Pandemic Picks: Sam’s Existential Book Club

Just before COVID-19 hit the US in force, I moved from Los Angeles to the suburbs of Nashville in hopes of a slower pace of life in which I could pursue more of my hobbies and spend more time with my family. I got the monkey paw version of this wish, to be sure, but I am truly enjoying all the time I’ve had to read while sitting on my back porch with my dog. 

I started with a collection of essays purchased before leaving titled Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed about writers who have chosen not to have children. It’s a great read. Something that fascinated me, and something nearly each author highlighted, is how new the choice to be child free really is. In the course of human history, people have been unable to produce children, but they have never had the ability to opt-out like we do now. That choice is more weighted than we give it credit. 

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Pandemic Picks: The Nice Guys

You will all have favourites out there, favourite actors, favourite directors, favourite writers. It’s natural that you gravitate towards certain people, with actors it’s because you probably identify with him or her more, or just that you like their performances. Directors and writers though are a little different, you don’t like the people themselves necessarily, but you like their style, their techniques, their voice. For me I love Shane Black and will watch anything that he does and for the most part I love everything he has written or directed. What really appeals to me about Shane Black is the way he can switch very quickly and almost effortlessly between hilarious comedy to serious drama. Not only that but he manages to subvert clichés by setting up what looks to be a cliché situation and then turns it completely on its head.

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Pandemic Picks: Future Man

It’s funny how you find new shows to watch, for example with Future Man I found it purely by accident. I put a photo up onto a Facebook group for The Expanse, the photo was of my Amazon recommendations and I was pointing out that Amazon was recommending that I watch The Expanse again. See my previous Pandemic Pick on The Expanse for reasons why I would happily watch the whole series again. However, by pure chance the cursor was actually highlighting this other show called Future Man, and several people on the group mentioned how much they enjoyed that show. So, I thought I’d give it a shot.

I’ll pre-warn you, just like I was, the show is definitely for adult only audiences. Produced by Seth Rogan and Even Goldberg the series tells the story of Josh Futturman, a twentysomething janitor who lives with his parents. He is a hardcore gamer and addicted to a game called Biotic Wars, when he completes the game he is recruited by two freedom fighters from the future, Tiger and Wolf, to help them defeat the Biotics. Does it sound a little familiar? The Last Starfighter anyone? Well the show knows that it’s ripping off it’s concept from the eighties film because it makes a joke about it immediately. The series is littered with references to various Sci-Fi films including a lot of time travel films including The Terminator and Back to the Future to name two. The font that is used for the on screen text is the same one that is used in the Terminator series.

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Pandemic Picks: Waco

In 1993, the ATF raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, TX. Tipped off by the media and terrified after a similar situation in Ruby Ridge, ID that left a child dead, the Davidians started a firefight. Eight cult members and four ATF agents were killed. The FBI came in to handle the situation and commenced a 51-day standoff that ended in a horrifying fire that killed 76 people, including 25 children who lived on the compound. Waco, the six-episode miniseries currently available on Netflix, originally made for the Paramount Network, covers the events that lead to this standoff and the horrifying outcome. 

It’s hard to find anyone to root for in this situation, but Michael Shannon as FBI negotiator Gary Noesner grounds the story, helping us to see the humanity on both sides. Taylor Kitsch is incredible as charismatic Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh. He’s as magnetic as he is reprehensible, and it’s easy to see how he amassed a following, even if he was bent on martyrdom. One of my faves, Shea Wigham, makes an excellent turn as militant FBI agent Mitch Decker. He is so bent on getting the job done that he’s willing to use PSYOPS against American citizens and tear gas toddlers, even after killing a woman and her child at Ruby Ridge.

Waco is a shameful chapter in American history, and I’ve seen a lot of documentaries on the situation. But it wasn’t until I got to see it played out as drama made it somehow more real for me. Telling these stories, however difficult it might be, is important, especially when they are dramatized. It allows us to connect with the players as characters, creating some distance from their bad actions and giving us a glimpse of the souls underneath. Writers and actors get to the genuine emotion behind people who are likely nowhere near as eloquent or uncomplicated in real life. 

It’s a tough watch, but a rewarding one, and since most of us still have nothing but time, I suggest taking a look at Waco. 

Pandemic Picks: The Martian

Ridley Scott was shot into the mainstream with his 1979 Sci-Fi thriller Alien, he cemented his position as a visionary director of Science Fiction with 1982’s Blade Runner and then he moved onto other genres. In 2012 he returned to Sci-Fi with the mediocre Prometheus, audiences felt like he had lost his touch when it came to Sci-Fi. Thankfully he proved everyone wrong with the exceptional 2015 Sci-Fi drama The Martian.

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Andy Weir, The Martian follows astronaut Mark Watney as he tries to survive alone on Mars after he is accidentally left behind when his fellow astronauts perform an emergency evacuation of the planet during a storm. The film has a lot of elements to it that make it such a wonderful film, the acting is superb and the characters themselves are deep and believable. The realism in the film is interesting because everything feels like it is something that not only could exist, but will exist in 2035. The realism is due to the fact that the filmmakers consulted NASA in the elements of space travel and Mars.

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Pandemic Picks: Deadpool

So, I was wracking my brain to think of what Superhero movies would I be recommending people to watch now that they have time and immediately of course I thought about the whole MCU because, you know, we have time to watch them all now. But I wanted a single film I could recommend, a lot of Superhero films these days have the problem of, “Well before you watch this you need to watch that first, but you also have to watch this before you can watch that.” I just wanted one film that a new viewer could pick up and enjoy. Then I thought, Deadpool.

And why not? This is a film that was a labor of love for Ryan Reynolds. It took him eleven years to get the movie made and the amount of love he had for the project shows on screen. The film is a very faithful adaptation of the comic character, even down to the fourth wall breaking and the fact that the character knows he’s in a comic book. Having recently gone back and read some of the old Deadpool comics the characters that are in the film are all taken from the original comics which I had no idea about at the time.

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Pandemic Picks: A Simple Favor

Paul Feig has become my go-to director for a good time. Spy is an all-timer for me, and last week, I clicked on his 2018 entry, A Simple Favor. It did not disappoint. This twisty-turny little mystery starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick does a great job balancing a solid mystery plot with a biting sense of humor. 

I love when a villain is just smart enough that I find myself rooting for them, and Lively’s Emily is the wry, well-dressed suburban mastermind of my cinema dreams. Although I’m no great fan of Anna Kendrick’s, she’s used here to great effect as Stephanie, an annoying, insecure single mother with a sordid past of her own. I enjoyed getting to know these women, flaws and all, and I like that their friendship clouded their judgment as much as their respective romances. The social web these two women manage to weave made the movie stick with me even after credits rolled. 

The movie is currently streaming on Netflix, and if you’re looking for a fun popcorn flick, you should give it a go.

Pandemic Picks: The Big Nerd Pub Quiz

A slightly different Pandemic Pick for me today. This is something I’ve been playing with some of my friends for the last couple of weeks. It’s a Pub Quiz that you live stream through YouTube and answer the questions in a Google document. Lots of fun and great for getting a group of friends together to participate in.

It’s run by Mark Hughes who live streams from his bedroom in Rostrevor Co Down, Ireland. So far there have been five of them, I missed the first one which I’ve heard was very nerdy. After the first one Mark took some feedback and it became a little more of a traditional pub quiz and less nerdy with a sports round and general knowledge rounds. The audience is growing with each quiz and the sixth one is scheduled for Saturday 11th April at 20:00 BST. On top of these there are also some specialist quizzes coming soon including a Star Trek and a Star Wars one. The Star Trek one I am most looking forward to as if you’ve read my previous articles on my trips to Star Trek conventions you’ll know.

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Pandemic Picks: Stargirl

I first read Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli when I was in middle school. I remember loving it. When Disney+ announced that they would be adding a Stargirl movie to their lineup, I decided to re-read it. I initially couldn’t remember what intrigued me so much about this book, but as I read on, I remembered. Spinelli created something beautiful out of what could be any ordinary high school setting. The story is told from the perspective of a 16 year old, Leo, who is a perfectly normal kid. He observes the mannerisms of a new student in their school, who goes by the name “Stargirl.” I can’t put into words what a refreshing, beautiful, inspiring soul this Stargirl turns out to be.

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Pandemic Picks: Airplane!

Today’s Pandemic Pick is the classic comedy film Airplane! Surely I’m not serious… I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley. I promise that is the only time I’ll say that in this article… maybe. Airplane! is one of those films that everyone has either seen or at least knows some of the jokes from. It’s considered by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comedy films of all time. But what is it that makes it such a great comedy?

The film is the brainchild of the writing team of brothers David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, they based the film on a real disaster movie that they had caught on late night TV called Zero Hour about the pilots of a commercial flight getting food poisoning and a ex-World War II pilot is forced to take over. Sound familiar? Because that is pretty much the exact plot of Airplane! It’s hard to imagine that there is a film out there with the same plot as this zany comedy that played it straight.

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