#I know this movie isn’t for everybody in terms of animation style or even plot so I will respect that and like to hear your reasons why

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

A Creepy Christmas Cultural Conundrum: The Lasting Legacy of The Nightmare Before Christmas

A request by @lcvcdbyhim.

If you traveled back in time to the year 1993 and told someone that Tim Burton’s new stop-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, was going to be the biggest holiday movie in for the next twenty years, they wouldn’t believe me.  They just wouldn’t.

Of all of the holiday films of the 90s, Christmas or Halloween, nothing comes close to the cultural giant that is The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Even family favorites like The Santa Clause or Home Alone don’t get nearly the attention and praise that this film has.  Every year, from Halloween through Christmas, stores are packed with shirts, wallets, keychains, sneakers, backpacks, banks, toys, clocks, jewelry, decorations and more, all covered with images of Jack Skellington, Sally, Oogie Boogie, Zero, and other characters and images from the film.  Even outside of the holiday months, the more merchandise-driven stores still dedicate an entire section to The Nightmare Before Christmas, putting it on the same level as franchises like Star Wars or the various superhero films.

The question is, why?

Why has The Nightmare Before Christmas’s imagery become nearly as recognizable as images of classic monsters like Dracula and the Frankenstein monster?  How is this oddball little movie fast approaching How The Grinch Stole Christmas and other classic Christmas specials in terms of popularity?

There has to be a larger reason that simply being available to be marketed for two holidays instead of one.  

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at The Nightmare Before Christmas in an attempt to figure out where all the hype came from, and more specifically, why it’s still so popular.

But first, we need a little background.

When The Nightmare Before Christmas was first released in 1993, it received modest critical acclaim and a decent opening.  Right in the middle of Disney’s Renaissance period, a throwback to stop-motion wasn’t really thought of as being quite on the same level as animated films like Aladdin and The Lion King.  As a result, the movie did okay, but just….okay.

So what happened?

Very simply, The Nightmare Before Christmas gained a cult following.  Very quickly.

In the years that followed, The Nightmare Before Christmas started being praised as one of the greats in the animated film category.  People started watching it for part of their holiday tradition, around both Halloween and Christmas, and the further we are away from that mediocre opening, it seems the more people laud it as a work of art.  Stores like Hot Topic started selling so much Nightmare merchandise that now the imagery from The Nightmare Before Christmas seems to be the face of a new goth/emo trend.  In fact, since the film’s release, the movie has been put on a rather bizarre pedestal, with some fans lavishing enormous amounts of praise on this movie.  In a way, it seems like disliking it is unheard of.

To return to our earlier question, why?  It doesn’t seem like anything special.  There have been other ‘weird’ stop-motion films, such as Corpse Bride or Coraline.  The characters and story are simplistic, almost childish at times.  The music is good, sure, but with all the hype around it, the movie can very much seem….overrated.

Once again: Why?

It all boils down to uniqueness.

In 1993, Tim Burton was still relatively new to audiences.  Directing since 1985, his biggest hits had been the likes of horror-comedy Beetlejuice, superhero blockbuster Batman, and drama flick Edward Scissorhands.  In other words, the world was still being introduced to the styles that we are currently familiar with: use of Johnny Depp, score by Danny Elfman, stripes, German Expressionism, and pale-skinned, dark haired, sunken-eyed outcast protagonists.  Thanks to the sheer number of Signature Style Burton-esque films, The Nightmare Before Christmas no longer seems like anything all that special in terms of style of film, but at the time, it was something very new, distinct, and different.

The same goes for the stop-motion aspect.

The stop-motion ‘weird’ films that we are the most familiar with: (Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman) have all come after The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Before Nightmare, stop-motion’s biggest claim to fame were the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials.  The Nightmare Before Christmas revolutionized and reawakened the style of filmmaking and started a new form of animation that is being used since.  Once again, it all comes down to that uniqueness of the time, especially when it applies to the story.

The story of The Nightmare Before Christmas, despite its aforementioned simplicity, is a rather unique one.  The idea came to Burton while watching Halloween decorations come down at the same time Christmas decorations were being put up, and the movie is really all about the juxtaposition between the holidays.  Jack Skellington, the king of Halloweentown, is dissatisfied with the ‘same old thing’ and decides to try something new.  The ‘new thing’ that captivates his interest turns out to be another huge holiday: Christmas.  Full of excitement at this strange new holiday, Jack decides to get the person in charge of Christmas out of the way (Santa Claus) and take Christmas for himself, assigning the denizens of Halloweentown the tasks necessary to bring about the festive holiday.

Being from Halloweentown, of course, Jack doesn’t fully understand Christmas, despite his frantic attempts to do so, and in the end, Christmas is a disaster, thanks to his botched interpretation of what makes the holiday.  In the end, Jack learns not to meddle with things he doesn’t understand, and the movie ends at around 75 minutes.

As basic as it is, the idea of one holiday trying to do another is pretty creative, as is the way it is done.  The concept of holiday worlds, based on the special day is extremely interesting, and it’s executed well.  In fact, when looking at the film for what and when it was, The Nightmare Before Christmas was actually very creative in everything, characters, the visual look, the way it was done, story, even the music by Danny Elfman is very fitting to the story and characters, and it’s all very catchy.

When contextualized into the time period it was made in, The Nightmare Before Christmas, for all it may seem stale and overdone now, was fresh and unique, noteworthy for being something audiences haven’t seen before.  

There’s more to the intense popularity of this film than quirkiness, though.

What I said earlier about the film being basic?  That is actually a point in its favor.

One of the remarkable things about The Nightmare Before Christmas is that, for having a reasonably complex concept, it’s execution is very simple.  The story never makes itself more complicated than it has to be.  It’s very straightforward, with no plot twists or surprises for the audience.  The direction the story takes is predictable, but that’s by no means bad.  Not only is the story uncomplicated, but the meaning is as well.

It isn’t hard for people to understand Jack’s predicament, nor is it difficult for even the youngest kid to know that his endeavors to make Christmas are doomed to failure, because they pick up that Jack does not understand what he is trying to do.  He has the feeling right, but he has no constructive direction to take it, and with a lack of understanding, ends up creating a mess.

Jack’s enthusiasm is for the holiday spirit, and it’s contagious, no matter which holiday you consider.  By never trying to ‘explain’ the good feelings of the holidays and just letting them be, The Nightmare Before Christmas actually continues a trend that one wouldn’t think it has much to do with at all.

In my opinion, the hype behind The Nightmare Before Christmas, especially in the up-and-coming generations, is much the same reason that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is still talked about by the older generations.  The holiday feeling.

Jack experiences the joy of Christmas without knowing why.  Despite his best efforts, he cannot decipher the whys and wherefores of it, he just accepts that ‘just because I cannot see it doesn’t mean I can’t believe it!’.  This tone, this viewpoint towards the holiday of simply enjoying it, is reminiscent of Christmas specials like How the Grinch Stole Christmas or the Rankin/Bass stop-motion productions.  It evokes nostalgic feelings for the holiday.  The Nightmare Before Christmas is to the post 90s generation what the other animated Christmas specials were to the ones before it: the traditional, good-feelings, familiar celebration of the holiday.

Most importantly though, it’s a film that people enjoy watching.

With a unique concept, design, and execution, nostalgic feelings and holiday warmth, and it just being a generally fun, charming movie, it’s not really a true wonder why The Nightmare Before Christmas got as popular as it did.

Is it overhyped?  Yes.  

Does that make the movie itself any worse?  No.  It just means that audience expectations are affected by the culture around it, some for the better, some for the worse.

Of course, it’s not a movie for everybody.  Some will like it more than others.  Some might love it, some might hate it, and some might just be okay with it.  But that goes for any film.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a cultural juggernaut, that’s for certain, and I doubt we’ll be seeing any fewer Oogie Boogie coin banks in the near future, but that’s more a reflection on the commercialism of film since 1977 (Thanks, George Lucas!) and how much people are willing to buy to reflect their tastes in film.  My point is, the movie is still popular enough that people buy stuff connected to it because they like it.

And that’s not a bad thing.  It’s a good movie, remarkably simple, but smart enough to hold up years later and continue to emotionally resonate with audiences.  It was something that no one had ever seen before at the time, and is packed full of enough distinctive style and imagery that it is still instantly recognizable as being from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It’s an immensely popular film for a reason, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

Thank you all so much for reading!  If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to say hi, feel free to leave them in the ask box, I’d love to hear from you.  I hope you guys enjoyed this article, and I hope to see you in the next one.

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

[ruhrohcantthinkofagoodusername]

My thoughts (not that anybody cares) about SCOOB!

When I first heard they were making a new theatrical Scooby-Doo film, I was over-joyed and enthusiastic, especially at the prospect of it being Scooby’s first animated theatrical film. Very slight dismay came over me as I heard the title was Scoob, which is kind of stupid to me, and the fact it was CG which I felt both excited and bummed out about in all honesty.

Every year, Pixar, Dreamworks, and a slew of other studies fill our theaters with 3D animated films, some good, some bad, but all CGI, with the very few exceptions of adaptations of popular animated shows, (MLP, SpongeBob (I wrote this bit in before the trailer debuted), and TTG). While risking the prospect of sounding like an anger-filled, nostalgia-blinded boy, I do miss the traditionally animated films. We do have television and most of Japanese produced animation, which consistently animates traditionally, and that’s great that it is exposed to people every day and keeps it from being a forgotten art, but an American television budget only goes so far. Animation cycles repeat, inconsistencies are abrupt and apparent, there are huge disadvantages to having a television or a direct-to-video budget, and to me, a show that is the pinnacle of animation errors, (@scoobydoomistakes) getting a full-fledged chance to show its progress and its (insert better word than clout) would be such a great success story to me. However, Scooby-Doo never having CGI adventures outside of videogames, lego movies, and the one-off commercials allowed me to suspend my anger towards the animation industry’s seemingly permeant gravitational pull towards computer-generated products and be excited to see how the characters looked.

Seeing the characters and their movements, I feel delighted about how cute and fluid they look, I feel the art is going to be very visually pleasing, the child designs being a huge highlight. In the tradition of humanity, I tend to accentuate the negative.

For much of Scooby-Doo, there has been a two-by-two factors of the human’s and their designs. Boy/Girl and serious/goofy looking. If you doubt this take a look at the Mook animated films and see how Shaggy and Velma look nearly the same just glossier versions, while Fred and Daphne look like anime-refugees. I am not a huge fan of this type of divide, but I like it much better than having Shaggy as an odd-man out which the upcoming movie does. I also feel that Velma’s design is much too cute, her hair is too bright, and her racial status thus far is too ambiguous. I also don’t have any problem with Fred’s design, which I know almost everybody hates but I think it’s fine.

The next piece of information I heard was the idea of this being the beginning a Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe, which is, not going to happen I bet. I love Hanna-Barbera and I would love to see it re-enter the American consciousness, but this trend has only worked for Marvel and the phrase is just cringe inducing in all honesty. I am perfectly fine with just a plain, huge crossover, but the term is a little saddening and reminds too much of my ideas on how to fix the DC universe (a WHOLE another thing their). Also Hanna-Barbera filled with such complicated properties, such diversity from talking animals to teen detectives to little village people to time-displaced fifties-styled families, yet for every show you have at least four clones of it, that a universe is just a little hard to market and think of.

I am alright with a big huge crossover, but it is fairly odd with what they have chosen to use with Hanna-Barbera’s other huge property seemingly ignored (The Flintstones) along with most of their action shows like Space Ghost and Johnny Quest, not to mention the funny animal erasure that built Hanna-Barbera. Also with Hanna-Barbera being synonymous with television animation, not to mention their previous flaws with theatrical releases, I would like to build their roots of a universe in a television set.

The next information I heard of was the cast and this at first was fine with me. I know this isn’t a permeant fix, the regular cast is still going to be in shows and DTV movies. I do largely hate the idea of using celebrity actors as voice actors in general it’s an annoying marketing gimmick and it’s obnoxious when you have a perfectly fine cast which put it much more in the negative category for me, but I could accept the change as I do want people to see the movie and this isn’t the first time abrupt cast changes in Scooby-Doo have happened. I also feel there is a big difference between Scooby-Doo getting a new cast for a theatrical release and another property like Teen Titans Go! which got to keep their cast. It is not like there is a long lasting series or animation style that would make a theatrical film have a strong basis; Scooby-Doo is constantly changing which makes it much more flexible in terms of casting.

Then Matthew Lillard tweeted his anger and not even being told about the change, which made a lot of people angry, including me. I did not feel that sympathetic to him in all honesty, if only because of a teensy-little incident he got into where a fan at a meetup asked him to perform Shaggy’s voice; he refused and proceeded to call them childish on twitter and the fact he has stated shame on doing the movies at times. I still feel angered at the animation industry as a whole for prioritizing celebrities. Grey Griffin, a forefront voice of millions of children, one of the most diverse voices ever, has only been in eight theatrical films, while Scarlett Johansson has voice-acted in five theatrical films. I hate this and wish, people would wise up and not feel excitement about seeing hearing a celebrity since there are very few that are actually that good at voice acting in general.

The plot form what I gathered from the trailer, which in all honesty wasn’t a lot, it seems to be fine, the only problem I have is with Shaggy’s separation from Fred, Daphne, and Velma in terms of plot wise. It’s very much used to make Scooby and Shaggy have a divide between them and the rest of the gang, but I just don’t like it. I understand most children will like it that way, and the movie’s main focus will be a boy and his dog relationship, but in all honesty I would prefer Shaggy to have deeper relationships with the human member of the gang.

That’s about all I have, and I realize a lot of this seems negative and rambling, but I just like to focus on it, it’s my bad that I do this, but it’s in my blood. I don’t have much else to say, largely since we’ve just gotten a teaser trailer, but I’m sure I’ll like it just fine despite it all.

[onegirllis]

Have you really gone through episode 2 of LIS2? I really wonder what you think about it. Better, of course, the full answer.

I finished it indeed. The episode is about 3-4h long, depending on how much you want to explore and how much time it would take for you to find a way out. I was battling with the idea of sharing my thoughts because it’s very hard to judge just a slice of the story, instead of the whole season, but why the hell not. Maybe I will read it when episode 5 comes out and see how wrong I was. 

So, without further ado, here’s my review of episode 2, but please be aware it includes a lot of spoilers. It’s also as honest as possible, although it’s my personal opinion only. And yes, it may be harsh, not sugarcoated, but sincere. 

MY REVIEW OF EPISODE 2 OF LIFE IS STRANGE 2

Call me naive, but I really had hopes. I really did. I didn’t like ep1, it was way too slow for my taste, with some dramatic moments that felt off, but overall I assumed that it might be just an exposition, an introduction to the world, the characters and their problems, and that the game would elaborate on everything else later. Sometimes the beginnings feel off and it gets better later, so that’s why I had some hopes (not super high) that ep2 of LIS2 will remind me of why this game even belongs to LIS franchise and why I should play the whole season. 

Well, it didn’t work out. 

Characters

Again, It’s my opinion only but I don’t feel that there are any character developments whatsoever. Daniel and Sean didn’t learn anything freezing their asses off in the mountains. They didn’t change their ways, not learning patience nor being careful. There is no tension between them or any quarrel about the events. The acceptance of their fate is understandable, but not helping with the lack of overall tension. The moments of calm, that usually gave the player the opportunity to know more about the main character’s inner thoughts, instead serve the purpose of a summary of the few previous scenes and nothing more. It almost feels like the writers don’t like the PC and don’t want to tell us more about Sean, because there is absolutely nothing worth telling. Remember the girl Sean was in love with in ep1? Never mentioned again. Remember his friends, his boss, his job, school, or sports he was interested in? He doesn’t mention them either. There is nothing in the journal or in the dialogues that would show us anything we don’t already know or wouldn’t assume by ourselves, and Sean’s insights seem more like repetitive whinings than anything impactful. In episode 1 I could wave off the fact that they decided to walk to Mexico being shocked, traumatized and lost. In episode 2, when they notoriously risk their lives or reject any other solution not learning from experience just to run away, you start questioning their sanity. I know the reason behind it - “oh plot” but “oh plot” is not good enough. 

The boys miss their dad, but don’t feel much upset or don’t present any sign of emotional trauma. There are no breakdowns and the brothers are more or less in good spirits staying optimistic, not asking themselves a single question about the future. Comparing to Chloe who was repeating “I wish Rachel was here” over and over and was living in this trauma the whole time, they don’t seem very much impacted by the events, but on the other hand, they place the dad’s photo on the table, so his death can be conveniently mentioned. The dog died (yes, it’s true, Mushroom is killed off in the first 20 minutes), and even if Daniel is supposedly devastated, it takes him only 5 minutes to shake it off and never mentions this dog again (oh ok, maybe once). If the characters don’t freaking care about this animal, why should I? 

It also seems that the characters keep forgetting what the objective is here. Maybe it’s on purpose, but they recall certain friends only when it’s convenient for the plot. “I’m gonna call Lyla” says Sean towards the end of the episode, even if he hadn’t mentioned her for 2 hours of gameplay. And even when getting devastating news about her, he is not really concerned, shrugs and sighs deeply. Yeah, we sigh with him.

When it comes to Sean himself, I really don’t mind the PC being a guy, really. If I had a problem with it, I wouldn’t be able to play 90% of video games. The thing I do have a problem with though, is Sean being an utter asshole. Yeah, he takes care of his brother and all, but he is freaking mean to his grandparents, showing lack of empathy and acceptance of a different point of view. Calling the grandma, a woman who opened her house to them “an old bat” is just a bit too much, especially after a month spent in an abandoned house without food or heating. There is no reason for him to judge those people so much and if there is a reason, we don’t know the details. How can I emotionally invest in a character that is not opening up to me, the player? Or maybe there is nothing more about Sean, and that’s even worse. 

There is a big mystery regarding why their mother left her sons but if you expect any answer while the boys are visiting their grandparents and can snoop around in Karen’s old room, you’d be mistaken. The devs are building the mystery in the typical David Cage style, that one of the characters is about to tell you something “Oh, I will tell you what your mother did..~” and then something happens and we’re left in the dark again. At this point, I expect some explosive explanation of why their mother left the family, but it’s ether drugs, a religious cult or some relationship stuff.

Tragedy Porn

Dear devs, the fact that a lot of people in the fandom are familiar with this term and use it regularly, doesn’t mean you should take it literally. I know that the LIS franchise is about hard choices or difficult situations, but killing kids and small animals left and right is just cheap and really unnecessary. It quickly gets old, just like “the boy who cried wolf” (pun intended) that as some point I don’t even blink when witnessing another digital death. I can’t be devastated by Mushroom’s death, because the dog had less screen time than Sean’s skateboard. I can’t feel sorry for every character (human or not) that you didn’t even give me a chance to feel connected to. I know that you want me to “feel something” but at this point the “feel” changes into “yawn”. Chris AKA Captain Spirit being dead (or almost dead) AGAIN - so I helped the boy just to see him die 1 hour later (I know it’s optional but still)? Lyla in the hospital, the family from the abandoned house being wiped out of the face of the earth because of cancer (at least not a car accident this time), Chris’s mom dead, the boys’ father dead, grandpa almost dying because of the accident… It’s too much. It feels cheap and not impactful. At this point, I will be surprised if you won’t just kill everybody. Who needs people on the West Coast anyway, huh?

I don’t even know if I want to learn more about the boys’ mother since you probably will kill her too.

Politics and Religion

In this episode, politics have been toned down, still visible though and there are a few moments when I literally rolled my eyes. This time the devs decided to say something more about religion since it’s a significant part of life if you live in a small town in America. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that the power of prayer is being mocked rather than actually shown as somebody’s way of life. Acceptance and tolerance go both ways though. 

The boys surprisingly identify themselves as Mexicans, even though they are half Irish and have never been to their father’s homeland. There are a few moments when you are wondering whether they had ever really liked to live in the US, questioning everything around them. Sean, who spent a decent amount of time with his dad on “the road trips” as stated in ep1, seems genuinely surprised that in his country people keep the Bible by their beds, as if he had never been in any motel whatsoever where the Bible is always present, placed on the nightstand or in a drawer. If being religious bothers him, boy, oh boy, you will be hella surprised in Mexico. They also don’t know how to pray, which I find extremely hard to believe. It almost feels like a scene from “Anne of Green Gables” but damn, the girl had a valid reason not to know. They don’t, especially if they identify themselves as Mexicans. We could assume that they were also part of Mexican-American communities and I cannot believe that in THIS WORLD the immigrants from this particular part of the world don’t know how to pray. Although if you expect some deep conversation about God or religion in general, forget it. It’s just there to be there and that’s it.

I don’t want to discuss the articles in the newspaper about “the gentle police officer” that was killed by immigrants because it makes my blood boil. 

Against the logic, the brothers are still planning to escape to Mexico and no grown-up is really trying to talk them out of this idea. There are no alternatives provided or discussed except a pat on the back and an offer for a quick stop if even. Even the grandparents are a bit concerned but no one really gives them any real advice, which I find unlikely. The problem is that if anybody would actually give them a piece of real advice, we wouldn’t have a game.

And that’s a problem, isn’t it?

Gameplay

We have a few mini-games and fetch quests like finding bottles in the abandoned house (why always freaking bottles?), the pirate version of dice poker (never brought back again) and drawing. None of those serve any purpose except a filler that you might enjoy but it doesn’t matter if you succeed in them or not, unless the game forces you to succeed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that this particular genre doesn’t usually provide a set of complex challenges in its gameplay, but it seriously looks like LIS2 is throwing us a bone, remembering from time to time that uh, it’s a game, not a movie. Those mini games are not really engaging, not really connected to the plot, but just for… whatever reason, as part of the daily chores. 

But it’s a game about choices, you say! Yes, it is, but only some of them really matter and I’m not sure for how long. If you give me a choice to do something or NOT to do it, please consider that I might pick the latter and don’t force me into your favorite path. It happens from time to time and it’s utterly annoying. If you want me to do something, just don’t give me the illusion that I can refuse. 

It almost seems that LIS2 turned into a dark alley where you are rewarded for picking the “good, canonical path” and punished for playing it differently than the devs indented. I loved LIS1 for ambiguous choices that I might pick, depending on my personal preferences, not to mention that those choices are made during an emotional moment. I don’t feel I have that opportunity here, just as if somebody who constructed it forgot why LIS was so great and is so loved.

When it comes to dialogue, it is way better than LIS1, regarding how people actually speak. On the other hand, the lines are just there to be there and I can’t recall a single line that would be worth quoting. 

And one more thing. Cutscenes. So many cutscenes. The moment when I actually could do something with my controller was a celebration. I don’t mind cutscenes in general, but it almost feels like a movie.  A long, boring, super slow movie.

Superpower


The superpower is mentioned, mostly in rules that Sean is lecturing Daniel about, but it’s non-existent in the gameplay almost at all. It’s drastically different comparing to LIS1, when Max was using her power almost all the time or was a challenge not to use it. Here we know that Daniel can do things but most of the time he conveniently forgets about it or uses it in the wrong moment. I know the game is about education but the superpower itself seems like a plot device, an additional reason to run to Mexico than anything else. They talk more about it than use it. It sounds like a good idea in general and it probably looked great on paper, but at some point I didn’t care about the superpower at all, forgetting that this secret even exists.

Season 1

When it comes to references to season 1, Arcadia Bay, or any character that we know from LIS1, there is almost nothing. Yes, you can find a drawing of ”door to another world” instead of hole to another universe, or graffiti on the wall that Sean and Daniel were here, similar to the famous junkyard thing, but it won’t give you any insight about what had happened to the favorite characters or any glimpse of their fate. There was more about Arcadia Bay in Captain Spirit than the whole LIS2 so far. The devs were damn serious, showing us Arcadia Bay in episode 1, destroyed or not, saying that this is the past. It seems that they don’t want to even refer to this past much and it’s fine, but if you’re hoping for anything, just anything related to LIS1, forget it.

Technical problems

Oh, boy. I’m aware that creating games is not an easy job and a team sport. I know that it’s almost a miracle that some of the titles even got shipped, but episode 2 of LIS2 is probably the MOST BUGGED EPISODE in the history of this franchise. Glitches, problems with sound, teleportation of objects, animations that didn’t work or songs being cut off… I’m not talking about a few mistakes here and there, but it happens all the time. It’s so common it’s an epidemic and you face some technical challenge almost in every scene as if Bethesda was putting this episode together. This episode looks like advanced beta, not a finished product that had been delayed for months. It seems ironic when recalling the posts from the Life is Strange blog about QA teams, one in France and one in Canada, carefully checking every detail and describing how quality was important. Especially in that context, this is really a disaster, however, I didn’t face any technical problem that would make this episode impossible to finish.

What worked

So what’s great about this episode? Does everything suck? Well, of course not. On the upside, the locations are absolutely stunning. You want to explore the town, the houses, play in the snow, dive into the world, even if you don’t expect anything groundbreaking to happen. The level design, in my opinion, is better than in LIS1, more consistent and intriguing. I know a lot of people might disagree with me but somebody put their heart and soul building this environment, creating something really beautiful. Except for the locations, I liked some songs and the music, way more than in ep1, but it’s not as good as in LIS1 or BTS. Better, but not great.

Cassidy

Oh, somebody was reading “Preacher”, weren’t ya? Or is ia reference to “On the road”? A lot of people seem excited about her finally showing up. I have mixed feelings about this character since I’m not sure if I want to discover the world from her perspective. A stoned, hippie-rasta girl, who takes pride in being free and “not owned by any corporation” (except Square Enix hehehe), is maybe a realistic character and I’m not saying that people like her don’t exist here, but I’m on the fence, to be honest. It seems that the devs are trying to establish the next canon ship or something with her being interested in Sean and him actually “liking her” after exchanging 3 sentences, but that really feels off. She seems more like Chloe 2.0 than anything else, but we shall see (in the next 6 months or whenever they will fucking publish the next ep). Plus for fuck’s sake, Sean was into Jenn (I don’t remember her name exactly), and there was Lyla, and then this girl. Dude!

Summary

It was boring. It was extremely freaking boring to the point that I lost my patience to check every single detail or examine every object. I don’t feel any need to replay it, even if the consequences of my choices weren’t great. I’m not curious about different outcomes nor do I want to check if I missed anything. There is not a single scene I want to see or experience again. In my game, Chris died and I don’t really feel the need to replay it and change the outcome since I will never meet him again or even deal with the consequences of his death. The whole road trip setting is intriguing but drastically different to what I loved about Life is Strange - learning more about each character, dwelling deeper into the situation, uncovering a hidden mystery. We won’t learn more about most of those characters (or it doesn’t seem possible) since we just pass them and move on, exchanging a dialogue or two like with a pedestrian on the street. There is a charm to the road trip idea, but then I would have to be extremely interested in the main characters, including the PC, to actually follow their journey closely. In LIS1 I didn’t have to like Max to play the whole thing, curious about Chloe or Rachels’ disappearance. In a road trip setting the two brothers are the core of the story and if you’re not fond of them, it won’t work.

So far it’s not working for me.

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Top 10 Obscure Christmas Specials II:

 Guys! Guys! I'll get to the review proper in a second, but remember last year when I talked about A Cranberry Christmas? I said that it was lost media. WELL IT'S BEEN FOUND! HALLELUJAH! [link]

 Hell-ho ho ho everybody! My name is JoyofCrimeArt, and it's that time of year again! Christmas time is upon us, and there is no escaping it! The radio is playing the same ten Christmas songs on loop (nine if they've already banned Baby, It's Cold Outside.) The feeling of kindness and generosity shared between you and your fellow man. And best of all, their finally airing all those weird ass Christmas and holiday specials.  I love Christmas specials! Even the not very good one's usually have SOMETHING good about them! Whether it be some kind of festive ambiance, a good message, or just being very easy to make fun of. Sure, everybody knows about the classics Christmas specials. Frosty the Snowman, The Grinch, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, ect. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. But with Christmas being such a massive holiday, There are THOUSANDS of other Christmas and holiday specials out there that mostly go unnoticed every year! And while most of these specials go unnoticed for a reason, some are actually worth a watch, and act as hidden gems. And that'd why I'm here. To count down five more of these weird, bizarre, and unknown Christmas specials, that way you can check them out before the holidays are over. This is 5 Obscure Christmas Specials You Should Watch Part II.  Now, I've done this before last year. (Link here if you haven't seen it. Top 5 Obscure Christmas Specials You Should Watch:) As such I'm going to be following the same rules as I did last time. I'll be ranking these specials not by quality, but by how much you should watch them! Because sometimes a bad or cheesy Christmas special can provide more entertainment value than a really good one. But don't take the number ranking to seriously. This is mostly just a showcase of bizarre specials that you might not have heard of, and the actually number rankings aren't really the focus here. But with all that said, let's get this started with... Number 5: Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas (2018) (Oh, the Cringe!)  Just like to remind all of you that this is still running while Daredevil is canceled. Anyway, Jaden Smith is back! Just in case six episodes just wasn't synergy for you, now there is a Christmas special. Neo Yokio's Pink Christmas. This sixty-six minute long movie continues the story of Kaz Kaan, Neo Yokio's second most eligible bachelor and top demon hunter. The special opens with him having a cold around the holidays as his robot butler, Charles, tells him an original Christmas tale to make him feel better.  Said tale follows Kaz as he has to prepare for the Neo Yokio top bachelor secret Santa contest. He finds out that he has to find a gift for his arch rival, Arcangelo. Being uninteresting in giving his rival a present, he hires a shopkeeper named Herbert Sims to handle the secret Santa contest for him. And while this is all going on he also has to deal with his Aunt Angelique visiting Neo Yokio for the holidays. But when both demonic forces and Arcangelo have plans to ruin Christmas, it's up to Kaz to set things right.  If you've seen season one of this show, this special is more of the same. However, It is a bit more refined in it's doing so for the most part. I feel like there is more INTENTIONAL comedy overall compared to the first season. And I do like how this special manages to balance both the demon hunter and the bachelor aspect of Kaz's character. As oppose to the first season, where it felt like the show forgot half way through that it was suppose to be about demon hunting. We even get some more backstory and world building on the history of Neo Yokio and the Great Demon War, which is definitely a welcome addition. And Arcangelo, much like in season one, continues to be one of the highlights. He's like a cross between Phantom Blood's Dio Brando and Jake Paul. I love him. So I like how this special has him in a more major role.  I also like some of the themes presented in the "message" of the special. How corporations around the holidays essentially try to monetize anti-materialism for there own benefit. "Sure, we'll air specials like the Grinch and Charlie Brown. Specials that are meant teach you that Christmas isn't about consumerism. Just as long as you sit through all the ads we place in the middle. It's a legit and kinda smart message that I haven't really seen tackled before. But like Neo Yokio season one I don't really know where the show stands on this topic. Is it pro or against capitalism? Maybe it's trying to show that there's no right or wrong answer, but it ends up feeling more confused than anything else.  However, what does annoy me about this special is *Spoiler Warning?* the whole thing is, presumably, not cannon. I know that from the beginning we know that it's all a story told by the butler. But I was expecting some kind of twist where everything we heard would have actually happened somehow. Like Kaz would say "Wait, didn't that all happen last week Charles?" or something. Like a joke. Cause you know, this show is supposedly a comedy. But no, it's all just a story. So all the lore and world building that was actually somewhat interesting serves absolutely no point! *Spoiler Warning Over* I can't believe I let Jaden Smith trick me yet again.  In conclusion, what you see is what you get here. If you want to see a Jaden Smith anime Christmas special, than Neo Yokio Pink Christmas is the special for you. Check it out for the clout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLVazo8J9uE

You know what, I change my mind. Screw "There About to Warp!" this is my new favorite Toonami promo. Number 4: Crunchyroll's Christmas Special (2015) and Crunchyroll's Holiday Special (2017) (Oh, the Cringe!)  Now this is as bizarre and obscure as it comes. Just in case Neo Yokio wasn't enough for you to get your fill of vaguely anime themed Christmas nonsense, we have not one but TWO different Holiday specials brought to you from the lovely people of Crunchyroll. For a company as big and professional as Crunchyroll, you would think that any kind of special that they would make would have to be at least somewhat well produced, safe, and marketable, right? But that's not what this is at all.  What we basically got here is two half hour long "variety show" style specials that were released on both Crunchyroll and Youtube. Both specials are pretty much the same in terms of content. There both just a smorgasbord of random sketches, out of context anime clips, straight up ads for their own service and merch. All themed around the holidays and anime. This special has a real [adult swim] vibe to it, relying on a lot of surreal humor and anti-comedy. In fact, it might of even out [adult swim]'d [adult swim] in it's sheer bizarreness. It's honestly pretty hard to describe without just telling you to see the special for yourself.  Both specials are hosted by some guy named Mike Toole. I don't know who this guy is, but he's one of the best things about these special. He's just portrayed as this bumbling goof who's just unfazed by everything but really loves Christmas and anime. He has some really good comedic timing and his dry but cheerful delivery is a consistently funny thought both specials.  The specials aren't perfect however. Not all of the skits land and some of them go on for WAY to long. But that's kinda what happens with any sketch show. You gotta take the good with the bad. But do you know what you should do if you want REAL otherworldly experience? Watch the Neo Yokio Christmas special, but pause it at random intervals and watch this special. Treating the sketches like the bumpers you would get in between the ads of a TV show. It's a horrible idea that I'm not willing to try, but I feel doing so could lead somebody to either madness or true enlightenment. And I want someone else to be the guinea pig for that.  If you're a fan of both anime and weird surrealist humor then I would actually recommend checking these specials out. There both up online for free, so what do you have to lose?

Number 3: The OTHER Charlie Brown Christmas Specials (1992, 2002, and 2003)  So everybody knows about a Charlie Brown Christmas. It's like, one of the most famous Christmas special of all time. Charlie Browns sad. They hold a play. Snoopy kisses Lucy on the mouth without her consent #MeToo. Linus gives a speech about Jesus to an empty auditorium cause adults don't exist in this world. Everybody sings. THE END. Timeless classic, we all know it. But many are not aware of the OTHER Peanuts holiday specials.  There are three. 1992's It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown. 2002's Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. And 2003's I Want a Dog For Christmas Charlie Brown. Like all the Peanuts specials made after Charles Schulz's death, these are all just a collection of random Peanuts comics that were animated. As oppose to the original Charlie Brown Christmas special that had an original story written by Schulz's himself. All three of these specials are just little vignettes based around the Peanuts gang celebrating Christmas.  While none of these specials are as ambitious or as heartfelt as the original special we all know and love, I don't think that their trying to be. While the first Charlie Brown Christmas special tries to tell an important message about the true meaning of Christmas, these other specials are pretty much just jokes without much plot or sentiment. But, given that they are just adaptation of Charles Schulz's writing, you know that there going to be funny. I always forget how much of a little shit Sally is, and these specials remind me. However,  sometimes the transitioning between scenes can be a bit wonky. They clearly just copied the strips, without putting much thought in how it would work when put together in a sequence.  While It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales are pretty similar. But I Want a Dog For Christmas Charlie Brown takes a bit more of a different approach. It focuses mostly on Linus's little brother Rerun, and has much more of an overall plot. (Though a lot of it is still just mini vignettes.) However, while I do admire the risk, I'd say it's the weakest of the three. Rerun just isn't that interesting of a character compared to the rest of the Peanuts gang. And that one has an hour long run time, which causing the special to drag a bit. But there still are some fun highlights.  If you are a fan of the Peanuts comic strips or specials, I would highly recommend these specials. They're light fluff, but They're good light fluff. They might not give you that warm Christmas feeling, but they will make you laugh. And sometimes that's all you need. 

Number 2: Olive the Other Reindeer (1999)  1999's Olive the Other Reindeer use to be a holiday tradition for Cartoon Network every year right long side such other TIMELESS and BELOVED holiday classics as Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer and Legend of Frosty the Snowman. But now, it's seem like it's kinda fallen into obscurity. Which sucks, cause this special is actually really good. The special follows Olive, voiced by Drew Barrymore before her magnum opus Freddy Got Fingered. Olive is a dog who isn't very good at doing traditional "dog" stuff. She's so un-dog like that she actually begins to believe that she might in fact not be a dog at all, but a reindeer. And when one of Santa's reindeer's get's injured right before Christmas, Olive believes it's up to her to trek to the North Pole and save Christmas by flying Santa's sleigh. Despite the fact that she isn't a reindeer and can't actually fly.  This is just a nice special, and a lot of that comes from Olive herself. Olive is a precious cinnamon bun who I WILL PROTECC! She's just such a kind and lovable lead, and Drew Barrymore's voice talent really helps extenuate this. But it's not just Olive, there are several other fun supporting characters too. Like Martini, a con artist penguin who accompanies Olive on her journey. There's also a evil postman (played by Dan Castellaneta) who acts as the specials main antagonist. His goal is to ruin Christmas because he hates all the extra work he has to do around the holidays. It's an interesting motivation for a villain, but they kind of ruin it in the last act by adding in a cliche "was always on the naughty list" element to his backstory. But regardless he's a fun villain. Between this and Robot Devil from Futurama Dan Castellaneta really knows how to ham it up as a villain who sings. What, you thought he wouldn't have a villain song? How naive of you.    While the special is based on a children's book the adaptation was headed by Matt Groening, which I never realized as a kid. Though that does explain why Dan Castellaneta is here. The special is a departure from his usual style, with art based more on the book instead of his usual Simpson style. The special is done in CGI surprisingly, despite the characters looking entirely flat. I don't really get the point of this. Why go through the effort of trying to use CG to make something look 2D, when you could just animate it in 2D to begin with. But whatever the reason, I do appreciate the pop up book look this special provides.  The special also carries a bit of that more adult humor, without going to far. Kind of like Murray Saves Christmas, a special that I talked about last year and also featured a lot of recurring staff members from Futurama. However, the world of this is special is weird. Santa is a known person who does radio interviews, but I guess that makes sense if we are assuming a world where Santa really exist. But then there are other oddities, like how Martini mentions how he use to work at the zoo until he got fired. But we also see Monkey's trying to escape the zoo. If being in the zoo is there job, why are they escaping? Aren't they there willingly? And why does Olive have an owner, but also a pet flea? Is this show set in the same universe as The Moxy Show? These are all questions that need to be answered.  The special is cheesey and some parts are just there to fill up time. But overall it's still a really nice special featuring some likable characters and some really funny jokes. While no means perfect, I still recommend you give it a watch if you can. 

Ahhh, nothing says Christmas like Santa, Pope John Paul II, Ultraman, and Quasimodo. Number 1: Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) And to end this countdown, let's end on a Christmas special that just screams wholesome. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. Probably the best direct to video product Disney has ever made. (Not that doing so is very hard.) This special is pretty simple. It's three different Christmas specials stitched together to equal an hour long movie, each staring a different Disney character. We got Huey, Dewey and Louie wishing on a shooting star hoping for it to be Christmas everyday. We have Goofy trying to prove to Max that Santa is real in what I guess is a prequel toGoof Troop? And then we have Mickey and Minnie reenacting the Gift of the Magi. All these segments are linked together by a narrator voiced by Kelsey Grammer. His voice is so warm and cozy in this special, and really helps add to the mood. Sure, none of these stories are that original, but that's fine because there well executed. There's just such an earnest sensitivity to this special that it's hard not to not feel all Christmas-y while watching it. The animation, while nothing that fantastic, is good for direct to video. And it manages to do both cartoon-y slapstick and warmer more emotion moments pretty well.  The special isn't perfect. Some of the segments can feel a bit longer than they need to be despite the fact that the films so short. They're written like TV episodes but most run close to thirty minutes instead of twenty two. Also the last segment, with Mickey and Minnie, while not bad, is probably my least favorite. So it kinda ends on it's weakest note, though I get why they ended with it. Mickey just isn't my favorite of the Disney cast. I personally prefer the cartoon-y antics of Donald or the kindhearted nature of Goofy more in this special.  Goofy is also a precious cinnamon bun who I will protecc. And I ship him with Olive.  There was a sequel, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, released in 2004. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember it not being very good. It's goes for five shorter stories instead of three more focused ones, and I remember there being less of a warm Christmas-y essence to it. It was more jokes and less sentiment. Also, they replace the beautiful 2D animation for CGI. In 2004. With a direct to video budget. I can commend the ambition, but that probably wasn't the best movie. But if you want a nice wholesome Christmas special that the whole family can enjoy, than Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas an underrated pick I highly recommend you check out this holiday season.

 And so there we have it. five (or technically eight now that I think about it) obscure Christmas specials that I highly suggest that you look into this holiday season. But again, there are WAY more underrated specials that just these out there. So I may have to revisit this idea again at some point in the future and do a part three. What would you all think of that? And what weird, obscure, underrated Christmas specials do you guys watch every year? I'd love to hear all about em in the comments down bellow! I'm always looking for new specials to watch! Please fav, follow, and comment if you liked the review. And I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah (Even though that ended a week ago) Happy Ramadan (Even though that ended in June) Or whatever holiday you celebrate. Life Day? Regardless, Happy Holidays to you all! May your days be merry and bright!  Now if you excuse me, I have to go work on 2018 year in review. Have a great day, and see you then! (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review. All credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Top-5-Obscure-Christmas-Specials-II-776656208 DA Link

[radiantresplendence]

So guys, go see the Miles Morales Movie. 

Spoiler Free Review

So, I knew the film was good going into it. Maybe I underestimated the savviness of Sony Pictures Animation (not all that hard to do) or maybe I just love comics, particularly Spider-Man, but I was impressed. And I’m hard to impress most of the time. We’re living in a world where Sony did a Miles Morales movie before Marvel Studios and it’s not just good, it’s really good. Also, it’s not just Sony, it’s Sony Pictures Animation. What that says about the state of the timeline is up for interpretation, but I think it’s clear that something is seriously off. Regardless, it bears some fruit. Some really good fruit at that. 

The film is ultimately a superhero origin story for Miles in the form of about the most abridged interpretation of his origin in the Ultimate Spider-Man line of comics. It doesn’t follow the Spider-Verse arc from the comics at all, which isn’t  a bad thing in my opinion. As cool as cosmic vampires, hordes of Peter Parkers and the Uni-power are, they’re not exactly as relatable to the general audience as a couple choice Spider-People throughout the multiverse. 

Our denizens from the spider-verse explored in the film are the ever-popular Peter, Miles and Spider-Gwen who get some supporting characters in the form of Spider-Man Noir (Nick Cage), Spider-Ham and Peni Parker (she who I admittedly aren’t really familiar with). It’s not too loaded with Spider-folks, which is good, but I would have liked to see a more bonkers interpretation of Peter among the cast, such as Ghost Spider. I really don’t know how feasible that would have been do to Sony/Marvel character rights, but I would have liked to see that regardless. 

Miles comes off as a very relatable school-aged teenager. His relationship with his family comes off as very genuine and central to his arc throughout the movie. It’s a coming of age arc with Miles going to some sort of boarding school for gifted kids before getting involved in Spider-shenanigans. Normally I’m not a huge fan of coming of age YA stuff, but this movie was so damn charming that it won me over. It’s a really good interpretation of Miles, including some of the character's baggage, I really liked it. 

Peter is Peter. Everybody loves Spider-Man. He’s one of the most popular superhores and was Marvel’s indisputed golden boy for a very long time. This interpretation is complicated to go in depth with without exposing plot details, but it’s ultimately the Peter Parker we know and love with a twist that relates into his arc in the film. You really feel for him and his humanity does shine through in the film. 

Gwen Stacy plays the role of the straight woman of the group, even though she herself is unorthodox and doesn’t exactly fit the ideal Spider-Hero role that the main trinity of the cast tries to fill. Before the conclusion of Miles’s arc, she does certainly come the closest however. For most of the film she’s cool and competent, with a fair amount of wit. I do wish they played a little more into her tragic origin story, as she’s a pretty youthful character. It does play a role, just not quite to the extend that I would have liked to see. 

I don’t have much to say about the general plot that isn’t spoilery. The villain's Kingpin. His motivations check out enough to suspend my disbelief in the viability of his scheme. He has an arc, although it’s nothing too terribly special, it’s not offensive or lacking either. Miles’s relationship with his family and other companions is tested. It’s sound. 

This film shines in term of its animation. It’s super stylized and absolutely based off of the comic books that it draws inspiration from. There’s loads of color and interesting shots with unique cuts between shots and scenes. The film knows that its animated and takes full advantage of the medium. It’s really refreshing to watch. 

The movie has this interesting framerate quirk that makes it feel kinda like a storyboard (or a comic). I don’t know if this was used to cut down on the number of frames needed to render, but either way it just adds to the stylization of the film, even if it’s a cost cutting measure, that was taken into account as part of the art. 

I really liked most of the character designs. The way the film distinguishes people from alternate universes through the use of animation is really fresh as they utilize different styles of animation to do it. Not only does this keep the characters interesting to watch, but it also lets you easily distinguish them even in complicatedly choreographed scenes without being overly reliant on the color palate.

My only gripe with character design is Kingpin’s. He’s kinda overly blocky and not super pleasant to look at. I mean, I know it’s Kingpin, he’s supposed to be hulking, but I feel they overdid it in the way that just sorta falls flat. 

Another thing to mention is that this film is funny. Its really funny. I don’t often laugh out loud in a theater, but I did multiple times in this movie at points where I was explicitly supposed to. The film is well-written, it knows exactly what it wants to be and it’s honestly a breath of fresh air. 

I don’t have any spare thoughts for this one, as I put off review writing for the duration of the holidays, but my conclusion is such: If you’re a fan of Miles Morales, see the movie. If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, see the movie. If you’re a fan of comic books, see the movie. If you’re a fan of animation, see the movie. If you want to go to the movies for some reason and haven’t seen it, see the movie. 

This movie was excellently done and the time, effort and care that was put into it really shows. The big screen does it a service. 9.0/10

[bloggerblagger]

88) Tarantino’s Latest: A dissenting voice. (Quelle surprise.)

A few years ago, I went to see a film called ‘Punch Drunk Love’. It was billed as a comedy. If memory serves me right I didn’t laugh once. But the young couple sitting behind me did. Constantly. And if there is one thing even more annoying than ....(at this point  insert  whatever winds  you up to the point of wanting to commit multiple homicide with a flame thrower ) it is other people - young people in particular - who laugh at things which you find singularly unfunny. You, of course, may be  more tolerant of da yoof (anyone under 5O in my book) than I am - indeed, I would say that is a racing certainty - but I am sure you get the general idea.

Usually - out of fear of being stabbed-  I let such things pass, but on this occasion  I was pissed off enough to risk a lie-down on a mortuary slab, so I turned around and demanded an answer.

“What were you laughing at?”

Actually I can’t remember their answer - just their little millennial snowflake faces crumpling in the face of my interrogation - and anyway  what difference would it have made whatever they had said? No explanation of why something is funny is going to make it any funnier to the person who didn’t find it funny in the first place. 

No, my question was really just a manifestation of my grumpy irritation at having sat through a film which I had only gone to see because someone called Paul Thomas Anderson had directed it and he was supposedly hot shit. (I hadn’t by then seen ‘Magnolia’ or ‘Boogie Nights’, the movies upon which his reputation for hot shitness was largely built . And I haven’t seen them since because I have seen ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘The Master’, both of which I thought were overrated and overwrought attempts to do what ‘Citizen Kane’ had done a 100 times better 70 odd years earlier. And I didn’t like ‘Inherent Vice’ much better. 

I was, I will concede, quite impressed with ‘Phantom Thread’, but one out of four is not much of  a strike rate, so PTA’s oeuvre, is, to my mind, a lot less than it is cracked up to be and his name on a film’s credits is an invitation to me to walk on by.

I am admittedly, not one who is wont to swim with the tide of received wisdom on any subject , not least because I am an habitually contrary sod. But still,  I don’t just say Paul Thomas Anderson  is no Frances Ford Coppola for the sake of it. I mean it because I genuinely believe it.

And he is not the only one of the supposed  modern greats who doesn’t do it for me. I loved  ‘Blood Simple’ and ‘Fargo’ but nothing I have seen since by the Coen Brothers -  with the possible exception of ‘True Grit’ - has  done that much of me. I did not like  ‘A Serious Man’ at all, couldn’t see the point of ‘Inside Llewelyn Davis’ and I thought ‘No Country for Old Men’  was a bit of a wrist job. No strike that: a complete wrist job. And yes, I know ‘The Big Lebowski’ is everyone’s favourite film. But, quelle horreur, despite several attempts, I’ve never managed to get all the way through it.

The common objection I have to Anderson and the Coens’ stuff - and to a slightly lesser extent, that of David O. Russell (not to be confused with David J. Russell, the former professional golfer, who became David J. Russell to avoid being confused with plain David Russell, another former professional golfer, no idea what David O’s excuse is) is the way they draw attention so conspicuously to the style of direction and away from the story.

I do not want to know about the film director’s trademark cinematic fireworks anymore than I want to be distracted by a novelist’s glorious prose. What I want is to be so engrossed in the story that I suspend disbelief from first to last and hopefully, at the end, feel rewarded and uplifted and, if I am very lucky, enlightened by the experience. I want a well developed coherent plot with the right ingredients deftly folded into the mixture at the right time, and rounded characters, neither entirely bad  nor utterly flawless, but nuanced as people really are. If I am super lucky, I hope to see some universal truth revealed to me that really makes me think about the way I see the world.

A film that, in recent times, ticked every box, was ‘Manchester By The Sea’, a sublime piece of film-making, deeply affecting and gut wrenchingly poignant. I offer this as exhibit A, m’lud, in support of my case that I am not some old fart whose taste is irrevocably stuck in the past and is thus incapable of seeing anything good in the new, but as someone who refuses to praise the emperor on the fineness of his new clothes just because practically everybody else is determined to claim to love the post modern irony of seeing a king with his dick  out.

And, by the way, my idea of  a good film isn’t just limited to a realistic contemporary drama. It can be historical - the version of ‘Journey’s End’ made a couple of years ago - or comedy, ‘Midnight in Paris’ - something highly stylistic, ‘Laurence Anyways’ - a heist movie, ‘American Animals’ - a musical, (okay the very best of those, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Singing in the Rain’, for instance,  aren’t that recent  but...) Lala Land’ worked for me - even a movie about trolls, ‘Border’ - magical realism. ‘The Shape of Water’ .All of those are  reasonably recent - and this is the vital common denominator - all  worked within their own terms. You are asked to willingly suspend disbelief - the critical first step if one is to engage with any book or film - and however absurd a proposition that may fundamentally be, as in the case of a musical, if it is done well enough you happily go along with it.

Which at last brings me to the original point of this piece, Quentin Tarantino’s latest, ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood’, which we are, for some reason, told at the beginning, is his 9th film.

Wow is all I can say. And for all  the wrong reasons. Never mind, PTA, and DOJ and the CB - they all pale into self effacing insignificance compared to this fellow, the unrivalled leader of the  hey-it’s -me-ME!-I did-it pack, who has certainly never done anything on the QT.

Okay, I did like ‘Pulp Fiction’. A lot. It was wild. It was different. It was sassy. It was outrageously, cartoonishly violent. But since then, what have we  had but more of the same? Except that,by definition, all the rest differ in one crucial aspect. They are, paradoxically, NOT different. They are not original. The stories vary but the mode de telling is pretty much identical.

So it is with  ‘Once Upon A Time All The  So Called Professional Film Critics In The World Prostrated Themselves At The Feet of Quentin Tarantino Yet Again’. More of the predictably wacky same. But this time my critique comes with knobs on.

Never mind the bladder bursting excessive length, the unexplained jumping about between different bits of story, the customary unremitting gore, the comedy that isn’t quite comedy (mainly because it’s never quite funny) the drama that’s never quite dramatic because it’s simultaneously being undercut by the comedy that isn’t quite comedy, never mind any of that. I take that as a given in pretty much any Tarantino film. What particularly concerns me about no.9, is why?

Actually there are quite a few whys but let’s start with the big one: why has he taken the still shocking story of the Charles Manson murder of Sharon Tate and then riffed on it so that we are given a totally fictitious alternative version of events? What was the point of that? What was he trying to say? What, in doing this, did he mean to reveal to us, the audience? Surely, anyone would have realised that you can not do something so very odd without such questions being asked? (Unless of course you are an ‘auteur’ who  has managed to create such an unchallenged worldwide  rep for being a genius that no-one dares ask.)

Anyway, I haven’t got a fucking clue. I just didn’t - and don’t - geddit.  And to anyone who says, ‘Who gives a shit about that kind of nitpicky pedantic bollocks if the audience is having fun?’, I say ‘Of course, it fucking matters! Otherwise it’s like a mathematical answer without the workings. There has to be a comprehensible rationale or it’s just bollocks’. (Or is it? a tiny voice in my head insists on saying. What about Chinese medicine? If it works, who cares why it works? But notwithstanding that last bloody irritating intervention, to which I concede I don’t have a completely fireproof answer, I continue to insist that, for me, there must be a reason for any idea to be valid.)

So here’s my next why? Why do the ‘critics’ love him so much? My guess is either

a) it is because most of them are twats who have seen a million films but still know fuck all about the subject and just  go in whichever direction the rest of the lemmings are headed,  

or

b) because he stuffs his films - particularly this one - with so many nods and winks tipped to other films and to Hollywood folk lore  that  only a person who had seen a million movies  and immersed themselves in Hollyworld would recognise them and, realising and relishing the fact that  they are part of a tiny select group and flattered that they have been so selected, they choose to believe that a poor film is a good one. (In other words it is my contention that Tarantino aims his films at critics and when was flattery not the best way to get somewhere with anybody?)

Of one thing I am reasonably certain: the audience members who crammed  the cinema to capacity were way too young  (my companion and I were the oldest people there by a couple of aeons) to have spotted more than one or two - if any -  of the film buff references. (Perhaps I am doing them a disservice, but I’d bet a pony to a piece of popcorn that, moreover, nine tenths of them knew almost nothing - if anything at all - about  the Manson murders before the  publicity about this film drew  them into the cinema.)

None of this stopped them laughing uproariously throughout, and annoying the fuck out of me for so doing.  Yep, it was Punch Drunk Love all over again.

Except this time I got the flame thrower out and fried the bastards to death. It was so fucking SATISFYING!

(Actuary, sorry, no I didn’t. But there was a reason for  me to invoke this  image in this context - connected with the film - which you will understand should you have 2hrs 39mins of your precious time on this earth  to waste. And that  makes it different from most of the things that Quentin does which seem to me to have no raison d’etre at all, apart from the fact that he thinks it’s a good idea at the time.

And that’s not good enough for ME!!!!)

[thebluesideofthemoon]

The Wall #49: SHEEP AND WOLVES

Welcome everybody to another entry of The Wall. On this week... your mom! Heh. Oh, I wish- I'm sure she's a wonderful lady. I said I was going to review Batman v. Superman but... eh, I then kind of lost interest and heat after a while- besides, the movie still sucks balls, so it's not like anything's changed. No, this week's review takes us on another stop of our international animated tour- Russia! The big mother of all cold herself, Mother Russia blessed us with this animated outing that was so good that it didn't get imported to the States. "Why might that be?" you're probably asking yourself, well I'll answer that right now: ... I HAVE NO IDEA! Maybe it was some sort of communication error (which wouldn't make sense as this movie has a fully dubbed English version, so... I 'unno), maybe they changed their minds at the last minute, or maybe because it's so mind-meltingly awful that they pulled the plug on its release before the studio would embarrass itself. Considering my last review it may be easy to assume that anything I would review afterwards would automatically be less positive. That may be true, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't have good things to say about it- hell, last week I saw one of my favorite movies this year (which I'll review later), and I've been itching to gush about it here. But no, I'm going to talk about Sheep and Wolves instead because, what better way to transition into my Worst Movies of 2016 by going from one of the best animated movies of the year to one of the absolute worst? Let's dive in, why don't we~?

(Music: Undertale- CORE)

I don't mean to be disrespectful, I like to think I'm a nice person and I will give anyone a chance, unless you’re Zack Snyder, or David S. Goyer, or Warner Bros., in which case you can piss off any day now. So when I write the things I’m going to write, I don’t mean this as just me trying to be mean, but as a way to try and help a small studio like the one that made this movie understand why your product doesn’t work, so I will try to be as cold and clinical as I can to explain just what is wrong with this movie. But first the plot, and you might want to sit down for this one.

In this movie we have a wolf named Grey (voiced by Tom Felton. Yes, THAT Tom Felton) who is a goofy but kind wolf who wants to live life as a carefree spirit, that is until he crosses the path of a big bad wolf named Ragear (voiced by Rich Orlow, whom I’ve never heard of) who is adamant to become the new leader of their wolf pack since their current leader Magra (voiced by Jim Cummings. Yes, THAT one, too.). However, Ragear gets shut down by Magra by telling him that he will not be ascended to be leader of the pack unless he faces off in a duel with another wolf, who just so happens to be Grey. Grey steps up to the challenge and they’re due to fight in three days to see who is more fit to run the wolf pack. Meanwhile, Grey faces a bit of problem when a surprise he had planned turns out to dash the dreams of his girlfriend, Bianca (voiced by Ruby Rose. Yes, THAT- I’m not going to keep this gag going or we’ll be here all day), who thought Grey was going to ask for her hand (paw?) in marriage. She accuses him of being very immature and in desperate need of change. Trying to find a way to change, Grey stumbles into this caravan full of gypsies and he talks to their leader(?) named Mami (I don’t know who she’s voiced by) who gives Grey this potion to help him change, but things go south when Grey gets turned into a sheep and is not only unwelcome, but hunted down by the wolves due to sheep being their prey. So he runs away and ends up getting knocked out, only to wake up in the sheep village. He’s being taken care of by an ewe named Lyra (China Anne McClain), while being suspected of by this skeptic sheep named Zico (Ross Maraquand) who questions his whereabouts and goes on to find clues about this new mysterious sheep that just showed up in their home. Grey believes that he’s in a bad dream but then decides to blend in once he starts meeting the sheep folk. Meanwhile, Ragear becomes impatient by Magra and his ban to keep them from hunting prey like wolves (which for this universe doesn’t really make much sense), so instead of waiting for his duel like Magra ordered, he just kills Magra and ends up taking the position as the wolves’ leader and wants to lead the wolves to hunt for the sheep so they can eat… well, like wolves. Grey discovers this and now wants to protect the sheep from this possible massacre, while it becomes hard for him to keep his true identity intact with his new kin. How will all of this be resolved?

I don’t take this long trying to give a simple plot synopsis, but I wanted to break down this entire setup to give you a hint as to what’s wrong with this movie. If you want me to sum this movie up really quickly it’s just yet another “fish out of water” story, and with a twist that isn’t even that unique to this kind of movie. The movie is a bizarre combination of both Shrek 2 and Brother Bear in terms of plot, but it’s nowhere near as funny as the former, nor (while flawed) as engaging as the latter, and while I have serious problems with Brother Bear I can tell you it pulled this story off a LOT better than Sheep and Wolves.

Since I’m going to dip into my issues with this movie (which is a LOT of them) I may as well get my positives with the movie out of the way, because they’re very minimal- it’s actually just one: the movie is really pretty. While it’s pretty obvious that this is a low-budget movie thanks to the very small amount of environments featured in the movie, not to mention that just like Sing it shamelessly copy-and-pastes characters and shots everywhere, the scenery of the movie actually manages to be pretty stunning. I like how the environments look, they’re vividly-detailed, very colorful, and the lighting also manages to look really good, especially when they stand out against things like grass or the fur on the wolves. The animation itself is also not bad. It’s far more lively than something like, say, Ratchet and Clank, and it has an art style that suits the animation better than a movie like The Wild Life. Even though I have HUGE issues with the character design, they managed to make a really appealing-looking movie and I do think that’s something that deserves some serious credit. It’s obvious to me that the people working on this movie have some good talent in their hands, and I’m saying this because I stop being nice right here. Because the problems with this movie are far too many for me to recommend this as something anyone reading this should watch.

Let’s start with the character designs. While the general look of the movie is really appealing and colorful, the actual designs of the characters leave a lot to be desired. There’s no real better way for me to say this, but the characters all look like how a middle-school furry artist would draw his furry wolf OCs (original characters, for those of you that don’t know) when first starting on DeviantART. They’re far more humanoid than anthropomorphic, which really stands out with characters that have more stylized and cartoony designs. It’s almost as if the characters were all designed by completely different artists, however this is an approach that worked in its favor in a movie like Secret Life of Pets, but here they stick out like a sore thumb. All the wolves are top-heavy and just look ridiculous when they run on all fours. I also had this same problem with Alpha and Omega six years ago (funny how they’re both movies about wolves), but the hair is really off-putting. Most of the wolves have pretty much anime hairstyles which just look distracting and out of place. This is really noticeable on a character like Bianca who basically looks like a human chick that just so happens to be cosplaying as a wolf. With the sheep this gets even more bizarre, as there are sheep who clearly look like anthropomorphized sheep, standing right next to sheep that have more human-like features that are kind of distracting, NEXT to other sheep who just look like they’re a human and sheep that probably fused together like in The Fly. Again, it’s highly distracting because they’re not anthropomorphic like the characters from Sing or Zootopia, and yet they’re also not animal enough to be like the animals from The Secret Life of Pets or even The Wild Life. It’s like they’re stuck in this strange uncanny valley of anthropomorphism and it’s kind of off-putting to watch. Mami is the only one who manages to make this work, though it probably helps that she’s hardly in the movie. Grey looks alright by all standards, except for his dumb Emo Peter Parker haircut.

From what I’m sure you can gather I’ve said about the story, it’s pretty much also copied and pasted from… anywhere else. It combines traits of Shrek 2, Brother Bear, The Lion King, too many romantic comedies to count, Kung Fu Panda 3, Shark Tale (another disaster full of clichés and off-putting character design)- it borrows so liberally from other movies that it even borrows their flaws as well. Shark Tale needs no explanation, it has the dopey character who is in love but cannot spit it out because God help him “he’s just awkward” (oh please), it also borrows a problem unique to a movie I reviewed not too long ago, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, in which it is full of really annoying cartoony sound effects that get really, really fast. By the way, I said this movie ripped off The Lion King (why on Earth do we have TWO animated movies that came out in 2016 that thought this was a good idea?) and it does so in the Magra’s death scene. Ragear shoves him off the cliff in a way that’s not too dissimilar to Scar throwing Mufasa into the wildebeests. It doesn’t help that both just so happen to have a character voiced by Jim Cummings, which makes the resemblance even more obvious.

Though speaking of terrible sounds, the voice acting isn’t that great. I mean sure, you have people like Jim Cummings who would sound awesome if they even just read the phonebook, but much like Morgan Freeman in Ben-Hur, he’s not doing anything new. Tom Felton… I have NO idea what the hell he’s doing, it’s like he’s trying to sound American and fail horribly at it, but he’s at least trying. Ruby Rose just straight up did not care about this movie at all, she could not sound any more disinterested if she tried, which isn’t only a serious problem because it just sounds bad it also makes her character come across as really uncaring and self-centered, which becomes a MAJOR problem thanks to one particular scene from the movie that I’ll get to. Believe me, I will. Still, this is pretty bad- it’s almost as if the voice actors weren’t allowed to be given a second take or something like that.

But what’s even worse than the voice acting is the score. I’ve complimented good scores before and lambasted bad ones like Accidental Love, for example. It had a score that was highly annoying, bouncy, and would never shut up. It was trying to be a “whacky, silly” score that instead of trying to get you to laugh it only made you cringe. So yes, an overly-goofy score is one issue but thanks to this movie the opposite is also true. This movie has a score that is far more surprisingly dramatic and intense than you would think which gives me the impression that this movie is really trying to get me to take it seriously… and this is the same movie that has a Rocky-style montage of a character trying to give themselves a concussion. AND FAILING AT IT. Sure, that’s meant to be the joke, but this is much less justifiable in countless scenes of something dramatic happening only for it to get cut-off by some awkwardly-inserted comic relief. Oh God, it’s like Epic all over again.

The absolute worst part about this movie is the characters. I’m not going to spend much time on them because I could write an entire essay on just what’s wrong with this cast, and this review is getting really long as it is. So I’ll say this, they vary from being really stupid, to being really annoying, to all-around unpleasant. Grey is kind of a goofball, but other than that he’s just your generic main character and he’s one of the better characters. His best friend sheep who is lovestruck cannot say a word to her about his feelings to save his life, which is not just an awful cliché in and of itself, but his voice is really annoying and her never shuts up. The big bad Ragear is clumsy and gets beaten up a lot, so it’s pretty much impossible to take him seriously as a credible threat and the only time he succeeds at anything it’s simply because the plot just felt like it needed to keep going. Lyra is your generic “nice girl” type who pretty much has no personality aside from, well, being nice, except for one particular scene where she chews out Grey for giving her little brother, Shia, the influence to have him run off from the sheep village to fight off wolves himself, and this happened AFTER Grey saves his life as well as a scene in the movie where she scolds her little brother for being an irresponsible little shit who doesn’t listen to anybody. And Shia, oh I despise him. Not only does he have a really annoying voice and attitude, he’s one of those characters that should have died far sooner than he does (which is never- spoiler alert) because he does anything BUT listen to someone who’s trying to do nothing but HELP HIM. He’s by far one of the most irritating characters I’ve seen in any movie this year- he’s up there with Steel from Max Steel, The Enchantress from Suicide Squad, the Colleens from Yoga Hosers, and pretty much EVERYONE in Collateral Beauty- and it doesn’t help that he gives a really awful message at the end of the movie which pretty much amounts to him saying that you shouldn’t kill someone because it will make you just as bad as they are, which is normally a message that has a lot of weight to it, but when the person who is trying to kill you is DOING EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO TRY AND EAT YOU, and you fight back in self-defense!

I also mentioned Bianca, and out of all of the bad animated movies with forced-in love interests she’s by far the worst. Now, she’s at least thankfully not forced into a relationship with Grey (they already have one at the start of the movie) and the way his little problem is resolved isn’t by true love (but it’s not less dumb). The reason why I hate Bianca the most is because of one particular scene where she pretty much ACCUSES GREY OF CAUSING RAGEAR FROM KILLING MAGRA AND MAKING HIM THE NEW LEADER, and all because he was trying to change himself to prove to her that he’s not an immature clown. It’s somehow all HIS fault, and at no point does she ever get called out on being a colossal bitch. Though Grey DOES call out the sheep for being whiny, pathetic, and annoying, it doesn’t really leave a very satisfying impact when it’s ruined by the scenes that precede and follow it. I HATE EVERYONE IN THIS MOVIE. This movie was just like Collateral Beauty all over again- I really thought I was going to be in for something bland, but not THIS annoying and unpleasant. I really hate this movie, thanks to its combination of terrible tonal shifts, bland story, irredeemable cast of characters, and ho-hum voice acting. It’s easy to see why this movie never made it to the States. (2,541 words. Can't believe this one took me almost a week to write, but I needed to get my thoughts collected so I could express just what the hell was wrong with this movie.)

This is a really foul movie. I don't really get this kind of enjoyment out of something that fills me with dread and hatred- I would much rather be talking about things I really love, like Zootopia, but this is the kind of movie that is not only so bad that it's wasted your time, but it'll ruin your day!

Yes, I give this movie a 2. And how appropriate because now I can make more room for my best big project. That's right guys, The Wall #50 is going to be... THE TOP 10 WORST MOVIES OF 2016 I'll see you all there.

[recentanimenews]

The 5 Most Love and Hated Hackers in Anime

Hackers, important plot device for any story of great intrigue in the digital era and bane of entertainment-loving IT workers the world over. Anime tends toward the most daring cinematic treatment to their work, making for outstanding visuals and heightened drama whenever they're presented with a keyboard. Where fisticuffs and physical reconnaissance fail, hackers pick up the slack by retrieving data, opening doors, and deactivating deadly robots. Although perhaps a bit more glamorous than their real-life counterparts, anime has some diverse entries into this subset, spanning all types of personality and profession.

Love them or hate them, they've already peered at the contents of your folder titled "taxes". Our friends over at Anime-Planet spend day and night cataloguing these unique features and leaving it to the fans to vote on the best and worst hackers in all of anime. A note before we begin, these are the result of popular votes that I can and will disagree with. Only your democratic will can determine who makes it on this list. With that out of the way, below are the 5 most loved and most hated hackers in anime!

Loved

5. Tsugumi - Guilty Crown

Sporting cat-ear headphones before FLCL and providing high-tech logistical support… maybe sometime before Futaba was first designed? Persona 5 took a while. Although the first on the list she might have the most interesting style of hacking. Rather than doing a “net dive” or just typing really fast, she uses a holographic interface that lets her input commands with moves like a hip bump. Even if her hacking accomplishments aren’t quite as high as the others, she gets definite style points.

4. Itaru Hashida - STEINS;GATE

Everybody’s favorite, er, guy getting help from his daughter in a future timeline to overcome his 2D obsession and build a relationship with his daughter’s mother? Anyway, the guy can hack! A self-styled “super hacker” capable of retrieving immense amounts of secured data from secret organizations! Which would be super useful if he could read english. He’s got a lot of issues but, like much of the cast, is a loveable eccentric doing his best to save the world. I'd understand seeing him on either side of the list, to be honest, but he's a good addition for his prowess given their budgetary limits.

3. Motoko Kusanagi - Ghost in the Shell

  Would the greatest hack in the world be… the human mind? In addition to being a peerless soldier, Motoko also does some of the most awesome hacking in anime. Whether it’s deep dives into ghosts to retrieve information or winning fights by real-time hacking into her opponents mods to make them unable to see her or punch themselves in the face. Whether a transhumanist god of merged human and artificial intelligence or a more mundane special forces operative in a dystpoic future, Motoko's one of the best characters to come out of ‘90s anime era of hard sci fi and I'm prepared for more movies.

2. Edward - Cowboy Bebop

Probably the only hacking primary character on the list, an urban legend purported to be anything from an alien to a 3-year-old whose accolades include convincing an advanced AI to draw her face on the surface of the Earth. The part about her that impresses me most, which often gets swept under the rug, is that she engineered her encounter with the Bebop after following its adventures via the outernet and deciding she wanted in on their fun. Plus she’s just generally awesome, sometimes hacks with her feet, and has VR goggles that are corgi compatible. A breath of fresh air in an otherwise angsty ship.

1. Yuki Nagato - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Perhaps the quintessential kuudere. I can’t think of a better qualification for the #1 spot on this list that subject of one of the most well-known hacking GIFs on the internet. Yuki hasn’t exactly hacked into any government databases but real-time hacking a multiplayer video game isn’t half bad. Apparently she also made her own OS compatible with all software? Being that she is an organic construct created by a species of sentient data that wouldn’t be out of place as the greatest threat in a TRIGGER anime, it’s safe to assume she could get into whatever system she set her eyes on.

Wow, what great entries so far. This is sizing up to be my favorite lists ever. Certainly nothing could go wrong at this point.

Hated

5. Edward - Cowboy Bebop

Nope. Honestly, how dare you? I’ll pretend I didn’t see this one.

4. Yuki Nagato - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Also this one.

3. Ritsuko Akagi - Neon Genesis Evangelion

I’ve changed my mind. The only good to come of this list was my cracking open my Evangelion box set to grab this screenshot. Just gonna go ahead and write about about how awesome Ritsuko is. If you like the Evas you might as well go thank her since she's the chief of their development. The only adult to have an Angel kill, taking down Ireul by disassembling the Magi Casper, the organic supercomputer containing her mother's brain, and designing a self-destruct virus on the fly. Arguably her greatest flaw is shouldering too great a burden by herself. I'm not sure where any enmity may even come from here. Please, never darken my doorstep with such a bad take again.

2. Five - Terror in Resonance

  Finally! This is acceptable. The format of Terror in Resonance makes distinguishing between good guys and bad guys a trick, but Five falls pretty clearly into villain territory. Regardless of where you stand, her using a bomb in an airport to tease out Nine and Twelve, not to bring them to justice, but just to beat them in a game as a means of twisted self-validation, is one of the more reprehensible moves in the series. Credit to Watanabe for giving her even a shred of sympathy by the end. Nakazawa deserves a medal for that character design, by the way.

1. Takeyama - Angel Beats!

The absolute worst. Although lacking the sadism of Five, Takeyama trades out evil for being absolutely unlikeable. It’s just difficult in general to be affectionate about a character who spends his afterlife demanding people call him “Christ” and complaining about plans while generally offering very little on his own. If memory serves, the series didn’t even bother to give him a backstory to attempt a sympathetic redemption. He can KO people by reciting pi, though. Does that count as hacking?

Surprisingly, this list is one of the most diverse in terms of characterization despite possessing a few (extremely tragic) repeats. Just goes to show you, computers can open a door to a world of opportunity for anyone patient enough to learn about them. That or literally anyone you meet may be stealing government secrets as their side hustle.

Didn’t see your favorite on this list? Want to know where they appear among the most loved and hated of the animated tech wizards? Head over to Anime-Planet’s list of hackers to see where they rank, or comment below with your favorite. Tune in next week, where the subject will be the greatest addition to any anime, Dogs!

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[ges-sa]

New Post has been published on https://ges-sa.com/avengers-infinity-war-review/

Avengers: Infinity War Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”29503,29517,29504,29505,29506,29507,29508,29509,29510,29511,29512,29513,29514,29515,29516,29533,29534,29535,29531,29529,29526,29532,29523,29525,29518,29519,29520,29521,29522,29524″][vc_column_text]It’s finally here!! Ever since the initial release of Marvel Studios ‘Iron Man’, the goal was to build up through multiple characters and films toward “Marvel’s The Avengers” which at the time took the long running tried and true concept of the comic team-up and proved that such an idea could work on film and be successful. From moment of the mid-credit scene providing our first very brief glimpse of Thanos on screen, the goal has been to build up further all the way until Marvel Stud10s “Avengers: Infinity War”, which from conception to release has been close to a decade in the making. If “The Avengers” was a team-up, “Avengers: Infinity War” is the equivalent of an epic crossover event, and proving in broad strokes that this too can not only work on film, but succeed. So much so that it makes the two previous Avengers films look small by comparison; which says a lot and it once again challenges audience expectations of the genre.

The sheer scale and ambition of “Avengers: Infinity War” is unprecedented in cinema to this point and many would have previous thought impossible. The level of secrecy on this movie alone has been unlike many others, all in an effort to provide the movie going audience with something truly special …until the next one. While these sorts of events and casts of hundreds are nothing new for comic readers or fans of the different animated series and adaptations, this is breaking new ground in terms of big-budget live action blockbusters. This movie takes the concept of the shared cinematic universe to the next level, with nearly all the relevant major and supporting characters from across the entire Marvel Studio’s slate from “Iron Man” in 2008 until “Black Panther” earlier this year in 2018, creating an ensemble cast of dozens of familiar characters across this 149 minute epic. The benefit of this of course is that the plot isn’t bogged down by having to introduce every character and explain who they are; the filmmakers assume you know all these characters already or at least have a passing familiarity with them from their previous appearances and individual film adventures. The downside is if somebody goes into this movie having not seen most of the previous associated films, one could very easily get lost quickly and have to play a mental game of catch-up with the plot, but luckily there is enough given that even new viewers should be able to get up to speed and reward long standing viewers at the same time. With all this heavy lifting out of the way, the movie is free to jump right into the action which starts almost immediately and barely lets up throughout the duration.

The synopsis is very simple. “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time as The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin on his quest for the Infinity Stones (previously seen throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)) puts an end to the universe.

Despite the longer than average runtime, you’ll barely notice as this movie will fly by and hold your attention throughout even in the quieter character moments and introspective dialogue as the plot advances. This is due to our familiarity and attachment to the characters throughout the saga of the MCU who are almost all endearing and given a lot of heart throughout. While this is one of, if not the most intense and serious films in the saga to date; don’t think that means any less humour compared to most MCU films. The Marvel Studios trademark humour is still very present throughout and helps undercut some of the angst and tension as the plot ramps up, quite possibly being one of the more genuinely funny MCU films yet without being a complete comedy. The action in “Avengers: Infinity War” is on another level and the intricacy and staging of several of the big action set pieces throughout the film is something to behold. With so many characters, all with their own unique abilities and fighting styles involved in these battles with the Children of Thanos, it leads to a lot of incredibly looking and quit cutting sequences that in the hands of lesser directors might be difficult to follow, but luckily the Russo Brothers have proven to be more than up to the task and make the heavy action as well the entire film very easy to follow despite the massive cast and enormity of the plot. No matter how skillfully and effortless they make this seem, there’s no getting around the fact that this is dense event film and as such there is A LOT going on…sometimes maybe too much going on. It will be a challenge for anyone to remember every single moment and detail of this movie when leaving the cinema the first time as there are just so many.

I have mentioned the size of the cast numerous times throughout this review, but it can’t be stated enough just how big this movie is. While many of these characters are the main focus of their own movies or past team-ups, here the focus has to bounce from and shift between so many, often times short changing certain fan favorites characters in favour of others who are given more focus in this story. While that may be disappointing to some, it is just the nature of a film of this scale. However, even with so many characters to juggle between, the filmmakers very wisely never forget to give each hero and most of the supporting cast a moment; regardless if it is a major moment, small moment, a clever line, an action sequence or anything else, fans of these characters will definitely leave with the sense that each character had a moment to shine in this movie.

A lot of credit has to be given to Joe and Anthony Russo for directing easily the biggest film of the year, if not the decade….if not ever. It’s debatable if this movie would succeed as much as does without them at the helm. With every major character and actor from the MCU converging in this movie, it’s impossible to single out anybody over anyone else, as they have all proven themselves in their own movies and bring the same level of quality to this one as well. You don’t get the sense that anybody is phoning it in and everyone brings their A-Game. A special mention has to go to Josh Brolin returning as Thanos in what is essentially his first true performance of the character where he is able to stretch his legs and show us why we have been supposed to fear him after all this time. Thanos is as much the protagonist of this story as he is the antagonist and his actions drive much of the plot around him while the heroes desperately scramble to stop his plans from coming to fruition. This CG in bringing Thanos to life looks great, capturing every last minor facial movement and detail, as does the CG throughout the film. After the events of this movie, Thanos might go down as one of the top movie villains of all time but only time will tell. As mentioned though, everybody involved deserves praise for this one from the directors, produces, cast, crew, effects teams, composer and so on.

Alan Silvestri returns to compose his first MCU film since “Marvel’s The Avengers” and crafts a beautiful score that captures of all the dread, scale and adventure of a movie like this. He cleverly hearkens back to cues from his scores from the first Avengers and Captain America films as well as incorporating musical cues from “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Black Panther” and many more to provide audio continuity with the rest of the MCU saga, particularly when each character makes their presence felt on screen. This one might be worth going out of your way to find on CD or in the iTunes/Spotify stores for fans of film music.

This film that has been years in the making is well worth the wait. You’ll get all the thrills and laughs of past MCU movies, as well a whole range of emotions as the movie unfolds. I have never heard an audience laugh as much as they did in this movie (that isn’t designed to be a comedy) in very many years and I also never heard an audience completely left speechless as they were in this movie. This movie will play with your emotions in so many ways and never quite go the way you think it will, while also giving you a complete movie going experience and still leaving you longing for more. Luckily there is only a year to go until the as-yet untitled Avengers 4 and only a couple of months until “Ant-Man and the Wasp” to tide us over until 2019. Though it might not be hard especially after a story like this, be sure to stay for the post credit scene at the end of the credits for even more. Enjoy South Africa as the big one is here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Additional Information

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Reviewed on: Cinema 2D Available on: Cinema 2D, Cinema 3D, 4DX, IMAX 3D, 3D Prestige, D Box 3D Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Scf-Fi Age Rating: 10-12 PG V Estimated RRP: R50 – R175 Release Date: 27 April 2018[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Likes

Story

Cast

Surprises

Scope

Dislikes

Too much going on at times

Some characters relegated to the background and don’t get much to do

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[ryandasilvafutureworks-blog]

Research Blog DD2000

To start with, the definition of a ‘prop’.

The term prop, which is short for ‘property’, first came from theater and as Wikipedia describes it as:

“..an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as “hand props”. Larger props may also be set decoration, such as chair or table. The difference between a set decoration and a prop is use. If the item is not touched by a performer for any reason it is simply a set decoration. If it is touched by the actor in accordance to script requirements or as deemed by the director, it is a prop”.

Also Kendall Walton, in his discussions of make-believe, discusses props as “generators of fictional truths, things which, by virtue of their nature or existence, make propositions fictional.”

So basically, a prop is an object intended for actor interaction.

Key Designers

3 3D artists I looked into were Jonas Ronnegard, Alexey Pyatov and Andrew Averkin, who all have done props but also focus in a lot more varied 3D art (which is the best thing to do in my opinion). I decided to focus on their art stations as this is a great free platform to not only see artist’s work, but also contact them and help with getting into the industry, and there are a lot in the industry that are on art station (these three included). I have also attempted to get in contact with these artists with my own questions to get a bit of personality, the challenge they may have faced and work they have been involved in, as well as all advice they may give.

The questions I provided were as follows:

Q1: Have you worked on any game projects and if so could you name some of the challenges you faced/ overcame?

Q2: What artwork did you do before 3D, and what inspired you to move into this platform?

Q3: How long have you been working in 3D, and do you plan on any further advancement/ currently developing?

Jonas from https://www.artstation.com/artist/jronn was the first to reply and he has this to say:

“Thanks for the email, found some time to write you a response, hope my answers will suffice.

Q1: I have worked on games such as

Halo 5  Resident Evil title  Dragon Quest XI  Bio shock Infinite  Battlefield 3  Armoured Warfare  The Secret World  Drag-on Dragoon 3

Q1: I guess any kind of work comes with a great amount of challenges but for game developers starting out at AAA studios you really need to be able to to produce from day 1, so many of us that do come into the industry have probably spent a lot more time learning what they know than most people working in other industries. Some mistakes I did during school as well as my first years in the industry, was to not sleep properly, I thought putting in a lot of time was the answer to anything, but a sleepy artist just makes mistakes especially since our job gets more technical by every project, so make sure to sleep and do work with a fresh mind. Make sure to ask questions and listen to what senior people say. It can be scary asking questions thinking the answer might be obvious, but problems that might occur by guessing your way out of problems will be even scarier. Q2: I guess I did paint and such just like any other child, but my first real studying towards art was when I started studying 3D art in High School. I first wanted to work with movies but later changed my mind since developing for games seemed a lot more fun to do. Lately, as game art creation has gotten a lot closer to movies I have been able to do some work on pre-rendered projects as well though.

Q3: I guess I have been working in 3D since I was 16 years old, so about 14 years. I currently do all my work from home, creating tools for other artists, as well as I'm freelancing for Nvidia and Irrational games.

Good luck in school, and hope to see you in the industry in a couple of years.”

Andrew from https://www.artstation.com/artist/averkin next replied with this:

“Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words about my work!

Please, see my in red:

Q1: Have you worked on any game projects and if so could you name some of the challenges you faced/ overcame?

I was working on Dropzone and on few small projects in my past. I had the same challenge as everybody who starts learning something - the process of learning. I was just learning all days and nights, training and training in all areas of CG, doing it for my soul. Time - it is the biggest challenge. 

Q2: What artwork did you do before 3D, and what inspired you to move into this platform?

I was trying to draw a little bit before starting my journey in the CG world. Movies and games were my inspiration.

Q3: How long have you been working in 3D, and do you plan on any further advancement/ currently developing?

Currently, I am working on my personal game project called Utopa and it is something that I am doing almost every day and it is something which I can name "my baby". It is hard to describe something specific or some specific problems because every day actually is a challenge when you are doing art directing of all project.

Thanks again, I wish you good luck in your study!”

Sadly I have still had no reply from Alexey Pyatov at https://www.artstation.com/artist/karanak

Job Prospects

After looking through listings for jobs, videos and sites, I can see that being a prop artist is probably one of the most common roles and therefore there is a lot of competition. My work will have to stand out, be creative and generally have a more professional look to it. Go that extra mile, learn more of other software’s etc. A prop artist must also not mind doing what is asked and required as unlike characters, there are many needed props and again unlike characters, props need to be less detailed so many can be added, giving challenge as you need to learn restrictions of what you make and how much it may be used.

Upon receiving info and advice from talented 3D artists who have been in the industry, I can see that things like sleep are very important, as I myself can have bad sleeping patterns, which doesn’t help overall for concentration and even motivation. As I have already done with these, asking questions can never be a bad Idea and can help inspire new things as well as getting new contacts, which will equally help in joining the industry. A big pointer is how in AAA studios, you need to be able to produce from day one. So in my case, I will need to know how to make the models to a similar art style and low enough size, as well as functionality in an engine, like any animations optionally or collisions etc.

As for what I want, I will focus on developing my 3D modeling skills in general, learning more about programs such as ZBrush and 3dsmax and also learn more on environmental art and even architecture as all props are part of an environment, and having a good understanding of an environment will greatly help. An optional addition as well will be to look into physics in general, as I don’t know that field yet and physics can help add life to a prop.

The Importance of Engaging Portfolios

Portfolios alone are of high importance when showcasing any work, and this as well as personality will usually be the deciding factor of who gets the job. But for all artists alike (including prop artists) a more engaging one is essential. Giving the models a professional feel with correct lighting,  angle and composure can help make an average model look professional, but the same can go the other way; if a great model isn’t shown off or engaging enough, it can look average at best.

A portfolios presentation and layout can even show the way an individual works, and each type of artist will have different layouts. So as a prop artist, I would need to focus on both high and low poly models, while showing the wireframe, different angles, and detailed focused shots.

But the most important thing that I’ve seen through all the portfolios is consistency. A big thing that many forget to keep and consistency helps define a person’s work making it not only more professional and fluent but also nicer overall to look at, once bundled together. This consistency can also add personally to your already personal work (certain marked backgrounds, or borders etc). This can help with a website's design as websites can be a part of your digital portfolio, which in many cases is more important as it can be accessed simply through the internet.

Tor Frick - A low-poly/optimization master who recently made waves, creating an incredible game level with a single 512px texture sheet. His website http://www.torfrick.com/ clearly shows ‘consistency’ as you see the simple design, showing pictures throughout in a squared-off grid fashion. All his pictures also have consistency, showing close-up, detailed angled shots of all of them.

Now compare Tor’s website to Joseph Drusts http://www.josephdrust.com/  who focuses on hard surface z brush models. From the top down you can see he has gone with the simple design again, but the way his work is presented clearly isn’t simple. Rather than categorise it, all the digital work is together, throwing off balance this consistency and the detailed background image doesn’t help with focusing on specific pieces. Overall my only suggestion would be to categorise his work in a simple manor as well as consider a different background, but to compare both Tor and Joseph’s websites, we can see which one looks more professional.

Key Games

One game in particular defined how games can make uses for props as a whole. This game is The Legend of Zelda series, specifically the first Legend of Zelda, where props came in many uses from the iconic weapons as an example.

The design behind everything to this game was important; to help influence and push the player to use each and every prop they obtain. You start off with a sword (if you choose to) giving you only one mechanic, but this was the first game to make props so interactable, giving you brand new mechanics and abilities with each weapon you obtain from the dungeons you face. This also helped push what open world games are today, and props in open world games are extremely important as they give life to the environments you see. The Legend of Zelda is no exception, being the first to do this with props, adding hidden props to the world as a puzzle as an example. This game may of not been considered the first open world game but its use of gameplay and how props can be used in an open world setting.

Grand Theft Auto managed to take this open world a step further with a number of props available from the very moment you start. The top down view was a clear resemblance to The Legend of Zelda, with a more 3D approach. Although controversial, this game helped give even more life to the open world genre with the fully interactable city you are in, from a variety of vehicles and weapons this game gave lots of props and interactions for the player to explore and basically have fun with.

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

All My REVIEWS REVIEW: (2016 and 2017)

Review-ception!

 Hello everybody, my name is JoyofCrimeArt and welcome to my first review of 2018! I guess you could call this season three? Which if we're going with that analogy that means that this and 2019 will be my best years of reviewing. And then it'll be all downhill from there, as I slowly fall into a rut of perceptual seasonal rot. So enjoy it while it last, damn it!  It's insane to think that I've been doing this for almost two years. And as this dawned on me, I started to feel a bit...introspective. We've all look back at our past, sometimes with regret, other times with nostalgia. And we've all made mistakes that we are not proud of-  EXCEPT FOR ME CAUSE I'M A FU*KING BEAST!  -And I got to thinking about my past works, my old reviews, and began to wonder if they actually still hold up. It had been forever since I had actually reread some of those older ones. And that's what we're going to be doing here today. Because what kind of critic would I be if I couldn't take criticism myself? And since they say that "you are your toughest critic" I figured it be good to see if I could take what I've spent the last two years dishing out.  Here's how this is going to work. I will be looking at all twenty two of my past reviews, and give my BRIEF thoughts on each of them, as well as possibly give some context on where my mindset was when I was writing them. Think of this like a directors commentary of sorts! However, any multi-part reviews will be counted as one for the sake of convince and time. So really it's closer to eighteen reviews. Also, obviously, this review will be sort of a companion piece to those reviews, so might wanna read those reviews first. But with that all said, let's jump right in and start at the beginning, with my first ever Deviant Art review... Powerpuff Girls 2016 REVIEW Part 1: (04-14-16) Powerpuff Girls 2016 REVIEW Part 2: (05-02-16) Powerpuff Girls 2016 REVIEW Part 3: (05-19-16)  So I wanna explain where my mindset was with this review, and what inspired me to start reviewing in the first place. If you remember back in early 2016 EVERYBODY in the cartoon reviewing community was going on and on about this show. Everybody was hating on it and bashing it, even before the show had premiered. Saying that it was going to suck. I was cautiously excited for the reboot, excited at the idea of the Powerpuff Girl's becoming a spanning franchise in the same way as Batman or Ninja Turtles where. If this show turned out well, Powerpuff could become a cartoon that's remade every decade or so, and people could watch and experience it for decades to come.  And when you're in the minority opinion, and you see everybody just bashing the thing that you are super excited about, it can be a bit discouraging. When the show actually premiered I thought it was...okay. And the problems I did have with it weren't the problems that everybody else had. But as more and more videos came out from popular cartoon reviewers, I decided that I wanted to write a review in order to release all my pent up thoughts and frustrations.  So yeah, my reviews weren't made because of a love and passion for reviewing and animation, but out of BITTERNESS AND HATE!  Re-reading the reviews, They weren't AS bad as I thought it would be, though there is very much a "pilot" type of vibe to it. There's no videos or images like my future reviews would have and it's kinda light on actual jokes.  There's a part in this review where I said that Craig McCracken gave his blessing for the show, we now know that isn't the case. But at the time that's what Tom Kenny said. And I don't want to change it because I believe that it's important not to try to undo past flaws and mistakes. I also feel like I was too nice in the review looking back on it now.  I don't know if it's just my opinion changing or just me wanting to extenuate the shows positives because oh how much everyone else was extenuating it's negatives but if I wrote this today I wouldn't be so kind. I said the show was meh but now I think it is a bad show. I just don't think it's the "end of CN" like so many people were saying at the time. But regardless I feel like I still stand by a lot of my points I made in the review. I still don't care about the memes, or the change in crew and voice cast. I'm upset by writing and lack of action and comedy that made the old show great. And I still hope that CN will give Powerpuff another try sometime down the line, and give it the reboot it deserves.  But I had a lot of fun making this review, and it would inspire me to make many more in the future. So I guess Powerpuff 2016 changed my life for the better.... Steven Universe Hit the Diamond REVIEW: (06-16-16)  Honestly...I think this one really holds up.  You can easily tell that this review set the trend for what my reviews ended up becoming overall. Images and videos where added, there's a really good balance of both comedy and analysis. My intro was introduced (yeah, I didn't realize this till now but the Powerpuff Girls reviews didn't have my typical intro.) And it started the Lapis "This plan sucks" meme.  A bit of background, originally this wasn't going to be my fourth review. I was going to review the CN short program "Mixels" because somebody had asked if I had. But after watching through it I just...had nothing to say on it. Then I saw this episode and impediment got re-inspired. I remember writing the whole review in just two or three days, it was all very impromptu. Overall I'm proud of this one, and I think it would be a good "first review to read" kind of thing to introduce someone to my reviewing style.  I'm not sorry for that RWBY Chibi joke by the way. It was my finest moment. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared REVIEW: (08-22-16) "So that's my review of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared (Hopefully it didn't come off as too rambly and fanboy-y)" Well too bad past me, because it totally did.  Okay, to be fair, this review isn't THAT bad. Not as bad as I remembered it being, but still not one of my best in my opinion. Part of it has to do with the topic. DHMIS is a hard series to summarize and explain, and that's kinda the point of it. But I still feel like I could of done a better job describing it. The problem is a lack of structure, and the whole thing comes off as kinda rambling and confusing. Especially if you were a newcomer who had never heard of the series prior to my review.    I feel like I did a better job talking about the production side of the series than I did talking about the plot and characters. During this time I feel like I really struggled with purely positive reviews. I feel like a lot of them just came off as, like I said, rambly and fanboy-y. That's why I did so many "so bad it's good" movies and episodes in my first year of reviewing. I feel like if I had given it another draft it could of been a lot better, but what are you going to do. Camp Camp REVIEW: (09-24-16)  I remember this review being a bad one, but after rereading it, It's nowhere near as bad as I remembered. It's far from one of my best review and a lot of the problems I had in regards to doing positive reviews are still present thought. (Over-explaining things, a bit fan boyish at parts.) Overall though, it's not a BAD review, just a very "average" one.  The only noticeable things about this review in particular is that 1.) It's my first review where I had links at the bottom to other reviews and 2.) it's the only review to my knowledge that actually convinced somebody to watch the show they probably wouldn't have watched otherwise. And that really means a lot to me, cause that's a huge part of why I even do this. To introduce people to things that they will hopefully really enjoy. So in that regard I can't look upon this review THAT harshly. Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular REVIEW: (10-24-16)  "Anyway, then we Jimmy appear on top on a tombstone dressed in his devil pajamas,"  Yes past me, "Then we Jimmy appear" indeed.  SERIOUSLY WHY DO ANY OF YOU WATCH ME-  When it comes to my reviews there are two main types. There's the one's that are deep analysis, often based on series that I feel very passionate about. These reviews are made with the purpose of introducing people to these underrated series with the hope the reader will check out the series, and hopefully be as impacted by ir as I was.  And then there are the reviews where it's just like "Ha! This is stupid. Let's make fun of this direct to TV movie intended for five year olds, lol." This is one of those reviews.  A problem I do have with this review other than grammar is that there are several moments where I kinda explain the jokes that are in a movie. And I don't do a very good job at explaining them because I lake the context surrounding the jokes. If I made the review today I probably would wanna cut some of those lines out. The review is also noticeably longer than the others up to this point, so that's something.  I never did end up reviewing the sequel like I said I would...at least not YE- Ouran High School Host Club REVIEW: (12-09-16)  So for some background here, I started watching the series really early in the year and decided I wanted to review it. However, the series took me a long time to finish, like almost six months from what I can recall. Which is odd because the show only has 26 episodes. But this was a very busy time for me, with me getting my first part time job, my family moving, and having to work on my comics on a weekly schedule. By the time I had finished this show, while I did enjoy the show a lot, I had kinda burned out about the idea of doing a review of it. But I didn't want all the material I had already worked on to go to waste, so I decided to just kinda muscle through it, and I think you can kinda feel that in the review.  There are still plenty of jokes in it that I'm proud of, but there are also some flaws with it. I wish I was a bit quicker in terms of summing up the cast, as that takes up almost half of the review itself. I also feel like the review doesn't have the best "flow." to it, if that makes sense. It kinda feels like I'm just jumping from point to point.  But it was my first Deviant-cember review, and my first anime review. So two big milestones there! Frosty Returns REVIEW: (12-16-16)  The most interesting thing about this review is that it's the to take a MASSIVE jump in total page view. It's weird, like why this one? I guess Frosty Returns is what my audience was secretly clamoring for? I think, this might have been when I started posting my reviews on the Mr. Enter deviant art page, so maybe that could explain it. But I'm not positive.  Anyway, as this is another "make fun of something stupid" review and not a deep passion filled analysis. There's not much to really say about it. I really need to stop mentioning the good jokes in reviews like this, they don't translate very well when transcribed from special to script. Also it spoils all the best parts. I'M SORRY FOR SPOILING FROSTY RETURNS, I HOPE YOU ALL CAN FORGIVE ME! Also I remember getting very tired half way through this. It was my first time doing reviews back to back and I was really anticipating the "2016 Year in REVIEW." But I buckled through it regardless.  I still need to review T.I and Tiny's Holiday Hustle by the way. Add it to the list! The Legend of Frosty the Snowman REVIEW: (12-23-16)  By the time I had starting writing this review I was so tired of writing and so wanting to work on the yearly retrospect that it kinda felt like a chore to write. But like a chore, I'm glad I did it because I think it turned out pretty good. It's a good bit longer than my previous reviews, which was a pain at the time, but there are some good jokes in here. Nothing else really to add, except for the fact that I wanted to use this image in the review, but forgot until after I already published it. 

I could give you context on what this image is...but is there any context that would justify it? 2016 Year in REVIEW: Part 1 (12-30-16) 2016 Year in REVIEW: Part 2 (12-31-16) "Getting mad at the year, an abstract concept, just feels...unproductive to me. It seem's like it's the wrong target to be directing all this anger at. Sometimes bad stuff just happens, and there's a good chance that by the end of 2017 we'll hate that year too. Because most of the bad stuff that happened in 2016...probably won't just go away come January 1st."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-VawFj4GRM

 I got the idea to do this review probably half-way-ish through the year, and it was by far the review that I was most excited to work on. And honestly I think the yearly retrospects are, in general, the funnest reviews to work on. And good thing too because if It were any other review, I would probably be to tired and unmotivated to actually work on them.  If I have one regret it would be the final ranking of the series. In hindsight I would swap RWBY Chibi and Camp Camp's rankings. Though this may just be a "hindsight is twenty twenty" thing, as I think Camp Camp improved with it's second season, while RWBY Chibi got a bit worse.    These reviews where a lot of fun but also an exhausting experience. I had written five reviews, back to back, during the holidays, which each review becoming longer and longer. I was tired and started to feel a bit done by the time I was working on part two. (As originally it wasn't going to be a two parter. It just kinda ended up that way.)  Also this was sorta the point where my reviews started getting longer. As righting five reviews in such a short amount of time naturally made me start writing more. Like how when one is put under intense physical training over a short period of time there bodies naturally adapt, and become stronger. It's like that, but with dumb cartoon articles. Top 10 Toonami Ad's of the [adult swim] Era: (03-20-17)  As you can see, there was a bit of a gap between reviews here, for obvious reason. After Deviant-cember year one I was DONE with reviews for a long while. I needed a break.  This might be one of the funniest reviews to do the research for. I sat down and watched ALL the eligible bumpers and ads in chronological order and it was great! I didn't even care that there where hundreds of ads to look over, I just had a blast!  It was also my first top ten list! Top tens and top fives were always something I liked seeing other people do, but not something I often felt very comfortable doing. Not that I'm against them or anything, it's just that I have a hard time making them. I'm the type of guy who's exact opinions on things changes very often, and so it's hard for me to say "this thing is worse than this but better than this." I don't think that I could ever do a "Favorite Show of All Time" list or anything like that. I like so many different things for different reasons...I just don't think my brain is wired to work that way. So that's why whenever I DO make a ranking list, I try not to take the actual ranking that seriously, and just use it as an excuse to show off some stuff I like.  However, despite this, there are some things about the review that I would change looking back on it. You can still see my struggles with doing a fully positive review. Like I said earlier, It took me a long while to learn how to do positive reviews without sounding rambly and fanboy-y. Also there's almost no jokes in this one. I don't think the lack of jokes in a review is NECESSARILY a bad thing, but I feel it kinda is in this case. Since I was covering such a niche topic, some humor might have made the review better, and give people who we're uninteresting in bumpers and Toonami something to latch on to. Oh well...   Dragon Ball Super: Battle of Gods Arc REVIEW: (05-01-17)  The first part of my Dragon Ball Super retrospective series, (Which, with the recent announcement of Super ending will now have a conclusion. I sort of assumed I'd be reviewing Super until I either died or stopped doing reviews, whichever came first.) This review had a lot less recapping than I remember it having and has a good amount of both comedy and analysis. (Probably because I had the whole "compare and contrast" element to it.) Overall a fairly good start to a retrospect. Other than that not much to say though.  I'm also really proud of that "Godtube" joke. Like I know I used MS Paint, but I still think it's a really good edit. #humblebrag Samurai Jack Season Five REVIEW: (06-19-17)  "In general I tend to be more critical and nit picky about things I like than things I hate." Does anybody else feel this way, or is it just a "me" thing? I'm genuinely curious.  If there's something that this review made me realize is how quickly things come and go in the cartoon community. I was on a hiatus at the time the season ended so this review came out about a month later. And by that time it seemed like everybody had moved on from Samurai Jack for the most part. And I don't mean this as a way to complain about a lack of views or comments or anything. On the contrary the amount of views this review got seems to be on par with what they normally are and I think I actually got a bit more comments than I usually do. What I more mean is that while the season was running it was all anybody was talking about, and then once it ended nobody was discussing it. The "buzz" was gone so to speak, and it feels like that's what happens whenever a show isn't currently running or goes on break. The fandom burns bright but dies out fast, and that's kinda a shame. I feel like a lot of great shows don't get talked about as much as they should because there not quote unquote "relevant" and thus end up getting swept under the rug.  As for the review part, this is one of my personal favorites. I really wanted to make sure I did the season justice, which is part of the reason it came out almost a month after the season ended. I wanted to let my feelings settle for a bit a see how I felt after I had time to think about it, rather than just having a gut reaction. (Though I'm not saying there isn't a place for stuff like that.)  Also my first review with a title card! Title cards where something I always wanted to do but I was always afraid it would just be to time consuming, but now I think it's worth it, as I think it does add a bit of flair to the presentation. Also I've gotten a lot faster at making them. (The title card for this review was done in one evening for instance.) Watamote REVIEW: (Oh, the Cringe!) (08-14-17)  This review was easily one of the hardest to make. I started watching the series in preparation for the review in FEBRUARY, and didn't finish it until SUMMER! (I don't have time to watch cartoons! I have cartoon reviews to work on!) At the time I was watching each episode twice, once alone and once with my brother, and I think that's what made me burn out on the series. That time period was also the time where I started my new job as well, so maybe that was also a factor. I guess it makes sense, but considering the show is one of my favorite cartoons of the decade and only TWELVE episodes long, I dunno, I figured I wouldn't have that kind of reaction to it. This review was suppose to be my fourteenth review. Then it was going to be my fifteenth review, until finally it ended up becoming my sixteenth. That's how long it took for me to finish the show episodes!  So eventually I just bit the bullet and finished the dang show. Then came the problems of actually writing the show. Like I said before, I have a problem doing positive reviews without ending up ramble-y and fanboy-y, and so I REALLY wanted to make sure that it didn't happen this time. So I wrote THREE drafts of this review (prior to this I only did one draft.) I would go reread it and change things, reread it and change things...  And I'm really proud of how it turned out. The beginning part has a few awkward lines, but overall I really am proud of how it turned out. This is really my first positive review that I really loved, and it has given me the confidence to do more reviews like that in the future. You don't need to just make fun of things and review the most bottom of the barrel stuff. You can make a review where you just talk about a series or show or movie that has a special place in you're heart without it being boring. I tend to prefer reviews where their is a balance of jokes and analysis, but you don't always need that. If you're talking about something you're passionate about, that passion will seep through to the viewer. Or at least that's how I feel. Dragon Ball Super: Resurrection 'F' Arc REVIEW: (9-18-17)  I typically try to get the Dragon Ball Super reviews to come out roughly as the arcs finish on Toonami, but here I was a bit late, and by the time the review was finished the televised broadcast was already well into the Champa arc. As such, I kinda had to rush this review out in order to not fall even farther behind. And so my heart wasn't really into this review as much as it was with some of my other reviews. I still like how it turned out overall (I wouldn't publish a review if I wasn't proud of it at least a little.) but overall this feels like a review that's just kinda...there.    I feel like to much of the review was just recapping the events of the arc, and it could of used more jokes or analysis to make it feel a bit less dry. This is also my first review with a title card drawn in FireAlpaca! That's right, I moved on from MS Paint! (At least with title cards.)   Rick and Morty REVIEW: (With MiketheHuman113) (12-01-17)  My first colab review! I had wanted to do a collab for a while, and at the time Mike was the person on the site that I knew the most about, and when I saw him post a list of all time favorite characters, and saw Rick as number two, I thought that he would be a good pic.  Actually doing the review however was a bit of a challenge. I had to write my segments, send it to him via note, and then get his segments back and paste them into my journal in a way so that it sounded natural. Then I had to rewrite some of the transitions to make it all flow together.  Why didn't you just use Google Docs? 

 ...

NNNHHHHGGGGUUUUUU!!!!!  Anyway, this was a topic that I wanted to get off my chest for the longest time, so I was very happy to finally do so. I do have some problems with the review though (None of which where on Mike's end BTW, just to be clear he was awesome.) I feel like there's a lot of jumping around with the points, and the review's overall flow suffers as a result. I also wished I hadn't jumped around so much from spoiler to non spoilers as much as I did, and if I were to redo the review now I think I would want to make them review more general and less focused on specific moments and episodes. That way it be easier to follow if you hadn't seen the show.  I also wish that maybe it was a little shorter. It was my first time doing a collab, and I figured it be easier because I would only have to do half the work. But what ended up happening (and I blame my own workaholic-ness for this.) Is that I made a full length review, and then stuck Mike's contributions on top of it. So not only was the review long, but it wasn't any easier than a normal review. in fact it was probably harder.  But I'm glad I did it. I was fun and I'd love to do more collabs in the future. However given the previously mentioned difficulty it'll probably only be a "once a year-ish" thing. But y'never know. Who do you think I should collab with?  This was also the first time I made art for a review outside of the title card. In this case the Super Smash Bros style intro I did for Mike. I want to make those for everybody I do a collab with. Also I noticed that after this review, I began to be more noticed in the DA review community. Probably because Mike's in it, so I could leach off his audience. However, oddly enough, the views for this review are bellow average, so who knows. Dragon Ball Super: Champa Arc REVIEW: (12-08-17)  HEY KIDS AT HOME, COUNT THE AMOUNT OF TIME I SAY THE WORD "MISSTEP" "OPPORTUNITY" AND OR "WASTE." I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT, IT'S WAY TO FRICKIN' MUCH!-  There's also more spelling errors than normal. Overall I just blame the rush of Deviant-cember, and the fact that like in 2016, my heart was really set on the yearly recap instead of this.  The review as a whole however, ironically, is kinda like the arc itself. It starts out kinda slow, with mostly recapping events. But as the review goes on it's get's a lot better, with more jokes and insightful analysis. Not much else to say about this one. Top 5 Obscure Christmas Specials You Should Watch: (12-15-17)  I feel like there were some unprofessional moments in this review, mostly as a result o a time crunch to finish the review before the deadline. From not rewatching Nestor to tracing the Hawkmoth logo it feels a bit sloppy to me. (Even though I'm sure these are things that won't bother most other people.) I was in a bit of a rush for this part of deviant-cember as work and the holidays in general gave me less time to work on the reviews, in addition to the stuff that I was posting on Mondays. I wanted to succeed in my goal of doing two uploads a week during Deviant-cember since I failed to do so in 2016. However, I am glad that I was able to talk about so many weird specials, and I don't think that review suffers to much from the rush. When I was writing the review, I felt burnt out from reviews and just wanted to move on to the yearly recap, but looking back on it now, the review isn't really that bad. There are some good jokes in it and I love recommending obscure stuff to people. Maybe one day I'll do a part two.  OH! And it turns out that "A Cranberry Christmas" IS lost media! It's the first piece of lost media that I watched before it got lost! WE NEED TO FIND THIS, GUYS! 2017 Year in REVIEW: Part 1 (12-22-17) 2017 Year in REVIEW: Part 2 (12-29-17)  Most of the things that I said about my 2016 year in review could be said about these reviews, so I don't have much to add. Have I mentioned that I hate the "This year sucks" meme yet? It such a stupid thing, to hate on a year. And I worry that with our cynical society we live in that the "This year is awful" thing will go on until the end of time itself. 2017 was fine. 2016 was fine. Y'wanna know what year was really a dumpster fire. 1942. That's the year we entered the second World War, segregation was still a thing, and all the meme's sucked that year! It was awful!  My only real regret about this review was using the word "hate boner" when talking about Castlevania's views on religion. I think the term "hate boner" is really dumb sounding and at the time of writing the review I didn't realize that people used the term so unironically. (No offense to people who do use the term. It' just a term I really don't like, personally. Just use the term "bias.")  And that's it. ALL 22 of my reviews reviewed! Do I recommend...me?  Well personally this JoyofCrimeArt guy does have his fair share of problems. He can come off as a bit fanboy-y and ramble-y at times. His reviews sometimes have weird pacing issues, jumping from point to point. While I enjoy how in-depth he can SOMETIMES be, they can be a bit long at points. Also he has a lot of unpopular opinions, and sometimes I wonder if he's just being contrarian. Not the mention the fact that, since the idiot thought that having THREE web comics running simultaneity at the same time was a good idea, he doesn't actually post reviews very often when compared to some of his reviewing counterparts.  On the other hand though...there are some positives to the guy. He seems very passionate about the topics he talks about. He has an okay balance of analysis and comedy. And I also like how he talks about a variety of different stuff. From popular series, obscure series, anime, web series, direct to DVD movies, bumpers, HIS OWN REVIEWS. You never know what you're going to get.  Is he the best reviewer on DA. Probably not. Heck, he's probably not even in the top fifteenth. But if you're willing to devote a half hour of you're time to reading one of his overly long reviews, who knows, you might just enjoy yourself. Or not. I dunno.  So that was my review of my reviews. What are your thoughts about my thoughts about my thoughts. Leave those thoughts in the comments down below. I would love to exchange thoughts even if we don't have the same thoughts. Do you have a favorite or least favorite review of mine? I'd be genuinely curious to know. Please fav, follow, and comment if you like the review and have a great day. (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/All-My-REVIEWS-REVIEW-2016-and-2017-739596421 DA Link