So... what has been going on in my life while Blogography has been in Walt Disney World for the past 18 days? Glad you asked... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• EIGHTEEN DAYS?! Yeah, with the exception of that Caturday where I put Mickey Mouse ears on my cats and that final Future Backwards entry, all of those posts were (mostly) written on the flight back home from Orlando. But they were five very, very long posts that nobody would want to read. So I chopped them up into shorter posts that nobody would want to read. You're welcome!

   
• AI Apocalypse! WAAAAAAHHH! HA HA HA! Yeah, Eddy Burback is killing it on AI. Must watch video, because it's not just funny but has some great info on the current state of the tech...

I have no objection to AI, in theory, but all too often it's based on outright theft. And if people aren't being compensated for their hard work being scraped to make (bad) AI happen, then AI shouldn't happen!

   
• Fuzzy Feelings! Congratulations to Apple on winning Best Primetime Commercial from the Creative Arts Emmys. This is a spectacular spot that is beautifully shot and executed...

If all ads were this good, I'd actually want to watch ads. Here's a quick behind-the-scenes...

So much of the ads we're inundated with are creatively bankrupt. And it's not about money because I've seen many, many great ads which have been done on the cheap. Many thanks to companies like Apple for continuing to understand that people don't want their TV programs interrupted by shit.

   
• Sacrifice. This is what righteous anger looks like (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

But the people who most need to see this... the people who profess to stand with our military... will never even bother. It's easier to build the narrative you want when truth doesn't factor into the equation.

   
• After the Fall! I'm sad that The Fall Guy movie remake wasn't a huge success, because it's such a fun movie. Would love to get a sequel that probably won't happen. If you want to see it, an extended cut of the film is currently streaming on Peacock TV.

Universal Pictures should make it just to benefit humanity.

   
• Ace! How can you not adore Serena Williams? I love how she was asked how she could not have ever drank a "Honey Deuce" in all the years she’s been at the Open and she’s like “I was playing.” If there’s a GOAT in tennis (maybe even in all sports) she is absolutely it...

I love it when god-like beings are revealed to be just like the rest of us!

   
• small. If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I'm a bit obsessed with tiny homes and small space living. Heck, I even designed a tiny home once! I don't know that I would ever actually choose to live in one unless it was my only option, but I have gotten so many great ideas from watching videos like this absolutely brilliant one right here...

That is one amazing apartment. I could absolutely live in something this beautiful and thoughtful. And speaking of small, check this out...

44 houses in the space originally meant for 9. That's incredible. And good for everybody involved.

   
• YES ITS YOU HI! This cool video is worth your valuable time to watch to the end. Brought a smile to my face after an awful day when I first saw it...

I absolutely love stories like this.

   
And now back to our regularly-scheduled non-Disney content. Probably.

Since I've just returned from Walt Disney World, I think I'll come up with some Disney-related posts for a while.

And I'm going to start with my favorite Disney characters.

Favorite Disney Original Characters

1. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
   
2. Orange Bird
   
3. Mickey Mouse
   
4. Donald Duck
   
5. Pluto
   

Best Disney Modern Characters

1. Stitch from Lilo and Stitch
   I have never been so immediately captivated by a character as I was with Stitch. The minute he appeared on screen, I knew that I would be obsessed with him. And I have been ever since.
2. Sulley from Monsters, Inc.
   Not only did John Goodman bring him to life with a beautiful subtlety that somehow topped his great performance just two years earlier in The Emperor's New Groove, the character is one of the best-animated CGI characters ever made.
3. Genie from Aladdin
   Robin Williams owned the film. And that character was all him. His incredible improvisational skills and energy pushed Genie to the front of every scene he appeared in... but not to the detriment of the film.
4. Maui from Moana
   Based on the song You're Welcome! alone, you can't help but love Maui. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson threw himself 100% into the role and made Maui far more interesting than he might have been otherwise.
5. Luca from Luca
   It will forever be sad to me that Luca was kinda lost in the shuffle of the pandemic. Not only was it gorgeous in every way, it also had a compelling story that was wonderfully served by the main character.

Favorite Disney Princesses

1. Rapunzel from Tangled
   What makes Rapunzel my favorite? I don't know whether it's that her movie is one of my favorites... or whether it's Mandy Moore's ability to match the multi-dimensional aspect of her character both emotionally and lyrically... but probably both. When it comes to Disney princesses, it's tough to do much better than this.
2. Tiana from The Princess and The Frog
   That Disney made a love letter to my favorite American city, New Orleans, wouldn't have meant much if not for the fact that they crafted a terrific story to go with it. Tiana is smart, driven, capable and a huge part of what makes everything work so well. Even when she turns into a frog. Especially when she turns into a frog.
3. Moana from Moana
   I tend to like princesses that are more take-charge and proactive in the story, and that's definitely true for Moana. She had an interesting challenge, she met it head-on, and she was changed because of it.
4. Merida from Brave
   Another character that took charge and wasn't content to sit around and wait for some dippy prince to show up and fulfill her life's ambitin. Plus she was a lot of fun to watch in action.
5. Mulan from Mulan
   You probably guessed she would be here already. The ultimate kick-ass princess, Mulan also had one of my all-time favorite voice performances in Ming-Na Wen.

Favorite Disney Princes

1. Kristoff from Frozen
   It was refreshing to finally have a (future) prince who acted like a... well... actual guy. But the thing that makes Kristoff appealing is that he so effortlessly subverts toxic masculinity tropes to be a positive example of what an actual guy should be.
2. Aladdin from Aladdin. I love that Aladdin only became a prince because he married a princess. Before that he was a "street rat" who had a life that was anything but royal. That guy worked hard to woo a princess who wasn't going to put up with his crap if he wasn't the genuine article and somebody worthy of her time.
   
3. Naveen from The Princess and the Frog
   Okay, just like I preferred Beast over Prince Adam, I preferred Naveen when he was a frog... and he was such a fun character as a frog. But Naveen has some nuance to him that at least made him interesting in human form too. So much better than Prince Adam, who might as well have been a doorknob. How Belle didn't immediately lose interest when Beast went away and Adam appeared I don't know.
4. Flynn Rider from Tangled
   Though sometimes annoying, Flynn would likely be a contender for the top spot because he's just so fully-realized and funny... and is actually a huge part of the story for once. If not for the fact that he's voiced by Zachary Levi, whom just seems to be getting worse and worse, he would likely rank higher. From being anti-vax during a fucking pandemic to his stupid-ass comments about the actors strike (actors, mind you, who were fighting for him to not be exploited by AI and be paid fairly too), he kinda ruins the character. And this is despite the fact that he did an amazing job voicing Flynn. I'm just happy that I had some years with the movie before he went all problematic.
5. Eric from The Little Mermaid
   Up until Eric happened, there weren't many prince characters who had much to do in the film. They just kinda showed up to kiss the princess and wake her up (Sleeping Beauty) or kiss the princess and wake her up (Snow White) or whatever. Eric actually had stuff to do that meant something.

Best Disney Villains

1. Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove
   Eartha. Kitt. Despite being a more comedic villain than anything truly scary, she was a great villain through and through. She made that movie. The Emperor's New Groove would have still been entertaining, but not the level of greatness it reached.
2. Ursula from The Little Mermaid
   Pat. Carroll. That woman was such a treasure, and the way she brought Ursula to life was no easy feat. The character was just so bad-ass and over-the top evil, you would have rooted for Ariel even if Ariel was not entirely good. That's the mark of a real Disney villain!
3. Scar from The Lion King
   Jeremy. Irons. I swear, the more times I watch The Lion King the more I'm convinced that Scar steals the entire movie. Which is a tall order given that James Earl Jones is in it!
4. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty
   Eleanor Audley, whose voice was so wonderfully distinct that she actually voiced two Disney villains (she was also Lady Tremaine in Cinderella), brought a menace to the screen that you could actually feel.
5. Jafar from Aladdin
   The character was just so deliciously evil. So much so that Aladdin would have been a very different movie if his parrot Iago wasn't there to temper his menace with some humor.

Best Disney Sidekicks

1. Hei Hei from Moana
   The only thing more hilarious than the hapless, disturbed chicken himself is the fact that they got Alan Tudyk to voice his clucking. There's no scene he appears in that Hei Hei isn't stealing the show.
2. Dug from Up
   Dug was hilarious when he appeared in Up, but where he really shines is his spin-off cartoons that appeared on Disney+. Talking animals in Disney features are normalized, but here they actually gave him a reason to be talking (science!) which was a nice change of pace.
3. Sven from Frozen
   It's entirely possible that I'm projecting my love for Kristoff onto his faithful reindeer, but I honestly don't think that Kristoff's appeal would have been as great if not for what the other half of this comedy duo brought to the team.
4. Ray from The Princess and the Frog
   Jim Cummings, who has voiced such iconic characters as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Monterey Jack, Darkwing Duck, and the singing voice of Scar(!), plus the Tasmanian Devil(!!) took a huge left turn to voice a Cajun accent for Ray. And though the character has been criticized as being a negative Cajun stereotype, I'd argue that he's one of the wisest, bravest Disney characters yet created. And if you've seen the film, then you'd know that his loyalty is second to none. Easily one of the most positive sidekicks we've seen.
5. Pascal from Tangled
   Had I the room, I would have added both Maximus and Pascal to the list, but if forced to choose I'd give the edge to Pascal just because I love how he was animated. His range of emotions was surprisingly deep for such a little guy, and he added to the story in meaningful ways rather than being a distraction from it. But the real kicker? He is responsible for killing the villain at the end! Crazy! But so very un-Disney and cool. I just wish they had given him more to do.
6. Dory from Finding Nemo
   What's odd is that I preferred Dory to Marlin or Nemo. Ellen gave her a personality that made her more interesting, and her faulty memory made her far more interesting.
7. Iago from Aladdin
   They wanted a grating, annoying sidekick for Jafar, and it's impossible to get more annoying and grating than Gilbert Gottfried. As I mentioned above, Iago taking the edge off of Jafar made Jafar be able to be much more evil.
8. Mushu from Mulan
   Oh come on. It's Eddie Murphy. He was perfectly cast for the part and made it fairly easy to ignore that the character was woefully out of place in the actual story. Plus he miraculously managed to not let Cri-Kee (the cricket) upstage him.
9. Abu from Aladdin
   Who doesn't love a monkey? But better than that, he wasn't just a sidekick, he was an important part of the story, and his moments with Magic Carpet are some of my favorite in the film.
10. Dante from Coco
    The derpy puppy from Coco was loyal to an extreme degree and played so well against the main character with his flappy tongue and mindlessly happy attitude. There was a Dante plastic statue I saw that I would have bought if I could have found one. That's not something I say about a lot of Disney characters!

I'm too tired to blog, but I can't seem to let it go... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Yes, Ma'am! I ADORE Dolly Parton... but I also love Post Malone. He seems so genuinely kind. Every interview I've ever seen with Posty is wonderful. And he extends Dolly the respect she's due, which scores all the points...

Doesn't hurt that he's got some truly wonderful tracks under his belt. Including this banger with Dolly herself...

Incredible that Dolly can still belt them out with the best of them.

   
• Famous! I was very sad to learn that Wally (Famous) Amos has died...

I loved his cookies and buy them often. But on top of being a cookie master, he seemed like a genuinely nice man who had some real wisdom to him. Always sad when we lose a light like Famous Amos.

   
• 私は日本人が大好きです! This gentleman is a perfect example of why I adore the Japanese people. He's very diplomatic and generous when rating the American sushi... even though it's not actual sushi...

Not joking... I could watch videos like this for hours and hours. I really need to get back to Japan for a visit one of these days. I used to go fairly often but haven't been in years and years.

   
• Money Well-Spent! Targeting marketing on Facebook is usually so bad. It's either targeting me with something I don't give a shit about and should have never been shown... or it's crap like this...

That's not Chelan County, you stupid fucks. That's King County. Chelan County is across the mountains in Redneckistan. My comment on the post...

How can I trust anything you say when you don't even know where the area is that you're targeting? I never click on this shit.

   
• HEADLINE: Californians can soon add driver’s licenses and state IDs to Apple Wallet! Of course they will! And where's tech-backwards Washington State? Killing bills which would give us digital licenses!

Thanks again to Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray for continuing to prove that they need to be voted out of office for not taking us into the future... but tying our necks to boat anchors in the past! I am fucking livid that Washington State politicians are so fucking worthless.

   
• HEADLINE: Brian Cox Says Cinema Is In “a Very Bad Way”, Cites Marvel, ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: “It’s Become Party Time.” Today's "Old Man Yells at Cloud" moment... courtesy of Brian Cox. These short-sighted morons always fucking blowing it out their ass over something they don't understand. WITHOUT MARVEL, WHERE WOULD CINEMA EVEN BE? Marvel movies are keeping theaters open so that the art films he's pining for have a cinema to actually play in! Without Marvel Studios, a lot more theaters would likely have closed a lot earlier because cinema has been dying for years now that people can get a "good enough" experience at home. AND THEN... Cox played Stryker in one of those truly awful X-Men flicks, so... yeah... YOU'RE PART OF YOU'RE OWN PROBLEM, MY DUDE!

   
• Miss Jackson, if You're Disgusting! I don't wish anybody ill will. I honestly don't. Even a complete ass like Victoria Jackson deserves compassion. I am truly sorry that her cancer has returned. And I would never tell anybody how they should deal with such news. THAT BEING SAID... it is horrific that she choses to mock the multitudes of people who died after getting COVID. She can be a dumbass COVID denier all she wants. But I am all too familiar with the many work colleagues in Italy who were desperate to save lives as the hospitals maxed out and people had to be turned away... essentially waiting to die because overworked doctors and nurses couldn't keep up. Those early days were horrifying. And it didn't get any better as people started dying in vast numbers around the world as the pandemic took hold. So fuck you, Victoria Jackson. You must have a truly evil heart to make a punchline out of such tragedy...

I wish you well with your cancer battle, but that's all I have for you. There's nothing else I'm willing to give. If there's anything left in you that gives a shit for others, I hope you'll use your remaining time on this earth reflecting on just how awful you are and try to do better.

   
• Parts! I've watched RuPaul's Drag Race since... Season 03 I think? (but I've seen all episodes, of course). This morning I've been watching Trixie Mattel's documentary Moving Parts and was shocked to see that the queens in the Drag Race finale don't know who actually wins until the finale airs. Which means that they film multiple endings with each queen "winning" and then they edit the show to reflect who actually won. Mind. Blown.

This documentary is actually a tough watch. It was meant to document Trixie before and after Drag Race All Stars (which she won)... but ultimately a big chunk of it was the fallout of Katya's substance abuse. I was amazed that they would share some of the awful things that Katya said... but it turns out that Katya wanted it in the documentary. Because she's incredible like that. So grateful that she and Trixie made up and went on to do so many great things together. A comedy duo unlike any other that has made my life better just by existing. Highest possible recommendation for Moving Parts. Just $3 to rent.

   
Blergh. I need a blogcation.

I'm buried in work today, but fear you not... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Overrated Olympians! Michael Phelps the greatest Olypian of all time? Eh. Here's something to keep in mind as you're watching the Olympic Games...

He's not wrong.

   
• Whoa! I have wondered for years and years why Hallmark never made a movie from a man's point of view. I understand their audience is mostly women, but you'd think that they would love seeing things from the opposite viewpoint! They kinda got onboard with Three Wise Men and a Baby, which must have been a success. Because Hallmark decided to not recycle the same stuff for the millionth time and give us a trio of films that switch things up...

I don't get Hallmark Channel any more, but I will be finding a wy to buy it to watch these films because this looks really good, by Hallmark standards... maybe by any standards! Nice!

   
• ARTICLE: I have aphantasia: my mind's eye is permanently closed! Every time I read a new article about somebody finding out they have aphantasia, I have a flashback because I went through the exact same thing. It was in my mid-30's. I was hanging out with some fellow graphics people after a job in Seattle. Somebody was describing what they wanted to do for the next project and said "I'm having a tough time picturing it though." Then somebody else piped up and said "I have aphantasia... so I can't picture anything!" And I sat there like "What's aphantasia?" And was then told that most people when they close their eyes can LITERALLY visualize stuff when they concentrate on picturing it. I, on the other hand, only see blackness. When I am "picturing" something in my head, I'm not actually seeing anything... I'm just describing to myself what I know the things look like. And, yes, it is very bizarre to me how it works for others. Because it would be so cool to picture stuff literally instead of figuratively when I close my eyes to see something. I would love to close my eyes and be able to look at Von Gogh's Starry Night... but instead I see nothing but black and I have to describe it to myself based on what I remember.

   
• Olypian! I've already mentioned how I'm not an Olympics guy... I absolutely love stories like this...

If you don't care about coming in last... have money to burn to chase qualifying competitions around the world... and your only goal is to be an Olympian? There you go! This is so great.

   
• Tabasco Hot! I've been re-watching all the James Bond movies for the hundredth and noticed something odd...

I wonder who it is involved with James Bond who loves Tabasco? Nick Nack brings it to Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun and Stromberg has it on the table in The Spy Who Loved Me. It's kinda cool that Bond villains love Tabasco so much, they have it flown in to wherever they are!

   
• Country-fied! I've never been a Country music fan and, when I listen to it, it's usually the classic stuff. But ever since Kacey Musgraves's album Golden Hour was my second-favorite album of 2018, and Sam Hunts album Southside made my list in 2020, I've been listening to the Contemporary Country more and more. So much so that YouTube has started suggesting Country artists thanks to my playlists on YouTube Music. This morning I got recommended the song Laid Back by Chris Housman, an artist I never heard of before. Turns out he a part of the ever-expanding Gay Country genre that has been cranking out some amazing music...

It's such a good song. Nice that we're getting such a diverse pool of artists across all genres of music. Gatekeeping is so last week.

   
• Fuck. This. Shit. Cut out the fucking middle man. Medicare for All. Do you know how much health care could be had for 70 FUCKING BILLION DOLLARS... which doesn't even count the operating costs of these shitty fucking insurance companies, which are not designed to provide good care... but to maximize profits. And look how successful they are at that...

Health care in this country is so fucking broken and will remain broken so long as insurance companies are allowed to own our politicians.

   
And now I gotta get back to work. I have fucking medical bills to pay for.

It's early Sunday morning and I'm watching one of the many videos leaked out of Hall H from Comic Con International that featured the official Marvel Studios announcements. I was going to post this for Bullet Sunday, but wanted to see if more videos would get officially released before posting my thoughts.

The announcements were huge, but also surprisingly reserved. Of course spoilers abound, so if you want to go in blind to the upcoming Marvel films... or want to watch the Hall H video for yourself, might want to turn back now.

• Peter! Wait... where did he go? Rob Delaney, come back!
• Wolverine & Deadpool becoming the biggest opening for an R-rated movie of all time is nice. Hopefully it shows Marvel Studios that they don't have to be 100% family-fare to be successful, because there's a lot of characters which would benefit from an R rating.
• Captain America: Brave New World should be interesting. Sam has the adamantium shield but not Cap's super-serum super-strength, and has to rely on his wings to give him an advantage. Now, whether or not Marvel too advantage of what makes the New Cap special remains to be seen. On February 15th, 2025, alas. But what I'm most excited to see is Joaquin Torres becoming the new Falcon.
• A "return to Winter Soldier" is not the worst thing to happen to the franchise. It's one of the best MCU movies of all time.
• Oh... looks like Marvel does plan on making Sam different without the super-serum! NICE!
• The Leader could be a fantastic villain. But I've seen him used so stupidly in the comics that I am reserving judgement until I see it.
• Danny Ramirez being able to give as good as he gets from Anthony Mackie is something else!
• Giancarlo Esposito is an exceptional actor. And he's playing SIDEWINDER?!? Guess that means Cap is facing off against The Serpent Society. From the trailer, it looks like they have him dressed in black, which is great, because a comic-accurate costume would be hysterical.
• Harrison Ford... AT COMIC CON?!? Well then. I was absolutely not expecting that. Good on him for jumping in despite the fact that he's probably very tired of conventions after his Star Wars fame. His shoutout to William Hurt (who originated his character) was nice.
• Thunderbolts* is a tough concept to bring to a movie, and I can't help but wonder if they've radically changed it. In the comics a new team of heroes debuted at a time when the world needed them, but then the shocking twist happened... these were not new heroes. They were old villains playing heroes. Honestly I don't care so long as they keep it fun. And here's David Harbour to make the presentation fun, so fingers crossed.
• What's the asterisk for on that? Changing the name?
• Oh... here it comes...
• ...or not.
• I keep forgetting that Hannah John-Kamen is returning as Ava in Thunderbolts. Which seems weird given how much I loved her performance in Killjoys.
• Wyatt Russell got a lot of shit for U.S. Agent in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series and it was entirely unjustified. If anything, he was too good in the role to get people to hate him so much. I seriously hope that he has a good role in the film so people will stop pitching shit at him for a job well done.
• Black Widow was kinda a sad film. They waited until the character fucking died before she got a movie (despite her dropping in everybody else's movies)... then really put the spotlight on Florence Pugh since she was taking over the character. Plus the movie was mid. I am still livid that Scarlett Johansson was shitted on so badly by Marvel Studios. Black Widow deserved more.
• The Fantastic Four has gotten some truly shitty movies before coming to the MCU. Which is such a shame because if people would just follow the fucking comic book and pick up on what makes it so frickin' great... THEY ARE A FAMILY OF ADVENTURERS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE SUPER-HEROES... AKA The Imaginauts era, everything would be fine. Dang I hope that Marvel Studios nails this.
• Matt Shakman keeps getting lauded for WandaVision, a show I hated. I was not thrilled when he was brought on to Fantastic Four, but it sounds as though his work on WandaVision along with his studying 1960's New York could be an asset? I dunno. I really, really hope they knock this movie out of the park.
• The free fan looks VERY much like the movie is taking inspiration from The Incredibles which is the best news possible. That is one of the most stylistic retro-futuristic movies ever made.
• Surprise! The cast! Ebon Moss-Bachrach is a very good actor. But in his most famous role for The Bear all he does is fucking scream most of the time. I know he's capable of more, and I really hope we get too see something softer because The Thing is more about being Ben Grimm than the raw power of his super-hero persona.
• As much as I love Pedro Pascal (and boy do I), I really wanted John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to head The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Oh well. I'm sure he will be amazing in this. I'll just try to forget how he was absolute shit (though no fault of his own) in the shitty fucking Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman 1984 disaster, and I'm sure everything will be fine. I will never forgive Jenkins for following her first Wonder Woman masterpiece with one of the greatest super-hero movies of all time with that shitty, SHITTY fucking sequel. And now it looks like she's going to take a dump on Star Wars too. After WW1984 she should never work again. NOBODY who was responsible for that should ever be given money for movies again.
• For the love of God I hope they let Ebon Moss-Bachrach bring this kind of humble aesthetic to The Thing. If they go the HULK SMASH route I'll be very disappointed. Very.
• I don't know much about Jpseph Quinn except his masterful performance as Eddie in Stranger Things. That's a very good start for Johnny Storm. His character is played as a hot-head, but no so over the top that he's beyond reason and a bad caricature of a bratty asshole with super-powers. Even though the first slate of FF movies were shit, Michael B. Jordan and Chris Evans knew the assignment. Even when they were supposed to go too far with Johnny, you got the feeling that wheels were still turning. And that's critical.
• Vanessa Kirby gives off complex vibes when it comes to her roles. I think I most remember her from the Mission Impossible movies, and that's not a bad thing. Sue Storm should be of a similar mindset, which is to say she's complex, capable, and whip-smart instead of just eye candy. Scarlett Johansson was exploited as Black Widow in many respects, but at least they always came back to the fact that she was a valuable and impressive member of the team despite not having super-powers. Hopefully they don't forget that when it comes to The Invisible Woman.
• Bringing back The Russo Brothers to direct the Avengers flicks is like... MENSA-level smart. They know what to do with an ensemble film, and their takes on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame is literally all you could want. I hope that the reason Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer involved is because he's making a Shang-Chi sequel. Which is probably a better use of his talents anyway.
• Avengers: Secret Wars is something to look forward to. The concept is vast in a way that even the comic books strive to match. Absolutely anything is possible in this movie. Anything. How Marvel Sudios chooses to take advantage of that will either make or break the film.
• The primary antagonist in Secret Wars is the all-powerful godlike Beyonder. I have said multiple times that the ideal person for the part is Alan Tudyk. But who will be Marvel's choice?
• Doctor Doom! Yeah, Hall H had no choice but to explode at that news.
• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now Avengers: Doomsday which is pretty much all they could do given how badly Ant-Man: Quantumania was received, how utterly mid Loki: Season 2 turned out, AND then the whole Johnathan Majors mess which made it impossible for him to return as Kang the Conquerer. Kang, one of the best, most powerful villains in the MCU was utterly trashed, so replacing him with Dr. Doom (yet another phenomenal Marvel villain) was a no-brainer.
• Welp.
• Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom is a bold choice. And while it would be very easy for this to just be a Multiverse variant of Tony Stark's Iron Man, I seriously hope they are smarter than that. The possibilities are endless, really. Maybe a villain who was defeated by Iron Man goes back in time to clone a baby Tony Stark, then raises the clone to become the ultimate villain: Doom. Or maybe it’s a shapeshifter using Stark’s face to disorient their foes. Or maybe it’s a robot looking like Tony built by the real Dr. Doom. Literally hundreds of ways This could go.
• There was nobody who could have played arrogant Tony Stark better than Robert Downey Jr, and Doom is at least 10× more arrogant. He's perfect for the part, however it comes to pass.

And now the surprising omissions which were not mentioned. Anything to do with the Disney+ series... Agatha All Along, Daredevil: Born Again, Eyes of Wakanda, and Ironheart. On the movie side, nothing to do with the long-promised Armor Wars and Blade flicks, no announcement of an expected new Spider-Man film, nothing about Shang-Chi, and... weirdly... nothing to do with X-Men either. I guess they want to save something for next year? But that's realy disappointing given the hot news we got from past Comic Cons.

And so... pretty much good news over what we actually got. Maybe the drastically-reduced slate of movies and shows happening will give us better-quality releases?

One would hope.

I'm in the middle of upgrading my closet, but it's time for a break... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• What is that? Let's start with the funniest thing I've seen all week...

This video short may be better than Revenge of the Sith!

   
• Super! Supacell is the Netflix series that Marvel Studios and Disney+ wish they had made. The only super-hero-television-show I've enjoyed more was Hawkeye. This show is exceptional. Where did they find these actors? I don't know that I've seen any of them before, and they're all so amazing. As if that wasn't enough, the show looks beautiful. Truly movie-quality gorgeous. Sure, the budget for the special effects isn't huge, but they make the most of what they had... and you're not looking at a shitty CGI wankfest every scene...

Absolutely worth your valuable time to watch.

   
• Ummmm! So... they're making a television series based on the book Bad Monkey which came out a full decade after the original Bad Monkey from Blogography...

I should sue! Yes! I should totally sue! Except I love Vince Vaughn, so I kinda want to see this show!

   
• Spider-Cat! Well this is awesome...

   
• Section 31! Normalize putting Michelle Yeoh in everything. Everything!

Seeing her in a deliciously evil role is too good to be true.

   
• Fake Ink! I wish to God that movie makeup crews knew how to apply realistic fake tattoos to actors. I am watching a sweet rom-com flick on Netflix called Find Me Falling, and Harry Connick Jr.'s rock star character has the absolute WORST fake ink on him. The lines are all perfectly crisp and the black ink is deepest black... like it was put on him last week. But it's tribal, which means it's at least two decades old...

Every time I saw it I was taken completely out of the film because it looks so fucking ridiculous. Do the people who make these fake tattoos know what an actual tattoo looks like?

   
• It's a Fucking Book! God forbid people be exposed to an alternative point of view. Families come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations...

Books. Like. This. Saves. Lives.

   
• TRON TRON TRON! I've been happy to see a lot of people sharing a meme with brilliant composer Wendy Carlos (debunking the idea that "trans people didn't exist five years ago when she transitioned in the early 70's) . Her TRON soundtrack still gives me chills when I think back to her groundbreaking work in electronic music. What people might not know about her is that after her first album Switched on Bach became a wild success, she was transitioning and terrified that her being credited as "Walter Carlos" on the album would cause problems... so she wore a wig and fake sideburns to appear more masculine at her public appearances...

Since then, all her albums were issued (or re-issued) with her properly credited as "Wendy Carlos." I find it horrific that society is sliding back to a time when trans persons were persecuted and ridiculed so viciously and openly. What has Wendy done to the world to deserve that except spread joy and feeling with her music? What has any trans person done to deserve this? They're just living their lives the best they can with the cards they were dealt. Just like we all are. Seek out Wendy's work. Some incredible stuff out there.

   
Hoping the last Sunday of July finds you well.

I may be melting from working too hard when it's too hot, but don't you fear... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• LIFE-CHANGING NEWS! I WILL NEVER BE BUYING KETCHUP AGAIN! Tonight I wanted a burger for dinner. I had used the last of my ketchup, so I went to grab a fresh bottle... and... I DON'T HAVE ANY! CANCEL MY AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, BECAUSE HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF KETCHUP IN THE USA? But I had tomato paste, so I Googled a recipe. There are many. All of them have vinegar and sugar, then spices. And so I decided to just roll my own and wing it on the spices until it tasted good. I just kept adding them... black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, mustard, celery powder, berbere, and a little cayenne. INCREDIBLE!

I COULD EAT THIS OUT OF THE BOWL! IT WAS SO GOOD ON MY BURGER THAT I AM COOKING FRIES SO I CAN SMOTHER THEM IN IT! I WILL NEVER BUY STORE KETCHUP EVER AGAIN! LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Guess running out of store-bought ketchup was a blessing in disguise.

   
• Exploding Kittens! Netflix has an animated series that takes its name from the Exploding Kittens card games which doesn't really follow the game. Instead it focuses on God and the Devil being banished to earth as... cats? They had Tom Ellis who played Lucifer for six seasons, so the fact that he's God now is clever casting...

It's pretty well done, over all. Some hilarious moments and pretty good stories. If you've got Netflix, it's worth checking out.

   
• Manny! So... The Hollywood Reporter has taken a quote completely out of context to use as a headline, and it's pretty bad. Especially given what Manny Jacinto actually had to say. My comment left on their Facebook follows...

"I understand that you have to create click-bait headlines so people will visit your site... but was it really necessary to pull this quote completely out of context so it makes him seem like a raving prima donna instead of being grateful to have the job and be a part of the movie? — 'There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes. Fortunately, it still was a great experience — you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be a small part of this huge franchise.'"

What a shitty fucking way to misrepresent what Manny was trying to say. He seems like a nice guy. I loved him in The Good Place and he's darn good in The Acolyte. But I guess you can't have an Asian guy making it in Hollywood. Gotta crush him by making him look bad to everybody and turn them against him. Just goes to show that there's an agenda in all "reporting"... even when it coes to entertainment "news."

   
• I CANNOT EVEN! Prague, one of the most beautiful cities on earth, is home to one of my favorite restaurants on the entire planet: Lehká Hlava (Clear Head). So to see the spreading of bullshit lies about Czech restaurants gaining traction out of ignorance is rage-inducing. Fortunately, Honest Guide is on the case...

It's like... come on. Can't people do the bare fucking minimum of looking into "injustices" before spreading idiotic crap like this? The answer is obviously no! because the truth isn't what's important any more. It's getting views and clicks.

   
• M3GAN! Okay... I tuned into this movie because it's got a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, but wasn't expecting much. I thought it was going to be a Chucky rip-off. BUT NOPE! This movie is nuts! In the best way, of course. SO DISTURBING!

If you've got Peacock, it's streaming there for free and is well worth your time.

   
• And Now... a Reminder! "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ― Isaac Asimov

And it's getting worse every fucking day.

   
• The Olds! And so the inevitable happened... President Biden pulled out of the race. As somebody who is not a fan, I shed zero tears. He's too old to be president, and it's ludicrous and cruel that he was ever being considered in the first place. Interesting to note... with Biden gone, that makes Trump the oldest person in the history of the United States to be on the ticket for president. Blergh. He's too fucking old too! He's only three years younger than Biden, for Christ's sake. And his mental abilities are decidedly worse, because he doesn't have Biden's stutter to keep distracting his brain while he's speaking. When are we going to stop with all these politicians who are too fucking old and out-of-touch to hold office?

   
And now I return you to our regular scheduled programming.

Mac users like to think that the many viruses and problems which plague Windows users doesn't effect them, but they're wrong. The fact that the world runs on Windows means that existing in the world means that Windows problems can affect you. There couldn't be a better example of this than today's "CrowdStrike" disaster.

CrowdStrike is a cyber security company whose products protect your computers from going down due to external attacks and protect your data from data breaches. Today they sent out a security update to their Windows host customers which, alas, ended up being defective. This caused all the computers which received the update to crash. Hard. A global IT outage occurred. Which means everything from airports and airlines to banking and health care were hopelessly fucked. All you saw anywhere and everywhere was the dreaded Windows Blue Screen of Death™...

So whether you are a Mac user, Linux user, or Windows user... you were hopelessly fucked by consequence. Like these people in what I'm thinking must be Berlin Brandenburg Airport (I've only flown into Berlin a handful of times... so while "Ankunft" is definitely German, I can only be positive that this is not Cologne-Bonn's airport, which I am very familiar with)...

Photo by Liesa Johannssen/Getty Images

Now, given how much travel I've done in my life, I've been in situations just like this. Mostly as a consequence of weather, but sometimes it was technical. I've definitely seen the Windows Blue Screen of Death™ in more than one airport. I do not envy these people trying to deal with the clusterfuck that's become their life. I can't even remember all the places I've been stuck over the years. But it's happened many, many times. In the beginning when I hadn't traveled so much, it was both frustrating and terrifying. But as the number of trips I took went up, my anxiety went down when problems popped up. It'll all work out, no matter what happened, I knew that I'll get to where I'm going eventually. Accommodations to my situation will be made. Which is not to say that sadness didn't occur. I missed a Christmas back when my mom and grandmother were still alive and, given how important that holiday was to them, I was understandably upset about it.

But technology happens.

In other news... after watching Jason Statham in the incredible action flick The Beekeeper, I've made it my mission in life to watch all of his films that I haven't yet seen. There's not a lot because I'm a huge fan of the kinds of films he makes. The best of the films I watched this week was Safe...

Is there anything brilliantly new to be had? No. But there were a number of interesting bits in-between the fighting. Can't ask for more than that!

Yesterday I blathered on about asshole movie studios depriving customers of what they paid for... access to movies and shows that were sold to them. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Something I cannot fathom is how studios will sit on shows they own and not release them for people to enjoy. This was something that hit me pretty hard after Stephen Dunham died in 2012. He was the star of Oh Grow Up! (from 1999), a series I loved that can't be watched anywhere. It was never released on DVD, was never offered digitally and, from what I can tell, has never been shown on any network after its original run. I have it recorded on 8mm tape somewhere, but don't know that I have a player capable of playing them even if I could find the tapes. You can tapes to be converted to digital, but companies won't do it because they're copyrighted material.

What a waste. Dunham was a good actor and his work deserves to be seen. The pilot episode is on YouTube, but not much else...

Sometimes you can get lucky. There was a show called The Palace Guard (from 1991) which I loved that was eventually released as a part of a Stephen J. Cannell DVD collection set (and I've seen it on some free-view services from time to time... it's currently playing for free on Plex). It was a fun show about a cat burglar that becomes a security expert for an international chain of hotels. But I don't know how much longer those DVDs will even work, if they haven't crapped out already (see yesterday's post)...

Other times you can get... kinda lucky. A Connie Sellecca and Greg Evigan vehicle I liked called P.S.I. Luv U (also from 1991) was never released for home video in any format... but some kind soul uploaded all episodes to YouTube nine years ago, albeit in atrocious quality, and I have watched through them all a couple times...

No idea how legal it is, but if the studio who owns it isn't going to do anything with the show, somebody has to. It's one of six series I would very much be thrilled to purchase (and there's plenty of others)...

• P.S.I. Luv U (1991)
• Strange Luck (1995)
• Cupid (1998)
• Oh Grow Up! (1999)
• Now and Again (1999)
• The American Embassy (2002)

The frustrating thing about all this is that it costs practically nothing to convert a show to digital format. It's all automated. You put the tapes in the machine and push a button. The software which encodes it and cleans it up doesn't require any technical expertise. Just a person to load/unload.

You'd think with streaming networks desperate to have content for their services which are exceedingly cheap, this would be a no-brainer. But it's not like you could accuse studio executives of having a brain.

I own a bajillion DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. I love movies and television. I love owning my favorite shows so I can re-watch whenever I want. When digital streaming came along, I made the switch happily because I simply didn't have the space to store all that physical media. But then we all found out a sad truth... shows and movies you bought and paid for can be taken from you with absolutely no recourse. You pay for the right to stream something, and that right can be stripped from you at any time when a studio removes it from Google Play or iTunes or wherever.

So back to buying physical media, right? The studios can't break into your house and take those back!

Except they don't have to. Because physical media isn't made to last, and some studios know that... but don't give a shit. They got your money, and that's all they care about. Something this video talks about in depth, mostly focusing on the abomination that is Warner Bros., who is a fucking shitty company for many reasons, and this is a big one...

It's absolutely bonkers that those of us who do the right thing and pay for the stuff we want to own get punished for it. And yet here we are.

Buy physical media? It rots and no longer works.

Buy digital copies? Studios can strip them from you at any time.

Subscribe to a studio's streaming service directly? Studios can remove those shows even more easily.

The only option left is to buy physical media, then "back it up" by ripping it to your computer. Legally, you do have a right to have a backup so long as you continue to own the original media. Which is to say that you can't buy a DVD, rip it, then sell the DVD. Except... it's illegal to circumnavigate copy protection to actually make the backup. And of course DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy protection.

It's a total load of shit. Personally I am of the belief that once you buy a DVD or Blu-Ray or digital copy of something, you should maintain the right to view it regardless of what happens. If a DVD rots, you should have the right to purchase replacement media at cost or get a digital copy for free. And once something is sold digitally, studios don't get to take it back from you. They must provide a way for you to get what you paid for. Or else they shouldn't be allowed to sell it in the first place.

But powerful studios own our politicians, so that's expecting too much.

THEY doing illegal shit to strip you of what you bought is forgivable. YOU doing illegal shit to have access to what you paid for is not.

Typical.