Movie - Spirited Away (2001)

I know it has been a really long time since I've updated but I really just didn't feel like it to be honest. But here I am, back again. (tell a friend)

My girlfriend has finally come out of the closet that she likes anime which for some reason she is embarrassed about. Nothing to be ashamed of, there are tons of great movies and shows out there in the anime community. That being said, there are also a lot of crazy ones at all that kind of give anime a bad reputation (cough cough ShinChan cough cough). We decided to ease her into the anime world slowly by having her watch Spirited Away.

This movie is most likely the most popular and well known anime movie ever made. Anyone who is anyone (for the most part) has seen this movie at some point in their life and for good reason too!

The movie is about a girl who is moving to a new town with her family. The family takes a short cut and ends up in a strange abandoned village. The parents are turned into pigs as punishment once they gorge themselves on some abandoned food. The daughter (with the help from a friend) begins working at the nearby bath house so that she can work toward freeing her parents from the evil bath house owner.

It is said that this movie is supposed to represent a whore house rather than a bath house which is an interesting tidbit that I was not aware of though I can kind of see it.

Who is your favorite character from the movie? Mine is No Face because he is just such a crazy wrench that gets thrown into the mix. How can he be so normal and nice outside of the bath house yet so incredibly insane inside? That was a turn that I did not expect when I first saw the movie.

The movie itself is very beautiful and reflects a lot of the Japanese culture. It is easy to see why this movie has a huge following.  I give this one five skulls for being a great and enjoyable movie for all ages (hence it being a bath house rather than a whore house).

Video Game - The Walking Dead: 400 Days (2013 PS4)

This is the add on content for the original Walking Dead game released in 2012.  This content bridges the gap between the first season and the second season and provides a little bit of pre character building. This was a nice and quick mini-game you could say which was created in about the same format as the original season one game.

This add on content follows five different stories, each finally coming together at the end regarding how a group of people came together. This group is later seen in the second season. If you play WD season one, 400 days, and WD season two all on the same system, the decisions you made in the previous games will affect things in the next game. For instance **SPOILER**, depending on who you save in the first season (either Carlee or Doug), you will find one of their dead bodies in 400 days as a little Easter egg. Also, some of the decisions you make in the first season will carry over into the second season when Clementine reflects on certain actions made previously.

Anyway, this is a pretty good (and short) extra content.  If you buy the actual disc for season one, this comes with it (or you can jsut get this on the PS Store). I've given the actual extra content a four as well because the stories were all different and all interesting. All in all, great DLC.

Video Game - The Walking Dead: Season One (2012)

This game was created by TellTale Games based upon the hit Walking Dead graphic novel series. From what I gather, the only character that was integrated from the actual graphic novel was Glen however he does not remain in the game for very long. 

In this game you follow a convicted murderer who meets a stranded young girl and helps her survive through a zombie apocalypse.  Along the way you meet new characters and lose a few in your group.  The game controls are a lot different than any game I've played before and the game itself gives you the option to alter the story in many ways. This is a characteristic of TellTale's game style. Their games provide you with the option to make decisions based upon actions taken in the game such as saving one character over another which will ultimately alter your entire game moving forward.

This game also comes in "episodes" much like the show does and gives you the option to go back to previous episodes to replay your decisions. The replay value on this game is pretty high as you can keep going back and making different decisions over and over again.

I have given this game a four for being very entertaining and by keeping you on edge wondering where your actions will take you next.

P.S. Clem will pull those heart strings each and every time.

Video Game - Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)

So my fiance bought this game as she is an avid Lord of the Rings fan however once she started playing it she ended up hating it. Intrigued by a new game, I decided to start it up myself. Upon playing, it is very obvious that this game was created by the same people who created the Batman games for Playstation 3 as the battle style is completely identical. This game is what happens when Batman: Arkham City and Assassin's Creed combine into one game. This is the fighting style of Batman and the exploration/movement style of Assassin's Creed. Fortunately for me these are two of my favorite video games.

Your character (Talion) is murdered along with his family. Instead of going to his final resting place, Talion is transported into Mordor in order to help a spirit regain his memories and to gain revenge for the murder of his family. The game is pretty long if you do all of the side missions, but pretty quick if you just shoot through the main missions. There are lots of different things you can do in the game such as hunting, collecting items, and destroying the ranks of Mordor from within. The game itself was GREAT in my opinion as the open world gave you many exploration opportunities and a variety of mission types to go through and also opportunities to upgrade your character.

All in all, this is a really great game that I would recommend for all Playstation 4 gamers so pick it up and get playing now! What are you waiting for? I gave this one a five out of five. Great game!

Movie - Delivery: The Beast Within (2013)

My fiance picked up this movie on a whim at WAL-MART and I was very surprised at how good it ended up being. Usually spur of the moment buys have produced unsuccessful results in the past for us.  I am happy that this one ended up being as good as it was.

I have never really seen a movie that was filmed the way that this one was. Yes, it is first person (which I love!) however it is filmed much like a reality TV show which they did a great job at representing.  The movie starts with an episode of a show that follows a couple who is expecting a child.  The camera crew follows the couple everywhere during the entire pregnancy.

**SPOILER** Wouldn't be me if I didn't completely spoil the movie for you :)

So things start getting a little weird after the mother miscarries the baby. Deciding to sleep on if she wants to have the baby removed at the hospital, the baby miraculously comes back to life in the morning.  After this little miracle, things start to go downhill.  The dog decides he no longer likes her and makes it a point to let her know. Sleepless nights are spent painting troubled pictures in the attic.  A once vegetarian is now craving raw meat. The husband begins to get more irritated as time goes on and starts to regret letting the camera crew into their house.

Things start to heat up when Rachel begins hurting herself and eventually murdering the family dog claiming that he tried to bite her belly so she stabbed him.  After a complete meltdown at home over her baby being possessed by the devil, Kyle finally asks the camera crew to leave and never come back.

About a month prior to the birth of their child, Kyle allows the camera crew to come back so that they can complete the film.  While giving birth, Rachel goes off the deep end.  Worried for her health, a doctor is called to help with the birth regardless of protests from the mid wife. After much struggle, the baby is born and all seems to be well finally until Rachel decides to kill the baby and ultimately dies herself.  I did not expect this part. It was so crazy! My fiance and I just stared at each other in disbelief like WHAT! Who would have expected that?

Eventually Kyle moves on and gets with another woman.  They said she was pregnant with his child and I can only imagine how nervous he must be. I mean at that point I'd never have children, you know?

All in all this was a really great film.  I'm glad we picked it up. Though I'm pretty sure this isn't on Netflix, you can pick it up at WAL-MART pretty cheap if you're interested. Seriously, go watch it. You won't be sorry I promise. I gave this one a four. Great movie.

Video Game - The Evil Within (2014)

This is the game I have been waiting for since I heard of its creation.  I am very sad to see and hear the bad reviews this game has been getting. The thing that really enrages me is that I know someone who gave this game a terrible review WITHOUT EVER PLAYING IT. How do you expect to provide an accurate review based on other people's opinions? I won't stand for that, it's unacceptable!

Okay, all that aside, this was a great game in my opinion. I had a great time playing this. That being said, I had two issues with this game. The game was very unforgiveably hard at times making it very difficult to move forward which was frustrating as I was playing on easy.  I feel that if you are playing on EASY, that it should be pretty simple for even a novice gamer to get through. The second issue I had was that the storyline was hard to follow and at the end of the game I was still left with so many unanswered questions.  I got some of the answers however I am still left very confused.

Let's jump into the great points of the game. The game gives you options which I like: fight or flight?  You can fight with various weapons, perform stealth kills, or in some cases you can run to save your ammo.  You get a melee weapon but you don't really use it unless you need to push an enemy away from you for a second. I wouldn't recommend trying to kill any enemies with this weapon as you are going to be fighting a losing battle.

The game is a wonderful mix of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Some people complain about this aspect but honestly, what could be better?? These are two of the most popular gaming franchises so why wouldn't we celebrate a mash of the two? ....Getting off topic again...

So the storyline (from what I gathered) is going to be attempted next. Emphasis on ATTEMPTED.  You start off as a detective who goes in with his team to investigate a mass homicide at a mental institution. Upon entering, your character is knocked out and here is where the horror begins.

I won't go fully into the story because I don't feel like typing it out and I also don't want to spoil the game. I know, no spoilers, how unlike me! But seriously, get out there and play the game! Don't listen to what other people say. Only you can make an opinion of something.

Keep in mind how hard the game is and conserve your ammo when possible. Utilize traps and bombs and stealth kill when or at all possible. My favorite part of the game is that once you complete the game, all of your power ups and weapons carry over into the new game + which is very Dead Space and I love it. You literally can just keep going and you will want to I promise.  One last note: You get extras for completing the game much like you were awarded at the end of Resident Evil 2 and 3 which is awesome. I gave this game a five. I loved it regardless what all of the reviewers are giving it.

Movie - Annabelle (2014)

Here is a movie that I was extremely excited for and I have to say I was completely disappointed by it. Being a huge fan of The Conjuring, I came out to see this one with very high expectations.

**Hello! Spoilers ahead!! Proceed with caution my friends**

This movie follows the original owners of the haunted Annabelle doll that was portrayed in The Conjuring. This is a real story and the doll does in fact exist somewhere right now (in Ed and Lorraine Warren's house) though in real life the doll is actually a Raggedy Ann doll instead. An expecting mother is given a gift (the doll) by her husband in order to complete her doll collection. In the middle of the night, their neighbor's derranged daughter (it is explained that she has joined a satanic cult) murders her parents. When the husband goes to check on the family, Annabelle (the daughter) sneaks into their house and gets into a skirmish with the very pregnant wife and ultimately kills herself while holding the new doll.

It is later said that this act was done to summon a demon which succeeded. Now that the demon is freed, it takes refuge in the doll. Things start happening in the house while the husband is not home and on one day, the demon catches the house on fire almost killing her and the baby. Thinking the house is haunted, the couple throws away the doll and moves to a new apartment.

While unpacking, the doll is found at the bottom of a box. Thinking it was just accidently placed in there, the wife agrees to keep it. Strange things again start to happen in the new residence and the demon shows itself to her.

With the help of a friend and a priest, the demon is driven away from the family (with only one casualty). The movie fades out in an antique store where an old woman is purchasing the Annabelle doll. This will segway into the beginning of The Conjuring.

So the movie wasn't TERRIBLE, but it wasn't scary by any means. The movie focused a lot on their life at home and things they did each day with a few jumps and scares along the way. The end wasn't what I expected either and was really overall disappointed. Sorry guys, not this time. I'd give this one a two and a half if I felt like looking for half skulls but I'll throw it a three for effort. See it if you want, but it's really not that great.