In an episode of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure which so over the top in a way only anime could deliver, Okuyasu and Josuke eat at an Italian restaurant. Wait! Before writing this episode off as filler know this is one of the most entertaining and comical episodes of the series which comes from the simple act of eating at a restaurant. You are guaranteed to laugh.
What makes this particular concept so memorable? Over the top violence mixed with insane comical reactions. Sadly it’s impossible to talk about the episode without giving away too many spoilers. Just know it’s funny and if give it a watch you won’t be disappointed.
If this episode doesn’t catch your fancy don’t fret, the next episode is called Chili Pepper, which will finally have the return of the main story and feature much more intrigue. Right?
Chili Pepper Part 1
So much for intrigue. In one of the slowest moments of the entire show, Chili Pepper returns to threaten people, discovers Joseph Joestar is coming to town, and tricks the team into helping him to escape. This is all which happens in the course of the episode and the entire thing feels very slow. There is a bit of violence in there which makes the episode a bit more enjoyable but only for a moment.
The sad aspect is Okuyasu is finally able to confront Chili Pepper during the episode to try and get some revenge on him for killing his brother. Instead of one of those intense revenge battles, it’s one where there is too much talking between opponents and a group takes far too long to walk closer to aid in the fight. They weren’t fighting on the other side of town guys, they were fighting like 30 feet away from you. You could have caught up if you had done a light jog.
Hopefully, the next episode will be a bit more action packed and make up for the fact the return of the only major villain we’ve had all season was kind of a let down.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is streaming at Crunchyroll.
William Shatner, Star Trek‘s James T. Kirk, seems to have tweeted his way into becoming a kind of honorary member of Outlander‘s social media team. Shatner recently tweeted that he’s watched a couple more episodes of Ronald D. Moore‘s TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon‘s Outlander novels after having watched the first episode months ago. Shatner’s Outlander tweets started off as somewhat good-natured jabs about the quality of the show, but more recently he’s taken issue with some fans’ bullying insistence that Caitriona Balfe (Claire) and Sam Heughan (Jamie) should be in a relationship in real life.
Shatner’s Outlander Tweets – A Brief History
Outlander first attracted Mr. Shatner’s attention as a devoted Arrow fan. Shatner was encouraging fellow Arrow fans to vote for Arrow’s Emily Bett Rickards rather than Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe in E!’s Girl on Top 2015 contest. Sparking a twitter war, Shatner engaged Outlander fans and Outlander creator Diana Gabaldon by calling Claire, ” … a little pushy and uppity,” for a WWII nurse. Both sides got some good digs in but, for my money, Gabaldon showed the most wit and grace during the exchange.
Nice one, Ms. Gabaldon!Oh, Bill …Always a good idea, defer to the author!
Shatner gained a better understanding of the staunch support Outlander enjoys from some of its fans, tweeting the following to Gabaldon after making his comments about Claire: “Congratulations on your ahem… dedicated fanbase.”
Months after this exchange, Sam Heughan and Shatner met and engaged in a RadioTimesLeague of Fandoms battle, which Shatner eventually conceded to Heughan after it became obvious that Shatner had no chance of winning. Since his anti-Claire outburst, though, Shatner’s Outlander tweets have focused on the inappropriate nature of some fans’ relationships with the actors, something Shatner knows a lot about considering his years as the focus of Trekmania. Take a look …
Bill doesn’t like guffLuckily, this relatively futile exchange turned into a positive discussion about bullying
I believe this all came out of a fan debate between Shatner and Outlander fans, but one can’t deny that Shatner, Balfe, Heughan, and Gabaldon have all succeeded in improving their social media profiles. And, Shatner as a cranky guy on twitter (who has a good point), has helped highlight the absurdity of the notion that fans should have any kind of say in how an actor lives his or her life. In fact, although Shatner started off by tweeting his complaints about the show, he’s now become one of Outlander’s most reasonable fans …
Bill may not like the characterization of Claire but he sure doesn’t mind seeing as much as he can of her …
It’s also been said that Shatner’s initial tweet concerning Claire’s characterization was a result of having leftover sour grapes because Outlander developer Ronald D. Moore wrote Kirk’s death into Generations. Addressing this rumour, Shatner said, “I don’t blame him for that little hiccup. 😉 I love Ron please let him know.”
Cameron’s Brewing Company launched its first brew in 1997, and since then has won several national and international brewing awards. Based in Oakville, Ontario this much-loved craft brewery has produced a few award-winning craft beers, including its winningest beer so far Ambear Red Ale, named for the American black bears that roam the countryside and campsites of Ontario. I picked a few tall cans of this complex brew up from my local LCBO in preparation for a birthday party … and made sure that no one else drank them.
Ambear Red Ale – First Sip
Ambear is a dark beer that’s reddish-brown in colour. I notice its rich malt flavour, common to other red beers, and taste dates fading to a burnt caramel flavour as I swish the brew around in my mouth. Ambear has a noticeably fizzy mouthfeel that strengthens its mouth-puckeringly hoppy finish.
Ambear Red Ale – Last Sip
Ambear Red Ale also goes great with fish!
Hop-forward? Malt-forward? I’d say it’s probably both but not an overpowering example of either. Having had a few inferior red beers in the past I’ve tended to stay away from them, but Ambear is good proof I’m a fool. It’s a red ale that’s full-bodied rather than strong flavoured like some others. Cameron’s website recommends you pair this tasty beer with red meats and spicy foods but you wouldn’t be wrong if you decided to pair it with just about any kind of pub food, spicy, deep-fried, or otherwise. I might also suggest having it with a bit of leftover birthday cake, which is what I’ve been doing.
Ambear Red Ale – Other Comments
So, I used to drink inferior red beer. What I didn’t say is that I used to drink it in order to pack in the most alcoholic punch per beer: red beers were always the most alcoholic (math + alcohol – steady cash flow = … beer?). Luckily for my liver, those hazy halcyon days of my youth are behind me. I now tend to enjoy beer responsibly, so it’s a welcome surprise that this flavourful red ale comes in at a modest, especially for a red, 5% ABV.
If you’re already scoffing at the movie title alone, it’s a good indicator that this isn’t the film for you. Yes, it’s a movie about frat boys, bloody massacres, and lots of immature humor. It’s not about empowering women, it’s not about making a difference in the world, it’s about satirical misogynistic stereotyping, horror movie clichés, and over all raunchy entertainment. Dude Bro Massacre Party III is pure trashy 80’s and 90’s B-Rated Comedy brought to modern times yet leaving horror fans with awesome nostalgic tributes to past slasher flicks.
Much similar to the grind-house Machete prank trailer, it was a pleasant surprise to see Dude Bro Massacre Party III produced into an actual film. Initially in 2009 the trailer leak was intended as a joke, but by 2013 a Kickstarter was launched raising over $240,000 with 4,789 supporting the project. By July 2015, Dude Bro Massacre Party III was a finished product and available for free download for dedicated backers as well as available to purchase through iTunes. (Check out original 2009 trailer below)
Dude Bro Massacre Party III (the title still me giggle every time) is basically about a guy named Brent who is trying to investigate the mysterious death of his twin brother Brock. As the title hints, Brock was murdered during an epic frat party in which leads Brent to seek out and join that same fraternity. Of course one thing leads to another and the frat is sent to the same cabin in which Brock was slaughtered as well as the return of the malicious killer “Motherface”.
One of the things I adore most in the film is the over the top cliché names used throughout the film. Apart from Brock and Brent, some of the other all American frat boy names include Turbeaux (which is pronounced “Turbo”), Derek, Todd, and Spike along with the “annoying obsessive college girlfriend” Samantha. There are also some surprise cameos that pop up including Patton Oswalt as the Chief, Andrew W.K as frat brother Rip Stick, and Larry King as Coach Handsey.
Although B-Rated films typically take an acquired taste to appreciate, the creators take specialty in viral sketch comedy in their well-known 5 Second Films branding that has been trending over various outlets of social media since 2008. With that being said, it’s as if they took Adult Swim type of humor and ingeniously combined it with other parodies such as Scream Queens, Kung Fury, Scary Movie, and Sleepaway Camp II. It’s cheesy, it has gore-filled kills followed by one liners, really idiotic characters, low budget shot quality and just over the top mind numbing entertainment.
Dude Bro Massacre Party III isn’t going to win an Oscar by any means, and will be rejected by most viewers due to its ridiculous nature, but if you’re looking for a fun filled horror comedy to watch with your buds on a Friday night, I’d highly recommend checking out this flick!
Unfortunately since its one of those cult classic independent type of films, it is not available on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Vudu but can be purchased or rented directly from DudeBroPartyMassacre.com as well as iTunes.
If you don’t like acid wash jeans, Pepsi Free and bad hair you better brace yourself, we’re in the midst of an 80s revival. The latest example comes after CBS announced that it picked up a Macgyver reboot for the upcoming fall season. The basic “building anything out of anything” plot appears to remain, however Richard Dean Anderson and his mullet have been replaced by a very young-looking Lucas Till and a poorly coiffed head of hair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pS39X658Vw
Over the last few years we’ve classic 80s shows like The A-Team, The Dukes of Hazard, and even Knight Rider relaunched or remade on the big and small screen… but here are five shows that haven’t been remade that need to be immediately.
MAGNUM P.I.
A handsome private investigator solving crimes while living at a rich dude’s house, rolling in said rich dude’s sweet ride, surrounded by bikini-clad women and all of it takes place in Hawaii. You’re telling me this wouldn’t be as big a hit now as it was when it ran from 1980-1988? Did I mention one of his friends flew a helicopter and the other managed a beach club? Bonus!
The original Magnum P.I. aired on CBS, which has just so happened to bring back another Hawaii-based police drama, Hawaii 5-0, with great success. It was hinted that the originals existed in the same “universe” so why not just make that connection obvious and spin-off a new Magnum straight out of the current Hawaii 5-0? If there’s one thing CBS likes to do it’s creating spin-offs (see: CSI, NCIS, Jag and so on).
I don’t know who would play Magnum, but Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) would be a good Higgins.
QUANTUM LEAP
One of my all-time favorite shows. After a time traveling experiment goes wrong, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) is trapped leaping through time (mostly the 50s, 60s and 70s) into other people’s bodies in order to correct historical mistakes. His only ally is Al (Dean Stockwell), his holographic friend that only Beckett can see. It was the perfect mix of sci-fi and history.
While the show ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993, it was open-ended as Beckett never stopped leaping. This opens the door for a continuation instead of a reboot. In this version, Bakula takes over the Al role for a new leaper who would now have the 80s, 90s and early 2000s to leap to. Just do it SyFy or History Channel.
M*A*S*H
Heralded as one of the greatest television shows of all-time, it seems like this one is ripe for a reboot. The original (which was of course adapted from the movie of the same name) is basically an army hospital set up in South Korea during the Korean War. It was an allegory to the Vietnam War, the theme song was titled Suicide is Painless and yet somehow was still billed as a situational comedy.
Like Quantum Leap it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a reboot, it could be a continuation. It could be set during either Gulf War or the war in Afghanistan. Maybe you even get Alan Alda involved. I do also think to really work, it would have to take a more serious tone. Basically it would be ER meets Band of Brothers.
THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO
Believe or not (see what I did there) a show about a guy losing the directions to the super suit that was given to him by aliens only lasted two seasons. Sure, the premise sounds pretty silly, but wait until you see Ralph Hanley (William Katt) try to figure out how the suits works! Just check out the show’s intro… he can fly… but he can’t land! This is peak 80s slapstick comedy.
If NBC is green-lighting a show billed as “The Office but with super heroes” wouldn’t network execs at least listen to a pitch for this?
MISFITS OF SCIENCE
Speaking of heroes… how about a band of super-powered “human anomalies” lead by a brilliant scientist? Sounds kind of familiar, right? OK, so this is basically an X-Men ripoff in an ice cream truck, but hey, the X-Men franchise has made a boatload of money. Only the pilot of this show ever made it onto TV. It’s probably best known for having Courtney Cox as part of the cast well before she hit it big on Friends.
Given the success of the X-Men this could work. Special effects are easier to do these days and you wouldn’t even have to pay Marvel for the rights to the characters.
BONUS: MANIMAL
A doctor uses his ability to shape-shift into any animal he chooses (mostly a hawk and panther) to help police solve crimes. Who isn’t watching this? I mean besides everyone between September and December of 1983. How bad was it in 1983? It only lasted 8 episodes, yet somehow the Manimal character ended up as part of a crossover with the show Nightman 15 years later.
Seriously, this one is a terrible idea and should have never been made in the first place. I only included it on the list so you could watch the amazing and somewhat disturbing transformation sequence that lasts nearly two minutes. And it happened IN EVERY EPISODE.
Title: Now You See Me 2 Director: Jon M. Chu Summary: The Four Horsemen resurface and are forcibly recruited by a tech genius to pull off their most impossible heist yet.
Now You See Me was probably the sleeper hit of 2013 in that it only made $350 million worldwide but it did so on a budget of only $75 million. It featured some pretty big names and was okay as far as a popcorn thriller went. It wasn’t that surprising when it got greenlit for a sequel but it was a little surprising to see that it took three years for it to come out. The cast was probably the reason for that and Isla Fisher exited the project (though who could blame her since she famously almost drowned during a stunt and was also very pregnant). The first one is a movie I have watched as background noise quite a few times so I was more or less looking forward to the sequel.
Now You See Me 2 isn’t quite as good as the first one and tipis its hand a bit too early but is still entertaining enough.
One of the things that made the first film so much fun were the characters. They were all incredibly underdeveloped but the actors were some of the best in the business so they managed to fill them with enough personality. This time the movie gives the four horsemen (returning cast Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and newcomer Lizzy Caplan) more screentime than the previous movie but we still don’t know that much about them. That being said all of the actors are still good enough that it doesn’t really matter that much. Lula (Lizzy Caplan) is a little irritating at first, but once the movie finds something for her to do she blends in fairly well with the rest of the cast.
I’m the first one to admit that one of the things I love the most in any medium is a good team dynamic. It’s one of the reasons why I love heist movies and comic books; take a large group of people and smash them against each other to see how everyone reacts. The team dynamic is alive and well in Now You See Me 2 and it’s enough to make me forgive a lot of the problems with the movie because they all make it so interesting to watch. The magic tricks are once again inventive and interesting, but the feeling of the heist and the long con that made the first one so much fun is curiously absent.
The best part of the first movie was the way it turned the tables on the audience. The true target of the Four Horsemen was not who or what you thought it was and that made it all the more fun. The other thing that made the first movie so much fun was the dual POV. We saw the tricks from the perspective of the audience and then as someone explains the logic and the mechanics of the trick. There doesn’t seem to be as much of that as in the first one (there is really only one show where this is used) and the movie hurts for it. There is also the fact that the movie, for lack of a better metaphor, ‘tips its hand’ a bit too early. While the first one took you by surprise when the final trick was unveiled this one was much more obvious and telegraphed.
Now You See Me 2 isn’t as much fun as the first one, but as a mindless popcorn movie it more than satisfies. While everything that made the first one good, minus Isla Fisher and Melanie Laurent, it appears that this trick doesn’t work as well the second time around.
You gotta hand it to Kevin Smith: the man has a hell of a work ethic. Even if his content these day is, shall we say, less-than-stellar, the Clerks filmmaker knows how to keep himself working. And working. And working. And working some more. He has his newest film, Yoga Hosers, coming out next month, he recently directed an episode of The Flash as well as a segment in the anthology horror flick Holidays, he announces new projects like his life is on the line and he just revealed that his gestured Mallrats sequel might not be merely a sequel but, in fact, a 10-part mini-series. Remember when he said he was going to retire?
Smith revealed the new developments towards his forthcoming Mallrats project when talking with Philadelphia’s Preston and Steve Morning Show (via ScreenRant). Once promised to be merely a film sequel to the original film, it sounds like Smith is going the way of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and giving the continuation to his 1995 cult favorite the extended format treatment. Meanwhile, he revealed that filming is still planning to commence in the Exton Square Mall. The start date is still undetermined, but it might now happen sooner than later.
According to Smith, the writer/director had to reconfigure the sequel. He started talking about the sequel before he wrote the script or secured the financial details with Universal, who retains the rights to the original, and now he’s negotiating with the studio to make the project come to life. But this isn’t the only television program Smith’s working on at the moment. The Comic Book Men producer revealed he has secured the details on his proposed Buckaroo Banzai continuation. He couldn’t reveal who picked it up, but he announced on Twitter that he had “3 serious suitors” express interest. Don’t be surprised if it’s AMC, the home of his other TV series. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s who ends up picking up the Mallrats series too.
After his Flash episode, Smith feels he’s “comfortable” in the medium, and he wants to continuing working there for the foreseeable future. He also has plans to direct more episodes of the popular CW series in its upcoming season, he revealed. As for what he has going on for the next few months, it’s always up-in-the-air. He has promised various films, including Moose Jaws, Clerks III, Helena Handbag, Hit Somebody and Hollyweed, another TV project. Although, that one is merely a pilot. Needless to say, Smith isn’t desperate for work, but it looks like Mallrats: The TV Series could very well be the next.
Title: Warcraft Director: Duncan Jones Summary: The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.
Warcraft is one of two video adaptations that are coming out in 2016 that people are hoping will finally produce a good movie. Thus far the video game movie landscape is a desolate wasteland that is one super mutant away from being a Fallout game. There were a few reasons to at least be optimistic about Warcraft but the primary one is Duncan Jones. His first movie, Moon, is one of the best science fiction movies in a decade and he’s a huge fan of the game. That raw filmmaking talent, combined with a love of the world and the minds of WETA (the genius’ behind the Lord of the Rings special effects), designing everything was enough to make even the most cynical viewer at least hopeful.
Warcraft is an odd movie that isn’t very good until it stops trying to be good and embraces just how goofy everything about it is.
There are some game breaking things in this movie. The first ten minutes were a rough watch for me because the Orcs didn’t look like they had any weight to them. While I didn’t know how they could possibly make something that inhuman look real they very much looked like the CGI characters that I knew they were. I’m not sure if the CGI got better later on, or if I just got used to it, but the longer the movie went on the better it looked. I’m not sure if seeing it in IMAX 3D helped or hindered when it came to that but by the end I did have some issues with eyestrain. There is also the fact that this is yet another movie where the story is bogged down by the plot. There is so much exposition as Jones has meticulously created the world of Warcraft that he seems to forget to form a coherent story. The characters are arch with their weird names that if you asked me ten minutes after it ended to name a single character, by name, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
Speaking of characters there is not a single woman of note in this movie. It seems that everyone was under the impression that Garona (Paula Patton) would be enough of a presence but her entire arc doesn’t make much sense. They say she is a “half breed” but never really explain, at least that I can remember, what she is or why the orcs keep her around. There is also the question as to why the humans decide to trust her so much. Patton does her best to look menacing in her puke green make up and silly looking fangs but the movie gives her nothing to do. They have the amazing Ruth Negga as the human queen who stands around and does absolutely nothing. The actions that the orcs and the humans make in this war don’t really make any sense. The orcs don’t see the obviously evil leader as evil and the humans are so incompetent that I worried for their intelligence. The big battle at the end was supposed to be a huge dramatic sacrifice but no one feels real and we don’t care enough to make it mean anything.
All of this makes it sound like I hated this movie but I didn’t, or at least not as much as I thought I would. I love cheesy, high fantasy or high concept science fiction so this sort of thing works for me. Warcraft gets better when it starts to embrace how goofy it is and those moments worked for me. However, the movie seems to go “oh no, we’re a serious movie” which made me want to flail my arms and go “no, you are not a serious movie, embrace how over the top you are and you’re a better movie”. Perhaps this is another movie that seems better to me because I went in with no expectations. The early reviews are destroying this movie and while it isn’t good I can’t say that I walked out angry like I did with Angry Birds or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Warcraft is not a good movie with an extremely clunky story that focuses so much on the world that it forgets to have real characters or even a coherent narrative. However, when the movie decided not to take itself so seriously, it got better and maybe if this one does well they can work out the tone more. The world of Warcraft has potential if only they had a better script.
As we continue down this road of a slowly developing Mel Gibson comeback, it seems the director is working with Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace on a sequel to The Passion of The Christ. Welcome to 2016.
Wallace spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the project, saying “I always wanted to tell this story. The Passion is the beginning and there’s a lot more story to tell.” There definitely is plenty more story to tell since, you know, the source material is the Bible.
Gibson and Wallace are also working on the upcoming World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge, which could mark Gisbon’s triumphant return to the mainstream. Regarding this Passion of The Christ sequel, Wallace said Gibson will treat the resurrection story with the same intense style as he did the first film. So expect a ton of torture and bloodshed somewhere in there.
The Passion of The Christ is still one of the highest grossing films of all time thanks to that built in audience. It brought in over $600 million at the box office. There’s no set date for fixing and no cast has been announced. Though I’m sure Jim Caviezel doesn’t have a ton going on.
