Beer Camp & Basketball Xmas 2016

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Last week, Izzy & I watched the 1963 flick “Shock Corridor” starring Peter Breck & written/directed by Sam Fuller. The movie is about a journalist who just wants to win the Pulitzer Prize… so his big idea is to pretend to be insane, get committed in a mental institution, and then tell stories of the inmates (???) and possibly… SOLVE A MURDER!!! Leading up to his commitment, his editor & a psychiatrist trains him to be insane… and his burlesque dancer girlfriend pretends to be his sister… and accuses him of incest, so he’s committed. Well… you can’t spend too much time in a mental institution before the other patients, medications, environment, physical conditions, and your own neuroses come out to destroy you… even if there wasn’t a murderer in the midst. The movie is black & white for the most part… and is REALLY cool & inventive for the time. You may get the feeling that you’ve seen elements of the movie before but… definitely check it out. It’s pretty entertaining… and there are nymphos! I think that just sold it for you, right? Remember that it’s still over 50 years ago when this movie was made. It’s pretty sweet.

 

Saturday, Izzy & I went to a beer festival… but not just any beer festival… this was Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp which tours across the country featuring Sierra Nevada collaborations with many other breweries across the United States… and sometimes other countries too! This particular stop was at Pier 35 and featured dozens of other breweries, including our buddies at Elevation 66 Brewing & FDR (Ferment.Drink.Repeat.) and hundreds of different beers to try… so we were well nourished with regards to barley, hops, water & yeast… and plenty of other adjuncts. Here are some pictures…

 

Sunday night was (the predetermined months ago by the NBA & the actions since the end of Game 4 have obviously proven that) Game 7 of the NBA Finals here in the Bay Area where the record-setting Golden State Warriors went up against the Cleveland LeBrons… and basically Cleveland won its first pro sports championship in over half a century, due to a combination of great personal performances, and the officiating was being reproach… okay, that last one was BS, but it doesn’t matter. They’re not going to change anything so what’s the f**king point. Regardless, the Warriors did well, as did the Cavaliers… and just like the Highlander, there can only be one winner of the Prize. Also, in case you missed the Finals… apparently there’s a “Ghostbusters” reboot coming out… and based on their marketing of everything, it’s really looking like it’s going to suck & they’re trying to get everybody out there opening weekend. Anyway, congratulations to Cleveland!!! Golden State, hopefully we’ll see you back in the Western Conference Finals next year… losing horribly to the San Antonio Spurs on their way to another title.

 

Speaking of predetermined months ago… Basketball’s Christmas has come and passed in the form of the 2016 NBA Draft… and the lottery gave the first two picks to the Philadephia 76ers (within days of them firing  GM Sam Hinkie who spent the past four seasons making a mockery of the NBA draft system by being historically bad & bringing tanking to the forefront, so surprise surprise once he’s out they finally get the #1 pick) and the Los Angeles Lakers (finally without Kobe & last year’s #2 pick is obviously a teenager, so they can now rebuild in the nation’s 2^nd largest market) and everybody pretty much knew who was going with those picks. However, the rest was kind of bonkers… and I like it. Here are some highlights and thoughts…

 

1.       Philadelphia – Ben Simmons – Forward from LSU – Everybody has been touting him as the next LeBron James for two full years now… and his one year at LSU was pretty impressive as he was apparently the only person on that team when he showed up & they didn’t even WANT to be in the postseason tournaments so… in that respect, he’s a lot like Shaquille O’Neal a generation ago. From what I’ve seen, he has a LOT of skills and I really can’t see him NOT being the #1 pick. Need more convincing? The coach of the 76ers (former Spurs assistant Brent Brown) coached Ben’s father in Australia back in the day. Need more? What the f**k else is Philadelphia going to do? Seriously, they need to do something… otherwise the NBA will move them to Seattle or something as punishment for mocking them. Allegedly we may finally get to see a real basketball team in Philadelphia instead of a team the Washington Generals would have a chance against. Let this be the year!!! Tanking works!!! Philly also used later first round picks on international players Frenchman Timothe Luwawu & Turkish player Furkan Korkmaz (or as I’m going to call him… “FURK YEAH!!!”). With the potential of trading away their plethora of big men from past drafts (Okafor, Noel, Embiid, Siric, etc) the Sixers may be a player in the bottom half of the East next year & built for the future… or they may still suck. Who knows? Good draft though maybe…

 

2.       Los Angeles – Brandon Ingram – Forward from Duke – Kobe is finally gone… so let’s now get the Lakers back into the NBA landscape. They have… well, they don’t have a lot to work with. I like Julius Randle’s game… but it really hasn’t taken off. Jordan Clarkson & D’Angelo Russell are in the backcourt but… apparently D’Angelo really is a teenager. Swaggy P or whatever Nick Young is calling himself… is a goddamn joke. Brandon Ingram has great skills… and will have to lead the Lakers from the start. However, he’s from Duke… and as has been documented, there aren’t a lot of superstars to come out of Duke the past few decades. However, there have been some great role players. Hopefully Brandon can break the trend… but let’s be honest, who gives two sh*ts about the Lakers. They’re really trying to go after Kevin Durant or somebody who’ll probably play the same position as Ingram so that’s where the real play is. The Lakers haven’t drafted well since the 80s. They get their star players through free agency. Money talks. They also drafted the 2^nd best 7-foot Croatian in the draft, Ivica Zubac so… we might be pretty good too? Lakers will probably rebuild through free agency.

 

3.       Boston – Jaylen Brown – Guard from California – This was a bit of a surprise… but apparently he’s a tremendous athlete & great size for the point position and super young. Here’s the thing… the Celtics came into the draft with EIGHT picks… and basically used SIX of them… and sent the other two for a 1^st rounder next year, where they already had 2 first-rounders. They were talking about trying to trade for established superstars (or at least Jimmy Butler or the Sixers’ castaways) but they got Brown, some French guy nobody has heard of (Guerschon Yabusele), another tall European guy (Ante Zizic), Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson (not bad), a guy from Providence named Ben Bentil, and another European guy (Abdel Nader). So there’s young talent but… a LOT of them for a team that already has a LOT of young talented prospects but no real superstar (until they trade for Kevin Love or something). You know who’s good at developing young talent? Brad Stevens, the coach who led f**king BUTLER to the championship game TWICE and then has been heading up a gaggle of nobodies in Boston for the past few seasons.

 

4.       Phoenix – Dragan Bender – 7-foot Croatian - Yes, I know… the mysterious “seven-footer” from some Eastern European country that doesn’t have the last name Nowitzki… he’s bound to suck, right? Probably. However, here’s why I think the Celtics may bite on him. First & foremost, he’s apparently really 7 feet tall… and you can’t teach that. He’s also super young like most European exports. One key difference, he actually looks proportionate to his 7 foot frame, not super skinny like Krystaps last year or anything like that. He’s got skills already but will need to develop. He could totally be a Pao Gasol / Chris Bosh kind of player very easily… or another Alex Len or something. We shall see. The Suns also traded four late round picks / busts for the 8^th pick in the draft to grab Washington forward Marquese Chriss. Everybody seems really high on this kid & I’ve never seen him play… but apparently he’s 6’9” and can jump out of the f**king gym. Now a player like that might be really good & marketable in Phoenix if it all works out… and they also got a very good (short) point guard in tournament darling Tyler Ulis. That’s a fantastic draft in my humble opinion. LOTS of potential high-risk / high-reward picks… go big or go home in 105 degree heat in spring.

 

5.       Minnesota – Kris Dunn – Guard from Providence – Apparently Minnesota is FINALLY over Ricky Rubio and whatever they say in him for what seems like forever. They have their key talent now with guys like Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Shabazz Muhammed, etc. but they need somebody who can provide some leadership and set them up to succeed. Enter a four-year starter in college with good size to take over a bit of a leadership role. With new coach Tom Thibodeau having more of an emphasis on defense too, I can really see this working out for them.

 

6.       New Orleans – Buddy Hield – Guard from Oklahoma – Let the record show that I LOVE Buddy Hield’s game. What I’ve seen from him this season in college is… Steph Curry-like. He can just take over a game on offense & has range for days. So why is he at #7 then? Well… he’s absolutely ancient by draft standards at 22 years old… he’s not much of a passer / facilitator from what I’ve seen… and his defense is questionable. He may also be a little too short at 6’4” to be a major threat as a spot-up shooter unless he learns to come off screens or pull some Steph Curry moves to get open. That being said… he’s an all-day three-point shooter, has some great skills all around on offense… and can really help out in spreading out the floor for Anthony Davis down low and work well with their other guards like Jrue Holiday & Tyreke Evans… basically replacing Eric Bledsoe who’s leaving apparently. Honestly, he may be the steal of the draft. He has heart… and as Steph Curry can show, sometimes when heart meets drive, you can make a superstar out of somebody who gets doubted & scrutinized his whole life. They also picked up Kansas forward Cheick Diallo who basically rode the bench so who knows… but rooting for the Pelicans.

 

7.       Denver – Jamal Murray – Guard from Kentucky – He’s a one-and-done guy from Kentucky who is 19 years old and doesn’t really play defense. That being said, he’s very young, great scorer & penetrator, good ball skills that’ll need to develop, good size for a point guard, and can really help the Nuggets by distributing, shooting when needed & setting up those around him to do what they do. Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot to work with in Denver right now. They did pick up FSU guard Malik Beasley at #19 & Spanish superstar Juan Hernangomez at #15 who may play in a year or two… so may be a year or two away from competing? Who knows?

 

9.       Toronto – Jakob Poeltl – Center from Utah – Huge German guy who played at the U of U, goes to Toronto where they LOVE their international players & atmosphere, totally picked this one before the draft (actually I had the same players within one pick of where they were taken for these first 9 picks… and then it all fell apart). He’s a tall center who can score at times & be a defender if only in taking up space. He’s a bit of a project… but I really like the idea of him holding it down in Toronto. I think the Raptors would like that too. They also drafted Pascal Siakam late in the first round from New Mexico State, who’s a 6’9” big fish in a small pond… but has the potential to be a Kenneth Faried-type player with some work. We shall see.

 

10.   Milwaukee – Thon Maker – Center from… Australia, I think? – Mr. Maker didn’t go to college, and instead went pro in Australia or something… and wasn’t too impressive in actual competition but is tall, skinny and… has seen a basketball before. The Bucks may have really reached on this pick. In the right environment for development, he can blossom I’m sure but… I just don’t see it. Doesn’t Milwaukee already have John Henson? Thon seems like John Henson. Tall, skinny, maybe can block shots. Oh well, they also drafted Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon early in the 2^nd round which seems like a great pickup. He’s a guard in that Alvin Robertson – Avery Bradley – Tony Allen – Bruce Bowen mold where they are defensive minded but can also get buckets from time to time. I like that pick a lot better than their first.

 

11.   Oklahoma City – Domantas Sabonis – Forward from Gonzaga – God damn it… I think the Thunder somehow won Draft Night. They traded center Serge Ibaka for this pick as well as former #2 overall pick Victor Oladipo & defensive specialist Eryan Ilyasova. This is an absolutely INCREDIBLE haul for a player who, while I love, was just completely out of place with Oklahoma City. Oh well, maybe he’s a better fit in Orlando… but they almost immediately replace him with the more offensive-minded Domantas “Son of Arvydas” Sabonis but he can develop well with fellow young big men Steven Adams & Enes Kanter. Dang, the Thunder may still be a contender even if Kevin Durant goes somewhere but… probably not going to happen.

 

12.   Atlanta – Taurean Prince – Forward from Baylor – I hear this guy is good… that’s all I’ve got… but seems like one of those long, lean athletic types. The Hawks also got a versatile passing forward type at #21 with St. Joseph’s DeAndre Bembry and then a 2^nd round French guy named Isaiah Cordinier so… who knows?

 

14.   Chicago – Denzel Valentine – Swiss Army Knife from Michigan State – I LOVE this guy’s game. He’s basically Draymond Green when he came out a few years ago… and waited until the 2^nd round to get picked up… and look at him now!!! Valentine does it all… and is a great leader on the court… and can play multiple positions. Correction: HE will be the steal of the draft. If I’m the Spurs, I’m looking to trade up to get Denzel Valentine. F**k! Even his name is f**king awesome!!! This is actually a great pick for the Bulls after earlier this week they traded away their former franchise player Derrick Rose to the Knicks for Robin Lopez and other dead weight. Let the rebuild begin! They also drafted a German forward named Paul Zipser… but I don’t know anything about him other than how to speak to him in his native tongue a little bit.

 

17.   Memphis - Wade Baldwin IV – Guard from Vanderbilt – With Mike Conley being a free agent, they need to secure up the backcourt… I think Baldwin was the best backcourt player available… and he can light it up from three… and just seems like a good point to start. They also snagged up a raw DeAndre Jordan / Andre Drummond type in Michigan State center Deyonta Davis at #31, a Croatian wing player Rade Zagorac at #35 & a Chinese guy named Wang Zhelin at #57. Not a bad draft for them… but we’ll see how it all works out in free agency too.

 

18.   Detroit - Henry Ellenson – Forward from Marquette – He plays a lot like this year’s Doug McDermott where he could be the next Kevin Love… or another slightly overweight white guy who shoots threes. However, in the highlight reels that I’ve seen (because seriously, who watched Marquette since D-Wade graduated? Do you even know where Marquette is? Spoiler alert: It’s Milwaukee… so surprised he wasn’t taken by the Bucks with the #10 pick) he seems like a pretty good player in that “Stretch-4” mold and can help space things out for the Pistons so that the post doesn’t get too crowded… and Andre Drummond can grab offensive boards and dunk that stuff in… after he learns to shoot free throw.

 

25.  L.A. Clippers – Brice Johnson – Forward from North Carolina – He another long, lanky, athletic guy who has good passing & shooting skills that needs to bulk up… but you just can’t sit on those NC big men. They’re wiry good. Might be a great fit for filling in for Blake Griffin off the bench to start & then go from there. I also think that the Clippers drafted the Name of the Draft at #40 with Vanderbilt center Diamond Stone!!! The competition is between him & Denzel Valentine. Cast your vote now!

 

28.   Sacramento – Skal Labissiere – Center from Kentucky – This guy was the #1 recruit & the second coming of Anthony Davis just over a year ago. I was so excited when he was still around with the Spurs picking at #29… it was meant to be… then the Kings had to go & f**k it up by taking them one spot ahead. Why was he this late in the draft? He played one year of college on a loaded Kentucky team and… well, now everybody is saying late lottery at best. Here, he’s a low-risk/high-reward kind of player that brings great size (will have to put some weight on eventually) but can help on defense while still providing some offensive rebounding, etc. This could be a GREAT steal at #28 for Sacramento. DAMN IT!!! The Kings also actually grabbed TWO EARLIER 1^st ROUNDERS BEFORE THIS GUY with Greek center Georgios Papagiannis at #13 & Syracuse guard Malachi Richardson at #22. Three first rounders for the kings… and they now have three highly touted Kentucky big men in DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein & Labissiere… damn. Not bad.

 

29.   San Antonio – Dejounte Murray – Guard from Washington – I hear nothing but good things about this guy (as again, didn’t see him & Maurquese Chriss play at Washington) but he has great size & skills apparently… so I’m already dubbing him the future replacement for Tony Parker… and steal of the draft (as usual). ALL HAIL THE DYNASTY!!!

 

52.   Utah – Joel Bolomboy – Forward from Weber State – With trades, they picked up guard George Hill from the Pacers in exchange for the #12 pick… and then continued to just pile up run-of-the-mill point guards by drafting North Carolina’s Marcus Paige at #55 and California’s Ty Wallace at #60… but I absolutely love the game of Weber State alum Joel Bolomboy. He’s a big bodied rebounder & defender who can put it back with the best of them. He’s in that Charles Oakley / Draymond Green / DeJuan Blair mold where he’s built like a brick sh*t house… a little undersized for the position… but makes up for it in heart… and I absolutely love that kind of player. I was also hoping the Spurs would snag him up… but alas, they had no 2^nd round picks… and the Jazz used their first of three late 2^nd rounder on him. I can’t wait to see him up against pro competition.

 

 

Anyway, as usual, just my thoughts & predictions… and as we all know, I’m only 100% correct about 52% of the time… and when you’re right 52% of the time, you’re wrong 48% of the time. Okay, so really I’m more like… 75% when I predict the end results of the picks… but hey, I make my money in another sector.

 

The latest episode of the Everything I Learned From Movies podcast is up and it’s Izzy & I talking about the “Highlander” Cinematic Universe. It’s pretty fun… check it out!!!

 

However, the next episode if a People’s Choice winner… since we got a wonderful bargain basement 4-Pack of Sylvester Stallone movies and there’s just too much awesome for one episode… so the people have spoken… and our next episode will be… “Over the Top”!!! By far the greatest movie about Arm Wrestling that features kidnapping, grand theft auto, assault with a deadly semi-truck & a father-son road trip. This wonderful movie is currently streaming on Netflix so check it out & let us know what you think. You could be featured on the next episode. In the meantime, have a wonderful day everybody!!!

Kreed: Jenesiz

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Over the weekend, Izzy & I watched a summer blockbuster that got some scathing reviews… and that’s the fifth movie in one of the most iconic movie franchises in history, “Terminator: Genisys” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke (no relation in real life… but apparently mother-son in this movie) & Jai Courtney (homeless man’s Channing Tatum). Okay, so I’m going to assume that you’re all up to date with at least the first two Terminator movies… and the whole Judgment Day in 1997… Skynet being a computer system that essentially becomes self-aware and starts eliminating humans… and there’s this whole humans vs. robots war that rages on for a generation-plus… and then Skynet builds a time machine to send a robot (Arnie) to go back to 1985 to kill the mother (E. Clarke) of the human rebellion leader (J. Clarke) and avoid this whole war thing… but then the humans find out about it, assault the facility and then the humans send back a soldier named Kyle Reese (Courtney) to protect the mother. I’m also going to kindly remind you to forget many, many other plot points from previous movies in order to push this movie’s logic forward. Trust me, it’s just easier. So in this movie, it’s essentially a reboot of the first movie with sending Kyle back in time to protect the mother Sarah Connor… but apparently this has already been done a few times so by the time he goes back to 1985 there’s a reprogrammed Arnie robot sent back to protect her… and apparently a T-1000 liquid metal version from Terminator 2 sent back… and a whole lot of other sh*t going down… hell, even the leader of the future resistance John Connor gets sent back… but as long as you don’t think about it too hard, it can make sense. Okay… here’s a quick breakdown… and I want to start off with I actually recommend checking this movie out… but I’ll be brief.

 

The Good: The action is pretty good and the visual effects are decent… there’s plenty of throwbacks (or direct ripoffs) of past movies, and the essentially frame for frame remake of the original movie’s first 15 minutes or so is particularly entertaining to me as I’ve seen that movie literally thousands of times, so that was a treat. J.K. Simmons shows up too… and that’s a treat. Aside from Jai Courtney, the acting was even pretty good… though I kept expecting Kyle Reese to be revealed to be the robot as he had reactions similar to Arnie’s character. This is an action movie… so with good action gets good reaction from me.

 

The Bad: First & foremost, the previews for this movie REALLY f**ked them over!!! First, there was the preview that showed Arnie jumping out of a helicopter to kamikaze dive bomb another helicopter to completion… or in other words, THE CLIMAX OF THE F**KING MOVIE!!! Secondly… in the other previews… sigh… I don’t even want to say it as some people might really enjoy this twist & haven’t seen the preview. If so… please move along to the next paragraph… heck, maybe to the next movie where you see an ancient Sylvester Stallone & the other Michael Jordan (with a B.) Okay… so in the other previews, including those aired during the f**king Super Bowl months earlier… they reveal that the John Connor sent back in time… is actually a robot… and sent back to kill Sarah Connor and everybody else. Now, would this had been a better movie if that MAJOR TWIST wasn’t given away months before people even saw the movie? I’d like to think so… but alas, somebody in marketing really f**ked up this movie for most moviegoers before it even came out to the public. Would it have put this movie on the money-making level of “Furious 7” or “Jurassic World”? Probably not… In fact, I’d say I’m about 90% sure it wouldn’t have made much difference.

 

Overall: Unfortunately I think people were kinda f**ked out of the Terminator franchise a while back… but I still think that this movie was not nearly as bad as everybody made it out to be. You’ll probably find that most of the people talking sh*t on it… actually haven’t even seen it. They heard it was bad from the critics and/or other people who hadn’t seen it. This is one of those movies that scores like 22% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critics… but around 60% with people that watched the movie. Not great… not horrible… just kind of in the middle. However, I’m a fan of the series… so I enjoyed it… except Jai Courtney… and with him & the recent announcement that “Suicide Squad” is going to be PG-13 I’m looking less & less forward to it… but you know I’m still going to check it out.

  

Now for a special treat!!! Monday night, Izzy & I were invited to a special preview screening of another long-awaited (by some?) continuation of an iconic movie franchise… the Rocky Balboa franchise… and this movie is called “CREED” starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone… and this movie was NOT written and/or directed by Stallone… but rather by Ryan Coogler who did “Fruitvale Station” last year and was even on hand to introduce the movie at the theatre. Now… again, I’m going to basically assume that you’ve seen the other SIX Rocky movies as well… and really knowing anything past halfway through Rocky IV is really just going to be little snippets & one-off jokes in this movie… but I’m going to assume that you know all about the story of Rocky Balboa… who was a semipro boxer in 1976 who through a fluke incident involving a training injury, got the once in a lifetime to chance to square off against the reigning heavyweight champion Apollo Creed… and he trains hard with a former boxer named Mick and spoiler alert… goes the distance with the champ. That movie won Academy Awards… and then there was the sequel rematch with Apollo (Rocky II)… and then in the 3^rd installment, Rocky’s trainer Mick (Burgess Meredith) dies during a match with a younger, hungrier opponent named Clubber Lang (Mr. T, and there’s an entire post about his character from years ago)… and now-retired Apollo Creed steps in as his trainer to help him win & regain his eye of the tiger. Then in the 4^th installment, Creed comes out of retirement to fight a new Russian champion named Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) but is killed in the ring after Rocky doesn’t throw in the towel (by Apollo’s request but drama…) and then Rocky has to come out of retirement to blah blah blah… but you already know all of this… I don’t even know why I mention it.

 

Well, this movie is centered around what happened shortly before Apollo Creed’s fatal last fight. Apparently he had a son… with a woman who was not his wife (Phylicia Rashad). Well, this encounter gave birth to a young man named Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) who bounces around group homes after his mother’s death… but then is adopted by Apollo Creed’s wife Marianne when he’s about ten & rowdy… but then raised in the lap of luxury. Fast forward a few years… Adonis is boxing in Tijuana. WHY? Because he has the itch… he’s a fighter… and he doesn’t have a constructive way of utilizing that itch apparently. Well, this leads to drama with his mom who obviously doesn’t want him to fight… especially after he quit his newly promoted job at a financial firm (WHAT???) to essentially leave the mansion he was raised in… and go to Philadelphia to train to be a boxer. Why Philadelphia? Why not? Anyway, all these poor decisions aside, Adonis runs into (stalks) the former champion Rocky Balboa (Stallone) and through hard work & guilt convinces Rocky to help train him… throw in a love story with a neighbor girl (Tessa Thompson) and the story basically writes itself from there. Now, my telling of the story is pretty basic & sarcastic… but you get all of this from the trailer… and it’s the story of a man who has a lot of rage and needs a place to direct it… and it just so happens to tie into the Rocky cinematic universe. That being said…

 

I REALLY liked this movie! If you enjoy boxing movies (probably have to do a Movie List for these soon) then you’re probably going to also REALLY like and/or LOVE this movie. The story is basic… but the acting is pretty fantastic, the cinematography is beautiful, and there are these continuous shot fighting scenes that are some of the greatest that you will ever see. Seriously, there’s one in particular that’s a two-round prize fight… that’s a continuous shot… with dialogue and all the action of a boxing match to make it feel like you’re the referee standing in the ring with them & eavesdropping in the corners. It’s very impressive. Though there are some sapping subplots… they’re not done in the usual sappy way. There’s drama… that some might say is completely unnecessary… but you’ll say that about life as well. Life is drama some of the time… but it pushes the plot forward and has some meaning to it… so yeah, go check this movie out. Also… write this down…

 

Michael B. Jordan… is going to be the next Will Smith. He’ll basically be offered ever major role for a young African-American actor and they’ll be his to turn away. He’s got the skills, he’s got the charisma, soon he’ll have the paparazzi all over his ass… but he’ll also have the big paychecks. I know that his star has slipped a bit with the forced entry in superhero films that was “Fantastic 4” (don’t want to judge too harsh since I haven’t seen it yet but seriously, nobody asked for this movie, right?) but overall… I think he’s going to be huge. I was right about Megan Fox (to a point) and I’ve learned as a young child… to never doubt somebody named Michael Jordan.

 

So is this going to be the start of a new Rocky/Creed Trilogy? Well… I’ve had some thoughts about sequel of course… so here are some of my ideas for further movies in the Balboa Cinematic Universe… and I’m gonna warn you, some small spoiler alerts from the first Creed:

 

Creed vs. Lang – In this first Creed sequel, Adonis is moving up the ranks… and the champion that he faced in the first movie to the final bell (“Pretty” Ricky Conlan) is currently serving time for a weapons charge (seriously, it’s in the movie) and they have a series of fights to determine who will take over the championship belt during his sentence. I’m guessing probably a Final Four scenario involving the newcomer who pushed Conlan to the limit, Adonis… some iron-fisted Ukrainian stereotype (NOT Drago, this is lightweight) that he has to go against in the first match… and then he moves on to the winner of Token Black vs. Gunner Lang, one of the many out-of-wedlock children out of Detroit from mysteriously reclusive former champion Clubber Lang (Rocky III) and of course… Gunner is a sh*t talkin’ mastermind of the boxing game… I’m thinking somebody like Brandon Jackson or O’Shea Jackson if they bulked up… or Chadwick Boseman if he wanted to break out of being typecast as legendary sports/music figures in the mid-20^th century and wants to be the 2^nd coming of Mr. T. Anyway, we skip ahead to him KILLING (or crippling) challenger Token Black in the first match… and then it’s leading up to the showdown between Creed & Lang… and Gunner talks about how he’s going to kill him in the ring, take his woman & eat his child as the promotional press conference… wiping the seed of Creed from off the face of the Earth. Yup… Iron Mike ain’t got sh*t on Gunner Lang.

 

Oh yeah, for personal drama, he finds rich life comfortable now that he’s getting endorsement money ON TOP OF ALREADY BEING RICH FROM APOLLO’S CAREER so he gets a little soft… his girlfriend (not wife) is preggers with a child… Rocky is not doing well at all after the chemo, but he’s still around… until he passes on while training for the big match… but not before giving a few big speeches about family, fire in your belly, tiger’s blood in your veins & their eyes in your ocular sockets, all that stuff… and then the Final Match… well, I don’t want to spoil it…

 

Creed vs. Creed – So after Lang cripples Adonis in the final match, punches his woman in the stomach forcing a miscarriage & then bedding her like nobody’s business… No seriously, that’s what happens in my movie! Gunner Lang goes on to have a wonderful boxing career unlike his father and the title Creed vs. Creed is symbolic of Adonis’ long journey back to eating solid foods, communicating with apparatus and perhaps walking again. This is Oscar winning sh*t right here! What? Do you want him to win the final match against Lang, is the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, but then there’s YET ANOTHER BASTARD CREED CHILD who is only a few months older than Adonis… but raised in England (played by David Oyelowo BTW), is good friends with the still-incarcerated Ricky Conlan, but also has his promoter from the first movie… and his trainer is none other than the legendary Luther Mandela (played by Idris Elba). Essentially it’s what everybody really wants in a boxing match… Klitschko vs. Klitschko… except they’re both in their prime… and they’re actually very similar genetically… though one “started from the bottom now we here!” while the other… no, they’re both going to have the EXACT SAME backstory. Yeah, Apollo knocked up a woman in Liverpool or some sketchy off-shoot of London’s underground… he was raised in the system but was educated in school, eventually becoming a Rhodes Scholar AND athlete… but there was always this itch that only bashing a man’s skull could scratch… and so he started boxing… and then when Adonis made it big, he started looking into his own lineage… pictures of Apollo & his mama at Studio 54 or the English equivalent… boom, we have essentially the same vs. same… except Samson Creed (did I mention that’s his name & he was going to have dreadlocks a la Lennox Lewis? Cuz he is & that was pretty f**king important!) is actually taller, stronger & more adept to the sweet science… apparently his mom was an athlete too… and hell, they can’t say something like “My mama wouldn’t allow us to fight” like the Klitschkos because… for one, different mamas… for two…

 

Personal drama this movie – Marianne Creed passes away… Rocky Balboa passes away… Adonis’ dog Mercury passes away… his now wife is still around, but she makes a lot of trips out to Detroit on business in an effort to resurrect Motown Records and punctuate her sagging music career… leaving Adonis to train without Rocky’s direct influence… but then there’s a new trainer / promoter to help him out, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) who’s the champion’s mouthpiece and can inspire whales to walk on land… but does he have a hidden agenda? Can Adonis regain the family that he’s lost? Why is he promoting cigarettes & Colt 45 now? How did Nick Naylor convince him to do it? All this will be revealed and more… and then… the final fight… which leads to…

 

Cult of Clubber – This is the harrowing tale of a fallen boxing superstar Gunner Lang returning to the backwoods of Michigan to join his reclusive father Clubber Lang, who for the past 30+ years left his champion boxing career to start a fundamentalist cult of people who believe that only the strongest humans will survive the End of Days or any scientific apocalypse scenario… so they’ve been breeding generations of Langs with VERY few men and gaggles of women. Gunner tried to leave this life behind for fear that his father would betray him… but in his advanced age, Clubber is realizing that his baby batter isn’t as potent as it used to be… and he must help to teach his son Gunner to take over the group and lead his family into the dark days. This movie looks into religious/cultural beliefs and norms vs. natural selection… and could potentially finally give Mr. T the Academy Award that he so desperately deserves from his long underappreciate career as a thespian… you know what? I’m totally in love with the idea of this movie. I’m starting the script TONIGHT!!! Spoiler alert: Adonis’ wife is part of the Cult of Clubber, that’s why she’s going to Detroit “on business”.

 

Creed vs. Drago – Back on the Adonis Creed tangent… I’m not even going to tell you how Creed vs. Creed ends… but I think this one writes itself… he has to bulk up to go Super Middleweight or something since anything coming out of Ivan Drago’s sack is going to be half bull anyway… and after the dwindling box office return of “Cult of Clubber” and its ultra-controversial material, I think this one is going straight to DVD like “Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift” only to be resurrected by…

 

Creed vs. Predator – Need I say more? Intergalactic boxing… in an environment similar to the Thunderdome! Two being enter, at most one being leaves.

 

Anyway, that’s my thrilling reviews of some major blockbusters that came out six months ago or will be coming out in a week or so… and some great ideas for future movies, Hollywood! You’re welcome! More fun stuff on the way! Have a great day everybody!

Your Worst Nightmare... Reviewed

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Over the weekend, Izzy & I watched an American treasure… also known as the original John Rambo trilogy. Now, I’ve watched & reviewed the 4^th installment a few years ago… but this is the 80’s action movie series that relaunched the career of thespian icon Sylvester Stallone. After becoming an Academy Award winner with “Rocky”, following it up with a few commercially successful sequels, but then not really doing anything else decent… his career was at a turning point. Then the story of a returned Vietnam green beret fallen on hard times comes across his desk (after being passed on by just about every actor alive during the time…seriously, read IMDb but some of the names listed that passed or were considered BEFORE Stallone are Pacino, DeNiro, Eastwood, McQueen, Hoffman, Travolta, Newman, Bridges, Ryan O’Neal, James Garner, Kris Kristofferson, Chuck Norris, Nick Nolte, Michael Douglas, etc.) and he had a poignant story about America’s treatment of its veterans, how they adapt to life after the war, and some great action set against the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

 

From that… a first movie was made… based off a 26^th version of a script adaptation of a novel by David Morell… and originally, the movie clocked in at THREE HOURS!!! That movie… was 1982’s “First Blood” starring the aforementioned Stallone, Brian Dennehy & Richard Crenna (as well as a young David Caruso & Bruce Greenwood in bit parts). Well, the studio didn’t want a three-hour epic… and so the movie was cut in half. How so? Well, apparently the original version went into the whole backstory of John Rambo… probably from high school to being transformed into the “ultimate killing machine” of his days in Vietnam… and even more into the backstory of why the Sheriff of the city of Hope (actually British Columbia but I think it’s supposed to be Washington) resents and hates Vietnam vets… but allegedly they decided that it dragged on too much, was even more depressing & so they start the theatrical version about half way through… where John Rambo is wandering the countryside after learning that the last of his elite team passed away… and he’s just looking for a place to roam & hold onto a job thanks to his PTSD and the nation’s view of Vietnam vets a.k.a. Baby Killers. As he wanders through town, the local sheriff (Dennehy) basically gives him a ride to the edge of town… and tells him to keep walking… and Rambo just turns around and heads back towards town. This infuriates the Sheriff, so he arrests him and takes him to the jail… one asshole officer beats him down a bit while the others watch… and basically he snaps when they’re… trying to give him a shave? Anyway, he snaps, beats some ass, steals a motorcycle, goes into the woods, the police go after him, his former commanding officer (Crenna) shows up to try to bring him in… and sh*t ensues. Check it out! It’s on Netflix… watch it now! Stallone acts his ass off the last few minutes! Death count of this movie? ONE!!! It’s epic though.

 

Now… that being said… Rambo’s kind of a dick in this movie. “What?” Yeah… and he’s not that bright for being green beret. “How so?” Well, master of strategy that he is… when the sheriff takes him to the edge of town, just turns and walks back to town… right in front of the sheriff. Why? Take a few steps in that direction, sheriff turns around and leaves… and then you go back to town to grab a bite to eat off the main road, maybe grab a cot somewhere. Instead… you’re basically begging this hick cop to take you in. Then again, maybe that’s the cot he was looking for & then the other cops roughing him up was what really set it off. Still… easily avoidable. That being said… why were they giving him a shave? Is that a thing? Was that a thing back in the early 80’s? Shaving guys in prison? It seems really weird… but whatever. The movie is pretty damn good… and I recommend that you check it out. I had only seen the first half-hour and the last ten minutes before… and yeah, I’m glad I checked it out. Again, this movie kinda saved Stallone’s career when he was kind of considered a one-hit wonder at the time… and because it enjoyed commercial success…

 

They made 1985’s “Rambo: First Blood Part II” which meets up with Rambo some time later working at a prison where they have guys break down rocks… oh, spoiler alert… he turns himself in at the end of the first movie and goes to jail. There’s a sequel. It’s not really a spoiler that he survives. Anyway, his former CO (Crenna) shows up… and he needs Rambo’s very specific set of skills to infiltrate a Vietnamese POW camp & confirm that they have POWs. This movie is directed by George Cosmatos (“Tombstone” & “Cobra”) and also stars the great Charles Napier as Marshall Murdock, the general in charge of the covert operation… who has all the surveillance technology in the world… but needs Rambo’s badassery. Where the first movie was more of a statement movie on the treatment of America’s veterans… this movie basically goes full balls-out action… and a small part for the great Martin Kove (Reese from “Karate Kid”). There’s even a love interest for Rambo along the way… and it’s pretty fantastic. Fun facts about this movie… co-written by JAMES CAMERON!!! Yes, THE James Cameron cowrote this movie… while he was also writing “Aliens” & “The Terminator”. Another one… originally the Russian general in this movie was going to be played by DOLPH LUNDGREN!!! Of course… it was decided that Dolph was going to be Rocky’s rival in the gestating “Rocky IV” movie out the next year… so instead they switched the role out for Steven Berkoff (Victor from “Beverly Hills Cops”). I would suggest watching this movie too… but yeah, you’re going to have to separate your beliefs just a bit with regards to some things to enjoy it. Death count of this movie? 67… and 57 by Rambo himself. If you’re okay with that though, you will enjoy it… and America did… so then there came…

 
 

1988’s “Rambo III” which at the time was the most expensive movie ever made at $63 million budget… and apparently $12 million of that was used to buy a Gulfstream jet for Stallone to star in the movie… and I’m assuming about half-a-mill was used strictly on “gun butter” for both the weapons and the arms that Stallone was sporting… and his luscious, luscious head of hair. It’s pretty magnificent. Anyway, this movie picks up a few years after the last one… and Rambo has turned to a life of helping Thai monks build temples & attempt to find peace with his life… so of course, Lt. Trautman (Crenna yet again) shows up with Kurtwood Smith (“That 70’s Show” & “Robocop”) to invite him along on a mission… and he declines of course. Well, Lt. Trautman, a man in his late 50’s / early 60’s & not of the best physical shape, goes instead… and gets captured. So Kurtwood Smith then pops up in Thailand the next day and is like “Hey Rambo, your buddy was captured on that mission we invited you to… just thought you should know…” and walks away. Seriously, at this point, I would’ve been perfectly OK with Rambo saying, “Then why the f**k are you here? I told you I was interested yesterday! You sent an elderly man in a covert operation? That’s f**king stupid!” Instead… he asks to be sent into Afghanistan so that he can join forces with the Mujahideen rebels to get Trautman back. What’s that? Oh… I didn’t mention that this happens in Afghanistan & they’re essentially American forces against the Russians in this movie? I don’t see why that’s important nowadays… back then we were thick as thieves with Afghan resistance forces… and I haven’t been in a high school history class lately but according to the last textbook that I read we still are… right? Fun fact: This movie is DEDICATED to the resistance forces of Afghanistan!

 

So… they get him into the country (and he of course doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb at all), he meets up with the resistance, and the rest of the movie is shot like “Rambo of Arabia” if they had a $60+ million budget for explosions & Laurence Olivier looked like a yoked-out bodybuilder with a flashdancer’s Jheri curl. It’s pretty amazing in all the wrong ways… and it’s odd to see the full character & story arc that Rambo goes through from the beginning of the first movie to the end of this one… and just scratch your head a bit. I highly recommend it… and all three are on Netflix now, so check them all out immediately! Death toll for this movie? 108 recorded… 221 acts of violence… and probably more implied in a “Man of Steel” kind of collateral damage.

 

Nowadays though, it’s all about the reboot… and if we were to do that today… who would star in the Rambo Reboot… dare I say RAMBOOT??? Izzy & I had a little discussion… and this is what we came up with. Oh… the story is pretty much the same… well, maybe the countries involved switched around. You know… John Rambo is a veteran of Afghanistan… he tries going back home to Arizona & gets some guff from the local sheriff (and maybe the governor?)… he goes on a journey of self-discovery north… and finds it in the Pacific Northwest… so yeah, the cast of the original story set in Hope, Washington (British Columbia). This is the one that’s going to go for a little bit of that Oscar buzz…

 

Kit Harrington as John Rambo – While watching the trilogy the other day, we were straining to think who could possibly pull off that head of hair that is John Rambo… and of course we could only think of Jon Snow from “Game of Thrones.” Sure, that “Pompeii” movie wasn’t that incredible… but I’m totally down with Kit Harrington as Rambo. He’s young… he has the baby face… he could probably get ripped for the brief nude scenes while he’s hosed down by the cops and subjected to homoerotic hazing by the bigot cop we’re supposed to hate named Gault (played by Mel Gibson cameo?) and then the movie will go on from there where it’s Rambo vs. the cops & the elements… and then the big Oscar scene. By the way, I was REALLY considering giving this role to future Academy Award winner Channing Tatum in a wonderful wig as John Rambeau & setting this in the South… but yeah, I want to bring Jon Snow back from the death of type casting.

 

Kevin Costner as Sheriff Teasle – Speaking of Academy Awards, I want Costner playing the role made famous by Brian Dennehy in the original. He’s a decent cop nearing the end of a long career… and in the name of looking out for his town that’s already seen its share of recession-based unemployment, he notices a man whose brandishing a GIANT F**KING KNIFE to the city lines… but he passively resists… so he has to take him in. Then after some of his deputies (again, Gibson cameo as the weathered bigot Gault?) rough him in the holding cell, hell is unleashed in the form of PTSD Green Beret Rambo… and it’s up to Sheriff Teasle to bring him back in & protect his constituents. I like the idea of Teasle doing questionable things for reasons perceived as right in this complex issue… and Costner can act his ass off when given a proper script/situation.

 

Bryan Cranston as Col. Samuel Trautmann – “And the award for Best Supporting Actor goes to…” American treasure Bryan Cranston as The Man who made Rambo the “ultimate killing machine” during his various tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, wherever he was needed by the government. Now, his monster has been set loose on innocent & not-so-innocent civilians alike. Why Cranston? Because he’s a BADASS!!! “But $teve, Bryan Cranston is too big of a commodity now to be in a big budget movie for only a few minutes of screen time… besides, he’d just act the sh*t out of everybody else & it’d just anger the audience.” Somebody has never seen Godzilla…

 
 

Then based on setting all kinds of box office records, there comes a big budget sequel, he’s released from jail to go to a mission in the Ukraine (filmed in British Columbia again?) or North Korea (filmed in British Columbia?) or Columbia (filmed in non-British Columbia?)… but let’s face it, we want the Russians to be the bad guys because of who will be the baddie… and this too shall just be an all-out action royale with lots of explosions & one-liners.

 

Mickey Rourke as Marshall Murdock – Col. Trautman may have recruited Rambo to handle this covert operation… but it’s Murdock who pulls the strings for the operation… and he won’t let you forget it… and he’s seem some sh*t in his day, so he’s not to be messed with. I like Rourke because he looks like he’s seen some sh*t, is a pretty damn good actor & let’s face it… he can probably throw down & do a few stunts. I’ve seen “The Wrestler” and “Double Team.” This role was played by the great character actor Charles Napier in the original sequel… and yeah, I like this pick… so get used to it.

 

Eliza Dushku as Mission Contact / Love Interest Cameo – Mila Kunis, Milla Jovovich & Natalie Portman (apparently she’s of Russian descent?) would have been easy… but I like to go HARD Eastern European… and frankly, I haven’t seen her in anything lately… so if she’s game to take on this acting challenge still, I’m game to cast Eliza Dushku, who you may remember from the Buffy & Dollhouse TV Series… or maybe “The New Guy”… or maybe as the teenage girl in “True Lies”. Let’s be honest… if you’ve seen the original… you know it really doesn’t matter who’s in this role… spoiler alert… it’s short-LIVED!!! If she’s retired or something, then maybe I’ll reach out to Olga Kurylenko (“Quantum of Solace”, “XXX”, “Oblivion”, “Hitman”, etc) to take over.

 

Dolph Lundgren as the General Drago – Ladies & gentlemen, the Rematch!!! So regardless of the location of the covert op… near the start of the 3^rd act, in walks the towering Russian General behind the whole situation… and I’m thinking it’s actually reveals via TANK!!! Anyway, infiltration of base… plenty of explosions… maybe a few hostages are lost along the way (love interest?)… hand-to-hand combat with the big boss… perhaps on top of a MIG… FINALE!!!

 

So yeah… that’s how I’m rebooting Rambo… and I think Izzy’s along for the ride too… now I just need to check with Mario Kassar & Andrew Vajna (not Vajina) to get them to produce again… and maybe Stallone… I almost wanted him to be Trautman but he can’t hold a f**king candle in the same room as Bryan Cranston. Anyway, gonna try to get a body cold or something that I’ve been feeling since yesterday… in the meantime, have a great weekend everybody!!!

Eating Pizza With Scissors

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Thursday night, Izzy & I watched a Sylvester Stallone movie that somehow slipped through the cracks for me in the 80’s… and that feature is 1986’s “Cobra” starring Sly & Brigitte Nielsen. Like other iconic 80’s action movies… this movie starts out in a grocery store hostage situation (“Stone Cold” is amazing) but the overall story is about a renegade cop named Marion “Cobra” Cobretti (ugh) whose part of the “Zombie Squad” which means… actually they never really explain that the squad and how they’re different from anybody… or who else is in this squad… but really, who cares? Anyway, there’s a serial killer called the Night Slasher who has over a dozen victims in the L.A. area… and the police are clueless & have no leads. There seems to be no pattern, motive, anything like that. Until one evening when a model (Nielsen) stumbles upon a murder late at night… and see the face of the Night Slasher… but he get her license plate, so now she needs protection… from Cobra. Also, the Night Stalker is just part of a whole gang of… I don’t know, subterranean axe wielding new world order punk percussion enthusiasts? I feel like that’s never really explained much either… but the important thing is that there are plenty of people in leather jackets & tattoos for Cobra to kill… all while looking like George Michael in the “Faith” video… like exactly. Also, Brigitte Nielsen is a handsome woman… but the acting, the modeling sequence, and especially the fashion (shoulders mostly) makes me question the 80’s and the amount of cocaine that was readily available in Hollywood. Now, it’s you typically 80’s action movie with lots of guns, grenades, random explosions & the final showdown is at a steel plant a la “T2: Judgment Day” so as long as you go into it with that in mind, it’s not that horrible. There are many, many questionable scenes (bobblehead as a “hot item”, being a complete asshole parking his ’50 Mercury because… somebody else dared to park near his apartment, weird food based things including cutting fridge pizza with scissors while cleaning his gun using tools in an egg carton, checking a HORRIBLE police sketch of the Night Slasher with FINGERPRINTS at his APARTMENT?, etc) and a LOT of unanswered questions & loose ends. However, after doing some IMDb research, apparently this movie was originally over 2 hours and X-rated (f**k yeah!) but they basically cut it down to 87 minutes… so there was probably a lot of stuff in there involving who/what exactly the bad guys were… or the Zombie Squad… or character development… but yeah, good for some cheap laughs. Oddly enough, this movie was also Warner Bros highest grossing opening weekend up until that point in 1986! How odd is that? Well… “Batman” destroyed all that three years later… but still, interesting bit of trivia… check it out if you like bad Sly movies…

The other night, we completed by trilogy by watching the original “The Punisher” from 1989 starring Dolph Lundgren & Louis Gossett, jr and directed by Mark Goldblatt who… well, he was editor on some LEGENDARY movies (the good “Terminators”, “Armegeddon”, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, “Last Boy Scout”, “Starship Troopers”, “Predator 2”, “Showgirls”, and the new classic “Chappie”) but he directed… well, this movie and “Dead Heat”. What’s “Dead Heat” you ask? It was an action flick from the year before (1988) that featured Treat Williams & Joe Piscopo as cops brought back to life to chase down supernatural criminals. No, it’s not RIPD, don’t be an ass! Anyway, this movie is the first big-screen adaptation of the Punisher comic books which I have elaborated on in recent posts… and the story is very similar to the “Punisher: War Zone” version where the events of the movie take place five years after the “origin story” where former cop Frank Castle (Lundgren) is throwing out vigilante justice by executing criminals… fueled by VENGEANCE after his family was killed & he too is thought to be dead. The turning point in this story is when the Yakuza come into town & start taking over the organized crime in town… and they do this by kidnapping the Mafia’s children & holding them hostage to make them do their bidding. Well… the Punisher doesn’t like when kids are brought into the fray… so he goes to save them… and that’s where I’ll let you watch the movie. It was okay… it wasn’t great… Dolph obviously takes acting lessons & speech therapy from Sylvester Stallone… the plot is fairly predictable… but it’s violent & gritty like the movie should be… but yeah, just an okay 80’s action movie. Check it out on Netflix if you can. There’s Punisher, Yakuza & lots of guns… that’s about it.

 

In beer news, our hops are growing like weeds… that bear delicious hop clusters…

 

Saturday, Izzy & I had a busy little brewday which started with a new beer batch of a little known beer type called Kentucky Common. It’s a once-popular style that was huge in the Kentucky area from the Civil War to Prohibition… but essentially it’s similar to a brown ale… but with about 20-30% of the grain bill as rye and/or corn instead of barley. This gives the beer a bit of an easy drinking but slightly sour (like sour mash whiskey) twist to it. Why are we doing a Kentucky Common? Well, first off, because I’m a big fan of rye… in bread, whiskey, bourbon or beer form… and we hadn’t tried a rye beer yet. Mostly because it’s notoriously difficult to work with & clogs equipment with relative ease… but hey, we like a challenge. However, another reason we’re doing it is because Northern California Homebrewers Festival is in September & they have a club keg competition where you can make a Kentucky Common or a Classic American Pilsner… and we may enter it depending on how the SF Homebrewers Guild decides to enter… but worst-case, then we have 4-5 gallons of it available to share at our booth that weekend. Here are some pictures of the preparation… my new roommate also joined the adventure…

 

It was also time for us to transfer our Hefeweizen into secondary fermentation… and of course add the strawberry puree to make it Strawberry Hefeweizen…

 

We also had a bit bottling day in which it was time to bottle both our future Award-winning Dunkelweizen…

 

 

Other than that, it was a pretty low key weekend where we watched more than a season of “BoJack Horsemen” which… I mean, check it out… you’ll know in the first episode or two if you’ll like it. This next week is also pretty packed with awesomeness… and it culminates with a brew day with Big Ben & his family on Saturday!!! It’s gonna be a fun time!!! See y’all next week… thanks for stopping by… have a great week everybody!!!