A teen drama, but not your typical teen drama. A group of friends (Pogues - you’re either a Pogue or a Kook in this show) from the wrong side of town are on the trail of a long-buried mystery. We see as they uncover the mystery how this spirals from one disaster to another. Watching through the pilot episode, we’re introduced to the main characters, John B, JJ, Pope, and Kiara. We learn about the rivalry between the Pogues from the cut and the Kooks from the rich side of town.

Minor spoilers ahead. The show’s been out for years so, whatever.

It doesn’t take long for the relationship drama to kick in. John B falls for Sarah Cameron, a Kook from the rich side of the island, which crosses just about every line the Pogues stand for and pulls her right into the middle of the hunt. There’s friction inside the group too, the kind you get from four mates who’d do anything for each other but don’t always agree on how. None of it feels like filler. It all winds up feeding the stakes and pushing the story forward.

The show was created by Jonas Pate, the same creator behind The Runarounds, which I watched and loved last year. Same coastal vibe, same knack for a tight young cast. The Runarounds even started life as a real band that popped up in Outer Banks, so watching The Runarounds led me to this.

When I started writing this post I had already started the second season, and now a week later after finally finishing the post I’ve finished the second season. I’ve paused starting the third so I can write this post, lol, and also watch a few other shows in between.

What I loved about the second season is the original mystery that was deeply intertwined with John B kind of wraps up. Disappointingly so, I guess it’s going to come back in the later seasons. So to keep the show going the mystery intensifies, but this time centered around Pope. New bad guys introduced, more unrealistic situations for sixteen-year-olds happen and more plot twists appear.

I’ve said this about a few books I’ve read in the past, but sometimes these stories would land better if the characters were ten years older. I just can’t realistically see sixteen/seventeen-year-olds being able to do this.

So, I was on the edge of my seat for a few days while I slammed through the episodes. The last two or three were intense. I enjoyed the twists, and especially loved the cliffhanger.

It won’t be long before I dive into the third.

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Even if you’re not a fan of underground hip-hop, or even hip-hop in general you may have heard of MF Doom. MF Doom is your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper.

The podcast, hosted by AFRODEUTSCHE and Adam Batty takes us through the story of how the reclusive underground MC from Long Island, New York came up in the underground Hip Hop scene and wound up in Leeds, England where he passed away in 2020.

It’s crazy to me how many American based Hip Hop artists were born outside of the USA but are still able to make it big in American hip-hop. His particular circumstances when it came to leaving and coming back to the States after touring were quite unfortunate but highlights the stance the United States takes on immigration. I’d hate to think how this would have come down if he was going through this today with the current immigration climate over there.

I’ve always been aware of MF Doom and listen to his music, but not a mega fan. What this podcast has done for me is bump up some of his albums to the top of my vinyl wish list.

The podcast is made of five 30 minute episodes. Even if you’re not a big Hip Hop head, give it a listen 🤙

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I did find Robb a bit whingey at first, but I enjoyed how quickly he went from reluctant to ruthless. Tuck the monk was a great addition to the crew, I liked his wrestling with his faith and where he drew the line, but ultimately came back around. Little John was a weird one though, where he was literally hunting Robb, bested him and the millers, and then immediately joined the cause after a vision. That felt a bit rushed.

The Earl of Huntingdon was an absolute munter though. Easy to dislike, which I suppose is the point. It’s always good to see Sean Bean in a show, he had such an impact on Game of Thrones in only a single season, but his portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham wasn’t as impactful. And Priscilla, his daughter, no idea what was going on there, lol.

The show has me thinking about a Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves rewatch, a favourite when I was younger - maybe because of that banger Bryan Adams song on the soundtrack. The stories are similar but different enough to get me interested.

I find the time period and story of Robin Hood interesting and the show has me keen to dive into some history of the Norman conquests - if you have any recs, let me know.

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Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a Netflix anime created by Studio Trigger in collaboration with CD Projekt Red (the developers of the game), set in the same world as the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

I really enjoyed this one. Familiar locations from the game, an intense storyline, and that over-the-top animation I associate with anime (not that I’m super familiar with it). It dives into relationships, survival, and the mental toll of living with cybernetic enhancements. The animation was quite grousome at times.

So far this year I’ve enjoyed Arcane, which had a seriously good soundtrack, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. I’d love to see something similar set in the Warcraft universe.

Got any other anime recommendations based on stuff I might already be into?

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You can listen through your favourite podcast app or find the feed on The Spinoff’s podcasts page. If you’re in New Zealand, they’ve taken it a step further - in collaboration with Holiday Records, they’ve actually pressed the podcast onto vinyl and distributed it to more than 40 record stores across the country.

I haven’t had a chance to get out to any of the local record stores for a hunt for a copy yet, been busy house hunting, but I’m keen to see if I can still track one down. What a brilliant idea.

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What an unhinged show. I haven’t watched a TV series set in the DC universe since giving up on The Arrow and The Flash years ago, so this one felt like a fresh change of pace. Nothing to do with CW I guess. I got curious about the Vigilante character, Adrian Chase, the name sounded familiar from The Arrow, but turns out it’s a different character entirely. There’s plenty of discussion on Reddit if you want to go down that rabbit hole.

I’ve always liked John Cena, and he absolutely nails this role. The supporting cast was great too, especially Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, who pops up across a few of the other DC projects.

Oh, James Gunn is behind this show, no wonder I loved it. I really enjoyed his recent Superman movie too. I’m not usually a DC fan, but I’m definitely a DC fan when James Gunn is involved.

The best part? I get to dive straight into season two. Peace.

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Eight episodes feels like the right length. It tells a complete story without dragging things out. The group dynamic was spot on, and I loved the way it balanced the music, drama and messiness of their lives. That scene in the final episode when they’re all in the car, everyone singing along to Miley Cyrus’ The Climb, was perfect.

Not sure if it even needs a second season, but if this is all we get, I’m good with it.

Here’s the music video for their song Minivan.

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I managed to compelte this about thirty minutes before Season 1 finished.

This has been the most difficult activity I’ve completed so far in this game across the last nineteen years. That’s including the original Rhok’delar questline back in the original game.

The kill took me around one hundred pulls, where each pull lasted between three to five minutes each. As a Marksmanship Hunter I found it difficult to keep damage up on the must kill add when having to dodge the many mechanics, especially near the end of the second phase where they seemed to overalp each other. It got hectic.

After a few close calls of 12-8% I felt like I wasn’t going to make it, but finally, adrenaline pumping I got the kill.

That’ll teach me for leaving something like this to the literal last minute.

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Back then I wrote:

Not sure if I’ll like this but willing to give it a go.

Well I gave it a go, blasted through it across three evenings and damn, what a dumb fun TV show. The soundtrack is banging, much to do with the “end of the world” happening in 2002 and so all the music up until then was music that they knew 20 years later!

Cast wise, lots of familiar faces. The guy that lost to Eminem in 8 Mile, the tough cop from Broklyn 99, and I always enjoy seeing Neve Campbell.

One interesting thing I noticed during the final episode, was where Falcon’s character, John was having some flashbacks while talking to Neve Campbell, one flashback was recieving the Cypress Hill’s fifth studio album, Skull & Bones as a Christmas present. The same album I wrote about back in May when I first thought about watching this show in the first place. Woah.

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As a millennial in the late 90s, I grew up watching teen movies, dreaming of moving to America to attend college and party. I saw many of these in the theatre and then repeatedly on DVD.

My favourite teen movies from the late 90s and early 2000s were:

• Comedy: Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), American Pie (1999), Road Trip (2000), Van Wilder (2002), Euro Trip (2004) (Scotty doesn’t know!)

• Thriller: Scream (1996), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Final Destination (2000), The Craft (1996)

• RomCom/Drama: Empire Records (1995), She’s All That (1999), Drive Me Crazy, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Clueless (1995), Cruel Intentions (1999).

Was the teen experience of the '90s/2000s different to the experience of teens in the 2010s? What happened to them? ‘Superbad’ (2007), the last of this type I saw in the theatre, seems to have bridged the gap.

The 2010s saw a resurgence in teen movies, but they followed a different path. They took on a more serious tone, exploring deeper themes and emotions. Films like Lady Bird (2017), Adventureland (2009), The Way Way Back (2013), The Fault In Our Stars (what a tear jerker), Me, Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), Paper Towns (2015), The Edge of 17 (2016), mid90s (2018) solidified this shift. However, some light-hearted, funny ones, like Dope (2015) and Book Smart (2019), brought the hilarious hijinx back.

The change in teen movies from the 2000s to the 2010s shows a shift in society and culture. Someone smarter than me could probably dive in and better understand what caused this change and how broader cultural changes influenced teen movies.

Did moving from the cinema experience to the world of streaming opened up more avenues for audiences to explore rather than what was shown at the theatre, similar to how music seems less huge these days. Like back in the day there were mega stars that you don’t see these days outside of a few that really get pushed by the labels.

Whatever happened, I’m glad I got to experience this period of movies in the late 90s.

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