Victor Frankenstein Review by The Character Queen

I had been in great anticipation of this movie for about a year before finally seeing it this previous Sunday.
When I found out about it, I didn't know who was in it or what they planned to do with it.
With the way they're desecrating a lot of the things I like with utter trash, I'll be honest, I was biting my nails and holding my breath throughout the whole thing for a major downer to happen.
But let me tell ya; I was not disappointed.

SPOILERS AHEAD

This movie has the combination of so many things; it's not a gory monster movie with cheesy lines and acting.
It has different layers to it.
It had action, great characters, great character development, emotion, steampunk qualities, mad science, the barrier between life and death, a cute love story, and a reasonably lengthened climax.
Plus it had a few circus scenes.
I loved it more than you know.

Basically the center characters are played by Professor X, Harry Potter and Jim Moriarty.
So yes, when I found out Andrew Scott was gonna be in here, and the literal only thing I'd seen him in was Sherlock, the movie wasn't all I was excited about! XD

Having read the original book by Mary Shelley a few years ago, I've loved the storyline to bits ever since, and was super stoked to actually be able to get on board a film based on Frankenstein.
--
Seeing this movie was a bit of a chore, though. I wasn't able to see it at my local theater at the time of it's release, so my dad, sister and I just decided to put it off until later (and see it together) when we were all available the following two weeks.
What I wasn't expecting was for the theaters to start pulling the film so gosh darn soon.
Not even three weeks later, and I wasn't able to find absolute ANY showings for it anywhere locally.

I was a mad frustrated penguin. But then, at last, I spotted an available showing at a theater quite a bit of ways from us, more towards where my sister and her husband live.
I was totally willing to travel to great lengths to go see it, but my dad was hesitant.
The only theater we've been to (in years, at least) is our's, so on top of going so far away, he didn't really feel comfortable with going to a foreign theater. ;P

But nah, bro, that didn't keep us away for long.
We were off the next day and arrived at the theater. (not a bad looking theater, if I do say so myself. It had a really nice set up and a neat little gaming area, plus a restaurant of sorts with actual food you can eat.)


I wasn't a crazy fan of the previews. A couple of horror films, along with Pride *cough* Prejudice *cough* Zombies.......yeah. And then a movie with Leo Caprio and meh boy Tom Hardy.
Anndddd Deadpool. -_-
Yeah. I would've honestly preferred to see the trailer for Suicide Squad, cuz that would've been a hundred percent more entertaining to watch than what they laid out for me. I'm aware they were trying to go with a more dark selection of films to show given the plot of the movie we were watching, but seriously...

But yeah, so, skipping back to the movie.


1. The Wardrobe and Scenery

Oh my gosh, I'm not for these types of things and to get on about graphics or anything, but everything about the movie was visually and creatively beautiful! Even the monsters.
The clothing they chose for everyone was so pretty and Victorian, and the props they used were astounding.
Everything was so steampunk, I loved it. XDDD
I seriously want Frankenstein's laboratory, just saying.
But no, they did a really good job with that set up. I'm proud of their attention to the details surrounding the characters and their environment.

2. The Casting and Characters

What's probably even prettier than the scenery is the actors. You've got James McAvoy-- who's looks I was rather smitten with in Penelope-- that was incredibly hard not to look at with his handsome ruggedness and extra quirky charismatic self. Facial hair was a good call this time around, James. ;)



Not attracted to Daniel, but he did a really job in this. I haven't seen him in anything (not in the HP fandom) but this, so this was the first time I got to see him act and he's not bad!
He gave a lot of good depth to the character of Igor.



But I think everyone did a great job in this, so the casting couldn't be more perfect.
There was lots of humor and sassiness on Victor's part. :P
Let's not forget the conveniently placed Molly Hooper (the one horrified with Victor), Mycroft Holmes (the one standing beside Finnegan, with the super cool steampunk goggles) and not to mention meh baby Moriarty, I mean ahahahaha, let's not even start with that, yeah.


(the internet is mean and won't let me have pictures of Molly and Mycroft, so here is Moriarty)

BUT NO, the creators basically had a "let's put a few Sherlock cast members and see what happens" thing going for them and it worked out, beautifully.

The girl who played Lorelei was so darn sweet and innocent in her portrayal. What I loved about her character is that she isn't the typical female love interest that would be so horrified (under the film's circumstances) that she would treat (Igor) horribly and act like a snob and toss all their history aside to ruin him or avoid him and treat him like an absolute jerk..no. There was none of that nonsense. No drama.
She didn't agree with what was going on, but she generally loved Igor and didn't want to see him get treated badly again, and she supported him in all the ways she could. She showed actual compassion and understanding to what was going on. It was a nice change of pace from what we normally see in these types of characters. There was no threatening or uncomfortable arguing-- she expressed her concern, but she was there when Igor needed her. And I loved that. :) Their relationship was so sweet. ♥



Also, Finnegan, YOU. >8/
(you're apparently not allowed to see Finnegan, my apologies)

The bro friendship between Victor and Igor was awesomely done.
While others naturally have been "shipping" the two, because apparently no two guys or girls can be friends anymore, I saw the aspect of their friendship in an entirely different way.
To me, Victor saw Igor as his brother. As a replacement, almost. He was clearly alone and needed someone to share things with, whether it be a sibling or a friend...and he recognized that he and Igor were kindred spirits and they worked so well together. So in a way, Igor fulfilled the void that Victor had had for so long, not having a brother. Yes, he was his assistant, and did treat him badly on occasion, but he eventually wound up seeing Igor as more than that and as a general friend. Whatever negative bits that occurred was simply a side effect of Victor's obsession. There was so much of Victor's life following his brother's death that was simply due to him trying to atone himself and "bring back the balance". So they gave the traditional story a rather emotional and heart-breaking twist. He wasn't just obsessed with the idea of bringing people back to life; he wanted to take it upon himself to rid the world the pain of losing someone, as he had lost his brother.
Clearly, it was too late to bring him back, after all those years.
But between Igor and his creation, that was as close as he could get to having him around again.

As for Moriarty (I refuse to call him anything else), his storyline was heart-breaking in it's own right.
As my father commented, it seemed that everyone in this story had some sort of brush with death or lost someone to it, which gave everyone an emotional attachment to the work Vincent was trying to do.
I loved his character's general intellect, though. And personal mission to stop Victor and Igor, at any cost.
I thought the religious aspect of his character, too, was an interesting element to add. Since religion and science are polar opposites, it was almost crucial they placed it within the story, and the way it was handled was rather clever. Andrew's character, a man of law who's natural duty was to stop Victor's illegal activities, was on the side of religion and morals. While Victor was a man of science and taking matters into his own hands, and was so consumed by his goal, he didn't care what laws he broke or who's life he ruined.
So their portrayal of Andrew's character wasn't offensive to me in the least. He wasn't a villain, either.
The two had differing opinions and walks in life, and the film leads you to believe that maybe both is right or both is wrong, or one of them is right and the other is wrong...you don't really know, do you?
And that's the whole point. He did his job as a policeman, he wanted to see his wife again and believed he would do so in heaven, once he died...and he eventually dies..so beyond that is a mystery that only he would know about. As for Victor, he failed in his experiments, clearly, but that did not stop him from trying again and again and again. It's almost like an addiction. To him, he would never be finished, even if it took him all his life and would never get even close to succeeding. He was the type that would just not be told no.

I also wanna point out that the incredible Charles Dance has a brief appearance, in which he portrays Victor's father. Who in himself was a great big jerk. hmph.
(....and no Charles Dance for you, either..)


3. Music and The Creature

The music surprisingly wasn't all that noticeable..not that that's a bad thing, at all.
It blended well with the scenes to where you really don't think about it being there.
But it was good for the timeline of the story, so thumbs up for that!

As for the Creature, I wasn't disappointed at all. I also liked how they didn't overplay his screen time. He was around for the right amount, and had a good bit of action and carnage drawn from him.
And how they made him look was perfect! Clearly wasn't sporting the look Mary had originally chosen for the character, but it was good, nonetheless. Whoever did the makeup and design for him rocks, because wow. O.O
He was spooky and powerful, much like how the Creature is supposed to be.
And let's not forget about poor Gordon. Poor, poor Gordon. :( I felt so sorry for that little guy.
But they did a terrific job on his look, too. Wow. Just wow.
I especially liked how they got some spooks and the whole idea of the monsters down, but they weren't all overly bloody and gory and ewwwww, and disturbing. It was set right and actually rather tame compared to what they could've done.
As I've mentioned to many, the movie's feel reminds me a lot of Guy Richie's Sherlock films.

So, yeah. I could probably go on with more, but I'm just not. XD
Now for the parental advisory...

Language: 4/10

There's a few h's and d's said mostly by Victor, and if it counts, he also refers to the female anatomy and how babies are developed in a conversation with two women (one of them being Molly) over dinner, but a lot of it is played for comedic effect. It's important to note he wasn't really being flirty and sexual towards them, he was simply being blunt and direct about things, since he's not really used to being around people and having to use proper manners. And then towards the end, Igor utters the s word. It's clear that he's said it, but it's more of an under-the-breath, we're-in-deep-trouble type of tone, rather than screaming it aloud for all to hear.

Sexual Content: 3/10

As I said above, Victor is having a conversation with two women about the female anatomy and how babies develop, but again, it's not really him being weird in that area, just him going off and spouting out things he knows like an arrogant goof, so it's comedic. And the whole time, they're horrified about what they're hearing and are clearly uncomfortable. So it's a laughable few minutes.
Igor and Lorelei develop a relationship with eachother, and at one point, after dancing at a ball, they run upstairs and shut themselves inside a room. And then a few moments later are seen kissing and on the floor, but we don't see anything past that. So all in all, besides those two parts, the film was pretty tame in that factor. I might also note that when Lorelei is describing the man she's appearing as a mistress for, she implies that he's a closeted homo. But it's not all too direct, due to the times, as it was considered more of a hush-hush thing.
So it's only a few seconds and the part doesn't press it.

Frightening Scenes/Gore: 7/10

Although I said they were rather tame in this, I wouldn't advise letting your young kids watch it.
The creature scenes CAN get scary and intense. They weren't overly gory, but human parts are seen (I mean, c'mon..) and Victor puts the creatures together (off screen, as far as I can remember) with said parts, so it can get gross and a tiny bit bloody, but nothing too over the top. I still wouldn't advise anyone under maybe 10 or 12 watching it.
Gordon was a bit creepy, no matter how much I loved him. And the Creature was more on the spooky, menacing side, than super scary, mostly because he lacked any real facial emotion other than anger.

Also, it had a decent amount of action to it. One man gets accidentally shot by another, Moriarty's hand gets crushed by accident and he has to replace it with a seemingly wooden one, as well as his eye getting a bit messed up, and of course, the Creature does a lot of carnage and tosses random guys around, as well as smack aside Andrew, killing him. Finnegan falls to his death and is seen laying on the ground, motionless. Lorelei, a former acrobat, falls by accident and breaks (I believe) a collar bone, but that is quickly fixed by Vincent and Igor, without there being too much of a fuss.
Igor is also taken by Finnegan, tied up, and thrown into the ocean to drown, so it would be a little unsettling to watch him struggle underwater, but he does eventually get out safely.
They have to kill Gordon (again) after he proves to be too dangerous, and all we see is Victor hitting at it a few times, and that's it. And then for the Creature, they have to run through both it's hearts in order to stop him, so you'll see a couple of poles sticking through it.

Alcohol/Smoking: 4/10

There is drinking, social and otherwise. Victor and Igor practically finish the Creature's design drunk and act a little goofy. As for smoking, I can't clearly remember anyone doing so, but I'm sure there was. Just wasn't really in a 'in your face, I'm smoking' kind've way.


Overall movie scale: 8/10

Annnddd that's all I really got. :)
I seriously loved this movie and don't at all (more like never) agree with the critics' stupid opinions about this. Go see it for yourself, if it's still available to you! I'm so getting it when it comes out. ♥

Terminator: Genisys review by The Character Queen

(WARNING, contains spoilers!)

Since I was a baby, and I mean baby, Arnold and his movies have always been a part of my life.
Baby me was mega easily entertained by him, probably because he reminded me of my dad.
I LOVED his movies, but especially the Terminator films.
So yeah, I'm a pretty big Terminator fan.
Seeing the newest one as a full-fledged 20 year old with my mom and pops, a series that I've loved since my baby years, was quite the 'wow' experience. I felt old.
Same thing with Jurassic World.
My generation didn't go to the theaters to see the originals, we just watched the movies as either VHS' or DVDs. And we grew up with them and came to love them.
Then long-awaited sequels come about.
And suddenly you're an adult, going to the theater, seeing the series you grew up with, maybe you have a kid or two of your own, and a new generation of fans springs up.
It's pretty amazing, in my book.

So yeah, seeing Terminator was really special to me.
I liked the last one with Christian Bale, it was pretty good. The third one I choose to not even speak of.
But this one was just pure awesomeness.

First of all, the casting. The casting was half of perfect.

Having Arnold was a must.


Emilia Clarke made a PERFECT Sarah Connor. Seriously, sometimes, she looked just like her.

This was actually the first time I've seen anything from her and Jai Courtney, and they're pretty good actors.


Now Jai, I probably would've gone with someone who looked a little more like Michael Biehn.

But Jai did a really good job with what he had and made a convincing Kyle.


Jason Clarke also did a pretty good job as John Connor.
My parents were the most effected by his casting. I honestly have never cared who they pick for John, so it didn't faze me. My favorite portrayal of him will always be the Edward Furlong one, but I guess that's just because I've watched that one since I was a mini-me.

Now for the terminators.

THE ASIAN TERMINATOR.
I need him back, because he was awesome. I was really expecting him to show up again near the end or even at the part where they went down to the time machine.
I was rather disappointed he didn't turn up again, cuz his appearance was rather brief.
So hopefully they bring him back for the sequel they have promised me.
Lee Byung-hun made a pretty cold and callous T-1000 and that pleases me.
I loved him as Storm Shadow....and that was pretty much the only thing I could carry any knowledge of him by when I walked into the theater. XDDD
I was all like, "STORM SHADOW IS A TERMINATOR, BWA BWA BWA"

And no, I will not talk about the Arnold terminator, not yet.


The John terminator.
Ok, ok, ok.
Love it or hate it, I loved the concept. Turning humans into terminators was a brilliant twist in the Skynet department and I hope they explore that more in the future.
John made a rather good villain in his own right. Especially because he was Sarah's son and all and had all that knowledge of her. It's like...crap. My son is the villain.
The robotic part of him looked awesome and I want more of it. XD
What would be cooler with it, though, is if they brought John back and reprogrammed him so that he fights with the others. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE AWESOMENESS.
Him and the Guardian can like, do so much coolness together, ugh. I would love that.
GRANDPA AND GRANDSON BATTLE PARTNERSHIP.
DO YOU HEAR ME.
I NEED THIS.

Now for Skynet.
The actual legit embodiment of Skynet.
A.K.A. Matt Smith.
A.K.A. Doctor freaking Who.
That would've made an excellent crossover joke, btw.
John: Doctor!
Skynet: Doctor who?
yes, yes..

That was a clever twist, what they did with him.
People were critical of his portrayal and his accent, but I think he did an excellent job with both.
And am I the only one finding any humor out've him being Skynet and dealing with time machines and basically not being HUMAN again??
In his beginning stage, they showed him as a type of hologram, but in the future, he's pretty fleshy.

So something obviously happens there.
I hope he reprises his role. It was brief, but I think it served as more of a cameo or, rather, an introduction.
And he was all like, "I was the Doctor. Now I'm Skynet. Deal with it."

And they pretty much added all the main terminators in this, too.
So if you're a fan of one from the other movies, you're bound to see a good amount of them in this one.

Now, for the O'Brien character. I loved what they did with that bit.
I knew there had to be a reason why they let him lived in the past. At first, I thought, "Why are you leaving him behind?! He'll be killed!", but the Asian Terminator wound up not touching him.
So when his older portrayal turned up, my initial thought was that he was future Silberman, who my parents and I have complete disgust over, but nope. I payed attention to the dialogue between the cops in 1984 and noted the name "O'Brien", so when the agents called the detective "O'Brien", I was like, "AHA!"
iz the cop. And having him in there, helping them, was pretty cool. ^_^

As for the movie itself, it was so good. Pay no attention to the people who seriously are not pleased with ANYTHING. Every time a new movie or anything comes out, I swear, I always hear such criticism of it and it's like, guys, seriously, shut up. Enjoy something for once in your life.
I loved this one. I wouldn't love it if it was a total disaster. It was certainly an improvement of the third one we shall not speak of.
The plot and everything was GOOD. They totally pulled a Star Trek, too, and altered the timeline and everything so that now, it's like a reboot, but not. Now they have the freedom to do as they please.
I saw it more as a second chance for characters. (well...except poor John)
The Arnold character is basically like the one from Terminator 2 and that one died, and this one sort've died, but didn't. And Sarah Connor had a screwed up life and had her head messed up because of all the crap humans put her through, but in this, she didn't have to go through all that because the Arnold Terminator protected her. Granted, she lost her parents when she shouldn't have, but still..
And Kyle. I mean, dude, he's famous for being Sarah's squeeze that died.
But here, he has another go at life and can live and I love that.

Now...
THE PART I DIDN'T WANNA SPEAK OF, BUT HAVE TO, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SARAH AND THE ARNOLD TERMINATOR WAS COOL, BUT NOT COOL.
Cool because, it was mega tons of sweet and basically a recurrence of what John had with the one sent to protect him and the father-daughter thing was just fantastic and well handled.
BUT....NOT COOL BECAUSE IT'S LEGIT LIKE MY DAD AND I AND I WAS NOT AMUSED.
It's like they stalked us.
Remember that bit about baby-me growing up with Terminator and the part where Arnold reminded me of my dad? SEE, yeah. Sarah is first of all a Sarah and they toughened her up and she was awesome and my parents state she's like me. And then the Arnold character is so totally my dad.
And then he winds up protecting her and raising her and did you see all the little pictures and the drawings he had up? Ok, MY DAD RIGHT THERE.
And let's get something straight here, you dO NOT COPY PET NAMES LIKE POPS THAT I GIVE TO MY DAD, HOW DARE YOU.
and at the end when he says, "my Sarah", WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT ABOUT.
yes, I cried.
I tried not to, but I cried.
stupid stalking film makers.

The parts also with young Kyle was so beyond amusing, and I laughed when him and his parents examined older Kyle and were all like, "We've never seen before, but he looks familiar". XDDD
Time travel nonsense at it's best.
And I personally found the bit where Sarah helped out young Kyle pretty cool.
I always love it in time traveling situations, where two characters who love eachother come across eachother's younger selves and it's like, "You're gonna marry them someday". ;P
I don't know why, it just amuses me greatly.
Especially at the part where young Kyle's all like, "I like her." And older Kyle was like, "Yeah, me too."
I laughed. Such humor.

Now for the little parental guidance bit.
If you're planning to see it and would like to know about these things, I shall tell you..
As far as I know (since I left briefly to go to the b-room during the helicopter scene), it had only one f word and that was when the original Arnold terminator approached the three punks.
In the same sentence, he says 'a-hole'.

There are frequent uses of  the s word, but not too many times and not all at once, they're a bit scattered.
The most notable times is when the T-1000 and Kyle are in the same room as Sarah and she has to choose which one is Kyle and she says it I think twice there.
Kyle uses it after dealing with a terminator close to the same time as that scene.
And there are a few g-d's, one said by the FBI agent when questioning Sarah and Kyle in the hospital, then a couple in the same sentence said by O'Brien when he looks into a security camera room.
I'm sure there are more things said, like frequent h words and probably a couple more s', but those are the most prominent that I mentioned. I can't really remember the rest.

Since in this version of time-traveling everyone has to be..ahem..nude, the characters WILL be without clothes. And Sarah also has a go at it this time.
But for the most part, you barely see anything and what parts you would visibly see, things are darkened.
They were pretty discreet with the matter.

And of course, there's lots of robotic violence and a lot of shooting, but nothing gets too gory.
It's the usual stuff in a Terminator film. ;P

That's all I can really say. I seriously loved it and found it to be a perfect summer film if you love lots of action and explosions. Plus it's a great new addition to the Terminator family.
I would give it a rating of 8/10. If you question my rating, I don't care. I loved it and I give things I love good ratings. XDDD

Now stop lingering here and go see it, you fools!!

Grimm S4: Episode 9 REVIEW

If you guys don't already know, I and my parents are huge fans of the TV show called "Grimm", which is a supernatural, crime-edition, fairytale show that sticks extremely close to the gory content of the Brothers Grimm tales.
(Though the 1st season was probably the heaviest as far as gore goes, the seasons following have their moments from time-to-time)
Well, considering the season came back on last night and it was massively nail-biting, I thought it was appropriate for me to give a little review of the show.

WARNING, this post will be containing spoilers, so if you haven't seen the episode yet or are just starting out with the show, please move on.

Or if you're just not interested, you can move on, too. ;P

Ok, so, the way they left us hanging last year, in the Winter finale, was just plain cruel.
Monroe was taken by those dirty sons-of-guns and in this episode, we see that it's the same people who were threatening Rosalee on the phone and probably the ones who've been sending them threats throughout the season, as well. Apparently, they are incredibly against Wesen mixing with one another and they kind've prove it by killing people. Yes, they go that far.

As it turns out, they're a race of what we assume to be a bunch of Blutbads (so far, we only see the two brothers go Blutbad) that form a group called the Wesenrein and they have captured poor Monroe and are planning to kill him.
Their group is something of that of Nazis, as they have the flag/symbol that is very identical to the one the Nazis used. Now, I'm thinking these guys are no doubtedly connected to Hitler, maybe committed followers far down the line, cuz if one was paying attention to a previous episode some seasons before, they will see that when Nick was watching an old reel clip of the nefarious tyrant, they will see that Hitler turned into a Blutbad.

Well, these guys sure are jerks, for lack of a better clean word.
Especially the young brother, he annoys the bejesus out've me.
He was so stupid, though. He totally gave Monroe too much information to use against them, if that is the way they are playing it, which I do believe is possible.
Why show the young brother having a leader-complex and thinks (probably) that he'd be a better head-honcho than his big bro and then of course have them clash a bit over a little power struggle if they weren't planning on using this down the line? Perhaps Monroe can use this against them. We've already seen the brother is an emotional roller coaster, no doubt cuz he's a teenager, and he makes mistakes. So taking advantage of the obvious problems might help get him out of this.
Though to be honest, I am really worried about the future of Monroe.
Is he going to get out of this alive, or are the writers going to use this opportunity to create a shock factor and kill off the old boy? I certainly freaking hope not. Cuz Monroe is perfect and the whole show itself would not be the same without him. :((((

On to other things, I suspected the cop (Hacker) was definitely hiding something.
They number one showed him way too many times for him to be just nobody. They usually show people for a little bit, who are victims of attacks, or just reference them in later conversations, that are completely faultless. But no, they made him a big deal and I'd have no idea how, with the way the Wesenrein handle things, that he would even be alive. If they're quick enough to kill their own just so, then they'd definitely kill off some guy sitting outside of Monroe and Rosalee's house.
So yeah, he's a rat. Or, you know, whatever you are, Hacker. O_o Nail him, Nick.

SPEAKING OF ROSALEE, THOUGH.
That one scene with her and Juliette scared me.
I was literally about to scream and die and throw something at the TV if they just killed her like that.

When they were prolonging, I totally thought it was for real, for sure.
But fortunately, it WAS just a nightmare.
Still though, not cool to do that to our hearts.
And the whole thing with Terry was mega-sad, btw. I was really hoping he'd make it out of there alive.
But sadly, that was not the case. Hoping Monroe delivers that ring to him, eventually.
Also hoping these dirt-bag Nazi wannabes get creamed. I've had enough of them and they just showed up.
Impaling while burning people to death is not the way to go about business, guys.

Glad to see, though, that Nick is going through that Oxygen-saver thing where is skin turns a ghostly blue/grey/white? It's pretty cool. It mostly shows up when he's going through something intense.

Regarding Wu, I am so glad we finally got Truth Wu in this episode. Sad Wu, Crazy Wu, Mad Wu, Confused Wu, Weepy Wu and Suspicious Wu were starting to break my heart.
I like him joining the circle of the Grimmers. Kind've awkward when he speaks of it, but the same goes for Renard and Hank. It takes some getting used to.
Now he's back to Funny Wu and Sassy Wu and that pleases me, cuz he made some of the best jokes on the show. And btw, he really is handling the whole Wesen thing rather well.

I need to rewatch the episode with my parents (who I watched it with last night and all the nights previous) because there are a few things in the episode I missed and need to see. I didn't quite catch the scene, for instance, with the croc guy that Renard was talking to.

But no, the way they ended the episode was not nice. I definitely need more and it's only the next day.
WHY A WHOLE WEEK, WHY?
At least, though, I'll be getting my Mentalist Thursday and Grimm Friday back, now that it's back on. :)
I missed my weekly schedule. ♥

Yeah so, hoping everything goes smoothly this next episode and my suspicions are put to the grave that anyone remotely important is gonna die. Cuz I don't want anyone to die. They're all fabulous.

But dude, they have so many cliffhangers for things.
I'm hoping, for one, to see Trubel and Josh again. I miss those two.
They took them off just as I started to really love their characters and also where the two actually started to get any real chemistry.
I also am still waiting for that Jaguar lady to come back that Hank liked. They had a great storyline and I really liked them as a potential couple. Plus Hank hanging with her brother was the best thing. :/

There's a possibility also that Trubel and Josh might bump into Nick's mom on the way. Hoping, hoping that Nick's mom reveals that she is Trubel's mother or at least her aunt or something. There's a total possibility that Trubel is Nick's Aunt's child, which will mean that Trubel and Nick are cousins, though I personally like them better as brother and sister. I just think the two are way too much alike to NOT be related. I mean, gosh.

So for the next episode, I'm hoping things turn up for Monroe and the whole gang. I certainly don't want anyone to die. They scared me earlier this season for almost killing Renard, but he's still alive, so we'll see.
Looks like meh girl Rosalee is gonna get feisty with the old Nazi jerks and there's a possibility Juliette will have to go berserk and get all Wesen herself if this thing turns into a dangerous situation involving Nick.
I know it's probably wishful thinking, but I really would like for Monroe's parents to come along and beat the scrap out of these guys. That would be hilarious.
So many cliffhangers, I'm dying.

But my honeys, I am not liking the titles of any of these next episodes. :( Especially number 11.

FOR GOD'S SAKE, #FREEMONROE

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.

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.

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.