I started a new program on Amazon Prime today, watching the first two episodes of Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat.
This is the second season of Jury Duty, which was one of the best surprise series from 2023. It was a hilarious series that was one of the most intriguing concepts on television. The idea for the first Jury Duty, a real person is called for Jury Duty and every other person involved in the show is an actor.
In this season, instead of being called for jury duty, our real person who is unaware that this is really a TV show is named Anthony Norman and he is a temp worker applying for a job at a company called “Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce” and he goes with the workers on a company retreat.
He was set up as the assistant to Kevin, who winds up leaving the retreat in embarrassment, leaving Anthony in his stead.
I have to say, the first episode was feeling too over the top and I was not sure if I wanted to watch the rest of the series. The second issue was better for me and started to pick up the story better.
It just felt as if there was just too much ridiculousness to accept that Anthony would still be going along with it.
The excuse for why there is a documentary crew in tow and everyone speaks to a camera at times is that the owner Doug was retiring and passing the CEO seat to his son, Dougie. That made sense, but there is a limit to what one could expect someone to react to.
Of course, last season, the “winner” received a huge cash prize for succeeding and being a good person, and Anthony certainly feels like a solid person too. Seeing how he will react to the craziness coming might be worth sticking out. There are only a total of 8 episodes, so I plan on finishing this up.
It all comes down to this. An entire season of drama, controversy, and excitement has all led to this very moment. Let’s give you a full rundown of all the contenders for the championship and the ones who came up just short. First off it’s the points leader heading into today’s race Lane Moody. He has come on strong late in the season and looks to try to win his first championship in his second full time season at the top level. Then in second. He was the regular season champion and has been consistent through the post season so far it’s Will Plymouth. His consistency is undeniable and while he doesn’t win often he will certainly be a major contender today. Then it’s the young superstar who continues to ruffle feathers of his competitors. Crew Remcheck has been the star of the show in most of the races this season but not always for the best reasons. He has been known to be very aggressive and certainly has not garnered many friends from his fellow competitors but the fans absolutely love him and if he were to win it would be the biggest party anyone has ever seen. And finally the last driver in mathematical contention to win the championship today, Roger van Goshen. While still far from a potential first championship he is still in contention as we head into today’s season finale. The veteran who is planning to retire in the coming years has been oh so close so many times to a championship but circumstances each time have kept him from the biggest prize in racing. He looks today to change that narrative and win his first ever championship. Well now you know the contenders today let’s take a look at some of the other drivers that just missed out this season.
First is Jamie Knockerhill, he has had an unexpected standout season but a lackluster run last week at vegeblanc speedway leaves him out of contention for a championship but let’s not forget the impressive season he has had. Knockerhill has gone from being a backmarker driver in previous season to being a frontrunner and this season has won more races than anybody else. It will be interesting to see if he can carry this momentum into next season because nobody was expecting this kind of run from him. And last but not least of our drivers that made the chase for the championship this season is Bart Westerly. Bart is a driver that has notoriously struggled with funding his whole career and has ran with small race teams. But he has always shown to have the natural talent and abilities to outrun his equipment and run very well in cars that should be nowhere near where he is able to bring them. So when a couple seasons ago he got a once in a lifetime opportunity to drive for one of the best teams in the series in Becklestone Racing that was something he obviously couldn’t pass up. And while it took him some time to get used to running for a good team once he got the hang of things he took off and assented himself to a consistent chase caliber driver and once again made the postseason this year and while finishing last among the chase drivers is not what he wanted this is certainly a good year to build on and he hopes to have a strong run to finish out the season.
And now the venue for today’s championship race. The Jackson Mitchelton Memorial Raceway. A highly respected track named after a highly respected racer who unfortunately died at the track 30 years ago. The track is 1.5 miles in length and has many many lanes for the drivers to run which is something the drivers love. One caveat to today’s races though is that the tires are expected to wear very fast so it will be a race where the drivers that can manage their stints the best will have the best finishes today.
Practice has now gotten underway and here are some notes for today’s race. There are 32 cars that are here today which is a full field for the season finale so that is nice to see. The race will be 350 laps with stages being 80, 110, and 160 laps for the final stage. The drivers will get 1 lap of qualifying and the race will begin at 3:00 eastern time.
The one and only practice session for this weekend’s race has concluded and let’s take a look at the top 5 times. The quickest time in practice goes to Seth Gallow who had a great mock qualifying run with a 29.715 Then in second was one of the championship hopefuls Crew Remcheck who has been the star of the season so far. He put down a 29.801 Then in 3rd on the timing sheets is Keelan Remcheck the younger brother of Crew who is a rookie this year put down a solid 29.875 And one of the other championship contenders Will Plymouth the points leader heading into today’s race ran a quick lap of a 29.912 And rounding out the top 10 for practice is Jamie Knockerhill who is still frustrated to not be in contention for the championship today laid down a 29.930. Now that practice is done we head into qualifying.
As we head into qualifying let’s give you a run down of the qualifying format. 32 drivers are entered and all of them will make the race. Each driver gets one lap of qualifying and those laps will set the field for today’s 350 lap race. The drivers will go out in reverse finishing order of the last race results.
With qualifying just now wrapping up let’s take a look at where your championship contenders will start today’s race. Crew Remcheck will lead the field to green today as he had an impressive lap in qualifying of a 28.763 Then the next contender today starts 5th and it’s Will Plymouth the championship leader heading into the race today. Then in 7th it’s the surprise story of the season Lane Moody who has not shown a whole lot of speed in practice but has a solid starting spot for the season finale today. And finally the last of the 4 contenders today for the championship is Roger van Goshen who qualified all the way back in the 21st position and is going to have a lot of work today to make his way to the front but his experience today may bode well because of the tire compound that is expected to wear very fast. With qualifying over all that is left is the race.
Now it is time for the moment you have waited for all season. It’s the season finale from Jackson Mitchelton Memorial Raceway. Before the race starts we have to take care of the pre race festivities. First let’s send it down to the track for the pre-race prayer led by former driver Rando Litchnow. “Let us pray, God we pray today that you keep all the drivers safe on this great day that you have given us to crown a champion. I pray you keep all the drivers safe and that the fans have an amazing race to watch today, Amen”.
Now that it is closer to race time let’s send it down to the track for the most famous words in motorsports. (PA Announcer) “Here to give the command to fire engines today is Tom Holland”. “What a great day for some lovely racing here and it is such an honor to give the command to fire engines for this championship race so with that being said, DRIVERS START YOUR ENGINES!!!!” (engine noises). (Lead Announcer Lee Saylow) “Now that the engines are fired we are inching ever closer to today’s championship race I am Lee Saylow along with me are my colleagues Sam Rinshack and Jeff Hackley and on pit road today it’s Marie Sousha”, “Before we get to anything else let’s get you updated on who our championship contenders are for today’s race”. “First it is the championship leader heading into today’s race Lane Moody who is one of the favorites today. (Jeff Hackley) “The second of the four contenders today is Will Plymouth. He has been a consistent frontrunner this season but we will see if he is able to find some winning speed today. (Sam Rinshack) “And then we have Crew Remcheck. He has been the star of the show all season and while his driving antics on track has not garnered any friends for him the fans absolutely love him and he is certainly the people’s choice for the championship today”. (Lee Saylow) “And finally we have Roger van Goshen”. “The seasoned veteran of the series is still looking for his first career championship and he feels today is his best opportunity but is certainly on the back foot after a rough qualifying effort. “Now that you know who the contenders are for today’s championship we are going to go to break and when we come back we will get today’s season finale underway.
(Lee Saylow) “We have just one lap until we turn them loose and you can feel the excitement and intensity is growing as the fans cannot wait to get this race underway”. “The pace car dives in for pit road and Crew Remchek leads the field into the start zone and here we go from The Memorial Raceway green flag is in the air and we are underway for the season finale”!!! (Sam Rinshack) “As the drivers head into turn 1 you will see them fan out all over the track but the pole sitter of Remcheck is able to hold them off down the backstretch”. (Jeff Hackley) “As they come to complete number one Crew Remchek leads but he has pressure from behind as his brother Keelan is fast and is looking to battle for the lead”. [The battle for the lead between the brothers rages on for the rest of the stage but it was Keelan who was able to hold off his brother for the stage win]
(Lee Saylow)“The drivers have pitted under the stage break and now we get ready to begin stage 2. Stage 2 will have 110 laps and then it will be the final stage to determine a champion. Let’s give you an update on where the contenders run right now. Crew Remchek leads the race after his pit crew allowed him to get out of pit road first. Then in 3rd is points leader Lane Moody. In 6th is Will Plymouth and struggling today in 20th Roger van Goshen who has struggled today in today’s race and nothing seems to be going his way.” (Is he out of contention? Will he ever win that championship he has been desperate for for so many years?) It’s time to start stage 2!!!
(Jeff Hackley) “The Remchek brothers lead them back to green!!!” (Sam Rinshack) “AND THERE’S A CRASH THE REMCHEK BROTHERS GET TOGETHER, A HUGE PILEUP TO START STAGE”2!!! (Lee Saylow) “This has huge implications on the championship picture as Will Plymouth has heavy damage and looks to be getting out of his car as well as Jamie Knockerhill, both the Remcheks and Carson Bloom.” (Jeff Hackley) “This will leave only Lane Moody and the underdog Roger van Goshen left to fight it out for a championship”. (He is only one of the two left but there is no way he could actually do it could he? Surely it’s Lane Moody’s championship to lose now right?)
(Lee Saylow) “Well now we have two contenders remaining and the field has shrunk after a collision to start stage 2 and now the championship fight is between points leader Lane Moody and the veteran still looking for his first championship Roger van Goshen. It certainly looks like the favorite right now is Moody”. (Jeff Hackley) “And the race is back underway as new race leader Jackson Mitchelton Jr. leads the field into turn one and what a sight to see the son of the great Jackson Mitchelton Sr. leading at the track that was named after his father”.
(Midway through the second stage) (Sam Rinshack) “Look who has made their way into the top 10!! It’s Roger van Goshen racing in hopes of his long awaited first championship”.
(Lee Saylow) “We have just 10 laps to go in the penultimate stage of the season and Mitchelton Jr. still leads, and it looks like there is a caution on the track……. OH LANE MOODY HAS BLOWN A TIRE AND IS HARD IN THE WALL, THAT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE A DAY ENDER and a championship ender as well”. (Jeff Hackley) “His team has chosen to run super low tire pressures all weekend and while it has allowed him to gain some speed for the finale it looks to have come back in the worst way possible to end his championship dreams”. (Sam Rinshack) “This means that Roger van Goshen, if he can survive the race, will win a long awaited first ever championship”. (Surely with all this misfortune it will catch up to Roger and one of the other contenders can steal it away, Surely after all these years he can’t finally win it, or can he? It might just be possible) (Lee Saylow) “As the second stage comes to a close under caution Mitchelton Jr. will win the stage and that gets the crowds full support”.
The drivers get ready to start the final stage and Roger van Goshen is in the perfect position to win his first ever championship but all the doubts are still there and if he gets caught up in any incident Lane Moody still has the points advantage so van Goshen has to have a perfect final stage to seal the deal.
(Lee Saylow) “The drivers have pitted and are ready to begin the final stage. Jackson Mitchelton Jr. leads and we are green for the final stage of the season!!!”
(Jeff Hackley) “Oh there is a crash!!! Championship leader Roger van Goshen has spun and it looks like his championship aspirations may be over”.
With van Goshen now out of the race it puts Lane Moody back in the points lead but van Goshen’s team is determined to not get up and get their driver a championship and if they can get the car repaire and back up on track because there was another wreck on the restart after his spin causing 5 cars to retire from the event van Goshen could gain back enough points to win the championship over Moody by one singular points.
(Will the team be able to fix all of the damage? Can he get back on track in time? Will everythign actually work out for him?)……………….
(Lee Saylow) “When we thought it was over and all hope was lost the team never gave up and the battled adversity all season but it finally pays off for Roger van Goshen, HE COMES TO THE LINE AND IS FINALLY A CHAMPION, and Jackson Mitchelton Jr. wins the race”.
The court case today involves an RC car and what it did to Mr. Kevin Fuss. The judge for today’s case is Judge Alexander. So here is what we know so far. The RC car was out of control and at some point made contact with/and injured Mr. Kevin Fuss. The owner of the RC Car Alexander (not the judge) has testified not guilty to any wrongdoing. Mr. Kevin Fuss has testified that the RC Car was to blame and not Mr. Alexander. He also believed that because of these reasons that he should be in court against the RC car and not Mr. Alexander. The witnesses include the tree that was near the scene of the incident, Ms. Sarah Hilltop, and the RC cars front tires (who were not in control of the car).
The case lasted from 2am-2:30am and was a long, grueling day of testimonies, back and forth, and questioning. The jury was made up of locals Betsy James, Kristopher Plomet, Jim Johnson, Trisha van Jackie, and Darick Knicklem. They were all very bored by the end of the case but the outcome was that the RC Car was deemed guilty and sentenced to 20 to potentially even life stored in a box at Walmart at the back of the shelf where nobody looks so the RC Car would feel the shame of its actions. And Mr. Alexander was put on probation and forced to change his name so that the judge would not be associated with such a terrible man. And as for Mr. Kevin Fuss, his hospital bills were paid for by the RC Car (who doesn’t have any money to begin with so is now heavily in debt) and he was flabbergasted at the outcome of the case but yet he found it quite funny. So then he was further questioned for laughing but it turned out he was just a jolly guy that happened to be injured by a RC Car.
After court was dismissed, everyone left the courtroom at 2:45am and went home but because they had been up for so long in the courtroom all of the jury members fell asleep while driving home and all crashed their cars. So then the whole court case became a mess because of how long they had to be in the courtroom for and because Mr. Kevin Fuss was in charge of scheduling the court date, he had to pay for the damage to all the jury members’ cars. He claimed that it was not his fault and questioned why he had to pay for the damages. He then no longer found the court case funny, but instead was sad and homeless because he had no money and had to sell the house because he could no longer afford it. So it turns out nobody came out of the case happy and everybody had some sort of tragic event that occurred because of the case, even the poor jury members.
This was certainly a wild court case. Anyways until the next time goodbye and macaroni.
I watched another block of episodes from the variety show featuring the group Sha Na Na. I remember as a young kid watching Sha Na Na, I was always mad when the guest stars or other actors made fun of Sha Na Na and/or treated them like they were no talented. It is funny because I can remember liking Sha Na Na was something that I did not like people to know about me. I wonder if the constant jokes against them affected how I saw them.
Fact is that Sha Na Na is filled with amazing musicians and some of the best voices you’ll hear. It has been fun catching up on this show, even with the limits of YouTube involved.
These shows continues the trend of Sha Na Na having country musicians on as they had Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Freddy Fender and Barbara Mandrel as guests. They also had Henny Youngman, who actually performed like a stand up comic would. That was definitely the right choice instead of trying to have him make smart remarks like they did with Milton Berle.
It was weird because once again they had a repeat song on one of the episodes. In episode 10, they ended the show with the Unchained Melody version that Sha Na Na performed. I know I had seen that one in a previous episode. However, it is one of the best performances the group did on this show, so it was good to see it again.
This block of episodes also seemed to feature Lennie singing quite a bit. Lennie had one of the best voices on the show, right up there with Johnny and Donny. Of course, Lennie was the sax master, but he could hit some solid high notes vocally too.
Lennie dressed up as Paul McCartney in episode 10 as well, along with Jocko as Ringo, Santini as George and Chico as John. It was an attempt to attract the Gatlin Brothers to their show, which begs the question, are the Gatlin Brothers huge Beatles fans and wouldn’t a Beatles reunion attract even bigger celebrities?
Episode 11 featured one of my favorite performances, “Hit the Road, Jack” performed by Jocko. I love this version of the song and the background dancers are great. I have to say, I always enjoy watching poor Donny try to keep up with the others.
When I saw Screamin’ Scott playing the stand up bass, I went to Google to see what instruments he could actually play. I have wondered whether when covering for Jocko, Scott or one of the guitarists, could they actually play that instrument or are they just pretending. Google told me that Scott could play the piano, the guitar, the banjo and the harmonica. My guess is that he could do the bass as well. He is clearly very skilled in the musical aspects.
Jerry Fox showed up a couple of times again (which is a character played by Donny sometimes during the comedy skits). He’s announced as from Cleveland, and I wonder what the origin is behind this alter ego. I have seen Donny play him probably around 6-8 times so far (including twice in this block of episodes).
My New Year’s Eve routine is out of whack this year because they decided to drop the series finale for Stranger Things tonight. I usually watch Infinity War and Endgame until midnight. I have done that the last five years, but with Stranger Things tossing a curveball, I decided that tonight would be different.
I am going to address the hatred part two has received online, but just for a minute. I thought the last three episodes were really strong and helped set up what is happening tonight. You have the right to hate the show if you so choose. I hope you have more reasons to feel the way you feel beside the fact that Will came out to his friends and family.
Moving onto the finale, the plan to prevent Vecna from crashing the Abyss into the earth kicks off, but it never works out the way things are planned.
Here are some random thoughts:
The way they dealt with the Eleven “death” was great. I really liked how Mike ended up explaining the possible way Eleven survived, but we really do not know. It was a nice way to end the show.
Linda Hamilton was never used to her full potential. She was never really a character outside of a villain. Then, I wanted her to be dead, bigtime, but she did not die.
The Mindflayer showdown was just awesome. It reminded me of the fireworks in the mall in season (two?).
Joyce chopping the head off Vecna? Yes, please.
There were some really tense moments. When Henry overcame his fears and struggled his way into the cave, surprising those kids… man, oh, man.
I think there may have been too much falling action in the episode. Did I really need a graduation ceremony turned into chaos by Dustin? Fun? Sure. But necessary? No.
Murray’s homemade bomb that took out the helicopter? Perfecto.
I was also happy with the fate of Eight, especially with the potential way she helped Eleven.
Eleven is truly a bad ass. The way she dispatched those soldiers was just nothing short of brutal.
The special effects in this episode was just amazing. That gigantic monster in the Abyss looked epic.
Stranger Things is going to go down as one of the most successful Netflix shows of all time. I saw that the finale was being shown in movie theaters across the nation, including in the Cinemark that I usually attend. I was curious (although I was never planning on watching this anywhere but my room) so I went to the Cinemark website to find that the 7 PM show was completely sold out, as was several other showings that they were having. A few of them had just one or two seats available. Even the showing that is scheduled to start at 11:50 PM had just the very front row of seats available. This was in the Quad Cities. I wonder what it would be like in a bigger city like LA or New York.
This finale was a lot of fun for me. It had a lot of excitement and uncertainty. I enjoyed it a great deal and I feel like the Duffer Brothers brought their show to a definitive conclusion, even if I did not get Linda Hamilton killed.
We have given the best shows in each of the categories (Drama, Comedy, Genre, Animation). Now let’s get a little more specific.
Best Actor Drama:Sterling K. Brown (Paradise). Runners-Up: Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Noah Wylie (The Pitt), Michael C. Hall (Dexter: Resurrection), Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game 3), Josh Holloway (Duster)
Best Actress Drama: Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus). Runners-Up: Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets), Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise)
Best Supporting Actor Drama: Owen Cooper (Adolescence). Runners-Up: Gerran Howell (The Pitt), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), Elijah Wood (Yellowjackets), Peter Dinklage (Dexter: Resurrection), Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus).
Best Supporting Actress Drama: Uma Thurman (Dexter: Resurrection). Runners-Up: Tracy Ifeacho(The Pitt), Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt), Erin Doherty (Adolescence), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Bear), Parker Posey (The White Lotus).
Best Actor Comedy: Seth Rogen (The Studio). Runners-Up: Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building), Owen Wilson (Stick).
Best Actress Comedy: Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building). Runners-Up:Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face).
Best Supporting Actor Comedy: Marc Meron (Stick). Runners-Up:Christoph Waltz (Only Murders in the Building), Ike Barinholtz (The Studio), Bryan Cranston (The Studio), Teddy Coluca (Only Murders in the Building), Peter Dager (Stick).
Best Supporting Actress Comedy: Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building). Runners-Up: Kathryn Hahn (The Studio), Patti Harrison (Poker Face), Renee Zellweger (Only Murders in the Building), Zoe Kravitz (The Studio).
Best Actor Genre: Gabriel Luna (Andor). Runners-Up: Charlie Cox (Daredevil: Born Again), John Cena (Peacemaker), Ncuti Gatwa(Doctor Who),Alexander Skarsgård (Murderbot), Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil: Born Again).
Best Actress Genre: Jenna Ortega (Wednesday). Runners-Up: Rebecca Ferguson (Silo), Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), Dominique Thorne (Ironheart), Jennifer Holland (Peacemaker), Jaz Sinclair (Gen V), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things 5).
Best Supporting Actor Genre: Bill Skarsgård (IT: Welcome to Derry). Runners-Up: David Harbour (Stranger Things 5), Tim Robbins (Silo), Stellan Skarsgård (Andor), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), David Dastmalchian (Murderbot), Anthony Ramos (Ironheart), Steve Agee (Peacemaker), Arian S. Cartaya (IT: Welcome to Derry).
Best Supporting Actress Genre: Danielle Brooks (Peacemaker). Runners-Up: Sadie Sink (Stranger Things 5), Matilda Lawler (IT: Welcome to Derry), Genevieve O’Reilly (Andor), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Lyric Ross (Ironheart).
Best New Theme: IT: Welcome to Derry.
Best Makeup: Stranger Things 5. Runners-Up: Fallout, IT: Welcome to Derry, Gen V, Alien: Earth, Wednesday.
Best Animated Show: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Best Animated Show Voice Actor: Christian Borle (Hazbin Hotel). Runners-Up: Erika Henningsen (Hazbin Hotel), Colman Domingo (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man), Jeremy Jordan (Hazbin Hotel), Will Forte (Win or Lose), Hudson Thames (Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man)
Best TV Show Cameo: Sacha Baron Cohan (Ironheart). Runners-Up: Nicholas Hoult (Peacemaker), Rob Reiner (The Bear), Olivia Colman (The Bear), Keegan-Michael Key (Only Murders in the Building), Simon Helberg (Poker Face), John Cena (Pluribus), Martin Scorsese (The Studio), Ron Howard (The Studio), Ice Cube (The Studio).
Christmas night saw the second volume of the final season of Strange Things came out with three episodes that will lead directly into the finale, next week on New Year’s Eve.
These three episodes do a tremendous job setting up that finale. We got plenty of answers about what has been going on these last five seasons, and they really fit together nicely. I am impressed with the writing of the Duffer Brothers.
I love the way that they worked the Wormhole into this story, recontextualizing the Upside-Down and what it actually is. The whole moment when Nancy shot the wormhole was so tense and scary with the vacuum outside of it. I loved how Dustin was on the outside of the situation and found the answers in Bremmer’s journal.
Speaking of Dustin, he and Steve went through it in these episodes. They dealt with the way they were treating each other in the first volume and it was extremely dramatic as they handled the deep pain that they were facing.
Jonathan and Nancy dealt with their relationship in a strong manner. The scene where they finally told each other the truth was a really great scene.
I do not like how they are setting up the ending of this with the implication that Eleven is going to need to die for everything to finally be over. I really dislike the sister.
I love how the group is basically back together in the seventh episode, preparing for the big finish. They have not all been back together in a long time, and seeing the team come back together was great.
Vecna truly is terrifying. The use of the redesigned Vecna is really well done and how they use it along with the Henry form. Henry was every bit as scary when dealing with his little cult-like kids. I needed more Dipshit Derek in these episodes.
Max coming back was very satisfying too, as was Will’s admitting about being gay. Both of these moments gave a strength to the ensemble and allowed these characters to show how important they were to each other. It was a lovely way to do this, especially with the Will reveal. Will was still very nervous and awkward during the entire time, hem-and-hawing around the topic. Watching the group embrace him was a beautiful moment.
And we are set up with a crazy plan to save the world and prevent the crashing together of two worlds via the wormhole. A final showdown certainly with Eleven and Vecna (hopefully with Will there too. He deserves to be in the final showdown).
They have actually made me reconsider my New Year’s Eve routine. I usually watch Infinity War and Endgame to midnight, but now, I might have to readjust my tradition.
There were so many great TV shows on streaming and TV. We split them into four categories: Drama, Comedy, Genre and Animated.
Starting with Animation:
#5. Eyes of Wakanda(Disney +). Good show with four episodes dropped all on one day. Second half of those episodes were considerably better.
#4. Win or Lose(Disney +). Pixar show on Disney + that I watched during the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Highly entertaining and well written.
#3. Marvel Zombies(Disney +). This one turned out way better than I ever thought it would. Another one day drop by Marvel on Disney +.
#2. Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime). Second season of the Hell musical was awesome. Wonderful music and amazing voice acting.
#1. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Disney +). One of the best animated Spider-Man series in quite a long time. Great characterization, not only for Peter, but also for Lonnie (Tombstone). I loved the adjusted origin and the tie ins to the MCU was clever.
Comedy
#4. Poker Face (Peacock). Always entertaining. Natasha Lyonne is great as Charlie. Every time is seemed like the show made an adjustment. And that was the truth.
#3. Stick (Apple TV +). Owen Wilson starred as a former golf pro who finds a skilled kid who he wanted to help become a pro. Funny and clever.
#2. The Studio (Apple TV +). Insider story starring Seth Rogan as a movie studio exec and his struggles to get his films out. Hilarious writing and a ton of brilliant cameos.
#1. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). The fifth season of this venerable series was remarkably entertaining and funny. There has been some great seasons of this show, and the fifth one worked so well.
Drama
#10. The White Lotus (HBO Max). This was my least favorite of the three seasons of White Lotus. I was only really interested in one of the stories, and I was unhappy with the resolution.
#9. Squid Game Season 3 (Netflix). Squid Game was really great, but was tainted by the finale, which left way too much undone and unsolved. The end hurt this badly.
#8. The Bear (Hulu). A much better season than the previous one. The Bear felt like it got back to the success from the early seasons. This is in a drama because it is NOT a comedy.
#7. Duster (HBO Max). This was a fun series with Josh Holloway and a duster car. This sadly did not get a second season, but it was much better than it got credit for.
#6. The Pitt (HBO Max). This one might be higher if I had watched the entire series. I am currently at episode 7. Great medical show with Noah Wylie.
#5. Pluribus (Apple TV +). Another one that might be higher on this list if it is finished. There is only one more episode left, but it is really great.
#4. Yellowjackets (Paramount +). The third season continues to show the weirdness of the forest. The story of the mysterious events are still exceptional.
#3. Adolescence (Netflix). Four episode mini series from Netflix with a teenage boy who is charged with murder. Brilliant performances from Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper.
#2. Dexter: Resurrection(Showtime). After the up and down nature of Dexter: Original Sin, I did not expect much out of Resurrection. However, this was a sensational series with Dexter taking up residence in New York. This was so fabulous.
#1. Paradise (Hulu). One of the best new series of the year. The mystery behind the death of the President and what was going on with the story. Paradise was so wonderful. I did not expect it to be this good.
Genre
#15. Alien: Earth (FX). This started great, but it fell off quick. I actually never finished this series.
#14. Fallout (Amazon Prime). I have only seen one episode of season two so far, which is why this is as low as it is. It might be on the 2026 list too.
#13. Silo (Apple TV +). The ending part of the season came into 2025 and it was a very strong season.
#12. Perry Jackson and the Olympians (Disney +). Another show that would be higher on the list had there been more episodes released by now. I do like the mythologically based show.
#11. The Last of Us (HBO Max). The second season of The Last of Us was a step down from the first season.. mainly because of the results of Joel’s fate. It was brutal and damaged the show.
#10. Wednesday(Netflix). The second season of this show was good, but maybe not as great as season one. Still solid and it had some great new characters.
#9. Doctor Who (Disney +). I am sad that Ncuti Gatwa was gone from the role by the end of the season. I loved him as The Doctor. This was a great season with some excellent episodes.
#8. Ironheart (Disney +). Ironheart was better than I expected and… MEPHISTO CONFIRMED!!!
#7. Gen V (Amazon Prime). Gen V does a great job setting up for the end of the Boys in 2026. The characters are excellent and the story was awesome. Brutal as always.
#6. Murderbot (Apple TV +). Surprise series with a robot that becomes sentient. A fun sci-fi series with a wonderful group of characters that are easy to root for.
#5. Strangers Things 5 (Netflix). The first part of the final season of Stranger Things was so great, especially the ending of episode 4 with Will.
#4. Andor (Disney +). The second and final season of Andor is amazing. You knew what the fate of these characters would be, yet the drama of this series was never lacking.
#3. Peacemaker (HBO Max). John Cena’s second season dealt with the multiverse and Peacemaker has to confront so many of his personal demons. A great season for this show… and another brilliant opening credits.
#2. Daredevil: Born Again (Disney +). Daredevil returned and brought Kingpin with him. Shocking death in the first ten minutes set the tone for the season. I wish they had done more with Muse, but it had a great episode in a bank.
#1. It: Welcome to Derry (HBO Max). The prequel to the movie series was so great. The first episode introduced us to a group of kids, made us love them, and then killed them off. Then, we meet another group of kids who had to struggle against Pennywise. Bill Skarsgård was amazing as Pennywise, scary and sinister. A satisfying conclusion with one of the best finale of the year.
I was not sure if I was going to go to this. This was a limited release film coinciding with the release of Taylor Swift’s new record, “The Life of A Showgirl.” I would not be considered a “Swifty” by any stretch of the imagination, but I did go to the ERAs Tour film and I enjoyed it well. It worked into the schedule tonight so I wound up in Cinemark with a ton of teenage girls and a few other adults to see this film.
It is not really a film. It is also not really a concert film. It showed us the brand new video for the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” all of the lyric vids of the other 11 songs, and several behind the scenes shots of Taylor in the prep for the video, both with rehearsing and discussion of the creative.
Taylor Swift was the director of the video as well so she was shown to be the definitive creative force behind it. There were times when it seemed that she would speak and everyone else would just agree with her. I would have liked to see someone make a comment that wasn’t just “Oh how awesome you are.”
As a middle school literacy teacher, I did love the fact that she made a comment about a metaphor, followed by a comment on alliteration and then mentioned imagery. I hope the kids in the theater heard those terms.
As for the music, it was a bit of a mixed bag. It was clear that “The Fate of Ophelia” was the best song on the album. They showed us that video at the beginning of the movie and at the end. It was definitely my personal favorite as well.
I did notice that Taylor Swift’s songs on this album had a tendency to be repetitive, in one specific manner. She seemed as if she ended every song in the exact same way. The music slowed or stopped and she repeated one line that she had sung during the song, as if she were really emphasizing it. It was fine, but I did notice it so I would have liked maybe some variety in the end of the songs.
The songs that I did enjoy included “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wood,” “Opalite,” and “Cancelled.” There were two songs that I did not like at all. They were “Father Figure” and “Wi$h Li$t.” “The Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin the Friendship,” and “Honey” were good. The album’s title track, “The Life of a Showgirl” was underwhelming, but not at the level of “Father ZFigure” or “Wi$h Li$t.”
The experience in the theater was as much a reason to go to this as anything else. It was fun with the audience cheering and applauding throughout the film. No one sang along in my theater, but it was fun to be part of the mass.
Overall, this was not much of a film, but it was a solid experience and I was happy to have chosen to see it. “The Fate of Ophelia” is easily the hit of this album and was the most important of the songs with this movie.
The first season of Dexter: Resurrection came to a close on Amazon Prime with an exceptional finale that was filled with tension and anxiousness and finished in an extremely satisfying way.
Dexter was trapped inside the serial killer vault at Prater’s home with the dead body of Batista on the floor. Prater trapped him inside and was going to leave him to die from lack of water. Dexter finds Batista’s phone in one of the episode’s contrivances. There were a few.
One that the episode kind of wrapped up was this. Dexter had seen the gun on the floor that Prater had used to kill Batista and he thought to himself that he must not get his fingerprints on the gun. However, it did not seem as if Dexter minded getting his fingerprints everywhere else in the room as he touched…. everything. At the end, it did show Dexter cleaning up after himself, but to think that he could get rid of every print is stretching it a bit. Still, at least he made the effort.
I like the fact that Charlie gets to leave with her ailing mother after basically making a deal with Dexter and Harrison (sort of).
Peter Dinklage is a superior actor and his performance as Leon Prater was top notch. He probably was the second best villain in Dexter history behind John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer. You could feel the desperation from Prater as he was wrapped up on Dexter’s table.
I think that we have finally put to bed the possibility that Blessing is the New York Ripper. That made me extra pleased. In fact, Dexter implied that Blessing is someone whom Dexter himself needs. Dexter took a turn to be more inclusive and less isolated. It sounded as if this was a new arc for everyone’s favorite serial killer.
I enjoyed every episode of the Dexter: Resurrection season and I hope that there will be another season down the road. I liked the tone and the intensity of the show and the budding relationship with Dexter and Harrison worked well.
The A & E documentary KISStory Part two is the story of the rock band Kiss, in the second part of their careers.
I still feel as if there are some things missing without Ace Frehley and Peter Criss’s actual involvement in the documentary. Any time Peter or Ace is heard in the doc, it is from archival footage or interviews and the doc started off with a message saying that they chose not to participate and they “do not endorse the views of this program.” That meant that this doc was from the POV of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. I am truly curious how the story might differ.
This part of the doc started off with the band in some internal trouble, though they tried to force their way through it.
HOT TAKE: The Elder is my favorite Kiss album.
However, I may be the only one as the concept album seemed to be mentioned as one of the big mistakes of the group.
Peter Criss left the band, apparently after a concert where he was messing with the timing of the songs. That is one of the main functions of the drummer, and I could understand the feeling of betrayal that would bring up.
Ace Frehley was gone too, not long after Peter, leaving Kiss struggling with new musicians and characters from the band. They no longer had the Catman or the Spaceman in the group.
The doc showed the historic moment on MTV where KISS, for the first time, revealed themselves without the make-up and followed the band as it became another 1980s hair band.
The MTV Unplugged series was the first place where Peter and Ace returned for some songs, giving the idea that there could be a reunion at some point. The reunion tour was huge business and seemed to be a success at the start. However, the same demons that had pulled them apart in the late 70s apparently remained at this time. It was portrayed that Peter was upset over money and the perceived secondary status in the band behind Gene and Paul. I wish I had his official POV to see how accurate that was. Ace appeared to not be one who could handle the fame at the level KISS had reached.
I found myself with so much more respect for guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who were in the band and were removed when Ace and Peter returned. That felt tough, but they were total professionals. Tommy was even brought back in to help Peter and Ace get back to their levels of performance, and he wound up doing much of the tour manager duties.
It was a tough section involving the drummer who had replaced Peter in Kiss came up. Eric Carr came into the group and wound up dying form cancer. Paul and Gene told the story of Eric begging them to play on the song “God Gave Rock ‘N Roll To You” for the video, a song they recorded for the Bill & Ted Bogus Journey film. Paul’s description of Eric playing on that video was heartbreaking.
Both weeks of this doc ended really quickly, as it felt like something was being cut off.
I enjoyed this as I was always a fan of KISS, especially when I was younger. I was never an obsessed fan and I would be curious to hear what a deep fan thought of this documentary.
With this two-part doc series done, next week we start with a new show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. I think the series that will be next is the HBO show, Lovecraft Country.
Week twenty-six of the Sunday Morning Sidewalk takes a bit of a turn as we start our first documentary series, a two-part show originally on A & E (which I watched on Disney +) featuring the EYG Hall of Fame rock band known as KISS.
The first episode of the series was about an hour and a half and outlined the early days of the band and their struggle to rise to the top of the record business, all the while struggling with their personal turmoil and behavior.
The doc heavily featured new interviews from Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, but only had archival footage or interviews with band members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. There was a disclaimer that appeared in the documentary stating that Ace and Peter refused to participate in KISStory and did not agree with the presentation. That really triggered my curiosity. I knew that there had been issues between the band for years, especially with Ace and Peter, and I wanted to know why they refused to participate. Online, what I could find was that Ace and Peter refused because the amount of money offered was insultingly low and that they wanted final editing rights. I don’t know where that came from. Apparently, Peter Criss also refused to allow the song “Beth” to be used in the doc so that was in my head the entire time they were discussing the success of that song and how it helped propel the group upwards.
Peter and Ace were shown to have their own problems, specifically with alcohol and drugs, but I do not think it was done to the exclusion of the others. Gene spoke of his own issues, trying to put his ego aside while Paul spoke about plenty of his own troubles, including his anxiety over a birth defect he had with his ear. It did not feel like the doc piled on Ace and Peter. They definitely included how important they were to the band. Heck, even Gene and Paul admitted that the band’s sound did not come into focus until Ace came in to audition.
The feelings of the band were being made clear as they became more successful and started doing things like “KISS Meets the Phantom” or going more disco with “I Was Made for Loving You.” They addressed how some fans felt as if the group sold out as the success came fast. You could tell from the way Paul and Gene spoke about it that they felt much the same way, but they could not refuse it.
The clips from the Tom Snyder interview where Ace was clearly drunk were amazing. The looks on the faces of Gene and Paul were unmistakable and were painful to watch. The anger in their eyes was so obvious that anyone should have been able to see it.
The first episode ended with Ace’s announcement that he wanted to do solo work, and the band was definitely falling apart.
I truly would wish to have had more than just Paul and Gene’s voices in the doc, reflecting back on the history of this band. Peter and Ace’s absence 100% put a cloud over the documentary, even if it felt as if the doc did a good job of being balanced despite of their absence.
Next week will be part two of KISStory for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk and we’ll see where the band went from there.
Here are the nominees for the EMMY Awards. These were given out this morning with some sad omissions. For me, I was hoping for Kathryn Hahn to be nominated for Agatha All Along. I would have liked for Patti LaPone to get a nom too, as her episode was one of the best of the year. I am thrilled that Agatha All Along received a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyricswith “The Ballad of the Witches Road.” That should really win. There was no song that was more intricate to the plot than this one.
Nothing for Squid Game is shocking, despite season 2 being a lesser season.And despite getting 14 nominations, there was nothing for Diego Luna or Stellan Skarsgård in acting categories.
Way too man nominations for The White Lotus, which was, at best, an average show this season. That show dominated the acting categories and should probably only should have had about half of the noms it got.
I love Martin Short, but I really thought Steve Martin had a better season on Only Murders in the Building this year with all the stuff he had to do with Jane Lynch’s character Sazz Pataki’s murder.
Outstanding drama series
“Andor” (Disney+)
“The Diplomat” (Netflix)
“The Last of Us” (HBO Max)
“Paradise” (Hulu)
“The Pitt” (HBO Max)
“Severance” (Apple TV+)
“Slow Horses” (Apple TV+)
“The White Lotus” (HBO Max)
Outstanding comedy series
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
“The Bear” (FX)
“Hacks” (HBO Max)
“Nobody Wants This” (Netflix)
“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)
“Shrinking” (Apple TV+)
“The Studio” (Apple TV+)
“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Outstanding limited or anthology series
“Adolescence” (Netflix)
“Black Mirror” (Netflix)
“Dying for Sex” (FX)
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” (Netflix)
“The Penguin” (HBO Max)
Outstanding television movie
“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Peacock)
“The Gorge” (Apple TV+)
“Mountainhead” (HBO Max)
“Nonnas” (Netflix)
“Rebel Ridge” (Netflix)
Outstanding reality competition program
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV)
“Survivor” (CBS)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“The Traitors” (Peacock)
Outstanding talk series
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
Outstanding scripted variety series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO Max)
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Outstanding variety special (live)
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” (Fox)
“Beyoncé Bowl” (Netflix)
“The Oscars” (ABC)
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC)
“SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” (Peacock)
Outstanding variety special (pre-recorded)
“Adam Sandler: Love You” (Netflix)
“Ali Wong: Single Lady” (Netflix)
“Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years” (Hulu)
“Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor” (Netflix)
“Sarah Silverman: Postmortem” (Netflix)
“Your Friend, Nate Bargatze” (Netflix)
Outstanding game show
“Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC)
“Jeopardy” (ABC)
“The Price is Right” (CBS)
“Wheel of Fortune” (ABC)
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (ABC)
Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”
Britt Lower, “Severance”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”
Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”
Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
Adam Scott, “Severance”
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”
Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Uzo Aduba, “The Residence”
Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”
Seth Rogen, “The Studio”
Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer”
Meghann Fahy, “Sirens”
Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”
Cristin Milloti, “The Penguin”
Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”
Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief”
Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series
Patricia Arquette, “Severance”
Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”
Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”
Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”
Parker Posey, “The White Lotus”
Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus”
Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus”
Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Zach Cherry, “Severance”
Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus”
Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”
James Marsden, “Paradise”
Sam Rockwell, “The White Lotus”
Tramell Tillman, “Severance”
John Turturro, “Severance”
Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”
Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio”
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Ike Barinholtz. “The Studio”
Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons”
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Michael Urie, “Shrinking”
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”
Ruth Negga, “Presumed Innocent”
Deirdre O’Connell, “The Penguin”
Chloë Sevigny, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”
Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”
Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Bill Camp, “Presumed Innocent”
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”
Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex”
Peter Sarsgaard, “Presumecd Innocent”
Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”
Outstanding guest actress in a drama series
Jane Alexander, “Severance”
Gwendoline Christie, “Severance”
Kaitlyn Dever, “The Last of Us”
Cherry Jones, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Catherine O’Hara, “The Last of Us”
Merritt Wever, “Severance”
Outstanding guest actor in a drama series
Giancarlo Esposito, “The Boys”
Scott Glenn, “The White Lotus”
Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt”
Joe Pantoliano, “The Last of Us”
Forest Whitaker, “Andor”
Jeffrey Wright, “The Last of Us”
Outstanding guest actress in a comedy series
Olivia Colman, “The Bear”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Bear”
Cynthia Erivo, “Poker Face”
Robby Hoffman, “Hacks”
Zoë Kravitz, “The Studio”
Julianne Nicholson, “Hacks”
Outstanding guest actor in a comedy series
Jon Bernthal, “The Bear”
Bryan Cranston, “The Studio”
Dave Franco, “The Studio”
Ron Howard, “The Studio”
Anthony Mackie, “The Studio”
Martin Scorsese, “The Studio”
Outstanding directing for a drama series
“Andor,” Janus Metz (“Who Are You?”)
“The Pitt,” Amanda Marsalis (“6 P.M.”)
“The Pitt,” John Wells (“7 A.M.”)
“Severance,” Jessica Lee Gagné (“Chikhai Bardo”)
“Severance,” Ben Stiller (“Gold Harbor)
“Slow Horses,” Adam Randall (“Hello Goodbye”)
“The White Lotus,” Mike White (“Amor Fati”)
Outstanding directing for a comedy series
“The Bear,” Ayo Edebiri (“Napkins”)
“Hacks,” Lucia Aniello (“A Slippery Slope”)
“Mid-Century Modern,” James Burrows (“Here’s To You, Mrs. Schneiderman”)
“The Rehearsal,” Nathan Fielder (“Pilot’s Code”)
“The Studio,” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (“The Oner”)
Outstanding directing for a limited or anthology series or movie
“Adolescence,” Philip Barantini
“Dying for Sex,” Shannon Murphy (“It’s Not That Serious”)
“The Penguin,” Helen Shaver (“Cent’anni”)
“The Penguin,” Jennifer Getzinger (“A Great or Little Thing”)
“Sirens,” Nicole Kassell (“Exile”)
“Zero Day,” Leslie Linka Glatter
Outstanding writing for a drama series
“Andor,” Dan Gilroy (“Welcome to the Rebellion”)
“The Pitt,” Joe Sachs (“2 P.M.”)
“The Pitt,” R. Scott Gemmill (“7 A.M.”)
“Severance,” Dan Erickson (“Cold Harbor”)
“Slow Horses,” Will Smith (“Hello Goodbye”)
“The White Lotus,” Mike White (“Full-Moon Party”)
Outstanding writing for a comedy series
“Abbott Elementary,” Quinta Brunson (“Back To School”)
“Hacks,” Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky (“A Slippery Slope”)
“The Rehearsal,” Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Lock-Norton and Eric Notarnicola (“Pilot’s Code”)
“Somebody Somewhere,” Hanna Bos, Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett (“AGG”)
“The Studio,” Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez (“The Promotion”)
“What We Do in the Shadows,” Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis and Paul Simms (“The Finale”)
Outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie
“Adolescence,” Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham
“Black Mirror,” Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali (“Common People”)
“Dying for Sex,” Kim Rosenstock and Elizabeth Meriwether (“Good Value Diet Soda”)
“The Penguin,” Lauren LeFranc (“A Great or Little Thing”)
“Say Nothing,” Joshua Zetumer (“The People in the Dirt”)
The seventh film in this franchise was released on Wednesday as Jurassic World: Rebirth found its way into theaters for the Fourth of July weekend.
With Scarlet Johansson and Mahershala Ali leading the cast, Jurassic World: Rebirth resets the franchise after the seemingly final film Jurassic World: Dominion.
It is five years past the events of Jurassic World: Dominion, where it seemed as if the humans and the dinosaurs were going to be living in the same world. Turned out that was not going to work out for the dinos as they found out that living on earth was bad for them and they had to move closer to the equator.
A group of mercenaries led by Zora Bennett (Scarlet Johansson) and Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) went to the island where all the worst of the dinosaurs, the weird mutates from the science experiments were cast out in a chance find DNA of certain dino monsters that can help cure diseases.
Also, there was a family who were out sailing (I guess near the equator) and a dinosaur in the water caused their boat to capsize. They also wound up on this mutant monster island (no Godzilla or Kong to be found). The two groups cross paths at the beginning.
While there are so many problems with this movie, I’ll start with some of the good things. I thought there were some good action scenes or dinosaur chases sequences. There was a scene with a dinosaur and a inflatable raft that was fairly tense. Some of the action was pretty good.
I think Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali are charismatic performers and I like cheering for them. Of course, I was cheering for them because I like them as actors, not because they have characters that I enjoyed. We’ll get back to the characters in a bit.
Unfortunately, that was about it for positives for me. I found myself bored quite a bit at the beginning of the movies. I thought these characters were all just bland and one-dimensional and if they weren’t played by familiar and likable faces, I wouldn’t care about these people at all.
The dinosaurs were not really dinosaurs. They are actually just monsters and most of the designs were okay at best. There were several times when you could easily see the green screen. Some of the monsters were cool and looked good on the screen, but just not enough. Give me more of the T-Rex instead.
The film basically had two stories crammed together in the movie that really did not have any crossover. The mercenaries after the DNA is one story and the family stranded on the island is the other. There was not enough story for either one of them, let alone for both.
There are so many moments in this movie that were basically recycled from the original three films, just tweaked a bit. There really was not anything new or original in the movie.
Rupert Friend’s character is right out of the stereotypical playbook for this type of film. You could easily see what this guy was going to do a mile away.
I’m not even going to comment on Delores.
I was very disappointed, but not surprised at Jurassic Park: Rebirths, which is more like Gareth Edwards’s Godzilla and less like Rogue One. Bringing David Koepp back in (who was a writer on the classic and iconic original Jurassic Park) did not help this franchise at all. It did have a few moments that were decent, but certainly not enough for a two hour and fifteen minute slog.
This is the second film of the June Swoon today, and it is a second documentary. However, unlike Black Barbie, this tells the recent tale of a horrible tragedy from this decade. The documentary focuses on the disaster of OceanGate, the submersible that was intended to take people to see the remains of the Titanic, only to have its own catastrophe.
According to Netflix, “The Titan submersible’s ill-fated journey to the ruins of the Titanic dominated headlines in June 2023, yet the shocking decisions that led to the disaster have never been revealed like this. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster delves into the psyche of billionaire OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and explores his relentless quest to bring oceanic exploration to the masses – at any cost. Through exclusive access to whistleblower testimony, pivotal audio recordings, and footage from the company’s early days, the film provides an unprecedented look at the technical challenges, moral dilemmas, and shockingly poor decisions that culminated in the catastrophic expedition. Titan examines the doomed underwater endeavor that forced the world to reconsider the price of unchecked ambition in the depths of the ocean.”
The documentary does a really great job of telling this story up until the actual journey of the Titan. The time spent with the Titan during the time before the implosion gives me a clear and obvious picture of why this tragedy occurred and why this was pushed forward. I feel as if the doc needed to focus in on the time during when the world was unsure of what was going on and were hoping that the people aboard the Titan could be saved.
There were some fascinating interviews with people who had worked on the project or who were scheduled to be in the exposition. These were all really well done. It just felt like the time about the actual submersible’s destruction was handled through box text on the screen.
The most anxious moments of the doc was the sound of the popping during some of the footage, popping sounds that were the submersible cracking. These recordings were tense and astounding.
The doc certainly sets up OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush as our film’s villain, but it would have been nice to go even deeper than what they did. I can see the arrogance and the narcissism, but I would like to know more about it than what was given. He is made out to be the bad guy here though, and he very well may have been.
Overall this was a compelling story that seemed to be missing a few specifics or some more depth that would have made this an absolutely powerhouse of a documentary. As it is, it is fine.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 