Project Canceled: Day Break

Sometimes life just isn't fair, not fair at all and injustices abound like in today's case when we take a look at "Day Break" a TV series that came out in 2006 boasting the likes of Taye Diggs in the lead role as Det. Brett Hopper. So what is "Day Break" about? After all the title is uncreative as there are several TV shows and movies that all share that title, what makes this one unique? Well, "Day Break" finds Det. Brett Hopper stuck in a time loop where he's framed for the murder of a District attorney and as he relives the same day he makes different choices and finds that he's in the middle of a much deeper conspiracy. It's basically "Groundhog Day" meets any cop show.  As done as that premise sounds, at least in this day and age, "Day Break" was actually very enjoyable and I'll explain why after the break;

Why I'm Not Looking Forward To James Gunn's DCEU

So once again The DCEU is rebooting itself and I decided that now would be a good time to discuss my feelings on what was announced in regards to The DCEU moving forward. I know I said I was done talking about Warner Bros. and DC BUT this warrants discussion, so let's dive in.

STRANGE LOG: From The Beckett and Calls Of The Realms?

Yep, it's time for another Strange Log, although I do promise more articles are coming soon...not that anyone's actually reading these...so ultimately why am I even writing them, but whatever, it gives me something to do so off we go.

The FAIL Of The House Of Usher

So strap yourselves in oh my brothers and only friends, this is gonna be a rant about the latest Netflix show "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" helmed by Mike Flanagan of "The Haunting Of Hill House" and "Oculus" fame. Mike Flanagan I'm starting to think is going to be one trick pony as I thought "The Haunting Of Hill House" was actually legit but after striking out with "The Haunting Of Bly Manor" and whatever the hell "Midnight Mass" was, "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" is a MASSIVE failure on all accounts and as an avid fan of Edgar Allan Poe I'm going to explain exactly why and where this show fails and MAYBE explain how it could have improved.

The Current State Of The MCU

And so oh my brothers and only friends, Phase Five of The MCU is coming to a close and my oh my what a shite show this is. Disconnected storytelling, possible scandals and many other issues plauge the once mighty MCU to the point where every new project is met with a collective yawn from the masses. In this article I'm gonna talk about where things are now and what I would have changed about this phase to make a much more cohesive story. Let's begin.

Knowing The Difference: Timelines, Universes and Dimensions

This is a bit of a weird article because I had a dream I wrote this very article and I decide to write it in real life. What spurred this article on was 2 things. I was having a discussion with some friends about comic books and how the terms "timelines" and "universe" are used interchangably while meaning two completely different things and "Mortal Kombat 1's" use of the terms "timeline" and "realms" and seeing as how the multiverse is quickly becoming more known in the cultural lexicon I decided to definatively breakdown each term and explain why they're not interchangable. Let's get to it.

Anime RE-Claimed: Love After World Domination

It should be no mystery to anyone that I love "Power Rangers" and while I never watched any Super Sentai (despite watching a few episodes of "Chojin Sentai Jetman"), because it is the progenitor of "Power Rangers", I have a healthy enjoyment of that as well so it should be no small mystery as to why "Love After World Domination" caught my eye, a slice-of-life, comedy, romance anime with a super sentai twist...exactly where do I sign up? "Love After World Domination" tells the story of Gelato 5, a gelato-themed sentai team fighting against their enemies The Secret Society Gekko HOWEVER, Red Gelato, Fudo falls madly in love with Secret Society Gekko enforcer Reaper Princess for a forbidden romance. Sounds cheesy but I'll explain more after the break;

Anime RE-Claimed: Assassination Classroom

There are few animes which have come out recently where the premise raises an eyebrow, many of the isekais where the protagonist is reincarnated as some random something or other ("Reincarnated as a Vending Machine" comes to mind) But "Assassination Classroom" road the line between weird and standard anime fair quite easily all the while being a completely weird series. Long story short, a yellow octopus monsters destroys the moon and declares that in 1 year he will destroy Earth but not before providing an education to the failing class of middle school students. What follows is an emotional rollercoaster of lies, treachery, secrets and of course, assassination.

Anime RE-Claimed: My Dress-Up Darling

Okay let's get the obvious outta the way, I'm a sucker for a good love story. I'll admit it Writing romance has never been my forte so when I see a good love story I'm all in. That isn't to say I'm into romance at all, I'm not but I do like seeing two characters who are great for each other get together, and that's more or less of what we're getting here but like any Slice of Life anime there is so much more than meets the eye and we gotta talk about it. Like any anime I decide to watch I'm always lured in by a pretty face and they get no prettiter than gyaru Marin (pro. Mar-reen) Kitagawa, so after seeing that character and the premise for this series I quickly added it to the list. "My Dress-Up Darling" is about Wakana Gojo, a young man with a passion for making Hina dolls coming into contact with cosplay and mega weeb Marin Kitagawa and both their worlds are rocked for the better. I'll explain more after the break;

Mortal Kombat 1 Story Mode Review

So here we are folks, after rebooting the series again for the 2nd time we are here at "Mortal Kombat 1"...yes "1" as in "1" not "Mortal Kombat: New Era" or any other subtitle they could possibly think of, nope, "Mortal Kombat 1"...which I imagine will confuse many people in the future. And while we're on the topic, what the hell is up with franchises not numbering sequels after a while or not even giving them subtitles? It's like after 5 movies they can't number anything anymore. Topic for another day. So "Mortal Kombat", ya know, "Mortal Kombat" has come a LONG way in a LONG time. I remember being a young lad when I first laid eyes on "Mortal Kombat" for the Sega Genesis, learning about the Blood Code and that one time my brother and I accidentally managed to unlock Reptile, all good times, but now "Mortal Kombat" has entered into the modern era and as such I've been able to see this series evolve and take many different forms from feature-length movies to web series, to Saturday morning cartoon and each time I've wondered how far can this series go? 

Well, here we are. After reintroducing the characters and rebooting the series in 2011 with "Mortal Kombat" after "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon" the series was set to start from square one while adhering to bits and pieces of the previous continuity with a twist. 2009's "Mortal Kombat" managed to condense the storylines of "Mortal Kombats 1, 2, and 3" into a single game, and by the end of it, Liu Kang was killed and the only remaining heroes were Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Raiden. Next was "Mortal Kombat X" which was a retelling of "Mortal Kombat 4" with a much better story and better new characters like Erron Black, D'Vorah (who although I hate is unique enough to warrant existing), Ferra/Tor who although the fan loathed I found interesting enough and (design wise) my personal favorite Kotal Kahn all poised as new characters, and among the heroes we saw Cassie Cage (whom I absolutely adore), Takeda, Jaqui Briggs (who can't stop getting redesigned, like her father) and Kung Jin, 3 new heroes with unique abilities. "Mortal Kombat X" ended with Raiden shifting to the dark side after acquiring Shinnok's amulet and sought to take a more proactive approach to defending Earth, ie, destroying threats before they became threats...which meant destroying The Nether Realm forces led by now Nether Realm ruler Liu Kang.

Then came "Mortal Kombat 11" is to say the ballsiest "Mortal Kombat" game in the series. "Mortal Kombat 11" introduced us to the wider cosmology of the "Mortal Kombat" Series by introducing us to the grand mastermind behind all of "Mortal Kombat", a Titan, a being even greater than The Elder Gods themselves (although greater than The One Being is anyone's guess) Kronika, Keeper Of Time. "Mortal Kombat 11" had the craziest storyline of all the games as it established that every single ending in "Mortal Kombat" history IS IN FACT CANON. It did this by making it clear that Kronika has been erasing and resetting the timeline CONSTANTLY when the balance between good and evil wasn't perfect. This character's introduction is literally game-breaking. Since the conception of the series it's been established that the most powerful beings in the series were in fact The Elder Gods, hence why since the series' long history we've only seen a total of 2 Elder Gods: Shinnok and Cetrion (Raiden didn't become an Elder God until "MK4"), however, Kronika is the mother of Shinnok and Cetrion thus making her the literal big bad of the entire "Mortal Kombat" series.

Kronika's plan in "Mortal Kombat 11" made no sense and in the end, saw her bested by Liu Kang and Raiden merging into one being thus transforming Liu Kang into a god and after besting Kronika and taking her place, Liu Kang became THE ONLY BEING IN EXISTENCE AND THUS THE LITERAL FIRST AND ONLY GOD IN THE SERIES! "Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath" saw a continuation of that story Shang Tsung returning and attempting to steal Kronika's crown (ie, her means of controlling The Hours Glass) for himself, and at the end of "Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath" the player is allowed to choose who the victor is, be it Shang Tsung or Liu Kang. Should you choose Liu Kang he restarts time and greets The Great Kung Lao to prepare him for the tournament, if you choose Shang Tsung is establishes his rule and gives glory to those who are cunning and bold and shun the meek. Since the outcome is decided by the player neither outcome can be considered canon...right...right? WRONG! And with all of that outta the way, let's get to the review proper.

STRANGE LOG: Anybody Out There?

Hey, how about this eh? A whole new Strange Log, ZUH?! Okay, okay, yeah I know I've been wanting for new articles for a while, I'm a busy (very lazy) man who has a lot going on (actually who's just too tired and unmotivated to do anything aside from play video games after work). Okay, all that honesty aside let's chat about a few things, and boy do we have things to chat about...kinda, let's dig in after the break.

Riding The MegaTen Train

So this is new, I don't usually do video game reviews (the last one I did was "Saints Rows 4", love that game) but today I'm actually gonna review 2 games (more or less). So I'm VERY new to the MegaTen (Shin Megami Tensei) series as it's called and I've been looking to sink my teeth into a REALLY good JRPG with some nice turn-based combat. You see I'm a HUGE fan of "Xenosaga" (my first JRPG, suck it "Final Fantasy") and since there will be no remastered version of it (because Satan clearly sucks at hiding his existence, why else would there be no remastered version if he didn't meddle with it) I've been at a loss. I did play "Tales Of Beseria" and while I enjoyed it, the combat left SO much to be desired I can honestly say I barely have a clue what I was doing, and that combat system, whatever it's called is crap, I hate it and I hate that JRPGs are moving towards that. Rant over.  Anyway, thanks to my awesome niece I was turned on to "Persona 5" and BOY, OH BOY did this thing slap (as the kids say). This got me onboard The MegaTen Train as I've played "Shin Megami Tensei V" and I am currently playing "Soul Hackers 2" and eagerly awaiting the next "Persona" installment and will without question purchase it. Wanna find out why? Let's dive in and I'll tell you guys all about it!

Project Canceled: The River

Oh boy..."The River"...yikes...and I mean that sadly, not scared-ily (because this is a horror show). "The River" premiered on ABC back in 2012 February as a mid-season replacement (proof positive no one had any faith in this show). "The River" was created by Matthew R. Perry (not to be confused with actor Matthew Perry) and "Paranormal Activity" creator Oren Peli, I didn't even have to look at Wikipedia for that because I remember during the ad campaign for "The River" that was one of the major selling points. "The River" is categorized as a supernatural horror/action-adventure series but the conceit of the show is it is somewhat of a show within a show documentary style.

"The River" tells the story of Lincoln Cole, the son of famed TV explorer Dr. Emmet Cole who had a TV series (ala' "National Geographic" meets "Crocodile Hunter") who went missing in The Amazon basin and never returned. Six months after his disappearance, Lincoln and family get a clue that he might be alive and mount a party to search for him.

That's the plot. Despite having a powerhouse of big names behind its production Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and Steven freakin' Spielberg "The River" got the axe after only 8 episodes making the air on ABC. From what I remember after the series' debut there was no buzz about the show whatsoever, none in favor and none against, so that was one strike against it and the next strike was Leslie Hope. Much like Blair Underwood, previously mentioned in my review of "The Event", Leslie Hope is another actor who is considered TV cancer.

Very few TV shows survive in which she is given a main role, the most successful being "24" and that's partly because (spoilers). However, the curse of Leslie Hope seems to be getting weaker considering she's had several appearances on other TV shows which survived. It isn't her acting, she's a fine actress, she just seems to be a lightning rod for bad projects or things destined to fail.  That being said, I did attempt back when it came out to watch "The River" as it was available on Hulu and HOLY CRAP. The 1st episode had reached a level of boredom that I thought was unobtainable by human means.  I remember the 1st episode being boring but for the life of me I can't remember what happened which makes me question as to whether or not I really watched it or not.

I do remember the characters being on a boat, I remember Paul Blackthrone and me going "Hey, that's Stephen Saunders, AWESOME!" but I can't remember much else. The series stars Joe Anderson (who'd later become Mason Verger in the 3rd Season of "Hannibal"), TV Cancer Leslie Hope (Teri Bauer from "24"), Thomas Kertschmann (Max also from "24"), Bruce Greenwood and Katie Featherstone (from "Paranormal Activity"). So in this installment of Project Canceled, we're gonna take a look at "The River". Going into this I'm hoping I'm wrong about this series as it wasn't quite as boring as I remember it...or don't...still not sure which and hopefully see where this project went wrong. So join me as we set sail down "The River".

Is The Multiverse Lazy?

THE MULTIVERSE! Has lately become popular, what with the Marvel Cinematic Universe now calling Phase 5: The Multiverse Saga featuring Kang The Conqueror as its main villain, many are touting the concept of a "multiverse" as lazy writing but is it? In this article I'm gonna discuss the "multiverse" and why I don't think the concept in and of itself is lazy.