The Ringer-Verse - Ringer-Verse Recommends: November 2024

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

It’s always time to give thanks on ‘Ringer-Verse Recommends’! Join the Ringer-Verse and ‘House of R’ crews as they talk turkey about nerd-culture content in the latest installment of their monthly mini-pod about fandom favorites from TV, anime, movies, video games, books, comics, and beyond that were released recently but not yet covered in-depth on a full-length episode. Host: Ben Lindbergh Guests: Mallory Rubin, Joanna Robinson, Steve Ahlman, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, Matt James, Jonathan Kermah, Arjuna Ramgopal Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Social: Jomi Adeniran Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Hello, and welcome into the Ringerverse, your nexus feed for all things fandom. I am Ben Lindbergh, butmash host, and as you hold space for your stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce, I'm here to serve you a steaming plate of pop culture on Ringerverse Recommends. We have cleared the feed for this episode, and also, I suppose, for Thanksgiving.

But we don't need a national holiday to give thanks. That's what we do at the end of every month on Ringiverse Recommends, the show where your favorite Ringiverse and House of Our Hosts gather together around the virtual table to shout out the releases we liked in the past month but haven't had a chance to discuss at length. And what better time to pay tribute to nerd culture content than a week when you might have a few extra hours to occupy? Maybe you're traveling. Maybe you're digesting a giant meal. Maybe you're looking for some sort of distraction from your family because even though you love them, you kind of can't stand them sometimes. Whatever the circumstances, we're glad you lit the Ringiverse signal and we've come to fill your. free time. As Stefan would say, this month's Ringaverse recommends has everything. Books, comic books,

movies, TV, video games, even in audio drama. And almost all of our hosts are here this time, too. We're a man down this month, or should I say a van down, but we've drafted two friends of the Ring ofverse to fill in for the resurgent Harle-Having senior member of the Midnight Poys, so we won't shortchange you. Ten wrecks are coming your way. I'll be back in a bit with my mid-episode recommendation, and I'll join you again at the end of the pod to recap the picks and share a listener nomination, which you, yes, you can submit for next month and beyond at ringerverse recommends at gmail.com. For now, let's lead off with a host who, like the dwarves in the darkness of Kazadum, delves and dives deep. Your friend and mine, the mother of recommendations,

Mallory Rubin. Hello, citizens of Gotham. It's Mal and I am here for my November recommendation for Ringervverse Recommend. It is. Season 2 of Batman Unburied, Fallen City. The podcast from our pals at Spotify, the entire new season of Batman Unburied is waiting for you to binge right now on Spotify. All eight episodes dropped on November 26th.

This is a thrilling, mystery-laden season full of twists and turns and surprising character appearances that I am definitely not going to spoil for you here. fear not. This is a season steeped in conspiracy and institutional, systemic, societal, rot, peel back the layers episode after episode as you make your way through the binge. And not only will you find answers to the mysteries, you'll find something else. My cameo. I got to make a cameo in season two of Batman Unburied. It's a surprise. I'm not going to tell you when it is because we're doing a little cameo hunt over on the Ringervor's Instagram.

So if you were interested in participating in that cameo hunt, join us over there on the Ringervor's Instagram for that cameo hunt. Regardless of whether you were interested in that cameo, treat yourself to the new season of Batman Unburied, Fallen City. All eight episodes are available for you to listen to right now on Spotify. Happy holidays. We'll see you next month. I don't know who I can trust or who trusts me. But my friend Safi is dead. What's up, bring a verse. Jomi back again.

And because men in addition sticks together, I'm also recommending a video game for November. Guys, tap in to Life is Strange double exposure. Max Caulfield is back. And she's going back in time again to try and save Arcadia Bay one last time. I'm having so much fun playing a game. You get to make all your own choices. And guess what?

If you don't like what you did, you can just rewind time and make another one. It's so much fun. There's so much things to explore. Guys, if you love like the telltale games and hell, all the life of strange games that came before it, You got to play Life of Strange double exposure. I'm recommending it. Tap in right now. Let's go.

There's no way that we can win. At this point, I'd rather not lose any more brain cells. We knew this wasn't going to be easy. Comer Kai is one dojo at a 16. It's not us against them anymore. Tori chose the other side. But we can't keep letting her get in our heads like this. You have the opportunity of a lifetime to be captain.

I mean, you're completely blowing it. see what you got Hey Artuna here with my November Ringiverse recommends and I'm going back to the well from a few months ago and I'm going to recommend once again Cobur Kai season six but this time it's part two out on Netflix right now episode six through ten of season six and I gotta be honest Cobur Kai might be one of the most ridiculous shows out there right now

but if you're just looking for an easy watch something to turn your brain off a little bit and just ride the highs of all the Karate Kid franchise that it has to offer. Cobra Kai is like the thing for you. It just gets more and more ridiculous and crazy with each and every single episode. It's so deep within its own lore, it's kind of crazy. But it's definitely really enjoyable to watch, and it's just one of my favorite things to watch right now because it's just so ridiculous and crazy.

So Cobra Cry, Season 6, Part 2. Check it out if you haven't. There are just so many things happening in this batch of episodes that you're not going to believe. Each episode gets crazier and crazier. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but just when you think you've seen it all, the next episode happens. So definitely check it out and, you know, catch up on it because next year's got the final part of season 6 coming out, and then also a new Karate Kid movie coming out with Ralph Machio and Jackie Chan. So definitely check it out.

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Soap. Gennelho suave. for who is co-cucinandus Oh, I'm going to Lopo You know

Tita You come You know I'm to know How's it I can't This boy

Oh hi It's me Joanna Robinson House of our co-host I am here with a

Thanksgiving Feast of Recommendations for you I was going to recommend the new

HBO series Like Water for Chocolate which is based on a book I love by Laura Esquival

and And then I watched half of it. And I was like, oh, no, this is just fine. This is not great. It's not great. And so I didn't want to make it. My Ring reverse recommends. And I will recommend that book, though, like Waterford Chocolate is an amazing book.

And the movie, the 1992 movie that was based on the book, also great. So if you want a story about a young woman who can put her emotions into the food she makes, then people eat them and they have either strong emotional or other kinds of reactions. reactions to her food. I really recommend that story. On Netflix, this is all related, on Netflix next month, they're doing an adaptation of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez's 100 years of solitude, both 100 years of solitude and like Water for Chocolate are two of the best examples of the magical realism genre. So I thought I would just do like a quick little magical realism recommendation pile for you. Just something to check out. Magical realism, it can be tough to.

define. It's sort of literary, contemporary fiction with heightened sort of supernatural elements to it. The line between modern fantasy and magical realism blurs a little if you don't stick to sort of the classic magical realist books. So if you want to argue that any of these books that I'm about to show you aren't magical realism, you know where to find me. Okay. So I want to start with someone like Zora Neal Hurston, their eyes were watching God, a book that I've read a million times. And I think it's extraordinary and it will make you want pairs. And that's never a bad thing. I would also recommend Kazu Ishiguro's The Berry Giant.

This is a wonderful, this is sort of like a fantastical book. If you want to say this isn't magical realism, you can fight me on it. But I really love Ishigoro's work. And I think the buried giant is a really, really good magical realist world to immerse yourself in the master margarita. Really funny, really. funny, funky book about the devil and Soviet Russia. The Master Margarita, I really recommend that anything, literally anything by Italo Calvino, but if on a winter's night a traveler is a really, really good example of magical realism, big fan.

The master herself, Tony Morrison, did not like to have her books called Magical Realist Books, but everyone pretty much agrees they are magical realist books. So you can pick up the Beloved, the sort of the most famous one. My favorite is Paradise. Really recommend Paradise. That one is an extraordinary. I think about it all the time. The Golem and the Jeannie by Helene Wecker. Again, the line between magical realism and contemporary fantasy is a little thin here, but I really, really love this book, and it's got a great sequel if you find yourself enjoying that book. And then anything by Louise Erdrick, this is a new one that I just read called The Sentence.

It's about a haunted bookstore. Shout out Oblong books in New York, they sold me this copy. I really, really love this book, and Louise Erdrick in general is wonderful. A couple that I don't have, like, book covers a flash at you. Swamplandia by Karen Russell, sort of Southern Gathiki magical realism. And then I would say the goddess Small Things by Arnd Dutti Roy. I think about that book all the time, incredible language. And last but at least, it's one of the most famous. I don't know where my coffee is, but the House of the Spirist by Isabella and Day is, of course, a wonderful magical realist book.

So check out like Water for Chocolate on HBO if you want to or read the book, it's better. Check out 100 Years of Solitude on Netflix next month for sure. And I didn't even, general, enjoy magical realism because it's a wonderful genre and I think you would enjoy it. Happy holidays. Bye. Don't feel like the future is my time anymore. Jamie and I. We want to be part of creating this new nation. For Bree, and Rotter, for all of us. Would you not sacrifice everything for love?

Sing me a song of a last that is gone. Could that lass be I? Mary of soul, she sailed on a day Over the sea to sky. Hi, friends, it's Ben, back again. And you know what else is back? Bear McCreary's Outlander intro tune, the best opening theme on TV and one I would never skip because I have to sing along.

Like the people in theaters who supposedly sing along to Wicked, except in the privacy of my own home. It's been ten years in real life since we first heard the sweet strains of that song on the first season of Outlander. How many years have passed in the world of the show? I don't know. 35, I think. It's tough to keep track, both because the story skips around in time and because Claire and Jamie, the series ravishing leads and lovers, are as hot to trot and down to pound as they were when their journey began. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Outlander is a Star series adapted from Diana Gabletone's time-traveling bodice-ripping books, and developed by Ronald D. Moore, the small-screen sci-fi legend of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and for All Mankind fame. It stars Katrina Balf as 20th century English nurse Claire, and Sam Hewain as 18th century Scottish soldier Jamie, whose love is so passionate and pure that it survives wars and transcends centuries. It's an hour-long drama, or maybe mellow drama, that my wife and I have been watching together since 2014, before everyone was watching and reading

Romantasy. I don't really like the term guilty pleasure. There's no need to feel bad about liking a show, so instead I'll call it a kilty pleasure. And just as in Jamie and Claire's love life, that pleasure hasn't subsided. So we're excited to see the story through to completion, just as Jamie and Claire bring their bedroom encounters to completion. Ever since Claire was transported 200 years through some mystical stones, she's been suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to stay with her hot Highlander. No near-death experience or army or lack of antibiotics can keep them apart. Early seasons of Outlander took place in Scotland and France, but more recent seasons have been set primarily in the American colonies, where the Revolutionary War is raging.

After a Yellowstone-esque extended mid-season hiatus caused by the strikes, the series returned to stars last week for the second half of its 16 episode 7th season. At last, the Droughtlander is over. And this is a good time to get on board, because a prequel called Blood of My Blood is coming next year, followed by the eighth and sadly last season of the flagship show. If you want romance and mysticism, men in kilts and women in period dresses, luscious lips and luscious scenery, beautiful bodies and beautiful four-poster beds, this is the series for you.

And there are nearly 90 episodes waiting to be binged. Outlander may be outlandish, but clothec. Claymy is my one true pairing, and I'd follow these two through time and to the ends of the earth, or at least to stars. And if you don't have stars, that's okay, because the first six seasons are on Netflix. A hunter with a mysterious past and her very heroic friends are all that stands in the way of an unspeakable evil. Join them as they explore hunt like wacky outfits and decorate their village. What's up, Ringerverse? Steve Allman here with another recommends for you.

I'm going to be talking about Lego Horizon Adventures. I know what you're thinking to anybody that's been playing games or been in the Sony space for a while. Steve, Sony's been shoving Horizon down my face for years now. That's very true. But this one is very fun. Lego, Horizon, an unlikely duo, but quite fun nonetheless. It's an adorable game, pretty much taking the story of the first Horizon Zero Dawn and making it a fun co-op Lego adventure.

This is a great game that you can play with any little kids, younger cousins, sons, daughters, anybody that you would care to enjoy with. I play it with a buddy of mine who's on the West Coast in a different state, and we just have a great casual time shooting little Lego beasts and dressing up in little outfits that the game provides for you. It's a wonderful, gorgeous-looking game, surprisingly. It looks just like the Lego movie, right along with that same humor. It's very tongue-in-cheek, witty, and funny.

I think you're going to have a great time with it. It's on PlayStation and PC right now, as well as Switch. Check it out, Lego Horizon Adventures. Kiyomoto? Who that? To know the next of the room in the footho go to? Fjino, Sense. Kiyomoto?

Fjino's I'ma a manga's ten site is I'm more better than

you're like you know like I'm gonna see and I'm gonna make you

I'm gonna make so so yeah yeah I'm what I'm

what I'm what I'm back this month you know I'm gonna

hit you with two recommendations the first one of my favorite movies of the year

it's a documentary starring Connor O'Malley, directed by Connor O'Malley, and others. It's called Rap World. It is free on YouTube less than an hour. It basically follows these three white boys. We try to make a rap album within 24 hours within a night. It is so funny.

Anything I say is going to honestly not do the movie justice. Make it through the first five or ten minutes. Really just soak in the brilliance of. this mockumentary was laughing the entire time. I can't. It would be in my top 10 for this year in terms of movies. Then second is an anime. As always, it's called Look Back. It's based off of Fujimoto. Fujimoto One Shot. You might know that name from such works as like Chainsaw Man. And this is just one of the saddest movies that I've seen all year. The manga One Shot was very, very sad. It's about creating manga. It's about friendship. It's about art. And once again,

It's just, it's really, really beautiful. Also, I believe this one is under an hour, too. So, you know, you have two movies under an hour that are both very, very enjoyable. So enjoy the holidays, and that's my Ringaverse recommends. Ringaverse. It's your guy, producer Kerm here. Got shades on the Spotify stew because I'm a chill guy working on a Saturday trying to get you all that mint edition out.

But you know, when Ben makes the call for Ringaverse recommends, you answer the call. So I'm going to hit you all with what I've been enjoying, keeping me sane through these, you know, these work days. You know how I get down. It's the X-Men Comics, baby. But specifically, what's really been nourishing my soul is all of these solo comics that they put out, specifically women, X-Men characters that they're really giving that shine to. So I'm going to recommend not one, but two comics this week, if you'll let me, if you'll allow me. First and foremost, I got to talk about Storm. Storm, one of my favorite solo runs right now.

Only two issues N, written by Morewa, Iodelli, and art is by Lucas Warnick. Lucas Wernick is one of my favorite artists right now in the X-Men realm. And I'm really loving this run of Storm grapple. with her mortality as well as dealing with, you know, the racism that comes with this anti-mutant, you know, thought and philosophy within America. And in this post-Croco world, it's just very interesting to paint storming this light of, you know, she is a goddess, right? But the idea of she don't got a healing power, you know, like a Wolverine or a Deadpool or even like an apocalypse.

So while she is this weather goddess, she still can die. So in this, how do I survive radiation poisoning when I don't have those abilities? And I'm very interested to see where this run goes. It seems like it's dipping into ancestors in the realm of magic and sorcery. And I'm interested to see where they're going to delve with that. So that's recommendation number one, love storm. And my second recommendation is hot off the presses, Psylock. make sure you get that

slylock written by Alyssa Wong art by Vincezzo Karatu and one issue in

I'm hooked it this comic focuses on sylok not the character

that you might have grown up with bretti bradick the problematic British woman inhabiting an Asian

woman's body but no it is following Kwanon the Asian woman that has now repossessed her body since in the Cricola era. And in this comic, she is using her telepath assassin skills to save young trafficked mutants. And also dealing with her, you know, her past and her trauma that comes with being raised to be a weapon

and learning that she is more than just a weapon of mass destruction. She is a whole person. And so in one issue, I'm already just very excited in the directions they're going to take it with this story. And yeah, those are my two recommendations this month. I'm also looking forward to reading the Mystique solo series, Dazzlers, another one I'm very excited about. And also, you know, not out yet.

This might be my next Ring of Verse recommends next month. Laura Kenny, the Wolverine, the second Wolverine, she has a solo comic coming. So I'm just, I'm very, I'm well fed, well-nourished with my X-Men comics right now. It's buzzing, man.

They got that good shit. So check it out. Start with Storm and Siloak and read some of those solo, or not solo, the team X-Men runs as well. Exceptional X-Men is my favorite right now. You know how I get down. Peace.

Bring averse. It's Matt James, the deputy art lead here at the Ringer, and also frequent button mash guest. Today I'm here to recommend an incredible game to you that you probably have access to for free already. It's called The Rise of the Golden Idol is a puzzle slash mystery game.

It's the sequel to 2022's The Case of the Golden Idol. And if you have a Netflix account, it is free on iOS and Android, which I did not know when I bought it on Steam. Alas, I can recommend this to anybody. who likes brain teasers. If you're someone who is in the New York Times games app a lot, easy recommend, even if you don't play a lot of video games,

even if you didn't play the original game, you can still just hop right into this one. Basically, every level you come across a big scene of people and actions, and it's your job to poke around and deduce what happened here. To beat every level, all the words that pop up when you poke things, enter a word bank, and you have to take those words and put them into like a madlibs explaining everything that happened. And every level you beat unveils more of the overarching mystery,

which is really excellent. If you have a tablet or an iPad, that's probably going to be better than your phone. There are a few small details that you might be squinting to see on your phone. It's super fun. There are hints in the game if you get stuck. It's probably free for you. Give it a shot.

John left Earth of his own free will. Worshack was caught committing murder. Where's the conspiracy? It's not like Worshack to just shoot someone. I can't help but wonder if he found any evidence that links all these events. Four of us taken down. I'm terrified. It's all connected and the worst is yet to come and I can't do anything to stop it.

Well, folks, it's Ben Fing Lindberg here to bring things full circle. this episode and now I'm coming back in as the closer, which is against the rules of baseball, but not the rules of Ringaverse Recommends. By the way, my wife and I would echo Matt's recommendation, because lately she and I have been playing the Rise of the Golden Idol in bed before we go to sleep. And no, that's not a euphemism. I have one more recommendation to share, and it comes from a listener. A few of you emailed nominations to Ringaverse Recommends at gmail.com, including Liz Hill,

who recommended Carissa Broadbentz, the songbird, and the Heart of Stone, book three of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, and J.B. Bonifacio, who recommended the League of Legends World Championships in honor of Arcane. But this month's official listener pick comes from Chris Simons, who has a two-part recommendation for a two-part project. Chris writes, my recommendations for Ringiverse recommends this month are Watchman Chapter 1 and Watchman Chapter 2, a new animated movie duo based on the Watchman Comic Book Limited series. You probably know this by now, but I'll read Chris's synopsis. In 1985, the murder of a government-sponsored superhero draws his outlawed colleagues out of retirement and into a mystery that threatens to upend their personal lives and the world itself.

As the watchmen grapple with personal ethics, inner demons, and a society turned against them, they race the clock to uncover a deepening plot that might trigger global nuclear war. Chris continues, this adaptation aims to be faithful to the original Watchman graphic novel from Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins, and it's executed in an animation style that mirrors the source material. This Watchman movie was directed by Brendan Vietti, who previously directed Batman Under the Red Hood, an excellent animated movie that is among DC's best. The animation is done by Studio Mier, which has worked on such projects as X-Men 97, The Boondocks, and the Legend of Cora, and the cast includes Matthew Reese as Night Owl, Katie Sackoff as Silk Sector, Titus Welliver as Dr. Manhattan, Troy Baker as Ozzymandias, and a slew of others. While this two-part story may be similar in plot to the 2009 Zach Snyder feature, it certainly sets itself apart and justifies its existence.

The R-rated first chapter, clocking in at a lean 84 minutes, is now available on Max. The 89-minute second chapter, which premiered this week, is available to rent or buy digitally, and it should show up on Max in the coming months, Poo-Pew. Well, Chris, Piu-Pew, and thank you. I didn't know I needed another way to watch Watchmen, but why not? Now we have come to the traditional recapping of picks. From Mallory Rubin, Batman Unburied, an audio drama on Spotify. From Jomi Adoneron, Life is Strange, Double Exposure on all consoles and Steam. From Arjuna Ramgapal, Cobra Chi, Season 6, Part 2 on Netflix.

From Joanna Robinson, inspired by HBO's Like Water for Chocolate, the magical realism genre. From me, Outlander Season 7, Part 2 on stars. from Steve Allman, Lego Horizon Adventures on Windows, PlayStation, and Switch. From Chuck Holmes, the mockumentary rap world on YouTube, plus a smuggled second pick for the anime movie Look Back on Prime Video. From Jonathan Kerma, aka Kerm, Marvel's Storm and Silak comics. From Matt James, The Rise of the Golden Idol on all game consoles and Steam, as well as on iOS and Android for free via Netflix. And finally, from listener Chris Simons, Watchman Chapter 1 on Max, and Watchman Chapter 2 of available via video on demand.

The Ring Reverse will return next week with a PlayStation 1 30th anniversary draft on Buttonmash, followed by Skeleton Crew coverage and Mint Edition's animation awards. House of R will continue diving deep into Dune Prophecy, and Mal and Joe will be all over Skeleton Crew 2. Remember, you can contact us and send nominations for future editions of Ringiverse Recommends to, naturally, ringerverse recommends at gmail.com. Thanks to Steve Allman for producing. this pod and to our Juna Ramgapal for scheduling it. As always, we are thankful to the creators

who give us so much to talk about and to our listeners for caring what we say. We'll have much more to say in December. Until then, we wish you a happy holiday, and we hope you'll recommend the ringerverse.