Here are my thoughts on some of what I watched last week.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
After two weeks in theatres, the movie is obliterating expectations at the box office. It has raked in $353.3 million domestically and will cross the $700 million mark globally today.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s box office success is evidence that Mario remains one of the world's most popular video game franchises.
4 of the top 10 selling Nintendo Switch games are Mario.
Despite how terrible the trailers looked it was actually solid. That said, it is much more geared toward young kids than most “kids” movies. There is very little in the movie intended to entertain adult audiences.
The visuals are great and I love how much color there is. How they handled/explained the lack of accents was fine…I guess. It is VERY referential as expected. Basically, the whole thing is just easter eggs and Mario references.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
I’ve never played D&D, what little knowledge I have of the game comes from references in Stranger Things.
Similar to what I said about The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I had low expectations going in. I was pleasantly surprised by the solid fight sequences and very cool magic in the movie.
I assume they plan to make more D&D movies since they already subtitled this first one. We’ll see if they can build an intriguing world that draws in non-D&D fans.
Renfield
This movie is just fun. Nic Cage and Nicholas Hoult have good chemistry and there is a great mix of comedy, horror, and gore. That’s about it though. Don’t expect a groundbreaking interpretation of Dracula.
The gore in Renfield is way over the top, in a good way. The movie is somewhat ridiculous and it knows that, playing into the ridiculousness by overdoing it in some areas.
Some TV I’m enjoying:
The Mandalorian
After an underwhelming Lizzo/Jack Black episode, the penultimate installment of Season 3 was great. The Mandalorian’s combined forces return to Mandalor and the reappearance of Moff Gideon set up what I hope will be a killer season finale this week.
Ted Lasso
“Signs” (Season 3 Episode 5) was the best episode of the season so far.
Ted’s speech to close the episode is one of the best coach speeches I’ve seen on screen, on par with Coach Brooks’ “Great Moments Are Born in Great Opportunity” speech in Miracle, Coach D'Amato’s “Inch by Inch” Speech in Any Given Sunday and a few others mentioned in this list from Bleacher Report.
Nate’s redemption arc is somewhat satisfying and I could see him coming back to Richmond by the end of the show. I’d like to see him go through a bit more development before feeling ready to forgive him though.
Overall, strong start to the final season.
Dave
The first 3 episodes of season 3 have been very solid. My favorite so far being last week’s episode titled “Hearsay.”
“Hearsay” (S3E3) had a great cameo from Rick Ross and a smaller but pretty funny Usher cameo.
Rick Ross gave Dave his quarter-million dollar chain in a strip club and then left before Dave could return it. How Dave and GaTa handle “babysitting” Rick Ross’s chain made for a great episode.
Lil Dicky’s tour is a great vehicle for the season and I’m excited to see what direction the season ends up going.
Yellowjackets
If you aren’t caught up, this is definitely a show I recommend for anyone who likes thriller/mystery dramas.
Season two, while very good, hasn’t quite grabbed me as strongly as the first season did. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the first four episodes, but what I’m most eager to see more of is the development of Shauna’s relationship with Callie.
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