Welcome again to We Have Always Live the Kraken, a pop culture blog transmitted directly to you from the belly of the beast. Here in the Notes we’ll show you this month’s posting schedule, but first here are some thoughts.
Happy 2019!!! Another year has passed (even if it felt more like ten years), and it is time to look forward to a brand new year to likely disappoint us, even if 2018 did just barely pass the low bar that 2017 left behind. Why do we always assume that a new year will magically make everything better? This is mostly a rhetorical question, because what else are we supposed to do; but I do wonder sometimes if we put too much into a new year bringing better times for us. This probably sounds familiar, because I’m sure I said something similar last year at this time, but it is still an important sentiment. Things don’t just get better because a new year has come, but it is nice to always have a chance to wipe the slate clean, even if only for a fleeting moment. So Happy New Year… but be ready once that slate inevitably gets dirty again to do something about it.
From the depths of the Kraken, here is what we are bringing you this month.
It is that time again, a special time in which the Kraken (well mostly David) descends into Oscar madness. Oscarathon 2019 is here, so stay tuned throughout the month for all the Oscar coverage the Kraken has to offer.
- First up, the Opening Outlook detailing the state of the major Oscar races before the Golden Globes.
- Oscarathon 2019: Golden Globes Predictions
- Oscarathon 2019: Golden Globes Live…ish Blog
- Oscarathon 2019: Golden Globes Reaction
- Oscarathon 2019: Awards Season Schedule
- Oscarathon 2019: Post-Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards Roundup
- Oscarathon 2019: Oscar Nom Predictions
- Oscarathon 2019: Oscar Nom Reactions
- Life in the Kraken Podcast: We’re All Out of Sarcasm
Catch of the Week Month:
Each and every week the residents here in the Kraken will offer one recommendation for the week that we think you all would enjoy. It might be a movie. It might be a book. Who knows? This is your… Catch of the Week Month.
Kyu: I might be the last person in the world to have read Neal Stephenson’s Zodiac, but for the one person who might be behind me in that line, I heartily recommend it. A scruffy, counter-culture thriller about the self-styled “toxic James Bond,” the novel follows the trials, tribulations, and nitrous-huffings of Sangamon Taylor, a Boston-based environmental activist who specializes in tracking down, pranking and exposing corporate polluters. An engaging, action-packed yarn that often centers around S.T.’s zippy little inflatable motor boat (the titular Zodiac), the book is clearly an attempt to reclaim the spy/military thriller genre for the kind of people who like who smoke pot, eschew violence, and stand up righteously to the dominant economic, media and political forces in society. A quick, fun, amusing novel, and a great introduction to Stephenson. Check it out!
David: Runaways Season One had some issues. Mainly that the writers just kind of assumed as long as they nailed the big moments it didn’t matter if how they got there made sense. (Or the main issue was the show was way too interested in the parents as opposed to the kids. Or the main issue was… okay, this isn’t helpful). This led to some mixed results, at best. Still though, the cast is so good, and they really did nail those big moments, and the season ended with a fun set-up for the new season. So Season Two still has a lot to offer, as does the show as a whole. If you haven’t started, now is the perfect time to get into it, especially now that Hulu wisely decided that a show about super-powered teens should probably be available in the way teens like watching their television, ie., all at once in a massive binge watch session. If nothing else, it will be a fun ride, and on the bright side, since this show has nothing to do with Netflix you don’t have to worry about it being cancelled simply because Netflix arbitrarily decided it no longer wanted anything to do with Disney. (RIP Daredevil, it still hurts). Well, probably you don’t have to worry–I mean, Disney will soon own most of Hulu, so you never know what will…. never mind. Just ignore the corporate takeover of all our entertainment and enjoy Runaways.
That’s it for this month’s notes. The Kraken always gets a bit disoriented around this time, because in order to celebrate New Year’s you have to re-enter the timestream, so be warned. we may all be experiencing dizzy spells going forward. Most of you will be fine, and as for the rest of you, well, being a spiral isn’t as bad as you’d expect.