Tranquil Dreams Podcast #9 What’s Up 2021 Week 16

Welcome to the next episode of Tranquil Dreams Podcast! Its time to go back to a weekly recap for the What’s Up segment as I discuss what I’ve been currently reading, playing, watching and binging. This past week had a few film rewatches and a discussion of my love for Netflix guilty pleasure TV as well as my thoughts on some Chinese TV series that I wrapped up: A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower and The Sword and the Brocade. Some of the few things that I discussed in this episode along with a touch on the lesser categories this week in reading and playing. 

Hope you enjoy!

Related Links

Enola Holmes – Film Review
Anna and the Apocalypse – Film Review
The Circle (Season 1) – TV Binge
Too Hot To Handle (Season 1) – TV Binge

Music in the Episode:
There It Is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4519-there-it-is
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Listen to the Show:
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Spotify
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What’s Up Week 13: The first quarter of 2019 is behind us!

Another week has gone by and as March wraps up, the first quarter of the year is done. Since I’ve been really enjoying the written formats of this, I think that I might do a video format soon of things. I haven’t forgotten about doing videos but its just been incredibly busy that editing anything seems to be hard to find time for nowadays. A seasonal round-up sounds like a good way to do it where I’ll just highlight some fave movies, TV, books and games in the first quarter. I’ll get around to it soon before the rush starts.

READING

Currently reading: Obsidio

So close to the end but yet, when this week ended, Obsidio is still in progress. I’m at the big showdown part now where things are going to be chaotic. I don’t usually like to start those parts without having sufficient amount of time to read it all in one go. I honestly can’t wait to finish it because its been one heck of a ride. Not only in terms of this book but the entire trilogy. A part of me wants to re-read all of the trilogy back to back and see how it works without all the gaps in between. But then, I have a ton of books in the TBR pile, both physical and on Kindle.

PLAYING

Currently playing: Thumper

Gaming has been real sparse as I dive into working on the Mobile Games Roundup. I don’t usually list the mobile games to keep a surprise factor for that post. Since it was my birthday weekend and there’s been still a few game reviews to get done. I took a break with new things and went back to try and get back some Thumper skills to at least try to get past where I’ve been stuck for the past 2 year (well, I stopped playing it about 2 years ago or something….). Its a work in progress but I’m getting better. Things get back to normal next week. This might still be in the currently playing but I’ll have something else done.

WATCHING

• Eloise (2016)
• Crimson Peak (Rewatch – Original review)
• Life
• Jaws 3
• Jaws: The Revenge

In between some bad Jaws sequels, a below average horror film, a sci-fi film and a Del Toro gothic romance, its really hard to truly pinpoint what was worse. I can tell you there was only two of these which I enjoyed more than the other three for sure and then out of those two, one of this was a rewatch that proved to not live up to how I thought of it the first time. That pretty much narrows it down to one choice, Life. Look, I know that a lot of people gave this movie crap for its similarities to Alien but I thought it worked. Its not Alien but then that movie is a freakin’ classic but Life does a good few things great. I’ll review it soon, once I think of what to pair it up with for a double feature. Still, if you haven’t seen it, give it a chance. It might just surprise you.

BINGING

• My Amazing Boyfriend 2: Unforgettable Impression (2019)

Currently binging: The Singer 2019, Mr. Swimmer, The Brightest Star in the Sky, On My Block Season 2, Great Escape

So…luck has it that April is just around the corner and while one series is wrapped up, everything else that I had my eye on in 2019 for Chinese drama is getting released. Choices, right? I did a test run of a few of them to see which one caught my attention the most to keep watching. You might see some currently binging rotation going on. Of course, Friday also saw the new season of On My Block released which I’ve been waiting for desperately since the cliffhanger ending in Season 1 last year. My Amazing Boyfriend 2 finished finally and boy, was it a fun ride. I actually think the change of cast worked great and hopefully, maybe they’ll do a third one with this cast but then with Mike Angelo heading into his first role in Hollywood, maybe he won’t do China stuff anymore, although Bingbing Fan also had that development and still stayed in the Chinese entertainment. So who knows, right?

With that said, new things on the list goes to The Brightest Star in the Sky which I’m liking so far and then a new Hunan TV variety show called Great Escape which I had posted the trailer on the Facebook page and is an escape room sort of deal. I can’t say the first episode was really exciting but I can see that once they find their rhythm, it could be fun. While The Singer 2019 is heading into the semi finals and finals so its getting exciting because all the people I like made it through so far.

That’s it for this What’s Up!
What have you been reading/watching/playing/binging?

What’s Up 2019: Week 6 Bring on the Romance Films!

Welcome to Week 6 of 2019!

I’m afraid to admit that things are still fairly in limbo this week. Although, I’ve been still fairly busy with Chinese New Year celebrations so put a few things to the side. I’m mostly recuperating some energy and playing catch up with writing and such. Yet again, Valentine’s marathon is still on so bring on the massive list of movies!

READING

Currently reading: One Flew Through the Dragon Heart (Favan & Flew #1) by C.S. Johnson

I’m past the 30% mark of the book now. Its been pretty tiring in general so I haven’t put a whole lot of energy on reading but I need to pick up the pace and will probably finish this next week. One Flew Through the Dragon Heart is pretty cool. I’m liking it quite a bit especially with its setting and the use of magic and mechanics. The characters are pretty good so far as well. I have a few things that I feel a bit lacking but with only 30% of the book, there is lots of space for the story and character development to change my opinion on it.

PLAYING

Currently playing: Thumper

I have a million games (exaggeration) to get through but somehow, I only found time to play one level of Thumper in one week. Its pretty sad but the reality that gaming was the one that took the hit. It mostly has to do with the fact that I have so many reviews that I’ve started but not finished and its put me in a writing game reviews slump and gaming slump in general. The main goal is to get those done and then move on, and boy do I need to move along and play something else. However, if you haven’t played Thumper, you absolutely should because it is a fantastic rhythm game. I’m stuck on Level 6 which is why this playthrough isn’t complete but I keep trying to beat it.

WATCHING

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Review)
• How Do You Know (Review)
• Ibiza (Review)
• Just Friends (Review)
• Krrish (Review)
• Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner
• Little Dragon Maiden (Review)
• Midnight Sun (Review)

Valentine’s Marathon is still going very strong. The double feature thing is getting more hectic than I imagined (not sure why I didn’t expect it to be). However, its going to go on for the rest of the month to finish off the alphabet. I really want to get an entire alphabet round done again. Its been a while. With that said, we got a few good pairings here and while there are some fairly lackluster film choices that ended up on the viewing list. The standout films of this week goes to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I loved so much that I used as the kickoff selection for the Movies and Tea blog’s Friday Film Club HERE), Ibiza and surprisingly, Midnight Sun. As an aside, I took a little moment on Friday night to watch the new Netflix comedy show for Ray Romano which was pretty decent. Some jokes landed much better than others but overall, it was a nice watch.

BINGING

• Nailed It! Mexico (Season 1, 2019)

Currently binging: The Singer 2019, My Little One (Season 2)

At this point, I’ve binged all the Nailed It series, so when the Mexico edition was announced and then released last Friday, we got right to it on Sunday evening. Nailed It is about as bingeable as ever because its only 8 episodes of 30 minutes so that makes it so easy to get though because its such a small commitment. I should have the binge up very soon but overall, its a very similar experience just adding in the reading subtitles which might make the jokes a little harder to deliver. Other than that, the currently binging ones have taken a break on TV series and gone mostly on the stuff that is currently playing and I’m still enjoying The Singer 2019 and My Little One, especially the latter having a really meaningful latest episode.

That’s it for this What’s Up!
We have next week which will still be movie heavy for a part of it but things are picking up on other sections, I promise.

What have you been reading/watching/playing/binging?

What’s Up Thursday #5

Its been 2 months, y’all! 2 entire months that I haven’t done this post.

It was meant to be a casual segment though. So with the posts going up, really there wasn’t too much to talk about. Actually there was because when watching lots of movies, I actually binged through some TV series and played a ton of games on the downtime. However, this time, I do want to because I skipped a Weekly Adventures. Its okay if you didn’t notice but I want to make up for it just a little so here we are!

BINGING

Yup. The husband finally got his wish so we are watching Ash vs. Evil Dead, the first season. Its really fun and everything you would expect it to be especially if you like Army of Darkness which we do. You can see my review for it HERE.

Other than that, I’m just catching up with TV binge posts so not really watching anything else other than the last season Shark Tank. I am about to start Stranger Things though, or maybe something else like start Quantico or actually finish Cardinal, which I’ve put on hold for a few months.

READING

I literally just started Ready Player One a few days ago. I’ve been taking my time and energy levels are a little low in turn concentration not there also. So, hopefully next week, I will be back to the reading mood now that I’ve caught up with my long to-do list.

PLAYING

If you are a subscriber over on the Game Warp Youtube channel (consider subscribing if you haven’t), you’ll probably realize that I have a ton of playthroughs going on there. The goal now is to wrap games up so I always have a longer game and some shorter ones to work on. The main focus and ones that have me captivated and grinding through (respectively or simulataneously) are these three.

As of today, the goal is to wrap up The Darkside Detective and have all the playthroughs up by mid next week. Which is completely doable. The Darkside Detective is a fun point and click paranormal adventure. We had a chat with the devs Spooky Doorway last month. You can find it HERE. Our review should be up soon.

Now that I’ve gotten my husband watching Ash vs. Evil Dead, I have possession of the Playstation 4 again. And its gotten me back into the groove of console gaming so I’m playing through the first Crash Bandicoot from the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy, which is so hard! Its a huge grind especially the level that I just passed with the helpful tip of my co-host. Now, its onwards to the next level which is another boulder chase…I’ll get it eventually. 😉

Thumper was the most recent game that I purchased, along with two rather popular visual novels which I’ll probably do a chill stream on soon (maybe Friday nights or something). I was determined to wait for it to have a price drop on PS4 because I just don’t see my PC giving me the same visual experience. And it did during E3! I’m a sucker for rhythm games and this one is kind of like a hardcore WipeOut with Patapon battle styles. Each level is about 20+ separate stages which act as checkpoints and it usually has at least a boss and a final boss to defeat. Its all about reaction and coordination (in some ways) and I love it. I love games that challenge you in this sort of way, possibly one of the biggest differences as gamers between myself and my husband, I’d say.

Other games that I’m working on would be

• The Elder Scrolls Legends: Heroes of Skyrim which this card battle is properly kicking me in the behind. So I’m taking a break from it as to gather my thoughts and strategy.
• Drifting Lands: a fun one but also stuck at a level right now. Shoot ’em up is not really my type of game but there’s some odd satisfaction to this one.

That’s it for this What’s Up segment!
What have you been binging, reading and/or playing?