The World's Common Tater

It was a nice, full week with movies, TV, and a book. I guess it helps when it gets dark at 5 pm.

Movies

If you don’t count the Hallmark Christmas movies I have on in the background during the day, we watched two movies this week. Well, my wife watched two movies. I watched one and a quarter.

F9 – My wife loves the Fast and Furious movies. She was very excited when I got this one from the library so it jumped to the head of the line. I saw maybe the first 30 minutes and then fell asleep. I think the movies are ridiculous now. They need to go back to the basics if they continue.

The Protege – Maggie Q stars as Anna. Anna was rescued as a kid by legendary assassin Moody(Samuel L Jackson) and trained to become the world’s most skilled contract killer. When Moody is killed, she vows revenge on the people who killed him. Michael Keaton stars as another contract killer who works for the enemy. It has a great cast and the story was enjoyable. I did mention to my wife how it was odd that they had a romance between 72-year-old Michael Keaton and Maggie Q. I would recommend it to fans of action movies.

TV

I watched the finales of Fear the Walking Dead and Walking Dead: World Beyond. They were both underwhelming. It seems a waste to do two seasons of World Beyond and have nothing at all about the fate of Rick, or any connection to the original show besides Jadis.

I watched the finale of The Big Leap. This was my favorite new show of the year. I loved the cast. I loved the story. I loved how they kept mentioning ideas for season two of the fake show within the show as a wink towards a possible renewal. I hope it gets a second season. We need fun shows like this one to balance out all of the procedurals and medical shows.

I watched the first two episodes of Hawkeye. So far, it is my favorite of the Marvel shows. I was already a fan of Hailee Steinfeld and she is great here as usual.

I watched Live In Front of a Studio Audience. You can read my review here.

I have watched several Hallmark Christmas movies this week while writing. My favorite so far is Cross Country Christmas with Racheal Leigh Cook. It’s kind of a Hallmark, romantic version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

Books

Another week of only managing to finish one book.

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey – When 16-year-old Abi disappears from an insular small town all of the community’s secrets start to come to light.

The book is a stark view of a town guided by a local preacher’s message of hate toward those who don’t share his beliefs and run by a businessman who follows him. Abi’s family is in shambles due to the actions of her violent, homophobic father. Her best friend Emma is dealing with guilt over leaving Abi alone at the party where she disappeared and also the racism she faces as a POC in town, Abi’s brother, Noah, is in love with Rat, a Romanian immigrant who lives in the town’s trailer park. This is an affront to the homophobia and racism that runs rampant in the town. All of this swirls around Abi’s disappearance and Emma’s hunt for the truth.

This is the first book in a while that has made me want to keep reading even when I had other things to do. It is dark but very good.

On Deck

I assume at some point this weekend we will finally watch Snake Eyes so I can return the overdue DVD to the library.

I also have Old on DVD. I don’t know yet if I will be watching it alone or with my wife.

Preview holiday episodes of the upcoming NBC comedy slate air this week. New episodes of Young Rock, Kenan, and Mr. Mayor along with new shows Grand Crew and American Auto. I plan to watch all of them.

I am currently reading Never by Ken Follett and also slowly working through The Comfort Book by Matt Haig.