Well, several weeks have been and gone, and even though I don’t feel I have a lot to say here, I haven’t had time to say it because I’ve just been so insanely busy!
Just tonight, my eldest daughter finally managed to finish watching season two of The Umbrella Academy. We enjoyed it. Her favorite is probably Klaus, I think mine is Diego, although I like Five as well. What I particularly enjoy about it is the fact that as dark and cynical as everyone is, there is still a consistent loyalty to the idea of all these odd characters are a family. Five especially I’d have thought would be the most self-motivated, but he turns out to be incredibly committed to his siblings all the way through. And of course it’s an engaging story with quirky style, which also makes it fun to watch.
With my other two daughters, I’ve also finished watching the first season of The Mandalorian, finally, and also the first episode of season 2. I thought the first season ended pretty strongly with a lot of humor from director Taika Waititi, but some strange, strange pacing and logic problems with the action.
Like, why did the bad guy give them til nightfall to make their decision, when he was surrounding them with tons of guys and a giant machine gun?
Why did no one shoot Carl Weathers’ character when he was just standing there, in the wide open, not wearing any armor, and shooting people? He was one of only four targets–you’d think one of those bad guys would have been like, “Hey, we’re getting creamed here. I know, I’ll shoot that guy who is just standing there. That’ll teach him to just come out into the open and fire on us!”
Why did all the stormtoopers just disappear when the fire guy attacked? Seriously, he gets Force-knocked over, and all the other guys just vanish?
And when Din Djarin sent Cara Dune and Carl Weathers on ahead because he thought he was dying–but really so the show could give us that “No living thing has seen me without this helmet” / “I am no living thing” exchange–why did they apparently walk so slowly that later it only takes a couple of seconds for Din and IG–11 to catch up with them? As one friend said, were they letting Baby Yoda walk?
And does anyone notice that Din really doesn’t want to go with everyone else? Three times (once when he is dying, once when he finds the pile of armor, and once with the Woman Mandalorian that he’s speaking to), he tells everyone else to go on without him. Man, that guy really doesn’t want to go with those guys! And seriously, if he’s just going to not want to be there, you’re better off just leaving him behind. That’s what I’ve learned.
Still, I enjoyed it, and my one daughter just about screamed the house down at the sight of the black lightsabre at the end. I don’t watch a lot of other Star Wars expanded media, so I don’t know what the big deal is, aside from it looking cool.
With the second season, I feel like got right into it right away, although it was a bit heavy on the Easter Eggs–seriously, is everything on Tatooine described in terms of womp rats? “Hey hon, what time is it?” “Three whiskers past the womp rant, dear.” Naturally, I am intrigued by what’s the come of Boba Fett, of course. I am, after all, an “Original Trilogy” boy. I remember the Boba Fett action figure–it was one of the coolest.
We’re also pushing ahead on Sherlock. We just finished Season Two, although we skipped A Scandal in Belgravia, as we felt the whole “dominatrix” storyline was not really appropriate for our kids. The girls enjoyed The Hounds of Baskerville, but I think we all loved The Reichenbach Fall. I haven’t seen it since it first came out and it’s quite interesting to see it–especially the last half hour or so–knowing what is to come.
I was telling my girls they should be grateful for the world they live in. Back in the day, we had to wait about two full years to see how Sherlock survived that fall, whilst we can expect to watch it in the next week or so.
Finally (for now) we recently watched, for a change in pace, Shadowlands, directed by Richard Attenborough, about C.S. Lewis and his marriage to the American, Joy Gresham. I don’t think it’s completely accurate on all fronts but I’ve always loved this quiet drama about an emotionally detached man learning to embrace life more fully, even if it means suffering. Anthony Hopkins is amazing as Lewis, and I have a harder time connecting with Debra Winger’s Joy Gresham, this time around I found myself being quite impressed by her performance, and the way she inhabits Joy’s personality.
The film also features Joseph Mazzello, who had previously (I believe) filmed Jurassic Park, which came out the same year, in which he played the grandson of the character played by Richard Attenborough. Edward Hardwick, who plays Lewis’ brother, is one of the best Dr. Watson’s I’ve ever seen (he played him opposite the great Jeremy Brett during most of his run as the character. John Wood, who is one of Lewis’ colleagues, was the professor who invented the computer in War Games. And another colleague of Lewis’, a minister, is played by Michael Denison, who was brilliant as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, from 1952.
Oh well, I guess I’ve done a few things.
Blue Towel Productions 