American Ninja Warrior

SPOILAGE! If you don't want it ruined for you, get lost. ;P

Apologises to anyone who hasn't seen the latest episodes of American Ninja Warrior. It's my mini obsession. The guys [and gals] on this show do such impressive stunts and are so athletic... And are generally very attractive [umm, the guys anyway]. I've never been one to deny that I like to watch the male eye candy on this show.


Of course, I do like the original Ninja Warrior which is what I started with. I have my favorites, both Asian [Mokoto Nagano] and non-Asian [Levi Meeuwenberg]. I was very sad to find out Levi injured his wrist and couldn't compete. Right now, we only get to see how the American Ninja Warriors did during Sasuke [Ninja Warrior] 26. The entirety of the competitions won't be shown until the 2nd. I'll try and hang in until then.

 

Levi Meeuwenberg

Makoto Nagano

For those who don't know, this is the premise: Competitors aren't going against each other so much as themselves. They go through 4 stages of intense obstacles in order to get to and conquer the final stage: Mount Midoriyama. There are only 100 competitors allowed to go through the course [dunno how they decide on these].


With American Ninja Warrior, it is a competition to find 10 competitors to go to Japan and face the ultimate test of strength. It starts out with a weeding process, where competitors go through an Americanized stage 1. Top 30 participants would then proceed onto an Americanized stage 2, which included all the obstacles of stage 1 and then some. The top 15 in this category would then go to American Ninja Warrior boot camp. Then the numbers would be dwindled down to the 10 who would finally go to compete in the official Ninja Warrior.

Naturally, there were some I felt weren't worth of being there  *cough* and others who had proven they should be there. And I was right with my initial thoughts because those who were worthy made it through the first stage no problems. I was impressed that 5 actually made it to the 3rd stage. It gives a lot of promise for the next competition at least.


Right now, I'm watching the last American Ninja Warrior, Brian Orosco, attempting to get through stage 3. Personally, I can't get past the evil looking mustache right now. He looks like something out of the 70's. He is considered an American Ninja Warrior veteran and has previously gotten to stage 3 before. He's pretty good and does generally what should happen to anyone who has gone through the courses multiple times: he's gotten further each time.

Ooo, and he just fell right before the door knobs. Stage three is all about upper body strength. Which makes stage 4 that much more difficult since the competitors are completely drained of arm strength by this point. There are no real breaks in between save for maybe getting from the start of one course to the next. Stage four a fight against gravity and the clock. From what I remember, it is a quick climb up between two walls [that start to separate at the same time] and then a rope climb to the top. It's vigorous and one needs to be quick to complete it. There is no stopping nor can one hesitate for a moment.

It almost makes me want to exercise... Almost, but not quite.

Tron: Legacy

Yeah, dunno when I'll finish HP 7 pt 1. I think I need to go see it again before writing anymore since it's been a bit. But I have a new movie to write about:

For those who don't know about the first movie, here is a link to the wikipedia synopsis of the movie. Honestly, I haven't seen it but I knew the basics. Honestly, I was interested in seeing it for two main reasons: Kingdom Hearts and kick ass graphics.

And if you are looking for an awesome, epic storyline, try another movie. The actual story isn't truly dull but I wasn't really impressed.


It's not the late 80's [89 I think] and we see Kevin Flynn talking to his son, Sam. We get a summary of previous events and learn about Tron, the Grid, and Clu. And apparently, Kevin has found a miracle within the grid. He promises Sam that they will go to the arcade the next day and that one day, Sam will get to go to the grid. And naturally, Kevin Flynn is never seen again after leaving that night.

We get some more background information: Kevin was awesome, got married and had a kid. Then, his wife died in an accident a few years before and there is nothing more mentioned of that. Some say he was killed and some others say he ran away. Sam is hurt and naturally, this all effects him.

Jump to the future. We have a mystery, incredibly attractive motorcyclist who is sneaking around the ENCOM building. We watch as he takes some stuff, uses a fancy device and that he has made ENCOM's "new" program free to everyone... While putting an amusing video of a seemingly random dog. Our mystery man get caught on the top of the ENCOM building and we find out it's SAM! Who then proceeds to jump! O.o; But wait, he has a parachute! And he's caught.

We follow him back to his bachelor pad where Alan Bradly [friend of Kevin prior to his disappearance and a executive consultant to the ENCOM board] comes for a visit. He has gotten a mysterious page from Kevin Flynn's office at his arcade [yeah, he had one of those]... Except it has been disconnected for quite some time now. So Sam heads over to do some investigating.

As he wanders the arcade, he finds a super, secret passage way to a super, secret office. After pressing some buttons, Sam gets zapped, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids style. He falls into the Grid and is captured. From there, he is put into an arena where he must battle with some programs. Once he is the last combatant standing, he is forced to face the ultimate program fighter. This ultimate fighter, also known as Rinzler, realizes that Sam is a User [he bleeds digital blood] and not a program [they smash into tiny digital pieces AKA derezzing]. 

So Sam is taken to the ultimate program, which turns out to be Clu [who looks like a creepy young version of Jeff Bridges Kevin Flynn]. This is where we some awesome lightcycle battle where Sam almost wins before his cycle is destroyed by Clu. And we have Thirteen Quorra comes into the picture and saves Sam. She takes Sam off the Grid to a super, secret fortress [note there is lots of super, secret stuff]... And this is where the REAL Kevin Flynn has been hiding all along! -insert some gasping here-

Thirteen Quorra

Elder Flynn

We get some back story via the elder Flynn. Clu and Tron were helping Kevin build the perfect world when these things called "isomorphic algorithms" (ISOs) popped out of nowhere! [*cough*evolution*cough*]. These ISOs are what Kevin called his miracles. But of course everyone couldn't be happy. Clu, who is all about perfection [as Kevin programmed him to be], has determined these ISOs are not perfect. We are reminded of Hitler as Clu commits genocide by riding the Grid of all the imperfect ISOs. Oh, and Clu took Tron out. Quorra was found my Flynn and taken in as an apprentice of sorts...

God, I didn't realize how much back story there was until I started writing this. This all took like 5 minutes in the movie...

We also learned that Kevin's identity disc [those glowing circles on everyone's backs] is like... The ultimate keyblade. Kevin will not try to escape the Grid via the portal [which will only be opened for about 8 hours] because if Clu captures him, he will use the ultimate identity disc to escape into the real world. Which would be bad. Which makes Sam sad cause it's like losing his father all over again. Quorra is kind of peeved with Kevin and tells Sam he needs to find Zuse, who apparently can get anyone, anywhere.

Sam meets up with some program chick he met earlier who says she can get him to Zuse. We meet this super flamboyant club owner, Castor. Apparently, you need to go through him to get to Zuse...  Which makes sense because it turns out Castor = Zuse. Just when Sam thinks he's caught a break, turns out Castor is a little backstabber/derezzer. Clu is summoned and there is a battle where Quorra and Kevin later join the fight. Quorra's arm is derezzed and while the trio tries to escape, one of Castor's peeps get the ultimate identity disc. In an attempt to get something out of it, Castor and the program chick are derezzed in a splosion courtesy of Clu [who walks away with the identity disc].

The flamboyant club owner, Castor

Back to the Flynns and Quorra who are riding some flying thing towards the portal to escape. We also learn that Quorra is not just any program but the last of the ISOs. She was saved by Flynn during the purge. We also have a touching moment between Sam and Quorra [something with a sunrise but it really isn't important].

And suddenly, we're not heading towards the portal anymore but some super, secret ship... Where Clu has an army of reprogrammed programs! Oh noes! Looks like he's gonna take his army into the real world to help him make it perfect.

Our heroes once again run into Rinzler, in which Quorra decides to be an unarmed distraction so Flynn and Sam can make a run for the portal... And Kevin realizes that Rinzler = reprogrammed Tron! Damn you Clu! Ruining all that is good in the digital world! Anyway, the Rinzler/Tron captures Quorra, which is not acceptable.

Sam decides he must rescue Quorra and get the super identity disc back. Which he does and the trio once again try and make their escape. However, Clu has been given some heads up and he, some of his program peeps and Rinzler/Tron go after them on lightjets. Sweet! I mean, the lightjets, not the whole bad guys using lightjets... Of course, the bad side gets down to just Clu and Rinzler/Tron... But all it takes is a look at Kevin and Rinzler/Tron remembers! And tries to take out Clu ["I fight for the users!"] but fails. Rinzler/Tron falls in the awesome digital water and goes from red glowy stuff to white glowy stuff [which means he's Tron again]. Tron's fate is undermined... *cough*sequel?*cough*

Clu, knowing where the good users and ISO are going, beats them there. Kevin tries to talk his creation down but it doesn't work. Clu takes Kevin's identity disc only to find out that during the ride over [damn favors], he switched it wit Quorra's! Clu tries to get into the portal but Kevin makes the ultimate sacrifice and stops him, destroying them both [We learned earlier in the movie, they couldn't really destroy Clu without anything happening to Kevin].

And back to the boring human world. Sam downloads a backup copy of the Grid and calls Bradley into the arcade. He is ready to take ENCOM over and that Bradley will be the chairman of the board [cool beans]. Then Sam leaves and we see he has Quorra with him. And he shows her a sunrise. Cause it was important...

Yeah, I'm not thrilled with the ending. With the wide open ending, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a sequel. As of right now, I think they need to wait and see how this all turns out. I was glad I went during matinee price time because I think I would have been greatly disappointed to have paid full price for that movie. But at $6, it wasn't bad.

Good:

1. Graphics [while I didn't see this in 3-D, it probably would have been somewhat worth it to see it], 
2. actors [they bring out what they can with what they were given], 
3. Garrett Hedlund [can you say hot?]

Drool worthy? I think so...

Bad:

1. Storyline [lackluster and could have been better]
2. Overall flow [a little drawn out in some parts but a little choppy in others]

One highlight not from the movie was a preview... For a movie... Called Cowboys & Aliens. It took much control not to laugh my head off when I saw the preview. I thought my sides were going to burst or at least be sore from holding in all my laughter.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

So needless to say, these past few weeks have been all sorts of hellish for me. Group projects are the worst, especially when most of your grade depends upon them and certain people push it off to the last minute. Not that I can say I am totally innocent in all of this... But with everything due all at once, I just of just want the term to be over already

I wish I could say that I have a new update for Dr. Who up. I have watched the next episode but I just don't have the will to write about it now. I haven't watched passed mentioned episode which is kind of disappointing in and of itself.

I've decided instead to talk about one of my many obsessions in life: Harry Potter. As almost anyone who is probably reading this blog knows, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 came out not too long ago. Naturally, I went to a midnight showing with a couple of my friends [two of which had never been to a midnight showing previously].

AND IT WAS WORTH THE EXHAUSTION THE NEXT DAY! I was incredibly happy with this movie, more so than I have been with all the previous movies. It is by far the best and most accurate to the books which leaves me warm and fuzzy inside.


SPOILERS! AKA DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!! <- I want no doubt in anyone's mind that I didn't warn you. It is bold and underlined.

First off, great opening sequence. It was one of those moments where the lack of book to movie matching was completely OK with me. We kind of wander between Harry, Ron and Hermione. We witness Hermione erasing herself from her parents' memories and their home. While it was only briefly described in the book, this sequence made it more emotional for the audience. We got to see it happening whereas the book really did not paint the picture with detail. In the book, Hermione merely mentions that she had erased her parents memories and that is that. It would have been awkward in the movie if she just casually mentioned it.

Next, we step to the part about that was the actual beginning of the book: Death Eaters and Voldy Lord Voldemort. It is a pretty raw moment for the Malfoy family. Lucius is obviously in shambles with his home being headquarters and seems to finally realizing some risks may not have been worth it. And the scene progress as you expect. "Blah blah blah, Wormtail, quiet the "guest." Blah blah blah, Severus save me. Avada Kadavera!" followed by a green light and a plunk.

And we travel back to Harry. Seems like Uncle Vernon cannot make up his mind about everything. What really gets  interesting is the 7 Potters. We are randomly introduced to Bill Weasley, the eldest brother of that clan who was barely mentioned prior to this moment. It's probably the only thing that full on bothered me because we haven't met Charlie, who has been mentioned several; times in the movies. But I get it because who the heck else would get married in a time like that?

But the transformations make it amusingly worth it. Radcliffe does a pretty good job here with portraying each of the other characters, in my opinion. Oh to get to see young actors evolve like those of the Harry Potter cast... It really is a once in a blue moon occurrence. It's funny and amusing.

---

I'm all sorts of tired right now. I'll talk more about DH Pt 1 later. And maybe post some of my previous commentary for HP movies/books.