Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Magical Place" Review

This show's hiatus was one of the most painful. Why? Because of that killer cliffhanger at the end of last episode. Coulson was captured and it seemed we were finally going to get answers in this episode.

Now I've seen enough to know that when an episode seems to promise the answers to all things that it won't happen. All you can hope for in those episodes are some parts of the major questions being answered. And in this episode we do find out that Coulson is not a Life Model Decoy.

I knew that wouldn't be the case, but I was still saddened. I'd have loved to have a Robot Coulson.

However, we do find out that Coulson was dead for a few days and Nick Fury couldn't let him die. From the end of the episode it seems that whatever happened in the procedures wasn't something you talk about in polite conversation. So Fury must have really wanted Coulson alive as he doesn't seem to be one to go to the Dark Side quickly.

Skye is given a real chance to shine. She's not guided by anyone, that much, and she is able to complete her mission. When she pretends to be May she looks extremely good in that outfit. Not only physically, but she looks good because there was this badassness that was in every inch of her.

May is shown to care about about the team. She may have a rigid exterior and you can hardly tell what she's thinking, but she cares about the group. Maybe not the whole group, but Coulson himself for sure. As she toys with a fellow agent to allow Skye the ability to work as best as she can so Coulson can be found.

If you're wondering: I do ship Skye and Coulson but the idea of May and Coulson is seeming pretty good right now.

Fitz and Simmons have some good moments in the episode. Including one where Simmons badly hides that a bag doesn't contain a sandwich and Skye tells Simmons that she isn't a good liar.

The scene where Coulson finally remembers his operation is cringe worthy. Not in a bad way but because the scene is so emotional that you can't help but feel something. And that swell of emotion makes you cringe because there's not much else you can do to let your feelings out.

Okay, I might have squealed and yelled at the tv if no one else was around. But that wasn't an option for me tonight.

So while we got a few questions answered, there are more out there: How did they manage to have Coulson dead and bring him back to life? Was the reason for changing Coulson's memory the reason stated in the episode?

I wonder about who this Clairvoyant is and what powers he or she actually has. Maybe if Coulson's story is fully revealed then the Clairvoyant will be the next big mystery to be solved.

TV Shows

DOOM: A Failed Adaptation

Movie adaptations are always a tricky thing to do. You have fans that hate any minor change and will loathe the movie if it even fails slightly. Even to the non-picky watcher, there is hardly a good movie adaptation of a book. Video game movie adaptations have a much higher fail rate than books do.

So when I saw DOOM (released in 2005) for the first time all I was asking for was a good time. A space marine going into Hell and battling demons. The games (of which I and II are a big part of my childhood) didn't have a plot. Everything in the game was an excuse to have to kill things.

So the adaptation having a plot wasn't something that I needed. But it would be a good bonus.

The movie failed at the basic premise of DOOM. While the location was Mars, there were gates that took you between worlds, and there were space marines: there was not much of the game in the movie other than that.

The plot didn't involve demons but, instead, an extra chromosome turning people into either super powerful good guys or deformed super powerful bad guys. The science being wrong didn't bother me as I sort of like science mumbojumbo in my sci-fi movies. What bothered me was that it meant there were no demons.

Part of the movie being on Mars wouldn't be a big deal as seeing how the Space Marine got into Hell isn't a problem. It's not like that backstory would destroy a movie adaptation of the game. But having it all take place on Mars means it takes away from the location of the games!

Yes, the show Elementary takes the location from London to New York but it is one of many updates that manages to still keep the show true to the original stories. Such as the main character is STILL Sherlock Holmes who is STILL a genius detective and STILL has trouble forming relationships with other people.

So Elementary changes the location while still paying respects to the heart of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (and even has one episode where Sherlock and Watson go to London) but the DOOM movie changes location and it just adds to its not understanding the game series.

Even though the DOOM movie is a horrible adaptation, I enjoy it. If it wasn't supposed to be an adaptation of the game series I wouldn't complain. It has the cheesiness that I love.

Plus, it introduced me to an actor I now love: Karl Urban!

Doom (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Almost Human "Simon Says" Review

I am doing this episode review as a written review since, at the moment, filming a vlog would be a little difficult.

Hiatuses are always a little difficult to deal with. Especially when they're for a show you love or that the hiatuses just come out of nowhere. The Almost Human hiatus wasn't that bad as there wasn't a cliffhanger unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hannibal.

Nevertheless, I couldn't wait until the next episode of Almost Human finally came on.

This episode, more than any other, made me cringe. It made me afraid of what would happen to the characters. Even when John Kennex had a collar put around his neck and I knew he'd survive, I was still afraid. I think that particular scene was tense because during the entire episode Dorian didn't have enough of a charge and so he was weaker, among other things.

This episode title comes from the game 'Simon Says' where a person tells others what to do. If you don't follow the instructions exactly, you lose. In this episode, though, you lose your life.

The episode reminded me highly of the movie Untraceable starring Diane Lane and released in 2008. In the episode, like in the movie, the killer shows the deaths online. In both you see how disgusting and terrifying people can be. How badly people want to see others die.

It turns out the killer in the episode is killing people who have wronged him in some way shape or form. He kills someone that worked at a bank because the man denied him a loan. He then goes after a woman who didn't return his affections. Finally he goes after John Kennex who embarrassed him to his online followers.

Karl Urban does a wonderful job as John Kennex. He gives his character wit when faced with death. Urban played Judge Dredd in the remake of the film (which I still have to see and don't know why I haven't seen it since it also stars Lena Headey) and so I was saying "I am the law!" during at least once during the episode.

Michael Ealy does a good job as the neurotic Dorian. It turns out that there is a problem with how much energy can be spared to charge robots. This seems to be more of a "we wants this, but can't really explain why it happened".

All in all this was another good episode and I can't wait for next episode.

Fringe: The Zodiac Paradox (Christa Faust)

Title: The Zodiac Paradox

Series: Fringe

Author: Christa Faust

Released: 2013

Rating: 3.5/6

Basic Plot: During an experiment William Bell and Walter Bishop accidentally bring the Zodiac Killer into our world. Now they must stop him.
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After Fringe
I loved the show Fringe. Hell, I still do. My favorite character, hands down, was Walter Bishop. The hottest character for me was Peter Bishop. The one of the Fringe team that always seemed to be ignored was Astro...I mean Astrid Farnsworth. I am so thankful that the fan support was able to keep Fringe on-air for five seasons. So when I heard that there were going to be Fringe books I was excited. I was hoping they'd explore Walter after he went to the future with Michael, but we didn't get that. However, I don't hold that against them.

The Zodiac Killer
I like the real life references. The killer is called Alan and Graysmith is mentioned a few times. I like seeing the Fringe take on the Zodiac Killer. Adding him having radioactive powers and also being from the redverse just drew me in. I admit I'm a b-horror movie fan and a premise like this stimulated that love more than anything. However, I didn't like that a full resolution of the character wasn't given. Why was he radioactive? What mental problems did he have that made him kill people since it seemed he had to appease something?

Walter Bishop
Walter is my favorite character so I was glad to see him returning for this prequel series. Like in the tv series he's a funny character but with a good heart. However, I was expecting more of the Walter seen in the flashback episodes who was a little more heartless than the Walter we see in the majority of the tv series. This didn't bother me enough to hate the Walter in this novel.

Final Thoughts
I judged this book by trying to remove my expectations. I tried searching this on Fringepedia (the Fringe Wiki) to hopefully get a better idea of this book. However, it's not on there. I know on the Terminator Wiki some books aren't on the site as well as there not being enough info on other books. So if there are contradictions between what this book says and the Fringe tv show please tell me. While we don't get a great idea of who Alan actually is, we do get a reason for Walter and Bell to invent cortexiphan and start the cortexiphan trials.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Title: The Desolation of Smaug

Series: The Hobbit

Based on novel by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, and Richard Armitage

Rated: PG-13

Released: 2013

Personal Rating: 4/6

Oscars: N/A

Plot: The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
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Unneeded Love Triangle
Now in a lot of stories nowadays there are love triangles. While sometimes they can work (my own love triangle in S and N is to show how Naz evolves during the series), a lot of times they're pointless like in the Twilight series in which you know Bela will end up with Edward. Never mind the fact that there are so many love triangles that people have grown sick of them. Enter Tauriel who is an original creation for this movie. She had the chance to be a kickass woman that needed no man or was in a relationship with someone. However, the studio made it so that there was a useless love triangle involving Tauriel, Legolas, and Kili. Don't they understand that the movie didn't need a love triangle, or any romance, for it to work?

Smaug
I am a dragon fangirl. I just love all the different types of dragons so a dragon being in this one was a big draw for me. And they did Smaug very well. The people who designed the dragon did an excellent job, but without Benedict Cumberbatch doing the voice and motion-capture it would mean nothing. How Smaug moves and talks is so creepy and yet enticing at the same time. I'm actually going to be sad to not see anymore Smaug after the next movie.

The Ending
I, and everyone else, knew that there was going to be a third movie. So I knew there was going to be a cliffhanger. However, this movie's ending felt more like it was taking place in the middle of a scene. I don't mind cliffhangers (well I have a love/hate relationship with them) and this one just didn't really do it for me.

Final Thoughts
I disagree completely with The Hobbit being made into three movies. The book is shorter than any one of the Lord of the Rings books. Three movies makes it clear that this is a cash grab. That being said...I will still see the final one. Visually these movies are just beautiful and there are enough good things to hold my interest. And I'm highly biased for this movie since there is a dragon and he's shown as something not easy to defeat. I'm hoping that the love triangle goes nowhere next movie as I'd prefer Tauriel to be on her own as to not dignify the love triangle with a 'satisfying' ending.

Unboxing (Part 8)

I finally finish unboxing!



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All of Unboxing

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Cato Neimoidia Part 2)

I'm just sitting down after finish the Cato Neimoidia part. I feel good. A much different feeling than last night when I got lost for all eternity.

So here is what I thought of the last part of Cato Neimoidia...

I started off where I left off: at the jumping into madness part. The video I watched last night showed to jump to one place and then jump then dash to the ledge/entrance. I decided to not do that exactly, but I did jump and then dash. It took me two tries and I made it!

Oh, yeah!

The next few sections involved just the normal fighting. I don't know what one enemy is called but they are awesome and I'm glad I get to fight them without quick time events (except one that I can't figure out what the hell it's supposed to be doing). They're large and have a shield and then they explode when they die. Yeah, they're robots.

At the end of the level you get a look at the new enemies and...they're going to be both a pain in the ass and awesome to fight. At least that's what it looks like.

Back to the level itself: the big bad of the level is a Gorog. The entrance of the creature is just plain awesome. You're in the arena and Baron Sexyvoice says to release the Gorog. Then, in the arena, a rancor is released.

Now rancors are fearsome, but I know that they aren't Gorogs. Then a huge hand reaches at the rancor and the Gorog reveals itself. And holy shit is it big!

You have to harm each hand enough so that you can put a chain on each wrist. However, the wrists will heal and then you'll have to cause enough damage to try to put the chain on it again.

This would be very simple if not for the fact that the Gorog will attack you with its arms and, after the first wrist is restrained, other enemies will appear to attack you while you're trying to focus just on the Gorog.

After that is done you're not done with the Gorog as you  have to rush through hallways full of Stormtroopers while the Gorog will attack you if you linger too long. You also seem to have to defeat each wave of troopers before you are allowed to continue down the hallway.

The final bit of the level has you throw your lightsabers to bring down some supports. I admit I don't use this ability that often (if at all) and so I had to look up how to do the move. Luckily the game will allow you to pause and see how to do certain moves.

You do get to use the Force Sight ability again to solve a puzzle. You have to defeat the enemies before you do since getting shot instantly turns off Force Sight.

There is a yellow crystal in the fire place and I would've missed it if I didn't love fire.

So what happens in the plot?

Starkiller finally gets to Kota and works to escape with him. The wisecracks between these two is just awesome.

During their escape the Baron gets eaten by the Gorog. Aw!

When Starkiller and Kota get back to the ship it's revealed that Juno's fate is unknown.

Kota wants Starkiller and himself to help the Rebellion. Starkiller, on the other hand, wants to go somewhere to find himself and search for Juno. Starkiller tells Kota that he's a clone and needs to figure things out while Kota is convinced Starkiller is the original and not a clone.

Kota's reaction to Starkiller's wants is strange as I'd think a Jedi would want a calm mind. Since having an unstable mind would mean you'd be closer to the Dark Side.

Starkiller drops Kota off on a space station (per the Jedi's request) and goes to Dagobah.
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All of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II