Clue Review

Okay so... I just now (12:40 AM) found out that CW shows are apparently back this week... gah! On the bright side, I'm planning on watching them and reviewing... sometime this weekend, probably. No promises.

Instead of watching The Vampire Diaries tonight, I spent time with my bestie. We went shopping, babysat my nephew, and watched random stuff on Netflix. One of the things we watched was Clue. As I love love love Clue, I figured I'd review it for you.

Clue - Review

Clue isn't your average mystery movie or game adaptation. It's hilarious and a great way to spend a couple hours. It's one of my favorite movies... though it's often left off my lists because I forget about it. That said, I always enjoy rediscovering it. I think tonight was my fifth or sixth time watching it and it's still funny even though I know how it ends. (Psst. There are three endings.)

Clue features the talents of Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Colleen Camp. They are all used to their comedic best, I think anyway, in the roles of Butler, Maid, and the Clue characters. Not a single person is underused or overstated.

I think my favorite thing about this movie is that it's really hard to tell who did what without the explanation at the end. Well, that and the comedy. I'm not normally a fan of comedy, but this was done well. Clue is set in 1954, though I think Miss Scarlet's hair alone screams 80s, somewhere in New England. The entire movie takes place in the mansion where the murders take place. No, that's not a spoiler, Clue is a murder mystery game after all. The setting and the characters make this movie fairly timeless, though random jokes about Communism will remind you that yes, this is set in the 1950s.

I think to tell you anymore would be spoiling the movie. I highly encourage you to go watch Clue and see for yourself what a comedic masterpiece it is. Currently available on Netflix... which is not sponsoring this blog. I just like Netflix, okay?

Housekeeping

Wait... we have a housekeeping section? But... I don't need this section this week since I believe I covered everything in the intro... *shrug* A well... have some Luna:

Love ya, Jessie.

Homesick Review

*Edit 1-21-13: I got the episode title wrong while I was writing this post. It's actually called "The Outsider."

So... I got a little caught up with stuff like shopping and sleep the last couple days... which meant that I sucked at getting back into the regular blog posts... thing. Sorry about that. But anyway, today I'd like to review the Once Upon a Time episode: "Homesick." That means there are SPOILERS, as always. If you haven't seen the episode and don't want to know what happens, I'd leave the blog now and come back later.

Once Upon a Time - "Homesick" - Review

I really enjoyed this episode... except for the end. I'm a big fan of "evil" characters getting some redemption and someone to love them so that makes me a big fan of Rumple and Belle as a couple. This episode had a lot of that in it. It also had a lot of Belle being independent, which I liked, and not smart in parts, which I didn't like. Seriously, child, you do not go onto an invisible pirate ship by yourself especially after having almost been killed or whatever by the guy who owns it. And why did Gold have a loaded gun randomly lying around in his shop? It wasn't even in a safe or anything... just... there.

Belle's history with Mulan was interesting. I quite liked that a) Belle decided to deceive the assholes in the hunting party, b) her outfit, and c) that she essentially saved everyone by virtue of not killing first. I did not like that Mulan just decided to give Belle her sword. That didn't make sense. Like, you're a soldier, why would you give your weapon to someone who obviously doesn't know how to use it and send them off essentially to their deaths. Yes, I know Mulan had that whole speech about people underestimating women, but giving up her sword was going too far.

Right now, I think Archie is Cora. The reasons I believe this are: Cora has the ability to shapeshift and it was far too easy to rescue Archie from the ship. That just rang tons of alarm bells.

Also, I think Belle just letting Rumple go off in search of Balefire was ridiculous. I'd have at least asked him why he doesn't make more potion. Like, he did make it right? And if he really loves her, why is he willingly leaving her alone in the same town as Hook? Seriously, Rumple? What the hell is wrong with you?

The end of the episode was... interesting. I think it's going to be a little annoying to see Rumple start from scratch with Belle... who is not Belle now and injured to boot. It also looks to be interesting with the guy in the car... especially with the preview for next week. Also, I'd really like to kill Hook now, though his reasoning for shooting Belle is sound.

Housekeeping

I want to know what you guys think about the episode! There is a comments section down below this post and it'd be great to actually hear from whoever's reading my ramblings.

Not sure when my next post will be... hopefully I'll find something to write about before Sunday, when I will definitely post my Initial Reactions to the next episode of Once Upon a Time.

Love ya, Jessie.

Homesick - Initial Reactions

The following are my Initial Reactions/Commentary thing for tonight's Once Upon a Time episode. If you have not seen this episode, go away now, there are SPOILERS.

Once Upon a Time - "Homesick" - Initial Reactions

• Smee's gonna loose his memory... or just be all test-subject-y.
• Okay, that creature's either gonna be awesome of seriously suck.
• Poor Pongo.
• Crying almost as soon as the episode starts, nice.
• Awww... but you're totally gonna leave Belle behind, aren't you?
• So why can't you make more?
• And this is the part where Belle gets kidnapped.
• Into the steam-punk elevator/fortress...
• Belle looks goot in that outfit.
• Men.
• Verdict on the creature: it's okay.
• Geez, Mulan. Cold shoulder much?
• You go, girl. Totally your business, Belle.
• So Cora could ransack it... or Smee could.
• Gotta love this continual, "I wear pants in the relationship" thing.
• Good job not lying to her, at least.
• Assholes. But go Mulan.
• How'd she make her eyes glow like that?
• Mysterious knot...
• Smart birds are smart.
• This is not going to end well, Belle.
• That was quick...
• Time to spy on Henry for a change...
• You could totally all get a bigger house.
• Don't put the gun down!
• Cuz see, stuff like the bad guy getting it happens.
• Here, take this weapon you have no idea how to use. That's a good idea.
• Nice!
• Confrontation Time.
• Right... lead it to the water tower through the village...
• Aww... it's all slimy and dog-like.
• It was Cinderlla's Prince! Awesome.
• Whoops, Phillip. Darn, what happened to Cinderella's Prince?
• Also, giving Hook the satisfaction is a bad plan.
• She's still angry with you, dude.
• Yeah, cuz that's a brilliant idea. Go back and be crazy with all the battles and stuff.
• What if the Archie right here is Cora and Hook still has the real Archie.
• And this is where Belle gets kidnapped.
• Could've made more of that potion...
• OH CRAP.
• Hello helpful person.

Love ya, Jessie.

Floatation Device

I had a very productive day today, I'm so proud of myself. ^_^ I did three fanfiction covers, wrote three articles, folded all the guest towels and put them away, and completely fried my brain. Never fear! I do have a little something not-boring for you today. It's a review of the newly finished section of Adrift In a Room of Mirrors by Princess Alexandria! Which will come right after I post some pictures for you...

Fanfiction Covers

HTML Tables

So there's those... I did the first two yesterday and the other three today. Photo manipulation is a lot more complicated than I remember... You can find these fanfictions, and my others, by clicking the "My Fanfiction" button up in the navigation bar.

Adrift - Floatation Device by Princess Alexandria

Okay so... this story was/is originally from Princess Alexandria's Adrift In a Room of Mirrors. It's set in an alternate Twilight Saga universe and stars Alexandria's OC Christy Taylor. Also taking starring roles in this fanfiction are Bella Swan and Tanya Denali of Stephanie Meyer's The Twilight Saga. If I were you, I'd take a look at Alexandria's other fanfiction, particulary Not Myself, before reading this fanfic. It'll give you a good idea of her characters and how she tends to write. Ya know, assuming you haven't already, since I've recommended that before.

Anyway... I have to start out by saying that I'm not a giant fan of Twilight fanfiction to begin with. Firstly, because the characters just seem too bland to do anything with or don't have enough personality to really create fanfiction out of. Secondly, no one seems to be doing anything really interesting with them. Thirdly, most Twilight fanfiction is horrible. Fourthly, Stephanie did a pretty good job wrapping things up at the end of Breaking Dawn; at least, I think so. That said, I quite liked this particular Twilight fanfic. Part of it has to do with Christy and how attached to her I am and part of it has to do with how Alexandria handled the other characters.

The story starts at some point during New Moon after Bella was left by the Cullens. Christy shows up due to the events in the prologue and takes Bella under her wing. She essentially trains Bella to be a vampire while helping her grow a spine. Along the way, Christy manages to create her own little Vampire/Shapeshifter coven and then merge it with the Denali Coven. Of course, there is some romance and some tasteful and well deserved Edward bashing. Thought I wouldn't call is bashing exactly... it fits with the way Alexandria has written this story and, as I said, is very well deserved. Toward the end, I thought the story dragged a bit... but considering how things were going at that point, I think the dragging was justified.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Floatation Device. I think that anyone who enjoys Christy and, on some level, the side characters of The Twilight Saga will enjoy it too. If you're a fan mostly of the main cast of The Twilight Saga, I'm not sure you'll like this, but you should at least give it a try. Luckily, the story is finished now so you don't have to wait for weeks between updates.

Housekeeping

The links to both Floatation Device and Princess Alexandria's fanfiction.net page comprise the heading of that section. There are also a few links scattered through the first paragraph of that section to relevant pages.

Love ya, Jessie.

Those Reviews I Might Possibly Have Promised

Okay so... ya know how I said at the end of last year that I was probably gonna watch The Vampire Diaries episodes I hadn't watched... I did that! Thought you were gonna be disappointed, huh? Well, no. You don't get to be disappointed.

That said, I have for you a pair of reviews for the last two episodes of The Vampire Diaries. If you have not seen these episodes, you ought to go elsewhere... like to watch them. Or something. There will be SPOILERS. You've been warned.

The Vampire Diaries - "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street" - Review

Oh look, Damon's emotions are leaking. He seems to have a special Siring gift. Not really a good thing, but there you go. He is just entirely too good at making chicks fall for him. Also, Stefan needs to get off his back. It's not his fault he's so awesome.

Lexi! I like Lexi. I'm sad she's dead. I'm glad she was able to talk some sense into Damon. That was awesome.

Tyler's become Big Alpha On Campus. Totally saw that coming. I do find it super annoying, however, when people kidnap other people in an attempt to make a power play. No dear, that just proves you can't take the ruling party to begin with. Stop it.

Anyway... I remember liking this episode. It was fun. Kind of depressing in parts, but fun.

The Vampire Diaries - "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" - Review

This was the sorriest excuse for a Christmas episode ever. Like, this was worse than Doctor Who's "Voyage of the Damned" and that had a much higher body count. The only redeeming part of this episode was the Jeremy/Bonnie goodness... which was a small part. That says something about the episode.

Speaking of Jeremy and Bonnie, Professor Guy was in this episode being all weird again. As we found out in the last episode, the death of 12 people carries a lot of mystical punch. Seeing as Professor Guy wanted the death of the 12 Hybrids, I'm wondering how he's gonna channel that energy... ya know, cuz that was all weirdly unexplained and stuff.

I'm actually kind of sad the Hybrid Pack is dead. Made Tyler's totally Alpha thing from the last episode basically useless, but they were kind of growing on me from that stand point. Also, I'm still in the camp of Klaus needs to die. Like now. It would make me happy and then we wouldn't have to deal with his temper tantrums anymore...

But hey, looks like Rebekah's gonna be back. Yay! Seriously hoping April de-daggers her. That'll be great. I quite like Rebekah. I actually care about her and her drama. Mostly because most of her drama isn't her fault and she attempts to fix the stuff she caused. Unlike her brother... but I'm gonna just stop here, kay? Otherwise I'll rant.

Housekeeping

Uhm... might do a fanfiction review tomorrow. Been a long time since I've done one of those... or it might be a book review... I just don't know at this point.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Cricket Game - Review

Here's your giant SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen Once Upon a Time: "The Cricket Game" you should click off this review right now. Ya know, unless you'd like to be spoiled...

Once Upon a Time - "The Cricket Game" - Review

As a return from a winter hiatus, I can't say this episode blew me away. There was too much flip-flopping of characters for me to be anywhere near re-invested in them. Mind you, I missed the first ten minutes and haven't gone back to watch but... eh. Really didn't enjoy this episode as much as I thought I would.

At the moment, I'd really, really like to just slap Snow, Charming, and Emma upside the head. First it's: Oh, Ruby saw Regina go into Archie's office so it must have been Regina who did it. Let's yell at her when she's CLEARLY shocked and distressed by Archie's death. Then it's: We're finding too much evidence so let's go to Gold and see if he did it or has a solution. Also, Emma didn't really do most of the magic that dream-catcher required. Gold did. Oh, and let's watch what was CLEARLY only part of the memory from the DOG and jump back on the "Regina did it" bandwagon. And then, let's go make her totally seem like a bad guy by essentially jumping her in front of her house and threatening her with losing Henry. OF COURSE she'd gonna come out looking like the bad guy. She's upset and you're being a bunch of idiots. GAH!

The back-story stuff was nice, though, I have to admit. I like that Rumple essentially goaded Snow and Regina into playing along to his tune. That was quite nice. I probably would have been more invested in the execution scene and the Regina killing Snow scene if it wasn't completely a back-story thing and kinda obvious neither of those things were going to happen. And yes, at that point in the story, Charming was totally in the right about Regina. Can't fault him on that. I liked that the reason Regina didn't specifically go after Snow and Charming was explained. I figured she was the more direct type so all the beating 'round the bush stuff didn't make a lot of sense for her.

And now I've gotta jump back to Storybrooke and talk about Cora and Hook. I really, really just want to kill Cora. That is not the way you treat your daughter, lady. I still don't think Regina's gonna come running back into your arms. In fact, I think she's going to hate you even more. However, I do applaud your not killing of Archie. That was a nice surprise at the end. And yes, I realize that for almost this entire paragraph, I've been talking to the character. So sue me, I talk to imaginary people sometimes.

Anyway... next week looks intriguing, if the trailer's anything to judge by. At the same time, I want some twists cuz... Gold can't just leave Belle behind. That'd just be... sad. Very sad. Can't wait to see what happens, though.

Housekeeping

Okay, uh... I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. Might review the last two episode of The Vampire Diaries... might do a series review for... something I finished already... might just flake and not do anything at all. Who knows. Watch this space, as they say.

Love ya, Jessie.

It's 2013!

Happy Belated New Year everybody! I'm back! Or at least, I'm as back as I can be with only one currently running show back on the air... I'll figure out something to do in the mean time...

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate). Mine was... stressful. Too many people making me crazy in my house, but yeah... Good times were generally had by all, though. And of course, there were presents! I got a bunch of nerdy t-shirts, a new suitcase, new camera, a bunch of books, and a couple of DVDs. The best part, though, was The Great Marshmallow War of 2012! My mom got a bunch of marshmallow shooters... which were essentially multicolored, transparent PVC pipes the perfect size for mini-marshmallows to be put into and come shooting out of. We had a blast and the dogs had a sugary snack. Also, today we were taking down the tree and finding marshmallows in the tree and stuck to ornaments... and in a few bags we'd stowed stuff in. It was crazy!

And now... a SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen tonight's episode of Once Upon a Time, go away. Initial Reactions are back! There will be SPOILERS!

Once Upon a Time - "The Cricket Game" - Initial Reactions

• Missed the first ten minutes due to de-Christmas-ing the house
• Ouch, Regina.
• Dun Dun Dun.
• Charming's lips are really pink and distracting.
• Pongo know that's NOT Regina.
• What's the point of ditching the disguise not even a block from the crime scene?
• New jacket, Emma? I don't like it.
• Execution by archery? Okay then...
• He's got a point at this point.
• Now that's cool. - Dreamcatcher
• Well this is an interesting turn of events.
• Another Regina dress I totally want.
• How does no one notice them?
• Cora's kidnapped Belle?
• Oh! She didn't kill Archie or kidnap Belle. Interesting...

Housekeeping

Okay so... I have no idea what I'm going to be doing this week. There will most likely be a review of "The Cricket Game" up tomorrow at some point. I hope to get back to a regular schedule soon, though. But for now... I'm just gonna post as I have things to post. I'll let you know when or if that's gonna change.

Love ya, Jessie.

PS: I'm back to being an egg. Isn't that nice?