Author: Nick Brobeck

Nick’s Mix Review of “The Founder”

Posted on by

I have nothing but good things to say about “The Founder,”  the biopic about Ray Kroc, the man who made the McDonald’s restaurants a household name in the 1950s and 1960s.  Michael Keaton continues to astound me with his great acting ability playing the multi-faceted and ruthless Kroc, who met the McDonald brothers and not only franchised their idea, but outmaneuvered them and took the rights to their own name.  Keaton takes great care to give Kroc the proper interpretation, down to mannerisms, accent, and just a general sense of just how hungry he is to succeed and be rich and famous.

You probably know the story, it’s really no different here.

The script by Robert Siegel and the direction by John Lee Hancock were both very impressive.  I’ve always felt that when you do a period piece, especially a biopic, I have to be totally immersed and convinced that I care about the story.  It helps that was already familiar with the backstory of what happened here going in.  I tend to be when it comes to what biopics interest me.  This one was no exception.

It’s interesting to note that most of this film was shot in Georgia.  As several readers of this probably know, the state has been a boon for media production over the last few years.  Isn’t it a coincidence that Atlanta is probably going to be my next move career-wise?  Hmm.

I highly recommend watching this film.  It’s an interesting story and a great period piece.  It’s a win-win flick!

Day Two

Posted on by

I feel better today than I did yesterday.  Why, you ask?  Put simply, we’re all going to be OK.

People are peacefully protesting all over the country and the world.  PEACEFULLY!  Not what those nitwits who lit cars on fire yesterday did, but peacefully demonstrating that the majority of people do not agree with how things turned out.

I don’t want this blog to become overtly a hotbed of hot takes over the direction our country is going in, but I will say this.  As a gay man who is married to someone he loves very much, everyone’s rights to make their own choices in their lives is very, very, very important.  Even if I don’t agree with what choice they make, they have the right to choose what they do.  I have no say in the matter, and the government surely should not either.

That’s just how I feel.  I’m not a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Very Silly, or whatever, I’m Nick.  That’s who I am and that’s what I believe in.  No authoritarian nitwit can tell me any different.

How I Feel

Posted on by

I want to take a second and tell you how I really feel on this day, January 20th, 2017.

Am I sad? A little.

Am I angry? You bet.

What am I going to do about it?  All I can do, keep my head up and keep pushing forward.  I’m not going to let anyone tell me to do anything different because I have every reason to be proud of who I am, regardless of who is in power.  I am happy, I am successful and I am comfortable with who I am.  I’m not going to let anyone or any entity tell me any different.

Bring it on. See you on November 6, 2018.

Trek Review: “Arena”

Posted on by

This is undoubtedly one of the most well known episodes of not just Star Trek, but of any TV show.  Everyone out there at one time or another has seen the Gorn, even if they don’t know a Gorn by name.  Just mention that creepy lizard-like alien, and they’ll remember this episode.

This episode has always held a special place in my heart.  I just love its scope and its depth.  Most of all, I love the planet location, Vasquez Rocks.

I love this location so much, that me and Greg went there back in March 2008 on our second trip out to Los Angeles.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When we were there that day, there were lots of high wind warnings around.  The sand was being blown all over the park, which made it impossible to really see anything.  If it wasn’t so windy, I would have climbed up to the top of the famous rock face and pretended I was Kirk rolling down that giant foam boulder. 😛

I am sure that everyone watching this episode back in 1967 were pleasantly thrilled for the entire hour.  I find it interesting that Kirk is taking such a stance of “the aliens must be destroyed” and Spock trying to change his mind.  It makes me wonder why McCoy wasn’t there to try to interject his opinions more.  That will always remain a mystery as to why Gene Coon didn’t write it that way.  It doesn’t make the episode any less enjoyable for me anyway.

Next week, we go back in time… to not quite the present:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcL6BUWYNCI

Nick’s Mix: “Moonlight”

Posted on by

It’s a very tough life growing up in an urban area with crime and bad influences surrounding you.  You are supposed to act, think, and do certain things to get by, even if you have any aspirations to actually do something else.  If you are different, especially if you are gay, you have to bury those feelings underneath a thick veneer to where nobody can see who you should be, who you really are.

The character of Chiron in “Moonlight” is a very quiet, troubled soul.  He knows he’s different, but as a young child, he doesn’t realize who he is yet.  He is growing up in urban Miami, where crime and drugs are rampant, and where he is picked on by school bullies and isn’t loved by his mother.  One day, he befriends a man, Juan, and later his girlfriend, Teresa, who tell him that he can be whomever he wants.  Chiron does have one acquaintance his age, Kevin.

The film examines three stages of his life, when Chrion is 9, then when is a teenager, and finally when he is a man.  Chiron has just about every life challenge you can imagine for a 9-year-old boy.  His mother is a drug addict buying the junk from Juan himself (much to Juan’s shock.)  In the second part, Kevin and Chiron have romantic encounter on a beach.  This was a very profound and powerful scene.  The love is short lived as the bullies at his school force Kevin to beat Chiron up as a rite of passage.  Chiron in turn lashes out at one of those bullies in class and is sent away.

Years later, Chiron gets a phone call late one night from Kevin.  He hasn’t heard from him in years.  Kevin has tried to get on the right road to having a decent life.  Chiron, not so much.  But, eventually, they meet back up and it’s left to the audience to wonder if they do, in fact, become lovers.

This is the kind of film I like to see. The writing and direction of Barry Jenkins is very, very well done.  You felt for all of these characters. It’s not very common with someone of Chrion’s background to be able to be gay and be accepted.  I can understand how he feels.  The hurt inside when you can’t find anyone to love and be yourself has to be devastating.  I know, I felt that as a teenager myself.  So for me, this aspect of his life hit very close to home.

I am quite proud that this movie has already won the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture – Drama.  I hope that it will win a couple of Academy Awards come next month.  These kinds of personal tales are ones that are the core strength of cinema and need to be told, especially in this day and age.

Crazy Weather

Posted on by

As of this post, it is currently 65º in Knoxville.  On January 14th.  It is predicted that we will be in this area of temperatures for at least a few days.  Where did winter go?  Did spring give fall and winter a miss and get here early?  Probably not.  Is it global warming?  I’m not opening that can of worms here.

But you will agree, it’s not supposed to be this damn warm in January!

However, it is nice. 🙂

Trek Review: “The Squire of Gothos”

Posted on by

Greeting and felicitations!  With those words, Trek fans were introduced to one of the most interesting, dynamic characters of the Original Series.

Trelane, the lonely Squire of Gothos, who in reality is a very superior being.  Except for one thing, he’s a very young child, or at least what we would consider a child.

When I first saw this episode, I honestly did not have any idea until the reveal at the end of the episode that Trelane was, in fact, a child.  I thought he was just what was he was being presented to be up to that point, a very omnipotent being with no regard for what he was doing.  That’s exactly what they wanted us to think!  I have to give a clever tip of the cap to the production team, they had me fooled.

William Campbell’s portrayal of Trelane is very exquisite.  I still chuckle every time when, in the “hunt” with Kirk, he exclaims to him “YOU BROKE MY SWORD!”

What would the audience of 1967 have thought?  Probably the same as I did, that they would have been left guessing for the whole hour just who this Trelane fellow really was, and then the realization at the end hits, “Aha!”

Something of note that has always interested me about the character of Trelane:  there was a novel written by Peter David called “Q Squared” in which he suggests that Trelane is a member of the Q Continuum.  I could buy that, even though the novels are considered non-canonical.  It still is an interesting theory.

Next week, one of the most remembered alien encounters that is often quoted in pop culture…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwv8c_yuzi4

This is the City, 50 Years Later

Posted on by

Today, January 12th, 2017, marks the 50th anniversary of the debut of one of the more memorable revivals ever to hit network television, at least in my opinion.  On this date, one of the iconic characters of TV and radio cop shows made his comeback onto NBC.  It was the ubiquitous Jack Webb and his show “Dragnet,”  with his iconic character Sergeant Joe Friday leading the way.  However, unlike the 1950s version, this show was different in tone.

Watch just about any episode of the original and you will see that they would usually do standard cop/action fare.  Bad guy commits crime, police track him down, dramatic standoff, and resolution.   When you get to the modern world of 1967 however, it’s quite apparent that formula would probably not work from week to week.  What Webb and his production team did is absolutely what was needed for the time:  a modern approach to the storytelling.  It is quite evident from the premiere episode: “The LSD Story.”

Everybody remembers that episode for these images of one Benjamin Carver, played by guest star Michael Burns:

I don’t think kids these days are painting their faces whilst high on drugs, but nonetheless it’s still pretty disturbing.  Of course, he dies at the end of the episode from, you guessed it, an overdose.  But where this show excels is the fact that this plot element isn’t treated as some glorifying realization, but as grim and irritating as the overdose of any person would be.  People should be warned about the dangers of narcotics, then and now.  They are not things to be played with, and certainly can ruin you and quite possibly everyone around you as well.

Of great note here also about the series in general is the change in Friday’s partner.  In the 1950s series, Ben Alexander played Friday’s sidekick, Officer Frank Smith.  Webb had wanted to bring him back for Dragnet 1967, however, Alexander was already committed to a short lived series on ABC called “Felony Squad.”  So, Webb turned to another venerable actor, Harry Morgan, to play a new sidekick, Bill Gannon.  Morgan was great at playing a character with a straightforward, dry sense of humor that his tone could certainly convey.  I like Gannon and his weird demeanor in this show, especially when he talked about his life outside of the job.  One could envision a whole spinoff of Gannon’s adventures outsid….. no, no, no, don’t give NBC bad ideas…

Would this show work in 2017?  Not in this form.  Probably not in any form.  Remember that 2003 attempt to revive it?  If you don’t, don’t worry about it, it was bad.

Snowpocalypse 2017

Posted on by

So, the snow is here in Knoxville.  Yet, everyone acts around here like it’s never snowed before.  I just don’t get that.  Snow is supposed to be a beautiful thing of nature.  People should really stop and admire its beauty.  No, really, stop and get off the roads and appreciate it for what it is.

That’s why TV stations are on the air with snow updates, you know?  Because people don’t know how to stay off the roads in inclement weather.  Maybe I should start a driving school to try to teach people how to drive in the snow?   Maybe not, because I’m not 100% in it either.  I drive slow in the stuff just on the five minute drive from the house to the station.  That drive becomes 10-15 minutes in the bad stuff, especially ice.

Seriously folks, if you don’t have to get out. DON’T. GET. OUT. PERIOD.

Trek Review: “The Galileo Seven”

Posted on by

Welcome to 1967!  As Trek begins the new year, it tells a tale of test and survival on a mysterious planetoid.  It’s the episode that introduces the shuttlecraft to Trek lore, “The Galileo Seven.”

While I want to like this episode 100%, I have always had this nagging feeling that there was something amiss in this storyline.  Time and time again I have tried to realize what that thought was.  Every time I watch it, I’m just so pulled in by the story that I don’t stop to analyze that nagging feeling I keep having.

I guess the problem I have is that Spock has this crew with him and most of them have to constantly question his methods and his lack of emotion.  Shouldn’t they already know that about Spock?  Any intelligent being should know and respect the differences in one another.  I realize of course that it has to be this way in order for the plot to work.  That’s why it doesn’t detract too much for me to not be able to enjoy the episode.

I like the conflict between Kirk and High Commissioner Ferris a lot, it adds an interesting dynamic to the desperate search that is ongoing to find the missing shuttle crew.

All around, another great story and a great episode to open 1967 for Trek.

Next week, we meet one of the most interesting foes in all of Trek lore, with comparisons to some later omnipotent beings:

https://youtu.be/BkRmptIJ8aI