Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know its been quiet here as of late and that certainly isn't going to change before the New Year (of the Horse apparently), so take care, stay safe and have a great time with your friends, family, and loved ones. :)

Karate Kid: Legends and Physical: Asia

Shows about physical competition!

Karate Kid: Legends

Li (played by Ben Wong) loves kung fu but is forced to give it up to move to New York with his mom. There's a moment where it looks like it will break the familiar formula of every Karate Kid movie before it which is exciting, but no. There's a girl, a rival, and a karate tournament which he needs to train for. 

Lucky his sifu (played by Jackie Chan) knows someone that can help with that training montage: the original Karate Kid Daniel La Russo (Ralph Macchio) last seen in Cobra Kai. Overall just an OK entry to the Karate Kid universe but I can't help but feel there was a potentially better movie hiding here if the script writers / producers just had enough balls to go for it. 

Physical: Asia 

This next installment of this series features eight teams of six from various countries in Asia (more like Asia-Pacific given Australia is one of the teams). Like previous seasons the very first episode is a lot of introduction but its easier to remember people this time around as there are only 48 in total? 

Some good personalities in this one!

Teams then perform "quests" to knock each other out / survive the competition which involve a good amount of team work, skill, and grit. The editing is again spot on for each episodes cliff-hanger, but if you haven't gotten used to the reaction-rewind-reaction#2 style of Korean TV this will put you through that ringer. :P We found it very entertaining and are even more in awe that many of the contestants from different countries have since become friends! The strong positive vibes make it super cool. It's like Masterchef Australia, but with athletes instead of cooks. Thumbs up!

Mobland and This City is Ours

First season TV shows about protagonists who are crime family adjacent.

Mobland

Harry (played by Tom Hardy) is a fixer for the Harrigan crime family who has his work cut out for him as he needs to clean up messes created by the entitled youngsters and/or crazy elders of the family while attempting to keep the peace with their rivals and trying to keep his wife happy. It's nice how he's portrayed as a really soft spoken, calm bloke regardless of the situation but can "shift gear to six" when things need to happen but you'll also be face palming at all the idiotics everyone else gets up to. Worth a watch. 

This City is Ours

Michael (played by James Nelson-Joyce) is the right hand man to the Phelans crime family patriarch but when things go awry (what with the patriarch played by the walking spoiler Sean Bean :P) he soon finds himself on the outside of the family circle despite actually owning half the business. You'd think that what follows would just be a tale of guns blazing but no... the story makes it a bit more complicated than that. It's not bad, but it does feel that all the characters are lacking the cajones to actually see things through personally. Hopefully they get more drive in season two or this is just going to go nowhere. 

The Bear and Outlander: Blood of my Blood

Two good dramas with vastly different styles. 

The Bear

This currently four season drama follows a top chef (played by Jeremy Allen White) who returns to Chicago to run a failing sandwich shop. It very much captures the stress of that hospitality business and mixes it with what is basically foodporn and a light dash of comedy. Which is good because most of the time the plot is pretty heavy and overlapping screaming matches are common but it paves the way for some really interesting character growth. Recommended.

Outlander: Blood of my Blood

This currently one season prequel series set in Scotland follows two pairs of star crossed lovers, with one pair being displaced in time as is the theme of the original Outlander show. The acting and casting, especially for the people who would be related to the later cast of Outlander, is great and the story is quite interesting. That said if you liked the original Outlander series, this currently has less sexy times and horrible violence which isn't bad. But if you didn't like the original Outlander series then you'll probably want to keep away from this one as well. 

Pathfinder: The Black Tower

[Part of the Party Time journal]

The party rushes the central pit ramp where Valeros and Razmus handle a dire bear trio while the everyone else slings spells and arrows at a four giant basket ball boulder throwing team, the captain of whom actually downs Ezren, but Kyra gets the mage right back up with a full heal and letting him disintegrate the giant captain in retaliation when he makes the mistake of advancing. 

Once clear the party poke their heads out in the courtyard. It is now dusk but due to watchful guards on the towers and another washing down a mammoth nearby, there doesn't seem to be a quiet way to their target: the Black Tower, so they opt to rush a lodge in the opposite direction first to get rooftop cover from any more thrown boulders. Inside is an ancient dire bear who is easily slain by a crit from Joe Gang, but its roar alerts the guards who are in no time trying to raid the place. Too bad for them they are funneled through the doors which negates their threat level as they are peppered with arrows, spells and other sharp objects.

With all the guards dead Kyra uses a wall of stone to help the team avoid the mammoth running laps around outside like a confused puppy, and they climb a tower to sneak a long way around - avoiding the gaze of the Rocs nestling high up in a central spire. A trio of harpies does spot them though, and their song convinces Valeros and the Shoanti Squad to walk off the wall and take what is insignificant fall damage (thanks to the dice roll). Apart from their opening song they aren't much of a threat, and the team reconvene (with some climbing) in the interior of a guard tower to rest undisturbed for a bit.

That's kind of weird, but the outer camps did seem busy and in disarray so maybe the forged letters Conna delivered were doing the trick! Another quick sneak lands them inside the Black Tower interior which is so cold it hurts. Kyra uses stone shape to make a vertical hole transform into rough steps and down below they awake an ancient mummy who focuses all its kung fu attacks (it must be Jet Li's mummy) on the cleric while freezing Merisiel, Ezren and Joe Gang with fear.

Ultimately its the combination of channeling positive energy, Kyra's flamestrike, Valeros' flamethrower and Razmus' blessed sledgehammer that smashes the undead thing back into dust, also smashing open a scroll case it was carrying. Among the contents is a paper with the passphrase to the shining door below.

Ironheart and the Eyes of Wakanda

Continuations of Wakanda...

Ironheart

This six episode series focuses on who I currently believe is the worst hero to date. Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne) is a girl genius who rivals Tony Stark's tech using what is basically salvage and has already had some "hero experience" abroad, but upon coming home she just can't help herself and her need for money. To this end she does illegal stuff just short of becoming a ho and joins a gang of crooks and ends up accidentally making the most annoying AI person available but then is unable to operate without said AI person. Maybe she grows/arcs out of it.... nope! She's still the same selfish ass hat at the end of the series. Weak acting doesn't really help the case. Not recommended. 

Eyes of Wakanda

This animated series with four episodes is much better than the above, despite the "kiddy" style art the stories and violence within are quite enjoyable as we follow various Wakandan spies out in the world throughout many points in history - usually trying to retrieve their own tech that's gotten out in the world. Short enough to be worth a try. :)

The Old Guard 2 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Sequel movies that ignore common sense.

The Old Guard 2 

This sequel continues the story of a band of immortals (led by one played by Charlize Theron who isn't immortal now) as they continue to do dangerous things and get their feelings hurt, mainly because physical damage is meaningless. Hilarious plot devices to provoke hand to hand fights (which are not bad but very choreographed) including things like, don't use firearms near the reactor but then proceed to step on exploding mines in that area which are apparently ok? They try to give answers, but the answers are silly. Not as good as the first movie.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 

This latest Indiana Jones flick sees an elderly Doctor Jones (Harrison Ford) still fighting Nazis over an ancient artifact (again). Good news: I feel this is better than the previous movie "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", but that is a super low bar to clear. As it is, you need to actively accept that characters here can ignore physics and common sense with simple things like, knocking someone out and dropping them off camera means no one can spot the body now since it is out of the shot - even if in reality they'd be standing right on top of them! If you can look past (a lot) of that, then you might enjoy this adventure.