Power Rangers: Film Review

Synopsis: A group of high-school kids, who are infused with unique superpowers, harness their abilities in order to save the world.

Review: Before I started writing this review, I was actually reading "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" Vol. 2 from Boom! Studios. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Power Rangers fan, I've met several of the original rangers (Jason David Frank, Austin St. John, Walter Jones, Catherine Sutherland, Karen Ashely, David Yost, Steve Cardenas) multiple times. When the movie was originally announced, I was very skeptical, because Hollywood has a way of turning things from my childhood into absolute shit (Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Etc...), and when they revealed the suits that kinda made it worse for me. But when the trailers started to drop, I was all in. Now keep in mind that this is a REBOOT of the original mighty morphin series, which adapted stock footage from the Japanese TV series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. So with this movie they can tell their own story (sorry, Rita was not in a dumpster on the moon.) One of the plot twists in the film is that Rita herself was originally the Green Power Ranger! That's all the spoilers that I will give you. My only grievance with the film was the pacing. I plan on seeing this movie again very soon. I thought it was well executed and Lionsgate has five sequels already planned! I highly recommend this film to anyone who, like me is a fan of Power Rangers. These new Power Rangers may not be the team of superhero friends you remember, but they'll for sure feel like a team, and like friends. And occasionally like superheroes-when they get around to it.

Felicity Smoak Gets A Costume & Mask

Something big and exciting for fans of Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity Smoak was revealed last night by Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim.

Next week’s Legends of Tomorrow episode “Doomworld” airing on March 28 has alternate versions of some characters – one of which was teased several weeks ago in an interview.

“In the penultimate episode we’re gonna have — I can’t be specific about this, but it’s one of the most fun things I think we’ve ever done on the show — a character from one of the other shows on Legends in a way that you’ve never seen before,” Guggenheim said.

Now, courtesy of Guggenheim’s Tweets, we see what Guggenheim was referring to – Felicity Smoak with a costume and mask that somewhat resembles the comics’ current look for the Huntress.

“You may never see [that version of the character] again,” Guggenheim said in that interview from weeks ago. “But [it] will, I think, just send fans into squeals of joy.”

You can see the character designs from Maya Mani, illustrated by Andy Poon, below.

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Ending; No Season Five

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man TV show will end after its fourth season on Disney XD. The network announced the show will conclude in January 2017, with a two part TV series finale titled, “Graduation Day,” leaving it effectively cancelled. Disney XD will launch a new series, Marvel’s Spider-Man, in 2017.

The Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man voice cast includes Drake Bell, Ogie Banks, Chi McBride, Logan Miller, Greg Cipes, Caitlyn Taylor Love, Matt Lanter, Steven Weber, Dee Bradley Baker, Tara Strong, Stan Lee, and Mark Hamill.

Here’s the announcement excerpted from the Disney XD press release announcing the new Marvel’s Spider-Man TV series.

“Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man” will culminate in January 2017 with an exciting two-part finale arc titled “Graduation Day” that will see Spider-Man stop Doctor Octopus and the Superior Sinister Six from destroying all of the heroes in New York City. For 2016 to date, the series has reached 51 million Total Viewers across the U.S., generated close to 4 million consumer engagements via VOD/STB and ranks among the network’s top 5 animated series in key targeted boy demographics.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man TV series? Will you check out the new animated Marvel’s Spider-Man, when it premieres on Disney XD in 2017?

PlayStation 4 Pro and PS4 Slim announced

At today’s PlayStation Meeting, Sony announced both the PlayStation 4 Pro and PS4 Slim consoles.

The PS4 Slim is the newest, thinner version of the PlayStation 4 and will replace the current model moving forward. The updated console will arrive on September 15th for $300.

Aside from being about 30 percent smaller than its predecessor, the PS4 Slim features a few changes such as a lightbar at the top, more space between the front-facing USB ports, and the removal of the optical port.

Originally rumored to be called PlayStation Neo, Sony has officially announced PlayStation 4 Pro. Featuring an upgraded CPU with a higher clock rate and a 1TB HDD, the new console is designed specifically for 4K displays. It’ll be available on November 10th for $400.

Even if you don’t have a 4K display, there are still benefits to PS4 Pro, as the console is said to have a GPU that is twice as fast as the standard model. Even on a standard HD TV, games will look better with super-sampling and advanced anti-aliasing taking the jagged edges off games that are maxing out the standard console’s potential.

Another major focus of PS4 Pro is PlayStation VR. Virtual reality games played on the new system could potentially look crisper, have more detailed effects, and run at higher framerates for a more satisfying overall experience.

In addition to the consoles themselves, Sony had a few more announcements to make. Both Netflix and YouTube are making new apps that should play HDR content on all PS4 models, while the Pro will play videos from either service in 4K. Lastly, a firmware update will make every PS4 ready for HDR gaming.

DC's Black Lightning series in the works

Black Lightning may soon be the next DC superhero on the small screen. Greg Berlanti, the man in charge of the DC Universe on CW, has created a team that includes Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil to bring Black Lightning to the small screen.

Deadline revealed the following about the character and his story:

“Written by the Akils, Black Lightning centers on Jefferson Pierce. He made his choice: he hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning.”

The potential series is now being shopped to the networks. Will you check out Black Lightning if the series makes it on the air?

Being a controlling girlfriend (or wife) isn't cute

I’m so tired of this trope.
(DISCLAIMER: These all go both ways but right now, we are discussing this trope specifically)

Let him hang out with his friends.
Let him go out without you.
Let him play his video games.
Let him watch the game/that show you hate.
Let him be a slob sometimes.
Let him have female friends.
Let him go a while without texting you when he’s busy/out with friends/etc.
Let him flirt with you and take his compliments.
Let him touch the boobs and booty sometimes. (Boobs and booty are fun!)
Let him show you off a little. Hes proud of you.
Let him have a long day and just relax.
Let him be himself with his friends, even if they are being a little immature. Don’t call him out for just being a little silly/macho/however he is with them. He’s having fun. He’s in a different environment. Let him have fun.
Don’t embarass him in front of people.
Don’t get on him for every little thing and every little mistake.
Don’t treat him like a child/like he’s dumb.
Don’t force him to do things he doesn’t want to do constantly. Compromise! It’s all about compromise.
Don’t expect him to pull all the weight. Equal partnerships are how it should be.
Take care of him when he’s sick.
Take his opinions into account.
Compliment him.
Make him feel special.
He needs love too and he is grown ass man, let him be himself and respect him. Let him live and have his own life/sense of self outside of you.
Don't hit him.
Love and respect goes both ways and you both deserve it.

Captain America: Civil War Review

 Synopsis: Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps-one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark's surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

 Review: "Captain America: Civil War" is not only the best "Captain America" movie yet, but it may just be at the very top of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, due to it's emotionally satisfying themes. That may seem like extremely high praise, so I will explain why I believe that to be true, as well as why I think this is the most mature Marvel film to date. Loosely following the events of both "Captain America: The Winter Solider" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron," while still harking back to previous films from this universe, this 13th installment in the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, follows the team on different paths as they are once again pulled together.

Opening the film in the past, audiences will be given a look into the life of the Winter Soldier, as his character will later have the biggest impact on the story at hand. Flash forward to the Avengers. The team is realizing that the events from the past have killed many innocent lives in the process and they must decide whether or not they want to sign the "Sokovia Accords" and be restrained by the government, and only released when called upon. This divides the team stronger than ever before, creating friction as to what the right move truly is. Then arrives the Winter Soldier. Still brainwashed, Bucky causes Steve to go after him (a fugitive), thus sparking the war of family and friendship within the team. This is just the basis. There are many levels to this picture, including the addition of Zemo as the side villain.

This character served a very pivotal role in my opinion and definitely does not deserve the flack he is receiving. Daniel Bruhl is terrific in everything he is in and he only justified that more with this character. Without giving anything away, his character is involved with the heart of the story and is the reason for many actions/motivations. This review has been very dour so far and that is due to the fact that the entire first act of this film is extremely sad, but enjoyably so. Unlike certain unnamed films, this has a very light tone which elevates enough of the somber moments, making for a very balanced film throughout.

Speaking of the light tone, the addition of "Ant-Man" and "Spider-Man" was absolutely fantastic and needed for this depressing story. It is hard to watch the character having to fight each other, especially when you have come to love them over the last eight years, so it was necessary to include some fun. Paul Rudd is great once again, "fanboying" out just like audiences, and his action sequences are nothing short of crowd-pleasing. That being said, "Spider-Man" is still the standout here. Tom Holland gets a very solid introduction as to who he is, where he has been, and how he got his spider abilities. The chemistry between Peter and Tony was masterful and I could not get enough of it. "Spider-Man" steals the show with his contribution and I can not wait to see more of him in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" next year.

Within two scenes of meeting "Black Panther," they are able to establish his past, why he is present, and what his motives are, as far as siding with "Iron Man" goes. No, he does not have a clear side, but that is for specifics that can not be discussed here. Chadwick Boseman is great, his action sequences are terrific, and the set-up for his future film definitely makes me want to check it out. It may seem like this review is overly character-driven, but that is exactly what this film is all about. Developing character in characters you thought you had already known from front to back. The excessive amount of layers in this film work in many more ways than one.

Aftermath of Decisions Made

After all of the shit that I've had to deal with this past week which inspired me to write my previous blog. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Machine Gun Kelly's "All Night Long." All I can think about are the first four words in the song: "don't think, just go." So I'm gonna take that to heart, no more thinking, just going. A good friend of mine, Michael betrayed me. He knew how I felt about Alana, but still went for it anyway, basically said "fuck Burnards feelings." He's been through a lot in his life, he recently got out of the hospital, he had a double lung transplant. I considered him my white brother, but those days are done. We did a podcast together, but those days are done. I still find this entire situation to be funny that all of this happens a week before Captain America; Civil War comes out. Because at this point, it is friend vs. friend, brother vs. brother. This is someone who I literally would've (and volunteered) to give a lung to (he has/had cystic fibrosis)! and this is how you do me? I wasn't able to eat for a week, I was waking up in pools of sweat, I started drinking again, not heavily, but I was trying to stop. In the sad thing is: I introduced them! Me & Alana went to go see Michael when he was in the hospital when she came into town. He told me that she was flirting with him in his inbox. But instead of being a GOOD FRIEND and saying "I appreciate it, but i know how my friend feels about you, I'm going to pass." The asshole just went for it! I swear if I could be a time machine, I would've never went up to that hospital. He didn't even want up to come because her two year old son was with us, because of germs. But we went anyway, because she was leaving that night. I'm starting to ramble, BUT THIS IS THE SAME GUY WHO FUCKING TOLD ME TO GO FOR IT WHEN I  WAS HESITANT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF THE DAMN DISTANCE. But as he said: "distance has never stopped you before." Some friend right? So after they met, I don't know who sent who a friend request on Facebook, but that happened, then they started following each other on Twitter. I'm very good at noticing shit, So I started piecing the pieces together on Wednesday when she wrote that she was going to Megacon in Orlando! She lives in Colorado. So I started piecing all of this shit together. So here we are a week later, he still hasn't apologized to me, I doubt that he ever will, so our friendship is going to end tonight. Because I CANNOT have backstabbing individuals in my life. I have had too much pain and strife in my life to be dealing with this shit. But at the end of the tunnel, there is a light, I have used to anger and pain to start writing again, and it's also given me the kick in the ass in that I needed to get my shit together. I've finally decided to go to the Army or the Air Force. I'm going so they can help me pay for my schooling. I refuse to be like some people and just sit on my ass and betray my friends. So the next chapter in my life is starting due to the betrayal of someone who I thought was a good friend. I can't be in Florida all of my life, I need to do better, I need to be better. I've gotten too comfortable with just sitting here. But I'm thinking about life now, all the things I used to talk about with Alana will have to be focused on someone else. It's about time for me to get a career (long past time actually,) meet a nice girl who shares the same interest as me, get married, start a family. I want my happy family and happy life. I"m coming for everything that they said I couldn't have and more!