Archive for Dec, 2015

Best of 2015 Intro

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I know it’s quite easy to say this, but it’s been a crazy year. My life was so busy in 2015 that I only ended up writing less than half of the blog posts here that I wrote in either 2013 or 2014, while the gaming/movie podcast I co-ran for almost two years, the Mega Ultra Blast Cast, had to cease as the three of us took on more adult responsibilities. It could be disheartening at times, but it really needn’t have been, because even though I have never advertised this blog outside my friend circles and do not intend to, I’m on track to have more post views than last year! I cannot stress how important it is for me to be able to write about what I love, and so to know that there are people out there, many of whom I’ve never met, who think some of this stuff worthy of their time is just freaking amazing. This year I had another tremendous guest post week, a record-breaking Pokémon-themed September, my most successful album review ever, and just yesterday, the most-read movie review I’ve ever written (well, I mean, it was Star Wars, but still). That’s all because of people who find some value in what I do to keep myself sane. So thank you.

And then, of course, we arrive here, at my favourite time of the year. It’s time to count down 100 things across ten lists, with a bag of honourable mentions along for the ride and kinda-maybe an extra bonus in there somewhere. It was a phenomenal year across all three of the things I cover on this blog, and while it did take until the last two months of the year for the big exciting movies to hit and lift the year’s average in my opinion, videogames and K-Pop hit hard from the get-go and just kept delivering. All things considered, it will be a tough year to follow.

But before I start gushing positivity, it’s time to reflect on some of the less fun things about entertainment media in 2015. Top 10 Disappointments, coming shortly.

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VR BEST OF 2015 DISCLAIMER
The next ten lists represent my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s weird. Cool, but definitely weird. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.
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Movie Review: Star Wars The Force Awakens

It’s a bit difficult to review a movie with this much weight riding on it, so soon after seeing it. The gap between the midnight screenings and the ideal start time for my year-end countdown posts is mere days, so I had to get cracking. But believe me, I’ve been mulling this movie over in my mind almost every second of that short time.

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Starring:
Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac
Director:
 
JJ Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8)
Rating: M
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Say whatever you want about 2015 in movies – If Star Wars was good, the year was always going to be remembered fondly. In fact you might even argue that it didn’t have to be good, only better than those endlessly panned prequel films. The carefully timed, Disney engineered hype cycle for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been lengthy, intense and omnipresent, and the, ahem, force of that hype has been looming over the movie, waiting to crush it like it did The Phantom Menace way back in 1999.

Within that unenviable context, what director/superfan JJ Abrams has done with this mega-franchise is astounding.

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Movie Review: The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2

Nothing like a few gigantic rapid-fire movie releases to get you blogging again. I couldn’t let this series go without a lengthy review, of course.

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Starring:
Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Natalie Dormer
Director:
Francis Lawrence (Constantine, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1)
Rating: M
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I feel a little conflicted when it comes to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II. Every movie adaptation mega-saga has to end, and now The Hunger Games has joined that club. The second half of Suzanne Collins‘ bestselling finale novel Mockingjay has completed its transition to the big screen, and I have a funny feeling the lasting impact of this film will divide opinions just as much, if not more, than that sucker punch of a book did back in 2010.

Filmgoers who haven’t delved into Collins‘ vehemently anti-war pages will likely find themselves a little shocked at how depressing this final chapter can get, even despite the film’s much higher action emphasis than that of its predecessor, Mockingjay Part I. Meanwhile those who have read the trilogy may find that, despite some crucial scenes that don’t quite land in the same way they did on paper, Francis Lawrence‘s closing vision for this wildly popular series successfully achieves what it needs to.

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