MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2026)

Posted 2:30 PM by Gerald So

Before its poor review buzz, I thought I might convince some college friends to see Travis Knight's MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE in theaters. Instead, I watched it today on Prime Video and I feel nostalgic for the days we went to fun movies for fun.

Remember when movies with silly premises and sketchy acting had no less chance to be blockbusters? If people wanted to have fun with He-Man, it wouldn't matter if the movie were good or bad; they'd buy tickets to fun.

Do I have bones to pick with MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE? Yes, and I will for your information, but ultimately if you want to enjoy a movie, you can; if you want to dislike a movie, you can.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE retells a story even casual fans of He-Man may know, but with a number of tones that don't harmonize well. The Sorceress of Grayskull sends ten-year-old Prince Adam and the Sword of Power to Queen Marlena's home planet Earth to safeguard them from Skeletor. Adam and the sword are separated on the way. Fifteen years later, Adam is working in human resources when he finds the sword, inadvertently instantly alerting Skeletor and Teela to his and its whereabouts.

On Earth, Beast Man is a growling, non-speaking monster and I wondered if the movie would reduce him to that as the TRANSFORMERS live-action movie originally muted Bumblebee. However, returning to Eternia, Beast Man has full power of speech, as if the script were rewritten to make that change.

Most important, Adam/He-Man's characterization felt off. In the classic 1983 Filmation cartoon, Adam only plays at being soft and uninterested in his royal responsibilities. As He-Man, he's physically more powerful, but basically the savvy person Adam is. In the movie, Adam is a timid boy. His upbringing on Earth isn't shown and his change to He-Man feels rushed. He's more powerful as He-Man, but no less timid.

There are enough emotional beats, but a lot of the building blocks of Adam's character feel glossed over, given too little time to be as meaningful as they could be. From the trailer, I didn't think the movie would be an origin story. I thought Adam would already be He-Man when he were transported to Earth, where he lost the sword and his memory of Eternia. That way, his quest to regain them could've been shorter, and he could get back to the fight before Skeletor could plunge Eternia into fifteen years of tyranny.

As I wrote at the top, none of this would stop you fron having fun with the movie if you wanted. Sequels would be fine. Starting over from scratch would also be fine.

Mattel itself doesn't seem wed to any one version of He-Man. In 2021, two distinct cartoons ran on Netflix: Kevin Smith's adult-oriented MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION/REVOLUTION and Rob David's child-oriented HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. The latest cartoon, Matthew Brown's MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: TALES FROM ETERNIA on the Mattel Adventures YouTube channel, isn't tightly tied to the new movie, either.

Hotel California

Posted 5:30 AM by Gerald So

Photo by Ritesh Singh from Pexels

My brother and I flew to Los Angeles last Thursday for our cousin's wedding Friday and back to New York yesterday.

I would've liked more time to see the city, not just the bit by our hotel in Buena Park. Thanks to another cousin, dinners for forty-two at two Vietnamese restaurants did come together in a flash.

Our travel on JetBlue was smooth. Packing light, I didn't bring a change of shoes; however, my decades-old nobuck Rockport World Tour Classics held up to sitting in a plane for five, six hours, walking Downtown Disney, and the wedding's unique dress code.

It also helped that I adapted my exercise routine to five rounds of five pushups against the hotel room sink, five air squats, and fifteen swings as if my hands were holding a kettlebell. I don't think my brother heard or saw at all.

The Knicks of Time

Posted 12:00 M by Gerald So

Following up Wednesday night's 29-point comeback win, the New York Knicks closed out the 2026 NBA Finals tonight 94-90. It's been so long, I didn't want to post until all was said and done.

Banner by Gerald So

This playoff run reminded me of the dominant 1998 Yankees and the breakthrough 1996 Yankees, even-keel Mike Brown taking over for Tom Thibodeaux as Joe Torre succeeded Buck Showalter, OG Anunoby giving us an improbable win as Jim Leyritz homered off Mark Wohlers to turn the World Series.

I also thought of how the 2025-26 Knicks avoided some past contending Knicks teams' downfalls: Ewing's missed finger roll, Charles Smith's missed tip-ins, John Starks going cold from three in Game 7, all ghosts put to rest.

Like a Storybook Story

Posted 6:00 AM by Gerald So

Riding with my friends Deshant Paúl and Tracy Boni, last night we attended a surprise movie birthday party for our friend John Ricotta, a screening of THE PRINCESS BRIDE at South Bay Cinemas in West Babylon.

L to R: Deshant, me, Anando and Kian Paúl, John
Photo by Tracy Boni

As ever, I'm lucky to have known Deshant and John since we helped start a magazine at Hofstra more than thirty years ago.

John's first daughter Emma graduated college last week. His second daughter Julie sang the national anthem at Yankee Stadium last month. Meanwhile Deshant and Tracy's kids Anando and Kian are much sharper than I was at their age.

Another highlight was catching up with John's mother and uncle, who've been as welcoming to me as he has. Keeping to the 80s movie theme, my present to John was a copy of FUTURE BOY, Michael J. Fox's memoir of filming the first BACK TO THE FUTURE and the third season of FAMILY TIES.

"This is Jim Rockford."

Posted 3:30 AM by Gerald So

I became a fan of THE ROCKFORD FILES as I became a fan of P.I. fiction in the 1990s. The Emmys recognized ROCKFORD for turning the conventional P.I. show on its head. Jim would rather gab than fight. He'd rather go fishing than work a case once a client fired him. James Garner, of course, made it all sing.

So last month, when I read a new Rockford TV pilot was in development, I was skeptical. A previous pilot with Dermot Mulroney hadn't seen air. Another project with Vince Vaughn had fizzled. Still, fans on Bluesky couldn't help speculating:

BONES' Hart Hanson likened David Boreanaz to James Garner. Joanna Cassidy played Jim Rockford's ex-wife in the first 90s Rockford movie. Cassidy went on to play Seeley Booth's mother on BONES. Beverly and Timberman also produced Boreanaz's SEAL TEAM. Would they cast him as Rockford?

— Gerald So (@sogerald.bsky.social) Jan 14, 2026 at 2:47 PM

And yesterday's casting announcement:

I think this is probably fine - Boreanaz is a reliable actor who can be situationally funny and has even played a (vampire) private eye before. But I think I’d be more excited if NBC had gone a little outside the box, as we were all talking about a month ago.

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— Rick Porter (@rickporter.bsky.social) Feb 12, 2026 at 3:31 PM

Just like that, I'm onboard. I say Boreanaz's track record gives the show at least a half-season. This will be a fun role for him after a serious one, as Booth was after Angel.

Speaking of, they have to use this dialogue:

"Angel?"

"I'm Jim. He's Angel."


I also expect Jim to toss down his smartphone and listen to his messages on speaker, voiced by David's former co-stars.

Photo by Ritesh Singh from Pexels

UPDATE - Feb. 26, 2026: Michaela McManus, previously paired with Boreanaz in SEAL TEAM, has been cast in the new Rockford pilot as Kate, an East Hollywood police detective and romantic interest.

Along with McManus's role, Greg Mottola was announced as director. Mottola successfully updated Gregory Mcdonald's Fletch for the 2022 movie CONFESS, FLETCH. I'm confident he'll help bring Jim Rockford to 2026.

UPDATE - March 5, 2026: Australian actress Jacki Weaver has been cast as Karma, Jim's activist trailer park neighbor.

UPDATE - March 18, 2026: Felix Solis, another SEAL TEAM alum, has been cast as Rockford's best friend, Nitty, former hooligan turned successful defense attorney.

FUTURE BOY by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry

Posted 11:30 AM by Gerald So

Published October 14 by Flatiron Books, FUTURE BOY is Fox's memoir of filming BACK TO THE FUTURE while completing Season 3 of FAMILY TIES, written with his longtime producing partner.

The 150-page book with photographs delivers in describing how Fox juggled his high-profile TV role of Alex Keaton and what would be his breakout, best-remembered movie role of Marty McFly. I'm a fan of FAMILY TIES, the first BACK TO THE FUTURE, and of Fox's writing style from his previous memoirs.

I recommend the book to anyone who wants to relive 1985 vicariously through one of Hollywood's most popular actors putting his talent, instinct, and stamina to the test.

Squeezing In

Posted 2:30 AM by Gerald So

Thirty years ago, I was a junior at Hofstra and went to a meeting about starting a student literary magazine. Six people who joined the staff with me have been my best friends since then. Four of us are still in New York.

In recent years we've managed to get together at Dinosaur BBQ in Brooklyn the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Determined to beat the holidays, I suggested we have dinner two nights ago.

L to R: Andrew Carbone, Deshant Paúl, John Ricotta, Gerald So

Andrew suggested Luana's Tavern. He and Deshant had the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. John and I had the Tavern Burger.

EON James Bond Movies Ranked

Posted 2:30 PM by Gerald So

Image by Gerald So

Yesterday on Bluesky I ranked of EON's twenty-five James Bond movies:

25. No Time to Die
24. Spectre
23. Quantum of Solace
22. The World is Not Enough
21. The Man with the Golden Gun
20. Diamonds are Forever
19. Die Another Day
18. A View to a Kill
17. Octopussy
16. You Only Live Twice
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
14. Live and Let Die
13. Moonraker
12. Dr. No
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
10. The Living Daylights
9. Skyfall
8. Licence to Kill
7. From Russia, with Love
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. GoldenEye
4. Casino Royale
3. For Your Eyes Only
2. Thunderball
1. Goldfinger

You can tell right away I didn't like the continuity of Craig's run, but I do appreciate all the Bond actors. Of the four who made more than two movies, you find some at the bottom of the ranks, some in the middle, and some at the top.

UPDATE: A day after posting the above, I realized I had yet to rank EON's six James Bond actors:

6. George Lazenby
5. Daniel Craig
4. Pierce Brosnan
3. Sean Connery
2. Roger Moore
1. Timothy Dalton

This is based only on time as Bond, not my overall opinion of each. I mildly surprised myself ranking Moore ahead of Connery. That's on the strength of Moore's redefining Bond for the 1970s and '80s where Lazenby failed. Without Moore, EON might have made only seven Bond movies.

Also, initially I ranked Brosnan fifth and Craig fourth because Craig made more movies. I decided the fun of Brosnan's movies edged out the number of Craig's. Dalton? Simply my favorite.

I welcome debate in the Comments.

Passing Thought

Posted 5:00 AM by Gerald So

A fan of mystery and crime fiction, I'm wary of the genre trivializing murder and gun violence, the inciting incidents of many stories. Later in my time with the Short Mystery Fiction Society, I proposed changing the group logo, a derringer pocket pistol illustrated by a past president's relative after the Society's Derringer Awards.

Well before my time, the group had chosen the derringer as a metaphor for the short mystery. I grew concerned the public would primarily see the gun and assume it represented a gun rights group. Members spoke up dismissing my concern. I left the Society in 2021 and the awards and logo remain, but I still hope they change one day.

To what, you ask. How about clocks, nonviolent imagery of short mystery's tradition, brevity, and urgency?

What, then, would the awards be called? The Stoppers, as in stopping to recognize winners; as in stopping crime, not capitalizing on it.

The current physical Derringer awards are medals with the illustrated logo in the center. The physical Stopper awards could be wall clocks matching the logo, showing category and year.

One by one

Posted 3:30 AM by Gerald So

On my recent posts, I've noticed many more hits than usual. I don't know where from; I've never tracked stats that closely. Video creation (a.k.a. content creation) has become a viable career for some, but I don't have the numbers. I don't want to monetize my FIVE-TWO poetry videos and have ads drop in mid-line, and I'm not willing to put more of my life on YouTube for money.

That said, I happily sell my writing and I was a listowner in the heyday of email discussions. My three lists—about later P.I. fiction, Robert B. Parker's legacy, and crime TV and cinema—had 100–500 members each, like my videos far from popular, but there for those interested.

My target audience are individuals who "get" my writing, fans of the specific things I like. I created lists because few existed I would join. Today that translates to my FANS OF ROBERT B. PARKER public Matrix room, four users strong so far. I find Matrix a good option for end-to-end encrypted communication. On the side, its unencrypted public rooms offer running, saved chat and the freedom to enter and leave as you please, no need to sub or unsub.

Likewise I don't crave massive social media followings. If you want to follow my Bluesky or Mastodon, you're welcome. I purposely guard against becoming as reflexive with them as I had on Twitter until Musk took over and I quit. Because I had a relatively small following (1,200 in fifteen years), I didn't feel I had to stay longer than I wanted.

It's Not Easy

Posted 3:30 PM by Gerald So

I titled this post after Five For Fighting's 2001 song about Superman because it has to do with my best college friendships, and in college I identified with Superman. I had romantic feelings for one of said friends, and their going unrequited threatened our friendship and my equilibrium. I could only handle it, I imagined, if I were Superman. My disappointment still spilled out at times, but less than it would have without my super thought experiment.

Fast forward thirty years, for about half of which the same college friends have dreamed of a destination reunion. It's finally happening next month, a long weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota, only I'm not going. My friends are all married, most with kids. I'm single, no kids. I'm also disabled. Can't drive well enough to pass a road test. We became friends in part because they drove me, enabling me to join in any group fun I could ask.

For the reunion, too, a friend offered to book flights together and arranged airport rides. I think this longstanding dynamic blinds them to realities of my disability always apparent to me. For one, getting ready each day. At home I do it in private. At a rental house with a handful of roommates? Not entirely possible. They are my friends because they accept everything about me, but I'm still self-conscious. It wouldn't be an issue if we had hotel rooms, but the house is the point of this trip.

I paid my share of the rent shortly after my mother's death. I thought a getaway would be good for me by the time it rolled around, but I find I'm still concerned I'd bring down the mood. So I passed, but that was far from the end of it.

While it's true we haven't all gotten together in persion in many years, we chat and email and video call regularly. I count all these because I never know if I can make events or trips. A lot of things to line up. That's true for everyone, but it might seem so in my case. I've freelanced from home with my mom's and brother's support since well before the pandemic and the past three years caring for Mom after her bouts of pneumonia. In calmer times, it looks as if I can rearrange my schedule to do anything.

My friends are used to including me, convincing me, in effect overlooking my self-consciousness. Others might empathize, knowing it doesn't mean I'm retreating from friendships; it means I'm cool with what friends want to keep to themselves.

Max Weekend

Posted 7:00 AM by Gerald So

Thanks to a sale at GOG.com, I spent the second half of the holiday weekend playing the 1990 spy computer game SID MEIER'S COVERT ACTION. I recall finishing the game years ago, but I had to relearn three of the four mini-games.

If you're too young to remember the game, a recap: You play Bondian CIA freelancer Maximillian/Maxine Remington, foiling plots by arresting or turning co-conspirators and retrieving key items (blueprints, alarm bypasses, etc.). Your ability to arrest and turn depends on gathering evidence by wiretapping, decoding messages, infiltrating hideouts, and/or trailing suspects by car.

Sid Meier criticized the mini-games in retrospect as being too disparate and distracting from each other. I originally finished just by breaking into hideouts, photoing evidence and snatching suspects in the process, not caring whether I turned them (for double points) or if masterminds went into hiding. Still the mini-games' variety is fun. Breaking cases the way I did as a teen got me promoted to top agent, but the best winning condition is to arrest all twenty-six masterminds. I like that the rival organizations are real: KGB, Mossad, Revolutionary Guards, Colombian Cartel, etc. Only working for the President hasn't aged well, in my opinion.

"Here's a commendation from the President."

Keep it.

Rewatching DREAM ON

Posted 6:30 AM by Gerald So

Created by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, the raunchy HBO half-hour sitcom DREAM ON premiered four years before their NBC mega-hit FRIENDS and ran six seasons totaling 120 episodes. Brian Benben stars as New York book editor and divorced dad Martin Tupper, trying to move on as his ex-wife Judith (Wendie Malick) is engaged to fantasy man Dr. Richard Stone.

Old TV and movie cuts depicting Martin's thinking are the show's signature. Casual sex is the show's point in part, but it is cleverly shot. Despite the double entendre of tupper, Martin packs condoms and an unassuming way you imagine would be widely appealing.

While most of Martin's sex partners appear only once, their chemistry is often more than physical attraction. I remember some vividly. Martin tries a few commitments during the series, but remains tacitly in love with Judith.

The first two seasons got a 2004 DVD set. The full series only recently reunited on The Roku Channel.

Here's an interview with Brian Benben from Fresh Air with Terry Gross, dated October 26, 1994.

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"Do I look like I give a damn?"

Posted 4:30 AM by Gerald So

This Daniel Craig CASINO ROYALE quote is how I choose to react to the news Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have sold creative control of the James Bond film franchise to Amazon MGM Studios.

It's bad news in that the movies will no longer have the personal touch that began with Cubby Broccoli, but I've also taken issue with how rigid the family has been, not in their depiction of Bond over the years, but with how the movies are written, produced, and directed. This breeds familiarity but not the most excitement.

Can impersonal corporate giant Amazon hype new Bond movies? I think it would be smart of them to retain some Broccoli flavor at least with their first movie. From there, they can branch out. The history of the Bond movies is a big part of why people get excited for them. It would be a waste if Amazon didn't tap into that.

Some worry that Bond will be spun off to death, dilluting the big screen movies. I don't know that that's a major problem. I'm primarily interested in the big screen movies and would continue watching them and leaving the rest, my approach to Star Wars. Meanwhile, though, smaller Bond-adjacent projects could make money to enhance the big screen movies. MGM alone had struggled with financing for decades. Original co-producer Harry Saltzman sold his stake when 1974's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN underperformed.

Another concern is EON has mined Ian Fleming's twelve Bond books repeatedly already. Notice for Daniel Craig's run, they used Fleming titles CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE but Craig's five movies were really one prolonged story, not the usual varied adventures. SKYFALL's and SPECTRE's opening themes hinted at finality: "This is the end," "The writing's on the wall." These may have been signs EON was genuinely out of ideas.

Amazon may be more willing to tap post-Fleming sources such as John Gardner's or Raymond Benson's sequels or hire someone to write a wholly new, cutting-edge Bond screenplay. Amazon also doesn't need to take EON's approach of casting actors to play Bond for several movies. They could cast someone right for one movie, then cast someone else right for the next. Ultimately we'll see if Amazon can conjure Bond movie magic. I'll let you know if I feel it.

What I Learned in College

Posted 3:30 AM by Gerald So

Some pundits say one reason the Democrats lost on Election Day was they were unable to frame their policies to reach workers who see the party as know-it-all elitists. As someone who loved college and went on to be an English teacher, I don't understand the animosity toward education. It's true college changes and matures you, for the better, in my experience.

I grew up around a large, tight-knit extended family. After Catholic elementary school, I was rejected from my first-choice Catholic high school, where my brother was a student, but I chose to attend St Mary's in Manhasset. After that, I felt I had enough of a religious foundation and wanted to meet a wider variety of people.

I attended Hofstra because one of my favorite English teachers was an alum. Hofstra had an Asian American Organization, but I didn't join. I didn't want friendships primarily based on common ethnicity. By contrast, my younger cousin eventually attended Hofstra, too, and became AAO president.

At the start of second semester junior year, I heard about a meeting to explore creating a student literary magazine. I attended and not only saw all kinds of people but befriended many of them, including someone four years younger, who had skipped second and eighth grades. He wore a Detroit Lions cap, so I turned to him and said, "Barry Sanders." It was that easy.

Others at the meeting stood out in their own ways, which is what attracted me. We built the magazine FONT from common interest in writing, welcoming any students to have a say in what was published. Six people who worked on the early magazine remain my best friends today. I was already open, but I learned to be much moreso. I saw how everyone's differences improved the magazine.

I'm massively disappointed America wasn't ready to elect Kamala Harris president. I'm all the more grateful that my college experience lived up to the ideal of diversity. I think college would benefit almost everyone who derides it. It's one of the best and safest ways to open your mind. If you resist opening your mind, ask yourself why. Is what you are now all you ever want to be?

Stacey Williams, Jeffrey Epstein, and Donald Trump

Posted 5:30 AM by Gerald So

Former SPORTS ILLUSTRATED swimsuit model Stacey Williams has accused Donald Trump of groping her in 1993, while Jeffrey Epstein, whom she was dating, watched.

Williams is my favorite model of the era. I remember a sound bite of her from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's 1993 Swimsuit Video:

I try so hard to keep this just as a job, and it's what I do, and it's not what I am. I guess I'm someone that actively pursues change and growth. I think I'm a lot more at peace with myself. I'm a lot less affected by what's going on around me, really working towards finding that peace, that peace within. I've been alone, meaning without a relationship, a boyfriend or anything, for almost two years now. Not just without a boyfriend, but I spend a lot of time. As I said, I do yoga, I meditate, and I write a lot, and I think you grow a lot from spending time alone. You learn a lot about yourself.

I'm sorry Trump and Epstein victimized her. I'm glad she's speaking out now.

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Let's Get Bowling

Posted 9:00 AM by Gerald So

This morning I downloaded a 2013 free 3D bowling game for my 2014 Kindle Fire HD. I have no excuse for taking so long.

Stephen Amell auditioned for Young Gibbs in NCIS: ORIGINS

Posted 5:00 PM by Gerald So

Hard to believe he was passed over.

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James Earl Jones Dies

Posted 1:00 AM by Gerald So

James Earl Jones died Monday aged 93. My favorite of his performances was Admiral James Greer in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. His influence in the role is felt in Morgan Freeman's THE SUM OF ALL FEARS character Bill Cabot and Wendell Pierce's JACK RYAN TV series character, field operative James Greer.

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James Darren Dies

Posted 12:00 N by Gerald So

Actor, director, and singer James Darren died yesterday at 88. I'll remember him most fondly for playing Vic Fontaine, the self-aware, holographic 20th century Vegas lounge singer who helped Odo and Kira act on their feelings on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE.

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