Kim Possible Review

"Kim Possible" was one of my favorite television series growing up. Although it is no longer on air anymore, I've been able to hunt down episodes through the internet. Part of it is probably just nostalgia, but I still find myself enjoying the series, laughing at its jokes, and cheering on the heroes.

The best thing about Kim Possible is the characters. You've got Kim Possibe, the female butt-kicking protagonist, Ron Stoppable, the funny and incompatible sidekick of the lead character, Wade, Kim's genius friend who often helps her collect information, Dr. Drakken, the evil nemesis who is a doofus who believes he is a genius, Shego, Drakken's snarky and much more clever sidekick, and many more characters. They're just so colorful and unique in their own way that it's hard not to like them.

Kim is really cool because she acts like an average teenager girl: she worries about school, boys, friends, is embarrassed by her parents but at the same time loves them, and everything a typical teenager deals with. On top of that, however, she is a world famous superhero. I think that Kim's relatable side and her life as a superhero is what makes her likable: Viewers like us feel connected to Kim Possible, like they could be here. She is also one of the few female superheroes, which is an added bonus for girls.

Ron is hilarious because he's just so lovable. He's extremely clumsy, cocky, tries to act cool but often fails, and is a good friend to Kim. Ron's clumsiness is laughable and fun to watch, providing great comic relief. But he's also shown to be useful to Kim and supports her, which makes him even better: he's not just reduced to being an oblivious sidekick, but can be when needed. He has a good balance.

Wade was always cool because he was a super-smart kid genius--he's only ten or so and managed to graduate from college in a matter of months! it was always cool how he could get information for Kim to help her on her missions. He never was the fighter, but he was the brains. That's just equally as important.

Truly, though, the villains are the most enjoayble characters of the series. Drakken's incompatibleness and obliviousness is very humorous, as are his interactions with Shego, who often makes quick-witted and clever remarks to her boss. Their interactions with each other always amuse me. Professor Dementor is also a worthy mention, as he is also very funny.  Monkey Fist was another compelling enemy, as well as Señor Senior, an intimidating elder for a nemesis.

Aside from the characters, the series had some good storylines, too. While they were pretty average (as to be expected from a kid's series), it was still engaging enough that you wanted to know what would happen (even if it was predictable). They also had the characters using some cool gadgets and good-looking battle scenes.

Of course, the series wasn't perfect. Some episodes were worse than others, and some of the villains/characters I didn't find as interesting. I also didn't like it as much when Ron and Kim started dating, mostly because I liked it better when they were just friends. I mean, yeah, they have chemistry, but I kind of miss Ron's wannabe playa days (not to mention he had a girl in Japan that he had a crush on). At least Kim and Ron weren't sappy with each other (not TOO sappy, at least).

Overall, I really liked this series. Yes, it had cliches, yes, it was predictable at times, but what show isn't? Plus, it was also very fun. I think the whole idea of an average teenage girl saving the world and having no secret identity is pretty unique. The show never failed to entertain me, and, unlike some shows I have seen, ended on a good note. Of course, I could have done without Kim and Ron getting together, but at least they weren't too sappy. And you saw it coming ;)

Teen Titans Review

Teen Titans was one of my favorite shows growing up as a kid. I remember the day when I first started watching it: While flipping through channels on Cartoon Network, my siblings and I stumbled upon an episode of Teen Titans. We immediately recognized Robin from the Batman comics/series/films but were unfamiliar with the rest. From thereon, though, we became avid fans of the series.

I still enjoy Teen Titans today. Admittedly it is cheesy at times, and some of the episodes just feel silly to me, but overall I think it was a pretty well-done show. The last episode wasn't my favorite, but most of them were, on average, decent (some better/worse than others, of course).

The show is mainly cool because of its characters. You've got Robin, the first-in-command who can sometimes let his stubbornness get in the way but is overall a good leader; Cyborg, the goofy, sometimes immature yet lovable second-in-command; Raven, the dark, mysterious, but well-meaning person who's somewhat reserved; Starfire, the happy-go-lucky, bright, optimistic alien who's still adjusting to Earth; and finally, Beast Boy, a green jokester who's always trying to impress girls. Each and every character has his/her own personality, which makes them stand out. They're not one-dimensional, and I'm not even sure if they'e two-dimensional. The characters occasionally do things that will surprise you (namely Robin and Raven, whose story arcs are somewhat dark). Fleshed-out characters always make a good show.

Some of the villains were as equally as interesting as the heroes. Slade (or Deathstroke, deepening on if you're familiar with the comics or not) is the most interesting villain in the series; his mystique and manipulation always intrigued me. Brotherblood has to be the next most interesting villain, with the way he also manipulated Cyborg into giving him what he wants--to become fully human. Jinx wasn't as clever as these characters, but she's always been a fun villain (along with the rest of the Hive Five members). Other notable characters include Overdrive, Dr. Light, Trigon, Control Freak,

Teen Titans also wouldn't be the show it was if it didn't have those occasional dramatic, shocking, and deep episodes. Not all of them were like this, but some were. The characters' motives in these episodes sometimes change, and it's hard to tell where they really stand. Robin had a lot of this during his time of being the apprentice of Slade, as well as becoming Red-X; Raven fought against her dark destiny in the epic The End trilogy; and Terra is the most notable character to suffer through this. Even if it's not the characters having shades of grey, it deals with them struggling against something (such as Cyborg wanting to become the leader of his own team, for example). These wonderful episodes I'm referring to include the following: The End (three-parter), The Apprentice (Part 1 and 2), Brotherblood, The Beast Within, Aftershock (and most episodes dealing with Terra, for that matter), and Titans East (another two-parter).

In spite of how much I liked it, however, it did have its faults (just like every other television series, of course). Some episodes were just plain silly or weird. These were mostly Beast Boy episodes, unfortunately, and I think that's why he became my least favorite titan. From "Every Dog Has Its Day" to that completely bizarre episode revolving around an evil tofu who mind-controlled cows (at least I think that was what it was about), the writers gave Beast Boy some of the worst story arcs. Luckily he had some good ones ("The Beast Within" was awesome, as were the Terra-centric episodes), but overall his episodes were either mediocre or just not enjoyable to me. These episodes weren't just limited to Beast Boy, however; Robin had his fair share in the episode with Larry (*cringes*). Starfire had that really weird episode when she started mutating into a weird creature ("Transformation"). Although I believe this was a Beast Boy episode, Cyborg was acting really strange in the episode when BB accidentally installed a virus inside of him. Raven had an episode dealing with little kids that I didn't love, but none of her episodes annoyed me. And all of the titans had the episode with Mon Moth, which was okay I guess but kind of weird.

The show also had some weird animation gags at times, most notable with the characters' heads got big or whatever. I think it's something common in Anime shows, but I guess I just don't have the same kind of humor the Japanese do. But of course we have hearts and fires in people's eyes whenever they're in love or angry, so I suppose the Japanese may find that weird :P So that's really just a cultural difference thing, but whatever…

But overall Teen Titans was a good series. I'd watch many episodes again, as most of them were average. I mean, I'd rather have them all be superb, but when you have to choose between one extreme and another, I'd choose average. I must admit that, while I do find the  Teen Titans Go! series occasionally funny, it's just not the same as the Teen Titans I grew up with. I guess it's because I would rather have more of an action/adventure series as opposed to a comedic one. But anyway, let's not get off-topic. Teen Titans is a pretty good series that I will occasionally watch for reruns, laughs, and an interesting storyline.

Animal Crossing Review

"Animal Crossing" was a game I adored when I was younger and even still do to an extent. It's a simple, life simulation game where you just, well, live life. You have friends, go shopping, catch fish and bugs, collect things, decorate your house...it's just life.

That's what I loved about the game. So many games have you level up and then the game would just end there. Animal Crossing always has something for you do. There are always people to talk to, things to buy at Tom Nook (the raccoon who owns the only store in town)'s shop, you have to pay off your mortgage, collect everything to put in the museum..there's just so much stuff to do.

I liked a lot of the characters in the game. I hated how Tom Nook made you work a job to pay off your loan, but it was actually nice and he was a lovable character. The Abel sisters (Mabel and Sabel, who own the tailor) were cool, and even Resetti had his moments (I hated how he came whenever you reset the game and scolded you for it, but he was so over-exagerrated it was actually funny). I always like Blathers, the owl who worked at the museum, and Pelly, the post officer pelican who worked during the daytime (her evil sister, Phillis, is another story). Even some of the unplayable neighbors were really good friends of mine. And K.K. Slider, the guitar-singing dog who came out on Saturday nights, was a cool cat (or dog, I guess...) And who could forget Rover, the lovable cat who would greet you whenever you went on the train to visit new towns?

I really enjoyed selling items to Tom Nook. That dude would literally buy anything from you. From fish to bugs to fruit, he'd be there. That was my way of making money (or "bells", the money in the game); you could get no job (you got a job at the beginning to pay off your loan since you started off with no money, but of course you wouldn't get paid for that), so that was the only way of making money. The only thing Tom wouldn't buy would be trash and maybe a few select others, but he'd buy at least 99% of anything you could find.

I loved putting items on display in the museum. It was so much fun. I mainly would go fishing to put my catches on display (if they already had them, I'd sell them to Tom Nook). Catching bugs was a little tricker, because you had to sneak up on them, but I still would try. You could also dig up fossils and have Blathers indentify it, and then you could put it in the museum (but if it was already donated, Tom Nook would buy it for a lot of money). There were also paintings, which were the rarest things to find. Tom Nook would seldom sell it, but you could sometimes find them. The easiest way to get them would be to buy them from a fox named Red, who would occasionally put up his tent in town and sell his stuff. Of course Red sold things at the black market, but still...

Traveling to different towns was another of my pastimes. Since all you needed were different memory cards to make an AC world, my siblings and I had several memory cards and made lots of different towns and characters. I would visit there and see what they had differently (that's another thing I loved about the game; every town was unique). They would have different neighbors, different native fruit fruit (each town has one), different locations of everything...it was just cool.

I don't want to say this purely on nostalgic feeling, but I felt as if the very first "Animal Crossing", simply titled "Animal Crossing", was better than the follow-ups. I loved all the things you could do in the first one: you could use these codes at Tom Nook's shop to get exclusive outfits and stuff, you could play NES games through the game (it was a game in a game), your gyroid could sell stuff, you could go on the train and visit friends if you had a memory card, you could ask neighbors if they needed your help, there was a police station that had lost and found things you could get...it just had so much fun stuff in it.

I hate how I didn't like the other games as much. "Wild World", the DS version, didn't have the police station anymore and overall wasn't as good as the first. The Wii version,"City Folk" took away choosing what you wanted to say to the neighbors and other things I loved; it lost my interest quickly. I haven't played "Wild Leaf" yet, but I'm not sure I would like it as much.

Of course, there were things better in the newer ones. Like in "Wild World", you didn't have to wear the hat that, for some reason, you couldn't take off in AC. And I loved how you could save whenever you wanted instead of going ALL the way over to your gyroid in the game. I also liked how you could customize more with your outfits in "City Folk" at the tailor (you could make your sleeves different than the other parts). And it looks cool how you can swim in "Wild Leaf".

One flaw in all the AC games, unfortunately is that the game gets boring after awhile. I'd say after a month or so (like most people say), it gets boring. Maybe awhile after a month, but at least a month. It's just that, after awhile, you've done everything you want to there, and then you're just sitting there like, "Eh, I don't feel like playing".

But it seems to be a period of time after using it constantly. When I haven't played it in awhile, I want to play it again. And then I get bored and stop. Most video games get boring after awhile, anyway, so I'm not sure how you would overcome that. And overall I enjoyed "Animal Crossing".

The Nine Lives of Chloe King Review

"The Nine Lives Of Chloe King" was the very first ABC Family show I ever watched. The story, based off the book of the same name, revolves around Chloe King, a teenager like any other. However, on her 16 birthday she starts getting catlike powers. Oh, and she falls off the Coit Tower and dies...and then she comes back to life! Chloe discovers that she's a Mai, a half-god, half-human descendants of the Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet. There's an evil organization called The Order who want the Mai dead. But Chloe is the Uniter, who is destined to bring peace between the Mai and the humans.

When I first saw "The Nine Lives If Chloe King, it had already been cancelled, so I had to go watch it on YouTube. I was thoroughly entertained after the first episode, and after the series was cancelled I was very disappointed. It was a pretty good show, and it really shouldn't have been cancelled-espeically after it left off as a cliffhanger.

Of course, it had its flaws like every show. And, since this post is an overview of it, I'll list the good things and bad things in this show.

One thing I absolutely loved about TNLOCK was the Mai storyline. After Greek mythology, Egyptian is my favorite. I loved the whole cat/human species that Chloe and her friends are, and I love the whole plot of her being the "Chosen One" to bring peace to the Mai. I especially loved The Order, because they think the Mai are dangerous species (one reason could be because they can't kiss humans without paralyzing/killing them). They were interesting villains who didn't seem purely evil.

I also loved the acting. It was really good. Skylar Sammuels surprised me when I saw her as Chloe; she was okay when she played the "Gigi" character in "Wizards of Waverly Place", but she just blew me away in this series. She could be fun, she could be sweet, she could cry...she was wonderful. The other actors are, too, but Chloe just stuck out to me because I didn't know how good Skylar was.

One of the biggest flaws in the show, however, was the romantic storyline. I don't mind love triangles too much (there was one between this guy named Brian, Chloe, and a Mai named Alek), but I don't like how it was the main focus of the story. Even the promos promoted the love story. It just takes away from the cool plot about the Mai, you know?

I also wasn't really big on the love triangle, either. I mean, it was interesting to an extent, but I'm not really into Brian and even Alek got on my nerves at times. Aside from his dad being in The Order, Brian was completely boring and a totally Gary-Stu. I do like how he was nice to Chloe, though, so that was nice, and his whole family history is really interesting (they're all involved with the Mai and Order somehow). Alek was a jerk sometimes, being hostile to humans, and got jealous easily, but I do love how he was protective of Chloe. Plus, he was funny and had way more personality than Brian. Too bad Chloe liked Brian more.

But aside from that, I loved the show. They had some awesome fight scenes (which is saying something, as I'm not usually into them), the acting was great as I had said, and I loved the whole Mai plot. I also loved Chloe's character, because she was so selfless and willing to help people-plus, she had her awesome moments in fighting and joked around a lot. I also loved Amy and Paul as Chloe's "sidekicks", so to speak (Paul is more of the comic-book geek than Amy, but she still helps her). I also loved Jasmine (another Mai and friend/protector of Chloe), and Valentina was interesting as well. And Chloe's relationship with her Mom-plus her mysterious history with her dad-was also enthralling.

I still hate how they cancelled the show. It ended with a  major cliffhanger; Jasmine and Valentia were shot with poisonous darts, some Mai working for the Order (Zane) told Alek he was his brother, Chloe got a call from her dad to meet with her, Brian kissed her and was supposedly dead (he could've been paralyzed), Brian's dad's assistant found out she was the Uniter and shot her, Brian's dad also was gonna make a deal with Chloe's mom (he's still unaware that she's the Uniter)...just SO many cliffhanging endings that it mad me furious that they ended it that way.

But I do understand how the ratings weren't as good (wish that wasn't the case) so ABC Family had to tank it. But I just wish they hadn't ended at a cliffhanger, or at least had resolved it (even if it was just one episode). But the show was good when it was running, and I'm glad ABC Family made it. I guess I'll just have to read the books or fan fictions to see what could have happened next…

Pirates of The Caribbean Review

The Curse of The Black Pearl film may have been the only Pirates of The Caribbean film I've seen so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much that it quickly made it to one of my favorite films list. Although I haven't seen the other films, I've read summaries for the others and saw part of Dead Man's Chest, I think I know enough about the series to give an overview on it :)

First off, I must explain why I loved COTBP so much. I'm not a big fan of pirates, but this one was just so different than what I've seen of other pirates. I wouldn't say the script is incredibly unique, but it does have a sort of intrigue that pulls you in. In the beginning, it looks like a tale of romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, whom can't be together because of social differences. After Elizabeth is captured, Will must turn to the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow (yes, he's always referred to as "Capt. Jack", or else he'll have a problem with you ;) to help save her. Seems pretty simple, right?

Except it's not. Because it turns out that the pirates who stole Elizabeth have been struck by a curse that forces them to turn into creepy skeletons in the moonlight, and they're undead. Oh yeah, and they need the blood of a Turner (like Will) in order to break the curse.

I love the whole adventure aspect of the film. Now, I like many genres, but adventure has always been my favorite. You can combine so many different genres inside--action, romance, drama, suspense, comedy--and all of these combined make a very exciting ride.

For me, though, Pirates wouldn't have been as great without its wonderful cast. Jack I'm sorry, *Captain* Jack Sparrow) is just awesome in so many that it's hard to describe him. Elizabeth is an awesome girl whom acts like a dignified royal but can kick your butt if she needs to. And even though Will isn't my favorite, he's got that noble hero thing going on, and he has his moments of shining, just like everyone else.

I'll get more in-depth into this in another article addressing my favorite characters, but the reason I love Jack so much is because he's just cool.  He's got so much swagger. The way he carries himself, so confidentially, is what makes him such an appealing character. And you can never trust his loyalties (they're always changing), so that makes him interesting as well. And well, Jack is just funny. Seriously, if you look up funny moments from POTC, I can tell you without a doubt Jack will be included in most of them :)

Elizabeth is really cool to me because of her independence. I love how spirited she is and how she's not afraid to speak her mind. I'm not a very passive person, so I always appreciate seeing others who are as strong-willled as I am (not to mention fiery ;) Oh, and unlike most of the leading ladies in films, Elizabeth isn't some damsel-in-distress. She negotiated her capture with the big baddy, Barbossa. And she can kick some major butt, which I always admire ;)

Will, while not up to the level of Jack and Elizabeth to me, is awesome in his own way. He's the good, noble hero who isn't exactly confident, at least in the first film, but his heart is in the right place. I am a bit of a romantic, but I really liked his love story with Elizabeth. Oh, and Will's whole backstory with his father being a pirate is also interesting. I love seeing heroes question their loyalty and who they are, because it makes them all the more interesting and fleshed out :)

Unfortunately, as much as I loved the first film, I can't say the same about the others. Even though I haven't seen all of Dead Man's Chest and beyond, I can't say I was intrigued from reading the summaries on Wikipedia :P

The story, I will admit, was a bit complicated in the first film. Elizabeth and Will's romance, Jack's solo story, the pirates and the curse...it's a bit of a handful. But it's okay with me, because the writers and directors pulled it off very well.

But I can't say the same about Dead Man's Chest or At World's E d. The reason I stopped watching it was because 1) the story was getting more confusing and hard to follow and 2) it was way too long for my liking (I think it's almost 3 hours? :O)

The story in DMC seemed to get more confusing, as I mentioned. Jack appears to owe a blood debt to Davy Jones, and he needs Will to help him, I think. And Will discovers that his dad is alive, but he's undead or something? It was just too confusing for me to keep up with. I still don't understand the whole blood debt thing. I'm sure it's not impossible, but I just think it could have been done in a more coherent way. And I don't understand why the film has to be 3 hours or so long. It felt like it was dragging on, unfortunately :/

And the same can be said about AWE. Jack is dead, or undead, I think, because, I think, he was sold to some ship or something, and Elizabeth and Will have to save him. I don't remember exactly, which just shows to me how confusing the plot has gotten. I know they had the whole undead deal in the first film, but here it just seems to feel more muddled. And, like DMC, I don't understand why the film is so long. I would think that it would start to drag on after awhile (that's how I felt about DMC).

As for On Stranger Tides, I missed that Will and Elizabeth weren't in end. It just became all about Jack. Now I love Jack, but I think he'd be better as the rogue character whom has his own little story but crosses over with the main leads. Not that Jack can't carry a film on his own, but by doing so it seemed like DMD was pushing Will and Elizabeth from their leading roles, and I loved all the main characters in POTC :/

But, nevertheless, I loved the first film. It was flawed, yes, but very adventurous, cool, and just plain fun. It made me reconsider my preconceived idea that pirates weren't that interesting. Also, the main characters are all fabulous, and, to me, having interesting characters is what makes a story of any kind great. So, if I ever get to watching the rest of the films and don't like it as much, I can always look to the characters for enjoyment--especially Jack ;)

Divergent Review

The Divergent Trilogy is one of my biggest fandoms. Although the last book disappointed me, it was still well written, and the first two books were very good. Overall I found the Divergent series to be very riveting and I am glad that I read the series. And, as I do in all my articles, I will explain my overall feelings about the series.

One of the reasons love Divergent so much is because of the premise. It is very unique: the idea that humans have separated into five factions, each one representing their different beliefs (bravery, honesty, intelligence, selflessness, and peacefulness) is very intriguing. Imagine if we had divided ourselves according to our beliefs. It sounds almost utopia-esque, when it is far from a utopia, but  the idea that we can try to separate ourselves from others to avoid conflict is very interesting.

I also really enjoyed examining the different beliefs deeper. Since the protagonist, Beatrice "Tris" Prior, spends most of her time in Dauntless, we get to learn about their idea on bravery and overcoming fear. It isn't perfect, of course, as they believe that being a daredevil equals bravery, but Tris learns that overcoming fear doesn't make you fearless, as Tobias "Four" Eaton tells her, it just means facing it. Though the other factions aren't explored as much, we get to see a peek at what the others think: Amity's pacifist life intrigued me, over how they strived for peace above and are neutral during war; Abnegation selflessness is something that I aspire to; Candor's honesty can be very blunt but also bears no secrets; and Erudite, while my least-favorite faction, shows that intelligence, knowledge really can get you far. 

I also love the main story of the first in second book: being yourself. Tris is Divergent, doesn't fit into one category, and is therefore targeted by those who want to define her. But they can't define her, because she's different. I just love that. It shows how we can generalize people and put them into groups, but everyone is unique in their own way. You shouldn't try to put people into categories, because no one person is the same. We're all different. 

Another thing I loved about the story was Tris and her love interest, Tobias. Tris I find relatable, because she is mostly trying to do the right thing but also struggles with her own flaws and doesn't easily forgive herself. At times I actually felt like I was Tris. Tobias is just awesome to me. He's broken, from abusive to neglectful parents, he can come across as hostile and uncaring, but deep down he is a good person. He pushes Tris hard, only because he believes in her. He's not the typical gentleman, and that's why I love him (as a character, of course. Tobias is very swoon-worthy, but he's all Tris').

For the entire series, I must admit that the characters do not feel fully fleshed out to me. As much as I love Tris, she feels a little two-dimeosnal at times, as does Tobias. It was very difficult to tell the difference between the two when I was reading from their different point of voices in Allegiant, which shows that they think a little too similarly. 

In addition, the other characters don't feel too fleshed-out, and, unfortunately, not memorable to me. Uriah, Christina, and Peter were cool characters, but they weren't really given depth. I forgot characters like Marlene, only because there wasn't much done with them. With is kind of disappointing, because I really wanted to like them and see them fleshed out more.

One of my biggest criticisms is Allegiant and how they exposed the secrets we learned in "Insurgent". The whole genetically pure and genetically damaged plot line almost ruined what I learned about the factions for me. I didn't like the idea of how no one was really Divergent, but that they were just genetically pure. It didn't make Divergence as special, as intriguing as it had seemed in the first two novels. It also kind of ruined the other people who fit into the factions for me, to find that they weren't just doing what they did because they believed that way, but that a part of their brain was wired that way because of their genetic damage.

To me, this almost defeats the purpose of the factions. It wasn't just created because of different beliefs, but it was created because of this war that had started. While it was interesting to read, I would have personally gone about it differently.

And then there was the ending of the series. A lot of people have criticized Tris' death, but my criticism is a little different from most. While I did not like the fact that Tris died, I was willing to accept it--people die, whether fictional characters or not, and while it breaks your heart, I learn to move on (I did read "The Deathly Hallows", though, so I had my heart broken multiple times). My problem was that Tris' death ended the series. I had led myself to believe that Divergent's main theme was about being different, following different beliefs to become a more-rounded person, to fight for what you think is right...pretty much the main theme of the first and second book. But Tris' death doesn't resolve that. Instead, it feels shorthanded, it feels as if the book is unresolved. It left me unsatisfied.

This reminds me of a screenwriting course I took back during my junior year of high school, which talked about plot twists and ending stories. It stated that ending the story, the overall theme, was different than just ending the plot. That's how Allegiant felt to me: it ended a plot, Tris being ready to accept death and move on from life, but not the theme, which I had assumed was being okay with difference.

With all that being said, I still think Divergent is a spectacular series. It is one of my favorite book series, and I am glad that Veronica Roth took the time to write it and that I took the time to read it. It is a very thought-provoking dystopian that explores human nature, something that I am very interested it, and overall the execution was beautiful. 

Lost Review

I didn't watch "Lost" when it first came out--I was only 7 in when it came out--but I started watching it on Netflix in 2011. While I have not finished the series, I am nearly halfway done with season 4; I think I've seen the show enough to rate it.

First off, let me say that the main reason I started watching "Lost"--as I have with many shows--is because of its popularity. I grew up hearing about the show even without seeing it herself. I didn't know the characters, and I didn't know the plot beyond people stuck on an island, but I knew about the show. I even know when it ended (2010, in case anyone's wondering), because it was probably one of the biggest finales in television history.

Now, on to the show. "Lost" is a very interesting, very strange series, but I'm a little addicted to it. Despite some frustrating things (the show is very, very confusing at times), the show manages to pull me in. Now I must admit that season 1-3 were the best, and season 4 and beyond don't look as good (two words: time travel), but overall "Lost" is a very good show.

One of the reasons I liked this show so much is because of the characters. Yes, some of them get on your nerves (*cough* *cough* Anna-Lucia *cough* *cough*), and some of them are just useless (*cough* *cough* Nikki and Paulo *cough* *cough* Shannon and Boone), but overall the majority of them are very compelling. These characters are very, very fleshed out, and their layers have layers. You think you know the characters, but they continue to surprise you until after the first season; actually, some of them still surprise you after that.

Of course, there are problems with the show, the biggest one being the plot. It is intriguing, yes, but it's so confusing at times! You would think a show about castaways would be simplistic, but no! The writers have managed to come up with some of the craziest, more ridiculous storylines I have ever come across. There is a black smoke monster--yes, a monster--that seemingly eats people; there are cursed numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) that cause very bad luck; the Island can cure people's illnesses and diseases; later seasons include fast forwards (they enter the future) and flash sideways (don't ask me--I haven't seen them yet); there is time traveling, which has never made sense... it's very, very crazy, and I sometimes have to question my sanity and why I am still watching the show.

Another problem with "Lost", though it is on a much lower lever, was the POVs. There are many characters in the show, but most of the time, there is an episode centered on that one person. I get why they do it--it advances their characters development--but it's kind of hard to do that when you have an assemble cast. I think you can still have an episode centered on the person, but you could also have the other characters doing a lot. What I'm trying to say is that it sometimes seems as if the person is working independently rather than together with the other cast members, and I love show with a large group of people.

This is a more of a personal thing, but the flashbacks got on my nerves at times. Sometimes it was just boring to go from the current time to go back to the flashbacks. Maybe they just weren't as interesting as being on the island for me, but I remember that I was skipping them at one point. I guess I just feel as if the show has too much going on sometimes.

Overall, though, I enjoy "Lost". I wouldn't consider myself a megafan, but I am a fan. The show is just so intriguing; despite the confusing plot lines, it pulls you in. You want to know what happens next, because the mystery is just so bewildering that you have to find the explanation for it. That's "Lost" for you, folks: anything but normal.

Doctor Who Fan Fiction

Hello guys! I've been working on some Doctor Who fan fic and have compiled several character and character group overviews. I've basically worked out the plot but now I need a name for my story before moving forward. If you could read this then suggest something I would appreciate it!

                      Synopsis:

• Carly Wellings, a freelance journalist from Boston has been struggling to make ends meet with her job. The level of stress only increases when she starts to receive messages on her old typewriters and phones, calling out to her for help. Thinking she is going crazy Carly finally extracts a clear message from one of the transmissions and decides to act upon it. The message tells her to wait at one of the busiest bus stops in New York and wait for a stranger to appear, and a stranger does in fact appear. A man in a blue suit who calls himself the Doctor.

        Character and character groups:

THE ALIENS:

• The aliens searching for Carly Wellings are called the Turalok, a humanoid species born without mouths. They communicate telepathically among themselves but almost any other kind can not hear them so they use the technology of other species to communicate with other species. The Turalok wear masks over their mouths and usually also over their heads and wear ceremonial robes customary with their race. They are brilliant engineers and have devoted their lives to peace and protecting others but have slowly been killed off one by one or sold as slaves to more powerful species. One of their greatest technology is a frequency cloak that cancels any frequencies trying to track you or your technology down. They gave this to Carly the night they saved her from the Sontaran and now as they are being hunted by the bounty hunters they need the cloaking device to hide and save themselves.

THE BOUNTY HUNTERS:

• The bounty hunters are a group of time traveling sportsmen who take pride in acquiring trophies from the most rare of species and also consider any species beside human to be inferior and animal-like compared to themselves. The bounty hunters are led by a ex soldier named Captain Karri Suends who takes her orders from a general Jad. They have tracked the Turalok down to twenty first century New York and have been hunting for them ever since while trying to extract information from a captured Turalok. The one flaw of the Turalok cloaking technology is that if one has the height of tracking codes and help you can track the cloaking signal because it is so unique, if just very faintly. But two or more tracking devices together disrupts and disperses the signal, making it almost impossible to find. Karri and her subordinate Harrison Gallef realize that Carly has a vital role to play in the capture and killing of their sport and try to bait her out and capture her for information.

CARLY WELLINGS

• Carly is a twenty two year old engaged journalist living in Boston, works in New York. When she was a small child the Turalok saved her from being killed by a Sontaran then placed a cloaking device on the girl to protect her from other aliens though she did not know it at the time. Now with her fiance gone into service with SpecOps Carly is struggling to make ends meet. She loves collecting old technology from the twenties and thirties specifically. She has several typewriters, old phones and radios to inspire her while she is writing. Recently Carly has been getting strange messages on the old phones, radios and typewriters and they have started in her phone and computer. A voice told her to meet at a specific bus stop on a certain street, one of the busiest in the city. Meanwhile the bounty hunters have also been trying to track her down but her sent is too scrambled for them to make out. While all this is going on the Doctor has been tracking all three down but has come to the conclusion that without Carly he will not be able to save the Turalok.

THE DOCTOR'S PART:

• After the Doctor wiped Donna Noble's memories of traveling in the Tardis he ends up in Manhattan tracking down the Turalok in hopes that he can help them return to their home. Picking up the frequencies of the cloaking technology the Doctor finds out who Carly Welling is and connects her to the Turalok. He also picked up several transmissions between Karri and general Jad. Knowing that he will have to move fast the Doctor sets up a meeting with Carly to try to unravel the mystery.   

If you guys could help me out by suggesting a name for this fan fic that would be awesome, thanks! Also tell me what you think of the plot so far and if it makes any sense.

               signing off

Doctor Donna and the Girl who Forgot

So I thought I would do a blog post about Donna Noble. Just because Donna is so sassy and smart without even trying to be. (Okay maybe she is trying to be sassy, which is totally cool). And I recently watched the episode where she Uh.. Leaves.

 The first time I watched The Runaway Bride, Donna's first episode, I was more than a little skeptical. Of course I was still reeling from the blow of losing Rose. I loved Rose Tyler as much as the Doctor did and did not want to see her go. Like my first Doctor she was the first companion I saw and learned to grow attached to. No one warned me that the Doctor has had more than just one companion and that in the end, all companions leave in someway or another. I was traumatized, I admit.
   And then there was Donna.

Yes, my reaction was just like the Doctor's when Donna Noble suddenly appeared in the TARDIS. I was like please! Let the Doctor cry, let him try to deal with his grief! And then this random person in her wedding dress suddenly shows up in the TARDIS.

"What?! What?... Wha.. What?!"

Let the sass begin!

I admit, it took a while to get used to Donna. She didn't mind yelling and snarking the Doctor at every single opportunity and was generally hostile for the first half of the episode. That is, until the Doctor starting saving her life. And in the end, Donna saved him.
I was sure that she would be the new companion and at the end of Donna's first episode I realized that I wanted her to be, still feeling slightly guilty that I got over Rose so quick. Donna helped the Doctor defeat the creepy spider lady and saved him from being drowned. I thought everything was perfect. They were going to travel in the TARDIS together and we'd have another awesome few seasons with Ten. But no. When the Doctor asked Donna to come with him she said no, and he said no to a Christmas dinner. Of course he did, stupid alien! (sorry, not you. The Doctor was a stupid alien, I mean. You're probably a very smart alien).
   And so we began again, this time with Martha Jones.

   Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on Martha. She's caring and brave but there was a tension between her and the Doctor that the Doctor didn't even know about til she was walking out the TARDIS door. She loved him and he could not tell. In the end, it was better for her to leave. Our little fandom brains just couldn't handle the tension any longer.

And so we were left alone again, in the dark. No one was there for the Doctor. Something had to be done!

And then Donna came in again, like us, searching for the Doctor and wondering what he was up to. Adipose. Remember them? Yeah, me neither. We were also introduced to Donna's grandfather Wilfred Mott, one of the most important characters in ten's regeneration.
The Doctor and Donna were reunited and this time she said yes, and may I say that they got along famously together.
Causing Vesuvius to erupt, saving the Ood, defeating the Sontarans and accidentally taking Martha along for another adventure in The Doctor's Daughter. The Doctor's Daughter was one of my favorite episodes. It showed Donna helping the Doctor to except Jenny and in turn the Doctor showed Jenny that she could be so much more than a soldier.
">(shhhhhh! Jenny's alive!) Spoilers.
">Not to mention meeting Agatha Christie, defeating a giant wasp and running into River Song in Silence in the Library.

Jenny: And Time Lords, what are they for? 
The Doctor: For? They're not for anything.
Jenny: So what do we do?
The Doctor: I travel. Through time and space. 
Donna Noble: He saves worlds, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures and runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved. 
The Doctor: [opens hidden door] Got it! 
[shouts echo] 
The Doctor: Now, what were you saying about running? 

Donna Noble: How about you, are you alright? 
The Doctor: Oh, I'm always all right. 
Donna Noble: Is "All right" special time-lord code for... not really all right at all? 
The Doctor: Why? 
Donna Noble: Because I'm alright too. 

Donna Noble: Oy! And you be careful, all right? 
The Doctor: Ahh, taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?


Donna Noble: Yeah but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie.
The Doctor: So? Happens to me all the time. 
Donna Noble: No, but isn't that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders, not really. I mean that's like meeting Charles Dickens, and he's surrounded by ghosts, at Christmas. 

Donna: What did you do? 
The Doctor: Guess what I've got Donna. 
The Doctor: Pockets. 
Donna: How did they fit in there? 
The Doctor: They're bigger on the inside. 

Lucius: Who are you? 
The Doctor: I am... Spartacus. 
Donna Noble: And so am I. 
Lucius: Mr. and Mrs. Spartacus? 
The Doctor: Oh, no no no, we're not married. 
Donna Noble: [overlapping the Doctor] We're not together. 
Lucius: Oh, brother and sister? Yes, of course, you look very much alike. 
The Doctor, Donna Noble: [looking at each other; surprised and a bit disgruntled] Really? 

But then there began to be foreshadowing of Donna's demise. Starting with "The Fires of Pompeii".  

"There's something on your back."

And the Ood also confirmed that Donna Noble would soon be leaving.  I began hoping that she would leave like Martha, because she wanted to. Wishful thinking of course, I mean come on. This is Doctor Who we are talking about! Plus Donna kept insisting that she would  never leave and would always travel with the Doctor. Yeah, Rose said the same thing. And if you think about it, there were many many things leading up to Donna's ending her travels with the Doctor. She could not remember who the Doctor was or any of her adventures in "Forest of the Dead"   .
Also in Turn Left anything memory she had ever had with the Doctor was completely gone. She had to rely on trusting Rose to get things back to normal. Turn Left made it clear that Donna was no ordinary person like she claimed to be. Time was changing around her. And she was the most important person in the whole wide universe. Whatever that meant, I knew that it could not be good for her in the end.

I breathed a long sigh of relief when Donna woke up again after she sacrificed herself in the alternate universe. Honestly I didn't think she would make it. But she did, at least for that episode. And so did the Doctor.
But then she had to go and say it didn't she?

"Bad Wolf."

 When she created a clone of the Doctor she not only saved the entire universe but also created a happy ending for Rose Tyler and the Doctor. But not for her. For Donna it was the end of her time traveling in the TARDIS.

In the end, Donna Noble was the sassiest most important girl who forgot. And she will always be one of my favorite Who companions.

                signing off

Thor Review

I was not very familiar with "Thor" until 2011; before then, I just knew he was some god from some mythology. But after I watched the film and "The Avengers", I became more familiar and interested with the character. While "Thor" wasn't my favorite film, it was surprisingly good. I must admit that I was disappointed in the second film, but overall I love the Thor universe, which is probably my favorite solo MCU universe :)

The thing that Marvel did right with the story was modernizing the Norse mythology. For instance, the characters are not gods, but aliens who were worshiped due to their enormous powers. They also live in  somewhat old-fashioned way and talk like people used to in Old English, but the setting is also modern. It's like an urban mixed with Middle Ages.

And then there's the mythology itself. After Greek and Egyptian mythology, I am interested in the Norse myths. I'm always fascinated with the idea of these extremely flawed "gods", who really just seem like powerful beings, and their conflicts. Too be honest, though, I only got interested in Norse mythology because of this film. That's how good it was.

One of the biggest reasons I like this film is because of the character of Loki. There's a reason he's so popular on Tumblr, why he has so many fangirls: he's the most interesting character of the series. He's not the hero, he can play the villain, but he's not just purely evil. There's a reason behind his malevolence  Loki doesn't feel loved by his father, Odin, and is jealous of his brother Thor and thinks that Odin favors him. He is attention-seeking, but only because he's truly insecure, feels unloved by the one and only man who raised him, who feels as if he's being overshadowed by his brother.

Of course, I don't know if Loki's awesomeness could have been established without the genius acting of Tom Hiddleson. He plays Loki so well, with his touch of evilness yet vulnerability. Tom is just awesome in so many different forms. Seriously, he's one of my favorite actors. The dude has swag written over his face.

Okay, now that I'm done fangirling over Loki and Thor itself, I'll talk about my dislikes of the film, and just places where I felt like there could have been improvement:

The biggest problem with Thor was the shortness of the film. Thor appears to be a jerk at the beginning of the film, but after a little while he turns nice all of a sudden. There's no character development; it happens way too fast. The whole film is supposed to be about Thor learning to be a good leader, but I never feel it happen. It doesn't feel believable how he becomes selfless all of a sudden.

Besides Loki, none of the other characters felt as fleshed-out to me Odin is fine, I suppose, but Thor's friends, The Warriors Three, barely get any screen-time. I know it's about Thor, but they seemed really cool and fun. I wished I had gotten to know them better, even if it was only a little more screen-time.

And then there was Jane. I think Natalie Portman is a good actress, but her character doesn't have much development at all. Jane seems so interested in Thor, but I can't understand why. She seems like a very capable woman and smart scientist, but she somehow crumbles at the sight of Thor. Thor is jerk to her at the very beginning, but she seems very unfazed by this. And when he suddenly turns nice, she doesn't really make any comments on his previous behavior.

Jane is also Thor's love interest, but we barely see them together. I don't believe that they are so in love near the end of the film because they don't get time to know each other. They don't seem to have a lot of chemistry, which could just be the actors, but it's hard to tell.

I did like the first film better than the second one, though. The love story between Jane and Thor feels more forced in this one than the other one. It's two years since the first movie and Jane appears to be moping over Thor since he left in the first film. Considering the time they spent together (which I reckon wasn't very long), I don't see how him leaving would make her that depressed (of course he's Chris Hemsworth, but that's another story ;). When Jane does reunite with Thor, too, they don't spend much time together, at least on-screen (this is probably due to the little time run the film has), so I'm not feeling the emotion as much.

Speaking of Jane, I really didn't like how they portrayed her in this film. She gets possessed by the Eether, which is magical energy that Malekith wants to get his hands on, and from thereon the film is about saving Jane/stopping Malekith from getting to her. Jane gets sidestepped to the damsel-in-distress role—perhaps it's the feminist in me, but I'm getting tired of the damsel-in-distress trope. Jane basically is used as a plot device, and this causes her not to have much character development

Also, the villain, Malekith, is no Loki. Not that I expected him to be, but I really think they could have focused on him more. He barely did anything in the film. I don't mind if the villain is hiding behind the shadows (The Emperor was notorious for doing this in the "Star Wars" saga, not to mention the main antagonist of "Iron Man 3" did this as well). However, if they are, I want to see them pulling the strings on the people they put on the front line, becoming a "puppeteer", so to speak. Malekith didn't do this, and the fore I didn't find him interesting nor very threatening. His idea on making the world dark, too, I found flimsy. It's not really explained why he wants this and puts him into the Standard-Villain-Wants-To-Cause-Destruction-Just-Because category. I just wished they had spent more time developing his character.

This is more of a minor issue, but the attempt at a love triangle involving Jane-Thor-Sif suddenly gets dropped, which, I think, was again the fault of the film's short time run. We first see Odin implying to Thor that he should be with Sif, then Sif showing signs of liking Thor, and later on, Sif gives Jane a look while passing by. But that's it. Nothing else happens. I can't say I'm one for love triangles, but I don't see the point of making one if it's going to be dropped. Like I said earlier, though, this probably has to do with the fact that the film is too short for all of the story lines it's trying to fit in.

I don't like how they changed Odin in the film, too. In the first one he was pretty harsh, but I could see that he genuinely cared for his sons, wanted the best for both of them, and wanted to teach Thor to become a better king than the arrogant prince he was. But in The Dark World, Odin turns into a jerk himself, frustrated with Thor's fascination of Earth, feeling as if he belongs only on Asgard, refusing to help Jane once she's possessed by the Eether, and I think he actually uses her as bait to capture Malekith (of course, he was mad by them--I won't say why because that would involve spoilers--but it was still pretty rude). He just felt out of place, different than the Odin I saw in the first film, and I didn't like it.

I really did enjoy the "Thor" film, don't get me wrong, but it defiantly had its flaws. I think the writers/directors were afraid how the public would react to "Thor", given that he wasn't very known before, so they made it shorter. But I wish it had been longer. It had so much potential, and, while it wasn't bad, it really could have been better. It left something to be desired, you know? But I still enjoy the film series. I already want to go visit Asgard, and you can betcha I'm watching the third film :) And even if it's not my favorite film series ever, it's entertaining, and let''s face it: we all want to shut off our brain every now and then and kick back and watch a classic tale of heroes vs. the advisory :)

Star Wars Review

Star Wars is definitely one of my biggest obsessions ever. I've obsessed over it since I was eight, and I'm still obsessing over it now. Since I love Star Wars so much, I decided to explain why I love it.

Unfortunately, I never grew up with the movies. In a way I suppose I did, given that I watched them at a young age, but by the time I was born the only films shown in theaters were the Prequels. But I was well aware of the films. It was, and still is, a cultural phenomenon. I knew who Darth Vader was, who Princess Leia was, what lightsabers were, what the Force was...yet I had never seen the films.

And then, one faithful year (I believe it was in 2005), my Dad went out and bought all six Star Wars films. Yep, all six of them. They were really popular back when my Mom was born (which was around the same time the Original Trilogy came out). But anyway...Dad got the DVDs because I guess he thought the films were good (based on its mass popularity), and wanted to watch it. By that time, of course, "Revenge of The Sith" was already out--we had to decide on which film trilogy to watch first; the Prequels, in chronological order, or the Originals, in actual order.

In the end, we chose the Prequels.

I remember how fascinated I became during the films. They were so GOOD! I was only eight back then, but I knew its genius. It is very original, engaging, thought-provoking...it was the ultimate film. I was throughly entertained throughout all the films, I believe.

And that's when my fandom was born.

I can't remember exactly when I realized that I was obsessed; unfortunately, I think it was only a few years ago! But I was obsessed, trust me. I spent hours upon hours on Wookiepedia, the unofficial Star Wars wikia; I pretended to be the characters with my siblings; I reenacted the Battle of Genosis from "Attack Of The Clones"; I made fanfictions before I even knew what they were; I connected EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, to the films.

Yeah, I had a problem. And I still do, because I can't look at a Star Wars related item without fangirling.

But anyway, that's just about my fandom's birth. Let's get to why I am obsessed with this wonderful film.

Simply put it, Star Wars is the ultimate film for me. It's filled with action, adventure, romance, drama, thought-provoking themes, cool battle sequences, a fantastical universe...it's amazing. I literally can be taken to another world with this series. Just like our own world, too, it can't be classified in one sort of genre; indeed, Star Wars becomes its own.

I really love how original Star Wars is, too. I have NEVER seen a film series like it--sure, it has parallels, but is there any one film that it's inspired by? No. Star Wars is inspired by many, many different things. I think that's what makes it so great. Its inspirations make it relatable, yet it also manages to make itself original in its own way.

The best thing about Star Wars, I believe, is how thought-provoking it is. Yes, you've got your Jedi and Sith, your atypical "good" and "bad" guys, but guess what--no one is purely evil or good. Looking at all the films, especially "Revenge of The Sith" and "Return of The Jedi", and you'll see that there are many, many shades of grey. Heroes struggle to do the right thing; villains (or in this case, just Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader) realize that their evilness is not the right path to go. It shows you that we're all just human, and that things like fear can lead us to dark paths. Remember what Yoda said: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, and suffering ultimately leads to the dark side.

I also love how deep the characters are. Everyone's got layers, especially Anakin. I mean, is he good or evil? I suppose you could say he was "good" for most of the Prequels and "bad" for most of the Originals, but is that really true? And all the other characters have their own internal issues and inner demons to face. They just feel so real, and I love it when a fictional character comes to life.

And the universe in Star Wars--oh my gosh! It feels. So. Real. Like I could actually be transported to this galaxy far, far away. It actually exists in that wishful thinking part of my brain. I can imagine, if I let my imagination stretch that far, the universe actually existing. The characters are realistic, their problems are realistic, the wars are realistic...it's all REAL. And that's what makes a great universe.

Of course, in spite of my praise, I must admit, sadly, that the films aren't perfect. I know a lot of people have said this, but the Originals were better than the Prequels! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Prequels--in fact, I obsess over them more than the Originals--but it wasn't as entertaining as a film series. I think there was too much going on in the Prequels, so they didn't feel as interesting (except ROTS, of course :D). The Originals were simpler, and to a point I don't like that as much, but they were easier to follow. I literally had NO idea what was going on in "The Phantom Menace"when I was kid, except that the "evil" people were trying to kill the Jedi. And then there was the Jar Jar Binks character--need I say more? :P

Nevertheless, the Star Wars saga is fantastic. The whole storyline of the entire series is wonderful. It stays in my brain forever; I constantly make references to it; I quote from it; I even use it as metaphors sometimes! (I told you the films were deep!) I think that Star Wars is such a great series that it will forever remain a place in my heart--and at the current moment, it is my biggest obsession.