A busy week, but I still found time to watch and read a few things. The most noteworthy one was finally being able to watch Wicked Part I. I’d wanted to see it since it came out, but life is hectic. We watched it as a fam the other night, and I loved the whole thing. Going into it, I was most skeptical of its 2.5+ running time, especially since it was just the first half of the musical. I thought it would definitely drag, and just be burdened down by trying to be too faithful. Instead, it felt just right. It gave each musical number the time to breathe and be properly put in context. All of them were well done, the effects were great, the singing was fantastic, and Ariana Grande’s eyebrows didn’t even bother me. Talk about a win!
Did it need to be as long as it was? Well . . . probably not. I mean, there are plenty of fantastic musicals that are able to do their job in less time. Singin’ in the Rain is a full hour less than Wicked. But then again, I didn’t really view this as a normal musical. It felt more like a Lord of the Rings style approach: presenting the entirety of the stage musical, fully manifested as a film. It’s aimed at fans of the musical, and it delivers on that purpose fully. I had a great time watching it, and the songs are still going through my head.
Other than that, we’ve continued to watch the current season of the Amazing Race (notable now for one of the absolute worst uses of the Express Pass I have ever witnessed). Denisa and I have started Dark Matter on AppleTV, and the verdict is still out for me on the show. We just finished the fifth episode, so clearly I like it enough to keep watching, but the characters keep doing stupid things, which is very frustrating. We’ll have to see how it turns out.
In books, I finished Sourcery, book 5 of the Discworld series. It was not my favorite, by a fair margin. Focused on what happens when Magic gets out of control, it just felt too zany even for me at times. Thankfully, Wyrd Sisters (the next book) already feels like it’s on firmer footing.
Not much else in terms of media for the last week. Just lots of AI and some Batman clips (as I keep teaching the class on Batman).