Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: August 2026 (Patreon)

Alan:

Hello Heroes!

We went on tour! Launched a crowdfunding campaign for a movie! Lots of other things! What is sleep?

What I’m reading!

I haven’t finished a single book this month! Gotta stop slacking! Also, I’m currently reading four books at the same time. Drives Megan absolutely bananas, she has no idea how I can follow all that at the same time. ADHD ftw!!!

What I’m watching!

Lots of new movies! Some of them we’re going to talk about on the show!

The Amazing Digital Circus: I’m gonna be honest. I don’t get it. Like, it’s actually pretty funny when it’s being funny. But it’s so unpleasant to look at and often to listen to. And a lot of it is SO on-the-nose, beat-the-audience-over-the-head with the disorders and the feelings. I don’t understand why it’s the size smash that it is. Finding a cult audience, sure! Totally get it. But you know what? Those numbers… I must be getting old/out of touch.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Tom Holland is my guy. Destin Daniel Crettons is criminally underappreciated. This was a very good movie. I’m absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of money it’s raking in! But you know what? The movies are back, baby!!! Speaking of which:

The Odyssey: Guys. Nolan’s still got it. This is one of my least favorite of his films. But you know what? It’s still really, really good. Biggest downfall for me? Nolan’s never been good at shooting hand-to-hand action sequences. He’s okay with gunplay, excels at large-scale stuff (car chases, big groups moving, etc.). There’s some decent large army stuff, but so much of this movie is just hand-to-hand, and it’s… fine. I loved the performances though. 

Ted Lasso S4: Honestly, just as shaggy as S3. So not peak Ted. But you know what? Not-peak-Ted is still Ted. I love that man. More please.

What I’m playing!

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Resync: One of my favorite games of all time remade with ray-tracing and super-improved graphics? Sign me up! I’ll be playing this a lot for… Awhile.

Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)

Jono:

Hello all. How has another month gone by already? Summer movie season has wound down, but I've still caught a couple of decent flicks in theaters.

The End of Oak Street is fun and refreshingly original, with brilliant creature effects and design. Even if most of the thrills rely on everyone but Anne Hathaway acting like a total moron. 🤣 Really dumb and frequently frustrating, but super entertaining. You may find yourself rooting for the dinosaurs.

The Brink of War. Jeff Daniels, JK Simmons, and Jared Harris in the true story of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev trying to negotiate peace and the disarming of nuclear weapons in 1986. It starts out fine and gets better as it goes. A little too much unnatural exposition at the start, but once that's out of the way it really started to grip me. Brilliant performances. A timely message about perspective-taking. I greatly appreciate the time taken to humanize both sides and clarify their positions. There are worthwhile lessons here that can readily be applied to today's political climate. It builds steam as it goes. If you are looking for something mature and thought-provoking, this is your ticket. Yes, it's distributed by Angel Studios, but don't let that sway you one way or the other. Whether you like them or not, this is a good movie that deserves to be judged on its own merits.

As for home viewing, I've been enjoying the new season of Ted Lasso very much. While nothing can top the first season, I think it's as good as Season Two and a step up from Season Three.

I've been reading Doctor Sleep, Stephen King's decades-later sequel to The Shining, finding a grown-up Danny using his gift to protect a young girl from dark forces pursuing her. Excellent book. I look forward to enjoying the movie after.

What about you all? What have you been watching and reading?