Tag Archives: movies

Fall 2: Deadpoint

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I was excited for this movie. Honestly, I did not immediately recognize the original film from the title of the sequel, because the title Fall was so generic. However, once I refreshed my memory, I remembered how tense and thrilling that first film was and how it had a really great twist. I was excited to hear that it was getting a sequel.

After seeing Fall 2: Deadpoint, I’m at a mid level for it. There were moments where the film was tense and filled me with anxiety, but, unfortunately, there seemed to be more moments that were just so stupid and that they tried to force a twist in the movie at the end that really did not work for me.

According to IMDB, “Grieving her sister Shiloh’s death, Jax Hunter bonds with Shiloh’s bold friend Luce. Together they tackle dangerous Mount Kwan in Thailand. When a rockslide traps them on a narrow plank 4,000 feet up, Jax must face her fears to survive.”

I did like how they tied this movie to the original, by giving Shiloh (played by Virginia Gardner) a younger sister. This is part of the plot that worked as her sister Jax had to deal with her grief and her own fear.

I did like the new setting for the situation the girls found themselves in and there were some really tense and scary moments. If the film would have been happy just to build suspense in that manner, this would have been an acceptable film and a decent sequel. Unfortunately, you could tell that they were trying to one up the surprise twist of Fall, and that was where this film fell flat.

Because the fact is that the third act of this film was easily my least favorite part of this film. It felt added on that damaged the film dramatically.

Some of the images shot for the film was fine, but nowhere near as well done in the first movie. It felt like there were more shots that were obviously green screen compared to the first one.

This film has its positives, but the stupid stuff really hurt this movie for me. I didn’t hate watching Fall 2: Deadpoint, but there were enough issues with the film that made me disappointed.

2.7 stars

Onslaught

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Onslaught is a new movie this weekend that had some elements about it that I liked, but it was not a film that I would want to watch again. There were too many times where I rolled my eyes or found myself thinking that it was just too stupid for its own good.

According to IMDB, “When a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers break loose in the desert, a badass Army sniper must unleash hell to protect her young daughter.”

Adria Arjona, who is rumored to be the next DC Wonder Woman (though unconfirmed), is the lead role of the film, the badass sniper whose daughter gets dropped off with her without warning. Then, a bunch of murderous super soldiers attack her for… you know.. reasons, and one of them turned out to be the most coincidental character ever in cinema history.

That might be hyperbole, or it may not. The plot of this movie, as it was, was lacking. It was really dumb and had really no reason to happen as it did. It all felt too unbelievable across the whole movie.

The film does have a fine cast, led by Arjona, who I liked as the protagonist. There were also roles for Dan Stevens (though nowhere as used as I anticipated), Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Rebecca Hall (who was on screen less than Stevens), and young actress Blake Kennedy. At the beginning of the film as the names were flashing across the screen, I thought that this had a great cast. I then realized that the cast was, for the most part, wasted.

There were some fun kills along the way and Arjona was definitely a bad ass, but this is one of those films that really did not have much to it. It was paper thin, and it depended on the blood and gore. That’s fine for some movies, but this one felt like it should have been more.

2.7 stars

Mayday

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The new Ryan Reynolds film debuted on Apple TV + this weekend, called Mayday. One wondered why this was not released theatrically. That did not make me optimistic about the quality of the film. However, those fears were squashed after I watched Mayday.

Co-starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh and written/directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who also directed Dungeons and Dragons, Mayday was just a lot of fun. I thought this movie was really funny and had some really good action. I’m not sure why this was not released in the theater, but it would have certainly been a worthwhile addition to the big screen.

Navy Pilot Lieutenant Troy Brennan (Ryan Reynolds) was recruited for a top secret surveillance mission over the Soviet Union. The mission led to the plane being shot down and Brennan being injured after falling through trees in a forest. Nikolai “Nick” Ustinov found the injured pilot and took him to his cabin to nurse him back to health. Nick was an American-loving Russian who was more than what he seemed. The buddies tried to find a way to get Troy home.

Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh had a tremendous chemistry and they carried the film. The friendship developing during the movie was one of the standout keys to the film. Reynolds’ one-liner quips were very clever and funny.

The action was fun, if not silly at times. There is a chase scene that takes place in Moscow that is one of the most original and ridiculous chase scenes I have seen, and yet, somehow, this bizarre scene worked.

The film had a surprising heart to it. There were some wonderful moments between Nick and his daughter Anna (Maria Bakalova).

The film is highly entertaining and I enjoyed watching this film. Is it perfect? No, of course not, but it is definitely worth watching. Mayday is streaming on Apple TV +.

4.2 stars

Silo S3 E10

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Spoilers

“Troy”

During this awesome season finale, my first thought was… I don’t know the time frame happening in this show. I originally thought that the Juliette timeline was really a long way into the future. But… now…

We saw Victor, who was the doctor who helped Daniel back in the flashback timeline, watching the events of Silo 18. Turned out that Victor was the voice of the Algorithm. We see Daniel wake up from a cryogenic sleep, only to be called Troy and not remember anything about his past. We see Daniel’s sister Charlotte, now called Susan, and neither Troy or Susan recognized each other.

I have to say, the people looking generally the same age in the present timeline threw me for a loop. I was not expecting it. I assume they all have some time in cryo to account for it, but it took me a good deal of time trying to decipher the answer.

Big swerve. Camille helped the rebels in silo 18 as she delayed the failsafe just long enough for the crew to cap the pipe that would have delivered the poisonous gas into silo 18. I did not see Camille’s turn coming at all.

Another big swerve. After the failed failsafe attempt, Victor ordered Troy awakened. Before that could happen, Victor ends his own life with a handgun he had hidden in his desk. He left a message for Troy, answering a question Troy had been asking… about a woman he had been seeing in visions as he is awaken. Victor told him her name was Helen.

I did not mention that we saw the massacre of the people of silo 17, and that Troy was the person who ordered the deaths. In one of the hardest scenes of the series, we saw the poison released after the people had left their silo and how the drones would mow them down with weapons.

After all the drama, Juliette led a small group of people including Camille to the door. It was here when Troy spoke using the Algorithm voice and offered Juliette a deal. There would be no further failsafe attempts if the people of silo 18 promise to not try to contact other silos. Juliette accepted, but it was part of her rouse. Juliette has a better idea, something that the people of silo 1 would not expect. Juliette wanted to have an all out assault on silo 1.

So many questions still up in the air. I believe the creators of the show hinted at a connection between Troy/Daniel and Juliette. Could she be the descendent of Daniel and Helen’s baby?

I love how everyone in silo 18 now seems to be working together instead of against each other. About damn time.

I do think an actual timeline of events would help picture all that there is. It seemed as if the massacre that Troy led in this finale was the same one that Solo (Steve Zahn) experienced as a child.

We learned that season four will be the final season of the show and that we do not have to wait long for Silo to return. It showed us clips from season four at the end of the episode and told us that it would release in the summer of 2027. We are under a year away from the final season. I found this season of Silo to be filled with surprises and fantastic character work. Even when it was frustratingly slow at times, it always felt like they had a destination in mind, and the end of season three paid off dramatically.

Daily Countdown: Animated Movies #33

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#33

Zootopia

Released: March 4, 2016

Runtime: 108 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: 3D computer-animated style

Studio: Disney

The original Zootopia is a movie that came out of nowhere to be a highly entertaining film. A big part of the film’s success could be given to the characters of Judy Hopp and Nick Wilde.

Voice cast:  Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira, Phil Johnston, John DiMaggio, Katie Lowes, Gita Reddy, Jesse Corti , Tom Lister Jr., Josh Dallas, Leah Latham, Rich Moore, Fabienne Rawley, Peter Mansbridge, Byron Howard, Jared Bush, Mark Rhino Smith, Josie Trinidad,John Lavelle, and Kristen Bell. 

Coyote vs. Acme

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This is the story of a movie that fought back against cancelation and low expectations to make a release date several years after being filmed.

Coyote vs. Acme is a live-action/animated mix in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but featuring the Looney Tunes. When Warner Brothers had the rights to the film, they decided that the movie would not make any money and they shelved it. Eventually, WB put the film up for sale but there were no takers. Everyone had the same fear… this would flop.

Finally, Ketchup Entertainment purchased Coyote vs. Acme and the film was going to be seen. While the film may eventually prove WB correct with its box office, at least the movie is able to be seen. The Looney Tunes are not as well known of an IP as they once were, and the struggle for the film is real. However, I can be happy to say that the film absolutely needed to be released because it is fabulous.

Rapscallion Wile E. Coyote, tired of Acme’s products constantly backfiring on him, saw an advertisement on TV from a lawyer named Kevin Avery (Will Forte) claiming to be able to get a settlement for any cartoon against Acme.

Actually, he was looking very low level, in the hundred dollars range. Kevin did not have the confidence that it would require to go up against a major corporation like Acme, with their top notch lawyer Buddy Crane (John Cena) and CEO of Acme, Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza).

As they dive into their case, they discovered more than just a case of some misfiring rocket skates.

This was great. It was funny. I was laughing the entire time. Will Forte did an amazing job of playing against the animated Wile E. Coyote, as well as John Cena, who was in full cheese-mode as Acme’s lead lawyer.

There were a ton of jokes that would be considered either inside jokes or Easter eggs that would reward the longtime viewers of Looney Tunes. I do worry that people who were not fans of Looney Tunes would not appreciate the jokes as much as I did. The writing was extremely clever, but was, potentially, too insider for the general audience.

The animation was excellent and it was such a fun film with the returning characters of these iconic Looney Tunes. I really loved seeing the characters such as Road Runner, Taz, Tweety, Daffy Duck etc. It was so awesome to see them all back.

I am so glad that this movie had a chance to be seen on a big screen. In a perfect world, this would be a huge film at the box office. Coyote vs. Acme was such a good time and such a wonderfully written film.

4.5 stars

Lanterns S1 E2

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Spoilers

“Trust Fall”

Episode two of DC’s Lantern’s series stuck it out in the 2016 timeline, leaving last week’s shocking conclusion during 2026 for a later date.

Instead, the episode split Hal and John into different places. John is sent to retrieve the Lantern to charge the power ring, and Hal sticks around to go see Macon again.

Hal ends up getting shot as a warning and John gets nabbed and dragged away when we hear the term “Manhunters” for the first time.

I know enough about Lantern lore to say that this is not the Martian Manhunter, aka J’onn J’onzz, but not much more after that so I am curious to find out what this piece of DC history is all about.

The show brought out some awesome Green Lantern stuff this episode. First, as I mentioned, they showed us the power charging Lantern that Hal needed to recharge the power on his ring. It was stored in a cool pocket-dimension found in Hal Jordan’s house.

Second, we get to see the Green Lantern costumes. There were three of them hanging in Hal’s closet. Hal did not seem overly anxious to put it back on.

However, third, he did put it back on and he flew into space to a satellite of some kind where we meet, for the first time, Sinestro. Sinestro is Green Lantern’s arch enemy, and is being played by Ulrich Thomsen.

John Stewart could not fly when using the ring, but he was able to create a bird that followed him the whole episode, even when he did not have the ring on, even when he was unconscious after being snatched at Hal’s house. I get a feeling that the bird has a deeper meaning for down the road.

I am excited about the mysteries of the show, and I am wondering when we will be heading back to 2026. Next week looks to be a John Stewart-centric episode with more of his past coming to [Green Lantern’s] Light.

Boston Legal S1 E10, E11, E12

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Spoilers

“Hired Guns”

“Schmidt Happens”

“From Whence We Came”

One of my favorite quotes from Boston Legal happened in episode 11. It is a thought have many times in the restroom…

“I keep an extremely clean penis“

Alan Shore is in response to a woman who had entered the men’s restroom and had introduced herself, while Alan was at the urinal. He extended a hand to shake and she said that he is going to wash that.

Hence, the clean penis comment from Alan.

That woman was Shirley Schmidt, named partner in Crane, Poole & Schmidt, played brilliantly by Candice Bergen. Shirley Schmidt becomes one of my absolute favorite characters on this show over the next four and a half years. This was her first appearance and Candice Bergen immediately was placed as a powerhouse, keeping Denny Crane off balance.

In “Head Games,” Alan winds up getting held at gunpoint by a disgruntled father who had recently lost his children because of Alan. Yes, the father would take his children without permission to Peru over Christmas. The mother asked for help from Alan. I mean… it is kidnapping.

This whole situation led to another classic moment of the series. Denny Crane using his rifle to shoot the father. Denny had the gun in his desk and had Tara open the door when he yelled “Pull!” As Denny said, he was a Marine, “trained as a sniper… or was it a pilot?”

We also get the debut in episode 11 of Bernard Ferrion, a small man who killed his mother by hitting her on the head with a skillet. Alan was able to free Bernard on a technicality, and then gave him a kindly speech about being good. Then next episode, Bernard is back after killing his neighbor with a skillet as well. Alan was disappointed, and sent Bernard to Tara.

Bernard is a surprisingly complex character for the short arc that he appeared. You could tell how lonely he was, and how he had a kind heart, despite being, as Alan called him, evil.

Betty White arrived as Alan’s new assistant, Catherine Piper. White had played this role on The Practice and had come in contact with Alan then. Seeing her resume this role was an awesome thing.

The arrival of Shirley put a charge into this show and gave the show a foil to Denny that was every bit as formidable as he was. Certainly, she was more capable of standing up to Denny than Paul was. All Shirley had to do was whisper those two little words… “Denny Crane” and Denny would shiver.

Lanterns S1 E1

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Spoilers

“Pilot”

The first episode of DC Studio’s latest TV show premiered on HBO Max this Sunday night. Lanterns started off with Hal Jordan training John Stewart as his replacement.

We start the story in 2016, with a gruff Hal Jordan being very tough on his trainee, John Stewart.

The show ended in 2026 with Hal Jordan dead on the bleachers of a football field.

There had been rumors about Hal Jordan dying at the end of the pilot, but with the 2016 story going on, this is how we will get a full season of Hal alive and John moving forward.

Of course, there will be some story in 2026 too since the dead body of Hal nor John had the Lantern ring. Where is it? Who took it? Who killed Hal? These points I expect will correspond to the storyline from 2016.

I do like shows that play with the manner in which the narrative is presented. Of course, LOST is the immediate show to come to mind, and former LOST writer Damon Lindelof is a writer and executive producer on the show. That always could hook me.

I have enjoyed Green Lantern as a character, despite not collecting his comic title. I think the way this show has been set up, kind of a True Detective-style show, with this mystery of what is going on in this little town in Nebraska where Hal Jordan originally received the ring was some solid writing.

I found Kyle Chandler to be excellent as an older, grumpier Hal Jordan, who was training his replacement John Stewart despite not wanting to have a replacement. Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, was good, but I do not think he had the amount of material by comparison yet. Pierre is a solid actor and I think he will get better as the series goes on.

I am invested in the mystery that has been set up and the ending with Hal’s death only served to increase the interest I have in this series. I expect to be watching this every Sunday night until October.

Boston Legal S1 E3, E4, E5, E6

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Spoilers

“Catch and Release”

“Change of Course”

“An Eye for an Eye”

“Truth Be Told”

I do love this show. It is so well written and acted.

William Shatner may be most well known forever as James T. Kirk, but his best career performances come as Denny Crane. The buffoon-like behavior hiding a deep seeded concern over his health. Arrogant and sarcastic, Shatner’s eyes revealing the truth.

James Spader brings such a complexity to Alan Shore. He is willing to do anything, even step over the lines or morality, to get things done. Many times, his motives are pure. His methods, on the other hand, are anything but. Simplicity, Tara described Alan as split into three people: the Good Alan, the bad Alan and the Naughty Alan. Though it may be too simple for this character, the description does work.

It was sad the way Alan took advantage of Sally, which seemed to be a way for Alan to get Sally to leave him. There is a deep neurosis to Alan and his relationships pay the price. Yet, he is completely loyal to former lovers and women that he respected. He is a contradiction in terms for Alan. It is why I was so happy that, at the end of episode 6, when it appeared that he was going to go and have sex with Dana Delany’s character, a woman he always had desires for, but he turned up in a motel room with Tara instead. Had Alan slept with Delany, the betrayal would have been tough to swallow, especially after he dealt with Delany’s husband’s infidelity. I don’t want Alan to be a hypocrite even if he had many otehr bad traits.

Episodes 3-6 again do not focus as closely on Alan and Denny’s relationship as they could, but there are moments. When Alan came to share their whiskey in Denny’s jail cell after he was charged with contempt of court, they exchanged a wonderful scene where Denny worried about his mental capacities. The whole possible Alzheimer’s Disease arc and how it could destroy the image and legend of “Denny Crane” follows Denny through the entire series.

Alan and Denny are together when Denny lets it slip that Donnie Crane was not his son after all, only for Donny to hear. Freddie Prinze Jr. appeared as the supposed son of Denny Crane, and his devastation in this scene made it all the better.

There are several fun moments of Fourth Wall breaking during the show. In this crop of episodes, my favorite was when Alan Shore said he wanted to be on cable because that was where all the best work was happening. Of course, Boston Legal aired on ABC.

Episode five featured one of Alan’s top line closing arguments. We have not seen too many of those yet in the season, but there will be plenty more to come. This one was just right on the nose for his case that you can tell how the case will go.

Lori is involved more the last few episodes, and they are still teasing a potential relationship between Alan and Lori. Probably one that would be highly toxic.

The End of Oak Street

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The new dinosaur movie, The End of Oak Street, came out this weekend starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell brought us this ’80s feeling, Amblin-like film of a family trying to survive the sudden arrival of dinosaurs and other monstrous creatures.

According to IMDB, “The Platt family bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown.“

Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor play Denise and Greg Platt, who had been having marriage troubles, and their two kids acting out in different ways. Hathaway and McGregor do a good job as the married couple with their struggles.

The kids, Audrey and Brian, were played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, Christian Convery has been in several projects including Cocaine Bear and the Netflix series Sweet Tooth. I thought both of them did a solid job in the film.

The dinosaurs looked great and the film was sensational with the tension and anxiety of the film off the charts. It brings that tension t a high level while still maintaining the Spielberg-like film and not just falling into a horror creature film. I think the writing was strong and everything was nicely weaved together.

The mystery of the film helps keep the tension high. JJ Abrams is a producer on the film and this kind of unknown plot falls right into his type of storyline.

I liked how the beginning of the movie started diving into the characters more, which I think is a very good way to start. I also love how all of the little character bits that they mention during that time comes back and pays off, even if it is a small mention.

I am not sure how I feel about the end of the film. I was satisfied when I watched it, but, upon some reflection, I am not sure the choice they made was the best choice possible. Of course, I can not go into detail because of spoilers.

This was considerably better than MOST of the Jurassic Park/World films and I was thoroughly entertained thru the entire flick. The actors are likable and the dinosaurs are awesome.

4.25 stars

Rick and Morty S9 E1-E8

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Spoilers

I started the ninth season of Rick and Morty on HBO Max today and watched the first eight episodes. I discovered that the Rick and Morty show was shown originally on Adult Swim earlier this summer and then it debuted on HBO Max, releasing every episode weekly. I was confused at first as I saw episode 9 and 10 listed on Wikipedia as having been released already, but it was not available yet on HBO Max. I see that the last two episodes will be released over the next two Mondays, so we will finish as we go.

The last few seasons of Rick and Morty have been lesser than I was used to. They weren’t bad, but there were more episodes that I did not love as much as some of the earlier seasons.

However, I thought that the season nine episodes were just awesome.

The first episode kicked off with the return of Evil Morty, and Morty discovered that Rick was running adventures with Evil Morty. Rick was able to trick Evil Morty into destroying the Omega blueprints in all universes. It set off a war between them and Evil Morty gets arrested by the time police after he tried to time travel.

In “Ricks Days, Seven Nights” Rick went on vacation in a dimension and he wiped his own memory. He does it every year and goes to a planet under the name Ted. Ted decides to stay, and he has to fight against himself trying to get Ted to remember. This was so clever and creative… I loved it.

“Rick Fu Hustle” is next up and while Rick and Morty are trying to keep themselves from having their hearts exploded from a Kung Fu master’s special punch, Jerry is having sex with his robot pool cleaner. Not kidding.

The season seems to have a running storyline where Rick is trying to stop drinking after he has had several bad events, including locking himself out of the lab in the garage. He also lost his always filled flask of vodka from a world of pigs. There was another incident where Rick’s head is decapitated from his body, and the two parts of Rick get into a war with the other. While Rick’s head was separated, he saw how good he felt without the alcohol. Morty had the head and Summer had the body and they tried to reunite.

My least favorite of this season was “MortGully: The Last Rickforest” which saw Rick and Morty on a planet trying to find some special sap from a tree. The tree was alive and called the Warden, who sentenced Rick and Morty to be single celled organisms. The episode was the two of them trying to evolve enough to escape the Warden’s trap. It was funny, but it really went a long way for the joke, which was replayed multiple times.

There was also a wild story with Jerry consuming a bunch of space worms which made him more confident, but caused him to eventually vomit up a massive amount of worms.

I have liked this season more than the previous couple, but there does not seem to be much of a thorough line for the overall story arc. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I would like a little more connection.

Two more episodes to go.

Rick and Morty Season 8

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Spoilers

I finished season 8 of Rick and Morty this afternoon, leaving me with just the remaining 8 episodes so far of season to watch (I am not sure when new episodes are released on HBO Max. It would be fun to catch up to the current run before it wraps up the season).

I was not as much of a fan of season 8. I found most of season 8 to be average to slightly below average. It wasn’t bad per se, but I just did not think the plan for the season worked as well as previous seasons.

Then, among the first 4-5 episodes, I found a few of them to be in the same vein as season 8… disappointing. It did not make me feel confident about the whole season.

Among those first five, “Summer of All Fears” was one I did not love. It was a Summer-centric episode and, historically, those have not been my favorite. I also was not a huge fan of “The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly” which featured a story with other Ricks, specifically a Wild West version that reminded me of Clint Eastwood from Unforgiven. While I love that movie, this one bugged me. Another trend I am not a fan of is when we follow a character that is not our Rick (and I know that can be convoluted).

However, I did like the Space Beth episode “Valkyrick” a lot. The whole trope of a heist movie spelling out the plan of the heist as we see it on the screen was shown here, but the images on the screen showed the heist falling apart because of too much of a dependence on “Cisco.” I really loved that section of this episode.

“The Last Temptation of Jerry” was another of the first episodes that I thought was really funny, if not sacrilege. the whole Easter bit with the rampaging Easter Bunny was really funny and co-opting the Tim Allen Santa Clause plot was great too.

Episode five, “Cryo Mort a Rickver,” was another that did not impress me, though I found it better than the previous episodes that I thought were lacking.

Then, things turned around for the show, and the rest of the season felt like big hits.

I liked how Space Beth and Beth turned themselves into little girls who were anything but sweet. I liked the episode where Jerry gets lost on the road thanks to another Jerry. It was cool to see Morty’s son Junior make a return, which I think I called back when Junior was originally created.

The finale with Rick trying to purge the memories of his wife Diane from his mind so he could be more emotionally open was a very good episode. I loved the ending where Rick pretended to have killed “Memory Rick” and “Memory Diane” but instead set them up in a memory storage device. The finale was difficult to follow at times, but there is no doubt that it was a strong finish.

Then, episode seven was one of my favorite episodes of the series. “Ricker than Fiction” saw Rick and Morty watching the latest movie from one of their favorite franchises, “Maximum Velocitree,” but they responded with anger and vitriol. The dialogue was great as they were clearly mocking those people online who claim things like a certain movie “ruined my childhood” or some idiotic statement like that. They went to Warner Brothers to complain and came across James Gunn (yes, voiced by James Gunn himself).

They got into an argument with James Gunn and Rick decided to fix the next script to make it better. Rick designed a machine called the Movie-Lizer which can create a movie if given a script. It also allows the user of the machine to change the script easily. This is obviously a commentary on AI and its intrusiveness in the movie industry. Rick and Morty get sucked inside the Movie-Lizer and find themselves in the story, which they have to try to fix before it is too late. This is such a meta episode, but it is also remarkably funny and clever.

I loved the guest star voice of James Gunn who ran across Zack Snyder, who was also an actual voice for this episode. This unbelievably meta and hilarious encounter made me respect Zack Snyder way more. He was really funny and was allowing the script to give him crap.

The second half of the season was considerably more consistent and engaging than the beginning and “Ricker Than Fiction” is probably in my top 10 of all time.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E2

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Spoilers

“Spoiler: Zack’s in this One”

The second episode of The Big Bang Theory spin-off, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, is not very good. It just feels like it is a car wreck that I can’t stop glaring at.

The new universe that Stuart, Bert and Kripke jump into is an AI-Overlord run universe where everyone is forced into happy thoughts and any negativity would lead to an electric jolt into the person’s neck through an implant at the base of their skull. This joke was used what felt like a million times in the first fifteen minutes of the episode.

I have come to the conclusion that this show is designed to show us alternate versions of all of the cast of The Big Bang Theory in weird new ways. Here we get to see Zack, as the title stated, but also Penny. I’m not sure why Kaley Cuoco would agree to “reprise” her role as Penny in this, but it was nice to see her again.

It was strange to see Christine Baranski used in a cameo as herself when she had a Big Bang Theory character already.

The episode never got a chance to get any footing under it, because after the over excessive amount of the electric shock gags, they came across the rebellion, led by Zack and Penny, and then the episode was over.

While I did not love this… heck, I could probably not claim to even like it that much… Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a short show that does not feel like anything that is aggressively bad… or at least, bad enough to make me stop watching it at this point. It was fun to see the Big Bang cameos (including the woman who was obsessed with Sheldon). I’ll watch at least one more episode, probably.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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I am a massive Spider-Man fan. I am unapologetic about that. I expected that going into Spider-Man: Brand New Day this afternoon. Maybe I am not necessarily the most unbiased reviewer you’ll see. However, I have been consciously working on being more fair and balanced about MCU movies.

Having said that, I LOVED this movie.

Peter Parker is struggling with his isolated lifestyle after the world forgets that Peter Parker exists (thanks to the Dr. Strange spell). Peter has thrown himself into his Spidey work, teaming up with NYPD to help bring down the criminal elements of the city. A mysterious powered person brings a ton of chaos to the city, Damage Control and Spidey.

I am not going to spoil anything in my review at this point. I am going to try to cover these points as generally as I can.

Performances are top notch. Tom Holland does a remarkable job as Peter Parker, playing the sadness of his life has engulfed him in. I have heard a lot of reviews calling this a much more mature performance from Holland, and that is a perfect description.

Sadie Sink, lips closed on her character, was unbelievable from the moment she was on the screen. She is such an accomplished actor and I think she is going to be an utter star in the world of the MCU.

The relationship between Peter and Frank Castle, played by the wonderful Jon Bernthal, is one of the best ones in the film. I found their pairing to be so great, unexpectedly so. Bernthal and Holland have great chemistry with each other, which you also see in The Odyssey, that Spidey and Punisher, one of the biggest odd couples you’ll see, sparkle together in dialogue, especially.

We know from the trailers that the Hulk has made a return in this film and the scenes with Hulk and Spidey are some of the best of the film. The action is spectacular. Mark Ruffalo does a fabulous job in the role as Bruce Banner, and, after so many years playing the role (since Avengers in 2012), he has such a grasp on Banner.

The special effects and action in Brand New Day is some of the best of any of the Spider-Man movies. Director Destin Daniel Cretton, who brought such a gravitas to Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, shows us once again that he can handle action and fight scenes as well as anyone. There were a bunch of shots that were spectacular.

The film uses the supporting cast of previous Spidey movies, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, just about perfectly. You can feel Peter’s grief over the loss of them as friends and how he is struggling to move on without them. This is the best performance of Zendaya in any of the Spider-Man movies.

One would think that this movie would be packed too full with all of the characters and storylines, but that is not a problem. The film has extraordinary pacing that works so well.

The film showed Spider-Man in the way that I believe he should be shown. The choices he made and the story beats with the character is just the way Spider-Man is portrayed.

I loved this movie and I will be going back to it again. There are so many fun things in the film and I can not wait to see it again.

5 stars