The Watchers

Lisa and I had planned on a date night in Cedarburg after work Tuesday, but pivoted to a local theater to catch this film. Directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, it continues our decade long streak of seeing new Shayamalan movies in the theater.

Mina is an American woman working in Ireland who continues to blame herself for the death of her mother 15 years prior.  She finds herself stranded in a forest - "not on any map" - where the night seems to harbor unseen creatures.  These creatures honor only one "safe" space for the humans trapped there,  a one room building whose fourth wall is a two way mirror by which "The Watchers" view their prey.

Look, without any real spoilers, I can tell you that pretty much everything in the 3rd act post-boat is absolutely sh*t.

But -

Before that, if you can forgive Mina pointlessly voicing her thoughts just to fill time, and the occasional cheesy dialouge of various characters ("hand me my bird!"), then you're left with a pretty decent movie. Not a classic mind you.  But decent and entertaining. 

Grade: C 

(B- if you stop at the boat scene)

Our Planters

Proud of our planters this year :) - Lisa

William Russell

It is with deep regret that I report that on this day of happiness - LuLu's 21st birthday - some sadness has crept in. William Russell, who starred in the debut episode of Doctor Who in 1963 as Ian, one half of the pair of Earth teachers who were the Doctor's first companions - has died just shy of his 100th birthday. 

Russell resumed playing Ian - after almost a sixty year gap -  in Jodi Whitaker's final episode. 

He was a great companion, a man of action when the Doctor himself was a stodgy old man. His role helped make DW what it is, and we are eternally in his debt. 

RIP

Let it Ever Be

 

Today in the MLB . . .

Today MLB officially integrated Negro League statistics into the MLB record books, throwing a wrench into some beloved statistical leader lists. 

I have mixed feelings about it. 

On one hand it's great that some of these Negro League greats will finally get some attention from casual fans  (I guarantee you I, and most serious fans, know more about them then the majority of the people praising AND panning the move). It's also hard not to be moved by a line of propaganda MLB put out, and I'm paraphrasing, that these men were separated by a historical wrong, and now they stand united in correction of that wrong. That really hit me in the feels. 

Too bad it's just a copywriter's spin and not reality. 

Yes, these men were wrongly kept out of the majors.  They deserve their place in Cooperstown, as individuals and as a whole.

But, by the very nature of the wrong, they did not play in MLB.  To play pretend and say their numbers in a given year are now magically part of the same, as if they were given the chance to compete head to head the whole time . . . To me, you aren't correcting a wrong, you are hiding that it ever happened. 

Not to carry it to an extreme, but man, just minimize Jackie Robinson some more why don't ya? 

I question too the stated impetus for this. 2020 was mentioned more than once in the apologetics MLB released to explain their decisions, mainly in how they used the abbreviated Covid season as a ruler by which to rationalize incorporating the annual Negro League numbers  - their seasons that averaged only 60 or so legitimate games a season (the rest of the schedule being devoted to barnstorming games and exhibitions).  Seems to me there was a lot more going on in 2020 than baseball OR Covid, and it sure is odd that's when MLB hit the gas.  

Have other, defunct leagues been merged into the MLB records? Sure, from the 19th century, when the whole idea of professional baseball - heck, professional sports - was new and everybody was wilding. Even then, there were whole professional leagues that didn't make the cut and were excluded from the records when they were evaluated as being below MLB standards.

The talent pool in the Negro Leagues was tremendous, but it was a talent pool forced by society to compete in leagues (plural) that were not up to par. I'm sorry, it's true. Put their stars in MLB and they'd shine, but the league as a whole? No. 

That shortened season I mentioned? Lyman Bostock played 23 games in 1941. Now from what I gather, he WILL be excluded from contention for the '41 record, but that should NEVER have been an issue that needed to be addressed in the first place. 

Those who dare to criticize this move are - contain my shock - being labeled racist. Odd that, since my social media feed has been filled FOR MONTHS with African Americans  dragging  Caitlin Clark because she is great AND white, and for nothing more than that.  That isn't the case here where the move, well intentioned or not, is a questionable one. 

Whatever. As I said, I'm on the fence about this. I think it was done in good faith, but I think it teeters on covering up, not correcting, a historic error. That said, I can take it or leave it. 

What do you think? 

Furiosa

 

I saw this on Sunday, alone - the first such solo venture since Uncut Gems on the brink of Covid - during a pretty heavy rainstorm. 

None of which has anything to do with the film itself, but whatever man, it's my blog. Deal. 

As to the movie: 

I say, without hesitation, that it is a masterpiece. 

I was no fan of Fury Road, considering it a grand visual spectacle but little more, and in many ways a Road Warrior redux. I didn't like that Max was second fiddle in a movie that had his name in the title, and I had little to no interest in exploring Furiosa's past, given that we saw it all finished. Still, I am a huge fan of the franchise, and to honor George Miller I knew I was going to see Furiosa in the theater. 

Boy, am I glad I did. 

From the first scene to the last, Miller engages the viewer. Not just with splashy violence and great camera work, but with a story and a titular character *worth* your attention. Heck, even the villains here aren't one-dimensional tropes. Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, is an evil ganglord, but he's also a man who lost his family during the end of the world, and carries that loss with him. Even Immortal Joe, the foe from Fury Road, is fleshed out, revealing a warlord capable of negotiating peace and the tactical knowledge to win a war. 

And the action - oh man, the action sequences. 

George Miller is 79, and in my opinion, he just put his finest work on screen. 

My grade: an unequivocal A+

Fed Ex

Fed ex is the worst. That's all. - Lisa

At Last!

FINALLY! Our long national nightmare is over. 

A Saturday with Lisa

Saturday was a enjoyable but busy day for the heads of Team Slap. In the morning Lisa went and got her hair cut and dyed

 

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Then we drove down to Kenosha to attend a BBQ in celebration of Vanessa, one of my office's secretaries, earning her US Citizenship. 

We stayed about 90 minutes then drove all the way up to Cedarburg, to see The Fall Guy at the Rivoli. That theatre has become our go-to date night - $4 tickets, a nice old theater, and a postcard pretty town? Heck yeah - even when, like this, it wasn't a movie up Lisa's alley. 

The Fall Guy, based very loosely on the old TV show of the same name, is about a stuntman named Colt Seevers who breaks his back on a movie set and retires, abruptly ending his relationship with Jody, played by Emily Blunt. 18 months later, regretting his actions, he accepts a job offer on the movie Jody is directing, and tries to track down the missing star before his absence costs Jody her film. 

It was funny and full of action and, generally, a pleasant way to pass the time. I don't quite understand why the villains were immune to death and injury, bouncing back like Cobra soldiers in a GI Joe cartoon, Nor when you think of it afterwards (with full knowledge of the story) does the quest make any real sense. 

But those are qualms best left in a folder marked "suspension of disbelief." Overall, I'd grade this one a solid B. 

Afterwards, we drove back to Milwaukee and could not find a single restaurant open to eat; the whole dang city shuts down at 9 now, post-Covid. Ridiculous. 

But we stumbled across El Tucanazo, a non-descript hole in the wall on S 13th St and gave it a shot. 

IT WAS WONDERFUL. 

And the portions? My word. 

A great day with a great lady!

Tesla

I would never get a tesla! After I saw how hard it was to get a windshield replacement when I worked at Safelite I knew it was bad news.  - Lisa

Unfrosted

I wanted to go see the 65th anniversary showing of  Hitchcock's North by Northwest, but YaYa cancelled on me so I wound up at her apartment instead, watching Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld's movie about the creation of the Pop-Tart. It was kinda like going out for steak and settling for a burger.

Good thing I like burgers. 

 I thought this movie was a hoot. Yes, it was silly. Yes, it was exaggerated immensely for comedic effect. Yes, it was fluff. 

So what? That's what it was intended to be, and mister, I laughed my ass off time and again. 

Heck, just look at Hugh Grant  - Hugh Grant! - dressed as Tony the Tiger, paying ironic homage to the horned guy from the Jan 6th riot. 

Oh, and a "birds aren't real" sign LOL

 I enjoyed it very much. 

For myself? On a personal enjoyment scale? I grade it an A