Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Book Review: Battle Ground

Battle Ground

Book in Series: The Dresden Files #17
Author: Jim Butcher

I am finally caught up; it only took me the better part of 3-4 years. Granted I was reading other books scattered throughout that timeframe. Had I been reading these books back-to-back I’m sure I would have caught up sooner. I rarely review any of the Dresden books but I feel like I have some things I want to share following the events of Battle Ground but they will contain spoilers.

Before I get into that, I will first say that I did enjoy this book. Unlike any of the other 16 books, the flow of this book is completely different. There are no time skips (until the very end). There isn’t even a time jump from the end of Peace Talks to the beginning of this book. He does shake things up a little bit but not as dramatically as Changes. However, there is still apart of me that’s hurting after this book. IYKYK.

Spoiler Alert!!


Andor Episode 4

Andor Episode 4

Title: Aldhani
Director: Susanna White

There have been a few changes for Andor episode 4. As you can see this episode now has a title instead of simply “Episode 4”. The previous three episodes have also been given titles (Kassa, That Would Be Me, and Reckoning respectively). There is also a different director for this episode. Susanna White and, apparently, this is her directorial debut.

Before I dig into the episode, which will include spoilers, here are my thoughts. It’s a solid episode and I really enjoyed it. Well done for Susanna White’s first time as director. There is not much in terms of action but the dialog keeps you interested. This is one of those episodes that moves the story along and I expect that there will be several episodes like this. This is a drama series after all.

Movie Review: Thor Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale
Directed By: Taika Waititi

My Rating:

I finally saw the newest Thor movie (Thor Love and Thunder), but not in the theater, which I regret. Personally, I think Marvel movies are best when seen in the theater. Be that as it may, instead, we waited until it’s release on Disney+. I assume, by now, most people have seen this movie (if you’re an avid MCU fan). First a quick synopsis before I give my feedback.

Gorr (Bale) is besmirched by the gods. When he becomes in possession of the Necrosword he vows to seek revenge against all gods for their vanity and hubris. Thor comes out of retirement to battle Gorr with the help of King Valkyrie and Jane (who can now wield Mjolnir); in other words Thor teams up with Queen Padme Amidala to defeat Batman.

Andor Series Premiere

Andor Series Premiere

Another new Star Wars series, another episodic follow-up post. The Andor series premiere consists of three episodes and I, briefly, considered doing separate posts for each of them. However, since all three came out the same day I feel like I can keep them consolidated into one post.

I am going to quickly remind you where in the timeline Andor takes place. Season one will start 5 years before the events of Rogue One (aka BBY 5) and about 5 years after the end of Kenobi (“season one”). I don’t know if that second part is going to mean much to the story, but it at least establishes what events have (or have not) happened. Let’s get started.

Spoiler Warning!!!

The following contains spoilers for Andor Episodes 1, 2 & 3


MMT: Mystery Movie Month

August (2022) is mystery movie month, again, for no particular reason. I do enjoy a good mystery whether it’s satirical, serious or comedic. The kinds of mystery movies I really like are ones that have subtle clues throughout the film and, if you follow them, you can figure it out before the end. Of course these kinds of movies are great the first time you watch them. Obviously you can’t experience that again when you re-watch the movie. However, if acting is good and the story is entertaining, then you can enjoy watching it again despite knowing “who dun it”.

Here are the mystery movies I chose to watch for August:

  • Clue
  • Knives Out
  • The Bone Collector
  • Gone Girl
  • Mystic River

I feel like Clue and Knives Out are practically default choices for this genre. Clue is such a classic with a great cast. It’s probably the most entertaining movie that’s based off of a board game. Watching Knives Out was timely given that Rian Johnson recently released a trailer for the sequel. It’s looks so good.

Bonus/Special Event Movies

The special event movie for August is the 29th which is Judgement Day from the Terminator franchise. It is the day Skynet became self aware. I think, for this day, you could watch either the first one or the second one (although the second one is more relevant to the date). I chose to watch the first film this year; perhaps I will watch T2 next August 29th.

The bonus movie (i.e. a movie that I had time to watch and doesn’t necessarily pertain to the theme or a special event) is Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. It stars Zac Efron and it is about Ted Bundy. Portions of this movie were filmed just across the river from where I live. If you don’t mind how creepy Ted Bundy is, this film is quite interesting. It’s available to watch on Netflix.

/cheers

Setting Some Andor Expectations

Star Wars Andor on Disney+ Sept 21st

The Andor series comes out on the 21st with three episodes to kick it off. This seems to be the least anticipated Star Wars series and that’s a shame. I am looking forward to a series where the Jedi/Sith mythos isn’t the center of the plot; which is one of the things I really enjoy about The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Be that as it may I want to kick things off by setting some Andor expectations. Perhaps talk about what characters we might see.

No “Fan Service”

I was originally going to share my character cameo predictions. However, during the September 2nd episode of Rebel Force Radio, the guys were interviewing Gary Whitta, a writer from the Rogue One movie. They were talking about the upcoming Andor series and Whitta said that according to showrunner Tony Gilroy, there will be “no fan service” in this series.

What does “no fan service” mean? Basically “moments in which references, cameos, or Easter eggs appear arbitrarily” in the episode or series to appease us minutia nerds. However, any element or legacy character that does show up will have a purpose for the plot or narrative. In other words there won’t be any blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots of Chopper rolling by.

You know what else that means? THERE WILL NOT BE CLONE WARS FLASHBACKS!!! 😛

Character Appearances

With all that said, I still have a couple of predictions but I don’t really want to use the word “cameo”. I believe the following characters will appear in the series to serve a purpose for the story.

I had Saw Gerrera on the list but since he’s in the trailer, it doesn’t count. The first season takes place five years before Rogue One so it’s not likely we will see Tarkin; I feel like he will show up in the latter part of Season 2. Krennic was also on my list but, like Tarkin, he seems more likely to appear in the second season. These guys fall under my “possible-but-not-likely-to-appear” list.

Given Tony Gilroy’s statements and where this season falls on the timeline I think I only really have one, solid prediction. Bail Organa. If you’ve read the book Leia: Princess of Alderaan then you know that Bail Organa is one of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance and works very closely with Mon Mothma. I feel like if he doesn’t make an appearance then it’s kind of a big miss a possible disservice to the plot (depending on how it’s written).

Finally, we obviously will not see Jyn Erso, but I think Galen Erso might be a solid prediction (again, if he provides “protein” to the story).

What are some of your Andor expectations and/or predictions?

MTFBWY

Page 40 of 183

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén