Title: Wreck-It Ralph
Director: Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly,
Jack McBrayer, and
Jane Lynch
Rated: PG
Released: 2012
Personal Rating: 4.5/5
Oscars: Nominated for 1
Plot: A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his
dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.
---------------------------------------------------------------
King Candy/Turbo
Without the knowledge that King Candy is a tribute to Ed Wynn, I thought the character was a standard gay stereotype. It's nice that the makers of the film did this, however it didn't come across as such to people that didn't know. Such as me. Going past that aspect (as I already made a post on tumblr about it and later had to defend myself for my opinions stated on it): King Candy is a good villain. I liked that his original ego (Turbo) had been mentioned throughout the film, so when King Candy's true identity is revealed it's shocking but you don't question it.
A Good Message
This movie had a very good message and I'm not really sure how to accurately describe it. The hero of the movie (Ralph) learns to accept what life has given to him. Vanellope accepts her glitch even when she could've had it fixed. However, the Ralph part is sort of...odd? The reason he goes on his journey is to be accepted by the other people he lives with. And they're really mean people, as they look at Ralph as a villain and don't realize he's different when the arcade closes. So at the end of the movie Ralph accepts his role as the villain of the game but how the other people in the game react to him is different (at least when the arcade is closed).
Gaming References
I admit I saw this movie mainly for the references and to see if I could catch them all. While the ones I did catch delighted me, I had to stop myself from leaping out of my seat in joy when the Konami Code was shown. I don't know why it made me so happy (as I haven't played Contra or other games with that code in them), but it did. There are many other references in the game. I would also suggest watching the credits as the references (and blatant showing of video game characters) doesn't stop with the movie. I wasn't able to see all of the credits as my Dad was basically yelling at me to leave the theater with him.
Final Thoughts
This movie was highly enjoyable. Like Brave, you knew how it was going to end (good guys win and hero learns a valuable lesson). Unlike Brave, however, Wreck-It Ralph pulls at your heart strings more and makes you doubt the outcome. There was at least one scene where I had to hold back some major tears (I don't like to cry in public or in front of people). If you're a gamer of any age you should see this movie.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Cult "Being Billy" Review
I discuss the move to Friday night and talk about the show.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Pretty Little Liars "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" Review
Spencer is awesome!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The Walking Dead "Clear" Review
Morgan has gone crazy!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Inbetween: Death of the Five 3
Qui-Gon Jinn was silent for awhile. He didn't react. I knew that it was his way of coping, I had seen him doing the same thing earlier. Knowing his silence would end soon, I was wondering how to react. Should I tell him the truth? Some part of me thought he had the right to know, while the rational part of my mind was telling me I had made a mistake. The rational part of my mind was pointing out that I had made a mistake that could've just jeopardized myself and those I wished to protect.
"The history of the Heart of the Darkness is well known by the Jedi Order," Qui-Gon replied. "And even if what you say is true, you weren't alive back when the Heart of Darkness was lost."
I paused and tried to calm myself before continuing. I wanted to tell this man my story. But, at the same time, it might not be the best thing. I could say it was a joke and let it blow over. But I couldn't do that to Qui-Gon. Not to him.
"I was born a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. The time was one where space travel was a new thing. We didn't know who our neighbors in space were and yet we wanted to conquer it all. It had been a week since my soon to be husband died and I was lost." I said. "I didn't know what to do since each morning I was reminded of him. No matter where I went on my home world, I was reminded of him. It was then that I decided to join the Navigators."
I looked to see how the Jedi Master was reacting. He hardly moved, intent on hearing me out. Never mind that he would think I was insane until I could prove it to him.
"Navigators are genetically altered humans used to pilot large ships. Usually containing colonists that were put in stasis. Since space travel was new, voyages could last longer than intended due to unforeseen consequences." I paused remembering the early days of my existence. "Many of these consequences you don't think about anymore because your galaxy has been mapped out and dangers to us then are inconveniences to you now."
"What are the abilities of these Navigators?" Qui-Gon asked. I took note that he didn't refer to me as one. Showing he didn't yet believe my story.
"We have unlimited life spans, powers that can be compared to your Jedi abilities, and the ability to teleport ourselves and things around us." I said. "It is our long life spans and the ability to teleport that made us so useful. The Jedi-like powers were merely to give us means to protect ourselves, ship, and cargo from a very dangerous and unknowable galaxy."
Qui-Gon merely nodded, which I took to mean to continue my story. "However, becoming a Navigator came with two great costs. The first was an ever increasing inability to feel like a human. The other was an extreme rage that could overtake us at any moment. For the majority of the time Navigators were many, this rage never accounted to much. Until the Massacre which only left six Navigators still alive." I paused as memories of that day overtook me. The bloodshed, everything. I was finally able to calm myself down after a few minutes. "I left the other five to search for a cure. Since I left them I became The Rogue and they The Five. I managed to find a cure that defeated the rage but I still can't feel like I did before I became a Navigator."
"So the Five are the Sith of the legend?" Qui-Gon asked. "And you created the legend with five Sith Lords in case the Heart of the Darkness was ever found?"
I nodded. "Yes, so in case the ship was ever found, the legend would not be questioned." There was a moment of silence and then Qui-Gon signaled for me to continue. "After I became the Rogue and found the Cure, the Five's hate against me had increased like never before. I ended up running to this galaxy and found a home on the planet Atlan. I first arrived on it before the dominant lifeforms had completely matured. As such I was a kind of god in their eyes and helped them build their civilization. Once space travel was starting to become normal in this galaxy, the Five had managed to track me down."
I took a moment to figure out how to explain this next part to him. "The Five came to great power around the Sith War and so I was finally forced to act. Previously I had managed to hide while they didn't cause any great act of chaos. But I had to act. While we didn't have any friendship by the end, they were still the only things reminiscent of the time of my youth. Back when I was naive. So I put them into cyrogenic sleep and hid the Heart of the Darkness, moving it when people got too close to it."
Qui-Gon leaned back and crossed his arms. I could see the thoughts of whether or not to believe me going through his head. And, really, what proof did I have to give him? The word of a human female he had just met? I decided to help him out.
I teleported around the room long enough for him to know, through his Force Senses, that I was really teleporting. That my teleporting was not just a cheap trick.
"Can you actually teleport another person?" He finally asked.
I nodded. "But the feeling of cold most experience sometimes leads to a coma or even death. Though in most cases it just leaves you knocked out and when you come to you have a migraine."
Qui-Gon's arms were uncrossed and he looked lost. What I told him was a lot to take in. But he believed it. A simple use of my abilities and he knew what I had said was true. When he looked into my eyes I saw awe and longing. I had expected the awe part, not because I thought I was important, but because my story changed what people thought. Especially my ability to destroy a long held belief as something I had made up to cover my own tracks.
The longing I hadn't expected. Not from a Jedi Master, even though I knew they had faults just like everyone else. There had been signs he had interest in me. The main one being the sublte one of him telling me something he didn't seem apt to share with others. But I didn't expect anything like infatuation to come from it.
The look of longing in his eyes quickly went away, as he realized what he had felt and shared, and he said, "I believe you, Rinn."
-----------------------
Inbetween tumblr
"The history of the Heart of the Darkness is well known by the Jedi Order," Qui-Gon replied. "And even if what you say is true, you weren't alive back when the Heart of Darkness was lost."
I paused and tried to calm myself before continuing. I wanted to tell this man my story. But, at the same time, it might not be the best thing. I could say it was a joke and let it blow over. But I couldn't do that to Qui-Gon. Not to him.
"I was born a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. The time was one where space travel was a new thing. We didn't know who our neighbors in space were and yet we wanted to conquer it all. It had been a week since my soon to be husband died and I was lost." I said. "I didn't know what to do since each morning I was reminded of him. No matter where I went on my home world, I was reminded of him. It was then that I decided to join the Navigators."
I looked to see how the Jedi Master was reacting. He hardly moved, intent on hearing me out. Never mind that he would think I was insane until I could prove it to him.
"Navigators are genetically altered humans used to pilot large ships. Usually containing colonists that were put in stasis. Since space travel was new, voyages could last longer than intended due to unforeseen consequences." I paused remembering the early days of my existence. "Many of these consequences you don't think about anymore because your galaxy has been mapped out and dangers to us then are inconveniences to you now."
"What are the abilities of these Navigators?" Qui-Gon asked. I took note that he didn't refer to me as one. Showing he didn't yet believe my story.
"We have unlimited life spans, powers that can be compared to your Jedi abilities, and the ability to teleport ourselves and things around us." I said. "It is our long life spans and the ability to teleport that made us so useful. The Jedi-like powers were merely to give us means to protect ourselves, ship, and cargo from a very dangerous and unknowable galaxy."
Qui-Gon merely nodded, which I took to mean to continue my story. "However, becoming a Navigator came with two great costs. The first was an ever increasing inability to feel like a human. The other was an extreme rage that could overtake us at any moment. For the majority of the time Navigators were many, this rage never accounted to much. Until the Massacre which only left six Navigators still alive." I paused as memories of that day overtook me. The bloodshed, everything. I was finally able to calm myself down after a few minutes. "I left the other five to search for a cure. Since I left them I became The Rogue and they The Five. I managed to find a cure that defeated the rage but I still can't feel like I did before I became a Navigator."
"So the Five are the Sith of the legend?" Qui-Gon asked. "And you created the legend with five Sith Lords in case the Heart of the Darkness was ever found?"
I nodded. "Yes, so in case the ship was ever found, the legend would not be questioned." There was a moment of silence and then Qui-Gon signaled for me to continue. "After I became the Rogue and found the Cure, the Five's hate against me had increased like never before. I ended up running to this galaxy and found a home on the planet Atlan. I first arrived on it before the dominant lifeforms had completely matured. As such I was a kind of god in their eyes and helped them build their civilization. Once space travel was starting to become normal in this galaxy, the Five had managed to track me down."
I took a moment to figure out how to explain this next part to him. "The Five came to great power around the Sith War and so I was finally forced to act. Previously I had managed to hide while they didn't cause any great act of chaos. But I had to act. While we didn't have any friendship by the end, they were still the only things reminiscent of the time of my youth. Back when I was naive. So I put them into cyrogenic sleep and hid the Heart of the Darkness, moving it when people got too close to it."
Qui-Gon leaned back and crossed his arms. I could see the thoughts of whether or not to believe me going through his head. And, really, what proof did I have to give him? The word of a human female he had just met? I decided to help him out.
I teleported around the room long enough for him to know, through his Force Senses, that I was really teleporting. That my teleporting was not just a cheap trick.
"Can you actually teleport another person?" He finally asked.
I nodded. "But the feeling of cold most experience sometimes leads to a coma or even death. Though in most cases it just leaves you knocked out and when you come to you have a migraine."
Qui-Gon's arms were uncrossed and he looked lost. What I told him was a lot to take in. But he believed it. A simple use of my abilities and he knew what I had said was true. When he looked into my eyes I saw awe and longing. I had expected the awe part, not because I thought I was important, but because my story changed what people thought. Especially my ability to destroy a long held belief as something I had made up to cover my own tracks.
The longing I hadn't expected. Not from a Jedi Master, even though I knew they had faults just like everyone else. There had been signs he had interest in me. The main one being the sublte one of him telling me something he didn't seem apt to share with others. But I didn't expect anything like infatuation to come from it.
The look of longing in his eyes quickly went away, as he realized what he had felt and shared, and he said, "I believe you, Rinn."
-----------------------
Inbetween tumblr
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Supernatural "Remember the Titans" Review
Who is that mysterious man that dies and comes back to life? Prometheus of course!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Shipping Confessions: Serek (TSCC)
Back to the lovely Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles! Oh how I've missed you. And I wish you could've lived a long life. Spanning many seasons and letting my obsession boil to new heights.
Oh, right, supposed to be writing a blog post here. Not a love letter to TSCC (aka, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). That can wait for later.
Anyways, we're back to talking about TSCC. And we are again going to talk about Sarah Connor. But instead of pairing her up with the enigmatic Cameron, we're going to look at the ship of Serek. Serek is the ship pairing Sarah Connor and Derek Reese together. And Serek is my OTP (One True Pairing) for TSCC. This is the pairing I watched the whole show wishing it would become canon. Before that glorious moment, a Terminator killed Derek with a head shot.
I believe Brian Austin Green (actor who played Derek Reese) said he didn't want his character to have a relationship with Sarah Connor.
Let's look at the fierce warrior queen Sarah Connor first. In the first Terminator film Sarah falls in love with a soldier from the future sent back to protect her. We also find out later that this soldier, Kyle Reese, was also sent back to impregnate her (you can't tell me John Connor didn't plan for it to happen, at least in the timeline that The Terminator deals with).
I am probably the only one who doesn't buy the love story in The Terminator and how deep it becomes by Terminator 2: Judgment Day. I find Kyle and Sarah to be lusting after each other. If Kyle's dialogue in The Terminator is to be believed, he saved himself for a woman he didn't know he would ever be able to meet. And Sarah? She didn't have enough time to really get to know Kyle.
But her relationship with Derek had longer to form. Did she think about Kyle? Probably. Though she ended up thinking of Derek as his own person.
Derek Reese is the older brother of Kyle Reese. He's also the darker one of the two, though he is still very much a 'good guy'. What's interesting, at least from a behind the scenes stand point, is that he was only supposed to appear for an episode or two and then die (or leave). On the DVD extras for Season 1 they have an audition tape for all the actors except for BAG (aka Brian Austin Green).
Derek, over the short two seasons, matches up good with Sarah. They have many little verbal sparring matches that seem to be done more out of love than hate. Yes, Sarah's last real conversation with Derek was that she didn't trust him/hated him (long story short: she blamed him for Riley Dawson's death and the chaos that had ensued before and after). But after he had died, and she's explaining it to James Ellison, Sarah mentions Derek's name first. Plus she might have been wearing his jacket (or at least a similar one to it, let's just say I stared at a picture for a long time over a series of days).
Now I know a lot of you will bring up Jesse Flores and say that was his love interest for the series. To me, and others, there was no real chemistry between the two. Both of them had their own interests of being a couple:
Jesse Flores wanted to use Derek after she had John kill Cameron (long story short: plan didn't work), so that Jesse could influence how John looked at Terminators and therefore ran the Resistance. I think Jesse liked Derek, but it wasn't the love that she once felt. Though she wished that it was.
Derek Reese wanted to be with Jesse to pretend that things were like they had been. It wasn't good when he was from, but something familiar always brings comfort in an ever changing world. It's also why I don't blame him for not looking too hard at Jesse's real motives.
Why did I bring that up? Because while it's canon, it didn't really have that much emotion behind it. Derek and Sarah, while not being a canon ship, had a lot more power and nuance to it.
You could tell that Sarah loved Derek. Their first meeting (well, the first meeting where they knew the other and weren't trying to beat the other up) at the prison hinted at what was to come. Subtle things were thrown in the conversation (and not so subtle things) to show that both were attracted to the other.
Jesse even comments at one point how easy it is for Sarah to get him to do things.
Finally, the shower scene. When Sarah found out that Derek killed Andy Goode, she confronted him in the shower about it. She also tells him that they will meet with a man the following day.
So why confront him while he's in the shower, with hot water running down him, and he's completely naked? While Sarah did want to intimidate him, she also wanted to see how that hot bod looked without clothing.
This is one of those times where a third season would not help this ship evolve. It could have Sarah admit her feelings for Derek, but that's about it. As the Derek we saw through the majority of Seasons 1 and 2 is dead.
Let me end this by saying to those who ship Jesse and Derek: I don't believe in the ship myself. But you have it being canon to back you up. Damn you lucky bastards!
So what is up for the next Shipping Confessions? We will stick with TSCC and talk about a very popular canon shipping. The reason this isn't breaking the rules I set forth in the introduction to this series, is that I don't think a lot of people really believe I ship it. At least I don't talk about it often.
Oh, right, supposed to be writing a blog post here. Not a love letter to TSCC (aka, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). That can wait for later.
Anyways, we're back to talking about TSCC. And we are again going to talk about Sarah Connor. But instead of pairing her up with the enigmatic Cameron, we're going to look at the ship of Serek. Serek is the ship pairing Sarah Connor and Derek Reese together. And Serek is my OTP (One True Pairing) for TSCC. This is the pairing I watched the whole show wishing it would become canon. Before that glorious moment, a Terminator killed Derek with a head shot.
I believe Brian Austin Green (actor who played Derek Reese) said he didn't want his character to have a relationship with Sarah Connor.
Let's look at the fierce warrior queen Sarah Connor first. In the first Terminator film Sarah falls in love with a soldier from the future sent back to protect her. We also find out later that this soldier, Kyle Reese, was also sent back to impregnate her (you can't tell me John Connor didn't plan for it to happen, at least in the timeline that The Terminator deals with).
I am probably the only one who doesn't buy the love story in The Terminator and how deep it becomes by Terminator 2: Judgment Day. I find Kyle and Sarah to be lusting after each other. If Kyle's dialogue in The Terminator is to be believed, he saved himself for a woman he didn't know he would ever be able to meet. And Sarah? She didn't have enough time to really get to know Kyle.
But her relationship with Derek had longer to form. Did she think about Kyle? Probably. Though she ended up thinking of Derek as his own person.
Derek Reese is the older brother of Kyle Reese. He's also the darker one of the two, though he is still very much a 'good guy'. What's interesting, at least from a behind the scenes stand point, is that he was only supposed to appear for an episode or two and then die (or leave). On the DVD extras for Season 1 they have an audition tape for all the actors except for BAG (aka Brian Austin Green).
Derek, over the short two seasons, matches up good with Sarah. They have many little verbal sparring matches that seem to be done more out of love than hate. Yes, Sarah's last real conversation with Derek was that she didn't trust him/hated him (long story short: she blamed him for Riley Dawson's death and the chaos that had ensued before and after). But after he had died, and she's explaining it to James Ellison, Sarah mentions Derek's name first. Plus she might have been wearing his jacket (or at least a similar one to it, let's just say I stared at a picture for a long time over a series of days).
Now I know a lot of you will bring up Jesse Flores and say that was his love interest for the series. To me, and others, there was no real chemistry between the two. Both of them had their own interests of being a couple:
Jesse Flores wanted to use Derek after she had John kill Cameron (long story short: plan didn't work), so that Jesse could influence how John looked at Terminators and therefore ran the Resistance. I think Jesse liked Derek, but it wasn't the love that she once felt. Though she wished that it was.
Derek Reese wanted to be with Jesse to pretend that things were like they had been. It wasn't good when he was from, but something familiar always brings comfort in an ever changing world. It's also why I don't blame him for not looking too hard at Jesse's real motives.
Why did I bring that up? Because while it's canon, it didn't really have that much emotion behind it. Derek and Sarah, while not being a canon ship, had a lot more power and nuance to it.
You could tell that Sarah loved Derek. Their first meeting (well, the first meeting where they knew the other and weren't trying to beat the other up) at the prison hinted at what was to come. Subtle things were thrown in the conversation (and not so subtle things) to show that both were attracted to the other.
Jesse even comments at one point how easy it is for Sarah to get him to do things.
Finally, the shower scene. When Sarah found out that Derek killed Andy Goode, she confronted him in the shower about it. She also tells him that they will meet with a man the following day.
So why confront him while he's in the shower, with hot water running down him, and he's completely naked? While Sarah did want to intimidate him, she also wanted to see how that hot bod looked without clothing.
This is one of those times where a third season would not help this ship evolve. It could have Sarah admit her feelings for Derek, but that's about it. As the Derek we saw through the majority of Seasons 1 and 2 is dead.
Let me end this by saying to those who ship Jesse and Derek: I don't believe in the ship myself. But you have it being canon to back you up. Damn you lucky bastards!
So what is up for the next Shipping Confessions? We will stick with TSCC and talk about a very popular canon shipping. The reason this isn't breaking the rules I set forth in the introduction to this series, is that I don't think a lot of people really believe I ship it. At least I don't talk about it often.
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