Disc Type

"I can see the future. It's full of pals helping pals, and being a boss. I'm on the edge of life, and the view is gorgeous." 

Andrew DeYoung has actually been around for quite a little while. He's been directing television episodes a short features since around 2008. And so into every working director a feature film must eventually fall. For Andrew DeYoung it turns out to be the self-written feature film for A24, Friendship. He took a pretty safe route, choosing to work with an actor who has shown a pretty similar shade of dark comedy as Tim Robinson, who plays the lead and very tragic figure. If you've seen episodes of The Office, there's a lot of that kind of humor here. Of course it goes off the rails quite beyond anything you might have seen from the show or Tim Robinson. It's a bit of an experimental film, and while it's listed as a comedy, I'm not sure it really fits into that domain. I think the film's uniqueness works both for and against the film. It's not the kind of thing that is going to bring in tons at the box office, streaming platform, or home video market, but on the other hand it's one of the most truly original films I've seen in ages, and I have a little bit of a soft spot when someone can show me something new and experimental without being so "out there" that it leaves you scratching your head. You won't have any trouble understanding what's going on here, and while it might get a laugh or two out of you, it will certainly give you something to think about. It's a dark film at its core, and you have to be willing to take that kind of a ride to enjoy Friendship. If you're coming into this to laugh yourself silly, this one might disappoint.

Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of); Johnny Socko had his giant robot; and the list goes on. But it was Ultraman who started it. Eiji Tsuburaya, who created the original Godzilla, formed a new company outside of Toho Pictures. Ultraman was pretty much the first thing out of the new shop.

It started with a series called Ultra Q. It was a popular series in Japan. There was no Ultraman here, but some of the elements of what would be the Science Patrol started there. When it was finished, the staff was approached to create a new show, and fast. But this one needed more action and also something that could be sold to the American markets. That was Ultraman.  In some form or another, the character has been around for over 60 years and is still plugging.

"We have sold the last of our herd, keeping only four bulls and 100 heifers. The seeds with which you must rebuild the ranch that trickery and laws drafted by loan sharks have stripped from us. The road to Bozeman is snowed over now, passable only on horseback. Our movement is restricted to the lodge and the pastures around the barn until spring. We dare not kill a beef, so the men hunt. Gone are the great feasts of summer. It is stews and stale bread and bland fuel of substance. Like the bear, we hibernate, impatiently awaiting spring." 

It is the second and likely final season for the Yellowstone prequel 1923. I have heard whispers that there will be more, and we might see Harrison Ford and Helen Miren again in a series likely to take place a little later, hence a new name, and focused more on Brandon Sklenar's character Spencer who will, no doubt, be raising the grandfather of Kevin Costner's patriarch character in Yellowstone. In the extras Ford hints pretty strongly by reminding us that Harrison Ford is still alive, as are Helen Mirren and Taylor Sheridan. My sources confirm something is in the works but likely years away, and these two leads are not spring chickens. Paramount has released this second season, avoiding the word "final" in the title on DVD and Blu-ray, and it's another one of those must-haves for your home video collection.

"Queen Ginnarra rules the Kingdom of Aberon with an iron fist. To her devout followers, she is the prophet of the abyss, a master of unfathomable power, commanding forces that lie beyond the grasp of mortal understanding. They believe that through evil deeds, they may win her unearthly blessings. She led a rebellion against us and murdered my father. I fled to the deadlands in exile. But there is a truth that chills the blood within my veins. Queen Ginnarra is not only ruler of our kingdom, she is my sister." 

Crown Of Shadows sells itself as Game Of Thrones Meets 300. There is a reason even small budget filmmakers want to do something akin to Game Of Thrones. It's been immensely popular and has made a mint for HBO and the author of the books, George RR Martin. But there is also a reason why budget filmmakers should stay away from such material. To do it correctly costs a fortune, and you can't hide cheap computer graphics with such an epic promise. It's almost assuredly going to disappoint, and that's the main story behind Crown Of Shadows.

"In the beginning there was blood."

Dexter Morgan is a forensic lab rat for the Miami-Dade Police. He really knows blood splatter. He should, because he moonlights as a killer. It seems that poor old Dex just can’t help himself. His parents were criminals, and he witnessed his mother’s brutal slashing by a chainsaw gang when he was just a young boy. He was adopted by Harry Morgan, a police officer. Harry saw the killer instinct in Dexter and taught him how to channel the urges for the sake of good. Dexter adopted Harry’s Code, which means he only kills others that he’s able to prove were killers themselves. Working for the police with his officer sister, Debra, Dexter is constantly just on the verge of getting caught. He has to adapt and evolve to avoid capture. Many of us bore witness to the show's 8-year run. It looked like it was all over until Dexter was reawakened in 2021 with a revival series Dexter: New Blood.

"141 years ago, my father was told of this valley, and here's where we stayed. Seven generations. My father was told they would come for this land, and he promised to return it. Nowhere was this promise written. It faded with my father's death but somehow lived in the spirit of this place. Man cannot truly own wild land. To own land you must blanket it in concrete, cover it with buildings, stack it with houses so thick people can smell each other's supper. You must rape it to sell it. Raw land. Wild land. Free land can never be owned. But some men will pay dearly for the privilege of its stewardship. They will suffer and sacrifice to live off it and live with it and hopefully teach the next generation to do the same. And if they falter, find another way to keep the promise." 

Yellowstone began with a lot of that there promise five years ago. Taylor Sheridan pretty much built his television empire on the foundation that was Yellowstone. It was a grand design, but something happened along the way.

"The oil and gas industry makes $3 billion a day in pure profit, generates over $4.3 trillion a year in revenue. It's the fourth largest industry in the world, ranked ahead of food production, automobile production, and at $1.4 trillion the pharmaceutical industry doesn't even crash the top 10. The industries ranked ahead of oil production are all completely dependent on oil and gas. The more they grow, the more we grow. That's the scale. That's the size of this thing, and it's only getting bigger..." 

If Taylor Sheridan does not own a big chunk of stock at Paramount+, then he should be a major shareholder, because he's bringing in more bucks than everything else combined except for Star Trek. I've enjoyed every one of his shows to date some more than others. I think that Landman has to be the best of them yet. Yellowstone has been the great amber-captured jewel of the kingdom for over five years, but his split with Costner brings all of that to an early end, with the exception of spin-offs. I think I've found the new champ, and it's Landman. Landman is absolutely as good as television gets or has ever gotten. Paramount has released this first season on Blu-ray now, and if you're not planning on adding it to your collection, then you need to get back up, move that rock you hit your head on, and order it now. Or wait for the paramedics and hope for the best. Up to you.