Monthly Media Recap - March 2025

 This year, we are the April Fool's...and the January, February, March...

 

Anyway, on to the stuff I watched last month. I won't be using any Amazon affiliate links for the foreseeable future.

 

Series

 

Dexter: New Blood (Paramount+)

We got Paramount to check out the new Dexter prequel series because we loved the original. Despite that, we never watched the sequel series and decided to knock it out before the prequel. I heard a lot of not good things about this season but really enjoyed it. I suspect people didn't like the way it ended but I think it was well done.

Movies 

 

Becky (2020, Paramount+)

Imagine Home Alone but Kevin is a teenage girl that could give Rambo a run for his money and instead of the Wet Bandits, you've got a gang of neo-Nazis lead by Kevin James. Did I mention the horror movie-level violence? The plot behind why everything is happening could be better but I was having so much fun watching Becky murdelize people, I didn't really care.

 

Rating: 6/10

LEGO Minifigs Series 27 - Wolfpack Beastmaster

 When it comes to blind packed LEGO minifigs, I typically limit my collecting to those that would fit in a Halloween scene because there are just so many fun figures. Since I picked up a handful of the Dungeons & Dragons minifigs, I felt like this guy needed to join them. Possibly opening a dangerous door of needing to collect D&D-ish minifigs.

 

 Meet the Wolfpack Beastmaster from series 27, currently in stores. This guy's probably pretty good at hunting. You know who else is good at hunting? Me! I have been looking for this guy for months, scanning every single figure I could find. I actually found the box last week in a store but someone had opened it and taken the contents! The D&D Dragonborn Paladin wasn't even this hard to find. There's no doubt he's a cool figure but I think part of his popularity is that he comes with a wolf.

 

 Here's a closer look at his outfit. You have to appreciate someone that knows how to brand their look. He's got he wolfpack logo on his shield and on his chest. The little details are great from the chain "holding" his cape on down to the little studs on his belt. 

 

I'm not quite sure what's going on with his armor. Those aren't bracers he's wearing, it's the sleeves of what looks like a chain shirt with leather armor over it, or maybe it's hide? His face has all kinds of character to it. When he's got his hood on, you can barely see the muttonchops.

 

 Speaking of his face, he's got two! I'm thinking the second one is him whistling a command to the wolf, or he just stepped on a LEGO brick barefoot.

 

Ready for battle!

Doctor Strange Playing Cards by Fantasma

 Prepare your mind, dear reader, as we venture into the world of magic with Fantasma's Doctor Strange playing cards. But this is no mere deck of cards. Oh no! This deck will allow you to conjure your own feats of magic!

 

It's also not just a deck of cards.

 

 In addition to the deck, you also get a "Book of Secrets", a couple trick assisting cards, and a metal "card guard" to protect your deck. Here's a better pic of the guard (It's black and I'm terrible at lighting). The guard has a trick assist feature where is you know the suit of a chosen card, you can press a finger into the suit icon to "blister" the icon into your finger for a surprise reveal.

 

What makes this deck extra magical is that it's a tapered, or stripper, deck. This makes it super easy to find a card someone takes from it. It's clumsy to explain but here's a good video showing it in action. Even I was able to work it with minimal practice.

 

 In the top row, we have the card back and the Ace of Spades featuring Doc's Eye of Agamotto amulet. The bottom row has a 5 of Hearts with the same image on both sides, a regular Joker with Doc's long time nemesis Baron Mordo, and a trick Joker with the Queen of Diamonds printed on it.

 

 Even the deck box has a couple of trick assists built into it! If you force someone to choose the 7 of Diamonds, you can reveal it by showing them the "barcode".  The number under the barcode ends in 1089 and there's instructions for a little math magic to force someone to come up with that number.

 

 

On top of being a trick deck, this is one of the best Doctor Strange decks I've come across. Every single card has a different image on it. Going through the deck, you'll spot cameos of Clea, Wong, the Hulk, and even the Grim Reaper. How's that for a deep cut? The Queens in the deck all feature the Scarlet Witch. As someone that vibes more with the magic side of Marvel, it's a nice touch.

 Fantasma also makes a Spider-Man and Black Panther deck like this. Even if you're not into card magic, these decks are a great collectible for fans of the character. 

 

Here you'll find out why they call him the Amazing Spider-Man!