Movie Review: The New Mutants

I took my kids to the Mansfield Drive-In Movie Theater last night to see the New Mutants.  A great experience overall but probably not one that we would repeat on anything like a regular basis, mostly because the theater itself was over an hour’s drive away.  Needless to say, this was my kids’ first experience with a drive-in.  We brought lawn chairs but forgot to bring a boom box and thus learned the hard way that my car’s speakers aren’t as loud as I might’ve hoped when you’re sitting outside.  Volume issues affected our enjoyment of the film, unfortunately.  It was hard to hear at times.  Still, we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.  

Quick Thoughts: Endgame and the MCU

Finally saw Avengers: Endgame over the weekend.  My kids and I felt very much like the last people on Earth to get to the movie, but I know that’s not true.  In fact, I work with a couple of guys who’ve never seen any of the Avengers movies. I mean, I know it feels like Marvel have taken over the movie world, but it’s still a specific niche, believe it or not, and there are plenty of folks who aren’t paying attention.  It’s just a very loud kind of niche.

Lots of folks have published thoughts about Endgame.  It’s unclear that the world needs mine.  I’m gonna give them to you anyway, though, mostly because I’ve not yet had any time to grill or to think overmuch about how I’m going to write about grilling.

*big-time spoilers ahead*

5 Things on a Friday: In the Top 10!

Happy Friday, everyone.  Let’s go!

Saturday New & Notes: Beat Colgate!

Hey folks.  The Saturday Celebration posts weren't doing a lot over at AFF, so we tried something new and moved that particular discussion to Thursday.  I'm not sure it did any better on Thursday, but the end result freed up the Saturday spot here, and here we are.

Some of the stories I'm following this weekend are after the jump.

5 Things on a Friday: Did I Mention That It Snowed?

Happy Friday, folks.  We’re 'bout to get our weekend started right!

Thursday turned out to be a cold day in Hell.

Gameday Headlines: at Buffalo

It's game day, folks!

Thanks to 5-time NFL First Team All-Pro @SteveTasker89 for talking to the team tonite. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/1y2GfY6jVN

— Army WP Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 29, 2018

If you missed Tuesday's Army Football Preview, it's here.  Let's get it on!

5 Things on a Friday: Last Look at Liberty

Hey, ho.  Let’s go.

TV Review: Marvel's Cloak & Dagger

My daughter Emma and I finished Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger on Freeform last week, and we both really enjoyed it.  Truthfully, I think I enjoyed it more than she did.  Before watching the show, I’d have guessed that it was aimed squarely at the teen-girl fan-set based on its choice of cable networks.  The reality, though, is that the former ABC Family Channel has more in common with Spike TV than it does with, say, The Disney Channel or even Lifetime.  Where we were expecting something along the lines of the CW’s Arrowverse but starring younger Marvel protagonists, what we got was a decidedly gritty psychological drama that was much more in line with the tone of the original 1980s-era comics than I’d have believed possible.

Six Things on a Saturday: Trying to Get Caught Up

I’ve had a busy week.  Did a lot happen while I was gone?

I actually have the day off!  Yay!!!

5 Things on a Friday: Return to Chaos

Happy Founder’s Day!

On March 16, 1802, Thomas Jefferson signed a document declaring "that the said Corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point... and shall constitute a military academy. The Corps of today celebrated the 216th anniversary of Founders Day.

Photos by: CDT Alex Werden pic.twitter.com/TbVyf7fJgq

— US Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) March 2, 2018

5 Things on a Friday: SotU and Other Stories

Apologies up front.  I’ve been trying to do less politics on the blog, but with the State of the Union, that didn’t happen this week.  Worse, a lot of the best analysis has come out of the Opinion pages, so…  

Well, you will no doubt deride this week's piece as #FakeNews from a “triggered libtard.”  That’s fine.  I’ve been called worse.

5 Things on a Friday: The Saga of Greg Schiano

As a cadet, I at no time expected that it would ever be easier to be a fan of Army Football than it is to be a fan of the Tennessee Volunteers.  But here we are.

Honestly, I'm glad that my father did not live to see the destruction of his beloved Vols, but I also kind'a wish that I could rub it in, too.

5 Things on a Friday: Let’s Talk about Messaging

Something occurred to me this week.  It’s this: The right way to talk about the current moment in politics isn’t to talk about the politics of the current moment at all.  In the modern world, one can find news to fit one’s worldview regardless of what that worldview happens to be.  Someone out there somewhere is reporting news with an editorial slant that agrees with whatever philosophy each and every one of us personally finds comforting.  Since people like to feel good about themselves, almost everyone has chosen to get their news from sources that make them feel some combination of smart and vindicated.

Arguing about reality is therefore pointless, and indeed, it’s becoming increasingly pointless to argue at all.  

Spoiler alert: no one is listening.

With this in mind, I’ve realized that the right way to talk about modern politics is to ignore the message and to focus entirely on the success or failure of the messaging.  In the end, it’s the success or failure of the marketing that’s going to determine the future of this country.

Trailers Coming Out of SDCC

This one might be my favorite...

Darkness falls across the land… Here is the first trailer for #StrangerThings2. pic.twitter.com/534mDf1Os2

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 22, 2017

Right?

Thoughts on the Inhumans’ Trailer

Marvel came out with a trailer for their new Inhumans TV show, set to debut this coming September.  Though the show is set around an interesting concept, I confess that I didn’t necessarily love everything we saw in the trailer.  I’ll withhold any final judgments until after I’ve seen the premier episodes—available in IMAX theaters!—but at this point, the entire enterprise strikes me as something of a tough sell.

3 Things on a Thursday: Baseball & Remembrance

The Yankees won a game last night.  They crushed it, in fact, beating the Chicago White Sox 12-3.  This is important because we’ve now seen the Yanks’ ostensible ace Masahiro Tanaka pitch two quality games in a row, a thing he’s not been much apt to do this year.  At the same time, nearly half the Yankees’ starting roster has headed over to the Disable List (DL), leading the Bronx Bombers to field a team that looks more like last year’s AAA roster than last year’s roster from the Big League club.  Seriously, the team right now is half rookies.

And yet, I am cautiously optimistic that the Yankees’ woes, which started with their disastrous West Coast road trip almost two weeks ago now, are coming to an end.  Though the team is something like 4-14 over their previous eighteen starts, their run differential has remained positive throughout the skid, such that their predicted wins (P[wins]) score remained fully six games better than their real record over that same time period.  To put this another way, the Yankees have never stopped hitting, and their starting pitching hasn’t slumped appreciably despite losing CC Sabathia to a hamstring injury during that fateful West Coast road trip.  The Yanks’ bullpen has instead blown a bunch of close games late, but this isn’t necessarily a trend you expect to see continue over the long term.

At least, that is what the statistics suggest, assuming I’m reading them right.

#StartSpreadingTheNews Yankees win Great start By Tanaka⏱ nd 👹 1st mlbhit with 4rbis and 🕵🏻with 1st mlbhit and 1rbi .... WHAT A GAME!!

— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) June 29, 2017

And again, what does any of this have to do with my running 3 Things on a Thursday this week?  Nothing at all.

5 Things on a Friday: Trolling Tebow

Ran a little long this week.  Sorry in advance.

Wonder Woman & Spider-Man vs. the Man of Steel

I finally got to see Wonder Woman this week.  Good flick.  They did a nice job of making Diana fierce but also feminine and of making Steve Trevor both nowhere near as tough as his star but decidedly heroic and masculine nonetheless.

Wonder Woman

Spoilers ahead.

5 Things on a Friday: Fathers Day for Thanos

Happy Friday, folks!

5 Things on a Friday: Friday Hair Metal Returns!

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it!

I read in the Times that the kids are all really
into unicorns.  I don't really get it, but whatever...