James Hunt

I think it's probably Sam, but also want to give a shout to Legolas and Gimli specifically as a pairing

Yeah, exactly. There's this sense a Star Wars movie needs to be something grander and greater, but if you average out the movies, the bar isn't that high (3-4 masterpieces, but then the rest varies quite a lot)

I mean, I would HOPE it's better than Caravan of Courage! 😅

The first press reactions to Mando & Grogu are in (https://comicbook.com/movies/news/the-mandalorian-grogu-first-reactions-cant-agree-if-its-one-of-the-weakest-star-wars-movies-or-super-fun/), and they're quite mixed. There's a lot of "this is fun," along with several complaints about its story and just being an extended episode of TV, none of which is particularly surprising (and hey, Star Wars is divisive, what else is new?). Honestly, if it's just a big, fun, pulpy adventure ride, with Grogu being cute as hell, I'm fine with that considering the last Star Wars movie was a complete disaster.

Another week, another big twist (which I wrote about here). I thought it was a good episode, the death was well done and hit the right notes, and the stuff with Kimiko is interesting setup for the finale, but... I have no idea how they wrap everything up in just one episode?? What did you think?

3.5 years between seasons of a show is crazy. I do wonder if they're just gonna try to wrap the Thrawn stuff up there and move on, or whether there'll be more. That side of things has lost all momentum, which is wild given how huge a deal Thrawn's return was

Oh man, I bet. He sounds like the best boy ❤️ Really is crazy how cute they made Grogu (I frequently look after a dog for someone and Grogu always reminds me a lot of her as well), not sure there's another character who comes close in that regard.

Truly great? Maybe not. Good enough? Definitely. Beetlejuice 2 was a bounce back in movie terms (obvs there's Wednesday on TV, but film wise he was on a run of stinkers) and a fun film, especially as it could've so easily been a disaster. Burton was my favourite director when I was a teenager, and so I really like a lot of his 2000s output (Apes aside), but I don't think he's made anything I would classify as GREAT since Ed Wood. But that run from Beetlejuice to that was incredible, so hopefully he still has some of that (Beetle) juice left in him, and I think he's a good fit for Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. Don't really want Beetlejuice 3 though, let's not push it!

I don't think so, but then... I've not been fully invested in the show for quite some time because the quality just hasn't been high enough, despite strong casting (Whittaker and Gatwa both innocent and deserved better writing) and the very occasional good story. That's the biggest thing it needs to address for me, and if it can prove it's delivering that consistently, I'll be back in. I don't think a reboot particularly helps one way or another with that since the show always soft-reboots anyway, but if that is what it takes to get the show back to where it used to be, then I'm also fine with it

After the first look at The Batman 2 revealed Gotham in the snow, I wrote about how its version of Gotham can again outdo one from The Dark Knight Rises (https://comicbook.com/movies/feature/the-batman-2-can-beat-nolans-dark-knight-trilogy-again-now-its-officially-continuing-a-34-year-trend/). I love the entire Dark Knight Trilogy, but its Gotham is one of the only points I'd criticise - it's a generic big city, which does work well enough for those movies, but doesn't have a sense of character. I really like The Batman's version, and the one from Joel Schumacher's movies, but nothing has come close to beating Tim Burton's Gotham for me, it's perfect. What do you think?

Vin Diesel has said four Fast & Furious shows are coming to Peacock (https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/four-fast-furious-tv-shows-officially-in-the-works-with-vin-diesel-involved/). It seems like one is actually confirmed, with others in various stages of development. While I think The Fast Saga has run out of gas (I loved the ridiculousness of F9, but Fast X was just ok), it makes sense that they'd look to continue it with one live-action TV show. I don't think I'd watch it, but it's a logical franchise expansion. Four, however...

I think it's really more a question of "how long would Dumbledore last?"

Is Ryrna Reynolds one of the secret names from the script? Don't think it hides it very well. I agree it's probably Wolverine, but also just find it quite funny how confused Cumming is by this entire experience.

Love that dog story 🥹 I'm looking forward to it (even more so now due to being in the middle of a Mando rewatch right now in preparation - Seasons 1 and 2 are so good - but I've liked everything from the marketing in the past couple of months). I don't think it'll be spectacular, but I do think it'll be a good fun family adventure movie, and most importantly, Grogu will once again be ridiculously adorable, and I'm fine with that. It's not like every Star Wars movie before now was some 5* masterpiece... I also think its box office will be fine - it'll appeal more to families than fanboys, and that's a solid strategy for success here. Again, not huge, but good enough

I haven't started on Stormlight yet, but my friend who got me onto Mistborn and has read both said that was the better starting point as it's a bit more accessible than Stormlight

I think the explanation makes sense, but wasn't even necessary. The only explanation that's needed is "It's literally Darth Vader."

Very tough, I would probably call Oppenheimer his "best" as I think it's his most impressive filmmaking achievement, but The Dark Knight is still my personal fave (followed closely by Inception).

Agree with Simon on the movie point, but also given there is no evidence they can actually get the movies right, then I think this is the better, more exciting path to go down right now

I still have these sitting waiting to be read. I tried when I was about 13 and obsessed with the movies, but Tolkien spending like 50 pages describing a tree was a bit much for me then, I've no doubt I'd love them now. Tonally very different but did really enjoy The Hobbit (book, not movies!).

Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (final book in the trilogy) and The Narrow Road Between Desires (Kingkiller Chronicle novella)

I'd honestly kinda assumed this was the case, because he's hardly ever mentioned. And if Peter had been involved in his death, then it'd surely weigh heavily upon him and we'd have gotten a (Spidey) sense of that backstory, rather than Ben basically not existing, so I think this reveal makes sense with the MCU's portrayal and the importance of Aunt May

Yeah, I have mixed feelings because I've generally enjoyed the season, including last week's more "filler" episode as I think it did advance things quite a bit, and the ending here was wild, but two episodes does seem a bit crazy as I'd rather have the "Homelander has V1" stuff last longer. Probably a bit too much setup for Vought Rising for my liking as well. On the Stormfront front, I think she's been referenced too much in this season for it not to be building to a big reveal like that (it's either she's his mother or she's still alive, maybe both). So many options to defeat Homelander don't really fit neatly at this point. Marie is powerful enough, but bringing in a Gen V character to be so integral to the endgame wouldn't be great (and Kripke has said this, tbf). Soldier Boy might flip-flop again and I could see him removing his powers, but it'd take a lot to do that justice in two episodes. I do still think Ryan will play a part in it, despite getting destroyed earlier in the season.

The latest installment had another major ending twist (covered here https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/feature/the-boys-season-5-episode-6-ending-twist-changes-everything-for-homelander-supports-a-big-stormfront-theory/) and is huge for the endgame. I thought it was another pretty solid installment, particularly liked the scene with Homelander and The Legend, but what did you think? Is there enough time to wrap things up, who can stop Homelander now that he has V-One, and what do you make of the theory that Stormfront is his mother?

As a viewer love this release method and agree it'd be cool to see more of it. In terms of covering it for work, less of a fan! 😅 Enjoyed the prequel, don't think it's up there with the show's best, but it's great to dive more into Richie and Mikey's story

So good! That is exactly how Vader should be, horror villain-esque, and Devon's arc was very well done