A fast start slowed by baseball playoffs and the beginning of the NBA season.
Movies and Shows
Halloween Wars
Halloween Baking Championship
It’s holiday baking season, bitches!!!! L and I only made it through a couple episodes of Halloween Wars, so it gets an incomplete. But S and I wrapped up HBC on Halloween night. Renee was a shocking winner. Adina had been the best baker the entire competition, Guillermo came on strong late, and I was sure they were ahead of Renee in the final bake. I thought this year’s crop of bakers was lacking in charisma, which detracted from the season.
Incomplete, B+
Barry
Holy shit! I’ve heard about this show for years and thought I knew what I was getting into. Boy was I surprised!
Bill Hader plays a hitman who stumbles into an acting class while chasing a target. He becomes enamored with the class and joins it, all while trying to leave his previous life behind him. I assumed it was about the hilarious issues of navigating this change. There was plenty of that, for sure. I did not know it would be soooooo dark and his efforts to leave would be, largely, fruitless. Not knowing that was coming made the payoff even better. Some GREAT supporting characters, especially Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank.
A
The American
I remember this getting a lot of mediocre reviews when it came out. One of those best recent espionage movies lists I found over the summer suggested it was worth a re-evaluation.
It was just sooooo slow and soooooo lacking in dialogue and real action that it was tough to sit through. Clooney does a great job with a character that is very different from any other he has played in his career. But when we watch Clooney, we want the Clooney Charisma, which is no where to be found.
B-
Casino Royale
Spectre
My pre-No Time to Die studying.
A, B-
Sicario
I’ve lost track of how many movies and shows I’ve watched and books I’ve read about the war on drugs in general and the Latin American drugs trade in particular. Many of them grapple with the morality of law enforcement’s efforts as they battle drug producers and traffickers. And they almost always show how law enforcement face a difficult battle given the restrictions they operate under. As tempting as it is to let them loose without limits, as a society we face the question of how we prevent that lack of oversight from spilling into other aspects of law enforcement.
I think Sicario did as good a job as any of those other works I’ve digested at getting into the meat of that quandary. It’s really cool that Benicio Del Toro has gone off the reservation to make a significant hit on a Mexican cartel. But he’s also done it in a super illegal manner, one that Emily Blunt’s character is not willing to give her approval to. Sicario doesn’t provide an answer to the debate. I think it’s much easier to have a concrete opinion about a scenario in a movie setting than in real life.
A-
Shorts
Stable Rollers
Science! When I watch stuff like this I always wonder about the trial-and-error that went into discovering these issues when, for example, the first trains were built. I assume a few trains were lost in testing before the shape of the wheels was perfected.
A
Ocean Depth Comparison
Dope. I always though the Caribbean Sea was fairly shallow, so I learned something.
A
Signing 1,812 books after sleeping in a ditch
Beau Miles can make anything interesting and unique.
A
Flat Earth FC
This was a funny little piece, until I learned the club transitioned to being anti-mask and anti-vaccine after Covid hit. Probably not a surprise a new owner has stepped in and rebranded.
B+
How the 3-point line is breaking basketball
This title of this piece is a little judgmental; just because the game has changed drastically doesn’t mean it’s broken. And I hate to sound like an old man and reflexively decide that, because the game is different now than 20 years ago, that means something it wrong with it. But this is an informative primer for those of you who may not follow basketball and wonder what all the fuss about the three-point shot is.
B+
Devil’s Teeth
A short about Ron Elliott, who dove for sea urchins around the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, an area notorious for being populated by Great White Sharks. A little too moody and lacking in sharks for me.
B-
Daniel Craig Answers Questions About James Bond 007
“Don’t be s***!” Daniel Craig’s advice for the next James Bond
Daniel Craig & Lashana Lynch Answer the Web’s Most Searched Questions
Thank you, Daniel Craig, for your service.
A-, A-, A-
How Radiohead Wrote the Perfect Bond Theme
Too much music theory for me. Can’t believe I’ve never heard this song before.
B
10 Things Jason Sudeikis Can’t Live Without
Disappointing no Kansas/Kansas City items are in here.
F (OK, B+)
This LEGO build will blow your mind
What kind of sorcery is this?
A