POWER/RANGERS Short Film Discussion

I'm sure you've seen it by now, the Power Rangers fan film by Joseph Khan. If you haven't then i'll make it quick: Some people made a dark & gritty Mighty Morphin Power Rangers short film and it's kind of awesome, not perfect, but a great idea and a lot of fun to watch. And this has been a very controversial short film, mostly for the film getting pulled by Saban, the owners of the Power Rangers brand because...well they're big fuckwits. There is no misunderstanding, no law degree needed to understand the fine print. This short film is a non-profit parody and is protected under Fair Use, it got pulled because Saban have their own heads up their asses and don't understand YouTube. Naturally, the short film is back online because it has the legal right to be.

But that's not the big controversy that i wanna talk about, there is one point that is constantly brought up that really annoys the shit out of me. People commenting saying that this is an unfaithful adaptation because they took something light hearted and goofy and turning it into a dark & gritty film that looks like ever generic action film of the past decade...alright...if you are one of the people who believes this, i want you to listen really closely because i don't want to repeat myself, okay, you listening? *Clear throat*

THAT

IS

THE

FUCKING

POINT!

Alright then...have I made myself clear? No? Well allow me to explain.

Two of the biggest trends in Hollywood right now is adapting beloved franchises and making them "dark & gritty" (I've talked about this plenty of times before). What people don't seem to realise is that this film is making fun of that trend. They took the goofiest of all action franchises and made it as dark as humanly possible, we have violence, we have drugs, we have sex, we have death, we have terrorism, we have torture, we have depression. It is as completely opposite to Power Rangers as it can be, because there is a new Power Rangers film being made and this shows the ridiculousness of the concept of trying to take something like Power Rangers seriously. Because even if you had no idea what Power Rangers was, the fact that this film takes itself so seriously, it actually does a 180 and becomes silly again.

Look, film is subjective, if you don't like it then you don't have to like it. But if you actually make this comment and you're not trolling then you are the dumbest piece of shit i've ever seen who clearly doesn't know how to read a film. I mean I never thought there was an incorrect way to read a film before but you proved me wrong, you've reached a whole new level of idiocy if you couldn't see this, i mean god, the answer was so fucking obvious, what do they need to do to make you see this!? Wave a sign that says "THIS ISN'T ACTUALLY MEANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!"Jesus christ, how dumb can a person be!? You absolute walnut!

-Danny

Alien3 - Cheap Thoughts

It was announced recently that Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9, Elysium & Chappie will be directing a brand new Alien movie. It is also announced that it will take place after Aliens, ultimately wiping out Alien3 and Alien Resurrection from existence, a decision that most fans are perfectly fine with as they did not enjoy the next two Alien movies. I personally have never seen Alien3, and figured this would be a great time to talk about it. And for the record, yes, I have seen Alien Resurrection and it's a pile of shit. So now that i've seen all of the Alien movies, let's talk about Alien3.

Alien3 takes place directly after Aliens, where Ripley, Newt Hicks & Bishop are in hypersleep, that is until their ship gets damaged and crash lands, killing everyone but Ripley. The local inhabitants revive Ripley and inform her that she has crashed in a prison made up entirely of men, meaning she's the only woman amongst a bunch of rapists, murderers and psychopaths. Of course a Xenomorph is born when a Facehugger from Ripley's ship attaches itself to a dog and begins killing prisoners. Eventually Ripley discovers that she has a Queen Alien growing inside of her and the Alien won't kill her because of it. Eventually the remaining prisoners realise that their only option is to trap and kill the creature before Weyland company show up and turn it into a weapon. In the end, Ripley & team kill the creature, but at the cost of their lives, killing the Xenomorphs once and for all and ending Ripley's story...that is until Alien Resurrection would be released and fuck everything up.

So let's start with what is clearly the biggest problem with this movie, killing of Newt & Hicks. Not only killing them off, but killing them off screen, before the movie even begins. One of the reasons why Aliens works so well is because there being multiple survivors makes it feel more unique, especially when they were characters that we loved, it was a happy ending to a story that seemed impossible to have a happy ending, and this movie fucks it up in the first 5 minutes. That is the worst sin a sequel or an adaptation can commit, harm the previous source material. Now, the ending in Aliens doesn't seem as good because we know it isn't going to last, a movie that everyone loves is now going to seem just that little bit more bitter because of this film. And what is the main reason for killing off Hicks & Newt? Just so Ripley has to go in alone again, because god forbid she has a character she can relate to on a personal level, no she always has to work from scratch and rebuild relationships that we've seen twice already. Aliens was able to get away with this because it didn't have a choice but to start from scratch and the marines that she was partnered up with were diverse and likeable character, here, most of the inmates blend in together with maybe 2 or 3 exceptions, and even then, they're not as good as the characters from the previous film. So yes, i think this was a bad move on all parts, it was a slap in the face to the characters, to the fans and the previous films.

But that's not to say the rest of the story doesn't work, it does...ish. The biggest problem with this film is how much feels rehashed, we're back to one alien again who goes around killing people one by one, this feels like something we've seen before, not just in the Alien franchise, but in so many monster flicks. I will say they put an interesting twist on the Xenomorph by making it behave more like an animal than in the previous films and that does allow for some neat cinematography and a sense of something new, but in reality the Xenomorph doesn't act much differently than the previous Aliens except it walks differently. And the fact that Ripley is pretty much immune from the alien sounds good on paper, but in execution it also creates a big problem. I've already said that i didn't find the characters that well written in this film, that is except for Ripley. Ripley is one of the greatest action stars of all time, and she is still amazing in this film. She has an interesting arc to go through for her closing chapter and has some very poignant moments "I don't even remember my life before you" can pretty much some up all the pain she's gone through having to face these things. But the fact that the creature isn't going to attack her makes the film a lot less intense because the only character we care about isn't in danger and because of the Queen Alien inside of her (How the hell did that happen by the way!?) we know she's gonna die by the end of the film. There's no tension whatsoever to be found, and that's always a big problem with action heroes; people like Ripley or John McClane who are supposed to be the vulnerable hero and end up becoming practically immortal almost ruins the connection the audience has to the character.

But there are still plenty of good things about this film, for one thing the cinematography is very good, especially the POV shots of the Xenomorph were great, except weirdly enough the death scenes were very poorly shot. We're 3 films into this series and are fully aware of what the Aliens are capable of, why film the death scenes in quick cuts and close ups? In the first film it makes sense because it has this sense of mystery, but here, it's just badly filmed death scenes. Though i will give them points for having a few surprising death scenes in the film of characters i did not expect to die so early, and also the build up to the deaths was well done, just the scenes themselves which were let downs.

Also the practical effects are amazing as expected, in fact this is the best that they've ever been and i'm glad that they used practical effects wherever possible because the CGI in this film is truly god awful. Not once, not for one single shot are the effects convincing, not even remotely, seriously, awful, awful CGI.

But being completely honest, even with all the problems i've talked about so far, i don't really consider this to be a bad film. Hear me out. As an instalment in the Alien franchise, hell, as what was thought to be the final instalment to the Alien franchise, it sucks, it's such a bad note to go out on. But if you were to look at this as a stand alone movie, so if you watched it without watching the previous two films, it's not half bad. It works as a typical monster flick that you can watch just to kill time, i mean it doesn't hold a candle to the first two, but i also think it's a million times better than Alien Resurrection. But with that being said, there's also a third level that you need to look at this as: A David Fincher film. Fincher has come out multiple times and says that he completely disowns the film and blames a lot of the problems on studio interference. And frankly i'm inclined to believe him, because even though it was his first feature length film, he still could have done a lot better, especially seeing as his second film Seven remains one of his best films to date. So there are three ways to look at this, as a Fincher film: It sucks, as an Alien film: it's disappointing, as a stand alone monster movie: it's not half bad.

And it's because of that, that i'm giving this film a 6/10.

-Danny

Arrow "Nanda Parbat" Review

No Flash this week sadly to review, in fact it's gonna be a while till our next Flash review, but we still have some Arrow to hold us over. Nanda Parbat sees everyone learn the truth about Sara's death and Thea hands over Merlyn to the league as punishment, but Oliver and Diggle go to save him, get captured and Ra's Al Ghul claims he wants Ollie to be his heir. Meanwhile Ray has finally built his ATOM suit, and got some action with Felicity. While the flashbacks have Ollie and Maseo's family try to head back home but Waller's men cut them off and attack them, separating Maseo & Tatsu from Ollie & their kid.

Before i get to this episode in detail, there's something that i noticed always happens in the show that i've never noticed before. Whenever Ollie goes to get changed into his uniform he always grabs his bow first, surely he would grab that last, i mean he can't put his suit on while holding a bow in one hand, i've never really noticed that, it's kinda stupid.

As for the episode itself, it was just kind of meh, but it made me realise that the plot for this season seems to be moving at a snails pace. Everyone is still talking about events that happened 15 episodes ago like they only happened last month and the progression of the characters and the overall story has been so slow that when i think about it, not a whole lot has happened in this season, i mean Sara dying was a major way to start the season but what's happened since? Laurel became the Canary except not really because she's still arrogant as fuck and isn't that good of a fighter or have a good repertoire with the rest of Team Arrow. The biggest event that happened was Thea becoming part of Ollie's world, and also not trusting everyone, then trusting them, then not trusting them, her emotions are constantly changing and i have no idea where she stands, also why is she still surprised that people lie to her? Surely she should be used to it by now.

And you can tell the show is running out of reasons to keep Merlyn alive, seriously, he's kidnapped by the league and Ollie tries to save him because he doesn't want Thea to feel guilty...um what? She's been trained to kill, she's seen her friends & family die in front of her eyes, had her entire world flipped upside down, i think she's been through enough where sentencing Merlyn to death is not going to affect her all too much. Also you know, with Merlyn dead the league will stop trying to kill you and your friends & family, being honest, i'd say it's worth it.

Also Roy & Diggle don't seem to have much of an arc this season, they haven't had to go through any major change or story events, they're really just there to be the voice of reason throughout everything, which is fine, but i wish they had a bigger role in the story because i really like them as characters. And the flashbacks too are being really stretched out, i mean it feels like we only got half of a flashback this week because they don't have much to do while in Hong Kong. Oh, and since when can the ATOM fly? I mean i'm not the biggest reader on Atom comics but has he always had a jet pack? I mean it's cool but, surely the first thing you would have him do is shrink because you know, that's his main power.

Overall this episode was meh, and it highlighted the majority of problems with the show, inconsistent character development, slow paced narrative, poorly paced flashbacks and a whole lot of problems feeling like excuses. I'm giving Nanda Parbat a 6/10 (And what the fuck is a Nanda Parbat anyway?).

-Danny

Why Do People Hate Ross?

Whenever I see people talk about the characters of Friends, every so often I see people say that they thought Ross was a jerk and all i can think is...why!? What did Ross do that was so douchey to make him everyone's least favourite character? He cheated on Rachel no he didn't, he thought they were broken up He's so obnoxious no he's clever, and even when he does act obnoxious, it's always part of the joke. Yeah he's a flawed character, but so are all the Friends. Joey's an idiot, Chandler's afraid of commitment, Monica is naggy, Rachel is whiney and Phoebe is...well, Phoebe. And honestly, I really like Ross, he's funny, well meaning, sarcastic and a dork, yeah he's obnoxious, but hey, if these characters were perfect then who would watch em?

-Danny

Can Indiana Jones Be Replaced?

There have been a lot of rumours going around of a reboot of sorts for the Indiana Jones franchise, telling more stories but with new actors, some of the names thrown around are Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper and Chris Pine. This has caused a mixed reception from fans, some like the choices, but hate the idea of rebooting a beloved franchise in the same vain as something like James Bond.

Now on one hand, this sounds like an interesting idea, having an iconic character become something similar to James Bond, where you recast the role every few years to keep it going as an endless franchise. I personally am not a fan of Indiana Jones, i don't dislike any of the movies, i just don't love them either (Except Last Crusade, that movie's awesome). But even i am against the idea of rebooting something like Indiana Jones with a new actor. First of all, James Bond is a character that is always set in present day, there is no continuous plot points or defined time zone. Indiana Jones has always been associated with the 1940's, barring Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy fights Nazis, it's what people expect from the franchise, which means they have two options, take out the Nazis and take away a staple villain from the franchise or continue with the Nazis and have this franchise trapped in a time period that is going to feel more and more crowded with every instalment.

Another problem i have is, Indy is not James Bond. The reason why Bond can be cast so easily is because he has no defined characteristics, he's cool, that's about it, and cool isn't a factor that can easily be determined; with no definitive character traits on how he should behave, it's easier for actors to take up the role. Indy however, does have a definitive character, he's grouchy but brave, smart but struggles, sceptical and reluctant, yet heroic and noble, he always starts at the bottom and has to work his way up. Because he has a defined character, it's harder to adapt him a second time, and personally i don't think any of the actors rumoured can pull this off, they're too...cheery to be Indiana. Which is not to say Indy is a stick in the mud, but of course doing what he does on a regular basis, it would stress anyone out.

So no, i don't think Indiana Jones can be recast that simply, I'm not saying it isn't possible, but it would be very difficult and much more challenging than adapting than someone like James Bond.

Also not many people can pull of a fedora like Harrison Ford.

-Danny

Sarcastic Till Death

You know those people that make jokes at the most inappropriate of times? Yeah i'm one of those people. Whenever my friends try to have a serious conversation, I always make a sarcastic comment. I am a very sarcastic person, I even have a naturally sarcastic voice to boot, which makes it hard for some people to tell when i'm not being sarcastic. I have that feeling that no matter what the situation, I will be sarcastic, even at something like a funeral, while granted i obviously wouldn't say anything, i will most likely be thinking of a joke in my head, i think that might be a coping mechanism, or maybe i just don't like to deal with serious stuff. But the main way i justify that stuff is because, if i could, i would be sarcastic about my own death and would be making jokes even as a ghost. "A heart attack? Oh how original!" "How much for a coffin!? Christ, just store me in the attic and spray some febreeze every so often" "hey guys, how about this for a tombstone: Danny Birdsall, time traveller, 1995-1876". Because hey, it's my death, I think i'm entitled to a bit of humour in bad taste. And I think that's important for all of my friends & family to know, no matter how i die, how tragic or pointless of a death it might be, my spirit will be doing nothing but making jokes throughout the entire thing. At the wake i'll be there like "Mmh! These sausage roles are to die for! HA! Get it?" because that's the type of person I am in life, and that's what i want to be thought of in death.

-Danny

So Much Spider-Man...

In 2007 I saw Spider-Man 3 in theatres and if you had told me that 10 years later we would have two more Spider-Man franchises with different actors and stories then I would have found that ridiculous. Once Amazing Spider-Man was announced, the majority of people were against it, rebooting the franchise after only 5 simple years, and here we are again, Spider-Man being rebooted for 2017 just 3 years after the previous film, and while there are plenty of people against the idea of it being rebooted, the majority seem to be all for it. But my question is: Why?

Spider-Man 3 was not a good movie by most fans' standards, it's universally disliked, they reboot it, everyone is angry. Amazing Spider-Man 2 was also not a good movie according to most people, they reboot it, everyone is fine, the only difference being it's being co-produced by Marvel, even though Sony still have final creative say over everything, so in reality, nothing's changed. Also why is it Spider-Man that everyone has such strong opinions about getting rebooted? The Dark Knight Rises was released in 2012 and people either loved or hated that movie, 4 years later we get a new Batman in Batman V Superman, yet i have heard literally no one complain about getting the Batman character rebooted so quickly. Spider-Man has a bad movie and a reboot 5 years later, that's a crime, Batman has a mixed movie and a reboot 4 years later, that's okay...What!?

Finally, I have to ask why does the timeline matter? Why does it make a difference if a character is rebooted 5 years or 50 years apart, because be honest, if The Amazing Spider-Man was coming out 50 years after Spider-Man 3 and was the exact same movie, you wouldn't have been as sceptical going into it. And even now with Amazing Spider-Man 2 I heard plenty of people still criticising the fact that it's a reboot, surely you had enough to complain about with that movie? Just let it go already. And these same people are all for Spider-Man getting rebooted just because he's part of the Marvel universe? Because that's not hypocritical at all...

-Danny

Stuff You're Supposed To Hate But Actually Find Cool

The opposite of what I was going for yesterday, so let's talk about these things.

The Current Generation:
Oh my god! They're growing up with different cartoons which i will instantly assume suck even though i haven't watched them and are clouded by nostalgia! WHAT!? They have iPhones! I didn't need iPhones when i was a kid...mostly because they weren't invented but how dare we make life easy for children! They should suffer just like i did, because dial-up definitely counts as suffering!

Holidays:
Christmas & Valentines Day are nothing more than commercialized holidays with no deep meaning? First of all, so what if it's commercialized? If it makes people happy to recieve gifts then why not let them be happy? And also they have whatever meaning you give to them, they make people happy, stop being so cynical. New Years as well, even if only 1 in 100 people actually do change, then good for them.

Taylor Swift:
Her lyrics may be simplistic and pandering, but damn are they catchy songs, and not in that incredibly annoying way like Iggy Azalea, but actually catchy in a way where i don't want to kill myself. She's got a good voice and makes for good eye candy, exploitation to the max!

Modern Simpons:
No it's not as good as it used to be, but it's still kinda funny, i wouldn't say no to watching an episode if i've got nothing else to do...actually that joke was really funny, hahahahahahahahaha!

Hipsters:
You're wearing a scarf and a short sleeved shirt? Where's the logic? I mean yeah you look really good like that but...eh i got nothing, you're killing that flannel shirt and male ponytail.

The Cast of Twilight:
Huh, and i thought i hated Twilight, but these guys really like to bash into it, maybe they're alright.

People:
God do people suck...well except for those people, they're cool, i like them, okay fine, maybe not everyone on this planet sucks, in fact, overall, i have a good life and should probably take a better look at what i've got and appreciate it some more...mmm, s'mores...

-Danny

Stuff You're Supposed To Like But Really Sucks

With a title like that one could assume this is a Buzzfeed article (Side note: fuck Buzzfeed) but the other day i talked about how i've been re-watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother and i've noticed that a lot of the show, especially the first season is about stuff you're supposed to like but in reality they kinda suck, so i'm gonna talk about some of the stuff that i feel you're supposed to like but actually sucks.

Clubs:
You know the only reason why people go to clubs (Especially guys)? It's because it's the easiest way to get laid, you don't need to flirt with them all night, go on a date or put any kind of actual effort in. You just buy them a drink, dance next to them for a little bit and you're good, and of course be attractive, something which i was not blessed with, personality is my only shot. So for me, and anyone else who doesn't have sex when going to a club, it's crowded, smells, plays crappy music and takes forever to get a drink (Which are overpriced by the way). And frankly, even if you are hot then there's no guarantee that you're going to get any action, so it's really just a gamble, and i just don't think it's worth it.

Arthouse Movies:
You acknowledge that they're clever and probably do mean something, but at the same time, god are they boring, if you're trying to say something about the human condition, do you have to take 3 hours to do it? Also who are you to tell me about how humanity sucks, i don't know you, what makes your opinion so special? You know Fight Club made me hate all of humanity but it was fun about it, you're not deep, you just kinda suck.

Extended Family:
You know these people are your family and of course you enjoy seeing them, but you always have to act far more proper than you do with your real family and you honestly couldn't care about what they've been up to in the 6 months since you last saw them. Also you stopped giving me birthday gifts when i turned 14, screw you guys, that's a privilege i get till 18 at the earliest.

Award Shows:
Seriously people, at the end of the day, it's just people's opinions on things, only difference is they can afford big stadiums, they don't matter and when something wins that you don't agree with, why do you care so much? Of course they're biased, because guess what, it's all opinions! LEGO Movie wasn't nominated for best animated film at the Oscars? Oh boo-hoo, that totally means i can no longer enjoy that film--of course i still enjoy it! It's awesome! I don't need a bunch of fancy people in suits to approve of my opinion!

Mad Men:
It sucks...that's kinda it, go rewatch Breaking Bad.

-Danny

Arrow "The Return" Review

I've always said, the best thing about Arrow is without a doubt Stephen Amell as Ollie, and here, we get an entire episode of him being in every single scene, with no stupid love subplot or any subplot actually, this was a very focused episode on this one story. Speaking of, in this episode of Arrow, Oliver & Thea are training on the island when they learn that Slade has been let loose from his prison by Merlyn as a training exercise for the two. Meanwhile in the flashbacks, Ollie gets to spend the day back in Starling City where we get to see what everyone has been up to in the time that Ollie has been away.

So positives of having a focused episode: the plot is a lot more clear, well paced and better developer for both the plot and characters in it. Negatives: I don't have a whole lot to talk about.

I liked the concept of Ollie and Thea having to train on the island, though there wasn't much of a physical challenge involved, it was mostly emotional, Ollie needs to trust Thea and she needs to learn of a horrible act she's commited and accept it. The physical challenge came from Slade, who though it's great to see him again, I feel like he should have been given more to do, also is it me or did the fight end a little too quickly? I mean Slade is Ollie's greatest rival, especially physically, not to mention being in prison for nearly a year would have built up some anger, the fight should have been tougher for them. As for the flashbacks, these were probably my favourite flashbacks in the entire show, seeing Ollie get so close to his friends & family yet can't actually reach out to them was very well handled, and also he killed a drug dealer that Thea used, because he still killed people at this point, and hey, what brother wouldn't kill a drug dealer with their ninja skills to protect their sister even though they think they're dead...

Also a few side notes, Willa Holland, Thea's actress gave an amazing performance, especially her anger towards Merlyn in the end where she gives the big speech, i loved that. Though Merlyn thinking Ollie was never going to tell Thea the truth about Sara, especially when he's trying to be as truthful as possible...yeah that was fucking stupid of him. Also Detective Lance is pissed at Laurel, rightly so, i'm interested in seeing where that's going.

But really that's it, i loved the smaller scale story and the focus given on Ollie and Thea, the flashbacks were really good and it was nice to see Slade again even if he was underused. This was a very good episode and i'm giving it a 9/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Fallout" Review

Last week i said i wish the Ronnie/Dr Stein dilemma was spread across 2 episodes, assuming that they were gonna leave it at Firestorm exploding and find out he's alive several episodes later but nope. They're gonna continue this straight away, giving me what i wanted, and you know what? I think it paid off.

In Fallout, we see that Ronnie and Dr Stein have indeed split, and while they no longer have their powers, they are still connected to each other, they feel the others emotions, personality traits, physical effects, and they learn that soon they are going to connect be connected once again and may not be able to be split apart. But it turns out the complete opposite happens, once they rejoin, they have full control over their mind and body and can split apart and rejoin at will. Also Barry learns that he will one day travel through time, back to the day his mother is killed and will fail to save her. So a pretty packed episode.

Let's start off with the stuff with Ronnie & Dr Stein, i thoroughly enjoyed all of it, I liked the scenes of Ronnie and Dr Stein trying to adjust back to normal life, i liked the conclusion of them having to join together in order to become Firestorm, i found that to be really creative and i can't wait to see where it goes. And i felt we got to know Ronnie as a character finally, admittedly he's a little bland right now, but they're trying atleast, but when you make reference that he has an addiction to pizza (I can relate) maybe actually show him eating pizza at some point, show don't tell, first rule of filmmaking.

The actual plot of the episode, everything involving the military seemed to be an excuse to get this Firestorm plot going, they needed a villain, who always misuses science for weapons? The military! Yeah don't expect this to be anything special, it was fine, it moved the plot along, but it's nothing to run home about.

Everything with Barry learning about his mother and stuff was good, at first I was hesitant on them ruining what could have been a great twist, but now i'm starting to like where they might be going with this if it ends up with a big emotional pay off. Also they actually gave Flash something to do this week and not just Barry, because for the past few weeks it sort of feels like they've been forgetting that the show is called Flash, so you should probably have The Flash do something.

Finally there is the ending where we finally see Wells as Reverse Flash, also with the new aspect of time travel it might indicate that there aren't two Reverse Flashes, just one who time travels. Also Wells and Grodd are apparently in cahoots and they capture and potentially kill Lex Luthor...for those of you confused, you should feel ashamed. But again, i wish they didn't reveal Grodd in full, i mean here we got a full view of him, heard him speak and saw him use psychic powers, you're giving away all your best cards here guys, save some for later.

In the end, I liked this episode, I enjoyed the development for Firestorm and think this is quite a creative set up, I liked what they did with Barry's story and the ending was great as always, i'm giving this episode an 8/10.

-Danny

Life - Season One

I'm the type of person who often compares themselves to television and movie characters, always thinking "wow, i know someone just like that" or "hey, that's stuff i like to do!" or if you wanna get philosophical "hm, i wonder what i would do in that situation". And recently i've been doing a lot of that for sitcoms, you know, the ones based around a group of friends hanging out and just going about their lives. Stuff like Friends or How I Met Your Mother, except i've only been watching stuff from season one, because i feel like that's the stuff i relate to now. I'm only a few months away from entering my 20s, and i currently live away from home which gives me that taste of freedom of getting to do whatever you want, and really wanna do is go the pub with my friends, hangout and complain about life...which is exactly what they do in the first season of shows like Friends and How I Met Your Mother. It's this awkward phase where you have all the energy and freedom to do whatever you want, but usually lacking in the time or money, so you always do small stuff like hanging out at a friends place, except this time you don't have to ask for permission and you can stay there for as long as you want.

I feel like your life doesn't really begin until you're in your 20s because up until then, you still have other people making important decisions for you and supporting you, once you're in your 20s, you have control over what you do, where you work, how you spend your money, and i'm just on the verge of that to the point where i can taste it, i see myself in the characters of those multi-camera sitcoms and I realise that i do what they do and i'm both excited and dreading that season of life because it has freedom and power but it also has effort and responsibility...Holy crap Spider-Man was right!

-Danny

Hitman Agent 47 trailer review

Hitman: Agent 47 is the second movie based off of the popular videogame franchise of the same name, except this one is completely unrelated to the first Hitman movie and is a completely fresh take. Fans of the original videogame seem to think the movie looks crap while general audiences seem to think it looks okay...and i'm kinda with the general audience. No, i've never played any of the Hitman games, mostly because it didn't look like my type of thing, so when the fans tell me that this film looks to be a complete misrepresentation of the character and world of the Hitman games, i can't deny it, so i just have to take their word for it. But just as a movie, it looks decent, it's very colourful, the action seems nice and slick, it's got a good cast behind it, i was actually looking forward to this movie based on the trailer...and then I found out who's writing it.

The film is being written by the one and only Skip Woods, if you don't know who this guy is, well he's written such classics as X-Men: Origins Wolverine, The A-Team and A Good Day to Die Hard. To basically put it, he's never written anything good in his life, and personally i see him as the worst writer in all of Hollywood. His writing is lazy, terrible representations of the characters he's adapting and his films are filled with plotholes. How the hell this guy keeps getting work is beyond me, especially when considering that he wrote the previous Hitman movie! Which also sucked! Why would they hire him again!? And fact is, the movies he's written, he is clearly the problem, stuff like A-Team and Sabotage were competently shot, the big problems always come from the scripts, his scripts. Whenever I see his name on a film, that is justifiable for me blacklisting it from ever been seen by me.

I am a firm believer that every bad filmmaker can make a good film and vice versa, but this takes away all hope i had of this being a good film. Am I still gonna see it? Probably not, unless it gets good reviews, but again, Skip Woods, i seriously doubt it, honestly just getting average reviews would be a major step up for him.

-Danny

The Muppets - Cheap Thoughts

I was never really that big into The Muppets as a kid, i saw a little bit of several of the films but never actually sat down and watched them in full, but i was always aware of who they were, but it wasn't a massive part of my childhood or anything. This can be something quite important when it comes to The Muppets, because I imagine someone growing up with this franchise would have had waves of nostalgia over this film and have loved it, but i didn't have that...and yet even I loved it.

The Muppets, released in 2011, directed by James Bobin and written by Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segal, also starring Segal alongside Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones and obviously, The Muppets. It follows the story of two mega Muppet fans Gary and Walter (Also a Muppet, or puppet technically) who travel to LA with Gary's girlfriend Mary and try and reunite The Muppets to prevent The Muppet Studio from being torn down.

Like i said, this movie probably brings back lots of nostalgia for hardcore fans, almost all of the Muppets make an appearance, several famous songs get revisited, so if you're a fan of the Muppets and haven't seen this film, you'd probably enjoy it a lot. But the film never isolates non-fans, there's plenty of content here for new fans. They do a good job of reintroducing the characters so you get to know their personalities and there are plenty of jokes to get a laugh out of you, especially the fourth wall jokes which i found to be the most entertaining. The songs are also very good, i bought the soundtrack and listen to them quite often, hell, even i know Rainbow Connection well enough that when it played even I got nostalgic, though one performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit felt...out of place. Something about Nirvana and The Muppets just doesn't mix well.

But that's what makes me like the film, what makes me love the film are the emotional moments, because as i've stated, i'm not nostalgic for The Muppets, but you don't have to be, if you're nostalgic for anything from your childhood then you get where they're coming from with this. If Cartoon Network did a big special reuniting all the original Cartoon Cartoons then i'd freak out, so seeing all of the people who were fans of The Muppets as kids come to see them here, i got teary eyed because i've always felt that it's the stuff from our childhoods that no matter what, we're always going to be fans of, and we're always going to be happy to see new content from.

And then there is the ending to the film which is...incredible. It's very mature, fitting and kind of bitter-sweet, The Muppets don't get the victory they wanted, but they get the victory they deserved, no not everything is conveniently gone right for them, but they worked hard and they earned what they did get. Even the big speech that Kermit gives to the other Muppets is really effective. This movie not only appeals to nostalgic viewers and non-nostalgic viewers, but it makes me want to go back in time and become a massive fan, just so i can appreciate the movie all the more, because as it is right now, I'm giving The Muppets a 9/10, god knows what i would have given it if i was already a fan.

-Danny

Will The Hunger Games Last?

The Hunger Games is undoubtedly, the most popular..."young adult" (I still hate that phrase) book/film series out there, so many have tried to be the next big thing, Divergent, Maze Runner, Mortal Instruments, The Host, okay we've had quite a few, but i don't think it can be argued that Hunger Games is the most successful of them all. But that raises the question, will The Hunger Games last? Harry Potter finished nearly half a decade ago and people still love it. Twilight, however, even though people still remember, who gives a crap about it? The fans grew up and realised it sucked, even the haters think it's old to make fun of it at this point, let's be honest, it's dead in the water. But then there's The Hunger Games, it has a strong fanbase just like Twilight, but not as strong as Harry Potter, and it doesn't have a very large hater group, people seem to be either in love with this franchise or just think it's okay. But Lionsgate seem to be trying so hard to keep this franchise alive after the final film, a set tour, live play, basically trying to do what Harry Potter has been doing, except Hunger Games doesn't have as strong of a fanbase so is it going to work?

I should say that if Hunger Games survives the long run then I'd be fine with that, i quite enjoy these movies, but i just don't know if they have the ever lasting impact. I mean they don't have any bad morals or implications like Twilight did that caused the fanbase to grow up and turn their back on it, but is there enough here for people to enjoy it once they leave the demographic it appeals to? I'll be honest, I have no idea, it's sort of the middle child amongst this trend of..."young adult" franchises. When this trend is dead, will The Hunger Games die with it? Who knows. I personally feel like it might be. While I do like the films and books, i don't think there's enough content here to last through the ages, nothing in here that makes it dated, but nothing that i can't not imagine someone 5 years later and going "what else is new?".

-Danny

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Movie Review

I was going to do a full on review of this film on my YouTube channel, but frankly, I just don't have the time, so here I am doing it on my blog instead, because this is a movie that I very much want to talk about.

So what’s the story? Well a young troublemaker named Egsy-played by Taron Edgerton-is recruited into a secret organisation known as Kingsman made up of…well a legion James Bonds pretty much, he’s mentored by Harry Hart-Played by Colin Firth and they’re trying to take down an evil billionaire Richmond Valentine played by Samuel L Jackson.

This movie is fun, that is the best way to describe it, it’s only February and I’m convinced that this is going to be looked back as the most fun, over the top, most comic book style movie of the year. Which is great, I love over the top comedy-action, again, Kick Ass, so this was right up my alley. The action scenes in this film are incredible, not just from the choreography but from a cinematography point of view, the pacing and camera movements make it feel like it is literally taken from a comic book, I don't think I’ve ever seen action done like this before. And you want to know who the most badass person in the film was? Believe it or not, it was Colin Firth, yeah, that guy from The King’s Speech actually the coolest person in the entire film, and he without a doubt has the best scene in the film, I won’t spoil it but…it takes place in a church, that’s all I’ll say.

In fact, that’s another thing, this film has an insane cast behind it, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Mark Strong, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill-who despite not getting many scenes, actually gave a really good performance. Jackson was really over the top and comical as the villain, he has a lisp and gets queasy at the sight of blood, yet he’s trying to pretty much cause mass genocide. I don’t really know what else to say about this film apart from…it’s fun, it is so much fun, every scene just builds on top of the last, every character is entertaining, every joke gets a laugh. Everything about this film is just over the top, action packed, one line spewing movie goodness, it may not have deep themes or hidden morals, this movie is pretty much Cheesy James Bond mixed with Kick Ass, and if that doesn’t sound like the best thing ever then I guess this movie just isn’t for you. 

Cause I’m giving Kingsman a 9/10.

-Danny

Arrow "Canaries" Review

I know this is gonna seem like a strange thing to start on, but it is something about this show that I wanna talk about. Detective Lance may be the most underrated character on the show, in a show where everyone either starts off weak or is crap through and through. Detective Lance (Even though he's a Captain now people still call him Detective) has always been a strong character, he's always been in the right of a moral dilemma, he doesn't make bad choices, he's an honest and hard working man who just wants best for his family. On top of that, Paul Blackthorne is probably the best actor on the show, in this episode alone he had to go from blind anger to crippling wreck in the span of 2 scenes. He might honestly be my favourite character in the show, simply because he's the only one who never makes any stupid choices, but still has emotional & physical problems that he has to overcome.

But enough about that, let's talk about the rest of the episode. In Canaries, Count Vertigo is back to mass producing hallucinogenic drugs, gives some to Laurel and she hallucinates about seeing Sara again (Always welcome to see the better of the Canaries) and she has to overcome her fear & guilt involved in keeping Sara's death a secret. Meanwhile Ollie finally tells Thea the truth about him being the Arrow so the two of them can prepare for when Ra's Al Ghul tries to kill them, which one of his minions does, but is defeated by Merlyn & Roy, the episode then ends with Ollie & Thea heading off to the island Ollie was trapped on to help conquer their fears.

So let me start with the best thing about this episode, the Macaulay Culkin clone is now dead, in a fight scene where I never thought i would yell out the phrase "Get him Roy! Get him!" because in case you haven't been following, i hated everything about this character, he was a sleazy scum bag piece of filth who deserved to take an arrow to the chest, but i'll settle with an arrow to the shoulder and a bottle of cyanide. But seriously, that was a really good scene, Thea figures out her drink is poison, Roy & Merlyn get to kick some ass, the rejected member of Nsync is killed, it's a good day for all.

And surprisingly, the stuff with Laurel didn't suck, in fact I would go as far to say it was...good. They weren't trying to force how badass she was, instead her conflict is an emotional one and she confronted it logically and like a real person, and in the end she's able to tell her father the truth about Sara and officially become part of team Arrow, i don't mind. This is a good stepping stone to getting me to accept her more as the Canary, she needs to get their mentally before she gets their physically.

The flashbacks were...decent, they didn't really tie in much, they were mostly just set ups for more flashbacks later on in the season, but still, there wasn't anything wrong with them, except i swear the actress who plays Waller blinks less and less with each episode.

I honestly can't think of anything bad about this episode, just good stuff, they killed off my least favourite character, made Laurel the focus and not have it suck, took a massive leap in character growth and gave us a lot of emotional Lance. I'm gonna give Canaries a 10/10.

-Danny

The Flash "The Nuclear Man" Review

I don't really have any way to open this, there was no one element that was amazing or terrible, let's just review it. In the latest episode of The Flash, the Flash team finally hunt down Ronnie/Dr Stein and try and cure him, but in the end, his powers get the better of him and he goes nuclear just outside of the city, blows up and dies...OR DOES HE!? Also Barry is going on his first real date ever and tries to balance out that with his superhero life. And Cisco & Joe are looking into the death of Barry's mother and discover that one of the speedsters he saw as a kid was actually an adult Barry...huh.

This episode was...okay, just okay, not a whole lot of note happened in it, all of the stuff with Ronnie/Dr Stein was fine, if a little rushed, the scene with him and his wife was well done and i thought this was an interesting way to go with the character, he's obviously not dead, i just wish this was spread out across two episodes. All of the stuff with Barry going on a date, again, is fine, but this is something that should have been made separate from this episode, because this isn't just a random villain of the week episode, this is important story arc material and i feel like the main story suffered a lot because of Barry's dating story, the two don't blend together well and shouldn't have been in the same episode.

And I know I say that the stuff with Barry just being Barry is the best part of the show (which it is), i feel like they have slowly been forgetting that the show is called The Flash because Barry barely ever suits up in this episode and when he does, he doesn't do anything. I mean I love when it focuses on the characters as people and not just superheroes because it makes them more three dimensional, but they still need The Flash to do stuff, not just show up for as a source of fast travel.

The stuff with Cisco & Joe was again, good, though a little bit out of nowhere, especially Joe still suspecting Wells, seriously, they dealed with that already, i mean yeah, we know he's involved, but Joe has no reason to suspect him still. Also, that thing with the lady who owned the house and the weird sexualization of her...yeah what the hell was that about? That didn't lead to anything, i can imagine making it for the sake of a joke but she returns later in the episode and...i dunno, it's just weird. But the reveal at the end of one of the speedsters actually being an adult Barry is...interesting, i mean if the reveal is supposed to be a "what does this mean!?" type of reaction, well it's pretty fucking obvious, time travel, the ability to see the future has already being established, so time travel wouldn't be too big of a step, honestly this kinda ruins what could have been a big twist when we actually see Barry time travel because we wouldn't have seen it coming.

This episode is good, but all of the good stuff don't meld well and should have been given focus in different episodes and the episode as a whole suffers for it, but that doesn't make it bad, just not as good as it could have been. The Nuclear Man gets a 7/10.

-Danny

So Spider-Man is Part of Marvel, What else is new?

It has been talked about for a while now about Spider-Man going back to Marvel Studios so he can be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and today is officially Christmas for the nerds, because Sony & Marvel have announced a joined effort into making a brand new Spider-Man reboot (AGAIN!). It will be co-produced by both of them, but Sony will maintain marketing, distribution & final creative control over the film, but nevertheless, Spider-Man is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I did a post about this a while ago that I felt like Sony should at least finish their Amazing Spider-Man series before giving the rights to Marvel, but now, Amazing Spider-Man is dead, which means no more Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, yes, this upsets me, but i'm just gonna have to deal with that and just look on the positives and speculations.

First of all, like most people would agree, give Peter Parker a rest for a while, move onto something else, like Miles Morales for example, give him his big screen debut, at least then you'll be doing something new with the Spider-Man character, getting more diversity amongst your films and pleasing a lot of fans of a really interesting character. And you know, maybe Donald Glover could finally get to wear the ol' red & blue (Even though Miles Morales's costume is red & black). Right now, the new Spider-Man movie is planned for July 2017, but it's unknown if this'll be his first appearance on the big screen, after all, it's entirely possible for him to make an appearance in Civil War, seeing as Spider-Man does play a major role in the Civil War comic book.

Honestly the biggest negative to come from this is people complaining that several Marvel movies have been pushed back, this is mostly from people complaining about Captain Marvel getting pushed back...big fucking deal, so you have to wait another 6 months for Captain Marvel, get over it, i didn't hear ya complaining about Black Panther or Inhumans or Thor: Ragnarok being pushed back, it's not that big of a deal guys.

So yeah, realistically, this is a good move for both Sony and Marvel, Spider-Man is a great character but he needs to be revamped, otherwise I feel like audiences are going to get sick of seeing him rebooted once every 5 years and just stop caring about him, and i don't want that to happen, he's my favourite superhero, so here's to a hopefully bright future.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Homer Simpson

I don't think it's any secret that The Simpsons has had a massive impact on...well, a ton. Saying they've changed comedy is cutting it short, they've changed television, they've changed people, in the near 30 years since it started, The Simpsons is a staple in our modern day culture, it's one of my all time favourite shows and Homer Simpson is one of my all time favourite characters.

Now the main thing about him that i love, i think is pretty obvious, he's funny, he's really funny, even to this day, whenever i watch one of the new episodes of The Simpsons, Homer is the best part. Weirdly enough, it's quite hard to explain what makes him so funny, simply because what he does is what everyone else does, he's the slobbish, doppy head of the nuclear family, he makes mistakes constantly and is always made the fool, it's a formula that has been done a million times, and while The Simpsons wasn't the first to use it, they still did it the best, and after seeing what type of character Homer is, everyone wanted to be a Homer. So while the comedy style isn't unique, it's still a stand out from the rest and changed everyone's perception on the nuclear family man.

But him inspiring other people doesn't make him one of my favourite characters, how he inspires me comedically is what makes that happen. As a kid, all i ever did was quote Homer Simpson, he made me laugh the hardest so i wanted to be like him, true, not the best role model, but hey, it gets a laugh. And it's still kinda like that, my blunt and childlike delivery is just me channelling my inner Homer Simpson, it's not always the best way, but it's what works for me, and it works for a lot of people.

And you can't forget, Homer was created as a reflection of the middle-class family of America, so it's important to look at that aspect of him as well, and honestly, this is one of the reasons why the Simpsons doesn't work anymore. The nuclear family system, while not dead, is not nearly as relevant or as satirically charged as other forms of society, which is why a character like Homer is different now then who he was a decade ago, because what he reflected, doesn't exist. But at the time, his satire of the American dream was one of the best representations there was, regardless on whether or not you were the class he was satirising, you laughed with him, you understood him and deep down, you knew you could see a part of yourself inside of him. Homer Simpson is that guy we could all relate to at one point and we find him charming and likeable for it, despite his numerous flaws.

Finally there's a point which on the outside you could see as a negative, but his relationship with his family i find to be incredibly touching. Now again, this seems really weird to say, his wife does all the work, he strangles his son and doesn't have much in common with either of his daughters, but really taking a deeper look at it, there is more to it. Remember, the Simpsons are an exaggeration of the American family, encompassing both the good and the bad. Homer may not be the best family man, but he's a man who loves his family. He puts up with a crappy job that he hates so he can provide for Maggie, he connects to Bart through their rebellious natures and help make the other a better person, and he and Marge are so in love that they are there for each other through thick & thin. But the best relationship in my opinion is him & Lisa, yeah they don't have much in common but they never stop trying. Homer sees Lisa as his crowning achievement, the one thing he's always been proud of, even though he knows he isn't responsible for her success, but tries as hard as he can to always be there for her, and in return she makes him a better person for it.

While he may not always be the best at showing it, Homer cares for his family, and always tries to be there for them and even at their worst, even when they could tear each other apart, they're there for each other, but none of them have as strong of a relationship as they do with Homer.

-Danny

Was Snowpiercer THAT good?

Snowpiercer was a Korean science-fiction film released in 2014, directed by Joon Ho-Bong, and despite being mostly English and starring big American & British actors like Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, John Hurt & Octavia Spencer, it has been described as the most Un-American mainstream sci-fi film released last year, and I completely agree with that, the plot, style and fight scenes are things you would never see in a Hollywood motion picture. The film is set during the apocalypse where the world became frozen over night, making it too cold to live anywhere, that is except for this train called Snowpiercer, which is constantly moving and is the only place safe from the freezing temperatures outside. However this is also a divide between citizens of the train, the richer you are, the closer you are to the front and the closer to the back are the more poverty ridden areas. Eventually, those that live in the slums decide to rebel and fight their way to the front of the train.

What made this film so popular was word of mouth, everyone who saw it absolutely loved it, so other people were inspired to check it out, and they loved it. Of course I was eager to watch it as well, knowing very little about it and...I was kinda disappointed. I mean don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed the movie and there were a lot of great things about it, but I also found major issues with the story.

Let's start off with the good stuff, like i said, this is a very Un-American style of filmmaking and I really enjoyed that, it made the film feel much more unique and stylish, but it's not too experimental where it alienates the casual viewer, both regular audiences and cinephiles could sit down and enjoy this movie. The action scenes are also very well done, they're creative, entertaining and while i feel they peaked a little too early, were always welcomed. The performances were great, especially from Chris Evans who is giving the best performance of his career, and while his character may come across as the stereotypical leader at first (He started off pretty much as a grumpy Captain America) by the end when you learn about his backstory, he suddenly became one of the most unique protagonists of 2014. Also the train itself looks great, the best environments are the ones that feel like a character in it's own, and Snowpiercer definitely has that going for it. In fact I would say all the characters are memorable and likeable, even some of the villains (Particularly Tilda Swinton's character)

But there are some issues that I had with the plot, in fact, they were really big issues. Let's start with the biggest one i have and that would be...you're on a fucking train. The film makes a point that the creator of the Snowpiercer was seen as a joke for building this thing, then the apocalypse happened and everyone wanted onboard, but that doesn't change the fact that...why the fuck you build a train!? Why not an underground bunker or if it was something that had to be moving then maybe like a giant tank, not something that can be knocked off because of some ice on the tracks (Which nearly happens several times by the way). Yes the train has a lot of symbolism, particularly from a cinematography point of view, but logically speaking...it's a fucking train!

And also, was a commentary on the class system the most fitting with all of this? It's the apocalypse, would class really be that big of a deal? This isn't too big of a problem I have, i just can't help but think that the apocalypse and class system don't really go hand in hand. Especially when the commentary they're giving is "rich people bad, poor people good" isn't exactly a unique perspective, hell Hunger Games did it better.

And my final complaint is a major spoiler for the ending, so ye be warned. The film ends with two characters realising that the snow is beginning to melt, thus meaning the Earth is getting warmer and soon people can live outside again. In the end, they crash the train and one of the characters, and a small child emerge from the wreckage, hopeful for the future...except they have no food, no shelter and even though the Earth is getting warmer, it's still cold enough to kill you pretty soon...guess the movie forgot to mention any of that.

In the end, I still enjoyed Snowpiercer, but not nearly as much as everyone else, still, I definitely say it's worth a watch and I recommend giving it a try.

-Danny

How Steven Spielberg Nearly Ruined Harry Potter

There's no denying that Steven Spielberg is the most iconic director of all time and has made some of the biggest films ever. I have a huge amount of respect for the guy and am not gonna deny his talent...but there is one thing that I will never forgive him for, as petty as it sounds. Back in 1999, when Warner Bros were still in the pre-production stages of making Harry Potter into a feature length film, they were looking for a director, and one of the names passed around was Steven Spielberg. Spielberg actually had some interest in making the films, however, he ended up not getting the job at the demand of J.K. Rowling, and I don't blame her. Some of Spielberg's ideas for making the film all sound terrible, first of all, he wanted to make the series animated, which doesn't sound too terrible, but also doesn't sound necessary, and considering that this was the transitioning stage between 2D and 3D animation, the film would most likely have looked dated as it went along in the series, as well as not helping to compliment the darker tone of the later films of the series. He also wanted to make the film American...now of course this is a big disrespect to the books and a completely pointless change, but again, this doesn't work. Why do you think every character in Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones has an English accent? Because we pretty much own the fantasy genre, that sense of whimsy and magic, that's something that has also been associated with us and because of that, audiences are able to get sucked into the diegesis of the world because of previously established conventions. That's not to say that American fantasies don't work, but when a huge chunk of the books are based around British Culture and Americanizing it would mean changing a lot of both characters and environments. Also it implies that people won't connect with the film, just because it's set in a different country, again, this is fantasy, you'd be surprised what people would accept. And also he wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry Potter...yeah because his career was nothing but up in the 2000's.

It's reported that Spielberg, while interested in the film, also stated that "it would be no challenge to make Harry Potter" which is quite ironic considering all of his ideas for the film sound absolutely terrible. Fact is, Spielberg let his ego grow too big, he didn't understand the source material and could have ruined the greatest children's book of this generation. Spielberg, I love ya, but this is something that I am still pissy about today, just because you're an experienced filmmaker, doesn't mean that you can take a popular book, make pointless changes and instantly assume it'll be good, people put their heart & soul into making this franchise as good as it was, both book & film, and if you think it would have been no challenge at all then you clearly didn't deserve the film.

-Danny

Will Avengers Ever Be Considered Classic?

It's funny to think about the movies that are being released today and how the people that dislike them wish for more of the classic films to return because these are nothing more than popcorn flicks. Yet a whole heap of what are considered classics were not received that well back when they were first released. And the big example of this are Westerns. Back at the boom of Westerns in the 50's and 60's, a lot of critics and arthouse fans considered them to be nothing more than popcorn flicks and were just mindless entertainment, even the big hits of the time like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, as beloved as it is nowadays by casual movie watchers and high art critics, back then, it was just a stupidly-fun movie. Which makes me think, what if in 50 years from now, The Avengers is held up to as high regards as GBU. What if the entire superhero genre is considered a worthy subject at university level Film Studies. Because think about it, think of how iconic these movies have already become, and think of superhero movies trying harder to be more than just superhero movies, like The Dark Knight, or Winter Soldier, or Sin City or Watchmen or X-Men: First Class. I know a lot of people laugh at the idea of these films being seen as cinematic masterpieces but, that's the way our modern day society views them because of how overstuffed the genre is. In 50 years when the genre has died down, will people look back at these and have a different view on them like what happened with Westerns? I kinda hope so, because I love these movies, and if we actually lived in a world where they were seen as more than just a fad, and an actual artistic art form that were beloved for their depth...then hot diggity, that'd be swell.

-Danny

Arrow "Uprising" Review

OLICITY. IS. OVER.

The fandom loses! Logic has taken precedence! All is right with the world!...Sorry, let's recap. In Uprising, the villain of Brick who has been built up the past few episodes now has complete control of the Glades, Team Arrow do the best that they can to stop them but ultimately fail, that is until they recruit as many of their allies as they can into fighting alongside them. Team Arrow & friends win and Oliver is back in Starling City.

So here's the big thing about this episode that I took away from it, Olicity, the stupid shipping between Oliver and Felicity is done. Oliver has revealed that he plans on working with Malcolm Merlyn in order to take down Ra's Al Ghul, Felicity feeling like this is the wrong move, says that she doesn't want to be with a man that can consider working with a killer like Merlyn. Now i've said it before and i'll say it again, Oliver & Felicity make a terrible couple, they have no romantic chemistry and is clearly forced, but because the fandom thinks they should be together, the writers decided to make it happen even though it doesn't make any sense. Somehow, the writers realised how stupid this was and broke them up and thank fuck for that! Now put Felicity with Ray and all will be right with the world.

Oh yeah, i forgot to mention anything about Malcolm Merlyn in the recap, he actually has a significant role in this episode. The flashbacks are centered around the death of his wife and him seeking revenge and how he took the first steps into being the man he is today, while in the present, it has Thea and Oliver trying to convince him that he doesn't have to be the man he feels he has to be, it's not too late to repent for being a killer. First of all, holy shit, who would have thought that we'd get some more development for Merlyn? I mean it's been 3 seasons, i thought they would have been perfectly fine at just leaving him as the selfish guy who was a villain, but we get some actual character growth and a new dynamic between him and several other characters, I'm actually really interested in seeing where they're going with thi--they're gonna kill him off by the end of the season aren't they?

Then there was the Dark Knight Rises big fight scene at the end, where people are carrying guns, yet for some reason charge at each other. I mean it was a decent scene, but i feel like this is the type of thing they normally pullout for a season finale, but then again if they did this for the finale then that would be 3 season finales where they do the exact same thing. Brick was a decent villain, nothing too good or bad about him, i'm not gonna miss him but he didn't overstay his welcome either.

Also Oliver somehow travelled across the globe within a few hours with no explanation how he was able to do that, wow there really are a lot of similarities to The Dark Knight Rises in this episode. It's good to see Oliver back in Starling City, he was away for a decent enough time, but i wish he had a more dynamic return, or at least actually did something important in this episode apart from stopping Merlyn from killing the bad guy.

So yeah, this was a really good episode, I do have some nitpicks with the episode but for the most part it was a good episode and they got rid of the worst subplot the show had going for it. I'm giving Uprising a 9/10.

Wow, both Flash & Arrow were really good this week, that hasn't happened in a while.

-Danny

The Flash "Crazy For You" Review

For the record this review might not be as indepth as others because i'm not feeling too well right now, but i'll do my best. In Crazy For You, The Flash has to fight against a woman who can teleport, making her the only person he can't catch, meanwhile in Barry's personal life, he and Caitlin try to help each other out by trying to develop social lives. Elsewhere, Cisco releases Hartley in order to find out more about what happened to Ronnie and we learn that he was fused with a scientist called Dr Stein and is now a different person...also Gorilla Grodd shows up, awesome.

This was a very poorly focused episode and yet, i actually think it worked really well in the show's favour. The main plot of the episode actually got the least amount of focus, atleast in comparison to other episodes. Really what does get more focus than normal is the gang just hanging out, and you know what? I like it like that. I've always said that my favourite parts of the show are just the characters hanging out and being friends, because unlike Arrow, i feel like these people would still be friends even if they weren't superheroes, and seeing Barry & Caitlin going out drinking was hilarious, and if you've ever had to take care of a friend while drunk, you know how Barry feels. Also we got to see Barry sing, finally, for those of you who don't know, Grant Gustin was in several episodes of Glee and was an amazing singer (Just listen to the Glee cover of Smooth Criminal, it's fantastic) I just wish they did the whole song rather than just 30 seconds. But this also leads to something i feared would happen in the show, the blossoming of Barry & Caitlin as a couple...now being honest, this didn't bug me as much as i thought it would. They aren't a couple yet, they're taking their time to build up to it, the two have great chemistry and if Ronnie is a different person then that means no stupid love triangles. So do i want this to happen? No. Will I be upset if it does? Not really, which is better than i thought i would be.

Then there is the plot of Cisco freeing Hartley, now if last week didn't make it clear, I love Hartley, he is so far, the best villain on the show, and i'm glad that Cisco actually had a contingency plan in case Hartley escaped, because you know he would have tried to escape. But i found this to be a tad forced, i don't understand how Hartley knew all of the things he did, nor do i understand the logic of his escape plan, why does his implant affect Cisco? But what it did lead to was a very nice scene between Cisco and Caitlin, he confesses that he locked Ronnie away and practically sentenced him to death. Both Cisco's guilt and Caitlin's forgiveness were excellent, Cisco talks about how he feels guilty, like maybe if he waited just another minute then Ronnie would be alive, and Caitlin responds the way Ronnie would have, she forgives him, and assures him that he made the right call. It was a great scene.

Also was great were the scenes between Barry and his dad, they're emotional, well performed and very well directed, they don't need to explain every detail on how they're feeling, something that i've complained about for Flash and Arrow before (Though they have been doing that less and less these days) and they can actually use some subtlety to get the emotions across. I am yet to see a bad scene between these two characters, they're not too forced, they're not too far apart, they're just right.

But a lot of stuff was just sort of sidelined in this episode, Dr Wells, Joe, Iris & Eddie barely have anything to do, hell, Eddie only has a couple of lines. And the main plot of the episode, like i said, didn't really have a whole lot of focus or development. I mean it still tied in thematically and was still structured properly, but overall, wasn't what i remembered about the episode.

Oh...and mother-fucking-Gorilla GRODD! Hot damn was that awesome to see, they're yet to fully show him, they're downplaying him for now and slowly but surely giving us some more of him every couple of episodes. I cannot wait to see where they go with this.

So overall, the stuff that I really like about The Flash got the most focus here which is awesome and i don't have any major issues with the episode, just a lot of stuff got sidelined. I'm giving this episode a 9/10...oh god that probably means Arrow is gonna suck tomorrow.

-Danny

Whiplash - Movie Review

Like I did with Nightcrawler, there's no point in doing a video review for this film at this point, so instead i'll share my thoughts on it here. Whiplash follows the story of Andrew (Played by Miles Teller) a talented drummer who makes his way into an orchestra class at one of the most pristine music schools in the country. However the conductor Terence Fletcher (Played by J.K. Simmons) also happens to be one of the most intense and frightening teachers you can think of, he will insult, abuse and make his students suffer in order to get the best performance from them possible and we see how much Andrew suffers to be the best drummer in the world.

Whiplash has received critical acclaim like no other movie in 2014, and i did the mistake of going into this film with my expectations quite high, always a mistake, because while i thoroughly enjoyed this film, i can't quite say i love it. Which i don't really understand why, because everything people have been saying about this film, i whole heartedly agree with. J.K. Simmons is giving one of the best and most intense performances of the year, he makes this movie as good as it is, everything is intense with him and is one of the most memorable characters of 2014. Miles Teller is also really good in the film, he's definitely playing against type here in comparison to some of his other films over recent years and does a great job of portraying this tortured yet determined kid who just wants to be the best, he wants to be a legend, he wants people to remember his name decades later, he will do everything he has to in order to be the best drummer in the world, even if he has to go through physical and mental torture to get there. There are no bad performances here in Whiplash, they are all amazing and i could see both of these two being worthy of Oscar nominations, and J.K. Simmons most definitely has his trophy in the bag.

And it seems appropriate to talk about the music in the film, seeing as that is a heavy focus. Now of course the music is subjective to whether or not it's good, but that's not what i want to talk about (Though the music was really good). What i want to discuss is one of the themes touched upon in the film and that I wish got more development. In one scene where Andrew is having dinner with his family, he talks about a music competition and his family asks "but isn't music subjective?" and he simply responds "no it's not". Now to any normal person, this would sound like a pretentious thing to say, but if you have a passion in anything, you can probably relate to this. I for example, are passionate about film, and while yes, film & music are subjective, they're subjective opinions based on objective observations. How good a song is or how good a film is can be effected by how good they are technically, how well did the drummer play? How unique was the cinematography in that film, etc, etc. Anyone with a passion that normal people don't understand the effort or attention goes into how it's made don't understand that while the end product is subjective, there is still strategy to it on how it came to be what it was. I love films that explore this, and yet this film only had one scene like that, which is a shame.

One theme that does get a lot of focus is the theme of bettering yourself. Andrew will stop at nothing to be the very best, and Fletcher is going to drill him as much as he has too in order to make him the best. He's not doing this because he likes being an asshole, but because if you want someone to be the best, you have to see how they do at their worst. All of this is summed up in the greatest line in the film "There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'Good-Job'.".

And you will have heard a lot of people talk about the final 20 minutes of the film for being one of the best climaxes of the year, it was shocking, intense, cringe-worthy, triumphant, exhilarating, entertaining and satisfying all in one scene and by the end, you just feel exhausted, like you've gone on this roller coaster of emotions. It was also the best directed scene in the entire film, the back & forth cinematography between Teller & Simmons, not a line spoken but the emotions get across perfectly and the film ends on a high note.

Whiplash was a brilliant film, it has great directing, amazing performances and I was more emotionally invested in this film than any other Oscar nominated film this year. However, should I rewatch this film when it comes out on DVD (Which I will) I can see myself skipping a whole lot of scenes and just watching the 3rd act again.

I'm giving Whiplash an 8/10.

-Danny

Ratchet Gladiator - Cheap Thoughts

Ratchet & Clank has had a lot of videogames in it's decade and a half life, most of which are awesome, a couple are crap, and there are some that are just plain forgotten. Ratchet Gladiator (Or Deadlocked if you're American). Which is kind of a shame because I think it's a damn great game. Ratchet Gladiator once again joins us with Ratchet & Clank, except this time Clank isn't a field operative, hence why it's just called Ratchet. And the two, along with their buddy Al have been abducted and forced to fight in an arena style tournament/gameshow where the loser is killed. Ratchet of course ends up winning the tournament, defeats the villain and saves the day, yeah this game doesn't have much going for it in the story department. The gameplay is what sells a Ratchet & Clank game, and despite Gladiator removing half of the gameplay mechanics from the previous games (taking the platforming out of an action-platformer) it becomes a straight up action game. In the original Ratchet & Clank games there were tournament modes, certain levels based around fighting waves of enemies with certain challenges, they were always the most fun parts of the games and they decided to make an entire instalment based around those levels.

And that's really the main draw to the game, i absolutely loved the tournaments in the original Ratchet & Clank games and they are just as fun here, yes the platforming sections have been removed, but there is still plenty of gameplay here, including vehicle sections which are still plenty of fun. The action elements are still as smooth and fun as they've ever been, only now with the inclusion of Combat Bots, two robots that follow you around and give you extra fire power. The level designs and challenging gameplay is the best it's ever been and to top it all off, this is probably the funniest Ratchet & Clank game yet, particularly from the commentators of the tournament, making random quips as you play the game "oh that must have hurt like a spank from my momma!".

Some people have complained about the limitations of the game, for example, the game is shorter than the other Ratchet & Clank games, which I can understand that as a criticism, but being honest if this game had been longer then I feel like it would have come across as stretching out a game just for the sake of making it longer, thus harming the experience more. And then there is the smaller weapon variety than the other games, after all, Ratchet & Clank has always been about the creative weapons, so having only a maximum of 10 weapons just seems stupid. True, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the weapons we did have, so I personally didn't mind the limited number of weapons.

One criticism that I don't understand is the darker tone of the game in comparison to the previous games. I don't understand it because the game isn't a darker tone, yeah the environments aren't as colourful as before, but that doesn't make it a darker tone. If they mean that the humour is dark...well of course it is, Ratchet & Clank has always had a dark sense of humour; that's one of the reasons why I love it so much and why it's even more fun to play them now than when I was a kid, to catch all these jokes that i missed. So frankly, i don't consider this game to be darker than the others, it just looks dark, but the humour has always been kinda sadistic, that's just part of the identity of this franchise.

In the end, i hold this game up to be just as good as the original trilogy, admittedly i don't think this is a necessity to buy like the first three games, but if you're a fan of the series then i'd say absolutely get this. And if you've never played Ratchet & Clank then you absolutely need to do that, because they are some of the best games ever.

And i'm giving Ratchet Gladiator an 8/10

-Danny

January: 2015, The Future is Now!

Well, the first month of 2015 is done with, only 11 months now till Star Wars, and yes, if you're wondering, i would literally skip the rest of the year if we could just get to Star Wars already. But we're not here to talk about Star Wars, we're here to talk about what I did in January. Well the main thing would be i've gone back to university after Christmas break and things are pretty much the same as they were before, although the cold temperatures and long walks to uni make me kinda hate it. But, I still have some interesting films that I get to watch this year, just in these first couple of weeks I watched Vertigo, Thelma & Louise and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai for the first time, so it's been good. As for films i've seen, the only time I went to the theatres were for Birdman & Big Hero 6, both of which were awesome. Dealing with the cold temperatures sucked, it snowed a lot in Sheffield, which rather than getting fluffy snow, we got slush...the downside of snow in the city. So yeah, that was really it, in fact the most exciting thing that me and my friends did this month was plan what we'll be doing this summer, because January sucks, and Winter Sucks, no wonder the Starks hate it.

-Danny