ThaOGDreamWeaver

A few of my work's bigger nerds do drink the Soylent stuff (it's disgusting, btw) and know the gag but have never seen the movie. 70s conspiracy movies (China Syndrome, Capricorn One, Andromeda Strain) are all kinda moot now because there's way too many actual conspiracies kicking around. Side note: the moon landings happened. 100%. One of my relatives worked at Reuters during that era. He always said that while you could maybe silence American patriots, probably the Brits, and possibly write off any CCCP theories as just propaganda, there were Australians involved and they would have blown the whole thing for a laugh.

Side note: I like that Disney+ has quietly rehabilitated The Rocketeer (and even produced a Disney Junior spin-off series). And I feel like The Shadow is one of those movies that has kind of aged into itself. (Is there such a thing as Deco-Punk?) Personally, always liked the gentleman/gentlewoman-thief archetype. Columbia had a hugely successful run of two-reelers with Horatio Black (aka Boston Blackie) and Michael Lanyard (The Lone Wolf). Studios releasing rival offerings not being a new thing, RKO also had The Falcon and The Saint (yep, Simon Templar). Obviously we've had the Ocean's series, plus Hustle and Leverage, but rogues are always fun to write for... Edit to add some more stuff without choking the thread: Agatha Christie was ahead of her time in many ways, but the two I have never seen are Murder Of Roger Ackroyd and Curtain. (I think the British ITV series did Curtain but it hasn't been repeated). I've very, very much enjoyed the Branagh adaptations - which given the way they're staged, and the Brit-heavy cast, come over as epic-budget remakes of the old Sunday-night dramas. Twisting the formula with Ackroyd would be very interesting, as Poirot isn't entirely the central character or (unreliable) narrator, and I wonder how you'd convey that on film.

Alestorm - P.A.R.T.Y.

DragonForce - My Heart Will Go On🇨🇦

Bit more of a general topic, prompted by the news that finally - FINALLY - Marvel execs have taken my wise words of wisdom from tweets, emails, post-it notes added to their lunch and screaming messages in lipstick on their mirrors to heart... ...Thunderbolts is happening. Quick fan-gibber about that below... So - given that Marvel seem to be releasing a new show every ten minutes right now, DC have a few things on the go too with the CW and others, and every producer out there is on the lookout for the next big thing... What would be your dream adaptation project? Which movie version of your favourite books, comics, games, RPGs, albums, toys, fast-food outlets, highly specific fetishes, common household cleaning products or highway information signs would earn a cinema your $10* and a bucket of popcorn? Or which movies haven't quite done their subject material justice and need rebooting? *note for Americans and other aliens visiting the UK: if you desperately want to catch a flick while you're here, under no circumstances do it in Central London. It'd be cheaper to take the train 2 hours up my way, and the place is liable to be substantially cleaner.

(via https://twitter.com/amadcartoonist)

Yup. Serving Connery in League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen vibes. (Though Dwayne and Brosnan seem to have enjoyed the process more than Connery did, who quit filmmaking entirely because of his experiences on LXG. Alan Moore also distanced himself from it, though oddly not from the money).

You can see where the writers would normally go with this, but they've definitely thrown a few curveballs.

Thinking on't: Rock is dropping two of his core strengths for this flick. The first is he's a fine foil for pretty much anyone else to bounce off. (Sometimes literally bouncing off them.) For example, Jungle Cruise shouldn't have worked as a movie, frequently clunks with the plot beats and some of the cast, but by the goddess Blunt and Johnson make one hell of a classic screwball comedy pair. So a solo lead movie with no-one to directly play with/off isn't easy. The second is the whole self-deprecating humour kick. Black Adam is a very serious man, and while you can throw in a few situations where that seriousness gets put paid to from the outside (seen here: bending a blackjack with his head, finding out what missiles do): just throwing him Tex Avery coyote gags is going to get repetitive. So this is a big, expensive summer tentpole gamble for DC/WB. Not sure it's going to pay off on the strength of what we've seen, but...

Slightly tangential to nerd humour, but it's got Nic Cage and Pedro Pascal in it, which is good, and a genuine gutlaugh.

I like Dwayne. I do. There's a lot of self-effacing humour that offsets the oversize personality and physicality, a sense of his own ridiculousness. (And genuine warmth - if you haven't seen it yet, check him out in the mighty Flo Pugh's breakthrough Fighting With My Family. My hometown produces a lot of fierce people, y'know.) Playing slightly against type to go full Terminator is going to be interesting. But this flick... erm... hmm. It's not getting me yet. I'm aware trailers don't and shouldn't tell a whole story, but right now I'm genuinely confused about what the story core is likely to be, where and when it's set (speeder bikes and VW buses?), why they've wasted Pierce on what looks like a Strange knockoff with a passion for airborne disco moves (I know Doc Fate is very much his own thing, but what it looks like is what it looks like), and why I should spend my hard-earned Inf on it.

Right. Finally caught up a few hours later than scheduled: Overall, I like: not the filler ep the Internet said it would be. Good setup for the final two episodes. It seems we're following a bit of an up/down cycle with each episode. So be prepared for a downbeat and Big Damn Cliffhanger in Episode 5. They've already used up the beat with Leia, so how do they rack up the tension next time?

Grogu was offered the choice of wisdom, power, and learning... or a loving father and a new extended family bound by both honour and love to protect him. It would seem, from the small beats with Obi-Wan in E3, that's a choice Jedi don't get offered a lot. Been very busy today so only just settling down with a mug of tea and headphones to watch Ep4. Usual aimless gibbering will follow, but I've noticed a lot of people on the Interweb pipes talking about a direct lift from Fallen Order. Wonder if everyone's favourite ginger Jedi will put in an appearance? Oh, and Archer's Enterprise might get a couple of shots in but a Vader-led TIE squadron would take him. And his little dog, too. [FX: menacing space-witch cackles fading off into distance, because we haven't screwed with canon enough yet]

Thought so too. The Force is a powerful ally, and in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, a powerful weapon. You don't necessarily want someone lashing out with it in fear or anger, let alone someone with as much natural talent as Grogu has. That said, Grogu's primary instincts seem to be towards protection and compassion (and snacks). He's been through a lot for a youngling, even a 50-year-old one, but he knows love when he feels it.

If they fire first (or spot the primary weapon array charging and get lucky with evasive maneuvers), Classic/Pike Enterprise could run'n'gun around the Death Star. Defiant's more suited to this gig - could even just about do the Trench Run sideways. Disco could use Magic Mushroom Drive to jump out of the firing arc repeatedly. Picard gets obliterated before they've even got coffee set up for the board meeting. Which is frankly just rude, but that's Imperials for ya. EDIT: thought strikes me. How do the Enterprise cope when they meet their first Force user? Are Spock / Troi Force-sensitive? (Or maybe another member of the crew - Bones would be pretty hilarious...)

Vader might regard it as a curiosity, nothing more. As the Jedi are no longer functioning, there are probably dozens of untrained Force-sensitive kids wandering around - hence why the Empire's rounding them up in OWK. Certainly, Vader notes it in EpIV while chasing down Luke - "the Force is STRONG with this one..." but doesn't seem concerned, more amused / annoyed. A Force user that doesn't necessarily know what they're doing or how isn't a problem: even a fully trained Jedi is just a fun challenge for someone of his prowess. Your arrogance is your undoing...

It looks maybe a little over-referential - and over-reverential - but we finally get to see the Bourke Cut. Honestly, as this is going to be one of the major launch titles for Vought+, only purists would binge the entire nine-hour epic instead of seeing it episodically, and perhaps it would have been better structured that way. But still, looking good - surprised that Charlize Theron's been kept well under wraps for a role of that size. What do you lot think we'll see? Let the wild, unfounded, possibly NSFW speculation begin...

Katie Melua - Better Than A Dream (Live @ Ronnie Scott's)

Pelli does. I presume it's canon. I don't remember Thrawn getting a dance number, but frankly I'm all for it. #ItsThrawninTime

Small note re the GI: series co-creator Joby-Wan Harold has said that they do not and will not break canon during this series in an interview. Is he: a) messing with the fans b) saying Rebels != canon (or there's a slight spin on it) c) saying GI = OK d) GI = new GI Please write your answers on a postcard, and feed it to the nearest bantha. Side note: my brain has a habit of storing useless trash rather than things I should actually be doing, so I know that HoGH'ran rln 'RAM vi va vi va va va va vogh, from a copy of The Face, which I read on a train going into Cambridge far too many years ago, translates to this. (Of course, it's better in the original Klingon.)

Whigfield - Saturday Night

So, let's see what we were wrong about this week, shall we? As a very nasty Australian newspaper editor said to my dad back in the 80s, "there's one story in making a hero: there's ten stories in breakin'im". He was right, I suppose, and he's got very, very rich off that. Though he seems to enjoy the breaking part a bit much. So it's so far, so Hero's Journey. You have to take a hero to their absolute lowest point before you can start building them up again. Fear. Failure. Guilt. Shame. And a fairly mild but ironic ass-kicking. Then give them a job to do, a thing to find, a kingdom to win, someone to protect. Unless there's some kind of massive twist/parallel universe/World Between Worlds malarkey, we know all three of the key characters get out of this alive. But I think Deb & co are going to put us through the wringer to get there.

Paula Abdul vs MC Skat Kat - Opposites Attract