And here we go... my annual wrap-up of my favorite films of the year! Or, to be more accurate, my favorite films that I actually saw. Which has again been hampered severely by my unwillingness to go to the theater. The experience is absolute shit in a day-and-age where people are inconsiderate assholes, and I am just not doing it. Oh well. Still love movies though. Even though a lot of the ones I liked didn't prove profitable.

THE EIGHTEEN NINETEEN BEST

#1 Superman (DC Comics/Warner Bros.)
As I have made abundantly clear over the years, I fucking loathed the Zack Snyder DC Comics films. Dark, dour, joyless, soulless, meandering crap that treated all super-heroes like gods, even when the characters aren't gods. Which made everything boring as hell. Then along comes Jakes Gunn, who made Superman interesting, fun, and hopeful. In a way we haven't seen since the two Richard Donner films. And it's glorious. As is that weren't enough, we're given Krypto the Superdog, and he steals the movie. Also stealing the film? Mr. Terrific, which was a wonderful surprise in every measure. If this is what we're getting out of the Gunn DC Universe, count me in. While not perfect, it's right up there with the Donner Superman flicks, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and the first Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman film (not the absolute pile of shit that was the second one). Can't ask for much more than that.

#2 (tie) Thunderbolts* (Marvel Studios)
While I liked this movie very much, the ending wasn't what I would have hoped. Though, to be honest, when you're dealing with a god-like entity and your entire team can only "shoot and punch," there are precious few other ways it could have ended. That aside, this is one of the better Marvel flicks in years. The cast is all great. The dialogue is snappy, funny, and always moving the story forward. And there's an overriding message to it all that's a strong foundation to build upon. Unfortunately movie audiences didn't agree, and it's probable that the film will only break even after all is said and done.

#2 (tie) Fantastic Four: First Steps (Marvel Studios)
The original Marvel Comics super-group is also one of the more unique. At their core, they're a family of explorers, and those stories which support this concept are the best. Unfortunately, the previous Fantastic Four movies were shit. The people making them were writing super-hero stories for just anybody, not a family. Then Marvel got the rights to the team back, they had a retro-futuristic story that was exactly what should have happened from the start, and came up with a brilliant way of making it fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole all while respecting the source material in a way that works.

#3 Sinners (Warner Bros.)
There's something satisfying about a horror genre film which manages to be highly successful despite being built around a very serious message. That doesn't happen very often. Impeccably crafted by Ryan Coogler, the movie tackles racism in the Jim Crow South head-on in a way that's not at all subtle. The fact that it's a story so beautifully told and gorgeously shot is just the icing on the cake.

#4 Ballerina (Lionsgate)
"Was... was that a flamethrower tango?" Heaven only knows I love a good action-flick, and this was top-tier. In addition to being a part of the John Wick Universe, it stars Ana de Armas, whom I love to pieces. Alas, it was not the box office smash it deserved to be, so we're unlikely to get a sequel. I don't understand it at all. The guest-starring cast was epic, including Keanu Reeves, Ajelica Houston, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Gabriel Byrne. As if that wasn't enough, it was every bit as intense, thrilling, entertaining, and well-made as anything else in the John Wick franchise (some of those action sequences and kills were stunning). And yet... maybe with streaming and video sales a sequel might still happen? I sure hope so.

#5 Mickey 17 (Warner Bros.)
That Bong Joon Ho is a remarkable filmmaker is not up for debate. But when I saw the trailer for this film, I had to wonder if he had lost his mind. This was the follow-up to Parasite? But then I saw the movie and it had a quirky brilliance reminiscent of Snowpiercer that was far better than you'd think it would be. I was happy to see that Robert Pattinson manages to craft another unique character which is sometimes offbeat to distraction but never fails to serve the film.

#6 Playdate (Amazon)
As you have no doubt noticed from previous year picks, I'm a sucker for a good action comedy, but honestly didn't think this was going to be worth my time. I watched it only because Alan Ritchson was in it, and had zero expectations. Only to find one of the funnier flicks of the year lovingly wrapped in a full-on action movie that succeeds on all fronts. Kevin James, an actor I just haven't seen in things because his projects don't interest me, was flawless in his role as hapless bystander turned hilarious participant in the madness. I loved it from start to finish and it will likely turn into one of those comfort movies I put on as background noise while I'm working or cleaning the house, but ultimately end up watching because I just can't help myself.

#7 Nobody 2 (Universal)
The first Nobody was a total surprise. Yes, I love Bob Odenkirk. Yes, I love the movies that David Leitch produces. Putting them together should have immediately caught my attention. But it didn't until the film got to home streaming. But the second time around? Oh yeah. I bought it the minute it was available digitally. And was not disappointed. Filled with the humor, wit, charm, and explosive action you'd expect... with an endgame you deserve... I sure as heck hope that this is a stepping stone to Nobody 3.

#8 The Ballad of Wallis Island (Peacock)
Always a great thing to manage to be pleasantly surprised by a movie. And this one surprised me quite a lot. If I had to sum it up in one word, that would probably be "charming," though it's so much more than that. Originally a short film that got turned into a full film, it doesn't feel like a short film that got stuffed with enough fluff to reach feature-length. Wonderfully scripted and beautifully shot... sentimental and sweet... but never cloying or tedious, I'd recommend this movie to anybody looking for a nice distraction from the horrors of everyday life.

#9 The Phoenician Scheme (Focus)
You either get Wes Anderson or you don't. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that everybody will love this movie. But I did. First of all, this is the first role where Michael Cera wasn't playing Michael Cera, which was refreshing. Second of all, the cast is absolutely stacked... starring Benicio del Toro to Mia Theapleton... and there's guest appearances by Tom Hanks, Richard Ayoade, Riz Ahmen, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, F. Murray Abraham, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, and a guest appearance by Bill Murray that is so sublimely perfect that I still can't get it out of my head. Wes Anderson movies are not going to rake in a billion dollars, so I can only guess that he can always attract talent like this because they just love working with the guy. And they know they'll get to be in an awesome flick like this.

#10 A Working Man (Amazon)
While not the fantastic Jason Statham flick that The Beekeeper was last year, it was still another action flick worth watching. And I was very glad to have it given that The Beekeeper 2 hasn't been released yet. While Statham movies don't always have a twist like Wrath of Man did, preferring to be a straight A-to-B shot of straight-up action like this one, I'm just not looking for that every time. Sometimes I like to turn my brain off and go from A-to-B. But there IS a twist here... this movie was written by David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone?!? Didn't see that coming!

#11 Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Paramount)
The final film in Tom Cruise's "Ethan Hunt Octology" is pretty amazing in some ways... and a head-scratching mess in others. Nearly three hours in length, the first third is non-stop exposition which has some fun flashback moments to show how the past of the franchise relates to current events, but it's mostly a boring slog. We would have been far better off had they just cut to the chase and not try to link every last thing together before the movie actually starts (though I loved Donloe being a bit part in the first film being a major player in the last!). But once it actually does start? It's pretty great, featuring amazing action at the endgame with a hallmark stunt that's Tom Cruise at his death-defying best. The Entity from the previous film is gaining control of the world's nuclear arsenal, which spells doom for all humanity unless Hunt & Co. can figure out a way of stopping it. And the fun is in the ride, not really the conclusion. A good film that could have been great, Final Reckoning isn't the worst way for the Cruise era to go out... until the inevitable reboot.

#12 Black Bag (Focus)
Few directors I like are as hit or miss for me as Steven Soderbergh. Here he's not only hit, he's done it in a way so stylish and engaging that it has me wondering what pushed him to get there (I thought Presence was good, not great, so this was a surprise). Few writers I like are as hit or miss as David Koepp. Sure he did a brilliant job of adapting Jurassic Park, but he can also stink up the screen with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull too. Here he's not only hit with a sexy, svelte, stylish, engaging script, but came up with such a great hook that it has me wondering what pushed him to get there. What should have been a retread of Mr. & Mrs. Smith ends up being something so much more when it stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, elevating a spy caper to something worth your valuable time. A part of me wishes that this was a 6-episode TV series so it could have had a little more room to breath and given us more of a good thing.

#13 Wake Up Dead Man (Netflix)
Rian Johnson knows how to craft a good mystery movie, and this one was so good that I immediately had to run back and watch Knives Out and Glass Onion because I was left wanting more. As always with a mystery flick that doesn't cheat the viewer, I gotta immediately go back and watch it again so I can see all the clues that I missed. This time it wasn't quite as easy to see, but it was all there to be discovered.

#14 Weapons (New Line)
There is nothing that makes me happier than when people I like find success. Zach Cregger is one of those people whose acting roles always made me a fan... but this? This?!? Brilliant horror with compelling characters which drive it to deserved success. And a frickin' mind-blowing character turn by Amy Madigan that's almost worth the price of admission alone.

#15 KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Proving for the hundredth time that Sony Pictures has no fucking idea what they are doing (which is apparent to anybody who saw Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven), they took this brilliant animated movie and... gave it to Netflix?!? If you love K-pop music like I do, this is great. If you like tunes with meaningful lyrics like I do, this is great. If you love good animation like I do, this is great. If you just like a good movie, this is great. It's great.

#16 Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
Look, it's a wallace & Gromit movie. What else do you need to know? Wildly funny, brilliantly animated, wonderfully charming.

#17 Zootopia 2 (Disney)
I saw this on a Disney cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. It was surprising for feeling so fresh just as the first one was surprising for feeling so unexpected. I would not mind at all getting a third film in the franchise so long as they keep finding new ways to keep this amazing world and fascinating characters interesting.

#18 One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Yes, yes, I know that this is the #1 movie on a lot of lists for 2025. And it is a very, very good film. But it's just not my cup of tea. I can watch it and appreciate the talent that went into making it. I can even see how some consider it a masterpiece of cinema. And it is. But when your top three films are all super-hero movies, and you found more entertainment from a cartoon with talking animals, then "masterpiece" only goes so far in what you want to watch for entertainment. Oh well. I liked it enough to have it hit my list, so maybe I'm not totally a lost cause?

NOT IN MY TOP EIGHTEEN, BUT FEELS LIKE IT SHOULD BE

• Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel Studios)
  Apparently they changed the movie more than once as they were shooting, and the result is a big ol' mess. They tried to come up with another Captain America: Winter Soldier by pumping in some political espionage, but did a terrible job of it. The narrative is anything but smooth from beat to beat and the overall story was boring. As if that wasn't enough, the air battle at the one hour mark was truly awful. I did love that Joaquin Torres played a part as the new Falcon (I was surprised he was in the previous TV series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier), but everything else was pretty bad. Sam's dialogue was mostly groan-inducing instead of clever (and even Anthony Mackie couldn't save it). Harrison Ford was given horrible material. Sabra was jammed into the show for no reason. The villain was good, but used badly. And Isaiah Bradley, a character with so much to offer, was inexplicably used as a pawn for a silly plot point. And then there's Red Hulk, which was a great idea, but implemented in a stupid way and defeated in an even stupider one after a disjointed battle at The White House that had Sam's vibranium wings charging up, then mysteriously discharging from one action beat to the next. Where did that energy go and why did he never direct it at Red Hulk until the very end? This entire movie was such a nonsensical wasted opportunity and I honestly don't understand it. I was still entertained enough that I was happy to see it (and it sets up Wolverine nicely with the adamantium angle), but holy shit did Sam (and the fans) deserve better than this.

HONORABLE MENTION

• Frankenstein (Netflix)
  As a massive Guillermo del Toro fan, I was looking forward to this. What I wasn't looking forward to was yet another Frankenstein's Monster movie. And yet... del Toro found a take that managed to elevate it to a level I should have anticipated, but didn't for some reason. Don't make the mistake of skipping it because you're not into monster movies. This is a film with something to say.
• Novocaine (Paramount)
  Finding an interesting concept for a movie is rarely Job #1. Here it is. Finding a way to turn that interesting concept into a decent flick is rarely Job #2. Here it is. The result is not without its missteps, but is wholly entertaining.
• Final Destination: Bloodlines
  For a Final Destination movie to work, the writers have to be very clever about how Death comes for the characters. The more convoluted and interesting the series of events, the more interesting their death, and the more entertaining the movie will be. This time around the writers were very clever indeed, trying to find new ways to breathe life into the franchise. Sure, the logic doesn't always track from film to film and they violate their own rules as to how you can "cheat death," but ultimately that's not what's most important. This is my favorite out of the entire franchise, and having Tony Todd's character fully explained from the previous films is just icing on the cake.
• Elio (Disney)
  Adorable. Well-animated. Stylistically fun and engaging. I don't know why this film failed so badly at the box office, because it has all the pieces which make you think it should have been a big success.
• The Life List (Netflix)
  When it comes to rom-coms, there's really not much new territory left to tread. It's all been done before. What makes it work is how they re-tell the same old story. And this is how The Life List manages to rise above. It's yet another "woman has to try to change her life for the better to honor her dying relative" tale, but one that's done quite well.
• F1: The Movie (Apple)
  This is not a great movie, but it is a visual stunner with racing scenes that are worth the price of admission. I'm not an F1 fan, but if you are... this is a total no-brainer for you to watch. Otherwise? It could be seen as tedious if you can't jump in.
• Eternity (Apple)
  Okay, you got me. These afterlife movies never seem to fare well with me, but this time you got me. A woman having to choose between her first and second husband in the afterlife is just enough of a twist on an old theme as to catch my interest, and Elizabeth Olsen knows how to play it to perfect comedic effect.

DIDN'T SEE, MIGHT HAVE MADE MY LIST

• Splitsville
  This is a flick that was completely off my radar... until I had two very different friends say I should give it a look because it's a funny dive into relationships which I might like.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash
  Apparently this is the best of the Avatar movies so far. I liked the first two, though found them to be spectacle more than story, which is why I'm intrigued by the idea of a film that's both. Maybe that's this one.
• Sentimental Value
  Have Stellan Skarsgård in your cast, and you've automatically got me as an audience. Alas, the subject matter of family drama didn't feel like something I was ready to dive into, so I never paid the money for the digital streaming. I will absolutely be looking at it when it hits whatever streaming platform gets it, and have heard good things.
• 28 Years Later
  I loved the idea of a new installment to the franchise, but was pissed at the idea of a trilogy when the single installments which preceded this one were so wonderfully done. But I guess you couldn't go from 28 Years Later to 28 Decades Later very easily, so maybe that's all they had?
• Lavender Men
  The concept of a movie that's intentionally all over the place tonally while trying to put a lens on queer history as a jumping off point for modern lives is just compelling enough to make me want to see it.
• Predator: Badlands
  When the trailer hit, it didn't seem like it was an actual Predator movie... it felt more like somebody using Predator to shove through an original story so it could get made. I'm told this is not quite true, and the film is actually quite good. So sign me up. Eventually. When I have time.
• Bugonia
  While not a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos by any stretch of the imagination, there's no denying that he's a compelling filmmaker. After he destroyed Poor Things (in my humble opinion, as a fan of the book), I wasn't planning on watching Bugonia until I started hearing about it in favorable terms from critics I like. So... maybe?

DISAPPOINTING

• Fountain of Youth (Apple)
  Guy Ritchie is one of my favorite writer/directors. This dumpster fire is what happens when he doesn't write what he directs. And, unfortunately, the stacked cast does nothing to save it. I honestly don't understand how this was made, because everybody involved should have questioned the script.
• Love Hurts (Universal)
  As a big fan of the Ke Huy Quan renaissance we're getting, this was just awful. Lazy, sloppy, and cringe in all the worst ways.
• Lilo & Stitch (Disney)
  With very few exceptions, these Disney live-action remakes are just not worth it. I always end up disappointed because 1) They are not necessary and end up inferior to the source material, and 2) They make senseless changes which sabotage what makes the original story so good.
• The Old Guard 2 (Netflix)
  To say I was rabidly looking forward to this sequel to the brilliant original adaptation was an understatement. I loved The Old Guard and couldn't believe we were finally getting more. Then we get this disaster. Needlessly confusing and inexplicably nonsensical, all they had to do was continue what they had been already started. Instead we got this? Why? The action wasn't even elevated, which makes this a miss in every department.
• The Naked Gun (Paramount)
  I wanted to like the remake, but the entire viewing I was just disappointed that it wasn't the original. So much of it was just... dumb-funny. It didn't hold any genuine laughs for me.

WORST

• Section 31 (Paramount)
  Gut-wrenchingly awful. You have legend Michelle Yeoh doing her best to tear up the scenery at her evil best, but nothing could save this bland story which wouldn't even be notable if not for being tied to Star Trek.
• The Electric State (Amazon)
  A misguided and overall boring, sad, and terrible adaptation. Utterly bizarre that The Russo Brothers, who gave us so many exciting movies, would create this kind of mess.
• Now You See Me: Now You Don't (Lionsgate)
  The first two movies were shit where special effects and camera tricks were supposed to fool us into thinking that these "magicians" could actually do impossible magic tricks, all while being mired in stories with laughably huge plot holes and general stupidity. This was more of the same, and I sincerely hope they're finally done with this crap. Go track down the excellent TV series, Deception instead.
• War of the Worlds (Universal)
  I tuned in specifically to see if the movie is as bad as it was said to be by critics. It's worse. What an unbelievable turd. Zero internal logic. Zero reason to be made. And you can't really blame anybody involved, because swapping out the cast for even the best actors on the planet would in no way save it.

DIDN'T SEE, MOST CERTAINLY SHIT

• Tron Ares (Disney)
  A special effects treat on top of a story by people who don't seem to know what makes Tron be Tron. I do like me some great visual effects though, so I will likely tune in when Disney+ starts streaming it.
• Jurassic World: Rebirth (Universal)
  When are they going to have the good sense to just let this franchise die? MUTANT DINOSAURS?!? That's just a monster movie. It has zero to do with dinosaurs come back to life, which means this is not a Jurassic Park movie, and just continues a downward spiral of something that was once great becoming shit.

And it's time once again for my annual wrap-up of my favorite TV shows that came out this year. Or, more accurately, a "wrap-up of TV shows that I saw which came out this year." As always, there's a bunch of shows I never got around to watching that might have ended up on my list... and (more likely) shows I loved but have forgotten about. And here we go...

   
THE TWELVE BEST

#1 Andor - S02 (Netflix)
The second season brilliant divided up its twelve episodes into four three-episode-chunks which were slices of the four years leading up to Rogue One. The first "chunk" ended with an episode so haunting that I decided right then and there that this season was my favorite thing to ever come out of Star Wars. Or television in general. Things only got better from there. Every episode right up to the end was a master class in storytelling, and the finale was so deftly handled that Lucasfilm/Disney should just fill a truck with cash, back it up to Tony Gilroy's house, then let him do whatever he wants with Star Wars. Everything from the story to the dialogue to the music to the special effects to the cast to the acting created some of the best television to ever exist, and I cannot imagine how many times I will re-watch this show. There is not a single major cast member here that doesn't fully deserve all the awards. Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Elizabeth Dulau, Ben Mendelsohn, Elizabeth Dulau, Adria Arjona... even Alan frickin' Tudyk as droid K-2SO... just given them everything. They deserve it.

#2 Shoresy - S04 (Hulu)
Last year I inexplicably forgot to put Shoresy on my best-of list. Not this year. This time around was a different take on the characters, showing Shoresy, Goody, Dolo, and Hitch in the off-season as Shoresy has to find a life after hockey. I loved all of it, and I didn't know that I would. Not only did we get some of the sweetest moments of the entire series, but the music was amazing from beginning to end. And of course it was hilarious as always. The minute I finished the last episode it made me want to start all over again from the beginning. I don't know that I can offer more of a ringing endorsement than that. It's never going to be Ted Lasso, but there are moments it gets very close. The only thing I don't like is that it's only six episodes per season. But if that's how they make each episode be this good then I'll take it. As a bonus, the fifth season started on December 26th (if you live in Canada).

#3 The Residence - S01 (Netflix)
Is there anything better than coming across a show so unexpectedly great which you had no clue was even made? I loved every minute of this series. From the phenomenal performances of Uzo Aduba and Giancarlo Esposito to the entertaining story and deft direction, this show had it all. And what put it over the top for me were the fantastic visuals they created to show you how The White House is constructed so you can put the mystery together in your head. I wanted so very badly to get a second season with more Cordelia Cupp but, alas, Netflix unceremoniously canceled it instead. What a damn shame.

#4 Adolescence - S01 (Netflix)
I'm just going to say this to get it out of the way... for the most part I do not like child actors. I don't find them realistic or compelling. So when you have a show with a young actor that actually is realistic and compelling, you have my attention. And when that performance is so multi-faceted, complex, and brilliant that you could literally put it up against the finest actors of any age? Well, there's the ballgame. This series hinges on a brilliant script having a brilliant cast implement it flawlessly. But even that wasn't enough, because each episode is a single cut shot. How in the hell they managed to make this all come together so breathtaking perfect will remain a mystery, even if everybody involved laid it out. It just shouldn't work. It couldn't work. But it does. Oh but it really does.

#5 Reacher - S03 (Amazon)
The first season of Reacher completely blew me away because it felt like the books had come to life in a way that the Tom Cruise movies never did. And while the second season was nowhere near the highs of those first episodes, I enjoyed it just the same. With the third season, it's as if the writers remembered what made the initial concept work so well, and just went back to doing that. Which I loved. All the action and how-will-he-get-out-of-this-one beats are just as fun as they always have been.

#6 PLUR1BUS - S01 (AppleTV+)
It's nice to know that I can still be won over by television which is not your normal fare. Apple rolled the dice on Vince Gilligan putting together a show that people want to watch, and boy did he. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were no fluke. Each episode is slow and methodical, but never ends up being plodding or boring (at least not to me). Most of this is due to the fantastic performance of Rhea Seehorn being riveting to watch, but it also falls on the way the scenes are constructed. Everything is just so smart, with enough holes to fill to keep you guessing. I'd argue the season finale didn't really land as hard as it should have, which was a bit of a let-down. If they managed to stick that, I'd likely have the show higher on my list, because it's a compelling watch to be sure.

#7 The Pitt - S01 (HBO)
Just when you thought that there couldn't possibly be more to be said in the genre of medical drama television, along comes ER on steroids. Compelling (and occasionally gory to a fault) this near-real-time series covers just one day over the course of its 13 episodes, and what a day it is.

#8 Dept. Q - S01 (Netflix)
If I had a nickel for all the deeply-flawed protagonist detectives I've seen over the decades... I'd have loads of nickels. But this time it's used as more than just an accessory to main character which explains why they are a drug addict or alcoholic or explosive or unhinged or abusive... it's woven into the show almost as another character with a secondary mystery to be solved. The result is one of the better mystery series to come along, anchored by the excellent cast.

#9 Ludwig - S01 (BritBox)
They wound up David Mitchell then handed him some decent scripts and let him run. And it was a fun sight to behold. Sure, he seemed to come out of his recluse nature far too quickly and easily... and, sure, they brought it back when it made little sense... but Mitchell is just so perfect a character that you can't be mad about the shortcomings and just have to appreciate the gift you've been given. Which is David Mitchell. As a celebrated puzzle-creator turned detective in the most unexpected way. Thankfully, a second season has been greenlit, because I like this character enough to watch whatever they put him through next.

#10 Slow Horses - S05 (AppleTV+)
I keep waiting for this show to lose me, but it never does. Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas are fully present and in their element, and the writing and extended cast are just icing on the cake. The previous season is probably my favorite, so the show really had nowhere to go but down... and yet... it would be hard to classify anything about this season as a downgrade.

#11 Deli Boys - S01 (Hulu)
I was steeling myself for a cancellation, thinking that this show would go the way of The Brothers Sun, but Hulu mercifully renewed it. Smart, funny, and having a premise which allows for some fantastic story beats, I'm really glad that I happened upon this... sheerly by accident... because I never saw a single promo for the show.

#12 Murderbot - S01 (AppleTV+)
This show lacks... something... that I just can't put my finger on. All I can say is that it felt adrift at times, and if I hadn't read the books, I am not sure I would have liked it as much. What the show doesn't lack is a great cast which is lead by the amazing Alexander Skarsgård, who makes you care about a character which you could very easily not. The books became progressively darker as time went on, and it will be interesting to see if the show follows suit... or tries to keep the tone lighter in order to match where the first story ended up. I'll definitely be watching to find out.

   
ANIMATION WORTH YOUR TIME

#1 Common Side Effects - S01 (Hulu)
The utterly bizarre animation style and humorous beginnings belies the compelling, thrilling, disturbing, and deadly serious story. I went into this cold with no warning as to what I was going to get, thanks to the recommendation of friends who were raving about it.

#2 Invincible S03 (Amazon)
Having read the comic books, you'd think that nothing in this show could surprise me. But it does. It's just so epically paced and relentless. It's wonderfully bonkers, and I loved

#3 South Park - S28 (Paramount+)
In a day and age where our news agencies are increasingly sucking up to the government, it's refreshing that there's still a show out there saying whatever the fuck they want about current events. And doing it in a hilarious way which is actually presenting news topics as the absurd, which is just what they are.

#4 DAN DA DAN - S02 (Netflix)
Strange and satisfying, I honestly didn't hold out much hope for a second season... but here we are. Bizarre, challenging television doesn't have much of a chance with modern audiences, but DAN DA DAN apparently found a niche.

#5 The Summer Hikaru Died - S01 (Netflix)
Animated horror has to work overtime to provide the necessary chills when you're watching a cartoon. This is exactly that. Brilliantly crafted and exploring interesting themes makes for great television.

#6 Long Story Short - S01 (Netflix)
I almost gave up because there's an annoying slant here that works against the show... but I'm ever so glad I pushed through. Told non-linearly, the show carefully crafts the story of the characters' lives in a way that's interesting to watch, and the way the past defines the future makes for a show that's a rewarding watch.

   
HONORABLE MENTION

• The Sandman - S02 (Netflix)
  In all honesty, this show should have ranked around #6 for me. But here's what left a bad taste in my mouth: the adaptation of Death: The High Cost of Living which we got as a bonus episode. If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I was clamoring for this from the minute the first season debuted. It's one of my all-time favorite pieces of The Sandman lore, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste was so brilliantly perfect as Death, so how could I not? But they didn't adapt it faithfully. They screwed the pooch... badly... and I don't understand why. Maybe they felt the need to deviate in awful ways because they needed more time to do it justice, but I don't feel that's the issue. They just wanted to do their own thing, and they shouldn't have done that. As for the second season as a whole though? Very good. They tied everything up beautifully, and spent the money to make it look and feel like you'd hope it would look and feel like.
• Last Samurai Standing - S01 (Netflix)
  Just when I thought the "battle to the last" trope was getting stale, along comes a very different kind of show built around a structure we've seen many times. I understand that this was adapted from a manga which I've never read. Not sure if it follows the books faithfully, but there is money on the screen to bring it to life in a way that feels worth your valuable time. Apparently a second season has been greenlit, which was a nice surprise.
• Peacemaker - S02 (HBO)
  Did I guess the big twist before it was revealed? Yes. Did it in any way diminish my enjoyment of the second season? It did not.
• High Potential S02 (ABC/Hulu)
  This might have made my Top Twelve... if they didn't split the fucking season in half. Why are studios doing this? It just fucking kills the momentum of the show, and makes me forget why I even care. I will say that I'm glad they didn't prolong the first season cliffhanger, but they didn't.
• A Man on the Inside - S02 (Netflix)
  This series, surprisingly, sabotages itself when it deviates from the mystery attempts to delve into the lives of its characters. Not that they do it badly or anything, it's just that it feels like a distraction which never quite hits as hard as the investigation does. It's too much. This show would fare far better if it would be more like Murder She Wrote and not divide focus... instead concentrate on the whodunnit and have the personal drama be a far smaller, slow reveal. Still, can't help but enjoy this series and hope we get more. Ted Danson has a real bead on his character and is fun to watch.
• Severance - S02 (AppleTV+)
  I liked the slow burn of the first season, but didn't love it. My problem is that the entire show is built around secrets, mysteries, and weirdness, and I was more focused on the idea that it would be canceled before anything was ever answered or that the answers would be awful (the cautionary tale of Lost's shitty ending has burned me forever). Plus it ended on a massive cliffhanger, which I loathe because it's often so pathetic and lazy. Wrap up your show in case of cancelation, then find an interesting new angle or direction if you're lucky enough to get another season. I ignored the brilliant acting and writing because I couldn't see it. Then everybody kept saying how it's one of the best shows on television and how much they love it, so I decided to tune in to Season 02 with an open mind and focus on the actual show instead of the unanswered questions. And... I still like it more than I love it, even though I can appreciate it more than I originally did. There's no serious cliffhanger this time, but there's still a ridiculous number of unanswered questions that are lingering. It's mysteries and secrets on top of mysteries and secrets and that can't go on forever without us getting Lost 2.0. Which would infuriate me because I hate "journeys to nowhere" storytelling.
• Death by Lightning - S01 (Netflix)
  I took a pass on this presidential drama because I just wasn't that interested in the life and times of President James Garfield. But then it got some buzz and I found out it was more about the life, times, and death of President James Garfield, along with his assassin! Well worth a watch.
• The Recruit - S02 (Netflix)
  This is a far, far better show than The Night Agent, but guess which series Netflix renewed? I can't be too upset because it was a drastic drop in quality from the excellent first season, but I sure would have liked to have gotten another one just to see where they'd take things next.
• The Diplomat - S03 (Netflix)
  While I don't think this series reaches anywhere near the atmospheric heights that many critics want to take it, I do think that they know how to craft a compelling watch. The cast knows what they're doing, the drama feels real, and they don't mire you down in boring details.
• Pee-Wee as Himself (HBO)
  As a huge Pee-Wee Herman fan, this was everything I wanted to see. In many ways, a complete validation of the man when most people only paid attention to all the trash that got piled on him.
• Boots S01 (Netflix)
  A dramedy about closeted Marines in the era of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" that never failed to entertain, I seriously thought that a second season was guaranteed after all the attention it got. Alas, the US Government's attention is apparently what mattered, and it was canceled. A real shame, because you got the feeling that the real story was just beginning as war loomed.
• Cassandra - S01 (Netflix)
  What if AI happened in the 1970's but was ultimately discarded... only to be reactivated 50 years later when a family moves into a house where it's been dormant? A very good question! And leave it to this excellent German series to build a decent mystery around it.
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - S01 (Netflix)
  Good for a binge-watch, the series doesn't get too dark, but has a good enough mystery at its core to fill a niche. What's unreal is that it stars Emma Myers, whom most people will only know as "Enid" from Wednesday.
• Bref. - S02 (Hulu)
  When this popped up on Hulu, I thought I was dreaming. I watched the original short-form French series years and years ago. Did they combine the episodes into bigger episodes and re-release it? Nope. This is six episodes of frantic storytelling that picks up 14 years after the original.
• Heated Rivalry - S01 (HBO)
  You know you're in trouble when the B-story between a fellow hockey player and a juice bar barista is far more interesting and engaging than the A-story with two hockey players who start a steamy, softcore porn romance. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if the acting was elevated to get you invested... but it's really not.
• Hacks - S04 (HBO)
  The show returns to form with a fourth season that's nearly as good as the first. Yeah, it gets bogged down by distractions that you know won't go anywhere... and they didn't really carry the falling out as far as they should have, and it got resolved before it could really mean anything... but it was witty and entertaining enough to make it worth a watch.
• Black Mirror - S07 (Netflix)
  Another season rises above the mixed bag we usually get. Even the episode I liked the least was still worth watching, something I haven't been able to say in a few seasons.
• Paradise - S01 (Hulu)
  A similar idea to Silo, but giving us something slightly more interesting both in scope and in setting. While the pacing is wildly inconsistent, I thought the story was good and the acting top-notch.
• Running Point - S01 (Netflix)
  This show lives and dies on Kate Hudson's performance, and she manages to carry it with relative ease. The plot is something we've visited before in a number of sports comedy shows and films, but it's funny enough to feel different.
• Your Friends and Neighbors - S01 (Apple TV+)
  John Hamm gives us a sharp performance as a hedge fund manager who turns to crime after his divorce. I was more than a little impressed at how they managed to keep things moving forward just when you thought it was going to stall out, which makes you not mind when it falters quite so much.
• Daredevil: Born Again - S01 (Disney+)
  My favorite of the Netflix-era Marvel shows gets a new life at Disney which is not quite a reboot, but not quite original either. Maintaining a gritty edge, it (thankfully) doesn't dwell on his appearance in She-Hulk which felt more than a bit out of character.
• North of North - S01 (Netflix)
  While no second coming of Reservation Dogs, it is refreshing to have a First Nation series which feels like there was a genuine effort to portray the Inuit community accurately. Funny, heartwarming, and interesting, it's a rom-com that treads old ground in new ways.
• Alien: Earth - S01 (Hulu)
  The critics praised the show to the rafters, so I was enthused to watch it. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I found it dropped from excellent to mid at far too many intervals to get in on my Top 12. Still... it was ultimately entertaining, which is more than I can say for a lot of television we get.
• Only Murders in the Building - S05 (Hulu)
  The show that keeps plugging along, finding new mysteries and interesting plots to keep everybody watching. While not up to the heights of the first two seasons, I did enjoy the fifth more than the fourth... even though they decided to inject a fucking robot into the mix for some bizarre reason.
• Ripple - S01 (Netflix)
  The whole idea of "strangers whose lives intersect" isn't new, but at least they found interesting ways to do it in this series. I tuned in specifically for Frankie Faison (and he was great, as expected), but it was Ian Harding who managed to have a death-grip on my attention with his storyline. His character is interesting, nuanced, and manages to stay grounded as he's pulled in a hundred different directions over all aspects of his life. You can't help but want to watch where he lands next, even though the artificial drama that gets put in his way could have been better.
• Landman - S02 (Paramount+)
  I missed the first season, but binged it before the second season debuted. While hardly a show to get excited about, the characters are at least interesting to watch... assuming you can appreciate the sheer soap-opera depths of it all. Which I can, for the most part, but I can't help but wonder how much longer Taylor Sheridan can keep things going when it already is starting to drift into the mundane. The show needs a serious shake-up to open up the third season or I'll likely be saying good bye.
• IT: Welcome to Derry - S01 (HBO)
  Now, I'm in the minority in that I did not care for the movies adaptation at all. They were as good as they could probably get, but they just pale in comparison to the book (though the films mercifully ignored some of the crazy-ass shit that the novel could have done without). This prequel series adds a big concept to how Pennywise operates. And boy does it poke some seriously huge holes into the story of it all. But in the end I was entertained more than annoyed by what they managed to pull off, so I'll be tuning in for a second season. If we get one.

   
HAVEN'T SEEN YET, BUT SURE TO GET A NOD

• Down Cemetery Road - S01 (Apple TV+)
  Emma Thompson in another Mick Herron adaptation? Take me away. If it's even half as good as Slow Horses, it's worth a watch.

   
OVERHYPED BUT NOT TERRIBLE

• Mid-Century Modern - S01 (Hulu)
  This was billed as a kind of "gay Golden Girls" and I never got that. Despite a cast that was fantastic, there just weren't enough laughs or compelling stories to hold my interest. I guess my expectations were just too high. As were a lot of other people's expectations, as it got canceled. Still, I'd watch this over a dozen shows that got renewed, so it's more than a little depressing.
• The Studio - S01 (Apple TV+)
  I do not, under any circumstances, understand the love for this show. It has funny concepts, amazing guest-stars, and Seth Rogan, which are all great. But it's just one scene after another that runs too long and goes right past entertaining and plunges head-first into annoyance. They needed to edit these things down. Some episodes could have lost a full 15 minutes and been so much cleaner and funnier.
• The Gilded Age - S02 (HBO)
  The sophomore season could have been so much better. It should have been. All the pieces were there. But they decided to run head-first into the tired old "Kill Your Gays" trope in the most ludicrous way possible, and you have to wonder what the fuck they were thinking. I know we're supposed to be enthralled with the scandalous sub-plot of invited a divorced woman to a party, but they didn't even attempt to make it an interesting plot point, so I (unsurprisingly) wasn't. Then you have George Russell's mutant healing properties, the artificial drama and inane "let's add in the worst possible Hallmark misunderstanding trope" for Marian Brook's love-life, and Peggy Scott's A-to-B trajectory getting a silly and tired detour for her love life, and... well... I was compelled to keep watching, but far from enthralled.
• Stranger Things - S05 (Netflix)
  I was already pissed when they diced this season in half and saved the final episode as a movie, but at least "Volume 1" was interesting and did the show justice. But then they just kinda crapped out a half-assed "Volume 2" which didn't really start wrapping things up so much as it coasted to an unsatisfying break before we get the "Volume 3" movie finale. Between that and Will's inexplicably lengthy coming out scene after being sidelined, and I had checked out completely. I will get around to the movie, but it's not like I'm going to be counting down the seconds. What a way to end a once-great series.
• Wednesday - S02 (Netflix)
  It's not that the show was bad... I actually enjoyed some of it (mostly the settings and some performances), but it was so frickin' weak compared to what came before in utterly baffling ways. Rather than try to come up with something interesting for the TITLE CHARACTER, they just crammed people into the story in the most boring and uninspired way possible. The entire second half of the split-season was so mind-numbingly terrible.

   
DISAPPOINTING to BAD

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - S03 (Paramount+)
  If you had told me that I'd be disappointed in a new season of Strange New Worlds, I would have told you that you're crazy. It was, after all, one of my favorite shows on television. But here we are. This season was mid from the start, then reached new lows in television history with that shitty fucking episode where they turned the crew into Vulcans, and now I honestly don't care if I ever see another episode. How does this even happen? Why is it allowed to happen?
• The Night Agent - S02 (Netflix)
  I just... don't get it. The first season was great. Good concept. Interesting characters. A serviceable plot. Dialogue that hit. The whole package. But the second season tanked so hard that I found it nigh-unwatchable in places. It's as if this was the tenth season, they were completely out of ideas, and just coasting on fumes. A sad drop for a once decent series.
• The White Lotus - S03 (HBO)
  The first season didn't stick the landing, but it was a fascinating watch so you didn't mind so much. Then they fumbled it pretty bad in season two, spinning out of control with characters you couldn't possibly care about. And now we get this wet fart of a third season where I was so fucking bored that I thought about bailing way too many times. It's like Mike White is all "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO KEEP THE SHOW TANTALIZING AND INTERESTING! I KNOW! LET'S THROW IN SOME INCEST AND SEE IF THAT DOES IT!" Spoiler alert: it does not. Characters approach a point where you think things could get interesting... but then they get jerked back in a way that has you wondering if HBO is just pushing to hard to get new seasons instead of giving White the time to find good stories.
• The Last of Us - S02 (Netflix)
  What the fuck happened? The first season was fantastically good, adapted the game deftly, and even managed to fill in some blanks in the best possible way. Then it all fell to shit in the second season, which had me hovering over the fast-forward button because I just didn't care to muddle through it all. No idea what happened, but I'm out. If I want to see a fantastic sequel to the first season, I'll replay the awesome game... which wasn't adapted so much as twisted into something unrecognizable.
• The Witcher - S04 (Netflix)
  Henry Cavill, who understood the character better than the writers, has enough complaints with how the series is adapting the source material that he bows out of the show. And then we get... whatever this was supposed to be. It's infuriating, because had the writers actually fucking listened to the guy who knew what the fuck he was talking about, we wouldn't have got a season with a new actor doing his best and lesser story that people are going to ignore. Now the series will get canceled, and Netflix will be all "People stopped watching, so what choice did we have?" Well, dipshits, you could have paid fucking attention to what what happening with development so it could have maintained its popularity, for one thing. Crap like this drives me insane.
• Ironheart - S01 (Disney+)
  Now, I love love loved the idea of this show. The character in the comics is amazing. I thought that Riri's appearance in Wakanda Forever was great. I love the actor in the lead (Dominique Thorne gets it)... but holy crap did they not give a shit about crafting a compelling story. It was just so... pedestrian. They didn't give her anything interesting to do, and then whiffed the introduction of fucking MEPHISTO, a comic book legendary character, which seems impossible to do, even intentionally! I am shocked at how badly Kevin Feige has dropped the ball. Between Ironheart, Captain America: New World Order, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, what is he even doing?!? Is he asleep at the wheel? Do we need fresh blood to be more ruthless about fighting for quality? What?

   
GOOD GOD NO!

• All's Fair - S01 (Hulu).
  I tuned in to Kim Kardashian's legal drama for two reasons: 1) The reviews were so bad I was wondering if the show was truly bad or just getting review-bombed... and 2) The cast has some phenomenal actors in it, like Glenn Close, Naomi Watts, Teyana Taylor, and Sarah Paulson... plus Neicy Nash, whom I love. — And, yeah, it truly is that bad. I could barely make it through the first episode. To see actors I enjoy in this horrific pile of shit with such awful dialogue was unbearable. I am fully willing to admit that my problem with the show may be on me because I don't understand the tone. But either way, it just... fails. If it's supposed to be camp, it doesn't go far enough and feels like serious matters are being trivialized. If it's meant to be serious with camp beats, it is completely sabotaged by moments so cringe that you can't take the show seriously. Which is to say that I honestly don't know what the fuck to make of it all. A show which is assumed to be a monument to women empowerment feels an awful lot like mocking women empowerment. But I'm a guy, so maybe I'm missing the point. Good Lord I hope I'm missing the point. All that aside, my faith in humanity was shattered when this crap was renewed for a second season. Can we please just put Ryan Murphy on a spaceship and send him into the sun to spare us all before he kills again?
• Suits LA - S01 (Peacock)
  I didn't even make it through the second episode. Fucking terrible. They had Stephen Amell... and could have leveraged him in an interesting way. But instead they made him think, talk, and act just like Harvey Spector? This was gawdawful television with characters that were pathetic imitations of the originals and no fucking story to speak of. People should have lost their jobs over this hot mess.
• Nobody Wants This - S02 (Netflix)
  Good Lord. For the life of me I don't understand the appeal of this show. The first season was a nice distraction that I liked well enough, but this season was just so bad. Too many of these people are awful. Kristen Bell is a total mess who requires constant validation and non-stop attention. And that attention better come exactly how she wants and expects it or else she collapses in a fit like a two-year-old. Then it's up to Adam Brody to smooth everything over, no matter how irrational or insane she's acting. Bell's sister is borderline evil and comically self-obsessed. It goes on and on. It's impossible to like a show where it's impossible to care whether or not the main characters get together. It's been proven all season long that they're better off apart. But then they ignore absolutely everything that happened and just stay together anyway? Sure. Why not.
• Emily in Paris - S05 (Netflix)
  Why is this show still going? It's so bad as to be offensive. And has been from the start! I couldn't finish watching... skipping from Episode 02 to Episode 10... and it still seemed like a boring, awful, run of stereotypes run amok in a way that's not entertaining or even watchable.
• And Just Like That - S03 (HBO)
  Christ. I can't believe I sat through every episode of this shit. I guess I was thinking I had to in order to say goodbye to it all. Again. I hated everybody. Not just Miranda... everybody. At least they realized how fucking terrible Aiden was and ditched his stupid ass at the end. If there's one thing that made it worth watching, it's that.

I'm steeped in sadness with a broken heart today, but writing my way through it... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

Except it can't just yet.

This blog has been a blessing in so many ways, but the long-term friendships I've gotten from it have been a part of the bedrock upon which my life has been built. Bricks carved from stones that never falter, carrying the load from those which cracked and crumbled to dust. — Regardless of time. Regardless or distance. Regardless of consequence.

One of the biggest rocks in my life was Aaron, whom I first met as Jester from his JesterTunes blog. He was a key member of the "West Coast Blog Mafia" of which I was lucky enough to be a part back in the day.

We became good friends from the start.

And now he's gone.

Of all the people I know, he was the most unapologetically himself at all times, and it was something I couldn't help but admire. I was drawn to him... as most people were who met him. He was a magnet with a big musical talent and an even bigger heart. If you were lucky enough to know him, he made your life better just by being there.

Which is why I'm crushed that he isn't any more.

Except he is.

Because I have so many memories of him which will live on as long as I do. Here is a small sampling of some of my favorites, complete with a link.

At least those I can post publicly!

   
• Tattoo Me! I had wanted a tattoo for 26 years by the time I finally got my first one. Aaron was there to document it...

He was also consulted on my other tattoos. He saved me from a goof in the art I drew up for one of my favorites. This was also the tattoo where I told him that I was hesitant to get it inked because of what other people might think about my cartoony choices. He immediately shot back with "If you're going to care about what other people think, maybe you shouldn't get it then. But you should work on not giving a fuck about what other people think." A life lesson to live by. Then I got the tattoo. Mostly because I wanted it. But also to remind me that life is too short to give a fuck about what other people think.

   
• Thank You For The Music! Aaron lived and breathed music. He was a great singer, and I was lucky to see him perform from time to time...

Jester as Ace Fontana as Ace Frehley — ©2016 by Tananarive Aubert Photography

His greatest gift to me will always be the music he shared which he thought I might like. And I always liked it. He was forever sending me a new artist or song to listen to. And most of it has found its way into my playlists. Yesterday, after I was able to drive again after getting the news, the next song to play was Hey Jane by Low Millions. A group I never would have found if not for Aaron...

I couldn't possibly put into words what a musical influence Aaron was on me. For better or worse. Once he sent me a video by Scissor Sisters, a band I didn't really know. I think I had probably heard a few of their songs, but hadn't really took a dive into the band. Aaron was appalled... "You don't know who Scissor Sisters are?!? You need to fix that." And so I did. And after I made my way through Magic Hour, I texted him that I couldn't wait to hear what they do next. He shot back with "Oh. The band broke up." And I was all "WHY WOULD YOU GET ME HOOKED ON A BAND THAT BROKE UP?!? Last Winter he let me know that I could stop hating him because the band was going on tour, and it might lead to new music.

   
• 1975 Live! Despite the fact that he was living in San Francisco and I was in Central Washington, we managed to get together for a number of concerts. He'd text or call that an act was playing and I'd Venmo the cash for my ticket and fly down to see it. From Walk the Moon to Wrabel to Betty Who, it was a guaranteed fun time seeing a show with Jester. And then there's that time we saw The 1975 live on December 17th, 2015... one of my all-tie favorite bands which, naturally, Aaron discovered for me...

It ended up being one of the best concerts I've ever been to and one of the best experiences I've ever had. And it never would have happened without him.

   
• JesterRolling! Back in the heydey of the blogging trend, one of the things that bloggers did was have a radio show on BlogTalkRadio. Given his phenomenally entertaining personality, Jester's was that one show you could not miss. You tuned in because you had no idea what the heck was going to happen. And one of the best things to happen was "JesterRolling" where Aaron would find some show with no listeners, give everybody the address, then we would all jump over to participate in the show. It was absolute madness. Sometimes it would be heartwarming, where a host would be genuinely touched that all of a sudden 30 people were listening to what they had to say. Sometimes it would be bedlam, where the host was a monumental asshole spouting hate or otherwise being awful. Something Jester never tolerated in real life... and was not afraid to confront on the internet. It was glorious.

I was a guest or caller on the show several times. I had taken one of those stupid internet quizzes where you answer questions and it tells you how gay you are. Turns out I'm 20% gay. Which means I could promote my appearance on the show in interesting ways. Like saying "When you combine my 20% gay fierceness with Jester's 100% gay fierceness, that's 120% gay fierceness all in one radio show, which just might exceed the BlogTalk Radio standards for overall gay fierceness!"

A part of me is sad that BlogTalkRadio shut down in January. It would be fun to listen to some of those old shows again. And yet... a part of me is probably glad that it has shut down, because oh boy.

   
• "Most guys would be pretty upset if another guy grabbed their ass. I'm just glad to know I have options!" Even though I was only 20% gay and probably not qualified to intrude on those spaces... having gay friends means I end up in a lot of gay places. But only with Aaron did it end up being educational. There's few things Jester loved more than regaling me with the more, ahem, "interesting" aspects of gay life and gay culture. Probably to get my reaction, which was usually a mixture of shock and awe. Even though the absolute last thing anybody should be when hanging out with him is shocked. Once we went to a good bye party for a mutual blogging friend at a gay bar in The Castro called "Hi Tops" (home of cold pitchers and hot catchers!). We were talking at the bar while waiting on our drinks when I suddenly said "Oh!" mid-sentence because one of the waiters grabbed my ass as he rounded the end of the bar. Jester thought this was hilarious, and reminded me of it. Often. Once he took me to a gay bar down the street from a restaurant where we were early for our reservation. After we ordered, he told the waiter "Feel free to grab his ass when you come back. He's straight, but he likes it." He was forever doing things like that. One of the times we met up in Vegas, we were in a shopping plaza on an escalator where he started rubbing my back and saying loudly all the things he wanted to do to me when we got back to the hotel room. I don't know if he was trying to embarrass me or shock the people around us. It could have been both. It was probably both. Oh come on, this is Jester we're talking about... it was definitely both.

   
• If you come to San Francisco! I couldn't count the number of times I ended up hanging with Aaron in The City By The Bay. I often had work there, and Aaron lived in nearby Oakland. Most times, it was dinner or drinks (more likely, both) but we also did a lot of other things there too. Like visit The Walt Disney Family Museum...

Or driving north to Marin so we could visit Point Reyes and pick out a pumpkin for his Halloween decorating...

Most of the time, we would meet up in San Francisco. But we actually met in a lot of places. We met in Las Vegas for Certified Princess Cher & her husband Nis's second wedding...

We met in San Diego for the DaveDiego meet-up...

Then in San Diego again for his 40th birthday party...

And we even met in Seattle for a concert once.

   
• i/o! The last time I saw Jester in person was when he flew to Seattle with his partner Henry and his brother Seth to take me to the Peter Gabriel i/o tour two years ago...

I would chat with Aaron after that night, of course. But I didn't know it would be the last time I'd see him. If I did, I would have done more than just hug him goodbye. I would have told him how much he has meant to me all these many years. I would have thanked him for the multitude of memories he's responsible for which have brought such joy to my life. I would have told him that I loved him and my life would be poorer if he weren't in it. I would have said so many things that you can only say to somebody who really means something to you.

Instead I just have to hope that he knew what he meant to me.

Aaron was loved by so many people. And being his friend put you in a far from an exclusive club because he has so many of them. But he had a way of making you feel like you were his only friend on this earth. I will miss that about him. I will miss my friend more than I can say.

I put this post in a Bullet Sunday entry because I met Aaron through blogging and it seemed the most Blogography way to talk about him. The problem being that there's just so much I could say that these bullets could have gone on for pages and pages. But eventually the bullet points have to end, just like they always do.

Eventually, you have to say goodbye, even though you really don't want to.

Today I was driving back home from my holiday across the mountains when I got a phone call that was a punch in the gut so unexpected that I had to pull off the road because driving a car became a foreign concept in my head.

And then, after ten minutes to mostly get my head on straight, I was off again...

Because this is the only major East-West route left across the state (flooding destroyed the other one) and it snowed last night, there was major congestion in places... which meant that a 2-1/2 hour trip took 3-1/2 hours to complete.

But at the end when I finally walked through the door to my home, the trip was worth it because it wasn't just Jake waiting for me... both Jake AND Jenny were waiting for me. Which is strange, because Jenny usually prefers to make sure it's safe before venturing downstairs when anybody walks in the house. Including me.

It was a repeat of when I got back from Florida...

...except this time I really needed it.

When I was a kid, it felt that the entire year was a build-up to Christmas and, once it was over, there was a depression that crept in because it was all downhill from there.

Until the next Christmas.

In a lot of ways, it's still like that. Not because Christmas means the same thing to me as it did way, way back then, but because that's life in these United States. The entire country is on a collision course with Christmas, and you're in for the ride whether you want to be or not. It's everywhere.

And then, just like that, it's gone.

Remnants remain, of course. The Christmas trees are still up everywhere. Stores have all their Christmas junk on sale. Christmas decorations won't be coming down until the New Year. Some people are saying things like "I hope you had a Merry Christmas!" And people are posting their Christmas photos. Etc. Etc. Etc.

But it's nothing like it was just two days prior.

Two weeks prior.

Even nearly two months prior, when the madness begins the day after Halloween. If you're lucky. I saw a Christmas section going up in a store the week before Christmas.

It's all a little sad.

Something I am definitely not sad about is that I have the day off work. Turns out Christmas has benefits even for the heathens amongst us.

And so it's Christmas.

Which, to me, is pretty much a day off with friends... which is perfect.

Despite the fact that it's not my holiday, I do very much enjoy this time of year. I like the memories of it and the festivity of it all. And here's the three things outside my bubble that I saw and liked best of all...

First of all, there's these amazing Krispy Kreme donuts that are Peanuts-themed and beautifully presented. I wish so badly I had a shop near me, because I would buy a box in a hot second...

ZOMG! JUST LOOK AT SNOOPY HERE!!! HE'S PERFECT!

Krispy Kreme really knows how to do these promos. Their Dolly Parton box was flawless too.

Next up is this promo piece that was for the New Heights podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce...

Now, if you don't follow their podcast, here you go...

Genius. I'm betting they'd sell thousands of those sweaters if they'd release them!

And lastly, here's a holiday advert for grocery store chain Intermarché created by Romance Agency. It's in French, but you don't have to understand French to understand the message...

A Happy Christmas to all who celebrate.

Yesterday I headed over the mountains which, depressingly, was an easy drive. This time of year, the road should have an unfathomably deep layer of snow off the side.

Six feet. Eight feet. Maybe even more. But it was just covering the barriers, even at the very top of the pass...

Here I am coming down the other side of the mountain, and you can see that the barrier is still visible...

So right now we're having major flooding and rain in the valley, which is a bad enough sign because it means that it's too warm to snow. And now seeing this in the mountains has me seriously worried we're in for drought this coming Summer.

I mean, I guess I'm grateful that it was an easy drive.

But not really.

Christmas is not my holiday, but I live in the USA so it might as well be.

And, hey, I'm not complaining. The country pretty much shuts down from December 24th through January 2nd, which means I can catch up with my work without distraction! There's so much needed to be done to close out the year that I'm always grateful to have the extra time to get ahead of it.

And this year, since I had a vacation earlier in the month, I'll also appreciate having some time to CLEAN MY FILTHY HOUSE. Seriously, I never realize how much of a mess my cats make on a daily basis until I'm not here to keep on top of it. They are so messy. Cat fur... everywhere. Kitty litter... everywhere. Cat toys... everywhere. And an occasional hairball or scarf-and-barf deposit. It ain't at all pretty after more than 3 or 4 days.

I'm coming up on 21 days, and I've barely had time to touch the place.

And now snow is supposed to be coming in the next few days, which means I'll be cleaning up outside my home as well.

'Tis the season.

I believe in supporting the artists whose media I consume, so I buy the media I want to own.

For the longest time this meant VHS Tape, then LaserDisc, then DVD, then Blu-Ray, then Digital. I liked digital because I didn't have to make space for physical media in my home, and it seemed the ideal solution for being able to access the stuff I buy from wherever I'm at. Except it didn't end up working that way. Unlike when you buy a movie on DVD, when you purchase via Digital, you aren't purchasing the media. Instead you are purchasing a license to view that media... and it's a license which the studio or licensee can terminate at any time. And when a TV show I bought was removed by the studio, I swore I would never buy digital again and went back to physical media.

Physical media that I ultimately rip into a digital format as a personal backup (because physical media can deteriorate and become unusable). But all that digital media has to be stored somewhere, and that's where Network Attached Storage (NAS) comes in. This is a box of hard drives that hooks up to your network and can serve your files to wherever you allow it. Meaning that I can access my purchased media wherever I want.

When I went shopping for a NAS years ago, all I wanted was Synology hardware. But I couldn't afford it, so I went with QNAP which was supposed to be the next best thing. It was not. Multiple problems culminated with a ransomware attack that would have lost all my files if not for the fact that I maintain a backup. Between this horrific bullshit and the fact that QNAP apps are always numerous versions behind in their app store and I was done with QNAP, but still stuck with it because I couldn't afford to replace the thing. Instead I turned off all outside access, which was a bummer because I could no longer access my media away from home.

Fast-forward to May 2025 and Synology made a move towards requiring proprietary drives, something to which I said "Oh fuck no!" and scratched them off my list of NAS manufacturers I wanted to deal with. After the fiasco with WD, I buy Seagate IronWolf Pro drives. Period.

Fast-forward again to Black Friday 2025, and I ended up buying a replacement NAS from UGREEN because my QNAP NAS has gotten old with its Celeron J1900 processor, and the 8.5× to 10.5× speed jump of the Pentium Gold 8505 processor in the 4-Bay UGREEN 4800+ was too good to pass up. Even if I had to put it on a credit card to pay the $550.00 price tag.

UGREEN, which is a highly reviewed relatively new player in the NAS market, wasn't originally on my list of options. I don't have anything against a device made in China (because isn't everything?), but knowing that their government might have built a back-door into the system which may compromise my cat photos, and that was a deal-breaker.

But then I found out you can replace the OS with TrueNAS Open Source, if needed, and was like... alrighty then. Not that it much matters, because I was going to firewall it off completely, remove UGREENlink, and go with VPN-only access.

But Anyway...

I've been slowly transferring all my media to the new NAS and have been quite happy with it. The UGREEN model is freakishly faster compared to the old QNAP model I had. Usually, NAS manufacturers put old, slow CPUs in their boxes because you don't need really fast chips to perform file serving tasks. Except serving files is not all that a NAS does. In my case, the NAS also has to run apps to serve media for my laptop and my television (which I do with an app called Plex)... along with a bunch of other apps which do various tasks with my data. And having a fast CPU for those tasks is important.

One of those apps is TailScale, a secure connectivity app which allows me access to my data without having to go through QNAP or UGREEN. Kinda like a private VPN. Thus eliminating my distrust of major companies... no matter where they're located.

Overall I'm very happy with the UGREEN 4800+ NAS. If I have a gripe it's that they don't have many app packages available. For example Plex can't simply be downloaded, installed, and set-up from within the UGREEN app repository. It don't exist. Instead you have to download an abstraction layer called Docker which has all kinds of apps (including Plex and TailScale) to be run and set up as containers that are interpreted for UGREEN. It's nowhere near as easy to go this route than to have a native app, but it does work if you're willing to put in a little research, time, and effort. It took me a couple days to get Plex working correctly because the various "instruction" videos were contradictory and often glazed past critical information, but it's running just fine now.

The quality of the hardware is also very good. The housing is an aluminum alloy instead of the janky plastic housing on my QNAP, for example. I also like the trays for the hard drives, which are tool-free fr 3.5" drives. There are a variety of ports... including SD card slot, USB-C, and USB-A on the front... and HDMI, 3 USB-A, plus 2.5Gb and 10Gb ethernet ports. As if that wasn't enough, the unit arrives with upgrade tools to install an SSD cache and more memory, two CAT-7 ethernet cables, and a power adapter. Maximum capacity is a whopping 136TB over four drives (I have four 16TB drives in a RAID 6 configuration which gives me 29TB of usable space, because I like redundancy for safety).

If I have an outright complaint to offer, it has nothing to do with UGREEN. Instead it's with Plex. This is by far my favorite media serving platform (I bought a lifetime pass within a month of installing it), but it's not without its faults. For one thing, it wants to build movie "collections" even if you tell it not to by setting it to "disabled." And most all of these collections are fucking useless and stupid, so I end up deleting them all. Which takes a crazy amount of time because there are so many. But even worse is the fact that I have found no easy way of transferring all my title adjustments and poster art from my old install for all the titles I have. Which means I'm going to have to start all over again from scratch. That's hours and hours of work. Why there isn't just a folder I can copy over I have no idea. There's a "config" folder, but what I'm looking for isn't there. I guess. Because if there is, I'm not finding it. You'd think that this would be a no-brainer.

I just wish I had the free time to get my latest media purchases ripped so I could add them to my new NAS. I've been wanting to re-watch Superman, and this would be a great excuse to do that.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Pleased do put a penny in the old man's hat. And an entry in his web browser... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Joining! I am utterly ensnared by PLUR1BUS. It's slow... but deliberate... you just know that Vince Gilligan is building things up for a payoff, because otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the show? But what form that takes for the first season when we have more seasons to go? No idea...

There's one episode left until the long wait for Season 02.

   
• Full Disclosure! I can't remember the last time I was even remotely excited for a Steven Spielberg film. I am a bit excited for this...

The film looks suitably disturbing, which is about the only way the subject like this could be interesting.

   
• Ignorance! “I don’t even know how to pronounce it, so it must be bad... and I’m too big of a dumbshit to do a Google search before cluttering social media with my ignorant bullshit, so here you go...”

We are so fucked. All the vanquished diseases are coming back, and these idiots are intent on keeping it that way.

   
• Blunder Woman! The first Wonder Woman movie was a revelation. It's one of my favorite super-hero films ever made, and definitely one of the best DC movies they've ever made. The scene where she steps out of the trench brought tears to my eyes, because it was that moment Diana is Wonder Woman. In a way we haven't seen since Lynda Carter's flawless take on the character decades ago. But the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was a steaming pile of crap. I was mortified by it. There was no single area where it didn't fail. I couldn't believe that Patty Jenkins would release this. And this video explains why...

I am still furious that the franchise was destroyed by this one film. I can only hope and pray that James Gunn will be sure we get a Wonder Woman film that's deserving of the character's legacy.

   
• B- B- B- Buck! I was sad to learn that Gil Gerard died this past week. Though, to be honest, I don't remember much about his work. The only show I can even think of him appearing is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which I only watched because Erin Gray's "Col. Wilma Deering" and Pamela Hensley's "Princess Ardala"...

The writing on the show was pretty bad, something I was able to recognize despite the fact that I was watching it at 13 years old. Though to be fair, the writers were likely under massive constraints to reign in the budget. But I do remember that Gerard dug into the corny, campy scripts with gusto, which meant that it was at least entertaining. And for that he'll be remembered.

   
• We're All Paying for AI! There it is.

I have found shockingly little use for AI, which is surprising, because I thought it would be changing everything for me. And maybe one day it will. But right now it's just so... bad.

   
• UnShock! Shocking. — I lie. This may be the least shocking story I've read in recent days...

Turns out there didn't need to ever be some kind of "deep state" conspiracy. It's all being done right out in the open.

   
And now I'm decorating the Christmas tree! Just kidding. My cats would murder it.