Tuesday TV Touchbase Too: Taylor Tomlinson: Prodigal Daughter

Having said good-bye to the fictional stand up comedian Deborah Vance in the series finale of Hacks, I thought I would serve up this bonus Tuesday TV Touchbase Too about a stand up special by a real life stand up comedian, Taylor Tomlinson.

Yes, today is the 2nd day of June and this special came out in February. So I'm late to the party.

Being late to a party is fashionable.  

Anyway, let's get this Touchbase Too going.  

Taylor Tomlinson recorded her Prodigal Daughter special in a church.

A real honest to God church with pews and a pulpit, stained glass windows, crosses, the whole deal.

And it's a real ballsy move as Taylor does NOT curtail her signature style at all, talking about sex and saying "fuck" a lot.

She will explain how going down on a woman is different than giving oral to a man and Jesus is right there. 

The special opens up outside the cathedral style church as the camera enters up the stairs (oh look! LGBTQ+ pride flags... nice touch!), through the narthex and into the sanctuary.  

After collecting herself with some deep breaths, Taylor bursts from back stage into the spotlights and the cheering crowds filling the pews.

All to the strain of a choral arrangement of ABBA's "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)." 

And we're off to the races! 

Taylor does her deep dive into her struggles with depression, her life in a conservative Christian culture and her own queer awakening. 

It's all heavy stuff but Taylor makes it funny.  

Since she's doing this set in a church, religion comes in for some scrutiny.

I do feel for pastors on Christmas and Easter. Those are big weeks at church, right?. Those are recruitment weeks. That’s when everybody comes out of the woodwork. That’s when the decaf Christians swing by. You only see those motherfuckers twice a year and you got to blow their minds so hard with the extras that they upgrade their subscription to weekly.

That’s a lot of pressure.

And as the pastor on Christmas and Easter, you can’t get creative. You can’t get weird with it. No acoustic set. You have to play the hits. You gotta tell the stories, right?

Easter’s a better story than Christmas, in my opinion. If you don’t know, Easter is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s where all our merch is from. You’ve seen it. You’ve seen a dead guy up there, but tasteful. Somehow very tasteful.

Makes you think about your own death, like, ‘Ooh, hope I die in a way that looks good on jewelry, right’?

Think about it. When grandma died, were you like, ‘Slap her on an anklet’?

No. He’s really doing it up there.

The special's title Prodigal Daughter comes from her  take on the parable of the Prodigal Son.

“If you ask a pastor about that story, they’ll tell you it’s about how you can go off and sin and lose your way spiritually, but you can always return to the Lord and he’ll forgive you. 

And if you ask me what that story is about, I will tell you that it is about how Jesus was an only child.”

But the special's title also represents her pushback on the passive-aggressive expression of “I’m praying for you.” 

Having grown up in that culture, I understand where Taylor is coming from, “I’m praying for you" is often a judgement.  

Not "I hope life gets better for you and you are truly happy" but more "I hope you realize what a mess of a sinner you are and you come around to right way of living."  

Taylor is not repudiating faith or religion, just what people do with it.

And to be clear, I’m not an atheist. I just don’t know what happens. Neither do you. Spoiler alert, nobody knows. 

I’ve never related to the certainty so many Christians feel where they’re like, ‘I just know’. You’re like, ‘But how do you know there’s a God’? 

‘I just know’. 

The only time I’ve ever just known something, it was that I had diarrhea. 

That’s the only—the only time I’ve ever been like, ‘Oh Mhm, mhm’. 

And I did start praying.

Towards the end of the special, Taylor takes a more serious turn regarding the abuse and weaponization of  the Christian faith.

“Religion can either be used as a weapon or a tool. And to be clear, if you are using religion as a weapon to control, manipulate, scare people, to make yourself feel superior to everyone else, fuck you. That’s not what it’s for. You are not using that correctly.

Because if God does exist, he does not exist to make you feel better than other people. He exists to make you better for other people… Whatever makes you a better person for other people, that’s what you should be doing.”

Taylor Tomlinson's  Prodigal Daughter delivers a lot of laughs from Taylor's not afraid to say anything persona. And damn it, she also makes you think thoughts and feel feelings. 

Prodigal Daughter is epic in it's scope and sheer audacity and worth a look and a listen.

_________________________________

Geez! How many weeks have I done TWO Tuesday TV Touchbase posts a week? 

And I'm still running behind! 

OK, enough is enough.  Next week, back to ONE Tuesday TV Touchbase a week.  But we've got a lot of TV to touch base on!

• Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage
• Ghosts
• Brilliant Minds
• Two Dan Levy series, Schitt's Creek and Big Mistakes
• Stranger Things (Yes, NEW Stranger Things!) 
• Spider Noir
• Invincible
• Jeopardy and Pop Culture Jeopardy
• Wheel of Fortune

And more to come! 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Hacks

It's another Tuesday TV Touchbase that's about another series finale.

That series is Hacks.

"Please don't leave me."

This is a line from the final episode of Hacks.

It's been said in this series before and realizing the context of how that heartbreaking line ties together with what has gone before, I felt exactly why I've really enjoyed this journey with this series.  

The HBO Max series stars Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, a long time stand up comedian who has parlayed her popularity into a lot of conspicuous wealth and Hannah Einbeinder as Ava Daniels, a young and very progressive queer comedy writer whose liberal sensibilities clash with those who accumulate conspicuous wealth. 

Over the course of 5 seasons, Deborah and Ava have had a... volatile relationship. 

Deborah has belittled Ava, threatened her, even sued her. 

Deborah was obsessed that Ava's hands were too big. 

Ava in turn blackmailed Deborah to get the head writer gig on Deborah's late night talk show.    

Suffice to say Deborah and Ava have not always been good to one another.

But in the long run, over the course of Hacks 5 seasons, they have been good for one another.

Initially put off by Deborah's ostentatious wealth and her caustic wit, Ava comes to realize what Deborah has sacrificed, what costs she has paid to achieve her success and to lay the foundations for women like Ava to have a chance to succeed in comedy.

And Deborah has come to accept and understand what Ava has to say about the world and the struggles that still persist for women to have a say and make a difference. 

What has come out burnished over 5 seasons is a strong and abiding friendship despite their initial animosity.  

Deborah sacrificed her lifelong dream to host a late night network TV talk show to protect Ava. 

Ava sacrificed her own ambitions to help Deborah fight to restore her legacy as one of America's premiere comedians.

Which brings us to the series penultimate episode: "The Garden".

Network and studio boss Bob Lipka brutally enforced Deborah's non-compete clause when she quit her show and she's been unable to perform in public for over a year. That clause finally expires and Deborah is ready for her triumphal return to the biggest stage in the world, a sold out show at Madison Square Garden.

Except....

That motherfucker Bob Lipka has struck again.

The real reason the MSG show sold out so quickly was Lipka bought  ALL the tickets. 

(Ja Rule pulled a similar stunt on 50 Cent by buying out 200  front row seats at 50 Cent concert.) 

Greeting Deborah Vance on her big night at the Madison Square Garden is a vast empty arena with only Bob Lipka in attendance.  

He is still trying to silence Deborah.

Well, here's a big ol' FUCK YOU to Bob Lipka.  

In true old fashioned "Hey kids! Let's put on a show!", Deborah and her gang set out to stage a free show in Central Park. 

There are obstacles (such as the New York City permit office) BUT...

The show goes on with 30,000 people in attendance. Which is more than the capacity of MSG so take that, Bob Lipka, you asshole! 

Which brings us to the grand finale of Hacks.

And the writers pull the rug out from under us. Hard! 

Deborah confides to Ava that she has cancer.

And she has no intention of going through with any treatment.

Deborah has regained her voice, restored her legacy and does not see life getting any better than this.  She wants to go out on top, alive and happy, not wasted away and miserable from chemo.

Deborah wants to take Ava to Paris for one glorious vacation and then it's off to Zurich to an assisted suicide clinic.

Since it's Deborah Vance, it's the best assisted suicide clinic on the planet.  

Ava is NOT okay with this. 

Ava agrees to go with Deborah and support her but she also doesn't try stopping to change Deborah's mind.

"Please don't leave me."

A few seasons ago, Deborah taught Ava to swim. Helping her to learn how to float in the pool, Deborah starts to back away but Ava says "Please don't leave me."

In another episode, Deborah and Ava are on a hike, get lost and Deborah hurts her ankle.  Ava suggests going off on her own to find help but Deborah pleads with Ava, "Please don't leave me."

In the finale, sitting across from each other as Paris twinkles against the night sky, as Deborah refutes on more entreaty to reconsider going through treatment, Ava with tears in her eyes begs, "Please don't leave me."

Oh my God! If I wasn't emotionally dead inside, I think I would've cried. 

While waiting in Paris for the train to Zurich, cracking jokes about her own demise, Deborah has an epiphany.  

"Maybe I have one more hour in me."

Deborah agrees to persue treatment while Ava helps her write on more stand up comedy special.  

And that's a wrap.

OK, Hacks, hear me out:  "Please don't leave me."

Sorry, it's a done deal and the series is over.

But what a finish! Damn! 

I know all that I just covered was very emotional and dramatic but Hacks was a genuinely and consistently funny show. 

Deborah teaching Ava how to drive a stick shift while navigating a traffice circle in Paris in a teeny tiny European car? Ava's plaintive cry of "Why are we doing this in a rough draft of a car?" was so funny! 

And the scene at the cafe when Deborah asks Ava to hold up her hand and Deborah rests her palm against Ava's?  Ava's astonished "My God! Your hand is bigger than mine?!?!" and Deborah doubling over laughing and "I can't believe you never noticed!" 

After five seasons of ups and downs, the story of Ava and Deborah is a love story.  Not a romantic one but one of a enduring friendship born between two people who could not be more fundementally different but each having what the other needed to heal what was broken.

One more time: "Please don't leave me."

Well, Hacks has left but I will not forget the experience of watching this very funny and provocative series.

--------------------------------------------------

As we move from the fictional stand up comedy of Deborah Vance, there is a Tuesday TV Touchbase Too about a very funny and provocative (there are those two words again! I need a thesaurus.) stand up special from Taylor Tomlinson. 

That post will go live in about 4 hours.  

The Trump Fuckery Round Up

Again, I must profer apologies for this, the 2nd post of the day on Donald Trump.  The first one was about Li'l Donnie's war. This 2nd one is about everything else.

Or as much as I can stand in one post.

Oh there is SO MUCH fuckery!

Last week I wrote a post called The Winningnest Loser where I dealt with the perplexing dichotomy of Donald Trump's cratering approval ratings (WE fucking HATE him!) vs. his outsized influence (THEY fucking WORSHIP him!) 

Li'l Donnie struck again in Texas.  

Long serving incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn lost his primary to Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton who had received der Führer's coveted endorsement.

I spent more time that I wanted reviewing Cornyn's record and he has been extremely conservative and pro-Trump.

Cornyn has been consistently anti-LGBGT+.anti-abortion, ant-immigrant, basically a poster child for MAGA era politics. 

He aligned with Trump and his agenda. 

Hell, Cornyn voted to acquit Donald Trump in his 2021 impeachment relating to the January 6th Capitol riot.  

What exactly did Cornyn do to warrant Li'l Donnie's lack of support?

Pre-2024, Cornyn did voice concern about Trump being the Republican nominee for President again but like all the other GOP ass kissers, he fell in line once it became clear Li'l Donnie had the nomination in the bag.

As far as I can tell, John Cornyn's big sin against der Führer was not supporting elimination of the Senate's 60 vote filibuster which Trump wants gone to ram through whatever he wants on a simple majority vote. 

When asked about endorsing Paxton over the incumbent Senator, Trump said  Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

The problem wasn't that John Cornyn was not loyal.

The problem was Cornyn was not loyal enough.  

Meanwhile Ken Paxton represents a race to the bottom of MAGA politics. 

I'm just going to cut 'n' paste this sentence I wrote about John Cornyn:

"Cornyn has been consistently anti-LGBGT+, anti-abortion, ant-immigrant."

And make this edit:

"Paxton has been even MORE anti-LGBGT+, anti-abortion, ant-immigrant."  

As Attorney General, Paxton has been an eager enforcer of virulent anti-abortion laws and anti-trans gender policy as well as such beloved Christian nationalist goals like forcing the 10 Commandments to be displayed in class rooms. 

And as Attorney General, Paxton has also been at the center of a shit ton of corruption and scandal.  Paxton has faced accusations of state securities fraud,  violations of Securities and Exchange Commission rules, state bar professional misconduct.  

And good Christian person Ken had to cop to an extramarital affair.

And he was impeached by Texas State House on about 20 seperate counts of abusing the power of his office as Attorney General.  Paxton avoided losing his gig as AG in a 16 to 14 vote after the Texas State Senate trial.   

Li'l Donnie Trump knows how to pick 'em! 

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator James Talarico must be feeling pretty good about his chances.   

The conventional wisdom is Talarico had a fight on his hands to defeat John Cornyn in November. The odds of winning look better against the damaged package that is Ken Paxton. 

Click here for James Talarico's Wikepedia page. 

Oh my God! This post is going on longer than I planned. Again, I am SO sorry about this. 

BUT... I have more ground to cover.

Last week's post, The Grift That Keeps On Grifting, I wrote about how Donald Trump sued the IRS with a typically Trumpian unmerited lawsuit but before a judge could throw it out for the garbage it is, Acting Attorney General (and Li'l Donnie's personal lawyer) cut a deal for Trump to drop the lawsuit in exchange for an Anti-Weaponization Fund that would pay money to Trump cronies who had their feeling hurt by the DOJ.

As I wrote last week, "Is any of this legal? What do I know? My knowledge of the law begins and ends with Law & Order reruns. But it certainly doesn't sound legal!"   

Well, someone with legal expertise beyond L&O episodes has some questions.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a restraining order to ensure that no funds are “irreversibly disbursed” before the legal fight over the newly announced fund has a chance to play out.

The judge's ruling is in response to a lawsuit that contends "the fund is an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of taxpayer funds."

My analysis of that? Well, DUH!

Click here for deets on the judge's ruling surrounding that particular bit of grift. 

That's not the only Trump fuckery running up against the rule of law.

When Trump took office again in 2025 after running on a platform of lowering prices on day one, Li'l Donnie looked around and realized the most important question he needed to address:

Who the fuck is running the Kennedy Center?

To all the MAGA idiots who voted for Trump because of the goddam price of eggs, fret not: der Führer is on the case.

• Trump replaced the Kennedy Center advisory board with Trump loyalists.
• And he appointed himself as chairman of that board. 
• The board voted to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump Kennedy Center.
• Complete with adding his goddam name to the fucking front of the building.

Just look at this fucking attrocity! 

• Artists scheduled to perform at the center could not cancel their performances fast enough.
• Facing plummeting revenues, Trump declared the "Trump Kennedy Center" would be closed for 2 years for renovations.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued a ruling that said No, No and Oh HELL No to all that shit! 

Click here for more about that situation.  

Li'l Donnie wrote a long rambling rant on Truth Social that I will sum up: "Judge Cooper is a big ol' meanie who won't let me do what I want!" 

• Hey, did you hear what's going on with Trump's con job about the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool?
• Or the debacle over the Freedom 250 plans for the United States' anniversary celebrations?
• Or the mishandling of the Ebola virus outbreak?  
• Or Trump's---

NO!

NO! NO! NO! 

Enough is enough! 

I am bringing this blog post to an end! I can't take anymore!  

The Hype Machine At War

My apologies. This is the first of two (yep,count 'em ---2!) posts about Donald Trump fuckery.

And their both kind of long. Sorry about that.

The 2nd post is about a wide range of fuckery.

This 1st one is about how Trump fucked up his war.

Last week passed with an interminably shifting narrative about the United States' war with Iran.

• A ceasefire agreement was a comin'. 
• A ceasefire agreement was all but done.
• Iran is gonna make a deal.
• Iran is gonna give us everything we want.

I'm writing this on a Saturday to post on Monday.

Maybe by Monday, some of that may come true.

But I doubt it. 

Even as all those declarations were being made about war's end and we're on the cusp of peace, Iran and the United States were still taking pot shots are one another.

Donald Trump was still making grandiose threats against Iran and boasting of American might.

So far the United States' war with Iran remains intractable. 

Because the truth of the matter is that it isn't the United States' war with Iran.

It's Donald Trump's  war with Iran.

It was HIS idea to start this war.  

OK, after Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu convinved him it was a good idea. Netanyahu has been bitching and whining for YEARS that Iran was close to having a nuclear weapon any minute now. 

Most United States government officials said Netanyahu's warnings lacked credibility.  But in Li'l Donnie, Netanyahu found quite the useful idiot.  Because Netanyahu's desire for war with Iran fit in with in der Führer's own delusional narrative.

• Obama made a BAD deal.
• Iran was cheating.
• Iran is gonna have a nuclear weapon any minute now. 

Let's go down THAT list. 

• The deal was BAD only because Obama made it and Trump was determined to dismantle anything Obama did, whether it was working or not.  
• And it was working. Iran was not cheating and there were multiple resources on the ground confirming Iran's compliance with the deal to not make a nuclear weapon.  These reports were given to Trump who refuted their veracity because of der Führer's deeply held philosophy of "Obama BAD! Iran CHEAT! Hulk SMASH!" 
• Even without the deal, there as been NO verifiable intelligence that Iran was ever gonna have a nuclear weapon any minute now. Without the deal, Iran was certainly ramping up their uranium enrichment program with an eye on developing a weapon. But the immediacy of any such endeavor is in doubt. 

But here we are at war with Iran because der Führer felt like Iran was up to shit. 

Trump was recently asked if he had a plan for Iran. His response: "My plan is simple: Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon." 

So Mr. Big Shot Businessman doesn't understand what a PLAN is. "Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon" is a GOAL, not a PLAN. 

A plan is a process or steps taken to acheive a goal.  

Which brings us to our next point.  

It was HIS premise that all we had to do was show up.

Donald Trump is enamored with being Commander in Chief of a kick ass military force that he can unleash on his say so.

Li'l Donnie has an appointed lackey, the so called Secretary of WAR, who is likewise all hyped up about leading the biggest, most baddass leathal fighting force built for WAR fighting.

 Instead of a cold sober hand at the controls to provide calm, reasoned guidance, the Pentagon has in Pete Hegseth a goddam cheerleader for American to KICK ASS on der Führer's order.

Donald Trump: "I WANT WAR!!" 

Pete Hegseth: "OH HELL YEAH!!"

It's a drunken fraternity bro trying desperately to make his daddy proud.

Hegseth is more interested in running a HYPE machine instead of a WAR machine because it's the HYPE that his daddy wants to hear! 

WE ARE GREAT! 

THE ENEMY SUCKS! 

And it doesn't help that Hegseth's HYPE machine runs on the snakeoil of devine destiny. Peter offers up public prayers for God to guide us as we deliver death and destruction to our enemies.

WE ARE GREAT! 

THE ENEMY SUCKS! 

GOD SAYS SO! 

So Trump and his snivelling syncophant Hegseth are all jacked up on their own super charged war rhetoric that with our massive all powerful expensive military might, we would unleash hell on Iran and the Iranians would fall quivering to their knees begging us to accept their surrender.  

It was HIS belief that the Iranians would not pose a threat.

As a habitual bully, Donald Trump does seem to be genuinely surprised when other people fight back. Working from the baseline of we're bigger, stronger and have more stuff, why would anyone fight back? 

Point of order #1: In 1776, the British army was bigger, stronger and had more stuff. And we said, "Well, fuck it! We think we like the King after all."

Point of order #2:  We did not do that.  

So it's 2026 and the United States is bigger, stronger and has more stuff and Iran is bleeding, broken and on fire.

Iran looks for an option to fight back. What isn't bleeding, broken and on fire? 

Hey guys! Why don't we fuck with the Strait of Hormuz? Yeah the Americans have more stuff but now it will cost more! 

Trump seemed really gobsmacked this was a thing that could happen.  Even among his own syncophants, someone apparently did try to warn der Führer that Iran closing the Strait was an option but he was all "But we're bigger, badder and have more stuff so that won't happen." 

Essentially we're in this mess because Donald Trump bought his own hype.

And just like everything Trump buys, we're overpaying for it. 

__________________________

Sorry gang but we're up again in 4 hours with more Trumpian bullshit.

Or you can time travel to Tuesday for TWO Tuesday TV Touchbase posts with the series finale of Hacks and Taylor Tomlinson does stand up in a church.   

Movie Time: The Mandolorian & Grogu

Last week, I did a Movie Time post on a movie type thing that was suppose to be a TV series, Good Omens 3: The Finale.

Well, looks like we're doing it again. 

As we venture off to a galaxy far, far away....

As we follow an armored warrior and his young protege to bring evil doers to justice....

As we write another blog post of...

It's Movie Time!

Directed by Jon Favreau and starring (mostly/kind of/sort of) Pedro Pascal, it's The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Andrea really wanted to see the erstwhile "baby Yoda" on the big screen.  

The movie is just like the Mandalorian TV show but it's bigger, louder and I can't fucking turn on the closed captioning.  

The bounty hunter Din Djarin, also known as the Mandalorian, and his foundling Grogu work having a steady gig going with the New Republic, hunting down Imperial warlords. 

Commander Ward has a new warlord in the crosshairs of the New Republic, the mysterious Commander Coin. No one knows where he is or what he even looks like.

It seems, however, the Hutt Twins have some intel they will share. 

In exchange for someone rescuing their dear nephew Rotta, son of Jabba the Hutt.  

Ward's mission is for Din Djarin to do just that.  

So it's SOP for the Mandalorian.  To do one thing (capture Coin), he needs to do another thing (save Rotta). There never seems to be a straight line between points A and B for Din Djarin.   

So it's off into space with a new Razor Crest ship to the planet Shakari where the Mandalorian finds out Rotta has been consripted by the crime lord Janu to fight in his gladiator games.

Unlike super blobby Jabba, Rotta is one jacked Hutt. 

Rotta is also one reluctant Hutt.  He doesn't want to go back home. Aunt and Uncle Hutt aren't concerned for his safety. They want to kill him themselves and take over Jabba's criminal empire.   

And he's actually enjoying the gladiator games. Rotta gets to kick butt to the approving roar of the crowd.  

Din Djarin discovers that Janu has no intention of letting that go on and has arranged for Rotta's next match to end in Rotta's death.

So....

Either the Mandalorian does NOT rescue Rotta and he dies due to Janu's treachery. 

Or...

The Mandalorian DOES rescue Rotta and he still dies due to the Hutt Twins' treachery.  

But Din Djarin catches a break and discovers Janu is Commander Coin. 

So that'll save a step, eh?

In a knock down drag out battle with a bunch of alien beasties, the Mandalorian and Grogu (who has gotten really good with using the force) rescue Rotta and capture Coin and everyone returns to the New Republic base. 

Ward isn't happy. The Hutt twins will be pissed.

The Mandalorian doesn't care. The ultimate objective was to find and capture Coin and he did that. 

So there! 

But....

The Hutt Twins are indeed pissed and things go very badly for Din Djarin.  

Captured by the Hutts, stripped of his helmet (Hey! Pedro Pacal IS under there!) and cast into a pit with a very large (AND poisonous) white snake (like the goddam King Kong of snakes), can the Mandalorian survive his ordeal? 

Can Grogu save the his mentor, his erstwhile father, from certain death?  

The rest of the film is the Mandalorian's struggles to take survive and take down the Hutt Twins and kill them.

They saw him without his helmet. They must die!

And rules are rules, man! 

And Grogu is charming (and so CUTE!) as he wordlessly flits about doing various Force tricks to keep his daddy alive.  

Din Djarin may think he's a protective dad for the little baby Yoda but Grogu spends as much time saving the Mandalorian from shit. Sometimes Grogu has the nearly exasperated expression that he's gotta step in and save Din Djarin's ass again.

Ward shows up with a New Republic squadron to take on the Hutt Twins's forces to give us a good ol' fashioned Star Wars dogfight. Stuff blows up real good! 

Everything wraps up with the Mandalorian on the Razor Crest teaching Grogu how to drive.  That's so cute! 

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department

Wait! I did NOT see Martin Scorsese in the opening credits, did I? Yes.  Yes I did.   

The legendary film director provides the voice of Hugo Turant, an alien shopkeeper on Shakari who would really like to just keep running his business and NOT lose his head so he really wishes the Mandalorian would stop busting his balls for intel on what's going on.   

NERD CRUSH ALERT!  From the Alien franchise and Ghostbusters and Galaxy Quest, it's Sigourney Weaver as Commander Ward of the New Republic.   

There has been some criticism that The Mandalorian and Grogu was nothing more than episodes of the TV series strung together for a movie. Nothing of significance or importance happens.

I beg to differ: The Mandalorian teaches Grogu how to drive.

One reviewer I saw observed that maybe the episodic sructure is the point. After all, the original Star Wars also had an episodic plot structure designed to emulate classic movie serials.   

Basically, The Mandalorian and Grogu provides some good ol' dumb fun in service to kick ass action sequences with weird alien monsters. 

As best I could see.

I will make the complaint that with so many sequences taking place at night or in a cave or in a cave at night, this movie can be bloody hard to see.  

The movie has a distinctive soundtrack from composer Ludwig Göransson who provided music for the TV series.  Göransson uses some classic symphonic bombast coupled with proto-Western themed music cues as well as some kooky 1980's style electronic music. 

SIDE NOTE: Is that really Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin AKA The Mandalorian?

Well, it's his voice so that's consistent but the body on screen is sometimes Brendan Wayne or Lateef Crowder who both get screen credits for their role in bringing the Mandalorian to life.

All in all, I do agree that  The Mandalorian and Grogu is perhaps too lacking in depth and importance to be brought from our TV sceens to movie screens.  But it is a solid outing of action and adventure. It's fun and stuff blows up real good! 

And Grogu is just TOO! DAMN! CUTE!!!

Star Trekking: McKinley Station

What pray tell is McKinley Station? 

McKinley Station is the space dock in Earth orbit where the Enterprise was repaired and refitted after damages sustained fighting the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds".

McKinley Station is also my way of saying Star Trekking is taking a bit of a rest. 

Coming up later this morning is a bonus Movie Time post on The Mandolorian and Grogu.

What? Did I, an avowed Star Trek nerd, lower myself to watch a...a... Star Wars movie?

Yes.  Yes I did.

I blame my wife. Andrea loves Grogu.

And I gotta say, he is just too gosh darn CUTE!!!

But never fear. Even as I tread into the valley of the shadow of George Lucas, I will alway  root for the home team.

Next week, Star Trekking returns for the 7th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

In couple of hours, I will venture forth to a galaxy far, far away.

And if anyone has a problem with that, in the immortal words of Wil Wheaton, "Live long and suck it!" 

Movie Time: Remarkably Bright Creatures

What drives me to watch a particular movie?

Any number of factors may pique my interest such as the plot, the themes of the movie, the genre or a specific actor.

Or in the case of today's film:

The octopus.

It's...Movie Time! 

Last Saturday, Andrea and I decided to take in a recent release called Remarkably Bright Creatures.  Based on a book of the same name from 2022, the movie star Sally Field and Lewis Pullman as well as Alfred Molina...

As the octopus. 

Marcellus is an octopus who resides in an aquarium in Sowell Bay, Washington.

Add the word "relunctantly" in front of "resides".  

In the opening narration, Marcellus bemoans his fate, counting down his days in captivity, forced to live next to fish he does't like and barely tolerating the noisy children who bedevil him through the glass.  

Of all the inferior humans he is forced to put up with, he supposes he minds the cleaning lady the least. 

Tova Sullivan is an elderly widow who works as a night janitor at the aquarium.  Tova is a misanthrope of sorts, preferring solitude and quiet to noisy bothersome people. 

She never recovered from the loss of her son Erik from years before and the recent death of her husband has made her even more withdrawn from people.

Tova does talk to Marcellus.

One night while Tova saves Marcellus from an escape attempt gone awry, she injures her ankle and needs to take time off. Someone will need to fill in for her as the night janitor.

Which brings Cameron Cassmore into the story.

Cameron arrived in Sowell Bay the day before in a rattling rust bucket of a van that has decided this picturesque community on the Pacific Coast is a lovely place for an old van to die.

The van and all it's debris is all Cameron has left of his mother who recently died.  He's on a quest back to her home town to find the father he didn't know he had.  

Cameron also doesn't have the money to fix the van so he needs a job.

Luckily the aquarium needs a night janitor.

Although she's supposed to be staying off her foot, Tova goes to the aquarium at night to check on Marcellus.  

Cameron is freaked out when Marcellus makes a new escape attempt.  Tova helps Cameron return the octopus to his tank and begins mentoring him on how to do the frickin' job of night janitor.  

Marcellus recognizes that both Tova and Cameron are broken people and thinks he can help them. In the time he has left.

Marcellus is dying and wants to die in the ocean he came from.

I am not going to begin to summarize what happens next as the lives of these two people continue to intersect with each other and with Marcellus as they fumble their way to something resembling recovery from their respective losses.   

There's a lot of sweet moments as the pair bond. Tova actually goes out among people to support Cameron at a local tavern's open mike night where Cameron sings and plays guitar. 

There's a funny bit where Tova uses Cameron's phone as a PHONE to CALL a prospective girlfriend to set him up on a date. Young people and their texting, am I right?

Cameron and Tova form a near familial relationship that takes a turn to the very real.  It's a plot twist that is rather contrived but damn, by the time it lands, both this young man and this elderly lady have earned their closure.  

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department 

Lewis Pullman as Cameron Cassmore was in  Thunderbolts* as Robert "Bob" Reynolds AKA The Sentry. Man, it is weird how much Lewis looks like his dad, Bill Pullman.    

Look, Miles O'Brien from Star Trek has gotten old. When did that happen? Colm Meaney is Ethan Mack, the proprietor of a Shop-Way grocery store in Sowell Bay. Colm's Ethan is such a chill, affable soul and threatens to steal a movie that has Oscar winner Sally Field (and an octupus) in it.

A word about Sally Field. It's disconcerting to see her playing an elderly woman but she clearly still has the spark she had in such films as Steel Magnolias, Soapdish, Mrs. Doubtfire and Smokey & the Bandit. Her performance as Tova is simply wonderful, navigating humor and tragedy, joy and sadness.  

I hope this movie is remembered at the end of the year when awards season rolls around because Sally Field deserves be recongnized for her work in as Tova Sullivan.

And we can't forget the octupus.  Aldred Molina's performance as the voice of Marcellus is remarkable. Molina conveys Marcellus' smug sense of superiority as well as the growing depth of his fascination and concern for the cleaning lady and her new friend.   

I suppose Remarkably Bright Creatures can be said to tell a story we've seen hundreds of times before.  Two vastly different people who are actually not that different, both broken, both discovering in each other the means to some form of healing.  

But this well-worn tale is well told with great performances and a very unique perspective, that of the octopus.  

Marcellus concludes the film and his narration with this observation:  "Humans, for the most part, are dull and blundering, but occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures." 

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Here's some bonus octopus content as Neil DegrasseTyson provides the low down on tne almost alien like sea critter.

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From aliens under the sea to aliens in outer space.

More Movie Time with some new stuff from the Star Wars universe!