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Daredevil (Season 2)

It took me until now (finished it the other night) to watch all of season 2 of Daredevil, which pretty much tells you how I felt about it. I was a big fan of the first season, but it was pretty much because it centered on the fantastic portrayal of the Kingpin. Here, the only episodes that I really liked where the ones with his appearances, and they were too few to have a positive effect on the rest of the season. At first I was quite excited at the idea of the Punisher and Elektra being part of this, but Punisher feels wasted for most of the season, with all of the court stuff boring me to tears. Elektra was a bit more interesting, but for some reason I didn’t really find her to be like the character in the comics, which I like better. The Hand stuff was distracting because of the forced use of Japanese – not something most people would take notice, but if you understand Japanese, the bad pronunciation really took you out of it. All in all, I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t at all as good as season 1. 

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The Legend of Korra

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I’ll start off by saying that I never really watched the Avatar series that proceeded this – I actually tried quite a few years ago, sampling the first couple of episodes, but I just wasn’t into it. I have a hard time with shows/movies from the west that rely heavily on Asian influences, as it usually always comes off as cheesy and just a weird mishmash. Yes, this in particular is fantasy, but I still got that vibe initially. But I saw The Legend of Korra (spinoff series to Avatar) pop up on Netflix, and since I’d heard good things about it I decided to give it a try. I’ve watched about 4 episodes now, and although it’s not blowing my mind (my favorite anime series right now is AJIN, also on Netflix), I’m finding it quite enjoyable, and I have a feeling that it’s going to keep getting better as the story progresses. We’ll see how I feel once I’m done with the first season, but it’s also making me want to give Avatar another try.

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Godzilla

Finally got around to finishing this – I say finish because I actually started watching it a year ago, and then just kinda stopped 15-20 minutes in, at the point where the family stuff is happening. I really get so bored with family stuff in big action/disaster flicks, just get on with the destruction already. In the end, I did like some scenes here and there, but there was so much uninteresting stuff to endure to get there (i.e. anything that didn’t have two giant monsters fighting on the screen). And why do they always have to set these things at night, I want to see it all in daylight, so you can really take in the spectacle. Oh, and Godzilla is a good guy? OK, sure… I’m much more interested to see what Anno’s upcoming Godzilla film will be like – I’m guessing it will be heavy with Evangelion-like mindfucking.

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The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show

I recently started watching this original Netflix series – I think there’s already two seasons out – and wow, this is just so damn good. Sure, I remember those old “Peabody’s Improbably History” shorts from when I was a kid, and wasn’t particularly a huge fan, but I’m just absolutely in love with the animation style they’re using here, with a super funky and retro aesthetic, and truly fun situations and stories. Although the setup is that they’re hosting a TV show, they’re also sharing stories like those old history-based ones. Definitely something to check out for the animation alone.

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 2)

I’m about halfway through this new season, and so far it’s just as good as the first one, dammit. God I love this show and these characters, and the quick fire pacing, and the jokes, and the everything (and yeah, that opening theme song still just the best). In the first episode, I also loved all those Kardashian jokes – and the funny thing is that, like Dong, my wife watched all of Keeping Up with Kardashians a few years ago to improve her English listening. And what’s up with all those Montreal jokes?

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Bridge of Spies

This movie is so infuriating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really good, and I did enjoy watching it, but the portrayal of the US government in the dealings with the “spy” are so frustrating to see. We all expect this sort of thing to happen (turning a blind eye to legalities when it doesn’t suit the government’s interests), but it’s still so sad to see it over and over again. But yeah, this is a good movie, I feel the best from Spielberg in quite a while.

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Deadpool

So I finally got around to watching this, and I think it’s my favorite super-hero movie (previously it was either the first Iron Man or The Dark Knight). I’m not even a fan of the character – although I’m quite familiar with him, I remember when he was created back in the 90s by Liefeld, but haven’t been reading all of the series he’s been in over the past few years, as he’s gotten really popular. But this movie is just a pure joy to watch, with fantastic action sequences, and truly funny jokes and dialogue. The chemistry between the characters is also super fun to watch, and I loved how his story is intercut with one big action sequence (with the cars). If there’s anything that is a bit weak, it’s the action at the end – which is fine, but it just can’t top what we’ve seen before. Very much looking forward to seeing a sequel.

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Doom (Beta)

Well, this wasn’t for me. I was excited when I saw that there was a beta for Doom this weekend, because I thought I’d get a chance to check out the campaign, but it’s multiplayer-only, and Doom multiplayer is not really something I’m interested in. I did try it for a bit, but as expected, it’s just not my thing, through no fault of the game. Still curious to play the campaign though.

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The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

I got this game when it originally came out, and although I had some fun at first while playing online with strangers, when I started getting some trolling done to me (getting thrown off edges by the people I was playing with), it soured me on the experience and I just stopped playing – you can technically play it alone, but it’s not really fun, and pretty awkward. The reason I bring up this game again is because this past week I finally had a chance to play with two people locally (two of my work colleagues, during lunch time), and wow, did we ever have fun. This is absolutely how you need to play this game, with friends sitting next to you, so you can laugh together, get upset (sorta, jokingly) at each other when you’re screwing up, and of course freely talk to each other as you’re playing (although it’s still fun to use the icons sometimes). We’re now planning on playing once a week, and I really can’t wait for our next session. It’s also quite nice that even though only two of us have the proper game, the third person can play through the full game with us through shared play. It’s pretty great to re-discover a game like this, that I didn’t think I’d be revisiting.

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Stories: The Path of Destinies

During my lunch breaks this week I’ve been playing this game (I’m playing on PC, but it’s on PS4 too), and it’s something I’m really enjoying. It wasn’t at all on my radar before its release (this week), and then when I did find out about it, I thought it looked like a cool action RPG-like experience, with nice cartoony aesthetics. Having played it, I can say that the combat is super fun and fluid, and I’m digging unlocking new skills and abilities. What’s even cooler though is the story structure. As you play through chapters, each time you have a choice of two, and that leads you to an ending. But then, the first time you do that, the game opens up, and you re-start, but you now have new chapter choices, and so it doesn’t feel like you’re playing the same game again, yet you continue to level up your character – and uncovering clues to what will lead you to an ultimate ending. In terms of presentation, you’ll be reminded of Bastion (narrator tells the story, and the world is made up of floating land masses), but I think it still feels like its own thing. I recommend it.