May thunderstorms are a little worrisome.
Pop Culture Ephemera
- “Wuthering Heights” (2026) (Directed by Emerald Fennell): “I will love you ’til the day that I die, and forever after.” – Young Heatchcliff. It’s an odd choice that the title is stylized to be in quotes. It’s like it’s less Wuthering Heights and more a title that somebody told the director who then fashioned a film from the description. I’m sure that there are people who thought it a good idea to greenlight a romance between Barbie and Frankenstein. I can see little else as I watch it (other than the boy from Adolescence as young Heathcliff). The couple have chemistry in the cleverly edited trailer that I didn’t feel in the film. There were promising signs where Fennell made some daring choices, but each time there was a scene like in the stable, there were two scenes to follow to undercut the choice. The film has been made so many times that a director should feel free to make bold moves. This just happens to be one where the choice of Charli XCX for the soundtrack was just distracting. I just can’t walk away from this version feeling like anything new was imparted, and just enough of the original was compromised, that I can’t recommend it on either account.
- Dying for Sex – “Good Value Diet Soda” (Episode 1) (Hulu) (2025): “I just saw myself as a seven-year-old dancing. And this seven-year-old version of myself was being so mean to me.” – Molly. This show had all the pedigree it needed to make my “must watch” lists. It’s an FX venture (consistently home to multiple Top Ten shows for me every year), stars Michelle Williams and the great Jenny Slate. Two of the most popular subjects in popular culture are right there in the title – “death” and “sex.” I wasn’t sure how they were going to balance these topics, and after the first episode, I’m still not clear.
Molly (Michelle Williams) has her cancer return with a vengeance, and her death is within years. She leaves her doting husband, Steve (Jay Duplass)m and sets up with her best friend, Nikki (Jenny Slate). Her goal is to explore her sexuality while she has enough strength. We are introduced to the characters in this initial episode. I liked the touch of Molly carrying the two liter bottle of Good Value Diet Soda around with her like the weight of her diagnosis, only to discard it when she decides to leave her husband. The mix of sexuality, relationships, and death can’t be all humor for eight episodes. I’m sure that there will be some emotional moments towards the end. It’s definitely got the feel of a winner in my book.
- REO Speedwagon – “Roll with the Changes” (from You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish) (1978): “I heard the thunder clappin’, felt the desert burnin’ / Until you poured on me like a sweet sun shower.” That intro with Kevin Cronin on piano probably made listeners think they were about to hear a new Billy Joel song in 1978. Once you hear Gary Richrath’s guitar solo, you know that you are in for something quite different. The Hammond organ solo turns this song into as much of an anthem as anything else they were doing at the time. The little song Cronin wrote about moving from Illinois to California to rejoin the band turned into one of their biggest hits of the decade until High Infidelity was released.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) (Directed by Celine Sciamma): “When you’re observing me, who do you think I’m observing?” – Heloise. In the 18th century, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is hired to a remote home to paint a portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) who is resisting an arranged marriage to a man in Milan. The film is in French, but the dialog is so sparse that I feel like I would have understood the intricacies of the film without subtitles. If you think the two women won’t fall in love, then you need to watch more than the first five minutes. This is a beautiful film, with a camera that knows just when to push in as the women gaze at each other and just when to look away as Marianne is behind the easel, seeing her own version of Héloïse. The story is more than the female version of Call Me by Your Name (2017) that I watched recently. It’s a love story that hits at the heart more than “Wuthering Heights” (2026) could ever have managed. This is the #38 Film of the 21st Century according the The New York Times. I might move it up a few more spots.
- The End of Evangelion (1997) (Directed by Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki): “Then don’t do anything. Don’t come near me. All you ever do is hurt me.” – Asuka. The journey to this point is unique. The original series had a distinct philosophical and narrative breach that last two episodes. The story ends all inside of Shinji’s head. This takes those last two episodes, tells the viewer to not forget them but to walk backwards two episodes and start a new branch to the story that happened outside of Shinji’s head during that time.
It’s still weird and borders on unexplainable. There are religious motifs abound. The EVA pilots all have issues with their parents, which makes the angst of 14-year-olds even more heightened and adds to the allegory of their journey. The writers and directors don’t try to put much distance between the two parallel stories. It’s an end-of-the-world, science-fiction story that relies on teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality and breaking from their parents’ mistreatment. It’s still great to watch, and it has to rank as one of the most influential anime of the past 30 years. I’m excited to move forward to the next series of films that will be new to me.
Best of the Rest
- REO Speedwagon would host The Midnight Special (NBC) twice during the run of the show (and appear at least two other times). The first hosting gig would happen on September. The set that night is electric. They power through “Keep Pushin’,” “Time For Me to Fly,”, “Roll with the Changes,” and “Say You Love Me or Say Goodnight.” If you can get beyond Kevin Cronin’s mane, you can see a group that is moving quickly to mega-stardom. Gary Richrath is becoming a guitar hero right in front of our eyes. Just two years later, they would host in December 1980 at the height of their stardom, and it doesn’t have the same hunger that you see here.
- The first look at The Batman: Part II (2027) appeared this week. I was super impressed with Robert Pattinson as the titular character, and I’ve been impatient for a sequel. The Batmobile looks to have snow tires now which lends credence to the possible appearance of Mr. Freeze. This is they type of series that should find a way to integrate Nightwing in a way that other film series have struggled. Pattinson has the proper attitude to fill out that relationship as it reads in the books.
- On the surface, I was distressed to read the headline that Tarantino Criticizes Hitchcock. In detail, I’m torn by Tarantino’s ultimate message that Hitchcock held back in his Act Threes. But then Quentin goes on to illustrate a number of Hitchcock endings that he loves. I am biased by multiple books and commentaries that I’ve watched on the subject. I think that it’s easy to criticize the endings to his films (another unfair criticism of Stephen King novels) in a way that assumes the story is more important than the character arc. It’s easier to appreciate the difficulty of endings when you look at the struggles of those who have picked up Hitchcock’s torch in succeeding generations like Spielberg, Carpenter, and De Palma. It’s easy to find their Third Acts just as abrupt.
Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback
- Sunday Morning Tuneage from 6/6/2010, we were at the start of one of the hottest summers I remember. I had been outside the Saturday before for the boys’ baseball, and it was miserable. Summer television was terrible back then, and all I had was So You Think You Can Dance (Fox). I mentioned that Christian and I were going to watch the 2010 World Cup. Little did I know that we would become obsessed, and at the end, Christian would pick Arsenal as a English Premier League team for us to follow that season. A choice of a team that we still follow 16 years later. The list of the week has probably changed as my tastes have changed since then.
My #60 Top TV Show of All-Time was True Blood (HBO) (2008-2014): At the time, I was in the middle of Book Six and Book Ten had just came out. Today I’m at the end of Book Six. The show would go on for four more seasons after this ranking. It had started as a fall show, but by 2010 was moved to a summer show, and I think that’s part of the success of the show. It’s not a serious show. It’s meant to be more of a supernatural, spooky, fun, soap opera with lots of beautiful cast members. It was lots of fun but dropped off noticeably the last couple of seasons, so much so that I might not put it in the Top 100 any longer. That doesn’t mean it can’t be our shared guilty pleasure. - BEST ROBERT DOWNEY JR MOVIES OF ALL-TIME (2010)
- 10. Back to School (1986) (Directed by Alan Metter)
- 9. Natural Born Killers (1994) (Directed by Oliver Stone)
- 8. Tropic Thunder (2008) (Directed by Ben Stiller)
- 7. Wonder Boys (2000) (Directed by Curtis Hanson)
- 6. Sherlock Holmes (2009) (Directed by Guy Ritchie)
- 5. Short Cuts (1993) (Directed by Robert Altman)
- 4. Less Than Zero (1987) (Directed by Marek Kanievska)
- 3. Iron Man (2008) (Directed by Jon Favreau)
- 2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) (Directed by Shane Black)
- 1. Chaplin (1992) (Directed by Richard Attenborough)
- BEST ROBERT DOWNEY JR MOVIES OF ALL-TIME (2026)
- 10. Less Than Zero (1987) (Directed by Marek Kanievska): The film based upon the Bret Easton Ellis novel has fallen out of favor over the decades. Downey Jr. as a post-graduate drug user feels a little too spot on these days.
- 9. Short Cuts (1993) (Directed by Robert Altman): There are 20 characters in this huge ensemble movie. I still think that Robert is one of the most memorable characters, Billy Bush. His relationship chemistry with Lili Taylor makes me wish they had more films together.
- 8. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) (Directed by Shane Black): It’s written by Shane Black as a tribute/parody of Raymond Chandler’s novels. Robert and Val Kilmer work very well off of each other. It’s one of those unusual films that people either love or hate. It’s not a plot that you could even begin to summarize even just after watching it, but I’m in the camp that loves it.
- 7. Sherlock Holmes (2009) (Directed by Guy Ritchie): If he wasn’t already Tony Stark in our minds, maybe he would have had a chance to be this character. He won a Golden Globe for this role. It’s entertaining, it would get a fun sequel, but in general, the reliance on special effects overwhelmed what should be an anti-superhero film and rely on Holmes’ little grey cells.
- 6. Natural Born Killers (1994) (Directed by Oliver Stone): A thing about Quentin Tarantino scripts for me is how some of the supporting characters are more interesting than the lead characters. Downey’s role as the morals-challenged, tabloid-television host is a character that I want explored in his own film.
- 5. Zodiac (2007) (Directed by David Fincher): It wasn’t on the original list because I hadn’t watched it. If I had written this a couple of months ago, it would have been the same. Having just watched it for the first time, I thought Robert was brilliant in his role mostly because Fincher made some choices to keep the role understated. Robert could have overdone this role, but it turned into one of my favorites.
- 4. Chaplin (1992) (Directed by Richard Attenborough): Had he not been Tony Stark later in his career, Robert Downey Jr. would probably be most associated with this role. I haven’t watched it again since these first rankings. It’s fair to say that this biopic is different than they are presented today. I’d love to see another shot at telling his story in 2026, but who wants to try to inhabit the role that Robert nailed so wonderfully?
- 3. Tropic Thunder (2008) (Directed by Ben Stiller): Robert was having a strong run from 2005-2008 with some iconic roles. This edgy comedy with him as an overly intense actor who undergoes “pigment alteration” for a role, could have ruined other careers if it hadn’t been handled with the proper comedic chops. It’s a genuinely funny film, even today.
- 2. Oppenheimer (2023) (Directed by Christopher Nolan): Of all of his films, it’s hard for me to put a supporting role this high in the rankings. But he’s an integral part of a wonderful film. He won a Best Supporting Oscar for his role as Lewis Strauss.
- 1. Iron Man (2008) (Directed by Jon Favreau): I don’t think we could fathom in 2010 how important this film was in launching the MCU. It gave it credibility and showed how to start to build a world of superheroes. I still think that there hasn’t been a casting in the MCU since this that has matched an actor with their character any better. He might have won other awards, but this will be his legacy. The other two entries in the trilogy, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013) could probably make the Top Ten, but they are merely shadows of this original. Bonus point for the use of AC/DC’s “Back In Black” in the original trailer that convinced me that there was something here that we hadn’t seen in superhero films up to that point.
1976 in Review
- May – Action Comics #459 (DC Comics): “Mention that turncoat’s name one more time, Kent, and your next assignment will be cleaning Perry White’s ashtrays!” Cover by Ernie Chan. Written by Elliot Maggin. Art by Curt Swan. The Universal Broadcasting Company created their own hero, Blackrock for ratings, and things never go as planned. Superman fights the new character, and the story ends up back where it started.
- May 13 – Breakout, the first popular arcade video game debuted from Namco in Japan. It was developed by Nolan Bushnell, who developed Pong. The game was developed as a one-player version of that game, with the paddle turned sideways. Famously, Steve Jobs, working at Atari, was responsible for working on decreasing the number of chips needed. He worked with his friend, Steve Wozniak, to get the game down from 100 chips to 44 chips.
- May 10 – Time Magazine. Jimmy Carter took 92 of the 98 delegates in the Texas Primary. Lloyd Bentsen, a Senator from Texas, had counted on sweeping the state to make it a competition. This was the moment that Carter pretty much sealed the nomination. Jerry Brown was the last remaining candidate, who tried to lead the “ABC Movement” (Anyone But Carter). Carter’s portrayal of himself as an outsider would resonate with voters.
What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?
Cheez-It Crunch: Zesty Jalapeno Cheddar
I am starting to think that I’m not the Cheez-It target audience. I am a “max crunch” guy, and this flavor should have been right up my alley. I say that without a good handle on what “zesty” means in terms of jalapeno cheddar. These are mostly cheddar cheese with just a hint of spice. The second worst thing about them (the first being the weird window shape) is the distinct odor of funk that hits you when you open the bag. Maybe I just stick to Cheez-It Classic.
Central Market: Kettle Cooked – Sea Salt
These avocado-oil, kettle-cooked chips must have been hanging out in the aisles for at least six months before I grabbed a bag. I love kettle-cooked chips, so I’m not sure what held me back other than the terrible bag marketing. The skin-on is a big selling point to me. These were more than acceptable, but they don’t stand out from some of the best like the Cape Cod. The salt ratio was good, but the chip itself didn’t hold the crispiness that I expect from a kettle-cooked chip. It might be the avocado oil causing them to melt a little in your mouth. I appreciate the effort, but these won’t make my basket again soon.
Chick-Fil-A Waffle Chips: Chick-Fil-A Sauce
These hit the shelves earlier this year, as far as I can tell. I’m a big fan of the Chick-Fil-A sauce around the house as an add-on to tater tots, chicken, hamburgers, and more. These chips capture the flavor pretty well with the addition of salt and the crisp of a decent waffle chip. The flavor falls somewhere between a tangy BBQ sauce mixed with a honey mustard. I like these chips quite a bit, but would suggest they almost needed to lean more into the BBQ sauce flavor because it becomes a little muted with the saltiness. This is a hard market to crack, but this is a worthy entry.
“As soon as you are able, woman I am willing
To make the break that we are on the brink of
My cup is on the table, my love is spilling
Waiting here for you to take and drink of” – REO Speedwagon
