THE STRANGEVERSE!

The "L O S T" Effect

2012-02-21T15:06:00.001-08:00

Ever so often I'm confronted with something that I must address for no other reason but to make certain things clear to ignorant people. Now that we're in early 2012, the post "L O S T" era, "L O S T" fans like yours truly are looking for the next time consuming sci-fi, fantasy epic. HOWEVER, there are people who take the fun out of this search by comparing everything to "L O S T" even IF THERE IS NO ACTUAL COMPARISON! I have seen this done with "The Event"(granted "The Event" sucked major ass, but that's beside the point) even though "The Event" merely used flashbacks. Here's something people need to learn, "L O S T" merely made flashbacks popular again but FLASHBACKS HAVE EXISTED BEFORE "L O S T"!

This isn't a problem unique to "L O S T" but it IS something I've seen occur during and after "L O S T" ended enough for me to call this problem The "L O S T" Effect. So I'm writing this article to completely thwart this ideology. First of all a mysterious Island ISN'T anything brand new, why Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island" comes to mind, BUT if you want a more recent epic saga about a mysterious island, look no further than "Sonic & Knuckles", which featured not ONLY a mysterious island, but a mysterious FLOATING ISLAND!

Not to mention this Island ALSO had a mysterious morally ambiguous guardian sworn to protect it's secret...

As far as Flashbacks, Flashforwards, The Afterlife and Time Travel goes, these aren't even unique to "L O S T" and I can think of ONE series that has done ALL 4!

We've been time traveling and having after life experiences LONG before you mofos !

I'm not denying that "L O S T" is unique, I'm a HUGE fan of "L O S T" but I just refuse to listen to be who think that EVERYTHING after "L O S T" is either ripping it off or should be compared to it. "Alcatraz" and "FRINGE" are 2 completely different TV shows with COMPLETELY different mythologies. And as far as "L O S T" being unique in terms of time travel and philosophical ideology, look no further than...

Ya can't beat TARDIS!

"Dr. Who" has encompassed a MULTITUDE of plot devices from other dimensions, time travel, aliens, world domination, you name it, "Dr. Who" has done it. So honestly, let "L O S T" be what it is and stop expecting every other to rip it off or make an homage to it if it involves Flashbacks or Flashforwards or Time Travel. Ugh! I hate stupid people.

"My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic"...and why it's Awesome!

2012-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

This was me at first...

So I think it's about time we talk about ponies. I'm sure most of you have seen pony related materials springing up here and there and wondering "JUST WHAT IN THE HECK IS UP WITH ALL THESE PONIES?!" then allow me to explain. For starters I do indeed consider myself to be a Bronie (MLP lingo referring to male fans of the series) and I think I can explain why "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" has managed to become such a hit with the male audience. For the 90's kids (like myself) we all remember the simpler cartoons, shows like "Doug", "Rugrats", and more specifically, "The Powerpuff Girls". Cartoons nowadays suffer from a REAL lack of focus, meaning they don't know if they wanna be dark and edgy or goofy and thoughtless. There are a few gems in the era of course ("Kim Possible" comes to mind).

But "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" is a very RARE creature in the world of modern day cartoons. "MLP:Fim" is created by Lauren Faust, creator of "Foster Home For Imaginary Friends", she's the husband of Craig McCracken (the guy who bought us "The Powerpuff Girls" and directed "Dexter's Laboratory". If those are shows you enjoyed back in the day then "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" is RIGHT up your alley. I say this because much like "The Powerpuff Girls", "MLP:Fim" has becomes the quintessential cartoon about girls but not exactly FOR girls. There are some shows out there that are made to target a strict audience BUT The Ponies of "MLP:Fim" go above and beyond being girl characters and have becomes the strong female leads we guys have been waiting to see in cartoons.

It's all in the family !

This sounds alarming because the characters are female ponies BUT female nonetheless and despite them being female I completely relate to them all on many different levels. All too often cartoons that feature a main cast of ONLY female characters, the focus of the show becomes GIRL POWER & I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR...and other things of that nature. The problem with some producers is they think THAT'S what makes a strong female character! When really the ponies in "MLP:Fim" are some of the strongest female characters I've seen in awhile. I say this because the focus of the show, despite having a completely female main cast is NOT about GIRL POWER, rather it's about something we ALL can relate to...FRIENDSHIP!

The magic of Friendship is a lot like taking shrooms...

Not some kinda mushy idea about friendship but the very idea of having people who have your back and someone who's gonna help you out no matter what. I think that's what draws us to the series. It's very honest about the innocence of the concept and at the same time dealing with it's complexities in a fun and entertaining way. In this day in age where cartoons are over saturated with innuendo it's good to have to a cartoon that's a throw back to old days; where it was about telling an awesome story and learning something by the end of it. "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" is smart without being edgy, it's honest without being preachy, and it's heartfelt without being sappy.

SO NOT SAPPY!! TRUST ME!!

I won't lie, when a buddy of mine told me about the series I was UBER skeptical, much like the image I posted above, BUT I'm glad I kept an open mind because I might have missed a little nugget of awesomeness over what, not wanting to be a dude watching a girl's show. Keep in mind I watched "Sailor Moon" when I was younger and I gone through a strange period of watching "The Winx Club" on Saturdays (No, I'm not gonna apologize for that last one, "The Winx Club" was AWESOME!) I like "MLP:Fim" mostly because it makes me feel good after I watch it, makes me feel really thankful for having such cool people that I call my friends and it makes me wanna be a better friend to them.

Scootaloo..adorable, awesome and 100% correct!

But seriously, if you enjoyed "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Dexter Laboratory" you'll have NO problem enjoying "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic", so swallow that pride and give it a shot, you really have nothing to lose and in the end you'll have something to brighten your day.

WORD!!

So It's Come To This...: The People vs. Justin Bieber

2012-02-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

This is another one of those articles where I wasn't sure if I was going to do a video or a blog about it, as you can tell I chose to do a blog because making a video would cause me to rant I feel like I should stay on topic for this particular subject. The upsetting thing is that this is an off shoot of a my previous "So It's Come To This..." article. Like all things that angry my blood I have to set up the scenario and explain just why this particular subject frustrates the living crap outta me.

So a few months ago I was browsing Youtube back when the 6 minute "The Dark Knight Rises" preview came out and I managed to track it down before Warner Brothers yanked it. I thought it was FREAKIN' awesome however I too was concerned about Bane's voice and I (stupidly) browsed the comments to see what they had to say about it. After sifting through a few comments I found one that struck a cord with me that caused me to write this article.

"This is way better than Justin Bieber"

Unfortunately I couldn't locate the comment to take a screenshot of it but that's what it said. So this is what caused me to write this article and to address a few things that bug me about the intense Justin Bieber hatred. For starters, here I am watching a video about Batman and suddenly a COMPLETELY UNRELATED TOPIC just randomly pops up.

COMPLETELY RELATED!

But that's not the most troubling thing here, the troubling thing is that there are people who believe that this is a valid comparison. Let me preamble this by saying that I am NOT a Justin Bieber fan (given where I work I am constantly exposed to his music and despite the fact that I don't exactly care for it, I fail to see the difference between him and EVERY OTHER TEENAGE SINGER THAT CAME BEFORE HIM) so the hatred that he's been getting lately has got me curious about what's so unlikable about him...and thus far I haven't found anything.

Justin Bieber is NOT the main focus of this article but he is a part of a larger point I'm going to make. I have NO problem with criticizing various media as it is our right as a people to shun the things that suck and praise the things that don't. But there's a line when criticizing becomes hating...and hating has NEVER been cool!

SO TRUE!

Understand something here people, I am NOT saying Justin Bieber is above criticism (NO ONE is above criticism) what I am saying is that a good 99.99% of the criticism he's gotten is completely invalid. Why ?! Because the people who criticize him were already against him to begin with. If Justin Bieber's music doesn't appeal to you, no problem, but if you bitch and complain about it how his music doesn't appeal to you then there's a VERY valid reason why.

YOU'RE NOT IN HIS F*CKIN' DEMOGRAPHIC THAT'S WHY!

Seriously, it's like comparing "The Wire" to "Sesame Street"!! One is a television show aimed at adults, the other is a television aimed at infants and pre-schoolers! Justin Bieber is a pop-singer aimed at young to teenage girls from middle-school to early high-school. Basically what I'm saying is if you're not a teenage girl in middle school you should kindly shut the f*ck up about Justin Bieber.

This would actually be an AWESOME concept!

But this article isn't about Justin Bieber, it's about HATERS! And as Urban Dictionary defines haters each definition implies one simple factor, HATERS ARE SUBJECTIVE! For the slow crowd what I'm saying is that Haters have no VALID reason why they dislike a person. As I've said, a lot of the hate Justin Bieber gets revolves around his voice (and as a person who's constantly criticized for his voice and told he sounds like a girl, this only makes me more sympathetic to Bieber), they talk about his appearance and how he looks like a girl (I really don't see that.), none of them can provide a valid reason why they dislike HIM (as a person). As I said before I don't care for his music but I'm not saying jack crap about Justin Bieber as a person because I have no beef with the kid.

Justin Bieber's success isn't even dependent on you! He makes his money solely from the people who buy his albums and if you haven't bought his album then you have no right to complain. Furthermore Justin Bieber is a completely avoidable musician. I'll be a prime example. I have NO CLUE what the new Lady Gaga song is...WHY?! Because I don't listen to Lady Gaga. I couldn't tell you the name of Lil' Wayne's new single, WHY?! Because I don't listen to Lil' Wayne! Basically if theres something that you don't wanna listen to;

YOU HAVE THE OPTION NOT TO LISTEN TO IT!

This brings me to the point of this article, something that STILL infuriates me TO THIS DAY! Why is it that there are people who COMPLETELY HATE a 17 year old boy making legitimate money and music that IS NOT BASED ON YOU, as opposed to an incredibly poor Italian stereo-type whose money is made from being a drunken moron and perpetuating the ideology that one doesn't have to have talent or intelligence to get ahead in life.

I'm talking about this waste of humanity.

I've raised this topic before but HONESTLY, you'd rather talk about how much Justin Bieber's music sucks as opposed to complain about the injustice that there are people out there who aren't making enough money to keep a roof over their heads while Snooki is getting paid more money than any of us will ever see in 10 years and FOR WHAT?! This isn't a matter about whether or not "The Jersey Shore" is in my demographic, this is a matter of legitimate money from working hard at making a product people in your demographic will love (Justin Bieber) and doing something that any slutty sorority girl can do (Snooki).

Did you know Snooki was paid $32,000 to speak at Rutgers University where she was quoted as saying "Study hard, party harder"...thanks Snooki, that's just what our future generation needs to hear. Seriously, why in the HELL is NO ONE SAYING JACK CRAP ABOUT THIS!? In a perfectly logical world Snooki should be shunned and invoke absolute rage and pity within us.

HITTING WOMEN IS NOT COOL! (but this guy deserves a medal for doing what we all want to!)

The fury about this whole thing isn't how people treat Justin Bieber, rather it's how people ignore VALID complaints about society. If you don't like Justin Bieber's music, NO PROBLEM, but if you're watching "The Jersey Shore" and contributing to the wealth of this stupid waste of air then you SERIOUSLY need to re-think how you view the world. And so it's come to this where I have to defend Justin Bieber for the sake of calling people's attention to an even bigger injustice, PEOPLE WITH NO TALENT MAKING GOOD MONEY OFF THEIR STUPIDITY! And I don't wanna hear any sarcastic ass-hole say "Justin Bieber doesn't have any talent either!" The boy has enough talent to achieve what he needs to (making inoffensive pop music for teenage girl) so that's not a valid argument.

Anyways, please leave your comments and thoughts below and once again I'm Ugo Strange and this is "So It's Come To This..." .

DEXTER-ity: Season Six Review & Analysis

2012-01-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

The Movies I'm Looking Forward To in 2012

2012-01-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Once again it's that time where I sit down and think about all the movies I'm looking forward to in the new year and well...I'm sad to say that it's only 3. I am however rather disgusted that I didn't complete my list from last year (I failed at movies last years) BUT this year I plan to make an actual EFFORT to see and review these flicks. Note: I am also looking forward to Quentin Tarantino's next movie "Django Unchained" BUT no promotional information has been released I'll add that once that appears. So let's get the ball rolling!

CHRONICLE

OH HELL YEAH! Ever since I saw the trailer for this "Akira-sque" movie I was 100% stoked. I think what sells this movie to me is the fact that it doesn't seem to take the route of "Hey we got powers, let's be super heroes" but rather it's a movie that does what ALL of us would do with superpowers, HAVE FUN WITH THEM! And this trailer seems like it's a combination of having fun with it as well as becoming drunk with it. This is gonna be a VERY interesting movie, if you don't believe me, WATCH THE TRAILER!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

IS THIS REALLY A SURPRISE?! Of course not! After "The Dark Knight" you know good and damn well that anyone who saw that is gonna be clamoring for "The Dark Knight Rises" and I for once actually agree with the masses. "BANE, BANE MATA!!" and "In Nolan We Trust.". I'm putting my full faith that Christopher Nolan actually knows what he's doing by treading dangerous ground in attempting a trilogy. But he's got us this far, here's hoping he can do it again!

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

THIS one actually did surprise me a great deal considering it's a Joss Wheddon project...and anyone who's talked to me at length will know that I am NOT a fan of his AT ALL (yes, this means I don't like "Firefly" or "Buffy" or anything he's worked on. The GREAT thing about this movie is that it doesn't have his fingerprints on it. Meaning if someone were to tell me it was a Joss Wheddon project I wouldn't believe them. I'm also in a very privileged spot because I read the script thanks to some magic on my part so I know exactly what's going to happen...and having read the script I was ABSOLUTELY STUNNED as to just how clever the movie is. For all you who think this is an "Evil Dead" rip off BOY OH BOY are you all in for a rude awakening. This movie was DAMN clever (and I just read the script) I can't wait to actually SEE IT...especially the ending and the futuristic buzz-saw man with the orb...hrm...I may have said too much...

A BLAST FROM THE PAST: "SPECIAL UNIT 2"

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

So recently I've had the pleasure of tracking down a golden oldie from the year of yester, back when The CW was still called UPN (Under Paid Negros, yes, we all know and made that joke). What's this golden oldie I'm talking about ?

YES! "Special Unit 2" was a TV show back in that day that was more or less a precursor for "Supernatural" and post "Men In Black" era, when aliens and supernatural creatures were all the rage for gritty detective stories and super secret agencies that dealt with things that went bump in the night. I don't remember much of the series but I DID remember a particular episode that REALLY stuck with me. It was an episode in their Second Season called "The Invisible", the main villain of the episode was (brace yourself for it) THE BOOGEYMAN! Not this guy...

Sorry Player...

The thing that stuck out in my mind was their depiction of The Boogeyman, as not just some random monster that lingers in the closets of young boys BUT rather a Predator-esque hunter who murders babysitters and mothers and steals their heads as trophies. Not to mention that when you finally DO see The Boogeyman he looks pretty bad ass, like a cross between a member of Slipknot & Mushroomhead. He doesn't speak but I imagine him to be WAY more awesome than the Boogeyman depicted in his titular movie..

Which is on my "Best Of The Worst" list...

At any rate, the series is NOT without it's flaws and I was informed that it ran re-runs on The Sci-Fi channel (which makes me wish I had Cable) BUT it was a nifty little series back in it's hayday of 2001 & 2002 and I encourage everyone to give it a shot and check it out as it certainly was one of the pioneering shows for this genre. And as a side note it seems I have an unconscious attraction to certain producers because this show was created by Evan Katz, who served as producer of one of my favorite shows "24"...then again he did produce "The Event"...and we all know how I feel about that...but just as a side note does that happen to anyone else ? Anyway, YEAH! "SPECIAL UNIT 2" give it a show find it where you can and let me know what you think. PEACE!

Ugo Strange's Twilight Review

2011-12-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

So let me preamble this by saying that I am NOT a "Twilight" fan and I have NOT read the books. The reason I'm doing this videos (I still have 2 more to do because at the time of this post "Breaking Dawn" parts 1 and 2 are not out yet...well part one is, but you get the point) is because I was talking about how bad "Twilight" was when I was accosted by a Twihard who told me that I was not allowed to talk about the material if I did not see it for myself. Now I consider myself to be a fairly fair minded person and I considered this proposition and decided that she was indeed correct. So I'm doing these videos to give myself legitimate reason to criticize IF indeed there is something to criticizes (and trust me, THERE IS!). So for your enjoyment, here are MY TWILIGHT REVIEWS!

TWILIGHT

TWILIGHT: NEW MOON

PART ONE

PART TWO

TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE

TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PT. 1 (COMING SOON)

The Autobiography Of Ugo Strange

2011-12-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

HOWDY! Here's a special treat for everyone in case you all missed the awesomeness that is my Autobiography, I encourage you to check it out over here and be sure to check out Theo Warner's series that started it all and gave me the idea. ENJOY!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

Album Review: "Soul Punk" by. Patrick Stump

2011-11-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

Okay so this is gonna be VERY rare considering I don't buy much music these days (I'M NOT DOWNLOADING IT!! I DO MY SH*T LEGAL!!) but there just isn't much music that catches my interest. That being said when this little cherry was signaled to drop, I started drooling. Like many other people I fell in love with Patrick Stump through Fall Out Boy (and for the hater, and by haters I'm not talking about people who don't like Fall Out Boy, I'm talking about the elitist assholes who bitch about Fall Out Boy being emo, I like what I like so kindly FUCK OFF!!). Anyways, as much as I love Fall Out Boy, I think I love Patrick's soulful vocals and his ability to pour some REAL passion into the lyrics he sings. When I heard he was striking out on his own with a solo album I was like "HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT?!"

Then the first single came out "Spotlight (New Regrets)" and "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)", I KNEW that the album was gonna be EXPENSIVE HEAT! As much as I enjoyed those tracks, I, like MANY others wanted more and Patrick dropped "Explode" on us...which, much to my everlasting nerdom, I had to make a music video to. Those were 2 tastes of the upcoming "Soul Punk" and I was hungry for a 3rd. The 3rd came in the form of a woman named "Allie" who apparently could've taught Pat some naughty things. "Allie" was INSANELY good.

"You said you were protected, I thought you meant you had a gun!"

-"Allie"

For some reason that's my favorite line of that song. With 3 tastes of "Soul Punk" I was now thoroughly convinced that it was gonna be unadulterated ear-candy and I was NOT disappointed. BUT, this is NOT a dick-ridding session and the album is NOT without it's flaws but it's flaws are minor and if you're a fan of Fall Out Boy and a fan of Patrick's soulful singing style THIS ALBUM IS FOR YOU! While I won't review the album song by song, I WILL review the tracks that I like (which is pretty much all of them BUT there are some prime cuts).

"The "I" In Lie" is BY FAR my favorite track. I have to say I was honestly NOT ready for this one. The thing that makes this song so good because of how it smooth it starts off and with the subject matter of cheating it's VERY personal and yet not so much that it becomes hamfisted. It's almost as if Patrick is saying "I messed up but I don't have to stay that way." it's almost confessional and that's what I love about it. BUT the music behind and the choice of lyrics are absolutely genius! And even though Patrick only demands the hands of the unfaithful to be raised in the air, I found myself with my hands above my head for some reason. My favorite line from this song echos back to my favorite line in "It's Hard To Say "I Do" When "I Don't"", which goes like this:

"Put your hands in the air and don't make a sound but don't get the wrong idea, we're gonna shoot you, we're gonna shoot you! And there's nothing in your hand, pocket, throat or wallet that can change just how this goes."

-"It's Hard To Say "I Do" When "I Don't""

My favorite line from "The "I" In Lie" is:

"Put your hands in the air like you're under arrest with a guilty conscious."

What is it with Patrick and putting hands in air ? For that matter, he was shooting us before but apparently we're getting arrested. Interesting.

The next track I must address is "Run Dry (X Heart, X Fingers)". This song is so damn funky, I don't drink myself but I appreciate the verbal recap of alcoholism. I don't know if Patrick is an alcoholic or if he even drinks for that matter but the song has some very nice passion and humor in it. It's like he's saying "I get drunk, I know but I can laugh at it and I admit it.". As they say admitting it is the first step and this is one hell of a first step. If I had to say ONE bad thing about the song is that it goes on for too long in it's 2nd half. Sometimes that can be a good thing and other times I really don't mind (in those cases it reminds me of Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'") in other cases it feels like it should be a song in it's own right. But he keeps it interesting with his style of vocals and choices of music, keeping things funky and I really can't hate him for that.

"Coast (It's Gonna Get Better)" was a sleeper for me. I have a HUGE problem with being negative (ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you). So something like this sings directly to me with a positive message of things getting better. Patrick even sings the most honest lyrics I've ever heard "I keep makin' mistakes but it takes sometime to get anything right!" I KNOW Patrick wasn't the first person to say that BUT it sounds good coming from him. In all seriousness this song is great with background harmony and just very soulful ("Soul" Punk...duh).

"Greed" is another one of those Michael Jacksonsque tracks, I can honestly see him singing something akin to this. But the tracks sounds like some kind church sermon that some how turned into a jam session. Picture this if you will, Patrick Stump dressed in a preacher's robe with a choir behind him as he waves a Bible and sings about Greed to a clapping congregation. He really gets his funk on in this track with rapid fire singing in the chorus and the crescendo of the music to emphasis his vocals just meshes perfectly. Not to mention the organ and his announcements in the song's break it just keeps raising that churchy vibe. BUT this song is NOT preachy to any stretch of the imagination, it's a VERY incredible and fun listen. My only complaint is that it doesn't go on long enough for me. Especially with the way it goes into the instrumental at the end. It kinda left me going "Wait, that's it ?"

Finally we come to "Dance Miserable" which sounds like it's a song that escaped right from "Sonic's" "Spring Yard Zone" soundtrack. Being a fan of "Sonic" I LOVE anything that sounds "Sonic-y" and this does the job VERY well. Not to mention that the song does indeed make me wanna dance (then again this entire album makes me wanna dance). I LOVE the music but I love Patrick's singing in this, it's very FUNKY and he's trying to get people dance in the face of misery and it's FUN. All In all, not the best track BUT worth a listen.

Overall I will say that "Soul Punk" BLEW away my expectations and dare I say it I'm almost worried about a sophomore effort if Patrick is swinging THIS hard out the gate. But he's a humble lad with a good head on his shoulders and a HELL of a LOT of talent. Is he more grounded with Fall Out Boy or without? His next solo effort will tell BUT for now just sit back and enjoy the groove while it lasts. 2 thumbs WAY UP!!

ECHO: A "SCREAM" Retrospective & "SCREAM 4" Review

2011-11-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

So I was going to review "Scream 4" awhile back but it had been AWHILE since I saw The "SCREAM" Series and I decided that before I jump into "Scream 4" I should go back and watch The Trilogy. For those of you who don't know, I'm a HUGE fan of the "SCREAM" series because I appreciate it's humor and cleverness. Anyways, here's a ONE-SHOT (for some reason I say series in the video) episode of ECHO: A "SCREAM" Retrospective. Also, check out UGO for The SCREAM Meta Moments! ENJOY!!

ECHO: A "SCREAM" RETROSPECTIVE & "SCREAM 4" REVIEW

Ideas For Future Seasons Of "Dexter" and Villains

2011-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's no secret that I love "Dexter" and if you aren't aware of this. WAKE UP ALREADY! I did a full on review and analysis of EACH season in a series called "DEXTER-ity" which you can watch on this blog. Anyways, I figured that in the meantime while you guys are hungrily awaiting the next episode of "DEXTER-ity" I would share my hopes for future villains of "Dexter". So here's a list of actors who should be bad guys and their roles in the Season.

NAME: Alex Ray Crayson

SERIAL KILLER NAME:The Invisible Man

REGULAR EMPLOYMENT: Photographic Journalist

M.O.: Killing People in public places and yet doing so inconspicuously via hypodermic needles. Photographing the body and sending them to the police.

TARGETS: Families (Specifically Mothers)

REASON: Alex was abandoned by his mother at a young age in a public place. Alex was then thrown in the system where he was not adopted and became an emancipated minor. Alex soon learned that his mother was presumed dead and was allegedly responsible for the deaths of several individuals. Upon getting this revelation Alex becomes angry at the police for not finding the person responsible for his mother's death and blaming her for other deaths instead. Alex sends the photos to the police to remind them that anything can happen to anyone anywhere.

CONNECTION TO DEXTER: Dexter is the one who killed Alex's mother and snatched her during one of her drop offs. Alex was asleep in the car and Dexter was unaware she had a son, because Alex was being raised by a boyfriend of her's. Essentially Dexter inadvertently created Alex.

Despite how you may feel about "Spider-Man 3", Topher Grace is still a pretty bad ass actor and C'MON how hard would it be to believe Topher Grace as an insane killer with abandonment issues? Plus it'd be a nice contrast to see Dexter deal with a killer that he accidentally caused. Dexter has not dealt with that problem (other than Miguel) who wasn't a serial killer. Having Dexter tackle someone who's younger than he is and able to kill people with NO blood, and no real effort would greatly impress Dexter.I imagine their final confrontation being Dexter surrounding Alex with the photographs of his victims and Dexter revealing that he is (in some form) Alex's father because he killed his mother and caused Alex to lose his innocents. Dexter shares how he lost his mother The ending revelation would be Dexter wondering if Santos Jimenez is his "REAL" father so to speak because he is responsible for how Dexter is now. Ultimately this will make Dexter wonder if he'll be different or if he's gonna remain how he is. I think this would be a bad guy worth Dexter's time. PLUS IT'S TOPHER GRACE PLAYING A SERIAL KILLER!! C'MON!!

NAME: Mikhail Rustaloff/Michael Ruoston

SERIAL KILLER NAME: The Cannibal

REGULAR EMPLOYMENT: Corporate Sharecropper

M.O.: Kidnapping victims, keeping them locked in cages, feeding them regularly and eating them when they are ready. Often times sharing with his dogs.

TARGETS: Any (mostly single women)

REASON: Mikahil was actually a Russian enforcer for the mob who had an affinity for torture. One day a rival gang captured Mikahil and tortured him, however Mikahil wasn't having it, he broke free from them. Months later they found their leader dead in a Scott Tennermen-esque twist Mikahil cooked and ate their leader. Afterwards Mikahil became obsessed with eating human flesh.

CONNECTION TO DEXTER: None.

C'MON, sooner or later Dexter is GONNA have to take on a cannibal! SERIOUSLY! And we can't revisit the trope of Hannibal Lecter, no instead we need a REAL, RAW, SERIOUS, cannibal, someone who keeps people locked up like veal, waiting for them to get nice and tender. Can you imagine just HOW CREEPY that would be? Seeing a person in a cage being fed like a hamster? I see this season starting off VERY closely to Season 5, except for the victim manages to escape and seeks Miami Metro. I imagine Mikhail having several "farms" and the final confrontation between Mikhail and Dexter would be on one of these farms where Mikhail attempts to "hunt" Dexter. With Mikhail owning dogs, I'm picturing the final kill as Dexter mortally wounding Mikhail and leaving him for his dogs to eat. Also, PETER STORMARE PLAYING A CANNIBAL!! C'MON! If he hasn't done it already you KNOW he's gonna do it eventually. Why not put him up against Dexter. Not too sure what the ending revelation would be but it'd be TOTALLY worth it.

NAMES: Amy Walker, Kyle Usher, Max Schuller, Tabitha Hamilton

SERIAL KILLER NAMES:

REGULAR EMPLOYMENT: High school students

M.O.: Committing murders in very graphic ways and recording their murders to be sent to the tabloids.

TARGETS: Anyone.

REASON: Because they can.

CONNECTION TO DEXTER: The Leader of the group is Astor's friend!!

So what's creepier than a killer who simply wants to kill you just because you're there? NOTHING! That's what! Let's face it, we're living in a generation where apathy seems to be the general train of thought amongst most people. What about absolute apathy for human lives? I'm taking a page out of Season 5's book and make this a group of killers, WITH A TWIST, they're YOUNG! High school aged kids who take it upon themselves to gain notoriety by brutally murdering people on camera and sending it to the tabloids BECAUSE THEY'RE THAT BAD ASS! Because they don't give a F*CK and they want EVERYONE to know it. PLUS, they can get away with it. The big twist here would be that Amy Walker, high school aged girl is actually the ring leader of the group.

Upper class, privileged and a scholar to boot. How can Dexter make HER disappear without anyone noticing, LET ALONE how can he keep Astor away from her? In the books Astor and Cody are already budding sociopaths and Dexter looks forward to teaching them, BUT for this storyline and the TV series Dexter's Dark Passenger is something he wants to keep FAR away from Astor, Cody and Harrison as possible. This season would hold a mirror up to Dexter and make him see himself as he was at Amy's age, a budding sociopath unable to feel anything UNLESS they were killing someone. I'm not sure if the producers have the brass ones to pull off a story like this BUT DAMN, tell me that wouldn't be awesome? Plus the ending revelation writes it's self.

Also, the actors I have pegs for the roles have shown themselves to have some legit acting chops for the kind of stuff that would go on in "Dexter". ESPECIALLY Chloe (if you haven't seen her in "Let Me In" go do that NOW!!), which is why I have her pegged as the ring leader. Kenton Duty played the role of Young Jacob and I think he can manage a teenage sociopath, Kyle Gallner has as well. Jeanette McCurdy...well, she's just awesome and having her play the timid "Virgin" killer who has yet to "pop her cheery" as it were would fit.

ANYWAYS, Those are some of MY ideas for future seasons of "Dexter" let me know what you think and share some of your own and BE SURE to check out "DEXTER-ity" if you haven't already! PEACE!

The Strange Review: Let Me In

2011-09-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Normally I'd do a video review BUT I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it plus, considering circumstances I can't do it. BUT that won't stop me from sharing my thoughts. I should warn you there will be spoilers SO just in case you haven't seen "Let Me In",

STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!

If you're reading this I'm gonna go ahead and assume you've seen the movie or just don't care about spoilers either way, enjoy. EGADS how do I start this one off ? Well, I guess I should start off with the plot. "Let Me In" tells the story of Owen, a 12 year old, strange lookin' boy who's bullied at school and lives with his sheltering mother. Nothing too remarkable there until Abbey moves in, a mysterious girl who Owen becomes friends with. I GREATLY enjoyed this movie for the sole purpose that it gave us something VERY different in the realm of vampire stories. Keep in mind that I HATE Vampire related things, if you wanna know why, watch:

Long story short, "Let Me In" doesn't dwell too much in the realm of Vampire lore. Basically you discover the rules of her vampirism along with Owen. The movie doesn't cater to you how or why or when she became a vampire, She's a vampire and that's all you really need to know. Furthermore "Let Me In" doesn't try to pass it's self off as a supernatural thriller, rather it's a VERY warped coming of age story. Now let's get into specifics. The movie is actually VERY erotic but not in a pornographic sense (after all these are children we're dealing with) but it's erotic in a sense where the sexual nature of the relationship between Owen and Abbey is always on the surface but as children they're unable to fully engage in those actions so they're left with hugs and kisses, but behind those hugs and kisses are VERY passionate feelings.

I feel like I'm all over the place so let me to try slow down and figure out just what it is I'm trying to say about this movie. It's a lot like looking at an adult relationship through the eyes of a child. In the movie Owen realizes that Abbey is a creature of evil and when the police officer finally finds Abbey, Owen makes a conscious choice to close the door on him and allow Abbey to feed then to pull her off of him. That small action officially made Owen Abbey's new servant (similar to the man she was with at the beginning of the movie). Owen made a choice to allow Abbey to commit murder, he did so because he's in love with Abbey. And outside of sex, that unflinching loyalty to her is the only way he can prove his love for her. In a similar fashion Abbey slaughtering the bullies was her only way of proving her love for Owen. I would say they both committed evil acts for relatively good cause (but Abbey is a vampire, morals don't really apply to her) Abbey needed blood to live and Owen wasn't going to let his "girlfriend" be harmed by The Police Officer or let her die from lack of blood and Abbey wasn't going to allow her "boyfriend" to be mutilated by bullies.

Actually the movie reminds me quite a bit of "Peanuts", in the respect that you hardly ever see a Parent Figure, they're only heard and not seen. I don't recall seeing much of Owen's mom, and the adults in the building don't interact much with Owen or anyone else so in all truth this is the second time where children have been the main stars of a movie and didn't disappoint me (the first was "Super 8"..."The Goonies" Yeah, but it's been a LONG time since I saw "The Goonies"....okay and "E.T." too, what do you want from me ?!). But with this kind of subject matter of Love and the Moral Ambiguity of Love, this was a VERY DAMN good movie ONLY made more perfect by the ending of the characters simply running away together, Owen's mother be damned! The question left at the end is, is this an improvement for Owen or is he going to be worse off than he was ? It seemed like Abbey's previous "boyfriend" was getting tired of doing her dirty work and I can't imagine that'd be a good life for anyone (especially Owen who started off timid and weak at the beginning of the movie...and really didn't change exactly...hrm...). One day Owen's gonna get old and Abbey's going to move on and get another "boyfriend" and the cycle will continue.

This movie reminded me quite a bit of "Lament Of The Lamb" undeniably my favorite Vampire story, because the vampirism is an afterthought to the more pressing questions of how do you react to being a vampire, family, loyalty, love, relationships and struggling with your vampiric urges. Granted, the vampires in "Lament Of The Lamb" aren't supernatural beings they are people with a rare disease that is very much akin to an advanced case of anemia (it's actually very interesting). All in all, I give "Let Me In" a 10 out of 10. GREAT story, STRONG performances and a REALLY well executed movie. CHEERS!

The Best Of The Worst #7: The Happening

2011-08-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

A bit of an apology is due for having this come out so late, you see originally I was gonna do "Underworld" but Larry Williams from Otaku Assemble saved it and my next target was going to be "Ultra Violet" but I kinda wanted to save it for a possible Theme month (an idea later). So it took me awhile to figure out what to review. Finally I settled on "The Happening". I watched it and then my work schedule really picked up so by the time I got home I was too beat to write the review (keep in mind that I have to watch the movie again WHILE writing the review). So it took me awhile to get everything done, then on the day when I was gonna film it there was construction going on next door and that didn't help much.

Eventually I just threw my hands up and decided to film it later that night (which I usually don't film at night at all). But THANKFULLY if not the Brightness adjuster in Sony Vegas those videos would be pretty dark. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy and stick around for the credits. =D

PART ONE

PART TWO

DEXTER-ity: Season Five Review & Analysis

2011-08-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

SEASON FIVE PREDICTION & BEYOND

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

DEXTER-ity: Season Four Review & Analysis

2011-08-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

DEXTER-ity: Season Three Review & Analysis

2011-08-03T10:48:00.001-07:00

DEXTER-ity: Season Two Review & Analysis

2011-08-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

DEXTER-ity Intro & Season One Review and Analysis

2011-08-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen and others, welcome to "DEXTER-ity" a Season by Season review of SHOWTIME'S biggest hit "DEXTER". These videos will contain spoilers so if you haven't watched the series, I suggest you do. This series was VERY much inspired by Linkara's "History Of The Power Rangers" series, for those of you who are fans of The Power Rangers, I suggest you check that series out:

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/hopr

INTRO

PART ONE

PART TWO

DC Reboot ?

2011-07-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've been thinkin' long and hard about this one. I was wondering if I was gonna comment on it or even bring it up because I'm pretty sure that everything that has needed to be said, has been said and there wasn't anything more I could add to the discussion. I wanted to make a Youtube video about it but I figured I'd just end up rambling and missing a few points that NEED to be addressed. So I figured a blog was the best medium. Not too long ago DC released this interview with Dan DiDio about the new Action Comics and Superman titles. After reading this I can say with full confidence that DC Comics has lost their f*ckin' minds.

Before I start ranting about my displeasure with this whole ordeal I need to get a few things out of the way.

I AM NOT SAYING THESE NEW TITLES ARE GOING TO SUCK! It's no doubt that DC has some VERY competent writers among them and some of these reboot titles may actually turn out to be pretty bad ass. So I'm NOT going to say that these titles are gonna be horrible or anything of the sort.
I AM NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO ANY OF THESE TITLES! Yes, I said they may or may not suck, but I'm not gonna read any of them. At least not any time soon. Because frankly I fee jaded and I REFUSE to accept something that DIDN'T NEED TO HAPPEN AND NO ONE ASKED FOR!

With that being said, let's dive in;

There's this guy at a bookstore. He's walking along and suddenly something catches his eye. It's a Trade paperback collection titled: "Crisis On Infinite Earths". The cover looks AMAZING! Two Supermans, a BUTT-LOAD of other superheroes and Two Earths. This Guy is FLOORED by the sheer awesomeness of this cover. But he doesn't buy it. Because he doesn't know anything about what's going on. He can only name a few of the characters on the cover and he backs away, but that cover sticks with him. Some days pass and this guy is talking with someone about "Crisis On Infinite Earths" and learns about the events and what's going on.
We join this same guy a few days later at the same bookstore and something catches his eye. It's another trade paper back graphic novel, LEGION OF SUPERHEROES and on the cover there's a BIG WHITE #1. The Guy nods and thinks to himself "This must be the first in the series. This looks interesting enough, I'll start here!." and he buys it, goes home and enjoys it. Enjoys it so much that he does research on the characters and eventually he buys the entire Crisis Trilogy.

That guy was me, WAY back in 2006 I think when I officially started reading comic books religiously. If you can relate to that story then you know what it's like to be a First Time Reader. I LOVED comic books for awhile but never quite knew where to begin, and often times the knowledge I got about certain characters and plot details were all second hand. But after reading Crisis On Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis and several other titles I was WELL informed about the present state of DC Universe continuity. With the way things have been going AFTER Final Crisis I was intrigued to see just exactly what was gonna happen with The New Gods, what was gonna happen with Barry Allen (who's been gone for SO long). I was REALLY excited about these things. AND THEN DC Comics decides to BACK PEDAL and restart ALL of their titles from #1 and create a BRAND NEW CONTINUITY!

WHY?!

They say it's to appeal to new readers, BUT the VAST majority of comic book readers are people like me! Who were ALWAYS interested in comic books but didn't know where to begin and asked for recommendations from people who did. Those people would recommend a story and FROM that story you get your own taste for what you liked and didn't like and then you go exploring on your own. You suddenly become a pilgrim breaking new ground, discovering places and people you've never knew before. Running into characters with histories and stories that's just waiting for you to check out. That's how I felt. And when Dreamgirl was killed in battle and Brainiac 5 was brought to tears I was right there with him like "Oh snap !". When The Shadowpact DAMN NEAR defeated THE SPECTRE I was cheering like crazy and I STILL consider that to be one of the greatest battles ever.

All this stuffed happened before I started reading comic books and discovering it was fun for me. I gotta feel for who the characters are, their universe and everything. WHY CHANGE THIS?! New Readers what to discover. Being a comic book reader is like joining a secret club where once you gain that knowledge you suddenly wanna know more.

When did Superman get married ?
When did Batman get his back broken ?
When did Hal Jordan become The Spectre ?
Who was Robin after Dick Grayson ?
Why is Beastboy green ?

And the information all RIGHT there WAITING for you to discover. NOT ANYMORE! NO! For some reason DC Comics wants to restart EVERYTHING for the sake of...accessibility ? They're forgetting that the ONLY WAY THEY'RE GONNA GET NEW READERS IS TO PLEASE THE READERS THEY ALREADY HAVE!! Is it just me or is that becoming a staple of EVERY creative company? "Trying to appeal to a new and fresher audience." The NEW and FRESHER audience isn't gonna come IF THERE IS NO AUDIENCE! I'm alienated now because ALL of the stuff I've learned about these characters means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I might as well burn every comic book on my shelf and say it never happened.

Let me recant for a bit. DC has rebooted their universe before. The aforementioned "Crisis On Infinite Earths". I ADORE that story because the origins of the story was ACTUALLY a company problem (ie, with the acquisition of several comic book companies and their respective characters) DC had it's hands full trying to manage all of these characters and THUS created A WONDERFULLY entertaining story built around the SOLE PURPOSE OF CLEANING THEIR UNIVERSE UP. AND IT WORKED! It was only logical with such a story that things would be changed and a reboot took place. Several years later DC Comics did it once again with it's sequel event "Infinite Crisis" which once again changed the status quo, BUT again MADE A WONDERFUL story as the reason for the change, AND IT WORKED!

"Final Crisis" was the end all, be all of crisis books. (If you didn't understand Final Crisis, here's a podcast that explains it in GREAT detail. WORTH LISTENING TO). Final Crisis didn't change continuity as the other crisis did but it did change the status quo. The New Gods were reborn, Darkseid and his men were destroyed and all of the Earths were now aware of the other universes. It was a pretty radical ending. Unfortunately DC didn't do anything with it...and it just became a footnote. But it was a GREAT story that didn't result in a dramatic continuity change. But if DC chose AFTER this to announce it's Reboot, it would have been perfectly understandable since it's usually after a Crisis Event that something HUGE gets changed.

So why now? Why change these characters ? Why PISS on everything we've learned about these characters? Why tell us that everything we've read up until this point doesn't matter? And DON'T say you're not. That's EXACTLY what you're doing. When Barbra Gordon is NO LONGER ORACLE DON'T YOU TELL ME IT STILL MATTERS! YOU Crapped on everything we've come to know and love about these characters. AND WHAT'S WORSE is that you guys actually think this is a good idea!

SUPERMAN DOES NOT NEED TO BE ALIENATED! The point of Superman is that he is the IDEAL Human. Superman is the guy who despite having the powers of a God is the MOST down to earth, accessible character DC HAS! Superman is inoffensive BECAUSE he's such a moral, upstanding person. Superman will NEVER surprise us because we KNOW Superman (and I'm not saying that in a bad way).

"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then... he shoots fire from the skies and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him. "-- Batman

That was THE MOST ACCURATE THING EVER SAID ABOUT SUPERMAN! So the choice to make Superman more alienated is STUPID! WHY undo his marriage ?! EVEN FROM A CORPORATE STANDPOINT DC HAD TO HAVE SEEN WHAT KINDA HAVOC THAT CAUSED MARVEL AFTER THE "ONE MORE DAY" FIASCO. WHY WOULD THEY TURN AROUND AND DO THE SAME THING?!

"Marriage brings about a certain degree of comfort and security in one's life," Lee said. "If you have a life partner, you always have someone to rely on. So from a story conflict point of view, it makes for a less dramatic story. I think a lot of writers can agree that one of the most dynamic periods of Superman's history was that period where there was a love triangle between Clark Kent, Superman and Lois Lane. There's a lot of tension and interest you create in the characters by having that kind of dynamic."

Umm, NO! NO ONE AGREES WITH THAT! The most dynamic periods of Superman's history is when he's DEALING WITH SITUATIONS WHERE IT SHOULD BE CLEAR TO HIM THAT HE'S A GOD AMONGST MORTALS AND YET IT NEVER OCCURS TO HIM! This is why Lex Luthor HATES Superman! Because of ALL the power that Superman has it NEVER GOES TO HIS HEAD! It's stuff like this that makes Superman SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER! NO ONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THE LOVE TRIANGLE BETWEEN CLARK, SUPERMAN AND LOIS!

And how does being married make for a LESS dramatic story? I'd say Superman keeping his wife Lois alive via his heat vision is pretty damn dramatic (oh wait...THAT NEVER HAPPENED! -_- ). I'd say Superman concerned about the well being of his wife and being unable to leave her side while the world is falling apart around him is pretty damn dramatic (oh wait...that didn't happen either >_> ). If they wanted to change the status quo for Superman GIVE HIM A CHILD! That only raises the stakes! Now Superman would be a father. He'd have to teach that child about his Kryptonian ancestry, it'd basically be restarting the Superman mythos over with Superman playing the role of mentor to a young child adapting to his new powers. Is it just me or does that sound like a dramatic story?

But instead we get an alienated Superman without the guidance of Ma and Pa Kent. Instead of a married Superman with a child on the way, we have Lois with a new boyfriend (BEHOLD CLARK KENT'S ANSWER TO "Flash" Thompson) and a Clark Parker or Peter Kent. Look, I liked "Smallville" for exploring that aspect of the series, but even Tom Welling's Clark Kent was a VERY moral and upstanding Superman who was ONLY alienated by his OWN abilities, but he considered himself HUMAN before ANYTHING ELSE, as does the actual Superman.

I'm gonna bring this to a close because I've ranted ad naseum about this topic and I don't think I've covered much ground. I'm just distraught and frustrated now because my discoveries don't matter anymore. All the books on my shelf are now just apocryphal writings of these characters that are no longer in canon. At least with Crisis on Infinite Earths all the stuff that happened before DID happen and IS in canon but the Multiverse was reset and therefore events were changed. But here...nope, none of it matters, no one cares, Barbra Gordon is Batgirl, everyone's young again (it's not like they ever f*ckin' aged in the first place) and all is right with the world. Thank you DC, Thank you SO damn much for caring about people WHO AREN'T GONNA READ COMIC BOOKS IN THE FIRST PLACE more than the people who WERE reading and enjoying them...up until now. Thank you very much.

"Oh what, this ? Yeah, not important anymore."

The Best Of The Worst #6: I Know Who Killed Me

2011-07-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

BOY, OH BOY was I happy to get my hands on THIS little baby! I've heard rumors about just how awful this movie was but I was thinking "Hrm, serial killer, can't be that bad." HAHA, Oh to be young again. But seriously though, I was REALLY happy with how much material this movie gave me to mock. Thankfully the audio synced up perfectly SO YAY! I did some digging and ALSO discovered that there are actual theories about what's going on in this movie (I know, weird) So the post BELOW the videos deal with one theory in particular from Heaven_Love7. Heaven is an IMBD user that posted the theory below and I respond with my responses in Red Text. If someone out there knows Heaven PLEASE direct him/her to this page because I'm eager to see what he/she thinks. It was originally going to be a video response but I figured I'd best do it text wise in order to convey Heaven_Love7's theory AS clearly as possible. Anyways enjoy and PLEASE STAY AFTER THE CREDITS!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

THE THEORY PORTION
Below the dividing line is the theory posted by Heaven_Love7 and my rebuttals in Red Text. This has been copied and UNEDITED. Enjoy.
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***IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS THREAD, please take the time to browse throught the debates throughout the comment section of this post. There are some really interesting perspectives and explanations for the movie that may answer any questions you have about this theory.**

***I don't know why everyone is focusing on Cobaltduck as the frontrunner for the "dream theory"; my thread is obviously the most visited, longest running thread on the theory AND the debates are lot more evidence-centered than the "OMG, I loved this movie" crap you get from Cobalt... Seriously? Why are people asking Cobalt these questions? He/she obviously isn't capable of answering them intelligently...why waste your time? Do you not really want your questions answered?

I think the majority of posters on this board are wrong.

NO, the villian does not die.

The majority of the movie (the parts with "Dakota") are imagined by Aubrey Fleming, an aspiring writer, while she is slowly tortured and killed by her abductor. She is suffering from shock, and is desperate for a different ending then the one she is facing at the hands of this serial killer. So, she makes one up in her head.

I guess other viewers of this movie weren't paying attention, but Aubrey Fleming really has no idea who kidnapped her and never will. In her mind, she makes "Dakota" out to be her twin, who has been suffering a bizarre series of twin stigmata. She makes up that the previous victim of the serial killer was also a student of the same piano teacher as Aubrey Fleming. Aubrey, who is desperate to figure out who is torturing her, believes the piano teacher must be the culprit. Aubrey has "Dakota" kill the piano teacher and come to her rescue. However, this is, of course, completely made up. If you watched the movie, you really SHOULD know that. Hrm, there's a lot of assumptions here so we're going to address a couple of them. For starters the closing sentence sounds a tad condescending because ultimately the movie doesn't give anyone a reason to think any differently. There is a better way to tell us this is all going on in Aubrey's mind, but the movie did not convey this. So saying we should be aware that all of this is fictional doesn't help matters. Furthermore, if the entire movie after Aubrey'a abduction is in her mind then honestly, what's the point of the movie ? We basically sat down and watched a girl escape torture in her mind (but ultimately she's still getting killed) so by this theory the movie has no real resolution. But let's explore this, what is the purpose of her being "rescued" in the end ? It ultimately means nothing ? Does it means she's okay with dying now ? Does it means she's accepting her fate ? If it did then why was she rescued ? In a movie where the entire story if fictional there NEEDS to be some hook to ground us in reality. Take "The Usual Suspect" for instance. When Verbal Kint is telling his story to David Kujan, we're aware that THAT is reality. We swap back and forth between The Police Station to Verbal Kint tale. By the end of the movie we're completely aware that Verbal Kint's story was made up. Therefore the ending gives us a reason to question him.

What in "I Know Who Killed Me" gave us a reason to believe that these events are not happening ? (aside from all the supernatural stuff, chalk that up to suspension of disbelief. You said that Aubrey doesn't know kidnapped her and never will, so once again I ask you what did we just watch ? What was the point of this movie if ultimately nothing happens ? I can tell you the point of "The Usual Suspect", it was showing how clever and savvy Keyser Soze is. By the end of the movie, Keyser Soze manages to escape only AFTER David Kujan discovers his identity. Speaking of "Identity" let's address THAT movie because that's another movie that takes place entirely in someone's mind. We join a bunch of people at a motel where each person is killed one by one, HOWEVER by the end of the movie we learn that the entire ordeal was just a Serial Killer with Multiple Personality Disorder killing off his other personalities. So by the end of the movie we REALLY don't give a crap about the characters or anything because they don't exist. Simply because Aubrey is a writer doesn't means she's making this story up, it could possibly be the effects of their stigamatic relationship. I can't believe I'm defending this but MAYBE the effects of their stigmatic relationship only gets stronger when in closer proximity to each other. That would explain why things only got worse of Dakota when she arrived in New Salem (and how she was able to communicate with Aubrey at the cemetery. Perhaps Aubrey could only SEE through Dakota's eyes (ie, her ability to turn her life into a movie and watch things happen to a girl who only LOOKED like her).

The "unbelievable" nature of some of the happenings: twin stigmata (actually, this is just when Aubrey is being tortured, her make-believe self "Dakota" feels it too... Aubrey cannot escape the horror of what is happening to her even in the very recesses of her mind); I will say that I CANNOT defend this! However considering that one of the producer's of this movie was also a producer for "Stigmata", I can imagine that he was trying to replicate "Stigmata" but without the religious undertones to it. Hence why the movie went out of it's way to say Nonreligious stigmata rather than just regular old stigmata. Granted it's hard to believe, BUT I think this movie was trying to cash in on our suspension of disbelief and did a terrible job of it because they failed to establish that we were watching a supernatural thriller. Later on you'll go on to say that this movie is a psychological thriller. However a Psychological Thriller doesn't always mean that it directly deals with Psychological Issues. Rather a Psychological Thriller means that it deals with aspects of the mind. As I've said before "I Know Who Killed Me" was NOT a movie routed in the supernatural (ie, ghosts, monsters or anything) the movie made it clear that their stigmatic relationship is a mental effect the brain (as mentioned in the video Dakota watched) That's the only psychological portion of this film. Again, if this were real life, I'd call bullsh*t immediately, but this is a movie and we have to remember suspension of disbelief. Are you saying that because there's an element in this movie that's hard to believe it must be taking place in her mind ? What about ghost stories and things of the sort ? How are they any different ? If you can suspend your disbelief for them you can do it here. However like I said, they didn't do a good job of establishing such a thing was possible in this movie. her father being bled to death so quickly; That's not exactly a valid argument considering we didn't see EXACTLY where Daniel was cut and how, we only see his face. Cut the right artery and a person can bleed out pretty damn fast. He could've had both his wrists slit and a few other cuts. the too-far-advanced-be-realistic-in-present-day prosthetics Again, not a valid argument. For a novel this would work, but understand something. Lindsay Lohan is the start of this movie. As the star of this movie the producers NEED HER TO BE ACTIVE. A cripple Lindsay Lohan doing nothing won't make the producers happy. So ultimately they need a way to keep Lindsay Lohan active in the movie. The best way to do this would be to fit her with a functional prosthetic. This isn't Fantasy writing from Aubrey...this is lazy writing from the writer ; how long it took the piano teacher to die after being stabbed in the crotch AND THE NECK. He didn't thrash around for hours on end, he took a few steps and died. Ya know a chicken can run around without it's head for as long as a minute. Keep in mind that he wasn't stabbed in a defensive position, he was stabbed running on full adrenline. A Neck wound won't kill you instantly. Granted it was a fatal one, but it still took awhile to bleed out, so yeah his taking a few seconds to die was believable.; her dad agreeing that he had bought Dakota off of a crackwhore who had had twins the same night her mother had gone into labor and supposedly miscarried (I think the doctors would have asked the crackwhore where the other baby went or why Aubrey suddenly went from dead miscarried baby to alive healthy baby...don't you?) when she was born; etc. All of these things are sooo unlikely, BUT they are the made-up story that a desperate, and tortured girl is clinging to her in her final days. Again, lazy writing. I give you credit for filling in the plot holes and giving the movie more credit than it deserves. But honestly this is simply just a case of bad writing. If the movie WAS Aubrey trying to cling to her final days of life, don't you think she would have made a better story for self than STILL being mutilated, a father who allowed her to be mutilated, a boyfriend who has sex with a girl who looks like her. You could argue that Aubrey was trying to live through Dakota and her tortured mind ruined that, but it wasn't like Dakota's life started out great. So why would Aubrey mentally escape torture only to basically be a complete loser STILL suffering in another reality ? Furthermore, No one said he made the switch at the hospital. When Aubrey's Mom gave birth, thier baby died in the incubator. Daniel then would go to Virgina Sue Moss and offer money for Aubrey. When his wife returned home and was discharged from the hospital, Daniel would arrive with baby Aubrey. This isn't exactly unlikely considering that there are reported cases of parents taking the wrong child home and only discovering YEARS later that their actual child is being rasied by someone else. So Daniel buying another woman's baby and getting away with it is not outside of the realm of possibility, and for the sake of a movie it's pretty standard and believable enough not to warrant too much scrutiny. I believe the real killer was the gardener guy, since we saw his truck in subconscious scenes in Dakota's realm of Aubrey's imagined tale... some part of her must know it is him, but she cannot see him with the bright lights in her face and the constant state of agony she is in. Plus, the previous victim of this serial killer is also a rich girl from a family that probably employs him to do their yard, as well. Therefore, he has a motive... hurt the spoiled, rich girls who think he is scum. That's a rather EXTREME assumption. You're making The Gardener out to be the bad guy, in which case the movie CLEARLY wants you to suspicious of him. But it was him don't you think The FBI would've talked to him prior ? If we had a scene where Jennifer Toland's yard was being worked on by him you'd have grounds for an accusation, shakey ground but ground nonetheless. Plus no one said Jennifer Toland was rich, no one even said Aubrey was rich. Granted I'm not denying that they are but you're assuming a lot. The Gardener seemed to be in good spirits after Aubrey flipped him off and returned to his work. Furthermore, SHE was flirting with him, he simply responded. He never passed himself off as remotely creepy. ALTHOUGH there was that ONE scene where The Gardener passed by in his truck and Aubrey hid behind a tree, despite having no reason to do so. However, SHE'S STILL AUBREY IN THAT SCENE and had not yet been kidnapped. So your suspicions of The Gardener are only based on your assumption that he doesn't like spoiled, rich girls.

Me, being who I am, thinks that this movie wasn't smart enough to put any REAL thought behind the killings (because that's ultimately not the focus of the movie, the focus of the movie is Lindsay Lohan) If this movie was about The FBI trying to track down The Killer I'd support your assumption more, because that provides a prime suspect and a relatively good motive. However this movie is about Lindsay Lohan and we don't have time to dive into The Killer's reasoning, so for plot convenience and for the sake of not explaining anything and trying to give the movie one final twist, they make it the Piano Teacher. Also, why would she assume it's her Paino Teacher ? Why make him out to be the bad guy when did nothing to deserve to be the bad guy ? WHY NOT The Gardener, who she flipped off, because he was being a bit of a perv. She already hid from him when she had NO reason to do so, so I think if all of this WAS made up, he'd be the prime suspect in her mind, NOT her Paino Teacher. Also, she REALLY wouldn't have to force herself to believe it was The Gardener either. Hence why I'm holding to the position that The Gardener is a red-herring. Because it SO OBVIOUSLY IS THE GARDENER THAT IT CAN'T BE HIM.

I think it is also a clue that the first thing Aubrey tells us she loses (through the medium of her story of Dakota) is the middle finger on her right hand, which is the finger that Aubrey used to flip off the gardener after he tries to flirt with her at the beginning of the movie.That's actually pretty clever. I like that idea very much. You'd write a better movie than the people who wrote this because I doubt they were that smart. Those are just my thoughts... who do you think the real villian was? Also, I want to say that Lindsay was the only one who knew how to act this film... or even, I think understood the script. However, if you think about what Aubrey actually reads to the class at the beginning: "She knew how to turn her life into a movie"... you could deduce that Aubrey sees Dakota as being the sole star while everyone else were just supporting actors who had bad lines and very unimportant roles, which could explain why everyone else besides Lindsay Lohan acted like robots throughout the film.I think that explanation is unlikely though... I think that those other actors just didn't *get* the script like Lindsay did. Also, the director's execution of the movie wasn't direct enough, I don't think he had a clear idea of what he wanted each scene to tell the viewer about Aubrey's psyche... it was kinda willy-nilly. Neal McDonough is a GREAT actor first and foremost. However a great actor can be hindered by bad directing. If what you say is true then I doubt even Chris Siverston knew what he was directing. Then again, given the production team of this movie I have NO reason to believe that anyone was that clever to make this movie what you think it was. Furthermore I doubt VERY MUCH that even Lindsay was that clever herself to be the only one who "GOT" the movie. Considering the resolution to this movie, the fact that NOTHING in this movie is ambiguous, and considering that EVERY character in this movie tried to convince Dakota that she was Aubrey, even going so far as to show her an ultrasound ? (keep in mind she's trying to escape she's doing a REALLY bad job of it). This movie would be MORE interesting if it was Dakota who kidnapped and tortured and Aubrey was feeling the effects. Therefore we can go from girl who's perfect little life suddenly goes to crap and she doesn't know why. Then her parents think she's self-mutilating herself and get her psychiatric treatment, and eventually Aubrey discovers the truth. THAT would have at least made the movie a bit more entertaining. Rather, we go from Aubrey Flemming who's perfect life is cut short when a Serial kidnaps and murders her and she tries to escape by creating Dakota...the daughter of a crack head who's life sucked and is ONLY getting worse. I don't know about you, but that sounds absolutely stupid, which is accurate because that's exactly what this movie was. You on the other hand Heaven_Love7, you SHOULD write the movie you believe "I Know Who Killed Me" was and show these guys how it's done ! I'd pay to see your movie, this movie I wouldn't force prisoners to watch. It was a great premise for a movie, just not that well-done. It kind of reminded me of the short story by Ambrose Bierce "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." You can find the summary of that short story here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge.

The Best Of The Worst #5: Battlefield: Earth A Saga Of The Year 3000

2011-07-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

GOOD GRAVY THIS TOOK FOREVER to complete ! Granted I officially started editing on it the 4th. But OH GOOD GRAVY after my equipment malfunction and all that jazz ARGH! I had this review written DAYS ago and by the time I was ready to record it, I had gotten REALLY tired of this movie and I have been CRAVING to do "I Know Who Killed Me". So THANK GOD I'm done with this review ! Also PLEASE stay after the credits. Trust me ^_~!

SIDE NOTE: For some reason the audio ALWAYS goes unsync. It drives me BATTY! Sometimes it's perfectly fine and the suddenly it'll be out of sync. So yeah, please forgive that. I tried my best to sync as many clips as I can but DAMNIT JIM I'm not an editor I'm a movie reviewer!

PART ONE

PART TWO

So It's Come To This...: Reality Television

2011-05-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

So having a broken camera is a bit of a mixed blessing because now I get to tend to my blog a bit more. Normally I'd make a video on this topic BUT then I'd end up rambling and my point would NEVER be made. So I've decided to blog about this topic. I have gone on record as saying "Reality Television is the work of The Devil." and I stand by and support that statement, and given the current state of affairs do I REALLY have to address WHY I think so ?

Well apparently I do, if not just for the sake of having some documentation of my ABSOLUTE HATRED of Reality Television. BUT before I go on I'd like to explain what EXACTLY I mean by Reality Television, because people tend to label things that AREN'T Reality Television AS reality television. I know this whole trend started with "Survivor" BUT "Survivor" is ACTUALLY a game show NOT Reality Television. "Survivor" has a set of contestants, challenges, eliminations and an ultimate goal all of the contestants are trying to achieve.

Just because it's filmed in a different location and chronicles the contestant's struggles DOES NOT MAKE IT A REALITY SHOW! In a like manner, "America's Next Top Model" & "Project Runway" aren't reality shows either for the same reason "Survivor" is not. THEY ARE GAMES! And as much as I hate to say it even "American Idol" doesn't directly qualify as a reality show because ONCE AGAIN there's an ultimate goal that all of the CONTESTANTS are trying to achieve. I don't watch "American Idol" but I understand it's merit as a valid TV show that gives people a chance in the spotlight (and I can't hate on that). ALTHOUGH I CAN however hate on the fact that they PURPOSEFULLY set up the awful singers to get mocked (and that's REALLY uncalled for).

Shows like "American Idol", "America's Next Top Model" & "Project Runway" are all hosted and produced by people who know the in's and out's of the profession the contestants are hoping to enter into. "America's Next Top Model" is personally my favorite of the bunch and I have NO shame whatsoever for watching it for as long as I have. I applaud Tyra Banks for not becoming a shill and whoring herself out to the masses as a washed-up model. Granted she's FAR from washed-up BUT she's still a good person because she's passing on her knowledge of the industry to help other girls get to where she is. Plus old contestants on the show come back and share some of their experience and it's ALWAYS constructive criticism.

But enough of patting Tyra on the back. ACTUAL reality television are TV shows THAT HAVE NO VALIDITY TO THEM WHATSOEVER! Shows like "The Jersey Shore", "The Simple Life","Keeping Up With The Kardashians", "Kate Plus 8". Why are we watching shows like this ? (Granted I don't have cable so I've NEVER seen an episode of any of these but I am still aware of them). Keep in mind I'm a writer so my gripe with reality TV is a bit different BUT nonetheless valid. But back to my question:

WHY ARE WE WATCHING THESE SHOWS?!

What the hell are they teaching us ? Granted I know all the other ones I mentioned above aren't exactly teaching us anything BUT the contestants DO learn things and get educated by people in the profession they seek to enter, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE LEARNING FROM "THE JERSEY SHORE" How to hold your liquor while shouting at your one night stand to get out of the house ? What are we learning from "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" ? That rich snobby chicks spend money and argue about trivial stuff ? What are we learning about "Kate Plus 8"...I'm not even gonna touch that. I HATE to get on my "OH SOCIETY!" soap-box but SERIOUSLY, THIS is what passes for entertainment? Watching some stupid drunken chick with a bad tan make a complete ass of herself at a club?

I'll concede and say that if you're entertained by that THEN BY ALL MEANS. Heck, I enjoy watching morons get their just deserved as much as the next person, BUT you DO have to stop and consider just how much money these talentless morons are making from these shows and if you don't know I DOUBLE DARE you to Google the numbers...if it doesn't piss you off then I feel EXTREMELY sorry for you and question your mental capabilities.

No, I'm serious. What the hell ? Why are we pandering to these people when there are EXTREMELY talented people on Youtube and elsewhere who RIGHTLY deserve a shot at the big time. BUT INSTEAD our society says that drunken HORRIFIC Italian stereo-types, Slutty Rich Women, and a chick with 8 babies is something that we all REALLY need to be interested in. Is it just me or is that backwards as F*CK?! I'm NOT saying Reality TV is bad, I'm just saying if they're gonna make Reality Shows THEY SHOULD BE Competitions or Helping Other People by either improving their lives or their homes or For Fun Charity ("America's Next Top Model", "Extreme Home Make-Over", "The Biggest Loser", having celebrities on Game Shows competing to raise money for various charities). One of my gripes with "Dancing With The Stars" is that they're dancing for no reason. Sure it's fun but why the Hell should I give a f*ck if Scott Baio is dancing The Waltz ?

Shows like "America's Next Top Model" and "The Biggest Loser" inspire people to go after their goals and that ANYONE can make it. Sometimes the people on the shows are relate-able and their stories strike a cord with the viewer. Hell I remember when Niama won "America's Next Top Model" and my brother and I were ECSTATIC, because not only was she well deserving BUT she was from my hometown DETROIT! What since of relation can you get with Snooki ? (Anyone who can relate to her is probably too drunk to read this anyway). So it's come to this...reality television is SLOWLY becoming more and more relevant to our society while GOOD scripted TV shows are getting pushed to the way-side. How can we remedy this ?

STOP WATCHING THIS SH*T!!

This is Ugo Strange and this is So It's Come To This...

Fate, Is Not Just For The Hungry & Other Stories (That Day We Met)

2011-05-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, so this is a video I've had in my head for a LONG TIME! Granted the song just came out recently but I had ALWAYS wanted to make a video showcasing my ABSOLUTE favorite "Dragon Ball Z" character The Great Saiyaman a.k.a Gohan! It's been awhile since I did a video on a single character so allow me to breakdown the meaning of this video.

This video is OBVIOUSLY about Gohan (DUH!) but it's more about balancing a life of Super Hero, Z Warrior and everyday average guy without GOING COMPLETELY bonkers. Gohan has a history of EXPLODING with tremendous energy when pushed and I wanted to showcase that in the video by showing that when the chips are down Gohan comes to play. So when it's "The end of the world" as the video suggests Gohan is ready to fight. Gohan is CONSTANTLY dealing with and have dealt with "end of the world" situations and YET on the flip-side he's also dealing with regular everyday life, which is what I try to juxtapose in the beginning. The idea that those two worlds Average Guy and Z Warrior sometimes collide so fast that it's hard to keep up.

The song tells the story of a Bomb Diffuser (extremely stressful job) and Gohan is a respect was much like a bomb diffuser during his stint as The Great Saiyaman, constantly having to rise to the occasion of saving people in a situation where the use of his powers would attract unwanted attention. I NAILED it the first half of the video! The chorus is my FAVORITE part. Mostly because it finally shows Gohan dealing with the situation (ie, saving Videl and saving the day). Not to show that Videl is weak or anything but to show that Gohan is that guy who will never let her down. So during the chorus we get Gohan worrying about Videl and saving her skin on VERY valid occasions, and finally at the end of the video the role is reversed where Videl is the one worried about Gohan and SHE'S the one unable to let HIM down (after the many times he's proven himself).

I REALLY hope I did a good job showing off the AWESOMENESS that is Gohan a.k.a The Great Saiyaman, as not just a dude in an AWESOME costume who does crazy poses after being heroic, but a BAD ASS fighter who's noble, dependable and an all around GREAT guy. Here's to You GREAT SAIYAMAN!

The Next Review will be...Battlefield:Earth

2011-05-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

So YES for everyone who's wondering where "The Best Of The Worst" series is, IT'S COMING and the NEXT review will be "BATTLEFIELD: EARTH"! The problem is I have a lack of privacy at the moment BUT I AM working on it! I'm also getting a leg up on my NEXT review ! So get ready for it !

The Strange Show #1: Charron

2011-05-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Yo, it's The FIRST episode of The Strange Show and we got a DOOZIE!! It's an interview with THE HOMEY CHARRON one of the BEST KOTD battlers in the battle scene now. This kid has crushed MAD opponents and took some time out of his day to stop by The Strange Show and drop some knowledge on battling, his experience and everything else!! You can find Charron @ King Of The Dot and CharroN69.