November 2024 News and Links

 It is Finally Cooling Off 

Welcome to November of 2024. October was weirdly warm but now we're feeling a chill--after all, the month kicked off with an election that I already shared plenty of thoughts about. We will conclude November with Thanksgiving seemingly really late this year too. In the meantime, here are some pieces of news I found interesting.

News and Stuff of Interest

The movie, "Wicked," has a lot of toys that are going to tie in. Someone who isn't aware of the correct movie URL might try to just go to Wicked as a website instead of the movie one and discover that the former warns folks it is a grown-up site that wants you to clarify you're grown and okay with seeing adults doing adult stuff. No harm no foul if you mess that up. However, if Mattel were to accidentally put the wrong website on their boxes for Barbie toys, that would be quite a mistake. Somebody got in big trouble at Mattel but Wicked (the adult site) is laughing all the way to the bank as they've hit a 12-year high in traffic visiting the site. If even a small percentage of people who are now aware of this site subscribe to it that's a nice chunk of change. Ironically, the mature site has a bunch of spoofs of movies as the news will tell ya, but nothing relating to, "Wicked," itself. That's the real shame here.

In other movie news, Marvel showcased more of their upcoming, "Captain America: Brave New World," and, "Thunderbolts*," movies at their D23 Brazil event. These actually are looking pretty good and like they could draw some crowds after a chunk of Marvel projects have been received with less buzz lately (flicks with Deadpool and/or Wolverine aside).

The new, "Absolute," books DC is putting out have been extremely well-received to the surprise of some who weren't expecting much beyond alternate-universe takes on popular characters. I have read the first issues of the Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman series and they all are pretty cool. I (and many individuals I've spoken with) really was into the, "Batman," title but see some big potential in the other two as well. Between the Absolute stuff at DC and shockingly good Ultimate titles at Marvel, I guess sometimes a new take on an old classic is what a story can quite benefit from.

"Saturday Night Live," struggled a bit deciding what to say with their first episode since the Presidential election. There was one skit people seemed to either really enjoy or quite dislike that had nothing to do with politics, however. Presented as a bit of an advertisement with host Bill Burr discussing a band called, "Snake Skin," and their greatest hits album, it is glorious. Snake Skin is a fictional 80's band and I personally found the skit hilarious in how much it really did sound like a hair metal band from the 1980s singing about how much they want, "Nah-Nah," along with other raunchy absurdities. I do mean some people hated this sketch, but I was cracking up.

A gentleman playing, "Red Dead Redemption 2," on the PC modded it so that every horse and carriage moved at the speed of a missile and became extremely deadly. The results were both stupid and hilarious. I mean, we gotta do something to pass the time while we wait for, "Grand Theft Auto 6," don't we?

Lastly, everyone has been telling me how much I need to watch that, "The Penguin," show on MAX that spins out the Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson, "Batman," movie. Colin Farrell is a great actor and person, so I plan to tune in. I just need to find the time to also watch that actual, "The Batman," movie because it is almost 3 hours long and life can be a bit too busy to sit that long. Maybe if I split it up into a few viewing sessions that could work? We'll see as I do really want to watch that, "The Batman," flick and then its Penguin spin-off show as it is getting rave reviews.

"Saturday Night Live," Actually Got a Bit Edgy and Weirder Than Usual Last Night

"Saturday Night Live," returned last week with Chris Rock hosting and was perfectly fine, it usual decent-but-somewhat-toothless self. Last night, however, actually had some edge and at other points just got enjoyably weird. The show opened with what seemed to be a usual debate spoof with the always-welcome-back Maya Rudolph playing Kamala Harris and Beck Bennet portraying Mike Pence. It was fine, but took a weird swerve when Jim Carrey's Joe Biden tried to teleport to the debate and morphed into a fly that also talked like Jeff Goldblum (because, you know, he was the Fly before). Also, a reincarnated Herman Cain (played by Kenan Thompson) appeared as a fly and it was so bizarre that the internet mostly hated it but I admired the surreal direction SNL went.

From there we had host Bill Burr come out and true to his stand-up roots do a set that pushed boundaries. It started out a bit wobbly talking about, "Woke," culture with a, "I'm a white guy, what is this?" kind of vibe, but took a delicious swerve when Burr discussed White women essentially taking over Woke culture and ignoring how complicit they have been in much of the discrimination and persecution of minorities over the years--e.g. "White Feminism." Twitter erupted with many White women calling for Burr's head but also a number of my friends and other random folk saying, "Well, he isn't wrong." 

Burr's monologue/set closed a bit weakly with riffs on gay pride month being in a warm and fun month and Black history month being in a cold and short month, but the audible discomfort and nervous laughter in the audience was a refreshing change of pace for an SNL that often plays it safe. Everyone'ss response was mixed to Burr's monologue, but I thought it did what it set out to do.

It wasn't just the host bringing some pointed barbs, however. Weekend Update was refreshingly on point, with Michael Che outright expressing some minor disappointment that Trump is doing okay with his COVID-19 infection, comparing it to a horrific car accident where only the drunk driver lived. There was a sweet moment too with Kate McKinnon doing a bit as a smart doctor that was bombing before it took a swerve into her, "Breaking," character and discussing how with us not knowing so much about what the future holds she just wanted to be a character who did know something. This was of course a fully scripted moment and nobody actually, "Broke," as some websites are framing it, but it still worked wonderfully. Pete Davidson closed things out doing what he does best on SNL--playing himself just sharing comedic thoughts, and he pointed out the irony of how J.K. Rowling created a magical world where exotic mystical beings get along yet she has revealed herself to be a huge transphobe.

Besides the opening, Burr's monologue, and a solid Weekend Update the show didn't really have any stinkers of sketches. There was a fun segment about a couple going stir-crazy form COVID-19, a sports segment that goes off the rails as one commentator misreads the usual room's mood, and a mafia sketch that dragged a little bit with a mobster out of prison after 20 years struggling to adjust to new societal norms, but it still had its charms. Oh, and because some random newer country singer (named Morgan Wallen, methinks) partied some days before his SNL gig they canceled him for now and instead called-up Jack White who was more than happy to fill-in and absolutely rock the place. His mic was bit weak, making vocals hard to hear, but that man can play the guitar. I think SNL traded-up replacing Wallen with White, but that's just me.

All-in-all we had an episode of SNL yesterday that had some decent meat on the bone in terms of content. I love the show but will readily admit it sometimes can be a bit too eager to fall-back on predictable bits or reliable and easy segments like faux gameshows. The Bill Burr-hosted episode wasn't perfect, but Burr was willing to take some risks and the show did it with him too. I'll always take an edgy and weird SNL episode over a blandly entertaining one.