321 – Big Hero 6 (2014)

When Marvel Studios released a film called Iron Man back in 2008 expectations were quite low. Sure it featured the return of controversial public figure Robert Downey Jr. and purported to be the beginning of an entire universe of films, but Iron Man was little more than a secondary character at the time. Marvel took a huge risk, and it has since paid off to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. Other studios like Sony and Warner Bros. are trying to reproduce the success of Marvel’s comic book movie renaissance, but no one does it quite as well as the original. Marvel overlords Disney are now extending the comic book game into animation with Big Hero 6, though any connections to the paper-printed roots of the property are being downplayed in the marketing.

212 – Silicon Valley, Season One

July was apparently a month of making up for my truant sitcom-watching behavior. Earlier in the month I caught up on Playing House, and now – almost four months after reviewing the pilot – I’ve finally finished the first season of Mike Judge’s new HBO series, Silicon Valley.

180 – Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

On this, the 180th day of the year, we are very close to the midpoint of this particular trip around the sun. It just so happens to coincide with the midpoint of summer movie season. Which, further coincidentally I’m sure, also marks the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Transformers: AoE (that’s what the kids call it) is full of explosions, CGI monsters, and beautiful people (Stanley Tucci, yowza!) – it’s kind of the perfect example of a summer blockbuster, down to the 2014-best opening weekend box office it inexplicably earned.

097 – Silicon Valley, “Minimum Viable Product”

Silicon Valley is set up to be amazing before the first episode even starts. The talent pool is unreal. Not only does the cast include some of the funniest comedians working today, but it is created by Mike Judge, the brilliant writer behind Office Space, King of the Hill, and Idiocracy. The series follows a group of Northern Californian computer entrepreneurs as they attempt to strike it rich à la Google, Apple, Facebook, and every app you’ve ever heard of (and some you haven’t).