Lanterns is about Hal Jordan training John Stewart to take over the Green Lantern job. Or is it? The first episode introduces the troubled relationship between Mentor and Mentee until they realize there is an alien invasion possibly going on in the midwest. Ep 02 digs further into the problem of aliens in a small midwest town. Ep 03 devotes itself to how John Stewart got to be John Stewart and it's the best episode so far full of tragedy and determination and how Stewart continues to soldier on despite the roadblocks in his way.

It's a really good show. Kyle Chandler is really good as the I don't give a fuck Hal Jordan but still bent on protecting the planet. Stewart is equally good. Lots of great emotional scenes. The people all seem to be smart. If HBO had dropped all the episodes at once, I would be burning through them.

I Swear is the feel good movie about Tourette's! But not really. For most of the film, it's really depressing. John Davidson lives perfectly normal life until about age 14 when the first symptoms start to kick in. Everybody thinks he's faking including his own family. He has no control over his body and nobody wants to be with him, even his own mother treats him like a problem. Until one day that changes and he meets a mental health nurse dying of cancer. She wants John to live as normal a life as possible and challenges John to do that. It is not easy. He continues to get into trouble by encountering people who take advantage of him or attack him for his outbursts.

It does get better. There are some moments of genuine relief. But the film is harsh.

One of the greats of the golden age of Kung Fu movies. I was honored to spend the weekend with him in 2012 in Florida. That’s after when The Gallants came out, a film I still love ( https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=2179 ) and I based my interview on that but I regret going deeper into his extensive cinematic legacy. He was such a gentleman - Kung Fu movie royalty.

This is an AMC series, but is currently available on Netflix. A drama set in the Silicon Valley with an unlikable tech bro CEO trying to save his company, a therapist who is leveraging her myriad of tech CEO clients, and many other characters. Unlike the show "Cupertino" (which I haven't seen), this is shot in and around the bay area. Without mentioning current real company names, the number of times they mention Cupertino and Tim would make a gnarly drinking game.

The writers are doing a pretty good job of being "local-accurate". In one scene, the annoying CEO takes his daughter out for burgers and when he asks her if she likes the place, she says likes "Alpine" better. i think meaning The Alpine Inn in the hills behind Stanford (where the first the first internet message was sent from)

Zach Galafinakis and Rob Cordry make up part of the ensemble, but this isn't really funny. Part of the story is a little triggering as it takes place during massive fires in Napa and one of the characters loses (one of) their home(s) in a fire. Season 8 ends pretty darkly, but with nine of the story lines finished. I'm engaged enough now, I want to see where it goes.



--tg

Bob Odenkirk plays the temporary Sheriff for the town of Normal, Minnesota when the previous sheriff dies unexpectedly. Odenkirk as Ulysses has issues of his own, but nothing compared to the weirdness going on in the town. There sure are a lot of guns. Everything goes to hell when two sweet but inept bank robbers try to rob the local bank. See, the bank is full of Yakuza money. The only person out of the loop is Ulysses. This sets off a massive shootout throughout town full of glorious blood kills, more akin to a horror film than an action shoot-up.

All in all, I enjoyed this. Loud dumb fun. But not too dumb. Odenkirk continues to lean into his action hero persona. Like I said, lots of gruesome kills.

What is with this week? And as will probably be said many times in many places, not the right 80 year old.

Iconic actor. Big part of my teen years.

2026 continues to blow in so many way. She was only 80, but had been having health problems for quite some time.

Ken Watanabe - begins with a frantic duel but being set by a theater, nothing is as it seems. A plot within a plot. I figured out the first plot. The second plot was clever. Enjoyable storytelling which unfolds nicely. Good airplane movie

He laid down a mean rhythm.

Ah, Lanterns. Hal Jordan is busy training his replacement Jon Sterwart in the most dickish way possible. The show starts briefly when Hal Jordan gets the ring in 1996. They we get the training stuff and the mystery in 2016. It has a brief coda in 2026. The mystery happens in 2016 in some small town in the midwest where Hal has been before. Jordan wants to investigate but the Sheriff wants him to get lost. They run into some local preppers led by the local wealthy guy who wants Hal on his side to help him fight against aliens.

Kyle Chandler plays Jordan as a Green Lantern that seems really tired with being Green Lantern. Or maybe he is just tired. And he really doesn't want a replacement. If you've seen the trailer, you see what Jordan does to poor John Stewart.

So, far, I'm invested. It's a bit slow but it goes to fun places.