Author Archives: Doc

2025 EYG Year in Review: “I See Kid Actor” Award

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It was a big year for the child actors. There have been some truly powerful performances in the world of entertainment in 2025. The days of kid actors getting cast because they were the niece of the director is probably over (at least, unless that niece is incredibly talented).

Previous winners:

I See Kid Actor Award 

Previous Winners:  Emjay Anthony (Chef), Jacob Trembley (Room), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Dafne Keen (Logan), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy), McKenna Grace (Troop Zero), Jeremy T. Thomas (Antlers), Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical, Abigail), Madeleine Yuna Voyles (The Creator)

Runners-Up: Last year, I speculated that our only two-time winner of the I See Kid Actor Award, Alisha Weir, was rumored to be up for Dorothy in Wicked: For Good and that she might be a threepeat. She was not cast in the role and will need to wait for awhile to gain that third award. Cary Christopher carried a lot of weight in the hit film Weapons as the one boy who did not disappear. His scenes were very powerful. Christian Convey has been a runner up for this award multiple times from his past work as Sweet Tooth, Cocaine Bear, and Oliver in Invincible. He is back in the runner-up column for his role in The Monkey. Maia Kealoha had a huge job stepping into the live action role of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch. The young girl did a fantastic job. The Gomer Award winner this year, Sketch, had a group of kids who were at the center of the story and did a tremendous job including Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, and Kalm Cox. Group of kids fighting monsters has been a popular trope lately. Stranger Things 5 has returned with a couple of new kids to go with the rapidly aging kids from past seasons. Nell Fisher became Holly, sister of Mike, and Jake Connelly, who stole the show in episode 4 as “Dipshit Derek.” Then, It: Welcome to Derry had two groups of kids. The first group Pennywise murdered including Matty, played by Miles Ekhardt. Teddy and Phil, played respectfully by Mikkal Karim-Fidler and Jack Molloy Legault, also died in the first episode, shocking us all. However, the next group of kids really became the focal point of the show, especially Will, played by Blake Cameron James, Lilly, played by Clara Stack, Marge, played by Matilda Lawler, and everyone’s favorite hero Rich, played by Arian S. Cartaya. I would have considered Cartaya for this award because of the impact that character had on the show, if the award winner wasn’t so obvious. Alfie Williams was one of the lead actors in 28 Years Later, and he did a great job in a very difficult role. Other actors included Helena Zengel (The Legend of Ochi), Sara Wong (Bring Her Back) and Patrick Scott McDermott (Rust).

The winner of the I See Kid Actors Award for 2025 is…

Owen Cooper (Adolescence)

I knew this winner back when I watched Adolescence on Netflix in March/April. Owen Cooper played Jamie Miller, the young boy accused of murder in the four episode miniseries.

Cooper was absolutely staggering in the role. He carried off the character with the professionalism of a long time actor. This was his first major role. He wound up receiving an Emmy Award for his performance.

Specifically episode three of the show, which was a continual one shot (as all of the show was) between Jamie and clinical psychologist Briony, played by Erin Doherty. The performance was chilling as the show dived deeply into the mind of the damaged boy.

I knew he would get this award and, despite some heavy competition above, Owen Cooper is the I See Kid Actor Award winner for 2025.

The Pitt S1 E6, E7

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Spoilers

“12:00 P.M.”

“1:00 PM”

Okay, there were a couple of moments during these two episodes that we rough on me. There was a heart attack scene that was just about more than I could handle.

I do like how the show has been, for the most part, more about the characters than with the illnesses. Whether it be the staff of the ER or the patients, the characters are the driving force behind story.

The abortion arc is really good. There is a father abuse storyline that did not work for me. One comment was made that the doctors and nurses were mandatory reporters but couldn’t report without evidence. As a mandatory reporter, that is patently incorrect. That pulled me out of the scene.

Then, it took a dramatic twist with Trinity Santos, who was a character that I have not been a fan of so far in the series, and a vicious confrontation with the child abuser in question. It was fairly unrealistic, but very kick ass. It helped that storyline.

The end of episode seven was horrific, as Dr. Collins went into the restroom, with tears, seeing blood in her underwear. There had been subtle hints through the last couple of episodes that Collins, who was pregnant, was going to have something terrible happen to the baby. While it is unconfirmed as of yet, this ending scene did not make things look good.

This pair of episodes started to show Doctor Robby was acting unlike he normally would do. I had a bit of a problem with that too because up until here, he seemed like he was great. I had no idea that he was acting differently than normal. The show had told us about his struggles on the anniversary of his mentor’s death, but I still thought he was doing a great job. When Collins called him out on his behavior, I was surprised. Some of these scenes with Robby felt out of place from the rest of the season. Of course, we did not know Robby before this series, and all of the episodes have been the same day, so it is hard to see the changes.

The show brought up the kid with the “hit list” again, but it is a story arc that feels like it will come back hard later in the season.

I was so happy that Whittaker made it through episode 7 without having to change his scrubs!

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #88

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#88

Taxi

The Taxi theme song was composed by Bob James.

Entitled “Angela”, it was originally intended as background music for episode three and a character named Angela. It was so liked by the producers that it became the shows permanent theme.

The song was jazz-fusion and used Rhodes electric piano, a soft, high-pitched recorder (or flute/oboe) lead melody, and a smooth rhythm section.

The Pitt S1 E5

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Spoilers

“11:00 AM”

I have to say that I have really enjoyed the first five episodes of HBO Max’s series, The Pitt. I am in on the characters and the intelligent writing that is going along with them.

Even the medical stuff, which usually bothers me with a medical show, has not been too bad generally speaking.

Noah Wylie has been awesome so far as Doctor Robbie, although I expect there will be some problems coming up with this abortion that he falsified. Especially since the woman who brought the girl was not her mother, but her aunt… and Mommy’s here.

I feel bad for poor Whitaker, who has had to change his scrubs multiple times already. Is this a running joke with him getting blood spat on him this episode after getting peed on last time. He has been splattered with bodily fluids a whole bunch, and I feel for the kid.

Some of the stories that have running through the first four episodes were not seen or just barely mentioned in this episode. The new ones that have jumped into the rotation are engaging too. I do want to know more about the kid with the hit list, as that was one that grabbed my attention.

Good stuff. I sense more problems ahead.

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year

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The flip side of the Gomer, The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year is the film that I had expected big things from, but it came up short. I might have liked a film that gets this award (this year is an example), but I found more problems than I expected.

The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year 

Previous Winners:  In the Heart of the Sea, The Snowman, Amazing Spider-Man 2, After Earth, Dark Knight Rises, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Batman v. Superman, Christopher Robin, IT: Chapter Two, Tenet, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Halloween Ends, Next Goal Wins, Gladiator II

This year’s runners-up: There was a film from Netflix this year that starred Chris Pratt called Electric State. It was a sci-fi movie that should have been fantastic, but it was far from it. A film that had Jordan Peele’s name on the advertising was called HIM. This had no right to be as bad as it was. M3GAN, the original, was a Gomer runner up, but the sequel to it, M3GAN 2.0 was just dumb and took the worst parts of the original and expended on it. Many people think this will win the Oscar this year for Best Picture, but I was disappointed with One Battle After Another. It was fine. I just expected more than what I saw. I love Ke Huy Quan, but Love Hurts hurt when I had to watch it. Another two movies that I heard positives about, but hated was Friendship and Together. Both big on Rotten Tomatoes, but not at EYG.

And this year’s Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year was…

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

I did like this movie. I gave it a fresh rating. It got like 3.5 stars from me.

And yet, it is getting the Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year.

The final film in the Mission Impossible franchise should have been one of the best films of the year. The first hour or so of this movie was just too dull and repetitive. The ending was great, but I just did not like getting there. The film was too long and could not be totally saved by the great last hour. Then the final shot of the film was disappointing too.

This is a good movie that should have been mind-blowing.

Disappointing.

2025 Year in Review: The Gomer

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The Gomer is the award for the biggest pleasant surprise in the movie world. It is a movie that I did not expect to like or anticipated disliking it, only to have a great time with it. As Gomer Pyle would say “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!”

The Gomer for the Biggest Surprise

Previous Gomer Award Winners:  The Gift, Ferdinand, Edge of Tomorrow, We’re the Millers, The Campaign, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Bumblebee, Crawl, Greenland, Free Guy, Deadstream, Totally Killer, Transformers One

The surprises this year includes the following films: Final Destination: Bloodlines, Strange Harvest, Good Fortune, Dangerous Animals.

The runner up was this film, that I nearly gave this award: K-Pop Demon Hunters. This film certainly was a surprise. I had no belief that this was a movie that I would like, but it was awesome. However, the actual Gomer winner is a film that is in the top five of the year for me.

Gomer Award for Biggest Surprise …

Sketch

I thought this was just going to be a fun little flick with kids and monsters. It turned out to be a five star film that has a definite chance to finish in the top 5 of my movies of 2025. That is a surprise.

Sketch is so emotional, funny, exciting and fun. Everything that you could want from a film is in Sketch. And I did not see it coming.

How wonderful!

2025 EYG Year in Review: I Am Groot Voice Acting Award

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“I am Groot” Voice Acting Award

Previous Winners:  Robin Williams (Aladdin- honorary), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes),  Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War), Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Jeffrey Wright and Chadwick Boseman (What If…?), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), AJ LoCascio (X-Men ’97)

So, with this award, there are plenty of really great voice acting performances this year. There have been a bunch of great animated movies, as well as other formats. But this year’s winner has been a long time coming and remarkably well earned. He is a Hall of Famer and deserves this award for the first time.

Runners-Up: Jason Bateman (Zootopia 2), Ginnifer Goodwin (Zootopia 2), David Harbour (Marvel Zombies), Ralph Ineson (Fantastic Four: First Steps), Erika Henningsen (Hazbin Hotel), Christin Borle (Hazbin Hotel), Amir Talai (Hazbin Hotel).

And this year’s winner….

Mark Hamill (The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants)

Mark Hamill is in the EYG Hall of Fame. Of course, part of that is probably because of a little role he had in Star Wars. However, his voice work has been sensational over the years. He is the voice of the Joker to a lot of people. He has been Skeletor, Merv Pumpkinhead, Chucky, The Trickster, Hobgoblin, Skips, Fire Lord Ozai, among others.

Now, it the new SpongeBob movie, Mark Hamill is the Flying Dutchman. He does a great job as the main antagonist of that film, but who would have thought that it would be anything but epic?

This award is long overdue.

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Kurt Russell EGO De-Aging Award

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This is something that is being used so much more lately. De-Aging and/or Deep Fakes are commonplace any more in the world of entertainment. This award is for the best of those…

The Kurt Russell EGO De-Aging Award

Previous Winners:  Robert DeNiro (The Irishman), Mark Hamill (The Mandalorian), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things season 4), Samuel L. Jackson (Secret Invasion), Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (Here)

The Runners-Up: Sarah Michelle Geller (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Noah Schnapp (Stranger Things 5), Brad Pitt (F1), Ian McShane (Ballerina), Anjelica Huston (Ballerina), Gabriel Byrne (Ballerina)

And this year’s winner of the Kurt Russell EGO De-Aging Award is…

Stellan Skarsgård (Andor)

The Secrets We Bury

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The Secrets We Bury is a documentary streaming on HBO Max recently dealing with the disappearance of George Carroll.

According to IMDB, “In the early 1960s, George Carroll walked out on his family, leaving his wife, Dorothy, and their four children behind. Decades later, the Carroll siblings are still left haunted by what happened to their father. Seeking much-needed closure for himself and his family, ‘The Secrets We Bury’ follows Mike Carroll as he unravels the mystery of his father’s disappearance and uncovers a story much darker and more complex than his family could have imagined. Told through extensive sit-down interviews with the Carroll siblings and layered with intimate archival footage of the Carroll family spanning decades of their lives, the documentary offers a sensitive look into one family’s journey to find closure. Part mystery and part family drama, ‘The Secrets We Bury’ raises important questions about whose stories we choose to believe, and why.”

This was a slow burn of a documentary that had a wild story involving abuse, disappearances, psychics and murder.

There are beats in this doc that are difficult to believe, making one think that there is a part of this story that is not being told to us accurately. In particular, the psychic who, apparently, was able to direct Mike where to look for his father.

The documentary spent a bunch of time in this story telling us how Mike’s mother could not have been involved with this cover up, how that she believed the story that she told them, about George abandoning them. I think this is the biggest error of the doc. There is no way that I don’t believe that she had, at the very least, the knowledge of what had happened to George, if not participated in it. They did a lot to try and make it seem like she was an innocent, even going as far as to showing us a reading by the psychic where the mother supposedly said as much. Nope. I don’t buy that at all.

This was a intriguing case that will never truly be solved. It was a mysterious and thrilling story.

3.75 stars

Hedda

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The movie Hedda was available on Amazon Prime for a while now. It has been on my queue and I have been waiting to watch it. Today, I was able to fit it into the schedule.

According to IMDB, “In a provocative, modern re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, Heather (Tessa Thompson) finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt-pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.“

I have to say that I had a hard time focusing on this movie. It did not grab my attention in the first part of the film.

When I was interested in the film, it was when either Tess Thompson or Nina Hoss were on the screen. Both actors were tremendous with their characters.

There were some powerful scenes in the film, but I just never could get into it. I wish that I was able to focus on the film more. Maybe if I had seen this in a theater, I would have been able to focus in on it better than I did at home.

Because I couldn’t, it is hard to recommend the movie. Two great performances though.

2.8 stars

2025 EYG Year in Review: Comic Books

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This was a big year for comic books. DC was Absolute while Marvel was Ultimate. Independent books came from all sorts of companies from Mad Cave to Dynamite to Oni Press to Bad Idea. Blind Bags were the hot item once again, at least when Mark Spears covers were the prize. Not so much with Turtles. Doom took over the Marvel Universe. Darkseid prepared to return to the DC Universe. Batman and Deadpool teamed up…twice. Thor died and came back as a mortal. The X-Men found themselves in another alternate future. The Justice League let everyone in. Three men escaped from Alcatraz. The Hulk became Infernal, Dr. Strange an Asgardian, and Tony Stark insurgent. Universal Monsters were all over Image. A priest is marked for death in Ordained. Miss Fury teamed up with Green Hornet, and then she teamed up with Red Sonja, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris. We had Godzilla, zombies and vampires. Storm became an Avenger. Transformers and G.I. Joe were a thing.

And that was just a taste.

Here are the awards given to comics over the last year.

Best Marvel Comic: Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell

Best DC Comic: (TIE) Absolute Batman; Black Canary: Best of the Best

Best Independent Comics: Exquisite Corpses, No Man’s Land, Feral, Wild Animals, and Out of Alcatraz

Most Stylistic Comic: News From the Fallout

Best Character: Absolute Batman

Best Rebooted Cartoon Character: Blue Falcon & Dynomutt

Best Writer: (TIE) James Tynion IV; Ryan North

Best Artist: Szymon Kudranski

Best Cover Artist: Mark Spears

Best Graphic Novel: The Knives by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Best #1: Wild Animals #1

Best Surprise: Doug Ramsey is Revelation

Under Appreciated: Pinupocalypse

Best Vampire Series: Vatican City

Best One Shot: Ice Cream Man: The Mortal Coil Shuffle (story in a deck of cards)

Best X-Book: Uncanny X-Men

Best Imprint: Ghost Machine (from Image)

Biggest Oopsie of the Year: Red Hood #1 (When a regular series suddenly becomes a one-shot)

Best Anthology Series: Assorted Crisis Events

Crossover of the Year: Batman/Deadpool

Trend of the Year: Anthology comics (horror, sci-fi, Twilight Zone etc.)

Comic Character 2025 MVPs: Absolute Batman, Mr. Terrific, Ms. Marvel, Dr. Doom, Speed Racer, Space Ghost, Rogue

Company of the Year: Mad Cave

Best Individual Issues of the Year: Out of Alcatraz #1, No Man’s Land #1, Survive #1, Absolute Batman Annual #1, Mark Spears Monsters #8, Uncanny X-Men #17, Exquisite Corpses #1, Assorted Crisis Events #6.

Sha Na Na S1 E19, E20, E21

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Sha Na Na was one of my favorite shows as a kid so I am enjoying the trip down memory lane with the boys. I have to say that I still believe that the show is so much better when you have guest stars on the show with musical abilities.

These three episodes featured: Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell and Leslie Gore. If I were them, I would have had Chuck Berry do a second song on the actual stage set. They had him do “Roll Over Beethoven” in the road set, which was great, but he could have done another one on the actual stage with the live audience.

They did brink Leslie Gore out to the stage to the audience when she was on episode 21. It just felt more special than the others, even though Chuck Berry knocked the performance out of the park.

In episode 20, Sha Na Na performed “Unchained Melody, which may be their best performance ever on the stage. The song was at a quicker pace and the background choreography was spot on. A lot of times, Sha Na Na look a touch out of step with the background dancing. I mean, they are singers and not necessarily dancers. However, this performance was fire. Unchained Melody, which was more well known as by the Righteous Brothers, was originally performed as a doo wop song by Vito and the Salutations in 1963. This is the version Sha Na Na was doing.

We also got some great vocalization with Bowzer and Johnny in Lovers Never Say Goodbye, in episode 21. This group have some great singers that compliment each other really well. Bowzer and Johnny work perfectly together in this song.

Alley Oop was one of the most distinct memories I have of the comedy skit songs the group would do. They would break in the song to do some silly joke. Most of the jokes were cringy, but I did love the song performed by Dirty Dan and Screamin’ Scott.

They still overuse the crowd noise/laugh track, but it is not as distracting as it was in the first half of season one.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #89

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#89

IT: Welcome to Derry

Theme Song:  “A Smile and a Ribbon” by Patience and Prudence (1956). 

The song was written by Mark McIntyre and Robert Wells.

The song originally served as a B-side to Patience and Prudence’s smash hit “Tonight You Belong to Me.”

The song is the most recent additions to the list as IT: Welcome to Derry has just aired on HBO Max, finishing its 8-episode season. The theme was so weird the first week, but grew on me as each week progressed. It is so creepy and odd for this sweet, little song to be placed on this horror series with images of Derry’s dark history behind it. The use of this theme is genius and this is an example of a theme that, if I redid this list in a year or two, would be way higher than it is now.

The Pitt S1 E1, E2, E3, E4

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Spoilers

So this was a series that I have wanted to watch for awhile now. The time was just never right, but with Christmas break upon me, plus the second season debuting in January on HBO Max, I thought I would give The Pitt a try.

See, I am a hypochondriac… well, sort of. Medical shows have bothered me in the past. I am bothered by things that can go wrong in the human body. While it does not make me feel as if I am having the same symptoms, it does bother me. That being said, the idea of each episode being an hour at a time in an emergency room made me think of 24 and I was intrigued.

I almost stopped at the first episode. A couple of scenes in that first show nearly finished me off. I was in on some of the storylines though so I decided to stick with it. After four episodes, I am fully in and will hopefully not have any further issues.

The storylines were coming hard and fast in the first four episodes. I was working on the EYG Comic Cavalcade as I was watching so the number of episodes just kept rolling as I worked. Perhaps I shouldn’t work as I watched, because I was being distracted by the show.

Noah Wylie led this cast of actors that I mostly did not recognize. Yet, they all did a great job with their roles. The short term stories with the patients were all very engaging and ranged from deadly serious to a good laugh.

One that especially caught my attention was a mother who faked an illness to get some help with her son. She found a list of girls to eliminate in his room, causing some serious tension of the story. That one is still percolating away. There was one that seemed to fly by faster with a brother and sister who desperately tried to keep their father alive, despite his wishes not to be on life-saving equipment. That story felt like it played out over a longer time than what it actually did, since the four episodes were designed to be only four hours total.

There were also a bunch of deaths in that four hour period. It truly showed the anguish the doctors and nurses have to deal with in their daily job.

The characters are introduced really well as there is not a ton of time to spend with them. Their minutes on screen are maximized extremely effectively.

I was not sure I was going to continue to watch this during episode one because of my own issues, but I am glad I pushed on. This is a strong series so far and my goal is to finish season one before the arrival of season two in January.