This episode it’s a conversation about our Top 5 Films of 1996. There are some interesting moments where we agree and disagree. One thing we do agree on is what we think about Disney’s Cruella which is our review of the episode.
We’d love to know what you thought of this episode so leave your comments here or leave a voice message on our Anchor page. We might share your comment on an upcoming episode of the show.
You can listen to the podcast here or on Spotify or Google Podcasts.
Loki Season 1, Episode 1 (Disney+)
Written by Michael Waldron
Directed by Kate Herron
I am one of those people that never got all the fans gushing over Loki. He’s a perfectly okay character, and it wasn’t until Thor: Ragnarok that I actually found him entertaining. Even in the comics, I just never found Loki a very compelling character. He feels very one-note to me and just works in the same repetitive cycle. With his death in Avengers: Infinity War, I supposed it was the end of the character in the MCU. However, Endgame had the Avengers traveling back in their own timeline and allowing a variant Loki to be created, one who shunted away with the use of the Cosmic Cube. This Disney+ series is where we find out where he went and what became of him.
Continue reading “TV Review – Loki Season 1, Episode 1”
We finally watched the Bo Burnham special “Inside” on Netflix, and wow! I don’t think I’ve seen a piece of media yet that really captured the inner turmoil I felt during the pandemic. I don’t believe everything Burnham did in front of the camera was an authentic expression in the moment, but I think he gave some striking performances of what was happening internally. It’s also an impressive technical achievement, particularly the lighting he used. It is part stand-up comedy, but I think it’s more than that; it’s a piece of performance art that is actually good. I feel it will be one of those pieces of pandemic art that will get unpacked over time. It’s something you certainly have to strap in for before you start watching.
Continue reading “Weekly Wonderings – June 7th, 2021”
June is set to be a busy month for us. We’re waiting for the announcement from the European Union on Americans entering the region so we can arrange a move date (likely in July). This month I turn 40, which means I have some special blog series coming. Starting tomorrow, I will be doing a Flashback to 1981, rewatching and reviewing movies that came out the year of my birth. Starting on the 21st, my birthday, I will be doing a four-part “My 40 Favorite Movies” series. This was pretty difficult because my first draft of the list had over 200 films on it, so I had to spend May paring that down to the top 40.
Continue reading “Weekly Wonderings – June 1st, 2021”
Hemingway (2021)
Directed by Ken Burns & Lynne Novick
In college, I was assigned some Hemingway to read for the first time. If I remember correctly, the first piece I read was “Soldier’s Home” and then “Hills Like White Elephants.” It was explained to me by an English professor that one divided among academics & students was Hemingway vs. Faulkner. I always felt a greater affinity to Hemingway. I can’t say I read much beyond his short stories or knew much about him as a person. There was a consistent viewpoint that he was a misogynist, but I found his stories haunting & heart-aching. Two decades later, I watched this documentary and learned how complex he truly was.
Continue reading “Documentary Round-Up – May 2021”
My wife has the week off from work, so we spent part of the day making some dents in posting items for sale. I never realized how much framed art we had up in the house until we were packing the prints and pieces. We’re selling the frames through some local channels, and we have so many of them. I love having art up, and we have a mix of manufactured prints and some original pieces. My wife has had a few things commissioned on various websites, mainly after Lily passed away. I think it’s terrible how collecting art and displaying it in your home has been so co-opted by the wealthy and that many working people don’t think about decorating their home in such a way. The collecting and display of art should transcend class and be something everyone participates in to showcase their personalities and help out artists who are working in the craft.
Continue reading “Weekly Wonderings – May 23rd, 2021”
Crossover Volume 1: Kids Love Chains (2021)
Written by Donny Cates
Art by Geoff Shaw
The comic book crossover became a staple of the superhero genre in the 1980s. There were smaller precursors to this starting as early as the 1940s when the first superhero teams were assembled out of established solo characters. In the 1960s, Marvel Comics would weave long-form narratives through multiple titles. At the same time, DC Comics introduced the Multiverse and had the Justice League meet their counterparts on Earth-2. With each annual meeting, the scope of these adventures would expand to encompass more worlds. The first large crossover event is considered to be Secret Wars, published by Marvel in 1984. This was a 12-issue limited series whose storylines would be continued in ongoing titles. DC responded the following year with Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was the largest scale narrative ever told at that point in the comics medium. These days, you can’t have a year go by without the big two having at least a couple crossover events. It’s into this state of being that writer Donny Cates begins Crossover from Image Comics.
Continue reading “Comic Book Review – Crossover Volume 1”
A new episode of the podcast is up where my wife and I talk about our Top 5 favorite science fiction movies and thoughts from non-Trekkies about Star Trek: TNG and Picard Season 1. Check that out.
It seems like 2021 is rushing by pretty fast. It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through May already. It feels like it was just winter, and we’re already hurtling towards summer. I think the increasingly erratic weather of the region I live in is partially to blame. Last week, we had cold snaps down into the 40s, and this week they are predicting highs in the high 80s on multiple days. The NOAA recently released its climate outlook for the next decade, and it doesn’t look too promising on this continent. If you glimpse at their seasonal drought outlook for the U.S., it is pretty harrowing. Almost the entire western half of the country is set to continue languishing in drought conditions, with it spreading into the Pacific Northwest. I’m very much a person who has no desire to live in a Mad Max-like society. I would hope I’d die real early before the “gangs roving the wastelands in water wars” stage of things.
Continue reading “Weekly Wonderings – May 17th, 2021”
Had an incredibly restful and relaxing weekend which is why the podcast isn’t out yet. That should be uploaded sometime later today. We decided to do some driving just to see some different scenery on Saturday, and it was a nice change of pace. I am certainly not on the same page as the news headlines I see talking about opening everything back up. It will be a good long while before I would be safe going anywhere there’s a large crowd in the United States. And honestly, once you find a comfortable mask, it’s not a huge burden to wear one. We have loved these from the Majority Report Store; the material is comfortable and stretchy. They don’t have the metal noseband piece but fit snug enough. I don’t worry about glasses fogging up. I’ve noted that my sinus infections, allergies, colds, etc., have been non-existent this year, which I attribute to this heightened level of safety. It’s been awfully nice.
Continue reading “Weekly Wonderings – May 10th, 2021”
PopCult Reviews 