MOVIES:
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Amazon). So, I LOVE The Fifth Element. It’s one of my top ten favorite movies of all time. One time, I think it was during Christmas break maybe? My sister and I watched it five times in a row over the course of two days. Greatest way to spend your time? Quite possibly. Anyway, so I generally have favorable feelings towards Luc Besson’s work based solely upon my undying love for The Fifth Element. This move was apparently a passion project for him, and I am here to tell you that…. it’s not as good as The Fifth Element but nowhere near as terrible as the reviews for this movie make it out to be. It’s really fun and watchable. The movie it reminds me of is Jupiter Ascending… only far better than that movie. Anyway, so if you like space movies and can overlook some uncanny valley special effects for one species of aliens, then you will most likely enjoy this movie. It’s really fun.
Crooked House (Amazon). This is my favorite Agatha Christie mystery due to who turns out to be the murderer and this adaptation is impeccably cast! Glenn Close is delightful as the aunt. It’s a little slow though. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for British mystery drama. *shrug*
Blade Runner 2049 (HBO). This is a sequel I guess of the original Blade Runner from 1982 and it takes place thirty years after that one. It is sort of interesting to look at but slow and kind of boring. I think in the middle I got up and washed the dishes and when I went back to it I hadn’t missed anything.
TV:
Lost in Space (Netflix): I watched the first two episodes of this. It’s…okay? Not binge-worthy though. I read somewhere that it’s paced better if you spread out the episodes and I would have to agree with that. It’s definitely episodic and not like, say, Stranger Things which is essentially like a 7 hour movie. Anyway, Lost in Space is a literal reboot of the classic TV show and it has high production values but I watched these episodes back when it first came out and haven’t gone back to it, so that should tell you something right there…
The 100 (CW & Netflix for earlier seasons). So, I have watched this show from the beginning when it started out as a teenybopper futuristic Lord of the Flies situation and have stayed watching it because it’s surprisingly a show that evolves with every episode and each season has reinvented itself. The show is also not afraid to kill characters off or have their characters do terrible things in order to survive. Recently I got caught up with the back half of Season 4 and have been watching Season 5 in real time.
PODCASTS:
Nothing too crazy to report on here, as I went through a couple MFM eps, an episode of Sword & Scale (#82, interview with a 911 dispatcher and a 911 recording that will break your soul in half and stomp on it, OMG). BUT aside from unrelenting murder I did want to slightly discuss my current favorite podcast.
The Adventure Zone. This is, simply, a podcast that is recording the ridiculous Dungeons & Dragons campaign of the McElroy brothers and their father (the brothers do other podcasts including Sawbones, which I have listened to before which is about medical history). I have an absolutely terrible sense of humor, i.e., there are many popular things I simply do not find funny (British humor in toto, every comedian but Jim Gaffigan, most sitcoms, toilet humor, etc etc. You name it, I probably don’t think it’s funny. I DO find almost anything with Danny McBride funny, and I like the 21 Jump Street movies. And the Lego movies but I don’t think they are supposed to necessarily be comedies? Anyway, I digress) so when I tell you that The Adventure Zone is hands down one of the funniest things I have ever had the pleasure of listening to, I mean that in the most heartfelt way. These guys are having an absolute blast and it shows – from the silly story arcs to the characters to the character voices these guys give their characters, I like it all. And it even kind of makes me want to play D&D. But don’t tell anyone that last part. I’m coming up on the end of the Balance Arc and I am bereft. I love this podcast.