#the cheapie wars

[cai-tan]

KouyaLen.G is truly the greatest MUGEN character of all time.

It really isn't enough to have one of the top defensive abilities in the entire hypernull category (withstanding F1, forced changestates, variable tampering, statedef overflows, etc). It's not even enough to be capable of penetrating the defenses of the likes of Oaev and Thunder Sword's You (which is a FUCKING POSTMAN-TIER? HOW THE FUCK DOES SHE DO THAT?!).

Nah, let's be real, there's a decent selection of MUGEN cheapies that have all that. KouyaLen.G doesn't even have any visual effects demonstrated on the character select screen, despite having the functionality. Plus, no Postman batch file or special EXE or other method of straight up deleting the character she's up against. (as far as I'm aware of, that is)

So what does KouyaLen.G have?

Well, once the hyper-edgy, ultra-spooky, black/red particle showering character on the other side gets done playing one of the same five fullscreen animations you've seen in like twenty other Donald clones...

KouyaLen.G casually (I cannot stress that adverb enough) sprints up to the opponent and knocks them away with a bat, playing a Smash Bros Homerun Bat sound effect. The edgy, creepypasta music that the other character played as their intro is completely replaced by an entirely upbeat, non-intimidating pop song, and some Japanese baseball commentary.

Should the target character have the compatibility, they are shown comically spiraling off into the sky, like a Smash Bros. Star KO, to add further insult to injury.

Does KouyaLen.G celebrate this victory by hovering in place, exuding myriad afterimages, chuckling with a chorus distortion effect applied onto a stolen Iori KoF voiceline, like most Donalds? Does she fill the screen with an obnoxious screamer, or some borderline hentai of an underage Touhou character, followed by a gratingly loud test pattern??

Nope. She just casually jogs a home run across the frontal parallax layer, then strikes a pose.

All that stuff that the other edgier supernulls do is just far and above overplayed, and cannot be taken seriously at all. So KouyaLen.G playing it simple and carefree, and making a real casual mockery of the others, is a breath of fresh air. This is something I can take seriously.

KouyaLen.G may look silly and non-threatening, but she makes literally the entire hypernull roster look far sillier... and that's better than any Postman or Assembly tier character can ever manage.

[malewifehenrycooldown]

I don’t think you folks understand how much I love m.u.g.e.n. It’s just…. Kinda amazing how it even exists. Like someone HAD to take the time and energy to MAKE THE ENGINE ITSELF!!

Someone had to build the fight factory software from scratch!! Someone had to figure a way to implement and add new stages and backgrounds. Someone had to figure a way to change the HUD system. People had to code these things in a way that didn’t break the engine itself.

And the people, or rather the company, Elecbyte? Poof. Gone. We haven’t seen or heard from them since like what…. The mid 2000s?

I wonder what they are doing… whatever it is I hope they are all doing well.

[swampflix]

The Brain Eaters (1958)

There are a lot of TikTok clips floating around out there that muddle the definition of the “POV” shot, to the point where it feels like the war to maintain its original meaning has already been lost.  Thankfully, the 1958 AIP creature feature The Brain Eaters offers a handy tool for any teens confused by the meaning of a camera’s POV.  Halfway through the hour-long horror cheapie, one of the…

[flojocabron]

05/06/23: Saturday Yuma Arizona trip! Today was my first Saturday off in a long time, so I took a trip to the next state over. It started out a bit disappointing. As the first Goodwill I went to was well stocked in videogames, but badly priced and exaggerated. The other Goodwill in the area had less selection for games. But in both places I found lots of clothes, music CDs, books, comics and a strategy guide. These were averagely priced. Not exactly cheap, but good enough. I had more luck at two pawn shops that I visit each time I go to Yuma. I wiped one of them out of pretty much all their ps3 games. I paid $25 for 11 games and a Star Wars bluray series. And the other had a corded switch Controller for $10. I went to three Walmarts too, sadly no super cheap clearance games in any of them. But I found an Ash Evil Dead toy for $10. I got stuff from a gamestop. Ps4 and Switch games. Rage 2 got knocked down to $5 used. And I spotted their special edition when the guy was pulling out other people's games. But the worker messed up and gave me the wrong Rage 2 box. I guess I'll leave it at that. I'm not going to drive back an hour to fix a $5.00 game. I also got some other cheapie ps4 games and another yellow tag clearance turned used. I used my monthly $5.00 off on the switch game. And lastly, a trip to target got me that Atari Anniversary collection for about $13. I used my worker discount and Target points to drop it from $30. Overall, it was a decent hunt!

[mugenfinder]

What do you think of mathrus? Do you think it was ever real? I know the Cheapy Wars for real but I don't know if "they started creating malware to destroy each other's computers" was also real.

I'd never actually heard of this until now, I'm an outsider to any given Mugen Community so it's news to me.

It's apparently very fake and people just made their own interpretations of Mathrus to joke around with.

I asked someone more knowledgeable and he said he made his own version last year even.

I wouldn't doubt that someone has committed the "Mugen Crime" of actively trying to destroy people's computers.

This is near creepy-pasta since how could someone not just remove the malware and play the character? Makes me want to write about that time I downloded him because m y friend told me 2 an we both saw deaad twin brot her on thhe roster where Homer would woul be (original Homer by warner not edit i think) and we haad to play as Kunfu man an Ryu to save ourselves. my friend die by evil peanut butter jelly time

My honest opinion is that the seizures that could occur from a trend like this are more dangerous than the idea itself.

So I could see this kind of thing freaking out a 12-year-old or younger maybe, like when I saw this version of Kula Diamond that was crucified (probably an edit of Isabeau). Thanks for asking, I feel like I just went through some old SheezyArt page or something.

[bagelthebeaglepup]

I crave Planet Of The Apes merch :’)

I watched War a couple days ago and I’m back in my faze ;o; I love that movie series so much <33 I just want to buy a movie poster and die in peace

[abuttoncalledsmalls]

50 Questions Tag

thanks for the tag @cryptkeepersoul! <3

1.) What color is your hairbrush?

Black.

2.) Name a food you never eat.

Tomatoes. They are evil, awful, and every other derogatory adjective you can think of.

3.) Are you usually too warm or too cold?

I’m usually a lil’ chilly, but my A/C is broken. So I am very warm at the moment.

4.) What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Watching YouTube videos with my boyfriend.

5.) What’s your favorite candy bar?

Any chocolate with almonds or hazelnuts.

6.) Have you ever been to a professional sports game?

When I was younger, but yes.

7.) What’s the last thing you said out loud?

"It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

8.) What’s your favorite ice cream?

Orange sherbet. 

9.) What was the last thing you had to drink?

Water.

10.) Do you like your wallet?

It’s fine. It’s got flowers and it holds my stuff.

11.) What’s the last thing you ate?

A Welch’s grape ice pop.

12.) Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

No - but I did pick up an awesome Mandalorian hat yesterday.

13.) What’s the last sporting event you watched?

Do the races the kids on my street have count? 

14.) What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

Butter.

15.) Who’s the last person you sent a text to?

My sister.

16.) Ever go camping?

Nope - but I think I would like to?

17.) Do you take vitamins?

Not as frequently as I should - but yes.

18.) Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope. Proud atheist over here. :c)

19.) Do you have a tan?

Hahaha. No. I have two colors - white and red.

20.) Do you prefer Chinese or pizza?

Pizza.

21.) Do you drink soda through a straw?

Yeah.

22.) What color socks do you usually wear?

Star Wars. Why yes, I am a 30 year old woman who wears mostly SW socks.

23.) Do you ever drive above the speed limit?

Wouldn’t you like to know?

24.) What terrifies you?

On a grand scale, I’d say being forgotten after I die. That thought keeps me up at night. A less head-y fear would be needles. I can’t even watch them on TV without triggering into a panic attack.

25.) Look to your left, what to you see?

My washing machine.

26.) What chore do you hate the most?

Mopping.

27.) What do you think when you hear an Australian accent?

Rabbits. I saw this movie in middle school called RABBIT PROOF FENCE and it takes place in Australia.

28.) What’s your favorite soda?

Dr. Brown’s Root Beer.

29.) Do you go in fast food or in the drive through?

When I do indulge in fast food, it’s drive thru as I am usually on my way to rehearsal/performance.

30.) What’s your favorite number?

I usually go with my birthdate - 13.

31.) Who’s the last person you talked to?

My boyfriend.

32.) Favorite cut of beef?

I don’t do red meat.

33.) Last song you listened to?

The First Cut Is The Deepest by Cat Stevens.

34.) Last book you read?

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

35.) Can you say the alphabet backwards?

One day.

36.) Favorite day of the week?

Thursday - specifically Thursday evenings.

37.) How do you like your coffee?

Iced with whole milk and hazelnut flavoring.

38.) Favorite pair of shoes?

My cheapy Target knock off Keds.

39.) Time you normally wake up?

6 AM on Mondays - Thursdays. 9:00 AM on Fridays - Sundays.

40.) Sunrise or sunsets?

Sunset.

41.) How many blankets on your bed?

5. You can never have too many blankets.

42.) Describe your kitchen plates?

A mishmash of designs. Mostly white and flowery though.

43.) Describe your kitchen at the moment?

A little chaotic but workable. I do have an awesome picture of Ron Swanson hanging up on the way.

44.) Do you have a favorite alcoholic drink?

A good pint of cider or a glass of bourbon. For holiday parties, I will indulge in ginger amarettos.

45.) Do you play cards?

Not anymore, but as a teenager I did.

46.) What color is your car?

Black.

47.) Can you change a tire?

Nope. I should learn though.

48.) Your favorite state, province, country, etc.?

France. I have never been there, but it is so breathtakingly beautiful. Sometimes I will just sit and dream about touring wine country, having dinner at a small village inn, visiting Shakespeare and Co, exploring the Louvre, walking along the Seine. 

49.) Favorite job you’ve had?

My current one. I’m a stage manager and I love it. I get to combine my love of organization, the humanities, and helping people. Every show is a new challenge that exposes me to different perspectives. In short, I love SMing because I get to make cool stuff with cool people.

50.) How did you get your biggest scar?

My appendectomy scar! I was SMing a summer musical and we only had two weeks left. The night before that second weekend started, I had really bad pains in my stomach. Like period cramps. I went to Emergency Care were I was told that I needed to get to the ER and get my appendix out. I tried to explain to the doctor that I had a weekend of shows to call, so this would have to be taken care of later. He replied that if I didn’t go then, I would be dead and not working on anymore shows. Long story short - I had the offending organ removed, it left a scar, and I spent the following week watching Star Trek: The Next Generation while on pain meds.

No pressure tags: @wickedfrsgrl @yespolkadotkitty @chicken-nugget-puta @agirllovespasta @gamingaquarius+ anyone else!

[blazehedgehog]

I have an AMD Ryzen CPU and a Geforce 1650 GTX graphic card. I recently built my first gaming PC in hopes to avoid stuff like this but it seems I shot myself in the foot.

For all intents and purposes it sounds like Ryzen CPUs are shockingly good and are outpacing Intel CPUs by leaps and bounds in terms of speed and performance. AMD’s poor reputation for graphics cards are unrelated to their CPUs. You’re probably fine, there.

I think the 1650 is probably an alright graphics card? That’s the 2000-line with the raytracing stuff stripped out, right? It’s probably fine. Probably as good or better than my 1060 at least, and that’s still holding it down pretty well in most games, assuming they are properly optimized. Like, on my machine, Gears of War 5 looks absolutely gorgeous and defaults to mostly high or ultra settings at a locked 60fps. And my system right now is:

Intel Core i5-4690K

16GB of DDR3 RAM (2166mhz)

GeForce 1060 GTX (6GB)

Every now and then I’ll hit something that doesn’t run quite right (that Blair Witch game comes to mind) but it always feels less like my system being under-powered and more like the developers are cutting corners.

I’ve been thinking of replacing my CPU, because it’s 3-4 years old at this point, but to do that I’d have to buy a whole new motherboard and essentially disassemble and reassemble the entire PC and I don’t want to do that. Also it’d be like $300-$450 to do that, if I’d want to do it right (and I’ve had enough cheapy builds in my life that I’d want to do it right).

But yeah, your system is probably fine. It sounds like it’s probably more powerful than mine is, and mine seems to run just about everything that isn’t VR. Though with new consoles on the horizon, I think things are probably starting to shift.

[what-nathan-did]

Battle for the Lost Planet, 1986 - ★★½

This is one of the most DIY sci-fi joints I’ve seen yet, and I’ve seen a few. For example, the end credits list a “Forest folk, mutants, aliens and what-not” catchall credit that includes at least 4 members of the director’s family. Love it. If I’m doing the math right, the budget was about three-fifths of one percent of one Star War. By that measure, it’s a masterpiece. Its worst crime is repetition to fill time, which unfortunatley there’s lots of (especially since at 100 mins it’s wayyy overshooting).

I quite like the premise that Earth gets conquered by crapsack aliens who have nothing going as a society other than big ships and guns. It feels almost Douglas Adams-y; we’re such a crummy backwater planet that only losers who probably couldn’t hack it anywhere else bother to invade. On the balance that feels more true yeah? Like it’s really patting ourselves on the back to think our precious jewel Earth could only be attacked by the crème de la crème of space villainy!

To add to the plus column, some things this has & Star Wars don’t:

• Alien picks nose • Alien flips another alien the bird • Hero hangs brain • Weed

Also, during the first act that’s basically a cheapie Moon, I had fun pretending Paula Poundstone was the voice of the ship’s computer. The stop-motion beasties are super rad too.

[iainwrites]

Quick thoughts on the mess of movies I’ve been getting into:

-Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Nothing mindblowing, really.  There wasn’t even much that made me think, “Oh, THIS is where that idea came from.”  As an “end of the night/fading off to sleep” it was okay, but nothing that I actively need or want to experience again.  And that’s with Carlin in the movie, a man I look as an acerbic and sarcastic role model.

-Tomb Raider (2018): Or “The Video Game: The Movie.”  If you’ve played the 2013 remake, then you really don’t need to see this, which is a rehash of the big action moments with some plot to tie everything together.  It’s not a bad movie, but it isn’t great, either.  If there was a Tomb Raider bundle where you got this, the 2013 remake and Rise of the Tomb Raider, plus all DLC for $60 (and I didn’t own them already), I’d pick it up.  Or if it was part of a cheapy bundle with the Jolie Raider movies

-Split: I had fun with this.  I’ll do superhero films whether they’re bad or not, but this was good.  It had tension, McAvoy was damn good, the late reveal that this is a superVILLAIN origin story was solid, and the fact that Shyamalan kind of came back and let people remember that he has good movies in him was good to see.  Before you see this, however, you really should check out Unbreakable.

-War for the Planet of the Apes: It was a good popcorn flick and a good borrow from a friend.  If there was a bundle for the 3 movie collection, I’d consider it.  But once again, nothing revolutionary.  Aside from, you know, the fact that it kills it with the mo-cap and CGI pretty much every single scene that’s on screen.  Oh yeah, and Bad Ape is kind of adorable.  Dude bombs around in his little vest and toque, and REALLY needs some of that legalized weed to chill out.  I’d come back for Bad Ape.

-Silence of the Lambs: I didn’t find it scary, but it was a tense watch.  It’s one of those things where people might know the entire movie simply by pop culture osmosis, but at the end of the day, it was good.  Hopkins is fucking creepy (I love the fact that when he was filmed, he’s never shown blinking, which is a subtle way of making your skin crawl and hide).  Jodi Foster IS a rookie who gets thrown into the wolf cage and manages to keep herself alive, not because the wolf isn’t hungry, but because it just wants out of that cage; and even though it isn’t trying to gnaw your leg off, you’re still in a cage with a wolf.  I watch it a week or two after seeing Red Dragon for the first time, which didn’t hurt for me.  But its also a pretty okay standalone.

-The Black Cauldron: ... Disney went through some weird, dark years, man.

-Groundhog Day: Like Bill and Ted, this is one I heard people talking up and it never really delivered.  I was more interested at the end with, “Okay, but how does he do from here on out?  He became the master of one day, but he has an entire life of potential and likely screwups with no re-do’s.  Will the lesson he learned be worth it or memorable with all this?”

-Onibaba: Well, that was a whole lot of weird, fucked up and kind of crazy.  ... I liked it?

-BECK (The Movie): I really enjoyed it.  I enjoy pretty much everything coming from this franchise, but this was good.  Giving as much of the spotlight to Chiba as Koyuki was damn good and actually worked by giving this character (who is more than just the loudmouthed girl chasing goof) a chance to shine.  Also: the actress who plays Maho also plays Yukio in Deadpool 2 and I laughed my ass off when I learned about that.

[ocw-archive]

Five Young Friends From Texas Pin Their Hopes On "Bottle Rocket" - The Buffalo News, March 14, 1996

By Jane Sumner See them clear and see them plain. They will not be quite like this again. Wes Anderson, Robert Musgrave and the three Wilson brothers -- Owen, Luke and Andrew -- are whooping it up at the Stoneleigh P, playing pool and pinball like big kids, which in a way they still are. But they're also the director and cast of a quirky new movie, "Bottle Rocket," that the Hollywood Reporter called "a marvelous debut" and Esquire dubbed "the cinematic bookend to 'Say Anything.' " Heady words for a bunch of guys who a couple of years back were crashing in sleeping bags on the floor of a one-bedroom Dallas apartment. "Bottle Rocket," shot in Dallas last year for $ 5 million, opened in limited release Friday, but already it's gotten Owen C. Wilson a small role in Jim Carrey's upcoming "The Cable Guy" (he gets beaten up by the $ 20 million man) and earned the team a movie deal with Columbia Pictures -- a rare windfall for first-time filmmakers. The romantic caper comedy focuses on three misfits whose petty crime career fizzles like a cheap firecracker: Appealing Anthony (Luke Wilson) is looking for something substantial and true. Long-suffering Bob (Musgrave) yearns for family and affection from his brutal older brother, Futureman (Andrew Wilson). And tightly wound Dignan (Owen) wants a leadership role among thieves. All get what they want, but not in ways they expected.

"Bottle Rocket" is the first feature for "the boys," as producer Polly Platt calls them, although they're in their mid- to late 20s and early 30s. "I love them all," says Platt, whose long list of production credits include "War of the Roses" and "Say Anything." "What you see is what you get. I don't know if it's Texas or what, but I haven't met any others like them." The boys' story begins in Austin, the film hotbed that already has spawned guts 'n' guns filmmaker Robert Rodriguez ("From Dusk Till Dawn") and laid-back Gen-X chronicler Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused"). At first, Anderson and the Wilsons tried to shoot a full-length feature but ran out of cash. They ended up making a 16mm black-and-white short instead. Thanks to family friend and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, the droll, 13-minute demo landed at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and in the hands of Platt, then executive vice president of James L. Brooks' Gracie Films. "Polly Platt showed me the 13-minute tape," says Brooks, the Hollywood heavyweight behind "Terms of Endearment" and "Broadcast News," among others. "I loved it so much that I was showing it like a home movie of my kids when people came in the office." Intrigued, the producers flew to Dallas and visited the boys in their one-bedroom apartment. "I knew I'd never see another case where the whole cast was living on the same floor," Brooks says. "There were sleeping bags everywhere." After that, he says, the direct Anderson would greet him not with "Hello!" or "Good morning!" but with the question, "Are you going to make this movie?" Brooks liked their honesty, innocence and freshness. He talked Columbia into backing "Bottle Rocket." "I don't know if the studio was so gung-ho," Owen Wilson says. "It wasn't something they would normally embrace. Jim had just got done with a big, complicated movie, "I'll Do Anything," and he liked the idea of doing something simple and self-contained." "Bottle Rocket" wasn't the studio's first cheapie venture, Brooks says. "There was 'To Die For,' and 'Boyz N the Hood' had a moderate budget. The important thing is that having done it so far, they're glad they did." But putting together a short film with friends wasn't the same as making a multimillion-dollar feature for a studio with a high-energy executive producer like Brooks. "I think it was dreams meet reality equal rough times," Brooks says. "But everybody hung in there, working in their own distinctive way. Once you start to make it, everything is about just trying to get what you went after." Despite the friction when Texas met Tinseltown, Anderson says he pretty much made the movie he went after. "There would be weeks when I would just hate everybody and think people were evil," he says. "Then it would wear off and I'd think, 'Well, Jim was right about this thing.' "He never tried to force us to make it into something that it wasn't. It's pretty clear right from the start that they never made me cast anybody but our own guys. They let me hire a full crew that I wanted. They let us do our thing, but at the time it doesn't feel like that." Only two "names" appear in the film -- Hollywood bad boy James Caan ("Misery") as the boys' mentor in crime and Mexican actress Lumi Cavazos ("Like Water for Chocolate") as the Spanish-speaking love interest, Inez. "The only suggestion we got from the studio for the part of Inez was Cameron Diaz," Jim Carrey's co-star in "The Mask," Anderson says. "We saw the kind of actresses that they brought in. Then there's this girl who's beautiful but looks like a real person. When she was reading the part, everybody leaned forward because suddenly there was this intelligence and sense of humor." Until his scenes with Cavazos, Luke says, he hadn't felt any pressure. "All of a sudden I started to hear murmurings about 'Luke's got to deliver the romance, Luke's got to deliver the romance.' Owen sat down with me and talked about true romance, which he'd never done, and Polly sat down with me and said, 'Honey, you really have to believe you love her and deliver the

romance.' I'd heard that from ex-girlfriends maybe, but never from the heads of a studio." In the end, Luke, whose heartthrob sensitivity recalls Montgomery Clift's, delivers the romance, and Caan delivers the "heavy" business. "He was really scary," says Anderson. "I talked to him on the telephone. We were already shooting when we cast him, so I didn't get to meet him." Then came the night the director heard a knock at 12:30 a.m. "I switched on a little reading light and opened the door and Jimmy Caan's out there. He's wide awake. He said, 'I was thinking about the scene where I do a karate move on Andrew.' So he pulled me in front of the mirror in this dimly lit hotel room, put me in this hold and starts throwing me down on the floor very hard and pulling me back up. We're doing it again and again. All I could think of was how weird it was. But it was also kind of nice because it seemed like we were really working in the Now." Then came a round of test screenings, which studios traditionally use to gauge audience reaction and make suggested changes. "We had a hard time," Platt says. "We had terrible previews. But those people who filled out reaction forms are idiots. . . . Once in a while, someone wrote that it was one of the most original movies they'd seen. I just hope that discerning people who see a lot of movies will see that it's a gem." Another blow came last month, when Sundance, the indie-oriented fest where their short made waves, rejected the full-length, studio-made version for this year's festival. But with "Rocket's" quirky glare hitting screens in 13 cities across the country, the future looks bright. Owen Wilson and Anderson say they'd like to do a Western and a movie about a boys school. But right now, the pair is hunkered down writing a romantic comedy. The idea is to keep the gang together. As filmmakers, Brooks says, the Texans are unique. "Those guys are so close. It's staggering that three are brothers. . . . Their rhythms are different from everybody else, and the way they care for each other is different. All that stuff in the film about loyalty, honor and friendship is really the way they are."

[sleepykittypaws]

The Christmas Chronicles Part Two

Original Airdate: November 25, 2020 (Netflix) Where to Watch?: It’s a Netflix original, so it should be available on the service forever

The original The Christmas Chronicles, which featured Kurt Russell as a sassy Santa offended by his bowl full of jelly portrayal, was a fun, family adventure that brought some new elements to the Santa legend in an original way, while providing a good bit of work for Russell’s extended family, with longtime love Goldie Hawn making a cameo as Mrs. Claus, and stepson Oliver Hudson playing the deceased father of the two kids who get to spend the night in Santa’s sleigh.

The second Christmas Chronicles was…not that. While making Hawn’s Mrs. Claus an integral part of the movie sounded like a great idea, in reality this second effort felt like a fairly nonsensical and unnecessary rehash, that mostly just borrowed from far better movies for various sub-par action and special effect sequences.

A hidden troll village as wise givers of magic? Frozen did it better. A special star that forges a magic weapon? We see you Avengers Infinity War. Making Santa’s sleigh fly by singing loud for all to hear? Pretty sure this is actionable stuff by the Elf producers, right down to the Christmas spirit meter. Even the not great later Santa Clause movies get some direct nods.

Russell and Hawn’s chemistry is, of course, great, but the kids at the heart of it, the returning “Kate,” still played by Darby Camp, and her soon-to-be-new-stepbrother “Jack,” Jahzir Bruno, weren’t really up to carrying the massive load the plot put on their shoulders.

Why Kate even needed to go with Santa on his journey is beyond me, as she really did nothing but make things worse. When she drops the star they traveled so far to get, my son actually said out loud, ‘You had one job,’ which might have been the biggest laugh my family had during this movie.

There were some good sequences for sure, like the Nerf war shot like an action movie, which my kids adored. All the money spent here showed in the polish, but there were also some questionable scenes for a movie aimed at children, like Santa’s reindeer being mauled (what are we watching?!?) and then a cat swung around by his tail. Gotta love some fun, old fashioned animal abuse in your kids’ holiday tale—not. Even when I know full well the animals are all CGI, this is not what I want to see in my Christmas cheer.

In fact, most of this movie, other than opening and closing sequences in Cancun with the world’s most useless parents—you have to sign your kids in and out of a kids’ club if you’re leaving them for an hour, let alone overnight…these parents should probably be investigated—is computer generated, and that’s probably why much of it feels so inert.

And I definitely was not clamoring for another extended musical number that’s just an excuse for Russell’s Santa to put on shades and pretend to play the sax, no matter how much we all adore Darlene Love. 

Also weird that they’d hang a lantern on the age difference between mom, played by Kimberley Williams-Paisley, and Hudson, by making his daughter go back and meet him as a teen in 1990. Like, how young was he when he and Williams-Paisley got together and had their now college-age son? 

Haven’t even mentioned Belsnickel, the disgruntled former elf that drives the entire plot, because the weird little CGI characters we barely saw in the first movie were already pretty creepy, so to make them central to story and evil in this second movie is either genius or insanity, and I can’t quite decide which.

Do wish, and kept expecting, that they’d bring it back to the final premise of the first one, where the whole adventure was actually engineered by Santa to teach Kate and her brother a lesson. (In fact, that’s why I thought Kate was with Santa at all.) But, no, everything that happened was real, and Santa really did need these random kids to save the North Pole.

In the end, my family liked this a lot more than I did, but, despite my gripes, still had a decent time watching it, which is why I’m still rating it as highly as I am. That and the fact that there’s no denying the money spent here, so hard to say it’s “worse” than most of the made-for-TV cheapies in overall quality.

Final Judgement: 3 Paws Up for the polish, as well as the fun of seeing Hawn and Russell play opposite one another

[mynewsblog21]

B Movies - A Primer

For whatever length of time that there have been films, there have been B motion pictures. Generally low-financial plan, scarcely pitched undertakings, B motion pictures are typically type films (science fiction, Western, awfulness, and so on.) highlighting entertainers of practically no notoriety, regularly made by little claim to fame studios and wrenched out as though on a mechanical production system https://putlocker-online.com/genres Albeit lesser highlights, early B motion pictures were well known, gainful, and delivered their own different gathering of stars, unique in relation to the significant entertainers of the day. They additionally gave a section into Hollywood to numerous European chiefs. Back in the Golden Age, a night at the motion pictures for the most part comprised of a newsreel, a scene of a sequential, (for example, Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers), a few kid's shows and a twofold element of a B film and the principle highlight an "A film." B motion pictures were the main film and consistently thought about the less significant film.

In the 1930's, the prevalent B film classification was the Western. During the '40s, criminal motion pictures and movies noir got mainstream. During the '50s, with the ascent of awesome, the virus war, and the youngster as a social power, B motion pictures detonated into a various scope of regions: awesome flicks, adolescent reprobate and dragster melodramas, science fiction/ghastliness pastiches with Red Scare hints, and remote movies named into English (e.g., the Japanese Godzilla, the Italian Hercules).

The '60s B motion pictures saw the ascent of the Hammer Films from Britain, the "sea shore motion pictures" with Frankie and Annette and organization, the Elvis motion pictures (which, in spite of the fact that they featured the most popular artist on the planet, were distinctly low-quality creations), Russ Meyer's nudie cuties, and Roger Corman's some low-spending artful culminations. Likewise, the extreme social changes of the '60s were reflected in the B movies of the day some time before they made it to the "genuine" films. Obviously, the most renowned model would be Easy Rider.

The extricating moral mentalities of the '60s likewise helped birth the primary carnage flicks, graciousness of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Despite the fact that Lewis contributed extraordinarily to B motion pictures, his most compelling film was Blood Feast, the principal genuine splatter film. Despite the fact that mellow by the present principles, at the time it was considered very upsetting. Motion pictures, for example, this and his Color Me Blood Red made ready for the current vogue of "torment pornography" films, for example, the Saw and Hostel arrangement.

In spite of the fact that the seeds of misuse were planted during the '60s, they unquestionably worked out as intended during the '70s grindhouse scene. Hand to hand fighting movies were a major most loved in grindhouses everywhere throughout the nation. Created in Hong Kong, frequently by the amazing Shaw Brothers Studio, and named into English before being appropriated in America, these movies made stars of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and generated an entire subculture that is as yet prospering.

The '70s likewise observed the introduction of the 12 PM film marvel. The counterculture had made its mark and where preferred to have a good time over a medication powered late-evening appearing of El Topo or The Rocky Horror Picture Show. At this point, all gloves were off. Essentially anything no-no was reasonable game: blaxploitation, sexploitation, ladies in jail flicks, and, maybe generally persuasive, bad-to-the-bone awfulness best exemplified by Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The entirety of this carries us to the '80s, the decade where the low-spending blood and gore movie truly made its mark. The accomplishment of the efficiently made Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Halloween during the '70s reared the Friday the thirteenth arrangement, The Evil Dead films, et al., and an authentic '80s ghastliness blast resulted. Numerous great B film awfulness assets exist on the web, for example, lethally yours.com and theronneel.com. One of the significant powers in B motion pictures during this decade was Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Pictures. Established by Kaufman in 1974, Troma hit its sweet spot during the '80s with movies, for example, Surf Nazis Must Die and The Toxic Avenger.

During the 1990s, with the passing of the grindhouse and ascent of digital TV, B films lost dramatic settings, yet figured out how to make due because of the home video unrest. What once would've appeared in a grindhouse was presently showing up on the racks of your nearby Blockbuster. Direct-to-video creations flourished, comprising generally of cheapie activity flicks and sensual spine chillers.

The ascent of the computerized age has seen B film live on in direct-to-DVD films, which are regularly spin-offs of fruitful movies made by significant studios, for example, Disney. The current expense of a component film midpoints $50 million to $70 million. With the advances in computerized innovation, decent movies can be made for a small amount of that cost, making low-spending motion pictures an "unrealistic" suggestion for any film studio stressed over its main concern which is each film studio.

[fanthatracks]

New Article posted on FanthaTracks.com https://wp.me/paatpd-aSi

Star Wars Spelt Out #39: Chapman’s Cheapies

Something different this week as Josh embarks on a Victorian surf coast figure hunt. Will he find those sweet, sweet Black Series or will it be nothing but empty pegs and shattered dreams? Contact Information: Website | Twitter | Email

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[monkeyandelf]

New Post has been published on Buzz News from Monkey & Elf |

New Post has been published on https://www.monkeyandelf.com/yes-me-can-the-new-york-times/

Yes Me Can - The New York Times

The word “me” has suffered mightily since Tom Wolfe’s rollicking indictment in the pages of New York magazine over 40 years ago. He deemed the 1970s the Me Decade, and the idea stuck and steeped like an indelible stain well into the 21st century.

Once preoccupied by family and community — by simple survival — Americans, in the full flush of post-World War II prosperity, now felt liberated to self-actualize through EST (Erhard Seminars Training), HPM (the human potential movement) and other important-sounding acronyms. “The old alchemical dream was changing base metals into gold,” Mr. Wolfe wrote. “The new alchemical dream is: changing one’s personality — remaking, remodeling, elevating, and polishing one’s very self … and observing, studying, and doting on it. (Me!)”

In service of this project many spouses were “shucked,” as Mr. Wolfe put it, like corn husks — “overripe” wives, but fusty husbands too. “It’s My Turn,” Diana Ross sang in 1980 for a movie of the same title (one of many then about restive adults seeking new lives after the dissolution of a partnership): lifting arms encased in white silky sleeves like an angel poised to take wing. “It’s just me myself and I” rapped De La Soul a decade later, and “Me me me me me me I I I,” intoned the folk singer Patty Larkin, strumming a guitar as her audience chuckled in rueful recognition.

Then the big new canvas of the internet loomed into view. On this vast plain, “me” became just a dot, a data point, a tree top in a forest. You, the plurality, became more important, according to the new Masters and now some Mistresses of the Universe, trying to figure out how to capitalize. You got mail. You were lingering in chat rooms, lurking behind avatars, editing Wikipedia entries. Posting videos on YouTube. You were what Time Magazine anointed, to retrospectively unfair ridicule, Person of the Year in 2006. You were monetizable information that could be sliced and diced, as the Veg-O-Matics did on the old late-night commercials that the new generation would TiVo right past.

Products that too flagrantly advertised an actual individual at the expense of this digital collective — like Myspace or Mac’s MobileMe software, its little-favored me.com email address that quickly disappeared behind the Cloud — proved a resounding flop. Cultivation of the self was getting upstaged by the proliferation of the selfie. Indeed the selfie was chewing all the scenery, with her sticks and soft-focus filters — everyone a Norma Desmond.

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After the profoundly divisive and unsettling presidential election of 2016, the term “self-care,” wrung from the writings of Roland Barthes and Audre Lorde, began trending on Twitter, now sometimes affixed to Sunday. If Monday was for motivation, Thursday for nostalgia and Saturday for snuggling with cats, a day once devoted to church might now legitimately be spent alone in the bathtub coated in mud, a green smoothie by one’s side. A few minutes of cheapie “Calgon, take me away” no longer quite cut it: “Me time,” suggesting people so overstretched they have to schedule a slot of relaxation into their Google calendars, has become a phenomenon of such refinement — and potential expense — that this very news organization now devotes a column to exposing its myths and excesses.

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[keywestlou]

TICKET RIP OFF.....KEY WEST AMPHITHEATER

This is a follow up to yesterday’s blog wherein I questioned whether ticket sales were a rip off where locals are concerned. A situation not benefiting locals whose tax dollars built the Amphitheater.

Tickets advertised for the Willie Nelson show at $69 and $99 a piece within minutes were only available from $244 for the cheapies and as much as $300 to $400 for reserved.

Comment responses were interesting. I refer you to them.

I believe this is a problem that has to be dealt with. Key West is not New York City or Nashville. Prices should be what locals can bear, not what money hungry scalpers seek.

My suggestions at the moment three fold.

First, on the date and at the time tickets first go on sale, locals may only purchase them during the first 4 hours on sale. Either by standing in line and proving residency or paying via the internet with a credit card having a Key West address.

Second, locals should be permitted to purchase only up to 4 tickets. Don’t want locals to turn into scalpers.

Finally, there has to be an arrangement between the city and whoever holds the contract to operate the Amphitheater to check following the show to determine if those operating the Amphitheater locally are benefitting in any way via a kick back from scalpers. I am not insinuating any wrongdoing by those holding the contract or operating the Amphitheater. However from a business perspective, a system of checks and balances is required.

Key West has had a history of getting stuck on construction jobs re overruns and paying a lot more more money in the end. Such has occurred too often in many other ways also. Elected officials…..It is your responsibility to protect residents and taxpayer dollars.

I was at the Chart Room friday night. John bartending. Steve and Cindy at the bar.

Steve and Cindy go back to the Key West of the 1970’s. Steve successfully ran several businesses. Cindy was Jimmy Buffett’s secretary.

Each knows much about the Key West of yesterday. Interesting people to chat with.

Syracuse sports yesterday!

Won one, lost one.

The basketball team beat Bucknell 97-46. Obviously, a good victory.

The football team as usual did not do well. Lost to Louisville 56-34. Now, 4-7. A lousy season!

I grew up in New York’s Mohawk Valley. Named after the Mohawk Indians. The Mohawks were part of the Iroquois Nation which consisted of six separate tribes.

During the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois generally fought on the side of Britain. They were unhappy with the colonial settlers who they considered to be encroaching on their ancestral lands.

Leading the Iroquois Nation was Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant. Brant was Indian by birth, though a white man in every other respect. Well educated. He studied with Eleazar Wheelock at Moor’s Indian Charity School. The parent institution of Dartmouth College.

Brant successfully led Indian troops against the colonials in many battles.

One battle proved not to be successful. The Battle of Oriskany. One of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution. The colonials were able to delay the Indian and British troops from reaching Saratoga in a timely fashion. As a result, the colonials beat the combined Indian and British forces at the Battle of Saratoga.

Saratoga was significant since it proved to certain European nations the colonials could win. Money poured in. Especially from France.

I mention Brant and the Battle of Oriskany since I grew up with both of them. Our grammar school history books spoke of Brant and the Iroquois Nation. It spoke loudly of the Battle of Oriskany.

Even more significant re the Battle itself, is that Oriskany where the battle was fought is a mere 12 miles from my hometown Utica.

A Washington monument type edifice stands in remembrance of the Battle. Though significantly lower than the Washington one. About 30 feet in height.

A small wrought iron fence surrounds the monument.

It always bothered me that no one stopped at the monument, except on the day commemorating the Battle. A handful that day to pay homage to those who died in assuring the United States would have a chance to be born.

President John Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was captured and charged with the shooting.

Oswald was being held in the Dallas jail. Two days after the shooting, Oswald was being moved to another location.

What occurred next, I recall specifically. It has remained in my mind since that day. I was sitting in my mother in law’s living room watching television.

It was announced Oswald was to be moved. A parking garage was beneath the Police Station. A concrete ramp led up from the garage to street level.

Oswald was being led up the concrete ramp on foot. Police surrounding him. Newsmen pressing in. Spectators all over the place.

I thought to myself how stupid! Someone could easily shoot Oswald. As the thought crossed my mind, Jack Ruby walked up to Oswald, put a gun  to his stomach, and killed him.

Ruby was a local nightclub owner. Later established a bit off mentally.

The flu season is upon us. Going to get worse. Anyone above 6 months recommended to get a flu shot.

So recommended by all federal health agencies.

One place flu shots are not being given. The Trump Administration again. No flu shots to those detained by the Border Patrol. Undocumented immigrants.

On any given day, there are 3,500 undocumented immigrants at undocumented immigrant detention facilities. Not a bad number. Down from 20,000 earlier in the year.

Trump’s people apparently don’t care about the health of these immigrants. Strange. Several years ago, the U.S.Supreme Court ruled jailed persons were entitled to the “best medical care.” Why not undocumented detainees?

Another thought crossing my mind is what if certain of these detainees come down with the flu and pass it on to other persons and eventually the flu germ spreads outside detention walls.

Typical Trump judgment re undocumented immigrants. Deny them. Make their lives hard. Cause them all kinds of pain and suffering.

Today, Sunday. Time for a treat. A shower and then to Harpoon Harry’s for eggs benedict.

Enjoy your Sunday!

  TICKET RIP OFF…..KEY WEST AMPHITHEATER was originally published on Key West Lou