Today kicks off the second half of this year’s June Swoon 5 with a sci-fi/horror film on Hulu called Ash. Directed and scored by Flying Lotus, a DJ, rapper, filmmaker and record producer, Ash feels like a mixed bag.
According to IMDB, “A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.“
The good parts of Ash included the lead performance from Eiza González as Riya, the woman who wakes up and is confused by the gore and death around her. González did a very strong job of expressing her confusion and fear of the situation that she found herself in.
Another positive is the look and the sound of the film. The score made the film standout from some of the other entries in the subgenre of space monster/horror. The score kept the audience on their toes and uneasy as the mysteries unfurled around Riya. The film’s special effects and imagery was also top notch as everything, especially the body horror aspects of the film, looked specifically frightening or horrendous.
The biggest problem is that this movie, story wise, does not even try to attempt something different than what we have seen before. There are scenes that feel as if they were taken directly out of Alien or The Thing or Event Horizon or Cloverfield: Paradox or many other space monster films.
The film leaned hard on cliches throughout the entire movie. Riya had amnesia at the beginning after awakening to find everyone dead. I mean… was there ever any question about what had happened here? Aaron Paul’s character Brion was very cliche as well. The only thing not cliche about him was that he spelled his name with an “o” instead of an “a.”
The film was only 1 hour and 35 minutes long, but it felt much longer than that. It dragged through the first two thirds of the movie before a fairly spry final act helped pick up the action. I am not opposed to slow burns, but there needed to be something more entertaining during that slow burn to engage my mind. This did not have it.
The film looked great, sounded great and had a decent lead performance, but there is just not enough of anything else to make this anything but a forgettable flick.
Written: David Eric Grohl / Kurt D. Cobain / Krist Anthony Novoselic/Al Yankovic
Genre: Grunge
Topic: No one can understand Nirvana’s lyrics
This song helped bring Weird Al back after a bit of a career slump. He called Kurt Cobain at SNL to get permission. Cobain asked if the song would be about food.
Lyrics
What is this song all about? Can’t figure any lyrics out How do the words to it go I wish you’d tell me, I don’t know
Now I’m mumblin’, and I’m screamin’ And I don’t know what I’m singin’ Crank the volume, ears are bleedin’ I still don’t know what I’m singin’ We’re so loud and incoherent Boy, this oughta bug your parents
Yeah Blergh Haai
It’s unintelligible I just can’t get it through my skull It’s hard to bargle nawdle zouss With all these marbles in my mouth
Well, we don’t sound like Madonna Here we are now, we’re Nirvana Sing distinctly, we don’t wanna Buy our album, we’re Nirvana A garage band from Seattle Well, it sure beats raisin’ cattle Yeah
And I forgot the next verse Oh, well, I guess it pays to rehearse The lyric sheet’s so hard to find What are the words? Oh, never mind
Well, I’m yellin’, and we’re playin’ But I don’t know what I’m sayin’ What’s the message I’m conveyin’? Can you tell me what I’m sayin’? So, have you got some idea? Didn’t think so, well, I’ll see ya
Today’s June Swoon 5 film is another Oscar winner that I had not seen prior to today. It won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature in 2026 and it was entitled Mr. Nobody Against Putin.
My initial thoughts were that this was about the war in Ukraine, and, while the Ukraine War was a major theme of the film, the center of the doc was different.
Pavel Talankin was the main character of the doc, and he was a teacher/teacher organizer/school videographer at a school in the Russian city of Karabash, a town known as the most toxic and poisonous town in Russia. Pavel began filming in earnest after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when the Russian government required schools to have regular “patriotic displays” and use state-written curriculum.
Pavel was always one for openness and freedom, proving what he called a safe space for the students to express themselves. These governmental requirements became such an opposition to what he believed that he went as far as to resign. However, when he was contacted by director David Borenstein about a response Pavel had made to an Instagram post, Pavel rescinded his resignation to compile more film for a documentary on how the war was affecting the school he worked at.
There were some amazing moments in the doc, none more shocking than when, prior to a Russian flag ceremony at the school, Pavel played the “Star-Spangled Banner” as performed by Lady Ga Ga. I was shocked that he was allowed to get away with that and that did not get him arrested or removed from the school.
The doc featured several other intriguing characters such as “Pavel Abdulmanov, a pro-Putin history teacher; a student named Masha, whose brother fights and later dies in the war; and former students who are drafted into the army“-(Wikipedia)
I was completely fascinated by this powerful, first person film and the perspective it brought to the situation that the school found itself in. As a teacher myself, I could not comprehend how I would react to the same situation and I pray that I never have to find out. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is a tremendous work with some extreme emotional moments.
Topic: Santa snaps and goes on a North Pole murder spree
I love this song. The idea of a disgruntled Santa flipping out is great. There is a really funny “Extra Gory Version” that I heard for the first time on Dr. Demento Show.
Lyrics
Down in the workshop all the elves were makin’ toys For the good gentile girls and the good gentile boys When the boss busted in, nearly scared ’em half to death Had a rifle in his hands and cheap whiskey on his breath From his beard to his boots he was covered with ammo Like a big fat drunk disgruntled Yuletide Rambo And he smiled as he said with a twinkle in his eye “Merry Christmas to all, now you’re all gonna die”
The night Santa went crazy The night St. Nick went insane Realized he’d been gettin’ a raw deal Something finally must have snapped in his brain
Well, the workshop is gone now, he decided to bomb it Everywhere you’ll find pieces of Cupid and Comet And he tied up his helpers and he held the elves hostage And he ground up poor Rudolph into reindeer sausage He got Dancer and Prancer with an old German Luger And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddy Krueger And he picked up a flamethrower and he barbequed Blitzen And he took a big bite and said, “It tastes just like chicken”
The night Santa went crazy The night Kris Kringle went nuts Now you can’t hardly walk around the North Pole Without steppin’ in reindeer guts
There’s the National Guard and the FBI There’s a van from the Eyewitness News And helicopters circlin’ ’round in the sky And the bullets are flyin’, the body count’s risin’ And everyone’s dyin’ to know, oh Santa, why? My my my my my my You used to be such a jolly guy
Yes, Virginia, now Santa’s doing time In a Federal prison for his infamous crime Hey little friend now, don’t you cry no more tears He’ll be out with good behavior in seven hundred more years But now Vixen’s in therapy and Donner’s still nervous And the elves all got jobs working for the Postal Service And they say Mrs. Clause, she’s on the phone every night With her lawyer negotiating the movie rights
They’re talkin’ bout, the night Santa went crazy The night St. Nicholas flipped Broke his back for some milk and cookies Sounds to me like he was tired of gettin’ gypped
Whoa oh, the night Santa went crazy The night St. Nick went insane Realized he’d gettin’ a raw deal Something finally must have snapped in his brain Whoa oh, something finally must have snapped in his brain Tell ya, something finally must have snapped in his brain
Yes Virginia, Now Santa is dead Some guy From the swat team blew a hole through his head Yes little friend now, that’s his brains on the floor, I guess they wont have the fat guy kicking around anymore But now there’s no more presents for children’s enjoyment And the Elves have to wait in the line and file for unemployment And they say Mrs. Clause, she’s on the phone every night With her lawyer negotiating the movie rights
The Agents of Shield finished up their adventure in the future with some major battling, found Robin, the little girl (now older woman) who could see the future, killed the Kree, including Kasius and Sinara and had Flint create a monolith so they could return to their own time.
Very busy.
I was not 100% in love with the future stuff, but it did provide us with some major storyline bits including:
Yo Yo meeting herself (without arms) and she revealed about Coulson’s sickness.
Deke, who seemed to sacrifice himself, arrived back in the present with Shield- and had a surprising familial connection.
The Lighthouse is one awesome HQ.
Once back, things got wild as the team learned of Coulson’s impending death, and they got made that he did not tell them about it. Deke was taking in all of the wonders of the earth he had never seen…including Zema. Fitz and Simmons gets married.
The Fitz and Simmons wedding led to a major reveal… that Deke is their grandchild, though no one is aware.
Deathlok came back for back up to close a dimensional riff in a lower level of the Lighthouse. It was manifesting fears from a “Fear Dimension” that was trying to kill them.
General Hale is a horrendous character. She was a clear antagonist for our team, but it does get a little old to have the generals always being the antagonists. Plus, her daughter is a weird assassin of some sort who cut off Yo Yo’s arms.
The whole earth gets blown up plotline is still active and unsolved as of yet, but I know that the series does deal with that story before the end of season 5.
I have always been a fan of Martin Short, even more so since Only Murders in the Building. When the new documentary entitled Martin: Life is Short dropped on Netflix recently, I placed it on my queue so I could get around to watching it. I watched it this Sunday.
This gives the life story of Martin Short, from his childhood, including some terrible tragedies, to his remarkable career, from the flops and major successes.
There were a lot of great interviews from Short’s friends and family including his brothers Michael, Brian, his sister Nora, and Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, John Mulaney, Andrea Martin, Paul Shaffer, Steven Spielberg, and Rita Wilson.
The story spends a lot of time on the relationship between Martin and his wife Nancy. They are shown as the perfect couple, one that others wished they had relationships like.
I loved watching this documentary and it went by quite quickly.
Today’s June Swoon 5 film was on Netflix and it was directed by Ron Howard. It was entitled Eden and it is based on a true story.
According to IMDB, “Based on a factual account of a group of outsiders who settle on a remote island only to discover their greatest threat isn’t the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but each other.”
The cast was remarkably strong and their performances were all exceptional. The cast included Jude Law, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, and Vanessa Kirby.
These actors brought what they could to the film, despite that their characters were not written with much depth and were basically surface level.
There were some solid scenes and watching these characters back stab each other was a fun watch.
Ana de Armas was tremendously intriguing as the Baroness. She was very manipulative and used her sexuality in some very creative manners.
Eden was a mixed bag. Great actors with solid performances, but the story and characters were lacking at times. It was not a terrible watch, but it could have been so much more than what we got.
There are times when I am not happy with the concept of the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. The idea was one episode every Sunday morning for TV shows that I have not seen. Every once in awhile, I come across a show where I desperately want to watch the next episode. The Boroughs is the latest example.
The Boroughs is an 8-episode series on Netflix from the Duffer Brothers (of Stranger Things fame) and when episode one ended, I was wishing it was next Sunday right now.
Taking all of my willpower, I shut off the show, preventing myself from binging it all day long on this lazy Sunday where my schedule is fairly open.
The show centers around a retirement community called The Boroughs and a group of older characters who live there. However, there is some kind of weird, supernatural aspect to the show and, as Ed Bagley Jr. said, “There are owls in the walls.”
If you know about me, I love the evil owl metaphor. On Twin Peaks, the Owls were not what they seemed, and this certainly hooked me immediately.
I was also impressed with how quickly I was able to connect with the characters. They were all so great that, even those that did not get a lot of details, were ones I felt tied to. Such an amazing cast with Alfred Molina, Bill Pullman, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Geena Davis, Jane Kaczmarek, Clarke Peters, Dee Wallace, and Eric Edelstein.
The supernatural mystery was not the main component of episode one. It was the introduction of Sam Cooper, played by Alfred Molina, the widower whose wife had signed the contract to move to the Boroughs. The gruff and grizzled man did not want to be in this community, and he was looking for a way out.
I have to say that I loved Bill Pullman’s Jack Willard. He was such a wonderful breath of fresh air in the episode and his kindness toward Sam was very inspiring. I really hope that the creature that was seemingly feeding off Jack at the end of episode one did not kill him.
What is going on in this community? Is there something sinister with the people who organized the community or is there something about the land? Anything is possible, and I am so in with this. As I said, if this was not the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, I’d be well into episode two by now.
Written: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Al Yankovic / Ariana Grande / Attticus Matthew Ross / Austin J. Owens / Belcalis Almanzar / Billie Eilish O’Connell / Charles K. Wilson / Charles Michael Anderson / Daniel Nigro / Devon Christopher Gallaspy / Edward Christopher Sheeran / Er
Songs: “Bad Guy,” “Hello,” “Flowers,” “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” “Vampire,” “Old Town Road,” “Despacito,” “Shape of You,” “Uptown Funk,” “WAP,” “Thank U, Next,” “Shake It Off”
They may be some recency bias involved in this one, as Polkamania is the most recent song Weird Al has put out. However, it is an epic polka that has spanned the years after the release of Mandatory Fun with some of the best songs of that period. It also shows how starved I was for new Weird Al song content.
Lyrics
So you’re a tough guy Like it really rough guy Just can’t get enough guy Chest always so puffed guy I’m that bad type Make your mama sad type Make your girlfriend mad type Might seduce your dad type I’m the bad guy Duh
(Adele / Hello) So hello from the other side I must’ve called a thousand times To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart But it don’t matter, it clearly doesn’t tear you apart Anymore
(Miley Cyrus / Flowers) I can buy myself flowers Write my name in the sand Talk to myself for hours Say things you don’t understand I can take myself dancing And I can hold my own hand Yeah, I can love me better than you can
(Cast of Encanto / Lin-Manuel Miranda / We Don’t Talk About Bruno We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no We don’t talk about Bruno
(Olivia Rodrigo / Vampire) I used to think I was smart But you made me look so naïve The way you sold me for parts You sunk your teeth into me, oh Bloodsucker, dream crusher Bleedin’ me dry, like a gosh darn vampire
(Lil Nas X / Old Town Road) Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more Can’t nobody tell me nothing (You can’t tell me nothing) No! Can’t nobody tell me nothing
Despacito Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito Deja que te diga cosas al oído Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo (Sube, sube, sube)
Mmm I’m in love with the shape of you We push and pull like a magnet do Every day discovering something brand new I’m in love with your body Oh I oh I oh I oh I I’m in love with your body Oh I oh I oh I oh I Yoda-loda lady hoo!
‘Cause uptown funk gon’ give it to you ‘Cause uptown funk gon’ give it to you Saturday night and we in the spot Don’t believe me just watch (hey!) (Doo doo doo, doo doo doo)
(Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion / WAP) I want you to park that big Mack truck right in this little garage Yeah, you messing with some Bring a bucket and a mop for this Give me everything you got for this I’m talking WAP, WAP, WAP, that’s some
(Ariana Grande / Thank U, Next) Thank you, next Thank you, next Thank you, next I’m so super grateful for my ex Thank you, next Thank you, next Thank you, next Super-duper grateful for my ex
(Taylor Swift / Shake It Off) Wait! I just killed my ex Not the best idea Killed his girlfriend next, how’d I get here? I just killed my ex I still love him, though Rather be in hell than all alone
I stay out too late Got nothing in my brain That’s what people say, mm-mm That’s what people say, mm-mm ‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo) Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it off That’s right, I’m gonna Shake it Off (Gonna shake it off) (Shake, shake, shake it off) (Now watch me shake it off) Hey!”
Another big week of books. I spent three hours at Comic World on Wednesday with no electricity. We had a couple of days of big storms in the area and the storm in Dubuque that day led to the lights going out. Thankfully, I was still able to get some read thanks to my seat by the window. Natural light worked great. The storm was quite powerful though. The lights came back on just before they intended to close up shop.
I have picked up several Marvel Team-Ups this week. Todd got me a few and I picked some up at eBay. I am still waiting on #53, but once it arrives I will have the volume one of Marvel Team-Up completed. I have been working on it over the last couple of years and now that it is nearly completed, I am excited.
Book of the Week
Wolverine #21
While there are several big time books out this week (MASK #1, Avengers Armageddon #1, D’Orc #5, Absolute Catwoman #1 etc.), I decided to pick a book that had one of my favorite stories, one that was small and enjoyable.
Wolverine #21 features Nightcrawler forcing Logan to go on vacation. While on vacation, they run across Absorbing Man and Titania, also trying to be on vacation. Of course, fisticuffs ensue.
It is such a fun little story, which felt great after such a major arc with Adamantine. Wolvie’s bone claws are not even regrown yet. Small little story among some epic books this week.
Books This Week:
MASK #1& #2. Written by Dan Watters with art by Pye Parr. MASK (Mobile Armored Strike Kommando) joins the Energon Universe in a big way. Not only was there a number one with a cover by Pye Parr, but there was also a blind bag which had some fun covers… and some unbelievable special books. I picked up a gold foil that was not the MASK #1- it was MASK: Origins #1. I also got a foil advance copy of issue #2, which was shocking. There is also a ROM special in the blind bags that I have ordered on eBay. I love MASK in with the Transformers and GI Joe and Void Rivals.
Absolute Catwoman #1. “The Yarn” Written by Scott Snyder & Che Grayson with art and cover art by Bengal. The newest Absolute book came out this week. I also picked up a cool foil cover with Catwoman’s symbol. Once again, the Absolute books have all been great and this new one is every bit a good as the others.
Muppets Noir #4. Written and art by Roger Langridge. Variant cover B art is done by Jae Lee & June Chung. The fun series from Dynamite Comics featuring the Muppets in a noir setting came to a close with this issue. Kermit comes back to consciousness after the case of where Meringue has been. Flip Minnow is on the case, but it got solved despite that. I love the Muppets and this Dynamite series was so much fun.
Bad Thoughts #1. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated and cover art by Dave Wachter. Jack Coates can look inside people’s brains and see the bad things that they have done. This new Ignition Press book is solid, continuing a strong year for the company. This is a very creative book with some real bad things to think about.
Tarzan Beyond #1. “Tarzan and the Deathless Pirate King” Written by Steve Orlando and art by Renato Guedes. Cover art was done by Agustin Alessio. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic character Tarzan gets a bump to the present day, and seems to have found a way to maintain his age, along with his love Jane. I found this new Tarzan to be very interesting and engaging and I am excited about continuing his adventures.
D’Orc #5. “The Baths of Gore” Written, drawn and cover art by Brett Bean. D’Orc spends this issue naked and trying to stop an evil witch. Little does D’Orc know that he has an unfortunate connection to the witch that might just lead to his downfall. This has maintained the great humor and solid storytelling over the first five issues.
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2. “Black Out” Written by Mariko Tamaki and art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Variant cover C art was done by Matteo Scalera. Barbara Gordon is having a difficult time in prison. She has gone in to the prison as a part of a plan to deal with Vandal Savage, but she has taken a beating and drugged to the point of hallucinations. Nightwing guest stars.
Black Cat #11. “Crime and Punishment” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. This was another book I considered for the book of the week because of the lower stakes story inside. Black Cat accidentally hits the Punisher’s dog with a car and sets Frank off with an anger and a thirst for vengeance. Something seems to be wrong with Felicia’s bad luck powers too, right when she really needs them.
X-Men #31. “Anomaly” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. This issue sees the debut of the X-Men’s Science Team, as led by Beast. It includes Magneto (?), Kid Omega, Xorn, Animalia, and Ben Liu. This is an intriguing concept that I like, although I question a couple of those team members.
Avengers Armageddon #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio. The Avengers are assembling to go to Latveria and try and stop Red Hulk from his rampage. Red Hulk is out to destroy countries that do not follow Democracy and is threatening to just do whatever he wants. However, the Unites States government wants the Avengers to stand down and let them handle it. Good luck with that. This was also packaged in a polybag with a Magic card called “Warstorm Surge.” The Marvel Universe is gonna change…
Daredevil #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art and cover art by Lee Garbett. Matt Murdock’s hypersenses are going haywire and not working correctly so Spider-Man is here to try and help him train without them. It all seems to be connected to the new villain, The Omen, who had thrown Matt out the window last issue. This new arc for DD is great already and I have loved what Stephanie Phillips has done with the character so far.
Fall of the House of Slaughter #2. Written by Tate Brombal with illustrations by Adriano Turtulici. Cover art was done by Sam Wolfe Connelly. Victor St. George and his emissaries arrive at the House of Slaughter, ready to make a move. Everyone is tense because of the imminent demise of the Old Dragon. There is a lovely cover on this issue and we are awaiting the results of the political thrills.
Jay & Silent Bob: Jays of Future Past #1. Written by Kevin Smith and penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & GURU-eFX. I also picked up a variant cover done by Jim Mahfood. Jay and Silent Bob make their first appearance in the Marvel Universe, interacting with a bunch of Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, X-Men, Deadpool, and the Avengers.
Jessica Jones: Alias Red Band #4. Written by Sam Humphries with art by Geraldo Borges. Cover art was done by David Mack. Things are not going well for Jessica Jones. She has been captured, put on trial for her connection to Typhoid Mary, and has seen her relationship with Luke Cage shaken, if not totally pulled apart. Then, she finds out that the demonic creature that she has been fighting is an agent of Mephisto. Rough times for the First lady of New York, for sure.
Captain Marvel: Dark Past #3. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Lucas Werneck with Eder Messias. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Captain Marvel has been captured and, after being called in by Spider-Woman, the Avengers are on her trail. Big boom though at the end of the issue. I have been really liking this new series with Carol at the center.
Mortal Thor #11. “Room At the Top” Written by Al Ewing with art by Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Sigurd faced off with the Minotaur in the offices of Roxxon. The fight led to the CEO taking a flying crash out the window and finding him plummeting to the concrete bellow. He looked pretty dead at the end. But Sigurd has no break because Donald Blake showed up at the end.
Mark Spears Monsters #0. “All That Remains” Prelude: Have You Found the Yellow Sign? Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears. We head down to Clown Town in this remastered edition of the FCB Day issue. I picked up four of the new covers for this book. Mark Spears continues to be a great artist on covers, even if he has not been as dominant in the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week competition in 2026 as he was in 2025.
Transformers #33. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Jason Howard. I picked up cover F, the Energon Universe 3rd Anniversary variant by Tom Reilly. Optimus is trying to come to grips with the Autobot he is now, after losing the Matrix of Leadership. This is a fascinating struggle for Optimus, something we haven’t seen before.
The Sentry #4. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Christian Rosado. Cover art was done by Alex Maleev. Bob finds a balance between the Sentry and the Void, and steps up to help save the Marvel Universe once again. He also finds a new replacement for his dog. This series ended with this issue, but I feel as if Sentry is staying around.
Fury of Firestorm #3. “The Fury-Part 3” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Rafael De Latorre. Cover C variant art by Dustin Nguyen. We get to see the situation through the eyes of Professor Martin Stein and Stein shows himself to be not quite the good guy that we always thought he was. The angry Firestorm is on his way to Pittsburg. That does not sound good for Pittsburg.
Space Ghost #12. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Variant cover C art was done by Michael Cho. Space Ghost and Tempus the Time Master have a final face down and a major character bits the dust. Can Space Ghost get past the pain of the sacrifice or is this the end of the line for our hero?
Bishop #1. “Time After Time- Part 1” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Mario Santoro. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. We get the beginning of some back story for Bishop and his sister Shard. Storm makes a guest appearance in this issue.
Baby Garfield #3. “Baby Garfield’s First Beach Day” by Jordan Morris and Thien Pham. “Baby Garfield’s First Thunderstorm” by Katie Cook and Jay Fosgitt. Cover art was done by Agnes Garbowska. The second story in this issue was my favorite as the first one felt like I had seen it before. Still a fun book
Ben 10 #2. Written by Joe Casey and art by Robert Carey. Cover art was done by Robert Carey and Ren Spiller. Another really enjoyable issue of Ben 10. I was not a fan of the cartoon, but this has been top notch so far. Dynamite seems to have a skill to create great books around some IPs that I don’t care much about.
Altered States: Warlords #1. “Red Sonja, Red Planet.” Written by David Avallone and art by Mariano Benitez Chapo. Cover art was done by Joseph Michael Linsner. Red Sonja gets transported to Mars and trouble ensues. The cover featured a group of characters such as Vampirella and who I assumed was Tarzan. We find out at the end of this issue that the one I did not recognize was John Carter. Such a intriguing mash-up.
Other books this week: Ghost Pepper #12, Blood & Thunder #14, Monsters in Love: A Pride Anthology #1, The Center Holds #4, The Thing on the Doorstep #5, and Lady Mechanika: The Mechanical Menagerie #2
Quick Hits: A new racing book from Image caught my attention this week as M1: Monster Racing League #1 came out. It has an intriguing premise and a fascinating new character named Dev. I saw a funny comparison that this book is like K-Pop Demon Hunters and Fast and the Furious combined. Tigress Island #4 went kind of wild this month with several of our characters biting the big one with bullets to the head. Rough for some. Speed Racer #9 saw Speed getting drugged accidentally, making him become crazed and reckless… more than normal. The final issue of Archie x The Army of Darkness #5 came out this week with Archie finally being able to finish reading from the Necronomicon. New comic from Bad Idea this week was Tankers vs. Ancient Aliens #1 and this thing was wild. Dinosaurs and military men. The Hollywood Reporter said of Tankers… “Absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible.” Speaking of ridiculous, Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater Presents: Godzilla’s the Odyssey #1 was dropped this week. Wild. Disney’s Ursula #4 continued to be a surprising read for me as I can not believe that it has engaged me as much as it has. Alien King Killer #3 conflict among the people of the story. Brotherly conflict can be some of the best in literature. The zombies are getting ready for their big hunt at the mall. Conan & Dragonero #2 sees Conan and Dragonero fight and then team up. Surprised? Not really. Dead by Deadlight #3 sees quite the slaughter this issue. Some of them I was happy to see go. The two issue mini-series from Bad Idea, Hank Howard-Pizza Detective: A Slice of Life #2 ended this week and they announced another Hank Howard book for later in the year. The Nice House by the Sea #10 feels like the series is going to be closing soon as some major things are revealing.
Director John Carney, who has had musical-based movies in the past with Once and Sing Street, is back in Ireland with another film about music.
Power Ballad starred Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas and they both do a top notch job as their characters in this film, and Paul Rudd did way more singing than I ever thought he would.
According to IMDB, “Rick, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. When Danny turns Rick’s song into a hit, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.”
The music of the film was fabulous. Paul Rudd did a great job performing all of these songs and Nick Jonas was excellent too. I liked the scene where Rick and Danny spends time together, drinking and jamming, and writing some songs. It was like a background of how songs are written.
The film was funny and entertaining. Rick’s arc was wonderful and you could feel his loss and his anger over the slight by Danny. The ending was very satisfying.
I wanted to go out of the way to see Power Ballad, as it was not going to fit well in my viewing schedule. I am thankful that I was able to make it work because I enjoyed this a lot. It may not be as brilliant as Sing Street, but there are plenty of positives to make it worth my time, especially Paul Rudd who is awesome as ever.
Last year when the Academy Award nominations came out, there was one film among the Best Animated Feature category that I had never heard of before. It was a French film called Arco. I placed it on the list for the June Swoon 5 immediately.
I found it streaming on Hulu and watched it this morning with the English dubbed version. I typically am not a fan of the dubbed version, preferring the original voices. However, since it was an animated film, I decided it would not be as jarring as a live action dubbed film would be. Plus, the voice cast seemed very impressive with Will Farrell, Juliano Krue Valdi (who played young Michael Jackson in the biopic film, Michael), Mark Ruffalo, Natalie Portman, Andy Samberg, Flea, and America Ferrera.
According to IMDB, “In 2075, a girl witnesses a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. He comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. She shelters him and will do whatever it takes to help him return to his time.”
The voice of Iris, the young girl who discovered Arco, was done by Romy Fay, a talented voice actor and singer-songwriter.
The film has several underlying themes in the story that kind of take a back seat to the lost in time aspect for Arco and iris. Some of the characters do not have the depth that they required, but they do seem to work together to form a tapestry of color and creativity. The imagery of the rainbows are lovely and the friendship between Arco and Iris is sweet, even if the backdrop of the world is horrific.
The oddball trio, led by the voice of Will Farrell, feels like something right out of anime. In fact, this reminded me of a Studio Ghibli film, only considerably shorter.
Arco was an enjoyable enough film that had a good message with some amazing visuals. I can see why it received an Oscar nomination.
Album: Released as a single; appeared on Weird Al’s box set Permanent Record: Al in the Box
Written: Weird Al Yankovic / Brad Roberts
Parody: “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by The Crash Test Dummies
Genre: Alternative Rock
Topic: Song about Michael Fay’s caning in Singapore, the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan figure skating scandal, and the Lorena and John Bobbitt incident.
Lyrics
Once, there was this kid who Took a trip to Singapore and brought along his spray paint And when he finally came back He had cane marks all over his bottom He said that it was from when the warden whacked it so hard
Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Once there was this girl who Swore that one day she would be a figure skating champion And when she finally made it She saw some other girl who was better And so she hired some guy to Club her in the knee cap
They got paid for their sound bytes And sold their TV-Movie rights And then, there was this guy who Made his wife so mad one night that she cut off his weiner And when he finally came to He found little Mr. Happy was missing He couldn’t quite explain it It’d always just been there
I repeat what I said earlier this week, I wish there were more examples of films like this. Not just adaptations of Broadway plays into film versions, but the actual play recorded live and put on the screen.
Earlier in the June Swoon 5, I watched Good Night, and Good Luck: Live From Broadway, which was starring George Clooney and it was awesome to see it in the way that it was shown on the Broadway stage. Today, I added another stage play filmed as it was to the list.
Merrily We Roll Along was a Tony-winning Broadway musical from Stephen Sondheim, including Tony-winning performances from Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe. It was available on Netflix and it has been waiting on my queue for June to begin.
According to IMDB, “Spanning three decades, the turbulent relationship between a composer and his two lifelong friends, a writer and a lyricist and playwright.”
The story is told in reverse chronological order, as we start at the point where the relationship between Franklin (Groff), Charley (Radcliffe) and Mary (Lindsay Mendez) was collapsing and we travel back over two decades through the play. It was a remarkable technique as it would make every scene from the past both hopeful and sad at the same time.
Jonathan Groff was sensational as the lead role of Franklin Shepard. His voice, as we have known from his roles in Frozen and Hamilton, is sublime. I did not know, however, that Daniel Radcliffe, our forever Harry Potter, could sing like he does here. In fact, one of my favorite songs was early in the play and I thought to myself, “Well, there’s why he won the Tony.”
The story itself was woven together beautifully, as it is not just writing the story normally and then reversing it. The foreshadowing from the scene of the past take on a new life in this order, meaning even more to the audience than if it were told in a typical structure.
I want more Broadway plays to be shot on film and shown nationwide, and with the proliferation of the streaming services out there, I wouldn’t think that there would be a lack of a forum for presentation.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 