Author Archives: Doc

Top Geek Stories 2023

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Top 12 Geek Stories of 2023

#12. Shohei Ohtani signs with Dodgers for $700 million. One of the best baseball players on the planet signed a record breaking contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-years, $700 million. However, Ohtani deferred payment on all but $20 million until after the life of the contract so the Dodgers would have financial flexibility.

#11. Fantastic Four, Superman: Legacy casting. The news of the casting of these two iconic movies are one of the biggest things people can talk about. While there has been no confirmed casting for Fantastic Four, there have been a lot of rumors. As for Superman: Legacy, David Corenswet is Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult was cast as Lex Luthor.

#10. Disney vs. Desantis. Florida Governor Ron Desantis planned to take away Disney’s tax free status. Disney played the game and made it so the new people in charge had no power. Desantis took it as an act of war. Unfortunately for him, Disney made him look fairly foolish.

#9. Box Office Struggles. The box office was filled with low totals and major flops. There were only a couple of huge hits this summer and films from Disney, WB and Sony struggle to make back their money. Part of the trouble is film budgets are out of control. Another reason is streaming makes it too easy to see films at home. 

#8. UAP Hearing. UAPs or unidentified aerial phenomena became news this year. Formerly known as UFOs, the House of Representatives held hearing about the mysterious phenomenon. What does the government really know? Will we ever know?

#7. Jonathan Majors Case. Jonathan Majors, actor who played Kang the Conqueror in the MCU, was arrested on several charges of domestic abuse. Majors was found guilty on two of the lesser charges, but it has still cost him his role as Kang.

#6. WWE Sold. The WWE was sold to Endeavor, the company that co-owned the UFC. Vince McMahon had forced his way back into the WWE, but, after the sale, he was removed from creative completely and Triple H was given total control.

#5. Twitter sold. Twitter, the social media platform, was sold to Elon Musk and the name was changed to X. Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter only to send the social media platform into the red. 

#4. Marvel Studio Struggles. Marvel Studios has had a difficult year. The public view is that the studio is in chaos. Variety published an article that made this very claim. The internet is filled with negative pieces about the MCU, because they have their own prejudices and need for clicks on their articles. Kevin Feige is making plans to right the course.

#3. Taylor Swift Tour. The Taylor Swift Eras Tour was a massive success, making over $900 million, estimated by Billboard. It is on track to becoming the highest grossing tour ever. A movie was also made out of the tour and it made millions at the box office.

#2. Barbenheimer. Two major movies opened on the same day, Barbie and Oppenheimer. There was a promotion combining the idea of both movies and seeing them both as a double feature. The promotion was incredibly success as both Barbie and Oppenheimer over performed in a summer of flops. Barbie wound up making over 1.3 billion and Oppenheimer was around $900 million. Many people (including myself) dressed up for the double feature in pink or with hats. It was a major success for theaters that could have used one.

#1. Writer and Actors Strikes. Hollywood was froze in place once again as two union strikes happened in the summer. First, the writers went on strike and then, not too long later, the actors followed suit. Thankfully, both strikes were settles before the end of the year, but did run for many months.

2023 Best and Worst Animation

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EYG Frame Award- Best Animation

Previous Winners: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

There was another good year in animation. There is a considerably longer list on the best side than there is on the worst side. It is possible that some of the worst animated films this year I did not see. 

I only have two films on the worst list so I will give them both here. They were Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Legion of Superheroes. I saw one in the theater (Ruby) and one online (Legion). Neither were very good. I might say that Legion is a step better for me because I have a connection to those characters, but Ruby looked much better. 

Having done the worst, here are the runners-up.

Runners-Up: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was very artistic and had a great voice cast, especially those young actors who did the turtle voices. Super Mario Bros. was another fun film that made a bunch of money at the box office. A film that did not make as much at the box office was Disney’s Wish, which was decent, but not awesome. Another Disney film that did not do as well as they were used to was Elemental. At the beginning of that movie I did not like it, but it won me over as it progressed. Trolls Band Together was fun and had some good music to it. We had a new film from EYG Hall of Famer Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli called The Boy and the Heron. It was the typically high quality from that studio. Merry Little Batman approached its topic with a flair and if you could get past the characterization of Damian Wayne, you should have enjoyed this. Migration was okay, another film that ended better than it started. Then today I watched the Netflix films Nimora and Leo, both were very enjoyable.

After seeing the runners-up, it should not be a surprise which animated film receives the Frame Award this year…

Winner: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

This was a no-brainer for me. Spider-Man is my favorite character and this movie was such a beautiful film, the art design was spectacular and the animation was as creative as any film you will ever see, 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a masterpiece.

Doctor Who Special 4

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The fourth and final Disney + special featuring The Doctor is a Christmas special and features the brand new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, who appeared in Doctor Who Special 3: The Giggle. 

The other major event that occurs in this special is that there is a new companion for the Doctor is introduced. Ruby, played by Millie Gibson, has become the new companion.

By the way, this special confirms that the word “Mavity” is now canon.

Ncuti Gatwa is very charming as the Doctor and he is extremely likeable. I think they have found a very strong actor to follow David Tennant.

As for Millie Gibson, I will withhold my judgment. She was fine here, but she really does have large shoes to fill.

Looks like Dr. Who is coming to Disney + in 2024 and I may actually check it out.

3.85 stars

2023 WWE Match of the Year

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This was a tough year, because there were a bunch of great matches in 2023, but there was none that actually stood out as the obvious best match. 

What makes a match of the year? There are several things. Obviously there is a great performance between competitors with some great in-ring storytelling, compelling near falls, and a great storyline surrounding it. 

There can be a match that has all of those moments but the ending is not what I like, it can dampen the match. For example, almost every Roman Reigns match this year.

So, here are the top 15 WWE matches of 2023 according to EYG.

#15. Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijek (NXT Battleground). These two had great chemistry and seemingly killed each other. It started Ilja’s push in NXT.

#14. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Last Man Standing (WWE Fastlane). Shinsuke’s heel turn was great, as was his Japanese promos leading up to this. It was a great match with Seth going over.

#13. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Night of Champions). Sami and KO overcoming the Bloodline team with Roman was great. One of the peaks for Sami/KO.

#12. Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus Steel Cage (Payback). Two legends of women’s wrestling putting on a classic cage match with a couple of insane bumps. Great work by both.

#11. The Usos vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Money in the Bank). Jey Uso pinned Roman Reigns to win the Bloodline Civil War match. Some great storytelling.

#10. Women’s War Games (Survivor Series).  Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch face Damage CTRL in an exciting War Games match. 

#9. Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes II (NXT No Mercy). Dragunov defeated Carmelo to win the NXT Championship and end his long reign. 

#8. Men’s War Games (Survivor Series). Team Cody vs. Judgment Day. Notable for the return of Randy Orton and for Cody Rhodes to compete in the match his father invented.

#7. Gunther vs. Chad Gable (RAW). I really thought Chad gable had a chance to knock off Gunther. He lost, but that did not take away from this amazing confrontation.

#6. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Wrestlemania 39). Roman shocked the world by defeating Cody Rhodes at the main event of night two of Wrestlemania (thanks to Solo, of course). Major twist in Cody’s story.

#5. Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (Wrestlemania 39). Some have this as MotY, but I put it at #5. Yes, it was great. Best triple threat of th eyear.

#4. Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn (Elimination Chamber). Perhaps the most emotional match of the year as Sami battle Roman in Montreal. Sami battled as hard as he could, but succumb to the Bloodline’s cheating tactics.

#3. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (Wrestlemania 39). Best women’s match of the year, lead to the crowning of Rhea Ripley as champion. Flair and Ripley put on a banger of a match.

#2. Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny, Streetfight (Backlash). In Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny knocked off Damian Priest in one of the best celebrity performances of all time. Crowd reaction was insane.

#1. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. The Usos (Wrestlemania 39). Sami and Kevin ended the record setting tag team reign of the Usos in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday. The end of a long term storyline that had been running on WWE TV for months. 

Leo

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When I started the animated film Leo on Netflix, I did not know it was an Adam Sandler vehicle. Sandler is not one of my favorite actors, to be honest. It seems as if most of his films are the same stupid, immature jokes and he plays the same basic character in all of them. Still, he has had some moments of excellence such as Rare Gems. It wasn’t too long into Leo that I recognized his voice work.

In this movie, Sandler gives his voice to the lizard named Leo. Turned out that all of the animals could speak. Leo, along with Squirtle (Bill Barr), were classroom pets in a 5th grade class. When Leo starts being taken home with the students, he starts talking to them, telling each that he could only speak to them and that they were special.

There are some funny moments. The film does a good job of avoiding the immature humor that I associate with Sandler. There are some heart-warming moments through as well. 

I was surprised that it turned out to be a musical. Most of the songs were catchy and some were clever lyrically. There was nothing very serious, but fun matching the film.

As I said, this was fun and enjoyable. It certainly could have been much worse. There were some childish moments, but nothing that made me cringe as an adult. 

3.75 stars

Nimona

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I am trying to catch up on some of the Netflix films that have come out in 2023 now that the year is coming to an end. I have a couple of animated films to kick off today. 

Starting off, I watched Nimona, which I had heard could be one of the nominated Oscar movies this year. I can see why.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem — who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains, and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc — for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to… just wreak serious havoc.“

The relationship between Ballister and Nimona is the strength behind this movie. They have such a wonderful connection and their lives intersected beautifully.

The animation of the movie was gorgeous, creating a great visual storytelling part of the film. The design of Nimona and her shapeshifting abilities are creative and original. Then, every time you think the story was going in a specific direction, it went differently. 

Riz Ahmed and Chloë Grace Moretz do a wonderful job creating their characters and building the connection between them. It is because of the connection that they build in the first part of the movie. 

The message of the movie was fairly straightforward though there is another theme that is more subtle too.

Nimona was an excellent animated movie that is available on Netflix. It is certainly worth the time to watch.

4.4 stars

2023 World of WWE

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The WWE had a really strong year in 2023. It was not that long ago that I had really cut back on my WWE intake, skipping Smackdown most weeks and feeling more disappointment than enjoyment.

Then, things changed. Vince McMahon stepped down and HHH took over creative. Sure, Vince still had his dirty hands in the product, but it was better. Then, the purchase of WWE by Endeavor led to Vince’s total removal and the product became even better yet.

So some of these choices were difficult this year. I should say that I do not watch AEW or other wrestling promotions. I have nothing against any of them, but I just feel like a WWE guy. 

Male Wrestler of the Year: Gunther. A tough choice, but Gunther has been WWE Intercontinental champion all year and defended it regularly against all kinds of types of challengers. Runners-Up: Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, LA Knight

Female Wrestler of the Year: Rhea Ripley. She won the title at Wrestlemania 39 and has been the main star of the female division on RAW since. As a member of the Judgment Day, Rhea has been dominant. I would have liked more matches from her though. Runners-Up: Becky Lynch, Iyo Sky, Bianca Belair, Asuka, Charlotte Flair

Tag Team of the Year: Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn. One of the best storylines climaxed at Wrestlemania 39 when Owens/Zayn won the Undisputed Tag Team titles from the Usos. While their title reign was not as epic as their chase, Owens and Zayn were the best tag team for quite a while in 2023. Runners-Up: The Usos, Judgment Day, Pretty Deadly, The Creeds, the Brawling Brutes.

Manager of the Year: Paul Heyman. Or should I say ‘Wise Man’ of the year? Paul Heyman is the cornerstone of the Bloodline and the storylines. Runners-Up: MVP, Robert Stone

On the Mike: Cody Rhodes. So, what do you want to talk about? Cody did an amazing job telling his story on the microphone. Specifically, his work with Paul Heyman was special. Runners-Up: Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch, Kevin Owens, LA Knight

Feud of the Year: Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes. Three amazing matches from these two NXT stars over the NXT Championship. It lasted longer than some of the other feuds which is why it gets the nod. Runners-Up: Bloodline vs. Sami/KO, Judgment Day vs. Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar.

Underused Performer: Tazawa. Tazawa has just started to get a little TV time as a part of the Alpha Academy. He is really a stronger wrestler than he gets credit for. Runners-Up: Apollo Crews, Tegan Nox, Dexter Loomis, Xia Li.

Comeback of the Year: CM Punk. Geez, this was an easy one. His return at the Survivor Series was completely epic and shocking. Hell had to freeze over because this was never supposed to happen. Runners-Up: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, The Rock, John Cena.

Celebrity of the Year: Logan Paul. Logan Paul became the US Champion and had a great match every time he stepped into the squared circle. He truly exceeded the idea of a celebrity in the WWE. Runners-Up: Bad Bunny, Pat McAfee, Snoop Dogg.

Heel of the Year: Dominik Mysterio. No one has more heat than Dominik Mysterio. When the crowd boos Dom, they mean it. And he can barely be heard. It never gets old. Runners-Up: Roman Reigns, the Judgment Day, Gunther, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso.

Face of the Year: Cody Rhodes. Cody is the perfect face and he has been treated like one since his return to the WWE. Runners-Up: Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, Becky Lynch, LA Knight.

Show of the Year: Smackdown. With the Bloodline drama, Smackdown was must see TV every week. While it has come down a bit since the peak around Wrestlemania, it is still the most compelling show on WWE. Runners-Up: RAW, NXT

Entrance Song: Seth Rollins. His song basically turned Seth face. The fans love to sing Seth’s song. Runners-Up: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens.

Storyline of the Year: Bloodline/Bloodline Civil War. Still the standout of WWE TV. Honestly, it gave us Emmy worthy work on a weekly basis, touching us in our tum-tums. Runners-Up: Cody’s story, Nakamura’s heel turn, Cracks in the Judgment Day.

Best Broadcaster: Wade Barrett.  He was so good that they promoted him from NXT to Smackdown. Wade is funny and enthusiastic. He is really excellent. Runners-Up: Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Pat McAfee.

Breakout Star: LA Knight. Yeah! He came from nowhere, via organic crowd support to a place where he is firmly entrenched in the main event scene. Runners-Up: The Creeds, Ilja Dragunov, Jey Uso.

Shock of the Year: CM Punk returns at Survivor Series. Nothing else comes close. There were rumors, but no one really believe it would happen. The internet was just getting ready to be angry over the no show, when “Cult of Personality” hit and the Chicago crowd, and everyone else lost their minds. 

Faction of the Year: The Judgment Day. The Judgment Day runs RAW. That is pretty much true as the storylines have completely centered around them for most of the year. Runners-Up: Bloodline, Damage Control, Team Cody.

NXT Wrestler of the Year: Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov never had a bad match. He is so real. You can never go wrong with Dragunov. He may be the best seller in WWE. Runners-Up: Carmelo Hayes, the Creeds, Bron Breakker, Wes Lee, Dominik Mysterio.

Saddest moment: Bray Wyatt dies. Bray was out most of the year with an undisclosed injury. It was a horrendous loss when we heard that he had passed away. He is missed.

What If …? S2 E4

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Spoilers

“What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Gamemaster?”

What If…? takes a step back to give some background on an event from last season. There were reports that indicated that one of the episodes from season one had been removed and potentially sent to season two. It was the episode featuring Gamora, the Gamora from the Guardians of the Multiverse episodes.

This episode kicked off with the Watcher reminding us of the Guardians of the Multiverse and saying how Gamora was a member that we had not been introduced to prior, and that her story began in someone else’s.

He meant Tony Stark. The episode takes place after the events of Avengers 1, when Tony took the nuke through the portal and he did not find his way back to New York. Instead, he ended up on Sakaar to face off with the Grandmaster, voiced once again with an over-the-top flair by Jeff Goldblum. 

This episode is meant to be in the Mad Max style, and it does a lot with the concept of racing that can’t help but make people think of NASCAR or Mario Cart.

Special affirmations should go to Mick Wingert, who voices Tony Stark, replacing Robert Downey Jr. in the MCU, which cannot help but be a huge task. He does a wonderful job of sounding like RDJ, but not just being an imitation. 

Overall, this episode was a little messier for me than the others from season two. It did have some good humor in it, but the races were too hectic for my tastes. I have been a huge Mad Max fan so I can see this one being a little lesser in my view.

Up to Date Running Order:

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

E1  “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2  “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

E4  ”What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Gamemaster?”

The X-Files S2 E8

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Spoilers

“One Breath”

Scully is back!

She shows up in a Washington hospital and no one is sure how she got there. However, she is in a coma and looks to be slipping away.

Her mother and her sister are there, and Mulder knew that she had a living will, stating that she did not want to be kept alive through extreme measures. 

Mulder is desperate, revealing what lengths he would go to in order to find out the truth about who did this to Scully.

Mulder actually had a gun pointed at the head of “Cancer Man.” They started referring to him as Cancer Man, but shifted to Cigarette Smoking Man after awhile. I believe that is because of the guy who, later this season, could give people cancer. CSM is a better name for him anyway.

I wanted Mulder to pull that trigger so badly. I remember seeing it the first time back when it aired and I was so rooting for him to plug him in the head. 

David Duchovny was outstanding in this episode, his desperation and panic was palpable. He knew what he was doing did not seem to be successful at all and his depression was obvious.

We also started working towards Skinner as an ally as we head a story from him about his past in Vietnam and saw him refuse to accept Mulder’s resignation. 

We get more of a glimpse at X too who brutally murdered a man that Mulder had been chasing. A man who had stolen a blood sample of Scully. In true X-Files fashion, we never learn anything about this guy.

It is great that Mulder and Scully are able to reunite on the show after Gillian Anderson’s pregnancy.

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E2

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Spoilers

“A Unexpected Element”

Second episode was another banger. There is so much action and excitement in each of these first two episodes that I can believe how great this show has been perceived by the public.

Mizu was heading to a town to find a boat so she could pursue Shindo to his island fortress. Ringo had followed her there and, despite her attempts to shoo him away, he continued to follow her, making himself useful.

Taigen heads after Mizu in an attempt to reclaim his honor. He would find her at the end of the episode.

Prior to that, Mizu was confronted by The Four Fangs. She killed three of them, with the one survivor being a man named Chiaki who had come for a sword from Master Eiji. He was an assassin and Mizu had made a sword for him that was broken.

Back in the present, Mizu is able to kill Chiaki, but it nearly ended her. When Taigen approached Mizu, she told him to come on, but passed out. He moved forward, the show implying that he was going deal a killing blow.

Again, animation is gorgeous and the fight choreography is laid out wonderfully, especially with the fight on the cliff with the Four Fangs. That fight was remarkably clever and designed well.

This has been a great start to this season .

2023 The Best and Worst in Horror Movies

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Best Horror Movie

Previous Winners:  A Quiet Place, It, Don’t Breathe, It Follows, The Conjuring, As Above So Below, Cabin in the Woods, Doctor Sleep, Black Box, Fear Street trilogy, The Menu

Horror has been on a kind of renaissance over the last decade or so. There are all kinds of horror subgenres from slasher to horror/comedy to psychological. All are represented in the Best and Worst of 2023.

WORST

Runners-Up: Insidious: The Red Room, The Nun 2, It Lives Inside

Winner: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

Easiest pick of the night. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is the odds on favorite to be the worst movie of the year (wait for that list), so it seems reasonable that this is this worst film too. The other runners-up are bad, but this is painfully atrocious. 

BEST

Runners-Up: Scream VI, Skinamarink, M3GAN, The Blackening

Winner: A Haunting in Venice

The best of the films featuring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, A Haunting in Venice is stylish, frightening and a great horror/mystery. The cast does a sensational job and the story’s twist is excellent. One of the top films of the year.

2023 The Best and Worst Science Fiction Movie of the Year

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Best Sci-Fi Movie

Previous Winners:  Upgrade, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, The Martian, Ex Machina, Star Trek Into Darkness, Edge of Tomorrow, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Avatar: The Way of Water

Sci-Fi has had a decent year. Some years there are not as many sci-fi movies to choose from, but there were several from this year.

Worst Sci-Fi Movie: Rebel Moon. 

Runners-Up: The Mill, 65

Rebel Moon was the latest addition to this list and was clearly the worst. The characters were flat and basic archetypes. The story was dull, basically just the compiling of the team, and the CGI was surprisingly disappointing at times. 

Best Sci-Fi Movie: Dr. Who: Wild Blue Yonder  

Runners-Up: The Creator, No One Will Save You, Jules, They Clones Tyrone, The Pod Generation, Dr. Who: The Giggle

This award was going to go to The Creator, but then we got a wonderful Dr. Who special, the second of three, called Wild Blue Yonder that was just tremendous. I would not consider myself a Dr. Who fan, but these specials are really good, and this one stands out.

Nyad

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I don’t know why it took me this long to watch this movie.

Nyad is a biopic of Diana Nyad, the marathon swimmer who wanted to become the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida. She had attempted the swim when she was 28 years old, only to fail. She then tried again, starting when she was 60 years old.

Nyad was portrayed in the film by Annette Bening, who did a remarkable job in the physical role. Nyad was accompanied by her long time friend Bonnie Stoll, played here by Jodie Foster. The film was not just a film of staying the course and never giving up, but it was also one of friendship and the trials between friends.

Bening and Foster were amazing in their roles. The whole cast did a great job, but Bening and Foster were on screen all the time and brought so much energy and ferociousness to their work, you could believe that they both were fighting for that last chance to reach their dreams.

Rhys Ifans deserves recognition too for his role as John Bartlett, the chief navigator for the mission. 

The story was one of amazing dogged determination, a woman who did not want to give up and how that determination affected, often negatively, those people around her. The stretch of the film where Nyad’s crew were dropping out on her because they were afraid she was going to die doing this was exceptional. 

Bening was not afraid to show the warts of Diana Nyad and to make her look selfish and paint her in a negative way. She felt like a real person and not just the ‘force of nature’ that they described her as several times.

I am very pleased that I finally got a chance to watch this on Netflix and I would recommend anyone who likes the reaching for the stars type of sport movie watch it as well. Either way, there are two performances that should be considered come Oscar nomination time.

4.3 stars

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E1

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Spoilers

“Hammerscale”

I decided last night to give the first episode of Blue Eye Samurai a chance on Netflix. I have heard a lot of positive word of mouth about this series and, after watching the first episode, I have to agree. This is a spectacular animated series.

Beautifully animated. Dramatically presented. Its share of animated violence and blood. Blue Eye Samurai is a classic revenge tale engulfing our main protagonist, who has a major secret to hide.

Not only is the samurai tainted by blue eyes, Blue Eye Samurai (aka Mizu) is in truth a woman masquerading as a man.

We see a good chunk of her back story, where she learned to fight and how she constructed her sword. Plus, there was a major series of sword fights, beautifully animated and constructed.

This is an adult animation as there are blood splatters, language and plenty of nudity and sexual encounters.

There are eight episodes of this show on Netflix and I cannot wait to continue seeing this show. I have heard that Netflix has approved a second season, so I am happy that I am jumping on Blue Eye Samurai when I am.

American Symphony

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Jon Batiste was the band director on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show. Last year he won five Grammys including Album of the Year.

Meanwhile, his life partner (and eventual wife) Suleika Jaouad learned that her leukemia had returned. 

This documentary was truly emotional and showed such a powerful love between the two, counter-balanced with the love of the music. American Symphony gives a look at the creative process and the energy brought about by love and courage illustrating how much it can do to save a person.

Matthew Heineman, director, created an intimate picture of this relationship and the pain and power of positivity that both Jon and Suleika provide. 

This documentary is currently available on Netflix. If you are a music fan, or if you want to see a beautiful love story, I would recommend that you give this impressively personal documentary a try.

4.5 stars