Spider-Man: Brand New Day (SPOILERS)

 The most anticipated movie of the summer came out last week, and it's already destroying box-office records around the world. Spider-Man has pretty much confirmed that he is, in fact, the most popular comic book character in the world. Really, even outside of comics, he's one of the most loved characters in general. Tom Holland returns to play Peter Parker / Spider-Man in his 4th solo movie in the MCU. The last movie (No Way Home) ended with everyone he loved forgetting who he was. This movie picks up years after that event, as Peter struggles to find a life outside of being Spider-Man. The building stress of his life and how it affects him not only as Peter, but now as Spider-Man comes into play, as Peter has to find a way to put his life together before he loses all control. 

WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED IT!

 Brand New Day opens as Spider-Man is trying his best to move on from his old life as he sinks every second of his life into being Spider-Man. As much as it seems to be fulfilling his life, he can't help but look at his old friends, MJ and Ned, and see their success and happiness without him. He's happy for them, but he feels sad to not be a part of it all. Of course, it's even harder when he still loves MJ, but can't be with her because she doesn't remember him. I like the story they told here with Peter and how he slowly reconnects with his two best friends. I really like that they didn't just make it easy and have them find a way to remember him instantly. It seems by the end Peter is just starting a new friendship with them and not just jumping into a romance with MJ. One of the best scenes in the movie is when MJ finds Peter's note that he was saving for her. It's a great moment when she feels sympathy for him, but doesn't instantly jump into his arms. It's a start, and if there is another movie, it will continue from there. 

This movie doesn't really have a main villain, but Jean Grey is the closest thing to one. She certainly has moments where she does some pretty messed-up things. The worst thing she does is when she tricks Peter into thinking MJ's memory is back, and she kisses him, only to reveal she was controlling her mind. It was a great scene, and it was a nice little trick for the audience to believe it was actually true. Towards the end of the movie, Peter finds out that Jean really isn't a bad person, but is only trying to find her missing sister that was taken from her by the Department of Damage Control, the people that Spider-Man has been working with this whole time. Damage Control is trying to find a way to replicate Jean's powers for their own use, just like they did with her sister. In the end, they only end up making Jean Grey even more powerful as she destroys the lab and almost kills the Damage Control leader, Bill Metzger. Spider-Man is able to help Jean control her anger by letting her see a vision with Aunt May in Peter's early days of being Spider-Man. A really great scene that could have been really cheesy, but actually felt really emotional and made Jean's change of heart make sense. As far as villains go, Jean Grey is one of the weaker ones in this series. Her being in this movie is clearly to set up the future X-Men movies coming in the next few years. I think Sadie Sink is a great choice, and she was good in this movie, but as a villain, not so great. I do want to point out how cool it looked when Jean used her powers in the movie. The way she jumps from human to human was visually really cool, as the actors make these great jumps with their bodies to show the audience how she moves. Very unique. 

Punisher was used heavily in the marketing for this movie. Going into this, I really thought he would be more of a factor in the story. He's in a good amount of the movie, and his scenes are all pretty great. Yes, they do make his character a little more goofy for this PG-13 movie, but it works well. It makes sense for Punisher to be a little softer around Peter, who he probably sees as a more innocent person in this world, and doesn't want him to end up like himself. Their friendship works well, and it still captures the Punisher character well enough. Though I guess I was hoping for a little more action with him. I really liked his scenes with MJ too, and how they instantly hit it off with their darker personalities. 

One of the things that bothered me about this movie was the marketing. The trailers gave away WAY too much, leaving basically no surprises. Hulk was a short part of this movie, but that was given away in the trailers. It would have been cool to keep that one a surprise; I think fans would have been so excited if he had popped up in the movie without us already knowing. Still, it's maybe the best scene in the movie when Hulk pops out, and the short fight between Spidey and Hulk is so much fun. We even get to see Banner go full Hulk for the first time in a LONG time, and it was glorious. I like the hint at the end of the battle that Hulk might remember who Peter is, because he may not have been affected by Dr. Strange's spell, as he was trapped inside Bruce Banner for so long. 

The movie focuses a lot on Peter's changes due to stress. It feels like a callback to Spider-Man 2 from the Tobey days when he loses his powers due to stress. This time, though, they make it more based on his hormones and the spider DNA overtaking his human DNA. I thought for a while that this was all going to lead to a Venom tease at the end of the movie, maybe Spidey going full black suit at some point, but it wasn't that at all. Peter has to make an inhibitor chip to stop his body from changing, which eventually he also uses to suppress Jean's powers to make her unable to use them. This could be a tease to the X-Men series and the collars that they put on Mutants to suppress their powers and capture them. Considering Jean Grey is involved in this, it wouldn't be a surprise. At the end of the movie, this whole storyline was used to get Peter to accept himself as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He can be both of them at once. It's a good story, and even if it didn't lead to Venom, I think it was told well. 

Overall, I think this movie was very good. Its flaws are more on the fact that there really wasn't a villain in the movie. It also sucks that a cool character like Scorpion was barely used. The weird cameo from Black Widow felt a bit pointless, even if it was a bit funny. Punisher could have been used a little more. The twist felt too predictable, considering most people know that Jean Grey isn't really a bad guy... at least not until she goes full Phoenix. Also, the fact that most people already knew Jean was in it made the reveal of her name in the movie feel less impactful. The crowd in my theater literally had no reaction when Peter finally finds out who she is... because everyone already knew. It's a little weird that Jean doesn't get any consequences for hurting all the people she did in the movie too... but that's maybe nitpicky. Those are some of the flaws I could remember, but it's not really a big deal for the most part. I really had fun watching this movie, and I hope we can see all these characters again at some point. Would love to see Venom finally enter the MCU, but I guess it's not happening anytime soon. 

OVERALL GRADE: B+ 

The Odyssey

 The most anticipated blockbuster of the year is finally here. Nope, not Avengers: Doomsday, but Christopher Nolan's new films THE ODYSSEY! This is Nolan's big follow-up to his Best Picture-winning film Oppenheimer. The film tackles Homer's story from the 7th/8th century BC, one of the most famous stories ever written. This version follows Odysseus, played by the great Matt Damon, as he tries to find his way home after the victory in Troy. The story is told with various flashbacks as we go back and forth between Telemachus, who is Odysseus' son, dealing with his father's absence, and Odysseus himself, remembering the events that led up to his being stranded on an island. So, was it worth the hype? Let's find out.

The story of The Odyssey is one that has been adapted to media several times before this. It's a story that's been a huge influence on writing and fiction since it was first crafted all those years ago. Nolan's version here takes all of the modern advancements in technology and uses them to craft a beautiful telling of the classic story. In typical Nolan fashion, we have an insane cast here, with tons of A-list stars alongside some underrated actors who have been around for some time. I'm not going to name every single actor in this movie, but it's enough to say you will recognize a lot of faces in this movie. The point here is that Nolan is going for star power and not authenticity in his cast, and I think that's okay for this Hollywood blockbuster. The movie isn't going to be all accurate in its depiction of Greece and the time period, but Nolan puts his own spin on things, and it makes for a fascinating watch. The movie looks amazing, but this is to be expected from a Nolan film at this point. There are so many memorable shots here of the locations, vast open oceans, and the war-torn city of Troy. Even in it's 3 hour runtime, I never felt bored or impatient because the movie used all of its time to tell a great story. 

The story picks up with the son of Odysseus, named Telemachus, who is desperately waiting for his father's return, as his home is being invaded by suitors for his mother. Everyone believes Odysseus to be dead due to his long absence, and all the men fight for the right to marry his wife, Penelope. Telemachus refuses to give up, but his time is running out, and he's running out of options to keep the men away from his home. Odysseus finds himself stranded on an island, as he struggles to remember the events after his big victory at the city of Troy. The movie goes into flashbacks, as Odysseus slowly remembers everything that happened at Troy that eventually led him to this island. The movie flips back and forth between Odysseus and his son, and it works really well to keep the tension going. Odysseus' story feels like it's told in a series of set-pieces, each one unique and grand (no spoilers). There are moments of great struggle, some awesome action scenes, and even some really creepy scenes that really took me by surprise. 

I don't have much to complain about here; maybe the weakest part of the movie was on Tom Holland's side of the story. His story sometimes felt like it was a distraction from the more entertaining parts with Matt Damon and his crew. Maybe that's because Tom Holland's character just wasn't given a ton to do, except just look for his father desperately and hope that he solves all his problems for him. Kind of made his character seem a little weak, and maybe that was the point, but it felt like maybe his character could have been given more. That might be the one thing keeping this from being a perfect blockbuster movie, but maybe on rewatch, I will change my opinion. 

Look, I can't recommend this movie enough. It's 3 hours long, which is a lot, but it really does fly by. The movie looks amazing, the cast does a great job, the story is a classic, and Nolan does a good job with his version of The Odyssey. If you enjoyed any of Nolan's other movies, this one is an easy watch. If you love Greek history and are looking for a more accurate telling of Homer's classic The Odyssey, then maybe you will be disappointed in this in some ways, as it's more of a Nolan version of the story. Still worth a watch, I think. I feel like a lot of the doubts going into this movie were for nothing, as it totally lived up to the hype, and it's easily one of the best summer blockbusters I've seen in a while. 

FINAL GRADE: A- 

The Death of Physical Media?

 I hate to keep saying that everything is getting worse in the world, but it really does seem to be a real thing. While what I'm going to write about today isn't super high-stakes stuff, it's something that's important to a lot of people, including myself. Media keeps changing as technology advances, and everything is becoming more and more digital as the years go by. We saw this a decade ago with video rental stores going away from most cities. Hell, even Redbox, which was the replacement for those video rental stores, is pretty much gone around here, too. Streaming has become the way most people watch their shows and movies now; it's just so much easier to not have to pick up and drop off discs at a location. It seems like a lot of people also prefer to own movies on a digital platform now, versus buying the physical discs to keep in their homes. Makes sense, saves space, and you can easily access everything from one app on your TV. 

Video games have faced a similar path as movies and TV shows, as the shift to digital games has also become the way a lot of people prefer to own their games now. This has led to a pretty big change coming in 2028, as Sony has announced they plan on stopping production of all physical copies of games they produce. This is just for their first party games, I assume, but I don't see a world where they release a new console in 2027-2028 that still supports discs if they are already planning on ceasing production of those discs anyway. This choice can also tie into the movie/TV show business, as many people (like myself) use their gaming consoles to play DVDs and Blu-Rays. Just another sign that companies are going to shift completely away from physical media. It's strange because on the music side of things, physical media has never been more popular. People are buying vinyl and CDs more than ever before, it seems. Streaming has its own problems in the music industry, but that's probably best left for another post. 

So what does this all mean anyway? Is it even a bad thing to move everything to digital? I mean, isn't it cheaper and easier to release to consumers? Well, yeah, but I think consumers should always have a choice in how they want to consume media, digital or physical. The main problem here comes in ownership. Owning a physical piece of media means having the disc that actually plays the movie or game in your possession. With digital, it's all tied to an account you make, and it's all dependent on what the owners of that site do. A recent example of this problem is PlayStation's movie library. PlayStation has a digital library of movies you can buy and own on its store. Once you buy a movie, it's yours to watch whenever you want... or so we thought. Just a few weeks ago, Sony announced they are going to remove over 500 movies from that platform, and if you happen to own any of those movies, you will lose them from your account. No refund, no credits, just losing a movie you bought for no good reason. This isn't the first time Sony has done something like this, either. They also recently announced they would be closing the PS3 online store for good next year, so no more purchasing digital games for that console. I'm curious to see if that also means you can't download already purchased content, but we will see. I'm sure that's eventually where things will go. The problem with only having the option to buy digitally is that it gives all the power to Sony; you will have to buy through their market if you want to own a game. No more buying games at local stores or online stores, no more shopping around for better prices, and no more buying used copies of games for a lower price. The most anticipated game of all time, GTA 6, is coming out later this year, and THEY even said they aren't going to be making discs for it. Just selling a box with a code in it... how stupid. 

Buying a movie or a game used to mean being able to own it forever, as long as you still had it in your possession. Now, companies will get to decide how long you own a product for in the digital space; you will never truly own the media you buy. I can still go back and watch my old DVDs from when I was a kid that I still have. I can still play my old video games from the 1990s that I kept around. What will it be like for us in the future? Will our old consoles be useless? Will we have to keep buying what we already did over and over? Time will tell, but I don't really trust these companies to actually do the best thing for us, as they've proven time and time again that they don't really care about us as long as they make their money. 

A Nostalgic Post About Y2K (1997-2003)

 I feel like my generation loves to romanticize the Y2K time period A LOT. It's often seen by Millennials as the greatest time ever, which makes sense because most of us grew up in those years. Memories of being kids and having fun without the responsibilities we have now will always make us look back fondly at that time. I mean, it's safe to say most people will probably think the decades they grew up were the best... except maybe kids growing up in the Covid era, they've had it a bit rough so far. So I wanted to look back and see what really made this decade so great and why my generation still looks back at it with so many fond memories. I'm going to try to look at this from a fun and entertainment-focused view, so I'm not going to focus too much on the politics of the time or the fact that, like, gas was cheaper or buying a house was actually possible. 

THE MOVIES

One of the first movies I think of when I go back to the Y2K period is The Matrix. That movie captures that time period so well, and it really seeped its way into a lot of pop culture from the late 90s and early 00s. Can't even name all the movies and shows that parodied the bullet time sequences from The Matrix at the time. Another movie that comes up a lot is Disney's Zenon, which really captures that time period well with the way it depicts the future. I guess Y2K is heavily tied to futuristic ideas like the show in The Matrix and Zenon. A lot of metallic textures with shiny colors are paired to make it look futuristic. Other movies that capture that Y2K style are Zoolander, Dude Where's My Car, Fifth Element, and Bring It On. I think the reason The Matrix is the first one that comes to mind, though, is its ties to the rise of the internet, as that's a big aspect of the first movie. Of course, the whole Y2K thing was because of computers and the internet, so it makes sense why a lot of those movies used that aspect of our lives. The internet was starting to become mainstream. If you go back and watch a lot of media from back then, they always present the internet in such a primitive way. I think the movie Hackers, with Angelina Jolie, did a surprisingly good job at capturing the Y2K style before it even began back in 1995. Then there are a lot of music videos, which I'll get to later. 

THE TECH

Y2K has ties to the rise of technology, as computers and the internet were becoming something everyone was starting to have in their homes. That and the start of everyone getting cell phones/Palm Pilots, MP3 players, and portable CD players. The one thing I really miss is how fun everything looked in that time period. All the tech came in actual colors, and there was even that period where everything had a see-through look, where you could see all the circuit boards inside computers and gaming consoles. 

(found on Reddit)

I mean, just look at how cool most of that tech looks. Sure, it won't match the rest of your tech or furniture, but who cares! I'd at least like the option to buy this style of tech again anyway. Companies were less afraid of making weird and fun designs back then; now, everything has to be as safe and flat as possible to try to appeal to as many humans as possible. Even all the company logos these days are changing to be as boring and safe as possible, where's the fun and creativity? Who would have guessed the rise of AI and better tech would make everything so safe and boring? I mean, these days we don't even get to explore the internet through websites anymore; everything is an app or social media-focused. Well, I didn't mean for that to be a rant on modern tech, but oops. I guess I just miss when we had more options and not just black/white basic colors for everything. I will say, PCs at least are a lot more capable of being customized with cool colors and displays. Maybe this is just one of those "you had to be there" situations. 

MUSIC

Okay, this is really what I wanted to talk about a lot, because lately I've been listening to a lot of music from the Y2K time period. There's something so unique about the music during the Y2K era, some ways good and some ways bad. Back then, there was still a huge emphasis on music videos being a huge part of how a song got big, along with radio play. I wanted to talk about some of those great music videos that captured the Y2K look so well. The first group that came to mind was Backstreet Boys, as the boy band craze was at its peak in that era, and Backstreet Boys were the biggest group alongside *NSYNC. One of the albums that really captures the era is "Millennium", I mean, it's pretty much in the name there. The album came out in the middle of 1999 and became one of the defining albums of the period. The opening track, called "Larger Than Life," is a perfect song to show anyone who wants to know what Y2K was all about. 

I mean, just look at it. The horribly dated CGI, the fashion, the sci-fi setting, it's all perfectly Y2K, and I love it. It's got that metallic-looking sci-fi setting so famous from that time period. Even though the effects are really dated, and the video hasn't been updated to modern HD (which honestly helps it look even more Y2K), it's still so much fun. 

Here's another video that captures the Y2K style perfectly in TLC's "No Scrub". This one also came out in 1999, and was around the time R&B was starting to become the biggest genre in the USA. Obviously, the song is a banger, but the video is also so iconic with its sci-fi setting and the memorable outfits and hairstyles that truly take you back. Of course, it helps that the song is a timeless classic, but I just love the look and feel of the video; it's just full of nostalgia from the MTV TRL days. 

It wouldn't be right if I didn't mention probably the biggest rock band of the Y2K era, Linkin Park. They crafted a sound that fit right into the new millennium by mixing hip-hop and hard rock that many a band would try to replicate, but fail to fully capture. The song "In The End" is not only one of the best rock songs of the 2000s, but it has one of the most memorable videos, too. The super dated effects look terrible now, sure, but back then, it was awesome and really gave it a unique look. That alongside the band's style and, of course, Mike's frosted tips on his spiked hair. Nothing screams Y2K more than frosted tips, right? 

I guess it wouldn't make sense to leave out the biggest artist of the Y2K era, Britney Spears. Bring on the shiny silver outfits! Britney was a huge part of the sound of the early 2000s, and "OOPS!... I Did It Again" is still one of the biggest hits of the 2000s. The video is really cheesy, and of course has some incredibly outdated effects, but it actually works in its favor to make it more charming. It's interesting to look back at an artist who was at the top of the world at the time and see how big they went for her videos. A lot of artists now just make lyric videos and call it a day, which I can't blame too much because they most likely just don't have the money to make something like this anymore. At least the bigger artists are still making videos anyway, and there have been some great ones recently. That being said, I feel like I see them less and less every year, mostly because you really have to seek them out now unless it goes viral outside YouTube. 

Video Games

I guess it would be weird to not mention the games of the Y2K era, considering how much I was playing back then. Not too go too far into it, because I could spend hours talking about them, but there were some highlights I think a lot of us remember. Obviously, Pokémon was reaching new heights that no video game had really done before... except maybe Tetris, but as a huge RPG game, it was really cool to see how popular it got. We also got the transition from cartridge-based games to disc-based games with the PS1, and later, every other console would adapt it. If you were on a PC back then, you might have been introduced to very early online gaming, like EverQuest and Ultima Online. Hell, maybe you ran into a small game called Runescape in its very early days. It's interesting to go back to those days, especially with how bad things are getting these days, as companies try to drain customers of all their money with microtransactions and broken games at launch. Things just weren't like that back in the day. I get that games have become insanely complicated to make with giant teams taking years to finish a project, but that doesn't mean everything has to be broken or require a 50 GB update at launch. Sometimes I just want to pop in a disc and play the game without any of that getting in the way. Oh boy, here I am ranting about the "good ole days" again like an old person. One last big thing from the Y2K era I wanted to mention here was the Tamagotchi. It's recently made somewhat of a comeback, as a lot of Y2K things have, but it's pretty nice to see it get another run. It's a very simple game, probably more popular for being a cool-looking gadget rather than the actual gameplay. Still, it was fun for a week or two. 

TV

One last thing to talk about is, of course, the TV shows from back in the day. I mentioned MTV in my music section, but I mean, it was such a huge part of the culture back in the Y2K years. Outside of still having actual music on the show, they had a lot of groundbreaking shows like Real World and Punk'd, alongside some other really fun reality shows like Pimp My Ride, True Life, and Cribs. You know, back when it was fun to see how celebrity houses looked and not depressing. Also, how funny was it to see people on Pimp My Ride get back cars that would probably not even be street legal anymore? Do you really need a fish tank in the back seat? No, but there it is anyway. Enjoy, bitch. 

Disney Channel was killing it with the live-action kids' shows back then. You're telling me I can watch That's So Raven, Even Stevens, and Lizzy McGuire on the same channel? They also had those terribly cheesy movies on there where a high school kid becomes a leprechaun. Or the one where a high school kid becomes a mermaid. Or the one where a high school kid watches a vampire hook up with his mom. 

The cartoons were pretty good around this time, too, I mean, you had that one indie show that most people didn't watch called SpongeBob SquarePants. Surprised that one didn't get more love. There was a huge battle between Nicktoons and Cartoon Network over who was the best. Well, at least kids would argue about it and name all the shows from each channel to see who had the best line-up. Honestly, it's tough, so I'll make a list here, and you can decide for yourself.

NICKTOONS

Rugrats

Spongebob

Fairly Odd Parents

Jimmy Neutron

Hey! Arnold!

Wild Thornberrys

Rocket Power

Rocko's Modern Life

CARTOON NETWORK

Courage The Cowardly Dog

Codename Kids Nextdoor

Ed, Edd, N Eddy

Dexter's Lab

Powerpuff Girls

Cow and Chicken

Johnny Bravo

Samurai Jack

Just from this list, I'd probably say Cartoon Network has a slightly better lineup, but still, we had some amazing cartoons to watch back in the day. 

So yeah, the Y2K era was pretty great... I mean, I'm sure there were bad things about it, too, but this was more of the fun stuff and not any of the boring/bad stuff. And I did it all without mentioning 9/11... Goddammit. 

Disclosure Day Made Me Sad (Review)

 

Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated new film came out this week, and being a huge fan of his, I knew I had to see it as soon as possible. The film touches on a subject I've always been interested in, which is aliens and how the world would react if they were proven to be real. This film, Disclosure Day, tackles that subject and the questions of religion and human emotion that would be tied to the existence of aliens. The movie has a great cast with some new faces, but mostly established A-list stars like Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, and Coleman Domingo. There are also some good up-and-coming stars in here, like Wyatt Russell (of nepobaby fame), Eve Hewson (also of nepobaby fame), and a starring role for Josh O'Connor. Needless to say, I was very excited to watch this movie. 

I'm going to just get it out of the way: this movie is not very good. In fact, it's a bit of a mess, especially as a Spielberg project. This isn't the first time he's tackled the subject of aliens; in fact, he has quite a few movies that deal with this subject matter. This one isn't the worst, but it's not that great when put alongside movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The story in Disclosure Day picks up when a young man named Daniel is revealed to have stolen data that shows the existence of aliens, with military footage that's been hidden for decades. He's being chased by a man named Noah, who wants to stop him from releasing the videos to the public. From Daniel's point of view, the world deserves to know the truth. From Noah's point of view, he thinks the world will go into chaos if such information is revealed to the public. Things get really weird when a woman named Margaret starts to have supernatural powers and realizes she needs to help Daniel on his mission to reveal the truth. It's an interesting concept in theory, but unfortunately, the movie just doesn't do a great job at making this as interesting as it should've been.

One of the main problems this movie has is its pacing. It starts off quite slowly, as all the characters are being established. It feels like the movie wastes a lot of time building these characters that, at the end of the day, I just didn't really care too much about. There are also a lot of strangely setup actions scenes, where they make the characters (especially the bad guys) seem incredibly inept. The action can come across as awkward in that way, and it takes away from the sense of danger. That's not to say that all the action scenes were bad, because there were a few good ones, but nothing amazing. The movie also has a problem with weird-looking CGI. I don't know what it was, but there are scenes where they have CGI animals, and they look so off-putting that it took me out of the movie. It feels weird to say that about a Spielberg movie, who is one of the most iconic filmmakers of all time. Well, I guess they can't all be hits. 

I felt like the end of the movie was quite good. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say I enjoyed it despite it not really giving a lot of details. The performances were all solid, though some of the things they had the actors do were pretty weird. I got to give props to Emily Blunt because her character was so weird at times, but she did a good job at making it believable. I can't say I completely hated this movie, but because it's a Spielberg movie, my expectations were so high. This might be one of the most forgettable movies in his catalog. If you have zero interest in aliens, then this movie would probably be a huge waste of time for you, as it doesn't really introduce any new elements to make the subject any more interesting. If you DO have an interest in aliens, then maybe this movie will be interesting enough to give a watch, maybe you'll even like it. As someone who loves alien movies (E.T, Arrival, Signs), this movie was just okay. I really don't see myself ever watching this movie again; it just didn't have anything unique or extraordinary to make this worth coming back to. 

So yeah, pretty sad to go into a Spielberg film and not like it. I'll still look forward to whatever he does next, because he's earned that from his countless other amazing movies. If you want to see a great alien movie, then maybe watch some of Spielberg's older ones that I mentioned earlier (E.T. and Close Encounters). Maybe this new movie Disclosure Day will grow on me as time passes, and maybe I will give it another chance, but for now it's just a pretty forgettable movie with some decent to good moments sprinkled in every now and then. 

GRADE: C- 

13 Dumb Predictions for the World Cup 2026

In just a few days, the World Cup will be kicking off in North America as Mexico and South Africa play in the opener in Mexico City. When the last World Cup (I'll be referring to it as WC from now on) came around, I made a whole post predicting the whole group stage and writing about every team's chances to win the whole thing. This time, well, there are WAY more teams playing this time around, and the group stage has become a mess. By that, I mean that no longer do only the top two teams qualify to the next round, but also 8 third-place teams as well, making it pretty hard to predict exactly who's going to make it and who's going to go home. So instead of doing that, I'll just be putting some of my predictions of things I think will happen at this WC. I'm no expert in this, so obviously this is just for fun, and even though I believe in all these predictions, that doesn't mean I think every single one of them is going to be true or that they are even smart predictions. 

1. The USA will not win their group

This is a tough one because the USA will be playing a group with three other teams that they can and maybe even should beat. Australia, Paraguay, and Turkiye are all teams that are very beatable, but it's not going to be easy with any of those teams. Australia has a good record in these tournaments; they never make it too far, but they do often make it past the group stage. Paraguay is a tough team as well, though they didn't dominate exactly in South America, but they still can give the USA a tough game. I see Turkiye as the real favorite to win this group, as they had to go through European qualifiers to get here, and not only is that tougher, but the USA has a lot of problems playing European teams. In fact, they haven't beaten one in quite a while now, including Germany, whom they played recently and lost to. So yeah, I think Turkiye will win the group, but the USA will still move on to the next round. 

2. England will disappoint... again

Going into this WC, England are currently the third favorite to win this whole thing in a lot of odd makers' eyes. I guess that's fair, as they have a very solid squad, even to the point where they left out a few great players this year. Harry Kane has been having an amazing year at Bayern, scoring 36 goals this season. You also got Saka, who just helped Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in over 10 years. Marcus Rashford comes in from Barcelona, having a nice career revival there after some struggles in Manchester. Really, the entire squad is pretty great, with maybe the exception of their defence not being AS great as the rest of their squad. I think there's a good chance that this team finally makes it to at least the final, but my prediction is that they once again fail to make it that final game and lose out to one of the other big teams like France, Spain, maybe even Portugal, or even a dark horse like Colombia. Speaking of...

3. Colombia will be the Morocco of 2026

Morocco famously made it all the way to the semi-final of the WC in 2022, a feat that no African team had done before them. Most people didn't pick Morocco to go that far, but they took out some great teams along the way and played some great football. I think the team this year that will surprise people and make it to the semi-final will be Colombia. There's something about this team right now that excites me, and it's not just James Rodriguez... but yeah, he's a part of it too. Really, it's the awesome talent like Luis Diaz, Jefferson Lerma, Luis Suarez (no, not that one), and a solid goalkeeper in Camilo Vargas. They also made it all the way to the final at the last Copa America, even though they just barely lost to Argentina; it was a great momentum shift for Colombia. I expect them to carry that momentum from the last big tournament and have a really good WC. 

4. Christiano Ronaldo will not score a goal

This is a bit of a weird one, but obviously this is going to be the last WC this legend plays... although that's what a lot of people thought at the last one, but anyway. Plain and simple, Ronaldo will not score a goal at this tournament, and I don't even think that means Portugal will be bad, because they often play pretty great when he's not even on the field. They actually share a group with Colombia, so it kind of ties in with my last prediction a little. One, I don't know if he'll even be playing entire games this time around, and two, I don't think the offense will work as well with him in there. Nothing against him, but again, he's not the same guy that he was even 4 years ago. At the last WC he only scored one goal, and it was a penalty... I would be annoyed if my prediction is wrong because he scores a penalty goal. 

5. Japan will once again win its group

Japan has been on a stretch of awesome WC moments recently. At the last WC, they actually beat both Spain and Germany to win their group, which was an awesome moment for them. The problem has always been the knockout stage for this Japan team, as they can never seem to make it very far after making it to the knockouts. This time around, they share a group with the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden. Yet again, stuck with two European teams here and a decent African team in Tunisia. Despite that, I think Japan will top the group with their awesome, quick, and disciplined football. I want to say that Japan has what it takes to maybe even win this whole thing, but that might be a step too far. I hope I'm wrong on that part, because it would be amazing. Still, I think this team will be really good this year. 

6. Ivory Coast will be the best African team

I really love the Ivory Coast and their football team, super excited to see them back in the WC this time. When it comes to African teams, it's hard to really know who is actually great and who will make it far in the tournament. Last time around, Morocco had its great run into the semi-finals, where they just fell short to a much better team. Now, I don't think it will happen again, but I really can see this Ivory Coast team being the one that has the best showing in the WC. I will say, they are in a tough group with two very good teams in Germany and Ecuador. Germany hasn't been that dominant force in football since it won the whole thing back in 2014. As for Ecuador, they are a very solid team who don't allow very many goals in games, but they also don't score a ton of goals themselves. I could see them draw with the Ivory Coast, and maybe the pressure of not failing again will get to Germany, and the Ivory Coast can maybe make something happen there. But I hope and predict that the Ivory Coast will show up and be really fun and good. 

7. The new format this year will be considered a failure

So this WC is going to be the biggest WC of all time, with 48 teams joining in the tournament. The last few WC tournaments have had a nice 32-team group stage that made it so only two teams in each group could move on to the next round. This time around, we have an extra 8 teams in third place that can also move on. It makes things incredibly complicated for what teams will move on in that third-place spot, and also just takes away a lot of the stakes of the group stage when a bunch of teams won't be eliminated despite not even playing that great. That, on top of the fact that a lot of potentially very weak and inexperienced teams will be playing football giants. This could end up leading to games where teams are winning by 8-10 goals, and it's not even close to competitive. Sorry to pick on this team, but Haiti is in a group with Morocco, Scotland, and Brazil. Those are three very solid teams there, taking on a very inexperienced Haiti, which hasn't been to the WC since the 70s. It's cool to see these teams in the WC for sure, but if it leads to many non-competitive games and some not-so-exciting teams getting through as third-place teams, I think a lot of people will be turned off to this new 48-team format. Now, will FIFA change it after they see that disappointment? No. 

8. France will make their third final in a row

It's tough to not see this amazing French team getting in the final again. The team is still as stacked as ever, with so much top-tier talent on top of a coach who's proven to be able to guide this team to a trophy. It's almost like the only ones who can stop France are themselves, by not living up to their standards. Obviously, you got Mbappe as the big star of the team and probably going to be the main scorer too. But honestly, every part of the field will be covered with top-tier talent when France is playing. You got Malo Gusto, William Saliba, and Ibrahima Konate, just to name a few other players. Even the bench is going to have some very solid players. Like I said, this team has the talent to win this WC, but at the very least, I think they will make the final again for the third WC in a row.

9. Croatia will win a penalty shoot-out

I mean, it's just one of those things that happens. Croatia will no doubt make the knockout stage of the competition, take the game to penalties, and win. At least once. 

10. Spain and Argentina will not make the Semi-Finals

Yeah, this is probably a terrible prediction, as both of these teams are great and favored to do really well in this tournament. Hell, I think Spain is the favorite to win it in a lot of people's eyes. But with all that pressure and the fact that there are a lot of good teams playing here and the added length of the tournament, I can see something crazy happening. With the right matchups, I can see an upset happening that takes out both of these teams. If they end up playing teams like Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, England, Croatia, Colombia, or Belgium before the semis, both these teams could be out. I do see it happening. 

11. Portugal wins the tournament

The power of Ronaldo will carry the team all the way to the final to take on France. Despite Ronaldo not scoring any goals, Portugal will play fantastic football throughout the WC. Despite not scoring any goals, Ronaldo will hold up the trophy and be the main one that is centered around the celebrations. Messi and Ronaldo both winning WC trophies back to back to end their careers is too good a story for it not to happen. Their fans will forever argue about who is better, with both winning tons of trophies for their clubs and countries. 

12. FIFA will not learn any lessons from this disaster of a World Cup buildup

Yeah, FIFA doesn't care about anything other than making as much money as they can from these events now. With the awful rollout of tickets and how expensive said tickets were, it was all a mess. They have done everything they can to take away all excitement from what used to be the most exciting tournament in all of sports. That, mixed in with the awful administration currently in charge of the USA, just made this entire thing a massive headache for tons of fans. Can't forget them giving a totally useless FIFA Peace Prize to the President of the USA for no reason at all... except to kiss his ass. Yeah, it's been rough as a fan of the World Cup to get excited. Being just a few days away now, I can actually feel the excitement slowly building up. To see the amazing fans of these countries come together for their boys playing on the field. For the players, getting the chance to represent their home countries in the biggest tournament. And to see the emotion that comes from playing these games and seeing how far they can take their teams. It's going to be fun, but it's all despite the people in charge at FIFA. Will they learn any lessons from this year's mess? Of course not, but maybe if fans speak out loud enough they will have no choice but to make changes... One can hope anyway. 

13. I'll try to watch all the games, but give up after two or three days

My excitement will have me believe I'll be watching every single game of this tournament. But no, it's not possible. Especially with the expanded schedule, it makes it almost impossible. After a few days, I'll be sticking with the most interesting matchups and only watching bad matchups if they involve a team I support. 

But yeah, those are some of my predictions. Most of them I wouldn't call bold, but there are a few there that I think would be crazy if they happened. I like to pick a country from every continent to root for, and those have always been: the USA, Colombia, Germany, and Japan. I guess New Zealand, if we count Oceania. But of course, the USA will be the team I root for over everyone, at least until Puerto Rico finally has a team good enough to make it... which probably won't be in my lifetime. 

Reviewing the Current Biggest Pop Hits (May 2026)

 2026 and pop music go together like New York Jets fans and making good choices in life. I don't know, it just feels like music has been in this weird cycle of songs sticking around way too long in the charts, and a bunch of new songs that aren't as memorable as you would think for being huge hits. The resurgence of country music in the USA is still going strong, it seems, with the top two songs on the chart belonging to Ella Langley. You know, Ella Langley, that one huge star everyone knows. Okay, I'll be honest, I had no idea who this was until her recent hit song "Choosing Texas" became unavoidable. You also have a nice mash-up with her and Morgan Wallen just outside the Top 10, because that guy can't seem to go away either. But let's take a look at the ten biggest current hits in the USA and see how music is going these days. 

Ella Langley - Choosin' Texas

Been a while since I've heard a good old Texas country song. Feels like Nashville has been dominating the scene as of late. Wait, this song was recorded and produced in Nashville? Ah, never mind then. Actually, the song is more poking fun at Texas, as the guy Ella is in a relationship with leaves Nashville to be with another woman in Texas. "He's choosing Texas, I can tell," is how the chorus ends, as Ella is admitting defeat as her man leaves for Texas and she's left alone. It's a very simple song lyrically, not much to it that makes it very unique or original outside of a few Nashville references. Musically, it feels like a very basic country pop song, nothing that makes it stand out in any way here either. It's a very vague break-up song with almost no details of the relationship outside of "MY MAN LOVES TEXAS MORE THAN ME". Ella's vocals are just okay; she's got the country twang down, but other than that, nothing about this feels especially memorable. All I can think to say about this song is that it's about as plain as a country pop song can be, vanilla ice cream, and not even the good brands. It's not terrible, but man, does this really deserve as much play as it's getting? It's like the country version of that song "Ordinary", just a whole lot of nothing. 

GRADE: C-

Ella Langley - Be Her

Alright, Ella, here's your second chance to make me feel something. Yeah, no, this song is even worse than "Choosin' Texas." The song is all about how Ella is super jealous of some woman we don't know, who is effortlessly perfect in every way (at least to Ella). I don't even think this person is real, but just an image of what Ella wants to be seen as to everyone around her. Just a married woman who tells it like it is, has money, and I guess loves Jesus and her momma. So like, a very generic American version of a successful woman? Make it as relatable as possible so that any person who listens to this can be like, "yeah! Me too!" I guess I can see why this was a hit... I mean, it's just as boring as a lot of country songs on the charts these days, so it fits right in. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to be relatable to your audience, but this just feels like it's pandering so hard that it makes it feel lazy, and it makes Ella just seem boring. These two songs of hers both just feel like they tell me nothing about Ella as a person or an artist, but she's just another generic pop artist with a country twang. But really, the chorus in this song is just terrible, and if you don't have a good chorus in a pop song, then why bother? Also, her voice isn't very good. 

GRADE: D

Olivia Dean - Man I Need

Olivia Dean has been a rising star in music for a while now, but she now has a few big hits to her name. I've listened to a good amount of her music before this, and I've always enjoyed her style. In this song, Olivia is pleading with her partner to step up, as there seems to be confusion about what exactly their relationship is. I feel like Olivia is just waiting for him to tell her his real feelings, even going so far as to set up a time and place for him to do so. She's thinking he could be the one, but she just needs him to prove himself by talking to her and telling her what she needs to hear. I like the music here too, as the piano leads with its starts and stops, and the bass just jams out in the background. Olivia's voice is very smooth and easy to listen to, which I think is why this style of music works so well with her vocals. Solid song, one that I enjoy putting on from time to time these days. 

GRADE: B

Bruno Mars: I Just Might

Bruno returned with a new solo album this year after 10 years since his last one. He did release the amazing collab with Anderson Paak back in 2021, but even that was 5 years ago now. This new project by Bruno feels more like a continuation of his sound in Silk Sonic, which is no bad thing. Of course, it certainly misses Anderson Paak and his contributions, but honestly, this is still pretty solid. My biggest complaint with "I Just Might" is that it may feel too safe for Bruno Mars. I guess I would say that was a problem if the song wasn't a big hit this year anyway. As far as his songs go, this one is still enjoyable, but something about it just feels missing. Like it's missing some energy or something different. It's got some awesome music, which is expected from Bruno's music these days. Bruno still has the vocals that will make any singer jealous as he hits his high notes perfectly. Yeah, I don't know, it's hard to hate on a song that's this fun, but even then, it feels like I needed just a bit more from him.

Grade: B-

Olivia Dean - So Easy (To Fall in Love)

Damn, that chorus is just too good. I feel like everything I said about Olivia in the song "Man I Need" can be repeated here, except even more praise. It just feels like the perfect song for her, like the song she was meant to make. I mean, I'm sure she'll make better songs in the future, but I just really like this song. I'll just say I'm happy I don't use TikTok much because if so, I'd probably be sick of hearing this song already. It's a song where Olivia expresses how much she is enjoying a relationship and all the little things in it. She feels something for this person and wants them to go with her because she thinks they could potentially go the distance. Why not give it a chance? 

Grade: A

Alex Warren - Ordinary

Yeah, I'm so damn sick of this song. THANKFULLY, Drake and Noah Kahan both dropped massive albums the same week (Drake had three albums), and this song finally dropped out of the top ten recently. In fact, now that it's off the top 10, it should be gone permanently thanks to Billboard's new rules for how long a song can stay on the charts. Shoutout to Iceman. 

Grade: Double F Minus

Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead

You know, this really feels like a Chappell Roan song in disguise as an Olivia song. Not that Chappell invented her particular style of pop, but with how popular it became, it certainly feels like this is taking heavy inspiration. To be fair, both artists have probably taken a lot of inspiration from each other. Also, this song is pretty good, so I'm happy if it was inspired by Chappell. The soft synth use is probably where the comparisons come from, as well as the way Olivia sings a few of the verses. The song is just about how Olivia has fallen hard for some boy, and it feels like she could drop dead of excitement if they end up together. I like how it feels like a very young love song, with all the little things that make it exciting, like just getting to know someone and that buildup to your first kiss or more. Olivia actually building up her vocals slowly through the song is a nice touch too, as she starts with more of a breathy sound at first and finally ends the song just singing her heart out. Overall, a solid first single from her upcoming new album. Hopefully, she keeps this up. 

Grade: A-

Bruno Mars - Risk It All

This song certainly has a whole new vibe for a Bruno Mars song. I mean, it's not completely different than everything he's done, but at least it's got a more of a slow retro mariachi style, which I don't think he's done before. That being said, the song is just fine. I feel like everything I said about his first song on this list can apply here. It just feels like something is missing, and I don't know what it is. The vocals are great because, of course, and the music is well done. I guess it feels like there needs to be more risk involved, pun intended. It's not the kind of song I'm going to be listening to much, because it's just not very interesting despite its great production and amazing vocals. Give me something new, Bruno. I know you've got it in you. Also, does anyone else get very "catch a grenade for you" vibes from the lyrics of this one? Oddly similar to his old hit song lyrically. 

Grade: C

Kehlani - Folded

Sometimes you just need a good R&B song to get you through the day, or in this case, get you through listening to the top 10 hits. This song reminds me a lot of early 2000's R&B with its electric guitar work throughout the song. The vocals are great, I mean, it's R&B, it wouldn't work without smooth, amazing singing. It seems to be about a relationship that's up in the air. From Kehlani's point of view, she may have needed a break for her own reasons. Even so, she wants the other person to come back because she's willing to give it another chance, using the excuse "pick up your laundry" as a way to give them another chance. Just a solid overall song.

Grade: B-

Tame Impala - Dracula (JENNIE REMIX)

Ugh, man, I don't know about this one. Lyrics are cheesy as hell, RUN FROM THE SUNLIGHT DRACULA! ISN'T THE VIEW SPECTACULAR! Honestly, I like the original version of this song a lot more than this remix with JENNIE. I've never heard of JENNIE before this, but I'm not very impressed with her contributions here. It just feels like she doesn't fit into this particular song at all; her vocals feel so out of place at times. I wonder why they even brought her in for this. Oh, she's got 54 million listeners on Spotify, yeah, that explains it. She also happens to be a member of the huge K-Pop group BLACKPINK, so that also explains her popularity. All that to say, this version of the song doesn't really work with her style of singing. The original "Dracula" is a solid Tame Impala song on its own. It's got some dark, moody sounds to go along with the vampire theme, and of course, the vocals are a little more toned down to match. So yeah, maybe just listen to the original.

Grade: D+

Looking through all the grades I gave the songs, it was a mixed bag of good and bad songs this time around. Anyone named Olivia dropped some bangers on the list; any country stars dropped generic, boring pop songs. Bruno Mars continues to be his usual self, which is good for the most part, and Ordinary is finally going away, thank GOD. Things could be worse, but nothing really blew my mind here either. Really look forward to hearing Olivia Rodrigo's new album; hopefully, that one lives up to the hype.