Half in the Bag: End of 2025 Catch-up (part 1)
Comments (44)
I actually really liked the ending of Bugonia, because it was asking “what if every little thing this guy thought was right?” I took it to be one of two ways: how crazy the world would be if a deluded persons idea of reality was imposed on the world. Or how sometimes people stuck in basements on the internet actually see the world the way it really is. But that second one is in tension with what she learns about him just before the end. Either way I enjoyed debating internally about what the hell it was the director wanted to say.
Do you think Leonardo da Vinci got me tood by Mona Lisa
You’ll never review it but I hope you get to see Song Sung Blue.
My mom told me she saw and loved this movie. I only knew what it was because of Mike!
I am waiting for part two to drop so I can finally go to my New Year’s party and know what opinions I am supposed to have.
Please find some time to discuss Primate, given your time with Shakma!
Gotta say, “Plur1bus” lost all believability for me when I saw an author legibly signing books.
I didn't watch a single non-anime show this year (except, like, this). And God help me, I won't watch one in 2026 either.
If you haven’t yet seen Pantheon I highly recommend it.
I'm sure you won't talk about it in part 2, but I'd be curious to know what you thought about the Deathstalker remake. I thought it was pretty charming and adorable.
What I find surprising is that Pluribus has become the #1 show EVER on Apple, in spite of that it's the total opposite of what people think the crowds want to see (fast paced action, big spectacles, etc). Maybe the audience is smarter than they give them credit for.
Attaching „from the creator of breaking bad“ to a very crowd pleasing first episode certainly helped. But then severance also caught on to a larger audience I think.
I still enjoy Stranger Things although it is extremely flawed lol. I'm glad the kids like it! The Will scene was odd for sure (like why was Brett Gelman present for that? lol) but I actually did find it sweet. Anywhoooo, Pluribus and The Chair Company are both absolutely fantastic, this is a fact. Happy new year RLM guys and RLM fans! 🥳
I honestly think Stranger Things season 5 is garbage for 2 reasons. 1. Netflix wanted that sweet sweet money. So the The Duffer brothers pulled a season 5 out of their ass and awkwardly rewrote the end of season 4 for a season 5. 2. The strikes that occurred along with COVID slowed things down enough that they panicked once the strikes were over to get something out as the "kids" weren't getting any younger. In either case I haven't watched season 5 as I. JUST. DON'T. CARE. anymore. 1 was good. 2 was good. 3 was good. 4 overstayed its welcome. 5 is just house squatting at this point.
I thought the naked gun was awful. Jay always complains about how everything feels like this AI representation of the original, I usually don't feel that but in this case I absolutely did. Every joke felt off and forced and I shut it off after the first 15 minutes.
Your production was not believable because Jay doesn’t know anything about Star Trek. Happy 2026.
I agree with basically all of the critiques on Stranger Things; the show has largely turned into a mess that's lost much of its initial charm (with some exceptions, eg: the Star Court Mall set design, Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson, etc). But some additional food for thought: At its heart, Stranger Things is a YA property. The series is written to and for that audience. And, as it happens, the YA age range is generally when queer folks are doing the hard work of coming out. Being able to watch that happen on-screen genuinely helps people find the language they want and model what their own coming-out will look like. Not to mention educating their peers (family and friends) on how to receive that kind of news and not be turds about it. A lot of straight folks _think_ that's easy and obvious; it isn't. Lastly, while a gay male coming-out narrative may not be particularly groundbreaking in 2025, the palpable fear and turmoil that Will is shown to be going through as a gay kid in the 1980s is pretty damn relatable to a trans person who came out in 2020.
Especially YA should show reality and not educate family and friends. It's this "education" aspect that makes stories bad. Remember Rumble Fish, which shows how alcoholism and perhaps other unmentioned issues destroy a family? How the father is "a lawyer on welfare," and the older son is educated and smart but also cold at heart and not able to make something out of his life, and the younger brother is warm at heart but dumb because he did not receive parental care and guidance and education? There were deep and relatable conflicts, and at the end one sacrifices himself to get the other out of that situation. You could tell something similar but centered around being gay or lesbian or trans. But my point is, reality is full of conflict and stories need that conflict as well. That is the only way to help people understand.
-sigh- two straight guys lecturing that being gay is all accepted now and people don't need to make a big deal about a coming out. Just wildly out of touch. You still face the risk of being cut off from family and friends, being kicked out of your house, and physical violence. I know they've flirted with alt-right stuff before but complaining about a TV show with a coming out scene as "shoving it in your faces" and then using a homophobic AI video about "sissies" is just depressing :(. You can complain about a character moment being overly long or melodramatic without dipping into bigotry. And lol at Jay holding Pluribus up as an example of it done right and then in exact the same breath says he didn't even realise the two women were a couple until a whole episode later. I guess good gay rep is being so subtle you can be oblivious to its existence?
You're the reason we can't have nice things... "I guess good gay rep is being so subtle you can be oblivious to its existence?" No, good gay representation is obviously IN. YOUR. FACE. and cringe af...
Jay finally talks about Lanthimos :)
Stranger Things is a good example of a TV show growing too big for its own good. The charming campy horror from the first season is gone and now everything has to be grandiose and meaningful.
Ok now do "Heated Rivalry".
I don't think these Wisconsinites care about hockey. That's why I've always prefered Minnesota tbh.
If you guys like Pluribus for cinematography and story, watch Better Call Saul.
re: the filmmaking quality of Pluribus - that's signature Vince Gilligan. so much of that style and cinematography was present in Better Call Saul as well.
Came here to say this. My job is done. And no, you don't have to have seen or even liked Breaking Bad to appreciate just how good Better Call Saul is.
When running from Brian Singer, make sure you run backwards. Exposing the rear end to Brian Singers is likely to make them view you as prey, leading to extremely fast and accurate strikes. The Brian Singer is not a predator with which one should toy.
Wasn't there some story from the mid-2010s of him having a party at his LA mansion and *many* people (notably: many young men *just* over the age of consent) getting skin infections from his pool?
Mike's thunder and lightning story was incredible
The Chair Company is one of the best psychological horrors I've seen.
I CLAPPED WHEN JAY STARTED CLAPPING
Totally agree about “Pluribus” and “The Chair Company.”
As usual, every time one of these insanely popular tv shows completely derails in its final season, I'm SO happy that I've not seen a single episode of that crap... I don't even know what "Stranger Things" is about, except 80s. I guess there are things and they're stranger than something else, huh...?
*Everything* now goes on at LEAST one season, one sequel, one issue, one quadrilogy installment longer than it should. In some cases more than one. Media installments that get made in defiance of any storytelling or even any financial rationale, but just from sheer angry energy. 'Spitequels', I call them.
Thanks! and Happy New Year!!
I've seen the korean movie "Save the Green Planet!" that "Bugonia" is based on twenty years ago or so and HATED it, so I plan to stay clear of the remake, too...
whaat, I really liked the korean version. Bugonia is not as silly. (which was a pity.) the original was very fast paced with lots of small but clever twists and turns that were missing from the more down-to-earth remake.
Mad respect for uploading it before midnight. Thank you guys and Happy New Year!
I really enjoyed Save the Green Planet and wondered how Bugonia compared.
Jay stole Guy Gardner's hair! So Guy Gardner turned into Lex Luthor! Coming Summer 2026.
just in time
Bugonia and Pluribus you are spoiling us!
yessss ending the year right