RIP Uncle

This is going to be one of the most difficult things for me to write.  However, I am very open to my readers, so here we go.  My Uncle, who I was extremely close to, passed away last Friday. As I get older, the list of people I know is starting to thin out and it is depressing.  

His health was declining, but we weren’t sure how much until Friday.  He had been in the hospital for over a week and a half.  And, I visited him throughout those two weeks.  I even checked on him when he was sleeping.  I’d enter and not disturb him.  I visited him on Monday of that week.  I planned to visit him on Thursday, but I got into a deep depression and didn’t want to get up and see the outside world.  I now regret that because Monday would be the last time I’d see him. 

I got the news that he took a turn for the worst and was in surgery.  I knew it was bad, but even I hoped he’d pull through.  He had problems before and got better.

I pulled into the hospital parking lot and checked my phone.   I had a text from a friend of the family telling me that my Uncle had passed away.  I sighed and shook my head.  I knew it was a possibility, but it was still heart wrenching.  For my entire life, he was a positive influence, something I was lacking growing up because of my troubled history with my father. 

I went up to the room, took a breath, and entered.  The lights were dim.  He was motionless, his eyes closed as if he was sleep on the bed.  The hospital sheets rested just below his neck. His closest friends and his sister, my mother, surrounded him in chairs.  There was an air of stillness and sadness in the room that I kind of broke when I entered.  They all turned and greeted me.  I tried to keep a straight face, but sorrow grew inside. 

The guy I grew rather close to these past years was gone. 

Hebert was a musical guy that was into the arts and LOVED to watch movies.  Where I have a love/hate relationship with the movies, he adored them.  Even when his health declined he went to see movies.  I’d like to think I got my love of movies partly from him. 

He was also a singer/performer for the Stephen Foster Story.  I sort of got into music because of him.  He performed in the show for nearly 4o years.  I never watched his show, because he didn’t want me there because he wanted to perform without that pressure.  And, I respect that.  (I don’t share this blog with most of my family because it is separate from them.)

He was a professional singer and teacher.  He loved singing and I’d remember hearing him hum or bellow out a few notes to a show tune.  He was an amazing guy and I never realized how much I respected and looked up to him until now.  I can’t say that for most people because I only trust a handful of people. People are asking me how I am handling it due to how close we were.

As his health declined, I made it a point to visit him as much as I could.  I spent more time talking to him about music and a lot of time about movies.  All the stuff you read on this blog about movies are the things I’d talk about with him.  I tried my best to keep his spirits up.  I’d go on a rant about a cliché or shitty movie just to get a laugh out of him.  And, most people know my rants are very humorous and epic.

I knew his health was getting bad, but not to the degree that it killed him.  Like me, he was a private man when it came to these things.  I worried and stressed about it, but respected his wishes to keep it private. 

He would worry about me when I'd fall into a deep depression and would ask people to look into my well being. He was also proud of me. The last thing he bragged about was me riding my bike to a nurse on that Monday. He also loved that I retained much of my musical knowledge, and he marveled at the amount of pop culture and trivia I knew. He would ask me if I would get another dog and bragged about how much I loved animals.

He will be missed. 

I never saw him perform, due to his wishes, but I did some digging and came across his performance in the show a few years ago.  I’ll share it with you. 

from City of Bardstown on https://vimeo.com">Vimeo

.

And, I also wanted to share his favorite movie score moment. It was Can You Read My Mind in the Superman score.

Top That! From Teen Witch (revisited)

Top That! From Teen Witch (revisited)

Yes, this actually happened in a movie. The guys over at We Hate Movies took on the horrible, yet fun and funny, movie Teen Witch. I decided to re-watch that famous Top That scene. It is the best thing about this strange Teen Wolf spinoff (yes, it kind of is a spinoff). 

-Gotta get that goofy hat Teen Witch's friend Polly is wearing. Want to make her frumpy? Give her that stupid hat.

-WHM mentioned how really old the funky-boys look: The main guy has a receding hairline! Since when do men in their late 20s dance around like jackasses and make funky rhymes?

-The main funky-boy (man) is actually the son of Robert Blake (the guy that forget his gun and his wife was “gunned” down by a "stranger"). He's the a-hole boss in Money Train. Well, the guy with fading hairline is his son. Huffington dug that shit up about him. He's still working today and has a career...unlike his father.

-Robyn Lively da witch has been steady working ever since Top That. I always had a thing for her when I was younger. Remember, she was in The Karate Kid, Part III (AKA not the worst one in the series, but still bad.)

-Please note that Polly takes off her goofy hat when she busts her “hot fire” words.

- “Can you funky kids stop busting rhymes out there!” Why isn't anyone pissed about a bunch of d-bags pumping their radio so loud?

This is what Mandy Ingber looks like today. 

Yes, she is probably more funky (and very attractive) than her nerdy past self from the Teen Witch movie. She's now a famous yoga instructor. Mandy, you got some amazing arms.

Top That!

Bruce Wizard is the man

Bruce Wizard is the man

I've been in some foul moods and this cartoon cheers me up a bit because it doesn't make sense. What do you get when you cross Bruce Willis with Harry Potter? I guess this is it. I love it too.

-Eagle Eyes literally has eagles for eyes. Does that mean the eagles see for him through their own eyes?

-Andrew Jackson knows Bruce? Cool.

-Bruce Wizard has a gun growing out of his head. And, it shoots hash-tag bullets! #BlamBlamBlam #Brucewizard #Wizardblam #Magic #Murdering

If you get a chance, check out the other animated videos on his YouTube channel SexuaLobster. I got into his Manwhore series because of a vent harassment video

Avengers: Age of Ultron (review 2 of 2)

Scarlett Johansson:  Yes, I know that there is a lot of discussion and outcry about the direction her character went in this movie.  However, I don’t care about that crap.  Johansson is sexy and she’s the best female character in the movie.  Her character has an interesting relationship with Hulk/Bruce.  I also like seeing the direction they went with her friendship with Hawkeye.  Speaking of which…

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye:  I always liked his depiction.  And, they make him even more of a badass here.  He seems to be channeling Green Arrow a bit in this movie too, and I love it.  There is one moment I love involving Scarlet Witch that I won’t give away, but it is a nice callback to the first movie. We also see the another side to him.

Chris Hemsworth/Thor:  There were a few times when I couldn’t understand what he was saying due to his heavy accent.  However, there are some great moments here and there for him with most of them being very funny.

The other thing I liked about this movie over the first one is that this movie knows there is a bigger universe out there.  Most of the support characters for each Avenger makes an appearance and even have a part to play in the third act.  Don Cheadle has a great few appearances as well and a nice carryover from IM3.  Anthony Mackie also has a few appearances too. 

The other thing the movie gets right is the interpersonal relationships between the team members. 

Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch: You're going to see a lot of her in this movie. I really like where they're taking this character. Well, FOX can use this character as well because she has been on both teams the X-Men and The Avengers.

Quicksilver: Let's get this out of the way. Yes, this version isn't as entertaining or cool like the one from the X-Men movie of last year. However, I am glad they included him into the mix because he too has been both an Avenger and a X-Man. X-Men is his character better, but he's still fun here.

-Man of Steel bashing?: During two major battles, the heroes take the time help bystanders in the cities they're fight in. The movie actually takes time to show people getting caught in the crossfire and the heroes noting it. The Hulk/Iron-Man battle is a great example of this. They show shots of people hurt in the aftermath of their huge battle. We get the same thing in the third act battle.

-FX is pretty good: I think the special effects are breathtaking this time around. Industrial Light & Magic is amazing here.

Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler shared credit on producing the score this time around. It would seem Elfman was brought in at the last moment because Tyler was extremely busy with the score for Furious 7. They're styles mesh fairly well. Tyler is a guy that can morph his style into any composer. He's done everything from Williams to Goldsmith's styles. So, his tracks work well with Elfman's tracks. From what I can hear, Elfman is the one that brought back the old Avengers theme where Tyler brought his Iron Man theme and a surprise appearance of a certain Silvestri's theme from the first movie. Tyler also brought in the main villain theme too. I liked the score overall. I'm more into these brassy loud scores more than the restrained one we got for the Captain America 2 score. I like Cap's score, but it doesn't work for a large movie like this one.

Now, I didn't like that they “tracked” in two or three tracks from the first movie. They stuck out really badly. The worst being the Main Titles from the first movie being used in the end credits. Why was this done?

There are certainly flaws with this movie that seem to appear due to editing. I think this movie could have been better served with an added 15 minutes and a minute cut out of the farmhouse scenes. I also feel Ultron's motives needed to be fleshed out a bit more. The acting is very good all around. The movie carries over threads from Agents of Shield, Cap 2 and Iron-Man 3, and it does so fairly well. Joss Whedon juggled a lot of balls and most of them stayed in the air. DC is going to have to step their game up.

Grade: B+

Peter North Hockey Jersey?

Peter North Hockey Jersey? 

 Wait, that's no hockey stick...

Because I am really down in the dumps and depressed, this really made my day.  

I guess if you can't be Mr. North, you can wear him (pun intended)

Wait, so this is real? If you aren't in the know, Peter North is an adult star that has been in the business for a very-very long time. He's known for a certain ability I won't go into here. Some would call him a god among spunk. He's the T2 to Ron Jeremy's T-101. But, I stumbled across (don't ask) a picture of him in a hockey shirt of his own making.

I guess it is a parody of a hockey team just with his brand. North is Canadian and he's a hockey fan. However, would any dude really want this thing? Or a woman for that matter. Come to find out this jersey is real.

I will give him create for having the added “star” and oddly shaped “N”.

Here's the real jersey. 

Rihanna, Really?

Rihanna

Yeah, at this point, I've given up on Rihanna. It's part of a bigger problem in the black community of black women getting back “with their man” after she gets the living shit beat out of her. Rih went back to Chris Brown a few times despite the fact he beat her up, left bite marks and left her for dead in the car.

I kind of feel unconformable with the fact she made a song about giving a woman a pimp hand after her real life experiences. I don't know if she is parodying these sort of songs or not. After her real life encounters with the ass-hat CB, you would think she's stay away from that sort of thing. Now, ODB's song is clearly a parody.

Side Note: ODB's music video has not aged well.

I know I am sounding a bit SJW, but this just seems wrong to me. And, it also sends the wrong message to little black girls that unfortunately look up to her. Side note: There might be a lawsuit in the making about this song.

Also, it should be noted that a woman wrote this shitty (dance?) song. How are people are supposed to dance to this shit?

Anyway, I really don't care overall, because Rih should have grown from her incident and become a better person. I am not a fan of her current music anyway.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (review 1 of 2)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (review 1 of 2)

 In some ways, Age of Ultron isn't as good as the first movie, but it is certainly a fun movie with some good moments. Marvel takes a slightly darker turn with AOU than the first one. The writing is bit more connective within itself as things tend to payoff more. And, the main villain is actually rather compelling and interesting. The CGI and practical effects are top-notch too. The film also flows into the overall Marvel Universe fairly well. It's a darker movie, but still a lot of funny moments.

Basically, Tony Stark invents an AI that ends up becoming a huge problem to the entire world. The Avengers have to set aside their differences and fight this new menace.

First off, Ultron is an astonishing villain and impressive to see conceived on screen. His introduction to the team is one of my favorite moments. He's in this half form limping toward the Avengers and belittles them with his strange outlook on life. It is then followed by a nice little action scene.

James Spader does a splendid job with the voice of Ultron. Spader odes this thing with his voice where he almost sounds like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. ). And, he should because Ultron is based on Stark and has some of his mannerisms and humor. And, there are some nice moments where Ultron comes across as rather funny...in that Downey Jr. way. There is some good stuff with Spader.

Tony Stark is more or less one of the bigger characters in this movie due the fact he created (kind of) Ultron. And, he did it for noble reasons, except it didn't turn out the way he dreamed. This puts him in direct conflict with Steve Rogers (Captain America)/ Cap sees things in a black and white view due to the era he grew up in. Are we getting a hint of things to come between the two heroes?

I think the clashes between are just as interesting as the huge action set pieces. What doesn't work are some of the side story for Thor. I understand that this side story is supposed to set up the next Thor movie, but it seemed out of place from the rest of the movie, which builds on what's come before and yet to come. The Thor subplot just felt forced except for his tie-in to the introduction to a new hero. I thought that worked extremely well.

Speaking of the new hero, I freaking love the Vision. They sort of keep him as a mystery, but he seems to be a powerfully ally for the Avengers. And, I didn't think he'd work but he does. Also, there is a nice moment with Thor and his hammer I won't spoil and everyone in theater cheered. I don't want to give away anymore about the Vision, but he's one of the best parts about the movie.

Captain America also plays a large role in this movie as well. He's basically in the same mindset he was in since The Winter Soldier.

I think there are two problems with the movie that keep it from being better than first movie. One, the pacing is all over the place. There are scenes that grind the movie to a halt and don't really help the overall pace of the movie. I would have cut out a minute out of the farmhouse scenes. Two, there is clearly some things cut from the movie that would have cleared up some of the relationship moments.

The movie doesn't flow as well as the first movie and that could be a problem for the 5-second/140 characters crowd.

Daredevil TV show (Part 2 of 2)

Daredevil TV show (Part 2 of 2)

 The last episode of the series is probably one of best things I've seen in a while. It is a nice payoff between the two main characters. It all builds up to that point. Plus, we finally see a hero embrace his role and villain finally becoming a true bad guy.

DD has an amazing cast other than the two main characters. They feel like real people despite the fact they are based on comic book counterparts. Here are a few worth noting.

Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page: Yes, she's based on a real character from the books, but Woll brings something special to her. She is a strong character that isn't a victim despite the horrible things that happen to her. She has a few flaws. She is so driven to take down the Kingpin that puts other people in danger. It was such good decision to have Woll play this character. Forget female Thor, this is a strong female character from the Marvel universe, as long as Frank Miller isn't writing her. .

Elden Henson as Foggy: Prefect casting as the best friend to Matt. He's a nerdy guy that starts out as one thing but ends the series a completely different person. Actually, he's better. Unlike the movie, Foggy is more fleshed out due to having more time to deal with his background and relationship to Matt. Henson is just fits right in as this guy. Midway through the season, he as a major character arc and decision to make.

Toby Leonard Moore as James Wesley: He's the Kingpin's right hand man. He is so loyal to Kingpin that it might hurt him in the long run. If I had one gripe about this character is that we don't the history behind why he's so loyal to Fisk. What is the history behind his friendship with Kingpin?

Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich : They went with a different direction with this character than what was portrayed in the movie version. Here, they make him much older and he's portrayed by an African American. Keep mind the MCU is based on different parts of the various Marvel universes. I think Hall got the job because he's a great actor and the age thing plays a huge part in his role. This is set in the modern age where newspapers are no longer what they were and the Internet is all powerful. Urich is one of the dinosaurs from that earlier era. He gets a lot of screen time.

Bob Gunton : Character-actor Gunton is basically playing himself. He's a smart-ass that works for the Kingpin. I noticed that Fisk seems to give this guy a long leash as far as his underling giving him smart-ass remarks. I like every scene he's in.

Rosario Dawson : She plays an important nurse in the comic book. Dawson isn't in the show as much as I would like. She's pretty good in her part though. Clearly, Dawson will show up in some of the other Marvel series coming out? Will she show up on Agents of Shield?

There is also something else going on behind the scenes with certain criminal elements using Kingpin for other nefarious things. Also there seems to be magical element going on too with the Japanese and Chinese gangs. Plus, there is something the Chinese mobster mentions offhandedly that caught my attention. They're building the mythology with these side mentions and I like it.

One of my biggest gripes about the series is it kills off characters gleefully almost in the same manner as Lost did all those years ago. I would want to know about the relationship he or she has with another character and suddenly, the character is killed off. One major marvel character, in the comic books, is killed off at the end of of the season and it is rather sad because there could have been a lot potential for this character to show up in other shows and movies. I understand it was important to emotional nature of the plot, but I just wanted to see that character grow and change. There are other really cool characters that get wiped out before we get to know them better and it is a bit frustrating.

Anyway, DD is a wonderful series that fits in well with the larger Marvel Universe world, but it stakes its claim in the gritty, glory, dark world of a street level hero. The series is well written and clever and sometimes eve funny. We get insight into how DD thinks and even see him screw up a great deal. The action is gritty and well-produced and filmed. There is a good overall message about fighting corruption in your neighborhood, but it doesn't hit you over the head. DD has some flaws, but it is a great series. It is fitting that Marvel is the one that finally gets the character right in the live media.

Grade A-

Age of Ultron OST random thoughts

Age of Ultron OST random thoughts

-Did I hear the Iron Man 3 theme? Yep.

-It sounds like they retained the main theme from the first movie. So, yes they kept the main theme, but there is a new theme added to hero theme. The score is much darker than the first one too. I like it, but the older theme is better.

-Danny Elfman? What did he work on in this score? From what I can tell, Elfman worked a lot on this score more so than I was led to believe. Are they setting him up to take the composer reigns for the Spider-Man reboot? 

-Thor's theme?  Is it in the score?  I can't tell because I haven't heard all of the score yet.  

The strong strings from the first score are gone from the theme.  Listen to the old theme.  

 

Chris Chan: I can't stop reading and watching this guy

Chris Chan: I can't stop reading and watching this guy

I only heard about this guy passingly with Linkara making fun of him in one of his reviews, but I never looked up the reference. However, it was only recently that I discovered the full Chris Chan. I had no idea the saga behind Sonichu and Chris Chan. And, now everyday, I discover something new about this guy.

At times, I feel bad for this guy, but then I am reminded he's a racist, homophobic asshole that puts his shit in comic books. Sadly, despite this, he also has his white knights too.

The man has an entire wiki devoted to him.

I'm fascinated by him because I've know two to three guys just like him minus the racism. I knew one kid in school that claimed he was an android and behaved in such a manner. He would loudly remind people he was an android too. I tried befriended him because I liked that he didn't give a shit, but discovered that he was a total prick and that was why no one really liked him.  He wanted to be just like Mr. Data.  I wish I could make this shit up.  

While I was never this bad, I could understand why he want to live in this fantasy world, because real life is mean, brutal and sometimes lame.  But, going that deep into fantasy is just unhealthy.  

I wonder what happened to this kid.  

Baltimore Riots My thoughts

I was going to sit on this for a few more days, but after watching this pure foolishness of our young black community, I have to speak out.

For the looters and rioters that display the Justice for Freddie signs as they beat, burn and destroy things in the Baltimore riot, F' you. You're missing the point. Destroying your own city doesn't bring justice to the Freddie cast. It just makes things worst. This is why I am always harsh on the black community, and this is also why I am considered a sell out by the thugs.

How does acting like thugs and clowns bring attention and support to your cause? I look at this clown show and shake my head in shame. This is why we have so many problems in the black community and we refuse to address them. Not every response has to be an attack. 

We attack and loot our own areas and treat our own like shit, but this never gets addressed whenever there is a massive protest.  We should be protesting the conditions in schools and support better education.  Let's stop the police from overstepping, but let's get mad at our own that f' up our communities too.  

This is no revolution, this is just thuggery. This is just a bunch of young people wanting to mess shit up.  

And, this is for FOX News, there is a difference between protesters and rioters. Keep that in mind. And, yes, the PD is running mad over anyone that gets in their way. This abuse needs to stop. However, Baltimore doesn't deserve this.

Black folks, we can do better. We should do better. I am a shamed and you should be too.

So, when you have at Justice sign up while burning down a store, please stop.  You've already failed at a peaceful demonstration.  

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

~Boy, I feeling like shit despite sleeping a lot today.

That is why you failed. 

~Never going to get it: I watch this guy at work try to get in good with this young lady around his age, but he doesn't get that she is not attracted to him in that way...at all. I know for a fact she's not interested, but she enjoys the constant flirting. He's even taken her out to dinner. If I cared for this dude, I'd tell him to move on and find someone else, but I simply don't want to set him straight. It's not my job. Plus, he needs to have that realization himself. It's sort of rite of passage for nerds/geeks, both male and female. Trust me, I've seen firsthand it happened to the female counterpart. I was involved in that as a side character (I had to tell her that he was involved with another woman). And, trust me, that realization is one of the worst feelings ever, but I think people need a few failures under their belts in order to get better and stronger.

~Sarah Silverman's story: I really like Sarah, because she is edgy and funny. She says things that aren't PC and does whatever. She also is willing to diss a Network when they shit on her show. However, I find it troubling that she made a story completely up for a gender pay gap. I mean she changed the story completely to fit in the narrative. Is there gender inequality? Yes, but why make up a story that can be fact checked rather quickly because the owner is still alive and active? Why dog a person's rep for a lie? It takes away from the movement you're trying to support. Again, I love me some Sarah also because she was in two episodes of Star Trek Voyager. The producers on the show wanted to hire her on as regular star.

~ Lil Wayne’s tour buses get shot at: I am shocked it didn't happen in Florida. It happened in Atlanta. Wasn't he in serious medical condition a few years back? I really am not a fan of his music and it seems he's in almost every song on the radio. It sounds like he has marbles in his mouth when he raps. Why is he so popular?

~Silent Hills state?: I know a lot of gamers were pissed when news started floating out that maybe the impressive game Silent Hills was being canceled. They are also pulling the playable trailer from the Playstation network. Sony isn't doing this, Konami is. It looks like Konami is really trying to drop everything with game as if it never happened. Heck, it even looks like Norman Reedus  is being dropped for all the promotional material. It looks like this form of the game is dead due to politics within the company. I am guessing they'll just farm out another shitty sequel to an American/Canadian dev team. Things have really gone sour between the company and Hideo Kojima. So, yeah Silent Hills is done for. How much of it was completed?

Daredevil (Netflix series) Part 1 of 2 review

Daredevil (Netflix series) Part 1 of 2 review

Well, this series is miles ahead of the old movie of the same name. This series is what a Daredevil series should be. It is gritty, action packed and with tons of bad guys. It is street level action-superhero movie. Plus, it DOES tie into the overall MCU fairly well. This is a good series with only a few flaws. I'm so happy that Marvel got the rights back.

DD is set after the attack on New York as told in the first Avengers movie. And, the series does a great job showing us how these gangs moved in started buying property after the attacks. This plays a huge factor in the overreaching plot of the first season. And, this is Marvel connecting the series to movies in a very clever way. It shows DD is less of a superhero like the Avengers and more of a man on the street aka a vigilante.

I like seeing the reaction to the attacks in New York and all the scum that comes in and boots the normal people out. SHIELD and the main heroes aren't going to be concerned about that, but DD cares. There are bigger/darker things going on that DD and others aren't seeing as well, and I will get into that later.

The series shows us a dark hero that beats the living shit out of the bad guys, sometimes a bit too much. He's a scrapper, but the show also reveals that he isn't always good at his job. He screws up and does get beat up pretty good in a few episodes and those bruise linger for a while too. I have to wonder if DD ( Matt Murdock ) enjoys getting beat up on some level.

I have to note one fight though. DD takes on a group of Russian thugs and it is a brutal scrappy fight worth being ranked with some of the best fight scenes in movies. I loved this fight scene, but trust me there are some other really cool fight scenes to look out for later on such as the Kingpin one.

Speaking of the Kingpin, he's such a great villain who is played masterfully by Vincent D'Onofrio. The Kingpin doesn't appear for a while, but when he does it is such an amazing introduction. It is a stark and still intro, but we get a bit of insight into who Wilson Fisk is as a person and ties nicely into his childhood. In one moment, Kingpin is a calculating and sometimes calm crime boss and in another a brutal killer that beats a guy up to the point he chops off his head with a car door. Yes, that happens.

Yet, Kingpin views himself as good guy and D'Onofrio does a splendid job with that. There is a creepy and mean flashback to his childhood that you will need to see and speaks to how he treats the world.

I love Vincent D'Onofrio 's take on Fisk, and he almost steals his the series away from DD. I just hope Sony uses him in their (yet another) reboot of Spider-Man, because Kingpin is an enemy of both DD and Spider-Man. Since we know that the Kingpin is a guy connected to all sorts of crime groups, he could be connected to some of the bad guys in Spider-Man.

Charlie Cox plays the lead character of Daredevil. I have no idea where he came from, but damn it he's great in the role. He sort of downplays DD and Matt. I like his restrained approach because a lot of Marvel's characters are a bit broad (in a good way). It is a nice contrast. He does a great job playing up his blindness to outsiders when he's Matt, but is a complete ninja when he's DD. I love this aspect of him. They could have really screw this character up, but they didn't.

The cast of characters following up DD and Kingpin are compelling too...