Trident Productions Review

Di-Curious

2024-10-08T00:00:00.002-06:00

June lives the glamorous lifestyle of a mid-level Dungeons and Dragons influencer: broke in her parents' basement. Although June's internet-famous avatar has her life together, June is a people-pleasing mess on the inside. When she needs a D&D group for a lucrative opportunity, her celebrity group disinvites her, and she has to lean on her old friends.

But Nova, June’s former BFF, gives her the cold shoulder while flirting with her character during their game sessions. June is determined to figure out why. Turns out getting closer to Nova is awakening new, confusing feelings in June, feelings she tried to ignore years ago and can't anymore.

Hey, all you Tri-Hards out there! It's been some time. Today, we're going to be talking about Di-Curious, a new nerdy romance novel by Erin Branch.

While I will do my best to keep this review spoiler free, there may be spoilers from here out. You've been warned.

I was able to get an advance reader copy of Di-Curious from the author. While I had no real idea what to expect going into the book, the Dungeons & Dragons related romance definitively piqued my interest.

The book started off with some initial backstory, laying out the groundwork for some interesting conflict. After that, well, the story very quickly turns into a can't-put-down love story. There's drama. There's romance. There's a fun D&D campaign in the background driving the story forward. And at the center of it all is June and Nova and their burgeoning romance.

And with all the success of a Nat 20 Charisma Check, that romance blossoms into something absolutely beautiful. It's a feel good love story, with no shortage of some intense steamy scenes to spice it all up. Of course, with one of the characters being a bard, what do you really expect?

I have no problems giving Di-Curious a perfect 10 for a rating. The story is great. The romance is beyond adorable. And with my only complaint being that I wish there was more, I can not recommend it highly enough.

If you'd like to pick up a copy of the book for yourself, the author has it listed for purchase in digital and paperback here.

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Choo-Choo Charles

2023-12-01T00:03:00.065-07:00

Charles has been very bad...
Admittedly, when I saw the trailer for Choo-Choo Charles, I freaked out. I won't say I love trains, but I do have a certain fondness for them. My first real father figure, Ron, used to take me to the Twin City Model Railroad Museum all the time growing up.

But this? This is chaos.

In a nutshell, you are an unnamed archivist who is brought to an island to assist in the takedown of Charles, a half train, half giga-spider monstrosity that wants nothing more to eat you, bones and all.

But hey, you don't have to take Charles on alone. You have your trusty train engine, armed with several different weapons to help you out. And that should be enough to help you survive, right? You'd definitely think so, but if you want to survive out there, you'll need to do some work first.

In your travels around the island, you'll come across several people who will have you do favors for them in exchange for weapons, upgrade parts, and even some new paint colors for your lone engine. Most of these are simple fetch quests, but there's a few that turn up the stakes as you soon run into cultists who worship this demonic train spider.

Charles is going to get you...

While this does make the gameplay slightly repetitive (aided in the fact that you are limited to the set track around the island while in your train), the ever present threat of Charles is constantly looming in the distance, his lonely whistle cutting through the otherwise silent night. You hear that, and you better hope you're near to your train so you can unleash a fire of lead or actual fire into the beast, or you'll very quickly wind up dead.

While you can eventually beat Charles, there is a pretty heavy implication that he'll be back, so what was it all for? Regardless of the answer to that question, I'm definitely intrigued at the possibilities.

Overall, Choo-Choo Charles is a fun little game. It's admittedly short (I beat it in just over 5 hours), but games don't need to be long to be enjoyable. There's some replayability, as there are hidden secrets to find on the island, and you could always try a different weapon setup to beat Charles. The graphics are a bit sketch at times, especially in the lack of any sort of facial animations for the human characters, but as an early access game, that's fine by me.

All in all, I give the game 8 out of 10 stars. I'll probably boot it up again in the future, and if there's a sequel, you can count me in.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home

2022-01-04T14:07:00.005-07:00

The Multiverse Unleashed.

So, as you all know, Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character. I mean, you're talking to a guy who owns 4 different Spidey suits, has cosplayed 5 different versions of him and has plans for an additional 7 cosplays. Yea, I don't like Spider-Man. Nope. Not even a little.

That said, holy crap is Spider-Man: No Way Home amazing. With it releasing December 17, 2021, I knew I had to see it in theaters. And see it, I did. Twice actually. That's right. This is actually the first Marvel movie that I've seen in theaters twice. Not even Endgame could hold that honor, and it was insanely good as well.

To recap, No Way Home picks up immediately after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home with Peter Parker being outed as Spider-Man by the late (or is he?) Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio. He then has to contend with being charged with murder, as well as scrutiny from pretty much the entire world. And his friends and family aren't safe from those prying eyes either.

In an attempt to fix things, he enlists the help of Doctor Strange to try and erase people's memory that he is Spider-Man. Things go wrong, and villains from other universes, most notably the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy universe and the Marc Webb The Amazing Spider-Man universe, with the actors from those franchises reprising their roles. You heard me; Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn are back! The film also features returning baddies Sandman, Electro and Lizard (played by Thomas Haden Church, Jamie Foxx and Rhys Ifans, respectively.

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MOVING FORWARD, THERE ARE SPOILERS AFOOT. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!

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As stated, the spell that Doctor Strange was trying to cast to make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man goes wrong, and opens up the multiverse. Through some magical means, Strange has a plan that will send all the visitors back to where they came from, but at a cost. Those fated to die at the hands of their respective Spider-Man will die. Peter (Tom Holland) can't live with that and tries to take matters into his own hands.

But when someone close to him dies, he loses hope.

He needs help. Help that he will end up receiving in the form of other versions of Peter Parker, played by none other than Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield! Prior to the movies release, this possibility was discussed ad nauseum all across the internet. As soon as it was confirmed that Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx were returning as their respective villains, it was all anyone could talk about. To quote Molina, it was the "worst kept secret in Hollywood!"

Doctor Strange casts a spell

During the fight, the failed spell continues to go out of control and begins to pull even more villains through to the Earth-616 universe. As a last resort, Peter asks Strange to redo the spell, but so everyone forgets Peter Parker. Strange succeeds and now no-one knows Peter, allowing Spider-Man to continue to operate in anonymity.

As a story, this had everything I could have wanted. There's drama. There's action. There's plenty of emotions to go around. And the additions of all the characters from previous franchises brought in so much nostalgia. So much so, that the movie leapt all the way to the top of the podium for Spider-Man movies, and definitely Top 5 MCU (though I don't really have any specific order for those).

The movie has a ton of rewatchability as well, evidenced by my seeing it twice, once on opening weekend in my black and gold Spidey suit from the movie, and once later on in 3D. I did have a couple small issues with some minor plot inconsistencies, but I can look past them at the greater picture and see a masterpiece.

Spider-Man: No Way Home gets 9.5 Stars from us

Overall, I give No Way Home 9.5 stars. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close. I can say without a doubt that I'm going to watch it again when it releases on streaming/Blu-ray, and I recommend you do the same. Basically, if you are a Spider-Man fan of any kind, you need to see this movie. It's safe to say you won't regret it.

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Building Tri-Hard

2021-11-09T13:38:00.005-07:00

Hello, all you Trident Fans (now known as Tri-Hards, but I figured that may get a little confusing after a while on this post)! I know it's been a hot minute since we've posted anything here, but I figured it was time, what with the anniversary of this particular build having just passed.

What build is that, you ask? Well, if you know Trident Productions at all, you know that one of my first cosplays (and the one I was most known for starting out) is Neptune Vasilias from RWBY. Neptune has a gun that turns into both a gun and a gundao. I built that weapon, known as Tri-Hard, in gun form. And today, I'm going to show you how I did it.

Now, as with any prop build, the first step is to do your research. In my case, this was done by watching every single second that this weapon was on screen on repeat, as well as pulling up various images online for reference. I think I downloaded at least 20 different pictures on my old tablet to use. You might say I was obsessed, but you know? A little bit of obsession isn't necessarily bad in this case.

Sketch of Tri-Hard

After I had stared at the gun for countless hours, I then attempted to get a rough estimate of size and do a drawing of the weapon. As a basis for size, I actually used the canon measurements of the MA5C Assault Rifle that appeared in Halo 3, and wouldn't you know it, it was the perfect size once I put it to full scale.

Time to Scale it Up!

After doing the small, very rough sketch of the gun, it was time to scale it up. I got some foamcore and started to draw. For those who don't know, foamcore is foam board, with paper on either side, generally used to mount pictures. I actually picked up a couple tri-fold presentation boards, which is the same thing, and used that as the basis for the whole build. They are cheap and can be found at pretty much any office supply or hobby store, in addition to most big box stores too. In addition, they are easily cut up and take well to most paints, as well as hot glue.

Using a clear ruler to make sure my lines were the right size and lined up, I drafted the full size sketch and then cut it out using an Xacto knife. As I would later find out while building Crescent Rose, these blades are incredibly sharp, so I HIGHLY recommend cutting on a cutting mat and never cut toward yourself in any way. That said, once the initial full scale sketch was free of the board, I duplicated it by tracing it onto a second foamcore sheet. But not before having a little fun.

Some would call this done, but not me

The next step was to turn the two flat halves of the gun into a three dimensional prop weapon. To accomplish this, I essentially created a box with the foamcore. I cut out individual pieces of the boards and made walls along all the outside edges of the form, as well as some internal structures to make sure the middle was properly supported and didn't collapse. I also built out some more structures on the outside of the gun to further enhance the look, such as the rounded bits on the stock of the gun, as well as the structures on the sides.

Internal structure being built

Before I ever started to build, I knew without a doubt that I wanted this prop to have a gimmick, so to speak. As this was my first prop weapon, I didn't think I'd be able to accomplish any sort of transformation, so I decided that I wanted to make the gun light up, preferably when the 'trigger' was pulled. I had very limited electronics knowledge going into this, so I had to do more research. Back to the internet I went, looking up wiring diagrams and schematics for switches. Thankfully, I was able to get a lot of what I needed at local stores, but some things, such as the LED pod that was used to light it all up, had to be sourced from online retailers. I'll post links to where I got everything online at the end of the write-up.

Internal wiring: complete

After getting all my materials in, I got back to work. I ran wire from the trigger button I installed in the grip (in the proper position, as opposed to the side of the gun like I originally decided for some reason) to the battery pack I set up, to the LED pod. After everything was wired up, I gave the trigger a squeeze and practically blinded myself. The LEDs were incredibly bright. In addition, the light didn't really look like it should through the sides of the gun. I had to come up with a way to diffuse the light, and after another brief internet search, I had my answer.

Test 'firing' of the gun

Barrel laid in place

I ended up buying a polycarbonate plastic rod that was cut to the length I needed. I scuffed the surface slightly with some fine grit sandpaper and placed that in front of the LED pod. Testing the trigger a second time gave me the result I wanted. And as an added bonus, the diffusion altered the color of the light just enough to bring it from a green-teal to more of a lighter blue-teal, which brought it more in line with the canon weapon.

Once all the wiring was solidified and finalized, it was time to take the halves of the gun and make it one solid piece. This was accomplished, like most things, with a bit of glue and a lot of patience. I had to work fast to get the glue down on the edges of all the internal structures and get the second half down before the glue cooled and hardened. I almost had it complete, though there were a few spots where I had to scrape dried glue off and place it back down again, as there was just too much surface area to cover in one fell swoop. I would recommend doing this sort of project, at least this step, in a room that is somewhat warm. Thinking back on the build, I had my central air set to the same temp year round, and had I turned the heat up slightly, it would have allowed the glue to stay fluid a bit longer, but hindsight is always 20/20.

Now, before I get too much farther into this, I do want to bring attention to two smaller gimmicks that I built into the gun as I was going. The first was an ammo magazine that was held on by magnets, as well as a magnet box that I would wear on a belt on my back to allow for the gun to rest on my back, with no visible attachment points. The magazine was easy enough to accomplish, as when I build them, I just stuck a magnet inside both the magazine and where they would sit inside the gun as well. I built multiples, so that I'd have spares and the opportunity to swap them on video if I were ever to do a CMV. I only have the one left at this point, but it was a pretty good idea.

Test of the magnet mount

The magnet box/strap combo for the mount was a decent enough idea in theory. Basically, it was a small box filled with magnets that slipped on a belt I wore bandolier style under my shirt and jacket. On the side of the gun, I'd cut the excess foam from the inside and placed more magnets underneath, so there was nothing visible on the surface of the gun. Then, when the gun was placed on my back over my jacket, it would stay in place. It did work, but after a few accidents when Tri-Hard was knocked off my back at a con causing the gun to break, I would end up scrapping it in the future.

I did eventually add a metal plate to the outside of the magnet box to strengthen the magnetic bond a little, but the weight of the gun was just too much to overcome the shear (sideways) strength of the magnets I had. I may revisit this at some point, but I'll very likely need much bigger, stronger magnets and that just isn't worth it right now for me.

Back to the build. After turning the gun into a single solid piece, it was time to start prepping it all for paint. At the time, I hadn't really thought of using Plastidip as a surface prep, so in lieu of that, I actually went back to elementary school art class and broke out the paper mâché. Why I decided on this, I don't really remember. However, looking back at it now, it wasn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. It did add a bit more rigidity to the gun as a whole, at the sacrifice of a fully smooth surface. Regardless, I did a few layers of that and then spray painted the whole thing back to white to serve as the base.

First paint job (mostly) finished

Following that, I did attempt to use an airbrush to paint the gun silver, adding another first to this build, as I'd never used an airbrush before. Mel, the co-founder of Trident had recently got me an airbrush as a gift, and I decided, "why not?" I placed down templates for the pieces of the gun that needed to stay white, and went to work painting the whole thing. Unfortunately, due to the low power of the compressor I had initially, the sprayer didn't have enough pressure to reliably push the paint out, so it did end up being a bit splotchy initially. I was satisfied enough at the time, but this would be rectified later.

The gun was complete, and would have its con debut at RTX 2017. You remember me mentioning that the gun had broken at a con? This is the one. Part of the front of the gun snapped off, due to it being essentially foam and paper, and the internal wiring had been damaged due to the batteries yanking on the wires when the gun impacted the ground. So, the following spring, I decided to refurbish the gun, so to speak.

So shiny

I cut the side of the gun off so I could re-run the wires and adjust the battery mounts so they didn't move as much within the gun. After reattaching the side, I realized that the cuts I made were somewhat noticeable, so I decided to repaint the gun. I surprisingly had the foresight to keep the templates I used to do the designs on the sides of the gun, which made the whole thing a lot easier. For the refurb, I opted to use Plastidip on the whole thing. I figured the rubberized coating would further strengthen everything, as well as somewhat waterproof it, just in case something were to happen and I get rained on or something.

Signed by Gray and Kerry

This ended up making the paint job look incredible, and I brought Tri-Hard back to RTX 2018 for a follow up appearance, as it were. The new paint job made the entire thing stand out so much more, due to the silver being much more metallic compared to the original airbrush paint job, and the fact that everything was rubberized meant that on those inevitable drops to the floor (though not due to the magnet strap, as I did scrap that), the whole thing had a bit of shock absorption. I even got it signed by the voice for Neptune himself, Kerry Shawcross, as well as Gray Haddock, who also worked on RWBY.

This refurbishment ended up being the last time I would work on this particular prop, and it has since been semi-retired, along with my Neptune cosplay. Both will eventually make a return to the con scene, but I have plans for Tri-Hard 2.0 to be built at some point, and I think I may know how to make it transform in at least one way (gun to trident), if not into all three forms. Either way, for a prop for a cosplay that would give us our name, I'd say it turned out pretty well, wouldn't you?

Gray, BubblyWaffo, Myself and Kerry at RTX 2018

The next cosplay write-up I will be doing will also involve Neptune, but will be talking about his leg armor, which was the first bit of cosplay armor I'd ever built.

Until then, hope everyone has a great week!

-Stephen

Magnets purchased from K&J Magnetics

Polycarbonate Rod for barrel from ePlastics

LED pod, heatsink and driver from LEDSupply

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May The 4th Be With You!

2021-05-04T07:43:00.005-06:00

Happy Star Wars Day, all you Tri-Hards!

Today is that day where all us Star Wars nerds come together and show out love and appreciation for everything that is Star Wars. For me, that includes these pictures of my Jedi/Sith cosplay. This outfit was found for pretty cheap on Amazon, and I'd definitely like to revisit it at some point, especially once I finally get myself a Fallen Order lightsaber.

The shoot itself taught me a few things about posing as well as editing the shots. Prior to this shoot, I'd only done some minor photo editing (along with one fairly large edit that I'd forgotten all my techniques for), but I learned a few new things, including how to make the lightsaber glow.

Once I'd figured that out, I just went wild with it and did a whole bunch of editing, including making myself look Sith.

Photos taken by the lovely BubblyWaffo Productions, and edited by me.

Lightsaber from Ultrasabers.

-Stephen

P.S.: If you'd like to see more Star Wars content, please let us know, but in the meantime, you can check out a few reviews I'd written here.

Yang Xiao Long's Robotic Arm

2021-03-16T13:03:00.003-06:00

Hello Trident Fans!

It's Stephen here. Today, I'm going to go through the steps it took to create Yang Xiao Long's robotic arm from RWBY.

Now, to start off with, the materials used were some EVA foam, hot glue to attach it together, Worbla (optional), acrylic paint and some elastic. In addition, a long black glove was purchased to serve as the basis. You'll also need a sharp knife, such as an Xacto Knife, to cut out the foam, as well as a heat gun to form the foam and Worbla, if you are using it.

We also made use of some plastic wrap and duct tape to create an arm form to make our templates. This is completely optional as well. You can very easily just free-hand your templates onto your foam. Tutorial for the arm form will be posted at a later time.

Most of the materials were purchased from our local craft store, with the exception of the elastic which was sourced from some cheap hair ties that BubblyWaffo already had, and the glove, which was purchased on Amazon.

First, we drew out the basic shapes of the individual pieces of the arm on the EVA foam and cut them out. Be very careful, as the Xacto blade is very sharp.

After cutting out these pieces, we used them to trace the shapes onto the Worbla, making sure to leave enough space around the edges to allow for the thermoplastic to be folded over the edge of the foam. Assembly of any pieces of foam would need to be done at this point. For this build, there were only two pieces that needed to be attached together, but depending on the project, it could be more.

We used Worbla Finest Black, although the original Finest Art will work just as well. FB simply has a smoother surface initially, so makes for a shorter build/finish time as it doesn't have to be sanded down to have a smooth surface. Bear in mind, using Worbla is 100% optional; we used it to give the arm a more rigid shape to hold up to wear and tear better.

Once the templates were traced onto the Worbla, they were cut out using scissors. Heat up the Worbla with the heat gun so it becomes pliable and place the foam onto it. Be sure to not overheat the Worbla, as it can bubble and potentially fall apart. Fold the edges up and over the back of the foam, making sure to smooth out the Worbla as you go. Alternatively use heat and a smooth object (the flat side of your cutting blade makes a great tool for this) to form the plastic onto your foam.

If, like in our case, you have multiple pieces that need to be attached together after having the Worbla put onto them, it's actually very easy to do so. If you heat up the pieces individually (not to as high a temp as when you put the Worbla on the foam), you can just press the pieces together. Once the Worbla cools back down, they'll be bonded together similarly to if you would have glued them together.

You'll continue this process until you have all your pieces covered. If you opted against using Worbla, you can skip to the priming step.

Also of note for this build, the fingertips and rings were made entirely out of Worbla. There are no pictures of the process unfortunately, but I'll attempt to explain it as best as I can. Basically, we cut strips out of the Worbla and heat formed them to the individual finger segments, 2 per finger, with only 1 on the thumb. For the fingertips, we used a roughly half circle shape and formed it over the end of the finger. BE VERY CAREFUL doing this, as the Worbla can get VERY hot, and it can burn you. We were using a long glove as the base for the arm, so we were able to form the pieces over that, and eliminate a lot of the direct skin contact.

Once you have all your pieces shaped and attached to each other, the next step is priming for paint. If you didn't know already, most paints will eat through EVA foam or just wrinkle after drying if painted directly onto the foam. The most notorious for this is regular old spray paint. Something in either the paint or propellant actually destroys the foam, even if it doesn't immediately look like it's doing any damage.

For this reason, my recommendation is to always use acrylic paint, and always prime your surface. Acrylics give a nice smooth finish, but can be applied with different techniques to give texture if you want. I won't be going into those techniques in this post, however. Also, priming the surface will protect your base pieces from anything in the paint (so you could use spray paint if you really want to), as well as give a more even final color.

For foam work, I generally use Plastidip in either white or black to prime my completed pieces. Plastidip is fairly cheap and can be found pretty much anywhere you can find spray paint. It's a rubberized paint and comes in many different shades, so it could be used to paint your projects if you want as well. The reason I like it for foam work, however, is the fact that it allows the foam to bend and flex without having to worry about the paint cracking.

First off, you need to do this in a well ventilated area, outside if possible. You'll want to lay down something to cover the surface you are painting on to protect it (I usually use old cardboard boxes) and place your pieces on that. Then, with smooth, even passes, spray a light coating of your Plastidip on the pieces. Spray from about 12-16" away. Let dry, and repeat. I usually put 3 or 4 coats on, but your mileage may vary.

Something to note here, don't spray your coats too thick. There are a couple reasons for this, but the main one is that if you spray it on too thick, the Plastidip will start to bubble as it's drying, and you'll end up with small pockmarks in the finish where the bubbles pop. Unless that's a look that you are intentionally going for, it isn't recommended, as it's pretty difficult to cover up.

The second reason for not spraying too thick is that your pieces can and will get stuck to your painting surface. I generally pick up and move my pieces slightly in between coats, and if the layers are too thick, that can actually make it difficult to get off your surface, as well as make the primer peel off the pieces. More thin coats are infinitely better than a few thick ones.

After your final primer coat has dried, it's time to paint! As stated before, you can use spray paint if you want (if you've properly primed the pieces), as it is cheap and can give a nice smooth finish. However, pieces that may flex while being worn, can still crack if you aren't careful.

By far, my favorite type of paint to use for foam pieces is acrylic paint. And after a recent impulse buy at my local craft store, I can safely say my favorite type of acrylic paint is FX, from a company called Plaid. They make quite a few other crafting things, but that's for another post entirely. FX as a paint does a lot of the same things that Plastidip does. It's flexible and allows your pieces to bend without having to worry about your finish cracking. In fact, just as a test, I'd used it on a smaller project for BubblyWaffo's niece and painted it directly onto a thin foam piece. I was able to bend the piece completely in half and roll it around and there were no cracks. At all. I was incredibly impressed.

For this particular project, I used Fools Gold, which is a nice vibrant yellow, in a Smooth Satin finish. Simply brush the paint on in several thin coats with a brush. There's not too much needed to say for this other than make sure you're using the paint in an area with good ventilation, as with all paints.

Once I'd laid down 2 or 3 coats of the Fools Gold and allowed it to dry, it was time for some detailing. Depending on the details you want, you could use a number of different methods, including permanent marker or other paints. I used PlaidFX Carbon, which is a nice black color. Using a thin paint brush, I put down the detailing that was needed.

After that dried, we attached some thin pieces of elastic to the fingertips to allow them to stay on the fingers. You could also glue to tips and rings onto your glove using a little bit of hot glue, and depending on the finger pieces, that may actually be better. We did have some issues with the tips falling off in the middle of the photo shoot, and we'll probably remake the tips and attach them permanently to avoid that issue in the future. Elastic straps were also made to hold the arm pieces onto the arm.

After that was all done, all that was left to do was put it on!

Starting from the upper arm and working down, we put the pieces on over the glove. Upper arm, forearm, hand and then finally the fingers. The rings were slipped on like, well, rings, and then the tips were the final touch. Note the image used was from before the detailing was done, as Bubbly couldn't wait to try it on!

The whole project took roughly 2-3 days, accounting for the time it took paint to dry, and was surprisingly easy to do. I credit Jedimanda for their work on the robot arm, as I based this build loosely off their tutorial. Their tutorial gave me a good starting point for this project, as well as a couple other future projects.

And with that, I will end the tutorial. Hopefully, it will help all you lovely Tri-Hards (name I'm trying out for Trident fans, which I snagged from Neptune's gun) make your own robotic limbs for cosplay. Keep an eye out in the future for more tutorials and tips.

We'll see you all next time!

-Stephen

*BubblyWaffo's Yang cosplay is based on fan art done by Babsdraws

Merging With Trident Productions

2020-09-25T12:47:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone!

Those of you who follow us on Twitter and Facebook will have already heard this news, but those followers who only follow the blog itself may not. What news, you ask? Well, The Review is going to be merging with Trident Productions! You may have already noticed a couple of changes, but there will be more coming soon.

Trident is a group of three cosplayers, including me, the guy that started The Review so many years ago. It was originally started as a joint thing with myself (Stephen, The Review's creator) and Mel (my best friend). After going to a few conventions, I met Ryan, and we added him to the team as well. As a cosplay team, we have a lot of skills that could benefit others and that we want to share with others. So, that's exactly what we're going to do.

In the coming months, you're going to start seeing cosplay tips & tricks posts, general cosplay posting, as well as some reviews on various cosplay products. Don't worry, though. Those of you who started to follow The Review for our reviews on books, games and movies will have some new content coming their way as well. The three of us will be posting some reviews on games and such too!

In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures of the team!

-Stephen

Stephen as Spider-Man

Mel as Deadpool

Ryan as Iron Tim

Stephen, Mel and Ryan (L-R) at a con

A Christmas Horror Story

2016-12-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

You Better Watch Out

In continuing with our yearly tradition, I forwent the traditional holiday movies and watched a holiday horror movie, A Christmas Horror Story.

What initially drew my attention to this one, aside from it being the only such offering on Netflix this year (what the heck, Netflix?), was the description of the movie. "This anthology features a quartet of holiday-themed horror tales, including Santa battling zombie elves and demonic Krampus stalking a naughty family." Let me repeat a piece of that: Santa. Battling. Zombie. Elves. That was it, I had to watch it when I read that.

Add to that the fact that none other than William Shatner is in it, and you've got an interesting movie. Interesting, and cheesy as all get out. In addition, the horror alluded to in the title was a bit of a misnomer. There's not really anything in the movie that is overly scary, more jump scares than anything. That's not to say it didn't have its moments, but overall, not too impressed with the horror aspect of it.

Aside from the aforementioned Shatner, the cast was completely made up of relative unknowns. I loved this, because it let me focus more on the characters instead of the actor playing them. The characters were decently written, no real standouts though. They were just barely interesting enough to keep my attention.

The real star was the story, for sure. All 4 stories were actually intermingled with about equal parts cheesiness and legitimate drama. I initially thought that the tales were all connected, but after a second look, it appears that they are not. However, the story does jump back and forth between each group of characters, so you are getting updated on all of them at the same time. While this is a little unconventional for an anthology where the stories aren't really connected, it seems to work out alright.

A Christmas Horror Story gets 5/10 stars

All in all, it was an OK movie. Nothing that is a must see, but isn't completely terrible. I've definitely seen worse. If you have nothing better to watch on Netflix and are in the mood for something holiday themed and are OK with a little blood and silliness, give this one a shot.

********

From me to you, Happy Holidays, wherever you may be from!

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Doctor Strange

2016-11-06T10:45:00.001-07:00

Open your mind. Change your reality.

Anyone who is anyone should know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an ever-expanding thing. Doctor Strange only serves to further expand it. And it does so in a good way.

For those who don't really know who Doctor Strange is, let me give you a quick rundown. Doctor Stephen Strange is an egotistical and brilliant neurosurgeon. Or rather, he was, until an accident essentially destroyed his hands and prevented him from being able to perform surgery. In a desperate attempt to heal himself so he could go back to his surgeries, he found himself in Nepal, at the door of the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton in the movie), who would eventually teach him the mystic arts.

As far as the movie goes, I feel that it does a good job of introducing a character who is so vastly different from what we've seen in the MCU thus far. Although, at times, it can be very trippy. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to be aware of. The casting of Benedict Cumberbatch was definitely a good call, as he truly brings the Sorcerer Supreme to life in a believable way.

The story itself is pretty well put together. There are times where I personally felt sick, mainly during some of the surgery scenes, but that was more due to my own issues than a problem with the story. The story actually shows how a man with a hugely inflated ego goes from that to becoming a hero in a fairly convincing fashion.

Is this Doctor Strange or Inception?

However, some of the other characters weren't so well written. One such instance is Rachel McAdams' Christine Palmer. The character of Christine (at least to my knowledge) never actually met Doctor Strange, but she serves as love interest and assistance to the good Doctor before his accident. But her portrayal falls flat and is more uninteresting than anything else. Others, like the Ancient One are intriguing and interesting.

Like most Marvel movies, there are plenty of Easter eggs pointing to other works. I'm sure there are plenty that I missed, but one such thing is the addition of the Avengers Tower in New York. It's only on screen for a short moment, but things like that are what I love about the MCU. They are all connected, and they make it a point to show that, even if certain things are blink-and-you-miss-it. But this without a doubt adds to the rewatchability of the movie.

Doctor Strange gets an above average 8/10 stars

Overall, the movie was very good. It served to expand the MCU in a new and exciting way. There was plenty to see and things that I'd like to see again. My one complaint is that some of the characters were not all that interesting as I felt they should be. I can overlook that though since the movie was more than interesting enough to make up for it.

My recommendation? Go see this movie, and if you can, see it in 3D. I saw it in 2D, but I wish I would have seen it in 3D, as the special effects were absolutely made for 3D.

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Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)

2016-10-15T11:11:00.001-06:00

A god incarnate.

A city doomed.

Most people know what Godzilla is. Whether it be the original series of films from Toho, 1998's failed incarnation (now canonically referred to as Zilla) or the 2014 Legendary version, which is admittedly my favorite. Well, now there is a new version of the monster, and he comes straight from Toho to wreak havoc once again.

Shin Godzilla, which is a Japanese/English amalgamation for New Godzilla, is the newest kaiju film featuring the iconic character from Toho. This film is the 3rd reboot from the Japanese company, and the first that truly reboots the series. Previous reboots wiped out all movies but the original 1954 film.

I am going to try to be as spoiler free in this review as possible, but be aware that some minor spoilers may show up going forward.

My initial thought when going into the film was that it was definitely Japanese. "Of course it is," you say, "it's from a Japanese company!" I am fully aware of that, but it has a look that is distinctly old-school Japanese. I can't really describe it, but you'll know what I mean if you watch it for yourself.

Now, this isn't a bad thing, not entirely. Quite the opposite in fact, as it evokes a sense of nostalgia for those who are fans of the original movies from the Showa period. However, there is a little bit of bad to that nostalgia; some of the earlier scenes with the Big G have terrible effects compared to what the American public has come to be used to. As the film progresses, it does get better, so don't read too much into it initially.

Godzilla Comes Ashore

The design and origin of Godzilla in this movie is a pretty big departure from previous incarnations as well. But, it's not all bad. While previous versions originate from nuclear testing, this reboot turns him more into a natural disaster, to reflect recent events in Japan, namely the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

While it does work, there are a few things that I just couldn't accept. I'm not sure if it was the CG in earlier scenes or the design of Godzilla but his eyes just seemed so fake in the beginning of the movie. Like I stated earlier about the effects getting better, so did the Big G. Although when we finally see him in all his radioactive glory, his arms are completely stationary, hands palm up, as if to say, "I don't have any idea what I'm doing!"

All that is more or less
forgiven, however, when he finally unleashes his signature atomic breath for the first time. That scene absolutely stole the show. While also different from previous versions of the character, his current breath attack is no less destructive. In fact, I think it's actually probably the strongest version, especially once he gets to what I call The Disco Lasers. Trust me, once you see the movie, you'll know what I mean.

The movie also gives an insight into how the government works in their response to this new threat. Committees and sub-committees, meeting after meeting, not getting much done very quickly. Probably about 70% of the movie was showing the Prime Minister and the JSDF (Japan Self Defense Forces) in their various meetings trying to figure out what to do.

Not only did this make the movie drag on a bit, but it also made it difficult to follow at times, mainly due to the subtitles. I'm just glad I'm a fast reader, otherwise I may have gotten lost. But by that same token, the various meetings did contain quite a bit of humor, more than you might expect in a monster movie.

Shin Godzilla gets 6½ stars from me

All in all, the movie was decent. It gave a fresh new perspective on the origins of Godzilla, yet still retained elements of his previous incarnations. It poked fun at Japanese politics, but at the same time, showed what I consider a true representation of how the government would react to a 389 ft tall monster terrorizing a city. However, as enjoyable it was to see this realistic interpretation of the government, I feel that the movie could have done with a bit less of that, and more of the title character. Cuz who doesn't like to see a big radioactive monster tear through a city?

Overall, I would recommend this movie to others. It's different, yet very familiar. You can still catch it in some US theaters until Oct. 18th, after which it will probably be a while before it's released on DVD/Blu-Ray. If you want to try and hit the theater to see it, you can check here to see if there is one close to you. And if you are unable to get to the theaters, I would definitely recommend a rental (if possible) or purchase of the movie once it is available for such things.

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Day 5

2016-09-27T20:57:00.000-06:00

How Long Can You Stay Awake?

When you think of Rooster Teeth, what do you think of? For me, I think of Red vs. Blue and RWBY, both of which are animated shows. Neither of them bring to mind anything about horror.

That's all about to change.

This summer, Rooster Teeth produced a show called Day 5. Day 5 follows a group of survivors as they do what survivors try to do: survive. A worldwide epidemic has made it so that if you fall asleep, you die. They have to rush across the country to try and find an answer. And time is running out.

Seems pretty intriguing if you ask me.

Now, I've only watched the first episode so far. This is due to needing to have a Rooster Teeth FIRST account to access the remaining 5 episodes. But I am definitely hooked, and I'll be subscribing soon to watch the rest.

The story is not only interesting, but also unique. I've not come across anything like it before, and that is saying something considering how much time I spend online. I don't know why this epidemic has swept across the globe, but there is definitely some truth to the lack of sleep thing. There have been studies done to test how long you can go without sleep, and while the answer is not really known, what is known is that after about a week and a half, you are going to start having some problems.

The characters are likeable, and fairly well written in my opinion. Looking through the cast list on IMDB, there are only a few names I recognize; the others are unknowns. I love that, as it allows one to really see the character, instead of the actor. Granted, there are a few cases where I got annoyed with a character, but overall, I think the casting was near perfect.

Now, I do dislike that you have to have a sponsor account to be able to watch Day 5, don't get me wrong. Granted, this isn't any different than say, Netflix, having their exclusive shows, which require a subscription to access, but it still sucks in my opinion.

Day 5 gets 8 stars

All in all, I think the show is definitely good. I love that Rooster Teeth is branching out in what they are doing, and this show serves as a good example that they know what they are doing. If you are a fan of RT or just sci-fi/drama in general, I do recommend Day 5. It requires a FIRST account to watch, but you can get a 30 day free trial on the Rooster Teeth site.

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Suicide Squad

2016-08-12T20:54:00.001-06:00

Worst. Heroes. Ever.

One of the biggest things these days is turning comic books into movies. And in that genre, one of the most highly anticipated films has been Suicide Squad.

For those of you who don't know, the Suicide Squad was a DC comic book strike team made up of villains that got its start back in 1959. Basically, the idea was that they would take on missions for the government in exchange for commuted sentences. If they were to fail or be captured, they were thrown under the bus, hence the suicide part of the name. And it's been turned into a movie.

Let me start of by saying that this is definitely not your average superhero film. For one, it is set from the perspective of the villains. Second, there isn't really any appearance from any heroes (except in a couple instances). But it is those differences that really help to set it apart and make it unique.

The story itself is more or less an origin story. Under most circumstances, those are fairly predictable. While this one is to an extent, it does have sufficient twists in it to make it very interesting.

The characters I feel are well written. Each member of the Squad has their own backstory that is explored, and they each fill a role on the team. That being said, I know that a lot of people weren't happy with Jared Leto's version of the Joker (partly due to Heath Ledger's amazing job at in in The Dark Knight), but I think it fits the film perfectly. It's definitely a unique take on the character, but it pulls from several comic book storylines and adds a bit of its own flair, creating a villain that is just downright creepy.

The attention to detail in the movie is great as well. Whether it be subtle nods to the comics, or to previous films in the new DC continuity, you'll want to pay attention so you don't miss anything. I love it when movies are like that. It makes it all the more interesting to see what little Easter eggs you can spot.

It is due to this detail oriented nature of the film that also gives it a high rewatch value.You could probably watch it several times and see something new each time. And if not, you most likely weren't paying close enough attention.

Suicide Squad is rated 9/10 stars

All things considered, Suicide Squad was definitely not suicidal at the box office. It broke several records, and despite a mostly negative critic response, the fans seem to like it. It's very much a film that you'll want to see if you are a fan of comic book movies in general, but keep in mind that this is a different kind of comic book film.

My recommendation? Go see it. Enough said.

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Inferno

2016-08-06T15:27:00.000-06:00

Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri's The Inferno.

When you think of the Renaissance, what do you think of? Do you think of pillars of science, like Galileo and Kepler? Maybe you thought of the works of Shakespeare? Or maybe, you thought of the great works of art by such visionaries as Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci?

And if you thought of Da Vinci, maybe you remembered a book written by Dan Brown by the title of The Da Vinci Code that was turned into a movie starring Tom Hanks. At least that's how my brain works. Regardless, Inferno is the fourth book in Dan Brown's series of books starring symbologist Robert Langdon.

Inferno follows Langdon as he tries to unravel the clues left by a scientist fixated on the end of the world and stop the catastrophic events that will transpire if he doesn't. At first glance, the story-line is fairly straightforward. But as you read, there comes twist after twist, until you don't really know whose loyalty lies where. It makes for a very exciting read, and I can definitely understand why they are adapting this for film.

Dan Brown has a way with words for sure. His descriptions of the places that Langdon and his associates travel to are so good, you can almost picture them in your head. That is something I absolutely love to find in a book. Being able to picture a locale based on its description and then looking it up and having that mental image match what it actually looks like? There's nothing like it.

The characters are well written as well. Granted, as I was reading the book, I was imagining Tom Hanks as Langdon, so my perception may have been a little askew. That being said though, the other characters, whom I have no context for other than the text on the page, are fleshed out and believable too.

Inferno is worthy of 9 stars in my opinion

Honestly, this book had been sitting on my shelf for months, where I didn't spare it a second glance. I hadn't realized it was part of the same series of books like Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Only after I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation did I put 2 and 2 together and was immediately drawn to it. I wish I had read it sooner in all honesty.

It's a great read, and definitely has some rereadability to it. I highly recommend it. And personally, I will be looking forward to seeing the film adaptation to see how Brown's literary genius translates to the silver screen once again.

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Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines

2016-07-25T19:17:00.001-06:00

A new era of exciting adventures and shocking revelations continues to unfold, as the legendary Star Wars saga sweeps forward into astonishing new territory.

So, I just got done reading another of the Legacy of the Force books, this one being titled Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines. Like the other books in the series, this one delves a bit deeper into the fall of Jacen Solo to Darth Caedus. And the more I read the Legacy of the Force series of books, the more I realize how similar certain aspects of the now non-canon Extended Universe, or Star Wars Legends, and characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens are.

What I mean by that is how similar Jacen Solo and Kylo Ren are. Both are the child of Leia and Han Solo. Both are Jedi who are seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. There's a bit more that I won't go into for spoiler reasons (not that it matters much when the book has been out for ten years), but it's nice to see that while the EU is no longer canon, it wasn't forgotten.

Bloodlines is written by none other than Karen Traviss. In case some of you were wondering, yes, she wrote another of the LotF books that I've reviewed so far. In fact, the series as a whole was co-authored by 3 authors, with responsibilities rotating among the three. Ms. Traviss has also written a few other books that I've read in the Halo universe, so I guess you could say that I'm a fan of her work. As before, the author does the characters she is writing justice, especially in her portrayals of the Mandalorian bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

While Fett isn't the sole focus of Bloodlines, his portion of the story does feature prominently, which I am fine with. It's always nice to see more of a character who didn't get a lot of screen time. In Bloodlines, Fett is on a mission that sees him crossing paths with the Skywalkers and Solos, bringing drama and excitement into the story.

While it may be more beneficial if I treated all 9 of the Legacy of the Force books as a single story since they all cover one long arc, they all have their own tales to tell, much as the movies do. Bloodlines is no different, and the story that it tells is a good one. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next. Some things I expected since I started towards the end of the series, but even with that fact, there were still a few unexpected surprises waiting in store for me.

I really enjoyed seeing the characters of Jacen and Jaina Solo interact and become more fleshed out as the series' first third came to it's middle. Seeing as how they are twins, and Jacen being the primary focus of the series, it's not unexpected for the two of them to get a fair amount of page time. And to see them grow into relatable characters as well. I am truly looking forward to the next book in the series to see what is yet to come.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines gets 8½ stars

Overall, the book does a great job of furthering the story. There's action. There's adventure. There's even a bit of crime going on. And it is all great. I would recommend this book to fans of Star Wars, as well as those who are just getting into it; though I would suggest you start with the previous book first if you are just getting into Star Wars.

Lookout for more Legacy of the Force reviews in the future.

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Ghostbusters 2016

2016-07-17T18:33:00.000-06:00

Who You Gonna Call?

In a world fraught with reboots and remakes (yes, there is a difference), it's usually pretty hard to find one that works well. Although I was highly skeptical when it was originally announced, I believe Ghostbusters is one of those rare instances.

The 2016 version of Ghostbusters is a straight-up reboot of the classic 1984 film. It takes the iconic movie and gives it a fresh coat of paint, albeit with plenty of callbacks to the source material. But it has a story that is decidedly unique as well.

Now, most people were pretty outraged when this movie was announced. Some, myself included, were upset that they were taking something so recognizable, so iconic and remaking it. Others (not me) were more apprehensive at the fact that it would be a reboot with a female-led cast. I mean, really? Come on, people, it's 2016, we should be over this gender issue by now.

However, after seeing trailers for the movie, I got more and more intrigued. My apprehension about the reboot turned into genuine interest, and I finally decided I would see it opening weekend.

Let me say this. As much as I still think it wasn't necessary for there to even BE a reboot, I still think that it was a good movie.

The story starts out very similar to the original, with a group of scientists interested in the paranormal coming into contact with a ghost. And like the original, they get kicked from their respective college and have to make it on their own. While there are other similarities, most of them are just callbacks and don't have much impact on the film as a whole.

Slimer even makes an appearance!

As far as the characters go, while similar to the original castings (I'm sensing a theme here), they are uniquely their own. That being said, there is a strong connection between the two sets of protagonists meaning that Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore can easily be seen in their reimagined counterparts of Abby Yates, Erin Gilbert, Jillian Holtzman and Patty Tolan. It's a nice touch and one that I thoroughly appreciate. And keep an eye out for some pretty great cameos littered through the film as well.

It's definitely an entertaining flick, and while most reviews of it have actually been negative, I don't think there is any real reason for that negativity. Yes, it borrows from the original, sometimes very heavily, but it truly honors the classic while creating its own story.

Ghostbusters gets 7/10 stars

Overall, Ghostbusters is a movie that I would recommend. I say this not only as a big fan of the original film (not so much it's ill-conceived sequel), but also as what would probably be considered part of the reboot's target audience. It's fun, funny and at the same time, respects the source material in a very nice way. If you get a chance to see it in theaters, definitely go to see it, if not, it is without a doubt worth a rental.

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Legacy of the Force: Betrayal

2016-07-17T16:08:00.001-06:00

Honor and duty collide with friendship and blood ties as the Skywalker and Solo clans find themselves on opposing sides of an explosive conflict.

One thing that will always remain constant in the Star Wars universe is that things are always in flux. Things constantly change, and the results may surprise you. Legacy of the Force: Betrayal showcases this perfectly. It is book 1 in a 9 book series chronicling the fall of Jacen Solo into Darth Caedus.

One note before the actual review starts, the Legacy of the Force books are part of the Extended Universe, which is no longer considered canon, so some of the characters don't exist in the mainstream universe.

Betrayal starts off with Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker as they are investigating an illegal missile factory. What they find there confirms that war is indeed on the horizon. And not everything is as it seems.

The story, written by Aaron Allston, is very intriguing. Not only does it grab your attention from the get-go, it keeps you glued to the book until the end. In my opinion, that is the mark of a good book.

In addition to the story, the characters are well fleshed out and definitely relatable. OK, yes, it is kinda hard to relate to someone who is able to move things with their mind and is able to use a sword made of super-heated plasma, but you get my point. You can definitely understand their motivations and why they do what they do.

LotF: Betrayal gets a respectable 8½ stars

As the first book in a larger series, Betrayal is very good at hooking you in and making you want to read more. It absolutely sets the tone for the series as a whole, and I highly recommend it. There is even a fair amount of rereadability to it as well, which I will be doing for sure.

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Legacy of the Force: Revelation

2016-07-10T15:43:00.000-06:00

During this savage civil war, all efforts to end Jacen Solo’s tyranny of the Galactic Alliance have failed.

Now, with Jacen approaching the height of his dark powers, no one–not even the Solos and the Skywalkers–knows if anything can stop the Sith Lord before his plan to save the galaxy ends up destroying it.

Star Wars. Those two words should bring a lot of memories to a lot of people. For most, it will be of the movies. For some, the animated TV shows. And for others, it will bring you to the (now) non-canon Extended Universe stories. This book, Legacy of the Force: Revelation, is one such story.

Revelation is the 8th in a 9 part series chronicling the fall of Jacen Solo to the Dark Side. Admittedly, I started at the wrong part in the series (got the book at a garage sale), but that isn't such a big deal. After all, the movies started at Episode IV.

The story is actually very good. At no point did I get confused and think that I needed to go back and read the other books because I missed something. With that being said though, I do plan on reading the rest of the series, starting at the beginning, to find out what else happened prior to this book.

Ms. Traviss definitely has a way with drawing you in and making you believe what is going on. She did that with her books in the Halo universe, and she does the same thing here. Yes, she didn't necessarily create the characters herself, but you can definitely empathize with them. By that same token, her descriptions of the locations in the book are great as well. You can actually visualize what they look like and that just makes the story that much better.

The rereadability is definitely high with this book. In my opinion, this is due to the exceptional plot line. Even if I wasn't going to read the other books in the series, I'd still reread this one a few times. It has drama, sci-fi, a bit of a criminal aspect to it, and it's just plain fun since it's all in the Star Wars universe.

Revelation gets a very high 8/10 star rating

I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much anyone. Whether you are a major Star Wars fan, or know nothing about the franchise (though if not, I simply ask, "How?"), you should absolutely read through this book. You won't be disappointed.

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Independence Day: Resurgence

2016-06-26T16:05:00.002-06:00

We Always Knew They'd Come Back

In the land of Hollywood, sequels are the hot item right now. Independence Day: Resurgence is, of course, one such sequel.

ID:R picks up 20 years after the original 1996 film. Earth has stayed unified after the War of 96, and have used technology scavenged from the alien ships to augment their military, enhance lives and even expand across the solar system. Then one day, a familiar signal is heard.

The aliens are returning.

Earth must once again fight for their lives.

Fairly basic story, don't you think? That's what I thought too initially. However, there is a twist that makes it not quite so simple. For spoilers sake, I won't tell you what exactly that twist is, but it's a good one.

Returning to ID:R are several characters from the first film, chief among them Jeff Goldblum's David Levinson. Also returning (albeit as an older person, of course) is not Will Smith's character, but his step-son, Dylan. Remember that cute little kid in the first movie? Yep, he's back and following in his step-father's footsteps.

Of course, there are additions to the cast as well, led by none other than Liam Hemsworth. I feel like the characters were well cast, but not necessarily all that well fleshed out. It goes without saying that some will be more rounded than others, but I feel like they could have done a little better with it.

ID:R gets 6/10 stars

As a sequel, I feel like the movie did fairly well at staying true to its roots and giving a decent story. However, as a stand-alone film, it's just too basic for me. There's not a whole lot of rewatch value either, so I'd recommend waiting until this one is out on DVD/Blu-Ray to see.

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Zootopia

2016-06-20T20:29:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Urban Jungle

Disney really has a thing for talking animals, don't they? Whether it be lions, tigers, or bears (Oh My!), talking animals are definitely a staple of the company. And with Zootopia, they've taken that to a whole new level.

Zootopia, follows the story of Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD's first Rabbit Officer as she attempts to solve her first big case. Her quest is fraught with danger and more than one skeptic. What's a bunny to do, in a department filled with predators? Solve the case, that's what.

The story is fairly good. At first glance, it's a simple one, but upon closer inspection, there are twists and surprises everywhere. And those surprises extend to the characters as well.

Whether it be the leader of what amounts to the mob, or the criminal mastermind behind the abductions occurring in the film, you never quite know who/what you are going to see. I love this aspect of the movie, and I also feel like the casting of the characters was really well done too.

The attention to detail was ridiculously high as well. In this human-free world, there are very similar companies to our own, with their own animal-themed names. Zuber, Beast Buy, Targoat and Coco Camel come to mind, just to name a few. Many of them are blink and you'll miss 'em puns, but they are all clever.

Zootopia garners high praise with 9/10 paws

If you ask me, you should definitely see this movie. At least once. Probably more than that. It's funny. It's cute. And it has a meaningful message tied to it as well. You won't be disappointed.

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The Boss

2016-04-30T20:18:00.001-06:00

Watch Your Assets

You ever go to a movie that you know nothing about and are pleasantly surprised about how good it is? The Boss was like that for me.

I went into it not knowing anything about it other than a single watch of the trailer. In fact, I had never even heard of the movie until I saw the trailer. And I pretty much decided I needed to see it, because when isn't a Melissa McCarthy movie funny?

Definitely not this one, that's for sure. McCarthy was hilarious as usual, and I feel like that made this movie. The plot, while being good, was also kinda predictable. An industry mogul is sent to prison, what do you think she's going to do when she gets out? She's going to try and get back in the game. And (minor spoiler alert), in this case at least, she would succeed in a hilarious way.

The characters were fairly well written, with no characters that were superfluous. Everyone had their part to play and, at least in my opinion, they all did that quite well. I did have to chuckle at Peter Dinklage's character quite a bit too. Heck, I didn't even realize he was in the movie until his initial scene, but I'm glad he was in the movie.

Melissa McCarthy's The Boss gets 7/10 stars

The movie was good. Good enough to warrant a second or even third watchthrough I think. There was comedy. There was action. There was even a bit of romance for the ladies to enjoy. Overall, I say 7/10 stars. If you get a chance to see this in the theaters, I would recommend it.

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Deadpool

2016-02-12T10:15:00.002-07:00

With Great Power Comes Great Irresponsibility

So. Finally. Deadpool is here. And Fox nailed it this time!

For those of you that don't know, Deadpool is an antihero in the Marvel universe who is well known for his mouth. And I don't mean he's got great teeth. I mean he's a smart-ass. And he knows that he's a comic book character, which makes for some very interesting interactions.

This, however, is not his first film appearance. He previously showed up in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, wherein Fox in their infinite wisdom, screwed up his character. Well, with the Days of Future Past storyline and history being rewritten, they got a second chance to get it right. And man did they ever get it right.

Explains why Ryan Reynolds is perfect for the role

Deadpool/Wade Wilson, played by who else but Ryan Reynolds is spot on. He has all the mouth he should and no filter. Seriously, his dialogue during the fight scenes is some of the funniest I've heard in a long, long time. I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

The story is great. It's a revenge story through-and-through, but it's also a love story. Surprising, but true. And it even has a couple cameos by a couple X-Men to tie it into that universe. And one of those, Colossus, promises more to come from both Deadpool and X-men franchises. Can you say cash cow?

Now, I know that some people don't like the film for its generic origin story type plot, but in this instance, I'm OK with it. Yes, it's a little repetitive, but sometimes, you need that. And with as successful as the movie has been so far, it's safe to say that the inevitable sequel will be beyond brilliant.

This movie is definitely worth the price of admission

If you are a comic book fan, like Ryan Reynolds, or just a fan of action in general, you need to see this movie. At least once. Heck, I'll probably see it multiple times, and eventually own it. Point being, you need to see this movie. My only negatives about it are the slightly generic story and that it wasn't long enough in my opinion. But, I'm sure you'll all form your own opinions about that soon enough.

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens

2016-01-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

The force is calling to you. Just let it in.

Well, it's been a while, but the newest Star Wars movie has finally been released. For fans of the franchise, this is much welcome news. For those non-fans, I ask you this... What is wrong with you? In all seriousness though, I have no problems with people who don't like the films, but come on! It's Star Wars!

Episode VII, or The Force Awakens, is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The Empire is destroyed, but The First Order has risen from the ashes, with their sole mission to destroy the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Only problem is, Luke is missing.

On the other side of the fold, the Resistance is also trying to find Luke, under the direction of his sister, General Leia Organa. And while all this is happening, newcomers Finn and Rey must work together to help the Resistance. All in all, it makes for a very good story.

The Force Awakens feels like a true sequel to the original trilogy, while still being its own story and the beginning of a new trilogy. Director J.J. Abrams, who previously worked his magic on the Star Trek series, has shown once again that he has a knack for science fiction. There are also plenty of references and nods to the previous films, so there is always something to keep your eye out for when you are watching.

The characters are as equally good as the story. The returning characters have just as much spark in them as when we previously had seen them, and the new breathe fresh life into the series. I feel that the new additions were very well cast, so I wouldn't change anything there.

As previously mentioned, there are a multitude of references to the previous films, whether it be returning characters (aside from the obvious) or even just a line spoken by a character. There is definitely a high amount of rewatchability. Hell, Steven Spielberg has seen the movie at least 4 times already! Add to that the numerous cameos that are scattered through through the film, you'll definitely want to see this one a couple times at least.

Episode VII gets 8½ stars

Overall, this is a great movie. It's a welcome addition to the already existing universe (non-canon Extended Universe included) and will surely give rise to a new generation of Star Wars fans. If you can, I'd definitely recommend seeing this one in the theaters while you still can, but if not, rent it as soon as possible. And to those who have yet to see any Star Wars films, I say this to you; Watch them. You won't regret it.

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Krampus

2015-12-20T19:34:00.001-07:00

You don't want to be on his list.

Well, let me start by saying this was, at the very least, an interesting movie. Krampus, for the uneducated, is basically Santa's evil twin. That's the simplest way I can put it.

The movie, however, is not quite so simple to describe. The basic idea is that the holidays bring out the worst in people. One kid, Max, gets fed up and stops believing in the holiday spirit. As a result, he inadvertently summons Krampus to his home.

From here, you get your fairly standard demon summoning fare. Mysterious snow storm. The prancing of hooves on the roof and the sound of jingle bells. Killer gingerbread men. People randomly disappearing. OK, maybe not quite so standard, but you get the idea.

And while all this scary stuff is going down, you get comedic elements too. Which I was not expecting. Although considering several of the main characters are played by actors who do a lot of comedy work, I should have seen that coming. But even still, comedy mixed with horror is a strange mix, one that is difficult to get right. Sadly, I don't think Krampus succeeded at combining the two very well.

The main villain was justifiably scary. Other than growls and a very creepy laugh, he had no lines, and this just added to the creep factor. On the flip-side of things though, his minions were very comedic in nature. The aforementioned killer gingerbread men are just one example. I won't go into detail on his other helpers for spoiler reasons, but some of them are very cheesy, and kinda kill the scary mood.

Now, the redeeming factors in this movie are the ending and the effects. The ending came as quite a surprise, and that is always a good thing. The other good thing was that the movie favored practical effects over CGI. Now I'm not saying that CGI is bad, in fact in recent years, it's gotten quite good, but old school practical effects will always hold a special place in my heart.

Krampus is above average: 6 stars

The final verdict? Krampus was a decent movie. Not the greatest, but definitely not the worst movie I've ever seen. I'd say it's worth at least a single watch. If nothing else, it makes for a different kind of holiday movie. I'd say if you can get tickets on the cheap, it's worth a theater trip, otherwise wait for the rental.

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Mad Max: Fury Road

2015-11-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

Only the Mad Survive...

Mad Max: Fury Road. Where do I begin? Well, let me first say that this movie is a reboot of the movies from the 70's and 80's and not a sequel/continuation like I originally thought.

Seriously. I didn't do my homework and put off watching this movie until I had watched all three of the originals. And while I wouldn't have missed anything story-wise had I not watched them, I'm glad I did, because they gave me an appreciation for how awesome Fury Road is.

That being said, let's get on with the review.

For those of you uneducated in such things, Mad Max: Fury Road is the story of Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), an ex-cop, a road warrior, looking for a noble cause. He finds it on the Fury Road, where he ends up helping Furiosa (Charlize Theron) as she tries to reach the "Green Place."

The story itself is a fairly simple one. In fact, I'd say 90% of the movie revolves around a car chase across the desert. However, what the story lacks in complexity, the movie-long car chase more than makes up for. Fury Road is an adrenaline junkie's gearhead wet dream. And you can quote me on that. Cool beefed up cars, gun fights, and a few good looking women as well.

The characters are well cast and it's easy to understand their motivations as well. And while some of them may not be the most eloquent at times, they definitely get their intentions across. It's like they always say; actions speak louder than words.

With the simplicity of the story, the rewatchability factor of this one is fairly low. It's a good movie and all, and Tom Hardy is great as Max, but there's not much in the film that I would say demands a second watchthrough. If you are an action movie buff though, you will probably get a kick out of watching this one multiple times.

Mad Max: Fury Road gets 7 stars from me

All-in-all, I was fairly impressed with this movie. There was lots of action and a simple story, but one that made sense for the source material. And speaking of the source material, there were plenty of nods to the original films starring Mel Gibson. If you are a fan of the originals, or just need a testosterone fueled movie, definitely give this one a watch.

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Ready Player One

2015-10-28T13:50:00.000-06:00

Three hidden keys open three secret gates

Wherein the errant will be tested for worthy traits

And those with the skill to survive these straits

Will reach The End where the prize awaits

Do you like the 80s? The games, movies, even the music were good. OK, the games weren't that good compared to today's standards, admittedly, but they were among the first, and so deserve a special place. Well, if you do, I strongly urge you to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

In the future, the Internet and multiplayer online games become one and the same through a system called OASIS. Upon his death, the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, sent a message to the world. That message? Hidden within the OASIS, there are three keys. If someone were to find said keys and complete the challenges set forth by Halliday, then that person would not only inherit Halliday's vast fortune, but also supreme administrative rights to the OASIS itself.

Due to his extreme love of 80s culture, Halliday made it so this treasure hunt (quickly dubbed The Hunt) required an extensive knowledge of 80s video games, movies, books and music. Now, even though I was born in 90 and never actually lived in the 80s, I've always had a great appreciation of the products of the time period, especially the music. So, naturally, this book was like being a kid in a candy shop. 80s references EVERYWHERE.

The story itself was really well written. In fact, one of my friends who doesn't normally read books of this genre told me that it was one of the best books she had read. She was right. Mr. Cline has a way about his writing that just draws you as the reader in.

The fact that it is also one of the geekiest books I have ever laid eyes on helped out as well. But don't let that deter you. Even if you aren't a big geek, you should still enjoy this book, as there really is something for everyone here. Adventure, action, romance, thrills, geeky references... You name it, Ready Player One has it.

The characters were similarly well written. You really get to know the main characters. Even the side characters are fairly well fleshed out. It leaves me hopeful that the movie adaptation (yes, that is so happening) casts them well.

Keeping with the theme here, Mr. Cline also has an inane sense of detail. Everything that is referenced, whether it be an old arcade game cabinet, a scene from an old movie, or even something as simple as the location of the main character's house is described in painstaking detail. Enough that you can truly visualize it all. It really is a work of art in and of itself.

Going into this book, I didn't really know what it was about. The person who referred me to the book (coincidentally, the same person who told me it was one of the best books she had read) only told me that the book was nerdy and that I should read it. But once I got past the first chapter, I was hooked. I didn't want to put it down. And as a result, I definitely think the rereadability of this is high as well.

Ready Player One gets a rare 10/10 star rating

In short, this book is amazing. So amazing in fact that I decided to give it the highly coveted 10 star rating. There really is nothing wrong with this book in my opinion, other than the fact that I wanted it to keep going. I truly believe that everyone should give this book a read, at least once, especially considering the movie adaptation will be hitting theaters in December 2017.

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