Author Archives: Doc

Buddy

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I have been trying to get to the movie, Buddy, for the last two weeks, but it just was not working out. So when I went to schedule this week’s movies, Buddy was the priority.

Man, am I glad I made this a priority. I loved this movie.

Buddy reminded me of the late WWE superstar Brey Wyatt, who had a stretch where he was playing a demented children’s host, much like Mr. Rogers. Instead of Mr. Rogers, this is a demented Barney.

Buddy is an orange unicorn who hangs out with a bunch of little kids who sing to Buddy and tell him how much they love him, but it turned out that there was something much more sinister than you expect.

The film started off showing what seemed like an episode of “It’s Buddy” and the first one felt fun. However, it definitely took a turn soon after. Everything looked like it was one of those cheap ’90s kiddies show, but that was what the creators of the film wanted it to look like.

I just thought this was so great as the kids slowly learned about Buddy’s true nature, and i found myself really cheering for these kids. Wade was my favorite one (played by Caleb Williams), and the kid seemed like her was absolutely in a Barney episode. I think that was intentional. Another of the lead kids were Freddy (Delany Quinn) and she did a great job as the overall protagonist.

After a point in the film, the story left the “It’s Buddy” set in the middle and we were in the real world. It was discombobulating at first, but the craziness of these scene, plus the awesome Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace were involved in the story. I was so into this movie that I was trying to guess what was going down during this time and I found myself yelling at Topher Grace for his character.

There are some legitimately horrifying moments in the film with some awesome gore. It was such an entertaining film that I was completely invested in. I was alone in the theater, which allowed me to be as expressive as I could be, and I loved what happened.

There were some real funny moments in the film too… in a really dark comedic manner. It is one of the most creative films of 2026. I loved Buddy and it is another odd film that I absolutely enjoyed completely.

5 stars

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #25

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#25

Monsters vs. Aliens

Released: March 27, 2009

Runtime: 94 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: stereoscopic 3-D computer

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

This film is done in an old, B-movie format, like some of the old alien/monster movies of the 1950s. The characters in the film are very funny and led by Susan, it has a surprising amount of heart.

Voice cast:  Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler, Jeffrey Tambor, Julie White, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski, and Ed Helms .

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E8

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Spoilers

“Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You Are”

Time travel.

It is always confusing. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is no exception.

They do not stick around in the centaur universe long as Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke went back in time to try and get the other machine from themselves. Only those army people turned out to be themselves after all.

Like I said, always confusing.

Penny was back again this episode as a military lawyer who was prosecuting Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke for desertion after they tried to leave the army world again. Penny wound up getting transported back to the centaur world just before Stuart, Denise, Bert and Kripke left again. Penny seemed to like being a centaur.

We did some timeline jumping and it was fun. It did not feel that significant, but I liked it more than some of the other episodes.

The four of them wound up in a comic book at the end of the show. I am looking forward to that next week, although unless this was just another momentary pause like centaur would was.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #26

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#26

Toy Story 2

Released: November 24, 1999

Runtime: 92 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: 3D computer-animated style

Studio: Pixar/Disney

Toy Story 2 is my least favorite of the original trilogy for this movie, which, considering that it is just short of the Top 25 all time, should tell you what I think of this franchise. It was a great reveal on the villain twist and introduced us to some amazing characters.

Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Jim Varney, Wayne Knight, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Jeff Pidgeon, R. Lee Ermey, Joe Ranft, Jodi Benson, Jonathan Harris, Andrew Stanton and Dave Foley.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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September 10

Another big week of covers. The race for the Cover Artist of the Year is really heating up.

Also-Rans: Doomquest #4, Challenges of Doom: Spider-Man #1 (Peach Momoko version), Spawn ’77 #1 ( Cover A & B), The Punisher #8, The Omega Book #2, and Marvel Gold ’76 #1.

Bronze Medalist

Iron Man #9

Variant Cover B (Timeless)

Cover art by Alex Ross

For some reason, I love Hellcat. She is the definition of a C-level hero, but I just have always liked her. So this beautiful cover from Alex Ross was a major draw for me. Plus, the white background is another favorite of mine.

Alex Ross is a major competitor in this season’s Cover artist of the Year.

Silver Medalist

Wolverine #27

Cover art by Dan Panosian

Inspired by the iconic Todd McFarlane cover with the Hulk appearing in the reflection of the claws, this new version is beautiful with the reflections of the Savage Champions. Wolverine is looking really rough in the black background. This is very stylish and awesome.

Gold Medalist

Six of Us #1

Variant cover E

Cover art by Raul Allen

I was excited to hear about this new Tom King book from Dark Horse, but what truly drew my attention to this comic cover was how the bottom corner looked to be ripped and the inside page revealed. That is on the cover, but it is what page one would have looked like had it been torn. I found this so clever that I had to grab the variant.

Daily Countdwn: Animated Movies #27

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#27

Ratatouille

Released: June 29, 2007

Runtime: 111 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: stylized, caricatured computer-animation style

Studio: Pixar/Disney

I did not watch this Pixar movie for years. I do nto know why I shunned this film for so long, but when I did finally watch it, I absolutely loved it. Ratatouille is one of the hidden gems in the Pixar catalog.

Voice cast:  Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O’Toole, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Brad Garrett, Will Arnett, John Ratzenberger, James Remar, Teddy Newton, Brad Bird, Jake Steinfeld, Tony Fucile and Stéphane Roux  . 

Ted Lasso S4 E6

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Spoilers

“Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore“

Be careful when “Jump Around” comes on… especially when you have a bad knee.

Roy went down at a New Year’s Eve party as the House of Pain hit played. He and Jamie Tartt, who was back guest starring, joined in the dance and Roy’s knee let out. It led to Keeley to meet Roy’s new doctor girlfriend, which was crushing to her.

Then a supremely doped up Roy ends up telling the doctor that he loves….Keeley. Roy did not realize he was talking to the doctor… and Keeley heard him, but only up to the point where he said “I love you”. Of course she thought Roy was meaning the doctor. It was an old misunderstanding trope of sitcoms, but there is a reason why it has been used as often as it has. It worked here too.

It did feel weird that we got a New Year’s Eve episode in September, but I forgive that too because it was a solid character episode. We had important moments for not only Roy & Keeley, but also Ted & Ted’s ex-wife, Michelle, Beard, Jamie, and Rebecca and Matthijs. Then, Alice seemed to take some huge steps, but then took giant leaps backward.

Oh, and Tracy Ulman’s character is amazingly weird and downright psychotic.

Some of the episode’s arcs were heartbreaking while other arcs help move the characters forward. The scenes between Ted and Michelle were really sweet. I was afraid they were going to do some alcohol related sex between them, but they stuck with the friendship and Ted feels able to ask someone out on a date.

Rebecca and Matthijs made up in time for midnight as Matthijs arrived at the hospital where Rebecca was hanging out with Jamie after bringing Roy here for his knee. It was a nice resolution, but there was not really much of a story this way. Still, with the other flops of relationships, it was nice to have someone happy.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #28

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#28

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Released: February 22, 2019

Runtime: 104 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: realistic lighting and advanced technology with expressive, stylized character designs

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

The third film in one of the most satisfying and engaging animated trilogies ever produced. This is a trilogy that allowed its protagonist to actually age and become an adult.

Voice cast:  Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harington, F. Murray Abraham, Julia Emelin, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, James Sie, David Tennant, Robin Atkin Downes, Kieron Elliot, Ashley Jensen, Gideon Emery and Randy Thom.

The Runner

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Amazon Prime has had some big “winners” from their original films. Anyone who saw War of the World a couple of years ago knows to what I refer.

I did know that the latest Gal Gadot movie, The Runner, was being dropped on Amazon Prime. I saw that it was available to see free and I could not believe it.

I can see now why it was available free.

No one would pay for this movie. What in the heck was this?

First, Gal Gadot played Maia, a high-powered lawyer, whose son was kidnapped and the kidnapper blackmails Maia. The kidnapper (played by Damian Lewis) put her son into a diabetic coma and threatened to give him another dose that would kill him. He gives the boy an IV with a drip so there is a counting clock on Maia.

He wanted her to go and shoot her key witness who is going to testify against some mob boss. Then he had her run across London in order to get to kill the guy. It is like Die Hard With a Vengeance meets Speed, but way stupider than either one.

Gal Gadot is just not a good actress. She absolutely peaked with the first Wonder Woman. There were some unbelievably horrendous scenes with her performances. There is one moment where a train was going past her that was some of the worst acting I have ever seen. It was Tommy Wiseau level acting.

The situation is as stupid as it could be. How did this guy get his hands on the kid? Maia dropped him off at school. He wanted his mom to walk him into the school, but she ignored him. It was just a few scenes later when Lewis had the kid in a room and had him in the coma. There is just no way this set up worked in any fashion. Suspension of disbelieve is one thing, but this is just not possible.

The entire film makes zero sense. There is a moment where Maia runs down a subway train. I wish I was kidding.

The one positive of the film is that I did not see any Amazon Prime product placement, which is something they must have learned from War of the Worlds. Now… Nike shoes is a different thing.

The editing of the movie is just terrible. It is so noticeable that it is so obnoxious that I can’t even explain it.

It is only a 85 minute film, but it really felt like it was double that.

It is truly one of the worst movies of the year. Way to go, Amazon. You’ve got another winner.

0.5 stars

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #39

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#39

Kung Fu Panda

Released: June 6, 2008

Runtime: 92 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: advanced computer-generated (CG) 3D animation combined with artistic inspiration from traditional Chinese ink painting and wuxia martial arts films.

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

Kung Fu Panda has been one of the most successful animated franchises of the past 25 years. Po is a beloved character who everybody can relate to in some way or another.

Voice cast: Jack Black,  Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Jackie Chan

Boston Legal S2 E6, E7

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Spoilers

“Witches of Mass Destruction”

“Truly, Madly, Deeply”

Two Boston Legal episodes, one that I thought was a typically strong one, and one that I found ridiculous.

“Witches of Mass Destruction” had two main story arcs. One was about the death of a young man in the military whose sister brought a case against the government that during recruitment, the recruiters committed fraud by what the told him. Alan stepped up to take the case despite Denny’s objections and direct orders to drop it. The other arc on this episode was a Christian couple and a Wiccan couple joining forces to sue to stop a Halloween pageant at a public school. This tale, though bizarre, at the heart is about religious freedom and schools keeping religion out. Both of these stories were solid and the military one in particular was extremely emotional.

“Truly, Madly, Deeply,” on the other hand, had two silly arcs and one of Denny Crane. Alan and Brad defended a station manager who fired their clown who was talking about global warming on air. The thing is, the man was attending the court in his clown makeup and Alan was afraid of clowns. It made Alan look bad as he could not do cross or even look in the clown’s direction. The second arc featured Michael McKeon, who I love as an actor, trying to prevent his wife from getting an annulment on grounds that he had sex with a cow. If one of these to stories had been opposed by something more solid, I don’t think that I would have felt as… icky. Then, Denny Crane decided to shoot his client that he had been assigned to defend by the judge in the knees. The client was a child rapist and murderer and Denny did not want to defend him. He tried many other tricks to get off the case and then he ended up shooting him, claiming to be defending himself.

To be fair, all three of these storylines had positive resolutions, but by that time, I had checked out on them.

To me, the second of these episodes only served to make some of the lawyers at Crane, Poole & Schmidt look foolish, in particular Alan and Shirley (who couldn’t defend the cow lover). Denny always looked that way so it was no big deal for his character.

Oh, and the first episode was the one where Denny and Alan famously dressed as flamingos for their firm’s Halloween party (which is an image on the banner above the post).

Boston Legal has shown the ability to go from deadly serious to over-the-top absurdity in a blink of an eye. Episode seven just did not work for me.

Practical Magic (1998)

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With Practical Magic 2 coming out this weekend, I figured I would watch a movie that I had not seen before in preparation for it. It is, of course, the first film, Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

According to IMDB, “Two witch sisters, raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town, face closed-minded prejudice and a curse which threatens to prevent them ever finding lasting love.”

This film is a mixed bag. The tones are all over the place. It went from a weird witch tale to a romantic fantasy to a Ghostbusters jaunt. It is messy at a lot of times.

I wish the film would have taken one of these tones and run with it, because they seemed to try to do all of them.

There are decent parts to the film as well. Sandra Bullock is charming and she works well. However, her relationship with Nicole Kidman is shaky and inconsistent throughout the movie.

There are things about the stories being told in this movie, but it really does not cover them all well. The curse arc, the Jimmy Angelov stuff, the sudden relationship with Sally-Gary, are all parts of the storyline and they all feel so conflicting.

Having said all of this, I thought this was watchable at the least. I wasn’t bored and the actors all did a decent job. I just wish it was a little less disjointed.

The Muppet Show S2 E16-E24

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Spoilers

Guest Star: Cleo Lane

Guest Star: Julie Andrews

Guest Star: Jaye P. Morgan

Guest Star: Peter Sellers

Guest Star: Petula Clark

Guest Star: Bob Hope

Guest Star: Teresa Brewer

Guest Star: John Cleese

Guest: Cloris Leachman

I have to say that the Muppet Show truly got some of the biggest stars of the time to guest star on their show. Bob Hope, Cloris Leachman, Peter Sellers, John Cleese and Julie Andrews were iconic names that, even today, would be recognized by the public as superstars. Sure there was Cleo Lane, who I swear I have never heard of before, but most of this list was remarkable.

That was the power of Jim Henson and the Muppets. Everyone wanted to appear on the show and the entire second season was littered with amazing superstars as guests.

Even with the ton of superstar celebrities, it seemed that Rowlf had plenty of time to play the piano. Rowlf was given time to play a variety of musical pieces, even if they had to speed a few of them up because of time. My favorite one during this block of episodes was when he and Fozzie played the piano. I laughed out loud when Rowlf said to Fozzie that he didn’t know Fozzie played the piano, and Fozzie replied that he did not know it either.

The final episode of season two with Cloris Leachman featured the Muppet Show being taken over by pigs. They locked Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie in the boiler room and they replaced all the main acts with pigs. Kermit the Pig took over the emceeing, there was a Swedish Chef-pig, Vegetarian’s Hospital among others. Miss Piggy was angry about Kermit being taken away until she found out that she was being featured in the opening number. The call of the stage was just too great for Miss Piggy.

It was nice to see Jaye P. Morgan on the show. I used to love her on the Gong Show, hosted by Chuck Barris, and she was funny. Jay P. Morgan passed away this year, so it was a nice way to honor her. RIP.

The Bob Hope episode was funny as Bob Hope was shown as so busy that he had to go between other gigs and kept returning to the Muppet Show. His “Don’t Fence Me In” song with a sarcastic horse was a highlight of the season.

Season three… here I come.