I saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse last night. It’s a pop-art dreamscape filled with originality, creativity, joy and wonder. It’s unlike any movie I’ve ever seen.
I liked it very much.
It took my brain a few minutes to adjust to what I was seeing, but soon everything clicked and I had a great time. See this movie!
Nic Cage has a small role as Spider-Man Noir. He also stars in Mandy, released earlier this year. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Mandy are two of the most spectacular psychedelic mind-trips you can take without drugs. And if you watch them back-to-back, your body will turn into crystal and your soul will ignite the planet.
Please note: These two movies exist on opposite ends of the “Friendly” spectrum. Spider-Man is a happy, fun movie. Mandy is a gory, over-the-top psycho horror show, and not something you should watch with the family this holiday season. (It’s best watched alone, in your room, with the lights out and nothing but your own sanity to keep you company.) But both films push the envelope of what human eyeballs can handle. And Nic Cage is in both. And I love him for that.
I’ll spend most of this week thinking about different types of Spider-Men and Spider-Women and Spider-Robots. But I will take a break from such scholarly pursuits to open the Lego Calendar! Today we find…
Remote Controlled Cars!
There were a lot of pieces today. In fact, there are too many pieces.
The cars are okay. But I may have messed up.
After building the tiny cars per the instructions, I had a more-than-normal amount of extra pieces left. Did I fail? This is what I have remaining:
It’s common for Lego to toss in a few extra pieces, but it’s usually just one small dot or a tiny square. Today’s remainders seems like enough to build something else entirely.
I think I built the cars correctly. Maybe Lego assumed I would swallow a few of these and so they tossed me some bonus bricks.
The cars are cute, but I hate the angled design in which the front of the car is lower than the rear. Lego has done this design before, I think, and I probably hated it then too. I want the cars to be flat and level!
Quincy and Chef Bradley didn’t seem to mind, as they held a race. The winner gets all of Scotland.
Bradley won. He now owns Scotland. Sorry, Scotland. But rules are rules.
Meanwhile, what should we do with these extra pieces?
Shirley, who is pressured into science and engineering by her mom who demands all girls get good at science, felt obligated to build something with the excess.
TIMBERLY: Honey, you have to do engineering because girl power! I read it online! So you go and math this up real good. Go on.
SHIRLEY: Um…I don’t really like engineering and —
TIMBERLY: You must engineer this because girls need science and STEM!
SHIRLEY: What does STEM stand for?
TIMBERLY: Science Takes Excellent Moms!
SHIRLEY: I don’t think that’s right.
TIMBERLY: Less chit-chat, more math! Get to it! Wonder Woman is counting on you!
She came up with a lever.
It didn’t do anything, but at least she tried.
‘
Day 19 Rating: 2 out of 5 (Points deducted because I don’t like these cars! Points added because I’m still high on Spider-Man.)
See you tomorrow!
This blog is brought to you by PowerPencils.com. It’s too late to get your order delivered by Christmas. The holiday is ruined. Go sit on the time-out cushion and think about what you’ve done.