Tag: tv

Happy Star Trek Day! @kesseljunkie @StarTrek @starwars #StarTrek #StarWars #StarWarsDay #MayTheFourth

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I mean, why not? Aren’t we choosing dates that have nothing to do with the underlying intellectual property? So, why not randomly choose the May 4th for Star Trek based on some political use of a Star Wars phrase?

It’s ridiculousness like this that makes my tongue and cheek rivalry with Kessel Junkie seem real. Come back and talk to me on the 25th.

Gorn >> Bossk

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Good Watch: The Last Blockbuster @blockbuster @netflix #Blockbuster #GoodWatch #movie

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I finally caught the Last Blockbuster on Netflix. It was an interesting telling of how Blockbuster failed. Absolutely nothing was a surprise. Blockbuster died because technology changed; everyone knows that. I was disappointed that they tried to spin its demise, refusing to admit that Netflix, et al. killed it. The argument is that Blockbuster died because they didn’t have the capital to invest in streaming technology. Well, yeah. Duh. We know that. When we say “Netflix killed Blockbuster,” what we’re all really saying is “streaming technology killed the video rental business.” Nothing in the documentary proved otherwise.

Great. Now I’ve developed another nervous tic.

Nevertheless, it was, as I said, and interesting telling. I love learning about history regardless of how recent it was.

No Nostalgia Here

What surprised me the most about the show was my own emotional reaction. I really don’t care. That is, despite renting videos being a huge part of my teenage life, it was kind of a pain in the neck. I’m not immune to nostalgia. Most of the people who have ever read this blog have done so only because nostalgia brought me back to D&D 24 years after the Satanic Panic took it away from me. I have the same love of childhood garbage food that all of you have. However, renting videos wasn’t without cost.

First, my parents had to get with the program and actually buy a VCR. That took a while. Second, it was about a 1.5 mile (each way) walk to get to the video rental store. There are also occasional war stories related to renting videos. For example, I’m a middle child, and when I say I’m a middle child, I mean I’m the middle child, as in the poster child of middle children. Look it up in your dictionary. If my picture isn’t there, buy a new dictionary. Ergo, I never got to pick what movies I wanted unless I took matters into my own hands, and even then, I had to wait my turn for the VCR, which sometimes never came. That leads me to a specific war story. My cousin and I once rented Bachelor Party. We were in high school and didn’t have credit cards, so to rent it (without our parents’ assistance), we had to put down (IIRC) a $75 deposit (that’s $187 in 2021 money . . . for a high school student). We were dipshits.

Overall, I suspect I have more fond memories of renting movies than poor ones, but I just don’t miss it. I can imagine how inconvenient it would be if I still had to do that. As I type this, Netflix proceeded directly to Stowaway. I like being able to just grab movies at the touch of a button … errrr, click of a mouse. Of course, you all probably agree with that, but nostalgia isn’t really about actually wanting to go back, but rather about remembering what was going on in your life at that point. Well, I’m a big movie theater guy, so going to the movie theater is still a far more enjoyable experience than renting and watching a video at home. I suspect that’s why this documentary didn’t pull at any heartstrings. Perhaps I’ll have a nostalgic reaction when and if movie theaters die. (Fuck you, COVID-19.)

Still a good documentary. As always, YMMV.

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Dr. Who’s Other Car is a … @DrWhoWatch #DoctorWho #DrWho #TV

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Going forward, Sundays are lazy days for me. I either post something silly or other people’s work. Usually both. Today, I address a nerdy intellectual property that I’m not fond of for the oddest reasons.

No photo description available.

I know, I know. I should piss off.

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Wyatt Russell is Doing Very Well @falconandwinter #WyattRussell #FalconAndWinterSoldier #MCU #CaptainAmerica

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I don’t know about you, but I’m loving The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and everyone in it.

May be an image of 4 people and text that says 'Welcome Wyatt Russell to the "We're so fucking good at acting that now everyone hates us" club. Qaheen மில'

Nevertheless, I support Marvel’s decision to replace Wyatt Russell. (Not really. This is so terribly stupid that it’s almost not worth kidding about.) Make sure to watch the series (season?) finale tomorrow.

I didn’t realize anyone hated Christoph Waltz.

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An Inconvenient (Though Overblown) Truth @ITCrowdSupport #DnD #RPG #ITCrowd

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Going forward, Sundays are lazy days for me. I either post something silly or other people’s work. Usually both. Today, I deal with an inconvenient truth via a show that had some great moments.

Don’t shoot the messenger. Everyone’s doing it.

Of course, this is bullshit, as my experience has been that marriage is as common among nerds as it is among the general population.

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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?)

Wyatt Russell to Be Replaced in Season 2 of the Falcon and Winter Soldier @falconandwinter #MCU #FalconAndWinterSoldier

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Due to the backlash against Wyatt Russell, they’ve replaced him for season 2 of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Advanced photography has revealed his replacement.

Don’t forget to get up early tomorrow morning for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!

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My TV Viewing Habits #TV #movie #streaming

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The pandemic has completely changed the way I watch TV. Before we were all quarantined, I watched one or two shows at any given time regularly, but otherwise used TV as nothing more than background nosie. As a result, there are many mainstream and classic movies I’ve never seen despite their repeated small screen runs. All that’s changed in the past year. Right now, I have Purple Rain, Heat, Scanners, season 2 of Solar Opposites, and a re-watch of Avengers: Endgame planned for this weekend. There’s no way I’m going to accomplish all of that, but that’s the plan.

The thing is, I now have a much greater appreciation for the small screen than I ever had since I was a kid. The only time as an adult that I watched TV to any significant degree was the mid-90s when I got HBO (which means it was still about movies rather than TV shows). I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the pandemic would have this impact, but I don’t think it would have been so severe if streaming services hadn’t proliferated.

I’d write more about this, but I have a schedule to keep.

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R.I.P. Yaphet Kotto #RIP #YaphetKotto

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From Rolling Stone magazine, Yaphet Kotto, Star of ‘Alien’ and ‘Homicide: Life on the Street,’ Dead at 81. And let’s not forget Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Well, on second thought ….

Yaphet Kotto had a long career and did some very good work. He was a Bond villain (Live and Let Die), a prison trustee (Brubaker), and a Ugandan dictator (Raid on Entebbe). However, for some reason, the first thing I think of when I hear his name is an episode of the otherwise-forgotten Alfred Hitchcock Presents called Prisoners (1985). Kotto played an escaped convict who broke into a woman’s house to evade the cops, and he kept her hostage so that she couldn’t rat him out. The way he was caught (spoiler alert!!!) was he coached her when she answered the phone, allowing her to carry on a conversation with a friend on the other end of the call. That tipped off the friend that something was wrong because the woman (hostage) was deaf. She’d been reading Kotto’s lips the whole time, and his character didn’t realize it. The show had a bit of a twist to it, which shouldn’t surprise you considering its namesake.

Yaphet Kotto, 'Alien' and 'Homicide: Life on the Street' actor, dead at 81 - CNN

RIP, Mr. Kotto.

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Historic Watch: Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan @Netflix #Japan #Samurai

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A new docuseries just dropped on Netflix this past week, and I watched all six, 45-minute (or so) episodes on Saturday. Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan discusses the quest for power in 1500s Japan. It’s presented through recreations narrated by historians. As you should expect, those from the 16th century seeking to rule a nation were often cruel and selfish. Some were arguably insane. All of them, however, were master tacticians, and some of their techniques have earned the respect of modern militaries.

I read a thread on Reddit in which several people stated that they didn’t like how the show was presented. For example, when the show cuts away to the historians, “who where paid to speak like stupid 9th graders,” the video goes to black and white for dramatic effect. Another stated he “had to turn it off with all this pandering.” I find all of this criticism to be at best inaccurate and at worst dishonest. Yes, the historians made sure to present the material as dramatically as possible, but they didn’t sound like they were in high school. The black and white shots provided a clear contrast between reenactment and dialogue. It’s a nice effect. Finally, I don’t see how there was any “pandering.” Japanese honor is often romanticized, and this show doesn’t do that at all. It clearly shows how cruel, deceitful, and selfish these leaders were.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience approval sits at 57%. Technically, I’m in the majority, but that’s considered a bad score. But none of the commenters disputed the truth of what was presented, and that’s what matters to me. Unless you’re a true student of history (I’m not), there are a lot of interesting, significant events in history of which you’ll never scratch the surface. This series helps in that regard.

As always, YMMV.

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Current Watch: Future Man @jhutch1992 @ImKeithDavid @futuremanonhulu #FutureMan

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I mentioned this past weekend that I’ve found my next streaming obsession, Resident Alien. However, that show is currently being aired, which means I can’t binge watch it. That leaves me with a hole in my viewing schedule. Well, I suspect many of you have repeatedly seen that same clip in a Hulu commercial where Abe Lincoln says he’s having the worst theater experience in his life, and Jesus thinks he’s an idiot for saying so. Some quick internet sleuthing informed me that the clip is from Future Man, so I decided I’d watch it.

I finished season one over the weekend and am about halfway through season two, which was easy to do because each episode is about 25 minutes (as opposed to 50 minutes). It was okay, but I’m still intrigued by the clip. It’s not getting better, but I’m confident it will because I learned Seth Rogan will eventually show up. (Believe it or not, I like Seth Rogan a lot.) Like Resident Alien, it’s a dramedy with a bit of science fiction. If you’re into video games (I’m not), that’s mildly relevant to the show and may make it a bit more interesting for you. If you’re into the Hunger Games, the lead is someone from that cast, Josh Hutcherson, but the supporting cast is pretty good. In fact, I love Keith David, and he plays an important role in season one. He’s worth the price of admission by himself.

Here’s a review from Looper that coincidentally hit my stream today. Google is watching me!

As always, YMMV.

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