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Final Forum Podcast

@finalforumpod.bsky.social

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A podcast for the discussion of all things Dragon Ball! Uncovering the culture and hidden history behind Akira Toriyama's seminal franchise.

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · Nov 7

Looking for your next favorite podcast? Interested in Dragon Ball....or NOT interested in Dragon Ball but wondering why you should be or interested in learning about Eastern culture? Want to just have some dang ole fun?

Subscribe: www.podbean.com/site/podcatc...

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 5h

NICE! Lucky.

I didn't catch any Dragon Ball on TV while in Japan, sadly, but I did catch some of the late-night anime programming blocks.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6h

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 14: Zoo (2005)💀
The biggest anthology issue is often "you could cut one of these, save time, and it'd be better" and that happens here, but not before some STRONG stuff. ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
The little dude from the poster isn't actually in this 😔
#spookyseason #halloween

Poster for Zoo (2005)

Hey! That guy on the poster isn't even in this!!!

1 - Kazari and Yoko - Heartbreaking and pretty awesome. Not super scary, but just really good. 4.5/5
2 - Seven Rooms - Again, heartbreaking. More scary than the first, though not quite AS good. 4/5
3 - So Far - You kinda think you know what's going on, but you're wrong. Cool reveals. 3.5/5
4 - When the Sun Shines - The best animation Phillips Cdi can buy! But that aside, it's a decent melancholy story. 3/5
5 - Zoo - This one really did very little for me. I didn't like it much. 2/5
Overall - Like another one I watched (I think it was Phobia?) it's a bummer it ends on a whimper, because it's REALLY strong in the first 3 segments. Maybe you'll like the final two more than I did? In any event, it's worth a watch for sure, especially those first two segments. They're great.

Other notes: Featuring the star of Godzilla Minus One (Ryunosuke Kamiki), Yui Ichikawa of Ju-On The Grudge 1 &2 and Zebraman, Miyuki Matsuda from Takashi Miike's Audition, Kyoka Suzuki from Shinya Tsukamoto's Bullet Ballet, and a segment directed by Jumpei Mizusaki the director of both Batman Ninja movies.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 1d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 13; Horror Stories (2012)💀
Korean anthology with a fun framing device makes for a horror-driven 1001 Arabian Nights. First segment is the best, which makes it kinda peter out but it’s a good time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
2 worthwhile sequels also.
#spookyseason #halloween

Horror Stories is a Korean anthology that brings together 5 directors (one directs the framing device) for a quadrilogy of terror. The framing device is kinda neat, in my opinion. A girl wakes up and finds out she is kidnapped, and has to tell her kidnapper scary stories, as it's the only way he can fall asleep. It doesn't have a super satisfying ending, and could maybe used a bit more development (ie, maybe make it more definitive is the kidnapper is/isn't supernatural), but it's kinda unique. Like a horror 1001 Arabian Nights. 3/5.

1 "Don't Open the Door" - This one is kinda GREAT. It's harrowing and makes you uncomfortable. It's pretty scary and though it might get a little frustrating with fakeouts here and there, I think it works really well. 4/5

2 "Endless Flight" - This one basically just lives entirely on its somewhat unique premise. It's got a very very fast running time so that makes it kind of okay, but it doesn't do anything aside from set up a unique scenario. It seems like the filmmakers knew this too, as in the framing device, after this story, the kidnapper isn't sleepy at all. 3/5

3 "Secret Recipe" - It's fairly stylish and has a pretty good EC vibe to it in the way it unfolds. Nothing special, but effective. 3/5

4 "Ambulance on the Death Zone" - A completely serviceable zombie bottle story. Has some good moments in it, given the run time. 3.5/5

Overall it's not world-breaking, but for fans of anthologies, it's a pretty good one. I thought it was gonna be a BANGER after the first story, but that is really as high as it flies.

There are sequels also, that aren’t as good, but if this tickles your fancy, they’re worth a look.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 2d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 12: Tales of Terror (1962)💀
Roger Corman’s Poe stuff is a lot of campy fun. You get horror icons like Vincent Price and Peter Lorre and a good mix of humor and horror. Adaptations are LOOSE but fun. ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
#spookyseason #halloween

An argument could be made to view all of Roger Corman's Edgar Allen Poe stuff as an entire long-running anthology. I'm not THAT much of a masochist, so I won't be doing that.

1 - Morella - A tad too brief to land just right, because with a little more story here, this one could have been an absolute home run. 3/5
2 - The Black Cat - It might as well be called The Cask of Amantillado with a Black Cat, but it's really good. Price has excellent comedic timing in this one. Sometimes the comedy lands a little flat, but this is a standout. 4/5
3 - The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar - Another that just runs a smidge too short to have full impact. It has some really great and interesting ideas, but this is the one here that feels like it could even be a full movie length story. 3/5

Overall - It's a lot of fun, and pretty brief. The Black Cat is the standout but at least the other two are both enjoyable. There's nothing BAD here.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 3d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 11: Cat’s Eye (1985)💀
This is a very 80s anthology entirely based on adaptations of Stephen King stories, and while it’s probably never GREAT, for me, it’s good the whole way through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
#spookyseason #Halloween

The poster for Cat’s Eye (1985)

A very 80s anthology of Stephen King stories.

1 - Quitter's Inc - This is pretty good. It's a fun short story already and the cast ably carries it. These days' James Woods probably deserves to have these kinds of things happen to his family, but that's neither here nor there. This is a fun, albeit VERY 80s, entry. 3.5/5
2 - The Ledge - Another one that's pretty good. It doesn't QUITE have the same forward momentum as the first, and there's a little more lost in translation between the short story and the adaptation in this one, because so much of the short is internal to the main character. Still, it's a really fun EC kinda story. 3.5/5
3 - General - The acting in this one is pretty flat and bad, and there are times where this one comes off like a real stinker, HOWEVER: the story is pretty neat. The idea that cats are thought of as these creatures who can steal your breath (which goes back to how in olden times, cats would sometimes suffocate babies by licking the milk off their lips), but then flipping that on its head is cool, and I LOVE the effects for the most part in this one. All the um....bigiatures (?) are really damn cool, and there's some really good compositing (and some not so good also, if we're being honest). This one is carried by a cool story, cool creature design, and cool effects, which is enough for me. 3.5/5
Overall - It's totally solid for me all the way through. It's never GREAT, but it's never bad at all and at 94 minutes, it clips along, while also giving each story enough time to breathe, especially the last one. Contrast this to newer anthologies that cram 5 or more stories into 105 minutes and it becomes fairly obvious that fewer stories, with more detailed scripts, is really the way to go for these, as a GENERAL RULE.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 3d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 10: Trilogy of Terror (1975)💀
Scream Queen Karen Black gets to kill it and the segments are all pretty good. I have fun with it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
#spookyseason #Halloween

Poster for Trilogy of Terror.
I’ve seen this one a couple times.

1 - Julie - It's a little too ill-defined when the reveals start happening, but this is pretty well-acted and solidly done. 3.5/5
2- Millicent and Terese - Nothing special at all. You can see the twists coming a mile away. 2.5/5
3 - Amelia - The infamous Zuni doll segment. This is great. The puppetry, the snarling from the doll. It's all just super fun and appropriately bloody. 4/5

Trilogy of Terror isn't GREAT, it falls just shy. But it is really good. It's fun and briskly paced, and though there's no framing device the idea of casting Karen Black throughout is pretty unique and pays off since she's doing a great job with these roles which require a bit of range but always a touch of tongue in cheek. It's a fun time.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 4d

If you actually wan to give it a shot, I’d suggest starting with the manga. It’s fast paced and easily one of the best drawn manga. Page layout and readability are second to none

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 4d

Friday Funny for MLB Playoff season.

Yamcha from Dragon Ball Super being cratered by a game of baseball.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 4d

No Thursday Thread today. Vacation time so I don’t feel like fighting through the haze of booze to try to make a g thread. Mote Dragon Ball facts in the future, or something!

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 5d

The final segment is the true standout, but the whole thing is pretty enjoyable.

It’s not explicitly CREEPSHOW, but it’s screenplay by Romero, based on a Stephen King story, and effects by Savini, so it’s “getting the band back together”

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 5d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 9: Tales from the Darkside (1990)💀
According to Tom Savini, this is Creepshow 3. It’s a bit uneven, but it ends on a super strong note (that Ive mentioned on the podcast on our end of Dragon Ball filler episode, S3E18) ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌓
#spookyseason #Halloween

The poster for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
The crew involved with this consider it "Creepshow 3"....

1 - Lot 249 - This is no frills and pretty fun. 3.5/5
2 - The Cat from Hell - Perfectly cromulent good time. 3/5
3 - Lover's Vow - The highlight here with a great mix of heart and horror. 4/5

Overall - The wraparound is pretty fun too. It hasn't aged very well and it struggles to maintain a tone or feel much elevated from an anthology TV show, but it's a pure bit of anthology comfort food for me.

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

Big Trouble in Little China is the bee's knees.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

We didn't have the time to do the museum sadly. We spent just one night in Hiroshima and wanted tosee Miyajima, which is a fairly long commute (over an hour) from where we stayed, right near Peace Park.

I'm hoping a return trip to Japan will happen some day and we can get to the museum then.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

🎃31 Days of Anthology Horror Movies🎃
💀Day 8: Body Bags (1993)💀
John Carpenter is a favorite filmmaker of mine & I tend to enjoy even his more maligned movies more than most...and this is no exception. It's fun, stylish, funny (not in the intended way) and I dig it. ⭐⭐⭐🌓
#spookyseason #halloween

The poster for Body Bags (1993)

One of Carpenter's more maligned films, it took me a long time to finally get around to this one because for the MOST part, the movies of his that people say are bad, are in fact, quite bad.

1 - The Gas Station - This is mostly just winking at the camera about John Carpenter movies and then a little violence. It's fun enough but kind of forgettable 3/5
2 - Hair - This is like The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verril from Creepshow, but that's fun. 3.5/5
3 - Eye - Mark Hammill being great and a pretty fun story. It's kind of derivative of other similar stories, but it's anchored in a good fun performance. 3.5/5

Overall - I liked it. More than I thought I would. It's fun and funny, a lot of times because it's NOT that funny. The tone was up my alley as was the style. It just worked for me. 3.5/5

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

Boss: You're always so calm under pressure

Me to My Boss: We always figure it out
Me to Me: (It helps that I genuinely don't care if the company doesn't meet its arbitrary financial goals that don't benefit me personally in any way)

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

I've seen some recent stuff, and it was actually good...but it doesn't scratch that "I wanna watch THE SIMPSONS" itch. The humor has changed, and the pacing of the show in general. It's not really anyone's FAULT, but when I want The Simpsons, I don't go later than season 12.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah. When you bust out those Dragon Ball facts to impress women you wanna pretend like you just KNOW 'em and didn't get them from someone else. I get it. I'd do the same thing.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

Because for Toriyama it wasn't "the start of DBZ," it was the 195th chapter of Dragon Ball. The DBZ delineation came about six months after Toriyama first wrote Raditz into the manga, and was a purely marketing move.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

What Up Wednesday?
Day 10: Hiroshima (and Miyajima). This was an emotional, but beautiful day. Peace Park is breathtaking; the weight of the atomic bombing feels palpable, and every monument and statue brings home the horror of nuclear weapons and the grim reality of nuclear proliferation.

The entrance to Peace Park in Hiroshima features a fountain and a statue of a woman attempting to protect her children from the atomic bomb. The fountain is meant to evoke the tears of people who died of dehydration in the aftermath of the bombing.

The atomic bomb dome seen from the entrance to peace park in Hiroshima. The stone arch covers a stone vault, inside which is a register of all the names of the victims of the atomic bombings

The atomic bomb dome in Hiroshima. The building was at nearly ground zero, and therefore the force of the explosion was almost entirely downward, rather than shear, which left most of the structure standing.

Miyajima Island (off the coast of Hiroshima) features a famous "floating" tori gate, which looks like it is floating in the water during high tide. At low tide, visitors can actually walk underneath the gate. The island is also home to many deer, who walk among the tourists and locals.

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah, it’s already happening and nobody is doing anything about it.

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Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 7d

Halloween III so underrated. Glad it's finally finding an audience after being relegated to "the one that doesn't even have Michael Myers" (as if that ALONE makes it unworthy of a look) for decades. I never even saw it until I was more initiated and went out of my way. It doesn't get ignored anymore

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 7d

I lived in the Northeast for 25 years and while Winter can cram it (except for the 2-3 weeks around Christmas), Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and sweltering on a 90+ degree day in the south in October makes me miss actual Fall weather BAD.

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 7d

a black and white dog are looking at each other .

ALT: a black and white dog are looking at each other .

media.tenor.com

Final Forum Podcast @finalforumpod.bsky.social · 7d

Modern-day Heathcliff is delightfully abstract.