In the Month of August, 2021, I was able to watch 23 movies. All recently released stuff. Out of those films, two of them were via Video On Demand, eight of them were seen In Theaters, eleven were from streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+), and two were movies that were released on HBO Max and in Movie Theaters simultaneously.
That’s a lot of movies in one month.
I need to watch less movies.
So Netflix and Kevin Smith released the 5 episodes “Master Of The Universe : Revelation.” There are those that are happy with what they saw, and then there are those who are losing their shit and vehemently hating on it. The disparity between those who actually liked it, compared to those who hated it, is visualized via the Rottentomatoes score.
Where do I fall on this? Did I like it, or did I hate it too? Well, as somebody who grew up on the original MOTU animated run in the ‘80s, but actually really liked the 2002 remake of He-Man, and as somebody who is a veteran of The Last Jedi defense team, I have to say that I did like “Revelation.” That subtitle is part of the reason for that.
I’m all in with what Kevin Smith envisioned with this incarnation. This is his version of Avengers Endgame and the Justice League Snydercut, but done with the MOTU franchise. “Revelation” is after all the part of the Bible that talks about the end of the world. Basically, this is the supposed ending to this He-Man story.
With the end of the world, the stakes has to be raised, and what better way to do so than “kill off” He-Man and Skeletor in the first episode. What better way to start the final story of the series, but by actually revealing all the unresolved plot threads that the original series left hanging, like Skeletor actually getting to the secrets of Greyskull, or Teela finally finding out Prince Adam’s secret identity, and the results from those big events.
Those are story threads that I’ve been waiting to see play out for over 35 years now! Toss in characters you’ve never seen animated before in the original like Andra, or Scare Glow, and Netflix’s MOTU has a lot to offer fans of the original like myself. However, that’s not what happened is it? There’s a lot of “I wanted more He-Man, not a bitchy Teela,” complaints, and completely ignores all the good the show actually does.
He-Man and Skeletor finally had a real fight against each other for a change! Significant team-ups between the bad guys and the good guys. Preternia! Subternia! Characters actually dying! Actual logical reactions to the big reveal that Prince Adam is He-Man! How are these big significant changes something a “true fan” wouldn’t want to witness?
Maybe that’s it. Change. Adults and man-children don’t like change. They fear it. Somehow the changes supposedly ruins what they liked when they were kids. They don’t really want their children shows to grow up like they did. They want to just wear their rose-colored glasses and bask in the nostalgia of a comfortable time when they don’t have to be reminded about how life sucks now.
You know what I say to that? GROW UP! No seriously. There are literally two reactions to this “Masters of the Universe: Revelations.” You like it enough to keep watching, or you don’t like it and stop watching. But wait, there’s that third option that some people have gravitated towards in that “you hated it, you whine about it, attack those who like it, and feel smug believing that your opinion is the only valid one.” C’mon guys, don’t choose the third option.
Now for those who claim that this was a bait-and-switch, I’ll say it to you as well. Grow up! Either you are pleasantly surprised at the big shift in premise at the end of the first episode, or you hated it and moved on with your life. Seriously now, don’t choose a third option!
You genre fans going into fits about changes ruining your childhood, seem to be forgetting about a particular animated movie from the ‘80s that not only killed off favorite characters, but completely forced new characters to a much loved franchise. I am talking about The Transformers The Movie from 1986. If that came out today, so many people would be so angry with what happened in that movie. Back then when I saw it as a kid, I just took it as a continuation to the whole story, and not some kind of affront to this franchise that I loved.
All the outrage over a TV show are the definition of being childish. Which is an insult to all children everywhere. All this negativity only further gives Nerds and Geeks a bad name. Stop it.
P.S. Why is there not enough He-Man in this show? The obvious answer is that it’s called “Masters of the Universe” and not “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.” Secondly, look up the “Superman Problem,” and you’ll see why the writers avoided having too much He-Man on this show.
2021. This is the year that movie theaters and streaming services are definitely going head to head in competing for people’s eyeballs for the big American July 4th weekend at the movies.
From the movie theater side, we’ve got an aging horror series entry in “The Forever Purge,” an indie film in “Zola,” and an animated franchise release with “the Boss Baby: Family Business.” It should be noted, that there are a few more limited released films, but I’ll stick with the high profile releases. It should also be mentioned that “the Boss Baby” movie is also simultaneously available for streaming on Peacock TV.
In the streaming side of things, we’ve got Netflix releasing the animated film “America: The Motion Picture,” and the slasher flick “Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994.” HBO Max is releasing the Steven Soderbergh crime film “No Sudden Move.” Amazon Prime Video has the Chris Pratt sci-fi action blockbuster “The Tomorrow War.” Hulu is a little more down key by it’s release of the documentary “Summer of Soul.” Plus as mentioned before, Peacock TV has “the Boss Baby: Family Business” available to it’s subscribers as well.
Between the movie theater July 4 weekend releases and the streaming services’ offerings, you’ve got to admit, the latter reflects the holiday weekend much better. The biggest ammo that movie theaters actually have for the weekend is “F9: The Fast Saga” doing it’s second week of release. The biggest advantage that streaming services have are having even more variety of choices.
This is where we seem to be at now for watching movies. Straight to home releases are a legitimate choice for movie goers now. Should we embrace the change or push back a little bit?
I remember saying that I was going to at the minimum post at least one blog post here, every Month, during 2021. As I’m writing this, it’s May 31, and exactly one hour away from June. Pacific time that is. I already failed my goal by Eastern time. Why do I keep giving myself these responsibilities?
I don’t think I’ve been shy about saying that every week, I want to just give up on whowhatwhereswhy.com. To just quit altogether. I’m already spending so much time on it like it’s a part time job. Except I’m not getting paid for my effort at all. Over six years of this, and I’m still waiting for something to happen. Some would probably suggest that the moment has passed and it’s time to give up.
I read social media posts of other people who are saying the same thing about their careers. How they felt like they should just give up chasing their dreams, but they are going to still keep trying, because they still love it. You know the difference between those posts and mine (like this one)? There are actual people reading them! They actually have a fanbase to support them chasing their dreams. While the numbers suggests there are people who are paying attention to what we’re doing here, they sure aren’t acting like a fanbase. It sounds like I’m showing signs of jealousy, and you may not be wrong.
I want to be given a strong reason why I should continue all this, besides some arbitrary goals and achievements that I made up for myself, or how I’m just documenting my thoughts for future references about my life. I’m already telling myself not to give up every single day. Why doesn’t somebody else take a turn and make me not quit?
As I’m writing this, I just finished my first full 40 hours week working my regular day job, after 13 Months of being on furlough. I did previously say that I really would rather not go back to work until I get my vaccine shots, so thankfully I did just that this past April 19, 2021. Of course I’m technically not “fully vaccinated” until 2 weeks after the 2nd Pfizer shot, but whatever.
The first week of work was tiring, exhausting, and my body had to once again start getting used to that daily and weekly grind of my day job. I’m not here to talk about how my job is going though. I’m here to share my thoughts on how my way of living has been altered again. Needless to say, 13 Months of just staying at home, was a blessing and a curse.
It was a blessing, because I was able to dedicate a lot more time on whowhatwhereswhy, and I would like to think that the overall quality of content for the website has definitely shown signs of improvement because of this fact. It was a blessing, because I was able to find more time on my other pastimes like video games, comic books, listening to podcasts, and watching TV. It was a blessing, because I was able to spend more time with my wife and my dog, away from my usual commitments to making content for this website, and especially away from my regular job.
My staying home all that time was a curse, because it showed me how it must be like to be able to retire. It showed me how it must be like to be well off enough to just do whatever I want to do, without having to do a regular job if I didn’t want to. It showed me what it was like to treat whowhatwhereswhy as my regular job, and I definitely like that idea. So yeah, those 13 Months was a curse, because it showed me a life that I can no longer have for the foreseeable future. I am in fact saddened by this a bit.
10 hours of my weekday is taken by my regular day job, and that includes dealing with traffic to and from work. The rest of those 14 hours in a day is taken by sleep, eating, and my time spent with my wife and doggie. The amount of hours I have left to dedicate time to this website and all my other pastimes, are just not comparable anymore to how it was when I was on furlough.
I say all that seemingly without the self-awareness that everybody else is going through this same situation. Isn’t that what’s sad about our reality though? A chunk of our time is spent on a job that we need, in order to even have a life. However, if we don’t have the time to live that life, then what’s really the point of having that job? That’s the rat race we’re all living isn’t it? That race to try to be wealthy and privileged enough to do whatever you want to do, without worrying about working a job that only seems to be getting in your way of living.
So yeah, this post seems completely unnecessary and only sounds like I’m whining. Yes it is and yes it does. It makes me feel a little better being able to write these down though, but it doesn’t change the fact that I should just snap out of it, and just make do with what I’m able to do. Let’s all make the best of it, do our darndest to keep on keeping on, and go back to work with the thought that we should feel lucky enough to be able to complain about such things.
P.S. Some random thoughts about my return to work… It felt like going back to school after a nice long summer break, and it’s a feeling I haven’t had in a very very long time. My work place has greatly been altered due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety protocols, which is something I wonder if I’ll ever really get used to. Working with people who don’t share my political beliefs is going to be a bit more tense than it’s ever been, and I just have to find clever ways of either avoiding the subject, or make that hard effort to not let things get heated.
For a lot of people, they consider March 11, 2020, as the first day of the COVID-19 pandemic. The day things changed for everyone. For me however, it was for the most part a regular day. I woke up, drove to work, did my regular 8.5 hours shift, and then drove home. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I was after all already aware of this novel coronavirus for weeks now at that point, and nobody has given me any indication that I was going to be affected in any significant way; unless I catch COVID that is. I have even voiced my opinion at work about making more of an effort to keep things more sanitized than usual, which only resulted with some co-workers giving me a look like I was overreacting. They said things will be fine.
On March 12, 2020, I did my usual routine just like the previous day, and even went to see a movie that night; “Bloodshot.” There was one thing extra that was on my mind however. I got word that there was a strong chance that my place of work was going to be forced to shut down because of the pandemic. Half of me thought that there was no way for that to happen, because a running business equals making money, and my work place is all about making money. They said things will be fine.
March 13, 2020, Friday the Thirteenth, and there was an air of concern that my place of work is actually going to have to close up for the pandemic. I finished my shift that day, and then went to go see another movie; “The Hunt.” Shortly later on, I was informed by the company that I didn’t have to return to work for an undetermined period. “We’ll probably see you in two weeks” they joked. My mind wasn’t too concerned. It won’t be a long break from work. They said things will be fine.
To my surprise. That Friday was the last time I went to work, as I was eventually furloughed. “The Hunt” turned out to be the last thing I saw at a movie theater. At the time I’m writing this, it’s been one year since I forced myself to be “safer at home.” It’s been one year since I went out to eat. It’s been one year since I’ve had a gathering with family or friends. It’s been one year since I’ve gone to any event. It’s been one effing year of just staying home. Will things really be fine again?
Now admittedly, I have always said that I’m a homebody, and I’m sorta anti-social. Just staying at home isn’t a big deal right? Correct! I joke that I’m made for a pandemic, because I’m the guy who is never bored, as there is always something for me to do. That absolutely has not changed, even though I’m home all the time now. I have the internet, TV, and gaming. I have my Wife and my pet Dog in my life. I’m thinking things really will be fine.
The only time I had to leave the house, is when I needed to buy groceries, get take-out food, or when I walked the dog. Occasionally, I needed to go check on my parents, and there was that one time I drove to San Diego for a few hours. Other than all that, I’m just at home. From living a life when I’m always leaving home, needing to drive somewhere practically everyday, to a life where the most driving I have done in a year is in the video game “Cyberpunk 2077.” This is almost like what they jokingly call a “staycation,” and it’s seriously been fine.
It’s March 13, 2021 now, and I’m starting to think I’m under house arrest, instead of this vacation at home concept. I hit a snag in this homebody living. Due to some glitch, I haven’t received an unemployment check in two months now, and it hasn’t been resolved yet. I’m still on furlough from my work, so that’s a serious problem. Not having regular income coming in is obviously going to disrupt things. I only have maybe two months left of savings to accommodate paying the bills. I would like to go back to a job, but I really would rather get the COVID-19 vaccine first. I’m starting to feel depressed that things will not be fine at all.
During the past year, people have been frustrated with these lock down orders. People are complaining about getting cabin fever. Being sick and tired of communicating via video chat. Missing meeting friends and family in person. Not getting to go to parties, live events, or festivals. All that, plus more! Once again, as somebody who calls himself a homebody, I’ve been able to put up with all that. However, the most cliché thing is what’s actually getting to me. Money. Why does it always have to be about money? Why does it have to be such a necessity to have money to be fine?
One year later of being under the shadow of COVID-19, and financial instability still wins as the bigger threat. Why does money always have to be an issue? Why haven’t we figure out how to deal with income inequality in America? How is this still fine?!
More than 532,000 people have died from COVID-19 in America in a span of one year. With that said, I’m betting more people's lives are destroyed due to financial insecurity every year. That’s not fine at all.