Funday Friday: #51 -- Better Have Miss Piggy's Money (The Vulture Home Video Remix Collection)

Hey there, Funday Friday fans!
I'm Andrew, speaking for a (relatively-)new edition to the ever-expanding landscape of home video entertainment.
Introducing...The Vulture Home Video Collection!

Are you needing of a perfect mashup this weekend, ending the doldrums of the workweek, filled with boredom, despair and sadness!?
Then have we got a deal for you.
Vulture Home Video has these extremely amazing titles in our inventory waiting for you to check out and enjoy this weekend and/or beyond! And they’re all mixed and mashed for your entertainment and amusement.

For the Remix Collection from Vulture, the popular website took two unlikely titles from the world of film television and music, and mashed them together (or taking the sounds from one title and slapping it over the amazingly-edited other title) for brand-new sensations that’ll someday sweep the nation.

Check these other amazing titles such as
Episode 1: "Magic Mike XXL as 70s X-Rated Flick",
starring the 2012 smash stripper flick as softcore erotica:


Episode 2: "Ant-Man as a 50s Monster Movie",
with the Marvel movie as one of cinema’s most monstrous creature feature:


Episode 3: "True Detective Meets Starsky and Hutch",
with the HBO series indirectly-yet-intentionally revamped as the 70s boob-tube classic:


and, Episode 4: “Miss Piggy Sings Rihanna’s Bitch Better Have My Money”,
where the Muppet maven “belts out” the Pop princess’ Trap hit (...sadly).
It's uncanny how the clips chosen and Piggy's mouth perfectly match the song.

(Although, Miss Piggy looks like a walking nightmare during the Muppets Show era.)

along with a special bonus feature:
"If "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Came Out In 1995",
showcasing the Marvel monster hit (not really about monsters this time) as if released by Walt Disney Pictures in the middle of the Righteous 90s.


Yep, these titles are worth the rent price to enjoy for the weekend at home, or are worth fully buying for your collection for as long as you want. Whether with family, friends or yourself, enjoy these videotapes from Vulture Home Video, available wherever home computers are usually found, sold, borrowed or stolen.

And don't worry, folks! There will be more titles available for you to enjoy Coming Soon, for you to take in more excitement, laughs and nostalgia, including:
Fant4stic as a 90s Action VHS
Doug Funnie Sings "Trap Queen"
”Howard the Duck” Big-Budget
and Peanuts React to CGI “Peanuts” Trailer
(our more, umm...interesting feature)
Yep, our inventory is expanding everywhere...
Until very soon, I’m Andrew for Vulture Home Video.

Saturday Night Live Review: Ep. 2 -- Amy Schumer and The Weeknd (400th POST IN HISTORY)

I'll be honest with you:
I'm not much of a fan of Amy Schumer. Her humor (especially on her Comedy Central sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer) is amazing on the surface and brilliant much deeper to everyone. But I'm not one of those people. I don't find it that way sometimes.

But when I learned that she would be a part of the first batch of hosts this season, I was actually quite intrigued. I wanted to find her funny here like I found other female hosts in the past two seasons, hoping she will put on a great show.

This week's episode Cold opened with everyone's favorite network news punching bag, Fox and Friends!

Lemme tell ya, this startoff was brilliant AND hilarious. Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer and especially Bobby Moynihan haven't missed a beat as co-hosts Steve Doocy, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Brian Kilmeade. And I miss the ending. This was super great start to another episode that was surprisingly fantastic.


Amy's monologue was exactly what you expect from her. And yet, it was hilarious. I didn't pay attention to all ofit because it ran so long, but I still laughed my ass off at the end. Good for Amy for being herself at this moment and impressing me so well.

The Sketch After took place on a Delta airplane. Two stewardess are beginning the flight with a safety instruction song. But The ladies aren't very careful about it.
(Seriously, they need to do something about the damn door.)

For starters, that safety instructions song is freaking catchy--I really can't get it out of my head (not that I want to).
Also, I just couldn't stop laughing at their foolish misfortune. It's really stupid of them to keep walking to the door the second time, but hey, Rule of Funny. Also their scolding their co-steward Mark was pretentious, but it has it's plus. Speaking of Mark, his screaming like a girl was also a highlight, as was Kenan dancing to the song in exuberance like the Spice Girls were singing it.

I also loved how high in concept this one was. The timing of the wind, and the horrible accident itself was amazing to watch. As was Mark's shrill screaming. Seriously.

Fave lines:
The Song
--
This next skit is a parody of those timeless porno films featuring a super hot teacher (Schumer) seducing her male student (Kyle Mooney). What happens next, involving a female student ("Baby" Aidy Bryant), is absolutely priceless.

I just love how over-the-top and corny as hell it is (granted it's the joke, because most porn films feature hilariously crap acting, and strange before-sex touching, so this is pretty much normal). Just the crap cinematography makes it perfect.
Also, the constant intrusions of the female student with her mundane situations and crap, while not noticing that her teacher is about to bone the shit out of her classmate is just balls-out hilarious.
Also, it's weird to me-it feels like this sketch could not decide what it is. Is it a porn parody? Or Is it a classroom skit sketch with a teacher close to banging a student when another student's mom comes in for a chat? It just can't be both, but yet it is. And its awesome.


Fave Lines: Almost Everything Ms. Dayworth (because of the corny sleazy dialect) and the female student (for her obliviousness and) said. Especially...
-"Uh, Ms. Dayworth, I wasn't all the way gone yet, and I heard you mention an oral exam?"

-"He's in hot water. He's got a 68 on his last test. Now I'm gonna show him how to get a 69!"
"Okay, that's still a D+, Ms. Dayworth." (this was D best--I mean, the best of them all. I couldn't stop laughing after that.)
-
This episode is on a roll. So much funny, so little time.

Like this Pre-Taped Sketch lampooning the scandal on gun control, showing people with the
It it, many people are living their lives, and with guns by their side, life couldn't be any more happier.

Of course, the Pre-Tape is lampooning the scandal on gun control, after President Obama announced yet another order on stricter control on distribution on guns. I found it funny and interesting too. I love how these people are portrayed--not crazy, insane semi-toting yahoos and show them as normal, sane people (well, more or less) who are toting guns wherever they go.

Now, this one was embroiled in controversy.
Some viewers didn't like the sketch for mocking the talk of gun control , especially after a heartbreaking incident, the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Just look at the comments on YT, and there is a wide variety. Some about how they don't like the sketch, other about some stupid liberal agenda (heh, whatever.), and of course the inevitable, "Remember when SNL was funny?".
I understand the backlash (some more than others), but it's a spoof on guns, and the people who own them. Plus, they were portrayed as normal sane people. If you don't like it, that's fine. But if you can't realize that this is a parody...I don't know.
--
Next, at Ford's Theatre, visitors are treated to a reenactment of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (portrayed by an actor played by TKill). But this is ruined by the actress (Amy) playing Mary Todd. Mainly, "John Wilkes Boothe" (KyMoo) wanting to plow her.

This is actually brilliant. The ad-libbing of the actress is the meat of the sketch. The meat that makes it so delicious and satisfying. Unlike the Whopper burgers with the black buns that make you poop green. (available at Burger King throughout the month of October!) Oh, and the joke about blacks is perfectly timed and thus bitingly hilarious.
--
At a California's city municipal meeting, some councilors (Moyni & Cecily Strong among them) are answering questions from citizens, who give really strange questions.

This skit was consistently funny (not one of the best though), but the best part was definitely Schumer's portrayal of little 7-year-old Amy Meriwether-Sherman with her demand of keeping her and her father's guns at bay, alluding to this week's scandal of gun control--the third skit in total. Her voice as a child is perfect.
Another great part was Leslie Jones appearing (in her only sketch this week) as a woman thinking she went to an AA meeting after being sober for 20 minutes. And Kenan's appearance as Gary Loomis. So goofy and quaint.
And one thing I want to ask:
Is this sketch really taking place in California? And not some city in the South? Because, half of everyone was speaking in a questionable Southern accent (besides MC Strategy), which is really weird. If this was in a Southern state (more specifically in the East Coast), this would've made more sense.
That's One thing that's really grating. That's the only complaint, but it's only minor.

Fave Lines:
All of Little Amy's lines (it's the baby girl-like voice that sold it for me)
"Have you seen Bieber's dong?...Yeah, yeah, yeah...It was alright, right?" -Rick
"Yeah. yeah, I thought it was pretty good." -Male Councilor
--
In the Five-to-One sketch, a baby shower is taking place. But...there is a more important matter going on...SOMEONE'S PURSE IS MISSING!!

This sketch sucked.
It wasn't very funny, there wasn't much to like, the jokes were crap, and the end was just meh. The only good things it had going for it is Amy and the establishing shot house that reminds me of Good Luck Charlie.
This skit ended Episode 2 on a low note. Fortunately the rest of it was genius and funny, or else I would get upset.
Like Panda upset when his phone got stolen.

--

The Weeknd, this week's musical guest, is pretty much the hottest thing in the game right now. Ever since he appeared on Drake's album Take Care and dropped a few hot mixtapes, he's become a brilliantly dope alternative R&B artist (pretty much one of the first of such too). With this year being his, he's released singles that have become white-hot on the charts and online: the scarily-great "The Hills", the numbingly-poppy "Can't Feel My Face", the strangely-sexy "Often" and "Earned It" from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, his most memorable hit at the moment.
So it makes much sense for him to be the first only musical guest of Season 41 (it just has to be.) as he performed two of the aforementioned singles: "Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face", his other memorable hit at the moment.

This performance featured a surprise guest in Nicki Minaj, who is featured in a remix for this song. I wasn't very interested in Minaj, but I thought she did a great job here. Her verse fits the song as was Weeknd's, and is just as scary, if not horrifying as well, in that the relationship they share is a dark and painful one, and that drugs were involved.
Also, I'm a huge fan of the beat. It's as dark, mysterious, disorienting and spine-tingling as the lyrics and Abel's vocals and makes this song so dreadfully perfect in every way. The woman's scream in the hook is frightening, but fits great, and is kinda turn-on--ish.
Also, I love the lyric at the end where Abel sings in his native language Amharic. This soft, lullaby-like lyric ends the track on a calm, sweet note, and makes this one of the best and most expansive songs this year. And makes this performance amazing.

Just as amazing as the last one of "Can't Feel My Face".

I will say that I wasn't as enjoying his vocals here as I did with the last one, but I still loved this one. People have compared this track (especially with Weeknd's vocals) to the work of Michael Jackson. I can agree with it, what with the similarities in vocals and techniques between them. Plus his dancing is pretty cool.

I'll be honest in saying the performances were, to me, more dominated by the setup lighting than by Abel himself. But he was mind-blowing great with his stage presence and performance. Sure, his falsetto vocals can be grating to most people (which makes his short speaking appearance on Weekend Update-which I'll get to later-utterly refreshing), but I can get past that, as he knows how to put on a good show. Especially because both songs are great to listen to--despite the underlying dark writing and tones in both. Weeknd is a very talented artist and it's good to see him get both critical and commercial success in the mainstream these days. And with these performances, which I'll call the one of the best of the season so far, he's certainly on his way.

His album Beauty Behind the Madness is available now on digital and physical.

--

Time for an Update:
Part 1:

Part 2:


Jost and Che are back for Round 2 and have gotten much more leeway than last week. It's refreshing after the meh start last Saturday.
There were some hilarious jokes, especially the jokes they share, like their ribbing of presidential candidate Ban Carson for malpractice suits against him, the public's responses to President Obama's gun control executive action, Jost's perchance on Justin Bieber's penis being the next Speaker of the House,
The jokes, the execution and the other anchor's reaction.

This week, Update introduced a new correspondent, Solomon, who claims to be a travel buff, and was sent to Italy to write up the perfect hot-spots for vacation. What he got back is absolutely nothing.
I loved the performance by Pharaoh as this complete habitual liar. His shame in getting rid of the ticket for his own devices and getting the job just to get by comfortably, along with begging Colin to not get the team to fire him is very funny. It's in his whiny, urban voice and mannerisms. I really feel like I won't expect him back at the desk anytime soon. But if he does, I wouldn't mind it at all.

Kate McK makes her first sit at the desk this season as Ms. Santini, a neighbor of Colin's who discusses overcrowding in New York city's apartments, thanks to a recent study.
This was a good character and performance by Kate, but I felt this ran a little longer than most because of how slow she was.
In time, I've gotten to enjoy her strange methods of helping a family quite their baby more. And her letters to random people were hilarious.


Best Bits:
Ben Carson Malpractices
-"I'd never say this out loud or on TV, but America, please choose anybody BUT the black guy!" -Che
The Talk of Gun Control
-"We don't need a beer, that's a margarita inside a beer." -Jost
Solomon
-"My sister ain't got no kids." -Solomon
Ms. Santini
-"Dear, cast of the movie Friday..." -Ms. Santini
"The Weeknd Update"

And now, The Weeknd Update.

Posted by Saturday Night Live on Saturday, October 10, 2015

-"Why are you here?" -Abel

Wraparound:
Everyone was awesome.
I thought Amy Schumer was going to be obnoxious and annoying, but she wasn't that at all (half of the time--and even then, the behavior was pretty funny. She took her role as host seriously, while being as loose as possible. And yet, I feel she took brilliance from being white trash (in some sketches) and parlayed it perfect hilarity.
I think I'm now a fan of Amy Schumer (well, a little over casual).
Congrats, lady. You are one of the best hosts this season.

I will not speak on the cast members who appeared in almost every sketch. I know how you guys have gotten tired of me talking about it...and I've also gotten tired of it because of the waste of hours discussing this.
All the cast members did a great job this week, not matter how big or small their appearances are, they all put in amazing performances.
For the standouts, I'd say Taran Killam (I mean duh), Vanessa Bayer (especially in the Fox and Friends and Delta Fallout sketches), Bobby Moynihan (for the Fox and Friends sketch--seriously I miss braindead Brian Kilmeade) and Leslie Jones (for the barely sober lady losing her way around)
How Was the CO?
Unlike the first hour, very accurate (and funny)

Best Sketches:
Assassination of the Assassination
Delta Fallout
Porno Parody
Honorable Mention:
City Council/Municipal Meeting
Baby Shower
(hell, all of them have a great moment. Because...)
Worst Sketches:
If I can say that none of them were bad in the Miley Cyrus episode, then I'd be damned if I choose a bad one in this episode.

ConcluSLoN:
THIS EPISODE IS THE BEST OF THIS SEASON SO FAR!!! (Almost) every sketch was not only hilarious, but brilliant in writing and execution as well. Not only did I laugh, but they also made me think about some things. And then laugh again. Thanks to the news stories of the week, the touch of realism in some of these skits make them near flawless. I love this episode so much.


This is the episode we've all been waiting for. Months have finally passed, the time has finally come, and the moments will already be remembered. Next week will begin the ultimate redemption for the host and we will be there to support and cheer him on when he does.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tracy Morgan is back. And he will be hosting Episode 3.
Please tune in, and make this the highest-rated episode of the year. He deserves this great honor.
Oh, and Demi Lovato is the musical guest.
See you Monday for the review. Good night!

ABC Family to Rebrand as #Freeform: More of a #Freefall

ABC Family is rebranding come January, with a new name: Freeform. Ugh.

Funday Friday: #Fifty--The Amazing Dancing Madrids Dance Again

Hey everyone.
You know, I've been giving thoughts on some polarizing topics over the years. Some good, and some bad. Some of those topics have been of the heartbreaking stories of the year, and others of the happiest moments of the moment.

But, since there are more happy stories than I can count in one year, I decided to dedicate a regular weekly segment out of them. And that's when I created Funday Friday.

Who knew that, for better or worse, and whether one post a week or two or more, that it took me this far: 50 Editions written. And I quite proud of the achievement.

So to celebrate, I want to go back to the beginning and revisit the subject of the very First edition. Ladies and gentlemen, I again present to you...Keone and Mariel Madrid.

When I first saw the video of their performance to Bob Marley's "Is This Love", I was both impressed and inspired. Seeing this old-in-sight, but young-at-heart couple dancing with such talent and experience gives me the proof that you shouldn't excuse yourself from doing what you love because you're old. As long as you're as young as you feel (and as agile as an adult) you can do what you love.
And in their case, it's dancing.

Yep, they're old. ...Or ARE they? No, they're not.
From watching the videos below, I learned that they're not really old. They not even middle-aged yet. They're young adults with the faces of babies. As it turns out, they were wearing makeup and masks.
But they still talented as all heaven.

And now, in this landmark celebration, I present their encore, as presented by the Urban Dance Camp, set to songs by Sam Smith.

First up, "Stay with Me".
You will love the emotion and love and passion between the two. And there's something at the end you gush over.


and here is "Money on My Mind", where they are joined by three other dancers. While all of them are awesome, the guy in the gray shirt stands out.


And finally, a third video featuring Anna Kendrick's "Cups (When I'm Gone)" from Pitch Perfect and, halfway through, two fellow dancers joining in to try it themselves. It's great.


I've said this before (when I thought they were old), and I'll say this in different wording:
These two dancers are some of the most talented dancers I've ever had the privilege of watching. Their moves, techniques and pizzazz are mind-blowingly spectacular and there's no way of proving otherwise. I love watching these two every time doing all of their dances, that I need to spotlight the other dancers in the Urban Dance Camp stable. So stay tuned--as later in the fall, I do a edition on the Urban Dance Camp and its ultra-talented members doing what we love to watch. See you then.
And have a great weekend.

Raven-Symone Won't Hire No Ghetto-Named People

You know? The more that Raven-Symone opens her mouth, the more stupid she sounds.

Saturday Night Live 41 Review: Ep. 1 -- Miley Cyrus and Miley Cyrus (The Premiere)

Well, we're back.



Since I heard that Miley Cyrus was hosting the Season 41 premiere, I just wanted to skip this.
Like my Review of Season 40's Episode 11, I wanted to tune out from that episode because of the host as well (that episode's host was Kevin Hart). But I decided to check it out and review it anyway, and I was glad I did, because to me that episode was one of the best. So I should give it a chance.

Also, Miley Cyrus--while she is an annoyingly terrible singer, she isn't a bad actress. In fact, she's really talented. From watching Hannah Montana as a kid, all the way up to her guest appearances on Two and a Half Men among others, she had great performances and very nice delivery. Not to mention her last gig hosting SNL wasn't bad at all. I even enjoyed her musical performances (granted, those songs are stupid as hell, but still). So I was willing to give this episode and Miley the benefit of the doubt, and see if it wouldn't tune out as horrible as I thought it would be.
And you won’t believe this. I was right. This episode was better than I thought.
In fact, this is already one of the best episodes of the season.

The episode starts with a Message from...Donald Trump.

This sketch is the introduction of Taran Killam, the latest cast member to receive the role, to the Trump role. And he played it fantastically. His voice is perfect, his mannerisms are on-par, the facial expressions are amazing; hell, even his wig is perfect. Killam has everything to make his impersonation of Trump carry on to be one of the best of this season, and just in time for election season.
The rest of the skit was hilarious; Cecily Strong played a perfect Melania Trump, and the writing was brilliant, with all of The Donald's policies and controversies as presidential candidate being mocked to perfection. I was expecting myself to laugh a few times, but I laughed all the way through. This was an awesome start to what was an awesome premiere. And now, that it's time again

Host and Musical Guest Miley Cyrus presented the first Monologue of the season.
When she came out, I didn't know what all was on her dress.
Flowers? car air fresheners? colored condoms? LifeSavers?
When it was shown to be flowers, I wasn't worthy enough a joke, mostly because we were halfway through the sketch.

Anyway, the better half was on her singing a dedication to the people who've made the news in the Summer of 2015:
(And all of them were bad people)
-Rachel Dolezal (the white woman who pretended to be black for 20 years and got busted by her parents)
-Kim Davis (the old wench who said her religious beliefs caused her to not give marriage licenses to gays, despite -herself being married 4 times, and divorced 3. Hypocrite.)
-Walter Palmer (the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the Lion)
-Warner Bros. (for the Entourage movie. Remember that? Me neither.)
-The pizza rat (for being more inspiring than bad. Somehow.)
-Drake and Meek Mill (for their dumb-ass feud.) (And I know you're asking: Who the hell is Meek Mill? I've been still asking that myself.)
-Lenny Kravitz (for accidentally showing his glorious junk on-stage at a concert in Stockholm)
-A Donut (for being licked by Ariana Grande)
-Jared Fogel (for being a child predator while working for Subway), and
-Josh Duggar (for being borderline incestuous with his sisters while supposedly being a deeply religious man under a deeply religious family.)
These are the people who make 2015 a very memorable year in the news.

The cast members were hilarious in their movements as those people (especially with Bobby Moynihan), Miley has wonderful singing (probably better than her performances), and the
Great Mono, and one of the best so far.

The first Pre-Tape After of Season 41 is an ad for a new drug to help people move on with their lives after bouts with mental illness. And for these guys, who are still believing that they're running for president, this drug is practically calling their name...if not the White House. It's Abilify for People Who Think They're President.

This sketch is just brilliant. Detailed spoof of the candidates who dropped out of Presidential race believing they're still in there. And their wives confessions were just as funny. This is a prefect start to what will be one of the best parts of the show.

In The Sketch After the commercial break, a school dance is happening, and three couples are finding love: A nerd (Kyle Mooney) with a nerdy girl (Kate McKinnon), a bad boy (TKill) with a hot bad girl (Cecily), and Jock with the popular girl (Miley)...who raps.

This sketch started off pretty good. Catchy song, cast members singing well (nothing more or less--we'll they're not qualified for Grease Live so...), and a fun atmosphere. Until Miley came and made everything...better. No seriously, when she gave her line, I couldn't stop laughing. That was balls-out hilarious. I mean...wow. She subverted my expectations and made this sketch better than I thought. Great job. This was one of the Best sketches of the episode.

Also, this is the first sketch to fully feature newest cast member Jon Rudnitsky. I'd say he did a pretty good job singing for his longing for a girl and reacting to the popular girl's strangeness...and Nasty Jack. Poor guy.

Fave lines: Most of them from her black friend, Nasty Jack
"I'm from Philly!"
"Oh! It's gon' happen!"
"So we datin' or what!?"
-And everything Miley said
--
Next up, election season isn't in full swing yet, but everyone is talking in full speed. Including at a bar, where Hillary Clinton (Kate McK) is sulking about the American people discussing Donald Trump more than her, with possible vote going to him than her. And then she meets the bartender Val.

My jaw dropped when I saw the Hillary Clinton. She was rumored to appear in the premiere, but I never read into it. But the rumors were true, and she lived up to the "hype".
And she very well with what she was given, and made her stand out, even though she's standing in front of the genius woman brilliantly playing her. It's clear that the writing is pretty much geared towards her, but it's still good and funny nonetheless.
"...I just wanted to say, my sister's gay, so thank you for all you've done for gay marriage."
That just came out of nowhere, and was just pandering to Clinton. Luckily for him, she's right there.
And then the two gal-pals sang "Lean on Me". While "Hillary" had a meh voice, "Val" has a great singing voice. Impressive.
Another one of the Best sketches of the Episode.

Favorite Lines:
All of "Hillary" and "Val" lines
"Oh no. They're multiplying!" -Bill Clinton
--
American Voices presents an old talk show from the 50s that didn't last long...or make sense.

This one has a great concept, and the set-up and lighting were brilliant, especially under the live cameras, but the execution wasn't really great. The jokes fell pretty flat, and the stereotypes, while obvious, weren't that shock-worthy. I did chuckle a few times here, but this wasn't the best of the episode.
--
A group of gal pals (Vanessa, Leslie, Miley and Cecily) trek to a restaurant where they reenactment the scene from When Harry Met Sally.... (You know it) But, Rhonda gets carried away.

Well, that was strange. Nut damn me if I didn't find Rhonda's fake gasms hilarious. When she said "OH NO, THE CONDOM BUSTED!", I was close to the floor. Jones' delivery and enthusiasms of these lines may have made this for me.

Fave lines: You know the one.
But here's a hint: "OH MY! THE PROPHYLACTIC BROKE!"
--
The Squad (yet another pre-tape)
Years after a car crash sent them into a coma, two women wake up in a post-apocalyptic world. But this is not caused by zombies, nuclear war or mass destruction. But by the world's exuberance to join Taylor Swift.

I like Taylor's music, but I'd be damned if I even join T-Swift's "squad" willingly. Hell, I'd have to start brushing up on my trigger skills if any Swifties try to "Shake it Off".
Oh--anyway, this was a pretty funny taped sketch. It wasn't hilarious--clearly because the audience didn't laugh as loud or hard, so I couldn't resonate. And even then, I didn't find much to laugh at anyway. Very good cinematography, though.
And I wouldn't be surprised is Taylor saw this, and asked Lorne to host again sometime along the road. Hell, She doesn't even have to ask--He'll immediately give her the gig, without the potential of huge ratings. Everyone wants her on their
--
Miss "The Californians"? Why?
Anyway, there's a new soap opera in town. And it may or may not be as good. It's "The Millennials".

In this "new Fox drama", which may or may not hinge on the fact that people still believe that the Animal network is a one for the young ones to watch. Anywho, this sketch does a good job spoofing those young adults who believe they are a huge, important part to society; but end up huge pains in the ass. And their bosses are left to wallow in their stupidity of hiring them.
Remember that sketch from last season, "I Can't Even"? Well, this wasn't hilarious, but I'd take this over that any day. It's annoying, but is meant to be that (and that one was probably meant to be that to), and works better in this case.
It's definitely not one of the true funniest skits of the episode, or best, but it's still a fine one.
Also, Miley, Kate, Pete and Rudnitsky somehow look perfect as young people. Must be the hair.

Fave Lines:
"Do it." -Black Co-worker (Kenan)
"Just do it." -Boss (TKill)
It's the delivery of these lines that make it the best.
--
Time for an Update
Part 1:

Part 2:


Jost and Che are back!! (to groans of half of everyone reading)
But, they have improved a bit.
My main problem is with Jost. It seems he gotten back to his starting characteristic of a super-boring dullard. Every line he speaks sounds like they're slipped so slowly, it's like paint drying. Maybe he's being careful with his enunciation of the jokes, but the show is using cue cards. The only time something wrong happens is when someone drops them or a giant fan blows them away.
He has gotten better with his timing and humor, but I think he needs to speed up the tempo. That's my only problem.
My other problem with him is this joke.

Missed these guys.

Posted by Saturday Night Live on Sunday, October 4, 2015

That was just crap. Fortunately Che's scolding him was funnier.

Another problem with the first Update of the season is Pope Francis--at least his impersonation by Kyle Mooney. Apparently since his historic trip to the US, he gotten some sort of respect with just the urban crowd. Because he keeps using the lingo, the peace sign, the hand gestures along with it.
And his accent is thick as hell! So grating It feels like I'm getting cut in slices by a roll of pastrami. I know the Pontiff has some Italian dialect, but it wasn't that thick!
All in all, this appearance was a very limp one, and was the worst of the segment.

However, things got much better as time went on.
Resident Young Person Pete Davidson returned to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming Presidential Election.
Of course, he's strained. And probably high.

And funny again. He's returned to form, and is as genius as ever with his questionable analogies. He's been a great member of the Update gang and his appearances have been some of the best as of late. Certainly should stay as a member for this season. Should be a constant stream of great laughs this season.

Relationship Expert Leslie Jones also returned with her take on sex with men who text their thoughts afterwards. She is not pleased with that.

This was a funny set, but I'm beginning to feel like Jones' commentary on relationships is starting to get one-note to me. Her yelling gets annoying, her explorations are more creepier than the compliments from a 21-year-old dude about a teenage female character of an animated series (...apparently), and her flirting with Jost gets more strange. It's not to say it isn't funny, though. But yeah.

Favorite Jokes:
-Bush Criticizes Trump--Big boy Pants
-Refusal for the Democratic Debate
-Trump & Carson--Too Many %
-Planned Parenthood--Unfortunate Events

Best Sketches:
-Dance of '55
-Hillary Clinton Bar Talk (aka "Hill and Val")
-Katz's Deli
Honorable Mentions:
The Millennials
America's Voices (aka that one talk show ABC still regrets to this day, despite their "progression in race".)

Best Pre-Tape:
Abilify for Candidates

Worst Sketches:
Surprisingly, NONE.
All of these sketches did make me laugh in some way, and I wasn't truly frustrated with them. It wasn't Miley, it wasn't the writing and it wasn't any of the cast members. All of them make the episode more than tolerable (at least in my eyes).

So yeah, this was a great episode. And a great start to the season.

Miley was great as host. She did what the writers wrote for her to do amazingly, and did a great job with her performance. While I warmed up considerably before the episode premiered because she’s not a bad actress to me, she exceeded my expectations twofold. I was actually laughing more than I thought I wanted to. I’m very impressed with her. And the writers.

Speaking of them, I feared there would be turbulence coming from this new switch, as this new challenge for each of them would be a hard, seeing as this show is live. But they did a great job, too. Their writing was fresh and genius, and I actually enjoyed most of what I heard from the cast and Miley. They faced a challenge and came out barely unscathed. Great for them.
Now they need to prepare for the other 20 episodes they have to write for. But I think they can do it. I believe in you, new writers; you can make this a very good season. Good luck.

At first, I thought, since the cast size is large, some cast members wouldn’t be seen at all. But, to my surprise, all of them have appeared well. All got between at least a few lines and a major part of a sketch. And I find it amazing that the producers found a way to make sure everyone got something to do in the episode. I applaud the producers for giving this cast a full showing on screen.

Now to the little runt of the litter: latest cast member Jon Rudnitsky.
He was well-represented here. He got some some limelight in his first sketch, some time with Miley, some lines in some sketches and isn’t half bad at all, despite his Twitter presence. he wasn’t truly hilarious, but this is his first episode, so I will cut him some slack. He can be a good cast member, but it will take some time to gel. I wish him good luck as a cast member.


And if that wasn’t enough, I actually also enjoyed Miley’s Music performances as well; more than I’d want to admit. First off, she didn’t perform “Dooo It”. She actually performed two other songs with her newest embarrassment to pop/rock music--I mean, new band, Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz. This set up of the first performance reminds me of a less creepier, yet more-stranger version of that episode of The Fairly OddParents, where Timmy Turner wishes his dead hamster back to life. It’s like it had a different life after Timmy went to summer camp (camp...camp...camp...camp...camp...) camp. He came back to life with a bunch of his other pets his parents neglected to care for, learned how to play instruments, and then went to Miley (probably on acid at the time) and convinced her to start a new band. An this is the turn out.
I wish this was the back story..

Her second song, just her, is presumably a ballad/tribute to her dog, Floyd, who died either last year or this year; I couldn't remember. I could assume that because of his picture on the piano. Her vocals really nice and her skills on the keys were beautiful. I will also say that those screams in the chorus scared the living hell out of me, and that final note at the end was uncomfortable, Other than those, I actually enjoyed this particular performance. Congrats Miley, you actually had me enjoy your music. It’s too bad I still won’t listen to your album.

So...the consensus. This episode was great. I laughed my butt of more than I wanted to, and I the sketches were mostly perfect in their own ways.

Taran was perfect as the new Donald Trump (I think he’ll be marvelous), Hillary Clinton was fantastic in her surprise appearance as...Val (her delivery in saying “Great name. I’m Val.” had me on the floor.), and I missed Darrell Hammond as Bill. Still keels me every time.

So yeah, this was a slam-dunk start to this season, and I think this will be a great one. I know there will be a few missteps along the way, but I think Lorne, the producers and the writers will pull off some hot streaks to over power them. Let’s hope for the best, guys. I’m rooting for ya!!
(Don’t let us down.)

So...even though I will be watching this season (and not because I'm forced to against my own will for some reason), I'm more excited for what will happen next week. And EVEN MORE excited for the show airing in two weeks. (Oh God, I can't WAIT!)


But for now, tune in next week when newest success story in comedy/ , Emmy Award-winner Amy Schumer hosts Episode 2, with music provided by the man responsible for the below-the-surface scariest and druggist R&B music today that'll (possibly) make even Tyler the Creator squirm, The Weeknd.

Love Me (T)o...ony Tuesday 2015: The Beatles (The 1960s Cartoon)

Hi everyone.
Andrew here welcoming you to another edition of Toony Tuesday.

And wouldn't you know it, this one is something you may have never known about, despite the subject being the biggest and most influential musical band of all time.
And what it churned out is one of the most craziest, wackiest, absurd, surreal...and brightest, charming, funniest and underrated classic cartoons of all time.

It's 1960s animated series The Beatles.



This series, created and produced by Al Brodax, is exactly what you think: It’s about the Beatles going on tours, recording music, having fun, torturing Ringo and getting mobbed by fangirls. But under the surface, there’s more than that. There’s helping two octopuses fall in love, going down a hole to another (Aztec) world, a battle inside the Eiffel Tower for fashion designs, going gaga for ghosts and aliens, being a makeshift version of The Three Musketeers and many many examples of plots that the writers may have pulled out of their asses but are based on the legendary discography of the Fab Four themselves.

And now, a history of me with this series:
One day, a few years ago, I was screwing around on Wikipedia, looking at schedules for Saturday Morning cartoons on the Big Three Networks (NBC, ABC and CBS), and under the schedule for the Alphabet was a certain cartoon. And it would change the way I saw cartoons forever.
When I first watched the series, I didn’t know what I’ve gotten myself into. A cartoon starring The Beatles? Awesome! But I saw more. The Beatles getting into some crazy situations and barely getting out of them with the Power of Music--their music. Hilarious. I was instantly hooked, and would watch many times since. I’ve enjoyed everything this show offered.

The Fab Four are caricatures of the real band in the show.
They all lack a Liverpudlian accent, wear mop-tops and Edwardian suits (at the time where the band doesn’t even do that anymore in real life), and travel to some part of the world where some shit happens to them, and they saved the day with performing some song with instruments that just appear out of freaking thin air.


And now, a bit about the Cartoony Beatles themselves:
John is the leader--a bad one. He’s also lazy, slouchy and doesn’t do his leader job justice.
Paul is the neat, poised and stylish, yet devious, happy and excited second-in-command.
George is occasionally superstitious, appreciative of other cultures and usually leans on something with slyness and weird crooked smile. He also has one of the strangest accents any foreign character has in all of television animation; his accent isn’t Liverpudlian...or even British. Instead, it’s some mix of other European accents--but what is it? Irish? Scottish? Asian? Who could tell which?
Ringo rounds out the band as the goofy-looking idiot of the four. His shaggy mop-top, larger-in-size clothes, scatterbrained mind and big-ass nose aren’t the only factors make him the butt of many a joke.
(Seriously, my main gripe with this show is that their treatment of Ringo is so irritating. I know he's stupid sometimes, but does he really deserve their crap on him? Sometimes makes me think they deserve their own abuse in the Sing-Along segment.)
Between the off-putting misadventures and brutal dry humor between them, it’s clear that all four of the Beatles enjoy being friends and are always looking out for each other. It’s few times in between, but moments like them are wonderful to watch. The band themselves makes this show.

I’ll be honest about the animation: it’s very shoddy and messy. It’s understandable when the ink and paint is outsourced to three different studios in three different countries (Artransa Park Studios in Australia, TVC Animation in the United Kingdom, and some studio in Hollywood, CA in the USA), but it helps in that it gives some wonderful colorful scenes and moments that are just fantastic to see, especially the songs they make. So much effort paying off in such a grand way.
Even if some of the movements are the same damn ones in every short.

The humor is extremely off the wall. It’s hard to explain, but almost everything you see here will either make you laugh or wonder what odd, twisted, warped version of reality this show is. But I think that adds to the humor, and makes it work great.

What makes this series extra special is the Sing-Alongs.
In this segment, spliced between the half-episodes, a member of the Fab Four, usually either Paul, George or John, introduces one of their songs and asks the viewers to join them with lyrics appearing on-screen. Ringo appears in the place of the stage "prop-man" to try to set-up the performance, but because of his incompetence, always makes it a large mess. And it really makes no sense whatsoever when this is happening in their own apartment in Season 3--but hey, Rule of Funny.
What makes these so great is, not only because of the music playing, but also because of the influence it set upon its young viewers, when the lyrics helped them learn to read. Which was a wonderful thing to hear about.
Also, no bouncing ball here. Just lyrics. All Awesome-ness.

The Beatles Cartoon became a big hit on ABC during its’ original run. Many viewers, young and old(er) turned in every Saturday morning (or afternoon, where Season 3 aired) to see what misadventure the Fabs got into, and what song they played to get out of it (or what strange-as-shit plan they succeeded with to escape with a song playing in the background). And in many respects, it works. The humor is still very hilarious, the animation (while crap) is still perfectly happy and colorful, the songs are still timeless, the episodes are still worth your time, and the Fab Four are still Fab-y half a century later. And even though this came way before my time (and barely came after my parents times), I can still appreciate this series for being what it was--an animated series based on The Beatles and their songs, but also being the earliest example of writers possibly being high for writing such out-there yet balls-out and gut-busting humor. Must be the songs from the band that'll explain it. Yep.

It's not on DVD, but it still isn't hard to find; it's on YT. All episodes, Sing-Alongs and Beatlemania madness are there for you to consume.
So yeah, check out these series.
It's hilarious, it's rockin', it's colorful, and it's ready of your attention.
I highly recommend it, especially 50 years after its debut.
I love it, and I hope you all it too.

See you guys later.

Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review: Storm the Castle (Season 1 Finale)

Well, Stargazers. The time has come.
The new television series we immediately fell in love with has ended its first season. And boy, what a season that was.

So let us reminence in the last piece of the first taste of what has become one of my (and, by extension, your) favorite animated series in this decade.
So let’s get straight into the final episode of Season 1 (and pretty much the most important episode since before even the first episode was previewed)...

(I’d like mention here that the position of Star’s face and eyes, while serious, look really funny.)

In the first scene, Starco are in another dimension looking for an interesting item in its bowels--a sandwich. This was a strange scene, and an even stranger catalyst for their ensuing argument. And the argument itself was heavy on the drama. Even though Marco has a good point to blast Star for doing it--said sandwich almost caused them to die being the bowel monster's own lunch.
(Also, the nice brief callback to the titular appendage creature from "Monster Arm" was really cool. Showing that it may return at any moment sometime soon. Cool.)

I won’t say I was royally screwed over from the promo of this episode, so yeah.
But the following scene at night layered on the non-humor. Seeing Marco going missing was startling, and seeing his parents worry close to death over their son's disappearance is saddening. It was fine to see the looney officer give us some unexpected comfort and humor. Without him, this part of the episode would have gotten more heartbreaking than I would’ve loved to see. And to see Star own up to her mistake from the earlier adventure and looking for Marco on her own, was really heartwarming.
Also, a nice factoid: we now know Mr. Diaz’s name--it’s Rafael. Really cool. Really classy. Really...well…

When we meet up with Buff Frog, he’s destitute, living near the Castle. After Ludo (aka Toffee's puppet) fired him as a minion, he's gone from the swamp, to a nice room and a dream job chasing a princess, to nothing...but a door. It's really sad to see this. Also sad was Star blasting him, retconning their kind truce back in “Mewipendence Day”.
But it’s understandable, because of her belief that he and Ludo kidnapped Marco, not knowing of their unceremonious axings and that it was really Toffee committed this.

What Marc said to Toffee was so badass.

If there was any doubt that he's just an awesome character (I mean why should there be?), this moment put them to rest. And can I call this "Classic Marco"? I mean, it does mean "putting friends first", but I want it to mean "can fight and give a sweet-ass one-liner beforehand", too.
How about "Vintage Marco"? Yeah, that fits better.

Star's (and Buff Frog's) invasion into the castle freakin' awesome!

http://frightmarefalls.tumblr.com/post/129727438403/starcolove-storm-the-castle

And her straight-up temporarily knocking out Toffee was f*ckin' boss!

I’ll be honest with you. While I knew he wanted something to do with the Wand, I expected Toffee to take it from Star and use it for his own advantage. But I did not expect this...at all.


Toffee is a real cunning villain...even this I couldn't foresee. Brilliant.


Jesus Christ on a cracker, that smile.


When Star finally destroys her Wand, it really broke me for a bit.
When she was given the Wand, she was taught a spell to destroy it; the first she was given. Seeing the Wand break apart bit by bit, piece by piece, was a truly terrible thing to see. But I will absolutely agree--it's better to save your best friend than to keep your wand. Although, she keeps both later on, which is great.

Holey moley. It was just heartwarming for her to give up her Wand for Marco. Seeing the Wand being very important to her, yet her best friend is even more so just makes me cry tears of joy. And her heroics and seriousness are undeniable. There are few times I’ve seen her look and act serious and aggressive. Here, this is so well-done, it’s even scary!

All this time, seeing a friendship that might not have started off good, but has blossomed into a close, serious, strong and humble kinship between an Earth boy and a magical princess from another dimension just make it one of my favorite parts of this series. And now it’s enough to give up a powerful scepter from a kingdom to a brutally cunning villain--it just blows my mind.


Remember the unicorn used to help power Star’s Wand from “Quest Buy”?

http://star-vs-the-fandoms-of-evil.tumblr.com/post/129676728278/svtfoeheadcanons-rip-screenshots-from-quest

Well, it returns here...although it’s now a spirit. Yeah...Rest in Peace.

The Wand blowing up and taking Toffee and his henchmen with it was truly a surprise. But I'm not too sure of saying it wasn't deserved. What Toffee did to Marco.
I was shocked that Buff Frog would've gone with them, too. Along with his new batch of children. Thank Goodness, he escaped in time.


As for Ludo, I really could care less where he ends up. Fortunately, Star took care of that banishing him to another dimension. After this episode, and the things he's done, I officially hate him, and I won't stand any appearance he has in the next season.

Back to Toffee, I won’t say what we already know, but I’ll end it with this:
He is a way better villain than Ludo ever was. Right off the bat, he knew what he was doing.
He got himself hired as Ludo’s advisor to help capture Star’s Wand, he already devises a plan to fool Star and (almost) help Ludo and his henchmen catch the Wand, and he's given them a better performance doing so; and under the surface, he already had another plan: he acted as the better henchmen to Ludo, made his co-horts look even more like fools, convinced Ludo to fire Buff Frog (his most strong and loyal henchman), turned his other minions against him and got himself the boot as well, became the new leader and turned the minions into even more stronger and powerful sidekicks against Starco. And they have never knew of his existence.
In the few episodes he appeared, the Lanky Lizard in Louis Vuitton has become the most cunning, strategic and powerful villain in this series so far. And somehow, this just excites me.
I’m supposed to hate him, but I can’t stop beaming over his admittedly terrible deeds. They’re so complex and , yet he makes them look so easy. And, if anything, makes me love him more than I have Ludo, who has, for all his appearances, just makes his minions go after Starco and her Wand, failing miserably every time. Toffee’s brief stint as main villain makes Ludo look like a pathetic worthless piece of creature life. This coming from a guy who admittedly loved and enjoyed their matches in almost half the episodes.
I Know he’s been obliterated, but he’s been an awesome villain, and I’ll mourn his loss.


The hug…

Just...beautiful. Just beautiful.

Oh, and this...other hug.

Between mother and daughter. Queen and Princess.
That was heartwarming, and was even more heartwarming when she wasn’t angry at Star for her troubles for one, but was happy that she is safe and okay. I just couldn’t stop smiling.


Star’s Wand barely survived its destruction with an ultra-awesome upgrade.
As for the little unicorn, I couldn't wonder very hard where it came from, but who cares?
His backstory was super beautiful and his destiny to power up the almost-doomed Wand was heartwarming. Also, his speaking Italian was both more heartwarming and funny.
And really hot, admittedly.

Also, since only half of the Wand's power on the faceplate is recovered, the other half is missing.
Even worse...

...it's still in the realm of the monsters' dimension. Ouch.

Near the end, King and Queen Butterfly talk to Sir Glossaryk about the Wand’s state. He reveals that it’s been cleaved. Meaning that it has been broken apart. But it can be put back together.
This is very interesting, yet very good news. Since the Wand isn't entirely broken, it can also be fixed. But it's not going to be easy. Remember?


It’s good to see Glossy back again, this time on our screens, talking and not frozen. Although I wish this didn’t happen. Him shaving his leg and being disrobed from his towel was pretty gross.
But funny, too. Really funny.

Meanwhile another eyebrow-raiser:
King Butterfly's real name is River. Really nice name.

This means...that Queen and River aren’t very sure about their plan about Star's practicing her powers on Earth. And that they more about their plan than they let Star (and by extension, us) know about. There is more to this to sending their daughter to Earth to practice her powers.
What is there to this plan that she doesn’t know about (and we aren’t revealed to yet)? We don’t know yet...until next season.

Also, back to the new Wand, it’s at half-power. Meaning while Star has one half of its power, the other half is still missing. Who will find it first? We’ll find out...next season.

And another thing...Toffee and his minions were disintegrated thanks to the old Wand exploding...but, remember, after getting blasted by Star earlier, his arm reattached…
So, could this be only the beginning of Toffee? (I hope so, because...well, yeah.)

When the episode progressed, it got more darker than past episodes. More than “Party with a Pony”, more than “Mewberty”, even more than “St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses.” And I really enjoyed it. Every moment had me shocked and close to clutching my heart. The rush of dreariness and pain from the one continuous scene from the Castle formerly belonging to Ludo was the crux, and therefore the best part.


This episode had so many moments that were unexpectedly dark and brutal, more so than many moments in this series. Yeah, I expected some things to happen, but not this.
And dammit, I enjoyed the hell out of this episode! This is just brilliant, and one of the best episodes this season--no far from that. This is THE best episode of the season, and one of the best in the series so far.
The animation is spectacular and one of the very best pieces since the series switched animation studios (from Mercury Filmworks to Toon City Studios); the voice acting is some of the best in this season, and this series yet (everyone does amazingly here; especially Michael C. Hall as Toffee--his voice and delivery is just perfect; so perfect, it even gets me aroused at times. Don't know why, but I don't care.); the writing is brilliant (it's clear that this series has only gotten better and better story-wise [despite the few hiccups along the way], and I'm nail-bitingly excited for what will come next from the writers' room); and the direction is great (the pacing is nicely done, and story fits well). Overall this episode is just the best episode of the season, and the best of the series so far.

And now, this:
Now that Season 1 has ended, and Season 2 has yet to begin, I have some questions hoping to be answered by then:

Will Star become more responsible and aggressive like she was here?
-(I can hope so, because there will be more dark adventures and matches to come this way, and I enjoy her this way.)

Will Ludo become a bigger threat thanks to Star rebuffing his gesture?
-(Probably not, but that'll be interesting to see as the series as he restarts his evil career)

Will Toffee return?
-(If the arm reattachment is any indication, along with this slinky smile

yes. Hopefully.)

Who will find the other half of the power to Star's Wand?
-(It's not sure yet, but I'm betting my money on the monsters. It is left in their realm, and with it in their possession, it will cause lots of tension later on. For all I know, I'm hoping the race to find it will be tense and adventurous. And dark, too.)

Will that guy who got taken away by the monster butterfly ever return relatively scathed?

-(Nah. But you can't blame a guy for trying.)

Will Starco stay friends? Or will there be something more?
-(At this point, it could go either way. And to be honest, I wouldn't care. I love them being friends. And yes, as of recently I joined the bandwagon for them to become more than that. So whatever happens next season, I'm just ecstatic to watch a great friendship go along as nicely as it does on an animated TV show).

These questions will be answered, along with the many others that will crop up in season 2.
I'm hoping to enjoy this as much as Season 1. And I hope you all will be there, too.

For the last time for this season, I thank the Star vs. The Forces of Evil Wikia page.
For absolutely everything. I know you guys will be amazing help come next season. Thank you guys very much.

And lastly, I thank all of you for checking out these reviews for these past months. I know these aren't the best reviews, but I do my best to make them good enough for you guys, and I'm ever grateful for the many reads you guys have given. I hope you guys join me for more coming...as soon as Season 2 begins.

See ya then. Good night.

Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review: Interdimensional Field Trip / Marco Grows a Beard

Hey, Stargazers!
Welcome to the second to-last review of Star vs. The Forces of Evil’s first season. And boy has it been a big whirlwind for everyone watching (me included with these reviews). There was so much to take in by saying so much about it, but I can’t mention this here.

This episode was a whirlwind of emotion, especially from Episode B--most of it.
First, Star (literally) leads everyone in a fantastical field trip through the dimensions. Wonder, amazement, danger, sentient string and (most importantly) hilarity will ensue in “Interdimensional Field Trip”.
And, Marco has grown facial hair. But when Jackie Lynn takes some interest in a guy with a full beard, he tries his best to have the same--or actually Star sneaks in one. More hilarity ensues in “Marco Grows a Beard”.

But first, here is…

In it, Star leads a class field trip to a museum in another dimension and puts the entire class in danger.

When I first heard of this episode, I was pretty excited about it. Seeing Star bring her friends to another dimension would make for a great plot. Not bold or expanding, but pretty great nonetheless. And the plot of taking the role of leader in something, along with the responsibility with it, was, while used a lot, was used pretty well here. Star does show a great deal of responsibility, and it’s very good to see her exhibit a lot of concern for her friends/classmates, even if she does begin to cause it by telling them to do whatever they want in a another dimension, which should be a red flag from the start. And that they get themselves in danger

I had a debate with myself wondering whether the kids were really foolish enough to do all of these things . But to a consensus, I say “sorta”. It’s not really their fault for doing anything they did, because Star told them to.
Although they should’ve had the sense to read the signs telling them not to touch the stuff, or at least had the hindsight to think about what they want to touch or walk over or ride on, because doing that would've save them from--sorry, going ahead of myself.
For goodness sakes, Francis touched jumped down a hole and multiplied by four, Sabrina walked across the Escher stairs and Justin was close to electrocuting himself by touching a device capable of doing so. That's just dumb.

One thing I just fine “Meh” was Marco and Jackie’s texting session with each other. I found it a little pretentious, but it wasn’t all bad. And it was cute too. But to be honest, it was one of the parts I wouldn’t remember that much from this episode.
I did find it great that their relationship is moving quite nicely, even though it’s kinda slow.
And it’s the second to last episode. But, hey.

The yarn monster was...interesting. He was pretty scary, but not truly menacing. The encounter was pretty quick--but hey, the entire episode is 11 minutes, so that explains it. Still wrapped up well.

And another thing: how awesome was Miss Skullnick? Thanks to her newfound knowledge of the lifespan of trolls, their bravery and amazing super-human strength, she uses it to protect her students from the Yarn Monster by just doing the running in-the-maze bit to unravel it’s monster form and brought it back to its normal form. That was super cool. And it makes her more of a good character to me. I hope to see her like this again sometime next season.

Favorite Lines:
"I will live to be 300? And I thought I was going through the big change! Turns out I'm a teenager again!" -Ms. Skullnick
--Did Ms Skullnick just allude to Menopause in that line?
If so...Bravo, writers. Bravo for making that leap.
-"Awww. A-maaa-zing. What is it?" -Star
"It's a paper clip." -Marco
-“Let's go to a morgue!” -Janna
In fact, I like Janna a lot in this one. She comes off as a girl who like dark, morbid things--like going to morgues and vampire fangs and wants to be friends with a sentient skeleton.

http://rad-star.tumblr.com/post/129115107427/janna-is-awesome

That’s really funny. So funny, it’s kinda awesome. It’s forced to some people, but I find it kinda charming too.
It’s like she’s a cartoon version of Jade West, except without the dark clothing, the jaded personality and the fact that she isn’t a mean, conniving psycho-witch.

I found this a good and entertaining episode. Some parts were better than others, but I definitely enjoyed it. I really like the concept--Star taking her Earth friends on a trip to another dimension thanks to a dare from Skullnick. It isn’t a strong plot or story, but it’s still good to watch in its execution.

Random Thoughts:

-Star acting excited marveling at a paper clip will never not be funny and cute.
-Janna being morbid will never not be funny and cute.

-Jackie Lynn riding on a flying manta will never not be funny and cute.
-Alfonzo and Ferguson as a man/horse hybrid will never not be funny. It’s not cute, though.
-Ms Skullnick fighting off a Yarn Monster will never not be funny and/or cute. And awesome.

This was a fine episode, and an enjoyable. Not one of the best this season, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

And now, the episode all female fans (and some male fans) have waited for…

Star’s giving Marco a beard was pretty… slick. But you gotta agree with her intention. Even if Marc told her he wanted the face hair to grow on its own, it was sweet for her to help out that way, even if the outcome came out that way.

My favorite part was when Star receives an epiphany from one of the Laser Puppies, telling her that she has fought monsters since an infant without her Wand, and can find a way to save Marco. It was both sweet, and funny. And what do you know, she does, first using the Laser Puppy to free her from the tangled hair
(And yes, I don’t have to tell you--Star is super adorable as a child.)

Ludo’s flashback was...interesting. Getting tickled by a hairy monster is a strange thing, but can cause fear. I can believe a phobia of hair; people can have that. And it did make out for a perfect exposition.

And with that, the episode ends with Ludo, heartbroken that his minions AND evil advisor have turned against him, kneeling at the door of his now former castle. Damn it, that’s just heartbreaking. Even if you hate him, you really have to feel for him to just lose everything. And then...it ends. Wow. Just like Buff Frog in “Mewnipendence Day”, Ludo will now have to do what he never thought he’d done--go to Earth, and go to Star; possibly to beg for forgiveness, and ask to team up with her and Marco to take down Toffee and his Possibly Not-So-Useless Minions. Who knows?

Toffee certainly continues to be a despicable asshole/super cunning genius.
If his plan of getting rid of Buff Frog in the last episode was detestable, then turning Ludo’s henchmen against him--their LEADER--and gaining their vote as their new leader was just reprehensible. Brilliant, but reprehensible.
And...he did have some good points. All throughout this season, Ludo made his henchmen fight Starco while he just stands there, and gets the credit for the (two) times he actually got the Wand. But when they (always) lose, he brutally criticizes them like he’s their college basketball coach or abusive parent. (By the way, has anyone noticed that when he punishes them, he sounds like their dad who scolds them for wrecking the family car after a night out, and takes away privileges like the TV or making them do extra chores and stuff? Maybe just me)
And then, when he came into the picture, he acted like the perfect advisor to Ludo, helping him bolden and perfect his plans to steal the Wand. But, under the surface.
And most especially, thanks to a bad trip to his past involving a tickling monster, he came so close to the Wand, but moved away thanks to his giggly reminiscing, causing it to be his fault for losing the Wand again.

And now, since Ludo has been overthrown by his number two, and kicked out of his castle by his own (ex-)henchmen, Toffee now has a big arsenal behind. And i can’t help but feel that the Useless Minions...won’t seem so useless anymore.

Another thing, I was on Tumblr the some time ago, and I looked at this post based on the concept art of the first and last episodes of the first season, "Star Comes to Earth" and "Storm the Castle". And it tells a lot.


Trust me when I say that there will be a huge heartbreaking battle between Starco (especially Star) and Toffee coming ahead. And it WON’T be pleasant to watch.

Also, she has Marco's hoodie. What the hell could that mean?!?!

And now, to end this review on a lighter note, here are my Favorite Lines from this episode:

http://the-mad-march-hare42.tumblr.com/post/129349682474

-Star and Talking Dream Laser Puppy

http://the-mad-march-hare42.tumblr.com/post/129349366784/lorddarker-life-lessons-from-kids-shows

-Talking Dream Laser Puppy

http://the-mad-march-hare42.tumblr.com/post/129349688989/ninonisanoctopus-s1e12-marco-grows-a-beard

-Star

http://the-mad-march-hare42.tumblr.com/post/129349813339

-Star

And if the end of this episode is any indication, we're in for a big shocker coming next week.
Because next week is the first season finale of Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
And there are so much to ask:
What will Toffee's final tier in his grand scheme play out in his mission for Star's Wand?
Will Star break? Will we finally see a villain use the Wand for pure evil? Will Star and Marco still be friends--or be more than just that? Will many side characters return? n


If there was a m

Funday Friday: #49 -- Daddy Got Punk'd (Baby Girl Pretends to Cry to Avoid Her Nails Getting Cut)

Hey, everyone. And Happy Funday Friday.

How cute are babies?
They always look adorable, they drool, they put anything and their every waking moment is either worth ignoring or taking a picture or video for. This video is the perfect example of the latter. This baby girl does not like getting her nails cut, but her father believes it is mandatory. So she comes up with a plan to skip the procedure: cry.

But here's the catch: She only shrieks when the instrument is reaching her fingers and laughs (rather diabolically) when they're moved away.

It's just adorable. And hilarious.

Olhem quem aprendeu a dar susto no papai!! Hahahaha essa minha Piquerruxa.. #mamaeencantada

Posted by Marcelinha Dos Santos Iwama on Saturday, September 5, 2015

What a cunning little squirt.
The clip was recorded by the baby's mother (and the battered dad's wife) Marcelinha Dos Santos Iwama of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and posted on Facebook, with it received (as of this posting) over 27 million hits.

This is a very cute video, and that girl is going to have a wonderful life. Whether as a kind lovely girl...or a cunning, conniving sneak. And poor dad.