I have less than zero desire to see Wicked: Part One because I am not a fan of musicals. Sure there are some I've managed to enjoy (Xanadu and Grease to name two?) but they're just not for me.

That being said... the technical breakdown of this scene is incredible...

I will likely see the movie on streaming just for the sets (which are real, not CGI!) and production values.

I infamously passed on seeing Hamilton with the original cast (I know, I know) but caught that on streaming, so... yeah... I can do Wicked.

I was happy to see that there was a new Thomas Flight on Film video released today. This time it's about one of my favorite aspects to the art of filmmaking: cinematography.

My favorite cinematographer is Roger Deakins. There are not enough words to describe my joy and love of his work. He used to be my #2 pick (the guy is an absolute legend, and movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and numerous others is why), but then the James Bond flick, Skyfall, was released and he jumped to my #1 spot...

AND THEN a miracle happened. Blade Runner 2049 came along, the most beautiful movie I've ever seen, and it made me wish I could move him higher than #1... maybe he's #0 now?

Blade Runner 2049 is simply mindblowing in its beauty. Every shot is like a work of art from start to finish...

And, yes, Deakins made Flight's list. How could he not?

If you're into film, the video is worth a watch...

I'm betting Deakins makes a lot of movie fans' lists.

Snowy weather may have kept me from working in the yard today, but it didn't keep me from blogging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Garbage! Remember how I was chuffed to bits that I managed to get everything in my garage put away so I have a dry place to park this Winter? This past Wednesday I realized that I forgot to leave room for my garbage can. In the Spring and Summer months I keep it outside because the heat makes it smell and I don't have to worry about trudging through snow to get to it. But now is when it's far smarter to have it inside, so I had to spend an hour rearranging all my junk so it would fit. WHY, LORD? WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?!?

   
• More Hallmark Than Hallmark! I lost access to Hallmark Channel, so I haven't seen any new movies in a while. Which is a wild adjustment for me to be making considering how I watched every new movie they ever released. But I can still enjoy the parodies, and this couple has some that are better than most...

This one is even more hilarious...

It's funny. But entirely accurate.

   
• XXX! I hate having my time wasted. And an increasing cause of time being wasted are companies adopting technology, then abandoning it without shutting it down. I bought a new Whirlpool oven. There's a Photoregister service where you can take a photo of a code and text it to register your product. But even though my photo is perfectly legible, I get the error "Sorry, we were unable to read that. Please reply with the code on the bottom of the camera icon."

I blurred out the number at the end because I don't know if having my serial number out there causes problems, but you can see how crisp and perfectly clear the number is in the image by the first three numbers

So I scream then enter the code manually, double-check I have it right, AND GET THE SAME FUCKING ERROR. Jesus. How is this useless fucking technology helping your customers? Just give me a fucking QR code for manually registering to begin with.

   
• Buggy Bugs! iPhone: You've Got Mail! Except when I click it tells me I don’t. This happens CONSTANTLY. It has been reported as a bug for years...

And yet Apple, with their billions of dollars, refuses to allot resources to fix it.

   
• Doon Episode Two! The money that HBO must be dumping into Dune: Prophecy is astounding. This series looks better than most movies. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the incredible special effects... it's so very cool that they're making sure the show has the budget it deserves. It's like they can feel that this has the potential to be their next Game of Thrones and they're doing what they can to make it happen. The preview for Episode 03 has me seriously bemoaning that we're only getting six episodes...

I choose to look at it as a very long movie instead of a short season. Here's hoping that they reeeeeally stick the landing on this one so we get a second season.

   
• WELP! Apple's "Apple Intelligence" ad campaign has been about the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It's not a tool to help you be more productive... it's a badly-implemented crutch for people who are lazy morons! This sums it up nicely...

Maybe eventually AI will become something I give a shit about, but from what we've got right now I'm more embarrassed than impressed.

   
• Start with Garbage, End with Garbage! And, speaking of AI, I can't believe that Adobe has their Stock Images defaulting to AI-Generated images being ON by default. If I wanted an AI-generated image, I'd go to a fucking AI-art generating tool. I wouldn't go to a stock art website. God this company has turned into the absolute fucking WORST. I just accidentally bought an AI-generated image because I didn't see the little "AI" tag they don't add until you hover over it. Well, sorry, I don't support that bullshit personally, and I certainly don't tie it to my place of employment where people would rightfully bash them for stealing photos and art. Lord. If you're going to sell this shit, default to it being OFF... and make the damn disclaimer tag be permanent and not turning off and on based on where your mouse is...

This isn't rocket science. Any guesses as to whether or not my excluding AI will stick and be permanent?

   
Back to watching the snow fall on this very snowy day.

Winter is finally here because there was a dusting of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning, but I can't be out rolling around in it... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Betty Gets Stamped! Betty White is getting her own postage stamp in 2025!

I'm happy that they used a photo of her when she was older since that's how most people would recognize her. But they could have done a set of four with Betty through the ages since her career has been so long and varied... just sayin'.

   
• Happy! I want so badly to see Piece By Piece but the price to buy it is still the in-theater price of $25... so I guess I'm waiting a minute. But, come on, doesn't this Pharrell Williams doc look incredible? Genius, really...

If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that we need more LEGO documentaries like this.

   
• On The Bayou! Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain has been re-themed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure for a while now, and at last Disneyland's has been transformed as well...

As I said when I took a look at Orlando's ride, I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity in that they should have told the story of the film Princess and the Frog, but they didn't. So that means beloved characters like Ray (not to mention one of Disney's best villains, Dr. Facilier) are missing. That's a darn shame.

   
• Bug Reports! I've lost count of the number of times that I've reported a bug to Apple that they never address. Whenever you receive an email with a meeting link and click "ACCEPT" to let the sender know that you'll be there, the message is immediately deleted. And, no, it's not because Apple Mail adds it to your calendar with the meeting link. It's because Apple Mail IS A BRAIN-DEAD PILE OF SHIT AND NOBODY AT APPLE GIVES A FUCK!

It is absolutely abhorrent how Apple never seems to care about people trying to do actual work with their stupid shit. I have been reporting this same bug for fucking years now.

   
• Cheap Danger! You should probably watch this video. It's a sign of what's going to be coming in other industries. Corporations raking in BILLIONS of dollars yet refusing to pay anything to keep workers and customers safe, because there's no repercussions. And now there will be even less, because the next administration has made it very clear that they're going to continue to put corporations over people...

This is going to cost lives. Not even a question.

   
• Justice! NEWSFLASH: American livestreamer indicted in South Korea over offensive antics. Oh noes. I sure hope that nothing happens to him while he's doing time for being one of the worst people on the face of the fucking planet. He's been terrorizing and disrespecting people, places, and important things for what seems like forever. The number of heinous things he's done is so long that I'm shocked he hasn't been banned from all of Asia. Maybe it's forthcoming.

   
And now we return to Winter, already in progress.

Now that the heat is on at my house, I am warm enough to blog again... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Poh-Tay-Toh! One of my favorite YouTube series is the Epicurious Pro Chefs Taste Tests. I obsess over them because the chefs they get are always great. But my favorite is Jack Logue because he's kinda a void for most of the video... but when he likes something, you know it because he breaks on it. When he finds fries he likes, it's pretty great...

I waffle between Lamb Weston and McCain Foods USA depending on what's on sale, so it's good to know I'm buying the best. Though, to be honest, I am badly addicted to McCain Hashbrown Patties and tend to eat them over fries now-a-days. If you like cooking videos, these are worth a look.

   
• The Oven Bakes Again! My replacement oven arrived and it's very much like my old oven with the same basic features. But it does have one very big difference I love. The stovetop is a solid sheet! No gap filled with rubber to collect crumbs and gunk! It'll be so easy to keep clean!

Other than that, it's an oven. It'll be nice to be able to bake bread again.

   
• The Bold Failure of Kohler! I really hate having messy hands in the kitchen while cooking and needing to turn on the faucet, then getting the faucet all gunked up. So when I remodeled my kitchen, I bought a fancy touchless faucet and paid a plumber to install it. Four-and-a-half years later, and the "touchless" part of my "Bold Look of Kohler" failed. I was going to swtich brands, but stuck with Kohler so I wouldn't have to pay to have it installed. Instead I could use most of what was already under the cabinet, and just replace the main faucet part. The model I had isn't made any more, so I bought one that was similar. And of course Kohler changed everything, meaning I had to start over from scratch any way. And it was more difficult this time because they made some stupid fucking design decisions. Oh well. Saved myself $500 in installation charges I don't have after buying a new oven and a new touchless faucet.

   
• Thunderbolts*! I haven't been this excited for a Marvel Studios movies film since Avengers: Endgame. This looks great!

   
• Cap! And this?!? Also looks very cool!

   
• Star Wars Trilogy Redux! Simon Kinberg has been put in charge of writing a new trilogy of Star Wars movies. And I'm like Simon Kinberg? Hmmm. I mean, he did write gems like Mr. & Mrs. Smith and co-created Star Wars: Rebels... but he's got LOADS of absolute shit on his résumé as well. X-Men: The Last Stand? SHIT! Jumper? TOTAL SHIT! This Means War? SHIT! Fant4stic Four? HEINOUS PILES OF SHIT ON SHIT! X-Men: Apocalypse? ASPIRES TO BE SHIT! X-Men: Dark Phoenix? CAN ONLY DREAM OF BEING AS GOOD AS COPIOUS PILES OF SHIT! — Ugh. This does not sound promising at all. If I am confident of one thing, Kathleen Kennedy is going to continue her streak of shitty fucking Star Wars films. I still marvel that Rogue One and Solo managed to turn out as well as they did given how the sequel trilogy and the last Indiana Jones movie were mostly SHIT! And while I've enjoyed the Star Wars television shows, only Andor is quality enough that I can honestly say I love it. The rest have great moments, but don't satisfy as a whole. The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and The Acolyte could have been SO much better. And last season of The Mandalorian is tired. I sincerely hope that movie doesn't suck.

   
• ! Speaking of some of the best Star Wars ever, the second season of Andor has been given a start date: April 22, 2025. So long to go. But I'm confident it will be worth the wait. The first season is some of the best television I've ever seen.

   
And now I should probably climb in bed and try to get some sleep since I totally failed at it last night.

I've had entirely too much work to do this weekend, but I'm making sure I take a break to blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• It's nice to be nice sometimes. As somebody who loves baseball, I was wiping away tears when the story of Trea Turner's miraculous turnaround for the Phillies came out last year. I had no idea that they made a documentary about what happened. It's just 20 minutes long on Netflix, but even if you're not a baseball fan this is worth your valuable time to see what positive reinforcement can do to somebody...

Throwing hate at players for trying their best at a game they love doesn't help anything. More likely it just makes a player going through a rough patch do worse, and a little encouragement goes a long way. A lot longer than trying to break somebody down. If you've got Netflix, it's worth a look.

   
• Feels Right? Do It! There is no contest. The FRDi Show is hands-down my favorite podcast in existence. Especially if you can watch the YouTube videos of the show. Their channel has kinda morphed into the guys playing games and it's must-see entertainment for me. It's such good fun that I live for new episodes. I can just put it on and forget about the world for a while. They were on hiatus for a while, and it was really tough. But they're back now and all is right in the world. This is yet another banger episode...

It can't be all horrific political news all the time. The FRDi Show returning is just what I need right now.

   
• Vend Error! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! Once again, we're leading the world!

This just reaffirms my belief that men should be the ones making all decisions as to what a woman can do with her body. I mean, come on, just look how good we're doing with ours!

   
• It's only forever... not long at all. I've been on a huge Bowie kick lately. And I remain shook how much I continue to love his soundtrack for the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth. The songs are just so good. And on the top of that brillint heap of music is As the World Falls Down...

But the other songs aren't lacking by any means...

These could have been throwaway tracks for a silly kids movie. But Bowie elevated them so much that they ended up far better than they had a right to be...

Bowie's performance was flawless in every way... in the context of the film he is The Goblin King! And who else could have possibly played the part?

   
• Mayor Pete Stories! I have a complicated opinion of Pete Buttigieg. The guy has some past actions that are problematic. But for quite a while now he's just been such a smart, refreshing, reassuring voice of reason during these insane times in which we live, and I love him for it. I had never heard his coming out story, and it's as good as you'd imagine for him...

It shouldn't be this hard for people to be true to themselves and who they are. And every time I think it's getting better for the LGBTQ+ Community, something happens which makes you wonder if this toxic fucking society will ever just let people be.

   
• More HomeShit! Apple's smart home technology, HomeKit, is one of the absolute worst technologies I have ever used. It's glitchy as fuck. It has a shitty implementation. Things go wrong with it all the fucking time. I had a power outage not so long ago, and two of my automations stopped working. Which is typical. The only thing you can do when this happens is delete the automation and rebuild it. There's no fixing it. Then you cross your fucking fingers, because you may have to do it more than once before the shit works again. Interestingly enough, this morning I finally got a feature working that was promised with iOS/TV OS/HomePod OS version 18.1: Specifying which device you want to use as a primary hub and border router to the outside world. Despite having everything upgraded to the beta 18.1 OS, I was never allowed to choose shit. This morning there as another OS update so I installed it remotely, then I turned off the power to all devices with my remote electrical plugs for an hour, then turned them back on. And then...

And of course I selected the Living Room AppleTV. Why wouldn't I? Not only is it the newest AppleTV, BUT IT'S ALSO PLUGGED DIRECTLY INTO MY FUCKING ROUTER SO IT HAS THE FASTEST, MOST RELIABLE CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET! It drove me fucking insane that until now Apple would regularly select some HomePod mini somewhere that was slow as fuck. Apparently Apple's determination was always which device has the latest OS update, not which device is the best for the job. Typical Apple bullshit. We should have been able to select our preferred hub all along.

   
• NEWSFLASH! Rudy Giuliani is losing everything to the Georgia election workers he defamed. Oh. Oh that's too bad. Say, did y'all know that the "pronghorn" is the second-fastest land animal after the cheetah? It's kinda a goat. It's kinda an antelope. But it's actually not either. It's an entirely separate animal! And it lives right here in the USA! Wyoming is famous for them! Wyomingites are very proud of their pronghorns, as they should be!

   
And now back to your regularly-scheduled Sunday.

Streaming subscription fees have been rising while content quality is dropping.

It blows my fucking mind that there are surveys about truly obvious shit like this. Are people really sitting around wondering "Is the quality of streaming service content dropping even as they charge us more money?" Of course they fucking aren't. It's a matter of absolute fact that needs no thought.

Netflix gives Zack Snyder absurd fucking amounts of money to crap out his shitty fucking Rebel Moon movies, raises prices so they can pay for them, then cancels a bunch of quality shows because the money to keep them going has gone to Zack Snyder. Shows are not given time to find an audience. They are either a massive hit out of the gate or they are canceled.

I remember way back in the early days of streaming how much I loved that I could pick and choose the networks I wanted to watch and didn't have to pay for bundles with channels I would never watch. I thrilled to the fact that I could watch stuff commercial-free. It was television utopia.

And here we are, back to stupid-ass fucking bundles and stupid-ass fucking commercials.

I truly hope a company comes along real soon now to disrupt the streaming industry like Netflix did all those years ago. Because Netflix is now everything they used to be against, and we need a new Netflix to bury them.

Didn't my weekend just get started a minute ago? How is it that it's almost over? Again? Oh well, it's not like this blog is suffering along with me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Potential! I wasn't going to tune into the new ABC show High Potential because it's a remake of a French series I've seen (called HIP: High Intellectual Potential). But then I saw Kaitlin Olson was starring, and decided it would certainly be unique enough to merit a watch, even if the stories were the same...

I like it. Same but different. And Kaitlin Olson continues to impress.

   
• Murder Bear! This year's Fat Bear Week has been a real drama-fest this year. Fat Bear 469 murdered Fat Bear 402 on camera. And apparently murder is disqualifying behavior, because Fat Bear 469 is nowhere to be found on the bracket...

On the discussion board somebody wrote "Rest in Power, Fat Bear 402," and so that's where we're at now.

   
• Talent! The number of actors passing lately has been really disheartening. Now John Amos (of SO many amazing roles in TV and movies) and Ken Page (whose iconic voice gave life to Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas) are gone. John Amos hit with Good Times, but my favorite roles were from Coming to America and The West Wing (where his talent was really allowed to shine)...

And Ken Page? Oh man...

Disney may have disavowed The Nightmare Before Christmas when it debuted, but they have sure been leaning into the characters hard in recent years. Not only does Oogie Boogie dominate Halloween at Disneyland with his Oogie Boogie Bash, but he was just added as a racer in Disney Speedstorm...

Rest in Peace, sirs. The characters you created will live on.

   
• So Not Weird! They need to get Haley Joel Osment on Saturday Night Live stat...

I don't know how it's possible, but he captures J.D. Vance better than J.D. Vance does.

   
• UNSUBSCRIBE!!! I love adidas footwear. Their Terrex Swift R2 Mid Gtx boots are the best pair of shoes I've ever owned. They're the only shoes that I spent money to have repaired when they wore out (twice) because I just didn't want to let them go. Eventually I purchased replacements for my beloved shoes. But instead of going through Zappos.com as I usually do, I made the huge mistake of buying them direct from Adidas. And now I get fucking emails from them EVERY DAMN DAY. How many fucking pairs of shoes do you think i need? My pair of Terrex Swift R2 Mid Gtx lasted five years (with repairs). And here's the deal... YOU CANNOT UNSUBSCRIBE BECAUSE THEIR UNSUBSCRIBE LINK DOESN'T WORK!

I abhor shit like this. I think this is actually illegal in Washington State? But here's where it gets worse. There is NO option on their website... none that I could find anyway... where you can tell them not to email you. All you can do is subscribe to more lists...

If I got an email once a month... even every-other-week, I wouldn't be phased. BUT EVERY FUCKING DAY?!? How is this anything less than harassment? Who the fuck could possibly want this?

   
• And speaking of WA! For the record? Johnny Cash was talking about Mattawa, WASHINGTON STATE IN 'MURICA... not Mattawa, Ontario in Canada... when he said he's been "everywhere."

Bet on it.

   
• THE AD LITERALLY WENT TO A PORN SITE YOU ASSHOLES!! Facebook doesn't give a single fuck about anything but money. You can report ads for linking to porn sites, but Facebook never looks at where their ads go when you click, so it doesn't matter. So long as the ad itself isn't pornographic, they don't care who sees it.

Well, I give up. Facebook closes their eyes to absolutely everything... porn, scams, abuse... they don't care so long as the money keeps rolling in.

   
And now back to the rest of my rapidly diminishing Sunday. Or what's left of it, anyways.

Few films catch me totally off-guard.

Most recently, it was The Fall Guy which was SO smart and SO funny. Ryan Gosling continues to knock it out of the park, and this was just another feather in his cap. If you love movies and haven't seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to take a look...

But when it comes to one of the biggest surprises for me in my cinematic viewing history, 2013's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is high on the list. I'd never been a big Ben Stiller fan, the critics didn't think much of it, and the trailer looked okay but never sold it as must-see material...

But here's the thing... it starts out a little bit disjointed, strange, and overstuffed with attempts at whimsy... but builds into one of the singular most beautiful films I have ever seen. I've rewatched it more times than I can count. It speaks to me in a way that few other films have. It's the very definition of essential cinema to me.

The videos below have spoilers, so if you haven't done yourself the supreme favor of watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, then get on that before continuing.

A couple days ago a video on YouTube hit my feed which shows some love for the movie that's much deserved...

From there I found other videos which rightly assess the film...

Turns out a lot of people have a lot of big feelings about this exceptional movie.

I also found this interview with Stiller discussing his movie...

Every time I watch the movie again, I am dying to know if Ben Stiller is aware of how much The Secret Life of Walter Mitty means to those who love it so much.

I sure hope he does.

I'm too tired to write but not too tired to blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Smith! When people think of the late, great Dame Maggie Smith, I'm betting it's either her roles in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter that come to mind. But I didn't like anything to do with Harry Potter and wasn't a fan of Downton Abbey. For me, it's the many, many smaller roles I love her for. She had a small role in The First Wives Club that was wonderfully savage. Her smallest look and every motion was flawless...

Her talent was endless... Sister Act, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, California Suite, the original (and superior) Death on the Nile. The list goes on and on. This interview is worth your valuable time to watch...

An absolute gem. You will be sorely missed.

   
• Dame Sir Dame? I would be badly remiss if I didn't post this amazing skit of Sir Ian McKellen as Dame Maggie Smith on SNL from years ago...

Will never not be hilarious.

   
• Ashton! When it comes to character actors, John Ashton is one for the books. He popped up in unexpected places all the time. But it was the role of John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop films that cemented him in pop culture history...

Another loss for Hollywood. Rest in Peace, sir.

   
• NEWS: Walmart self-checkout mistake destroys Olympic athlete's career. Not only are stores like Walmart asking you to work for them by scanning your own groceries... they seek to imprison you if you scan them wrong or their machines fails to read the scan. Because, you know, WE'RE ALL FUCKING EXPERTS WHEN IT COMES TO BEING A GROCERY CHECKER... BEING FORCED TO DO A JOB WE WERE NEVER TRAINED FOR! — I hope she sues them for a billion dollars and wins. This kind of shit drives me insane.

   
• Mickey's Balls! Franklin Farms makes some really good vegan products, and a really good one is their "Black Bean & Plantain Balls." When I saw them in the grocery store this last week, I was surprised to see that they are now being promoted by Mickey Mouse...

Which just goes to show that Disney will slap their intellectual property on anything. Because money, I guess. I do question the benefit that Franklin Farms is going to get by this branding partnership. Do they think that kids are going to see Mickey in the refrigerator case and scream "MOM! DAD! I WANT MICKEY'S BALLS!" or something? I don't get it. But whatever. Mickey's balls are pretty tasty when served over rice...

Of course, I'm a sucker for Cuban-style meals, so my opinion is far from biased.

   
• Asano! Oh man. There's so many exceptional international actors that I love, and it always makes my heart grind that most Americans will never know their work. I'm so happy that Tadanobu Asano is getting recognized for his craft and that Americans could see him at work in Shōgun! Which he talks about in this terrific interview...

Congratulations on the Hollywood Reporter Japan’s Trailblazer Award, sir! I've been a fan for quite a while!

   
• Hold Me Now, Now! Oh boy! The Thompson Twins are releasing a 40th Anniversary Edition of Into the Gap, remixed in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. They released a teaser track for Hold Me Now that's really nice (though a few odd choices were made in the mix that surprised me). Super Deluxe Edition is releasing a Blu-Ray Audio with 30 bonus tracks to commemorate the occasion, and I don't think I've ever pressed an "ORDER" button so fast...

One of my favorite albums ever. Can't believe it's FORTY YEARS OLD! I don't want to think about how old that makes me.

   
And now I think I should probably turn in early. Really hope I'm not too tired to sleep.