Machete directed by Robert Rodriguez

This movie is FANTASTIC. It gets a lot of flack for a lot of stupid reasons - it's goofy plotline, it's supposed political motivations (HAH!), it's grindhouse tone and the nudity (which isn't bad compared to most hollywood blockbusters), but for what it is, Machete is simply AMAZING.

Conceived originally as a joke trailer for the Grindhouse double feature (Death Proof and Planet Terror), it keeps up this tone and gives us a movie that is cheesy, violent, sexy and all around bad-ass. Danny Trejo commands the screen in this film, and every moment with him in it is fantastic. He fits the film's tone perfectly, and he immerses you into the genre immediately. The film's violence is so completely over the top (at one point, Machete spins in a circle and decapitates six people) that even my normally-squeamish wife was laughing along side my at the computer generated blood spurts and the decapitations.

This is definitely not a movie for small children, but it IS a movie that taps into the man-child inside all of us. Don't go in expecting some deep Quentin Tarantino film that's secretly some loaded political message. This is schlock for the sake of being schlock. It's the kind of movie that you just have to separate yourself from the stupidity of it, and just enjoy the ride.

Adventure Time to Date

Well folks, I'm all caught up on Adventure Time to date. It's been a strange and bizarre experience, with lots of highs and lows. I will say that the writers and artists have a way about them to evoke some powerful emotions--particularly with the Ice and Fire episode, and the Simon and Marcy episode. It challenges its viewers without having to completely betray its own set-up. That said, it also asks a lot from its viewers in the first season. We are excepted to accept a lot of things on face value, and without asking "Why?". To those who say everything is explained: It's not. It really isn't. At least it hasn't been yet. Some stuff is, some things you never even thought to ask "Why" about. But most of the details of this universe are never really explained, they just are, and over time you become inured to it.

The animation in this show is fantastic, and the quality only gets better the longer the series goes on. For that alone it's a show worthy of remembering, but the story telling only adds to an already incredible show. Daring, and possibly even avant garde in a way, it pushes the boundaries of what is and is not acceptable in young adult television without ever being crude or inappropriate. Instead of luring teenagers in with fart jokes and sexual innuendo (those are there, too) it lures them in by treating its viewers with respect, and by treating them as adults. It tackles issues of how hard it can be to grow up in a big world you don't understand, how important it is to not judge someone if you don't know where they came from, and the importance of friendship. But it does this in a way that is so exciting, so heart felt, and so subtle it doesn't come off as being preachy or didactic.

That's the allure of Adventure Time. It's soulful. It's earnest. It has a confidence that many shows directed at the young teens of the world truly lack. Not just these days, but at all.

Adventure Time is a show I will likely continue to watch, at least until it jumps the shark.

Mathematical!

Adventure Time Season 2 Opener

Well. This... this was different.

Certainly didn't pull it's punches, that's for darn sure. The first season always had a kind of dark subtext that lay just below the surface, but there was really no truly disturbing imagery or anything like that in it. But this first episode of the second season was something else.

Good lord, it was horrifying. Absolutely terrifying. It opens with Finn opening a portal to He--er, sorry, the "Nightosphere", and summoning an avatar of ultimate evil, who then proceeds to distort his face in a terrible fashion and attempt to devour his soul. Later in the episode, the avatar of evil turns into a horrible vagina-mouthed monstrosity with egg sacs under its jowels containing the souls of all those it has devoured.

What. The. Heck.

Seriously, this show is beyond messed up. But this horrible random darkness is oddly compelling. It's like staring at a crashed plane. Part of you is horrified at the injuries it may have caused, and can't bear to look. But another part of you is morbidly curious as to just how many dead bodies they'll pull out of the twisted burning wreckage.

The following 2 part episode doesn't really need me to review it, but during this season if I see anything particularly shocking I'll be sure to let you all know.

Adventure Time Season 1-The Rest of It

What a weird journey this has been. A weird, wonderful, terrifying journey. This show's subversive darkness has persisted through the series, hiding in the cracks and crevices, and lurking beneath the bright and cheerful colours of the show.

It's a show a kid could watch, and they would never understand this terrible darkness that rests beneath the surface.

And I enjoy it, to an extent. It definitely got much easier to grasp as the series progressed, although some of the bizarre inconsistencies (don't they have a cure for death? Didn't tree trunks die?) don't line up with the consistencies (Jake is afraid of vampires). So which is which? Are you creating a series in which every episode follows the previous, or are you creating a show that is purely episodic?

Beyond that, the animation is certainly unique and interesting, and the idea is definitely creative.

Once I can track down season two, I'll be sure to check it out.

Adventure Time, Season 1, Episodes 5-15

Well, checking in with you again.

Adventure time has certainly become much more... palatable.

There's still a lot of logical inconsistencies I don't quite understand. For instance I was fairly certain that Tree Trunks was dead after the apple episode, but she shows up again in Marselline the Vampire Queen's episode at the party in the cave-house.

Over all, the show is totally bizarre and oddly compelling, in the way that watching a car smash into a wall in super slow motion is compelling. It's a beautiful train-wreck of writing. There is a certain audience for things like this, though I'm not sure I'm it.

The animation so far has been very interesting, hearkening back to shows like Ren and Stimpy and Courage the Cowardly Dog, shows that masqueraded themselves as children shows but always had a much bigger appeal to older audiences.

Right on, I'll check back with you when I'm finally finished.

Adventure Time Season 1 Episdoe 3, 4, and 5.

Rather than review every single episode at a time, for the sake of longer posts I think I'll do a few this time.

The Ice King is a pretty interesting character, and from what I've seen I think we'll be seeing a bit more of him later on, which is good he's pretty funny.

But what the heck happened to Tree Trunks the elephant? That episode started off pretty normal, but ended in the most twisted and bizarre way.

This show has a kind of twisted darkness that lies beneath the surface of all the colours and faux innocence. There are certainly some inside jokes directed at gamers (Magic Crystal Weak Spots, and Unaligned Ants), but at the same time there's something much more twisted going on beneath the surface of this show. It's a subversive kind of evil.

So far, the show has been quite enjoyable and I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the first season. See you when I'm done!

Adventure Time Season 1 Episode 2: Something Something Lumpy Space

Yeah, I don't remember the title, so sue me.

This episode was way less painful than the first episode. It starts off rather confusing, but it at least takes the time to explain the rules enough that we can grasp what's going on. The Lumpy People are pretty funny, and certainly remind you of those catty brats you went to high school with.

Not really a whole lot more I can say about it, the show is only twenty minutes long. I certainly enjoyed it way more than the first episode!

Adventure Time, Season One, Episode One: Slumber Party Panic

What.

The.

Heck.

This show makes no sense.

At all. Like, seriously. At all.

For an intro into a new series, this is terrible. Absolutely terrible. Simply because I watch it having no idea what's going on. I initially thought I was watching the wrong series. For all the hype this show gets, I don't understand what's going on. At all.

This show wants me to invest in it for more than a few episodes, but it's given me nothing to suspend my disbelief. It's certainly shocking and weird, but that doesn't help the fact that I DON'T KNOW WHATS GOING ON.

Even the intro screen gives you nothing! NOTHING!

I'm going to at least try and survive the first season for you. As I watch the episodes, I'll struggle to make reviews of them, but seriously... this show was just... weird.

That said, I can at least see the appeal. People seem to like "randomness!" for the sake of randomness. And it's certainly colourful and the animation is quite good, but it's still just so... weird.

In between I'll still review movies. Expect a review of Machete and Machete Kills soon!