Fishing in the Discount Bin - Transformers

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  Watching movies and blogging about them.  What more could one ask for?  Today, we do Transformers.  This is in my notes at June 10, 2018.

All The Times I've Bought Star Wars: Episode X -- The Disney Era

Many years ago, I wrote a series of blog entries entitled All The Times I've Bought Star Wars, which details, well, all the times I've bought Star Wars on home media.  I figured it was finally time to add a couple new chapters, focusing on the Blu-Rays, and this new Disney era.  So here we go now with the Disney era.  

It was on a chilly autumn day in 2012.  I was just lounging at home, after work, watching some mindless daytime television, when my computer beeped with a Facebook message.  I took a look to see it was from a work contact.  The message read, “Disney just bought Star Wars.  Episode VII in 2015.”

I began googling in earnest, and soon learned the complete details.  Yup, George Lucas had decided to retire, and sold his company Lucasfilm to Disney for around $4 billion.  Legendary producer Kathleen Kennedy had just been hired on as the new president of Lucasfilm.  The crown jewel in the Lucasfilm empire is, of course, Star Wars, and Disney announced their first Lucasfilm production would be Episode VII in 2015.  

I whipped out my phone and texted the news to my best friend and huge Star Wars fan.  “Disney just bought Star Wars.  Episode VII in 2015.” 

And we are now in the midst of the new Disney era of Star Wars.  Of course, Disney made some controversial moves in the beginning.  Right away, they canceled the beloved animated series The Clone Wars to make way for their new animated TV productions.  But, they are starting to come around, as The Clone Wars will soon be coming back for a final, loose-end-tying-up season.  

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Mask

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch a movie and blog about it.  Today, I'm re-watching the 1994 epic The Mask.  This is originally in my notes at May 21, 2018.

All The Times I've Bought Star Wars: Episode IX -- It's New, It's Blu

Many many years ago, I wrote a series of blog entries entitled All The Times I Bought Star Wars.  The title is pretty self-explanatory.  I went through my closet and DVD shelf and chronicled...well, all the times I bought Star Wars.  I ended with the cryptic message that Star Wars would probably be soon released on Blu-Ray, and I could probably write another chapter about buying it on the format.

I’ve got the official Star Wars app on my smartphone, and one feature on it that I enjoy is “On This Day in Star Wars History.”  It showed up in the app not too long ago that we’ve just passed the seventh anniversary of the Star Wars Blu-Ray release.  A few days later, it showed up in my Facebook memories that it was the seventh anniversary of the courier delivering it to me from Amazon.  So with all that popping up in my social media feeds, I figured it was finally time to go back and add that new chapter.  Hell, as we’re currently in the Disney era of Star Wars, I could probably even add a second chapter about buying the new films.  

So let’s get to it, shall we?

Just Another Trip to the City

Well, holiday blockbuster season is about to ramp up, and that means trips to the city are probably about to become more frequent, as I head in to see the latest crop of superhero films.  As was the case this past Saturday, when I popped into town to see Venom.

I'd been hearing tales of a Venom movie ever since the Internet was new, and of course, the question always was, "How can you do a Venom movie without Spider-Man?"  The short version, for those not comic-savvy, Venom is pretty much the evil twin of Spider-Man.  Then, when he started becoming popular, he switched to the side of the angels and became a hero...the darker, more violent version of Spider-Man.  So, for years, the fans have said that the best way to do a Venom movie is, you'd have to introduce him in a Spider-Man film as the villain.  But, that's not what they did. 

Eddie Brock is on top of the world.  He's a much beloved cable news investigative reporter, engaged to be married.  But then, he goes to far in an interview with billionaire industrialist Carlton Drake, and Brock loses it all.  A few months later, when Brock is at rock bottom, he's contacted by one of Drake's top scientists.  Turns out one of Drake's space probes came back with alien life...symbiots, that require a human host to live.  And Drake's raking up quite the body count looking for suitable hosts.  Brock goes into Drake's lab to investigate, and winds up bonding with one of the symbiots.  Calling itself Venom, Brock and Venom soon form an uneasy alliance to take down Drake and stop a forthcoming invasion of symbiots. 

I will admit it, the film was a lot more lighthearted than I expected.  Brock and Venom get a kind of buddy cop thing going, and their banter is hilarious.  Venom is quick to violence, and despite being a bad-ass reporter, Brock is deeply apologetic when trying to reign in Venom.  Some great physical comedy, too. 

That being said, it really offers nothing new in the way of superhero films.  The plot is pretty cookie-cutter.  Venom's sudden love of humanity and decision to help Brock save the world seems pretty abrupt.  And when your hero and villain can both turn into CGI blobs, the climactic battle turns into one big blobby mess. 

But I came out of the theatre smiling.  I liked it.  3 out of 4 Nibs.  Full review on the website.

Other than that, not much more to write home about.  I needed underwear, so I bought some.  Found pants in my size on sale, so I bought some.  I need shirts, too, but I couldn't find any.  3XL used to be such a common size when I ballooned to it a few years ago, but now, it seems to be sold out wherever I go.  Oh, well.  Another reason to lose weight, just so I can start buying clothes again.

When I got home and wrote up my Venom review for the website, I tossed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom into the Blu-Ray player.  I caught a bit of it on TV as part of a Thanksgiving marathon a week ago, and I'd been wanting to revisit the whole thing.  I really wish Steven Spielberg and George Lucas would quit apologizing for it.  For years, they've apologized for how dark it is and how different it is from the other Indiana Jones films, but you know what?  I love it.  It came out when I was seven years old, and it was my first entrance into the world of Indiana Jones.

Man, I remember watching the "making of" TV special back in the day.  To film the famous mine car chase, they actually modified a regular 35mm still camera to hold movie film so they could fit it to a car and have it chase the models through their set.  When they had the Indiana Jones exhibit at Telus World of Science a few years ago, they actually had one of the mine car models used for filming that chase.  Very cool. 

In fact, the very first comic book I owned was the comic book adaptation of Temple of Doom.  I had issues 2 and 3 of Marvel's three-issue mini-series.  Not until I finally rented it on VHS a couple years later did I get to see how the movie begins. 

And that led me down a rabbit hole of comic book adaptations of popular films.  Around the same time I had the Temple of Doom comic book adaptation, I also had the one for The Muppets Take Manhattan.  Somewhere, back home in storage, I still have the comic book adaptations of The Transformers: The Movie and the first two live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. 

I wonder if comic book adaptations are still a thing.  I think the Star Wars films still get them.  And with all the superhero films these days, a comic book adaptation would be the easiest, most obvious piece of tie-in merch.  I'd got to my old comic book store in West Edmonton Mall - Comic King - but I think it's not there anymore.  The West Edmonton Mall casino is in the same part of the mall, and the casino recently claimed all that space to expand.  I still remember that store's original name -- Graphic Fantasy. 

And, that was that.  My latest day in the city.  Just a quick trip in and out.  Really, not much to write home about. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Black Panther

And here we are again, it's Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie and blog about it.  Just that simple.  Today, we're looking at one of the biggest films of 2018, Black Panther.  This was originally in my notes at May 20, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Ghost World

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch a movie and blog about it.  I think you've figured out the formula by now.  This time out, we're watching the 2001 indie classic Ghost World.  This is in my notes at May 20, 2018.

Hey! It's A Podcast!

Wow, I haven’t done this in a while.  It’s a podcast! 

I’ve been thinking about doing one all summer, and I just kept putting it off and putting it off, and then I saw that it’s World Podcast Day, and so I figured I’d go for it!

So, what’s been on my mind all summer that I felt I had to podcast about it?  Well, my thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story, of course!  That’s not all…I also mention what’s going on with me.  If you’re my Facebook friend, then you’ve seen my cryptic “health updates” from time to time.  So, I give you the full update on my health.

All that in Thanksgiving Special 2018:  A Thanksgiving Special!

Click over to the other site to check it out!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch a movie I own and blog about it.  This week it's...oh.  Oh my.  Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  This is originally in my notes at April 8, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Karate Kid

Rolling along on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch a movie and blog about it.  Really not much more to it than that.  This week, I'm re-visiting The Karate Kid.  I originally watched it and wrote this on March 25, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Justice League

Movin' right along on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie I own, and blog about it.  That's how it goes.  Today, we get to Justice League.  This is in my notes at March 24, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Thor Ragnarok

Still moving along on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie, then blog about it.  Simple as that.  Dipping my toe back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor Ragnarok.  This was originally in my notes on March 11, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Coco

Here it is!  Fishing in the Discount Bin!  I watch a movie and blog about.  If you've been around for the seven years or so I've been doing it, then you know the drill.  Today I'm doing Coco.  Actually, I watched it and wrote this on March 4, 2018, because I tend to work a few months ahead.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Roger Rabbit Shorts

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie I own.  I blog about it.  Just like that.  You should know this by now.  Anyway, today I'm taking a look at the Roger Rabbit shorts.  This is in my notes at February 17, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie I own and blog about it.  Simple as that.  This time out, we're doing Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  This is in my notes at February 17, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I think you know how it goes by now.  I watch a movie I own, and blog about it.  Simple as that.  This time out, I re-visit Crouching Tiger,  Hidden Dragon.  This is in my notes at February 18, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Marvel One Shots

Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie I own and blog about it.  That's all there is to it.  Since I've been re-visiting Marvel's Phase I, I think the best way to close out would be to take one last look at the Marvel One-Shots.  This is in my notes at February 4, 2018.  

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Avengers (Again)

He we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie and blog about it.  That's all there is to it.  I've been revisiting Marvel's Phase I, and I get to the logical end with The Avengers.  Now, I'd already done The Avengers before on this here blog, but I had to to do it again to bring Phase I to a close.  You'll find my original rambling here.  This newer rambling was written down on February 4, 2018.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Captain America: The First Avenger

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin.  I watch a movie, and blog about it.  You know, it's kinda my thing.  I've been re-visiting Marvel's Phase I, and today I get to Captain America: The First Avenger.  I actually watched it and wrote this on January 29, 2018.

I've always had a soft spot for Captain America.  When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I got a Captain America action figure for my birthday, and he was my constant companion for that summer.  When Marvel announced that he was going to be part of their Phase I and that they'd be sticking to his World War II origin story, I was thrilled.  Two of my favourite guilty pleasure films are The Shadow and The Rocketeer, so it's given me a fascination with period piece superhero films.  Throw in that they got The Rocketeer's director Joe Johnston to direct, and I was sold. 

And the finished product is, well, good but not great. 

I mean, Johnston really loves his montages.  We get so many montages, of Cap's rise to fame as a symbol of American patriotism, of him kicking ass across the European theatre, a flashback montage to Red Skull's origin.  It would have been nice to have less montages and more ass-kicking. 

And there are some parts that do seem phoned in.  Like Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Phillips, Captain America's CO during the war.  Jones pretty much admitted to phoning it in, describing the role as "the crusty old general who barks orders.  What's to know?"  And also, Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.  Fantastic casting, great make-up, but Weaving plays him as generic Nazi villain #742.  Red Skull is one of the most iconic villains in the Marvel pantheon.  He deserved better. 

But we do get some great, especially as Chris Evans instantly owns it as Steve Rogers.  And we also get those amazing special effects in the first act to shrink Rogers down to a literal 98 pound weakling.  It's the onset of World War II, and Rogers is desperate to enlist and do his part.  But, being a 98 pound weakling with a laundry list of medical conditions always gets him rejected.  His lifelong buddy, Bucky Barnes, is about to ship out, and at the 1942 Stark Expo (Ha!  Link to Iron Man 2!) he tries to enlist one last time (rejecting the woman that Bucky set him up with, Clara Oswald!), and after overhearing a conversation between Bucky and Steve, and after asking a few questions himself, Steve finally enlists thanks to Dr. Erskine. 

For you see, Dr. Erskine is heading up a special project for a branch of the army known as the SSR - the Strategic Scientific Reserve.  They hope to create a super-soldier, and Erskine is convinced that Rogers is the perfect candidate.  After our training montage, and proving himself to SSR superiors Col. Phillips and Agent Peggy Carter from the UK, Rogers undergoes the procedure, and becomes Captain America!

I remember listening to the running commentary on this film.  It's rare to hear directors name-check other superhero films on these commentaries, but Johnston talks quite a bit on how they tried to make Rogers' transformation into Captain America different from another super-soldier creation scene from a Marvel movie...Wolverine getting his adamantium bones in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  As Johnston describes it, Wolverine's origin was clandestine, and therefore done in dark places with cobbled-together equipment.  But Captain America's origin was done with the full might of government resources, and therefore meant to look more like "the Moon landing." 

But alas, it seems that Rogers will be the only super-soldier, as the entire facility is promptly destroyed by one of the Red Skull's agents, and Dr. Erskine is murdered, taking the secrets of the super-soldier process to his grave.  Now this, many have picked up on.  When they made these films, there's some striking similarities to Iron Man, specifically how the relationship between Rogers and Dr. Erskine mirrors the relationship between Tony Stark and his fellow captive, Yinsen.  Hell, even the death scenes are shot from similar angles.  What can be said?  Marvel already knew what was working for them. 

So, is Rogers deployed to the front lines to start taking down Nazis?  No!  With the death of Erskine, he's kept back in the States, so scientists can try to reverse-engineer the process.  Still wanting to serve, though, a senator brands Rogers as "Captain America," and he goes on tour to promote the war effort.  Eventually, he does wind up on the front lines...as part of a USO show.  There, he reunites with Agent Carter and Col. Phillips, and  he's despondent.  While he made it to the front lines, it's not exactly what he signed up for. 

But fate intervenes!  Cap gets word that his buddy Bucky has been captured, and with Agent Carter's help, goes rogue and launches his own rescue mission.  Cap saves Bucky (from being experimented on by HYDRA, thus setting up Bucky's transformation to the Winter Soldier), slugs it out with the Red Skull for the first time, proves his worth to Col. Phillips, and becomes the SSR's top commando. 

With Captain American on board, they finally take the fight to HYDRA -- the SSR's counterpart in the Nazi regime -- and its leader, the Red Skull.  The Red Skull's disfigurement is attributed to the Red Skull subjecting himself to an earlier version of Dr. Erskine's formula before Erskine defected. 

I should mention the Red Skull's plot.  He's come into possession of the Tesseract...a jewel of immense power.  In the comics, it was known as the Cosmic Cube.  In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's the first Infinity Stone we've come across.  Using its immense power, the Red Skull has developed a whole cache of futuristic weapons, and is ready to split off from the Nazis and form his own world-conquering unit. 

And so the fight is on between Captain America and the Red Skull via the ultimate weapon...the montage!  Before it all comes down to a final battle on the Red Skull's massive flying wing of world domination. 

But yeah, I kind of dismissed it before as lots of phoned-in parts, but there's lots of good stuff, too.  Chris Evans immediately owns the role of Steve Rogers/Captain America.  Thanks mainly to Haley Atwell's wonderful performance, Agent Carter went on to become one of the first breakout characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, eventually getting two season of a really good TV show.  There's some spectacular production design, as we see all kinds of futuristic weapons of war that seem quite at home in the World War II setting. 

And let's not forget the music.  I know the Marvel movies get a lot of flak for their scores, but I think Alan Silvestri's Captain America theme is the first truly memorable score of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.



Of course, Silvestri went on to do the music for The Avengers, too, and whenever Silvestri worked into the Avengers score (most noticeably when Cap confronts Loki in Germany), I couldn't help but smile a little. 

But yeah.  Captain America: The First Avenger was a great introduction to Cap in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Oh, and one last thing.  When the Red Skull first gets his hands on the Tesseract, he matters, "And the fuher digs for trinkets in the desert."  This has long been interpreted to be a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Nazis that dug up the Ark of the Covenant.  And now that Disney owns both Marvel and Lucasfilm, you just know they can make the Captain America/Indiana Jones team-up happen. 

July Shenanigans

Well, things finally cooled down enough that I could have a little leisure time.  Summer is a busy time for us radio folk, with a multitude of festivals and events to go cover, and small market is no different.  Luckily, while things were busy in June, it appears as though, this year, things peaked on Canada Day, and now July is relatively quiet, until the fairs of August.  So when I was done covering all the various Canada Day celebrations, I finally had a chance to run into the city and see Incredibles 2.

At the start of this decade, when Pixar started cranking out sequels to their hits, #1 at the top of everyone's wish list was Incredibles 2.  Yeah, Finding Dory was nice and Cars 3 was certainly a movie, but we all wanted to see the further adventures of the Parr family.  Well, it was kind of tough, as writer/director Brad Bird wandered off to try his hand at live action, giving us Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland.  But once that was out of his system, he went, "Ya know, I think I finally have an idea for Incredibles 2."  And here we are.

Picking up immediately where the first film left off, Incredibles 2 opens with our heroes...being detained, because, in this universe, being a superhero is still illegal.  On top of that, the government agency that used to relocate them after such outbursts has been shut down, so they're on their own.  But then, enter the billionaire industrialist twins Winston and Evelyn Deavor.  They're big superhero fans, and want to launch a PR campaign to start lobbying the government to legalize superheroes.  Their plan:  send Elastigirl back into action to show what good she can do in the world.  Mr. Incredible, who doesn't get to go back into the field just yet because the numbers show he causes way too much collateral damage, becomes a stay-at-home dad to look after the kids.  So while Elastigirl does battle with a new super-villain called the Screenslaver, Mr. Incredible does battle with young Violette's adolescence, Dash's math homework, and baby Jack Jack's emerging powers.

Brad Bird once again brings it.  What made the first film so amazing (and what made Bird a fan favourite to do Fantastic Four someday) is he perfectly nails the family dynamics in a family of superheroes.  The action scenes are bigger and bolder than the first film.  And the characters in new and brilliant ways.  And Michael Giacchino once again knocks it out of the park with his music.

But, of course, I have a quibble.  Just about every animated film I've seen lately has the big twist of "trusted friend and ally being the REAL villain," and I'm getting pretty darn tired of it.  Even Incredibles 2 falls back on that, so it was mildly annoying.

In the end, Incredibles 2 is a very worthy sequel that's just as good as the first film.  Highly recommended.  3.5 Nibs.  Full review on the website.

And then, a few short days after the Canada Day weekend, comes that other momentous July holiday...my birthday!  I celebrated in the traditional manner...dinner and a movie with my folks, because I'm cool like that.  And I knew exactly what I wanted for dinner.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is now open in West Edmonton Mall.

Ah, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  A delightful throwback to the 1990s, and the heyday of gigantic theme chain restaurants like The Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood.  They all kind of imploded in the early 2000s, but Bubba Gump Shrimp survived.  The restaurant is themed around the film Forrest Gump, and since Forrest Gump made his millions running a shrimp boat and having a shrimp company, about 90% of their menu is shrimp.

A post shared by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Jul 7, 2018 at 3:01pm PDT

And, needless to say, because they've only been open for about a week, it's busy AF in there right now.  I hit the mall at around 4PM and started chatting with the hostess.  Here's how it works, when you're venturing to Bubba Gump.  Go talk to one of the hostesses standing around outside.  They'll put your name on the list and get your phone number.  When your table is ready, they text you.  I figured I may as well put my name on the list right away, rather than wait for my parents to show up.  So I did, and the hostess told me it would be about an hour and fifteen minutes.  Perfect!  We wanted to eat around 5 anyway.

So then I started hanging out at the Mall.  Then my parents showed up.  Then I started hanging out at the Mall with my parents.  Because I'm 41 and cool like that.  We wandered around, Mom and Dad caught me up on the family gossip, and before you knew it, my phone beeped and it said our table was ready.

A post shared by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Jul 7, 2018 at 4:40pm PDT

We went back to Bubba Gump, I showed them the text, and then they told us to go stand in line inside the restaurant!  But, to be fair, once your reach this stage, the line moves pretty quick.  Chatted with the inside hostess for a bit, where we shared our knowledge of Forrest Gump, and I let her vent a bit about the people who didn't know the system and tried to cut in line and would cuss out the hostesses.  Calm down, people!  Enough shrimp for everyone.

We got to our table, and it's in the bar section.  Which is cool.  We're all adults.  As is to be expected, the walls are covered with stills and promotional pictures from the film.  Above the bar, there were three TV screens:  one showing the World Cup, one showing that night's CFL game, and the third, of course, showing Forrest Gump.  Our very friendly waitress soon came by to take our orders.  But I didn't need to see a menu.  I've been studying the menu online ever since the Edmonton Bubba Gump was announced back in December.  I immediately blurted out, "Shrimper's Heaven!"

A post shared by Mark Cappis (@chaosinabox) on Jul 7, 2018 at 5:20pm PDT

Four kinds of shrimp:  grilled, fried, tempura, and coconut.  Served in four overflowing cones, and with three dipping sauces.  And oh, it was so good.  The grilled shrimp was OK.  It had kind of a generic chain restaurant BBQ sauce flavour.   The coconut shrimp was nice and crispy.  The tempura shrimp was the biggest of them all.  I tell ya, man, it was a heck of a lot of shrimp, but I managed to get it all down.

For my drink, I had this mango peach slushie concoction which was very sweet.  And because I mentioned it was my birthday, I got a free cupcake.

In the end, I quite enjoyed my trip to Bubba Gump Shrimp.  I'll probably go again...in about six months, once the crowds have died down a bit.

And then it was time for the movie.  For the annual tradition of my birthday movie, this year, I had chosen Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  To me, it made perfect sense.  I always loved those dinosaur movies, and for my birthday movie 25 years ago, I saw the first Jurassic Park.

It's a few years after Jurassic World.  Claire, the former manager of Jurassic World, now heads up a charity dedicated to preserving the dinosaurs and letting them live in peace.  But, it looks like the dinosaurs are going to die out all over again, as the volcano on the island has begun to erupt, and will soon destroy the entire island.  Claire is soon approached by Eli Mills, who represents John Lockwood, John Hammond's original partner and one of the original investors in Jurassic Park.  They want to save the dinosaurs and re-locate them to another island.  And, they need Claire's help to re-activate all the old tracking implants in those dinosaurs so they'll be easier to track down.  They also want Blue, the last surviving velociraptor, for Reasons, so Claire also recruits former raptor wranglers Owen.  And they return to Jurassic World...only to be promptly betrayed my Mills' men.  Turns out he wants the dinosaurs for his own sinister plans.  What are those plans?  And will Claire and Owen be able to stop him?

This is probably the most horror-oriented of the Jurassic films, as there are a heck of a lot of jump scares.  There's some surprising emotion, as well, as we're forced to watch the extinction of the dinosaurs all over again.  Claire and Owen, again played by Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt, are again some very likable heroes, and they work well together.  And if that ending is to be believed, looks like the next film will finally be the "dinosaurs rampaging on the mainland" that we've been promised ever since the T-Rex got loose in downtown San Diego in The Lost World.

So, yeah.  Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was fun, and for me at least, the novelty of the dinosaurs hasn't worn off yet.  I give it 3 Nibs.  Full review on the website.

And that was about it with my latest big city adventures.  Not much more to add.  Just, as always, thank you to my parents for the lovely time.