Good Fortune Wrecking Crew

Two movies of the mid variety.

Good Fortune

Arj (Aziz Ansari) is doing it tough in the gig economy and when an inept angel (Keanu Reeves) oversteps his bounds to try convince him that his life is better than the one of being a rich guy, things backfire as being rich seems to solve all of Arj's problems. Turns out this movie has a decent plot with some good laughs too. While the acting of the main cast is good (though Arj is just borderline) some extras are super wooden but maybe that's the idea? Not a bad flick but don't expect anything amazing.

Wrecking Crew (2026)

The death of a PI reunites two estranged half-brothers (played by Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista) reunite and eventually team up to investigate - usually by beating up people and occasionally each other! The plot here is simpler, but the acting is better and the action scenes are decent. Again not bad, but its also not going to win any awards.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

All about saving the environment and getting gross things in your mouth.

Continuing from his first film, Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa) is back and quite bored of his job while also being domesticated. Luckily for him (and the viewers) bad guys begin a plot to end the world using... global warming? Sure whatever.

Alas this film is a bit of a step down from the last one, with some really odd plot decisions that waste screen time. We don't need to be told the bad guys plans three times, all the shots of the bad guy doing stuff that doesn't interact directly with Aquaman can be cut out and everything before the first "vault raid" can be removed.

Then you have bad guys basing their operations on land... in a volcano that is spouting green fumes... and no one can find them? This is the same world where Superman is right? Said bad guys are also patrolling the volcano base in old style metal diving suits because... its comfortable like that? Not recommended.

Fast X and Rebel Moon

Movies of action!

Fast X

The Fast and Furious franchise has had a lot of the strangest stuff happen in it, and I'm actually happy to report that because they slightly toned down the craziness in this one it actually makes for a more cohesive revenge plot enacted by the son of a previous villain (wonderfully played by Jason Momoa) who is out to make Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) suffer. Nice action pieces and good fighting sections make this an enjoyable watch, and more so if you liked the previous movies.

Rebel Moon

On a planet at the edge of the space imperium is a little village that is threatened by a large antagonistic group to provide supplies in a number of months when they plan to return. Knowing that even if they do so will mean the end of their town, they instead decide to recruit a bunch of defenders to make a stand and... wait, isn't this the plot to Seven Samurai? Well yes! Despite the start concealing it very well it definitely goes down the Seven Samurai route but with a slight variation towards the end. Interesting CGI but some of the characters feel very shoehorned in, and while this movie certainly is shorter than the original Seven Samurai it is only part one of... who knows how many.

Slumberland and Everything Everywhere All at Once

One movie took us to the other...

Slumberland

To deal with grief, a young girl (played by Marlow Barkle), takes refuge in the world of dreams to not deal with real life and is rewarded for her narcolepsy! Ok, that aspect of it aside this is a really neat little film that has fantastic CGI and very cool concepts of what the dreaming world would be like.

If anything I would have liked to see more of it, the story is pretty good and there are a good number of laughs to be had especially with Jason Momoa's ridiculous character who dwells in Slumberland. We enjoyed it - recommended!

Everything Everywhere All at Once

An unhappy woman (played by Michelle Yeoh) gains the additional burden of saving the multiverse from an evil clown. Luckily she gains the ability to siphon skills from the other versions of herself, usually by doing something gross, which results in some hilarious situations and a number of good action sequences. Alas the plot was the undoing here as it goes too long for something that boiled down is pretty simple and while intentional, the quick cutting across universes and the over the top antagonist also detracts from the story. Not recommended as some long talking scenes took my wife to Slumberland. :P

See (TV Series)

Where everyone is Daredevil.

In a world where the majority of the people are blind and the few "sighted" ones are hunted and executed for witchcraft, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa) tries his best to keep his family safe against the forces of a cruel and insane queen.  while the story wraps up neatly in three seasons it leaves a bit to be desired and a few action scenes are hilarious. For example, there is a big battle near the start and blind people are using ranged weapons?

Or even better, the queen sends her (blind) forces out through the wilderness, forest, mountains to track down sighted people? How do they even know who can see and who can't? It's also irritating that majority of the sighted people in this story are morons. That said there are very good and brutal action sequences here and in those moments the show really shines. Worth a watch for Jason Momoa fans. Otherwise, try an episode or two and see if it's for you.

Frontier (TV)

He who controls the fur, controls the profit.

Declan Harp (Jason Momoa) is out for revenge against his ex-employer, and the best way to hit both is to interfere with their fur trade in Colonial America. His illegal operation attracts all sorts of friends and adversaries while trying to outmaneuver the many other competitors in the industry. With decent set values and an excellent premise, this series gets off to a good start right but unfortunately goes quite astray in the subsequent seasons especially due to one character who seems to flip flop in his choices at a whim.

Declan is one angry dude.

Too many threads is the other problem the show suffers from, especially later on when almost everyone is doing something on their own - none of which really relating to the other. Still there are some good moments, great characters, interesting intrigue and decent enough action pieces. Frontier is definitely worth a watch, but its a pity it wasn't better than it turned out to be. I give it 2.5 beavers out of 5.

Aquaman

Giving giant forks a chance in the spotlight.

Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) aka "Aquaman" is minding his own business, drinking beers, taking down pirates and giving people the bends, when he is summoned back to Atlantis to try stop his half brother from launching an all out war on the surface world.

Get ready for surprise explosions!

Flashbacks also serve as a backstory for Arthur, and the big budget CGI is used to full effect throughout this very entertaining adventure. I particularly liked how every time a scene threatened to get quiet or slow, something would just explode and push the plot into an action scene keeping it at a good pace.

Speaking of the story, it is pretty good - better than Justice League and one I'd definitely watch again. If you like superhero stuff, or Jason Momoa, or both, then I highly recommend this. I give Aquaman 4 tridents out of 5.

Age of Conan: the Single Player MMORPG

My brother was toying with the idea of trying out this game since it is free to play now and just for the hell of it, I decided to download it for myself to check it out and put my findings here. You start out as an amnesiac slave/prisoner (just like all the Elder Scrolls games eh?) and the opening cutscene is basically your character drowning to their death. Sort of. I won't spoil anymore but the story seems to be pretty solid from what I've seen so far anyway and you will be bombarded with quests of a non-repeating variety through mostly voiced conversation (no wonder the download is huge). I've read that after the first zone not everything is voiced as per MMO standard but even so it's very well done in that you don't actually -feel- like you are grinding for EXP. Better yet, if you need to collect bits from foes you don't have to kill 10 frogs to get 1 frog eye for example (damn you Wizardry Online :P). Provided you have a relevant quest, each (and every) critter will drop exactly what you need until you get your quota.

I don't need friends!

Some quests are even single player specific, taking you into the nighttime instances of an area which is basically solo mode. Daytime is the default multiplayer sandbox, but from what I've seen there has not been a good reason to team up with anyone else (possibly because it is not grindy). Sure it helps when other people are in a zone killing stuff that would get in your way but given the quest structure it would be rare that they would have the same goals you do. This is perhaps the biggest question mark for me as basically Age of Conan feels like a single player game that happens to have other people running about.

The graphics aren't as crisp as GW2 but they are pretty good, and the draw radius for the expansive zones is awesome - they just blur as they get farther. When you get to the Acheronian Ruins valley and are told "you have to get to the top of the temple", you can actually see where that is from the very distant opposite side which I find very cool. The mechanics of climbing and sneaking about are also passable with a little "light" gem ala the Thief Series to indicate how stealthy you are. Climbing is also fun (and mandatory later on) though my character doesn't actually use the hand and foot holds provided, instead preferring to climb the air 1 foot away from the wall. It looks silly but it's minor and is preferable to clipping inside the wall.

But it's an MMO? Looking for Party!

Combat is a bit clumsy with button mashing to the max (it is about a barbarian after all), wherein you are trying to attack your opponent on their least defended side (indicated by shield arrows) to do more damage. There are evasive sideward hops like in Wizardry Online but so far I've found it to be a it's a useless mechanic in this game. Death penalizes you with stacking gravestones that make you weaker for a penalty time, unless you can get back to it and tap it. A nice feature for me is once you are a set number of levels over the local monsters they become "white", meaning they give you only 1 EXP when slain but that they will also not bother attacking you anymore (at least not without aggressive friends) as they know they will lose. It also pushes players into harder areas since they can't grind the popcorn mobs.

I think the main multiplayer aspect is meant to come in the form of guilds in the end game (max level 80), wherein groups fight for territory, gold, fame and probably most of all out of boredom. I could be wrong, but if the story is as good as I think it is then it should have a proper end. Still, it looks like a nice ride to get there though - and apparently the titular character himself is in the game somewhere. Afterall, this is the age where he is King.

I will governate you.