Wait… Cobra Kai is just the best Star Wars show never made (Andor excluded)? The closest thing to what The Acolyte was clearly building? A soap opera about the light and dark paths of karate, and breaking the binaries of pure good and evil? This show rocks so much…

I’ve been here for over a year, but it took coming home to a fire evacuation for me to finally try the tea place in my complex…

I honestly have no clue what to expect with this one

My ex just sent me a gift in Pokemon Go… This is very weird…

It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen the first season of Cobra Kai, it still astounds me. Like there is no reason this should be as good as it is.

Part of my Black Friday haul (some stuff still getting delivered, others I’m still contemplating)

A delight!! Just really neat, classic Looney Tunes craft, in all of its slapstick, sincere belief in “sense of sense of self” glory. Not quite as laugh a minute about wants to be, but it’s damn fun, especially the longer it goes on. The 2D animation is gorgeous!

Finally watching

Good week!

Wake Up Dead Man channels the British rural mystery takes the Blanc whodunnit’s in a darker, but no less fun, direction, shifting the twee-ish tone to something more grounded to forge a keen mystery of faith, leadership and the dangers of charismatic leaders. As relevant as it is delightful!

We are so back Now seated for Wake Up Dead Man

Tonight’s prep

It’s Wake Up Dead Man week, so time to revisit!

Hell. Yes.

It’s coming to that time of year… This is the current digital catch up plans.

*deep sigh* I guess I’m getting into Destiny…

The Chair Company is this year’s The Curse I think? That Robinson brand of spiralling absurdity creates a conspiracy thriller show about the way the modern world feels tailor made to make everyone a little crazy (at least that’s what I’m reading so far!)

Honestly mostly really charming except for the smattering of (admittedly of the time) casual misogyny. Kind of a fun spin to actually take on subtle bigotry (could have pushed the fashy elements of the Alpha Elite more though). Not totally successful, but kinda charming!

Flying through these this week!

Onto part III

A kind of a bold pivot to focus more on Miyagi’s past, leading to something that shares structural similarities, but spins it into an expansion of the themes of the first film, pushing the exploration of the true strength of traditional masculinity and its ties to, and the truth of, real honour.

I’m starting to look at my top 25 for 2025 and I think I have to expand it again to 30 because Jesus Christ some really gorgeous stuff would get left out!

Onto Part II finally

Wicked: For Good suffers from having to land a second act as a standalone film. It lacks the grace of the tone, and propulsion of the first, let alone lacking the show stoppers. But Chu’s direction is gorgeous, and Erivo and Grande-Butera continue to be staggering. Doesn’t land, but not bad.

Wicked Part One is long, but like I think you probably could have just made it a 3 and a half hour movie instead of trying to find time for Act 2 in a seperate movie…

It’s time! Now seated for Wicked: For Good

It’s Wicked day, but I forgot to rewatch, so let’s do this before I head out!

TIL that there is finally a Payakan plush. The bad news is it seems to only sell at Disney World and it costs a bunch to buy one on EBay!

I love how this is somehow still being litigated as if it wasn’t bleedingly obvious that this was a Lego decision, not a Disney…

My friend was itching for a rewatch in advance of Fire and Ash, so it’s time!

Yeah, I am well and truly back on my Avatar shit

I am so not used to getting complements about my appearance or anything outside the occasional “nice shirt”, so I have no idea how to react with the amount of complements about my nails I’ve had these last two weeks…

Something I really appreciate about Noah Baumbach is that despite his increasing success, he’s still just making idiosyncratic “Sundance” indies, just with bigger budgets and movie stars. Like that’s so cool, man…

“Hey, we had a pretty successful, critically popular animated movie that really worked, which we’ve spun off into a cartoon and we’re working on a sequel. Time to undercut, oversaturate the brand I guess!”

Baumbach ranked updated

Jay Kelly reckons with the real value of success, through a funny, melancholic lens of a star’s midlife crisis. It uses that lens as an extreme, to explore the isolation of ambition, and the importance of the people around us. Beautifully written, thoughtfully crafted, and delicately introspective.

I’m honestly so excited. It’s new Baumbach season (and also “hey, remember that Adam Sandler is an awesome actor” season). Now seated for Jay Kelly

Look at my boy! God I need to catch up…

I am officially giving up on Fallout 76. Here’s some thoughts.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but god this might be the best (well, least worst) outcome of WB does sell…

“Hey, Andrew, how neurotic are you?” Well, someone I have a minor crush on (very minor), complemented my hair (something I’ve actually been styling recently) the other day, so now I’m paranoid that if I wear it like that again, she might work out that I have this minor crush on her. So, you know…

First session, one month to go…

Very twee and very uneven. Not bad, some nice moments, a solid set up, and Stolz is really really great here, but it’s also very telling and off putting as an exploration of jealousy, and feels rather immature in its approach.

Throwing on Tubi for the first time ever to give this Baumbach a shot

Baumbach is out of the gate fully formed, but maybe not quite as sharp. Still, it’s a keenly understood and observed work about the seeming aimlessness of facing your entire future after uni. Not totally nailed but a damn fine first feature.

Jay Kelly week (so much for doing jack shit this week), so let’s clear up a few Baumbach blind spots before thursday