Saturday Morning Brain Drain [24/12/22]

Image via ExpressUK

24/12/22 Elliecoo 29

Not a Christmas Brain Drain: We already had the Brain Drain Holiday Special. Perhaps, you, the Good People of DeadSplinter, can add some holiday joie de vivre in the comments.

What I Watched: A quite good new television show, and a rather poor older television show.

The Recruit, a show which @SplinterRIP said was suggested to him by Netflix. It was good, it was fun, it was casually but not gratuitously violent. It follows the sneaky shenanigans of the CIA as encountered by a Gen-Z agency recruit with Luther-esque decision-making skills (never met a bad idea he didn’t try). Sure, there are trope characters, including the female anti-hero who stole Uma Thurman’s style from Kill Bill, but they just make the show relatable – you don’t have to work to “get it”. The soundtrack supports the series, almost like another character as it underscores events, and includes tracks from Nelly, Doja Cat, and Reignwolf. Finally, the very last minute, unexpected, cliffhanger ending – whoa – I was not expecting that! It is too early to know if there will be a second season – but it really needs one, or even a one-time loose-end tying-up special.

Here is the blurb from Netflix: “A rookie lawyer at the CIA stumbles headlong into the dangerous world of international espionage when a former asset threatens to expose agency secrets.”

Trailer

Dead Like Me, a show I should have liked as a fluffy bit of diversion about a teenage reaper and her reaper friends. It stars Ellen Muth, Mandy Patinkin, and Jasmine Guy. The reapers need “day jobs” to survive, and a few of them loot corpses for money, apartment keys, or drugs (but in a good-natured way). The overwhelming angst, toneless narration, and too-bored-to-live (or too-bored-to-be-undead) attitude of main character, Georgina “George” Lass were hard to take. I kept looking for characters with redeeming qualities, but nope, the one good character, played by Rebecca Gayheart, left five episodes into season one. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 69% with an audience rating or 88%, but I think they were very generous. Only running two seasons, I stopped watching it early in season two.

Trailer

What I Read: The House Witch books one and two (book three is due in February). Good stuff, the sweetness comes from the strength of the magic comes equaling the safety of the home. It is similar to the Tilly Wallace Manners and Monsters series as far as readability. Here is what Fantastic Fiction says:

When Finlay Ashowan joins the staff of the King and Queen of Daxaria, he’s an enigma. No one knows where he comes from or how he came to be where he is, which suits Fin just fine. He’s satisfied simply serving as the royal cook, keeping nosy passersby out of his kitchen, and concocting some truly uncanny meals. But Fin’s secret identity doesn’t stay hidden for long. After all, it’s not every day a house witch and his kitten familiar, Kraken, take to meddling in imperial affairs. As his powers are gradually discovered by the court, Fin finds himself involved in a slew of intrigues: going head-to-head with knights with less-than-chivalrous intentions, helping to protect the pregnant queen, fending off the ire of the royal mage, and uncovering a spy in the castle. And that’s only the beginning—because Fin’s past is catching up with him just as his love life is getting complicated . . .

What I Listened To: CVC – Sophie (really good stuff @hannibal); The Allergies – Treat You Right; Sam Fender – Alright; and J4 – Medicine.

Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest DeadSplinterites? Happy holidays, darling ones! Now bring forth the good cheer, have at it!

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About Elliecoo 545 Articles
Four dogs, one partner. The dogs win.

29 Comments

  2. We are watching our favorite Christmas movies – While You Were Sleeping, Fred Clause, White Christmas and Elf and trying not to freeze. Since we have an elderly dog – we are staying home for Xmas. Hope everyone has a pleasant and low stress holiday!

  3. I liked Dead Like Me.  Georgia could be insufferable but she fit the era the show was in. I liked her life journey from insufferable shit to a semi developed human being. I preferred the Mandy Patinkin character who is (from what I’ve read) the exact opposite of his real life persona.

  4. I watched the Recruit as well. That ending! I still don’t believe it. Without spoiling it, do you think it’s final or perhaps faked?…I hope the latter. The ex-girlfriend was so annoying especially in the last episodes. It’s like the writers decided to give her a bigger role at the last minute but her character had no substance to build on so they just amplified her nepo-baby status.

    • …early on one of his colleagues (the burned-out guy) describes SOG as “if meth was sentient…& had access to weaponry” or something…& I figured that I was probably along for the ride at that point?

      …oddly enough, aside from reminding me of patriot, the other show it made me think of was limitless…which had little in common with the movie & I’m still sorry got axed

      • I like that burned out guy. He was the husband of the uptight suburban mom in Orphan Black…which I never finished watching. Going to add it back to my list.

  5. I also re-watched my favorite holiday show Home For Christmas (Netflix). I just found out that the same actress stars in a new holiday show called Storm For Christmas (also Netflix). It is set in an airport that is snowed in over Christmas. Perfect timing for this year’s holiday weather.

  6. I saw Netflix’ doc called The Pharmacist, about a pharmacist (natch) who played vigilante (without the usual violence) and sought justice for his son and his town.

    It unfortunately plays into the roles of the drug war I found… especially if you only look at the surface of a distraught (with good reason) White guy (looking for justice) nabs drug dealing black folks who are middle “men” for the rich white folks (Perdue Pharma/Sacklers) causing all the suffering.

    Rewatched Lethal Weapon 2.  It is very mindless escapist entertainment bordering on being really stupid… but can’t expect much from a Shane Black movie. I thought it was funny because it seems that real life Mel Gibson would have been leaning on the side of the Afrikaaners. No brain cells were lost.

  7. …there’s a new (3rd?) season of jack ryan…so I’ll probably watch that but I expect it won’t be as fun as the recruit

    …I saw a movie called “a man of action” about a fairly charming anarchist-come-bank-robber guy who was a real person as far as I understand it

    …finally got around to watching bullet train…which was…not bad…but not as good as it seemed like it should have been?

    …& started a book called “the killing hills” by chris offut…which seems promising in an ex-military murder investigator in kentucky hill-country sort of a way

    …but mostly seem to have been running around like the proverbial headless chicken trying to be ready for tomorrow…so as ever I feel like I must have watched more than that but can’t think of quite what?

  8. New YT favorite.  Coffeezilla, the guy is an internet journo who tracks the scams and crypto scams.

  9. Three years ago, after years of talking about it, we decided to come home on Christmas Eve rather than stay at my in-laws. And I cannot fully express how much more joy we get from it— we all get to sleep well in our own beds, we have our own Christmas morning, and did I mention the sleep bit?

    Also, just watched “Glass Onion” and loved it.

  10. I watched something called Buried.  It was literally 90 minutes of Ryan Reynolds trapped in a wooden box with a lighter and a cell phone, with the most utterly nihilistic ending you could imagine.  It was as if someone watched the sadomasochistic orgy that was Unbroken and said “Hold my beer.”  Mrs. Lemmy swears she does not know how it got into the queue, but I think maybe she’s run out of Channing Tatum movies to watch.

    • And when I say “literally,” I mean his is the only face that appears on the screen.   And it’s in a box.  For. 90. Minutes.

  11. Damn @Elliecoo you killed it with the tunes today! I liked them all but particularly the first and last.

    I watched Blown Away:Christmas. I really like the Blown Away series, glass blowing is like the extreme sports of the art world. But Christmas stuff can be pretty cheesy and this one didn’t really impress me.
    My holiday read this year is Hogfather. I never got around to it before and its very fun.

    I listened to our governor’s press conference and it convinced my daughter and I that she should stay home today and wait until tomorrow to drive here. It will be the first Christmas Eve that we’ve spent apart. But we’re grateful that we have warm, safe places to hole up until the temperatures rise enough for the road crews to make the highways drivable. You do what you gotta do.

    • you know they made a movie of the hogfather?

      and its on youtube in its entirety…i mean…in two parts for some reason…but its there

      its a pretty fun watch…but you know…read the book first (i kinda feel like thats…the natural order of doing things…book first..then film)

      • …I think the two parts is how it aired…sky tv did a few of the discworld things…david jason makes a pretty good rincewind

        …& going postal was a good effort, iirc?

        • correction…its 4 parts on youtube

          agreed on david jason making a good rincewind….and i didnt know going postal was also filmed…so thanks i have something to find now 🙂

  12. I also watched the Recruit but not quite done (NO SPOILERS!).  I also watched “Shaq” which was short but sweet.  People forget what a force of nature he was and how he changed officiating forever.

    Reading: Hyperbole and a Half.  Hard to describe this book, a weird combination of really terrible drawings & life reflections.

    also reading: Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking.  I love Japanese cooking and this is a pretty awesome cookbook.

    Listening to: in my search for the perfect songs for my Christmas playlist, I ran into this gem from my favorite rap duo…

  13. Happy eve of the day to all! I am scurrying about prepping for the first group, my son and his family, here at noon. Tomorrow will be a repeat with my mother-in-law and her friend. The kids prefer Christmas eve, in order to start their own Christmas day traditions, which I think is smart. My mother-in-law prefers the actual day, to be with family. I hope everyone gets to enjoy some time off, and de-stress, and stay warm. Now back to the kitchen with me!

  14. I watched a bunch of biographies (I find it’s comforting to realize that time is fleeting and nothing lasts forever), among them “The Queen’s Lost Uncle.” This is Prince George of Kent, the fourth of five sons of King George V. Bisexual and heroically promiscuous, very good looking, as popular in London nightclubs in the 1920s and 30s as his oldest brother and mentor “David” who went on briefly to become the uncrowned King Edward VIII, what’s not to love. Sadly, he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances in a plane crash during WWII. But not before having two children, one of whom is still with us, arch-Russophile dealmaker Prince Michael of Kent, whose wife, Princess Michael, gets into the news every so often.

  16. I’m watching Addams Family while waiting for later in the day.

    Normally I go to my parents’ house today, but it’s still cold as fuck so no, we’re skipping that today. They’ll still come over tomorrow when we’re going to hit the balmy low 20s outside.

    Anyways, the glare is too high on the TV until about 4pm when the sun is getting low so later I’m going to binge something.

  17. havent really watched anything….but i have taken up gaming again

    currently playing valiant hearts : the great war

    its going to hurt me in the feefees so bad…

    and on the note of feefees… listening to faithless

    rest in peace Mr Maxi Jazz

    • …damn…that’s sad to hear…the grand oral disseminator his own self…at 65…too soon, that feels like

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