Friday 80s Flashback for May 31, 2019

[Concrete Blonde] -- Depending on the resource, Concrete Blonde's self-titled debut album is listed as released in either 1986 or 1987. Either way, it is over 30 years old this year! I cannot quite recall when I first heard of Concrete Blonde, but I do know that "Still in Hollywood" still makes me rock out. While "Dance Along the Edge" is one of the most honest songs of the decade ("Can we promise love? Is it all too much? And do our old souls still believe it? It's insane the way we dance along the edge"). Yeah, Concrete Blonde got more notoriety in 1990 with "Joey," but this debut album is the one that has staying power for my money.   

Flashback: Concrete Blonde (1986/87)

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Once again, I remind you that the rule of three applies when doing Flashbacks. As I've made my three offerings, that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Blade Runner 2049

Dangrdafne review

So Brainwise asked me to DVR Blade Runner 2049 when we had free Cinemax. I’ve been curious about it too so I obliged. We finally got around to watching it the Saturday night of Memorial Day.

I vaguely remembered the original which I had seen once but Brainwise remembered enough to help fill in gaps.

This would have been a great movie... IF...if they cut down on the long drawn out scenes. Oh my goodness this movie was looooong and not in a good way at all. In fact a few times I sighed in frustration at the time scenes were taking. Cut all that out and you have a much better movie.

The concept was good and it was carried out well overall. The cinematography was excellent and the music was good although I am surprised I didn’t think it was great. It had a lot of sounds that I like but it just overwhelmed too much and I almost wished we turned off the closed captioning because the description of the music was laughable and unfortunately it did influence how I felt about the music in some scenes.

Jared Leto overdid his scenes and Harrison Ford just seemed to be going through the motions. I liked the twists the movie took but I did figure it out and I was sad about that. I would much rather had been surprised but perhaps if they didn’t have the long scenes to think about other things during, I might not have figured it all out :)

I sometimes base my feelings for a movie based on if I would watch the movie again...this one I would not BUT it is really just because it is too long with too many unneeded long scenes. I so wish it was edited better so I could be more into it.

2 paws for Blade Runner 2049

Friday 80s Flashback for May 24, 2019

[Overdriving for 33 Years] -- It was 33 years ago this weekend, AC/DC released their soundtrack album for the Stephen King flick, Maximum Overdrive. The album was titled Who Made Who (1986), and it had only three new tracks, the remaining six coming from previous records. The previous material includes the hits "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Hells Bells" (from Back in Black),  and "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (from, appropriately enough, For Those About to Rock We Salute You). 

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That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Official Star Trek Poster Magazine Ad

Comic book ad for the Official Star Trek Poster Magazine. This scan is from MEN OF WAR #1 (DC Comics | Aug, 1977).

Avengers: Endgame

Dangrdafne review

Spoilers obviously

I’m so glad we went opening weekend because not knowing anything that was going to happen made the movie all the better for me.

I LOVED this movie! I don’t care about plot holes, fat shaming, pandering to women, none of it! This movie was perfection!! It was a perfect ending.

Please remember I have no connection to any of the comics for any of these heroes or storylines. I just love the characters and the stories they tell in these movies.

I loved that I got lost in the movie, I was immersed and I didn’t want to leave but at the same time I was good with everything that happened that was I was actually able to leave. And like always we stayed to the very end and I am so glad we did. Although there was no end credit to watch there definitely was one to hear. It was a lovely call back to the beginning OR was it a call to the next chapter?

There were lots of tears from me but the most were for “on your left”. I could not control it. This has been my favorite interaction in ALL of the movies. The friendship between Falcon and Cap is my favorite and this statement they use between themselves just makes me happy. I knew I knew the voice and then he said the line and I just lost it.

I should have had the most tears for Black Widow but I am ok with what happened. Black Widow is my favorite character and Scarlett Johansson portraying her is also my favorite. I cosplay as undercover Black Widow a lot and to watch her die was pretty powerful but in a good way (?). I get why she did what she did and I think it is the way it had to happen. It is a proper end to her character in these movies.

Then to lose Iron Man too! I was ok with that too. Doesn’t mean I didn’t cry but it was handled so well and again it just seemed to be what needed to happen.

I love the hope for the future of these movies. Falcon as Captain America being my favorite. I feel like I could keep going on and on but really just see it and you will understand. I can’t wait to see it again. I am sure I missed lots of little things and some things while I had tears in my eyes. I thank everyone involved in these movies. It has been quite the ride.

Four paws and tail for this one. I love this movie 3000.

Captain Marvel movie

Dangrdafne review

We went to see Captain Marvel at 9:30 am the same day we went to see Avengers: Endgame. It was the only Marvel movie we hadn’t seen yet and we definitely didn’t want to see Endgame without seeing it. So us and about 10 other people watched the awesomeness that is Captain Marvel.

I really liked this movie. It was funny, heartwarming, action filled, good story telling, and a great movie for girls/women to cheer for. And cheer I did.

I loved that Carol Danvers never spoke to the males who put her down or even discussed it. In fact, the male treatment of women was never really discussed in the movie. Carol just showed how she was equal, or even better. I appreciated that so much.

I especially loved Goose but if you look at our blog, you could guess that. Goose was adorable and sooo important to the story. I adored Nick Fury’s interaction with Goose and was pretty sure Goose was the cause of the eye issue for Nick.

I loved Maria and her daughter Monica and I am hopeful they were continue in the Marvel universe. I loved seeing Coulson starting out and how he worked with Fury. I just really liked this movie.

My only complaint is that the movie was too dark to see the action scenes most of the time. In fact, I even missed what happened in one of the scenes. I know that Game of Thrones people said it was the settings on the TVs when the same complaint was made about a recent episode of GoT so what would cause this in a movie theater?? I look forward to seeing this movie again on my TV and hopeful I will be able to see what I missed - as long as my setting are correct ;)

I give this movie 4 paws and I am soooo happy we saw it before Endgame. It was definitely an added bonus to seeing Endgame and my feelings throughout that movie.

Friday 80s Flashback for May 10, 2019

[Breakout] -- Swing Out Sister started out as a trio, but became a duo during the making of their sophomore album. Fortunately, that duo still included vocalist Corinne Drewery. As an act, Swing Out Sister has a catalog of 10 studio albums, two of which were recorded and released in the 80s. In fact, their debut album, It's Better to Travel, was released 32 years ago as of tomorrow, May 11. So, let's celebrate SOS's anniversary with some selections from that debut album. I know you're wondering if your favorite made the cut. And to find out, you'll have to read and hear more after the jump. 

Friday 80s Flashback for May 3, 2019

This Flashback originally appeared at Prophet Or Madman on 5/3/2013, six years ago today. 

[Goodbye Dad - Redux] -- There was no Flashback post last week, and there isn't a proper one this week. Last week, I rushed to my Dad's bedside because his condition had worsened and the prevailing wisdom was that he was close to leaving us. He actually improved slightly, but not enough to really merit a celebration. It was simply a postponement of the grief to come.

Dad's condition continued to decline into the beginning of this week. There was an unidentifiable (yet treatable) infection, fluid continued to build up around and in his lung, and his liver was failing. As it turns out, the only diagnosis that could be made was that he was rejecting the transplant (bone marrow and stem cells) from 2010. Or, more technically accurate, the transplant was rejecting him. So, I picked a few songs to work through what we need to work through. If you care to join me, you can read and hear more after the break.