Thunderbolts* (2025)

Thunderbolts* posterI have to admit to “MCU Fatigue”.  I’m predisposed to be more excited about DC properties, but there’s no question that Marvel Studios has done an amazing job of putting forward an interlinked story, for the most part.

My wife and I try to watch most superhero movies opening weekend to avoid being spoiled by errant headlines on media sites.  We saw Thunderbolts* the Saturday morning of opening weekend.

This movie is different from, say, Guardians of the Galaxy.  It’s not shifting to a bunch of new characters, instead tying together ‘loose ends’ from five or six story arcs in the MCU.

My major complaint with this movie was that there were large portions of it that were shot too darkly. Not tone, actual lighting! It’s actually a major complaint I have with a lot of media from the last 8 years or so.

I was surprised at one character arc that didn’t get much screen time.  However, my biggest surprise was that the movie didn’t shy away from depicting mental illness. While I try not to give spoilers, and I don’t think that’s a large one, it really did set the movie apart (and raise it a notch) for me.

Ludwig S1, 2025 (Britbox)

Ludwig S1 PosterMy wife and I are always looking for a show to watch together. Usually that means a Mystery, the cozier the better.  I had read some comments about this show that led me to think it’d be a good one.  None of the comments were wrong!

The premise of the show is a little strange, but there are interesting hints of the characters’ past that I hope continue to be revealed.  Despite the premise of the brilliant puzzle-creator, some of the overall plot points & ‘mythology’ were pretty easy to guess.  Doesn’t mean I won’t be watching S2 when it comes out–this one was entertaining.

When the Moon Hits your Eye by John Scalzi (2025)

When the Moon Hits your Eye cover artScalzi is one of the authors that I  automatically read.  It’s not spoiling anything to say that the premise of the book is that Earth’s Moon is suddenly turned into…cheese.  I will note that at the end of this post I will have a fairly large spoiler, so don’t read the last paragraph if you haven’t already read the book.

I read the book fairly quickly, and didn’t realize that each chapter was a day in the cheese-lunar cycle although the chapter headings should have been the clear tip-off.  I was more concerned with tracking the various characters and situations described.  If you like the patented Scalzi Snark, there’s no shortage of it in this book.

About the various characters–there are many to like, and a couple to despise. Surprisingly, even for something taking place over such a short time, there are some wonderful character arcs.

SPOILER ALERT:

I mean it.

Really, gonna just talk about the end here.

Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah

OK, if you scrolled this far, you meant to, so here’s my last bit of commentary.  More than any Scalzi book in recent memory, this book’s end disappointed me.  I suppose it should be viewed as a modern fable, but the moon reverting (or coming back) to its normal state felt hugely disappointing to me coming without an explanation.

I will say that the story of the men in the diner, and the has-been rocker and his ex-wife are wonderful writing and worth the telling.  Also, the advice to the young writer given at a workshop seemed pulled from experience and I wasn’t surprised to read about its origins in the Afterward.

I will be curious to read other reviews and interviews about this book to see if others were reading in  more levels to it than I saw.