It's been a rough couple weeks for losing beloved entertainers: Dolly
Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen all left us last week. If you don't know
Cullen, you've at least heard him as Optimus Prime and dozens of other iconic
cartoon characters.
With the blog rolling into September, regular posts will go on hiatus
while I prep for the annual
Countdown to Halloween
with a post every day in October. Every year I think I don't have it in me and
struggle to find things to talk about but every year I pull it off.
Anyway, let's get this recap on the road!
Series
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)
More like Riotous Gemstones! I've been binging the series over the summer and
just wrapped it up. If Danny McBride knows how to do one thing, it's create
people you wouldn't go near in real life but find some way to make you root
for them.
Another summer binge. This one took me by surprise. Not only is everyone great
in it but this is probably Harrison Ford's best role (sorry Han and Indy!).
It's good to see him get into something with real depth and also show that he
can be funny! This show alone is worth getting AppleTV for.
Gatchaman Progress
Knocked out 5! Currently up to 89
Movies
The Devil's Mouth (2026, Prime) One final shark movie for the
summer. It started off pretty good but once the shark gets going, it basically
turns into a slasher. For some reason, the shark has it out for this tour
group beyond just needing to eat, or maybe he's really hungry. I don't know a
lot about shark eating habits. The ending goes a little too far into action
movie territory antics where the rest was pretty grounded.
I'm a little late on posting these. I picked them up maybe a month or so ago and just never got around to opening them. Questers is a line of collectible, build-able D&D figures aimed at a younger audience.
The line debuted with 12 figures featuring some of the most iconic monsters from D&D's long history. The monsters are "blind" packed in these large plastic d20s. If you click to enlarge, you'll see under the 1 on the top die there's a code indicating what's inside. These capsules snap together really well so if you wanted to, you could roll them if you've got a big enough table.
Each one comes with an easy to put together (mostly) figure, an actual d20, a creature card, a quest starter/checklist, and a mini sheet with five stickers. One of the stickers is made to go on your checklist so you can keep track of the monsters you've wrangled.
The checklist also shows the other figures in the line: eight adventurers and three larger dragons. The dragons look cool but being larger, don't interest me. I may pick up one or two of the adventurers but I'm still on the fence. It looks like you can mix and match outfits and accessories so that could be fun.
Yes, I did "cheat" and use the codes you can find online to get the ones I want! First up is that hard to see geometric goo with the caustic personality: the Gelatinous Cube! I don't know if it's just my Cube, but the pieces don't sit together just right. I do like that they have something inside it so it's not just a translucent block sitting there.
Next is the frightful feline that puts Schroedinger's Cat to shame: the dastardly Displacer Beast. It's kind of fun to see a kid-ified version that you might actually want as a pet...assuming you can get past the twin tentacles on its back. This one's the Ultra Rare of the set so it took a bit of digging to locate him.
For those that may not be familiar with a standard d20, here they are with a LEGO minifig for scale.
There's still a a couple classics I need to get: the mimic and the owlbear. I think I need the homunculus owl too because it kind of looks like Bubo from Clash of the Titans.
If you want to see all the figures in the line, head over to Basic Fun's Questers page. I hope this line does well, there's still plenty of monsters out there I'd love to see get this treatment.
Some people say July 5th is the start of spooky season but I prefer
August 1st.
91 days until Halloween!
Links will take you to a trailer.
In writing the post, I realized there's an unintentional Riverdale reunion among three of the movies. Do you know which ones or am I the only grown ass adult that watched Riverdale?
First, what's with that title? Are they planning a Legally Blonde Cinematic
Universe? That aside, this was a lot of fun. If you like watching Elle Woods
do her thing, you'll get it in spades...pink spades. You can tell the actress
playing young Elle studied her character and mannerisms. The supporting cast
is pretty great too.
Gatchaman Progress
Only 3 this month. Currently up to 85
Movies
Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026, HBO Max)
I'm still holding a low key grudge against this. It is an absolutely terrible
movie if you're wanting a lot of Mummy. However, it's a pretty solid Evil Dead
movie, which I guess should be expected since the director's previous movie
was Evil Dead Rise. My bad for not watching the trailer, I guess. I call this
one Evil Dead Rise 2: Egyptian Boogaloo. Definitely have to give it credit for
"going there" in some scenes and the gore.
Rating: 6/10
The Long Walk (2025, HBO Max)
How do you make an interesting movie when 99% of it is teens walking?
Excellent writing and great actors. This really sucked me in. I feel like I
got to know these guys and when it's time for some of them to leave, it hits
you. With what the movie gives you (not a lot), the premise doesn't make
much sense but it's more about the journey.
Rating: 8/10
*Enola Holmes (2020, Netflix)
Pre-game rewatch to gear up for the newest installment. Didn't remember a lot
of it so I had a good time all over again. It's good to see MBB playing
someone other then Eleven, especially a character that's more light hearted.
Rating: 7/10
Forbidden Fruits (2026, Shudder)
Tosses The Craft, Heathers, and Mean Girls into an upscale clothing store in a
mall. Overall, I liked it but there are some parts where the pacing was a bit
slow. It's definitely got "a vibe" that you can't help but feel throughout.
Unfortunately, I'm on a different wavelength but I predict it's going to find
cult status with people that feel the vibe.
Rating: 6/10
Obsession (2025, Peacock)
Well deserving of all the praise (and money!) it's gotten. I only knew Inde
Navarrette from TV's Superman and Lois but she hits this out of the park and
into a whole other ball field! She deserves an Oscar nod for this
performance. Creepy and sometimes shocking, this is the perfect case of being careful what you wish for.
Rating: 9/10
Spooktacular! (2023, Prime, Shudder, Tubi)
A documentary about the first Halloween horror theme park: Spookyworld! It's
not often you get to see a doc about something in your state...at least one
that doesn't involve an investigation. Even if you've never heard of it, if
you're a lover of Halloween, there's plenty to enjoy in seeing how this local
legend came to be.
I had such high hopes for this after seeing the trailers. What happened? For
the amount of fighting and kool moves it has, it's kind of boring. There's
little to no oomph in the fights no matter how kool they look. But I will say,
they don't hold back on the fatalities when they come along. It's got a 2020s
budget with a 1990s script. They should have made Johnny the main focus and
let Karl Urban do his thing..although it's weird hearing him do an American
accent.
Rating: 6/10
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026, Hulu)
Scream queens Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton teaming up? Yes, please! This
picks up right at the end of the first one and continues the cult craziness
with more of the comedy and violence that made that one so much fun. Plus now
you've got Elijah Wood and Sarah Michelle Gellar in the mix!
Rating: 8/10
Masters of the Universe (2026, Prime)
At best, I've been a casual MotU fan. I watched the cartoon and only ever had
a Skeletor figure because he looked cool. That said, I feel like this movie
had a target and shot with 100% accuracy. This is the Flash Gordon for the
2020s, except they knew what they were making. It's an incredibly fun action
movie that serves up plenty of knowing winks to its fan base. Oh, and if
you're worried about Jared Leto being in it, don't. You won't even notice him
because you never see his face.
