Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

MMT: Martial Arts Month

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On October 4, 2022

In Monthly Movie Theme, Movies

September (2022) is Martial Arts month. I really enjoy watching martial arts films so I really wanted a month for them. It doesn’t matter if its English, dubbed or subtitled. Jackie Chan is probably my favorite martial arts actor but I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee. Jet Li and Chow Yun-Fat are also some of my favorite martial artists. Below you will find that I have covered all of them in my selections this month.

The Legend of Drunken Master is, hands down, my favorite Jackie Chan movie. It’s terribly dubbed but at least Jackie Chan always dubs using his own voice. Enter the Dragon is the Bruce Lee movie. If you only watch one Bruce Lee movie, it should be Enter the Dragon. These two movies are the quintessential martial arts films (IMO).

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a wonderful movie starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang. I watch most of these movies as background while I am working (since I’ve seen every movie on my Plex server at least once). The lesson I learned with this movie, it’s hard to watch a movie with subtitles and work. A note for next time. I also learned, this movie has a sequel which I will have to check out sometime.

I’m not going to say much about the live-action Mulan, I’ve covered quite a bit when I wrote a review. It’s easily my favorite animation to live-action adaptation.

Bonus/Special Event Movies

There isn’t a special event movie in September, that I could find. If you know of some date reference in September that warrants watching the associated movie, let me know in the comments. However, I did get in a bonus movie. As I am trying to stay caught up in Phase 4 of the MCU, we watched Thor: Love and Thunder. I did enjoy it, with just a few minor criticisms.

(Click here to see last months theme selections)

film real

“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” 
– Stanley Kubrick

Book Review: Battle Ground

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On October 3, 2022

In Book Review, Fantasy

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!!

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Andor Episode 4

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On September 28, 2022

In Andor, Star Wars

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.

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Movie Review: Thor Love and Thunder

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On September 27, 2022

In Marvel, Movies, Reviews

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.

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Andor Series Premiere

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On September 23, 2022

In Andor, Star Wars

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

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MMT: Mystery Movie Month

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On September 20, 2022

In Monthly Movie Theme, Movies

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

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