Science, Space, Elementary, my dear Lizzie #WhatsupWednesday

These last few months, I’ve been doing lots of watching, particularly, but not exclusively, on Netflix. Seen just a few flicks, followed/following a few series–old, new, and new-to-me. The thing is, they don’t have a lot of other stuff I want to see, so I actually checked out iFlix last night and saw several of those other stuff. Maybe I’ll keep both accounts, considering that the latter is so much cheaper, actually. I’ll be trying out their month-long free trial.

Anyway, I am sharing my quick reviews again. Read on, friends, but check out the guide below. 

RATING GUIDE:

• Excellent – No doubt that I super love this and would love to continue watching!
• Good – Very interesting that I wouldn’t want to miss an episode
• Promising – Interesting that it can keep me glued to my seat and ask for more, but there’s still a chance my interest in it may wane
• Fair – Entertaining enough to watch to pass the time
• Undecided – Not consistently interesting that my feelings for it seesaws from almost-LIKE to meh.
• Bad – NOT recommended WHATSOEVER, for valid reasons

PREVIOUS REVIEWS

Okay, first we discuss some shows mentioned in the last review post. Oh, and another fair warning…

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

IF you have not seen a show mentioned here, feel free to ignore this post if it suits you. Better if you’ll just skip parts instead to avoid the “spoilage”, so to speak…Here goes…

Game of Thrones (GoT)

I finally got to continue with Game of Thrones. So far, I’m done with Season 3. GoT is one big and compelling web of interwoven stories. It is very interesting, if not sometimes gruesome and scandalously unapologetic about the sex, the nudity, and the annoying habit of killing off beloved characters just when the audiences are warming up to them.

Nothing prepared me for the betrayal and murder of Robb Stark! I mean, I knew he would die sometime, but it was all so sudden, quick and a really undeserved and meaningless death of a strong character. I also did not expect Lady Catelyn Stark‘s death–I had thought she’d outlive Robb and, at least, get to see her smaller kids first–so cruel!

Characters I love and would love to see till the end:

1. Arya Stark- smart, brave and loyal (so far? we’ll see), and she kicks butts…It would be terrible if the character gets killed off.
2. Tyrion Lannister – I give him the Best Lannister award! His past before the war aside, he’s proven to be intelligent and rather kind-hearted.
3. Daenerys Stormborn – easily almost everyone’s favorite. While the Lannisters, Starks, and Baratheons were battling it out and busy tricking one another, she successful gathered thousands of armies to her side. My fearless forecast is she stays until the end.

More comments:

• I know when sex/nudity is a work of art, and I know when it’s just meant to lure the audience. So save me the for-the-sake-of-art BS. And with the whole Weinstein controversy going on, it’s hard not to be concerned about the actors in such shows, whether they are big stars, bit players or extras.
• Finally, the fantasy factor! The dragons are bigger, there were white walker sightings, and Melisandre is one intriguing magical character.
• I’m not spared from spoilers even if I try to avoid them, so I do know about Jon Snow and Daenerys being related (don’t know how yet) and I have this to say: When has incest become accepted as cool??? GoT crossed the line. Nevermind if they end up not related after all. The point is, they think they are, yet they do it, anyway. Protagonists need not be saints, but they don’t have to be that morally questionable either.

RATING: GOOD (It would’ve been EXCELLENT, but I can never truly love a show that troubles me a lot. Still, I’m watching it. Hopefully, it doesn’t completely turn me off.)

Once Upon a Time (OUAT)

It’s been a slow progress that I have only finished the first season of Once Upon a Time. I haven’t even started with any episode from season 2 mainly because I’m busy with GoT and another series. Also, I want to watch most of it with the kids during weekends when I’m not busy.

Thankfully, the storylines were building up, keeping me interested, so I expect to be more entertained by the next season, at least. I do wish that Emma Swan did not finally learn the truth. I feel like the show could have delayed the revelation longer, maybe kept it until the first few season 2 episodes, at least. Maybe the producers were not sure whether they should continue it so they made a sort of open-ended ending, but it would still be an ending of sorts.

I am somehow glad that the antagonists aren’t really such bad people. I do want a better background story for Maleficent in the next seasons. Meanwhile, I have a pretty good idea who the Queen of Hearts actually is.

RATING: GOOD (It’s something the kids and I bond over. Now the youngest wants a Pinocchio costume for Reading Week.)

Dexter

Dexter has ended and, to be honest, it kind of left a hole in my heart. I DIDN’T like the series finale at all! Practically everything was wrong! Practically the whole final season was wrong! As it has ended and I have a lot to say about it, this deserves a whole write-up, so whatever I need to say, I’ll save it.

RATING: Went up to EXCELLENT (I am tempted to change it to GOOD because the ending was AWFUL.)

iZombie

The last time, I said I was willing to try iZombie until its third season. That was before I found out it has only two seasons so far. I also said it needed more oomph. Fortunately, the zombie show did step up the game especially in the season finale. I can’t wait till I get to see the next episodes! It’s light, entertaining, I’m not scared to show it to kids (with my supervision, of course). Needless to say, the rating went up as well. No complaints for now. Long live the zombie!

RATING: Brain-licking GOOD (Also another bonding-worthy series to watch with kids–of course, I make sure to spare them from the very few a-bit-too-steamy-for-kids scenes.)

YouTube channels

As I have mentioned in my previous post, my enthusiasm for watching YouTube channels has started to wane. So what I’m doing is I just take my time.

NEW REVIEWS

Elementary

I am always into mysteries, so I decided I’d try this series out, after all, it’s about the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century. It didn’t disappoint, coming on strong in the first seasons, though I have to say it’s getting a bit less interesting as time goes by. I hope it picks up again.

My comments:

• Sherlock is incredibly good at what he does. He has great deductive reasoning skills and a big wealth of information in his head. I like hearing bits of trivia when he talks. It does seem too impossible already at times the way he knows almost everything.
• First woman Watson! And it’s Lucy Liu playing Joan Watson at that. I had to choose which to view first between Elementary and the other series, Sherlock–Lucy won my vote for the show, hands down. She’s natural as Watson, there isn’t time to wonder why Watson is Asian and not a man. It is not really relevant, anyway.
• First woman Moriarty! That was brilliant as well. I also didn’t realize Moriarty was/is a woman and that she’s both Sherlock’s biggest nemesis and the love of his life. I suspected she was involved somewhat with Moriarty’s group, but not like that.
• There doesn’t seem to be a possibility for a Holmes-Watson romantic angle. That’s refreshing. Also understandable as that would be too much veering away from the original fictional characters they’re based on.
• It’s good that they tackled the addiction issue, which is a great flaw on Sherlock’s character. However, I’m in season 4 now and it still plays a big part in his storyline. It’s kind of getting old, to be honest. The writers should lay off it for a while. Sherlock using again at last season’s finale was just very disappointing, rather unnecessary and, really, just a betrayal of the audience that have come to accept him.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles

Apparently, this series was based on the TV movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, which was based on actual cases of murder supposedly committed by the real Lizzie Andrew Borden. I haven’t seen the movie, but the series took from where the movie left off. Christina Ricci did so well as Lizzie that the network/producers decided to create The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (let’s call this LBC).

I must say that Christina sure showed how much she’s mastered the art of portraying dark and sinister characters (well, she’s had years of practice). She slayed it, pun intended. Character-wise, I never liked Lizzie. She’s evil and the only person she cared about, in a way, was her sister, mainly because she had a need for the sister. I told myself I would just watch the first season because Lizzie was not a main character anyone could root for. Surprisingly, I didn’t have to as the show was only meant to be for one season…Whew!

More comments:

• The actual Lizzie was said to have only killed two. Supposedly, as she was acquitted of the crime. LBC took a lot of liberties with their story and took a lot of the lives (some names were actual people back then) than necessary. Now, while things are often open to artistic interpretation, I believe that making Lizzie seem like some kind of sociopath/psychopath was going overboard. Maybe the real Lizzie was a killer, but it didn’t mean she killed many others. If you ask me, it’s a case of character assassination. If they wanted to drastically change things, they could’ve just created a whole new story that would not have Lizzie in it.
• It is not clear if the Lizzie here was a sociopath or psychopath. Yes, there’s a difference, look it up. She’s cold-hearted and calculating, but she didn’t have a psychopath’s M.O. She just killed those who either stood in her way or those she could use to her advantage. Everybody knew she was some kind of bad; she never really pretended to be normal and likable, which is characteristic of a psychopath.
• I am not sure whether to love or hate the modern approach the show took in terms of background music. It really seemed out of place. We’re not watching steampunk, after all.

RATING: FAIR

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (a.k.a. CSI: Las Vegas)

I was so glad to have the chance to finish the whole CSI show. It’s one of my fave shows ever. My only problem was Netflix’s offer started with season 13 when I have never seen season 12! So while I expected Dr. Ray Langston leaving (after all, I already knew somebody was going to be the next lead actor), I wanted to experience that “closure”. Plus, I suddenly found some old faces missing and found new faces whose backgrounds I didn’t have an iota of an idea of.

Anyway, I am both sad and happy about the show. I am sad it’s ended, but I’m happy it ended well. After Warrick Brown‘s death in…whatever season that was, no main character died anymore, as far as I know, so yay! They brought the main characters back in the last episodes and gave everyone a happy finale.

I love that they brought Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows back for it, especially for Grissom and Sara Sidle to mend things and sail off to sea together. Nick Stokes finally got the promotion he’d been hankering for. I was confused whether the show was considering a David Hodges-Morgan Brody-Greg Sanders love triangle thing or not, although, in the end, it seemed to be Greg for the win.

No complaints here, except I won’t be able to see the show anymore. However, I am currently trying to see where I might be able to view CSI: Cyber. It’s been canceled, I’ve read, but I’m very much interested to see if I would like it or not.

RATING: EXCELLENT (My interest never wavered!!! I don’t know why I even delayed watching it before.)

Star Trek: Discovery

Yes! About time that I watch me some Star Trek again! It’s very new so I have decided to try and follow on a weekly basis. Certainly, it hasn’t disappointed me yet after four episodes. Great effects! And they definitely upped the ante on the creepy factors (twisted corpses in spaceships, anyone?) Plotlines aren’t bad at all either.

Love that after kicking zombie butts in Walking Dead as Sasha, Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham is now kicking Klingon butts (no offense to Worf as I loved him). She’s brought the tough persona with her, minus the too-much angst, yet still kind of brooding with the tendency to be anti-social. She’s perfect for the role! It’s nice that this show now gives more power to more women (I do want Deanna Troi here somehow, which is probably impossible, given the time setting). Now, for my fearless forecast: Michael will sooner or later replace Capt. Gabriel Lorca as captain, mark my words.

More comments:

• Why did Michelle Yeoh have to die so soon? She could have given more to the show. And why the H did the show not give Capt. Philippa Georgiou a proper and dignified burial rather than have the Klingons eat her??!!!
• The Klingons. Their look. No. I prefer the Worf-look. These Klingons do not look like Klingons. Just sayin’.
• Some have taken issue with it, but I don’t mind the Michael name. Women are now named Joey, Jesse, Alex…so what’s wrong with Michael? My only qualm is, really, “Michael Burnham” doesn’t sound anything near special. And one funny thing: “Georgiou Michael”…Coincidence, for sure.

That’s what I can say about it for now. It’s cool that they have After Trek right after every episode. I watch that as well.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I actually watched the first episode of the series version of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Just one. Suffice it to say, I was not that impressed yet. I’m avoiding it for now, but I promise to go back to it sometime. Also began watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Everyone knows the show and the things that happened, so I will spare you and me by not doing a review of it anymore. My plan is to catch up on shows and/or their episodes that I missed.

Well, I’ve shared my thoughts. Yours?

Yo, Man! Imma Show Ya Rap Battles! (post-)#WhatsupWednesday

Today, I introduce you to #WhatsupWednesday (don’t mind that it’s late). I could call it #WhateverWednesday, but I don’t think I like the sound of that. It’s like your mom telling you something and you roll your eyes and mutter, “Whatev”. Nope, I’m not comfortable with that. “What’s up” sounds friendlier in contrast. So for this alternate hash potato, I’m sharing various stuff that have caught my interest, but are not that applicable for my other hash potatoes.

Now that that’s explained…

I’ve just recently realized that I’m actually a YouTube-freak. I go through the site searching for vids of songs, musicals, funny talk shows, pranks (zombie vids!!!),…Not anymore cute animal vids, though, as I get that a lot from Facebook already. Anyway, these searches have brought me interesting stuff and because I grew up in the “rap of ages”, you ken betcha momma’s *bleep* I got a heckuva kuhlecshun here! *wink, wink* Okay, before you proceed,

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL CONTENT. NOT FOR KIDS!

Thought I’d give you that. Now, do tell me who you think won in these vids.

First, I found Anne Hathaway rapping against James Corden of Carpool Karaoke fame (he’s famous for his show and whatev, but I never really knew about him except when I happened to search for “Carpool Karaoke”, which I did hear about). I’m not going to share CK vids as it’s so popular, you’ve probably already seen them all. I did like the ones with Adele and Sia, even the one with One Direction because of the collab kind of thing. Gotta watch more, maybe. I do give credit to James, he’s got some musical talent in him.

Here are the two doing rap battle at Corden’s late show’s Drop the Mic segment.

I think that she did “Hatha-slay” him! Yo, Anne, you rock!!! I mean, rap!!!

I’m not seeing that many DTM vids, but I enjoyed this one with Kevin Hart, though he’s an actor I’m  just a tad familiar with (did see his movie with The Rock while on a bus).

Sorry, James, I think that’s two times in a row your bottom got whipped! *trying a cleaner language here 😉 *

Meanwhile…! I found these ones below just yesterday. It’s great that they actually take effort to take care of the settings and stuff when they could just do a kind of DTM thing.

Enjoyed most of them, but a couple didn’t quite make it to my list. The Gandalf vs Dumbledore one made me squee in glee at first only to have my bubble burst–yeah, it wasn’t as good as I expected it would be (so click at your own risk). Mostly sexual references and nothing substantial enough. I liked the Albert Einstein vs Stephen Hawking vid as well, but I don’t like making fun of the differently abled. I’m not even going to attempt to link to it. You do it. There’s also one with the Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers, but I respect our Eastern Philosophers so, up to you to check also.

Now, for the battles.

I found that I liked the Princess Rap Battles more, so I’m showing them first. The guys’ vids have some sick verses as well, though, and the beats, awesome.

It seems that Daenerys won here in the end, but rap-content wise, I think it’s a tie.

It’s a tie, too! Don’t you think?

Oh, Galadriel won this one, hands down. Leia never had an iota of a chance to win against the great elf.

Now, the boys doing Epic Rap Battles of History. The girls are princesses and the guys get to be intelligent, geeky ones…Although, there is that Superman vs Goku vid, so I guess it kinda even things out.

Sorry, GoT fans, but LOTR nailed this battle. I don’t understand the reference to Led Zeppelin, though. [UPDATE: That last statement is quite the proof that I am not a Led Zep fan, LOL!!! Just found this that should explain the reference: Led Zeppelin and Lord of The Rings – Rockers and Tolkien Fans.]

Nobody won. Well, maybe the third one in this battle (being not-so-quite techie still, I have no idea “who” that was). Or was that also supposed to be “Steve“? And, boy, too much of an angry Bill here.

It’s true: Jack was a real serial killer who never got caught; Hannibal was fictional and did get caught (or he would not have met Clarisse). That said, Hannibal killed Jack  *he he, get it? killed?..uh, okay…*

I…honestly don’t know who won…

Here are some more that I liked (in random order), if you’re interested:

1. Ash Ketchum vs Charles Darwin (Picachu was no match to Darwin’s ape, methinks)
2. Snow White vs Elsa (oh, yeah, the princess was no match for the queen! It wasn’t really a fair match. Just let it go, Snow White, dear)
3. Miley Cyrus vs Joan of Arc (don’t even know the connection between them, but anyway, Joan just slayed Hannah Montana)

So the people behind these vids are asking viewers who they’d like to see do rap battles. I already gave these ideas:

1. boyband vs. boyband

2. Walking Dead vs. World War Z vs. Zombieland (whichever they can “pair” up), OR Rick Grimes vs. Gerry Lane vs. Tallahassee

3. Bones vs. CSI

4. Elementary vs. Sherlock (two Sherlocks, yay!!!)

5. Johnny English vs Austin Powers

6. Charlie Chaplin vs Mr. Bean (I wonder how they’re gonna do this unless they act it all out as they talk gibberish with subtitles below, he he)

7. Wayne & Garth (Wayne’s World) vs Bill & Ted (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) vs Jay & Silent Bob (View Askewniverse)

8. Cats The Musical vs Lion King The Musical (it would be awesome to see how they’ll do the costumes!)

9. Elphaba (Wicked) vs Fiona (Shrek)

I’ve been thinking of more, like Xena maybe rap-battling it out with…Wonder Woman? Not sure if there’s anyone else more appropriate for the Warrior Princess. Maybe, I could also suggest James Corden vs Jimmy Fallon. I mean, people are already comparing them anyway: they sing and they have famous “Justin” buds (Bieber vs Timberlake, respectively). How about Edward Cullen vs Louis de Pointe du Lac, or simply Louis of Interview with the Vampire.

We’ll see.

*************************************

Hope you enjoyed the vids. If you’re a minor, I hope you didn’t. Who would you like to see doing a rap battle, guys? Suggest some below if you can’t make a comment over at YouTube 🙂

September 2016 RECAP #MonthlyRecap

September was a much better month for me, writing/blogging-wise. There were some glitches, but the positives outweighed the negatives. I mean this in a less-stressed out way. There were two weeks that I hardly posted anything. Something got me busy, but all was for naught. At least, I tried. It honestly did cause me to lose my mojo a bit, had to clear my head…Now, I’m BACK.

Here’s how September 2016 went:

Blog-wise:

(1) Not obvious, but I have begun calling may hashes as “hash potatoes”. No reason, I just think it’s cute. I’ve thought of several reasons to give just so I can justify calling them that but, bottomline is, I just like it, period.

So, how did my hash potatoes go?

#MondayMemoirs (see What I Am) – I could have posted more, but Mondays are often tricky unless I am able to schedule something the weekend prior. No #MondayReviews posted.

#TuesdayTunes (see Out of Oz)

#AskWednesday (see Born to Sing) – I was so lucky to have interviewed the very gracious Hanna De Guzman. Read to get to know her, guys.

#ThursdayTips (see Let the Spiders Crawl)

#FeatureFriday (see Butterfly Kisses and Lullabies, my replacement Friday post) – This is also a tricky day for me. I do intend to alternate this with #FridayFlashdance. Guess what that’s going to be about 😉

Saturdays and Sundays could be about anything, just like any given day of the whole week. That is, when I am able to post anything. Or MORE, like Dream a Little Dream [Reshared].

(2) So I’m done with my singer, Hanna. I am currently waiting for my interview with my horticulturist-friend, and a Muay Thai artist with whom I worked when I was in college. I have not really yet talked to Andoyman regarding the update interview. But here’s news! The professional dancer I mentioned before has said yes to an interview. Will do that soon!

(3) My Trending Stories. As mentioned before, it’s a new site, they’re still doing stuff to perfect it, but it’s still an honor to be invited, and there’s no such thing as perfect. This is me (CLICK ON IT):

I began posting for it. Then there were two weeks that I was really prolific in posting. The next two weeks, though, I lost much interest and time in posting anywhere.  I’ll get back to it, I promise.

Social Media Reach-out:

This really took the backseat. But I assure you that I appreciate everyone who clicks on LIKE and especially FOLLOW. I am awed and humbled that despite my seeming inactivity, I keep finding out through my email that people have been clicking on the FOLLOW button.

I would like to pay it forward. Just let me get my act together and I will soon be posting links here to legit followers (I do emphasize on legit).

Fiction/Story-writing:

NEXT!!!

Literature:

Abandoned Thomas Hardy‘s Tess of the D’Urbervilles for now. Unintentionally abandoned Gregory Maguire‘s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West online book. Priorities weigh heavier. Will try to get back to reading soon as I am able.

Personal:

I do try to go online on weekends, but I’ve lessened it. Going online does cost money if you don’t have a permanent Internet connection and you just buy “load” for your WiFi, like I do, though it is less expensive.

I’m only home on weekends, so it’s the time to do stuff in the house the way I want them done (I am slightly OC, so understand that I want to do things a certain way).  Time to arrange things the way I want them arranged, sew what needs to be sewn, fix what little things need to be fixed, iron clothes for the coming week, and see to it that the kids open their books and notebooks. More important, weekends mean family time. I’m not the perfect mother at all, but I try to manage the best I can, even if they hate it when I get mad.

So in the evenings or while I iron clothes, I just watch my still-unseen Season 9 and 10 episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation…

Life is a series of ups and downs, so you face everything. No ifs, no buts. You have to learn everyday. Therefore, in the meantime, you get to watch the gory stuff and plan how you can get away with murdering your enemies and covering up all the evidence…KIDDING!!! 😉