Movies, Shows, etc

Wednesday
This was on constantly in our house over the holidays. I think the girls and S all watched it on their own, then we had several episodes on the main TV while we had guests. I sat and partially watched a few of them. I thought it was funny, clever, and generally good. Doubt I’ll check out the entire series on my own, though.

B+

The White Lotus, seasons one and two
I probably should have taken some time between these seasons, and then written down my thoughts separately for each. However, I knocked them both out in about 10 days and loved just about every second.

It is a genius show for many reasons. You hate the bulk of the cast, who are mostly terrible people, yet are compelled to keep watching. It tackles and critiques so many elements of society: class, wealth, and privilege; parenthood, marriage, and sex; race relations; colonialism. Some of these, and others, are just brushed upon. But there’s some seriously good commentary about the bigger issues.

I think what makes it truly brilliant, though, is you don’t have to dive into any of that if you don’t want to. You can just let the exceptionally compelling and funny mystery captivate you for the six and seven episodes that make up each season, guessing and re-guessing about who that body we see in the first episode will end up being.

Great writing, great acting, great scenery, great show.

A, A

All Quiet On The Western Front
I’m pretty sure I either watched the original 1930 film or read the 1928 novel. Both are pretty heavy accountings of what life was like for German soldiers in the later days of, and time after, World War I, and considered classic anti-war works.

Remaking the movie with modern techniques makes for an even more haunting experience. All war is brutal, but World War I was especially terrible as tactics had not yet caught up with technology, and men were sent running into sure death quite often. My assumption is that no cinematic experience can recreate the horrors of war. After all, if your life isn’t in danger and you can’t smell, hear, feel death all around you, you can’t understand what it is like to be in war. This film pulls no punches and has some of the most brutal images of war I can recall in a movie.

While this updated version fails to follow the soldiers after war, an element of the original that emphasized the isolation that came with serving, it is still a powerful experience.

B+

Gone Girl
I read Gillian Flynn’s book when it first came out about a decade ago, but never saw the movie. So I knew what happened, but couldn’t remember the exact details, which always makes for an interesting viewing experience as I try to remember the book and wonder what, if anything, has been changed. Seems like this was pretty faithful to the book, and I certainly enjoyed it.

A-

Perry Mason, season one
I never watched the original Perry Mason, although I remember seeing its black and white reruns on local TV as I flipped past when I was a kid. The only thing that got me interested in this was it being Matthew Rhys’ first big part after The Americans.

This season was a little slow, especially in the middle episodes. While I enjoyed some of the more modern political/societal angles that were included in the story, I wondered how well they fit the times (1931–32). Still Rhys was very good, as was Stephen Root, and the supporting performances were almost all excellent. When the momentum finally picked up in the final three episodes, it became pretty good TV.

B+


Shorts, YouTubes, etc

Frightened Rabbit – ‘The Full Session’ | The Bridge 909 in Studio
Figured I had watched just about all the FR content that is available until I found this. It kicked off a big change in my music listening habits I’ll detail in the next section.

THE VIEW FROM 12 BARRELS AT 12 DIFFERENT WAVES IN ONE YEAR
Nathan Florence is a bad ass surfer. He takes it to the next level by surfing some of the best waves in the world with a GoPro clenched between his teeth to share an unreal perspective.

Slow Lane
It had been awhile since I watched an arty surf video. The second half of the CFP national championship game seemed like a good time to break that slump. As always in Need Essential films, the music is pretty amazing too.

Mach Loop 2022 Highlights!! USAF F–15Eagle V F35Lightning Low Level through the Mountains of Wales
I’ve watched some of these before. Seems like a pretty cool spot to hang out and watch some military jets roar right by you.

The Greatest Low Flybys & Airshow Moments
Others have said it before, but I’ll add my voice to the chorus: if you want medium quality airshow videos, Bobsurgranny is your best source.

The Offensive Action Taking Over Basketball
Zoom zoom.

Why Switzerland Has 374,142 Bunkers (and likely more)
I think I knew a little bit about the concept of Swiss bunkers, but I had no idea they were this common, the logic behind them, and how they are becoming relevant again.

Dropping a GoPro Under a Popular Fishing Pier
Great, my YouTube recommendations are probably going to be overrun with fishing videos since I watched this.

Making Of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Anytime I watch a war movie, I’m always thinking about the logistics that go into filming complex battle scenes. How much planning there is, how many moving parts there are, and the coordination to takes to make it all work. I would have preferred this be a more technical explanation of how things were done.

How were Roman roads made? Roman Road-Construction
Those Romans were crafty.

Alvvays – What’s In My Bag?
This kids are soooo Canadian.

Inside the 40 Year-Long Dungeons & Dragons Game
I got into a little D&D content binge for a couple weeks, both reading articles and watching videos about the game. This was the most interesting of the several vids I watched.
Can You Play Dungeons and Dragons with only things found at the Dollar Store?
I watch a lot of weird stuff, not all of which makes this accounting each month. But I figured since I already outed myself for dabbling in D&D content, I should go ahead and include this one.

Dhaulagiri
I very much enjoyed the perspective of this climbing film, more about the courage to accept when a summit attempt won’t be safe than the courage to climb in the first place.

Anthony Bourdain A Cook’s Tour: Season 2 Episode 5: Elements of a Great Bar
Have I ever seen A Cook’s Tour before? I don’t think so. This popped into my feed and looks like the entire series is on YouTube, so I’ll be checking it out soon.

What Army Snipers Go Through At Sniper School
I figured sniper school would just be a bunch of shooting. Looks like it gets kind of nutty.


Music/Podcasts

90.9 The Bridge
I’ve written about this elsewhere, but it was seeing that Frightened Rabbit video above on New Year’s Day that had me checking The Bridge’s stream, on which I discovered their Z-to-A countdown that I listened to with great frequency over the next couple weeks. I’m still checking in with them, just not as often.

Year-end charts can produce upsets.
Chris Molanphy broke down how Billboard’s Song of the Year is selected, then ranked all the songs of the year in this two-parter.