Pop Culture
- An excellent TV Show does not get spoiled. Yes, I knew how Breaking Bad would end when I started watching it. I knew who would die and who would survive. Yet, I loved every minute of it. Spoilers are overrated. I can think of only a handful of genuine surprises that weren’t gimmicks in all the shows I’ve watched. Questions like, “Will Rachel and Ross end up together?” or “Will AFC Richmond win the Premier League?” are mostly irrelevant.
- I think the TV show characters who spend the most time in white underwear are: 1. Hal, 2. Walter, 3. Homer Simpson. The similarities don’t stop there: Hal’s dad’s name is Walter. Both Francis and Jesse (who is not technically Walter’s son but, come on, he calls his own son Jesse once, their relationship is ambiguous) aspire to go to Alaska.
- One of the best jokes I read about the show is that if Walter White were married to Lois, she would find out and make him stop by the end of the pilot episode.
- Also, this what if Breaking Bad was just Hal’s bad dream alternate ending.
Stranger Things S5 Gets Hope and Closure Right
Was Stranger Things Season 5 up to the hype? Some people say it was not. I disagree. I found it spectacular and genuinely fun—not because it tried to outdo itself, but because of the way it handled hope and closure.
The hope and joy that a growing team brings. Stranger Things centers on characters who must convince others that a terrible threat is approaching. This is never easy. People resist the idea of danger for many reasons, ranging from self-interest to a simple fear of disrupting a comfortable life. Yet as the team grows, so does the hope for a positive outcome. Each new ally makes success feel more plausible. The show is often linked to Steven Spielberg’s influence: E.T. or The Goonies. This time again, this narrative dynamic echoes a familiar Jaws pattern: the threat is real long before the community accepts it. It is hard not to see a parallel with climate change—where the danger is clear, but collective belief arrives late.
An extended epilogue. Season 4 already took its time to wind down, and Season 5 goes even further. It was really nice to take the time to say goodbye to Hawkins after being connected to it on and off for the last ten years. That patience felt earned. It is the opposite of The Karate Kid, which I still remember for having one of the most abrupt endings imaginable.
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Happy belated birthday to me! 🍿
Wolfs, 2024 - ★★
Not amazing. Subpar compared to Ocean's Eleven or The Nice Guys. 🍿
Back to the Future, 1985 - ★★★★★
Best way to start the year. First time with the kids. I think they enjoyed it. 🍿
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, 1994 - ★★★
The opening — parodying _The Untouchables_ — and the final — with the fake movies scenes for the Oscars — are the highlights. 🍿
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, 1991 - ★★★★
Not as good as the first one. But still very solid. 🍿
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, 1988 - ★★★★★
Pure joy. Laughed out loud many many times. My first watch in about 30 years maybe, and first time as an adult and in English. Loved it. 🍿
I finished watching Breaking Bad and spoilers did not ruin anything
Last Monday, I finished watching Breaking Bad. It was excellent (duh), and I can only recommend it.
I had watched the pilot back in the day but I hadn’t pursued further. When the show became really popular, I read the Wikipedia page to get the gist of it, but I didn’t want to commit to 60 hours of viewing. So I knew the story and how it ended.
Fast forward to November 2025. The show keeps appearing on lists of the best TV shows ever — alongside The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire, etc. while Games of Thrones seems to have faded — and I started to fall in love with Hal, Bryan Cranston’s character in Malcolm in the Middle. So, I gave Breaking Bad another shot because I was curious about how Bryan Cranston could act in a drama. This time, I was sold.
Much has already been said about the show, so I’ll keep it brief with a few thoughts:
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The segment on the Daily Show about Calibri vs Times New Roman was hilarious. It’s not every day you encounter typeface humor.
Previously, there was the SNL sketches Papyrus and Papyrus 2 with Ryan Gosling, as well as Elle Cordova impersonating fonts.
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, 1999 - ★★★
The Phantom Menace may not be the greatest episode of Star Wars, but it effectively showcases a brilliant political plot.
Palpatine secretly orchestrates the Naboo crisis and exploits the Senate’s bureaucratic paralysis to discredit the Chancellor as weak. He positions himself as the decisive alternative and wins the Chancellorship by promising action over gridlock. Ultimately, he transforms the Republic into his Empire.
This follows a populist playbook: create or amplify a crisis, attack democratic institutions as slow and ineffective, offer strongman “efficiency” as a solution, and then consolidate authoritarian power while claiming that the system forced their hand.
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