Classic Movies of 2000

A lot of people consider the 2000's to be sort of a deadzone, the golden age of cinema is over and we've entered an age of mediocrity. To this I say nay. Fact of the matter is a lot of classic films came out of the 2000's that people will and have looked back on to say are brilliant and considering most of these films are over a decade old, they clearly stand the test of time. You'd be surprised how many films critics get wrong, just google Top 10 Films of 2000 and see what films no one remembers like Before Night Falls or Best In Show. I'm going to talk about the best films of the 2000's and thing is, I was originally going to do this all in one big post, but there are so many classic films per year that it's just not possible. So I'll be doing this year by year starting at the most obvious point. The 2000s. Also I should point out i'm not including any blockbuster franchises in this list...because obviously they'd become well known.

Before we get to the big contenders, let's start with the light-classics, these are the films that aren't necessarily that great but for one reason or another have become part of pop-culture.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Being perfectly honest I can't stand this movie, I think it's an ugly poorly written mess that completely misunderstood the message of the original source material and doesn't deserve to be remembered as a classic. But hey, that didn't stop it from becoming a new Christmas classic that people love and rewatch year after year. And while I dislike the film I can't deny Jim Carrey is really good as The Grinch, it's just weird to think that Ron Howard, the guy responsible for Apollo 13, Rush and Frost/Nixon would be most remembered for making a stupid christmas film...that and being the narrator for Arrested Development.

Dude Where's My Car
Actually i don't know that many people who have actually seen this film, nor does anyone reference it on a regular basis, but everyone knows the title and for a while there almost every TV Sitcom would have an episode titled "Dude Where's My ____" so technically this film achieved pop-culture status.

Now let's move on from pop-culture classics to the cult classics.

Battle Royale
This film especially has been achieving cult status over the past few years mostly due to The Hunger Games, apparently a bunch of Japanese kids slaughtering each other makes for quality film entertainment. Actually being honest I have no reason why this film is a cult hit because i've never seen it.

Unbreakable
Even though this film was forgotten about back when it first came out, it has seen a lot of success in the limelight recently, my theory behind this is one: Everyone wants to go back to a time when M Night Shyamalan made good movies and this is one of the ones that was good, thus in comparison to the pieces of shit he makes now it's brilliant. Also the rise and boom of superhero movies dominating the box-office making this film more culturally relevant as well as being a smart analysis of the genre being exactly what superhero films needed.

The Emperor's New Groove & The Road To El Dorado
I put these two together because they have a lot in common. The early 2000's is considered a deadzone for animation especially, even though I personally love a lot of the films that came out in that time period, but i can't include them because this is supposed to be an analysis on what society picked to be remembered. Fact is out of all the films in that time period, these are the two that are getting a lot more attention these days, my guess would be that the kids that grew up on them are now adults themselves and thus because they're the demographic that decides what's popular, they remembered loving these films as kids and felt they weren't getting enough attention. So yeah, if you've never seen either of these films, give em a try, they're hilarious.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Again I won't have that much to say because I haven't seen this film, but I would actually say this film's reputation has actually stepped down since it came out. It was one of the films that was featured in everybody's top 10 list and now it's mostly considered a cult film. Like I said, i don't know why, i haven't seen it so there would be no point in speculating.

And now we get to the nitty gritty, the big films that have stood the test of time and are now considered by most people to be great films.

Gladiator
I am not a fan of this movie, i do not know why people like this film so much, i find it generic, boring and predictable...but hey, it stars Russell Crowe and is directed by Ridley Scott, so of course it was gonna be a big hit. But seriously, i have no idea why this movie is a beloved classic, let alone Best Picture Winner, but hey, i ain't here to argue, just address.

Cast Away
Now here's a movie i can talk about, starring Tom Hanks in a time where he could do no wrong and Robert Zemeckis who could...also do no wrong and you've got a winning combo. Actually as far as i'm concerned this movie is remembered for one thing: Wilson. I remember as a kid turning on the TV and this movie was on and it was the Wilson scene. I had no context behind this scene, i didn't even know what movie I was watching, but i was balling my eyes out when Tom Hanks started screaming for his pet volleyball. Seriously, how does a freaking volleyball have the power to create such raw emotion out of everyone who watches it? That is master filmmaking right there.

American Psycho
Even though this film was appreciated in its time, over the years its become a lot more popular, what with Christian Bale becoming a more famous actor so people go back and see some of his earlier works. Not to mention we live in an age of anti-heroes and psychopaths ruling our airwaves (Dexter comes to mind) so obviously a guy like Patrick Batemen would fit right in, combine that with a unique style and analytical splendor and you've got a modern classic on your hands. Also it stars Jared Leto so technically Batman kills The Joker in this film.

Almost Famous
Why exactly this film caught onto the masses is something unclear to me, don't get me wrong it's a fantastic film and i know why i love it, i just don't know why everyone else does. To the best of my reasoning I would say it's one of those transferable films of passion, by that i mean even if you're not a lover of music, if you're a lover of anything then you understand this film. You see why someone would go this far to follow a dream and how much it means to them to achieve it, why they would dedicate their time and even their life to the passion. If you love music or movies or games or fashion or science or inventing or books or poetry or people, this film gets it, just replace the term music with whatever applies to you and this film shows why you and anyone will love that thing.

Requim For A Dream
Haven't seen this film either, i have no idea why it's considered one of the best out there. Darren Aranofsky is a fantastic director, it has great actors and from what i'm told it portrays the affects and lifestyle of a drug user fairly accuratley while also being a distrubing watch, also it has a damn good score.

So those were some films of the year 2000 that 15 years on are still seen as amazing films and are now beloved classics. At some point down the line i'll talk about films of 2001 and onwards and i'll see you then.

-Danny

Arrow "Beyond Redemption" Review

Captain Lance for the longest time has been my favourite character because he was always justified in his actions, this season had set up that he was working for the bad guys which is not something i was a fan of, surprisingly this episode actually brought that around and gosh dang he's still my favourite character. In this episode we see Team Arrow take on a group of rogue cops who are taking the law into their own hands, Captain Lance teams up with the Arrow gang so they can take them down.

So the way they handled Lance's involvement with Darhk i thought was well done, initially he teamed up with him without realising who he was and by the time he caught on it was too late to back out, i like that. But more than that, the conversation between him and Oliver about their equally corrupt mortality, Lance has never trusted Oliver becomes he sees him as morally corrupt, someone who can behave irrationally and with the arrogance to take the law into his own hands...and Oliver agrees, but he's always trusted and liked Lance because he viewed him as morally incorruptable, a good cop in a bad city, someone that Oliver would want to be and looks up to. And while Lance isn't happy about his recent actions, he acknowledges that they are mistakes and is going to try and better himself and redeem himself by going undercover and spy on Darhk...oh god they're gonna kill Lance aren't they!? Also continuing to prove that Paul Blackthorne is the best actor on the show, when he goes to put down his daughter after seeing the vicious animal she's become, it was heartbreaking. By the way, Laurel actually telling her dad about Sara and not being stupid enough to keep that secret again, hey at least the writers are learning from past mistakes.

But with that being said we still have a fair amount of stupid to talk about, let's start with the cops, more specifically the lead cop Liza Warner played by the chick from True Blood (At least she's getting work). What's my problem with her? She's an idiot. She constantly goes on about how she's not the bad guy in this situation and is not a criminal, look, the best villains are the ones that don't realise what they're doing is wrong, but this woman steals, threatens, murders innocent people and takes the law into her own hand, in what court room would she not be convicted within 10 minutes? Also the Oliver running for Mayor storyline is still dumb, but they acknowledge that it's dumb which does give us a pretty funny scene, but you know what's better than making fun of your dumb storyline? Not having the dumb storyline at all!

So while there is plenty of dumb to go around in this episode, its saving grace is Captain Lance and especially the scenes between him and Oliver. 8/10.

-Danny

The Flash "The Fury of Firestorm" Review

KING SHARK! Sorry, sorry, let me compose myself...KING SHARK!!!! Okay, i'll get to that in a bit, for now, let's talk about this episode. In this episode Professor Stein's health is deteriorating fast and they need to find a replacement for Ronnie and find two candidates, Henry Hewitt and Jefferson Jackson. Henry turns out to be quite aggressive with his new powers thus Jefferson turns out to be the best candidate.

Now I will say to start off I like Jefferson "Jacks" character, the way they introduced him I thought was well handled, showing his backstory and even having him being a bit heroic before getting powers, warning everyone, helping his friend up, trying to close the doors, all subtle hints at his naturally heroic nature. With that being said, was his character arc in this episode cliched and predictable? Yes, and there were points where it felt like even the writers didn't want to write some of these scenes because they knew they were just filling time. As for Henry I found his initial excitement for being Firestorm and his interactions with Stein entertaining, the fact that he switches from nice to angry within a millisecond is where I have issues, and how convenient that they didn't notice he had a criminal record, also convenient that he knew where Caitlin was, by the way why was he going after Caitlin anyway?

Then there was Iris' Subplot, two episodes in a row where i don't hate Iris, this is one hell of a winning streak. She meets with her mother and straight up disavows her and for perfectly understandable reasons, you abandon someone for 20 years, they have no obligation to even try and fix things up with you. Also that shot of her mother trying to shake her hand but Iris keeps her hands tight was a very clever shot and just from that you instantly get where they stand with each other. But more than that, with the revelation that she's dying, Iris does some digging and finds out she has a brother (Nice set up for Wally West) that her mother is still keeping secret, Iris completely shuts her out, she doesn't care if she's dying, she hasn't done a damn thing to earn her daughters time and even now is still lying to them. Not only do i completely side with Iris here, but I actually prefered her story over the main plot of the episode, good god, it's like the writers actually listened to me.

Oh yeah, there was something else that I wanted to talk abou-KING SHAAAAAAAAARK!!!! I don't really know why i'm getting so excited, really i don't care about the King Shark character, but just the insanity of him showing up is enough to get me excited. At first I thought he was just a cute reference for the comic fans but when he actually showed up on screen i nearly squealed! We are at that stage where a giant humanoid shark can appear on television and not have it be the worst thing ever, god i fucking love this show! Also this leads to the biggest cliffhanger so far this season, Barry and Patty are saved from King Shark by...Harrison Wells!? Dun DUN DUUUUUUUUUN...whoa this is heavy.

Overall while the A-Plot was just kinda serviceable, the B-Plot is where this episode shined with its dramatic storytelling and, oh yeah, King-Motherfucking-Shark! 7/10.

-Danny

Supergirl "Pilot" Review

Despite being a self-proclaimed aficionado on Superman I surprisingly know very little about Supergirl other than what I gather in the Justice League cartoons and a handful of comics. So with that being said all I really know about Supergirl's personality is that she's bubbly, impulsive and headstrong, which is pretty much what we got here. In the pilot to Supergirl we see Kara Danvers AKA Kara Zor-El finally come to embrace her powers after living a life in the shadows to become to hero known as Supergirl. Sort of your typical origin episode, they cut out a lot of the fat of her putting her costume together and becoming known and just went straight into it. On one hand I kinda like that, rushing through all the crap we've seen over and over again, but on the other hand it makes this episode feel clunky and unfocused, honestly i feel like they should have gotten rid of the villain of the week here because it makes the episode jarring, going from the rise of Supergirl to her sister being a secret agent and now there are hundreds of aliens to hunt down, these feel like two episodes mashed together.

So let's get to what I really liked about this episode and the promise of the show overall, Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, I thought she was a great character, her bubbly personality and excitement for being seen as a Superhero is infectious. Also she looks damn good in a cape. I do feel like my enjoyment of this show is going to lie mostly on her, so far she's the most fun and most interesting thing about this show, which is kinda important when it comes to tv shows, if you don't care about the protagonist, why would you keep watching? Though her awkward persona as regular old Kara seems...odd. I don't know if that's her natural personality or it she's putting on a show like Clark Kent does but they really don't make it clear. For Clark it's there as a disguise so people won't see the similarities between himself and Superman, but it also comes across as a rehearsed personality so it's obvious to the audience this isn't who he really is. Kara seems to be naturally awkward, which granted a lot of awkward people can be really excitable when they open up, but it doesn't feel natural that she would be this open about herself this quickly to the world. Also they need to explain why she doesn't wear a mask, she's a symbol of inspiration i get that but they need to make it more clear like they do for Superman. I'm really trying not to compare this show to Superman too much because they do want to be there own thing but it's just too damn easy, the awkward and bumbling human is actually a superhero from Krypton who wants to inspire people and oh yeah, she's called Supergirl!

Then let's talk about the supporting cast, Kara's co-worker who helps her with the costume seems fun enough while her boss was enjoyable to start but quickly became irritating and even kinda dumb. My biggest problems are with her sister Alex and Jimmy Olsen. Let's start with Jimmy Olsen...that ain't Jimmy Olsen, not only with the change to James Olsen but also a young pasty awkward kid is now a strong handsome and confident man. I don't even care about Jimmy Olsen as a character but this is one of those cases where I have to ask if you're going to make so many changes to a character then what was the point in adapting them in the first place? They could have made this an original character but they needed someone who had a connection to Superman of course...seriously though, what's the point? Her sister on the other hand comes across as unreasonable soap opera bullshit, getting mad at her for saving the plane, i can understand her being worried about her actions but seriously, i think she deserves a little bit of praise for saving a fucking plane from crashing into the city! Then the weird twist of her being a government agent...okay? And the big cliched apology scene where she admits what Kara was doing was right all along. Yeahhh I fail to see the point in this character and she just kinda irks me as of now.

Thematically take a wild guess at what this episode was trying to get across, i'll give you a hint, even mentioning the word is enough to have 1000 angry commenters jump down your throat: Feminism. A large focus of the episode was the idea of a female superhero taking the spotlight and having strong female characters to look up to. Not a bad ideal to have but it's always a tricky subject to talk about and can easily get it wrong...this episode got it wrong. Firstly with the line some random waitress has "Finally my daughters will have someone to look up to" here's a hint show, telling your audience how they should feel about a character isn't as strong as actually showing it happening, having her do awesome shit is enough for people to be invested, you don't need to say that's what's happening. But the worst part was during the final fight between Supergirl and the villain, when the commander guy says she can't win and her sister responds "Why? Because she's a woman?" No. Because she's been doing this for about a day with no training and is fighting an axe wielding criminal, just saying, i'd know who i'd put money on in that scenario.

Speaking of the fight scenes, the action in this was weak. No punch looked that painful, no set piece was that exciting and it looks like Benoist didn't do any training for this. I know i just said she's supposed to be an untrained character but seriously, there gets to a point where the action looks like it came from an episode of Star Trek. Finally there is the involvement of Superman, or lack thereof. I understand him not showing up due to the problems with the movie and tv universe, even if it doesn't make much sense logically, you woulda thought he'd come have a chat with his cousin after she decides to be a hero. But seriously, why didn't they ever refer to him as Superman? Or Clark Kent? They call him Kal-El, The Man of Steel, reference his actions, show his shadows, if you're going to have him be referenced in your show then at the very least call him by his name!

So to sum up, while I loved Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, as well as several supporting characters the direction and choreography sucked, the message was forced and I don't care for the villain set-up. 7/10.

-Danny

Gravity Falls "Weirdmageddon Part 1" Review

It's the apocalypse, who knew so many death metal album covers would be this accurate. This is the first part of what looks to be the Gravity Falls series finale, Mabel has been captured, Ford defeated, the journals destroyed and the apocalypse is in full effect. Within all this chaos Dipper and Wendy agree that the only way to defeat Bill is with the help of Mabel, so they set out to her bubble prison to go free her, but along the way they're chased down by Lil Gideon and his legion of Mad Max wannabees.

So what stands out to me in this episode? Good god what doesn't stand out. Let's start off with some of the most fucked up imagery i've ever seen this side of David Cronenberg. Seriously the imagery in this episode is hauntingly beautiful for how fucked up and creative it is, Louis CK is a neurotic hand-face monster that wants to eat people, there's a giant purple loaf of bread with limbs, but the most disturbing visual was when Preston Northwest had all the parts of his face switched around. I know it's a cliche to say the animators were on drugs when coming up with this imagery but...i mean, c'mon guys. It's as if they just picked two words at random and decided to make a creature out of that, and i fucking loved it.

But within all the apocalyptic marvels happening, we still get a lot of great character pieces, no bigger than Wendy Flippin' Corduroy! I think most people will agree that Wendy has been severely underused in this show and only appearing in about half the episodes she should, well now she finally gets her proper time to shine, being the only person prepared for the apocalypse because her dad had them train every year instead of celebrating Christmas (Hilarious) she is the badass girl that can take on anyone and knows how to survive. Dipper also got plenty to to, having being pushed to his limit physically but of course in the end it's his smarty pants logic that saves the day, convincing Gideon to finally do the right thing and prove he loves Mabel. On one hand you could see this as cheap to have Gideon turn good at the last minute, but on the other hand he does legitimately love Mabel and his choice in sacrificing himself is really sweet, but on the third mutated hand he maybe should have had a bit more of an arc.

Oh and Soos showed up at the end, apparently there are folk songs about him now or something, but seriously where is Grunkle Stan? It feels like he's been on the back burner the past few episodes and hasn't been really involved that much. This is the man that beat up an entire army of zombies and nearly destroyed the world to save his brother, ya would have thought he would have more to do in the finale of the show than just show up for a joke and then disappear. And on a final note, this episode was hilarious, i know that's kinda redundant to say when it comes to Gravity Falls but hey, good comedic writing always deserves to be acknowledged. My personal favourite jokes were Soos' Grandma being a chair, Dipper and Wendy going through the weird bubbles and Ghost Eyes majoring in Philosophy.

This was an insanely fun episode, it was exhilarating from beginning to end, sets up a lot for this story with a lot of tension and drama while still having excellent comedy and you can tell that everyone had a tone of fun making this episode from the writers to the animators for having absolutely no limitations to what they could do with this set up. 10/10.

-Danny

Do Pronouns in Song Lyrics Matter?

This topic was inspired by...well I don't actually remember, i just remember listening to a cover song on YouTube and in the comments people were talking about the lyrics being changed from 'him' to 'her' or maybe it was the other way around? I really don't remember. Point is, people felt in unnecessary for a cover to have to change the use of a pronoun in a love song because it's 2015, a man is allowed to sing about a man and a woman about a woman. Which on one hand they are right, there is nothing wrong with that but just because they don't have to change the lyrics doesn't mean they can't. In my opinion the whole point of doing a cover of a song is the same as remaking a movie, to show things from a different perspective or a different style. Even if the lyrics are the same, a ballad being sung by a man has different connotations than being sung by a woman, and the same can be said for the sexuality of the singer or the character in the narrative of the song. That's not me saying that it's a bad thing, but implications and listener's opinions can change all because of a pronoun. Some might think it rather sweet that a man is singing about a man and their opinion on the song may be improved by it, while someone else who may still like the song might subconsciously find it a bit more divisive. A lot of people like to put themselves in the shoes of the singer and imagine the song is either being sung by them or about them and there is a lot that can effect that outcome. Hence why covers exist, so if someone doesn't connect with a song originally, hearing it from a different singer and a different perspective might be closer to them personally and thus will connect with it more. They would also (for the better covers) change the instrumentals around a bit, so why not change some of the lyrics at the same time.

Again, if someone's opinion on a cover is changed for better or worse based on a pronoun it will most likely be very miniscule and if they dislike it, chances are they'll get over it eventually and just appreciate the song for what it is. But to answer the question on whether or not pronouns in songs matter...well yeah, a little bit at least. Admittedly it is all subjective and some people might not give a crap about the lyrics at all, but i'm willing to bet most people's enjoyment of a song, for better or worse will be effected by it.

-Danny

Doctor Who "The Woman Who Lived" Review

Doctor Who returns yet again with another stellar episode, i don't know if the show is back to the quality i enjoyed several years ago but this is definitely its best season in a while. This is The Woman Who Lived, a continuation of last weeks episode where The Doctor brought Maisie Williams character Ashildr back from the grave and made her immortal, now while travelling through the middle ages he runs into her, 800 years later for her and sees she has completely changed.

One of the strongest elements for this is the change in Maisie Williams character, unlike The Doctor, humans weren't meant to live this long and because of that she has lived and lost so much that she doesn't even remember most of it, she doesn't recall her own name or her family or the village she grew up in. Even some of the events of her past like giving birth to children is nothing more than a story to her because she doesn't have the slightest memory of it happening. This I would say is this episodes strongest element, the analysis of Ashildr's character and the ramifications of The Doctor's actions and now she is a cold and incredibly powerful person with wealth and skills and now spends her days as a criminal. Also the fact that she wants to travel with The Doctor but he won't let her leads to some incredibly powerful and emotional scenes, The Doctor sees the coldness in her and her lack of empathy for ordinary people and he knows that if it weren't for those ordinary people he would be just the same. Gods need people to keep them grounded and caring, otherwise you risk becoming a monster, and two gods travelling together is just asking for bad news. Not to mention the banter alone between these two is hilarious and makes this episode worth watching.

If i did have any problems with Ashildr in this episode I would say she starts caring for people a little too quickly, she goes from cold hearted killer to saviour of the innocent in a split second and it doesn't work for me. Also I know Maisie Williams is 18 but she still looks like a teenager, so seeing her kiss a grown man is just weird. Other problems I would have are the villain being very weak and having such little development i feel like they could have written him out, because honestly just The Doctor and Ashildr talking would have been more interesting. Yeah I know they say action speaks louder than words, but that ain't the case here.

In summary I thought this was a fantastic episode, the dialogue between The Doctor and Ashildr is fantastic and they leave it open so she can return later on. It's just the villain and his plot seems mostly pointless. 9/10.

-Danny

There Is Too Much To Watch...And That's A Good Thing

A long time ago I did a blog post talking about their being too much to watch on television and for the most part everyone thinks the exact same. Gone are the days of people gathering around the water cooler at work and talking about the latest episode of Lost...actually I have no idea if people did that, i was only 9 when that show started. But point is, if that does infact happen, nowadays no one would be talking about the same shows, people will be talking about the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Scandal, Doctor Who, Better Call Saul, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Brooklyn 9-9, How To Get Away With Murder, Louie, True Detective, Fargo, The Flash, The Leftovers. Or maybe how they've only just caught up on Orange is the New Black, Sherlock, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, The IT Crowd, Orphan Black, Veronica Mars, The Wire, Dexter. Blablabla.

Point is there are about a billion shows out there right now that everyone is watching, granted a fair amount is people catching up on shows they never watched back in the day (I'll watch Angel one day! Shut up!). Which also means spoiling shows is out the window, you can't talk about The X Files because someone is considering watching that one day maybe. So let's just look at the shows that are currently running on television, even then there is still too much to watch. One new show that has been released is Mr Robot and people actually sighed at the thought that it's another great show to watch, yes, people are actually exhausted of watching great television, that's how much there is. I'll say it, we're in the golden age of television. Before maybe two or three really good shows were on television at a time but now, there's atleast a dozen. And the diverse range of the shows is just getting bigger and bigger too. Animation for kids is getting more serious and respected with shows like Gravity Falls or Steven Universe and there's plenty of adult cartoons like Rick & Morty or Bob's Burgers. Not to mention this is as popular as anime has ever gotten in the west with more care being put into the dubs and more exposure for the subs so instead of just watching whatever Toonami offers, you can pick for yourself. That's another thing, accessibility. Thanks to systems like DVR, Netflix and Amazon we can watch these shows whenever we want and is the perfect system for binge watching.

But it's not just quantity but quality has been improving as well. Shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones have had so much effort and talent put into them that they could even rival the best movies. In fact some of them are even using movie stars like True Detective and Fargo that act more like 8 hour movies just split into parts and even have actors like Matthew McConaughey or Billy Bob Thorton behind them. Or even just look at superhero shows like The Flash and compare the 90's version to nowadays, there's clearly a lot more money, effort and talent put into the show without having to betray the spirit of the character. Comedy is also going strong as well, even though a lot of the best sitcoms are classics like Seinfeld or Friends, a lot of the older ones don't really hold up that well (Lookin at you Married With Children). With shows like Louie, Parks & Recreations, Community, The Last Man on Earth, we're still going strong. Though I will say comedy is the weakest of the current genres, or atleast still has the most crap *cough*Big Bang Theory*cough*2 Broke Girls*cough*pretty much every comedy on CBS*cough*.

Now i'm not saying every show on television right now is perfect, we still have plenty of trash but we also have plenty of masterpieces as well, which is especially strange considering before this time period we were also in one of the worst periods for television. Where television was ruled by cop dramas and reality shows, where the most popular sitcoms were Two and Half Men and that 70's show while great sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle and My Name is Earl were getting snuffed in the ratings. Just comparing that period-hell any period to nowadays, we are living in the golden age of television.

-Danny

Star Wars Rebels "Relics of the Old Republic" Review

I was starting to think for a bit there that maybe it was a mistake to decide to review Rebels on an episode by episode basis because i struggled to think of enough to say last week and this week i'm absolutley grasping at straws. But then i realised the problem isn't with me or the show, it's in the fact that this story was a two parter when it clearly didn't need to be. Continuing from last week, the Ghost crew are running away from the Empire with the Clones. And that's pretty much the entire episode, one giant game of cat and mouse.

So like I said, this story feels like it could have been told in one part, get rid of the giant worm from last episode and replace it with the AT-AT chase and you've got a solid episode, we see Kadan go through a character arc and we get some cool action and some nice scenes involving the Clones. Instead we have one episode that's all dialogue and filler and another that's all action and filler. Cut out the filler and you'd have a really good episode on your hands. Instead we have a pointless game of hide & seek in a sandstorm, Hera, Chopper, Sabine & Zeb having nothing to do most of the time and Kadan's arc taking far too long to resolve. Seeing the AT-ATs were cool, especially seeing as they didn't recognise them so I guess this is the first time the Empire has used them? And that final showdown between the AT-ATs and the Clones was cool and action packed, but problem is it took too long to get there. Then that cliffhanger at the end was weak. A new character who we've never met before has a plan...well that's incredibly vague to the point where i don't care.

And...that it literally it. That's all I have to say. Action was cool but the story was drawn out to the point where i don't have anything to say. Hopefully the pacing and the stories will be better handled in future episodes. 5/10.

-Danny

Arrow "Restoration" Review

So we have the new Arrow...ehh i don't really care. Don't get me wrong there was nothing bad about this episode or even this season in general (So far) but man, i just don't get excited about this show anymore. In this episode we see Oliver and Diggle forced to sit down and talk about their problems with each other. Meanwhile on the otherside of the world, Laurel and Thea try to fix their problems, bringing Sara back from the dead and stopping Thea's homicidal tendancies...i think these girls have the bigger issues, why are they a B-Plot?

So really there isn't that much to say, Diggle and Oliver's beef is fixed in this episode and they get some good banter, Felicity is really fun especially with the way she treats OTA (Original Team Arrow) and acts almost like an annoyed mother at the two of them fighting as well as all of her stuff with Mr Terrific (I know that's not his name yet but it's what i'm calling him). I will say this season already has one massive improvement over last season, the pacing is so much better. Last year they would have dragged out the Diggle and Oliver rivalry for like 13 episodes, they got it done with here in 3 and that makes me happy.

Thea got some more development on her story, her thirst for blood has been quenched temporarily but it'll be back and supposedly will never go away, by the way, good seeing John Barrowman again, i love that guy, and that sparring scene between him and Nyssa was awesome. But Laurel on the other hand seems to have reverted back to season two Laurel by ignoring everything everyone says, by which they try so desperately to get across the point "THIS IS A BAD IDEA!". Seriously Laurel, i understand wanting to bring your sister back from the dead but considering Merlyn & Nyssa both agree it's a bad idea, and you know what, Oliver, Diggle, Felicity & Captain Lance would probably agree as well. She chooses to revive her anyway, and surprise! It turns out to be a bad idea. Dammit Laurel, you were on just a good streak of not sucking. Oh and then it ends with Nyssa destroying the Lazarus Pit, because you know, having a cure for death kinda ruins the tension in your show.

I don't really have any strong opinions on this episode, most of it was fine except the Laurel stuff was really dumb, but hey, it'll be nice to have Sara back. 7/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Family of Rogues" Review

If y'all remember I was never a fan of Captain Cold, i found his writing lazy and convenient and his character inconsistent and the acting far too cheesy and his sister is just as bad. So when I see the title "Family of Rogues" a little part of me sighs. In Family of Rogues, Lisa Snart AKA Golden Glyder shows up and asks for Team Flash's help, as it turns out, Leonard Snart AKA Captain Cold is working with his father against his will as he has placed a bomb in Lisa's head and could blow it up at any minute. Thus Barry must go undercover with Cold's help to save Lisa. Surprisingly I found myself actually enjoying this episode despite being based around my least favourite recurring villains.


Actually before I get to why I like this episode i do want to say the basic set up really bugs me, Barry agrees to help because he "owes" Cold a favour, that favour being Cold didn't kill him when he had the chance. You know, after he betrayed Barry, shot him in the leg and let several meta-human criminals go free. So incase it isn't clear, Barry doesn't owe Cold a damn thing! I don't know about you but i don't consider not being killed by someone the same as being saved by them. But that's my only problem with this set-up. So what do I like about it? The development of Cold's character, he's said before that the only thing he cares about is his sister but we've never seen him have to do anything to prove it, now we have him begrudgingly working with his father, the man he hates more than anything just to keep her safe. Not only that but you can sense a level of respect he has for Barry for helping him, and when he thinks he's been shot you get a slight sense of regret in his voice. For the first time ever i felt an actual character coming from Cold and i was actually invested in what was going on.

Even better is i'm starting to believe the relationship between Cisco and Lisa, last season she only pretended to like him to trick him but then that turned out to be real? It didn't make much sense to me. Now with some actual moments of vulnerability between the two it gets fleshed out more, her never really having anyone to trust or like apart from her brother and Cisco now being the one to save her life, it was quite touching and is the first step towards me actually believing these two like each other.

But the best thing about this episode was Joe's subplot where everything was done perfectly. Joe's ex-wife comes to town looking to make things up with him and Iris, Joe refuses and goes to talk to Iris telling her the truth about her mother, she didn't die when she was young but instead ran out on them because she was a druggy. Not only did Jesse L Martin do a brilliant job in this episode but holy crap, Iris had a reasonable reaction! After his big monologue about the truth of her mother I was thinking to myself "please Iris, for once respond like a human being! See things from his perspective!" and she does! She understands why he did what he did and doesn't blame him, the perfect way to wrap up the subplot for this episode. I'm honestly excited to see where this goes from here.

Then Professor Stein passes out...again. Yeah that was weird, last episode ended with him passing out and at the start of this one he's awake and acting like it was a mild inconvenience and then the episode ends with him setting ablaze and then passing out again. I get that they had to foreshadow this event and set up that his condition is getting worse but they could have found a better way to do it.

Overall, this was a brilliant episode, a lot of heavy emotional arcs are dealt with here and characters i don't usually like i actually really enjoyed in this episode. 9/10.

-Danny

Why Are Vampires So Sexy?

Okay, that title may be a little suggestive...just a tad. But this is something i've been thinking about for a while, of all supernatural creatures, how did vampires become to symbol of sexy? They're pale, depressed killers of the night, okay I can understand that being attractive to some people, but enough to be a trait all on it's own? Well actually when I think about it, the progression towards this change isn't all that surprising. People talk about how vampires back in the day were hideously monsterous creatures who you were supposed to be afraid of, and granted while that was true, there was always an element of lust to it. Just go back to the big daddy himself, Dracula. Though not the first vampire story, definitely the one to make it the most popular. In the original story Dracula does take an interest in a woman named Lucy and tries to turn her into a vampire, the book itself does have a thematic context based around love and lust and even down to the way vampires attack you is inherently sexual when it's basically just giving someone an extreme hickey. From then on adaptation after adaptation of vampires would usually contain an element of lust and/or love so it's natural progression would lead to the vampires themselves becoming sexier with time, after all, it's hard to find horrific demon monsters attractive.

So we know where it all came from, but we still need to ask the question: why? Why did we decided that vampires should be sexy? If someone were to describe a vampire to you there's nothing inherently sexy about it, a demon who can only go out at night feasts on the blood of the innocent with manipulation and violence. Now compare that to something like a Siren, a beautiful woman who tricks men into thinking she needs aid and will reward them justly only to turn out to be a monster who will slaughter them at their first chance, that's a supernatural creature that's origin is plastered with sexy. So the reasoning I can think of behind why vampires are seen as sexy is because that crosses paths with a lot of common traits people see as sexy. Take a normal vampire, a human forcefully turned against their will into a monster, that's pretty much just a bad boy with a tragic past, how many women out there see that as a sexy trait? The dark anti-social soul who's tough and dominant but is passionate and tragic, a lot of people have that fantasy of being the certain someone who can break down those barriers and change them for the better, hey, we've all been there are somepoint.

Really it does just come down to personal taste and attractions but it's easy to see how it became so common for Vampires to be seen as demonic sex symbols (Man that's a weird thing to say), a lot Vampire actions and lore is based in a surprising amount of lust and love and of course bad boys are always going to be attractive to a large quanitity of people so it's really not all that surprising of why they're sexy...Still kinda weird though.

-Danny

Doctor Who "The Girl Who Died" Review

*Spoiler Alert*
So as soon as i say I won't be reviewing Doctor Who weekly anymore they go and air an episode like this. Though technically a two parter this was a pretty self-contained story, just Maisie Williams being a continuing character. This is The Girl Who Died, The Doctor & Clara are captured by Vikings who then accidentally start a war with an alien race, The Doctor helps the Vikings into victory but Ashildr played by Maisie Williams is killed in the battle. The Doctor then breaks the rules to bring her back to life and they're on their merry way...with a slight side effect of her being immortal.

So why is it that i couldn't wait to review this episode? Well even though i do really enjoy Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, this is the first time i've ever felt like he's truly 100% been The Doctor. The Doctor knows the rules and he often follows them, but he's also emotional and heroic, he follows the rules when it's convenient for him, but when it puts someone he can protect in danger, he says screw the rules I'm a genius. Or as The Doctor puts it "I'm The Doctor! And I save people!" is it blunt? Of course it is, it's the perfect way to deliver that type of message, The Doctor would be as blunt as possible and that is exactly what he would say. The amount of care, effort and change I saw Capaldi go through in this episode is the first time i've felt completely comfortable calling him The Doctor and it reminded me of why I love this character so very much. Also the callback to the conversation he had in his very first episode was perfect, Capaldi first appeared in Doctor Who back in 2008 with the episode "Fires of Pompeii" where The Doctor (David Tennant) broke the rules and saved lives. That's why he has this face, to remind him of who he is and who he always will be. He's The Doctor. And he saves people.

Maisie Williams was also really good in the episode, I was slightly worried because having her in a middle-ages setting is really damn similar to Game of Thrones but i never saw Arya in her performance. Granted I was still aware i was watching Maisie perform but she still did a good job in it and i'm excited to see her in more episodes. The best scene with her was also the most subtle performance in the final shot where it shows the passage of time in one of the most unique ways i've ever seen, the change in her expression going from happy to sad to cold in one shot was devisistatingly beautiful.

As for the story of the episode, i don't care. Don't get me wrong it was really good, had a good supporting cast and was funny yet also poignant with the baby but like The Doctor would say, that's not the important part. What I care about is The Doctor and how he was represented here in one of the best episodes in years, that's why I'm giving it a 10/10.

-Danny

Stop Complaining About Trailers!

Jessica Jones is coming out soon and I like most people cannot wait and the marketing campaign for the show has been brilliant so far, only showing 30 second long scenes with almost no dialogue or story, just Jessica Jones doing something in her life like waking up and smashing her alarm clock or walking out a bar having beat up everyone inside. However some people have been complaining about this and saying these teasers are lame and they should just realease a full trailer already. Here's the thing about trailers, they're supposed to sell you on the show, are you going to watch Jessica Jones? Yes? Then good news! YOU DON'T NEED A TRAILER! Asking for a trailer is just asking for moments from the show to be spoiled for you and to get more information than needed. It's the same with the new Star Wars trailer coming out, it's going to take all my willpower not to watch it because i don't need it, i have enough information to want to see the film and think it'll be awesome, i don't want to know what the story is going to be before going in, even if the trailer doesn't spoil anything, the less you know about a film going into it, the better your experience will be because it will be fresh, you wont have certain visuals or moments to expect.

Then these same people will complain that trailers will then spoil too much, then don't watch them. If you feel like a trailer is giving away too much you can stop it at any time. But what about when they play in cinemas!? Step outside for a minute, that's what I do and it works for me. Then there are comedy trailers, if a comedy trailer doesn't make you laugh God that sucks, it's not even funny if it does make you laugh Ugh, i bet they just put the best jokes in the trailer. You can't win with these people. So yeah, that's all I have to say, just wanted to rant a little bit, if you complain about trailers then you've got no one to blame but yourself pretty much.

-Danny

Why it's a Good Thing Age of Ultron "Failed"

Roughly a month after Age of Ultron came out there were all these news reports talking about how Marvel was upset with the failure of Age of Ultron, people responded by going "How was it a failure!? It made over a billion dollars!". Yes, Age of Ultron did make a shit ton of money and even critically it still did well, not as many people loved it as the first one and most people would just leave it as "good" so it's not actually a failure. Thing is, that's a good thing that Marvel is considering it a failure because that means they're looking at it purely for how people felt about the movie, just being good isn't good enough for them, they want people to love their movies, so if they consider Age of Ultron a failure then they're going to look at why it failed and try and fix those problems. How many studios would actually say that's what matters to them? If this were Paramount persay they wouldn't care if people didn't love the movie, it made over a billion dollars, not to mention all the tie in merchandise and home media sales they would have enough cash to party until the next Avengers movie came out. Obviously Marvel cares about the money like any business but the fact that they do care about more than that is what makes them a successful company, just being good isn't good enough for them, so they're hopefully going to look at their mistakes and see what they can change and make things better next time round so when Civil War comes out it'll be awesome...hopefully.

-Danny

Star Wars Rebels "The Lost Commander" Review

Rebels is back baby and we open with a...well, not a bang, more like a simmering heat. This is Lost Commander, the Rebels are looking for more bases to establish their presence and Ahsoka informs them of an old friend of hers that will know of plenty of locations and sends the ghost crew to go find him. As it turns out it's Rex from The Clone Wars and now our main characters must convince Rex to help them out on their mission and join the rebellion.

Now the most interesting thing about this episode was Kanan's reaction to the clones. If you read the Kanan comic book (You should, it's great) he does not have the best of relationships with clones. One minute they were friends the next they killed his master and were hunting him down, forcing him to become a fugitive. What the show does really well is not make it a necessity to read the comic to understand that, they explain his past very well and get a really good performance out of Freddie Prinze Jr and the scene where he relives his tragic past is easily the best scene of the episode for me. Apart from that you could see this a bit formulaic, he doesn't like the clones and is looking for any excuse to distrust them but in the end he grows to accept them as new teammates. But what makes it work here for me are two things, one is how personalised and fleshed out his problems with the clones are and the other is that he doesn't technically like them in the end. Their relationship at the end of the episode is pretty much "I trust you won't shoot me in the back, but that's about it" and really that feels a lot more natural and we'll see their relationship grow as this season carries on.

By the way, it's great seeing Rex again, I was very curious on where he ended up after The Clone Wars seeing as his former general would become the biggest monster in the galaxy, would he still follow him after that? Was he killed? What happened? It's also very interesting to see clones outside of battle, because these are people bred for war yet Rex and his two fellow clones have abandoned the fighting life and now live a life of solitude and seeing the effect that has on them. Apart from that I don't have much else to say, apart from Kanan the rest of the ghost crew didn't really have that much to do and that was the biggest change i wanted for season two, i wanted more of the crew, i want to learn more about Sabine and Zeb and Hera, as of now it doesn't look as if we're going to get any of that. Also one of the clones who doesn't like the idea of working with the Jedi again changes his mind really quickly, "I turned them over" "you shouldn't have done that!" "you're right i'm sorry".

So in the end the episode was a fine, the stuff with Kanan was really good and it's nice to see Rex again but the supporting cast got practically nothing to do. 6/10.

-Danny

Arrow "The Candidate" Review

You know, a lot of people really hated last weeks episode and i don't think that's fair, i think that's just a lot of people still feeling betrayed by season three. Problem is if they didn't like last weeks episode then i doubt this one is going to change it. The Candidate sees an old family friend of Oliver & Thea's decide to run for mayor, Damien Darhk obviously doesn't like that and hires Lonnie Machin also known as The Anarchist to deal with the problem.

So let's talk about Lonnie then...he sucked. Not only was this guy really bad at his job, I mean failed to execute her, went against orders and got his ass kicked by Oliver twice and then once again by Thea, but my god was he whiny. Seriously, did this guy do a single thing right in this entire episode? Oh and the fact that they don't capture him so that means he'll be coming back later on...whoopdy-doo. The real psychopath of this episode was Thea, her violent tendencies are getting worse to the point where she even sets Lonnie on fire and beats the crap out of him, it was awesome to watch, not so awesome for her personally. It's understandable where this all comes from, she was trained by a murderer, was resurrected in the Lazarus Pit and has a lot of repressed rage, honestly i'm surprised it took her this long to go full psycho. Though this leads me to question why Oliver keeps bringing her a long on missions involving combat considering he knows full well how violent she is and that she won't listen to him!

Speaking of Oliver, i have to say I really like where they're going with the character, he's legitimately trying to make an effort to change as a person and as a warrior. Going as far to run for mayor did make me raise an eyebrow at first, mostly because it's kind of hard to be the mayor of a city and be the Green Arrow. I see the logic behind it, Oliver wants to be a shining hero, not a vigilante of the night, but i just thought that meant he would start fighting crime during the day now. After an abysmal season for him last year of constantly making mistakes and being wrong without ever acknowledging it, seeing him make the effort to better himself is nice to see, especially with him implementing a no more secrets rule and starts being honest with his team members...Only for Laurel and Thea to then betray that newly found trust by digging up Sara's corpse...Well there ain't much to say about that except it'll be cool to see Sara again, but seriously this woman has more lives than a Time Lord's cat. Actually no i do kinda have a problem with this, stop resurrecting characters! Once you've cured death suddenly there is no tension in anything anymore because the ultimate sacrifice doesn't seem so ultimate anymore now does it?

That's pretty much all I have to say about this episode, I liked the focus on Oliver and Thea but the villain was weak to the point where he was really pathetic to watch. 6/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Flash Of Two Worlds" Review

Here we are, the second episode of season two of The Flash, last week we ended on the cliffhanger of Jay Garrick showing up and now we have our conclusion. As it turns out Jay is from an alternate universe where he was The Flash when the singularity spilled into his world and he was sucked into it and lost his speed. Now his arch-nemesis Zoom is sending meta-humans from their world to this in an attempt to kill The Flashes.

The big thing about this episode that stood out to me was Barry's feelings towards Jay, I can understand him being skeptical towards him but i don't understand the cynicism. Yes Harrison Wells certainly scarred him and i can see why he wouldn't be quick to trust a complete stranger, but he treats him as if he's guilty until proven innocent and even when the evidence is stacked in Jay's favour he still refuses to believe him, or even if he does believe him he doesn't trust him. Again, a little skeptisism is understandable but not treating him like he's already a villain. Actually another mixed thing about this episode is the fact that Barry kills Sand Demon in the end and doesn't even make a big deal about it. People are upset by this because Barry's not meant to kill, I have no problem with it. I've said in the past I only care about superheroes not killing when it's important to there character like Superman or Batman. Flash has no reason not to kill other than it's naturally wrong, but no personal issues with it, that's not to say he should kill all his villains but in a do or die situation you can see why he would make his choice.

Jay Garrick himself I liked, I liked how confident and understanding he was of the situation you can see why he makes a good hero, even without his powers he still puts his life at risk to save someone and do the right thing. I'd be more interested in learning more about his life back in his own universe to make him feel more three dimensional, maybe Zoom killed someone close to him the same way Reverse Flash did to Barry. Another new character introduced is Patty Spivot, Joe's new partner and new love interest for Barry. Though some of the banter between her and Barry felt forced, most noticeably the Monty Python quoting scene, it's instantly a lot better than his first two romances. The two actors do seem to have chemistry and the writers made it a key component to show their similarities first, they're dorks who like being heroes. Then finally there's Zoom, who we still don't know that much about but I already have a big issue with him and that being his plan, sending meta-humans to try and kill The Flashes. Why it doesn't work for me is one: how is he able to travel through universes with ease? There was only one giant singularity and now he somehow controls it? The character's plan involves a literal plot hole. Two: there's the question of why he's sending weaker meta-humans to do his dirty work. The last time Jay Garrick and Zoom fought Zoom was about to win, now we Jay completely powerless he should be able to beat him in an instant and the same can be assumed for Barry, what he's waiting for is unclear and I hope there is an actual explanation behind it.

Finally there's the introduction of multiple universes which is going to lead to unlimited potential, a crossover with Supergirl, Flashpoint, a movie & TV crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths and really just about anything the writers want to do. Some might see it as a lazy plot device, i see it as a way for the writers to get really creative in future seasons without having to worry about sloppily handled exposition to explain their situations. They could have Mr Mxyzptlk make an appearance and have it make total sense. The possibilities here are endless. Also just a final note, that reference to Barry & Jay's comic book crossover was forced but awesome.

This was a decent episode, I liked the new supporting cast and references to the comics, but i felt Barry was too harsh on Jay and as of right now the villain's plan doesn't make much sense. I'm giving this episode a 7/10.

-Danny

Gravity Falls "Dipper and Mabel Vs The Future" Review

I watch a lot of cartoons, I watch a lot of TV in general, and I can honestly say that taking into account every single show on TV right now, none of them get me as emotionally invested as Gravity Falls. In this episode we get a lot of emotional pay off, it's nearly the end of summer and Dipper & Mabel's 13th birthday is coming up, so while Mabel is busy setting everything up for their party, Dipper goes out with Grunkle Ford on an important mission to, you know, prevent the end of the world. So while Dipper is having the best day of his life by saving the world, Mabel is having the worst day of her life because she's learning all about the horrors of teenhood *shudders*. In the end, Dipper decides to stay in Gravity Falls, Mabel heartbroken runs away and accidentally makes a deal with Bill Cipher and causes the end of the world as we know it, just like they always sung about!

I remember a while ago when i was looking into the behind the scenes of the show Alex Hirsh the creator said that the key to writing Dipper & Mabel is to remember that they like each other. Thing is that's actually quite a rare occurrence in cartoons where the siblings actually get along perfectly and i can see why he felt the need to tell his writing staff that. Dipper and Mabel may be opposites in a lot of ways but in the end they're always there for each other and they wouldn't change the other for the world. Which is why several episodes ago when they foreshadowed to their relationship being strained my mind instantly went "Nooooo!" and that's exactly what happened here. When Mabel was crying her eyes out at the thought of Dipper leaving and him not even telling her, i had my face in my hands just shaking my head in disbelief, I couldn't bare to see these two go through something so heart wrenching. Fact is, i'm kind of closed off when it comes to a lot of media, despite my love of television it actually takes quite a lot to get an emotional reaction out of me. So when it was all said and done and i was reflecting on it, i was so proud of this show to be able to still get that kind of response from me even after all this time. With that being said i don't blame Mabel for what she did in the end, she didn't know what the reality orb thing was, she didn't know it was Bill Cipher, she was distraught and she's a kid! I also don't blame Dipper because this all fits well with his character arc, he went from the wannabee adventure seeker to an actual adventure seeker and even got a fair few badass moments in this episode.

Yet despite all of this heavy on set drama and a lot of scarily accurate truths about high school (To all kids watching Gravity Falls, cherish every second of your childhood, it's all downhill from there) they still get a lot of good jokes in the episode, my personal favourite being Mabel having such a magnetic personality she became pen pals with the pizza man within the span of 60 seconds. Because that's why this show is magnificent, the great mystery and drama isn't all it has to offer, the jokes are constant and hilarious. I have a saying, the best drama is a good comedy, because we've laughed for so long and so hard at this show when it gets dramatic, we care about it. People think the key to a good drama is being as dark and serious as possible when it's the complete opposite, the people we laugh the hardest with are the people we cry the hardest with, this show gets that as does every other great show out there.

Then there's the animation. This is why I assume the show takes so long to get a new episode out because they want their show looking the best that it can be. They don't cut corners and try to create some dynamic, exhilarating and most of all beautiful set pieces. The highlights for me were the spaceship flight sequence and pretty much the final five minutes of being pure beauty.

This episode was great, the emotions were riding high, the jokes were great and i cannot fucking wait for the next episode. I'm giving this episode a 9/10.

-Danny

Star Wars Battlefront Beta Thoughts

So the beta for Star Wars Battlefront was released and as you can imagine I played quite a bit of it. You see, Star Wars Battlefront II is one of my all time favourite videogames, not only because I love Star Wars but because of how fun it is, and when I say fun, I mean insanely fun, seriously, i've wasted days of my life playing that game and I've been waiting for a new Battlefront game for years, a game that has been in development hell, going from studio to studio and now we have one developed by DICE, the same people behind Battlefield and Mirror's Edge, so they know their first person videogames, so what did I think of the Beta? I liked it. Well, most of it. Let's talk about that.

Now first of all I have to say the technicals of this game are fan-fucking-tastic! Not only were the servers for the game fast, seriously, i didn't have to wait more than 3 seconds before getting put into a match, but then again this is the beta so who knows how that's going to pan out when the game actually comes out. But the design of this game is beyond amazing. The graphics are beautiful, particularly with the environments and the sound design is top notch. Not to mention this absolutely feels like a Star Wars game more than any before it, you feel like you're firing a proper blaster, you feel like you're in a TIE Fighter, i got completely sucked into the world of Star Wars and clearly a lot of effort was put into recreating that feeling. Also having the original score play every now and again was a nice touch. Then when it comes to characters, just the fact that there are male and female characters on both teams is a nice touch because we both know how Star Wars and Video Games don't have the largest representation of women. Though I will admit it was weird to see a Stormtrooper with a woman's voice, just because i've never seen that before. So yes, if I were to judge this game based on the technicals alone it would get a 10/10.

But then there's the most important part of a game, the gameplay, how is it? Well taking the aesthetics of Star Wars out of the picture, the gameplay is just fine. Not all that much about it is unique or different, it's fun if a bit repetitive (Again, it's just a beta) I will say i feel the game is just a bit too slow, the running feels a bit slow, aiming feels a bit slow, flying seems a bit slow, nothing seems to be going at the right pace, it's not bad enough to irritate you in anyway but it does make the game feel a bit less exciting. And while the game isn't as busy as some of the trailers would have you believe, there are some really cool moments to be had, like when a TIE Fighter crashes right next to you and you see the explosion, the fact that it's not pre-scripted and things like that can happen can make fights really exhilarating. Also the respawn areas aren't all that great, it takes you forever to run back to the battle unless you use the partner spawn system, which i will admit is a really cool system. But the respawn can lead to some really annoying scenarios, you spend forever running into the battlefield, get shot, die, have to run all the way again. Also i hate when multiplayer's have this type of kill system, you die too easily to the point where it's not a matter of skill, it's a matter of who sees who first. I also don't have that much to say about the upgrades because you could only max out at level 5 so i don't think i've seen enough of them.

Next are the maps & missions, because Dice decided to leave out a campaign because yeah, multiplayer only games are always a great idea ad offer a lot in terms of artistic merit and longevity of the product. The first mission on a new planet has you capture escape pods for...reasons before your enemies, so basically it's a capture the flag type mission. Overall it's fine, i mean there's not much you can do in terms of variety when it comes to capture the flag, my biggest problem with it is whichever person captures the escape pod gets extra points, a system i don't like because it discourages teamwork and until the pod is captured it's pretty much every man for himself because i want those extra points, i don't give a shit about any of you.

There's also the mission on Hoth which was friggin terrible! Like I said about the respawn system sucking, it's even worse here with the map design because it's so large you respawn miles away from the action and the terrain is so badly designed it has a linear feel to it making it difficult to get around, also the fact that it's 20 people per team means you get shot almost instantly when you get close to the action and it makes reaching the objectives nearly impossible. I like the idea of the two teams having different objectives but in reality it's the same. Two AT-ATs are heading towards the Rebel base, the Rebels need to call in for back-up to bomb them before that happens, the Stormtrooper's mission is to cancel out their signal, which means you find the signal, capture it and fight off Rebels, basically the same formula for Capture the Flag. Also this map has almost no balancing to it, i swear every time i played it the Rebels never even came close to winning, the AT-AT's have insane health it's so unfair.

The single player mission was a simple fight off waves of enemies was fine, i noticed the animations on the AI Stormtroopers is a lot better than it is when it's player controlled. My big problem with this mission is how easy it is due to the small amount of Stormtroopers. But to be fair the Beta only has about half as many waves as the full game so I would imagine it would be a lot more fun in the full game. Also having Admiral Ackbar talk to you is very entertaining.

So that's pretty much all I have to say on the Star Wars Battlefront Beta, how was it overall? It was fun. It showed a lot of promise but has some clear issues, i will admit i did get pretty addicted to playing and i am still looking forward to the official release.

-Danny

Doctor Who "Before The Flood" Review

Before we get to the review I have a little update. Seeing as every Doctor Who episode this season is a two parter, i will now only be reviewing the show once every 2 weeks, mostly because it's quite difficult to review half of a story, so there's that. Now to the actual episode, which continues on from last week, underwater base attacked by ghosts, The Doctor goes back in time to find out what happened, leaving Clara behind only to see he will soon turn into a ghost. So this episode sees The Doctor try to find out why he's going to die and prevent it all from happening while Clara...just kinda survives.

Actually let's start with the most irritating thing about this episode, Clara fucking sucks. I was never a big fan of Clara but i felt that she had gotten a lot better with Peter Capaldi, last week she confused me because everything she did and was said about her seemed to just contradict everything, this week she's just fucking whiny and rude. Now finding out The Doctor is dead is understandable for her to feel panicked and even take risks and her aggression out on other people, but some things she does are just awful. "You can die, just not with me! Do it with the next one!"...Really Clara? Fucking really!? I know she probably doesn't mean it but jesus christ, you're saying that you're fine with The Doctor dying just as long as you're not the one who has to deal with it? After you've had your fun with him and moved on and he's got another floozy following him he can die as much as he wants...i thought he was your best friend, bitch.

Then we move onto The Fisher King, the big villain of this episode...the design was really cool...that's the only good thing I have to say about him. Well okay i'm exaggerating there, his introduction scene was filmed brilliantly and he has a menacing voice but god his plan makes no sense. He's there to send of a signal to his people so they will come an enslave Earth (Never seen that one before!) except I have a few questions about this plan. Why did he need to fake his death? Why were the ghosts the best way to send the signal? Why didn't he bring an army with him when he first showed up? How does the writing on the wall work? Why did it take 100-ish years for your plan to work? Seriously, this plan is more convoluted than the plot to The Matrix Trilogy.

Also the biggest plothole of the episode being The Doctor's ghost and how he inspired himself by already seeing the plan, think Johnny B Goode from Back to the Future. They explain this away with the Bootstrap Paradox, a time travel goes back in time, creates something he loves and ends up being the one who created it, so the question is, if he created it, how did he come up with the idea? Clever paradox, not so clever plot device, it's the writer equivalent of just shrugging your shoulders. Also just a small problem, the deaf woman needing to go all Daredevil to find out there's someone behind her...here's another idea: TURN THE FUCK AROUND!

So I've been complaining a lot, is there anything I liked? Yes. Peter Capaldi gave one of his best performances in this episode, the fear in his eyes when he thinks he's already dead, the desperation in his voice to try and alter history, the way he delivers exposition about the bootstrap paradox and then shreds on the guitar. Can we make it a rule that The 12th Doctor always has to rock out on the guitar at some point? It makes him so much more badass.

Overall I have more problems with this episode than i do good things to say, no massive problems that made me hate the show or the episode, but the plot is convoluted, the villain is nicely presented but has a bad idea behind him and it just kind of feels lazy. But Capaldi was awesome in it. 6/10.

-Danny

Changes In The Amazing Spider-Man

So Marvel has started to release a bunch of new #1's for their comic books (Seems a bit silly seeing as Secret Wars hasn't ended yet) and the first one to catch my eye for being drastically different is The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Actually before we get to that here are my thoughts on the other #1's that i've read so far that haven't really changed all that much. Invincible Iron Man: Okay, relatively the same stuff as before. Doctor Strange: Enjoyable, new direction for the character. The Avengers: Meh, the best set-up was Uncanny Avengers. So yeah, now let's actually talk about Amazing Spider-Man #1.

Now the big change made here is that Spider-Man has gone global. Parker Industries has taken off, Peter is now the CEO of a massive company and he has a whole bunch of new tech in his suit, also a partner to pose as Spider-Man whenever the two need to do publicity together. So why am I mixed on this story? Well to start with the positive, they are doing something different. They're taking Peter in a direction that he's never been before, which is exactly what i wanted. They also do a great job at distinguishing him from a certain other Marvel character. Genius CEO uses his tech to become a superhero, now what does that remind me of? And why does he smell of vodka? So yes, the fact that they make the differences between Peter Parker and Tony Stark clear is a step in the right direction. But my problem with this is-and this isn't going to sound nice-I don't like the idea of Peter Parker winning. One of the key elements to Peter Parker is that he is a loser, and i don't just mean he's a nerd but i mean nothing goes right for him. His relationships struggle, his aunt is constantly dying, his work/school life suffer, all because he's Spider-Man, he has to make so many sacrifices to be Spider-Man, but that's what makes him so admirable, he gets so little praise out of doing the right thing, but he's keeping people safe so that's all that matters. Having Peter always be on top and having a plan and expensive equipment and a team of people covering for him is not what Peter is about. I'm sure this is all an elaborate set-up for Peter to come crashing down because that's kind of what Marvel does. I'm not saying Peter should never be happy, what i'm saying is he should always struggle to be happy, that way he appreciates it more and is all the more grateful.

Also just to quickly touch on the other Spider-Man set-ups: Spider-Man 2099: Don't Care. Web-Warriors: Don't care. Silk: Don't care. Spider-Woman: Interesting but overall, don't care. Spider-Man (Miles Morales): Barely got any of him but holy fuck i can't wait to see more of Miles. So yeah that's all I have to say about that. I appreciate them doing something different but so far it ain't workin' for me.

-Danny

Ant-Man & The Wasp (+Marvel Schedule Changes)

It has just been announced that Ant-Man will in fact be getting a sequel, but not on his own. The sequel schedules for release 6th July 2018 will be titled Ant-Man & The Wasp. Firstly, love the title. Secondly, love the idea of the two of them being the lead characters. Most people would agree that Evangeline Lilly's character Hope Van Dyne deserved a costume of her own seeing as she was clearly more qualified than Scott Lang (Played by Paul Rudd). So it's nice to see in the sequel she won't be playing second fiddle, she won't be the Falcon to Captain America or War Machine to Iron Man. No sidekicks to play here, the two of them are on equal grounds and I love that. Like i said, i dig the name as well, we haven't had a superhero movie that's just two superhero names combined, nothing else (Lookin' at you Dawn of Justice).

Apart from that we also have a few new scheduling changes, the first one is that Black Panther is getting moved up 6 months and is now getting released 16th February 2018 (Woo!) while Captain Marvel is getting pushed back 4 months to 3rd March 2019 (Un-woo). As well as three untitled movies schedules for 1st May 2020, 10th July 2020 and 6th November 2020, christ Marvel, slow it down a bit. There's not really much to say about all that, I'm glad we'll get Black Panther a little bit earlier, sad Captain Marvel is getting pushed back and Marvel really likes to plan things out in advanced.

-Danny

Arrow "Green Arrow" Review

As we all know Arrow Season 3 was not that great, yet despite that i was still looking forward to the new season. I don't understand why some people have given up on the show. Yeah season 3 was bad but good shows have had bad seasons before, as far as i'm concerned the show is batting 2-1, that's still a winner in my books, so we'll have to see where it goes from here. So in the premiere episode of season 4, Star City is going through a crime spree that the remainders of Team Arrow (Now consisting of Diggle, Black Canary & Speedy) can not handle on their own, thus they turn to Oliver and Felicity for help. Learning that the threat known as Damien Darhk is behind it all they rejoin Team Arrow and now plan on stopping him.

So let's start with the best thing about the episode, Oliver Queen stops trying to be Batman. Okay really it's more of a promise that he's going to stop being Batman but it looks promising. For the first three seasons Oliver Queen has been dark, aggressive and like a ninja, inspiring the villains he creates, basically he's Batman. He even fought Ra's Al Ghul, that's how much they were trying to be Batman. Green Arrow is supposed to be more light hearted and down to Earth, fighting for the little guy and not having a corrupt bone in his body. Which actually kind of makes me glad that they didn't start calling him Green Arrow until now because he never was the Green Arrow. Here, they acknowledge that, Oliver talks about how he's always used the darkness as a tool and it's not who he can be anymore. In fact him as Oliver Queen got to tell a few more jokes than usual in this episode, which is a good sign, especially seeing as for the first time in his life he's supposed to be happy.

As for all the other characters well Diggle is still rightfully pissed at Oliver and thankfully his mask doesn't look as stupid in action (Though the visor being removed makes him look stupid as hell) but that's all that's going on with him. Felicity didn't cry and didn't mope, you know her and Oliver as a couple aren't nearly as annoying as them debating whether or not they should be a couple, maybe it's because it doesn't talk up half the fucking season (fingers crossed). Thea seems to be enjoying the superhero life, which i think is the first time in three seasons she's ever smiled, also she may turn out to be a psychopath. So we have optimism and psychotic tendencies, give em points for doing something new with the character. And then Laurel is just...there.

Then there's the villain, Damien Darhk, who so far just seems to be a positive version of Ra's Al Ghul. But the whole "I want this city to die" thing is getting old. Stop trying to kill this city! It won't work! Literally every villain so far has had that same plan! Though the positive outlook and the magic is a nice touch...Oh yeah they've introduced magic now. I like this, they've already got super powers, why not get magic, especially seeing as this is a good set up for Constantine to show up (Can't wait for that!). Then the final character to talk about is Captain Lance...i don't know what to think of this. On one hand it's an interesting twist with the character, but on the other i kind of hate it. Lance was my favourite character because he was a good cop, and really last season when he was talking about Arrow doing more harm than good, he has a point, he was the only person that i felt was emotionally justified in his decisions. But now he's working with the bad guy...dammit! Even if he says it's to save this city, i don't like the idea of Lance taking risks, that's not who he is, granted he may have to work with the worst police force in history, but he wouldn't do this, no matter how desperate he gets! I just hope this turns out for the best.

The final point to be made is that funeral scene, is it just a tease for a plot device that won't pay off for months? You betcha, but damn if it didn't work. Throughout the whole scene i was thinking "Don't show the name, don't show the name!" and they didn't, and that sealed the deal for me that this is a good set up, because if they did show it and it said "Felicity Smoak" then i would go "right, so Felicity is clearly not going to die because they're not stupid enough to spoil their own show and it's just going to be a bait & switch", not showing adds the level of mystery to it on who could die, why and when. I loved that set-up.

Overall this was a really good premiere episode, dare i say it did better than The Flash's premiere episode, but to be fair Arrow had more to prove so even just being good is an improvement. I'm giving Green Arrow an 8/10.

-Danny

The Flash "The Man Who Saved Central City" Review

Finally, fucking finally The Flash is back! Ohhh boy have I been waiting to talk about this! In the second season premiere of Flash we start off six months after the singularity and see all of the results and consequences of said disaster, the city was saved and The Flash is being rewarded the key to the city but Barry doesn't think he deserves it. Meanwhile a brand new villain the Atom Smasher has shown his face to try and kill Flash as he was instructed by the big villain of this season Zoom.

*Spoilers Ahead*

So let's talk about Barry, like i said he doesn't believe he has earned the key to the city, which is not only humble of him but kind of right, the day of the singularity both Eddie and Ronnie died saving the city, Eddie killed the Reverse Flash and Ronnie destroyed the singularity, it's understandable why Barry would feel he hasn't earnt a reward when two of his friends aren't even going to get recognition for this. Also because of two of his friends dying in the same day he's disbanded Team Flash at the risk of endangering other people, but i'll get to them soon. Something else that I like about where Barry is in this episode is that he's helping rebuild all the buildings that were destroyed during the singularity, which i think is a nice touch because that's something a hero should probably be doing when you know, he's not fighting meta-humans. Just saying, we don't often see Green Lantern help rebuild small businesses after he saves the day.

The next character who i found rather fascinating in this episode is Caitlin. The reason why I say that is because at the start of the first season she was in the exact same state she is now, Ronnie having died. Something i noticed when rewatching the first season is that she was a real stick in the mud for the first few episodes, the wet blanket ruining everyone else's fun. Here she isn't as closed off but she's still clearly hurt and i would even say exhausted from being upset but is still trying to put on a smile, the fact that she has a different reaction in the exact same scenario shows how much she's changed as a character and gone through actual development this past year, it's a small change but i like that.

As for Cisco, not a whole lot has changed for him, he now officially works for the CCPD as a science officer...but that's kinda it, he's still the same old Cisco from before, though to be fair I wouldn't have him any other way. Then Iris shows up, who surprisingly after rewatching all of last season again...I hate her more than ever. Even to the point where everytime she showed up on screen she just put me in a bad mood. Seriously, why is she part of Team Flash? She doesn't do anything! Finally is Joe, who is still pretty much awesome in every way, we get a quick flashback of him taking care of a young Barry and some scenes of him and Flash working together to beat Atom Smasher, basically I love Joe, never change.

A major plot point that was resolved in this episode was Henry finally getting released from prison, Harrison Wells (Great seeing Tom Cavanagh by the way) left a confession to Nora's murder and Henry finally got released (And probably with a really sweet apology cheque too). But then they make a weird choice in having him leave Central City...why? He says it's because Central City needs The Flash, not Henry Allen's son but...yeah i don't buy it. Why would he leave the city? Why would he leave this soon after getting out of jail. You can finally spend quality time with your son without a prison guard looking over your shoulder and you're leaving this quick? I call bullshit, this seems like the writers' lazy way to get him out of the show.


Then the final note, the big cliffhanger of the episode, Jay Garrick shows up at Star Labs, i was a little sad that he didn't do much in this episode, but i just really want to see Barry and Jay interact with each other properly. Overall this episode was a good re-introduction to the show, finding out where the characters are now and tying up some loose ends from season one but only giving us the minimal amount needed for set-ups for season two. I'm giving this episode an 8/10.

-Danny

-Jay Garrick

My Favourite Characters - Rick Sanchez

Whaddup ma Glip Glops! In honour of the second season finale of Rick & Morty, let's talk about the man himself, Rick Sanchez. I love smart characters, the ones that are so smart and so sure of themselves they're a dick to everyone else. The Doctor, Sherlock, Iron Man, etc and now Rick can join that esteemed line up. Except the big difference with Rick is how little redeeming qualities he has. He doesn't care in the slightest about other people's feelings, has zero patience for people stupider than him (So everyone), is very selfish and will put other people in danger with no sense of empathy to be found. Also he's an alcoholic, so there's that. But thing is, he's kinda right in his beliefs, he does often say hard truths that we don't want to hear or believe are true but more often than not he's right.
"Morty, I'm not disparaging the differently abled. I'm stating the fact that if I had used this microscope it would have made me mentally retarded."
"Ok but yeah, I don't think it's about logic, Rick. I-I think the word has just become a symbolic issue for powerful groups that feel like they're doing the right thing."
"Well that's retarded."
Probably the only argument you could make for someone like Rick is that he is always right, yeah he's a dick about everything but he's earned it, he's a genius and has saved the day dozens of times, if not hundreds, the man's entitled to a bit of an ego. I think the episode that proved this to me is the first episode of season two "A Rickle In Time" where the characters are stuck in a Schrodinger's Cat-verse where it shows all the possible answers all at once, and in every universe Rick is always doing the exact same thing, that's how sure in himself he is that he's able to beat the Schrodinger at his own game. You've got to respect a man who is that smart he can literally defy logic.

But even with all of this he's not an irredeemable asshole, he does care for his family but rarely chooses to show it, in particular are his grandson Morty and his daughter Beth, even someone as selfish and talented as he is, he is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of his family, even going as so far in the season two finale where he lets himself get arrested so his family can go home. "What are you in for?" "Everything". It doesn't happen very often, but whenever we do see moments like this it certainly humanises him and let's us actually care about what he does rather than just laugh at how much of an asshole he is.

He follows character archetypes that I'm a fan of, but it's how aggressive he is that separates him from the rest and makes him not only hilarious but also interesting and surprisingly likeable. That's what makes him one of my all time favourite characters.

-Danny

Doctor Who "Under the Lake" Review

Another damn two parter!? Actually looking at the rest of the schedule it looks like every story arc in this season is a two parter. Moffat, we get it, you're trying new things, but seriously what is the point? We get half as many stories and takes twice as long to find out what happens. This is Under the Lake, in this episode The Doctor and Clara travel to an underwater base where it turns out is being haunted by several ghosts, The Doctor, Clara and the surviving crew members must now find out what they want so they can stop them.

*Spoilers Ahead*

This is why I hate two parters, it's so hard to review a story when you're only getting half the story, but nevertheless i'll do best with what i can. The ghosts themselves are just kind of...okay, i don't really care that much for their design or their motives for what they do, so far it seems rather forced and confusing, i was hoping this would be a simple ghost story but now the ghosts are talking in riddles and there's a symbol with co-ordinates and it's oh so big and important. Would it have been so hard to just make a story about ghosts on an underwater base? That's all I need. Now that's not to say the story is confusing to the point where you can't tell what the hell is going on, but even so, it could be made simpler and this is unnecessarily complicated.

The best part of the episode in my opinion is the crew on the base. I can't remember the last time i actually have a shit about the supporting characters in a Doctor Who episode, it's not happened for a fair few years. In this episode i do remember the whole crew and i remember their personalities, i remember one of them being a bit of a fangirl for the Doctor but she still focused on the safety of the crew, i remember the guy with glasses being a bit of a coward, i remember the translator, i remember the deaf woman being in charge, how interesting is that, there's a deaf character in charge and...that's all there is. It doesn't play a big role in the story (yet as far as we know) it wasn't caused by some alien attack, she doesn't have a sixth sense to replace it, she's just an ordinary deaf woman, that's a rather fascinating choice. Though while i may remember all of their personalities, i didn't say i was good at remembering their names.

Apart from that I honestly can't think of that much to talk about, like i said, it's hard to analyse a story when it's only halfway complete and The Doctor and Clara...are The Doctor and Clara, not much has changed with them. Actually there was a weird conversation between the two about Clara going native and getting too involved in the adventures...or something, i don't know it was a strange conversation and i don't entirely get what The Doctor was saying anyway. Does he not want to travel with her? Is he worried about her? Is she getting too addicted to travelling or is she settling down too much? It doesn't make much sense to me.

In the end I think this was a good episode but not as good as the last one, some of the plot elements are forcfully convoluted and it's too early for another two parter, the cast was good and it had some good lines in it but i've seen better. 7/10.

-Danny