Ten Movies You Should Consider
November 29th, 2017 by Proprietor
These movies are worth at least watching once. They are great comedies, adventures, and dramas that were made decades ago. Some have achieved cult status, but most are classics to some extent. These movies are examples of how a film achieves more than it’s intent, because the right chemistry of actors and material propel it to better levels.
1. Porky’s: This early 1980s comedy was about high school kids in the 1950s. Set in a fictitious Florida city of Angel Beach, and essentially a raunchy teenage comedy, the basis is the high school kids want to go to a strip club. The strip club is a cover for a brothel. When the boys are ripped off, a war with the owner, Porky, begins. The movie is loaded with hilarious scenes. It was pushing the R rating for it’s time. There were two sequels, but those are not really worthy.
2. That Thing You Do: Another period piece filmed in the 1990s, but set in the early 1960s. It follows a band along their meteoric rise, and crash and burn as a one hit wonder. The band itself is called the Wonders. The music is original and catchy, and fits extremely well with the period. Sweet and innocent, with only one or two hints of sex. Overall the movie is consistent in acting, and the ending turns out happy.
3. Every Which Way But Loose: Late 1970s comedy about a trucker who bare knuckle fights for extra money. He falls in love with the wrong woman, and sets out to find her. This comedy is set in working man’s Los Angels. It lacks glitter and glam, overall it does a great job with it’s quirkiness. The soundtrack is country gold.
4. Any Which Way You Can: The sequel to Every Which Way But Loose, it is just as good, and in a few ways superior. The hero is back, except he is now involved with a fight that could end his life, the woman he loved is now part of his life, so ultimately that is all that matters to him. When she is in danger, he does everything to save her.
5. The Warriors: An action/adventure movie that follows a gang by the same name as they must return to their home in Coney Island, while hunted by rival gangs who think they committed a murder. To some extent it seems cartoonish in how it portrays gangs, but it was more of an attempt to establish a more surreal element within the story. The soundtrack contains some very decent music, and the best song is by Joel Walsh.
6. Brewster’s Millions: Staring the late Richard Pryor as Monty Brewster, it is probably Pryor’s best work. John Candy is his best friend, and both men work well together. Monty Brewster must spend millions of dollars, have no value for the money, and if he succeeds, he will inherit $300 Million. The catch, he cannot tell anyone.
7. Coming To America: Eddie Murphy plays a wealthy African prince who comes to the United States to seek the love of his life. With his loyal companion, played by Arsenio Hall, the two try to blend into American life in Queens. The comedy comes from the two men attempting to fit in, while not blowing their cover, because Prince Akeem wants the woman to love him for who he is, not his money.
8. Alien: This is a horror movie set in space. Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley, a scientist whom is running for her life after her ship is invaded by an alien life form. Suspenseful, and scary, it is one of the best horror movies made. Considering you never fully see the alien being, the reactions of the crew to the mystery creature stalking them makes you feel their terror.
9. Hatari: A movie set in Africa. John Wayne leads a group of animal trappers who live catch animals for zoos. They are burdened with a photographer from one of their largest customers. The scenery and animals are beautiful. The movie is over two hours, but the time passes quickly, because the pacing of the movie is excellent. It ends on a comedic note.
10. The Man Who Would Be King: Based on a Kipling novel of the same name. Two ex-military men cross the Himalayas to a fictitious land with modern army weapons to form their own kingdom. It is a case of be careful what you wish for, and how ultimately power corrupts. It stars Sean Connery and Michael Caine, so the acting is incredible, the story is marvelously told.
That is my ten movies you should consider. Thanks for stopping by.
Kitty Doll Linda
November 26th, 2017 by Proprietor
Back with a new Brady post.
The Brady Bunch is loaded with props that were part of or a focus of a story, then eventually became part of the background. Animals were treated the same way, except Tiger, and Fluffy ended up in oblivion. Come to think of it, people were treated in the same fashion, the Kelly Family and Cousin Oliver. At least Sam the Butcher made it into the movies.
Cindy Brady was the youngest child, and in befitting with a child of her age, she played with dolls, pretending to be a mother. Cindy’s favorite doll was Kitty Carryall. Alliteration aside, the doll, as described by Susan Olsen, was creepy. Probably purchased from Driscoll’s Toy Store, since the doll is seen in the background during Peter Brady hero episode. Cindy played with the doll and referred to the doll in several episodes.
In one episode, Cindy sat playing mother, and Bobby entered proudly playing a kazoo, when Cindy snaps at him to be quite. Kitty is sleeping. Bobby retorts back about Kitty being a dumb old doll, and states that he wishes it would disappear. Simple sibling squabbling. Shortly after, Cindy finds Kitty is missing. Naturally to a little girl, her world is devastated, and the drama begins. Cindy accuses Bobby of the doll napping. Then Bobby’s kazoo goes missing, and he blames Cindy.
While all of the drama and false accusations are going on, Tiger has developed a habit of filching objects. Oddly no one thinks about the dog as being a possible culprit, even though he has already proven to be a deft thief.
Mike and Carol lecture both of the youngest children about casting blame or accusations without evidence. Though innocent, Bobby begins to see his sister’s loss, and in a sympathetic gesture, purchases another doll. Cindy unfortunately cannot seem to love the new doll, though it is the same as her old doll. Cindy cast aside the substitute doll. Luckily Tiger decides to add to his collection of objects, grabs the doll, and heads to his doghouse.
Following the four footed felon to his den, Mike digs through the house, tossing out various pilfered items for comic effect, until he finds Bobby’s kazoo, and two dolls. Cindy somehow grabs one doll claiming it is hers, and joyfully apologizes to Bobby. Tiger is chastised for his part in the whole mystery, and appears repentant. Then shortly after gets a female dog across town pregnant, and ends up at that farm all troublesome dogs seem to go to.
Kitty would appear again. This time part of a mystery of another type. Greg’s grades in math were falling, and evidence pointed to a case of puppy love. Carol and Alice went into full detective mode to find out if there is a girl named Linda that the children no of that Greg secretly harbors a crush on. Alice noses around the girls room, while Cindy plays with Kitty. Eventually asking about the dolls names. Cindy is curious as to why Alice is fixated on the name Linda. Rather than explain the complex affairs of the heart to Cindy, Alice makes something up about Linda being a pretty name, and a pretty girl should have a pretty name. The scene ends with Cindy telling Kitty to give Linda (Alice) a kiss.
After that episode, Kitty moved to somewhat background status. Like a box of Safe Laundry Detergent in the laundry room, Kitty was on Cindy’s bed in the girls room, until Cindy became too old for dolls. Then Kitty disappeared down the memory hole like Tiger and Fluffy.
Thanks for stopping by.
Good Bye David Cassidy
November 22nd, 2017 by Proprietor
My introduction to David Cassidy was like many people my age, Partridge Family reruns in syndication. Sadly today, David Cassidy passed away.
The Partridge Family was very much a show in it’s time, but revolutionary for it’s time. Though not as timeless as the frequently blogged about Brady Bunch. David played Keith Partridge, the obviously musically talented one of the family. When paired with his stepmother Shirley Jones, the singing was brilliant.
David became a teen idol and superstar for a few years in the 1970s. Girls loved his dreamy eyes and long hair, which was not that long compared to many rock stars later. Sadly his career did not continue to go well, and he hit the rough patches most former television teens hit. He did 8-Track Flashback for VH1, and a few other nostalgia shows.
It is sad to see those whom brought some from of joy to your life pass away. To me he will always be Keith Partridge, the gentle, but talented lead of the Partridge Family.
Thanks for stopping by.
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
November 19th, 2017 by Proprietor
In the interest of diversifying the content of the blog, this is the third post in a row, I am not doing Brady post, and the second game post in a row. There are some Brady posts written, but I am crafting them a bit. Also, some blogs about blogging in the future. Gotta keep things fresh.
I have been playing Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes for several months now. I admit to spending some money recently. Though I have been against doing so and stated such in past blogs. There is a Nightsisters Character, Old Daka, whom I wanted, and in spite of my best efforts, was unable to get shards for her. Then there is the impatience factor.
One of the keys to being successful in a free to play game, is patience. The one thing I greatly lack, is patience. I have gotten better over the years, instead of being a two year old on sugar rush, I am a three year old. It might take you two months to get a character in SW:GoH, but if you have patience, it will happen. Along with patience, there is the playing it smart aspect. YouTube is loaded now with fellow gamers giving advice on how to play it smart.
Shards are the way to build a character up. Each level up requires more shards. The only way to earn shards in SW:GoH is to play events or do the holo tables or you can pay money. The holo tables are battles that allow you to earn character shards. Once you have completed the battle, and won at a three star level, you can simply mine for shards.
My mistake in regards to Old Daka, due to impatience, is in not playing the holo tables. Recently I was playing the Dark Side of the holo table and won a battle that gave me an Old Daka shard. Since I won the battle to the three star level, I can go back and mine Old Daka shards. If I had done this before, it would have taken me an extensive amount of time to mine for Old Daka shards, but I would not have had to purchase the character. Oh well, lesson learned.
Mining for shards means you just use Sim Dollars to pay for possible character shards. Sim dollars are earned when you complete daily tasks or get power ups once a day. Yeah it is intricate, but fun.
Events happen from time to time. In order to play an event, you might need certain characters whom are at a certain level, and/or on the light or dark side. The events are tiered. Winning each tier will give you a certain number of shards for a specific character, as well as loot to build up characters. Recently I had played the Nightsister events, and got Mother Tala, and I had tried to get Old Daka. Though I did not have certain characters built up enough to win. There was also the First Order Events where I breezed through to get Kylo Ren without Mask, and his ship, as well as First Order Tie Pilot with ship.
Now I plan on focussing on holo table battles. Because I am impatient, I was not focusing on holo table battles. Each battle takes time. Most of the time I play SW:GoH during breakfast before I go to work. When I get home, maybe after everything else is dealt with, I will play the game for a few minutes, usually to mine for shards for certain characters I want. Now I realize it is better to open up the entire holo table as well as the canteen table. I can go back to the battles where I won with one or two stars only, and since I have more powerful characters than the time I had originally played, I can get those battles to three stars.
As stated, getting a three star means you can just spend sim dollars to possibly get character shards. Unfortunately you have to spend multiple sim dollars on the battle. Usually there is a 30% chance to get a character shard. That is why in the daily achievements list, you have to play three dark side and three light side battles. Sim three hard dark side and light side battles of a character you want to get, and you will probably get one shard. The three hard battles count to the daily achievement of hard won in which you have to win 10 hard level battles.
3 Sim dollars = 1 (possible) Character Shard. 3 Hard Battles Won count toward win Light Side or Dark Side battles as well as Hard Won Daily Achievement. Spend 6 Sim dollars and get 2 character shards as well as clear away two daily achievements (Light and Dark), and be sixty percent complete of the Hard Won achievement.
Got to love the math and logic of the game.
Thanks for stopping by.
Gaming Gamers
November 15th, 2017 by Proprietor
As video game companies begin to understand the potential to make real money via in game play, the parameters of their business model are going to change. It makes sense to some extent that people are going to become upset when the changes happen.
The current angst wave against EA for preventing favorite characters in the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront 2 from being available right away is a direct result of the business model change. EA viewed fan favorites, like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader as a possible way to make more money. Those characters are products to the company. In the first Star Wars: Battlefront, there might not have been the incentive for holding back characters. Now there is incentive.
Granted, paying $60 for a game, and not being able to play a fan favorite is a shock. EA made a bad choice. Most people who would purchase Star Wars: Battlefront 2 are looking to play a certain character right from the start, that is why the game is being purchased. From a business stand point it does not make sense. Putting more valuable assets behind a paywall if you would, means players are either going to have to play the game long enough to earn the in game credits or spend real money to unlock the more favored characters right away. Buy putting the favorites behind the wall, the thought was people will pay more. Though people paying $60 already feel like they paid enough.
EA already has a way to make more money through game play set up. EA could have sold a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront 2, allow purchasers to unlock a limited number of characters, fan favorite or not, and then charge if the player wants to unlock more characters or bulk up their character’s faster. EA already has the model built into the Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes app for the smart phones. You do not get too many choices with a free app, but spending $60 on a game should allow you choices.
I have not played the predecessor game, Star Wars: Battlefront, so I am not overly familiar with the game mechanics. But, my guess is, it has something to do with battling using Star Wars characters. If you chose to play Darth Vader, EA could put up paywalls in the form of downloading more Stormtroopers or specialized Stormtroopers for Darth Vader to command. How about purchasing an AT-AT? How much would a Star Destroyer go for?
With the dawn of the internet, gaming has changed. Companies no longer are limited to selling a copy of the game, and having to include everything in that copy. Now companies can sell things to improve the play. Things will become more interesting as computers become more powerful.
EA sent me a notice via Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Battlefront was letting me get a 4 star ranked Kylo Ren. Only catch to this one time offer, it would cost $15.99. Nothing is free anymore.
Thanks for stopping by.