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Showing posts from March, 2024

Review - Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

         Happy Easter, everyone. Chuck here, and I just got back from seeing Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.  Directed, once again, by Adam Wingard, this movie serves as the sequel to the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong , also directed by Wingard, and sees the returns of Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle, and they are joined this time by Dan Stevens, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, and Rachel House. Of course, both Godzilla and Kong return, as do two other Titans previously seen in 2019's  Godzilla: King of the Monsters,  and we get more of Kong's kind: the Great Apes.           Picking up some time after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong,  the duo of Godzilla and Kong are kinda off doing their own stuff. King has claimed domain over the realm known as Hollow Earth, whilst Godzilla is maintaining the natural order on the surface, dealing with other Titans such as Scylla. However, when a sinkhole opens to a deep catacomb within Hollow Earth, the race of great apes like Kong a

Review - Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (2020)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. It's been a bit since we last talked about Kingdom Hearts , and until the release of Kingdom Hearts IV , this will probably be the last time we talk about Kingdom Hearts for a while. So, in honor of twenty-two years of Kingdom Hearts,  let's dive into the 2020 game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.         So, Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a rhythm game that essentially recaps every entry of the Kingdom Hearts franchise since the first game in 2002. There are multiple team variations to play as throughout the game, including Sora, Donald, and Goofy, Roxas, Axel, and Xion, Terra, Ven, and Aqua, I think you get the idea. The point is that the game revisits the events of each of the different Kingdom Hearts games, and has players complete the various worlds from each of those games in the forms of rhythm tracks. And, completion of various segments of the game sees cutscenes recaps of said games being narrated over by Kairi.          In a way, Me

Review - Entourage (2004-2011)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Before streaming platforms like Netflix started created top tier content like The Witcher, Stranger Things, One Piece, and House of Cards , the premiere place for premium television content was HBO, who made it big with such series as The Wire, Deadwood, The Sopranos, and my personal favorite Entourage.           Created by Doug Ellin, Entourage ran on HBO from 2004 through 2011, lasting for eight seasons on television. The main stars of the series would be Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, and Jeremy Piven, with additional cast members including Debi Mazar, Perrey Reeves, and Rex Lee. But, while these were our series leads, Entourage was particularly famous for hosting a who's who of celebrity guest talent, which we'll get into as the review goes on.           So, Entourage is centered on the rollercoaster acting career of Vincent Chase, who has his latest film Head On  with Jessica Alba preparing for release during the

Review - The Chronicles of Riddick (2000-2013)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, after having discussed franchises like The Fast and the Furious and xXx , it only seems right to discuss Vin Diesel's third major franchise: The Chronicles of Riddick.  Created by David Twowy, who has written and directed all three main films of the series, The Chronicles of Riddick , which tells of the exploits of a man named Richard B. Riddick, has spanned three live-action movies, one animated short film, two video games, and a short-run comic book series. But it all started with a movie called Pitch Black.          Released in 2000, Pitch Black starts off with a merchant vessel, the Hunter Gratzner , being caught in a meteorite storm, causing the captain to be killed, and the ship to fall out of the shipping lane and crash into a desert planet. The only survivors of the crash are the ship's pilot, Carolyn Fry, a mercenary named William J. Johns, settlers Shazza and Zeke, antiquities dealer Paris P. Ogilvie, a teenager named Jack, an Imam

Review - xXx (2002-2017)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And, as much as I am a fan of Vin Diesel, it seems the only franchises he's been part of that I've discussed have been limited to The Fast and the Furious and Guardians of the Galaxy . Today, I'm going to remedy that by talking about another franchise that Vin Diesel has been part of: xXx . Kicking off in 2002, with the most recent entry hitting theaters in 2017, xXx  was an interesting concept that combined two things that were popular with youth culture in the early 2000's: spy films and extreme sports. Now, while Vin Diesel was only the lead star for two of the three xXx movies, all three would feature Samuel L. Jackson as NSA agent Augustus Gibbons.           The first xXx,  released in 2002, opens with an NSA field agent in Prague, who finds himself killed by a rogue syndicate called Anarchy 99, but he is able to send a transmission to NSA headquarters before his death. At headquarters, NSA brass, along with Gibbons, look over the dea

Review - The Crow (1994)

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is one '90s movie that I have been anxious to review for a while. The Crow, released in 1994, is based on the comic book by James O'Barr, and stars Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, David Patrick Kelly, Jon Polito, and Tony Todd, and was directed by Alex Proyas.        The movie opens with a narration that tells of a legend about how a crow ferries souls to the land of the dead, but sometimes if that soul is full of sorrow due to suffering a great tragedy, then the crow will sometimes bring that soul back to right the wrong that was done. It's here where we see that on the night of October 30th, also known as Devil's Night, a rock musician named Eric Draven and his fiancée Shelly Webster are both found to be either dead or at death's door. Apparently, a gang of criminals led by T-Bird shot and killed Eric, and beat and violated Shelly to near death, only for her to die in the hospital.         

My Thoughts on the Academy Awards

          Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, the Academy Awards, more commonly referred to as the Oscars, aired on ABC this evening, and there's a lot to talk about.           First off, I gotta give props to host Jimmy Kimmel and the many presenters, including the likes of Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Bad Bunny, Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Gosling, Michael Keaton, Jennifer Lawrence, Al Pacino, Tim Robbins, Anya Taylor-Joy, Steven Spielberg, and Zendaya. Everyone that was out on the Oscars stage tonight was on their A-game, and everyone looked absolutely fantastic on the Red Carpet and on the Oscars stage.            I also wanted to give some major props to some great musical performances tonight, particularly by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connor for the performance of "What Was I Made For" from Barbie,  a performance by Becky G of the song "A Fire Inside" from Flaming Hot,  and a performance of "Wahzhazhe (A Song

Review - Fighting with My Family (2019)

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and a few years ago, I looked at one of the worst movies surrounding the world of professional wrestling, Ready to Rumble.  But today, I'm taking a look at a good movie based on professional wrestling: Fighting with My Family.            Based on a real life story, Fighting with My Family tells of the Bevis family, a British family of professional wrestlers that includes Patrick "Rowdy Ricky Knight," Julia "Sweet Saraya Knight," Zak "Zodiac Knight," and Saraya. Now, while the family primarily wrestles for their own local group, both Zak and Saraya dream of one day wrestling for the WWE. Luckily, they are informed of an audition at an upcoming WWE live event at The O2 Arena in London. After a brief encounter with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Zak and Saraya go on to their audition with a WWE coach named Hutch Morgan, where Saraya is the only one to pass the audition, and she goes on to develop herself in WWE's

Review - The Thundermans Return (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Last night, I watched the new movie The Thundermans Return on Nickelodeon, and I have a few thoughts on it. For those who don't know what The Thundermans was, it was a Nickelodeon sitcom that ran from 2013 through 2018, and focused on a family of superheroes known as, well, the Thundermans. The show was okay, at least the episodes I happened to catch when it was on, but after seeing a lot of the advertising for this movie, I was genuinely tempted to check it out. So, here's my review of the new Nickelodeon movie The Thundermans Return.           So, the movie starts off with the Thunderman family, who since the end of the series have moved to the city of Metroburg, and are fighting crime as the superhero team the T-Force. And, something worth noting is that the family has aged in real time, so we see that Phoebe and Max are now adults, Nora and Billy are high schoolers, and Chloe is a middle schooler. Unfortunately, after a mission gone awry due to

Review - Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and you may recall that last year, I took a look at the critically acclaimed Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Well, Netflix recently released a live-action series adaptation of the animated original. At a length of eight episodes, Netflix's live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender  is produced by Albert Kim, and features a cast that includes Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Ken Leung, and Daniel Dae Kim.        Now, the first episode of the series shows the start of the Fire Nation's war, and the first thing we see that made me very happy was the way this series handles the art of Bending. No stupid martial arts movies, no forcing Fire Benders to require fire to bend, and Earth Bending doesn't look like a complete letdown. I also liked how we saw the Fire Nation attack the Southern Air Temple, as it's something that was only referenced in the original cartoon, but never fully shown.

Review - Hazbin Hotel (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. And, back in January, Amazon launched an animated series that was one of my more anticipated animation projects in recent memory: Hazbin Hotel.  Created by Vivienne Medrano, who famously also created the YouTube animated series Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel  is produced by A24 and Bento Box Entertainment, and features the likes of Erika Henningsen, Stephanie Beatriz, Keith David, Kimiko Glenn, Amir Talai, and Blake Roman.          The series is set, oddly enough, in Hell, where we meet Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, who is working to open a hotel, called the Hazbin Hotel, where sinners can be rehabilitated and put on the path to redemption. A major reason for her charitable efforts is, due to overpopulation in Hell, denizens of Heaven hold a regular purging of Hell, where Adam leads an army of angels to Hell and they kill demons. Charlie, who is upset by the senseless violence, hopes to find a more peaceful means of solving the overpopul