Author Archives: Doc
Predator: Badlands
The newest film from the Predator franchise opened this weekend, from director Dan Trachtenberg, who has now directed three Predator movies with Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. Those two were really great and it helped me to anticipate this new film.
Trachtenberg takes a big time swing here by making the Predator, which were called Yautja in this film, the protagonist of the film. This was one of my early troubles with the film, because I had a tough time accepting the idea of Dek, the Yautja, as our lead character.
That did not last for long though. I found myself very entertained with the action and the story. I did not expect this film to be like it was. I think it really picked up when Dek meets up with Thia (Elle Fanning). I knew of the character of Thia from the trailers, but it worked much more than I thought it would.
Predator: Badlands improved as the film moved along. I found it exciting and a lot of fun. I did have another issue with a switch in attitude that Dek goes through as it felt too sudden, but I do not want to go into too many details because of spoilers. Again, I did not think it was a deal breaker for the film, but it was something that I thought about.
I thought the third act was really epic.
The CGI was mostly good. There were a few moments where the CGI was iffy, but most of the time, it was exceptional.
It was cool that this film has a tie in with the Alien franchise, leading to a potentially new line of crossover.
Predator: Badlands is highly entertaining and full of energy. It looks great and has some of the most creative creatures and exciting action. It was a lot of fun and not what I expected.
4 stars
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #34
#34
The Practice
David E. Kelley has created several hugely awesome shows. This is the first one to break the top 100 at the EYG Top 100 (but won’t be the last).
The Practice is set at a small, private law firm in Boston where a group of lawyers, specifically defense attorneys, dealt with moral choices and legal ethics, and, as Kelley stated, was created as a balance to NBC’s LA Law.
The show ran for eight seasons on ABC and won several Emmy Awards.
The ensemble cast was one of the strongest on TV. It featured Dylan McDermott, LisaGay Hamilton, Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim, Kelli Williams, Michael Badalucco, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marla Sokoloff, Jason Kravits, and James Spader.
The Practice had some of the best courtroom drama on TV as the show’s specialty was the closing arguments when the lawyers of Donnell, Young, Dole and Frutt made their final push to defend their clients vigorously. Many times, especially the episodes where there would be defending rapists, the cases were morally questionable and they would step up with some of the most questionable tactics. Yet the show never failed to portray the lawyers of the firm in a noble light, speaking about how difficult being a defense attorney could be.
EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week
November 6
Good evening cover lovers. Welcome to the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week for the first week of November. If I am being honest, this week’s covers were a little weaker. There were not as many also-rans this week even though the top three are still very strong.
There is just a few weeks to go until the 2025 Cover Artist of the Year is named in the Year in Review. Spoiler… I think this year’s winner is among the medalists this week. Should not be a surprise if you have been paying attention.
Also-Rans: DC KO: Knightfight #1, Crownsville #1, No Place #1, Amazing Spider-Man #15, Batman #3, and Alien vs. Captain America #1.
Bronze Medalist
Star Trek: Red Shirts #4.
Cover art by Chris Shehan
Rough day for this cover Red Shirt. The skeleton with the sword in its guts, chained up. Feels like overkill, but it is a stunning cover that really tells you what the series is about. Killing off red shirts!
Silver Medalist
Wild Animals #4
Cover art by Andy Kuhn
Wild Animals has been a sensational series and this cover continues some awesome work. I love the white background with the giant gun and the yellow tint. It is just a real standout among the covers this week.
Gold Medalist
G.I. Joe #13
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Mark Spears
Mark Spears is back in the gold medal round with a beautiful cover featuring Cobra Commander. I was very surprised to see Spears doing a G.I. Joe Cover. He is undeniably going to be out cover artist of year unless there is some kind of massive push by someone. He is certainly the leader in the clubhouse.
I probably have to thank Todd for putting this in my box… he gets twitchy when I don’t mention him.
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #35
#35
Murphy Brown
Politics and the media. Murphy Brown was a show ahead of its time.
At the fictional news television newsmagazine program, FYI, investiagtive journalist Murphy Brown searched for the scoops and traversed the ups and downs of Washngton, D.C. with her crew of fellow reporters.
Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen, was one of the top sitcoms on CBS and was genuinely funny. It used current world politics to tell some remarkably hilarious stories.
When real world Vice President Dan Quayle made a remark about the fictional TV show Murphy Brown, the show took it into their fictional world and ran with it into a feud with the sitting VP. I would love to have seen what Murphy Brown would have done with Donald Trump (though he was mentioned during a 2017 revival of the shw that lasted one season).
As it is with many of these types of shows, the ensemble’s chemistry is what truly makes the show work. This is true for Murphy Brown as well as Candice Bergen was joined by Charles Kinbrough, Joe Regalbuto, Grant Shaud, Faith Ford, Pat Corley, Robert Pastorelli and eventually Lily Tomlin.
One of the running gags throughout the show was the inability for Murphy Brown to keep a secretary. The joke allowed a countless number of fun cameos over the 10+ seasons of the show.
The multiple Emmy winning show dealt with many issues outside of politics, including breast cancer, feminism, family and single mothers.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 trailer
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #36
#36
Breaking Bad
Considered by many the greatest show on TV, Breaking Bad was a show that I came to in a different manner.
I had never been interested in the show, despite the cultural significance that it was having. It was around the fourth season that I decided to go back and watch the show from the beginning. The first couple of seasons felt kind of… okay. I did not love the show in the first handful of episodes. In fact, near the beginning of season three, I actually considered stopping watching it. The whole plane crash stuff was nearly the straw that broke my back.
I am so glad that I stuck with the show. Almost immediately the show felt better. In season three, I became engaged and enthralled by the characters and the story it was telling. I can’t believe that I nearly gave up on the show.
By the end of the fifth and final season, Breaking Bad was one of my favorite shows on TV at the time.
The all-star cast was sensational. The cast included Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, RJ Mitte, Betsy Brandt, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, and Bob Odenkirk.
The character of Walter White is one of the greatest characters in TV history and the comple performance from Bryan Cranston earned him four Emmy Awards for best Actor in a Drama and Aaron Paul’s work as Jesse Pinkman won him three Emmy Awards for best Supporting Actor in a Drama.
Untraveled: Day 1 Madrid to Cordoba
Jay and Adam, the boys from pReview’d, one of my favorite reaction channels on YouTube, have created a travel show. Produced and edited by Michael Millard, Jay and Adam narrate the show from their studio. They showed off their chemistry as they walked around Spain, this episode specifically in Cordoba.
The area is beautiful and Jay and Adam are hilarious. There are seven total episodes of Untraveled dropping on Tuesdays, and I look forward to the next episode.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Final Trailer
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #37
#37
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time. A supernatural/action/comedy/horror show that grabs you with a ton of nostalgia and coming-to-age drama among a group of wonderful characters that are as charismatic as you could believe.
It started off as a mystery as young Will Byers disappeared. His friends become enveloped in the mystery and the dangers of the Upside Down, a hostile nearby dimension with creatures and monsters.
The cast is sensational. It included Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Franco, Joseph Quinn, and Amybeth McNulty.
However, the key to the show is the kids. Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schapp have unbelievable chemistry together and when you add in the special talent of Millie Bobby Brown, you have something truly special.
The show has run for four seasons, with the fifth and final season preparing to drop later this month.
Bonus Action Vol. 3 E5
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #38
#38
The Greatest American Hero
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s ….. Ralph?
ABC’s action/comedy The Greatest American Hero was a superhero parody show, but it was so much more.
Teacher Ralph Hinkley was stranded in the desert when he was approached by a UFO. The UFO left him a suit, complete with cape, that gave Ralph a variety of super powers, from super strength to flight to invisibility. One problem… Ralph lost the instruction manuel.
Ralph bumbled his way through misadventure after misadventure, always seemingly coming out on top. Ralph team up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell and the two of them fought the “bad guys.”
William Kitt played Ralph and Robert Culp played Bill, and the two of them had a great chemistry. Their friendship was one of the keys to the shows success, even if at times, Bill could be hard to handle.
Connie Sellecca was on the show as well, as Ralph’s girlfriend Pam Davidson.
One wondered why Ralph did not have a mask on the show. There were so many times where a mask would have helped him. Oh well, part of the comedy I guess.
The theme song of the show was a major hit and reached #2 on the Billboard top 100 chart.
Believe it or not.
Strange Harvest
This scared the hell out of me.
It has been a long time since I have been as disturbed by a film as I was by Strange Harvest, a film I rented on Fandango at Home (Vudu). This would have worked really well for the October 13, although I did not watch it until November.
This movie was filmed in the “True Crime” style documentary, though the story was fictional. I would call it a “mockumentary” though that term leads me to picture something funny like This is Spinal Tap, and there was nothing funny about Strange Harvest.
The film followed the story of the serial killer who became known as Mr. Shiny, and his multiple murders over several years. The main “talking heads” of the horror mockumentary were Detective Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Detective Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple). They provided most of the narrative for the fake documentary.
This feels like a real documentary, which I think is why it hit so hard. There is a “Blair Witch” tone to it which adds to the mood of this film. Up until the ending of the doc, this could be a true story.
Mr. Shiny is a combination of the Zodiac Killer and an H.P. Lovecraft character. When we learn of his identity as Leslie Sykes (Jesse J. Clarkson), the character becomes even more frightening than he did before. Jesse Clarkson does an amazing job of creating an eerie, creepy, sinister character who is more like a ghost than a human for much of the film.
This is definitely one of the most scary films I have seen in a long time. I am still feeling disconcerted and unquieted as I write this. I may go from here and jump into my bed and hide beneath my covers. Strange Harvest was an excellent experience.
4.75 stars
The Senior
The Senior was a film that I had wanted to see in the theater when its run was happening, but I just could not get it to fit into the schedule. There were too many other films in its way. So now that it is on Fandango at Home (aka Vudu), I went ahead and rented the film to watch.
The movie is the true story of 59-year old linebacker Mike Flynt, who returned to college for his senior year several decades after being kicked out of school for fighting. He tried out for the football team as well, making the cut.
The real life story is inspiring and the film does a nice job of detailing it. Mike is played by Michael Chiklis, and he does a great job in the role. He is a very easy guy to cheer for and the film plays into that desire. I actually thought Mary Stuart Masterson, who played Mike’s wife Eileen, was an even more interesting character that I would have liked to have developed more.
Now, the movie definitely shares many of the typical sport movie tropes and it does not break a lot of new ground. There are some flaws in the storytelling and some moments of the story that does not work very well. However, the comeback Mike goes through and the on field football stuff works very well and leaves you feeling inspired and entertained. A better script could have made this an even better movie though.
The Senior is authentic and worth a watch. If you enjoy a typical sports redemption tale, The Senior is a good choice for you.
3.5 stars
Daily Countdown: TV Shows #39
#39
Night Court
Harry Anderson was one of my favorite parts of Cheers in its early seasons so I loved following him to his new show. While this was not a direct spin off from Cheers, the Harry Anderson character Harry Stone, shared a lot of the same traits with Harry the Hat from Cheers.
I am sure it all came from Harry Anderson’s own act as a magician/comedian and his skills were highlighted on Cheers. Night Court then followed.
Night Court became a wonderful ensemble show. It took awhile to find the proper cast, specifically the defense attorney. The public defender started with Paula Kelly in season one, then went to Ellen Foley in season two before Markie Post finally solidified the position and went the remaining time for the show.
Dan Fielding, the DA, was never a trouble as John Larroquette ran the entire series. Dan was a slimy guy with a heart of gold and the contrast between Dan and Harry was always a great bit for the show. Richard Moll was another full time supporting actor as bailiff Bull Shannon. He was teamed up with the wonderful Selma Diamond for the first two seasons. Diamond played bailiff Selma Hacker, until her death in 1985 from lung cancer. The show struggled with the loss, especially pairing someone with Moll. When they found Marsha Warfield to play Roz starting in season 4, the show hit gold.
We also got Charles Robinson as Mac, the court clerk, replacing Karen Austin, whose Lana Wagner had been a potential love interest for Harry. Mac was a much stronger character and provided some wonderfully dry-witted moments.
When this group finally came together, Night Court really took off. From season four through the end of season nine, this ensemble was one of the best on TV. Stories worked with this variety of complex characters and they were all really funny and had great chemistry with one another. This was what the show was searching for in its first three seasons.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 