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Media Roundup: September 2023
IT'S BACK. After almost a year! I miss posting through all of the shit I've been watching/listening to/reading on the rare occasion that happens, so I'mma try to make it a big monthly thing, just for fun~
Blue Hawaii (1961): Who needs plot when Elvis?
Elevator Game (2023): Well edited!
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story (2023): Not bad! Not good enough to justify the years of my life I lost seeing that trailer over and over and over again, every time I went to the movies EVER, but not bad! Felt a lot like a modern day Grand Prix to me, in terms of a whatever plot that's really only there to prop up all of the genuinely engaging race scenes, since that was where the real money was.
A Haunting in Venice (2023): I love Branagh's silly little mustache movies and I hope he continues making them forever. In particular, I quite enjoyed the way this one pivoted away from the glossy, star-studded fluff feel of the first two to just going all in on the spooky Gothic vibes. SO MANY DUTCH ANGLES!!! They also didn't telegraph the killer quite so brutally as they did in the last one, which was nice. That kid they got to play Leopold was SO GOOD, he really just broke my li'l heart in the end!
House of Usher (1960): Probably the best adaptation of it I've seen? Somebody please tell me that blond Vincent Price can't hurt me, though.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): Because sometimes, you just want to feel eight years old again.
It Lives Inside (2023): Pretty by-the-numbers horror filtered through a pretty cool lens? The psychic damage I got when I realized it was Kevin Calvin from Radio Active as the dad was immeasurable, though.
The Nun II (2023): It's lacking the main thing that made the first one so palatable to me, which was the way they clearly just found one really cool location and filmed the FUCK out of it, but it's not bad. I don't forgive them for killing the hot priest off-screen, though!
Paths of Glory (1957): Because sometimes you just want to start a month by crying until you have a headache for some reason!!!
Saw X (2023): socks
They Cloned Tyrone (2023): Love me some thoughtful sci-fi, love me a ragtag group of misfits solving a mystery, love me some fun production design on a budget, there was simply so much here for me to love! Also it triggered that desperate craving I had for fried chicken a couple of weeks ago that has yet to completely go away, no matter how much fried chicken I have subsequently eaten.
Zombie Town (2022): It's got TWO Kids in the Hall in it, that's how you KNOW it must be good.
Barry Season 3: This show always makes me feel like I need a little lie down after I watch it. How did Henry Winkler win an Emmy for the first season but not for THIS, godDAMN.
Harley Quinn Season 4: Fun! That's about all I got. I am gonna miss Harley in the Bat-Family, if only because that outfit was so great.
I Am Groot Season 2: This shit remains stupid cute, leave me alone.
The Life of Manders: So refreshing to see a guy whose gimmick is being a big redneck and immediately being able to tell that it is no way a gimmick, that really just is who he be (while also being able to at least hope he's not a right-wing piece of shit just because he chews tobacco and likes to play with lassos since he's besties with Sawyer Wreck and you know she would NEVER). The scenes with him watching the big light tube deathmatch from the rafters, from the guys hyping themselves up backstage to the grisly finish, surrounded by these dozens of fans just losing their minds in that tiny little venue? Chills, man. That is what it's all about!!!
Minx Season 2: I think we were supposed to be rooting for them getting the better of the MAN and doing some pirate publishing in the end, but mostly I just felt bad for Doug? Literally nobody gave a shit about him all damn season, no wonder he turned heel the instant someone offered him a scrap of attention and success. Also, it's explicitly a women's magazine, it makes perfect sense not to have stuff for gay men in it, that would be a different magazine, WHY WAS I SIDING WITH THE BAD GUYS FOR SO MUCH OF THIS SEASON? As always, I blame Joyce, man she sucks. Please don't cancel this again! (they will definitely cancel it again) (that will also somehow be the fault of fictional character Joyce Prigger)
Riverdale Season 7: FOR THE FINAL TIME. THIS SHIT RULED, I DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???? They just lost their damn minds in the last season and decided to actually try making a good show again, I guess!! Now let's never talk about how much the series finale made me cry ever again, please and thank you. What a ride. #JusticeForReggie, unfairly left out of the polycule :(
Yellowjackets Season 1: Oh, there is no way this thing is getting any kind of satisfactory conclusion, is there? Unless it gets, like, eight seasons, what year do these people think it actually is? You simply cannot move THIS slowly on your reveals in this day and age! You're gonna get cancelled, possibly even after being renewed, you gotta prepare for that! Still, I dig it a lot, so I'm glad I didn't wait any longer, and Jackie's death really got to me, in all its sad inevitability.
Uncover Season 20: For one of those things that's considered 'forgotten history' (the MOVE bombing), I feel like I already knew pretty much all of this? And I am not a history person, let alone an American history person. Still, always worth revisiting/remembering.
Uncover Season 21: See, THIS I didn't know anything about and it's actual Canadian news! I only barely remember hearing about the murders, forget about having any context for who the Shermans were prior to that. Whatever, I'm all for Saul Rubinek getting easy work.
Zombies, Run!: The Way of All Flesh: HOW DARE THEY? HOW DARE THEY. Make me fall in love with Chris and ship him with Jody years after they fucking killed him off after only two episodes in season 1, fucking RUDE. A fun murder mystery steeped in heavily lampshaded lore (it's the bangle! from the grave Peter took his last name from! HER NAME IS JERRY AND SHE'S WITH NETROPHIL, DID YOU GET IT), and I'm looking forward to getting to season 5 in the relisten now that I actually know who the fuck Keith and Manisha are. Now seriously, give me some Audible reqs while I still have the free trial that I used to get this.
Zombies, Run! Season 1: THE RELISTEN IS UNDERWAY. Since it's been like five years since I actually ran these missions (I think I started a couple of weeks after Barry and Honey Sherman were murdered, lol) and have completely lost all sense of how the story was actually paced out, it's a real adventure! I remember what all happened, but like... Paula seriously shows up before Simon ever does?? How!! I thought she was MIA for WAY longer than that! Anyway, this is still such good shit, even if they've added so much to this era over the years that putting it all in a proper timeline has been a real undertaking. And I don't even have the virtual races!
Zombies, Run! Season 2: Such a fucking roller coaster ride, man. Fitting all the side missions into the timeline was a trip (at least put them in order with each OTHER, man), but worth it for the flow~ Also Sam IS canonically in love with Runner 5*, sorry not sorry but you need it that way for him to properly stand as the narrative counterpoint to Janine when the traitor can only be 3 or 5 at the very end and hey SPEAKING of Simon, I have a lot of feelings about how this... app? show? THING? treats the concept of forgiveness rather cavalierly at times, but in some really deliberate ways, and Nadia and Ian both tie into them a lot, but I think I will save those for after I'm done revisiting season 3. How Many Times Does Runner Five Hallucinate Over The Years Count: 1
*HE IS LITERALLY PENELOPE IN THE BIG ODYSSEY SEND-UP MISSION, I MEAN COME ON
Ventures: Venus Rising: This goes after ZR because I simply cannot help but adore any canon that does its own genre AUs!!! Extremely rude of them to kill almost everyone off at the end, but weaselly corporate stooge Peter was delightful and terrible and I loved him while I had him and he did not deserve to have my boy Steve go crazy and rip out his jugular, the end. SPECIALIST 5 LIVES TO SPACE RUN ANOTHER DAY!
Blue Hawaii (1961): Who needs plot when Elvis?
Elevator Game (2023): Well edited!
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story (2023): Not bad! Not good enough to justify the years of my life I lost seeing that trailer over and over and over again, every time I went to the movies EVER, but not bad! Felt a lot like a modern day Grand Prix to me, in terms of a whatever plot that's really only there to prop up all of the genuinely engaging race scenes, since that was where the real money was.
A Haunting in Venice (2023): I love Branagh's silly little mustache movies and I hope he continues making them forever. In particular, I quite enjoyed the way this one pivoted away from the glossy, star-studded fluff feel of the first two to just going all in on the spooky Gothic vibes. SO MANY DUTCH ANGLES!!! They also didn't telegraph the killer quite so brutally as they did in the last one, which was nice. That kid they got to play Leopold was SO GOOD, he really just broke my li'l heart in the end!
House of Usher (1960): Probably the best adaptation of it I've seen? Somebody please tell me that blond Vincent Price can't hurt me, though.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): Because sometimes, you just want to feel eight years old again.
It Lives Inside (2023): Pretty by-the-numbers horror filtered through a pretty cool lens? The psychic damage I got when I realized it was Kevin Calvin from Radio Active as the dad was immeasurable, though.
The Nun II (2023): It's lacking the main thing that made the first one so palatable to me, which was the way they clearly just found one really cool location and filmed the FUCK out of it, but it's not bad. I don't forgive them for killing the hot priest off-screen, though!
Paths of Glory (1957): Because sometimes you just want to start a month by crying until you have a headache for some reason!!!
Saw X (2023): socks
They Cloned Tyrone (2023): Love me some thoughtful sci-fi, love me a ragtag group of misfits solving a mystery, love me some fun production design on a budget, there was simply so much here for me to love! Also it triggered that desperate craving I had for fried chicken a couple of weeks ago that has yet to completely go away, no matter how much fried chicken I have subsequently eaten.
Zombie Town (2022): It's got TWO Kids in the Hall in it, that's how you KNOW it must be good.
Barry Season 3: This show always makes me feel like I need a little lie down after I watch it. How did Henry Winkler win an Emmy for the first season but not for THIS, godDAMN.
Harley Quinn Season 4: Fun! That's about all I got. I am gonna miss Harley in the Bat-Family, if only because that outfit was so great.
I Am Groot Season 2: This shit remains stupid cute, leave me alone.
The Life of Manders: So refreshing to see a guy whose gimmick is being a big redneck and immediately being able to tell that it is no way a gimmick, that really just is who he be (while also being able to at least hope he's not a right-wing piece of shit just because he chews tobacco and likes to play with lassos since he's besties with Sawyer Wreck and you know she would NEVER). The scenes with him watching the big light tube deathmatch from the rafters, from the guys hyping themselves up backstage to the grisly finish, surrounded by these dozens of fans just losing their minds in that tiny little venue? Chills, man. That is what it's all about!!!
Minx Season 2: I think we were supposed to be rooting for them getting the better of the MAN and doing some pirate publishing in the end, but mostly I just felt bad for Doug? Literally nobody gave a shit about him all damn season, no wonder he turned heel the instant someone offered him a scrap of attention and success. Also, it's explicitly a women's magazine, it makes perfect sense not to have stuff for gay men in it, that would be a different magazine, WHY WAS I SIDING WITH THE BAD GUYS FOR SO MUCH OF THIS SEASON? As always, I blame Joyce, man she sucks. Please don't cancel this again! (they will definitely cancel it again) (that will also somehow be the fault of fictional character Joyce Prigger)
Riverdale Season 7: FOR THE FINAL TIME. THIS SHIT RULED, I DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???? They just lost their damn minds in the last season and decided to actually try making a good show again, I guess!! Now let's never talk about how much the series finale made me cry ever again, please and thank you. What a ride. #JusticeForReggie, unfairly left out of the polycule :(
Yellowjackets Season 1: Oh, there is no way this thing is getting any kind of satisfactory conclusion, is there? Unless it gets, like, eight seasons, what year do these people think it actually is? You simply cannot move THIS slowly on your reveals in this day and age! You're gonna get cancelled, possibly even after being renewed, you gotta prepare for that! Still, I dig it a lot, so I'm glad I didn't wait any longer, and Jackie's death really got to me, in all its sad inevitability.
Uncover Season 20: For one of those things that's considered 'forgotten history' (the MOVE bombing), I feel like I already knew pretty much all of this? And I am not a history person, let alone an American history person. Still, always worth revisiting/remembering.
Uncover Season 21: See, THIS I didn't know anything about and it's actual Canadian news! I only barely remember hearing about the murders, forget about having any context for who the Shermans were prior to that. Whatever, I'm all for Saul Rubinek getting easy work.
Zombies, Run!: The Way of All Flesh: HOW DARE THEY? HOW DARE THEY. Make me fall in love with Chris and ship him with Jody years after they fucking killed him off after only two episodes in season 1, fucking RUDE. A fun murder mystery steeped in heavily lampshaded lore (it's the bangle! from the grave Peter took his last name from! HER NAME IS JERRY AND SHE'S WITH NETROPHIL, DID YOU GET IT), and I'm looking forward to getting to season 5 in the relisten now that I actually know who the fuck Keith and Manisha are. Now seriously, give me some Audible reqs while I still have the free trial that I used to get this.
Zombies, Run! Season 1: THE RELISTEN IS UNDERWAY. Since it's been like five years since I actually ran these missions (I think I started a couple of weeks after Barry and Honey Sherman were murdered, lol) and have completely lost all sense of how the story was actually paced out, it's a real adventure! I remember what all happened, but like... Paula seriously shows up before Simon ever does?? How!! I thought she was MIA for WAY longer than that! Anyway, this is still such good shit, even if they've added so much to this era over the years that putting it all in a proper timeline has been a real undertaking. And I don't even have the virtual races!
Zombies, Run! Season 2: Such a fucking roller coaster ride, man. Fitting all the side missions into the timeline was a trip (at least put them in order with each OTHER, man), but worth it for the flow~ Also Sam IS canonically in love with Runner 5*, sorry not sorry but you need it that way for him to properly stand as the narrative counterpoint to Janine when the traitor can only be 3 or 5 at the very end and hey SPEAKING of Simon, I have a lot of feelings about how this... app? show? THING? treats the concept of forgiveness rather cavalierly at times, but in some really deliberate ways, and Nadia and Ian both tie into them a lot, but I think I will save those for after I'm done revisiting season 3. How Many Times Does Runner Five Hallucinate Over The Years Count: 1
*HE IS LITERALLY PENELOPE IN THE BIG ODYSSEY SEND-UP MISSION, I MEAN COME ON
Ventures: Venus Rising: This goes after ZR because I simply cannot help but adore any canon that does its own genre AUs!!! Extremely rude of them to kill almost everyone off at the end, but weaselly corporate stooge Peter was delightful and terrible and I loved him while I had him and he did not deserve to have my boy Steve go crazy and rip out his jugular, the end. SPECIALIST 5 LIVES TO SPACE RUN ANOTHER DAY!