• Micro

    Do I want to buy YET ANOTHER THING on Amazon? No. But if you’re telling me I can avoid haggling, the hours of sitting around waiting for paperwork, the upsales and more, then: yes, I’d be fine buying my car on Amazon.

    Tuesday December 10, 2024
  • Blog

    A Tale of Two Headlines (Or, Hollywood, Give Me Something New)

    Two stories broke today, which, for whatever reason were the straws that broke me.

    Variety: Jeremy Allen White Joins ‘Star Wars’ Film ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ as Jabba the Hutt’s Son

    Jeremy Allen White has joined the “Star Wars” film “The Mandalorian & Grogu” as the voice of Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta the Hutt, Variety has confirmed. The project marks the first major franchise for the actor following his Emmy-winning breakout role on the FX series “The Bear.”

    The Wrap: Chris Evans Sets Marvel Return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ | Exclusive

    Chris Evans is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the cast for “Avengers: Doomsday,” the highly anticipated sequel that will also star Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, The Wrap has learned exclusively. Evans will be involved in some capacity, but the extent and exact nature of his role is unknown.


    I grew up as a latchkey kid. Single mom, only child, you get a lot of time to yourself. And I threw myself into the worlds of comics and movies. They showed me the powers of creativity, the magic of filmmaking, the intricacies of line art, taught me lessons about color and light.

    I’d devour any of it. Watching movies on cable lead to renting movies from Blockbuster. Renting movies led to buying movies. Buying movies lead to buying more movies (I had roughly 1000 Blu-Rays + DVDs at a point). Reading comics lead to reading Wizard Magazine. Reading Wizard lead to learning about all the amazing and creative things being done at all the comic companies. Just like with directors, I learned to follow writers and artists to their next thing.

    I don’t say this to be dramatic or a bummer, but they were my world. A child of divorce, who struggled to socialize, I lost myself in the 4-color worlds of Marvel, DC and Image, and the big screen adventures that hit every weekend.

    Then I found my people, fellow nerds who knew more movie quotes than extended family members names, who loved to rank and talk and share and recommend and debate all of this.

    Somewhere in here, the comics started hitting theaters again. Tim Burton’s Batman was a near religious experience for me as an 8 year old, but that seemed the exception to the rule. Until X-Men hit. Until Blade hit. Until Spider-Man hit.

    My loves were colliding. And what’s that, more Star Wars too? Sure, the prequels were flawed, but they were more of something I loved. Giving me something new from a world that had more or less helped to define my love of movies.

    Iron Man hits. Robert freakin’ Downey Jr. as Iron Man? No way. Wait, what’s this about an Avengers project? It ties into that new Hulk movie? No way they got Chris Evans to be a superhero again, I loved that dude in Scott Pilgrim. Paul Rudd(!!!) as Ant-Man with Edgar Wright behind the lens? Holy shit.

    And now Disney owns them. And they’re gonna own Lucasfilm too? Wait…more new Star Wars? And they’re gonna try to make up where the Prequels failed. Interesting. Can they? Wow, Force Awakens was a lot of fun. Rogue One, what a flick.

    And the saturation came. I didn’t need to special order comic book shirts from Diamond Distributors by way of my local comic store, I didn’t need to go to comic cons, I could just go and buy representations of these things which were the fabric of me at my local goddamned Target? How cool. Phases? TV Shows? Streaming? More? More? MORE? MORE??

    …and…I think they’ve gone too far. And I can’t help but feel like I’m a bit at fault.

    Not me specifically, but who I am. As has been said before, “The Nerds Won”. Nerdy things don’t make you outcasts, they make you accepted, as I longed to be and eventually was. And there’s always more.

    But…it’s not the new. It’s not the different. It’s not the daring.

    That Star Wars prequel? Outshined by The Matrix that year, a radically different, unique, original idea that inspired the next generation after me, in ways both in terms of filmmaking, and making people think differently about themselves and the discomfort they feel.

    …is it any wonder they did two more? And a fourth, over a decade later?


    We’re at a phase where these things I love are just being reheated and re-served to me. Look at the archives of this blog, I was excited about these things along the way. I’m still excited for some things (I really want to see a trailer of James Gunn’s Superman quite badly). But I can’t help but feel like the magic is going away.

    The headlines above, while real, they feel like they were slapped together by AI. [ACTOR OF NOTE OR FORMER STAR OF FRANCHISE] Joins [INSERT FRANCHISE WHO NEEDS HELP] as [CHARACTER]. These aren’t the first, they won’t be the last. We’ve got Robert Downey Jr. returning as…Doctor Doom for some reason. Apparently we’re getting a whole slew of actors we know and love…to just do Harry Potter again, but longer. We’re getting more Lord of the Rings and they might just be making them up this time.

    I’m 40 years old. Maybe I’m aging out. Or maybe Hollywood needs to realize…they can’t keep marketing to me.

    I mentioned above how much comics have meant to me. They went to a fandom to a side hustle to a second career. And if you step in a comic store, you know what they’re doing now? Selling more variant covers of every issue to the same, older growing audience. And raising the price, to see what the ceiling can be. They’re marketing to me and people like me, again and again and again.

    There are flashes of hope. Every so often there’s a Saga or a Walking Dead or a Dawnrunner or *Do a Powerboat!*that shake things up for comics and give us something new. Every so often there’s a movie out there which gives us a wholly unique experience and reminds us what we love about movies.

    But they’re not coming everywhere. We’re afraid to take swings, we’re afraid to try and fail, we’re afraid of New. We’re afraid of Different. We’re afraid of the old tricks not working. And maybe, the real issue is: we’re afraid of becoming old.

    Let the next generation take over and make new things. It’s how we got here in the first place. Whether it was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby using the social changes of the 60’s to create flawed comic book heroes, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird self publishing a Daredevil parody with turtles in the 1980s, George Lucas using the cache of the success of his 50’s greaser movie to cash in and make a new version of the sci-fi serials he loved, but for the modern day…these were risks. These were creatives. These were people who wanted to make something new, first for themselves, and then found how it reverberated with likeminded folks.

    I don’t need to be blanketed in the safety of what was. I’m longing for the challenge.


    This is rambling and turning into almost a “Comics and Genre Movies are Dead” version of the speech Jeff Daniels gives at the beginning of The Newsroom, so I’m going to tie this together. It doesn’t help that I’ve written all stream of consciousness, but, eh, we’ll deal.

    Could these movies be good? Sure. Will I see them? Likely.

    But will they inspire? Will they make people want to make their own films at home? Will they make someone say “I have a story and I need to tell it”?

    I don’t know. Because right now, it all looks like just another gig for a paycheck. Another instance of confirming shareholder value and maximizing the use of legacy IP or whatever rambling shit the heads of these studios are going to tell people on investment calls. But it’s not adventurous. And we could all use an adventure right now.

    Monday December 9, 2024
  • Micro

    While I miss ThinkGeek for a multitude of reasons, not having them as the perfect White Elephant gift shop sure stands out this time of year.

    Sunday December 8, 2024
  • Micro

    Say what you will about the rest of the movie, but the opening of Tenet absolutely rules.

    Friday December 6, 2024
  • Micro

    I’m not a big follower of YouTube personalities, but in recent weeks, I’ve become a big fan of Kyle Bosman’s Delayed Input. Clever, funny, insightful video game industry commentary every Friday. Here’s this weeks. Maybe you’ll dig. And stay during the credits.

    Friday December 6, 2024
  • Micro

    When I read stupid comments like those in the press from the CEO of OpenAI or the head of the Los Angeles Times, I ask myself: where do they get their confidence? I will spiral if you give me an odd look in conversation, and they’re getting whirlwind dunked by the internet and shrugging it off.

    Thursday December 5, 2024
  • Micro

    I’m not sure why this wasn’t available day one, but you can now watch the linear HBO networks on Max.

    Wednesday December 4, 2024
  • Micro

    This little app, Festivas, sounds like a great addition to run on your Mac this holiday season.

    Wednesday December 4, 2024
  • Micro

    It’s got a weird-ass name, but I am throughly excited for a new Gundam series as co-written by Hideaki Anno (Evangelion).

    Tuesday December 3, 2024
  • Micro

    Add The Ringer to the list of websites who after a visual revamp, completely killed off their RSS feeds. Woof.

    Tuesday December 3, 2024
  • Micro

    I think the My New Character/Chill Guy meme is the fastest I’ve turned on a meme. Indifference to loathing in days flat.

    Tuesday November 26, 2024
  • Micro

    I had to double check this link like, three times. Drake is now in the midst of TWO lawsuits with UMG regarding “Not Like Us”. What a chump.

    Tuesday November 26, 2024
  • Micro

    Anyone else just have a micro panic attack about these incoming tariffs, and how they may render the economy as such that we’ll all, universally, lose everything?

    …Just me?

    Monday November 25, 2024
  • Blog

    The Struggles of Being a Modern Indie Rocker

    Larry Fitzmaurice, Hearing Things:

    The start of the 2010s saw a steady rise in visibility for indie musicians that encompassed high-profile TV performances and the occasional collision with real-deal pop superstars. (The “rock” part of “indie rock” was partly left behind along the way, for marketing purposes.) Regardless of whether the artists involved were turning a meaningful profit, the smell of success was in the air. Indie’s boom period was, as Kevin Krauter of current Indianapolis indie rockers Wishy describes it, “an era where a popular indie band looked like they had it fucking made.”

    It didn’t last. Indie’s commercial decline began to sink in around the mid-2010s—a point when music publications’ collective influence was waning, and streaming services took over as passive tastemakers looking to cut corners on artist royalties, resulting in the decimation of the music industry’s middle class. Then came the pandemic and its ripple effects, including increased touring costs and the persistent threat of canceled shows due to COVID cases. It’s all led to an indie business landscape that’s particularly inhospitable to emerging artists looking to establish careers off their work.

    A really in-depth and eye-opening article at the struggles the “middle class” of music are facing these days. Honestly, it’s hell for any sort of creator now. So many platforms, so many responsibilities, none of them related to Doing The Work.

    I really can’t say I know the fix here. I sure hope we can find one.

    Monday November 25, 2024
  • Micro

    One could argue for Star Wars: Visions as the best post-Disney acquisition work next to Andor. So, suffice to say, I am excited about a 3rd season.

    Wednesday November 20, 2024
  • Micro

    I made the mistake of making myself spicy ramen for lunch today. I kinda wanted to die for a bit there.

    Monday November 18, 2024
  • Micro

    Justifiably happy about the surprise guest on this week’s Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast.

    Monday November 18, 2024
  • Micro

    Now, did I expect to spend my Sunday evening just chatting about the world for three hours with my mother? No, no I didn’t. But if yours is a situation where you can, and you’d want to, I recommend it. Sounds like middle aged person advise, but, still, recommend it.

    Sunday November 17, 2024
  • Micro

    Thursday November 14, 2024
  • Micro

    Do you think the team at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is cursing the fact that The Onion got InfoWars before they could?

    Thursday November 14, 2024
  • Micro

    Thursday November 14, 2024
  • Micro

    Not a hoax! Not a what if! Not an imaginary story! The Onion has acquired Infowars. A suitable fate for a miserable joke of a site.

    Thursday November 14, 2024
  • Micro

    OK, two issues in, I can say confidently that Absolute Batman is some VERY ridiculous comics and it’s all the better for it.

    Wednesday November 13, 2024
  • Micro

    Amazon sez: “You want your low-priced crap in bulk? We’ll give you low-priced crap in bulk!” What a waste.

    Wednesday November 13, 2024
  • Micro

    OH SNAP, CRUNCH TATORS ARE BACK. (Judge if you want, but after last week, I need to embrace small joys like this.)

    Tuesday November 12, 2024