(Pictured above: the official 4SN mascot and genuine bestest boy: Boecker)
So a lot of people keep asking me to do a post explaining what "4SN" is (full disclosure, literally no one has asked me to do this post but I see similar introductions on other blogs and videos and it always makes me roll my eyes) and so, naturally, we should start with the acronym:
4SN
Second Saturday Steaks and Shows Night
This storied tradition goes all the way back to Februrary 2021 when four disfunctional kids made the decision to memorialize their friendship in the form of a monthly gathering. Now, nearly half a year later (at the time of this writing), those four disfunctional kids have grown and flourished into four disfunctional adults but have somehow managed to keep the tradition alive.
This post—which bears no blog number—is the rememberance of our dedication. It's our eternal flame burning on forever, our grand statue at the center of the city of our relationship, the championship banner hanging from the rafters of our gymnasium. And, best of all, it's only five sessions in.
We have many rules for 4SN but the first rule is this:
Any rule can be broken if it fits the needs of the founders.
Other rules would be things like requiring steak to be served and, of course, watching something. So far we've broken the steak rule once by having "Beef Wellington" while in Beidaihe while also skirting the rule another time by doing steak tacos instead of proper steak. And as far as watching something, we've so far only watched movies but we would be more than open to watching a tv show or mini-series or something.
So, we just went over what 4SN is, but let's take a moment to discuss who 4SN is.
Names and titles:
Pengyun Li (pictured bottom): Boss, CEO (Chief Exectutive Officer), and janitor of 4SN
Lynn Lin (pictured top): Organizer, CEO (Chief Excel Officer), and Lynn of 4SN
Valone (Pictured right): Administrator, CPO (Chief Photography Officer), and Secretary to Mascot Boecker
Edgar (pictured left): Taste-tester, CBO (Chief Blogging Officer), and couch ornament
Now, on to our history of views and feasts!
*Note* Our system of review may seem complex to some as we use the "Steak" instead of "Star". We here at 4SN felt that meshed better with our aesthetic and that it conveyed a deeper appreciation for the cinematic art. Our ratings are as follows (as inscriptied by Valon):
0-1 🥩: Total Waste of Time
2-3 🥩: Boring with some fun elements
4-5 🥩: Okay movie, but not rewatchable
6-7 🥩: Good/entertaining, would consider rewatching
8-9 🥩: Fantastic movie, would recommend to friends
10 🥩: Perfect movie. It had everything and blew me away.
(Note: chicken legs "🍗" are half a steak
Pilot Episode of 4SN
Date: February 17th, 2021
Location: Valon's Home
Feast: Steaks (and maybe some chips or something... none of us can remember)
Movie Selector: Pengyun
Movie Chosen: Nightcrawler (2014)
Reviews:
Lynn: 8.5 /10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Pengyun: 9 /10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Valon: 8.5 /10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩 🍗
Edgar: 9.5 /10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩 🍗
Average: 8.875 /10 Steaks
Second 4SN
Date: March 14th, 2021
Location: Edgar and Pengyun's
Feast: Steaks, mashed potatoes, and veggies
Movie Selector: Edgar
Movie Chosen: Prisoners (2013)
Reviews:
Lynn: 9/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Pengyun: 8/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Valon: 8/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Edgar: 8.5/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Average: 8.375/10 Steaks
Third 4SN
Date: May 2nd, 2021
Location: Beidaihe (while traveling together)
Feast: Beef Wellington and a whole mess of other stuff at a baller restaurant (Name unknown because forgotten by blogger)
Movie Selector: Valon
Movie Chosen: Allied (2016)
Reviews:
Lynn: NA/NA 🍌 (Fell asleep; Unable to review)
Pengyun: 8/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Valon: 8/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Edgar: 7.5/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Average: 7.833/10 Steaks
Fourth 4SN
Notes: Emberley Neidhardt in attendance (first 4SN with a visitor!)
Date: June 12th, 2021
Location: Valon's
Feast: Steak, shrimp, roasted potatoes, cheese
Movie Selector: Pengyun
Movie Chosen: Wild Tails (2014)
Reviews:
Lynn: 7/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Pengyun: 8.5/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Valon: 5.5/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Edgar: 6/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Average: 6.75/10 Steaks
Fifth 4SN
Date: July 24th, 2021
Location: Edgar and Pengyun's
Feast: Steak, chicken, and veggie tacos, roasted potatoes
*Note* we took this great picture of our mascot:
Movie Selector: Lynn
Movie Chosen: Donnie Darko (2001)
*Special Note* It was on this night that we realized 60% of our 4SNs so far had featured Jake Gyllenhal. Edgar (the one writing this blogpost) has reached out to Mr. Gyllenhal's people for a comment on this honor but has yet to receive a reply. There has also been talk of Mr. Gyllenhal become an unofficial mascot of 4SN but that will have to wait until the contract negotiations are finalized with the current mascot (Boecker). We'll keep you posted (Mr. Gyllenhal, if you're reading this, we'd love to have you come to China for 4SN one night! We'll provide the food, place, and movie if you just bring that rugged mug of yours.)
Reviews:
Lynn: 9.5/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Pengyun: 8.5/10🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Valon: 8.5/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Edgar: 9/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Average: 8.875/10 Steaks
Sixth 4SN
Date: August 14, 2021
Location: Valon's Apartment
Feast: Burgers, fries, chicken, egg rolls, calamari
Movie Selector: Valon (Don't try to deny it, I have evidence
Movie Chose: Southpaw
Once again a Jake Gyllenhal movie was chosen. Normally this is a fantastic decision but we were all, unanimously, disappointed. Not in the acting, of course, but in the story. We generally felt it was weak and missed a lot of opportunities.
Reviews:
Lynn: 5.5 /10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🍗
Pengyun: 4 /10 🥩🥩🥩🥩
Valon: 4/10🥩🥩🥩🥩
Edgar: 5/10 🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩
Average: 4.625 /10 Steaks
Seventh 4SN
Date: July 10th, 2022 (11 months since last 4SN)
Location: Valon's Apartment
Feast: Roast Duck, Burgers, fries, quesadillas, Ceasar salad
Movie Selector: Edgar
Movie Chosen: The Northman
Sadly, this was the first incomplete 4SN. Pengyun and I have a 3 month old daughter now and Valon's apartment was a new environment for her and she was adamant about not sleeping, haha. So, as a result, we only got about a half an hour into this movie. That being said, Valon and I both watched about an hour more after Pengyun and Lynn left and I don't think we'll be picking it back up with them at a later date. So the next 4SN will be a different movie. For my own personal review of the first 90 or so minutes:
What this movie does well, it does EXCEPTIONALLY well. There is a battle scene early on that starts off with an incredible shot involving a thrown spear. I won't spoil anything, but it was jaw-dropping. That being said, the rest of the battle didn't really excite me. Also, I felt there were some decisions that didn't make sense. I loved the dialogue and I loved the tone and feel of the movie, but I felt there were a lot of unnecessary pieces to it. The actors were all phenomenal and I enjoyed the animism displayed, but again couldn't get invested into the overall story. Though the plot was a classic tale told countless times, it just didn't land for me.
Looking forward to the next 4SN!