MINDLESS FUN
What would happen if you gave a 13-year-old movie buff nearly unlimited resources to produce an action movie with a thin plot about overthrowing an evil dictator? Probably something like Michael Bay's 6 Underground, recently dropped on Netflix. Action movie one-liners and pop culture references make up a ridiculous amount of the script, clearly meant to poke fun at itself as it gives all focus to chase scenes, guns, over-the-top explosions and Deadpool-reminiscent sarcastic quips. But ya know what? It's the holidays, and it's stressful and miserable at times. This is one of those movies you can put on, turn off your brain and just enjoy for its gory and exciting, if somewhat meaningless, two hours. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Catch up on some of the year's best music. These are the five albums that got the most critical acclaim in 2019 according to metacritic.com:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, GhosteenWeyes Blood, Titanic Rising
Little Simz, Grey Area
Baroness, Gold & Grey
Raphael Saadiq, Jimmy Lee
HE'S BAD, HE'S NATIONWIDE
Spokane comedian Phil Kopczynski has been making folks laugh well beyond the Inland Northwest for a while now, but with his latest special Full Grown Man hitting the Drybar comedy app this month, he'll likely reach more folks than ever. Drybar offers hundreds of hours of comedy free if you download the app (you can watch Kopczynski's special for $1 if your app-averse). Most of the material in the special, Kopczysnki notes in an email, was developed right here in the Lilac City. Check it out at drybarcomedy.com/specials/phil-kopczynski-full-grown-man. (DAN NAILEN)
STILL DANCING
Spokane-based author Sherry Jones' most recent novel, Josephine Baker's Last Dance, released in 2018, could be headed to the silver screen. Last week it was announced that actress Paula Patton had optioned filming rights for the biographical novel, and hopes to star in and produce the adaptation. Josephine Baker was an icon of the Jazz Age, served as an Allied spy during World War II and later became a civil rights activist. (CHEY SCOTT)
THE BEST NEWS
For those of us old enough to remember when Gary Larson's The Far Side comic made every day better before he retired in 1995, the news that the cartoonist was launching a new website dedicated to the surreal and hilarious one-panel works came with much rejoicing. Besides daily posts of classic cartoons full of talking animals, mad scientists and ladies in horn-rimmed glasses, the WSU alum Larson also promises some new material, too. Huzzah! Check it at thefarside.com. (DAN NAILEN)
