ThaOGDreamWeaver

Thought… …whether or not the Jedi abducted kids or asked, the kids might not always see it that way. Especially if they got taken from a happy secure family to a lifetime of discipline, asceticism and service.

The Black Crowes - Bedside Manners

Silverroller - Black Crow

Battlesnake - Motorsteeple

New trailer for May The Fourth...

The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - Sheriff Fatman

KMFDM - A Drug Against War

Small note: Season 2 is now “in development”. Now in Whollyodd, that phrase doesn’t mean a damn thing, but numbers do. The claim is it’s had 65 million unique viewers already (yes, Amazon know who you are…[creepy sting music]. They don’t share exactly what that metric means - in some contexts, someone could have watched one minute and still be counted.) But a renewal after just 12 days and a storm of celebratory PR feels like it’s a winner, which after the LOTR thing, is something Amazon need. Turnaround time for this kind of high-end series is normally around 12 to 18 months - but given Nolan seems to already have an arc planned out with the writers, and opted for largely practical FX where possible (so Vault sets exist somewhere…), I think we might be meeting Mr. House in around a year.

To the team, but particularly the mighty Melissa The War Witch... a question in two parts. ...what's your favourite joke or Easter Egg in the game, and are there any still to find after all this time?

They've finally found a way to make the Boston Dynamics thing not terrifying. ...though if they went to the Creature Shop and got the OG version, I'd be saving up for one.

Thing from DisneyStudios Insta… …how this works plotwise, your guess is as good as mine, but this is A Good Thing.

Spinoff from the Sandman series - not quite up to the magnificence of Neil’s production, more a neat little side gig. Ep1 has a little too much worldbuilding going on. Has the feel of one of the recent hyperkinetic Doctor Who episodes and some of the stuff needs a bit more room to slow down and breathe. But enough fun and funny stuff to keep me interested. Plus must get myself an iron cane and have a stern word with my familiars, now I’m in my CILF* years… *Crone In League With Forces Of Unspeakable Wossnameness

Just for once, some actual good news from the world of Srs Internet Bzns. Along with numerous other internet-favourite sites, The Onion got gobbled up by a media conglomerate that didn't know what to do with it and starved it of income, then sold it off in bits (the A/V Club is now its own thing.) For a while it looked like it could go to be one of those portal sites that executives talk about excitingly being powered by AI so they could fire the writers... ...but a company called Global Tetrahedron - one of the site's running gags made real - has bought them out, fronted by Jeff Lawson of Twilio, who should know what he's doing from the business end of things. There will be investment, the team will stay together...and ONN is coming back. If you never saw these while The Onion wasn't having its profits drained by various vampiric holding corps, it's... I mean... ...look, just watch this. I can't post some of the other flat-out-best ones because politics ("...they've got me building this hive...") but do go take a look for them. Okay, one more...

I'm aware. This displeases me. I may be goth (black is such a happy colour...) but pretty happy around anything and anyone that likes to stand out. Bought new place with my partner a few years back: the estate agent tried to apologise for the previous owner's décor, but I can quite happily live with gold pineapples and psychedelic parrots. Even added lustre paint so the the neutral-toned walls now gleam just a little bit gold. I regret to dispel your illusions, but I have and probably never will have looked quite as cool as Siouxsie. Think more black leather shorts, pointy boots, waistcoat top, black and purple belts and detailing, and big flappy coat over the top (because cold when not clubbing, and also big and flappy.) Also deep crimson hair, partly because I loved old movies with dangerous redheads, mainly from falling asleep in the bath with henna in. ...but hauling this thing back to the topic in hand... Have now tapped up episodes 1 and 2, and yes, classic facial hair spotting aside, liking it a lot. There's more balance between Blackthorne and his captors, hosts, and allies, and you feel like you're being drawn into the chess game along with Blackthorne and the crew. Production-wise, costumes look less like they came from an 80s branch of Woolie's/Walmart's bed linen section, talkie scenes get the treatment they deserve, the action is properly dynamic and involving, and everything looks an awful lot better in HD Digital/film transfer. The location shots are gorgeous... if deceptive: I've always wanted to visit Japan, but seems Vancouver is capable of doubling for more or less everywhere. Again. (ティムホートンズはどこですか, as they say.) Cast are uniformly pretty good so far, particularly Hiroyuki Sanada oozing menace by the bucketload as Toranaga, and Blackthorne, Mariko and Yabushige all grabbing the camera in their different ways. Will try not to binge the whole thing in a weekend and make it last a bit.

Bet it doesn't have full on Richard Chamberlain Riker Beard action, though. Rawr. edit: I also don't know why he's dressed like a corporate logo for a particularly dull hotel or insurance chain. This is what you young whippersnappers don't get: we were wearing either dayglo (or black 'n' purple in my case) because everything else in the Eighties was beige. Beige or burnt orange. ALL OF IT. The walls. Car interiors. Even some of the people, and we don't want them coming back...)

Beats me. Maybe they're merging characters, or I misinterpreted one of the stories, but there's no cast member named as Rocco yet. (James Madio is currently unassigned, and could probably carry that off.) Or, quite possibly, Sofia has some "side interests". If Tony Soprano can get away with borrowing other family members' girlfriends and mistresses, it's only fair. But unless 5 eps of this are set in or around a Sunshine State slam, he could be a (very) much larger character.

Not just real, nearly finished: filming completed in February with only a handful of pickups, and it's in post-production at the moment. Release is expected probably Thanksgiving-ish. As to who's going to be in it DC-wise: a lot of the main character names haven't been released yet, probably to avoid spoilers. But I think it's going to be very underworld-focussed, so not much additional cape-related action if any. On that note, I'm not seeing any GCPD or legal system characters show up on the cast list either - Jim, Harvey B, Renée, Angel, Maggie, Harvey D, so all about the crimelords. One name we do have as a major-ish player - or at least listed for 5 eps - is Dom Gigante, played by the wonderfully-named and rather large Myles Humphus. (That name woulda been no fun in high school.) The character winds up marrying Sofia Falcone (Christina Milioti), so maybe they're pencilling him in as a literal heavy made good.

I suspect there's going to be a lot more where that came from - I'm sure you've all noticed the destroyed 20th Century Fox logo by now...

We have a new trailer, and look Hugh it is…

Just watched a little video about the series that brought me up to speed on that. If you haven't watched Episode 8 yet, DO NOT OPEN...

Let’s test this out…

Finished it… and still don’t have access to spoiler box, so some general thoughts… Playing the gung-ho hero isn’t always your best option, Max. Pops was a popsicle. Didn’t see that coming. (Did anyone see Lee’s name on the freezer chest manifest?) They said the line! Twice. And I’d have just gone with Walton’s take on it, but the other one did have more surprise value. Don’t mess with audio nerds. We’re mean. And inventive. Nice slight nod to the game ending when our heroine glimpses some of the people she’s helped. I think they did everything pretty well except stick the landing, but I think they weren’t meant to… …as it’s leading into S2. Amazon are a fickle bunch so it’s not guaranteed even with the extremely positive reviews and figures. But looking forward to it… …so see them all down the road on the next map. Thangyallver’much.