2023

About six months in, I very much dislike 2023.

That is all.

Skull Island

So I just finished binging the "Skull Island" animated offering on Netflix.

I really enjoyed Kong: Skull Island. I think it was the strongest of the "MonsterVerse" films that have come out, with Godzilla, Kong, etc. It was really the only film that had human protagonists I have half a crap about, which is kinda impressive. Those sorts of films really don't do "appealing human characters" very well, but Sam Jackson, Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Reilly, and the rest really had appealing characters set in an atypical monster setting.

"Skull Island" builds on the mythos of the monster-infested Skull Island a bit, albeit in an animated format. I was impressed by how that was handled. The story really wasn't centered around Kong, too much. Kong was an incidental agency in the story, that was mainly centered around a gaggle of shipwreck victims and a feral teenage girl who has bonded with local monsters. All-told, it didn't suck nearly as much as I expected it would. The story could've made the cast a bit more appealing, and they could've shaved a good 80% of the quips and jokes off without too much trouble. Still, it wasn't horrible. I'm intrigued enough that I'd watch a sequel if they do one. Hopefully they dial back the excessive quipping a lot next time around.

John Wick 4

I finally saw it. The conclusion of the John Wick films.

I really love these films. All a first-person shooter videogame done up Hollywood style with nice suits, fancy clubs, and style to go with the way over-the-top dollops of ultraviolence.

That's really all that needs to be said about the fourth film, really. It's almost three hours of carnage and insanity mixed in with posturing and "yeah".

Adding in Donnie Yen was a nice touch.

I'll miss this franchise. It won't be the same without Keanu's John Wick in whatever they do in subsequent films.

Thoughts on "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"

So I finally got around to watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves the other day.

I'm upset it took me this long to see this film. This is one of the most enjoyable fantasy romps I've watched in ages!

Set in the D&D fantasy world of "Faeun" (sp?), the film centers around the bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), his barbarian friend Holga Kilgore (best name ever, played by Michelle Rodriguez). Imprisoned after attempting to steal a magic artifact from Edgin's previous employers, the heroic Harpers, the pair escape prison and recruit the dubious sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith) and shapeshifting druid and Tiefling Doric (Sophia Lillis) to rescue Edgin's daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) from their treacherous former teammate, Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). And there's of course many shenanigans in the way.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is thematically a lot like the Guardians of the Galaxy films. A rag-tag team of quirky misfits unite to stop a terrible evil in the form of the sorceress Sofina (Daisy Head). Along the way, the group befriends the paladin Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page) and jump through hoops to become a quasi-family.

It's a formula and a predictable one, but it's perfectly executed in this film. The casting was rock solid, with every actor really making her or his character distinctive and entertaining. I'm hard-pressed to come up with a favorite, truth-be-told. I'm kind of torn between the humorless and earnest Xenk Yendar and the badass but blunt-spoken Holga Kilgore, though I really loved all the characters. Edgin could have easily been annoying, but Pine's portrayal really walked a good line to keep the character's flaws entertaining but not excessive.

I really hope they make sequels! Good sequels!

It's May, it's May, the merry month of May

No idea why "Camelot" popped into my head, but there it is. The month's more than half-over and the song's been lurking in my brain on-and-off for about a week now. It's a relief to get it out of my system. You're welcome.

Thoughts as April winds down

It's going to be May tomorrow. Time truly flies.

2023 so far has been four months of allergies with a job layoff added, just for shits and giggles.

I've found a few distractions as I hunt for new employment by watching a few shows in streaming, but honestly most of the stuff I've watched has been kinda crappy. Even season three of "The Mandalorian" was kind of disappointing. Oh, it was tons better than "The Book of Boba Fett", but once you've included space-vespas in a show, everything is going to look better.

I'm thinking I'm going to ditch Disney+ anyway. Everything Disney seems to touch is kinda shitty and I'm a bit tired of it.

I've discovered a new author I like, which has been a little ray of sunshine in this shitshow of a year. Ryan Cahill, who authors a fantasy series known as "The Bound and the Broken", is quite delightful. I'm on book three of his series so far (not counting novellas) and am very much enjoying his stuff.

Too bad I'll be done soon and out of good authors to read.

On the plus side, I've taken advantage of my unexpected free time to sort out a few things (like my previously-mentioned trip to the hazardous waste disposal dump). It feels weird not to be working. Unnatural, somehow. Though I do have to say, it's nice to be able to sleep in everyday.

Adventures in Hazardous Waste Disposal

I have no idea how long I was holding on to those propane canisters.

Since before the pandemic, certainly.

I haven't used them for my BBQ in years. My landlord came down hard on all residents who had BBQs on their balconies, so I moved mine into the common area. During the pandemic and the height of the fire season, some twat got on the property and decided to use my BBQ to cook up a steak during a red flag day. After I got his ass arrested, I got rid of the BBQ. I had the propane canisters stored away until I could figure out what to do with them.

In a bought of housecleaning, I recently assembled a pile of things I need to get rid of that need special treatment. Used batteries, fluorescent bulbs, an old and dead generator, an old microwave, a very old computer monitor, and, of course, those propane canisters.

So I investigated my county's options for hazardous waste disposal. There are several options, but none exactly close and convenient to where I live. So I made an appointment and set aside some time to deal with this.

So here I am, my car's trunk filled with flammable crap, driving in heavier-than-I'd-like traffic to a shitty part of a local city, following very dubious directions, to get rid of this shit.

I swear I thought that truck was going to rearend me and blow me up. The potholes in the fucking roads were like bomb craters. I got lost twice finding the goddamn place.

I've never felt so relieved to have all that shit taken out of my car's trunk. I'm pretty sure I'll need an alignment done on my car after driving those shitty roads, but it was worth it just to have that crap off my hands.

Next time, I go to a different drop-off, though.