New Favorite - Fallout (TV Series)

Ahhh Hakunin. The beginning of a great journey.

Ol tree in the head Harold. So fun.

Adaptations are tough - especially for something very widely loved. Balancing what fans originally loved, the challenge of creating something new within an established world, and the input of your producers/distributers is probably challenging.

You needn’t read my praise to know that - the new Fallout TV series is widely lauded by critics for good reason - it’s very well done. It’s clear the tone of the game has been translated faithfully, the world design is immaculately detailed, and the story is something new and surprising.

The balance of tones immediately made me think - “oh, these people have actually played the game.” Or more likely, all of the games. The detail on the set and props made me think that the people making them really enjoyed it. The story is familiar and in the spirit of the game, but has its own surprising turns, and actually provides the world of Fallout with more clarity.

I’ve loved the game series since it was in bird’s eye view. Fallout 2 is particularly memorable because of the characters you meet (both the writing and voice acting is stellar). I’m stoked there’s a second season coming, and hope they continue to explore what they can do with this thing.

New Favorite - Dungeons and Dragons : Honor Among Thieves

As an actor, TV/movie developer, player of D&D, and DM of D&D, I’m extremely happy this movie did a fantastic job of overcoming all the challenges that might have sunk an amazing opportunity.

As an actor I’m stoked on how truthful everyone played the world and their own storylines. With high fantasy, I’ve seen many actors go too big, maybe to match how big the world seems. This didn’t happen here. It felt like real humans/tieflings/elves living in a world with different rules.

As a TV/movie developer, I’m impressed with their ability to translate the experience and source material into a tone appropriate adventure that feels plucked out of a campaign book, without getting lost in the weeds of rules/abilities that might have slowed it down. Everything was in service of the story, as it should be for a movie or TV experience.

As a player, I’m excited to see something reflect the fun of what playing is like. Some, if not many of the creators, must have played, or at least listened to the experience of what it’s like to play the game. Or at least they did such a good job of imagining what it would be like they might as well have played.

As a DM, I’m gonna be plucking some of the content from this and retooling it for my own nefarious purposes. Also, the runner of Jarnathan was a great touch - just because as a DM, you prepare a whole campaign, elaborate with details, thinking you’ve prepped for every main route the party might take. But more often than not, the players focus on one NPC for some reason, wanting to know his name and backstory - so you come up with one on the spot, sometimes resulting in a very stupid name like Jarnathan. Now all of a sudden Jarnathan is an essential aspect of your players’ plan, and saying Jarnathan out loud becomes the running joke that keeps on giving. Jarnathan.

I’m hoping this strike ends soon so that in the DND TV series, Rawson Marshall Thurber can write me a recurring role as a Ranger who speaks almost exclusively in seemingly stupid riddles that mean nonsense at the time, but turn out to be surprisingly apropos later on. Basically Minsc but with a beard.

New Favorite - Succession

I’m very late to the party here.

The metaphor/simile game of these writers is razor sharp.

The acting showcases a feast of talent. So much to love from every single person on this show.

With that consistency, I would imagine the whole damn team on this show are just the best at what they do.

Every element is masterful.

When afterward you talk about the characters as if they’re real people, it may be a good indicator the show is a masterpiece.

New Favorite - Val

If you haven’t seen the documentary ‘Val’ yet, and you’re in the arts, it’s worth a look. It’s a look at his life as an actor through the many lenses from home footage that he shot while working different jobs.

Most actors would be happy with the career of this legend. It’s illuminating to see that even he has had his misgivings about roles he has taken, and choices he has made. It’s nothing I wouldn’t expect - I hear most actors, and people for that matter, are always looking toward the next thing, wanting more.

Desire is what makes human beings human. (an insight from my friend Miles)

He ends the film with footage from him playing Jim Morrison, reflecting on his own nature as an artist, and there’s a great deal of synchronicity between the two. He sums up his approach to acting by offering that he’s found a little bit of himself in the character, and found a little bit of the character in himself.

Another inspiring bit was how he unabashedly pursued roles that he wanted, failing more often than not.

Siempre luchando - a favorite Puerto Rican quote of an actor I worked with (Rudy Willrich) that I’ve held on to.

New Favorite - 'Force Majeure'

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I have to think of the most recent one I've seen, because I love movies so I just defer to 'most recent' instead of 'of all time'. I think it's a waste of time qualifying which one you particularly like out of all the movies in the world because that's changed for me over time.  So here's my new favorite.

This is a very detailed, seamless, and believable story that calls out a generation of man-children.

In the above picture this father is taking a picture of an incoming avalanche that is terrifying his children and wife. Each frame in this movie is storytelling at its best.

Some of the scenes ran much like a sketch, with three beats heightening within the bounds of realism; others ran like a psychological thriller, with tension punctuated by a subtle joke, usually at the expense of modern man's pride; others were silent, ethereal poems that underscored the comic tragedy of our era's shifting values.