How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Well, a few weeks ago, I took a week off work.  Nothing fancy, no big plans, I just figured it's best to do it now instead of getting the terse e-mail from HR in January about how many unused vacation days I have.  So, yeah.  I pretty much just spent it around the house getting a few chores finished that had been piling up.

I really should have taken before and after pictures of my closet.  One chore that I'd been putting off was getting rid of all the old clothes I don't wear anymore.  See, anytime I bought a new shirt, I'd take an old shirt I wasn't wearing anymore, and just toss it onto the top shelf of my closet.  Well, my top shelf had become piled to the ceiling with stuff I wasn't wearing.  So, I went through it, kept a few for sentimental value, put aside a few for Mom, and took the rest to goodwill.  And I have a usable top shelf in my closet again.

You're probably wondering why I put aside a few for Mom.  Well, part of the impetus to do this was that my mother has taken up quilting as a hobby.  And she found the pattern for a quilt made of old T-shirts.  So, she asked that if I have any old superhero T-shirts (like a geek does) that I'm not wearing anymore, I should pass them along to her so she can try making them into a quilt.  Actually, going through all the old T-shirts I'll be sending home, she'll probably be able to make three:  superheroes, radio stations, and souvenirs.

Another of my chores was getting my car looked after.  You might remember me blogging about my car woes back in the spring.  Well, back then, I could only afford to get my car about 75% fixed.  With the help of the negotiating skills of my Dad, we worked with the mechanic to figure out what would wait for another day.  Well, I figured another day had come, and it was time to get my car up to 85%.  So, I finally got that new transmission filter and a transmission flush that the mechanic recommended.

I was also hoping to get that new cellphone I'd been wanting.  I'm the only one in the office not playing Pokemon GO, so I want to get on board with the fad.  I've been told I can play it on my iPhone 4s, but it'll be glitchy and slow.  Let me let you in a little secret:  everything on my iPhone4s is glitchy and slow.  It's showing its age.  And besides, my contract expired a year ago, so I've been thinking about upgrading anyway.

Anyway, during my vacation, the announcement I'd been waiting for came along:  the shiny new iPhone 7.  So now, I'm facing the debate I'd knew I'd have to face:  go for the shiny new 7, or the newly marked-down 6s?  As I've told others, I'll stick with iPhone, because I've bought too much shit on iTunes to turn back now.  Right now, it's just juggling the numbers, looking for something that works.  I've reached the point where I'm about done researching on the website...time to go into the store and talk to a human.  Only problem with that is I know I'll come out with something new, and I'm not so sure I can afford to right now.

It's funny.  Coming back form vacation, some co-workers were stunned that I didn't go see many movies.  We're kind of between blockbuster season right now, so there's not much I want to see.  Although, I was tempted to see Kubo and the Two Strings because the reviews are pretty good, and that stop-motion animation looked gorgeous.  But, more often than not, I find myself going through my old DVDs.

When I did get my car back from the shop, I thought I'd take a little test drive.  I got an e-mail notice from Amazon that my new Signature Edition of The Iron Giant, got back-ordered, so I figured I'd take a test drive into Edmonton to see if I could find it.  Sadly, it was really hard to find, but I eventually found a copy at HMV.

The Iron Giant still stands as one of my favourite movies.  I'll never forget when I first saw it.  Summer of 1999.  Still on a high from Episode I.  I had just finished college, and was spending the summer on my parents' couch, wondering what to do next with my life.  My sister had just finished high school, and after a summer of backpacking across Europe, was doing the same.  She wanted to go see Tarzan, because it was Disney's animated epic that summer, and she was of that generation.  So I said, "Hey, I kinda wanna see Tarzan, too, and I also wanna see this animated movie they're raving about online called The Iron Giant.  How about we see both?"  She agreed, and we were off to the city.

We saw Tarzan first, and we both agreed it was pretty good.  And then we saw The Iron Giant.  As the end credits rolled, we were both agog at what we had just seen.  My sister looked at me and said, "That was so...grown-up.  I wouldn't really call it a kids movie."  I went home that night, fired up the ol' dial-up Internet, and e-mailed all my friends.  "You have got to see this movie!" I exclaimed.  About the highest compliment I got was, as much as a year later, friends were still e-mailing me back going, "I finally rented it last night, based on your glowing recommendation, and I loved it!"

How much did I love it?  I saw it in the theatre twice.  You have to realize, growing up in a poor farming town in rural Alberta, seeing a movie meant a costly trip into the city.  Every movie was a big deal, and to me, seeing a movie twice in the theatre was something that's just unheard of.  Even as middle age dawns, the number of movies I've seen in the theatre twice is less than 10.  And the second one was The Iron Giant.  (The first was Episode I.  You need to understand the history...the whole world was nuts for Episode I in 1999.)

Sadly, I missed it during its limited theatrical re-release last year when they premiered the new "Signature Edition."  Director Brad Bird reunited as much of the original animation crew as he could, and they finished animation on two deleted scenes to put them back into the film.  Both versions of the film (original version and Signature Edition) are on the new Blu-Ray.

I like the addition of the new scenes.  The first one is a moment between Annie (Hogarth's mother) and Dean (the beatnik artist) earlier in the film.  You may remember we're introduced to Dean when he undoes his pants to let out a squirrel that's been running up his leg.  (I remember seeing that in the theatre for the first time and thinking, "This film's gonna be a little different, isn't it?")  Anyway, in this new scene, Dean comes back the next day to apologize to Annie, and they get to chatting about young Hogarth.  I like this scene.  I like that Annie and Dean's relationship is introduced earlier in the film.  This way, when they're thrust together at the climax, it seems a little less random.

The second scene is one of the more famous deleted scenes.  We're treated to a flashback to the Giant's origins.  We see an army of the Giant's kind laying waste to an entire planet.  The damage they cause is so great, that the planet literally explodes, and the Giant is sent hurling off into space.  It's some great, vintage, 1950s sci-fi movie stuff.  A wonderful addition.

Of course, there's some new bonus features on the disc, the crown jewel of which is a new retrospective documentary about the making of the film called The Giant's Dream.  It answers a question I've had about the film for the longest time.  At the very end of the end credits, there's a simple dedication that reads "For Susan."  I've wanted to know...who's Susan?

Susan, as it turns out, is director Brad Bird's sister.  She was shot and killed by her husband in a domestic dispute.  And as Bird explains in the documentary, working on The Iron Giant turned out to be very cathartic for him.  In fact, working through his grief is how he came up with his central thesis for The Iron Giant:  "What if a gun had a soul?  And didn't want to hurt people anymore?"

So...that's who Susan is.

All in all, I'm still singing the praises of The Iron Giant.

And then it was time to peruse the streaming video services.  Turned out I'd signed up for CraveTV.  I'm with Shaw, and I saw they had an offer to sign up for CraveTV.  I figured I'd do it, try my free first month, and see how I liked it.  Now, the website said I'd get a confirmation e-mail, telling me that it had gone through.  But I never got that confirmation e-mail.  I missed my free first month, and didn't realize it had gone through until my bill went up by $6 a month, and I started looking at the fine print to see why.  So, there it is, I'm on CraveTV now.

One of CraveTV's big selling points was they secured the Canadian streaming rights to HBO's off-air catalogue.  So any classic HBO TV series that's finished it's run is on CraveTV.  They've got The Sopranos, the Wire, Sex and the City, Band of Brothers, and many more.  And, as I noticed, that means they also have a wide selection of HBO's original movies.  So I finally indulged my curiosity and watched The Late Shift.

The Late Shift, based on the book of the same name, was one of HBO's more infamous original movies.  It detailed the behind-the-scenes shenanigans at NBC that led to Jay Leno getting The Tonight Show, and David Letterman moving to CBS to start The Late Show.  It was brought back into infamy a few years ago when Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien had their own tussle over The Tonight Show, and many started joking that HBO would be making a sequel. On Conan's second-last episode of The Tonight Show, Quentin Tarintino even jokingly offered to direct it.

But it was very interesting to see.  In that whole dispute, Jay Leno was almost a victim, as the true mastermind of him landing The Tonight Show was spearheaded by his ruthless agent Helen Kushnick.  And Letterman, too, was a victim, as he let The Tonight Show slip through his fingers as he didn't have an agent and had no desire to play those Hollywood games.

But as I blogged before:  there are two ways to do these kinds of films.  The first kind takes liberties with history so we get a better chance to know those people and what made them tick.  The second time is such a painstaking recreation of the events that we hardly get to know the people.  This is definitely the second type.  It would have been nice to get a clearer picture of Leno and Letterman as people, but this is more focused on the events, rather than the people involved.

Anyways, even though I just got it, I'm thinking about dumping CraveTV.  I mean, the big selling point for me was that it had every Star Trek series, and they're going to be the streaming service provider of the new series, Star Trek: Discovery.  But, every Star Trek is on Netflix now, and here in Canada, Star Trek: Discovery is going to be on Space, so what's the point?

Well...I did like The Newsroom and never got around to watching season 3.  So I'll dump it after I binge-watched season 3.

I've made the same deal with Shomi.  I said I'd dump it after I binge-watched Battlestar: Galactica, one of the bigger sci-fi shows of the 2000s, yet I completely missed it.  Flipping over to Shomi, I figured it was time to watch the cult classic The Warriors.  Once worked with a woman who proclaimed it the greatest movie ever made, but she left the company before she could loan me her DVD.

At a midnight summit of the biggest gangs in New York, one of the biggest and most charismatic gang leaders proposes they team up, citing that all of them together could run the city.  But then, he's gunned down by a rogue gang member just looking to stir up some shit.  This rogue blames our heroes, the gang the Warriors.  Now, with a price on their heads and every other gang in New York out to get them, the Warriors begin the perilous journey back to their home turf.

Well, this movie is pretty dark.  It is grim.  That's really all I've got to say about it.  Sadly, we don't really get to know many of the Warriors as individual characters, so we really don't get to know much about their personal plights, or what got them into this gang lifestyle.

Although, I do like any film that prominently features radio, and this has its iconic scenes of a radio announcer, broadcasting updates on the Warriors' actions to the other gangs.  All we ever see are her lips, whispering sweet nothings into that microphone.  And she was played by Lynn Thigpin, best remembered as the Chief on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?  

But it does get pretty tense, and there are some good action scenes.

Anyway, I've rambled enough.  That's what I did on my week off at home. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Superman: Original Theatrical Edition

Here we go again on Fishing in  the Discount Bin, my weekly blogging about a movie I own.  I'm going to start on the Superman franchise, with the appropriately titled Superman.  This is in my notes at January 16, 2016.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Ant-Man

Here we go again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, bloggin' about the movies I own.  Today, we get to one of the more recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man.  This was originally in my notes at December 12, 2015.

Netflix Nonsense - The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown

This is a straight-to-video animated film I'd been curious about for some time, and when I got the e-mail newsletter from Shomi saying that it was now on Shomi, I thought, "Well, I know how I'm spending my Sunday morning!"  I settled down on the couch and watched....

The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!

Directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone

Starring the voices of Jeff Bergman, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tress MacNeille, Grey Griffin, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker, Mark Henry, CM Punk, Vince McMahon, and the Bella Twins.

Backstory

A few years ago, my movie news sites lit up with the headline that Warner Brothers animation and the WWE were teaming up to make a straight-to-video animated film about the Flintstones meeting WWE superstars.  As a lifelong Flintstones fan, my curiosity was piqued.  But not piqued enough to actually buy the Blu-Ray when it came out in the spring of 2015.  But, the good thing is, in this day and age, these things pop up on a streaming video service soon enough.  And as I said above, when I saw it was on Shomi, I figured, "I ain't doing nothin' today, so why not?" 

Plot

After a disastrous day at work, Fred Flintstone fails to get an advance on his salary, thus putting the vacation he promised with Wilma into jeopardy.  That night, Fred and Barney are working the Water Buffalo Lodge's fundraising carnival, where they man the booth for people to go in and box with Hoppy.  Upset that CM Punkrock is abusing Hoppy, Barney climbs in the ring and lays the smackdown on CM Punkrock.  People love it, and this gives Fred an idea as to how to raise the money for the vacation.  Fred forms his own wrestling league, the FFE (Fred Flintstone Entertainment), with Barney as his star wrestler.  Filling out the league, Fred approaches his new co-worker, Mr. Slate's nephew, John Cenastone, and he soon brings his friends Rey Mysteriopal and the Undertaker to fill the ranks.  Needless to say, their unique brand of sports entertainment is a hit!  But, CM Punkrock wants a rematch with Barney, and he's bringing his friends Marble Henry and the Boulder Twins.  Will Fred shut things down to save Barney?  Or, in classic Fred Flintstone fashion, will he let his greed get the better of him? 

What I Liked

I laughed a lot more than I thought I would.  There's some classic Flintstones gags in there, all be it with a more modern twist.  My favourite had to be when Fred is recruiting John Cenastone to be in his league:

John Cenastone:  Sure, Mr. Flintstone!  I mean, I don't want to break rocks forever.

Fred:  I hear ya, kid.  No one wants to break rocks forever.

(Fred stares off into space.  Sad music plays in memorial of Fred's dead dreams.) 

The wrestlers seem to be having fun, too.  I love the obvious gag of wooing away the Undertaker from his day job as an actual undertaker.  The wrestling matches have a definite Looney Toons vibe to them.  And it's short, coming in at 50 minutes long, giving it a nice "one hour special episode" feel. 

What I Didn't Like

Call me a traditionalist, but I wasn't a big fan of the more modern animation.  This has more of a John Kricfalusi/Ren and Stimpy vibe that seemed a little out of place.  Just a little too rubbery for The Flintstones

Final Verdict

Actually not too bad.  If you're a Flintstones fan, check it out.

3 Nibs. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Man With the Golden Gun

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I ramble about the movies I own.  I tend to buy James Bond movies in pairs, because I always get them out of HMV's "2 for $20" bin.  So, since I did a Bond last week, we're doing a Bond this week.  Here's The Man with the Golden Gun.  This is in my notes at November 11, 2015.

Review - Batman: The Killing Joke

I've blogged before about how I've grown bored with the DC/Warner Brothers straight-to-DVD animated films.  So much of the same old Batman and Superman, that I'm longing for something new.  I've skipped the last three or so (although, seeing Starfire's Sailor Moon-inspired transformation from Justice League vs. Teen Titan makes me want to check that out.)  But, their most recent one has been one of the most demanded ever since DC and Warner Brothers launched this project.  So it's time to check out...

Batman: The Killing Joke

Fishing in the Discount Bin - You Only Live Twice

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the many movies I own.  Just when I think I'm done with James Bond, I get drawn back in.  Here we've got You Only Live Twice, originally in my notes at November 8, 2015.

Thoughts for a Lazy Summer Afternoon

When I was a kid, my school had this thing called USSR:  Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading.  Every day, for the first 15 minutes after lunch, everyone would read.  It was a pleasant way to start the afternoon.  And it was one of those school assignments where there was no way to do it wrong.

Until I got to Grade 7.  A few months into junior high, my English teacher, Mr. Twerdoclib, asked me to stay after class one day.  It turned out he didn't like my choice of reading material during USSR.  For you see, I was still hooked on Choose Your Own Adventure books.  After having been my teacher for a few months, Mr. Twerdoclib couldn't understand why I was reading them.  "Your test scores show you're reading at a high school level, Mark," he said.  "Quite frankly, Choose Your Own Adventures are beneath you."

He then encouraged me to broaden my literary pallet.  "Read some science fiction, read some fantasy, read some mysteries, hell, even try some romance novels, just please stop reading Choose Your Own Adventures."

So I did.  Stopped reading Choose Your Own Adventures that day.  That led into the first time I re-read The Hobbit, and my first attempt at reading The Lord of the Rings.  Someday I'll finish reading The Lord of the Rings, but it still just bores me to tears.  For the mandated mysteries, I borrowed some of my mother's Agatha Christie novels.  A lot of my friends were dabbling in the Dragonriders of Pern series, so I gave that I shot.  Seeing that I was gravitating towards sci-fi and fantasy, Mr. Twerdoclib recommended the The Dark is Rising Sequence.  Made it through the first book, The Dark is Rising, but found it a little too confusing.  Since I had begun embracing Star Trek as my one, true fandom, I soon settled into a steady stream of Star Trek paperbacks.

But Mr. Twerdoclib's words still haunt me this day, especially that last bit:  "Hell, every try some romance novels."  And that's why, when I'm at the book store, or even my corner store, I find myself taking a moment to browse through the Harlequin romance novels.  Some day, I'll probably pick one up and give it a shot.  Because, hey:  Mr. Twedoclib said.

---

There's this phenomenon in Norway known as Slow TV.  NRK, the nation's public broadcaster, showcases these marathon broadcasts of the most mundane things.  They've featured twelve hours of knitting, eight hours of wood burning, and 18 hours of salmon fishing.  So imagine my surprise when I noticed that many of these marathon broadcasts are now on Netflix.

For the hell of it, I watched bit of the very first one, Berginsbanen -- Minnut for Minnut.  The Bergen Line is a very famous railway line in Norway, connecting the cities of Bergin and Oslo.  They have a camera mounted to the front of the train, and it's the entire 7-hour train ride.  Uncut and unedited.

As a guy who's always been fond of trains and rail travel, I found it to be one of the most relaxing things I'd ever watched.  It's such beautiful countryside.  It's actually pretty hilarious when the train goes into a tunnel.  The screen goes black, and all you hear is the white noise of the wheels on the rails.  Apparently, in the original broadcast, during these parts, they'd cut to some historical clips about the history of the railway.  But not here.  You're just on the train.  In the darkness.

I tell you, it's just amazing.  It helps that the Norwegian countryside is gorgeous.

I am reminded of the Travel Channel tried something similar.  They had a TV show about 10 or 12 years ago called Canada's Greatest Ride, which took you from one end of the country to the end by rail.  Just like Slow TV, the vast majority of the footage was filmed from a VIA locomotive, facing forward.  And to premiere it, for one week, they showed a marathon of all their raw footage.

That was actually...pretty boring.  When people think of going across Canada by rail, the first thing they think about is going through the Rocky Mountains.  I was so looking forward to seeing some amazing Rocky Mountain vistas from the rails.  But, for some reason, they decided to film the Rocky Mountain portions of the show at night.  So, all you saw, was darkness in all directions.  You only saw what the headlight saw.  Until you went into a tunnel.  Then that lone headlight would light up the tunnel magnificently, and you'd see an amazing tunnel interior.  And then back out into the darkness.

And I kept watching it to see if I'd catch a glimpse of train coming through my hometown of Entwistle  But it never came.  Finally, in one of the documentary segments, they explained.  Shortly after they left Jasper, their camera crapped out.  So they got no footage of Jasper to Edmonton!

I'd like to remake it.  Do it properly.  Full HD cameras.  Film it in daylight.  Start in Edmonton.  Head into the Rockies, through Jasper, down to Vancouver.  Then back into Alberta through Banff and into Calgary.  And back north to Edmonton to complete the circuit.

But until then, I've got my Slow TV on Netflix.  Might not dive back into the Bergen line, but they have some 1-hour episodes of Norway's shorter rail lines.

---

There was some good news out of Edmonton this past week.  A construction project I've been interested in and have been following for a few years was finally declared finished!

It's the brand new Royal Alberta Museum in downtown Edmonton!



They've been trying to get this built for about 10 years now.  Originally announced by Ralph Klein to celebrate the province's centennial in 2005, it got shuffled around and put on the back burner and such until it was finally made a priority 5 years ago or so.  And now it's here!

Click on that link above to see CTV's video.  (For some reason, the embed code won't work for me.)  It's just beautiful inside.  Sadly, though, it's not open for business yet.  Now begins the 1.5 or so year process of moving everything in and building the displays.  The original museum closed up back in the spring to being packing.

And that's the question now that some people are asking.  What's to become of the original museum?  As they say in the news story, because of the process of packing up and moving, there's no immediate plans.  It's still a perfectly fine building.  The only reason why the Royal Alberta Museum is moving is because they ran out of room.  Something like 80% of their collection is in storage because they have no room to display it.

The government did ask for estimates to demolish it back in the spring, and was immediately met with public backlash.  Last time I was there, I marveled at what a magnificent building it is.  It truly is a product of its time.  Built in 1967 as a Canadian centennial project, the entire building just screams 1960s "fortress of knowledge."  You can just picture steely-eyed missile men inside, smoking their pipes and planning ways to beat the Commies to the Moon.  So it really would be a shame to lose it.

When the project was first announced, and people started discussing what to do with the old building, I heard several good ideas.  Alberta is one of the few provinces that does not have an official residence for its Lieutenant Governor, so one idea was converting it into the Lieutenant Governor's mansion.  Another idea was the City of Edmonton has acquired so many artifacts over the years, that it may be time to build a City of Edmonton Museum.

But I think my favourite idea was the Natural History Museum.   What's always been a centerpiece of the Royal Alberta Museum was its wildlife gallery.  Some of the finest taxidermied specimens of Alberta wildlife, displayed in elaborate dioramas showcasing their natural habitats.  Before the gallery received a massive refurbishment in the mid-2000s, it really was set up like an art gallery, as you walked down row upon row of those amazing displays.

So one idea that was floated was to keep all those dioramas at the original museum, and turn the whole thing into the Natural History Museum of Alberta.  That is one idea I could get behind.

But the point is, the original Royal Alberta Museum is too beautiful a structure to see demolished.  So let's make sure it gets preserved and reused into something wonderful. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Inside Out

Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the movies I own.  This time, we get to Pixar's spectacular 2015 epic, Inside Out.  I originally watched the film and wrote this on November 8, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Toy Story that Time Forgot

Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly viewing and blogging about a movie I own.  Here, we get into Pixar's most recent foray into TV specials, Toy Story That Time Forgot.  This is originally in my notes at November 8, 2015.

Going Backwards

Well, there's a new superhero movie on the horizon, and that means I'd better head off to the city and see it!  But then, as I looked back over my blog entries, I realized that, for the last few movies I've seen, I just ran into the theatre on the north side, and then headed home.  I hadn't spent a full day in the city just bummin' around.  It felt like I was due.

While perusing the movie times for Suicide Squad online, I noticed that the earliest show -- 11:30AM -- still had some pretty good seats.  So I was going to the early show.  I decided, then, to do things backwards.  Rather then spend the day goofing around and capping it off with a movie, I'd see the movie first and then goof around.

I went straight into West Edmonton Mall.  I do love arriving at the mall early, as the parking lot is pretty empty and it's easy to find a good spot.  I had just enough time to browse HMV before the theatre opened.  I always marvel at how HMV has changed over the years.  When HMV first opened in its currently location in the late 1990s, it was very much HMV's flagship store.  Both levels, nothing but CDs.  Rap, country, and a few other genres of music had their own rooms...pretty much like stores-within-the-store.  There was a listening lounge, which was the popular meeting spot for me and my friends.  But now, that's all gone.  The CD selection is getting smaller and smaller, and the focus is changing more and more to pop culture gift-ware.  Can't find the latest Criterion release?  Well how about a Game of Thrones coffee mug instead?

Still had some time before the theatre opened, so I hit the food court for an early lunch.  The only problem with hitting West Edmonton Mall so early is there's no place to have lunch.  It was 10:45, but most places didn't open or start serving lunch until 11AM.  About the only place open was New York Fries, so I treated myself to their Bacon Double Cheese fries.  It's their fries, with cheese curds, and then covered with cheese sauce, and topped with bacon bits and green onions.  Very cheesy.  Nothing like a cheese-coated cheese curd for some cheese-ception.

With a quick lunch in my belly, it was time for Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad is a wonderful concept for the comics.  Super-criminals blackmailed by the government into becoming a black-ops group.  But, the sheer fact that they decided to make it into a movie struck me as very reactionary.  Specifically, a reaction to Guardians of the Galaxy.  When Guardians hit it big, I fully imagine that some Warner Brothers exec said, "Hey!  Doesn't DC have a wacky super-team of misfits that we can make into a movie?"  The reactionary attitude continued with the marketing.  When Deadpool hit it big in the spring, the marketing took a shift to make the film look more irreverent, like Deadpool.  And, truth be told, as the release date drew nearer, I was already burnt out on the film, as it seems like they'd been hitting us with trailers and behind-the-scenes footage and pictures and teases for years now.

With the rising influence of meta-humans in the world, ruthless government agent Amanda Waller hatches a plan:  take some of the meta-humans already in custody, and blackmail them into working for her.  Among those she recruits:  Deadshot, the world's greatest marksman; Harley Quinn, best known as accomplice and love interest to the Joker; Captain Boomerang, the Aussie bank robber who's skilled with his country's signature weapon;  El Diablo, a guy with fire powers and maybe possessed by a demon?  It's never really explained.  Anyway, one of Waller's earlier recruits, a sorceress known as the Enchantress, has gone rogue, is vowing revenge on Waller, and has begun laying waste to Midway City.  So, Waller's team -- dubbed the Suicide Squad -- is sent in to quell the situation.

I know the reviews haven't been very good.  But I didn't find the movie incredibly bad.  I didn't find it incredibly good, either.  It's only crime is mediocrity.  As superhero movies go, it's just overwhelmingly...average.  As many other critic has pointed out, I'm getting kind of tired of the "swirling vortex of doom that the heroes have to shut down."

But there is good in the movie.  Margot Robbie absolutely nails Harley Quinn.  She is so spot-on perfect in the role.  Will Smith is also really good as Deadshot, the hitman who's trying to be a better person for his daughter.  And Jared Leto is a great Joker..but we see so little of him.  In fact, the opening is great, where we're introduced to all of the Squad, and we see how they were apprehended (bringing in quick cameos by Batman and the Flash, to help build that cinematic universe).

But as soon as we hit Midway City and they set out to take down the villain...yeah.  It's just so average.

I give it three nibs.  Full review on the website.

From there, it was out into the mall to explore, and wander, and hopefully spend not too much money.  I made my way down to the Bay.  With the Olympics in full swing, and the Bay being the official outfitter of Team Canada, they were actually having a bit of a fashion show, showcasing all the Olympic clothing now on sale at the Bay.  I remember watching the Vancouver 2010 Olympics on TV with my Dad.  Dad mentioned he actually liked some of the winter gear that Team Canada was wearing, and actually seemed mildly disappointed that the Bay was the official outfitter and, as such, you could buy all that stuff at the Bay.

And, of course, there were the Pokemon GO signs all over the place.  When Pokemon GO came out and hit it big about a month ago, West Edmonton Mall had a brainstorm when they discovered that several Pokestops and Gyms were in the mall.  They actually printed up giant signs pointing out where exactly they are.  They've got a contest going on, too.  Post your pictures of your pokemon on the mall, hastag it #pokemonWEM, and you're entered into a contest.  I think this is a brilliant idea.  I see lots of my Facebook friends mocking the popularity of Pokemon GO, but the part of brain that lives in the station's promotions department, I'm always thinking, "How can I use this to plug the station?"  And I think West Edmonton Mall's idea is a good one.

A photo posted by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Aug 6, 2016 at 1:46pm PDT

Too bad I'm not playing Pokemon GO right now.  It won't run on my phone!  I currently have an iPhone 4S.  I've been told that you can play Pokemon GO on a 4S, but it's buggy and crashes a lot.  Let me tell you a little secret:  everything's buggy and crashes a lot on my 4S.  My contract expired back at Thanksgiving, so I've been looking to upgrade anyway.  The 6S is a little out of my budget right now, but then I see the SE has pretty much everything under the hood that the 6S has, it's just packed into a 5's body.  Or who knows?  Maybe I should just wait until the fall, because it looks like the 7 is coming out sometime this fall.  I don't know.  And as always, I stroll through the Apple Store just made me depressed that I couldn't buy one today.

Then I started browsing in Chapters.  I managed to find a trade paperback I'd been after for a while, and while I was at it, I nabbed a second one.

A photo posted by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Aug 6, 2016 at 5:14pm PDT

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith, and over the years I've slowly been acquiring his comic book work.  About 15 years ago, he did a critically-acclaimed run on Green Arrow.  His first story, Quiver, resurrected Oliver Queen from the grave and had him once again claim the mantle of Green Arrow.  His second story, The Sounds of Violence, is about Ollie re-adjusting to the world, and battling Onomatopoeia, a villain of Smith's creation.  Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who targets non-powered superheroes (e.g. Green Arrow, Batman), and shows up in Star City with Team Arrow in his sights.  His name comes from the fact that he only communicates by mimicking the sounds of his surroundings.  Anyway, I've had the trade paperback for Quiver for some time, but have never been able to find the one for The Sounds of Violence.  The one on the left is a new collection which has both of Smith's stories, so I finally got The Sounds of Violence.

The other one, Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet, is much more recent...maybe two years old.  A few years ago, DC was doing a comic called Batman '66, which was a Batman comic continuing the adventures of the Adam West Batman.  Since Smith has written both Batman and Green Hornet comics, and is an admitted huge fan of the 1960s Batman, he seemed to be the natural choice to write a follow-up to the legendary Batman/Green Hornet crossover episode.  To help him out, Smith recruited Ralph Garman, an L.A. radio personality and occasional actor who co-hosts Smith's podcast Hollywood Babble-On, and is also a gigantic fan of the 1960s Batman.  And they whipped up a tale where the Green Hornet and Kato once again find themselves in Gotham City, and cross paths with the Caped Crusader.

It was kind of funny buying them.  When one of the clerks spotted me picking up a Batman comic, he started geeking out and telling me how he was at Anime-thon yesterday (the U of A Anime Club's annual anime festival), and how he was cosplaying as the Joker.  And then I got up to the till and that clerk must have been new or something, as no one had come through her till with graphic novels yet.  She stared at my purchases in utter fascination.  She pointed to the Green Hornet.  "Is this a superhero, too?  I've never heard of him," she said.  I replied, "Yeah, he was very popular in the 1960s."  "That would explain it," said she.

And at that, I started heading home with just a twinge of disappointment.  I was also hoping to pick up the Blu-Ray of Batman: The Killing Joke, which came out earlier this week.  As I've said, I've kind of grown bored with all of DC and WB's straight-to-video animated films, but since The Killing Joke is one of the most acclaimed Batman comics ever, I figured it was worth picking up.  But it was sold out at all my usual haunts, and since I'd spent so much money on the graphic novels, I didn't feel like going to my unusual haunts.  Besides, I still have too many new Blu-Rays in my "to-watch" pile on my coffee table.

And that was it.  My Saturday in the city.  Had a nice, leisurely drive home, and have been blogging ever since.  And now I see it's bedtime. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - X-Men: Days of Future Past -- The Rogue Cut

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly watch of of a movie I own, followed by blogging about it.  As I elaborate on in this week's entry, I've never been that obsessive about director's cuts, but on the other hand, it gives me a great chance to re-visit a film I love.  And since I loved X-Men: Days of Future Past, I picked up its director's cut, The Rogue Cut, when I saw it for $10.  This showed up in my notes at November 1, 2016.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Tomorrowland

Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about a movie I own.  This time out, we get to one of Disney's underperfomrers from last year, Tomorrowland.  This is in my notes at October 25, 2015.

Nerding Out Over the Comic Con Trailers

Alrightie, with the San Diego Comic Con this past weekend, there's been a ton of new trailers released, and these are the ones I feel like blogging about!

First up, Wonder Woman!


My thoughts:  Finally!  Been craving a Wonder Woman movie for so long!  I mean, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are the Big 3 of DC Comics.  The fact that this trinity has gone incomplete on the big screen for so long is blasphemous!  Hopefully, Gal Gadot will able to pull this off in the lead.  I mean, as awesome as she was in Batman v Superman, we got to see so little.  So, I'm hoping she can build on that.  Chris Pine looks like he's going to be a pretty good Steve Trevor, and I'm sure he'll bring the same amount of cockiness to the role that he brings to Captain Kirk.  The World War I setting intrigues me, as Wonder Woman was born in World War II.  Since I love it when superhero films are done as period pieces, I'm curious to see what the World War I setting brings to the table.  Colour me excited!

Next up, Justice League!


My thoughts:  Zack Snyder is back directing, and he assures us that he learned his lesson from Batman v Superman and he'll be lightening the mood this time out.  It's already showing in this trailer.  I'm really diggin' the scenes with Ezra Miller as the Flash.  As The Flash is one of my favourite TV shows right now, I can see Miller's doing a lot of things similar to Grant Gustin on TV.  What he's going to do differently, we'll have to wait for the movie.  Looks like much like the cartoon, the Flash is going to be the jokester in the League.  "Arthur Curry.  I hear you talk to fish."  Trademark "Ben Affleck smartass" smile.  I love it.  Hopes got a little bit higher.

Pallet cleanser from the superhero films:  Kong:  Skull Island!


My thoughts:  When this was announced a couple years ago, people were like, "Really?  Another King Kong remake?"  But, my excitement has gone up a bit when it was announced this is now in the same cinematic universe as 2014's Godzilla reboot, and they're setting up Kong vs. Godzilla for 2020.  Based on that, I see they've really increased Kong's size in this film.  I think they're skipping the New York stuff altogether, and this is mostly going to be on Skull Island.  My curiosity is piqued.

Across the street to Marvel:  Doctor Strange!


My thoughts:  Marvel can do no wrong at this point.  Might be worth spending the extra money to see it in 3D because I'm sure of those visuals are going to look trippy as hell. 

Star Trek Nerding Out: Beyond and Discovery

Well, I had myself a pretty busy weekend.  Saturday, I was live on location at Jarvie's Family Days, where I got to take in the lawnmower races.  And Sunday...well, I had to take Sunday to go see Star Trek Beyond.

Now, I'll be honest.  Expectations were pretty low as I went into Star Trek Beyond.  I did not like Star Trek Into Darkness, as I have blogged and podcasted extensively about.  The trailers, with their dirt bike races and Beastie Boys soundtrack, left me cold.  But still, after all this, Star Trek remains my first fandom, so I knew I had to make it out opening weekend.

And much like Ghostbusters, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I FREAKIN' LOVED IT!

Seriously.  This is the most fun I've had with a Star Trek film ever since, well, the first film in this reboot series.  There is no gigantic callback to a better Star Trek film that pulls you out of the action...this is free to be its own thing.  However, there are also lots of Star Trek Easter Eggs, like sprinkles on your sundae, that just make everything sweeter.  (A lot of them, shockingly, have to do with Star Trek: Enterprise.  I'm re-watching that one on Netflix right now, so maybe it was just top of mind.)

The starship Enterprise is halfway through its 5 year mission of deep space exploration, and a certain malaise is starting to envelop the crew.  Kirk and Spock are starting to entertain other offers.  While make a stop at Yorktown -- Starfleet's most remote starbase -- to re-stock and for some shore leave, a distress call is received from a nearby unexplored nebula.  Since the Enterprise is the most advanced ship there, our heroes go off to investigate.  But, it turns out to be a trap, and soon, the Enterprise is destroyed, and our heroes are stuck on an unknown planet, littered with alien technology, and at the mercy of a warlord named Krall.  With the help of Jaylah, an escapee from Krall's wrath, Kirk, Spock, Bones, and all the rest valiantly try to stop Krall.  Just who is Krall and why does he have such a beef with the Federation?  One of the many mysteries out here, in the final frontier.

This is an episode of the original series writ large.  Krall's true identity and motivations are straight out of many classic original series episodes.  And Idris Elba plays him as a classic villain.  Sophia Boutilla as Jaylah is a fun new addition to our crew.  The whole thing is just fun.

While stranded on the planet, Spock and Bones get paired off, and we're treated to some classic Spock and Bones dialogue.  And Leonard Nimoy's death is worked into the show quite poetically.  

If I have one problem, it's got to be the fight scenes.  They're so dark that it's tough to follow the action.

I give it 3.5 Nibs!  Full review over on the website. 

---

I've got another blog entry in me geeking out about all the trailers that came out of San Diego Comic Con, and I was going to save this for that.  But since I'm talking Star Trek, this seems like a good place to do it.

We have a title and name of the ship for the new Star Trek series.  Get ready for...Star Trek: Discovery.

A week or so ago, they did announce how we're getting it in Canada.  I think we're the only country in the world where it's going to be on broadcast television.  They'll be showing it on Space, with episodes eventually making their way to Crave TV, and Netflix too, if I read the news release correctly.

To unveil the title, they also put together this announcement teaser that was shown at San Diego.  And this is a deep cut Star Trek reference here.



That ship, my friends, is the McQuarrie Enterprise.

Ralph McQuarrie, of course, is the legendary artist that designed the Star Wars universe.  The ships, the droids, Darth Vader's armor...all McQuarrie.  Now, back in the 1970s, McQuarrie was commissioned by Paramount to redesign the Enterprise from of their many failed Star Trek reboots.  And that's what McQuarrie came up with!

I know, a lot of people are complaining about the quality of CGI in that clip.  The creators have already said that they just threw that together in 3 weeks to have something to show at San Diego, and that the finished TV series will look much better. 

And already there's rampant fan speculation.  Because the ship's registry number is NCC-1031, many are wondering if this'll focus on Section 31, Starfleet's shadowy Black Ops group that was first introduced on Deep Space Nine. 

We'll know when the series premieres!  Star Trek: Discovery starts filming this fall, for a January 2017 premiere. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Avengers: Age of Ultron

Here we go again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch one of the too-many Blu-Rays I own.  Today, we get to one of last summer's biggest movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron.  This is in my notes at October 17, 2016.

Ghostbusters Review Is Online

Went to the city yesterday, but really not much to blog about.  Went in, bought pants, saw Ghostbusters, treated myself to a Blizzard at Dairy Queen, came home.  So really, all I want to do is plug my review of Ghostbusters, which is now up over on my main site!

The short version:  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I FREAKIN' LOVED IT!  The best compliment I can give it is it's a Ghostbusters movie.  Let's face it:  an established formula exists for Ghostbusters, and it sticks to the formula while giving us some great new heroes to root for and few new spins on said formula.  I really, really liked it, gang. 

Anyway, full review on the site! 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Blue Thunder

Welcome back to Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I bloggitty blog about a movie I own and have recently re-watchity watched.  My mother once pointed out that the 1980s seemed to be all about the super-vehicles, so we get to the famous super-helicopter movie, Blue Thunder.  I originally watched this and jotted down my notes on October 17, 2015.

The Houses of Entwistle School

I come from Entwistle, so I went to the appropriately-named Entwistle School.  One of the few schools in the Parkland School Division that's Kindergarten through Grade 9.  What most people don't remember is that Entwistle School is divided into four teams -- much like the houses in the Harry Potter franchise.  Gold, Green, Red and Blue. 

It all started in Grade One.  Early in the year, my teacher, Mrs. Maddock, told us about the four teams, that we'd already been sorted into our teams.  So to start the school year, we were having a giant meeting of all our teams.  When she started dividing us up, she told me that I had been sorted into Gold. 

Gold was meeting in the science lab, down in the junior high end of the school.  When you're just 6 years old, that's a long, scary walk from one end of the school to the other.  We found our seats, and the meeting began.  We had to get to important business like electing a Team Captain.  I don't remember who it was, but it was Grade 9 kid.  And we also had to decide on a team cheer.  We eventually decided on "Gold is Bold!," once it was explained to us littler kids what "bold" meant. 

Despite the pomp and circumstance of that meeting, the teams never really played a big part in everyday school life.  I have no memories of my teachers looking at me and declaring "10 points from Gold!" whenever I started acting up.  My friends who were also in Gold would occasionally look at me, and we'd all declare "Gold is Bold!"  About the only time it ever really mattered was on Track & Field Day.  I don't know if it was just my school, or all schools, but once a year, near the end of the school year, all normal classes would be suspended as we all went sprinting, and threw a shot-put, and all those other sports that people only care about when the Olympics rolled around.  That was also the only time that our teams would interact.  I'd occasionally recognize the Team Captain, and we'd give each other a little "Gold is Bold."

But things changed around the third grade.  At Track & Field Day that year, my teacher, Mrs. Strocher, was asking us what our teams were.  She asked what my team was.  "Gold is Bold," I blurted out.

She consulted her clipboard.  "Says here you're in Green."

I was puzzled.  "No...pretty sure I'm in Gold."

"Nope.  Green."  End of discussion. 

I was perplexed.  There was no meeting!  There was no electing of a Team Captain!  Did Green even have a cheer?  Was this legal?  Didn't matter.  Now I was in Green. 

Grade Three was around the time we got a new principal, Mr. Thiessen.  No doubt the restructuring was his doing.  Mr. Thiessen was a bit of a physical fitness nut.  He loved boasting that he was once an assistant coach for the B.C. Lions.  And so, Track & Field Day began expanding.  When the Winter Olympics in Calgary rolled around, we held our own Winter Games.  Now the Winter Games became a thing.  One year, Track & Field Day was rained out, so it was postponed to the following September.  Now the Autumn Games became a thing.  No team meetings at the start of the year...no devising of clever cheers.  Your team was announced at the Autumn Games and that was it. 

Grade 7 soon dawned, and with it, junior high.  Things really change in junior high as the hormones start kicking in.  Now, instead of teams, we were separating into cliques.  It was a small school, and for a love of Star Trek and other similar pursuits, I was branded the geek.  No one wanted to hang out with the geek.  That's when I started learning what "Participant" on all those ribbons I won at Track & Field Day meant, and that they were nothing to be proud of.  That's when I started concluding that physical education was simply designed to humiliate students like me.  That's when Track & Field Day started becoming my Ditch Day. 

Luckily, I had understanding parents.  They started trusting me more and more to make my own decisions about my education.  When Track & Field Day was coming up, I didn't have to make any grand, Ferris Bueler-esque schemes to get out of it.  I would just say I didn't want to go to school because it was Track & Field Day, and they'd roll with it.  Made a lot of great discoveries on those Ditch Days.  That's where I first discovered Al Music. 

Grade 9 soon drew to a close, and with it, my time at Entwistle School.  Going to high school meant going to the next town over.  But that final day of Grade 9 was like every final day of school.  There was a massive assembly were all the awards for the year were handed out.  I always felt a twinge of sadness at the awards assembly.  Don't get me wrong, I always made out pretty good.  But all my awards were in the fields of academics, and I'd always come home with a good amount of certificates, testimonials, and plaques.  But never a trophy.  Only athletes won trophies.  I would have loved to have won a trophy...just once.

During the ceremonies, my science teacher, Mr. Jamison, came up to me, and quietly got my attention.  "Psst!  Mark!"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What team are you on?"

"We still do this?"

"Yeah.  What team are you on?"

"Last I checked, I was in Green."

"Well, now you're in Blue." 

School would be done forever in just another half-hour, so I realized, at this point, it no longer mattered what team I was on.  Mr. Jamison went back up to the front, and slipped a note to Mr. Thiessen.  Mr. Thiessen reviewed the note, then turned on the mic.  "The next award goes to the best athletes in the school.  This was the team that did the best at the Autumn Games, the Winter Games, and Track & Field Day.  And I'm pleased to announce, that this year, the winner is the Blue Team!  I now call upon the Team Captain, Mark Cappis, to come up here and accept the trophy." 

That was the only time I ever got to hoist a trophy at the awards assembly.  It sat on my lap for the rest of the assembly, and at the end, I had to give it back to the staff to go back in the trophy case.  And with that, my time at Entwistle School came to an end. 

I don't know why this story's been on my mind lately.  Maybe because it's the end of the school year.  Maybe it's because the Olympics are right around the corner, and "Gold is Bold" is a nice sentiment for the athletes.  Maybe it's because I work with a lot of Harry Potter fans, and they keep asking me what House I belong to.  (I finally took the online quiz at the official Harry Potter website...I'm in the one with all the bad guys.) 

But I do know I went to a small school with a tight budget.  There were no clubs for me to join.  There were no extra-curriculars outside of the sports teams.  There was nothing at school that I ever felt like I belonged to. 

Except Gold. 

Long Deserved Long Weekend

As I keep explaining to my friends and family, summer is a busy time for us radio folk.  We're live on location from just about every fair and festival that comes along, and it's no exception for us small market guys.  For all of June, it seemed like I was on location from another small town fair.  I actually enjoy it, because you get to be outside on nice days, and occasionally slip away for a corn dog or to check out the events.  But it does get taxing.  Everything peaked with Canada Day.  Once that was in the bag, I decided to take July 8 off and treat myself to a long weekend.

I really should take more time off, because I love going to the city in the middle of a weekday.  Things are so quiet.  You can go at your own pace.  And I figured it was the perfect time to get some chores done.  My car was due for an oil change, so I got that done.  With that came a twinge of sadness.  See, I hang a new air freshener in my car every time I get an oil change.  About two years ago, at Canadian Tire, I grabbed a pack of Star Wars air fresheners.  And with this oil change, the last Star Wars air freshener was done.  Went to Canadian Tire across the way to get more, but they had none.  So I went with the traditional pine tree.

From there, it was off to my usual haunts.  Went browsing for new Blu-Rays.  With a new Star Trek movie on the horizon, of course all the Star Trek movies have been re-released.  I was on the fence about picking up the director's cut of Wrath of Khan, but when I saw it for just $10, I figured, "Why not?"

A photo posted by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Jul 8, 2016 at 10:18pm PDT

B A friend on Facebook asked if it was worth getting Wrath of Khan: The Director's Cut.  My reasoning was yes.  The original DVD release featured just the director's cut.  The original Blu-Ray featured just the theatrical version.  This new Blu-Ray has both versions, so it's the only way to get the director's cut in hi-def.  Plus, if you're more into the technical side of things, Wrath of Khan was the only Star Trek film where Paramount went back to the original negative and created a new hi-def transfer.  All the other films, all they did was up-convert the DVDs.  So it's also the best-looking version of Wrath of Khan.  Other than that, it's got all the bonus features of the previous DVD and Blu-Ray.  And besides...just $10.

Then over to West Edmonton Mall.  I was surprised.  A little busier than I expected for a Friday afternoon, but then I remembered that it is the start of summer, so the tourists are probably there.  West Edmonton Mall is no longer the largest shopping mall in the world -- I think there are, like, 5 in China that are ahead of it on the list -- but it's still the largest in North America, and that still makes it a pretty significant tourist draw.

Did my usual browsing, but again, there's not much out there right now that I truly want.  Yeah, there's some Blu-Rays I saw at HMV, but I felt no burning passion to own them, you know?  I don't know if it's depression or maturity, but I no longer feel the desire to blow entire paychecks on new Blu-Rays.  So I left HMV empty-handed.

But I was going upstairs to see a movie.  Pixar geek that I am, I had to see Finding Dory, and this was my first chance to do so.  Now, on the grand list of Pixar sequels that I desire, Finding Dory was pretty low on the list.  I really didn't think we needed a Finding Nemo 2.  I mean, they found Nemo.  Where else can we go with this story? 

Well, the creators say their entire inspiration came from one line in the original film.  When Dory first met Marlin, she describes her condition thusly:  "I suffer from short-term memory loss.  It runs in my family.  At least, I think it does.  Where are they?"  So their entire inspiration was that Dory wandered off when she was a little girl, and thanks to her short-term memory loss, forgot her way home.  So that's the movie.  Dory begins having flashes of memory of her parents and how to get home, so she, Marlin and Nemo set out to get her home.

This movie is definitely a lot more melancholy in tone than the first one.  It's shown in the colour palette, it's shown in Thomas Newman's score, and it works.  They wind up adding a real undercurrent of tragedy to Dory as she remembers her family, struggles vainly to hold on to those memories so she can get home, and then it just vanishes.  But the movie's still fun.  We get some fun new characters, like Hank the septopus (an octopus that lost an arm), and the cheery Destiny the whale shark and Baily the beluga whale.  I would put it at Pixar's second-best sequel.  Toy Story 3 still had the bigger emotional gut-punch.  I give it 3.5 Nibs.  Full review over on the main site.

That was Friday.  And I was off again to the city on Saturday.  For you see, Thursday was my birthday, and it's become traditional in my family to meet up with my parents, and they treat me to dinner and a movie.  What was my birthday movie this year?  Independence Day: Resurgence.  The first Independence Day was my birthday movie 20 years ago, so it just made sense.

Independence Day: Resurgence was fun, but....   I have the same complaint about it that I had about the remakes of RoboCop and Total Recall.  It was a little too slick...a little too polished.  The original had some kind of grit that the sequel was lacking.

I fully predicted Independence Day: Resurgence to be this year's Jurassic World:  just one great big, gigantic 1990s nostalgia trip.  But whereas Jurassic World felt free to get down in the muck of nostalgia and wallow, Independence Day: Resurgence seems more like a perfunctory checklist of things people liked about the original.  Landmark destruction?  Check.  President gives an inspirational speech?  Check.  Jeff Goldblum?  Check.

And the strange thing is, I kinda wish the movie was longer.  The original film had some breathing room, and we actually got a chance to get to know the characters.  In this one, we barely get a chance to meet the new saviors of humanity.

So, yeah.  It was fun, but...  I give it 3 Nibs.  Full review over on the website.

Then my parents took me to dinner at the Keg.  Wow.  I know, I know.  I'm enough of a small town rube that I consider the Olive Garden to be a fancy place.  So the Keg is super, duper fancy.  And there I was, wearing baggy shorts and my grubby T-shirt that I wore yesterday.  I felt mildly embarrassed just walking through the front door.  I explained to my parents that I barely go to real restaurants anymore.  Hell, I've been in Westlock for a little more than 3 years now, and there are still a bunch of popular local eateries that I haven't tried.  It's just because I have no social life, so when I go to a real restaurant, I feel mildly judged.

How I think people see me at a fast food place:  Look at that man.  No doubt he's heading home, and just stopped here for a quick bite.  Safe journey, weary traveler!

How I think people see me at a real restaurant:  It's Saturday night and he's here by himself?  Fuck that loser.

But I had a delightful meal with my parents, and then it was time to head home and record a podcast.

Yes, Saturday night was when I finally cracked open a bottle of Crystal Pepsi.  I won't rehash the details, because I recorded it all live on my podcast.  It's Pepsi, and it's clear.  And it's awesome.

Once I got home and uploaded my podcast, I decided to describe my day in meme-form.

And now, here we are on Sunday morning, and it's time to decompress.  Goof around online, do some blogging.  It's a grey, rainy day in Westlock as I write this up, so it'll be a Sunday of Netflix on the couch.  I'm so thrilled that I discovered that every Star Trek series is now on Netflix.  I've begun binging on season 2 of Enterprise.  That's the only season of Star Trek I've never seen, because it was on during my year in Japan.  I hadn't watched any Enterprise at all in such a long time.  I was watching the first five minutes, and I was like, "This doesn't seem so bad.  It seems like some classic Star Trek action.  Why did I loathe it so?"

And then they cue up the theme song.  Faith of the Heart, which was actually the theme song to the film Patch Adams, re-purposed.




And I'm like, "Oh.  Right." 

Crystal Pepsi Returns!

Had to take a break from my hiatus for a special installment of U62: U62: The TargThe Targ.  More specifically, a special installment of my segment “Mark Tastes Random Things.”  What random thing did I have to taste?

Crystal Pepsi.

I loved Crystal Pepsi back in the day.  It was Pepsi…THAT WAS CLEAR!  It was so awesome.  I personally felt it didn’t taste exactly like Pepsi.  When it went away, I was sad.  When I first launched this website, I had a page dedicated to my love for Crystal Pepsi.  I longed for its return.  So, when they announced it was coming back, I was elated.

When I got my hands on my first bottle, I knew I had to share it with you.  So I drink it live on the air, and tell you all about it.

So enjoy, The July Special: The Return of Crystal Pepsi!

Listen over on the main site!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Lion King

Well, for the past few weeks on Fishing in the Discount Bin, I've been plowing through several of Disney's classics from the Disney Renaissance.  Looking through my notes, this stretch ends with The Lion King.  This is in my notes at October 4, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Aladdin

Here on Fishing in the Discount Bin, been going through my collection of Disney films, settling on the big four of the Disney Renaissance.  We get to film #3, Aladdin, today.  This is in my notes at October 3, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Beauty and the Beast

On Fishing in the Discount Bin, I'm on a bit of a Disney kick right now.  I continue with Beauty and the Beast.  This is originally in my notes at September 27, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Little Mermaid

I seem to be on a Disney Renaissance kick on Fishing in the Discount Bin, so I decided to keep it going.  This time out, I do The Little Mermaid.  This is in my notes at September 19, 2015.

TMNT 2 Review is Online

Went into the city today, but it really wasn't much to blog about.  Bought new shoes and saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.



I enjoyed it, gang.  It felt a lot more like a classic TMNT adventure than the last film.  I give it 3 out of 4 Nibs.  Full review over on the main site. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Hercules

 Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of the many movies I own.  I'm a bit of a Disney rip right now, as we come across their animated epic of 1997, Hercules.  This is in my logs at September 12, 2015.

Netflix Nonsense - Always

Well, with summer rerun season upon us, time to make my streaming video services earn their keep.  I haven't decided what to binge upon yet, so I was going through the Netflix listings when I came across one of Steven Spielberg's lesser-known films, Always.  Given current events, I thought a film about water bomber pilots was highly appropriate.

Playing Catch-Up

So I went into the city about a week ago.  And all week long, I've been putting off sitting down and writing my standard blog entry on the subject.  You know how it is...time gets away on you.  We're getting into the summer busy season for us radio folk, when we've got to start prepping for being on location from all the summer festivals.  Even small market guys like myself have our fair share of festivals to attend.  But now, here I am, with a quiet Sunday morning, a week later, so I'm here doing what I've been putting off doing all week long.

It's strange, doing this a week after the fact.  It's just the memories that stand out the most that are worth jotting down.  I look at my coffee table, and my pile of "to-watch" Blu-Rays, and I'm still feeling the mild sting of shame for having finally broken down and bought the limited edition SteelBook of the first three Pokemon movies.

A photo posted by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on May 28, 2016 at 8:01pm PDT

There was a time not too long ago when I was really into Pokemon.  Not the franchise as a whole...just the anime.  I loved its formula:  three friends, seeing the world, with no concerns except for what adventure may lay beyond the next hill.  Make it live-action, and British sci-fi, and that's pretty much the same core concept behind the Doctor/Amy/Rory run on Doctor Who.  Anyway, I watched the cartoon religiously.  Collected all the movies on DVD.  I finally ran out of steam and started drifting away shortly after movie #12 came out...I think we're up to #18 by now.

And that first season of Pokemon came along when I was in my final year of college.  I always seemed to be on my midday break when it was on, so I'd kick back and watch it.  And I loved it.  Didn't pay full price to see the movie in the theatre...the dollar theatre was still a thing back then, so I waited for it to be in the dollar theatre.  My best friend at the time -- going through a similar mild Pokemon obsession -- saw it with me.  I remember remarking to him, "This is probably The Transfomrers: The Movie for a whole new generation."

I remember when the first movie came out on DVD.  Home theatre forums were pissed.  The DVD had everything people wanted in a DVD special edition:  deleted scenes, featurettes about the making of the film, a running commentary with the director (of the English dub).  "But they wasted it on Pokemon," summed up one reviewer.  I was pissed for another reason:  the film wasn't in its proper aspect ratio.  Rather than glorious 16x9, it was cropped to the standard TV size of 4x3.  They didn't start releasing them in 16x9 until the fourth movie.

So, I picked up the Blu-Ray to finally have the films in widescreen.  And I'm pissed off all over again because it's still the wrong damn aspect ratio.  As far as I can tell, when making this Blu-Ray, all they did was take the 4x3 image of the previous DVD release, and crop it again to create a newer, smaller, 16x9 image.  Of course, my only evidence is remembering seeing it in theatre way back in 1999.  There were things on the bottom of the screen that were cropped off to create that original 4x3 image, and they're still cropped off on the new Blu-Ray.

Granted, I'm probably about the only one in the overlap on the Venn diagram of film enthusiasts and Pokemon fanatics, so I highly doubt this'll be fixed anytime soon.  Not until they probably go back to the original Japanese negative and strike a new print will we ever see it in its proper format.

Oh, well.  At least I finally have them on widescreen...kinda.

And I also picked up my 20th anniversary edition of Independence Day, which I blogged about extensively last time.  I saw it there in Wal-Mart for $10 and figured, "I'm not going to find it any where else for cheaper today, am I?" and snatched it up.

And then, it was time for the apocalypse...X-Men: Apocalypse.  I'm not kidding when I call it the granddaddy of superhero film franchises.  Most film historians will tell you our current run of superhero films started with the first X-Men way back in 2000.  16 years and six films later -- nine if you count the Wolverine solo films and Deadpool -- and it's still going strong.  And like most of them, I was seeing X-Men: Apocalypse at the Scotiabank Theatre in West Edmonton Mall.

The Scotiabank Theatre is just a shade older than the X-Men franchise itself.  It opened in May of 1999, just in time for Star Wars Episode I.  Back then, it was a Famous Players Silver City theatre.  It was one of the anchor tenants of the mall's new Phase IV expansion.  Not really an expansion...it was just the refurbishment of where the Mall's Woodward's used to be.  Boasting stadium seating, curved screens, and an IMAX screen, it was the most advanced movie theatre in Edmonton at the time.  Everything about it made going to the movies an experience again, with its giant statues of Batman, Yoda, and King Kong hanging from the ceiling, and it's centerpiece...the animatronic dragon that came to life every 20 minutes and breathed fire.

I've seen every X-Men movie at that theatre.  Well, except for X2, which came out during my time in Japan.  Oh, and if we're counting Deadpool, I saw that on the north side.  So I've seen the vast majority of X-Men films at West Edmonton Mall.  In fact, the first -- and, to date, only -- time I've been to a midnight premiere was at Silver City for the very first X-Men.  All my friends were there.  I was still ecstatic at how overwhelming Silver City was.  As far as I knew, it was my best friend's girlfriend's first time there.  "Isn't this place just amazing?" I asked her.  She took it all in.  "Too Vegas," she said.  I liked her, but she always did have a bit of a "too cool for school" attitude.

But ya know, she did have a kind heart, and she did give me something to commemorate the night of midnight X-Men.  She gave me a deck of X-Men playing cards.  X-Men because that's the movie we were seeing, and playing cards, because everyone loves Gambit.  As I'm in the midst of cleaning out my old room at my parents' place and finally finishing moving out, I actually found them.

A photo posted by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on May 26, 2016 at 9:20pm PDT

Well, L, Silver City sure has changed.  Cineplex bought out Famous Players, and now has a virtual monopoly on Canadian movie theatres.  A few years ago, Cineplex signed a huge sponsorship deal with Soctiabank, and all Silver Cities were re-branded Scotiabank Theatres.  In addition to the IMAX, it now boasts 2 UltraAVX screens -- Cineplex's proprietary large screen format.  The dragon was shut down in 2010, because it was getting too expensive to keep bringing up the mechanics specializing in animatronics from Vegas.  They did a round of renovations last year when the dragon was finally removed.  King Kong was taken away, too, but Batman and Yoda are still there.

And also still showing?  X-Men.

Not gonna lie...I totally dug X-Men: Apocalypse.  The final scene really reminded me of the final scene of the James Bond movie Skyfall...you get the feeling that the reboot the started at the beginning of this trilogy is now complete, and we can finally get on to some classic X-Men adventures.  That being said, it also reminded me of X-Men: The Last Stand.  There's this feeling of "Screw it, it's the last in the trilogy, so let's throw in a bunch of that cool stuff X-Men fans always wanted to see."  You liked that Quicksilver scene in the last movie?  BOOM!  Here's another one.  You always wanted to see Weapon X?  BAM!  Here's Weapon X.  Age of Apocalypse-era Storm with a Mohawk?  ZAM!

The plot:  it's 1983...10 years since the events of Days of Future Past.  Thanks to Mystique saving the President on the White House lawn, she's become a folk hero in the mutant community...but it's a role she doesn't want to play, so she lives underground.  Magneto seems to have given up his ways, and is living a quiet, peaceful life with a new wife and daughter.  And Professor Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted is thriving, looking like his dream of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants is becoming a reality.  But then, in an ancient tomb in Egypt, Apocalypse is revived.  Believed by historians to be the first mutant, and all powerful, Apocalypse sets out to do what he was in the middle of in ancient Egypt...conquer the world.  It'll be up to the Professor and Mystique along with some new recruits -- Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler -- to stop Apocalypse, and revive the Professor's other dream...a dream of mutants using their powers to save humanity from those who would do it harm...the X-Men!

As I said, I enjoyed it, but there is a bit of franchise fatigue setting in.  ("Oh, another all-power mutant wants to take over the world?")  I give it three nibs.  Full review on the website.

That's pretty much all that was blog-worthy from my last big city adventure.  As summer blockbuster season is here, you know that there'll be more ahead, as long as I'm not working.  As I remarked to a colleague the other day, about my only career goal is to get to a market with a movie theatre, so it's actually conceivable for me to just go see a movie after work some night, rather than having to plan a whole day around it. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Mulan

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I hit the blog about one of the many, many movies I own.  I'm on a bit of a Disney stretch right now, and we're getting into their animated epic of 1998, Mulan.  This is in my notes at September 12, 2015.

One Last Targ?

Just one of those days, ya know?  It was long, it was hard, it was fun, and I was beat when all was said and done.  But the inspiration hit me, and I felt compelled to fire up the computer and crank out a podcast.  So what inspired me to record Episode 9.08: I Saw a Fox?

• Well, there was no podcast last week because it was the May long weekend, so I tell you what I was going to do on the weekend, which leads to reminiscing about the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site.
• I just got home from X-Men: Apocalypse, so I have to share my thoughts on that.
• Also gotta share my thoughts on the new Star Trek Beyond trailer.

And I actually did see a fox frolicking in the ditch on my way home from the city, hence the title.
So enjoy Episode 9.08: I Saw a Fox!

Check it out on the main site!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection

Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of the many movies I own.  This time, we check out some great Disney stuff with The Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Film Collection.  This was originally in my notes at August 30, 2015.