Weekly Roundup 04/27/2025
Predator: Badlands, Drop, Dimension 20: The Seven
What a week. I didn’t get to do any writing this week because I worked every day except the day that I’m writing this (Saturday). Universal Studios also started Fan Fest, which is something I’m very excited to see, even if the first day working it was kind of crap. It’s a very cool event though. I had the pleasure of being able to go to an employee preview night and I had a great time. I’m looking forward to going back and trying some of the food and the experiences I missed.
This week was hard, I don’t think the weeks are going to let up, but I’m hoping I can find ways to make time for myself as we get further into the year. Normally something like that would be going to the movies, but I don’t find much enjoyment in that since phones became such a persistent problem. I don’t blame the people on their phones of course, it’s my fault for not being able to focus, but it is what it is and if it doesn’t bring me joy anymore then I need to find something else that does. Just don’t know what that will be. (Should this have been in my journal?)
Anyway, let’s bring the mood up. This won’t be a big newsletter but I have some fun things I want to share with you all, so take a look below!
So what can you look forward to?
No new updates this week
The Predator: Badlands trailer!
Weekly Roundup
Drop
Dimension 20: The Seven
Star Trek Vol. 4: Pleroma
Predator: Day of the Hunter
I Am No/One announcement
What Am I Working On?
I’m working on the same things I was working on last week. Sorry I don’t have any new updates. I guess that apology is mostly to myself if I’m being honest here. I feel bad if I don’t find time to write. It’s not like the people reading this are presuring me and chomping at the bit for my latest pieces, after all. But I am. It’s important to me that I keep writing, so we’ll see what I can get done this week.
Weekly Musings
Did anything else happen this week??
Predator: Badlands | Teaser Trailer
I was getting ready for work when this trailer dropped. Being my most anticipated film of the year, I, of course, stopped everything I was doing to watch it four times. Now to be fair, I did not love this as much as I loved the trailer for Predator: Killer of Killers, but I still loved it.
I know I’m a broken record, but I genuinly feel that there is more potential in the Predator franchise then the Alien one. Now, admittedly, the Alien franchise has a deeper anit-capitalist theme that resonates for me. While I also didn’t love how Ridley Scott told his story through Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (especially after doing all the research I did for the show), I still appreciated what he was doing. But enough about that, it’s Predator time baby!
Dan Trachtenberg is taking some exciting swings with the franchise and I’m very much here for it. We’ve seen younger Predator’s before in the first AVP film, but we’ve never seen one that definately had the directive of “how hot can we make a Predator?” I had a good laugh over that for a few minutes. Also the other Predator in the trailer that we see looks cool. I hope we get a better look at him soon.
I thought, from the first descriptions of the trailer, that the movie was going to center on Elle Fanning as the main character teaming up with a younger Predator in the future. While that’s mostly true, Elle Fanning is a Weyland/Yutani android????!!!! We are so getting a new AVP movie soon. (Hey Disney has that completed animated show in their vaults).
By the way, if Predator: Killer of Killers could tell the story of a Predator vs. a T-Rex, I’d appreciate it.
Weekly Roundup
Drop
D: Christopher Landon / W: Jillian Jacobs & Chris Roach
I really like Christopher Landon’s previous films. I love both Happy Death Days and Freaky are very fun and inventive, but Drop is more straight forward. I think he would have made a really cool Scream movie, but I’m glad he bounced after how Skydance fucked that up.
Drop was pretty good though. I couldn’t focus on it very well because of a bunch of phone lights in my eyeline but I’m not sure if I would have liked it more if that hadn’t happened. The cast is very good and the story is engaging. I just felt impacient.
Dimension 20: The Seven
Created by Brennan Lee Mulligan
Another season of Dimension 20 in the books! 14/25. Not for nothing, but this is why I get overwhelmed, I started looking at things as hours and not experiences.
I really liked this season though. The cast is incredible and it’s very unhinged in the best way.
Star Trek Vol. 4: Pleroma
W: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly / A: Megan Levens & Rachael Stott
Firstly, IDW deciding not to publish this volume as a hardcover like the first three is devious and it upsets me.
Anyway, it was another fantastic volume. I loved seeing all the connections to Star Trek: Picard, Discovery and TOS. But this book is so much more then connections, it’s a celebration of all Star Trek and that continues in this volume while telling a bold story of Gods and people. There’s not much fighting, but there’s so much excellent character work and brilliantly written debates about the nature of Godhood and their responsibility with the universe.
Also, was really cool to see the Tholion Bright Eyes, who is a God now??
Predator: Day of the Hunter
W: Ed Brisson / A: Kev Walker
This was alright. Kind of more forgettable then I had hoped. I’m in a Predator mood so I wanted to check it out. But I didn’t care for the artwork and I don’t think Theta is an interesting character. I think her story is very cool and there’s potential here, but Theta doesn’t reach her full potential. Maybe she develops in the next volume.
Recently Posted
I’ve been looking for an excuse to write about the MassiveVerse for a while now. I thought No/One was very good and was one of my favorite reading experiences I had last year so I got very excited when they announced they were going to make a movie around it. That’s what this is, basically just the announcement. Hopefully I find an “in” to write about the MassiveVerse again.
