Shmee.Me

April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

Go Community With G.I. Jeff!

I usually don’t review individual TV episodes, but when the people that make Community decided to make a G.I. Joe episode, what else could I do? Episodes like this are why I am so happy to have the creator Dan Harmon back. Community is a weird show, and it was meant to be weird.

The episode starts off like all good G.I Joe episodes do, with a random Cobra attack on a known location. In this case Cobra has decided to attack the Taj Mahal. Jeff, known as Wing Man in this episode, ends the attack by outright killing Destro. The Joes who have never killed anyone before, have no idea what to do. This causes all sorts of fallout in the G.I Joe universe.

The thing I love about this episode is how well it lampoons not only G.I. Joe, and lets be honest it is an easy target, but Community itself for even doing a G.I Joe episode. The whole thing is complete and utter nonsense, but it is amazing. This is the sort of thing that they never would have tried during the “gas leak year“, but this season, why the heck not?

It is also episodes like this that exemplify why this show has never found a large audience. Why on earth would you make fun of something, meanwhile slavishly recreating it. It is because Community understands what it means to be a geek, and not just make fun of geeks. The love of something that others view as ridiculous, but you love it because it ignites your creativity.

This show has given us several classic episodes, and I think this will be one of them. This show makes me morn the loss of last season even more. Because if they had stayed with this writing group, we could have had more episodes like this. Instead of episodes that were needlessly trying to dig deeper in to the lives of the main cast, and about how much they need each other. You know, non-weird topics that work better on other shows.

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

Microsoft Is Finally Making Some Smart Moves!

Yesterday was Microsoft’s kick off to its BUILD conference for developers. BUILD is usually where they announce what is new with Windows, and yesterday did not disappoint. There were three major announcements at the conference, and I am going to give you my thoughts on them.

1: The Start Menu Is Back!

As of April 8th 2014, all Windows 8.1 devices and computers will get updated to Windows 8.1 Update 1 (super creative name I know). This update will allow you to shutdown from the Start Screen (gasp), right click on the Start Screen (deary me!), but most importantly there is a new hybrid Start Screen/Start Menu (it must be very cold somewhere hot!). That will allow you to pin apps to the Start Menu, and pretty much never have to go back to the Start Screen unless you really want to.

I don’t know why it took so long for Microsoft to do this because it seems like a no-brainer for classic laptop/desktop computers where people still use a mouse. Well at least we will not have to wait long now, since it comes out in less then a week.

2: Create An App For One Windows Device, Use It Everywhere!

It used to be that if you created an app for say Windows Phone, you would then have to alter the app a bit and then submit it for Windows, but that is no longer the case. If you make an app now it will work on all devices, and I do mean all. Windows 8 apps will now start to work on Xbox One devices! (Pending Window 8.1 U1, Windows Phone 8.1, and the Xbox One Summer Update) It is great that this coming out now, but again this seems like something that should have happened right off the bat, but it is great news for developers.

Now I don’t know if this means all Windows Devices will be using the same store or not. I sure hope so! Because it would be lame to now have to buy the exact same app three times! I guess we will see in a few months once everything is updated.

3: Windows Phone 8.1 Featuring Cortana!

There are a ton of new improvements to Windows Phone happening in 8.1. VPNs, notification center, stuff, but the biggest is Cortana! Cortana is just Siri with a cooler voice actor and some name recognition, but still that is some good name recognition. Finally the marketing people at MS are earning their money!

The good news is that if your phone has Windows Phone 8, you will get Windows Phone 8.1, and all 8.1 devices will get Cortana. I just hope that dev unlocked phones like mine will get the update before summer, so I can try and have Cortana call me Master Chief! If I do get the update I will be sure to tell you all about it (brag).

If all three of these announcements work as well as Microsoft promises, there still might be a little hope left for Redmond’s tech giant!

April 2, 2014

Toby Kebbell Is The New Dr. Doom!

Well it looks like the people making the new Fantastic Four movie do not read my blog, and they decided that they need a Dr. Doom after I told them not to use him. Oh well, at least Toby Kebbell fits well with the much younger version of the Fantastic Four that Fox is shooting for. He is a very talented young actor, and if the movie is awful it shouldn’t be his fault.

That is not saying this movie will not be awful. It still may be, and since all the Fantastic Four movies have been so far (they were all made by Fox as well), I would say that the odds are against this movie. Especially if they keep ignoring my advice.

April 1, 2014April 1, 2014

It’s A Shame The Great Gatsby Can’t Keep Its Momentum!

The Great Gatsby is a 2013 film released by Warner Brothers Pictures, and directed by Baz Luhrmann. It was a major hit for the studio, and it was Luhrmann’s most successful film to date. There is no doubt after watching this movie that Luhrmann has a gift for visual flare, but he may need to work on his dramatic direction a bit more.

If you have somehow missed the classic 1925 novel’s plot that this film is based on, I will bring you up to speed. The film follows Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) after he moves in next door to Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). A man known for throwing the greatest parties in all of New York City. Gatsby has a thing for Carraway’s cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) who is married to an unfaithful jerk Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). They all drink and party a lot, and no one is happy.

This story works well as a book because it is really short; however, it is hard to watch in this film because it is really long. I Think I could have read the book in less time then it took to watch this movie. If they had shortened this film up by at least a half hour it would have made a world of difference.

The movie still has its moments because of the amazing spectacle that is the first half of this film. Luhrmann brings 1920’s New York to life in glorious fashion. Crazy parties, fast cars, great fashion, and then he mixes it all together with a hip and current sound track. When all of this is going on it reminds us that film is a visual art, and that there is nothing wrong with a grand visual feast. Sadly the second half of the film abandons all that and deals with the drama of the story.

This leaves the very talented cast, who were playing larger than life characters to match the pomp and circumstance of the first part of the film, out to dry. Since now they have to try and shift gears and try to act in a character drama. It doesn’t jive, and the editors should have taken a hatchet to most of it.

If you like the 1920’s, or crazy visual effects this movie is still worth watching. It just looks cool. It is a shame that it comes to such screeching halt in the second half.

March 31, 2014March 31, 2014

The Walking Dead Season 4 Is Over!

I am always sad when The Walking Dead goes off the air. I am lost until Game of Thrones fills my Sunday show void. We now have to wait until October to see if the gang can get out of their latest jam. This is one of the rare season finales that has the left group hanging over the long break. The short mid-season break always has a cliff hanger, but for the season ending they usually tie things up fairly well. I guess they know that they are not going to be canceled any time soon, so why not do whatever they feel like.

What I loved about this half of the season is they really got in to all main characters’ heads a little bit, so we could see what motivates them, and who they are away from the group. It was really daring of the show to go so stripped down and minimal, especially after the show has given us so many large scale action set pieces recently. I think it all paid off though, and now they can tell a bigger story, and have us understand all the characters’ future decisions better.

This is going to be the first season that they have kept their writing producer Scott Gimple for the next season, and I think he deserves it. He gave us probably the best season of the show so far, though The Governor walking around got a little tedious, and I can’t wait to see what he has the group up too starting in the fall. The Game of Thrones had better be good otherwise this will be a long wait indeed!