7/31/2023 - DEREK

You guys, I just had one hell of a weekend! I won’t waste any time, so let’s hop right into it.

First up, I went out a did a little shopping - to my surprise TJ Maxx already had a decent selection of Halloween goodies out. I didn’t buy any decor (yet) but I did decide to splurge on some more candles! I ended up going with the Haunted Maze and Scary Funhouse scents and they both smell how Fall/Halloween candles should; spicy and slightly sweet. To be honest, these candles could have smelled like dog shit and I would have still brought them home. It’s not often that you see a haunt themed candle, let alone two of them. For that fact alone, I had to have them!

TJ’s also had a butt-load of horror themed dog toys. Pennywise, Chucky & Tiffany (not pictured) and even Beetlejuice & Lydia all had representation which was cool to see. The real star of the show, however, were these officially licensed, Gremlins 2: The New Batch plush dog toys. Like…what? What a baffling decision to license them specifically as Gremlins 2 toys. Is there some sort of max quota for original Gremlins licenses allotted per year, so using G2 was a loophole around it? The world may never know.

Next, I hit Target, where I finally broke down and decided to buy one of the giant turtles figures. When I found out months ago that these would be returning to stores, I got obsessed with the idea of being able to display one of these guys in my home office (aka, the retro room). I finally stumbled across them in the wild, so I acted on impulse and didn’t look back.

I had my choice between 3 of the 4 brothers, Leo, Raph & Donny, and ultimately ended up going with Donny. He’s never been my favorite turtle, but there’s something about this particular figure that I jive with.

While we’re on the subject of shopping, I managed to sneak in a couple thrift stores, too. While Savers was a complete bust (and their pricing isn’t looking very thrifty to me these days, btw), good ‘ol Salvation Army managed to pull through with a few gems. I managed to buy back an old Disney Christmas Sing-Along tape from my childhood for .50! The real crowning jewel, however, was the Great Pumpkin bath mat that I managed to snag for a whole $3. Such a random find, because this is clearly not officially merchandise. Someone went through the trouble of having this mat printed up custom, only for it to end up at a thrift store anyways. Oh well, their loss was my gain!

You didn’t think we were going to make it through a whole journal post without talking movies, did you?

Impulsively, I wound up at the theater once again this weekend so I could check out the new A24 horror film, Talk to Me. When I found out that the movie’s whole plot is a bunch of Aussie teens who treat possession like a designer drug, I was immediately on board. The long & short of it, was that I enjoyed it. As expected with any movie these days, I’ve seen a lot of people online (movie reviewers, especially) touting this as the next big thing in horror, and other similar, massive praise. I don’t think that’s true, and if you’re planning on getting out to see it based on these claims, maybe lower your expectations just a bit. It’s a well executed teen horror movie that draws inspiration from classics like Evil Dead (and tonally, draws from the newer entries in the series) and other possession movies that you may already know & love. There are a few scenes scattered throughout that almost feel like they’re going in a Hereditary direction, but ultimately it never really hits those nasty, visceral heights that you get in that movie. All this to say that if you treat it like a fun, unique possession movie, you’ll probably really dig it!

Alright, I think that’s going to do it for this entry. Catch you in the next one!

7/25/2023 - Derek

Barbenheimer weekend has officially come & gone, and man, what a whirlwind it was! Now that the dust has settled a bit and I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts, I figured I had better write a little something. Future me would have been really mad if I didn’t…you’re welcome, me!

OPPENHEIMER

On Saturday night I took a trip down to the IMAX in the Providence Place Mall. I found out that it was something like one of 30 IMAX theaters in the whole country equipped to show this monster of a flick on 70 MM film, and I knew I’d end up kicking myself if I settled for anything less. I was right! I’ve seen plenty of movies in IMAX before, I’ve seen plenty of movies at this IMAX theater before, but I haven’t seen any of them take advantage of the theater & it’s screen the way Oppenheimer did. Everything was simply massive, and totally engrossing as a result…totally mind blowing!

Overall, I’m pleased to report that much like the Wolf of Wall Street, Oppenheimer is one of those 3 hour movies that doesn’t feel like it’s that long. The pacing was tight & the story was engrossing, and all of the performances were top tier. Cillian Murphy & RDJ nailed it, but my favorite of the bunch was whoever was playing Albert Einstein. I’m not even going to bother looking up which actor played him. No, I’m just going to pretend that was the actual Einstein playing his silly little self. Tossing stuff into the lake at geese, just taking silly little strolls through the woods. Yep, that’s what I’m choosing to take away from this movie.

No but really, it’s so good and made me question humanity as a whole. So, A+ in my book.

BARBIE

By all accounts, Barbie shouldn’t have worked for me. I had no business in being as hyped for this damn movie as I was, but it turns out the hype was real!! There’s so much I could say about Barbie, but I bet it’s already been said much more eloquently by a million other people on the internet by now. So here are three things I loved instead:

Alan. If there is absolutely one thing to take away from this movie, it’s Michael Cera’s incredible turn as Ken’s forgettable companion. In this movie, it turns out he’s anything but! Alan is a complete scene stealer every time he makes an appearance. But is that really shocking coming from Michael Cera?
Ken’s Dance Off. I have gone on record many times before about how I am just not a musical/dance guy. Like, 95% of the time, they don’t work for me. This scene is among that ever elusive 5%! Ryan Gosling was just absolutely working his ass off in this one, and it translated well to someone like me. I really loved how tongue & cheek it was with the whole riffing on Grease bit, and boy, can that Mr. Gosling sing. Good for them!
The Real World. More specifically, the lack of time they spent in the real world. I always get worried with fish out of water movies like this. They always seem to start off on the right foot, and after the first 15 minutes, the character leaves home and ends up in another stereotypical real world, facing the very real challenges that come with it. Some of these are done well, mind you, but the last thing I wanted to see was Barbie trying to figure out how TurboTax works. Luckily Greta Gerwig thought this through, and made sure that we spent most of our time in Barbieland. Thank you!

Anywho, those are my two mini-reviews for Oppenheimer & Barbie, respectively. If you get the chance, you really should get out and see both. I’m sure Barbenheimer is going to be a cultural phenomenon that we’ll all be answering questions about twenty years from now, so why not be a part of it?

7/20/23 - Derek

Damn dude, Summer sure is flying by! I feel like I haven’t really had a chance to enjoy all that this season has to offer, outside of swimming a few times and going to the movies a lot. Speaking of the movies, I got out to see Mission Impossible 7 (part 1) and as expected, it was absolutely lovely. Say what you will about Tom Cruise as a person, but as an actor, the man sure does know how to put on a show!

On another note, I found the Super Mario Oreos finally! In a year with so much Mario, a pack of cookies may not seem like anything terribly special, but I’m happy to report that these little guys are great! Of course, they are just a standard Oreo cookie, no special flavors or colors or anything like that, but I think their simplicity works in their favor.

The real draw here (aside from the killer packaging) are the incredibly detailed cookie designs. Apparently there are 16 unique designs, but I ate them so fast that I couldn’t independently verify that fact for you. Hell, we’re lucky that I managed to get a picture of the two brothers!

I really wouldn’t be mad if Oreo continued this trend with other characters from pop-culture. Give me TMNT or Simpsons cookie designs and you can bet I’ll drop the money every single time.

While we’re here we might as well talk about these Halloween candles! Officially my first grab of the 2023 Halloween season, and believe it or not, I wasn’t even the one who bought them! No, thanks to my lovely girlfriend, spooky season has started in late July this year. She told me we can’t light them until at least mid-August but…we’ll see about that.

If you know me, you know that I love me a good scented candle. Most of these are pretty nice, but the one I’d say you need to go out of your way to smell is that green candle. It’s called Goblin’s Goo (lol) and it’s a heavy Green Apple scent, paired with brown sugar, toffee, whipped cream, etc. It really does smell like the bakery section at an apple orchard, which in turn, is making me drool as I write this.

Alright, that’s gonna do it for this entry! We’ll catch ya soon, and yes, new podcast episodes are on their way. This month’s Patreon bonus show is a doozy, so if you’re not already a member you may want to sign up!

7/8/23 - DEREK

Holy cow, it got hot! It seemed like June stayed pretty cool & rained most days, then July kicked in and brought unbearably hot weather with it. In trying to stay cool, I’ve spent more time lounging in a lake than I have in the past 5 years combined.

Anyways, a new (and supposedly final) Insidious movie just hit theaters, and with it came this intriguing tie-in song from the band Ghost.

Apparently Patrick Wilson is featured on this, though I can’t really make out his voice. Either way, it’s super rad for a few reasons - the first being that Patrick Wilson is just about my favorite current working actor. The man is a classic Hollywood talent who, in my opinion, doesn’t get enough credit in a world full of Ryan Reynolds’ and, uh, Leo DiCaprio’s I guess? SECONDLY, I love the fact that Ghost teamed up with Blumhouse again to release an exclusive song for their new movie. If you saw Halloween Kills, you may remember that they also recorded a song for that movie.

Say what you will about Ghost as a band (I like them for the record) but there’s something special about horror movies getting exclusive songs that’s incredibly nostalgic. From Dokken’s Dream Warriors to Alice Cooper’s Man Behind the Mask, the marriage of metal and horror is something that has been a tradition since the 80s and I’m happy to see it still going strong in the year of our lord, 2023.

Anyways, that’s about all I have for you today. Grimey and I did record July’s big show the other night so keep an eye out for that, it’s a doozy of a good time. Stay cool , catch ya soon!

6/26/23 - DEREK

Hello campers! Considering that it’s storming out right now (seriously, a Jurassic Park level of monsoon) I figured it was as good a time as any to check in with my first official journal entry. Summer is off to a bit of a slow start for me, but there have been a couple of things worth mentioning – most of them movie based. I booked a bunch of movies for July the other night; Mission Impossible 7, Oppenheimer and Barbie, plus got my tix to see Indiana Jones at the end of this week. It’s hurting my brain & wallet to think that there are still two more movies I want to see next month (Insidious 5, Haunted Mansion)…will I see them? Only time will tell!

The other night I got out to see Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, a movie I had been anticipating since I saw the first pastel soaked trailer a few months back. The photo above is actually a screen used prop that was being showcased at the Alamo Drafthouse in NYC where my sister saw the film! Kinda rad. Unfortunately, I didn’t really end up connecting with the movie the way I had hoped I would. No spoilers, but it’s definitely a different story/ movie than what you’re probably expecting going into it. It wasn’t bad by any means - for the first 45 minutes I was actually really into it - but by the end, my enthusiasm had mostly faded away. Oh well, can’t win them all!

Finally, as I was walking around the grocery store this morning looking for snacks to bring back to camp, I stumbled upon these bad boys…

Listen, I can’t say that Pop-Tart boxes ever looked like this in MY lifetime, but I was still excited to see this throwback box art nonetheless. Even if it isn’t my nostalgia, it’s someone’s and I’m happy that they’re getting a chance to relive a bit of their past, even if it’s only though a box of breakfast pastry. Anyways, Summer is just getting started, here’s hoping I get into some cool adventures soon!

6/23/23 - Derek

Hello fellow campers! If you’ve listened to the latest episode of the podcast, then you know exactly what I’m talking about…welcome to Camp Pizza!

If you’ve been with us for a while, you may remember that last Halloween, Grimey and I decided it would be fun to journal some our experiences throughout the season. It ended up being a great way for us to capture memories, and motivated us to get out & explore a bit more than we normally would. So, we figured we should do the same for Summer!

Considering that the season just started the other day (mid-week, mind you) we haven’t had a chance to get out and do…things. Yet. What I can offer you is some entertainment to hold you over, in the form of music, minisodes, or my personal favorite, old television.

God dammit, I hate how good that episode is. Anyways, check back here regularly for new updates throughout the season. We’ll do our best to keep you in the loop, and hopefully you’ll have fun living vicariously through us over the next couple of months!

Summer '23 at Camp Pizza!

OUR SUMMER 2023: A JOURNAL (SORTA)

DEREK & GRIMEY