A Valentine for the Ages

Valentines Day every year is a source of great joy for many. It's a day to be thankful for the special person in one's life. Of course, one shouldn't treat their significant other extra special just for one day, rather the day should be a reminder of what a blessing it is to be united with a spouse/future spouse.

That's why for many, Valentines Day is a bit of a depressing day.

I've fallen victim to this type of thinking myself. It can definitely be a little disheartening to see everyone around you in relationships and you wanting the same thing. As this Valentine's Day approached, I felt a rather sad feeling that I tried to suppress. Instead of sulking, I decided to go to the Lord in prayer, something we need to do more often. I prayed about finding my future wife, acknowledging that God's timing was right, not mine. I prayed for about 10 minutes, and then something I will never forget happened.

It's amazing how God answers prayer, isn't it? How that answer just appears suddenly is truly something. Right after I finished praying I went on Facebook and the very first thing that popped up in my feed was a picture with the words:

"Your love story is being written right now by God."

I was floored. This was no coincidence, for the Christian knows inside when a prayer has been answered. It was then when I fully realized that there's no reason to be sad when I have Jesus in my heart. Everything else that is good will come in time, but His timing, not mine. Right now, my mission is to grow spiritually.

As I look back on this year's Valentine's Day, I am bursting with a new-found inner joy. Jesus is the ultimate valentine, for he displayed the greatest love: dying on the Cross for my sins. Being sad on the day would be a disservice to that sacrifice. So, give thanks everyday. Pray continually. God answers, in His way, in His time.

INTO THE STORM Review

"Bad weather" movies have been a staple dating back to the classic Twister. The most recent major one was 2012, which released five years ago. Large scale storms are a source of awe and nightmares for all people, because one cannot control or stop them. We could only endure. That's what makes films like The Day After Tomorrow and Armageddon entertaining in concept to watch, because the viewer knows the characters can't do anything to stop a hurricane or a tsunami. For the most part though, these disaster movies are purely meant for entertainment value without much of a grim tone. 2012 was was an exciting film with perhaps the greatest special effect sequences of the decade, but the viewer never truly felt the characters' dread, because it still felt like a play than something that was actually going on to these people. INTO THE STORM looked to be different. The found footage/faux documentary gets a bad reputation sometimes, but when used effectively it can create some of the most intense and realistic watching-experiences of all time. (A giant monster attack might sound unrealistic, but Cloverfield makes it seem possible.) This movie looked to deliver first hand what it was like to be caught in extreme storm.

At least, that's what the trailers made it appear to be.

By the end, I didn't know if this movie was meant to be pure entertainment or a social commentary on tornadoes. Either way, nothing really works that great. As pure entertainment, there are some intense scenes, (the tornado sucking up the airplanes was very well done) but there isn't much payoff. This is a very closed in event, not worldwide like in 2012, which is fine, but it doesn't have that sense of dread the trailers made it appear to have. There are many scenes showing the devastation of the tornadoes, where one has to wonder if it's trying to remind the viewer of just how deadly these storms are. With characters like idiotic YouTubers somehow living through one and having the final lines of the movie, this perspective is also doubtful. If some of the special effect sequences weren't so good, the Director Steven Quale movie would fit on the SyFy channel.

In the span of just a few hours, the city of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of the most furious twisters they've ever seen. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run toward the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

To be fair, not all of the characters are that bad. The main guy, Trey Fuller (Nathan Kress) is actually pretty likable. Here we have this graduating high school student whose dad doesn't appear to make time for, so the viewer feels genuinely sympathetic. He's respectable, which is rare for a movie with a high school student as the main character. His brother, while providing some funny comic relief, is stereotypical of this type of setting. As a nice bonus, THE WALKING DEAD'S Sarah Wayne Callies appears as Allison Stone, and like her character in the aforementioned show she's good here. I don't have a too much of problem with most of the other characters...expect for Donk and Reevis. As of this writing, I'm still wondering what their overall purpose was other than to be complete fools. Every scene they were in took away from an already dwindling grim atmosphere. The fact that they got the last line still perplexes me.

There are quite a few notable scenes besides the aforementioned airport one. The arrival of the tornado at Silverton High School was very well done. It's scenes like this where one wonders why they didn't go full-on found footage rote. There's so much potential for a truly intense film showcasing what's it's like to be caught in the path of a tornado, yet what we get is basically half that. This is not to say that all the human scenes are bad. The entire sequence when Trey was about to drown felt really genuine and his line at the end of the movie, "Live every day like it's your last, because one day it will be" really speaks volumes. But really, at the end of the day the viewer is here to watch these tornadoes wreak havoc & everyday people caught in it, and while there is that, it just isn't satisfying. (Still, one cannot deny how cool it was to see a tornado catch on fire, which will prompt the viewer afterward to Google and see if that could actually happen.)

INTO THE STORM is a truly missed opportunity. While 2012 was popcorn entertainment, this movie had the potential to be edge-of-your-seat dread. What if a tornado truly struck? That's the film this movie pretended to be, but at the end of the day it's basically just a slightly bigger budget SyFy flick. There's just too many other better films in the genre.

2.5/5

EDGE OF TOMORROW Review

Every year brings a science fiction film that is not part of a franchise. District 9, Elysium and this year's Jupiter's Ascending are such films. Sometimes these films make big money and become critically acclaimed, but sometimes they fade into obscurity after a couple of weeks and then when they release on DVD is when the masses begin to realize how great of a movie they are. (DREDD, though a franchise film, comes to mind.) Director Doug Liman's EDGE OF TOMORROW was last year's sci fi feature. Based on Japanese light novel All You Need is Kill (more of a unique title definitely) the film is on the surface an alien invasion story. It introduces a unique concept, but sadly that quickly becomes old. Tom Cruise delivers a mixed performance as the lead star, and throughout you'll be wondering, "So, what exactly are these aliens?" While definitely not mediocre, one is better off watching the 2005 WAR OF THE WORLDS, another Tom Cruise alien invasion story.

Here's the official description from Warner Bros.:

The epic action of "Edge of Tomorrow" unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop-forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again...and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

The last major alien invasion was 2012's Battleship, which was the opposite of quality. What was the last "great"one? Sadly, nothing comes to mind right away. Battle: Los Angeles and Skyline are the more recent ones, but they can't be called "great." Fun maybe, but they wouldn't be in anyone's top 100 films of all time. I doubt Edge of Tomorrow would be there either. While better than Skyline and perhaps LA, this movie suffers from a thing known as wasted potential. The big selling point as seen prominently in the trailers is the concept of reliving a day. While definitely intriguing for an invasion story, it becomes more of a running gag during the middle, descending almost into being a comedy. The most exciting part is the battle in France against the aliens (called 'Mimics') but the film spends a great deal of time showcasing Cruise dying and coming back. Since the film's concept is based around that, it should be a focus; but it just isn't as engaging as the overall idea is.

Tom Cruise portrays William Cage, a public affairs officer who is sent into combat. His beginning appearance was very mediocre; instead of playing a character it appeared he was just playing himself in an army uniform. (Akin to almost every single Nicolas Cage movie.) He becomes more likable as the film progresses, but it's Emily Blunt's character, Rita Vrataski, who proves to be more interesting. (Though overall the writing could have been better for both.) For awhile there I was going to applaud the film for not shoehorning in a romance, since there's virtually no time for it in an end of the world scenario, but like most summer blockbusters, it appears, thankfully briefly. Besides these two, there are no other major characters worth mentioning. Most of the side characters act like this is part comedy or a parody of the military.

Most aliens sadly in these type of movies are very weak one-shots. There's some justification to call them that here, but at least they have a genuinely cool design and are very threatening. (Though since they move so fast it can be often hard to get a good look at them and appreciate their unique look.) The opening montage nicely establishes the terror of an invasion. Though, it must be said that if you hadn't seen the trailer, you wouldn't know it was an alien invasion until someone actually used the word alien. Still, one cannot deny the effectiveness of the intro. The problem is that these 'Mimics' are never truly explored. They only are explored in a little piece of dialogue by Dr. Carter, (who is also pretty underdeveloped) but it just isn't enough. Their goal isn't touched on, and they have virtually no personality to speak of. Basically, they're cool enemies to shoot at in a video game, but for a movie they remain vastly unexplored. If the main characters had been better written, maybe this would have been less of a problem. The film's soundtrack is pretty solid. Nothing great where you'll remember any of the themes afterward, but just about every theme works.

Overall, EDGE OF TOMORROW is not bad enough to be called mediocre, but isn't good enough be called very good. The two main characters aren't terrible, but Cage would have benefited from either another actor or better writing. The concept of "Live. Die. Repeat." might be interesting on paper, but it quickly becomes jarring since the more interesting thing, the battle against the aliens, keeps getting interrupted. The Mimics have a cool design and are genuinely threatening, but are vastly unexplored for being the film's antagonist. This is probably a movie that will fade away like Wrath of the Titans. (Though to be fair, this film is much better than that one.)

3/5

A Good Person?

Are you a good person?

It's an interesting question. Almost 99% of the time when one asks another that the answer is "Yes." Most people consider themselves to be good. Many have the thought process of, "I've done many more good things than wrong things" and "Sure I've done some bad things, but I'm not as bad as that guy." Many evaluate "good" with doing things such as obeying the law, donating to charities, holding doors for others, etc. Those are all definitely good things to do.

But does doing them make one a "good person?"

A lot of people would say yes. Allow me to add something to that question: "Does doing those things, any of those things, grant you access to Heaven?" Then it gets a little tricky. Many would still say yes. I've overheard at least one conversation where one said, "I hope I'm going to Heaven." How straining it must be to not have security on where one is going after they die, to think that you have to do many good things to override all the bad things you've done.

Atheists wouldn't bring Heaven into the conversation, because to them it doesn't exist. So they would answer that yes, upholding the law, donating to charities, being nice, and other related things constitutes as being a "good person." The problem is that if you take God out of the equation, does "good" really exist? If so, what's our basis? What's the standard? It's man-made, because absolutes don't exist from a non-believer's perspective. So doing "good things" is almost meaningless from this point of view...because an absolute good doesn't even exist!

Let's say that God exists. What does He say about us in relation to good? In Genesis He called all that He had created "very good," and man was a part of that. That's right, humankind is a very good creation. We are all very good creations. Unfortunately, that goodness was and is tainted by sin, a darkness in everyone's heart. It does not change the fact that we are "very good" creations, but because of that darkness, we are not granted access to Heaven. So, a person can donate to charities, be nice to others around them, and even win the Noble Prize, but do any of these things pardon that darkness and gets one into Heaven? Does God see us as "good people" when we do those sort of things? The answer to both those questions is no because that darkness still exists.

But there is a way. God provided a way into Heaven, and that's through His Son Jesus Christ. No good thing we do is enough to take away all the bad things we've done. There's no "bargaining" with good deeds. Only through Christ can we have access to eternal life. Then all the good things we do will be for His glory. Jesus calls His followers "the light of the world," which is definitely the greatest definition of a good person!

Accepting Christ will put things into perspective; one begins to realize they are part of a bigger plan. Every good deed then has an absolute meaning.

...so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ~Philippians 2:15

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Review

There are very few fighting game series as more critically acclaimed than Super Smash Bros. The 3DS version released a few months ago. While it was definitely awesome to be able to play Smash on the go, the Wii U version is the one fans truly awaited for; the small console was just a holdover. (Indeed, now that the Wii U version has been out virtually no one is talking about the 3DS.) Perfect gameplay makes the latest installment perhaps the best yet. I say perhaps because there are quite a few things Brawl and Melee did better. No Adventure Mode and poor number of new stages hurt this game. The multi-player mode however is by far the most fun anyone can have. If you have at least two other people to play with, and with items on, it's endless amount of hours of fantastic fun.

The core thing about Super Smash is the frantic, on-the-go strategy, item-grabbing gameplay. The Wii U version is pretty much perfect in this category. The gameplay isn't quite as fast as Melee, but definitely slightly quicker than Brawl, finding a nice balance between the two. The items are at their best; from whacking people with the Ore Club to trying desperately to gain another life with the Rally-X Flag, playing with items and with friends will create unforgettable battles and laughs. What the game does not shine in is its questionable new modes...

In the 3DS version of the game, there's "Smash Run" which is pretty mediocre after you've played it a couple of times. Thankfully, that was a 3DS exclusive. Sadly, the Wii U's mode is even worse in the form of "Smash Tour." After playing it once you will never want to play it again. The goal was to make this installment in the franchise more party-like and happy I suppose, but that aspect failed miserably. "The Subspace Emissary" from Brawl was an excellent change of pace for fighting games because they usually don't offer cutscene-driven story modes. It upped the bar, and few games since have raised it. Unfortunately, this game is one of them. Adding to the disappointment is the inclusion of a couple of new modes: "Master Orders" and "Crazy Orders." These modes, like Smash Tour, don't serve much of a purpose once you play them at least once. "Boring" would be the word to describe these new inclusions.

The Wii U version has the same characters as the 3DS one, so same positives and negatives apply. New additions like Pac-Man and Rosalina are excellent, but with however questionable decisions like adding Dark Pit (could have been a palette swap of Pit, same with Marth and Lucina) and not another Metroid character. (Interesting how we get Dark Pit but not Dark Samus who has been the antagonist of two games.) The stage selection is a pretty disappointing factor. There's nothing wrong with the new ones, most of them are quite excellent. (Except Mario Galaxy, which is immensely disappointing.) The problem is that there's almost as much old ones as new ones. Some have called this game "Super Smash Bros. Brawl 2.0," and that title is definitely justifiable in this category.

While the game has a lot less lag issues online, it's still present, which is a great shame. We shouldn't be seeing this on a modern console in 2014. Perhaps the greatest and also most disappointing aspect of the game is the challenges. Like Brawl, Challenge Mode will challenge even the most seasoned of veteran players. The disappointing part is the reward: it's just in-game cash. By the time you actually complete all challenges, there isn't much else to buy! It should have rewarded the player with a new character or at least a stage, but no all it gives you is pretty much useless $. Knowing that ahead of time destroys all motivation to complete them all.

Do not let the past few paragraphs deceive you; Super Smash Bros. is one awesome game. The gameplay is pretty much perfect. Playing with friends and items will result in some of the most unforgettable gaming times. Online for the most part is also great and the player will spend many hours over the course of the year on it. It is however disappointing that the game adds more party-like features while eliminating Adventure Mode. I don't think there's any Smash player who would rather have all these new mediocre modes over it. The stage selection is almost half old ones, which is a big disappointment. But overall the latest installment in Super Smash Bros. is another incredibly fun game that delivers a basically flawless gameplay experience.

4/5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Review

I think it's safe to say that just about everyone grew up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For many people it was the classic 80's episodic comedy adventures, for me it was the highly underrated 2003 incarnation, and today's generation is growing up with the current 2012 show. The previous Turtles movie, (simply called TMNT) came out back in 2007. It was a very good feature, having the darker tone of the 03 show while serving as a sequel to the three films from the 90's. Sadly it was never revisited. This year brought a reboot for the series, which isn't a bad thing in theory. When it was announced that Michael Bay and his company Platinum Dunes would be involved, the backlash against it was justified. One only needed to look at the four Transformers movies to see what kind of tone this film would have. Of course, Bay is not the director, only producer thankfully. The director is Johnathan Liebesman, whose best action film is Battle: Los Angeles. (Which isn't saying too much, and to add to that he directed what is probably the most boring "action" film of all time, Wrath of the Titans.) NINJA TURTLES is pretty much exactly what one expects from Bay being involved in some capacity. Overall however, it exceeds all the Transformer movies and is generally a fun film. It's nothing great, but could have been a whole lot worst. (It's scary to think how worst it could have been if Bay was full on director.)

Here's the official description from Paramount Pictures:

Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O'Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the Transformer movies is that the focus is almost always on the humans instead of the robot conflict. That was a fear going into this movie, but thankfully there's a healthy balance of the Turtles and human scenes. Most of them interlock from the middle going forward. First let's look at the cast. Megan Fox from the first two Transformer films stars as April O'Neil, who aside from the Turtles, Splinter, and the Shredder, is the most well-known character in the franchise. For Miss Fox, if you've seen or know about any movies starring her, (the first two Transformers movies, Jennifer's Body) you know she's not put on screen for her acting ability. There's nothing wrong with putting a pretty actress as the lead star, but what Bay likes to do is use sexual appeal to sell tickets. Sadly, there is more than one joke regarding her appearance in this movie, which is very unfortunate.

The morality of film-making is for another article another day, so let's look at the overall performance. While I was expecting a very mediocre portrayal, interestingly she's pretty okay with her character for the most part. Very few scenes feel forced and I actually wouldn't mind if she returned as April in the sequel. (With Bay and Platinum Dunes out of the picture of course.) It's Will Arnett's character, Vern Fenwick, that is easily the worst written thing in the whole movie. Almost every single line he has after he meets Raphael is incredibly forced, jarring, and unrealistic. (Akin to Joshua Joyce in Transformers: Age of Extinction.) The secondary antagonist, Eric Sacks, (William Fitchner) is pretty solid. He's a bit on the generic side, but otherwise not bad. The primary antagonist, the Shredder, is the one who shines the most.

If it's one thing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and TMNT learned, it's that it's very difficult to have a villain as engaging as the Shredder. Tohoru Masamune delivers a great portrayal of the classic villain. Some say the armor is too much of a radical redesign, and there's some justification there. But, as explained in the film, it being an amalgamation of classic samurai and current technology is a pretty cool concept. Karai also appears, though a very underused role. If the viewer wasn't a longtime fan, they wouldn't know that she was the Shredder's daughter. This is not made evident in the film at all, which is a shame because Minae Noji delivers a solid portrayal of the character. Hopefully she's given more to do in the sequel. And then somehow Whoopi Goldberg is thrown into all this, as April's boss. She may have been a solid actress in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but those days are long over. Every scene she's in here is just to basically tell the viewer, "Hey guys Whoopi is in this!"

Onto the reason why everyone would want to watch this movie: the Turtles. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo all match their cartoon/comic personalities well. Most of the banter is funny and overall it's pretty much what a fan wants to see in a modern day reboot...for the most part. Unfortunately, some of the comedy seen in the Transformer movies makes it way here. It is possible to have a serious tone while retaining the signature humor of the characters, but as expected from Bay, some of the humor is jarring. The scene where the Turtles are racing in the sewer and Mickey cuts the cheese was very juvenile, the adrenaline scene was overdone, and the elevator one was just strange. There's so much potential, because 75% is solid Ninja Turtles banter. It's a shame some juvenile and sexual humor make their way here. Master Splinter's portrayal at first seems rather different when compared to previous portrayals, but by the end there's really no complaints to be had.

By far the the greatest thing about this movie is the action. From the excellent first Shredder fight scene in the sewer to the climatic final battle on the rooftop, the movie has some of the best fight scenes of 2014. They are choreographed extremely well, and bring justice to the many great battles from the cartoons and comics. The soundtrack is nothing special, but nothing bad either, with easily the best theme being the one which played during Splinter's fight with Shredder. Interestingly, the film is under 2 hours, which is unusual for a summer blockbuster these days. This wouldn't be bad, but some things feel rushed or unfinished (such as Sacks' ultimate fate) but this is due to the writing, not the length.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a solid reboot which is full of potential that is hampered by some poor humor and writing. As a reboot it isn't a bad way to get acquainted with the franchise. The elements are there: much of the banter between the Turtles is genuinely good and the Shredder is one of his most menacing incarnations yet. (Second only to the 2003 version.) If the poor humor was played down and the Vern character completely revamped, we could have had a "great" start to the new film series.

3/5

5 Reasons Why the New Pokemon Movie is Pretty Awful

The poster itself is better than the movie

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It's amazing to think that the first Pokemon film came out sixteen years ago. The show itself has been going on for seventeen years. Sadly the anime jumped the shark a long time ago. The movies however are usually a breath of fresh air amidst mediocrity. They usually offer high budget animation, a grand plot, and somewhat good fight scenes. Unfortunately the latest one, Cocoon of Destruction, makes Pokemon 4Ever look like a masterpiece. Instead of this being a formal review I'm going instead list the five primary negatives, because there's not many positive things to say!

1. Length

Diancie isn't happy about being in such mediocrity

Wow, this "movie" is short. It's just a little over an hour. It feels more like a TV special. Because of its pitiful length, there's virtually no time to establish any of the new characters. (And there's quite a few.) Of course, a solid script could do wonders, but this is one of the most mediocre writing attempts I've seen in the franchise.

2.Marilyn Flame & Ninja Riot

Supposed to be an emotional moment

Who the heck were these two? They literally show up out of nowhere with no backstory. After chasing Diance and realizing it's a lost cause, Riot decides it's best to give up and be together with Marilyn. This would be a touching scene if this were any other movie, but these two are so poorly established the viewer feels virtually nothing.

3. Argus Steel & Millis Steel

Easily the worst design for a human antagonist yet

She is the unfortunate product of a good character ruined by a poor script

Same problem as above. These two get no backstory and their goal isn't even that understandable. It's an interesting dynamic that Millis is Argus's daughter, but since once again they're so poorly established as characters, it doesn't matter. I don't even remember what happened to them after Yveltal blew them away.

4. Team Rocket

Easily the most laughable characters in all of existence

Team Rocket is probably the worst written characters in the entire franchise by now. They literally serve no purpose here at all. They could have easily been written out of the script, but I guess there's some sort of rule that says they have to be in every movie and virtually every episode right?

5. The "Final Battle"

Such wasted animation

This is the big movie based on the X & Y games, so of course a lot of hype was on Xerneas and Yveltal since this would be their first movie appearance. Yveltal has some impressive destruction scenes, which in theory should set up for an epic climax between the two. We don't get that. Instead we get what is perhaps the worst final battle in Pokemon history. The two literally throw a few beams at each other, and then Xerneas wins by...we don't even know! Her final beam did something to Yveltal since it sent the latter flying away. It's not explained and then the deer transformers into a tree for hibernation. This is definitely what players of the game have waited a year for...

Pokemon the anime franchise continues to become more and more mediocre. This movie is an immense disappointment, especially for people that played through X and Y last year. You're better off watching the first film for the 10th time.