Watches

Playlist of watched movies, television shows, online videos, and other visual-based events

📺 Cobra Kai Ep 1 – “Ace Degenerate” – The Karate Kid Saga Continues | YouTube

Watched Cobra Kai Ep 1 - “Ace Degenerate” - The Karate Kid Saga Continues from YouTube Red

Thirty years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny Lawrence’s life has taken a rocky turn as he tries to forget a past that constantly haunts him. He seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo. But the LaRusso-Lawrence rivalry of yesteryear is reignited when their lives become intertwined with the next generation of “karate kids.”

I half expected Daniel to be more of a bad guy here as they redeemed Johnny, but it’s actually working out better than I would have anticipated. They do a reasonable job of making the viewer sympathetic to Johnny and his mission. I’ll give this a shot.

📺 "Land of the Lost" The Sleestak God, Season 1, Episode 2 | NBC

Watched "Land of the Lost" The Sleestak God, Season 1, Episode 2 from NBC (via YouTube)

Directed by Dennis Steinmetz. With Wesley Eure, Kathy Coleman, Dave Greenwood, Bill Laimbeer. While searching the Lost City, Will and Holly are captured by lizard-men which are known as Sleestak.

Someone asked me why Lost in Space ended up in their Netflix queue as recommendation because they had watched The West Wing but they confused it with Land of the Lost. Somehow I got sucked into watching this old episode which reminded me of my childhood. It is truly dreadful. The plot, dialogue, and acting are atrocious, but somehow the nostalgia sucks me in. Stuck in this new place and they don’t find it interesting that there’s a sign written in English saying “Beware of Sleestak”?!

Hearing Cha-ka pronounce Sleestack sounds to me more like “Slease attack-a”. I wonder if it was a political statement of some sort (but not really)?

📺 Ballpark BBQ, Season 5 Episode 10 | Food Network

Watched Cooks vs. Cons: Ballpark BBQ, Season 5 Episode 10 from Food Network
Host Geoffrey Zakarian and judges Daphne Oz and Marcus Samuelsson throw the cooks and cons a curve ball in round one by tasking them with fusing corn and hot dogs. After one contestant strikes out, the remaining contestants continue to round two in hopes of making their best dish incorporating barbecue.

📺 "Black-ish" Dream Home | ABC

Watched "Black-ish" Dream Home from ABC
Directed by E. Langston Craig. With Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown.
Thank goodness the show seems to have come back after a few awful/painful episodes. I watch this for the comedy and social satire, not for the poignancy and pain the producers think they’re entitled to play around with for the sake of character. They almost lost me.

📺 The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – May 10, 2018 – Joaquin Castro | Comedy Central

Watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - May 10, 2018 - Joaquin Castro from Comedy Central
A black Yale student is interrogated by police for napping, Desi Lydic investigates a refugee flow from the U.S. to Canada, and Rep. Joaquin Castro sits down with Trevor.

📺 The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – May 9, 2018 – Diane Guerrero | Comedy Central

Watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - May 9, 2018 - Diane Guerrero by Trevor Noah from Comedy Central
Don Blankenship loses his Senate primary bid in West Virginia, Trevor highlights gun-happy police officers, and Diane Guerrero discusses her memoir "In the Country We Love."

📺 The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – May 8, 2018 – Jon Meacham | Comedy Central

Watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - May 8, 2018 - Jon Meacham by Trevor Noah from Comedy Central
President Trump ditches the Iran nuclear deal, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman faces sexual abuse allegations, and Jon Meacham discusses "The Soul of America."

📺 The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – May 7, 2018 – Ronan Farrow | Comedy Central

Watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - May 7, 2018 - Ronan Farrow by Trevor Noah from Comedy Central
An NHL player goes on a face-licking spree, Michael Kosta breaks down Rudy Giuliani's defense strategy for President Trump, and Ronan Farrow discusses his book "War on Peace."

📺 Harry and Meghan: Royal Rebels | Lifetime

Watched Harry and Meghan: Royal Rebels from Lifetime
A look at the history and rules of British Royal Weddings and which traditions have been updated for the ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
A relatively straight up effort for the Lifetime network. It was nice to have a general theme of rebel to highlight the narrative thread of the piece, though several points they kept making were about how they weren’t rebels at all. It would have been nice to have more Harry history here to balance out the excess of Meghan presented, particularly in relation to the several other shows that are almost equivalent to this one.

📺 Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance | Lifetime

Watched Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance from Lifetime
Directed by Menhaj Huda. With Parisa Fitz-Henley, Laura Mitchell, Melanie Nicholls-King, Burgess Abernethy. The meeting and courtship of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Dear God, what have I done. This was about as dreadful as I should have expected. The casting of the likenesses was dreadful, though the actress portraying Meghan had her personality and sound down relatively well. The Britishness was dreadful… Lifetime’s other offerings in advance of the royal wedding are much better than this.

Synopsis: Like I’ve said three times already: dreadful, dreadful, dreadful.

📺 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) | Universal

Watched The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) from Universal
Directed by Paul Greengrass. With Matt Damon, Edgar Ramírez, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles. Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless CIA official and his agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
Watched on Netflix

📺 "The Big Bang Theory" The Bow Tie Asymmetry | CBS

Watched "The Big Bang Theory" The Bow Tie Asymmetry from CBS
Directed by Mark Cendrowski. With Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg. When Amy's parents and Sheldon's family arrive, everybody is focused to make sure all wedding arrangements go according to plan - everyone except the bride and groom.
Somehow I expected a little bit more, but entertaining none-the-less. Wil Wheaton got the shaft in the episode and somehow Barry managed to steal it right at the end.

📺 "Blue Bloods" My Aim Is True | CBS

Watched "Blue Bloods" My Aim Is True from CBS
Directed by David Barrett. With Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Sami Gayle. Danny and Baez investigate a series of drive-by shootings they think may be connected to six wrongly convicted men who were just released from prison.
Spoilers coming for season finale:

This show seems to be slipping more and more. The A plot was alright, but they sweated out the “solution” for far too long and second guessed themselves beyond what was believable. Then proposal reveal at the end was a bit of a letdown after such a long build up. Why not propose on screen and make it more interesting? The “set another seat at the table piece” and the dry run at the “vows” made up for things a bit better, but I wonder if this couldn’t have been done with even more emotional impact somehow?

📺 Sneaky Pete (Season 2) | Amazon Prime

Watched Sneaky Pete (Season 2) from Amazon Prime
Over the past week and change, I’ve watched all of the 10 episodes of the second season. It wasn’t as solid as the first season and I saw several of the “surprises” coming from a mile away. Some of the plot pieces just seemed too convenient. There could have been some more drama here as well as some more interesting con-life material.

If the next season doesn’t step things up quick, I’m going to have to call it quits.

📺 “Modern Family” Ten Years Later | ABC

Watched "Modern Family" Ten Years Later from ABC
Directed by Fred Savage. With Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell. Claire and Mitchell try to make up for less than enthusiastic support of Jay marrying Gloria 10 years ago by organizing an anniversary party for them. Phil discovers that he failed to become a magician decades earlier due to a betrayal.