Random Television

Things are drying up, as expected.  Still getting giggles during my favorite old Geico commercial ("Marco!  Polo!")  As much as I don't mind watching "Thor:  Ragnarok" over and over (and over and over) I have managed to see a little new content and some older content I never saw in the first place.  I have a free trial to Disney+ and am able to jump on the Amazon Prime account of a relative.  Favorite new series?  "Upload" on Amazon Prime.  It's funny and thought provoking with a little mystery and a little romance.  All-in-all a very bingeable five plus hours.  "Elephant", on Disney+, makes for a fairly intriguing and interesting hour or so, as does "Diving with Dolphins".  Also on Disney+ is "Artemis Fowl" which doesn't honor the book much but is entertaining and well-done.  Since I had read the books so very long ago I didn't remember all the details (although I remember liking them a great deal).  In any case the film works on its own and is a great way to get out of reality for a bit.  In a similar vein, "Race to Witch Mountain" departs from the source material so much that it becomes unrecognizable.  Mostly it is just a light mish-mash of Fast-and-Furious meets X-Men meets Terminator with Dwayne Johnson hitting every note perfectly.  "Out", an animated short, takes on the issue of a gay man coming out to his family in a clear, simple way which doesn't politicize but just makes the whole story human.  "Knives Out" was fun and had great performances but felt more like popcorn than substance.  Maybe if I hadn't figured out the mystery in the first half hour ...

On the "ehh" side is Amazon Prime's "Troop Zero" which proves that not every Alyson Janney film is gold, and "Ready Player One" which was fun but forgettable.  Would probably appeal more to gamers than me.  Love "The Prince and the Pauper" but have to say the 2000 version with Aidan Quinn felt lethargic, at best.  "The Aeronauts" was similarly low-energy although somewhat interesting in terms of history and science.  Ironically started to watch "Late Night" only to realize I've seen it before.  Which says something about how not memorable it was.

On CW Seed I have been able to relive "Forever", a great show that didn't get its due on network TV.  On cable, I'm greatly enjoying "Stargirl" which has nicely darker sides to balance the sugary sweet leading lady.  I'm curious to see how the characters develop.  The mean girl/villain is already intriguing me.  I was thrilled for the return of "What We Do in the Shadows" which provided my biggest laughs of the summer, and "The Bold Type" which is just soapy enough without being too soapy.  "Penn and Teller's Fool Us" creates a light diversion for my brain, challenging me to see if I can spot the trickery, and I'm thrilled to see "Life in Pieces" now streaming.  A great, smart sitcom, cancelled before its time.

Weekends give me the chance to compare good second movies to bad ones.  "Star Trek:  Into Darkness" continues the tradition of even numbered ST sequels being outstanding, while "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is just as good as "Ant-Man", if not better.  "Justice League" improved a great deal on "Batman v Superman" but how could it be worse?  (How could anything be worse?)  Less impressive are films like "Legally Blonde II", "Miss Cordiality II", and "Sex in the City II" and let's not even talk about the even numbered Indiana Jones films.  Let's just say anything with "II" in the title (or "Doom") is not going to be good.

The public library is sorta/kinda back up and running so I was able to see "The Big Lebowski" which was great for quirky weird laughs.  The highlight, OF COURSE, has been "Hamilton".  So good.  So very, very good.  So totally worth the wait.  I plan to rewatch it soon.

With Hollywood all but shut down for now and summer blockbuster films held until the fall, it will be, at best, a long time until we see truly new stuff.  Guess it is time to cough up money for Hulu or Netflix to catch up on the shows I've missed, or, you know, read a book.