The Bean's List - 6/4

No long intro to today's blog -- this is Week 2 of The Bean's List where I give a quick blurb about all the things I was watching, listening to, eating, playing, or any other verb ending in -ing from the week prior. Skip around to the headers that interest you! BIG movie weekend in the Bean Household -- as well as some sports, shows, activities, hot takes, and more.

Mission Impossible Movie Marathon

Movies

Every person who watches a good amount of movies has "blind spots." AKA, movies they haven't seen that 90% of other people have. For some it could be Lord of the Rings, for some it could be the Godfather Trilogy, or for others it could be the Fast and Furious franchise. Or for some, more specifically me, it's all 3 of the above + all of Mission Impossible.

But this weekend, I decided no more. No more, Damnit! A perk of having no plans for a weekend is having the free time to watch the first 4 movies of a franchise. Which is what I did Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And I'm going to have a longer blog about the 8 films that make up the franchise once I've seen them all. Trying to fly through to be caught up in time to see the newest while it's still in theatres -- but the hook is fully in after the first 4. I've heard 2 is the black sheep of the universe, but I genuinely enjoyed 1, 3, and Ghost Protocol a ton. Current Ranking:

1. Ghost Protocol

2. MI 3 (Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the GOAT)

3. MI 1

4. MI 2

Bean Score for the 1st 4 movies: 7.9/10 Beans

NBA, NHL Finals Previews

Sports

It's Finals Time Baby -- Panthers vs Oilers and Pacers vs Thunder are what we have to look forward to this week -- NHL on Wednesday, NBA on Thursday (thank God they aren't playing their games on the same night anymore).

NHL first: neither Conf. Finals series was real close, as both Florida and Edmonton disposed of their opponents in 5 games. Florida has had a pretty well-balanced attack all postseason, but I'm looking Tkachuk, Barkov, and the veteran Marchand to lead the way scoring. The Oilers go as their Super Star Duo of McDavid and Draisaitl go. They've combined for 51 points through 3 series -- and were particularly effective against Dallas (9 pts apiece in 5 games). Seemed like the P's were the trendy pick early, but recently I'm hearing more people taking the Oilers. I like the redemption arc, but I like clowning Canada's Cup-less run way more. Go P's.

Excitement Level: 8.6/10 Beans

NBA: I'll keep this shorter -- I think the Thunder are going to waltz to a Finals Trophy. I think Indiana has been an incredible story, is the most fun opponent possible because all of their games have been electric -- but I don't think they can handle OKC. I've doubted them in all 3 series but now that they're playing my favorite team, surely they'll fail. But the odds tell the story: Thunder are -750 for the series, Pacers are +450. OKC in 5.

Excitement Level: 7.1/10 Beans

The Last of Us - Went Downhill HARD After Ep 2

TV

Unfortunately for The Last of Us, I think they ran into an issue that's hard to overcome: Your main character not being able to carry the show. Without spoiling the plot, there's an early season episode where the landscape and story of the show changes dramatically, setting up the main character to be even more focused. The problem: it's a very unlikable, frustrating, inconsistent character. And whether for poor writing, direction, etc. -- the show doesn't feel the same as S1.

The numbers back that up too -- since Episode 2 of the 2nd season, the show has seen nearly 50% of it's viewership fall off by the Finale. This isn't fans being anti-woke -- the 1st season had 2 full episodes about gay relationships and is universally loved (as @JackKennedy pointed out on X). It's about trying to stretch a 2 season show into 4 seasons and losing focus on what fans loved about S1.

In Game of Thrones, they follow-up the Red Wedding with an incredible episode + the best season (4) of the show. In TLOU, they follow up their best episode with the worst episode of the series. Nutshell explanation of why I don't think it'll be one of the greats.

Bean Score for S2: 5.2/10 Beans (green beans)

Episode 2: 9.7/10 Beans (baked beans)

Episodes 1 & 3-7: 3.4/10 Beans (lima beans)

Novocaine - Jack Quaid: The Every-Man's Star

Movies

If you've never heard of Jack Quaid, you're surely not alone. He's not the hottest name in Hollywood, but his star is rising. From being the kid who killed Rue in Hunger Games (Dickhead era), to Hughie in Prime's smash hit The Boys (Lovable Era), to headlining two 2025 movies already this year. (Companion - streaming on Max, and this movie, Novocaine, on Paramount+)

In Novocaine, Quaid plays Nate Caine -- a man born with a disorder in which he feels zero pain physically. Rock to the head? May as well be a fly. Kick to the nuts? May as well give him a hug. But when His office crush Sherry (Amber Midthunder - baller last name) gets kidnapped, the mild-mannered Nathan channels Liam Neeson in Taken to track her and her kidnappers down.

Not a perfect movie by any means, but a relatively short and very entertaining watch. Quaid and Midthunder have good chemistry, there's a relatively good twist toward the end, and the light tone of the movie was a strong choice. Jacob Batalon was funny as well.

Fresh concept, fast-paced, fun cast and characters, really unique action scenes.

Bean Score: 7.4/10 Beans

Rec Sports Corner

Sports

Highlights from my past week of rec sports:

Basketball -- The annual "Legends League" has begun, 3 weeks of alumni hoops. 1st week stats:

• 0-4 team record

• 4 made 3-pointers (mind your business about how many misses)

• One Alley-Oop pass thrown to a person that cannot dunk, missed layup (gotta finish, OB)

• Two (2) "Yeah I'll take a sub" to my 15 year-old teammate Tyler

Softball -- rain-out week, like the 5th of the season. And I'm out of town for playoff week, so I'm selfishly hoping for one more rain-out.

Sand Volleyball -- Opening week for "Ace and Hitties." 2-1 win, 2-1 win to start the year, started game 1 down 10-0. Severe damage to my shoulder socket, and surely there's still sand inside me today.

Pickleball -- solid showing at the weekly session. 3-2 record, highlight plays all night. Still can't hit a backhand, still switching hands for every shot, but still being an absolute specimen on the court.

Room for improvement, process > results

Bean Score: 7.3/10 Beans

Cubs, Cardinals, NL Central Check-In

It's been a solid 2-3 weeks now of the Cubs and Cardinals duking it out at the top of the NL Central, but now the Milwaukee Brewers have entered the chat on an 8-game winning streak. The Cubs currently lead STL by 4 games, but have a 9-game road trip on the horizon. The Birds have a 9-game homestand upcoming, as do the Brewers after two more in Cincy.

The Birds went on a big win streak in early May and are 21-9 in their last 30 games. Coming off a rough series in Texas, they now host three very good teams -- the Royals, Dodgers, and Blue Jays -- so we'll see how for real they are over the next week and a half. I'll let Tom's Two Cents talk Birds on this page though.

The Cubs are 14-4 in their last 18 and have won 6 straight series against less-than-stellar opponents. But their schedule is about to pick up as well -- after 3 games in Washington they'll face Tarik Skubal and the league-leading Tigers in Detroit, then to Philadelphia for 3.

The Brewers and Reds have felt further away than CHI/STL for awhile now, but Milwaukee has officially caught up. Winners of 8 straight (6 vs Red Sox/@Phillies) and are pitching very well. Christian Yelich is on fire (really wants to see Big Cat & PFT eat each other's butt, iykyk).

These 3 teams are doing it in very different ways: Cubs score a million runs a game, Cards are the best defensive team in the MLB, and the Brewers are young, fast, and strong on the mound.

Reminder: Cubs/Cards square off in Chicago for the last series of the MLB season, end of September. Who knows, Could wind up deciding the NL Central. Would be 10/10 Beans (if the Cubs win of course).

Come back for next week's Bean's List, tune in for Tom's Two Cents, and don't forget Power Rankings Thursday. You can find the most recent installment of each below here!