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Saturday, December 1
Thursday, November 1
Monday, October 1
Friday, September 14
*taps mic*
Friday, September 14
... Is this thing on?
It's obviously been a bit since I posted anything other than the Man Calendar. I don't really want to come at you with excuses, but the fact of the matter is that this blog has gotten pushed down my neverending list of things that I need to do—and, in complete honesty, things that I want to do.
I love this space. I don't want to call it quits. But I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. I'm giving it some thought, but it might take me a while to come up with something grand and exciting. So consider this post a past-due announcement of an indefinite hiatus (with the exception of the Man Calendar; those will go up on time as usual).
In addition to a "state of the blog," I also wanted to play a bit of catch-up here. My backlog of series updates has become a bit daunting; consider this a lightning round.
| Deadpool 2 | Solo | Ocean's 8 |
| ★★★★ | ★★ | ★★★★½ |
| Hey Ricky Baker! Wade vs. Cable Ness deserved better | Nicholson, not Ford Pretty unnecessary Chewie is my fave | Holy hot ladies Great sequel to the franchise Danny Ocean who? |
| Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Ant-Man and the Wasp | Skyscraper |
| ★★★ | ★★★★½ | ★★★ |
| Life finds a way (again) Justice for the dinosaurs No one learns lessons | Badass girl power Much-needed MCU laughs Stinger, though—HOW DARE | The Rock saves the day Do not watch if you hate heights Not much dialogue |
| Crazy Rich Asians | A Simple Favor | |
| ★★★★ | ★★★ | |
| Delightful rom-com Crazy beautiful people I want more like this | Unexpected plot Unexpectedly funny Not like the trailer | |
- March + April | Top read: Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
- May + June | Top read: Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton
- July + August | Top read: The Rook (The Checquy Files #1) by Daniel O'Malley
TL;DR: Thank you for sticking with me while I've been flaky. I hope to be back soon.
Until then, you can find me over at Forever Young Adult, and on the various social medias. *waves toward the upper-right corner of the blog*
<3!
Saturday, September 1
Wednesday, August 1
Wednesday, July 4
We will not go quietly into the night ...
Wednesday, July 4
We will not vanish without a fight!
We're going to live on!
We're going to survive!
Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!
Happy 4th of July!
Sunday, July 1
Friday, June 1
Monday, May 28
Haiku Revieu | Avengers: Infinity War
Monday, May 28
Avengers: Infinity War★★★★½
So many people
How is my heart still beating
Is it next year yet
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
This is a hard review to write, y'all.
A month later, and I'm still reeling from this film.
I mean, I had an inkling going in that not everyone was going to make it. But I wasn't prepared for that. (Since it's only been a month, I'll refrain from spoilers here, but those of you who've seen Infinity War—and if you haven't, what are you doing?—know exactly what I'm talking about.) Sure, I'm positive that a lot of what happened at the end will be undone, somehow, in Avengers 4, but that doesn't exactly make anything easier at this moment in time.
Nor does the stuff that likely won't get undone.
That said, I really loved this movie. I've been telling people that it's more Captain America: Civil War than Thor: Ragnarok, but like any good Marvel movie, it brings both the humor and the tears. Early on, I had my reservations on how a movie with this many personalities involved would work. But the dynamics between all of the characters are fabulous, and the way they flow between the various parts of the MCU franchise seems almost effortless. Even the most "standalone" of the MCU characters—i.e., Doctor Strange—meshes into the larger universe like it's no big thing. (He and Tony's animosity was particularly delightful to watch.)
I really have to applaud all the people behind the scenes who made this happen. I don't know that I consider Infinity War the greatest crossover of all time, considering how much crossing-over took place before this film, but I certainly recognize how much work has gone on in the decade since the MCU started to make such a movie possible.
Some quick, not-too-spoilery highlights:
- Steve's "on-the-run" look. HERE FOR IT.
- Thor's intital meeting with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Shuri's dressing down of Bruce/the tech that makes Vision who he is.
- Steve and Groot's meet cute.
- Everything Peter says.
- Everything Drax says.
- The subversion of the "dwarf" stereotype.
- Loki's "redemption" (?)
- That moment with Natasha, Wanda, and Okoye
- Every one of our heroes being Heroes
- The post-credits scene
Do I have a few complaints? Sure: Black Widow has never been used to her full potential, and I don't get the blonde. (It's maybe a disguise, OK, but no one else went that far.) Thanos's universe domination plot is FILLED with holes. Where were Valkryie, Korg, Ant-Man, or Hawkeye? Shuri and Peter never made plans to take over the world (and snatch control from the olds). And, natch, all that I mentioned at the start of this post.
But overall, the MCU continues to impress me, and I'm still proud to be such a massive stan. I'm DREADING what's to come, but have faith that it'll all be OK1.
Check it out:
1 OK is such a subjective term, but even if my heart gets broken again, I trust that the reasons for whatever happens will make sense in the end.
Friday, May 25
Haiku Revieu | Ready Player One
Friday, May 25
Ready Player One★★¾
Wade Watts is The One
Ladies don't get much to do
Not a great copy
When the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune.
It's been a while since I saw this movie (like two months ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), but I wanted to play catch up on my somewhat recent trips to the theater, and this was at the top of the list.
Let me preface this review with the fact that I didn't love Ready Player One, the book. I thought it was a fun novel, and I enjoyed all of the nerdy pop culture references—even if I didn't get all of them—but I really disliked Artemis' character and their "romance." (It felt very self-satisfying, as though author Ernest Cline was putting a fantasy to paper, rather than thinking about how to make their romance believable.)
I felt much the same way about the film adaptation. Fast-paced and great nerdy references, but terrible lack of depth to the female characters, even though I do appreciate that Artemis got more to do. The romance was actually worse in the movie, if you can believe it. I also didn't like the changes they made to the secondary characters; they had semi-fleshed out backstories in the books that were nonexistent in the movie.
Like I said, however, the many, many, pop culture references included in the film were impressive. I guess it pays to snag a director like Steven Spielberg, who just maybe has some connections. Tye Sheridan was a good Wade/Parzival. Lena Waithe could have been amazing as Aech, were she given more to do. And Ben Mendelsohn was great as
I tried not to go into this movie expecting a perfect adaptation, and I wasn't disappointed. I just had hopes that the few things I found fault with in the book would have been addressed or improved.
Check it out:
Friday, May 4
May the 4th Be With You!
Friday, May 4
Happy Star Wars Day!
Way back in 2011—before we knew we'd get to "live" in the Star Wars universe again—I started creating e-cards to celebrate May 4th. They're part Valentine, part cheesy pick-up line, but they're all fun. (At least I think so.)
I didn't make the time to create a bunch of new ones this year, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to get at least one new one in the mix.
Feel free to share these with your nerdy friends and loved ones! (Click the images for larger versions.) And May the Fourth be with you!
Solo
Rogue One
The Force Awakens
The Original Trilogy
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