SpaceX - a sci-fi conundrum

SpaceX - SPCX.

Pros

- Outer space private enterprise

- The company created completely new reusable rockets

- The founder has aspirations for Mars colony

- Economics for returns = open ended

- $135-$160/share when company launched June 2026

- Tesla was a huge cash hole -- until it wasn't 

- Musk is smart, strategic, long-term thinking, and doesn't play to lose

- StarLink is financially successful 

- Multiple goals, incl AI datacenters in space, gathering space materials for Earth, Mars colony, etc

Cons

- Elon Musk is unfortunately a Right-wing fascist racist, possible NAZI 

- Elon Musk is a high functioning autistic savant, lacking empathy and full-range of considerations for impact

- SpaceX bundled Grok AI (X-AI) which so far is a financial drain / loser

- Space X needs incredible returns to match its financial evaluation (one analyst said $50 bil in profits per year)

While I am opposed to any racial purity ideologies, and find a lot of Musk's activities questionable or in poor taste, it all comes down to --

How could a SCI-FI obsessive really miss an opportunity to invest in the first private enterprise IPO specifically aiming to expand humanity into space?!?!  While Im not rich by any means, I want humans to be a multiplanetary species for many reasons, and no govt has prioritized this because govts are inefficient and small minded.

All of Musk's organizations are interesting for humanity's future:

- Tesla and SunPower

- Boring Inc

- X-AI / Grok

- Twitter/X

- SpaceX

I think Musk should leave 'X' alone and let Marketing experts improve the branding, but I can't deny his moves are all future-focused.

I also read that all of the companies (except Twitter) he's founded could work on Mars.

Movies - Mandolorian & Mortal Kombat II, The Boys finale, more MBA

The Mandolorian and Grogu - fun but forgettable.  Really enjoyed with kids, but talked to folks and got interesting feedback.

- Not a 'Star Wars' style movie.  This seems true, but missed the question - were 'Star Wars' stle movies actually good?  (I forced myself to appreciate all the movies, but wasnt always easy.)

- Like 4x or 8x TV show episodes.  Actually, the shows were better in many ways, with more Mandolorian lore and storyline, more character arcs.  None of that in the movie except Rada the Hutt.  New blue pilot CG guy noticeably got no background.

I liked it as a sci-fi movie, but was missing the heart of the show, was light on message, & didn't expand on the story in any meaningful way.

Mortal Kombat II - saw with 13 yr old son.  We laughed our butts off (me louder than him).  Decent writing, acting, story, jokes -- overall a great surprise.  Plus Karl Urban and extra unnecessary cursing.  A great B-movie for guys, and there were strong female leads so maybe women/girls might like also?  (Dunno bc I havent found any women/girls who have seen it yet.)

Also a great movie adaptation of a video game.

The Boys finale - while I loved the comics, the show lost it's edge.  Still, it was quite a journey - 5 seasons Homelander, Butcher, Hughie.

In the end, I really didnt like Jack Quaid's single dimensional acting, but his finale scene had great payoff.  What stood out most on the show was Starlight's face surgeries & that controversy. It almost parallels the show.  Good (bad) fun, had more social commentary than was expected I think.  Def kept the irreverent tone of the comics.

MBA continues - finished Accounting & Org Mgmt, semester 2 = Corporate Finance & Strategic Marketing.

- Accounting - was challenging, but I liked the knowledge.  I discussed with therapist that I used to hate money bc my parents didn't have any financial skills or knowledge and were primarily fear-based, taught me to be afraid.  I hope to teach my kids financial literacy.

- Org Mgmt - a lot of incredible insights into different ways to do businesses, structure business, handle change and workplace politics.  My fav teacher so far, Prof Rizova, has Bulgarian sense of humor and is also teaching AI, which she says is terrifying.

I tried presenting Marketing ideas for my work.  Boss, "No".  Product Team, "No." So I decided to pivot to Sneaky Pickle 🥒, my VC Startup concept that *requires* good values along w/profit.  Now going deep into the pickle!!!  I confided in folks that it makes me scared, but also super excited. So far, everyone says to continue...

Onwards!!

Good Luck Have Fun Dont Die - movie review

When I saw the preview, wasn't sure I would be seeing.  But I love Sam Rockwell, so I gave it a shot.  Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die may be my fav scifi movie of 2020's.

GLHFDD has some vibes of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', but this movie feels more relevant because the world is at a critical point.

So for a timestamp, IRL we have Trump attacking Iran unprovoked (in sync with Israel), along with kidnapping the leader of Venezuela.  Those events, along with Greenland threat,  has made the world destabilized and on the edge of world war.  Besides these enormous problems, we can add

- Israel genocide of Palestinians

- Trump's ICE acting like a lawless military inside USA 

- AI sucking up job market (ie destroying labor)

- Trump dodging Epstein files guilt

- rampant corruption and theft in govt

So with these phenomenena in mind, this movie boldly tackles [SPOILERS]

- coming AI singularity

- videogames

- 'BTL' addiction (aka 'better than life')

- children and phones

- the impacts of phone addiction

- cloning

While there is obviously a lot of other relevant material to discuss in current times, the movie addressed the subject matter in a way that challenged the rational mind with intention.

The giant cat monster / sparkle dick was unnecessary, but it made the point of being in an AI game more clear.

So then the question is about the meta plot:

Is Sam's character really time travelling, or is he just replaying a scene in an AI videogame?  Despite the fact that his mother is there and he guards her so as to not negate his birth, the whole movie could be just another VR videogame.

Something to ponder.

So I loved the zombie phones, and Sam, and his willingness to have people die.  While it was painful in the game, it aligned with a videogame -- has anyone cried when a videogame grunt dies???

His bizarre movements in Norms at the beginning also reminded me of a videogame player's spamming moves.

I really enjoyed, now I'm looking forward to my first rewatch.  (& I dont plan on doing 100+, but I could imagine 3-5+ rewatches.)

MBA-P, Quiet Radicals, 2 great podcasts, and NotebookLM

Started part-time ‘MBA for Professionals’ program in January 2026 in Portland OR at satellite location.  My brain is stimulated!  Not 100% sure what to do with all the info yet, but I did Vision Board with VisionBloom workshop and Sneaky Pickle was born. Currently Sneaky Pickle is 'on hold' as passion project, first need to network with VC's / Incubators / Founders and get to know folks.

In my Organization Management class, we read Radical Change, the Quiet Way - by Meyerson.  I submitted an extended paper to rant about the misuse of the word radical, but that if we swap the word with revolutionary I was ok with it, and the 4 tools covered are excellent & I hope to use them all: disruptive self-expression, verbal jujitsu, variable-term opportunism, and strategic alliance building.

Random 'quiet radical' (aka Stealthy Revolutionary) disruptive self-expression update -

• This Ralph Nader Hour podcast was really interesting about dangers of unregulated AI - https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/ai-accountability . Was also interesting part about 'overusing AI in academia & side effects on students'. Wow! AI use has side effects!

We mentioned using NotebookLM (mobile app) for listening to school weekly reading materials. NotebookLM pretty amazing AI tech. I'm no expert, but I did tutorial videos & it can generate interesting material off the source code you give it. Free version offers a lot.

For non-school stuff, you can upload PDF's to a notebook & it becomes 'subject matter expert' on that content, so good for rules & regulations, manuals for all your home tech (good to incl SN's and warranties), etc.

**BEWARE - Don't give NotebookLM 'internal only' work docs or you could be breaking a work NDA / security policy.**

Also really glad to have heard about 9Pfeffer on Power podcasts and book(s).   Podcast episodes are short (20 mins each) and straightforward.  Some are more on professionalism and networking than 'power' per se, but they all hover around the subject.

• I liked Andrew Yang episode a lot (Ep #19 - Apr 25, 2025)

iPad music - amazingness continues

 Wow, making music on iPad is wild.  So good!!

Transit 2 just came out on sale for $10!  Got it.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/transit-2-baby-audio/id6753751150

Transit 2 is not just multi-effects, its a multi-effect that is specifically focusing on transitions.  It reminds me of Turnado (iOS) but the UI is magic -- and Dark Mode!

Other recent acquisitions 

- GRFX - an audio mangler.  I was initially intrigued, but now I regret it bc its cool looking but Im not impressed by the audio output.

- Elpiano - got electronic piano synth by Klevgrand on sale.  Not sure I needed a piano synth, but it sounds cool & looks amazing.

- Hammerhead Drums - Wow, its simple and gets the job done.  Sequencer & instruments.  Classic plugin.

- Patterning 2 - $20 was $10 off sale.  Too expensive still IMP, but it is a sick drum instrument.

Got Synthmaster2 free on sale today.

Re-downloaded - Moog 15, Moog Model D, Figure, & Samplr.  Out of all, Figure is hands down my fav -- I use it, kids use it, its just so fun ... (Could've probably become much more, but its still pretty awesome as it is.)

- almost got Moomu (wild iOS modular synthesis app) after going to this amazing spot in Portland called ControlVoltage.net & messing with Eurorack craziness, but making music that way hurts my brain so I saved $hundreds there and scored Transit 2 for $10.  Woot!

...

Now that I've said all this, the tool Im using most on iPad (or Android phone) to make music is Suno Pro (paid).  OMG what a gamechanger.

- yes, I don't like that Suno & other AI co's sample all music & dont pay the artists.  This is clearly criminal breach of IP laws.

- Yes, talentless hacks are making tons of shit tracks with SUNO or other AI tools.

But ... the tracks I get make me feel good.

Will link a few recents:

Business of Freedom. - https://suno.com/s/AFwdObjRP4WfMsDY

Flashback on Slavery - https://suno.com/s/JeHacUx7B98hRBGC

Backflipped - https://suno.com/s/oUxEP0CSXvpQogfz

And for a few really different tracks:

Kaiju and Mecha - https://suno.com/s/KzuBK2s7iCVcuwTh

Evolutionary - https://suno.com/s/tMLk9U4NjVFDp8Rg

Mo Mo Sound Defex - https://suno.com/s/ESdrlYu4tcchndnC

... And so many more!

New podcast from Empire Files covers USA Secret Military drug-crazed criminal behavior - Seth Harp's new book, "The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces". Shocking!

Sstuff to think about:

Coked-Up Executioners in the Pentagon's Secret Army w/ Seth Harp. 

Episode: https://soundcloud.com/empire-files/fortbraggcartel . 

Media: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2149647489-empire-files-fortbraggcartel.mp3 . -

- Sent from Podcast Republic. 

I am always interested to hear reporting on USA secret military, and obviously it is very rare.  Gary Webb reported on CIA Contra drug connection, and now Seth Harp exposes USA secret military activities based from Ft Bragg and now spread to Afghanistan, Iraq, and other hotbed countries where 'Operators' are murdering with the tacit blessing if the USA.

Give this podcast a listen and maybe you will learn something surprising?  I did not realize the pervasive drug and criminal behavior that is apparently rampant in these elite units.

Tron: Ares - review

Story - stupid.  Explanations not offered.  29 minutes & then bye bye.  How's that work?!?!  Don't say.  Permanence, how's that work?  Dont say.

So if we ignore that glaring oversight, how about the fact Jared Leto keeps breathing / sighing in the grid?  Is there now air there?  Maybe, bc now there's also water.

If we ignore all the liberties with Tron story-line (and 'canon'), the badly filmed fights where you can't see clearly the action, and the 'we can immediately generate things from nothing on the grid or real world' without explanation of how rules of physics no longer work BS, then ...

Also a moment on Jared Leto choice -- ignoring his baggage of being accused of criminal behavior with underage girls -- the guy doesn't represent any aspect of tech or VR or AI that I could see.  The fact that his beard wasn't precisely shaved into crisp lines was annoying, yep.  His walk was awkward, strange.  I'm very curious why anyone thought he was the pick for lead here ...?

I really liked the 3D printing style creation of stuff.  It looked cool.  Would've been great if they had elaborated on the insane cost of that setup or the cost of printing humans...?

The story line is also flawed.  Good CEO grieving vs Bad CEO who's trying to be more daring than his mama.  And the climax is Leto goes to Europe and has a croissant?!?  WTH???

Lastly, if govts could insta-generate armies of sci-fi murdering robots, the Earth would flip.  It would be a nightmare.

Anyway, I love the old neon-glow and the vehicles, just wish they could make a storyline that matched the first one AND not blow the whole thing.

NINE INCH NAILS music was THE highlight.

Entrepreneur vs FEAR

 Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real 

Its so powerful, tangible, physical.  I hate it, its nonsense, it feels like it wins and I lose.

I briefly had a video production business started in 2008 just before economic downturn.  I made more in a few weekends (~$10k) than I was making at my well-paid 9-5 corp job, so I quit.  And then, the econ crashed and so did my baby biz.

During my biz months, I shot & edited 2 commercials, a music video, and a coach training event.  My fees were reasonable.  I hired 1-2 people for each gig, and they were paid well enough.

For two of those gigs, there were hiccups.  

One commercial the producer tried to change my pay.  We fought, and I still had the footage, so she paid my pre-negotiated rate.  That was unfortunate because she and I had been acquaintances for a long time before that, & I never understood why she tried to do that, but that ended that.  (She also later dropped off the map & later re-emerged in a different state, so who knows?)

For coaching seminar, my editor friend got me the gig, and I was to give her the unedited footage to cut.  Customer changed her mind and wanted the raw footage, so I gave her my footage when I got paid -- but I explained it needed pro editing to look & sound great.

She was very disappointed when looking at the raw footage, which was unfortunate -- but clients should never look at raw footage, but instead can preview edited rough clips.

So now I want to do it again, but this time with different focus -- I am not making videos, I want to make things we haven't seen before.  😁

rekzkarz.com is back!

On a whim, I checked if rekzkarz.com was still a Chinese gambling site.

Nope!  Woot!

So I searched cheapest spot to buy domain and got my domain back for 2yrs!  Yay!

rekzkarz.com is mine!

Its always easier to remember this URL over rekzkarz.blogger.com or rekzkarz.blogspot.com or whatever the heck it is!

Anyway, Im happy to be back with my domain again even if the Internet has really changed over the past ... 30 yrs?  😁

Google ONE VPN suddenly no longer allows yts.mx (for 2 weeks) - Sept 2025

Yesterday yts.mx stops loading on my Android phone.  I checked and their status sight says its up.  So I wonder, could it be Google's VPN?

I like the free internet.  I like the ability to do whatever I want, and use a VPN to stop anyone snooping on me.  

Torrent technology and peer2peer networking is a super powerful tech that USA fears to protect IP, and as a result has crippled USA technological innovation in network speed and other countries have 100x faster internet at half the cost (or 1000x faster at 1/4 the cost!!).

I used to use NordVPN and loved it, but then Google ONE said I would get free VPN with my Pixel 7 Pro.

So I ended my NordVPN (which was unfortunate as I used it on non-Google phones & computers) and switched, saving $4 or so per month.

Sp today as a test, I went to Opera Browser and enabled their built in VPN (which adds a layer of VPN blocking Google from knowing what Opera VPN sees) while leaving Google's active.  Boom!  YTS.MX page loads.  

Using two VPNs can cause slowness.  But this was a test, and GoogleVPN has failed me...

And now I can confirm that Google has -- for some idiotic reason, and it could be a mistake too -- decided to block users off from the internet.

tsk tsk.  And I thought "do no evil" was in the corporate charter.

Update: 2 weeks later, Opera VPN started redirecting me on yts site ever 2 clicks.  Disabled Opera VPN and site works with just GoogleVPN.  Seems to be much faster, wonder if Google was updating their VPN somehow?

Fantastic Four - First Steps - review - 3.8 Stars

Saw movie on Sun July 27th, 2025 while daughter was sick.  Took son & daughter, wife didnt want to join.  Some spoilers below.

General review - we just saw Superman, so its good to compare.  Superman was full of meaningless action, but was flawed and showcased new heroes.  FF4 was subtle, had a tone and style, and had a cohesive story and tried to make fully realized multi-dimensional characters.  Happily, both movies skipped thru origin stories -- FF4 spent more time on origin recap while Superman skipped it entirely.

Not comparing the movies and just looking at FF4, I first question the Human Torch casting choice.  All other picks were enjoyable, but he was glaring in his lack of charisma / attractiveness which used to be his trademark -- now his sister was the charismatic one.

While the 50's alt universe look was fun, it had some strangeness -- civil rights was on my mind, as well as women's equality, but those topics weren't acknowledged.

Overall a fun movie, entertaining and yet another movie with touch CG and not enough tension, and the finale (particularly around Galactus) didnt make the sense and was not in line with comic book power levels.

The Good 

Reed Richards' (Pedro Pascal's) acting and some of his responses.

Franklin Richards - Im excited what he represents.

CG Silver Surfer in the worm hole was cool.

Casting pick wins - Reed, Sue, and Ben = great picks.  (Galactus worked, I suppose.)

Herbie was a scene stealer (but I kept thinking about the AI/robot looming takeover IRL so he was distracting, also didnt like that Herbie couldnt speak).

The Bad

General lack of action, and absence of Marvel's 'witty banter'.

Galactus power level.

Silver Surfer missing some expository dialogue.

Reed Richards frequent "I don't know what to do" as a story device.  The global teleport seemed really interesting for setting up multi-dimensional tech / crossovers, was hoping that might be on the table.

Sue Storm's incredible pain management -- action child birth, and force fielded Galactus (should've been outside of her power scope).

Galactus did not use sufficient power, and him coming in person made no sense when Silver Surfer is the tool for the job.

The plot 'give me baby or I destroy the planet' seemed painfully flawed.

Johnny Storm - casting pick didnt work for me, and his story line didnt make sense either.  Why didn't Reed obsess (or even analyze) the recordings??

Johnny Storm's argument to bring Surfer to Earth's side was absurd.

Ben's romantic storyline didnt really resolve.  Also was surprised to randomly go to a Jewish temple.

The credit scenes slightly disappointed, but entertained.  (Doom was better than cartoon, but a few lines of dialogue from Doom might've been nice for superfans.)

I've identified some missing things that would've helped.

Other heroes, even if they aren't famous.  The absence was jarring, since there were FF villains.

Reed's intellect and wealth explained.  Is he a billionaire due to his inventiveness?  How was he funding everything and launching a spaceship off city streets?!?!

What did each of them contribute that they were 'the best' for space travel?

Any more on Negative Zone.

Some links between Galactus, Eternals, etc.  Take the power scale up and explain a little of it?

Anyway, my son said it was a 4.7 out of 5 stars.  I'd say it was more of a 3.8 out of 5 stars, but it was still entertaining and I liked it.

Superman 2025 review - 3 stars

Looking at Henry Caville Superman, and this James Gunn Superman 2025.  Hmmmm...

Great - no 'long dull origin story' that everyone knows.

Started with Superman's first loss.  Liked it.

Krypto was cute (missed Crypto joke opportunity) and Supergirl cameo.

Lex Luthor's calling the attacks like a videogame.

Lex Luthor's pencil dropping pettiness.

Supporting characters - Green Lantern, Mister Terrific.  Lois Lane casting.  Yes!!!  (While Hawk Girl also awesome, she missed opportunities.)

Superclone reveal.

Superman's parents were sweet.

Weak -

Superbots were a missed opportunity.  Their comic relief was a fail.

Luthor's plan made no sense.

Luthor's bragging lacked sense.

Luthor's girlfriend/ Jimmy relationship.  Nope.

Luthor's main score from Superman's lair was the message?!?!  No tech???

Reversible rift sucked.  Zero drama/tension.

Pocket dimension sucked.

Hawk Girl didn't get enough screen-time / exposition.

Superman in cuffs and not snapping them.

Superman's lack of super senses needed exposition.

The painful absence at the Hall of Justice of all core heroes.

Element Man (?) was interesting but had no opportunity to show who he was.

Superclone into Black Hole -- made no sense, redeemable if that is Bizzaro's origin.

Ice Breath to escape Black Hole???

Costume & cape looked nonsensical and stupid.

Superman lost too much & too often.  Just a pun hing bag, not the MIGHTIEST HERO.

Music choices didn't work.

Fortress of Solitude had no solitude.  Meh!

Krypto vs Lex -- too jokey.  Krypto was a punchline not a true sidekick, but he was cute.

So like others have said, the movie missed a lot of opportunities.  It meandered.  The humor didn't work in general.  

The pocket dimension Luthor scheme could've been improved to be more genius and less weird. It was lacking planning.  Luthor's lack of an escape plan seemed like lazy writing.  Luthor's monologuing was painful, and capturing Superman in a glass cage was nonsensical and again lazy writing.

Extra post credit scenes - no payoff for audience.  Blooper reel could've worked better.

Questions

Superman's Kryptonian parents being evil -- weak -- felt so awkward.  Hated the nanite villain pulling the message, fixing the message AND decoding the message all at once???  Why?

Lex getting to Fortress of Solitude and not gleaning all of the tech???  That makes zero sense.  Caville's Lex in the fortress and getting an upgrade makes far more sense.

Mr Terrific and Lois stole the show a few times.  I didn't think Superman starred in his own movie, he was mostly a dumb punching bag.

Luthor's memorization of Superman 's fighting -- a cool idea, may have worked on a pitch or storyboard, but superspeed seems missing.  Superman's powers were nerfed for storytelling.

So I'm glad we saw it, but unfortunately I see this as a downgrade from Caville's Superman due to the lacking character gravitas, the low excitement action, and the unbelievable 2-dimensionality of this Superman.

Captain America: Brave New World review

Captain America: Brave New World -- it sucks.

As a MCU fan and a Red Hulk fan, it's disappointing to have to deliver the bad news.

BAD WRITING, ok-ish acting, = MEH.  

While I'm all for the 'changing of the guard' as RDJ and Chris Evans are leaving, still gotta have excellent writing.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Plot holes & general criticisms:

SWilson - Capt America

• How does him throwing the shield hurt anyone?  He has no powers!
• Why does he need a shield now that his outfit is pure vibranium?  Also, wouldn't anyone want to steal his suit now that it's worth $100 billion or more?
• His winged suit goes faster than military jet fighters?
• Vanishing helmet is pure BS.  If he has Nanites, say why.  If he doesn't have Nanites, then do something with the helmet.  (Even tho the helmet looks super stupid anyway.)
• Red Wing is more effective than SWilson Cap.  Red Wing can be ordered to do anything and it does it, no questions or further commands needed.  No info on where / how SWilson Cap has Red Wing or why.  Did Stark make it?  Does he have replacements for when they blow up?
• Red goggles - they worked in Ant-Man as high-tech doohicky that enhanced his vision.  Now they don't do anything.
• Sonic wave after landing - it doesn't break any furniture, but it knocks everyone down?  Uh, WTH?

President General Thunderbolt Ross / Red Hulk

• Had a heart condition, couldn't get help -- so instead he got medical help from a mad supervillain!??!  No one else would help him?  WTH
• Ross' supervillain doctor says "take these pills, no more than 3 a day" and Ross doesn't check what they are with anyone else?  The freakin' President doesn't have anyone else knowing his medications?!?!?!
• He invites super heroes / supervillains to Whitehouse, but has no super security onsite?  Just a RedRoom ex-Widow?
• Does everyone have an ex-Widow?  How does he know for sure she's an ex-Widow & not current?!?
• Ross seemed like a vague Trump reference, would've been so much more hilarious to have a combover Hulk!
• Red Hulk keeps his intelligence after transforming.  What happened there?
• Doesn't Red Hulk burn?  Or is it now nerf'd into only when transforming?
• Getting Rulk to cherry blossoms to appeal to his humanity -- that shouldn't work & SWilson should know that.  His plan to 'relax the Hulk into giving up' shouldn't make any sense and shouldn't work.  Having Betty actually there, or using a hologram of her, would've been a better idea.  Or what about getting Ant Man or Wasp to go mini and enter Red Hulk, then expand inside his heart or brain?
• Red Hulk can be contained in The Raft?  Hmmmm....  I don't think so.  Plus what a waste!

The Leader

• The Leader - super-genius, but couldn't escape Ross' prison.  Had to invent mind control and Hulk-weapons in order to beat Ross?!?!?  Still was under Ross' influence.
• The Leader can hypnotize anyone to kill anyone using a phone app (???), but can't make Ross do what he wants?
• The Leader's plan was to bring in Capt America & his buddies and have them attempt to shoot Ross / Red Hulk?
• The Leader can't escape 'The Raft'?!?!?
• The Leader looked horrible in this movie, but in the comics the Leader looks amazing!  Can't he use his super-powerful brain to make himself look better?!?!?

Other Stuff

• Isaiah Bradley's old 'Orig Capt America' - when he's mind controlled, he shoots at President.  Why doesn't he punch him?  He was shown punching bags thru the walls just minutes prior.
• Bradley's old 'Orig Capt America' - he shoots the President, but after Leader is exposed, he is released?  WTH?  Maybe he'd get released as a secret agent into Shield or Avengers, but the idea that he just goes free after assassination attempt on TV is quite a reach.
• Betty Ross / Liv Tyler - why did she speak so slowly all the time?  Is her character supposed to be gloomy or pining?  Is she still upset over Banner?  Did she get a brain injury?
• New Falcon - I wanted to like him, he's charismatic, but his best scene was laying in the bed all burned up.  Wouldn't it have been better if he had died?  Maybe make SWilson Cap a little tougher?
• New Falcon - How did he get picked to wear the suit?  What are his qualifications?  Why did Sam pick him -- or did the military pick him?  Normally, I hate an origin movie -- but a little backstory here could go a long way.
• "Why didn't I take the super serum?" <-- was it an option?  Thne give him the damned serum!   The guy desperately needs an upgrade!   No one likes weak heroes with no powers except gadgets!  (Even tho Iron Man was essentially powerless w/o the armor, he was rich and supersmart and had super-tech.)  What does SWilson Cap have?  A stupid looking suit!  Get the guy something and fast!
• The movie doesn't even let SWilson Cap call in favors from his super buddies!!!  If I were writing, I'd have SWilson Cap calling Thor, Dr Strange, Spiderman, Ant Man, Nick Fury, and Shang Chi at least every other scene.  If they showed him teaming up with everyone, maybe that would make sense why he could make the Avengers later.  SWilson didn't even CALL anyone off script!!

I could come up with a million other complaints about the film, since so much was badly thought out.  Such a wasted opportunity!!  

Hard to imagine spending $1 million on something like this. let alone $100 million.  I'm glad it's successful and profitable, and MCU isn't hurting. 
In the arc of MCU movies, this one is going to live down near the bottom with The Marvels & Ant-Man and the Wasp (& Kang): Quantumania as one of the worst.

Shills

I hate when someone online calls me a shill because they oppose my viewpoint.

I mean, shills should be getting paid?!?! Where's my money! Ha Ha Ha 

In other words, don't accuse people of being shills unless its really clear they are bots or paid counter-intel folks. Saying, "Im not a shill," doesnt make someone a shill.

I'm just a guy in the USA who doesn't believe Trump's goals or values align with my best life. To me, this seems like a common sense position.

When Musk, Trump, Zuck, and Bezos are all holding hands, every worker in USA should be concerned. If you think, "Gee, this is what draining the swamp looks like", can you tell when you're looking at a swamp???

Trump 1 had Ivanka and Jared, two unelected family members trying to make Daddy happy and bungling everywhere.

Trump 2 has Musk and a ton of scary cabinet nominees with agendas, and we should be concerned that these folks may be more competent than Trump 1.  Also, Trump 2 has more to lose now, so he's more committed to not fucking up as badly this time because he's scared.  Some scared folks go on the offensive -- like this golden cockwomble nincompoop.

Lastly, you know Giuliani is gonna pop up sometime soon, scaring everyone!

Joker: Folie à Deux - review - MEH 😑

Well, it was entertainment.  But Joker 2 was all build-up and nothing delivered.

While I wasn't expecting it to be so interesting -- particularly Harley Quinzel -- the movie writing was so convoluted and a let down at the end.

Much of the movie was a great build-up, but instead of delivering on that build-up, we get sucker punched right at the end twice.

To double-down on this point, the filmmaker had no obvious reason to reverse-pivot the film's build-up and drop the audience on our heads: the comics have a Joker-Harley Quinn relationship, the cartoons do, the entire milieu has them as a duo and it re-invigorates the Joker.  But in this movie, the writer is unable to go there.  I can't fathom why not, as that is the payoff fans all deserve.

Another painful flaw of the movie, which happens over and over, is the incredibly slow pacing.  We watch people walk, smoke full cigarettes, and sit in silence.  I fast-forwarded the stillness a bunch of times, only to be surprised that it was continuing.  So grateful not to see this in the movie theater!  If there was ever an example of seeing a movie at home being better than in a theater, this is it.  I'm not a captive audience, I have a remote!  Ha Ha!

I also fast-forwarded a number of gratuitous musical numbers.  I appreciated !the concept of it, but was not a fan.  Nope.

So the movie is a combo of many movie failings -- - protagonists unable to take their own actions, 

- prolonged scenes with no real action, 

- the dramatic tension released unnecessarily by out-of-character foible (aka 'screenwriter's betrayal') that doesn't do justice to source material / character, 

- gobs of musical scenes,

- more unnecessary origin story arc,

- a final act that comes off as 'ok, lets wrap it up' with something that doesn't fit the tone or timing of the last 2+hrs.  

While visually interesting and bursting with potential, the writer/directors were unable to give permission for any characters to 'do their thing' and instead left a movie that almost had stuff in it, but didn't.

Do writers / directors expect something like this to get audience approval?  Seems impossible!  They want blockbusters, but then remove the heart of the story (aka climax or pinacle) and leave the audience with a gaping hole.

Saw that film & actors are nominated for Razzies - worst film & worst actors.

Film writing / director maybe deserves a Razzie.

Acting however was truly incredible, so I dont see them deserving the negativity there.