Adam Selvidge's Website Blog
The Big Short: Directed by Adam McKay. With Ryan Gosling, Rudy Eisenzopf, Casey Groves, Charlie Talbert. In 2006-2007 a group of investors bet against the US mortgage market. In their research, they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is. I’ve been putting off watching this, as I only just barely missed getting hit by the subprime implosion, so I have good memories of friends having severe financial problems, some of whom have still not fully recovered. Seeing it in a movie isn’t necessary and I’ll admit to a bit of PTSD with hearing that only a single person was...
Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer’s Manual is a supplement published by FASA in 1988 for Star Trek: The Role Playing Game to update game material following the premiere of the new television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. However Paramount Pictures did not feel FASA’s new material match This is a well done book, but unfortunately was developed separately from the main TNG show, so there’s a ton of information that makes no sense at all in context of what people were expecting after seeing TNG on the screen. Add to that, most of the ship designs are hilariously...
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers: Directed by Akiva Schaffer. With Andy Samberg, John Mulaney, KiKi Layne, Will Arnett. Thirty years after their popular television show ended, chipmunks Chip and Dale live very different lives. When a cast member from the original series mysteriously disappears, the pair must reunite to save their friend. This is hands down one of the most bonkers films that I’ve ever seen. Remember when Roger Rabbit came out and everyone was shocked at how well Bob Costas did with an animated co-start? Well here in CnD, it’s animation, early CGI, uncanny valley CGI, modern 3d cgi,...
Locke & Key: Created by Meredith Averill, Aron Eli Coleite, Carlton Cuse. With Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott. After their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, which they discover is full of magical keys that may be connected to their father’s death. Another great season of a show with a unique premise based off a comic book series that I enjoyed several collections of. There’s a moment about half way through the season that the difference between a kid and an adult hearing...
Standing Up, Falling Down: Directed by Matt Ratner. With Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz, Grace Gummer, Eloise Mumford. The unlikely friendship that kindles between a struggling stand-up comedian from L.A., forced to move back home with his tail between his legs, and a tragically flawed, but charming and charismatic, alcoholic dermatologist. I watched this based on the two main guys alone, Ben Schwartz is still on his well owned upward trajectory and pretty much everything Billy Crystal does is damn entertaining. You’ll not be surprised to learn that this is a fantastically tragic comedy about getting to a certain point in...
Last Looks: Directed by Tim Kirkby. With Charlie Hunnam, Mel Gibson, Lucy Fry, Rupert Friend. A disgraced ex-cop seeks solace by moving to the woods, but his quiet life comes to an end when a private eye recruits him to investigate a murder. Other than Mel Gibson’s rediculous accent, this is a pretty fun film. Even that accent has a certain charm to it, but it’s just so out of place and fake it takes me out of the film ever moment I hear it. It’s a toss up of who looked better in this Charlie Hunnam or Morena Baccarin,...
Morbius: Directed by Daniel Espinosa. With Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris. Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead. I remember when word came out that Sony was going to make this movie, then they hired Jared Leto in the main role, I formed a picture of what I thought the final product would look like, and with some very minor exceptions, this is exactly what I thought it would be, for better or worse. The actors are present, there’s music, some...
The Kids in the Hall: Created by Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson. With Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney. The iconic Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall return from the dead with a reboot of their ground-breaking sketch series. Remember these guys? They had a tv show back in the day, then did absolutely nothing since then. Sure, there was a fever dream in which people thought there was a movie or something, but that never happened. I’m glad they’re back, this renewed series is on Amazon is well worth...
Halo: Created by Steven Kane, Kyle Killen. With Pablo Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray. Aliens threaten human existence in an epic 26th-century showdown. TV series based on the video game ‘Halo.’ The broad strokes of the franchise are here, and there’s definitely a whole bunch of stuff that I recognize from the videos games, but most of what I recognize are the long plotlines from the books, which has to be absolutely maddening for anyone that didn’t read nearly every single one of them. There’s also a ton here that’s just unique to the televison series and it’s...
The G Word with Adam Conover: Created by Jon Cohen, Adam Conover, Jon Wolf. With Nicole Randall Johnson, James Austin Johnson, Sierra Katow, Carol Herman. Follows Conover introducing the civil servants who make it work and take a satirical look at its shortcomings. You may remember Adam Conover from “Adam Ruins Everything” a series that I believe started on College Humor and graduated to TBS, running from 2015 to 2019. It was basically Penn and Teller’s “Bullshit” but with much more hand holding research and documented sources, explaining the ins and outs about everything from office rights to circumcision. “The...
