Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 64
February 11, 2024
February 11, 2024: Sharky Sunday!
Reunited with my boy.
Book-browsing with Sharky.
He’s an early riser.
Settling in to his new life…
Rubbing his belly for good luck and inspiration…
Sharky savors his apple snacks…
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February 10, 2024
February 10, 2024: The Crime Binge continues!
Undercover (2019 – ) Season 1
Inspired by real events, undercover agents infiltrate a drug kingpin’s operation by posing as a couple at the campground where he spends his weekends.
My thoughts: A nice mixture of humor and high-stakes. Great characters, but you really begin to dislike our protagonists as the first season nears its end.
4/5
Save Me (2018 – 2022) Season 1
When his 13-year-old daughter goes missing, Nelly drops everything to try and find her. In so doing, he is thrown into a journey towards becoming a better man and redeeming his past mistakes.
My thoughts: Lennie James is terrific in this absolutely haunting and heartbreaking series. It’s perfect as a single season one-shot offering no easy answers. Not sure how I fee about a second season.
4.5/5
Spotless (2015)
The law-abiding owner of a crime scene cleaning service is forced into business with a powerful mob boss thanks to his irresponsible older brother.
My thoughts: Ultimately an underwhelming execution of a great premise. The performances are middling and the smart-ass dialogue begins to annoy after a while.
3/5
Ozark (2017 – 2022) Season 2
The Byrde family drama ramps up as their money laundering operation in the Ozarks region grows more powerful and complex, drawing them further into the criminal world.
My thoughts: Following a somewhat shaky first season, this series hits its stride in season 2.
4.5/5
Ozark (2017 – 2022) Season 3
The Byrdes have their riverboat casino up and running, having made peace with the Kansas City mob, but an FBI mole could complicate things for Marty.
My thoughts: Edge-of-your seat suspense and some surprising twists amidst the evolving family dynamics. Great.
4.5/5
The post February 10, 2024: The Crime Binge continues! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
February 9, 2024
February 9, 2024: Mom’s 90th Birthday Bash!
Yesterday, I helped celebrated mom’s 90th Birthday Bash by going into work with her and my sister – and then joining everyone for a BIG 30-person dinner…
Fielding flowers, cards, and calls all day.
The kids at the daycare commemorate the milestone.
Sis, mom and I preparing to tackle the lunch-time spread.
Birthday dinner! That’s mom’s sister, my aunt Grace, on the left. She does two hours of cardio a day (!).
The other teachers.
More teachers!
The Birthday cake!
Sis and mom do the honors.
A great time was had by all. Maybe in my case a little too great as I overate and am feeling it today. But this afternoon, my short trip to Montreal draws to a close and I’ll be returning to Toronto where Akemi, Sharky, and a kefir and blueberries dinner awaits!
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February 8, 2024
February 8, 2024: The Toronto Fried Chicken Sandwich Crawl!
When former Stargate writer/Exec Producer Rob Cooper told me he was coming to town for a few days, I knew it could mean only one thing: Four Crawl! The last time visited, we were joined by fellow Stargate alum Ivon Bartok and Alex Levine for a tour of some of Toronto’s best pizza spots –
Hard to believe we only sampled four pizzas that night, but I was feeling ambitious this time around as our culinary target shifted from pizza to fried chicken sandwiches! I did some research and made selected our destinations figuring we would start west and work our way east through six different stops sampling six different fried chicken sandwiches (half a sandwich at each stop).
Our first stop was Dave’s Hot Chicken. They offer a variety of heat levels including Hot, Extra Heat, and Reaper (which requires the signing of a waiver). Although tempted by the latter, I was mindful that we’d be sharing so we split two Hots.
Pretty damn delicious and, looking back, probably the spiciest of the sandwiches we had on this crawl.
Our second stop was Chen Chen’s Nashville Hot Chicken, a place I’d heard a lot about but never tried. Well, I was to rectify that on this night. Here, we were given a choice between the regular Nashville Hot and their signature Szechuan Nashville Hot and opted to go with the latter.
Alas, poor lighting yielded a terrible photo so I had grab one off the net and, truly, this one was as delicious as pictured – crispy, sweet and slightly spicy.
Our third stop was one of my personal favorites, Tokyo Hot Fried Chicken. In addition to the standard Nashville Hot, they also offer an award-winning Tokyo Style sandwich that is one of the city’s best.
It includes sesame soy spicy mayo and wasabi mayo, green onions, ginger slaw, and pickles. Fantastic.
I mentioned they also do a Nashville Ice – basically a Nashville Hot Fried Chicken sandwich served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – but there were no takers. Presumably it was too early for dessert. For what it’s worth, I had it on yet another food tour back in 2021, and it was delicious –
Our third stop was PG Clucks. Both Ivon and I had taken out from this place in the past and enjoyed it but, on this night, we were looking forward to eating them straight from the shop. No sit-down area alas, just a tiny bench in front of the take-out window.
Ivon asked them to cut the sandwiches in half but they refused on the grounds that it would be too messy (even though the other places managed just fine). Armed with a plastic knife, we defied expectations and managed to cut the sandwiches without much mess, muss, or fuss.
We went with the jalapeño-Honey and, much like the preceding sandwiches on this tour, was pretty damn tasty.
Couldn’t resist snapping a shot of the Star Wars-themed burlesque show running next door. I’m not a big Star Wars fan. Rob on the other hand…
I was prepared for a trip to Kensington Market where we would hit stops 5 and 6 on this food crawl only to learn that both Ivon and Rob were tapped out. They couldn’t eat another chicken sandwich – but could go for some dessert. Alex was equally disappointed in Rob and Ivon’s no-can-do attitudes so we compromised and headed to Ossington for ice cream at Bang Bang Ice Cream and Bakery. But first…
We stop in at a spot I’ve been meaning to try – Ghost Chicken.
Rob and Ivon sat by while Alex and I tried what would be our fifth and final half chicken sandwich of the night. We went with the Sweet and Sour. The lettuce and tomatoes gave it a nice freshness, but I was missing the promised zing of the tamarind oregano spice, pickled onions, and jalapeño crema.
Our final stop: Bang Bang Ice Cream & Bakery – that always has a line-up, regardless of the time or the weather.
In keeping with the half sandwich theme of the night, I did the ube ice cream and peanut butter cookie sandwich. Phenomenal.
***
So, how did the sandwiches stack up against each other? Well, although it was close, the consensus favorite was Chen Chen’s followed by Tokyo Hot. There was disagreement on the #3 and #4 spots as Rob and I leaned PG Clucks while Ivon and Alex slightly preferred Dave’s Hot. Again, it was very close. Alex and I put Ghost Chicken at #5. A solid sandwich but not in the same class as the others.
A good time was had by all and Rob informed us that he would be coming back in March for a follow-up food crawl. Next time, we’ll be sampling Toronto’s best smashburgers!
The post February 8, 2024: The Toronto Fried Chicken Sandwich Crawl! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
February 7, 2024
February 7, 2024: Amazing Covers!
A few that caught my eye this week…
Doctor Strange #12 – cover art by Alex Ross
Ultimate Black Panther #1 – cover art by Bosslogic
Batman #142 – cover art by Greg Tocchini
Birds of Prey #6 – cover art by Dustin Nguyen
Birds of Prey #6 – Birds of Prey #6 – cover art by Chris Bachalo
Poison Ivy #19 – cover art by Jessica Fong
Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum! #1 – cover art by Ariel Olivetti
Pine & Merrimac #2 – cover art by Rebeca Puebla
Gumaa: The Beginning of Her #3 – cover art by Jee-Hyung Lee
So, which were YOUR favorites?
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February 6, 2024
February 6, 2024: The Crime Bing continues!
Poker Face (2023 – ) Season 1
Charlie has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve.
My thoughts: Love her, the show’s quirky tone, and call-backs to classic procedurals like Columbo. I just wish the mysteries and, in particular, their solutions had more of a logical progression.
4/5
Top Boy (2011 – 2023) Season 1
Two London drug dealers ply their lucrative trade at a public housing estate in East London.
My thoughts: A perfectly fine show that, ultimately, doesn’t really set itself apart from other similar productions.
3.5/5
Suburra: Blood on Rome (2017 – 2020) Season 1
In 2008, a fight over land in a seaside town near Rome spirals into a deadly battle between organized crime, corrupt politicians and the Vatican.
Thoughts: Not a bad Italian mob drama although, at times, it feels a little clunky in its execution.
3.5/5
Extracurricular (2020)
A model high school student who’s steeped in a world of serious crime finds his double life upended when a classmate takes an interest in his secret.
My thoughts: Cool set-up about a high school kid moonlighting as a genius criminal, but the kid proves too dumb and bumbling to be believable. Also, the show is annoyingly dopey.
2/5
Hell Is Other People/Strangers From Hell (2019 – )
Unpleasant events disturb the life of an aspiring crime fiction writer when he becomes a resident of an apartment building teeming with shady neighbors.
My thoughts: At times a little too silly, at times a little too over the top, with an ending that feels frustratingly gimmicky.
3/5
The post February 6, 2024: The Crime Bing continues! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
February 5, 2024
February 5, 2024: Montreal-bound! And memorably comic book SFX!
Looks like I’m Montreal-bound to celebrate mom’s 90th! Out Wednesday morning; back Friday afternoon.
Some of my favorite comic book special effects…
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February 4, 2024
February 4, 2024: Sharky Sunday!
Out and about with mom.
Teaching Sharky a new trick…
Almost there…
Sharky comes to bed…
Deep sleep…
Sharky and his sharky
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February 3, 2024
February 3, 2024: The Crime Binge continues!
Power (2014 – 2020) Season 1
James “Ghost” St. Patrick, a wealthy New York nightclub owner who has it all; dreaming big, catering to the city’s elite, and living a double life as a drug kingpin.
My thoughts: Not bad, but really leans into the soap elements to its detriment. It’s also littered with logic flaws and suspect character decisions.
3/5
El Chapo (2017 – 2018) Season 1
A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power during the ’90s as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel and his ultimate downfall in 2016.
My thoughts: More low-budget telenovela than serious crime drama.
2.5/5
Ozark (2017 – 2022)
A financial advisor drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder money to appease a drug boss.
My thoughts: Gets off to a rough start but quickly finds its footing, establishing itself as one of the better shows I’ve watched on this Crime Binge.
4/5
Broen/The Bridge (2011 – 2018) Season 1
When a body is found on the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, right on the border, Danish inspector Martin Rohde and Swedish Saga Norén have to share jurisdiction and work together to find the killer.
My thoughts: Terrific. The character work is above and beyond most crime shows. Sofia Helin as Saga is absolutely wonderful.
4.5/5
Barracuda Queens (2023)
A group of disaffected teenage girls become involved in an escalating campaign of house burglaries targeting their naïve rich neighbours as they try to find meaning in the teenage lives.
My thoughts: A solid cast and, while the show is fun, the girls make a lot of dumb decisions only to be bailed out by dumb luck in the end.
3.5/5
The post February 3, 2024: The Crime Binge continues! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
February 2, 2024
February 2, 2024: Please answer the following questions…
You’re going to shoot a rocket into the sun but there’s only room onboard for every late night host minus one. Which one are you reluctantly saving?
— Joseph Mallozzi
(@BaronDestructo) January 31, 2024
Someone you can't stand has asked you for some movie suggestions for a weekend getaway with friends you also hate. What three movies are you recommending them?
— Joseph Mallozzi
You have landed a summer job as the curator of Hell's sentencing division while the regular guy is on vacation. Your first day, you must banish your mortal enemy to spend eternity suffering through the comedy stylings and company of a comedian of your choosing. Who do you pick?
— Joseph Mallozzi
That annoying coworker who is always wasting your time asks you to recommend them a t.v. series. As payback, what's a show you'd recommend that starts off strong but completely comes off the rails, crashing and burning in its astoundingly disappointing finale/final season?
— Joseph Mallozzi
The post February 2, 2024: Please answer the following questions… appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
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