This was pretty much what I was expecting - a good start to the "season" with a mostly original episode (For me I'm going with this being Samurai's 23th episode, skipping "CLASH OF THE RED RANGERS").
The Rangers out being active before the river pools were discovered was a nice start to the episode. I like the updated opening and I wasn't surprised they kept the same logo with the slight modification. The cast looks good in their credit shots.
Antonio's crazy as ever, but I thought it did work once we got to the Shinkenger fight.
Octoroo setting up a barrier to block the morphing was pretty sneaky. The unmorphed action was great and the blend with the Shinkenger fight looked nice, though it was weird when it was suddenly just Jayden. After so many years of team power up finishers, one Ranger at a time using Super Mode will be a bit different. 4/5
Monday, February 20, 2012
500 episodes of The Simpsons
Tonight was a major milestone episode for the Simpsons, which involved the family getting kicked out of Springfield by the locals and finding a new home in the Outlands. It was a good plot for the occasion and I enjoyed the one-liners about Fox and Homer's original voice from early on. And boy oh boy, those days seem so long ago now. I still remember watching the show on its original Thursday night in the early '90s (I was about 10 when it started) and I never got why it premiered with a Christmas special, which didn't really introduce the characters (The actual produced first episode ended up held back and was an old favorite my sister and I liked, with a plot that had the devious "Babysitter Bandit").
I've only missed a few episodes in the 22 years since and the rest I've seen about every way possible - DVR'd, taped, downloaded, on Fox Sunday and months later in some cases when I was never home Sunday evening. There's been a lot of funny moments, many brilliant pop culture references, great episodes I have in a collection - and some weird ones as well. And though I've never been a big fan of merchandise, I did have a Bart Simpson poster on my wall for over 10 years and still have a few other things.
It's safe to say there's almost no way they'll make it for another 500 in this day and age, but I still get laughs out of the Simpsons adventures and will continue to do so until it does come to an end someday.
I've only missed a few episodes in the 22 years since and the rest I've seen about every way possible - DVR'd, taped, downloaded, on Fox Sunday and months later in some cases when I was never home Sunday evening. There's been a lot of funny moments, many brilliant pop culture references, great episodes I have in a collection - and some weird ones as well. And though I've never been a big fan of merchandise, I did have a Bart Simpson poster on my wall for over 10 years and still have a few other things.
It's safe to say there's almost no way they'll make it for another 500 in this day and age, but I still get laughs out of the Simpsons adventures and will continue to do so until it does come to an end someday.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Closing up 2011
Looking back on the year, it's easy to say part of it belonged to Smallville. But once summer came, it became easier to move on and 2011 pretty much became a mix of reboots and old school meets new favorites - gradually making it feel like we really were back in the '90s...
This was the first year for Power Rangers under Saban since 2002, trying to recapture the glory of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As great as it is to have the Rangers again, its failed on some levels between bad acting and forced translations of the Japanese series. Not the same originally from 10 years ago, that's for sure.
Beavis and Butthead returned after its last episode in 1997, making it feel like the boys never went away (and they kinda didn't with a cameo on MTV here and there over the years). Plus the new Thundercats is still pretty awesome.
2011 also brought a fresh new spin on music competitions and was a good time to get back into classic '90s Nickelodeon. Though The '90s Are All That block has proven to be not all that - focusing more on Nicktoons as of late and not completing Hey Dude's run - it's still great to see the classic shows return, especially Hey Dude, Secret World of Alex Mack, Salute You Shorts and Are You Afraid of the Dark.
I'll also remember the year for playing Super Mario Galaxy, very reminiscent of Super Mario 64 which I first played through back in my last year of high school.
More awesome songs from 2011:
"Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People
"The Ghost Inside" - Broken Bells
"My Body" - Young the Giant
"Tonight is the Night" - Outasight
This was the first year for Power Rangers under Saban since 2002, trying to recapture the glory of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As great as it is to have the Rangers again, its failed on some levels between bad acting and forced translations of the Japanese series. Not the same originally from 10 years ago, that's for sure.
Beavis and Butthead returned after its last episode in 1997, making it feel like the boys never went away (and they kinda didn't with a cameo on MTV here and there over the years). Plus the new Thundercats is still pretty awesome.
2011 also brought a fresh new spin on music competitions and was a good time to get back into classic '90s Nickelodeon. Though The '90s Are All That block has proven to be not all that - focusing more on Nicktoons as of late and not completing Hey Dude's run - it's still great to see the classic shows return, especially Hey Dude, Secret World of Alex Mack, Salute You Shorts and Are You Afraid of the Dark.
I'll also remember the year for playing Super Mario Galaxy, very reminiscent of Super Mario 64 which I first played through back in my last year of high school.
More awesome songs from 2011:
"Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People
"The Ghost Inside" - Broken Bells
"My Body" - Young the Giant
"Tonight is the Night" - Outasight
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Power Rangers Samurai "CLASH OF THE RED RANGERS": Back in Gear
Prepared for the worse going into this, the teamup special turned out to be a one of PR's biggest surprises for me since Jungle Fury.
Scott piloting SkyRev alone didn't make much sense, otherwise I thought the scene and what appeared to be the wasteland was a nice way to start.
A transdimensional train? Interesting, though I wish they hadn't left it for viewers to decide.
I kinda got an old school vibe from Cog. Felt like could've been part of the Machine Empire. Love the nod to Zeo.
Scott not sure if we could breath the air was a pretty reasonable explanation for why he wouldn't demorph. Doing what they could with the suit and ADR worked well and really helped make the episode much better than if they had to have someone else do Red. Antonio was easily handled worse and not quite in-character.
What's this? Emily seems older and the actings not terrible? Hopefully a sign of better times ahead.
Interesting that the Nighloks have a General ranking. Looking forward to how this plays out in future episodes.
That was some weird zord fight. "Super Serpent"? o_O
I like the idea of this taking place after RPM's season and Venjix returned or a new evil took his place (Something sure went wrong then), but just as well Cog could've been a lost unseen General during the fight against Venjix. Also I wasn't too bothered by this airing out of order and I enjoyed the sneak peak of new powers and weapons. Scott getting to use the shark disc was pretty cool.
Scott and Antonio stuck fixing the car was pretty lame and it would've been nice to see the other Ranger Series Operators for at least a moment, otherwise the special turned out good. RPM and Scott were respected well and I enjoyed seeing a sentai vs and movie in PR. Also I really liked that "Get in Gear" was thrown in as a catchphrase. 4/5
"TRAKEENA'S REVENGE" and "WORMHOLE" are still the worst, but I almost wouldn't even put this with them. This definitely wasn't a teamup like we're used to and I imagine set the stage of future seasons when casts will be contracted to return. And with the anniversary season coming, it'll be interesting to see if similar morphed-only appearances happen again.
Scott piloting SkyRev alone didn't make much sense, otherwise I thought the scene and what appeared to be the wasteland was a nice way to start.
A transdimensional train? Interesting, though I wish they hadn't left it for viewers to decide.
I kinda got an old school vibe from Cog. Felt like could've been part of the Machine Empire. Love the nod to Zeo.
Scott not sure if we could breath the air was a pretty reasonable explanation for why he wouldn't demorph. Doing what they could with the suit and ADR worked well and really helped make the episode much better than if they had to have someone else do Red. Antonio was easily handled worse and not quite in-character.
What's this? Emily seems older and the actings not terrible? Hopefully a sign of better times ahead.
Interesting that the Nighloks have a General ranking. Looking forward to how this plays out in future episodes.
That was some weird zord fight. "Super Serpent"? o_O
I like the idea of this taking place after RPM's season and Venjix returned or a new evil took his place (Something sure went wrong then), but just as well Cog could've been a lost unseen General during the fight against Venjix. Also I wasn't too bothered by this airing out of order and I enjoyed the sneak peak of new powers and weapons. Scott getting to use the shark disc was pretty cool.
Scott and Antonio stuck fixing the car was pretty lame and it would've been nice to see the other Ranger Series Operators for at least a moment, otherwise the special turned out good. RPM and Scott were respected well and I enjoyed seeing a sentai vs and movie in PR. Also I really liked that "Get in Gear" was thrown in as a catchphrase. 4/5
"TRAKEENA'S REVENGE" and "WORMHOLE" are still the worst, but I almost wouldn't even put this with them. This definitely wasn't a teamup like we're used to and I imagine set the stage of future seasons when casts will be contracted to return. And with the anniversary season coming, it'll be interesting to see if similar morphed-only appearances happen again.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Power Rangers Samurai "ORIGINS": Opening Act
Part I was just alright. Way too much translating. I didn't really like Ji's magical arrows or Jayden creating the horse.
The Red Ranger bit was funny and I liked that the zords were used individually for the first fight.
For being the original first episode when they were just starting out, it was pretty much what I expected and did a semi-decent job of setting up the season, enough that I'll give it a 3/5. If this had aired as the first episode, I wouldn't have been that excited but it would've been nice to see the first morph and clips from the promos on TV MUCH sooner.
Part II was a lot better and really worked I thought.
I expected Bulk would arrive in the city with Spike for a new adventure or something, so it was a nice surprise that he was already there awaiting Spike's arrival. Bonus points to Tony Oliver for mentioning Skull and Bulk's history with the Power Rangers.
The line delivery was still bad and Jayden not looking for Emily with the others could've had an explanation. I did like the focus on her and the morphed battle with Jayden rescuing the girl. The original scenes and background matched up with Shinkenger good I thought.
... Totem Pole Megazord? Haha.
This episode setup the characters pretty well and was pretty on-par with other "2nd episodes" PR's done - enough for me for an easy 4/5. Just wish it had aired in the proper place.
The Red Ranger bit was funny and I liked that the zords were used individually for the first fight.
For being the original first episode when they were just starting out, it was pretty much what I expected and did a semi-decent job of setting up the season, enough that I'll give it a 3/5. If this had aired as the first episode, I wouldn't have been that excited but it would've been nice to see the first morph and clips from the promos on TV MUCH sooner.
Part II was a lot better and really worked I thought.
I expected Bulk would arrive in the city with Spike for a new adventure or something, so it was a nice surprise that he was already there awaiting Spike's arrival. Bonus points to Tony Oliver for mentioning Skull and Bulk's history with the Power Rangers.
The line delivery was still bad and Jayden not looking for Emily with the others could've had an explanation. I did like the focus on her and the morphed battle with Jayden rescuing the girl. The original scenes and background matched up with Shinkenger good I thought.
... Totem Pole Megazord? Haha.
This episode setup the characters pretty well and was pretty on-par with other "2nd episodes" PR's done - enough for me for an easy 4/5. Just wish it had aired in the proper place.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
PRS #18 "THE ULTIMATE DUEL": Ultimate Fail
The problems with Samurai haven't bothered me too much, but it felt like it all came out in this episode. Terrible line delivery and it just dragged on and on. I knew this would not be good when they recapped Mia trying to reason with Dayu - and then flashbacked to it AGAIN.
I didn't care about the MMPR-2 zord fight, but having Antonio sit out from being too weak was lame (at least he coud've taken more damage and demorphed to make it more believable.
I did like the training scene with Jayden & Kevin and the Hydro Bow attack with wire-fu. But it was pretty minimal to sitting through the rest in addition to commercials.
A longer sequence with Jayden honing his skills or maybe Bulk & Spike and I would easily give this a 3. But nope - first time in ages I'm giving a 2/5.
I didn't care about the MMPR-2 zord fight, but having Antonio sit out from being too weak was lame (at least he coud've taken more damage and demorphed to make it more believable.
I did like the training scene with Jayden & Kevin and the Hydro Bow attack with wire-fu. But it was pretty minimal to sitting through the rest in addition to commercials.
A longer sequence with Jayden honing his skills or maybe Bulk & Spike and I would easily give this a 3. But nope - first time in ages I'm giving a 2/5.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
PRS #17 "BROKEN DREAMS": Deal with the Devil
I thought Dayu's backstory was good for the most part. Sort of resembles Captain Mitchell getting Diabolico to save Ryan in Lightspeed Rescue. Nice foreshadowing with Akumaro and I expect Dalia will return by the last episode.
I was annoyed that the black box plot is being stalled, however I do like that PR is trying to do its own thing (probably holding off until its time for the battlizer, would be my guess).
The dream world was kinda weird and though I liked that Jayden teamed up Lionzord with Antonio in the zord battle, that was a pretty odd MMPR-2 style sequence.
I was annoyed that the black box plot is being stalled, however I do like that PR is trying to do its own thing (probably holding off until its time for the battlizer, would be my guess).
The dream world was kinda weird and though I liked that Jayden teamed up Lionzord with Antonio in the zord battle, that was a pretty odd MMPR-2 style sequence.
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