Calculating Euphoria (at a glance)

I have a guilty pleasure. Well technically I have several guilty pleasures. I like to dip my popcorn in nacho cheese, I put Lays on vanilla ice cream, and I enjoy vegging out on the couch, but none of the can even come close to my love of horror movies.

(Dastardly Rambler's guilty pleasure)

I had to do a bit of research on Leomark Studios. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I still can't put my finger on it. So this is in all honesty a review of a trailer and a first look at the company. I doubt this should even be considered a review. It's a glimpse of a trailer. A peek at a sneak peek.

Calculating Euphoria is a story about how far someone will go to make their dreams come true. Two best friends embark on a journey to create horror movie in Hollywood.That is all I can get for now, unfortunately until I can watch it in its entirety. 

I have several hopes for the film. I hope I'll be able to give it the review it deserves when it's finished. I hope it doesn't become buried under bigger name productions. I hope the movie doesn't become too predictable (hint I enjoy psychological terror).

The movie is a low budget production of approximately $30K. Mount St. Mary's in Los Angeles has been gracious enough to help with location, but a film is more than it's setting. A movie besides the usual script, actors, music, and, etc requires patience, hard work, and sometimes help. 

So how can you help? Offer words of encouragement. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to advertise. Tell your friends, your family, and anyone you meet. Another way to help is by donating. Think of it as being part of the crew. When the movie is finished you can pat yourself on the back and feel proud that you contributed to the arts.

click on the link below to help

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/calculating-euphoria-cast-and-locations-youtube-horror#/

                                                                                 Thanks.

                             ~ Mouse~

Jack is Back

Rambler's Thoughts

So, quick confession.  I never watched Samurai Jack when it was on, as I didn't have cable at the time.  And I never really got around to watching the series on the various platforms that it's on.  So I'm coming into this having seen exactly one episode before.

The new season seems to have a large amount of mythology built behind it.  There's Jack, who seems to have lost his katana, roaming the landscape, in search of Aku's (a demon of growing evil who has stranded Jack in a time period that is obviously not his own) henchmen, which seem to be of the robotic variety.  Jack has also been through some trauma, which is affecting him mentally in the form of visions of his father, and presumably others that he's met in the course of his wandering, which is even handicapping his ability to fight his opponents.  If I had to guess, I'd say that the only thing that keeps him from mentally slipping even more is the fact that his opponents are mechanical.

Which is unfortunate, because a cult dedicated to Aku has sprung up, birthing a set of septuplets on his altar, and then raising those seven girls as assassins whose sole purpose seems to be the elimination of Jack.

The artwork is very fluid, dark, and imaginative.  The voice acting is good, funny where it needs to be, serious when it should be.

This series is also obviously not meant for kids.  The themes are very adult, and there's obviously a lot going on under the surface with Jack.  He doesn't speak much, the rest of the characters do most of the exposition, but not in a condescending manner.

I'm very interested in watching how this series wraps up. 

MOUSE’S THOUGHTS    

They went full grit reboot with this. If this reboot was sandpaper the coarser the better. It's clear that Jack's past is catching up to him along with the burden of guilt. The animation is similar to the original series and feels like a continuation of seasons 1-4. Phil Lamar returns to voice the famous samurai again. His voice does sound slightly different than it did before possibly due to aging, but it works.

With the new episode, there are new villains.  The seven daughters of Aku are born assassins. I mean born in the literal sense. I’m not going post a spoiler here, but trust me when I say they were literally born. There’s been an upgrade all around for the show with the music and storyline so far. Now I’m not sure of my overall opinion with the music. Jack’s new look caused a bit of an eye roll. That roll of the eyes wasn’t because of Jack himself, but because of the impractical samurai biker armor. I get the idea of new and edgier, but there is also trying too hard.

         Meh. Could be better. Could be worse.

Now I only have one major worry for the show. Is it too much too soon? The action did draw me in for this episode, but I’ve seen it too many times where all effort is put into the first few episodes that they use filler upon filler just to keep up.

                             

Overall I have hope as the series continues, but I hope it doesn’t bite off more than it can chew.

 

Movie vs Show-Curious George

Holy tags Batman!!

Hello again everyone. Mouse here with too much time on my hands.

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As some may know we have kids. With kids comes shows that will make you want to apologize to your parents for the countless hours of brain numbing nonsense they endured so they could have a few moments peace.

I loathe Curious George. He's right up there with Caillou. There's a difference between being a curious monkey and just your run of the mill annoyance. TV George is the latter.

I feel sorry for the man in the yellow hat while I watch the show. George's "curiosity" often leads to damages that the man in the yellow hat has to pay for.

I'm not even going to bother figuring out the costs. There was one episode where George floods their country home, another where he vacuums up rare stamps, and another where he puts a shopkeeper out of business.

"Curious George and euthanasia."

          

What's one thing that I'm glad is not in the movie? Besides the way the man in the yellow hat is so deep in the friend zone with Professor Weisman (who constantly has to remind people that she's a scientist) there's no hope of ever coming out. Of all the characters I can't stand in the show, it's this kid....

                                                       Well actually you're a twit

Like the guy in the office who watched on episode of some science show and labeled himself as a self-proclaimed expert, he simply will not shut up. He keeps referring to George as city kid and takes pride as he "corrects" others with the trademark "Well actually."

Now the movie. Holy crud I don't know what it is, but the movie is adorable. Not adorable in the shoving cutesy baby talk nonsense down your throat adorable. The colors are bright yet not harsh.

It gave George an origin story. I felt sympathy for the orphaned monkey instead of the cringing annoyance. An actual bond is formed in the movie between Ted and George instead of the trap that the man in the yellow hat is stuck film the show.

                                                           Fricking adorable little ball of disease

You get an idea of what Ted actually does for a living. In the show, I have no idea, but I'm just going to assume he's a rich guy with too much time on his hands. Characters in the show are difficult to relate to. As far as voice actors both the movie and show are fantastic. Will Ferrel does the voice of Ted in the movies while Jeff Bennett is the man in the yellow hat for the show, 

Music wise both the show and movie have catchy songs. I catch myself humming Jack Johnson's Upside Down and People Watching from the film as  I go about my day. The youngest loves singing songs from the show as he dances around.......OK I secretly like Won't You be My Valentine (I tried finding the song, but there were way too many covers)

                                                             F*ING BUBBLES!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc9WyaGFBEM

(All credit goes to Jack Johnson for the song)

So if asked I would say avoid the show like the plague, but make sure to cuddle up with your curious little monkeys as you watch the movie.

Drifters Episode one

First, I'm going to apologize for the slow updates (all 3 of you). Between moving and the youngest in the hospital for seizures. He’s doing better now. So, thanks for being patient.

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I once had a high fever, took some medicine, and was fighting to stay awake during history class. If you smashed the fever dreams I had with Hellsing the end result wouldn’t skim the surface of Drifters. If you have ever seen Hellsing you'll notice Drifters looks familiar. That's because Kouta Harano the same person that wrote and illustrated Hellsing did the same for Drifters.

The instant I saw the shade of red and the characters' eyes there was no doubting this was the person that created one of my favorite anime.

Obviously don't expect historical accuracy

Drifters is an alternative history fantasy. Various historical figures from battle of Seilacher. The battle between Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu was the decisive battle which is often said to note the beginning of the Tokugawa hegemony. Two guesses who probably won. If you really want an in depth historical background on the battle just Google it.

Okay so now that you have your basic historic background done and over with let's talk about the actual anime. The anime starts out with the battle mentioned in the previous paragraph. The main character Shimazu, Toyohisa being an all around one man army destroying badass. Unfortunately, like so many sarcastic heroes on the battle field he dies on the first episode. Who knew being impaled by several spears would make someone bleed out and die?

Toyohisia is shocked to find himself in a brightly lit hallway with several doors to the left and right of him. In the middle of the hallway a blonde man that might as well be a younger brother of The Major with an unimpressed look on his face. Our hero is quickly sucked through one of the doors and is discovered unconscious by elves.

Mother wasn't pleased when he didn't go into dictatorship like his brother.

Will I continue to watch Drifters? I don’t know. Hellsing is one of my favorite anime and I was excited to see something new from Kouta Hirano, but something about everything after the battle and the hallway scene just left me bored. I forgot I began to watch this and it became buried under other shows. I’m crossing my fingers that the show will become more interesting as it goes on, but I’m not betting on any horses yet.

The Great Dictator

"'Corona veniat electis.' Victory shall come to the worthy. Today, democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore, we frankly abolish them. In the future, each man will serve the interest of the State with absolute obedience. Let him who refuses beware! The rights of citizenship will be taken away from all Jews and other non-Aryans. They are inferior and therefore enemies of the state. It is the duty of all true Aryans to hate and despise them. Henceforth this nation is annexed to the Tomanian Empire, and the people of this nation will obey the laws bestowed upon us by our great leader, the Dictator of Tomania, the conqueror of Osterlich, the future Emperor of the World!"

-Garbitsch


Charlie Chaplin, master of the silent film format, second only to Buster Keaton.  In his second speaking role, Chaplin chose to skewer a growing threat to the world, to the initial criticism of most of the western world.  

When this film went into production, western Europe was still reeling from the effects of The Great War, the Great Depression, and the possibility of a repeat of the horrors less than a generation gone were so horrifying, that most reasonable people living at the time would do or agree to anything to avoid that.  Hell, there were even some who thought that the fascist regimes coming into their own were models of efficiency to be emulated, trimming the fat of the undesirable elements from their societies in a completely non-foreboding or threatening manner.  At least they weren't communists, right?

But some took notice of the rhetoric and sentiment.  And, in the tradition of the great satirists, decided that the best way to bring attention to it was to poke fun at them.

When The Great Dictator was being filmed, there was condemnation coming from all sides.  Why would Chaplin choose to attack the Nazis and the Black Shirts in such a manner?  Why antagonize them?  What was wrong with a country setting itself right, and who had the right to tell them how they did it was wrong?

The film was condemned and banned before its release in Britain and the US, but they made it anyway.  And by the time of its release, Britain was already under attack by the Luftwaffe, its expeditionary force in France defeated and evacuated.  The British needed to laugh.  And a message that this too would pass.

***

"This is a story of a period between two World Wars - an interim in which Insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat."

The Great Dictator concerns the fictional nation of Tomania, and opens on the Western Front of the Great War.  Charlie Chaplin plays a Jewish barber turned soldier whose exploits result in some hijinks, including a dud shell from Big Bertha following him around, an antiaircraft gun spinning out of control, an attack in the wrong direction, and a plane ride in with a pilot (Reginald Gardiner as Schutz) whose sense of telling which way is up is somewhat impaired, and then the surrender of the Tomanian forces.  All in the first ten minutes.  As a result of the ill-fated aeroplane flight, the Barber has a bout of amnesia that apparently lasts a dozen years.

He misses out on some important developments, like the rise of Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and his party of the Double Cross, and the suppression of the Jewish population in Tomania.  Hynkel has a loyal inner circle, including his propaganda minister, the conniving Garbitsch (Henry Daniell), and the leader of his air force and object of much abuse, Herring (Billy Gilbert).

"Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental."

But global politics don't take place within a vacuum.  One of Hynkel's "Dictator Buddies" is the affable caricature Napaloni (Jack Oakie), the leader of Bacteria.  Both have designs on neighboring Osterlich, and both are engaged in a constant, dangerous game of one upmanship at the cost of their nations and the world.

Chaplin's use of fake Tomanian language, largely improvised and filled with enough actual German-sounding words to lend it credibility, is both comical and terrifying.  Of note is a particular scene where Billy Gilbert accidentally says "Banana" while suffering Chaplin's wrath.

This man is apparently dangerous.

But back to the Barber.  After walking out of his mental hospital, he makes his way back to his barber shop, now located in the Jewish ghetto.  Having missed out on the events of the previous decade, he fails to return a stormtrooper's salute, refuses to defile his shop to denote its Jewish ownership, and gets into a gentle misunderstanding, resulting in his near lynching.

He's rescued at the last moment by Schutz, who had joined the Double Cross, but who had not entirely drunk the Kool-Aid.

Also of note in the Ghetto is Paulette Goddard as Hannah.  She has no time to spare for fools, and calls others out on their malarkey whenever she gets a chance, especially in a scene involving some coins and puddings.  She's also an optimist in a time of reality, and her effect on the Barber is notable, from bringing him out of his shell, to apparently inspiring him during the film's climax.

The negatives are few.  There are some glaring continuity errors, not all of the performances are top shelf, and the love story doesn't strike me as entirely necessary (if they'd just stayed friends and not pursued a relationship, I don't think anything would've been lost).  But the overall film is great enough to overcome its detractions.

Events unfold, two wars and one peace are declared, identities are mistaken, and the debate of whether citizens exist for the benefit of the state, or if the state exists for the benefit of its citizens is brought up.  Slapstick, wordplay, inspiring, and terrifying, this film transcends its setting in place and time.

***

Hitler, believe it or not, was a fan of Chaplin's, and had a print of this film smuggled into Germany by way of Spain.  Reportedly, he saw the film twice, but it's unclear how he actually felt about it.  

After the events of the Holocaust became known, Chaplin stated that if he'd known about how terrifyingly horrific they were, he'd have never made this film.

This film may have been one of the reasons that Herbert Hoover and the FBI went after Chaplin years later, not because he was obviously against the Nazis and fascism, but because he was against them too early.

  -Rambler

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!"

-The Jewish Barber

D Gray Man Hallow Season one

This review is a bit late....

D. Gray-Man Hallow continues to follow Allen Walker(voiced by Todd Haberkorn) a young 15 year old exorcist with a cursed eye and an arm that transforms into a claw to defeat artificial creatures known as akuma. Though Allen is the "hero" of the story the writers and creators didn't forget that he is a teenager. A sarcastic still trying to make his place in the world teenager.

   Creature probably isn't the best word to define akuma. The word translates into demons, but they are not demons of the biblical sense, They're machines capable of blending in with society. Weapons that are powered by tormented human souls. The Maker (Millennium Earl) seeks out those who have suffered a great tragedy. They infect their victims with a virus that kills quickly. Black stars begin to cover the skin as the body fills with darkness. Nothing is left of the victim except their clothes and a pile of ash.

The first akuma is Moa's brother Mark whose wife died after being crushed under a chandelier on their wedding day. Filled with grief and anger The Millenium Earl finds him and promises he can be with Claire again, all he has to say is her name. When Mark calls Claire's name a metal skeleton comes forward with a single world "Marx" on its forehead. In Claire's pleading voice the metal skeleton cries that he had doomed her to become an akuma. The Millennium Earl commands Claire to kill Mark and use his body to blend in.

     The Millennium Earl is the main antagonist in the anime. He supplies the metal skeletons and dark matter needed to create the akuma. He uses the akuma to spread the virus or darkness as it is interchangeably referred to as. We are first introduced to him in the first episode and now I know what would happen if The mayor from Halloween Town, Serena, Manbat, and tuxedo mask had a drunken orgy full of regret.

But he looks so happy!

Dubbed by Jason Liebrecht and Todd Haberkorn....Okay I'm a fan of Haberkorn, Tatum, and Mignogna, I enjoy their work they are some of my favorite, but I wish fresh faces err voices were brought in. Give the new kids a chance.

              Take a shot whenever an anime uses the same five voice actors over and over...cry 

I have to admit between moving, Halloween, and just an overall filling of meh and bleh I almost gave up watching D.Gray-man Hallow. Probably why I'm over a week or more late with this review. Apologies for my laziness and procrastination. Still I pushed through to the second episode. I'm glad I did,

The first episode just seemed to drag on like a long introduction. The Black Order/Exorcist Headquarters was not what I expected it to be. Lead by Komui Lee The Black Order are a rag tag gang of misfits you can't help but enjoy.

If you begin to watch this anime hoping for a serious good versus evil or a light hearted show that will make you smile you won't get that. What you will get is a bit of both. My first opinion to the anime left a lot to be desired, I would suggest that you just push through the first episode.

        See you Ramblers later when I review Drifters!