Tag Archives: Television

Watch List – Digital Circus

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Animation has always been part of my media world. As far back as I can remember, there has always been some form of ‘cartoon’ that I was watching. They were classified or cataloged or somehow figured as a child’s demographic for a very long time. Then, somewhere along the way a bright person realized they’d never really been for kids, or at least not exclusively so and started to market things as ‘adult animation’.

There have been any number of shows I’ve become a big fan of that are stashed into that category.

Lately, it feels like the creators of animated shows have been abusing that demographic box. Putting in the kind of gore, violence or ludicrous situations that would never make the cut if there were actors that needed to create a physical display of those things.

Then there are things like Digital Circus.

The company behind this animated series says they create animated shows that are fun, colorful with occasional violence and existential breakdowns. What they should have included is a story with some kind of plot line to keep me interested.

Is Digital Circus colorful? Yes, absolutely. It is bright and filled with primary colors almost constantly. Is it fun? That’s debatable. I don’t think so really – and that’s all based on the ‘existential breakdowns’ part.

The main character in the 4 episode series I watched on Netflix is named Pomni. She’s a jester like person who is dropped into an insane place with other oddly compiled characters. None of them know what’s going on. None of them can explain why they’re there. Nobody has any sense of where things are going or why. Not even the person watching the show, and that’s a problem for me. There’s got to be something if you want me to stay interested. Do we know there’s a secret lurking? Is there something in common between all the oddball personalities roaming this circus tent? Anything?

Each of the four episodes had a loose storyline of what the characters did, but it wasn’t compelling. It took me a month to get through these short episodes because I kept nodding off. By the end I was starting to feel a little manic, like Gangle in the Food Masquerade (and that episode isn’t existential, it’s an indictment of the fast food business).

In all, I’m going to put the digital circus down as ‘the bad’ that will be used in comparison to other, better shows. There are better things to watch out there.

Side note: This site has information about the series. There are things they say there that make sense upon reading it, but were in absolutely no way clear by simply watching the show.

The Watch List

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For a while I was writing a monthly review of viewing suggestions and reviews of various science fiction media. I got away from writing that after a number of posts for a couple of reasons. First, writing on a schedule like that, while great for keeping the writing muscles strong was not allowing me to focus on my fiction. Second, the article series felt like it had run its course and Watch The Skies needed something different to keep things fresh.

Lastly, and I think most importantly to me, there was a need to keep things more positive than I was feeling at the time. It’s a much more challenging prospect to find something that’s actually good (in one’s own opinion) and then clearly lay out all the positive aspects of it. It’s important to work on positive things – tearing another person’s work down is easy – finding all the good things to say is the bigger challenge. This actually ties in to the reason I bring all of my genuinely negative reviews of books I read here. If I’m going to be negative about something I’m going to own it. I don’t want to be the troll that just tosses garbage out on whatever site I happen to be on at the time. I understand how difficult it is to create something and send it out to the world. I’ve had negative feedback and I don’t particularly like it, so I try not to be that kind of jerk to others.

Having said all that, here’s where I’m going. I’ve posted one recently (last week’s ‘not a secret’) and I plan to continue to post commentary on the things I’m watching – good, bad or indifferent. As I go forward, I’m just going to put all the thoughts out there. I know that has worked for me for other reviewers in the past… even when I disagreed. If they hated it, I would consider that a solid recommendation.

I hope that my ones of fans will appreciate the honest reviews and use those to fine tune the things on the watch list – even if it means watching the exact opposite of the things I recommend.

Not a Secret

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Let me tell you something that isn’t a secret: people like good stories.

Somehow, people that create entertainment media tend to forget that. Sometimes the reviewers do too. A couple of years ago I wrote up a post about what you should be watching. The show in question is called “Love, Death & Robots”. It burst onto the scene with stunning visuals and garnered a massive response. New, short animations with crazy good stories from a list of authors known for their stories. I watched them all, then I re-watched them all, then I spent some writing time reacting to them and telling others about it. There are fantastic stories and mind blowing art in there. I still recommend watching them.

Last month Amazon dropped a series called “Secret Level”. It seems to me that this series is a direct reaction to, or perhaps decedent of Love, Death and Robots. I watched them all, despite Amazon being the terrible corporation that it is (I despise that we paid for no commercials and then they basically said, yes but pay more of live with them). As I watched them I could clearly and easily see how this series followed (mimicked?) the other. Thing is, it felt hollow. There was something missing. OH, that’s right. Story. All the episodes were meant to showcase a video game and the star studded voice actor line up. The episodes did that with gusto. The artwork and animation were amazing… but honestly, I expect that from companies that literally create the computer renders for the games they’re using as the basis for the episodes. OF COURSE they’re going to look good. I’d actually bet the people behind the scenes were able to save some amount of work by getting already created computer models from the game companies and/or using the same model software to create the shots for the series. Genuinely screen capture worthy shots. Fantastic looking, mesmerizing color. Very shiny… and kind of boring. If you’re not completely invested in the video games already, there’s almost nothing there beyond that.

To be entirely fair, I haven’t played video games in a very long time. I started in 8-bit land and never really progressed much further. Perhaps there are gamers out there who think this series is the quintessential embodiment of their favorite intellectual property. I don’t know. I clearly don’t get it. Some of the voices were recognizable. Some of the shows moved faster than others, some had more pull than others, but they all felt incomplete. The story just lacked. One in particular – the one with Arnold as the main voice actor – was absolutely unwatchable. I shut that one off and skipped to the next one.

I was going back through the site I use to track websites I want to read but can’t keep up with every day and found two old posts about this show. One touted the A-list cast and moving imagery. The other was about the series getting green lit for a second season before the entire first season was finished airing. Both of those short articles said the very same thing. Great voice talent. Great video game franchises that you will recognize. Neither one said anything about story. Not a word about it.

Before anyone tries to say I’m just a video game hater, that is not true. I understand there is, in fact, a great deal of story built into these game franchises. Stories in these games have fascinating ideas and can have massive, ever changing worlds involved with them. It’s a constantly changing field that offers up an immersive form of entertainment for all sorts of folks. It’s also a massive industry. I understand why show runners would try to take a video game property and create a show or movie from that.

Not every show can be a hit. Not every story moves you on a deep and meaningful level. A show really does need a story! There’s no two ways about it, this secret level can remain locked in my opinion. If you want to make it better, get an actual story to fit into these short episodes.

Important History

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I don’t get political on here. I have opinions on lots of those things, but this is part of the place where I go to make sure I can get away from those things. I’m writing about this because it is of personal interest and it matters to me and to many who are dear to me. I won’t tolerate political nonsense being posted here. It’s mine, I own it, I will chuck you out. You have been warned.

It’s pride month. This doesn’t apply to me, but it applies to many family and friends. It matters. One of the other things that matters is knowing history. Where did some of these things come from? Can you dig a little deeper and learn the real stories behind things you’ve only heard about? You can, and you should.

Last night I took some time and I watched the documentary about a straight Jewish couple that owned and operated one of the most well know, dare I say important book shops and pornography businesses related to gay culture. The documentary is called “Circus of Books”. Yes, it’s been out for a few years now, but there are occasions when it takes time to get back to things on your list.

Check out the trailer here:

As you might have guessed from what I titled the entry, this is important history for the gay community and for first amendment rights. Hearing the story of the owners and the family they maintained while running not just a book / porn shop but also a chunk of the gay film industry for a long time was fascinating. The access was absolute since the film maker is the daughter of the owners. She interviewed her parents, her brothers, her parents friends and even some of the employees. It was shocking to hear how they fell into this business and just kept going.

Hearing the portion of the tale from the 80s and the AIDS crisis was jarring. It’s one thing to know history. It is quite another to live it, and have those around you die during it.

That was one of the things that leads me to a small point of criticism for this show. I believe the film maker pulled some punches because it was her family. Yes, she had the access, but I think both the portion of the story during the AIDS crisis and the ending really lacked… something. I wanted there to be more umph with the story or more of an emotional wrap up and point at the end. Yes, I think it could have had pointy bits about freedom of expression as well – but in all it was a slow watch. It felt all of the hour and 40ish minute run time. It left with this note of, “well, that’s it, the store is closed” and went to the credits. I felt like there could have been more.

Seeing the business itself, in bits and pieces, it also looked like an operation that failed to adapt. It’s not that a shop like that couldn’t survive, it was more that it would take an investment of time, money and innovation. Even from the glimpses in the film there were swinging doors that looked like one wouldn’t want to touch them (just worn and old, I’m sure) and the filing ‘system’ was a drawer filled with handwritten notes and pages taped to walls. It felt like a place that needed to change and just didn’t. Perhaps the owners were tired and just wanted to retire. It was put forward as the owners just not making enough money to call it sustainable.

Having said that – I still recommend it. Go and check out the history because it matters. Watch and see what has come before and who those people are. The show ends with the closing of the store, but I have gone out looking on the web, just to see, and the shop appears to have been sold / reopened and looks like it’s going strong with an online presence. From their site:

“Book Circus opened in 1960 and with the very cruisy Vaseline Alley behind the store quickly became the epicenter of the gay community at that time. In 1980 and through the AIDS crises it became the iconic Circus of Books, WeHo’s version of Stonewall. In 2020 it has been reimagined and reopened with the addition of Circus of Books West. Both Stores also feature The Gallery @ Circus, an upscale gallery representing LGBTQ+ artists.”

There is history, and there is hope. That’s a great message for Pride Month.

Gone In The Dark

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I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Outside of my normal genre, reading true crime IS a thing I’ve delved into before. I don’t like to read it generally because I see enough true crime in the news. I don’t seem to have the fascination that others do.

I was drawn to this book by the story of the author herself, and the fact that she wasn’t able to finish this work before she died unexpectedly (and far too young). My fears about reading this book stemmed directly from “Confederacy of Dunces” that has garnered so much praise. I was drawn in by the author’s story on that book and hated it.

Gone in the dark is incomplete. The people in the author’s life pulled together the book after her passing, but what I wish we got was the complete work from the author herself. She definitely had her own style and that was not something the others could emulate.

It’s an interesting story, and if you’re into true crime it’s worth digging into. I will also be checking out the documentary series they made about this story. Adding the visuals to this story will probably help me.

Not my thing, but I’m glad I read it.



View all my reviews

All The Discs

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There’s a meme out there with a picture of Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan saying, “why of course, it’s me…”

I know that’s a hash of a misquote, but you get the idea.

Found it~

Using a physical DVD to watch a film. Yep, I know that guy, because it’s me. I’ve been one of the red envelope people subscribed to the Netflix DVD service for the past 12 years. It was an easy choice for me. Advertising and unreliable connection speeds meant I could watch what I had on hand without any fear of it failing to work or having the feel of a film wrecked by mid scene advertising… almost all the time. Yes, physical media does have issues. Yes, from time to time there would be a problem, but for the most part it was a fantastic albeit slow system. In all those years I can only think of a handful of times when either the disc was broken or didn’t work, and only once in all that time when I got frustrated enough to just digitally rent a movie when the disc failed – and that was because it failed about 60% of the way through a really good movie.

Now that system is gone.

Yesterday, Netflix DVD made their last shipment. After 25 years (for them) they’re done, and I am feeling a bit nostalgic about the whole thing. The discs have been one of a very few constant things over the years. I was able to pull down a PDF file, created by the Netflix folks, that has my history all packaged up and presented in a report. I haven’t crunched numbers for averages or anything like that, but I have looked at the list of more than 250 rentals I’ve had over that time (quick math, 250/12 = about 20 discs a year or just under 2 per month). I looked at the stats they’ve stacked up for me and wandered down the list of discs we’ve watched, remembering the stories and characters from all those movies.

It’s going to be a minute for me to process the whole thing, but I will miss it. That probably sounds weird, but it has been part of my life for more than a decade. It became something that was just there when I needed it. Recently the streaming services available to us, combined with a more stable internet experience and less available time, in general, have made streaming services far more convenient and my rental rate has fallen off. Sometimes it would be weeks before I could put together the time to sit with a friend or a family member to watch whatever it was we ordered up. Sometimes the streaming service would add the movie before we got to the disc. I’d package up the disc and send it back, eagerly waiting for the next one to arrive. It was there, and it happened when I wanted it to. My viewing experience was not subject to some vague streaming contract a studio made, nor allowed to change based on some other, unknown reason.

The best example I can think of to illustrate that off hand is Monsters, Inc. and how it’s shown on Disney+. My daughter and I sat to re-watch it the other day because it had been a very long time since we watched it originally and we were in just the right mood. We pulled it up on Disney+ and let it roll. When we got to the end we wanted to see the extra bit at the end where the company is putting on the play Mike and Sully improvised during the movie… and it wasn’t there. It was just gone. I was a bit sad, but she was downright outraged. “How dare they? This is unacceptable and look it up on YouTube right now so we can watch it!”. I think that encapsulates the whole thing. The nutshell version – streaming decided to revise history a la 1984 and the modern viewer simply slid over to another streaming service and looked up the part they knew should be there (legality of it all be damned).

So the service is gone, but physical media still exist. I’ll still be watching those, and definitely picking up my favorites in physical form so I don’t need to depend on some company deciding if Ponyo should be available or not. Yes, it takes up space on the shelf. Yes, it’s an outdated method for watching things, but it’s mine and I’ll do with it as I please.

Apparently the folks at Netflix were feeling a bit nostalgic as well. They captured the whole feeling in a quick video… now available from a streaming service.

Unexpected Pairing

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I realized this morning when asked about how my Friday night went that there was an unexpected (possible) connection to the whole evening.

In the next town over there was a really fantastic Chinese restaurant. We ordered food from them for years and years. We would go and pick up food in person. We presumed the kids that were always at the restaurant, and eventually running the front counter interfacing with the public were the children of the owners. They had the best General Tso’s in the area and were frequently voted to the top of local ‘best of’ lists.

One day, they closed. Zero public explanation, just gone. A sign hanging on the door ~ “CLOSED”. A lot of people I know felt we were owed some kind of reason after years of dedication to the business. (We’re not, but you can’t tell people how to feel.)

Last night my wife and I went to the new diner that opened using the same building the Chinese place used for so many years. It’s new, so it was going to draw attention. A friend went and recommended the burgers. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but when we got there I was surprised at how… not busy it was. Friday evening at 6 a new place around here tends to have lines and waiting. We walked in and were seated immediately.

The place was clean and refreshed. The interior layout was slightly modified (not a lot of space for change really) and it was brighter than I recall it ever being.

The staff was new and it was clear there were one or two little things still being figured out. The food was… good, but not so amazing that I’m rushing to tell everyone I know. I will say, the onion rings were amazingly light and wonderful. I’m going to have to go back and try them with a burger. All in all, a solid “good” for going out to eat.

When we got home we sat down and dialed up the latest Pixar release streaming at home. The movie “Elemental“. As with so many films like this – anthropomorphic – it’s a land where the elements (air, water, earth and fire) all live in a city together. Without spoilers, at the core, this is a love story. The love story is set in / wrapped around an immigration story. An immigration story of a kid that may or may not actually want to take over the family business…

Once it clicked, it made me both content to not know the disposition of the former take-out restaurant and hopeful that the family involved got to a place equal to the happy ending of the movie.

You Should Be Watching

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Hot Skull

This was originally published in Watch The Skies March 2023 edition.

The main character

I didn’t go looking for this show, but then when I found it I was in. I don’t find shows about deadly plagues nearly as interesting these days, but this show managed to bring me in.

Hot Skull is a dystopian story involving a new, terrifying pandemic called ‘Jabber’. It’s called this because the first symptom is the victim speaking gibberish. This pandemic has caused panic and an authoritarian agency has taken control, herding people into various locked communities and using armed troops to enforce curfews and quarantines. The antagonist is a man named Murat who struggles against this agency, as he seems to be immune to the effects of the disease. Everyone wears noise canceling headphones and eye each other with suspicion while out in public.

The story is dark. The characters are very real. There aren’t Hollywood stereotypes at play here… this is a Turkish language series. Yes, subtitles but worth it. Looking at a pandemic from a non-American point of view is just one aspect of this show that makes it worth the effort.


You should check out the trailer here:

You Should Be Watching

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Lockwood & Co.

This was originally published in Watch The Skies February 2023 edition.

The main characters

Lockwood & Co. was a complete surprise. It was not a show that was on my radar, and I knew nothing about it when I started watching. I sat down with the family and we watched almost the whole season in a single sitting. Yes – the show caught us and we binged it.

Lockwood & Co. is a supernatural detective thriller story set in an alternate world where ghosts have come back to this world and can kill those still living. The only ones able to detect the ghosts are the youthful members of society who have some kind of psychic abilities. These kids are lined up at various agencies that investigate and remove ghosts. Lockwood & Co. are one of the newest of these agencies, and we follow psychic Lucy Carlyle as she joins up with this company.

The show has a great, quick pace. The characters are fun and believable as people. The chemistry among the lead actors is fantastic. You like them and you’re rooting for them right away. Through various ups and downs the first season is tight and clean. Be warned – the end of many episodes are the sort of cliff hangers that demand you watch the next episode right away. This is definitely one you should be watching.

Check out the trailer here:

You Should Be Watching

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The Colony

This was originally published in Watch The Skies January 2023 edition.

The film makers captured ‘bleak’ very, very well.

This month is much more in line with what many people traditionally think of as science fiction. The movie The Colony on Netflix is a far future dystopian film. It’s grey and gritty. The action starts right away.

In the distant future, the elite of earth flee a dying planet, making a new home on a distant planet. This new home proves to have road blocks to humans continuing to create more humans, so a mission is sent back to earth to determine if having the colonists return is viable or not. The previous mission has not communicated back. This is the second mission, and it struggles right from the start.

The movie has a little bit of the Mad Max feeling with marauders and technology scrapped together from the past. It also has a little bit of Water World with everything being effected by a sea level that has risen enough to make everything wet and endangered by the tide. The futuristic space technology gives our hero a little bit of an edge, but she is outnumbered and spends a significant part of the movie struggling just to survive.

I think that struggle is the part that wins me over. This is not a macho, blow things up kind of survival. It’s a thought provoking, yet action packed movie with diverse concepts and problems that require the characters thought and reason, rather than simple actions. This is definitely one you should be watching.

Be sure to check out the trailer here.