Not Last Place Wisdom: Chaos at Clapperton's

 I told Aaron that it would probably be better for everyone if I didn’t do this, but I think the emotions and the nostalgia of “Straight Outta Christmas” got the better of me. As I alluded to in sharing my Spotify Wrapped for the year, a lot of my musical choices for the past year took me back to Junior High and High School, so going old school with a blog post seems to fit. Hopefully I don’t come to regret changing my mind on this, but I think if there’s one takeaway from Aaron’s birthday its that sometimes you just have to put yourself out there.

First, I’ll commence with the fantasy football talk. It’s been a good year for myself, Mike, Travis and Aaron. Aaron has stumbled a bit recently, but it’s probably the best his team has been in some time so I hope he’s enjoying it. The big change this year has been Aiden joining the league, which I’ve personally enjoyed so thanks to the rest of the TFLOEG for the opportunity. I think he’s enjoyed it too. Getting to share experiences with your kids has become the thing I enjoy the most in life, and it takes on a different meaning when your kids get older and it becomes less about you directing things for them and more about watching them develop and try things for themselves. I get now how so many parents end up living vicariously through their kids, especially when it comes to minor sports. Pro sports are frankly pretty boring compared to watching your kids play, I understand better now being able to get lost in travel teams and the possibility of going to an unhealthy place with it. That’s probably a topic for another time, but it’s been fun talking fantasy football with Aiden and watching him figure out the game on his own.

2023 in Film

In the recent podcast, John asked for my take on whether Oppenheimer will win Best Picture. With my extensive record of watching nothing but the best in cinema, it’s time to revisit my regular ranking of all the new movies I’ve seen this year.

8. Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken – totally forgettable, but my daughters liked it.

7. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Marvel is trying to drag out the old gang to keep the gravy train going for a little while longer. Kang the Conqueror is no Thanos, and they will never recreate the magic the led up to Avengers Endgame.

6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – the most interesting characters of the Marvel heroes still in action, and I can respect them for trying to give these characters actual development and stakes.

5. Elemental – maybe in my middle-age I’m turning into a sucker for a love story, or maybe it’s just the fact that nearly all modern Disney/Pixar movies are otherwise totally devoid of what might be described as traditional romance, but I actually really enjoyed this one. Didn’t really include any super deep themes, and wasn’t as humourous as I hoped, but it was simple and cute.

4. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Theives – I compare it a lot to the Warcraft movie, in that it was totally earnest and filled with Easter Eggs and callouts to the hardcore fans of the franchise. I really enjoyed it, and just like Warcraft would like to see more, however that is up in the air following a box office disappointment.

3. Spider-man: Across the Spiderverse – this is probably the most controversial ranking in my list; probably the only reason it is #3 is that I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the original, and that at its core it’s only half a story. It didn’t have quite the same impact on Aiden or I as watching the first one together did, although Aiden was hit by the cliff-hanger ending in this one. The animation was incredible, the setting and tone was great; hopefully part 3 can land successfully and finish the story that has a lot going for it. The Spider-verse movies and setting are the only place where comic book movies are continuing to push boundaries and try something new.

2. The Super Mario Bros Movie – one of my deep regrets is that I never published my nearly completed blog post in the wake of Avengers Endgame and what was coming next for the film industry, as I think I called a lot of what would happen over the next few years. Comic book movies have never recaptured the overwhelming good-will and general excitement that they once had, and that film executives would pivot to the biggest untapped market for their next cash-cow: video games. Detective Pikachu had just come out, Sonic was only in the works, but I had a sense where things were heading. I was wrong in that I predicted Zelda would be the mega hit, not Super Mario Bros, and also wrong in that recent video game movies have kept a bit more of a “kid” focus rather than the “general” audience that characterized peak Marvel. Maybe the live action Zelda will prove me right in the end.

With that out of the way, Super Mario Bros was great. Part of it was nostalgia, but it also was simply entertaining, treated the characters well, and delivered a movie that I could enjoy as much as my three kids did. I’m excited for where they go next, the Super Smash Bros crossover movie, and the inevitable decline after the industry plays out its reliance on video game franchises.

1. Oppenheimer – John summed up a lot of my thoughts in his comments on the Podcast. The visit before and after the movie was overdue, and Nolan had me enthralled for the three hours the movie was on. Leading up to it, I was wondering how he would make the story interesting enough to meet my expectations, and he delivered. Totally worth seeing in theatres for the atmosphere and especially the sound (I talked Mike into seeing it in theatres for that reason).

If I had to guess, I would say that Oppenheimer will win Best Picture. Or maybe it’s too white, and the Academy will give it to some overcoming adversity story about a homosexual immigrant by an unknown foreign director that grosses $40 million. It could go either way really.

Aaron’s 40th Birthday Party

I’m sure the reason everyone (or at least Aaron) is interested in the blog would be to get my reaction to his birthday party and the dropping of the greatest hits podcast. I think one reason behind my general quietness is a strong sense that I need to think deeply before speaking. This group probably sees me with less of a filter than most, but I generally desire not to come off as an asshole, which I know is always lurking in my spur of the moment reactions. In any case, here’s the most honest take I can give on the night.

I’ll put it out the first that I truly enjoyed the evening. It was great to spend time with all of you in a setting like that, it’s been far too long. There were some truly hilarious moments, and I can’t remember the last time I was crying from laughter. I also found the length of the podcast to be deeply upsetting and time wasting, and was truly considering getting up and leaving at different points. I guess this was part of Aaron’s goal? (I don’t really get Andy Kaufman, cringe humour or awkward pranks; they're probably too sophisticated for my unrefined tastes). It was my sense of obligation that kept me from doing that: Aaron wanted us all there, so I was going to be there and go along. I think this sense of obligation is really important, and I also think the lessening of it has probably contributed to negative things we see in our society. I have the sense that that people or social institutions taking advantage of this sense of obligation has weakened it and questioned for myself “what does it mean for me to feel like my sense of obligation is feeling taken advantage of here?”. I’m not really sure, but I did my best to put the negative feelings aside and be in the moment, without thinking of the other things I could be doing at that time.

But when I left for the evening, Aaron had an expression of pure joy on his face and the excitement he was experiencing was extremely obvious. I was glad I could be a part of that, and for being able to do my part towards making his birthday wishes come true. The evening of the party I almost called it a “narcissistic vanity project” but stopped myself (trying not to be an asshole), but let’s be honest, that is what it was. But that’s not to say it’s a bad thing, and I am truly in awe of the amount of work that Aaron put into it. This blog, the podcast, the whole TFLOEG has probably always had an aspect of that to it, and I love it for that.

I think we all react differently to situations like this; I personally couldn’t imagine doing something like that. You likely won’t get a 40th birthday party invitation from me, as asking others to celebrate myself seems like an unworthy use of that obligation, but that’s really my own hangup. It truly bothers me to feel like an imposition on others, even when it shouldn’t. Which is weird, because for people that I care about it would take A LOT for me to feel imposed upon or resentful of what they might ask of me. In general, I’m typically pumped to have someone invite me to do something or ask for my time, yet I’m personally hesitant to ask people to do a little thing together without a lot of build up, or what feels like a really good reason. It’s given me stuff to think about.

To wrap this up and to provide my final word on the subject, my takeaway from the evening is this; I’m more than happy to sit through any of your narcissistic vanity projects and will happily fulfill my obligation to you to do so. But for my own sake, I appreciate knowing what I’m getting into, although I don’t know if any prior explanation would have done the greatest hits podcast justice.