Grab Bag Summer Shade: Giants suffer from the June Swoon, big upsets early at Wimbledon, Carlos bio-series, Squid Game and Megan 2.0 reviews and more!

Happy post Pride, gentle readers! Into July we go, and for at least for one major league baseball team, that could not come soon enough! Also, no, I haven't seen the "F1" movie yet. Soon! :) I'm flipping the script here, and starting with the Culture Club first, then the Sports Ball, just to keep things fresh! Including the banner for this post!

Culture Club: Movie and TV reviews.

Megan 2.0: Oops, she did it again! Oh, this was such a fun movie! First things first. As I posted on Facebook, the Megan movies are following the Alien movie track, ie..first Alien and first Megan- scary and horror...Aliens and Megan 2.0 action based (Obviously more humor in the Megan movies!). First, the synopsis: Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous rampage, its creator, Gemma, has become an advocate for government oversight of AI. Unbeknownst to her, a defense contractor has created a military-grade weapon known as Amelia, the ultimate infiltration spy. However, as Emlia's self-awareness increases, it becomes less interested in taking orders. Hoping to stop Emilia, Gemma decides to resurrect M3GAN, making it faster, stronger, and more lethal.

That's a good summation, and of COURSE things go wrong when trying to channel A.I. as a weapon. We were not expecting as much action as this film puts out, and lead star Allison Williams is definitely having more fun in this flick with the action scenes she is given. Megan is as sassy as ever, dropping some blistering one-liners as only she can. Of course there are twists (one so good near the end, would be a crime to spoil!), and the inevitable battle between the two robots - Yes, Megan is fighting for the good guys.....mostly! If you are looking for a fun, witty sci-fi action flick, this fits the bill! HIGHLY recommended!

In theaters now, but will land on Peacock once theatrical run is done!

Squid Game: Final Season. What this show did for "Red Light, Green Light" in its first season, "Jump Rope" is definitely the star game in the final season. With that said, the final episodes of this world-wide hit sensation series fell a bit flat with me. I can say do not get too attached to any of the players, and the rescue of one of the players was a good but distracting side story, but the search for the island where the Squid games are played was compelling, as was the lead detective, Jun Ho....okay, I can definitely say you can get attached to the Jun ho character, and he can frisk me anytime. Anyhoo, the show decided to end it's run on a dark note, which surprised me; I did see an interview with the creator and writer explaining why they went that route, and I can understand it, it was just a surprise. Speaking of surprises, in the last minute of the show, we get 2 of them: One is that the Squid Games are not just in South Korea, but in Los Angeles, and the "recruiter" in this short scene is a very well known actress- I squealed!! So the door is open for a Squid Games spin-off!

Walking Dead: Dead City: Finished it's second season, which was more focussed on world-building (in this case, who controls what parts of and apocalyptic zombie-infested New York City), and while it had it's unique pace to it, overall I enjoyed this season (NYC Zoo Zombie bear was a highlight!). The season ended on an ambiguous note for the main characters, so where Season 3 goes, is anyone's guess! Oh, and Negan and Lucille DO reunite, unfortunately for those on the receiving end of Lucille! My favorite walking Dead spin-off show so far, as Lauren Cohan's Maggie and Jeffery Dean-Morgan's Negan continue to give quality performances under very complicated relationship conditions. Definitely recommended for Walking Dead fans! On AMC.

The Woman in the Yard: Synopsis: Ramona becomes crippled by grief after her husband dies in a car accident, leaving her to care for her two children alone in her rural farmhouse. Her sadness soon turns to fear when a spectral woman in black appears on her front lawn, warning her "today's the day." As the mysterious figure creeps closer and closer to the house, Ramona realizes she must protect her children from the evil woman who simply won't leave them alone. "Don't let her in.". That tagline takes on a a dual meaning in this film. This is what I like to call a " psychological suspense" film. I loved the quiet, simple dread that this flick evokes. While hints are dropped, the audience really doesn't know who the woman in the yard is and what her are motives until the end of the film, which in itself is left to the audience to decide on its ambiguity. Grief does play a role in the story, and the family of three, mother, young son and youngest daughter are great in their roles, especially the son, who , quite frankly was making the moves I would've made if stuck in a similar situation. I definitely recommend, but keep that grief factor in mind as a potential emotional trigger. Now on Peacock.

Carlos Alcaraz: My Way: First, lets state the obvious, yes, I am a HUGE Carlitos fan! Now that that unsurprising disclosure is done, this three-part docu-series giving us a peek into what it was like for Carlos in the 2024 tennis season, is absolutely fascinating. We learn a lot more about Carlos family life, what grounds him, what breaks him, and what his team does for him, whether he likes it or not (hard -truths time, Carlitos). We are reminded that Carlos is young, and that he needs to learn to balance his fame and profession with also being able to do young person things...it's the TIMING that counts! That Ibiza getaway trip is a perfect example of when NOT to stray from your tennis-playing path! I found this series very real and very raw emotionally, and was quite surprised how much Carlos and his family and team allowed to be aired! The one minus has nothing to do with the content- the Dubbing in English is proably one of the jankiest I've heard, but one adjusts for such a riveting story. Highly recommended, even if I was a Jannik fan! :)

That smile though......:) :) :)

What a nice segue way into....

Sports Ball!

Golden State Valkyries: The Vals hosted the Seattle Storm, one of the top-tier teams, at Valhalla (Chase Center), and blew the Storm out to sea with a 84-57 victory. The Vals now take their 9-7 record on the road for the next for games, including Atlanta, Indiana and the best team in the league, Minnesota next Saturday.

Golden State Warriors: Long-time Warrior and huge fan favorite Kevin Looney has left the team and signed with New Orleans Pelicans for 2 years /16M. Great on defense and a great rebounder, Dubs fans will miss him. Aussie Alan Toohey and Alex Richard were the two draft picks the Dubs picked in the recent NBA draft.

Wimbledon: In the first few days alone, several ranked players have been bounced out in the first round! Ninth-ranked Danii Medevev, third-ranked Alexander Zverrev on the men's side, third-ranked American Jessica Pegula fifth-ranked Qinwen and in the biggest shocker, second-ranked Coco Gauff lost in straight sets, 7-6, 6-1 to an unranked opponent! Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner did advance in their first rounds, but Carlos made it interesting, going five sets to get the win!

Wednesday saw American Francis Tiafoe, ranked 12th, ousted, as well as 4th ranked Jessica Paulini also knocked out of the tourney. For you Naomi Osaka fans, she HAS advanced to the third round! And just before I hit Publish, Thursday brings us MORE upsets, with American Tommy Paul, ranked 13th, and Great Britain's Jack Draper, ranked 4th, both were ousted by unranked players! The Draper exit is a big ouch for the UK fans. I just read that not only is 36 the record for seeded players being ousted at Wimbledon so early, but that number also applies for a Slam tourney as well!

Naomi Osaka claims her first match win at Wimbledon in six years.

San Francisco Giants: Oy! Since the last Grab Bag post, the Giants were just 1 1/2 games out of first, and all seemed to be going in the right direction, except for the lack of hitting (lot of one-run game wins during that span); since then, the wheels have come off. As of this writing, San Francisco is now eight games back of the first place LA Dodgers, and for the month of June, their record was 13-14 ( I actually took the time to do some further digging, and in May, it was the same 13-14! April was good, 16-11.). The team's batting average is one of the LEAGUE's worse, at just .230 (you want to be in the high 200's or higher to be a good hitting team), and I don't have stats for this, but the Giants are also among the worst in capitalizing on RISP: Runners in scoring position....somehow these batters were able to get on base, but they were left stranded, probably because the Giants have been averaging just 5-6 hits a game the last few weeks. Case in point: Starting pitcher Justin Verlander, after about 10 starts, left the game with either a one run lead, or a one run deficit, and is 0-5 as we head into July. The starting pitching has been the Giants saving grace, and the bullpen, until recently has been pretty solid, but after watching two agonizing blown saves recently, I've resorted to "peeking in" on games now, as it is just too depressing/aggravating to watch this team. Adding insult to injury (literally) Casey Schmitt, who took over third base for the injured Matt Chapman, went on the injured list after getting hit by a pitch, which lead to wrist inflammation- his defense was up to par with Chapman's Gold Glove defense, and actually was one of the Giants who were hitting well! Chapman is due back before the All-Star break this month, so there's hope there.

I close this section out with the news that the Giants have announced that manager Bob Melvin has been signed to coach the team for the 2026 season.

That's it for now...Enjoy the holiday weekend in the US, and stay safe with those fireworks. Grab Bag should pop up in about two weeks, depending on life changes.

Fave song at the moment- A hidden gem if you will, that I would've never heard of if it weren't for the series, Hacks! Proof I am a big ole romantic softie! :) :)