HippieMoon94 Reviews

The Rental (2020)

Just Ehhh...

[4/10 · 17 May 2022]

This movie wasn't scary. It was barely a thriller. The action really didn't get started until 2/3 of the way through the runtime. The characters were fairly dull, and posed no threat to the "villain".

Overall, the ending was lackluster and anticlimactic. The fact the killer was never unveiled did nothing for the plot, aside from needlessly frustrate an already irritated viewer.

It showed promise in a few areas, but ultimately paid off very little to nothing at all.

Vincenzo (2021– )

Needs Work

[7/10 · 27 April 2022]

I initially went into this drama not really sure what to expect, but hopeful to see how the plot of a K-drama would deal with a mafia element.

For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed myself while watching the show, it really didn't begin to feel like it started to drag on until the last couple of episodes. I really did enjoy a lot of elements, but there were also some things I felt like could have used some work.

PROS: -- The acting was quite good, specifically (for me) the main villains Lawyer Choi and Chairman Han-Seok. The little nuances they did here and there in their body language, especially Han-Seok with his killer facial expression changes, was really enjoyable to watch.

-- The Scenery was nice -- A few of the plot points were quite funny (the ones that were done in a good way) -- Multilingual (So many switches between Korean, Italian, English, and Mandarin I think at one point was very cool)

CONS: -- Vincenzo's ability to get out of almost every single problem with ease was quite frustrating for me at time, to the point where in the latter episodes I was literally hoping that the villains got the upper hand in some way. To me, I just found it very unbelievable that he was ALWAYS a step ahead or that he ALWAYS knew more skilled fighting techniques. Like, I get it, Vincenzo is supposed to be one of the most feared mafia men in Italy, but he's not a superhero so I just feel like losing a fight here and there would've humanized him in a good way.

-- I didn't care for a few characters: mainly most of the "good" guys lol. The tenets we are supposed to be rooting for are incredibly annoying and self righteous at times in the beginning. Then towards the latter episodes, it's revealed that they all have some "superpower" that aids the lawyers in their quest for "justice". I also found it very frustrating that they were all able to hold their own against trained mercenaries and assassins. I didn't care for the "muscle" that the baddies kept hiring because they were cartoonish in their lack of know how when it came to hurting literally anyone besides themselves. And lastly the lawyer/leading lady the lawyer Cha-Yeoung. She seemed to annoy me to no end with her self-righteous haughty attitude when it came to the villains. She never lost a case when she worked for money, then when she worked for the side of "justice" she still never seemed to lose. I did enjoy her funny moments though and the development of her romance with Vincenzo.

--The PIGEONS! I have to mention the pigeons coming to the aid of Vincenzo in his hour of need, distracting the gunmen long enough for him to get the upper hand again. That one moment literally made me drop a star in the rating, so out of place and forced and cringy.

-- Lastly, the ending. Too unbelievable and DARK. Vincenzo went too far with how he punished Choi and Han-Seok. I didn't enjoy how they didn't stand a chance. Han-Seok is quite a large man, and there was no reason he should've been taken down so easily. None of the "good" guys died because once again they were more than capable of fighting off all the trained killers. Han-Seok stabbed Lee twice and the guy was fine, but he gets kicked in the face once and is knocked out long enough to be strapped (by Vincenzo alone) into a Russian mafia torture chair. I also found it hard to believe that the multiple cop cars literally stopped their pursuit of a wanted Vincenzo because a tiny car a little bigger than a smart car blocked the road. Then Vincenzo manages to get out of the country only to sneak back in for an art exhibition a year later with ease just to meet up with Cha-Yeong and finally admit to the audience that he is a villain. I just kept asking myself by this point, "HOW IS NOONE ABLE TO CATCH THIS MAN? SURELY THE AUTHORITIES HAVE HIM BLACKLISTED FROM ENTERING INTO KOREA AT THIS POINT?!"

Overall, I still enjoyed it though. It was a wild ride. The cards were clearly stacked for the main leads, but I just put that off on the sometimes cliche k-drama formula. It was still quite frustrating at times (to the point where I found myself rooting for a win for the bad guys sometimes), but I still like it enough to happily sit through 20 movie-length episodes.

Eternals (2021)

Shaky, but Beautiful start...

[9/10 · 12 November 2021]

I honestly rated this movie so high because I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially considering that it's just an introduction to the eternals into the mcu. I'll admit that I don't know the comics at all, and hadn't heard of them before the announcement of this feature back in 2019, so I came into this not knowing the characters and I quite enjoyed how they turned out.

Pros:

• The scenery is beautiful. I heard that they shot a lot of the movie on location and tried to use minimal green screen, and that to me made the background so much better. The locations added on to the depth of the various situations the eternals found themselves in.

• The eternals characters. I know I've heard a lot of people say that there were too many people and too little time to explore any real lasting connections. However, I must respectfully disagree because I felt like the story gave us enough personality from each character to feel like they were a real person with multiple dimensions. I do agree that there's plenty to flesh out in future projects, but as an introduction film they still managed to give a lot of good stuff (definitely enough to fill in the blanks of what they didn't address directly). I found myself enjoying their family dynamic more and more as they reunited with each new eternal. It was easy to point out who was who in the hierarchy. The chemistry & tension was palpable between a lot of the characters. Kingo was so charismatic. Druig was surprisingly captivating (i did not go into this movie expecting to like his character as much as I did coming back out again). Ikaris added real emotional depth to the loyal soldier storyline (he didn't want to hurt his family, but in his mind it was in service of the greater good/goal). Thena was beautifully tragic and also terrifying whenever she slipped out of her conscience state. Gilgamesh was a strong force. Phastos was funny enough. Sprite just wanted to have the chance to grow up which played out well enough (although there were some moments that felt stale). Sersei was nice enough, but at times she did feel a bit bland as character (the rock changing joke with kingo was actually a pretty good representation of her character as a whole lol).

• The themes were dense and subjective. This content clearly upset a lot of viewers, which is understandable because not everyone enjoys movies that lean more into the "shades of grey" right & wrong argument tactic (especially in the superhero genre). I, however, genuinely enjoy this type of subject matter. The overarching argument towards the 3rd act is revealed as to whether it is right/wrong to sacrifice the lives of the minority for the majority. There's also the question of loyalty versus love, and how it relates to how far a person will go to accomplish their life's purpose/mission versus how love plays a part in that decision. There are also some other minor themes that are also pretty dark, but overall pretty heavy stuff lol.

Cons:

• The deviants were lacking for sure. I could understand their use (as presented by arishem during the exposition-dump to cersei), but the only purpose they really served was to provide the audience with the occasional action scene. They were beautiful to look at, and I loved seeing the eternals use their skill to kill them (especially ikaris with the eye lasers, thena's ballerina warrior fighting, makkari sonic booms, kingo finger guns, and even druig's nimble shotgun antics in the Amazon scene).

• The celestial halfway emerging from the earth. I understand that there was a celestial in the earth growing for a million years already, so he was pretty big before he even started trying to emerge and the earth was fine. However, once he broke through the crust of the earth (head and hand), shouldn't the earth be at the end of its rope? The sight of a giant stone "statue" poking out of the Indian Ocean towards the end of the film was lovely to look at, but it definitely made me wonder how the earth's core is holding up after all that. I hope this will be addressed with future eternals content though, so looking forward to that.

Overall, I thought this movie was a wonderful addition to the mcu. It's different that's for sure. The darker themes and more relationship (as opposed to action) led storyline is more akin to avengers: endgame rather than avengers: infinity war. It's a beautiful movie that left me with a few questions about inconsistencies here and there, but overall definitely one of my faves. I highly recommend just going in with an open mind because it is a little different than other mcu blockbusters.

God bless, and I hope this review helped.

Madea Goes to Jail (2009)

Two movies merged into one...

[7/10 · 20 July 2021]

This is basically 2 movies in 1. There's 'Madea Goes to Jail', and 'The Candy and Josh Forgiveness Special'.

While I enjoyed most of the Madea led bits immensely (aside from a needless scene callously instructing sexual abuse survivors to simply "get over it"), the Candy/Josh storyline was a little more than a stretch.

The start of their 'relationship' introduction was a little shaky, at best: He's just so overcome with his own guilt about what happened in the past that he simply must do everything in his power to 'make it right'. As the movie progresses, the audience discovers that they were childhood friends who went t college together where Candy was raped by some of Josh's 'friends'/teammates.

I felt that this particular backstory was incredibly loaded, and dealt with in the most heavy-handed way (as most Tyler perry plots are, unfortunately). The element that bothered me the most about their story though is the conclusion of it all. Why do they have to end up together, as a couple? Of course, Josh's fiancée at the start of the movie turns out to be some over the top evils villainess cheating her way through her career. Naturally, when Josh discovers her dishonest practices, coupled with her callous attitude towards her clients and coworkers, he broadcasts his distain and disgust for general character in front of their family and friends at the altar of the church where they are all set up to exchange wedding vows. That scene was, I'm assuming, meant to be a satisfying conclusion to the fiancee's character arc, but that actually made me look at Josh in a less appealing light.

Instead of showing a modicum of respect for the woman he claimed to have loved at the start of the movie, he decided to go down the road of one of the worst kinds of public humiliation instead. That was just wrong. He should have confronted her privately, then enlisted his friend to help gather evidence so they could report her officially to their superiors. Don't call her a disgusting human being at the altar of the church where y'all are about to say the wedding vows.

Then he runs to the jailhouse to profess his love for Candy! Like, what?! The whole thing is so out of left-field, and totally unnecessary. I could kind of understand the feeling guilty and helping her out angle, but once she forgave him, he should've just continued helping her because he's a "good" guy. When did he even have a chance to fall in love? They only spent two nights together, then she went to jail and refused to speak to hi for the next 6 months straight.

Other than that whole storyline, the rest of the of the movie was fairly good. Madea was naturally hilarious!

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)

A Review in Bullet Points ((SPOILERS))

[4/10 · 11 June 2021]

Maybe this movie would have been better if I had not gone straight from part one into this one, but alas, here we are. Technically, it wasn't even a sequel because it was set before the year of the first movie, but they brought Johnny in as a "special guest" type deal even though the actor, Patrick Swayze, has aged a couple of decades. Anyway, on to the bullet points:

-- The lack of period appropriate music was grating. Seemed like every other song was a Shakira song. Not only did she not come out in 1958, but she's also Columbian not Cuban.

-- Neither of the main characters were very good dancers, so when I peeked at the trivia after the movie ended it was no surprise that they had no dancing background or training before they were cast in this picture.

-- The narrating at the beginning and end of the movie was more reminiscent of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants than Baby's narration in the original Dirty Dancing.

-- Were there any consequences for anything in this movie?

-- The plot line was shaky, at best. Is it a high school drama, a revolution movie, or a dance movie?

-- Why were the stereotypical "mean girls" in the movie at all, they added nothing to the plot. They didn't cause any difficulty for the main character, aside from a few weak barbs here and there about her clothing.

-- The main actress and actor had little to no chemistry on screen. Even their kissing scenes were awkward and difficult to watch.

-- Patrick Swayze was the only highlight to this movie, even though his character being a part of it at all was very weird. It was unclear what his role was because it seemed like the writers of this movie wanted people to know Johnny from the original without putting together that based on the timeline they set up (and the fact that they cast a much older Patrick Swayze), there was no way it could be Johnny from the original movie.

All in all, I don't understand why this movie was made. I guess since the early 2000's were a decade of dance movies, they wanted to siphon off of the popularity of one of the greatest dance movies ever made to sell their product. It was a miss in my opinion. They should have at least had one actor that had a background in dance, decided what they wanted the plot to be about (leave the heavy politics out, especially if they were just gonna tiptoe around enough so tat anyone who isn't a history buff would be completely lost), and find actual songs from that time period to showcase Cuba during that time instead of just using modern music and unsuccessfully trying to make it sound more vintage.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Don't overthink it

[8/10 · 12 December 2020]

Why all the hate? This movie is purely escapism and it doesn't pretend to be anything deeper than that. It showcases exotic scenery and lots of shiny expensive things. There's also a "Cinderella-esque" love story that serves to move the story along sweetly.

The characters aren't super deep and they don't do any switching up halfway through the film so the plot is easy to follow. Charming boy is secretly rich with a heart of gold, and eyes for only our lead lady. Successful girl is comfortable and naive, and fights a battle of wits to be with her man.

I see a lot of people complaining about racism and the movie promoting bad values. Yeah, the movie primarily showcases East Asians as opposed to every single Asian people, but why the pressure??? Finally, a movie that features Asians whose entire character identities aren't math experts or Kung fu masters (which is the stereotypes mainly presented in American television), but people with varied goals and backstories that can be understood to a certain extent by their audience regardless of race. As for the bad values about gold digging and backstabbing. Literally every rom-com has a gold digger or backstabber thrown in the mix for a little razzle dazzled added drama.

All these "far stretched" complaints are clearly based in some people's discomfort with a movie presenting any race other than white but still being celebrated on a large scale level. This is a standard modern fairytale type romance. It's not meant to be complicated. It's just fun. Don't overthink it, just enjoy.

Mother's Day (I) (2010)

Really...

[2/10 · 9 April 2019]

This movie has a lot of people that I knew from other movies which automatically earned it one star, and it did keep me semi-invested for the entire picture which is what earned it a second star. HOWEVER, this movie is utterly ridiculous through and through. There were SO many opportunities for the "victims" to get the upper hand! It was frustrating for no reason! The youngest thief should have succumb to his injuries 5 minutes into the movie NOT lasted through the whole thing and back healthy again at the end! Beth was an idiot who didn't learn from her first mistake where she knocked the thief over the head and failed to grab the gun which resulted in her being recaptured. No, she did the exact same thing with mommy dearest and of course she lived and ended up causing more trouble, EVEN UP TO THE VERY END! The thief girl was stupid, useless, and served absolutely NO POINT to furthering the plot. These thieves LITERALLY SNUCK AWAY FROM THE POLICE IN A TATTERED OLD WINNEBAGO! AND WHAT HAPPENED TO TERRY, Gina's husband?! Beth's husband was a coward who NEVER redeemed himself. The movie could've been over within 45 minutes if the captured group collectively had one single brain cell to share between the lot of them. SORELY DISAPPOINTED, but it did keep my interest the whole time so that's something I guess.

Juanita (I) (2019)

Interesting

[7/10 · 9 March 2019]

It's an interesting movie to say the least. The characters are flawed yet relatable, and some of the subjects touched on are quite heavy. I like that the solutions are simple and not too far drawn out. I also like that it deals with the struggle of remembering to take care of yourself amidst the various struggles that life throws at you. I liked the concept of the movie, and the actors. I enjoyed some of the more heavy situations, as well as the quirky and carefree ones. However, at times the direction did feel a little "choppy" for lack of a better word. At times, it felt like there were relationships and topics that should have been more fleshed out to ease some of the transitions. By the end, I felt like what I just watched was good enough but there just wasn't enough of it to fulfill me completely.

Greenleaf (2016–2020)

It could use some tweaking

[5/10 · 8 January 2019]

This show is pretty good. The acting is good, and so many well known actors grace the screen with their presence and skill. However, sometimes the storyline is a bit too far fetched for my taste. They could stand to dial back on the drama just a little bit to make the story more believable. Everybody is just so over the top, it's ridiculous sometimes. And pleaseeee stop trying to rewrite Scripture to fit the storyline. This show has a really bad habit of misquoting scripture, as well as taking other parts of the Bible completely out of context.

Smallfoot (2018)

Meh

[5/10 · 12 December 2018]

Overall, it was just meh. The characters were forgettable, and the story was topsy-turvy at times. Although a lot of high profile live-action actors bring in the initial crowds, when these high caliber celebrities don't deliver the same charisma through their voice alone then that only hurts the movie in the long run. Initially, I expected a different movie altogether. Something cute, with a focus on making a colony of Yetis being successfully hidden for so long somewhat believable. However, the story literally has a city sized village in the middle of (arguably) the most popular mountain climbing region (the Himalayas) in the world, and the audience is seriously supposed to believe that the international teams that trek through that particular region never once climbed to the top of the tallest mountain and came across the yeti civilization? The songs were subpar, although a few were catchy if still forgettable. There seemed to be a weird underlying theme that was possibly anti-religious. There is bashing of stone laws (oddly similar in explanation to the Ten Commandments), as well as a sentiment that you should never question anything because otherwise you'll uncover the truth (but Christianity encourages questioning because there's an answer for literally everything if you study enough). And the worst part for me was the ending because it made NO sense to me. I understand the lesson that a whole race shouldn't be generalized based on the actions of a few bad apples, but the police already wanted to hurt the yetis from their run around town the night before so how does it make sense that they wouldn't just open fire on a whole group of yetis trekking down from the mountaintop? I thought the realism was stretched a little thin in that moment because the yetis naivety will surely get them all killed in that case. The scientific method that the SES group in the movie praises so highly will result in a multitude of international scientists coming to study the yetis (who will not be legally protected from being tortured to be studied until they are correctly classified as an endangered species by courts worldwide), and no doubt their civilization will be ripped apart and totally upended in search of what secrets they hold. I understand that the movie encourages questioning and seeking wonder while throwing caution to the wind, but this is supposed to be a kids movie. How are you gonna tell young kids that the only way to find answers and "wonder" is to disobey their parents (who sometimes make up stories to protect their children from danger) and not be cautious around the unknown (specifically, potential kidnappers or dangerous parts of town)? There were a few laughs though, and overall the animation was nice so the movie's not a total loss. Like I said before, it's alright but nothing to write home about. In conclusion, meh...

VeggieTales: Beauty and the Beet (2014)

Much better than I expected!

[10/10 · 12 November 2018]

I've been a long time fan of VeggieTales movies since I was a young child. Lately, unfortunately, I haven't enjoyed the later works that much because of what I felt like were not very good storylines. However, this video was like a breath of fresh air. The songs were catchy. The storyline was not only good, but incredibly relevant in everyday life. I liked the characters, and their interactions with one another were natural and easy like the family they were supposed to embody. The jokes were laugh out loud funny for the most part. I loved it because it was an all around good movie. Hopefully they continue to release movies of this high caliber again.

Miss Me This Christmas (2017)

Not so bad...

[6/10 · 13 October 2018]

The movie was overall okay, and I was no doubt generous with my final grade. I gave it a six because although the plot was subpar, but the cast was beautiful and there were a few genuinely good and funny moments in the movie. The acting is good, but the dialogue was clunky at best. The most unbelievable part had to be the main couples reasoninng behind filing for the divorce in the first place. Also, a lot of the "feel good/supposed to be good advice" moments in the movie feel far too forced. Eva's acting was the best, she came off both believable and entertaining. Everyone else was just alright, if not utterly cringey at times. The plot was okay at best, and the movie ends on an expectantly happy note. It's basically a straight to TV movie, and that's the mindset it should be viewed with in order to be enjoyed. It's nothing to write home about, but it's alright.

Too Close to Home (2016–2017)

Room for Improvement...

[7/10 · 27 February 2017]

The show is fine for a scripted TLC drama. The actors are, of course, quite lovely. The acting is not as bad as on some other Tyler Perry shows, but sometimes the dialogue has a tendency to be slightly clunky at best. The plot lines are mostly believable, but still have room to improve. Honestly, overall, the show is quite enjoyable. I enjoy most of what Tyler Perry produces, with a few notable exceptions. This show definitely has room to improve on a few aspects, but I can also definitely say that it does have promise (as long as it doesn't get too ridiculous). So far, the relationships are believable and the acting is good. I finished the first and second season (at least up to the last episode released so far) in the past week so my interest, to say the least, is peaked. Hopefully, it only gets better with time.

Pros: -definitely brings the drama -acting is good -story line is mostly believable and easy to follow -cinematography and wardrobe are well done -characters have thought out backstories with room to grow

Cons: -some subplots are iffy at best -dialogue shifts can be slightly clunky and stiff -conflict resolves are hastily done at times -music is overdone and more obtrusive than complementary -shifty accents (Shelby's accent is a little stereotypical at times)

Suicide Squad (2016)

Not The Best, But Not The Worst

[6/10 · 8 August 2016]

I went into this movie with extremely high hopes because of the promising commercials I had seen everywhere. However, I was sorely disappointed as I sat through what quickly became a train wreck of a film.

I'm not gonna lie, all of the characters had definite potential upon introduction, but as they were haphazardly lumped together and thrown into a fight they were severely unprepared for the minuscule background info the audience was given about each "bad-guy" seemed out of place and pasted on. The plot was shaky, at best, and supplied me with a generous amount of unanswered questions. A few of which being: where is captain boomerang during MOST of the fighting scenes; why did Waller have workers (the ones she shot) handling information that was above their pay-grade; why did Enchantress engage in hand-to-hand combat as opposed to simply blasting them all to smithereens the first time they refused her offer during the last big fight scene; etc.

The set-up for MOST of the characters was not believable in the slightest. We got NO backstory for killer croc. They spent so little time on him that there were times when I forgot he was even a part of the team at all. Cap Boomerang was completely unsuited for this particular situation at all considering that the only weapons he had to work with were his trusty-dusty boomerangs which rendered him completely useless against the supernatural forces they were facing. Katana a.k.a. silent, sword-wielding place-holder because she pretty much had no purpose in the group except to protect Flagg who couldn't be killed by the Squad anyway because he made it extremely clear that if he died then they died. Slipknot was so obviously only in the movie to be killed off. Diablo was a pacifist the entire movie in order to provide a semi-logical reason for most of the excessive shooting scenes considering he could have just roasted most of the attackers in a matter of seconds. Deadshot tried so hard to make you feel for his "I want to be a good guy for my daughter" plight that it was hard to see him as a villain bad enough for this crew at all. And I saved the "best" for last, Harley & Joker.

They were both a mess. Joker didn't fit into this picture at all because his entire role was built as Harley's big bad boyfriend who spent the whole movie "coming for you, baby." His scenes were forced and unnecessary. Harleen Quinzel, usually one of my favorite characters, was fun enough but severely lacking in on screen presence. Everything about this particular Harley seemed forced and fake, especially when her "perfect vision" turned out to be both her and Joker cured with young babies. Harley is classically a psychopath and for her to have a "normal" life vision left me with some serious questions about why she stayed Harley at all when Joker wasn't around. Their entire relationship was unfamiliar to me having only previously seen the cartoon adaptations of their relationship.

The main villain, Enchantress, was a hot mess. Her character was unbelievable, but that could be in part due to the inexperience of the fairly new actress, Cara Delevigne, portraying her. Unfortunately, the unbelievability of her character also was a let down because of the awkwardly forced relationship between her and Rick Flagg. I didn't believe their love affair for a second. They were too stiff around each other and their "love" wasn't fleshed out enough in the backstory scenes for me.

Overall, the movie wasn't the best DC movie I've ever seen, but it also wasn't the worst. It has humorous and fun-loving parts, but it also leaves the audience with a ton of unanswered questions (and not in a "I need more" kind of way). I definitely recommend that people who think they'll enjoy this movie to watch it for sure, but go in expecting a sloppy movie because if you go in expecting anything more than mediocre then you're gonna get your feelings hurt.

The Legend of Korra (2012–2014)

Slightly above average...

[6/10 · 20 July 2016]

I was, and still am, a HUGE fan of this show's predecessor. I say that because my bias based on my love for the original will no doubt needlessly seep through during this review.

This show started off well enough, in my honest opinion, however in the long-run it lost my attention. I found myself literally just sitting in the same room with the show playing on my computer while doing other more intriguing tasks like folding my laundry.

For me, it was okay at best, definitely not top notch like the original. This show's predecessor had charisma, and a sense of urgency while still maintaining a humorous undertone. This show lacks both of those things. Actually, some of the most fulfilling segments of the show for me were the parts that included characters from the original show.

Let's take a moment just to discuss this show's characters and their lack of character. I found them stiff, and I didn't feel like I could relate to them in the slightest, let alone care about their overall plight. I felt like their connections definitely could've used more work because every romantic fling felt like just that, a fling.I don't know if the writers were trying their hardest to demonstrate the futility and fallibility of teenage relationships because if they were, they DEFINITELY nailed it. The relationship between Mako and Korra was cringe-worthy bad at moments. I found the development of the teenage characters to be the same cliché teenager characters with their angst-y, shallow feelings that fit the mold of a lot of other teenagers on TV.

*SPOILER FOR SURE* Asami and Korra's relationship at the end I despised the most for a multitude of reasons, but I'll only hash out the first few. It was clearly a political setup to show support for the lgbtq marriage movement issues because if they were looking to show actual, thought out representation of the gay community then they would have introduced a new female character for Korra to have grown close to instead of just being like "hey, we've already got two girls in the group why not just stick them together randomly, even though they've been primarily hetero up to this point in the show." I also didn't appreciate this relationship because of the fact that Asami only came into the group because of her romantic connection to Mako which led to Korra not liking her at all, initially. Supposedly, the two ladies were corresponding while Korra was away and that's when they went from being friends to something more, but I find that to be a complete and total crock. Korra was not very close to Asami before she left, so why would she all of a sudden decide she wanted to draw closer to her in particular in her time of need (while alienating her other friends completely), ridiculous. If they were going to stick with the bi- sexual angle with Korra, I would've much rather they had just taken the time to introduce a new character that accompanied her when she came back and then slowly revealed that they were more than just friends over the course of the last season. I, personally, would have preferred she was single at the end of the series to show people that it's okay to be alone, and while its encouraged you have close friends you can rely on, you don't ALWAYS have to be in a relationship.

Moving on the the plot lines, shaky at best. I found that they were always cramming in a ton of stuff just to make the tone seem more serious and thought provoking than it actually was. In season 1 alone, the main villain is SUPPOSEDLY taking away people's bending abilities with blood-bending, but I don't buy that load of crap for a second. HOW DOES BLOOD-BENDING TAKE AWAY POWERS?! And season 4 was a hot mess. That last big robot had me laughing so loud I'm pretty sure my neighbors were poised and ready to call the psych ward. I found it utterly ridiculous, reeking of desperation for lost viewers.

Now my last point on this show, the avatar herself. She disappointed me a lot. I liked how headstrong she was, to a point, and really enjoyed her zest for life, but honestly this had to be the worst avatar ever. She literally got all her past lives erased with foolishness. She lost almost every fight, and I doubt she could've stood alone without the new "team avatar" by her side. I mean it's nice to have friends to help you out of a tough spot, but you really can't stand up to any of these criminals alone can you?! I hardly ever felt sorry for her, and she didn't seem to think a whole lot. I was ready to see a fulfilling female avatar in action, kicking butt and taking names, but Korra was an utter disappointment. She actually seemed to grow weaker as time passed on the show. I don't know if the writers purposefully made her dependent to a fault on her friends or if it just worked out that way. Making HER, in particular, bi-sexual instead of just Asami, Bolin or Mako makes me think they were actually endorsing the sexist theory that if a woman is strong she cannot find a man or accept a singles life therefore seeks out the affection of another more effeminate woman (like a butch man would, traditionally).

I can't leave without at least mentioning some of the things I enjoyed because I really did find myself captivated by some aspects of the show. The musical score was intoxicating. Some of the advancements in technology were interesting. Most of the fight scenes were AMAZING. And I really did LOVE a lot of the spirit world scenes, and the backstory about avatar wun. Overall, like I said before, this show is slightly above average.

This Is the End (2013)

2 Laughs the ENTIRE film...

[1/10 · 9 November 2013]

This movie, for me, was the biggest disappointment I've witnessed in a while. I seriously had big problems with falling asleep towards the end.

Now, I want to start off by saying that my bad review isn't due to a lack of appreciation for the more raunchy comedies because I , personally, love the Hangover and pretty much any Will Ferrell flick, but this movie was just altogether bad.

It started off on a good note. There were a few funny parts that led me to chuckle a bit, however after a the James Franco party got started the movie came to a screeching halt.

First of all, Michael Cera was so annoying that I was almost tempted to fast forward in hopes of his promised demise!

Jay's attitude towards everything was quite annoying, but I'll give that lack of enthusiasm about everything to the script. I'm sure it was just written so that we would hate that character's guts even though he's supposed to be their "spirit" guide??

The candid-cam type diary videos held minimal humor, but enough to slide the viewer into the next sequence which I found to be even more downhill than the last.

The entire plot of the movie turned out to center around the biblical Rapture (when God takes CHRISTIANS up to Heaven while the devil is allowed to roam the earth for 7 YEARS until Jesus comes back, defeats him, does the final judgement of everyone that was left behind, and sends all the bad -who took the mark of the beast- people and the evil beings and casts them into the lake of fire for eternity while God's kingdom resides on a new earth). However, they base their movie off of this religious for telling in a way where they essentially insult everyone who dare watch this picture as well as tell people that if (when) this does happen as long as you do one good deed you'll have an express pass up to the pearly gates. No, you don't have to repent for any previous wrongs or even evaluate previous life decisions in hopes for possibly making yourself into a better person. No change whatsoever...

The characters were not easy to like or relate to. The CGI devils were scary (I'll give them that), but not well placed. Their vision of Heaven was just a brighter version of the "Hell on Earth" they just left. The story line was a bit jumpy and at times left me sitting with a blank "WHHHAATTT??" on my face.

The commercial seemed to advertise a completely different movie if I do say so myself. I don't recommend it.

P.S.- you don't have to insert a cuss word every other word in order too add humor. Raunchy humor is funny, but when you overdo the profanity it just comes off as desperate for an "R" rating in order to make it seem more outrageous than it actually is...