Populasian: October 2024

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Peacock Streaming 2024

Here's my 2023 update for reference.

During 2023’s Black Friday, Peacock had a deal for 1 year at $19.99 with ads. At that price, I decided to get it. Peacock actually has a fair amount of stuff that comes out.

What I hate is the ads, it’s been up to 300 seconds sometimes. That’s 5 minutes of ads. And there’s more ads as you watch. Lame.

The interface on my FireTV 4K is pretty slow a lot of the times. Waiting for things to get selected or not so I don’t get on the wrong selection and have to wait to go back. It seems to get slower with each new update.

What was worth it is that the 2024 Summer Olympics was on it. That itself made the $19.99 worth it.

I have to really hold back from getting it again, even at $19.99. I must exercise self control.

Friday, October 25, 2024

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare - 非紳士特攻隊

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (非紳士特攻隊) is an 2024 film. The movie stars Henry Cavill, Eiza González, and Alan Ritchson. The rest of the emsemble cast include Alex Pettyfer and Henry Golding, among a lot of many. The story was based on true events from de-classifed files from the Churchill days.

During WWII, the U boats of the nazi fleet are causing a lot of damage to british fleet and the US do not want to send they troops in to get destroyed. Churhill sends a group of misfits to take down the vessals that re-stock the u boats. But the tasks must be kept a secret. Henry Cavill plays Gus March-Phillips, a leader of misfits. Can they sink the u boat fleet?

This movie was very Guy Richie hest-ish movie. Mission, team, get it done. I was entertained from the beginning and watched until the end. I caught this as part of my expiring Starz subscription.

Friday, October 18, 2024

John Wick: Chapter 4 - 捍衛任務4

John Wick: Chapter 4 (捍衛任務4) is an 2023 movie. The film stars Keanu Reeves. A portion of the emsemble cast include Donnie Yen, Rina Sawayama, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Ian McShane. This is the fourth and possibilby final installment of the John Wick movie series with Keanu Reeves. The Wick universe is being explored elsewhere.

John Wick seeks to clear his name and finds a way to make The Table hear him out. Along the way, bounties upon bounties have been put on him. John must make it to the final fight to clear his name. Along the way, Wick gets unexpected allies that help move him further to his goal. Will John Wick make it this time?

In all honestly, I contemplated watching this "final" chapter in the theathres. But live got in the way. When it came out on digital, paying $29.99 for it seemed pretty steep. But it was eventually released to Starz. However, it took me months of watching 5-10 minutes here and there to finish. At no point was I ever confused about what the storyline was. I knew what John Wick was doing. I was just a little bored of all the new ways John Wick took on the bounty hunters. Even the addition of the strongest man in the universe, Donnie Yen, helped. I was simply bored. I am glad they are making this the final chapter, time to move on.

Beyond that, John Wick 4 was great lore, great sets, great fights. If you are a fan of the Wick-verse, this is right up your ally. I caught this via Starz.

Saturday, October 5, 2024

青春18x2 通往有你的旅程 - 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days

青春18x2 通往有你的旅程 (18×2 Beyond Youthful Days) is an 2024 film out of Taiwan and Japan. 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days is an joint production between a Taiwanese and Japanese film companies. The movie stars Greg Hsu and Kaya Kiyohara. Lots of famous folks from both Taiwan and Japan make cameo appearances. The movie had a limited release in Taiwan back in February.

Greg Hsu plays Jimmy, a recent high school graduate working at a Tainan karaoke bar for the summer before his college life starts. Ami is from Japan, back packing through Taiwan. After losing her wallet, she seeks employment at the karaoke bar to make enough to get back home. Jimmy takes an immediate liking to Ami. Will Jimmy and Ami make it?

This movie is a very typical artsy style film from Japan and Taiwan. Pretty slow in most of the movie so you can contemplate life with the leads. The movie seeks to be both style driven as well as story driven. But more importantly, I feel these movies promote that life is not a straight line, there will be struggles, and how do you move on from there.

This movie was very beautiful. It has some very good train ride scenery of both Taiwan and Japan. The storyline has some unique elements, but was a pretty straight forward "love" story.