Book Review-Follow the Money: A Month in the Life of A Ten-Dollar Bill (Steve Roggan, 2012)

Follow the Money by Steve Roggan was an interesting book to read but not for the reasons that I thought it was going to be. This book follows a brief period in the life of Steve Roggan, an English reporter who decides to follow a US ten-dollar bill for a month. He had done something similar in the UK with a ten-pound note before he decided to go on this adventure across the United State of America.

In the introduction to this book, Steve Roggan briefly recounts his adventures following the ten-pound note in the UK, including all the weird and wacky things that were done in his presence. This set my expectations up for a bit of a thrill ride for this book. Instead, the author decides to use the book to highlight the hopes and struggles for the people that he becomes close with during his travels.

This change in focus kept my attention. For the most part, Steve highlights the ordinary people he meets during his travels across America. Some of my favourites included the talented pub musician who was too scared to take a chance with his music while trying to keep his family together and a farming couple that lived in a dying country town. Rather than a swashbuckling adventure through America that I expected following the introduction these stories instead highlighted a much mellower journey through the lives of the ordinary people.

Steve Roggan was also a good judge of how long to keep each of these segments before they start to drag. With the exception of one or two of the people he meets, he keeps the pace of the book up and moves onto writing about the next leg of his journey before my interest in his story waned. However, he kept writing about his fears of losing the ten-dollar bill so often that I got pretty bored during those parts as I felt it was a given that it is a risky journey. It started to come across as either a space-filler or him whining like a child.

Overall, this book was highly enjoyable. Although not quite the book I was expecting, it still kept me entertained (with the exception of his whining) with a very mellow journey through the lives of fairly ordinary Americans.

4 out of 5 cross-country waffles.

 
20 years after Alan Partridge first appeared in BBC Radio's On the Hour. Now Coogan revisits his enduring TV character for a big-screen action-comedy Alan Partridge Alpha Papa. Movie that knowingly skewers British media and culture, also relentlessly hilarious and deeply embarrassing in that british kind of way.

 
Alan works his mouth at that Norfolk radio station with his ‘Mid-Morning Matters’ slot. But its an uneasy time at Norfolk radio station as corporate takeover has happened. This of course means a new rebrand for the radio station to make it seem cool and edgy. Alan becomes aware that either he or longtime colleague Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney) are set for sacking. In typical Alan Partridge style he betrays his would-be pal to the new owners to protect his own job.
Unhappy with his firing Pat (who looks a bit like that bloke off Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) goes slight postal and breaks in with rifle at his side during the rebranding party. He takes the current staff and the new management hostage, and demands a return to the old-fashioned public service outfit. Pat is a decent man driven to the edge. Still believing Alan as a trusted pal he asks for Alan to be his link to the authorities and the general public.
As the siege becomes national interests Alan increasing ego grows along with his celebrity status. Alan only sees the possibility of promotion and new fame by acting as Pat's spokesman.While he and Pat broadcast the siege with coffee and chit chat. Alan mounting fear of Pat finding out the truth leads to an amusing sequence of Alan losing his trousers and chance of defusing the siege.
Alan Partridge is what die hard 6 should have been. A low-fi situation where the main protagonist can't quite rise to the challenge. But we love watching him try. Intriguingly for a comedy, there's a real sense of danger and tension with some great physical comedy.

It's the dialog that really shine with paralysing oddness and laughter. Every phrase is funny, as are the pauses and facial expressions inserted by the adept cast. Much of it springs from each person's specific neurosis. Coogan gives a seamless performance that creates a believable buffoon: a loser who isn't actually stupid. Just gets his metaphors mixed when flustered. Seems to get easily distracted by all kinds of tiny business. Once you just take in the hilarity of his view of the world, Alapa Papa becoming an hilarious movie about what was better in the old days. 

Give the hollywood action blockbuster a rest. Forget Wolverine with his knives and forks for hands. Watch a real man in action movie slash comedy. And give Alan Partridge Alpha Papa a chance. 
4 out of 5 I am siege face ! waffles

Movie Review: The Lone Ranger (2013)

The Lone Ranger movie that was released earlier this year is a re-imagining of the old Lone Ranger mythos. It garnered quite allot of attention for casting Johnny Depp as a Native American and received quite a critical backlash on release. Although I can see why this movie was critically panned, I still found it to be entertaining while it lasted.

The storyline of the Lone Ranger is a bit of a schizophrenic mess. The story is effectively Tonto telling of his adventures to a young boy in a museum, so some of this can come off as an unreliable or biased narrator. The story begins with The Lone Ranger arriving into town as an attorney and an inept action hero who doesn't believe in guns. No real reason is established for his extreme dislike of guns. He is also in the shadows of his heroic ranger brother which is built up to be a big thing, but is then forgotten about except as a running gag with Tonto. When he is killed but brought back, it might have been because of a mystical, intelligent horse, or just because of luck. When he comes back, he is a “spirit walker” and therefore can’t die in battle, except it might just be random luck saving his life. Without any sort of consistent theme, the story struggled to get out of first gear as it kept jumping between what was central to the plot.

The movie also struggled to find a consistent tone. It often alternated between trying to be a serious action movie and then have elements of slapstick comedy. This is no more apparent than in a sequence where you witness a massacre, and the next scene appears to be a somber reflection by Tonto until he makes a joke about the horse. This was also a problem with the characters, as the big events that you would think would lead to character development (such as the aforementioned massacre) don’t really affect the characters too much. Even finding out more about their history and the mistakes in their lives doesn't the characters anymore interesting. Instead, it feels like it was only put in there because the writers needed to actually give the characters some development, although it never seems to affect any of their actions.

Despite this, it was refreshing that the movie didn't make the mistake of taking itself too seriously for the most part. It did realise that its main appeal is as slapstick comedy with some out-there action scenes. In fact, it is only when the movie does try to become dark and broody that it really starts to drag out. I can see why the critics would savage the movie due to the mess of a storyline, inconsistent tone and complete lack of character development, but it did keep me entertained for its running length.

2 out of 5 Wendingo-killing waffles.

Battling Boy is a bombastic coming of age adventure that fuses Eastern and Western graphic novel storytelling. Imagine if someone mixed "Scott Pilgrim" with "Adventure Time" then added a dash of "Cowboy BeBop". This is a genre-blend that's easily identifiable. The story is a simple coming of age adventure story that mixes up the superhero formula. It achieves this by throwing in some Greek and Norse mythology, giant monsters and jet pack pulp heroes. These are all things that can only improve any story they are added to.




Battle Boy is set in Arcopolis, a sprawling city which is under siege by hideous monster and terrorized by gangs of ghouls. The only person keeping it safe is Haggard West, a flying science hero with a blaster, similar to The Rocketeer. That is until his unfortunate death in the first few pages. Haggard leaves behind a city without a protector and a daughter devastated by loss. Meanwhile in another dimension, above the clouds and among the stars themselves live the gods. This is where we meet our main protagonist Battling Boy (yes that is his real name), the son of the bravest god. On this his thirteenth year he must now prove himself on a "ramble" - a solo adventure through which he will come of age. He’s sent down to Arcopolis with a suitcase full of magical knic-knacks including a totem-infused t-shirt to a limitless credit card. But will Battling Boy be the rescuer of Arcopolis, or he will be slain by its monsters.Even though Battling boy is a son of a god, this doesn't mean he can't be ground. Like all young adults he’s still figuring out who he is and what he’s capable off. He also has to battle the influence of adult that show signs of using him for something more than a protector.

 
Pope’s artwork is amazingly stylish and kinetic. His distinctive style is deceptively simple and messy on the surface. At times you see the influence of Jack Kirby in his character designs, Hergé in his bizarre backgrounds and cityscapes, Katsuhiro Otomo in his energy. Paul infused all of this into his own pure sexiness, all while pumping up the raw power.

Pope’s story is wonderfully realized at the end of volume one and I wish I had volume two already. Battling Boy feels like a mix-tape of all things cool created by a master of his craft.


4.5 totem-infused waffles out of 5

Retro Review: Monsters, Inc.

With the advent of sequels, reboots and prequels seeming to be everywhere these days, I thought I would share my thoughts on Pixars original Monsters Inc., which recently had a prequel released in Monsters University.

The story of Monsters Inc. is that there is an alternate dimension of monsters. The energy that these monsters need to run their city is based on the screams of children when they are scared. In order to scare them, the monsters emerge from doorway portals into the childrens world to scare them. This is a dwindling resource, however, as kids are becoming harder to scare.

The monsters are also scared of the kids. This is because they fear contamination from the kids which propaganda leads them to believe will kill them. The story follows two monsters, Mike and Sully, who inadvertently leave a kid come into the monsters world. Along the monsters grow attached to the kids, discover the propaganda was wrong and foil a conspiracy from the big corporations.

I liked the banter between the Mike and Sully. It really felt light-hearted and goofy and exactly what you would’ve expected. I also liked the chameleon/snake villain and the way he spoke, as well as the scream factories boss and the way he looked. Both of them felt really villainy, even if a bit generic. Also I liked that all the characters motivations were clear. You always understood where they were coming from in terms of the competition to get more scares, trying to save the company or to help the renegade child. I feel that characters whose motivations you can understand, especially villains, make for much more interesting characters.

I felt like the conspiracy from the villains could’ve been done better. I don’t get why kidnapping the children to use a scream extractor had to be kept a secret especially seeing as dwindling resources was a major problem in the film. Why the boss is immediately arrested for stating he would kidnap children is something I didn't understand.

It was also never explained why they had the propaganda to keep the monsters scared of the children as this feels like it just hamstrung the monsters effectiveness. I may have also just missed this, however. Also, the overall solution of laughter being much more powerful then screams didn’t figure as prominently into the climax as I would have expected. It just seemed to be tacked onto the end to make it feel good seeing as the company was about to go bankrupt. I understand the ending where the energy shortage gets worse and unemployment rises may have been a bit too dark for this movie, but it still felt very tacked on.

Overall, I have to say that I didn't find this movie particularly engaging compared to movies such as Up or Wall-E. Although the characters motivations were clear, the actual characters felt a bit too generic and the plot a tad too predictable. Movies like the Avengers got away with this for me due to the awesomeness of them pulling it off. In Monsters, Inc, I didn’t have the same level of investment in the characters.

I also don’t feel this movie needed a prequel. Although the story felt generic, I still felt it was adequate and pretty much self-contained. I didn’t feel a pressing desire to see how they all got together to be work buddies, and they already showed part of them being trained. In my mind, a prequel serving to show how Mike and Sully became generic characters kind-of misses the point.

3 out of 5 not-so-scary Waffles.

The Counselor

The Players- Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott (Alien) and Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men).
 
Their Mission- To recreate what it would feel like to be stuck in a room with a bunch of philosophy students while Breaking Bad was playing in the background.
 
Their Weapon of Choice- Being nice, polite and well-dressed.

 
THE COUNSELOR is simple story once you look it up on IMDB. A nameless lawyer (Fassbender), madly in love with his fiancée Laura (Cruz), is seeking to provide for her and give her the life she deserves. He decides to get in a once-and-I'm-out deal: namely, to get involved in a venture dealing with twenty million dollars worth of drugs being ferried to the States from Mexico.

Much like Ridley Scott’s other mess of a movie, Prometheus, the script clearly needed be broken down and rebuilt from the ground up in order to function. It felt like putting two very different sensibilities, those of its author, Cormac McCarthy, and its director, Ridley Scott, together and hoping for magic. Instead you discover not even bacon can make broccoli delicious, unless the pig ate the broccoli beforehand.
 
What you get is a whole movie where you just watch a group of decent, polite well-dressed people trying to function like Shakespearean gangsta. As a viewer you feel distanced from the movie because you don't have a clue what is happening or why. I could complain of ponderous dialogue, but the movie didn't really have dialogue. It just felt like people making boring statements. The only interesting moment in the movie is where Cameron Diaz has sex with a car. This was not the awesome kind of interesting, but more the “What the hell did I just watch?”.
 
Never have I wanted to turn my phone on so much in a cinema. Angry Birds has a more engaging story. The vanilla plot ticks over mechanically towards a destination that was never in doubt, while the so called dialogue strives to be profound. You’ll spend more time wondering where these character got there outlandish outfits. The Counselor is just a terrible movie unless you like the idea of seeing good actors do Shakespeare if it was performed by William Shatner.


1 out of 5 well-dressed waffles.

Book Review- A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler (1998)

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler is, in my opinion, an attempt to write a story from the point of view of someone who never takes responsibility or accepts the consequences for his actions. In this respect, it is very successful in what it sets out to achieve providing a story that is compelling, for the most part.

The main character of this book is Barnaby. Barnaby is a thirty-year old divorced father. He hasn’t graduated college and every time he takes up night school he always stops going. He is the son of a wealthy and successful family but has a criminal history when he was a young kid. A Patchwork Planet feels like it takes a part of his life and tells about what happens to him, specifically from when he first sees his love-interest, Sophia. He is also our narrator for this book.


At the start of the book, you have the feeling that he is suffering from a string of bad luck. From his perspective, the reader is told about him running late for his weekly visit with his child because his car has broken down and he has to catch the train, which is running late. However, as the book keeps going, it slowly becomes obvious that this isn’t a string of bad luck but rather him not accepting the responsibility and consequences of his actions through-out his life. This becomes more apparent as he continues to make excuses about why he hasn’t finished college, why he doesn’t save more money, and why he is always running late. In this respect he reminded me of an unreliable narrator. If you just take the world from his point of view, he is never in the wrong. 

However, Anne Tyler was careful to make Barnaby a very likable character. His job involved helping senior citizens and those not able-bodied enough to do their own housework with the house work. This is a job that he has allot of pride for. He also generally behaves as an easy-going person and treats those he works with kindly.


As interesting as this book is, the style of writing starts to drag towards the end. It becomes predictable that he is going to wreck something, take no responsibility then try to fix it without understanding the consequences of his actions. It also felt like you found out things about Barnaby, Sophia and the rest of the cast as it becomes important. I felt that this was because Anne Tyler wanted it to feel like a portion of his life and so tried to let things come up organically. However, this ended up feeling like his history was just made-up for convenience to try and explain a characters actions.

This book was enjoyable at the start but the tension and character development started to feel very predictable and formulaic towards the end. It also would have been good if the characters history was revealed a bit earlier so that I wasn’t left guessing at their motivations. As an unreliable narrator, Anne Tyler writes Barnaby very effectively and it was a good choice for her to make him a character that the reader would want to like before all his flaws slowly become apparent.

3.5 out of 5 poor-excuses for waffles.

Movie Review- Captain Phillips

What would happen if you took an average sea captain and put him in an extraordinary situation. This is what the plot of Captain Phillips feels like. Tom Hanks is the major star and plays the titular captain as his boat is boarded by Somali pirates and take him hostage. This movie was based on a true event, although I have read they have taken some liberties with the story for the purpose of drama.

This movie begins by following both Captain Phillips and a Somali pirate crew as they each go about their lives. It quickly becomes clear that the movie is portraying them as being on a collision course as the pirates are out looking for cargo ships to make a fortune from and Captain Phillips is captaining one of the said cargo ships. Showing the interactions between Phillips and his crew as well as the vicious way that the Somali pirate becomes the captain of his crew was a good way to highlight the differences between the Americans and Somalians with a very show-don’t-tell policy.

What follows is then a tense encounter between the two captains as Phillips tries to keep his crew safe while the pirates try to find the crew in order to have more hostages to ransom. Phillips achieves his goals through bluffing and his knowledge of the ship, but has to attempt to manage the rising viciousness of the pirate crew as they get more frustrated by the lack of progress in achieving their goals. Eventually the pirate crew make off with the captain as a hostage, and then the United States Navy and the Seals show up. With that, it becomes clear how the skinny Somalian pirates are completely overmatched but have come too far to back out.

This movie reminded me of Argo, and mostly in a good way. This is a movie where the Americans are overpowered and are more focused on staying alive then being action heroes (at least until the climax) and a focus on show-don’t-tell to convey the emotions of the characters and how the plot progresses. There is a tense battle of nerves between the captain and the pirates as both their situations become more and more desperate. The actors used to portray the Captain Phillips, the American crew and the Somali pirates are well chosen and they all manage to convey the emotions that they are feeling.



Overall I found Captain Phillips a highly enjoyable movie. At no point in the two-plus hours of it’s running time did I feel bored as I was caught up in the tension of the crew. From the inevitable collision of the two crews to the climax the film kept a good pace mixing anticipation and suspence-heavy pauses with keeping the plot moving forward.

4 Somalian pirates out of 5.

Thor: The Dark World

Marvel has done an excellent job of concisely summing up the vast mythology of a comic-book character who hails from Norse mythology and is armed with magical weaponry as difficult to pronounce as it is to spell. I left feeling that Marvel really should have done more of that with The Dark World.

The Dark World begins with a prologue of how Thor’s grandfather lead the Asgardian armies to defeat Armageddon-happy dark- (or possibly just emo-) elf Malekith and save the universe from certain darkness. Gramps wasn't thinking very hard that day and decided to hide the villains evil weapon where no one could find it. That is until love sick Jane Foster and, with the help of her merry science friends, happens upon a portal that leads Jane to said ancient evil called ‘The Aether’. This then awakens the villainous Malekith from his deep sleep to once again bring darkness to the universe. But you have to give full credit to the Asgardians as they at least left it in a cave as opposed to plain sight. Just imagine a world where a major character in this movie didn’t happen to stumble across this magical plot device.


The problem is that you never truly understand Malekith’s motives as they are just so plain. All he wants is to turn out the light in the universe. The movie suffers from this lack of conflict. Thor and his Scooby- gang never felt like they were in any immediate danger. Sure they lose a few battles and Asgard get its first beat down in god knows how long, but none of this felt like it had many lasting consequences. The movie did, however, succeed in making you forget to worry about this as the interpersonal relationship between Thor and his family was enjoyable to watch. Honestly the movie’s best moments are the brotherly interactions between Thor and Loki. Watching them squabble with each other brought some much needed life to the movie. I could watch a whole movie dedicated to this kind of Lethal Weapon-type buddy-cop drama set in space with magic and Vikings and Bazooka’s!.

Once again the romance between Thor and Jane never takes off. It’s rather awkward and dull, and the movie actually could have done with a love triangle between Thor,Jane and Lady Sif to spice things up. They hint at this possibility only to completely drop it in favor of keeping the chemistry-less pairing of Thor and Jane to grate on my nerves.

The action scene are competent and more visionary this time round. With new director Alan Taylor bringing a more naturalistic approach, the fight scenes have a grittiness that serve the story well. This was often achieved by positioning the camera right in the heart of battle. Thor’s charming yet slightly goofy sense of humor was used well and Jane Foster’s scientific intern Darcy, played by Kat Dennings, landed some great one liners.

 Thor is an entertaining movie. Director Alan Taylor puts together some good action sequences, which are slightly hampered by a weak story and chemistry-less coupling of Thor and Jane. The personal clashing of Thor and Loki pulls the movie forward all while delivering an amusing space adventure (with Vikings). Also the cameo from a certain "Avenger" was absolute gold.

Something 3.5 out of 5 Meow-meow Waffles

This Is The End Review

If you've seen Superbad or Pineapple Express then you know the type of humour that is present in This Is The End. This movie is best summarized as Seth Rogen and his SuperFriends at the peak of their comedic skills, which makes it a brilliant apocalyptic meta comedy.

 The plot set-up is that while the world outside foes up in flames, Seth Rogen and his super-friends all take refuge in James Franco's fortress of a mansion. Cabin fever sets in when their supply stocks begin to dwindle. This results in a steady stream of hilarious situations and good one liners. The banter in this film between the actors is sharp and humorous. You’ll find yourself drawn into the conversations and interactions between the actors more than plot itself. The way the characters are reduced to infant children is gold. The interactions between the actors were hilarious and watching some of the biggest players in the comedy world take bites out of each other was amazing to watch. It feels genuinely intimate and  knowing the characters that these people tend to play makes the experience that much more enjoyable to behold.

  

As always, James Franco lends a cool, hip quality to the gross-out humor, Craig Robinson is effortless in his timing and delivery and Jay Baruchel plays the straight man to near-perfection. But it is Danny McBride who steals the show with some of the best lines in the movie. Then there are the cameos by Michael Cera who plays a crack addict and Hermione laying the smack down. I also will not be able to look at Channing Tatum the same way in any other movie I see him in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, at the halfway mark of the movie, things do slow down a bit and I found myself getting a little bored. It would have been good if they had more of these cameos throughout the movie to spice things up. Eventually, the SuperFriends leave the safety of Franco’s fortress-mansion. When this happens, the pace of the movie feels like it picks up and it rushes to the end rather quickly.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the hilarious performances and interactions between the characters in this movie. Its use of the biblical apocalypse was great background for a comedy. In the end the movie is all about bro ship with allot of pop culture references, which I totally loved.

3 golden maple surplus drenched waffles out of 5.

Video Game Review: Pokemon X and Pokemon Y (Nintendo 3DS)

 
After 15 years of capturing crazy critters, Pokemon X and Y finally shows some minor evolutions in gameplay, visuals and story. Nintendo and Game Freak seem to have acquired a new weapon, possibly a stick lying around their offices, to beat an old horse with. Nintendo might have also possibly painted this horse up as a Rapidash. So on that note, we move onto what we thought about the latest iteration of this classic gaming franchise.

Gameplay:





The core gameplay of Pokemon remains the same in that you still capture (or trade) monsters called Pokemon to then battle other trainers and wild Pokemon. The difference between this game and the previous games is that their felt like there was a big focus on keeping the pace and progress up. The game definitely does not feel as challenging as it predecessors, but things like being able to use TM’s (to teach Pokemon new moves) as much as you want and poison not affecting you outside of battle did feel like welcome changes, however.

The menu system suffers from unnecessary navigation. Even the simplest tasks feel cumbersome as you have to choose from one or two sub-menus. It’s like Windows Vista, asking you unnecessary steps and commands of “are you sure” in order to do anything.

Pokemon X and Y also feels like it misses allot of opportunities. Sky Battles are just like normal battles but with flying types only, and why can’t you ever chose to have double Pokémon battles in the single player campaign. The online features are excellent. Trading and battling online has a fair few options for those who feel inclined to go online and give it a go.

Visuals


The 3D effects felt very underused. Navigating around the world maps was mostly done in 2D, while the battle animations and cut-scenes were done in 3D. It was nice to see the battles play out in 3D, especially seeing as the Pokemon are animated as opposed to the sprites they used to be. The battles are more consistent with Pokemon Colosseum for the Nintendo 64 and we finally get to see the ass-end of all our favourite Pokemon in glorious 3D. Battles still look like two lifeless hessian sacks with eyes drawn on standing around and throwing party streamers at each other until one of them falls over.

The towns felt like they lacked variety. All the towns felt, for the most part, interchangeable. All the towns had the same-looking Pokemon Centre, Cafe and Boutique shop. The exception is the large, Paris-esque type city in the middle. Here, as in several other areas, the viewpoint switches to a third-person view. These sections were very confusing to navigate and I try to avoid the main city whenever I can.

The new Pokemon are, like previous generations, a mixed bag. Some of them look cool, some of them look lame, and some of them look like they asked a toddler to draw a squiggle and then chose a random word to make a new Pokemon. After they turned a keychain into a Pokemon, I felt that they should’ve upgraded from the Toddler to Mr Squiggle.

Story:

Our hero is still a mute who issues commands via his psychic-love attachment to his indentured Pokemon slaves. With this set of unique skills he goes about saving the world from an evil environmental pyramid scheme run by some otherwise nice Canadians. Your absentee mother and father are not too concerned with you playing with these Canadians and you even manage to drag your generic friends (the fat one, the nerdy one, the love interest and the rival) along for the ride.

There is a distinct lack of variety in what you can do with your Pokemon. There aren’t any more beauty contests, not really any side missions and the map and areas to explore feel much smaller and more streamlined than previous Pokemon games. The story is only there to make sure you see the world in all of its non-3D detail.

We found that the story is allot better when you are discussing of the subtext that happens in the story, while drinking expensive rum with your friends. We understand that Pokemon has a specific demographic appeal. Maybe next time instead they can make a kids and adult Pokemon adventure, complete with a date of birth verification.

Overall:

Pokemon is a game that has finally decided to experiment with using crayons to write. It feels like it is too grown up for pencils, but Nintendo has not trusted it with using pens yet. If you liked the previous Pokemon games, this is allot more of the same. It is disappointing that things like character customisation, mega-evolutions, horde and sky battles felt like they weren’t fully thought out. Although there are new Pokemon (including the starters looking half-decent for the first time in a while) and the battle system is still solid fun, it would have been good if the world and story felt a bit fresher and larger.

3.5 mega-evolved waffles out of 5.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR POTENTIAL POKEMON X & Y TRAINERS

1. Always beat little kids and steal their lunch money (especially kindergardeners).

2. Make sure your team is balanced like a Special K breakfast.

3. The story is more enjoyable drunk. Or if you set it to a language you do not speak.

4. Moon Blast is cheap. Using a gun during a Pokemon battle is also cheap.

5. You can’t die. Only feint. But Nurse Joy has ways of making you better.

6. Some Pokemon seem to delight in looking hyper-sexualised. I’m winking at you, Jynx.

7. Choose a television show or game to name your Pokemon after. Or just call all of them Doug.

8. I wonder what would happen if you fell off the hopping rocks. They seem awfully dangerous.

9. Level 2 PIdgey’s have no fear. They will attack you even if you have the legendary Pokemon who created the world.

10. It is important that your relationship with your parents is very disfuntional. Otherwise they might send you to school or care about your future.

The Witching Hour

“The Witching Hour” is a comic anthology that celebrates the supernatural with nine tales which are written and illustrated by some of the biggest names in comics.

The cover, done by the phenomenally talented Jenny Frisson, draws your attention with the promises of nine tales of mystical horror. Instead we’re given nine tales of monsters both magical and mundane. I loved how each writer encapsulated something different. The range of stories they build go from using monsters to showing that the most horrifying thing is sometimes the imagination which lies within ourselves.

Often with anthologies there are noticeable peaks and valleys in the quality of writing or art. Although I found Vertigo's The Witching Hour consistent most of the way through, I did find the most exciting stories happened towards the beginning of the book. It is a shame they didn't reorganize the stories better so that it maintained its pacing which would’ve helped keep my interest to the end. There’s nothing wrong with the last few tales, but it just felt like they needed more time to develop. On that note, I am going to discuss a few of my personal faviorite stories from “The Witching Hour”.

"Rise" by Mariah Huehner and Tula Lotay is a straightforward tale of vengeance and possession. It follows the story of an unlucky backpacker who is possessed by an evil spirit. The story succeeds beautifully on the strength of the narrator's unique take of the situation they’re in. It’s Lotay's delicate lines and layers of ethereal colors in the art that imbue a kind of melancholy to the wry story which I found very moving until the unfortunate conclusion.





"Birdie" by Lauren Beukes and Gerhard Human takes us on a journey with a young witch in Capetown. The witch has the ability to see events from the past via objects which she receives from birds. I enjoyed the darker theme that was presented of real monsters hiding beneath familiar faces.

"This Witch's Work" by Annie Mok and Emily Carroll was so visually emotional. I required a few read throughs to fully appreciate the story. It deals with the heavy subject of emotional abuse.

"Legs" by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Ming Doyle was my favorite of the anthology's stories. It has just has the right amount of elements to make a memorable horror story in a few short pages. It wonderful exploits a common phobia to great effect and even has a surprise twist that's delightful disgusting.

"Little Witch" by Ales Kot and Morgan Jeske, casts a dreamy spell-like atmosphere for a moody, sentimental story about memory and family. This is one of the few tales that focus on a more direct message of love, loss and depression. These are the themes that our titular narrator struggles with. Jeske's panel composition and contrasting warm and cool colours builds emotional tension from the beginning till the end.

Those are a few on my favorite tales from the “The Witching Hour” anthology. I highly recommend picking this wonderful anthology up to experience some truly unique stories this Halloween season.

4 personalities out of 5 personalities from a multiple-personality afflicted pumpkin.

Double-Punch: Kick Ass 2

This is a double-punch review of Kick Ass 2. This movie is the follow-up to the first Kick Ass movie. In Kick-Ass 2, the title hero Kick-Ass teams up with Hit Girl and finds a community of other superheroes, prompting a team to form. Red Mist, the son of the villain from the first Kick Ass, is also plotting revenge after Kick Ass and Hit Girl killed his father.

Questions are courtesy of http://faculty.mansfield.edu/wkeeth/Film%20Review%20Questions.pdf. The first double punch review of The World’s End can be found at http://superhyperwafflepunch.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/the-worlds-end-double-punch.html.

1. What interesting facts or ideas does the movie bring to mind? What other films have you seen which might bear on your understanding of this film? To what contemporary events does the film refer? 

Waffler 1: A lot of these characters are outcast from society and how popular culture has defined them. This is shown well by how both the heroes and villains used communication to create conflict. I do think current events like school shootings and how internet bullying is affecting young adults.  

Waffler 2: Kick-Ass 2 brings the idea of the consequences of trying to be a super-hero in terms of violence and loss in your private life. The Dark Knight or Spiderman 2 are two other films which deal with the same themes of power and responsibility which affected my understanding of the film. The contemporary events is the rise of social media and the loss of privacy, as well as the cops treating all costumes as villains (with respect to racism).

2. Do you remember a particular, concrete, or special object/image in one shot or throughout the film? What is its significance?

Waffler 1: The first image of Jim Carrey as Colonel Stripes. His appearance showed us what being a real hero is about.

Waffler 2: I remember the image of Hit Girl getting dumped in the forest. I think its significance was showing that she is not invulnerable despite all her skills.
 



3. What is the basic argument of the film’s plot? What themes (an abstraction or generalization about life, humanity, and human interactions) underlie the plot? What does the film show about the people and their values? What is the general set of assumptions upon which the film is based? 

Waffler 1: I feel the theme of the movie is about overcoming doubt. That to be a true hero you must fully believe that you can do it, no matter the struggle. But be warned- there will always be an asshole to try and stop you.

Waffler 2: The film shows that good people will act good (and vice versa) to the limits of their abilities when pressed. It also shows that being a hero has consequences and is something that needs to be taken seriously. 

4. Who seems to narrate the film or what point of view seems to be presented? 

Waffler 1: The sequel seemed split between the three main character - Hit Girl, Kick-Ass and The MotherFucker, and about them finding their true calling even if it’s rather unusual.            

Waffler 2: The point of view that seems to be presented is centred allot more around Hit Girl and her struggles growing up despite being able to wipe the floor with criminals. It also shows the point of view of Kick Ass as he finds a community of superheroes to belong to.

5. Who are the film’s main protagonists and antagonists? Why do they behave the way they do? What was the general theme of each character’s development? 

Waffler 1: Each character had to overcome certain aspects of who they really were. For Kick-Ass it was about taking responsibility for making superheros mainstream. Hit Girl dealt with acceptance and how, even though she found ways to function within society, she is a real hero. For The MotherFucker it was about control of this life and turning super villains into a real threat when all the obstacles were out of his way.       

Waffler 2: The films main protagonists are Kick Ass and Hit Girl. They behave the way they do because they want to feel special and it is how they have been brought up, respectively. The main antagonist is Red Mist and he wants revenge because his father died in the first film. The general theme is that being a hero or villain has consequences.

6. Does the film have any significant political dimensions and leanings? What is the role of cultural, social, political, and economic history in interpreting the movie’s possible meanings? How are sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, and nationality addressed in the film?

Waffler 1: The movie used stereotypes about people race, religion or ethnicity to describe super villains in a humorous manner which I think didn't work. It was about he importance of knowing the difference between right and wrong and that being a hero is about the simple things like helping people.

Waffler 2: I think the main political leaning is when the cops decide to treat all costumed heroes as villains. This could have a dimension such as racism (i.e. treat all non-whites a certain way legally). Different nationalities and orientations are addressed by being ignored. There is a diverse range of characters, but their differences are ignored and it is based more on their actions The cultural impact is the struggle for people to feel significant and special in current society without a privledged birth, which is why Kick Ass puts his costume back on.