🍿 Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

‘Rebel Moon’ is “cinematic poetry.”

– Armond White (Snyder’s super fan and film critic)

I had been waiting for this movie to come out for a while and all I knew about it was that it was a Netflix film directed by Zack Snyder. The film finally came out and I didn’t get a chance to watch it right away. Unfortunately, the internet makes noise and it was getting poor reviews which makes me even more curious.

According to the Wikipedias this film was inspired by the works of Akira Kurosawa, and the Star Wars film. I can definitely see the Star Wars films inspiration here but that’s not what I’m here for, those things are overrated. The AKIRA KUROSAWA part, now we’re talking. And when I learned this fact about the KUROSAWA-inspired work it all made sense then.

This movie is basically 🍿 Seven Samurai (1954) but in a sci-fi world. This makes me think more of the anime TV show Samurai 7 (2004), it’s that show but in a very different setting.

I enjoyed the heck out of this movie but I am a Snyder fan, thus, I might be a little biased. It is not a perfect movie because there aren’t perfect movies, I mean, art is subjective. Ain’t it? I do agree with this Armand guy, it is cinematic poetry.

Another Naples Florida work trip. This is for the fall 2023 season. Which started Sunday the 10th, at 4:00 am (🫠).

First flight, BOI to MSP

There (at MSP) I was introduced to what an espresso martini is, never have I ever had one.

After an almost 5 hour overlay – and a beer or two – our next destination was Fort Myers, FL, MSP to RSW.

This one is probably the longest flight of the two, I little over 3 hours. It kind of sucks. We also took off late as they needed to deice the plane before taking off.

Thus, we arrived much later than planned and famished. Very uneventful evening after that, quick dinner, hotel check-in, and sleep!

Monday

Field day, cucurbits evaluation (squash, and watermelon)

The day started great, we may or may not have gotten stuck in the sand with our truck, though (🫠).

Otherwise, a perfect fall Florida day in the field.

Spot the off-type there (😉)

Truly, the weather was perfect!

After a long first day, it was time to wind down but also meet up with other colleagues for supper. Not before doing some computer work as well. We found this little cute bar in Downtown Naples,Old Naples Pub, Naples

It was small and cozy but very inviting. And of course, they had gator bites for appetizers so, I mean, when in Florida… 🐊

Then we head out for dinner, at this place called,The Dock, Naples

It was a really nice spot and by the dock or marina. We were the only people sitting outside with the view of the marina and Christmas decorations in the distance.

The food was great, obviously mostly seafood (no pictures, however). I remember having some kind of pasta with lobster and probably the best cornbread I’ve ever had in my life. It was more cakey than bready.

Tuesday, day two.

Sweetcorn evaluation. Nothing too exciting, we only had less than 1K plants to evaluate, finding two off-types. It took us a little over 10 minutes. Once the data was collected, we decided to go out to do some computer work over brunch.

We found this little place called, The Rooster, Naples

The Rooster

It is a very southern cuisine style. I was tempted by the chicken and waffles but that I can find almost anywhere. So I went for some Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Benne with Poached Eggs & Citrus Hollandaise. And a Hummingbird Cake to finish it off.

So good!

Then we needed a space to do some more real computer work. So we found a spot at the, Ridgway Bar & Grill, Naples.

Here was pretty much at the heart of downtown Naples. The people here were weird, well, pretentious Floridians or perhaps not even Floridians and more like snowbirds. Every conversation we overheard was about expensive cars, boats, and typical entitled people like complaints. It was an interesting perspective to witness.

Tuesday evening. A colleague from Woodland, happened to also be in town on a different project, so we agreed to meet up for dinner at the Divieto Ristorante, Aventura. An Italian restaurant. I had a hard time making up some of the stuff on the menu unless I read the description. And omg, they had a tomahawk steak.

A purchase that my boss advised against it (😅). We suggested ordering it, eating it between all of us, and splitting the check (😁).

The worst part about this restaurant is, they have no beer! And their wine list was so massive, I had no idea what to go for. Eventually, I went with the server’s recommendation which was a DiNotte Mezzacorona Red blend. It was pretty good and I thought it’d be a very expensive wine. I looked it up, turns out, that it is about a 10.00 USD bottle of wine u less I found the wrong thing.

Anyway, we had some CARPACCIO DI MANZO as an appetizer,

Thin slices of beef topped with fresh mushrooms, arugula, and shaved parmesan cheese, drizzled with white truffle oil. Served with focaccia bread.

The entree, a DIVIETO SPECIAL STEAK

Enjoy this house specialty. Grilled to perfection skirt steak in our signature mushroom-Madeira wine sauce. Served with mashed potatoes.

All pretty tasty and spendy. After some rock paper scissors to who would pay for dinner, in the end, there was no real winner (I mean I won, however) since we ended up spilling the bill anyway. Turns out, Italian restaurants can be pretty expensive.

And that was pretty much the trip. It was full of good food, good times with colleagues, and good weather.

Then, all over again on the way back. RSW TO MSP, MSP to BOI.

Some of the movies were watched during this trip.

🍿 A Compassionate Spy (2022)

🍿 Fast X (2023)

🍿 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

🍿 Gran Turismo (2023)

🍿 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

I love a good fantasy story, like Lord of The Rings, The Wheel Of Time, etc. As long as is on visual media, like TV shows, movies, graphic novels, and even video games. But whenever I try to read (or listen to books on tape), I can’t get into them as much as I try or would love to. Not sure is maybe to a lack of imagination or attention span or just the fact that I am very visual. Or perhaps is the fact that many times these stories start slow? Compared to a thriller like The Terminal List series.

Currently, I am listening to The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story by M. L. Wang I am about 3 hours or so in and the first two were, well I felt like I was forcing myself to stick to it, until it finally got more interesting, to me. Apart from anything from Neil Gaiman’s, every fantasy book (or book on tape) that I start, I end up dropping or forgetting about.

Now, any of those fantasy books that I’ve ever tried and dropped, make them a motion picture show adaptation, and I’ll be all over them!

That being said, it is also a shame, because there are so many good stories out there that will never make it to any visual media.