ThaOGDreamWeaver

...I see your Shatner and raise you... Leonard Nimoy - The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins

I'm not sure why Netflix chose the whole GRIMDARK vibe when dealing with Marvel properties - given how the movies were presented and the success that drove. Then tried to flip it with Defenders and such, and got neither Nolan-style gritty or Favreau flashy right. The only one that worked was Jessica Jones, which is quite a deep and involved, character-driven story (and, of course, marvellously played by Ritter and Tennant.) Daredevil especially still didn't grab me despite the fantastic Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio: very happy to see them getting a second shot at the roles but with Marvel leading. In particular the intentionally shocking ultraviolence seemed there for, well, intentional shock value and as a marketing point rather than to drive the story, and did not go down well with those expecting Iron Man or Cap-style glossy. (Or their lunchbox-buying, subscription-controlling, parental-lock-enabling parents.) Agents Of SHIELD worked much better for ABC(aka Disney) because it definitively wasn't about superheroes - a bunch of ordinary if insanely talented working schmos whose job it is fit in around them, to deal with the terrifying and extraordinary. Even Daisy becoming Quake worked because it was unexpected (I honestly thought she was a goner until the cocoon cracked), difficult and took a lot of adjusting all round. It also followed more closely the feel and tone of the movies, and a little of the production quality. Plus that cast. It lost its way after season 4, which happens to a lot of shows, but finished out strong.

Queen - The Hero (Flash Gordon end titles)

Huey Lewis & The News - Power Of Love

Annapantsu - The Trail We Blaze

Colleen & Paul - A Home In The Top Boughs

KCC Community Church / "Blue Shepherd Group" sketch

David Martin - Fall-la-la In Love

Being a huge Coulson & Co fan, I watched the whole thing and it had some pretty great writing at times. Good bits: Seeing what the Hydra infiltration reveal was like at "ground level" and how it affected everybody. The Matrix Framework season. Yes, some of it was a little derivative, but EVIL FITZ! EVIL FITZ! Mack lightly cracking the fourth wall to voice fan/writer concerns about killer robots, magic books, zombies, time travel... Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider. Yes. The Inhumans arc handled much better than the Inhumans series. Final series - much as I hate time travel (gives me IBS), they had an awful lot of fun with it: Simmons passing herself off as Peggy, picking up Daniel Sousa, Enoch getting stuck as a long-suffering barman... Any time one of the Koenigs shows up. The Son Of Cool. It's one of those roles that you'd love to write for, and was clearly a joy to play. Not so good: The Sarge arc with the killer space bats. Er... no. The Tower / aliens arc. Deke. Generally. No. Lance Hunter. Really. No. I think it did run its course, and was given a good ending. But also hope in the Multiverse era that Fitzsimmons, May, Mack and Daisy and an infinite number of Coulsons can make the odd comeback whenever they're needed.

Mike Nesmith (RIP) and The First National Band - Propinquity (I've just begun to care)

Marlene Paul - Christmas With Elvis

The Black Widow movie was... okay. On a par with recent Bond movies, No Time To Die aside (and no decent villains in any of 'em, dammit.) And Flo Pugh kind of knocked everyone else offscreen. But it didn't bring closure to Nat's story, or the pain that losing someone you're close to leaves behind - explored gently in Ep4. Also, we may not have to get closure: another Nat (alter-Nat?) might take her place, as in the What If? series.

In the trailer for No Way Home, those multiversal incursions Doc says he can't hold off... ...they look more than a little bit similar to the Spiderverse dimensional breakdown style - as if the same kind of chaos was rendered in a 3D universe. I wonder...

Bixio / Frizzi / Tempera / Operazione K

Chris Joss - Jha Mon

DANGER//DANGER//DANGER TAKE SHELTER FROM INCOMING WHAM! WHAM! - Last Christmas (EDIT: this may explain things. Also, we're a silly country over here.)

Eurythmics - Winter Wonderland

Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast - Let's Do The Timewarp (Again)

Rebirth Brass Band - Bustin' Loose

Royal Crown Revue - Hey Pachuco!

Garbage feat. Screaming Females - Because The Night

Bad Religion - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen🎅

So, new Hawkeye ep dropped today:

The Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter

X Ambassadors ft Jensen McRae - Skip That Party* *hello prime minister...