Interested in Film, Television or Video Game reviews, how about Music, Comics and general opinions on the above? Then you've come to the right place. Enjoy.
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Farewell WFC
I know I made a post about it before, but even still. Farewell Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You will be missed. Your greats like Pokémon, Golden Eye and Mario Kart, your flaws like Super Smash bros Brawl. Farewell old friend.
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Movie review: Disney's Frozen. Let it go, for the love of god, let the song go
Disney's Frozen, the love it or hate it title of 2013. You could not go
anywhere without seeing adds for this movie. YouTube adds, Trams, and, of
course, Let it go: the song that was everywhere. I'm going to be one of
the few people to say this, I never saw Frozen at the Cinema. In fact, the
first time I saw the movie was Mother's Day this year. Because of my studies
last year, I didn't go to the cinema at all, and as a result, I never saw a
trailer of Frozen. When the ads for it started popping up all over the place, I
couldn't care about it as it didn't peak my interests. I stayed clear of all
the reviews but that doesn't mean I missed the hype and the praise for it. Why
I mention this? You’ll see latter.
While a lot of people would be willing to shove Frozen into the Disney Princess's section of movies, I struggle to do so because o just how much is different to it. Yes, the princess is the main character in the story (Princess Anna of Arendelle) the movie itself does a lot of things different to the princess movies of old. It takes the concept of "love at first sight", a concept that Disney perfected the art of, points at it, and laughs at it making everyone in the room laugh at it as well, the reason being is because the character Anna falls in love with, Hans, is actually the villain and takes advantage of the situation Anna is in (being that she will turn into a human shaped ice block). There's a happy ending at the end of the movie (like all Disney movies) but no marriage, something that is a staple in the Disney Princess movies (assuming my memory serves me well as I haven't seen a Disney Princess movie in "I don't even know how long it’s been" years), but the biggest change that it does to the formula is one thing and one thing only, something that breaks the formula of, not only the Princess movies, but almost every other Disney movie that uses the same formula. The Queen is not the villain. Queen Elsa, the one who sings the infamous song, that by all accounts according to said song is the villain, is actually more of an anti hero. Not evil, but shunned due to her powers over snow and ice.
Speaking of, all the main characters in the movie are well thought out, with each of them having distinct personalities (again, this coming from the man who hasn't watched a Disney princess movie since VCR's were common and normal) Anna is someone who wants attention, not for any cruel purpose, but because Elsa kept her distance due to her powers almost killing her when they were children, as per the parents decision. As a result, it was worse when the parents lost their lives. I should note, that before I continue, to the people who hate the fact that their princesses even though their parents are dead (like myself to a degree); Elsa does become queen when she comes of age latter on in the movie. Anna also comes off to me as a bit of a tomboy, while she still fantasises of her future husband and the day she marries, she also proves that she's not to strict on manners (at least in one scene) and that she's willing to go out and get things done on her own.
Elsa on the other hand is shy and self conscious of her powers, which actually makes the situation worse but... She's paranoid when she doesn't have a special pair of gloves on that somehow limit her powers. How? How should I know the movie doesn't say, the best explanation I can give is that it’s a Placebo. When she doesn't have the gloves on, her powers are harder to control until she goes out and makes an ice palace and sends the country into a never ending winter... Don’t you just love it when people let their powers control them? She does however become more confident with her powers and once she becomes accepted back into society (even though she is Queen...) she gains full control of her powers. That's actually the closest you’re going to get to a usual happy ending in this.
The other major character is Kristoff who acts as the counter for Anna. He's tamed compared to Anna, a smart ass at times, limiting contact with people except for Sven, his reindeer, and the other major characters of the story. His past isn't explained as well as Elsa or Anna's however because all that we know (or at least guess) is that he was raised to be an Ice farmer and then somehow found a home amongst some trolls. How you ask? It’s never explained.
The movie itself starts off with the impression that it’s going to be a musical, with most of the songs being in the first half. A lot of the songs are quite good (yes, this includes Let it go...) but they do feel forced. It shares this trait with High School Musical in my opinion but I think its executed better here. High School Musical was a mess of plot holes whereas with this, the songs lend themselves better to the story. There isn't anything like, for example, "Stick to the status quo" which stands out like a sore thumb because of the mixed messages it’s sending out. However, while Frozen at the start would work as a musical, the second half on the other hand, it comes off as they gave up trying to write songs for it as there's only one song, not including the credits.
So by the sounds of this, it looks like I enjoyed what I saw and while that's true, it’s only to a degree. The cinematography in Frozen is well done and it’s a joy to see. Frozen's biggest problem however was the hype it had. As I said at the start of this review, I was exposed to a lot of the feedback of the movie; people were calling it a "masterpiece" "one of the best movies they ever saw". On its own, the movie is quite good, but adding the hype into the mix, it drops significantly in quality purely due to expectations. I went into the movie thinking it was a masterpiece, and while it was good, a masterpiece is a stretch. It is worth watching, but don't go in with the hype.
While a lot of people would be willing to shove Frozen into the Disney Princess's section of movies, I struggle to do so because o just how much is different to it. Yes, the princess is the main character in the story (Princess Anna of Arendelle) the movie itself does a lot of things different to the princess movies of old. It takes the concept of "love at first sight", a concept that Disney perfected the art of, points at it, and laughs at it making everyone in the room laugh at it as well, the reason being is because the character Anna falls in love with, Hans, is actually the villain and takes advantage of the situation Anna is in (being that she will turn into a human shaped ice block). There's a happy ending at the end of the movie (like all Disney movies) but no marriage, something that is a staple in the Disney Princess movies (assuming my memory serves me well as I haven't seen a Disney Princess movie in "I don't even know how long it’s been" years), but the biggest change that it does to the formula is one thing and one thing only, something that breaks the formula of, not only the Princess movies, but almost every other Disney movie that uses the same formula. The Queen is not the villain. Queen Elsa, the one who sings the infamous song, that by all accounts according to said song is the villain, is actually more of an anti hero. Not evil, but shunned due to her powers over snow and ice.
Speaking of, all the main characters in the movie are well thought out, with each of them having distinct personalities (again, this coming from the man who hasn't watched a Disney princess movie since VCR's were common and normal) Anna is someone who wants attention, not for any cruel purpose, but because Elsa kept her distance due to her powers almost killing her when they were children, as per the parents decision. As a result, it was worse when the parents lost their lives. I should note, that before I continue, to the people who hate the fact that their princesses even though their parents are dead (like myself to a degree); Elsa does become queen when she comes of age latter on in the movie. Anna also comes off to me as a bit of a tomboy, while she still fantasises of her future husband and the day she marries, she also proves that she's not to strict on manners (at least in one scene) and that she's willing to go out and get things done on her own.
Elsa on the other hand is shy and self conscious of her powers, which actually makes the situation worse but... She's paranoid when she doesn't have a special pair of gloves on that somehow limit her powers. How? How should I know the movie doesn't say, the best explanation I can give is that it’s a Placebo. When she doesn't have the gloves on, her powers are harder to control until she goes out and makes an ice palace and sends the country into a never ending winter... Don’t you just love it when people let their powers control them? She does however become more confident with her powers and once she becomes accepted back into society (even though she is Queen...) she gains full control of her powers. That's actually the closest you’re going to get to a usual happy ending in this.
The other major character is Kristoff who acts as the counter for Anna. He's tamed compared to Anna, a smart ass at times, limiting contact with people except for Sven, his reindeer, and the other major characters of the story. His past isn't explained as well as Elsa or Anna's however because all that we know (or at least guess) is that he was raised to be an Ice farmer and then somehow found a home amongst some trolls. How you ask? It’s never explained.
The movie itself starts off with the impression that it’s going to be a musical, with most of the songs being in the first half. A lot of the songs are quite good (yes, this includes Let it go...) but they do feel forced. It shares this trait with High School Musical in my opinion but I think its executed better here. High School Musical was a mess of plot holes whereas with this, the songs lend themselves better to the story. There isn't anything like, for example, "Stick to the status quo" which stands out like a sore thumb because of the mixed messages it’s sending out. However, while Frozen at the start would work as a musical, the second half on the other hand, it comes off as they gave up trying to write songs for it as there's only one song, not including the credits.
So by the sounds of this, it looks like I enjoyed what I saw and while that's true, it’s only to a degree. The cinematography in Frozen is well done and it’s a joy to see. Frozen's biggest problem however was the hype it had. As I said at the start of this review, I was exposed to a lot of the feedback of the movie; people were calling it a "masterpiece" "one of the best movies they ever saw". On its own, the movie is quite good, but adding the hype into the mix, it drops significantly in quality purely due to expectations. I went into the movie thinking it was a masterpiece, and while it was good, a masterpiece is a stretch. It is worth watching, but don't go in with the hype.
Monday, 19 May 2014
My personal favourites when it comes to Pokémon
So what to do when there isn't a impressions to do for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire? A list of my favorite Pokémon...
While most people would do just a top 10, after nine years of playing the games, its hard to come up with just ten. What might be a favorite Pokémon of mine in a region might not be in my top ten but it still deserves to be mentioned. So instead, I've done a top 10 of each region, this is a Top 60. This thread has been updated since posting (last update 30/9/2014), Original post (19/5/2014)
The Kanto region, a favorite for most Pokémon fans because of its age. And its here that we start.
Friday, 16 May 2014
An actual impressions this time: Transformers 4: Age of Extinction
Michael Bay... what is there to say that hasn't already been said? While I like the cinematography in his movies, the action scenes are hit or miss for me. Ever since 2007, I've been excited for most of his versions of the Transformers movies as I was, and still am, into the series at the time. Unlike a lot of the older fans of the series, I joined in during Transformers Armada and avidly watched it, its sequel Transformers Energon and the series latter, Transformers Cybertron before the shows stoped airing in Australia (at least on Free TV as my family stoped paying for Foxtel around that time aswell so that might have something to do with it). It was the movies that kept me interested in the series since then and for the most part I think they did it well. The first movie I regard as one of my favourite movies, not the best movie I've ever seen (I'm actually not sure what that one would be...), Revenge of the Fallen wasn't as good to me but still a alright movie but I have a lot of issues with Dark of the moon.
As a fan of the series, I knew what was going on but that doesn't excuse its lack of story or plot. Yes the destruction of Chicago was great, but it had no build up and just felt lack lustre when compared to the battle in Egypt from Revenge of the Fallen with one of the reasons being that the battle was built up better.
But a review of the three of them is for another time, as for now: Age of Extinction, the forth instalment and the beginning of a new trilogy in the movie's universe. From what we know of so far, Humans are now trying to kill off the last of the Tranformers, including the Autobots, however I am not going to speak of how until a review of Age of Extinction (which will be when its on DVD/ Blu-ray, I'm not reviewing movies while their at cinema's). Because of this, I believe that there's going to be a plot that is actually going to have more significance then Dark of the Moon's one did. Known Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Hound (for the first time), Crosshairs (for the first time), Drift (for the first time), Brains (why???), the Dinobots (Grimlock, Slug, Slog, Strafe, Scorn, Slash and Snarl (all of which are new to the movie's universe)), Galvatron (for the first time), Lockdown (for the first time), Stinger (for the first time), and Junkheap (for the first time).
As for the trailers themselves so far? The movie looks promising and have convinced me to see it at the cinema as I did with the last three. With a new cast of humans, new story, new Transformers and more, it looks to be as good as the first movie was. My only hope is that it lives up to these expectations.
As a fan of the series, I knew what was going on but that doesn't excuse its lack of story or plot. Yes the destruction of Chicago was great, but it had no build up and just felt lack lustre when compared to the battle in Egypt from Revenge of the Fallen with one of the reasons being that the battle was built up better.
But a review of the three of them is for another time, as for now: Age of Extinction, the forth instalment and the beginning of a new trilogy in the movie's universe. From what we know of so far, Humans are now trying to kill off the last of the Tranformers, including the Autobots, however I am not going to speak of how until a review of Age of Extinction (which will be when its on DVD/ Blu-ray, I'm not reviewing movies while their at cinema's). Because of this, I believe that there's going to be a plot that is actually going to have more significance then Dark of the Moon's one did. Known Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Hound (for the first time), Crosshairs (for the first time), Drift (for the first time), Brains (why???), the Dinobots (Grimlock, Slug, Slog, Strafe, Scorn, Slash and Snarl (all of which are new to the movie's universe)), Galvatron (for the first time), Lockdown (for the first time), Stinger (for the first time), and Junkheap (for the first time).
As for the trailers themselves so far? The movie looks promising and have convinced me to see it at the cinema as I did with the last three. With a new cast of humans, new story, new Transformers and more, it looks to be as good as the first movie was. My only hope is that it lives up to these expectations.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Turnabout Smash: Writer's wanted
While the Prologue is still in the proof reading phase, work has begun on the first chapter "Clash of speeds, Turnabout Reunion Part 2". Because I would like to get the chapters out faster then I would be able to if I was doing this alone, I'm looking for writers who have a interest in these sorts of stories. I will be putting some limitations on (mainly setting and main characters) however these will be vague and you will have creative control over the chapter.
If you would be interested. You can E-mail me here (blaster5426@gmail.com). It would be helpful to see some sort of past work so if you can, please include something that shows you know what your doing.
As a final piece to this, if you don't want to write but feel like you could contribute in some other way, let me know.
If you would be interested. You can E-mail me here (blaster5426@gmail.com). It would be helpful to see some sort of past work so if you can, please include something that shows you know what your doing.
As a final piece to this, if you don't want to write but feel like you could contribute in some other way, let me know.
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Impressions?
Earlier in the week, the world saw the first trailer for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. As a Generation 3 fan, with Pokémon Emerald being my first Pokémon Game, I was excited. As to why I haven't done a impressions yet... because I can't. With Arkham Knight there was a trailer to critique, aspects to look at, there wasn't any of that in the initial trailer and the only other gameplay I've seen is Groudon and Kyogre coming out of the ocean which might suggest that there won't be a Emerald story mode for both of them, which is a shame. At E3 I'll do a better impressions because we'll hopefully get new information but until then...We'll just have to wait. Until then, let the trumpets be herd, have your Surf Pokémon ready and enjoy the tropical weather, Hoenn is back
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Milestone #2
As I said in the reviews blog, I'm not going to do this every 100 but: 200 views!!! thanks to all who read this. both blogs exceeding 200 recently combined with the announcement of Omega Ruby and Aqua Sapphire... I can't even explain how happy I am at the moment, thank you.
Sunday, 4 May 2014
200 views
I assure you I won't be doing this for every extra 100, every time it doubles though...
Anyway, thanks for the 200 views everyone who reads these.
Anyway, thanks for the 200 views everyone who reads these.
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
A channel, and a Facebook page
While there isn't content on them yet as the prologue is still being worked on, a separate YouTube channel for Turnabout Smash ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMQ5RReo7dTV0DU4Wbcf6Aw/feed?view_as=public) and a Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/turnaboutsmash) now exist. Information will be posted to the Facebook page and all videos will be posted to the channel when they are ready.
A channel, and a Facebook page
While there isn't content on them yet as the prologue is still being worked on, a separate YouTube channel for Turnabout Smash ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMQ5RReo7dTV0DU4Wbcf6Aw/feed?view_as=public) and a Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/turnaboutsmash) now exist. Information will be posted to the Facebook page and all videos will be posted to the channel when they are ready.
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