Major spoilers for Thunderbolts* Below

Thunderbolts* was a Marvel movie that I was looking forward to. I read some of the Thunderbolts comics as single issues last year to help prepare for the movie. Another thing that I was looking forward to was seeing both Bucky and Yelena in one movie. If that wasn’t enough, I like how this is a less intense version of DC’s Suicide Squad. Thunderbolts* held up to the hype and adds a lot of good themes and commentary about a variety of topics.

Thunderbolts* focuses on Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh) as she struggles to find purpose in her life. She has been doing paid work for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but the jobs only give her the money she needs to survive and nothing else. Yelena wants out, so Valentina says if she does one last job, she will be free to walk. Yelena is tasked with finding a thief who’s attempting to break into one of Valentina’s storage facilities. When she gets there, she meets John Walker (played by Wyatt Russell), Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (played by Olga Kurylenko). They were all sent to capture a thief and quickly realized that Valentina had set them up to kill each other. After fighting each other, they realize they have to escape with help from a new friend, Bob (played by Lewis Pullman). Bob has powers, which means he has use to Valentina. The group, naming themselves Thunderbolts, has to stop Valentina and expose her illegal activities.

Okay, but can we stop bringing characters back only to kill them? Taskmaster was brought back, which was cool, only to be shot in the head by Ghost. Why bother? I’m fine with Marvel tying up loose characters from all of these films, but not if they are going to be killed. Both my husband and I thought this was a waste of the character. Olga deserved much more than this.

Going into this film, I thought Bucky would be the star of the show, but this is clearly Yelena’s movie. I’m perfectly fine with that. Yelena fills the void left by Natasha’s death. I like her as a character and how her grief is explored. Yelena confronts Hawkeye in Hawkeye, but it doesn’t give her the closure she needs. Yelena feels alone in the world, and while Red Guardian (played by David Harbour) shows up later, he could have shown up earlier. There’s good dialogue between Yelena and Red Guardian where he apologizes for not being there for her, but wants to be there for her now, and it’s really sweet.

While this is Yelena’s movie, Bucky does show up with a grand entrance. In his position within the government, he’s also investigating Valentina’s activities, which coincides with Bucky aligning with the team. He attacks several convoys, and it was the entrance that Bucky deserved in the movie. I think it’s clear that Bucky wants to make a difference as a politician, but maybe that’s not the place he needs to be.

Thunderbolts* has excellent commentary on mental illness, grief, and how heavy loneliness can feel. Bob’s powers are unlocked thanks to Valentina manipulating him. After beating the Thunderbolts, Bob is betrayed by Valentina. This darkness washes over him, and he starts to cloak New York in shadow. Yelena is the first to help by entering the darkness to find Bob. Bob is a victim as he agreed to undergo medical testing to rise above his addiction and his trauma. There’s a moment where Yelena runs to Bob and tells him she’s here for him, which empowers Bob to put away the darkness. Thinking of all the characters within Thunderbolts, they have had tragic back stories in which they are stronger together. This movie didn’t have an epic hand-to-hand combat finale; instead, this movie had a softer approach in the latter half, which I thought fit the characters within this team.

Thunderbolts* was worth the hype. I’m looking forward to seeing these characters pop up in future Marvel projects.

When I think about my love for movies, I can’t help but think about my mom. Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of different movies. I grew up on Harrison Ford action films, the Bond films, and dramas. I wouldn’t be the moviegoer I am today without my mom. When I think about my favorite genre, it would have to be action films. My mom had wanted to see The Amateur, an action film that came out in April of this year. The Amateur was a solid and entertaining movie.

The Amateur focuses on Charles “Charlie” Heller (played by Rami Malek) as he gets ready to go to work. He kisses his wife, Sara (played by Rachel Brosnahan), as she is leaving overseas for a work trip. Charlie works for the CIA as a cryptographer. Charlie is called into his director’s office as he is told that Sara was killed in London during a terrorist attack. Charlie is heartbroken and angry and researches who killed Sara. When he brings this information to his director, he’s told that they will handle it, but they clearly have their own agenda versus bringing in his wife’s killers. Charlie can push back and get specialized training from Robert Henderson (played by Lawrence Fishburne). Charlie is forced to go on the run as everything he’s doing isn’t sanctioned by the government. He plans on taking out his wife’s killers once and for all.

The draw for this movie is that Charlie isn’t built to be a killer. His area of expertise is computers, tech, and putting together explosives. The government dismisses Charlie and doesn’t think he’s capable of doing what he does. In one scene, Charlie kills a man by causing the glass pool to break, sending the man crashing down several stories. There’s an element of creativity to what Charlie does because he doesn’t have the experience of killing anyone. I wouldn’t say that this makes the film unique, but I think it makes the viewer want to root for Charlie.

The cast in this movie is great. I have been a fan of Rami Malek for some time. I think he’s great in anything he’s in. This can be said about Lawrence Fishburne and Rachel Brosnahan, although Rachel is barely in the film. In these action films, the cast is important. Casting actors who have a big following will bring interest in wanting to see this film in theaters.

The Amateur was a solid action film. It was entertaining from start to finish.

While I was at the Critical Role live show in Chicago, they had recently announced a two-part horror series titled Thesher. Thresher uses the rules of Candela Obscura with a completely different setting. The world of Thresher was developed by Matt Linton and Jacqueline Emerson. If any of those names ring a bell, Jacqueline Emerson played Foxface in The Hunger Games. The game features a cast of talented actors, including Noshir Dalal (whom I have talked about extensively on the blog), Jacqueline Emerson, Jane Douglas, Mark / Mara Hulmes, and Abubakar Salim. Jasper William Cartwright was the GM for this series and I have been a big fan of his podcast, Three Black Halflings. I watched Thresher as soon as both episodes were released and this series was fabulous.

In the first episode, it sets the stage for the story. The five characters are sent to investigate a distress signal sent by Admiral Anders. Each character has their own reason for being there. For example, Betty (played by Mark / Mara Hulmes), is looking for her long lost brother. The other character’s motives are murky as horror tabletop tends to be. When the characters arrive to the station, they learn that only one person survived, a mysterious Dr. Blackwell. After encountering mysterious fish like entities, they realize how truly in danger they are and question how they plan on making it out.

I loved every bit of this. I liked how each episode wasn’t too long. I find that, even when I watch Critical Role, my attention span starts to wane. Having episodes at two and a half hours or less, I can pay attention to what’s going on. I like how Candela Obscura is used in a completely different setting. If someone wanted to play Candela, but didn’t like the already pre-created world, this proves that you can take the system and modify it into your setting. I liked how the characters had to make rolls to determine if they would panic and lose oxygen. It added to the high stakes of the adventure and it made it realistic. If I were diving deep underwater and there was darkness all around me, I’d panic too.

As horror tabletop often does, shit hits the fan in the second episode. Without providing spoilers, there is one character that’s working against the group and the reveal of that was epic. My jaw dropped as I’m listening to the episode because I assumed that everyone would be working together without ill intent. This was not true. There were other reveals made about another character potentially lying about their identity and that reveal was also well-done. Thresher pulled me in and that is fully due to the cast of the show.

Immediately after finishing Thresher, I watched the cooldown to both episodes. The cooldown is exclusive to Beacon members and it lets the cast talk about what happened and how things went down. It was interesting listening to the cast because there were little nuggets of information that would foreshadow what happened at the end. I missed these, but I’d love to rewatch Thresher knowing what I know now.

Thresher is a perfect example of why I love horror tabletop. It’s setting the stakes high from the get-go and allowing the cast to get creative as to how they are going to try and escape. If I ever become a GM or a gamemaster, horror would be my jam. I’m not sure if I will ever have the time to learn a game system and write my story, but Thresher has inspired me to do so.

I’m halfway through The Mighty Nein, Critical Role’s second campaign. I started watching The Mighty Nein in 2023 shortly after finishing Vox Machina. I had a slower start since The Mighty Nein is very different from Vox Machina, and I had trouble getting into it. On top of that, Critical Role isn’t the only thing I watch, so in between watching other shows or movies, that’s slowed down how quickly I can get through each episode. With that said, I’m committed to trying to finish the campaign before the end of the year. Since I’m halfway through, I thought I would summarize my favorite moments thus far in the campaign.

Character Personalities

Some of the moments I distinctly remember are when the characters’ personalities begin to shine. There’s Jester (played by Laura Bailey), who carries baked goods with her, but not a healer’s kit. Beau (played by Marisha Ray) is a bit abrasive. Beau’s mentor, Dairon, becomes a critical NPC in the story and helps to shape Beau beyond her tough personality. There’s Fjord (played by Travis Willingham) with his mysterious visions and his pirate background. I have talked extensively about Fjord already, as he’s one of my favorite characters from this campaign. There are so many moments from the earlier episodes where each character starts to stand out from the other that I think have been great to watch.

Meeting Kiri + The Other Animal Companions

This campaign introduces more furry companions that seem to pop up. I think this adds levity to the campaign, especially in darker moments. There’s Frumpkin, Caleb’s familiar, who, for the most part, appears as an orange kitty. There’s Kiri, a bird creature that The Mighty Nein saved in the swamp. Finally, there are the animals the crew buys, including Nugget, Sprinkle, and Professor Thaddeus. These moments are cute, especially when they rescue Kiri. When I think back to the first 70 episodes of The Mighty Nein, the animals instantly pop into my head as a memorable moment.

Introducing Caduceus

In the first 26 episodes, Mollymauk (played by Taliesin Jaffe) was a part of The Mighty Nein until they were killed in combat. Shortly after, Taliesin brought a new character, Caduceus, to the group. I believe Caduceus is a much better fit with the other characters than Mollymauk was. Caduceus heals more often than Jester does, leaving Jester to do what she wants whenever she wants. Caduceus has a calmer demeanor, and I have loved Caduceus’s bond with Fjord. Caduceus has been a standout character to me, and while Molly was the character that was created initially, I like Caduceus so much more.

Fjord’s Pirate Arc

I have written extensively about Fjord’s pirate arc, so I won’t go into too much detail now. Avantika is one of the best NPCs in this campaign.

The Orphanmaker

Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson) isn’t around for most of this campaign as she was filming Blindspot in New York. While Yasha hasn’t been around, there’s a brief moment where Ashley is back for a few episodes. During a combat encounter, an enemy called Yasha “Orphanmaker,” much to the surprise of the other players. As they investigate, Yasha appears mind-controlled, and The Mighty Nein are forced to leave her behind. That was a tough episode as the group tries to get Yasha to come with them, but to no avail. I know things work out in the end, but not sure how that plays out. While I have had some things spoiled for this campaign, this is not one of them.

I’m glad I powered through watching this campaign. I can understand why this campaign is considered the fan favorite. I’m currently at episode #78 and have been making real progress. I’m curious to see how the rest of the campaign plays out.

I occasionally like to watch reality TV. When I was younger, I remember watching Survivor and American Idol. When I was in high school, my friends and I would watch Jersey Shore. One of my friends had mentioned The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives several months ago, but didn’t think much of it. I needed something new to watch, and I figured I’d watch an episode or two. I ended up watching all eight episodes back to back. My husband popped in and would watch a clip or two, and I would explain all the drama he’s missing out on. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is dramatic, and I can’t wait for the second season.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follows eight Mormon women who live around Salt Lake City. The wives are a part of a community they call “MomTok”, a group of moms who create social media content and TikToks about their lives in the Mormon church and being moms. Before the series aired, one of the women, Taylor, made a TikTok about how she tried swinging. Some moms were offended that Taylor revealed this because they weren’t a part of swinging, but got grouped in with her. The show picks up after that controversy.

As I mentioned, there are eight women that the show follows. Some of the women fade into the background, and some of the women are at the center of the show. Starting with Taylor, Taylor is divorced after the swinging scandal and is dating Dakota. Taylor discovers she’s pregnant with Dakota’s baby after only a few months of dating. She ends up having an Ectopic pregnancy and is arrested for domestic assault. One year after that, she’s pregnant again with Dakota’s baby. Whitney is another mom on the show. If you remember, there was a woman who danced in front of her baby when the baby was in the ICU, and everyone was upset about it; that was Whitney who caught flak for that. Whitney reveals in the first episode that her marriage was rocky because she discovered her husband had been messaging other people on Tinder. This was all revealed in the first episode.

While Taylor and Whitney carry most of the drama, they aren’t the only ones. In one of the episodes, Jen, another woman on the show, goes to Las Vegas. She goes to a Chippendales show, which wasn’t what she was comfortable with. Her husband blew up at her and threatened to take her kids away. What in the actual fuck? That episode made me super uncomfortable because the way Jen’s husband was talking to her was uncalled for. Jen didn’t even want to go to the show; she went because it was supposed to be a surprise, but didn’t realize it would be a Chippendales show. I feel for Jen. She wants to be a good partner to her husband, but the way he treated her was appalling. The other women: Mayci, Demi, Mikayla, Jessi, and Layla are around, but I would say the main three are Taylor, Whitney, and Jen.

I think what makes this show more interesting is learning more about Mormonism. Most Mormons don’t drink alcohol or coffee, get married at a young age, and have children. I think about someone like Taylor, who parties quite a bit, and I wonder if she started her family later in her life, would she still be the way she is? I couldn’t imagine having kids in my 20s. I feel like I needed that time to become the woman I am today. Some of the women on the show are pretty strict, whereas Jessi speaks out the most about how damaging Mormonism is for women. I appreciate her perspective on things because it seems like she’s the one who will take the pieces from religion that work for her and abandon the rest.

If you’re looking for a new reality TV show to watch, look no further than The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. The second season airs on May 15th, and I’m looking forward to it.