Watched "Game of Thrones" The Rains of Castamere from HBO Max
Directed by David Nutter. With Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Iain Glen. Robb and Catelyn arrive at the Twins for the wedding. Jon is put to the test to see where his loyalties truly lie. Bran's group decides to split up. Daenerys plans an invasion of Yunkai.
To understand the title you need to have caught Cersei’s admonition about calling her “sister” in the prior episode. This is the infamous “Red Wedding” episode.
Bookmarked "Game of Thrones" Second Sons (HBO Max)
Directed by Michelle MacLaren. With Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Iain Glen. Daenerys tries to persuade the Second Sons to join her against Yunkai. Stannis releases Davos from the dungeons. Sam and Gilly are attacked by a White Walker. Sansa and Tyrion wed.
Arya heads to the wedding with the Hound.
 
“A man who fights for gold can’t afford to lose to a girl.” – Danerys
 
Tyrion’s wedding.
 
An interesting killing of a white walker at the end.
Watched "McMillions" Episode 1 from HBO Max
Directed by James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte. With Tim Adams, Mark Devereaux, Jan Garvin, Chris Graham. An anonymous tip to FBI agent Doug Mathews speaks of a con surrounding the much beloved McDonald's Monopoly game and its mysterious mastermind; a man going by the moniker of "Uncle Jerry."
I remember reading the sprawling article this documentary was roughly based on. While this first episode is generally entertaining, it feels a bit over-the-top in terms of its presentation. The main FBI agent is definitely a character and is entertaining, but it feels like this would have been better served as a three part thing rather than the six that I can see available. There’s almost too much re-enactment and the directing is a bit on-the-nose.

I’ll give the rest of it a shot, but for those who don’t have time, read the article instead.

I’ll also note that this documentary is a separate effort from the feature film that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are developing.

Watched "Game of Thrones" The Bear and the Maiden Fair from HBO Max
Directed by Michelle MacLaren. With Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington. Jon and the wildlings travel south of the Wall. Talisa tells Robb that she's pregnant. Arya runs away from the Brotherhood. Daenerys arrives at Yunkai. Jaime leaves Brienne behind at Harrenhal.
Watched Brave (2012) from Disney+

Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell. With Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters. Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

Rating: ★★★★★

What a fun film. The monkey actually requested that we finally watch it, though she ran away and hid for various portions for a total of about 10-15 minutes.

Some interesting cultural Celtic references hiding in here too.

  • Various accents
  • Spiked hair (referenced in Caesar?)
  • Blue faces of the Picts
  • Art references
  • Music references
  • Some small viking touches
  • Stone circles being important (but poorly portrayed here for their real uses)
Watched Social Media is OVER: You NEED a Website and Email List by Roberto BlakeRoberto Blake from YouTube

You Need a Website and Email List, you can't rely on social media algorithms or policies can change. So you need to build a website or blog and start email marketing and growing an email list to keep access to your audience. Don't rely on social media. Rely on yourself. Email Marketing and Website Building are not something most social media influences and content creators want to do, because social media is free and comes with traffic. But you never know when you will lose access to your audience and that is why you need your own website and email list to keep that access to the audience you built long term.

He’s focusing on using the internet for business, but Roberto Blake has a great overview of why one should be thinking about and practicing IndieWeb principles. His advice is absolutely necessary if you’re running a business, but it applies equally well for your personal web presence as well.

Watched "Game of Thrones" Walk of Punishment from HBO Max
Directed by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss. With Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke. Robb and Catelyn arrive at Riverrun for Lord Hoster Tully's funeral. Tywin names Tyrion the new Master of Coin. Arya says goodbye to Hot Pie. The Night's Watch returns to Craster's. Brienne and Jaime are taken prisoner.
Watched The Great Muppet Caper (1981) from Disney+

Kermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace is stolen. Kermit meets and falls in love with her secretary, Miss Piggy. The jewel thieves strike again, and this time frame Miss Piggy. It's up to Kermit and Muppets to bring the real culprits to justice.

Rating: ★★★½

It’s been years! But still great fun.

Also watching to prep for a viewing with the monkey as well as prep for the release of the original Muppet Show on February 19th on Disney+.

Watched January 25, 2021 - PBS NewsHour from PBS
Monday on the NewsHour, President Biden lays out his plan to push to buy American-made products to confront the economic crisis, infections and deaths continue to rise as the vaccination campaign lags behind projections, and hundreds of thousands of farmers protest new laws deregulating agriculture in India.
Watched A Star Is Born (2018) from HBO Max

Directed by Bradley Cooper. With Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Greg Grunberg. A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Rating: ★★★★½

I wish there were a better indicator of a time line here. Were they together for weeks, months, years? If a longer timeline, then there’s a lot missing here for me which causes issues with my suspension of disbelief.

The issue of suicide here seemed too simple a plot ploy for escape.

Was his suicide subtly an indicator that he’d run out of things he had to say and so he sublimated himself to help her continue to say what she needed to?