Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

IMDB Storyline: Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O'Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan.

My Thoughts: Let me first say that this movie is not a bad movie. It is just not a movie that you should spend money on. I have always been a Turtles fan. I had the posters, action figures, played the video games, and quoted the movies. I was at first sad to hear that Michael Bay got his hands on another one of my childhood memories but I was willing to have an open mind. Then I realized that I was being foolish for getting my hopes up and after seeing this movie, I know that I was right in thinking that nothing good was going to come of this remake. 

Spoiler Filled Rant: 

My Gripes: Here is a list of problems I had with the movie. Megan Fox did not sell it as April O'Neil. She just was not believable. Plus they had her riding a bike through New York City which I did not believe. The writers wanted us to believe that as a child April ran into her father's lab to save the turtles and Splinter but left her father to die in the fire. What little girl will not be freaking out about her father dying? C'mon! This brings me into my next gripe. If the turtles and Splinter were raised in a lab then we miss out on all the background story of Splinter and Shredder. Now Splinter learned Ninjitsu from a book, are you serious! Ugh! Why does Splinter looked like a hairless rat. His whole look is wrong and down right creepy. 

How can they make us believe that the turtles are teenagers. They are freakishly big. They are not believable. Also they apparently have super strength which allows them to throw shipping containers like they are soda cans. Plus they are able to tumble down a mountain and fly into Hummers and walk away from it. Oh and they can hold onto humans during this without the humans having a scratch on them. Really!!!

Spoiler Rant Done 

The movie is rated PG13 but there was a violent fight that had a UFC feel to it without the blood. I would not recommend bringing the kids as it pushes the envelope with the violence. Overall I say do not pay for this movie. Check it out when it is on Netflix.

If you checked out the movie, what were your thoughts?

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

Resident Evil Remastered

Hey Everyone,

I am sure all of you have read my Gamer Corner and if you did you know that my favorite game of all time is Resident Evil. It was recently confirmed by Capcom that Resident Evil 1 will be remastered for Xbox One/360, PS4/3 and PC. The game will be available for digital download in 2015. I am sure you will be happy to know that Xbox One, PS4, and PC will have 1080p visuals while the other consoles will be 720p.

You will have also have the chance to play the game in 16:9 widescreen. The sad thing is that the version will be based on the 2002 Gamecube remake. This makes me sad. I wanted the original PS version but I will take it.

What are your thoughts on this game being remastered?

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

The Walking Dead Vol 21: All out War pt. 2

Amazon Summary: The World we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to start living. Alexandria has been destroyed. Can Rick rally the other communities against Negan's army? This second part of the game-changing "All Out War" story arc collects The Walking Dead #121-126.

My Thoughts: Okay first I must say my thoughts contain spoilers so if you have not read this yet or watch the show and do not want spoilers from the graphic novel turn away now. I understand the show is not following the graphic novel directly but just in case. You have been warned. 

All out War pt. 1 caused you to cheer for the females. We have Andrea surviving a near fatal beating. You have Maggie finally standing up and taking charge. It was nice to see this after the brutal death of Glenn. Then we have Michonne kicking Ezekial for being weak. The women ran that volume. This volume was a very quick read. It was sad to see a people die but I must be honest for the name of the volume I was hoping for more bloodshed. I think Kirkman may have made me bloodthirsty. The volume ends on a good note with everyone rallied behind Rick and the evil Neegan defeated. This made me sad that there was not more of a fight. I will miss Lucille as she was a great addition to the madness.Frankly, the whole situation wrapped up way too quickly in this volume. I was hoping for me and found myself feeling empty by the end of this volume.

What did you think of this volume?

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

Teen Wolf S4, Ep. 7 "Weaponized" Recap

Important Moments: Episode starts in a lab with a werewolf that appears to be experimented on and dying. A guy plays a tape from the benefactor on how to receive payment for killing. Stiles does not believe that they should give the money Scott found back to Derek because it will go back to Peter. Derek decides to take Braeden to the hospital. Deaton is attacked at the shelter by Satomi but it is more for show. Lydia's mom finds that the coach is passed out drunk. Apparently he has been 15 years sober but fell off the wagon. The scooby gang is taking the PSATs. Mrs. Martin notices one of the girls has a weird rash growing on her arm. She checks the coach and finds the same rash. She promptly calls the CDC. (In the wake of the craziness that is the Ebola virus, this makes me slightly uncomfortable). 

The CDC shuts down the school. That's a bit silly. What about the others that were exposed prior to the test. The guy from the beginning is administering the test and is beyond creepy. Satomi brought in a werewolf that is sick. Deaton takes the wolf to Mrs. McCall. There is a virus designed to kill werewolves. Scott is now infected and can no longer control himself because of the infection. It is distemper that is weaponized to hurt werewolves. Welp, that is the reason for the name of the episode. 

Lydia is back at the lake house with all of Meredith's belongings. She spreads out all the stuff and begins to play the creepy record. She begins talking to the record as if she is talking to Meredith. Lydia apologizes for not helping Meredith. She however notices a picture of Meredith that appears to have been taken in the room that Lydia is in at the lake house. Scott and Malia are having problems controlling the wolf. They all decide to hide in the Hale vault. I am not sure that is the smartest move. Deaton and Mrs. McCall work on getting an antidote. Stiles takes great care of Malia. He is able to figure out that it is another assassin. Lydia shows up saying that someone will die in the school. The cure to the sickness is in the vault. It is a very rare tea that Satomi used to drink with Derek's mother. 

All the humans are waking up and seem to be doing a lot better. The assassin has the gun up to Stiles head. He wants him to tell him where the rest of the Scooby Gang is. As he is about to shoot Stiles in the head, he ends up shot in head by Mr. McCall in a hazmat suit. Satomi and Derek about to leave the hospital as an assassin comes out of the elevator shooting. Satomi is smooth and cool and kills the girl. Stiles breaks down outside of the vault door as he cannot get in to get the antidote to his friends. It is quite emotional as you have Scott on one side of the door and Stiles on the other. Scott is able to work up enough strength to knock the jar off the shelf. They all inhale the fumes from the jar. Everyone is healed but Malia is upset with Stiles for not telling her about Peter. She sees her name on the list with her last name being Hale.

My Thoughts: Okay so we who is the benefactor? We still do not know but I hope that they do not make it someone lame. We have constant references to Derek's mother. Are we sure that she is really dead?

Lydia and Meredith were both at the lake house. I hope that we get more of Meredith's story. How long has the lake house been in Lydia's family. Are we sure Meredith isn't related somehow? Lydia really needs to do more research about being a banshee. She needs to learn really what she is. I look forward to next week's episode. 

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

True Blood S7 Ep.7 “May Be The Last Time”

Recap: Sarah’s sister slips and tells Pam and Eric that Sarah is the cure to Hep-V.  Eric kills her when she won’t tell them where Sarah is.  Mr. Gus locates Sarah.  Sarah has been hallucinating and thinks that her past lovers are haunting her. 

Andy and Holly go looking for Adilyn and Wade.  Meanwhile, Adilyn and Wade are left to experiment in Violet’s house full of sex toys.  Andy blames himself for Adilyn running away.  Later, Violet ties Adilyn and Wade up to lure Jessica to her. 

Bill’s Hep-V virus is spreading fast.  Sookie refuses to accept that Bill is dying.  Bill has flashbacks of when his father was dying and his marriage was arranged.  Sookie brings Dr. Ludwig to Bill’s house.  Dr. Ludwig hurries out of there when she realizes Sookie is related to Niall.  Sookie tries to get answers about her family line from Niall.  He tells her that magic cannot heal Bill.  Sookie vows to stay by Bill’s side. 

Hoyt returns to Bon Temps with his girlfriend.  Jason joins them for breakfast at Bellefleur’s.  He still doesn’t remember Jason since he was glamoured to forget.  Jason takes them to see Hoyt’s mother’s body.  He lies and tells Hoyt that his mother was not one of the vigilantes.  

Sam discusses the thought of leaving Bon Temps with Arlene.  Lettie  Mae and Lafayette start digging in the front yard of her old house.

Review: Violet’s revenge plan is starting to take form.  I figured Sookie would end up sleeping with Bill again.  I guess they think it may be the last time since he is dying.  I wonder if there is really anything to find where Lafayette and Lettie Mae are digging.

This week’s episode dragged on a bit.  Can Violet get her revenge already?!

My question this week is: Is anyone else kind of over Sookie and Bill?

Please let me know what your comments or thoughts are.

Veronica Fitzpatrick

Twitter: @RonnieLauren

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

The Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2014 film based on a Marvel Comic Series that began in 1968 and had many iterations. The Movie is based on the 2008 comic book version. The creation of the movie was a large risk for Marvel due to the lack of a "house hold name" that's established with other well known successful comics then made movie franchises like Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man which eventually financed the 2012 Block Buster The Avengers. The risk however paid off as it was recently announced that next movie was approved for a 2016 release (even before the global release of #1).

The movie stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bahustista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as a bunch of criminals who take on moral responsibility to save the universe. The movie is never slow pace and keeps you giggling throughout as these misfits learn to trust one another and become a team even more like a family. There are many things to like about Guardians. Its a family movie, meaning kids will love the characters, their many colors, being aliens, and all the sidebar jokes. 

Vin Diesel is off the charts as the Tree Thug Named Groot. However, The coolest part for most is the role Bradley Cooper has as Rocket Raccoon. For Marvel to bring this adored character to life and have him being the Tech Head, Weapons Expert, and Thug (yes a 3 foot thug) was impressive. The sound track is a step back in memory lane and songs from the 70s are played throughout the movie. You find yourself humming, heck singing along each time a song is played. This may be the first movie I went that singing with laughing out loud will not get you thrown out the theater. Marvel kept to the tradition that makes the Guardians a very unique group of heroes. That should make all the Fan Boys and Girls very happy! I was hoping this movie would do well and be fun! My son, the audience, and I were not disappointed. I highly recommend seeing The Guardians even if you are not a comic buff because it does not matter. The movie is a fun ride that once it starts you don't want it to end. Go see it because you will be glad you did.

Post by James A Crittenden

PS I attached the Gif of the original team formed in 1968 just FYI 

Vikki's Thoughts: Thank you James for sharing your thoughts. I just wanted to add that Groot is officially my hero. This movie was a surprise. It was not as kiddy as I thought it was going to be and it surprised me how well done it was. It may not have been a well known group but by the end of the movie you felt like you have known these characters all along. I look forward to the sequel and I hope for more of these types of movies being released *cough* Midnight Sons *cough*. Best part of the movie is the mini-Groot. I want one! 

S/N: There is a zinger at the end so please stay after the credits. 3 words: Howard the Duck!