Yes, now that "Scottiarty" is dead (Moffat and Gatiss confirmed it at Comic Con, though I'm still a little skeptical (Rule #1 of Fandoms: The Writers Lie)) there's a open position for "Nemesis for Cumberlock" over on BBC's Sherlock. And now we got an applicant!
Ladies and gentlemen, I present: Charles Augustus Magnussen!
Yes, he's obviously supposed to be "Charles Augstus Milverton" (don't ask me why they changed the name), the antagonist from the short story he shares a name with in the canon. He was a blackmailer of women. The character recently (briefly) appeared in the Elementary episode "Dead Man's Switch" (you can see my review here). Yeah, I'll probably end up comparing the two when I inevitably review whatever episode he's in.
Interestingly, he played by Lars Mikkelsen. If you're not familiar with him (I'm not), than you may be familiar with his brother, Mads Mikkelsen. He (the brother) plays the titular character on Hannibal. (He was also in Casino Royale, but I only really care about the other role... ;P) *Ahem* Said it before and I'll say it again: Everything I Love Connects To Sherlock Holmes (Six Degrees of Sherlock Holmes) (It's only a matter of time, Supernatural.).
I'm excited. In Milverton's story, Sherlock is pushed into doing questionable things. It'll be interesting to see if the same happens here. I can't wait. And I'm sure Lars Mikkelsen will do fantastic as Charles Augustus Magnussen, the character will no doubt be another fantastic addition to the cast.
So long as he doesn't make Hugh Dancy cry, we're good! ;)
As I've made no secret, I am a huge fan of Sherlock and Doctor Who. And if there is one inevitability for "Wholockians", it's that they become fans of another show. And we're gonna talk about that show! Ladies and gents, Supernatural.
Supernatural is a show from here in The States. It revolves around two brothers: Sam and Dean Winchester. When the boys were kids, their mother was killed by a demon. That spurred their father to go out on the road and hunt demons (and other monsters, as well), raising the boys to do the same. 22 Years later, Sam (the younger brother, played by Jared Padalecki) has tried to leave the life of a hunter behind by going to college and considering marrying his girlfriend Jessica. But a hunter never truly retires, as Dean (played by Jensen Ackles) shows up, telling him that their father disappeared. Thus begins the brothers' journey. Ganking, Demonic Hijinks, and The Longest Road Trip In The Greatest Car EVER ensues...
Anyway, I love the show. Each season has its own arc of sorts (each in varying degrees of goodness). They all kind of interconnect, and it's fun to see what pieces of continuity they drag back up. The show has been on for 8 seasons (season 9 starts in October) and for a show to stay on so long (let alone keep up decent quality, even after switching showrunners three times throughout) is a testament in and of itself. (Granted, I've only seen the first seven seasons in their entirety (eight isn't out on DVD or Netflix yet) but still...)
The characters are incredibly likeable. Of course, there's the charmingly roguish Dean (who is kinda my favorite of the brothers (shh!)) and the symathetically tragic (and often adorable) Sam. But the supporting characters (the ones who come back) are great, too. There's Bobby (played by Jim Beaver), an older hunter and family friend to the Winchesters who's pretty much the boys' real father in a sense (as far as I'm concerned...). Castiel (played by Misha Collins) an angel of the lord and friend of Dean who's comedically serious (and adorable) and is always fun to see. And, of course, the show-stealing Crowley (played by Mark Sheppard), The King of the Crossroads Demons who is probably one of my favorite villains ever.
Another great thing about this show is that they don't take themselves too seriously. Yes, they have dark, creepy, heavy, angsty episodes, but they balance it. They have goofy, fun episodes like: when they got sucked into TV shows, Dean becomes terrorfied of everything, and even one where they're teleported into OUR universe (albeit exaggerated) where their life is just a TV show... The writers are awesome. It really helps offset the show's creepier/sadder moments. And I don't mind the "filler", because it keeps the season's plots/arcs up enough.
The show does have its share of gore (seriously, I can't count the number of times someone's bled from the mouth). And there have been some freaky/gag-inducing moments. But, like Hannibal, it works for the show and its tone. Sure, it's not artistic like Hannibal, but they're hunting demons; it ain't exactly a clean job. Also, be prepared for a LOT of characters dying, often more than once...
One more thing I want to talk about is the use of music on this show. Not the background soundtrack stuff (which is good), but the use of OTHER music. They use a lot of classic rock (and other songs) and it is AWESOME! I DARE you not to want to belt out "Carry On My Wayward Son" during "The Road So Far" segments of the season finales. If they realeased a soundtrack of nothing but the classic rock songs on the show, I'd buy it in a heartbeat! It's fantastic.
Final Thoughts:
-I can't list all my fave moments, and a list of my favorite episodes would be another post entirely...
-The gag reels for the show are awesome, 'nuff said.
-I'm convinced now, due to Jensen Ackles's pure charm, he might have been better/more acceptable option for The Wizard than James Franco in Oz: The Great and Powerful...
-Also, I've yet to find a role I haven't liked Mark Sheppard in yet (granted, I've only seen two...). I think he's officially one of my favorite actors, now...
-The best game to play watching marathons of this show is the "What's Wrong, Sammy/Dean?" "Nothing's Wrong, Dean/Sammy!" The object is to see how many episodes a brother goes before sharing his current angst...
-The two episodes the creator apologizes for ("Bugs" and "Red Sky at Morning") both had a woman killed in the shower by the paranormal force of the week. Let this be a lesson, writers: don't kill women with monsters in the showers, it makes whatever you're writting terrible...
-Why haven't they done a musical episode yet? I am disappointed...
Overall, this show is a lot of fun, and I enjoy it. The first seven seasons are all on DVD and Netflix, season eight comes out on DVD in September (but can be found online), and season nine premires on The CW in October. I highly recommend it...
Okay, so Thursday I went to the movies and saw Despicable Me 2 (it was a cute and funny movie, BTW). And, obviously, there were movie trailers. I had thoughts on the trailers, of course, so I decided, "Hey, let's judge the trailers and share our thoughts on them with all of Internetland! ^_^" They say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but they say nothing about movies and trailers. Besides, trailers are supposed to give good impressions. After all, they're trying to get you to watch the freaking movie and help them get your eight bucks (or more, if it's in gratuitous glorious 3D)! So, here's my experiment, I call it, "Trailer Park".
Okay, I'll stick to the ones I saw in the theater Thursday, and if you like it, I'll do more of the trailers out there...
Okay, first up:
ENDER'S GAME
Okay, I'm gonna start by saying I've never read Ender's Game. I knew it was a book before seeing this trailer, but I never read it. The trailer looks alright, your typical sci-fi epic fare. But what caught my attention is the sheer amount of "Academy Award Nominee"s in the trailer. It feels like they're trying to make this into award bait or are just flaunting their credentials. Like "LOOKIT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ACCOMPLISHED STUFF! WATCH THIS!!!!!" Just because you have successful people in or behind something, it doesn't necessarily mean it's guaranteed to be a good movie. How many good actors have been in complete bombs/stupid movies? Heck, how many good directors have made complete bombs/stupid movies? Plus, notice 90% of the actors they're flaunting are just nominees. There's only one they admit won something: Ben Kingsley (oh hai, nice to see you again after Iron Man 3!). Yeah, I'm a tad skeptical.
...Oh, and Harrison Ford is in here, too. Nice to see you, too, HanIndy Ford...
R.I.P.D.
(I can't find the exact one I saw this time, sorry, but I did see a different one before Man of Steel, so I guess I'll put that one up... Sorry about the annotations, can't be helped... ;/)
This movie looks like it can be fun. Not a cinematic masterpiece, but fun. Ryan Reynolds is pretty funny. I think I'd enjoy this one. Also, I can't help but notice something about Ryan Reynolds. Ever notice how he seems to be in every movie for a while, then sorta vanishes for a while? He's almost never a major role in just one movie? Like he has to recharge his powers or something (I don't think he was fully charged in 2011, hence that Green Lantern movie I heard was awful and The Change-Up which looked like a terrible movie from it's trailer...).
One more thing, seeing as this is yet another comic book movie he's in, I'm now convinced that in the future, all male comic book characters will have been played by Ryan Reynolds at least once, and if not, Chris Evans will have played them. :P (And in animation, they'll have all been voiced by Nolan North...)
PLANES
*buries head in hands* Pixar, wh-why do you keep making Cars-related films? NOBODY LIKES CARS THAT MUCH! (Personally, I find them rather "eh" and not exactly Pixar's best work.) Is Disney making you continue to make them because they make money from the merchandise? Because they make money from the Disney Princess line, but they don't force the animation department to make sequels to those movies... Anymore...
(Speaking of Direct-To-Video sequels, this was originally intended to be a DTV movie. Make with that what you will...)
Also, you got Dane Cook to voice the main character? DANE FRIGGIN' COOK!? HAVE YOU NOT SEEN HIS WORK!? *facepalm* It ain't exactly "kid-friendly". (Though, I guess that could be said with a lot of actors in animated movies, but for some reason this one in particular strikes me as mind-boggling...)
Finally, the whole "dog" joke throws me for a loop. There... there are no living creatures except the vehicles in this world, how do they know what a "dog" is? It can't be a "we call certain vehicles "dogs"", because the first one had tractors act like cows, but they were still called 'tractors"! It doesn't make sense with the world. Unless...
Sweet merciful Disney...
...The Cars universe takes place after the end of life on the planet. Life died in the machine uprising. This... this is horrifying! The dark implications... *shudder*
Something less over-thinkable and lighter, please!
(Also, I love how the trailers posted to YouTube I looked at ALL had annotation links to How To Train Your Dragon 2's teaser trailer. EVEN YOUTUBE THINKS YOU SHOULD WATCH THE TRAILER FOR WHAT WILL PROBABLY BE A BETTER MOVIE! (I do thoughts on that trailer if I do another one of these...))
TURBO
(Can't find the trailer I saw, sorry)
Oh, lookie, the OTHER movie with Ryan Reynolds... Yeah, when it comes to DreamWorks Animation, I'll wait for How To Train Your Dragon 2, thanks. Also, I can't help but notice that, well, the trailers can't seem to decide what song to go with? Usually, trailers stick to one, maybe two songs per trailer. These ones just use every song they can think of! (Plus, the one I saw pretty much gave away the whole plot... I hate those trailers...)
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
SO. MANY. FOOD PUNS...
I saw the first one, it was better than I thought it'd be. It was... cute... I kinda question the need for a sequel, though (besides "MOAR MONEY FOR SONY")... Though the food puns may be worth a Netflix Instant View... I guess...
FREE BIRDS
This just looks dumb. It truly does. That's all I have to say... Really? Just... really? (Fun fact, I'd totally forgotten what this movie was called. My brain is actively trying to forget this...)
...Is there an unspoken rule that executives HAVE to let at least one lame animated/kids movie out to make the rest look better in comparison?
"We have to greenlight a movie that'll make Planes look like Up!" "IT CAN'T BE DONE, JOHNSON! IT CAN'T BE DONE!!!" "Get a hold of yourself, Perkins!"
...I am taking these family flicks too seriously...
---
So, yeah, this was my experiment. Tell me what you think! Should I do this more often? (I promise, next time I'll have more diversity in trailers...) Are there any trailers you want me to throw my two cents in about? (I know How To Train Your Dragon 2 and The Sea of Monsters are two I want to talk about next time... maybe Thor: The Dark World...)
Hello, and welcome to The Mildy Nerdy Ramblings Of A Loveable Freak Internet Reviewing Initiative. Test Subject: LOVEABLE FREAK has just completed Video Game: PORTAL for Entertainment, Reviewing, and Science. Her findings during the experiment have been compiled for HER peers as follows:
Test Subject: LOVEABLE FREAK
Video Game: PORTAL
Hey, guys! Long time no write! So, I've finally played Portal! You see, there's this rental place in my town (yeah, those still exist! I know, I'm shocked, too!) and they finally had a copy of The Orange Box (AKA The only way I could play the game without downloading it on its own from Xbox Live...), so I grabbed it and played.
And hoo boy, am I glad I did...
Alright, in the game, you play as Chell, our silent protagonist. She is stuck in the facility of Aperture Science, doing tests for the AI known as GLaDOS, who promises cake if you succeed in these dangerous tests. But as you continue, you'll see things aren't right in Aperture... Puzzles, Lies, and Turrets ensue.
In the game, you have the portal gun, which shoots, you guessed it, ducks. No, it's portals (obviously). You use them on the right surface to get around. You also have to get objects to the right buttons, use freaking annoying energy ball-shooty thingies to power up devices, and try and take out turrets.
The game is very fun, and the puzzles of each test chamber are fun and challenging. (It wasn't until the last chambers I had to break down and use walkthroughs... :/) It is relatively short, I'd gauge a little over the length of a game on the Internet, give or take. I'd say because it IS on a disc with 4 other games (Half-Life 2, 2side games of that game, and Team Fortress 2). I beat it in a little over a day, two days tops (a personal best!). But it's enjoyable, nonetheless.
The story is pretty good, too, though it doesn't really kick in until the later parts of the game. GLaDOS is one of the only speaking things (besides the turrets, who I'll get to later, and the personality cores) in the whole game, offering twistedly hilarious comments as you progress through the game. In fact, the game's often twisted, dark, Invader Zim-like humor is one of the highlights of the game!
Also, the game can be quite creepy at times. As you progress through the chambers, you'll start to find the scrawlings of someone who's been there before you, hidden in panels. There's the turrets, who, while having adorably childlike voices, WILL kill you with extreme prejudice (the blood... the blood... I didn't know so much could spray from the body while that body stays alive...). Heck, their cuteness almost makes them scarier... And there's the eerie atmosphere of the facility when you leave the chambers to... I've said too much, I don't want to spoil a 6 year old game... But it works for the game...
Test Subject: LOVEABLE FREAK left some extra notes as well:
-I freaking hate the energy ball things. They're hard to keep track of and kill you on contact. I'm glad they switched to lasers in the sequel... (yes, I've played the second one, too. I'll review that when I finish co-op with my brother...)
-I think I'd be here all day if I listed my favorite GLaDOS lines...
-Curiousity Core's my favorite core in this game...
-Alas, poor Companion Cube...
-I liked the part of the game where you have a whole large room of turrets, that you have to portal behind and drop. It's like something from a movie! ^_^)
-I tried not to make obvious cake jokes. I know those got old, Internet...
-... It's different, reviewing a game instead of some show or movie...
Test Subject: LOVEABLE FREAK left this final summation of her experience:
Overall, I enjoyed this game. I can see why people like it so much. It's fun, and I highly recommend it. I think it's available on Steam, I don't know, don't quote me on that, and you can get it on Xbox 360 as either part of The Orange Box (if you don't mind 4 other games (I think if I get my own copy, I'll try the other games, too...)), or if you have Xbox Live, as a download. Well, GLaD I played it, and finally wrote something here again. And I'll try to write more and review the next one! ^_^
