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⭐8/10 This was a show made just for me. Food, travel, and two of my favorite hobbits come together to make a wonderful, wholesome tv series. I have followed these two sporadically since Lord of the Rings, and I think they're pretty talented! They have pretty great chemistry after years and years of being friends, they're pretty funny and they're good with guests.  They explore some creative locations and I appreciated the in-depth look at the culture of the places they visit. For instance they go to Texas and so they go to a high school football game or a state fair and get fried stuff at concession stands. They go to Switzerland and visit places where they make cheese, go to remote Costa Rica and visit tortilla makers or coffee roasters. I think they do an awesome job of travelling off the beaten path and I think I learned some things watching this show. This isn't just going to the big cities and visiting the Michelin star restaurants, though they do that ...

     This is the first fiction book I've ever read that was written by a non-speaking autistic person, which immediately caught my attention. It revolves around Upward Bound, a daycare for adults with disabilities. Each chapter focuses on a different person who is a client there, works there, or is connected to it in some way. The central character is Walter, who seems to be closely based on the author himself, as he is also non-speaking but has a university degree and aspires to be an author. Through the different characters, we get a lot of looks at the people who make up a place like Upward Bound, as well as how it's run.     There's so much about this book that I found revelatory and thought-provoking. Through Walter we get to learn about the inner life of someone who isn't able to communicate in traditional ways, having to rely on a spelling board and someone trained in that form of communication, but because Upward Bound doesn't have the resources to suppl...

⭐9/10 This is now my second McCarthy book and I am a believer. What a bold, unique talent he is, and I wish I would have gotten to his stuff earlier. It's everything I like in books, a literary look at big-picture stuff like the nature of violence and greed, the soul of a nation, death and morality, all told in nice prose that can turn on the jets when needed.  This is also the second book in a row I read which was adapted into an all-time great movie, so I had a bit more context with which to understand it. Unlike the Godfather, I think there is a bit more going on under the surface. Even when a major character basically has a multi-chapter monologue at the end, I still wasn't totally sure what this book was trying to say, but it gives you plenty to think about and I think questions are always more valuable in art than answers.  I think this book works on a lot of levels with an engrossing plot and vivid characters. Chigurh is an all-time movie villain, but his ro...

⭐10/10 There is no way I can have a normal opinion about this movie. Jess recommended it as one to watch with an edible, and so while we were fairly zooted, we were pretty much dying the entire runtime of this movie. It is a mockumentary about show dog handlers as they prepare for a big show, and they are predictably all deranged and ridiculous.  It is a very, very strange movie with a sense of humor that is hard to describe. It felt very Tim Heidecker to me, lots of following strange people saying strange things, much of it presumably improvised. It opens with a couple in a therapy session talking about how their family dynamic has not been the same ever since their dog walked in on them having sex, and then it gets weirder and weirder from there. It features a ton of amazing names from Jennifer Coolidge, Parker Posey, to Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara (once again) being the most dysfunctional couple ever recorded. It also features a Cam-and-Mitchell type couple whic...

⭐10/10 Again, I don't need to tell anyone that this movie is a masterpiece. However, unlike part 1, I was really thinking that this one would fall short of the original. It has been at least a decade since I've watched it and forgot most of the details, and my primary thought while watching was that it was a beautifully shot movie with awesome locations, that it features awesome actors giving compelling performances, but ultimately that it was too long and the main characters too tiresome. I thought it lacked the sun that was Marlon Brando that everything else could orbit around.  The ending of this movie proved me wrong. Spoiler warning for both 1 and 2.  I'll try to keep this a little more brief because nobody needs my thoughts on this movie in 2026, but yeah, my main complaint was that Michael was too unlikeable and his insistence on certain principles too tiring to hold me for over 200 minutes of a movie. He's a terrific character, and that glower is unm...

⭐9/10 It's been a long time since I've read a theology book, but I decided to visit one from my good friend Greg Boyd. Nobody has had a bigger influence on the way I think about the Bible than Greg, and I will admit that I am so familiar with his theology that very little in this book jumped out to me. I've heard pretty much every argument he makes here in some lecture or sermon or podcast at some point, but still it was good to catch up on these points.  This book is an attempt to make sense of the horrifying violence of the Old Testament. Greg's main argument is that the God that appears in the Old Testament often seems completely inconsistent with his character revealed in the person of Jesus, so how do we reckon with it? He goes through some of the options that scholars have put forth, ranging from disregarding the OT to attempting to justify the violence as a form of righteous love, but has trouble accept theories similar to the former because Jesus him...

⭐10/10 For a decade I've tried to search out games that Jess and I can play together, and I've had a little success! She's reluctantly agreed to play things like DC Online, we had a ton of fun playing Overcooked and Mario, and I created a monster when I introduced her to Stardew. But this game is the first I feel like we've been truly obsessed with, putting all else aside to get a few sessions in. Surely my devoted followers have noticed my lack of movie reviews this month - it's because we can't get enough of Sunderfolk! This is a tactical RPG released by Secret Door and published by Dreamhaven which are all teams filled with ex-Blizzard personnel, the team that brought us pretty much every classic from the mid-90s to the mid-2010s. They have always been innovators, and Sunderfolk is kinda the first game of its kind. It is a multiplayer game that you get on console or PC, and then each player uses their phone as a controller, but all look at the sha...

⭐7.5/10 This is a collection of Japanese manga short horror stories. So ya know, a bit different than my usuals! I should also mention that I got this free at a little library in Toronto which is super cool, and I read it pretty quickly.  It's super hard for me to know how to rate this. I have zero context with which to place it. I had heard the name Junji Ito before, but this is actually the first manga of any type that I've ever read. On the one hand, I really enjoyed it and was always happy to go through them, flying through each story in fifteen minutes. On the other, I can't say I felt anything too strongly throughout, and certainly never felt, like, scared. And yet I found these stories quite compelling, some of them super creepy and twisted and like they could be the backdrop for an awesome novel or movie. But my more prevailing thought was that rather than being great short stories, that these were beginnings of ideas that needed to better fleshed out. J...

⭐10/10 You know I had to go back and watch after reading the book. I know I'm not breaking any news by saying this movie is a masterpiece, but this movie is a masterpiece. I can't say I have any specific attachment to the movie, but it's one that I think is truly flawless. The classic lines, the timeless scenes, all delivered by the best actors in perfect roles.  I watched this one for the first time as a teenager and I think it was something of a gateway for me, introducing me to these stronger thematic elements in movies, starting to understand that a story can be told in the subtext, that a movie can say something without saying it. In retrospect the themes aren't exactly subtle, but I think this movie was so popular for a reason as anyone can understand what it's trying to say, but everyone can also acknowledge that it's said with some deftness. I remember getting to that final, striking scene and things all clicking and having one of those silen...

⭐8/10 I think like a lot of people, I didn't realize this was a book before it was a movie, but I'd become interested after Tim's glowing review. I recently came across it at a thrift store and flipped through a few pages while I waited for someone, and then I couldn't put it down! I think that's a pretty rare feeling, but I simply couldn't leave the store without it -- and I feel like that's something a Don would say.  I mostly had that same feeling all through reading it. I think Puzo is a super talented writer and has a bunch of timeless lines here. As Tim mentioned, the movie is a super faithful adaptation and most of the best lines there were here first. The story is of course super compelling and then there are those great literary elements, the classic tale of the fall of man. I mean yeah, it's well-written, it's got plenty of sex and violence, has some literary strength and an examination of the human condition. This is the quinte...

⭐7/10 This title is misleading because this is actually a book that goes through the entire medieval calendar (which I suppose is in the subtitle). I thought it would be more about habits and survival tactics of medieval people, but it's really more about holidays and festivals throughout the year.  No real strong opinion here. It's a good book that's super well researched. It uses a ton of first-hand accounts and so there's lots of quotes with beautiful Anglo-Saxon passages, but this book was too niche even for me.  It was sorta one of those books where I knew most of the more interesting points, and probably won't remember the more obscure ones.  Still, it was short and I never really minded going back to it. Not my favorite book on medieval history and definitely not one I would recommend as an introduction to the subject, but a good one nonetheless. 

⭐10/10 Two Chosen reviews on this blog back to back? What good little church boys this website must host - except no! This show took me years to watch! In fact, I was the one to originally recommend the show to Tim, and here he is reviewing season 4 while I only finished 1. His reward awaits him in heaven.  There are a few reasons I took forever to watch this show, and none of them are the show's fault. We watched it as a devotional of sorts, oftentimes when we missed church (is this me saying I only missed church 8 times in 2 years..?). I found this show super edifying, often giving me a better appreciation of the gospels and the characters in them.  But the bigger reason was that I always felt super emotionally invested every time we watched, and I shed tears pretty much every episode. It wasn't something we just tuned into on a Tuesday evening. It's hard for me to separate the craft of this show from its source material, but I think the way it sets up conflic...

⭐ 9/10 All the positives of my last 3 season reviews are still here, this show continues to be great. I like how this season slows down a bit, at least in the second half, as we get to Lazarus and the lead in to Holy week (timely). The thought of this show really slowing down in season 5, covering only a couple days, is very exciting. As Gandalf says, the board is set, the pieces are moving. They have set up so so many characters, and finally seeing dominoes fall is very satisfying. This show did have an arc in the middle, actually dead center of the entire series, where there is a moment that does not happen in the Bible but has massive implications. This led to good conversations with our Bible study, I don't want to spoil what happens but I can't say I was a fan. However, as the show has moved on from that point I understand the choice, and its playing a direct role in getting one of the disciples to his key moment. I've probably said it before, but I love how this show...

⭐ 6/10 Ezra loved Cars, but didn't seem to care at all about Cars 2, so why not Planes? I read a couple quick reviews and was shocked to find that this movie is completely reviled! People were really angry about it, and while I didn't love it at all I didn't think it was terrible. Cars is excellent, and has a great premise, basically Emporer's New Groove for the arc of the main character. In this movie we have a crop duster who dreams of being a racer - cool! Also, he's afraid of heights! Great! I liked this as a setup, but the rest of the movie is pretty cookie cutter. Hits all the same beats as cars, all the same jokes (including lots of read-end humour, including vehicles ogling the tail ends of the female vehicles, which is kind of weird), even has a basically identical supporting cast. That might be where the hate came from, this is a lazy retread. Even the voice actor playing Dusty (Dane Cook!? Remember him!?) sounds a whole lot like Owen Wilson. But over a d...

     This is a very recent release that I was interested in primarily because of the great title and cover, and obviously I have a particular interest in China. The premise of a book that combines Chinese history and magical realism also intrigued me, and I thought this was a good book to challenge myself a bit with.      This book is made up primarily of 3 points of view in 3 different time periods.  We start in 2017, when Qianze receives word that her father, who left the family when she was 14, is looking for her. He's confused and haunted, and she gives in and houses him. Every day he rambles about his past and a family curse, but can't quite remember what he needs to tell her. Then we get sections from her father Weihong's pov of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution, during which he discovers the violence he's capable of. Finally, we get the story of Weihong's mother Ming during the Japanese invasion, growing up as an unwanted daught...

⭐10/10 This is a movie that totally slipped under my radar and didn't seem to get a whole lot of traction in general. It seems like not a ton of people saw it and it never really garnered a ton of praise, having some positive but mostly middling reviews.  Well you know me! I won't be deterred by the throngs, but will call this movie what it is: an absolute masterpiece! And because this movie was written, directed, and led by women, you can call me an ally while you're at it.  Anyways, this movie is about Saoirse hitting rock bottom with addiction after moving to the big city, and so she moves back home to Orkney to try and heal and get away from temptation. I totally admit that this movie was made specifically for me. It is all sweeping shots of the most beautiful country in the world, moody close-ups as the waves crash over the shore, and a wonderful actress at the peak of her powers portraying a complex, often tortured person in recovery. It would be impossibl...

⭐N/A Moby Dick is now also my white whale, and like Captain Ahab my zeal for finishing this novel grew and grew but was ultimately left unfulfilled. Unlike Ahab, I have the power of an online blog where I can process my thoughts and thus leave my white whale in peace. I thought this would be the perfect book for me, with all the sea-faring qualities I loved from The Wager, combined with the literary adventure qualities I've come to love from books like Lonesome Dove. I pick up a classic now and then, and although this one is nearing 200 years old, I was initially sold. I found it pretty approachable and even entertaining, following the story of Ismael as he gets wrapped up in an epic revenge story.  Eventually, though, i had to admit to myself that I was no longer enjoying or really even comprehending this story. I know it's dumb to review a DNF, but i spent dozens of hours over three months trying to finish this novel and developed a lot of opinions. I would say th...

⭐6/10 Kinda forgot I watched this one. I was a true believer in the first movie, feeling that despite its flaws, the music was amazing and the emotional moments worked for me. I think this one was just a little worse in every way. I didn't really feel anything all movie, and then the music is all pretty forgettable. I also found the first one pretty funny, and I know this is supposed to be more serious but without the humor element I found this one a bit boring.  The costumes and sets all look fantastic again, though the CGI is pretty brutal. All that said, I would have forgiven much if this one paid off those bleak, tragic themes it hinted at in part 1. This movie was set up to be a heart-wrenching tragedy but instead it was a pretty tame fairytale ending in which I kinda just shrugged my shoulders and forgot all about during my drive home. Pretty disappointing follow up to a movie that really had it's moment the year before. 

⭐8/10 Won't take a ton of time to review this season, but it was an interesting and unique one because it introduced duos. I mean, it totally goes against the literal name of the game, but I thought it was a welcome addition. I loved seeing the dynamics of both people working towards the same goal, and it adds a level on energy and intrigue to the show when you see these people interacting. That said, the gimmick for this season didn't work. The pairs were forced to find each other through the bush, and while that might be a survival skill, it's not really what this show is about, and instead it eliminated half the teams before the survival element really started. There were multiple instances where people had to leave against their will for their partner and it was a bit of a bummer. Still, when the teams that made it were reunited, it made for some beautiful moments.  The teams were a mixed bag. It featured a couple, father & son duos, and brothers, with o...