When The Last Jedi came out I was reluctant to criticize it
because the one before it was so entertaining. It had some built-in good will
that made it relatively critic proof initially. Star Wars: The Rise of
Skywalker doesn’t arrive in movie theaters with that luxury. That’s unfortunate
because the movie tries very hard to succeed. It jams so much content, loose
plot stories and guest stars from previous films that the final third of the
film feels like a talk show saying goodbye as previous guests walk on screen.
Ode to be trapped inside Matthew Reinhart’s mind. Reinhart is an author and pop-up book genius. He’s constructed dozens of pop-up books that make you want to be a piece of paper just so he can engineer it becoming whatever magical thing might come to life in his books. We first discovered his work in Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs and Encyclopedia Sharks and Other Sea Monsters. These, and his other pop-up books are the stuff of legend and will engross anyone aged 5 and up. They’re also very complex, so if you value your books you’ll want to handle them yourself when looking at them with children under 10. Star Wars, The Ultimate Pop-Up Galaxy lives up to its name and is now our favorite Reinhart book. It maintains the intricate pop-up aspects of his other work, but digs down into many Star Wars elements that pop off of the page.
We love technology, its advances and music. Having said that, we personally recognize when music should be at arm’s length, for example, we’re not a fan of having music in the shower. For us a hard surface, slippery bubbles and music doesn’t seem like a natural fit. When we first tried the Bose Frames, the first audio sunglasses with built-in Bose speakers we were lukewarm. Then we tried them with music that we normally listen to and are 100% a convert. They check off all of the marks (almost) so perfectly that you wish they came in a prescription option so that you could wear them all the time.
This is a sponsored post from Best Buy, all thoughts are our own. Being the dad to two boys we know a little about drones. They’re the toys we always wanted when we were a kid, but the technology just wasn’t there yet. We used to go to the park where the hobbyists were flying their airplanes. A couple of kids were out there, but mainly it was the dads or those much older kids. Drones have changed that perception to where there are competitions, apps designed just for them and social platforms where you can share ideas or locations. The DJI Global Mavic Mini is a drone that’s priced for the hobbyist, yet has the professional features that have previously only been on high end models.
Hitting DVD on November 5 is Fast & Furious Presents:
Hobbs & Shaw. This brings fan favorites from Fast & Furious, Hobbs, the
take-no-guff policeman and Deckard Shaw, the best baddie in the series, and puts
them in their own film. In Hobbs & Shaw they’re forced to team up to take
down a cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton Lorr, played by Idris Elba.
As if the cast couldn’t get any cooler, toss in Vanessa Kirby who plays Shaw’s
sister. You’ll recognize Kirby from Mission Impossible: Fallout and The Crown.
She steals scenes in everything she’s in.
Hobbs & Shaw is rated PG-13 for prolonged action
sequences, suggestive material and some strong language. If you’re looking for
a fast paced, action film that delivers on what you think it should this is it.
It’s got an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A-“ on CinemaScore. Bonus:
this combo pack of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw has 80 minutes
of never-before-seen bonus content, an alternate ending, making-of, bloopers
and more.
We’re giving away five (5) copies of Blu-Ray DVD Combo Packs of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. This giveaway will end Saturday, November 9 at 7PM. To register to win, just leave a comment here in the post or RT this:
Graphic novels are meant to be entertaining and are incapable of being educational. Granted readers might gleam something from the art and the book’s cultural relevance, but on the whole, it’s for fun. It’s OK if you have thought that. Education and entertainment sometimes don’t mix. That’s why the best teachers, the ones that you still remember from middle school managed to entertain you while they were teaching you. They lower your defenses and then –BAM, start the soft messaging of teaching you something. Science Comics: Cats is like that and for middle school readers and up who want to learn about animals that will leave you feline fine keep on reading.
One expects excellence from a Cirque du Soleil show. It’s as
high as one can get in the world of acrobatics and performance. It’s a brand
unto itself, all you have to do is say you’re going to a Cirque show and you
have an idea of what to expect. That fact is completely put in its head in
Volta. It starts out similar to other shows, where a loosely constructed story
is laid out. However, even as you’re watching the first act, which was a team
of people jumping rope; it’s obvious that Volta has an energy that you haven’t seen
in a Cirque du Soleil show in a while. For me it was evident that the
performers were having fun. Sure they were jumping rope and doing Double Dutch,
moving as quickly as touching the ground seven times in one second. They were doing that; but the performers were
grinning from ear to ear, high-fiving one another and utterly enjoying
themselves.
In a parallel universe Joker is an indie film that was shot in the backwoods of Norway. The film is a serious approach to mental illness, gorgeously shot, with a bleak and powerful soundtrack that matches its visuals. It’s also masterfully acted and doesn’t pull any punches. The art house crowd loves every minute of the film and singing its praises. While the mainstream audience is appreciating the film, but it’s not breaking records. Joker is like that description, for the most part, except in reverse.
Joker is a drama for those 18 and up. It fully presents itself as a story in which we’re watching a mentally troubled character whose life is one step away from imploding. Arthur Fleck is bullied, beaten up, delusional and suffers from a form of Tourette Syndrome that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times. The film paints a world that we wouldn’t knowingly want to live in, yet also mirrors the one that we currently live in.
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