1) You ever have a breakfast so disappointing, all you can think about is, When the hell can I eat lunch? Is 10:30 too early?
2) These couples who have YouTube channels and post cutesy videos about their relationship… You know the ones I’m talking about.
“Join us on our adventure of life, laughter, and love!”
Crap like that. They post videos with premises like:
“Watch as I try to teach him to dance.” Or “Will she notice that I’m not wearing my wedding ring?”
These couples make videos like they’re producing their own romantic sitcoms, and they think they’re the cutest couple since Dharma and Greg (Jim and Pam? Ross and Rachel? Martin and Gina? Okay, you pick the appropriate couple for comparison).
My question is… What happens when/if the couple breaks up? Do they fight over ownership of the YT channel? Do they remove the videos?
If the channel is generating money, then I think there’d be hesitation to take the videos down. Then again, if the people are moving on into new relationships, I’m sure they, and their new partners, don’t want daily reminders of the old relationship. It would be like having pictures of your ex around your house, except it’s videos recommended to you whenever you open your YT app.
3) Speaking of unlikely lasting relationships…
Remember the beginning of MEET THE PARENTS, where Ben Stiller is initially going to propose to Teri Polo and they have that scene where he’s got her preschool class lined up with signs that are supposed to spell out “Will you marry me?” But the kids have the order messed up, so he’s frantically trying to get them rearranged in the right order while her back is turned. Then she comments something about her dad and how her sister’s fiancé asked him for permission to marry his daughter, and Stiller decides to abandon the proposal so he can also ask for permission from the father. Which leads into the hilarious ensuing hijinks of the film.
Okay. My question is: How did Stiller’s character get time alone with the preschool class so he could prep them with the signs? Didn’t their teacher (Polo) wonder why they had cardboard signs with letters on them? And when Stiller’s character decided not to propose yet, how did he let the kids know to not say anything to their teacher?
So many questions. The biggest one:
How did this (at best) mildly amusing movie generate so many sequels?
3) Bryan Croneburger, or whatever his name is, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in the Idaho college students’ murders this past week.
Bryan’s family has been quiet this whole time. You’d think if Bryan’s parents and sister truly believed in his innocence, they’d be all over the media, giving interviews and yelling about the gross miscarriage of injustice. But nope… I’m guessing they’ve changed their names and left for remote parts in order to distance themselves from the monster they unleashed on the world.
Not that it’s his family’s fault what happened. I mean, I guess you can do everything right and still have a soulless psychopath in your family. But that’s not the point of my post.
For months and months, I’ve seen idiots posting online about how the guy was innocent and there was absolutely no evidence. No evidence, I guess, if you disregard the mountain of evidence they had, like his car matching the description of the car seen that night, like him buying a knife on Amazon before the murders that matched the sheath they found, like his cellphone giving his location of being in the area that night…
I guess his alibi of stargazing at the time of the murders was pretty airtight, though. You can see why rational people would believe he was innocent (sarcasm).
So now that he’s pleaded guilty, what happened to the naysayers, the ones proclaiming his innocence? They seem to have vanished. Weird, right? Maybe we should do a health check on them. Make sure they’re okay.
4) Watching:
THE STUDIO on Apple TV is a funny look behind the scenes of a fictional movie studio. I really enjoy it, however, I think you have to have a good knowledge of movies, actors, directors, and movie history in general to truly appreciate it. Otherwise, as they say, your mileage may vary. But the show checks all the boxes for me.
MURDERBOT is coming up on its finale and I’m still enjoying it. Meanwhile, season 4 of RESIDENT ALIEN is trying my patience with its drawn-out plotlines and insistence on forcing side characters into the narrative. At this point, I’m only watching the show for Alan Tudyk, who manages to elicit laugh-out-loud moments.
The movie SINNERS got a lot of positive buzz when it came out this past April. I was hyped to see it, and finally had the chance this week. The movie is good. Really good. But I hesitate to call it “great.”
The movie takes a while to get going. For a vampire movie, there’s a long wait before you see the first vampire. And that’s kind of my issue with the movie:
I think writer/director, Ryan Coogler is trying to do too much with the film. He wants to tell a gangster story, a story about twin brothers, a story about being black in the deep South during the early 1930’s, a story about the blues, a story about the power of music, a story about the link between various native myths and legends, a story about the nature of evil, and a story about vampires. Oh, and lots of references to oral sex…which, if you think about it, fits in with the vampire story.
If Coogler had concentrated on two of those things, like vampires and the setting of the story, I think I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more. It’s a great story, lots of attention to detail, lots and lots of subplots, and an awesome monster. All the things I generally love in a movie. I just wish it had gotten to the point a lot quicker.
I liked the movie. A lot. But instant classic? Best vampire movie ever? No. But a solid B+, or 4 out of 5 stars, definitely.
Finally, I’m almost all the way through season 4 of THE BEAR. I’m enjoying it. There’s been a ton of criticism about the show this season, that “nothing is really happening” and the feeling the show has run its course…
All unfounded, in my opinion. The show is still doing what it does, and has always done, which is to showcase a bunch of great characters played by talented actors, all thrown together in a volatile setting.
Yes, there were major changes in the characters between seasons 1 and 2, and again between seasons 2 and 3, but the criticism that nothing happens this season… No, there’s a lot happening. It’s just not being thrust in the viewers’ faces. You have to look between the lines.
If you look at season 4 as a continuation of season 3, you’ll see that it lines up with where it’s supposed to be. The show may not have headed where you want it to go, or where you think it should go, but it’s still heading somewhere. And that’s always been the point of it.
Yeah, look… I’ve got some criticism of the show. I’m not going to say it’s perfect, by any means. If I took a drink every time Carmy says, “I’m sorry,” I’d be falling down drunk by the end of an episode. But it’s still a great show.
That’s your Dispatch for the week.
Slade Grayson is a writer who relies on the kindness of strangers. And readers. And sometimes strange readers. You can buy his books here, or buy him a coffee here.