from my perspective, leans left (“What’s the deal with airplane peanuts” is anti-capitalist). All this to say that Unfrosted is fine. It has some bits that made me laugh, it had some bits that made me groan. It has some very self aware performances (Gaffigan is funny throughout), and it has some that completely miss the mark (Basically all of the Pop Tart dream team was a laugh vacuum). I found Unfrosted to be fun but unnecessary. I’d only recommend you check it out if you are a big fan of Seinfeld (the concept).
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I also watched Bottoms, and while I am a big fan of Ayo Edebiri, it also gets a very lite recommendation from me. There are some bits I howled at (unlike Unfrosted), but there were also long stretches where I wasn’t laughing. Some bits don’t work while some of the movie tries for a sincerity that I just don’t think belongs in an absurdist comedy. Dicks the Musical reaches for similar silliness, accomplishes its rhetorical goals, and doesn’t have this tonal inconsistency. So in summary, Dicks is good, Bottoms and Unfrosted are fine.
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I also watched Fargo Season Five, and I loved it! You do not need to have seen the movie or watched any of the other seasons of the show in order to understand the fifth season as the show is an anthology series (although I recommend those as well). I love the Coens style and Noah Hawley has captured that folksy fiasco vibe about as well as anyone could have hoped. The show is full of quirky, specific, funny, and real performances from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jon Hamm, Lamorne Morris, Richa Moorjani, Sam Spruell (I don’t believe I’ve seen him in anything before- he’s fantastic in this), Dave Foley (realized the moment I saw him how much of a Coen energy this man possesses. God bless him and the Newsradio he rode in on), and Juno Temple. The writing is extremely tight while not being obtuse. I think even the densest media illiterate will understand what it is about. Some great cinematography and a wonderful score/soundtrack. I loved this season of Fargo.
There is a cheap plug-in looking fog in the second to last episode. I clocked it, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the show.
Also, maybe some Coenheads will not like the lore of Munch/Oola Moonk who has been alive for 500 years as this show does take place in the same universe as the movie. I was weirded out by it for a moment, but ultimately accepted and enjoyed the concept. Plus Sam Spruell gives himself to this character. That smile at the end when he has the biscuit makes me cry just thinking about it. What a lovely moment.
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Sorry, I know I am taking over this thread for a minute here, but I also want to shout-out Kaitlin Olson in this week’s Hacks. I’ve been watching Olson for half my life now as I adopted It’s Always Sunny pretty early in the show’s run. I’ve always found her to be a funny performer and was happy when she first showed up on Hacks as Deborah’s daughter- Deborah Junior/DJ. Her character is a bit of a joke but has been adding more and more pathos to her character with each appearance. However, this week she transformed and gave an incredible performance. She showed three distinct sides to her character that made me laugh, made me tear up, and ultimately filled me with a feeling of hope.
Hacks is the kind of show that lingers just on the other side of high drama. There is enough tension hiding in the unspoken in Hacks that it could transition into a drama like Succession if it wanted to. However, Hacks keeps things light and mostly fun which I need in my life! God bless Hacks and God bless Kaitlin Olson.
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This time, we watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014]. Of all the Ninja Turtles movies that exist, I’d say this is one of them
– I saw this one in the theatre at the time too. I don’t know about this one, kind of weird. Kind of a weird tone[?] Maybe it’s just me, but I found some of the action scenes a little hard to follow
– The only movie to acknowledge Vernon Fenwick–best Turtles movie ever!…except, he’s really only Vernon in Name Only. Where’s Irma? One of the news guys was named McNaughton, Mirage comics reference there. Wow.
– Lots of people talking in the beginning; it takes a while for the Turtles to show up. Like, “when are they gonna get to the TURTLES?!” [cries like Milhouse]
– So, this Splinter became a ninja master from a BOOK he found lying around in the SEWER! I’m sorry, I find that somewhat unrealistic
– Oh, Shredder being a scary bald guy and speaking in subtitles made me think of Imhotep [the Mummy from The Mummy]. He’s a bit more robot samurai than I like, but what can you do. Shredder, I mean, not Imhotep
– Eric Sachs…more like Eric SUCHS! If only “stupid-rich” people had better things to do than cause problems. Go have some Eric Sechs or something. Go swim in a vault full of money
– Speaking of which, the evil plan was kind of like an Evil Plan of the Week that ‘87 Shredder and Krang would cook up
– I’d say I prefer Mutant Mayhem; that’s more my speed. Well, I guess both movies do have a scene of the Turts being captured in an evil lab and “milked”
– Way to blow up Vernon’s car at the end, dudes, sheesh! No wonder cartoon Vernon hates them. J. Jonah Jameson was right; these guys are a MENACE
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Finished Fallout a few days ago. As a someone who only played like 3 hours of the original Fallout, I can say that I liked the world it portrays, which is likely the hit or miss for most sci-fi/dystopias/fantasy pieces. However, I think that it’s just too much how the whole series is made to explain and show a world (or the decision tree that made the world as it’s shown, rather than to sometimes use it as an active, living scenery. This made the progress of the series feel a bit slow and some of the characters were a bit uninspired and uninteresting, as their main motivation and goals are world telling (not even showing). By far, to me the character that stood out was the ghoul, to me, he’s the only one who feels with a real agency in the world developments.
In any case, I liked the world, and liked it enough to give another go to the Fallout series, so that says that I liked the environment quite a bit.
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Finished Generation V. Initially I was worried it’d be way too teen drama-y, and this is a little of that, but it was still a very fun intermission between Boys series, and it actually added some cool stuff to the lore.
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