Author kennyu4

The Minions and the Hostile Franchise Take-Over they Initiated

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Just the other day, my little brother dragged me to see the Minions movie and that got me thinking about the franchise in general. As someone who has seen and enjoyed both Despicable Me films (the first a lot more than its sequel), Minions felt like a significant (yet wholly expected) step down in terms of quality. This certainly wasn’t the case when it came to box office draw as it easily outperformed the previous films in the franchise and smashed some records of its own. This is a movie that was destined to make a lot of money mostly due to how insanely marketable the Minions have become, and its clear from the progression of their role in these movies that the creators know this. At first they were fun side characters that remained peripheral to the plot, then they became central to the plot of the second film as the villain’s plan revolved around them, and then they finally received their own movie. With steadily increasing box-office numbers to coincide with this shift, this is what I’d characterize as a “Hostile Franchise Take-Over” (or an HFT for short), and in this article I’m going to look at how this has affected the movies in the franchise.

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5 Times When Mason Verger Was the Most Evil Character in Television

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*Hannibal Spoilers Below*

Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal is centred around a serial killer/cannibal, so you’d expect the show to have a lot of seriously evil people. In a way, the stories about the character of Hannibal Lecter have developed a bit of a rogues gallery. The villains of his universe are as colourful and theatrical as they are deadly, and the most despicable one of them all is Mason Verger. Sadistic, abusive to his twin sister Margot, and way too rich for everyone else’s own good, this character is the most sickening thing about a series that revolves around a cannibal. Perhaps the most disgusting thing about him is the clear and obvious delight he takes in the suffering of others. In Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, Mason Verger is portrayed first by Michael Pitt, and then recast as Joe Anderson (which conveniently went along with his character’s well deserved facial mutilation). A lot of what he does isn’t motivated by anything other than his own sadistic tastes and historically this character really has always been scum, but Bryan Fuller takes him to the next level in terms of pure putridness. The legacy he will leave on television thanks to Fuller’s work will be as one of the most vile characters ever portrayed, and today I’m here to count out 5 times when he displayed that horribleness to us all on Hannibal.

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Fusion and Sexuality in Steven Universe

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Let me tell you about this awesome show called Steven Universe. It’s essentially about a boy who lives with three adoptive mothers who are aliens simply known as “Gems” that used to work for his mother (who is also an alien) who basically “died” giving birth to him. His father is a human so the boy belongs to both species, and the series definitely remembers to address the full weight of what that means. Since his mother was a controversial figure among her race (to say the least), there is a very good reason for her and her followers to have gone to Earth in the first place. She left a massive legacy for Steven himself to grapple with, and one that is quickly catching up to them in the form of a looming threat from afar. That serves as one of the show’s central dramatic tensions (the other being what it means to have a family), but another main theme that has developed recently has been the concept of fusion and the increased focus on it.

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We Don’t Need Tight Execution for Our Fighting Games

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Street Fighter V is on its way, and in its wake came a large discussion about the nature of execution requirements. To sum up, should combos be made easier or remain as they were in Street Fighter IV (not so easy)? This question has caused quite a bit of division, and here I will share my thoughts on how things should be done. First, we should go over the basis of both these viewpoints.

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The Killing Joke Animated Movie Just Got Announced – My Response to the Inevitable Controversy

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Bruce Timm recently announced at this year’s Comic-Con that the seminal Alan Moore graphic novel, The Killing Joke, is finally getting an animated adaption. Most of the reaction has been positive since this is one of the greatest comic book stories ever told, but there has been some dissenting opinions among those concerned with Barbara Gordon (AKA Batgirl) and her portrayal in this story. Famously shot and crippled by the Clown Prince of Crime, Barbara is stripped naked and has pictures of her body and crying face taken and used by the Joker as a means to drive her father, Jim Gordon, insane. Many have argued that this was a sexist way to treat Barbara (who still continued to fight crime as the Oracle after the incident), but that assumption comes with what in my opinion amounts to a fundamental misunderstanding of the story itself. I’ve written about this particular controversy before in another post, and I’ve even gone over the fact that this plot point was only ever allowed to occur due to blatant sexism (Alan Moore’s editor told him to “cripple the bitch” when he asked for permission to do this to Barbara). Even with all that, I still absolutely have to make my piece on this subject since there already seems to be a backlash brewing over this.

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Death Parade – The Rare Show That Should Have Been More Procedural

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In the past I’ve praised shows like Person of Interest for being able to forgo simplistic procedural plots and incorporating more and more complex serialized elements in its story-telling, but today I’m going to do the unthinkable. I’m going to do something different. I’m here to tell you that this show, the 2015 anime series Death Parade, needed to be more procedural. It really, really did and that’s not just because the serialized elements that were there happened to be fairly boring for the most part.

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Reincarnated – Laptop Beyond: The Return of the Internet – Dawn of a New Era – The Saga Continues

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Much like how Snoop Dogg reincarnated into Snoop Lion, my laptop begins anew in another vessel.

“Believe in the backside” (#ButtsWin)

– A quote that has absolutely nothing to do with what follows.

On June 26 2015, a landmark moment in history took place; one whose symbolic meaning and effect was just as significant as its practical application. Because of what transpired on that day, the entire world bore witness to pure evidence of a positive shift in our collective ideologies… I am of course referring to the purchasing of my brand new laptop. I knew people would be happy about what took place, delighted that they would be receiving more of my oft-revelatory blog posts about super important matters. My previous post on the subject of my laptop was one of tragedy. It chronicled the rise, the fall, the rising again, and the final fall of a machine that’s been by my side throughout most of my University life. When it died on me, it felt like the world was crashing, like I was experiencing the worst pain anyone has ever faced ever (an assumption that was proven correct one evening when my TV was facing difficulties). I’ve faced many trials, but don’t fret kids, for you see this story has a happy ending. I was given a false one when my laptop resurrected only to die soon after, but when I arrived at Future Shop with my credit card (a necessary component of the incantation) to perform a reincarnation ritual, my laptop was returned to me anew. Much like how Megatron became Galvatron, my Gateway laptop became a ‘DELL-somethingorother’.

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Batman: Arkham Knight and the Real Threat to Gaming Journalism

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The final installment of the Rocksteady Arkham trilogy has finally arrived, and its impact is exactly what you would expect from any hotly anticipated game these days. Most people have already decided that they love this game, and unfortunately, anyone that disagrees with this “well-founded” opinion is met with scorn and outrage. This happens every time with games that fall under the public’s favour and its kind of pathetic. Gamespot’s “divisive” 8/10 review of The Last of Us is an extreme example of this. According to many, this was the “final nail in the coffin” for Gamespot, as this paltry 8/10 review shows that they hate gaming and don’t understand anything about criticism… that is until Gamespot turns around and gives a game they know they’ll like a score they agree with, because in that case, Gamespot knows exactly what they’re doing and whoever else disagrees with them is crazy. We’ve seen this time and time again, and it has happened once again with Arkham Knight, for which Gamespot once again finds itself at the centre of its controversy. Giving the game a 7/10 score over criticisms that mostly centred around the use of the Batmobile (which is a legitimate problem), the review was met with a ton of backlash. Just outright hatred for a singular reviewer for having the audacity to not agree with them on one particular thing. Even more saddening is the fact that the type of people getting bent out of shape over reviews tend to fanatically cling to others who agree with them, even after naming those parties as trash over occasions where they weren’t in agreement. They go on long rants, comparing different review scores from games they didn’t like to the games they do to “prove” that they’re right about the reviewer’s inadequacy; as if to say that every review made for a website is from one person and that people can’t possibly enjoy things more than you did. You have to question their level of self-esteem and the value they hold in for their own thoughts and self-worth. I don’t understand why people need this type of validation when it comes to liking video games.

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5 Things I Loved About Inside Out – A Morally Relevant Movie

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Everyone should go see Pixar’s Inside Out. Saying that “everyone” should see something is a pretty common way to praise something, but here I am literally saying that every single person should experience this movie. It’s important, not just as a piece of art, but morally speaking as well. If you are parent, or someone who is planning on having kids, or someone who is or has been a kid – you need to see this movie. It’s got an ambitious premise, a solid script, perfect casting, and is legitimately hilarious; but all of that isn’t as important as the lessons it teaches about being a child and being a parent. It’s also the way it conveys these messages that really gets to me, the complete mastery of metaphoric storytelling. Nothing is overly complicated, it’s all easy to follow, and yet there’s a ton of depth to it all. It’s a movie that explores the importance of sadness, the tragedy of growing up, and the nature of joy. Happiness isn’t forever and sadness isn’t something that should be suppressed, parents can say the most devastating things without realizing it, and children have to learn how to communicate their pain. These are all beautiful messages that the movie teaches so well, and I’m not sure I can do it justice by just telling you about it, but I will tell you just some of the things I loved about it (without spoiling it of course).

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