Tag: observations

Letterkenny S10 = Ocean’s Twelve

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Most people who’ve ever seen Ocean’s Twelve, the sequel to the remake of Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and a massive ensemble cast, might remember that it was kind of a stinker.  The plot was weak, it hardly had a fraction of the pace, charm and rhythm that made Eleven such a fun movie, and the general consensus was that it was about as good of a sequel as Super Mario 2 was to Super Mario Bros.

There was a popular theory that part of why it was such a stinker was that it was basically a working vacation for the cast.  George Clooney supposedly has some property out in Italy, and making a sequel to Eleven, and having it take place in Italy was basically a convenient way to have a big ass working vacation on someone else’s dime, while enjoying the sights of Lake Como in their downtime.

And in the grand spectrum of the trilogy, Twelve really didn’t need to exist.  It basically was an excuse to have an Italian vacation, and everyone in it got a generous payday out of it.

Well that’s how I felt after watching the, thankfully short, tenth season of Letterkenny.  Just a few months ago, I blew through the entire series, seasons 1-9, because it was everything I wanted in a show at the time.  Short episodes, clever writing, a little bit crass, a little bit of heart, and just easy to watch and entertaining.

After I caught up, I became one of those fans, who was excited to hear that there was already a tenth season in the works.  And I was very pleased to see when it had dropped right around Christmas, and I made it a priority to watch, which says a lot considering I have so little downtime as it is.

The first episode ties up the plot that season 9 left off on, but then Ocean’s Twelve basically began immediately after that.  Each episode left me scrunching my brow and wondering what the fuck was the point of what I had watched.  Even before I started discussing it with my friends and ultimately seeing what the geeks in the AVClub thought, I could feel this sense that each episode seemed to be almost checking off boxes in making sure all of the signature characters of the show got a little bit of screen time at varying points, and given the short nature of the season, and the limited amount of running minutes they had, it really did feel like a parade of cameos instead of any semblance of a coherent season.

But the agenda of the season becomes very apparent five episodes in, when it’s mentioned that Shoresy is headed out of town to go play hockey up north.  Of course, everyone knows that show creator, Jared Keeso, plays both Wayne and Shorsey, and it’s a little eye-rolling to know that he is just a smidge pulling a power play by using Letterkenny to promote another show, that just so happens to be starring, himself.

Not to mention, the truly DJ Tanner Wrestling-shark jumping moment where Wayne has a brief moment with Shoresy; I couldn’t help but cringe at the pinnacle of poor flexing done by Keeso in this very moment.

The aforementioned geeks in the AVClub applaud the season as going back to their roots, and to a degree I can understand the necessity of deconstruction so that more potential storylines can emerge from the roots, but I can’t help but feel that this entire season felt like one giant flex by Keeso, where he and all his cast mates could shit out a half-assed season get paid for it, and with the ultimate intent of it all being for the season to serve as a vehicle to promote a spin-off series.

I’m still a fan of the show as a whole, but if we’re being honest here, season 10 of Letterkenny, really doesn’t seem like it ever needed to exist in the first place at all.  Another one-off special, call it New Years or Boxing Day, could’ve sufficed fine to be Shoresy’s meal ticket to his spin-off, and saved viewers like me, the scrutiny of mediocrity.

Cobra Kai x Champion is straight fire

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

In my perception, athletic apparel company Champion, is kind of B-level.  In the past, they used to be among the pinnacle of the industry, being the official uniform sponsor of the NBA, among other notable partnerships.  But as time passed, I don’t know who initiated the changes, but Champion kind of fell to the wayside; the NBA seemed to allow individual teams to make their own apparel partnerships, and in most cases, Nike was the brand making jerseys and other apparel.  UnderArmour emerged, and the field began to get very crowded in athletic apparel.

Champion, kind of became a second-tier manufacturer in my eyes, and they weren’t nearly as cool as the aforementioned Nike, UnderArmour, or Adidas, among others.  When I went to Braves Spring Training for the first time, I always thought it was cool that their ST venue was called Champion Stadium, but didn’t realize until I got there that that was on account of the Champion brand sponsoring it, with their wordmark being on the façade of the building.

It made me tilt my head at the low-key lameness of it, in spite of the cool name.  The Braves have since moved out of Orlando, and fleeced the people of Sarasota to build them a $175M facility, but the point remains that even they, abandoned Champion too.

When I saw the mass unveiling of Cobra Kai training gear in season 4 (above image), my jaw did a quarter drop, at just how fucking baller and awesome some of it looked.  As much as I think the Kyler Park character is a total choad and a disgrace to Koreans, the shirt he and Kenny Payne and that rando white guy in the back are wearing, is a training shirt that I must have if/when they become available to the public.  And as the scene unfolds, you see that everyone is wearing some form of Cobra Kai gear, some more obvious than others, but they’re all, straight fucking fire.

And then, I noticed the Champion logos on everything, and suddenly, I’m like okay, okay…  If ever there was a way to climb out of mediocrity, associating themselves with a popular IP like Cobra Kai seems like as good of idea as any, if there ever was one.

Now, I’m no longer thinking Champion is such a B-tier brand, and was actively googling to see if and when there was a chance that all this baller gear was ever going to be available to the public.  And if this link is accurate, then yes, there will be.

Anyway, while I’m on Cobra Kai, let’s talk about season 4, and I think it’s safe to say that there will probably be spoilers written out.

Continue reading “Cobra Kai x Champion is straight fire” →

You know, Hawkeye’s not that turrible

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

It’s really no surprise though, considering how often chicken shit is spun into palatable, digestible chicken salad in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I started watching Hawkeye recently, and three episodes in, I have to say that it’s not the worst property ever turned into a show or movie.

Let’s be real here, it’s not uncommon knowledge that Hawkeye is one of the lamest Avengers in the history of the Avengers, and by himself among the lamest IPs of the Marvel universe.  When it became apparent that just about everyone in the phase one of the MCU was going to get some degree of spotlight, one of the most common queries was probably, “even Hawkeye?”

And most likely in the spirit of equitability, we have a Hawkeye series, which is kind of ironic seeing as how the longform storytelling of a television series seems far preferable to a standalone film, and it’s hard to believe that of all the guys to get a prominent spotlight, Hawkeye would be among them.

But if there’s anyone who is aware of the stigma of the lameness that is Hawkeye, it’s the show itself, all the way from the writers, show runners and characters themselves.  As a whole, everyone seems very aware that Hawkeye is lame, to where it’s so far been kind of a theme of the show itself, and by doing so, actually earns a little bit of credit and endearment from watchers like me just waiting for the show to even sniff jumping the shark or wrestling with DJ Tanner, to get ready to point the finger and say I told you so.

By doing such, the show seems to earn a little bit of bullet protection from harsher criticisms, and it doesn’t hurt that the show really isn’t that so much about Hawkeye as much as it’s about Clint Barton the man, and his former alter-ego in Ronin, as well as sharing the spotlight with Kate Bishop, who serves to be the personality sidekick that Barton need to not give into the lameness so often. 

I’m only three episodes in, but it hasn’t been all that bad.  The show moves at a steady pace and doesn’t feel too drug out, and regardless of what the title of the show is, all MCU television series are all concurrently working towards larger storylines, so it’s only a matter of time before some hard hints, or a cameo or appearance from another property crops up to make viewers react like they’re NBA players watching a dunk contest when it becomes apparent of what is in the works.

As I’ve said before (I think), in MCU we trust, because if this is any indication, those writers and show runners really know how to make even the lamest properties tolerable.  The Netflix crew demonstrated it by making Iron Fist watchable, and now the Disney+ squad has made even Hawkeye tolerable.  That, is pretty impressive, and makes me not feel pessimistic about the remainder of the series.

My 600 Lb. Life never fails to entertain

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

You’d think after ten seasons of My 600 Lb. Life, the series would start to show some signs of getting stale or formulaic.  I mean, it has gotten very formulaic, but it doesn’t change the fact that no matter how many seasons of the show march forward, America has no shortage of behemoths that continue to parade themselves to Houston in order to meet Dr. Now and think they’re going to hear something they haven’t seen in nine prior seasons.

The latest episode, Lacey B’s journey, had to have been one of the more depressing episodes in the series’ history.  And I’m taking into consideration the handful of episodes where the subject of the episode died, because they actually succumbed to their own weight problems.

But spoiler alert, Lacey doesn’t even make it the full twelve months that most episodes tend to lapse over, doesn’t get surgery, barely loses any weight, and frankly the question really is, why the fuck was she on the show in the first place, and why did TLC even bother airing it, which is an obviously redundant question, because she’s such a train wreck, there was no question that TLC was going to air it.

Lacey’s boyfriend whom was a little dull on the wattage side, caved to his sister’s argument of how Lacey was using him in two seconds, and she ends up suddenly homeless in the middle of nowhere in Texas, while her ex-companions basically dump off all of her belongings in College Station.  Next thing you know, she’s back in Washington State, in her old apartment that’s now suddenly empty because she tried to move her life to Houston, and in the end she lost like 15 lbs. down from her cruiserweight 591 initial weigh in, and the episode concludes in month 7, as if it were a failed excursion on Naked and Afraid.

I wonder if they’ll bother airing an episode of Where Are They Now? because Lacey basically didn’t even have a conclusive prologue to build off of.  But when they inevitably do, this might one of the few that I might actually make an effort to see.

All in all, season 10 of My 600 Lb. Life is about as good as all the others.  Big ups to episode 4’s Mike, because it was an episode where viewers like me realize just how rare it is to have a guy that’s enjoying so much white privilege compared to all of the other blobs throughout the show’s history, because he lives with his stable white parents in Ohio, has a normal, upper-middle class remote job, and doesn’t seem to have all the financial issues that just about everyone else in the show does.

And of course, Dr. Now’s patience with his patients has continued to sink to where there are more zingers and he seems to be aware of the show’s appeal to when he rips into his patients, and there’s rarely an episode where there’s not at least one good memorable quote he drops in defense of whatever bullshit excuse a new patient comes in with.

I barely have time to watch television these days, but it says something that among the few things that are still must-watch, My 600 Lb. Life is still up there.  I don’t even watch wrestling anymore, in comparison.

Self-aware old man moment

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

When Seth Rollins began calling himself “the Drip God,” I was curious, but didn’t really think anything of it.  Then, on an episode of My 600 Lb. Life the blob of the week’s son was wearing a shirt that just said DRIP on it, and it jogged my memory that I was curious.

I asked mythical wife if she knew, since she works with kids every day, that she might have picked up on some of their slang, but she didn’t really have any idea either.

So it was off to Google to find the answer for me, and I discovered that it was, of course, coined by some of today’s (c)rappers, and it’s to describe what used to be classy, swag, or just plain stylish in layman’s terms.  Sure, it makes not an iota of sense to me, and sounds fucking dumb, but at least I knew the general context of what the kids are calling drip these days.

But that’s when I realized just how much of an old man moment I just had, being so out of touch with new slang, that I had resorted to Googling it, in order to find out.  Given its general idea and origins I kind of wish I hadn’t, but when the day is over, I’d rather be in the know than not, even if it’s subjecting myself to stupid trash slang.  I guess that kind of mentality is prolonging the inevitable aging and separating from the generations beyond mine, no matter how in touch I may or may not try to be.

Three years later… FINALLY

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’m actually still in disbelief that it’s finally coming: WWEShop announces the upcoming release of NXT UK Tag Team Championship replica blets.

I’m not even kidding, I have had this tab open on both my browser on my laptop as well as my phone, for over two years, refreshing daily, hoping to one day see the NXT UK Tag Team blet available one day.  In that span, I have witnessed numerous tribute blets, reproductions of older WCW and WWF-era blets, and several individual specific blets of particular legends that have had gaudy $700+ price tags associated to them.

But never the NXT UK Tag Team blets, despite the fact that they were literally, the only active blet in the entire company, to not have replicas made available.  It was maddening to a collector like me, and no amount of complaining, or utilizing a sock-puppet Twitter account to troll the WWEShop online to shame them for racism against Brits or other ludicrous bullshit to just spread awareness of their faux pas.

I could’ve gotten Pakistani reproductions, but I remained hopeful that these would eventually come to fruition.  And then NXT was ripped out from under Triple H, and I had concerns that the NXT UK brand would be in danger, and then these blets would never see the light of day.  But with no other real choice, I just continued to wait, impatiently.

The funny thing is, after plunking down $500 for my Unicorn blet, I had this thought in my mind that, wouldn’t it be funny if fate thought it would be funny and trolling to me, if suddenly the NXT UK Tag blets I’ve been wanting for over three years, were to suddenly become available, after I’ve been rendered cash poor?

Well fuck you fate, the joke’s on you; the last freelance project I did in 2018, I literally set aside an estimated amount of what I figured this blet would one day cost, based on the general cost of blets on WWEShop was.  And much like those browser tabs, I have been sitting on this cash for over two years, waiting for this day to come, and it has, and not even burning a ton of my blet money on my Unicorn blet can stand in the way of getting this UK blet that I’ve been wanting since I saw its reveal in 2018.

I was actually at the vet with my dog, getting his annual shots, when while my dog was whisked away to the back for some testing, that I pulled up my phone to do my daily check, did I realize with wide eyes that the day I had been waiting for, for the last three years, had finally come.  The NXT UK Tag replicas were fucking FINALLY listed, and I texted at least three different parties with crying face emojis, that my day had finally come.

The funny thing is, in spite of how long I’ve been waiting for these blets to finally become available, I’m in no rush to pull the trigger on them.  At $399, it’s a little bit higher than what I had set aside for it, not that that really matters, but it’s because anyone who ever pays full price for a replica blet is only fucking themselves.  The WWEShop runs sales on blets on almost a monthly basis, ranging from 20-40% depending on the promotion.  I don’t know if these will make it to the likely Brack Friday sale they typically do, but even if they don’t, I’m not going to be in too much rush to purchase these.

I’ve waited three years for this replica to come into existence, so what’s a little bit longer to make sure I don’t play the sucker that pays full price on mine?

LoL: Arcane – almost makes me want to get back into League

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Being an out-of-touch dad these days, a lot goes over my head as far as things coming and going in popular culture.  As big of a League of Legends fan I was back in the day, you’d have thought that I might’ve been more aware of the Netflix series LoL: Arcane coming out but nope, after hearing some mumbles about League and Netflix, I didn’t hear nor pay any further attention, thinking that it was just ear candy since these days, just about every popular IP ends up going into the rumor mill with a project with Netflix.

Plus, as I grew out of League, and then all the allegations of sexist bro-culture over at Riot Games began emerging as if such weren’t already the case at likely every single gaming company in the world, I kind of just stopped caring.  As much enjoyment I got out of the game, it really was the epitome of an abusive relationship, seeing as how players get their ass kicked at probably a 60% clip even if they’re “good” at the game, and they come back for more, over and over again.

That, and one of those don’t meet your heroes kind of mentalities, I remembered and realized all the interactions and impressions I had of those of Riot Games personalities I’ve ever met, and kind of felt there was a degree of smarmy arrogance, that they were all a little too self-aware of their contributions towards the production of League, and then all the allegations of the toxic corporate culture seem all too relatable.

Regardless, when watching LoL: Arcane, all of the critical thoughts and opinions I might have about Rito and the actual game are all kind of washed away while I’m watching the show, and in its place is just simple enjoyment for a clever, beautifully executed series in my opinion.

Jinx (along with Miss Fortune) was easily one of my favorite and most-played champions, so a series revolving primarily around her, along with the general Piltover/Zaun setting was easy for me to be interested in.  And the mass edits to the lore all seemed to come into play, seeing as how I was pretty intrigued to see that the re-imagining of origins have now placed Jinx and Vi as sisters, which can explain a lot of the original animosity between the characters in-game.

I won’t analyze or spoil any of the plot, but I just want to sing the praises of LoL: Arcane, because I thought it was a very well done series.  The brushed painting style of the animation is refreshing and perfectly executed, and the plot is gritty and very much R-rated, which is interesting given how cartoony and lighter-plot the game is.  

There are easter eggs galore throughout the series, and those familiar with the game will probably have a fun time picking them out and then hypothesizing on plot points, potential future arcs and most importantly, how they tie into future appearances of recognizable champions.

The first six episodes were so well done, it almost makes me want to get back into the game, as abusive of a relationship it really is.  Then I realize that I’m a dad with no time on my hands anymore, and ponder how I even had as much time as I did in the past to play as fervently and obsessively as I used to.  So instead, I’ll just patiently wait for the rest of the series to pan out, and hope that Rito and Netflix can agree to produce more Arcane in the future, because I think there’s still a ton of lore that could make for entertaining television.