Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals”

“Demon Pigeons Attack”

The first two episodes of the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians dropped on Disney + this past week. Last season, Percy Jackson was a surprise show for me. I had only intended on watching the first episode or so but it was such a good time that I looked forward to it every week.

Now, season two is here with a two-episode premiere.

Following the basic structure of the book The Sea of Monsters (although there are some apparent differences from the book), season two kicked off with some solid drama. Percy and Annabelle made it back to camp, Percy brought along Tyson, a cyclops, he had met at his school (turns out to be another child of Poseidon), and they started on a quest for the Golden Fleece.

Grover is in trouble, connected to the location of the Fleece. The dreams between him and Percy were important.

New head of the camp, Tantalus, was a big jerk. He was played by Timothy Simons, who I recognized, but could not place. He has been in several things including Veep. It was nice to see Lin-Manuel Miranda back in episode two as Hermes.

The confrontation with Percy and Tantalus at the end of episode two was exciting and it will set up the story moving forward.

Glad this one is back before Walker Scobell is too much of an adult to play this role. He sure grew a ton from season one. Like the Stranger Things kids…

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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December 13

Okay, I know I am late.

Things started off on Thursday with some weather. I decided I would wait until Friday to go to Bettendorf to pick up those comics.

Then, when I got back on Friday, the covers of the week slipped my mind until just a few minutes ago.

Also-Rans: Absolute Batman #15 (B cover), Crownsville #2, Terminator Metal #3, Geiger #19, Iron & Frost #3, The Beauty #2, Unbreakable X-Men #3, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 (virgin variant).

Bronze Medalist

Pop Kill #1

Cover art by Alison Sampson

Merry Christmas! Another awesome cover from the world of Pop Kill. This series always had some fun covers and this one makes me wonder what is going on.

Silver Medalist

Ordained #1

Cover art by Jorge Fornes

This is a dramatic cover with this new comic from Bad Idea. Intriguing new book with a cool cover that gives us a great outlook into the new characters, a priest who can protect himself in ways most priests can not. The cover is a great start.

Gold Medalist

Absolute Batman #15

Cover art by Nick Dragotta

The hottest comic of the week has the top cover. The picture of the new absolute Joker is compelling and amazing. This has been selling out all over the place. The cover is a big reason why.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

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I have been anxiously awaiting the latest Knives Out film from Rian Johnson to drop on Netflix/ I knew the film had been released in EXTREMELY limited release, no where near me, and the streamer was my only opportunity to see it. I wish I could have seen this in the theater on the big screen. I was a fan of Knives Out and Glass Onion, the first two films of the series, but Wake Up Dead Man was different.

It was a masterpiece.

There will be no spoilers, of course, in this review, so I am not sure how much I can reveal. I will simply say that the story was brilliant, and kept me guessing the whole way. Even when it appeared to be obvious about what happened, the full reveal was not yet detailed.

Daniel Craig returned as the glorious Benoit Blanc, in a story of murder and mystery in a small church in New York state. In what seemed to be an unsolvable case, Benoit Blanc walked through the crime scenes and the motives with Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), whose dark past made him every bit the suspect as anyone else.

The cast is exceptional. Led by stunning performances by Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig, the remainder of the cast were spectacular. Josh Brolin and Glenn Close were both amazing in this film, showing off how powerful they are as actors. The film included Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Daryl McCormack, Cailee Spaeny, Thomas Hayden Church, Annie Hamilton and Jeffrey Wright.

Rian Johnson’s script was special. I loved the way the story played out and developed the characters and plot. There is so much depth here that it absolutely fills up the screen. The dialogue, as with most Rian Johnson projects, is sharp and witty, and, despite the dark undertones of the tale, had plenty of moments of levity that worked perfectly.

Josh Brolin has had quite a year. This role, along with his roles in Weapons and The Running Man, gives quite the spectrum of his talents as an actor.

The movie is long, but it does not feel such. It is such an engaging mystery with amazing performances and writing that it flies by. I did not think this would surpass the first Knives Out film for me, but it has done so. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is worth every second you spend on Netflix.

5 stars

Daily Countdown #98

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#98

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

“Heroes in a Half-shell. TURTLE POWER!”

Written by Chuck Lorre and Dennis C. Brown.

This is the first animated series to appear in the Top 100 TV Show Themes list. There are 21 total animated programs in the list, 21% of the list. Animated shows have had some great themes and this one, with the “Turtle Power” line is one of the tops.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #99

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#99

Stranger Things

written by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, members of the Austin-based synth band S U R V I V E.

Stranger Things is one of the biggest hits from Netflix, and the music is part of the reason. Set in the 1980s, the show featured this theme, recorded with the heavy use of analog synthesizers.

Dixon and Stein won an Emmy for the main title theme.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

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A24 has had some powerful movies over the years. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You ids one of those movies that was difficult to watch, but featured some amazing drama and performances.

Rose Byrne is remarkable in the film. Her performance as Linda was so visceral, so on the edge that it made me uncomfortable watching, in the good way.

According to IMDB, “With her life crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.“

Conan O’Brien had a supporting performance as another therapist that was so unexpected. He did not seem like the Conan O’Brien that we were familiar with. He did an exceptional job with this role.

Linda’s husband was constantly calling and harassing her, but, in the end, when he showed up as Christian Slater, everything fell apart for Linda.

Watching Linda being overwhelmed by everything in her life was some of the most painful stuff that I have seen on the screen in quite some time. With constant bad choices, Linda’s downward spiral was shocking at times. It was a powerful example of mental illness and how it can truly submerge who you are.

We never see the daughter on camera until the very end of the film. The husband was also just a voice for most of the film. Both of these choices added to the isolation feel for Linda and the weight of everything bearing down on her.

This was a very potent movie, but it is not one of those that I want to see again. The performances were top notch, but you do not come out of the experience feeling positive.

3.8 stars

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Expendables Awards for Acting Excellence.

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The Expendables Awards are BACK!!!

Best Movie starring an Expendable: The Running Man (starring Glen Powell). The rebooted film of the classic Schwarzenegger film turned out to be a solid fun time.

Best Actor: Glen Powell. Powell looked like an action star in The Running Man.

Worst Movie starring an Expendable: Old Guard 2 (featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor). I just recently saw this one and it was so bad. Quite a step down from the previous film.

Bruce Willis Quantity over Quality Award: Eric Roberts. Three feature films and two podcasts. It may not be Bruce Willis-like, but it is quite the bunch.

Best Expendable Cameo: David Zayas, Dexter Resurrection. Zayas appeared in several episodes of Dexter: Resurrection as Angel Bautista, though he did not make it through the season unscathed.

Best Expendable Supporting Actor: Antonio Banderas, Paddington in Peru. Weakest of the Paddington movies is still awesome.

The Reddest Expendable Actor: Harrison Ford, Captain America: Brand New World. Red literally… as Harrison Ford became the Red Hulk!

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #100

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#100

Mad About You

Title: Final Frontier

Performed by Andrew Gold; Anita Baker performed a version later in the show’s run.

Written by Paul Reiser and Don Was

The first song to kick off the new Daily Countdown is from NBC’s long running show, Mad About You, starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

Interestingly enough, the first song on this new list is from a TV Show that did not appear in the Top 100 TV Shows list. There are several others that will be on the theme song list but would fall short of the Top 100 TV Shows.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes

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With the first Daily Countdown complete and our #1 TV show, LOST, revealed, it is time for another Daily Countdown. I considered a lot of different possibilities (and I am not brave enough to do movies yet), but when I came up with this idea, it felt right.

TV Show theme songs was a fun choice to do next. I have to tell you, I was surprised how hard compiling this list was. I found it much more difficult than the TV Shows list. Maybe that was because I knew from the beginning what my favorite TV show would be, but this list did not have one specific, obvious #1. In fact, I think there could have been four or five possible themes that would reach the top. Still, it was really tough to make this list, and I am very happy with it.

Just like the TV Show list, as of right now, this list is locked in, even if it could be fluid.

TOP 100 TV SHOW THEMES

#100. Mad About You

#99. Stranger Things

#98. Inspector Gadget

#97. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 animated)

#96. American Horror Story

#95. Night Court

#94. Roseanne

#93. Hogan’s Heroes

#92. The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

#91. Hawaii Five-O

#90. The A-Team

#89. IT: Welcome to Derry

#88. Taxi

#87. Transformers (G1)

#86. Picket Fences

#85. Maude

#84. Who’s the Boss

#83. One Day at a Time

#82. I Dream of Jeannie

#81. Growing Pains

#80. Family Ties

#79. The Lone Ranger

#78. Orange is the New Black

#77. Benson

#76. The Tick (animated)

#75. The Simpsons

#74. The Munsters

#73. True Detective: Night Country

#72. Spider-Man (1967)

#71. Mission: Impossible

#70. Pinky and the Brain

#69. The Drew Carey Show

#68. The Facts of Life

#67. Malcolm in the Middle

#66. Batman: The Animated Series

#65. Sesame Street

#64. Star Trek

#63. The Love Boat

#62. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

#61. Mister Ed

#60. Spider-Man: The Animated Series

#59. Teen Titans

#58. Frasier

#57. Only Murders in the Building

#56. LOST

#55. The X-Files

#54. The Partridge Family

#53. Tiny Toon Adventures

#52. WKRP in Cincinnati

#51. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

#50. Diff’rent Strokes

#49. The Wonder Years

#48. Bonanza

#47. The Andy Griffith Show

#46. The Flintstones

#45. The Bugs Bunny Show

#44. Sanford and Son

#43. Batman (1966)

#42. Hong Kong Phooey

#41. The Benny Hill Show

#40. Happy Days

#39. The Twilight Zone

#38. Wonder Woman

#37. Moonlighting

#36. The Dukes of Hazzard

#35. Firefly

#34. Baywatch

#33. Beverly Hillbillies

#32. Spectacular Spider-Man

#31. Alice

#30. The Brady Bunch

#29. Mr. Belvedere

#28. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

#27. Green Acres

#26. Twin Peaks

#25. The Addams Family

#24. Monk

#23. Laverne & Shirley

#22. X-Men ’97

#21. Cheers

#20. Gilligan’s Island

#19. The Big Bang Theory

#18. Friends

#17. F Troop

#16. The Weird Al Show

#15. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

#14. The Golden Girls

#13. Fame

#12. Animaniacs

#11. Scooby Doo… Where Are You?

#10. M.A.S.H.

#9. Underdog

#8. Peacemaker

#7. The Muppet Show

#6. Welcome Back, Kotter

#5. Hardcastle and McCormick

#4. The Jeffersons

#3. The Fall Guy

#2. All in the Family

#1. The Greatest American Hero

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #1

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#1

LOST

So we have come to the end of our journey that started on the first day of September. We have reached the number one show of all time according to EYG, and, if you knew me at all, this would have been the least dramatic reveal of a number one ever.

LOST is, far and away, my favorite show ever. I remember the feeling I had when it came to an end: an emptiness in my gut that took several years to fill.

Some claim that LOST had one of the worst endings of any show, and I respectfully disagree. I found the LOST finale to be perfect. It focused on the characters that I had come to love for the previous six seasons.

LOST ran for six seasons on ABC, giving us 121 episodes of awesomeness.

A group of people, who were from all walks of life, boarded Oceanic flight 815 in Sydney, Australia for Los Angeles. That flight did not make it to LAX. Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, the plane came across some major problems and crashed on an island. Almost immeditaely, you learned that this island was unlike anywhere else. As Charlie said…

“Guys, where are we?”

The Island was a character all its own, with a mythology and mysteries for the audeicne to chew upon. That was one of the criticisms of the show: they did not reveal the secrets of the Island. Again, I think there were plenty of mysteries revealed. It may not have spoon-fed you the answers you wanted, but if you paid attention, you could make educated answers to everything on the show.

The Island had a polar bear, a smoke monster, a group of Others, healing properties allowing a crippled man to walk again among other things.

The ensemble cast was brillaint. Led by Matthew Fox, the cast included Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Josh Halloway, Maggie Grace, Emilie de Raven, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Malcolm David Kelley, Dominic Monaghan, Harold Perrineau, Michael Emerson, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cynthia Watros, Elizabeth Mitchell, Nestor Carbonell, Jeff Fahey, Sonya Walger, Sam Anderson, L. Scott Caldwell, Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung, and Rebecca Mader.

Some of these actors will forever be their characters to me. Many have gone on to do other major roles (Evangeline Lilly was Wasp in the MCU, Terry O’ Quinn and Michael Emerson have had plenty of other roles), but my first thought will always be that they are their characters from LOST.

4 8 15 16 23 42

“See ya in anothe rlife, brother“

“You guys got any milk?”

“We got to go back!”

The greatest show of all time in the opinion of EYG… LOST.

That wraps up the first Daily Countdown. It was quite the undertaking, but we are far from done. Tomorrow we start the next Daily Countdown. It was actually a harder list to compile than the TV one. Tomorrow we start TV THEME SONGS.

2025 Year in Review: The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

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A movie with a group of actors that might lack a leading actor is a great thing. We have had some great ones this year.

The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Previous Winners:  Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), In the Heights (2021), Mass (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), Oppenheimer (2023), Saturday Night (2024)

Runners-Up: Wicked: For Good, Weapons, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Sinners, Nuremberg, A House of Dynamite, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, The Life of Chuck, Phoenician Scheme, and Warfare.

2025 EYG The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Thunderbolts*

Marvel Studios’ new film Thunderbolts (aka New Avengers) was such a great movie and it was because this group of low level characters were such a sensational group together. The film worked story wise is because of this ensemble.

The ensemble included  Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The movie was emotional and the performances were fantastic. The film did not make as much money as you would want. There are a lot of reasons, but they were not a really well known group of characters. Still, as an MCU fan, I loved this film and the cast was the main reason.