Worst Day Ever

 Welcome to the worst holiday ever. 

I'm performing at my dinner theater tonight and the girls have plans so maybe I can get out of doing trick or treating....unless the Mrs wants to go early (which there is a 99% chance that will happen)

I'll say it again, this is my LEAST favorite holiday. Not a fan of dressing up. Halloween parties are boring, costumes are uncomfortable and annoying after you've worn it for over an hour and since we never celebrated it as kids I have no fond memories of it. 

Just a waste of time. 

But have a good weekend folks....trick or treat and all that trash. 

Trainwreck: The Real Project X

 In 2012 a girl's 16th birthday invitation went viral when she accidently posted the party as "public" on Facebook. 

But after taking it down, people put another invite back up that attracted tens of thousands to this little town in Denmark to party. When the mayor brushed it off as a joke, they were completely unprepared for what happened next. 

I do remember hearing about the girl who made her birthday party public but had no idea what happened afterwards. It wasn't the best story from this series but interesting to see what happened when the party after got started. 

Overall, it was so-so. 

Trainwreck: Storm Area 51

 One of my favorite documentary series right now, I just watched more installments. And this one I've never heard of before. 

Back in 2019 a joke post on the internet, turned into a social media frenzy, that involved over a million people pledging to attend a gathering to bum rush area 51. 

This was the first time I'd ever heard of such a thing. How I never heard of this before I have no idea. But it was an interesting story about how everything got out of hand and involved the military, FBI, local and state authorities and millions of dollars in panic. 

Great stuff. How the whole thing ended was the best part. Really fun doc to watch if you have the time.

Conjuring: :Last Rites

 The first movie was one of the scariest things I'd ever seen. 

The second was good.

The third was a trainwreck. 

The fourth? It tried. 

I really had high hopes for this one. Though it beat the 3rd movie, it falls short of the glory that put the franchise on the map. 

Based off a real case from the Warren's, this is about a scary mirror.....yep. 

The show has a lot of build up in the beginning but falls short in the end. In fact, I'd argue that the ending was a least scariest of the series. Though the first half was fun. I think both Nun movies beat this one and Nun movies were both "popcorn" movies that you watch once, enjoy and never see again.

This one falls within that category.   

Enos TV show

 Finally got to see the only known episodes from season 1 out on the internet. 

Sadly, this doesn't cover every episode, which is a shame because the one episode no one had recorded was when Rosco P Coltrain guest starred on an episode and I bet that one was the best!

Either way, it was great to finally see the spin off to the classic Dukes of Hazzard show and why it flopped. 

So many reasons....

1) It lacked a supporting cast. See this picture? I have no idea who the guy behind Enos is and I just finished watching the show. I think he's the chief of police but I'm not sure. He was hardly featured in the show. The other two besides Enos in the picture were fine but still lacked the star power of the supporting characters the Dukes enjoyed through their run. 

2) Enos character was off. Sure, when playing an "aw sucks, I'm southern" type, I can understand the comical situations and misunderstandings they give Enos. But it's the times they want to make him a tough guy at the same time that confuses me. "I'm going to stop you into a grease stain" is something I never thought I'd hear Enos say. That and the fight scenes just didn't fit who Enos was in Hazzard County. 

3) Lack of guest stars. Again, I didn't see the Rosco episode, but Daisy appears in one episode and has nothing to do but go out on dates with Enos. It's sad because they could've incorporated her character more into her episode like they did with so many female guest stars in other episodes. But for some reason, the romance angle was all the could give Enos without giving the tough southern girl attitude a breather, like they do in Dukes. 

4) Enos wasn't ever meant to be a star. Enos is a supporting character trying to lead a show that couldn't figure out how to develop him further. I tried thinking of someone else they could've spun off and I'm thinking Cooter would've been a better choice. "Cooter's" could've been the name of a series where he moves to Atlanta to open a bigger shop. Each week, people come to him for help or just a little country fun. It would've been a cross between a drama and a comedy. But alas they went with Enos and it just wasn't interesting enough for viewers to stick around. 

Overall, it was fun to finally see, but disappointing in the end. 

New Ghost flavor!

 I don't like anything with "cream" in the name of energy drinks but I always have to try each flavor at least once. And so I did. 

It tastes exactly as you'd imagine but I wasn't a fan. It's better than the Orange creme at least but that's not saying much. 

If you love the creme taste this might be for you but it surely isn't for me. I won't be getting this flavor ever again. 

Please Ghost, do better next time when choosing out a flavor. This was a swing and a miss. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Whatever happened to the paper bag?

 Remember in the good ole days how you'd go to the grocery store and have your purchase packed in beautiful paper bags? 

Over the past few decades this has disappeared completely from our culture and we're left with the cheap plastic bags that you always have to double bag because they get thinner each year. 

I remember also loving the smell of the paper bag. These things hardly ripped and stacked neatly in your car or trunk.

.....Yeah, it was a slow day for me, so I got to thinking about this.  

Elio (review)

Finally got a chance to watch the movie that bombed in theaters for Pixar.

This is way better than Inside Out 2. 

The story of a boy who wants to be abducted by aliens gets his wish and more than he asked for when he's confused as the leader of Earth and sent on a quest to stop an invasion from a menacing alien race. 

It's got humor and charm. Don't know why it bombed in theaters. Guess it looked a little too boring of an idea in the trailers? My kids wanted to try it out and in my experience, kids movies today are very bland and boring. I never know if I'm staying for the whole movie or walking out after the first 5 minutes. 

While not "great" Elio was able to get me to stay for the entire film, so it wasn't that bad at all. 

If you're bored for something to watch, you could do a lot worse than this movie.  
 

Sketch (review)

 A children's horror film. Made for kids....and one of the best movies I've seen in 2025 hands down. 

I was shocked. 

The movie is....witty. Really witty. In fact, whoever wrote this deserves an Oscar. I couldn't stop laughing at certain scenes and had my kids "shushing" me the entire time for laughing too loud. 

At times it even reminded me of a good ole 80s movie involving kids fighting monsters. 

The story is about a girl dealing with the death of her mother and draws "scary" pictures to deal with her grief. 

But when the sketches come to life and start attacking the town, it's up to the kids to defeat them. 

Charming. Wonderful. Excellent. 

I will watch this anytime my kids want to. I can't wait to show this to my brother, sister and anyone else who wants to see it. 

Seriously, one of the best films I've seen this year. 

Go watch it. 

F1 review

 Saw this one finally. I'd heard good things about it...they were right. It's an excellent film. 

It feels like I'm watching Top Gun Maverick again. The characters are rich and build depth with the audience throughout the film. I don't know (or care) that much about F1 racing but the movie engaged me enough in the storyline that it didn't matter. I didn't know the "rules" they were bending but they did a great job letting novices know what was going on. I didn't feel lost of confused either. 

Solid film. Worth watching if you haven't seen it already. No wonder it did better than Superman at the Box Office this year. 

Smurfs movie review

 My kids wanted to see it. It was out on streaming. 

It sucks. BEYOND terrible. The keep dipping in and out of the "real world" for no reason. There are no real characters to interact with. The story is a HUGE mess and Papa Smurf has 2 younger brothers called Ken and Roy.....I wish I was making that up. 

I was shocked at how horrible this movie was. And yes they use the word "smurf" as a cuss word in the movie for cheap laughs. 

They even bleep one of them out at the end when he say "What the ____?" then when he hears the bleep "What? I said Smurf?"

Ugh. Gag me with a fork, spoon AND knife, this movie was terrible. Even for kids. 

Have a good weekend folks. 

Sneaking snacks into theaters

 Ah the time honored tradition of sneaking snacks into the movie theater. 

Cokes, candy, chips....they all fit in a baggy pair of jeans, woman's purse or winter coat. I'm not sure what the record was for how many items I was able to smuggle in at once but with my winter coat on...it was a lot. 

These days, I bring a soda and raisenettes into the theaters. Used to bring Junior Mints but there's a good chance I'll smoosh most of them in my pocket while getting in, so I don't get those anymore. 

But don't worry, the Mrs always makes sure I spend my money buying her popcorn. 

What ever happened to movie tickets?

 I've noticed something very disturbing. Now when you go to the theaters, to cut costs, they just give you a receipt for the charge that doubles as your ticket. 

Lame. Keeping those movies tickets over the years was so much fun! I can actually SHOW my kids the actual ticket, date and time I first watch a movie. 

Now? Show them the receipts???

This is one major blow to the movie industry no one is talking about. But I miss it. 

TMNT musical score

 I watched this a few months ago when it was released in theaters and realized something. 

I really like the score. 

It goes great with the movie. 

As I rewatch this classics in theaters, I find myself looking in the background at scenes and even listening to things like the music, that I never focused on before and this score is SOLID. 

The movie's great too of course. I (like many others) think this was the best turtle movie ever made and STILL holds up strong today! But next time you watch it....make sure you listen to the score and you'll see what I mean. 

The Blob (Review)

 My brother wanted to watch the one from 1988 and I realized, I'd never seen it either so we decided to give it a try. 

Excellent. 

Perfect movie magic with the horror scenes. I enjoyed the creativity before everything became CGI. Wish they did a little more like these to be honest. It feels more real and a lot of the shots looked fantastic!

If you've never seen this before, it's worth the watch. It's "classic" horror too so even someone who doesn't like modern horror of today should enjoy this one too. 

Friday the 13th: Sweet Revenge

 Someone suggested I watch this short film that plays like the original movies I watched back in the day. It's on YouTube for free right now and it's not so bad. It does feel like it comes from that original line!

About 15 minutes long it's worth a watch if you are a fan of the original series, like I am. Speaking of original movies, I haven't seen them in quite sometime. Since Halloween is coming up, maybe I'll give them another watch through? 

But tis the season for scary right now, so this one might be for you!

Passing the buck

 Don't you love how businesses today no longer accept the charges that come with credit cards? In order to save the spare change they are now passing that cost to the customer, eliminating the reward points we get on our cards. 

They are forcing us to revert back to the old dated world of paying with checks. At first it was my water bill and now, I've gone through an entire book of checks in a little over a month. I haven't done that in about 20 years.

But with all the big charges these days, you can't carry that cash around with you, so checks are the only option. What a load of crap. 

Nobody 2 (review)

 The first one was better. This one was fine, but needed a few scenes punched up. It kind of ran aground in the 2nd act and skates close to being a retread of the first movie. 

I love Christopher Lloyd but MAN....he's 86 now and it shows. They can't give him that much to do, or leave him in the film that long because of his age and it's too bad because I love seeing him but he just doesn't have the energy anymore. 

I'll watch a 3rd one if they make it, but I just hope they don't lose anymore of the magic that made the first one so special. 

The best scenes are in the beginning, after that, the action becomes a little more generic and not as much fun like we had in the first film.  

REDCON1

 From the makers of Jolt Soda. As always, I had to give it a try. It was ok. Not really all that. Plus besides the gas station I got this from, I don't see it anywhere else, so it would be hard to find even if I did enjoy it. 

It's wild, but there hasn't been that many new energy drinks on the market lately to impress me. Maybe I'm moving on from them? I don't drink as many as I used to, though I do have one every other day or so. I like the carbonation, it's just finding the right flavor I guess. 

Anyway, glad I at least gave it a try. 

Weapons (Movie review)

 I loved Barbarian, so after seeing these were the same people, I couldn't wait to see it. 

It was....ok. Not bad at all. Worth one watch but I've seen Barbarian 4 times since last year and would still watch it again in a heartbeat. 

This one was more of a one-and-done scenario. 

It's crazy but after leaving the theater my nephew and I agreed the movie got less scary as it went on. Never seen a horror movie do that. 

Again, not bad, worth one watch and after that, move on. 

Tooth Chests

 Did anyone have these growing up?

It was little plastic chest given to you be the dentist, which you could put your teeth in when they fell out. I remember we had ours on the kitchen window seal. 

I thought about them for the first time in years when my little girl just lost a tooth a month ago and asked me if the Tooth Fairey ever visited me in the middle of the night. 

I proceeded to tell her it was the 80s and a different time back then, when a fairy visiting a child in the middle of the night was not tolerated.....oh and then I remembered these chest. 

Have a good weekend folks! 

Where's Waldo?

 Who remembers the good ole days when we used to sit around for hours looking over a picture to find one dude. 

Just saw a "7-1" book of these and almost bought it based off all the good memories I had. Though I think we only got 4 of them growing up, I remember looking at each inch of the picture trying to find everything I could. Really fun stuff!

This spawned tons of merchandise and even a cartoon at one point! Now it's a little forgotten memory of the past. (at least by me) 

Who knows? Maybe some day when I save up enough Amazon reward points on my card, I'll get one and test out my eagle eyes once again!

Buffy the Re-Boot?

 Well, it's true. They're bringing back Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

I loved the original show.

I'm scared to death over this reboot. 

The reason is obvious too. With the exception of Cobra Kai and Top Gun 2, NO ONE has been successful with bringing a franchise back. It's been one huge disappointment after the next. I hate seeing these franchises ruined in such a way. 

I hope this doesn't ring true for Buffy, but the odds are against it being anything but good.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.