TV Reviews #7 - X-Files Season 4 (1996-1997)

           In season 4, the X-Files picked up their game a little bit. It was less focused on week to week stories and had a larger overarching plot. In the aftermath of Scully’s alien abduction a couple of seasons ago, she has developed cancer. This has sent Mulder in a frenzy to try and find a cure with Scully dealing with the effects. The storyline brings a lot of new and interesting ideas to the show. It is still tied in to the main mystery of alien life forms, but it raise the stakes. It puts one of the main characters directly in harm’s way and creates a sense of urgency. It also leads to more development of secondary characters such as Skinner and the Cigarette Smoking man.

            Even the one off episodes have been better than in past seasons.  The cases are much more interesting and intense. The main storyline is never forgotten during these episodes either, which better ties them in to the overall story and not feel like distractions. If there is one criticism, it’s that the questions keep coming but there are never any answers. We’ve established already that aliens do indeed exist, but they keep trying to make us think they may not. Just come out with it, we’ve seen many dead aliens and the villains acknowledging to each other that they are real. It’s starting to feel like an endless rabbit hole.

Score : 8 / 10

Movie Reviews #23 - Godzilla (2014)

Plot: (from imdb.com) The world's most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

Review: Godzilla has been done and redone so many times, it’s hard for anyone to keep count. And after the disastrous 1998 version it was a bold task for anyone to try again. Warner Brothers tried again in 2014. What they made was a movie that kept most of the important elements of the old films but also added some needed updates. 

            The story focuses on a soldier who had his life messed up by a baby monster 15 years earlier in Japan. Now, that monster has hatched into an adult and is destroying everything in its path. For some reason, this awakens Godzilla who just wants to kill it. I guess he doesn’t like other monsters on his turf. 

            The movie has a slow pace, it takes forever for anything to really happen. I understand that the idea is to build up to when the monsters are revealed. Thankfully, it was still relatively interesting, but if I had seen this in theaters I might have gotten impatient waiting for the fighting to start. Once Godzilla and the MUTO (that’s the bad monster) meet, it gets really exciting and then they cut away from the fight. Again, this could have been frustrating for some, but for me it wasn’t a problem. It helped build the anticipation. If there were too many fights early on, we would have been drained by the time the finale came through. 

            Most of the movie is spent with the human characters and it’s both a hit and a miss. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character is kind of bland but given that he is a soldier you can chalk that up to him just setting his emotions aside to get the job done. His wife, Elizabeth Olson, spends the first half trying to call Johnson and the second half running away from the monsters. She doesn’t have much to do here, but her presence in the second half gives us an idea of the scale of how big this monster fight really is. 

            The real reason we all came to watch this was the fights, let’s be honest. It takes a long time to see one from beginning to end, but it is worth it. These things tear the hell out of each other and the last death is really good. I just wish the fight had been in the daytime, it was difficult to get a good look at what was actually happening. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet, but there’s a really cool old school element that was in the fight that I did not expect in a recent rendition. Finally I thought that Godzilla being treated as a savior rather than the destroyer was a nice touch and Ken Watanabe, you’re awesome. 

Score: 6.5/10

That's all you got?

This has not been a good week for achievements. The streak is still going on thankfully, but it's not thriving. I've only earned one per day this week. Disappointing but life keeps you busy son. So here is my pittance this last week, enjoy I guess.

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

A Sirius Family Issue - 20G - Defeat Bellatrix as any Sirius Black character variant in a duel


A Dish Best Served Cold - 20G - Defeat Bellatrix with Neville (Waiter) in a duel

 What if? - 20G - Defeat every Harry free play variant as Lord Voldemort




WWE 2K15 (Xbox 360)

Reached the ropes! - 20G - Crawl to the ropes during a submission (Single Play)




Lego Movie Videogame

 Cover Your Butt! - 20G - Complete Prologue - The Prophecy

Movie Reviews #22 - Idiocracy (2006)

Plot: (from imdb.com) Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes five centuries in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

Review: Idiocracy takes a clever concept for a comedy. What if instead of evolving, the human race just simply becomes stupider over time. And if we just transport a normal person from our time into this setting, how would he react? Luke Wilson is our average man in this world, and he probably is the best choice for the role. I don’t know how to explain it, but he just exudes average. His supporting cast of idiots do a fantastic job of frustrating the hell out of you. Watching this you get so mad that they do not understand anything and think stupid shit, like thinking that electrolytes are good for plants. The movie makes it real easy to put ourselves in Luke Wilson’s shoes.

            There are constant background jokes that show how bad the world has gotten and it is really funny. For example, in the background of the city you can see two skyscrapers falling apart and taped together. I’m sure there are many more like this that I missed. The CGI though is really bad in many scenes. It takes you out a bit for some parts of the movie, like the monster truck fight near the end. It’s a pretty funny movie overall, but you won’t die of laughter. Some jokes will seem clever but others are just childish and dumb. It’s kind of Mike Judge’s style.

Score: 7/10