Disneyland 2024- Day 3: May 14

The App Is Useless So We Literally Met Geppetto Two Times

Litany of Godzilla- Showa Sidekicks 2

Rodan 

(really Radon as in "short for pteranodon")

1956

A day may come when I remember that this movie came out BEFORE Mothra...

But this is not that day.

This film reunites the Five Fathers of Godzilla:

Director- Honda, Producer- Tanaka, Music- Ifukube, Effects- Tsuburaya, Suit- Nakajima.

Plus Godzilla favorite actors Kenji Sahara as Traumatized Engineer 

and

Akihiko Hirata (sans eye patch this time) as Concerned Paleontologist.

The overall story and action is really well done and we get a Predator like genre shift. 

(Granted its more of a subtle shift from normal horror to Kaiju, but still, a shift.)

Disneyland 2024- Day 2: May 13

We Begin To Practice The Hippie Art of Manifesting Characters Because The App Is Useless

Christmas Village 2024

America's Highly Traiiiiiieeeeeeee WHAT ARE THEY?!?!!

Or

Cobra, A Ruthless TerrooooOOOOOOH IT'S PULLING ME UNDER!

Disneyland 2024- Day 1: May 12

We Have The Harrowing Realization that the App is Useless

The night before the Disneyland trip began was our typical Calm Before the Storm-
Watching an underrated Disney film, in this case Meet the Robinsons.
And Storm Before the Storm-

Christmas Music Trivia!

Christmas Time is famous for two things in our home.

Action Figures and weird music!

To be honest, the whole year is famous for those two things. 

However, Christmas Time is when we advertise it more.

But first, here's the usual guest writer and figure poser to kick off the season- 

The Marvel Holiday Actors are here as per usual to put on a show, this year bringing to life the Rankin Bass Classic Jack Frost. Since I (Anabelle) hadn’t discovered the absolute MAJESTY that is Jack Frost when we did the Rankin Bass setup that one time, we went full force into it this year. Here are all the roles:

Disneyland 2024- Introduction and Index

Relaxed and Groovy
Or
Freakin’ California
 

Litany of Godzilla- Showa Sidekicks 1

Mosura

(Mothra )

1961

Another Ishiro Honda allegory filled classic. 

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 13

Litany of Godzilla- Reiwa Restart

 Godzilla Minus One 

2023

Toho, using a fraction of the current Legendary budget, creates a true rarity- a Godzilla film that would still feature an excellent story and human characters even without Godzilla in it.  Yes, I actually cared about the people in this story. Amazing!

It is 1945, and none of the other films have happened... again.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 12

"I Spent Under A Day in Utah Once"

The thing about living a life steeped in weirdness is- I forget how it looks to normal people. That is, until I make what I feel is an ordinary off hand remark referencing an occurrence and get a room full of silent stares, followed by confused laughter.

The thing about being at the same company for thirty one years is I occasionally pull up a document from over two decades earlier and think "What dopey kid wrote this mess?

...

Oh, it was me."

Meaning there has been time for a great many of those "ordinary off hand remark" moments.

Yup, it's time to drop more "Dad Lore."

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 11

The Second Season of the Second Age

I do not understand how people say this show isn't like Tolkien. There's so much going on, I forgot about an entire continent of people between seasons. It is packed full of characters, settings and societies that match the feel of Tolkien's work.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 10

Oh, It Was Really Them All Along

I was almost obsessed enough with having an appropriate Halloween post to try and cram this write up to include the two episode finale, overnight, but luckily I thought of the space filling...

I mean fun and interactive quiz idea.

Yeah, there's spoilers... You've had a week.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Menu Interlude

[Later edit- I fixed the title. It actually said “Disney World” when I gave it to my family. Old habits die hard. Brackets indicate my jokes, brackets with “Later Edit” is anything I wrote after giving the list to my family, before or after the trip. No one cares, moving on.]

Halloween Music Trivia!

Due to trying not to have an aneurysm by needing to finish writing a review of Agatha All Along overnight for Halloween after a double size finale, I started posting Halloween Musical Trivia Questions on social media.

Technically there were only five days worth, but since I can't help myself and added a bonus question to each one, its a Top Ten.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 9

Everything, Everywhere, a Year and a Half Late.

As soon as I saw the first coming attraction for Everything Everywhere All at Once  I knew it had the potential to be one of my favorite films.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 8

I Finally Saw "ONE" In The Theater Again But for the First Time

It has been many years (thirteen to be exact) since I managed to catch a Transformers film on the big screen.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 7

DC and Monsters, The Good, the Bad and the...

Seriously, what in the hell was that crazy awesome thing?

But before we reach that story ...

Let's start with the Good.

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 6

Dune Part 2 Section C Through a Kid’s Eyes

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 5

Dune Part 2 Section B Through a Kid’s Eyes

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 4

Dune Part 2 Section A Through a Kid’s Eyes

There is more riffing on this film, because Part One tended to be general comments on the mythology, characters and setting while Dune Part 2 was far more interactive.
 

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 3

Dune Part 1 Section B Through a Kid’s Eyes

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 2

Dune Part 1 Section A Through a Kid’s Eyes

Rosa had to travel shortly after Anabelle was home on break and forgot her purse. I drove it down to her in college on a Friday night after I saw Dune Part 2 in the theater on Wednesday. I mentioned something about the film during our Daddy Daughter Dinner, and it started a long series of questions and answers about the Dune Universe.
 

Disneyland 2024 Countdown- Part 1

Batman Begins... Yet Again

Atlantic City- August 9, 2023

Rosa woke up early, gave our unmoving forms hugs and went to walk and lay on the beach.
 
We remained unconscious for most of this time.

Our (Continued) Adventures with Superman

Atlantic City- August 8, 2023

We slept late… because that’s what we do there.
 

New Who Views- Doctor Who Series 14. No, Season 1. Why not Season 40?

I kept pushing this review into the future, because... 

I am a Time Lord. 

Ha! 

Seriously, it was because whenever I tried to put it together all I'd come up with was:
"WOW, that was fun!"

Atlantic City- August 7, 2023

We woke up promptly at 9:30 for our morning on the beach.
Then we went back to sleep and woke up promptly at 10:30.
 

The Acolyte Comes Packed with Mature Star Wars... for some

 

Instead of a regular review, lets visit a theoretical conversation between audience and creators:

Note- This is not to address fans of the bulk of all Ages Focused Star Wars who didn't like it,  (I'm mostly in this group, I really liked this show, but won't rewatch it nearly as much as the films or The Mandalorian/ Boba Fett which fit in with the original films better than anything else.) or those who will only ever like the Original Trilogy (and shows which fit in with it) no matter what. (Hi Mom!)  Instead this is for that rather specific branch of fandom that demands every Star Wars be specifically tailored for them and only them.

Atlantic City- August 6, 2023

We drove down to the southern end of our state much later than Stupid O’clock in the morning, setting the tone for another “minimal exertions" type of vacation that we all desperately needed.

Heartwarming, Happy and Heinously Violent

I'm going to avoid any spoilers that weren't in the trailers. There are far too many wonderous surprises in this movie for me to deprive any viewers of them.

Atlantic City August 6th to 9th 2023

“The World Will Little Note Nor Long Remember…”
Or
"Oh, they'll Remember, Abe.”
 

A Rare, Cool Moment in My Life- June 13, 2024

Last year it was announced that Niall Horan- "The Show: Live on Tour" would be playing Madison Square Garden. He is Anabelle's favorite singer. Following the Taylor Swift mess, she and Rosa did much online jiggery pokery  (mostly Rosa, she excels at that) when the tickets dropped and first scored her a 100 level seat in the stands for Friday's concert, but then a floor seat for the Thursday performance. The Friday ticket was sold off at list price, because we are not evil.

Inside the Mind of a Toy Addict Part 10 - Happy "Ending"

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

So…
 
This happened.
 

Clone Wars Episode Guide- Bad Batch Season Three

February 21st- May 1st, 2024. 15 Episodes

OK, Dave Filoni, I don't care how you continue your Clone Wars stories anymore, now including animated. Granted, I will keep watching them and reviewing them, like I did with  Ahsoka aka Rebels Season Five. However, as you've reached the end of this tale, here is my final foray into an Episode Guide.

Inside the Mind of a Toy Addict Part 9 - The Legends Live On

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

There are three reasons the collection will continue to grow. This is irrespective of how hard it continues to be finding new figures at what my old man brain considers "acceptable prices."

These three are not counting the obvious reason- 

"As should be crystal clear by now, I do have a problem."

The first is the “feature” of the addiction leading to the tuning various websites into awareness of it, as highlighted by the AIM Scientist Supreme.
 

Yes, They are Dead, Boys and Detectives...But That's Not All

 

One would think with a show name like "The Dead Boy Detectives" the title would point out everything needed to understand the show.