I have so many questions, but I am not sure I really want answers. 
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Watched an English series called The Red King in which a London police officer is sent to an island off the coast of Wales in which some weird stuff possibly involving a cult is going on. Yes, on the surface it sounds very Wicker Man, and it’s obviously inspired by the film, but it’s not a direct copy and does quite a few things different.
I quite enjoyed it, although it was another mainstream media “nature religion = crazy and/or bad” which is really getting old. Some decent twists and all the performances were great, especially from the lead Anjli Mohindra and, as always, Marc Warren. It was written by Toby Whitehouse who has done a lot of the more successful British TV and films over the last decade or so. Certainly worth checking out if you enjoy a bit of folk horror.
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I remember when I was a young kid, my mother showing me polaroids of when she went to australia. At the time I thought it was nice to see what she looked like before I was born, and how happy she looked holding koalas and shit. Now, when I remember that I am glad she survived at all. Are the rumours of killer spiders and mutant kangaroos true? I have never left Europe.
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Oh, yes, they are true. The spiders can kill you, and those that won’t will make you wish you were dead if you’re bitten.
6-feet is small for a kangaroo, many are around 8. Then there’s the snakes whose venom can kill on an hour; the cassowary, which is basically a modern day raptor; the crocodiles of which 10-feet is a baby; Tasmanian Devils which could kill a man if they swarmed him. Blue bottle jellyfish, which can kill or, again, hurt so bad you wish they had killed you. Koalas might look cuddly, but they would rip your face off.
Worst, however, are the drop bears. They are a cousin of the koala, but incredibly vicious. They have elongated fangs which they plunge into your head or neck as they drive on you from out of a tree, hence the name. More tourists are killed by drop dears than any other animal.
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All of this is Australian propaganda to keep people out. It’s a veritable paradise where every animal is fluffy and wants to be your pal and the Aussies want to hoard it all for themselves 
Except this part. This part is true.
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Well, “propaganda” may be a bit strong a term. I once knew a bloke who, after a long stint of successfully navigating the outback, came across a rather ill tempered magpie. To make a long story short, we now call him “Blind Bazza.”
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I was told that Australian Drop Bears are a distant cousin of the European Wolperdinger species and if true they are absolutely deadly creatures!
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Everyone should come to Canada where you don’t need to worry about ferocious killer animals. Instead, we have House Hippos:
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When it comes to animals that live in every household in Germany, then it is these shown in the following video. The dangers of such animals coming to children’s rooms every week aside, they are very much loved by children and adults. 
(no words, so no language barriers)
But I have to admit I would love a House Hippo. 
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That’s sad, it’s been my life’s ambition to befriend a magpie and get a Youtube video made about it.
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I have long been a Richard Linklater enjoyer, and I will not apologize! His new Netflix flick The Hit Man was not marketed properly but don’t hold that against the film. I went in expecting a Rom Com Action movie, but what I got was more of a Romantic Comedic Thriller. It is never anxiety inducing, but it does progressively get more tense in interesting ways. Naturally funny, sexy, and philosophical- Hit Man is Linklater at his most accessible. Maybe you prefer his more esoteric work, but the dude knows how to make a crowd pleaser. The dude made School of Rock. Maybe this can be folks’ entryway to Bernie which will lead folks to Apollo 10 1/2 which will lead folks to the Before trilogy which will lead folks to Slacker and don’t you want more folks to watch Slacker?
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Watched The Fall Guy and loved it.
I feel guilty for not watching it on theathers. It was great.
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Just watched the first episode of The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. Best piece of comedy TV I’ve seen in a long time. If you’ve Apple TV or another way of precuring shows I highly recommend it!
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I’m sort of getting into the King of Fighters series, so I watched the Art of Fighting anime on YouTube. It was the best cartoon of all time, and shared some voice actors with Pokemon
– Ryo and Robert Garcia are in it. They never shoot I Can’t Believe it’s Not Hadokens, though
– Poory Yuri ! I hoped she’d be ok, and Kitty too. They kept saving her, only to lose her again. Come on, guys
– King was in it, she’s my favorite [so far]. King in jail [ending], eh? <3 Actually, I thought she was gonna turn out to be SECRETLY GOOD
– And I thought the bad guy would turn out to be SECRETLY their father. Ryo and Yuri’s, I mean
– You know…kind of weird that King and Yuri become friends in the game later, assuming this is close to the actual canon. Imagine Poison Final Fight becoming friends with Jessica Haggar. Now, imagine them passionately making out. Now, imagine the sound of one hand clapping.
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Recommend the show CSI New York. It’s like NYPD Blue but you get in-depth investigation of the crimes.
- a couple of months ago, i finished Hannibal, and it is genuinely the greatest TV show ive ever watched. i say that with ZERO! exaggeration. i cannot recommend it enough - it is unsettling when it needs to be, it is romantic, it is horrific every moment of its runtime, and it very rarely gives you a break. god, it’s so good. changed me in every way.
- me and a friend are watching Archer FX as of late! we’re almost through season 1, and thus far, it’s very fun, very entertaining too. the poor taste jokes land shockingly well for an adult swim show. honeypot’s the best episode so far :o)
- afterward we finish season 1, we’re gonna start our Venture Bros rewatch! it’s the greatest cartoon ive ever watched; it is so heartfelt once it starts picking up, and you can feel the love that was put into this show.
- a few months ago i started Cunk On Britain, but ended up procrastinating on watching the final episode, so i still haven’t finished it… though, it’s very entertaining, and very funny! it’s witty, satirical, etc. generally, a fun time, especially if you like mockumentaries.
as for movies…
- ive been watching a lot lately. the most recent is Lisa Frankenstein, which rocked my socks! its my new fav movie of all time now, and ohhh my god i love it. SO much. its campy, its fun, its horny, and just! AGHH!!! i love it!!!
- i watched Terminator 2 with some friends and jesus fucking christ my life was changed. no spoilers, it’s genuinely the greatest action film of all time.
- i watched The Devil’s Rejects earlier this month, because id been procrastinating on it for years (i love House Of 1000 Corpses, by the by!), and it was FANTASTIC. oh my god. one of the greatest movies of all time i fear. (ive been watching a lot of good shit lately.) i rewatched it with a friend, and then rewatched Corpses with another friend.
- Saint Maud changed me as a person. it’s not to everyone’s tastes and it’s often waved away by people as “pretentious elevated horror,” but if you like weird, surreal horror that you have to watch beyond the surface level, this is definitely for you!
- of course, obligatory Antiviral mention, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of my biggest special interests. it’s unique, it’s disgusting, and i love it.
(please talk to me about any of these things, by the way. i will love you forever. especially hannibal, venture bros and antiviral.)
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I saw Inside Out 2 with my kids. I think it does what classic Pixar does well- trust its young audience to relate to and understand a more mature message than what you find in standard family film fare. It also suffers from the same issues as most modern Pixar sequels- retreading the plot of the original with stilted writing to force the scenarios to play out.
The mind ends up being a double edged sword as a setting. Yes, the mind setting allows for the film to explore big ideas, but it also means the movie must make up rules for the mind. Several progressions in the plot are made by pun inspired Deus Ex Machina which I can’t abide as a grown man. My kids didn’t mind it though.
The movie is more artistically creative than any previous Pixar movies, BUT nowhere near those Spiderverse films. The movie depicts a panic attack, BUT Puss In Boots did it a couple years ago better.
There is a lot to enjoy in Inside Out 2 (the music is excellent and the designs for the new characters are strong), but my brain is full of caveats to that statement. Regardless, you can do a lot worse at the movies. It was this or Garfield.
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I’m done with Doctor Who.
I’ve been a fan since I was 12. I watched the re-runs with my dad who is also a big fan. I bought all the classic series DVDs during the “wilderness years”. I read Doctor Who Magazine. I’ve seen every surviving story, I’ve read a bunch of the novels…but these last few season have shown the show is no longer for me.
Jodie Whittaker’s tenure was divisive, and rightly so. It was obvious that the show runners didn’t know what they wanted to do or what audience to aim for. The stories were, for the most part, an absolute mess. But it still felt like the character of the Doctor was true to what came before. She was still recognisable as the adventuring scientist that started in a junkyard in 1963.
This new series though? It just didn’t feel like I was watching the Doctor at all. Ncuti Gatwa is obviously a great actor, but his portrayal of the Doctor is just too far removed. I blame the show runners for this as it’s up to them to keep the character consistent. Every actor has put a bit of themselves into their portrayal of the Doctor, but there has still remained a consistent core; certain characteristics that are always there. These have gone now.
If felt brining David Tennant back for the specials before this current season was a gimmick, and I feel now it was the shows “jump the shark” moment. That, combined with the absolute stupidity of the Timeless Child reveal and now this extreme step away from what made the Doctor the Doctor… it’s no long the show or the character I love.
This shouldn’t have to be said, but I’m going to say it to cover my bases; this isn’t because the Doctor was a woman, or is black, or is showing that the character might now be bi. It’s ntw because I think the show has “gone woke.” It’s because they have taken the core tennants of what made the character who they are and discarded them.
If people are enjoying this incarnation of the show and the Doctor, that’s great. I honestly am happy that the show will continue in some form and find new fans. But for me, who knows William Hartnell’s “wanderers in the Forth Dimension” speech from the very first episode off by heart… it’s no longer the show I love.
And that’s fine. Things change. I still have all the classic episodes and the 2005-to-whenever-Peter-Capauldi-left stuff on DVD to enjoy. But Doctor Who was and is such a huge part of my life, it feels pretty huge to let it go.
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Currently found a new show called “Forgive Me”. What I really like about the show is how it focuses on the confession booth and it is a new take on the Catholic Priest show.
Oh, I also saw Inside Out 2 yesterday. It was pretty cool
We also saw Garfield a few weeks ago
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