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Written by: Kevin Berge  I am still waiting for the White Paladin to come in and steal the show just like the White Ranger, who is and forever will be best Power Ranger. (Image Courtesy of: whats-on-netflix.com) Quick Take: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 6 serves almost as a series finale, wrapping up one of the most tense and exciting stories of the series. It is powerful, emotional, and surprising in a way the show built up impressively over recent seasons.
Written by: Kevin Berge  Finally Star Wars realized Boba Fett was only popular because Mandalorian armor is cool and decided to make an entire show about the armor. (Image Courtesy of: starwars.com) Quick Take: The Mandalorian Season 1 carries the Western heart of Star Wars in a way many of the cinematic experiences did not. It is wonderfully aloof and driven by the focus of the characters. While perhaps not for all Star Wars fans, it is a delightful fresh take on the franchise.
Written by: Kevin Berge  What have we become as a society that we will pay $11 million for an animated form of a group of friends sitting around a table having a laugh? The answer: truly cultured. (Image Courtesy of: kickstarter.com) How do we tell stories? Written storytelling carries primarily the ideas of the writer with certain help from the editor. Movies and television especially are built on the collaboration of all those involved from the directors and screenwriters to the producers and effects workers.
Even in the most individualized production, there is collaboration. Stories are not created in a vacuum. Whether built on years of inspiration or driven by the guidance of others involved, we as a society tell stories together not apart. This may seem obvious, but it is fascinating to see how certain types of storytelling are promoted or rejected based on the source. This is particularly true of games. Whenever interactivity is involved in creating a story, it tends to muddy the public perception. Video games face this degree of backlash including the constant question of "what is art?". However, there is another form of gaming that is more clearly looked down upon yet creates some the purest forms of storytelling: Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs), highlighted by the most well known game Dungeons & Dragons. Written by: Kevin Berge  Awww, they're all so cute together now. (Image Courtesy of: nerdgasmpodcast.com) Quick Take: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 5 carries the most weight the series has mustered in several seasons. It is driven by important reveals and a massive change in the story dynamic that makes this the most impactful of the recent shorter seasons.
Written by: Kevin Berge  We really are living in a comic book right now where the heroes wear masks and the villains says masks are for the weak so that they can kill more people. (Image Courtesy of: discovermagazine.com) It's hard to imagine what the world was like at the start of 2020. We could go outside and talk to people. We could crowd public places. We could hug the ones we love. We could live like we always have.
A global catastrophe is not easy to adjust to. No one was ready for what life would be like after COVID-19 hit. Many failed to stem the tide of the outbreak, leading to 315,576 confirmed deaths to coronavirus as of May 17 (per worldometers.info). There are many ways to look at how COVID-19 has affected the world that are extremely serious. The growing death toll and the required social isolation affects so many, but I want to focus on a topic that directly relates to what I write about: entertainment. This is a time where people need a distraction more than anything. We need things that can entertain us. We need TV and movies and sports to make up for the intense isolation. That is why it has been so interesting to watch entertainment itself evolve during this pandemic. |
