Entertaining – BrowserMetrics

The Odyssey

broderic on August 26, 2026

The Odyssey had MAGA up in arms.

“A black is Helen of Troy?!!?!?” “A trans is Achilles?!?!?”

“Nolan is woke!”

How wrong they are. The Odyssey is rather conservative. Odysseus laments that he is ushering in the death of his culture. That’s conservatism in a nutshell — protection of the status quo.

And yet, The Odyssey isn’t MAGA. It recognizes that even their enemies are deserving of respect.

BTW, we saw it in IMAX. The visuals were huge, but the sound was just about deafening that my watch complained about loud sounds a few times. To watch Nolan do his IMAX thing was just about worth it.

3 of 5 stars.

The Invite is a comedy feels like one of those indy movies from years ago — back when we had a great film industry. It was directed by one of the leads, Olivia Wilde, and features intimate performances by some decent actors. And also another cringe hilarious performance from Seth Rogan. I went in not expecting anything and hoping for a good time, and I came out satisfied.

The plot revolves around a couple who have recently sent their daughter to college. They are left at home and invite their neighbors for dinner. The beleaguered husband, Rogan, wasn’t really wanting to host a dinner, and Wilde was over eager. She felt that they needed it as a couple, and when during the dinner it got toasty, then their marriage felt like it was over. I can’t do it justice because it was very subtle in its humor, but I got it. It was cringey for a bit.

I think it was fine and worth a visit to the theater.

3 of 5 stars.

The Graveyard Book

broderic on August 9, 2026

Was going to be a solid B, but the ending, as all children stories must, was sweet, hopeful and sad pushing the book’s grade up a notch.

B+

Springfield Sucks!

broderic on August 6, 2026

Who is this guy? Says he wrote the “Lemon of Troy” Simpsons episode from back in the day. Sounds good. Best. Episode. Ever.

Backrooms

broderic on July 31, 2026

At the end of Backrooms as we were leaving, the couple in front of me turned to me and shrugged — a shrug that said, “What the fuck did we just watch?” It was a horror film — a bit scary, a bit shocking, and a ton of unreal.

Absurd? Surreal? Sure. Unnerving? No Unsettling? Yes.

It’s the backrooms. A place you don’t want to find yourself.

It’s just freaky thing. I was perplexed but enjoyed myself. At least for the most part I wasn’t hiding behind the brim of my cap.

3 of 5 stars.

When I first heard… “Stakes is High”… I was…

broderic on July 2, 2026

It’s 30 years since they released this album. It is my favorite De La. While I don’t remember where I was hearing “Stakes is High” for the first time, I know that I listened to it all that summer. It was the summer before turning 25 — my popular time. It was the time when I had my green Jetta and a ten disc CD changer in the trunk. It was also the time when I was a drunk, fun loving person.

I think the most vivid memory for me from listening to the album at the time is when Lacy invited me to meet up with her friends in Little Italy for a late, late dinner. We had just closed Ruby Tuesday. She said let’s go. While not really into her except for her being female, I went. Driving into Baltimore and it was “Itsowezee” bumping on the radio after midnight. Who the fuck were her friends but just other servers just like us…

The Sheep Detectives

broderic on June 14, 2026

The Sheep Detectives is worth a watch, because who doesn’t love talking animals? It felt like that classic film, Babe 2: Pig in the City.

I went to watch because I read that it was Knives Out with sheep. Yup.

Charming.

3 of 5 stars.

The Devil Wears Prada 2

broderic on June 14, 2026

The Devil Wears Prada 2 doesn’t have any of the charm as its predecessor. It wanted to say something about the present, because it dealt with media, both the dying mainstream magazine and the social media. Yet, it didn’t make any sense.

The main character was still Anne Hathaway except now she was no longer the young naive assistant. She was a writer laid off from a small print magazine who was hired to help conduct PR for Meryl Streep’s editor. Emily Blunt was the head of a fashion house. But why was she here? Beyond the need to see her, she wasn’t really needed.

The movie was a trifling thing. Why did I want to go watch it?

2 of 5 stars.

Hokum

broderic on June 14, 2026

When I went to purchase tickets to Hokum online, there was no one watching on a Friday afternoon. I wondered if I should watch a scary movie alone in the darkened theater. I figured that I would be alright and went on to purchase the ticket. Obviously. When I arrived, there was one other viewer in the theater. She was an older lady who would have a seat in the row in front of me. Did you know this movie was about a witch? I did and speculated that maybe I might be watching alone with one in the theater. I have an active imagination.

Anyhow, I barely saw any of it as I was quite frightened for much of the run time. I was filled with dread. It has been a while since I felt like this in the theater. I miss it.

4 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [5.19.26]

broderic on May 19, 2026

I don’t know, but I find it easy to watch Nogizaka46 concerts from here in the US. What are people complaining about with J-Pop music. In fact, this morning I saw the first day of Nogizaka46’s 14th Year Birthday Live, and I’ll be watching the next two as well.

I guess it is almost impossible to get tickets to a show in Japan? That’s true. I’ve long wanted to go, but never have the courage to go. Plus it is impossible to get them because of the weird lottery rules and hoops to jump through. Is it worth it to lock down how to retrieve tickets? Make it difficult to get them? Or how about make them expensive with ticket scalpers and such?

Either way I am not getting to see Nogizaka46 live and in person in my lifetime.

https://unseen-japan.com/japanese-music-foreign-fans-barriers/?utm_content=buffer29c8b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=x&utm_campaign=buffer