Monday, January 31, 2022
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Monday, January 3, 2022
Geekly Weekly 131 (Saturday, January 1st) Your Weekly Cure For Pop Culture FOMO
Geekly Highlight or Reviews of the Week:
(Reviewing something new, or highlighting something cool for the week)
➤ Don't Look Up ****
This movie was incredible. I've seen some people say its the best movie they've seen all year, and I think that's a fair argument. It's a really dark sort of satire about our world, almost like a live action south park episode. A "what if a comet was coming to earth" and the world dealt with it essentially how they dealt with coronavirus.
It's clever, biting, and kinda hurts a bit to watch. But I would call it essential viewing. Some people complain that it is too unsubtle. While I think that is true (and probably where it loses the most points) I also think for this type of topic and movie, unsubtle is what you need to hit. There are things about this that don't work, and for me they largely revolve around Leo Dicaprio -- but for as much as this movie has flaws, it has much more value than the sum of its parts. It has a message, and it's worth consuming at least once.
Also maybe I will order these by quality. I haven't been doing that the last few weeks, but I actually watched this after Tick Tick Boom. It's just a more important watch. Sorry theater nerds. I still love ya though.
➤ Tick Tick Boom ***
I was somewhat down on this movie. And I think that might be my fault. I came in with expectations too high. I was expecting to love this, what with my love of musicals. As I quickly realized it was about the guy who did Rent, I was sure I'd only like it more.
Instead I found it largely grinding against me, with the first hour dragging, and the middle suddenly picking up into something I was enjoying, only to just sort of fizzle out again at the end.
I for the most part land with a largely meh reaction -- but a day later, I'm still humming the music, singing lines, looking up clips, doing deep dives into more info. The songs grow on you, enough for me to want to download the soundtrack.
Enough that it bothers me the Superbia track isn't on the soundtrack.
Is this worth watching? I don't know. I think that depends on who you are. If you like Musicals, and Rent, sure it's worth watching -- just don't expect it to be amazing... and maybe it'll impress you more than it impressed me.
If you don't like musicals... well I saw one comment where someone said the goosebumps they got watching this movie helped them understand musicals -- I can't imagine that's going to be a common thing though. I can't see this movie turning THAT many people. Approach with caution, and expect it not to be the funnest time. But there is definitely value here.
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Geekly Weekly TV Rankings
(Ranking of all the shows I watch, so you can know how best to use your TV watching time. Did I miss something? Suggest it below int he comments!)
(Just because a show might not get 5 stars, doesn't mean it doesn't still have plenty of value. There is a large distance between perfection and failure and a lot of great things live in that expanse. All my writing would probably only average less than 3 stars on here.)
- ➤ The Book of Boba Fett *****
I didn't expect anything to beat Dexter, but I also didn't expect Book of Boba Fett to be that good. That episode was amazing. From beginning to end, I was just in nerd heaven. There is not a single part of that episode that I wasn't fucking so in. God damn. From the Sarlacc pit, oh and we saw Kamino. And he has Gamorian guards, and the cantina with the remix of the Cantina song... the parkour through Tatooine. Jesus, even that creature design at the end. Oh my god, this was some of the best Star Wars we've ever had. So much was put into this pilot episode. I don't think this episode could have possibly been better. I bow down to Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau. What they accomplished is perfection. - ➤ Dexter *****
I've seen some complaints about this season, mainly that it has been too predictable, and I won't deny that. I predicted pretty much everything that came to pass this season around episode 1 and 2. And I'm completely okay with it. The theories I came up with at the beginning of the season were like best case scenarios in my mind, the best possible outcomes. So having them come true only feels wholly satisfying, like watching people you love get everything they ever wanted. I don't want some big twist to leave me devastated and heart broken. I want Dexter to get his happy ending with his son, and his sheriff girlfriend. Oh yeah, I've been right so far... but to go all the way we need the Sheriff to accept the killer Dexter is, ask him to kill Kurt, and then he's gonna kill Kurt with his Son, the two of them killing together in a bonding sorta way. - ➤ Star Trek Discovery **
Well that wasn't just terrible, but pretty much a complete waste of time. First up, the argument about whether to attack the makers of the anomaly or talk to them was meaningless until they knew who it was. Until then, the argument is completely hypothetical. And then on top of that, they choose peace... and booker just takes the weapon THE ENTIRE EPISODE WAS FOR NOTHING. WE WASTED THAT ENTIRE EPISODE TO END NOWHERE. Oh, and the B plot? More therapy time with the ship's computer... Just kill me now.
Honourable Mentions: (Didn't make the ranking)
- I've dropped all CW and DC shows from the list, after they gaslighted and victim blamed Ruby Rose and tried to smear her after she came forward about toxic behaviour. People have made such a huge deal about the #MeToo movement and believing victims, and yet when actors from Batwoman come out and called Ruby Rose Deluded, and revising history, when the company comes forward and says they support those responses and then tries to push damaging narratives about her being difficult on set which have been disproved through emails she's released.
So then, when she showed evidence, WB pivoted to announcing all these new projects and crossover and Dune 2, and ANYTHING they can to distract... AND IT WORKED. Anyone who's not furious can just take back their cred as giving a shit about women and victims rights, you can take back giving a shit about the MeToo movement, because when it really mattered, no one stood up or did SHIT. Actors across all of CWs DC shows should have come forward codemning the response. Melissa Benoist doesn't even have a job to protect, this is her last year. As far as I'm concerned they are all to blame for victimizing Ruby Rose.
And people should be as angry as I am, but people just forgot and moved on. But I wont. They practically acted like Trump, completely out in the open, and everyone rewarded them for it, and cheered for Dune 2. This is why horrible Toxic behaviour continues and never ends. Because people pretend to wake up for about a month and then go back to what they were doing like Goldfish.
(Get my instant reactions to these shows and more by following me @AndrewGeczy)
(Also remember that I never miss an episode of Vice News Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and neither should you)
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Geekly Predictions:
(New releases people will be talking about around the water cooler over the next week)
- ➤ The 355 [Theaters] Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyktpXSvjZE
Very confusing when this is coming out... and frankly I wouldn't go to the theater for it. But this trailer looks alright. These women look bad ass, and I would watch this... even with the weird scaffolding parkour scene where I'm pretty sure she was in heels! - ➤ The Cleaning Lady [FOX] Monday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZRRfMHxdAw
The ads on TV are like "Who is she? Is she a Doctor? is she a hooker? Is she a secret agent spy? Or is she just a cleaning lady? But that trailer really answers the questions the tv promos bring up. So she's a doctor, but her son gets sick, she runs to America for treatment and America is like "Suck my nuts" so she tries to get help from the mob and they like "Hey, your doctor skills make you good at cleaning up blood and murder? We can use that" and credits on the first episode I guess. Looks intense. - ➤ The Equalizer Season 2.5 [CBS] Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJZ5axvRQUo
Equalizer is the first show to return in the new year, and I have 0 problem with that. The queen returns! Sit, Queen Latifah, upon your throne. - ➤ Black-ish Season 8 [ABC] Tuesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BBYBmwIhD0
I've always wanted to watch this show. I like a lot of the stars in this, and I've heard great things. But 8 years ago I wasn't doing this blog. Maybe one day I'll watch it all from the start. - ➤ Good Sam [CBS] Wednesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qIUdpEE6VE
So it's Jason Issacs playing Doctor Strange if he didn't become a wizard and stayed a surgeon, and had a kid who is also a surgeon, and they butt heads in a hospital drama. - ➤ Star Trek Prodigy [Paramount+] Thursday
It returns from a short hiatus for the holidays. I'm including most returning seasons of this type below in the honorary mentions... unless I actually watch the shows myself like this one. But it was such a short hiatus, I can't even find a promo for the next episode. - ➤ Abbott Elementary [ABC] Tuesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6hvB1R9sUM
Never heard of this. Apparently it previewed last year but I didn't' see it. - ➤ Around the World in 80 days [PBS] Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Ge6vO4q9Y
David Tennant! Looks meh other than that, but David Tennant can go a long way... honestly I didn't even know PBS made its own programming. - ➤ This is Us Season 6 [NBC] Tuesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXxRULFrDk
Okay. I'm sure many people are excited about this. - ➤ 911 Lone Star Season 3 [FOX] Monday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF-lgvq57oQ
They have been advertising the shit out of this, to the point where it feels like a meme to me. "They're falling in the Ice! Oh no!" I didn't even realize that was Texas. Of course it is. I live in Canada, and I can't remember the last time shit got that bad. - ➤ Johnny Test Season 2 [Netflix] Friday
I used to love this cartoon when I was younger. I am far from caught up though. - ➤ The Commando [VOD] Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EoLNs5m-7Y
It's Michael Jai White vs Mickey Rourke in a low budget rip off of Taken. I can honestly think of worse ways to spend two hours. - ➤ See for me [Theaters and VOD] Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VflBX5Sr6c
I was impressed by this. I started out not caring, not caring, not caring... and then they introduced the App for seeing for her... and then it started suggesting it could be a horror and my mind went wild. Cool concept. - ➤ Women of the Movement [ABC] Thursday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxP2Kl2e658
It's possible it's just poorly marketed. - ➤ Search Party Season 5 [HBO Max] Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36F9JxfDEA4
I have no idea what that was I just watched. - ➤ Kenan Season 2 [NBC] Monday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGT7APCzNVE
I had heard this show was real. And I guess now I have proof. Do they have a token white guy? Like there's the one white friend, in an otherwords black cast. I love it, that's kinda funny. Just a total inversion of the norm. For as much as I don't care about anything else here, I like that concept. - ➤ Action Pack [Netflix] Tuesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qouQDeAq7X4
If I had this to watch as like a 3 year old, I'd have loved this. If I had a three year old, I would let them watch this. Also, it occurs to me how much fun something like this probably is to write for... - ➤ American Siege [VOD] Friday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdI6ea_0T0s
It's another Bruce Willis movie.
Honourable Mentions:
(Things that don't make this list, like continuing shows of quality, or non-fiction content)
- Harry Potter Reunion is happening this Saturday if you care about that.
- Next Level Chef is a Gordon Ramsey cooking reality TV show where the chefs are on three levels and the ingredients drop through the levels, and they have to cook with what they got. It looks dumb. Surprise. That's Sunday.
- NCIS Los Angeles returns Sunday. Why is it here when Equalizer is up there? Because I watch Equalizer, shut up. NCIS and NCIS Hawaii return on Monday.
- SWAT apparently moves to a new night Sunday... I'd heard it had gone streaming only... I guess they changed their minds on that Lickety split.
- The Bachelor Season 26 returns or starts Monday. Don't watch it. Don't feed the machine.
- The Neighbourhood returnns from the holidays on Monday. That's the sitcom with Schmidt from New Girl. I now know after five minutes of looking it up.
- Ordinary Joe returns on Monday.... that's the show where they watched "This is Us" and were like "How can we rip them off without getting sued?" and made this.
- American Auto returns on Tuesday, after previewing in December. I remember this one... it was fine. Grand Crew also returned, which previewed back to back with American Auto. Honestly, neither of them was funny enough to keep me around.
- FBI, FBI International, and FBI Most Wanted are all returning after the holidays on Tuesday
- New Amsterdam returns after the holiday break on Tuesday. That's the hospital show everyone loves.
- Queens returns to ABC on Tuesday... apparently it's a musical comedy? I've never ehard of it.
- The Amazing Race airs on Wednesday
- All three Chicago shows airs on Wednesday that's Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med.
- A game show called The Chase is returning to ABC. I had never heard of it, but I looked it up... and it seemed very difficult to win any money...
- The Goldbergs returns Wednesday. There's been all that controversy with the guy who plays the dad, and apparently they are writing him out but they're gonna have a body double play him int he background. It's a choice.
- The Conners are returning Wednesday. That's Rosanne without Rosanne.
- Home Economics returns Wednesday after pausing for the holidays. That's the comedy about the families... it sucked whatever.
- The Wonder Years With don cheadle narrating. Returns Wednesday.
- B Positive is a comedy returning on thursday
- Battlebots is coming to discovery on Thursday
- The Blacklist returns Thursday
- Bull that shitty show with Michael Weatherly returns Thursday
- Ghosts a comedy I never gave a chance to returns Thursday
- Law and Order SVU and Organized Crime return after the holidays.
- United States of Al The show looks so dumb... but turns out my parents watch and love it... and if it teaches them even the slightest bit of acceptance for other races then more power to that show I guess.
- Young Sheldon returns Thursday
- Blue Bloods returns on Friday from the holidays.
- Magnum PI returns Friday after a holiday hiatus
- Nancy Drew returns friday after a holiday hiatus. I'm still watching through Season One. it's pretty good though. Oh also fuck CW. So -- I'm Not really in a hurry to catch up.
- Ru Paul's Drag Race returns if that's your thing.
- The Tender Bar A movie with Christopher Lloyd and Ben Affleck comes to Amazon Prime after a short theater run on Friday.
(If I missed anything, feel free to point it out in the comments so others can know to check it out) (Release Dates taken from Metacritic.com)
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Geekly News Headlines:
(News from the past week you need to know, so you won't be as ignorant as a Qanon loser)
➤ Court shuts down another human rights group in Russia
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/12/29/court-shuts-down-another-human-rights-group-in-russia/
➤Myanmar military reverts to strategy of massacres, burnings
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/12/30/myanmar-military-reverts-to-strategy-of-massacres-burnings/
➤Parents selling children shows desperation of Afghanistan
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/12/31/parents-selling-children-shows-desperation-of-afghanistan-2/
➤UN food agency halts work in North Darfur, affects 2 million
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/12/31/un-food-agency-halts-work-in-north-darfur-affects-2-million/
➤ I'll add one more story that came out as I launched this.
Betty White is dead at the age of 99, days before her centennial party.
(Get instant reactions to the news and articles that don't make the cut at @AndrewGeczy)
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Geekly Blog:
(Everything going on in my personal life, my writing dreams, and for the brand)
Alright.
Did I do it?
Is it done?
I ended up doing the Coming Soon last... and that took pretty much my entire Friday. That was so much TV... it was insane.
What else has been going on?
I had a huge scare when Ontario Works (welfare) froze my account for no reason just before the holidays, so suddenly I wasn't going to be able to pay my rent.
It was a stressful time, but I was able to convince them to reactivate my account, it just required calling their emergency hotline first thing in the morning because it was only open for like 3 hours a day.
I'm telling you, it's been one stressful nightmare after another.
And I've applied to over a hundred jobs and its just one refusal after another. It never ends. I live in a never ending nightmare where things just keep getting worse.
May everything magically improve for all of us in 2022.
It would be hard for my life to get any worse, short of actually being homeless. Which could very well happen.
Happy New Year. Fingers crossed.
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My name is Andrew Geczy and my brand is 99% Geek found at 99geek.ca
I'm a writer, writing monthly chapters of novels like episodes of TV shows, releasing them in 4 weekly segments (a teaser and three acts) on Mondays at noonish on my Patreon page. Every month it's a different book, over a range of genres, and they sometimes even crossover and connect. At the end of the month the finished chapter is added to the PDFs attached at the bottom of every post. Finally, the finished books are self-published on Amazon.
There's a Dark Fantasy story about a post-apocalyptic world where powerful royals rule and enslave the remaining peoples struggling to survive on the last remaining land mass. There's also a sci-fi story about a people on a dying world who have built a ship to a new one, but their project is almost brought down by a terrorist organization within their own ranks. Finally there's a crossover story where characters from my other books are brought into the distant future where the princess of a far advanced civilization, one that lives in a solar system sized mega-structure around a Dyson Sphere, needs help defeating her twisted power-hungry brother. And all these stories will be outside the paywall for all to enjoy as new episodes release weekly, and the finished chapters will be attached to the bottom of every post on the site in convenient PDF format readable on computers, tablets, ebook readers, and phones at the end of the month.
But that's not all my stories. There's also Urban Fantasy tales about a teenage girl turned into a vampire against her will, or a scorned lover investigating paranormal phenomena, or a journalist covering news and politics in the Middle East. And there's a fantasy story about a fallen angel trying to stop the end of the world. All these stories are published and available on Amazon, and are also safe and sound behind the paywall in PDF format attached to an archive at the top of my Patreon page. Only viewable by subscribers, my entire library of work, thousands of pages worth, is easily accessible to every subscriber at any level. (The paywall is down, as my library is being refreshed. Find all finished content attached below)
There's even a "Geekly Weekly" blog which covers all the news you may have missed over the week, as well as ranks the week's worth of television, and makes predictions on what new pop culture things might be in the public consciousness for the next week. It releases every Saturday.(Somewhat inconsistent since October, as my life has been focused on saving myself from poverty, starvation and homelessness)
Finally I do Video Game streams both multiplayer matchmaking as well as single player campaign playthroughs. You can see me play games like Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Hitman, and more. Watch them as they happen at twitch.tv/wingcommanderIV or wait till I release the recorded videos on days when I have nothing else to release.
And you can see it all in one place.
So stay tuned, and maybe subscribe. It's only a dollar and the support you show will go a very long way, I promise. There are also higher tiers. Give 5 dollars one month and you can name a character, or location, or suggest a thing you might want to see. Basically you get to give a noun, and then I promise to incorporate that noun into one of my stories somehow. Maybe not the same month you give the suggestion, but within three months guaranteed. No matter how crazy, you can't sabotage me. I promise. Think of it like a fun improv game. And you can keep giving nouns, for every month you pay at the 5 dollar tier. Or if you give 10 dollars, you don't get two nouns, but you can give a description to go with your noun. Describe the personality of your character, or the look of your location, or the importance of your item. For 10 dollars you get a noun and a description. You can also give a dollar towards supporting my efforts at Video Game streaming, or my weekly blog if that's more where your interests lie. And all subscribers at every tier will get early access to my writing, unedited but released a week early if you finish the current week and feel excited to find out what happens next. (You can also give at paypal.me/99geek if you just wanna support me in this tough time without a subscription)
I'm as poor as it gets, living pay check to pay check (and sometimes starving) (Recently especially. Things have never been worse and my life is on the verge of complete collapse). So I understand if you are too. I don't wanna take food out of your mouths. Your attention is enough. Say something, comment here or at the very least, follow me on Twitter @AndrewGeczy or Instagram @WingcommanderIV Remember to leave a review if you read one of my books, any reviews on Amazon/Goodreads or subscriptions here or comments on social media will just encourage more people to check out my work and allow me to grow. I can't do it without your efforts. That's three different ways you can help. Write reviews on any site that lets you, subscribe here for as low as a dollar, or at the very least use your voice to let me and the world know you like what you read here.
Live Long and Prosper, May the Force Be With You, Long Live Marceline the Vampire Queen, remember that Kong bows to no one, but Godzilla is King of all Monsters. We are the 99% geek.
Saturday, January 1, 2022
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