Happy New Years Resolution Blog

Happy New Year all! I have been pretty quiet as of late as there have been a lot of scrambling and difficulty culminating in an ER visit over the New Year. As with many there will be a few changes made to this blog reflecting my resolution for the year. Of course the movie reviews will be continued at least for the time being but they will be more careful and calculated after I get through the backlog I have. Also the DVD & Movie acquisition will change being absorbed into my resolution updates which I plan on doing around 2-4x monthly. So lets get started with things.

 One of the things that really started me off this time round is my engagement to my beautiful girlfriend who said "yes". This is a big life changing event and I need to make suitable changes to make the transition to marriage and the eventual possibility of family.

I have been struggling and struggling with a schedule and two jobs that pay very little for the efforts working around 50-80 hours per week. I am now dedicating myself to even more work and effort to find a better job that pays enough to at least cover the two so that I once again am only working one job. Believe it or not I do like my second job but the fact that I operate in a state of perpetual exhaustion is no way to stay alive and to accomplish my current goals. I plan on applying to at least 1-3 jobs every week as my goal with hope to eventually find one that will make this complete.

DVD buying, engagement and household issues as well as an ill cat have made my finances spin out of control. I do not feel that I am at the worst. I have paid off all but one card and am making more than the minimum payment for each. I do need to get things under control as marriage is expensive and I need to keep my house from falling in. I have worked out a weekly budget that I started in November but was unable to keep up with due to black friday and the christmas holidays. Now thta those are over I have to get back to the budget. I have of course also been purchasing too many movies and Black Friday shows this point. So I am altering my buying guidelines. My previous Restrictions were limiting myself to films I needed to convert to Region 1 or A and to films and TV that I had collected a part of and needed to complete. I am now changing that to a state that will only make a change during my Birthday, Christmas time and when I finally have watched all the unwatched stuff in my collection. I will though have a few qualifiers that will allow me to purchase outside of these components: The item must be to convert a bootleg edition to region 1 or A or to complete a series that I have partially started. The item must be a limited edition that will either disappear (become out of print) or become more expensive if left too long. This is going to be one of the hardest issues as I have this as a weakness. This will be reflected in one of my last DVD & Movie update Blogs which will take many of you aback as to how much I spent!

 I am overweight and out of shape. I have trouble breathing when I go up the stairs and I constantly am feeling faint these days. I am also saddened by clothes not fitting me as they should. This will be done by increasing my exercise...slowly and working towards decreasing my caloric intake. Steps are already being taken but I will save that for my first update at the end of next week :). My Fiancee is working with me on this and I hope that our combined support will make this possible.

Well that is a lot and i am certain that you all have other things on your list for important New Years Resolutions. Until I see you all again.

DVD Movie Review #156 Amityville Dollhouse

Hello again and welcome to my DVD movie review. This time we are reviewing Amityville Dollhouse. This is the last of the Amityville movies that I have in my collection I don't know weather to be relieved or excited about this point. The movies are a little campy but then again there is something about them that keeps bringing me back.

This movie stars a little family of two parents and their combined children both getting over the losses they had suffered and trying to get along together with their new union in a new house. The father discovers an old yet familiar dollhouse and after the present for his girl got destroyed in an accident he makes the mistake of giving her the cursed dollhouse with its own stock of cursed dolls. Can they survive?

Well I certainly can survive the horror. I actually liked this this one much better than the others other than the first. The effects are far better but that's what you expect from the 90s. I think that they were trying hard with the sex scenes to attract a younger audience. I felt that the plot though reused countless times was ok in this instance. As I went in with low expectations I must admit this exceeded them well.

In the end this is still another Amityville movie. The plot is not that original and the characters are acted at a low level. I cannot say there is much left to be said about this film that has not been said before I am just glad that they left the flies out of this one.

In the end this is an ok movie should you have the shot at it cheap.

Rating:  6/10

Used:     $23.98   Amazon UK

New:     $262.99   Amazon Marketplace

SeptumSin's Blue Ray & DVD 11/27/14

Hello again and welcome to my next DVD update. I am in massive debt of course not only due to my habit but other things as well. I am trying to cut down a bit so you will be seeing a few dates that will waver from here to there. I am Starting this on 7/26/14 to mark getting the first in a string of pre-orders that I made to complete stuff and a few out of curiosity back in May and June. So here is the stuff I have gotten :)

Dr. Slump the Movies 7/26/14: I have loved this comic for a while having collected the entire run of it from Shonen Jump Magazine. I have not managed to watch a lot of the animation as the show and the movies have not been brought over the waters to america. Previously our exposure here has been limited to one of the dragonball movies which was an adaptation of the part of the series where Goku goes to Penguin Island. I have managed to watch one of the more recent films where she goes to a monster hotel. This in my opinion is Akira Toriyama's real gem and not Dragon Ball Z.

Fairy Tail Part 11 7/28/14: I am in love with this series. I continue to enjoy this series and I hope that I will continue to feel the same. I am uncertain as to where this series will go next the only major issue other than two new musical themes is that these typically only go half way through a story which will leave me waiting 3 months till the next release.

 Hetalia Beautiful World 7/28/14: I love this series. I am uncertain if it is getting worse or not as World Series was a true step down from Axis Powers. If you have not seen this series it is a lovely twist on world history. I still feel even at the worst the way they represent the different world countries is the best that we can do.

Mononoke 7/28/14: I have been interested in this spin off for a long time. I watched Ayakashi which was the parent series of this one and have been interested ever since. I do not know fully what to expect but I am interested.

Norma Rae 7/27/14: I am an oscar film collector. I had gone to Best Buy with my girlfriend to try to set up my DVD player. This Blu ray was in their bargain bin and well I need to get this movie in my collection. I have heard of it and I really want to get all the winners from 1979 as it is my birth year :).

The Demented 7/27/14: I was looking through the Best Buy bargain bin and my girlfriend wanted to see this film. I am uncertain about it but it was low priority.

Carrie 7/27/14: I really enjoyed this performance and I am a fan of the lead actress since I saw Kick Ass. Add this to the fact I really like Stephen King Film Adaptations and this is the perfect film. This was only $10 at Best Buy and made my last impulse buy.

Attack on Titan 8/2/14: Well Moviestop is having their 10th anniversary sale so I had to check it out and this was one of the top items on my list thanks to my friend helping me find it was available. I have heard excellent things about this series from day one but thought I couldn't afford it until now. It will happen but still need to get part 2.

Carrie 8/2/14: you know I have never seen the TV version of this and it is odd as I have seen the original and seen the newest version. I found this deep on sale and look forward to seeing this adaptation. I have not heard very good things about this particular version but then again I will know when I see it.

Dolls 8/2/14: I was really excited when I heard that Shout Factory is re-releasing this film on blu-ray. I admit that I am not going to be getting that version as the $3 version will suffice. This movie creeped me out as a kid. There is nothing in my mind quite as scary as living dolls.

Joe's Apartment 8/2/14: I saw this and got it as an impulse buy. I must say it is one of my favorite guilty pleasure. I can see why this wan't overly well received but at the same time there is a playful spirit with it and snarkiness that makes this pretty endearing.

DVD Movie Review #155 Yuru Yuri Happy Go Lily Season 1

Hello all and this is back again with yet another in a long lineup of movie reviews. It seems that I am watching a lot of TV as I am doing a lot of TV reviews. This time I am reviewing the Series Yuru Yuri which comes to us from the wonder factory that is NIS America and as it seems to always be Righstuf.com has the best release price. I love Slice of Life series and I admit here I went a little bit crazy.

This series follows a close group of girls as they find the unused and isolated tea ceremony club building and claim it for their own. The girls form the "Amusement Club" dedicated to fun and lesbian hi-jinks for all.

I must admit that I may go a little far with the lesbian comment but I will go more into that in the next section. This had nice bright color and fairly light and poppy music that gets you into a mostly happy mood. The situations are mostly funny and the series itself as a whole seems to hold together.

I don't really understand how this got a second season and Lucky Star did not...go figure. The characters are not that special really not overly sticking out and at times a bit annoying. I don't care for Japanese language voices in the first place and the actresses they got were pretty annoying. The story seems to be a tag of a lag and I feel that they were throwing in a lesbian angle to make up for this fault.

In the end this is a sub standard Slice of life series that I am..sigh watching another season of soon.

As usual NIS puts together a beautiful Premium set though I cannot say as much about the content.

Rating:  5/10

Used:      $55.98  Amazon Marketplace

New:     $47.99  Rightstuf

DVD Movie Review #154 X-Files Season 3

Hello again and welcome to a new DVD movie review. This time I am reviewing X-Files season 3. This was a gift along with the rest of the series from a friend for Christmas so I is continued bed time viewing with my girlfriend. This is a fun series and worth having in any collection and I am glad to work on Season 3.

Season 3 starts us with one in many creature stories and continues our romp in the desert with a mysterious alien burial ground and a cover up by the government. This series again goes through our usual monster of the week one shots and ends with a two part episode so you will be obligated to continue...

Again we see some improvement in the effects but do have moments where you laugh a bit at the campiness. I do want to continue to see this series as the plot has been pretty crisp this time around with less repetition of story and more original works. I feel that the chemistry between actors is well on the way and getting to meet and then see the demise of Scully's dog is well worth it. 

I series continues to suffer from uneven writing with some episodes being snore worthy yet others being gripping. My goodness we continue and I sometimes start to wonder how this series got as popular as it did. 

In the end this is a good series and I shall continue.

Rating:  7/10 

As before this is the price of the full set I got including the movies. 

Used:   $111.49  Amazon Marketplace

New:   $138.92 Amazon Marketplace

DVD Movie Review #153 The Wolverine

Hello again and welcome to the next in my lineup of standup movie reviews. This time I am reviewing the great and powerful Wolverine in his newest film. I was walking through Costco  and saw this at the price I could not resist ($10) I mean that's great for a Blue Ray and DVD combo. I love collecting super hero films and hope to one day get them all (yes cat woman is going to be included but only if I find it for under $1.)

Well we follow our favorite mutant hero in the wold post X-Men 3 and he is having nightmarish regrets about being in that colossal flop losing all hope for the franchise. He is just done harassing a local hunter about his torture of a fake looking animatronic bear when he is approached by a skinny Japanese skeleton model who sees peoples death through emaciated eyes. She takes Wolverine back to her home to see off his old friend that surprisingly didn't die of severe radiation poisoning being only a few miles from ground zero of a nuclear attack during world war two. Now wolverine must protect the man's only granddaughter from ninjas, robots and yakuza...oh my!

Well I must say that the action in this film is intense. I was interested the whole way through from beginning to end. The fight scenes are very well scripted and they definitely get the blood pumping. The Plot line gives you the comic book feel that you always hope for in a movie about a comic book character (we don't need an art piece here). Oh yeah stick in for the stinger during the credits.

Well the acting is so so really not worth mentioning either here or above. I am not really certain that this was a great movie for comic lovers. They kind of butchered all the characters that they did show making them not even represent their original format. I felt that their handling of wolverine is also pretty lame. I mean the character was actually pretty darn intelligent and he can live like forever so he never picked up a foreign language? They make him look pretty stupid. I also felt that the cinematography could use some work though the fight scenes were intense I felt it flopped around a bit making things confusing at times. Lastly the effects were actually a little worse than the first movie...I mean look at the bear! Look at it! Well you'll have to rent the movie as Youtube doesn't have it...shoot.

In the end this is a pretty fun action ride but not really that much better and sadly even less true to the comics than the first one.

Used:     $16.00 Amazon Marketplace

New:    $17.97   Amazon

Halloween Movie Blog #31 Cabin in the Woods

You know this is Halloween and I have decided to save the best for last. This time I bring you the movie Cabin in the woods. I had been wanting this movie to come out for a long time. It may have never happened if it wasn't for a little movie success called The Avengers. Now we have it in all the vaunted glory!

Well we are following two concurrent events in cabin in the woods. The first is a group of technicians that appear to be behind a terrible plot of haunting and killing people in a strange pagan sacrifice. The other is a group of horney college kids on their way to a cabin to spend some time together. They accidentally set lose a terrible evil bent on killing them all. Will they survive the horror that awaits them?

The first thing I want to say is that this has all the traditional features of any horror movie and that is exactly the point of the film. I will try and not totally blow it for you as the twist is actually something that makes this movie unique in the horror genre. The characters are the traditional ones you would find normally and then they are not the traditional souls you would find. I will leave it there. One of the cool features early on is the stoner's bong at the beginning of the film you will see what I need.

The Imagination it took to craft this story really shows much like with other projects by this vaunted Buffy Lord. You will have fun looking at the variety and craftsmanship of the evils in store for our odd heroes. The last of this will satisfy all horror fans for many years to come.

Ok the last part of this is the humor involved. This is still a horror movie but much like Evil Dead it does harness elements of comedy while retaining its horror roots (unlike Child's play). You will chuckle here and there yet still be scared for the heroes and worry as to weather they will live or die. What side you root for will depend on your feelings oversll.

The only issue I have with this film is the ending. I am a bit miffed at it. And for many who have asked there will be no more Cabin in the Woods 2! I mean really watch the film and if you are still wanting a sequel watch it again so you know this is it.

Creep Factor - 7/10
Entertainment Factor - 9/10
Scare Factor - 6/10