VIDEO GAME: The LEGO Movie Videogame (2014)

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The LEGO Movie Videogame Year: 2014 Rating: E10+ Time Played: ~10 hours Growing up with Legos, I definitely enjoyed The LEGO Movie (2014) when it came to theaters. Sure, it may have just been a knock-off of The Matrix (1999), but there were enough humorous bits and meta references for me to enjoy myself. Considering how Lego had been adapting several film franchises into Lego-themed video games for quite a few years prior to this movie's release, it just made sense that they would then turn their first arrival on the big screen into a Lego video game as well. Of course, by now the "Lego video game" had become somewhat of a tired formula. Even if I could play through the events of the movie, the almost mind-numbing action wasn't much different from any of the other Lego video games I had already played. It's no wonder that I felt burned out from these games after playing through this one. You definitely get the...
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MOVIE: Lightyear (2022)

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Lightyear Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours One of my favorite bits from the Toy Story saga was the opening sequence from Toy Story 2 (1999). Seeing Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in his element, fighting to save the galaxy, was an exciting start to one of the best Pixar films to hit the big screen. I have some strong nostalgia for the characters from Toy Story, which is why I had high hopes for the Lightyear (2022) spinoff. After all, Pixar rarely does science fiction—with WALL-E (2008) being the most notable example of what they can do with the genre—so I can appreciate them adding more sci-fi to their filmography. As a sci-fi movie, Lightyear is fine. It hits a lot of good tropes that are common to the genre. Visually, the efforts of Pixar look stunning as always. The problem I have here is with the characters and the plotline surrounding Buzz Lightyear's (Chris Evans) stubbornness. It's exhausting to watch...
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BOOK: Archenemies (2018)

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Archenemies Year: 2018 Author: Marissa Meyer Length: 877 minutes / 14.62 hours There's a trope in comic books about how supervillains' schemes sometimes make sense. Maybe they want to solve some systemic problem with society, but the way they go about it is all wrong. There's often a leap of logic between "let's solve global warming" and "I want to build an ice ray to freeze the entire planet." Because this trope falls apart in the cartoony logic that graces the pages of comic books, it's refreshing to see some truly fantastic moral ambiguity between villains and heroes (all with quite unique powers and abilities) in Marissa Meyer's Archenemies. While there were a few moments of illogical villains in Renegades, this sequel really delves into these characters who think they're doing the right thing—from both sides. I love how there are heroes who take their "we are justice" ideology too far, while there are also villains out there trying to improve the broken society that...
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MOVIE: Cars (2006)

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Cars Year: 2006 Rating: G Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours In terms of early Pixar films, I always felt Cars (2006) was a bit of a step backward for the animation company. I've never been much of a "car guy" and I find NASCAR racing a bit silly. Still, Pixar's focus on the story helped make this a solid sports movie. After all, the timeless "mentor teaching a cocky up-and-comer" narrative works for a reason. And while I'd love to see other Pixar franchises get as much love as this one, I can see why it's done so well for its target demographic. Cars is an excellent movie for freeze-frame analysis for the number of puns and visual gags alone. Granted, there are also a lot of disturbing extrapolations if you spend a significant amount of time thinking about this universe of sentient vehicles. Still, the growth of these characters helps make this movie into something more than just a vehicle (har har) for...
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MUSIC: “Weird” Al Yankovic – The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour

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"Weird" Al Yankovic - The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour Date: September 6, 2022 Despite owning every one of "Weird" Al Yankovic's albums and knowing every one of his songs, I had never been to a Weird Al concert before. Well, technically I went to a Weird Al concert in 1985...in utero. And my parents wonder why I turned out the way I did. This time, I was conscious enough to remember it. After enduring a few years of not going to concerts (thanks to COVID and toddlers), this was a welcome change and a show I enjoyed because I finally got to see Weird Al in concert. My wife still had a good time, but this show was definitely for the super fans. I had no other Weird Al concerts to compare this one to, but I was not disappointed. After all, I could sing along to these songs since I knew them so well. Sure, there weren't...
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VIDEO GAME: Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

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Lego Marvel Super HeroesYear: 2013Rating: E10+Time Played: ~23 hours In 2013, you would have been stupid to not cash in on the phenomenon that was the up-and-coming Marvel Cinematic Universe. A year after The Avengers (2012) showed what could be done with a handful of movies, and suddenly everyone is into Marvel superheroes. It then makes sense that Lego would release the Lego Marvel Super Heroes video game in 2013. What's even better is that the muddled movie rights for Marvel IP don't apply to video games, thus making this game a smorgasbord of superheroes to play with. I can appreciate how this game incorporated some of the popularity of the MCU (I mean, look at the characters front and center on the cover), but didn't completely need to adapt to the movie versions of these heroes. The voice-acting work for these characters was top-notch and really brought the quality of this game above the various grunts and cheers of the playable...
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MOVIE: Top Gun – Maverick (2022)

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Top Gun: Maverick Year: 2022 Rating: PG-13 Length: 130 minutes / 2.17 hours The COVID pandemic delayed the release of Top Gun: Maverick (2022) for a few years. Having only watched the original a few days prior to seeing this in the theaters, it was definitely worth the wait to see something like this on the big screen. The trailers only hinted at the spectacle that could be achieved over 35 years after the original wowed audiences with great fighter jet footage. That's not to say that this film doesn't lean heavily on its nostalgia—or plots that come strikingly close to other famous franchises. Part of the appeal of Top Gun (1986) was all the footage of fighter jet acrobatics. Most civilians never get to see these things outside an occasional air show, so there's an amount of awe involved when seeing what these marvels of modern engineering can do. Over three decades of advancements in cinematography allowed this sequel to surpass the original. Cockpit...
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BOOK: All Systems Red (2017)

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All Systems Red Year: 2017 Author: Martha Wells Length: 199 minutes / 3.12 hours Sentient artificial intelligence is a topic that science fiction has covered for decades. Somehow, in all that time, I haven't really come across many stories from the perspective of the newly sentient AI. All Systems Red scratches that itch in a way that's intriguing but merely feels like a prologue to something much more interesting. Perhaps I'm just used to longer-form stories that explore such a complex topic like this. Still, to so densely convey what it's like to be a robot now in control of its destiny takes a certain level of skill. The problem is, it's been about six months since I listened to this audiobook and I can't recall much about it other than it's in first person via the "Murderbot" point-of-view. I guess there was some humor involved with this robot describing things that we as humans almost take for granted—using the external observer to point out...
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MOVIE: Top Gun (1986)

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Top GunYear: 1986Rating: PGLength: 110 minutes / 1.83 hours Top Gun (1986) was one of those movies I actively avoided watching for years. I've never been too keen on the military, and this movie just screamed military propaganda to me. Sure, there were enough memes spawned from this movie (before memes were really a thing) that I felt I understood the movie well enough without having seen it. When the sequel came out this year, I figured it was probably time I give the original a chance before I went to the theater to see the summer blockbuster of 2022. For its time, Top Gun certainly used the best special effects it could to make it seem like Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards were actually flying these fighter jets. These effects stand up pretty well to time, but mostly because the cuts where we see the actors are so close in that you can't even tell what's going on around...
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