Good readers, I would be sorely remiss if I did not remind you that Shark Week begins this Sunday, July 26th, on the Discovery Channel!
Just when you thought that it was safe to get back into the water, right? Shark Week premiered on July 17, 1988 as a block focused on shark conservation and dispelling myths about sharks…
Yes, I know that you’ve waited impatiently all year for this, and you’re not alone…because Shark Week is broadcast annually across more than 72 countries!
Shark Week is recognized as the longest-running cable TV programming event in history!
Popular recurring franchises include Air Jaws alongside programs tracking great white movements, shark intelligence, and historical shark attacks…
So be there or be square! Shark Week on the Discovery network! Tell your friends, your in-laws, and your vicious co-workers!
Amazon Prime’s adult animated series “Kevin” featuring anthropomorphic animals is highly polarizing to viewers, with one review terming it “unpleasant, unfunny, and unwatchable,” while others have found it “heartwarming!” But as a furry and cat lover, I had to check this out…
At the heart of Kevin is an anthropomorphic neurotic tuxedo cat (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) who loses his home when his humans break up, casting him into a local pet rescue center in Queens called “Furrever Friends” filled with “independent” animalswhere he encounters a number of homeless and displaced animals, predominantly felines, most of which are even more disordered and scarred by life than he is. Take for example “Cupcake,” voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, who portrays an emaciated, battered, and battle-scarred feral catwho is fearless, cynical, and yet quite adept at surviving in the environs of New York City…
…and man, the animals in the city are tough! His feral instincts triggered, Kevin chases a squirrel who in turn pulls a knife on him! A half-dead pigeon begs Kevin to eat him to put him out of his misery (thankfully, he refuses)! These are not cutesy animals, but rather hardened, grim individuals who provide the inexperienced, once pampered house cat with an education in the “School of Hard Knocks.”
Make no mistake, this is NOT a cartoon series for children! The language is generously sprinkled with vulgarities and obscenities, and the animals are raunchy, and at times quite twisted. There is humor here, but it’s quite dark. There is a content advisory for “nudity, violence, substance use, alcohol use, smoking, foul language, sexual content, and flashing lights and strobing patterns that might affect photosensitive viewers.”- – Something for everyone, right?! As a furry I like all things furry, but this series at times pushes the boundaries into rather extreme territory that will turn off many. The series explores the question of finding where you belong in the world, which is something that most of us will ultimately contend with. It just won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s why we have buttons to change the channel or turn sets off…
All eight episodes of the first season of Kevin may be streamed from Amazon Prime, and I’d consider it an acquired taste…you’ll either love it or hate it, but it may grow on you…
Wow!– -This is quietly awesome! After a long hiatus following its cancellation in 2010, the show MonsterQuest is coming back with new episodes, beginning January 2, 2026 at 10 p.m. on The History Channel!
In my humble opinion, MonsterQuest was one of the best shows on cryptids, the paranormal, and the unexplained out there. The series had generally good production values, and commentators who were actual researchers and scientists rather than hillbillies with guns running around in the wilderness. I thought that the show was gone forever, but it’s coming back, and soon! Hopefully the quality will be there as well…
The first episode will supposedly cover encounters that law enforcement and others have had with unexplained phenomena, including “classic” creatures. I just wanted to give all readers of this blog a “heads up,” then we all can get “our minds melted!”The available previews as below look good…
I find screaming goats, at the very least, disconcerting. Although such goats are not actually screaming but bleating or calling, their vocalizations are loud, and can sound eerily like a human in extreme duress, say being tortured.– -Why, you might ask, do some goats make these verbalizations? It could be a sign of hunger, distress, or simply an attention-getting device. It sure would get my attention and displeasure, pronto.You could build a low-budget horror movie around these goats!
In a recent Allstate commercial Check First Neighbors, a couple is celebrating their first night in a new house. They hear a muffled shriek in the background. Looking out the window, they find goats clamoring all over their neighbor’s yard! Then the goats become invasive…one even loudly screams at the new occupants from within their house! Why is the goat shrieking?- -Possibly he wants fed, or more grain in his diet; the scream is certainly an attention-getting device. Goat farmers have noted that the goatssometimes will keep up this behavior for half to three-quarters of an hour before giving up…
You see, our new homeowners had neglected to check out the neighbors before buying the property, and you really should do that. Allstate can then save you hundreds on your homeowners insurance…
About the only thing I can think of that might be worse than living next door to a herd of screaming goats would be residing next to a family of howler monkeys…
Flow is a 2024 animated movie that features a young black cat with large, expressive eyes who is trying with other diverse creatures to survive a flood of almost Biblical proportions. His companions include a lemur, a secretary bird, several dogs, and surprisingly, a capybara…
Victims of circumstance, the unlikely menagerie are swept up in extensive flooding of their homelands, places that are never precisely specified or illustrated, and wind up clambering onto a small, well-worn sailboat that serves as their life raft and conveyance through a watery wasteland. This is a “journey”type of movie…
These animals are not anthropomorphic, and do not speak but make animal sounds appropriate for their species. For the most part, their movements are completely believable for the animals depicted. While essentially realistic, the animal companions are not finely detailed or photorealistic, nor are the habitats that they pass throughon their survival journey. At one point, a fantastic whale-type creature unlike anything I’m familiar with vaults over the small craft. There’s nary a human in sight, although we are shown abandoned if nondescript settlements. While there is no dialogue, there’s a soothing musical background soundtrack, and the combined effect is somewhat magical or mystical. This is neither Disney nor Wild Kingdom…
The nameless black cat is kind of the cast protagonist, plucky and adaptable, rolling with the punches and reversals of their journey while retaining feline curiosity and wonder. He is endearing, resourceful, resilient, and at times comical, and you want to root for him and his survival. This cat grows on you, and he’ll endure…
There’s no violence or death in Flow, unless you count the fish that the cat catches and shares with his fellow travelers. Flow would likely be captivating viewing for any child, and can be a hypnotic, rather zen-like experience for adults as well. There’s no profound or transformative lesson conveyed here, although the values of co-existence, toleration, and cooperation emerge. We could all benefit from more of that in 2025. Recommended for all fans of animation, Flow was formerly shown in theaters,may now be seen on HBO, and it’s good stuff…
In a government public service promo, we are taken to a taxidermy shop where I suspect that the proprietor has not quite mastered his art, because the taxidermied animals there look creepy, more like road kill than a recreation of life…
These poor specimens present that vape smoke can contain formaldehyde, the same chemical used to preserve dead animals like themselves…badly! The talking animals banter among themselves, struggling to pronounce the word formaldehyde…
The promo is darkly comic and even disturbing, but conveys a serious message that vaping fumes are not simply harmless water vapor, but can contain toxic and damaging chemicals that will be conveyed to the lungs…and that’s a thought even more unnatural than these badly-preserved animals!
Now this is toxic taxidermy, and I feel sorry for my poor cousins for whom death was not the final insult!
What’s buzzin’, Cousin? The MayhemBee, that’s what!With seemingly no limitations to the number of species that Dean Winters can impersonate, he’s a mighty mite as a bee, attired as always in a conservative suit, and sans makeup. Other animals that Winters has channeled have included a deer, cat, raccoon, St. Bernard pup, bear, and bird!
In this Allstate commercial spot, Winters dons wings, and in his diminutive state buzzes the lady driver of a car in motion, distracting her and shouting “Boo!” into her ear. She looses control, and the car careens wildly before wrecking. Even Winters in his bee-form isn’t immune to the laws of physics, however, winding up mashed against the interior of the windshield. “What a buzz-kill!,” he proclaims…
Some of us, including yours truly, can remember those thrilling days of crank-powered car windows, when stinging insects could enter open rear windows, leaving you no way of driving them out short of pulling over off the road. – – Ahh, the memories of near calamity that this commercial evokes! And three cheers for the very talented Dean Winters!
I freakin’ love Godzilla, probably because there is still a ten-year-old boy living inside me, and Godzilla Minus One, now on Netflix, plays to that boy. This film is a retro delight, trying to take Godzillaback to his roots, and pity the poor Japanese…they’ve just survived WWII, cities are in ruins from Allied bombings, and now Godzilla is targeting them! The Allies won’t help, either, having too many problems with the Soviets…
So the Japanese are having a really bad decade, but defeating Godzilla is all up to them. A central character is a surviving kamikaze pilot who had second thoughts, and brought his plane down on an island, claiming mechanical problems. Godzilla then attacks the island, but the pilot again escapes death, haunted by guilt afterwards.
While computer-generated. Godzilla is finely-detailed, and looking much more convincing than some dude in a rubber suit, as was the case in early Godzilla movies. The acting is good, and adds emotional content, but I would have preferred more of Godzilla and less humanity. The film is overly-long, and drags a bit in places. Godzilla’s core nature is restored as a force of nature or the consequences of the nuclear age. There are nice touches to his ferocity, too…when he unleashes his lethal breath blast, the spiny plates on his back individually pop up, and glow a lovely shade of blue.Godzilla chomps down on train cars, and even sends a sizeable boat hurling through the air…
I really like this Godzilla, Toho got him right…and while he’s sent to his death in the depths of the ocean at the end, the bubbling of his flesh reminds us that The King of Monsters has great regenerative capacities, and is likely to be ready for a rematch.- – I’ll be rooting for him!
“You’re a GREAT audience, do ‘ya know that? For my next little number, I’d like to share a medley of musical standards from Sinatra!” 🐻
No, China’s Sun Bears are not escapees from a furry convention, humans in a fur suit despite allegations to the contrary!
A zoo in eastern China has denied allegations that their Sun Bears are humans in costume, pointing out that a costumed human would only last a few minutes in the triple-degree heat before collapsing. Chinese zoos have also been accused of spray-painting dogs to make them look like wolves, and painting donkeys to resemble zebras…
Not all bears are big hulking menaces. The Sun Bear is the smallest bear species, and stands about 50” tall on his hind legs. From the back or side, the bear does present a rather human-like appearance, especially when it interacts with humans by waving its paws. But no, that’s not some dude in a suit…
If you blended Star Trek, Alien, and Jurassic Park together, you’d probably get something like the movie 65, now available on Netflix. The title refers to 65 million years ago when that legendary asteroid impacted with Earth, affecting the planetary history forever….
Now if you were to take an ancient alien-type pilot who was transporting 35 passengers in hypersleep to an unspecified destination before an asteroid shower perforated his ship and forced it to crash land on the Earth of 65 million years ago, you’d have the basic premise of the movie. Our pilot and the only other sole survivor, a girl, must brave the perils of ancient Earth, and locate their escape craft, all before the main asteroid of 65 million years ago arrives to ruin everyone’s day. The predacious dinosaurs who attack our hero and his charge are outclassed by his laser rifle and some really neat mini-bombs, but outnumber him greatly, making this a syfy survival flick.You know they’ll survive, but get knocked around a good bit with numerous close escapes, and it’s all rollicking good funthat’s paced well, and doesn’tpretend to be more than it is…
Laser (and phaser) rifles are definitely cool! They give you so much more of a presence than just a hand phaser. James T. Kirk knew this, and looked like a boss holding one. Did you know that his phaser rifle sold for $615,000 at auction? That’s not a bad trade-in allowance considering that it was an older model compared to those seen in The Next Generation. Wouldn’t you like to own a laser rifle? ‘Fess up, now…
But I digress…Adam Driver shines as the alien but humanoid pilot, looking and reminding me a bit of Keanu Reeves in the part. You may want to catch this Dino-tastic film, because it goes quickly to the action, and future tech versus saurian hordes is a fun ride… 🦊
FOXSYLVANIA 
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