W♥M

Two Years Later...

You: Season 4, part 1 Read More You The third season of You recently aired on Netflix and it got everyone talking about the series. So I decided to check out the first season (which originally aired on Lifetime). …

You
netflix.com

I love You. I know he’s terrible. I know he’s a serial killer. I know he’s a stalker… but I love rooting for Joe.

I started watching it in Oct 2021 and couldn’t stop watching it. I thought that was the end of it, with Season 3, as there’s only been three books.

A fourth season, would mean that that the story would be made up entirely for the television… and we all know how that turned out when they ran out of books for Game of Thrones or Dexter. Simply put, without the source material, the television show suffers without proper direction.

After two years in hiatus, due to the pandemic… You is back with a Season 4, courtesy of Netflix. With no books, is Season 4 good? I don’t know honestly, because we’re only given half the season to whet our appetite… The last five episodes will be available March 9, 2023.

In the new series, Joe gets obsessed over a new “You”, in the compelling Charlotte Ritchie. She suspects Joe is stalking her and doesn’t make it easy for Joe to get close to her. Of course, the two bonds over a few murders… in true You fashion.

I’m calling the new season, the “You in England.” I think it is because I don’t like any of the rich/royalty English characters. I’m assuming that’s what the show runner intended… but when you don’t like or care for anyone, why would I feel anything when one of the rich dies?

The Nevers: Season 1, Part 2 Read More The Nevers Joss Whedon created The Nevers, but due to the scandals, he removed his involvement with the HBO show. It’s still very Whedon-ly, like Victorian British girls fighting in corsets. …

The Nevers
hbo.com

After a long two-year gap, part two of The Nevers has finally aired in mid-February 2023. This show had trouble from the start, particularly with the original creator, Joss Whedon. Then the pandemic hit, and filming had to be put on hold.

It’s been so long, I’d forgotten everything. And the big problem with The Nevers is the large cast of characters. Who’s this person, who’s that? Why should I care about this club owner? Why am I watching this evil murdering little girl? What is going on?

Let’s step back. From what I can remember, there was an alien that landed in London, circa 1880-ish, and all these women developed superpowers… Then in the series, you find out that men also got powers.

Part one setup and orphanage for “touched” women. There were bad-touched women, and good-touched women.

In part two, it seems that all the touched have teamed up. Now the normal humans are at war with “the touched.” The whole story and concept is a big mess… and it’s probably due to the lack of guidance and direction from Whedon.

I like the two lead characters, Amalia (Laura Donnelly) and Penance (Ann Skelly). Amalia is like a soldier (who is a time traveler?) and Penance is an inventor. Everyone else, including the giant debutante, the doctor, and the fire-throwing woman, I wish they got rid of all these characters and just focus on Amalia and Penance. Keep it simple.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Last of Us

Read More The Last of Us As for The Last of Us, I'm in the middle of the game right now. It's hard. The clickers are impossible to kill, basically one attack will kill you right away. Having said that, the play style is a lot more fun than Beyond: Two Souls ....

The Last of Us
hbo.com

I love the video game The Last of Us, probably my personal Game of the Year in 2018 for the PS3. The game was so good, that I re-purchased it for the PS4. I probably would’ve have bought the PS5 version if it wasn’t so hard to find the Sony console. I kid, I saw one at a retail store, but am waiting for a “slim” or new version. I absolutely hate the look and massive size of the current PS5 console (I think it’s ugly).

I love the game, I know the story well, so I’m very interested in this HBO Max’s television show based on the game.

I just saw the pilot, and there are some sequences that are straight out of the video game. Of course, the show made some changes to the story, like adding more store to Joel’s daughter. It’s weird, but the show cast a girl that doesn’t look (or mix race?) anything like Joel. As for Ellie, they also cast the girl from Game of Thrones… and she doesn’t look anything like the girl in the game. Personally speaking, I would have preferred they casted someone who looked like Ellen Page. I get it, they cast people who can act, but it’s just my personal preference to have them look exactly like the characters in the game.

I think whenever they lifted the scenes from the game, I’m very happy. It’s when the show decides to change things or add stories and characters that has nothing to do with the game, that’s when I’m not interested. There’s enough from the game that I think the pilot does a good job in setting up the story.

As for the story, if you’ve never played the game, it’s about how this fungus destroyed the human race. It’s somewhat based on real life fungus that would take over ants and control them, like puppets. Anyway, this random girl, Ellie, may hold the key to saving humanity, and it’s up to Joel to transport her across the country. It’s a simple story, I don’t know if they can stretch it out to more than one or two seasons.

Here is my fear: I haven’t played the sequel to The Last of Us, but I’ve heard fans absolutely hated the game. According to these gamers, they made Joel into a bad guy and everybody revolted against it. So my fear is that fans will absolutely hate Season 2 or something. I don’t know, I haven’t played the second game, so I’m reserving judgement.

I am excited enough that I may re-buy The Last of Us for the PC when it is available on Steam (which I previously mentioned will be available Mar 3, 2023).

Update: Now that I’ve seen up to Episode 3 of The Last of Us, I thought I would share my opinion on what I’ve seen so far.

Of the three episodes, I think Episode 2 is by far the best. That’s because it’s so close to the game, that I’m really happy how it turned out.

I hated Episode 3, because it had nothing to do with Joel & Ellie. For whatever reasons, the show creators devoted a whole 70 minutes to two random characters Bill and Frank. Look, it’s a beautiful love story… but it didn’t really fit into the grand story! I wish HBO Max would have made this episode a “special”, I wouldn’t have an issue with it. Instead, I’m spending so much time with Bill & Frank, and it’s all for nothing! Maybe they could have cut the time in half and devote half the episode to Tess?

In the video game, you do meet one of these characters, but it’s a totally different story. In the game, the two hated each other.

Of course my opinion on Episode 3 is in the minority… as the whole world seemed to love this episode.

I’m hoping Episode 4 goes back on track and we can see those deadly fungus creatures and more action.

The show is doing so well that they’ve already announced a Season 2!

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sci-Fi 2022: Andor, The Peripheral, and Quantum Leap

Read More Star Wars No one likes The Book of Boba Fett. The story is slow, and more than half of it is told in flashback. No one seems to know what the point of the new Boba Fett show is all about. ....

Andor (2022)
disney.com

It seems like no one is watching Andor… or at least you rarely hear people talking about this Star Wars new television show on Disney Plus. Maybe it’s because fans are tired of Star Wars or maybe they’re just not interested in this weird prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One?

For what’s it worth, I think Andor is possibly the best Star Wars television show since The Mandorian.

Andor is about Cassian Andor, five years prior to Rogue One. He starts off with an accidental murder, and follows his story of a grand heist. It’s weird but by episode 6 or 7, the show turned into a prison story. Personally speaking, I didn’t care for the prison story, but the overall story of building a rebellion against the empire is interesting. You can see how the empire started off as bringing order to the galaxy, but slowly turns dark and evil…

The cast is amazing, obviously some were from the film, including Forest Whitaker, reprising his role as a younger Saw Gerrera.

I really love the puppet master, Luthen Rael, who is trying to build this organized rebellion. That amazing starship fight at the end of Andor shows us that he is a real bad-ass! All this time the character is in the shadows and working behind the scene… but when it he’s forced to make a move - he can really throwdown!

Coming off the very disappointing (and boring) Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi television show, Andor was a true delight. It gives me hope that Disney is heading in the right direction, when it comes to quality writing… and I’m very excited to see what Andor Season 2 will bring to Star Wars canon.

Description:

The “Andor” series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.

Read More Westworld HBO has been struggling to find its new hit show since Game of Thrones ended (and it ended badly). Westworld potentially could have been the next-Game of Thrones, but unfortunately Season 2 of Westworld was not good. …

The Peripheral (2022)
amazon.com

There is a great new Sci-Fi television show called The Peripheral that airs on Friday on Amazon Prime. The premier was October 21st, and currently we can only view up to episode 5. So far, I’m loving it.

The series takes place in the future, and centers around Flynne Fisher (played by Chloë Grace Moretz). She thinks she’s trying out some new VR game… but in reality, she’s remote controlling something. I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure if you look online, you can find out more.

The show was based on a 2014 book of the same name written by William Gibson and has a Westworld vibe… maybe because Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers.

Although I am enjoying the show, there are some things that I don’t really think is realistic. For example, there are some some technology from the future that made its way to people in the past. Stuff like invisible cars or sonic blasters… yet no one in the show is surprised or calling in the government. There is also the issue of a hit squad trying to kill Fisher, but they were taken out by Fisher’s brothers and his squad. It was like, huh?

Fisher’s brother is ex-military, and his buddies are all former military… including a triple amputee character, so maybe they can take out a hit squad, but I didn’t really believe it.

Anyway, it’s a good show, I would try and tune in on Friday to see how the story unfolds. Sometime the show is super violent, but if you can stomach it, you’ll like the show.

Description:

The Peripheral centers on Flynne Fisher, a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow's America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future. Until the future comes calling for her. The Peripheral is master storyteller William Gibson’s dazzling, hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind — and what lies beyond.

Read More Quantum Leap Dean Stockwell (American actor and recording artist), 85 Former Quantum Leap star Dean Stockwell, an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor whose stage, film and TV career spanned more than 70 years and 200 credits, has died ... via deadline.com …

Quantum Leap (2022)
nbc.com

You guys know I love the original Quantum Leap, so I was excited to see that NBC has brought the show back for 2022.

In the original series, Sam Beckett is trying to get home by leaping into random bodies. Each episode is a mystery, and with the help of Al, the hologram from the future, and the computer Ziggy, they work out the mystery and Dr Beckett leaps.

Unfortunately, they’ve decided to go in a different direction in the new show. In the new Asian Quantum Leap, Dr. Ben Song deliberately jumps into the past to save someone. The show is half in the past and half of it is in the future. I absolutely hated whenever you see the future. Who cares about the future characters?

The cast now is diverse, an Asian lead, a white woman hologram, they/them programmer, a black director, an Asian security person… it’s a whole rainbow roster. I hate it that they try and please everybody. I suppose none of that matters, but if only the stories and acting are good. The writing is predictable, and everyone gets so emotional. Think The CW, only on NBC.

The best episode so far is the latest, Episode 8. It’s about four runaway students from some sort of school and they get lost in the woods. In the original history, the kids are never seen again… so it’s up to Ben to save them all with the help of his girlfriend hologram.

Description:

Physicist Ben Song and a newly revamped team embark on a journey through time.

Read more Movies and Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

iPhone 14 Plus, eSIM, and Visible

Read More Visible I’ve been using internet-only telephone service called Visible for three months now… and I feel I’ve experienced all the pain and strain of using their service. The short story is that this is a very inexpensive mobile service . …

So, I recently bought the new iPhone 14 Plus, which is a 6.7 inch larger iPhone, but not “Pro” level. A quick review: the iPhone 14 Plus is the same as the iPhone 13, only slightly bigger. I wouldn’t recommend upgrading. I bought the new one so I can gift the old phone, but otherwise, there’s really no need to upgrade.

iPhone 14 Plus

Going to the new iPhone 14 was a little tricky, because the iPhone 14 do not have a physical SIM tray. So you can’t just yank out your SIM card and put it into the new phone. Instead, you have to use eSIM. eSIM are less convenient, but it’s more secure. For example, someone can steal your phone, they can’t just do a “SIM Swap” (it’s horrible if your passwords are tied to your phone).

The other thing about going all eSIM is that it has better anti-water/moister protection.

The last benefit about eSIM is that a phone company can just activate a new phone number/account in a few seconds. In the past, if you wanted to open a new line, they would have to mail you one of their SIM cards.

Having said all that, I truly wish there was a physical SIM option.

For what it’s worth, activating the Visible service, using eSIM, on the new iPhone 14 Plus was relatively easy. You have to key in some unique numbers from Visible and you have to tell them the phone’s EID. The only trouble I ran into was that I needed internet for the new phone to activate properly (as the old phone was disconnected once you transfer to the new phone).

Anyway, since getting rid of my DSL home internet earlier in September, I’ve been looking into other unlimited cellular plans with tethering or hotspot options.

If you are in the same boat of getting rid of your home internet, I’ve broken down some of the options available.

Right now, I’m quite happy with Visible, with both the pricing and the ability to use hotspot to multiple devices using my iPhone. Even though there is a speed cap of 5mps, I don’t actually mind this, as I was used to speed slower than 3mpbs on DSL. It is fast enough to stream YouTube and get my email… and it’s free unlimited hotspot. If you don’t want to hotspot, you can always plug in your phone to your computer and it automatically will share internet with the computer.

Anyway, looking at the other phone companies, none of them comes close to offering unlimited hotspot. Most of these service cap at 5GB, 25GB, or 50GB. The only true “unlimited hotspot” on the list, are Google Fi and AT&T… but you are going to have to pay through the nose at $65 or $85 a month. With AT&T, you do get HBO Max… but I don’t think it’s worth $85.

To sum it up, If you are looking for an unlimited data/phone line, based on features and pricing, I would recommend Visible. I’ve used the service for over a year… and for the past two months, the phone has become my home internet as well. I have had no issues with it, so far.

In November, or so, I will have to switch over to one of Visible’s two new plans: Unlimited $30 and Unlimited Plus $45. Since I’ve been enjoying the unlimited internet so much, I may spend the extra $45 because I’m interested in the new Ultraband 5G speed… plus some limited roaming in Mexico and Canada.

	Name	Plan	Price	Network	Limitations and Notes
	Visible	Unlimited	$30	Verizon	Hotspot speed is capped at 5mbps One connection at a time* * iPhone does not have this restriction
	Google Fi	Unlimited Plus	$65	T-Mobile Sprint	Hotspot up to 10 devices Data slow after 50GB 100 GB of Google One
	Tello	Unlimited	$30	T-Mobile	Speed slowed to 2G after 25GB
	Mint	Unlimited	$40	T-Mobile	Hotspot is limited to 5GB Data slow after 35GB
	US Mobile	Unlimited Premium	$45	Verizon	Speed slow after 100GB Hotspot limited to 50GB eSim International Data: 10GB
	AT&T	Unlimited Elite	$85	AT&T	Includes HBO Max Speed slow after 100GB Hotspot speed slow after 30GB

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Fantasy TV (Sep 2022)

Read more Television and Fantasy TV.

Read More The Sandman The next big title to be given the Netflix treatment will be Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman… it’s currently in development. Everyone is excited about the adaption, and hopefully it will bring the story to a bigger audience. … Constantine The new episode of Constantine is probably the best show so far! The best ones are the ones that is based on the comic book, and this new episode, the whole setup is quite similar to Mike Carey's Hellblazer: All His Engines. .…

The Sandman
netflix.com

It breaks my heart, but I don’t love the Netflix adaption of The Sandman.

I realized that the television show wasn’t meant for me, but for a wider audience that is not all that familiar with the original comic books. You see, I own all the original comics, starting with #1 when it first launched in 1989, when Vertigo Comics was in its infancy. I own all the spinoffs titles (including Death: The High Cost of Living, and various Specials). I am a superfan, when it comes to the Sandman.

So, that’s the problem. I’m just too close to the source material, it is hard for me to accept the new changes… especially, when I think it brought absolutely nothing to the story.

They followed most of the story correctly, making some minor changes to give the Corinthian a bigger role, and overall, the story still follows the books.

What I had a problem with is all the gender and race swaps. I know, I know, most people aren’t bothered by this… but when you are used to a character to look a certain way, you just expect them to look the same on screen.

The biggest changes were Death is played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, a black actress, and John Constantine is played by Jenna Coleman, a woman, Rose Walker is played by Kyo Ra, a black actress, and Lucien, an old male elf librarian is played by Vivienne Acheampong, a black woman.

I know a lot of people argued that it doesn’t matter, but to me, it just didn’t feel like the Sandman from the comic books. I just wondered why they made these changes? For example, if they changed Cyborg, a black character, into a white character, wouldn’t it upset you? Another example, when they decided to make Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe to Asian, I wasn’t happy about that either. I would be upset if they changed Storm Shadow, who is Asian, to another race or gender. Another example, I was really upset that they wouldn’t show Constantine smoking in the Constantine television show... and yes, I was upset that Constantine was not blonde and English in the Keanu Reeves movie. To me, I just don’t like it when they make changes to the characters.

What The Sandman got right, such as The Corinthian, or Desire (maybe they could have gotten both a male and female to play the part!), or all the serial killers… they got it right! I’ve no complaints if they get things right.... Cain and Abel, they look like they’re from the bible. Even Fiddler’s Green looked the part, complete with his costume and glasses. When the show gets a character right, I’m going to praise it.

I guess, when it comes down to it, for someone not familiar with The Sandman, you are going to have a good time. You’re going to love the story of the Sandman, which combines the first two Sandman arcs, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House, into 10 episodes. I think the story still holds up.

Also, don’t miss the bonus episode, a two-parter Dream of a Thousand Cats and Calliope, which are both excellent adaptions. No complaints here, the cats looks like cats, the muse looks like a muse.

Read More Game Of Thrones The Seven Kingdoms come to life in a way like no other as the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience kicked off its all-arena twenty-four city North American tour at the Xcel Energy Center in St . Paul. .…

House of the Dragon
hbo.com

With bitterness of the last two seasons of Game of Thrones still fresh in my mind, I wasn’t looking forward to the prequel House of the Dragons… or as the kids are calling it, “Hot D”. Going into House of the Dragons, I realized how much I love the original Game of Thrones (Seasons 1 to 5). That’s because the story and writing is strong, as it’s based on George R.R. Martin’s Blood and Fire book.

The good news is that the book has a definitive ending, so if they are adapting this book, they won’t run out of material, unlike Game of Thrones, where the showrunners were just making it up as they go along (and it shows how poorly they understood the characters).

In many ways, House of the Dragons is making me fall back in love with the Westeros world. Since the story takes place over 150 years before Game of Thrones, there are no familiar characters.

We are introduced to the ruling House Targaryen. The king Viserys Targaryen is facing a problem of not having an heir to his kingdom. He chose to named his daughter, Rhaenyra, as sole heir to spurn his brother, Daemon. This sets up conflict within the Targaryen family.

I think the best part of the show is Matt Smith, who is straight up an evil man. To call him evil might be wrong, he’s more like a big jerk. Smith does such a wonderful job in portraying Daemon, that every time he’s on screen, he dominate. All the other characters are boring compared to Daemon.

I’m only three episodes in, and knowing that HBO has already green-lit a second season, I have a good feeling about this series. I haven’t read the book, so I’m very much looking forward to how the story unfolds, and who will live and who will die, playing the Game of Thrones?

PS, I don’t like how House of the Dragons re-used the theme song to Game of Thrones. I wish it was a different theme song, so that it stands on its own, rather than being related to GoT.

Read More Lord of the Rings The Banner Saga, a game by Stoic, released on Tuesday, January 14th, is one of the best games I've ever played. The graphics is hand drawn and reminds me of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and pre-CGI Disney animation. .…

Rings of Power
amazon.com

Yes, I do have Amazon Prime, and no, I haven’t wanted to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show from Amazon. The show is based on the The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien.

One of the main reasons I am avoiding this show is that the diehard fans are ridiculing the show for its terrible writing and that the show is changing race and gender from the books. As someone who was not happy that they gender or race-swapped characters on The Sandman, I fully understand why these fans are upset that the Rings of Power show is getting their characters wrong.

I don’t know the whole story, but I think part of the problem is that Amazon only has rights to some books, so they can’t touch anything that appears in the Peter Jackson movies. They might have to make up characters or introduce a new race that was not mentioned in the books. For example, since the Hobbits didn’t exist in the time that Rings of Power takes place, the showrunners used a race called the Harfoots.

I haven’t read the books, so those kind of things probably wouldn’t bother me, but seeing as so many fans hate all the changes to the books, I am avoiding the fantasy series for now.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥Comics - Planet ComiCon Kansas City 2021

Read More Planet ComiCon Planet ComiCon Kansas City (August 20, 21, 22), Bartle Hall, $35-210 The region’s largest comic book and pop culture event returns to downtown Kansas City with a three-day extravaganza that will please fans …

Crowds in the thousands flocked to Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City over the weekend to attend the three-day Planet Comicon Kansas City, the region’s largest and longest-running comic and pop culture event which celebrates comic books, science fiction, superheroes and fantasy, and its creators. 

The fact that the show (in existence since 1999) was even able to carry on as a safe and fun event, was a minor miracle in itself- since their last show inMarch 2019, pandemic-related cancellations and postponements left its return in doubt (wristbands, lanyards still showed the original March 2020 dates), but organizers were able to pull things together, despite many virus protocols and the city’s current strict indoor mask mandate, to put on a very welcome and well-received weekend.

In coordination with the city’s Health Department, a free walk-in Covid vaccination clinic was also offered to anyone in the community needing the vaccine, with a free officially licensed Baby Yoda, the Child Mandalorian pin offered as additional incentive. 

A wide array of guests were present, despite some pandemic-related and schedule conflict cancellations, including celebrities from shows such as Supernatural, Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, Entourage, and Disneyshows, along with comic creators, authors, artists, voice actors, cosplayers, wrestlers and more.

The dealer exhibit space of comics, collectibles, anime, nostalgia and memorabilia, along with gaming and entertainment spaces, covered over seven football fields worth of area and the show was generally busy, especially on Saturday with aisles often elbow-to-elbow and dealers mostly saying they had a very successful weekend. 

Guests that attended included:

Supernatural cast (Misha Collins, Felicia Day, Emily Swallow, Rob Benedict, Samantha Smith and Kim Rhodes)

from CW series Arrow- Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy

Cobra Kai cast (William Zabka and Martin Kove)

from Netflix’s Stranger Things- Gaten Matarazzo and Gabriella Pizzolo

Disney voices- Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid) and Irene Bedard (Pocahontas)

Kevin Dillonfrom HBO’s Entourage

AEW wrestling stars Christian Cage and Britt Baker

80’s Flash Gordon Sam Jones

and retro TV stars Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch) and Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley) who spent her birthday weekend at the show. 

Comic creators included Marvel and DC legendary writer/editor Roy Thomas, longtime DC artist Doug Mahnke, Black Panther artist Afua Richardson, Iron Man/Star Wars scripter John Jackson Miller, and many from the local area and region. 

Celebrity meet-and-greets and photo opportunities were available (some with safety plexiglass between) and one of the best ways to learn about these attendees or ask them a particular question, was to attend their public Panel discussion/Q&A.. 

We’ll be covering those more in depth, in an upcoming separate post.

Despite the necessary virus-related cancellations and date postponements, consider Planet Comicon Kansas City a great success – able to provide fans of the genre a near sense of normalcy with a well-attended, varied, safe and fun three-day event. 

The one silver lining of having to wait through calendar delays for the 2021 edition, is that the show is already hard at work, planning its return for April 22-24, 2022, a mere seven months from now.

(click any image to enlarge, photos by Brian Davenport / Beed Photography)

Princess cosplay

Star Wars Tusken Raider

eSports gamers

Predator display

Disney villians

Monty Python cosplay

SheRa and Harley Quinn cosplayers	Star Wars Tie Fighter	Star Wars The Armorer
Cosplayers	Star Wars Droid factory	Art Print Dealer

Ghostbusters

anime cosplay

cosplayers

Art Print Magazine style

Black Window cosplay

Planet ComiCon Kansas City, Bartle Hall (2021)

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Crime Drama: Mare and Clarice

Television I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. The same novel …

Here are a couple of drama/mystery shows currently airing on TV right now to help you with the lockdown.



MARE OF EASTTOWN
hbo.com

When I first heard the words Mare of Easttown, I thought it was about a “Mayor of Easttown”, and had made up in my mind that it’s loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge”… which, in fact, it is not.

“Mare of Easttown” is an American crime drama miniseries starring Kate Winslet as detective Mare “Ladyhawke” Sheehan in a small Philadelphia suburb called Easttown. Mare is a competent detective, but sometime a little hard-headed, and she’s trying to solve a murder of a teenage mother. The police precinct asked another district to send over another detective to help bring “fresh eyes” to the case.

Although the death of the young girl is the topic of the show, many episodes aren’t really about the murder… but rather Mare’s life and how it’s slowly falling apart around her. I suppose the main point of these shows are to showcase all the interesting characters in the world of Easttown.

As for the actual murder mystery, they revealed the killer in the penultimate episode (sort of), and it wasn’t a massive surprise or anything. I was actually more interested in the serial kidnapper storyline, to be honest. However, they quickly wrap up that story in Episode 5… and that was the last we heard of that story.

The finale will be airing tonight (May 30, 2021) on HBO Max. Let’s hope it’s a satisfying ending.

Television Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor (which was also made into a 1975 film called Three Days of the Condor), this television show is now in its second season. …

CLARICE
cbs.com

While I’ve enjoyed and intrigued by the early episodes of Clarice, I have to admit that the show is running in circles right now. The show suffers from two major problems: the COVID pandemic, which is causing numerous delays in getting episodes to air in a consistent manner. For example, as of this writing, episode 10 won’t air until June 3 (a three weeks break). The other problem is that the show was co-created by Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has destroyed the Star Trek franchise, trying to turn the smart Sci-Fi show into a mindless dark and grim action show.

Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. As you know, the breakout character from these Harris books is the Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, who we first saw in Manhunter, but Silence of the Lambs was the film that really popularized the character. Hannibal would appear in Red Dragon (Manhunter), Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and the television show that ran three seasons. Personally speaking, I’m tired of following a cannibalistic villain... so I was happy to embrace “Clarice”.

Due to the pandemic, only a few episodes were produced, so we got episodes 1 to 5 on schedule. From what the critics have seen, they hated the show. Maybe it’s because they got the character wrong... and as someone who hasn't read the book, I wouldn’t know it. I do think that perhaps the series could be better if Clarice was out hunting serial killers, rather than trying to investigate a big conspiracy (which is starting to turn out to be more like the X-Files rather than something in the Silence of the Lambs universe).

The series starts off with Clarice coping with Buffalo Bill, and she’s back on active duty to investigate a serial killer (per the FBI director who happens to be the mother of the victim that Clarice saved in the movie). The serial killer turns out to only pretend to be a serial killer. It’s tied to a big corporate company...

Again, I’ll probably continue to see how the show ends. Right now, it’s kind of boring and directionless.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Hero TV

Television Disney Plus’ first original Marvel Production, WandaVision, proved to be a hit with fans. With the currently Marvel Comics films being put on pause due to the big COVID virus, moving production to a weekly television…

Here’s a roundup of Super-hero-ish television shows.



FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER
disney.com

I think it’s safe to say that the latest Marvel Television series, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is a hit. While WandaVision started off strong and impressive, it didn’t quite stick the landing. The show runner admitted that COVID actually prevented them from doing all the things they really wanted to do with the ending. Some characters basically disappeared at the end, that’s because they couldn’t travel to do filming and their parts were basically cut.

Unfortunately, WandaVision, and now Falcon, Marvel has a problem with ending their shows. It starts off well enough, but they just can’t stick the landing. In the Falcon’s case, it felt rushed and ultimately just sets up for Season 2, or perhaps, Captain America 4.

The worst part of the show’s finale was the speech that Falcon, in his colorful new costume, at the end. It just sounded too preachy…. And really didn’t belong in the show. I really felt the show should have explored more on John Walker’s murder of a “terrorist”. Perhaps ended with the Falcon and Winter Soldier taking Walker down and bringing him to justice. Maybe have Walker do a little time, before trying to redeem the character and turning him into USAgent.

For a six-episode show, there were just too much going on: John Walker, Battlestar, The Power Broker, the Flag Smashers, Batroc the Leaper, Isaiah Bradley (the Black Captain America), Dora Milaje, and Baron Zemo. With only a few episodes, I wish they would have just concentrated on some of the ideas: the Super Soldier serum and John Walker. That would’ve been more compelling than adding the whole Flag Smashers and their revolutionary cause.

Clearly the M.V.P. of the show is Baron Zemo, who proved himself to be a really likeable villain with certain morals. I am hoping to see more Zemo in the future.



INVINCIBLE
amazon.com

I have to admit, I wasn’t terribly excited to hear that Robert Kirkman had a new show called Invincible, based on his superhero comic book of the same name. This is because his Walking Dead show had gotten worse with each season. The writing was so bad that I had to give up on the show altogether around Season 6 or so (it was after the war with Negan).

Since the first three episodes of Invincible were on Amazon Prime, I decided to give it a chance... and you know what? It’s actually pretty good. The first episode ended up in a bizarrely violent end, and it had enough mystery that kept me interested. After watching the first three episodes, and while waiting for the next one to air, I picked up the source material (the original Image Comics) to give it a read.

Based on what I’ve read and what I’ve seen... they’re both very different from each other. If you’re a comic book reader only, you can get into the show without feeling bored. Personally speaking, I think the TV show does a better job in telling its story. The comic book, at times, did not seem to have a direction, and it felt like they were making things up as it went along. For example, one of the key player isn’t introduce in the comic book until much later... while the show definitely had plans for this character from the start.

Anyway, the show is available on Amazon Prime, so if you’re a member, you can watch it for free. I’m not sure what the pricing is if you don’t have Amazon Prime, but based on per episode costs, I would imagine it to cost $2 per episode. As of this writing, only four episodes are available to view.



THE NEVERS
hbo.com

Joss Whedon created The Nevers, but due to the scandals, he removed his involvement with the HBO show. It’s still very Whedon-ly, like Victorian British girls fighting in corsets.

In the world of The Nevers, there was an alien spacecraft that that “touched” all some people in London, England. Everyone that it touched ends up having super powers. The show made it seems like only women were “touched”, but apparently there were a few men that also had powers (such as the henchmen that could walk on water).

Maybe I didn’t pay attention, or maybe it’s because I’m very early in the show, but I never really understood the show’s name of “The Nevers”. Shouldn’t they call the show “The Touched” ?

Anyway, comparing this show to previous Whedon’s ideas, this has elements of Dollhouse and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What I mean by that, is that it’s typically a Whedon show to feature beautiful young, strong women as the leads. Since this is cable/HBO, the show doesn’t shy away from showing boobs and buttocks… which was not expected for a Whedon production.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

TV: Penny Dreadful, Outlander, and Westworld

Read more Television.

Read More Television The pilot does an incredible job of setting the tone and style of the show. This was a police procedural crime drama with two parallel storylines: Detective Bosch on trial for the murder of an alleged serial …

PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS
sho.com

We first talked about Penny Dreadful in April 2014 and was excited about the television show and its concept of fictional characters like Frankenstein and Dorian Grey being in the same universe. I liked the show enough to buy the first two seasons on Bluray.

Instead of continuing the Penny Dreadful series, the showrunner and creator John Logan decided to do a spinoff show called Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

The new show has nothing to do with the original Penny Dreadful series, so I’m wondering why bother keeping the name in the first place. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels instead focus on Mexican folklore and based in Los Angeles during the late 1930s.

Even though critics praises the new series, I found it really hard to watch the pilot and really understand the story.

About The Series

1938 Los Angeles is a time and place deeply infused with social and political tension. When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega and his partner Lewis Michener become embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city's first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Tiago and his family are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart.

On another Showtime note, their fan-favorite series Outlander concluded on Mother’s Day (May 10). The series started off incredibly strong, and deservingly-so as the concept of a woman trapped in 17th century Scotland.

As the series continues, leaving Scotland and going to France and then America… it just felt like the later seasons were a completely different show.

While I will always love the first season of Outlander, I’m afraid I can’t recommend the later Seasons to anyone else.

I did tune in to watching the series finale, despite not having watched Outlander Season 3 to 5. I think if I had watched the entire show from beginning to ending, that I would’ve felt more strongly or satisfied by some of the character’s deaths.

Read More Westworld He recently worked on HBO’s Westworld, with bits from that score heard during the countdown to the main show starting. …

WESTWORLD
hbo.com

HBO has been struggling to find its new hit show since Game of Thrones ended (and it ended badly). Westworld potentially could have been the next-Game of Thrones, but unfortunately Season 2 of Westworld was not good.

What was compelling about the first Season of Westworld was the mystery of who’s a robot and who’s human. It was fun to guess and it was fun to see if we were right. Unfortunately, Season 2 decided to set itself in Samurai World and had a complicated three timeline story that ultimately wasn’t exciting or worthwhile.

Again, Westworld returned with Season 3, and again, the story is completely different from the original show. In Season 3, some robots escaped the park and is in the human world. Despite the Cyperpunkiness of it all, I found it hard to really like the show. I think it’s just the storyline.

If you were interested in checking out Westworld, I highly recommend Season 1 and just avoid the later Seasons.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: November 19, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on November 19, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Palehound Boston’s Palehound aka 21-year-old Ellen Kempner has been making waves since the release of her debut LP Dry Food earlier this year via Exploding In Sound. The album has received accolades ...

MITSKI
at 7th Street Entry
Thursday, 11/19/2015, 7pm ($10)
first-avenue.com

Mitski, an identity and solo project from New York, is coming to First Avenue’s side room, the 7th street entry on November 19th. I did not know about Mitski when I saw her co-headline with Elvis Depressedly in Colorado. I was not ready for what I was to hear; she delivers an ardent, raw and beautiful shredfest of a set. She rounds out her band with a drummer and bassist from what I gathered, but the bassist could not be at the show I saw her at last. I have been listening to her 2014 release; Bury Me at Makeout Creek, and have tried to make sense of the visceral, unhinged, yet incredibly poetic set I saw. The Mitski live experience is something that just cannot be captured by the recorded music. If you want to see and hear a moving performance like none other, I encourage you to seek out a Mitski show.

Opener, Palehound, a project by singer, guitarist and songwriter Ellen Kempner from Boston, MA, compliments Mitski’s raw and evocative style with her own, haunting confessionals. She is on tour with Mitski in support of her August 14, 2015 release: Dry Food... an album she says was made during an unstable transitional time. “I was struggling in college, and with mental health issues. The album is a snapshot of a weird time for me, where I was transitioning from being in college to getting a job.”

Last but not least is opener PWR BTTM. A queer punk band made up of Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce. They will most likely be playing songs off of Ugly Cherries. The album is full of real life accounts of  their experiences with their queer and gender identities while living in upstate New York.

Tour dates:

11/13/15 Durham, NC The Pinhook
11/14/15 Athens, GA Caledonia Lounge
11/16/15 Nashville, TN High Watt
11/17/15 Bloomington, IN The Bishop
11/18/15 Madison, WI The Frequency
11/19/15 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
11/20/15 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
11/21/15 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe
11/23/15 Toronto, ON Smiling Buddha Bar
11/24/15 Montreal, QC Casa De Popolo
11/25/15 Kingston, NY BSP Lounge
12/05/15 Saratoga Springs, NY Skidmore College

Read More Lera Lynn I am speculating because they have actually not release the track listing information, the only sure thing I know is that it will contain two Lera Lynn songs: "My Least Favorite Life" (used in the first episode) ...

LERA LYNN
at Cedar Cultural Center
Thursday, 11/19/2015, 7pm ($16)
thecedar.org

If you look at Lera Lynn's Wikipedia page, the only information it lists is her work with HBO's True Detective in 2014. The truth is, Lynn's career started a few years earlier with her debut album Have You Met Lera Lynn?, which spent some weeks on the Americana Airplay radio charts. There was a 2012 tour and she stopped by the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis in April 2012. Originally from Athens, Georgia, but I think she's currently residing in Nashville.

Of course, like I said, her reoccurring role as a depressing singer at the dive bar in True Detective really made an impact on viewers of the gritty drama. Love it or hate it, you couldn't ignore Lynn's songs "My Least Favorite Life" and "The Only Thing Worth Fighting For".

Plus, it is pretty amazing to be on True Detective Soundtrack, featuring some amazing songs by Leonard Cohen ("Nevermind") and Nick Cave ("All The Gold In California"... technically a cover song, but HBO used the Cave & Warren Ellis version).

Joining Lynn for this show will be Dylan LeBlanc.

Tour dates:

11/13/15 Ithaca, NY The Dock
11/14/15 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
11/16/15 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
11/17/15 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
11/19/15 Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
11/20/15 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
11/21/15 Bloomington, IL The Castle Theatre
11/22/15 Goshen, IN Sauder Concert Hall
12/10/15 Atlanta, GA Terminal West
12/11/15 Charleston, SC The Pour House
12/12/15 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
06/25/16 Big Barrel Country Music Festival

Photo: Nadya Kwandibens Read More Walker Art Center The Walker's Summer Music & Movies event is kicking off next week at Loring Park. Before the 1968 film Barbarella, Jayhawks' Gary Louris and friends …

TANYA TAGAG
at Walker Art Center
11/19/2015-11/20/2015, 8pm ($25)
walkerart.org

Innovative vocalist Tanya Tagaq will be performing a special concert with Nanook of the North 1922 controversial film. Vocalist Tagaq, along with percussionist Jean Martin and violinist Jesse Zubot, will be performing a live accompaniment to the film’s silent images of life in an early 20th-century Inuit community in Northern Quebec. The Walker Art Center and Cedar co-presented show will take place from Thursday–Friday, November 19–20, 8 pm in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater.

About Tanya Tagaq in concert with Nanook of the North:

Nanook of the North is considered the world's first major work of non-fiction filmmaking, yet it is rife with contradictions. The film portrays the lives of an Inuk family in Arctic Canada. Its director, Robert Flaherty, lived and worked with Inuit for years, but still included staged scenes of buffoonery and feigned Inuit ignorance of modern accoutrements.

Working with composer Derek Charke (whose Tundra Songs Tagaq performed with the Kronos Quartet), Tanya Tagaq employs exquisite improvisations with traditional roots, a style she has perfected over a decade of performances on major stages worldwide, as well as with collaborations with everyone from Björk (Tagaq joined her on the Medúlla tour) to Mike Patton (who contributed to Tagaq’s 2009 Juno-nominated album Auk/Blood).

Commissioned by the Toronto Film Festival for their First Nations Film Festival, Tagaq’s work with Nanook and with Charke began with a sonic exploration of the film’s imagery, images that spoke deeply to the vocalist. “The film expresses a lot of what I’m thinking and feeling,” Tagaq reflects. “It softened my anger about some of the great difficulties facing my community and put some beauty in there. It’s so hard to capture the absolute vastness of those places with visual elements alone. You can look at it, and it looks beautiful, but it’s also spacious and terrifying. The sound is very expansive. You can hear people talking from so far away. A single duck flying over you has the loudest sound in its wings. I have it in me, because I was born and raised up there.”

oscar + vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic