Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Heya fellow geeks! It is Wednesday again, which means I’m back with another geeky blog for ya’ll. Nothing exciting has been going on this past week; well nothing exciting that I haven’t already covered like a hundred different times. New Walking Dead, new Vikings; but I’ve talked about those things already. So anyway, I thought that this week I would talk about something new. I went over my old posts and I noticed that I’ve seemed to totally skip over something I love to do; read. I mean, I’ve posted about manga, but that’s about it. So this week I thought I’d bring you some great and geeky books. Some of these I’ve loved for a long time, and others are recent reads that really caught my attention.

The Harper Hall Trilogy

The Harper Hall Trilogy was written by the amazingly talented Anne McCaffrey. It takes place in the world of Pern, and ties in with her Dragon Riders of Pern series of books. However, this trilogy breaks away from the Dragon Riders a bit, instead giving us a perspective of Pern from someone who is not a Rider, but more or less a normal person. The entire trilogy is brilliant, but then I am a huge fan of Anne McCaffrey. I literally learned to read with her books, and I truly believe that they played an integral part in my love of literature as I grew up. Her world is so beautiful and vivid, her characters so real and the stories so full of emotion and life that I will finish a book feeling like I’ve truly lived another life. It isn’t just the Dragon Riders series that I love; Anne McCaffrey was truly a talented woman and her other works (such as The Ship Who Sang, or The Rowan,) and those of her son Todd McCaffrey are excellent as well. If you’re into fantasy or science fiction then you should check her work out. I can guarantee that they will not disappoint!

Rot and Ruin

Rot and Ruin is the first in a series of four books by Jonathan Mayberry. They take place in a world 14 years after a zombie apocalypse ravaged the planet. People have banded together, cobbled together small towns and learned to live with the undead. So far three of the four books in the series have been released, though I have only read the first one, Rot and Ruin. It is a really excellent book if you are in to zombies, which I totally am. The world Mayberry creates of a post-zombie-apocalypse is really close to how I would picture it actually being. The different people, the towns and outposts, the paranoia and cult-like belief following that sort of disaster are really believable. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of this series, and if you are a zombie lover like me then I highly recommend this series.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter was written by the brilliant J.K. Rowling, but most people already know that. This 7-book series became so amazingly popular that it spawned 8 movies, countless video games and even a theme park! While I’m not particularly impressed with the movies (blegh, the second one was so bad I couldn’t bring myself to watch anymore) the books are incredible. There is a reason that these books have developed a cult-like following, and if you’ve not read them then I highly suggest you give them a chance. I re-read these books at least once a year, usually in a 2-day marathon that leaves me exhausted, but it is totally worth it.

Reading is something that I am really passionate about. I really enjoy reading because reading is not only a great way to learn and grow as an individual, but it can take you to so many places and be anything you want to be. It is a really fantastic way to expand your mind, and to escape reality and do things you may never get the chance to in real life. I read a lot of different things, even though I pretty much focused on Fantasy-fiction and Science-fiction works with this blog. In particular, I also read a lot of romance, but I figured that wasn’t quite geeky enough for a blog (although for those geeks who do like romance, try Gena Showalter, Christine Feehan and Jayne Castle. Their paranormal romance books are awesome!) Anyway, I’ll see you next week!

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! Wednesday again, already?! Where has the week gone?! Well, here I am; back with more geekyness for ya’ll. So, I can’t believe that there have already been 3 episodes of The Walking Dead, and I haven’t blogged about it! Well… I guess I can, what with Valentines’ Day and me missing the one post and all.. uh, anyway! Aside from The Walking Dead, I’ve also been getting excited about a couple of other things; mainly this whole bad-ass fairy tale kick that Hollywood seems to be going on. Also there is a new television show coming on March 3^rd (well, here in America anyway; not sure if it’ll show anywhere else) called Vikings that looks awesome.

  

Anyway, how about those new Walking Dead episodes, eh? They’ve been freakin’ awesome! Michonne is kicking ass and taking names, Rick is absolutely losing his marbles, Glenn is getting stressed and best of all Daryl is getting screen time! I love me some redneck Daryl screen time. I’m not so happy about Merle being back in the picture, but I can always hope he’ll die soon and I’ll be rid of him. Speaking of annoying; Andrea is getting on my nerves something fierce as well. She’s been pretty stupid lately, and I’ve got to say that I liked her better in the comic. Then again, I find myself liking a lot of the characters better in the comics, although precious few are better in the show, like Carol, or have grown on me like Carl.

So amongst the things that I mentioned I am excited about, aside from my zombies, was the bad-ass fairy tale kick that Hollywood has been on recently. We’ve had a couple variations on Red Riding Hood, a few Snow Whites, a Hansel and Gretel and now we are getting The Wizard of Oz and Jack and the Beanstalk with Oz the Great and Powerful and Jack the Giant Slayer respectively. I keep finding movies, like these two or Hansel and Gretel, that didn’t make my initial list of movies I really wanted to see in 2013. I’m totally shocked by it too, because they look absolutely freakin’ awesome. Hansel and Gretel was awesome, but I already blogged about that. Jack the Giant Slayer (initially billed as Jack the Giant Killer) comes out this Friday, on March 1^st in America and March 22^nd in the UK. Oz the Great and Powerful, on the other hand, comes out on March 8^th in both countries.

Last but certainly not least is the new show I found that starts on March 3^rd called Vikings. It looks awesome! I am super excited about it. I first noticed it when I heard Sail by AWOLnation playing on the television. They used it in the background of the trailer, which I thought was awesome. According to Wikipedia; Vikings is an upcoming historical drama series inspired by the epic saga of Viking King Ragnar Lothbrok. One of the most popular Norse heroes, Ragnar was a great Viking commander and the scourge of France and England. Vikings will tell the tale of the epic and violent world of the mighty Norsemen who raided, traded and explored during medieval times. It will tell the tale of the driven young Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok and the gripping sagas of Ragnar’s Viking crew and family as he struggles to become ‘king’ of a large part of modern day Scandinavia and Europe. Ragnar longs to discover civilizations across the seas. With the help of his visionary friend Floki they build a grand new generation of faster and sleeker ships. Jarl Haraldson is Ragnar’s lord and adversary. A man of little vision, the Jarl is suspect of Ragnar’s ambitions and goes head to head with him in a struggle for supremacy. Now doesn’t that just sound freakin’ awesome! I am so excited for it! Take a look at the trailer below and let me know what you think.

Well there you have it; my television and movies for the next little while. I know I’m going to be watching more television than normal the next few months, what with all the awesome stuff going on. I mean, I didn’t even touch on the new Game of Thrones, or the new Doctor Who episodes coming out in April. I know I’m not the only one excited about those! Anyway, I’d best be bringing this blog to a close; see ya’ll next week.

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! Caelrona here; you might have noticed my, uh, lack of a blog post last week. Sorry about that. I missed my day, and to make matters worse I don’t even have a legitimate excuse. I had one all typed up, and ready Tuesday morning, and decided to have a catnap before putting pictures to words. When I woke up.. BAM! it was nearly mid-day Wednesday! I lost an entire day to sleep. Not that I’m particularly complaining; I do love sleep, but now I feel bad. Anyway, there are tons of things I want to blog about; I mean, The Walking Dead just started back up, and there is a new show coming on March 3^rd that I am super excited about. However, since Valentines’ Day was this past Thursday, I’m going to save my excitement about The Walking Dead. Valentines’ Day only happens one time in a year; so I figure I ought to blog about it whilst the blogging is good (er, relevant, Hehe.) So in honor of Valentines’ Day, I thought I’d share some of my favorite chick flicks. I do watch them occasionally, and even though I spent my Valentines’ Day with my friend Annie in a theater filled with dudes watching A Good Day To Die Hard, chick flicks are more.. uh, lovey, and thus more suited to a Valentines’ blog.

 

10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You was made in 1999, and released by Touchstone Pictures. It is an American teen romantic comedy with a runtime of 99 minutes. The film is a modernization of Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’, and is titled after a poem written by the film’s female lead about her bittersweet romance with the male lead. The film follows two teenage couples. Cameron, a new kid at school, wants to date Bianca. Unfortunately she cannot date unless her older, non-conformist shrew of a sister Kat does. Being broke, Cameron tricks popular jerk Joey into paying bad boy Patrick into dating Kat. What can I say? I’m a child of the 90’s. Plus, Heath Ledger looks pretty damn good in this, so that does influence me a little bit. This is one of my favorite chick flicks. I mean, how could it not be? It’s a modern day Taming of the Shrew (yay, Shakespeare!) I prefer the aspects of the movie having to deal with Kat and Patrick (Julia Styles and Heath Ledger) rather than Bianca and Cameron (Larisa Oleynik and Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I’m guessing that is probably because I identify more with those characters, but whatever.

Never Been Kissed

Never Been Kissed was made in 1999 by 20^th Century Fox, in conjunction with Flower Films and Bushwood Pictues, and was released by 20^th Century Fox. It is a romantic comedy, with a runtime of 107 minutes. It follows Josie, a copy editor desperate to make reporter, as she goes undercover to get the scoop on the high-school scene. A ridiculed nerd when she was in high school, she starts off pretty bad until her drop-out, but cool, brother enrolls undercover to help her out, giving her an over-night popularity makeover. Both siblings find love and joys of youth again, but in Josie’s case it is sensitive bachelor teacher Sam Coulson. As the publication deadline and prom approach, the price of blowing their cover rises; and it seems ever more daunting, yet inevitable unless she sacrifices her career for love. I think this one is probably on most girls’ chick flick lists. At least, it is if they are my age. I love Drew Barrymore in everything I’ve ever seen her in, and while parts of this movie are too ridiculous for words (Oh Gawd, the Barbie outfits,) parts of it are really sweet. I particularly like the dress Josie wears to the prom (er, her second prom, I mean.) I’m not really a chick flick type of girl, but this movie I’ll watch just because it’s on, even if I’m not in the mood for a chick flick. It’s just a good movie.

Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible was made in 1999 by Regency Enterprises and was released by 20^th Century Fox. It is a romantic comedy with a runtime of 96 minutes. Simply Irresistible is about a young woman who inherits her mother’s restaurant, but not her ability to cook. After a shopping trip, she begins to develop the magical ability to influence people’s emotions through her cooking, which is also much improved. Her love interest, a no-nonsense businessman, tries to resist falling in love with her after discovering her powers. I’m not actually certain why I like this movie. I’ve only seen it a handful of times, but every time I watch it, it doesn’t seem to slide off my list of chick flicks. There’s just something about it. I’m not a big fan of either lead actor (although I like Sean Patrick Flanery in The Boondock Saints,) and I wasn’t old enough when this came out to really identify with the characters, so I’m at a loss as to why I like it. I think it might be the idea of magic through cooking… not that I’d use such powers if I had them or anything <.<; No No.

Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality was made in 2000 by Castle Rock Entertainment in conjunction with Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment, and Fortis Films, and was released by Warner Bros Pictures. It is an American police comedy, and has a runtime of 109 minutes. Miss Congeniality is about a tough, tomboy FBI agent named Gracie Hart, who is forced to go undercover – as a girly contestant in the Miss America beauty pageant. Aided by master stylist Victor Melling, she must get in touch with her femininity to keep her cover while working with her love interest and fellow FBI agent Eric Mathews to catch a criminal who is planning on blowing up the Miss America pageant. I love this movie. I also really like Sandra Bullock, so it isn’t really a surprise that I’d love a movie where she plays a tom-boy FBI agent. I can even forgive her for getting in touch with her inner femininity, because she pulls it off well, and with humor.

Ever After: A Cinderella Story

Ever After was made in 1998 by Flower Films, and was released by 20^th Century Fox. It is a historical romance based upon the fairy tale of Cinderella, and has a runtime of 121 minutes. Ever After follows the story of a common girl, Danielle de Barbarac, who is treated like a slave by her aristocratic stepmother as she overcomes all odds to become a princess. Yet another Drew Barrymore film; what can I say? I like this movie because it takes all of the magic out of the picture. Magic is all well and good, but watching Cinderella get the prince under her own power is a nice change. Plus, in the end she rescues herself. It’s a very strong picture of womanly independence and strength, while still remaining a romance.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha was made in 2005 by Spyglass Entertainment in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment, and Red Wagon Productions; and was released by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks. It is a film adaptation of the novel by the same name, and is a historical romance with a runtime of 145 minutes. Memoirs of a Geisha follows the story of an impoverished nine-year-old, named Chiyo, from a fishing village as she is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo’s bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha’s mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. Memoirs of a Geisha has stunning visuals. I cannot say enough about how absolutely gorgeous some of the scenes are in this movie. The story is intriguing and very interesting, with enough romance to really sell as a chick flick. I don’t watch this movie often, but I still love it.

 

Well, there you have it. My top… er, 6… My Top 5 (and a bonus!) Chick Flicks. We’ll go with that, even though the real reason is because I apparently fail at counting. Oh well, hehe. I also just noticed that half of them were made in 1999. Apparently that was a great year for chick flicks or something, or maybe it’s just that movies made in that year were being shown frequently on television when I was a teenager. Either way, way to go 1999. All of these movies are entertaining in their own ways, and they are really great if you’re feeling in a chick flick mood. Speaking of, all this blogging about them has kind of gotten me in the mood for a chick flick, so I think I shall be off to watch one!

 

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all, Caelrona here with your Wednesday dose of geek. Since there really isn’t too much going on right now, and it has been a while since I wrote about anime, I thought that I would share with you some anime that I recently watched. I got to watch all of these anime series while I had control of my friend’s Netflix account, so they’re readily available if you feel like giving them a go. These anime are for a more mature audience – they all feature a lot of violence, blood and fan-service. If that is your type of anime, then keep on reading!

Murder Princess

 

Murder Princess is a pretty kick-ass anime. I honestly didn’t think it would be too great, judging by the description that Netflix gave it, but I gave it a shot anyway and I’m glad I did. While it won’t be winning any awards or going down in anime history like Cowboy Bebop or Dragon Ball Z, it isn’t terrible. The storyline has some unexpected twists that keep things fairly interesting, and the dialogue has its witty moments, so you won’t be bored silly with only the fan-service to keep you awake.

Murder Princess is a 6 episode long OVA based on the 2 volume manga of the same name. It was released in 2007 by Marvelous Entertainment in conjunction with Bee Train. Each episode has a runtime of 30 minutes.

Murder Princess is pretty much summed up by the title. The princess kills people; lots and lots of people. After an assassination attempt on the King of Forland succeeds, the princess, Alita, must run for her life from the castle. Unfortunately the castle is surrounded by a dangerous forest, and her entourage of guards is quickly dispatched by the Forest Guardian. While now safe from the assassins, Alita must still run for her life. It is during her tumultuous escape that she bumps into Falis, a bounty hunter. The two plummet off of a steep cliff and against all odds they survive, however due to the near death experience their souls have switched bodies! Falis, hindered with the weaker body of the pristine princess, still fights and defeats the Forest Guardian. Seeing Falis’s strength and courage Alita begs the bounty hunter to put her sword to the defense of Forland. But can Falis protect the country from a betrayal so deep that even Alita does not see its depth?

Queens Blade

Queens Blade is an anime geeks wet dream – literally. This thing is so packed full of fan service I don’t think I can even properly describe it. If a character is wearing any armor or clothes (note the if, it’s important) then even the slightest scuffle or fight has them being ripped, torn, or broken off. Not to mention one character has boobs the size of two yoga balls. I can’t even make that up – imagine someone stuffing two exercise balls in their shirt and it’s close to what this woman’s boobs look like; still too small though. Other than the ridiculously skimpy armor and outfits, the outrageous boobs (I think the entire world has DD’s, at least) and crazy amounts of fan-service then this is a pretty good anime. The storyline isn’t bad, a young girl struggling to get away from an oppressive father and incestuously perverted sister ends up competing in an amazon warrior-esque competition known as the Queen’s Blade, which is a competition held every four years to crown the most beautiful and deadly warrior queen. Did I forget to mention that the Queen’s Blade is broadcast around the world by angels? Yeah, freakin’ angels follow these boobalicious amazon warrior babes around as they travel to the Queen’s Capitol, Gainos, fighting each other whenever they meet up, all for the honor and privilege of fighting the current queen. Not to mention one of them is anthromorphic and shoots acid out of her tits. Nifty huh?

Queens Blade is 12 episode anime based off of a series of Visual Combat Books which eventually spawned a media franchise spanning 4 different manga adaptations, 3 different anime adaptations, 3 light novel adaptations and a video game. Queen’s Blade: The Exiled Virgin was released in 2009 by ARMS and licensed by Media Blasters.

Queens Blade: The Exiled Virgin follows a young warrior named Leina during her journey to the Queen’s Capitol to fight in the Queen’s Blade. Initially Leina is only attempting to escape her duties as the next countess of the regal Vance family, but ends up embroiled in the competition. She quickly decides to compete, but is met with much resistance. Not only is her family trying to get her back, but the evil Swamp Witch and her minions are attempting to put a stop to the competition. Can Leina and her friends make it to the Queen’s Capitol, or will the Swamp Witch succeed with her attempt to foil the tournament?

Master of Martial Hearts

 

The Master of Martial Hearts is a pretty decent anime. The storyline seems fairly straight forward when you start watching. A young girl, who happens to be a martial arts master ends up competing in a dangerous competition to win a mysterious gem, the ‘Martial Heart’, that supposedly grants your greatest wish. It packs in plenty of fan service (although not nearly as much as Queens Blade does) and even a few cute moments here and there. The ending has a twist so crazy that I was completely shocked at how extremely fucked up (excuse my language) it was. Seriously, I was not expecting that kind of ending. That is some messed up shit at the end.

The Master of Martial Hearts is a 5 episode OVA. There is also a 3 volume manga series of the same name, but no records of which came first. The anime was released in 2008 by Arms Corporation and licensed by Funimation Entertainment in the USA and Manga Entertainment in the UK.

The Master of Martial Hearts is a very short anime that follows a young girl named Aya who competes in a martial arts competition in order to win a mysterious jewel, the Platonic Heart, which is said to grant a wish to the winner of the competition. Aya, a martial arts prodigy child, is embroiled in the mysterious competition after saving another young girl, whom she befriends. The girl admits to Aya that she is competing in order to wish for friends, for she had never had any. Aya offers to be her friend, and the girl drops out of the competition. Soon after she disappears, and Aya is offered the empty spot in the competition. Can Aya survive the battles she must fight in order to save her friend, and who is behind this mysterious competition anyway?

Well, there you go! A few fan-service filled anime series for you to watch. None of them are very long, so they won’t take up too much of your time (I watched them all in only 3 days) and they are pretty entertaining, despite all of the fan-service they offer. Anyway, I will see you same time next week for your Wednesday dose of geekiness!

Until next time;

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! Caelrona here with another steaming cup o’ Wednesday Whimsy for you all. Last week I told you all about how I was going to attempt to stick to HMS’s Wednesday Whimsy style of more or less posting about my week, and it didn’t go nearly as terribly as I thought it would. I mean I sort of felt like I was writing a diary entry, but the finished product wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be. However, this week while attempting to write my post I came to the realization that, holy shit my life is boring. Seriously, I couldn’t even come up with one paragraph. The most significant things I’ve done this past week were to buy a ridiculously awesome fuzzy pink hat with bear ears and lose my wallet – all in the same trip, so that was the most exciting two hours of my week. Not exactly blog material, right there. So this week I’m taking us back to my Top 10 Favorite Movies. Now, I know, I’ve already told you about them in a two–part blog. However as I was creating my list for those blogs, I ended up with more than just 10 movies. Some movies made my list at first, but then got bumped because I thought up a movie I loved just as much. Sacrifices had to be made, and I ended up with a small list of amazing movies I really love, that just wouldn’t fit. So without further ado, here are my Top 10 Favorite Movies: Honorable Mentions.

 

Krull

Krull was released in 1983 by Barclays Mercantile in conjunction with Industrial Finance and released by Columbia Pictures. It is an epic styled Science Fiction and Fantasy with a runtime of 121 minutes. The story takes place on the planet of Krull, where the evil being known as ‘The Beast’ and his army of ‘Slayers’ have invaded. Two rival kingdoms decide to unite as one in order to defend against the Beast’s incursion. The union is to be solidified by the marriage of Princess Lyssa and Prince Colwyn, whom come to love each other. During the marriage ceremony The Beast attacks and kidnaps Princess Lyssa, for it is foretold that she will bear a child destined to rule the Galaxy. Prince Colwyn must quest to find and defeat the Beast so that he may save his love, and his planet. This is a really great old-questy type of movie – if you are into those type of things. You might recognize it off of GeekyGem’s list; seems we both love it! I haven’t been able to find a DVD version so expect the grainy goodness that comes from watching old-school VHS. I first watched this movie when I was a wee little girl of maybe 3 or 4 and immediately loved it. Although, I will admit that part of my initial love of this movie is that my name is in it. Nothing holds a small girl captive like having the Princess in a movie share their name. The monster was a little creepy back then (to be honest, still is) but it didn’t scar me for life to watch it at that age (or did it? Ha <.<; ) so it is fairly family friendly in my opinion.

 

Resident Evil

Resident Evil was released in 2002-Current by Constantin Film in conjunction with New Legacy Films, Davis Films and Impact Pictures and was released by Screen Gems in the USA and Pathé in the UK. It is a Horror Fantasy film and the entire series of movies to-date has a runtime of 481 minutes. The series follows the life of a woman named Alice through the zombie apocalypse and beyond. The sixth in the series, Resident Evil: Retribution was just released not too long ago and looks awesome! Is 12 too young to love zombies? I honestly think that is when my obsession with them began. I’ve never played the games (I know, I know. I need to,) but the movies caught my attention; and more importantly they’ve kept it. There are a lot of movies series that lose quality as they progress; each sequel seems to be worse and worse. Maybe it is the zombies talking, but Resident Evil doesn’t do that; at least not for me. Probably not for the kiddies; but definitely a great watch!

 

How To Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon was made in 2010 by Dreamworks Animation in conjunction with Pacific Data Images and released by Paramount Pictures. It is an animated fantasy adventure movie with a runtime of 98 minutes. It follows an awkward teenage Viking named Hiccup who aspires to follow his tribe’s traditions and become a Dragon Slayer. When he captures a dragon he finds that he is unwilling to kill it and instead befriends it. But hiding a dragon from a village of Dragon Slayers is about as easy as it sounds. How to Train Your Dragon is a great film. When I first saw the trailer my reaction was this sort of odd cross between fan-girl squealing and shout of ‘OMGIWANNASEETHAT!’ What can I say? I love dragons; and this film didn’t disappoint. I saw it twice in theatre and got my hands on a copy of it as soon as I could. This is a fantastic film for all ages; kids will love it and so will adults.

 

The Scorpion King

The Scorpion King was made in 2002 by WWE Studios in conjunction with Alphaville and released by Universal Studios. It is a fantasy-historical action film with a runtime of 92 minutes. The Scorpion King is a prequel/spin-off of The Mummy series of movies, following Mathayus, the Scorpion King, a small character featured in The Mummy Returns. The Scorpion King follows Mathayus and his rise to power as the legendary Scorpion King. Mathayus begins his tale as one of the last of the Akkadians, a race of unparalleled mercenaries and assassins. He is hired to take out the Sorcerer of the tyrant Memnon, but unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – not all goes to plan. Instead of killing the sorcerer he kidnaps her, and eventually the two learn that they have more in common than originally thought – including a common enemy, the tyrant king Memnon. Mathayus must battle King Memnon to save his Sorceress, whom he has come to love. The Scorpion King has been one of my favorite movies for a long time. It is my go-to movie for sick-in-bed days. I’m not sure why it has held its appeal for all these years; it just has. There is plenty of action to keep me happy, plus it was one of the first things Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson acted in, so there’s always that to make it awesome.

 

Robin Hood: Men In Tights

Robin Hood: Men In Tights was released in 1993 by Gaumont in conjunction with Brooksfilms, and was released by 20^th Century Fox, Columbia Tristar Films and Distributors International. It is a fantasy-action comedy, with a runtime of 104 minutes. Robin Hood: Men In Tights is a comedic romp through the tale of Robin Hood. It follows Robin of Loxely and his band of Merry Men in their campaign to oust the odious Prince John, whom has taken control of the kingdom whilst his brother, the good King Richard, is off fighting in the crusades. Robin also endeavors to regain his family lands and save the fair Maid Marian from the unsavory advances of the Sheriff of Rottingham. I know that there are other Robin Hood movies out there; some arguably better than RH:MIT. However, this has always been one of my favorite movies. It is always great for a laugh, plus Cary Elwes is fantastic in this. I saw it when I was fairly young, and it quickly cemented its place as one of my favorite movies.

 

Well, there you have it! The finishing touches on my list of favorite movies. Cutting these from the original list was a hard thing to do. I love all these movies just as much as the ones that made the actual list, and I felt that they deserved mentioning as well. I have my reasons for not including them in the Top 10, but rest assured that entertainment value was not one of those reasons. These movies are all excellent films, and if you haven’t seen any of them then I highly suggest you plunk your rear end in a seat and turn on the DVD player, because you are sorely missing out. There are a lot of other great films out there, but for me these take the cake.

Until next time;

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

As soon as I found out that Raiders of the Lost Ark was being re-released, and in IMAX too, I knew I was going. It was simple. Raiders and JAWS, are my favourite films of all time, and having seen JAWS on the big screen earlier this year, there was no question that I was going to see Raiders the way it was meant to be seen. Although I have seen this film hundreds of times, it has been my favourite film since before I can remember, I have never seen it like this before, and it was so worth it. First released in 1981, the year I was born, Raiders of the Lost Ark is simply the greatest action movie ever made. There is no need for any other words on the matter… but indulge me anyway.

The IMAX, is in many ways, the perfect way to watch a movie. The sound is amazingly crisp and booming, the picture unparalleled and the overall experience in quite simply breathtaking. When you add one of the best movies ever made to the mix, you really have something very special indeed. As I said above, it was very much like seeing Raiders for the first time, and as such, it left a very great impression on me. I’m sure you have all seen the film, if you haven’t, what the hell are you doing reading this website? You know Harrison Ford is the coolest guy around when he’s Indy, I can think of very few castings that are this perfect, but Indy is Ford, Ford is Indy, he was never Han Solo when I was growing up, he was always Dr Jones, Han Solo didn’t sit quite right with me. What was Indy doing in space? Now I know Star Wars came before Indy, but not for me, I saw Indy first, that’s just the way it went. Raiders is the perfect melding of genius idea (thanks George Lucas), perfect casting, and a director who at the time could do no wrong. The film is a monument to the magic of the movies, and is in my opinion the finest 2 hours of escapism ever committed to celluloid.

The film never lets up. From a barnstorming opening, and lets face it, probably the best opening scene in any film ever, the film simply never slows down. The opening scene alone ramps up the danger, excitement and tension to 11, and then turns it to 12 just for the hell of it. Ford plays Indy as a cocky asshole at times, but whenever he gets a bit to cocksure, a huge boulder or a tribe of Indians bring him right back to earth. The whole opening is a work of art, and should be studied at film schools, and normal schools, by everyone everywhere, because it is just that perfect. It made archaeology the coolest profession on earth, and is mostly responsible, along with Jason and the Argonauts, for my love and degree in Ancient History. I was soon to learn however that studying archaeology was not quite as sexy and exciting as the adventures of Dr. Henry Jones Jnr. and you were far more likely to discover an old bit of pottery than you were to dodge traps, escape Nazi’s and cop off with Marion Ravenwood.

Lets talk about Marion Ravenwood for a bit shall we? Now in my opinion, she is not the most attractive Indy girl, that honour goes to the nefarious Dr. Elsa Schneider from Last Crusade. However, Marion is clearly the sexiest Indy girl, what can I say, I’m a sucker for a woman with a strong personality who can kick ass and take care of herself. Marion is a perfect foil for Indy, and I must say that even though The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull was shit, it was cool to see these guys finally get it together at the end. There are so many things that are great about Raiders, the little things can get easily forgotten. The monkey doing a Nazi Salute, the improvised shooting, the wonderful score by John Williams, the perfect McGuffin, the most evil of baddies, the whip, the hat, the truck chase.

Oh the truck chase. An ode to the stunt work done in Stagecoach, the truck chase is a peerless stunt spectacle, it is truly the best stunt work I have ever seen, and it was all done for real. I love Ford playing Indy in an almost spiteful way, his punishing the nazi soldier by doing to him, what the soldier did to Indy, just perfect. It shows Indy as a rough and tumble adventurer, very much ‘making it up’ as he goes along.

Have I made it clear how much I love this film yet? Good. I’m glad. If you haven’t seen it. GO SEE IT IN IMAX. If you have seen it. GO SEE IT IN IMAX. You will not regret it. Promise. See you next week.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

Welcome once more to our regular Wednesday blog and this week, I was going to write something about WWE, but instead have written (or will write) some thoughts on films I have seen recently. I think that this year continues to be a strong one at the cinema, and although the end of August and beginning of September hasn’t been stellar, there have been a fair few films that I have seen, and enjoyed, for what they were. Sometimes, I think that expectations of certain films can cloud peoples opinions of said films. I feel it is always important to give every film you watch a chance to impress you, on it’s own merits, no matter how unnecessary a re-make it is, or how far a sequel pushes a tired concept. Apart from The Hangover 3, because fuck that.

Now I know earlier in the year I was down on The Amazing Spider-Man, I didn’t think it should have been put into reboot so quickly after a Spidey Trilogy that was mostly excellent. However, I still gave it a go, and although I did think that Raimi’s films were far superior, it still offered some things that were a slight improvement,although not many. Right with that over with, it is time to look at some of the films I have seen in recent days.

THE WATCH

Comedy is a tricky genre. I find it very hard to re-watch comedies, once I have seen it, that’s pretty much it, even if I liked the film, it takes a very special film for me to watch a comedy again and again. Hotrod is one such film. No matter how many times I watch it, it still makes me laugh. It was with high hopes than that I went to see The Watch, directed by Akiva Schaffer, the guy who made Hotrod. Now The Watch is no Hotrod, but I don’t think it deserves some of the poor reviews I have seen. As long as a comedy gives you some belly laughs every few minutes, then I feel it has done it’s job, and although The Watch is by no means the best comedy this year, I think Ted or 21 Jump Street are, it does supply enough chuckles to be perfectly OK.

 

The Alien invasion story line isn’t original, but at times it reminded me of Tom Hanks film, The Burbs, which can only be a good thing. The cast is good, although Stiller doesn’t have much to do other than be the straight man, Richard Ayoade gets all the best lines, and Jonah Hill continues to refuse to be type cast with another good and different performance. Vince Vaughn is also good, although playing very much the Vince Vaughn character, but I happen to like that, so that’s fine. The Aliens are good, scary enough to provide a threat, and the film is gory when it needs to be. All in all, The Watch is a comedy that is perfectly watchable, and provides a few hours of solid entertainment, although I will probably never watch it again.

TOTAL RECALL

I like Arnie films, a lot. Total Recall is one of his best. Do not go into this re-make thinking about the Arnie original. It is not the same film, and in some ways, it isn’t even that similar, apart from the basic premise of the plot, is the main character a real secret agent or not? This new film doesn’t get to go to Mars, instead, set after the world has experienced chemical warfare, there are now only two zones on Earth that are habitable. The United Federation of Britain is where everyone of importance lives, The Colony, or Australia, is where the majority of people work, and poorer people live. Workers move from home to work using The Fall, a lift that goes from Britain to Australia through the planets core. Doug Quaid leads a boring life, although he is married to Kate Beckinsale, so every cloud. He decides to visit Recall to live out his fantasy of being a spy. Thing is he is having dreams of Jessica Biel and shooting people, he probably should have told the Recall guys, because shit hits the fan.

Total Recall is visually stunning. The sets and effects are amazing, this is one of the best looking films this year. Once I stopped thinking about this being a remake, and started enjoying it for what it was, a slick Sci-Fi chase movie, I actually really enjoyed it. The acting is strong, although I hate Bill Nighy, thankfully he isn’t in it much. Also Brian Cranston as Cohaagen is just OK. I don’t get why everyone loves Cranston, for me he is just OK, guess I’m just Cranston Fickle (I’m so proud of that joke). At the start of the film, Quaid has a dream where his girlfriend Jessica Biel seemingly dies, and he wakes up in a cold sweat. That kind of sucks, until you realise that he is actually married to Kate Beckinsale, bonus, except, oh no she is evil, but that’s OK, because Jessica isn’t dead and is his girlfriend, sometimes life in a distopic future ain’t so bad.

THE POSSESSION

Although I’m not a religious person, I do like religious horror films. Exorcism/possession films are a scary favourite of mine and we have had a fair amount of Christian based horrors, now its time for a Jewish take, and this one is based on ‘a true story’ scary. I liked pretty much everything about this film. The cast was fine, the writing was good, the effects were OK, it just never felt scary or tense enough. The story revolves around a girl whose parents are divorced, who picks up a sealed wooden box with strange writing on it at a yard sale. Well right there we all know that that is a mistake, but the story continues. Eventually said girl opens the box, unleashing the evil spirit or dybbuk, which possesses her.

There are some good set pieces and everything is dark and depressing, but the tone feels slightly off. I didn’t find it at all scary, and I was on my own in the cinema. Although I didn’t hate it, it didn’t really full fill it’s mandate, that is, it didn’t shit me up. On that basis, I don’t think I can recommend the movie, although I did think it was an interesting two hours.

So another blog draws to a close. I’ll catch you soon.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY: BRIAN BLESSED SPECIAL

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello there, and welcome once again to Wednesday Whimsy. This week, we have a bit of a special blog, special in the fact that it will be mainly about one person, one magical, loud and lets face it, Santa-like person. Brian Blessed is one of the most instantly recognisable British actors out there, as well as being a Great British Eccentric, and thus one of the funniest and most watch-able people in show business. Now I realise that some of you will not have heard of Mr. Blessed, but perhaps you remember one of his roles, as Boss Nass in The Phantom Menace, Robin Hood’s Father in Prince of Thieves, or perhaps most famously, Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon.

 

Brian is big, loud and beardy, he has a laugh that seemingly comes from the happiest Viking Warlord in the world, and he is quite simply ace. But why have I chosen the great Mr Blessed as a focus for an entire blog? Well, a few days ago I was having a conversation with a friend and regular commentator Greeny, about TV shows and the comedy actor and ‘Man with the best voice in TV’, Matt Berry. During said conversation, Mr. Blessed’s name was brought up, and this blog was first conceived. Now I will explain further below, but basically, I realised that there is far too little Brian Blessed on TV or film, and there needs to be more. It took me about 15 mins to think up 3 projects that would be perfect for Brian, and thus this blog exists. Now if anyone wants to steal these ideas, as long as you cast Brian Blessed in them, I have no problem, but just remember who thought of them OK? Right, explanation over, time for the ideas…

THE NEW DOCTOR

Now you may not know that I hate Doctor Who. Hate it, despise it, don’t want to watch it. I think it is a waste of money, and I can not see what anyone sees in it. Now I realise that I am in the minority, especially around Geek circles. Geeky Gem and Kirkie Chick love The Doctor, and my very good friend Greeny, loves it. These are all reasonable people, and I trust their opinions, so there must be something about Who that I’m just not seeing. However, what if, The Doctor regenerated into some one I like? What if, instead of a freakish looking young man with no eyebrows, The Doctor was an older Gentleman, loud, brash, with a great big bushy beard? What if The Doctor was Brian Blessed?

 

No I am aware that Brian has been in episodes of Doctor Who, but I don’t care about that, I want Brian to be The Doctor. There are few people who seem to be a perfect fit for a role, but surely, Blessed is the man. The Doctor has always seemed slightly off kilter, and who better than Blessed to bring the crazy? Plus his years in Pantomime will put him in good stead for what is, at heart, a children’s show. Blessed could play The Doctor as a fun old Uncle type character, and is burly enough to stop all the aliens, robots and what have you, that plague time and space week after week. Think about it for 10 seconds, then tell me this idea isn’t genius… see.

BEAST QUEST, WITH BRIAN BLESSED

Now this is an idea based on the fact that Mr. Blessed is a believer in the Abominable Snowman, as well as being a very charismatic speaker and a strong screen presence. My idea is for Brian to film a series on 90 minute documentaries, for The BBC, on a series of mystery animals/monsters that are reported from around the world. The Yeti, obviously, would be one, but I would like to see Brian’s quest for Bigfoot, lake monsters, mystery big cats etc.

 

Brian is the exact kind of person to film these kind of shows as he brings his amazing enthusiasm to a subject he is passionate about. Plus a possible Yeti vs Blessed fight would be a spectacle the likes of which would become legend. Brian isn’t a young man, lets make this a reality before he can’t be bothered any more, come on BBC do it.

THE ADVENTURES OF ALAN QUARTERMAIN

Now this is the idea that started it all. For those who don’t know, Alan Quartermain is a character invented in 1885 by writer H. Rider Haggard. Most famously in the novel King Solomon’s Mines, Quartermain appeared in numerous prequels and sequels, and is the ultimate Big White Hunter. You may also remember the character from Alan Moore’s excellent Comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the shitty film of the same franchise. Now here is the idea. I propose that The Adventures of Alan Quatermain is a TV series, much in the same vein as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Brian Blessed would play an older Quartermain, looking back on a long life of adventure, romance and danger. The TV show, narrated and bookended by Blessed, would star Matt Berry as a young Quartermain.

 

Berry has one of the greatest voices in TV, and could add a lot of humour to the role. This would be an action adventure show, in the style of 1930’s movie serials, and much in the spirit of Indiana Jones. The show would obviously be based on the works of Haggard, but could be elaborated on, perhaps including other characters, such as Tarzan, etc. Maybe even add a little bit of The Lost World magic, with some stronger fantasy elements. I think it could be great, perfect Saturday night entertainment.

 

So there you are, another Wednesday draws to a close. Catch you next time.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

This weeks Wednesday Whimsy will be an ode to holidays. Not the kind of holiday where you board a plane and jet off to exotic places for a week or two, and certainly not a celebration of some religious event (for that is where holiday gets its origin, holiday/holy-day, your welcome fact fans). This year I have a week off, one whole week away from work, where I get to do exactly what I want for a whole week, exciting huh? Well it is for me. So far, we are a day in, and I have slept in and gone to the cinema and made some nice food, and taken my dog for long walks. Pretty good so far. But I thought I’d let you know about what else I have planned for the week, at least in a geek context, let the Summer of Jon commence!

As I mentioned above, I saw Brave yesterday. A lot of people are hating on this film, but for me, Brave is one of, if not the, best Pixar film. The animation is obviously stunning, as usual, but the theme of the film is right up my alley. The ancient Scottish wilderness is simply beautiful, stunning hills and mountains, picturesque forests and castles and brilliantly rendered characters, many of which are memorable. The protagonist herself, Merida, is a strong female role model, and one of the most likeable animated characters in a while. Sure, the story is pretty basic, we all learn a valuable lesson in the end, but then it must be remembered that this is a kids film, and although it doesn’t stray far from typical fairytale plot points, including a witch, although, not all that wicked, this is no bad thing. Sometimes the simplest stories are the best.

Perhaps the most ‘Disney’ of the Pixar films, Merida should fit nicely into the Disney Princess Sorority, even if she is very ballsy and would destroy Katniss Everdeen in an archery competition. I’m a fan of fairy stories, myths and legends, and Brave defiantly feels like it belongs in such illustrious company. I saw Brave in a room full of excited kids and not so excited parents, but everyone left the theatre smiling. The film had good action scenes, was scary enough just to put an edge on proceedings, and I’ll admit it, quite heart warming at times. I went to see this with my Mum, and there is not a better person you could take with you to see this, go take your Mum now. I’ll admit it, I’m not a fawning Pixar fan, I like The Incredibles, Nemo and Monster Inc. but hate Toy Story, Cars, Wall-E and Ratatouille. Brave however, did it for me, top marks Pixar.

Today I returned to the Cinema, this time for The Bourne Legacy. I had enjoyed all The Bourne films thus far, and am happy to say this continued with this new direction for the franchise. Taking place during the events of the previous films, The Bourne Legacy widens and enhances the Bourne Universe, revealing that the secret goings on of Treadstone etc. go way beyond Mr. Bourne. Hawkeye himself, Jeremy Renner is our hero and he handles himself superbly, even coming close to a certain Mr Neeson in one specific wolf fighting scene. It seems that wolves are the go to animal for putting main characters in danger. As is usual in these kind of spy films, characters all talk very quickly about secret organisations with amazing names and codewords, I love all that stuff. Ed Norton is the man charged with bad guy duties, and he does a reasonable job of trying to track Renner down. The beautiful and amazing Rachel Weisz is on hand to scream a bit, then lend a hand, and maybe become a bit of a love interest at the end. The action is typical of The Bourne Franchise, all parkour running about, bike chases and slick taking people down with no fuss.

The film is perfectly watch-able and enjoyable, but I do think that I should have perhaps re-watched the previous films, just to keep things fresh in my mind, however, if this is your first Bourne film, it wouldn’t be too confusing, although you may wonder why Matt Damon is reduced to a few black and white picture cameos. By no means a great film, but I enjoyed it and would watch a further sequel, and isn’t that all a film really needs to accomplish. Worth my time and money.

Later on this week I plan on seeing The Expendables 2, and that should be enough cinema for anyone in one holiday. Anyway, that’s enough chatter about me, I would also like to comment on All Geek To Me as a whole. Geeky Gem and I would like to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who has read, commented or licked a link to All Geek To Me over the past 8 months. On Sunday we hit a huge landmark of 25,000 views, we broke our weekly view record with a very respectable 1,921 views and also beat our previous daily record of views with a fantastic 368 in one day. So a massive thank you once again. I really don’t think either Geeky Gem or I ever thought we would get 1,000 views, let alone 25,000 so we are very grateful to you all. I’ll catch you next week with some more rubbish about something I haven’t thought of yet, catch you guys later.

 

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello friends, come in, sit down, ice cold glass of Vimto? Welcome to another edition of Wednesday Whimsy, with me Hmsbeefnuts. In this weeks exciting episode… well, I haven’t really planned anything to be honest. I’m writing this on Tuesday morning, the day before I need to post this up, and as I type, I have literally no idea what word will be formed on my laptops screen next, how exciting! Lets just see how it goes shall we?

This month I have not been to the cinema too often, mainly due to the lack of decent films that came between The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. I did see The Amazing Spider-Man again, and I didn’t hate it as much the second time, although, it was still a pale comparison to the awesome Sam Raimi films, yes, even Spider-Man 3. I obviously saw The Dark Knight opening day, but only in boring normal vision, I had to watch it again in IMAX. I was not disappointed. A second viewing of the film confirmed my feelings about it, and an the IMAX-ness made me fall in love with it all over again. All round top dude Chris Antista (GamesRadar, Laser Time, Cape Crisis etc.) said that the IMAX ‘shook his balls’ and I have to agree with the sentiment. The sound, the picture, can only be described as ball shakingly good, and ladies, I’m sure it shakes other body parts too, so you have no excuse not to see it, you will not regret it.

For me, Bane is the best villain to appear in a Batman movie. In the comics it’s still Joker, and Heath Ledgers performance will go down in history as amazing, but Tom Hardy’s Bane is a tour de force, being the only enemy capable of going toe to toe with The Bat, but also a match for his brains. What Nolan did with Bane is exemplary, and The Dark Knight Trilogy is now surely in the top three trilogies of all time, perhaps even the greatest. I know a few people have a problem with the portrayal of Batman in the latest film, that there is no way that Batman would give up his crusade on crime, and whilst I agree with the point, I’d like to add my own take on it. The movies should be seen as an Elseworlds tale, they are not comic cannon, but more in line with Batman Earth One, or Gotham By Gaslight. They are one persons take on the Batman Mythos, and I think that Nolan’s take is a very interesting slightly alternative version of Batman.

Did I mention Catwoman? I guess not. Wow, Anne Hathaway was so awesome as Selina Kyle, the way she went from frightened screaming girl to total badass in a few scenes was amazing, and THAT suit. I was never a fan of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, but Michelle Pfiefer was hot in the cat suit. Anne Hathaway blows her out of the water. Hathaway looks amazing in the suit, and a few scenes where she is riding the Batpod have made a, hmm, marked impression on me, but it’s her attitude that makes her the sexiest character in any movie thus far this year, sorry Black Widow, you got schooled by the mistress of hotness. Selina Kyle is firmly one of the best things about TDKR.

So, where does The Dark Knight Rises fit in to the trilogy, in bestestness? I still like Begins the best, but  really think Rises is a close second, with a very close third going to Dark Knight. All in all, Christopher Nolan has achieved what few others have been able to, a near perfect trilogy, bravo Sir, standing ovation. I would even be interested in following the story further, even though…well, I don’t want to say too much, but a fourth film would still be worth seeing, at least I think so.

The other film I saw recently was the fantastic Ted. I saw this with a big crowd of friends, and this really is the type of film you want to see with the people you like best. Really funny, very reminiscent of a good Family Guy episode, which is obvious really, but it is better than any Family Guy episode I can remember. Seth McFarlane is a film maker with class. The soundtrack is very pleasant, big band inspired, the direction tight and smooth. The cast, a mix of McFarlane voice cast members is great, and once again, Mark Wahlberg proves that he is best when he is bringing the funny. A few amazingly funny cameos, and some absolutely brilliant, if close to the knuckle jokes. My friend Lucy and I laughed our asses off all the way through. One problem though. Joel McHale. I love Community, but this guy is really getting on my nerves, I cant stand him. He is the shittest thing on Community, and the shittest thing in Ted, however, he does not ruin a fine, funny film.

Anyone else get goose bumps over the trailer for The Hobbit? Skyfall too. It seems that 2012 will be one of, if not THE, greatest years for Geek Cinema, absolutely brilliant so far, it truly is a golden age of geekdom. The fact that The Hobbit is now set to be a trilogy fills me with joy. I can’t wait to see what Jackson has cooked up for us, what are we going to see in this new trip to Middle Earth?

Right, that’s it for the time being, I’m off to finish No Man’s Land, or Lego Batman 2, or finally watch John Carter, or Conan, or Predator all on Blu Ray. Time, I need more time…