🎥: Back in Action (2025): ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A fun action-adventure comedy. It’s good to see Diaz back again after her break, and still quite able to kick butt. Nothing groundbreaking, sure, but makes for a fine bit of afternoon entertainment.
TV And Films
The shows and movies I like (or don’t).
The End of Section 31
The more I think about the Section 31 movie, the more I think that there’s a possibility that it might have one good outcome: Solidifying Section 31 as being nothing more than a run-of-the-mill black ops/special forces/Delta Force/Seal Team Six/Mission Impossible/whatever department, and therefore 1) not the Big Scary Thing it was originally presented as, 2) not something we really need to be terribly concerned about or excited by, and 3) not something we really need to spend any more time on.
As Edgar Anderson (@pithyphrase.net) noted on Bluesky:
In Deep Space Nine, it was never 100% to me whether Section 31 actually existed or Sloane was just a very capable but insane person acting on his own. I wish that ambiguity had been maintained.
As far as I’m concerned, this — or perhaps something that’s a little bit of both — is the best way to look at Section 31. While the “sooper sekret ‘good bad guys’ doing the dirty work so you fragile little snowflakes can have your Federation utopia” idea fit with DS9’s take on the Trek universe, for me, Sloane’s ambiguous nature is part of what made DS9’s Section 31 bearable. For a concept that was so very antithetical to the established Star Trek universe, having it be presented as a “…wait…really? Or is he…no. But…maybe?” thing worked, and worked well. Maybe it was a thing. Maybe he was a very talented psychopath.
But then, over the years, particularly with Discovery diving down the Section 31 rabbit hole in ways that made no sense with the concept (the super-secret covert ops branch of the Federation that almost nobody knows about, exists only in the shadows, and will be denied at every opportunity if mentioned, has its own all-black comm badges and fancy ships, for V’ger’s sake), and now this particularly “meh” attempt at merging Mission Impossible with Star Trek, it’s time to give up on the concept.
Just write it off as a special forces unit that, both on the individual member level and the institutional level, let its ego get far too out of control, and while it has occasionally been useful, it has also occasionally been dangerously embarrassing and embarrassingly dangerous, and it needs to be disbanded. Both in-universe and out here in the real world.
Let it go.
Star Trek: Section 31
🎥: Star Trek: Section 31 (2025): ⭐️⭐️
Well, that was definitely a movie. Strip out the Trek references and call it “Generic Space Spies”, and it would be an entirely acceptable and inoffensive, if not particularly groundbreaking, direct-to-video movie. As a Trek film…well, it’s a generic space spy movie with Trek references. Doesn’t break anything, but doesn’t really add anything to the franchise, either. Michelle Yeoh is always fun, the cast does acceptable jobs, and it’d play in the background during a “Trek movie marathon while I clean the house” session just fine.
For more spoilery thoughts that I jotted down as I was watching it, see this Mastodon post.
Johnny English
🎥: Johnny English (2003): ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rowan Atkinson’s take on a Bond spoof is an entertaining bit of fluff. Atkinson himself is fun to watch as he flips between a variation on his rubber-faced Bean buffoonery and occasionally slipping into actually projecting the suave confidence of a Bond-style spy. It’s ridiculous and silly, and that’s fine.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
🎥: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024): ⭐️⭐️⭐️
You really can’t go wrong with W&G, particularly when there’s an evil mastermind penguin in the mix. As cute and silly as ever.
Recent Netflix Spooky Shows
After finishing off Mayfair Witches S1, Interview With the Vampire S1, and A Discovery of Witches S1-3, we decided to stick with the theme and started watching Evil again.
Mayfair Witches was a fun way to get back into Anne Rice’s universe. I was pleasantly surprised to see Harry Hamlin, and we’ve consistently enjoyed Alexandra Daddario in everything we’ve seen her in.
I’d seen good things about the new Interview show, but even with that, I was really impressed. I’m really enjoying the way they’ve updated it, keeping the bones of the story while making a lot of fascinating updates…and ditching anything remotely resembling subtext.
A Discovery of Witches we knew nothing about and grabbed on a whim, but it sucked us right in. Fun take on creatures, lots of political maneuvering, and we really liked the magical effects. Good enough that we now have the book trilogy on our to-read shelves.
We’d watched S1 of Evil, but didn’t keep up with it, so decided to just restart from the beginning. This show is a lot of fun, the daughters are so adorable, and Leland is such a great creep. It’s a perfect balance of creepy and really funny.
Carry-On
🎥 Carry-On (2024): ⭐️⭐️
This really wants to be a modern Die Hard — complete with opening with a shot of a plane landing directly overhead — but having just watched Die Hard (as we do every Christmas Eve), I can safely say this is no Die Hard. It’s paced a bit too slow for an action/suspense film (Die Hard is 15 minutes longer, but this one feels longer), Edgerton only seems to have one expression and doesn’t remotely embody the relatable “everyman” that Willis did, and too much of what happens happens because the plot needs it to happen, not because it makes sense. The most interesting part was a fun action sequence that’s shot entirely from within a car (which doesn’t involve any of the main characters). But at least the TSA gets their “no, really, they’re just good people trying to do their Very Important Jobs” propaganda in for the holidays!
(Spoilers follow…)
Harm’s Way by David Mack
74/2024 – ⭐️⭐️
Though officially a TOS adventure, this is really mostly a part of the Vanguard spinoff book series, which I read so long ago as to have forgotten both characters and key points. As a result, it felt like I was reading a mid-series book, and missing much of the necessary context. The primary foe is so overwhelmingly powerful that there’s an extended battle sequence in the latter half of the book that feels very out of place; perhaps it works within the greater Vanguard storyline, but to me, it was just troubling and very un-Trek. Klingon characters include pre-“Day of the Dove” Kang and Mara, which does expand their characters in interesting ways and hints at background motivations for future Federation/Klingon developments, but also doesn’t really mesh with what I remember of Kang and Mara’s actions in the episode (though, admittedly, it’s been a few years since I watched it, and I’m relying partially on Memory Alpha’s plot summary here). All in all, an uneven Trek adventure, and not one of my favorites.
Milkshake Duck Status and Rationales
For my own purposes, a (not comprehensive) list of currently known milkshake ducks in my media libraries, how I’m treating their work in my own consumption habits, and any rationales or justifications for these decisions. You may not agree with any or all of this, and that’s fine. This is kind of an exercise to help me figure out why I’ve made the decisions I have, and perhaps, whether I should rethink or change those.
This is being actively updated as my mind processes, and likely will continue to be updated as I think and if (or, unfortunately, when) more people out themselves as belonging to this category.
- Scott Adams: General right-wing buffoonery, including sexism, racism, anti-science views, etc.
Haven’t really paid much attention to him in years anyway, thanks to his eye-roll inducing rants, but do have the very fancy oversized 10-year anniversary collected Dilbert, which was last taken off the shelf to see if it was the right size to prop up part of our couch (it wasn’t). Will probably offload it at some point. - Woody Allen: Sexual abuse
Not watching any new work or supporting by buying old work. Keeping and will occasionally rewatch old favorite films already in the collection. While I certainly don’t wish death upon him, his eventual passing will mean that I’ll be more easily able to justify finding those of his films that I know I enjoy but won’t purchase now. - Piers Anthony: Sexism, misogyny, pedophilic themes
Any of Anthony’s books I had in my collection got booted years ago, after I started re-reading the Xanth series, got through the first two while getting increasingly uncomfortable, and then doing a little research and discovering just how bad it got. I couldn’t imagine having those on my shelves if any of my niblings ever went looking for something to read. - Orson Scott Card: Homophobia
Not buying any new stuff, though I did pick up used copies of the first few Ender’s Game/Speaker for the Dead sequels and read some of them after reading those two Hugo winners (I think I still have some to go). From what I’ve seen, OSC hasn’t been nearly as vocal or influential as he once was, EG/SftD are too foundational to my early SF reading to write them off, and my re-read for this project confirmed just how good they are — and, interestingly, how drastically their message of inclusion contrasts with OSC’s statements. Unlike Anthony, whose beliefs are very obvious in his work, OSC’s work actually doesn’t hint as his personal beliefs, so it’s much easier for me to justify keeping his books on my shelves. - Neil Gaiman: Sexual abuse
Still adjusting to this one. Won’t be buying, reading, or watching any new projects. Keeping books and films already in the collection, but it’ll probably be a while before I feel like re-reading anything (and just decided to skip his two Hugo award winning novels in my Hugo best novel reading project). - J.K. Rowling: Transphobia
Not buying, reading, watching, or otherwise supporting any projects. Haven’t ditched the Potter books or films already in the collection, but not re-reading the books (and just decided to skip her one Hugo-award winning Potter book in my Hugo best novel reading project) or re-watching the films. Stopped subscribing to HBO’s Max streaming service in part because of their decision to move forward with a new Harry Potter series. - Dan Simmons: Islamophobia
The same basic bucket as OSC: Not reading anything that isn’t already in my collection, but the Hyperion cantos was too mind-blowing to entirely ditch.
Asylum by Una McCormack
72/2024 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As always, Trek is at its best when it’s looking at modern issues through an SF lens. On the surface, this is about Pike and Number One at Starfleet Academy, paired with a later mission that ties back to those experiences. But when dealing with minority ethnic groups reacting to years of oppression, there’s a lot more there as well. Plus, of course, some very entertaining ties to wider Trek lore.
