Game Grumps: YMNK #6

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DAY: You May Not Know will now be a by-weekly series. I'm going to try and update it every other week, but no promises. I have a ton of ideas and I'll probably need two weeks to get my thoughts together. With that out of the way, today's YMNK is on a new game commentary series on Youtube that has become the fastest growing series on the site. This is..

 Game Grumps is a video game commentary series made and featuring the voices of notorious animator Egoraptor, and star of the web series JonTron,..JonTron! The idea being that Egoraptor is grump, JonTron is not so grump, and they're the game grumps. Not really, the real reason is that they're friends in real-life and their only real interaction with each other is whenever that have a game the other hasn't played before. So they decided to record themselves playing games and talkin' bout'em. Now, JonTron is known for his obnoxious, random humor that I and many other people love. Egoraptor is known for his obnoxious, random, animated humor that I and many other people also love. What happens when you combine the two? Comedy gold. I swear, every single episode I laugh until I can't breath and my face is soaking with tears.

 So far, they've started 5 games and update twice a day. Their most recent game was Pokemon: Emerald, which had probably one of the funniest jokes in Game Grumps short history. So in Pokemon games, you can name your character. When you do anything or talk to someone, your name appears in the text box. For example, if you catch a Pokemon it'll say "JOE caught of Pokemon!". So what you can do in these games is put a phrase as your name, like "Um, She" so when you catch a Pokemon it'll say "Um, She caught a Pokemon". So Jon decided to name the character "Fuck, I", this leads to some of the funniest lines is history.

If your show has a pony parody, you've made it.

 This series started back in mid-July, and already it has a huge fan following, with fan pages, fan art, remixes,  4 million total views on Youtube, and just to prove how far they've made it, a version with ponies. This isn't too surprising, seeing as how Egoraptor and JonTron have a huge and devoted fan following, but what's amazing is that this all happened in under a month. If you have yet to check them out, do yourself a favor and do so. Here, I'll give ya a link:http://www.youtube.com/user/GameGrumps
And while your at it, why not check out Egoraptor and JonTron as well?
http://www.youtube.com/user/JonTronShow
If you go to Eqoraptor, please be sure to check out his amazing series Sequelitis:
http://www.youtube.com/user/egoraptor


Thanks for reading. Click the links below to see my last YMNK:
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magicwait.html

Also check out my main focus, movie reviews!
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-nr-29.html
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-of-movies-91-imitation-of-life.html

IMPORTANT SUMMER OF MOVIES ANNOUNCEMENT/UPDATE!!!

I've decided to end Summer of Movies. I made the realization this week that there is no way I'm going to finish this. With school coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to have harder classes that require me to focus on my studies rather than my free time, and I'm only at #88, so I probably won't be finished with this 'till next summer. I'm still going to review some movies in the list, but they'll be classic reviews instead of a special review. But, I think "Imitation of Life" isn't the best way to end this failed experiment, so I'm going to review the last 10 movies on the list. While this won't happen all at once, It'll at least give me a chance to see and review movies I've always wanted to see. Once again, I'm sorry I have to end this, but at least you'll get my opinion on 10 of the greatest films ever made.

The Dark Knight Rises: SPOILER DISCUSSION!!

This week, I didn't see anything new. I instead saw The Dark Knight Rises again. So in honor of that, I'm going to do a spoiler discussion where I explain some of my more vague criticisms with the film. So if you haven't seen the film, DO NOT READ THIS, LEAVE YOUR COMPUTER, GO TO THE THEATER, WATCH THIS MOVIE, THAN COME BACK! GO! I'm not askin', I'm TELLIN'! For the rest of you who have seen the film, read this article. This is a spoiler discussion of...

Before you read this article, read my review first. I make references to CONS in that review, and it'll better explain my thoughts on the movie as a whole:
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-nr-29.html

So my biggest problem with the film is how it ends. Now, don't get me wrong, I love just about everything about the ending, the reveal of Robin may be one of the best fanboy moments of the film, but I can't get over the fact that Bruce Wayne lives. While I do think the scene with Alfred going to the restaurant and seeing him is a nice scene and is something Bruce would do, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, how can someone survive a nuclear explosion when they are RIGHT ON TOP OF IT?! It sucks because for the whole last 5 minutes I was saying yes to every reveal, I was pumped and ready to leave the theater knowing Nolan stuck to his guns, but the fact that Bruce seemingly survived ruined a lot of the film for me.

Now after seeing the movie a second, that doesn't bother me as much as it did before. The reason why is because I've heard some theories that can be proven from the film. One of the theroies that seems very Inception-y, is that when Alfred see's Bruce and Catwoman at the restaurant, it's still his fantasy, that whole scene was just an imagination. I think that could work, but I not too sure that Nolan would want that kind of mind twist in this film. Another theory is that Batman did something while in the black smoke. Before Batman flies over the bridge, he shoots the building to go through it, and people think that Batman escaped or jumped out or did something while in the black smoke. At first i thought this theory was some ol' BS, seeing as how there are two or three shots of Batman flying the Bat after going through the smoke and the auto pilot apparently doesn't work. Then I realized, this is a Nolan movie, which means those shots of Batman could've been before he shot the building, which I think probably isn't true, but it's still a viable answer. Also, there is a scene during the last 5 minutes where Fox finds out the auto-pilot was fixed 6 months ago, and it was fixed by Bruce Wayne.

While all of this means there is a big chance that Bruce could've survived that, I still wish they had kept him dead. The whole idea was that this was Batman and Bruce Wayne's final day. Batman would live on as a symbol but die as a human being. I felt that was the best way to go, the best way Batman could've gone. But someone at Warner Bros. or Nolan himself didn't have the guts to just let him die.

Another problem is the fact that this movie commits one of the filmmaking sins, it tells and rarely shows. We are told it's been 3 months since Bane took over, but it never really feels like it, since the film has to move so quickly. The problem is that the movie has a huge, epic story to tell that has a lot of complex character arcs, but it only has 3 hours to tell it. I, along with many other people, wish the film was in two parts. Now I know everyone these days are putting there final film in two parts, but this would actually work. The first film would show Wayne and Gotham falling, show more of Batman's relationship with Catwoman, it would be a huge focus on Bruce Wayne. the film would end with Bane breaking Batman's back and him pushing the detonator that blows up Gotham, but cut off right as he presses the button, to a black screen with the only sound being explosives going off and people's cries as the credits roll. That would be one of the most talked about cliff-hangers in history, and while part 1 would not of a lot of action scenes, it would get the exposition out of the way.

Next winter or spring comes Part 2, which starts with Bane's speech to Batman in the pit, and then cut to the city's destruction. The first hour would show Bruce training in the pit, while also showing the city slowly decay as the months pass by. The last hour or so would be the war, the final battle. You honestly wouldn't need to cut or change anything for the last hour, just add a few more scenes. Because we've had part 1 explain to us the characters and seen them at their lowest point, we go into part 2 ready to see them rise up from the downer ending of part 1.

But, this is just a what if, and we can't change anything now. I know this may seem like I hate the movie, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I really enjoy this movie, while I don't think it's the best way the end this trilogy, I think this one of the better ways to end it. We also have to admire the fact that Nolan even made it this far, and made three movies that never suck. We applaud you Christopher Nolan.

Most of the info, theory's, and idea for the two parts idea were inspired or taken from this podcast on my favorite website Spill.com, which all of you should be listening to:
http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/the-dark-knight-rises-spoiler-discussion


Miss the last Summer review? Check it:
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-of-movies-91-imitation-of-life.html

Miss the last You May Not Know? Well Now You Know! HA HA! I'll be here all week: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magicwait.html
 

Summer of Movies #91: Imitation of Life

This is the movie I wasn't able to review. I said I'd go back to it, and I'm glad I did.Today's film is one that deals with racial issues, and is a remake of a film that also dealt with those same issues. If you think it's the same old race issues, you've got another thing coming. This movie is...

PLOT

Lora Meredith is an aspiring but struggling actress with Susie. her 5 year old daughter. Lora than meets a homeless black woman named Annie and her light-skinned daughter Sara Jane. Lora decides to take in Annie and Sarah Jane to live with her and Susie in their small apartment. But tensions rise with Sarah Jane hating her black heritage, and Lora suddenly gaining stardom on Broadway keeps her away from her daughter, and keeps either of them from growing up.

PROS

One thing that really surprised me was that Annie wasn't a walking stereotype. A lot of films back in day couldn't have a black character without them being racist, in fact most movies today can't get over that simple hurdle. But Annie is just a normal person who happens to be black. While she does have her moments, she never goes over the top.

The movie deals with race issues very maturely. Sarah Jane hates her black heritage and keeps changing her identity every time she goes somewhere new. She does that because she thinks people will look down on her because her mom is black, but only one person ever does, and that was a stupid teenager.

Another thing that surprised me was the fact that Lora never becomes the "White hero of all blacks". While she does help in some ways, Annie can take care of herself just fine and never needs Lora to help her.

Lora and Susie's story is just as interesting as Annie and Sarah Jane's story. When I thought one story line was getting old, they'd throw a twist to make it interesting again.

CONS

The acting and script can get very over the top at points and can pull you out of the movie.

CONCLUSION

Overall this is a Soap Opera, but it's the best kind. It's the kind that you know is bad, you know it's badly acted, and you know it's a bit far fetched, but you're still entertained enough for it to hold your attention for the 2 hours it's on. I really enjoyed this and how it dealt with important issues, even though I knew I probably shouldn't. All I know is that I cried at the end of this movie, I wasn't bawling, but still, I rarely cry in movies. 

RATING

RUN TO


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Summer of Movies #89: L.A. Confidential

I've returned! Yes, it's been too long, and it's all my fault. I was too lazy watching all 4 seasons of Breaking Bad, so I had time, I just never watched the movies I was supposed to. But now I have, and I'm happy I did. Today's movie is one that introduced Russel Crowe and Guy Pierce to America, it's...

Let's Begin

PLOT

1950's L.A. is the city of angels. Every home holds the most american family, crime is portrayed perfectly on T.V., and Celebrities are just like their on-screen persona's. Oh, wait, this is what L.A. wants you to think. The city is actually corrupt, full of evil people, celebrities are just as evil as the mobsters, and the cops are in on it. After a seemingly wrapped-up case, three detectives, the sleazy Jack Vincennes, the brutal Bud White, and the un-corruptible Edmund Exley, work together to solve the case with their own brand of justice.

PROS

Everyone does a great job in their roles, the stand-out being Russel Crowe as the Brutal detective. He's so cold yet so expressive, he steals the show for me.

The mystery is well done, it kept me guessing and engaged 'till the very end. It also never gets too convoluted like a lot of these tough crime thrillers.

The movie isn't afraid to go to dark places. While I'm sure it is sugar-coated just a bit, it's still shocking and gritty.

CONS

The movie feels a bit too long. It goes on for 2 hours and I felt they could have cut it to just over an hour and a half. It's not too big of a problem, but it's still a problem.

There are some plot lines are details that seem thrown in. They all involve the mystery in some way and just seem tacked on to "raise the stakes" even though the stakes are already high enough.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this is a really good movie that just barely misses the great mark. While not one of the 101 greatest, it's still a really good movie that I highly recommend.

RATING

WALK TO

Miss this week-ends You May Not Know? Just click the link below!

http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magicwait.html

Miss the review of the biggest film of the year? Get to clickin'!

http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises-nr-29.html

Miss the last Summer of Movies? Just go to the link.

http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-of-movies-90-butch-cassidy-and.html

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic...Wait, What?: YMNK #5

This is an episode I've a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to do it. Not because it would be hard to do, but because it is a subject that probably won't win me any fans. But I've decided that if this one article can stop someone from reading the rest of my blog, than they're not the audience I want to read to my work. So, today's YMNK is not just on a show, but also on a community and the reaction to it. Today's YMNK is...

  We begin with Hasbro and the success of the Transformers movies. Hasbro sees this and decides why not redo all of their toy lines, like G.I. Joe and My Little Pony, for a new generation. So Hasbro created the children's T.V. channel, The Hub. Now with the creation of a new channel comes new and old shows to fill up time slots. Who'd they call? Lauren Faust, who had a big hand in the animation on "The Powerpuff Girls" and a big hand in the stories of  "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends", all of which are highly acclaimed shows by critics and fans alike. She came to Hasbro with the idea of creating a show based on her own creation "Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls". Hasbro declined, but asked her to develop a new version of "My Little Pony" instead. She accepted and went into this project with the intent of creating a new show based on her adventures with her ponies as a kid. She also had the more important intent of making a show that was made for "little girls", but could be enjoyed by their moms and maybe even their dads. Faust then got together the animated TV show dream team of some of the best animators, writers, and voice actors in the business. This all went into creating "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (FIM)"...what...why are you laughing? Is it the title? (sigh), alright get it out...ya good? good.


  FIM premiered on The Hub on October, 10, 2010, and the FIM crew went back to making new episodes for the rest of the season. As the show went on, something weird started to happen, something no one saw coming. The show started attracting a fan base of teens and adults 13-35, the demographic one of Hasbro's Transformers movies would have pulled in. While this fan base was a mix of girls and boys, the biggest focus was on the male side, which were coined the name "Bronies". Everyone was shocked. The internet, the FIM crew, Hasbro, even Faust herself. Then something else strange happened. The people who worked on the show, Hasbro, and Faust started talking with the community and getting to know them. This also led to something that everyone saw coming, ridicule from all sides. The internet hated Bronies, creating fan pages all about hating this group, Fox (big surprise) ran a story about bronies, making fun of it while openly admitting in the same sentence that they've never seen the show.

This is Derpy, her eyes do that sometimes, as in all the time.

  But you know what? The fan base just kept on growing, and it has never stopped. This community is not about hating or arguing, but about the lessons which are taught on the show about friendship and forgiveness, while still being nerdy. This community has spawned thee different conventions, two Comic-Con panels, animations, music, remixes of the music on the show, remixes of the fan made music, art, fan fiction, celebrity mentions, table-top games, video games, a documentary about bronies funded by bronies and directed by John De Lancie, a little girl's ongoing medical operation funded by bronies as well, and dozen's of fan made characters, with detailed back stories and everything, that have made several cameo appearances of the show, the most famous being "Derpy", a crossed-eyed pony that has almost become the symbol of Brony culture.


  Now if you haven't left yet, you're probably wandering "What is it about this little girls show that these men like?", well let me start by explaining the basic plot. The show follows six main characters, Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who is mastering her magic and is seriously OCD, Applejack, a pony who's apart of the Apple family business, which is a business of selling Apples, Rarity, a unicorn who is obsessed with fashion and being prim and proper, Pinkie Pie, a crazy, random, party loving pony that usually makes the best jokes, Rainbow Dash who is very cocky, tomboyish, and the fastest pegasus in the world, and finally there's my personal favorite, Fluttershy. She's a pegasus who's shy, soft-spoken, and prone to anxiety. All six of these friends go on adventures and learn lessons about friendship, hence the name. 


  Now I'll explain what people like about the show in kind of a unique way. I'm going to tell what people like about the show in the order of what catches their attention. Let's start with the animation and visual style. What catches everybody's eye the second they look at an episode is the animation. The animation is done with Flash, which is a cheap, quick, and easy to use animation software that tons of people use to make crappy cartoons on a weekly basis. But the animation company, DXH, has been experimenting and perfecting Flash and have made it look almost if not just as good as hand-drawn animation. Also, Lauren Faust is the master at adorable characters and she doesn't disappoint here. 

Pinkie Pie is famous for her Fourth Wall breaking jokes

  With a mix of cute designs and amazing animation, the show then excels in the art of Comedy. The show has all types of humor, physical humor, pop-culture, puns, forth wall breaking, and many more. Because of the animation, they can get some hilarious facial expressions that can happen in a split second. They also have great timing and rarely have a joke fall flat, but most of the time it's the puns that fall flat.


  
  After the comedic writing, people usually notice the writing itself, the plot lines and dialogue. The stories, while a bit cliched at times, are never "Let's make a cake!" and then they make a cake...no conflict or lesson, they just make a cake. There's always a conflict, whether it be normal or paranormal, they always find clever situations that make sense with that character. The show even does what few other shows can do on a regular basis, keep continuity. What I mean is that characters rarely do things just because the plot tells them to, most of the actions happen organically. This also means that they're are references to older character developments, like if one character has an episode where they discover a love for reading, they can be seen in another episode reading a book. 


  Then there's the voice acting. This show has some of the best voice actresses that, because of this show, have become somewhat famous. Tara Strong is probably the most recognizable, who plays Twilight Sparkle, seeing as how she's played as all of your childhood memories. Her characters include, Timmy Turnner, Bubbles, Raven, Batgirl, and many, many more. The stand-out and maybe best voice actress is Tabitha St. Germain who plays Rarity. She holds a British accent the whole time and has a lot of comedic range, making for some of the best lines or jokes in the series. 


  All of these elements are what catches peoples attentions, at least that's what caught mine, but then there's the community. The Brony community has been fully embraced by the people who work on the show. The most notable being Tara Strong, who's been in full support of the fans. Her Twitter feed in someway involves ponies everyday, she even created the term "Twilightlicious" which was a funny little saying that has sense been turned into t-shirts, bracelets, and even a day called Twilightlicious Tuesday where you tell someone who probably has no idea what it means that they're Twilightlicious.


All in all, I hope this has enlightened you a bit on this show, the community, and why people not apart of the core demographic could like this show. I'm not asking you to become a Brony or that you even have to like the show, I at least want you to give it a shot. If this article has not convinced you to watch the show, that's fine, just don't criticize someone for liking something you've never seen. If you are interested in watching the show, well you have a ton of options. Every episode has at least 10 different posts on Youtube, you can watch both seasons 1 and 2 through Netflix instant streaming, the show comes on the Hub at about 11am EST,  and you can buy the episodes through iTunes. The episode guide I've found to be the best for newcomers is the first two episodes of Season 1, Sonic Rainboom, and Party of One, all of which are Season 1 episodes. The season premiere is not the best, but it's needed to get the gist of these characters, and the other two episodes are character centered episodes that both involve the character going crazy. If you don't like it, that's also fine, just don't rag on people because they like it. Either way, this is a great show with a great and unique community. I'll end this with a quote from the creator herself, Lauren Faust.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

     


   

The Dark Knight Rises: NR #29

This movie is one of the most anticipated films of the year, a movie that if you don't give a perfect review to, the Nolan fan boys will never let you hear the end of it. You know what I'm talking about, you've probably already seen or are planning to see. This is...

Let's End...

PLOT

Its been eight years since the events of "The Dark Knight" and Harvey Dent's insanity has still been kept a secret and is still seen as a hero, so much so that they have a day named after him. But, this including his fall at the end of Dark Knight, has also caused Bruce Wayne to go into seclusion where the only person who ever see's him is Alfred. But there's a new evil in town, and his no ordinary evil. Bane is as strong as he is intelligent, he can crush necks without even thinking. He plans on destroying Gotham City in some way, and Batman has to return. But, it has been eight years and Bruce isn't as capable as he once was.

PROS

Everyone does a great job, Christian Bale is great as Bruce Wayne, who takes center stage instead of Batman, Micheal Cane will make you cry your eyes dry as Alfred, and many more.

Anne Hathaway steals the show as Catwoman, not only cunning and smart, but also strong and capable enough to take on as many guys as Batman and Bane put together. She and Batman are such a great team that I wanted to see a spin-off of just Batman and Catwoman's adventures.

Tom Hardy is scary as Bane. He's cold and lifeless, while menacing and intelligent as well. I was honestly scared of him.

Christopher Nolan learned from "Batman Begins" to zoom out of the action scenes, and he only got better after "The Dark Knight". The fights scenes are all out brawls and Nolan films them perfectly, letting you see every nitty gritty detail.

The last 50-40 minutes of film are amazing. It's what you came to see and keeps you on the edge of your seat 'till the credits have started and your heart racing long after them too.

While it's obvious Bane's voice was re-dubbed, you can still understand him. So don't worry fans, they fixed it.

The plot is more focused on Bruce Wayne than on Batman, so a lot of it is Wayne without the mask, and I liked that. While I did miss Batman at points, I still really enjoyed seeing Wayne dealing with his demons. 

CONS

The first hour or so is not as impressive as the later halves. It seems slow and uninteresting. While I know Nolan needs to get his exposition in, it didn't have me as interested as "The Dark Knight".

Bane, while menacing, just doesn't have the charisma to be memorable. While he does memorable stuff, he as a whole is just not that interesting. The reason is the mask. It forces him to catch your attention with his eyes, but there's only so much you can do without using the rest of your face. This is not Tom Hardy's fault, who is a great actor, it's just the costume's fault.

During the action scenes, I never had a "Stand-Up-In-Your-Seat-Cheering" moments like in the other movies. While they are exciting, they're just never impressive.

The ending, which I won't spoil. disappointed me. It almost had me, I was loving it, until it got to one part. Now if you've seen the movie, you may know what I'm talking about. Let's just say it was something hinted at the beginning that I hoped they wouldn't do. The ending was 99% great, but that 1% really ruined it for me.

CONCLUSION

If it sounded like I was vague, it's because I want to spoil as little of the plot or event as I possible can so you can enjoy it as much as I did going in basically cold. This feels like the end, and while it didn't live up to all of my expectations or was better than the last Batman, it still was great and well worth seeing. If I had to put them in order of how much I liked them from least to greatest it would be "Batman Begins", this, and "The Dark Knight". If you know only the basic plot of what happened in the last movies, go see this. While my rating while contradict what I just said, I see it as more of a star rating than a recommendation of how to see it.

RATING

WALK TO

Missed last week's reviews? Here ya go:
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-of-movies-90-butch-cassidy-and.html
http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/moonrise-kingdom-nr-28.html