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