Mandaris

This is the fourth installment of a movie franchise that has been going on for more than a decade. There are countless memes and jokes about making sure you don't mess with John's dog. It's fun, but it has also gotten formulaic.

The formula goes a little like this:

1. John is in a low point and things are really working out for him
2. Things get a little better and he’s making some progress
3. Big bad guy is introduced
4. State that John is a unstoppable killing machine
5. Big bad guy sets up a situation where lots of little bad guys go after John
6. John overcomes said obstacle
7. Queue something that increase the complexity of the lore around the franchise
8. Big bad guy sends even more people to fight John. Maybe even a Little Big Bad guy
9. John gets some help from someone
10. John overcomes Little Big Bad guy and minors
11. Brief reflection on how things aren’t getting better for John and he says he wants out of the game
12. John Kills Big bad guy

Through it all, we would wonder how is he going to get past this? There are variations and a couple jokes along the way. The film tries new things by adding some other characters, but I don’t know if I ever really care at this point. Maybe it was because I saw them all in the span of a couple weeks.

I would say the movie is good and it certainly brings the action, but I wouldn’t mind if this was the last one.

John deserves a rest.

Overview

With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

As I write this, it has been almost a week since the end of season one of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus. I think it’s a really nice addition to the media that I’ve been watching this year. This year has had a lot of opportunities for me to look at pacing. I find it to be a refreshing contrast to how many things have changed this year. They say the only constant in life is change, and I’m eagerly waiting for events to become boring. Pluribus has moments of stillness. Moments where “nothing” happens, and you get a chance to observe all the little things.

How did I get here?

This year, the media that I noticed pacing the most is Casablanca, Jaws, Gremlins, Sinners, and PeaceMaker Season 2. These all had different kind of pacing. What I define as pacing is the rate at which action and dialogue is shown on screen. For some, these are the moments that happen when the director yells “action”. All of these had moments where you have the actor contemplating or a pause filled with foreboding.

I feel that countless modern shows are pushing narratives where they explain everything to the audience, and the examples that I mentioned above leave some of this subtext up to you to figure out.

That is the point. You get to think.

More than a billion dollar screensaver

Pluribus has the most extreme version of empathy that I’ve ever seen on TV. You see millions of people coming together for one purpose. No violence. No Racism. No differentiating of social economic status. It allows you to think about a world where it doesn’t matter and what it would cost the individual.

I remember when I was unemployed, and I had my wife and two young daughters to care for. I was depressed and felt like a failure. The initial stance of The Others on providing purpose and happiness is tantalizing. If this option was presented to me, I would not have hesitated on the promise that my family would have everything they wanted.

I feel that is part of what makes discussions and thoughts about the show so engaging for me. When I think about the scenarios, I also think about who else would be in the hive mind, and it makes me question.

• Is my family in there?
• How many of my exes?
• Is the person who borrowed my 1996 Ginuwine… the BachelorCD and never gave it back in there?
• Can I have it back?
• What if I was the only one who wasn’t joined in?

That last one, really has me wondering. I’ve sometimes felt lonely at parties. I don’t know what it would mean to have that feeling and it being the entire world.

This is my favorite show to come out this year. I feel that the reason it is my favorite is because a lot has happened this year and having a fun distraction like this is exactly what I needed. You don't need to know a lot about it and the stakes aren't that high.

Based off of a novela, I was a little hesitant on how they were going to make something that is essentially a 2.5 hour audiobook into a whole season of television. I was grateful that what they added to the story made the characters and story more well rounded and relatable.

Overview

In a high-tech future, a rogue security robot secretly gains free will. To stay hidden, it reluctantly joins a new mission protecting scientists on a dangerous planet...even though it just wants to binge soap operas.

My youngest daughter told me that this is her favorite horror movie. I think it's a great movie that has really stood the test of time.

Speaking of time, I feel that it’s probably the scariest part of this movie. I remember watching this movie when I was younger and being introduced to the idea of living forever and not liking it. I was lucky enough to only know death as taking those that I didn’t know or interact with on a regular basis. The idea that someone close to me wasn’t a possibility at the time. I was understanding of my own mortality but not of my friends and family. To have them gone and for me to go on and on. That was scary.

Anyway, back to the film.

I’m happy that Maryl Streep and Goldie Hawn were in it. They had charisma and power that never made me doubt that they could have THE Bruce Willis wrapped around their fingers. Bruce does a great job of being the undesirable object of desire for Maryl and Goldie.

Overview

Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once her arch-rival Helen's fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen vows to kill Madeline and steal back Ernest. Unfortunately for everyone, the introduction of a magic potion causes things to be a great deal more complicated than a mere murder plot.

As I was about to post, I thought about how it compares to The Substance…

This was a good season of TV that concluded with a finale that just left me with questions.

One of the things I’ve appreciated about the show is that it focuses the story about the people more than science fiction. I love what the actors have done, year-over-year and tune in just to see what’s going to happen next. That being said, I don’t know where this series is going to go from here. They’ve had so many questions not so many answers. I’ve never really felt that with the show when we first started, I knew that there was an overarching plan, but I didn’t really care too much about the details.

So I don’t know if I’ll sign up or be around for the fourth season but it’ll be interesting to see.

Overview

152 years after the events of season two, The Foundation has become increasingly established far beyond its humble beginnings while the Cleonic Dynasty's Empire has dwindled. As both of these galactic powers forge an uneasy alliance, a threat to the entire galaxy appears in the fearsome form of a warlord known as "The Mule," whose sights are set on ruling the universe by use of physical and military force as well as mind control. It’s anyone's guess who will win, who will lose, who will live and who will die as Hari Seldon, Gaal Dornick, the Cleons and Demerzel play a potentially deadly game of intergalactic chess.

Watched: Casablanca 🍿

I think knowing too much of what was going to happen at the end may have affected the way that I felt about this movie. I knew that there was going to be a plane and it was just a question of how we would get there.

Honestly, I can see a lot of troupes that we would see in other films later on and I have to say thank you for that. But, I don’t think I would watch this again.

Unfortunately, I had read a lot about the movie before I got a chance to see it and I brought some expectations into viewing it.

Couple that with the fact that this little review is several weeks after seeing it.

That being said, I would happily watch this movie again!

From the opening scene, you know things are not going to go well for the people in this movie. The beautiful thing about the movie isn’t so much the blood and gore, but the build up to it. How did we get here?

I know some people might not appreciate the build up, but I feel that you can’t really enjoy the next part without it.

Overview

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

This season is better than the last.

I started watching this because I needed a break from watching Love After Lockup.

The one thing I noticed about this season is that it doesn’t focus as much on how much of a Jerk Rick Sanchez is. You get more of the family being fleshed out and seeing what adventures that they are up to.

Overall, I didn’t end the season feeling that I had wasted my time on this. I’d be interested in another season if it was to have one, but I’m ok if this is the last one.

Overview

Rick and Morty are back for Season Eight! Life has meaning again! Anything is possible! Look out for adventures with Summer, Jerry, Beth, and the other Beth. Maybe Butter Bot will get a new task? Whatever happens, you can't keep Rick and Morty down for long. People have tried!

The first one was unexpected. There was a level of novelty mixed with the nostalgia for the Addams Family.

This one feels like the studio said the first one did great, just do it again but bigger!

The most telling thing about this was that when the family got together to watch it, everyone had their second screen for most of episode 3 and the first half of 4.

I feel that I grew tired of the characters. I grew tired of having two groups of people (normies and outcasts) hate each other because they’re different. Conflicts that could be avoided by taking 10 minutes to listen to each other. I grew tired of people thinking they know everything and they are the only ones who can do anything. Probably the most realistic thing about the show.

The most glaring thing about the show was pointed out by my daughter when I asked her about it. I’m paraphrasing it below.

The problem is that this isn’t the Addams Family. The appeal of the Addams was that they were different. The outside world didn’t always understand or like them, but they had each other’s back.

Now, I know Wednesday means well, but having almost every interaction be antagonistic gets old.

Overview

Wednesday goes back to Nevermore, and -just like the boy who lived- she's got a mystery to solve! She'll use anything to solve this one: Fans, Friends, and Family; because ONLY SHE can stop a troubling vision of causing destruction.

Oh, and apparently, no matter where you send your children the teaching staff will be questionable.

At this point, I’m watching it because my family is watching it and I’m enjoying the cameos.