Stuff not from my 2014 goals

Sometimes it feels like I did more stuff outside of my goals list than inside.  It also feels like I might copy and paste text from other blog entries as a introduction, almost verbatim, again, so as not to have to come up with something new, fresh, hip, vapid, incredible.  Here is a reckoning of part of that, with some commentary as I deem deemable.  This list does not include movies from my 2014 favorites list.

TV

Hadn’t seen before:

  • DuckTales (volume 1)
  • Go On (season 1/the complete series)
  • The Guild (season 6)
  • Toy Story of Terror!

I’ve liked Matthew Perry since he was on Friends (I think he and Matt LeBlanc could have had their own show without the other cast members).  He sure has had bad luck with his subsequent TV series, though.  Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Mr. Sunshine, and Go On only lasted one season each, and I thought each were great.  I found Go On to be really funny and touching at times.  Also, it’s great that Friends is now on Netflix streaming.

The Guild is a fantastically fun web series and I was glad to finally be able to watch season 6 on Netflix, along with rewatching the earlier seasons.

Had seen before:

  • A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
  • Dexter (seasons 1-7)
  • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
  • The Guild (seasons 1-5)
  • The Spectacular Spider-Man (seasons 1-2)

I had seen all of Dexter before, but my wife hadn’t, so we watched it together.  I think it’s a pretty great show, though it gets weaker for me somewhere in season 6 or 7, and I’m not really a fan of the ending.

Movies

Hadn’t seen before:

  • Clerks
  • Dinosaur
  • Fun and Fancy Free
  • The Little Memaid II: Return to the Sea
  • The Monuments Men
  • Neighbors
  • Night Watch
  • Princess Mononoke
  • 21 Jump Street
  • Your Highness

Had seen before:

  • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
  • Aladdin
  • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
  • Animaniacs: Wakko’s Wish
  • The Batman vs. Dracula
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love.
  • Easy A
  • Frozen
  • Hercules
  • Home Alone
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  • The Incredible Hulk
  • The Incredibles
  • Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
  • The Jungle Book
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Love Actually
  • Mary Poppins
  • Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension
  • Salt
  • Superman vs. The Elite
  • Tarzan
  • Thor
  • Thor: The Dark World
  • The Transformers: The Movie
  • The Truman Show
  • Zoolander

Video Games

First-time plays:

  • DuckTales: Remastered
  • Mario Kart 8
  • Pikmin 2
  • Pikmin 3

Replays:

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

I got Pikmin 3 for free as a promotion when I bought Mario Kart 8.  I had never played a Pikmin title before, and I didn’t know what to expect at all.  It was amazingly fun, especially after I figured out that there is not actually a time limit for completing the story mode (except if one runs out of supplies).  It has fun supplementary modes too: mission (single or co-op play) and battle.  My children loved it also, so much so that I ended up buying Pikmin 2 on eBay and buying Pikmin plushes for them as birthday and Christmas gifts.

I played the original DuckTales game on my NES as a kid, and got the remastered version as part of a Wii U eShop sale at the very end of 2013.  It was pretty fun, and neat that they got most of the original TV show cast to do new voice work.

Twilight Princess remains one of my favorite Zelda titles, and I think I’ll probably end up replaying at least Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword in the not-too-distant future.  Here’s hoping also that the new Wii U Zelda game is released in 2015.

Posted by grassmonk on 4 Jan 2015 in Goals | No Comments →

2014 Goals Update

How did I fare with my goals for 2014?  Read on, dear reader.  Read on.

Books to Read

I finished The Hobbit with my kids, and read Elantris, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and 3 out of 7 of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Elantris and The Last Chronicles were first-time reads.  I enjoyed Elantris once it really got going, but it seemed to take a while to get there.  After reading it, along with Brandon Sanderson’s contributions to The Wheel of Time, I look forward to reading more of his work sometime in the future.  The Last Chronicles were somewhat of a disappointment, but did have some good moments.  The original Chronicles of Thomas Covenant remain my favorite of the books, and the ones I expect to read again in the future.

The rest of the list will get bumped to 2015, with The Lord of the Rings taking top priority, since it has been on the list since 2011.

TV Seasons to Watch

Haven’t seen before:

I got through more of these than I thought I would, especially after beginning a few old cartoons and wondering if I could make it through the whole set/series.  There are some good things that came out of the ’80s, but there are probably more that have not aged too well.  I watched The Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, The Super Hero Squad Show, TaleSpin, and The Transformers.  The remaining 3 entries will be on my 2015 list (unless I decide to put The Flintstones on eBay, which I have debated doing several times this year).

Have seen before, but haven’t yet watched my BDs/DVDs:

Watched them both.

Have seen before:

8/12.  I missed Heroes, Pinky and the Brain, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Wars: Clone Wars.  They’ll be pushed to 2015, and maybe joined by some others.

Currently airing/will air this year:

Watched them all, with the exception of Major Crimes season 3.  I’ve seen the first half and will watch the second half in 2015.

Movies to Watch

From last year [2013]:

Watched them all.

From previous years, already seen or not:

Watched them all.

New this year [2014]:

11/13, missing Dumb and Dumber To and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once a year:

Watched them all.

Unwatched BDs/DVDs:

Watched them both.

BDs/DVDs I haven’t watched since 2010 or before:

39/44, 15% better than last year’s 48/65.  The ones I missed were the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, which I expect to watch in 2015 after watching the TNG TV series, and DuckTales the Movie, which I’ll watch in 2015 after finishing my DuckTales TV sets.  They’ll be joined by others, becoming since 2011 or before.

Video Games to Play

5/5.

Other

We’ll call this 2.5 out of 3.  I got my web site code and WordPress theme into git repositories, as well as a Thunderbird extension.  I finally did nine more poetism commentaries (only about 30 to go).  I also resisted Facebook, which I think we can all agree is the most important.

Posted by grassmonk on 3 Jan 2015 in Goals | No Comments →

Media Update November – December 2014

November

Movies

  • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
  • Batman Begins
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • The Bourne Identity
  • The Bourne Supremacy
  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • Easy A
  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
  • (500) Days of Summer
  • Fun and Fancy Free
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
  • Horton Hears a Who!
  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • I Am Legend
  • Kermit’s Swamp Years
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Knight and Day
  • The Matrix
  • The Matrix Reloaded
  • The Matrix Revolutions
  • The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
  • The Muppets
  • Neighbors
  • Piglet’s Big Movie
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
  • Star Trek
  • Star Trek Into Darkness
  • Superman Returns
  • 22 Jump Street
  • Zoolander

TV

  • The Big Bang Theory – 4 episodes
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
  • A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
  • Dexter – 12 episodes
  • Homeland – 5 episodes
  • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
  • Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 1 episode
  • Phineas and Ferb – 5 episodes

December

Books

  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Movies

  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love.
  • Divergent
  • Godzilla
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Home Alone
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  • Love Actually
  • Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension
  • Princess Mononoke
  • Snowpiercer
  • The Truman Show
  • The Wind Rises
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past

TV

  • The Big Bang Theory – 1 episode
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 3 episodes
  • Castle – 7 episodes
  • Dexter – 14 episodes
  • DuckTales – 35 episodes
  • Homeland – 3 episodes
  • Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 3 episodes

Video Games

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Posted by grassmonk on 2 Jan 2015 in Media | No Comments →

My favorite (and not) movies of 2014

Herein are listed my favorite movies of 2014 (and 2013, where I just got to seeing them in 2014).  I did see the third Hobbit movie this year.  I am surprised at that, because I expected to see it on my wedding anniversary in January, like I did the first two.  I’m not looking to avoid spoilers, because I assume that by the time anyone reads this it will have been several long units of time since he or she will have seen the movie in question.

– My favorites –

Captain America: The Winter Solider

This was definitely one of the finest Marvel films to date.  I remember seeing the trailer and thinking that it looked more like a Superman movie than Man of Steel.  It was definitely awesome, and it didn’t hurt that it shook up the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, either.

Guardians of the Galaxy

I was really, really surprised by how much I liked this movie.  I wasn’t expecting much, but man was it just great.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

The first How to Train Your Dragon was a surprise to me in how good it was.  This was a continuation of that goodness, with very little to dislike (if anything).  I maintain that this and the Kung Fu Panda franchises are Dreamworks’ best.

The LEGO Movie

In addition to being a good movie, it also inspired a How It Should Have Ended video with Batman singing “Everything Is Batman.”  That alone is enough for me.  Also the “Lego Batman is Jelly” HISHE.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

I saw this twice at the theater.  I was so looking forward to it that I went once by myself and then again with my wife two days later.  I’m glad Bryan Singer is directing these again.

– Other movies I enjoyed –

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

This was my least favorite of the Spider-Man films—I even liked Spider-Man 3 more—but I have a soft spot in my heart for (almost) anything Spidey.  I think Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were great together, and the interactions between them with Peter and Gwen often reminded me of (500) Days of Summer, director Marc Webb’s first feature film—one of my all-time favorite movies.  I thought that the entire Electro character and plot could have been excised with very little script change, and would have made the movie better for it.  I also would have accepted a far less goofy interpretation of Max Dillon.

Batman: Assault on Arkham

This was third of DC’s direct-to-DVD films in 2014, and from the trailer I saw and reviews I read I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.  I generally enjoy most of DC’s animated stuff.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

From 2013.  The first Cloudy was surprisingly enjoyable.  The second was more of the same, though I wish Mr. T had again voiced the policeman.

Don Jon

From 2013.  This movie is definitely not for everyone, with its rather frank depiction of pornography addiction and its effect on normal relationships.  I found it to be a great movie though, with a fantastic message.  The cast is also pretty stellar, and it’s an impressive feat for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s first directorial effort.

Edge of Tomorrow

I kept reading about how great this movie was, the surprise of the summer, etc.  The trailers looked interesting, if not especially promising.  I like Tom Cruise as an actor, and so I got it from Netflix when it hit Blu-ray.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

From 2013.  Having a better expectation of what I was getting into after watching An Unexpected Journey, I was able to enjoy The Desolation of Smaug that much more.  The extended edition improved on the film also, with each addition being welcome, except probably the stuff with the Master of Laketown.  The Tauriel/Kili love story was a bit silly.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

This was easily my least favorite of the Hobbit trilogy, and I really hope the inevitable extended edition makes up for that.  The character moments were mostly pretty good, anything with Alfrid was invariably awful, and the battles went on far too long.  Also, Dain’s dialogue seemed really out of place in Middle Earth.  Really, most of the non-Tolkien dialogue seemed out of place, far more than in any of the other five Middle Earth films.  I really think that two movies should have been enough for The Hobbit, but it was apparently not meant to be.  Still, I enjoyed it for what it was, I suppose.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

These have been fun adaptations of the book series so far, and I hope the Mockingjay installments keep up the trend.

Muppets Most Wanted

This wasn’t as fun as 2011’s The Muppets, but it was still quite enjoyable.  Most things Muppets never get old.  Bonus: Tina Fey.

RED 2

From 2013.  As with the first RED, I don’t remember the plot, just that I enjoyed it.

Snowpiercer

From 2013.  I was really excited to see this as I kept reading about how great it was, plus Chris Evans is pretty good in everything I’ve seen him in.  I saw it once it came to Netflix streaming and I thought it was pretty interesting, though not up to the level of hype I had encountered.

22 Jump Street

I watched 21 Jump Street for the first time earlier in 2014.  It was really funny, and not just stupid funny.  This was more of the same.

The Wind Rises

From 2013.  This is Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, and it was very enjoyable, as are most of his (and the other Studio Ghibli films I’ve seen).

– Movies that made me say “meh” –

Divergent

The past several years have produced several young adult dystopian future novel adaptations.  This one was okay, but it’s no Hunger Games.

Godzilla

This movie was well made and, I think, well received.  It was just not my kind of movie.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

I like Chris Pine and Keira Knightley.  They were great together.  This just felt like a generic action/spy thriller, and less like what I expect a Jack Ryan film to be (e.g. Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger).

Noah

I thought that this film was well made and perfectly serviceable, with a good cast.  But meh.

Now You See Me

From 2013.  The cast was pretty good, though I really didn’t like Jesse Eisenberg in this one.  Maybe it was just his character.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

From the end of 2013.  This movie was perfectly adequate, quite nice to look at in some spots. and occasionally imaginative.  The ending felt pretty forced and unrealistic, though.

Transcendence

Looked interesting, turned out meh.

– 2014 movies I haven’t seen yet that I hope are good, or at least not terrible –

Big Hero 6

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dumb and Dumber To

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Posted by grassmonk on 29 Dec 2014 in Media | No Comments →

Media Update July – October 2014

July

Books

  • The Runes of the Earth

Movies

  • Hercules
  • The Monuments Men
  • Tarzan
  • Your Highness

TV

  • Animaniacs – 15 episodes
  • Dollhouse – 26 episodes
  • The Guild – 2 episodes/seasons
  • Major Crimes – 5 episodes

Video Games

  • Pikmin 3

August

Books

  • Fatal Revenant
  • Against All Things Ending

Movies

  • Batman: Assault on Arkham
  • Clerks
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Muppets Most Wanted
  • Noah
  • Toy Story
  • Toy Story 2
  • Toy Story 3

TV

  • Animaniacs – 10 episodes
  • Dexter – 14 episodes
  • Go On – 2 episodes
  • Major Crimes – 2 episodes
  • Toy Story of Terror!

September

Books

  • The Last Dark

Movies

  • The Batman vs. Dracula
  • The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • Mary Poppins
  • Serenity
  • Transcendence

TV

  • The Big Bang Theory – 2 episodes
  • Dexter – 20 episodes
  • Firefly – 14 episodes
  • Go On – 20 episodes
  • Gotham – 1 episode
  • Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 1 episode

October

Movies

  • Animaniacs: Wakko’s Wish
  • Bandits
  • 007: The Living Daylights
  • 007: License to Kill
  • 007: GoldenEye
  • 007: Tomorrow Never Dies
  • 007: The World Is Not Enough
  • 007: Die Another Day
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Elektra
  • 50 First Dates
  • Flight of the Navigator
  • Follow That Bird
  • Get Smart
  • Hook
  • The Italian Job
  • Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • The Majestic
  • National Treasure
  • National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
  • Now You See Me
  • Ponyo
  • Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
  • Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
  • The Princess Bride
  • Salt
  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
  • The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
  • Speed Racer
  • Stranger Than Fiction
  • Superman vs. The Elite
  • Super Mario Bros.
  • TMNT

TV

  • The Big Bang Theory – 4 episodes
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
  • Castle – 3 episodes
  • Dexter – 24 episodes
  • Homeland – 4 episodes
  • Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 5 episodes

Video Games

  • DuckTales: Remastered
  • Pikmin 2
Posted by grassmonk on 2 Nov 2014 in Media | No Comments →