Just watched Timothy Chalamet fight a brutal war for control. Using a gift from his mother and a willingness to make a psychoactive drug the most important coin in the land, he conquered a corrupt institution.

Wonka really was a joyless and cruel mess.

Aquaman 2 is very forgettable.

I haven't seen the second, but honestly, I found the first one fairly bland and forgettable as well. Which surprised the heck out of me, since on paper, it has everything necessary to be memorable and exciting, a superhero movie for the ages. Jason Momoa seems to basically be made of 50% muscle, 50% charm, so that's a solid foundation for a superhero right there. Atlantis promised to be a visual spectacle, and in many ways it was (in other ways it looked like a lifeless cartoon).

That was one thing that struck me as very strange in hindsight. When Marvel Studios got around to "Atlantis" with Talokan, it was shockingly practical and felt like a real underwater kingdom. Atlantis felt like a visual upgrade of something you'd see in the Star Wars prequels. Very impressive graphically, but also kinda lifeless and artificial.

Aquaman’s Atlantis felt like prequel Star Wars. Loud, visually and audibly, and showing nothing.

Haven’t seen 2. It’s on HBO, but I’d rather watch old Battlebots reruns.

Don't laugh, but the latest thing I've been watching is the new trailer for the Fallout TV show.

Over and over, again and again.
I'm a hopeless Fanboy. It looks like it will be really good though, so I'm really psyched.

I'd be a hypocrite if I did. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back over the X-Men '97 trailer.

I'm legitimately researching a vacation in the Southwest that includes several New Vegas-specific locations (my 14-year-old is a huge lore nerd), so I feel you.

I’m holding judgement until it’s out, but I’m damn hopeful.

https://postapocevents.com/event/fal...festival-2024/

I hear ya. I totally get it.

Project #42: The Nice Guys

He enjoyed it very much. It got us talking about how he hasn't actually seen Predator (via Shane Black) despite knowing a fair amount about it and enjoying Prey, so I'm adding Predator to the list for when we need something "breezy."

Nice Guys is such a good piece of work that even though it should be an issue that it starts with multiple voice overs that never come back... there's just no reason to care. It sets them up and they do the rest on screen. It'd been a while for me so I was surprised when I caught Matt Bomer's name in the credits and then saw his role. He really delivered well for that part.

Special note that this was the movie my wife was most pushing on the list. I think she just wanted him to have a good time, and since he did, it all worked out.

Love The Nice Guys. Gotta follow it up with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Behind the Attractions on Disney+ makes me want two things…

Another return trip to Disney World, and more Paget Brewster. She’s delightful.

This has nothing to do with a recent watch, but I am 98% certain that the Academy Awards added "best casting" for next year just to nominate Martin Scorsese for the lulz.

Project #43: Aliens

It's shocking to him that this is the movie he's been drowning in references to for most of his life and he'd never seen it. He'll need to revisit it because the constant memes and inspirations for other things were too distracting at times. He liked it, but I'm not sure he can fully appreciate it at this point.

We watched the extended cut and it seemed to work out pretty well.

Both episodes of X-Men ‘97. Twice. This is the X-Men adaptation I’ve been waiting for for nearly my entire fandom. It’s got the solid writing of the original ‘92 series, but with an actual animation budget so it looks really good.

My only complaint with the show is that I have to wait for more.