I can’t believe this season of Murders in the Building is up to episode seven already. It has gone very quickly and it has been fabulous.
We returned to the billionaires as suspects as Oliver, Charles and Mabel got a tip from the Mayor (Keegan-Michael Key) who dropped a hint about Bash Steed.
The episode kicked off by seeing Oliver seemingly confused and scared, coming up to an unknown couple in a country area. There had been a silver alert sent out about a man with a purple scarf.
It was a weird beginning, but it made total sense later after we went back over the events that happened leading up to this.
Our podcasters arrived at Bash Steed’s mansion and met his oddball son. Oliver’s belief that everything was like a horror film made this all the funnier and would lead to his deserting of the case.
They found Bash Steed, Camila White, and Jay Pflug playing Operation, which was strange. Apparently, they play games to challenge each other and take out their frustrations.
They split up again, and Charles’s interactions with Bash were sensational. Steve Martin and Christoph Waltz have amazing chemistry with each other and they bounced the dialogue off each other brilliantly.
Charles and Mabel are able to recover the finger, which was what the billionaires were playing for. Turned out that it was about who would get to have the casino bid. Jay told Mabel that the finger was more dangerous than she knew.
Great cliffhanger too as we learn that Camila White was the person who had made the offer for Oliver’s apartment because she wanted to turn the Arconia into the casino.
This was a fabulous episode and it was excellent seeing the three back together facing off with the three billionaires once again.
The Minnesota State Screaming Eagles is the fictional college football team led by Hayden Fox. This is the basis for the ABC sitcom Coach.
Craig T. Nelson played Hayden Fox, a character based somewhat on the Univeristy of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry. The comedic pairing of Nelson and Jerry Van Dyke, who played Fox’s assistant coach Luther, was sensational. Nelson was more the straight man, but they worked together so well.
Along with Nelson and Van Dyke, the cast included Shelley Fabares, Clare Carey, Bill Fagerbakke, Kenneth Kimmins, Pam Stone, Georgia Engel, and Kris Kamm.
Coach went 9 seasons on ABC and fit in with some great comedy blocks.
I have so many comics this week. Mainly because I went to the special anniversary celebration at In This Issue in Bettendorf and participated in their bag sale. Everything you could fit into a bag they provided for $45. I went both Friday and Saturday, and did a bag each day. Day one I had 90 books in the bag and Saturday, I was able to get 104 books in the bag.
I picked up 10 Amazing Spider-Man Annuals. I grabbed a bunch of Thor Vol. 1 in the 400s. Several cool independents that I never heard before. I picked up a bunch of variant Amazing Spider-Man covers too.
It was a fun couple of days.
New Books this week:
Spider-Man Noir #1. “The Gwen Stacy Affair” Written by Erik Larsen and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Simon Di Meo. I do like me some noir. Spider-Man Noir is even better. I liked this first issue more than some of the previous Spider-Man Noir stories and the arrival of Gwen Stacy is cool.
The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #1. Written by Romualo Giulivo and illustrated and cover art by Jakub Rebelka (Bronze Medalist). One of the more interesting new books from Boom Studios. It chronicled the final day in the life of author H.P. Lovecraft, and, of course, Lovecraft is anything but ordinary. Weird and wild and a lot of fun.
Gotham Academy: First Year #1. “First Day of School.” Written by Brenden Fletcher with art by Marco Ferrari. Cover art by Karl Kerschl. New comic that was giving me Wednesday (Netflix) vibes. Olive Silverlock is our protagonist in this new series. I am not familiar with her. I am not sure if I should have been. However, the issue does a nice job introducing her to me.
X-Men: Age of Revelation-Overture #1. Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Ryan Stegman. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer and Marte Gracia. The next major X-event kicked off with this issue. The consciousness of Cyclops is pulled X years into the future to see the current landscape of the MCU. Doug Ramsey, aka Revelation, the heir of Apocalypse, has become a mutant savior and things are really bad. There are a whole bunch of new X-titles coming out during this event and I hope they are as enjoyable as this one. I am usually not the biggest fan of the alternate futures, but this has been good so far.
Pinupocalypse #6. Written, drawn and cover art by Andrew Tarusov (Cover B- Silver Medalist). So one of the biggest surprises of 2025 came to a close here with a very satisfying final issue. With all of the zombies, UFOs and other things, we have a homage to the Attack of the 50-foot woman. This was such a fun and enjoyable series. Maybe we’ll get some more one day.
Absolute Evil #1. Written by Al Ewing and art and cover art by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Stefano Nesi. I also got the foil variant by Riley Rossmo. A bunch of new Absolute versions of some villains become the Absolute Justice. There was a literal gasp of shock over one big moment. Big book.
Batman #2. “Robin Rides the Black Mariah.” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cove art by Jorge Jimenez. I also picked up the virgin foil of this issue too This issue is focused in on Robin, and the way that the Gotham PD is now going to be treating Batman and Robin. A great spotlight on Robin and his skills.
Rook Exodus #7. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Jason Fabok. Cover art (A & B) by Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson and (Cover C) by Kael Ngu. Rook Exodus is back with the search for the other wardens. Rook encountered some other wardens on the way. It is nice to have this Ghost Machine book back after a long intermission.
White Tiger Reborn #1. “Reborn” Written by Daniel Jose Older with art by Bruno Abdias. Cover art was done by Mike Hawthorne & Federico Blee. I enjoyed the story involving the White Tiger. We get the ghost of Hector following along the White Tiger, his sister Aya Ayala.
Amazing Spider-Man #13. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. After not seeing him last issue, we go into space with Peter as he tries to keep everyone safe as always. Pete tries to convince the others to remain non-lethal.
Gunpowder Prophets #1. Written by Justin Jordan and art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. A new Mad Cave book debuted this weekend with yet another winner. Huck and Marley are for hire, and they bring the violence. I liked this new pair with Marley being the big bad. I am intrigued to see what is next.
Ultimate Wolverine #10. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Phil Noto. Wolverine faces off with Omega Red and, in a shocking moment, wins. What’s in the box???? Wolverine pulls a se7en on Omega Red.
Speed Racer #3. Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. Speed Racer takes on Racer X. Nuff said.
Vanishing Point #5. Written by Mark Russell and art by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Phil Hester & Ryan Cody did the cover art. This story had a definite Twilight Zone feel to it. It had a really good twist to it. It was very surprising end and I thought it was great.
Something is Killing the Children #44. “All Her Monsters” Part Four Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. We continue to see an adventure from the history of Erica Slaughter.
Other books this week: Good Devils: Don’t Play Fair with Evil #1, Deadpool/Wolverine #10, DC’s Zatannic Panic #1, Eat Your Young #2, Kill All Immortals II #1, Toxie Team-Up #4, Tales of the Shadowman #2, Ultimate X-Men #20, Red Hulk #9, and Look Into My Eyes #3.
Quick Hits: Our DC criminals continue to plot out their plan to rip off the Justice League in Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #3. I did not like the new Ghost Rider team up book, Spirits of Violence #1, so i will not be buying that one from now on. I picked up this cool Juggernaut cover for X-Men: The Undertow #1. I have been having a lot of fun with Star Trek: Red Shirts #3. It is a clever concept for a Star Trek series. The Justice League: The Omega Act Special #1 is a major kick off for the next big DC event, trying to save the DC Universe. TexArcanum #3 was one of the bronze medal winners this week as we had a tie. I was not planning on getting Starship Godzilla #1 because it reminded me too much of that horrendous arc when the Hulk was a ship, right after the epic Immortal Hulk run. However, I loved the Star Wars homage cover so I picked it up anyway. I do not plan on continuing it either. Speaking of Star Wars, Star Wars #6 was out this week. Be Not Afraid #4 is a bit confusing, but a good looking book. Sam & Twitch Case Files #18 was a solid book this week and the New Avengers #5 brought the evil Reed Richards clone down. Big week.
The show that the Emmys think is a comedy is the next show up on the list. The Bear has had four seasons of intense drama and a few laughs as we follow a chef trying to start up his own fancy restaurant.
Carmy returned to his family sandwich shop after his brother committed suicide with a dream of turning the restaurant into a four-star eatery. He is surrounded by a crew of eccentric characters who both help and hinder the process. Carmy deals with his own anger issues over family, friends and the pitfalls of being a small business owners.
Lots of laughs there, right Emmys?
The cast of The Bear is fire. Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jon Bernthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Oliver Platt, Matty Matheson, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliott, Edwin Lee Gibson, Liza Colón-Zayas and Molly Gordon are among the great ensemble.
The show is also well known for famous actors doing small roles and cameos. Some of these actors include Will Poulter, Rob Reiner, Joel McHale, Olivia Colman, Robert Townsend, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, and Alex Moffat.
For me, the first two seasons were remarkable. Season three was a bit of a step back, but season four recaptured a lot of what made this series special.
I watched two more episodes of Sha Na Na on YouTube tonight and it has become apparent that the first season of this show had the same strength and weaknesses in them.
Strengths: The songs are great. Specifically, the songs the group does on the stage in front of the studio audience. Donny did a cool rendition of “Come and Go With Me” and led the singing in “Rock Around the Clock.” Johnny, whose voice is so heavenly, did “Teen Angel” and gives an epic sob in the middle. Then, one of the best street songs so far was “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do” with Donny and Chico taking the main part of the song. This was one of the better choreographed songs so far. Great basketball pass at the end of the song from Santini too.
Weaknesses: Comedy. The comedy on the show just feels too forced. I hate the crowd noises they add because there are several times where it just intrudes on the song. In the comedy song bit “Along Came Jones” the can laughter and applause made it hard to hear the song. Pamela Myers’s acting in this song was atrocious (though she was a Tony-nominated actress). I do not think I have laughed once with the back stage skits from Kenneth Mars, Philip Roth or Jane Dulo. At least Avery Schreiber’s cab driver character has a few laughs.
Two comedians were the guest stars on these episodes with Charles Nelson Reilly and Phyllis Diller. Both had some good moments. I am a big fan of CNR, especially during his days on the Match Game, which he referenced in the episode.
I remember being a fan of Lennie Baker as a child. Being a chubby kid, I related to Lennie. I have to say though, watching him do his background dancing is always funny. Lennie has a tremendous voice though.
I have really enjoyed the musical parts of these shows so far, but the rest have been a bit of a trudge to get through. The music is absolutely the stand out from these talented musicians.
Apple TV + has had some great movies over the last few years, but I am not sure there has been one that was more intense or dramatic as the new Matthew McConaughey film, The Lost Bus.
The Lost Bus was based on the 2021 non-fiction novel, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson. It chronicled the story of a bus driver and a bus load of kids who were trying to survive the 2018 Camp Fire, one of the deadliest and destructive wildfire in the history of California.
The film was unbelievable. The tension and horrifying moments throughout the film was breathtaking. There were stretches of the film where I would not breath because I was so invested.
I do not know how they filmed this because it sure felt as if this bus was traveling through a real fire. The special effects are utterly astounding and created amazing suspense.
This bus faced so many obstacles, I had to keep convincing myself that they would not make this movie if the ending was tragic, but I wondered how it was going to be possible for them to make it out. The final scene with the bus driving through the flames was as nerve-shaking as you are ever going to see.
Admittedly, the characters were not that deep. Outside of McConaughey’s Kevin McKay, there were not very many three dimensional characters. America Ferrera’s school teacher Mary Ludwig got some moments of character development and Ferrera brought a powerhouse performance with what she had. Both McConaughey and Ferrera were excellent with the action roles. I should also shout out to the kids on the bus, who did a great job of seeming traumatized.
The secondary story of Chief Martinez (Yul Vasquez) was nowhere near as personal or powerful as the tale of the bus, and most of the times they cut to him and the other firefighters felt like a break in the anxiety, even though Vasquez does bring a lot to the role.
Fun fact: In the movie, Kevin’s mother Sherry was played by Matthew McConaughey’s real life mother Kay, and Kevin’s son, Shaun, was played by his real life son, Levi.
The Lost Bus was an adrenaline-fueled, action-packed tale of survival and heroism that looked epic and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was squirming around and talking to the screen, gasping at some of the frightening things that were on display. This was an outstanding movie experience that would have been even better on the big screen.
Netflix’s documentary The Devil on Trial featured the supposed demonic possession of 11-year old David Glatzel. This was a case taken up by Ed and Lorraine Warren. During the exorcism, Arne Cheyenne Johnson reportedly challenged the demon, which everyone took as a bad thing.
Then, Arne Cheyenne Johnson killed his friend with a knife, and his trial was the famous “The Devil Made Me Do It” case. The judge would not allow that defense, but the doc presented that case.
I will say though that this doc was very balanced, because one of David’s brothers, Carl, provided an other side of the story. He came out and told a story about his father coming into the room, slapping David after he had been cursing at his mother, and David went and sat down. His manner of telling the events was definitely calm and convincing.
He also mentioned the belief that their mother was giving her kids and husband Sominex in their food. Again, he was very believable in the way he presented the details.
The doc presented both sides of the Warrens. The side where they have helped a lot of people and another side where they were in it to make money. I like the Warrens, but you have to wonder about their motives.
I did enjoy the doc, especially since it did not push one side or the other.
Oscar Isaac starred in this six-episode Marvel Studios show on Disney +.
I’m going to be honest here. Moon Knight receives way more hate than it deserves. I will admit that the finale may not have been as great as it could have been, but it wasn’t bad either, and the fifth episode of the series is, perhaps, one of the best episodes of TV Marvel Studios ever produced (definitely in the top 10 episodes from the studio so far).
The design of the Moon Knight costume is amazing and the use of Mr. Knight as the form of Moon Knight when Steven was in control is genius.
Oscar Isaac provided a brilliant performance as Marc Specter and his multiple personalities. I will say that I think Ethan Hawke’s Arthur Harrow was not the best antagonist available, but Hawke surely gives it his all.
I don’t know if we will ever get any more Moon Knight in the MCU, but, for one, would be down for that. Oscar Isaac was epic in the role and I do believe that there are stories to be told with Marc, Steven, Jake and the rest of the crew.
Our fifth series for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk ended today with the tenth and final episode of HBO’s Lovecraft Country.
I wonder what H.P. Lovecraft would have thought about this series?
I did not see the ending of this show coming. I was very surprised with the death of Atticus in that ceremony, and the victory at the end, bonding Christina from using magic… and all white people… was a cool end.
I especially liked the use of Ji-ah in the finale. I have been wondering the purpose of this character for much of the series and to have that pay off in such a meaningful way makes me feel positive.
Of course, we had the best scene of the series in this episode too. Atticus, Leti, Montrose, Ji-ah, Hippolyta, and Diana were in the car, driving to Ardham, when the song “Sh-Boom” comes on the radio. Diana starts to sing along with the song and, before too long, the entire carload was joining in. It was my favorite moment of the series, giving us a flash of innocence and joy before the final spell.
Couple of things: Ruby’s death off-screen was a bit of a waste, I think, just for the surprise twist of Christina being one step ahead. Then, I am not sure how I feel about Diana crushing Christina’s throat with her bionic arm at the very end.
There felt to be a bunch of dangling threads or things that happened over the course of the show that felt insignificant. Why did Hippolyta have to go on her adventure through time?
Lovecraft Country, for me, was very up and down. Some weeks the show was tremendous, but I do think it lacked a comprehensive vision of what story they wanted to tell. It had some real highs and some lows too, all capsulized in this final epsiode.
Next week, in honor of the month of Halloween, we start the sixth series in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. It will be Netflix’s series, The Haunting of Hill House.
Another rough Gen V episode as Marie, Emma, and Jordan went to try and break Cate out of Elmira after she was being punished for the plan from last episode. Their attempt was not successful, but they found more than they anticipated.
Annabeth. Marie’s missing sister.
Annabeth is a pawn for Cipher, and he is trying to turn Marie into the “salvation,” as he said. During their escape, Marie found Annabeth in a pool of blood, and she was able to use her powers to bring her back. That was a stunning moment and we’ll have to see where this goes from there.
Sister Sage made her appearance here, in a shocking flashback. She showed up with Cipher and they had sex in front of his burnt up father. What is Sister Sage’s plans and how will these affect the final season of the Boys. Is she going to be in Gen V season two more?
We get some good scenes with Sam and his parents. We discover that Sam’s mental illness predated the Compound V.
Cipher is a shockingly evil character that has some dark secret waiting for us. When he plunged that knife into his own hand in front of Andre’s dad, it was an unbelievable moment. He is absolutely someone I want to see come down.
It seemed as though everyone and their mother have been raving about the new film from Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another. I saw it today and I may have a differing opinion.
According to IMDB, “When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue one of their own’s daughter.” This is not the best synopsis that I have ever heard, because this is only somewhat accurate for the storyline.
Leonardo DiCaprio played Bob, the former revolutionary who met up with Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), a fellow revolutionary, and they made a powerful pair. However, when Perfidia got pregnant, it was not sure what was going to happen. She, in fact, left Bob and her daughter to continue her lifestyle of wildness.
Flash forward several years, Bob has become an alcoholic and an ample drug user, but when danger came once again, he had to spring back into action to protect his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti).
Col. Stephen J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) had returned from their past to once again pursue Bob and, specifically, Willa.
Sean Penn was absolutely unhinged in this film, and DiCaprio played the bumbling former revolutionary very well. They were the best part of this movie.
I have to say, I did not like the first half or so of this movie. I found it dull and downright disappointing. It is a long movie, so I was looking at my phone to see the time, hoping it would be over sooner than what the time said.
However, the film’s final part picked up and piqued my interest more, saving the film for me. I found that last hour or so much more compelling than the first part.
The performances were all solid. Some of the action was good too. It just felt as if the film spent too much time getting going before it finally grabbed my attention.
Who knew what you could do with some duct tape, a Swiss army knife and some paper clips?
Richard Dean Anderson starred as MacGyver, the action hero who did not use guns, but who preferred science and his amazing intelligence to deal with any situation he found himself stuck in.
MacGyverisms became a fan favorite term for MacGyver’s ability to create something from nothing. Every week, he would find the most unexpected way to work his way out of trouble.
The original series ran from 1985-1992. There was a new version of the show, but I never watched it. To me, there could never be another MacGyver than Richard Dean Anderson.
It has been such a cultural icon that even the term “MacGyver” made it into the Oxford online dictionary as a verb meaning “make or repair (an object) in an improvised or inventive way, making use of whatever items are at hand.”
I was not sure if I was going to go to this. This was a limited release film coinciding with the release of Taylor Swift’s new record, “The Life of A Showgirl.” I would not be considered a “Swifty” by any stretch of the imagination, but I did go to the ERAs Tour film and I enjoyed it well. It worked into the schedule tonight so I wound up in Cinemark with a ton of teenage girls and a few other adults to see this film.
It is not really a film. It is also not really a concert film. It showed us the brand new video for the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” all of the lyric vids of the other 11 songs, and several behind the scenes shots of Taylor in the prep for the video, both with rehearsing and discussion of the creative.
Taylor Swift was the director of the video as well so she was shown to be the definitive creative force behind it. There were times when it seemed that she would speak and everyone else would just agree with her. I would have liked to see someone make a comment that wasn’t just “Oh how awesome you are.”
As a middle school literacy teacher, I did love the fact that she made a comment about a metaphor, followed by a comment on alliteration and then mentioned imagery. I hope the kids in the theater heard those terms.
As for the music, it was a bit of a mixed bag. It was clear that “The Fate of Ophelia” was the best song on the album. They showed us that video at the beginning of the movie and at the end. It was definitely my personal favorite as well.
I did notice that Taylor Swift’s songs on this album had a tendency to be repetitive, in one specific manner. She seemed as if she ended every song in the exact same way. The music slowed or stopped and she repeated one line that she had sung during the song, as if she were really emphasizing it. It was fine, but I did notice it so I would have liked maybe some variety in the end of the songs.
The songs that I did enjoy included “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wood,” “Opalite,” and “Cancelled.” There were two songs that I did not like at all. They were “Father Figure” and “Wi$h Li$t.” “The Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin the Friendship,” and “Honey” were good. The album’s title track, “The Life of a Showgirl” was underwhelming, but not at the level of “Father ZFigure” or “Wi$h Li$t.”
The experience in the theater was as much a reason to go to this as anything else. It was fun with the audience cheering and applauding throughout the film. No one sang along in my theater, but it was fun to be part of the mass.
Overall, this was not much of a film, but it was a solid experience and I was happy to have chosen to see it. “The Fate of Ophelia” is easily the hit of this album and was the most important of the songs with this movie.
“What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
With those words, the HBO true crime documentary went from being a fascinating story of a man and his narcissim to an absolute epic show.
The Jinx, which added a sequel recently, is the story of Robert Durst, an eccentric New York businessman who was believed to have murdered his wife. Durst spoke his story, in his own words, throughout the six first season episodes. Andrew Jarecki was the driving force behind the doc and had built a relationship with Durst through interviews.
The final episode of the first season had Jarecki confronting Durst with evidence that they had uncovered that pointed directly at him. Durst and Jarecki ended the interview and Durst went into the bathroom. While in there, he did not realize that the microphone was still on his person and he uttered the infamous words that implicated him.
The sequel season followed the arrest and subsequent trial of Robert Durst. There is no denying thta this case had so many bizarre twists as we learned more about the odd behavior of Robert Durst.
Those final words from Durst’s own mouth were chilling. It was as close to a confession as you are ever going to get in a documentary. It made for amazing TV.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 