HBO's The Righteous Gemstones & Hulu's The Princess Bride

If you’ve ever sat through a church service, then HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones is going to feel pretty familiar to you. If you haven’t, then Danny McBride’s interpretation of the holy rollers from the mega church is going to fill you with a little more than the spirit.

The Righteous Gemstones is Danny McBride’s latest and significantly funny project. The show follows a family of ministers, led by Eli (the patriarch) Jesse, the first born who is writhing in his father’s shadow, Judy, the very confused but charming middle sister, and Kevin who is your stereotypical youth minister. These “men of God” is extremely rich, we’re taking Joel Osteen, 16,000 people mega church rich.

The show moves quickly from plot point to plot point. Jesse is blackmailed after he he caught snorting coke off a table while on a mission trip to China and engages his younger family members to help save his reputation. In typical McBride fashion. the situation gets worse, every passing moment (Jesse and Judy argue that they should go back to the church and give the money back… they then pivot into a 60/40 split instead).

The Gemstones is another fantastic HBO show that deserves your attention right now, even if it is for just another week. Because Gideon shows up and all hell breaks loose. Excuse the reference. I’ll pray later tonight.

When you are sitting on a plane you can be really starved for entertainment. Luckily, The Princess Bride was available and boy does this movie still hold up! It is full of fantastic catch phrases and an amazing cast.

The heart of the movie is a grandfather trying to share a tradition of story telling with his sick grandson. Surrounding that is the story of Princess Buttercup and her swashbuckling handsome masked hero, Westley, trying to save her evil Prince Humperdinck. Aren’t these names the best?

Joining Westley on his quest are a hilarious cast of characters:

Ingio Montoya - a man hell bent on finding the 6 fingered man that killed his father

Fezzik - a more well spoken Hodor of the 80s

Vizzini - He’s more of a villain but Wallace Shawn’s performances is inconceivable

Miracle Max - He lives in a tree and performs miracles but he would fit better in a Manhattan Deli. One of the most memorable Billy Crystal moments

This movie is great for the whole family - there’s love, fighting, wits, Billy Crystal, Andre the Giant, great story. Grab your kids, grab your wife and sit down and watch this movie.

AVOID:

Venom

This movie is poison. I somehow made it through this, but the one reason was there was nothing else to watch 35,000 ft. Nothing about this movie makes sense: Why is Tom hardy in it? Why is Venom is a good guy? Where is Spiderman? Why is it in San Francisco? Why isn’t Venom just eating all the people? Why am I watching this? It’s a never ending train wreck of extraterrestrial proportions- don’t waste your time.