TV Reviews #8 - Sons of Anarchy Season 1 (2008)

            Jax, Jax, Jax. Your name is infamous in many of the websites, podcasts and people who discuss Sons of Anarchy. So many bad things said about you. How true are those things? Well actually they are all very true, but we’ll get to that soon. 

            Sons of Anarchy is a show about an illegal biker club of the same name. The show follows the members on how they deal with their criminal activities as well as their family lives. The first season of the show seems to have to 2 distinct parts to it. The first half is mostly one off episodes. Something happens, the club deals with it and it’s ignored in the next episode. I was thrown aback at first by this. It felt very bizarre that they were going in this direction. But then in the second half there was a continuing narrative and that felt right. Actions had consequences and it made for a more compelling show. 

            The members of the club are a strange bunch and for the most part they work as a group. Clay, the leader of the club played by Ron Perlman, is probably the most interesting and layered of them all. And then we have the club vice-president, Jax. Oh boy, I’m sure actor Charlie Hunnam is a good guy, but a badass biker he is not. There is something that is just not convincing about his tough guy act and his voice sounds overly worked on. You get used to him after a while and just laugh about the ridiculousness. 

            The action on the show is fun but sometimes it is so dumb. There are times where there is a huge shootout between gangs and no one gets hit, or at worst someone is grazed and recovers next episode. I understand its TV so your characters have to hang around, but at least have some no name henchmen go down. In addition, the dialogue will sometimes have you make a double take to rethink what you just heard because it was so cheesy and stupid.

            SOA is a show that has many, many faults. But it’s also fun to watch. Much like my love for professional wrestling, there are plot holes and problems that you just cannot explain however it does not diminish your liking of the product. If you get past those things, you can enjoy yourself some SOA.

           

Score: 7/10

Movie Reviews #26 - The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

Plot: (from imdb.com) Charlie and his troublesome cousin Paulie decide to steal $150000 in order to back a "sure thing" race horse that Paulie has inside information on. The aftermath of the robbery gets them into serious trouble with the local Mafia boss and the corrupt New York City police department.

Review:

 

There was a time where Mickey Rourke was a bright young star. These days he’s more of a grumpy old dude who occasionally takes on interesting roles but in 1984 the future was his. In the Pope of Greenwich Village, he plays a small time mobster who likes to dress big and further his endeavors. His cousin played by Eric Roberts is kind of the screw up who’s always getting them both in trouble. Eventually they plan a heist that can lead them to retirement but things don’t go as planned and trouble ensues. 

            This movie has a strange tone. For the most part it’s played serious with the danger seeming real. But then later on you’ll have silly comedy bits, complete with zany music and sound effects. It takes you out of the moment and simply does not fit. When the movie is serious, the acting tends to go way over the top. When Rourke or Roberts get mad or stressed, they will yell and act out like nobody’s business. The characters also act like this is 1920s Little Italy. It’s the 80s, things have evolved and you can get a real job and move away, there isn’t a need for little capers anymore. The mobsters show up when they serve the plot and disappear when not needed. 

            Daryl Hanna is Rourke’s girlfriend and I found her fairly good in this. I haven’t been much of a fan of her in the past but here she’s the one character that makes any sense. When she slaps Mickey Rourke a few times you understand where she’s coming from. 

            This movie isn’t serious enough to be taken as a proper mob movie but I’m not sure what else it should be. It misses the mark and the overacting feels like they are trying too hard.

Score: 5/10

You better tighten up those graphics

Yes, I finally saw that oh so terrible infomercial from back in the day. It is in fact very bad, obviously made by someone who never played a game in their life.

On a more serious note, I've had another chance at playing Halo MCC. Halo 2 is done, working on Halo 3.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Go Ape Shiv - 5G - Halo 2: Kill an enraged, beserk Brute using melee












The Guardians are Coming - 5G - Get killed by the guardians

Knowledgable - 5G - Halo 2: Activate Terminal 10 on Gravemind

Gravemind - 10G - Halo 2: Complete Gravemind

Uprising - 10G - Complete Uprising

High Charity - 10G - Complete High Charity 

Feeling Charitable - 10G - Halo 2: Beat the par time on High Charity

Big Green Style - 10G - Halo 2: Complete every level of the game on Easy difficulty 

The Great Journey - 10G - Halo 2: Complete The Great Journey

Frequent Flyer Miles - 10G - Halo 2: Beat the par score on The Great Journey

Warrior - 10G - Halo 2: Complete every level of the game on Normal

Tighten up the Graphics - 10G - Halo 2: Complete every level of Halo 2 having seen it in both classic and remastered mode

Can't Keep Him Down - 5G - Halo 3: Fight alongside and listen to The Man. The Legend. Chips Dubbo

Landfall - 10G - Halo 3: Complete Sierra 117

Speedy One One Seven - 10G - Halo 3: Beat the par time on Sierra 117

Game On - 10G - Complete 50 misions or multiplayer games 

Skulltaker Halo 3: Black Eye - 5G - Halo 3: Find and claim the Black Eye Skull on Normal or Harder 

Bite the Hand - 10G - Kill a 343 developer in matchmaking or someone who has this achievement

Charity Mania I tally: 235 of 500

May 14 2015 post... that is all

Sleep is a beautiful thing. It feels great to get enough sleep, and you always feel like shit when you don't get enough. Because I don't like feeling like shit, I'm sleeping rather then playing games. It's probably been over a week since I've gotten any achievement. Therefore, here's more Mortal Kombat X achievements I have not previously posted.

Mortal Kombat X

Tower Kompetitor - 10G - Complete a single tower

Inner Strenght - 10G - Win 1 complete online match

Statistical Advantage - 5G - View Kombat Kard

Real Icon - 5G - Equip a new Icon

So Bored - 5G - Equip a new border

Back It Up - 5G - Equip a new Background image

Hit the Dojo - 5G - Enter Practice Mode

Stay Back - 5G - Play an Invasion Boss fight

INVASION - 10G - Complete an Invasion Tower

Good to be King - 5G - Win 1 Complete Regular King of the Hill match

Not Dead Yet - 5G - See all Test Your Might deaths

Almighty - 10G - Complete a Test Your Might tower

Luck be a Lady - 10G - Play 7 complete Test Your Luck matches

There is a Ruler - 25G - Complete 100% of story mode

Trolling - 5G - Duck 30 times during fatality sequence

Hara Kiri - 10G - Kill yourself with Kotal Kahn for 1 round and win the match

Disco - 5G - Create a sun ray with Kotal Kahn and perform a flip stance 5 times while in the ray


Lego Batman 2

Combo Hero - 20G - Do a finishing move

 The Next President - 25G - Complete story level 12




Core Instability - 25G - Complete story level 13