Uncle Ted's recipes #8: Post-workout pasta (includes prawns)

Again I know I really haven't been uploading a lot recently on this blog but whenever has punctuality been an aspect of my character on any form of social media?  Really the main reason for this being the case is that I haven't been making any new recipes or seen any new films recently but with this inspired dinner I thought up of recently I figured that now was as good a time as any.

I thought up of this healthy and tasty pasta dish recently a few days before I went to the gym as I needed a good dish that would be a great balance of all the essentials one may need after having a good work out and I think I've thought up a right winner as even if you don't work out its a deliciously healthy dish that ticks all boxes (that is if you do not eat fish).

INGREDIENTS (Serves 3-4 big portions):

300-350g king prawns (pre-marinated tofu if you do not eat fish)

175-250g ricotta

2 bunched handfuls fresh spinach leaves

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

350-400g spaghetti (uncooked weight)

4-6 tablespoons white wine

olive oil

salt and pepper

dried basil

UTENSILS:

1 medium saucepan

1 large frying pan

1 vegetable knife

1 wooden spoon

1 fork

1 cutting board

1 colander

METHOD/PROCESS:

1 - Place some cold water into the saucepan to about just over halfway then add in some couple splashes of olive oil and turn onto boil.  Dice up the onion and place in an extremely low heat frying pan with a few splashes of oil in it and add a dash of salt before stirring.

2 - When the water is boiling, put the spaghetti in, make sure it is submerged for the most part then cook for 9 mins while stirring with the fork every 2 or 3 mins while it cooks so as to not let it become all clumped and starchy.

3 - When the onion starts  to soften after 5 mins of frying add in the crushed garlic and simmer for another 5 mins before adding in the white wine and simmer for another 5.

4 - When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it in the colander over a drain or sink then place the colander over the saucepan after the pasta is dried to get as much water drained away.

5 - After the white wine has had a few mins to simmer then add in the prawns and spinach and stir around for about 4-5 mins until the spinach has wilted before lumping the drained spaghetti on top.

6 - using a teaspoon, spoon the ricotta in several bits onto the spaghetti then stir around until most or almost all of the ricotta is nicely mixed in and all of the ingredients have been mixed around in a balanced way.

7 - Serve onto plates alongside toasted pitta with garlic oil and carrot salad with a glass of white wine (I'd recommend something like La Vielle Ferme) or if you don't drink alcohol then something like lemon or blood orange tea.

Hopefully you'll all enjoy this one as I kind of just thought up of it off the top of my head but it really is a winner if you need a perfectly balanced meal and don't have a huge amount of funds or time so give it a shot as you really can't go wrong with it!

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Ted's trailer reactions: Dawn of War 3 cinematic trailer (2016)

Image source: http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/03/warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-iii-announced-with-a-rain-of-corpses/

For the last 7 years, my favourite game has undoubtedly been the 2009 real-time-strategy game release Dawn of War II, a highly ordained sequel to the massively popular 2004 RTS Dawn of War and both based off of the in-depth and much-loved Warhammer 40,000 franchise.  I used to play DoW 2 daily and still partake in it regularly, it truly is a wonderful experience for someone who grew up loving the shit out of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and while I loved the original 2004 game I tend to prefer the 2009 sequel for its more company-level tactical-based combat with more precise actions that came out of THQ and Relic Entertainment's previous works on the 2006 World War 2-set RTS Company of Heroes.  This doesn't mean that the original 2004 game is bad at all, its really just down to personal taste and preference.

Regardless, this has been one of my favourite franchises in video games over the years and aside from the Dawn of War games, the peeps at Warhammer 40,000's Games Workshop have ok'd the making of some other great titles like the 3rd-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (2011) or the late 1990s Space Hulk games.  Therefore, I was a bit perplexed when the only significant releases after the last Dawn of War 2 expansion pack Retribution (2011) were crappy lane-defence games produced by third-rate driving game developers.  So Imagine my joy and nostalgic inner-fanboy going mental with convulsions when I saw and heard about the recent release for a cinematic announcement trailer for Dawn of War 3.

YouTube link for the cinematic trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN8geCTlZOo

Now there are some problems with this trailer which I feel should only be right to go through before getting into why I'm so excited by this recent announcement.  First and most apparent is the fact that a cinematic trailer only really gives you some idea about the story of a game and never really reveals anything about the gameplay and thus there really isn't too much to know about the game in this trailer aside from what races from the Warhammer 40,000 universe will be in the game when it comes out.  I know this comes without saying as many have stated before about cinematic trailers, really I think one could make a solid argument from this point that cinematic trailers are pointless.  However, it does make for an interesting marketing tactic that will undoubtedly raise up buzz for the upcoming release and increase clicks on gaming websites like Gamespot or Joystick.  Therefore, it makes reasonable practical sense to release a cinematic trailer but I do feel a bit irritated by the fact that there is little to really know about the game from the simple fact that we haven't seen much of either the story or gameplay in Dawn of War 3 judging from this cinematic trailer.

The second major concern I have about this trailer is more of a subjective and personal one but I do think it is worth taking up to some extent.  One thing that has defined the best RTS titles over the years is an abundance of several and varied armies and/or races to play with throughout the game.  This in particular has been something prevalent with the previous two Dawn of War games with the original game having 8 races to pick from after its third and final expansion pack Soulstorm (2008) marking it out as a highly diverse and varied title with many gameplay styles.  Therefore, I was a bit pissed off that judging from what I've seen in the cinematic trailer for Dawn of War 3, only 3 races at first seem to be the eldar, orks and Imperial space marines and that unlike the first two games, the first iteration of this one will not start off with at least four races.  I suppose this game has been one in the making for a long time but I would hope that they would at least stick true to the inherent variety of the franchise up to this point.  It also galls me that an RTS in this day and age would include such a small start to its content but to be fair, the cinematic trailer really doesn't reveal too much about the gameplay which could end up covering up for all this and ensure that this becomes a moot point.

The only other real major concerns I have around the trailer have come out of official statements made by Relic and Game Workshop in the wake of the trailer as more and more information has filtered out.  For one, despite the fact that the companies have not revealed the release date of Dawn of War 3 there is a possibility that it may be revealed in the next several months but I am hoping the date will be sometime before late 2017.  Look, I can be patient but I really do not want to be kept long for this.  Is this down to fanboyism?  Yeah, probably but I really can't help it.  The last main concern I have is that the single-player campaign is apparently going to be an interwoven story in a gameplay sense with each race generally playing through the same campaign.  Now if they do what was done in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade (2006, yeah, 2006 was a great year for RTS titles) and have all the races in the game play through the campaign but play with their own specific narratives then I won't really mind but considering the sheer focus on story that was so prevalent in DoW2 it does strike me with a bit of concern that such a centralised story may not come into play as much as it has done in the previous games.  I could be getting overly-worried about this and like I said above, the gameplay could easily make up for this in an abundance of enjoyment and good design but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

So what is there good about this?  Everything else.  No really.  Much like a Sainsbury's sausage, onion gravy and mash potato ready meal served with some beans and peas and a can of Stella Artois after coming home from an 8 hour shift as a kitchen porter (something I have experience of believe me), I'm more than willing to accept the nourishment and good points of this trailer over any of the misgivings I have about it.  Do these misgivings play into my opinions about the upcoming release?  Of course and they never will stop doing so until I actually play the game but I really can't deny my own nostalgic joy about the announcement of DoW3's upcoming release.  Sure I am being bias about this but I really can't help it too much.  At the very least I can tell you I am just giving my honest opinion on this trailer and the issues surrounding it and that's all I can really do in this situation.  Sorry if I am not objective enough for your liking here as I may have been with my last trailer reaction but its just the way your uncle Ted operates.  At the very least I can say that this title is going to get my support, as bias as that support may be.

So as always, I hope you lovelies have had as much fun and informative nourishment from this blog as much as I have had researching, editing and writing it and until next time I wish you all best wishes and remember to have fun, stay safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do and I'll be seeing you all on the battlefield!

Uncle Ted's recipes #7: Champion chilli con carne

Sorry I haven't been uploading onto this blog recently lads and ladies but unfortunately your uncle Ted has been a bit weighed down by work and hasn't really seen any movies recently.  Hopefully something about pop culture to stimulate the brain will pop up soon but until then we have this healthy and simple recipe I have to impart on you guys for some marvellous chilli con carne.

Make this if you've got a dinner party coming up or if you're a bit low on the monies and have to make something in bulk to last you for the week but either way we're on to some fine dining here and for a low budget to boot.  Don't say I never care about you lot.

Ingredients (serves 4 or makes 4 individual meals):

1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1x 440 tin or carton of tomato passata

400-500g of minced beef or quorn vegetarian mince

400g tin of red kidney beans

2 x large red peppers

4-5x green and/or red chillies

1 x large yellow or orange pepper

1 x large or 2 x medium of brown onions

2-4x cloves of garlic

1-2x sticks of cinnamon (optional)

olive oil

1 tablespoon chilli or curry powder

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2x bay leaves

1x handful of parsley

1x bunch of thyme

a couple pinches of salt

Utensils/tools:

1x large saucepan/pot with lid

1x heatproof ladle

1x vegetable cutting board

1x vegetable cutting knife

1x garlic crusher

1x small knife sharp enough for chopping the herbs

1x tablespoon for measuring out the spices

1x wooden spoon for stirring

1x teaspoon for deseeding the chillies

Method:

Step 1: place the saucepan/pot onto the hob and splash in some oil.  skin and dice up the onion and crush up the garlic while heating the pot on the lowest possible heat then chuck in the onions and turn up the heat slightly and simmer with a pinch of salt for 5 mins before adding in the garlic and stirring.

Step 2: chuck in the mince meat or quorn mince depending on your dietary disposition and break the mince up while putting up the heat slightly and stir around with a tiny bit more oil until most if not all, of the mince is browned. 

Step 3: Deseed, wash with cold water then slice up the chillies and peppers and chuck into the pot.  Drain the kidney beans in a colander or sieve then add into the pot along with the cinnamon sticks while occasionally stirring for about 10 mins.

Step 4: Chuck in the passata and chopped tinned tomatoes into the pot and stir then add in the paprika and chilli powder along with another pinch of salt and stir again.  Place the lid back on then turn down to a low heat to simmer while preparing the herbs.

Step 5: Wash the bay leaves and place into the pot as they are.  Wash then dash up the parsley and wring the thyme off its stalks then place both herbs into the chilli con carne and simmer for another 10 mins.

Step 6: Serve the chilli con carne with the ladle onto a bed of either cous cous or brown rice with a side addition of a small dollop of yoghurt (optional of course) and grated cheddar (again, entirely optional) and with a glass of water and a cup of black tea with a slice of lemon.

Like I said above, this is great at dinner parties when you have not too many resources or big ideas of what to make for the main meal.  If you are serving it for the main meal then perhaps serve after a starter of soup or salad and before a light pudding of something like ice cream or light fruit pudding or fruit salad with yoghurt.  Another bit of advice I would give is to perhaps make this the day before you're planning to eat it so that the flavour has a small amount of time to simmer down and mature at which point it will taste marvellous especially with a dollop of yoghurt and brown rice or cous cous.

Again, I apologise for the lacklustre uploading recently but that is the lot of life on this part of the internet I am afraid.  Alas I must leave you all again but hopefully this cheap and healthy and hearty recipe will help all you lot out for a romantic meal, bustling dinner party or busy week and until next time, have fun with whatever you're doing, don't do anything I wouldn't do and until next time I raise my cup to your good health!

Respectful disagreement #3: Why nostalgia isn't always good in TV and film

I'm sorry for not uploading any posts these past couple of weeks but have been busy with going home for a few days, studying, the cutthroat world of blogging and being a YouTuber and shrugging in unsurprised nonchalant apathy that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) is being slammed as one of the most underachieving films of this year so far.  I will try to replicate this in the future and upload more frequently each weekend but I can't promise anything too solid.

Anyhoo, now that's out of the way, how about we talk about a big issue in film and TV that I was reminded by from a piece of recent pop-culture?  Hey, I know that wasn't as snappy as 'hey sluts, who wants to play strip Jenga!' but it'll just have to do methinks.  Now I know that nostalgia being a double-edged sword to video games and said culture has been thrown around since about 2010 or 2011 but it really isn't as big a problem as in TV and especially films.  For me, the worst three things about video games over the last half a decade has to have been over-involvement of marketers and producers in game design, repetition of formulas without improvement or experimentation and underhand business tactics such as day-one DLC, episodic games or DRM always-online settings.

The reason as to why I suddenly had THE TOTALLY ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE idea of writing an article about the cons of nostalgia on modern film and TV came about because of much reflection on the recent and awful Ghostbusters (2016) trailer that I did a written reaction to on this blog recently.  Upon more reflection on that travesty of a trailer I realised that it had copious amounts of nods to the original two films smothering the trailer and while designs of the ghostbusters uniforms and car were on point, the seemingly endless use of nostalgic imagery to build up hype and fan-base investment rubbed me up the wrong way.

Like I said though, TV and film even more so are both severely limited in their inventiveness and creativity as of late due to a huge over-reliance on nostalgia to sell views and tickets.  Fundamentally, this isn't a bad thing but it has to be done in moderation because while nostalgia can be a refreshing reminder of what was, it has to be used appropriately because if we just accept it as the narrative crux for a plot-point in a TV show or the basis of a films' narrative overall then we allow film and TV creators to use said nostalgia as a creative crux and be lazy with their writing and design.

TV, in all fairness, isn't too bad with this trend but it does happen from time to time with easily the most prevalent example being the WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment).  Now the WWE's main problem at the moment is easily its awful booking for big-event wrestling events but its overreliance on nostalgic booking of legendary wrestlers for ensuring the purchase of pay-per-view purchases and public event tickets isn't certainly helping.  This means that with the over-reliance on legends like Psycho Sid, Sting, The Undertaker and other legends of the industry for storyline-making which not only precipitates lazy writing that over-relies on the status of these legends who defined multiple decades of wrestling but can be very harmful to some of the older legends such as Shawn Michaels who injured his back a few years ago, The Undertaker who injured his shoulder in 2010 and most recently, Sting who injured himself last year in a match where he was 55 at the time.  Considering how physically-demanding wrestling is, not only does this mean that nostalgia can precipitate some lazy writing but can also risk the health of some truly tired and deserving-of-retirement wrestlers who just need a bit of rest.

Image source: http://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-teasing-the-undertaker-for-wrestlemania-32/

Image above: Legendary wrestler M.W.Calaway (aka The Undertaker) at the Wrestlemania 30 event in 2014.

In another TV example that is perhaps less visceral and is more of an example of fans wanting a nostalgically-friendly product so much so that it harms the new product being released; The Loony Tunes Show (2011-). Many people (not including myself) are very nostalgic towards the original cartoons as well as the multiple remakes made of the show in the 1990s and early-2000s but all to some degree or another used the same formulas just in different designs to suit different TV show demographics. 

Image source: https://www.blogger.com/blogin.g?blogspotURL=http://cartooncube.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-looney-tunes-show.html

When the 2011 series came along and changed up much of the physical-based comedy, character motivations and artistic themes and designs of the Looney Tunes universe, it didn't centre itself on the previously built cultivation of classic characters and instead tried mixing things up in terms of how story and character motivation were portrayed.  In turn, it was severely lambasted by a large portion of the Looney Tunes franchise fan-base and while I can certainly understand that change to something as long standing as this is tricky to get used to there are two things that made this aggravating.  Firstly was the fact that many of the fans were fans of the awful early-2000s remakes of the old show and completely disregarded any improvements made to the series in favour of rose-tinted images of the older shows.  Secondly was that the comedy was at least a lot more risqué than any seen throughout the 1980s-2000s era of the Looney Tunes and this was thrown to the dirt by many of the millennial fans who preferred the tired and now-stale of the Looney Tunes comedy that they had grown up with.  As a result, while picking up in the last couple of years, this superb remake/reboot of the legendary franchise was initially met with much hostility from old-school fans. 

Putting aside any misconceptions that people had about this show when it first came out and believe you me, I can certainly see where they come from and sympathise.  The Thing that people have to give credit to this 2011 series is that it tried to update a long-standing and flagging franchise to introduce it to a new generation of children and youngsters.  Regardless of what you may think about The Loony Tunes Show, it tried something new while keeping the core of what made the universe and franchise of the show so popular in the first place mostly intact while doing away with the less-popular dead weight.  The reason why I bring this up is that the show was buried under criticism from old school fans wishing to stick to older versions of the show from the 1990s and 2000s and unwilling to accept proper change to the franchise in order to give it a proper kick up the backside. 

The example with the WWE shows that an over-reliance on nostalgia can have adverse consequences for performers and actors on the part of the content creator while the same on behalf of the audience is shown by The Loony Tunes Show.  If we are to fully integrate what made older and well-established franchises to more modern TV and film styles and tropes for a modern audience in a smooth and constructive way then we have to reach a good balance between what the audience want and what seems to be the best way of either embracing or criticising modern culture. Now I'm not saying I have the be all and end all of solutions to this but as shown with the abundance of mini-series released after The Loony Tunes Show or the improvements made over the last few Wrestlemania events by WWE as shown by the success of Wrestlemania 32 in 2016, it seems like the best solution is simply trial and error and experimentation.  If anything, while this isn't a fully efficient method, it'll certainly produce the most clear results when trying to create a good implementation of nostalgia into modern entertainment.

Now if you want a bad example, particularly in film where this problem has been far worse over the last few years as compared to TV or even computer games then you need look no further than the 2015 film release Terminator: Genisys.

Image source: http://www.hdwallpapers.in/emilia_clarke_arnold_terminator_genisys-wallpapers.html

Now Genisys is certainly not the worst release in the Terminator series (1984-present) with the worst in my opinion being that god awful TV show The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-09) but Genisys was certainly not helped by its almost jaw-dropping over-reliance on nostalgic imagery throughout pretty much the entire film.  In all honesty, this wasn't the worst thing about the film or the main reason why it ended getting 26% on Rotten Tomatoes or 38% on Metacritic as that would probably be the shoddy writing and overly-backtracking story that beats the shit out of the overall franchise's storyline.  However, the film's narrative problems were certainly not helped by a stunning over-reliance on scenes ripped straight from the older films such as a shot-for-shot replication of the Nike trainers scene from the original 1984 film without any proper context or ripping the first murder scene by Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 in the first film almost entirely shot for shot and line for line or replicating the death of the main villain again to a scarily similar degree from the 2003 Terminator film Rise of the Machines.  The abundance of recreations of iconic scenes from older entries into the series was so over-saturated to such a degree that while I did enjoy this film overall, I never really got the sense that the film was trying to stand on its own two feet and instead tried to an almost wholesale degree to support itself on the iconography and pedigree of the Terminator series up to that point.  Did the film do better than the fourth film or the TV show?  Certainly, but it didn't revive the series to the degree that people thought it would on account of the almost unpalatable unoriginality rife throughout this movie.

Image source: http://lestoilesheroiques.fr/2015/03/terminator-genisys-arnold-schwarzenegger-et-emilia-clarke-en-couverture-dempire-nouvelles-images.html

Ok so to prevent myself from having my brains blasted out by a vengeful Emilia Clarke and her bloody dragon babies and terminator sidekick I should mention that this film is certainly not bad but it is certainly not the nostalgia and franchise tonic that was expected of it.  In a similar way to Wrestlemania 30 in 2014, the film was expected to supercharge its franchise to its former glory and much like in that case the over-reliance on the nostalgia of the creators became a crutch for the film meaning that it never felt like relying on its own worth as a stand-alone film regardless of the pedigree of the series that it is a part of.  Certainly not the main problem for the film but it is certainly a crippling one.

Now before I leave you all for another week I should mention the aforementioned point from me talking about The Loony Tunes Show that there really is no solid way of creating a bit of film, TV or a computer game that pays good homage to its series while updating the series to a good degree and creating a nice bit of medium that can stand solidly on its own two feet other than trial and error.  The WWE learned from the mistakes made between Wrestlemania 27 and 31 and used that to create one of the best Wrestlemania events in about a decade with number 32.  The Loony Tunes Show might not have been a wholesale success but it was a reasonably successful attempt at changing up the formula of its franchise while creating something new and anything that was learnt from its failings were then taken into account for future series.  Maybe some franchises like Terminator, Scooby Doo (1969-present) do use their nostalgia base as a crutch and this can be shown to be a financially viable option in some cases but with increasingly critical movie and consumer-going audiences being more and more the case along with the rise of social media this may be a thing of the past.  At the very least, as shown with TV shows like The Legend of Korra (2012-14) or films like Deadpool (2016), we are experiencing an increasing trend in using nostalgia as a dressing to fresh and updated ideas for established franchises and that makes me very hopeful for the future let me tell you that.

Hopefully I've hit the nail on the head for you all on this issue and if I haven't...then go suck on a copy of the original Scooby Doo boxset while cradling a Bugs Bunny cuddly toy...you fucking introvert.

TV review #2: The Legend of Korra (2012-2014)

Image source: http://www.designntrend.com/articles/31700/20141219/legend-korra-finale-well-received-fans-dubbed-best-2014-forbes.htm

Well this could be seen as somewhat overdue couldn't it?  If I remember correctly, the last time I did a review of a TV show was way back in the prehistoric days of this blog when I reviewed the now defunct BBC3 show The Pranker (2011).  Of course you could tell from the title, picture and just going on google for 5 minutes that Nickelodeon's 2012-14 series The Legend of Korra is a tad different in a few regards.

Now there are a few things to get off my chest before we go into this review that may come back up later on so I'll just address them now:

1) I personally think this series is better than its predecessor Avatar: The last airbender (2005-08) but that does not meant that you should not see the original as it can help to understand some plot points but don't take this as meaning it is absolutely necessary to do so.

2) Season 2 is definitely the weakest one in this show but I personally thought it was okay.

3) The finale of the show at the end of season 4 I thought was great and the romance that it implied I thought was also great.

Right, so with that out of the way I'd say its high time to get into this don't you?

Image source: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/03/31/eccc-voices-of-legend-of-korra-talk-acting-and-korrasami/

Set several decades after the finale of the 2005-08 original series, Korra takes up the story of the next avatar (a spiritual herald who can master all four of the core elements of fire, earth, water and wind) after the original series protagonist Aang passes on.  Whereas Aang was a bright-eyed young man from the wind-bending tribes with idealistic ideas of peace, this new avatar and new series protagonist Korra is a headstrong, aggressive and hard-nosed water-tribe girl with ideals of becoming the most powerful avatar of all time and surpassing her own personal limits.

Before I get further into the quality of the show I should of course mention that it is indeed an animated show borrowing both qualities from eastern Japanimation and western mainstream cartoons.  You probably could've told that from the pictures at this point but I should just say for the people out there not too partial to animated shows that this is still a great series worth considering.  I can understand the trepidation that some people have about animated shows but Korra is genuinely so well animated and told that I'd probably say go check it out anyway.  It'll hardly be a waste of your time if you do and at least then you can say you tried it out.

Off the bat, even from just looking at the protagonist motivations, you can tell that this sequel series is a certain degree more personal and intense on account of how the motivation for the main character this time round is something altogether more relatable than what was shown in the original show.  This isn't of course to say that anything that Aang did in the original series wasn't without motivation as his need and want to end the hundreds year war that was raging around him was more than understandable and sympathetic.  However, I found myself far more personally invested in Korra's drive to become more powerful and balanced in her role as the new avatar and the innate desire to become stronger and more powerful in all honesty was the main thing that drew me to her as a sympathetic and relatable character.  All in all, the motivations of the main and even side characters in the original series are great but I found myself drawn each episode without fail to Korra's drive to be the best person as well as avatar that she could be.

Image source: http://www.ew.com/article/2014/06/11/legend-of-korra-trailer-season-3

Korra herself is probably the main draw for myself to this series as not only is she a highly relatable young woman with understandable personal struggles and motivations but also marks herself out as a reasonably realistic representation of someone going through their late teens and early-20s.  Korra at multiple points throughout the series does things on a sporadic spur of the moment kind of motivation and sometimes this works while at others it explodes in her face.  This is how I remember trying to approach life in my late teens and found the failures that Korra incurred from this sympathetic but also a remarkably realistic way of building her character as she not only matures past her teens but also matures into the avatar she is destined to become.

Now as mentioned above, season 2 is the weakest out of the four seasons and the reason why I bring this up now at such an odd point in the review is that during this season, Korra's personal failings do become a bit frequent for my liking and a bit tiresome.  This is primarily because the first season was intended to be a one-off but when it exploded into being one of the most popular shows on TV in 2012, Nickelodeon (somewhat understandably) freaked the fuck out and pressured the companies that they made and produced The Legend of Korra with into greenlighting and producing at least another season.  Season 2 is by no means as bad as some others make it out to be but it certainly is the weakest overall as Korra seems to inexplicably return to an immature grouch.  By the end of season 2 this is averted through some good final-minute character development but the character development for the most of season 2 is really jumbled and quite clunky.  Thank goodness this never became that much of an issue again throughout the remaining 2 seasons after this but then again I don't think the animation studio or Nickelodeon were particularly well-prepared for or expecting of the success of the original series so I can understand the failings of the series in this regard.

So you might ask yourself then, is this the only major failing that the series has as a whole?  And I'd say probably yes as most if not all other faults I could find when both watching the series for the first time and again in retrospective didn't yield any major faults apart from this bit of character crumbling in the 2nd season.  The villain in season 2 is a bit rubbish, a few of the side characters are a bit irritating like president Raiko or the plague of my existence during season 3 which was Meelo.  However, aside from the character crapping in season 2 I really can't think of anything too major to criticise about the series.  The end to season 4 is the one other major thing I've heard people criticise considering its romantic implications about two characters who I won't mention here so as to not spoil the ending for you lot.  I personally thought this ending was great and the romantic implications with it were very tasteful, believable and I thought capped off a series with such dark undertones with a hear-warming ending.  Say what you will about the sexual politics implied within it and the rest of the series but I thought it was superb.

This in turn leads into something else I thought was great about the series in that the romantic relations between characters were some of the most realistic in any animated work I've ever seen.  The way romantic couples worked off of each other and how certain relationships ended showed a surprisingly realistic understanding of young and romantic relationships on the part of Nickelodeon and the other people who helped create this series.  Its certainly nice to see this continued on from and even improved in some places from Avatar: the last airbender.  This not only comes with some heart-warming romance throughout the series but some relationships become great focal points for the development of some characters. 

Therefore, the romance is not only well done but actually helps the series move along again much like in the original show.  Some might say that this takes away from the pulse-pounding action but I'd really say its worth it for the plot being moved along which in turn helps the action to become even more engaging.  Some might disagree but I personally found the romance in accordance with the character development and action to be the other main attractions of the series.  Considering how often romance is fucked up in other children's animated series I think this is a great thing and cannot be understated.  Even more so considering I'm not usually one for romance particularly in my action shows but I can certainly make the exception here and there.

Image source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/avatar-the-legend-of-korra/images/24369742/title/last-airbender-legend-korra-screencap

The other main positives I could then reasonably mention for the series aside from the action, relations between characters, romance and following on from the original series would be the respect that the series shows to ancient ideas of philosophy as well as multiple different eastern cultures.  Korra's own culture of the water tribe is heavily based off of the Inuit people of North America and Canada while the earth kingdom is based off of medieval China, the fire nation off of feudal Japan and the wind nation off of the Buddhist people of Tibet and Thailand.  The stark representations of these cultures and the values and philosophies they entail is truly remarkable for a TV show of this kind as I found the representations of said cultures to be both tasteful and truly fascinating. 

As someone who has actually travelled to China and Thailand I can say that the representations of eastern cultures and philosophies is among the best I've ever seen on TV let alone just in the sphere of cartoons.  Even if the action isn't your main draw into keep watching this show, I should wager that you'll be fascinated by the seamless integration of eastern Asian philosophy into both the story and character development.  Truly this is a beautifully written and presented as well as animated series.

However, if there is one other thing I can complement above the action, animation, philosophy and characters of the series, it is surely the villains of each season.

Image source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/avatar-the-legend-of-korra/images/24369739/title/last-airbender-legend-korra-screencap

Even with the aforementioned weak villain of the second season (no its not the villainous Amon above, he's the villain of the 1st season and is superb) the villains for the most part are highly intimidating evil bastards with understandable and even relatable motivations particularly my favourite villain Kuvira who terrorises the whole of the earth kingdom and our heroes in the 4th season.  The aforementioned villain above Amon is probably the most subversively interesting though as his whole struggle is to remove the powers of all element-bending people to create an equal world of same-powered peoples to thus create an ultimate image of equality throughout the world with his 'equalist' movement.  I felt like this was a highly fascinating and subtle representation of communist movements throughout Europe in the early 20th century.  This representation of famous historical events and ideological conflicts is something that resurfaces multiple times throughout the series with the villainous Kuvira's attempts in the 4th season to take over the earth kingdom being particularly reminiscent of the 1911 Chinese revolution and the civil war that came in its wake. 

As someone who has spent most of their life interested in and studying history I found these reflections and elusions to major historical events very fascinating.  They didn't come as much into the development of the characters as the inherent and subtle philosophy did but even still they were truly interesting.   And if you don't agree, then the aforementioned Kuvira will mess you up good and proper alright?

Image source: http://www.hypable.com/the-legend-of-korra-season-4-episode-3-recap/

In conclusion, would I recommend this series and who would I recommend it to?  In all honesty, I can only think of maybe two or three animated shows that I've ever enjoyed more than this show and I'd really recommend it to just about anyone.  Yes season 2 is a bit of a slog at times and there are one or two episodes in season 3 where I got a little bit bored and aside from a couple of side characters I was mildly irritated by I can't really think of anything to criticise this show on.  Were I to go further on complimenting its characters and story more than I have above I would be spoiling the show and were I to go further into my criticisms I would either be lying or just scraping the bottom of the barrel.  I really cant think of anything major at all to criticise and I can easily say that The Legend of Korra is not only one of my favourite cartoons of all time but is also one of my favourite TV shows period.  All this combined with the fusion of 1930s noire animation in allot of the episodes mixed in with the style and look of the original series creates for something truly special.  If you're either looking for action, romance, realistic character development or thrilling villains I'd recommend this show in all cases.

Image source: http://www.v-gamers.com/legend-of-korra-hinter-den-kulissen/

So of course I hope you all enjoy this show as much as if not more than I do and so I want you to have fun with whatever you're doing, take care, don't do anything I wouldn't do and until next time I'll see you all on the battlefield!

Animation & presentation: 10/10

Writing/story: 9/10

Characters/character development: 9/10

Action/set-pieces/key moments: 10/10

Design/style/artistry: 9/10

Series introduction: 8.5/10

Series conclusion: 10/10

Season 1: 10/10

Season 2: 7.5/10

Season 3: 8.75/10

Season 4: 10/10

Overall rating: Like a week-long holiday in Barcelona, you might feel a bit lethargic and not sure what you're doing sometimes but the experience of watching this show is something I would recommend without a moment's notice even considering its faults and downturns which even at their worst are really not that bad.

New film review #23: Kung-Fu Panda 3

Warning: Minor spoiler warning ahead for the 2011 film Kung Fu Panda 2

Image source: http://www.liveforfilms.com/2015/08/28/kung-fu-panda-3-gets-a-star-wars-themed-trailer/

I remember way back when I did my first review on this blog on the 2011 FPS release Duke Nukem Forever that I was a fresh-faced young blogger who was possibly the biggest fan of the first two Kung-Fu Panda films (2008 & 2011) in my school.  I remember being blown away by the smooth animation and sweepingly beautiful effects and dashing representation of Chinese philosophy and culture through the adventures of a cute panda with a hearty personality and a likeable variety of sidekicks.  The first film was a truly philosophical film and the 2011 sequel was and still is one of my favourite animated films not to mention sequels in general of all time which is a precedence for myself even more so cemented by the superb work by Gary Oldman as the villainous warlord Shen.

Therefore, despite minor misgivings about a few bits and bobs of this third Kung-Fu Panda particularly of what I saw in the trailer, my hopes were high for a film that would at the least provide a good wrapping-up to that little plot twist with the panda village at the end of Kung-Fu Panda 2 (2011).  Fortunately it does achieve that latter point but aside from that there isn't a huge amount that Kung-Fu Panda 3 does more or better than the previous two films.  On a spiritual and philosophical level, this film is allot deeper than the previous two films and represents a great wrap up for the emotional and character development of Jack Black's main character Po as he brings himself closer and closer to finally becoming the ultimate embodiment of what he is meant to be as the dragon warrior.

This desire to finally encompass the full meaning of what it is to be the dragon warrior is not only the central crux of Po's motivation but also encompasses the philosophical question and inner-message of the film.  Like where the second film's internal message was about balance and the first film was about discipline and concentration, the third film goes for a more specific and deeper message in this case not only emphasising the importance of patience but also helping not only yourself but also others to be the person they are best suited to being rather than an arbitrary conclusion of their personality.  This resonates not only with Po but also with two of the major side-characters in which their realisation of the purpose that they have not only in their own story arcs and the film itself but also Po's life creates some of the most profound character development that I've seen in an animated film not to mention an sequel in general that I've seen in several years.

Image source: http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2016/02/po-teaches-kung-fu-in-a-new-clip-from-kung-fu-panda-3.html/kung-fu-panda-3-8

This development in turn is brought about by the new villain and former warlord of all china Kai, a towering brute of a bull wielding two God-of-War-esque chain-linked blades who once fought alongside Randall Duk Kim's master Oogway and is voiced by the great and legendary J.K.Simmons.  Po must not only embrace his past and heritage in this film but also protect his family while Kai rampages across China absorbing the power of all the kung-fu masters in an attempt to conquer the land and dispose of Po as the only one who can stop Kai's ambitions.  In this, Po must not only embrace his past and heritage but also harness the power of chi in order to finally become the dragon warrior as he was positioned and prophesised to become in the original 2008 film. 

This would ultimately be the best film in the series but unlike the second film it tends to skim a bit on the story and unlike in the first film where this was meant to emphasise the rapidity of Po being thrust into the position of dragon warrior, the quick and straightforward plot and storyline of Kung-Fu Panda 3 does seem a bit rushed and ultimately could've done with a great deal more focus like the first two films did.  On top of this, unlike the second film, the third instalment doesn't so much build upon what the previous two films are or big up the scale of the plot and action.  In all honesty, this isn't such a bad thing with the character development and philosophical musings of the film itself but the action and the narrative do both suffer considerably as a result of the much smaller scale as compared to the previous film.  This isn't of course to say that the story and action are bad as they are still vastly superior to most animated films released since the 2011 second film or How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014).

Really, the biggest problems I have with this film are all little tweaks and while it is probably the weakest film in the series so far, its still a great family outing and a hearty and innocent action film starring everyone's favourite animated animals of Chinese philosophy.  The one big weakness that I'd say this film has in comparison to the previous two films is that aside from the truly superb voice acting by J.K.Simmons, Kai is easily the weakest villain in the movies so far.  Some people criticised  Ian McShane's Tai Lung for being a bit generic and while he certainly was in places, he was still a despicable bastard who more than represented a powerhouse of feline kung-fu and represented not only a powerful physical but also mental challenge to our heroes.  While Kai certainly does the same, I never got the same level of villainous believability or inherent threat and power considering how goofy the design of the character was for a main villain not to mention how he was treated as comedy relief for so much of the film.  Kai could've been one of the great animated movie villains of the last half a decade but was ultimately done in by somewhat misguided writing and direction.

Image source: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/kung-fu-panda-3-first-teaser-reveals-villain-kai/

Even still, much like the rest of the film, this is still good enough as Kai certainly isn't a bad villain but just could've been a bit better.  In all honesty, this seems like a theme for the film as a whole in that it could've been much better if it had more focussed writing and direction but even taking this into account, the film as a whole is still a superb outing for al the family and is easily the most palatable and light-hearted film I've probably seen in a year.  It still has great action and representation of Chinese philosophy and culture and has the same great characters with the same great voice-acting that we've been adventuring across mythical China with since 2008.  The action is great and has probably the strongest final clash between villain and main hero of the franchise to this point meaning that while the narrative is ho-hum, the action rivals the second film and the end of the first film certainly in speed and intensity making for a finale that more than delivers on a good conclusion.  Therefore, for all its faults at the beginning and throughout (albeit less so in the second act), Kung-Fu-Panda 3 is a solid film for the kiddies and all the family in general.

If there is one thing that the film definitely does better than the previous two films though it has to be in the department of animation.  I always said that the animation in the previous two films was some of the best I've ever seen in a western-made animated film but the animation in this third outing easily blows the last two out of the water with a 100-megaton nuclear chi blast.  The textures on the fur of certain characters or the texture of mundane objects such as concrete walls and bowls make it seem starkly believable despite the speed and energy of the animation in general.  This allows for each movement and impact of the characters to feel wholly believable despite being animated and allows for some of the most dynamic action I've seen in a new movie since Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).  So if there is one thing the third film has over the first's character introduction and music or the second's story, action, scale and villain it can easily be the visual design and animation which is about as magical as the philosophy and spirit world in this film.

Image source: http://www.inquisitr.com/2733692/kung-fu-panda-3-box-office-in-china-how-will-the-animated-film-do/

In conclusion, this is probably the weakest first act of any of the Kung-Fu-Panda films so far and is easily the weakest film in the franchise to this point but as a film in of itself and even within the franchise as a whole it is still a truly superb animated outing for the young-un's not to mention the whole family.  Sure the narrative is a bit weak but it wraps up the first trilogy of films about as well as I think we all could've hoped.  I don't think it'd be the best of ideas to make another film as this third one wraps up Po's character arc nicely.  If Kung-Fu-Panda 3 is to be the last film in the franchise then even despite all its faults it sure as hell make up for a better end to a classic trilogy than Robocop 3 (1993) or The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Hopefully you'll enjoy this as much as if not more than I did because this is a film that definitely deserves love and support so until next time, have fun, take care and don't do anything I wouldn't do!

Cinematography/camerawork/animation: 10/10

Storyline/plot: 6/10

Action/set-pieces/key moments: 9/10

Direction: 7/10

Voice acting: 8.5/10

Visual design/sets: 8.75/10

Overall rating: much like the Italian all-you-can-eat that I went to after I saw this movie, this was a bit over-priced for what it was but still deserves support and applaud and is a tasty combination of cheese, salami and green salad...wait...uh...whoops sorry...wrong summary.

My gaming YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmq7KX4Qc46VGhYzWqQfOg

Restaurant review #5: Cafe Coho in Ship Street, Brighton

In all of my previous restaurant/café reviews I have mainly concentrated on big-scale avenues of culinary outing but funnily enough, this quaint little café near the seafront of Brighton is quite small in size.  This may have  a great deal to do with how there are two other Café Coho branches in Brighton aside from this Ship Street branch and that this branch seems to be a straight up little-ol' café.

You might ask then; 'Well Ted, does that mean that I cannot get a proper bit of grub as well as a piece of carrot cake and coffee?'.  Fortunately no, you can actually get a hefty meal here and despite not being all that large of a chain or branch the variety of food and drink here is more than impressive.  It does skew a bit traditional café sort of food but there is some variations on the usual poached eggs on toast and fry up not to mention many varieties of nice toasted sandwiches.   On top of this, the place has at least four or five different cakes and biscuits to scarf down on availability at any time and sometimes a great deal more than that with some of these sweet treats usually including millionaire shortbread, carrot cake and chocolate fudge brownies and the like.

So considering all that, what is the food actually like?  Well I'm happy to say that the food at this place is great stuff.  I'm not kidding when I say that the fry-up I had was among the best I've had in years from a restaurant or café and considering that I've been to some in that time that I'd consider 5 or even 6-star quality I'd say that shows up this place quite well.  The sourdough toast my fry-up was served on absorbed the juices of the sausages and bacon on my plate nicely but thankfully not to the degree where the toast turned soggy.  The Cumberland sausages to a point were among the nicest I've ever had from a café as were the scrambled eggs which were a near-perfect balance between runny and cohesive on the side of the plate.  I also felt inclined to try the black pudding which was neither gratuitous in terms of saltiness or grittiness and was truly smooth and superb which combined along with the creaminess of the avocado served with my meal, made for a lovely accompaniment to the saltiness of the bacon and black pudding.

Adding in the clean plates, fresh vegetables and the fact that the brown and tomato sauces were presented in quaint little jars on the side of the plate and saying that the meal was well-presented would be the understatement of the week.

My mother who I went with to this fine establishment ordered the  appleslaw and cheese sandwich and ordered it toasted with some olive oil and remarked that while the order had to be tweaked a couple of times it was still truly superb and filling only to the point where she did not feel overly-stuffed.  I also felt the same with my fry-up which may be the strongest point about the food here in that the portions are big enough that you get your money's worth but aren't too big to the point where it'll make you feel ill.

The drinks in turn also are sizeable enough that you feel like you get your moneys worth and I certainly could attest to this as I was thoroughly enjoying my black Americano coffee although I was thinking that a pot of earl grey or the similar sorts would be a better accompaniment to the fry-up but its really just a matter of personal taste.

So what about the final two cruxes?; the atmosphere and the service?  Fortunately enough for all you foodies out there, the service in this branch of Café Coho is brilliant with both friendly and patient staff in tremendous magnitude.  Small bits and bobs of my mother's order were messed up here and there but the staff were friendly, enquiring and patient enough to sort out any issues either me or my mother had with admirable alacrity.  On top of this, I felt like the staff were more than willing and well-informed enough to help clear up any enquiries I had about the restaurant or its menu.  Considering that most places I've eaten at in Brighton have had great customer service this should come as standard and pretty telling.

As for the environment and atmosphere of the place it too is superb.  The one exception would be that the music played in the venue wasn't notable and quite generic but it was at least not too poorly-suited for the venue that it was being played in and was also quiet enough that everyone in there could concentrate on their food, papers and conversation.  Add this to the furniture and furnishings that we a lovely 50/50 or 40/60 balance between modernist and rustic chic and you have a place that is relaxing and calming as the food and drink is excellent.  Now they just need to fix the door because while it isn't terrible, the handle is a bit crap and people did leave it open ajar sometimes which I truly detest. 

Even still, the environment and atmosphere was superb and I would recommend this lovely little culinary abode to even the most sparsely-eating of foodies as its still a great place to just get a macaroon, cappuccino and sit at the window while reading The Times newspaper or check up on your e-mails.  All in all, despite some aspects about the furnishing and slight slip-ups with the young staff, I'd definitely give this a recommendation for the traveller or local Brighton settler so definitely give this place some love.



Food: 9/10
Drink 8.5/10
Pricing/value for money: 9/10
Furnishing/furniture: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10

Overall rating: Much like the fry-up I had, Café Coho in Ship Street in Brighton has its minor flaws and some tweaks here and there but is overall a superb place to fill your gullet or just have a chilled out relax with the paper and a warm and rustic mocha.

Ted's trailer reactions: Ghostbusters (2016) first trailer

Ok so considering that the last couple of news reviews I did were a bit dark I think it might be about time that we have a look at something with a little less intimidating and haunting implications.  Well...not so much in a qualitive sense in this case at least.

I'm gathering that you all saw the first trailer for the new all-female-main-cast Ghostbusters reboot and much like myself saw many people either turning into a whirlwind of joy and exclamations of diversity and others hanging their heads in disillusionment and disgust.  Now while diversity and equality of opportunity are good things in my eyes, the fact that this new Ghostbusters film has a main female cast is irrelevant to me in terms of the qualitive value of the films' trailer itself.  The reason as to why I am saying this is because I hated this trailer not because of the fact that the main four characters are women which I really don't have any problem with, the main reason as to why I am bringing this up is that the trailer itself is fucking dreadful.

Link for the first Ghostbusters reboot trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ugHP-yZXw

Image source: http://teaser-trailer.com/movie/ghostbusters-3/

Now before I rip into this travesty of a trailer let me at least try to accentuate some of the pros that I found in the trailer.

Firstly, some people have been saying that the effects are pretty shitty and while they aren't really anything spectacular they are still decent enough by the looks of it and at least seem allot better than any shit we saw in Gods of Egypt (2016) or that slew of Hercules films released in 2014.

Secondly, Slimer looks marvellous in this trailer so I have no doubt that the ghost designs of both old and new ones will at least be solidly competent and nice to look at.

Thirdly, the costumes and designs of the new Ghostbusters car are all superb so chances are that the visual designs on both the special effects and the actors and actresses themselves will be superb.

Aaaaaaand that's it...no really.  That's all that I could find good about the trailer and even then I really had to stretch my expectations and assessment of the trailer to be as humanely objective as possible but I really couldn't.  As mentioned above I only thought that the special effects were good and not superb or even great and even with that point I had to be really generous .

Image source: http://screenrant.com/ghostbusters-reboot-casting-release-date-2016/

There's little I can actually compliment about this trailer because from the first musical tone I just wanted to shrivel up with copies of the original Ghostbusters and a cuddly toy of the stay puff giant man.  The music, while certainly not the worst thing about the trailer, is certainly as generic as it gets in terms of modern, post-2010 big blockbuster trailer music riffs as it repeatedly exclaims the same riff as seen in trailers such as Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) or London has Fallen (2016) (still can't believe that last one is an actual movie and not just a joke).  Even when snippets of the original theme are played throughout the trailer in order to cynically exploit the nostalgia of the franchise's old-school fans they end up being drowned out by generic-as-fuck pseudo-techno remixing and thus lose almost all nostalgic value.  However, as I said, the music is certainly not the biggest problem that this trailer has.

Image source: http://firstklassbreakfast.com/ghostbusters-3-will-star-all-female-cast/

The worst part of the trailer for me without a doubt was a dual mixture of both the comedy and the casting.

Comedy is of course a hard thing to criticise however as it is virtually entirely subjective and what I may find funny might be completely unfunny to you or anyone else for that matter.  Therefore I implore you all to take this into account when I say that I thought that the comedy in this trailer was truly horrendous.  To be honest, someone watching my reaction when I first saw the trailer could've probably seen that to be quite obvious as I didn't laugh, crack a smile or even chuckle once throughout the entirety of the 2 minute and 37 second pile of pig shite that was this film's trailer. 

Not one of the comedic moments stuck in my head unlike the timeless comedic tones of the original 1984 film which gelled all or at least most of the jokes together with a seamless mixture of top-notch writing and chemistry between Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis (may he rest in peace in comedy heaven) and the mayor of cool town-upon-Tyne Ernie Hudson.  I never got that same level of chemistry from this one trailer or the same level of comedic gelling and smooth humour that was prevalent in the 1984 original and even the 1989 sequel (albeit to a considerably lesser degree than the 1984 original).  I could go into length about this but I'd be here all day so I'll summarise this all up by recommending you see what I mean by looking at the trailer and keeping in mind that the first joke in this reboot of one of the greatest comedy franchises of all time is a projectile puke joke...ARE...YOU...FUCKING...9!?!?!?!.

Ok ok, calm down Ted, they can't hurt you.  Well the sheer shittyness of the comedy could.  And aside from the seemingly lacklustre writing and awful comedy on show I can easily attest that the other main reason for this not to mention the other main problem about the trailer itself is the casting.  Much like with the pros of the trailer I feel like I'll have to go through the main actresses step by step to give my tuppence on why I think the casting in this film looks about as useful as a paintball gun during the battle of Narvik.

Main actress 1: Kristen Wig

Ms Wig is probably the best one out of the four main actresses to address first because while she definitely seems to be putting in the least comedic and acting effort in the trailer, she is also the least aggravating.  Throughout the trailer I expected Wig to exemplify the same snappy, comedic wit as shown in Bridesmaids (2011) or The Loony Tunes Show (2011-2013) but she seems inexplicably bored throughout the trailer and is undoubtedly going to be the main core of the team in the film which I'm not sure I feel about.

On one hand she is a great comedic actress with a huge amount of experience and has been in many great comedic shows and films but on the other hand she doesn't seem to bring her A-game into this trailer and while the film might actually accentuate her talents to a greater degree than the trailer does, I'm not going to hold out for too much.  However, I do hope Wig's performance is allot more fleshed out than it appears in the trailer for sure.

Main actress 2: Melissa McCarthy

Oh McCarthy what happened to you?  Around the early 2010's with films like Bridesmaids (2011) and This Is 40 (2012) it seemed like you had revived your career from the sludgy slump that it had fallen into in the mid-2000s and you were set to trail-blaze the scene of female comedic acting for the next several years, fast-forward half a decade and you're turning up in drivel like The Heat (2013) and Tammy (2014) which make no use of your once-great talent and now you're in one of the worst-looking reboots in the better part of 4-5 years?  (The last one being the 2012 reboot of Spider-Man (2001-07)).

I cringed every time McCarthy was on screen in this trailer as she smarmed her way through her lines and showed no genuine comedic charisma or accurate comedic timing in order to make her jokes truly stick.  Instead she seems to have gone to the other end of the comedic spectrum in this trailer to Wig's performance in that I thought she seemed to be trying WAY too hard to be funny.  As a result, every time McCarthy was on screen in this trailer I wanted to jam shattered DVD's of Ghostbusters II (1989) into my eyes.

Main actress 3: Kate McKinnon

Ok, I'll be perfectly honest, I never heard of McKinnon before the casting of the Ghostbusters reboot was announced but supposedly she has risen to moderate comedic prominence after reasonably successful stints on shows like Saturday Night Live (1975-present), Family Guy (1999-present) and The Simpsons (1989-present).  Therefore, I shan't be too harsh on Ms McKinnon by telling her that she doesn't have enough experience for as big a project as this reboot.  Instead I'll just say that she doesn't have enough what with only acting in bit parts on small comedy shows and shorts since 2008 and leave it at that.

The main reason as to why I think that McKinnon is poorly suited to this Ghostbusters reboot is that her character is about as cynically designed for a film with underpinnings of female empowerment as you can get.  Again, to reiterate as mentioned earlier, I have no problem with women making it big in comedy or acting and some of my favourite film characters of all time are women.  However, McKinnon's trying-way-too-hard-to-be-edgy gimmick of having flared hair (which she admittedly looks hot wearing), licking her guns (pretty unhygienic to be honest), trendy clothes and snarky attitude comes off as really forced.  In all fairness, the edgy, bubble-gum popper with a penchant for short hair and blasting motherfuckers kneecaps off has been done very well with female characters before but there seemed to be no comedic substance or reason for showing McKinnon's character off like this in the trailer and as a result it just came off as forced and without any real heart or meaning.


Main actress 4: Leslie Jones

Anything that I said about the cynical design of McKinnon's character in the trailer goes double for the mess that was shown of Jones' character in the trailer.  I don't really think the sub-standard nature of the 'sassy big black woman' stereotype is really as prevalent in modern media as some make it out to be as I haven't seen this trope come about too often as of the last few years in pop-culture and media.  Even still, it couldn't be more obvious in the Ghostbusters reboot trailer that Jones admittedly meagre comedic talent is totally wasted for a cheap and insultingly lazy stereotype that isn't even done well in the trailer and seems to have just been made the core aspect of her character out of sheer ineptitude and lazy writing.

This makes me all the sadder that Jone's character is supposed to be the daughter of Ernie Hudson's character from the original 1984 flick in that her own character is highly unlikeable and unfunny from the trailer whereas Hudson couldn't've been cooler if he'd worn the essence of Bruce Campbell while wearing the suit John Connery wears in his first scene in Dr.No (1962).  It just doesn't fit that a character this stereotyped and lazy could be the daughter of such a respectable, cool, suave and badass character as Winston Zeddmore.  But alas, it does not bode well when this is truly the case.  Alas poor Ghostbusters, I knew them well.

Image source: http://www.sagoma.com/ghostbusters-ritorna-nel-2016/

The worst thing about this trailer is however isn't really anything in the trailer itself but, as far as I could see it, the exclamations of many people across the internet that the film is somehow a grand empowerment of female acting and comedic talent when the trailer really just dives back on lazy female acting and comedic stereotypes with little-to-no originality or creative heart.  This is probably the saddest thing about the trailer for me aside from the sheer lack of comedic quality and timing.  The profile of women in comedic roles has gotten immeasurably better since the late-1990s as far as I'm concerned and thus there is no shortage of female comedic acting talent in this modern age of Hollywood and comedy. 

Therefore, while I'll be certainly willing to give this Ghostbusters reboot a chance and am more than willing to admit myself if I am proving wrong (although that seems unlikely after seeing this trailer) but I have to ask myself one thing; if the women of the main cast have all been in better stuff and considering what I've already seen about this upcoming film, how likely is it that I will even be able to crack a smile?

Sorry if this one was a bit angry but hey, if the film really does seem good or interesting to you, don't let me stop you lot so until next time, enjoy whatever you're watching, take care, don't do anything I wouldn't do and I'll see you lot next time!


My gaming YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmq7KX4Qc46VGhYzWqQfOg

Uncle Ted's recipes #6: Budget cooking tips guest starring P.Sims

Ok so I don't have too much of a coherent structure for this instalment of uncle Ted's recipes but I do have something almost as good.  On the most recent episode of my YouTube channels' GtG podcasts (which you can view in this link for your pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia_VfUVlK08) I discussed with my friend Phillip (aka Flashsupressor) about the budget recipes that we'd scratched together during both our times studying at the University of Sussex. 

See the thing is, whether or not you're a student or a working man with not too much money or time on their hands, we need to save money in this day and age so Phillip and I have thrown together some cheap recipes and cooking tips to help you lot out in a tricky situation.  First I'll put mine up as the suggestions I have for this are more about food budgeting and cooking tips whereas Phillip has provided us with some superb budget recipes.


Ted's recipes & tips

Tip 1:

With reference to my noodle soup recipe (http://crazedcritic.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/uncle-teds-recipes-3-chinese-style.html), when you don't have enough money to buy a nice bit of chicken or salmon or some prawns, a good way to get protein in your soup is to poach an egg in it when its simmering and then serve. 

This not only allows the egg to cook naturally in the soup but it will also absorb some of the flavour of the Chinese-style noodle soup so that you get a truly hearty dish.  Keep in mind that this method of getting more protein is also low fat so everyone's a winner!

Tip 2:

Keeping an eye out for reduced products in the supermarket is a pretty obvious thing to do but getting allot of the food shopping for your week by doing this will not only help to save money but can even force you to be creative in a culinary sense.

Take for example if you found a 9-piece punnet of pre-cooked chicken in Sainsbury's you would think to yourself "What can I do with this?  Some potato waffles and peas or pasta salad and spinach?".  Its a bit of a standard thing to do but you'd be surprised how many people don't do it so get on down to your local supermarket late on Sundays and Mondays and you should be laughing.

This leads into budgeting your food such as setting an optimal limit on food shopping for yourself for £40 for one week but despite how mundane that might sound, you'd also be quite surprised how many uni students I talk to who don't ever take this into account and end up racking up even more debt than originally intended.

Tip 3:

One last tip from myself before we move onto Phillip's budget recipes is to keep in mind the value of tinned products and how much money they can save you.  Getting a tin of sild in tomato sauce for about £1.20 is going to save you allot more than a quarter of a kilo of the stuff for at least two or three times as much.  Not only this but tinned products can keep for insane amounts of time meaning that while stockpiling things like tinned pies, hot dogs, pilchards and peaches isn't the most glamorous thing to do, it can really help in the long run.

Phillip's budget recipes and tips:

Phillip should also help allot of you non meat-eaters out there on account of him being a vegetarian but even still, his recipes are easy for everyone to make and worth it just for the money-saving value.

Phillip's recipes and tips in this post do have a bit more cohesion as he's provided us all with a couple of his budget starters and mains and an interesting little pudding so you lot will want to pay attention if you want a good hearty budget feast.

Starter 1: Omelette sandwich

1)- Crack two large eggs into a bowl with a small amount of milk and whiz until smooth and creamy in colour then add in some fried onions as well as any added ingredients such as cheese or other vegetables.

2)- pre-heat a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil to a mid degree then pour in the mixture.

3)- cook on one side until the edges are solidified then gently lean off the frying pan and cook for the same time on the other side.

4)- serve in between some artisan bread with a small spreading of butter, salt and pepper.

Starter 2: Tomato bruschetta
1)- chop up some vine tomatoes, red onions, garlic and olives into a bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

2)- Add fresh chives and oregano and place on some nice artisan bruschetta.

3)- For an optional twist, add some mozzarella on top after placing the vegetables onto the bread then toast in the oven for 4-5 mins at about 160C.

Main course 1: Mash potatoes
1)- cut up the potatoes into quarters or smallish chunks, wash then place into a pan of cold water where the water is at least an inch or two over the potatoes and heat to boil.  Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 mins until a knife can easily pierce through the potatoes.

2)- after boiling, strain the potatoes in a colander or sieve then return to pan before mashing with some milk and then adding in some herbs.  After this point it would also be advisable to add in a bit of butter and a small amount of cream cheese to give the potatoes a nice creamy consistency.

3)- The potatoes can then be chilled for use later such as having with beans and sausages or being shaped into patties for making bubble & squeak.

Main course 2: Cashew & mixed veg stir-fry
1)- pre-heat a wok with olive oil at a high heat and add in mushrooms and fry until softening before adding in diced up carrot then cashews and diced up onion and cook for about 5-10 mins.

2)- Add boiled and drained ramen or vermicelli noodles and toss in the pan for a minute or two until nicely cooked while drizzling in soy sauce here and there.

Pudding: Ice cream bread
1)- melt two cups of any ice cream of your choosing and then mix with one and a half cups of self-raising flour.

2)- add in any extra ingredients you might like to add in such as baking cherries or chocolate chips before placing in a baking-paper-lined baking tin and then bake for 18-25 mins until springy when touched and then leave on side until cooled.

I'm sorry that this was a bit ad hoc for a food post but the reality is that as of late I've been just doing recipes I've uploaded before so I thought that some budget food tips would be the next best thing so on behalf of myself and Phillip I wish yo all the best and hope you all stay safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do and enjoy your meals!



My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmq7KX4Qc46VGhYzWqQfOg

Phillip's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSig9Fw1OPuku7MwjmtTdUg

New film review #22: The Revenant (8th Jan 2016 for US, 15th Jan 2016 for UK)

Image source: http://moviehole.net/201699850the-revenant

Ok so it should be obvious but I'm definitely not talking about that pile of shite of a 2009 vampire movie that also happens to be called The Revenant but am instead talking about a current, harrowing and relatable movie of survival and revenge revolving around the story of legendary early-1800s US frontiersman Hugh Glass played amicably by Leonardo DiCaprio.  I suppose that goes really without saying but despite how niche the 2009 film was I found out while researching for this review that it has something of a following that reviews it quite positively and I just couldn't figure out why considering how shite it is.

Fortunately, this current Alejandro González Iñárritu tour de force should make you realise that an action/adventure film can not only be thoughtful and delve into human emotions but also have a highly-relatable and sympathetic main character without too much dialogue.  Now there is a common theme in a lot of modern action and revenge films I hear about that many of them have too much discussion and generally not enough 'show don't tell'.  This I can certainly see being prevalent in a lot of modern films such as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) or anything Steven Segal has made since the early-2000s with exception to Half Past Dead (2002) or Machete (2010) (although the former was shit and the latter starred him as a bit-part villain).  However, there is a time when some action, adventure and yes, even revenge films have to take just a short moment to talk back and fortunately The Revenant finds a good balance between speaking and action for the most part.

As for the plot; for those of you who may not know, Hugh Glass was a noted US frontiersman in the 1820s hunting for animal pelts while fighting for survival against the harshness of the US frontier, the American forestall winter, avenging bands of native American warriors and even his own fellow frontiersmen.  The events of The Revenant  circle around the life-changing event in 1823 when Hugh Glass was savagely mauled by a grizzly bear near the forks of the Grand River in modern-day South Dakota and was subsequently patched up before being abandoned by fellow frontiersmen Fitzgerald and Bridger and subsequently hunting them down through hundreds of miles of tundra and an abandoned fort on the Yellowstone River. 

Image source: http://teaser-trailer.com/the-revenant-movie-clip/

Now the film does fictionalise some events of Glass' adventure such as portraying Fort Henry as being still occupied when he hunts down Fitzgerald or how the actual journey down the Yellowstone River itself takes less time in the film than it did in real life where Glass had to crawl for several weeks in a row after healing from being mauled by the bear.  Admittedly, some of Glass' adventure is alleged and theorised but it is largely and for the most part based in reliable accounts which does make it a bit egregious to someone who actually studies history like myself that the film Hollywood's some of the real-life events and fictionalises some for thematic purposes.  However, this is sometimes inevitable when making an entertaining film as seen with epics such as Kingdom of Heaven (2005) or Valkyrie (2008).

One thing that definitely alleviates many of the grievances I might have about this issue though is definitely DiCaprio's stellar performance as Glass with DiCaprio at this point in life being roughly near the same age as Glass was when he was mauled by that bear.  This in part gives DiCaprio the extra weight needed in his performance to truly push home the feeling of desperation, determination, anger, revenge and survival wit that Glass was reputed for.  Without a doubt this is one of my favourite if not my very favourite DiCaprio performance yet of his career so far which is even more incredible considering that he barely speaks for the majority of the film with his lines probably taking up half a sheet of A4.  This relates back to the earlier point about 'show don't tell' in that most of the emotion and character development is conveyed through DiCaprio's acting and facial performance which considering how many big performances have been clangered by failing physical performances.  DiCaprio has always been one of my favourite actors and his ability to convey emotion and character development through his facial emotions and performance cannot be understated.  Every actor in this film does the same to the best of their abilities but DiCaprio easily blasts them out of the water with his rifle-musket and dominates the acting with probably his best performance yet.

This compliments the story which in turn is also somewhat minimal and focuses primarily on Glass' struggle for survival against all the odds.  Like Deadpool the simplicity of the story in The Revenant  is one of its main strengths and when applied to the powerful physical performance by DiCaprio is superb.  I won't say too much about the story in this regard as doing so would likely spoil it for some of you out there but I can definitely point out where the story fails and that has to be when it tries to be deep and symbolic.  There are a few moments throughout the film when the music and some really misplaced dream sequences where the film tries to sentimentalise you into feeling a certain way and really just doesn't work.  Thankfully this doesn't happen but when we get cheesy visions of Glass' fictional dead wife it really jars against the mood of the scene that you're watching.  For the most part though, this film conveys its themes and sense of emotion through the suffering of different characters which as mentioned before is done with great skill.

Image source: http://www.inquisitr.com/2646398/the-revenant-star-tom-hardy-talks-leaving-suicide-squad-i-hate-fking-losing-work/

There really isn't much I can say aside from all that I've set out above other than Tom Hardy gives an equally stellar performance as the despicable Fitzgerald, the small bits of action are superbly well done and despite the shoddy symbolism, the cinematography throughout the film is truly superb.  The film might be a bit of a drag for some it rewards the viewer with a truly rewarding ending and an overall superb story about survival and revenge.  Yes, the historical inaccuracies are plentiful and for me personally that was a bit of a piss take but overall the film is well made enough and has enough creativity in the cinematography to outweigh most of the film's misgivings.  I'd say don't see this if you don't like gruelling length-trips but even then I'd still give this an umbrella of recommendation because its easily one of the best historical films released in several years.

Until next time, have fun, don't do anything I wouldn't do and go see The Revenant.

Cinematography/camerawork: 9/10
Acting: 9/10
Story/plot/writing: 6.5/10
Action/set-pieces/key moments: 8.5/10
Direction, lighting and sound: 8/10

OVERALL RATING: Like a hepatitis B jab, this film is a bit gruelling at first and is a bit hard to get through but is ultimately very rewarding and the end result is more than beneficial and enjoyable and you at least get a can of sprite and a chuppa chup afterwards.