Month: January 2021

Relevant Watch: The Next Karate Kid @CobraKaiSeries @McSchlossberg @healdrules @jonhurwitz @ralphmacchio @WilliamZabka @MartinKove @Xolo_Mariduena @marymmouser @KarateKidMovie @netflix #netflix #GoodWatch

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Cobra Kai inspired me to watch the often-maligned Next Karate Kid, which I recently learned is on Netflix. It wasn’t Highlander 2 bad, but it was bad, and I was happy when the final credits rolled. I just wanted it to be over. The writing was garbage, but you could still tell that Hilary Swank was going to become a good actor. I love when movies connect (perhaps explaining my obsession with the MCU), so despite its weaknesses, it would be great to see her in a future season of Cobra Kai. The primary villain, Michael Cavalieri, could return, as could Michael Ironside (who really sucked in this) and Jim Ishida. Ishida is the one still-living actor that played a monk. Hell, Walter Goggins could return. Walter Goggins! Despite all its flaws, I’d love to see this movie recognized in Cobra Kai.

After all, it’s not as if Karate Kid III deserved any awards, but we all want to see Terry Silver and Mike Barnes, right? As always, YMMV.

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Bruno’s Earth: I Just Had to Do It @Wizards #copyright #DnD #RPG

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I bought something that arrived on Thursday. It’s stupid, and it appears to be the most brazen example of copyright infringement since Napster (though with far fewer consequences). For that reason, I didn’t want to support it. But I had to. It cost less than $15 with shipping.

I discovered via Facebook a game system known as Bruno’s Earth. I’m not going to post photos because of the nature of the infringement. Instead, I point you to the Amazon listings.

Bruno’s Earth Game Book
Bruno’s Earth Creature Manual

This book shamelessly copies the artwork from the AD&D Players’ Handbook and Monster Manual (and perhaps others), including the covers of the books. There’s no way you know about these books and not know that it’s infringement, yet Wizards of the Coast, who enforces and threatens a hell of a lot more than they have any right to, has apparently taken no action. It’s bizarre. I’d be surprised to hear that Wizards licensed it, but it’s certainly possible. Until I hear otherwise, I’m assuming that. Besides, as Kermit the frog might say, “But that’s none of my business.”

Oh, by the way, I haven’t had much of a chance to review the material beyond the artwork, but I can tell you that it’s riddled with language errors/typos. I’ve been told the game system itself rather sucks. I’ll let you know what I think of that when I’ve had the chance to really look it over.

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Dungeons & Dragons is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC, who neither contributed to nor endorsed the contents of this post. (Okay, jackasses?)

Two Movies That Hold Up @Schwarzenegger @STARZ #Predator #TheFly

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Some random channel surfing on Tuesday night led me to Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator. I picked up about halfway through and was struck with how well this movie held up. People will always find a way to complain, but I don’t think Predator would offend anyone. The acting and story remain interesting, and even the special effects hold up well. The most complicated thing to deal with is the Predator himself, but he’s invisible for most of the movie. His cloak is a bit odd, but that’s exactly what you’d expect from a cloaking device. It’s not going to be perfect.

Wednesday’s random channel surfing led me to one of my favorite movies during my teenage years: Jeff Goldblum’s The Fly. The computer technology that supposedly manages teleportation is also remarkably (but expectedly) primitive for such a feat, and the prosthetics are a little dated, but much like Predator, they’re irrelevant until the very end. Nevertheless, they made a great effort showing the slow transformation into “Brundlefly,” and Goldblum’s head tics were a nice touch. The end was emotionally powerful enough to help you ignore any special effects shortcomings.

As an elementary school student, I was terrified of the 1958 version of the film because of the final scene with the small human getting eaten by a spider (a cheesy scene I’m glad they didn’t duplicate in this version). I’ve had an irrational hatred of bugs ever since. Note well I said hatred. I don’t fear bugs; I want to punch them in their faces. And yes, lobsters are bugs, so I won’t eat them. The Incredible Shrinking Man made matters only worse.

Okay, you didn’t really need that journey into my twisted mind. Be grateful I’m stopping there. The point is that both of these movies are easily watchable today. If you have Starz, give them a(nother) shot.

Unless you’re entomophobic. As always, YMMV.

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“Screw You!” Watch: Surviving Death @netflix #netflix #GoodWatch

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I’ve watched only one and one-half of the six, 50-minute (or so) episodes of this show. That’s enough. This is an important show to watch, but not for the reasons the show advances. It’s important to see how low humans can get. It’s important to see how assholes will take advantage of peoples’ trauma to make a buck, leaning on the trivial point that “we don’t know everything” to justify making up bullshit at which traumatized people will throw their money. Seriously, to hell with anyone who gives these charlatans a voice.

That’s not to say that this couldn’t be a good show. It could be. There are patterns to near-death experiences that are impossible to ignore, but they should be studied from a psychological perspective to know why we perceive what we do.

Screw you! As always, YMMV.

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A Controversial Topic Sure to Inflame @stefondiggs @BuffaloBills @TerpsFootball @NFL #BUFvsKC #NFL #football

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Sundays are now lazy days for me. Going forward, I’m just going to re-post other people’s work or just do something silly. Today it’s a diversion. I never post about politics or sports here or on my gsllc twitter stream, because many nerds have no time for sports, and I have no time for your incendiary hate. But there’s an exception to every rule. So today, I’d like to discuss abortion.

Kidding.

With my team out, I’m doing what I often do. I’m throwing in my hat for the former Terp, Stefon Diggs.

Former Maryland wide receiver Stefon Diggs signs $2.5 million deal with Vikings - Baltimore Sun
When he mattered most to me.
Stefon Diggs invigorates Bills' offense | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Now I’m just settling.

Go Bills!

I’ve been to Buffalo once for UFC 7 in 1995. I have no immediate plans to return.

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Apocalyptic Watch: #Spycraft @eoneill @netflix #netflix #GoodWatch

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I just finished Spycraft on Netflix. At first, my thoughts were, “Great. Even more ways in which I have no privacy. Maybe I should take more seriously all these spam emails that claim to have me compromised.” It eventually got worse. Much worse. Now I’m thinking, “Oh, so Armageddon is a real thing. I didn’t know that.” Well, then . . .

“So murder and mayhem. Standard procedure.” (1:58)

This was quite horrifying and educational even though I’m apathetic and technically literate (if not a bit behind the curve after all these years of lawyering). The one thing I didn’t like is that they addressed Robert Hanssen without interviewing Eric O’Neill (or even mentioning him). Eric’s a friend and was the center of the operation that caught Hansen. But that means nothing to most of you.

This was far better than the Social Dilemma. I actually learned something with this one. As always, YMMV.

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Classic Movies: Top Secret @valkilmer @CBSAllAccess #TopSecret #movie #CBSAllAccess #ClassicMovie #GoodWatch

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The other day, I was thinking, “I’d really like to see Top Secret again.” This weekend, I watched the latest episode of the Stand, and afterwards went browsing through the movie list on CBS All Access and found — you guessed it — Top Secret.

This category, Classic Watch, is reserved for classic movies like Casablanca and Citizen Kane. Perhaps it was inappropriate to include the Nightmare Before Christmas, but I make no apologies for including this one. This movie is a classic as far as I’m concerned. It’s stupid fun. Some of the gags were dated, in part because younger people won’t get the references (e.g., the exploding Ford Pinto), and in other part because people today are far more sensitive than they were in the 80s. I must admit that the latter makes me snicker a little bit.

As always, YMMV.

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Improved Watch: Disenchantment, Season 3 @disenchantment @netflix #Disenchantment #netflix

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I watched the third season of Disenchantment this weekend via Netflix. The first two seasons were a big meh for me, but I kept going back to the well because I’m such a huge fan of Futurama. Just hearing, for example, the voice of Mom’s oldest son now recast as “Eyeball” makes me laugh a little bit. But this third season was a definite improvement. There were several gags that made me laugh out loud during the first two-thirds of the season.

That said, it wasn’t all good. The writing inexplicably returned to its stale, unfunny self by the last few episodes, relying instead on its cliffhangers to keep us watching. Why? Also, the fate that befell King Zog was supposed to be funny and sympathetic. It was neither. It dragged on way too long and became annoying quickly.

So, was it worth the watch? For the most part, yes, but it’s still having troubles. It’s taking far too long to hit its stride. If it keeps getting better, I’ll keep watching, but if season 4 is a step backwards, it’ll be the last season I watch. If it gets cancelled, I won’t miss it. There’s too much good content out there waiting for me.

As always, YMMV.

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4th Edition D&D Has Poisoned Star Trek #DnD #RPG #StarTrek

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Way back when, 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons created a meaningless dust up. It presented female dragonborn (anthropomorphic reptiles) with mammary glands. That is, they had boobs. This makes no sense, and now, after all these years, this thinking has infested Star Trek.

The Andorion gets my vote.

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